Chapter Text
TRIGGER WARNINGS: self harm mention, drug use, sexual assault?, regular assault/violence, possibly others but those are the main ones I caught.
11: Reach
“KIRYU’S MISSING?!”
Perhaps, Jack thought as the heart rate monitor started beeping so furiously that a nurse ran in, he should have told Yusei this information in a different way, other than "Kiryu’s gone missing."
“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Yusei told the nurse, trying to get out of bed.
“Sir, you need bed rest! Please calm down!”
“I can’t calm down!” Yusei shouted. “I have to find Kiryu! Jack, how could you be so irresponsible?!”
Although this was the most coherent Yusei had been since he had landed himself in the hospital, Jack was completely outraged at that statement.
“Me irresponsible?!” He swelled up with fury. “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t thrown yourself on my boyfriend when you practically already had a boyfriend of your own! And then you have some psychotic manic episode or something and land yourself in the hospital and I have to go around doing everyone’s chores! I’ve had to take care of Aki’s court crap all week and I had to keep checking on you! If anyone is fucking irresponsible it’s you, Yusei! I know you’re only eighteen and Kiryu and I are twenty-one slash two, but Jesus fucking Christ, grow up!”
The entire room was silent except for the heart rate monitor’s beeps. The nurse quietly exited the room. Jack was so furious he was shaking.
“You’re right…” Yusei said quietly. “It’s all my fault… and I hate myself…”
“No no no no! You can’t keep doing this either!” Jack snapped, but in a much calmer tone. “You sitting here hating yourself doesn’t fix the problem or prevent future problems. You need to change, Yusei. You can’t keep acting like this.”
“Okay, here’s an idea,” Yusei said in a sarcastic tone. “You get diagnosed with manic depression and then come talk to me about how to act!”
“You don’t know anything about me,” Jack said. And then he left, but not without first telling a nurse that Yusei should be put on suicide watch. He didn’t want another burning incident.
“Where are we?” Kiryu asked as they entered a place that smelled of smoke and rang of loud bass music.
“My favorite club,” Crow told him. “You’ll like it here. You’ll fit right in.”
Somehow, I don’t think so, Kiryu thought as they passed a seedy-looking group of guys smoking something that definitely wasn’t a cigarette.
“Uh, Crow… I don’t really…”
But Crow wasn’t listening. He sat at the bar and the scary barman greeted him like an old friend.
“Crow the Bullet, my man! It’s been a while! I was beginning to think they locked you up again.”
“Nah, no one can catch me,” Crow bragged.
“You’ve been arrested?!” Kiryu spat.
“Hey, who’s your pretty friend?” the barkeeper asked, gesturing to Kiryu.
“This is Kiryu, an old childhood friend of mine. He’ll have the Crow Bullet special.” He winked at the barkeeper and motioned for Kiryu to sit down.
“I really shouldn’t drink while on medication,” Kiryu said, sitting down. Well, Yusei wasn’t here to be responsible for him, so someone had to be.
“One drink won’t hurt,” Crow waved him off. “And I’ll have what I always have.”
I guess one wouldn’t hurt… Kiryu decided. Just one drink.
“So what’s this about you being arrested?” Kiryu asked again as the drinks were being concocted.
“Sometimes Crow the Bullet doesn’t always make a clean getaway,” Crow shrugged.
“So, more stealing?”
“I can neither deny nor confirm that.”
Trying to get a straight answer out of Crow was like pulling teeth. Frustrated, Kiryu changed the subject.
“I was arrested, too.” Maybe if he opened up more, so would Crow.
“Really?” Crow seemed genuinely surprised. “What for?”
“I stabbed someone in an alley.”
“Whoa, geez man. And you’re giving me heat for pickpocketing.”
“I wasn’t myself at the time. You are yourself when you steal.” The drinks came and were passed down to Kiryu and Crow.
“So is that how you ended up in the looney bin?” Crow asked, taking big swigs of his drink.
“I’ve been hospitalized multiple times. I have schizophrenia. At the time, I thought I was on an island called Satellite and that Security, the officers of the law there, were after me, and I needed to take them down. I thought that guy was a Security officer, so I tried to kill him. Then Yusei found me and I thought he was conspiring against me so I tried to kill him, too.”
“So did anybody die?”
“No, thank goodness. I was arrested but I was completely delusional. They took me to the hospital and put me in a straitjacket and shot me up with sedatives.”
“Nice.”
“It wasn’t nice. I could have killed someone that night, Crow. I could have killed Yusei…” Kiryu took a sip of his drink. It wasn’t bad, for an alcoholic drink.
“So how’d you end up in the hospital this time?” Crow asked.
“I tried to kill a guy who was keeping a girl in his basement. The plan was to distract him so Yusei could save her, but I was under the delusion that Yusei secretly wanted me to kill him.”
“Geez, you with the killing people. You’re dangerous, man.”
“I know.” Kiryu sighed and took a large gulp of his drink. “I should be locked away forever in a padded room, away from society. One of these days… Crow… I’m really scared that one of these day I’ll just break and I really will kill someone. I don’t want to kill anyone.”
“Then… just don’t kill anyone,” Crow said, and Kiryu snorted into his drink.
“It’s not that simple. You don’t understand what it’s like to be under a delusion. When I’m gone like that, my brain tells me “this is the way things are, this is what is happening” and in my head it is happening. No amount of logic or sense can convince me otherwise because these delusions are written in my brain as fact.”
