#bigbirdshipping

....

He’d been away for a week. That was it, just one week.

He came back, and the first thing he’d done was collapse into bed, worn out from work, and from being away from home and the familiar, even if it wasn’t for long. He didn’t notice at the time how she wasn’t in it, even at that late hour.

The next morning, he opened the fridge only to find that anything that hadn’t been used up since he’d left was either out of date or nearly at that.

All in all, it wasn’t anything they could cook a meal with. Or rather, nothing he could, since he was pretty sure Carly didn’t really stop to think about food often when she was really gunning for a story.

He found her looking half dead at her laptop, typing away as if she’d been at it all night. He sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder and expecting the jump that came with the unexpected touch.

“Save your work and shut down for a while,” he said to her confusion and horror. “We’re going shopping.”

“What – but – the story-!”

“The fridge is empty, I’m starving, and no, instant ramen don’t make a good meal three times a day,” he added dryly.

Carly slumped in her chair, staring longingly at the screen.

“Come on,” he said softly. “If you just keep going like that, you’re going to drive yourself into the ground. Which won’t do any of us any good – or the story.”

She sighed again, but nodded up at him, biting her lip. He left her to freshen up and get ready for a day of food shopping, wondering what it was that made him the designated caretaker of people who needed to be reminded to eat and generally take care of themselves.

He’d say that it was a layover from remembering how he’d died, from not having enough and suffering the consequences, but Yuusei had been like that before then, when they were in the team together, so it couldn’t just be that.

...

She wasn’t there when they first met Kiryu. That first time, it had all been wary introductions and figuring each other out. First impressions meant a lot, and if they hadn’t liked the look of him, then they might never have met again.

But they’d met up again a few days later, and not long after Kiryu had explained his true goal of uniting Satellite, did a new person appear.

At first, they were on edge – was this a new duellist? Could they be trusted? Were they a threat? Whoever it was, they’d overheard the plans.

But Kiryu didn’t bat an eyelid, just glancing over casually to where the newcomer – a girl, one with dark hair and glasses – had come in.

“Yo, Carly! These are the guys I was telling you about! Jack, Yuusei, Crow, this is Carly – we’ve known each other a while now!”

She could be trusted, then. And by the way she was excitedly saying hello, and trying to get to know them all, not a bad person to know, either.

It ended up that she wouldn’t be a part of the team, however. She’d laughed off the suggestion when Jack had brought it up, saying that the others were the ones who were the amazing duellists, not her, even if Kiryu did say that her duel wasn’t too shabby – something the other duellists took to be the high compliment it was.

The first time they took out another team was a thrill ride, full of each of them wondering if they were being completely mental, wondering if something would go wrong and they’d have to find new duel disks.

The idea of the duel cuffs had been Kiryu’s, and it was only fitting in some ways – that their most risky part of the entire operation was founded by the guy who thought that all they needed was to break through everyone’s defences and attacks with sheer guts and determination.

The four of them returned to base elated that night, after a series of intense duels, adrenaline running high, and Crow had, from somewhere, managed to filch some drinks that were harder than what they’d been used to from growing up, and more than they’d be allowed in most places.

None of them were really old enough, but none of them really cared – Yuusei declined at first, but even he had a bit, just as a celebratory drink between friends. The five of them spent hours talking over strategies, reminiscing over each individual duel, and looking to the future, which now didn’t seem so dark or so nerve-wracking. They could – and they would – do this.

Carly, who they’d gotten to know over the course of the week and a half leading up to the first real fight, had flung herself onto Kiryu in the midst of it all. Which had led to a fair bit more than hugging, making the other members of the team look away, made Jack jokingly try to cover Crow’s eyes, and Crow, unimpressed by any of their antics – or the idea that he was really that innocent at thirteen – tell them to get a room already.

None of them had actually expected the two to take him up on the suggestion.

Or that they wouldn’t see their team leader and his female friend until the next morning, both of them looking a bit ruffled, more than a bit embarrassed for a while, before Kiryu started to turn the embarrassment into a weapon to turn against his younger friends.

