As Aki helped me get out of my dress from the opening ceremonies, she had asked me for a favor, "Yusei? Do you think that you could help me get a dueling license?"
"You want to Turbo Duel?"
Her hair bounced around due to how hard she shook her head, "Up until I was on your runner with you dueling Sherri, I didn't get why you three are so in love with it. But now I completely understand, and I think that I'm feeling the urge to get back on a runner."
I rolled back onto the balls of my feet, wiping away sweat, "I'm getting rusty if it took me that long to make this."
Crow chuckled as he handed me a drink, "Well, it's almost been a year since you last made a runner, so that's no surprise."
Jack nodded, "And yet she still pieced together a runner in only a couple days. That's more than most people could do in a month."
Footsteps came down from the kitchen, and I glanced over to see Aki wearing her custom dueling uniform, "Are you sure that you don't want the top to be a little bit...looser?"
She glanced down at her ample proportions, and smirked, "Just because you are uncomfortable with showing them off, doesn't mean that I am."
"I just don't get the whole point, and it would be a waste of time seeing as I'm not exactly on the market anymore. Not that the man in question has completely figured it out yet."
That earned another laugh, "True there. Wait. Is that…"
Crow nodded, "Yup. It's your very own duel runner. What do you think?"
Her face flushed, "Thanks so much, all of you."
I smiled at her as I stood up to pop my back, "Are you ready for class?"
She hesitated before nodding, "I am going to figure out turbo duels. Just watch and see."
A couple weeks later, I pulled up in front of the practice track at Duel Academy, and walked over to where Luna and Leo were watching Aki, "How's she doing?"
Leo shrugged, "Not that good."
Glancing over at her, I watched as she shot toward the corner, and I realised something, "You can't take a corner at that speed!"
In unison, all three of us winced as she flew off, crashing into the padding on the side.
Jumping the edge, I ran over to her, "That wasn't a terrible attempt. But you might want to try thinking more about being part of the machine, instead of thinking about every tiny little detail."
She pushed herself off the ground, "You mean think more about the runner than the corner?"
Helping her get her runner upright again, I nodded, "If you learn how your runner works, then you can know beforehand how it will go."
While she got back on her runner, I climbed back into the stands, where Luna and Leo were gaping at me. Ignoring their stares, I kept my eye on her as she pushed it back to the starting line, and tried again.
Once again, the corner was determined to not let her pass, and I yelled out, "You're leaning too much!"
The runner flew out from under her, sending her tumbling.
Luna looked up at me, "Can she figure it out in one day?"
A smile came across my face, "I figured it out in two hours. All that matters is how hard you are trying."
Yet again, Aki climbed off the ground, taking off from the starting line, but her runner was pointing too far to the left, "Fix your angle!"
To no one's shock, she flew off her runner into the padding.
As she got to her feet, she glanced at me, "I think I got it now!"
Holding back of my hands up, I gave her a smile, "Then I'll shut up."
I watched her get back on, and she carefully took the corner, then went around the track multiple times, gaining speed each time. Then to my surprise, she took the loops with ease, and stopped in front of me, "You're right! Once you get the hang of the runner, you can tell what it can and can't do."
"You'll definitely pass the driving test tomorrow."
Walking up, I saw four people lined up with Aki at the starting line, "Those her classmates?"
Luna nodded, "They seem to be pretty sexist though. They told her to go play with her dolls."
I gave a scoff that Jack would be proud of, "I've never even seen a doll. Does that mean that I'm not a girl?"
Leo stared at me in shock, "Then what did you play with as a kid?"
"Rocks and duel monsters. And that poor sucker is going to crash."
We watched her classmate fly off like she had a hundred times, and the instructor banged his stick against the ground, "You went too fast! Next!"
Guy number two went around the track like he was on a leisurely stroll. It was ridiculously slow, and his runner didn't even tilt at all.
"Too slow! I could have passed you three times by now."
Aki revved her engine, flying around the track with the same ease that she had shown the night before. Even from a long distance away, I could feel fury rise up inside of her opponents.
Finally, the last guy pulled up to the starting line. He attempted to copy Aki, almost matching her speed. However, he skidded around the corners, nearly spinning out of control every time he did so.
Once he finished, all of them lined up along the side of the track, with the instructor pacing in front of them, "Only Izayoi managed to drive properly. The rest of you need to try again next semester!"
She immediately turned to smile at me, and I winked at her with a smile on my face.
I watched the others storm off in a hurry, leaving a good opening for me to bring Justice down to the track, "That was great, but there's one thing you might want to try."
Shooting down the track, I turned around at the corner, and halfway back turned and slid backwards, "This way you can look at your opponent."
