How to Be a Good Boyfriend 101
A Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's one-shot

Summary: Crow's got a secret that he must not absolutely give away under any circumstances whatsoever. But, then, he goes to visit the kids. Crow's POV.

Martha's Orphanage

I ripped off my helmet and threw it in one of Blackbird's compartments. Oh man oh man oh man, I was so late this time. I didn't expect the date to go over that long. The kids were really gonna let me have it today. I knocked hurriedly on the door.

Martha still couldn't afford to get a doorbell, I noticed. One of these days, I should help her install one.

But, it definitely wasn't the time to dwell on that.

"It's me, Crow," I declared. No sooner had I said that, the door slowly opened and Kokoro, the youngest of the kids I looked after, was the one who greeted me. Her long red hair was in a bun today – probably thanks to Hikari – and she had her hands on her hips.

Yeah, I could sense I was in big trouble.

"Big Brother Crow! You're late!" she pouted. I scratched the back of my head.

"I know, I know," I replied, flashing my biggest smile. "I'm sorry 'bout that. Can I come in?"

Kokoro thought about it for a moment, and a huge and painful knot formed in the pit of my stomach. Did the kids make her the gatekeeper of the place as a dare or something? She sighed. "You can come in this time, Big Brother Crow."

"This time?" I echoed, but she gave no explanation as she walked off to the main play area inside. I followed her but kept my distance. I hadn't seen her this miffed since the time Ginga and Taiga yanked her hair on accident . . . or so they told me. Man, that was a disaster. But, that was nothing compared to what was waiting for me.

We turned the last of the corners when Kokoro announced, "Big Brother Crow's finally here, guys!"

"Finally"? . . . ouch. I wasn't that late. I said I'd be around by their dinner time. I was still within the hour! Nonetheless, I stepped carefully into the main gathering room where Martha had designated it as the kids' playroom. There were all kinds of toys from stuffed animals to small cars and robots to board and card games sprawled across the wooden floor. I tiptoed around because I didn't want to step on any hard toy pieces like last time. I also had to watch my step because, okay . . . maybe I was late. Maybe they left it a mess like that to show me that's what I got for being late. Well-played, if so.

The rest of the kids – Ginga, Daichi, Taiga, and Hikari – appeared from a doorway that led to their bedrooms. They had a visibly different reaction to my arrival than Kokoro did, smiles and all.

"Big Brother Crow!"

"You're here, you're here!"

I smile. Seeing these kids get so excited over something or someone . . . it never got old. It's why I still visited as much as I possibly could. I bent down to their height, expecting to hug them.

So, naturally, I wound up on the floor. It's a good thing there weren't any sharp toys lying around.

"Hey hey hey, watch it, guys! You could've given me a concussion!" I reprimanded them, but then I relaxed my face. "But, I'm glad to see you too."

"So, are you going to tell us why you're late again today?" Hikari, the calm and collected one of the bunch, asked.

I laughed the most unconfident laugh of my life. Keeping this under wraps was so hard.

"Come on, Crow! This is like the fifth time you've been late," Ginga whined. "Why won't you tell us?"

I finally come up with an answer that would pacify them a bit: "Later, guys. I'll tell you later." Was I actually planning on telling them? Yeah, eventually. But, the conditions hadn't been met. Being a secretive boyfriend was damn hard work.

Lying on the ground, I saw two shadows at the room's entrance. In that instant, the atmosphere changed to a mix of pretentiousness and genuine concern. That could only mean one thing.

Jack and Yusei decided to pay Martha a visit too. Crap.

"Yeah, Crow, where you've been?" Jack, being a jackass, said, trying to imitate the kids' tone of voice. "You're usually here before we are."

I sat up. "Oh yeah? And what are you guys doing here, exactly?"

Yusei decided to take over the conversation from Jack. "Martha called us and asked us for repair help. Saying we were the only people she could trust to do the job. So, here we are."

I raised an eyebrow. Not just because the excuse sounded a little fishy, but Martha asking two people to do repair work seemed off. One of us could easily do it without anyone else's help, if it's simple enough. Which could only mean . . .

