Note: Continuing my streak of recent vrains fics: a somewhat character study exploring the possible friendship between naoki and yusaku. Warning for some mentions of verbal bullying.

impasse impenetrable

Naoki can remember a time when he liked school. He was young, and stupid, and thought learning new things would be a good use of his time. Or maybe that it would make the other kids stop teasing him—for his hair, or his looks, or his lack of smarts.

Needless to say, little-Naoki's delusions did not last long. Instead of becoming super-smart and awesome, well-liked and popular, filled with all these cool facts and dueling strategies, Naoki just found boredom and loneliness abound. The kids teased him more, for being the last in the class, for his loud voice and boisterous way of talking. His dueling didn't get any better. The teachers didn't get any nicer.

High school still isn't much better, but at the very least, kids got sneakier with their teasing, which is nice, even if it hurts more when he catches them. Naoki still doesn't have friends, and still isn't all that good at dueling, but that's fine, because there's another kid in his class who is pretty similar, and hey—outcasts have to stick together, right?

Naoki had heard of Yusaku before then, of course—mostly by hearsay. Their classmates thought of him of as cold, stand-offish, and rude. They didn't like him. They teased him almost as much as they teased Naoki, the only difference being that they were too afraid to do it to Yusaku's face and their rumors tended to edge towards territory of "creepy, probably a murderer, and an asshole."

Which—honestly, to be fair, isn't really wrong. Yusaku is cold, standoffish, and rude. He tends to be kind of creepy—he always stares when Naoki talks to him, green eyes wide and unblinking like a doll's. And he really is a bit of an asshole—in his first conversation with him alone Yusaku had insulted him twice, attacked three of Naoki's biggest insecurities with barely a blink, and then offered a backhanded compliment like that would mean anything after a big speech like that.

Furthermore, from what Naoki could tell, either Yusaku doesn't know about the teasing—unlikely—or quite simply doesn't give a single damn about it, which means Naoki's "outcasts have to stick together" plan of making friends is pretty much flushed down the drain. Naoki isn't the smartest, isn't even close, but it hadn't been hard to pick up. If nothing else, his first meeting with Yusaku had made it clear the other boy was not only uninterested in being Naoki's friend, he was actively against it.

Normally, that would be enough to drive Naoki away. He has already lived through being rejected enough times already, so why on earth would he seek it out?

Yet, no matter what he tells himself, Naoki can't let Yusaku go. No matter how sour his personality, there is something truly sad about this high school kid having no friends whatsoever, outcast and abandoned by his peers without question. It does not help that Naoki is intimately familiar with this high school hive mind of shunning, having been on the receiving end of it too many times to count. The Duel Club is fun, and one of the few places Naoki feels he fits in, but even that place is tainted—his fellow members less like friends and more like reluctant babysitters. They don't want him there, not really, and that burns.

Yusaku, for all his selective attention, blunt observations, and general air of dissatisfaction for anything that came within three miles of him, is refreshing in his upfront dislike. He does not dither behind Naoki's back, or force a fake smile when he sees him. He forgets Naoki's name more than once, and instead of hiding it, blatantly admits it. He isn't teasing, or quietly scornful—he is just rude, and self-absorbed.

It's the most annoying thing Naoki has ever experienced. It's also the least hurtful.

Naoki wants to be friends with him. He wants it dearly, because for all that things are better, they are still not good. He wants it because friends are still a foreign concept, and because Yusaku is not the type to agree simply because of social expectations.

He thinks, too, that it would be good for Yusaku. Naoki is too loud, too enthusiastic, too much—and in contrast Yusaku is too quiet, too haughty, too quick to fade into the background. For a boy with multi-colored hair, he is remarkably good at disappearing.

They could balance each other out—probably. Possibly. Maybe those types of friendships don't work in real life. Naoki wouldn't know.

But until then—Naoki keeps talking. He pesters Yusaku each day in class, sneaks looks at his deck, tries to egg him into logging in LINK VRAINS. He tries to find common ground, and although Yusaku continually either ignores or rebuffs him, he's starting to lighten up. He says hello, if barely. At the Duel Club, he finally remembers Naoki's name. He still doesn't look at Naoki—merely past him, the way he does for everyone—but sometimes when Naoki says something particularly annoying his brow furrows and his eyes dart up.

They're not friends, not yet, because it's hard to be friends when one is constantly treading on social norms and things like tact, and the other cares so little for basic human interaction he barely knows the proper way to greet someone. But that's fine, really, because all that means is that Naoki gets more second chances than he usually would, because Yusaku doesn't know how to make friends either. They're at an impasse— Yusaku silent, and unresponsive; Naoki chattering away at empty space, refusing to be budged.

But there's hope yet for the both them, and so long as it exists, Naoki will keep trying. For him. For Yusaku, too, because no one deserves to be friendless, not even him.

One day, maybe he'll talk back.

Naoki can hope.