I shuffle out of the hallway and into the living room. Holding my arms out, high heels swinging in my hold. "Well?" I ask my audience.

Aki and Ruka's face light up with approval. The only things brightening on Rua and Tenpei's faces are their cheeks.

"I thought you're supposed wear stuff over your underwear," Tenpei murmurs. Rua gives his friend a timely nudge. I catch his eye immediately after and the boy averts is gaze, cheeks burning up. Rua's thumbs-up almost goes unnoticed as it peeks just above the coffee table.

Ruka insists, "Don't listen to him, you look hot!"

I stare down at the lace bodysuit and denim shorts layered over. Twelve-year olds thinking you're hot? Not really a compliment. "Yeah, I'm gonna go get a jacket."

After a quick trip to the master closet, I rejoin the group huddled around the couches. Aki tears her gaze away from Ruka and Tenpei's practice duel to judge my new extra layer. "Edgy."

I shoot her a pair of finger guns, agreeing, "I thought so."

I walk into the kitchen, feeling parched all of a sudden. Maybe it's the pre-partying jitters. I check my texts as I lean on the counter and sip from my glass. omw, from Mako ten minutes ago. Then, mindlessly, my gaze floats up to the refrigerator. Perusing the many wacky magnets and masterpieces until my eyes settle on the filled-in date at the bottom of the calendar. I practically do a spit-take when I make out the scribbled writing.

Calendar in hand, I stomp up to the twins and demand: "Why didn't you guys tell me your birthday was yesterday?!"

The mood in the room turns foul at the mention of it. Ruka simply bows her head and Rua's mouth shifts into a scrunched frown. Aki cuts in, gently, "It's because of your parents, isn't it?"

My childish anger settles into full-blown sadness. "Oh."

"They were supposed to be here," comes Rua's bitter admission. "They promised."

Ruka urges, "And with all our focus on Team 5Ds' match, we just felt it wouldn't be right to take away from that. So, we decided to forego our birthday completely. It just...made it easier."

"Oh, nuggets." I prop myself up on the couch arm next to Ruka and insist, "I know it's hard not having them here. But, you're both thirteen this year. That's monumental!"

"No, we're putting it off!" Rua slams his hand of cards down on the mat. He's been so volatile lately; I can't discern if it's because of his parents' prolonged absence or the puberty hormones kicking in. Or worse: double duty.

Aki tilts her head to the side and repeats, "Putting it off?"

"That's right! Sis and I are staying twelve until our parents get back!"

"That's definitely not how that works," Tenpei mutters, hesitant to water down his best friend's fire.

"We're Signers," Rua assures, chest puffed. "We'll call in a favor to the Crimson Dragon if we have to."

"Again," Ruka deadpans, "not how that works."

"You're both sure you don't want any kind celebration? Even a small one?" Aki asks them.

The twins swing their heads no.

I sigh, meeting Aki's worried eye as I do so. "Alright then. Staying twelve until further notice it is then."

Not a moment later does my phone buzz. All of a sudden I don't feel much like partying. The images of a night in with all of them, a makeshift fort and stovetop smores sounds so much more appealing. But it's Ruka's hand that pats my knee, a reminder of my pre-made plans.

"Go have fun," she encourages with a smile.

I'm a mope about it as I leave and turn back to tell them, "If you guys decide to make stovetop smores without me, at least try to save me some."

"Smores?" Rua perks up, licking his lips.

"Hey, that's a good idea!" exclaims Tenpei.

Aki chuckles and asks, "Won't they be cold by the time you get back, though?"

"Still try!" I whine.

—

"Woah mama," I say as I slide out of the car's backseat.

Standing in front of me is the largest house known to man. The best way I can describe it is ultra-modern. It looks like a bunch of glass boxes stacked on top of one another, in different sizes and sides. Even calling it a house seems to do it a disservice. An "estate" has a better feel on my tongue, seeing as we had driven down a private road for at least twenty minutes. Plus, there is nothing but lush greenery as far as I could see and undoubtedly farther. It seems too unreal to exist in everyday life. The lights inside, the roofing and lining outside—it all shines. Who knows, maybe any second the monolith would levitate off the ground and time-warp off to Jupiter.

