Character: Yuuka Hattori (Sasaki)
Summary: Living in the Satellite is hard, being involved with a duel gang is harder. Supposedly, being active in a gang is even harder, not that Yuuka would know.
Yuuka
"Team Satisfaction?" We all mutter to ourselves.
"Yes," Kiryu begins. "The name's Team Satisfaction, because we want to satisfy ourselves. It's a chance to really change our lives here in the Satellite. We're not gonna let our lives be shit just because Security says so!"
I must admit, what Kiryu is saying makes a lot of sense. We may have only befriended Kiryu like, two weeks ago, but I feel like we've really bonded as a group. Kiryu seems to slot really well into the little group that's Jack, Crow, Yusei and I. It's strange to say, but it kinda feels like he was meant to be there. Like him saving me from some creepy guys with less than stellar intentions was fate.
"That would be great," I say. "The five of us, being in a duel gang, kicking everyone's asses and-"
"Five of us?" Kiryu looks at me confused.
"That's how many of us are here, so I assumed…"
"Yuuka, you're not strong enough to be in a duel gang." Crow butts in first.
"You got cornered by two guys the other day and couldn't escape." Jack continues. "What makes you think you could handle being in a duel gang?"
"I-I-" I start to stammer.
"Yuuka, this is for the best." Yusei gives me these eyes like he's trying to calm me down before something bad happens. "We're just worried about what could happen to you."
"We don't mean to offend you, Yuuka." Kiryu sighs. "We just think that you're not ready for it yet."
"But I think I am." I shoot right back. "Let me prove it then. I made the jackets. You all said nothing as I made five of them. I found some shitty ass jackets in the dumpster. Sure, the pockets don't work but the jackets do their job. I put the fur on them. You all said nothing the entire time."
"Yuuka, we didn't want to upset you." Yusei tries to interject, but it's too late.
"Well, you should have told me before I got my hopes up."
"Fine," Kiryu sighs. I feel my hopes starting to lift again. "I'll make you a deal." Let down again. "Prove to me that you're able for this. You just have to show me, end of story. Okay?"
"Seems reasonable." I bit my cheek. It shouldn't be that bad, maybe I could duel him or something.
"For now, just leave everything to the pros."
I hate the silence in our headquarters when the guys leave. Everytime they go out to fight a gang, I get left here all by myself. They tell me to keep a duel disk close at all times in case something happens. A key fact they're forgetting is that I'm the worst duelist out of the five of us. They're facing Team Black and Blue today. I start getting out the bandages. I know my friends. They're stupid and will get hurt. Especially Kiryu. He's too reckless for his own good, and that's coming from me. Me, who's won the biggest dumbass of the year award for the fourteenth year running. Then, I realise that there's only a small amount of gauze left. I sigh, getting to my feet. I'll go see if I can find any in the market. If not, I'll take my chances in the junkyard. I found our team jackets there, so it's worth a shot. The City will throw anything that has even the slightest defect there. It's actually quite impressive how much goes to waste in the City. A jacket is still a jacket, even if the pockets don't work.
I practically jog along until I reach the market. I scan the stalls, nothing. I expected as much. It's off to the junkyard with me then. I suddenly get the feeling that I'm being watched. I look over my shoulder. I swear I hear some footsteps, but I keep watching. I hear them again, and I stop. I stand still, waiting for signs that I'm being followed.
I must be going crazy.
Just to be certain, I try to take a shortcut through the alleyways. The footsteps come back. I swallow hard. I feel sweat on the back of my neck. I start running blindly. Running in any direction, I don't care. Warning signals are going off in my head and I don't care about anything else.
Someone stands at the end of an alleyway. I come to a stop a good bit away from them. I look back. Someone else is blocking the way I came.
"Hey girlie, are you with Team Satisfaction?" The boy in front of me asks. He can't be more than two years older than me, I reckon. He starts moving closer to me. I start backing up. I look back and the other guy is moving closer to me.
"No, I'm not part of their team." I answer, not actually lying.
"Well, you're wearing their uniform." The other one pipes up. "The exact same jacket, down to the fur."
"They're coping my stylistic choices." I chuckle nervously. "Better get onto to them about it."
"I think you're lying."
"Me too."
"Even if you're not part of the team, you're obviously very close to them." The guy in front of me keeps walking forward, to the point that I can smell the musk coming off him. "I would be a shame if something… happened, wouldn't it?"
