There are a few things I want to say in this chapter. The first being I apologise to any Germans reading this if the German in this chapter is wrong. Blame Google Translate, I don't speak it.
Secondly, this is the PG version of this chapter. I have a version of it, or rather, the closing scene that would be M-rated, but can't post to a T-rated story. If anyone's curious for that, simply message me and I'll send it over. If you're curious, of course.
Too say Aki was a been all over the place would be an overstatement.
She was currently dancing around her kitchen, making sure everything was cooking correctly. She was also doing her best to not get any of it on her clothes, which was much to nice to get stained. She was wearing a nice red blouse which showed off more than enough of her cleavage, and black pants that clung to her nicely. She was obviously being provocative, but she was doing that on purpose. Part of her, the perverted part, hoped something happened. She really, really wanted something to happen. But she ignored that thought and focused on her cooking, which was almost done.
The doorbell rang.
Looking quickly at it from the kitchen, Aki quickly ran over and opened it.
"Hey," she said as she opened it, "sorry, just give me a-" Aki finally actually looked at Yusei, and her eyes widened. Standing before her was the man himself, but he was dressed nicer than she had even seen before. Even to the opening dinner event of the W.R.G.P he'd worn his riding suit.
Yusei was dressed up in a nice black sports jacket that was unbuttoned, a black shirt underneath. His sleeves were pulled up to reveal his forearms, a watch on his left wrist. Since it was a casual dinner he had jeans on as well, but it did nothing to diminish the look, which was fantastic.
"Hey," Yusei greeted after a few seconds, restarting the conversation. "You look amazing."
"...You too," Aki said as she regained her composure and moved back to the kitchen, focusing on the food. "Sorry for being brief, I'm almost done."
"Anything I can do?" He asked as he walked inside. Aki made a face and shrugged.
"Not really," she replied, "Just putting the finishing touches on everything. Don't wander far, I'm almost done."
Yusei didn't know if Aki had caught him staring down her shirt, but he really hoped she hadn't. He'd been caught totally caught off guard by her when she answered the door, and he got a nice look down. Surely she realised how revealing that shirt was, right? She had to have done it on purpose.
Looking around the apartment as Aki cooked, Yusei took in the things she'd taken with her from Germany. Some of her furniture had a distinct European look to it.
"You didn't need to go this far for me," he said bluntly. Aki just laughed.
"I wanted too," she said, "Besides, you wouldn't tell me how much money went into that D-Wheel of mine. This is the least I could do."
"Least you could've done was nothing," Yusei said pointedly.
"Shut up," Aki replied teasingly. Smiling to himself, Yusei looked out the window done towards the city. even as the sun began to set, the city glowed with artificial light. City never slept as it was. Sometimes Yusei wondered how he slept at all when the city was so bright all the time.
"So," Aki said from behind him, "How's work been with Momentum?"
"About the same as usual," Yusei answered as he crossed his arms, "Jaeger cut our budget last year, and now I've got to go to a committee meeting to get it back."
"Why would he cut it?" She asked curiously.
"We weren't doing much last year," Yusei told her, "so they put the money elsewhere. Now we need it back, so I gotta go convince the committee to give it to me."
"Sounds like a nightmare," Aki admitted.
"It is," Yusei answered. "But it's got to be done."
"Well if Jaeger won't," Aki replied. "Come and sit down, I'm done." Taking her word, Yusei turned and made for the table. sitting before him was a simple two person set-up, a bowl of strange looking round food between them. There was also a bottle of wine, surprisingly, along with wine glasses for both of them.
"Fancy fancy," Yusei said as he picked up the bottle to see it. "A bottle of wine? Not a cheap one either. Trying to impress me, Aki?" Aki snorted, her back to him.
"Yeah sure," she said. "Just making sure you get inebriated so you can stomach my cooking." laughing, Yusei set the bottle down and sat down himself. Aki soon walked over with a plate for both herself and him, setting in down in front of him.
"Would the chef explain the dish?" He asked her, making her scoff.
"It's schnitzel, your highness," she replied sarcastically, "Surely you've heard of it. Served with a mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes." She then pointed to the bowl in between them, "those are called rouladen. That's just bacon, onions, mustard and pickles wrapped in veal and cooked."
"Sounds amazing," Yusei admitted as he picked up his fork, aiming for the bowl of rouladen. Getting one and popping it in his mouth, Yusei was shocked at the flavour that exploded in his mouth. "Wow," he said as he chewed, "That's incredible."
