#hes only a little taller than yusaku

[merryfortune]

A. I. Lovecraft

Written for AiYusa Month 2023

Title: A. I. Lovecraft

Prompt: Married AU

Ship: Aiballshipping | Ai/Yusaku

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains

Rating: T

Word Count: 1,331

Tags: Alternate Universe - Gods/Goddesses, Arranged Marriage, Human Sacrifice, Humour, Blood

   He was darkness incarnate.

   The night and all its misery. The creeping, seeping shadows in the corner of abandoned houses whilst also being the seething, wriggling mass of monstrosity under the beds of small children. He was the chill of midnight and the witching hour which followed. 

   He was the terror, not the calm of quiet, moonless nights.

   He was old. Older than humanity and watched them with very little interest. They were just bugs to him. Insects. Useless, worthless… occasional morsels. Because whilst he had no interest in them, they were curious about him. He didn’t know why though, couldn’t fathom it. He was omnipotent but the din of all that knowledge, it just bored him because the ordinance was so loud that it was better to ignore it.

   Yet, sometimes, something was pushed on through the rumble and rattle of swirling thunderstorms with their blackout cloud cover. A sacrifice. An offering. Just for him.

   It was religion…. Worship. They called him a god but he didn’t find it fitting to the writhing mass of eyeballs and tentacles, the hallowed voices that he was for he simply was. Not divine, not of ichor, simply before the existence and would likely continue ever oneward regardless of big bang or implosion. Whatever fate had installed for humanity who seemed to think very, very grandly of him.

   Yet for reasons that eluded him for he did not want to interact with them but they enjoyed forcing themselves upon him. Like I said, he didn’t understand humans. Humans were beneath him. The true mystery of the realms. Those tiny humans with their bright, sparkling eyes. He hated the light, it wasn’t his dominion. He thought it was better that he was shunned, slept through the harsh of his darkness, that it was only murderers and thieves who required his blessing but there were others too. Fanatics would probably be the best word to describe him.

   They believed that by offering a human of one, many would be kept safe from all that ailed them, every bump in the night associated with him. Of course, he didn’t know what to do with them. So. He ate them. Just to taste, just to save them from going mad from the revelation as looking upon him… He had never seen a human see his true form and no turn into a rambling, bumbling fool. Not once in all the millennia of his being until… now.

   “I’m Ai and I am your virgin sacrifice, I have kept myself nice and pretty and clean and pure just for you, your majesty.”

   “Er… pardon?”

   “Look, see? I even have a ring for you, I’m such a thoughtful groom-to-be to you already.”

   Not once had he ever been confronted with a revelation that could make him go mad.

   “You're not… afraid?” he asked.

   “Why would I be afraid of my husband-thing to be?” Ai, this human, asked and again.

   Ai had those bright eyes that he found loathsome and yet, they were this bright, startling yellow rather than a colour he thought more natural to humans. Brown, green, blue, for example. Not yellow. Certainly not yellow with rectangular pupils, he noticed.

   “So, are you going to ravish me? Consummate me? I have spent all my life waiting for this very moment, I am beside myself with excitement, practically trembling with anticipation.” Ai crooned.

   He danced and sauntered, spinning circles on his heel in front of the abominable god of darkness. Or that’s what the humans called him. This human especially but this human - Ai - not only wanted to adorn him with this ring that he had brought along but a name - a pet name - especially.

   “You are so much taller and way more handsome than I thought you would be.” Ai swooned and continued to clamour for his attention on the cliffside. The human realm behind him, that of an all enveloping, abyssal void in front of him: one that his so-called god was fastened to the same way the moon was fastened to the sky.

   “Er… thank you?”

   Ai caught one of the god’s tendrils in his hands. He brought it closer to him and he was happy enough to consider this not only his lover’s hand but his ring finger as well. With a little bit of coaxing, Ai was able to spread the literal hairs, like those along a spider’s legs, on the tendril and get the ring to be worn.

   “Like everyone draws and depict you so big and mean and scary but whilst your big. You seem like a real sweetheart so far. Everyone says that I have to be, like, bonkers to want to sacrifice myself to you. An old god. And everybody said that my ritual wouldn’t work but yay! Here I am and wearing my Sunday best, wouldn’t you know?”

