“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.”

alright, i started shipping bruno/jun when i was about... 18 i believe? it was when i was a late teen. it started out as a joke but then it became more. it was basically like: "jun would find bruno attractive, and be extremely shy about expressing it."

jun would drop hints that he likes him, but it would fly over his head. i just kept on thinking about their dynamic and it just grew over time! i have so many thoughts, about how they met and fell in love... all of that stuff. i'm just insane for them.

jun (flustered moron) x bruno (oblivious cutie)... that's the most simple way i can put their dynamic. i'm so glad i can share this stupid couple that's been brewing in my head for years.

by the by: they started dating because jun challenged bruno to a duel. which was: "if i win, you go on a date with me! but if you win, you can decide if we can or not!"

yes, he got the advice from THE fubuking... the master of love!

bruno accepts the duel, even though he doesn't really duel too often. they duel, jun loses because he got flustered. bruno still takes him on a date and everyone is happy. jun cries from joy and bruno just thinks... jun is just so passionate about everything.

yeah, i think they need to hold hands and kiss.

“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.”

“Rally… Are you sure we’re not lost?” Leo raised an eyebrow at the taller boy as he caught up to him.

Rally had stopped at a crossroads. Both routes lead down the mountain they'd hiked up, but because of that, they both looked practically identical, save for a stray boulder or fallen branch.

Sweat formed in Rally’s hairline. If he was being honest with himself, they’d been lost for a while. But he couldn’t tell Leo that! Leo would just freak out and if that happened, it would take them even longer to find the right way home! So Rally kept up the lie.

“Of course we’re not lost,” Rally insisted with a shrug and a chuckle. “What do you take me for?”

Leo frowned. “Someone who’s lost, honestly.”

“Well, I’m not!” Rally took Leo's hand, his tone boisterous. “Growing up in the Satellite gave me an innate sense of direction!”

“Yeah, for the city clearly! Not the wilderness!”

Panic slipped into Leo’s voice, making Rally stiffen. He’d been trying to give Leo a fun day out when he suggested they take this trail, not stress him out even more!

“We’re not in the wilderness, Leo,” Rally insisted, taking both of Leo’s hands this time. “We’re on a nature trail.”

“What’s the difference?!” Leo’s eyes were wild. “What’s stopping us from running into a lion or a wolf out here?!”

Rally couldn't bite back a chuckle. “The fact that neither of those animals live in this country.”

“O-oh…” Leo’s eye twitched a bit. “They don't?”

“No, they don’t. And there aren’t going to be any other dangerous animals out here. This place isn’t wild: it’s tamed countryside specifically for people to go on safe nature walks.”

“Well…” Leo’s shoulders relaxed a little. “I guess if you’re sure…” He looked back at the split path ahead. “So… Which way then…?”

“Um…”

Rally let go of Leo’s hands, turning away and discreetly flipping a coin on his finger. It landed on heads.

“This way!” Rally pointed to the left path, taking Leo’s hand in his other hand.

“Did you just flip a coin?” Leo asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Ha!” Rally forced a laugh as he led Leo down the left trail. “Good one, Leo!”

“I wasn’t- EEK!” Leo suddenly broke off with a squeal of alarm.

Rally flinched when a new weight was flung against his chest, making him stop in his tracks and instinctively throw his arms out to catch whatever it was. Turns out it was Leo jumping into his arms.

“LIZARD!” he yelled out, pointing at something.

“What?! Really?!” Rally perked up excitedly at the idea of a lizard.

Tilting his head to the side to see around Leo, he indeed caught a glimpse of a little green lizard darting off the edge of the trail and into the thick leafy undergrowth.

Rally frowned in disappointment. “Aww. I barely got to see it.”

“Lucky!” Leo wrapped his arms around Rally’s shoulders, and Rally noticed Leo was trembling. “That was so creepy! You said there wouldn’t be any wild animals out here!”

