Disclaimer: I changed the summary because I'm an indecisive troll.

"I'm confused."

Rua and Ruka turn their heads in my direction. "About what?"

"How is this," I gesture to the roller rink, "supposed to help Akiza learn how to ride a D-Wheel?"

I wait for an answer, but all they do is glance at each other and give me shrugs in sync. "It was Yusei's idea," says Rua. "Ask him."

I turn back to the crowded rink to locate Yusei and Akiza. They're somewhere in the middle, between a few other couples holding hands. I focus in on Yusei—on the gold highlights in his hair, a glimpse of those bright eyes.

The events of the other night slip through my mind. His smell. My arms around his torso. …I trust you…don't blame you…

No no no. A hundred billion times no.

I face my back to him and sink down so far my butt hangs half on, half off the padded seats.

"Maria, are you okay?" comes Ruka's sweet voice. "Your face is all red."

I suck in and out continuously, thinking the large influx of air will help un-blush my cheeks. "Just got a lot on my mind right now."

"Is it Jack?"

I look at the pair for a moment. Rua's staring off at the rink, bored as ever, so it had to be Ruka who asked. She has a slight frown on her face, which makes me frown too. Ruka takes my observing silence as reason to elaborate.

"He said some mean stuff to you. Stuff you didn't deserve."

Rua is definitely listening now, and I can see he's waiting for my answer as well. I stand from the seat to bend down at their eyelevel, then lay a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Listen, what Jack said is something only I should be worried about. I'm a big girl, so I can handle it. It's also his opinion, so even though I don't agree I'm gonna respect it." I take a breath and tread slowly, "And if you're both upset with me, that's fine. I understand."

"We're not mad at you!"

Ruka sends Rua a chiding look, but I can tell it's for yelling in my face and not for what he says. "We understand, too. Everyone deserves to have secrets."

I hadn't expected them to take it as they do, and it sure is relieving. Their feelings and thoughts are just as important as the rest of the group's. I wouldn't take them for granted just because they're younger.

"Now that that's cleared up," I begin, standing, "if I'm not mistaken I saw about a dozen arcade games over in that direction. Does anyone wanna tell me why we're here, and not playing them?"

Rua grins like crazy at the sound of that. He leads the way, dragging his sister and I along hand in hand. He picks out a racing game, one where the seats resemble motorcycles. Or are they D-Wheels?

Anyway, there's only enough for two players and Ruka shoots me a glance.

"It's okay," I smile. "I'll take next turn."

She smiles back and the two rev up their machines. I lean on the game next to me, a crane machine with little stuffed duel monsters in them.

"I thought it was you," a masculine voice says behind me.

I don't really think it's directed at me but turn around for curiosity's sake. To my surprise, Mako walks up and leans against a machine across from me.

"Oh. Hi," I say back.

"Hi yourself," he smirks. I notice he's out of uniform (Duh. Why wouldn't he be?) but not necessarily dressed up to party either. A striped hoodie with black jeans and sneakers. Casual and fitting.

When I look at his face again, his smirk is to the edges of his cheeks and he's got one eyebrow raised, as if to question me but since he already knows the answer, doesn't.

I turn my head away and, if possible, squeeze myself closer to the crane machine. I'll admit to checking him out, but only to myself.

Thankfully, he goes another route. "So." His smirk finally fades. "Here with anyone?"

"Over there." I point at the twins, who are now fully immersed in their game.

Mako nods. "They go to the Duel Academy in north New Domino, right?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Cool. Wish I could've gone there."

"Why didn't you?"

"My parents wanted me to focus on getting an education that would help prepare me to run the family business," he explains, breathing out a sigh, like thinking about it saddens him. "Or I should say us, since it's the same for Asura. Lame, huh?"

I shake my head to disagree. "But aren't you both full-time chefs at the café?"

"Yep," he laughs. "It's funny how life doesn't always go as planned."

I smile. Not because I actually agree, but because I'm not too sure what else I should do.

