Introduction: This is a story that I've been meaning to do for just about a year now, but have had trouble piecing together. But a few days ago I just sat down and started doing an outline for it and it all came together. So this little AU of mine is going to be divided into three stories, the first of which is going to focus on Yusei and Aki. It's going to be a mix between the 5D's anime and manga with a few of my own little twists. Also going to be featured in a later chapter of this story is an OC that was created by sammycrusinix and is the star character of her story, When Blackbirds Meet. It's a good read, especially for all you Crow fans out there. That said, on with the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. If I did, Yusei and Aki actually would've kissed at the end of the series.
Prologue
Ten-year-old Yusei Fudo was busy at work repairing a small wind-up toy in the small shed out behind the Satellite Orphanage. He had a knack for repairing mechanical items, and he put that talent to good use by fixing the old toys that would often get broken at the orphanage. Of course he would usually have to scrounge for new parts, but that was just how things were in the Satellite. Right outside the open door of the shed Yusei's young friend's Jack Atlas and Crow Hogan were arguing about something. Just what Jack and Crow were arguing about, Yusei had no clue. But he was sure it wasn't anything big, as their arguments were a fairly regular occurrence.
As Jack and Crow continued, Yusei's other friend Kiryu Kyosuke arrived. The slightly older silver-haired boy shook his head and sighed when he saw his two friends arguing.
"Crow, Jack, what're you going on about now?" Kiryu asked as he crossed his arms.
"This lunkhead thinks that cavemen could beat astronauts in a fight!" Crow explained.
"Of course cavemen can beat astronauts!" Jack insisted. "Astronauts don't have weapons! All it'd take would be for a caveman to beat the living tar out of an astronaut with his club!"
"Like a wooden club could break a space suit!" the redhead argued.
"It could to!" Jack told him.
"Could not!" Crow argued.
"Could to!" Jack shot back.
"Will you two cut it out?" Kiryu ordered in a tone that caused Jack and Crow to flinch. "Martha sent me to come get you guys. She wants everyone to meet out in the front yard."
"Why the heck does Martha want us to gather in the front yard?" Jack wondered.
"Probably 'cause we've some new kid coming here to live with us." Crow assumed.
"Well whoever this new kid, he is better remember that I, Jack Atlas, is the one who's in charge around here." The blonde proclaimed.
"Gee, does Martha know that?" Crow asked with a wry grin.
"Shut up!" Jack fired back.
"Hey, do you guys know where Yusei is?" Kiryu asked. "I was sent to get him too."
"He's in his little workshop fixing that toy Timmy broke." Crow answered. "Where else would he be?"
"You guys go on ahead then. Yusei and I will catch up." Kiryu told them.
Jack and Crow nodded before walking off. As they left, Kiryu could hear them picking up where they left off on their previous argument. But he ignored them and walked into the shed where Yusei was still hard at work.
"Hey Yusei, Martha wants us to gather out front." Kiryu informed him. Yusei did not seem to hear him. "Yusei?" Again dark-haired boy did not respond.
Kiryu knocked on the side of the open door of the shed, causing Yusei to flinch. At last he turned around.
"Sorry Kiryu, guess I didn't hear you." Yusei told him.
"Don't worry 'bout it." Kiryu assured him. "Sometimes I forget that you go into your own little world when you're trying to fix something. I guess you'd need to with Jack and Crow around. So how close are you to fixing that thing?"
"Almost done. Just gotta put the back piece back on." Yusei answered as he began to screw the back cover of the wind-up mouse back on.
Kiryu walked up to the table as Yusei tightened the last screw. Yusei turned the key three times and the mouse began to move forward, stopping almost half a foot from where it started.
"Looks like you've done it again." Kiryu observed. "So what was wrong with it?"
"Timmy wound the key too much and broke the spring." Yusei explained. "I had a heck of a time finding a new one that would fit."
"Well I'm sure Timmy will be happy now that it's all fixed up." Kiryu assumed. "Now c'mon, everyone's waiting for us in the front yard."
"Why's everyone in the front yard?" Yusei asked.
"Oh, right. Martha wants everyone to gather out front." Kiryu explained, remembering that Yusei hadn't heard a word he had said when he entered the shed. "She probably wants all of us out there to welcome some new kid that's going to be staying here."
