Hello, everyone! Welcome to another chapter! Thank you all for being patient and taking the time to give this a read, you are all VERY appreciated! I don't own rights to YuGiOh! 5Ds! Let's get started!

A Fleeting Feeling

Red slowly overtook the darkness, accompanied by heat. Where was it coming from? A strangled breath rose in my chest as I sat up, one of my hands rising to massage my throat. Why did it hurt so much? My eyes shot open as images began to appear in my mind's eye. Panic rose in my being as nothing but fire filled my vision. Everything from the floor to the ceiling was burning in angry red flames. The smoke rising from the flames was pitch black and smelled of gasoline. This wasn't an accident. "Rōzu! Rōzu!" I forced my way through the fire into the next room, my eyes combing every inch of it for her, but there was nothing!

"What are you doing here?" I spun around as a distorted voice came from somewhere among the flames. "If you stay here, you will be burned alive."

No matter where I turned, I couldn't pinpoint where the voice was coming from. "Who are you? Show yourself!" Spinning on my heel, I searched flames for the source but found it futile as my vision became blurred. Sweat was pouring down my face, causing the makeup I was wearing to disintegrate and the contacts I was wearing were only making my eyes burn more. My movements froze as the roaring of the fire silenced and a hazy figure approached him. They were almost as tall as me was but that was all that I could tell with my blurred vision and the heat. The hand that grabbed mine though was small and gentle as the strange figure led me through the fire. "Wh*cough cough*who are*cough gasp*you?" The figure turned back briefly, pressing something to my face and putting my free hand in its place, then continued onward. My breathing eased as I pressed the cloth they had provided against my face.

The fire roared, tongues of red and gold liking up the walls as we walked. My gut twisted as the smell of burning meat and gas filled my senses. With a swipe of my eyes with the cloth, clearing away the makeup that had entered my eyes, and the sight before me took away the little oxygen I had left: the figure's cloak billowed and twisted as the fire around us raged, making it look as though they were dancing, but there wasn't a single scorch or burn on their person. They briefly glanced at me from over their shoulder, revealing a porcelain mask. Was it Rōzu's partner from the tag duels? They shook their head as my mouth opened, placing a finger against the mask's white lips before turning their attention ahead of them once more. The fire suddenly grew in intensity, becoming a hurricane that swirled and attempted to swallow us as we walked. "Don't be afraid," the distorted voice's words drowned out the fire as it echoed around us. "no harm will come to you." As if their words were a trigger, the fire parted like water and then dissipated.

The sudden loss of heat and the disappearance of the figure would have sent me reeling if it weren't for the hands that grabbed my shoulders. Crow and Jack's faces swam into view, their mouths moving but nothing coming out. A force caused my face to snap to the right, causing adrenaline to shoot through my system like a triple espresso shot. My ears were instantly flooded with the sound of sirens as I reeled from the blow. Crow and Jack were staring into my face with looks of concern, asking me what happened. I quickly informed them of what had transpired, a seed of frustration planting itself deeper into my chest with each word I spoke. I didn't dare glance back at where everyone else was focused. A shout from nearby caught our attention as they said I looked familiar. "Time to split," I sighed, covering my face with the cloth still in my hand, and we took off.

. . .

"What the hell was that about?!" Jack spat as we quickly closed the garage door behind us, our engines falling silent. "We heard that you had disappeared in the middle of the finale and then out of nowhere, the building starts on fire!"

Crow held up a hand as I removed the cloth from my face. "Let's all calm down and get cleaned up before-"

A soft sound came from behind us as a familiar presence filled the room, one tainted with authority and a twinge of anger. We three slowly turned and spotted Martha in the doorway leading to the house. Her hands were on her hips, an expression of calm curiosity on her face that didn't quite hide the knowing look in her eye. "You have some explaining to do." We wordlessly followed her into the house and remained silent as she examined each of us in turn, beginning with Jack. Her expression was calm, stoic even, but we knew better than to speak before she did. It wasn't until she got to me that she made a sound in the form of a sigh as she shook her head. "What happened?"

My eyes didn't rise from the hole they were burning in the floor. I almost didn't even hear her if it weren't the softest of flicks to my forehead, bringing my attention to the woman in front of me. No detail was spared as I recounted the events from the past few hours. Their expressions darkened when I reached the part of Rōzu's death. Crow mentioned that they had gone back to look for Edgar one they had put the twins in a cab but he had disappeared. A small flag rose in the back of my mind when he mentioned that they had found a bullet casing near the spot where the car had been parked. I stood and bit back a growl as my fists clenched. "We didn't look into Edgar's background, and I bet you that Rōzu didn't either."

