Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's - Breaking Point
by Yusei
Summary - "She looked up at them, wanting to be like them, to be strong like them. Because they were strong; even when their hearts hurt. Slight Yusei x Ruka"
He does not wish for you to cry for he stands over your shoulder. But you cannot see him. Your eyes observe those you care for, they hold the strength you believe you do not possess. But their hearts ache in the same way yours does."
Disclaimer - I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's nor any of the characters.
A / N - Just as small piece exploring to how the Signers would feel after the suffering each has gone through when the battle with the Dark Signers continues to hit individuals close to their hearts. At the time this was conceived, there were rumours that Rua could be sacrificed to an Earthbound God (apparently during Ruka's duel), so I began to wonder how Ruka would react to the death of her brother. This'll be a short thing; just a few chapters and a way to play with the relationship between Yusei and Ruka. Please read and review.
Chapter One - Half Fallen
Rua…
Where was he?
Cold tears slipped down the face of young Ruka, tears that flowed like they would never dry. She had begged for him to realize that he was her superior, even without a Birthmark bestowed upon him by the Crimson Dragon as the Signers convened at the mansion of Rex Godwin, wishing that he would protect her because of the fear that swelled in her heart with the full truth behind the Signers and Dark Signers exposed. He had grown so much in just a few moments, startling her when his tone had fallen into a serious manner after he had insisted that he had nothing to worry about and would feast upon the food left out just before his sudden transformation.
It was a side to him that she had never expected to see, another side to the boy she scolded more than commonly for comments he would make about his dueling ability or his love of chasing dueling idols, the boy that truly made the most out of his short life. A side she liked to see surface in such times, knowing that he would protect her. And now…
That barrier… was gone.
She was seated in the dining room they had been in when Rudger launched his attack, forcing Yusei to stand in order to protect the kids in the orphanage. Even Jack stepped up to protect them as Rudger's Earthbound God was about to drain them of their existences. And Aki-san, she was strong all the time, she bore scars from the past, but refused to allow them to hold her back. Why couldn't she be strong like them? She had to be the weakest Signer ever - there was no chance that the still-missing Fifth Signer could possibly b any weaker than her; no matter who "he" was.
The whirring of an engine belonging to a D-Wheel began to fill the dead air; Ruka glanced at the window where the dim sunlight reflected from the jagged shards of glass angrily rising from the corners of the frame, the majority ruined after the Spider Dark Signer's assault on the orphanage. She wondered briefly if the shards were safe with the young orphans of Satellite living under Martha's care. But it was her choice when the pieces would be replaced, from what the female Signers and those unfamiliar of the place had seen is that Martha's children were well behaved, standing and acting in an orderly manner.
Hearing the purring of the engine die, she approached the empty panels, observing the crimson D-Wheel erected stationary. By the appearance of things, it had done well in its first test run since the devastating end of the duel against the Giant Dark Signer, Kyosuke Kiryu.
When he almost perished.
She watched as Yusei Fudo removed the matching helmet from his head, revealing his pointed black hair, blonde highlights running along a small number. A grim expression had been painted upon his face. Tears filled her eyes. Unable to witness the look of defeat, she turned from the scene as Yusei began to push the D-Wheel towards the orphanage, probably with the intention of leaving it by the front face of the building. She remained alone by the shattered window, shards of glass reflecting the sun's brightness lay on the outside of the wall. There would still be many questions over the capabilities of the salvaged D-Wheel, over whether it would be capable of enduring another Riding Duel after it had come so close to being left behind as junk.
The crunches of the boots meeting the gavel beneath rumbled like thunder was attacking Satellite from beneath. There were no whimpers from frightened children, she was alone. The kids had departed to the upper level of the orphanage, taking Martha and Aki-san with them. The crunches from the outside, slicing the silence into rhythmic segments came to a halt, replaced seconds later by the creeks of wooden floorboards, the door that permitted them entrance into the structure closing behind him.
Rua had been so lively when he first noticed the kids, witnessing that they could be like smaller versions of himself, so energetic and upbeat. And yet, he had lost his spirit.
