#ygo rare pair week

[rosalind-hawkins]

Title: I Can't Help But Laugh

Rating: G

Ship: Ryou Bakura x Joey Wheeler x Seto Kaiba

Word Count: 365

Tags: Soulmates, Red String of Fate, High School, Abstract, Short One Shot

Summary:

Ryou Bakura has the gift to see everyone's Red String of Fate that connects them to their soulmates. He's not prepared for meeting his own soulmates, or the fact that they hate each other.

Teaseshipping for @ygorarepairweek Day 1: Soulmates.

[iamallyetnotatall]

Part 2 - Random chance is going to determine what ship I'm going to write for Rare Pair Week's Free Day prompt! Woot woot!

[over-roaming-waves]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga), Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Meiou Setsuna/Ishizu Ishtar Characters: Sailor Pluto - Character, Meiou Setsuna, Ishizu Ishtar Additional Tags: Spying, because I think Pluto knows when people are looking into the past or future, but i could be wrong, falling in love before even meeting, or never meeting, guarding the time gate gets boring, things are wierd, what with being outside of time and all that, Sailor Moon Rare Pair Week 2023 Series: Part 1 of Sailor Moon Rare Pair Week 2023 Summary:

Things such as the past and future have no meaning for a woman that lives outside of all that... at least it should. but sometimes Pluto finds herself attached to people, despite everything.

[tiredgremlintime]

Why are there so many events in August

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

Mochi Date

YGO Rare Pair Week Day 8

Prompt: Free Day!

Pairing: Kuaidul Velgear/Fukamura

Word Count: 1035

Summary: Kuaidul asks Fukamura out on a date and feeds him mochi.

Author's Note: This fic involves two characters currently involved (in Fukamura's case, introduced in) Go Rush's 3rd season. No plot details are given away and I don't specify when this takes place but if you want to be completely spoiler blind and haven't seen at least episode 117, this could have potential spoilers.

@ygorarepairweek

“You!” The moment Kuaidul finally located Fukamura, conveniently hiding in his ball form on a park bench, he beamed brightly and pointed him down. “You’re coming with me, cat man!”

Kuaidul charged at the little ball of darkman and scooped him into his arms with a happy little hum. Fukamura let out a startled yelp.

“What?! Why?!” The darkman was squirming in protest. “What are you doing?! I haven't done anything to your brother, I swear!”

“Oh, I know!” Kuaidul couldn’t help but chuckle. “You know I trust you!”

“Then why?! What is this?!” Fukamura bounced out of Kuaidul’s arms and onto the ground.

Kuaidul chuckled again. Putting his hand on his chest, he cleared his throat. “Kuaidul Velgear, the lone space warrior following his heart’s compass, requests a date with you, Fukamura.”

“H-huh?” Fukamura’s absolute terror was replaced by total bewilderment. “You want to… what?”

“Oh?” Kuaidul chuckled to hide his nerves. “You haven’t heard of dating?”

“I have!” Fukamura shouted louder than he intended to, his cheeks bright red. “But…” His ball form’s arm raised to point an accusing finger at Kuaidul. “Why would YOU want to date ME?”

Kuaidul grinned a little. “I happen to find you attractive. Is that so strange?”

Fukamura looked away, fidgeting with his fingers. “I didn’t think you found anyone attractive… Besides maybe yourself.”

“Ha!” Kuaidul couldn’t help but huff with laughter. “So you admit I’m very attractive? Is that a yes then, you adorable creature of darkness?”

Fukamura frowned, raising his hand to his chin. “Would I have to leave my society-avoiding domain?”

“Not if you don't want to. After all, I can always just do this.” Kuaidul went over and scooped Fukamura’s ball form into his arms again, ruffling his hair with his fingers.

Against his better judgement, Fukamura broke into a brief purr. He struggled to bite it back as he replied,

“I guess… I’m curious what a date… with someone like you… on Earth would entail.”

