Disclaimer: I do not own any Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's characters! I only own my OCs!

Chapter 54: Bruno the Genius

A couple of days later, after the Bonds Beyond Time event, I got a call from Mina that she and Trudge wanted to invite me to dinner. I got a bit surprised, since I knew it was time for Bruno to appear, but it had only been the Satellite Trio who got invited. So why was I also invited?

When I told Blister the name of the restaurant Mina mentioned, the cowboy had exclaimed in surprise. "That's a four-star restaurant! If they have a motive behind the invitation, then they must be using the high-rate restaurant as bait."

So right now, I was in my room, getting ready for the dinner. The truth was I had only a few pairs of outfits. I knew I had to dress at least a bit formal, since it was a four-star restaurant invitation.

The dress I had during the WRGP party was too much, so the only choice I had was the same red tunic I had been wearing when the twins, Tanner, Yanagi and I went to the Arcadia Movement months ago.

I knew girls who acted too dramatically would burn the clothes they had been wearing during a very uncomfortable incident, like getting raped or being cheated by its partner or whatever else. The red tunic that reached to the middle of my thighs was the same one I had been wearing when Sayer tried raping me, and that was an uncomfortable memory. But nothing else happened, since he left before he could undress me, and I had no other clothes that would suit for the dinner, so I chose the red tunic with black stretch tights, black bolero and my black boots. As for my hair, I decided to have it behind the ears and keep it there with red hairpins. It actually looked good on me when I saw my reflection in the mirror.

I pulled out my small wine-red bag and put my Deck, smartphone, keys and wallet in it. I finished checking myself in the mirror before I left the house to take the cab that I had called to get to the restaurant.

Once we reached the garage of the building, I paid for the cab and watched it drive away just as Yusei, Crow and Jack drove down to the garage.

"Hey, it's Estelle!" Crow called when he spotted me.

The young men parked a couple of meters from me before they took off their helmets and locked the Duel Runners.

I held up my hand as greeting when the men approached me. "Hi, guys."

"Well, you're certainly dressed up", Jack commented. "Here on a date?"

I could swear I saw Yusei freeze at the question. Crow grinned lightly at the raven-haired man's reaction.

I shook my head. "No. Mina and Trudge invited me to dinner."

"You too?" Yusei raised an eyebrow once he got over the freeze-mode.

"Yeah", I nodded.

"Same with us", Crow said. "But I don't complain. We get free dinner and I don't have to cook tonight. Plus we've get to taste some high-quality food!" He was drooling a bit from the corner of his mouth. "Man, I always wanted to eat in a high-rate restaurant."

"This seems too suspicious", Jack spoke up.

"Yeah. Mina and Trudge never mentioned they invited you as well, Estelle", Yusei agreed.

"I think I have a hunch what this is all about", I told the guys.

"Really?" Jack wondered. "Well, what is it?"

"You'll figure out soon enough", I replied.

Yusei's lips shifted into a small smile. "Still secretive as always."

"And it's for the best", I retorted with a small smile myself.

"Hey, guys! Hurry up!" Crow called from an elevator.

Jack snorted and walked ahead to the elevator before Yusei and I followed him. I saw from the corner of my left eye how Yusei studied me before he leant closer to my ear.

"You look good…", he whispered.

I blushed at the compliment. "Thank you…"

We took the elevator up to the restaurant and met Trudge and Mina. Trudge was dressed in a suit while Mina had the same outfit as usual. We sat down by a table and a waiter brought out the food, which was steak with potatoes and sauce.

Crow dug in immediately, but Yusei, Jack and I didn't eat. We knew there was a reason behind this sudden invitation. I sat on Mina's right side, so I had a clear view of the city, but I could also see the reflection of Mina and Trudge. Both of them tried to have neutral facial expressions, but they were easy to see through.

Crow didn't even think about the suspicious situation. He just enjoyed the food. "So this is how the rich people eat", he said before taking another bite of his steak. "This is great! It's like the best food I've ever eaten ever!"

He didn't really have good table manners, since he was eating quite loud. Some people from the other tables glanced at us sometimes, but especially at Crow who was too loud. It was a bit embarrassing.

"Come on, guys, dig in already! It's not every day we get taken out to fancy restaurants like this!" Crow tried encouraging his two foster brothers.

