Waking Nightmare
Nov. 9th, 2016 10:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamer~Dreamer~
Main Points:
Yugioh 5D's (I needed the hurt/comfort right now...), different 'verse than every single other of my 5d's stuff and yeah, I write a lot of Yusei motivational fic, don't I?
Summary: faster to read it
Word Count: 987
Rating: Gen
Jack sits up. He’s told that his Runner is still being fixed. He holds inside the snarl that if Yusei was here, he would’ve done it in less than half the time. He doesn’t voice the question if it’s all a ploy by Goodwin or, curse it, Mina. He doesn’t want to believe it, given that she’s the closest thing to a friend he’s had in a while, but at the same time she’s serving multiple masters and he’s not sure where her loyalty lies, if it comes to that.
He walks out and leans against the rail, staring at the city, feeling a shiver crawl over his skin. It’s the feeling like it’s before a storm, and he doesn’t get these ridiculous superstitious feelings. So why does it feel like lightning’s going to strike, and it’s going to be quite the show? And that it’s going to hurt someone close to him? Does anyone really fit the description, anymore?
He shivers again. It’s cold. He’s wearing the sling again (Mina had all but bludgeoned him back into putting it back on, and he’d been too tired to bother arguing about it), but it only helps so much. The bare skin against the chill night air, especially when the tank top is relatively thin, raises goosebumps, but it’s hard to tell if the chill is worry or the temperature.
And then his arm is burning. “Is someone else fighting?” He should be over there, not just sitting on the sidelines like a patient little dog!
And he closes his eyes, and he’s somewhere else.
“You deserve what you got.” A whisper in his ear, and it’s…
It’s Kiryu, leaning in to his ear, a hand trailing over the back of his shoulders, light, trailing shivers and what’s almost a subtle poison.
He can feel it. All of Yusei’s emotions—for it is Yusei, he can feel it. Just as he can feel that he’s not alone. There’s the shrimp, horrified at the anguish she can feel from her hero. There’s the psychic, confused. And for them, it’s painful. The fall of a hero. A star.
But he’s seen it. Seen Yusei at his weakest, seen him brought to his knees. It’s not new. Well…not entirely, anyway.
He’s never felt it. Never felt this kind of despair and pain.
“You were a coward. Too weak to walk away or to stand up to me. That’s how you failed me. A true friend would have saved me.” Every word is a dagger in Yusei’s chest.
“And do you think walking away was any better?” Jack asks, unable to stay quiet any more. The words he’s about to say burn his tongue, but it’s better than letting them smoulder inside. “It was abandoning you when things got tough.”
Yusei twitches, and a look of absolute rage enters Kiryu’s eyes.
And then they all feel the coldness burning into their insides, the cold liquid that begins to spread.
Jack feels his body separate from Yusei’s. Sees the others appear to the sides. Sees a pained Yusei twisted in sheets, covered in sweat.
Akiza and the brat are at a loss. Guess it’s up to Jack, then. That’s fine. He hadn’t said what he needs to say.
“Yusei, come on. You’ve always stood by your friends, no matter how idiotic that may be. It annoys me, but it’s one of the things I admire. And if any of you bring this up, I’ll deny it as a fever dream.” He leans in and allows himself to hug his friend to him, noting exactly how skinny he is. The shivering doesn’t stop, and Yusei weakly struggles, thinking that he’s an enemy to fight. “Stop fighting and just relax, Yusei. Get better. These Dark Signers won’t defeat themselves, after all. And I refuse to let you use your wounds as an excuse.”
Akiza untangles his legs from the sheets silently. She might be crying.
“Yusei?” the kid asks, desperate, and eventually eyes open.
“…Jack?” He’s groggy, still second-guessing himself.
“Thank goodness. We were worried,” the red-head relaxes, but the girl’s smarter than that.
“It’s not over, is it? Yusei, I…Maybe I’m not the person to inspire the most confidence, but I need you to know that as a Signer I’ll help you, however I can.”
“You’re an idiot if you think you have to take all of this on on your own. I’m not letting you steal all the credit. But then, if you’re listening to Kiryu’s lies, you’re clearly an idiot.”
“Jack!” Akiza scolds, but he has Yusei’s attention and that’s all he needs.
“We were just kids. I don’t know about you, but I saved the best for last. You can’t blame yourself for acting differently back then than you would have today.” He takes a deep breath. “We all made the mistake of not trusting each other enough. I should have known that as your friend, you would’ve helped me, but I didn’t think I could depend on anyone.” His lips twist into a smirk. “I know better now. I hope you do as well. But if you’re letting the words of the darkness creep in, know that I will obliterate any weakness inside you.”
“Jack!” The kid, betrayed. He can feel that betrayal, a scar on his heart. But he’s not weak enough for it to overwhelm him.
He feels the tentative hope stir again within Yusei’s heart, feel the quiet way Yusei pushes back against the Signer bond through the burning on his arm. “I hear you, Jack.” There’s still doubt. He doesn’t even have to ask the question—how they’re possibly going to win against something that powerfully oppressive. Nor does he have to voice his answer. It resonates through them each, through the bond they share. Together.
Yusei gets the slightest hint of a smile. It’s not much, but it’s rare enough these days, and it’s enough.