"Pretty, isn't she?" Chiyo stands at my side, nodding.

Asura latches onto her and they get moving down the walkway. Mako tosses his keys to the valet waiting nearby and wraps his arm around my shoulders without another thought. Still stuck in a daze, I hardly notice as he whispers in my ear, "The Republic awaits."

My eyes wander from corner to glamorous corner, person to beautiful person as we stroll deeper inside the glass house. Once our group is settled at the kitchen island, the drinks start pouring. Asura pushes a vodka soda into my hands and, not paying him my full attention, I almost spill it across the granite.

"I'm sorry but," I scoff, "how do you all know the person who owns this house? Or, well, any of these people?"

Chiyo downs a shot...or four, since she poured them all in one cup. "That son of a bitch Tatsumi is around here somewhere. We all used to go to high school together."

"Horikoshi High," Asura says, adding the flair of spirit fingers. "Where New Domino's rich and famous get a head start." He finishes a drink with a resounding sigh. "It was nice while it lasted."

"Rich and famous...?" I turn to Mako, expectant. Hadn't he mentioned something long ago about getting a lame education or the like?

The powder-blue haired man shrugs an uncommitted shoulder. It's a casual move, but the flicker in his eye says otherwise. "Our parents are rich. Not us."

"Not Chiyo, just brother dearest and I." Chiyo strokes her high-ponytail, looking visibly awkward at Asura's mention of her name. Whatever context it's about to be, it's obvious this isn't the first time they'd all danced this tango. "No, no, sweet Chiyo's parents are loving and accepting and gay-friendly. And we would be rich if bozo over here didn't fumble the damn bag."

"I'm not doing this shit," grumbled Mako, shoving a blunt between his lips.

"Yes," Chiyo emphasizes as she glances between them. "Let's not. Let's just drink until our brains fall out!"

A guy with ash-blond hair and an army green bomber jacket appears out of the blue, smiles and a sloppy kind of happiness in tow. "Hey, hey! I can cheers to that! Thanks for coming, guys!"

He slinks an arm around Chiyo and she doesn't shy from it. She introduces me to the party's host, Tatsumi. Thanks to him, a crowd clings around the island not long after that. I take up my usual role in settings like this, hanging back and mostly observing what others have to say or do. But with a bit of liquor in me and so many people around, I try to do as I planned: be different. More outgoing, more joking, more fun. More, period.

Sometime throughout the group storytime I notice both Asura and Mako have disappeared. I don't have to look very hard to find them, though. They stand outside, silhouettes moving beside the lit pool. From what I could tell, it looks like they're arguing. Mako blows smoke in Asura's face and turns his back to the older brother. With that bit of finality, Asura stomps in and slams the door shut. He walks up to a couple people hanging out on the couch, exchanges some top-secret information with them or something, and they all go upstairs. Mako stays somewhere outside and the better part of me says to give him some space. I have some suspicions about what's going on between them and it's a scab I shouldn't itch.

I stick to the island, even as the crowd starts to disperse onto other parts of the house. Once it's back down to me, Chiyo and Tatsumi, I can't help but feel like a third wheel. Especially once they forget I'm there and start tongue-fighting. Yeah, that's my cue to leave.

"Walking through the halls of this place feels like walking an art exhibit," I mutter to myself, eyes moving from exotic pottery to abstract painting to expensive replica.

I make my way upstairs, ultimately deciding I need a place to sit down. Sober-me would usually have the tact to listen first before I walk into random rooms, but not Drunk-me! And when I accidentally walked in on a hookup, all could do was giggle. Walking in on a room full of people snorting coke, though? Somehow, much more uncomfortable.

Finally, I find a room to myself. The only company in here is the television, a bed, and the piles of coats sitting on it. Finding the remote, I flatten on top of them and scroll through channel after channel.

"Even Drunk-me is still an introvert," I tell the TV. A sitcom laugh track responds in turn. "Doing more has just made me more tired, honestly."

