I do not own Yugioh!5D's

Chapter 11- Harvest

- What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action- Meister Eckhart

Luca always had to pick up Lua's slack, more so with them just beginning to attend Duel Academy.

They'd started a year later than they were supposed to but they'd integrated well. Skylar-nii-san hadn't given them much in terms of what to expect. She had simply shrugged and said 'You never can tell.'

But she digressed. Anyway, there were a lot of times that Luca had to cover for Lua. Though they were still together at school, she'd had to be sharing his attention with multiple persons (predictably enough teachers weren't often any of those persons), like Tenpei and Bob. Well she guessed that the fact that she had Patty and that both she and Lua had Sly (maybe) as friends then it was…okay.

She still wasn't used to sharing her brother, but she was trying her best to. The thing was that where she refused to take part in his recklessness (Lua dubbed it 'adventuring') he'd somehow manage to rope either Tenpei or Bob into accompanying him (though it was mostly Tenpei these days).

This time he'd somehow managed to influence Tenpei to convince himself that it was actually a good idea to go seek and challenge the mythical 'Black Rose Witch'.

Luca couldn't help but sigh as she swung her legs back and forth from where she sat on the couch. Lua had all but begged her to stall Nii-san, who had yet to talk to them about the fact that they had hid a possibly dangerous and marked person for the better part of a night. Luca vaguely wondered how Nii-san would handle the situation.

'You have a choice. When you make a decision, good or bad, you deal with the consequences'. She always said things like that (which was why both she and Lua thought that she was a particularly weird teenager).

Lua had bailed before Nii-san had a chance to talk to them.

…Maybe she should have gone with him.

It was kind of boring to wait on Nii-san to wake up. It had been one of those rare times in which Nii-san had chosen to sleep in her room and even rarer times when they were up before her. If Yusei had still been there she would've liked to talk to him a bit more.

He himself had said he was trouble (even though his cards said that he was nothing but warm, caring and dedicated) but she still would have liked to know more about him. Like where was he from? How'd he learn to duel like he did? With such polished confidence. Would she be able to duel like that someday?

"Luca."

Aforementioned girl jumped a bit, surprised. She looked up only to see her caregiver looking down at her sleepily.

"What were you doing?" She paused. "The house is quiet, where's Lua?"

Luca felt a bit guilty – well very guilty –for what she was about to do. She and Lua had rarely ever sent Nii-san around in circles, if at all.

"I was just thinking about…things," she said in a small voice, decidedly ignoring the latter question that she had been asked. Luca had found out what worked for her – less is more (the less she said, the better this would work out). It helped that Skylar-nii-san was the least suspicious of her.

Her Nii-san raised her brows.

Okay so she could be wrong about that least suspicious thing.

Luca fidgeted. "Um, girl things."

"Girl things?" Nii-san parroted dumbly and Luca did her best to restrain her giggles even as she felt her cheeks tinge.

"Hai, girl things."

Luca watched as realization dawned on the teen before her. Skylar-nii-san cleared her throat nervously and tugged at the collar of the undershirt she usually slept in.

"Oh, well…" Nii-san trailed off awkwardly as she slid beside her on the couch. A heavy silence followed. "How old are you again?"

"Twelve Nii-san," Luca answered suddenly finding the floor very interesting.

"Right, the twelve year old version it is," Skylar spoke as she seemed to grasp at some unseen thread of resolve.

Lua so owed her.

Saiga had thought he'd seen it all.

Then he met Yusei.

If someone had asked Saiga if he believed that one person could change his view on friendship and bonds in the space of one night, his answer would have been 'No'.

If someone had asked Saiga if he believed that that same person would manage to take back his Deck and D-wheel from where it was being held at the detention center, his answer would have been – 'Probably'. After all Saiga himself had assisted in the plot.

If someone had asked Saiga if he believed that that person would manage to escape the Security Bureau and get invited to the Fortune Cup, again all in one night, he'd have taken a little longer to answer but his answer still would have said 'No'.