   He glanced down at Ai and with a little bit of shifting and extrapolation through all the universe’s known facts and data, he realised what Ai meant. He was wearing a wedding suit. It was a pure, blinding white and he had a silky purple tie down his chest as well.

   The only problem with it was, well, the scarlet blood stain. And the pearl enamelled handle of a knife still sticking out of him.

   “So, as your now-husband for all the rest of our unnatural lives,” Ai proclaimed, sing-song and exuberant, “what do I get to call you? When its just us, in our little lover’s nest here and oh boy, it could do with some more but don’t worry. I like a fixer-up, a project.”

   Ai spoke way too fast. He, an interdimensional being, older than the concept of time and would outlast them all, every human to the very last grain of sand and the atoms that it was comprised of. And yet. This human managed to tailspin even an entity of such proportions.

   Ai stroked his chin and hummed. He did not get a satisfactory reply in the allotted time and so, he took upon the challenge himself. His face lit up. Eureka.

   “You look like a Yusaku to me!” Ai chirped. “It's in your very lovely cheekbones you have up there on the thing I thiiiiiink is your face but it is a very lovely face. I promise.”

   As it was said, so it became another fact of life. Just as it was a fact that atoms could be split for nuclear bombs or that plants required nutrients, sunlight, and water to grow he, the god of the dark, was now Yusaku. He had never been named so forthrightly before. 

   He blinked. That caused a ripple effect through all his eyes and all his self. Ai just cooed over it and Yusaku decided that he didn’t mind. He had to. He couldn’t very well eat this human sacrifice like he had with previous sacrifices who had roiled in terror and went numb to his appearance. They very much did not laugh and cheer and dance like Ai did.

   “Very well, Ai…” Yusaku said and he focused all his intent on the tendril that was wearing the ring. He wriggled it, in an attempt to shake Ai’s hand as he knew that somewhere in the world that meant agreement to humans. “I am Yusaku and I am yours.”

   “Excellent.” Ai beamed and for once. 

   Yusaku did not know what was going to happen nor what was wanted from him by this particular human. He knew the outcomes of all things as part of his supposed godhood. Yes, he had his dominion, that of darkness and the dreary, of all things that dripped with malaise and were miserable but knowing things. That bored him. However this human, it cut through this din and Yusaku did not know what he would do or say next and that… intrigued him.

   Excited him at long last.

   So though it was strange and unprecedented, Yusaku was honoured to have this sacrifice in his midst.

[the-kings-of-games]

In which Kusanagi has a birthday surprise and sends Ryōken (and Specter) to distract Yūsaku:

(Or: a extended, datastormshipping version of this)

Post-series, Yūsaku is now in his last year of high school. He's still the loner, quiet type, but he's not as friendless as he once was.

He and Takeru do video chats every other week. Akira and Emma send messages to check up on him occasionally, and Aoi comes by his class often to have lunch together (sometimes with Shima too). Yūsaku sees the Kusanagi brothers almost every other day, helping out at Café Nagi where he sees other people he'd met, including the Knights of Hanoi and Go.

Life has been pretty quiet but good.

One day, after school, Yūsaku is on his way to Café Nagi (as usual), walking with Aoi when she points out to the street with a small laugh.

Yūsaku sees a flashy red sport car. It's expensive. It's gorgeous. Everybody is staring.

Everyone is also staring at the guy leaning against the car, arms crossed like he owns it.

He does. Because it's Ryōken. He looks good, as usual. (U////U)

"Surprised?"

Yūsaku jumps, finding Specter standing behind him and Aoi. Spectre and Aoi smiling at Yūsaku's blush.

"Good afternoon, Specter," Aoi greets, and Specter offers her his arm like a gentleman. She takes it.

Yūsaku frowns. "What's going on?" he asks, confused. "What are you two doing here?"

"Oh, Kusanagi asked us to do him a favor," Specter answers, "so Revolver-sama agreed to take you on a date. I'm here to escort Zaizen-kun so she doesn't walk alone."

Yūsaku's blush deepens. "A date?" he repeats. "What did Kusanagi needed help with??"