"So I didn't totally butcher it," Aki said as she picked up her utensils. "Good to know."
"When did you learn to cook like this?" Yusei asked, turning to his main course.
"Single university students have to eat too," Aki replied as she poured herself wine. "I never told you guys, but I gained like twenty pounds when I first moved to Berlin for school. I was so exhausted all the time from school, I ate like crap."
"So you learned to cook," Yusei surmised as he enjoyed the schnitzel. Aki nodded.
"Exactly. Plus I was in a new place, so I wanted to try all this new stuff. Got harder to make all my food once I was a full time Doctor, but I still love to do it."
"You're good at it," Yusei said again, making her smile. "Never found yourself a boyfriend to cook for you?" Aki snorted.
"Right, like some university bro was going to cook for me," she said.
"I would have," Yusei offered, making her blush a little.
"You're not most men," she said. "Or a university frat boy." Yusei shrugged at this. She was right, after all. He didn't want to press her any further about her love life right now, it didn't feel right.
"Tell me about Germany," Yusei said, "we never talked about it much whenever you visited, we mostly kept the talk to what we would do then." Aki hummed at this, taking a bite of her food.
"It's beautiful," she said, "It looked so much more traditional then Neo Domino. We've practically done away with all our cultural influence here. Berlin still had a lot of it. I enjoyed seeing all the old buildings and traditions the locals had."
"Must have been hard to enjoy it without knowing German," he said. Aki just smiled at him.
"Ich habe die Sprache schnell gelernt," she said. Yusei stared at her for a second before he laughed.
"I have no idea what you said," he told her. Aki smiled.
"I said I learned the language quick," she replied, "had to to survive over there. European languages are hard."
"How so?" He asked curiously.
"Well," she replied, "the biggest difference is the alphabet, obviously. Having grown up here in Japan with little exposure to Western language, the German alphabet looked like word soup to me."
"Sounds like it too," he offered, making her laugh.
"I know!" she agreed, "Sometimes I heard shopkeepers yelling and I though something horrible had happened! But it's just the way it sounds. My friends at uni told me it was because of the harsh tongue sounds it in. You know, like your clearing your throat and spitting on the ground."
"I heard that in there," he said, Aki nodding.
"Yeah it was hard to learn," she said. "I also hated it when people spoke it too fast to me. I always felt like I looked like a lost puppy to them. Thankfully apologising in weak German followed by Japanese usually slowed them down. But I can switch mentally on a whim now that I've got it down. Jetzt kann ich die Dinge laut aussprechen und du weißt es nicht. Zum Beispiel, wie viel du mir bedeutest."
"Don't do that!" Yusei sarcastically chastised, making Aki nearly spit her wine out. "It does sound like you're yelling at me!"
"I know!" Aki said, "that's why I did it! It's funny!" Yusei just rolled his eyes at Aki laughed to herself, eventually getting control of herself.
"But it was a beautiful country, yes," she said. "Wonderful people too."
"Going to miss anyone?" He asked. Aki nodded quietly.
"Yeah, some of the nurses and Doctors from the hospital I worked at," she said, eyes growing sad at this. "Sofia and Elsita were so nice to me. Made me feel right at home on day one."
"I'm glad you had someone to help you out over there," he said.
"Yeah, they're great," Aki agreed. There was a moment of silence, both eating there dinner before continuing the conversation. "Tell me about your work," Aki said after a while, "Anything new going on with Momentum?"
"Not anymore than usual," he said. "We have got a few projects on the go right now though."
"Like what?"
"Well, it's two important things. The first is a new Momentum chip for engines and the like. Our goal is to increase Momentum energy intake. The second goes hand in hand with that, which is a smaller engine that reduces energy waste and costs less to make. Though we've had some funding trouble over that recently. Jaeger roped me into going to a committee meeting so I can argue our case for more money."
"Sounds like a bore," Aki said.
"It is," Yusei replied, "but I need to do it. So I gotta do it." Aki smiled at him.
"Sounds like you," she said. "I've always admired that about you."
"What? That I'm willing to sit through boring meetings?"
"Yes, but that you'll do anything if someone else needs you," Aki replied, "I love that about you." Yusei tried to ignore this heat thumping in his chest, smiling at Aki as he composed himself.
"Careful Aki," he said, "or I might think you're trying to butter me up." Aki snorted.
"And what if I am?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. Yusei smirked back at her.