Jack was studying Mina and Trudge with sharp eyes while he had his arms crossed. "This whole situation is suspect."

Mina and Trudge cleared their throats, trying to act calm and natural before Mina spoke up. "W-What's suspect about it? What are you talking about?" She let out a nervous laugh. "We just wanted to take you guys out. That's all!"

"You know what Martha used to always tell us?" Yusei said. "'Nothing in this world is free. Everything comes to a cost in one way or another.'"

"Here's the way I'm seeing it; you wouldn't blow your mega-government salaries on us if you didn't want something in return", Jack said.

"Well said, Jack", I nodded.

"Thank you", Jack replied nonchalantely.

"That's…!" Trudge began in a harsh tone, but changed it quickly. "We're just being nice!"

"So there's nothing you want from us?" Jack asked.

"No, no, of course not!" Trudge replied. "I mean, there's this one little favor, but that's-"

"I knew it. Here it comes!" Jack said, still having sharp eyes.

"It's nothing big", Mina said. "There's just this guy, and he's got amnesia, and he was found on the beach last week and, well… Security can't watch him, but he doesn't know where else to go."

"And what does this all have to do with us?" Yusei asked.

Mina turned to Yusei to explain. "He's been staying with Trudge, but it's a small apartment and Trudge has a cat and this guy's allergic to cats, and I don't have room in my place, so…"

"So you want to dump this guy on us?" Jack said, nailing it.

"Yeah!" Crow nodded before he took another bite of the steak while trying to speak with his mouth full.

"Rule number one, Crow; never speak with your mouth full", I reminded him.

I hated it when people tried to speak with their mouths full of food. I nearly choked myself in the past whenever I tried saying something at school and at home. Of course, I had better table manners now than when I was a little girl.

"Just for a little while", Trudge pleaded.

"No way", Yusei replied bluntly.

"Come on, you three!" Mina begged, her eyes being on Jack. "This guy needs help!"

"Not a chance", Jack said clearly.

"I beg if I have to", Trudge bowed his head to the guys.

"Don't bother!" Crow replied.

I saw how both Mina and Trudge were turning their heads towards me. I blinked confusedly for a second before I cast a glance at the young men and realized the adults' backup plan.

"I get it", I said. "You invited me as well to see if I can convince the boys to take in the guy." Mina and Trudge nodded. "Sorry, but this isn't my place to say something. The boys are of age and they can make their own decisions. And even if I would try talking to them, they would still say no."

"Well said, Estelle", Jack said nonchalantely.

"Thank you", I nodded. "Besides, where is this guy?"

"Well, he should have been here by now, but…", Trudge replied before he and Mina shared an uncertain glance. They seemed to not know about the amnesia guy's whereabouts.

"Well, if he's not here, there's nothing we can do. Oh well!" Crow smiled before devouring the food.

XXXXXXXXXX

In the end, Yusei, Jack and I ate our steaks with Mina and Trudge before I followed the young men down to the garage. Something was still bugging me about the amnesia guy. If he was the one I thought he was, then he was going to be a big part for the upcoming events.

"Man, that was close! I almost got settled with some random roommate!" Crow commented.

"Maybe because you let your trudging horse stroll right in by accepting their dinner and pigging out and enjoying yourself!" Jack told the carrot-head.

"Hey, you laughed at the movie they took us to as well", Crow retorted.

"I did not!" Jack spat.

"You did so!" Crow grinned.

I rolled my eyes on the arguing duo as we walked closer to the Duel Runners. It was then Yusei and I spotted someone doing something to Jack's Duel Runner. The person's blue hair told me everything.

Bruno.

"Guys, look!" Yusei spoke up, pointing towards Jack's Duel Runner.

"Hey!" Jack exclaimed before running over to Bruno. "What in the duce do you think you're doing to my Duel Runner?!" Bruno looked up from his work. "I eat little bugs like you for breakfast!"

Jack pulled up Bruno by the collar and delivered a hard punch at the mechanic. Bruno yelled in pain before crashing on the concrete.

"Jack!" I glared at the blonde man before running over to Bruno to help him.

"Don't even look at my Duel Runner again!" I heard Jack growl before he drove off with his Duel Runner.

I sat on my knees next to Bruno and helped him sit up. "Are you okay?"

