AnimeKiwi369: Thank God for Kenny Chesney! Without hearing this song yesterday, I would have never gotten out of my fanfiction slump. Granted, I haven't worked on any other fanfiction than this one, which I began yesterday, but I honestly feel I will be out of my writer's block on all my fanfictions. So, basically,
I'm back, baby!
Well, anyway, this story is inspired by Kenny Chesney's song, "The Good Stuff". There are a couple lines similar to the song, but the lyrics really aren't in here.
So, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or its characters or Kenny Chesney's "The Good Stuff". I just own the bartender. Kind of.
Enjoy! ^^
The Good Stuff
Yusei was mad. No. He was positively furious. He'd never been this angry. Especially at Akiza. But, then again, they had never had a fight before. Sure, they had teased and argued and got irritated with each other, but the two of them had never actually had a fight where they screamed and yelled at each other because they were angry. He had never made Akiza cry like that before. And he had never walked out before. The two of them had never been that angry though.
The two of them had been together almost five years, of which the last two were as a married couple. The worst thing about the fight was that this was their second anniversary. He couldn't believe he yelled at Akiza like that. Yusei felt horrible about it, but he was still too angry to forget about the way she made him angry. He didn't help though, making her angry as well hadn't helped. He wondered if she was still crying. He shook his head; he just had to clear his head. But it was more than that. He didn't think he could go back home.
He'd just been driving around on his runner since he walked out of their house. He'd left almost two hours ago. He wasn't even sure where he was, other than Satellite. Yusei wasn't going to Martha though; he would just lectured if he went to his old home. He was in no mood to be lectured, especially by his foster mother. Normally he would have gone to her; not tonight. Besides, she was probably asleep, as would be everyone in the old house. It was almost eleven.
Yusei couldn't believe that he and Akiza had actually fought. They loved each other so much. Even before she had come back from Germany from studying medicine, the two of they knew they loved each other. And after she came back, they had immediately started dating. He'd even helped her to unpack her apartment after Setsuko had told him that the psychic had been transferred to New Domino General. He had pulled her into a tight, welcoming embrace and kissed her when he saw her for the first time since she had left the country. She had been surprised, but had happily returned both the embrace and kiss.
When they were dating, they spent most of their free time with one another, either at one of their apartments, the redhead's parents, the cobalt-eyed man's old foster home, or somewhere public. They had frequently gone to lunch together either at one of their offices or at restaurants and cafés near their workplaces. And after two years of that, he had nervously proposed. He had been more internally anxious with butterflies in his stomach and heart pounding rather than stuttering or that kind of nervousness showing. Though his hands did shake a lot.
Akiza had tearfully told him she would marry him after he popped the question. A year after that, the two of them were married in front of all their friends and the psychic's family. And though he couldn't see them, the dark-haired man could feel the presence of his father and mother. The burgundy-haired woman had looked so beautiful that day in her white and red wedding dress and her long burgundy hair tied up in a bun that a pearl-adorned veil covered a little. He had worn a suit without a tie, but had still looked "dashing" according to his wife.
It was hard to believe they had been married two years. He hated that on their anniversary, they had had their first big fight. Yusei honestly didn't know what had overcome the two of them that night. The two former Signers had both had stressful days. He blamed himself for not being more sympathetic to his wife. After all, she had lost a patient that had been recovering so well from a sudden heart attack. Akiza had never lost a patient before and always tried to get know her patients on a personal level.
His day had been better than hers, but not great. Three of his co-workers had called in sick or had the day off, and nothing had gone right with the current project he had been working on. That was all that had gone wrong. But then when he got home, he'd found his wife had accidentally dropped the photograph of his parents. He hadn't been angry at first, but then he had made the mistake of telling his wife it was all right, as in she would be all right, when she'd mentioned the loss of her patient. She had yelled it wasn't all right, that she failed as a doctor.
He had been irritated and tried to restrain his stress from the day, however the smoke detector went off, signaling what was supposed to be their dinner was burning. He had rushed to the kitchen to shut off whatever it was, and told his wife she should have been paying a little more attention. Akiza just said she had had a stressful day, reminding him that she had lost a patient. He snapped back saying he had had a stressful day, that she wasn't the only one. That his project, a project the city was depending on, was not going correctly, and that it could affect the city.
