SOULBURNER.

                               after the entire incident with blood shepherd, takeru had all but dashed to get home. he hadn’t spoken to anyone, hadn’t said a word to flame – despite how confident they spoke in vrains, flame knew that takeru was struggling. flame had to keep up his bravado so takeru wouldn’t fall too far into the depths of despair ( how sickeningly ironic ). deep down, flame knew that they got through the duel by the skin of their teeth – that there was a chance that blood shepherd’s set card could’ve changed all that. but there was no use in thinking about that. they could deal with that later. right now, flame had to deal with the aftermath of such a traumatic duel.

                                             takeru had all but shut himself in as soon as they got back. it was rather nostalgic, if it wasn’t so worrisome. naturally, takeru would react like this. the adrenaline had died down and he was left remembering the pain he’d tried to repress. flame emerged from the duel disk, unsure of what to do to help him, but he’d try nonetheless. he couldn’t just watch this.

                                             “ takeru. say something, homura takeru. ” even when takeru was upset he’d babble something that resembled a sentence, but the silence was unnerving. of course, flame knew the reason, knew it was from trauma that was unable to be comprehended with just words, but he didn’t know how to react when takeru had plunged so far in the depths. but by no means did that mean he’d give up. “ you know i won’t tell a soul. what is it that humans say – i’ll lend you my shoulder? i can give myself very broad shoulders, too, so please, say something before i sound too much like ai for comfort … ” // @burnssouls

when takeru made it out of link vrains, he leaves immediately, rattling off some excuse to yusaku. he doesn’t remember what it was. maybe he said he had homework to do or something. it doesn’t matter. he wanted to get away, he needed to get away as soon as possible. he felt his mask slipping. his true feelings were coming back to the surface and everything he had been suppressing was hitting him all at once. he couldn’t take it. 

he felt like he was in a daze the entire way home. when he got back to his apartment, he buried himself under the covers on his bed, his entire body shaking. he wanted to forget again. he wished he could. he never wanted to remember despair again. he had escaped, but just barely. if blood shepherd had been able to reveal his face-down... no, no, he needed to stop thinking about such things. he shouldn’t keep doing that, but his mind was racing. 

            he feels his breath hitch when she wraps her arms around him. it’s unprompted, he didn’t see it coming, and feels himself tense up. it’s kiku, it’s okay, it’s just kiku. he repeats it in his mind, trying to keep himself calm. kiku wouldn’t hurt him. no, she would never hurt him. he takes deep breath, hoping his body will stop shaking as he slowly returns the embrace. he hopes she won’t bring attention to this. 

            the hug doesn’t last too long, which he appreciates. takeru feels his nerves settle more as she pulls away. he truly is happy to see her again. she was his only friend back in his hometown. even if she didn’t know a lot about him (he chose not to share about himself), she stuck with him. she worried about him. honestly, it was annoying at times, but deep down it made him happy. someone cared about him... 

           he feels his cheeks flush at her words, “m-me? i’m...doing fine. i’ve been doing better here. i’ve even made some friends.” he couldn’t help but mention yusaku, ai, and kusanagi. he supposed flame fell under that category too. all of them were important to takeru. he didn’t want to say too much, didn’t want to put kiku in danger. “and...i started going to school again. i’m still getting used to it, but it’s not that bad.” 

          he notices her try to reach out and feels himself twitch, ready to jerk away from the contact. but she stops, which he appreciates. he meets her eyes for a moment, before his gaze goes to the side. “you don’t have to thank me.” he figured anyone would have done the same if they were in his shoes. all he did was duel ryujiro and...then what happened? he tried to remember, but he was blanking. it felt like a wall had formed and he couldn’t recall what had happened, though he felt a sense of dread. why was that? 

                                those few rings felt like forever before takeru answered. she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. she hadn’t even realized how worried she really had been until she heard his voice. she held onto her phone a little tighter. kiku knew takeru was doing what he had to do, and he was only drowning in sorrow back home, but that didn’t mean she didn’t miss him. 

                                              “ hi, takeru … i hope i’m not interrupting anything. ” kiku felt like a bother calling and texting him so much, but he hadn’t said much more than a few words here and there. it was selfish of her to take him away from what he was doing. he was supposed to have a new life now. she remembered the spark in his eyes and prayed that that hadn’t faded yet. she had to know. “ do you have time to talk? i won’t keep you too long … ” // @burnssouls from here

          "no...it's okay." even if he had been busy, kusanagi and yusaku didn't seem to be bothered by him stepping outside to take a call. and in all honesty, he did find himself missing kiku. she was the closest thing he had to a friend before he met yusaku. even if he put distance between them, kiku was always there for him. she always talked to him, worried about him, helped him. he hadn't forgotten such things. he appreciated her and cared about her, even if he had a hard time showing it. 

          he had been at cafe nagi, discussing new plans for retrieving jin’s consciousness when he heard his ringtone start playing. oh, must be his grandparents checking in or something. however, he felt his heart drop when he saw the caller id. kiku. what was he supposed to do? ignore it? no, that would be mean. as if he wasn’t already being mean by ignoring her texts or giving her short responses. it wasn’t that he didn’t want to make friends, it was that he had a hard time doing so. connecting with others was near impossible for him. yusaku was the only one thus far that was able to get past all of that. of course, it was because he was another lost incident victim. the two understood each other’s pain and went through the same hell. 

                             after the destruction of the cyberse world, flame had no other choice but to find his human counterpart. he had nowhere else to go – the others scattered to parts unknown, and teaming up with homura takeru was the best plan of action he had left. especially if takeru was willing to support him. it was a beneficial exchange to both of them. 

                                         provided takeru would get out of the house. he only ever left to help out his grandparents. even then he didn’t leave the general area and would rush back to his room as soon as possible. there was one thing that did seem to interest takeru, though. he would spend hours at a time watching playmaker duel, or looking up any information pertaining the duelist. that could be the catalyst to getting takeru into link vrains. that could be flame’s saving grace – ironically, given playmaker was the counterpart to the infamous dark ignis. 

                                          “ hey, ” without any warning, flame popped out of the duel disk, crossing his arms. he had to be subtle or he’d drive takeru right into a corner; unlike himself, takeru could be akin to a skittish animal. “ you seem pretty interested in that playmaker. do you know him? ” // @burnssouls

          takeru had been engrossed in the duel playing on his phone, his eyes practically glued to playmaker. playmaker...was just like him. he was also apart of the lost incident. flame had told him all about the purpose behind it when they met. the victims were forced to duel to create artificial intelligence that would be humanity’s successor. it made him sick. torturing kids in the name of “saving humanity”. how cruel and inhumane could people get?

          if only he could give the people behind it a piece of his mind. but no, such a thing could never happen. he was a coward. he was a shut-in. he spent the last 10 years fighting with himself, edging on ending it all. ironically, he was afraid of death, so that was what kept him alive. there were many days where he wished he could rid himself of such a fear so he could finally take his life.