It wasn’t long before they were planning the next strike, which went well, and the next, and at that point, it seemed like they were on a roll. Celebrations weren’t as much of a massive deal now, since they were far more confident that they’d go in to win, and they were already gaining a reputation.

It was just before the fourth that Carly fell sick.

At first, they thought that she must have eaten something bad – it wasn’t unheard of, for someone to get poisoned by out of date or badly made food – but they’d all been eating the same things, and they knew she didn’t have any allergies, so that couldn’t be it either.

She was better by the time they had to go, however, so she reassured them and smilingly pushed Kiryu away when he tried to take her temperature, a slight blush rising to her cheeks as he put his face against her forehead. She’d be fine, she said – it was probably just a fluke, and if they were going to do this like they’d planned, they’d better leave soon.

So, leave they had.

They marked the fourth sector in black the next morning upon their arrival, but were dismayed to find that Carly had been throwing up again.

Regardless of her protests, their next strikes were put on hold, none of the team wanting to sacrifice their friend – and Kiryu’s more than friend – for the sake of winning their duels. Satellite had waited for them this long. It could take a little while longer.

After another few days of Carly throwing up at odd times, the suggestion was made to take her to Martha, to see if there was anything she could do, any light she could shed on the matter.

The trip there was spent in tense, shaky conversation, not quite the usual banter they were used to from each other – but being unsure of what exactly was wrong with a close friend did that to the dynamic.

Carly herself felt guilty that she was the one causing them to be upset, no matter how often the others told her that her wellbeing and happiness were just as important.

But they all trusted Martha, because if she hadn’t brought them up, then three of the five of them had known her for a damn long time, and it wasn’t often that people like her appeared in Satellite, who just wanted to help people, and had the means to at least try.

So they answered as truthfully as they could to all the questions she gave them – what had she been eating? Was she well other than this? Feeling tired, feverish, dizzy? How long did the bouts of sickness last? Had she been eating well? How long had it been going on for?

After a while, she seemed to have had enough and cut off one of Crow’s answers with a grim wave of her hand, and with deep frown on her face she took Carly aside into another room as they all watched and waited with baited breath.

They weren’t expecting to hear a startled and dismayed shriek come from the other room, something that caused Kiryu to get up out of his seat and he was halfway across the room before the door opened again anyway.

Martha came back in to them, still looking grim and serious, more so than they were used to seeing her since they’d brought Crow back to her with a broken arm once.

Her eyes drifted over them, and for some reason as she passed them the younger boys felt relieved that her gaze hadn’t settled on them.

“Hm… Kiryu Kyousuke-kun, is it?”

“Eh?”

“Any good with kids? Other than my boys. I mean children.”

The other three there were more focused on trying to figure out what she meant and figuring out Kiryu’s many strange expressions at the question to notice Carly in the background, who, while she had been looking rather pale now, was gaining quite the red in her face.

“Ah? I mean. Not really – I’ve never-”

Martha crossed her arms, tapping one finger contemplatively against her arm.

“Mnn. Well, if I were you, Kiryu-kun, I’d get good, and fast. Carly-chan here says she hasn’t been with anyone else – I should hope my boys aren’t fool enough for that kind of thing – so it only stands to reason that you’re the one who’s going to become a father, young man.”

The whole room, apart from Carly herself with her eyes to the floor, turned to look at Kiryu. Kiryu, who’d gone white, staring right at Martha, and then at Carly and back again.

Kiryu swallowed. Took a step back, hand reaching behind him for the seat he’d left behind, and sat down, heavily.

That wasn’t anything he’d planned for.

Then again, that was sort of the point. None of them had.

And now, in Satellite, where things like protection weren’t always easy to find – well, family planning and all that was a thing of the City, not the slums. Why waste skilled doctors on the people who weren’t worth anything, right?

Except, because of that…

He snuck a glance at Carly, wondering what she thought of the whole situation. After all, he was the one who’d got her into it. Although, she’d been just as involved at the time-

He stopped himself from letting those thoughts take him too far. This wasn’t the time or place. Besides, his head felt odd, kind of fuzzed.

“Kiryu – oi, Kiryu, breathe, dammit!”