I sneak out with Kaoru early in the morning. It's still dark out but we can see our breath fogging up the air under the street lights. We walk as fast as we can to Kenta and Takumi's apartment to avoid the cold. It is the middle of January after all. Kenta opens the door reluctantly. Clearly, he's objecting to being awake this early. Takumi is fresh as a daisy, as usual. I swear that man is such a morning person. It took me three cups of coffee just to leave the house this morning. He doesn't even get hangovers too. He wakes up completely fine the next day. Then again, neither do I anymore. I throw the bag containing our disguises beside the couch and sit down. Kaoru remains standing. Kenta quietly leans on the doorframe leading to the kitchen with a cup of coffee.
"Morning everyone." Takumi starts. He's already too upbeat for me. I lean the arm of the couch, closing my eyes. "Hey, don't be falling asleep on me."
"I'm not." I would roll my eyes if they were open.
"Oh." I open my eyes, and look over at Kenta doing the same thing. "Wasn't actually talking to you, but that's good." You think Takumi would stop talking but no. "You all know why we're here."
"We all know, it's gang stuff. Get to the point." Thankfully Kenta cuts in.
"Yeah." Takumi doesn't even falter. He's always had a flair for the dramatics. "Today is the first day of our operation. Take over every gang in the City. With all the gangs gone, this City will be a much better place. It will force Security off the streets, so they can leave the Satellites alone."
"Amen." I chant out. Takumi laughs.
"Anyway, our first target is The Jackals." Takumi starts pacing like he normally does while explaining things. It makes him vaguely resemble a villain when he does that. "After the shit that happened with Black Flag, they lost a lot of territory. Aside from Black Flag, they're the smallest gang in terms of area. I've looked into them a bit." He turns sharply. "They're quite big in terms of numbers from what I can see. But there's one problem."
"They're full of psychics." Kenta pipes up. I can still hear the sleep in his voice.
"Apparently, a bunch of Arcadia rejects ran there after the whole thing with the Arcadia Movement. So they're used to attacking under orders."
"Arcadia, huh?" The words spill out of my mouth without me realising it.
"Do you know someone from there?" Takumi turns to me with wide eyes.
"Yeah, the Black Rose Witch. She's a friend of mine."
"You're friends with her?" Takumi's eyes grow wider. I know exactly what he's thinking.
"You actually have friends?" I want to punch Kenta in his smartass little face.
"Shut up. She doesn't want anything to with any of this. Heck, she doesn't even want to talk about Arcadia." I'm leaving Aki out of this. No matter how useful she could be.
"I don't know. Someone like that would definitely be useful." I know what he's doing. He's planting the seed of that idea in my head, hoping that I'll eventually act on it. Nope, not happening this time.
"Continue." Kenta's now standing a bit straighter, still leaning on the doorframe.
"Right." Takumi's eyebrows have furrowed slightly, probably because he's not getting his way. "It'll quite dangerous with all those psychics around. So keep your guard up. We're used to dealing with psychics, but you," he turns to Kaoru, "I don't think you have any experience, you should-"
"I know how to deal with psychics." He's about to keep talking but he's interrupted.
"How?" Kenta frowns, admittedly I'm confused too.
"I've been taught by Anako." I don't remember Kaoru telling me that. Why would Anako teach him that of all things? Unless she knows.
"Senmatsu?" Takumi looks at me.
"That's the one." Takumi continues pacing.
"Anyway, it'll be challenge dealing with so many psychics at once. I advise using your surroundings to your advantage."
"That only really applies to you, Takumi, the rest of us are psychics here." I lean my head back on the sofa. Psychics have a natural advantage against other psychics. Takumi, not being a psychic, is the one at a disadvantage here, not Kaoru. Takumi scowls for a split second, before he returns to his upbeat demeanor. It comes and goes so quick, I don't think anyone else caught it.
"Now, about strategy, it's not my strong point. So suggestions are welcome."
"I say go in guns blazing." I scratch the back of my neck. "I mean, they're probably not going to talk to us, given the amount of Arcadia people running around. So, I say we take them by surprise. It's our best option."
"Kenta." Takumi turns to Kenta. I mean Takumi will always take Kenta's word over everyone else's so I'm not surprised.
"I see no fault with it." Kenta's very cool with his response. Unusual, normally he disagrees with anything that comes out of my mouth.