If someone had asked Saiga if he believed that that person would manage to get him, Saiga, to risk his neck to travel to the Satellite to check on the friends of that person, he would have quite plainly told that someone to shut up.

But he would also concede the fact that he believed that Yusei Fudo was indeed a miracle worker.

He had to be to get someone like Himuro and Old Man Yanagi to put such faith in him. He, Saiga, wasn't an exception either.

It was humorous how odd a bunch the four of them currently made and it was all because of Yusei.

That's right – Yusei seemed to be like a catalyst for all the weird things happening to and around them.

Like the King of Riding Duels leaving his high tower to grace the Daimon Area with his magnanimous presence. Apparently he and Yusei had history.

Hell, the guy even had kids following him like they were excited puppies and some sort of mythical connection with the famed Black Rose Witch.

Never before had Saiga witnessed so many things happening to or around him.

Man, what a week.

I sighed as I followed the route mapped out on my D-wheel's GPS. I rode my D-wheel at a moderate speed, mindful of the small passenger that held onto my midriff for dear life. We both had our protective gear. I had thought ahead and bought necessary padding and helmets for the twins. Thankfully my runner could facilitate additional persons. With Lua and Luca being so small (I wasn't exactly on the large side either), both them and myself could ride safely on it. With that said, I was seriously considering detachable side carts for them.

Anyway, I didn't know what to be more upset about – the fact that I in my…not 18-ish mind was outsmarted by a couple of pre-teens or the fact that Lua was endangering himself.

…The latter was the more unselfish of the two, but the first had hit a blow to my ego. And what was I going to tell the twin's parents? If I were them, I would fire me if I ever found out about what had been happening for the past few days.

But what mattered now was getting Lua and Point-Dexter before they got hurt.

I was about 5 minutes away from where the Black Witch was said to be showing up. Luca had gotten the location from Lua before he had left (I was disappointed in Luca though. I had thought that she was more responsible).

I shuddered to think of the destruction that would result in Akiza's appearance. She was hurting and at this point in the series, when she hurt, everyone else around her hurt.

A pained yelp from behind startled me and I felt Luca's grip around my waist loosen. I did a sharp turn off of the road, pulling over quickly for fear of the young girl falling off.

Once the D-wheel was securely parked by the sidewalk I twisted to see Luca's small frame trembling as she clutched her right arm, her mark glowing ominously.

I bit my lip in trepidation. I should have left her at home. Even as the ground underneath us began to shake, I didn't give it much attention, Luca remained my sole focus.

The Black Rose Witch, Akiza, had no doubt shown up and her pain was being transmitted through her mark. Her mark which connected her to the other signers, of which Luca was now one of the closest.

Luca was feeling Akiza's pain.

I didn't know if I should touch her. That time with Yusei, my arm had felt as if it was burning. But as I listened to her whimpers increase in intensity, I couldn't do anything other than hold her.

And didn't that make me feel useless.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to her. There was a sudden urge, a desperate need to comfort her. "I'd take it away if I could."

Why was I the Signers' Keeper? What was I supposed to do? If I couldn't take away the pain from the least of them, what was the point of my existence?

That burning feeling was back in my arm and for the first time I could ever recall, before my very eyes, my mark began to radiate as intensely as Luca's was.

'…Alone…'

That didn't come from Luca, I think. That wasn't a voice I recognized at all.

'I'm all…alone'

The voice was in my head, nowhere else but in my head, echoing throughout my mind. It felt so unnatural.

So caught up was I that I didn't even notice Luca's trembling begin to subside, her breathing evening out.

'I don't want to be alone!'

I didn't notice the bleary yet worried look Luca sent my way as I clutched my head, trying to quell the painful feeling of something trying to escape from the confines of my mind.

I screwed my eyes shut, the sudden appearance of a beam of light, not allowing me to do much else.

'Why…is this…happening?'

Do you know what I find creepy? Old people.

(Well not all of them – Old Man Mike was one of the exception).

