A happy hum was heard from the white-haired boy as he strolled up the street towards his home. Or was 'home' an exaggeration? He wasn't there very often due to him travelling so much. But it wasn't just him. Everyone in their bloodline was always on the move for better land. Because of this bloodline, he and his family had to live in a suitable environment. Most of his people were living close to volcanoes or even the dessert, not in Metal City. Yet, Ryuuto enjoyed being in the city at times. He usually came here whenever he had gone on a long expedition or found something interesting. Besides, it was Christmas. Being in the city where his friends were during the holidays wouldn't be so bad, even though Ryuuto didn't really celebrate it.

As Ryuuto walked up the street, a lot of people passed him. Couples, friends, families. All with happy smiles on their faces. Seeing happy families made Ryuuto bite his lower lip.

'Must be fun to spend time with your family like that' he thought for himself.

It wasn't that Ryuuto had a bad family or anything. They simply rarely met up since most of the people in their bloodline were constantly moving from place to place. That included Ryuuto himself too. It had been forever since he had seen his older brother - Ryuuga.

After the battle against Nemesis, Ryuuga had been missing. Some people thought he was dead. Others thought he was just resting and would soon return. Ryuuto was convinced that the latter was true. His brother was definitely alive somewhere and the two of them would meet in the future. Still, that didn't mean he wasn't missing his brother. Not just because Ryuuga had been missing for years now, but because Ryuuga had already distanced himself from Ryuuto before that battle even happened. Ever since Ryuuga was recruited by the Dark Nebula, he had started acting differently. The person Ryuuto was watching on the TV during Battle Bladers wasn't the same guy he grew up with. It was almost as if Ryuuga was possessed. Ryuuto did meet Ryuuga himself after Battle Bladers though, were Ryuuga seemed fine again. They even had a bey battle. Obviously, Ryuuto lost, but Ryuuga seemed to be in control of L-Drago's powers. He was glad his older brother had gained this amount of power, but…

'It would be nice to see him sometimes'

His close friend, Kakeru, was quite lucky. He was the younger brother of another legendary blader - Kyouya Tategami. Kyouya had recently decided to follow his dad's footsteps and become in charge for the Tategami corporation, so he was almost always home nowadays. Even Gingka had returned from his adventure to spend some time with his dad, who was technically still working for the WBBA despite stepping down from his position. In all honesty, it was making Ryuuto a bit jealous of how the others were able to spend so much time with their families while he couldn't.

Once he arrived at the doorstep to his house, he took out his key and unlocked the door. He walked inside and closed the door behind him. The next thing on the agenda was taking a shower before eating lunch. But first, he had to return his belongings to his room. He sat down a bag with items he had found on his treasure hunting before starting to walk towards his room. As he passed the living room, he greeted the person inside.

"Hey, Ryuuga"

"Hey"

Ryuuto walked up the stairs and to his room. While inside, he placed his small bag with his personal belongings on his bed. He was about to go and get a bath towel before he realized what just happened.

"Ryuuga?" he repeated out loud.

Ryuuto immediately left his room and dashed down the stairs before entering the living room where another white haired, now young man, was sitting with his eyes focused on the TV.

He had to take a minute to process what he was seeing. His brother was right there. Or did Ryuuto miss his brother so much that he was starting to hallucinate?

"If you keep running down the stairs, you'll eventually slip" Ryuuga said without removing his gaze from the launcher.

Ryuuto blinked a few times before realizing that it wasn't an illusion.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Are you that surprised about seeing me in the house where I live?"

'That much is obvious. I should've phrased my question better' Ryuuto thought before he spoke again. "No, I just didn't expect to see you here. You never said you were coming back".

"You never asked"

Ryuuto pouted at his brothers reply as he muttered for himself "How am I supposed to ask that when you don't even have a phone?"

"I actually found someone interesting"

Ryuuto frowned. "Someone interesting? A girlfriend?"

"Don't be stupid. I was talking about a successor. He's part of the Dragon bloodline, just like you and me"

"Why wasn't I chosen as your successor? We're literally family!"

"You never asked about that either"

Ryuuto rolled his eyes at the response. Another blader from their bloodline, huh? Whoever this blader was possessed the same powers to control dragons. The blader was clearly inexperienced with those powers and had a lot to learn, but since Ryuuga was saying that the guy wasn't that bad, then he must be seeing a lot of potential in the blader.