Crow had finished his drink and ordered a second one. Kiryu was starting to feel kind of funny. He’d only had half his drink.
“I don’t think I should drink this anymore,” Kiryu said, pushing it away.
“If you don’t drink it all, the drug won’t work right,” Crow said, starting on his second drink.
“What? What drug?”
“Ecstasy.”
The room was definitely spinning now.
“You put Ecstasy in my drink?!”
“Yeah. I told you we were going to have fun today.” Crow smiled genuinely, as though he was doing Kiryu a kindness, and pushed his drink back to him. “Drink up and you’ll stop feeling so sick.”
By now it was getting hard for Kiryu to think. He drank more of the drink and his stomach stopped flipping and the room stopped spinning so much. Kiryu was trying to be angry at Crow for drugging him, but he was finding it hard to be angry about anything right now. In fact, everything was wonderful! He had absolutely no worries in the entire world! He’d never been so relaxed and joyous before!
“Crow…” he said with a wide smile and a giggle. Crow could tell that the drug had kicked in.
“Do you want me to show you a good time?” Crow asked.
“Yeah,” Kiryu nodded dreamily. “I wanna do everything.”
“Wow, you hooked an easy one this time,” the barkeep snorted.
“He really is my childhood friend,” Crow said. “So I’ll be… somewhat respectful.” He took Kiryu by the wrist and led him further into the club, where all the music was coming from.
*FWUP*
That was the third time today Placido had accidentally knocked into something. He cursed and rubbed his head. Damn spots in his eyes.
“You’re such a klutz today,” Antinomy teased him. Placido scowled at him. He turned and ran right into Bruno.
“Gahh!”
Placido was really starting to get pissed off now.
“Watch where you’re going!” he spat, rubbing his eye again.
“Placido, I think you need to watch where you’re going,” Antinomy said as a hurt-looking Bruno scuttled away before Placido could do any more damage to him. “You keep bumping into things on your right side and rubbing your right eye. Is there something wrong?”
“I’m fine! I’ve just got a headache, that’s all,” Placido lied, but now up close Antinomy could tell that there was something wrong with Placido’s right eye. It wasn’t dilating like his left eye. When Placido realized Antinomy was examining his eye and not leaning in to kiss him, he pushed him away.
“The hell are you doing?!” he snapped, offended.
Antinomy put his hand over Placido’s left eye and held up three fingers.
“How many fingers am I holding up?”
“None, once I break them off!”
Placido shoved him away again.
“Why are you being such a dick about this?” Antinomy asked. “If something’s wrong with your eye, you need to get it checked by a doctor.”
“I told you, I’m fucking fine. Now, do you want to find this Crow guy or not?”
Bruno was still cowering in a corner, away from Placido.
“Fine, but I’m not giving up about your eye.”
“Whatever.”
Placido began typing on Antinomy’s laptop.
“These are the directions to the bar we used to go to.”
“‘We used to go to’? You mean you were friends with this guy?”
Placido rubbed his eye again.
“Look, I know him, okay? Can we just leave it at that?”
“No,” Antinomy said, folding his arms. “Did you have a relationship with him?”
“It wasn’t a relationship,” Placido told him exasperatedly. “I used to go to that club a lot and so did he and a little… group sort of started.”
Placido wouldn’t say any more, so Antinomy had to keep prying.
“What did your “little group” do exactly?”
Placido looked very uncomfortable.
“Well, it was a bar, so we drank. And a club, so we danced.”
“And is that all?”
“Why does it fucking matter?!” Placido slammed his hands down on the table.
“It matters because you’re obviously trying to hide something from me!” Antinomy said, staring him down. “You’re the one who said this is a two-way street, remember?”
“Well, hey look! A dead end!” Placido said sarcastically, storming out of the hotel room to go back to his private one, alone.
Antinomy let out a snort of frustration and then jotted down the address from the computer.
“Well, this is a good place to start,” Antinomy said. “Come on, Bruno. We have a Kiryu to find.”
Bruno, who had been quietly cowering in his corner, finally stepped forward.
“I still don’t know why you put up with that guy.”
“Who, Placido?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, that makes two of us.”
In the elevator on the way to the top floor, Placido found that suddenly he was overheated. He rapidly broke out in a sweat. He shed his hallmark white hoodie, but that barely helped. His vision seemed even more fucked up than it had earlier. If he could just make it to his room…
Placido stumbled out of the elevator. His body felt heavy and weak. What the hell was happening? Dehydration maybe? He used the wall for support and took deep breaths, willing himself not to pass out. He could feel his clothes becoming soaked with sweat. His stomach was churning terribly but he had to will himself to at least make it to his room.
Finally, after what seemed like the longest journey of his life, Placido was at his door. He shakily got out his key card and slipped it into the door lock. He stumbled inside and immediately into the bathroom to throw up. Then he lay on the bathroom floor, panting.
The fuck is wrong with me?! Placido thought wildly. There was blood in my vomit. I’m pretty sure that’s not a good sign. There’s no way this could be… No, it can’t happen to me… I never got tested but… Shit. No. There’s nothing wrong. This will pass. I’m overreacting. I don’t have it… I don’t have it…!
In the back of his mind, Placido knew. But there was no way he would admit it. He could feel more vomit rising from his stomach so he sat up to throw up again. Then, with shaky hands, he took out his phone.
What do I do now?
