This is chapter four. It's kind of lengthy, just a warning. So what is going through Vaith and Yusei's minds after the events of Friday night? Read on and find out. Oh, before I forget, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5d's but I do own Vaith, Leslie, Clare, Kevin and the plot line.

Ch. 4- Space Cadet

It was a beautiful afternoon in New Domino city; the sun was shining, a breeze gently whispered through foliage, and it was a pleasant seventy-five degrees or so, a little warm for early fall, but not abnormally so.

Vaith sat on a bench in New Domino Park enjoying the weather. It had been a few days since the gala and Vaith still didn't understand why she had kissed Yusei's cheek. It was a spur of the moment thing; it just happened.

I hope he doesn't think badly of me because of it, she thought. But there was something about him, something different. He understood the pain I was in, the loneliness I feel. He made it so easy to open up. Maybe it's just because I needed to vent and he just happened to be there. But his touch was so gentle, comforting; and his hands were soft and warm. His arms were comforting and strong. He really cared if I was alright. Wait, what's wrong with me? She blushed at her thoughts of Yusei. She'd never thought of another person, let alone a male, that way. She felt an odd connection to him; she wouldn't say it was attraction, more like camaraderie. They understood each other's pain that was all. It was just coincidence that she'd been found and comforted by Yusei Fudo, wasn't it? The sound of voices pulled her from her musings.

"Leo, are you alright?" a brunette girl with mahogany eyes asked a boy with turquoise hair and wheat colored eyes. They were along the path that led through the park and were accompanied by two other kids, another boy and girl. The girl had turquoise hair and wheat-colored eyes just like Leo's, and her hair was in pig tails. The boy had red curly hair and grey eyes. The four looked to be about thirteen and they all wore Duel Academy uniforms. Leo was picking himself up off the ground and the other three were looking at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said with a grin, then he winced. "Ow, ow."

"Leo, you're bleeding," the brunette said concerned. Leo looked down at his arm and saw crimson had soiled his blue blazer. His eyes widened in the realization that the brunette was right, he was bleeding. He pushed back his sleeve, which he realized had a long tear in it, to reveal his injury.

"Leo, what did you do?" asked the girl who looked to be his twin. She walked over and gently took his arm looking at the cut that went a ways up his forearm.

"I think I hit a piece of glass when I fell because it tore my jacket too." The other two walked over and looked at Leo's arm.

"You might want to get that looked at," said the red head, "You might need stitches."

"Are you guys alright?" The four turned their heads to see a twilight haired girl coming toward them. Vaith hadn't seen the boy fall, but she saw him getting up and heard that he might have hit a piece of glass.

"My brother just fell on a piece of glass," said the turquoise haired girl. Vaith reached them and knelt down so she was on their level.

"May I see it?" Leo extended his right arm so Vaith could see his arm. She looked at him then slipped a blue bag from her shoulders; from it she pulled a first aid kit.

"You carry one of those around?" Leo asked.

"It's a force of habit," Vaith replied. "I'm just going to clean it and bandage it up. That should do until you can get a doctor to look at it." She took a gauze pad from the first aid kit and mopped up the excess blood. She then pulled out a clean pad and hydrogen peroxide.

"This is going to sting," she warned Leo. She poured a small amount of H2O2 on the gauze pad and dabbed at Leo's arm. He winced and clenched his fists to keep from crying out. She finished with that and dried off his arm. More blood began oozing from the open wound. She placed a clean gauze pad over the wound then wrapped it up in a bandaged and taped the ends down.

"There," she said when she was finished, "All done. I'd get it looked at soon if I were you."

"Do you think he'll need stitches?" the brunette asked.

"I don't think so, but I'm not a doctor. So I'd get it looked at just in case."

"Thank you…" Leo began, implicitly asking for her name.

"Vaith," she replied with a slight smile.

"Thanks Vaith. My name's Leo by the way. Luna here is my twin sister." He gestured in the direction of his sister who smiled.

"Hello," she said.

"I'm Leslie,' the brunette said.

"And I'm Rally," the red haired boy said.

"It's nice to meet you guys," Vaith replied.

"Well, we better get to the garage so one of the guys can take you to get that looked at Leo," Leslie said.

"Right, bye Vaith."

"See you guys, and be careful." The four kids waved and continued on their way.

