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Chapter Text

«This is definitely a relentless battle, folks! Both our Duelists still have 4000 Life Points, and Sly has an empty field! Will he be able to face Life Stream Dragon again and finally take the lead?».

Trilling and ever-changing with enthusiastic inflections, the now familiar voice of the announcer barely reached Leo’s ears, filled with not only the crowd’s passionate cheering as people gave a round of applause for his last move – Power Tool Dragon’s Summoning immediately followed by the Synchro Summon of Life Stream Dragon – but also with the fiery roar of his faithful Duel Runner.
Luna had done a splendid job, as usual after all, and the Runner ran wonderfully along the track, passing narrow curves like they were no big deal.
Life Bringer, so he’d decided to call it in honor of his Signer Dragon, a dragon that had stood by his side and gave him many victories. And he’d got more than he hoped for, since he entered the professional career thanks to Crow’s intervention.
The days of just teamwork had been left behind a year before, anxious to pursue a solo career, eager to prove himself to be as skilled as Yusei and Jack.

Who knew, maybe he was finally succeeding, judging by how his opponent had remained defenseless when put in front of his strategy. Just behind him, his frown perfectly visible even though semi-hidden by a slightly tinted visor, Sly didn’t seem to give up. He’d never been the type to quit, or concede defeat. Not even back when they were still kids, at Duel Academy, where he and Leo had met – rather, clashed – and just to point that out he gave a sudden acceleration and flanked Leo almost effortlessly.
A closer look at his uniform made Leo’s face crumple in a frown, lips curled in dislike; of course Sly loved to show off how envious he was of Yusei. His riding suit was blatantly designed by taking Yusei’s into account, different only by minor details and in color. Even his Deck, his monsters wanted to be a copy, and although they weren’t exclusively Yusei’s property, the Junk archetype wasn’t something Leo enjoyed seeing in Sly’s possession.

«Still not ready to yield, Sly?», he teased his opponent, a question mixed with provocation that soon enough bounced between stands and ceiling, followed by another roar coming from an over-enthusiastic crowd.
Leo raised an arm, the habit of basking in acclamation and praise all coming from Jack, but he didn’t fail to notice the lightning in daylight that crossed Sly’s face. An expression full of resentment, and even so Leo couldn’t feel guilty.
He gained all that on his own, worked hard and spilled sweat to have it. His old school rival wasn’t going to take it away from him.
Leo had waited years before facing Sly again, before meeting him again, surprisingly in a professional league recently formed, and he’d been very wary at the beginning. After all, the last time they had dueled was back in school, under supervision, with Duel Disks and cards that didn’t even belong to them.
Now it was different. They were both fully fledged Turbo Duelists, skilled players who knew what they were doing.
It was finally time to get a victory, for Leo, after all the teasing and mocking he had to endure at Duel Academy due to his constant losing. If they could see him now, Leo was sure they would be eating their hair.
Once a kid barely able to hold a Duel Disk, Leo had come a long way. A Crimson Dragon Signer, marked by the heart of the dragon, a true world champion as people cheered him on. By starting from the bottom, Leo had climbed all the way to the top, only stopped by Crow, Yusei and Jack who were the top three Turbo Duelists in the whole world.
Maybe his old classmates were watching him, on television or live, maybe they were even rooting for him, or against him.

«I still have 4000 Life Points, don’t I?».
Sly’s reply came right after drawing a new card from his Deck, the counters keeping track of their stats adding a new Speed Counter to their stock. New turn, new opportunity. Another card drawn meant another attempt at winning.
Getting rid of Life Stream Dragon was going to be difficult, especially because it was a beatstick with 2900 attack points, but he could at least deliver considerable damage by burning. Of course, he had to play the right cards, and the first step of his strategy was still face-down on the field.
The card sprung into life as soon as Sly reached for it, its 2D appearance swiftly changing into appealing holograms: «I activate the Trap Card Infinite Impermanence. This cards allows me to choose a monster you control, and negate its effect until the End Phase. And guess what? I think you’ll have to do without your dragon’s protection, aren’t you happy?».

Yeah, as happy as a cat with its tails stuck in a door.
The grin splattered on Sly’s face didn’t escape Leo, who swallowed dry as Impermanence’s effect drained Life Stream Dragon and froze him in mid-air, depriving him of his ability to negate effect damage.
«Dammit», he cursed, his low voice still amplified by the microphone jammed in his helmet. That wasn’t good, Sly had something in mind and it wasn’t something pleasant.

«What’s that, you’ve lost your superiority? Good, I really hope you lose this Duel as well! Since I don’t have cards on the Field, I can Special Summon Junk Forward from my hand, in Defense Position».
Called by its owner, the android materialized on the Field as both Runner completed another loop around the arena, its otherwise bright colors dulled by a sickly blue filter. The cards wasn’t much in terms of attack and defense, but Sly wasn’t in need of them.
Not yet.
That was merely the second step, after all.
«And now, since you’re so kind to have a Level 8 monster on the Field, I can Special Summon Junk Giant from my hand, this time in Attack Position», he declared once more, pinching the right card in between fingers before placing it on the Duel Disk, the other hand committed to keeping the Runner straight and going.

Leo raised an eyebrow, puzzled. Junk Giant only had 2000 attack points and 2400 defense points, not enough to even try and tackle Life Stream Dragon. But, obviously, judging Sly’s strategy simply on stats like numbers would have been nothing but foolish, so Leo tightened his grips on the Runner’s handlebars and kept quiet.
He wasn’t going to give Sly any satisfaction by showing his doubts.
In any case, he still had an available Normal Summon, and had he chosen to Summon a tuner monster, the only thing Leo could do was hope to not lose his dragon to a stronger Synchro. He had no other monsters in his Extra Deck, only Power Tool Dragon and Life Stream Dragon, despite his sister’s constant suggestion to add a couple more.

If Sly was surprised by Leo’s silence, he didn’t show it. Instead, he reached out for the last card of his strategy that was going to fill another empty space on the Field: «I Summon the tuner monster Junk Anchor!».
Immediately, the tuner appeared between his monsters already on the Field, a tiny robot made of gears and scraps with 0 attack and defense, but awfully more precious than it seemed.
What was a Synchro Summon without a tuner, after all?
«I tune my Level 3 Junk Forward with my Level 2 Junk Anchor. Have you ever experience the blind terror coming from the sight of war machines, Leo? Because I’m about to let you taste it! Synchro Summon, Catapult Warrior!».

At first sight, Sly’s Synchro Monster didn’t instilled as much fear as announced. Yes, that was an impressive monster, an armored robot with two mechanical catapults (or launchers) instead of shoulder pads, but it surely wasn’t a great threat in terms of statistics.
Leo’s monitor showed only 1000 attack points and 1500 for defense, a meager amount for a Level 5 Synchro Monster; but the young man knew from experience underestimating a monster based on weak appearance or stats was definitely not a good idea.
His countless defeats back in the day were irrefutable proof of that.
Therefore, upon discovering the monster’s effect, Leo couldn’t help but force himself to look at the smug expression on Sly’s face. He had no face-down cards, save for Call of the Haunted, a last resort to bring back one of his dragons should they be destroyed. Nothing in his hand or on the Field could save his Life Points from burning damage, now that Life Stream Dragon’s effect was out the window.

Barely noticing Leo’s inability to counteract the strategy laid down in front of him – his façade was faltering only a small bit – Sly didn’t hesitate before continuing with his turn: «I activate Catapult Warrior’s effect. Once per turn, I can Tribute a Junk monster on my Field to inflict damage to you. Its attack points, to be clear».
It hadn’t been easy to get to that kind of play, but Sly didn’t have cards good enough in his Deck that could take on Leo’s Signed Dragon. Or however that bullshit raised around Team 5D’s was called. Sly had had enough of press and media praising that damned team.
Knowing that, and knowing a victory against a member of that team could give him the recognition he deserved, Sly had to inflict as much damage as possible before committing to another strategy.
When Leo had managed to Summon his dragon so early in the Duel, Sly had cursed inwardly at him. He’s at least hope to put together enough Speed Counter to wipe his monsters from the Field, but after those few turns they were only useful for one shot.
The rest lied in his cards.

