I'm awake early. The light streaming in from the windows hits my closed eyes. It takes me a few seconds to comprehend where I am. It's a bit disorientating at first honestly. I sit up on the couch in attempt to gather my thoughts. At least, I imagine that it's early judging by the fact that the house is completely silent. I'm tired of dreams. I know that Yusei wants to forgive me for what I done. My subconscious still hasn't got the message. I fold up the blanket and place it at the end of the couch with the pillow. I stand up, careful of my ankle, and hobble up the stairs to the kitchen. I try scanning upstairs to see if anyone is awake yet, I get nothing. Once I get up the stairs, I need to sit down. I slump in the seat to see if it helps. Pain starts shooting up and down my back, so I straighten back up. I try pushing my fingertips against my temples in an attempt to ease the spinning feeling. My head snaps up at the sound of someone walking towards the kitchen. I look over towards the ladder to see Yusei climbing down, sans his jacket and gloves. He moves groggily like he's just woken up. He pauses for a split second when we make eye contact, almost like he expected to be the first one up. Then again, even back in the day, he was always the first one up.
"Mornin'." I greet him casually as if I'm not in pain.
"Oh morning." I can almost see the thoughts going through his head. "Are you up long?"
"Nah, I literally just got up." Yusei moves towards the kitchenette. For a split second, I feel sick to the stomach at the thought of Yusei cooking. Never again.
"Do you sleep alright on the couch?" His head turns back towards me. "Do you want some coffee?" Oh thank the stars, he's not cooking. I don't feel like getting food poisoning again.
"I did actually, that couch is really comfy." I'm not lying. My back would still be sore even if I slept on the world's comfiest bed. "Oh please yes, I take it black." I can feel my shoulders relax as I realise that Yusei isn't going to cook. He seems to be surprised that I take my coffee black. I swear, people act like this is the most surprising fact about me. It's not.
"Oh, that's good." We're silent as the kettle boils. I can't help but wonder what Yusei is thinking. He's infinitely harder to read now than he was back then. Is he thinking about me, his D-Wheel or how he's become addicted to coffee in order to become somewhat alive in the morning? I wonder will Jack and Crow get up now that the kettle is on? I doubt it. I notice that Yusei adds milk to his coffee. Yeah, that sounds about right. Yusei hands me my coffee and sits down beside me on the couch. Sweet sweet caffeine, oh how I have missed you. The coffee isn't too different from my own brand which comforts me somewhat.
"Has Shinji said anything to you lately?" I spot his Signer mark on his right arm, it looks different than how I remember it.
"No, why?" There's a look of concern in his eyes.
"Last night, Kaoru told me that Shinji needs to talk. Sounds pretty serious to me." I look up from my coffee cup at Yusei. "I mean, Shinji has the spare key to my apartment and he could be dropping stuff over. I doubt it though." I can see Yusei's eyes dart slightly as he tries to remember if Shinji said something odd.
"It probably has something to do with Black Flag." If Yusei and I are thinking the same thing, we're probably right. "That's why you were dueling that Raiden guy, right?"
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking." I stare at my coffee. "How much do you know?"
"Not much." I almost sigh in relief. Who knows what Shinji or Kaoru could have told him. "You were in Black Flag. You wanted to leave, so you dueled Raiden. Then, the building collapsed." He pauses like he's about to continue, but he doesn't.
"Ah, I'll suppose we'll have to wait to find out." I try think of something that will drive the conversation away from my accident. He's still on edge about it, why? I don't know. "Did you stay up late last night?"
"Not too late." I give him the look, I know that's bull and he knows it.
"Depends on what you call late, doesn't it?" I raise my eyebrows at him as a laugh escapes my mouth.
"I suppose it does." He's so cute when he smiles. Whoa, I am not going down that road right now. I ask him about what he was working on last night. He tells me about how the three of them need better engines in order to keep up with the competition. He's still trying to work how to best go about that. There's a genuine light in his eyes when he talks about D-Wheels. I would to keep asking questions just to see that, even if I have no idea what he's talking about.
My train of thought is broken by footsteps upstairs. Judging by the sound, it's Crow. I almost feel offended that Crow is about to ruin the lovely little moment that Yusei and I are having. I'm not sure why. We're sitting on a couch, talking and drinking coffee. I've done this with other people. I think I'm deeper in this whole 'feelings for Yusei' thing than I anticipated. It's not long before Crow comes downstairs. There's some light morning chatter, nothing out of the ordinary. Now, it's just a matter of Jack getting up. It's strange, something about this just feels so right. It's been years since I've last experienced this. Maybe, everything is going to change for the better. It's a small hope, but it's a plausible one. Crow mentions that he finally has a day off. I wonder how Ms. Kimura will react to all of this. I wouldn't be surprised if she fired me. I did hurt her precious son after all. To my surprise, it isn't long before Jack comes down. Though I suppose, there's probably more noise with me being here. I'm puzzled at how Jack refuses to drink instant coffee. I mean, yeah, it's not as nice as the pricey stuff, but caffeine is still caffeine.