"By 'us,'" I said, "you mean just you, and Jack is just along for the ride."

I could see Jack's left eyebrow twitch. Score one for Crow-sama!

"Okay, Mr. Detective, now that you've figured that out, you still haven't answered my question," Jack aggressively crossed his arms. "How come we got here before you?"

Jack really wasn't going to let this go. I had to shake him off like my life depended on it . . . which, it kinda did. "Well, I'm not sure about Yusei, but you sure like to break the traffic rules, so as expected, you're faster?" I responded, shrugging my shoulders. "We all know you like to speed."

Jack harrumphed. "Fair enough, Crow. But, don't think you're getting off that easy. We will get to the bottom of this."

"Who's we?" Yusei spoke up, apparently putting the finishing touches on a pipe. My sentiments exactly.

"Oh, come on, Yusei. Aren't you the least bit curious? If this was the first time Crow had been late, okay, but multiple times? Something's up," Jack replied, looking directly at me with the last thing he said. God, this was getting to be more of a hassle than I bargained for.

Yusei stopped, placed his tools back in his toolbox, and sighed. "You seem fine on your own, Jack. I'm staying out of this."

Finally. Someone with some sense around here. To add more to my fortune, Ginga and Taiga bolted through the door, demanding that I'd go outside and play with them. Freedom at last.

"Come on, Big Brother Crow! You've been inside too long!" Taiga declared. "You're coming outside with us."

I laughed for a solid five seconds, partially out of relief to be away from Jack's unusual questioning about my location and partially out of nervousness from putting so much energy in keeping up this huge secret. I was certainly never doing this again once I don't have to do it anymore. Keeping secrets wasn't my style.

"Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming," I said, flashing a huge grin at Jack, who only emitted a noise of disgust as a response. Score two for Crow-sama!

Score two, that is, if we were keeping track of me vs Jack. I did get to relax a bit watching the kids play this elaborate game of tag, but, as kids do, they got bored. My good fortune ran out real fast. Not only was Jack very interested in what I've been doing lately, but the kids were also demanding answers. Still.

"By the way, Big Brother Crow," Hikari, by virtue of her being the oldest of the bunch, started the trial as she was combing through Kokoro's hair, "you still haven't answered us."

I tried to brush it off. "I don't know what you're talking about -"

"Oh, come ooooon, Big Brother Crow! You've been visiting us later and later," Ginga protested. "You can tell us why, can't you?"

I felt my face getting hot. "Guys, I -" I started.

But, then Kokoro, the youngest of the bunch, decided to drop an emotional bombshell, her hair having been just brushed through: "Big Brother Crow, don't you care about us anymore?" Naturally, a chorus of "Yeah, Big Brother Crow, don't you care about us?" followed, forcing me to fully address the situation at hand. Okay, maybe not forcing me, but it sure felt like it with these guys.

"Don't be ridiculous," I interrupted. "Of course, I care about you guys! More than anything else in the world. Sometimes, though, things come up, and those things can't be avoided. I'll make it up to you as soon as I can, but right now, it's just . . ." I took a deep breath, " . . . it's just something else is taking up a lot of my time right now.

"Something . . . else . . . ?" Ginga and Taiga repeated together, both looking as though the wheels in their mind were turning and trying to come up with something. They looked at each other. My hands trembled slightly.

"Yes," I said as I exhaled. "But, It's a secret. And you know how I always tell you guys you should keep secrets no matter what?"

The kids slowly nodded, although it really did feel like they weren't about to give up on this.

"Well, Big Brother Crow's got a secret to keep. And that's final."

"But, Big Brother Crow," Kokoro spoke up again, "you can trust us! We can keep a secret."

"I trust you, but I can't tell you," I reiterated. "Sorry, kiddos." This was followed by a chorus of "Big Brother Crow!" and other small children noises. That was it. I'd won the battle. It was over. That's what I foolishly thought. This whole thing can be laid to rest, and I can wait on her to tell me all is good. I continued to foolishly think.

