Just a brief little thing that I thought up after watching Episode 138.
Aki should have known that Yusei wouldn't let either of them down. The man wore his heart - or rather, the dragon head - on his sleeve, and his confidence in Ruka had given her the confidence to jump - enough to make it onto the other Duelist's D-Wheel.
"Ruka...!"
She had never been more relieved to see Yusei catch the young girl. Ruka was like a little sister to her, and if any of the three of them had miscalculated - well, she didn't want to think about it.
Her attention was caught by the revving of an engine, and she turned to see Dark Glass - that mysterious Duelist whose true intentions that she'd been uncertain of from the start - shooting towards her at a high speed.
She wanted to yell out at him, to ask him what he was doing there, and if he realized just how close to her that he was passing by. Normally he remained at a distance, as if nervous about letting anybody too close to him - even Yusei had never gotten the opportunity to see his face up close.
The proximity that the two of them had allowed her to catch a glimpse of the face hidden behind the visor, and for a split second, their eyes met.
Anything that she had been about to say died in her throat, coming out as a gasp as her own eyes widened.
She knew that eye.
She knew that face.
She wanted to deny it. But she couldn't. She knew. Dark Glass was...
Aki wondered if Yusei had noticed, but he seemed preoccupied with helping Ruka settle on his D-Wheel until Dark Glass had passed by them, giving them a slipstream to make up to the Arc Cradle. It was safe to bet that he hadn't managed to figure it out, and given how Dark Glass had been acting, it was likely he didn't want Yusei to.
She swallowed once she had reached barely the top, her heart pounding. If he hadn't come... there was no way that she would have made it to the Arc Cradle. Even with the help of the slipstream, she almost hadn't.
Dimly, she heard Yusei asking if she was alright, and she was barely able to mutter a "Y-Yes" in response. There was more on her mind than her own personal safety.
Her eyes flickered over to Dark Glass, who was explaining that he'd come here to recover some of his memories. It was a shame that she had no actual way to thank him right now, but there was one small thing that she could do for him.
She would keep his secret.
Because even if she'd never fully trusted Dark Glass before, Bruno was her good friend.