I sent Shinji a text before Kaoru and I left the park, telling him I was making stir fry for dinner. So, it honestly didn't surprise me when I see Shinji standing outside of my apartment when we get there. Kaoru turns to me in shock. He knew that I sent Shinji a text, but he must have assumed that he'd show up much later.
"Shinji would probably break into my apartment if it meant he could eat my food quicker." Kaoru seems confused that I didn't use a joking tone, but no, I am completely serious.
"In fairness, I probably would." Shinji laughs. Kaoru is still confused at this. Probably since I told him that Shinji is not my boyfriend. I start to laugh too. Though, I'm laughing at the thought of Shinji being my boyfriend. I open the door to my apartment and invite them both inside. I notice that Kaoru leaves his shoes beside the door, despite the fact that neither me or Shinji take our shoes off. I watch Kaoru's face as he looks around my tiny apartment.
"It's lovely." Kaoru pauses before saying 'lovely'. I don't need to be a psychic to tell that he's just being nice.
"There's no need to sugar-coat it." I move over into the kitchen and pull out a wok from the drawer. "You two can sit on the bed."
"Where will you sit?" I can see Kaoru glancing around the room from the corner of my eye as I start chopping up some veg. Kaoru and Shinji are both quite broad and since they're both guys, there's some kind of law that they can't sit too close together, so they take up most of the bed.
"On the floor, of course."
"No, I'm your guest so I should be sitting on the floor." I sigh. I'm not having the 'I'm your guest' and 'you're my guest' argument today.
"Dude," Shinji thankfully answers Kaoru, "Don't start that. Just let her sit on the floor."
"Yeah, I'm from the Satellite. If you think sitting on the floor bothers me, you've got another thing coming." I look over to Kaoru. It's then that I notice a lunch box sitting on the corner of counter. I send Shinji a deadpan look. "Do you want me to give you leftovers for lunch tomorrow?"
"Yeah, actually, that would be great, thank you." I think the sarcasm just flew over Kaoru's head. I take out another scallion to make sure I've enough veg in the stir fry.
"What? Does this happen normally?" Shinji looks at Kaoru in amazement, then he turns slowly to look at me.
"Are you sure you're related?" I mean I get where Shinji is coming from, with Kaoru not totally getting the whole sarcasm thing and with me being the most sarcastic being in existence. But come on, we look too alike to not be related. Heck, we pass for twins.
"Yes." I shrug my shoulders. "Unfortunately." I throw all of the veg into the now-hot wok.
"Hey!" I can almost hear the gears turning in Kaoru's head trying to come up with a remark, but he fails to find one and stays quiet. It's curious that Shinji is remaining so quiet, normally he would do most of the talking.
"What's Reika up to today?" I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. It's faint, but I can sense an aura from Shinji. I try to ignore it. Questioning now would get me nowhere. It's probably a side effect of being related to Raiden Kimura, one of the strongest psychics in Neo Domino right now.
"Having dinner with her mother. Apparently there's a screw loose in her wheelchair or something."
"Huh strange, normally she has dinner there tomorrow. Though, that makes sense now." I swear Kaoru now lives in a constant state of confusion. I look at him over my shoulder. "Reika's mom is in a wheelchair."
"Ah okay." He nods slowly. He's unsure how to react because of Reika's mom's disability. Common thing actually, because people tend to focus on the irregularity rather than the person. Same thing happens with psychics and people from the Satellite. Though, I think it's just a 'City thing'. "Who's Reika then?"
"My girlfriend. Though, Yuuka was friends with us before we got together." Kaoru lets out a sigh of relief. Shinji stares at Kaoru, he looks like he's about to break out in laughter. "Wait, you thought that we were-" Shinji and I burst out laughing. The thought of actually dating Shinji is too funny that I can't help it. "No, no, we'd never."
"Oh okay." I think Kaoru is having problems adjusting to our rhythm.
"Besides, Yusei is the one you should keep an eye on." Shinji sends a smirk in my direction, while I give him a deadpan look.
"No, not this again."
"I mean, you do seem a lot better today and I think Yusei has something to do with that. What, did you invite him in yesterday?" Then, Shinji has the gall to make a suggestive glance at my bed. I can feel my face becoming bright red. Kaoru scrutinises Shinji's face. He's suddenly on edge.
"You what now?" Kaoru is taking what Shinji said as fact. Oh gods, I'm so embarrassed. This didn't even happen! Though, the thought of that happening by itself is enough to make me blush.