"Hopefully not too tired," Mako's smooth tone calls out from the door way.

He lingers in the doorway longer than he has to, but I think he does it for himself. You know, for charming and mysterious purposes. Asura isn't the only one with an aptitude for dramatics, even if Mako's is subtle.

I sit up. "I think I saw your brother doing coke."

"Yeah," he says, unbothered as he scootches me over on the bed. "It's a sometime thing."

The TV settles on some late-night new report.

"—the fourth murder we've seen this month alone. No word yet from Sector Security on the victim's identity or if there are any suspects in custody, but the victim was found in an alley like many other previous murders. We'll have more updates coming along in the 7 o'clock hour. Reporting to you live from New Domino's west side, this is—"

"Scary, huh?"

I angle away, flinching at the sound of Mako's voice low in my ear. The TV shuts of instantly. My hand flies to my heart, intent ease the silent terror stirring inside, but stops as I glimpse the minute zaps of electricity circling them. Eyes pinching close, I chant, I'm in control I'm in control I'm in control.

"Hey, are you okay?" Warmth smothers my shoulder. When Mako turns me, the sparks are nowhere to be seen. "Oh. You're shaking."

So hesitant to take my eyes off my palms, I can't help but peer at him through my eyelashes. His brown eyes seem so soft and kind, so unlike their usual cooler-than-thou gleam. They remind me...

"Don't worry." Mako raises a hand to me cheek. "I'll keep you safe."

...of Yusei.

And maybe that's why, as Mako's lips near mine, I sit still. No excuses, no hesitations. He isn't the one I want, but the distraction I sought out. His smoky breath, his roaming hands, his prickly stubble. It's all enough for a girl in the dark.

Until I'm tired of that, too.

My newfound position on top of him is short-lived as I pull away. Mako switches onto his knees in anticipation of getting on top this time. My eyes, now adjusted to the dark, meet his in an awkward encounter.

"...Are you going?" Mako's voice rings confused.

My eyes squint in that uncomfortable smiley kinda way. "...Yeah."

"Oh. Did I-…? Was it, like...?"

"It was fine. I'm just really..." Tired? Stressed? Depressed? "Sober."

—

"Right foot, left foot." I teeter off to the side, but Chiyo wraps and arm around my neck and keeps me steady all the way to the car. "Light, reft."

"I can't believe I'm the one who didn't get shitfaced tonight," I hear her grumble.

"Didn't get drinkies, but you got some suga'!"

Chiyo stows me in the backseat, grinning. "I did get some suga', didn't I?"

Mako puts Asura beside me. We share a look, then a gut-busting laugh. It's the most we've ever liked each other since we've met. The car's engine growls to life and it's off to the races.

In the front seat, I hear Mako and Chiyo discuss taking me home. The twins come to mind and, with all my drunken might, I slur out another address and insist that's where we go. I'm sure glad Mako knows where it's at because I sure as hell don't. The place sounds familiar, but it's hanging disconnected from my brain like a yo-yo. I have friends from all over the city, so there's no telling whose door I'm going to be knocking down with my drunken body. It was a game of Russian Roulette and, after realizing that whoever's house I'd be dropping into would see me pie-eyes and all, I really hope the shot isn't fired on Martha. God, what would she think if she opened the door to me fumbling about and reeking of stale alcohol and weed? Saying that it wouldn't be pretty would be putting it lightly, that's for sure. It'd probably be a verbal bloodbath.

We bump along the roads, basked in darkness except for the thin streams of light emanating from passing headlights. Mako makes a few speedy turns and somewhere down the line Asura's head ends up in my lap. I try to prop him back up, but he's so asleep and heavy with drugs that I accept my fate as his pillow and rest my own head against the window.

"Aw, look Mako," coos Chiyo. "Mama's lil' druggies are playing nice."

"Not too nice, I hope," Mako says, and I catch his eyes skimming over the back seat in the rearview mirror.

"Mako, please. Do you really think your brother's going to de-gay-ify himself for your little Virgin Mary?"