Shit.
I look back over my shoulder. The other guy's got my back covered. So, I have no way out. I can't get around their sides. They're a lot taller and broader than me. Being the dumbass I am, I forgot my duel disk so that's out the window.
"You're coming with us." The guy behind me says, giving me the shivers.
"And if I refuse?"
"We'll be doing this the hard way, and knock you out." The guy in front of me shrugs his shoulders. "Honestly, if I were you, I'd just come with us. We don't want to carry you back to our base. Don't worry, we're not gonna hurt you at all. This is more of a ransom deal."
"Where will you be taking me?" I ask again.
"Fear Unit's hideout."
"We've made sure your teammates know where you are." The other one continues. "They'll be so tired after fighting Team Black and Blue, that they'll lose to us after trying to rescue you. Then, we'll have all of Team Satisfaction's territory. It's simple, really."
"You think they'll lose against you?" I scoff. "You have another thing coming. Team Satisfaction can't lose."
The man in front of me strikes me across the face. My hand flies up to hold my throbbing cheek. His hand flies up again and I flinch.
"Don't make me raise my hand again." There's burning anger in his eyes. I feel the air around me cool. I just nod my head. "If you know what's best for you, you'll come quietly."
"Fine, I'll go with you." I answer, judging it to be the safest thing to do. The sting in my cheek tells me that trying to run away now would be a bad idea. "Just know that if there's a scratch on me, Team Satisfaction will beat you within an edge of your life." I over exaggerate a little, but that's more for my safety than anything else.
"Sure." I think he's calling my bluff.
The guys walk directly in front and behind me, only taking me through alleyways so I don't have any horizontal space to escape. Even though they're both, probably, physically strong enough to knock me out in one go.
"Do you guys have any spare gauze?" I ask to break the silence. "I was looking for some when I got ambushed and-"
"No." One of them interrupts me. He just wants me to shut up.
"Geez, I was just asking."
Back to radio silence.
"So-" I try to start again.
"Shut up." The guy in front of me must be having a bad day today.
"Okay, I get the point."
We arrive at the Fear Unit base. An old apartment building, with part of the top floors missing. I can tell it's an old apartment block by the way it's divided up on the inside. They lead me up a flight of stairs and into an old apartment. It's completely empty except for a chair in the middle of the room, and some rope. I can see where this is going.
"Miguel!" One of them shouts. A tall and lanky red-haired kid runs into the room. I notice that he already has one marker across his nose. It stands out against his tanned skin.
"Yes?" He asks before the rope gets thrown at him.
"Make sure she doesn't escape."
"Yes sir." He flinches as they pass him and leave the room the way we came. "I'm sorry about this." He says, turning to me. "I have to do this, or they'll tie me to a chair and leave me there."
"Sounds harsh."
"Yeah, those guys are literally the worst. That's probably why the boss sent them after you." Miguel shakes his head. "What's your name, by the way? We might be here for a while, so we might as well be civil."
"It's Yuuka. I would say nice to meet you, but it's not really." I shrug my shoulders. "Your name's Miguel, right?"
"Yeah, I would rather us have met under different circumstances too. But hey, what can you do?" He gestures to the chair, which he's moved closer to the door. I notice it's on the opposite sides of the hinges, so the door won't hit me if it swings open. "I'm gonna have to ask you to sit down. I'll tie the rope kinda loose for you. No offense, but you don't look strong enough to beat me and you have no duel disk."
"Don't remind me." I sigh, sitting down. I put my arms behind the chair on instinct. Miguel does make me feel at ease. I'm happy it's at least someone my age who doesn't look sleazy. He reminds me of Crow a little bit actually. It's probably the markers and big red hair.
"Don't worry." He says randomly. "Their plan is not to hurt you. You're mostly here so they can lure out Team Satisfaction and have the odds in our favour. I'm sorry it went this way."
"That's good at least."
"Are you actually a member of Team Satisfaction?" He asks. "That's what the boss is saying. Apparently, there's a rumour going around that there's a fifth member of Team Satisfaction and he reckons it's you. We've been doing some recon lately."
"Actually, no." I test the rope now that Miguel's finished tying it. I might be able to get out of it, if I tried hard enough. "I am friends with them. I made the jackets, so I got to have one. I kinda take care of them. Cook for them, put bandages on them when they're done being stupid."