“Perfect!” Kuaidul couldn’t help but hug the squishy little Darkman, making Fukamura groan in annoyance a bit.

“So… did you have a plan?” Fukamura asked after a while of being hugged.

“I didn’t think I'd get this far!” Kuaidul exclaimed, louder than he needed to.

“O-oh…” Fukamura couldn’t help but laugh a little.

Kuaidul held Fukamura up, staring up at him with a bright smile. “Do you like food? I can cook!”

Fukamura raised an eyebrow. “YOU can cook?”

Kuaidul nodded eagerly. “When I can steal Maki-san’s kitchen for a while, yes! I indeed can and do cook! What would you like? I assume not udon? Since that would be cannibalism for you?”

“U-um…” Fukamura buried his face in his ball form, overwhelmed by all the questions, and the fear that Kuaidul might drop him as a prank. “I-I like… mochi…”

Kuaidul blinked. “You want to eat mochi as a meal? I thought that was a dessert?”

“U-uh, well-”

“I like your style, Fukamura!” Kuaidul cut in excitedly before Fukamura could think of a reply. “Mochi for lunch it is!”

He carried Fukamura's ball form all the way to Maki’s kitchen, still holding him when he greeted her.

“Greetings! Kuaidul Velgear, brother of Yudias, requests-”

“You want to use my kitchen again,” Maki cut in.

Kuaidul’s eye twitched for a moment. “Yes indeed! I am going to create mochi for my new boyfriend!”

He presented Fukamura to her. The darkman shied further into his ball form with a startled ‘eep’.

Maki let out a confused chuckle. “Ooookay… Well, you’ve yet to completely destroy my kitchen so far so…” She was taking steps backwards out of the kitchen as she spoke. “Do your… thing with your… ball friend there.”

“Gladly!” Kuaidul placed Fukamura aside on a stool before grabbing his trusty cookbook and flipping through it. “Let’s see… Mochi, mochi… Mochi! Found it!”

Kuaidul grabbed all of the ingredients and instantly got to baking the recipe.

“And voila!” Kuaidul did a fancy twirl to turn around and show the completed tray of mochi to Fukamura. “A sweet mochi lunch for my sweet little boyfriend!”

“Can you really call me your boyfriend when it’s only a first date?” Fukamura asked, looking away.

“Are you implying you don’t want a second date with me?” Kuaidul asked, placing the tray of mochi aside.

“That… um… depends…” Fukamura put his hands over his red blushing face.

“On how much you like my mochi?” Kuaidul asked, taking a piece of mochi in his fingers.

Fukamura frowned at him, huffing in annoyance. “It’s hard to mess up mochi.”

“Then I should have no problem securing that second date, huh?” Kuaidul winked as he held a piece of mochi up to Fukamura’s face.

The Darkman’s gaze shifted to the treat. Licking his lips, Fukamura took the piece of mochi in his mouth and ate it one bite. He let out a small delighted squeak.

“Ah. So I did well then,” Kuaidul remarked, patting Fukamura on the head as he would a cat.

“Th-this is…” Fukamura buried his face back in his ball form, his next words almost too quiet for Kuaidul to hear. “This is the best mochi I’ve ever had…”

Kuaidul immediately scooped Fukamura in his arms again, exclaiming, “And you’re the best boyfriend I’ve ever had!”

Fukamura poked his head out, raising an eyebrow.

“How many boyfriends have you had?”

“One!” Kuaidul was beaming ear to ear as he answered.

Fukamura sighed, unable to fight back a smile. Kuaidul carried Fukamura over to the nearby table, placing him in one of the chairs and the tray of mochi on the table. Fukamura fully emerged from his ball form to sit in the chair.

“Have as many as you like, cutie,” Kuaidul slid the tray over to Fukamura. “I made plenty.”

Fukamura’s cheeks reddened further. “Only if you eat some of it too… it would feel weird to just… have you stare at me while I eat.”

“Alright.” Kuaidul sat in the chair next to Fukamura, taking a piece of mochi in his fingers. “Deal.”