Bruno rubbed the back of his head before nodding. "Yeah…"

"Are you sure?" Yusei knelt down next to me. "Is anything broken?"

"Forget this guy! Let's go!" Crow said, freaking out a bit about Jack's bad temper.

"Hang on, Crow!" Yusei told his younger foster brother.

"Fellas, what happened?!" Trudge called as he and Mina ran over to us.

"What's going on?" Mina asked.

"We got down here and found this yahoo messing around with Jack's Duel Runner, trying to steal it or something", Crow explained before pointing at Bruno.

Trudge and Mina gasped in surprise when they saw Bruno. "Boys, this is-", Trudge began before he got interrupted by Mina.

"Bruno!" Mina glared at the young man. "Why didn't you come up to the restaurant?"

Bruno panicked before he kept bowing down to the ground in apology. "I saw that incredible Duel Runner and I just had to start poking around! I couldn't help myself! I didn't even know-" He kept rambling excuses while still panicking.

"So I'm guessing this is the stray you wanted us to adopt", Yusei said a bit sarcastically.

"Yeah, this is Bruno", Mina introduced him.

"Are you serious?!" Crow exclaimed in shock before turning to Yusei. "What do you think we should do, Yusei?"

"Why are you asking me for?" Yusei retorted.

I turned my attention back to Bruno. "Can you stand up?"

Bruno stopped panicking and looked at me, as if analyzing me, before nodding. "Y-Yeah."

I held his left arm and helped him up on his feet. Only seconds after that, Jack drove into the garage again and snatched Bruno!

"I'm gonna borrow this jump!" Jack called as he drove out from the garage.

"Huh… I didn't see that coming", Crow commented.

"Come on, let's go!" Yusei said before running over to his Duel Runner.

Crow followed his example and ran to his Duel Runner.

"Go where?" Trudge asked.

Yusei put on his helmet before turning to us. "Don't worry. We'll take it from here." He backed from the parking slot.

"Thanks for the grub, dudes!" Crow thanked Trudge and Mina.

With that said, the duo drove off to see what Jack was going to do with Bruno. Watching them drive their Duel Runners made me a bit jealous. Sometimes I wished I could have the privilege to drive a Duel Runner myself, so I didn't have to summon a Duel Monster or take a cab all the time.

Oh well, you couldn't get everything you wished for.

Mina turned to me when she saw I was still there with them. "We can give you a ride home, if you want."

"Are you sure? It will be quite a big detour for you", I replied, not wanting to make things worse for them.

"It's okay, Estelle", Trudge told me. "We don't mind driving you home."

It sounded to me they really didn't mind taking me home, so I accepted their offer.

XXXXXXXXXX

I didn't hear anything from the guys about the situation with Bruno for two days, so I decided to come over and see what was going on.

When I arrived to the garage, I saw no one in there, but I heard voices coming from upstairs. I walked up to the kitchen and met the sight of Yusei and Bruno sitting by a computer, typing and talking and using unknown terms that had do with mechanic and Duel Runners. Jack and Crow were sitting on the couch next to the stairs, watching the duo with boring and jealous eyes.

I glanced at Crow who noticed I had appeared. But before I could say something, the twins appeared behind me, both of them looking excited.

"Hey, Yusei!" Leo called. "Let's have a Duel!"

"Leo wants to show off a new combo he learned!" Luna added.

But their voices fell into deaf ears.

The next person who walked up to the kitchen was Akiza with a thick book in her hands. "Hey, Yusei! About my physics and calculus homework-"

Crow quickly shushed the trio, which grabbed their attention.

"Who is this new guy?" Leo asked Yusei's foster brothers.

"Some stray dog that Yusei decided to take in", Jack explained with a frown.

"He's like some kind of a mega-super genius engineer or something", Crow added, looking a bit sad.

"Do you think he can do cool stuff to my Duel Board?" Leo asked excitedly. "Like giving it more flashing lights and stuff?"

"Yeaaah… No", Crow replied.

"So what are they talking about?" Luna asked.

"Duel Runners and computers and engines and stuff", Crow replied. "They've been ignoring us for days and speaking their own language. They're like bestest friends now."

"But I'm Yusei's bestest friend!" Leo retorted.

Luna frowned and crossed her arms. "Yeah, okay, what makes you his bestest friend?"

