To say that I wasn't surprised when Leo lost was an understatement. I got up from the couch, and started walking towards the exit to the dueling field.
A strong smelling liquid poured over my head, onto my shoulders, and thankfully rolling off my jacket. I watched as one of the other duelists strolled off, muttering under my breath as I walked towards the bathrooms.
"Why didn't you fight back?"
I glanced up to see the girl looking at me in curiosity, "Satellites have different laws than city people. In fact, the cops back home are probably going to jump me soon as I get back home for owning both a deck and a duel disk. I don't even want to know what they'll do to me for owning a runner."
Aki seemed taken aback by my comments, "That doesn't mean that you should just put up with it."
I looked her in the eyes, "If I fight back, I go straight back to the Facility. And plus I don't have telekinesis like a certain other person."
She jumped, "How did you..."
"You have the same build, same hair color, and you touch your arm every time you see me. The woman arriving caused my arm to burn, so it wasn't that much of a stretch that hers did as well."
Her eyes scanned over me, and she rubbed her arm again, "By the way, I can't believe that people believe you are a guy."
A smile slipped onto my face, "Most girls don't dress or act like me, yourself included. And then there's the fact that I'm the only one with my name, making it so no one knows what gender it belongs to. So most of the time they just assume that I am a man."
Just then I heard footsteps approaching. I looked over and saw Dexter and Luna trying to console Leo, "Come on Leo, every time you lose you have a chance to learn so much."
He looked at me, "Just don't lose your duel Yusei. We want to see you win."
I ruffled Leo's hair, "I promise that I will do my best. I can't promise more than that. The one who is going to win is the one who understands their deck best."
To my complete surprise, Aki nodded as she spoke, "True. Your win streak is higher when you have an alliance with your deck."
She looked at a nearby clock, "Thank you for talking with me Yusei. But I must get to the arena now."
"Be careful, okay? I have a feeling that these people want us riled up for some reason."
With a single nod, she walked away. I turned to the kids, "I need to clean up really quick, but you better get to the stands."
All three of them hurried off as I went to my garage and quickly got rid of the soda in my hair thanks to the sink in the garage. As my hair dried I sat down to watch her duel alone.
It was very impressive to see her beat the cosplaying knight without her dragon. But I was most impressed by the fact that he was clearly trying to break her, likely at the orders of the puppetmaster named Goodwin.
My focus went back to my runner, only to be disrupted by the door opening. Aki slipped in, rubbing her arm, "Do people just trust you the first time that they meet you?"
Glancing up, I paused, "Now that you mention it, people have done it for my whole life. Even the people who raised me would treat me like I was much older than I was."
Aki looked at me, "Can you feel what other people feel?"
I had to think about that for a second, "I guess that I always have."
She leaned against the wall, "Then it makes sense. You're an empath."
My eyes looked at hers, "What on earth is an empath?"
One of her eyebrows went up, "Someone who can feel the emotions of others. They also are completely genuine, so everyone feels like they are safe talking to them."
"Does that mean that it's a power like your telekinesis?"
She nodded, "How do you know about telekinesis but not empathy?"
I gave her a pointed look, "There are actually quite a few people with telekinesis in Satellite. We all learned that they are humans that are just like the rest of us...as long as they are in control of their temper."
Next came a question I wasn't expecting, "How do you control your powers?"
Thinking about it, "I just accept that I have them and move on with my life. At first, when I worried about it, I could feel way too many emotions. But once I calmed down about them, my powers calmed down."
Aki sat on the ground next to me, "I never wanted these powers."
I shot her a look, "No one with a brain does. But you did well at controlling them today, regardless of how hard he tried to make you lose control."
"Thanks, it wasn't easy."
An alert went off, telling me that the last duel was over, "Sorry Aki. I need to get ready for my duel now."
She nodded, "Yusei?"
Glancing over at her, I paused, "Yeah, what is it?"
"How can you tell if someone is your friend?"
I smiled at her, "If they put your needs before their own or always support you, even if you mess up big time. Their love towards you is unconditional."
She left, and I could feel her worry was growing as she went away. I wonder what is making her so upset that she came here to talk with me.
A/N: Thanks Let's-Go-To-Vermont for reviewing on the original version of this chapter!
