A/N: Hey guys, so if anyone checks on my account on DA you might have already known I was done with this piece a few days ago - or so I thought. I ended up writing a few more pages. I'm pleased to have written this chapter as quickly as I did (compare to my last ^^;) and just before I left for vacation.
On a personal note, I finished writing the whole plot for the remaining chapter of the fic. Now, does that mean I am close to finishing this? Absolutely not. However, up till now, I relied on my own dream of that world to make progress on my story and when those dreams stopped I was completely lost as to what to write. Now, I'll have a more solid plan. Does that mean I'll be updating more often? Possibly. Right now, I just want to write and keep writing. However, I was just promoted. Although it is official, it won't take effect just yet. Since I will be going on vacation next week, so probably after that. I'll do my best with my writing and my new position!
Anyway, please enjoy~!
Chapter 31: Sense
Yori sighed, finally relaxing. 'You should take it from here.' She said in her mind as she let Cindy take over. They arrived at the entrance when Cindy opened her eyes. She gasped all the events that had happened since Yori took over came rushing to her mind.
"Are you alright?" Yusei asked, looking at the slightly disoriented girl.
"Uhh-yes!" Cindy exclaimed louder and more excited than she intended. "I-I-I'm fine." She replied as she looked around, trying to find an excuse for her unusual behavior. "Uh, I was just thinking: Did you drive here?" 'Seriously?!' She scolded herself.
Yusei nodded. "Yes."
"I see…" She replied while looking down. 'So much for your plan, Yori. I don't know what to do.' Unlike Yori, Cindy couldn't hide what she was feeling and so Yusei saw her dejected expression. Her stomach growled and she hoped he didn't hear it. Then again, it was a low growl and it was still a bit noisy with the people loitering around the school.
"I know a place not far from here," Yusei started as he stepped into the light drizzle. "They have good food for a reasonable price." He stopped a few steps away and turned to look at her slightly confused expression.
"…You heard?" She blushed as she bit her lip while looking away.
Yusei turned around. "Heard what?" He kept walking towards his D-Wheel which was parked a few feet away from the where they had been standing.
'He heard.' She was embarrassed but as there were people around she managed to keep a straight face. 'Does being in this world suddenly make anime tropes real or something? Even when my stomach growled in the real world, people don't hear it. And when it happens, it had to be him.' She stopped when she was standing behind Yusei.
He pulled the seat and gave her one of the helmets he had in there. "It will be a short drive," He promised. "Oh." His eyes shifted and he looked slightly uncomfortable. "I just realized, you are wearing a skirt."
"Oh." She looked down at her legs and started pulling the shorts she was wearing underneath her skirt down right above her knees. "I always wear shorts underneath my skirt or dresses." She grinned.
They both climbed the D-Wheel and Cindy put her arms around his shoulders. She was glad the family restaurant Yusei mentioned was only 10 minutes away. She had no idea what to do with her legs. She felt awkward, not that she wasn't already because of the little stunt Sayori had pulled.
"I've never felt so happy to have my feet firmly on the ground," she said as she sighed content when they finally arrived. "No offense," She added as she looked at Yusei "but I don't wanna do that again." She now understood why Aki refused so stubbornly to get on his D-Wheel when he had been kidnapped and she saved him on that truck.
"It isn't built for two," Yusei offered as he opened the door of the restaurant for her.
"Thanks," Cindy said as she passed by Yusei and into the establishment.
The place was pretty empty since it wasn't lunch time anymore. They were sat a corner booth and near a window; they sat across from each other. Yusei ordered a root beer and Cindy ordered a chocolate cake with vanilla ice-cream and hot fudge on the top, an ice-tea, a steak with rice and an egg over easy on top with a side salad. The young lady taking the order was surprised and so was Yusei. The girl even asked her if she was sure to which Yori simply said: "I'm hungry," with a shrug. The young waitress nodded and went to get their drinks.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" Yusei asked.
Cindy nodded. "Sure, you can ask me anything. What's up?"
"Why did you…" He paused trying to think of how to put it. "…you know, asked me to come with you?"
She looked at him blankly for a second. "Are you seriously asking me that?" She blurted out in surprise.
Yusei was taken aback. He agreed to go with her because it looked like she just wanted an out. Still, he wondered why she phrased it like she did, so he asked. Now, he wasn't sure if that was a good idea.
The girl in front of him sighed. "There are many reasons why I would ask you to keep me company. One, I wanted to get out of there before they started delving into my non-existent love life. Also, I wanted to ask you about Kiryu. Not to mention because I enjoy your company. You are very easy to talk to and feel like I can come to you for advice. Need me to keep going or is that enough?" She smiled at him.
