Hello, everyone! Happy Holidays! Sorry for the long wait but it's finally here! Actually this chapter was going to be longer but I did want to update before Christmas and the end of the year so if I had wrote it as long as I had planned then I don't think I would have managed. At least now I know what's coming next very well. Just gotta find some time to write it. Anyway, I hope you like it!

Chapter 25: Surprises

The music finally stopped announcing the class was almost over. The word relief wouldn't even begin to describe how she felt. The word glad wouldn't quite fit either since she was not exactly happy.

"Okay, everyone, showers now ladies!" said the teacher as she took a towel to dry some of her own sweat.

The girls proceeded to take their stuff to the changing room and showers. This time since the teacher was there Yori was simply being ignore completely. Some even shoved her and pushed her as they hurried.

"Miss Tenma, a word please," the teacher called out as she saw the whole thing.

Yori moved to the side so the others girls would pass her before walking up to her teacher. "Yes, Ryugamine-sensei?" asked the young girl.

The young woman, who was near her thirties looked down at the teenager with a concern look. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Eh?" the long haired teen mustered surprised. "Uh, y-yes," she stammered a bit still surprised by the question.

"I may be wrong but it seems like your classmates are bullying you," said the black haired woman.

Yori shook her head. "Not at all."

The teacher sighed a little disappointed her student wouldn't confide in her. It was too obvious they had been.

"Okay, but if anything happens let me know, alright?" said Ryugamine-sensei.

"Yes," replied Yori as she made her way to the showers. 'As if I'll admit it,' thought Yori scornfully. 'Eh?' she realized what she just thought. 'I guess her pride is affecting me somewhat.'

"I've given you two options, make your choice," repeated Ren.

"What kind of non-sense are you spouting?" an irritated Jack asked as he glared at the older boy, he was ready to attack him again.

Ren leered but did not answer. Yusei noticed Jack was getting more and more irritated by this man's behavior and words. He was not the only one though but the blond had a harder time managing his anger.

"I'll give you some time to think it over," said Ren ready to leave with his back facing the boys. "Of course, I'll be keeping this till you've made your choice." He added waving the piece of paper which contained the address of the blue prints. "Oh, before I forget… you're not allowed to tell Yori any of this." He smirked as the other two glared.

"Yori is our friend; she should be making the choice of whether or not she wants to see us." Yusei declared.

"True," agreed Ren. "But that would make me the bad guy." He made a sound between a chuckled and sarcastic laugh.

"Why are you doing this? Do you hate your sister?" Asked Yusei, surely hating Yori was the only answer he could think.

"Hate her?" Ren repeated as he pretended to be aghast. "It's because I love her so much that I'm doing this. Well, I don't really need to explain myself to you." He replied. "Next time we meet, I'll be expecting my answer." He laughed sadistically as he disappeared from their sight.

Jack growled as the older man left. Yusei stared at the blueprints in his hands. He tightened his fists and crumpled it. Just how could someone be so sick and do what he was doing and still claimed to do it out of love?

"Yusei," Jack broke through his thoughts. He looked at the blond, there was no need to actually say it but Jack still asked. "What should we do?" Yes, only four words but he understood what he meant. Yori had to know, she needed to know her enemy was a lot closer than she thought.

By the time Yori arrived to the showers they were all being used. There were about twenty showers and fifty girls in the class. Some of the girls who were waiting their turn decided to ignore her. However a small group led by the girl who had assailed her previously had a different idea.

Yori noticed as they got near her but ignored them and continued getting her stuff ready for the shower. She mentally sighed when she felt them standing behind her. 'This is the kind of stuff I've read in manga…' she thought tediously.

"Hey you!" A female voice spoke behind her rather rudely. Yori ignored the girl. "I'm talking to you!" the girl put a hand on Yori's shoulder.

Yori looked at the hand on her shoulder and then to tall girl from before. The girl was wearing the blouse and skirt from the uniform and her dark green hair tight neatly into a short ponytail.

