Uh… h-hi… this is the sequel to my first long story, 'Not Himself,' and I have a feeling it's not going to be very long like the other one. I got inspiration from the last episode again. XD I hope you enjoy this story! My guess is that it'll end up being around 10 or fewer chapters, but I could be wrong. Anyway… let's get this going!
Takeru: Dude, you sound weird when you say that. It's just not you.
Me: Shut up before I kill you off.
Takeru: I'll be good.
Me: Thank you. Now, let the beginning well… begin! I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or the characters they made… if I did: Team 5D's would never have spilt up and gone their separate ways, leaving Yusei behind. I only own the Yami characters that I created!
It's been a year since Team 5D's split up, going their own ways and exploring the unknown world outside the closed walls of Neo Domino. Yusei was busy working at the Fortune Momentum Reactor site, writing down numbers and complicated equations that only he seemed to comprehend. The crab haired man's long hours working on the reactor had begun to take its toll. He was constantly tired, feeling like he never had the opportunity to get any rest back at his new apartment and his late shifts on his computers had caused his eyesight to go bad. He had to wear glasses whenever he was at work now, which he hated since they felt so alien on the bridge of his nose. He did feel accomplished, though. The blue eyed scientist was living up to his father's name as a famous researcher and developer. He liked to think that Hakase would be proud of him if he were alive.
With clipboard in hand, pen in the other, he observed the rotation of light in the Reactor. He smirked, happy with how things were going so far. The future that the Three Emperors of Yliaster and Z-one had spoken of looked as if it had all just been a bad dream now with all the progress they had made in the past year. He looked down at his watch and saw that it was around midnight. His shift was over an hour ago, yet he was still working. Sighing, he took his lab coat off and left the Fortune Momentum, turning out the lights behind him.
The hallways were empty and vacant of any sound or person besides Yusei and the sound of his shoes hitting the tile floor. He turned to his office door, typed a code into a keypad right next to the door and went inside, flipping a switch to turn the lights on. Everything was right where he had left it. His briefcase sitting in his chair, both objects he hardly used at all and his jacket hanging on a coat rack in the corner. His desk sat in front of a big window and cabinets of hundreds of records and files were on either side of it. Yusei put his lab coat on the coat rack and replaced the long white coat with his black jacket, covering up a gray short-sleeve shirt. His black glasses came off his face and they were set on his desk for tomorrow's day at work. He couldn't even put it into words how much he hated those things.
He turned off the lights and walked out of his office, down the hall and to the stairs, not really wanting to take the elevator that night. When he got downstairs, his assistant, Miyuki, stood up from her desk and bowed to him, smiling. "Have a good night, Dr. Fudo," she announced. Yusei smirked and nodded in thanks as she sat back down in her chair.
Before he left, Yusei looked back at the black haired woman. "Go on home, Miyuki, you've done a lot today. You deserve to get some rest, and don't worry; I'll certainly put your extra hours on your paycheck this week," he said with a smile.
The woman beamed and replied, "Thank you, Mr. Fudo!" With that, Yusei left the building and headed for the parking garage where his D-wheel waited for him. He thought back to the lady that he had hired as his assistant. She was a very kind woman. Married, had two fine children and a wonderful life living in a good part of town. But there was one part of her life that Yusei really did long for; maybe he would say that he even envied her for it, something that he had never given up on, not even after a year of separation.
He wanted a family, to have kids and a wife. His co-workers always gave him the answer he didn't want to hear whenever the topic was brought up during breaks. They would tell him that he didn't seem like the kind to want such things. They say that he's so independent that kids and a wife would distract him, he'd never have time for them with his job and they would throw him off his game. The pro-duelist didn't want to believe that, he really didn't, but he knew that it was probably true. But he blamed all of that on his job as a professor. Even when his old friends were living in Domino, he rarely saw them because he was always preoccupied with is work on the reactor. Though, there wasn't anything he could do about that either. It wasn't like he could just quit and find a new job where he would actually have time for friends and having a family. This was his dream job, so he thought. Doing what he was really good at, other than dueling of course, what his father had done twenty-four years ago before him. It seemed right and it felt right, too, to be doing what his family had acquired as their professions as scientists.
