Yo! Hope you all had a good week and welcome back to my story!
Two lost souls of Fusion have finally reunited, let's see what happens next for them.
To Guest 01: You will find out soon enough.
Side note: do you guys feel strange that Akaba Leo can amass a lot of adolescents as soldiers for him without the world knowing?
Have a good time reading everyone!
Spiral 4: Reminiscence
"Please be safe in there… Barrett…"
Yuri finishes putting on Barrett's smaller sized clothes that somehow fits him, a purple shirt and black jeans. Selena has told him Barrett had no choice but to comply with Leo's plan so he has no trouble putting them on. He goes out of the bathroom and enters the kitchen where Selena is resting on a chair; despite her own blackened sleepy eyes, the girl is trying her best to stay awake for him.
Quietly, Yuri finds another one and sits down, facing Selena.
"You're hungry?" Selena points at the folded white napkin and instant ramen she has prepared for Yuri while he was changing clothes.
Yuri hesitantly but eventually reaches out for it. Just before he touches the box, he turns to Selena.
Noticing his stare, Selena quickly responds. "I ate, don't worry. It's gonna cool down soon."
"Thanks… Selena…" He stutters, then he immediately gulps down on the ramen. The Fusion girl tiredly looks at that pathetic form of a human swallowing anything just for survival. A million thoughts run inside her head, how tired she is, how tired Yuri is, how Barrett is holding up in Academia, how long she has before Academia and Lancers eventually get here, how the future will open for her and Yuri, how…
Uh… too many to keep track off…
Better just watch her old-and-now-kind-of-rekindled friend who only wanted to bring her as much torment as possible just two days ago eating ramen like a madman for now. Selena notices a tear drop running down to the box as Yuri eats, the same mark of weakness she has glanced at several times after the brutal training he endured through CCTV. She fights hard not to let her own run down.
In just less than five minutes, the box is empty. Yuri places the empty box down then grabs the napkin to wipe his mouth, he then silently watches as Selena grabs both the dirty napkin and the box to put in the wastebasket that somehow survived the abandonment of the foster house.
And he silently watches Selena returning to her seat as well.
No one talks to each other.
No one knows what to say to each other.
Besides some quick glances of pleading, no one dares to do anything else.
"So… you want to talk first? Or I will?" He manages after a long quiet minute that felt like hours. Selena says nothing in return, only staring at the blurry form of Yuri as if expecting him to answer for her. And frankly, neither one is having the will to even talk.
"Alright…" Yuri sighs deeply, his eyes narrowed at the empty space between them.
"…Hmm…" Clear hesitance. "Let's not go there yet…" They both know they are in no mood for another heated argument right now, have to charge energy first. At least the ice of silence is showing the first crack.
"Why are you back here? In this dimension I mean. Academia has remotely removed that function on your Duel Disk when you are with the Lancers…"
Selena stares at the bag she has put on the table.
"You want a long story or short one?"
"Time is nothing to me now so…" Yuri gives her the cue. "Long talk will work…"
"Fine…" Selena slightly nods, still keeping her eye level down. "The moment I found out Akaba Leo would do something to you, I tried to find my way back here. I could not convince the Lancers and Resistance, obviously." Yuri heartlessly chuckles at that. "Academia Duel Disks? Either gone when its users were sealed in cards or confiscated."
"So how exactly did you got back here?"
Selena pauses, unsure of what to say. Normally, Yuri would waste no time forcing another soldier to say what he/she wants to say if he finds them hesitating. Not tonight though.
"I…" Selena manages. "I was with the Lancers right? Then… only one way to be back here…"
"You betrayed them." Yuri finishes for her. "Just like you always do…"
Selena notes that there was not any malicious intent in those words, just a resigned confirmation. No matter how twisted it was, at least it brought her some sense of warmth.
"Yeah…" She heartlessly chuckles. "In exchange for Yuzu, Ruri and Rin's locations, I will get a promotion. So, Professor sent two teams to attack. One hit Sakaki Yusho's hideout, another went to Xyz and ambushed the Resistance. Both were successful, many were carded, the girls were captured, but…"
"But what?"
