Pookles: And Chapter 3! gardevoir wrote this chapter, so I'm not taking any of the credit.

Luna: Pookles doesn't own anything written in this chapter, or Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's.


School Days

Chapter 3: Mishaps and Phobias


Knocking.

Paused.

More knocking.

Another pause.

Incessant knocking.

"Could someone get that?" someone finally asked.

Hearing no movement, Aki sighed, knowing none of the others would do it.

"What is anyone doing up at five in the morning on a weekend?" she thought as she dragged her feet, forcing herself to the door and leaving herself looking as disheveled as she felt.

In an instant, she was alert, her eyes wide with shock, totally awake.

"Sayer, what the hell are you doing here!?" she hissed quietly, glancing over her shoulder to make sure they were not paying attention. "Don't you know this is the girls' dorm!? How did you get in here!?"

"My apologies, young mistress, but your parents wanted me to give this to you. This is your monthly allowance."

The moment she was handed the check, she quickly stuffed it down her shirt, pushing him out of the doorway. Once she grabbed hold of his shoulders, she turned him around, leading him down the hall. "Have them mail it next time, alright?"

"They didn't trust that the school would give it to you."

"That's a necessary risk they'll have to start taking." She sighed raggedly, using one hand to wipe her face. "If you're going to be here, wait in the main office."

As she was pushing him along, they came across a group of girls who were up, adorned in sportswear. "… Shit, the lacrosse team." There was no way of getting out of this one.

The girls ceased their chatting when they saw the head of burgundy pushing along a man that looked just barely too old to be at the boarding school. On top of that, his suit was incredibly out of place.

"Aki, right?" one girl, #27, ventured to ask the black rose, who stopped and winced slightly. "Who is that guy?"

"... No one. He's nothing." She forced a smile at them, mumbling, "C'mon, Sayer, let's go." In her rush to get away, she didn't notice the check slipping out of her tank top and fluttering down to the floor.

"Hey Aki, you dropped—" A different girl, # 16, picked up the check, cutting herself off upon reading what was written. "Oh my god! Two thousand dollars just for allowance! ?"

"Fuck."

She quickly ran up to them, plucking the check from #16's hands, the other girls having crowded around her.

"Mistress Aki?"

She sighed heavily, knowing her cover was falling apart. "So you're rich?"

"I'm leaving." She went back to Sayer, continuing to lead him out of the dorm. "Great going, now no one will leave me alone."

"Is something wrong?"

"Yes, there's something wrong! This whole month, only those I bother to talk to approach me, but now everyone's going to come up to me. That's why I said you should have mailed it!" Once they were at the door, she opened it and pushed him out roughly. "Stay in the office next time and have them call for me!"

Upon returning to the room, she could see Sherry waking up, the noise in the hallway pouring in from the opened door. "Bonjour, ma amie," she said in a yawn, sitting up and stretching. "What iz zat commotion out zhere?"
"Good morning, my friend. What is that commotion out there?"

"I dropped something and they saw it," she muttered, trying to avoid the question so she did not have to reveal herself just yet. "Maybe I should just trap myself in here all weekend," she thought as she flopped back into bed, an arm over her eyes. "No one can bother me then, right?"


And that plan worked for all of a few hours.

The news about the check spread like wildfire and the image of the Black Rose changed quickly. She was still the cold, harsh girl everyone knew her as, but now they had a motive to "not dislike" her. All of her worst fears were coming true.

"Hey Aki! Do you want to hang out at the theater? A new movie just came out yesterday! I heard it's really great, do you wanna go see it?"

"No."

"Sorry to bother you, but I was just wondering if you'd maybe like to—"

"Pass."

"So do you wanna go—"

"I'm comfortable where I'm at."

Surprisingly, even Misty came to her door. "Oh, what's this? I've seemed to have found myself at Izayoi's door. Well, since I'm here, I might as well ask. You're pretty, I'm beautiful; you're rich, I'm rich... what do you say we hang out together? It'll be my treat, to make up for all the times I was... not so nice to you. Doesn't that sound great?"

"Fuck off, Misty. We're never going to be friends and I'm certainly not going to start so that you can golddig off of me."

