After Leaving the Bridge

Study in the Study

"I think we should tell him," Yuto stated abruptly, pulling Yugo and Yuri's attention away from their homework.

They could hear Yuya rummaging through the kitchen down stairs, trying to find the snacks Yugo had hidden from their mother. In this life, Sakaki Yoko was a fanatic when it came to dental health. Treats were kept to a minimum, and they all knew that dentist appointments were to always be arrived at 10 minutes early. That didn't stop the brothers' sweet teeth, though. Yugo and Yuri especially so. Whereas Yuri squirreled away money to buy the most expensive and delicious pastries he could find, Yugo would get his hands on buckets full of candy and hide them throughout the house for later consumption.

Later consumption this time, it seemed, happened to be in the middle of their group homework session in the house study. But Yugo had been having difficulty in his English class recently, his many past lives not able to help him navigate the confusing and ever changing landscape that was the English language. Yuya, who had a knack for the subject, refused to let Yugo get away from their study table for any reason until Yugo finished his English homework. Even if it meant finding Yugo's hidden candy for him.

Yugo's head tilted, his blue eyes conveying his confusion. "Tell who what, bro?"

"Yuya," Yuto said, laying down his own pencil to focus on his brothers, "we're gonna turn twelve in a few weeks. And despite how well we've all adapted, it doesn't feel right to keep Yuya in the dark about what his dreams really are. So, I was thinking that, on our 12th birthday, we should tell him about it."

Yuri's eyes narrowed. "All of it?"

Yuto nodded. "The Bridge. Our past lives. Everything, really."

"Are you sure," Yugo questioned, looking worried, "what if he doesn't... take it well?"

Yuri sighed. "I guess I'd rather have him angry or upset at us rather than him hurt over us never trying. He's going to remember everything sooner or later, anyway."

Yuto nodded. "And he won't start thinking that he's gone insane when he remembers everything he did to the humans while we were with him."

Yuto saw Yugo and Yuri's faces darken.

It was a few months after that first shared dream with Yuya that the three brothers started having dreams of their own. Like a key finding its matching lock, as soon as they saw through Yuya's eyes what really happened in Zarc's castle, the barrier in their minds shattered, and the brothers began to remember.

And just like they suspected, it wasn't a happy story.

The humans they hurt, the lives they destroyed. Everything they did while under Zarc and their dragons' influence came rushing back.

None of them really liked thinking about it.

Yugo slowly nodded, too. "Okay. I'll agree with that, at least." He twirled his pencil in his hand, "So, when are we telling him again?"

"I FOUND THEEEEEMMMMMM!!!" Yuya sounded off, his cheerful footfalls hurrying up the staircase. Their youngest brother burst into the room, a familiar grin plastered onto his eleven year old face, and a decently sized bucket in his hand. "You didn't tell me you had PayDays, Yugo!"

"Of course I have PayDays," Yugo replied with a proud smile, "I have connections in the underground candy ring."

Yuri scoffed. "Connections, he says. Like we all don't know you nab them from Jack when he and Crow aren't looking."

Yugo sputtered, but quickly folded his arms and gave a huff. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Never mind that," Yuto interrupted, looking to Yuya, "does he have any Twizzlers in there?"

Yuya reached inside the bucket, and pulled out the treat with a smile. "That he does, big bro, that he does."

The red and green haired boy poured the candy out on the table, and the four of them dug in, their previous conversation temporarily forgotten in lue of the sugary treats in front of them.