"He couldn't de-gay-ify himself for our parents so...probably not."

"Ugh, don't start this shit again." Chiyo scoffs. "Look, for the millionth time, I don't want a part in this. You two need to go to siblings' therapy or something."

Mako hits the rim of the steering wheel for emphasis as he tells, "It wouldn't be a thing if he didn't keep bringing it up! After Mom and Dad disowned him, I followed him out for support. And what do I get in return? 'You're so stupid! You should have stayed with them and given me money! Me me me!'"

I glance down at Asura. He's happier than an inebriated clam in whatever dream-world he's in.

Chiyo goes against her previous warnings. "Is Asura a fucking narcissist? Duh. But let's be honest about ourselves here. You followed him out because you were saddled with the responsibility of the company—previously Asura's responsibility—all in one night. Do you support him? Undoubtedly. But you wanna know what else I have no doubts about? It's that you're just as lazy and unambitious as the rest of us."

Mako is silent for some time. Then: "How dare you, Chiyo. I'm an entrepreneur."

"...You sell drugs."

"Entrepreneur."

The pair chuckle at the exchange and the ride continues with only house music pumping low on the radio. I'd already lost the battle of keeping my head up, and it's a work in progress keeping my eyes open. I know that if I totally give in I'd be like Asura. I like the trio well enough, but sue me for having trust issues. I promise myself not to knock out until we've reached the mystery destination.

Which we pull up to in what seems like two minutes. But what do I know. I'm plastered!

Up in the front seat, Mako asks me, "Is this it, Maria?"

Eyes closed and head leaned back, I tell him, "Yup!"

"Yeah, she's totally gone," Chiyo laughs. Seatbelts click and she says to Mako, "I got her, keep the engine warm."

She hoists me up out of the seat; I sling one arm round her neck and the other clutching her waist in a tentative embrace. We wobble away and up to the building, shoes clacking down on the pavement in a messy rhythm.

"Whoa! That's one big ass clock!" I shout.

"Uh-huh, sure is. Now I don't suppose you have a key on you?"

"I have a secret." I lean in incredibly close—I actually press my face against her hair, and whisper, "I'on' live here."

"Really? Well, I guess I'm gonna ring the doorbell and we'll have to hope that whoever answers likes you enough not to beat your—HOLY SHIT!"

Jack looms under the doorway, a quizzical glare pointed at the pair of us. Chiyo's jaw drops and so do I. She becomes a limp noodle of awe from the unexpected appearance of the former King himself and detaches from me, but it turns out my equilibrium isn't looking so hot at the moment. So I fall, banging my head on the pavement, limbs spread out like a starfish.

"Ouchie ow ow," I mumble out.

The initial shock wears off and Chiyo notices me on the ground. "Shit on a fucking stick!"

She bends down but Jack beats her to me, and raises me up with a twinge of effort. He spares her another glare, perhaps in case she has anything of mine or something noteworthy to say. But Chiyo's interpretation of that last glance turns out to be completely delusional and ten billion miles from its real meaning.

With a finger twirling in a fine, black tendril she asks him, "So do you, like, live here?"

He slams the door in her face.

"T's not very nice, Jackie. I know you're royalty but ya gotta be nice to commoners. Otherwise, they might behead ya wi'the guillotine."

He grunts, guiding me down the stairs, "It's late, you're obviously drunk, so there's no room for politeness now."

"Who was it, Jack?" asks Crow from the other set of stairs, rubbing the sleep from his eye. I see him before he sees me.

"BRETHREN! Your sister hath arrive-eth!" I wave. That captures the work-centered attentions of Bruno and Yusei, the latter of the two standing at my outburst. "You too, Brunnie, I would never forget that cute lil' puppydog face o' yers."

"B-Brunnie?" the tech whiz repeats.

"My god. Please tell me she's not..." Crow approaches, a hand clutching his chin as he shakes his head. I loosen my grasp on Jack's tank top and lunge for my redheaded brother. "Yep. Oh, wow. What, did you bathe in it?"

