A/N: Brand new fic in a brand shinny new AU. Yays. And because I like screwing with Yusei, we're working on the theory that Yusei's dad handed Yusei off to Rex just before Zero Reverse and Rex basically said 'I'll look after him because I promised his dad but I know nothing about kids and I have bigger things to deal with' so he hands Yusei off to whatever service he can pay for that will get him out of his hair. Starts a year or so before the series starts. And everything else you can figure out as you go. Please, remember to review because I love to hear from you guys and you make me feel all fuzzy to hear it.

Yusei sighed and bounced a ball off the wall of his dorm room. Everything he needed to do was done. This place was ridiculous. He caught the ball and bounced it again. He couldn't remember the last time he wasn't bored. He glanced up at the dark green blazer, the school uniform, and slammed the ball hard against the wall.

"Fudo, stop making such a damn racket!" came a voice from the next room. "Some of us have to study!"

Ever since Zero Reverse, he'd been in the care of his Uncle Rex. He wasn't sure why he still thought of him as an uncle; he spoke to him on the phone twice a week, Rex would visit him on a weekend at the school once every three months, and he went home to New Domino City during the holidays but only if it was a break longer than two weeks and he was kept inside the grounds of the mansion. He couldn't even remember the town he was supposed to live in. Rex had sent him to boarding school the second he was old enough. The school was in Europe, so he couldn't go home if it got too much. The flight took hours.

His phone rang and he picked it up slowly. "Uncle Rex."

"Yusei, you don't sound pleased to hear from me. Is something the matter?"

"Nothing beyond the normal," Yusei said.

"Yusei..."

"Come on, Uncle Rex, you've seen my reports. I'm so bored here I don't know what to do with myself. Please, I'm fifteen, let me come home and go to the Duel Academy."

"I promised your dad I'd keep you safe, and the best way to do that is keep you well away from here. Don't start causing trouble."

"Uncle Rex-"

"Alright, alright, if it means that much to you, the term ends in two months," Rex said. "If you can behave yourself and keep your grades up until then, I'll let you enrol in Duel Academy next term, ok? I mean it, don't just stop trying because of this."

"I stopped trying years ago, I can do all the work without thinking."

"You know what I mean. I know you're smarter than everyone there, but don't rub it in their faces."

"Thank you."

"Anyway, I called you to tell you that we have found the Black Rose Witch. She's been shipped out to the Satellite. She's their problem now."

"Who's the Black Rose Witch?"

"You don't know?"

"Uncle Rex, I've been out here since I was a kid, I don't keep tabs on what's happening back where you are."

Aki's cheek was still burning from having that golden mark burned on. She refused to cry, but it was hard not to. Everything in the Satellite was so dirty and dark. Everyone had just abandoned her just because of a stupid accident. It wasn't her fault, she just didn't know how to control her powers.

"Are you ok?" She turned. A little girl was watching her. "You look lost. Are you lost?"

"I... I think I might be a bit lost, yeah..." she said, lowering her gaze.

She little girl giggled and Aki turned away, only to find her hand clasped by the kid's. She frowned.

"I'm Annie. What's your name?"

"Aki Izayoi."

Annie nodded. "Don't you have a duel disk?" Aki shook her head. "Do you have a deck?"

"No, Security took them. I don't have anything."

"That's ok, if you help me find Crow, I'm sure he'll help you. He's really nice, come on, he's usually by the bridge."

Annie dragged her off and Aki followed. They ended up in an even more depressing area. Aki was aware that there were a lot of people watching them go by, but Annie didn't seem afraid at all, and none of them made any threatening moves. She glanced around. There was a bridge- half finished- rising up above the sky line. Within a few minutes, they were at the foot of the bridge. There was a small house. Aki frowned. It was more like a little camp using a few of the abandoned houses.

"Guys!" Annie called. "Is Crow here?"

"He's not back yet," called a male voice her own age. A tall blonde stepped out of one of the buildings and glanced over Aki. "He was supposed to be here half an hour ago, but he was never very good with timings was he? Who are you then, red? Not another stray for Crow to baby?"

"Her name's Aki, I found her," she said, pulling Aki forward. "This is Jack. He's grumpy and Crow says he's only acting tough because he's not as good at duelling as Kiryu, but I still think you're great Jack."