Jack had gone back to the police station to report Kiryu missing. All they could do was put out an Silver Alert and keep an eye out for the person Jack described. He didn’t bother reporting the theft; Jack didn’t want even more court stuff to deal with. 500 dollars was nothing. He’d already called his father and had him cancel the credit cards that were stolen. That left his and Kiryu’s emergency ones. He could always get more cash at an ATM. Right now, he just needed to find Kiryu.
On his way back to his apartment, his phone began to ring. Thinking it was something Kiryu-related, he answered it immediately without even looking at the caller ID.
“Hello, Jack speaking.”
“…….Jack………..”
Jack instantly recognized Placido’s voice. But he sounded… weird.
“Placido? Are you okay?”
His breathing sounded labored.
“I don’t… I don’t think so….”
Placido was saying each word very slowly and a bit slurred, almost like he was really drunk. Was this a drunk call?
“Where’s Antinomy? Is he okay? Where are you?” Jack’s mind start jumping to bad conclusions.
“I’m in my room and I’m really sick and I don’t want Antinomy to know.”
Now Jack was confused. Maybe he and Antinomy had gotten into a fight and he went out drinking and did something bad that he didn’t want Antinomy to know about?
“You’re in your room? You have your own room?”
“Please, just come to the hotel on 31st street. I’m on the top floor, room 1001. I think I need to go to the hospital…”
Jack stopped walking. It occurred to him that Placido was probably trying to seduce him. He knew what had happened between him and Bruno, and now he had his own room and said he didn’t want Antinomy to know. This was just a ploy to get him to come over.
“Placido, I don’t have time for this! I have to find my cousin before something happens to him! If you’re really sick, get Antinomy to take you the hospital!”
“I don’t want him to know. Please, it’s… personal. I called the front desk and told them to give the spare key to my room to Jack Atlas Godwin.”
Jack had to admit, if Placido was acting, he was doing a very good job.
“I swear to GOD, Placido, if you’re just really drunk and this is a ruse to get me to come to your room, I will fucking give you a reason to go to the hospital!”
Suddenly Jack heard what sounded like someone throwing up, and then the phone clattering as if it had fallen to the ground.
“Placido?!”
He heard a thump and then nothing at all. Placido hadn’t hung up the phone though.
“Placido?! Hey, Placido?!”
He wasn’t answering. Jack hung up with a noise of frustration and began heading to Placido’s hotel. Placido had better be deathly ill, because if he was going to make Jack go all that way to see him, he was going to the hospital one way or another.
“Jack Atlas Godwin, here for room 1001,” Jack said, showing the receptionist his driver’s license. She checked it and then handed Jack a key card. He took the elevator to the top floor and made his way to Placido’s room. He knocked first and said, “Placido? I’m coming in. You’d better be wearing something and it better be appropriate.”
He opened the door. None of the lights were on.
Of course, typical Placido.
“Game’s over, Placido! This isn’t fucking funny!” Jack snarled, flipping the light switch on. He stomped into the bed area but found that no one was in the bed.
“Placido?!” He checked the room and almost passed by the bathroom, but decided to glance in. He did a double take and turned on the light.
“Oh my god, Placido?!”
Placido was lying on the floor, eyes rolled back, and his body was shaking violently.
“What the- Jesus Christ!” Jack rolled him onto his side. He’d never seen someone have a seizure before and wasn’t sure what to do. You were supposed to keep them on their side, right? Panicking, Jack whipped out his phone to call for an ambulance. No time to try to drive Placido himself. This hotel was blocks away from his.
So Placido had been telling the truth… But why didn’t he want Antinomy to know about this?
We ought to just rent out a floor of the hospital, Jack thought with frustration as he waited for his 911 call to go through.
“I don’t like the look of this place,” Bruno whispered to his brother as they walked down several unsavory streets trying to find address Antinomy had written on a piece of paper.
“Well, it doesn’t surprise me, considering Placido’s history, I suppose…” Antinomy sighed.
“His history?”
“Uh… well, it’s his business. After Jack broke up him he kind of… went off the deep end and did a lot of questionable things. This is apparently one of those questionable things.”
“Well, I guess we have that in common,” Bruno muttered bitterly.
“I suggest you don’t follow in Placido’s footsteps. He’s pretty messed up now, if you couldn’t tell.”
“Well, maybe you haven’t noticed but I’m not doing so great either.”
“I’ve noticed, Bruno. That’s why I’m warning you.”
Bruno was silent the rest of the walk. Maybe he wanted to go crazy for a bit. He wouldn’t be extreme like Placido. Just enough to get Jack and Yusei off his mind.
“I think this is it,” Antinomy said, looking up at an old neon sign that said X-TASTY.
“What the heck kind of name is that?”
“A strip club one, maybe?”
Bruno really didn’t want to go in, but at the same time he wanted to do something reckless.
“It’s our only lead for finding Kiryu,” Bruno said out loud, as if trying to justify his decision. He started walking down the dirty steps to the entrance. Antinomy followed right behind him.
It appeared to be a bar with some kind of club in the back. The barkeeper gave them a suspicious look when the two brothers walked in. Antinomy had on Johnny’s goggles which kept his face looking neutral and concealed his identity a bit. He walked right up to the barkeeper and said, “Do you know a Crow Hogan?”
“Are you guys cops?” the barkeeper asked.
“No,” Antinomy replied.
“Yeah, I know him. Who wants to know?”
“I have business with him.”
The barkeeper looked around.