Fukamura looked away with a smile. Kuaidul was, unfortunately, growing on him… Slowly but surely… The idea of that second date was sounding more and more appealing to Fukamura…

[enemyoflactose]

Kiddyshipping for ygo rare pair week

Sweet/dessert 🩷

[cyberdragoninfinity]

Highsidershipping let's gooooo-! (Seriously I thought I was the only one who shipped it so I'm glad to see you do too)

Personally i hc Yusei as ace and Primo as possibly aroace (i say this like i dont hit every character with the ace canon) so to me they have a qpr except neither realises it-

Anyway, how do you see this ship? And would it be in any form in the Pizzeria au

RISE UP MY 4 OTHER HIGHRISERSHIPPERS...absolute plight of a niche ygo spinoff ship, I shouldn't be baffled it's extremely difficult to find folks hyping yuseiprimo up and YET. NONETHELESS I STILL AM. it's sooo so underrated

For me I have like... honestly a little solar systems of different explorations and reads on them that I like thinking about and rotating around in my head. I loooove yugioh QPRs/platonic spins on ships/the ways in which a bond can be nonromantic and still tremendously deep (and I myself hc Yusei as aro bi (and probably some degree of ace too)!!!)( hitting characters left and right with the ace beam🤝 hitting characters left and right with the aro beam solidarity) so really all of the versions of this pair in my head are in some sort of nebulous nonromantic space. I think in canon as we have it I really just enjoy Primo having effectively a crush on Yusei and being so mad about it and not knowing what to do so he's just going to become psychosexually obsessed with him about it lmfao. Peak 19 Year Old Behaviors.

But I do very much think in another time, another place, where things didn't have to go the way they went, I think Yusei could've been able to show Primo a kindness and warmth he's never really had properly before (as I explored in my rare pair week comic), and that makes me SOOOO SOFT. GRAAUGH. The stone walls of someone stubbornly believing he has no one to love and is unloveable himself being broken down to smithereens by patient, quiet empathy makes me WILDDDD.

(i also really. really love this element of yuseiprimo echoing zoneporia in a way-- "is the attraction i feel for you of my own volition or is it the afterimage of the long dead man i was made from?" on primo's end is something i think endlessly about. ideas of being appreciated and loved for who you are. that's my SHIT!!!)

God though "qpr but they dont realize it," that's the kind of spin ive been cooking quietly in my. Increasingly Extensive Postcanon 5D's AU that's been taking up a lot of mental real estate as of late lol. i need to make art/talk more about it so bad. Anyway the sandbox of a postcanon living Primo realizing his vendetta against Yusei has no teeth anymore and is just pointless rage, and of a Yusei still quietly grieving Bruno and realizing he has more in common with his former obsessive android enemy than he realized...waaauughh i have MANY A THOUGHT ABOUT IT. THERE IS A BOND THERE AND I THINK IT COULD BE REAL. 🙏 ALSO THEY R BI4BI AUTISTIC4AUTISTIC. TO ME.

As for pizza AU, it doesn't really show up there! Only because ygo character kind of got inserted into the AU at different times and at comically different ages, and the maturity gap between Primo (19 year old line cook) and Yusei (~early-mid 30's year old with a house and several cars on blocks in his front yard) is just. Grand Canyon Wide behehehe. I think it'd be funny if Primo had a smoldering infuriating one-sided crush on Yusei though (since he does order pizzas from them and has a bit of a Thing with bruno~)

[yugioh-rare-pair-poll]

Welcome to the Yugioh 5Ds Rare Pair poll

Well, it looks like Yugioh 5Ds won the poll. And since that's the people's choice, we're going forward. Now then, rev up your engines as we pit various rare pairs against each other to find that diamond in the rough. Those two who go against the tide for their own romance, and do it in style. Or perhaps there's a pair who are all wrong for each other but just spark something in you. Like a bike crash you just can't look away from. Y'all have two weeks to submit your pairings, so don't hesitate.