Because he wasn't a Signer.
But he was desperate to protect everything that he cared about and had to the power to. Even without a crimson Mark emblazoned on his right arm, his courage put him on level with the official Signers. Even without a guarantee that he could shatter the claim that non-Signers were incapable of defeating Dark Signers, he continued to fight on.
To protect his sister.
He was like a part of a Signer, a part of her power. She alone could not bare the Mark and responsibility that came with it. He volunteered to share the burden with her when her fragile body and spirit couldn't handle the pressure alone. It had been him that had dragged her back into the real world when they were merely three years old. When she was lost to the human plain to which she had been born and hidden from, when he cried everyday for her to return and live alongside him.
But what could she do when he was the one in need of help? She was that powerless that she had let him down in the ultimate way. Her eyes fell upon the shaking hands hovering over her pale knees, tears resuming their descent down her face and falling onto the limbs beneath. Just a couple of weeks ago, they had been normal kids living in the Tops. Who knew life could turn around so quickly, so bitterly?
She clenched her hands into tiny fists. Fists that had never dealt a blow to anyone. She was far too gentle for such acts. Instead, she raised them to wipe her dampened eyes of the tears that hung back, the miniature droplets clinging to her eyelashes.
The pounding of Yusei's footfalls returned from the background world beyond her thoughts as he entered the room. She didn't even glance up to meet the sight of him while his azure eyes traced her. He paused when he registered how distressed she still was, rubbing her eyes quickly when the beats ceased. She observed him over her right hand as he watched her solemnly. He could understand her pain. She lowered her hands, staring up at him like a child lost in the streets of Neo-Domino without any clue where to go.
"Yusei…" she exhaled.
"Ruka" Yusei muttered sympathetically. "I searched a large area, but I couldn't find anything about where the Dark Signers went after last night. Nothing we could trail them with. I'm sorry".
"You shouldn't be sorry. You've done nothing wrong, you've nothing to apologise for" the girl whispered, restricting her throat to evade an uncontrollable sob erupting from her throat.
"If what Rudger said last night is true, they may be at the epicentre of Zero Reverse - Old Momentum" Yusei continued. "But we can't confirm it yet, and it's far too dangerous for anyone to go alone. It's not fair to drag you there so suddenly though, you need time to recover".
Ruka lowered her head slightly; again she was holding people back. Just like when they were kids, when Rua would stay inside because his sister wasn't strong enough to play outside with the other children of their age. They would stay together in the apartment at the peak of the Tops. Alone.
Yusei advanced gradually towards her, she didn't respond, waiting to see what it was he intended to do. He lowered himself before her, on one knee; his hands fell onto her shoulder. He was looking at her in the same way he had when the decision to return to Satellite the evening after the Fortune Cup - the daw he became the Duel King - had been reached. Before the Dark Signers had made more than one move.
When Rua was by her side. Yusei's other hand had been on his shoulder, now both fell onto her.
"Ruka, I'll do whatever I can to help get Rua back" he insisted, his voice possessing the same strength and tranquillity as it had that day. The day he promised that the Signers would meet again, reunited by the Birthmarks they shared. "I promise you, Ruka".
"Yusei… I didn't mean to let you down" the girl sobbed, casting her eyes downwards.
Yusei's right eyebrow arched, what Ruka meant was something foreign to him; he had no idea what she believed she had to apologise for. He remained silent, a cue for her to continue. She wiped her dampening eyes with the back of her hands and returned them to the sides of her torso, keeping her eyes down as though she couldn't be deemed worthy to raise them and meet his soft gaze.
"I should have been stronger like the rest of you" she sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks in an instant as grief overcame her once again. "I wanted Rua to protect me… I was dragging him into a battle that he wasn't supposed to get involved in. I should have protected him by insisting he stay behind like he thought would be best. You, Jack and Aki-san don't rely on someone else to protect and fight for you. I just wish I had been strong enough while Rua was here so that I could stand in front of him in the line of fire. But he took the blows for me".
