Rain rain, go away, come again another day, all the world is waiting for the sun.
It was a cold, dreary day in New Domino City. It hadn't rained – it had poured. Akiza watched the water drip down the window, collecting droplets and dropping further, racing the other droplets to the sides. The droplets reminded Akiza of her whole adventure with Team 5Ds; it brought a smile to her face. The phone rang through the house, but Akiza ignored it, choosing to instead wait at the window for Yusei to arrive.
"Akiza, phone for you!" Mrs Izinski called, and Akiza's hair scratched at the window as her body turned towards the voice. Her mother looked at her, holding the phone out and mouthing the word 'Crow' to her. Akiza walked to her mother and took the phone into her hands with a smile and a polite "thank you."
"Hello?" she asked, putting the phone to her ear.
"Akiza?" Crows voice beckoned through the phone. "It's Crow."
"Hey." She said, running her fingers through her hair, pulling the thick burgundy bangs out of her eyes. "What's up?"
"I'm calling on Yusei's behalf." He said gingerly.
"Oh.' Was all Akiza could say. Yusei was due to arrive in an hour for their lesson, but she was so excited that she got ready too early, and was left to wait at the window for Yusei to arrive. She wasn't worried though, Yusei was never late to any of their lessons.
"Yeah.' Crow sighed. "He's really sick. He went out last night to get something for you lesson today..."
"Let me guess." Akiza interrupted. "In the pouring rain in his duel runner?"
A laugh was heard from either end of the phone, making Akiza smile.
"Rather predictable, isn't he?" Crow chortled. "Anyway, he's caught the man flu."
"Oh, no!" Akiza cried, half sarcastic, half genuine. "The deadliest of all masculine diseases!"
Another laugh from Crow was heard, and she could practically feel him shaking with laughter.
"Anyway, he can't make it to your lesson today, sorry."
"It's okay Crow!" Akiza said hurriedly. "No need to be sorry, these things happen! Tell Yusei to get better though, fast." She chuckled quietly to herself.
"Sure thing." He said, relieved. "I'll see you on Wednesday for team practice before next week's tournament?"
"Count on it!" she grinned. "Later." she hung up after hearing a farewell from Crow, hitting her head angrily against the phone. She had really been looking forward to her not-date with Yusei today. At east, she didn't think it was. Who knew how Yusei felt if he didn't voice the feelings out loud, and never mentioning any other feelings about her except for friendship, so that's all that she assumed them to be.
Herself and her feelings, however, was a different story. She had nothing but confusion about her feelings for the teenage boy, but she knew that she enjoyed every second that she spent with him, and it always disappointed her when either one of them had to cancel for various reasons that were beyond their control. She always understood when he had to cancel, but it still hurt. Maybe she did like him then, she thought to herself, feeling her cheeks go red as she thought of the teenager.
"What's wrong, Aki?" Mrs Izinski called from the kitchen, the smell of sticky date pudding filling the room, making Akiza wrinkle her nose.
"Yusei is sick, he had to cancel our lesson." she called back, putting the phone on the hook sadly.
"Oh, what a disappointment." her mother said simply, walking from the kitchen, stirring a bowl of mixture in her arms. "I really like that boy; he's been nothing but good for you."
Akiza blushed. She knew that her parents were grateful to Yusei for his involvement in the reconciliation of Akiza and her parents, and as a result they became very insistent on trying to convince Akiza the Yusei would make a very suitable partner for her. Even though his home was based in Satellite, they didn't mind, as his experience in engineering and general intelligence, as well as being the kind hearted and calm person he was clearly made up for his residency, with her parents not even minding driving her all the way to the garage in Satellite where he worked from their house in New Domino City whenever she wished, as long as she was with him. It was flattering, but a bit restricting, only being able to go over when her parents allowed her or when Yusei came over, which was one of the reasons for her getting her duel runner licence. All she needed now was a duel runner of her own.