"They're lucky to have you."
"You think so?" I ask.
"Yeah, I have a friend like you." He moves to my feet. He barely ties the rope. He makes a rather bad attempt at the knot. I look down at it, he winks at me. He's purposefully leaving them loose. "I don't know what I'd do without them, to be honest. Whenever he gets dragged into Fear Unit stuff, I always feel bad. I don't think it's very fair." He stands and looks down with me, a glint in his baby blue eyes. "You know what I mean?"
"Yeah," I answer, "that's how I feel right now."
"I can imagine." He sighs. Miguel moves to the doorway, he swings it over nearly all of the way. He sits down on the ground and fiddles with his duel disk. "Tell me if you need water or anything. I don't know how much food we have, but I have a flask of water here with me."
"Thank you," I say. "I'm glad you're the one keeping watch instead of some creepy old guy." He laughs.
"That's fair." I see him shake his head from the corner of my eye. "I hope if the situation gets reversed, you'll help me out."
"Yeah, you've been very nice to me considering I've just been kidnapped."
"Don't worry about it-"
"Miguel!" I hear one of the guys from earlier shout. Miguel pulls the door closed. I hear some shuffling and then silence.
Miguel doesn't open the door again. I sit there in the silence. I wrestle my feet out of the rope and click my heels together. I don't have that luck with my hands, so they stay behind my back.
It's a few hours that I'm sat there waiting. I pass the time mostly by thinking of ways my current situation can get worse. It scares me, but at least it keeps my brain busy.
I stand up off the chair easily, since my hands aren't bound to the chair. I stretch my arms down, and step my feet backwards through the gap. Now, I can at least rest my bound hands in my lap. I'm already getting very bad rope burn, my wrists are raw red above my black fingerless gloves. I sit back on the chair and groan as the sun starts to shine through the glass-less window. The guys better get there asses here quick.
I hear a duel disk activate, and the door open. I glance through the crack, but Miguel blocks my vision. The door gets thrown open and I jump back, nearly knocking my chair over. A fist comes straight for Miguel's face. The punch lands, but he manages to keep on his feet.
"She's right there!" Miguel yells at Jack looming over him. "I just told you that. Take her, there's a fire escape back the way you came."
Jack lowers his duel disk silently, before stepping to the side and grabbing my arm. I stand up. As soon as I do, he starts running.
"What did you think you were doing!?" Jack shouts back at me as we run.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Jack shoots a glare. There's a loud crashing noise upstairs and we freeze. We've stopped just short of a closet in the hallway. He looks between the door and I. He opens the door and throws me inside. I trip and fall into a bucket. Jack slams the door shut, leaving me there.
"What the fuck?" I curse to myself. I manage to get myself out of the nasty bucket that is slightly slimy. "How dare he."
I sit myself back on the ground and wait for the storm outside to blow over. Will Jack even remember what closet I'm in? Am I doomed to die alone here?
The corridor outside becomes quiet. I hear a lone pair of footsteps pass the door. They stop for a second. I hold my breath. They keep going. I focus on the footsteps, trying to see if I recognise them. I lean forward and crack the door open. I look down the corridor. I put effort into creaking the door.
"Yuuka!" Yusei whispers loudly as he runs back to me. "I found you."
"Jack told you that he threw me into the closet?" I whisper back.
"Yep," he nods. "Kiryu's dueling the boss. I was told to get you out of here."
"Okay, help me up." Yusei grabs my elbow that I point in his direction. He seems confused but then nods when he spots the rope still tied around my wrists.
"This way." Yusei grabs my arm gently and leads back down the corridor. We pass by the room that I was in. I stop.
"You might want this." Miguel holds out a pocket knife for me. I take it with both of my hands. "The fire escape is just down there." Miguel looks at Yusei before looking down the hallway in the direction we came from.
"Thank you." Yusei nods before beginning to jog with me, still holding onto my arm.
He helps me climb out the window onto the fire escape. We squat, hiding from view. Yusei looks around us, seeing if we're safe. He takes the knife from my hands and cuts the rope, before giving the knife back to me.
"Keep this," he says. "It might come in handy."
"Especially after this, you'll never give me a break after this." Yusei gives me a look. He knows I'm right, but he thinks that I kind of deserve it.
"Come on, let's get out of here."
