Chapter 25

Author's Note: A massive thank you to all of my reviewers. I am really grateful for your kind efforts. I am sad to notify you all that I will now be taking a 1-2 week break as I need to plan for some duelling and it is also exam block for me over the next two weeks so I have a lot of work to do. Sorry for this break but I promise that it will be worth it. Thank you for your patience. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter too and I will see you all again soon.

Aki was the only one still in the room when Yusei calmed down. Crow had gone to deal with Jack and the twins had been sent outside as soon as Yusei's tears had started to run. Now, finally, all of the vulnerable liquid had dried up and Yusei was breathing deeply once more. He looked up to Aki, cheeks burning in shame.

"I'm sorry that you had to see that. It's just...I mean, I..."

"I know. It's ok now." Aki put her hand on Yusei's shoulder.

There was a vast silence. Aki gathered her breath and her courage and dared the question that needed to be asked.

"Yusei, what happened? At least tell me what happened between you and Jack."

"How does it feel to be hurt by your best friend?"

It's not his fault.

"How does it feel to be-?"

Yusei forced the voice to shut up. He looked up at Aki and knew that she could see the internal struggle behind his eyes.

"I need to know, Yusei," Aki held her ground. "It's the only way we can help."

Help? They'll hurt you just like he did. They'll-

"Has Jack said anything?"

Aki hesitated.

"He said that he hurt you."

Yes, yes. He did. It was all him.

"How does it feel to be hurt by your best friend?"

It's not his fault.

"It's not his fault," Yusei gritted the words out like they were stone turning to gravel.

"What's not his fault?" Aki looked very confused.

"I was hurt during the duel but Jack did it to save me."

"Did what? Did he hurt you?"

That's right. He hurt me. Painful. So painful...

"He duelled the man. That's all. The only thing Jack did was duel."

"Then how were you hurt?" Aki was now positively puzzled.

It was Jack. It was all Jack.

"The damage was all real. I don't know how or why but Jack's damage went to him while his opponents went to me."

"So all of Jack's opponent's battle damage was taken out on you?"

"Yes."

That's right. It was all Jack's fault. All his fault. All the pain. All of it.

"Why didn't Jack stop the duel?" Aki looked very mad now.

Yusei hesitated.

"I told him not to. The men said that they wouldn't release me unless Jack beat me. We need to defeat them now. That's all that matters."

"You told Jack not to stop the duel?"

"Yes. It was my life on the line. I know that it wasn't Jack's fault. There was no point in the duel if Jack quit. Someone had to end it. I wanted it to be Jack."

But he betrayed me. All the pain. He didn't need to destroy me. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.

"Yusei, you're shaking."

"I'm fine. It wasn't Jack's fault."

"I didn't say it was."

"We have to duel them before they knock out the other teams."

"I agree. Tell me, though Yusei. Can you still duel?"

Yusei froze. Aki watched on in sympathy.

"You look like you're not only afraid of Jack but you're afraid of duelling too," she elaborated, pushing her luck as far as she thought it could stretch.

"I can...and I'm not scared of Jack."

I can't be scared of him. I can't.

You are. Don't deny it. Look at what he did to you. It's all his fault. It was all Jack. All of it. All him.

Aki steeled herself.

"Prove it to me. Tomorrow morning, I'll take you to the courtyard and we'll have a practice duel. Show me what you can do."

You can't. She'll hurt you too. Just like he did. She'll-

Yusei cleared his head and for the first time in days, his eyes were clear.

"I will," he said.

Aki smiled.

"Good."