The only people that shipped Akiza and Yusei together harder than her parents was Leo and Luna, who, seeing as when Yusei was called by the twin's parents to come over and babysit them for them, they would invite Akiza over so that they could have another not-date. So, because they spent a lot of time together around the twins, it had become clear to them - especially Luna, who Akiza had grown very close to, and considered a little sister - that Akiza had a little crush on their friend. Leo, being the big mouth that he was, had almost blown their cover from time to time, but Luna had always been able to shut her twin brother's mouth before Yusei had caught on. They were very keen on the idea of "Big sis Aki" and "Big bro Yusei" being a couple, sometimes more excited about the possibility than Akiza herself.
"How about you swing by his place later and see how he's doing?" her mother asked, bringing Akiza back to reality.
"Sorry?" Akiza asked, shaking her head free of images of the raven haired male.
"how about you make him some chicken soup to take with you, and go see if he's okay?" she said, turning and walking into the kitchen, smiling as she put down the mixture and opening the cupboard as Akiza walked in behind her. "Your father always loves our family chicken soup when he is ill, and I'm sure Yusei will too."
Akiza nodded in understanding, getting a mixing bowl out of the cupboard and getting the ingredients out that she needed for her family's secret recipe.
"Speaking of your father, he is going to a conference in Satellite in an hour, I'm sure if you ask nicely he could drop you off at Yusei's." she said, smiling as she took the ingredients off Akiza's hands. "Let me take care of this."
"That sounds fantastic!" Akiza said brightly, kissing her mother on the cheek as she bounded out of the room. "Thanks mum!"
"Hey man, that was Akiza." Crow said, walking into the kitchen, where Yusei was poking at a bowl of fruit loops in front of him, too nervous to actually eat.
"What's up?" he said, looking up quickly at the sound of the burgundy haired heroine's name.
'She's sick." Crow said quickly. "Something about catching the flu and not being able to go to your lesson today."
"oh." was all Yusei could muster. He was really looking forward to giving Akiza his weekly lesson, and now he would have to wait until Wednesday to see her. Not to mention that she would be one lesson down when she was to go into her match in the tournament on Sunday.
"Sucks hey. I know you were looking forward to it." Crow smiled, trying to get the information he already knew out of Yusei. He shrugged out of his wet jacket and put the phone back on the wall where it would charge. "But think of it this way, now you have more time to finish working out those little kinks in her duel runner, and you could have that done in about an hour instead of getting ready to go to hers."
"I guess so." he said, perking up. If there was anything that Yusei loved more than duelling, it was engineering. He loved to just sit there and tinker with various objects, fine tuning and upgrading various objects.
"Or you could finally fix the washing machine if you're desperate enough." said Crow, and they both laughed. As much as Yusei loved fixing things, anything that involved washing wasn't really his repertoire. Maybe it was a boy thing.
"I'm not that desperate." he laughed, placing the uneaten breakfast in the sink and pulling his gloves over his hands. "I think I'll work on Akiza's runner. If I get it finished today then I can give it to her on Wednesday and she'll have time to practice with it before Sunday's tournament." he walked out of the kitchen, flicking the light on for the garage, flooding the small room with a harsh white light, highlighting the two runners - Crow's and Yusei's - an empty spot where Jack's runner was usually placed, and a fourth object covered in a large dirty sheet.
Yusei walked up to the sheet and threw it off, revealing the blood red duel runner, biting his lip as Crow got the first look at the runner that Yusei had kept very under wraps, only letting Crow know about it, and not even letting him look at it. Crow had made various contributions as he helped design the blueprint for the prototype with Yusei and Jack, but only Yusei had ever seen the actual, finished runner. All Yusei had to do to it now was to finish upgrading the system so it was at competition level, which would take less than an hour.
"Shit, that looks awesome, Yuse." Crow said in astonishment, noticing how different the prototype and the end product looked, with Yusei adding in bits and pieces that would make it more comfortable for the woman, and easier for her to ride. He pulled out his computer and placed the cords into the runner's control panel, watching as it started up and came alive.
"Thanks, Crow." he said, flashing Crow a smile, and then throwing in a code to update the machine. The screen flashed up a bar, showing a percentage completed sign, and started the upgrade. Yusei sat back, noting now the only thing he could do is wait.
