Day Off
Yusei gasped for air, pressing the palms of his hands against his knees. He was out of breath and running out of energy. His legs were getting sore and his body was drenched in sweat, so much so that his clothes clung to his tan skin. Yusei closed his eyes, trying to calm and collect his racing mind. He could almost feel his heart beating out of his chest with a fierce intensity. He licked his dry lips, aching for the sweet relief of a cool drink of water. What the hell was he thinking when he decided to start up this routine?
After taking a break from his morning run, Yusei figured it would be acceptable for him to walk the rest of the way back to the garage. His body was still getting used to the feeling of an intense morning workout. It was only the previous week Yusei realized that he rarely got out of the garage for some fresh air. So, in an attempt at staying healthy and to satisfy the growing concerns of his friends, Yusei started up a workout routine. He just wished someone would have told him not to push himself so hard the very first week.
After calming his breathing rate, Yusei picked up his aching feet and slowly walked back to the garage. The sun had just completely risen into the sky and the sound of car engines began to fill the air. He was only a block from his home, but it felt like a miles walk away. After locking his eyes on the doors to the garage, Yusei picked up his pace to find relief quicker.
The young man opened the doors to the garage, expecting to see his friends already up, but was surprised to find all the lights still turned off from last night. Yusei quietly made his way upstairs, not wanting to wake anyone. He passed by Bruno, who was tossing and turning on the living room couch. Then, he walked by Crow and Jack's bedrooms, doors still closed.
After finally making it into his own bedroom, Yusei collapsed on the worn out bed and let a long sigh escape from his lips. He knew he desperately needed to take shower, but there was no way his legs would be able to stand up right for more than a couple minutes. Instead, Yusei simply rested his body on the bed for a short time, his eyes slowly closing and opening without control. Once he finally shifted his body into a comfortable position, he heard a rustling noise coming from one of the other rooms. Yusei grunted in the back of his throat.
Whoever was getting up might want to use to the bathroom. If it was Crow, Yusei would not mind because he does not take long to get ready. But Crow worked overtime last night again and would not be getting up until much later. That meant Jack was awake and he could take roughly an hour in the bathroom, if not more.
Yusei pushed his body up and rolled off of his bed, already missing the comforting touch of the sheets. He straggled his way to the shared bathroom before anyone else could barge in front of him. After shutting the door and turning on the lights, Yusei peeled away the soiled tee-shirt and baggy shorts he deemed his workout outfit. Just as he was about to reach for the shower handled, there was a knock at the bathroom door.
"You better not be sleeping in there, just so I can't shower, Crow!" Jack yelled with a raspy voice from the other side of the door.
Yusei rolled his eyes. That would be something Crow would do. "It's just me, Jack. I'll be done in fifteen minutes."
"Oh. Sorry, Yusei." He heard Jack take a step away from the door. "Just make sure Crow doesn't steal it from me when you're done."
Yusei sighed and turned on the shower, so that a cascade of hot water fell in the tub. After slipping out of his boxers and making sure there was a dry towel nearby, Yusei jumped in. The feeling of the sizzling water running down his sore legs was heavenly. He opened his mouth slightly, swallowing whatever water splashed in. He did not mind that it was hot, he just needed something to stale off the pending dehydration. Why he did not grab a glass of water when passing through the kitchen, he did not know. Exhaustion maybe?
Yusei grabbed the bottle of soap sitting on the edge of the tub and rubbed his body down. Then, he moved to wash out his raven hair. After rinsing his entire body off under the flow of water, Yusei looked around at the room that was beginning to fill up with steam. If Jack was not waiting to use the bathroom after him, Yusei probably would have stayed in there a bit longer. He loved finally having a separate room to get clean in, unlike the broken faucets and dirty washcloths he was forced to use growing up in the Satellite.
Yusei stepped out of the shower, turned the water off and grabbed the awaiting towel. He dried himself off slowly, wanting to watch the steam settle out of the air. After drying off as much of his tan body as he felt like, Yusei wrapped the towel around his slim waist, picked up his dirty clothes and left the bathroom.
"It's all yours, Jack." Yusei called in the direction of the blonde's room.
"Thanks." Jack replied positively, which was unlike him especially this early in the morning.
Yusei walked into his own room and immediately started rummaging through the pile of somewhat clean clothes on the floor for his normal attire. He slipped into his pair of old jeans and dawned the infamous black and red muscle shirt he always wore. As he dried his hair, Yusei remembered his treasured jacket was left downstairs by the computer desk.
Yusei walked out of his room and climbed downstairs. When he got there, Bruno was sitting up on the couch, staring out the living room window.
"Morning, Bruno." Yusei said, snapping his new friend out of his trance.
Bruno shook his head awake. "Uh...oh. Morning, Yusei. Are we going to work on the engine prototype today or do you think it still might need some more time to cool down after yesterday's test run?"
Yusei glanced up, recalling the previous day when Bruno, Jack and himself went down to the pier to test drive the new engine, only to have it overheat. "Let's give it a break for today." He said, walking over to the cabinets of the kitchenette. Yusei started searching through the cabinets and refrigerator for something to eat. However, all he could find was condiments, week-old bread, canned soup, beer and Jack's precious ramen. If felt wrong to eat anything unhealthy after taking a run, but Yusei figured he had no other choice.
"Do you want to split one of Jack's ramen cups with me?" Yusei asked Bruno, already knowing the answer.