"I just am!" Leo replied with a grin.

I just shook my head and turned to the group. "Everyone." Jack, Crow, Leo, Luna and Akiza turned to me. "Down to the garage."

"What for?" Jack asked a bit irritably.

"Just go", I replied with a harsh glare.

Jack flinched by my eyes, but gave in. The group followed me down to the garage, so I could talk to them without disturbing Yusei and Bruno.

"Guys, I know you're jealous and feel like Yusei is ignoring us, but that's not true", I began.

"Oh yeah?" Jack glared lightly.

"Yusei is in the middle of a very important stage and he must do it", I continued. "The only thing we can do now is to support him."

"Support him?" Leo blinked confusedly.

"We all know Yusei is not a selfish man, like Jack…", I said, pointing at Jack.

"Hey!" Jack retorted with a growl.

"…But he has always helped us without any complains. Now it's our turn to help him without complaining", I continued. "We have to let him be selfish, especially when it's about his passion. Don't you also feel you don't want to get disturbed and get out of the moment when you're into something?"

"Well, when you put it like that…", Akiza said before hugging her book to her chest. "I can accept it."

"Me too", Luna nodded.

"Okay, okay, I won't bother Yusei", Leo groaned lightly.

"At least, don't disturb Yusei until he's done with the project that he and Bruno are working on", I told the group.

"But how can we support them?" Crow asked.

"Simple. By making sure you're quiet around them and not going into loud arguments as you two usually do", I turned my eyes on Jack and Crow.

"Hey! Enough with the insults already!" Jack shouted angrily at me.

"She's right, though! And be quiet!" Akiza glared at the blonde man.

"And I'm sure they will forget to eat and drink, so make some easy food they can eat with their hands, like rice balls or waffles or whatever else", I added. "Just place the food next to them without saying something and they will automatically reach for it."

"You sure Yusei will do that?" Crow asked, looking a bit uncertain.

I nodded, "This is Yusei we're talking about. Even though he won't say anything as thanks, he will feel grateful that you think about him. Besides, you two should know him better than the rest of us."

Jack and Crow shared a glance before they looked a bit ashamed. "Well, yeah, you're right about that…", Crow rubbed the back of his head.

"It just…stinks that a stranger shows up and becomes friends with Yusei in less than a day", Jack frowned.

"Don't worry. Yusei is still the same", I told them. "He won't forget us. In fact, he never will."

XXXXXXXXXX – Crow's POV

It was kinda hard to resist the urge to talk to Yusei, but I held myself back. Heck, even Jack controlled himself, but I could often see he was close to the limit. When he wasn't on work, he said he was out with Carly. Not on dates, as I usually teased him with, but having "real conversations" with someone else. I couldn't help but grin when I knew the reason why Jack always went out with Carly.

Yusei and Bruno had moved their "office" down to the garage and installed one more computer, so both of them could work on the program. From what I could snap up, it sounded like they could make an amazing design program. If it was true, then we would be invincible in the WRGP.

After Estelle's pep talk, I had made rice balls for them and poured juice in two glasses for the guys. As she said, I put the plates with rice balls and glasses with juice next to the duo quietly. By that time, they had still been working in the kitchen. I then sat down on the couch and watched them to see if they would really eat or drink. It took like half an hour before Yusei reached for a rice ball and ate it while talking with his mouth full.

I didn't know why, but I felt a huge relief when I saw Yusei had eaten the rice balls. Estelle was right. Yusei and Bruno would reach for the food without thinking and eat it.

I suddenly felt myself acting like a housewife and that made me crack a big grin. It actually felt good supporting Yusei for once. He was always selfless and refused to be greedy. Now when he was into something that he forgot about the world around him, it felt nice to lend him some of my strength to help.

Man, how many times was Estelle right in everything she said? It still made me wonder why she and Yusei weren't a couple yet. Estelle seemed to understand what Yusei felt and worked like, and she respected that better than the rest of us. She had faith in him.

That thought raised a question for me. When did Yusei fall in love with Estelle officially? I tried remembering back in time to see if there was a difference in how they interacted, but I just couldn't find the gap where their relationship had moved one small step forward.

