Disclaimer: Did you guys notice in last chapter's disclaimer that all the girls' names have something to do with brightness/being something that is bright? Interesting.

I writhe under the bedsheets and stretch the sleep from my body. Both a groan and whine escape my mouth; I'm grateful for getting shut-eye, but I can already tell the amount I managed is still too little for today's needs. My hand rises to rub my eyes awake, but stops when I touch the paper stuck to my forehead.

I have to squint and focus for a few moments until Ruka's loopy, heart-dotted handwriting registers in my brain. You looked so cute sleeping that we didn't want to wake you. Went with Aki to the guys'. Come when you can—Love, Nuggets

I laugh out loud and it echoes into the hallway. Then, rising up on my elbows, I catch a glimpse of the sun from the balcony's parted curtains and shield my eyes in an instant. Yeah, some days you need the sun to help you get out of bed.

Others, you just need the damn thing to piss off.

I flee the brutal rays and go to the bathroom, sitting on the toilet in the dark until I can face the light. My reflection looks as worn and groggy as I feel, my hair rounding out in afro-like dimensions, eyes half-lidded, t-shirt hanging off my shoulder. I press a finger to the band-aid on my cheek, then pull it off. A thin, shallow cut is unveiled beneath.

Last night's discovery flashes back to me. I go back into my room and stare at the lamp, which rests immaculately in place on the nightstand. The lightbulb shines when I flick the switch. Slowly, my fingers stretch out to it, the middle digit landing first.

Nothing.

Had I dreamt it? I stare at my hands, hoping somewhat they'll answer.

I try it again with the lighbulb off, but it's the same as last. Giving up, I head for the shower, knowing water would never leave me hanging like my powers so often do. And after the shower, I get dressed: a billowy, green racerback over jean cutoffs. As I slip on my usual ankle boots, I notice the fabric has begun to lift from the base in the left shoe. They can probably last another month before I'll need to cave and buy new ones.

I leave a towel strung around my shoulders to shield myself from damp curls and go toward the kitchen. The numbers on the microwave's clock read 1:52. I'd eat something and scoot on over to Poppo Time.

There's nothing hidden in the microwave's mouth, or in the fridge's. On the weekends, the twins would be at the guys' house early, they once told me, so they wouldn't bother making breakfast since everyone would eat there together. But it's beginning to look like they wouldn't have eaten here, even if they had the choice.

New plan: pick up groceries, eat something, scoot to Poppo Time.

The intercom by the lift rings. I answer despite not really wanting to and, to my surprise, it's Crow's chipper voice on the opposite end. He rides up and nods good morning.

"Hey. Why are you here?"

"What, don't you love getting surprise visits from your favorite brother?" He grins, lopsided as usual.

I reply, arms crossing and a lone eyebrow arching, "Oh, you're the favorite?"

"Duh!" He saunters into the flat and spreads himself out over the couch. "You've barely had a conversation with Jack, let alone one that isn't an argument—"

"That goes for the both of us, don't you think?"

Crow averts his gaze to the skyline right outside the terrace's door. "Hey, if you wanna take your turn and give me an earful about what happened yesterday, have at it. May as well since I've already gotten everyone else's two cents."

"I'm not going to. But I have to know," I say, sitting down beside him, "did you mean it?"

"It's not about whether I meant it or not. The fact is I said it, period."

"But if you didn't mean it, you can take it back."

The redhead sits up and faces me entirely. His smoky irises solidify with paternal distaste. "That's a childish way of thinking, Maria. Whenever you allow words to slip from your mouth, you mean them. Maybe they're uglier and grittier than you intended, but so what? You still say what you choose to say. Or, even if you choose the wrong words, there's still an emotion too strong to ignore that makes you say what you say."

My guilt over what conspired between both Aki and Yusei was staying afloat on the buoy of "I didn't mean it." And now, I've been dragged so far below the surface, there is no way I could doggie-paddle my way out of this one. Asura was right, there is zero fun in responsibility. Yet, that doesn't mean it isn't necessary.

"You're really smart, you know?" I smile at my brother.

"Of course I know. Did you?"

"Always."