Her eyes closed, the gentle bright face of a young girl, an aspiring duellist, had vanished beneath the face of emotional anguish, a girl torn apart by the bereavement that had transpired so early in her life. To someone that she should never be separated from.
"But we all have at some point" Yusei interjected. "Aki relied on Divine for a long time after she left home, when she had nowhere else to go. She wanted him to go as far as think for her; you never wanted that much of Rua. Jack and I are the same - we relied on Martha for our very survival in the first years of our lives. We relied on Crow and Kiryu as we fought across Satellite as Team Satisfaction. We even relied upon each other to remain strong after that time came to an end and Kiryu was taken. Even now, I've fallen back on the people here while I deal with the fear of Kiryu's Earthbound God that has spawned in my heart".
"But you've grown to be independent as well" Ruka cried in protest, finally locking her eyes with the adolescent's. "Aki-san wanted to stay by Divine's side, but now that he's been killed, she's moving on. I can't move on from this. Divine was someone that Aki-san loved, but Rua… Rua was a part of me and I was a part of him. Where people usually spend the first nine months of their existence alone in the womb of their mother, we were together. We had that time just the two of us. It was meant to be like that forever, because that's what we came to feel".
"You are a part of each other "Yusei replied calmly. His right hand departed from her tiny shoulder, the arm bearing the Birthmark that had brought them together, an exclusive symbol that they shared. He wiped her cheeks with a couple of his gloved fingers, erasing the rivers of tears. "We're all suffering, even before what happened to Rua. We're not as strong as you think, we're all dealing with our losses, you're not weak because you show it. You're strong because you're not afraid to cry over your brother. But I promise that I'll do whatever it takes to get him back to you. No matter what Godwin or the Dark Signers say".
"But what if we can't get him back? You heard Godwin, not even he knows the fate of those sacrificed" Ruka protested meekly. "What if Rua and your friend Crow are dead?"
"We can't think that way. We have to believe that they're alive somewhere and that we can save them. That they're waiting for us to save them from the Dark Signers" Yusei answered, raising his hand to the top of her head, lying onto her teal hair. His sapphire eyes bore into her amber.
"Yusei… I want to believe you, but I'm scared" Ruka confessed timidly, inwardly feeling abhor directed at herself swelling. She had used the same line when talking with Rua at Godwin's mansion. That she was still scared. "I'm scared that more people are going to get hurt. Or that I can't keep my promise to Ancient Fairy Dragon and protect the Duel Spirit World".
"Ruka, you were so determined when Godwin tried to lock Rua out of the discussion of the Signers because he didn't bear a Mark. You stood up to him in a way that I'm sure you've never done before" Yusei replied before she could maintain her descent into self-loathing and doubt. His hand brushed along her hair, rubbing against her scalp gently. "You were the one that wanted Rua to understand what was happening rather than leaving him in the dark; about the fate of Satellite and Neo-Domino face. Don't lose yourself; you're going to save the Duel Spirit World and Rua".
He shuffled forward, keeping his right knee above the ground as he closed the small space between Ruka and himself, wrapping his arms around her. She sucked in a small breath when the gesture came as a surprise, feeling Yusei's black hair intermingle with her cyan. The view she obtained where his head had been was of the hallway with the door to the orphanage fixed into the front face out of sight, the brick wall around the threshold hindering a wider view. She laid her head against Yusei's shoulder, watching the clouds of gases floating outside the window, blanketing what was left of the island what hadn't been consumed by the thick black fog that erupted from Old Momentum as the Signers enjoyed a peaceful afternoon together.
Memories of Rua flashed through her mind, from her earliest memories to the mature Rua that she had a happenstance of meeting. Seeing his face without a future resumed to eat her up inside. He had always wanted to do whatever he could for her; even in the Fortune Cup, it wasn't about the duelling - until Yusei cam along - it was about sparing her the strain of duelling. Maybe it had been both.
"Yusei" she began, her eyes following the clouds aimlessly. "In the Fortune Cup…"
"Hm?" Yusei sounded, glancing at the back of her head in the corner of his eye.
