The next month of Aki's life was the longest month she had ever lived through. The ordeal of packing up everything she owned, getting her affairs at the hospital in order, finding a place in Neo Domino City to live in, and then having to wait for a whole month until she was done working here was ridiculous. But, that was just how things were. After all, she couldn't just drop all the work she had to do and leave it to someone else. That would've been rude.

However, after what felt like forever, her final day began to come to an end. She had been allowed to take a reduced shift in order to pack the last of her belongings for her flight, everything else already being taken by the moving company. Her flight to Neo Domino City would be in the morning, which meant that she'd get there around midnight thanks to time zones. The last long hurdle before she was home.

Her coworkers threw her a surprise party on her last day, which caught her off guard. Sofia and Elsita managed to keep it a secret somehow, which barely made sense to her. Those two kept secrets like a paper bag held water. She noticed most of her day shift coworkers were here recognising most of them. She saw Doctor Meyer, the blonde man that Sofia and Elsita teased for not being able to get Aki to go on a date with him, get everyone's by clanging a spoon on a cup.

"Attention everyone," he said, the small group of doctors and nurses looking towards him. "As I'm sure you're all aware, Doctor Izayoi will be leaving us today. She's decided to leave us for another hospital." He sniffled dramatically at this, making others laugh. "But, it would be rude of us to not wish her well before she leaves. So, on behalf of everyone here who has worked with you over the past three years, Aki, I sincerely hope that you're return to Neo Domino City is a happy one!" The other hospitals employee's gave a cheer at this, making Aki blush.

"You guys didn't need to do this," she said quietly as Sofia pushed her to the middle of the break room where everyone could see her.

"Shush and have a slice of your cake!" Elsita said, gesturing to the table. Looking down, Aki saw a cake sitting on the table with the words 'Thanks for saving lives!' written on it. Jeez, these people were ridiculous. She decided to cut herself a slice, seeing the inside was dark red. Red velvet cake. Someone must have said it was her favourite. Savouring the slice as she bit into it, she wiped the frosting from her mouth to avoid anyone pointing it out.

"Sorry we couldn't get a grand hall for your party," Doctor Meyer said from beside her, drink still in hand. "We didn't have the time."

"I didn't ask for a party," Aki told him flatly. "You guys didn't need to do this."

"What, and make you think we don't care?" He asked, "fat chance, Aki. Letting you leave without celebrating your time here would be foolish." Aki just smiled at this, looking down at her feet.

Doctor Meyer was a coworker of hers, and he was nice guy all things considered. He had medium length blonde hair that curved nicely, and his blue eyes reminded her of Yusei's. They weren't Yusei's though. And ultimately, that was an important factor in why she'd never matched his feelings for her.

It wasn't unknown to her that Doctor Meyer liked her. As Sofia and Elsita had pointed out multiple times, his invites for drinks just the two of them were usually a chance to get her alone. Not in a creepy way, just wanting to be alone with her. Aki had no hard feelings against the man, she just wasn't interested in dating him. Most of that came from the idea of dating a coworker, which made her cringe.

The other part was that he wasn't Yusei.

Aki winced at this thought. She hated how, even after all this time, she was hung up on her feelings for Yusei. It had been a decade after all, and even then she still called him the first chance she got when her transfer went through in excitement. Was she still a schoolgirl? Was she unable to process these emotions or what? She'd tried in university, she really had. She'd dated several guys in that time, but it was never enough. They weren't enough. They weren't him.

"Aki?" Meyer asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Hm?" She asked, looking over at him. "Sorry, I was lost in thought." He chuckled at this.

"I told you things won't be the same without you," he said. "You brought an energy to this place. A good one." Aki smiled sheepishly.

"Never been told that in a positive light," she said as she took another bite of cake. Meyer made a face.

"What does that mean?" He asked curiously. Aki shrugged.

"Let's just say Doctor Izayoi had a troubled childhood," she said. Meyer snorted.

"Most psychic's do, I hear," he said. "I only heard rumours about you, though. Care to share?" Aki shrugged at this. She wasn't ashamed of her past anymore.