"Did he say what his name was?"

"Sakyo"

Sakyo. That was probably the guy Ryuuto had heard about on the radio. The one with the Dragoon bey. Sakyo was apparently very strong, but Ryuuto had never actually seen him battle.

"He's actually a bit similar to you"

Ryuuto frowned "In what way?"

Ryuuga glanced at his brother with a slight grin on his face. "He didn't stand a chance against me"

"Hey!"

Technically Ryuuga wasn't wrong. He did defeat Ryuuto last time they battled. Although Ryuuto put up a fight and the battle wasn't one-sided, Ryuuga didn't really struggle.

"I-" Ryuuto avoided his brother's gaze. "I've trained since then! I'll show you how strong I've become!"

Ryuuto took out his bey and posed in front of Ryuuga. He moved his hand to grab the launcher before he stopped and turned around.

"Right after I've taken a shower!" he said before leaving the room.

Ryuuga rolled his eyes, but seemed quite pleased with his younger brother's enthusiasm. He then returned to his TV watching.

"Why do they only air Christmas garbage?" he muttered for himself as he started to switch channels. Some channels were airing Christmas movies. Others were airing people talking about Christmas, making food for Christmas or shows for kids. As the white-haired young man was starting to get more and more frustrated, he eventually came across a Die Hard movie and stopped there. At least it wasn't Christmas related. That is, until the commercial came on, showing a company's Christmas sale with a happy Christmas jingle to go with it. The dragon emperor growled in annoyance.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the front door like there was no tomorrow.

'If it's another Christmas carol, I'll show them the power of the dragon emperor'

When the previous group came to sing their songs, Ryuuga just closed the door. But once he peeked through the window, he noticed that it wasn't a singing group. One could argue that it was someone worse.

"Your boyfriend is at the door!" he informed his brother.

"Could you open the door!? I'll be downstairs in a minute!" Ryuuto shouted from upstairs before adding "And for the last time, we're not a couple nor swing that way!"

"Whatever" Ryuuga said before standing up. He walked over to the door and opened it, only to immediately regret it afterwards.

"Hi Ryuuga!" a cheerful voice greeted him.

He sighed, considering the option to shut the door in the green-haired blader's face, but decided not to since one of the two visitors was Ryuuto's friend.

"Hey" he simply replied. "Ryuuto will be here in a second. He's just getting out of the shower"

"It's fine, we'll wait!"

Ryuuga noticed how blue eyes were staring at him with a gaze of a predator, clearly surprised and cautious about Ryuuga being there since he was presumed to be dead.

"Kyouya" he greeted.

"…Ryuuga" he was greeted in return.

Kakeru - Kyouya's younger brother, and Ryuuto's friend - was practically beaming of happiness as he shoved a wrapped package in Ryuuga's hands.

"Here!"

Upon receiving the package, he noticed a note saying 'Merry Christmas Ryuuga! - the coolest blader out there and Kyouya!'. It was pretty obvious that Kakeru was the one who wrote it.

Frowning, Ryuuga thought to himself 'How did he even know I was here? He must've seen me when I came back'

Before he could reply, he could hear his brother sprint down the stairs. Ryuuto slipped on the last step and almost fell. Fortunately, Ryuuga had quick reflexes and caught him before it could happen.

"I told you not to run down the stairs"

"Sorry" Ryuuto muttered before walking over to the visitors. "Hey Kakeru" Peaking over Kakeru's shoulder, he could see Kyouya as well "-and Kyouya"

"Hey dude! Just dropped by to give you a Christmas gift" Kakeru told him before shoving a gift in Ryuuto's hands as well.

"Thanks man. You got the one I sent, right?"

"You're welcome, and yeah I did. I'll open yours first later" Kakeru replied before giving his friend a thumb up. "Well, gotta get going. We still have more Christmas gifts to hand out before we can call it a day!".

He turned to Kyouya, who looked far from pleased. "Let's go, big bro!" he exclaimed before practically marching away with Kyouya following him, but not without waving goodbye to Ryuuto and Ryuuga. Ryuuto waved back while Ryuuga just went back to the living room.

Closing the door, Ryuuto turned to him. "You got one too?"

"Hmm?" Oh, the gift. "I guess so. You can have it if you want"

Ryuuto was quiet for a moment, thinking about hat Ryuuga had said.

"Do you really hate Christmas that much?"

