"If you want to, you know we can always tell Remons and Staron not to do this," Yusei said, washing the wound gingerly.
"Tch, of course i won't allow this to happen again," Jack grumbled. "The king must always be in tip top condition."
The two men had relocated to the bathroom after Jack begrudgingly waddled over. The wound was deep, like he was stabbed. It reached the bone, then stopped there.
"If it's made from magic, i doubt it will go away," Staron said.
"Jack, Staron sai-"
"I heard him," Jack sighed.
"Wait what? You can hear Staron?"
"Hmph. I should be the one surprised that you can't hear Remons," Jack said, staring down at Yusei. "He told me that all of the vessels should be able to listen to their hearts."
Huh. Not once has he heard Remons talking, not even to Jack.
Jack continued to stare at the man. Yusei was focused on the wound, slowly applying the medicine from the first aid kit. His gaze trailed down from the other man's eyes, to the sharp but small nose, down to his lips, pursed in thought.
To be completely honest, Remons was right. Yusei was cute. He was small, at least when compared to the behemoth that was Jack, who stood at 191cm.
"Jack?"
Jack blinked, then realised how close he was to Yusei. He jumped, putting distance between himself and the other man.
Remons guffawed, the ugly sound echoing in his head.
"Damn, that was so close, too! Keeping quiet is a good idea in these kind of situations though, huh?" Remons cursed, then laughed.
Jack flushed a deep scarlet red.
"Hey Yusei, i think Jack might be a little interested in you," Staron said.
"I am not!"
Yusei just blinked.
"What?"
Staron laughed, a bright and cheerful sound to listen to.
"Man, adorable he may be, Yusei is denser than a block of iron," Remons smiled.
'I don't like him,'
"Keep telling yourself that, Jack,"
"Thank god you can't hear Remons," Jack mumbled.
"What was that?" Yusei looked up, his hands stopping for a moment.
"Nothing,"
"I believe he said "thank god you can't hear Remons", Yusei," Staron snickered.
"God damn it," Jack cursed under his breath, turning away
Yusei frowned, but dropped the subject.
Ruka made her way down the road, holding the straps of her bag and yawning. Being the student of the prestigious Neo Domino Academy, she always had to stay back to catch up on some studying, since Lua never studies, and always disturbs her at home. Only god knows why he gets decent grades.
"Ruka, follow me?" Kuribon floated beside her, keeping up with her pace.
'Where to?' Ruka smiled at the child beside her, who was about 5 years younger than her.
"Anri-sama told me to bring you somewhere! I not sure where..."
Ruka raised a brow at that. Kuribon was a spirit who somehow managed to talk to her, after protecting her from an incident when she was only 12. And now, three years later, she was friends with the spirits, like Anri, Regulus, Sunic, and Kuribon. However, she never really... met Anri before, though it seemed that Anri was the queen of their world.
'Alright, lead the way then,' Ruka smiled, and Kuribon grinned, floating further up as Ruka walked briskly towards her.
"Can you walk?"
"Of course i can. Its just muscle aches, not broken bones," Jack said, standing up slowly, his legs jelly. He then walked out of the toilet gracefully, if sticks were graceful. "By the way, it's rather late. Are your parents going to worry?"
Yusei glanced at the clock. It was 6.28pm, and the sun looked like it was going to set.
"My foster mother won't mind," Yusei said. "My parents are deceased."
"Oh,"
"Don't worry about it, i don't exactly remember them either way,"
Jack looked at Yusei, who waddled out of the toilet, settling down on the couch opposite him. He seems to be neutral, but then again, he might just be really good at hiding his feelings.
"I expected everyone to have parents," Jack scoffed. "Do you remember them?"
"I don't exactly..." Yusei mumbled. "I only remember a long time ago, they told me to remember a word. It turned out to be the password to their banks."
Yusei chuckled at that, and Jack just stared. He was clearly upset... so why hide it?
"Don't hide your feelings," Jack clicked his tongue, and Yusei looked up, confused.
"What do you mean?"
"If you're upset, don't act like you're happy. It's irritating," Jack said with a scoff.
"Jack! That is so rude!" Remons half screamed at Jack.
"Ah," Yusei looked at Jack, then smiled. "You are the first one to say that to me."
Jack was a nice person.
People may say that he's manipulative, and that he is pure evil, but honestly, during the few moments he was with the man for the two days he communicated with him, he didn't seem that bad of a person.
Since his freshman year of high school, he was large, in comparison to the other students. And he far exceeds everyone in terms of academics and physical education, and was even good looking to boot. Now, in their last year of Neo Domino Academy, he was regarded as the 'King' of the school.
Because of that, he was hated by many boys, and even girls because they thought he was a manipulative asshole.
But this short period of time had proved those rumours wrong.
The room was silent, except for the whirring of the ceiling fan, and the birds outside their window. And Yusei feels comfortable, bathing in this silence.
"My parents died last year,"
Yusei looked up at that. He knows, well, everyone in the damn school knows about the death of the great Jack Atlas' parents.
