Forward
A Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS oneshot

Summary: Kogami Ryoken visits the hospital after the war with the Ignis. Datastormshipping (Yusaku x Ryoken)

Den City Hospital

Ryoken had sworn he would never again set foot in another hospital. His naivete had placed six kids there. Many were sent here during the Another incident. His crimes are too obvious here.

Yet, all who had come with him to face the rogue Ignis - and had fallen - are here. As the ringleader of the group, he felt obligated at least to visit those who had gone along with his risk-filled mission, his desire to wipe out the errant Ignis who had caused so much trouble. Oddly enough, Homura - Soulburner in Link VRAINS - was the only one who had made it out of the battle physically unscathed. The only one to whom he had, in his own way, made a conscious effort to apologize.

He grit his teeth at the realization.

He had already visited Blue Maiden - Zaizen, who was no stranger to hospitals or the Lost Incident. The doctors informed him she was showing signs of progress, already having woken up and taken small bites of food, though she still fatigues easily. This was good for him - it would mean that the older brother wouldn't throw as hard of a punch if he ever saw him walking around. Or recognized him, for that matter.

And Spectre was … well, Spectre. He had maintained a severe brain injury upon returning to the real world, but his sense of bad joke telling was also as severe as ever. At least, whenever Ryoken visited with the rest of the Knights of Hanoi. If Ryoken is by himself, Spectre toned it down, oddly regretful of having been taken out by "that Ignis," he would say. If he had been obsessed with destroying the Ignis as before, he would have affirmed Spectre's regret. But, he just couldn't bring himself to criticize him. Not for losing to Lightning. Not when he had accomplished Extra Link Full Mode.

He was a comrade … a friend.

But, even with the others having woken up, there was still one who has yet to regain consciousness, even after three weeks. And it, admittedly, was eating at him with each deliberate step. Every step toward his door - that was probably still closed - filled Ryoken with feelings he'd been suppressing all along: sadness, guilt, anger.

Fear.

He had been to the hospital so many times, he didn't have to ask the nurses where the room was (as it was sectioned way off from the others) or the room number. It was ingrained in his memory:

01386 Fujiki, Yusaku

Ryoken's icy blue eyes stared at the sign. If he stared at it long enough, the door would be opened. Catching himself, he put a hand to his forehead.

"What am I, eight years old?" he laughed, leaning his head back.

At that moment, one of the nurses appeared, carrying a clipboard. Her brown eyes stared into his, as if he had intruded upon her work.

"I'm sorry. Are you here to see someone?" she asked, her apology sounding forced.

"Yes. The person in this room," he replied, pointing to the sign.

She raised her eyebrow. "Fujiki, huh? 'fraid I can't let you do that. Doctor's orders, " she replied curtly.

Ryoken sighed. The expected response, the one he'd gotten every time he's been at the hospital, and the one he didn't understand. It's not like his condition's contagious, so what's the deal? Still, he knew better than to argue with the nurse, so he said, "I understand. If you'll excuse me."

He had made it past several rooms, past the main corridor, trying to not let the disappointment express itself outwardly. What was he feeling disappointed for, anyway? What was he surprised about? Out of all of them, Playmaker was the most traumatized from this whole ordeal; physically, mentally, emotionally. Even if he wakes up, even if his physical state heals in a timely manner, there were the other two states to consider. It's very likely that he'll be locked up one way or another for a while. Months at the very least, a couple of years at most.

Ryoken sighed, sighed in a way that he never thought he was capable. A high-pitched sigh.

He was nervous. And regretful.

To think the past would come back and bite him like this.

And to think he was hurt because of him…. again.

The white-haired man made his way to the floor exit when he heard a loud swish and a low-pitch voice yelling, "He's - he's awake!" He turned around at the source of the noise and saw a handful of other doctors and nurses make their way to what looked like the room he was just in front of.

Was he finally….?

Ryoken calmly walked back, in the midst of all the hurrying medical staff, stopping right in front of Playmaker's room. The door was opened, but he couldn't see anything out of the side of his eye, other than a mass of white coats. The white-haired teen could vaguely decipher the mumble of rapid-fire questions the staff was throwing at the patient.

"What happened to you?"

"How are you feeling?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

He's awake… Ryoken realized, a little on the glad side. An involuntary smile escaped as he made his way to the right of the door, waiting for his chance to see for himself. It's not like he had any other obligations that day.