But, Taiga and Ginga? They had won the war. And it was, unfortunately for me, far from over.

"Guys, think about it," Ginga began. "Big Brother Crow never keeps secrets about things."

. . . I definitely didn't like where this was heading.

"If something was taking up his time, we'd know by now what it is," Ginga continued, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, as if fully trying to solve this puzzle he concocted out of nowhere.

Daichi, Kokoro, and Hikari nodded, as if what Ginga was saying was actually making sense, with his partner-in-crime Taiga nodding furiously. I gotta be honest, it didn't make much sense to me. But, the torture wasn't over.

"And, and annnnnd," Taiga interrupted with his arms stretched out all over the place, "we have to remember Big Brother Crow is coming by later and later. If something was taking up his time, this coming by late would be more not all over the place. Which leads us to believe that -" Taiga pointed in my direction, "-it is not something taking up your time, is it, Big Brother Crow?"

Ginga also joined in the dramatic finger pointing, and the two of them said together, "It is someone taking up your time, and that someone is a girl!"

I was speechless. Forget how they came to that conclusion with their all-over-the-place method. Just the fact they figured it out was terrifying. And forget how they came up with girl rather than just leave it at someone (because it could have easily been a guy taking up my time too). Telling these knuckleheads one too many times to "use your heads" had backfired on me.

"Guy-Guys," I laughed, sheer nervousness taking over, "that's not -"

"Look, Big Brother Crow's face is red!" Kokoro added to this interrogation nonsense. Oh no, my face was warmer than usual, wasn't it? This was definitely not good. Not good at all.

"Big Brother Crow's blushing? Taiga, Ginga, that must mean you're right . . . for once," Hikari chimed in, her eyebrows raised. The double trouble snickered, clearly ignoring the "for once" comment.

I had to say something. I just. I had to say -

"Guys, just wait a moment -" I started, but my protests at this point fell on deaf ears.

"Big Brother Crow has a girlfriend! Big Brother Crow has a girlfriend!" They taunted, my face feeling more and more on fire with each time they repeated it. I kept trying to get them to calm down, but it just wasn't working.

To make matters worse, right in the middle of it all, I heard three sets of footsteps walking towards the door leading to the inside. The door facing us opened faster than I had ever seen it.

Crap.

"Hi-Hi, Martha -" I managed to squeak out, but the woman I've been fortunate enough to call my foster mother was simply not having it today. Not that I blame her with Jack being around, but -

"What's this I hear about one of my boys having a girlfriend now?" Martha interrogated, arms crossed. I hadn't felt this put-on-the-spot since the last time I got in trouble with her pre-Team Satisfaction days. But, I was grown - well, more grown. I couldn't let her get the best of me. I had to keep the secret, I just had to -

"They're just joking around," I tried to tell her. "It's part of a new game they came up with -"

"No, it's not," Taiga blew my cover, as he removed his purple bandana and scratched his head. That little runt.

"You're an awful liar, Big Brother Crow," Hikari chimed in.

"The worst," Kokoro added.

"Absolute worst liar," Ginga nodded.

"What they said," Daichi, who decided to speak at the worst inopportune time, also added.

Nothing quite like being outed by your own kids.

"You guys!" I turned to them, really surprised about how they wouldn't just go along with me. "I keep telling you, that's not -"

At that moment, I felt an arm swing itself and put pressure around my neck. I didn't feel like I was going to choke, but, at the same time, I was definitely trapped.

Ugh. Jack Atlus.

"You're not gonna talk, huh? I guess we'll just -" Jack tightened his grip around my neck as I tried to yank his burly arm away, "- force it out of you!"

"Jac-Jack, let go of me!" I gasped. I could've easily taken him out, but the thing was the kids were there, and I didn't want them to get hurt.

"Not until you spit it out!" Jack said, tightening his grip all the more.

"Spit what out, Jack?" I wheezed, determined to keep this up to the bitter end.

