As I plan out the rest of the story, I realised the conclusion of this decade-long venture is rushing towards its end with the speed of a trainwreck. It will come to a stop, but how it will get there is starting to feel out of my control. For starters, I think I will need more chapters than I have planned so far! Maybe such a long and broad story needed more than eight chapters to wrap everything up...
5 - Cocytus, of lamentation loud
The City was swathed in an abnormally dense layer of rain.
The storm had rolled in, heavy and foreboding, straight from Satellite. What followed was the kind of rain that did not merely fall, but poured down with alarming consistency. Water fell and fell from the sky for hours, a thick and impenetrable curtain that never varied in its breadth, as if Neo Domino was to be kept perpetually in this deluge, usurping the sun and never giving it back.
Such natural hinderances did not worry Neo Domino – if the City was still in its heyday. But there had been something off about Neo Domino City all week. People living lower down on the City's ladder of wealth must have noticed it earlier, with only whispers filtering into Tops. Yet with more and more power disruptions, flickering lights on the edge of one's vision, the occasional darkness acting as a temporary stain in Tops' glorious white –
Something was wrong with the energy grid.
There were more and more power disruptions. The kettle would stop briefly, no more than a split second, as the water was being boiled. Before anyone could respond to it, the kettle would jump back to life, merrily bubbling away again, leaving its owner blinking in doubt at their own memory, yet unable to dismiss the abrupt hiccup as a mirage.
In a few days' time, the hiccup became normalcy.
Masses of the City's buildings turned black. Without power. Without light. Industries and offices began to encourage people to take leave, and after a few days, enforced it. The harbour stopped functioning, and cargo ships laid adrift in the tossing seas, waiting for the docking permission which never came. The lighthouses along the coast no longer worked, each massive light an empty eye socket looking out to a bleak and dead world. Tops soon became a solitary beacon, not of hope, but of envy. Its white walls shone like the walls of a high-security prison, keeping the darkness out and keeping as much light in as it can, until there was finally, at long last, not enough light to even fill itself.
Tops began to go dark. From the bottom of the hill, light went out, one after the other, an unstoppable plague that crept towards the pinnacle, where the final elites sat on their throne. The topmost apartments now shone weakly above the City, trying to penetrate the curtain of deep night with no avail.
Professor Fudo shivered as he looked out over the City in his bright Tops house. He knew this City by heart, could almost see the parks and the avenues in his mind's eye, but his eyes could see nothing. It was just a thick rain that made everything invisible, locking Neo Domino out of the entire world. The call for neighbouring cities to assist with this energy shortage fell on deaf ears. No help was coming, and no one could get out.
"Are you alright, dear?"
He twitched upon hearing his wife's voice, turning to her with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. The light in the kitchen hurt after staring for so long into the darkness.
"Have you heard anything from Rex? Are they going to do something about the energy shortage?"
Concerned, his wife moved towards him. He shook his head and turned to face her.
They had been through so much together in the past twenty years. They had met during their graduate school days and were elated when they were assigned to the Momentum team. They had stood by each other in the most difficult times, when the Momentum project was under intense pressure to produce results. They had conferred together when tough choices had to be made, when madness and differing ideals fragmented their friends. He knew he owed her so much, and he thought they could finally retire happily at long last. Yet this…
"Nothing at all. With Momentum in its current state, who knows how busy Rex might be."
"Rex still hasn't found Yusei…" His wife lowered her head. More than the general concern she showed for Momentum, a more intense and harrowing worry seeped into her voice.
Professor Fudo opened his mouth, paused, and closed his mouth again, letting the silent and oppressive atmosphere return to the room.
Both him and his wife knew they were not in a position to complain about their life. They had power, prestige, money, and a wonderful child. Perhaps that was why the sudden loss of Yusei hit them so hard.