"Excuse me." My voice has raised in pitch significantly. "No, I did not invite him in. It was so messy in here. I would be too embarrassed." Why did Shinji have to put that image into my head? Like I didn't need that in my life.
"Anyway, speaking of Yusei." I honestly scared of what's going to come out of Shinji's mouth next. "He asked me for your number this morning. So, he'll probably text you soon if he hasn't already." Oh yeah, in my 'post-crying' emotional state, I forgot to give Yusei my number. Honestly, I'm not sure how I forgot. I mean how else was I going to organise going over without the ability to contact him?
"Oh alright, grand." I should probably go over before I start work again. Or else, I'll have to go visit them after work. Then I'll be too tired to make noises that sound remotely human, yet alone hold a conversation. Judging by the fact, I haven't properly talked to Jack and Crow in four years, there will be a lot of that. The real dilemma is whether I go over before or after I leave Black Flag. I mean it might be easier to go after the fact, so I can brush off any discussion of duel gangs with 'oh I've already left'. "And yes, I am feeling a bit better because I got some things off my chest." It's true. I think admitting my cowardice lead to me becoming a Dark Signer was the first step in me starting to heal.
I start plating up the stir fry. I don't have enough plates so one lucky person gets to eat from a bowl. Begrudgingly, I put a portion into the lunchbox Shinji put on the counter. I hand the plates to Shinji and Kaoru, taking the bowl for myself and take a seat on the floor. Shinji tucks in immediately and is in his own personal heaven. Kaoru looks at his plate and then up at me.
"Did you put any meat in this?" Kaoru asks. Ah bless.
"Look around, do I look like I can afford meat? Heck, getting fresh veg is expensive these days. And with this marker, you can't afford to shop around." The real world is harsh, buddy. No bridge or 'unification' is going to solve that.
"What were you two up to today?" Shinji pipes up. "Were you training like you said yesterday?" He looks towards Kaoru. I imagine they probably talked about that when they got food yesterday.
"Yeah." Kaoru answers him. "I tried practicing meditating. It's so hard. Have you ever tried not thinking of anything? It's impossible."
"Oh totally. You should see Yuuka when she meditates. She's so still, it barely looks like she's breathing. It's actually kind of creepy."
"You think so?" Shinji has never mentioned anything like that.
"Yes. Literally nothing can break you out of it. I've seen you just sit there while Raiden keeps calling you. Seriously, what's up with that?"
"Let's put it this way, he likes keeping tabs on me. He's started to do that less, though." Ever since I've come back from the Satellite, there's been this gap between Raiden and I. It's strange. Before the Fortune Cup, I would have cried and tried to get him to talk to me. Now, I'm perfectly fine. The time apart has cleared my head, the distance has soured my mind. When I think of him now, I just think of all the times he clearly manipulated me into doing what he wants. Like that time, he tried to get me not go to the Fortune Cup. How did I not see it back then? Holding my hand, speaking softly. Raiden would never do that normally.
"Really?" Shinji acts like he doesn't believe me. "I don't know you put up with him."
"Don't talk about your cousin that way." He gives me this look that tells me he knows that I say the same things about Raiden when he's not around. He's true, but I'm not going to tell him that. "Speaking of Raiden, there's something I need to talk to you two about." I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Once I come out with this, there's no going back.
"I knew it." Shinji stares at me like he's trying to read me. "Though I didn't expect you'd bring Kaoru into this."
"Bring me into what?" His aura tells me that he's ever so slightly frightened. Then again, he doesn't know the full extent of my relationship with Raiden.
"Well, a couple of months ago, before the Fortune Cup, Shinji brought up something." I pause and bite the inside of my cheek. I've practiced what I'm going to say again and again, but somehow the words seem to escape me. "Shinji started to consider the possibility of leaving Black Flag. The problem of being in a gang is that, when you're of a high rank, you're never really safe. If you get too close to anyone, there's always the chance that they could be used against you in order to get more power. Shinji and I knew that we couldn't carry on forever. So, we have to leave. But only now, I have decided to leave Black Flag. I've realised that I now have more people to consider than just myself."
"So, Yusei?" Shinji sends me a knowing smirk. He's assuming something happened between Yusei and I when he walked me home. Nothing did happen, but he likes to imagine something did. I try to make some rebuttal, but I can't get the words out. I sigh.
"No, not just Yusei." I mean I'm also putting Jack, Crow and Kaoru in danger. "But, he is a part of it."
"But why am I here?" I think Kaoru is starting to get tired of constantly being confused, I can hear the irritation in his voice.
