Hello everyone! wow, this one took me longer than I expected. I'm just glad I made it in time before it was April. I'm trying to update at least once a month so I really tried to rush it a bit. Originally it was going to be a little longer but I ended up deleting a scene, which I'm not sure if I'll use later on or not. If I don't use it then I guess I'll just add it to my list of deleted scenes aka failed ideas :P
Anyhow, I'd like to apologize for the long wait but in the beginning of the month I was doing a little research and writing another chapter for another fic. Jeez, writing 2 fics at the same time it's really hard so it took me longer to finish writing this chapter since I had to finish the other one first. Anyway, now I'll be dedicating my (most) free time to write this fic and once I finish it I'll continue with the other one. I guess I've talked enough now I just hope you like this chapter and it was worth the wait, I hope!
Chapter 15: The Transfer Student
The guys were currently in the garage, talking and trying to guess what was, or what was in the bags Yori had with her yesterday. They had not dared to open them up since Martha had taught them to not look into a woman's belongings without her permission. There were so many questions to ask her but would it be alright to wake her up? She had said she was going to school but if she didn't wake up soon she was going to be late.
"Should we wake her?" asked Crow.
"KYAHHH!!!"
The guys looked at each other startled by the scream and immediately rushed to see what had happened.
Yusei was the first one to arrive and opened the door. As soon as he opened it he saw Yori pulled the covers up, covering her body so only her head could be seen. Or rather half of it, leaving part of her nose, eyes and hair exposed.
"What happened?" demanded Jack almost angry for having rushed when everything seemed okay. Crow was right behind him.
Yori covered herself even more, feeling embarrassed. "I-" she started stuttering a bit as she spoke. "W-well, I, um" she made a noise like a whimper before taking a deep breath to calm herself a little. "I don't remember coming back here. I remember being on my way back but-" She moved her hands under the covers the boys noticed.
"We brought you back," Crow filled in for her.
Her face flushed. It seemed she really didn't want to ask as she ended closing her eyes almost fearing the answer. "W-who c-changed my clothes?" she managed to said it.
"Aki did," replied Yusei. After hearing his answered she let out a sigh of relieved as if all of her worries had vanished, which in a way… did.
"Why did you yell?" asked Crow. "You scared us. We thought something had happened."
"Well, I'm sorry for freaking out." She replied feeling little offended. "But how would you react finding yourself in a place you didn't go and half naked?" she blushed at the last part. She had thought of leaving the last part out but she ended up blurting it all out.
"Eh?" They guys looked at her confused. She tried to cover herself even more.
"Please, don't make me explain," she begged.
"You should probably start getting ready if you want to get to school on time," said Yusei as he motioned the others to drop the subject.
Jack and Crow were the first ones to leave since they had come following Yusei.
"Um, Yusei?" she called before he closed the door. She was covering and hiding behind the blankets.
"Hmm?" he stopped in his tracks.
"You… d-didn't see, right?" she asked meekly, closing her eyes tightly fearing the answer.
He looked down, his bangs covering his face. "I didn't." he replied after a second. When he heard her sigh of relieved he left the room.
Yusei reclined against the door for a moment. 'I guess that was the right thing to do.' She had wearing another set of pajamas and when he rushed in, the top part which was like a jacket was unbuttoned, leaving her chest exposed. He could still feel his face slightly hot and decided to cool down a bit before going down again.
Fifteen minutes later, they were all downstairs eating breakfast. Yori was wearing her uniform and unlike the other times they, meaning Yusei mostly, had seen her in her uniform she was not wearing braids but just pigtails. And just like the first day she had arrived she was not wearing her glasses.
"About yesterday-" Yusei started.
"I'm sorry!" she apologized as she finished her juice. "I'm really sorry for taking your keys without asking you first but there was some place I wanted to go and since it's kinda far I had to leave early and I wasn't sure the time I would be back."
"That's not really important." Yusei replied.
"Eh?" she was surprised and confused.
"We were worried about you." Crow replied to the dense girl.
"Why?" she tilted her head confused. "I believe I wrote in my note not to worry."
They guys stared at her for a moment. "You didn't say where you go and when we found you, you were covered in blood." Jack finished.