She heard a scoff and the angry stomping of feet retreating, causing her to smirk to herself. But it was quickly cleared when the next loser tried to convince her to hang out. Why did everyone feel so obliged to come to her? Did they honestly thing that changing their attitude toward her so suddenly would get them in her good graces?

Fat chance.

"Aki, are you—"

"Piss off!" she shouted, absolutely fed up. It was not until after she had lied down and put her face in her pillow that she recognized the voice.

She was up on her feet in a split second, bounding down the hall after him.

"W-wait!" she shouted, grabbing his arm to stop him. Realizing that what she did was very much out of the norm for her, she quickly retracted her hand and looked away, slightly embarrassed. "I didn't know it was you. Sorry." She rubbed the back of her neck. "What was it that you wanted?" she asked nonchalantly, taking her usual defensive pose of folding her arms under her chest.

"Sherry told me that you were holing yourself up in your room because of some sort of incident that happened this morning. And by the looks of it, it's really irritating you." Yusei chuckled lightly, reaching out and patting her shoulder reassuringly.

She raised an eyebrow at him and simply brushed off his hand, though mentally, she was rather surprised he even bothered to check on her.

"Instead of sitting in there all day, avoiding people, why don't you come with us today? Everyone else wants you with us and I'm sure it's better than doing nothing on a Saturday." She weighed her option, thinking this over carefully, tapping her chin.

"Alright, she concluded. "I'll go. Wait here."

Aki returned wearing jeans and a plain t-shirt, obviously having put a lot of consideration and effort into her outfit.

"Well, that works." He shook his head with a small smile. "This way." He motioned for her to follow him.

As they walked down the hall, she could feel the predatory glances, the students waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce.

"So what exactly is it that everyone's been bothering you about? Sherry didn't give me the details."

She blinked in surprise at him, her eyes slightly widened. "What, so you mean you don't know? I thought it got around to the entire school by now."

"I'm not one to keep up with gossip." He shrugged, glancing back at her.

"Well this morning, my... butler, I guess you could say, came to our room and delivered my monthly allowance of two grand, and as I was trying to get him to leave, it fell out of my shirt. I didn't notice and one of the lacrosse girls picked it up and saw what was on it. Now everyone wants to be friends with the prissy rich girl." She sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Too bad for them; I was friends with the prissy rich girl first," he teased, making light of the situation. "Don't let it bother you so much. I know they keep coming up to you, but don't even give them the courtesy of getting a response. They'll still think they have a chance to sway you. And rich or not, we're still your friends." He turned to give her a sincere smile.

She could not help but smile back. Seeing it, he grinned before facing forward. When she caught herself, she was quick to change her expression, clearing her throat.

"Uhm... thanks," she mumbled.

Sometimes she wondered if she really deserved such kindness.


"I thought we weren't allowed to be off-campus."

"We're not. We're still on school grounds."

"All the way out here?"

"Yep."

The place he had taken her to was about a mile from the school building. Way out there was a huge garage, the door of which was open.

"Where have you been? We were trying to install a mod, but all it did was mess up the calibration." The expression on Jack's face correlated with the frustration in his tone.

"I got it." Yusei replied as she followed behind him, seeing the sports bikes inside. "Is... is this legal?"

"So long as we keep it down and only have a few people here at a time," Yusei explained. She stared at the motorcycles, hearing the engine of one near the end of the line. Counting them, she found that there was one for each of them.

"How are they getting away with keeping five of these things in here?"

"I see ze curiozitee in your eyez, ma amie. Godwin iz actooally a very lenien' headmasteur." Sherry waved her over, walking to the first bike in the row. "Zis iz Crow's. We are running some tests on eet. Zhen zere iz Jacques', Yusei's, mine, and Kalin's."
"I see the curiosity in your eyes, my friend. Godwin is actually a very lenient headmaster. This is Crow's. We are running some tests on it. Then there is Jack's, Yusei's, mine, and Kalin's."

"Are you even allowed to ride them?"