The blue eyed man walked into the parking garage and found his bright red D-wheel. He smiled and found the Team 5D's sticker still left on the side. He refused to take it off even though Team 5D's had long split up. Yusei still could feel the bonds that they all shared deep in his heart even though they were thousands of miles apart. Still smirking to himself, he opened up the compartment under the seat of the motorcycle where he kept his helmet and took it out, putting it on his head, mounting the bike. He revved the engine and sped out of the parking garage toward his apartment on the other side of town.
As he drove in the warm night summer air, Yusei glanced around at the bright city flying by him, taking note of how much it hadn't really changed. Sure, they had more technology, it was cleaner, it was safer… but he still saw the same Neo Domino that he had grown accustom to. The same exact buildings stood when he had first entered the city from Satellite all those years ago, so he didn't really see a reason to think that it was totally different. The only thing he would except that had really changed since then was the people. They used to hate all Satellites, but now they saw them as equals. It didn't matter what island you grew up on, or if you had a marker or not, everyone was the same. It made him smile to know that the place he had grown up had improved since he lived there. He remembered the days when crime was how you got by, that if you had enough food to feed all the people in the house, it was a celebration, and when duel gangs, like Team Satisfaction, were around every corner. Now… it was becoming Neo Domino's proud twin. Mostly everyone had a job, enough food to feed their families two times over and had more than they had ever dreamed of. Yusei liked to think that he helped make the Satellite a better place with his and his friend's victory over the Dark Signers when he was eighteen. That victory, he thought, helped people around him realize that Neo Domino citizens and Satellite residents weren't so different after all.
Yusei pulled into the parking lot in front of The Tops Apartment Complex. Yes, he owned an apartment in The Tops, like Rua and Ruka had before they moved to London to be with their parents. The professor dismounted his D-wheel and took his helmet off, tossing it back into the hidden seat compartment. He walked through the front doors and began walking up the stairs toward his small home. When he got there, twenty floors later, he took out his keys and unlocked the door, walking in to see a mess on the main room's floor, as if someone had broken in and robbed him. A light was coming from the corner of the room and he ran toward the source… finding a man rummaging through his fridge. Yusei flipped the lights on and saw a black haired teen with a piece of cold pizza shoved in his face.
Yusei smacked his forehead with his palm. "Takeru, what in the world are you doing up? And why are you eating pizza, do you know what time it is?" The apartment owner scolded. The black haired teen, Takeru, turned around and blinked in confusion to why Yusei was standing there. Usually he didn't come home until around two in the morning! Takeru Mori, Yusei's former Yami brought back to life by his own will, was rooming with the scientist since he was still learning about the current times and the technology it had. He had light green eyes and was wearing a gray t-shirt and black sweat pants, looking like a regular nineteen year old who was hungry in the middle of the night.
"Um… I can't really explain," he admitted, his mouth full. Yusei sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. "About the mess… K-Katsumi did it!"
"Katsumi is on the other end of Japan right now with Jack, you idiot, you can't blame him for your messes anymore," Yusei pointed out, picking up one of the discarded blankets lying on the floor. "I swear it's like taking care of a little kid when you're around."
Takeru swallowed the food in his mouth and smirked. "And you're the one saying that you want kids and here you are complaining about me!" he shouted, slamming the fridge shut. Yusei narrowed his eyes at the green eyed man as he folded the blanket back up and put it in the corner. Not saying anything in return, he continued to pick up the mess that his friend had made while he was gone. "Whatever, I'm going to bed. G'night Yusei, see ya in the morning!" Takeru walked into his room and shut the door behind him.