"Ruri escaped, and in a fit of rage, Edo killed her brother Shun with a knife instead of carding him…"
Now that catches Yuri's attention. There is always this anger Edo has shown many times over, especially to the Sakaki males, but Yuri never thought Edo would ignore carding people for the project and straight up murdered someone like that, and if Kurosaki Shun was murdered that way, his sister Kurosaki Ruri and his best friend Yuto along with pretty much anyone in Xyz will roar for vengeance. That will only bring Yuri and especially Selena trouble.
"When I got back here, Barrett told me you were…"
"Killed." Yuri says. "I mean, killed. Like Kurosaki Shun. Then how did you escape?"
"We staged a play. I faked knocking Barrett out and jumped out of your room's window. He bought me enough time to secretly help me out through comms, I got to the sewers and jumped to the sea."
"And you dove and swam all the way from that fortress to shore all by yourself?"
"Got a little help." Selena shows Yuri a card with the image of a scuba-diving suit. "Thanks to Barrett."
"But even then, Academia and Juvenile Officers should have been heavy on your tail."
"I found a tourist boat when I escaped and sneaked into it. When I was near shore I escaped to the sewers again. That led a way to Barrett's apartment that he sometimes stays when Professor allows him to rest. So, there you go."
Still keeping his eyes away from Selena, Yuri's lips curves into a small yet warm smile.
"What is that?"
"It's just… that was awesome. Definitely worthy material to include in an autobiography."
Selena smiles back. "Thanks…"
"That still leaves one question though." Yuri says. "You thought I was dead when Akaba Leo burned me, so how did you think I was still alive to prepare Barrett's clothes for me like this? And how did you know to go here to find me?"
"After hiding in Barrett's apartment, let's just say my mission to go back to you failed utterly." Yuri somehow feels at ease knowing Selena really meant it when she said she still cares about him. "I was lost, no idea of what to do. But then, something strange happened."
"Something strange?"
Selena raises her right hand up, showing her bracelet. "This."
"Your bracelet…" Yuri mutters. "Wait, it has something supernatural like Hiragi Yuzu's own?"
"Yeah, mine does something strange too. Same with Rin and Ruri's."
"What strange does it do?"
"It glowed up and… suddenly I saw memories…"
"Memories…?"
"Memories of you… but not like from the past since there was nothing like that from what I've seen… I'd call it your… present memories."
Yuri slightly nods. "Present memories. Some kind of… clairvoyance?"
"Honestly I'm not sure… but it's not like enough supernatural things have happened already, you know what kind… so…"
"So your magic bracelet somehow convinced you that I was still alive." Yuri concludes.
"But how did you survive being burned?" Selena questions. "You said you were killed…?"
Yuri shakes his head, hugging his arms close, still shivering from the experience. "I was killed, yes. For real. But how did I return to life? No idea, no intention to know why."
"But whatever happened…" Yuri slowly looks up to Selena's face, trying to remember every detail on it as it this is the last time he ever gets to see her. His lips close tight to each other, forming a sad yet grateful smile at the same time.
"I am sincerely thankful that you are here with me now."
Surprised, Selena widens her eyes, staring at him in disbelief, yet appreciative too.
"I am… I am…" His face slightly shakes up and down repeatedly like some sort of glitch.
"I am sorry…" He finally manages. "For everything I did to you…"
Selena cannot hold her tears from running down anymore.
"I am sorry for everything too… and I am glad you are still alive here… with me…"
The two youngsters close their distance together with a hug again, but this time when they finally stop exploding their combustive emotion, they are not frowning anymore.
They are smiling.
Yuri, for finally escaping the trap laid to him the moment he first stepped his feet in Academia.
Selena, for finally atoning her biggest mistake three years ago.
But at what cost?
Yes.
Another mistake.
Two mistakes cannot cancel each other out.
Still hugging close, Selena turns her face to the opposite side of Yuri.
"So… Yuri…"
"Yeah…?"
"What are we doing now?"
As much as Yuri wants to have this dream-like situation happen forever, he knows reality lasts longer than illusion can ever will.
"I betrayed the Lancers to come back here, I escaped Academia to be here… they'll all hunt me down…" Selena crumbles down. "What are we gonna do?"
"Let's just…" Yuri lets go of the hug and puts his hands on Selena's shoulders. "Let's just run away. Run away from all of this." Those same words she spoke to him the last time they met.
"Where?" She weakly asks.
"Well…" Yuri grabs a flyer in the stove and shows it to Selena. "I know a place…"
Academia does not train its fighters to disappear out of the radar, but as an actual former soldier in the Russian Federation Armed Forces, Barrett knows a lot about laying low as Selena's visit to his apartment showed.