"You know Duel Monsters?" She asked, making him nod. "Well, I can bring cards to life in a duel and inflict real damage if I'm not careful. Used to do that a lot before I went to med school."

"Damn," he said, "As scary as that must be, you really turned around. Using that power to heal, I mean." Aki nodded.

"It's why I went to study medicine," she said. "I wanted to make up for all those people I hurt back then." Meyer smiled.

"I think you've made up for it in spades, for what it's worth." He said, taking a sip of his drink. Aki looked down at her slice of cake before speaking up again.

"Sometimes, I still see them," she admitted. "The people I hurt back then. How horrified they were of me."

"You aren't that person anymore," Meyer said confidently. "The Aki I know wouldn't hurt a fly." Aki let out a laugh.

"I can be mean if I want to," she warned.

"I've never seen you do it," he admitted. She smiled warmly at him.

"Sorry for turning you down all those times," she said. Meyer looked at her in confusion, but she continued. "You know, all those times you asked me to go get drinks. I'm sorry if I ever hurt your feelings. It wasn't my intention, I just-"

"Don't worry about it," he said, cutting her off. "I wouldn't want to date my coworker either. Besides, after what Sofia and Elsita said, I understand." Aki's stomach dropped at this.

"Oh God," she hissed, "what did they say to you?" Meyer laughed at her expression.

"Nothing to me," he said, "they just gossiped where I could hear them. Something about you having a lover back in Neo Domino for over a decade."

"That's not entirely accurate," Aki mumbled awkwardly.

"I figured as much," he replied, "but I admire your perseverance. Not a lot of people would hold onto a crush from ten years ago."

"Well, I suppose I'm already not like most people huh?" She asked, making him nod.

"That is very true," he said. "But the guy must mean a lot to you." Aki smiled.

"He does," she replied. Meyer nodded as he sipped his drink.

"Then to him," he said as he raised his cup, "And to you, Doctor Aki." Sheepishly raising her paper plate, Aki made an impromptu cheers with Doctor Meyer.

It was only then, surrounded by all her coworkers and friends here that she realised she was leaving. She wouldn't see Sofia and Elsita bicker all the time. She wouldn't get to come in and greet everyone as she ran to wherever she was needed. Maybe she had never thought of Germany as her home, but these people welcomed her as their own all the same. they never treated her poorly because she was a psychic or not German.

"Aw crap! Aki, why are you crying?!"

"I-It just dawned on me I'm r-really leaving!"

"Well don't cry, you're going to make me cry!"

"Sofia don't cry! We promised we wouldn't!"

"Too late!"


Yusei came to a stop in the parking lot of the airport, slowly taking his helmet off and looking into the dark sky. any time now, a plane from Berlin would come in carrying Aki and the last of her possessions. After that, she'd go to her new apartment in The Tops and move in. She'd be home again.

Honestly, sometimes Yusei wondered if he'd misheard Aki all those times she'd said she was moving back to the city. That maybe his cruel imagination was playing a trick on him and that she was only visiting or something. And yet, he found himself here all the same.

"Yusei!"

Looking over, Yusei watched as one of the only other friends he had in the city ran up to him. Carly Carmine had stayed around the city all this time, and over the last decade Yusei had grown quite attached to her. It was usually him she lamented to about missing Jack, after all. Since Team 5D's had split up, Carly had decided to pursue her dream of being a full-blown news reporter. She had since accomplished it, and to her excitement she had been sent to report on Duel tournaments that Jack was at a fair amount of times. Yusei didn't know what went down at these tournaments, but Carly always came back looking like she was glowing.

"Carly," he greeted, "have you been waiting long?"

"No," Carly said, "I just got here myself. Aki's plane lands in twenty minutes, though! I checked!"

"On time, then," Yusei said as he turned to her. Carly had stopped wearing her ridiculous glasses years ago, instead opting for contacts. He had to admit, it made her look ten times better. The glasses just made her look goofy (not that she wasn't). Her current attire was casual, skinny jeans that went up to her belly button and a long-sleeve shirt with horizontal blue and white stripes, as was her favourite. She would turn the heads of men in he airport, but she never returned the look. After all, she had eyes for the King only.

"You didn't need to come you know," he told her. "It's late." Carly snorted at this.