"Just how many kids were made orphans by the Zero Reverse?" Yusei wondered with a look of sadness in his blue eyes.
"Too many man." Kiryu replied with a pat on Yusei's shoulder. "But hey, at least we have each other, right?"
"Yeah, I guess we do have that." Yusei agreed as his expression lightened a bit. "Well, I guess we shouldn't keep Martha and the others waiting."
In moments Yusei and Kiryu had reached the front yard where every other child at the orphanage had all gathered together. The two boys made their way up front where Crow and Jack were already waiting. Martha, the woman who ran the orphanage, waited at the end of the small dirt path by the road that went past the old but still functioning building. Before long a black van pulled up before Martha and the side door opened. A very official-looking woman with blonde hair came out of the van with a girl who looked to be nine or ten.
Yusei's eyes widened a bit when he saw the girl. She had burgundy-colored hair that was long in the front and a pair of gold eyes. Her outfit consisted of a pink hooded jacket with a red shirt and pink skirt. Slung over her left shoulder was a large yellow duffle bag that contained her belongings.
"Looks like we've got another girl staying with us, huh Yusei?" Crow observed. Yusei said nothing. "Hello, earth to Yusei." Crow called as he waved his hand in front of Yusei's face.
"Huh?" Yusei finally responded. "Did you say something Crow?"
"What's with you?" Crow asked with a raised eyebrow. "You just started staring off into space all of a sudden."
Before Yusei could answer, the government woman Martha was talking to got back into the van and drove off, leaving the girl behind. The van drove off and Martha escorted the girl towards the large group of orphans.
"Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Aki Izayoi." Martha introduced. "She's going to be staying with us."
The children all said their collective hellos to Aki, all accept for Yusei who's mind seemed to go elsewhere again when he locked his eyes back on Aki. Aki's only response meanwhile was to flinch away a little.
"Now, now. There's no need to be shy Aki. We're all friends here." Martha assured her. "Children, why don't you all run along and play while I help get Aki settled in?"
The mob of children quickly dispersed, all that is except for Yusei and his three friends. Yusei's eyes remained transfixed on Aki. Jack and Crow were both giving Yusei odd looks while Kiryu snickered to himself a bit and shook his head.
"Yusei, would you and the others mind keeping Aki company while I go in and check to make sure things are ready for her?" Martha requested.
"Don't worry Martha, we'll keep a good eye on her." Kiryu replied, as Yusei clearly didn't hear her.
Martha went into the house and a sort of awkward silence fell over the group. Yusei stepped forward a bit, causing Aki to tense up a little.
"Uh, hi." The dark-haired boy nervously greeted as he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm Yusei, Yusei Fudo. It's, uh, it's nice to meet you."
"Hi." Aki greeted back as she turned her head away.
"Uh, these are my friends Crow, Jack, and Kiryu." Yusei introduced. "You know, um, this is actually a pretty nice place."
"If you say so." Aki replied, still looking away from him.
"Aki, if you like I can show you to your room so you can put your things away." Martha called from the house.
Aki headed for the house, walking past Yusei and the others as if they didn't exist. Yusei was left feeling as if he had said something wrong, though he wasn't sure what. All he knew was that he didn't like that Aki didn't seem to like him very much.
"Boy, she was real friendly." Crow sarcastically commented.
"C'mon Crow, she's probably going through a pretty rough time right now." Kiryu pointed out.
"One thing's for sure though, Yusei just made a complete fool out of himself." Jack remarked with a smug grin.
"Can it Jack." Kiryu told him. "Hey Yusei, how 'bout you go find Timmy and give him that toy you fixed?"
"Huh?" Yusei replied after beging snapped from his thoughts. "Oh, yeah. Good idea."
Yusei was lying in his bunk looking up at the bottom of the top bunk that was occupied by Kiryu. The full moon shined through the window as Jack and Crow slept soundly in the neighboring bunk beds. The entire house was as silent as a grave as Yusei's thoughts went back to Aki. Try as he might he couldn't stop thinking about her, and he didn't understand why. Nor did Yusei understand why he was so nervous around her when they met earlier that day.
"Hey Kiryu, you awake?" Yusei softly called up.
"I am now?" Kiryu yawned back. "And right when I had gotten to sleep too."
"Sorry." Yusei told him.
"Don't worry about it." The silver-haired boy assured him. "You've got something on your mind, huh?"