The young man was once again surprised at her openness and a bit embarrassed. "I see." He said closing his eyes for a second and regaining his cool; not that she noticed his slight embarrassment.
"Alright then, Yusei, tell me about Kiryu." She leaned over the table as she waited for him to start talking about his friend.
"What do you want to know?" He asked, relaxing.
"Can I trust him?" She asked straight-forwardly.
Yusei nodded after a brief pause. "Yes, he may play and tease but you can trust him."
Cindy looked at Yusei slightly suspicious. "Why did you make a pause before answering?"
"No reason." He replied almost immediately.
"Here are your drinks," the waitress gave Yusei his root beer and Yori's ice-tea by placing them on top of coasters in front of each of them. "Your food will be ready shortly." The girl said as she left again.
"Thanks," both and Yusei and Cindy said before she left.
"I lost my train of thought," Cindy said, not remembering what they had been talking about.
Yusei took a sip of his root beer. Yori copied him as she tried to remember.
"Are you going to tell him about-" Yusei started but made a pause as he thought of how to rephrase what he was about to say "…your missing cards?"
She shook her head. "I already got in trouble for telling you guys." She looked away. "Mizu- my mother was furious." She corrected herself and sighed.
"Did she ground you or something?" He asked curiously.
She sipped her drink before answering. "Ren doesn't know but I got a curfew now. She or father will call at 7 and 10 every day and I must send them a picture every half hour with a watch next to me that has the date on it." She looked out the window with a pout. "So annoying."
"That sounds a bit…. strict." Yusei sympathized.
"They are doing what I hate the most. I hate being under watch like that. It's suffocating." She looked back inside to her side and saw the young waitress now approaching with her salad and steak.
"Here you go!" The young lady placed the plate in front of Yori.
"Thank you~!" Cindy chimed as her mouth water from the smelled. She forgot Yusei was there and focused on her food. She cut a small piece of the steak; the knife slicing through it quite easily. She observed the pinkish color of the meat with its own juice dripping on it and brought it to her lips, savoring the first morsel she had eaten in over 24 hours. She let out a moan as she enjoyed the taste. She guzzled half her meat and egg in a blink of an eye.
"Looks like you liked it," Yusei commented as he watched the girl eat happily.
Cindy stopped as she was about to eat another bite; she blushed. "Sorry," she apologized as she started eating normally.
"Don't be, you were hungry." Yusei shrugged.
"Anyway, tell me more about Kiryu. What's his weakness?" She asked casually as she started eating her salad mixed with her steak.
"Why do you want to know that?" He asked as Cindy grimaced while eating her salad.
She took a sip of her tea to get rid of the nasty taste of lettuce. "No reason." Yusei suspected she wanted to get back at his friend for carrying her like a ragdoll.
"By the way, are you feeling better now?" He asked changing the topic.
"Yup. I'm completely recharged," she replied cheerfully and continued eating her salad reluctantly.
Yusei cracked a smile unbeknown to the girl sitting across from him. He found it slightly amusing seeing her expression change every time she switched between eating her salad and her steak. She seemed to truly hate vegetables but she was still eating them.
"Not that," Yusei said as he observed her curious expression. "You looked pretty shocked when you were dueling Aki."
Cindy looked down at her lap and closed her eyes briefly. 'Perhaps you should cover this.' Cindy remembered the duel because of Yori's memories but remembering her feelings were a little harder to do. 'No, you can do this,' Yori replied mentally. "I thought I would be able to keep it under control," The girl said quietly. "Even while holding back, I unleashed too much power." She repeated Yori's words to Yusei.
"Just how strong is your sense?" Asked Yusei surprised.
She looked uneasy and wouldn't look at Yusei directly. He looked at her sympathetically; it was obvious she felt bad for hurting Aki, although she was fine. "Even so, I never knew dueling could be so much fun." She smiled a bit after swallowing her food.
"Wait, so you have never really experience dueling at its best until today?" Yusei asked as he tried to grasp the situation.
The brunette tilted her head as she tried recollecting another occasion that Yori found dueling fun but came up with none. "I always try to not get into it," Cindy replied as she finished her lunch.
He thought for a moment. "Now that I think about it, Ralph said something like that."
Cindy took another sip of her ice-tea. "What did he say?" She asked curiously. Although they had grown together and all, Ralph was never able to grasp how to use Sense properly as Yori or even Ren.
"He said you always dueled while getting more life points because it would keep you from getting excited or anxious while helping you control your Sense," Yusei said and took the last sip of his drink.