XXXXXXXXXX – Jack's POV

I didn't know why, but I just couldn't stand being in the garage where Yusei and the stray dog worked together. So whenever I was free from work, I spent most of my time with Carly. She was always welcoming me and I helped her with the investigations for her scoops. Of course, I had to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't get hurt or get into a big mess.

I admired Carly about her passion to find scoops for the gossip magazine editorial staff she worked for. But I felt she deserved to work in a real newspaper and not with some dirty gossip magazine. It just wasn't her style.

I sat on a bench and looked up at the sky, thinking back for a moment. The word "passion" kept repeating in my head.

Passion… Estelle had said that word before, when she told us we should leave Yusei alone with his passion, which was computers and engines.

I had no problem with Yusei's passion, but the only thing that disturbed me the most was the stray dog. How come they had clicked so fast? Was it really because this Bruno character was actually a super-mega engineer as Crow said? Did Yusei really prefer someone like the stray dog to have real conversations with?

Or was it just temporary, since Yusei was desperate to build the perfect engine and write a program for our Duel Runners?

I let out a sigh. I just didn't know how to deal with such situations. I wasn't into all the mushy and deep bond stuff. I wasn't Estelle who seemed to know a lot about emotions and deep thinking.

Estelle must have gone through a lot to understand cases and read a lot too. She did mention before she tried to "live" in someone's body and try to see what that character felt and try imagining it herself. She could be quite a good psychologist if you ask me.

Despite her sometimes childish behavior, she was an intelligent woman. Yusei really needed to get out of his shell and date her before she would get sent back to her dimension. The thought of her leaving made me feel a bit sad. She became a member of our group and was like a big sister. I knew I would certainly miss her. There, I admitted it! Now don't laugh at me!

I heard Carly cry out my name, which made me look around and see her run over to me with two mugs of coffee. The sight of her made me smile lightly. She was really like a fortune lady. And lately, this weird feeling kept returning in my heart whenever I saw her.

What the heck could that be?

XXXXXXXXXX – Estelle's POV

It had been a couple of days since I was in the garage. From what I got to know from Crow, Yusei and Bruno were eating the food he prepared for them and Jack kept spending his time with Carly. I barely remembered what would happen next, but I knew the design program would get stolen.

I had just finished eating breakfast in the early morning, all alone in the dining room, when I felt a harsh tug from my Mark. I grunted in pain and grabbed my arm, rubbing it to smooth the pain. I pulled up the black sleeve and saw Yusei, Jack and Crow's Marks glowing along with my Star Mark.

Something must have happened to them if I felt that painful throb. I only felt this pain whenever someone got physically hurt.

Without thinking, I pulled on my jacket and boots and rushed out of the house. I didn't even think on bringing my Deck. I transformed into my Warrior Form and jumped up to the sky. I let my wings spread open and fly towards New Domino City.

I flew as fast as I could to the Fountain Plaza district and landed next to the fountain. I turned back to my normal self and rushed to the garage. I burst open the doors that were luckily unlocked.

"I'm here! What's the emergency?!" I called.

The sight I was met with was the four young men standing by the computers, their attention at me. They were all looking very surprised to see me.

I looked at all four of them, seeing they were okay. "You're all fine?"

"Ehh… What's up, Estelle?" Crow asked or greeted.

I closed the doors and walked down the stairs to get to the group. "I felt my Mark throb so hard I thought you guys were in danger."

"We're not in danger", Yusei told me. "The only problem here is that someone stole the design program and deleted it from our computer."

So the program got stolen as in the anime, but what was that painful throb about? Unless… I recalled one old time during the Fortune Cup. It was when I felt the painful tug from my heart when Akiza got emotionally upset.

"Were you guys upset or angry moments ago?" I asked.

"Well, Jack nearly blew a gasket, assuming Bruno is the culprit", Crow pointed out.

Jack just growled from his throat with his arms crossed.

"But the rest of you also got upset for one second or so?" I asked.

"Yep", Crow nodded.

"Yeah. Especially knowing that all the hard work and time got wasted in the end by someone stealing the program", Yusei replied.

I rubbed my right arm. "Then the throb I felt must have been your emotional pain and not physical…" I let out a soft groan. "I went all impulsive and thought you were in danger." I crossed my arms and pouted lightly. "Next time I see the Crimson Dragon, I will file a report of complaint to him."

Yusei and Crow chuckled at my comment. Jack got a very small grin on his lips while Bruno looked confused.