"What do you think of Aki?" Yusei asked.
"She seems nice enough I guess." Kiryu answered after a moment. "A little gloomy, but who could blame her? I mean there's only one reason why kids end up at a place like this. Why do you ask?"
"Well… I can't seem to stop thinking about her for some reason." Yusei admitted.
"Ah, I kinda figured." Kiryu replied with a slight chuckle. "I saw the way you were looking at her before. And how you couldn't seem to keep her eyes off her during dinner. You've got it bad, dude."
"Got what?" Yusei asked with a confused expression.
"A crush on Aki." Kiryu answered bluntly. "And a pretty big one too from the looks of it."
"A crush? Me?" Yusei replied as his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of you know." Kiryu pointed out. "I've been through it a couple times myself."
"So… what do I do then?" Yusei asked.
"Well, the best thing you can do is just try and get to know her." Kiryu answered. "Try and hang out with her. She just might like you back."
"How am I supposed to do that though?" Yusei sighed. "She'd barely talk to me today."
"Just give it time. Try talking to her again tomorrow." Kiryu suggested. "Maybe she'll be less shy."
"Yeah, maybe." Yusei doubtfully agreed. "Thanks Kiryu."
"No problem." Kiryu replied. "Goodnight."
The room fell silent again as Kiryu drifted off to sleep in the top bunk. But sleep would not come so easily for Yusei. His mind was swirling with what Kiryu had just suggested. Clearly Yusei was in unfamiliar territory. He had never before looked at girls in that way. Yet Yusei had no reason to doubt what Kiryu thought it was. The only problem left was how to approach Aki. Yusei decided it would be best to deal with that problem in the morning, and before long he finally drifted off to sleep.
Over the course of the following three days, Yusei tried to talk to Aki but failed each time. Yusei found himself getting tongue tied at the start of each attempt, only managing to say hi and perhaps one or two other words. And each time Aki would simply leave. It didn't seem to help matters that Aki was so closed off. She didn't seem to want to open up to anyone at the orphanage. Since her arrival Aki kept to herself and would often leave a room when others would enter.
That afternoon Yusei was pacing around the hallway right outside Aki's room. He had decided to try and invite Aki to come along with him and three friends to scrounge for parts to use in his various repairs and other projects, and was rehearsing just how to ask her to come with.
"So you still haven't worked up the nerve to speak to Izayoi, eh Yusei?" a familiar voice observed. Yusei turned and saw that it was Jack. "You're so pathetic. Just ask her to go out and be done with it already."
"How do you know about this Jack?" a surprised Yusei asked.
"Crow told me." Jack explained as he crossed his arms. "Though looking back on it I suppose it was obvious."
"Well how did Crow find out?" Yusei wondered.
"I accidentally overheard you and Kiryu talking about it the other night." Crow explained as he arrived with Kiryu. "Sorry 'bout that bro."
"Anyway, Jack does have a point." Kiryu cut in. "You should just stop hesitating and talk to her."
"But what if Aki turns me down?" Yusei asked.
"The way that girl's been giving you the cold shoulder you should be used to it by now." Jack told him.
"That's some real helpful advice there Jack." Crow said sarcastically. "But anyway Yusei, the way I see it you've got nothing to lose unless you don't try."
"Well… okay then." Yusei replied with a big gulp. "Here goes nothing I guess."
Hesitantly, Yusei knocked on the door. After what seemed like a very long moment to Yusei, the door opened a crack and Aki peeked out.
"Uh, hi." Yusei nervously greeted.
"What do you want?" Aki demanded to know.
"Well, uh, I was wondering if maybe, um," Yusei began, "I mean the guys and I were thinking that maybe you'd like to go with us to look for junk."
"Junk?" Aki repeated with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh, yeah." Yusei confirmed. "It'd just be the five of us and you wouldn't have to go if you didn't want to. I just thought that maybe you'd, uh, like the fresh air. Maybe."
Yusei felt sure that he blew it when Aki didn't respond. But suddenly her eyes widened and she threw open the door.
"Hey! Where did you get that mark?" Aki asked as she pointed at Jack.
The mark Aki was referring to was on Jack's right arm made bare by the white t-shirt he was wearing. It was a red mark in the shape of a pair of wings.