He squints his eyes and purses his lips, suspicious. Crow relaxes again afterward, folding his arms and nodding sagely. "Anyway, my point is that you can't go around just sayin' and doin' whatever you like and not take accountability for what you've said and done. How else do you think I got these?" He points to his markers. "'Oops, officer, I tripped and these dozen pack of cards just fell inside my bag!' Pssh, I wish!"

"I didn't know that's what you did," I comment, softly.

"Yeah, well it's not exactly a great conversation starter for most people. And, are you really that surprised?"

"I guess not?" My head tilts back to the ceiling. "I mean, you are short and energetic so it makes sense."

Crow karate chops me on the head. "I'm debating whether or not you'll still be my number one favorite sister after that one."

"If I can't make fun of my favorite brother in peace, then I don't want to be number one. I'll settle for a cozy fourth place," I respond, rubbing my skull and standing. "I have some groceries to pick up, so would you mind giving me a lift before you go back home?"

He skips to the door. "I'll do ya' one better, sis!"

—

"Knock, knock. Anyone home?" Crow asks the watermelon, pressing an ear up to it to listen for an answer. "I think I hear someone."

I laugh and say, "Put that down. We're not melon shopping today."

He returns the fruit to its pit and follows me along the aisle. "For real, I did. They said, 'Get off my property before I shoot you!'"

I push the cart over to the shelf stocked with tomatoes. "So," I start, "why exactly did you show up at the twins' flat?"

"It's like I mentioned, everyone was taking their turn whacking at me for what happened with Jack. I felt—still feel guilty for that, but mostly I was thinking about what Yusei and I saw last night."

I knot the bag shut after choosing four good ones and keep browsing. "I assumed you didn't find anything."

"We found Jack—lost him, actually." I stop the cart in its place and turn to Crow. He scratches the nape of his neck. "Yus and I were on the highway and we saw him, but he was off. I know I said all that shit back at Headquarters, but it'd take someone completely heartless to do what this guy's done."

"A doppelganger," I say under my breath, then repeat louder, "you think the guy you saw was a doppelganger?"

"If that is a word for a person who looks identical to another person and tries to be them, then yes."

"So all we have to figure out is where Real-Jack is and why someone would want to frame him." I nod to myself, attempting to wrap my head around the situation. "That...um. That's no big deal."

We make rounds of the glorious north-side supermarket, Crow driving the cart from aisle to aisle as I pick and choose items off the shelf. Cereal, bread, fruit snacks, milk, eggs...

I gasp, "I forgot avocados. I want to try making guacamole for the twins 'cause they said they've never had it before but I need the avocados."

"Guacamole sounds like heaven right now," my brother says, his eyes glazing over and mouth nearly drooling.

We've made a full circle back around to the produce section and, with the expansive layout of the store, I feel like we've just done a marathon. "Well, when I make it you are certainly welcome to join us."

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Crow leans over the cart's handlebar, strangely at a loss for words. I face him just as he says, "I went to Martha's before I came to the twins, you know."

Here we go. "Did you?"

"I asked about you and the kids told me, 'She's busy being the twins' big sister right now.' I asked Martha what they meant by that and she said you've been living with the twins for the past week."

"Not living," I correct, eyes on a particularly good-looking avocado. "I'm staying with the twins, as in for the time being or temporarily."

"And I don't see a problem with that at all. It's good the twins will have someone looking after them. I just hope you're looking after them for the right reasons."

"I think these two will be alright," I hold the avocados out to him, "but I'd like your expert fruit opinion on them, if you would be so kind."

Crow glances at the fruit, blinks, and stares at me again. "You're changing the subject."

"I'm asking you to work your fruit-magic on them and make sure these are good. I don't want the twins' first time eating guac to suck. Do you want it to suck?"

"You're changing the subject."

"You know what—! Okay, yes, I'm staying with the twins to avoid Martha, if that's what you wanted to know. We had a spat or argument or whatever you want to call it and it revolves around my mom and I don't really feel comfortable talking about this with you or anyone else, so could you just hurry up and feel my avocados!"

Two elderly women halt in their tracks as they near and make very judgmental eye contact with us. I try raising the fruit in my hands at them, but they skitter away before noticing and whisper to one another.

"Grandmas," Crow tsks, "always got their minds in the gutter."

