Theme #50: Change of Heart
Couple(s): Yusei x Aki and Mikage x Jack
POV: Third.
Language: Medium
Maturity: Medium
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.
"Dammit, hurry up, Yusei," cursed Aki in complaint as a cold sprinkle of rain began to tumble down from the cloudy sky above. Yusei cast a wary glance at her, but remained silent as he fumbled with his keys and unlocked the doors to the "Poppo Time" garage. The pair then hurried inside to escape from the souring weather, and immediately began to strip themselves of their dampened clothing.
"It's amazing how bad the weather can turn in such a short amount of time," mused Yusei aloud, starting to unbutton his jacket. "It was beautiful this morning; not a single cloud in the sky..."
"Perfect for a wedding, huh?" added Aki as she stepped out of her ruby red heels and fell back onto the sofa, rubbing her sore feet. "At least Mikage and Jack left for their honeymoon before the storm came in."
"I suppose so," said the raven-haired male, sitting beside her as he loosened his tie and tossed it aside. His companion didn't reply, silently pulling her bun apart and allowing her vibrant magenta hair to fall to her shoulders. She then pursed her lips, displeased; although she couldn't see her reflection, Aki could tell by the way everything fell down in a disorderly array that her hair was a complete mess. She ran her fingers through her wet locks in an attempt to tame them.
Yusei watched her quietly, his attentive blue eyes noting her every gesture, her every movement; as if he were waiting for some sort of sign. Aki, though at first oblivious, eventually noticed his unrelenting stare and inquired about it. He, as he always did, averted his gaze and turned his cheek toward her, replying that it was nothing.
The young women looked unconvinced, but as usual, didn't push the subject; which gave leeway for silence to poison the rain-sweetened air again. Yet, it was not awkward; the two were adept to silence, they had been their entire life. He was raised in the most remote part of Satellite, away from the roar of the hazardous factories and the busy harbor; she grew up in the slums of Neo Domino, hiding away quietly in the abandoned alleys, where her only companions were the echoing screams of her victims.
"Are you sure your parents are okay with this?" asked Yusei suddenly, breaking the lull of speech. There was a flash of annoyance in Aki's amber irises, though her temper hardly leaked through the cracks.
"I'm 18 now; my parents don't have any jurisdiction over me," she replied coolly, "but yes, they know I'm here and they're fine with it."
"Yes, I know you're free to do whatever you want now," said Yusei with a sigh. "I'd just rather stay on your father's good side."
"Papa likes you," said Aki plainly, shrugging, finally giving up on the hope of fixing her hair.
"And I'd like to keep it that way," said Yusei, averting his gaze from hers once again. "What do you suppose Mikage and Jack are doing?" he asked suddenly, changing the topic of their conversation.
"Gee, I don't know, probably having sex," replied Aki sarcasticlly, rolling her eyes. Yusei could feel his cheeks flush slightly; the last one he wanted to think about was his older brother sleeping with recently-wed wife, especially when he was alone with his very attractive, and probably very willing female Signer companion. Although, even Yusei had to admit that he should have seen that one coming.
"That's not what I meant," he said with an awkward cough.
"Then what did you mean?" asked the Clawed Signer, flipping her red hair back slightly as she leaned in towards him with her chin resting in the palm of her hands and eyelids drooping lazily as if she were tired. (Which Yusei knew, of course, she wasn't; he knew Aki to be feisty when awake but downright mean when she was tired.)
"I only meant to ask what you thought about it all... Crow and I thought Jack would never settle down because... well, you know how he is. He's so-" began Yusei before he was cut off.
"Full of himself? Arrogant? Egotistical?" finished Aki for the Satellite.
"I was going to say untamed."
"Well, I suppose that works too," said Aki, furrowing her brows slightly, pouting from how Yusei shot down her self-amusing stream of insults, "but unfortunately, he fell in love with a woman who wanted a family. And, well, love will do crazy things to you; even give you a change of heart, a desire to become what they want and need, a willingness to give up everything for them."
"Deep," mused Yusei plainly.
"You're the one to talk," snorted Aki, "everything you say is a fu- ah, a confusing puzzle." The young woman had stopped herself mid-sentence to correct her language; she knew Yusei was not very keen on poor language, so she always tried her best to clean it up for him. Yusei cocked his brow at her.
"But how would you know?" he asked, his intensely blue eyes settling directly on her, "How would you know that it gives you a change of heart?"
Now it was Aki's turn to blush. "Personal experience," she replied shortly, making it clear to Yusei that she wanted him to drop the subject. The curve of his lips fell slightly, looking disappointed; however, he was inwardly pleased since her reaction alone spoke volumes.
"I see," he replied coolly, relaxing into the cushions of the sofa and turning his head slightly away from her. And thus, for the third time that night, silence fell; except now, it left Aki completely unsettled. She shifted around uneasily in her spot, clasping and unclasping her hands, twidling her thumbs, shivering as she listened to Yusei's breathing even with the pounding of the rain on the windows.
"Dammit," she mumbled before mustering up all the courage within her to turn toward Yusei and kiss him fully on the lips. Shockingly, he didn't seem surprised by this at all; in fact, he seemed as though he were expecting it as he pressed his lips back against hers. The kiss itself cetainly wasn't magical, nor was it passionate; it was, however, a pure and simple expression of the pair's budding feelings for one another, and really, that was all it needed to be.
"You realize that you have to go home now, right?" asked Yusei after he broke the kiss off with Aki. She pursed her lips, looking a bit put off by his remark.
"Why? It's not like we're going to sleep with each other tonight," she protested. "And even so it's not like I have my virginity to protect or anything."
"I know, but I do," said the Satellite, pushing her magenta bangs away so that he could kiss her forehead. "That, and you father would not be happy if he found out you stayed the night while we were courting."
The rain was brutal by the time the two had ventured outside, and the old, black umbrella wasn't exactly able to hold up well under its duress on the way back to the Izayoi estate. Aki felt, however, that the inconvenient moment was totally worth it as she and Yusei pressed closely together under the shelter of the umbrella, the smell of his musky, inexpensive colone still lingering on his skin, and of course, the remanants of his lips on hers as he kissed her goodnight, the taste as bitter as cinnamon but sweet like apples.
FIN.
Comments: WOW. Last theme. Like, wow. I can't believe it's over. It's actually almost been a year today from when this story was first published. I'm going to be a little arrogant right now and applaud myself for my not-giving-up.
ATTENTION READERS: YUSEI IS A PRUDE. And Aki is slightly slutty. Thank you.
While this may be the last theme, I don't think I'm quite done yet: I'm considering going through all my files and finding all the scenes I changed, cut, or just never ended up using and collaborating them into a "deleted scenes" chapter. That'll be exciting, don't you think?
