I'm lucky that I was in work that day after the Fortune Cup ended. I thought I'd never say something like that, but okay. I don't think I could have stood being outside for too long with pictures of Yusei everywhere. Work was very bland and boring as usual. Sew that dress, fix that seam. Though, dealing with the shop's owner, Mrs. Kimura, was not a pleasant experience. Due to hatred of Satellites, she was livid that Yusei managed to win the title. It's a miracle I'm still working there, I only got the job there because Mrs. Kimura is Raiden's mother. I don't think she would fire me really, in fear of hurting her precious son's feelings. I managed to fall asleep as soon as I got home, only to be confused as to why I was so hungry when I woke up.
All I think about since the end of the Fortune Cup was that dream I had. I think the dream was telling not to trust the Crimson Dragon, but what are the Signers? Are they linked? If Yusei is a Signer, does that mean I shouldn't trust him? Was I actually seeing the future, or was it a jumbled mess of random imagery I made up? I'm giving myself a headache from all this thinking. I've decided to go the library in hopes of finding out more about this Crimson Dragon. As I walk, I check my phone for the first time today. 27 missed calls from Raiden. Oh no, that's not good. He must know that I went to the Fortune Cup on the second day. I text him, telling him that I'm in the library and I'll call him later. That'll do, hopefully. As I walk up to the library, I try and plan how to best spend my time, since I could look at books or the internet. Then, I realise that most of those books would be e-books by this stage and immediately head for the computers.
I'm not getting much information on the Crimson Dragon, as there aren't many reliable sources. I try searching things related to it. Then, I space out, and suddenly I realise that it's been ten minutes and I'm looking at cute pictures of cats. From what I can gather, the Crimson Dragon is some sort of deity worshipped thousands of years ago by the People of the Stars. The Dragon's power manifests itself in marks on people called Signers. That doesn't help me at all. Can I even believe something that is basically folklore? Even just searching the Crimson Dragon brings up articles covering the title match of the Fortune Cup, which just frustrates me more. I realise that I will probably have to find Yusei to sort this out, something I'd rather not do. Apparently, Yusei has being avoiding the press ever since they start questioning the legitimacy of his title. Which means I have to go look for him myself. I suppose I could drop into Saiga and get him to find Yusei for me, since I have the money because I bet on Yusei beating Jack.
I stare on my phone. For some reason, I feel like someone is going to call me. I suppose I should leave since I'm not going to get much more done. As I leave, I try to plan what I'm going to do. I suppose I should head over to Saiga in the morning. I might go for a run tonight, haven't done that in a couple of days. As I'm thinking, my phone begins to ring. It's Raiden. I mean, who else would it be? I sigh before answering.
"Are you done in the library yet?" No greeting, just getting right to the point.
"Yeah, what did you wanna talk about?"
"You should come over to mine right now."
"Why? I was thinking of going for a run." Not right now, but he doesn't know that.
"We need to talk." Ah yes, those four words that instil fear into the heart of anyone who hears it.
"What about?" I know what this is about, I went to the Fortune Cup on the second day when he told me not to.
"Just come over, okay." He hangs up the phone, rude. I sigh, I figure I should just head over. I'm not happy as to why I'm going over, but hey, what can you do? I take my time in walking over, preparing myself for the arguments Raiden's about to make.
People are still talking about Yusei becoming King. It reminds me of the time Jack became King, though I felt completely different. I remember how happy I felt when I first saw Jack on the big screens. I had been in the City for two years by this point, and I still missed everyone back in the Satellite. I had managed to get behind the scenes at one of his matches. I asked one of the security guards to tell Jack that his 'friend Yuuka' was looking for him. I honestly wished I hadn't. This big, burly security guard stood over me, towering my then-tiny build and said that the King wouldn't associate himself with Satellite scum like me. Of course, I must be lying since I'm marked, as all marked people are cheating liars. My fists clench at the memory. Jack threw away his identity in a blind pursuit of power. That very thought makes me sick to the stomach. He never made an attempt to look for me, and when I went him to look for him, I get turned away at the door. That just make me feel like he forgot about me, like the thought never crossed Jack's mind that I could be in the City. I'm reminded of this every time I see Jack Atlas's face. I don't want to feel the same whenever I see Yusei, I doubt my heart could take it. But how am I supposed to feel? They've both aligned themselves with Rex Godwin, the man who essentially caused us to split in the first place, who ran Security which caused us such fear back then. I'm sick of feeling betrayed and alone, but that's all I can feel now. I try to put these thoughts to the back of my mind, and hurry up to meet Raiden.
When I get to Raiden's, I'm still not, mentally, ready for it. I knock on the door; he opens the door almost instantly. As I walk in, I can already tell the atmosphere is going to be tense between us. We sit down on the couch as usual. We don't talk for a while; he's not looking at me. A part of me actually feels guilty, even though I've done nothing wrong.
"Shinji told me you went to the second day of the Fortune Cup." Oh no, here we go.
"Yeah, in a disguise." Please, don't do this again.
"It doesn't matter; do you know what could have happened?" He's raised his voice. Yes, I know.
"Of course I did, that's why I wore the disguise."
