A/N: Written for the ZEXAL bingo: the non-flash version, #068 – genre: family.

.

.

the one loyalty that would never break

.

Rio could easily betray everything she believed in because this was her brother: her twin, her family – and nothing was more important than him. She'd already decided that, long ago. And he'd decided that as well. They'd do anything for each other and that was it. Nothing else would come in between. Nothing else could.

Yes, it was a sad thing. Her heart cried inside and, probably, would cry outwardly as well given the chance. She'd come to treasure those other friends she'd made. But at the same time she was relieved. They hadn't been her friends, to begin with. They'd been Yuuma's…and from there it had extended to Ryouga, and then to her. And now the two of them would cut ties, and it would be back to them being Yuuma's friends and only his.

She could honestly say she was selfish and didn't like sharing. Even with Ryouga, sometimes. She'd thrown a tantrum that had given her dear twin a permanent scar when he'd gotten a deck from their father and she hadn't. Until they revealed her deck, which had taken a tad longer to put together.

She never thought they'd hurriedly made it after seeing her tantrum. It had been made with far too care for that. She'd changed it only subtly over the years, much as she herself had only subtly changed. Much like her brother, and his deck. And their relationship to each other. Even her long coma had done little to it – though she'd feared at first, when she'd seen Ryouga in a corner, when he'd seen his friends on the sidelines cheering him on when they hadn't been there before.

But now all of that was gone, and it was only Rio and Ryouga again.

She slipped a hand around his shoulders. His eyes were a mix of emotions. Unlike her he'd been closer to them. He'd spent more time with them. He'd become more committed to the cause they'd been fighting against – only to learn, now, that he was that cause. But that was okay too. That meant that time they'd spent like that had been real. Meaningful.

It also meant it was going to hurt all that more to leave it, and Rio knew that Ryouga would shed far more tears, both inside and out, than she.

No… She should be calling them Nasch and Merag now, she corrected herself. Nasch and Merag of the Barians. Still siblings. Still the most precious person in the world – now three worlds – to each other. No longer human. No longer Ryouga and Rio. No younger friends of humans…and of Tsukumo Yuuma. In fact, enemies. Because she was under no illusion and neither was Nasch. Maybe they could avoid the others but there'd be no avoiding Yuuma. Not when he had so many Numbers. Not when he had Astral.

And…that was it. They had to cast away those feelings now. For Yuuma. For the friends of Yuuma, no matter how they'd reached for the both of them. It was sad. It was necessary. It was somewhat alleviating as well – because now it was Ryouga and Rio again. Nasch and Merag. Complications were simplified. There'd be no clash of interest after this because Merag's one loyalty, the one that would never break, was to her brother, and the reverse was also true.