A normal-looking bag any civilian would use to carry essential equipment, a detailed holographic map of the world that even marks the current location if desired, money, IC cards, clothes, food, water, tools, … Basically his apartment is filled with everything one would need to lay low for a long time. Selena speculates Barrett would disappear from the public eyes by using this apartment as the first step if something ever goes wrong, which she now "inherited" in his place.
He even instructed her on creating fake ID cards as well as naturally they left their belongings in Academia without any chance of getting them back for now which she has used to create two for her and Yuri. All of what Selena got tremendously helped both of them catching a 新幹線 (shinkansen - bullet train) from Tokyo to Nagasaki without any sign of being spotted so far. The CCTV problem? Caps, hoodies and face masks (which will ignite racism from the fusion of the spectrum variant from overseas, a history lesson of the COVID-19 virus that Selena got before she moved to Academia), done.
Even when Solid Vision helped pushing the boundaries of bullet trains further and further, it will still take about five hours to travel from Tokyo to Nagasaki on it, which is not a problem for Yuri and Selena at all as they can finally get some sleep leaning each other's head together after their horrible experiences. And as always, the train is as smooth as ever, nearly drowning the two teenagers in eternal sleep if not for the automated announcement and one helpful passenger who wakes them up.
After getting out of the train, the two takes a taxi and gets to the location Yuri has given in about thirty minutes, admiring the peaceful atmosphere, the calm river and the blooming season of the cherry blossom through the window along the way. Surely there is sea and tree and nature around Academia too but nothing of it can be compared to the real, genuine countryside right here. Neither says anything to each other but Selena does take a few photos with a polaroid camera she found in Barrett's apartment (damn, the hardened soldier does have a strange but endearing soft spot) and she occasionally nudges Yuri's arm to admire the serene view of the countryside with her. All of it is enough to get a small smile out of each other.
Welcoming the two youngsters the moment they get off the taxi and pay the fare is a small, old, traditional Japanese house with a rather spacious front yard in the front housing several tall trees.
Selena speaks up as she looks at the door, holding a box wrapped in cloth in the style of 風呂敷 (furoshiki) she has prepared back in Tokyo. "Is this the place?"
"This is the place." Yuri reassures her, the phone number for leasing he found in the flyer could not be wrong. He steps forward and ring the bell.
Ding dong.
Silence.
Yuri and Selena wait.
10 seconds.
20-
The door opens. A woman in her forties comes out.
"Ayukawa Emi-san?" Yuri speaks up.
The woman widens her eyes in shock, she places her hand over her mouth.
"Yuri?"
Yuri smiles. "It's been 4 years right? Never thought I'd see you again."
"Hello Emi-san." Selena says from behind and bows her head down in respect.
"Selena too?!"
"Yes we are."
Without further words, the three people come closer and give a tight hug.
"Oh my god, you two are so tall now." It is true. Standing in front of the woman is no longer two small kids playing Duel Monsters on table daily anymore but two late teenagers standing at 172 and 165 centimeters respectively.
"Come on in you two."
All three get in the house. Selena and Yuri sit down around the table in the living room. A short while later Emi comes in, she pours out tea from a teapot down to three small cups, one for Yuri, one for Selena and one for herself. She puts the teapot in the center of the table and turns to the teens.
"I really thought you called me for leasing the house Selena, what's with the deeper voice in that phone call?" Emi speaks up.
"Well…" Selena says. "We wanted a surprise for you, you helped us a lot when we were younger back then. And no, this is not the leasing of our old house."
"Yeah… gotta sell it or have it rented to get money back…" Emi sadly says. Selena and Yuri did notice the rather empty house despite the size before, but now they got possible confirmation why.
"What do you mean by that?" Yuri asks.
"A few months ago my family was in a car accident. A drunk driver hit us. My husband and my son died…" Emi sadly recalls the incident. "So I moved here ever since, our house for occasional rest from busy city life…"
"I'm sorry for what happened to you Emi-san. We have no idea…"
"It's nothing." Emi reassures the teens. "Orphans like you two are even rougher, but as humans, we have to find a way to go through tragedy no matter what."
"You seem to take it well so far." Selena speaks up. "We…"
A silence, Selena's eyes narrow, Yuri sadly looks on, his face just as sad.
