Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.
sing for me
because maybe we were meant to be
—YuseiAki, AU
When her manager told her she was to collaborate with a trashy rock band, she was appalled.
"Aki, babe, you need to collab at least once with someone."
"I don't want to."
"Why not?"
"I don't need to."
"Look, hun, I admire your independence, but if you're not featured again then you might not be on the charts. Ever."
And the next thing she knew she was sitting in a little cafe on the corner twirling her burgundy hair around her finger waiting for her new band.
Aki was stubborn. She had envious beauty, multitudes of money, and a voice that made people melt, but lately her career had been churning slower and slower than usual, steadily losing momentum with every album that should have been but wasn't and every single that was but shouldn't. Yet, she still refrained from acquiring assistance and in the downpour of chart droppings and failed releases it was like she couldn't set her mind to paper or her fingers would freeze up when they touched the polished keys of her piano. Who was she to deny it? She was in a slump.
Aki liked to sing. She liked to sing slow, meaningful songs with gentle melodies that captivated the soul and the rhythm that resonated hearts, the kind of songs her father loved to hear. But lately the music industry had taken a turn and only cared to emphasize so called music with no sentimental value or obnoxiously irritating beats and rifts created by a short stocky man behind the mixer. And yet, she was being forced by her manager to record with these Enforcers as they called themselves, a rebellious underground hard-rock group who sang loud, blunt vocals with accelerating chords and rumbling drum snares. Just thinking about it made Aki cringe.
The little bell on the cafe door chimed and in walked three slender, rugged men: a raven-haired man, a ginger, and a blonde, sour-looking stick; too baby-faced to be over twenty-three but all too mature to be under twenty-one. They stood at the threshold for an instant, mumbling uncertainties and concerns to one another until deciding to approach the table where Aki was situated.
"'Sup," called the ginger. She wasn't fazed. The dark-haired one, who she surmised to be the leader of the band, took the stool across from her.
"Did your manager tell you the same thing he told us?" he questioned, his deep tenor voice rumbling, hard cobalt eyes meeting her warm hazel orbs.
"Yes," Aki replied flatly. The other two men took seats on opposite sides of the raven-head, signaling that it was time they got down to business.
"My name is Yusei," the dark-haired man introduced himself carefully, politely, quietly, as if talking were painful and it would be better to remain silent and refrain from speaking at all.
"I'm Crow," chimed the short ginger, very friendly indeed. He glanced to the sour-looking stick; the blonde scoffing in reply. "And that," said Crow irritably, "is Jack."
"Humph." Jack scoffed once more.
"It wouldn't kill you to say hi once in a while." Crow mumbled.
"I can say hi whenever I feel like it," Jack retorted, voice roaring. sooner or later the two began to bicker over some tedious coffee-related issue.
Aki remained focused on Yusei, who seemed either completely desensitized to their mindless babbling or was simply unengaged from the start. Meanwhile a heavy, awkward air began to accumulate over the group like a wet blanket. They had only been in the same vicinity for five minutes and it had felt like five hours; like time was beginning to lose its rate of passage in the little cafe on the corner where Aki waited and twirled her burgundy hair around her finger.
"You know," Yusei began, breaking the awkward silence. "If you're against collaborating, just say so. You don't need to lie."
Aki shifted herself into a more comfortable spot on her stool.
"I'm not." she lied.
Weeks had passed since the meeting in the little cafe on the corner. To create a better relationship between the Enforcers and Aki, their managers forced the four into spending quality time with each other at least four days a week, two hours every day. They all agreed reluctantly, since it was obvious to everyone that the awkwardness between them was practically tangible. So for the past few weeks, they spent time together doing various things that were irrelevant to their careers, like going to the pier.
Aki had grown considerably closer to the three men, especially Yusei, since Crow and Jack always somehow ended up arguing senselessly. Yusei didn't enjoy talking much; he mainly preferred to observe and listen, which was why he never intervened whenever his band mates got into some sort of brouhaha. It was hard to get to know him or simply strike up a conversation, but Aki, as surprised as she was one day on the pier when she felt Yusei clutch her wrist and whisk her away from another one of Crow's and Jack's episodes, did not object.