Immediately she got on her runner and tried it, but when she turned around, her back wheel slid out of control as she tried to look behind her.
Glancing at the twins, I sighed, "You two up for a trip to the skating rink?"
Aki glanced around as I pulled my hair into a ponytail and spread foundation over my mark, "Have you come here before?"
"Yeah. Dad bet me that I couldn't outskate him. Got 2000 yen for it."
She looked at me out of the corner of her eye, "Didn't Martha teach you to not gamble?"
"That's the joy of having two parents who don't talk. I can pick and choose what rules to follow."
Her eyes landed on my pony tail, "So why are you doing that?"
"Too many people either attacking me, or asking for autographs."
I stood up, and helped her unto the rink, "The best way to teach you is on your own two feet."
She crashed into me, "Sorry."
One of my eyebrows drifted upwards, and I smirked, "This is why I'm doing it this way. Not only does it teach you balance, but you also gain a new skill."
Letting go of her, I drifted backwards, turned around then glided back towards her, never going forward, "Simple once you've got the hang of it, but otherwise a difficult task."
I grabbed both her hands, "Just do what I do, and you'll get the hang of skating."
Carefully, I started to pull her around the rink, letting her get accustomed to the feeling of being on skates, "When you want to move, move your feet diagonally in the direction that you want to go. If you do it directly forwards, you'll more or less stay in place."
Thus started the process of her learning to skate.
Three hours later, she glided backwards next to me, "You weren't kidding. This is really easy."
I nodded, "Once you get the hang of it."
Gliding around, I led the way back to the edge of the rink, where two very tired and bored twins were waiting. As we got off, the twins started to stir, "You guys got bored pretty fast. Are you tired?"
Both of them nodded, and Leo let out a loud yawn. Aki and I unbuckled our skates, and I grabbed the four pairs so I could return them to the rental. While I headed over to the counter, I could hear her behind me, "Let's head to the runners while we're waiting for her."
I put on a fake smile as I handed over everything at the counter, "Thanks!"
The twins were already on the two runners by the time I got to the garage, "Alright, we need to drop the two of you off at your place, and then I have a few things I need to fix on Aki's runner tonight."
I stood up and wiped the oil off my face, "Not bad at all. How do you think she'll react?"
The door cracked open, and Aki came in, "Woah! Did you guys supe up my ride?"
We nodded, and Crow stretched, "Just finished. I did the new cover while Yusei made it more stable. Jack chose the color and painted it after Yusei and I passed out."
Gently pushing Jack's shoulder, I added, "He may be a jerk most of the time, but he has a better eye for colors than I do."
Color flooded into her face, "Thanks you guys. I couldn't ask for better friends."
Jack, Crow, and I pulled up to the duel track not long after Aki. When we got into the stands, it wasn't a shock for us to see that there was only one lady on the track. As we sat down, Jack glanced to our side, "They're up to no good."
I followed his gaze, and saw Aki's classmates sitting on the benches with strange looks on their faces, "Don't worry about them, Aki can handle anything thrown at her."
Crow burst into giggles, "That first guy didn't even get to draw a card!"
Our gaze went to the track, and saw the first duelist lying on the side of the track, rubbing his head. I rolled my eyes, "Like you didn't crash a couple times when you were learning to ride."
"Not during actual duels. Us Satellites could do anything to avoid the coppers."
I smacked him on the arm, "You don't need to tell me, I managed the best at avoiding unwanted attention. Getting through the Facility wasn't easy, especially since they had to do a thorough exam on me."
Jack nudged both of us, "It's Aki's turn."
The cop pulled up next to her, and took off his helmet, "I'm not going easy on you just because you saved the city."
Her eyes locked with Trudge's as both of my brothers jumped to their feet, "I wouldn't want you to. I am going to get my license and prove that Yusei isn't a fluke of nature."
Crow flopped down next to me, "This isn't going to end well."
"Don't give up on her so easily. She can do this."
Both runners took off at a nearly synchronized speed, but Aki managed to slip forward enough to take the corner first. As she rounded the corner, I bit my lip, I only taught her how to ride a runner. I didn't teach her how to duel on one.
Slowly, she inched her hand off of the handle, and drew. She summoned Revival Rose in defense mode, though without my gear I couldn't follow the duel well.
Crow muttered into my ear, "Does she know all of the rules yet?"
I turned to him, "I'm sure they taught her in the class, but if not, we're about to find out."
The words had barely left my mouth when she tried to use a speed spell.
All three of us cringed, and watched her continue her duel in embarrassment.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I glanced at it, "Crud. Can you guys keep an eye on the duel for me? Dad's trying to call."
Slipped off the bleachers, I answered, "Dad, is this important?"