"Yeah I kinda get it when I saw you two outside." Emi says. "Every small detail in your faces tells me that."
"You're always that perspective huh?" Yuri remarks in defeat. "Yes Emi-san. Actually… we are in a very big mess right now, and I don't know what to do and where to go so…"
Selena helps him continue. "Let's just say we took a few days off Academia and came back to the foster house but found out it was abandoned, then we found the flyer. I called you using the phone number printed on it and the rest is as you know now."
"Academia?" Emi notices, she shakes her head. "I guess it was a mistake giving you two to that school…"
Yuri's eyes perk up in surprise. "What? You know something about Academia?"
"Not really, but I heard rumors about it. You know, students running away from it, the school is not just a simple Duel school as it seems on the news, and I could not help but feel worried for you two."
"Yeah…" Yuri sighs deeply. "It's much worse than you will ever think it is… which is why we are here right now. We have nowhere else to go and we're really sorry to say this, but we need to lay low for some time."
"Oh my god… I was right…" Emi gasps, she quickly grabs their hands. "Please Yuri, Selena, tell me everything."
"Let us pray our respects to your family first Emi-san, then we will tell you everything."
Just like expected, while Yuri and Selena can tell the woman who along with her husband once took care of them like their own kids pretty much everything she needs to know, nothing is certain about the time it takes for Emi to fully absorb everything and calmly control herself back. Luckily, she seems as normal as she possibly can and still accepts Yuri and Selena in to lay low as she also disappeared from the wider picture after her family was gone too.
From the outside, Academia is one of the best boarding Duel schools around the globe with several branches worldwide training two successful generations of professional Duelists who usually get high rankings on many annual competitions across the globe, and when it changed its chancellor ten years ago from Samejima to Akaba Leo who was also famous as a scientist introducing the concept of adding mass to Solid Vision that helped Dueling and other life applications tremendously, the school got more reputation than it had ever been before.
But turned out, everything was a perfect cover to hide behind the greatest atrocity of human history closely rivaling the Holocaust of Adolf Hitler.
While there are still freshly graduated students under Leo's reign to follow a Dueling career as adults of course, it is just a cover to hide many other youngsters secretly trained to be Duel soldiers. Those who got brainwashed by Academia's teaching were kept as soldiers, those who did not either tried to run away or get carded by some kind of Human Sealing technology, and even if they went back to shore in one piece, the Juvenile Officers are waiting on standby to card them on sight and sometimes Academia enforcers, especially Yuri who Leo sometimes employed to satisfy the kid's desire, joined in the hunt too.
In there, the young soldiers are taught to follow Academia's orders and its ultimate goal called ARC Area Project without questions, to treat the upcoming invasion on Xyz (which of course happened one year ago) as some kind of honor mission to reunite the four dimensions for the greater good (and for those who found fun in it, a game to unleash their wrapped sadistic desire for joy on). If the press and their parents ever get a bit suspicious, a phone call reassuring things are okay and some money from Akaba Leo will do the job. If things slightly get escalated? Brute force and intimidation. Academia is very good at keeping everything under control because as powerful as it is, it is still a school without much political power (if any); with that cover system running deep to the core like that, nothing suspicious was spotted for ten years straight.
After the day Yuri and Selena told Emi everything, she has stopped taking leasing calls by faking being sick for the time being. She also reserved a guest room with two separate beds (for not need to talk reasons), though she is certain the two youngsters would cuddle at night in the same one after she goes to sleep (not that she minds, they are in huge trouble and need any help possible, especially from each other). In return, Selena has been helping her with the household chores (although there are robots, the young girl insisted on doing it by her own hands) and Yuri has done a bit of "re-innovating" with the help of Real Solid Vision construction cards to better deal with earthquakes and typhoons. The young boy was happy to receive the compliment from the woman and he was sure Selena also gave him a very big proud smile too, probably the biggest she has ever given.
Despite everything, both Yuri and Selena can feel things finally getting better for both of them.
Until…
"Yuri."
The boy hears Selena calling him from the front door. Reluctantly separating his eyes from the peaceful air and golden scenery of the sunrise, Yuri turns to her. She wears a purple t-shirt with cap sleeves and white shorts that Emi has bought for her during her drive to the town the next day after the two arrived which eventually grows into her preferred clothes during her stay here and she also seems to have taken a bath as well as indicated by the wet hair.