“Crow don’t do that no more,” he said.
“Do what?” Antinomy asked truthfully.
“The service you are asking for. He’s done with that. He works for himself now. You’ll have to look elsewhere.”
“I think you misunderstand,” Antinomy replied. “I just need to talk to him.”
“Crow don’t talk to just anybody. You tell it to me and I’ll tell ‘im.”
“It’s a private matter.”
“Mr. Hogan is busy at the moment. Come back later.”
Antinomy narrowed his eyes.
“Tell me where he is or I will call the cops,” Antinomy threatened.
“I ain’t got nothing to hide.”
“Then you won’t mind if me and my brother go have a look around.”
“Get out of my bar!” the barkeeper yelled, and two large guys in suits and sunglasses began to walk towards them menacingly.
“He’s in here, find him!” Antinomy said to Bruno, shoving him in the direction of the club. “I’ll hold these guys off.”
“A-Ant…!”
“Go!”
Bruno didn’t have time to stick around. He shot into the back of the bar, into the seedy club. The music hit him like an invisible wall. Bruno was skilled at sneaking around and hiding, so he was able to get in without drawing attention to himself.
It was hard to think with that loud music blaring in his ears. Looking around, Bruno assessed his surroundings.
It was definitely some kind of strip club, maybe even worse than that. He saw a guy hand another guy money, and then lead a dancer into a back hall labelled “XXX”. Was this some kind of sex hotel?
“Can I help you, sir?” A charming man came up to Bruno, smiling. Bruno’s heart swooned a little, but he had to remind himself this was not the time for that.
“I’m looking for a Crow Hogan,” Bruno said, deciding to be bold.
“He doesn’t work here anymore, I’m afraid,” the man told him.
“Oh, s-sorry to bother you then…”
“He is visiting, however.”
Bruno’s ears perked.
“Could I speak to him, please?” Bruno tried to ask cutely.
“He’s entertaining an old friend of his right now. I don’t think he wants to be disturbed.”
Bruno had to think of something fast.
“I know. I’m here to join them.”
Please believe that, Bruno thought desperately.
“Oh, my apologies, sir. This way.”
Bruno could not believe his luck. Either this guy was gullible or he was just lucky. The man led him into the XXX hall. Bruno had a very bad feeling about this. He stopped at room 202 and knocked.
“Occupied!” an annoyed voice came from the other side.
“Sir, sorry for interrupting, but your other guest has arrived.”
“Other guest?”
The man unlocked the door with a key and opened it for Bruno. What Bruno saw made his jaw drop.
There was that ginger guy Jack had been making out with a few days ago, and Kiryu was in bed on top of him! They both looked at Bruno and Bruno saw that Kiryu’s eyes were fully dilated, as though his eyes were just pupils now.
“Hey, it’s Bruno~” Kiryu said in a singsong voice.
“You know this guy?” Crow asked.
“You’re that ginger guy I saw kissing Jack a few nights ago!” Bruno huffed.
“You kissed Jack?” Kiryu giggled.
“Who the hell is this guy? Get out!” Crow yelled.
“Kiryu, what’s going on? Everyone’s worried about you!” Bruno said, ignoring Crow.
“Relax, Bruno,” Kiryu said nonchalantly. “This is Crow, my childhood friend.”
“It seems like you’re more than friends,” Bruno said coolly. Poor Yusei… after he just told me he’s in love with Kiryu…
“No, Crow’s just teaching me some things to make me better,” Kiryu laughed. Crow smiled smugly at Bruno.
“Right,” Crow said, waving Bruno away. “So, shoo. Go away, blueberry head.”
Bruno stood there, thinking hard for a moment. He could just walk away right now, tell Yusei what he saw, and that would be that. That would give him the advantage on Yusei. But… Something just wasn’t right about this. Kiryu wasn’t normal. He didn’t even seem delusional. He seemed… high. His pupils were completely dilated and he just seemed so lightheadedly happy, like he didn’t have any worries at all. That was very unlike him, and Bruno had only known him a short time.
No… he had to do the right thing. Even if the wrong thing might end more happily for him. The right thing would hopefully end happily for Yusei. And that was who really mattered here. Kiryu, too.
“Kiryu, put on your pants and let’s go. Yusei’s worried about you.”
“He’s not going anywhere with you!” Crow snapped, getting out of bed to confront Bruno.
“Yusei should join us,” Kiryu said dreamily, as if he had no idea what was going on.
“Yusei’s in the hospital!” Bruno shouted as his last attempt to get through to Kiryu before Crow swung at him. Bruno jumped out of the way, bouncing around the room to dodge the crazy ginger.
“Yusei’s… in the hospital?”
Finally, Kiryu seemed to be worried.
“He’s lying, obviously,” Crow spat, still trying to get a good swing at Bruno.
“I’m not!” Bruno insisted. “He has self-inflicted burns all over his arms.”
Kiryu sat there and processed this information as Bruno continued to avoid a beating. It finally seemed like Kiryu was coming to, just a little.
“Crow,” he said. “You… You put something in my drink… I feel so… light and airy… I need to… Yusei…”
“Now look what you did!” Crow snarled. Playtime was over. He grabbed Bruno and began punching him relentlessly. Bruno was helpless. Even if he could, he wouldn’t fight back. He hated violence. He crumpled and whimpered, accepting his fate.
