Martha was not happy to come in and see me on my computer. She marched past Aki (who had started to pick up my habit of leaning on the wall) and grabbed it from under my hands, "What do you think you are doing young lady?"
"Is one of the scientists my dad?"
She froze, "What are you talking about?"
Leaning back onto my pillow, I crossed my arms, "Aki's dad mentioned that some people were found inside the ruins of the Reactor in lab coats. Was one of them my dad?"
Martha put my computer down, and checked my wires, "I don't know for sure, so I didn't tell you. I didn't want to raise your hopes just for them to be crushed."
Aki joined us on the bed, "My dad said that he would find out as much as he could."
Turning to Martha, I sighed, "Alright, so anyway, how are the former Dark Signers?"
"Kiryu came back, along with another man and two ladies. They haven't been moved from the ICU yet."
Blinking rapidly, I looked between both women, "Wait, I'm NOT in the ICU?"
Almost in unison, they both shook their heads, while Aki explained, "They said that since you were out of a coma, and that you hadn't tanked again, whatever that means, that they would move you to just a high priority area."
"So in other words, I should get out before Kiryu?"
Martha slowly nodded with narrowed eyes, "Why are you asking?"
"I want to make sure he doesn't run off, convinced that he's a demon. It's what I would do if I were in his shoes."
Both of them smiled, only for us to be distracted by the door bursting open as Aki's dad rushed in, "Oh! Sorry, am I interrupting something?"
With a smile, Martha glanced over to him, "It's not a problem."
Sitting upright, I stared at Hideo, "Did you find out anything?"
He nodded, "I certainly did, just by being in the hospital. I was walking out to meet up with a contact of mine, and I passed a room with a man who looked like you inside. The most noticeable difference is that his bangs cover part of his face."
Aki and I exchanged a look, and then I turned to Martha, "You've seen my picture of my parents, right?"
Martha kissed the top of my head, "I'll go with him to see if it's him. Do you want me to bring him here if it is him?"
"Please."
While we waited with nervous anticipation, Luna slipped in. She hopped onto my bed, "Leo and I are going to be attending Duel Academy when the semester starts back up."
Aki started to twist her hair as she looked over to Luna, "I haven't decided if I'm going back yet, or not. But I know that I'm going to have to deal with sexist boys if I do."
Luna piped up, "I just ignore them, and then I don't have to deal with Leo's nonsense."
I nodded, "Best survival technique when you grow up with boys. If you find some guys who are good people, like Crow and Jack, I would suggest talking with them and making friends. Once you have guys who are your friends, they'll protect you from the other guys. Works like a charm."
Both of them started to laugh, and Aki managed to get out, "So that's why all of your friends are guys."
"What can I say, if it's not broke, don't fix it."
The door cracked open, and Martha slipped in, "It was him. And he's coming here right now to talk with you."
I didn't need the heart monitor to tell me how fast my heart was pounding. Aki grabbed my hand, "I'm willing to return the favor, Yusei. Do you want me to stay here?"
Nodding, I focused on taking deep breaths, while I listened to Aki explaining to Luna, "Yusei's dad is alive. She helped me talk to my parents earlier, so I'm offering to stay with her when she meets her dad for the first time."
Voices came through the door, and my grip tightened on Aki's hand. Martha walked over to it, cracked open the door, and spoke, "You are at the right door, Dr Fudo. Come on in."
It was like one of my pictures came to life.
Part of my brain was blown away by how much I looked like him. The rest of my brain was just completely freaking out.
Right inside of the door of my hospital room stood my dad, who was staring at me with as much shock as I felt. Martha closed the door behind him before pushing him forward towards me, "She can't get up, so you have to go to her."
I swallowed a couple times before whispering, "Hi, Dad."
He slowly moved over to the side of the bed, "It's one thing to hear about the fact that it's been 17 years, but what drives that home is seeing the baby I used to rock to sleep is a fully grown adult."
A hand softly touched my greasy hair, "I'm sorry for everything you've been through."
My hand reached up to touch his, "Dad. I don't blame you for anything. It was Roman who caused the Reactor to blow up. You were just trying to make the world a better place with clean energy."
Leaning down, he wrapped his arms around me, "I'm glad that you survived. Do you have the box that I left with you?"
Nodding my head towards Martha, while pulling him closer to me, "It should be at Martha's house. Growing up, it was my only possession that I cared about, since it was the only thing I had that gave me any clue about where I came from. I never went anywhere without it."
He pulled back from the hug, carefully sitting down while looking at all of the wires around me, "What on earth have you been through?"
Stretching my arms as best as I could with said wires connected to me, I looked at him, "I was in four duels in a 24 hour period that dealt real damage when you lost life points."
"What?"
Dad was suddenly on his feet, "Who let you do that? Are you okay?"
For a brief second, my brain short circuited, leaving Aki to speak on my behalf, "She's fine now, but she was in a coma for a couple weeks. Yusei hasn't had any issues for the past couple days, but since she's still weak, she can't get up without the nurses finding out."
Muttering under my breath, I rolled my eyes, "I hate it. Before this I was able to carry engines around without any help, and now I can barely walk."
Once again, Dad's hand brushed through my hair, "You like to work on machines?"
A smile spread over my face, "Yeah. I've made two runners from parts that I found in junkyards. One of them is still running. The other was stolen from me, so I don't know how long it worked."
"You are so much like me. But I have to ask, why are there so many guards outside your door?"
Shrugging, I did my best to look up at him, "A little bit ago I won a duel that labeled me as the Champion of New Domino City."
He brushed my hair away from my face, "Something tells me that you have quite the story to tell."
"Essentially, you are telling me that the four of you and two additional allies saved the world from some undead duelists?"
"Basically. I don't know how else to explain it."
He flopped down in a chair near the window, which gave a limited view of Satellite, "And you grew up in a garbage dump, which was oppressed?"
Another nod, "Too bad my brothers are both still bedridden. You probably want to meet them."
Dad's smile lit up the entire room, "I absolutely do. They both sound like very energetic and creative young men."
"They are, and I owe them my life. I would not have survived that last duel without them."
Shifting in the chair, he smiled at me, "Do you three know where you are going to live once you get out?"
"Probably Martha's for the first little bit. Unless you are offering an alternate solution."
My adoptive mother and biological father looked at each other before Dad spoke, "I found out that my bank account is still around, and it's picked up 17 years worth of interest, so I am offering for the three of you to come stay with me. I want a chance to get to know my daughter, and Martha would probably like not having her three adult children staying with her."
She laughed, "As much as I love them, I have five little ones of my own, and Crow asked me to take in his five. I won't have room for you three."
Aki smiled, "And you could have a full size garage to work on your projects instead of working in a broken subway station."
The door opened, and a nurse poked her head down, "I apologize, but it is the end of visiting hours."
Dad kissed me on the top of my head, "Good night, Yusei."
"Good night, Dad."
A/N: Thanks to Let's-Go-To-Vermont and an anonymous Guest for reviewing on the original version of this chapter!