"Do you think she'll like it?" Yusei asked, the first sign of worry leaking through his voice.
"Like it?" Crow asked in disbelief. "She'll love it!" Crow clapped his hand on Yusei's back in reassurance. "Come on; don't get all worried, you know she'll love it. She's wanted a duel runner for ages, and she'll love the fact that you went to all this trouble to actually design and build her a duel runner from scratch. Besides, I know chicks love it when they get presents from their boyfriends." he said, chuckling to himself.
Yusei raised an eyebrow. "We're not dating, Crow. This is just a present for all her hard work."
"You wouldn't mind it though." Crow said, and Yusei ignored him, choosing to concentrate fully on the duel runner that no longer needed his attention. Crow fidgeted, looking like he was fighting with his conscience about what was the right thing to do.
"She likes you too, you know." he sputtered, looking away. "I wouldn't lie to you, Yuse, you know that. She's got it for you as bad as you have it for her, stop denying it to yourself." Yusei blushed, continuing to stare at the runner.
"I wouldn't pester you about it if it wasn't true, Yusei, you know that." Crow continued. "But I don't like being lied to, and I know you don't either. And that includes lying to yourself. Just tell her already, it's sickening to watch." with that, Crow left, slamming the door shut and leaving Yusei to his thoughts.
"Are you sure you'll be okay for a ride home?" Akiza heard her father ask as she opened the door to his limo and stepped out into the pouring rain, regretting not finding a jacket or umbrella before she left home. She shuddered as the freezing cold water connected with her skin unevenly and began to run down her skin.
"I'll be fine, thanks anyway dad." she flashed a smile. "I'll just get Yusei or Martha to give me a ride home." she continued, shutting the door. They gave each other a smile, and she stood there as the car sped off, leaving Akiza standing alone in front of the infamous garage. He skirt fluttered around her, making her shiver and clutch at the warm bowl of chicken soup wrapped tightly in her glove-covered palms.
She removed one of her hands gently from around the bowl and knocked quietly on the garage door, not realising the loud, echoing noise it made. The rattling scared her, and she stood back quickly, forgetting and slipping in a pile of water, colliding with the ground. She checked herself, glad that she had not spilled any of the chicken soup on herself, but sporting some now very dirty clothes and a bruise on her lower back from where she collided with the harsh concrete ground.
"Akiza?" a voice asked, and the girl got to her feet quickly, brushing her hair out of her eyes as she swivelled to see an auburn haired male poking his head from out the door, staring at her incredulously.
"Crow?"
"We weren't expecting you." Crow said harshly, a wavering tone in his voice that confused Akiza.
"I brought some soup for Yusei to make him feel better, it was my mum's idea." she said, gesturing to the bowl of soup in her hands.
"Oh, okay." Crow said nervously. "Come on in, he's just running a tune up for his runner." his mouth formed an apologetic glace at the contorting of Akiza's face.
"I thought he was sick?" she asked, walking into the kitchen and placing the bowl on the bench before taking a seat on a stool next to it.
'Well, you know Yusei." Crow said, laughing nervously. "Nothing will keep him down."
If nothing kept him down, then why was he so keen to not see me? Akiza thought to herself bitterly. Did I do something wrong? Am I being annoying? Is it really that difficult to give me lessons? Was I not getting it, and that was frustrating him?
Yes, that's exactly what you are doing, why would you bother with hurting him, like you hurt everyone else? The Black Rose whispered.
Shut your mouth you dirty tramp! Akiza shot back, shaking any thoughts of the Black Rose away.
"I'll go tell him you're here, if you like. I've got to go anyway, I need to duck over and see if the kids are doing their homework and studying like I told them too. I feel like I'm not hard enough on them, you know?" he chuckled, picking up his helmet and shrugging on his vest.
"Try not to get sick as well!" Akiza called out, and Crow chuckled, waving his hand in a farewell as he walked out the door. A few seconds later, she heard the sound of the garage door opening and the revving of a duel runner starting, and then speeding off.