They sat on a bench people-watching for a while.
"Sorry about that." Yusei said, awkwardly scratching his head.
Aki shook her head.
"Crow and Jack have just been arguing more than usual lately, and it's probably not the best thing to be around them while it's happening." he continued.
"Is it because of me?" Aki questioned. Yusei didn't answer. Aki had already concluded that she was the cause of the constant bickering between the group's resident ginger percussionist and blonde bassist, as she had overheard Crow praising her, but Jack began criticizing immediately because he just hated people in general.
"No." he finally answered. "You're practically the best thing that has ever happened to this band."
Over the past few weeks, Aki had also concluded why Yusei was the leader of the Enforcers. Yusei, as passive as he was, was the most rational and level-headed of the three. He was all about practicality, measuring everything up to a perfect 360 degrees. But despite his passiveness, when time called he would be so involved and active that she was afraid he would forget to breathe. His intellectuality and compassion for others, hidden under his apathy, would also completely throw Aki off from time to time. She had no problem admitting it: he was a born leader.
"Not necessarily." Aki said. "You're the best because you're a good leader."
Yusei scoffed. "In all honesty, I never even wanted to be the leader."
She cocked an eyebrow at him, skeptical of his words.
"There was another member of the band," Yusei informed. "Our friend Kiryu. He was the first leader."
"What happened to him?" asked Aki, curiosity piqued.
Yusei shrugged. "He just wanted to go solo. Experience the world on his own. So the next day he packed up and left on the first flight to who knows where."
"And you still decided to keep the band together?"
"Yeah. This band is all we have." Yusei concluded.
Early in the morning the next day her manager had called her, demanding an explanation. Confused, she replied that she had no idea what he was talking about. A few minutes later her phone erupted with picture messages, one after another, all different pictures. Aki opened the texts, gaping, not believing what she was seeing. Inside the texts were badly taken pictures of the day at the pier, the same exact day where Yusei grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her away. There were blurry pictures of them pushing through plethora of people, and also some unfocused ones of them conversing on the bench. Any member of the music industry would know very much of what this meant. Next to copyright issues and musical slumps, rumors was what they resented the most. Copyright could be avoided, be it originality or a tricky lawyer, and slumps could always be dug out of, but rumors lasted until the end of oblivion. The sad truth of it all was that rumors could make people or break them, and she didn't want to take her chances with either. Her phone suddenly began to ring almost furiously, which she answered immediately.
"Okay, so tell me everything." It was her manager.
"We were at the pier. That's it." she replied.
"Well, the internet says otherwise."
"What exactly is the internet saying then?"
"That you and Yusei are together."
She didn't answer.
"Aki?"
"I'm going to go talk to Yusei." She hung up and hurried out the door.
Evidentially enough, it was an important day, as it was the day they were going to record their collaboration song. Between the hours of un-productivity they were required to have, they squeezed in some actual work, like songwriting and composing or simply just watching Yusei tune his guitar. Aki hurried through the winding halls of the recording studio until she finally reached their lounge room. She hesitantly placed her hand on the doorknob before entering, thinking about how she should tell him about the rumors.
Luckily, the room was empty except for Yusei sitting on the couch tuning his guitar. She sighed in relief that Jack and Crow were gone, probably arguing about something irrelevant, but in the least she was relieved. Knowing them, Crow would overreact and swear to punch out whoever started the rumors, and Jack would just give them hell.
Yusei glanced up from the guitar. "You're early."
"Yusei, there's something you need to know." she replied.
He set the guitar down gingerly and leaned it against the wall, then stood up to face her. "Well?"
"Rumors," she said simply, showing him the texts she received from her manager.
Yusei remained quiet. He nodded, calmer than ever, and sat back down.