"Than I'd have to say it's working."
Dinner had been amazing. Yusei had to admit he was a little unsure of both the cuisine and Aki's skill, but both had surprised him wonderfully. After trying to help Aki with the dishes and her telling him to go away and let her do it because he was a guest, the two of them had retired to her couch with the bottle of wine on the table in front of them, glasses in hand.
"That was delicious," he told her as she curled up on the couch beside him, pulling her legs up as she faced him.
"Thank you," she said with a small blush on her cheeks. "I have to admit, I have worried I'd mess it up and gross you out."
"I'll have to fix up your D-Wheel more often if it means I can eat like that," he admitted to her, making her laugh. "Because I haven't eaten like that in a long time."
"I'm glad I could fill your stomach," Aki said as she sipped her wine. She'd already had a fair amount, but Yusei was surprised at how well she was holding it down. She didn't even look tipsy. There was a comfortable silence between them, Yusei reaching up and cracking his neck. It had become a habit of his since he began working on the Fortune Mainframe, the sound always habitually pleasing to him.
"I've missed this," Aki said suddenly. Yusei turned to look at her, watching her swirl the wine around in the glass.
"Missed what?" He asked her.
"...All of this," she replied as she took another sip. "Ever since I got home, everything just feels...right. I missed this city. I missed my parents, Carly. I missed you." She looked up at him at this, the look in her eyes making Yusei's heart thump a little faster. He chuckled and took a sip of his own drink.
"I missed you too," he said, "The city hasn't been the same since you guys went to follow your dreams." Aki nodded slowly, looking down at her lap.
"Sometimes," she said, "I wonder how things would be different."
"How so?" Aki shrugged at this.
"If I had stayed in the city," she said. "I could have been a pro duellist easily. Sometimes those thoughts eat at me. I just can't help but wonder. Maybe I'd have a family. Maybe I'd still be a Doctor, I don't know. I just let my mind wander a lot."
"You'd succeed not matter what you did," he said. "You're smart and strong. I bet you could do anything you put your mind too." Aki watched him with a warm smile.
"You think?" He asked. He nodded confidently.
"Without a doubt," he said. "You're strong enough to do anything." Her smile widened as she twirled her hair around her finger.
"Thank you," she said, "that means a lot coming from you."
"I'll tell you more if you want too," he offered, "you deserve to be praised. You've accomplished a lot."
"If either of us deserve praise, it's you." she said, "Mr. Shooting Star of Satellite. Did you even even go to university classes for your job, Yusei?"
"I've studied," he said.
"Natural genius," she said, gesturing her glass at him, "I'll praise you as much as you want too." Silence fell between them again, and Yusei felt this one get tense. Their flirting had pushed them further towards the topic they both wanted to address.
"So tell me," Yusei finally said after a second or two more of thought, deciding to finally say something, "How did the beautiful Doctor's love life fair in Germany?" He'd gone and asked her now. Aki watched him quietly for a moment before she giggled softly.
"Uneventful," she answered, "a fling here and there to satisfy my curiosity I suppose, but nothing too fruitful." She continued to swirl her drink and watch it, before her eyes drifted back up to him. "What about you?" Yusei stared down at his own drink for a moment before replying. He knew she could tell they were approaching an important topic.
"Pretty much the same," he answered, "Nothing that ever lasted. Just...curiosity."
"Hm," Aki hummed in response. There was another silence, this one, one of thought. Yusei pondered his next words carefully, not wanting to come off as obsessed or desperate. "Why do you ask?" Aki asked suddenly. Yusei turned to look at her to see she had an almost worried look in her eyes. What was she worried about?
"...I was curious," he answered. "To see if you had anyone."
"And why is that?" Aki was pressing him now. Yusei looked down at his wine, downed the rest of it in one gulp, and looked down at the empty glass quietly.
"Because I was curious if whatever you wanted to say in my garage that day meant anything anymore," he answered her. There was more silence now, but Yusei didn't have the heart to look at her. He was waiting for her to say something.
"...You knew, huh?" She asked. Yusei looked over at her to see Aki covering her eyes with her forearm, head facing the roof. "You knew what I really wanted to say."
"...Yeah," Yusei replied, "I did know."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because doing that before now would've been stupid," he said. "Oceans between us, work that took all day, maybe a lover you never mentioned...I couldn't ask."
"If I had met a man," Aki said suddenly, "One I was serious about, I would have told you."