Their skin was wrinkly, their gums weak, so more than a few teeth could be missing, their bones were weary, sometimes they walked around bent and sometimes they were just plain insane.

Maybe it was the fact that had I not been in my present form, I'd be all the more closer to becoming old in body.

Why do I bring up old people you ask?

Flashback

"Hey, when do you think she'll wake up?"

I didn't recognize that voice.

"I don't know, but don't hover old man," a gruff voice answered the first.

I didn't recognize that one either.

"Hey, I think she's waking up!"

I suddenly got that feeling that one gets when your eyes are closed and someone or something is really close to your face.

I opened my eyes slowly, only to end up looking up into an old and time-worn face just inches away from mine. I stared incomprehensively as the same time-worn face gave way to a gold toothed smile.

"Heya missy!"

I stared for a moment longer.

Then I yelled, shooting up from wherever I had been laying. Wherever I had been lying apparently hadn't been that big, so I ended up rolling off of it and falling to the ground on my back.

I saw spots in my vision for a bit, before I blinked them away.

I wished I didn't though. The next thing I knew, on top of staring at Old gold tooth, I'm also staring up at this huge male whose hair looked as if it were half of a spiked wrecking ball.

My reaction?

"Aaaaah!"

End Flashback

If it wasn't for the twins running into the room after that moment, I'd have thought that I'd been kidnapped…again.

As it was now the twins were outside with both the Old gold tooth and Spike. Apparently Point-Dexter had gone home – his mother had picked him up. I snorted, wondering what her reaction was.

It turns out that I had passed out on the sidewalk. Thankfully though, I had passed out quite near to where Lua was, who had been with Yusei, the Old gold tooth (Yanagi), Spike (Himuro. I know that's not the name I had once known but whatever) and Saiga (I had no idea who that was).

Luca had run to them for help and both my D-wheel and I ended up…wherever it was that Yusei was staying during his time in the Daimon Area. The place was pretty empty, having only the bare minimum. I had occupied the couch while I had been unconscious.

I was still trying to wrap my head around what had happened.

From what Lua had told me, that is, in between the rush of words he relinquished during his nervous rambling – the Black Witch had shown up, freaked out and left in a beam of light.

Disappointing. The description just did not do justice to the intense episode that no doubt occurred during Akiza's appearance.

Speaking of episode, Luca had failed to meet my eyes during the few times she spoke to me since I woke up. Which meant that she saw something – probably the mark on my right arm.

I had worked hard to conceal the mark on my arm from them. But maybe that hadn't been one of my brightest ideas.

Hopefully when I finally do reveal my mark, the twins won't feel betrayed.

"Are you alright?" A soda can entered my field of vision. I clasped it with both hands, looking up at Yusei at the same time. My eyes briefly ran up and down the arm that was closest to me. It was bare and muscled.

"Thank you," I spoke softly as I nodded. My arms were nowhere near as toned (or tanned) as his, but I refused to pout, outwardly.

My gaze flittered around the room, pausing at the sight of Yusei's runner. I noticed the tools scattered around it as well as the laptop that was no doubt used to check the Runner's progress. He'd been fixing his Runner the entire time I'd been spaced out.

I really needed to do something about that.

I took a long sip from the can.

Yusei nodded and walked towards his Runner, grasping the jacket that had been thrown over it and putting it on.

"You gave the kids quite a scare." He crouched down to pick his tools off of the ground and I wondered why he was suddenly so chatty.

I sighed in answer nonetheless. I was more drained than I thought I was. Regardless, the twins were going to get it when we got home.

"You're D-wheel is parked up outside," he spoke as he rose from the ground. He then went over to where the laptop was, shutting it down before slipping on his gloves. I placed the now empty can on the table closest to the couch.

"It's impressive. I've never seen one like it before. Did you build it yourself?"

That's right, Yusei was particularly passionate about D-wheels.

I couldn't help but smile.

I rose with a huge stretch, unladylike probably (not that I bothered acting ladylike any which way), and shook my head in the negative.