Yusei had always been such a good son; respectable, obedient, mature. He did what was best for the situation. He was always deferential, never once acting out of line. His stubborn search into Izayoi Aki and his subsequent insistence in heading into Satellite were not like him at all.
"You don't suppose that Rex is the one behind Yusei's actions, do you?" Professor Fudo's wife spoke again in a low, restrained whisper.
"He influenced our son into looking into Satellite? Perhaps even took Yusei hostage?" The Professor wondered aloud, but immediately shook his head. "I doubt it. He would have done it sooner if he wanted to do that to Yusei. He needed Yusei to promote the City's image and Momentum."
"Yusei was going to Rosewood, after all…" His wife muttered. "You don't think that… What if he turned out to be a Psychic Duelist?! That place was full of Psychic Duelists. What if he had gotten affected somehow – "
"Dear. Stop it." Professor Fudo interrupted her, his brow furrowed at her conjectures. "That condition isn't contagious. You out of everyone should know it doesn't work like that. And Yusei had duelled so many times already. It's alright."
His wife sighed. She had been wringing a cloth in the sink behind the counter. She now put it on the counter and forced her hands away from it. The poor cloth was fraying at the ends. "I wish it is alright. Yusei has always been a good boy. He would have contacted us if he was okay. This silence… it's making me feel that something horrible had happened to him."
"Be reasonable, honey. Who knows if Satellite has any power supplies left for him to contact the City? If even Tops is running out of power…"
The two of them fell silent again. This house had been silent for a long time. Even though the Fudo household has always been a quiet one and their son had taken that quietness into his bones, the quietness within these walls had never taken on such a resigned form.
The phone started to ring, loud and sharp and cutting straight through the muted background of rain.
"It might be the press again." Professor Fudo sighed. "Should have put in a redirect request for the line."
"I'll answer it." His wife shook her head, took off her apron, and left the room.
Their family had borne the brunt of the media's attention over the past few days. Rex Goodwin had instructed his public relations people to answer as many questions as possible as Momentum started to gradually fail, but the Fudo family have been famous for a long time. Friends in high society knew where they lived. Acquaintances had their phone numbers. As Director of the Momentum project, people turned to him when the electricity stopped working. They wanted to get 'an honest answer, not what Rex is telling us'. But he could not give them an answer at all.
"Yusei! Oh, my goodness, Yusei?!"
His wife's shrill yell echoed through the house. Professor Fudo literally jumped, barely registering what this might mean, and dashed into the secondary living room where the phone was.
"Yusei? It's Yusei?"
"Yusei! Where are you? We've been so worried!" His wife was clasping the phone tightly to her chest, weeping into the headset. Professor Fudo wasn't sure if she could still hear whatever was being said from the other end.
"Dear, put the phone on speaker! And turn on the hologram projection!" Professor Fudo furiously gestured at his wife. With the speaker and holographic projection enabled, a blinking, unstable image of Yusei's face and shoulders appeared. Both of his parents gave a relieved sigh.
"Yusei! Yusei, it's really you! Where have you been?"
"Mum, Dad, just… hold on." Yusei held up his hand, preventing his parents from talking. The young man looked tired - haggard, really. Professor Fudo felt his heart clench painfully. What had happened to his son? Why did he look so exhausted? "I really need to talk to you two."
"Yusei, you've got to come back." Professor Fudo's wife was quick to tell their son the matter foremost in her mind. "It's not safe in Satellite. It'd be so much better if you're back here in Tops."
"Safe?" Their mild, obedient son tilted his head, a gesture that Professor Fudo had not seen from Yusei before. "You believe Tops is safe, even though Momentum is losing more and more power?"
Professor Fudo froze, and he felt that his wife held her breath next to him. They had expected Yusei to immediately show empathy to their distress, but Yusei's face was unusually impassive. Their son did not tell them of his whereabouts, ask for help, or looked remotely relieved to see them. Neither of them thought Yusei would start talking about the problems happening in Tops. Worse still, Yusei had stated this question in a calm, almost cold voice…
… A voice that sounded more like chilly sarcasm than concern.