"Well," I take a deep breath, "In order to leave Black Flag, I have to get Raiden to agree. And that's the problem. I don't know about Shinji, but he's not going to let me go easily. I want you to be there in case things go sour." As much as I would like to deny the possibility of that happening, I can't lie in saying that it couldn't happen.
"Why would it go sour though?"
"As I said, he likes keeping tabs on me. I don't know how he'll take the news. Psychics aren't known to take bad news well." I mean, as much as that is a stereotype, it's kind of spot-on to be honest.
"When are we going to do it then?" Shinji crosses his arms. I take another deep breath. I feel like with every word I say, this decision becomes more final. I am right in what I am doing. It's what's best for me, for Yusei, for everyone.
"I want to do it while I have a break from work. So, we have two days."
"Right, we'll do it the day after tomorrow-" Shinji is interrupted by a knock on the door. I move to get up, then I freeze. Who could it be? Please don't tell me it's Raiden. I can see the same dread in Shinji's eyes. I try to see if I can read the aura. Nothing. I mean that narrows it down, but at least it's not Raiden. I take a deep breath before I open the door.
"Oh great, you're still living here!" I stare awestruck at her face. She smiles wholeheartedly with her eyes closed. Then, our eyes meet, they're a brilliant crimson. A smirk breaks onto her face, leaning on the doorframe. "Damn, you've matured like a fine wine." She glances at me, looking me up and down. It makes me feel uncomfortable. But, words seem to fail me. All I can do is look back at Shinji. His face has this dumbfounded expression on it, I imagine his face mirrors mine. I look back to my new guest.
"So Anako," I try to string words together that remotely sound like a human language, "what?" I, of course, fail in doing so.
"Well, I'm back in town so I thought I'd drop into to see my favourite girl." She winks at me. Oh gods, I'm not in the mood for this. "Oh, I see you have company. Hi Shinji!" She waves in at Shinji, whom she can see from the doorway. His brain still can't comprehend that Anako is actually here, he waves slowly back. Then again, I'm starting to doubt that I'm actually awake right now. The fact she hasn't reacted to Kaoru probably means that I'm blocking her view of him.
"Would you like to come in?" I gesture over my shoulder. She quickly hustles inside. Even just standing at the door makes me shiver with the cold. I manage to get a peek at the look on her face when she sees Kaoru, she turns back around to me.
"Oh, is this your brother? You both have some gene pool." Kaoru and I send that look at each other.
"What are you doing here?" Anako and I both take a seat on the floor. She manages to sit equal distance between me and Kaoru, because of course she does.
"Well, I thought it was time I came back to the City. It's just been so long, y'know?" A year and a half, sure. "How's Raiden?" That question throw me off. Surely, her first port of call would have been Raiden. I mean they were together back then.
"Oh, you haven't seen him yet?" I try to play it off naturally.
"Oh, of course, I mean, he was kind of the reason I left in the first place. I mean, how awkward would that be? Oh hey, I know we broke it off suddenly when I left because I couldn't deal with your bull anymore, but how are you doing?" She looks around the group, gazing the reaction to her logic. Shinji and I exchange confused glances before looking at her and nodding. "Why, is there something going on now?" She looks at me like she's expecting that Raiden and I are in a relationship. Please, no. Why now? When everyone else that I haven't seen in years just happens to show up.
"Oh no. It's just that he's been in a bit of a mood lately. So, you should probably leave it a few days, if you wanna go see him I mean." That should cover our tracks. There is a chance that Anako overhead our conversation. I don't want her ratting us out.
"Oh okay." She seems to take that easily. "Just one question, why is your brother here? I thought you two weren't talking." She purses her lips after asking the question, a habit of hers.
"Oh, we weren't. But, Kaoru's a psychic now, so I'm helping him control his powers."
"Aw, you're one of us now! Congratulations!" I'd hardly say congrats to someone who just discovered that they're a psychic. I mean, it's a pretty rough time. The fear of being rejected by your family. The worst thing they could say, have you tried not being a psychic? Like you haven't already tried hundreds of times.
"Oh, thank you." His reaction is forced. I doubt that Anako is able to tell that, since this is only her first time meeting him.
"By the way, am I interrupting anything? You know, I just have this feeling and I wouldn't want to do that." She puts her hand onto her chest. I can tell that she's being genuine. Still, I can't shake the feeling that she overheard us and is just saying this to hide the fact that she heard us.
"No, you're not. We were just talking about helping Kaoru train to control his powers." I smile at Kaoru and Shinji, in the hopes that they'll play along. "Like today, I was trying to teach Kaoru how to meditate. That didn't go well at all."