As soon as Sly’s monster disappeared, turned into pure energy to be launched by his Catapult Warrior, Leo leaned over the dashboard of his Duel Runner and waited for the blow to come, a devastating attack that wiped out 2000 Life Points, uncaring of the cards on his Field.
The Duel Runner’s emergency brakes, also thanks to Leo’s swift take of action, prevented a spin at the last second. Despite that, Leo struggled to keep his motorcycle stable and running at the same time, still flying at a speed of over 150km/h.
The holograms had become so real and improved, it was beginning to be way more dangerous without an automatic pilot. A little bit more development put into it and people could touch them, Leo was sure of it.
Although the side effects weren’t that pleasant. Such as getting bruises after being sent to the ground, or risking serve injuries by playing on a motorcycle that reached over 200 km/h.

«Don’t lay back so much, I’m not done yet! I activate Speed World 2’s effect!».
Right when he did so, Sly realized he wasn’t going to put together enough Speed Counter to destroy Life Stream Dragon or inflict the final blow on Leo’s Life Points. But, if he survived another turn, even by losing his monster in the process, maybe he could draw a miracle.
On top of it, Impermanence’s effect wasn’t going to last after the End Phase, so Leo would be immune once again to burn damage.
He had to find a way around it, somehow. Maybe lower Life Stream Dragon’s attack points, just enough to Summon a monster able to destroy it. Also, that face-down card didn’t seem harmless, an unknown factor that would be stupid to underestimate.
In any case, what was a Duel without taking risks?
«By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can inflict to you 400 points of damage for each Speed Spell in my hand. I only have one – he said, showing it to him – but that’s still bad news for you!».

«Holy cow! That’s quite the damage for our champion! 2400 points of damage delivered in just one turn! Will he be able to climb back, or are we going to have a new winner?!».

Leo rolled his eyes, stabilizing his motorcycle to accelerate and catch up with Sly. He wasn’t going to lose against him. Not again.
Sly concluded his turn by placing a face-down card and casting a conceited glance in his direction, the crown beginning to cheer for him too. It was unbelievable, how everyone was ready to turn their back to a hero when that hero starts to lose.
Leo knew it was only fair that Sly got his fans too, but he couldn’t stand it, not after having done so much to get out the Yusei, Jack and Crow’s shadow. It wasn’t easy, getting people to like you, when out there your friends are way more skilled and loved than you’ll ever be.
Gritting his teeth in frustration, Leo drew a card and began his turn. Perfect.
«Since I have more than 2 Speed Counters, I can activate the Speed Spell Synchro Defusion», he announced, hiding a satisfied smile when Sly almost swore.
Synchro Defusion allowed him to take control of an opponent’s Synchro Monster, and at the moment Catapult Warrior was also the only monster on Sly’s field.
Faithful as a puppet to his puppeteer, Catapult Warrior moved from Sly’s field to Leo’s, who instantly put the monster in attack position. 1000 attack points weren’t that much, but Sly’s field was completely empty and his face-down card wasn’t bothering him much.
Not yet.
The audience burst into acclamation and applause, following the astonished commentary of the announcer, but Leo as in full Duel mode as of the moment. Though pleasing and flattering, the praises coming for him slipped away, muffled by stern concentration. They would come back, more powerful than ever, after the end of his turn.

«From my hand, I call on the field Morphtronic Celfon in Attack Position, and activate is effect. When in Attack Position, he dials a number from 1 to 6. Dialing now!».
The cell phone, morphing into a humanoid form, dialed the number and the light swapped between keys before finally stopping on number 6.
«Great!», Leo exulted. «Now I can look at six cards on top of my Deck, and Special Summon a Morphtronic monster if I get one».
The cards appeared on the monitor, in the same order they were placed in the Deck, and Leo chose Morphtronic Radion. Then the Deck shuffled automatically. «Morhptronic Radion, come play music for us!».

«That joke of a radio won’t have time to shine, I activate my Trap! Trap Hole destroys your monster if it has 1000 attack points or more, so say goodbye. You seem to be in need for an electrician, Leo!», Sly provoked him.
Then, however, he bit his lower lip so hard as to spill blood, to avoid yelling the most obscene curse a world-wide live event had even heard.

Leo smiled again, triumphantly this time. Morphtronic Radion was only a back-up plan, a way to increase the attack points of Celfon in order to limit possible damaged should Sly’s face-down card reveal itself dangerous.
And just before his card proved itself to be useless, Sly had been so sure he had a victory already in his pocket to not notice the trap he’d been dragged into.
Life Stream Dragon, Catapult Warrior and Morphtronic Celfon were enough. Enough to completely obliterate Sly’s Life Points in one turn, the duelist with no defenses on the field or Graveyard. He still had one card in his hand, a worthless and unusable Speed Spell.
«What were you saying? That I was going to lose? – a snort – Life Stream Dragon, direct attack! Beautiful Life!».
A simple order, and his dragon flew high over the arena, wings spread wide open and wounded by bright artificial light coming from spotlights and headlights. The audience broke into a chorus of “ooh” and “aah”, captivated by the luminous energy, and exploded in a cacophony of applause and whistles when the devastating attack reached its target. 2900 Life Points stolen from Sly with no effort.
His motorcycle skidded, rerouted by the shock wave, and Leo allowed Sly just enough time to recover before raising an arm in his direction to call the second attack: «Catapult Warrior, show your owner how to win a Duel!».

«Damn!», Sly ranted, bending over as much as possible on the dashboard as the attack coming from his own monster hit home, and the motorcycle spun around slipping over the circuit. When he managed to regain control of the vehicle, shocked by how quickly the table had turned, Sly had nothing but 100 Life Points, a pathetic Speed Spell in his hand and no hope of winning that Duel.
Nothing had even been more humiliating for Sly than to have ended up losing against a ridiculous cell phone, an attack than not only brought his Life Points to zero, but activated his Duel Runner’s emergency brake system and forced the vehicle and its driver to stop right in the middle of the track.
Leo’s name resounded among the crowd, acclaimed and exalted as a hero, praised by the announcer himself in a never ending nod to his success.
Bitter, coughing in the steam raising from his motorcycle, Sly got off the Duel Runner and threw his helmet away, its noisy landing swallowed by cheers and applause.
«You’ll pay for this, Leo. I’m not done», he swore, an oath lost in the people’s desire to admire their favorite champion.

This is what Sly and Dexter look like, if you were wondering

Chapter Text

«You’ve been amazing, Leo!».

Not even a hot second after being left alone by journalists and cameras, Leo found himself with a mouthful of ginger hair and arms clasped in a steel grip.
Okay, maybe not really steel, but Dexter knew how to be very clingy upon hugging. Especially if the hug victim was his boyfriend. A boyfriend who had just won another Turbo Duel.
Taken aback by how fast that was, Leo took a while to react, but as soon as he came back to his mind he freed himself from Dexter iron grip and turned the hug into something way more comfortable. And he wiped the subsequent pout from his face with a kiss so light it only served to make him blush.
«How many times do I have to tell you, don’t jump on me like that», Leo laughed, shaking his head.
With one arm wrapped around his waist, Leo led Dexter away from the circuit and pits, where Luna was still busy giving orders to her assistants. Unlike audience and journalists, Luna didn’t get ecstatic for Leo’s every victory, but she was happy nonetheless.
Happy enough, at least, to not scold her brother for leaving his Duel Runner in the middle of the arena. Again.
«Hey, Luna! Still have a lot to do?».

Luna nodded, barely lifting her gaze for the tablet she was holding: «Your Runner needs some checking, there’s something that doesn’t convince me in today’s performance recordings. It will probably take an hour, and then we can go home», she replied, quickly estimating after scrolling through the screen.
Since the first day she decided to work as a mechanical engineer for her brother, soon after completing her studies, Luna was always busy both before and after a tournament or a single duel, to make sure Life Bringer was at its maximum capacity and safety.
After the last accident, which saw a pretty badly bruised Leo and a Dexter on the brink of a nervous breakdown, her checks on the bike had become even more thoroughly.
Of course, the Duel Runner was a gift from Yusei and Jack, their way of congratulating Leo for entering the professional circuit, but constant use was obviously going to put even the most perfect model to the test. And Leo’s bike was no exception to the rule.
«You can wait in the backstage or go eat something with Dexter», she added with a shrug. «Altough his help would be useful, here».

Dexter frowned at that: «My help? I’m not an engineer nor a mechanic, Luna».