"What, you mean my birthmark?" Jack asked as he raised his arm so that Aki could get a better look. "It's no big deal. I've always had this mark. Why are you so interested in it all of a sudden."
"Oh, uh… no reason." Aki answered as she looked away and rubbed her right forearm.
"So… would you like to go with us?" Yusei asked again after a moment.
"Go with you where?" Aki asked.
"To look for junk." Yusei reminded her.
"Oh… yeah I guess that'd be okay." Aki finally agreed.
"Really?" Yusei asked as his face lit up a bit. Aki nodded. "Well okay then. Let's get going."
A few minutes later Yusei and the others had left the orphanage and arrived at the massive junkyard that was not far away. It was one of many junkyards that were present in Satellite. The island had long ago become a dumping ground for trash from the city of Neo Domino. Yusei, Jack, Crow, and Kiryu spent the next couple of hours scrounging through the piles of scrap and putting selelcted items in bags as Aki looked around. Far off in the distance was a massive ivory obelisk that was so tall that it almost seemed to touch the sun.
"Hey, what's that big tower over there?" Aki asked as the others were scrounging for parts, pointing out at the obelisk.
"That's the Infinity Spire." Crow explained. "Everyone who's grown up in Satellite knows about it."
"Oh, well I'm not from Satellite." Aki revealed. "I used to live in the city."
"Seriously? You're from Neo Domino?" a shocked Crow asked. "How'd you wind up here then?"
"This is just where they sent me after my parents died." Aki answered.
"How the heck did your parents die anyway?" Jack asked rather insensitively. "Was it a car accident or something?"
"Uh, yeah. It was an accident." Aki replied as she looked away sadly and held her right arm.
"Jack! You shouldn't ask her about that stuff if she doesn't want to talk about it!" Yusei snapped.
"Well excuse me for being curious." Jack huffed.
"Sorry about that." Yusei told Aki. "I know it must be hard to talk about that stuff."
"It's okay." Aki assured him. "So what is that tower exactly?"
"Oh, the Infinity Spire?" Yusei recalled. "It was built not long after the Zero Reverse happened. Actually no one really remembers when it was built exactly. It just seemed to appear one day all of a sudden. But it's built where the old Momentum Reactor used to be."
"Does anyone live in that tower?" Aki asked.
"Just the people who run Satellite." Kiryu answered. "They're called the Infinity Triad. No one really knows much about those guys though. Not even what they look like."
"They sound scary." Aki remarked.
"Yeah, but they usually don't bother anybody though." Yusei assured her.
"Hey Yusei, we should probably be heading back now." Kiryu suggested. "I'm sure Martha's already started cooking dinner by now."
"Yeah, okay." Yusei agreed. "I think this'll give me enough to work with for a few days anyway."
"How come you guys needed all this junk?" Aki inquired as they boys picked up their bags of scrap.
"Yusei needs it for his repair work." Crow explained. "He fixes most of the old broken stuff at the orphanage and even makes new stuff."
"You must be good at fixing stuff." Aki told Yusei.
"You kidding? Yusei's the best." Kiryu praised.
"Well, I do what I can." Yusei replied modestly as he blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Uh anyway, I guess we really should be heading back to the house now."
"Okay." Aki agreed as they began walking. "Hey Yusei. You think we could do this again sometime?"
"Uh, sure." Yusei enthusiastically replied. "That'd be great."
The days passed and slowly Aki began to open up a little more to Yusei and his friends. Aki was still fairly closed off, but she would usually spend her time hanging around the four boys. She mostly talked only to Yusei, but would interact with the others on occasion. Before long two months had gone by, and one afternoon Aki was with Yusei in his little workshop, watching him fix up and old remote control racecar that Aki had found during one of the gang's junk expeditions. Once Yusei finished making a few adjustments to the remote he set the car down on the ground to test it. The small car revved to life and followed the directions Yusei gave it through the controller.
"Well, looks like it works." Yusei observed as he switched the remote the car off. "This was a good find Aki."
"Thanks." Aki replied. "So what're you going to do with it?"
"One of the younger kids here has a birthday coming up." Yusei revealed as they left the shed. "I figured this would make a good birthday present for him."
"I'm sure he'll like it." Aki assumed.
As the two of them reach the front of the house they saw Martha talking to three security officers. And she had a very angry expression on her face. Aki's face went a little pale when she saw the three officers.