From there, it went on to become about whose job was more important and who brought home more wages. The psychic accused him of saying he was smarter than her. It was the stupidest fight the two of them could have had as a first big fight. But then Akiza had told Yusei she hated him; he said the same thing back. She said that maybe she should have never married him; he agreed. And she yelled she wished she had never met him and shoved him across the room with her psychic powers. He yelled back that he wished he'd never met her. Or maybe the he should have never tried to help her in the first place and let Sayer keep control of her, regardless of her former status of being a Signer.
After that, his wife had thrown her ring at him and run out of the room, crying. He tore his wedding ring off of his hand as well and threw it into the living room before taking off on his duel runner.
He sighed. He was still angry, but he was mad at the stupidity of the fight and at himself for saying those horrible things. Yusei wasn't ready to go home though.
The former Signer came to a halt at a stop sign and caught sight of a neon sign. He looked over to see a corner bar. He drove over to it; he needed something to clear his head, even though alcohol wasn't the best idea. He didn't even really like alcohol much. But he needed to do something than just drive aimlessly. He dismounted his runner and quietly walked into the bar.
It was absolutely devoid of other people besides the barkeeper, who was at the opposite end of the counter drying a glass, though he seemed almost half-asleep. He sat down at a stool in the middle of the bar counter. The barkeeper, an elder gentleman of maybe sixty-seven, came over to him. The elder man's brunette hair was slowly graying and his gray eyes were tired. He wore a light colored long sleeve button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and slacks. The older man looked at Yusei as he continued to dry the glass.
"What can I get you, son?" He asked.
The dark-haired man thought a moment, looking at the counter, but shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what he wanted, answering, "The good stuff, I guess."
The barkeeper was silent, making the former Signer look up. He didn't reach for any brandy or whiskey or beer or even wine. The old man's gray eyes had gone a little distant, misting up, "You can't find that here, I'm afraid."
Yusei looked at him with a look of surprise, "How so?"
The old man leaned on the counter on his forearms, "Are you married or in any relationship?"
He was, "I was."
"The good stuff," the barkeep told him, "if the first time you hold her hand, and she doesn't let go. When she laughs at every silly thing you do. And her daddy watches you from the window as you try to kiss her good night and stopping before you can. The way your heart pounds as you wait for the perfect moment to ask for her hand. When she looks in your eyes as she says 'I do', and she accidentally throws your best white shirts with the reds, turning the whole batch pink. That's the good stuff."
Yusei thought a moment, thinking of moments like that; they were good memories. He remembered that Akiza had thrown one of her red bras by mistake when she was sorting laundry in the whites, and turned one of his best work shirts pink during their second month of marriage. She had been so embarrassed and felt so bad. He had just laughed and told her that it was okay, he would have probably done the same if he'd been in a hurry. He wore that now-pink shirt proudly.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," he told the old barkeeper. The older man nodded as he reached under the bar and pulled a carton of milk from probably a small fridge. He poured a glass. Yusei cracked a bit of a smile, "I'll take some of that."
The barkeeper poured the scientist a glass, "How old are you, son?"
"Thirty-two," he replied, taking a sip from the glass of milk. The dark-haired stuck out his hand, "Yusei."
The barkeeper shook his hand, "Mitsuru. How long you been married, Yusei?"
"Two years today," Yusei sighed. "But we fought. I wish I could take back what I said. Akiza and I have never fought before."
"I know how you feel," Mitsuru said. "My wife and I had a horrible fight on our six month anniversary. But we forgave each other. Our marriage became stronger because of it though. The fact is, though, you and your wife can't take back what you said, but you can move past it and go on. Believe me, I know."
The barkeep looked nostalgically at a photograph on the back counter of the bar. The cobalt-eyed man looked past the older man. It was a close up photograph of a young woman in black and white. Her eyes were full of life and joy as she looked at the camera. Her dark curly hair was hanging loosely around her.
"That's my Kyoko," Mitsuru said with a nostalgic sigh. "That was taken about a year after we were married."
"She's beautiful," the former Signer commented, pulling out his wallet. He pulled out the photograph of Akiza he kept in it and looked a while at it.
"Thank you," the older man replied. He looked down and swirled the milk in his own glass, "I spent six years at the bottle after she was taken from me. I've been sober three years now. There are things stronger than whiskey."
Yusei looked up at him, "Like what?"
"Like coming to you with tears in her eyes and saying you'll be a dad," he responded. "And the way she looked each time she held our newborn children. The way she adored the diamond necklace I gave her when our oldest boy, Hikaru, married his college sweetheart. It's a new T-shirt saying 'I'm a granddad' and staying there as our time ran out. And hearing her say 'Everything will be all right' and 'I love you' one last time. That's the good stuff." Mitsuru looked at the ceiling and smiled, "When you get home, she'll probably cry. When she says 'I'm sorry'—"
"I'll say 'So am I', because I am," Yusei interrupted. He stood up and looked at Akiza's photograph, which he still held in his hand, "And then I'll look in her eyes with all I have and I'll hold her all night and won't let go."