She smiled, finally putting down the tabled before turning in his direction: «Yeah, but you’re a math genius. And honestly, I’m too tired to make sense of all this by myself», she replied. There were screens filled with numbers, strings of endless calculations and things to sort out, and even though Luna boasted she could do everything – or almost everything – the last week alone had been literal hell.

«You don’t mind, Leo?».

Not surprised – it wasn’t the first time Luna stole his boyfriend – Leo shook his head and let go of Dexter’s waist, but not before stealing a sweet kiss from him: «Go ahead, I’ll wait for you both in the backstage», he said.
Moving away, he waved an arm at them and disappeared into the dimly lit hallway. Most of the lights in the stadium had been turned off to save energy, and to save the environment that little bit of light pollution Neo Domino was unluckily known for; the bulbs were just enough to spread soft strands of light every now and then.
Leo didn’t spend much time in the backstage, preferring to stay alongside Luna and her diligent assistants, but knowing her job was going to take more than thirty minutes was enough to convince him otherwise. Rare times, those spent in his personal room, but still there.
The organizers always prepared one for each duelist or team, after all, or at least for every worthy duelist, as media liked to label them. Leo met the requirements about three months prior, arriving in the world Top Five after months and month of duels, defeats at the beginnings and then more and more victories, until he never lost anymore.
Above him, at fourth place, there was Team Ragnarok, and Leo had been surprised upon noticing because he hadn’t heard of them in a long while. And of course, the top three was built around Crow, Yusei and Jack, who was the crown of them all, still the King of Duels.
Yusei and Crow, though while not being on first place, were virtually unreachable because of the absolute crazy amount of points they had; and Jack showed the world how much of a champion he was by demolishing the world record of victories in a year. Leo was present when Yusei – much for everyone’s amusement – scolded Jack for being so over the top even he couldn’t keep up with the duels.

Sighing, and barely removing from his head the absurd memory of a terrified Jack in front of Yusei’s anger – Jack had threatened him in case the thing spread around – Leo tried to remember the direction to take to reach the backstage and found it almost by accident, running into a sign stamped on the wall.
He’d never been in that stadium, even though they all looked very much alike, but behind the scenes every location was different. He wasn’t surprised he got lost two more times before finding the right door.

His room, judging by the name written on the door with adhesive letters, wasn’t a demonstration of luxury and fame. Just a modestly sized room with the cliché mirror with lights all around it and a small couch too comfortable to be true.
When Leo let his tired body fall on it, he didn’t hold in a satisfied sigh as he sunk into soft cushions. He could easily fall asleep like that, quietly waiting for Dexter and his sister to come back, but as he turned towards the door Leo snapped back like a frightened cat.

«What, now you’re afraid of those you trample?».
The poison was so smooth in his voice, and Sly didn’t hide a smile upon seeing Leo backing up, a glimpse of a movement just enough noticeable. He’d been waiting to find him alone, far from his nosy sister and the honeyed dog he was dating. What’s his name? Dylan? Damian? No, Dexter. Even his name reminded him of a dog.

Surprise and dismay soon gave way to something Leo could only define as intolerance and aversion.
And to see Sly still clad in that uniform he so clearly stole from Yusei, someone who wasn’t even worthy of thinking his name… Leo wanted so bad to get up and slap him in the face.
«What do you want, Sly? We’re done dueling, and I have nothing to share with you», he said, not even trying to hide the deep dislike filling his tone with animosity. Leo was definitely an affable person, able to get along with virtually everyone, but that… that bastard has his name seared on a black list nobody knew existed.
Not even Yusei had been able to squeeze some common sense and good manners in the head of that arrogant, and growing up only made things worse. Leo had watched some of his duels, he’d seen how little respect Sly showed towards his opponents.
He was a person to stay away from, a person who never missed a chance to instigate fights and had insults for everybody. And the poor duelists he defeated, they were subsequently trampled not only by his attitude, but also by those few journalists who say in Sly the new star of the moment.

In response, Sly’s grin widened and he crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Thus blocking the way out.
«You know, that is exactly the problem. We’re done dueling», he replied. «But we just started talking, didn’t we?».

Leo shook his head, an incredulous smile curving his lips: «Talking to you? Forget it, Sly. I’m not going to talk to a piece of shit like you».
The temperature in the room fell below zero, so much the look on Sly’s face was chilling. His eyes, frozen spheres of amaranth and amethyst surrounded by heavy strips of stage makeup, were terrifying and fascinating at the same time.
That is, if you like the infamous and sly type, of course. Perfectly fitting for someone named Sly.
Leo had always found those eyes to be disturbing, and simply being dishonest was a justification for him to get angry.
He’d lost count of how many times Sly had got on his nerves, back in their childhood days, with his cruel jokes and his carelessness towards everything and everyone.
He didn’t even have any regard in helping Yusei put his teacher back into his place, and his classmates literally had to beg him for help. And even after that, instead of helping with sincerity, Sly gave Yusei a ard provided by the Academy rather than one of his own.
Selfish until the last drop, that’s how he was.
«What do you even want to talk about, anyway?».

«Look like now you are the one who wants to have a conversation».

Oh, if Leo was just a little bit less prone to words and more to action. He wouldn’t think twice before punching that smug face in front of him.
Maybe, if he ruined his pretty face, journalists and people would finally understand what kind of person he was. Without his beauty mask on, he was just a self-centered asshole lacking in behavior. Sly wouldn’t have been able to swallow some education if someone shoved it down his throat.
«I don’t want to have a conversation, but if you really want to say something, say it and fuck off».

Sly snorted a mocking laugh, shaking his head just about right to annoy Leo: «Look, if you want me to leave so you can finally put you dick up your boyfriend’s ass, just ask», he said, nastily.

And ouch.

That definitely stroke a nerve, judging by how much Leo’s face contracted. He looked like he’d swallowed an entire lemon covered in salt. Maybe a little more wouldn’t hurt, would it?
«Ooooh, that’s it! how cute, you wait until everyone goes home to get it on. Fuck, it must be fun, uh? Being famous enough to be able to afford it», he provoked yet again, emphasizing in the right places to hit the mark.
And he hit the mark, as Leo lost his composure and grabbed Sly by the top part of his uniform, slamming him against the doorframe.
The air left his lungs so abruptly his Sly’s vision blurred for a few seconds, but the grin remained in place, glued even more than the smiles on those petulant little girls staring at his photos in newspapers and blogs.
So, Leo did lose his patience.
Good.

«Shut the fuck up. Don’t you dare», Leo threatened him, barely audible as he was gritting his teeth in pure anger.
They were no longer kids, why couldn’t Sly put some intelligence into his brain and grow a pair of extra neurons?

«Oh, don’t tell me I misunderstood? Maybe you’re the one who gets mounted like a bitch in heat», Sly sweetly hissed at him, not giving in to the urge to lift an arm and close his fingers around Leo’s wrist. His hand was tight on his throat, now, suffocating him.
The most rational part of his brain yelled at him to run, it wouldn’t have been long before losing consciousness  since Leo was taller and sturdier and him, but Leo wasn’t going to choke him. He was too fair, too prone to forgiving.
Was he?
The increasingly stronger grip on his neck was beginning to tell him another story, Leo was squeezing his windpipe with disconcerting ease and wasn’t letting go.
«I’m correct, right? You’re so… disgustingly passive… not even able to get it up», he managed to coax his words out, his vision clouded and breath hitching.

Leo had never been so sincerely, violently angry with someone as he was now. Insulting his way of dueling and provoking him in the arena was one thing, bringing his private life into the picture and despising it so revoltingly was another.
Leo kinda wanted to see his old rival suffocate, face flushed from the effort to drive some air into lungs that didn’t deserve oxygen.
Offending him like that… even for Leo, who never cared much about his pride, was too much.
«If you’re really curious to know – he let him go – let’s see if you can get it up».
He was so enraged he didn’t even notice the victorious grin forming on Sly’s face, his hoarse breaths a nauseating sound for Leo’s ears.

«What’s that, an invitation to fuck? Don’t make me laugh, you wouldn’t be able to pleasure a whiny girl, let alone me», Sly mocked him again, not caring about the humiliating position he’d been until now.
He may have underestimated his physical strength, but it was too much fun seeing him unravel piece by piece, a jigsaw puzzle made all wrong.
The response was a door slammed shut behind him, his face forced down against the couch cushions and Leo’s hand pressing too hard on his crotch.
Sly could feel his heavy breathing on his skin, he could touch the anger flowing from him, like a river breaking out from banks never built.
«That’s all? And here I was, expecting worse. But looking at you, you seem very much used to having a stick up your ass all the time».
Yeah, that wasn’t the brightest idea since he was literally under Leo’s hands at the moment. But the temptation was too much.