Yuri has to admit, this costume Selena chose to wear really empathizes her thin yet athletic figure so well, and with that, he also starts feeling something else.
Something… different…
Or rather…
Something new covered so long under something old, yet always staying there…
"Hey, it's rude to stare!" She abruptly cut off his thoughts.
Blushing, Yuri quickly composes himself. "Uh… sorry, still hard to adjust Academia life to this… Why did you call me?"
Selena is not sure whether Yuri meant my "this" but she is glad he did not seem to notice her own burning cheeks though. "No… nothing."
"You do not call my name and then pretend there is nothing. Don't try to hide Selena."
Selena sighs. "Haizzz… I just want to see you okay? It's not like I'm running away; they might spot us after all."
"Then come here." Selena slowly walks over and delicately sits down next to Yuri in the yard. They silently enjoy the view of the blue sky for some time. When was the last time they were together admiring nature like this? Four years?
"Where's Emi-san?" Yuri speaks up, still looking at the sky.
"In the town buying foods again." Selena answers. "She's been helping us a lot."
"I know. We cannot stay here for any longer can we? Sooner or later Academia and Lancers will find us. Got anywhere in mind to go?" Yuri looks at Barrett's secondary Duel Disk that Selena got inside his apartment and gave to him with Yuri's backup Deck that the soldier gave her before she ran away installed. "Don't look at this one Selena. Academia has a strict rule with dimension travelling."
"So we cannot go to other three dimensions then?" Selena sadly remarks, gently touching her Duel Disk. "Mine's gone too, I removed the tracking chip but Academia deleted the dimension travel function out before that."
"Even if we can Selena." Yuri looks straight at her. "With everything I did, Xyz will take us prisoner or card us on sight, Synchro and Standard will detain us before delivering us to Xyz or LDS."
"At least we grow up in this dimension. How about a country?"
"I got two." Yuri turns on the holographic map he takes out from his pants pocket. "South Korea and USA. Which one would you choose?"
"None will work Yuri. Academia has branches in those two countries; they'll spot us soon enough."
"I don't know…" Yuri sighs. "I just thought of somewhere safe without Academia and internal shitty politics but nothing seems to be working out so far."
Selena turns on her Duel Disk and searches the Internet, Yuri quietly watches her doing her thing. This time, despite feeling his eyes on her, Selena seems to forget reminding him and actually kind of enjoys it.
"Here."
"Hmm… good enough. Won't be too much trouble living a new life in there. You still have tools to make fake visas and passports from Barrett's place?"
"Yep. Still with us."
Yuri keeps looking at Selena who is busily checking general information of the country she chose, a sad and pensive look visible on his face.
"Thanks for the lunch Emi-san." Yuri smiles at the woman after receiving another good meal from her.
"You're welcome." Emi notices Selena taking a seat around the table and there is one world written based on her facial expression: serious.
"What's going on Selena? You seem pretty… stressed?"
"Well…" Selena trails off a bit, unsure of what she wants to say. "First off, we are really thankful for your help in the last few days, we wouldn't know what to do without you."
"Don't mention it…" Emi thanks back, but something strange is clearly going on she notes.
"But as all of us know, we cannot stay around here any longer. Academia and Lancers are still hunting us and we don't want you getting pulled in the mess we created. You've done too much for us two already."
Emi stutters. "I… I uh… I only do what I can do… but where are you gonna go? As long as you are still in Japan they will still be trying to find you."
"That's their reach right? Japan." Yuri speaks up. "Not overseas."
"Don't tell me…" Emi realizes. "You two are gonna fly out of Japan?"
"Umm-hmm." Selena confirms. "To start a new life together, without Academia or Lancers hunting us. We already booked tickets for tomorrow early morning so we'll be leaving tonight."
"You crazy?!" Of course, an answer both Selena and Yuri expected. "You don't have the tools to fly out!"
"We do." Selena takes out two fakes visas and passports from the bag. "And with the ID cards we prepared, this shouldn't be a problem."
"Where did you get them?"
"From Barrett's apartment. The man I mentioned to you when we first got here, he helped us a lot."
"Then what are you gonna do when you get there?!"
"No idea…" Selena admits with a sigh. "But it's better than just staying here and bothering you."