"Yeah?" He asked, Aki nodding with a small smile on her face.
"Of course," she said. "You're my friend Yusei. I'd have wanted you to know."
"Huh," Yusei said, out of words for now. "Good to know." There was another silence between them, this one growing uncomfortable. They'd both said to much to back out now. It was now or never.
"It still means something," Aki said suddenly. Yusei turned to look at her, seeing a defiant look in her eyes. "What I wanted to say that day, ten years ago...it stills means something to me. You still mean something to me."
"And what is that?" He asked her. Aki smile widened, and her blush deepened.
"Yusei," she said, "you saved my life. I wouldn't be here without you. You took me in at my lowest point and treated me like a normal girl, the only thing I had ever wanted. You gave me a home, a second family. You accepted me regardless of my faults or misdeeds. You saw me for me, not what I could do or who I had hurt. I never forgot that."
"It was nothing," Yusei said.
"It was not," Aki replied, sounding irritated. "Maybe it was just you and your hero complex, but to me it meant - means- everything. My life, everything I have now, I owe it to you. Had you not reached out to me that day, Divine would have..." Aki stopped herself, looking down at the couch with an angry expression on her face. Yusei knew what she meant, he had seen the Arcadia Movement's files. How Divine was making a mercenary army of psychics.
"I'm sorry, Aki," he said.
"For what?" She asked. Yusei frowned.
"For not saving you sooner," he said. "For not getting you away from him before he drove himself so deep into your head, for letting him hurt you so much." Aki stared at him in bewilderment, before she let out a laugh.
"You're unbelievable," she said weakly. "Your apologising for not helping me before you knew me?" Yusei let out a sigh and a shrug.
"I hated it, you know," he said. "I hated knowing how much he had hurt you. After you beat Misty, when she had her Earthbound Immortal eat him, I could see it in your eyes - you were in unimaginable pain, but didn't say anything because we had to go and stop Rex. You never got closure for that, did you?" Aki licked her lips slowly, shaking her head.
"No," she said. "I could have gone to see him in prison, but...I couldn't. I was afraid to know what effect he'd have on me, even with everything he'd done. I still am." Yusei understood. Aki was afraid to know what she would really do if she saw Divine again. Would she hate him? Or would she still love him for what he'd done for her, no matter his intentions? "I don't want to see him. He tried to make me like him, be the same person he was. I hate him for that."
"I'm sorry," he said again.
"Stop apologising for things out of your control," Aki chastised with a frown. "If you can do it, then I'm sorry I didn't stop Jack from stealing Stardust from you."
"That's different," Yusei argued.
"No it is not," Aki said, "If you can apologise for not getting me away from Divine before you met me, I can do the same thing!" Yusei sarcastically narrowed his eyes at her, and she did it right back at him. This made them laugh as Aki poured herself and him more wine. Yusei took a long swig of it before he spoke again.
"Do you still feel that way?" He asked. Aki looked up at him as she drank her wine, and Yusei repeated his question, "do you still feel those things you neglected to tell me about?" She watched him over the rim of the glass for a moment before she drank some of before lowering the glass. Yusei could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket, but he ignored it. Now was not the time.
"...are you asking me how I feel about you, Yusei?" She asked slowly. Yusei, heart nearly leaping into his mouth, nodded. Time to go all in.
"I am," he managed. She stared at him for a moment, glass trembling in her hand.
"Why?" She asked.
"So I can know if we both feel what has clearly been festering between us for ten years."
"..."
"Aki...I'm not blind. I see your stares when we meet. The way you look at me, I've seen it before." Aki let out a weak laugh.
"This is not how I envisioned this happening," she said. "Mir schwirrt der Kopf." Yusei ignored whatever she'd said in German.
"What did you envision?" Aki slowly set her glass down on the table.
"I thought after ten years I'd be more confident," she replied. "But as it turns out I'm still a nervous schoolgirl. I'm still the girl who backed out of telling you how I felt back then. When I did that, when I neglected to say it, it was because I didn't want to tether you and I together across that many kilometres. But mostly, I was scared of rejection. Scared you wouldn't feel the same way I did. The same way I do." She looked at him then.
"What I feel," she said. It's...I...Damn it, Yusei, I love you, okay? I love you. I have for ten years, maybe even longer." Aki frowned deeply. "I know that's intense to say given we've never been a couple before, but I tried! I tried to make it go away, I really did. I dated guys in university. I tried so hard to make my feelings for you less intense, but I couldn't. No matter how hard I tried or where I looked, I couldn't find him. I couldn't find someone like you."