We sit in an alleyway in silence until the guys come find us. I think they agreed on a meeting point beforehand.
"Yuuka, what happened?" Crow runs towards me, grabs me by both of my arms and shakes me. "Did they hurt you?"
"I got slapped." I touch my cheek, which still stings a little. "But aside from that, I'm fine. The kid who watched the door was surprisingly nice, even though Jack punched him in the face."
"At least you're okay." Kiryu sighs. I notice a nasty-looking cut on his arm. I pout slightly. If only I actually found the gauze that I was looking for. I notice cuts and scrapes all over the guys' faces and arms.
"Did you guys win at least?" I sigh.
"Of course," Jack answers. "I'm surprised you had that little faith in us."
"I'm sorry, guys." I hang my head down so my hair covers my face. "I just wanted to get some gauze so I could patch yous up. Then, I just had to get myself kidnapped." My shoulders start shaking. "I'm so sorry. You already had to fight another gang today, but because of me, you had to fight another one even though you're all hurt and tired." Tears start burning my eyes.
"Hey." Crow puts his hand on top of my head. I move my head slightly so I can look at him, but he keeps his hand in place. "You stop that. What matters is that you're safe and we won in the end. Okay? Come on, let's go home." Crow lowers his hand and I turn to look at the guys.
"Don't worry about it, Yuuka." Kiryu throws his arm around my shoulders. "We took care of another two gangs today. That means we're one step closer to conquering the entire Satellite. So just think of it like that."
"But, if you pull that shit again, we're leaving you there-"
"Jack, come on." Yusei butts in. "Leave her alone."
"Fine." Jack says bluntly, even though I'm not fully convinced that he wouldn't go through with that threat.
"C'mon guys, let's get back to the base before anything else happens."
"You want to come with me?" Yusei asks as he's getting ready to leave for a patrol of our borders.
"Yeah," I answer. "I've never gone on patrol before."
"That's because you're not part of the team, Yuuka."
"Shut up, Kiryu!" I shout back at him.
"I don't see why not." Yusei looks in the direction of Kiryu, who just kinda shrugs.
"Just make sure she doesn't get kidnapped."
"Jack, that was two days ago." I sigh. "Can we just forget that ever happened?"
"No," Crow interjects. "I nearly fell off the fire escape, so I'm not forgetting it anytime soon."
"Sure, you can take her." Kiryu answers. "It's been quiet enough since the other day."
"Thank you Kiryu!" I bow slightly. I smile at Yusei who seems a bit off.
"C'mon, let's go." Yusei says. I grab my duel disk from beside the couch, and I already have my deck on my belt.
"Are you doing okay?" I ask Yusei once we're out of the building. "You've seemed off since the other day."
"Yeah, it's that whole ordeal with the Fear Unit has me on edge." Yusei shrugs. "But I think everyone's the same."
"Me too," I answer. "It was scary."
"I can imagine." Yusei shakes his head. "At least they didn't try to hurt you. I don't know what we would have done if that happened."
"You worry too much," I sigh.
"I can't help it. You're sickly and frail. I-We get very worried about you when we're not around. The other day confirmed that. I'm just worried that I'm gonna lose you."
"Yusei, you're not gonna lose me." I stop and put my hand on his arm. He stops and stares at my face.
"I hope not."
"You won't." His eyes silently scan my face.
"Okay," is all he says. He starts walking again, I move quickly to match his pace.
"So, what are we doing today?"
"Okay, for today's patrol, we're just gonna walk along our new border. Since we took over both Team Black and Blue's and the Fear Unit's territory, we have to watch out for more groups trying to come for us."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, since we have a lot more territory, it's harder to keep an eye on every part of it." He continues. "So, we're checking for any signs of other groups trying to creep on our territory. Since we're now a bigger target than before, if another gang beats us, they get more territory from it."
"I suppose that makes sense." I nod my head. "You don't want all of your hard work to go to waste."
"Yeah," he answers.
We fade back into silence. I keep thinking about what Yusei said. He just wants me to be safe. I don't think he trusts me or himself to keep it that way. He seems a bit off, but he said it's the worry. So, I guess I'll have to trust him. He's scared that he's going to lose me. I can't help but feel a little anxious. He thinks something is going to happen to me. That feels me with dread. I can't imagine anything that bad happening to me, that I'd be separated from Yusei and everyone else.