"Yusei, Jack, Crow, you guys home?" Leslie called as she, Leo, Luna, and Rally entered the garage.

"Yeah, we're home," Crow replied. He was lounging on the couch, Jack right next to him.

"Where's Yusei?" Rally asked, scanning the room for the current duel monsters champion.

"And hello to you too," Jack huffed.

"I only asked because he's usually here. I mean he like, never leaves the garage," Rally argued.

"Hello Jack, Crow," the twins chimed reaching the bottom of the ramp the used to enter and exit the garage.

"Hi Leo, Luna, Leslie," Jack replied. Rally rolled his eyes.

"Hi guys," Crow said.

"No one answered my question," Rally said, slightly irritated.

"And what was that?" a familiar voice asked. Rally turned his head in the direction of the three runners parked in the garage. Yusei had been kneeling beside Crow's runner and was thus hidden from view; he stood up when I noticed the kids had come in. An ear bud was hanging out of one ear.

"Where you were," Rally replied.

"I'm working on Crow's runner," Yusei said. "I was kneeling beside it when you came in."

"You'd think you'd still be able to see part of his spikey, crab-shaped hair," Jack said.

"Enough about my hair Jack," Yusei replied.

"Do any of you have some free time?" Leslie asked, before Jack started talking again.

"Something wrong?" Crow asked in return.

"Leo tripped and fell when we were walking through the park on our way here, and he cut his arm on a piece of glass," Luna replied. Yusei wiped the grease off his hands using a rag and walked over to the four thirteen year olds. He knelt in front of Leo.

"Let me see it," he said gently. Leo showed him his right arm and the tear in his jacket. Yusei took his arm and gently pushed back the sleeve. He was surprised to see that Leo's arm was already bandaged, and quite expertly if the neatness of the bandage was any indication.

"Who bandaged your arm?" Yusei asked looking up at Leo's face.

"A girl we met in the park. She had a first aid kit in her bag. Weird huh?" Crow's eyebrows raised as Leo mentioned a girl with a first aid kit in her bag.

"Who carries a first aid kit around in their bag?' he asked.

"She does obviously," Leslie retorted. Crow could at least show some gratitude, the girl did help Leo.

"Does this girl have a name?" Jack asked.

"She said her name was Vaith," Rally replied. The three older boys looked shocked.

"Vaith Ishihara?" Yusei asked.

"She didn't tell us her last name," Rally responded with a shrug.

"Did she have twilight colored hair and grey eyes?" Crow inquired.

"Yeah, that's her. You know her?"

"She's Clare's best friend, of course I know her."

"I'm finished with your runner Crow so you can take Leo to get his arm looked at," Yusei said sliding Leo's sleeve back into place. He stood up and wiped the dust off the knees of his jeans.

"Alright, come on Leo." Crow gave Leo a spare helmet and helped him onto the back of his runner. Crow sat in front of him and started the engine.

"Hold on tight little buddy," he said. Leo wrapped his arms around Crow's middle and held on for dear life. With that Crow revved the engine and exited the garage via the ramp. The other three Duel Academy students set to work on their homework and Yusei sat on the couch next to Jack. He slouched forward, resting his arms on his thighs.

"Are you alright Yusei?" Rally asked.

"I'm fine, just tired."

"Of course you're tired," Jack said, "You've been working more than usual the past few days, and that's saying something. It's like you're trying to get something out of your head." He paused and looked at Yusei. "Are you trying to get something out of your head?"

"It's nothing," he replied. Jack gave him a skeptical stare. He wasn't buying it.

"Did you meet someone on Friday?" Yusei was startled by the question and surprised by how perceptive Jack could be sometimes. But he didn't want Jack and Crow to know he had met Vaith on Friday. He wasn't sure what he thought about her so he thought it best to keep it to himself.

"No Jack. I'm just trying to forget how random girls kept coming up to me." Jack seemed to buy that one.

"So you're attempting to drown yourself in fixing machines and listening to loud rock music?" he asked.

"Yes, but it's not working."

"Just take a break for a while," Leslie suggested, "And listen to your music and try not to think about anything." Rally and Jack snorted.

"What?" Leslie asked, puzzled.

"Yusei not thinking, that's funny," Rally said.

"Asking Yusei to stop thinking is like asking the Earth to stop rotating," Jack added. Leslie and Luna sighed. Boys could be such a pain sometimes.