"He is not wrong." Cindy said carefully watching her words, "but that is not quite correct, though." 'You should take over if you are going to talk about Sense.' Cindy communicated mentally.
The young waitress appeared again with Yori's dessert. "You certainly were hungry." She commented as she took her empty plate.
"Quite so." She said a little embarrassed.
"Would you like a refill on your drinks?" The girl asked them. "Or anything else?"
Yusei waved his hand. "No, thanks. I'm fine."
"Just the bill, thanks though." Yori smiled.
"Ok, I'll bring it over." With that, the young lady walked away.
Yori licked her lips before taking a bit of her ice-cream and cake. She moaned after tasting it and kept eating it happily. "So good~!"
Yusei smirked seeing as she forgot about him again and went to her little world. "You really like ice-cream and cake, don't you?"
Yori nodded, the spoon still in her mouth. 'I could not help myself.' She kicked herself mentally. "Would you want to order some?" She offered.
He shook his head. "I'm fine, thanks. So, you were saying about Sense that Ralph wasn't wrong but not right either." Yusei ventured for her to continue.
"Increasing my life points is more like to intimidate my opponents." She explained. "I mean, with Ancient Sacred Wyvern's effect most start to panic as my life points increase and theirs decrease. They call me a monster for a reason, you know." She winked and then kept on eating.
"…You like being called a monster?" Yusei asked confused.
"Of course not." She laughed. "However, if everyone feared me then no one would want to get close to me." She waved her hand dismissingly. He nodded in understanding. "While everyone uses Sense in some way, there are a lot of things that affect it. One of those would be the adrenaline you feel while dueling. Another factor is how much engross you can be in it, which-" she paused as she realized why she used more power than intended. "Ohh. I became engrossed while dueling Aki without realizing it." She face-palmed.
Yusei nodded in understanding. He got lost slightly in his thoughts as he connected the facts he gathered. The waitress arrived with the bill and Yori paid for it while Yusei was deep in thought and unaware. He analyzed everything he learned so far and realized something she said: "while everyone uses sense in some way…" He snapped back and look at her as she finished eating. "Yori!" He exclaimed in his excitement. "You said everyone can use sense, right?" He wanted to be sure he had heard her right.
The brunette nodded. "You did not notice?" Yori asked curiously. "Have you not felt it?" She closed her eyes as she concentrated on the feeling of sense she had felt from others. "The slight pressure or stings from attacks or even the dust moving and hitting your eyes?" She looked at him directly. "I mean, that is the reason most people cover their eyes, correct? I suppose in some cases, it may be due to the light effects too." She shrugged. "However, you must have felt it since Sense becomes stronger in a riding duel."
He thought for a moment recalling his past duels. "Hmm. Yes, now that you mention it but how come no one talks about it?" He wondered.
"Good question. Unfortunately, I lack the answer." She shook her head. "However, if I would have to guess it is because it is such a common thing people do not notice. I mean, you did not even realize it yourself until I told you."
"Ah, that's true." Yusei agreed.
"All riding duelist know to use Sense to some extend though." The girl said thoughtfully. "You have felt it, I'm sure; the need to accelerate right before an attack? Trying to put your all into it before it connected to your opponent?"
Once again Yusei nodded. "I see."
"Using Sense works when using your instincts; that is the reason why it is felt more during riding duels." She continued.
"Dueling with your instinct?" Yusei questioned. How would that even be possible? Dueling was about using strategies, thinking moves ahead and clashing with your opponent's counter strategies and countering them. It was outsmarting each other out.
"I know, I know; it makes no sense but that is how my Sense is so strong," Yori said. "Once I am ready duel I would forget everything else and my mind becomes completely clear. However, for me to duel at my strongest I need to want to connect to my opponent." She sighed. "Of course, then I end up hurting others." She looked down and away towards the window. It had stopped raining, she noticed but it remained cloudy.
"I think I get it. Is that why you were so shocked during your duel? You did it without realizing it?" He asked stared at her sad expression.
She nodded. "I wanted to duel her so badly." She smiled a bit looking at her own reflection in the window. "It was fun though." She looked back at the table in front of her. "I just need to learn to control it better." She sighed again and looked up at Yusei once again. "I never really tried before but I think someday I might be able to duel using Sense like my brother."
"He can use Sense like you?" It was a rhetorical question. He took the last sip of his drink, leaving only the ice cubes behind.
"Ren's Sense is as strong as mine while he is on a Riding Duel. In a regular duel, it is only a third of that. It is still stronger than most people, of course." She explained, unable to hide her pride for her brother as she spoke.
"So, how strong is it yours in a Riding Duel?" Yusei couldn't help but ask.