«Shut that fucking mouth or I swear, I’m going to close it for you», Leo attacked him with words, reinforcing both the grip on his neck and the pressure on his crotch.
It was wrong, fuck if it was incredibly wrong, and he could feel Sly was enjoying the situation. He was getting hard right under his fingers, that bastard.
But obviously, like a cliché porn, common sense had decided to pack up and have a trip to neverland.
Disgusted at himself, Leo couldn’t make that particular feeling prevail.
He tried, he released his grip and let Sly free to move – although he didn’t – and sat in front of him. He was calming down, thinking.
But that motherfucker really didn’t know when to shut up.

«Shut me up? And care to tell, how are you going to do it? If you want to try and choke me again, go ahead. It will be a pity, thought, being too busy as a rotting corpse to see Sector Security throw your ass in the Facility. I mean, if I annoy you so much, why are you st-mphft!».
Interrupted mid-sentence, Sly found himself with his face pressed against Leo’s crotch.
Well, if he wanted to shut him up like that without thinking twice about it, Sly had already got what he wanted. He just needed to make it last for as long as possible, and could that be even easier, really?

In a matter of moments, Sly had pulled down Leo’s uniform zipper and boxers, the only other piece of clothing he wore under it. Not surprising, that uniform was terrifyingly tight.
Who knew what was going through Leo’s mind, right now. Sly didn’t care, not as long as he had what he wanted under his grasp. And what he wanted, was to frame Leo in the worst possible way, get him out of the way once and for all.
Hiding the grin deforming his features, as he felt Leo’s fingers tighten in his hair, Sly flicked his tongue over the man’s hardening cock, snatching a strangled breath from him.
Oh, that was going to be fun. Exhilarating, almost.

«So I was right, uh? You wanted to do this», he taunted, with the sole purpose of taking him for a ride once more. However, this time he did expect a very unkind reply from Leo, so Sly didn’t panic when he suddenly saw himself silenced by a cock shoved in his mouth.
Leo’s grip was iron, keeping him from moving if not bobbing his head up and down, ad Sly did his best to breathe through his nose and stay calm.
Rather, he managed to choke out a laugh, not failing to notice how much Leo had to restrain himself upon feeling the strong vibrations getting straight to him.

Leo bit his lower lip until he drew blood, the hand not busy keeping Sly in place painfully clawing at what little fabric he could grab from the couch.
When Sly took full advantage of his position, flicking his tongue and sucking hard, Leo nearly let out a moan.
But he wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction, he wasn’t going to give Sly a victory even if his life depended on it.
Despite that, however, Sly’s attentions had become more insistent and decidedly impossible to keep at bay, and Leo’s body reacted accordingly. His grip on Sly’s hair became less determined, allowing him more movement freedom, a freedom that immediately backfired and almost turned Leo into a moaning mess, his breath heavy and ragged in the effort of not letting out the slightest pleasured sound.
That bastard was even better then Dexter at giving head, he creepily knew all too well how to suck, hollowing his cheeks and flicking his tongue, fondling Leo’s balls with the hand he could now use freely.
Tongue and lips moving over and around him, Sly hummed lightly and the reverberation of it hit right home; Leo had to bit his hand to not moan.

When Leo gave in to the overwhelming heat engulfing his cock, all too much to endure even thinking about who was giving him a blowjob, he couldn’t help but let out a strangled groan, too loud to blend in with the wet sound of Sly’s mouth still working around him. The laughter he received as a reply to that made him tremble even more, and Leo finally got the strength to push away the other man.
He almost came just by that.
«You really are a son of a bitch», Leo reviled him, cursing himself for having stopped him first, and then for having started it.

«You don’t seem so convinced», Sly retaliated, licking his lips, drops of saliva dropping down his chin from when Leo snatched him away from his crotch.
Speaking of who, he was the disarray made person, cheeks flushed with deep red and a thin layer of sweat over his forehead, uniform half-undone sliding down his shoulders.
It was a vision, a painting to tear and light on fire, a robot to morph into scattered debris. If Sly had known it would be so simple…
«Well, are you chickening out? If you want to give up, I’m not going to complain», he added, looking him straight in the eyes. Eyes shadowed with lust and dissolution, desperately trying to under it under a veil of unsuccessful innocence.

Slowly, painfully slowly, Sly unhooked the buckle on the collar of his uniform and pulled down the zipper, causing the synthetic fabric to slide off as if it were nothing but a mere inconvenience. He only stopped when his chest and abdomen were exposed; Leo wasn’t the only one who liked to wear nothing under his uniform, after all.
Provocative, he approached Leo crawling on all fours, caressing the sensitive skin on his chest, deliberately tracing the contours of his muscles; admittedly, he wasn’t one of the ugliest people he’d ever seen. Hell, he was fucking  striking, if anything.
In just a moment Sly’s fingers were replaced by lips and tongue, he started biting and licking wherever he could, leaving behind wet trails of saliva and not-so-fluttery bite marks. He trapped a nipple between his lips and started sucking it, weakly tugging at the nub with his teeth as his hand raised to imitate on the other.
Leo was shaking beneath him, struggling to keep his voice in, to keep his pleasure hidden.
«But if you give up, what will happen to your good name?», he teased him again, as his hand slipped down between Leo’s legs.

At that point, Leo wasn’t even listening to him anymore. His mind was clouded by his body reacting to being pleasured, the anger against Sly still raging but squeezed in a corner of his brain. Lust was eating away every other feeling, leaving only tingling sensations and a want for more.
If someone had told him he would find himself writhing in pleasure at the hands of the only person he’d ever considered an enemy, Leo would have laughed so hard.

And look at him now, half naked on the couch of a backstage room, at the complete mercy of a man who should have been anywhere but with his hands on Leo’s body, exciting him, making his breaths shallow and his cock hard.
Leo moaned as Sly’s fingers grabbed his erection, moving his hand so slowly as to turn pleasure into torture, thumbing at the slit were precum was already gathered. Once again, his response was a laugh, a vibration Leo felt on heated skin as Sly was still biting and licking his skin.
Sly was undoing him, bringing him right where he wanted, and Leo wasn’t going to let him have all the fun.

Pushing away that ticking voice in his mind that wanted to finish like this, Sly’s body all over him, Leo clawed at the man’s shoulders and flipped their positions, finding himself with his weight on top of him.
«You wanted to know if I’m a bottom, right? Fine, you won, I’ll tell you», he declared, lowering the hand that wasn’t supporting his body on Sly’s abdomen and then further down, stretching his fingers at the point of pain: «I’ll tell you, by fucking you until you beg for me to stop».

Sly’s entire body stiffened, the pressure of Leo’s finger suddenly more intense against his entrance as they tried to get inside him, so he forced his muscles to relax. He’d gotten so far, tensing up and ruining everything he’d built until now was out of the picture, and if Leo was really going to fuck him… he wasn’t that huge, but he was still going in dry.
He spread his legs as wide as he could, Leo’s fingers still working inside him, scissoring and turning, brushing his prostate every now and then, and Sly’s hips bucked up more than once. His uniform slipped away, loosely hanging on his ankle as he lay naked on the couch.
It was a risk, and a huge one, the one Sly was taking. But he forgot about not thinking of any precautions as soon as Leo’s fingers hooked inside him and not brushed, hit his prostate; moaning loudly, Sly arched his back at the sudden wave of pleasure crossing him head to toe like a lightning, heat already pooling in his stomach.
«Do it again», he found himself asking, demanding, in a voice that hardly seemed his own anymore. He would never have begged, never in his life, but not even the foolest of fools would have denied himself such a thing. «Fucking do it ag-AH!».

The completely lost expression on Sly’s face had done enough to let Leo ignore the sneering tone of that order and accept it. It was an undeniable satisfaction, having that arrogant brat to get aroused under his hands, like a trapped cat that wanted to run away but at the same time to stay and receive.
«Look at yourself… what’s going to happen when you’ll have more than my fingers in you, uh?», Leo finally taunted him back, twisting his fingers. «Will you beg me for more?».