"You'll find out later," Aoi assures, and she pushes Yūsaku gently towards Ryōken.

Unsure, Yūsaku goes but hesitantly, and in his confusion, he trips on his last step and falls on Ryōken against the car. His face is red now, an arm catching him by the waist.

"You're a bit clumsier in real life," says Ryōken in his smooth voice, a bit of amusement in his tone. "Are you ready to go?"

"Y— Yes?"

"Good."

Yūsaku is now in the car, Ryōken getting into the driver's side. Specter and Aoi are waving to him, and Yūsaku feels like a princess being sent off for an arranged marriage.

(That was oddly specific, but that's how it is.)

The drive is silent, and Yūsaku is still confused.

Ryōken takes them to the movies. "I thought it'd be fun to watch other people in high stakes situations for once," he explains, paying for everything. Yūsaku literally has no words.

Settling into the seats, Ryōken slips his hand over Yūsaku's with a smile. There is more blushing, the teen's heart racing as he tries to pay attention to the movie.

Why am I feeling this way?

The movie ends, but apparently, dates don't end just like that.

No, next, Ryōken takes them to a nearby park for a walk. They're holding hands again. They get ice cream. They talk. It's nice.

"Revolver," Yūsaku finally says, "you didn't have to do all this. If Kusanagi wanted me to stay away, he could've just told me."

Ryōken smiles. "I wouldn't have done this if I didn't want to," he replies.

"If you didn't want to what?"

"Go on a date with you."

Yūsaku malfunctions, and they're back in Ryōken's car again, this time driving back to his place. The car is parked, but they're not going inside. They're heading down to Stardust Road, holding hands, of course.

It's their last stop, the sun's setting.

"So, Yūsaku," Ryōken says, "how did you enjoy our date?"

Yūsaku stutters. "It was . . . nice."

"Nice enough to join me on another?"

". . . Yes."

They don't speak the rest of the way down, and that's when Yūsaku discovers Kusanagi's plans.

It's a party. There's decorations, a few ballons, food. Kasunagi had invited everybody.

"Yūsaku!"

"Takeru?"

It turns out Yūsaku forgot about his own birthday, which Kusanagi expected so he planned a surprise party. Everyone he invited showed up, and they came bearing gifts.

Yūsaku was surprised, pleasantly surprised.

"Happy birthday, Yūsaku!"

"Thank you, everyone. I really mean it."

[xxxcrimsondreamsxxx]

Update: Toxicity

Chapter 4: Human despair

"Oh! It's pretty dirty in here, isn't it?" Daisuke commented, descending the stairs that led to Yusaku's room.

Of course it would be dirty, if Roboppi could no longer be active there, and he will probably never return to clean this place. He wondered if that hurt Yusaku in any way, probably Roboppi's inactive body was stuck in some corner having the same dust as his furniture.

In a way, he was right. He looked at Roboppi's old body off and nestled in a corner, but when he gently ran his hand, he found no sign of dust. Yusaku didn't even touch the broom to lift dirt off the floor, but he probably took a cloth every day to clean Roboppi, even if they were no longer useful. Thinking about this, Ai glanced at the emerald-eyed one with a strange feeling of nostalgia, which quickly vanished as soon as Yusaku was undressing shamelessly.

"Look at you undressing in front of a guest," Daisuke said smirking.

Yusaku just turned to look at him, too concentrated taking off his pants, already without his shirt on "It's nothing you haven't seen before"

Ai didn't quite understand the issue of human shame, but he understood that dressing in front of strangers was not something that came naturally, and Yusaku was doing it as if he were completely alone. It wasn't the first time he'd seen him do it, that was true. Yusaku was never ashamed of Ai watching him dress from the dueling disk, because his presence was sometimes unimportant to the emerald-eyed boy. However, he supposed that Yusaku's answer was not going that way.

Also, Yusaku felt a strange confidence towards Daisuke, since the feeling remained that they had known each other for more than a week. There was something unusual about Daisuke that allowed him to feel safe and, at the same time, uneasy about his intentions, because he carried that smile that didn't express any thought.

"Well then, it won't bother you if I do the same," the golden-eyed one began to say as he took off his uniform jacket.

