#i went with a canon-divergent verse here where basically ryouga time travelled back to the start of zexal ii; instead of being resurrected

[guardiandamned]

Ryouga doesn't know how to face Yuma.

God, it pisses him off. That he's still such a coward, even now, who doesn't know what to say to the boy who should be his friend. ...Or is he an enemy?

Even now, he doesn't know what to think. It wasn't easy, turning his back on Yuma and the people he'd grown to love to fight for the Barians after remembering the truth of it all. It had been painful, hard, and cruel. ...But even that feels easier now than this shitty uncertainty that haunts him now, pulling him in two different directions, making him want to scream and just give up, but-

He can't. Not yet.

After he'd lost that duel to Yuma, he'd wanted so bad to believe that a miracle really was possible. If only he could put his faith in him one last time... but now that Ryouga's been revived, months into the past without explanation, he doesn't know what happened to the world he left behind. He doesn't know if Yuma and Astral's resolve was empty, or if they'd managed to find a way to save everyone - but even though nothing's changed... Ryouga just can't find it in himself to betray Yuma again for a second time.

"Yuma...?" Eventually, Ryouga speaks up. His heart is hammering in his chest, and he feels sick. "I... I need to talk to you for a moment. About something important."

@highfivethesky ( starter! )