Now then, just as a reminder, we don't bash any pairings here. This is a online poll, not a crusade, so let's be civil here. Anyone that does not follow this shall be banned.

Rules:

This will be a single elimination style bracket, with the size determining how big the tournament is.

No Multi-pairings. I enjoy them just as much as the next person, but they deserve their own separate poll.

No pairings from the other YGO series. But you can include characters who are from the manga.

Ban list (AKA these are the popular pairings here and we're trying to highlight those that are overlooked): Fudou Yuusei/Izayoi Aki, Jack Atlas/Carly Nagisa, Jack Atlas/Fudou Yuusei, Divine/Izayoi Aki, Fudou Yuusei/Kiryuu Kyousuke, Jack Atlas/Crow Hogan, Fudou Yuusei/Crow Hogan, Brave/Crow Hogan, Bruno | Antinomy/Fudou Yuusei, Rua/Ruka (Yu-Gi-Oh)

Link to the form is Here!!!!

[whiteclericmaris]

Ok so this is really silly BUT I am in the mood to draw a "YGO rare pair" (for the upcoming YGO Rare Pair Week). The problem is, I can't decide what ship (am procrastinating drawing what I am inspired to draw).

So this is where you come in. I will draw a YGO Rare pair and will post it for the prompt "Free Day". Note: It has to constitute as a Rare pair and can't be OC x Canon per rules of the week. I'm mostly familiar with Arc-V and do have some Rare NOTP's (Mostly Dennis and Yuri [the character] ships.) I can also do Vrains and a bit of 5d's as well.

Feel free to list your YGO Rare pair and I'll see what I come up with.

[merryfortune]

tagge my @chancellorxofxtrash thank u

Rules: Make a post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how nondescript or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and post a little snippet or tell them something about it! And tag as many people as you have WIPs.

rare pair exchange for [redacted]

5 days of ygo femslash + landscape

5 days of ygo femslash + monster

5 days of ygo femslash + greyscale

5 days of ygo femsash + theory

ygo rare pair week 2024 + tag duel

ygo rare pair week + firsts

season of kink + tentacles (2022)

season of kink + free kink (2022)

tagging @4lmog @chibicrow @seasaltmemories @wayfinderrinku and @entamewitchlulu but no pressure!

[higuchimon]

Ok, I am seriously considering taking part in the upcoming YGO Rare Pairs Week. I have all but one ship decided, and the final slot, I'm waffling over. So I decided to ask advice. In a poll. Whichever it ends up being will be written & posted late in the week.

[rosalind-hawkins]

Title: And They Were Roommates Rating: Teen Word Count: 4224 Pairing: Joey Wheeler x Ryou Bakura x Tristan Taylor Tags: Drama, Running Away, Angst, Repressed Trauma, Friends to Lovers, Established Relationship, Developing Relationship, These Boys Are Bad At Feelings, Joey is still half feral Summary:

Ryou lives with both of his boyfriends, but they're not with each other–yet. Joey's relationship with Tristan is developing in a way that he's not prepared for, and when he's forced to confront it before he's ready, he responds... poorly. But, he's determined to make things right.

Gift for @kira-quartz! Sorry this took so long, it's not easy to write arguments. I really hope you enjoy this story! This is a bit of a different Joey than I usually write. This one still has a bit of a wild side from the old days.

[iamallyetnotatall]

I made little banners 🥰. I had so much fun with this week! Definitely got me inspired to write some really random stuff aha!

For YGO Rare Pair Week (2024 edition!) we have:

Day 1 - Soulmates Ship: Fragileshipping (Ryou x Atem)

[the-cryptographer]

Not really ao3 worthy at this point (I'd like to edit and contemplate a second chapter), but here's a little something I wrote for the most important day of @rainstormcolors YGO Super Rare Pair Week.

Atem/Haga & some cracky dimensional travel to the Insect Queen's Lair.

