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GX Month - Day 25: Power Bond

@gxmonth

The Marufuji/Truesdale brothers steal the spotlight on Sho/Syrus’ big day! That’s right! Let’s celebrate our favorite sidekick’s birthday with some quality brother bonding!

So this is a really, really late entry for Day 25 that I was working on for one freaking week! I know that the GX month is already over, and I'm gonna write one more little thing tomorrow as for closure, but now let's just enjoy some slice of life moments of our favorite pair of brothers!

This fic is a continuation of my other fic written Day 15, and takes place on Manjoume’s party, not too much after the scene with Ryo and Aurora.

Word count: 1813

It was already late night when the crowd finally seemed to loosen in the enormous hall of the Manjoume Residence. The opening ceremony of the upcoming Pro League Championship was kind of exclusive, still, Ryo was a bit frustrated for having to be there. But now, the crew finally had the chance to talk with each other besides the unwanted reporters and fans and other Pro League members, who always had asked the same few annoying questions. Maybe this approach was the reason why Ryo had always left the interviews and other social stuff to his younger brother. However, Sho wasn’t around this time, for he was chatting with Manjoume, Johan and Judai in the other corner of the hall.

He let out a silent sigh, eyes searching for the other person whose company was at least a bit enjoyable. But it appeared that Aurora wasn’t up for another cigarette this time: she was sitting beside the table with Saotome Rei, bending over her camera and giggling on something. Ryo would bet that they were viewing the pictures she had taken during the evening.

He turned away from the girls and took out his phone from his back pocket, just to distract himself.

No missed calls.

He also checked the messages, but the last ones were still the ones Nova had sent him three and one hours ago:

[Dr. N.]: Sorry I know I promised, but can’t go tonight. Have to go back to the hospital & probably stay there for the whole night as a duty. I’ll call you if anything changes.

[Dr. N.]: How’s the party going? I hope u feel ok.

But Ryo had left both of them unanswered.

Why should he care anyway? It was Nova, who always had a good reason to turn him down. That was their third failed attempt for a date, and for Ryo’s part, that was the last one as well.

“You pretty much look like someone who wants to be anywhere but here.”

A familiar voice reached his ears, and when Ryo looked aside, he saw Edo Phoenix standing next to him.

“Nice to see you too.”

“Yeah. I thought we would have time for small talks sooner, but you know. That’s the curse of popularity.”

“If you say so.”

Actually, Ryo liked Edo’s company much more since their adventures in the Dark World, but it didn’t mean that he would have had anything to say to him. Especially when his thoughts were somewhere else. Somewhere, in the City Hospital…

“How’s your brother?” Edo asked after some time, seemingly just to break the silence.

“Ask him yourself. Since he’s in the Pro Leagues, he was invited too.” Ryo gestured with his head towards the younger Marufuji, who was talking only with Johan and Judai now – their host, Majoume, had disappeared meanwhile.

“I know he’s here, I spoke with him not too long ago. But let me be more precise: how are the two of you doing?”

“Well... Since I moved into the other apartment we haven't talked much,” Ryo admitted. “Of course we are always in contact, especially because of the Cyber League, but...”

“No heart-to-heart talking?”

“Not really.”

“He must be missing you like hell, Ryo.”

“Yeah... I know.”

In the silence that had fallen, Ryo observed Edo from the corner of his eye. The pro duelist looked tired, way more tired that he could hide anymore. Still, while the two of them stood there, not too far from the front door, Ryo noticed how those deep blue eyes were resting on a certain point of the room, on a certain girl with black and purple hair and with a camera in her hands.

“And what about you two?” Ryo changed the topic suddenly. “Thought you brought Aurora for this party as a date.”

“No, it’s not like that,” Edo shook his head but obviously avoided Ryo’s gaze. “We just...”

But before Edo could continue, Manjoume appeared in the doorway, holding two suspicious bottles in both of his hands and not at all conspicuously gestured his friends to follow him. Ryo and Edo exchanged a puzzled look, then went after their host anyway. Judai, Johan, Sho, Rei and Aurora did the same.

Soon they found themselves in an upstairs lounge, where Chazz offered each of them a seat and the sake he had brought with him.

Now that there was no one else present but the crew, the atmosphere seemed to be finally loosening.

“Okay guys, so that’s the one I was talking about before,” Manjoume started as he placed a glass in front of everyone. “My brothers, Chosaku and Shouji gave this sake to me and I decided to share with all of you.”

“Wow, that’s nice of you, Manjoume-kun!”

“Yeah, suspiciously nice.”

“You know I’m still a minor, right?”

“You’re so generous, Manjoume!”

Those were Johan, Edo, Rei and Judai, in this exact order. Ryo commented it only after everyone took their first sip, with an exception of Rei. Whatever sake it was, it tasted terrible.

“I bet you just wanted to pass it off on us because it’s so bad I’m not even sure it is suitable for human consumption.”