I look back to Yusei. His eyes seem completely glazed over as he walks. He's completely up in his own head, I can tell. I normally distract him when he gets like this. But trying to be cheerful when we're talking about stuff like this is hard.
As if the world hears my thoughts about trying to be cheerful, it starts raining. I stop in my tracks and look up at the gloomy sky. Yusei pulls my arm in an attempt to get us under some shelter. But I don't move.
"Yuuka!" He shouts.
The rain only becomes heavier. I look around us. It's a small alleyway, there's no one around. I see Yusei look into an empty building and then back at me. He starts to look panicked, so I do the only thing that comes into my head. Dance.
I start spinning and moving my arms. I'm not a great dancer and I'll tell you that upfront, but it feels right in this moment.
"Yuuka!" Yusei shouts again, looking more confused than anything.
I grab his arms and make him spin with me. I move his arms so he twirls me. I turn back to him and his face is soft. I take the cue to keep dancing. He softens up some more, and spins me again. I start laughing, feeling my wet hair cling to my face. Yusei starts smiling. I've always loved dancing in the rain. I don't get to do it much, since people start yelling at me because I'll obviously get sick. So, anytime I'm able to do it, I take my chance.
We stop dancing once I start feeling water in my shoes. Yusei lets go of my hands. His eyes are intently staring at my face and he's smiling.
"Are you okay?" I ask.
"Yeah, yeah." He says, breaking out of his little trance. "That was fun."
"Yeah, I thought so too." I chuckle. "C'mon, let's wait out the rain in that building." I take Yusei's hand and lead him into the empty building. We sit, our shoulders grazing each others, against the wall. "I wish we had a blanket." I say, getting a chill down my spine. Yusei, saying nothing, puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close.
"Let's just hope you don't get sick again." He sighs, his face tinged a bit red. I hope he isn't the one getting sick.
"Yeah, we don't need you cooking again." I mutter under my breath. I shiver, remembering the time that Yusei gave me food poisoning.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"How long do you think the rain's gonna last?" Yusei asks, changing the topic.
"Not long, I reckon." I try pulling my jacket closed in an attempt for warmth. As close as I am to Yusei, he's not exactly the warmest right now. "I think it's just a shower."
"Yeah," he nods. "That was fun."
"The dancing?"
"Yeah, I didn't think I could have that much fun dancing in the rain."
"I've told you it was fun, you just didn't listen to me."
"Yuuka, you always get sick afterwards." Yusei shakes his head. "So, it was never something that I actually wanted to try."
"I suppose that's fair." I sigh.
"I'm still glad I did it though." He looks at me and smiles.
"That's good." I take in all of the details of Yusei's face now that he's so close to me. There's something different in his eyes, but I can't quite place it. His smile seems bigger and warmer somehow. I notice his eyes widen slightly, before he breaks the eye contact. Strange.
"So, Kiryu had an idea the other day while you went to the market."
"Yeah?" It must have been while Jack escorted me. I'm not allowed outside alone now, unfortunately. Since Yusei escorted the only other time since the incident.
"Since you're so keen on joining Team Satisfaction, Kiryu thinks he should at least give you a chance-"
"Oh really? I'm so excited and-"
"There's a catch." I groan, of course there's a catch. "Kiryu says you can join Team Satisfaction if you can beat him in a duel."
"But I've never beaten Kiryu before." My eyebrows furrow.
"Yeah, that's exactly why he said that."
"That's hardly fair." I scoff.
"He's thinks that's the best way to go about that." Yusei shrugs his shoulders.
"Ugh, fine."
"Here, give me your cards." Yusei puts out his hand that's not on my shoulder. "We can come up with some strategies while we wait on the rain to stop."
"Okay," I answer. I lean forward to try get my deck out of its holder. Yusei takes back his arm, putting it out for my deck which I give to him.
"Right, I think you need to start coming up with combos within your deck. Fabled decks run off effects that activate when you discard cards. Like, if you discard The Fabled Cerburrel to bring back Fabled Kushano from the graveyard," he holds up both cards for me, "you could then summon Kushano and Special Summon Cerburrel on the same turn and Synchro Summon Fabled Ragin."
He keeps explaining different strategies to me, but I find it hard to pay attention. I keep focusing on that warm look in his eyes. It's almost like something has changed, and he's looking at me differently. But, it doesn't scare me. If anything, it feels like something good.