Then, he finally takes the avocados in his palms and says, "These are fine. The twins will love whatever you make them, anyway."

Eventually, we make it back to the front of the store and get in line for the self-checkout.

"Look, I'm not gonna say I understand how you're feeling about your mom and what happened with Martha. I never knew my parents, so I can't imagine how you must be feeling." Crow only lays eyes on the storefront, refuses to look at me. "I mean, for a while I didn't even have Martha or the guys. I was just a kid wandering on my own with only a deck of cards to give me hope, just like a lot of the munchkins were when we found 'em. And now look at us—we're one huge family!"

Crow straightens, pushes the cart a few paces forward as the line moves, and faces me. He's wearing his signature grin; it twinkles with joy.

"I'm not tryin' to be a downer or anything, I'm just sharing 'cause I want to. I guess what I'm trying to say by telling you all this is don't let these feelings about your mom and Martha hold you back from being with your family. Don't take us for granted because, when things change, they change fast."

—

As we drove on around the city, from the Tops to Poppo Time, Crow's words swam around my head, leaving droplets of ideas in their currents. Things have changed and they'll keep changing without regard to the effect it has on any of us. There will be no time for do-overs and take-backs, just moving forward. Preparing ourselves for the worst. Staying together because the one, sure thing we know we will have at the end of it all is each other.

As Yusei and Crow sped off to scour the roads for Jack, now with Carly's guarantee that the impersonator they saw was indeed such, I thought back to when I told my friends about the spirits. How speaking the unavoidable truth mended the group's rift at once, how facing my problems head-on was the only way to get through them. I felt overwhelmingly vulnerable after, but lighter than ever, too.

Thus sparked the list. There is no order, all names are marked with utmost importance. Only convenience places them in succession of one another and today, Aki is up first.

I tap the table beside Carly's arm to get her attention. Much like Bruno, she had thrown herself into her work as a distraction to buy time until the guys returned. If not going with Yusei and Crow to find Jack, she could do plenty to dig up dirt on who was behind the look-alike.

"This is going to sound weird and I completely understand if you want to say no," I slowly announce. Carly eyes me, interest piqued and lips firming. "But I want to borrow your deck."

"I'm assuming this isn't about a fortune telling?"

"Correct."

Once the deck is fetched from her belt and put in my possession, I climb the stairs to the little den on the second floor. The siblings and Aki sit huddled around the table strategizing and reformulating their deck layouts.

"Oi, Maria, did you wanna help me study for my quiz next week?" chirps Rua.

"Maybe later," I say to him, smiling. Then that expression falls into a shaky breath, a straightened back, and a gaze focused on the burgundy-haired girl before me. "I came to challenge Aki to a duel, actually."

—

The minute I stepped up those stairs, I thought I'd braced myself enough for what was to come. The duel I would wing and lose as gracefully as possible. I knew Aki was top of her class at the Duel Academy and usually that kind of thing would drive my nerves wild, but this wasn't about winning—if we couldn't come to an understanding my way, then we would express our sides in a way she was most exposed to.

But, as aforementioned, I hadn't exactly thought out what would happen by doing so, let alone the upheaval such a simple challenge would bring with it. The first sign of caution came right as I placed my fingers on the deck's top card. My head seemed full, suddenly, like it was bogged down by mist, broad in its reach but hardly any substance to pin the feeling to directly.

I sucked it up for the time being and allowed Aki to have the first turn. I thought this would give me time to get used to the headache and plan, though we volleyed back and forth quickly. Before I knew it, we were already three turns in and Aki was Synchro-Summoning her Signer Dragon onto the field.

Then began the second sign. As soon as Black Rose Dragon flourished to life in a gust of vines and petals, our marks lit in unison. The headache materialized into the usual static and it felt like my mark was turning a dial, trying to change the station's frequency. As I held tighter to Carly's cards, the static wavered in and out. For a second, for a brief period of sheer focus, it almost sounded like a voice. Like words, distorted and hollow.

I bent over, my head beating as fast as my heart. Everyone yelled to me; I could hear them, but not with clarity. I just assumed they asked me if I was okay.

"Yeah. I just... I've never dueled like this before, " I answered, wincing. "My mark...it's just being weird is all."