Aki frowned as Jack glared down at her, then remembered her manners. "It's nice to meet you, Jack. I'm Aki Izayoi."

"Jack Atlas." He glanced her over and turned to go back inside. "I haven't seen Kiryu either."

"I saw Kiryu dealing with some thugs in the next sector," Annie said, pulling Aki along behind him into the small building. "He said he didn't expect it to take more than ten minutes then he'd be on his way."

"You didn't have any trouble on the way here, did you?"

"No. Everyone knows I'm protected by you guys. Aki doesn't have a deck or duel disk, Jack, because Sector Security took it from her. She was lost and she's new. You can help her right?"

"That's Crow's thing, not mine. Or ask Kiryu, if she can duel he might take an interest."

"I can duel," Aki said. "I'm a good duellist, but... I don't have my deck."

"Not a problem." She turned and another boy was smiling at her from the doorway. "I'm Kiryu, the boss around here." He stepped in and circled her before stopping front of her and gazing into her eyes. Aki fought the urge to step back away from those burning amber eyes. "You can use one of our decks. We've got a couple of spares somewhere and we can find another duel disk easily."

"Wait, but-"

"What kind of deck do you use?"

"Plants, but-"

"We can probably manage something like that pretty easily. You're not staying for nothing though. If you want to hang around, you have to work with us. Does it hurt?"

"Does... what hurt?"

"Your mark," he said, tapping his cheek. "Does it hurt?"

"It stings a bit, yes."

He pulled Aki over to the bed and sat her down. She gazed up at him quietly as he gently pulled down the hood on the coat she'd been wearing. Her hair fell over her face and Kiryu moved it away gently.

"That's nasty," Jack muttered. Kiryu nodded. "You're lucky we're used to this."

"Yeah," Kiryu said. "Our friend Crow's already marked up and the amount of kids who get these marks... kind of sad really. We'll clean that up for you, sometimes the marks get infected and that's not good news for anyone."

"Alright," Aki whispered.

"What's going on?" A redhead, slightly shorter than Kiryu came over and leant down to face her. "Since when did I let girls in my place?"

"Ah, calm down, Crow," Kiryu said. "You might just be looking at the newest member of the team, once we get her a deck and duel disk."

"Kiryu..."

"I really don't think there's any way I could help," Aki said. "I haven't got a deck or duel disk."

"We said, didn't we? We'll deal with that," Jack said.

"I don't want to hurt anyone."

"No one's going to get hurt," Crow said. "We duel for respect and to get control of sectors."

"We're going to make the Satellite safe," Kiryu agreed. "If we get complete control, we can make the Satellite safe for everyone, we can make the most of a life we can't escape."

"I suppose... but-"

"No buts! So, we'll start by looking after you and getting you something better to wear."

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"Well nothing really," Crow said, folding his arms. "But it's pretty obvious you're not from around here and you're going to draw attention to yourself."

"We'll find you something that doesn't stand out so much," Kiryu said. "It shouldn't be too hard."

"We could always just ask Martha rather than wasting time," Jack muttered.

Kiryu nodded. "I suppose. Come on, maybe we'll get some dinner too. I love Martha's cooking. Let's go!"

The three led her to a large house on the outskirts of town. An older woman, who was just a little taller than Kiryu, was in the kitchen when the boys burst in. Kids came running down the stairs, all yelling over each other and gathering around them.

"Hiya, Martha," Crow called. "You're favourite boys are here to see you!"

"Ah, which boys would they be?" Martha muttered. "I raised two perfectly nice boys, I let their best friend stay over when they were perfectly nice, polite kids who cared about the woman who took them in."

"Martha," Jack said, lowering his gaze.

"Then they decided they could rule the world and they abandoned me," she continued. "Just tell me; what happened to those nice boys who didn't cause trouble, didn't go looking for trouble and only argued with each other? What happened to the boys who didn't only come home when they wanted something?"

"Sorry Martha," Jack and Crow said.

"Well, I kept telling them, Martha," Kiryu laughed.

"Shut up, Kiryu," Jack snapped.

"Yeah, you're only here because you wanted dinner," Crow said, folding his arms.

"I'm not her son, and that's not the only reason I'm here," he said. "Martha knows I'm a respectable kid, right, Martha?