«If you’re so curious about it – Sly could hardly speak, panting and shaking – why aren’t you fucking me yet?».
And there it was. A bad mistake, instigate Leo right then and there, and Sly swallowed dry as his fingers stopped their delightful task to flip him over and switch with something decidedly bigger.
In any case, Sly was completely fucked.
He didn’t hold back a whimper as Leo pushed inside him without any kind of lube, not even spit, but even if he wanted to run away he couldn’t. Leo towered over him, held him in place with both hands firmly grabbing at his hips. All Sly could do was claw the couch’s fabric and swallow down the pain.
Not that is was a first, but being penetrated dry was much more painful and less bearable than being fucked with lube and a more thorough preparation.

«Not so sassy now, uh?», Leo mocked him, his voice barely controlled. Sly was so tight, and it’s been so long since the last time he’d done it with Dexter…
Not waiting for a reply and deaf to Sly’s whines, Leo buried himself inside his body, heat engulfing his length and muscles clamping around him.
«Fuck, you’re so tight», he cursed, bending down so his lips were pressed hard between the shoulder blades of the man below him, to stifle any other sound.
It was so wrong.
He should have ignored Sly’s provocations as he always had. He should have slammed the door in his face and basked in his well deserved victory. Not ending up in that situation, with his cock inside the ass of a man other than his boyfriend, kneeling on a couch in a backstage room.
Leo should have definitely kicked Sly square in the dick and knocked him out of his life once and for all, not have sex with him in the badly lit darkness of an unknown place.

And more than anything, he should have never heard the shocked and chilling cry of his sister, nor turn around to see how Dexter blissful smile morphed into a grimace of pain drowned in tears.

Chapter Text

Done for.
That’s what Leo was in that moment, caught not only in the act, but enjoying it. Luna’s gaze burned like fire, her eyes normally so gentle and understanding now lit by a fury so sharp it wounded far more than blades. Her lips tightened to form a thin line of disapproval, her features so contracted she seemed about to explode. A ticking bomb, waiting for the timer to run out.

And Dexter…
Oh gods, Dexter. Leo would have given up everything, himself, the Signer mark he had longed for, his title… everything he held dear and more, to avoid seeing the broken expression twisting Dexter’s face. To turn back the time and avoid being there, right under his accusing and hurt eyes, not even having an excuse to justify himself.
Leo would have given his life away to the most vengeful god in existence to forget how hurt Dexter was, how much pain he caused to his sweet boyfriend.

«You… out of here. Now».
Luna didn’t care to acknowledge the disheveled conditions Sly was in, so enraged her voice trembled with every syllable she spoke.
When the man refused to listen to her, Luna’s feature hardened even more, and the woman approached both culprits with flames raging in her calm eyes. Ignoring Leo’s weak protest – he didn’t deserve recognition anyway – and the smug expression deforming Sly’s features, she grabbed her brother by th shoulder and forced him away and out of the other young man.
Then, she threw Sly his uniform, fallen and left on the ground to pick up dust and guilt: «Get lost, you son of a bitch, before I make you lose that little manhood you still have», she said.
Her tone was calm and low, but not in a good way. It was the calm before the storm, small innocent waves retreating to make way to something bigger and devastating.
A storm that wasn’t going to leave survivors.

As soon as Sly was out the room, Luna turned around and slapped Leo so hard his head turned away. And he slapped him again, on the his other cheek, leaving red marks on his brother’s fair skin.
«How could you?», he asked, every word forced through clenched teeth. «How. COULD. YOU?!»

Leo backed away, struggling as he crawled on the couch, and closed his eyes. His head was still turned to the side following the blunt force of the blow he received. Unable to look into his sister’s eyes. To meet her gaze.
His cheeks burned, where Luna’s hand had left behind the mark of her anger, but he didn’t dare raise his own to soothe the pain.

«Turn around».

«W-what?».

Luna pursed her lips in a terrifying grimace: «Turn around and look at the face of the person you just betrayed», she repeated, her voice as cold and sharp as ice.

«No… please…».

«TURN AROUND AND LOOK AT HIM!».

Leo flinched at Luna’s voice screaming at him, deprived of the usual joking tone hidden in it. It was raw yelling, harsh and frightening, something Luna had never did before. So Leo turned around.
And when he did, he wished he’d never done it.
Dexter had plastered on his face the most distraught and anguished expression he’d ever seen, his face ashen and streaked by tears that were refusing to stop. The kept falling and falling, rolling down his cheeks and disappearing, coming from empty eyes.
Eyes contaminated with red shades as he cried, silently, suffering as his heart shattered piece by piece at the hands of his love.

He didn’t deserve it.

He didn’t deserve to have his eyes on Leo, on his appearance still infected by the crushing defeat he’d suffered. He didn’t deserve to look at the disaster Leo had become in a matter of few minutes, uniform still messily open on his chest and barely closed to hide him, face still flushed red following the heat he rode out with Sly.

He didn’t deserve it.

Dexter shook his head, motionless, observing the person who had once sworn his love for him, to care for him, to stand by him and be happy together.
A person that was no longer there, replaced by a stranger wearing Leo’s features, his clothes, his voice.
But not Leo.

«Dexter, I…».

«Shut up!», he interrupted him, shutting his eyes close. «Please, just… shut up».
Blinking back the umpteenth waterfall of salted tears, Dexter took a step backwards and raised his hands in Leo’s direction, as if he wanted to shield himself from him, unwilling to listen to anything coming out of that  mouth.
«I don’t even know you».

The silence that fell in the dressing room after that statement was colder and heavier that a blanket of snow just fallen from a gloomy sky, inclemently covering every thought, every unspoken plea, every excuse not found.
Leo couldn’t help but watch, frozen in place, as Dexter turned his back to him like scared animal and ran away, disappearing into the dimly lit hallway.
And he couldn’t blame him.
He wanted to beg him to stay, to kneel at his feet and implore his forgiveness, but the shame burned inside him like molten metal, a fire fed by guilt and out of control. A fire that consumed everything in its path of destruction without distinction between right and wrong.

Not wanted, unjustified, tears rose to his eyes and rolled down his face, leaving warm streaks of salt and negligence behind, underlining all his mistakes drop after drop.
He didn’t know him anymore. Leo betrayed his trust, and now Dexter’s eyes stopped seeing him. He could have said “It’s over, never talk to me again”, he could have slapped him, kicked him in the balls. Leo would have understood.
He would have accepted his anger, like that.
But knowing he wasn’t just leaving him, he was forgetting him…

Leo slipped to the ground, barely registering that shock of pain the impact of his knees on cold hard tiles caused him. Everything around him was reduced to a mere accumulation of buzzing sounds and blurred colors, overlapped and crossed like torn painting made by a sorrowful artist.
The neon lights whispered ominously above his head, the mirror on the wall an unmistakable witness to the mistake he’d made, the air he breather in and out stinging like poison ready to bite him down.
And his sister’s eyes, still painfully locked on his back, burning into his skin like drops of liquefied gold slowly spilled on his skin.
Leo was the kindling, dried twigs piled one over another, dried leaves people loved to trample. And if Luna was the fire, pure and unruly, Dexter was the fuel, the oil igniting at the slightest spark, making those flames high and merciless.

«I could leave you here, you know?».
Luna glanced at her brother in disgust, for the first time since she’s learned the meaning behind responsibility and feelings, and crossed her arms over her chest: «I should, after what you did», she added.
She was unsympathetic, determined not to hear a single word coming from Leo’s vocal cords. He had done so much, that troublemaker, had ended up in dangerous, hilarious and stupid situations, not even realizing what the hell he was doing.
Years before, he had welcomed into their house a Yusei everyone called criminal, had illegally taken Luna’s place in the Fortune Cup, had died in order to protect his family and friends.
Leo had had enough courage to get back to his feet fall after fall, protecting Luna at all costs, earning what he’d put together after years of efforts.
Leo had had enough naivety to be trampled by his classmates, who constantly made fun of him for his stubbornness and his losses, enough to get in the way even when he knew the situation was dangerous and without positive outcomes visible.
He had come home with scratches, bruises, and so much pride lost that Luna had actively begun to be afraid for him, for his stubbornness that always wanted to make him stand up when people threw him down.
But that…
That was where she drew the line.