The French maiden merely smirked, her eyes dancing playfully. "Zhat iz somezing you weel have to wait and see! For now, you can just watch zem."
"That is something you will have to wait and see! For now, you can just watch them."

Against one wall of the garage were a few folding chairs. Grabbing one and sitting down on it, she observed them with interest as they tinkered away at Crow's bike, killing the engine at times, cranking on the accelerator at others.

"Alright, let's take it for as spin. It seems functional, but if we don't test it out, it could suddenly shut off again." Yusei shouted over the engine, putting up the kickstand and grabbing one of their testing helmets. Just as he was about to speed off, he glanced over at Aki.

"You've been sitting there this whole time. Do you want to come along?"

As lovely as the offer sounded, she and motorcycles did not have the best of histories.

She shook her head and put her hand up, forcing a smile. "If it has the potential to stop suddenly, I won't take my chances." Seeing as she had a point, he pulled on the helmet, the protective gear hiding his frown. Though she was right, he had still hoped she would take his offer.

Giving the others the thumbs up, they cleared the way for him, watching as he zoomed off.

"Does anyone else know about this?"

"Bruno, who would have been here, but he has to serve detention today," Crow replied.

"Carly, Mikage, and Stephanie. Though I'm sure you could have guessed that." Jack sighed as he leaned against his bike.

"Misty and her friends are aware that there's a garage here, but they don't know about what's inside. We lock up tight," Kalin added, going over to his own bike and wiping it down. "That's one group we definitely can't reveal this to. They'll use it for their parties and we'll lose our privileges." He paused in his cleaning. "I almost got us caught because I used to hang out with them."

"Zhey are onto us, but we weel not be caught!"
"They are onto us, but we will not be caught!"

She nodded, keeping that in mind. Not that she would ever want to tell that pompous bitch or her croonies.

The ascending sound of an engine's roar signaled Yusei's return. After killing the engine and pulling off his helmet, he tossed the keys to Crow. "All set for tonight."

Crow fistpumped the air, pocketing his keys.

"Tonight? What happens tonight?" She had been here a month and this group was still an enigma to her.

"Zat is a sooprize, ma cherie!" Sherry exclaimed, her green eyes shining excitably. "Oh, but you weel have ze time of your life! Just be sure to bring a jacquet. It will be a bit chilly tonight and even colder for... well, you shall see!"
"That is a surprise, my darling! Oh, but you will have the time of your life! Just be sure to bring a jacket. It will be a bit chilly tonight and even colder for... well, you shall see!"

Aki's hazel eyes slid over to the other four crew members, finding that they were all facing another direction, not meeting her gaze. She was certainly not enjoying the cryptic nature of this event.

Grunting, she scowled at them. "Fine. I'll come tonight. What time?"

"Nine PM sharp," Crow answered. "We're done here, so we have to close up. Remember, try not to let anyone catch you when you walk here."

She nodded, getting up and putting away the chair. "If this ends up being some sort of hazing or cult initiation..."

Yusei laughed, shaking his head. "it's nothing like that. Can you find your way back to the school?"

"If the giant buildings off in the distance weren't any indication..."

He always found her cynical replies to be humorous. "I guess we'll see you at nine then."


The Black Rose showed up right on time, the only change to her clothing being the light jacket she was now wearing. When the garage came into sight completely, she could see the five bikes lined up outside.

"She's here!"

The air was filled with the roar of the engines, growing louder when revved. She walked up to them, glad that the sound drowned out the three girls that fought over who would ride with Jack, the hot topic of the argument intentionally ignoring them. She saw that Yusei was waving her over and once she was standing next to him, he handed her a helmet, the one from that afternoon. His own had changed; he was now wearing a red one that had a shield stopping just below his eyes and a stretched visor.

"Here. Wear this and get on," he told her.

She stared at him for a moment before laughing nervously. "N-No, you guys can go. I'll wait here and keep watch."

"Bruno's already doing that and we want you to come with us, Aki. Please?" The helmet was still in his hands, held out toward her.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes tight. "You don't understand. I really don't like motorbikes."

He frowned. "Well, come along just this once."

"No, Yusei."