"Better luck next time, Yuuka." Crow pats me on the back as I gather up my cards. Another loss against Kiryu, putting my record at ten to nil. I challenge Kiryu to a duel every few weeks. He says if I beat him, I can join Team Satisfaction. I already have the jacket, so why not? This week, we decided to duel on the little table in our headquarters instead of using our duel disks outside.
"At this point, I feel like I'm never going to win." I sigh as my shoulders slump.
"Maybe, if you chain The Fabled Nozoochee and-" Yusei gestures to the cards currently in my losing hand. He puts his hand on the edge of the table for balance, but quickly retreats it as the table rocks.
"You need to get stronger." Jack ruffles my hair, pressing down a little too hard. "Forget about card combos, you just need to fight with conviction. If you're double guessing your strategy, your opponent will take advantage of that and you will lose."
"I mean, she is up against the fearless leader of Team Satisfaction." Kiryu shuffles his cards back together and puts them into his deck holder. "Did she really stand a chance in the first place?"
"Everyone else has an even record against you." I sigh again. "I'm just not the best at dueling."
"I'd say that you just have bad luck when it comes to drawing the cards you need, not that you're a bad duelist." Yusei puts his hand on my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me.
"Don't let this get you down, Yuuka." Crow smacks me on the back. "You can always try harder next time."
"Right, team, tomorrow is our fight against the Magician's Four tomorrow!" Kiryu gets our attention. "Yuuka, since you didn't win our duel, you're staying behind again."
"And putting bandages on you all when you get back, I know the drill." I say, putting my deck back into its holder. "Just try not to get too roughed up this time please. We don't need another Fear Unit incident."
"Maybe don't get kidnapped this time then." Jack snides back. "That would be a step in the right direction."
"Shut up, Jack."
"Okay, just make sure that yous get plenty of rest tonight." Kiryu stands up from the table. "I need you at your best tomorrow. You already know our plan. I'm gonna go make a last patrol for the night."
"Wanna stargaze again tonight?" I ask Yusei before he turns away. "The sky's actually been somewhat clear today, so we might see one."
"Sure, I'm up for it." I swear that I hear Crow snicker, but it goes away as soon as Yusei looks in Crow's direction.
"Have you seen anything yet?" Yusei says, as he comes onto the roof later. I say roof, but it's the highest floor of the building. The ceiling got ripped off along with the rest of the building a long time ago. I hear him fiddling with the gadget he's been working on, something to do with a light.
"Nope." I lie on my back and stare at the empty sky, save for a few clouds. It's completely dark outside, so Yusei merely looks like a black, human-shaped blob as he lies down beside me.
"Maybe if we're lucky, one will be behind that cloud." His arm moves up as he points.
"Maybe." I answer like the smartass I am. We fall into silence like we normally do. Much of our time stargazing together is just comfortable silence. The other time is just chatting about the most random things.
"I wonder what it would be like in the City." I say out of the blue. "Imagine, just like, living there."
"I don't know," Yusei answers. "We'd probably just go to school. I wish I could learn Physics." I remember the days Yusei spent pouring over a Physics textbook we found in an abandoned schoolhouse. It was missing some pages at the start, but that didn't bother him.
"I could see you becoming a scientist." I chuckle. "You're smart enough for that. But what would I do?"
"You can sew, maybe you could make clothes." He suggests.
"Seems reasonable." I shrug my shoulders, despite the fact that Yusei probably can't see me. "But, if I ever become a Security, you're allowed to take me out, there and then."
"Why would you, of all people, become a Security?" I can practically hear Yusei raising his eyebrows.
"I don't know, but I'm just saying." I start laughing, and Yusei does too.
"But at least we'd be together." Yusei says. I hear something click and the gadget in Yusei's hand starts glowing red.
"Yeah…"
I stare at Yusei's face in the dim red light. I realise how pretty he is. The red light somehow accentuates how blue his eyes are. Then, I realise how much I'm smiling. Because of him. I want him to keep making me smile. I think about how I want to make him smile, just like he is now. His smile is so pretty in this moment. His face is soft and warm, just from looking at me. I want to keep that look on his face. I want to be the only one who can see this face. I want to protect it.
Martha's told me many stories in the time that I've known her. I remember the story she told me about meeting her husband, the feelings she had, and when she realised them.
I think I just realised my own.