"He was her private driver," Jack crossed his arms. "no more no less."

"Why would she want or need one though?" My mind began to race as I recalled everything she had said regarding Edgar.

*Flashback Start*

"Edgar?" Rōzu shrugged, offering a small smile before sipping from her ice coffee. "He just showed up one day. I guess you could say he popped up shortly after I moved here with an offer to help keep me safe. He said that he had been sent by the Social Services, I guess you could say they sent him to keep an eye on me."

*Flashback End*

"It wasn't Social Services," I shook my head, my grip causing my knuckles to turn white as my heart sunk. "it was whoever kidnapped her and Akiza. They didn't want to lose sight of anyone who turned down their offer and gave the order that if information was threatened to be leaked…" Martha's expression of horror mirrored Jack and Crow's as I stormed from the room and slipped up the stairs. The door's slam shook the walls as I sat on the bed, my being trembling slightly. One second more, one damn second and Rōzu would have solved the mystery of who had kidnapped her and Akiza. My breathing slowed as I closed my eyes and cleared my thoughts. Rōzu had risked her life to helping us, she must have known the risks, but she did so anyway. We were so much closer than we had been before meeting her. "Thank you, Omocha, for your help."

Something softer than a feather brushed my cheek, but I kept my eyes closed. "You're filthy, as if you fell down a chimney." I didn't need to see, I already knew that the projection of Akiza was sitting on the bed next to me. The soft smell of roses tickled my nose as the sensation shifted to my hand. My lips parted, ready to recap once more of the recent events, but something pressed against them. "I already know." Another sensation, just as gentle and soft as the one on my hand, began to run through my hair in smooth long strokes. A breath of air tickled my ear as something rested against my shoulder. If she were solid, I would have thought she was leaning against me.

I cleared my throat as it grew tight and my body tensed as flashes of a similar feeling just before the fire. "Something else happened, right after she was shot and just before the fire happened…there was someone choking me." My eyes opened as the pressure lifted from my shoulder and the sensation disappeared from my hand in time to see her flicker before reappearing standing before me, her features serious and tight. "They told me to stop attending the underground duels, that you weren't there. It was were we found your bracelet, the one Crow gave you for your birthday." Her expression blanched, eyes blurring for a few seconds as her mouth moved but nothing came from them. My eyes never left hers as her arms rose and wrapped around herself, her head tilting to the right slightly as she trembled. "Akiza?"

"It was gold…" Her voice was echoey, as if she was standing in a tunnel, as her eyes darted around the room. "Told me I couldn't take anything with me but I managed to sneak it by putting it in my shoe…they were furious when they found it and took it away…" Akiza's body tensed when her eyes locked with mine as I mentioned my attackers last sentence to me. "Don't go there."

"Where?" I asked, fixing her with my sapphire orbs when her caramel ones darkened. She shook her head as I stood and stepped closer to her when she retreated. "Akiza, please, we all miss you so much."

"And I don't?!" Tears spilled down her cheeks as the black vines thicked around her wrists, desperation written across her face. "There's nothing I want more than to return to you all, to leave this hell that I've fallen into, but I can't! Omocha was lucky enough to not have attachments to anyone! They couldn't use her loved ones like they are trying to use you! Why can't anyone understand that I can't do anything when they have you in their sights?! You have to shake the Shadows!"

I asked what she meant and flinched as she grabbed my head, liquid ice beginning to penetrate my being from where she touched me. The room spun as I fell to my knees and the cloaked figures swam before my eyes. Were they the shadows? "What is the place would you never return to?" I gasped, my chest becoming painfully tight as the ice reached my heart and causing it to skip several beats. "Tell me!"

"I can't, they'll ambush you the second you pull up!"

"Akiza," my voice dropped, attempting to keep it level and low so as to not frighten her more. "your mother isn't doing well. She misses you so much, as we all do, including your father."

For a split second, I spotted a familiar scenery that we haven't seen in years. That was the place. Standing, I nodded in silent affirmation as she released me and the ice dissipated. "I know where we need to look next," I whispered, raising one of my hands so that my palm faced her. "they can send the military after us and it wouldn't make the slightest difference, Akiza, nothing will stop us from bringing you home." It was as she raised her own hand and rested it against my own that my consciousness finally gave way to darkness and I felt onto the bed as my eyes slid shut.

And there you have it! See you all next time!