~~

“You can’t be serious about going back in there?!”

Haga’s question came out in a deranged screech. And Atem leaned back and away from the gnash of his teeth. The putrid cowardice of his being.

Disdain was an uncomfortable feeling, like something slimy on your tongue. Atem got angry to cover the taste.

“You would leave your friend behind?!” he demanded. “In the depths of that hive?!”

“The bugs have probably torn him to death already!” Haga protested.

His brow scrunched. His beady black eyes looked very large, magnified behind the lens of his glasses. They were the same gold frames with the scarab as he’d wore in Atem’s dimension. Or Yuugi’s dimension, maybe. Atem wondered where he’d gotten them, and where he’d gotten that brown jumpsuit he was wearing.

Before Atem could ponder on that more, he realised with sudden horror that there were tears beading in Haga’s eyes as well, enlarged by the lens.

“That wasn’t what I asked anyhow!” Haga hissed. “He’s not your friend in there! You’re the one that shouldn’t be serious about it?!”

Atem crossed his arms over his chest, looked into Haga’s face for some betrayal – something underhanded waiting to be uncovered.

“Jounouchi liked Ryuuzaki,” Atem said. A friend of Jounouchi’s was a friend of his. And Ryuuzaki was Haga’s friend. Which make them unfortunate friends-in-law.

“Jounouchi?” Haga sneered. “That bleach-blonde thug thought he was better than us. As if his ugly face wasn’t just as unpopular with the girls.”

“Girls?” Atem blinked.

“Feh,” Haga spat. “It was just Ryuuzaki and me back when- Just don’t act like you care!”

He stomped off. Only as far as the other end of the cave, thank Ra. They didn’t need to draw unwanted attention.

Though Atem suspected it wouldn’t matter in the end. This place stank like dung and honey, sweet and rotten. No corner untouched by those insect monsters, the Korogashi. It was empty for now, but he and Haga would be found eventually.

Atem tried to summon his Ka – Black Luster, the three Gods, Mana and Mahaad, Exodia. But he couldn’t get his Ba to manifest.

He wondered if he’d have been able to with one of Kaiba’s duel disks.

Thinking about Kaiba made Atem angry again. Angry and infuriated and a little heartsick. Even if Atem himself was stuck in this hellish dimension, he hoped Kaiba had made it back home safely to Mokuba. He hoped Kaiba hadn’t just splintered and fragmented the entire fabric of the universe, like an amateur jeweler getting overenthusiastic with a diamond and a pair of shears.

Yeah, big fucking thanks to your stupid boyfriend~ It was impossible to tell Priest Set’s sneer from Insector Haga’s.

“He’s not my-!” Atem reared on his companion. “Don’t talk about him like that!”

Because no matter how frustrated Atem was with Kaiba, Kaiba had thought everything and the whole universe was worth risking to come see Atem again. Not Yuugi, and not the Pharaoh, but Atem as a person. And Atem wouldn’t let anyone else call him stupid for that.

The world winked out and then winked back in with a flash of blue light.

It was still the cave – the borough of these insects. Dung and honey.

“What did I do?!” Haga whined.

He was looking at Atem like he hadn’t even said anything. Maybe he even hadn’t.

Atem let out a groan of frustration. The problem was he didn’t know. Haga took advantage of things like this. Made doubt yourself. Made you trust him before he turned on you.

“Oh, you mean Jounouchi?” Haga sneered. His eyes narrowed with sudden sadistic focus. “Did you ever show him that costume then?”

Haga pointed at Atem’s forehead and laughed, an ugly nasally thing. And it took Atem a moment to realise he was pointing to the golden eye of Wedjat.

Atem looked down at his white and purple Pharaoh's robes, from the dimension he’d come from. As foreign to Haga as Haga’s own brown jumpsuit was to Atem.

“So you never did show Jounouchi, your precious ‘friend’?!” Haga laughed. “I guess you knew he’d think you were worth as little as us, if he knew you were an Egyptian mythology otaku! Or do you also think you were better than us, Yuugi?”