The door opened again, but instead of the wild auburn hair and black hairband, it was a mess of black and blonde hair and bright blue eyes staring at her.
"Oh, hey Akiza." Yusei said in disbelief, noticing her and the bowl on the bench next to her. "What's that?"
Akiza's face turned into a scowl.
"well, Crow called this morning and told me you were ill, so I thought that I would bring you over some of our family recipe chicken soup to make you feel better. " she said, crossing her arms angrily. "But it seems like you've never been better." bitterness clouded her tone, and she shivered, a droplet falling from her bangs and onto her frozen nose.
"I'm fine, never been better." Yusei said confusedly. "that's weird, Crow told me that you called us this morning and told him that you were sick and for me to not come over because you were still contagious." they gave each other a look of disbelief, both realising at the same time that Crow had played them both and neither one had noticed or bothered to check themselves.
Yusei coughed awkwardly, then continued as Akiza stood there shivering. "I think Crow played a joke on us. But if you don't get dry soon, I think one of us might get sick." he smiled, taking a very brief look at her water stained body.
"How about you take a shower and I'll wash your clothes? You can borrow some of mine until yours dry." her lips moved from a scowl to a thin line as she made her decision. It couldn't hurt, could it? And maybe they could have their lesson while she was there.
"okay." she said, letting another shiver out.
"Well, you know where to go." he said, awkwardly standing in waiting as he thought of what to say. "I'll drop some clothes outside the bathroom in a minute; I've just got to pack up some stuff in the garage. Just leave your clothes outside so I can wash them. There should be towels in there, and if there isn't, you know where the linen cupboard is. And yeah, sorry about that." he said, scratching his neck awkwardly. She let out a small chuckle, patting his well-built shoulders as she gave thanks and left. He let out a quick breath and ran back into the garage, shutting off the duel runner and throwing the sheet back over it.
As she quickly undressed herself and chucked the washable clothes in a neat pile on the floor, placing her deck and non-washable items in a separate pile just inside the door, so Yusei would take the right stuff and not accidently wash her deck.
As she turned on the hot water and stepped inside, she closed her eyes at the warmth that came with the rushing water droplets colliding with her bare, sensitive skin, she revelled in how much nicer this felt then the cold, uneven droplets of outside.
She heard a quiet clunk of clothes being dropped on the floor and a small knock on the door from Yusei, to notify her of his arrival. She turned the shower off and stepped out gingerly, wrapping a towel around her mid-section and another for her sopping wet hair. She opened the door and quickly grabbed at the clothes left outside for her, shutting the door before anyone could see her. After getting dry and changed quickly, she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror; taking in her look dressed in Yusei's favourite shirt with a small hoodie and tracksuit pants, and furrowed her eyebrows.
"I guess it's a good thing I'm not a boy." She laughed to herself. "I look terrible in boy's clothing."
She turned away from the mirror, choosing instead to inhale the greasy, musky scent of Yusei's clothes, which had become that way from the tireless hours spent in the garage working and building at least two duel runners from scratch. Walking slowly out of the bathroom, feeling very self-conscious, she heard the rumble and tumble of Yusei's washing machine, on its last hinges and ready to be put down by any normal person, but Yusei was never one to throw anything out, choosing instead to fix it up and upgrade it so it was running faster than any new one.
But I guess that's the upside of having an engineer in the house, Akiza thought to herself. Not only can he fix anything that is broken around the house, but upgrade it so it's working like new with absolute ease. I guess he just hasn't gotten around to doing the washing machine yet?
"Hey Yusei, where are you?" she called out, pushing her hands deep into the pockets of the hoodie and pulling it closer to her.
"In here." Called Yusei from the garage, and Akiza rolled her eyes for not guessing that before. She shrugged her way through the door, and he turned his head, smiling as he stood and brushed himself off, dropping his gloves to the ground and walking over to Akiza.
"You look really pretty Akiza." He said, smiling as a dash of pink darked her pale cheeks.