Yusei's mother was the first to respond. The women let out an awkward laughter as she smiled at her son, her voice soft and reassuring. "What are you talking about, Yusei? The City is as safe as ever."
"Really?" Professor Fudo felt the young man before him was looking less and less like his son by the second. This dissonance – disturbance, rather – grew stronger the more this young man spoke in a cool, impassive tone. "I didn't know you are one to lie like that, Mum."
"Yusei, what are you suggesting?" Professor Fudo frowned. "What you need to do is to come back from Satellite in one piece as soon as possible. Where are you? I'll get Security to go and pick you up right now. Tell me where you are right at this moment."
"Has Uncle Goodwin been keeping secrets from you, Dad?" Yusei only shook his head. "You should know by now that Security has very little control over Satellite currently. Even if I do tell you where I am, there is no way they can get to me."
Professor Fudo stilled. There was something bizarre about his son, something that he had never witnessed before in Yusei's hard, steely eyes.
"Yusei… what happened to you? Why are you behaving like this?" The older man sighed and put on a concerned expression, trying to regain some ground with his son. "You've always been a responsible and polite young man. Don't be like this. Come back immediately and we'll figure out what happened together, okay?"
"I am calling you because I am being responsible." Yusei only shook his head. Then, with a nonchalant manner, he mentioned a name both of his parents had tried so hard to forget. "I am warning you of a disaster that may be arriving soon. Rudger Goodwin is on the move to physically attack the City, and he had successfully depleted Momentum of the majority of Psychic Duelists who were keeping the machine stable."
A cold, terrifying shiver ran down Professor Fudo's spine as he stared at his son – his son, who should have been sheltered from everything that happened sixteen years ago. His wife was not faring any better. She took a step back and wobbled, almost falling to the ground.
Yusei must have anticipated their reactions.
"Did I surprise you, Mum, Dad?" With an eerie, dissociated calmness, Yusei let out a sigh that held no traces of concern, but only of disappointment. "Unlike you, I am not lying. Rudger Goodwin is going to exact his revenge as we speak. I thought I should at least have the good graces of letting you two – and Rex Goodwin – know about this latest development."
"What did these people tell you, Yusei…?" Yusei's mother was shaking as her voice wavered. She seemed like she was on the verge of fainting, and Professor Fudo reached out to wrap his arms around her.
It was too much. It was too much for both of them. Their son was not supposed to know about any of this. Their son was not meant to even hear rumours about the rancid truths the Momentum Project had kept hidden for so long.
"They told me so much in the past few days, Mum." Yusei's voice dipped, his gaze unflinching as he gazed at his parents. "I've learnt everything I could about Momentum, about Psychic Duelists, about the things that happened here with your team sixteen years ago. Dad, Mum, I know what Momentum is now. I know how it worked, and what Psychic Duelists are truly capable of."
As Yusei placed an accusing, vehement emphasis on his words, Professor Fudo felt his wife shiver. She was holding his arm in a death grip, clinging to him as if every word was hurting her physically. Professor Fudo felt his heart beating rapidly in return. The more composed Yusei sounded, the more he felt his stomach twist in terror. Knowing how much Yusei believed in the goodness of the people around him, the truth might have been too much for the boy to bear.
"I'm sorry to put you through this so suddenly." Yusei was saying in the projection, but he didn't look or sound apologetic at all. "I can understand how upset you are. After all, I was also very upset when Rudger Goodwin said to my face that everything I stood for was a lie. That the very concept of me – my name, the Yusei Particles – was also a lie covering up the truth about Momentum."
"Yusei… Yusei, stop. This is enough." Professor Fudo squeezed out a few words with a strangled voice. "What do you want from us?"
"I don't know what I want from you… I don't even know what you wanted from the start." Yusei ran a hand through his dishevelled hair, showing frustration for the first time since the start of this conversation. "I just… why, Dad? Why?"