If only life could go like we planned, well, obviously my life would be different. But I also know that wouldn't solve anything, not for the world's problems. There would still be prejudice and selfishness and other bad things, and just more people holed up in mansions to ignore them.

"Do you want one of those?" Mako asks out of the blue.

"What?"

He comes closer, and I freeze until he's past me and to the front of the crane machine. "You were staring at them for a while. Do you want one?"

"Oh, no. They're just cute."

"No, it's cool." He's putting in his money before I can object again. "Besides, I'm a pro at this game. Which one do you want?"

I realize he's not going to take no for an answer, so I give in and name the first one I recognize. "Uh, Black Magician."

"Classic. I like it."

Thirteen tries. It takes him thirteen tries to get the doll for me, that I didn't want in the first place but now cradle in my arms. The Black Magician's pudgy face is cuter than I imagined it would be.

"I should pay you back." I hold the doll in one hand and rifle through my pockets with the other.

Mako waves a hand. "It was only fifty yen."

"Per turn," I add. "You took thirteen, making what I owe you—"

"It's a gift." I pause and look up at him. I hadn't noticed it, probably because I was busy searching for cash, but he'd leaned in closer than he was before. "Just accept it."

I can't help but lock up again. I've never been used to people being so close and it definitely isn't coming in handy now.

Luckily, he doesn't come any closer than he already is. But he does push my bangs behind my ear and smile like the Cheshire Cat. I don't know if that's better or worse. No—better would be him not leaning close to me at all.

He's back to his normal height in no time. "Looks like your friends ditched you," he points to the empty seats at the racing game.

"We have to find them," I say. I can feel the panic setting in already.

Mako grabs my hand then, and leads me out of the arcade. I try pulling it free but his grip is so tight and we're walking so fast that I doubt he notices.

We reach the center of the rolling rink, where that actual rink lays, when I say, "Can you please—"

He stops walking abruptly, which strikes my curiosity enough to take my mind away from our hands. I follow his line of sight right to the twins jogging up to us.

"Where did you two go?" I demand. "You can't run off like that."

"Sorry," the siblings say. They seem genuinely shamed so I don't press the issue. Rua says next, his perkiness revived, "We were just waiting for you with Aki and Yusei."

The other two walk up on cue and stand with the rest of us. And just like that I'm frozen again. I don't really know why. No one is that close to me, not even Mako. In this already unfamiliar situation, an even stranger thing happens: my eyes meet Yusei's.

It lasts longer than usual, and believe it or not, I'm not the one who looks away. Yusei stares at Mako and Mako stares at him. I can see a frown turning on Mako's lips but don't get a clear view of his eyes.

Mako's hand unclenches mine. I had completely forgotten that they were together in a matter of seconds.

He turns away from Yusei and says to me, "I'll see you at work."

The farewell has the same tone as the last time—when the twins, Akiza, and Yusei all came to the café. He was angry then too, just like he sounds now. Even if I tried to return the statement, Mako's long legs carry him to the building's front door with a rush of speed.

"That was weird," Rua comments. For a moment, I think he catches whatever it was that I was missing but then he finishes, "Is your friend okay?"

"Um," I say without knowing how to answer.

I'm not given much of the chance to, either. Akiza begins ushering the twins out the same exit Mako fled through, with Yusei hanging behind and me even farther than him.

It was the first time I've felt so puzzled by my normal life. No spirits, no creepy forests full of fog. Not even Annie who constantly has me wondering if she's as normal as I want her to be. This was the usual, everyday free time I'd gotten used to.

Whatever I'm feeling in the pit of my stomach is nothing I'd ever experienced.

My wrist tingles as I put my hand in my pocket. I already know what to expect before I raise my sleeve but want to be certain. A purplish bruise about the width of Mako's hand is etched on my skin.

My brows furrow and I release a pained sigh before pushing my sleeve down. I look ahead of me again, and stop in my tracks to keep from crashing in to Yusei's chest.