The taller man smiled and arose from the couch. "Sure."
Yusei heated up the cheap food, then poured how much he wanted into a clean bowl and gave the rest to Bruno. The two friends walked into the garage, turning the lights and computers on. They took their normal seats at the computer desk to eat their so-called breakfast. Yusei found his jacket hanging on the back of his chair, but decided to go without it for now. As the two ate their food, Crow strolled into the garage, looking like he had just rolled out of bed.
"Morning, guys." The orange haired boy yawned slightly.
"Hey, Crow." Bruno was the first to respond. "It looks like you slept well."
"As well as I could." Crow rubbed the side of his face. "By the way, I took another overtime shift, so don't expect me back until late tonight." He informed his two friends.
Yusei tilted his head. "You've been working overtime a lot lately. Are you sure we're not running low on money already?" He asked, not knowing Crow's true intentions for taking on so much extra work.
"We're fine." Crow responded in a cocky voice. "I just want to put some extra cash away before we're all super busy during the WRGP. The work isn't even that bad."
Yusei stared at Crow for a moment, knowing that by the sound of his voice, something else had to be going on. "Alright."
"Oh! Speaking of not being here," Bruno quickly began to add to the statement. "Mina called me earlier this morning, saying she wanted me to come down to her office. I'm hoping she was able to find something else about my identity, but she never really did say what she wanted to talk about. So, I won't be here either."
"Do you want me to go with you?" Yusei asked, remembering that he went with Bruno all the other times Mina or Trudge wanted to speak to him.
"No, it's fine, Yusei." Bruno smiled at the kind gesture.
"Good morning." The three young men turned their attentions to the tall blonde walking down the stairs. "How is everyone today?" Jack entered the lower level of the garage with a bright smile on his face.
"What's up with you?" Crow asked out of plain curiosity. "Why are you all cheery and happy so early in the morning?"
"Why not, old mate?" Jack playfully threw a hand on Crow's shoulder. "Have you even looked outside yet? It's a beautiful day."
"I'm not saying it's not, you just seem so-"
"Well, I'm off." Jack went over to his runner and began to mount it. "I've got a previous engagement to attend to. I'll see you boys later tonight." Before anyone else could say a word, Jack rode his bike out of the garage, never losing that smile on his face.
"What's up with him?" Crow asked the other two.
"I should probably get going, too." Bruno chimed in. "I told Mina I would meet her at her office early. I should be back by this afternoon."
"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" Yusei asked one last time.
"I'll be fine. See ya'." Bruno quickly walked out of the garage, leaving Yusei and Crow.
"Well, I might as well head off to work then." Crow hopped on his runner. "Enjoy having the place to yourself, Yusei. I'll see you later tonight."
"Yea. I'll see you then."
And just like that, Crow rode out of the garage and Yusei was left alone. It felt rather strange. Normally, there was at least one other person in the garage with him, whether that be one of the other guys, or Akiza, or Trudge or Luna and Leo. Yusei had the whole place all to himself for once. And with taking a break from working on the new engine design, he had no idea what he was supposed to do with himself.
The young man decided to not let this opportunity slip out from under his fingers. Yusei was finally going to get some much needed relaxation time, whatever that meant for him. He could watch some television, catch up with some of his other old friends, take a ride through the city or just sleep. Or, he could work on some house chores that desperately needed to be finished. No. Yusei needed a break, and dammit he was going to get one.
Yusei grabbed his jacket and walked over to the cafe across the street. If he was going to relax, Yusei was going to need more than just a half cup of ramen in his stomach. He wanted a nice sandwich, hot soup and a sugary drink, which was exactly what he ordered to go. After paying the familiar cafe girl, Yusei carried his bag of ready-to-eat food back to the garage. His legs were still sore and his feet ached slightly with each step, but he did not mind.
After walking back to his home, Yusei dropped the food on the couch upstairs, grabbed the spare laptop the guys used for things besides working on their runners and took a seat to eat. Yusei pulled out the steaming hot soup first, his mouth watering after getting a smell of the salty broth. He set the bowl down on the side table, took off his jacket and went to open the laptop.
Yusei watched the screen light up, only to become annoyed with what was left on the computer from its previous use. "Come on, guys. Watch this shit on your phones." Yusei closed out of the mature video website and instead opted for the local news blog.
After reading through a number of news articles and blogs foreshadowing the WRGP and eating the major of his delicious meal, Yusei somehow found his way onto a website that had an article about him. "This is crap. I never tried to fucking kill Jack. Who the hell does this writer think he is?" Yusei licked his lips, still getting a slight taste of salt from the food. If only Martha knew how much even her best boys cursed when no one was around.
After combing through a number of different websites, Yusei got bored with the internet and wanted to do something else. That is when his mind lingered back to a certain site. He moused over to the recent history tab and scrolled until he found the site one of the others left up. The same video site he was first discouraged to look at popped up on the screen.
He played the scandalous video, just to get a feel for what his friends were intrigued by. "Damn, this has got to be something Jack is into." Yusei watch for a few moments. This was certainly more captivating than the magazines they used to pass around as young teenagers.
Suddenly, there was a swift knock at the garage door. Yusei jolted up, quickly closed the site and walked downstairs to see who was waiting for him.
After opening the door, Yusei was greeted with a familiar face. "Hello, Yusei."