Yusei rolled his eyes and threw away an empty pizza box his roommate had left on the couch. From his colleagues, he had heard that taking care of a fully grown teenager was much harder than taking care of a little kid. He knew that was the case with Takeru and since he was still growing used to the time period's technology, it was even harder. The teen didn't even know how to operate a stove without assistance. As he continued to pick up the living room, the smell of cold pizza filled Yusei's nose, making his stomach growl, demanding food. He had forgotten to eat dinner that evening… and lunch that afternoon… and he wasn't one for eating breakfast in general either. The last thing the blue eyed twenty-four year old had eaten was a sandwich from the lab's cafeteria the evening before, which, he may add, was disgusting to say the least.
"I really need to remember to eat instead of staying in my office writing down new theories and postulates. Oi… no matter now, I need sleep more than I do food," he thought. "Takeru, I'm going to bed! If you get up again, just don't wake me up. Do whatever you want… just don't kill anyone or spend money!"
"Gotcha, boss," Takeru muttered loud enough for Yusei to hear. The blue eyed duelist walked into his room and took off his jacket, leaving his gray shirt and navy-blue jeans on. He decided that he would take a shower when he got up in the morning and crawled into bed, falling asleep from pure exhaustion right when his head hit the pillow.
At seven o'clock Yusei's alarm clock buzzed and rang, wracking the man from his peaceful sleep. The sun's rays shone through his window and hit his eyes, making him squint when he sat up. He looked over to his nightstand, something he did every morning, and saw a picture of him and his old friends after they had won the WRGP. He was younger then, about nineteen and soon to turn twenty, holding up a trophy and smiling. Jack, to his left, was laughing, something he really didn't do that often, with a bottle of champagne. Crow, who was to Yusei's right, was also holding champagne, and he was smiling like an idiot. Yusei chuckled at his friend's expression. The twins even had a bottle in their hands… well Rua did… he was shooting his sister with the drink as Ruka held her hands up to block the drink squirting in her face. Bruno was holding his hat up in victory with a smile on his face. Yusei missed him each and every day, wishing that he could be here with him. Lastly, the last person standing in the corner of the photo with a bottle in her hands was Aki, smiling and glancing up at him when the camera had captured the image. Yusei sighed and got out of bed, not looking at the picture again, and got into the shower.
He and Aki had decided to take a break from being in a relationship when she had announced that she would be going to medical school in France. He regretted that decision each and every day. The Fudo really did care for the magenta haired girl, but he couldn't just tell her to stay with him instead of fulfilling her dream of going to medical school to become a doctor. She would never do that to him, so why should he want to do it to her? They hadn't said a word to each other ever since she came into the garage the night before everyone left the city. She had come to tell him that she loved him… but that didn't work out so well. Instead, they ended up breaking up since they thought that a long-distance relationship would only make things go south. The phrase, "If you love something, set it free and if it returns to you, then it really is yours to love," came to mind when Yusei thought of his situation. So far… what he wanted to call his hadn't returned to him yet, not even sent a letter or called him. It made the small hope that was left in his heart fade away that he and Aki could still get together.
Yusei stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his lower body. He stepped outside his room and found Takeru already dressed with his own towel hung around his neck with his hair still dripping wet. The green eyed teen was rummaging through the mail.
"Hey, got anything mildly interesting this week besides bills?" Yusei asked as he walked over to the fridge, finally going to get something to eat after about a day without food.
Takeru nodded and tossed him a blue envelope. "It's from our girlfriends. Damn… why did Aiko and Aki have to go to France? It's not fair!" he complained. Yusei's eyes went wide as he looked at the envelope. "Well read it out loud, I haven't read it yet either; I was waiting for you!"
Yusei quickly tore open the container and looked at the cover of the small piece of paper. Yusei's heart sunk and the letter fell from his hands, eyes filled with defeat. Confused, Takeru picked up the paper from the floor and read it himself.