This back-and-forth argument went on until she'd gotten to her breaking point. "Don't you get it! ? I'm afraid of riding on these things! They're dangerous and I could fall off and so many things could go wrong! I'm not going to ride with you because I'm fucking terrified of them!"

Though the engines droned on, a silence befell them.

"Do you trust me?" he asked suddenly.

"That's not the point here. The point is that I'm incredibly scared and—"

"Do you trust me?" he asked again, more insistent this time.

She took a breath before muttering, "Well, I guess I do..."

"Then here."

She reluctantly took it and pulled it on, making sure it was secure. "Get on and hold on tight. Just trust me. I promise you'll be safe."

They exchanged a look before she sighed, obliging. Once she was on, she locked her arms around his waist, her eyes shut tight as she put her head against his back. He looked over at her, shaking his head with a slight smile. Her hold on him tightened when they were off, whimpering quietly and hoping it would end soon.

She calmed down a bit once they had been riding around for a few minutes, though she was still very hesitant to open her eyes. Or move in general, for that matter. But he wasn't going to let her miss out on such beautiful sights. He reached back to tap her waist.

Meaning he had only one hand on the handlebars.

"What are you doing! ? Keep your hands on the bars! I don't want to die!"

"Just look up. It's okay. Look around."

Aki hesitated, slowly lifting her head and opening her eyes just enough to peek. The breath she had been holding escaped her mouth as she looked around in awe. Though the scenery was a blur, she could feel the nature surrounding her. He looked her way for a moment, making a quick motion for her to lift the shield of her helmet. She did so and closed her eyes again, but not out of fear. The cool air licked at her face, a sensation she was new to. Opening her eyes again, she looked up and she could see the stars speckling the night sky, the moon softly illuminating the forest around them.


She had completely forgotten there were four other people that had come along, realizing this once they returned to the garage. Now aware that they had probably heard the argument, she became a bit bashful, carefully handing her helmet over to him without making physical contact, now that they were off of the bike.

"Still afraid?" he asked, his grin wide.

"Well... kind of... a little..."

"But you had fun, right?"

She stared off to the side, pretending to have gotten preoccupied with something else... until she actually was. Not too far from where they stood, she thought she'd caught movement, frowning slightly and ready to investigate. Just before he could press for an answer and she could walk over to check, Sherry ran up to them, putting her arms around Aki.

"Ah, ma cherie! Are you okay? If I had known you were afwraid of motercycules, I would have had you ride with me instead!"
"Ah, my darling! Are you okay? If I had known you were afraid of motorcycles, I would have had you ride with me instead!"

"Y-yes, I'm fine..." she was very unused to being embraced, unsure of how to react.

"And it's alright..."

"You should really tell us these things before hand," Jack chided, shaking his head. "He's the most reckless rider out of all of us, with Crow and Kalin close behind. Had you told us, Sherry or I could have—"

"Oh Jack, I'm afraid of motorcycles too! Can I ride with you next time?" Stephanie latched herself onto his arm, fluttering her eyelashes up at him. He gave her a distressed look in return.

"No, I'm more afraid. Let me ride with you next time!" Carly protested, attaching herself to his other arm. The despair on his face he had at this point was grave.

Standing on her toes and wrapping her arms around his neck, Mikage put her chin on his shoulder. "But it's really me you want to take, right? You have to help me get over my fear, Jack."

He looked devastated standing there, silently begging the others to help him. They watched and laughed instead.

"They're your fangirls. There's nothing we can do about it." The head of burgundy shrugged, leading the way into the garage, where Bruno waved to them. Collectively, they walked past him, chatting with each other as they led the bikes into the garage.


Hiding behind a tree, she stood, watching as the group relaxed in the garage, sharing food, drinks, and conversations. "Ah, so this is what you all are up to. Hm, I think it'd be a little more fun with more people, don't you?"

She laughed to herself, disappearing quietly into the thicket, off to plan.


Pookles: And here's Chapter 3, also written by gardevior!

Luna: The story idea is gardevoir's, but Pookles will be writing the chapters from here on out.

Crow: Check out gardevoir's stuff, Favorite, Follow, Review, and join us for the next installment!