Yori used her left hand and removed Mishima's hand from her should. "My name is not 'hey you.'" She said coolly. "If you must address me then do it properly." Yori turned around again facing the locker and continued arranging her stuff.

She was sure the girl was going to do something, probably hit her. She was expecting some kind of retort but none came. From the corner of her eye she noticed the dance instructor coming down the stairs.

'Cowards.' She thought feeling disappointed.

She needed someone to help her release her frustration and anger. Those girls, especially Mishima seemed to be the appropriate target as they were the ones starting the conflict. So even if Yori did anything the teachers would believe her. Miss Ryugamine could even testify in her favor of her 'being bullied.' Yet it had been the same teacher who had ruined her plans.

The last bell finally rang however only the first group had managed to shower. Some stayed behind but others left not wanting to wait. They just fixed themselves up and put on lots of perfume to camouflage some of their odor after working out.

Yori stayed behind and was one of the last ones to shower. She wasn't really sure what the reason that made her stay to shower was: Yori's pride to maintain a good image or her girly side which wanted to appeal even just a little to Yusei. He had said he would see her later. Although, she wasn't sure how she would react when she faced him…

She stepped into the shower and let the lukewarm water fall upon her body for a while. She stayed standing there as she thought about what she would do. She wanted to be angry at Yusei but at the same time she couldn't. She had liked it. He was the guy she liked, after all. Yet he had not kissed her because of that and it hurt her.

She sighed. 'What to do?' She thought as she finally grabbed the soap.

"C'mon hurry!" Yori heard a girl called only to be shushed a few seconds later. She heard their giggles and that brought her back to reality.

'Now's not the time to think about that.' She reminded herself. 'Aoi said tomorrow.' She thought as she finished with her shower. 'Can I even trust him?' she turned the knobs of the water as she closed them.

She sighed as she reached for her towel which was behind the curtain. 'I hate this! I don't know what I should do! I don't know what I should be doing! I hate having to ask for his help!' She bit her lip hard in frustration. Her eyes were becoming misty. 'But what else can I do…?' her tears started falling as she cried silently.

There were no more sounds than her sobbing. It was obvious everyone else had left. Good thing too, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to cry freely.

'Yori, please, if you can hear me tell me how to help them. I beg you. I know you want to save Aki too, so please!' She implored her counterpart. She dried herself as she waited for some kind of response but there were no visions or flashbacks or anything.

She had already stopped crying by then and simply scoffed at herself. 'Guess she's still asleep, huh?' She let out a soft growl in frustration.

When she went to get her clothes she noticed her locker, which had been locked was now opened and empty.

"Seriously?" she said incredulously as well as annoyed. 'Couldn't they have at least been a little original? This is the kind of thing you see in manga.' She thought as she let out a sigh. Even though she had a feeling it was going to be useless she still looked around the showers and changing rooms for her stuff. It was nowhere, not even in the garbage.

'Did they take my clothes?' Yori thought nervously as she was becoming colder from having only her blue towel to cover herself. 'Great, just want I needed.' She made a fist with her hand and punched the wall. 'Someone is gonna pay for this!'

She was going to need her phone to call home and have someone bring her a change of clothes. Usually she would have brought it to class but she had forgotten it and she was glad. Otherwise she was sure they would have taken it too. Now, all she needed to do was ran through the walkway with only a towel, turn to the left at the end and continue running a few more meters till she arrived her locker.

It was after school so surely everyone would have left already. As she approached the door she heard voices. One of them was that obnoxious little weasel Mishima who was chatting all happy with some boys, right outside!

Yori groaned. She looked through the small window on the door and saw her bag was – like she had first thought- dumped into a garbage can but outside the classroom instead.

"Option one: go out, get my back and ran back in, despite letting those guys seem me in this unsightly state. Or option two: wait till they're gone and freeze in the meantime." She mumbled to herself as she thought of her options. "Hmm. Tough choice."