"When I duelled that man, that psychologist, I went to the Duel Spirit World" Ruka continued. "I was scared when I witnessed the devastation; I don't want that to happen, but it has. The incident at the Arcadia Movement was just like it - I called for Rua to help me. To bring me back like he did before. It was his belief that reminded me of what I was losing by staying with the Duel Spirits. That's why it was his voice that reached through to me both times. What happens if I travel there again without him? What if I can't get back?"
"Ruka, you will return, no matter what" Yusei answered, feeling her frail body beginning to tremble. His arms tightened around her.
'Still… I couldn't protect him. I was unable to do anything for him again. Why couldn't I be his barrier like at the Arcadia Movement when we found Aki-san?' the girl asked herself mutely 'Why can I do nothing for him? The only time I've been any use to him was getting him in Godwin's home to hear what he had to say about Signers and the battle we faced – and it dampened his feelings as an outsider to this war'.
Beyond the embracing pair, the hallway that greeted those passing through the front door flickered as a shadow passed between the panels of light upon the wall opposite the entrance. Aki Izayoi, the formerly isolated Psychic Duellist of the Arcadia Movement had returned to the lower level of the hostel following her sensing of Yusei's D-Wheel returning to the site of parentless children's broken youthful days. The whirring of the familiar engine had given her a reason to slip from the tiny fingers of innocent children, those that had suffered much worse than her in their histories, with a heartfelt promise to return once she had confirmed that Yusei was the one that had arrived. They were youngsters without blood relatives, just as she believed herself to be, but Martha had extended a hand to them, uniting them under her roof with the hope that perhaps those that had once lived under the same tiles could bring about a brighter future. One where they could live in peace.
Aki's auburn eyes met the sight of Yusei's back with Ruka's head tucked over his right shoulder, her eyes aimed in the direction of the gentle sky above, possibly searching for his absent brother. The woman paused and watched the pair for a moment – like Ruka, she too had lost someone dear to her in recent times, witnessing Divine plunge to what she was left to assume was his demise. Left behind in a bitter world. She had been left confused by her duel with Yusei, unable to understand how she felt about the people surrounding her. The shock of losing someone as close as Divine and then learning that his affections towards her were false, merely covers for a plot using her and her abilities… it was a lot to take in through one sitting.
She proceeded towards the pair, ignoring her underlying conflicts and indecisiveness. She had moved forward since Divine left, now she would have to act like the rock Yusei had been to guide Ruka through the process she had endured suddenly while facing the new King of Neo-Domino, the man whose words began to crack the mask worn over her face at the Fortune Cup, drawing tears from her inner turmoil as she pleaded for help at the mercy of the spiteful words that flooded to the field from the spectators that had yelled at her because of her uncontrollable powers. She had experienced such loneliness – that day a mere reflection of years – years spanning a decade, approximately to the time which the youngest Signer would have been born. But she had never lost someone so close to her in those years, apart from her Mama and Papa.
Yet they had returned to her, standing somewhere in Neo-Domino with the man's professional life on hold while they prayed for the girl they once abused accidentally, waiting anxiously for her return. To see that same smile again.
Aki's train of thought was brought to a screeching halt when another D-Wheel engine purred against the silent air, there was only one remaining person that it could be. The young woman approached the door, watching as Jack's Wheel of Fortune skidded to a halt, a scorn of bitter frustration painted across his face. As far as she was aware – she, Yusei and Ruka – he was the only living Signer left to suffer a loss. The belief couldn't have been further from reality. The blonde former-King began to guide his silent D-Wheel towards the front face of the building, not giving Aki even a passing lance. She didn't wait for him to notice her presence at the doorway, retreating inside the threshold and into the shadows cast across the solemn orphanage. Martha had come so close to losing her soul to the Spider Earthbound God, saved only by Ushio: the last person anyone would have expected to rescue a Satellite in distress. The once persistent Security officer had come a long way since the days of chasing Yusei for a shot at revenge.