He spoke at a speed that exuded coffee, "I've been meaning to talk to you about something, but I keep forgetting. When you are free, call me back, okay?"
I nodded, forgetting that he couldn't see me, "I will. Anything else?"
"How's Aki doing?"
Leaning around the bleachers, I tried to see them, "Not the best start, but nothing that practice can't solve."
"Alright, talk to you in a little while."
Hurrying back to my seat, I saw Trudge ram into her, "What is he doing?"
Jack sighed, "Aki hasn't tried to use another speed spell. Maybe he's trying to get her to feel intimidated."
She summoned Twilight Rose Knight and then used his effect to summon Lord Poison to the field as well.
Just like she always did, she used the two of them to summon Black Rose Dragon, which didn't even bother Trudge one bit, "Your lizard doesn't scare me anymore."
"Oh, but she will when she destroys your Stygian Street Patrol!"
He smiled, "Then I activate my trap, Final Penalty, which destroys any monster that defeated another during this turn, dealing the monster's attack points as damage. Say good-bye to your dragon along with your life points!"
Aki showed no outward sign of how the attack made her feel, likely due to psychic duels that she had endured in the past, simply speaking, "Revival Rose's special ability activates! I can bring it back to the field from my graveyard if I have no other monsters on the field. Then I place two facedowns and end my turn."
Trudge started to do that stpuid laugh of his again, "I summon Stygian Street Patrol, then use my tuner to synchro summon Stygian Sergeants! Now attack that Rose!"
Her monster shattered as her point dipped even further, while Trudge's laugh grew to an all time high, "If my Sergeants successfully destroy a monster, then they gain 800 points and can attack again."
Crow stood up, "If this lands on her, she's done!"
"Don't give up on her. We all duel best when the pressure is on us."
Aki held up her hand as a trap flipped open, "Offensive Guard cuts your monster's point in half if it attacks me directly. As a bonus, I get to draw a card."
Trudge used a Speed Spell to lower her points to 300 before ending his turn, causing Crow to stand up again, "This is ridiculous!"
I grabbed his vest, "Sit down, you've had your points lower, and in a Shadow Duel no less. So shut up and quit acting like a lovestruck idiot."
Crow did his best stammering to deny my statement, while not taking his eyes off of her.
Aki laid down a card with gusto, "I summon Witch of the Black Rose, which lets me draw another card. And the card I drew is Dark Verger."
Leaning back on the row behind me, I smiled, "Looks like she can Synchro Summon again if she has the right card."
One of Trudge's trap cards flipped up, "This trap prevents any monster level 4 or below from attacking this turn. Not only that, but for every card that is blocked by this trap from attacking deals 500 points to you at the end of your turn."
Aki didn't hesitate for even a second, "That's not going to happen, because now I'm going to use the speed spell from before which allows me to summon Dark Verger. But he's not going to be on the field for long, because I'm going to tune my Verger and my Witch together to summon Splendid Rose!"
Jack grunted with approval, "Looks like she finally has another Synchro monster."
The smile on her face was so big her cheeks looked like they were in pain, "Splendid Rose can cut a monster's points in half if I remove a plant type monster from play. So I get rid of Dark Verger to make your monster's points half of hers."
Her monster first cut his monster's points in half, then completely obliterated it.
"I will follow that up with my trap Blossom Bombardment, which deals half of your monster's damage to you directly after it has been destroyed in battle."
Crow was on the edge of his seat, "That should make Trudge's points 1000. She's so close!"
Both runners rounded the corner near scaffolding, and it buckled, releasing an alarming number of pipes right in Aki's way.
All three of us got on our feet, with the twins leaning over the edge even more than they had during the duel, "Don't lean that far forward, we don't need you in danger too."
Dust billowed around the pipes, making it impossible to see Aki.
Suddenly she glided out of the dust cloud, riding backwards with confidence.
I sat down, "Looks like that trick did end up being useful during her test."
She didn't hesitate for a second after emerging, and continued, "If Splendid Rose successfully attacked, then I can remove a plant type monster from play in order to attack again with half of its points."
Her monster flew towards him, dropping his life points all of the way down, and they pulled up at the finish line.
As they took off their helmets, the three of us got up. Crow and I moved to the railing, while Jack marched off to the side.
Trudge smirked at Aki, "Good job. You actually passed the test, so you are now a turbo duelist like Yusei."
She immediately turned to me, a huge smile on her face, "Did you hear that, Yusei?"
I gave her a thumbs up, "I saw. Good job!"
Jack joined us, stretching out his hands which were slightly pinker than they had just been. Crow and I exchanged looks, but neither of us looked to see what had happened.
Because Satellites don't snitch.
A/N: There were no reviews on the original version of this chapter.