I nuzzle his cheek on mine and squeeze him tight. "I missed you, you funky chicken."

"Oh yeah?" He pets my hair. "Did you get a lot of good drinks while you were missin' me?"

"Mm! Grrr-r-reat drinks! And cookies—really good cookies! Like...like...wha-what were we talkin' 'bout?" I open my eyes, which were closed apparently, and stare at him. His face is drifting side to side, waving like the hand of a blurred metronome. All that really stays clear is his hair—so orange, so alive. I hold his face between my palms to steady it. "Crow...! Crow, why didn't you tell me you're a candle? I'm yer sister. I sho' really know this stuff!"

"Yeah, she's bashed out of her brain." He pulls my hands away to look back at Bruno and Yusei. "And by the look of her pupils, I think those cookies she's talkin' 'bout weren't the kiddie kind."

Jack grumbles, "I'm not dealing with this. One of you take care of her." He marches up the steps and disappears for the night.

"She's...what?" Bruno turns to Yusei for clarification, and when he says nothing, Bruno comments, "That doesn't sound too good."

Yusei says and he walks over, "I've got her, Crow."

"No, Crabhead! Go away!" I use Crow as a shield and glare down Yusei from behind his shoulder. "I don' wan'cha anymore."

Crow tries to gently pry me from his body. "I think it's probably best if you go with him, Maria. He'll take you upstairs."

"You can't tell me what t'do!" I say rather loudly, at least it sounds louder. I'm aware I'm already talking in yells, so what's louder than that? "You're jus'a candle, Lumiere!"

"Maria, c'mon, don't be difficult."

"No means no! No means no! No means no!" I sing, giggling as I struggle away from Yusei's advances. Then I change up the strategy and link my arms around his neck. "Ooo~! ¡Me gusta! You know, if you wanna get a boy's attention you gotta play hard. To. Get." I boop his nose on the last three words.

Yusei ignores it and untangles my arms so that we can amble up the stairs properly. And that still doesn't work out quite as well as he'd hoped because in the passing of a second I drop all my body weight on the stairs. I sit underneath him in a half-curled ball.

"I'm tired now," I mumble.

"That's why we're going upstairs," he tells me, frustration leaking through his tone. "You're going to bed."

"M'kay. Sounds nice." I don't bother getting up, though. Only stretch my arms, silently demanding to be carried like a child.

Yusei relents without complaint and I giggle, whooping at how easily he lifts me up from the ground.

I lazily point a finger out. "Onward, my trusty steed! Farewell, brethren! Til morn!" We journey up to the bedrooms, my body in Yusei's arms and my head cuddled into the crook of his. "You smell like bike."

"Yeah, I bet."

"T's nice, though. I like it."

He opens a door with a push of his foot. Yusei lowers himself some moments later, and I realize he's trying to lay me on the bed. But that doesn't mean I let go.

"Maria," he says, like a half-hearted command, "c'mon. You're gonna go to sleep now."

"I don' wanna," I pout.

"You just said you were tired," he counters.

"Oh yeaaaah. Always so smart, this one." I wiggle a finger in his direction. Yusei takes the chance to try and free himself, but my arms reconnect before he can. "Oh-ho-ho~! Slow and steady don't always win th'race!"

The frustration comes back, heartier than before. Even in my fucked-up state, I can spot the place where the emotion collects on his face, right between his brows. "Seriously, Maria, let go."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can."

"No!" I stare into those royal blues of his, lose myself and my words in them, and delve deep to find them all over again. "No, I can't. You'll leave if I let go. I don't want you to leave me like everyone else does."

Yusei's gaze widens in a split-second and softens from that of a stern parent to one of sympathy. It's ultimately lost in the moment. He sighs openly, seeming so abruptly exhausted. The light exhale brings a downward tilt to his lips. When he speaks next, it's in a reassuring, collected voice. "Maria, I won't leave. But you have to let go of me, okay?"

"Pinkies?" I raise the littlest finger for him to hold. He hesitates, but grabs it anyway. I giggle and set him free, bouncing back on the bed with an, "Oof!"