Rally, however, had not been so fortunate. The young boy who had admired Yusei for as long as they had known each other had been sacrificed to spare Yusei the grim fate, forced to replace Rudger as a pawn without power once the Tail Signer gained the upper hand in the duel. The tactics disgusted the two that had known Rally for a few years, forced outside any control of the duel as Rally spun a strategy that would eliminate himself for Yusei's sake and, as he claimed, the sake of Satellite. The boy then simply crumbled to dust, blown away, in Yusei's arms.
Aki redirected her attention back to Yusei and Ruka, watching as Yusei's hand rose and descended, rubbing Ruka's back in an attempt to comfort the distressed girl, her head buried in the nape of his neck. She had never been away from her brother, now separated by forces far beyond her control, unsure if she could ever be reunited with him. The boy she saw as a half of her. The memory of Divine holding her flooded back into Aki, she merely shook her head to clear her mind of the memories. Divine was gone, she couldn't fall back. She couldn't undo everything that Yusei had said and done for her sake. Now of all times, it was essential that she continued to progress, to move towards the future. But it still hurt. Terribly.
Rather than dwelling in the past of scars and losses, she moved into the room, catching the young girl's golden eyes. The child stared at her, yet said nothing, she wanted Yusei to comfort her, it reminded her of Rua. Aki strode forward nonetheless, towards them; the sound of her gentle footsteps awoke Yusei from his world of thoughts. His back straightening, neck twists for his soft eyes to meet the sight of the scorned woman behind him.
"Aki" he exhaled gently.
"Yusei, Martha asked me to find you" Aki reported. "I think she wants to speak with you".
"I see" Yusei responded dully, well aware that he would have to leave Ruka to her thoughts once again, those that battered her, trying to drag her beneath the rough surface and drown her into perpetual depression. Yusei's eyes moved to the fraction of the delicate child positioned in the corner of his view, and then back to the magenta-haired woman. "Aki… could you… watch Ruka please? I'm hoping she'll speak to someone soon. She seems pretty close to you, I think she looks up to you in the same way Rua… did".
"Alright" Aki answered, lowering her head to execute half a nod.
Yusei smiled briefly before unwrapping his arms and releasing Ruka. The girl stared at him with the tearful and frightened eyes of a lost child, someone misplaced and seeking the comfort of the one person they felt closest to. But Yusei's hand fell by his sides, they didn't rise to capture her in his protective embrace again, he just knelt before her.
"Y- Yusei…" she whispered meekly. "Where are you-?"
"I've just got to see Martha for a few minutes. I'll be back soon, until then, Aki will be with you" Yusei answered, forcing her question to a standstill before its completion. "I won't be gone long, I promise".
"O- okay" the girl muttered sorrowfully.
Before her eyes, he rose, towering over her as usual. The dark-haired man turned to Aki, giving her a silent nod as the only signal that the responsibility of caring for Ruka had been handed to her. Without any words of comfort, he strode away, through the threshold and leaving the two girls alone. His rhythmic footsteps came to a halt when Jack entered the building through the front door.
"Jack…" the Tail Signer exhaled.
"Yusei…" Jack responded bluntly. "When did you get back?"
"Not long ago… I couldn't find anything" Yusei sighed with a heavy heart, his eyes falling to the floor. "I should have been able to protect him. I couldn't even defend this place on my own, I was bait to lure those boys in that simply wanted to help and more lives could have been lost. And then…"
"Don't go down that road again" Jack growled. The path of blame and self-hatred had been one that two of the Signers had already strolled, with a third on the way, but for Yusei to return was something Jack Atlus refused to allow. Especially when the children, including Rua and Ruka, looked up to him as a hero, an idol. Someone they wanted to follow who hadn't betrayed his friends
"I won't" Yusei responded without friction. "But I need to do more. I let both Kiryu and Crow down; even Rua. I can't let Ruka down as well, I'll do whatever it takes to help her and grant her wish to get her brother back.