"Maybe some blue-collar jobs. Factories or storehouses or something." Yuri continues, looking at the two Duel Disks on the table. "Either way, we will be leaving this life of Duel Monsters behind. I thought we had joy with it, turned out it only brought misery so far…" Memories of the brutal whipping, the sadistic joy he once sought for, the brutal realization and the painful death returns to Yuri, causing the young boy to shudder.
"You don't think they will try expanding their reach to other countries?"
"As far as the world knows we're only normal Japanese youngsters, not war criminals. Academia or Lancers does not have political power to pocket the Interpol Emi-san, even with Real Solid Vision." Yuri explains.
"That sounds too optimistic Yuri, Selena. Anything can happen and I am worried for you two. You can't run forever."
"Then what else do we do Emi-san?" Selena speaks. "If they catch us here and bring us to court, we will receive life sentence each and you will also be in prison too for helping us."
"Doesn't matter to me Selena, I've already lost a lot, a few years in prison wouldn't do much."
"Don't you be that crazy!" Selena quickly says back with more force than required. "We told you already, we don't want you in any trouble of our own!"
"But Selena-"
"Will you two stop?!" Yuri yells, causing the two females to startle.
A brief silence.
Yuri sighs deeply. "You know what Selena, Emi-san? This shouldn't have been this way… It never should have been…"
"What do you mean?" Selena wonders.
"All of this mess we are in, it happens because of me."
"Yu… Yuri…?"
"For the last three years, I let Academia brutalize me, twist me into this… monster… who only wants to card people for fun. Anyone else would feel horrible right? But not me… I found fun in unleashing this… shit…"
Yuri shakes his head. "Selena has a better life with the Lancers fighting against Academia. She could have a better future, she could have been hailed as a hero without even caring for an asshole like me Emi-san, but she chose me… all because of the promise we made back then…" The tears begin forming in his eyes. "And now… she lost her bright future… she got dragged down to my level… all because of me…"
"Maybe…" Yuri stutters, trying to swallow the tears. "Maybe I'll try… a deal with them… so that she'll be free…"
"Hey…!" Selena chokes up. "Don't you dare saying that… don't you dare blaming only yourself…"
"Selena…" Yuri whispers, darting away from her gaze at him. "Don't…"
"You thought you're the only one at fault here?" A tear run down from her left eye. "If I did not push you away after hearing what Akaba Leo said about your "exclusive special training", you wouldn't be like that you know? You're an asshole yes, but you're still my best friend, and friends care for each other! Then, and now too!"
Selena wipes her tears and keeps saying between sobs. "I failed you back then, I cannot fail you now… No matter what… That's why I chose to be with you, to save you…"
"You really shouldn't…" Yuri whispers through sobs, avoiding looking at anyone.
"All right that's enough." Emi speaks up. "Nobody's right or wrong here okay? You two both act rashly under the circumstances both in and out of control and naturally there are consequences."
A silence.
Yuri bites his lips hard trying his best to keep himself in check, Selena just keeps staring at the table wordlessly.
"I don't support you two running away from this mess, but if that's what you two want to do, together… then I guess I cannot stop any of you…"
Yuri suddenly gets up from the chair and runs out of the house, Selena casts a brief look of hesitance at Emi before chasing him from behind after getting a small nod of approval from the woman.
…
"Yuri!"
"Yuri stop!"
Selena slows down, exhausted from the chase and yelling. She internally curses how fast Yuri is now unlike back then when she hit puberty before him, but at least she will not have to worry about where he probably is right now. The road that they both run leads to only one possible location that is both for sightseeing and hiding, the only other location they stay in a long amount of time besides Emi's house.
The top of the mountain.
The girl finally reaches at the location after a long and tired walk. She finds Yuri resting besides a tall and large tree looking at the cloudy sky above, the two dried trails running down the cheeks from his eyes indicated he was crying and did not bother to wipe it clean.
"What were you thinking Yuri…?" Hoarsely says Selena, trying to regain normal breathing. "Running away from me?"
The boy only returns above a whisper, still not looking at Selena. "Well I am not now, aren't I? Unlike you."
"You're still not looking at me…" Selena points out. "But I told you already Yuri, I am not leaving you."
"Why…" He mutters.
"Why what?"
"Why are you so insisted on staying with me?"