Ryuuga placed his gift on the table in the living room before sitting down. The commercial had ended a while ago, so the movie was on again.

"We both have bad memories of this day after what happened back then, but it was years ago. Isn't it time to start making new memories now?"

"…New memories, huh?"

Ryuuga turned around to face his brother. "Fine"

He reached over to his launcher and grabbed L-Drago.

"Give me something to remember. And try to survive a minute this time"

Ryuuto flinched upon the sudden challenge.

"Wait, right now!?"

He wasn't given much time to launch his bey before L-Drago flew outside, almost setting the nearby houses on fire in the process with Dragonis following right behind.

After the battle was over (with Ryuuga being the winner), they returned back inside since Ryuuto had started to sneeze. Apparently, running outside right after taking a hot shower could improve the chances of getting sick. Still, he refused to get a blanket and instead acted like he wasn't almost freezing to death.

"I don't really get it" he said before glancing over at Ryuuga. "Why did you even decide to come home all of a sudden?"

"No reason"

Silence filled the room as Ryuuto stared at his older brother. He then playfully his Ryuuga's shoulder with a grin on his face. "You missed me, admit it!"

Ryuuga scoffed in return, but didn't respond. Neither confirming nor denying the statement.

"I knew it! You do care about me"

"I've never said I didn't" Ryuuga replied.

"You've never said you did either"

"Touché"

The fact that Ryuuga had never said that he cared about his brother would probably sound sad to many. But he was more of a show-don't-tell kind of person. Ryuuga showed his care and respect for people in his own way.

Giving Ryuuto a pat on the shoulder, he said "But good job beating your record. I didn't expect your bey to last that long"

Ryuuto clenched his fist in excitement. "I've gotten stronger, haven't I? And next time we battle, I'll be the winner and take your title as the dragon emperor before that Sakyo guy does!" he said. His gaze showed nothing but confidence.

"If you say so" Ryuuga said before removing his hand.

Like it had been timed perfectly, Ryuuto's phone started ringing. Ryuuto glanced at the screen to see who it was before answering it.

"Kakeru, wha-"

He immediately had to remove the phone from his ear. Kakeru was shouting so loud that even Ryuuga could clearly hear what he was saying.

"RYUUTO! YOU'RE NOT GONNA BELIEVE THIS! MY BIG BRO'S GETTING MARRIED!"

"Married? Kyouya?" Ryuuto asked.

He hadn't expected Kyouya to be the kind of guy who would like to get married since he was supposed to be the 'wild lion' who couldn't be 'tamed'.

"You're not joking, are you?"
"NO! I'M NOT JOKING!"

Ryuuto could tell that his friend was all over the moon of happiness and couldn't contain his excitement, so he probably wasn't joking.

"That's great, but could you speak a bit lower? I'd rather not go deaf"

"…"

Ryuuga sat in silence, listening in on the conversation with a smirk on his face.

'The 'king of beasts' is getting married? What a joke'

"So he's marrying the girl you wouldn't shut up about? Hikaru, right?" Ryuuto asked.

Ryuuga's smirk disappeared in flash.

"What?"

"Just a second" Ryuuto told Kakeru before looking at Ryuuga. "What is it?"

"I was talking about the TV"

Die Hard had already ended and Coming to America was now airing instead. The king had just rejected the prince's love interest due to her being a commoner.

"Oh. Yeah, that annoyed me too the first time I watched the movie" Ryuuto replied before returning to the phone call. "Well, congratulate Kyouya from us"

Ryuuto listened to Kakeru's response before answering "Merry Christmas to you too. Bye". He then hung up.

"Can you believe that? I never would've imagined that Kyouya - out of all people - would get married. Even less being the first one out of everyone"

"Yeah, what a shame it would be if someone would crash it"

"And then what? Kidnap the bride?" Ryuuto suggested before laughing at how hilarious that sounded.

Ryuuto, being too amused about his own joke, failed to notice how a smirk slowly made its way back on Ryuuga's lips as he glanced at L-Drago. The bey lit up and only Ryuuga could hear it roar. "That would be something"

A/N: Aaaaand done. It took only 7 years, but I finally made it.

For those who don't know, this is a parallel story to my other one-shot - "Kyouya and Kakeru's Christmas", which you can read here on Fanfiction if you haven't read it yet. I've had this one-shot in mind ever since I wrote the original in 2012, but never got around to write it until now.

But I hope you enjoyed reading this.

Bye-bye!