As she was thinking of her options and was deciding that option two would be best she heard a knock.

"Yori-chan, I know you're inside, open up please." She heard a familiar male voice. "It's me, Aoi."

Yori put one hand on her chest to make sure the towel would stay in place and opened the door. He stared at her from head to toe and smirked as she blushed and back away from him.

"I heard what happened earlier in class and thought something might happen again," he started. "Here's your bag" he put the bag in front of him and Yori smiled relieved. She also noticed that the guys and Mishima who had been outside were now gone.

"Oh! Thank you!" she said as she walked up to him to take it but he raised it higher and she missed it. He used his other arm and wrapped it around her waist pulling her closer.

Her face became redder and her heartbeat faster. She gulped. "I know they were being mean but I certainly don't mind this look one bit." He smirked as he leaned in.

She put a hand in front of his lips to stop him. "Sorry, but can I have my bag now? I'm freezing." She said timidly.

He was not able cover up the shock from his face when she stopped him. It made Yori think it probably was the first time a girl had resisted him. "Sorry," he apologized and gave her the bag. "I'll wait outside." With that he left the room.

'Oh crud.' She thought as she wanted to hit herself. 'Why did I refuse? Didn't I make up my mind? It's just a kiss, after all…just a kiss…' She tried to convince herself it wasn't big deal. 'Okay, no time for that!' and slapped both of her cheeks with both hands.

A few minutes later she came out of the classroom fully dressed. It was a good thing that despite her bag being the garbage there had not been any food, just paper. Otherwise she wouldn't have dared touch it or changed into her uniform. Well, there had been soda and part of her had gotten wet but since it leather it was easy enough to rinse it off.

"I-I am ready," she announced feeling a little shy.

"Ready to go? I have a car waiting for us." He smiled and put his hand around her shoulders.

Her heart skipped a beat and blushed at his dazzlingly smile. Usually she would have felt like giving him an over the shoulder throw or something but this time she didn't. It wasn't like she started to like him suddenly or anything like that. However after saving her she couldn't help but feel grateful. Yusei had already put doubt in her mind about him being the real culprit and after what had just happened she decided she would give him the benefit of the doubt. Like Aki had said perhaps her dislike was because he had unintentionally hurt her pride.

"Yes, ready." She smiled and this time sincerely.

The car was parked in front of the school waiting, just like Aoi had said. One of the goons who had been following her in the past days was sitting in the driver's seat; she tensed up when she saw him.

"Don't worry about him." He said when he noticed her tensed and put arm around her shoulder.

She looked at him for a moment a little unsure and nodded. 'I must be careful.' She thought to herself.

"Come," he said as he let go of her shoulders and took her hand.

At moment she remembered and realized what Yusei had said earlier about her putting herself in danger. She looked around for a moment, expecting to see Yusei but he wasn't there. Why had she thought he was going to be there in the first place? He had said later, not that he would pick her up.

"Yes," she followed his lead and entered the car as he held the door open for her. She couldn't help but feel a little anxious and unfortunately for her she was not able to hide it. Aoi smiled at her reassuringly but to her it made it seemed even more devious. She forced herself to smile back and managed to put back her 'Sayori' act.

Jack and Yusei were on their way back to Yori's mansion when they saw a black car park in front of it since the gates were closed. They stopped on their tracks in surprised near the corner. It was one of the cars that they had previously followed when Aki, Rua and Ruka had been kidnapped. It was very easy to recognize since no other cars had a red plates and it was a foreign car too.

The first one to come out from the back seat was a tall boy with dark green-ish blue hair who was wearing the Duel Academy's uniform. A few seconds later Yori came out, surprising both boys. They were too far to hear what they were saying but she smiled at him sheepishly, acting cutely. He said something to her which made her whole face even her ears turn red before leaning down to her to kiss her.

Yusei clutched his fist when he saw him leaning down. Yori realized what Aoi was about to do and moved her face on reflex away from him, so he ended up kissing her cheek instead.