“I didn’t think we’d see a lizard,” Rally admitted in earnest. “But I wouldn’t really call a lizard ‘wild’. They’re pretty harmless to humans. A lot of people even have them as pets.”

“W-wha-? Really?!” Leo lifted his head, still not getting out of Rally’s arms as he met his gaze.

“Yeah.” Rally smiled a bit. “I honestly think lizards are really cute.”

“Well I don’t… And I don’t wanna be anywhere near another one! So! Why don't you just…” Leo gripped Rally's shoulders. “Carry me back to the city!”

Rally chuckled a bit. He thought Leo was being a little immature but wasn’t gonna complain about getting to carry him.

“Okay, no problem,” Rally replied with a shrug, continuing down the left trail.

“Thanks!” Leo’s eyes went wide for a moment. “I mean! Not that I was scared! I just didn’t want to accidentally step on a lizard since you love them so much!”

“Uh huh, uh huh.” Rally couldn’t keep the disbelief out of his tone.

It was beyond obvious that Leo was scared, Leo always tried to act tough when he was scared. Rally didn’t mind it though; it was kinda cute.

After a while of walking, Rally stopped in his tracks at the sight of two familiar figures up ahead on the trail.

“Is that…?”

“Yusei! Luna!” Leo, seemingly forgetting his fear, hopped right out of Rally’s arms and booked it down the path.

“Leo! Rally!” Luna brightened at the sight of them.

“Hey, Yusei!” Rally ran up to them as well, his hand on the back of his neck. “So you came out to find us or are you guys lost too?”

Leo staggered back with a horrified gasp. “So we WERE lost?!”

“Not anymore,” Yusei assured them quickly, dipping his head. “We figured you two might be lost so we all went out looking for you.”

“All of you?” Rally bit his lip.

Luna nodded. “Jack, Akiza, and Crow each took a different path.” She turned to Leo with an annoyed frown. “You were gone so long we got worried!”

Leo broke into a nervous chuckle. “Sorry, Luna. But I was fine! Rally was with me the whole time!”

“Yeah, I kept him safe from all the scary lizards,” Rally teased, nudging Leo's side.

H-hey! -Leo's face was bright red as he exclaimed, -I wasn't scared! I just didn't wanna hurt your feelings by accidentally stepping on them.

Luna chuckled a bit. “Well, at least we found you. Come on, let’s get back to the city.”

“And get donuts?” Leo suggested with a bright smile as he followed his sister.

Luna rolled her eyes. “Pft. No way. You’re hyper enough as it is.”

“And this…”

Sherry held Crow’s hand as she led him into the next room in their tour: a wide room with a chandelier in the centre of the ceiling and rows of windows on every extravagant wall. Crow had seen entire homes back in Satellite that were smaller than this single room was.

“…Is the ballroom,” Sherry explained, keeping their fingers entwined when they stopped in the doorway.

“Tch.” Crow rolled his eyes. “A ballroom? Seriously? What did you even use this for?”

He stiffened. Was that question too… insensitive? Thankfully, Sherry didn’t seem fazed by Crow’s slight rudeness, as she simply smiled and answered.

“For dancing, of course.” Her smile seemed almost sad as she added, “I used to step on Papa’s toes all the time when he would teach me.”

Crow stared at her. “Oh… I see.”

Sherry paused to take a deep breath, her fingers tightening around Crow’s hand.

“I haven’t danced in many years… So…” She turned to Crow with a more genuine smile. “May I… have this dance, Crow Hogan?”

Crow’s jaw dropped. “What?! You’ve gotta be jokin’! I can’t dance!”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Sherry slid her hand onto Crow’s hip as she spoke, making him let out a startled squeak. “Since I am the taller one of us two, I will be the one leading. All you have to do is try not to step on my feet.”

Crow audibly gulped, his face red at both the proximity and the idea of doing something so… Well, ‘fancy’ for lack of a better term. This felt way out of his league. Sherry herself at times like these felt way out of his league.