"You're not the only one who could have helped them" Jack scoffed, turning his head swiftly and taking his eyes from Yusei. Both regret and ire rose inside of him, bitter memories of the past he had thrown away once continued to haunt him, interfering with the life he had worked for in Neo-Domino. He had returned to the place where everything began for him, somewhere he had turned his back on, with ultimately nothing to show for it. "And don't think you're the only one hurt by what's happened to Kiryu and Crow".
Together the pair remained frozen in the hallway, Yusei's eyes rising to view Jack's face, the blonde's eyes that gazed out of the empty frames of the window behind him; towards the sky.
"I should see what Martha wants. Aki said that she wanted to see me" Yusei finally spoke, the tense silence coming to an end while his eyes fell again.
Jack didn't respond to the claim, instead, he merely watched Yusei pass by in the corner of his eye. While a spark had been relit in his fighting spirit, he was far from the duellist that had taken his title as King in the Fortune Cup, that person seemed distant. The constant blows had battered his body and soul, as had the recent events of several, including each of the other Signers.
Aki was a clear example; right from the first time Jack had seen her conscious following her disappearance after the Fortune Cup, she had been acting like a completely different person. She wasn't the same ruthless and uncaring woman she had been then. Even when she lashed out and used her powers to harm people, there had been the motivation of loneliness, of wanting to be found. Not the pure rage she had displayed at the tournament. She was just another lost child waiting for someone to open their arms and welcome her back to the real world, to tell her they would protect her from the harshness of reality.
Everyone was slowly changing from who they had been; the Dark Signers were inflicting more than just physical wounds upon them – this battle was one that struck them emotionally, even psychologically. A difficult battle with difficult enemies: people of the past, no longer of the living world returning from their ends purely for revenge. And according to the twins as well as Jin Himuro and Yanagi Tenzen; Misty Lola was included in this list of individuals. But that was all they knew: that Misty Lola and Kyosuke Kiryu were among them, as well as the leader who had revealed to Yusei that he was Rex Godwin's elder brother. They had witnessed these Earthbound Gods and their terrible powers, but their knowledge was still minimal, why had two appeared at the Arcadia Movement battle? Who else could have been in the building?
The memory of the sole surviving tower of the region stung, cutting open his own wounds; the place where he had lost someone of his own. His gloved hand dove beneath the surface of his Riding Suit, removing the glasses that had been left as a remnant of that girl. One of the lenses had been damaged, drawing his thoughts back to her. She had vanished that night; the girl that had given him help and shelter when the media were hounding him relentlessly for any opportunity to discuss the leaked matter that he was indeed Satellite-born.
Carly Nagisa…
Where was she?
Everyone was suffering, everyone was losing someone close. Jack's empty hand clenched itself into a tight fist, Godwin had previously spoken of the Fifth Signer; if he had been "awakened a long time ago" as Godwin claimed, then why wouldn't he show before things became desperate? Didn't now count? They couldn't wait any longer; he was hiding somewhere, hiding when they needed him. If now didn't count, he dared to think about how bad things would need to be to summon the final Signer and unleash the Crimson Dragon. Who was this man?
His violet eyes tapered furiously, time was running out, it wouldn't be long before another tragedy would befall someone in Satellite, someone in Neo-Domino. It wouldn't be long before someone else close would vanish from the world and join the countless sacrifices, tearing apart more lives.
Yusei pushed the door open to the room where Martha had earlier announced she would take the children to keep them calm after the harrowing ordeal they had been through; almost losing their souls and lives to the terrifying Earthbound God that towered over the streets of Satellite and threatened to devour them once they realised they had entered a war and not a game. The dark skinned woman smiled as his eyes met her; one of the first generation of orphans she raised from infancy stood as a healthy young adult, someone bearing responsibilities handed to him as she taught him to. Only on a much larger scale than she could have ever imagined. Yusei proceeded inside, allowing the door behind to close with a mournful creak. For now, they were alone.
"Martha…" he spoke. "Aki said that you wanted to talk".