"Would you know anything about that?" Kaoru asks Anako. Poor soul, no one has probably ever flirted with him in his life, and he doesn't know to deal with it.
Hey, I heard that! Kaoru sends his thoughts barrelling at me. It takes all of me not to laugh. If I laughed now, I would have to explain the whole telepathy thing to Anako and she'd probably assume that we're laughing at her, and I don't need that.
But am I right?
That's not the point.
I am right.
Shut up.
"Well, actually I do! I was the one who told Yuuka to meditate in the first place. So, I could help you out if you want." Hm, I could get Anako to fill in me for the day that I go visit Yusei. As much as it would be easier to wait until after I leave Black Flag to go see him, I honestly don't want to wait that long to see him again.
"That would be great, thank you." It's amazing that just a passing thought about Yusei can fill my head with thoughts of him.
"Actually," she raises her hand to her face, "do you want to start tomorrow? Cause you're getting ready to graduate Duel Academy soon, aren't you? You'll need to be able to control your powers before final exams roll around."
"How did you figure that out?" Kaoru's eyes are wide.
"I remember Yuuka said something about you starting school late, so you and her were in the same year when she went to Duel Academy." My eyes widen at this. How did she remember that tiny detail?
"Yeah, you're right." Kaoru looks at me.
We need to talk after this. He sends his thoughts to me again.
What do you mean? Like who Anako is?
Yeah.
I can explain that now, idiot. I met her after I moved to Dad's. She's the psychic who introduced me to Raiden, who she was dating at the time. She left suddenly a year and a half ago without explanation, and this is the first time I've seen her since then.
Oh okay. Kaoru becomes quiet after this.
Anako starts explaining what she's done in the last year and a half. Apparently, she moved up north and got a job working in the local convenience store. She starts telling some anecdotes, with some from Shinji interlaced, since he works in retail too. She was explaining this woman went crazy when she thought the price that came up on the till was wrong, when my phone rings. Shinji hands me my phone from its place on the counter. He's able to get a glance at the number that I don't recognise.
"Oh, it's getting late, we should get going." He sends a look at Anako and Kaoru, telling them to leave as well. Shinji ushers them out the door as they thank me for the food, taking his lunch box with him. I already know that Yusei is the one calling. I mean, why else would Shinji do that?
"Hello?" I answer. I'm currently putting on my 'phone voice', you know where you try to sound posher and more pleasant than you actually are.
"Hello, Yuuka?" I perk up a bit when I hear Yusei's voice.
"Oh Yusei, hi." I stand up to start cleaning up.
"Are you busy right now?"
"Nah, just cleaning up after dinner." I rest my phone against my face using my shoulder. I rinse the chopping board under the tap.
"Okay, good." He pauses for a split second. "I was wondering if you're free tomorrow?" For some reason, I celebrate inside my head at that.
"Yeah, I'm off work tomorrow."
"Do you want to come over then? I'll make sure Jack and Crow are home." I knew it was coming, but I'm still excited none the less.
"Yeah, that would great." A smile can't help but break out onto my face. I start cleaning the empty plates. "What time should I come over at?"
"Does lunchtime suit?"
"Yeah, that's good with me. I can even make lunch for you three, any requests?"
"Yuuka, you don't need to-"
"Yusei." I drag out the syllables. Whether he likes it or not, I'm making him lunch.
"Make whatever you want." I can hear the amusement in his voice.
"Anyway, where are you living now? You said it's near the shop."
"You know the Poppo Time clock shop? It's the apartment connected to it."
"No way! I literally walk past there on my way home from work. That's so weird, I can't believe we've never ran into each other before."
"Yeah, it is." For a second, there's a comfortable silence.
"Anyway, I'll let you go. I'm sure you're anxious to get back to your D-Wheel." He emits a small chuckle.
"Goodnight then, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight." Putting down my dish-washing brush, I hang up. As I finish washing up, I think about that conversation. I wonder has Yusei told Jack and Crow about me coming over. I doubt it considering he said that he'll 'make sure' that they're in. I suppose it would be nice to see their reactions. When I finish, I immediately lie down on my bed and cover my face with my hands. There's still butterflies in my stomach. It's not like me at all. Just hearing his voice can get that reaction from me. It's strange. Today almost felt normal. I hung out with my brother, had dinner with friends, talked to my crush. Well, I don't think you could call my feelings for Yusei a crush, but okay. Sure, the reasons for those things happening were unusual at best, but you get the point. I can only hope that the day I truly am normal is not too far off.