“I’ll uh… do my best… m-ma chérie?” The French was… well, incredibly stilted and accented, even though it was only two words. Still, Sherry smiled at the attempt.

“Merci… now…” Sherry guided Crow’s hand to her shoulder, keeping tight hold of his other hand. “You hold my shoulder, I hold your hip, we both hold hands… and then we just sort of… sway.”

Sherry was taking slow steps around the ballroom floor, keeping hold of Crow the entire time, making sure he was able to keep up and that she didn’t make any sudden movements.

“It… feels a bit silly,” Crow admitted, his smile visibly embarrassed.

Sherry smiled too. “That is because you did not grow up doing it.”

Crow shrugged. “Didn’t really get much of a chance. Not many ballrooms in the Satellite,” he replied, looking away.

“Right…” Sherry let go of Crow’s hip, holding his other hand up in preparation to twirl him.

Crow flinched, eyes wide as they met Sherry’s again. “Hey, what are ya doin?”

“Twirling you. Of course,” Sherry answered, as casually as if she were ordering tea.

The taller blonde twirled Crow around, making him squeak in surprise. He rested his hand on Sherry’s shoulder again the moment he was forwards again, nearly tripping over his own feet as he straightened out again.

“Isn’t that supposed to be the other way around?” The nervous question slipped past Crow’s lips.

“You are too short to twirl me.” There was a slight teasing in Sherry’s tone.

“I can try!” Crow insisted, his eyes narrowed.

“You can.” Sherry stopped swaying, taking hold of both of Crow’s hands as she gazed down at him. “But that does not necessarily mean you will succeed.”

Crow frowned at that. He lifted their hands the way he’d seen Sherry do, barely able to get his hand above Sherry’s head. Then had to jump to execute the twirl. Sherry chuckled as she did so, visibly dizzy when she turned to face Crow again.

“See?” Crow couldn’t help but feel smug. “Piece of cake.”

Sherry smiled and rolled her eyes. “Mhm, sure, Crow… you’re cute, you know.”

Crow’s cheeks reddened at that. “Y-yeah… you too, Sherry…”

“Can I get the usual?” Ryoken didn’t even look Kusanagi in the eye as he addressed him, his hood covering his face as he gazed blankly at the ground. He knew it would seem rude but couldn’t bring himself to care right now.

“The usual?” Ryoken flinched at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. “I’ve never met you, sir.”

Ryoken looked up, sliding his hood off. The person at the counter wasn’t Kusanagi at all: it was his younger sibling Jin, who beyond name and appearance, Ryoken didn’t know whatsoever.

Ryoken blinked. “Where’s your brother?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“On a supply run,” Jin answered with a shrug. “He figured he could trust me to run the stand for a while on my own. Wait…” Jin paused, suddenly squinting at him. “Do I… know you from somewhere? You… seem kinda familiar.”

Ryoken bit his lip. He hoped Jin wasn’t referring to their technical first meeting: when Lightning had blackmailed Revolver during their duel with Jin’s consciousness, putting their origin’s life on the line to save themself. Surely there was no way Jin could remember that after Lightning took some of their memories away…

“Well, I come here a lot,” Ryoken replied, gazing off into the distance. “Every day when neither Spectre nor I feel like cooking.”

Jin chuckled into their hand. “Ah, so it’s your lazy food.”

“Would it be offensive to you for me to consider it that way?”

Jin shrugged. “Nah, I don’t eat hot dogs, I’m a vegetarian.” They covered their mouth with both hands. “Don’t tell my brother I said that.”

Ryoken’s lip twitched up. “I won’t.”

“So uh…” Jin grabbed a hot dog with a pair of tongs. “What’cha ordering?”

Ryoken sighed, bracing for the inevitable gasp of horror. “An everything hot dog with marshmallows.”

Jin dropped their tongs. They put them aside and smirked a bit. “You’d seriously ruin perfectly good marshmallows like that?”

Ryoken huffed with laughter. Then swiftly covered it with his hand, pretending to clear his throat.

“Yes, I would.”