"Yeah, that's the good stuff," the old barkeeper repeated. "That's what you need to do."
The dark-haired Signer opened his wallet, "Thanks for the glass. How much do I owe?"
"It's on the house," Mitsuru told him with a smile. "Just go to her son."
Yusei nodded, "Thank you, again."
He ran out of the bar and to his runner, mounting it as quickly as he could. He raced as fast as the law would allow him to. He could not get home fast enough. Every minute he wasn't home, Akiza was alone and their relationship wasn't mended. He wanted to see his wife, hold her, kiss her. Yusei just wanted the woman he loved with everything to be his again. The old barkeeper's talk with him had really touched him and made him realize just how stupid the fight was.
He couldn't believe he and his wife had fought like that, but now he understood that this was going to bring the two of them closer when they made up. That this was just a bump in their relationship; all couples had their fights. He was going to do everything to win her heart back. The cobalt-eyed man couldn't wait to get back home and wrap her in his arms and tell her over and over how sorry he was. And how much he loved her. He didn't want to go any longer without her.
The former Signer skidded to a stop in the garage and threw off his helmet as he scrambled off the runner. All the lights were still on. He saw a glimmer on the kitchen floor and looked to find Akiza's wedding ring. He bent down and picked it up, holding it tightly in his hand. Yusei remembered where his ring was, and hurried to the living room, finding it on the opposite wall, on the floor, by a house plant. He slid the gold band back onto his hand.
He looked up the stairs as he wife appeared at the top of them, probably from hearing the garage door open and someone downstairs. She was in her nightgown and her eyes were red. Her eyes—her beautiful brown eyes—widened when she saw him. Her hand moved on the stair railing and her body moved forward a little, like she was going to go down the stairs. But she moved back, still hurt.
Yusei ran up the stairs to his wife and wrapped his arms tightly around her, pressing her to his chest, still gripping her ring. Akiza wrapped her arms around him just as tightly, pressing her head to his shoulder. He felt his eyes watering as he felt his wife tremble as she began to cry into his shoulder.
"Akiza, I'm so sorry," he whispered. "For everything I said. I didn't mean any of it."
"I'm so sorry, Yusei," she whispered back, burying her head in his shoulder. "I'm so, so sorry. Nothing I said was true. I don't hate you. I love that we met, I can't live without you. Please forgive me, Yusei. I love you so much."
He pressed her tighter to him, "Akiza, I'll always forgive you. I love you, so much, too. I'm so sorry I walked out. I'll never do it again. I promise. Just forgive me."
"Of course, I forgive you, Yusei," she told him, still mumbling into his shoulder.
"I never want to fight like that again," he said, kissing his wife on the side of the head. She pulled away and kissed him fully on the lips, moving her arms to wrap them around his neck. He carefully lifted her bridal style, carrying her to their bedroom. He set her down on the bed and knelt on the floor, uncurling his hand, revealing her ring. He gently took her hand and slipped the ring back on her finger. He looked up at her, "I will love you forever, Akiza."
She looked at him tearfully and clasped his hand with both of hers, "I will love you for the rest of my life."
Yusei moved to kneel on the bed and pulled his wife into him again, pushing her down on the bed. He kissed her lips with the gentle passion the two of them had always felt. Akiza snuggled into his chest as her husband pulled his lips away, but kept his arms tightly around there.
"Happy anniversary, Akiza," he whispered, brushing his lips on her forehead.
She closed her eyes, "Happy anniversary, Yusei."
He and Akiza kept their arms around each other tightly all through the night, so glad that they were in love. A love that was now stronger than ever. Yusei understood exactly what that old bartender had meant. Yes.
This was the good stuff.
AnimeKiwi369: Loved it? Hated it? I would absolutely love to know. This may not be my best of my stories, but it got me out of my slump right. Oh, and I apologize if Yusei or Akiza was out of character.
My updates are going to be very slow for awhile with "Second War", since I'm going to be running out of chapters soon, and I'll just be getting back into it. Also, I'm going to try and do a holiday theme challenge special for December, "25 Days of Christmas", so I'll be focusing on that. Plus I have finals coming up.
But I haven't forgotten about you all, though!
Please be kind and please review! I'll see you as soon as I can! :D