Haga let out a derisive snort.

“Let me set it straight for you!” he shouted. “Dinosaurs are better than pyramids any day of the week! And bugs are better than both of them!”

Atem felt a little deflated. He was never going to understand why dinosaurs and bugs and pyramids were worth shouting over like this but-

“I’m not Yuugi,” he said.

“What you have a character name for your Live Action Role Play?” Haga mocked. “You have to be cuter to get me to call you Cleopatra~”

“No, I’m not Yuugi,” Atem insisted.

Haga blinked. Readjusted his glasses. Blinked, like maybe in the dim light of the cave, through the fog of these different dimensions, he was seeing for the first time Atem’s coiled hair and dark skin.

“You knew I wasn’t Yuugi!” Atem felt furious now. “You taunted me! You pretended to rip his soul apart, when he was trapped in the Seal of Orichalcos!”

“W-What are you talking about, Yuugi?” Haga said. “We haven’t seen one another since you destroyed my Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth at Duellist Kingdom… And that was before… um… There was a disaster… My brother’s pesticide business…”

Haga scratched the back of his head.

“How did I get here?” he asked.

It occurred to Atem that this might not be his Haga. That they might have come from totally disparate planes of existence, and were only meeting here briefly in this strange dimension.

Haga didn’t seem to be taking this well.

“How did I get here, Yuugi?!” he demanded. And when Atem had no answer for him, he flared up. “This is all your fault! If you hadn’t distracted me, Ryuuzaki wouldn’t have been captured by those-!”

There was a loud scuttling sound echoing through the caves. Something scraping the edges of the tunnel.

“Quiet!” Atem hissed. He lunged forward and pressed his hand over Haga’s mouth.

Haga might have made things difficult for Atem if he tried. Because even if he was a hair shorter than Atem, he was stockier, less lean.

But for some reason Haga didn’t make trouble. And, distracted by the problem at hand, Atem pressed them both towards the burough’s smallest darkest corner, where he thought they might be overlooked by their approaching assailant.

The Korogashi rolled its mound into the cavern, scuttled, pincers snapping.

They said the monster crushed its foes with the dung it rolled, but Atem didn’t thought it could have crushed them all by itself. These insects monsters were as large as people, or larger. Like holographs but solid. Like pain.

Atem closed his eyes, and tried once more to summon something from his Ba. Not even caring whose hand he reached, as long as it was someone’s. Then-

“Boh!”

Something popped into existence.

Atem blinked, and the first thing he saw was Haga’s eyes, wide as saucers. He followed them to the Ka he’d summoned.

“Boh! Boh! Boh!” Kuriboh said. Its eyes narrowed in determination. And it gave a salute, before bouncing off through the cavern.

Atem heard rather than saw the Korogashi turn and follow in pursuit.

He waited a moment in silence then, when he was sure the monsters had gone, became very suddenly aware of Haga’s lips damp against his palm.

Atem dropped his hand quickly and stepped back.

Haga seemed to come to himself, slapped Atem further away. His pale face looked very pink in the dim light.

“…Are you alright?” Atem asked.

Haga’s flush deepened, but he didn’t bother answering, or even meeting Atem’s eyes.

“Ugh! It doesn’t make any sense!” Haga cried.

“It doesn’t?” Atem said stupidly. Mostly because a lot of things weren’t making much sense right now.

He thought about the Kuriboh. He hoped it would be okay. Manage to escape the insects.

“Honeypot ants are one thing,” Haga was saying. “But dung beetles don’t live in colonies! They live in mated pairs! They shouldn’t be organised like this!”

“Right,” Atem said.

“Unless…” Haga snapped his fingers. “Insect Queen!” he said. “They must be answering to the Insect Queen.”

“…Right,” Atem said. He didn’t understand how Haga was reaching these conclusions but, well… Even if Atem couldn’t trust Haga, he definitely trusted that Haga knew more about insects than him.