*WHAM*
Suddenly the punches stopped. Bruno opened his eyes to see that Kiryu had clocked Crow right in the jaw and knocked him away. Bruno scrambled to his feet.
“Thank you,” Bruno said to Kiryu, whose eyes were still highly dilated.
“I wish I didn’t have to do that,” Kiryu said, as though nothing had happened, “but Yusei needs me. He always comes first.”
Bruno’s heart panged. That was so sweet… It made his heart ache. Kiryu and Yusei were going to be so happy together… He was so jealous, but also happy for them.
“Take me to Yusei, please,” Kiryu said.
“Uh… Yes,” Bruno said. “Um… you need to put clothes on first.”
“Kiryu, you owe me!” Crow hissed from the floor, holding the side of his face.
“No, I don’t,” Kiryu dismissed him as he pulled on his pants.
“Yes, you do! Have you forgotten our old agreement?”
Bruno saw Kiryu turn rigid, trying to think back.
“Old is invalid,” Bruno said.
“You stay out of this, blueberry head!” Crow hissed. “Remember, Kiryu? I used to steal you things. In return, you said you’d owe me in the future. Time to pay up!”
Kiryu had a hard time processing this too. The drug was still impairing his ability to think.
“I owe you?” Kiryu said.
“Yes, you do.”
“No, you don’t!” Bruno shouted. “Kiryu, he’s guilt-tripping you. If you want to see Yusei, you have to come with me!”
“I want to see Yusei,” Kiryu said, walking over to Bruno.
“Okay, I really didn’t want to do this,” Crow said, standing up. He had pulled brass knuckles from nowhere and was getting into a battle mode. Kiryu stood protectively in front of Bruno. However, the drug was really impairing all his senses. He wouldn’t be able to take Crow this way. Bruno didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t call the police because there was no service where they were.
“Run!” Bruno screamed, grabbing Kiryu’s arm and bolting out the door. He didn’t care where he ran to as long as it was away from Crow. He tried to remember the way he came in. Unfortunately, the two guards who Antinomy had tried to hold off were waiting for him.
“Don’t let them get you!” Bruno told Kiryu. He used his survival skills to weave them out of danger. It was harder to avoid danger when you had to take another person into account. It was almost like a dance. Bruno threw Kiryu one way, ducked under arms, then grabbed him again and swung him around another way. Kiryu did whatever Bruno made him do. Finally, Bruno saw the exit. Only, it was being blocked by a guy.
“Kiryu, think you can take him?” Bruno asked. “That’s our only way out!”
“Aye aye, Tech Genius,” Kiryu said, and he leapt forward to take on the guy in front of the exit.
“Hey, what’s the meaning of this?!” the barkeeper yelled, taking out a bat. This scared Bruno very badly. He couldn’t leave Kiryu, though. He had to get them out of this situation now.
Without thinking, Bruno picked up a chair and hit the man fighting Kiryu in the back. He crumpled, and Bruno dropped the chair in shock.
“Nice one!” Kiryu praised him. Bruno was shaking.
“Let’s get out of here,” Bruno said, grabbing Kiryu’s wrist again and bolting out the door. He didn’t have time to look for Antinomy. He just had to get as far away from that place as possible.
Antinomy had been thrown out of the bar and told never to come back. He waited outside because the guards said they were going to find Bruno and throw him out too. When Bruno burst out of the front door with Kiryu right behind him, Antinomy could hardly believe it. He tried to get his brother’s attention but Bruno ran past him yelling, “Run, run, run!”
Antinomy didn’t need telling twice. He was right behind Bruno in an instant.
“Let’s get back to the hotel!” he yelled to his brother. “We’ll be safe there!”
“That’s thirteen blocks away!”
“We can make it!”
“Riding duel, acceleration!” Kiryu chimed in, as though this was all just a game. “Dark Glass, it’s your turn!”
“Who’s 'Dark Glass'?” both brothers asked.
“You are, stupid!” Kiryu snorted, pointing to Antinomy.
“I’m Antinomy!”
“No, your True Name is Dark Glass. Bruno’s is Tech Genius. You have to use those names when you duel!”
“Wait a minute, didn’t you just get released from the hospital?” Antinomy asked. “Shouldn’t you not be thinking things like that?”
“Crow drugged him,” Bruno informed his brother. “He’s high right now.”
“He put Ecstasy in my drink,” Kiryu giggled. “Now, it’s your turn, Dark Glass! Draw a card!”
“What? I don’t even…?!”
“Just go along with it!” Bruno hissed, now panting heavily from running. He was too afraid to stop and check if they were being followed.
“Fine! I draw a card!”
“Is it a monster, spell, or trap?”
“What? I… Monster.”
“How many stars?”
“What?”
“Stars are its level. How do you not know the rules to Duel Monsters?”
“Because you made this game up!” Antinomy snapped. “We don’t even have any cards!”
“Yusei plays with me,” Kiryu pouted.
“Then play with Yusei.”
“You’re mean,” Kiryu pouted again.
“I can’t run anymore,” Bruno huffed, stopping to catch his breath. They had only run about five or six blocks.
“I don’t think they’re following us,” Antinomy replied. “But just to be safe, let’s duck in this diner to refresh, okay?”
“Ooh! Then I can teach you how to play Duel Monsters while we eat!” Kiryu said excitedly. Antinomy was now able to see how dilated his pupils were.
“Oh boy,” Antinomy said with fake enthusiasm.