Yusei says something afterward, but I'm too gone in a giggle fit and the comfy sheets to hear what. I bury my face in a pillow, almost floating off to dreamland, then roll over to face Yusei. Only he's not there.

"Yusei?" I dart upright. Everything seems so unfamiliar, so frighteningly different. I don't know where I am, only that it's dark and the one person I trusted to keep me company has deserted me. "Yusei..."

I bend over to slip off the wedged boots and throw each on the floor as hard as I can. My anger is irrational, but that doesn't make it any less encompassing. It burns as hot as the tears streaking down my cheeks. Before I know it, I'm sobbing.

Yusei climbs back up the stairs, bucket and water bottle in hand, and down the hallway leading to his room. He enters and immediately pauses. When he had left Maria, she was cozied up with the bedsheets like she wanted to become a single entity with them. However, she's the complete opposite now. In a matter of minutes, she'd begun crying her heart out, taking frantic gasps for air so quietly.

Yusei's will to move to her stops momentarily. Something in his heart was breaking. Chipping off. Crumbling to dust.

When he does go, his movements are swift, haphazard. The bucket is dropped carelessly to the floor and the water rolls onto the bedside stand, knocking against the lamp before it joins the bucket on the floorboards.

"Hey, hey," Yusei calls to her gingerly, bent at her knees, "what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"You left."

Oh shit.

"No, Maria, I'm still here—"

She pushes him away. Well, actually, she just vaults herself back. "You're a liar and a promise-breaker."

"Maria, I just went to get—"

"You're just like everyone else!"

For a reason unbeknownst to the young mechanic, that stung like a bitch. That casual string of words slurred from her mouth hurt his heart in a way too complex for him to comprehend, in a way that was incomparable to the way it felt seeing the salty rivers flowing along her face. No, that was worry he felt. That was the bone-deep concern he had whenever any of his friends were in trouble. It was the fear that maybe what he could do to aid them wouldn't be enough to stop it.

What was this then? This mind-numbing ache of disappointment? This pressure in his heart, pumping his veins full of rejection? This mixing bowl of emotions brewing in his chest is particular in nature, not general. Yusei had felt it before—in a lesser sense—on occasion, but it was never with anyone else.

Only Maria.

Said girl is currently burrowing herself into his covers. Other than the noticeable curvature of her body, nothing could be seen of her.

"Go," she mumbles, sniffling perhaps, "if that's what you want."

Sighing, he takes one step back, but one step only.

Shouldn't he leave? Isn't that what she said to do?

But if he were to, it felt like it would be the wrong choice. Because he did have a choice and if he were to simply abide by Maria's drunken words out of respect, it wouldn't feel right to himself. So, was his heart telling him to be selfish? Was his heart thieving command of his body from his brain and screaming at him to stay?

Yusei can't decide. He stands motionless, head hanging, fists clenched.

The sheets shuffle. An arm reaches out, searching. Long fingers brush along his knuckles and, in shock, Yusei uncurls his fist. Maria's hand grabs ahold.

All at once, he had decided. Or maybe Maria decided for him. It's unsure, really. Maybe they both did.

The blonde pulls the blankets from over her head and pulls the duelist down to the bed. He sits on the edge tentatively, but Maria doesn't seem to notice. She ushers him back toward the headboard with the weight of her body and rests her head on his chest. Yusei tries not to be tense, but it's practically against his design.

"Your heart is beating so fast," she whispers. Yusei averts his eyes to the bucket tipped over on its side. "Are you scared?"

"No," he whispers back.

"Are you mad at me? For bein' a drunky?"

He was a bit, but it seemed like something more than just anger. He certainly disapproved of her choices; she is underaged after all, and he didn't trust the people in her new crowd of friends for a second. But, moreover, Yusei is concerned that Maria was turning in to someone she would regret being.

Maybe he's scared after all. Scared that she is losing herself.

"I'm not mad."

"Ah, that's good." She gives a rushed exhale, possibly a laugh. When Maria's head shifts, her breath caresses his markered cheek. "I lied, you know."