And maybe that knowledge would be useful right now.

“These common bugs are one thing,” Haga was fretting, “but if the Insect Queen has Ryuuzaki… But could I betray my Queen for…”

Atem feel like he suddenly knew everything he needed. “You plan to go after Ryuuzaki?”

“That’s what I said from the start!” Haga snapped. “You’re the one that shouldn’t-”

“Then I’ll help you,” Atem said.

Even if the universe shattered. Even if this dimension was going to fade out like a dying star.

And who knew? Maybe Kaiba or Mahaad or Mana would still find a way to save them.

But even if this was the end of everything, helping two friends reunite wouldn’t be the worst way for Atem to spend his last moments.

“It seems I’m still able to summon low level Ka,” he said. “With my Ka, and your knowledge of insects, we can put together a strategy to rescue Ryuuzaki.”

He turned and started out the cavern.

“Let’s go,” he commanded. “We’ll plan as we move. I don’t work well if I’ve gone on the defensive too long.”

“Uugh!” Haga groaned. But he fell into step, running to catch up. “Who do you think you are bossing me around like that?!” he demanded. “Who put you in charge of everything?!”

“Atem.” He didn’t bother answering the question about who’d put him in charge. “My name is Atem.”

[tiredgremlintime]

YGO Rare Pair Week Day 1:Soulmates|Tag Duels|Secret Relationship

@ygorarepairweek

WOOOOOO I FINISHED IT I wanted to do both soulmates and tag duels so I combined both! Aztecshipping tag duel my beloved…..

EDIT: Added in Yuma’s duel gazer

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

The Name on his Wrist

YGO Rare Pair Week Day 1

Prompt: Soulmates

Pair: Judai Yuki/Ryo Marufuji

Word Count: 1174

Summary: Ryo has had the name “Judai Yuki” on his wrist his entire life and is very interested when Judai arrives at Duel Academy.

“Examinee number one hundred ten: Judai Yuki.”

Those words over the intercom instantly piqued Ryo’s interest. His eyes went wide and his chin lifted slightly, a reaction he hoped was subtle enough for Asuka right beside him not to catch. Thankfully, she didn’t. Her eyes were on the duelling arena where the soon to be new Academia students were having their practical entrance exams far below.

However, none of that interested Ryo now. Making sure no one was looking, Ryo pulled the sleeve of his uniform down enough to see the name written on his wrist: ‘Judai Yuki’. Ryo looked back at the arena.

There he was: Judai Yuki, a scrappy looking young-man with spiked brown hair and a face of joyous and determined ferocity, clearly a duelist who duelled purely for the fun and thrill and for no other greater purpose. So… if the writing Ryo had on his wrist since birth was to be believed… this ‘Judai Yuki’ was his soulmate?

Ryo gave the idea some thought as he watched him duel. Judai Yuki, just as Ryo had presumed, was a joyful and determined duelist, having fun even when he was on the brink of losing and rarely losing his infectious smile. He was so unlike Ryo, though, he supposed, opposites did attract…

Still, Ryo didn’t want to force anything. If the two of them truly were meant to be soulmates, they would come together naturally, when fate decided they would. That was… if Ryo was Judai’s soulmate too… Surely that would be the case but Ryo didn’t want to be too… presumptuous. Or perhaps that was him trying to protect himself from potential heartbreak.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for this to come to pass. Perhaps a few weeks or so into his first school year, Judai approached Ryo for a duel, which Ryo won. Even despite that however, Judai kept his positive attitude. Ryo couldn't help but smile. It was a refreshing change of pace from the classmates, sometimes even in his own dorm, who were… very ungracious when they lost. Not to mention, Judai was a duelist with an infinite amount of potential. Ryo in his mind had already reached his peak. Judai however could keep climbing beyond the peaks and into the stars so long as he kept his positive attitude.