Selena whimpers. "You know why…"
"I don't okay?!" Yuri suddenly stands up and harshly closes the distance between them, briefly creeping Selena out. At least there was no wall pinning this time. "You don't get to degrade yourself from a proud and righteous fighter to a worthless betrayer like that! You destroyed your bright future ahead of you for a broken person like me, why? Why Selena?!"
"Even as a best friend like you said, no one would be willing to throw away their own life for a sadist! No one would sacrifice so much for a tool no longer useful like me Selena! So tell me-"
Yuri cannot say anything else, as his words were cut off by Selena's lips sealed tight on his.
A strange sensation, yet a welcoming one.
A feeling so powerful it could triumph over any kind of pain and torment existed in this world.
A new determination unlocked within.
A future with hope opened.
Surprised at first, Yuri lets it all consume him and closes his eyes.
Selena separates the contact and looks straight at Yuri's bewildered eyes, both of their cheeks burning up.
"Because…" Selena whispers, still keeping the very close distance between them. "It's not just about friendship anymore Yuri…"
"Selena…" Yuri breathes.
"It's been that way for a long time… Yuri… Ever since that day… I…"
The next two words Selena tries her best to gather all courage to speak out were replaced by Yuri shutting her up with his own lips. Instinctively, Yuri reaches his hand out and places one behind her head to firmly pull her in further and another touches her back. Selena returns the affection by linking her arms around his neck, deepening the dance of desire more and more…
…
"So… how long?" Yuri asks. He now sits down besides the tree, his clothes are a bit disheveled and his hair now only has three words to describe: a tousled mess.
"What?" Selena, lying down and resting her head on Yuri's lap, speaks up.
"How long has it… been?" Yuri inquires, tenderly running his hand around her untied messy hair. "For you?"
"A long time…" She answers, tiredly, from all of their "previous action".
"I need exact number." Yuri teases her.
"You give me first." Selena smiles as Yuri chuckles.
"It's probably too much for today though… Maybe later?"
"Yeah…" Selena wordlessly breathes. "Maybe later…"
Yuri gently holds Selena up and pulls her in so that she is now resting her head on his chest, his heartbeat increases dramatically as he does so. Selena remains silent, letting herself feel the warm body of the boy and leaving her entire bare legs for him to romp his hand on however he wants. Yuri can only hope the excitement going on inside him would not be spotted though; they are not quite ready for that phase yet, just feeling their bodies on each other was a very big step for him already.
Selena playfully looks up at Yuri. "You like it?"
Smirking, Yuri looks down at his now girlfriend. "I'm game for next step if you want."
"Shut up pervert…!" Selena evades, to which Yuri cannot help but wear a big smile on his face.
Some more time pass, the new couple plays with each other, feeling their synchronizing heartbeats together, the sky "knowingly" covers the "mature" scenery with more black clouds despite the large tree already doing the job perfectly.
"Selena…" Yuri calls her, his hands hugging her close to him.
"Hmm…?"
"I'm sorry… for everything…"
Selena reaches for the back Yuri's head and gently pulls it down, her eyes now directly face Yuri. "Don't… I'm sorry too… We both have things to feel sorry about, but now it doesn't matter anymore…" The sense of guilt is still there on his face, but every second staring at the deepness of Selena's eyes, Yuri sees a new future for both of them overpowering the dark feeling.
"We're here now, right? We've done everything to be here right now."
"Yeah… let's just…" Yuri cups her chin and runs his hand on the frame of her face. "You know… like you said, let's run away together, for a new life…"
"Yeah…"
"Just promise me you won't betray me again."
Selena raises her hand up and extends her pinky finger.
"Promise."
Yuri links it with his own.
"Promise."
Yuri moves his head down and kisses Selena one more time, the girl eagerly and tenderly accepts.
"Let's go. Emi-san will wonder why we took so long."
"You're right." Selena replies, slightly blushing.
The two walks out of the tree and down the road, holding their hands together. Suddenly they felt a liquid substance falling from above hitting their nose.
"Rain?" Selena exclaims, looking at the white and black sky.
"Run!" Yuri quickly speeds up and drags Selena long, causing the slender girl to nearly trip over.
"Yuri!"
"Sorry!"
"Asshole!"
"Bitch!"
No matter how fast they run, they are bound to get soaked heavily in that rain anyway, but that is nothing compared to the excitement they are feeling right now. The memories of the old times flowing back at them, the time when they also ran together like this back to the foster house, the time they would both smile and laugh like crazy while pointing at each other's wet-as-hell faces.