Nothing in the world, for any reason, could ever justify what Leo had done with Sly. What Leo had done to Dexter. To his boyfriend, to the person who had trusted him more than any other, to the man who left his insecurities and fears behind for Leo.
Leo cheating on Dexter had always been a concept so unrealistic and impossible, Luna didn’t know if she was feeling sick or simply disbelieved.
«I never thought I’d say that, not to you of all people, but I’m ashamed of you», she spat out, voice steady and low.
She didn’t need to yell again, to make sure he would receive the message.

Leo slumped to the ground even more than he already was, Luna could clearly see his tears dripping onto the tiles, his shoulders shaking with the futile effort to hold them back. She didn’t take pity. If he wanted to cry, he could cry his eyes dry and his throat hoarse. It wasn’t going to make a difference.
«I’m ashamed of being your sister», she added fuel to the inferno. «I thought I knew you. I thought you were a person I could trust.
She shook her head, lips curved in a heartbreaking smile: «I didn’t think I could be so wrong».

No…

No, no, no!

She couldn’t leave, not her!

«I’m sorry», Leo whined, clawing at linoleum floor tiles, nails grabbing nothing but scratching pain. Under his face, a mosaic of salty drops was emerging in chaotic lines, tiles made of anguish instead of gold leaf and glass: «I’m so sorry…», he whispered again, words chocked between unrestrained sobs.
The words were lost in the void, however, clashing with steel walls aimed to keep him out, alone in deadly marshes and arid deserts, isolated with his sins and eaten away by his guilt.

Luna didn’t recognizes those weak apologies, didn’t accept them: «Get out, Leo. Tell our friends what you did, and suffer the consequences. Look in the mirror, and admit what you see. You’re nothing but an opportunistic liar».

«Please, Luna, I didn’t want to do it!».

«THEN WHY DID YOU DO IT?!».

Luna shook her head, a grimace tearing at her face as pain settled in from the strain she had subjected her vocal cords, and tuned away from Leo: «Keep your apologies for some idiot who believes them. as far as I’m concerned, you can stick them up your ass», she said, not even thinking about keeping a polite vocabulary anymore. «Go away».

The ride the Tops was atrociously slow, not because of the Duel Runner – it was roaring marvelously on the semi-deserted streets of Neo Domino at that hour – but by the distorted feelings Leo was having regarding time.
He’d been kneeling on the ground in the dressing room, alone, until nightfall. Tired of him, Luna ultimately ended up leaving despite wanting him to, but Leo didn’t want to move. Didn’t want to get up and face those responsibilities. Only a couple hours ago he was happy, impatiently waiting for the evening to come so they could cheer and party and smile together.
A bucket of icy water dumped onto him would have made Leo feel less chilled than realizing he was now completely alone, and had to face his friend with no one helping him from the sidelines. He had to tell them, a group of people coming from harsh conditions and heavily believing in trust, what he’d done.
He didn’t want to.
But if he didn’t, Luna would never forgive him for lying to his friends too.

It had taken Leo months to gather enough resolution to face Yusei and tell him how he and Dexter had become a couple, scared of the opinion the others might have had about the situation. And when he’d followed Yusei’s advice and told them too, they’d been happy for him and with him, happy he found someone to share his energetic trust with.
And now he had to tell them how he ruined that trust, broken it, shattered like car windows after an accident, scrapped at if it was nothing but waste and scraps.

Leo had never been truly scared of his friends. He hadn’t been scared of Yusei, when people kept calling him a criminal. He didn’t care about the markings scarring Crow’s face as he met him. He learned Jack wasn’t so prone to anger and fights as people often said. He sat still, when Kalin approached him and talked to him to make friends.
But he never broke a promise with them. Never deceived their trust, or made anything to splatter dirt on his words.
Cheating on Dexter deceived his trust, and deceived the image Yusei and the others had of Leo. And he was scared to tell them that.

The highway finally gave way to narrower streets, pressed between tall buildings and outlined by lights spreading electric flashes on the asphalt, on the sidewalk slabs, on walls and doors.
The bluish light reflected on dozens of window panes, flashing in the corners of Leo’s vision like an audience taunting and blaming him, flickering menacingly as if to convey their contempt.

Even the roar of the Life Bringer, which only a few hours earlier had urged him to win, was insulting him. The dragon mark on his arm inflicted him pangs of pain Leo knew were psychosomatic, he knew they weren’t there; but deep down, he accepted that pain he was inflicting to himself. Because Quetzalcóatl would never accept a Signer so contaminated and despicable, and Leo was aware of that. He deserved to lose that mark, and his Signer Dragon, and everything coming with it. A fitting punishment for a disgraceful betrayal.
He had earned that mark, years before, a recognition received after months of silence and support given to his sister, long days of wishing without being envious. He had to die, had to chose death while being a kid, and he never regretted it.
But now…

And to add insult to injury, Sly’s grin didn’t want to go away, it continued to haunt him, appearing and disappearing only to reappear again, again and again, making fun of him, collapsing him into insanity.
Leo realized too late he’d been blindly stupid. All that was just a game, for Sly, from the beginning to that evening. A way to discredit Leo and put him in the dust he barely escaped from.
It was only a matter of time before the world knew what the new crowd’s favorite was really like, just a matter of giving Sly the necessary means to throw him out of the spotlight and drown him in hatred and disappointed expressions.
And he had those means, quite a few.
Journalists, bloggers, youtubers. Even the girls glued to every social media he owned, all hung on his lips and ready to spread anything in his favor.
The fact Dexter and Luna both left the arena without Leo following, and that the latter had taken a completely different route, was only going to throw confirmations to any hypothesis given by Sly.

It would be easy, for Leo, to avoid all that. Speed up just a little more and swerve into the guardrail, head back on the highway and jump off of it to sink into the ocean below. He had choices. He could make it all seem like an unfortunate accident, before media knew the truth behind Sly’s words.
But, even if he was to disappear, his problem wouldn’t.
They would only get worse and pass on someone else’s shoulders, and nobody would have considered Leo a person to remember.
No one to say a single comforting – or proud – word for him. If Leo was to drive away from life, nobody would have missed him now.
Newspapers and blogs, all useless after his death, surely busy accepting facts coming from who framed him.

Therefore, Leo stayed on the road, stayed in his lane, hands firmly anchored to the handles and senses alert.

The Tops were a place Leo knew as well as his pockets, the richest and most famous neighborhood in Neo Domino, house of wealthy celebrities, known personalities and stars rolling around in money. Numerous skyscrapers proudly stood, gleaming and eye-catching, silhouetted against a beautiful night sky and dotted with lights despite the fact the clock struck midnight.
Artificial lights made every star invisible, emphasizing technology and steel and glass, bathing everything in unhealthy blue glows in stark contrast to the fainter streetlight spotting the rest of Neo Domino.
Everything and more, to underline how much the Tops were to stand out among normal buildings in the metropolis, to distinguish those people from the commoners who most of the time didn’t even dare to approach the place.
Leo knew the atmosphere hovering between those skyscrapers and those gardens, so well kept no one really wanted to check out Neo Domino’s great parks, small oases of tranquility. Luna loved seeking refuge in those places, being surrounded by chirping birds and green leaves and scented flowers, chased everywhere by her visions.
That neighborhood had been his house for years, a house he had abandoned and returned to various times, until he decided to leave it completely behind. Their parent’s mansion had been set for sale shortly after Leo bought a house with Dexter, and Luna was already living by herself in the city center. Neither of them spent much time at the mansion anyway and Dexter was uncomfortable in such a large place, so it made no sense to keep on living there.

For the first time in years, Leo felt guilt – deeply guilty – of leaving the mansion behind. He had just lost his sister and his boyfriend, and he obviously didn’t have his parent’s support. Although, he saw them so rarely they were barely a reminiscence of better times.
He had no place to go back to, and no idea what to do.
The skyscraper where Jack and Yusei lived – they had re-bought the attic where Jack lives during his time as King under Goodwin – wasn’t far away now. Leo could see it, towering above all the others, the roof garden a patch of green unthinkable at that height.
He could still go back, make a u-turn with his Duel Runner and disappear from Neo Domino without being seen. There was no need for them to know, for anyone to know. He could live with his mistake without letting anyone in on it.
But resolution didn’t take root in time, so when Leo finally decided to give up his friends and leave, the Life Bringer had already taken him to his destination.
And Leo stifled a curse mixed with terror.