Yori realized what she had done again and was kicking herself mentally. Aoi saw in the distant after he had missed the two D-Wheels and their riders. He recognized one of them and a smirked formed in his face. He pulled Yori closed surprising the girl.

"W-what are you doing?" she asked as she tried restrained herself from fighting back.

"I'll let you know if I find anything tonight," He kissed her forehead before getting inside the car.

"Thank you," Yori made a small bow to show her gratitude.

"Don't thank me yet" Aoi said with a smirk. "Later." With that he was gone.

Yori turned around to go inside and it was then when she noticed the guys who were now coming closer.

"Hey," she greeted them. 'Did they see that?' she thought nervously. When she looked at Yusei remembered the kiss and her face flushed. She quickly lowered her head and looked away in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.

"You really should think about time and venue." Jack said disgruntled.

"Eh?" she uttered in surprised. 'They did.' She concluded and became even more embarrassed. "I was just being grateful," she looked away. Her cheeks dyed with a rosy color. "He's helping… since I can't do anything…" She said the last part in a lower voice almost inaudible with a tone of frustration.

Jack grunted disapprovingly. "Yori, there's something you must know" Yusei who had remained quite finally spoke.

His voice was serious and sent chills down her spine. It was like he was about to tell her something bad, really bad.

"Let's go inside first." She said a little fearful as she hurried to open the gates.

Both Jack and Yusei rode their D-Wheels inside while Yori remained behind to close the gates once again. Then as they were parking their bikes Yori ran past them and dashed inside the house. That odd action made them instantly think of the time when they first came to the house and Yori claimed there had been an intruder.

They looked at each other confused for a second and followed her inside. Both teens glared at the man their friend was hugging.

"Ren!" her voice was almost breaking and her shoulders were shaking. She was sobbing.

"Now, now, no need to be like this. I'm not mad." Ren said sweetly as he patted Yori's head. "Won't you show your big brother your pretty smile?"

Yori in between tears forced herself to smile and used her two index fingers to give him an awkward smile.

"Good girl." He chuckled and patted her again. After a few minutes of ignoring the death glares being sent to him but he finally looked up towards the foyer. "Oh, is that your friends?" He did his best to keep a surprise tone.

Yori looked up to her brother who was smiling. She rubbed her eyes to wipe the tears and nodded. "They are Jack Atlas and Yusei Fudo." She pointed at each one of them in turn. "They have helped me with a lot of stuff."

"Is that so?" He said rubbed her head even harder causing static on her hair and making a mess of her hair before walking closer to them.

"Hey!" Yori protested and folded her arms with a small pout.

"It's a pleasure to meet you" He smirked at them. "Thank you for taking care my little sister."

Jack made a fist, Yusei anticipating his friend blocked him by stepping slightly closer to Ren.

"No problem. She is our friend." Yusei replied as calmly as he could manage.

"I'm so glad to see you." Yori came from behind Ren and clung on his arm. "You're even back earlier than we expected you." She hugged his arm tightly. "Wait, does Misa-chi and Misa-nii even know?" she separated slightly. "Misa-chi would be here if she did. I'm gonna look for her. I'll be right back!" She threw her back into one of the chairs and dashed to the kitchen.

Ren chuckled as the boys continue glaring. "Oh my, I don't know why you were so surprised when you saw me." He said sardonically. "This is my house, after all."

"Just what exactly are you trying to pull?" Jack confronted him.

"Why should I tell you?" Ren sniggered. "Anyway, if you were thinking of telling her about me doing what you know" he made sure not to say it clearly in case Yori might come back and overhear. "It won't work."

"What makes you so sure?" This time was Yusei who spoke.