I couldn't really see anything since my eyes were closed, but I heard a huge sigh – most likely from Yusei – and Yusei's clearly tired voice say, "Crow, just spare us the drama and give it up already."

Wow, he was being absolutely no help.

"F-Fine, I'll say it, I'll say it! Just let me go, Jack," I rasped, and Jack immediately released his hold on me. The rush of oxygen flowing back to my brain made me lose my balance, so I knelt with one knee on the ground to catch my breath as I held my head.

"Big Brother Crow, are you okay?" Kokoro asked.

"I'm fine, don't worry," I said, throwing in a smile for a good measure.

But Jack said, "You better fess up before I do that again, Crow."

"I got it, I got it!" I had enough energy to sit on the ground because I just didn't trust myself to stand at that moment. All the eyes in the vicinity were staring directly at me, and it was uncomfortable as hell. It was either that or getting put in a headlock again, so I sucked it up.

"Okay, fine. The kids – The kids are right," I admitted. "There is someone I've been seeing the last couple of weeks -"

"A girl," Taiga interrupted, eyes closed and nodding.

"Yes, I've been seeing a girl, and some of the dates have ran over late, so that's why I've been late. There, I've admitted it," I sighed. Scratching my head, I felt the weight of my admission hit me like a D-Wheel. Hopefully, they'll be happy with that explanation. "Can we all move on with our lives now?"

But, instead of the "oh okay that makes sense" response I was expecting, the kids – and Jack, oddly enough – just stared at me. What. What else did they want? I admitted to it!

"Well . . . can we?" I repeated, but this time, the kids – and still Jack, oddly enough – shouted, "No!"

"Oh, come on," I protested. "What more do you want from me?"

Jack crossed his arms. "A name, Crow."

"What?" I asked, exasperated.

"The name of the one you're spending so much time with, Crow. We're not going anywhere until you tell us who," Jack explained. It almost felt like I was back in the Detention Centre with all this questioning and prodding, I swear. Why did it matter? At this point, even Yusei, who had been suspiciously silent throughout this whole ordeal, had to ask, "Jack, why in the world are you so invested in this?"

Finally, someone said it. The kids, I get because they're super nosy anyway, but Jack?

"Why aren't you?" Jack asked back. "Yusei, this could be our future sister-in-law! We need to get to the bottom of this!"

Yusei, Martha, and me shouted, "What?" at the exact same time at Jack's ridiculous reasoning. Sister-in-law, oh my god, Jack. Though, seeing Yusei break his cool façade for once was worth it. Thanks for that, I guess. Glad you did it before I did, Jack.

Martha did tell us when we were smaller that if we ever dated, we should always treat the relationship like we're gonna spend the rest of our lives with them. People just aren't disposable pieces.

But, I didn't recall her ever saying that if any one of us dated, the other two should just assume we'll marry them.

Jack the Drama King struck again.

"You heard me," Jack insisted. The kids looked absolutely confused about the whole thing. Good. It was best they didn't know. Though, someone would have to explain it eventually. Dammit.

"Well, uh, Jack, when you put it that way . . ." Yusei replied, putting down his toolbox. Oh shit, the toolbox was down.

"Right?! Now, come on, Crow, spit it out! Who is it?" Jack interrogated. I swallowed hard. I opened my mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sound of someone snickering and then full-out laughing. The three of us looked over to see Martha absolutely losing it, probably thanks to us.

"I'm – I'm sorry," Martha said, wiping tears from her eyes. "It's just. You three."

Called it.

"I haven't seen you three act like this in years, so I couldn't help myself," Martha continued. Yusei, Jack, and me just looked at each other and shrugged. If only she knew.

"But, don't let me interrupt. So, you were going to tell us who this – this girlfriend is, right, Crow?" Martha asked, clearly holding back more laughter. God, this was embarrassing as hell. And the kids finally picked up that Martha had asked about my love life as it was at the moment, so they were staring intently at me too.

Well, I guess this was it. When Mom asks, you have to answer her.

I took a deep breath and glanced at Yusei. I was mentally beating myself up over and over for what I was about to do. And I tried to be such a good boyfriend too. Oh, man, she wasn't going to like this. I'm definitely apologizing later.