Martha turned and gazed at them. "You're no better, Kiryu. Now, since you three are here, make yourselves useful and get the kids all cleaned up before dinner. If you could convince them to not get so dirty playing that'd be good too but children will make a mess. Then I might think about feeding you."

"Yes, Martha."

They herded the kids away and Aki stood awkwardly in the entrance. Martha smiled and beckoned her over. She stepped up to the kitchen counter, hands clasped behind her back, her heart pounding.

"It's ok, dear," Martha said. "Here, will you set the table for me, please? It's all in the cupboard right in front of you." Aki nodded ad got to work. "I'm Martha, case you hadn't gathered by now. I raised Jack and Crow."

"Aki Izayoi. I've introduced myself so many times in the past hour... Oh." She turned to Martha who smiled. "I didn't mean to sound rude."

"You were rich before you came here, weren't you? A respectful family?"

"Y-yes... yes, I suppose so..."

"Do you miss them yet?"

"I didn't really spend much time with them anyway. I'm a monster, they just wanted to get rid o-" Martha held up her hand and Aki stopped immediately, biting her lip. She was always told it was rude to talk about her parents like that. "I-"

"Hush," Martha said gently. "It's not you. Wait a moment." She strode out the door a few steps and came back in, dragging Kiryu and Crow by their ears. "It's rude to eavesdrop boys, you should know better."

"Sorry," Crow cried. "Ow! We're sorry."

"Yeah, we're sorry," Kriyu said. "Martha."

She let go of their ears and they backed away quickly. "Where's Jack?"

"With the kids," Crow said. "What was that about being a monster, Aki?"

"Yeah, you're really pretty," Kiryu agreed.

"You two!" Martha snapped. "Pay attention when I'm talking to you. Now, go and do as I asked you to instead of flirting. Go on."

They ran from the room and Martha turned to Aki, who lowered her head, hiding her red cheeks. No one had said such nice things to her in a long time. Then again, they didn't know what she was capable of yet. She was in no doubt that they would turn against her just as everyone else had the moment they made her duel.

"What's wrong, dear?" Martha said.

"N-nothing," she said, straightening up and wiped the tears from her eyes but her hand brushed her marker and she winced. Martha frowned. "I'm ok."

"Haven't you boys seen to that?" She sighed and shook her head. "I can give you something to ease the pain and I'll have a look after dinner if you'd like."

"Thank you," Aki whispered.

"Not a problem. Don't let the boys get to you, they're nice enough once you get used to them."

"They seem it, but they won't want me around once they know what I am. I'm a monster."

Half an hour later and the kids were shouting over the table. Aki was sitting between Crow and Kiryu, who were both talking loudly- if only to be heard over the kids. Crow and Jack were arguing across the table, while Kiryu was trying to get some order. Aki didn't really know how to react. It was so strange to her. Her father was always away working and eating with her mother never got so noisy. Even at Duel Academy, she ate alone. She'd never seen anything like this. Martha was at the head of the table, watching over them with a smile.

"Izayoi," Kiryu said suddenly, turning to her. "Don't you have any cards?"

"Yeah, in the Facility there was always one you could keep if you loved it enough, you just had to try hard enough."

"Well..."

She reached into her pocket and placed her Black Rose Dragon on the table. Hiding it had been tricky, but she managed. She just hoped no one would recognise it. The children fell silent and stared at her as the trio of boys glanced at each other nervously.

"You're the Black Rose Witch," Kiryu whispered.

Aki lowered her head and stared at her lap. She went to take her card back but Kiryu closed his hand around her wrist, stopping her. Aki gasped and glanced up at him, his golden eyes clouded over slightly with something she couldn't quite read. A quick glance at Jack and Crow showed the same thing. She bit her lip to stop it trembling and turned her attention back to her lap, trying to escape their gazes as her world blurred and split, tears filling her eyes.

Kiryu released her wrist in silence and Aki stood. "I'm sorry, Martha. Your meal was wonderful, but I really need to go."

She hurried out into the darkening Satellite, tears dripping down her cheeks. They'd reacted just how she knew they would. Apparently she was just as well known and feared here as she was in the city. She didn't know where she was going, just that she had to leave before she hurt them or they turned on her.