She looked down feeling a little ashamed. "I've never had to explain myself to anyone before" She said meekly after a brief pause, her cheeks slightly darker. "So I thought that if I left a note it would be okay even though I wasn't sure what I was supposed to write so you wouldn't worry. I'm sorry; I didn't want to inconvenient you."
Crow sighed. "You don't get it, do you?"
She didn't reply she just stared confused.
"You came here in the middle of the night, injured and saying you had been attack. Then you disappeared without a trace when people are following you and all you left was a note saying not to worry. That would only make us worry even more," Crow scolded. "We searched for you all around Neo Domino City and nothing. Yusei here was panicking and he rarely does."
Yusei sent a strange look at Crow, who either ignored it or didn't see it.
"Even Jack was worried." Crow continued.
Jack choked on a piece of bun he was eating. "I-I won't let anyone who is under Jack Atlas' protection get hurt." He stammered a bit.
She looked down at her hands in her lap. 'They were worried for me?' she thought having a hard time believing it. "…This is the first time someone other than nii-chan and Ralph has worried over me." She said after a brief paused. 'Or in my case, nii-chan and Chris,' she added in her mind.
"What about your parents?" asked Jack a little skeptical about her previous statement.
"It's hard to say really since they're never around and when they are its only work." She sighed. "C'est la vie." She shrugged.
"C'est la vie?" asked Crow.
"It means 'that's life'" she replied with a shrugged. "I just thought it would sound better in French but… still sucks." She looked down at her wrist and then rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I fail." She murmured to herself.
"Is something wrong?" asked Jack when he saw her.
"You like my watch?" she asked and showed them her left wrist.
"You're not wearing one," he pointed.
"Exactly." She replied. "I was trying to see the time and…" she put her wrist in front of her like she was looking at the non-existent watch. She didn't finish what she was going to say but sighed instead. "Only I do this sort of thing." She shook her head. "Shoot! I'm late!" Yori exclaimed as she saw the time in her cell phone. She stood up from the table and run towards Yusei's room to get her bag. "Thanks for the food!" she yelled as she was run passed the kitchen to the garage to go out.
"Wait!" yelled Crow but it was too late, she had already left. "I have to go on deliveries on, to see if I see her and take her to school."
Both Yusei and Jack nodded.
It didn't take long for Crow to be on the streets and he was looking around to see if he spotted her but he didn't see trace of her. He continued looking for a few more minutes but nothing. He decided to call her, good thing she had left it the day before which was how they had gotten her number.
"Yori, where are you?" Crow asked as he saw the girl on the screen, apparently running since the background images were a little blurry. "I was gonna take you."
"Oh, thanks," she beamed. "There's no need though." She replied and stopped. "I'm at the academy already." Her breathing was a little heavy.
Crow blink. "Huh?"
"Sorry, Crow, I gotta go." She hung up.
Crow continued staring at the screen on his D-Wheel. "How did she get there so fast?" he couldn't help but think. After all it was about forty minutes on foot and only ten minutes had passed since they had left.
Yori dashed through the empty hallways as homeroom had already started. She finally reached her classroom and stood there for a second to catch her breath. She opened the door expecting to see an angry teacher but the teacher was nowhere to be found. The other students who had turned around to see if it was their teacher simply went back to talking among themselves ignoring her completely. Yori made her way to the front of the class to her seat next to Aki.
"Safe," Aki said as a greeting. Yori had somehow expected Aki to started bombarding her with questions or even say something like Crow had said before.
Yori smiled at her friend. Before she could say anything the teacher entered the room. "Everyone enough chit-chatting and take your seats."
Everyone did as told. "Very well class, open your history book on page…"
Classes went by as usual. Aki didn't say anything about the day before and Yori thought she was probably waiting for the right time to ask. The day was ordinary but the girls noticed that the other girls, their classmates and even younger girls were murmuring among themselves. By lunch time the news of Ralph being part of a big campaign was already around the entire school. However, that wasn't what most girls in Duel Academia had been discussing.
It wasn't till lunchtime when they finally found out what the other girls had been talking about: the new transfer student. A new boy in the same grade as them and according to the rumors they had overheard he was incredibly cute. Or at least Aki and Yori thought so as every time they would hear the girls mention the new student they would start squealing.