"Sorry. Didn't see you there."

As we continue on he says, "I was waiting for you."

"Oh. Thanks."

"Did he do that to you?" He glances down at my hand.

Great, now there are two things he's seen that he wasn't supposed to. I know nothing about him compared to what he knows about me and it's unfair that he gets to see me at my worst moments, him rescuing me in the forest included.

I don't want his help, don't need his help.

I go from bewildered to annoyed in a split second. I speed up and join the twins as Rua declares a rematch on his sister.

"What do you mean he's gone?" yells Jack.

Ushio grunts, a vein popping in his neck, "We were only questioning him. We had to let him go."

"What?!" Jack, Crow and Akiza holler back. "Why?!"

Akiza adds, this time only slightly higher than a normal octave, "He kidnapped a person! He kidnapped Yusei!"

I follow her pointed finger to said man. Aside from me, he's the only composed person in the garage. The only quiet person, too.

Along with their synchronicity tendencies, the group seems to have volume control problems.

"And did any of you nitwits think to press charges after that?!" he asks, the vein bulging twice due to emphasis. The three go silent and Ushio adds: "What kind of person forgets to press charges?"

"We didn't forget! We figured you would do us a favor," Crow says, rubbing the back of his neck. "Plus, we don't have money for it."

Ushio pinches the bridge of his nose and shuts his eyes. "I did you a favor—I interrogated him personally. But as an officer of the government that is all I can do."

"What can you do for us as a friend?" Jack grumbles.

Ushio shoots him a death glare, but complies with an outward breath. "I can tell you that when I searched our database for Yliaster, I only got two results—the Fortune Cup and the WRGP."

He hesitates for another outburst, but I think he's got everyone's full attention now. "Yliaster organized and funded the production of the Fortune Cup and hold the exact same role for the WRGP."

"Wasn't the purpose of the Fortune Cup to get all the Signers together?" Crow asks the other three.

"That was Godwin's doing," answers Akiza.

"That's why Yliaster sounds familiar," Jack says to himself. "Godwin mentioned them before."

"I don't think it's mere coincidence that Godwin and a mysterious organization were both in charge of a fixed competition," Yusei states. "He always had tricks up his sleeve. Maybe Yliaster is one of them."

"Whether or not that's true," Ushio butts in, "we have no evidence to prove it. But what I have to tell you next is something you'll want to hear so listen up.

"The man that kidnapped Yusei is named Daisuke Kita, and we only got that out of him for legal purposes. When we had him in custody, we had school records, bills in his name, car rentals. And when he made bail, all that disappeared."

"How? How could that even happen?"

"All the documents in the database are electronically filed," he sighs. "We barely use hard copies anymore."

"So Security got hacked, huh?" Crow smirks, visibly pleased to hear of the commotion. "There must be one big uproar down at headquarters."

Ushio rolls his eyes, but ignores him otherwise. "We're still running backup checks on all our documents but so far it only seems to be his that are missing."

"Which leaves us to question if they were real to begin with," Yusei ponders. "They could have been provided just to move things along and get Security off his back."

Ushio's officer communicator clicks with static. "Looks like I gotta head back. But a word of advice, any organization that makes their own members disappear means business. Be careful."

He treads out the door and from inside we listen to his car's engine hum away.

"That was interesting," Crow comments. I can tell he's trying to break the tense air everyone's sucking in.

"Sorry that this is a lot to process without much background." Akiza sits next to me and offers a sympathetic smile.

Of course I'm out of the loop on a few things but I'm not about to add fuel to my fire. Technically Jack's fire. That has me burning right in the middle of the flame.

Admitting that I don't understand is the same as saying I need to be told everything. Jack would jump on my hypocrisy the first chance he gets.

I shrug. "That's what happens when you show up to the party late."

"Worst party I've ever been to," Crow mutters.

"When you said we were having a team meeting, this isn't exactly what I thought you meant."