"Not at all," Yusaku muttered, biting his lip. It shouldn't bother him, but …

… His heart began to beat fast. Perhaps because he remembered the scar on Daisuke's neck, and the way he exposed it. He decided not to turn around and focus on dressing with the clothes Daisuke threw at him.

He started with the jeans that were a bit tight. Was this Daisuke's clothes or had he conveniently bought clothes in his size? Well, the shirt wasn't too big for him either, and Daisuke's torso was at least a little wider than his, since the boy was also taller.

Still, it was baggy, but because the design was like that. It was made to fly in the breeze, and his neckline would show off his collarbone.

Already dressed, he turned carefully to face Daisuke with his back turned to him. He still had to button his shirt, so he came to observe that not only the skin of his face was devoid of any imperfections but also his back. He didn't stop looking at him, even as Daisuke was already turning to look back at him. An amused smile decorated his face, even so, Yusaku noticed a trace of melancholy.

"Why are you looking at me so much? Are you falling in love?" He teased

Yusaku frowned and looked elsewhere  "Not at all"

No. There was an attraction, but it wasn't about love.

Daisuke didn't erase his smile, he changed any trace of joke for a softer expression. Now the melancholy was showing in its entirety, the way Daisuke looked at him left Yusaku stunned.

"It looks good on you," he commented in a surprisingly calm tone, approaching Yusaku until their feet faced each other, he put his hands on the laces that served to close a part of the neckline. "But let me fix this."

Yusaku dared to look up and lose himself in the gold of his eyes, as if their shine meant something to him. There were feelings, thoughts, an identity that Yusaku did not reach, but felt that he knew perfectly. Accepting to spend the whole day with Daisuke was a serious mistake, and Ai agreed with that sentiment when he realized that he was bringing his lips to Yusaku's.

Keep reading on AO3

[soulburnings]

💺🤞📏⏰🛋 (

SEND AN EMOJI AND I’LL ANSWER…

💺 — How does your muse adjust themselves in their seat?

Nothing really special worth mentioning here! Unless he’s some place comfortable like in his own room, Takeru’s tends to be pretty reserved when it comes to taking up his own spot and usually only takes as much space as he needs, too. No more; no less. Very rarely does he sit with his legs crossed unless his seat just so happens to be on the floor either/

🤞 — What behavioral ticks give your muse away when they are lying?

Takeru’s actually not a very good liar at all. His ticks aren’t so much ‘ticks’ as much as he’ll slip and blurt whatever he was meaning to keep a secret out anyway. Takeru’s honest almost to a fault, though knowing when he’s lying when he doesn’t blab is pretty easy to tell, too.

He’ll often give himself away by how uneasy he looks or by how much he hints at the topic and laughs is the lie is over something like a prank. tl;dr don’t trust him to keep your secrets unless it’s about your link vrains account

📏 — How does your muse adjust to others that are taller or shorter to them?

Takeru’s pretty average when it comes to height, though he’s much more used to adjusting himself for shorter people than he is anyone taller than him. Back at home, Kiku was shorter, so being her personal tool to reach things (and grumbling through every second of it) had become a normal things for him when the two of them were together.

⏰ — What is the first thing your muse does after getting out of bed?

If it’s not searching the top of the stand beside his bed for his glasses, then it’s shaking his head to move his hair out of his face before he goes to look for his glasses. The side swept sweep to Takeru’s front bangs is mostly natural, but after a night of tossing in bed, sometimes his hair needs a little help moving itself out of Takeru’s line of sight before he can do anything else.

🛋 — Does your muse sit on one end of the sofa, in the middle, on an arm, or sprawled across it?

That depends on where Takeru is and who the sofa belongs to. Takeru tends to show a lot of respect whenever he’s anywhere but his own place, so he’ll take up one seat on any spot of the sofa he’s directed to. In his own room, however? He’ll sprawl all over his own sofa (or bed) and not care at all.

In Alt Uni verse, Yusaku’s bed tends to be taken over by Takeru a lot for the sake that they share a dorm and Takeru’s comfortable with the two of them sharing, too. Though Yusaku’s probably not so enthusiastic.