“I must agree with Ryo,” Edo nodded as he put his glass back on the table. Now that only they were present, he and Aurora allowed themselves to get a little closer. Perhaps they didn't even realize, but as they sat side by side on the couch, Edo's knee involuntarily touched hers as he leaned forward. So much for the ‘we are just roommates’ bullshit they always try to press down everyone’s throat, Ryo thought. “I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything more disgusting than this.”

“Just shut up and drink! You all won’t go home until these two bottles won’t be empty,” Manjoume claimed, and to convince the others, he drank his glass out with a single pull.

As the night went on, and more and more of Manjoume's sake was consumed, the crew got into the spirit of fun and old stories from their school days came to the fore. They talked about those golden days when they studied together, laughed together, got into trouble together... and saved the world countless times. Ryo sat mostly in silence, and as his friends and his brother laughed at those silly and bittersweet memories, he couldn’t stop watching the latter one from the corner of his eye.

That was when his phone started to buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out to saw Dr. N. was calling him. He must furrowed his brows as he was staring at the telephone’s screen, because Sho asked him, baffled:

“Is something wrong?”

Ryo looked up his brother, who was still watching him across the table, then declined the call with a semi-conscious yet decisive movement.

“No, everything is fine, Sho, don’t worry,” he said, then added after a pause. “Excuse me, I need to go out for a while.”

He stood up from the single sofa where he was sitting and headed to the corridor. The lightheaded chatting continued before the door had closed behind him.

He was still hesitating if he should call her back. Not like he wouldn’t have wanted to see her, but... His pride still got the best of him, and he didn’t want to give Nova the victory this easily. She still had to learn that some occasional kind words weren’t enough to make Ryo jump into her arms.

The door opened again, and without turning around, he knew exactly who had followed him.

“H-hey, Ryo.”

That was Sho. Two years had passed since his brother had graduated from Duel Academia, and he was an adult now, still, neither of them could really get used to the fact yet that he called Ryo by his name. Especially Sho.

“Sho, what’s the deal?” he asked, but only gave a brief glance to his brother.

“It was Nova, who called you, didn’t she?” he got straight to the point.

“Why are you asking?” Ryo raised one eyebrow as he turned in Sho’s direction.

“I, uh, heard of you two.”

“Let me guess: Aurora?”

Well, since Aurora was Nova’s best (and maybe only) friend, it wasn’t too hard to figure it out. Especially that Edo’s annoying roommate was the only one who knew that he invited Nova for this evening.

“Yeah,” Sho admitted, eyes downcast.

“You know that I don’t really care if you’re talking about me behind my back, right?”

Sho didn’t answer and Ryo realized that his voice was way colder than he wanted to. It wasn’t his intention to scare his younger brother away or make him afraid of him. Not anymore.

But eventually, it seemed Sho wasn’t the same kid from his memories, because he suddenly looked up, straight into his brother's eyes, and a thin smile crossed his lips.

“I know, Ryo. But you should call her back.”

“Why?”

“Because you would regret it otherwise. And because I know she’s a weirdo, but still, she’s the best chance of yours to get a girlfriend finally.”

Ryo couldn’t help but smile too. His little brother really had grown up, if he had to be one who brought him to his senses.

“Are you really the one who’s telling me that?”

Sho laughed at first, then with a sudden move, he stepped closer to Ryo, hugging him tightly. The older Marufuji froze for a long moment, then awkwardly returned the hug.

“Sho... Are you drunk?”

“Yes, why?”

“Because you don’t use to hug me.”

“Now get used to it,” Sho grumbled into his brother’s shirt. “We don’t see each other that often anyway.”

“That’s true.”

They remained in the embrace for one more long moment before Sho stepped back from Ryo.

“Now go and call her already before it’s too late! I’ll be waiting for you on the inside,” he gestured to the lounge’s door with his head. His hand was already on the doorknob when Ryo shouted after him.

“Hey, Sho!”

“Yes?”

“I... I love...”

Sho’s laughed again, his eyes sparkled with happiness. And with alcohol, to be fair.

“I love you too, Ryo!” he said simply, and before his brother could have answered, he opened the door and slipped through it almost gracefully.

Ryo, now alone on the long, luxurious corridor, took out his phone again.

Sho was right. It wasn’t about his pride. It was about his hopefully bright future with this girl.

Without much hesitation, he selected Dr. N. from the list and pressed the call button. He didn’t have to wait much longer before the doctor picked up the phone.

“Ah, Ryo! Glad you called me back! Guess what, my colleague replaced me eventually, so I'm free! Still wanna meet me tonight?”

As Ryo heard her joyful voice, he hardly could stop smiling like a fool.

“Hello, Nova. Of course, I do.”

#gxmonth2021 #yugioh gx #ygo gx #marufuji ryo #marufuji sho #zane truesdale #syrus truesdale #fanfiction tag

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