His son did not elaborate beyond that one single word. Yusei did not need to say more. The weight and the breadth of the one word echoed silently, a vast expanse of unspoken enquiries that neither of them could not sufficiently describe.
"I… We needed something for Neo Domino. Momentum was the only thing that worked." Professor Fudo swallowed and steadied his voice. "I tried to stop the project when we still could. I really tried, Yusei, but our sponsors and the government wanted to continue at all costs. Neo Domino needed something that could establish itself globally. Momentum was the best bet we had. It was for the sake of everyone in the city, Yusei."
"Even though you knew your project was hurting innocent people? That you are rounding up Psychic Duelists so they can become living fuel for your machine?!" Professor Fudo flinched at Yusei's anger, an emotion that his son never exhibited in front of him. The seething, repulsed tone Yusei used made his gut churn.
"There were not many Psychic Duelists back then… most of them were people on the team gone mad, actually." Professor Fudo licked his lips uncomfortably. "I'm not trying to justify what I did, Yusei. It was wrong to use these people, but the alternative was to turn off Momentum and let Domino go back to obscurity, to let other city states swallow us up. It was the best choice out of many evils, Yusei."
His son only shook his head. "And that was why you and Rex Goodwin continued this huge lie for so long? And what about 'Yusei'? What was that supposed to mean?"
"That discovery was necessary… to protect the future of Momentum." Professor Fudo felt his wife's hand slipping away from. He grabbed her hand harder, interlacing his fingers through hers. "We had to come up with something that made sense, something to explain what Momentum was capable of. We had to talk about Yusei Particles, this… this new discovery that explained the function of Momentum. As for you…"
Yusei focused his sharp blue eyes on the older man. "As for me…?"
"… You were meant to be protected from everything." Professor Fudo finally continued. "You were not supposed to know. You represent hope, Yusei. We want to believe that everything we told the world was true. You represented that hope. You represent everything that is good about Neo Domino, things not touched by Momentum –"
"Unfortunately, it didn't work that way." Uncharacteristically, Yusei interrupted his father. Professor Fudo blinked as Yusei slowly took off his left glove and raised his hand, revealed an alien, yet terribly familiar form on his forearm.
"I am a Psychic Duelist, Dad."
Professor Fudo felt his entire body shudder in dread as his wife let out a loud gasp. This was the last thing they wanted to hear; the thing they had prayed would never occur. Yusei was not meant to be touched by the work of Momentum.
The inventor of Momentum gazed tiredly at his son, a young man who had, only a few days ago, represented every good thing he fancied he had achieved in life.
"What now, Yusei?" Professor Fudo's voice was no higher than a whisper. "What do you want? You've seen Rudger, you knew Momentum needs Psychic Duelists to function, and you are a Psychic Duelist too. What are you going to do? Whose…" He stopped to suppress a shudder. "Whose side are you on? Ours, or Rudger's?"
"Answer me this first, Dad." Yusei replied. "What did you want to achieve when you started making Momentum?"
"I…"
Professor Fudo did not know what to say. In particular, he didn't know what to say to his son, who was now dragged into this shadowy affair against his will.
"Tell me what happened in the past, Dad." His son demanded. "I deserve to know."
Professor Fudo didn't know what he could possibly say to Yusei now. What kind of excuses would he give Yusei? What could he do to rectify all the wrongs Yusei now knew he had committed?
He could only state the facts. Neo Domino's was involved in the development of an eternal machine for a reason. When they started the project, everyone on the team had wanted nothing more than to help their city and to understand Psychic Duelists. Psychic Duelists was a phenomenon that occurred particularly frequently around Domino City but was never fully explained.
The research team therefore worked with the concept of Psychic Duelists more than they did with applied physics, hoping to discover something from these duelists that may overturn the fundamental laws of the world. When they indeed developed a prototype that could tap into the parallel dimension that Psychic Duelists were connected to, the goal of an 'eternal machine' seemed closer than ever.