I sat straight up and took a deep breath.

"It's . . . It's Aki."

Well, the secret's out now.

It was so quiet after I said that, you could probably hear a pen drop from three kilometers away. The kids were so stunned, they didn't know what to say. Yusei decided to look in some weird direction. Martha covered her mouth in shock. And Jack? Well. It shut him up. For a good while too. I was definitely surprised, considering I didn't think he was capable of being quiet for more than ten seconds.

Jack, surprisingly – or I guess unsurprisingly, since he loves to talk so much – was the first to speak after what seemed like an eternity of silence. "Aki? As in . . . Izayoi? That Aki?"

"You know any other Akis, Jack?" I returned. "Yes, that Aki."

One of the kids – Ginga – finally spoke up and asked, "Was she the one who took your place in the WRGP? When you broke your shoulder?"

"That's the one."

Ginga slowly nodded and looked at the other little twerps, who all looked like they were trying to figure something out. Really dangerous thing at this point, but I wasn't going to do anything about it. And, after what seemed like an eternity, Martha finally added in her question.

"Wait. But, isn't the one she likes . . . ?" She didn't finish her sentence verbally, but she didn't have to, especially with how she looked over at Yusei, who was, by the way, still looking the other way. Yusei, sensing that we were talking about him, I guess, crossed his arms. I don't think he was gonna verbally add to this interrogation anytime soon.

So, I coughed, reeling the attention back to me.

"Yeah, I thought so too, Martha. We all thought so. Well, except for . . ." I directed my attention to Yusei, who was trying really hard to stay out of this conversation. "Turns out it was . . . it was a bit more complicated than that."

"So you took advantage of that complication? That's unlike you, Crow," Jack scoffed. "Definitely not on the delicate side."

I don't even know how he came up with that, but that's Jack for ya. But, before I opened my mouth to reply, the kids actually came to my defense. Hikari and Kokoro, to be more specific.

"Big Brother Crow would never do that!" Hikari stomped her right foot.

"That's right! Leave him alone," Kokoro chimed in.

I got up from the ground and knelt down between the two of them, wrapping my arms around their shoulders. "It's okay, you two. No need to defend me against this buffoon," I smirked, causing Jack's eye to twitch - Score three for Crow-sama! - "considering Aki was the one who confessed first, not me. So, no one was taking advantage or being taken advantage of, thank you very much."

"She what?" Martha and Jack asked together. Yusei decided that moment was as good as any to turn around and join the rest of us. That's what gets him to turn around?

"What. What did she say?" Jack demanded, still very much invested in my love life for some odd reason. Man, wasn't he the nosy one.

"She didn't say anything," I said, after a pause and getting up from crouching.

"What? But you said she confessed first!"

"She did."

"So . . . then . . ." Jack mouthed slowly. He wasn't getting it, but I heard an "oh my god" from Yusei and an audible gasp from Martha. They got it. I even saw the kids have one of their impromptu meetings, and all either nodded, also gasped, or just shook their heads. But poor Jack just wasn't getting it, still, and was furiously scratching his head trying to figure it out.

I wanted Jack to understand it just to get him to stop, but I didn't want anyone else to say it out loud either. Unfortunately, the latter wasn't within my control because one of the kids – Ginga, no less – decided to explain it to him. He looked to be the only who could as the rest of the kids were losing their absolute minds from all their snickering.

"Okay, so what Big Brother Crow is saying . . ." Ginga started.

"Uh-huh?" Jack nodded.

" . . . is that . . ."

"Yeah?"

"Aki kissed him first. Without saying anything," Ginga said.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Oh," he said. But, apparently, something else sank in that thick skull of his because his eyes widened. "Oh."

I didn't know what he was thinking, and I didn't want to know.

"Yup, what he said," I affirmed, hoping to shut that subject down before the conversation went in a weird direction. I had already said too much as it was.

But, for the millionth time that day, that's what I got for hoping. To make things even worse, it was Yusei of all people who was keeping this thing going. When would it end?!