Jin chuckled as they set a hot dog on the grill. “One marshmallow everything hot dog coming right up.”

Ryoken gazed off into the distance as Jin grilled the hot dog, occasionally flipping and rotating it from time to time.

“Do you duel?” Jin broke the silence to ask.

Ryoken nodded.. “Yes.”

“In Link VRAINS?”

“I’m not telling you my username.”

“Don’t have to. You’re Revolver right?” Ryoken stiffened. Jin seemingly took their silence as a yes as they added, “I’ve watched all your latest duels, you’re very talented.”

“I’m not Revolver,” Ryoken insisted, turning to glare at him.

“I didn’t catch your name,” Jin suddenly put in.

“Ryoken.”

“Yep.” Jin took the hot dog off the grill, sliding it into a bun. “That's the name Yusaku and Chi-Chi said.”

Ryoken raised an eyebrow. “Chi-chi?” he repeated incredulously.

“Shoichi, my big brother.” Jin began topping the hot dog off with shredded cheese and relish as they spoke. “I call him ‘Chi-Chi’ for short. He and Yusaku told me that Revolver’s real life name is Ryoken…” They paused to meet Ryoken’s gaze with a smirk. “And that you’re really cute.”

Ryoken frowned, his face flushing. “You’re not supposed to flirt with your customers, Jin.”

Jin held their hands up. “Sorry, sorry, just telling ya what they told me.”

They returned to silently preparing the hot dog, sprinkling on some jalapeño slices and onions. Then reached for a small bag of marshmallows.

“Which of them said that?” Ryoken asked, shifting awkwardly in his spot.

Jin glanced at him. “Said you were cute?”

“Yeah, which of them said that?”

“Well… Yusaku didn’t say that exactly… His words were something like ‘it’s a shame he’s so annoying because he’s actually kinda pretty’.”

Ryoken huffed, rolling his eyes. Before he could comment though, Jin went on,

“I wouldn’t say you yourself are annoying.” They sprinkled the last of the marshmallows on before wrapping it in paper. “Though your order is really complicated.”

Ryoken chuckled into his hand. “Far from the worst thing I’ve been told about it.”

He took another moment to think about it, mostly about how Jin’s older brother was probably gonna want to kill him for this, as he took out a pen. As Jin handed him his bag, Ryoken tore off a small part of the paper bag. He placed it down against the truck and scrawled out his phone number as legibly as he could while rushing before sliding the paper onto the counter.

Ryoken’s heart palpitated, making him tremble slightly. “See you around.” He walked off with his food before Jin could answer.

“Yuma, my dearest angel.”

Alito's dark wings fluttered in the breeze behind him as he stared deeply into Yuma’s eyes. He was his beloved, who bore white feathery wings, a stark contrast to his dark jagged ones, sticking from his back and a halo on his head.

“You are the light to my darkness,” Alito continued, from the bottom of his dark tainted heart. “The pure and good-hearted to my dark-hearted sin, my saving grace, my only salvation in this cruel unforgiving world.”

The Barian ran his fingers across the halo stabbed through the top of Yuma’s helmet-like hair, to which Yuma rolled his eyes. Alito got to one knee as though he were about to propose. Then he took Yuma’s hands.

“We are torn apart by our diverging destinies,” he went on, his hand on his chest as his tone became grave. “By my countless crimes, yet we meet here, beneath the faint moonlight, hidden away from all the hatred and bloodshed to share in each other’s suffering and find solace in each other as kindred spirits.”

Yuma heaved a sigh. “Alito, these are literally just Halloween costumes.”

“Not to me!” Alito gasped, clearly offended. “We were once torn apart by destiny! And because of my crimes, I am like a demon, drowned in darkness and evil, only to be saved by the beauty of your angelic light.”

He kissed Yuma’s hand before standing up and adding, “But yes I do recognise that the second intent of wearing these costumes was to go and get candy.”

“Yeah.” Yuma sighed heavily. “So can we go do that please?”