What they didn't prepare for was the encroaching madness that consumed the team, driving them mentally unstable as well as turning some into Psychic Duelists. That, combined with Momentum's inability to operate in a controllable manner, endangered the project.
Someone – it wasn't him; perhaps it was Rudger or Rex? – came up with the desperate idea of linking the electroencephalogram machines with Momentum, to see if the connection between Momentum and Psychic Duelists meant anything. It didn't work at first. A miracle only came to them when one of the Psychic Duelists fell asleep in his 'pod' and ended up being connected to Momentum while he was drifting in and out of consciousness.
That was the only thing that stabilised Momentum, but that Psychic Duelist was never the same after he woke up.
Everything up to that point could perhaps be justified as scientific curiosity. But once the report went up to their superiors and sponsors, they were told to keep going at any human cost. It was their last chance to stop, yet instead of stopping, the team started trying to use Psychic Duelists of different genders and races to perfect the result. And when some of the team became Psychic Duelists themselves, they even became 'recycled' human resources, set down into the pods to be experimented upon.
Even as team morale plummeted, their results started to get published in prestigious journals. The world started to watch them. They couldn't stop then, not anymore. Their lies and success created friction. Rex and Rudger, usually such steadfast brothers, started to quarrel. The two of couldn't decide on what to do with the power that Momentum generated. It only got worse when both brothers exhibited what Rex called 'Marks', strange symbols that only appeared on the bodies of the strongest Psychic Duelists, a tradition that legends say went all the way back to Muto Yugi, the original King of Games who lived decades ago.
Rex showed his rejection towards the label of "Psychic Duelists" by literally cutting his arm off. Rudger embraced the label instead and formed a plan for Psychic Duelists to co-operate with Momentum, a plan that would see Psychic Duelists become first class citizens with their own privileges in exchange for their help with Momentum.
Both plans were far than ideal. Ultimately, the infighting and led to the lack of maintenance for Momentum. Sabotage and neglect culminated in the explosion sixteen years ago, when the Momentum Prototype erupted and further separated Satellite from the nascent Neo Domino City.
There was chaos following the explosion. Sponsors came knocking and the government flexed their muscles in threat. To make it worse, Rudger had the galls to use his psychic abilities to overpower their guards during the mayhem. He was taken away and locked up for good. Professor Fudo retained his position by agreeing to continue the research with Rex at his side. His only priorities were to prevent the Momentum scandal from coming to light and to protect his wife and son from being used as scapegoats.
Rex went his own way after a few years, leaving science and heading up various philanthropic organisations instead, eventually becoming a public servant and climbing the political ladder. With Rex's wholehearted political support, Momentum was eventually transferred to Neo Domino. More and more 'research' were made public and the City gladly used the energy given out by Momentum, leading the people into a new era of prosperity.
The fate of the Psychic Duelists was all but forgotten, especially as the surviving members of the team took deliberate measures to distance themselves from Momentum research. There was a precarious balance after the initial chaos. The city rounded up Psychic Duelists, housed them in secret places funded by the City's top businessmen, and used them to control Momentum. It wasn't honourable, but it was working like a well-oiled cog. It was more than operatable.
If it weren't for Izayoi Aki's rampage or Yusei's stubborn persistence, the fate of Psychic Duelists in Neo Domino would have faded into obscurity, a predictable and repetitive path of darkness stretching on for as far as the eye could see.
"And now Rudger is around again… How is he?" Professor Fudo didn't really know how to wrap up the topic. His wife had gone quiet, having sank down to sit on the floor. His son was still staring at him with chilly, unfamiliar eyes.
The darkness and rain outside were the least of his concerns now.
"He's angry, understandably." Yusei replied. "But he hasn't changed his radical views. I won't be siding with him."