"My mentor built it for me," I answered with a fond smile as I thought of the Old Man (who was going to chew my head off because I haven't called him in a while). "I know enough to fix one though…on a good day."

Yusei smiled at the admission. I inwardly berated myself when I felt my cheeks heat up a bit, it wasn't as if I needed his approval.

"Let's go," Yusei announced as he threw on his helmet and went to open the garage door.

I stared at him questionably. Catching my look, he elaborated. "It's late. You and the twins need to get home. It'd be safer if we each carry a twin."

I couldn't deny the fact that he was right. He started pushing his D-wheel out of the small room.

"Ah," Yusei paused, "I hope we get a chance to duel each other later."

I smiled as I watched him and the D-wheel fully exit the small room.

"That makes one of us."

The buzzer rang and I was hard-pressed to answer it. Why at this time of day? It was like 6 am.

Clad in my white undershirt and sweatpants, I padded towards the door.

"May I help you?" I said in a tone that suggested I wanted to do anything but.

Needless to say I did not expect to see Yusei at the front door. I blinked, surprised and I watched as his eyes travelled down to my feet and then back up to my eyes. And here I had thought that Yusei was the subtle type.

How was I supposed to react in this sort of situation?

I was decent enough, but why did I feel slightly embarrassed under his gaze?

"What are you doing here?"

And how did he even get in?

"The Fortune Cup is today," he said simply, expectant.

I almost face-palmed. How had I forgotten about that? I mean, the weeks leading up to the Fortune Cup, it was all I could think about.

Typical.

I pretended not to see the ends of Yusei's lips twitch upwards as most likely figured out that we had forgotten. I had been more than a little upset with the twins last night as well as drained from what I shall now refer to as 'The Episode', so the Fortune Cup hadn't any immediate importance at the time.

"Yanagi and Himuro are waiting for us outside. We'll wait." I nodded my head in thanks and Yusei turned to head towards the elevator.

"Lua, Luca wake up!" I announced. "Today's the Fortune Cup!"

Silence.

"Eeeeeeh?!" Thumps and crashes followed. Lua was up.

"Ugh, be quiet Lua." And so was Luca.

"How are you guys going to get to the Kaiba Dome?" I asked as the twins and I finally arrived outside of the Tops residential area.

"Well the four us can catch a cab," Himuro said, "The two of you can ride your D-wheels."

"Uum," I voiced uncertainly. Leaving the twins with two males whom were ex-detention centre residents didn't seem like a good move. Funnily enough, I hadn't questioned the instant camaraderie when I had been on the outside looking in.

A hand resting on my shoulder had me looking at Yusei. "They'll be fine," he reassured.

I almost snorted. The only difference between them and Yusei is that we'd met Yusei just a little bit sooner. I nodded in affirmation regardless though.

I chalked it up as one of those situations in which the main character of the story just inspires hope and trust in all that he came in contact with. What an effect to have though.

Yusei and I waited until the taxi came to pick up the Yanagi, Himuro and the twins.

As the taxi drove off, we each got on our bikes.

I gripped my D-wheel's handle bars and revved the throttle. The sound of Yusei's D-wheel's engine roaring to life startled me a bit (I wasn't used to riding alongside other D-wheels).

I let out a delighted laugh as I revved my runner's engine yet again. I looked over to Yusei, whose smile had a competitiveness that I felt I mirrored. I admit that there was just something about D-wheels that ignited some kind of fire from within.

"Race?" he inquired.

I smirked and sped off. I'd make use of every opportunity that presented itself.

.

.

.

I couldn't afford to be left behind.

Word count: 3286

A/N: A shorter chapter than last time. I really enjoy exploring different characters' POV though. Next chapter is the Fortune Cup. I'm thinking of doing an omake about the conversation that happened between Luca and Skylar, just imagining it makes me chuckle.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed/viewed/favourited/followed!

Constructive criticism/comments/questions/suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

U.P.: Sign Out