"No way!" she waved both of her hands in front of her and shook her head vigorously. "That is way too frightening to even think about. My Sense can be quite destructive as it is, it would only multiply the intensity during a Riding Duel." She grabbed two locks of her hair and hide her face. "I would really be a monster." She whined.
"I get it." Yusei smiled at her. "You don't want to use your power to hurt others."
Yori pulled her hair away from her face. "Sense is not something only I or my brother can do. Everyone can do it, just not everyone focuses on mastering it or learning about it. You can make your sense stronger too if you wanted."
Yusei stared at her for a moment as he processed that. "I think that would be dangerous if it were to become as strong as yours or Ren's."
"That will not happen." She reassured him. "My brother made a research. My Sense is an extremely rare case because I have issues. Ren is a little special because" she looked around to make sure no one was within earshot or eavesdropping. "Ren has cards that deal real damage in his deck," she whispered.
"Should you be telling me that?" He asked unsurely about Ren possessing those type of cards.
"I trust you." She smiled. "Anyway, there are different types of sense too; according to his research."
"Different types?" He was intrigued.
"Yes, he also named them. Ren's is Nullification Sense, basically, he can cancel the Sense of others with his own as long as they are as strong or weaker than him. He cannot nullify mine but he can weaken it. So, if he duels with someone who can deal real damage, he can weaken it too."
"That sounds interesting and quite useful too." He commented as he listened closely.
"He mentioned someone who has what he called Sense Pressure. Ren said this person's Sense was heavy and it even made holes in the speedway at its strongest. Not like huge holes but just enough to make it hard to accelerate too much. Apparently, it is also impossible to dodge. There was also another one called Cross Sense, it counters other people's Sense. I do not actually remember much about that one though. There might be others too but those are the ones I can recall."
Yusei's eye gleamed. "So, Sense can have different forms, that is amazing."
"I know," Yori agreed. "I find it interesting too."
"What about yours? What's yours called?" He asked curiously.
"Eh?" She blushed and hid behind her hair again. "Noooo." She whined.
"Hmm?" stretched his hand to try to get her out of her hiding place. "Yori? What's wrong?"
She peaked out. "Promise you will not laugh." She said as her blush was still visible on her face.
"Promise." He chuckled.
"He named it…. Q-Queenly Majesty." She mumbled.
"What was that?" He asked, not having quite heard her.
"Queenly Majesty." She grumbled and looked outside again. She had a one hand covering part of her face while leaning on the table and the other one playing with her hair, covering part of her face and blush. "My Sense is not only immensely strong but monster effects that can deal damage to either opponent have no effect on me."
"What do you mean?" He was intrigued.
"Basically, monsters that use luck like Abare Ushioni, which effect is toss a coin and if they call it right the opponent gets hit. No matter how many times they try, those effects never hit me. Ren named it after a Pokemon's ability, in which priority attacks will not hit." She said still embarrassed about the name.
"I think, it actually suits you." He beamed.
Yori's face flushed more and just looked away; feeling trouble on how to respond. She reached for her drink. 'Your turn.' They switched again.
"Thank you, Yori." Yusei took one of her hands; the one she had stretched to get her drink into his. "You have given me a new insight into dueling."
"Eh?" She felt her face burning and her heart pound. Yusei had a boyish smile and his eyes were gleaming. He looked like he was having fun. It didn't take much time for her to connect the dots. Of course, he was imagining the duelist that would arrive for the WRPG to be these amazing one who could control the Sense she had just told him about.
'Will duelists like that appear?' Yori asked Cindy as she wondered the same. Yusei released her hand and she grabbed her drink; drinking the last bit of it. 'I don't know' The older teen replied telepathically. 'Those episodes were not out. I only saw till the party we will be helping next month.'
'Wait, does that mean everything you know that will happen has happened already?' Yori asked sounding slightly worried.
'Almost, only one incident remains. Yusei will get kidnap soon.' She looked at Yusei slightly worried. She knew he would come out of it just fine but he would meet Sherry at that moment. She felt it too, the jealousy Aki felt in that episode because of those feelings that Sherry and Yusei shared – or will share.
Right now, she could tell him everything or even just warn him about the weird call for a job and prevent him from getting kidnapped. If she did that he would not meet Sherry, but how would that affect the rest of the story? She had no idea what kind of role Sherry would play in the future.
"Yori," Yusei called her again. She was deep in thought. "Yori," he waved a hand in front of her and this time it snapped her back.
"Sorry, I spaced out." Yori apologized. 'Sorry, Cindy but let me take it from here for a bit.'
"We better go before it starts raining again." He stood up.