"Can you believe how loud they can be?" asked Yori to Aki once they reached the rooftop to eat quietly their lunch.
Aki chuckled. "You haven't notice it's like that when Ralph is around too?"
Yori looked at her shock. "No way, really?" She gaped. "I never noticed."
Aki let out a laugh. "I guess it's must be because you're too busy arguing with him."
Yori chuckled. "We do that a lot, don't we?"
Both girls chuckled and once they stopped Aki looked around to make sure no one else was around. "Yori," she started in a more serious tone.
"Hmm?" Yori replied while nibbling on her food.
Aki turned to look at her. "You know the fork is there for a reason, right?" Aki couldn't help but point out. Yori was eating using her hands, or rather, hand like someone who knows of no table etiquette.
Yori finished what she had in her mouth before replying. "Aki, I'm not left-handed. It's hard enough to eat with my left hand like this and this is the easy way." She reasoned. "Besides, it's only you here." She shrugged.
Aki shook her head.
"You're coming later, right?" Yori asked as she continued eating.
"Eh?"
Yori gave her a look and Aki realized what her friend meant. "Yeah,"
"I'll tell you then," Yori said knowing well what Aki had tried to asked before. "I don't want to have to repeat myself."
"What about Rua and Ruka?" asked Aki.
Yori put down the bone of the chicken leg she had been eating. "I don't want to scare them," she responded after a moment.
Aki nodded in understanding. "Did you see…um-?"
Yori shook her head knowing what Aki was trying to say. "No, I was running late but I'm sure they will be waiting for me once school's over."
"What are you going to do if they are?" asked Aki worried. "If I have to I'll use my powers but…" she looked away.
"You'd rather not use them, right?" Yori finished for her.
Aki nodded and she looked at the ground.
"It's okay Aki, if you don't want to use it you don't have to" Yori replied. "Though it's kinda a shame. I would like to see you use it at least once."
Aki gave her a weird look.
"What?" Yori laughed. "Aki, you have a wonderful gift. I mean, sure people got hurt but you couldn't control it. You know how to do it now, though, don't you?"
"Yes, but you probably have noticed how the others still look at me, haven't you?" Aki asked a little uneasy.
"Aki, they're idiots. Forget about them. Besides, in here" Yori said meaning the Academy "You and I are the same. We're outcasts."
"It's different." Aki countered.
"No, it's not," retorted Yori. "The other girls don't want to talk with either of us because they're afraid of us. The reasons may be different but the situation it's the same. If you weren't here right now, I'd be by myself."
"I guess," Aki sighed as she looked up to the sky.
They finished eating in silence and just stayed there looking at the clouds.
"Hey Aki,"
"Hmm?"
"When we first met," Yori started. "Or at least on my part," she added with a chuckled. "Why did you lie? Why did you say everyone wished for me to recover soon when everyone thought I was dueling aboard or something?"
Aki looked at her and looked slightly sad. "I just thought how lonely it would be to be in the hospital without anyone visiting, that's all."
"How did you know I was in the hospital?" asked Yori again.
"I saw then they took you to the hospital. At the time I didn't think it was you but when I saw Ralph on school one week after the accident and heard that he had quit modeling temporally and how down he always look. I was sure that was you." Aki replied. "I went by a few times, which is how your mom knew me."
"Why you ask?"
Yori didn't reply for a moment. "Curiosity." She said as she got up from the floor. "I'm going ahead, alright? I'm gonna get my things for Dance."
"Didn't you go before lunch?" Aki asked as she remembered that they had both gone to their lockers or at least parted ways to go to them.
"I went the restroom," Yori replied "and you know that if we don't hurry to get our food then all there's left is leftovers. Yuck!" she made a face.
Aki chuckled. "I guess."
"Later," said Yori as she left her friend who was still eating her food. She took her suitcase with her.
Aki couldn't help but think it was a little odd for Yori to suddenly ask those questions. She would have understood if she had asked her before but why now? It had been almost a month already after all. Deciding it was better to not think of it since Yori could be a little strange and unpredictable she continued finishing her lunch.
Yori took out her a small blue bag from her locker in which she had the clothes for Dance class and put her suitcase on her locker since she wouldn't need it. With five minutes till the end of lunch break and knowing she was going to get thirsty after the workout she decided to buy a bottle of water. She made her way to the nearest vending machine which was on the next corridor.