Aki began to grow impatient with his unwavering neutrality. "That's it? That's all you're going to say about this?"
He shrugged coolly. "It's not a rumor if it's true."
It's not a rumor if it's true.
It took Aki nearly minutes to realize what Yusei had uttered back in the lounge room.
It's not a rumor if it's true.
She was seated beside Yusei in the recording studio behind the soundproof glass. Her cheeks and her ears felt as if they were burning immensely, and the inside of her chest genuinely felt pained. Her head was a jumbled mess of what happened earlier and why, leaving an unorganized pile of indecipherable emotion deep in her psyche. Never in all of her life had she ever experienced a feeling of complete and utter confusion as intense as this before.
Aki noticed that Yusei brought in his acoustic guitar rather than his electric.
"Yusei, isn't that the wrong guitar?" she asked. She also realized that Crow and Jack were still outside the recording studio watching them through the glass. Crow, being the good guy he is, flashed a quick smile and a thumbs up, while Jack stood beside him, grinning in approval.
"No," he replied. "Because I think we should sing this song instead." Yusei handed her the lyrics. As she read the paper, she felt her face burning.
"This is a ballad." Aki mumbled, slightly embarrassed. "A love song."
"I know." he confirmed.
Weeks had passed since the recording. The single, their single, was released soon after the recording, and week by week it had been climbing its way to the top of the charts. Aki had started working on a new album, and between work she and the Enforcers would meet to catch up and spend time together, mainly at the pier where they had spent many afternoons watching people pass by or listening to the sea off in the distance. Aki had found herself at the pier once more, watching the seagulls dart across the rosy skyline as the sun dipped beyond the horizon.
"Hey," called a familiar tenor voice. "There you are."
"Hi, Yusei," she breathed. Since the day of the recording, things between herself and Yusei had grown awkward, but at the same time more intimate and personal. The relationship between her and Yusei and the other Enforcers was far from superficial co-worker acquaintance; even with Kiryu whenever he came to visit. Each of the Enforcers held a special part of her heart, especially Yusei, and for some reason she couldn't explain he held more than anyone had ever held before.
"I have to tell you something," Yusei said, standing beside her.
"Okay, go ahead." she urged.
"So my manager wants Crow, Jack, and I to go on tour." he started. "A year-long tour. To show that the group isn't fazed by losing Kiryu."
"Makes sense," Aki mused. "An entire year, huh?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." he shuffled. "A year is a long time."
Aki chuckled lightly. "It'll be very quiet without you guys running around causing trouble."
"Yeah." Yusei replied, grinning. "What I wanted to say though was," he paused, "is that I'll miss you."
She blinked, then smiled, genuinely touched that he would even consider thinking of her while he was gone. "I'll miss you too, Yusei."
"Aki," he said, "Can you do me a favor?"
"What is it?"
"You know that rumor that was going around about us?"
"What about it?"
"When I get back," Yusei started, "I don't want it to be a rumor anymore."
There was a pause, long and silent, as Aki tried to assess the magnitude of what the raven-haired guitarist had just requested.
"Would you wait for me?" he murmured.
"As long as it takes," she replied at last, feeling like a weight, caused by constant suppression of emotion, was suddenly lifted off of her chest and for the first time in a while she felt as if she could finally breathe.
Before Yusei had to leave to prepare for his flight the next day, they shared their first kiss, a soft, light touch of the lips in the lavender evening, lit by the hazy glow of street lanterns stationed every few yards or so of the pier. It would be a while until they would meet again, Aki was aware, but one touch was enough to last until then.
A/N: fjirofjnuirehfe what is this. Um, sorry for the crappy crap story, but I don't write all the time nor do I plan it out whenever I do write lol. Simply put, don't expect too much from my stories lmao. I'm also still trying out different things in my writing, so I'm seeing how that goes.
Thanks for reading!
Btw, fic so totally inspired by Yuya Miyashita (aka Yusei's CV;;) being in RUN&GUN lmao.