"This has to be some sort of mistake!" Martha told the lead officer. "Surly you can't think a nine-year-old girl could be capable of what you're accusing her of!"
"Look ma'am, I find this about as hard to swallow as you do. But the report says that the deaths of Senator Izayoi and his wife was no accident." The lead officer told her. "And I've got my orders to follow."
"What's going on here?" Yusei asked, getting the officers' attention.
The lead officer looked at Aki and examined a picture he had in his hand. "Yep, that's the senator's daughter all right. Cuff her boys."
Before Yusei or Martha could react, the other two officers rushed over to where Yusei and Aki were standing. One of them knocked Yusei down while the other put Aki in handcuffs.
"Hey! What're you doing to Aki?" Yusei demanded to know.
"Sorry kid, but your little kid is responsible for the deaths of her parents." The lead officer informed him.
"What? That's crazy!" Yusei told him. "Aki couldn't do such a thing!"
"No Yusei. It's true." Aki said on the verge of tears. "I… killed them."
"Okay, let's go." The lead officer told his colleagues.
In moments the security officers dragged off Aki into a waiting van. At last Yusei got back to his feet and ran after the van as it drove off.
"Yusei! Come back!" Martha called, but Yusei didn't hear her.
Yusei chased after the van down the road, but no matter how hard he ran the van quickly moved out of sight. He kept running though, trying to catch up to the van that had stolen Aki away. Yusei felt like he was suddenly trapped in some sort of nightmare. It was hard to believe that only moments ago that he and Aki were just having a normal day and then suddenly a group of security officers had come and taken Aki a way for a crime that was impossible for her to have committed.
Eventually Yusei finally stopped running. He soon had to accept the bleak reality that Aki was too far out of reach. Tears stung his eyes as he stopped to catch his breath. Suddenly Yusei felt a chill ran down his spine and he saw that a thick fog had rolled in and covered the area. Moments later he heard a sort of clopping noise coming towards him like hooves striking pavement. Emerging from the fog was a skeletal horse wrapped almost entirely in old tattered bandages like a mummy. The rider of this undead steed was a skeleton clad in dark armor and a tattered cape. On his left arm Yusei noticed what looked to be a duel disk.
"Who… what are you?" Yusei asked the rider.
"You may call me the Skeleton Knight." The unearthly rider answered. "What brings a boy like you all the way out here?"
"I… I was trying to catch the security van that took Aki." Yusei explained.
"Ah yes, I know of the girl you speak." The Skeleton Knight chuckled. "But what could you possibly do to save her? A mere child couldn't possibly hope to stand against the security forces or the power of the Infinity Triad."
"I don't care!" Yusei told him. "I have to get Aki back! And I don't care what stands in my way!"
"It seems you care a great deal for this girl." The Skeleton Knight observed. "You might have a chance to save her after all. But to do that, you will need power."
With that, the Skeleton Knight pulled a Duel Monsters card out from beneath the collar of his cape and threw it down to Yusei. Yusei caught the card and looked at it. The card itself had a white border, and the monster it depicted was a silvery-white dragon with magnificent wings and well-developed arms and legs. Its head ended in a three-pointed crest and at the end of its snout was a long horn.
"Stardust Dragon?" Yusei read as he looked at the name of the card.
"That card possesses great power." The Skeleton Knight revealed. "The kind of power you will need in order to save the girl. But you're going to have to master it first. Good luck boy."
Suddenly the fog became extremely thick and then broke apart in an instant. And with the fog gone, so was the Skeleton Knight. Yusei stood in the middle of the road looking at the card the undead knight had given him as Crow, Jack, and Kiryu ran up from behind.
"Yusei, what the heck do you think you're doing?" Kiryu asked. "Do you have any idea how worried Martha is right now?"
"What the duce is going on anyway?" Jack asked. "Why the heck did security take Izayoi?"
"Guys… I don't know how or when. But I'm going to find Aki and get her back." Yusei vowed.
Author's Note: This prologue ended up being a little longer than I thought it'd be. But there was a lot of ground to cover. In case anyone is wonder, the Skeleton Knight is one of the main villains of the 5D's manga. Though I guess one could say that he had sort of a role in the anime too, but I don't want to give anything away. Anyway, there's going to be a bit of a time skip in chapter one, which hopefully I'll have up in a day or so.
In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.