She opened her bottle and drank a little. The hallway was deserted and somehow she got déjà vu. She felt herself blush when she remember the incident with Yusei. "And I did it twice too." She murmured to herself with a sigh as she made her way to her next class. The bell rang and startled her a little; she closed the bottle and put it on her bag. 'I'm gonna be late.' She thought since her class was on the last floor and she would need to use the stairs which were on the other side of the floor she was currently in.
She started running and just hoped no one would see her. "Look out!" she heard someone said as she was turning a corner.
"Eh?" was all she could say before the collision. She groaned when she hit the floor. Her injure hand receiving most of the impact.
"I'm sorry, are you alright?" asked a male voice.
She, who was in the floor and wincing from the pain, hadn't noticed she had run into a guy till he spoke.
'Of course not!' she said in her mind annoyed. "I-I am alright." She replied her voice soft and almost sweet.
He offered her a hand to help her up. "I'm really sorry," he said as the other students started coming out of classes and from the cafeteria to their other classes.
She finally looked up at culprit of the new pain in her hand. She couldn't help but stare at him for a moment and he did the same. 'This is the guy those girls were talking about' she thought. 'He really is-'
"Sorry, I'm late for class," he said as he dashed off.
She didn't say anything or even move. She just watched his retreating figure almost in a daze. 'He looked just like Ryoma grown up.' She thought still in a dazed. It took her another moment to finally realize she was late for class. By the time she arrived the other girls had gone into the dressing rooms to change, she just hoped her teacher wouldn't notice.
Once class finally began she found herself sitting in the corner after having changed back into her school uniform. She was so bored just watching everyone else but there was nothing she could do if they were starting a new dance and since it was hip hop and some of the steps required her to use her right hand.
After awhile she asked for permission to go to her locker. She was so bored she decided to do her homework. She had work after school and then she also had to explain to the guys about the day before and answer their questions that would probably take a while not to mention she also needed to talk with Yusei. She sighed. It was going to be a long day. Correction, it was being a long day.
After school, the girls made their way to their respective lockers. Yori since she had already done her homework, decided to leave her books behind and just take her duel disk like everyone else. Not that she was planning on dueling anyone but just in case.
Rua and Luna met with them in the lobby to go to play with the guys. As they were leaving school and Yori noticed the black car she had been seeing. She didn't say anything for a moment.
'What should I do?' she though desperately. She stopped. Aki and the kids looked back at her wondering why she stopped.
"Uh, I just remember I need something from home" she lied. "Why don't you guy go ahead and I'll see you there?"
"Ok, Yori-chan, see you later" said Rua.
'How come I'm 'chan' and Aki is 'nee-chan'?' she couldn't help but think.
"Later, Yori." Said Ruka as she followed her brother.
"Later," said Aki hiding her worry from her voice knowing what was really happening.
"I'll be okay," Yori mouthed Aki reassuringly.
Once her friends were gone she felt really scared. She saw three of them approaching her and without thinking she ran towards the park. 'It seems they don't care about being seen anymore.' Yori thought as she ran. 'I need to lose them!'
And the hunts begins! Will she be able to outsmart them and get away or will get their hands on Yori? Make your bets!(check poll if you want. It's on my profile and some drawings of Yori I've made too.)
BTW, a few things before I forget. When Yori bumped into the new student and she is thinking: 'He looked just like Ryoma grown up' The guy I meant is Ryoma Echizen from the Prince of Tennis. Now, why does he look like Ryoma, that's because I wanted to give you a visual (kinda) but I can't draw guys. I've been trying to draw Ralph and this guy since chapter 4 or so. I'm not giving up on drawing Ralph yet so by next chapter I'll probably will give you either a drawing or tell you like which anime guy Ralph looks like.
Oh yeah, the part when Yori reaches school really fast and Crow is wondering how did she managed to get there so fast is because she's a fast runner. I wrote that because I was talking about school the other day with a friend of mine and it made me remember all the times I was late to school and the times I made it barely on time. :P There really was one time in which I made it to school in 5 min even though I lived 30 min away from school. That was my best record though unlike Yori, I'm not very athletic.
See you next time!