"What, and miss my friend coming back?" She asked. "As if!" Yusei chuckled at this.

"Suit yourself," he told her. Entering the airport together, Yusei and Carly navigated the building like they had practised it before, which wasn't far off. After all, they generally came to wait for their friends to return the once a year they came to visit. Before long they were standing in front of the right gate, and they saw a pair of older folks they recognised.

"Yusei!" Aki's father, Hideo, called out to them from beside his wife. "Carly! Over here!"

"Hideo," Yusei greeted with a curt bow as they approached. "Setsuko."

"Yusei," Setsuko greeted, "So nice of you to come."

"I can always take time off for my friends," Yusei replied, "Besides, my assistants can handle the Fortune mainframe without me tomorrow so I can help Aki unpack."

"Wish I could relate," Carly said with a laugh, "my assistants went crazy when I said I was taking today off! Honestly, if it so hard to track developing stories for me?" Hideo laughed at this.

"Well, I'm sure they're just looking for your leadership Carly." Carl huffed at this.

"Leadership isn't required to watch out for anything super important," she said irritably. "Ugh, I'll start rambling if I don't stop now. How have you two been?"

"We've been good," Hideo replied, smiling at his wife. Yusei was sure of that, but it was now he noticed just how old they both looked. Hideo had already looked old when Yusei had first met him, but now? The last ten years had not been kind to him.

"Have you heard from the others lately, Yusei?" Setsuko asked. "How are little Leo and Luna?" Yusei chuckled at this as he reached for his phone.

"Not little anymore," he said as he opened his phone. "Leo's on the fast track to being a pro duelist, and Luna's studying to be a teacher. Here, look at this." He turned his phone so the two could see the picture Leo had sent some time ago, of him winning an amateur tournament in London.

"My, would you look at him!" Setsuko said, "he's so handsome!"

"And to think I remember when he barely came up to my ribs," Hideo said with a laugh, "squirt's all grown up alright!" Yusei nodded with a sad smile on his face.

"They sure are," he said. He had a weird parental feel to him when it came to the the twins. Sure, he wasn't their father, and had barely known them all that long, but the twins held him in such high regard and trusted him so much that it just sort of happened. He was so proud of both of them, and he was sure the other Signers felt the same way.

The four spent the remaining minutes to Aki's arrival conversing about the past and catching up. Yusei learned about Carly's recent excursion to South America, where she got to go report on newly found ancient ruins she claimed had to be connected to the Crimson Dragon. She even showed Yusei photos, and he had to admit the aged markings on the temple walls looked a lot like the dragon. Hideo spoke of retiring as a Senator, as he was old and it was probably better to let a younger person take the stage. Yusei told them about the upgrades he'd made to the Fortune mainframe, and how it allowed Momentum to power the city with just as much efficiency with fifteen percent less power.

"Now Arriving; KaibaCorp Airline Flight 154 from Berlin"

"Ah, that's Aki!" Setsuko said. The four looked on as the plane touched down and landed nearby. Yusei suddenly felt an anxiety build up in his stomach. He was excited to see her, obviously, but this time it wasn't a visit, it was a permanent stay. Which meant he could see her more frequently.

"Yusei, I love-!"

Yusei made a face as this memory came back to him. Even though it was like him to hang onto small details, the moment he heard Aki cut herself off, he'd never forgotten it. What had she really wanted to say to him all those years ago, in the garage? She'd stopped mid-sentence, but not fast enough to stop that word from leaving her mouth. Love. It annoyed him that he'd hung onto that slip-up for nine years.

He wasn't dumb, he knew what his feelings for Aki were, and he knew how strong they were. But when she'd neglected to tell him all those years ago, he'd honoured her wish and didn't push her. And at first, his hopefulness that she returned his feelings felt childish and dumb. But, as the years past, Yusei became more certain.

Every year, around the anniversary of the Arc Cradle's destruction, Yusei met up with the other Signers in Neo Domino for a few days of catching up and having fun with one another. And every year, without fail, he caught her. Caught Aki staring at him, biting her lip in his direction, the look in her eyes non too innocent. It wasn't like she was being stealthy, either. She was very upfront every time he caught her, and there were even times that he caught her and she didn't look away. Their eyes would meet and a tension would spark between them before disappearing as her eyes drifted elsewhere. As the years past, one would think she'd stop. If anything, she got worse. Even as his certainty of her feelings grew, Yusei did not speak up.