After who knows how long, she stopped and gazed up at the sky. It was dark and murky. She couldn't even see the moon. She'd heard you could see the moon every night in the Satellite, that it was so bright there it shone through the smog, but it was all completely dark. She glanced around and realised that she had no idea where she was or if she was anywhere controlled by the boys. Although, if it was, she didn't know if that was better or worse; on the plus side, the few areas they controlled where supposed to be safer than the rest of the Satellite, but that would mean she could be found.

She shivered as a whipped around her, wishing she'd picked up her coat on the way out. There was a deep laugh behind her and she turned. A large, tattooed man with markers all over his face stepped out of the shadows. Aki stepped back. She'd seen the look in his eyes once or twice and it made her sick.

"What's a nice girl like you doing in this kind of place?" he laughed. He caught her arm and pulled her forwards, jolting her shoulder. "Such a young girl in such a little school uniform with that nasty marker. I doubt anyone will notice you've gone."

"Let go!" she cried, tugging away with all she could, wishing she'd taken a duel disk from the boys when she left. He laughed. Everything was happening so fast, how was she wasn't much without her duel disk. "Let me go!"

"Come on, little girl, you need a nice warm bed to sleep in."

"I said let go!"

Unable to think of anything else to do, she kicked him. He howled and fell to his knees, tears in the corners of his eyes. Aki turned and ran. She could hear his footsteps behind her and he was gaining fast. Then she slammed into someone else and fell to the ground. She stared up and let out a shaking breath. Kiryu pulled her up and dragged her behind him. The man stopped, glaring at them.

"Kiryu," he snarled. "I didn't know she was yours. Although, I shouldn't be surprised."

"You know, I don't think I like what you're insinuating there, Damien," he said quietly.

"She was in my sector, Kiryu. I get something for that. Keep a better eye on your girls."

"Girls?" he laughed. "What am I, some womanising, hormonal teenage sex god? I'm not like you. I have more class, and if you touch any member of my team again I'll show you why they call me the Death God. Now get the hell out of my sector!"

Damien glared at them for a long moment before turning and storming away. Aki glanced between the three boys, who were smiling at her- well, Kiryu and Crow were, Jack looked as distant as ever.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Well, a team looks out for one another," Crow said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "Besides, that bastard's been causing trouble for us since we took two of his sectors. He's got the most control, and we're a threat."

"He's scared of us," Jack said, glaring down the street. "And with good reason, people get behind us. We do this for them, so only the other sector controller and the real scumbags don't want us taking control."

"They're afraid of the other teams- most of them anyway. We rule by respect, not fear," he added.

"You said, I'm part of your team... but I'm a monster... I'm dangerous..."

"Is that a problem?" Jack said. "We can let you wander on your own if you'd rather."

"No," she whispered. "No, if you're ok with me being here, then... you really aren't afraid of me."

"The kids think it's cool," Crow laughed. "Like you're some kind of superhero celebrity. Besides, if you're in Duel Academy, you passed a test to get in, that means you're good. We're good enough, but to get to full strength, we need a fourth member."

"You mean it?"

"Welcome to Team Satisfaction, Izayoi," Kiryu said. He pulled off his jacket and handed it to her. She gazed at it, then slowly shrugged off her academy blazer and pulled it on over her shirt. "So, come home, and we'll find you an outfit a little more fitting with the team, huh? And then a deck and duel disk and we can work in your Black Rose, and we need to fill you in on everything and..."

He carried on as he walked away. Crow laughed and guided Aki along with Jack following, hands in his pockets.

"Is he always like this?" she whispered.

"Oh yeah," Crow said, squeezing her shoulders. "But you'll get used to it. Do you mind if I call you Aki? Izayoi seems really formal and cold."

"Um, no, I suppose not. Doesn't Kiryu-"

"It's Kyosuke," Jack said. "But no one ever uses it. We've known him since we were ten and we still call him Kiryu. It just makes him kind of uncomfortable for some reason."

"Oh."

"Don't worry," Crow said. "It'll be fine. You've just got to trust him and generally everything turns out just perfect. He's a genius really, plans everything and has a backup plan to go with his backup plans. And the best part is, loyalty means the world to him. Once you're his friend- a part of the team- he's never going to turn on you, unless you turn on him first and he won't ever give you a reason to."