Yusei turns his gaze to her, confused and then stunned. Her eyes glow in the low light, like citrine gems carved and set in rings around her pupils. For all her wavering emotions, she seems so calm in this moment, almost content. Yeah, that sounded right to his ears. With the way her plump lips dipped into a hazy smile, Maria looks as if there's no place she would rather be.

Wait...

She would rather be in his arms than anywhere else…? That thought makes his heart speed faster. Yusei hopes she doesn't notice.

"You aren't like everyone else. I don't think you'll ever be. You're too special." Maria lays her ear against his heart again, but Yusei's stare remains on her, dazed and contemplating. "You're so special to me and you don't even know it. It scares me. It hurts, too, because I don't know what's going to happen. Everything's so unknown."

...What was she talking about? He...he was hurting her? Again? Yusei tries to place it, the possible mistakes, any errors done on his part. He either comes up empty-handed or buried in slip-ups. He truly doesn't know what he could've done to upset her, but maybe he could ask when tonight is over. He could apologize for it, ask how to fix it, and assure her it'd never happen again.

He thinks so hard on the matter that it goes unnoticed how his nerves tingled every time she called him special.

"You're so far away, it's like you're in outer space," she yawns. "I wish I could always reach you this easily."

There's a bout of silence. Yusei uses it to collect his words and line them up as best he can. "I'm right here." Holding on to you...

"Mm-mm. You're a shooting star."

She was down for the count then, the only sound emitting from her lips are the airy ins-and-outs of slumber. Maria may have gone, but her riddling words dance around Yusei's mind. He stares at her for the longest time, as if in a single exhale the answer will be released from her lips.

But he would have to wait.

A light knocking comes from the doorway. Crow leans on it, eyes appraising the scene before him, and grins. Yusei can tell he wants to say some wry remark instead of what he actually says. "How's she doin'?"

The mechanic takes it as a sign to finally break that promise of theirs. Pulling himself off the mattress slowly, he stands and lifts the covers higher over Maria's form. Before exiting, Yusei arranges the bucket and water bottle within her reach, if needed. The lamp turns down and the door closes on her.

"She's sleeping now," Yusei finally answers.

"That's good," nods his brother, "'cause she's gonna need it. I'm betting there's a giant hangover headed her way when she comes to in the morning."

Yusei agrees, and divulges nothing more. The two remain standing outside the room, Yusei eyeing the door with thoughts of the girl's words for a second time and Crow waiting for his older brother to fess up to whatever weirdness occurred before he appeared.

"So, you aren't gonna tell me?"

Yusei blinks out of the daze and to him. "Tell you what?"

Crow huffs, looking at the ceiling, "Does everyone think I'm dumb or something?" Yusei's about to refute the idea but the redhead cuts him off, "What happened? I know something did, I can see it on your face."

Yusei angles his gaze away unsurely. He obviously wasn't going to admit any of the juicier details. No, that seemed private, like something that should stay put behind his bedroom door. "She said...she said that I'm hurting her."

Crow looks just as baffled as he is. "Hurting her?"

"...Maybe I did something wrong."

"Maybe." Crow seems unconvinced somehow. "But, if you're asking me, I'd say it's a safer bet that you didn't do anything." Yusei raises a brow, so Crow elaborates. "Sometimes it isn't things that we do that upsets people, it's what we don't do."

But if that were the case, the issue would be out of Yusei's control. There wouldn't be a way to fix it...would there?

"Just think on it. It makes sense, you'll see." His younger brother pats him on the shoulder and retreats to his own room, poking his head out with a final cheeky grin. "G'night, Yus."

"Yeah. Night."

But would he see too late?

Ya'll! I had the second part of this chapter in my drafts for YEARS. Like I hoped we would get to this point when I wrote it but never thought I'd see the day. This is a really important look at Yusei's side of things and we'll get more of that in upcoming chapters because things are getting juicy~! I told ya'll I wouldn't keep you waiting long for this stuff ;)

TTFN