"So . . . what you were keeping a secret this whole time was that you two . . . are dating?" Yusei questioned.

I gave Yusei a lot of flack for turning the other direction, but this time, I was doing the exact same thing he did. But, I wasn't given the freedom to keep up the facade for long as I was hug-attacked by Martha.

"Oh, Crow," she said, "there's nothing wrong with being in a relationship. Even if my understanding was different, I would've accepted it from the start. Yusei and Jack would have too." Jack and Yusei both looked off the side. "Why would you hide something like that from us? Aren't we family?"

Oh, here we go, the Mom Guilt Trip. Except I can't really blame Martha because I've done the exact same thing on occasion with the kids when they wouldn't tell me something. But, it still hurt. Especially since I didn't want to hide this from them.

"Martha, I – Don't misunderstand," I said as she let go of me. "Hiding this from you guys was not my idea. I would have told you from the moment we started dating if it were possible."

"Ohhhhh." Jack and the kids said.

"So, it was Aki's idea," Yusei concluded.

"You got it."

"But, why would she want to keep this under wraps? From us, her own teammates, I mean?" Jack asked, thumb and pointer finger on his chin, deep in thought.

Didn't want to deal with Yusei's reaction. I replied in my head. But, out loud, I said, "Pretty sure she's just being overly cautious, being a senator's daughter and all. Telling one wrong person could mean a whole lot of trouble for her and her father."

"Fair enough," Jack sighed.

"Well," Taiga broke in, "I'm glad you told us, though! Even though we had to strangle it out of you."

The other four nodded in agreement.

These twerps sure had a way with words, didn't they?

"And at least Aki's really nice," Kokoro nodded. "She's okay by us!"

Well . . . that was good to know. I had been slightly worried about the kids accepting Aki, but it looked like I was worried for nothing.

"Just make sure you keep this between us for now, okay?" I pleaded. "I really don't want this traveling too far."

"Even though you've already been on several dates? In public?" Jack questioned. I shot him a "you better not" look. That was different.

"Yes, Big Brother Crow!" The kids all said in unison. I sighed in relief.

Martha clapped her hands. "Alright, now that that's settled, who wants to help me with dinner?"

Hikari and Kokoro as well as Daichi eagerly ran off with Martha to help. I could actually enjoy this visit in peace. It was just afterwards that I had to deal with.

Yusei, Jack, and Crow's Temp Residence

Well, here goes nothing. I tapped the green call button on my phone and waited through several rounds of the call trying to get through, my stomach growing knots with each passing riiiiing. I looked up at the clock. 20:00. Well, maybe she's doing her homework or -

"Crow?"

Guess not.

"Hey, Aki..." I answered, trying to hide the guilt, but I guess it didn't work. I could hear a gasp on the other side.

"Crow, what did you do?"

I coughed.

"Well, uh, did you tell your dad we were dating yet?"

I could hear a pen drop on the other side of the call.

"He's out of town for a political meeting, Crow. I told you that," she replied. "And I said I'd tell him in person."

"Is-Is that so?" I laughed. "My bad -"

"Who did you tell?"

Damn, she was good. I inhaled slowly and exhaled slowly, trying to prepare myself for whatever punishment would come upon me through this phone call.

"Crow, don't dodge the question," she said. "Who did you tell so I can do damage control?"

"I'm not dodging the question!" I protested. "I'm just -"

"Crow!"

"Okay, fine, fine," I gave up. "The kids, Martha, Jack, and . . ."

"Yusei?"

Oh shit. "Yeah."

I heard a long sigh on the other side. Maybe she was thinking of ways to murder me and make it look like it was an accident. I don't know. Whatever she was doing, I had a feeling it wasn't good news for me.

"A-Aki?"

"What did he say?" she asked, her voice getting cold. Yup. I see murder in my future.

"He just asked if keeping it a secret was your idea. That's it," I answered, silently praying for mercy.

Another long sigh. I could feel beads of sweat on the back of my neck.

