Heartaches

Chapter 54

By KellyQ

Yusei walked to the back of the racetrack to see Bruno standing next to his motorcycle. "I knew that you were going to come back," Bruno said, watching Yusei walk up. His toolbox was sitting on the leather set.

"I was thinking about testing the bike first before we do anything else," Yusei said moving the toolbox back. He grabbed his helmet and placed it on his head, walked back to his motorcycle. Yusei sat down and started engine. He liked the sound it made. The rev on board with its accelerator gave off a nice feel, and the motor sounded like a big tomcat purring after having a nice meal.

"You like?" Bruno asked hopefully over the sound of the engine.

"Very …!" Yusei said, sounding pleased. He revved up the engine. "Are you ready?"

Bruno tilted his head to the side. "You … you want me to ride with you?"

A playful smile made its way to Yusei's lips. "Of course! Now grab a helmet and hop on!"

Bruno's face lit up. He went to the table, snatched a blue helmet, and went back over. He sat behind Yusei, placed the helmet on, and wrapped his arms around Yusei's waist. He pressed on the gas pedal and they were off. Yusei veered around the corner, keeping the motorcycle steady. The red bike was going around the track 64 miles an hour.

"This is great!" Yusei called over his shoulder. I'll have to challenge Jack with a race! The thought thrilled him, and it would help Jack distract him from the pain he was feeling about what was going on with Martha and the kids.

"Yusei, look out!" Bruno called out snapping him out of his thought.

Yusei flinched and his eyes widened. Standing 30 feet away was Primo. He wasn't wearing the shawl over his head or his open skirt. His spiky gray hair parted off here and there. He didn't look like he was going to move out of the way. Yusei slammed on the breaks and the motorcycle went swerving out of control. The motorcycle started spinning, and Yusei was having a hard time controlling it. Bruno unwrapped his arms and helped Yusei veer his bike, before it came to a sudden halt two feet away from Primo.

A thin layer of dust that the bike created finally blew in the wind. Bruno got off the motorcycle, but Yusei pulled him back. The tension around them made Yusei feel uncomfortable; he also had to admit that Primo looked even more unattractive than he did when he had other clothes.

"Primo …!" came a high soft male voice. They turned their heads to see a child no older than 8 years old. He had long dark red hair that went all the way past his hips. His skin color was peach and his dark-green eyes held a lot of personality. His outfit was nothing more than blue and green spandex, a loose white shirt, tight shorts and red shoes. His name was Lester. In his hand was Primo's shawl. Lester ran up and glared at Yusei and Bruno before he set his full attention on Primo, slapping him with the shawl. "You're not racing until your motorcycle is looked at!"

"Who are you competing against?" Yusei probed. He wasn't going to let Primo walk all over whoever he was going to go up against.

"That's none of your business!" Lester huffed, glaring at Yusei, who wasn't even fazed by the nasty look he got from the boy. "Who the hell are you anyways?"

"Yusei, a member of a team that will be called 5Ds when the race starts in a 5 days," Yusei informed.

Lester scoffed again and turned his attention back to Primo. "Are you coming back or not?" He waited for a moment and glared at Bruno when Primo didn't answer. "You were supposed to help Primo check his bike, not go around and make new friends with the enemy!" Lester accused.

Yusei narrowed his eyes and gave a disapproving look at Primo. "Bruno was just helping me, but if he was supposed to help you first, I do apologize."

"Damn right it's your fault! Now Primo has to wait, no thanks to you!" Lester said in a snippy tone.

Sudden anger welled up in Bruno. "I was just helping Yusei get his motorcycle up to speed! Besides, Primo can wait!"

Everyone was surprised for a second but Primo was the first to growl. "You disrespectful ..." but he paused when he noticed that some of the other bikers were starting to come out on to the racetrack. "Fine! Do what you want, but hand him back, is that clear?"

Yusei narrowed his eyes as he watched Primo yank the shawl out of Lester's hand, turn him around and push the child forward. "Hold up," Yusei said in a crisp tone. Primo turned slightly to acknowledge that he was listening though he wasn't making eye contact. "How about we race? If you win, he's free to be what team he's on ..."

Lester scuffed and Primo growled. He turned, glaring Bruno who cringed. No! Bruno thought, Yusei doesn't have to do that! I should do it myself!

"No. I'll do it. Besides, I'm tired of being treated like I'm retarded anyways," Bruno said, feeling strength and confidence that he didn't know he had.