"Fuck, shit." I start cursing out of some primal self-preservation instinct. "Ah, shit."
Yusei's eyes narrow.
"Are you okay?"
"Oh, I'm fine." I answer. "Just got a cramp in my leg."
"You good, though?" He doesn't sound too certain. He glances down at my legs which haven't moved at all.
"I'll be fine, don't worry."
The light of the gadget turns off before we fall back into that silence. Only this time, it's awkward. I lie there, looking at a smog-filled sky, searching for the stars that I know won't appear. I hope I find one tonight, just so I could wish that I wasn't falling for one of my best friends.
I feign feeling sick in the morning so I don't have to look at Yusei. I'm worried if I look at him for too long, all of those feelings will come bursting out. I'm convinced that if he finds out, the entirety of Team Satisfaction will disown me for something so shameful. I'll be forced to roam the streets and I'll die of starvation within the month.
At least that's the conclusion my brain came to after Yusei went to bed last night, leaving me on the roof alone.
The guys told me to rest so I'd feel better, before leaving to fight the Magician's Four. I couldn't do that obviously. I've been fidgeting ever since my realisation. How could I not? This literally changes everything. Like, if these feelings don't go away, I'll have to come clean eventually. I don't think I'm smart enough to keep it hidden. I'm just praying that it's only temporary. I'm going through puberty. Hormones are normal, it's just the hormones. I don't like Yusei more than anyone else. That's a lie. I've always liked Yusei a bit more than everyone else. He's kind and he's supportive, he understands me better than anyone else does. He listens to me, encourages me and helps me. That's why I like him.
I'm just confusing myself more.
Every thought I have just makes me more certain of my feelings.
I sigh as I pack a small bag. I throw my duel disk in there, I may need it, especially after the incident. I'm going to go visit Martha, I need something to clear my head. I jog down the stairs and out of the building. I think about leaving the guys a note, but I should be back before them. They're fighting the Magician's Four, apparently they're a tough gang despite having only four members. So, I should be fine.
The main streets are empty, which makes me feel nervous. Being here is better than in the alleyways. I can run any direction to escape people. I can't be cornered just by someone in front and behind me. But still, the silence is unsettling.
I spot a Security walking down the street. I should have figured. I cross to the other side of the street to avoid him. I've been in the Satellite long enough to avoid Security when I see them. But I don't dare stray from the main streets again. Martha's place isn't far from where I am. Only ten minutes or so.
"Oi, Satellite trash!" The Security calls out to me as he approaches me. I freeze in my spot. I can't run from a Security, that will get me thrown in the Facility. Suspicious behaviour, that's what the excuse would be. "Come here!" My feet move of their own accord. I move slowly towards him in the empty street. I feel my entire body begin to shake.
"Yes?" I ask, gulping hard.
"Have you seen this thug?" He holds up a wanted poster of the guy who slapped me and kidnapped me during the Fear Unit incident. "He's wanted by Security for theft. He stole cards from our headquarters."
I don't know what to say. My mind goes blank. Where even is the Fear Unit base? Would that guy still even be there? What do I even say?
"Answer me, Satellite." The Security snaps at me. "Or I'll arrest you too."
"I don't know him," I answer shakily. "I haven't seen him either."
"Are you sure, Satellite?" His voice raises. My eyes start burning from the tears. I feel unsafe. I want to run, but I know that will only make things worse.
"I'm sure."
"Listen, Satellite-"
"Can you please stop calling me a Satellite? I'm a human being."
"You?" The Security's face starts turning red, and he begins to shout. "You're just a Satellite. You're less than a human being. You don't deserve to be treated like one, that's why you're stuck here in this hell."
"You're wrong!" I shout back at him. The tears are threatening to fall, but I don't care. "I'm a human being just like you, so treat me like one, you pig!"
The Security's eyes become hard and cold.
Next thing I know is that I'm on the ground, being put in handcuffs. I hear the duel disk in my bag snap.
"You're going to regret saying that, you trash!" The Security keeps shouting at me. "How dare you! A mark ruining that pretty face of yours will teach you a lesson. I'll throw you so deep in the Facility that you'll never get back out again."
I've heard people say that as you're getting arrested, you think of the one thing that you're leaving behind. That one thing you need to take care of.
Honestly, all I can think about in this moment is Yusei coming home to find that I'm not there anymore.