"Yusei, I want to check how you're doing" Martha responded, wagging a sole finger. "You may have convinced Dr Schmidt that you're well enough to walk about prematurely rather than rest, but I'm not convinced by it. Aki-chan spoke of a duel you had when you went over to Neo-Domino with the senator. According to her, she battered you quite a bit like she did in that tournament. If that's true, then I want to see if there's been any damage to the wound you sustained after your duel with Kiryu".
"Martha, if anything had gone wrong, I would have noticed back in Neo-Domino" Yusei protested apprehensively.
"You'll at least need some clean bandages. It might not hurt, but it's still there" Martha continued, speaking as though she hadn't heard a word he had uttered. "It's your battle scar until this matter is dealt with. Besides, I want to talk to you about the girl".
"Aki?" Yusei inquired, his head rising slightly.
"No, no. The little one" Martha chuckled, waving her hand dismissively. The last time they had discussed Aki, the matter shifted towards the possibility that Yusei and Aki were a couple, much to the young man's discomfort who was put on the spot to deny it all.
"Ruka…" Yusei sighed.
"She's hurt, Yusei" the woman stated, her tone returned to its serious level to emphasise the gravity of the predicament surrounding the youngster. "She needs you, just like she needs Jack and Aki-chan to support her. You were hurt when you learned Kiryu was a Dark Signer and that he had died. Hurt and scared".
Yusei's eyes descended to the floorboards, she was right. After all, she had seen it all first-hand in the wake of the devastating duel that had almost stripped him of his life and battered his D-Wheel to the brink of disrepair.
And he was more responsible than anyone. What if he had never discovered Kiryu towering over the corpse of the Security officer he had attacked? What if he hadn't failed in protecting him from the clutches of the authorities? That had been Kiryu's motivation to come back: to get him. Eventually, he could turn to hunting Jack and Crow… one his hands were drenched in Yusei's blood.
"You see?" Martha added when there was no reply outside of his expression, his fists shaking by his sides from the emotional build-up trapped inside of his body. "She's feeling the same way. Her brother may not become a Dark Signer like Kiryu did, but he's suffered too. He's been sacrificed to this battle, just like Crow".
"Rua would never dream of coming back as a Dark Signer" Yusei finally spoke. "Even if Ruka wasn't a Signer, he would never harm anyone, he'd rather stay dead. He despises the Dark Signers just as the rest of us do because of their means of getting revenge… but Ruka being a Signer gives him even more incentive to avoid such a fate".
"He's a brave boy, I'll say that" Martha articulated softly, watching Yusei as his expression alternated between sorrow and anger over the loss of the young optimistic boy. An innocent who stood as a shield for his sister, to protect her when she became a vulnerable target, risking his very life for the one he cared most about. "He isn't even a Signer, but he was fighting for his sister. He's an example to follow. He was just defending someone else; he didn't have to get himself involved, but he did because he knew what was more important to him".
"And I should do the same. Because I almost let you down" Yusei responded, continuing where he could only guess Martha was heading, his tone reflecting the feelings of defeat that swelled inside of his bruised body.
"Yusei, you didn't give up completely when Kiryu beat you and Aki-chan didn't give up completely when she was beaten. Ruka and Jack are going to need your support if they're to survive the brutality of this madness" Martha spoke in a strong, convincing tone. Her expression softened once those words departed from her mouth, continuing in a much more gentle voice. "Now let's see how your battle scar is doing, maybe we can think of a way to drag Ruka out of her shell".
Yusei nodded, his brow creasing slightly to edge him closer to the default stern expression he wore. Without further delay, he stepped forward, ready to take up Martha's offer, ready to do what he could and see just what kind of mark had been left on his body as a constant reminder of the war and its harsh realities. Images of Rudger and Kiryu flashed in his mind. Memories of Crow and Rua.
He had lost himself for too long, people were suffering though he may only be one of five special individuals that could do anything to stand in the way of the Dark Signers and their goal; he knew full-well that he had to hold his own corner up. He wouldn't let anyone else down, he wouldn't let the past cloud his judgement. He would no longer let anyone down.