"Right, you've got some explaining to do." All of their gazes turn to me, I gulp. What they want me to explain could be anything. Why I disappeared, what really happened in the Satellite, or the truth about Black Flag.
"What do you mean?" Hopefully Crow knows not to push too much into a certain matter.
"You got arrested, didn't you? How did you end up in the City? How do you have a dad? And a brother?" I can handle these questions, this is good.
"Well, the Facility didn't take girls so Security kept me around for a while. One of the officers noticed the resemblance to my dad, and called him. Turns out the woman who I thought was my mother just adopted me, and that my biological parents have been in the City this whole time."
"How were you allowed stay in the City? It was illegal for anyone from the Satellite to be in the City." Jack crosses his arms.
"Same as you, Godwin covered it up. Even now, my file says that I was born and raised in Neo Domino."
"Godwin?" It looks like something clicks in Jack's head, I pay no mind to it.
"Though, it's likely that a large sum of money may have swayed him."
"Makes sense." I think Yusei has come the conclusion as Jack, whatever that is.
To my surprise, they don't ask any more questions. Though, I suspect that they'll be back for more. We return to the light morning banter. Eventually, Jack leaves to go to the cafe across the courtyard. Crow, annoyed by the fact that Jack is spending more money than necessary, goes on a drive. Yusei returns to his D-Wheel, big surprise there. I end up sitting on the couch in the garage again. There's some light conversation between us, but we generally enjoy the comfortable silence. I try reaching out to Kaoru in my mind, in the hopes of something to do. I get nothing. Strangely, not long after this, there's a knock at the door. Proclaiming that I've got it, I hobble as quickly as I can to the door.
"Huh, I was right, you did hurt your ankle." That's true. My right heel not touching the ground is a sign of this.
"Hello to you too, Shinji." I give him my best poker face.
"You know what I meant." I usher them in. Kaoru and Shinji greet Yusei, who greets them back. "You look better than I expected."
"Really?" I let them go up the stairs first. "There's more places to sit upstairs." Kaoru moves up the stairs first. Shinji pauses before he goes up.
"Actually, Yusei." I feel like there's suddenly a load of iron in my stomach. It's bad news. "You might want to hear this." I stay by the bottom of the stairs with my hand over my mouth until Yusei starts to walk up. Before he does, he puts his hand on my shoulder. I nod, it's all I can do. I limp up the stairs behind Yusei.
"I can't believe they discharged you in that state." Kaoru stares at my ankle as I limp towards the couch.
"They figured out she's a psychic. Between that and her mark, they wanted her out as soon as possible." Shinji holds out his arm in an effort to help me to the couch. I don't take it.
"Wait, how did they figure that out?" Kaoru moves the chairs over from the deck for himself and Shinji. Yusei takes his seat beside me. We've essentially gone full circle this morning.
"Her healing factor. By the time they got her into the hospital, it had already started to kick in. Notice how they only asked for family blood donations, they figured it out."
"They can't do that. Just because she's a marked psychic, they shouldn't kick her out at the first opportunity." Kaoru's really naive to think that this City is any different.
"That's how this City is." I try to keep my face blank. "Get used to it. Besides, you saw how that doctor looked at me." I can't bear the thought of people discriminating against my brother. He doesn't deserve it, he's a good kid. He quietens down, I think he knows to say nothing more. "Right, what's wrong?" I look to Shinji. My hands are shaking. I try pushing them together to try stop them.
"It's about Raiden." Of course it is. "They didn't find him in the rubble. I dropped by the shop the next day. Ma-Mrs. Kimura," he corrects himself, "said that Raiden came in covered in blood, saying that you had lost control of your powers. He left Neo Domino to go traveling a couple of days ago. Apparently, he'd been planning it for a while."
"Wait, doesn't that mean?"
"Yes." Shinji's face is grave. I was right.
"What? What does that mean?" Kaoru's eyes darts between Shinji and I.
"I'm fucked." I can feel everyone's eyes on me as I hold my head in my hands.
"What are you talking about?" Kaoru's tone becomes increasingly more worried.
"Let's just say, the leader of a gang suddenly vanishes. What would happen to their right-hand man?"
"That would make you the leader." Yusei hits the nail right on the head.
"No, you can't!" Kaoru raises his voice. I move my hands so they only cover the bottom half of my face. "You're in no state to do this. I mean, look at you. You can barely walk. How are you supposed to run a gang?"
"There's more to this, isn't there?" I sigh. I stare at Shinji, keeping my hands covering my mouth. I'm trying to seem as neutral as possible.