The skyscraper’s front yard, usually empty or at most occupied by the sporadic car of someone that didn’t have time to park in the garage or was stopping only a few minutes, wasn’t as empty as Leo had hope. Two Duel Runners were parked there, sleek and shiny even without sunlight hitting them.
Both painted a deep black, but totally different from one another. One flying with wings, the other tice as big.
Blackbird and Giganto.
Waiting for him, in that attic, there were also Crow and Kalin. There was Kalin.
Leo’s blood froze in his veins, so thick it wasn’t possible for it to still flow, right? It was molten fire, scalding heat burning his body from the inside, a ravaging fire killing him slowly.
Suddenly, he realized he couldn’t have ran. Kalin and Crow were there for a reason, Luna was the reason. They would have noticed, if he didn’t show up. They would have searched for him, worried for him, and Leo was trapped.

As he found out after ringing the bell – his hands trembling so hard he couldn’t press the right button on the first try – his hypothesis was right. They were there for him.

«Leo? Finally, Luna told us you had to tell something really important, but it’s been hours since her call!», Crow exclaimed, opening the door for the younger man. «Hey, are you okay?».
Frowning, Crow stepped aside to let Leo enter the house and closed the door behind him, puzzled. Leo’s face was pale, sickly ashen, and he seemed ready to take off at the slightest sound.
«Leo…?».

«I-I…».
Leo tried to answer, but any response his brain might have constructed for him died immediately after setting foot in the kitchen.
All three of his friends were sitting around the table, in perfect silence despite the atmosphere wasn’t so heavy. So, Luna made sure Leo talked to them, but said absolutely nothing about the reason. Great.
Again, Leo stifled a curse, even more frightened and upset than he already was.
Jack was drinking a cup of steaming tea, a nice change for once given his coffee obsession, while Kalin was busy polishing his harmonica with slow, controlled movements. Yusei, sitting at the other end of the table, had his gaze fixed on a book he was reading, probably mechanical or engineering knowing the man.
It was calm and quiet and the only sounds where Jack’s sips and the slow turning of pages.

Upon hearing him enter, Yusei looked up from the book and motioned for Leo to sit down: «Did something happen, Leo? Your sister seemed quite upset when she called me», he asked.
Clearly something was wrong, because Leo didn’t have even a pinch of his usual crackling energy. Rather, he looked like a shadow of himself, pale and fidgety, and reminded him so much of Kalin’s behavior when he went to Crash Town the first time.

Leo swallowed dry, sitting in the chair farthest from everyone, conveniently waiting for Crow to sit down in his place first. The table wasn’t that big though, so his strategy of using it as a barrier didn’t work so well.
To steal some more time, the young man looked around, observing anything that wasn’t the faces of his friends. Well, soon-to-be-former friends.
A pile of plates and glasses was piled up in the sink, waiting to be washed, an apron was hanged next to the stove and a couple painting suspiciously looking like old tournament posters were balanced on flimsy nails.
He wanted to do anything, everything but admit his negligence.
In the end, however, the pressure of Yusei’s gaze on the back of his neck got the better of him, and Leo sighed: «Listen, I-I… I have…».
He shook his head, frustrated and defeated, strings of words caught in his throat before having the chance to escape and becoming sounds, syllables, coherent sentences. How could he admit what he had done in front of the people who made him the man he was?

«…Leo?».

Kalin’s voice, so calm and composed, made him flinch away, a movement he hoped was going to be unnoticed by the man, who raised an eyebrow.
Why? Why had he betrayed Dexter like that? Why with Sly, with Sly for fuck’s sake?!
Ho choked down a sob, shaking his head ever so slightly. He couldn’t tell. He didn’t dare.

Then, however, together with Sly he recalled his influence on various pieces of media, his grip on journalist followed by all and contested by none.
Within a few hours the whole world was going to be aware of Leo’s cheating, of his turnaround, the great champion born from nothing but a shadow in a team of sparkling stars. Even Yusei, Jack, Crown, Kalin, and all the people he called friends over the years… all of them would know, whether he wanted them to or not.
Perhaps their reactions would be even worse, coming to know it that way.
A sigh, a deep one, hands clasped to each other to contain the trembling possessing them, clawing at each other so hard he was losing sensitivity.
Leo couldn’t bring himself to look Yusei in the eyes, when the truth ultimately resounded in the absolute silence permeating the room.

A silence that didn’t last long.
As soon as Leo had the courage to look up just enough to see over the edge of the table, Yusei had closed the book in front of him. Calmly, no aggression, gently making sure he didn’t lose track of his progress by carefully arranging a strip of paper between pages.
When he stood up, also, pushing the chair back on the polished floor, his movements were normal, controlled and quiet as usual.
When he left the room, however, not having said a single word or given away any emotion on his face, Yusei slammed the door so hard, with so much violence, one of the paintings fell from the wall and on the ground, the echo of the impact making Leo’s ears ring painfully.

Leo closed his eyes, knowing he had to be ashamed of himself, a renewed sense of guilt climbing up and wrapping around his body in tight coils, suffocating him in a deep abyss with no return.
Saying out loud what he’d done didn’t made things easier. Indeed, it helped Leo making the picture of the situation even clearer. He wanted to throw up, disgusted by himself, sickened by how easily Sly had convinced him to give in and cheat on the person he’d sworn to be faithful to.
Leo felt so sick he realized he was no longer sitting, but dragged to his feet by Jack’s grip on his uniform, only when the searing pain of violent slap ragdolled him to the ground.
Gasping as the pain settled in following the impact of Jack’s palm on his cheek, Leo brought a hand to his face, shocked.

«WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?!», Jack yelled at him, barely restrained by the thought that no, the one he just hit was no ordinary criminal, but Leo, the grown up kid he loved and cared about. «What the fuck went through your head, Leo?!».
His hands were itching, the urge to hit again gnawing at the last bit of self control he still had.
Of everything in the world, of all the people in the world, Leo had to be the one who betrayed his boyfriend with some random man.
Leo, the kid Jack would gladly give his life for.
The same brave, stubborn little boy who had suffered so much he earned a place amongst the Signers. He was angry, even more than he’d been towards Goodwin, or the Earthbound Immortals, or anyone who tried to kill or destroy in one way or another.
«Why did you do it? Leo, why?».
He shook his head, barely moving, staring into the void with blank eyes. Jack bit his lower lip, attempting to restrain himself, but he couldn’t help it. «ANSWER ME!», he found himself yelling again.

Terrified, Leo backed up and turned his head away, new and unjust tears running down his cheeks and dripping onto the kitchen floor. How could he say something to Jack without having an answer?
Words chocked in his throat, the only thing he managed to do was burst into tears, trembling and sobbing like a baby, ignoring the fact neither of his friends took pity on him.

What Leo’s reaction triggered, on the other hand, was a second anger outburst from Jack, who effortlessly lifted him from the ground and barely prevented himself from slapping him again.
He couldn’t feel empathy for him, as much as he tried to, no matter how much he wanted to understand at least a little bit of his reasoning behind that.
Jack hated traitors, he despised them as much as he’d despised himself for having become one, in those far behind years when Goodwin deceived him and turned him into an idolized image. He didn’t want Leo to be one. He didn’t want that sweet, innocent boy turning into what he hated the most.
«For fuck’s sake, Leo, answer me!», he shouted at the young man, shaking him.

«Why should I? You’ve betrayed Yusei too, and I’m not referring to you escaping Satellite!», Leo instinctively yelled in reply, without thinking.
And when his brain reconnected to his tongue, it was too late to fix the damage.
Another pang of thundering pain to his face, and Leo found himself thrown on the ground once more, lower lip bleeding and ears ringing.
Jack had punched him violently enough to disorient him and force him to press both hands on the spot where his fisted hand landed.

«HOW. DARE. YOU?! How dare you say that?!».
If it hadn’t been for Crow, who finally decided to intervene, Jack would have punched him again, harder. Instead, Crow’s hand placed itself on his arm, lowering it.
«Do you think I don’t know what I did in the past? Do you think Yusei didn’t agree, all those nights we spent with Crow and Kalin?!», he still continued ranting, regardless of the warning look Crow sent him, ignored in his peripheral vision. «Do you think you can cal betrayal those few minutes of euphoria and life we had in a place that could kill us one day after the other?».
His blood boiling with anger, Jack tore his arm away from Crow’s grip and left the kitchen, almost displacing the door handle and not bothering to close it behind him.
Let Crow deal with him, he thought to himself, every bit of benevolence gone to hell.