Ren chuckled as he had been told a good joke. "Simple," he began replying between chuckles. "I am her brother. I am the one who taught her most the stuff she knows. I am the one who always praised her achievements when our parents ignored her. I was the one who has always protected her. It was I who practically raised her since our parents sent us outside the city to the middle of nowhere and seldom visit us." There was a small hint of bitterness in his voice when he said the last part about their parents. "I am her most important person."

"R-Ren-sama!" Misato's voice came from the small hall that led to the kitchen, interrupting the guys before they could say anything anymore.

Ren turned around and saw the younger girl crying. "I told you time and again to call me Ren."

Misato covered her mouth and nose as her tears streamed down; she still couldn't believe he was there. "Misato…" He went over to her and pulled her into a hug. "It's been too long. I missed you!" He carried her in his arms and twirled with her as she laughed.

"Stop that!" She said between laughs as she had her hands on his shoulders. "You know I get dizzy easily!"

He put her down. "It always stopped your tears though." He smiled tenderly at her.

Misato blushed. "Idiot." She punched him in his chest lightly and looked away.

"Why am I an idiot?" He grinned.

"Because-"

"A-hem!" Yori made the sound with her throat really loudly. "Can you guys just get a room? There are twelve, pick one." She said disgusted. "Ugh, seriously I don't want to see that. So corny!"

Ren let of Misato completely and went over to Yori. "Looks like someone is jealous" he teased and poked both of her cheeks.

"Stop that!" Yori protested. "Mou! Ren!" she groaned. "And I am not jealous!"

"I can't watch this," Jack said to Yusei in a low voice as he was ready to leave. "I'll ask Saiga if he can find any lead from this." He took the blueprints Yusei had on his hand.

Yusei nodded. Jack left. Yusei continued staring at the scene playing in front of him. It really did not make any sense to him. How could someone who claimed to love his sister do something so despicable to her friends? It just wasn't possible. Could it be there was something more? Or perhaps he was just thinking in hope Yori would not get hurt once she found out.

"Yusei?" Yori called him but he seemed to have spaced out. "Yusei" she called again this time waving a hand in front of him. "Yusei!" she called louder not liking being ignore.

"Huh?" he uttered when he returned to reality. Both Misato and Ren were not there anymore.

"I was calling you." She pouted. "You spaced." She pointed out.

"Sorry, I have a few things on my head." He replied.

"You're not the only one…" she reminded him and looked down. "Onii-chan is back-" her tone became brighter. "-I'm sure if I ask for his help-"

"What if you couldn't count on him?" Yusei interrupted her.

There was something in his eyes but she wasn't sure exactly what it was. However his question made her think he didn't want her to rely on Ren. It was obvious, really but why?

"Yusei," she started. "Ren has contacts and knows a lot of people for him tracking others wouldn't be a problem." She tried to reason. "Actually, it's kind of creepy how he seems to know almost everything" she added and shivered to make a point.

"Yori-"

"Say-" they both said at the same time.

"Yes?" they both said again in synch.

"Let's go to my room. You had something to tell me, right?" She tried to look at him in the eyes as usual but even though she was trying to act normal it was extremely hard. She just couldn't look at him directly but somewhere passed him.

If she was honest, it almost irritated her that he was acting as if nothing had happened. He was talking and looking at her just like before. It was like he had never kissed her or anything. It was taking everything in her to act as normal as possible. Actually she was using her best acting abilities to act as Sayori rather than herself. If she convinced herself she was acting and playing someone else then it was easier to be around him.

Since at the time, all she wanted was to keep a distance. Although she was managing to keep her blush at minimum, she couldn't stop her heart from racing. Asking him to go to her room was bold of her. Still, if Yusei had something to say to her about her brother or if they ended up discussing the event from the morning then that was the safest place.

Yusei nodded at her proposal and followed her. Her room was probably the only place where they could talk privately. Although he was having second thoughts about telling her what he had intended. After what Ren had said if he told Yori, would she believe him?

Well, that's it's for now. I hope I can update next month but I won't promise anything. Please review, I'm always happy to hear from you :) Happy Holidays!