It wouldn't have worked.

No matter how much he loved her or Aki loved him, a relationship between that many kilometres and with such hard work between them would have never worked. Aki worked six days a week and long days at that, and he himself worked five days and arguably longer hours. He knew there was no way to maintain such a relationship.

But now she was moving home. The distance had shortened immensely. Now that they did not have the excuse of a massive ocean between them, the two would have to talk about their feelings at some point.

He looked forward to that.

"I can see her!" Carly said, snapping Yusei out of his thoughts. Looking where Carly had pointed, Yusei saw a beautiful mane of dark red hair. Aki was just as beautiful as he remembered her, her amazingly long bangs reaching the top of her stomach. She had gone back to having shorter hair, he remembered her saying it was better than dealing with a hairpin all day at the hospital. As for her outfit, she wore jeans similar to Carly's, but they didn't reach as far up. Her black shirt was showing a hint of her midsection, and her red jacket framed it perfectly. she had a bag of carry-on luggage over her shoulder, which seemed to be her only luggage.

Carly ran to her friend, making Aki smile before her eyes widened. Carly had tackled her with a hug, and Yusei heard her beautiful laugh over the commotion in the airport.

"Carly!" Aki's voice came, "calm down, I've been in a plane for the last twelve hours! You're going to knock me over!" The two girls just laughed as they hugged it out, the scene bringing a smile to his face. As soon as Carly let go of Aki, the redhead laid eyes on her parents. "Mom, Dad!"

"It's good to see you, my little rose," Hideo said as he welcomed his daughter into his arms as she hugged him. "How was the flight?"

"Long," Aki replied as she released him to hug her mother. "I just want to get to my apartment and go to sleep. You guys didn't need to wait up for me."

"What, and miss our daughters arrival?" Setsuko demanded, "As if, Aki! It's so good to have you back!" Aki smiled at her Mom at this, and her eyes finally landed on Yusei. Her expression changed. It was still a happy and tired one, but there was more behind it, he could tell.

"Yusei," she breathed, "you came."

"Of course I did," he said. "How could I miss you coming back?" Aki smiled widely and moved to hug him. Yusei wrapped his arms around her and smiled widely at the feeling of Aki burying her face in his shoulder. He could already tell the hug was lasting longer than was appropriate even between good friends, but he didn't care. He relished being able to hold her for as long as he could. The two finally pulled away from one another, smiling at each other.

"You look old," Aki said teasingly. Yusei frowned at her.

"Maybe wait until you don't have such big bags under your eyes to talk, Aki," he said, poking at her cheek. She laughed as she wiggled away from him, stretching her back.

"I am exhausted!" She exclaimed as she stretched, "I need to go to bed. Did the movers get to my apartment all right, Mom?" Setsuko nodded.

"They did, but the place is just full of boxes now." She said, "You'll need to set everything up." Aki sighed at this, the idea clearly exhausting her.

"Well, looks like I'll need a place to stay for the night," she said.

"You can stay with me!" Carly said with a smile, "Then we can head to your place after you've had some sleep and I'll help you unpack."

"Thanks Carly," Aki said with a smile, "I'll take you up on that."

"Let me know when you're heading over," Yusei said, "I'll come lend a hand too. I've got a surprise to show you too, Aki." Aki raised an eyebrow at this.

"A surprise for me?" She asked, "of what kind?"

"What kind of surprise would it be if I told you?" He asked, making her give a begrudging half-nod.

"I'll text you," Aki said, "When we head to my place. See you then, yeah?" Yusei nodded, and Aki turned to her parents.

"I really hate to cut our reunion short, but I need to sleep." Hideo laughed.