"I told you it doesn't matter! He could have recognised your voice. What if he dragged you home and we never saw each other again?" He keeps snapping at me. Why does he always make me feel so guilty?
"I would have defended myself, I'm stronger than I used to be." He just scoffs.
"What were you doing at the library anyway?" He looks at me pointedly.
"Just researching that Crimson Dragon that appeared during the finals."
"Why would you bother?" He scoffs again.
"Well, I wanted to know what it was." My hands start shaking as he stares at me.
"Did you find anything out?"
"Not really, it looks like some old deity from thousands of years ago." I'm trying to play it calm, and I don't think it's working.
"I don't think that's all." His eyes bore into mine. "There's something else. I don't think it's a coincidence that it appeared during the final. You know both of them, there's something you're not telling me."
"There's nothing, that's all I know." I'm afraid to tell him about Yusei being a Signer, and that I suspect Jack is one as well. He wouldn't believe me, call me a liar and I fear what would happen after that.
"Hmm." He seems to buy it. "But what about that Yusei guy? You said he was just a friend, but it doesn't seem like it. What, do you like him or something?"
"No. He's a friend, that's all." Technically, yes. Have I wished that wasn't the case? Of course.
"Well, Shinji said that you put money on him to win. I don't know about you, but that seems a bit off to me." I would have done the same if Crow or Kiryu appeared on the stage instead of Yusei.
"Well, I knew he would win."
"Then, what did he say when you ran into him?" How does he know about that?
"Nothing."
"Of course, he did. He obviously forgot about you and panicked." If he's saying it, does that mean I'm right? "I mean, if that were me, I would have had you in my arms and not let you go." He looks right in my eyes. My hands are shaking worse now, he grabs them and they steady a little. This is what Yusei used to do when I was scared or nervous. I take my hands back and stare at them. All I can think about are those moments just between Yusei and I back then, why I liked him in the first place. But, all I can see is Yusei's face just staring back at me, his lips unmoving. "I say forget about him and just stay here." I can't forget him, I haven't forgotten him in the last four years and I never will.
"No."
"What do you mean 'no'?"
"We grew up together, we were so close back then and we can be now. I need to look for him." I move to stand up.
"You can't!" He stands up before I do, he towers over me. "Can't you see he doesn't care about you? If you go look for him, he'll just turn you away! Do you want a repeat of what happened with Jack Atlas?" I feel enraged that he even mentioned that.
"But what if he doesn't?" My voice begins to rise as I stand up to meet him. "What then? Will I just wonder for the rest of my life what could have happened? I'm going to regret it if I don't go."
"Don't go because I don't want to deal with your tears when you come back alone!"
"You know what," I take a deep breath to try calm myself down, "I will go. But I won't come back here." Raiden tries to call after me as I walk out the door. I know he calls after me, but I just run until I reach my apartment.
Once again, I sit with my back to the door. I can feel the tears burning in my eyes. This is the second time it's happened in four days. I keep saying I won't go back to him, I always do. I can't help it, he helped me in my darkest days. After my powers activated and I broke Kaoru's arm, I left my mother's house and went to live with my dad. My dad is fairly relaxed, so he let me do what I wanted. I never told him about my powers, apparently Kaoru made up a story as to how he 'broke' his arm. I ended up spending most of my time around the Daimon Area. I started talking to a girl called Anako, a psychic like me. She put me into contact with Raiden, who she was dating at the time, which was weird to be honest. Then, Anako moved away a year and a half ago without warning or reason, and I haven't seen her since. I'm closer than ever with Raiden despite our constant fighting. Raiden, being a psychic himself, taught that it's okay to love myself despite my powers. He gave me comfort when I had nightmares about that day where I hurt Kaoru. He helped me become stronger, I'm no longer that weak, fragile girl from the Satellite. I can control my powers now. He cares for me so much, that he says he can't express it in the right way. I suppose you could say I love him, but I don't. In our closer moments, I always felt guilty. My mind always went back to Yusei in the Satellite, I had always hoped that I would find him again and that we could be together like I always wanted. Now, I have that chance. And I'm hesitating, why? I stare at my hands again, they've stopped shaking. I'm snapped out of my thoughts by a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" I call out. I swear if it's Raiden.
"It's Shinji." Phew, I can deal with Shinji right now. I stand up from my place against the door and open it.
"Yeah, what do you want?" I try to look stoic as usual, trying to hide the many emotions I've been having today.
"Raiden said you haven't been returning his calls. So, I just wanted to see if you were okay." I'm confused, has Raiden called me since I left his apartment?
"Really, I was just talking to him." That's great Yuuka, don't make it seem like you two were fighting.
"Oh, he texted me this morning and I've been in work all day." I look outside and see that the sun is starting to set. I invite Shinji inside.
My apartment is tiny, only two rooms actually. The only place I could afford on my technically illegal low wages. A small kitchen comprised of a small stove, a fridge, a sink and some cupboards lies on the immediate left on the door. My bed lies across nearly the entire far wall, next to my dresser that keeps practically everything I own. A bathroom lies on the immediate right when you come in the door. It's small, but it's mine.