My vision was blurring at this point and I looked out across the square at my opponent. Her mark had fled the scene and a worried expression took its place along her pretty face.

Aki's mouth moved: "Do you want to stop?"

I could only smile through my grimace. "If you don't take your turn, I'll take it for you." Hell, I thought, if I'm going to lose, I might as well go out sounding badass.

And, as Fate would have it, that's the last thing I remember saying. When Black Rose Dragon whipped its thorns across my field, destroying Fortune Lady Fire and the rest of my life points with it, I fell to the ground.

I open my eyes, finally done with running through my memories. I had already guessed that I was in a position I've been in a million times: in the nearest bed the gang could find and staring at the ceiling above. But, I almost confuse the room for mine at the twins' flat because the two siblings rest around me on each side.

"I tried telling them not to, but they insisted on it," says Aki, rolling closer in her seat at the wooden desk.

"Oh, they're fine," I reply, voice hardly above a whisper. "I've learned that kids often make the best pillows," I glance at Rua, whose light snores elicit a chuckle, "unless they break-dance in their sleep like this one does."

"How's your head?" she asks, standing. "I have some aspirin here if you need it."

"I could you use some of that, thanks." I rise without trying to move the bed too much and take the glass and pills from her. Once they're down, I ask, "How did you know?"

"When the Signer birthmarks first appear, they hurt like crazy. It took time to get used to it. I imagine it must be worse to have one on your head instead of your arm." Aki shifts in the chair, staring off at the bedspread. "And you looked like you were in a lot of pain."

"It doesn't hurt every time," I reply while leaning against the headboard. "I think it just depends on what brings it out."

"It was our duel, wasn't it? The guys said they could feel our marks burning against each other, even before Jack combined them all."

"They found Jack? That's great." Ruka moans and turns over on her side. I lower my voice when I ask, "He combined the marks?"

"I don't really know how to explain that," she whispers back. "They just leave our arms and form the shape of the Crimson Dragon on whoever's back it is that needs their power."

I bob my head in acceptance and the conversation falls into a lull as we both try to find things to say.

"I don't know how to explain what happened in the bathroom, either," Aki breaks the silence.

"You don't have to. I was there, I saw what happened."

"No, y-you don't understand. The person you saw in the bathroom wasn't me, it was..." Aki pauses, eyes staring at her heels and taking in gulping breaths. I sit confused and concerned, but wait until she starts again. "The first time I told you about us being Signers and that I'm a psychic, I didn't tell you everything. You are the first friend I've made on my own, that wasn't destined to meet me because of some ancient war. I couldn't tell you about my past because I didn't want you to think of me the way everyone else does."

I push the covers back just enough to free myself and climb down. I lay my arms around her shoulders and rest my head atop hers. Aki's hands grip my forearm close. "Aki, I know exactly who you are, regardless of what you've done. Whoever that was is not you now. And, I know it's hard having people see you as that person even after you've changed, but they don't know you."

I bend down at her knees to look in her teary eyes. "They don't know the dazzling person you've blossomed into. I dueled you today so I could understand you and, although it got out of hand really fast," I laugh, "I saw into your heart, Aki. It's so big and thoughtful and kind. Honestly, I didn't even need to duel you to know that, 'cause it's like I said: I know you. We all do."

"She's right, ya' know." Our heads snap toward the bed. Rua turns over then, one hand holding him up as the other rubs an eye. The boy blinks at us. "Wait, what's going on?"

"They're having a moment, dummy. You ruined it," his sister mumbles, not bothering to remove herself from the pillows.

"Oh. Sorry."

As if on command, the eldest twin falls back into the sheets, snoring louder than before. Aki and I both stand, leave the room, and continue talking in the hall.

"My parents have been really adamant about getting home before it's too late because of...you know." She itches her arm and switches her weight to a different leg. "Do you want me to take the twins home?"

"No, that's okay. I'll haul them and their Duel Boards out to a taxi soon enough." I pull her in another time and we start toward the stairs. "Just hurry home so your parents don't fry their brains worrying too much."

The guys spot us coming down and I have to shush them to keep their hollers to a minimum; my mark may have faded but it'd left a migraine as baggage, and the much-needed aspirin has yet to kick in. Aki rides out the garage door and I shut it close after, then sit at the table with my head down.