"Thank you." She whispered. "What are you working on?" she peeked over his shoulders, noticing the sheet dangling over an object in the corner of the garage.
"A present." He said, his cheeks going pink. "For you, actually. I was going to give it to you on Wednesday but you know..." he trailed off.
"Is that why Crow didn't want you coming over?" she asked, and he shook his head.
"No. crow's got some wacky ideas in his head."
"Like?" she prodded, but he waved her off.
"It's Crow's business to tell, not mine." He said calmly, but she could tell he was lying.
"So," she prodded again, leaning on her tip toes to see over his shoulders. "do I get to see it, or do I have to wait?" she pulled her hands out of her pockets and clasped them behind her back in an innocent stance that got him to do what she wanted every time.
"Sure, I guess so." He said nervously and Akiza caught it.
"Why so nervous, Yusei?" she asked as he stepped aside, and she moved forward.
"I just hope you like it." He said, walking over and pulling the sheet off, revealing the blood red runner.
"is… is this a duel runner?" she said in awe, running her fingers gently along the arm rests, feeling the cushioning and revelling in it.
"Sure is." He said nervously.
"Is this for me?" she said in amazement, stepping back from the vehicle, not believing her eyes.
"yeah." He muttered. "I figured, seeing as you were getting really good at turbo duels that you would want a runner yourself." She turned to face him, the look of utter disbelief still plastered all over her face. "But if you don't like it, its okay, I can…"
"It's perfect!" she cried, throwing herself into his arms. "Thank you so so much Yusei! You're just amazing!"
Yusei smiled and closed his eyes, returning the warm presence of her body pressed against his with his own.
"Hey, what are friends for?" he laughed as she disentangled herself from him reluctantly.
"Yusei, 'friends' would just buy a helmet or a booster pack or something if they wanted to support their friends. You built me a freaking duel runner! How am I ever going to repay you!" she cried.
"You don't have to.' He said, his lips forming into a war smile.
"I can't just accept this without anything in return!"
He looked into her eyes, and saw that she was deadly serious. But there was something else, a flicker of emotion that he couldn't pin down before it was hidden away that made him think that maybe, just maybe, Crow was right.
"Well, how about this. Just stay in my life, okay?" he smiled, holding his hand out. She laughed, clasping his hand in agreement.
"That's a promise I can very easily make." She said, and he noticed the flicker again. They enjoyed the sound of each other's chuckle echo throughout the garage, looking into each other's eyes intently. Yusei was looking for the flicker that was dancing all around Akiza's eyes, making it unmistakable about how she felt, and Akiza was looking for something, anything, to prove he felt the same. Then she saw it. The flicker, much like she felt hide themselves in her eyes, danced quickly along his, and she smiled. Both parties knew without having to say anything how each other felt, but Akiza begged him mentally to say the words and make her dreams come true.
Yusei broke the silence first. "Hey look, the rain has stopped." He said, gesturing towards the window. "You got your deck?" he looked at her, grinning as she pulled her deck from her pocket, giving him a sly grin.
"Why, keen for a duel?"
"Well, I was thinking, we could have a different type of… lesson." He said, grinning further. "And this way, we can test this baby out." He said, patting the bonnet of the runner affectionately.
"Don't touch the Bloody Rose." She hissed protectively, and Yusei stepped back laughing.
"The what?"
"The Bloody Rose. That's what I'm calling it. It gets to have a name, doesn't it?" she hissed affectionately. Yusei laughed, chucking her a helmet which she caught with a smirk, pulling it over her head and stepping towards the new runner.
"Bring it on." She said, winking to him as he opened the garage again and placed his own helmet over his crabby bangs.
"See if you can activate the Speed World 2 card." He said, and she clicked the button in front of her, eyes lighting up with joy as the motorcycle roared to life, activating Speed World 2 and starting the duel.
"Let's duel!" they both cried, revving their runners and speeding off.
"Ladies first!" he cried, and she laughed, drawing her first card. Ever the gentleman. She thought to herself. Maybe I'll tell him someday. But for now, "just friends" is all I really need.