"So, you'll be on our side? Rex's side?" Professor Fudo replied, relief evident in his voice. Of course, how could his own son choose the ideals of that madman –
"No, I'm not on Rex Goodwin's side either."
"What…?"
"I am not on the side of either of the Goodwin brothers." Yusei slowly shook his head. "Dad, did you honestly think that either of their choices were the right ones?"
"There are no such things as right choices." Professor Fudo took in a deep breath. "Rex's plan was the most sensible one. It was better than Rudger's. It benefited the most people. It was the right choice for Neo Domino."
"You think that was the right choice." Yusei narrowed his eyes. "That it was right for the few to suffer for the benefit of the many."
"Would that be worse than to have the many suffer for the benefit of the few?" Professor Fudo frowned. "Because that was what was happening in society before Momentum. Momentum was made to lift the common people out of their suffering, so that the weak would no longer have to cower before the strong."
"Then, is the current situation what you envisioned?" Yusei muttered in a low voice. "Instead of creating suffering based on wealth, you have only shifted that suffering to be based on birth. Your goal of bringing peace to Neo Domino failed. At least," Yusei suddenly leant in, his eyes looking intensely into his father's face, "that's what I hope your goal was when you set out to make this damned eternal machine."
With that, his son turned off the call, plunging the house into the never-ending sound of falling rain.
Professor Fudo stared ahead into the darkness, barely aware that his wife was openly sobbing at his feet.
-/-/-/-/-/-
Aki watched Yusei's face carefully when the latter emerged from the garage after the call with his parents. When he learnt Rudger had installed software that prevented Security from tracing Aki's vehicle, he had borrowed her D-Wheel to make the call. She understood he wanted the extra security.
What she didn't expect was for his face to be so stony. She thought his family would at least have a nice reunion.
Instead, Yusei looked like he just had a fight with his parents, something that Aki knew had never happened before.
"Are you okay?" She asked. He didn't seem okay. It was like she was looking at a new Yusei. She thought he might be asking his parents to airlift him and Carly out of Satellite, but now she was not sure.
"I don't know if I'm okay." He leaned against the wall of the dirty garage; his head bent underneath a solitary light bulb high on the wall. Darkness had completely covered the night sky, and the light bulb struggled to let out a weak yellow light. "Dad… he confessed everything."
"Confess?" That was not a word Aki have would have used. "You mean… he confirmed that Rudger wasn't lying?"
"Yes… he, Mum, and everyone else involved in Momentum knew what was happening all along." Yusei tilted his face towards the dark, cold heavens, his profile stoic. "They knew exactly what they were doing, and yet they kept at it. It's like they never even cared."
"Are you surprised? If they did – achoo!" A cold gust blew past them mid-way through Aki's sentence. She involuntarily let out a sudden sneeze, cutting her words in a very undignified manner.
Yusei immediately turned to her, but she waved her hand dismissively.
"I'm fine. I'm fine."
But as she sniffled more, she soon realised her folly. The storm seemed to have sucked all the heat out of Satellite, leaving only the autumn frigid air behind.
"Let's head back in." Yusei offered the logical solution. "We can talk more in the building."
"Crow and Jack will drill you about your parents." Aki gave him a look. They had to convince Crow and Jack that they absolutely needed access to the garage when it was already dark and dinner was being prepared. After some grumbling, Crow surrendered the garage keys to them. Jack had also made a call to the City on his giant white D-Wheel before them, but he said nothing about who was his contact.
Yusei shoved his hands deep into his pockets, then slouched his back, looking thoroughly unlike his usual polished, sharply-dressed appearance.
"I don't know what I expected." Looking down, Yusei kicked away a stray stone. "Really, what could have they said? Mum didn't even say anything. She just crumbled to the ground. Dad justified himself the best he could, saying stuff like it was the lesser of the two evils…"
He trailed off, letting the sentence die in the air.