There was no other real contender for Ryo's graduation duel. He chose Judai the moment the question was posed to him and, once Judai started duelling in his usual fun-loving risky way, he was in fact Ryo's perfect opponent. Perfect in an… beautifully imperfect way. He was like Ryo's exact opposite, excelling in all the ways Ryo felt he himself was lacking.

Ryo finally believed it: Judai Yuki was his soulmate.

He knew it, Judai likely knew it, and yet it remained completely unspoken between the two of them for years. Ryo kept waiting for Judai to say something, anything. Yet he never did. Was this Judai not his soulmate after all? Did Judai, Ryo's heart ached at the very idea of such a thing: have a different soulmate? Was he… waiting for Ryo to make the first move? That didn't really seem like Judai's style…

Finally, the day before Judai's graduation ceremony, Ryo decided to swallow his pride and request Judai meet him in the nurse's room he was staying in so they could talk. A poor possibly rejected confession had to be better than none at all… right?

The door opened, revealing Judai.

“Hi, Kaiser… You wanted to talk to me?” His tone was calm and almost reserved, nothing like how he was back in his first year.

Ryo knew, not exactly the finer details, but the fact that Judai's last two years had been incredibly hard for him, and that he could never be who he was in his first year again. Duelling for fun, something that came so naturally to Judai back then, was something he was now learning to do again.

Ryo, for his part, wasn't unchanged either. He'd, for lack of a better term, gone off the deep end, completely abandoning his honourable duels in favour of a blind fruitless pursuit of power. Duelling had brought immense pain to both Judai and Ryo. Yet despite that, both of them had decided that they wanted to keep duelling anyways. They were still soulmates. Ryo was certain of that.

“Judai…” Ryo dipped his head to him. “Yes. There is something I'd like to discuss with you.”

“Oh? What is it?” Judai sat in one of the chairs across from Ryo's bed.

Ryo heaved himself into his wheelchair. As he tugged the wheelchair closer to Judai, he wondered how exactly he should go about doing this.

“Kaiser?” Judai tilted his head to the side.

Ryo took a deep breath. After a few more moments, he decided to just rip the bandaid off and pulled the sleeve of his jacket up far enough so his wrist was visible. Judai stared at him, confused, before his gaze shifted to Ryo's wrist. He blinked, his eyes widening ever so slightly.

“Judai… Yuki…?” Judai read each syllable slowly, as though he couldn't believe the sight of his own name on Ryo's wrist.

Ryo nodded. “I wasn’t sure how to tell you… but even the day my heart stopped, it never wavered from you.”

Judai’s breath caught in his throat in a small gasp. “O-oh… K-Kaiser… Ryo… I… I’m… touched…” He looked away, biting his lip.

The beginnings of the smile that had formed on Ryo’s face faded instantly as anxiety moved in place of his momentary joy.

“But…?” Ryo prompted, bracing for heartbreak.

“Well… I just…” Judai pulled up his own sleeve. “I never told you because… I wasn’t sure… how you would react…”

He held his arm up in a way that Ryo could see it and… he was immediately dumbfounded. On Judai’s arm was not one name, as Ryo had seen on not just his wrist but every wrist with a name he’d seen, but three: Yubel, Johan Andersen, and Ryo Marufuji. Ryo had no clue what such a sight could even mean.

“Three… soulmates?” Was all he could manage at first. “I… I didn’t know such a thing was… possible…”

“I didn’t really get it either…” Judai admitted, his gaze shifting to the window. There was a distant look in his eyes as he explained. “Yubel was really confused too. But… upon meeting all three of you, I felt a sort of… spiritual connection to each of you, for different but… similar reasons. I think… you must all be my soulmates somehow. I’m… not sure what that will mean for me but… I hope it’s okay with you…”

Ryo chuckled softly. “It is, Judai. It’s unexpected and quite unorthodox but so are you. I could never be disappointed about you being you.”

“Heh… thank you… Ryo.”

Judai broke into a small toothy smile, so reminiscent of the ones from when he was a first year. Ryo couldn’t help but smile as well at the sight.