Jack was pacing furiously in the ER waiting room. He couldn’t leave because he was the only one who knew Placido was there, but at the same time he was incredibly anxious to be out doing something that might lead him to Kiryu. Jack couldn’t figure out for the life of him why Placido hadn’t wanted Antinomy to know he was sick. Why was he even listening to Placido, anyway? He should just call Antinomy and be done with. But just as he reached for his phone, a doctor called for him.
“Jack Godwin?”
“I’m Jack,” Jack replied, walking up to him.
“Please follow me into my office.”
Jack followed him, dread starting to creep through him. Did Placido die?! How could that happen?! That didn’t make sense at all! What the hell was he doing before he got sick and called Jack for help?!
Drugs, maybe?
“What’s your relationship with the patient Placido Yliaster?” the doctor asked as they sat down.
“He’s my… friend. Sort of.” Jack replied. “He didn’t die, did he?”
“No, no. He’s alive. A vein behind his right optical nerve burst and he has to have emergency surgery to stop the internal bleeding and prevent brain damage. He’s already suffered several seizures.”
Jack was completely stunned.
“How… How does that even happen?” he asked, barely able to breathe.
“You say this man is your friend?”
“Yeah…”
“Have you ever had a sexual relationship with him?”
Jack’s cheeks turned a little rosy. Why was he asking that now?
“Yeah,” he admitted bluntly.
“Then you’ll want to get tested for HIV right away, because this is what happens when you don’t treat it.”
It took a moment for Jack to process this.
“HIV? Placido has HIV?!” Jack jumped up, too anxious to sit down. He felt dizzy and nauseous and the walls seemed to be closing in.
“It seems to be untreated, so we have surmised that he didn’t know he had it and never got a test.”
Jack had to sit back down. He’d never bothered to get STD tested either. Thinking about it now, it was something he should have done at least once a year, if not more. I wonder if the o thers have gotten tested at all… He was going to force everyone to get tested after this ordeal.
“Can you test me right now?” he asked shakily.
“I can, but it will cost a lot of money.”
“Don’t worry about the money. Give me the most accurate but quickest test, please!”
“Alright, I’ll go get the kit.”
The doctor left. Jack tried to calm himself down. Placido hadn’t wanted Antinomy to know. That meant he knew he had something bad. Placido probably knew he had an STD! Why did that little fucker not get it treated?! He knew why he wouldn’t tell anyone, not that that made it right.
Fuck, we could all have HIV now! Jack thought bitterly. If anyone had it it would surely be Antinomy. He had to tell Antinomy now. This wasn’t Placido’s decision anymore. He had endangered three other lives this way, maybe more. If it ended up that Jack had gotten it from him then Bruno might have it.
Wait… what if… what if I’m the one that gave him HIV? Jack suddenly thought. Then a whole lot of other people were in danger, too. How could he have been so careless?! It wasn’t just Placido. They had both been stupid.
“So you’re telling me there are how many ways to summon a monster?” Antinomy asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.
“There’s normal summoning, tribute summoning, special summoning, fusion summoning, ritual summoning, and synchro summoning,” Kiryu replied, wolfing down his giant basket of cheese fries. “There are other ways besides those but that’s in the future and or possibly a different timeline so we can’t use those methods.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re crazy?”
“Yeah, I get that a lot.”
“Ant, that’s not nice,” Bruno said, sipping his drink.
“Sorry. Actually, it’s kind of amazing that you’ve made up this entire game in your head.”
“I didn’t make it up. It exists. Just…” Kiryu looked a little depressed. He seemed to be coming down from his high. “It exists in my world, not yours.”
“You have a world?”
“Oh, yes!” Kiryu sparked up again. “This world is called “The Universe”. My world is called “Yugioh”. I’ve only been to Satellite, the island where I live, and Neo Domino, a prosperous city that exiles those from the ghetto Satellite. That’s where Yusei was born.”
“Yusei lives in your world?”
“Everyone lives in my world. When I’m completely in that world everyone goes by their True Name. When I’m here and the worlds are blurred, it’s usually your Universe name.”
“Your world sounds interesting,” Bruno said, biting his pizza.
“It is. But it’s also scary and dangerous. It seems like everyone is always out to get me or Yusei.”
“What am I like in your world?” Bruno asked curiously.
“In my world, you and Antinomy are actually the same person,” Kiryu told him. “You are just Antinomy with his memories wiped. You’re an android from the apocalyptic future sent back in time to help Yusei save it. But Antinomy, you’re really on Zone’s side, who is trying to destroy the city in order to save the future. And Placido is one of the Machine Emperors, also on Zone’s side, who is hell-bent on killing Yusei and destroying the city.”
“Well, that explains why you don’t like Placido much,” Antinomy replied.
“He’s okay, except when the worlds get blurred. Like I said, everyone is out to get Yusei and I have to protect him. Because… he always saves me. He saves me and I protect him.”
“Do you love him?” Bruno suddenly asked, and everyone fell silent.
“…..Yeah. I love him,” Kiryu admitted. Antinomy gave Bruno a questioning look.
“Then there’s something you have to know,” Bruno sighed, putting his half-eaten pizza down. Antinomy continued to eat, knowing what was about to happen.
“About half a week ago, I was in the hotel room by myself with Jack while he was in the shower. Yusei came in and I was about to tell him that we found a place to rent because we were going to stay here for a while while you and Aki got better, when Yusei forced himself on me.”