"Were you thinking something more," he looks up at the ceiling and pulls out the word, "intervention-y?"

More or less. I tried to brace myself for another attack, but I kept coming back to the same thought—I shouldn't have to brace myself for anything that isn't a creepy spirit.

When I was out wandering the forest I said I would tell everyone what was happening. And I did tell them, but it was like going two steps forward then one-and-a-half steps back. I made lists for myself. I set rules and regulations.

I confessed to the blackouts, but those were only half the story; I told a little white truth.

Telling them could be the only way to push forward and figure this mess out. Not to mention the stuff Ushio spouted about unknown organizations with disappearing members is only proving this is the best route.

The gang was involved in this weird stuff long before I was. If all the bad guys they've faced were secret bearing, ominous people it's no wonder Jack wants to chew me out—I'm starting to look less like an ally and more like the enemy.

I want to be an ally—no, I want to be a friend. I care about these people, whether they see it or not, and I want to be here for them. If they trust me, shouldn't I trust them? If they include me, shouldn't I include them?

And now there's a rift in the group, one that I caused but also one I can solve. Everyone deserves to keep secrets, yes, but I was also keeping secrets from myself. It wasn't just the spirits I was scared of.

I was afraid of the people right here in this room. I was afraid of them because they and the spirits have one single thing in common: I've never met anything like them. They include me, they trust me. They smile and laugh with me.

What's the sense in being afraid of my own friends? We're supposed to be prepared. We. Us. Together.

"I'll tell you everything."

Everyone had begun doing stuff again but they couldn't have been making much noise, otherwise they wouldn't hear me whisper so clearly.

"There's more you didn't mention?" Jack says, not bothering to hide his patronizing tone. "Oh joy."

I'm sure one of the others shoots him a glare because he doesn't say anything else. "I just don't know how to put it."

"Take your time," says Yusei. "There's no need to rush."

Unconsciously, my hand covers my wrist. I'm already wearing a long sleeve just so I don't have to look at the bruise, but it doesn't seem good enough. For Yusei's eyes, I can use all the layers I can get.

Focus, Maria! There are more important things at hand!

Now think. What's the best way to start this? Annie's absence is too recent; I need to backtrack. When did I first see the spirits? How do I explain the forest? What's the most important thing I need to say about both?

"I've been seeing these spirits ever since I came to the city. At first it seemed like they were trying to get me to come with them, and for a while it seemed like they'd been watching me. I can see them but I don't think they want me to. See, when they come around they bring this forest with them and I think they use that as a way to hide themselves from me.

"I stopped seeing them for a while then I had my second blackout, when I got lost in an actual forest. I think the spirits used this to their advantage somehow. They were following me around, too."

I feel exhausted from letting it out so speedily, and have to catch my breath. Yet it's never felt so alleviating to be breathless.

"Wow. Okay," Crow exhales. It would sound sarcastic if awe wasn't plastered all over his yellow-streaked face. "Not at all what I thought you were gonna say, but okay."

"You know me—full of surprises," I chuckle nervously.

"It's no wonder you didn't want to tell us," Akiza sympathizes. Then she gasps, "Did you tell Ruka?"

"Why would I tell Ruka?"

"Ruka can see duel monster spirits," Yusei informs. "And from the sounds of it, you're able to see them, too."

Whaaaaat.

So the big bag o' beans is completely spilled over! Maria's finally starting to understand she's got people on her side now, people she wants as friends~! Man, character development is the bomb diggity.

Oh and if you're curious about Mako, he'll be back. I enjoy his character too much to let him go so soon. Especially because he represents something the last few seasons of 5Ds didn't handle well AT ALL.

Also a tidbit: I've been trying to design the chapters so that the really long lines that come between paragraphs stand for long gaps of time (i.e. different day, or at least 12 hours) and changes in perspective. The lines that look like — mean a small amount of time has passed.

Thanks for reading ^.^

TTFN