Chapter Text
A few months ago, Ryoken had invited me to his house for the first time. I was as ecstatic as I would permit myself to become; Excited on the inside, but relatively neutral on the outside. I wasn't sure what sort of things I would experience by visiting his house as a friend for the first time, but if I'm going to be perfectly honest, I sure as hell couldn't have foreseen that.
Night was falling, I was going through my deck and dueling through fake scenarios because Ryoken had gone off to take a shower. I wasn't really focused on what I was doing, because it wasn't really all that fun. I was having a better time when I was dueling Ryoken earlier. When I heard footsteps coming down the hallway, it didn't take me long to eagerly lock onto the origin of the sound and follow its approximate position in the adjacent hallway with my eyes. The it came closer and closer, then the door handle turned.
Then the door pushed into the room slightly. I opened my mouth to greet Ryoken, but what I saw next made my jaw drop to the floor instead.
Ryoken casually strolled into the room, with a towel around his neck.
And nothing else.
“R… Ry… Ry… Ryo… Ryoken...!” I stuttered, feeling awkward as all hell.
“Hm? What is it Yusaku?” He asked way too nonchalantly.
“You're… naked…” I blinked, realising I had been staring. Quickly, I looked away.
“Oh, whoops. Let me go put some on.” He chuckled, pretty much ignoring my shock.
Ryoken spun around and left the room, and closed the door behind him. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. This wasn't something I was comfortable with at all.
I spent a while thinking over the horrible moment. I eventually decided that it was a mistake. I mean, Ryoken had lived alone before that happened, and was probably used to being able to do whatever he wanted with nobody to watch. Next time he invites me over he'd take more care, surely.
I was sadly mistaken.
Ryoken did it the next time. And the next time. And the time after that. And every other time after that.
I had three options; I confront him, I could stop going to his house or I could just learn to live with his bullshit habits.
Option one was one I didn't want to have to carry out. It sounded not only emotionally exhausting, but judging by Ryoken’s casual demeanor every time he showed up naked in front of me, trying to bargain with him would probably be as productive as trying to convince a brick wall that cockatoos are purple.
Option two, while effective as to saving my already tainted eyes, didn't quite sit right with me. I loved being able to stay up and duel with Ryoken without the hassle of fans and haters in VRAINS, and just have a friend to hang with in general. I didn't want to give up this little glimmer of happiness I had found. My place was completely out of the question, as there was no way I was going to drag Ryoken into that crappy, run down apartment and feel like a good host.
Option three was the only option left. I had to learn to put up with it. While not the best option for saving me the sight of my best friend completely nude, it was the lesser of three evils.
So for a month or two, I've been playing Duel Monsters at least one night every week with my best friend, who is naked. Every. Single. Time.