Nightfall.
Delicious dinner.
Jokes.
Smiles.
Three group polaroid photos, one for each person.
Good things for the end of the last day at the Country of the Rising Sun.
Selena and Emi come out of the front door where a taxi is waiting for the youngsters with Yuri carrying the bags and other stuffs.
"Thank you for everything. We'll be missing you a lot Emi-san."
"Don't forget to call me when you get there safely. Know how to make a burner phone right?"
"All thanks to you. We will inform you as soon as we can Emi-san." Selena gives the woman a strong hug then Yuri follows suit.
The two youngsters wave one last goodbye at Emi before getting in the taxi to the airport. The woman looks at the fading car one last time, only when the lights are gone completely to the darkness does she return to her house.
Yuri takes out two earbuds and connects it to his Duel Disk hidden in his bag that he brought to his front. He gives the right earbud to Selena. "In the mood?"
Selena smiles back. "I'd like to." She puts the earbud on her ear.
Yuri turns to his Duel Disk with a smile on his face, choosing a playlist he sorted himself.
Fighting through the tinted mirror and the dark night while also enjoying Yuri's playlist, Selena lets her mind rest and embrace the beautiful nature of Nagasaki through the taxi window one last time before she and Yuri says goodbye forever to Japan and all of the memories in here. Before she knows it, her eyes clap shut and she falls into a deep sleep.
Smiling warmly at the peaceful Selena, Yuri adjusts the hood of her black hoodie and carefully moves her head from the mirror to his shoulder. He then gently leans his head to Selena's and prepares to sleep all the way with her.
The gentle darkness of slumber nearly welcomes Yuri in when he realizes instead of going to the bridge directly to the Nagasaki Airport, the taxi makes a left turn that keeps getting further into the forest he wants to get out.
"Hey." Yuri speaks up, gently shaking Selena up as he does so. "We're getting to the airport, why aren't you…?"
"We're actually getting to the location sir…" The driver suddenly activates a button; his voice suddenly changes into a young woman's. "Just not yours."
At the same time, several collars and two masks suddenly manifest and pin both Yuri and Selena to the backseat. As they futilely try to get free, the masks pump out some kind of vapor, and with the positions they are in, Yuri and Selena has no chance of refusing to breath it all in.
"Solid Vision?!" Selena notices the material of the collars.
"Selena!"
"Shit…" Selena says weakly. "Yuri… this is…"
"Chloroform." The woman says, still not looking at the two youngsters. From the direction of the mirror, Selena realizes she has worn a gas mask somehow. "Worst anesthetic in the world, five minutes at least to have an effect, hence the cuffs."
"But I added other thing too."
Yuri and Selena freak out.
"Alcohol…"
"Thallium…"
"Mercury…"
Yuri fought hard to try to free himself, but eventually he begins to lose awareness of his surroundings.
"Shortened by repeated struggles. Better give it up, assholes."
He hates to admit it, but that bitch of a woman is right. Everything around his eyes blackens quickly. In his last seconds, he gives a look at Selena and holds her hands tightly.
"Yuri…" Selena whispers.
"Selena…" Then Yuri's eyes close shut, followed by Selena's. The grip loosens as the two runaways get completely knocked out.
The woman raises her left arm up and speaks to the Duel Disk worn on near the wrist.
"Lancers, come in. Do you copy?"
"Jack Atlas, this is Tenjoin Asuka."
"We got them."
Well, who said freedom is going to last for Yuri and Selena? This is not family-friendly MCU level you two, this is Andor realism level (that series is really going on great so far by the way, and no, that is not advertising, I am an unknown to Disney).
In case you don't know, Ayukawa Emi is a supporting character from GX. In GX, she is the nurse of Duel Academy, head of female Obelisk Blue dorm and gym instructor, she plays an Anti-Cure Deck. I reimagined her here as Yuri and Selena's former caretaker to give them somewhere to go and love to bloom (lol).
And unlike the main series where only Yuzu's bracelet played a major part in the story, other three do too. Selena's bracelet, as you have read, can control memories.
Next chapter preview:
Spiral 5: Reality
The Lancers interrogates Yuri and Selena for an attack to Academia. Tears will be shed and wounds will be opened.