"Okay." She replied and they both left the restaurant. "Hey, could you tell me more about Kiryu-san? Seriously, now." Yori requested.
Yusei looked at her in the eyes and saw she was being sincere. "Alright. What would you like to know?"
She smiled. "Could we take a walk through the park as we talk?" She asked but took the lead.
Yusei watched and just slumped his shoulder as he followed.
"What is he like?" Yori asked. "Does he play pranks? Is he annoying like Ralph?" She tried to stop herself from sounding slightly eager.
"He is very reliable, a trustworthy friend," Yusei said thoughtfully. "He is very kind too. He was the Leader of Team Satisfaction, a group Jack, Crow and I belonged to back in Satellite."
She nudged him as a signal for him to continue.
"Back then, there were many gangs and it was quite rough, to say the least," Yusei explained as he recalled his past. "There was no much food, for starters and many gangs would take it from those weaker than them."
"So, you guys fought that injustice." She already knew the answer; it was something else hearing it from Yusei himself, however.
He nodded. "However…" Yusei paused both in his speech and step, he looked down.
"Kiryu-san became obsessed and went after Sector Security." Yori finished for him.
He met her gaze and stared at her confounded. "How?"
"You guys are legends," Yori beamed. "I heard how you guys united Satellite. I thought it was marvelous."
She was hiding something again, or was she? He couldn't tell anymore. There were times like now where he could just see it in her expressions. Other times, she gave nothing away. There was also the way she asked about Kiryu twice. The first had been direct, sure he had answered but if she was digging for information that was not really a way to get it - especially, not Kiryu's weakness. This second time had been different, rather than an interrogation it had felt more natural. Sometimes, it was like talking to two separate people.
"We only did what we felt we needed to do." He dismissed her compliment.
"There is something I do not quite understand, however," She started. "How is he alive? I thought he had died."
Yusei stared at her in surprise. He had forgotten the people in the city although they knew about the Dark Signers; no one remembered it. They only knew because some of the stuff had been captured in film. It was so surreal and dark, no one even mentioned it. For Yori, it was different she had been in a coma during that time. Had she learned about the Dark Signers? If so, how would she react to learning Kiryu had been one of them? Not only that but how to explained he had come back to life. That was not the kind of thing most people would just believe; even Ushio had trouble believing it and he had been right front and center.
"Not to mentioned he was wanted for murder." She continued. "How is he not a fugitive?"
They had only just learned after the city was unified. Some of the most corrupted Sector Security had laid a trap, taking advantage of Team Satisfaction quest of making their hometown a safer place for everyone. It had been a ruse when they said he murdered one of them; he had been beaten badly but he was fine and alive. Still, they accused him and arrested him with false charges. An investigation had opened after Godwin banished, to see if the people locked up by Sector Security were true criminals or were simply locked up due to discrimination. Many were freed and amnesty was offered for petty crimes. Kiryu's had been a little complicated by in the end, he had been found to be a victim of circumstance.
"He was acquitted," Yusei replied. "I should probably mention, he lost some of his memories."
"What?" Yori blurted out in surprise. Yori looked Cindy's memories and saw Carly mentioning she didn't remember her Dark Signers days. 'I guess since they were revived, they lost those memories.'
"He doesn't remember going after Sector Security or going to prison." Yusei continued. "He knows why he has his mark but…" Yusei stopped himself. He almost mentioned about Kiryu's Dark Signer self; perhaps that was something he should keep from her. It could potentially scare her or make her even more wary of his friend. Then again, she also had a lot of stuff going for him to add a supernatural element to it.
"But what?" The girl asked curiously.
"It's nothing. I guess, just don't mention his mark to him." Yusei requested.
She pouted feeling he was keeping something from her. "Alright," Yori agreed. "Maybe it is because I am not supposed to know about the Dark Signers and Signers' stuff." She thought out loud.
Yusei froze as the light on the street changed to red and the 'Walk' sign lighted up. Yori looked back when she noticed he was no longer with her. She finished crossing the street and just looked at him confused from the other side. The look on his face told her what she feared- she had blurted out her thoughts again. 'Cindy, we have a problem.'
Edit: A/N:I totally spaced out and forgot to mention, that ability, Queenly Majesty- actually happened for real. I don't know if anyone read/remembers but I was writing a collab (Yori included) and during a few duels she never got hit by those type of card effects. It was 2 AIs playing with Yori and Kiryu's deck in Tag Force 5 video game. Unfortunately, I no longer have the video but I thought I'd add that reference as a fun Easter Egg of sorts since that part of the collab will probably never see the light of day.
I hope you guys liked it. Please review! I wanna hear your thoughts. Till next time~!