"Go and get some sleep, sweetheart," he said. "We'll be around if you want to talk." Aki nodded, and let Carly drag her away as the brunette talked excitedly. Yusei and her parents followed behind until they got to the parking lot, were they split up to go home. As Yusei sat on his D-Wheel. he watched Carly's new car pull away. It honked at him, and he saw Aki waving at him from the passenger side window. He gave her a small wave before revving the engine and following after them following them a fair distance into The Tops. He stopped before they did, pulling off onto another street and following it until he was at his own apartment building. Yusei opened the garage and parked inside, next to a cloth sheet over something. He smiled at the cloth, knowing full well what was underneath. Aki would love it, he was sure.


"Wow Carly, this place is even bigger in person," Aki said in amazement as she walked in her friend's apartment.

"That's what news reporter money does for you!" Carly said as she locked the door behind them. The apartment reminded Aki a lot of the twins old place in the city before they moved to London. The kitchen was off to the left side of them as they came in, and to the right was a hallway with several doors down it. The living room was ahead of them, but it was bare save for a big couch and a massive TV hung on the wall in front of it. A staircase was right in front of her, which led to the second floor right above her head.

"You can take my bedroom," Carly said as she walked past Aki for the kitchen. "No way I'm having my friend sleep on the couch after a twelve hour flight."

"You really don't need to do that, Carly," Aki said sheepishly as she caught the bottle of water her friend threw to her. Carly laughed at this and crossed her arms.

"It's okay to accept people's kindness, Aki," she said. "It's not putting me in that bad of a situation. Bedroom is the door to your right when you go up the stairs, bathroom is to the left if you want to shower." Aki did indeed want to shower. She had just spent twelve hours locked in a hot metal tube in the sky.

Hearing Carly plop herself down on the couch and let out an exasperated sigh, Aki went towards the bathroom as Carly had pointed out. Walking inside, she quickly disrobed and turned to the shower. As was the standard when using someone else's shower, Aki had to stare at it for a good minute or two to figure it out. Once she did though, she stepped inside and turned it on, letting the hot water wash away the sweat caked to her from the flight. Being in the hot water let her catch up with her surroundings, which was even harder with the jet lag messing up her internal clock.

She was really home in Neo Domino City. Tomorrow, Carly and and Yusei were going to come over to her new apartment and help her unpack her things. And then, the day after tomorrow, she would be meeting with Neo Domino Hospital's Administrator Reiki to talk about her hours at the hospital.

She felt at home. At peace.

Things were perfect.


Far away from Carly's apartment, things were far from perfect. As a matter of fact, things at The Facility were usually the opposite of perfect. Even after the Daedalus Bridge connected Satellite with the rest of the city, many thugs and criminals could not adapt to being treated like humans. Many still turned to crime, and in turn were sent to The Facility, where they were branded and kept away from society. Some of the worst criminals in the history of Neo Domino City were kept inside, obviously to never see the light of day again.

There was one man inside The Facility who was locked away at the lowest level. One man who had ran a society of psychics in order to change society's perspective of them. At least, that's what he said he did. In the background, it was anything but innocent. He kidnapped children, and if they did not meet his expectations he murdered them. He deceived all those closest to him in order to further his own goals, but in the end that wasn't enough to keep him from The Facility. After the war with the Dark Signers, he had been apprehended and turned into Security. And since then he rotted in prison, waiting for his end of days.

At least, that's what he was supposed to be doing.

At the lowest level of The Facility, were prisoners never saw the light of day, sat a cell. The cell was not numbered, nor was there any way to tell who was inside unless you worked down there. Prisoners were only let out to stretch an hour a day, and were fed twice. Any lesser man would have gone insane years ago.

But not him.

Only one thing kept him sane all those years underground. Only one thing kept him going.

The thought of finding and getting revenge on Yusei Fudo. The thought of taking back what was rightfully his.

As the lights in the hallway outside were turned off, and the guards finished patrolling the halls for the night, the aforementioned man got off of his cot. He walked to his door and pressed his ear against it, listening intently. And he smiled.

It was time.

He had been working on this plan for over a decade. He had planned and planned and planned. He'd worked and worked to alter his powers abilities to suit his needs.

And finally, it was time.

Taking a deep breath, the man rubbed his red hair back out of his face, which revealed a horrific scar on the left side of his face.

"Finally," Divine hissed after all this time, "I can find you, Fudo."