"How ya' feelin', champ?" Crow pats my back.

"Great," I groan, "once the drugs kick in."

Bruno pauses mid-slurp of his ramen and eyes me, unsure if he should laugh or be concerned. I clarify that he should indeed laugh because I'm hilarious and that it's just aspirin I'm joking about. I turn my head in Jack's direction and stare lazily at the mug in his hand.

"The first thing you do when you come back is drink coffee?" I tease. "Jack, I think you have a problem."

"It's the third thing he's done actually," Crow cuts in on the action. "First, he looked in the mirror. Second, he did his hair."

"Not all of us feel comfortable running around with a shrub on their head like others do," Jack quips in return.

These aren't serious jabs, but the typical, playful sibling taunts they throw at each other on a daily basis. So, a smile inches along my face as I sit between the two. "We missed you, Jack."

He flips through the paper of the day as if the doppelganger stunt was nowhere near as serious as we made it out to be and, at best, had been a mere setback in catching up on New Domino's day-to-day happenings. "Of course you did."

Well, I tried. And, when is this damn aspirin going to kick in?

My gaze lands on the only one in the room I have yet to speak with, the person I need to speak with the most, as it turns out. Yusei hardly spared so much as a glance when I entered and now clicks and types away at the keyboard before him. I can't be mad—he is giving me the exact same treatment I gave him yesterday. But it saddens me, that's for sure. And, as I stare at his back, waiting for him to turn around, I think back to what I said to him on Nayla's lawn.

How ironic is it that I've waited my whole life to be as honest with someone as I was with him in that one instant, only to have it bite me in the butt instead of lending a helping hand? Because that's what I wanted—to become an honest person who not only spoke the truth continually, but also knew both the time and place for uncensored truth-spilling. To become someone with good, pure intentions.

Yet, it seems as though I've turned into a bootleg knockoff of that: someone who hurts others with the truth. My speech must have hurt him, I'm convinced and, if not, then the cold-shoulder had. I know those words would hurt if someone said them to me, especially in the biting way I said it to him. My words weren't meant to be honest—they just worked out that way. They were meant to cut. I said them to injure him and now I can only hope the wounds aren't too deep for me to heal.

As much as I wish it to, nothing will be changed by eyeing his hair's jutting points. I would need to put my fears aside and go to him not as a fellow pretender, but a friend.

My hand rests on his bare shoulder. He swivels around in his chair, azure irises expanding and lips parting. "Can I borrow you for a moment? It won't be long."

He nods, says to Bruno that we'll be outside if either of us are needed, and opens the door for me. I walk over to the fountain and sit on the rim as he stands in front of me. My hands intertwine in my lap. I really need to stop winging things, it's certainly not one of my strong suits.

"I heard you and Aki dueled today," he begins, thankfully. I push out a deep breath and hopefully some of my anxiety with it. "How was it?"

"Good, I guess. Painful, though."

He hums and utters, "That can happen."

"You sound like you're alluding to something." I look at him, brows ridging together. "Have you dueled her before?"

"Once," Yusei sighs, glancing off to the side. I wonder if he's watching the memory replay in the distance. "It was at the Fortune Cup. From what I recall, it hurt quite a bit."

"Because of your marks?"

"Because Aki was a different person back then."

My shoulders slump over unconsciously. I wouldn't ask her. I had already made my mind up to not ask Aki about what occurred in her past to cause her such remorse. Seeing her rubbed so emotionally raw like that was a sight I would never forget, a sight I never want to witness again. So as I vow to bring Aki under my wing, I also bookmark googling the history of New Domino's psychics for a venture on my many sleepless nights.

But, back to the situation at hand.

"So, you're probably wondering why I asked you out here—well, you probably know already," I chuckle uneasily. "I've been getting a lot of advice since I've moved here. One I got a while ago and one I was told today, the first being that I should never apologize for having feelings and the second is that I need to be accountable for all I say and do. I want to try my best to live by these, so I won't apologize for what I felt or take back what I said. But I am so sorry if I hurt you. I don't want to become someone who hurts her friends—who hurts anyone, so I'm sorry."