"At least you don't have my hours." Shinji takes a seat on the end of my bed, the only place to sit. I sit beside him.
"I know, I'm glad." He laughs. The amount of money I get for the hours I work is a joke. Mrs. Kimura can get away with it since I'm marked and very few of us can actually get jobs. I bet a part of her is secretly glad she hired me, it's practically slave labour.
"Are okay though?" Shinji suddenly becomes serious; I hate when this happens. "You left, like, right after the title match ended. And you haven't talked to anyone since."
"Oh I'm fine, I decided to go home since I fainted. I probably needed the rest considering I feel asleep after I got home from work yesterday. I even forgot to eat!" I fake a laugh. He seems to buy the lie.
"Have you looked for Yusei yet? Since you seemed pretty happy to see him the other day." I was waiting for this. Raiden has probably put him up to this.
"No yet. Tomorrow morning, I'm going over to Saiga. I have no idea where he is right now."
"Well, we could go over now. I mean, he lives near the garage where Reika works and she'll be off soon." He shrugs his shoulders. In the interest of not leaving me by myself, Shinji insists on bringing me places alongside his girlfriend. It's been like this for a year and a half by now. This is what happens when you befriend two people before they get together. That, or they ignore you completely. Either or, to be honest. Though, the thought of seeing Yusei and sorting out this mess sounds like a good idea.
"Sure, why not?" It's not a particularly long walk to Saiga's 'hideout'. I know Saiga from some business I've done with him before. For someone who is a mysterious jack of all trades, I see him pretty often. Maybe that's because I often hang out in the bar where he gets most of his business, ah well. As I walk up the road, I can't help but feel nervous. I'm not expecting to see Yusei here or anything, but I feel this visit will change everything. I don't know why; I'm just asking Saiga to find Yusei for me. It's a simple job with a simple result. I realise that Shinji has been telling about his day for a good amount of time. Retail is an awful place.
"And then she just walks out. Like who puts stuff worth a fortune on the counter, and then realises they have no money on them and leaves?" I'm so grateful he said that last part, now he won't know I wasn't listening.
"I don't know, people in this City are crazy."
"You have no idea."
"Mm, pretty sure I do." I hate when people make comments like that, just because I spent fourteen years of my life in the Satellite and I am from the Satellite, doesn't mean that I don't know how this City is.
I can't think of anything to say and clearly neither does Shinji as we reach the building. We climb up the stairs to reach his apartment. My heart is beating wildly in my chest; I can't shake that feeling. I knock on the door and there's no response.
"Oh Saiga! Open the door, I know someone's in there. It's Sasaki." I can sense people inside; I can hear them whispering. Judging by the whispers, there's more than two in there. My eyes widen when I sense an aura. I recognise it almost instantly, it belongs to that girl Ruka. I go to knock on the door again when it opens. I'm surprised when I'm face-to-face with the group Yusei was talking to at the Fortune Cup.
"Sorry, Saiga's in the Satellite and I don't know when he'll be back." The tallest man says before I can open my mouth. I recognise him as Himuro who challenged Jack a while back.
"Oh really, shame. I really needed help in finding Yusei Fudo." I try being subtle. If Yusei was actually here, I probably would have seen him inside the room by now.
"Yusei Fudo? Why do you need to find him?" Success.
"Well, I'm his childhood friend from the Satellite." I point to my marker on my cheek. "We got separated a few years back and I need to find him."
"Well," Shinji pipes up, "You may recognise her from the first day of the Fortune Cup where she talked to Yusei on the stairs near you all. If you forgot, she's the girl who looked like she got struck by Cupid's arrow."
"Shut up Shinji!" I try to fight the rouge threatening to show on my cheeks.
"I only speak the truth." I glare daggers at him before I turn back to the people in front of me.
"Wait, are you Yuuka?" Ruka asks. I look her in the eyes and nod. I'm getting a good read of her aura now. I can't get any distinguishable emotion from her. Though, I'm somewhat relieved that Yusei mentioned my name.
"Woah, you're friends with Yusei too?" Ruka's twin chimes in, I nod at him as well.
"Would you be as kind as to tell me where he is?" I try play up my politeness in my favour.
"Yeah, he left for the Satellite about an hour ago." Himuro answers me. I can't believe my luck. If I had come here after I left the library, I would have met him here. I close my eyes and rest my fingertips on my bottom lip.
"I'm going to the Satellite." I look up at Shinji.
"You can't be serious." Shinji is in disbelief.
"Yeah, I told you, I need to find him. I think the last boat has already left though." I pout, honestly I'm disappointed. "Right, thank you, goodnight. I'll be taking my leave." I smile at Ruka, and she gives me a small one back. I flash them a peace sign and leave. I drag Shinji back down the stairs. My face falls, showing my true emotions and I sigh.
"Don't worry. You can just go in the morning and find him then."
"Don't you get it? A couple of hours can make a difference. I haven't been there in years, I could get lost and never find him." That thought is so unpleasant that I feel sick. My asthma is probably going to flare up from all of this dust and smog in the Satellite. I know that me going to the Satellite is going to change my life, I can feel it. Four years is an awfully long time.