«You know, Jack’s right», Crow said, as soon as he was sure the blond was out of earshot. Surely he was with Yusei now, whom only the gods knew how furious he was. Yusei wasn’t a person prone to show emotions. When he showed annoyance or anger it was a bad, bad sign.
The fact Yusei had personally known Sly for years, since he attended the Duel Academy with Leo, had done nothing but add insult to injury. «And Yusei’s right to, for what matters».
Shaking his head, insanely disappointed by Leo’s decisions and sorry for Dexter, Crow reached out and helped the young man to his feet. His lips was profusely bleeding, and a bad bruise was already forming where Jack’s fist hit him.
He’d been lucky, Jack could have done much worse. If Crow hadn’t stopped his friend, Leo wouldn’t have been able to stand upright on his own. Sure, jack was a good person, sympathetic when needed and mostly kind to anyone younger than him, but some things triggered bad nerves.
Being accused of treason and cheating was one of those things; seeing what had been a necessity at the time turned against him as an offense was even worse.

Crow couldn’t see him, as he was sitting behind him and keeping more silent than a corpse, was even Kalin had to be fuming with anger. After all, betrayal was not only a subject that had touched every person in that room, but Kalin’s non-life as a Dark Signer had been completely based on resentment against an alleged betrayal.
With a sigh, Crow told himself he had to be patient: «Why did you say that? You didn’t offend just him, but also us. Also me».

Leo looked away, still stunned by the dull pain throbbing just above his jaw, and didn’t answer. What if he said the wrong thing again? No, better to stay silent and not say a single word.
He knew how many mistakes he already had on his shoulders, and he knew he couldn’t remain silent forever, but no answer wanted to be coaxed out.

«Alright, you don’t want to answer that? Then tell me why you had sex with Sly», Crow decided to change approach.
Leo was visibly scared to solicit another negative reaction, understandable after being hit by Jack twice in the span of five minutes. But he didn’t have any right to stay quiet every time he wanted to. That issue wasn’t some troublesome behavior to be forgiven.
«Leo, answer me».

He shook his head, refusing to look in his direction even when Crow tried to walk around him. Simply, Leo continued moving his head until the strained muscles in his neck protested at the effort, eyes painfully shut. He didn’t open them even upon hearing Crow sighing his impatience.
Rather, the sound of Crow losing his cool made him even more terrified, heart pounding against his ribcage.
He was expecting another slap, and when he ignored yet another question from Crow, it arrived.
Luckily, on the cheek not already bruised and much weaker that Jack’s. Even though the humiliation stayed where it was, nibbling at his resolution.

«I’ve never been so disappointed, Leo», Crow said. He slapped him more for his lack of respect rather than really wanting to, but his voice was shaking at the effort of keeping it low and composed. «When I got to know you, I never thought you would be able to do something like this. You’re a nice person, Leo. You care about others, worry more about the ones around you than about yourself». Another sigh, another headshake: «You’ve been a fucking bastard».

«He started it», Leo shrieked, tried to defend himself, arms raised in exasperation. «Sly provoked me!».

«Did he provoke you to lower you pants and fuck him in a dressing room, Leo?! Or were you the one who decided it?!».

«He wanted me to pass for a spineless asshole, what should I’ve done?!».

«IGNORED HIM!».
At that point Crow shouted, nerves on edge and frustration boiling his calm temper. He couldn’t believe his ears.
«You should have ignored him, not played his game. You really look like a fucking idiot, Leo!»

Leo backed away from him, struck deeply by Crow’s scolding. He’d never heard him scream, not even when his kids threw temper tantrums or messed up badly. Crow had never lost his temper like that with someone who wasn’t Jack.
«I didn’t want to», he whimpered, eyes down and staring at the floor. Tiny red droplets had fallen on white tiles, dripping from his bleeding lip.

«Do you have an idea of what you did? I can repeat it to you clearly, if you’re still missing the gravity of this situation».

«I know what I did!», Leo retaliated, before Crow could really remind him of his actions. Again.
He didn’t need to hear it to know. Gods, just thinking back at how much Sly had cheated that conversation into convincing Leo to…
Years before, Leo had sworn to himself he would never hurt anyone. He didn’t want to be the cause of someone’s suffering, in any way, and didn’t want to be the cause of his own.
He had come to follow that oath so literally he even kept on refusing nights of pleasure from people who wanted to have a one night stand with him, waiting to find the right person, the right time, the right action.
And what did he do?
He threw everything in the wind because his brain locked on anger rather than reason.
There was no need to remind him.

«I don’t think you understood it».
Crow didn’t say anything else after that. Instead, he glanced at Kalin, and when the man gave no sign of wanting to move from his seat, he gave a shrug and left to head home. If Kalin wanted to talk with Leo with no interference, he was free to do so. Crow would wait for him in bed.

For a while, the now soft silence enveloping the kitchen kept its shape, except for the faint bustle coming from outside and the muffled noise of a security helicopter patrolling the streets.
Nothing could be heard coming from the other rooms, not even slight whispers that could suggest a conversation going on between Yusei and Jack.
Nothing, but Kalin’s controlled breathing, who refused to move for his seat since things went downhill, harmonica still in his hands.
He was turning it over in his slender fingers, thoughtfully, and occasionally the weak hiss of air passing through it could be heard.
Silent, he looked up at Leo and motioned for him to sit down, in the chair left behind by Yusei, still thrown away from the table.
It took Leo a while to make up his mind, still quite shocked, but when he finally sat down Kalin stopped turning the harmonica in his hands and placed it on the table, lacing his fingers together. A calm gesture, but hiding so much more.

They were right, after all.
Yusei, jack, Crow… they were all right in their anger.
There was no denying their reactions, and there was no wrong reasoning in them.
Their anger was justified, their refusal to stop, be patience and understand a little more was based on their own bad experiences.
Kalin wasn’t different.
Leo’s confession had left a bitter taste in his mouth, a profound disappointment that could only be amplified in the heart of those who knew him better. When Kalin was given the opportunity to meet Leo, it was already pretty late. He hadn’t known him since the beginning, hadn’t known the same experiences and crisis.
Leo was a late friend in Kalin’s life, someone who came to him as a young adult, already challenging the world on his Duel Runner. Perhaps, that was the reason why he didn’t feel like ranting so much.

Unperturbed, Kalin turned his gaze in Leo’s direction and patiently waited for the young man to take the hint and look him in the eye. It took a while, but eventually curiosity got the better of him, and Leo met Kalin’s peaceful eyes hiding a flash of quick surprise.
Now it wasn’t the time to make him run away.
«Listen to me, Leo», he began, voice low and measured, aimed at reassuring the man and calming him. «I know you want to shift all the blame on Sly. And it’s normal, you’re trying to defend yourself against something that’s way bigger than you are. But what you did, it was your choice. You gave in to his provocations, not him. You brought the situation at this point, not him».
Kalin went quiet, searching for the right words to say. He didn’t want to look like an apprehensive and disenchanted parent. Leo wasn’t one of Crow’s kids and Kalin wasn’t Crow.
«I don’t like traitors and cheaters. I never liked them. After what happened to me, after believing for years Yusei had willingly left me to die in a cell in the Facility, after all the hatred and resentment I felt deep in my soul as a Dark Singer, I can’t help but detest them. People who take back their words, their promises… people who lie and cheat, who take advantage of their own feelings without caring. I hate them.
What you’ve done, in my eyes above all, should deserve much worse than what you’re experiencing now. But – Kalin shifted in his chair, turning to face Leo with his whole body – I know you’re a better person that this. I know you can face your mistakes and accept them if you want to ».

With a soft sigh, Kalin stood up and smoothed absentmindedly his coat, turning his back on Leo: «I don’t know why you did that, nor I want to. But, I want you to reflect on your actions, to think about it until you pass out from exhaustion. And I want you to act accordingly. There’s no sense in shouting or hitting, no one can put into your head something that’s already there, and no one can take out something that cannot be taken out.
You have irreparably betrayed the trust of someone who blindly gave it to you, and your stubbornness is going to make you lose even more. If you don’t help yourself, Leo, nobody will».