"You're invited to Aki Izayoi and Jeremy Hawthorne's wedding in Paris France on July 25th! The theme is going to be—," the invitation went on and on about what the wedding was going to be like and what guests were to wear when they got there. Yusei was crushed, confused and hurt.
"My girlfriend is getting married to another man…" he muttered under his breath. Takeru shot a sympathetic look at his roommate and glanced back at the invitation. Why would she send him, the woman's ex for God's sake, an invite to her wedding? He still loved Aki very much, and Takeru was sure that Aki still knew that. Was the invitation just a way to torture poor Yusei? Or was it a way to tell him that she still wanted him? Well, it only made sense in Takeru's mind. If she sent it to him that meant that she wanted him to know that she was getting married and that may mean that she wants Yusei to come so he can stop the absurd event. The wedding was exactly a month away on the dot. What about the other members of Team 5D's? Had she sent them invitations as well? They needed to find out.
Takeru jumped out of his seat, picked Yusei up and tossed him into his room. "What are you doing just sitting on the floor for, Fudo? We're going to go get your girlfriend back!" he declared with a serious, yet dimwit like gaze. "But first, you need to get off work for a month because we're going around the world to find your friends! They're for sure to help you get Aki back into your life and dump this Jeremy guy!"
Yusei shook his head. "I can't do that, Taka, you know that. If this random Jeremy guy is the person she wants to spend the rest of her life with and not me, who am I to stop her? I'm her friend and pillar of support before I am her boyfriend. Besides… he may make her really happy and I don't want to take that away from her," he retorted, standing up and pulling a random shirt, jacket and pair of jeans out of his closet. He shut the door so he could change as Takeru impatiently tapped his foot, waiting for the professor to come back out. When he did, he emerged with a dark green jacket, a black undershirt and blue jeans. He was drying his black and yellow hair with his towel when he walked out of his room. "I don't think I'd be able to get off work for a month anyway."
"Yes you would! You've got like… fifty people working for you, they'd for sure take over your job as head researcher for a month! Come on, Yus! Think… why would she send you an invite if she didn't want you to come? If Aki didn't want you there, she wouldn't have said anything or sent anything. Plus… this may be your last chance to plea and reason with her that you're her number one, you idiot! Jack, Crow, the twins, Katsumi and Riku would love to help you get her back! I'm sure those French guys know how to charm anyone into liking them, so maybe she's under some kind of… uh… some kind of French-guy spell!" Yusei shot his former Yami a very concerned glance as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
"How do you know so much about French people and yet you don't know how to work a stove?" the duelist questioned.
Takeru shrugged. "It gets boring here all alone, so I turn on the TV and watch something random. Usually it's some kind of morning drama show that has a lot of French people on it… they seem like total bastards," he explained. Yusei rolled his eyes and drank his black coffee. Takeru narrowed his eyes and pulled the cup of coffee from Yusei's lips, setting it down on the counter. "Listen to me for once! You can't just give up on the one person you actually loved!"
"If she loves someone more than she does me, then she should be with that person," the blue eyed professor said, a sad tone ringing in his voice as he looked at Takeru in the eye.
"You don't know if she likes him more until she has both of you to compare at the same time. You're going to that wedding whether you like it or not! And we're going to get the others and see what they think about this. Besides, this gives us a really good excuse to go visit them!" Takeru replied, eyes wide with encouragement and excitement. Yusei looked down and thought to himself for a moment.
"Well… I guess it couldn't hurt to try," he admitted quietly with a small smirk. Takeru smiled brightly before running into his room. "What are you doing now?"
"I'm packing so I can be ready to get on a plane! I've always wanted to go on one ever since I became human!" he announced from his room as he threw random pieces of clothing into a bag. "Next stop: London to see the twins!"
Well… do you guys like where this is going or not? If not, I'll take it down and everyone can forget this was ever written. Please review so you can let me know just what to do with this thing! XD
It's been a while since I've said and... Review + Being Nice = Happy Chibi Duelist.