Kiryu dropped his fork, his eyes widening and glossing over. “That’s a lie!” His voice broke, but it was obvious he knew it was true. Bruno was with Jack now. He wouldn’t lie about this.
“I wish I was lying,” Bruno sighed again. “And I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t push him off me. I guess I still have feelings for him, underneath everything. Wait, don’t look at me like that! Please let me finish my story!” Bruno had gone into panic mode because as soon as he mentioned that he still had feelings for Yusei, Kiryu’s expression turned from broken to murderous.
“Go on, then,” Kiryu breathed in a dangerously low voice. Bruno was starting to get nervous.
“A-Anyway, Jack came out of the bathroom and saw, and we both came to our senses and broke apart. It was weird, like we had both been put under a spell. Yusei more than me. I don’t think he was thinking clearly that day. And Jack just grabbed his clothes and left. Yusei looked terrified, and I was once again conflicted with my feelings for both him and Jack. So I tried to convince him to be with me.”
Kiryu scoffed and sat back in his seat. At this moment, he hated Bruno more than anyone he had hated before in his entire life. And to think he’d just started to get friendly with him! Bruno had rescued him from Crow and that damn club! And now he was telling him that he was trying to steal the man he loved?! Kiryu’s glare was so menacing that Bruno began to cower in his seat.
“But,” he went on, his voice a little shaky, “Yusei rejected me. He said he likes me, but he’s in love with you, Kiryu. He always has been and always will be. He said those exact words. And he told me to go back to Jack, that this had all just been a stupid mistake.”
Kiryu was easing up now.
“Yusei said he loves me?”
“Yeah. He kind of ripped out my heart. He destroyed the relationship I was in just to reject me. I have such great luck, don’t I?” Bruno sat back in his chair, sniffing a little. He hadn’t thought he was going to cry but he felt tears rushing up to his eyes as he recounted this bitter memory.
It was then that Kiryu realized his mistake. He had been looking at Bruno all wrong this entire time. Bruno was just another person who had happened to fall in love. It wasn’t his fault. He wasn’t purposely trying to keep Yusei from him. He just happened to feel a certain way towards Yusei, and because of that Kiryu had messed him up.
“I have to tell you something too,” Kiryu said, and Bruno looked up. “Jack only seduced you from Yusei so that you wouldn’t be with Yusei, because of my feelings for him. I mean, the whole point of this trip was so I could grow closer to him. Jack did that for me and then he ended up falling in love with you. So… I guess this is all my fault, really. I’m sorry. You should have been able to have as fair of a shot with Yusei as anyone else.”
This news was so shocking that Antinomy had forgotten he was chewing. Bruno looked stunnedinto silence, but then he sighed.
“It was your fault first, but this current ordeal is my fault. And a little bit of Yusei’s. I’m not going to pin blame on anyone. It was just a series of unfortunate events.”
“I’d really like to be your friend, Bruno.”
Bruno was a little shocked to hear that from Kiryu, since Kiryu hadn’t liked him at all from day one. He smiled.
“Thanks. I’d like that, too.”
“Are you forgetting the giant mess you’re all tied up in now?” Antinomy asked.
“I didn’t forget,” Bruno replied. “I decided that I’d help Yusei be happy, and that meant finding Kiryu. So we found Kiryu. They love each other, and that’s what matters.”
“What about you?” Kiryu asked.
“I guess I have some things to talk about with Jack,” Bruno sighed. “I’ll probably get bonus points for having rescued you, though.” He chuckled dryly.
“Are you sure you’re okay with me and Yusei?” Kiryu asked.
“Yeah,” Bruno replied. “You two are in love. You deserve to be together.”
“You and Yusei will have a lot to talk about, too,” Antinomy told Kiryu. “He’s in the hospital because he burned his arms after messing with Bruno. I guess he feels bad about what he did.”
“Hospital?!” Kiryu looked alarmed and stood up fast. “We gotta go see him right now!”
“Alright, alright. I need to pay first,” Antinomy said, fiddling for his wallet.
“I’d pay but all my stuff is- was- with Yusei,” Kiryu said apologetically.
“No sweat, bro,” Antinomy said, making sure to leave a nice tip.
The doctor said the test would take a few hours for results. Jack was too anxious to leave the hospital but too anxious to stay in it, so he walked around it from the outside, trying to clear his head. It was a big hospital. He could have gone to visit Yusei or Aki but he was too worked up to talk to anyone. Also, he was pissed off at Yusei at the moment.
After about the fifth time he completed the circuit around the building, he saw three people in the distance, two with dark blue hair, and one with frosty blue hair. Surely his eyes were playing tricks on him. He was seeing Kiryu because he wanted to see Kiryu, and the other people just happened to look like Bruno and his brother. Just to make sure, Jack kept walking towards them. The closer he got to the parking lot that they were crossing, the more and more they looked familiar.
“Kiryu?!” Jack yelled, and the frosty-haired man whipped his head around.
“Hey look, it’s Jack!” Kiryu said, pointing.
“Kiryu!” Jack was so happy he ran towards the group, throwing his arms around his cousin.
“Kiryu, thank god! I was so worried about you! Are you okay? Did Crow do anything to you? Did he rob you, too?”
“He robbed you?” Kiryu said, though it was hard to say much because Jack was crushing him. “You know Crow?”
“There was an incident,” Jack said, letting Kiryu go. “Why are you with those two?” Jack motioned to the two brothers who were looking awkward while waiting.