"Don't you even know how to ride a bike?" Lester said in a condescending tone.

"Go back inside before I cut your hair off, Lester!" Primo cut in, pushing the child quite hard, making sure that Lester was walking to where the bikes were parked.

"I know how to ride a motorcycle," Bruno said, feeling insulted by the remark.

"When you want Bruno ready?" Yusei asked.

"Two hours and no later," Primo answered. He turned and followed Lester.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Bruno?" Yusei asked, facing his new friend. Bruno nodded his head, a determined expression on his face. "You can use my motorcycle."

"Your motorcycle is fast, but it won't be good enough to match up against Primo's," Bruno explained. "But thanks."

"But how are you going to even race him without a bike?" Yusei asked, pushing his bike to the back.

"I have my own that's just as good," Bruno answered, following him.


Jack and Crow came two hours later to see Yusei standing by the table working on his laptop. Crow glanced over Yusei's shoulder to see that he had hacked into some personal information about the upcoming races.

"What the hell are you doing?" came Jack's voice.

Before the blonde haired teen could make a move, Yusei spoke up. He was still looking at the screen. "Let Bruno check you motorcycle over …"

"Done!" Bruno announced. He pulled back, grabbed a towel that was draped over the seat, and wiped his hands off. "I installed a few safety features, and adjusted a few parts so that your bike runs a little smoother," Bruno explained, facing Jack.

The blonde haired teen didn't look thankful, he looked like he was ready to punch Bruno for touching his motorcycle. Bruno yelped when Jack struck him in the face.

"Jack, what are you doing?" Crow asked, confused. He walked up and pulled his friend away from Bruno.

Yusei was already by his side helping Bruno stand. "That was completely uncalled for, Jack. I asked Bruno to make adjustments."

"I'm sorry if I did any harm!" Bruno protested. "I just wanted to help Yusei out! You are his partner in racing, aren't you?"

Jack sighed. "Yes." He turned his attention to his boyfriend. "What's going on with all the new upgrades?" Jack followed Yusei to the computer.

Bruno and Crow were also looking at the laptop as well. "Who's that?" Crow asked, making a face when he saw the picture of Primo.

"Oh that's right! I forgot! I have to get ready to race!"

Before Yusei could say anything, Bruno was already gone. Yusei narrowed his eyes when he glanced back at the picture. He grabbed his helmet, walked over to his motorcycle and started the engine, and drove off. Crow and Jack nodded their heads and followed Yusei on their motorcycles.


The two friends came to a stop where Yusei had parked his bike on the sidelines, having a good view of the race.

"What's going on, Yusei?" Crow asked, trying to put the things together that led to this point.

Jack eyed his boyfriend for a moment, seeing that he was concentrating on the race that just started. His violet eyes narrowed as his averted his attention back to the race.

The rest of the other team members had already parked on the sidelines and Lester was in the group of people that were watching. Everyone but four were examining the race, shouting for Bruno to win. Lester stood there glaring at Bruno while Harald, Dragan and Brave silently watched.

"What do you think is going to happen? Doesn't Yusei know that Primo will take that poor kid apart?" Brave whispered in Harald's ear.

Harald glanced at Yusei to see that he was paying close attention. "We can only pray to god that Bruno will win." By this point, Primo was trying to ram into Bruno's blue motorcycle. "Right now I see angels watching over him."

Brave looked closer and smiled. He always liked the way his friend viewed harsh situations like this one. Brave wasn't the only one, Dragan was too. He too saw angels who were keeping Bruno safe.


The race lasted for another thirty seconds. Bruno didn't fight back all too much, but he managed to out race Primo by accidentally knocking his motorcycle out of the way. It spun out of control and Primo went flying off and he landed on the side of the racetrack. Everyone waited to see if he could get up, but after waiting, everyone cheered for Bruno. Lester got up and ran for Primo to see if he was alright as the others ran for Bruno, congratulating him.

Yusei made his way through the crowd to make sure that Primo was going to keep his word.

"I'm keeping my word," Primo said, dusting himself off, not fazed that he had lost, "but that doesn't mean things are over." By now Lester took Primo's bike off the racetrack and was waiting for him with hate in his eyes for Bruno.

Jack, Crow, Harald, Brave and Dragan were standing side by side giving Primo and Lester disapproving looks.

To Be continued ...