"But this is why you need a girlfriend Yusei, for times like this, when something is grating on your mind," Jack said. "Even Rally's noticed you hardly ever leave the garage for anything other than title matches, machine parts, and to visit Martha." Yusei sighed.

"You and Crow aren't going to quit are you?" he asked.

"Not a chance Yusei," Jack said. "Not until you are no longer single."

Great, Yusei thought.

Crow had come back with Leo a short while after they had left. The doctor had looked at Leo's arm and said stitches weren't needed and couldn't do much except to rebandage his arm.

"Seems like Vaith did a good job, the doctor thought a med-student had taken care of Leo's arm," Crow said as he, Jack, and Yusei sat around the kitchen table.

"You've mentioned that she's taking classes, is she a med-student?" Jack asked.

"I don't think so. Clare mentioned something about programming and security systems, stuff that's way beyond me. Though it would probably be right up your ally Yusei." But Yusei wasn't listening to Jack and Crow; he was lost in his own thoughts.

Ever since the events of Friday night, Yusei could think of almost nothing but Vaith. He kept thinking of how much she had cried but also how hard she tried to hide her tears, how long she had held them back before she just couldn't take it anymore. He saw her moonlit face everywhere he looked; the sadness and loneliness that filled her eyes colored silver in the moonlight. He felt her slender form in his arms, her head on his shoulder, her hands on his chest. But what occupied his mind more than anything else was the moment she kissed him; a hand on his right cheek, the other over his racing heart and her soft, warm lips on his other cheek. He could feel it like she was right there and he couldn't get it out of his mind. He had been trying everything he could think of but nothing worked. Working on Crow's runner while listening to rock music had helped and he managed to drive the encounter from his mind; until Rally said her name.

Why do I keep thinking about that? It didn't mean anything beyond a thank you; it was an expression of gratitude. But then why do I see her everywhere I look? I even see her when I close my eyes. I can feel her in my arms, her head on my shoulder. What's wrong with me? Am I just losing it? He was lost in his own thoughts as Jack and Crow tried unsuccessfully to get his attention.

And then the kiss. Oh it always comes back to that. She was so close, her touch so gentle, her lips so soft. Dammit stop thinking like that! I don't even know how I feel about her. She's obviously been through a lot, and she cringed when I reached for her face. But she understands what I'm going through; she's stuck in the middle of the same thing. And what's with this weird connection I felt? When she hugged me I knew that putting the barrette back in her hair and just being there meant a lot to her. And how I got her to open up a little. I can't even begin to explain how happy that made me. And how beautiful she looked in the moonlight. Wait, what? Did I seriously…? No, don't tell me I'm…

"YUSEI!" Jack and Crow had been trying to get Yusei's attention for the past fifteen minutes. They tried calling his name, shaking his shoulder, waving their hands in front of his face, snapping their fingers in his face, but nothing worked, he was effectively spaced out. It was only when they called his name in unison that he seemed to snap out of it.

"Huh?" he said snapping away from his thoughts.

"Dude, we've been trying to get your attention for like, fifteen minutes but you were off in lala land," Crow explained. Yusei put his head in his hand and closed his eyes.

"Sorry, I've just go a lot on my mind."

"I'll say."

"This goes way beyond trying to forget that a bunch of random girls walked up to you and tried hitting on you," Jack said forcefully. He knew Yusei wasn't telling them something. It was a bad habit of his to hide how he really felt and not let others know what was troubling him; and sometimes it really irritated Jack.

"Huh? What's this about trying to forget girls hitting on you?" Crow asked.

"After you left with Leo, Rally, Luna, and Leslie sat down to do their homework; Yusei sat on the couch. Apparently something seemed off because Rally asked if he was alright. He said he was just tired. I asked him if he was trying to forget something and he said he was trying to forget the fact that on Friday random girls came up to him and tried hitting on him. But apparently it's more than that," Jack said looking directly at Yusei.

"Apparently. Yusei doesn't usually space out like that. Yusei, did you meet someone on Friday?" Crow asked, also turning to look at Yusei. He was still leaning his head on his hand. He opened his eyes and looked at his friends. Jack had his arms folded across his chest and an impatient look on his face. Crow had his arms on the table, and expression of curiosity on his face.

"No, I didn't."