"It doesn't matter what Dad thought about Momentum. He may have regrets, but it's obvious that my parents can't get out of this anymore. I'm just angry that they made me a part of the lie, that they tried to make me the symbol of whole fraud…"
"They… used you." Aki narrowed her eyes. That part she could relate with.
"Probably, but Dad sounded like he really just wanted to make Domino a better place." Yusei's voice went soft. "He said they hoped I would represent all the good things they had said about Momentum, a wish towards all the miracles they wished Momentum was."
"They wanted you to bring their lie to reality?" Aki frowned.
"More like they still had hope that Momentum can bring about good." Yusei took a deep breath, then he rolled his shoulders and stood straight again. "I told Dad that I'm not with Rudger, but I'm not on his and Rex Goodwin's side either. Instead, I'm going to work for the good things that Momentum brought to the City. The people of the City – that's who I want to fight for."
"Really." Aki looked away. "It's good that you still believe."
Yusei looked at her. "You don't believe anymore?"
"You still expect me to believe, after… after all this?" She waved her arm vaguely, unwilling to go into details of what she meant. Neither of them needed a reminder.
"Then why didn't you go with Rudger?" Yusei shuffled closer to her. "You could have killed me. You could have left with Rudger and Kiryu. You could have abandoned my group. Instead, you saved all of us… I still haven't asked why you did all that."
"I…" Aki shifted uncomfortably. "You reminded me of myself."
"Even though you thought I deserved punishment?" Yusei's tone was cautious and even.
"Looking at you, I felt you were in the same position that I was in Tops." Aki gnawed her lower lip. "I was powerless to protect myself, and I was at the mercy of those in positions of power. When I imagined us fighting it out, I didn't think you would give in so easily, that you would… understand me so easily. And… and then, if I killed you when you were also feeling like a victim, when you were powerless to fight back…"
Yusei nodded slowly. He didn't need to say anything for her to know that he understood.
"What are you going to do, then?" She changed the topic to focus on more urgent matters. "Are you going to go back to the City, or stay here?"
"Stopping the Goodwin brothers from harming the City is my priority." Yusei shuffled on his feet. "With Momentum in its weakened state, there is no way Rex Goodwin would be staying docile. He must be doing something at the City."
"And if I knew anything about Rudger, it is high time for him to attack at Rex's moment of weakness." Aki concurred. "I'm willing to bet Rudger is heading there right now with Kiryu and other Satellite gangsters."
"My direction is clear then. If I want to stop Rudger, I will need to head back to the City." Yusei concluded. "Where are you going to go, in that case?"
Aki clenched her hands.
"The fight had left Satellite. Rudger and Rex Goodwin are both at the City, and Rudger could well be bringing hundreds of Satellite gangsters with him. I will need to go to the City as well."
She had anticipated him to either be overjoyed at her change of heart, or to doubt her show of companionship. He did none of that. He just nodded, as if what she said was the most normal thing in the world.
"Good on you. I support your decision no matter what, Aki. It's fine if you want to go to the City with me or do it on your own."
"Why do you support me so much…"
The words slipped out of her without meaning to. Yusei looked at her but appeared even less surprised.
"We both know what doubting others had gotten us in to." There was a small sigh in his voice. "Seriously, when was the last time we talked and listened to each other properly? Every time it was just, 'Did you win your tournament?' 'Did you ace the exam in Duel Academy?' There was never… we never really got to know each other as people, did we?"
"You… you know I did a lot of unforgivable things, right?" Aki straightened up, only to wince at the discomfort. She had momentarily forgotten the wounds on her back.
"To be fair, I don't think I'm able to judge you. I'm too biased and involved in everything." Yusei shook his head. "I know it sounds like back-pedalling, but I'm being honest. There is… there is so much that you went through. I can't even imagine all this. And then, the only people who reached out to you were Rudger and Kiryu… Honestly, I don't know whether I would have chosen differently in your shoes."
"You're just saying it." She shook his head. "You haven't done what I did. I can't see how you can still support me, after I tried to kill you."