For once, it is me who stares forward into his face and Yusei's vision glued to the ground. His thick bangs shield his telling eyes, so I can't gauge the effect of my apology.

As the air plants itself firmly around us, cool in the black of night, Yusei proceeds: "...'I can't stand being around you.' Did you mean that?"

"No!" I stand at once, then think back to my promises of abiding by my new lews. "Yes. Kind of. I-I don't exactly know how to put it into words."

He faces me at last and for all the anticipation I had built, I'm left grasping at straws. Though, not nearly as stony as I'd expected, Yusei's eyes reveal nothing of his soul. "I'm sure I can make time for you to."

This is deeper than I had planned on going. Much. Deeper. But don't I owe him that? Just like putting my reservations about dueling aside so I could understand Aki, isn't reaching down into my own heart and showing Yusei my true colors taking a second step forward? He would never understand me, otherwise, and it would be even less likely that we'd remain friends. If I don't pull him in like I've declared I would, yet another drift would split the group apart.

With a string of inhales and exhales, I hold my head high and steady my eyes upon him. "Being around you...it's so... For me, being around you is hard."

"Hard?" he repeats, first to the world then a second time to himself, softly, like he's never felt the word on his tongue before. "Why?"

"Haven't you ever thought us to be similar, Yusei? Even for a second?" He nods without pause, yet still looks unsure. "So have I and at Nayla's house, it was so glaringly obvious there was no way for me to ignore it."

"That's why you said those things—you think we're too alike?"

"I think," I walk closer, within arm's reach, "looking at you hurts. I think that staring into the eyes of a better, stronger version of myself is hard and scary and the most painful thing I've ever done."

I'm on a roll, I soon discover. In less than forty-eight hours, I've struck the mighty Yusei Fudo speechless once again. So, I figure I may as well keep going. "On my best days, I admire you, Yusei. On my worst, the sight of you makes the green-eyed monster inside me go on a rampage."

"I never imagined this was how you felt," he replies. "I thought you didn't exactly like me, but never this."

"Someone not like Yusei Fudo? Unheard of," I tease. He smiles a tad, but it doesn't make it up to his eyes. I add, "Seriously, the problem's never been with you. It's just me." It's always me.

"I just feel like I should've known... Since we're friends, I should have known how you felt."

"Would it make you feel better if I screamed at you again?" I roll my eyes and they land on the geometric shape centered on the man's shirt. "Tomorrow, um, I'm going to visit Nayla and I'm going to talk to her about what happened and see if she'll allow you to continue working on the truck—if you even want to, that is."

"I do." Yusei nods. "And she already called me, Maria. Said she regrets what happened and that I'm welcome to come over anytime."

"Oh. That's great! I'm glad." I press a hand to my heart and smile. "I'm very glad."

"If you're stopping by there tomorrow, I can give you lift," he says following a stint of silence.

"You don't have to do that."

A smile dives into the oceans of his eyes at long last. "I know. But, I want to. What time should I come by Martha's?"

"Okay," I breathe, fighting off a blush. "And I'll be at the twins', actually. Is eleven okay?"

"It's a date."

Me, zero. Blush, one. "Huh?"

Yusei recites the phrase and adds, "It's a saying."

"I-I know. I just thought I misheard you."

His friend stuffs herself in the seat after the young siblings and their belongings, the last of the cab's cargo for the night. Maria directs the driver northeast and the car starts sputtering off. In the back window, he watches her turn and wave to him.

For what seems like the thousandth time, the blazing girl is just out of his reach. But, that's alright by him. She would be back as she always is. With Maria, there was never goodbye, just goodnight.

Sorry if you guys were excited to see Maria duel Aki. I used to know how to duel but it was so long ago I forgot! And if you're wondering why I watch Yugioh still, I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I tune in for the plot, right? Anyway, this story—although pertaining to a show centered around dueling—is not about dueling, so I don't stress over it.

I want to thank you guys, too. My inspiration for inserting the dueling part was partially spurred by you guys and the great turnout of suggestions for Chapter 31 (shoutout to Phoenix. Cristal. Rosea for mentioning Spellcasters, aka the basis of Carly's deck). As I said last time, there will be more instances where I'll want your input on monsters in chapters to come. Until then, I hope you're enjoying the story!

TTFN