"I asked him that earlier and got the same answer," Jack told Crow.

"Then what's up Yusei?"

"It's nothing," he responded and closed his eyes again. Jack was pissed.

"Dammit Yusei," he slammed a fist on the table, startling both Yusei and Crow. "We're not idiots; we know it's not nothing, if it was you wouldn't be affected by it. So why don't you tell us what's on your mind for once in your life, or do I have to beat it out of you like last time?" Yusei was stunned. Jack had never demanded to know what was bothering him before and he didn't understand why he was starting now. He remained silent.

"Yusei, don't you get it? We're worried about you, though Jack has an odd way of showing it. You don't get out of the garage enough to have any kind of personal life and you spend almost all your time helping, and taking care of others. You don't do much for yourself."

"It's like you're afraid to make yourself happy," Jack growled. "There is no way it's good for you. It's not a crime to be selfish once in a while. It's also not a crime to let you best friends know what the hell has got you so spaced out!" Yusei never realized how much Jack and Crow worried about him; he thought they wanted him to get a girlfriend because they felt sorry for him. And Jack did have an odd way of showing he cared; he seemed to have developed a big brother complex.

"It's-" Yusei began but Jack cut him off.

"If you say it's nothing one more time, I will personally scatter all your tools throughout the house." Crow chuckled. He knew Jack was serious and the thought of Yusei scavenging around the house for his tools was rather hysterical, especially if Jack hid them.

Yusei sighed. Maybe there was a way to tell Jack and Crow what was on his mind without saying he'd met Vaith.

"When I left the ballroom to get some air I went into the courtyard and ran into someone. They had just gotten into a fight with someone close to them and were pretty upset," Yusei said finally.

"Were they hurt?" Crow asked in a concerned tone.

"Not physically no, it wasn't that kind of fight. They were just really shaken up by the argument they'd had," Yusei replied, moving his hand to his forehead. He could still see the tears cascading from Vaith's eyes; it tugged on his heartstrings with the same force it had on Friday night.

"What did you do then?" Jack inquired, losing some of the edge to his voice now that Yusei was talking.

"I couldn't just leave them there, so I stayed with them until they calmed down." Yusei closed his eyes and could once again feel Vaith's slender frame in his arms. He resolved not to mention who he met in the courtyard until he sorted out his feelings.

"What was her name?" Jack asked. Yusei, who was surprised by the question, opened his eyes and looked at Jack.

"What makes you think I ran into a girl?"

"The fact that you keep saying 'they' like you're trying to hide their gender, and the only reason you would do that is to try and hid the fact that you met a girl from me and Crow," he replied, sounding an awful lot like a big brother who figured out his little brother had a crush on someone and was trying to hide it.

"It's either that or you're gay and don't want to tell us," Crow added, sounding like the older brother who liked busting his little brother's chops. Yusei gave Crow a look that said 'That's not it at all'.

"Okay, if that's not the case then what's her name?"

"She didn't tell me her name," he fibbed. He didn't like lying to Jack and Crow, but he thought it best until he figured out his jumbled up emotions. Jack and Crow seemed to buy it.

"Bummer, if only they had you could have asked her out," Crow said with a shrug.

"I only met her once," Yusei said.

"But you're obviously crushing on her. I mean come on, you've become a complete space cadet lately." It took all of Yusei's discipline and self-control not to blush at Crow's comment. He wasn't crushing on Vaith; he was only worried about her. He wasn't interested in dating and the stress a of romantic relationship was the last thing Vaith needed; Kevin was causing her enough misery and the two weren't even together..

"It's not like that Crow," Yusei said, "I'm just worried about her." Crow nodded his head wisely.

"Umhm, a definite sign that you're crushing on her. The downside is that she didn't give you her name. But hopefully you'll get to see her again." Yusei shook his head. It seemed like there was nothing he could say that would change Jack and Crow's minds. He wasn't crushing on Vaith Ishihara. Sure he saw her face everywhere he looked; he could still feel her in his arms, but that was natural if you were worried about someone. Right? It was impossible to fall in love with someone after only meeting them once and spending a couple of hours together. Wasn't it?

There you have it, chapter four. I have the next four chapters all typed out, they just need a little polishing up. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the story overall. Please leave a review, though no flames please and thank you. Thank you for taking the time to read this story, it makes me happy.