"I think you know about that, but, i was just reminding you. You are not alone. I don't have parents either," Jack said solemnly. "I was given their money, and now i have this house, all to myself."
"It gets lonely, doesn't it?" Yusei asked.
"Yeah," Jack leaned back against the couch. "I don't let it bother me, since half the time i'm out at some party one of the popular kids threw, but..."
Jack looked at Yusei.
"...You don't really pop out in the school. Why not?"
"I don't see a reason why,"
"I don't understand you," Jack closed his eyes, frowning.
"I guess... you don't have to," Yusei said. "Should i move in with you?"
"Huh?"
"My house is a lot like yours, but considerably more filled up. I let my foster mom, Martha, and her children live there," Yusei said. "If i live here, it would be more space for me and a little company."
Jack blinked. Is he serious?
"Why would you want to live here?"
"You're my friend, of course i'd want to live with you," Yusei said, chuckling.
Jack turned away, blushing again.
"Oh my god," Remons rolled in his bed. "He's the cutest thing ever."
"I- well, i don't mind, but i don't have a spare bed for today... so..."
"Oh it's fine, i'll take the couch," Yusei said. "I'll send my servants to get my stuff."
Is this really happening.
"Whoop-dee-fucking-doo, Jack! Good luck hitting that," Remons threw his head back, laughing hysterically.
'I'm not going to,'
"Says you, you are thinking all kinds of things right now and you don't even know, do yo-"
At that, Jack took off his ring, setting it on the table, and Yusei laughed, a cheerful, deep laugh.
"Remons seems like a handful,"
"Oh please, you have no idea. Staron is so nice compared to Remons," Jack rolled his eyes.
"I can tell," Yusei said, smiling.
"Thank you," Staron said.
Jack clicked his tongue.
"The room on the far end of that corridor is empty. It's also pretty dirty, so we should clean it up before you move your stuff in,"
"Alright," Yusei started to stand, but winced at the joints and the muscles aching.
"I almost forgot..." Jack brought a hand to his forehead, sighing.
"You definitely have it worse. Put on your ring and let Remons do the cleaning. I'll stay as myself so he wouldn't try anything funny,"
"Then what about you?"
"I can handle it. Not the worst i've experienced,"
That raised several other questions, but he shook his head. Not now. Those questions come later.
Picking up the ring again, to his dismay, he slipped it on, and lost consciousness.
'Where... am i..?'
"I don't know, Anri-sama told me to bring you here," Kuribon said, shrugging.
'Here' refers to a dark alleyway, with a tiny hut that she had never seen before in the middle, trashbags and scraps of metal strewn beside it. It smelt like death, and Ruka can't help but retch a little.
"Go in!"
Ruka gulped. Whatever was inside isn't worth the effort of actually going into the hell hole, but since Kuribon was the one that told her to go in, and since Anri was the one who told Kuribon to tell her to go in, she took a step forward, pushing at the door. It creaked open, and Ruka peeked inside, blinking when she noticed the bright light illuminating the room on the floor.
She walked in, noting the cleanliness of the hut, compared to the rotting wood and dust outside the hut. Focusing her attention on the bright light, she kneeled down, and almost immediately, the light faded.
"What..."
Laying on the floor is a hairtie, bright red and new.
"Wear it!" Kuribon smiled, and Ruka just stared, touching her hair. Since she turned 14, she stopped tying her hair, deciding to let it flow behind her instead.
It was weird. Why would there be a glowing hairtie here? And why would the hut be so clean in the first place? It did feel right in that situation, however. A feeling in her gut told her to tie her hair.
Bringing the hairtie to her hair, she slipped it on, looping her hair into the rubber hairtie.
And when she was done, she lost consciousness.
Yusei dipped the rag that Jack gave him into the bucket of water beside him, washing the grime and dust away, before wringing the cloth out again. He had called home to Martha, telling her that he would be moving in with Jack, and told his servant to bring his belongings to Jack's house.
"I can't believe i'm made to clean the floors... if my old friends or associates saw me now, they would probably die of laughter,"
Yusei said nothing. He did feel a pang of guilt, making Remons clean the room with him, but it was nice to have someone else.
"You're so quiet! Say something!" Remons shouted at him, and Yusei cringed.
"I'm sorry for making you do this with me,"
Jack was right. He was a little loud.
"A little?" Staron giggled.
Maybe a little more than a little.
"Honestly, why are we cleaning this anyways? Can't you just sleep with Jack?"
Yusei choked on his own spit, coughing as the rag fell from his hands.
Remons smirked, leaving the mop leaning on the wall, walking over to Yusei.
"What's wrong?" He said innocently.
Yusei looked at him.
"I can't just sleep with him, he wouldn't agree,"
"Would he?"
Yusei frowned. Of course not! They were friends for a day, no one in their right mind would sleep on the same bed with their new friend. It would be... awkward.
"Tell me you don't want to kiss Jack," Remons frowned.