"I was almost strangled by Jack before I said anything, okay?" I once again talked. "They wouldn't leave the subject alone and I tried to get them distracted so they wouldn't keep talking about it, but they just kept asking questions and -"

"Crow."

I gulped. "Yeah?"

Another sigh. "Listen, I get it. You didn't want to out our secret before I told Papa, and you only did it as a last resort. But, I just . . ." There was sudden silence on the other side.

"Aki?" I asked. "Aki, is everything okay?"

"Yeah - I mean, no, now that you've told Yusei, but other than that."

Was that my cue to be the over-apologetic boyfriend? Because Aki sure seemed to hint at it.

"Listen, Aki, I -"

"What?"

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I know there's no excuse for what I did, especially since – since you didn't want him to know and all. I really want to make it up to you," I said, scratching the back of my head. "I could pick up the tab next time or -"

I heard what I thought was crying at first, but it turned out to be laughter. I continued to scratch my head, but I couldn't help but smile. Hearing her laugh always made me feel better.

"Crow, really? That's the best you could come up with?" she asked, still laughing. "That's really unlike you to be so apologetic, though, so I'll give you high marks for trying."

Ugh, and I was trying to be serious!

"Come on, I'm just trying to be a good boyfriend here," I protested, trying to keep my voice down. Yusei and Bruno probably weren't asleep, but it probably wouldn't be in my best interest to be noisy. And Jack needed a "king's rest," which apparently includes twelve hours of sleep. And Yusei called me dramatic. "I can't exactly tell what you're feeling over the phone, you know."

Another laugh. It was my lucky night, I guess.

"Look, I know," she sighed, "– I know I said not to tell Yusei until I told Papa, but I really should have known better than to ask that much of you. You guys are family, aren't you? It only makes sense that they should know."

"Wow, thanks for telling me after the fact," I mumbled.

"Sorry about that. But, the thing is, Yusei and Papa have this weird communication thing going, so that's why . . ."

Wow, Yusei straight up having small talk with a big-shot politician. Didn't see that coming.

Also, let it be noted that I'm being sarcastic with that second part.

"Huh. Yusei never told me and Jack about that," I replied. "So, the reason you said not to tell Yusei . . . was not because you thought Yusei had feelings for you, but because you're afraid he'd let your dad know?" I asked.

"Well . . . both," she said. "I'm sorry, Crow. It's just so complicated."

Now it was my turn to sigh. "No, I get it. There's an image you need to keep up and dating yours truly isn't helping with that."

"I didn't want to put it like that, but I guess," she said.

"Why not? It's the truth."

"Because that makes it sound like I'm dating you just to cause trouble. And that's . . . that's not it."

I let out a "heh," under on my breath. Well, she knew better than I did about all that word stuff.

"Fair enough. You don't mind causing trouble, but that's not why you're dating me. I get it now," I said.

"Crow!"

"What?"

"Ugh, never mind. I need to finish my homework, so I need to go now," Aki announced. "It's Physics, and I really need to concentrate."

I couldn't hold back a laugh, but I tried to keep it so I wouldn't disturb the whole house.

"What is it now, Crow?" she said.

"N-Nothing," I said, trying to regain my composure. "It's just, we always seem to talk on the phone when you're doing Physics."

There was a pause on the other side, but I'm sure it was because she was smiling.

"I guess you're right," she said.

"You sure you don't need me to come over and help you out? This has been happening a lot."

"No, I'll be fine. We're in a pretty easy unit now. I just can't be distracted."

"Okay, if you insiiiiist," I said.

"Making out with you counts as a distraction, Crow."

"But, it seemed to reeeally help you out last time, and, besides, you were the one who -"

"Good night, Crow."

The noise on my phone let me know she disconnected. I smiled and leaned backwards into my chair. Well, that certainly went a whole lot better than I thought it would. I immediately sat up when I heard my phone vibrate. Grabbing it, I saw a message from Aki:

p.s. you're still the best bf tho

I grinned. I guess I'm getting a better handle at this boyfriend thing.