"There is." I knew it. Shinji's sombre face couldn't have been because of that. "Since Raiden was missing and you were out, the City went into utter chaos. Every gang started fighting for our territory. There's been lots of attacks over the last week. Some gangs got completely wiped out. Anako and I managed to save some territory. What do you want to do?" I sit there for a few seconds, taking everything in. Everyone is waiting for me to say something. I don't know what to say. Wait, I have a plan.
"I told you. I'm leaving and so are you. I'll wait a couple of days and hand it over to that Yuudai kid, considering that he's still around that is." I lie.
"Yuudai? Is that the scrawny kid? Are you sure?"
"Yeah, he's the only other person I know in the gang. He'll know what to do."
"Alright." Shinji looks at me like he's nearly caught onto what I'm saying. Not quite yet. "Right, there's another thing."
"I don't think I can take anymore." I sigh.
"No. I just think that you can't be alone when you go outside. People could be out to get you. There are people who would attack you while you're weak in order to claim our territory. If you go outside, I need you to be with someone you trust."
"Fair enough." It shouldn't take too long for my body to recover.
"Oh wait." Kaoru's face lights up like he's just remembered something. "Here." He hands me a small box with a plastic bow stuck on it. "Your phone broke in the rubble, so we got you a new phone. And here's your deck too. Your duel disk broke too."
"Ah, it was only a spare." A strange feeling fills me, I'm not sure what to make of it.
"I used some of your paycheck to pay for it, though Kaoru insisted on chipping in to get you a better phone."
"It's for all the birthdays and Christmases I missed." He scratches the back of his head. "Your birthday wasn't that long ago right?"
"Thank you." I smile while a warm feeling surges up through me. That small gesture makes everything seem less bleak. "Wait, paycheck? Did you get it off the old hag?"
"Yeah, about that." I can that Shinji is apprehensive about that subject.
"I'm fired, aren't I?"
"Oh yeah." Shinji says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world, and it is. "But that's not all." Oh no. "I was going into your apartment to get you some clothes with Emiko for when you came out of hospital. Emiko didn't think anything that was there was suitable for you now, which is true to be honest. I ran into your landlord. I explain what had happened. You being in hospital, losing your job."
"Oh no, please don't tell me."
"Since the phone mostly came out of your paycheck, you didn't have enough for rent." Shinji's face twists like he doesn't want to be the one to break the news.
"Kicked me out?" I put him out of his misery.
"Yep. He wants you out by the end of the week." Then, the panic sets in. Where am I going to stay? I can't stay here forever. With no job, I can't move into anywhere by myself. I can feel my breathing starting to quicken.
"Don't worry." Yusei puts his hand on my shoulder. "You can stay here as long as you need to."
"Really?" He nods, which settles my nerves a bit.
"Wait, he kicked you out the one day that you didn't have rent?" Kaoru looks at me like he doesn't understand. I'm honestly wondering if he's that stupid.
"Marker."
"Oh." I wonder if he'll ever completely understand. This City is none of the things it claims to be.
"Wait a minute, you said the phone came out of the pay check. Didn't the clothes as well? They're pretty pricey judging by the labels."
"Nah, Emiko paid for those herself. She said something about taking responsibility for your fashion or something."
"Emiko?" I'm honestly surprised. Sure, my wardrobe wasn't really full of clothes that I could wear. Some gym outfits, party outfits and a few casual dresses. She didn't have to do that. I need to thank her for that. "Any other bad news?" I honestly asking for everything I get at this stage.
"No, not yet at least." He looks relieved. He hates being the bearer of bad news, he normally leaves that to me. "Right, I've to be in work in a while, so I'll leave you here." He stands up, sending a look at Kaoru which makes him begrudgingly get up too. I move to escort them out, but Shinji waves his hand and they see themselves out. Once I hear the door close, I let out a long sigh.
"Are you doing okay?" I can feel Yusei's hand on my back. I lift my head from my hands.
"Aside from being homeless and unemployed, I'm doing just fine." I can't help the words coming out of my mouth.
"Don't worry, you can stay here until you get back on your feet." I look at him. I'm so lucky to have Yusei. To think I was going to run away from him. "Jack and Crow won't mind." I thank him while smiling.
I pick up my deck. I can feel an energy pulsating from my deck. I turn over the top card. Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. My wildcard, so to speak. The energy coming from the card is familiar. I felt it that one day in the card shop. I stared at it in the display case. It called out to me. Why am I feeling this now? I close my eyes and focus on the card. It's a soothing kind of cold, almost welcoming me back. I sigh, resting my deck back on the coffee table.
Hanging my head forward, I frown again with all of the thoughts racing in my head. Still, I can't help but wonder if I did the right thing in confronting Raiden. The City's gone into chaos, I nearly died, I'm unemployed and homeless. All I wanted to do was leave.