“They rescued me,” Kiryu told him.
“You’re welcome, by the way,” Antinomy spat at Jack. Bruno was looking at his feet.
“How’d you find him?”
“Placido apparently knew Crow from… his previous life, and knew the club he always goes to. Bruno’s the hero, though. He was able to get in and get Kiryu.”
Bruno’s cheeks turned red and he scuffed the ground with his foot. Jack glanced at him but then turned his attention back to Kiryu.
“So what are you doing here? You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No, I’m here to see Yusei,” Kiryu said, as though that should have been obvious. “What are you doing here?”
“I… had to accompany Placido here.”
“What?!” Antinomy swelled up with shock but also fury that no one had told him. “Why didn’t you tell me?! What happened?!”
“He told me not tell you. And now I am waiting for the results of an STD test, because apparently Placido has HIV and didn’t tell anyone. You should all get checked too, by the way. I’ll pay.”
Antinomy was so shocked he couldn’t even speak. His mouth was just open.
“You’re kidding,” he finally said. “It’s a joke.”
“I wouldn’t fucking kid about something like HIV. A vein burst behind Placido’s eye and they’re doing emergency surgery on him right now. He called me telling me he was sick and to come to his room. I thought he was trying to seduce me or something because he said not to tell you. But I heard him throw up and then pass out, so I thought he might be drunk and have alcohol poisoning. When I got there he was having seizures on his bathroom floor.”
“Oh my god,” Bruno said, finally looking up. Antinomy looked like he might faint.
“Yeah. So you should all get tested, even you, Kiryu, just in case. And I have no idea when Placido will be out of surgery.”
“I’ve had unprotected sex with him…!” Antinomy said faintly.
“Anthony!” Bruno exclaimed. “You always have condoms on you! Why would you do that?!”
“Well, I don’t need condoms when I sleep with guys!” Antinomy snapped back. “At least, I didn’t think I did…”
“Even I know enough to use a condom each time. We used a condom every time, didn’t we, Jack?” Bruno looked at him, as if accusing him of something.
“Uh… yeah…” Jack said, startled at being addressed by him.
“Go get tested right now!” Bruno demanded. “We all will. Then we can visit Yusei, okay, Kiryu?”
“Y-Yeah,” Kiryu agreed. Bruno grabbed his brother’s arm and pulled him inside.
“Why are you mad at me?! I’m the one who probably has HIV out of all of us!” Antinomy snapped.
“Because you’re careless and also I’m very, very scared and I’m coping with it by being angry!” Bruno snapped back. Jack and Kiryu were right behind them.
Yusei wanted so bad to burn. He knew he deserved it. But after his little spat with Jack the other day, there was always a nurse watching him. All Yusei did was sleep and eat and go to the bathroom. He wasn’t allowed to leave his room to visit Aki, and he certainly wasn’t allowed to leave to go search for Kiryu. He was so lonely that he even wished for Jack to come back. There was nothing to do all day but sleep, even though all his dreams were bad. So when Yusei opened his eyes and saw Kiryu sitting by his bed, holding his hand, he thought for sure he was still dreaming.
“Kiryu…” he whispered, and Kiryu smiled. Then Yusei came to his senses and realized this wasn’t a dream.
“K-Kiryu…!”
He sat bolt upright.
“Good morning, star shine,” Kiryu said.
“Kiryu! How did you… When did you…?!”
“Bruno rescued me. Although some credit also goes to Placido and Antinomy, but it was mostly Bruno.”
“Bruno… did…?”
“Yeah. And then he brought me here to see you.”
Yusei stared at him. Bruno had rescued him?! Bruno?! He was very confused. He thought of anyone, Bruno would care least, since Kiryu was his competition.
“Where is he?” Yusei asked.
“Downstairs waiting with his brother and Jack for Placido to get out of surgery.”
“Placido’s having surgery?”
“Apparently a lot has happened today. And… we have a lot to talk about too.”
Yusei saw him look at his bandaged arms. Suddenly tears rushed into his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he sniffed. “I’ve messed everything up. I ruined everything.”
“It’s okay,” Kiryu said, wiping a tear away with his thumb. “Yusei, you’ve been so strong for me up till now. You don’t have to be strong all the time. No one can carry the entire world on their shoulders. You’re no Atlas. And I’m not making a reference to Jack,” Kiryu quickly cut in, seeing the look on Yusei’s face, “though Jack has been taking on a lot of responsibility since you got admitted here. You’re putting too much pressure on yourself. You’re allowed to break every now and then.”
Yusei fell back onto his pillow miserably.
“But I really messed up this time,” he said. “I don’t know what came over me… I was upset, at something stupid. And I just got this impulse to do something crazy. And because I was upset with you, I wanted to make you mad, so I kissed Bruno. Now I’ve ruined his and Jack’s relationship, and mine and yours…”
“Yeah, now that’s something we have to talk about,” Kiryu said, folding his arms. “In fact, we have a lot of things we need to talk about. But not while you’re in the hospital.”
Yusei nodded.
“Alright,” he agreed. “Just… please know that I’m sorry.”
“I know you are.” Kiryu leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Hurry up and get well, before I get worse, okay?”
Yusei smiled at him. As Kiryu was leaving he stopped in the doorway and said, “Oh, by the way, Yusei…”
“Hm?” Yusei said, perking up. Kiryu narrowed his eyes seriously.
“If you and Bruno ever kiss again someone will get seriously hurt.”