I let go of the slight anger I held and moved to the critical situation. "Back to the present, did you guys find any clues about this thief?"

"No, nothing", Crow replied. "He must have used gloves, since I checked for fingerprints around the computers."

It was then Bruno walked up to the regular-looking room-service cart, which the boys used for their noodle cups and water boiler. "There were four Noodles Togogo cups here when we went to sleep."

"What?! He stole my Noodles Togogo?!" Jack exclaimed, rage being painted on his face.

Bruno found some cellophane in the trash bin and picked it up with a tweezer, finding a single fingerprint. "I think we got a fingerprint after all. While our criminal was waiting for the data to copy, he treated himself to one of our noodle cups."

"He what?!" Jack exploded again.

"What a jerk!" Crow commented.

"Like me the other day, he was having a hard time with the cellophane, so he had to take his gloves off", Bruno assumed.

Yusei and Bruno went immediately to work to find out the identity of the fingerprint's owner. They had to hack into the Sector Security's data base, but they made sure the tracking would take five minutes for the government by placing out fake beacons around the globe. I got surprised when I saw Yusei had chosen Norway to place one of the fake beacons on.

It took just one minute for Bruno to crack the code and was about to break through the final firewall when we were met by the sight of a Duel Puzzle. I've heard of those back in my dimension; those were added in the DS games of this Yu-Gi-Oh! season, but I never got a chance to play any of the games.

"Huh?! What's going on? How come a Duel screen just popped up?" Crow asked.

"Looks like…an endgame", Yusei replied.

"They must have been using the endgame of a Duel, functioning as the main system's password", Bruno said.

"So if we don't win this Duel, we can't move forward?" Crow wondered.

"Yeah, that sums it up, and we got four minutes", Yusei told us.

"Oh great, I mean, no pressure or anything", Crow commented.

"Don't worry, we can do this", Bruno said. "The opponent's got 2300 Life Points and we got a thousand. He got five Monsters on the field, and in his Spell and Trap card Zone he's got one face-down card."

"And there's an activated Spell in play; The Dark Door", Jack added.

Bruno nodded, "Right. Meanwhile, we've got Tragoedia in our field. It gains 600 attack points for every card in our hand. We're holding six in this point, so Tragoedia's packing 3600 attack points."

"So basically, we got to win this thing in one turn", Crow summarized.

"Our main worry is that face-down on his field. That's the clincher", Yusei said.

XXXXXXXXXX

After Crow and Jack failed with the Duel Puzzle, Bruno made it through the Duel Puzzle and he and Yusei could now identify the owner of the fingerprint. And it was a big surprise for the Satellite Trio, and partly for me too when the picture of the thief's popped up. I had nearly forgotten who the thief was.

"You know him?" Bruno asked us.

"Yeah, he's with Sector Security. His name is Lazar", Yusei said.

"It's been a while since we heard something from him", Crow commented.

"Except he left us a small fingerprint message that he was here last night", I said.

"I just can't believe it. It doesn't make sense! Why would he want to steal our engine design program?" Yusei wondered.

"I don't know, Yusei, but come on; proof is proof", Jack replied. "And his prints were here, so that means he must have been here too."

"But he's like a New Domino bigshot", Crow said. "Not exactly the breaking-in type. No one's gonna believe us!"

"Yes, so I say we go find the weasel and get him to confess the crimes straight out!" Jack replied.

"But why would he confess?" Bruno pointed out. "After all, if the guy's a thief, then it's a safe bet he's gonna be a liar as well." He turned to us. "Look, if he stole the program, then he's gonna be planning to do something with it. What if we were to follow him?"

"And then what?" Yusei questioned.

"Do what it's the natural thing to do to confront thieves", I said.

"Then if he does something suspicious, we just grab him!" Jack replied.

"Right! And catch him right-handed with our program!" Crow added.

Yusei nodded, "I like it."

Bruno turned back to the computer. "Great! I'll find out where he is now."

The blue-haired man was about to check Lazar's current location when Yusei placed a hand on his shoulder, getting his attention.

"Bruno, this program is about more than just lines of codes. It's about our dreams. It's about the bond we all share", Yusei told him.

"I know", Bruno replied.

"Then you know that we have to get it back at any cost", Yusei added.