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Shinji stared in awe as Goro shaped the gyoza skillfully. Goro had told him he’d never done it before, yet Shinji couldn’t help but feel like he was the one being taught, and not the other way around. Kitaoka’s scary guy being such a good cook, and an all around nice person too, was definitely not what he expected. This made him wonder how someone like Goro could stand to stay around such a jerk.
But… this could be Shinji’s chance to try and learn more about Kitaoka, and get a step closer to his goal of stopping the Rider War through its participants. If he couldn’t get Kitaoka to change his mind directly, maybe going through Goro first wasn’t such a bad idea. It seemed like he knew about the Rider stuff, too, which was convenient. Clearing his throat, Shinji spoke up.
“Hey, Yura-san?”
Goro blinked down at him, not saying a word as he waited for what Shinji had to say. Man, that guy’s stare was as scary as ever, though. Awkwardly, Shinji continued.
“I was wondering… What do you think about all this? The Rider War, I mean.”
Goro parted his lips slightly, frowning down at the gyoza he’d been in the process of making. He finished it and set it down with the rest before answering.
“...I think it’s cruel. Making people fight like that.”
Shinji perked up. He knew it! Finally, someone reasonable, with whom he could talk about how pointless that fight was. He hadn’t met anyone like this ever since Tezuka—he shook his head, not wanting to think about it. Focus on your goal, Shinji, he told himself, looking back at Goro with a beam.
“Right?! Thank god you understand. Like, it’s too crazy! I really don’t get how any wish can be worth killing, or getting killed.”
He looked at Goro hopefully, waiting for validation, but all that he got was heavy silence.
Oops. Had he come on too strong? Lowering his voice a notch, he resumed.
“Anyway. What I mean is, I’m trying to put an end to this. I wanna get the Riders to stop fighting, but none of them will listen. Do you think Kitaoka-san could be convinced, if you talked to him about it?”
Goro let out a soft sigh, looking up to meet Shinji’s gaze.
“I’m sorry,” he simply replied.
“...Oh. He really is that stubborn, huh?”
Goro shook his head. Sensei was stubborn, but it wasn’t just about that. He didn’t completely disagree with Shinji, and he could see where he was coming from. But if there was only one wish Goro thought to be worth any amount of risks, it was this one. So, even if Goro could change Kitaoka’s mind, he wouldn’t try to. He wanted Sensei to live, too. The Rider War was cruel, and scary, but so was Kitaoka’s fate.
“Kido.”
“Y-yes?” Shinji straightened up when Goro addressed him blankly. Did he say something wrong?
“...You’re a good person.”
Goro truly thought so. Kitaoka had no choice but to keep fighting until the very end. But Shinji was different. He of all people shouldn’t have to be involved in this. Goro hoped that Shinji would, somehow, find a way to get out of it.
Shinji blinked at Goro, having not expected to get an outright compliment from him like this.
“O-Oh. Uh, thanks. You’re a good person too, Yura-san.”
Shinji smiled at him, and Goro shrugged. He knew he was far from upstanding. He’d willingly gone along with quite a few of Kitaoka’s dubious plans, and would do it again in a heartbeat. Witnessing Kitaoka’s fight from the front row had only strengthened that resolve.
Shinji himself had been on the receiving end of one such plan, too, so Goro wouldn’t blame him if he hated him for it. Nothing mattered more to him than seeing Kitaoka’s goal to completion. He wasn’t really sure what he could say to Shinji, but he wanted to say something, at least.
“Be careful,” he settled on, despite how shallow it might sound. He still meant it.
After a beat, Shinji grinned at him. He pulled out his Deck from his pocket, thrusting it up in the air.
“Don’t worry about it! After all, I’m- ah!”
Shinji gasped as he dropped his Deck to the ground, shuffling around on his knees to pick it up. Goro smiled slightly to himself, amused, before his gaze landed on the abandoned tray of gyoza, remembering why he’d been here to begin with.
“We should probably start cooking those.”
“Oh, right!”
Shinji stood up, shoving his Deck back in his pocket as Goro picked up the tray, following him to the stove.
Goro could think about all that later. For now, though, he wanted to focus on figuring out how to make gyoza that would be to Kitaoka’s liking. As another way to support Sensei through his fight. His cooking always seemed to work the best for that, after all.