"Are we really that different?" Yusei looked at her as he lightly tapped his forearm. Yes, that Mark on his skin, the sign indicating he was also a Psychic Duelists, only made their situation even more complicated.
Her world was simple once upon a time. Everything was easily to understand. Psychic Duelists and other people. Tops and the rest of Neo Domino. The oppressed and the oppressors. Things that Yusei represented and things that Aki represented. Those were mutually exclusive groups. Mutually exclusive ideals. Easy divisions. Easy goals.
She had always thought - no, knew - everyone was her enemy. She should be wary of everything and put up a fake face for the entire world. Even though they were her enemies, they still wanted her to be nice to them.
And now, nothing was easy anymore. She beat Yusei into a bloody pulp and threatened to kill him, but he was still standing here with her, talking with her casually, saying that he will support her no matter what she decided - this totally went against the way she thought about the world.
"You're not making this easy for me, Yusei." She finally compromised. "I'm not used to having people talk to me like that… about how they support me."
"It's… it's difficult for the both of us, isn't it?" He gave an awkward laugh. "If only I genuinely helped you, and you didn't get sent to Rosewood… would that have made things easier?"
She paused, deliberating over her words.
"No, I'm afraid it wouldn't. It would only have kept us blind to the truth."
Would that ignorance have been better? Would that have made them happier? She wanted to elaborate more, to make sure that Yusei didn't misunderstand - but at the same time, she didn't know what she really wanted Yusei to hear.
She didn't know whether ignorant happiness was good or bad for them. No, no, it would be bad - maybe not for him, but definitely for her. Regardless of her convictions, she wanted to truly live.
She wanted to be herself and be free, to live in a way that gave her no regrets, even at the cost of her previously life going up in flames.
Yusei patted her on the shoulder. She twitched and looked at him.
"I agree, Aki. I want to know the truth too, even if it means I can never go back to living my life." He gave her a smile, and at that moment, she felt that the Yusei she knew was back. That steadfast, intelligent, unfailing leader was back. The smile he gave her was full of reassurance, letting her know that he had it under control.
"You are okay with how things turned out?" She looked at him. "I'm used to this by now, but you…"
Instead of appeasing her, Yusei shook his head.
" I'm not okay. But I remember what I want to achieve." He gave a little sigh. "No one should ever get used to this. This was not what Momentum was created for. The Momentum project failed to instil hope and joy into the people. But – and this might be a stupid goal – I want to truly bring that hope back to Neo Domino."
"So… You want to live up to your name?" Aki raised her eyebrows at him, and Yusei chuckled.
"Maybe. Maybe I do. I just want to be Yusei for once, not Fudo Yusei. You understand that, right?"
Aki hummed approval. She might have said something more, if Jack didn't burst out of the orphanage's doors and ran towards them.
"What are you two doing here? I was looking all over the place for you!"
Aki blinked in confusion, but Jack wasn't finished yet.
"We have an issue with Ruka and Rua. We got to Satellite with their help, but we haven't checked in with them yet. Crow and I just tried contacting them again using the secure channel they gave us, but they aren't picking up no matter what."
Aki and Yusei gave each other a look. She could tell he shared the same cautious puzzlement as her. Just because Ruka and Rua weren't in their house didn't have to mean anything.
Seeing their hesitation, Jack continued.
"In case you didn't get what I'm trying to say, isn't Ruka is a strong Psychic Duelist? And isn't Momentum is running out of time?" The blond young man growled. "Carly is worrying herself sick with this. Our Duel Disks still have power, so that means Momentum is still up and running somehow, even though all of Satellite's Psychic Duelists are gone. Shouldn't we be worried about who is still powering Momentum?"
Aki let out a long breath, feeling her chest deflate with the implications Jack had just voiced.
They have dallied here for far too long. It seemed that the events happening across the sea would not allow them any further respite.