"I don't want to kiss Jack,"
"... really?" Remons seemed genuinely surprised.
"Really,"
Remons stayed silent for a moment, before he walked back to the mop, holding it and cleaning the floor again.
"You really don't?" Staron said, confused.
"Yeah, he's my friend,"
Staron stayed quiet then.
Yusei blinked, going back to clean the windows. They were acting weird. He found Jack attractive, but he didn't want to do anything to him, was that hard to understand..?
When Ruka opened her eyes, all she saw was white.
"Ruka..." a familiar voice called out.
Ruke whipped around to see a woman. She was in her 20s, with long green hair and a tiara. She wore ... odd pieces of armour, with a blue coat.
"Who are you?" Ruka turned her body towards her. For some reason, she wasn't scared of her, or the light surrounding her.
"I am Anri,"
"Anri?!" Ruka gaped. "You're the queen of the spirits?"
"Yes, but that was a status i got only after being in that world for so long," Anri said, smiling at Ruka. "I... need to tell you who i am."
Ruka just looked at her, waiting for her to talk.
"I am... a part of the Dragons, a group of magic folk that destroyed the dark forces a thousand years ago,"
"Dark forces? Magic? What do you mean?" Ruka looked at her, bewildered.
"A thousand years ago, there were blood pacts, family traditions that bound certain people together, whether they liked it or not. These people group together, forming guilds or just what you all call 'parties'," Anri explained. "I was a part of the Dragons, a large group of people who sworn their life to defeat the other group, but unfortunately, some of us were sealed away, and only when we return to destroy the seals will we pass on."
"Then... Sunic and Kuribon... and Regulus-"
"They were sealed along with me. They are my closest companions, and i was their leader. They..." Anri paused, smiling. "They tried to protect me, but since it was a curse of sorts, they ended up being sealed with me instead, with me being the one that was responsible for the accessory you picked up."
"This?" Ruka touched her hair.
"Yes. Among the dragons, there were 6 generals, and they were all sealed into different accessories, like this one. I was one of the generals... but i was lucky," Anri said. "I was sealed with my friends."
"I... see,"
"Ruka, i need your help,"
"But... i can't help! I'm just a regular girl!"
"You can help. We chose you," Anri hugged the girl, and she just breathed heavily. "We need you to help us."
"This is all... so sudden,"
"I'm very sorry, Ruka,"
Ruka was scared. She believed what Anri said was true, since she knew that magic was real the moment she met Kuribon and the rest. But... Dark forces? Seals? How could she...
Ruka gulped. She had to help them somehow.
"How can i help?"
"We have to sign a contract. It is to protect the both of us," Anri said, letting go of the girl. She raised her hand, and immediately, a script materialises in her hand. "In exchange for a lifetime usage of my power, even when i passed on, i can use your body and exact my revenge, alongside my partners, or the Dragons. Ruka, will you sign this, and help me, and my partners?"
"Yes..." Ruka said. A pen materialises in front of her, silver and seemingly... not using ink. She gulped. Signing the contract, a burst of light enveloped her, brighter than the one they were surrounded with, and Ruka groaned, covering her eyes.
"Thank you... Ruka,"
At that moment, she felt a lift in her spirits. She felt... confident, like she could do anything. It was... a nice feeling in comparison to her normal self.
At that juncture, she lost consciousness.
As Yusei sighed at the clean room, he wiped away the beads of sweat on his forehead.
It was done! The room was spick and span, and quite large, big enough to hold his king sized bed and a few of his shelves and cupboards.
Suddenly, he felt a throbbing pain in his heart, and he choked, grabbing his chest.
W-what is this?!
"Yusei!" Remons shouted, running to him, helping him up.
"What... is this?"
"S-Someone has awaken," Remons' breath hitched, as he felt the pain reside.
"Awaken?"
"I felt this when you signed the contract and Staron went into your body," Remons breathed heavily, his hand on Yusei's shoulder shaking.
Yusei coughed, his breath catching in his throat. His lungs constricted, and his heartbeat could he heard loud and clear in his ears. And as quickly as it came, it disappeared, and he breathed heavily, catching his breath and leaning against the doorframe.
"We have to find them," Remons whispered.
"No,"
Remons' head snapped up, his eyes showing the rage he acquired from that one word alone.
"We have to find them! If we don't, they might think-"
"They are going to come find us. Just like Staron found you and Jack. They know where to look," Yusei said firmly. "Even if we agree to find them, our bodies can't take running or jumping around. Even if you can, if you kill Jack for this, it wouldn't matter either way."
Remons couldn't say anything. Yusei was right. Staron found him. Whoever woken up has a way to get them. And... even he was feeling the brunt of the excercise from before.
"Heh,"
"Hm?"
"You remind me of Staron,"
"Why?"
"You are... resourceful, clever. You don't run into things immediately. You are the one that saves us from the trouble," Remons grinned. "But more importantly, you're always right."
"I... thanks?"