Aki's frown deepened and a dark look came over her face as she slowly swirled her wine glass.
"Ten years of my life," she mused, "spent pining after one man. Depressing, isn't it?"
"It would be,"Yusei replied, "If I wasn't so happy to hear it."
Before she could ask, Yusei moved forward and kissed her before she could voice a reply.
At first she was frozen in place, but after a few seconds she melted into his embrace. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but when Yusei moved away from her she looked irritated.
"We're both pretty depressing, aren't we?" he asked her as he rested his forehead on hers. "We both spent ten years hoping the other would say something first. We both spent ten years with our fantasies."
"Yusei..." She said weakly. Yusei smiled at her as he rubbed her leg, still ignoring his phone going off.
"If it's okay with you," he said, "I'd like to make up for lost time." Aki watched him quietly for a moment, not saying anything. Then, she let out a giggle and smiled.
"I'd like that," she said. Yusei smiled.
They kissed again, this time their lust exploded between them. Yusei felt like this was all a dream, but he didn't want it to end. He wanted to keep doing. He pulled away from her, making her gasp. He couldn't keep track of his hands, they were all over her.
"You don't waste time," she said, sounding out of breathe.
"I wasted ten years," Yusei replied, making her giggle. "Like I said, I have to make up for it." He went for her neck next, kissing her lightly. Aki squirmed underneath him, twisting and turning as he played with her.
"Yusei," she hissed under her breath, "I-I have a confession. M-My main reason for coming home was you. I wanted to take you for my own. I-I waned this more than anything." Yusei chuckled as he let go of her neck to meet her gaze.
"Huh," he said, "That's a selfish wish for a Doctor."
"Screw all that," Aki replied, "I waited ten years for this. I'm not waiting any longer."
"You're less patient than I imagined," Yusei said, making her giggle. "Not that I mind though." They shifted and sat up a little to get more comfortable, and Yusei felt his phone going off again. Who the hell was calling him? It could wait. This was more important. Aki pulled away from him and laughed breathlessly.
"I don't know what you've been up to for ten years Yusei," she said, "but I don't think that's supposed to vibrate." Yusei gritted his teeth at this.
"Whoever it is can wait," he replied, "I'm busy."
"Nah, I have a better idea," Aki said. "Answer it."
"What?" Aki's smile was tainted with lust.
"Answer the phone," she said. Making a face but spurred by desire, Yusei took his phone out and shakily looked at it.
Calling: Ushio Tetsu.
"What the hell does Ushio want?" Yusei asked aloud as he answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Yusei!" Ushio's voice came, "Where are you?! I can't buzz you in your apartment!"
"I'm out," Yusei said, "this can wait, Ushio. I'm bus-" Yusei froze as Aki's hands pushed up his own shirt now, playing with his stomach and body.
"Why the surprised face, Yusei?," Aki asked devilishly from underneath him. Yusei stared at her in surprise, and her response was to blow a kiss at him.
"Yusei, this cannot wait! Where are you, we need to meet right now and-!"
"It can wait!" Yusei replied as Aki dragged her nails downs his abs. "I'm busy right now!"
"Doing what?! Yusei, I-!"
"Tell him," Aki said quietly, "go on, tell him where you are."
"I'm at Aki's," Yusei said, "helping her move in. It can wait." Aki smiled.
"Moving in, he says," she said, her hands moving down from his abs. Yusei nearly froze when her hands drifted somewhere else. God, he needed to get off the phone!
...D-Did you say Aki?" Ushio asked. "As in Izayoi Aki?!"
"What other Aki could I mean?!" Yusei demanded as Aki continued her lascivious actions. "I'm busy, Ushio, this can-!"
"Damn it, Yusei, it can NOT wait! Especially if Aki's back! When did she get in?!"
"A couple days ago," Yusei said, thrown off by Ushio's shouts. "Why?"
"Damn it, damn it...DAMN IT! Yusei, this is horrible. Listen closely. Grab Aki and head to your place, now. I need to speak with you."
"Ushio!" Yusei shouted as Aki began to undo his belt, "I said we're busy! we can talk tomorrow when-!"
"Damn it all, Yusei, listen to me! Divine escaped The Facility! We can only place him there a few days ago! Did you hear me?! Divine escaped!"