The doctors paraded out of the door, as suspected, and Ryoken used the chaos to slip inside, momentarily blinded by just how bright the room was, even brighter than the main hospital hall. When his eyes adjusted, he saw Playmaker sitting upright, slightly slouching, drinking probably some water.

"Playmaker…" Ryoken exhaled, a little too loudly.

The bedridden teen nearly dropped his cup at the sound and jerked his head towards him.

"Revolver?!" he gasped. As if he overexerted himself, he grabbed his head in pain. Ryoken gave a noise of disapproval.

"You should really take it easy," he said, walking towards him, pulling up a chair. "You've been out cold for a month."

"Wha-What are you doing here?" the other asked, still clutching his head.

He sighed, having expected the question, but had had no response prepared.

"Your friend Soulburner asked me to check on you. That's all," he lied. While it was true he and Soulburner did have a conversation prior to Ryoken stopping by, it was more about the safety of the Ignis. In fact, it'd probably kill Soulburner to find out he was here.

But Playmaker didn't need to know that.

The bedridden teen looked at Ryoken for a moment before taking another gulp of water.

"What about Kusanagi-san? His brother?" he asked. "And Lightning. What happened?"

Ryoken sighed. Another round of questions he expected. These he had answers to, but he wasn't sure he wanted Playmaker to know what those were. Although the Kusanagis were safe in physical terms, their mental states were up in the air. He had Vyra and Ghost Girl look into their condition, but it could be weeks, maybe months, before they comes up with a solution.

As for Lightning… Even he wasn't sure what had happened, although it probably means it won't be a threat for a while. It was nothing Playmaker needed to worry about.

"You just focus on getting better," he replied. "When you do that, I'll tell you."

Playmaker's eyes narrowed. "Something happened, didn't it? You're hiding something."

"Playmaker…"

"I just want to know if Kusanagi-san and his brother are okay, and you won't tell me?"

"It's for your own good -"

"Some good!" he spat, throwing an arm and catching Ryoken off-guard. He never raised his voice like this with him - at least, not that high-pitched. "I've been out since who knows when and I don't know what's going on, and keeping me in the dark is supposed to make me feel better?"

Ryoken bit his bottom lip. "I never said it'd make you feel better. I said it was for your own good."

"For crying out loud," he said, and Ryoken braced himself for another verbal assault - he did deserve it, after all. But, instead, he felt a shaky hand grip his. Looking up, he saw Playmaker, his body shivering.

"Don't. Don't you dare go anywhere," he said, his voice trembling.

Ryoken knew intellectually that he had suffered severe emotional damage, but to experience it up-close…

He could feel all the mental and emotional barriers he had built up crumbling. He thought he had been beyond feeling compassion and empathy. He thought he had thrown those feelings away, all for the mission his father left behind for him. He thought he had genuinely changed in those ten years, to atone for what he indirectly his father through after the Lost Incident.

And maybe he did change.

But was it really worth putting Playmaker - putting Yusaku through this, over and over again? For ten years?

Casting aside his duties as the leader of the Knights of Hanoi, casting aside the mission entrusted to him by his father, Ryoken decided he was going to put himself first, and not cling to the past. He stood up from his chair.

"Where are you goin-"

"Can you get up?" Ryoken interjected. Yusaku raised an eyebrow, but didn't respond as he slowly moved to the side, carefully placing both feet on the ground. He was a little wobbly standing up, but, for someone who's been out for a month, he was better than expected.

"Revolver, what's the meaning of thi-" he started to say, but Ryoken took the moment to wrap the other in a tight embrace. He felt the other stiffen, probably processing what was happening, but then relax and return the hug. The only sound that could be heard was the light humming coming from the other side of the door and Yusaku's sniffling, which gradually turned into hiccuping sobs.

Ryoken knew this wouldn't fix everything he'd done, but just being there for him would be a start.

"I'm so sorry, Yusaku."

A/N: yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, how about that VRAINS episode 93, folks? *cries* \ ;D; /

Actually, I did write the bulk of this pre-VRAINS 93 b/c I was in a Mood. But, naturally, after what happened in the latest VRAINS episode, I was determined to finish this at least the week of the episode, if only for the last couple of sentences. So yeah. Again, if you follow me on tumblr, you might recognize this.

Anyway, I may or may no expand this even more, so we'll see about that. Either way, feedback is appreciated. Thanks for reading!