i: Runaway
Edo runs away at age fifteen.
It's not something he thinks through by any stretch of the imagination. He's just so full of rage (at Saiou, for his cold smiles and those touches that make Edo's skin crawl and all his talk of Destiny with-a-capital-dee) and hate (at DD for adopting him and then never being around when he so desperately needs a father of some sort) that one night he scrounges up as much money as he can steal from around the apartment, packs up a couple changes of clothes (and the cards his father left him, of course) and runs.
And somehow, somewhere between all the scratching and scraping and trying his damnedest to stay alive, Edo still hunts for his father's killer. From the arenas to the underground, carefully watching the professionals, the amateurs and everyone in between; a grubby faced hero lurking in the shadows. Endlessly searching for whoever it is that is holding That Card. Out to find a murderer.
Kaiser Ryo is far too young for Edo to even bother looking at as a possible suspect. Edo knows this. But he still follows the young man one night, watches him walk from the arena back to his hotel (and what kind of a pro duelist does that? Most of the pros that Edo has seen usually dart into limousines as quickly as possible) quietly fascinated by this proud, shining creature in blue and white. This machine that hasn't lost a match yet (if the discarded programs he finds drifting around the arena's parking lot after the matches are to be believed) and duels with a distant, perfect, efficiency.
This boy who suddenly stops and turns, staring right into the alley that Edo is watching from and says, "I know you're in there. Are you going to show yourself?" His voice so soft and even (almost soothing) that Edo finds himself walking out of the shadows and under the streetlamps before he can even think about it.
ii: Audience
Edo loves attending DD's matches, but the VIP boxes are a bore. Too far away from the action, and as soon as possible (while his latest nanny --and really, he's seven now, far too old for a nanny of all things-- is distracted) Edo sneaks away. Heading into the arena proper with its heady smells and screaming crowd.
It's while he's attempting to find a good place to watch from that he meets Ryo-kun (and his brother) attempting to do the exact same thing that Edo is; get as close to the dueling as possible. The three of them soon enough laughing and weaving their way through bodies. Finding a place next to the railing at the bottom of an aisle and cheering madly when the duelists take the field.
"DD's gonna win, y'know," Edo says, all pride and a flashing grin, and Sho-kun smiles back and nods. His brother, however, doesn't. Ryo-kun's face quietly serious while he says, "He might not."
"Don't be dumb. Of course he will!"
Ryo-kun smiles slightly, in that way that Edo has seen adults smile when they try to brush him off or when they don't want to explain things that they don't think he'll understand (which only makes Edo madder because it's not like Ryo-kun is all that much older than he is) Although when he murmurs, "No one is guaranteed a win simply because of who they are. If you think that, you're just setting yourself up for a fall," Edo has to grudgingly admit the truth to it.
Not that any grudging admission he might make, stops Edo from crowing, "Told ya!" when DD does win. Ryo-kun frowning and calling him a brat with the slightest shake of his head.
iii: Exhibition Match
On some level, Edo finds Marufuji Ryo fascinating.
An accomplished duelist, undefeated all through high school (not to mention a few years prior) and graduating at the top of his class from Duel Academia. Countless sponsors courting him, offering up obscene amounts of money to have the honour of backing pro dueling's latest wunderkid.
And what does he do? Turn his back on all of it, to live in the mountains for god knows what asinine reason. Lured down once by an old teacher to take part in an exhibition match that only leaves the sponsors salivating that much more and as much as Edo hates to admit it, it's with good reason.
It doesn't take much for him to talk his way into Marufuji's dressing room, and Edo doesn't even have to introduce himself before the other boy is nodding at him and saying, "Edo Phoenix, am I right?"
"So you've heard of me even in the ass end of nowhere, then," Edo purrs back and Marufuji shakes his head slightly. Muttering, "Cute," under his breath. His face schooled into the height of indifference when he asks, "Is there something you wanted?" and Edo smiles back, smooth and slow and sweet.
"My curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to see the duelist that everyone is talking about firsthand."
"There's not much to see," Marufuji mutters back, quite obviously looking like he wants to get rid of Edo as quickly as possible and in an eye blink, Edo's smile turns that much more predatory.
"Oh, I don't know. I think I might like what I'm seeing."
iv: This One Time, At Duel Camp
The summer Edo turns ten, DD is at loose ends with what to do with the boy when the boarding school Edo normally attends is on summer break. Facing a particularly gruelling touring schedule and not relishing the idea of dragging a child halfway around the world and back.
Camp seems like a brilliant solution. Duel camp, even more so. And Edo is left feeling like it's his first day in a new boarding school all over again, standing isolated while kids who act like they've known one another forever (or who at the very least remember each other from the previous summer) call out greetings to each other and with no subtlety (because children are never subtle) whisper about the new kid.
It's one of the older boys who finally takes pity on him. Who smiles and introduces himself as Marufuji-kun and points out his brother (standing almost as equally alone as Edo is.) Offering to introduce them and there's very little that Edo can do besides blush and shrug and mumble, "Okay."
v: Studying Abroad
The first time Edo sees Kaiser Ryo is from the other end of a crowded assembly hall. The head of the American Duel Academia introducing the pair of students visiting from their Japanese sister school and Edo hears very little beyond the boy's name.
The second time he sees Kaiser Ryo is during one of the older boy's duels. Sitting front row on the left hand side and leaning against the railing. Edo sitting in an absolutely awed silence, watching every play with a rapt sort of fascination and knowing that he wants to duel like that someday.
He sees the boy (and his friend) around the school several times after that. Once even close enough to say "hello," if he ever had the courage to. But there's this painful awkwardness that freezes up Edo's throat every time he even thinks about doing something that bold.
As such, the first time Edo actually meets Kaiser Ryo, face to face, is after the boy has returned to his own school. And after Edo transfers himself (insisting to his father that studying abroad will be good for him, and that if he ever wants to go pro someday he'll need to improve his Japanese and that this is quite obviously the best way to.) Standing on the docks, blushing and absolutely speechless while Kaiser Ryo introduces himself and explains that he'll be the one showing Edo around the school for the first day or so. Just until he gets used to things.
It takes everything Edo has to choke out a polite, "Pleased to meet you," around the strangling tightness in his throat.
1) initially spawned by thoughts of prostitute!Edo fic. I, uh, decided not to go there.
2) originally came from a vague idea about several wee!GX kiddies all in the same arena, watching the same duel. I just shifted it slightly (since I knew I would never ever write the initial idea anyway)
3) discussed at length with my LJ partner in crime, praiseofshadows. And it still needs to become a full fledged AU in and of itself.
4) all right, so Duel Camp as a concept can be entirely blamed on 4Kids and their goofy one-liners in the dub. That doesn't stop me from thinking that Duel Camp fics need to exist.
5) I've been thinking for months that the world needs Edo in the mangaverse. Or even better: an AU version of the mangaverse. Wherein Edo has a Living!Daddy and far fewer issues.