Importance of Friendship
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, and I'm not making any money from this fic
Summary: Before Yusei and the others go to Satellite, he and Jack finally talk. Yusei is willing to forgive Jack for his betrayal, but his former friend feels unable to accept his forgiveness without retribution
Warning(s): Spanking; spoilers up to and including about episode forty-five of Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds; mentions of violence
Author's Note: This can be taken as a sequel to Cheaters Never Win, but you can also read it alone. Doesn't matter either way – you won't miss anything
Yusei stood in the middle of one of the rooms at Goodwin's house, rubbing at his still sore stomach. Even if Jack's words had hurt worse, his punches definitely hadn't been soft or gentle. It wouldn't surprise him if he had a bruise there. Though he'd come so close to giving up... he guessed that maybe it was pain he deserved.
It probably didn't help that Jack's punches had connected with almost the exact spot where he'd hurt himself during the duel with Kalin. Those injuries were healed, but were still kind of sore. While that pain existed, though, it helped to remind him of what Jack had said – and how he knew it was true; even if he would have rather heard it without the physical pain.
Yusei didn't have to turn round to know that Jack had entered the room behind him. The times that he, Jack, Crow, and Kalin had been so close were long gone, but that didn't mean he didn't still share a bond with his old friends. Jack might have left long ago, but Yusei would always know when he was around. He'd known that Jack was around during the duel with Kalin, after all.
"How's the stomach?" Jack asked.
Yusei shrugged as he turned round. "It barely hurts."
Jack didn't look all that convinced. "I guess I should apologise."
"Don't bother." Yusei saw Jack's eyes narrow at the sharpness of his tone, but he didn't really react otherwise. Maybe he was justified in being angry at the person who'd once been one of his best friends, but for the sake of both Satellite and New Domino, they had to put it all behind them. "You remember what I said to Akiza?" He paused, waiting for Jack to make eye contact with him before continuing, "We know the importance of these marks we carry now. We all have to learn to work together. We can't let the past get in the way." He remembered Martha's words, and knew that she'd been right to tell him to forgive and forget.
And he wasn't sure he had the strength to stay angry at Jack.
"What are you talking about, Yusei?" Jack pinned him with a harsh stare. "You want me to apologise, is that it? Say I'm sorry for taking your Stardust Dragon card and getting out of Domino City?" He shook his head. "Things will never be how they were, Yusei. The sooner you understand that, the better."
"I won't believe that, Jack," Yusei replied firmly. "We were best friends before. And if I can forgive you for turning against me, then you shouldn't have any problems accepting my friendship." Seeing that Jack didn't seem to be getting it, Yusei decided to try a different route. "Why did you think you needed to trick me and threaten one of my other friends, Jack? We might have been fighting, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have helped you out. All you had to do was ask... and I would have given you my card."
Jack laughed – but there was no humour in it. "Do you really expect me to believe that? Stardust Dragon was your best card. You would never have given it up."
"You said it yourself. Dueling always came second place for me – before now, anyway. You should have trusted me, Jack. Just like you did before, remember?"
"You're a fool, Yusei." Jack closed his eyes and shook his head, looking tired more than anything else. "Why is having friendship so important to you anyway? You're so willing to forgive anything anyone does – no matter how bad. Maybe I don't want you to forgive me."
"Then we'll never win against the Dark Signers," Yusei said wearily, feeling much older than his years. "We need each other, Jack. Surely even you can see that."
"And you're not even a little angry about what I did?"
"This is more important than that. Besides, I paid you back for it by taking your title." Even though he hadn't wanted to enter the Fortune Cup in the first place. Still, there was nothing he could do about that now.
"You really think taking my title was punishment enough?"
Yusei tilted his head to the side, wondering if he was finally getting to the root of the problem with Jack. "You think you need to be punished? Is that what this is about? You can't accept my forgiveness and friendship until you feel like you've been properly punished?" He ran a hand over his stomach. "Did you punch me partly because you thought I'd hit you back?"
"Well, when you put it like that..." Jack shook his head. "You really can't do anything right, Yusei."
"Don't go that far," Yusei said ominously, his hands going towards his belt. "If you think you need to be punished, then I'll oblige you – but you won't like it. If that's what you need to be able to accept my forgiveness, though..."
"I thought it was always supposed to be punishment first, then forgiveness," Jack said, eyeing Yusei's belt with some apprehension.
"I don't need to punish you to be able to forgive you, Jack." Watching the taller man closely, Yusei removed his belt and doubled it over in his fist. He took a few practice swings first, noticing the way Jack flinched. "Is this really what you want, Jack? Once you make this choice, there's no getting out of it."
Jack finally pulled his eyes away from the belt to look at Yusei. "Just get it over with."
Yusei heard the silent plea in those words, and he nodded slowly. Perhaps this was the only way to repair his friendship with Jack. He wasn't angry anymore, but a part of him had been wondering if Jack would just take off again. Maybe he needed to do this to be able to trust Jack again. "Close the door. Put your hands against the wall." He spoke in short, clipped tones, and watched as Jack obeyed his orders, removing his duel disk first.
Yusei stepped forward, swinging the belt gently. He put a hand on Jack's back – to hold him steady – and felt the tenseness there. "You need to let this go, Jack." He brought the belt down across the seat of Jack's trousers, hitting hard and fast.
Jack gasped and leaned against the wall, resting his head on his arms.
"You know better than to betray your friends," Yusei said, bringing the belt down to punctuate every other word. "I imagine you'd have felt bad if Rally had drowned. You don't treat your friends like that, Jack. You don't hurt them – whether physically or emotionally." He fell silent, and just concentrated on bringing the belt down both hard and fast, working his way from the top of Jack's bottom to the top of his thighs.
It didn't take long for Jack to start trying to move his body from side to side and escape the hard blows from the belt.
"Settle down." Yusei pushed down on his back, forcing Jack to lean the whole of his upper body against the wall. He knew that the spanking had to hurt – and he could feel heat radiating off Jack's behind, even through his trousers. "I trusted you, Jack. This is a small price for you to pay for breaking my trust and faith in you."
Maybe it was his words more than the pain from the belt, but Yusei heard Jack finally catch his breath on a sob. Instead of letting up, Yusei just used the belt with even more force – and finally heard Jack break down in sobs.
Immediately, Yusei dropped his belt onto the floor, and pulled Jack into a tight hug. Despite the fact that Jack was much taller than Yusei, he dropped his head onto Yusei's shoulder and just cried into the shirt material.
Yusei sighed, finally feeling as if a great weight had been lifted off him. Of course, they still had the Dark Signers to defeat... but at least he finally had his friend back.