"Right, that's settled." Takumi doesn't ask Kaoru for his opinion. Despite being new to this, he's a part of this team as much as anyone.
"When are we heading?" I ask nonchalantly. I can hear Kaoru wanting to ask in my head. He's not saying anything at all. I know he's nervous, but they're not going to bite his head off.
"I'd like to get this done and over with." Kenta starts. "As soon as everyone is ready, is what I'd like to say."
"Okay fine." Takumi heads into the kitchen to get one last coffee. "Yuuka, Kaoru, coffee?"
"Yep." I say taking the bag into the bathroom so I can bind.
"Have you got any tea?" Kaoru asks, more nervous than usual.
"Yeah, we only got black tea though, cause Shinji drinks it for some reason." I can hear Takumi's eyes rolling in his voice. I mean I agree with him, tea is just disgusting leaf water.
I take off my hoodie and t-shirt and start pulling ace bandages across my chest. I try to tighten the bandages on the exhale, so it's not too tight. I clip the bandage in place, and pat my chest. I turn to the side in the mirror. Yeah, looks decently flat. I throw the shirt and hoodie back on. I suppose that looks masculine enough to pass. I pull on the toggles of my dark green hoodie until they match. Walking back out, I throw the bag back next to the couch. Takumi hands us our mugs, and I take my seat back on the couch. Kenta has also sat down, but on the opposite end, naturally. Kaoru hasn't moved an inch. Takumi stands somewhere in both of our lines of vision, but closer to Kaoru.
"Are you nervous, huh?" Takumi asks him.
"Yeah." Kaoru holds his mug like he's relying on it for warmth. "I've never had anything to do with gangs before."
"Don't worry about it. Everyone starts somewhere. You have us with you, you'll be fine." I can see Kenta sulking in the corner of my eye. "Your sister is good at this sort of thing. You can hear her thoughts right? She'll help you. We're all here you, mate."
"It's true." I say before I down what's left of my coffee. I can feel Kenta staring at me, silently judging me. "Right, I'm ready to go." I stand up. Kenta follows suit. Takumi kicks himself off the wall, taking our mugs, and goes into the kitchen, leaving them in the sink. He looks around the sitting room.
"Everyone ready to go?" He cocks his head and grins. Clearly, some form of adrenaline already in his veins. We nod and move out.
We hide in an alleyway to put on our wigs and masks. There's an unbearable silence. Nobody has said anything for a while. It's starting to get worrying. This means Takumi has started to panic. We've come this far, I suppose we can't turn away now. I stare at my mask, I haven't looked at it in months. Red elongated teardrop shapes coming out from the eyes on a dainty white background.
"Sasaki." Kaoru and I both turn to Kenta. "Uh, that one." He gestures to me, I nod. "Do you feel that?" He gestures down one of the alleyways in the direction of the Jackal's base.
"No, why?"
"It's just that," he shakes his head, "the auras. They're so many of them. It's almost distracting." Could that be a sign of vulnerability from Kenta? Geez, haven't seen that before.
"Hmm, it's probably to do with my powers not working like they're supposed to." My voice sounds muffled in the mask.
"Your powers still aren't working?" Takumi turns to me. "You should have told me this before all of this." I can tell he's pissed off.
"It's not a big deal, it's just the aura stuff. Everything else is working fine, I'll assure you." Takumi ignores what I say. I sigh. Takumi pats Kaoru on the back in an attempt to cheer him up. Kaoru jumps, clearly he had been lost in his own thoughts. I can tell Kaoru's staring at me. I block him out of my mind. I can't deal with him at the moment.
In that moment, I could sworn I was in the Satellite. There's something about these alleyways that reminds me of home. Stranger still, we've basically formed a Neo Team Satisfaction. Maybe it's that. I'm getting a shot at this unifying territory thing, considering the guys didn't let me have a crack at it last time. What would they think of this, I wonder. Not good things, I imagine. They're still protective of me. Honestly, while I understand why, I wish they'd just realise that I've grown up and I can take care of myself now. Am I actually rebelling against them? Is this really what this whole gang thing is about? It honestly wouldn't surprise me. I push that thought to the back of my head. I have more important things to focus on. I start breathing deeply. I focus on my powers, I can feel them fluctuate along with my breath. I feel auras a good while away. There's so many of them that I can't isolate one in particular. Is that what Kenta meant? Now that I found them, I can't help but fixate on them. Definitely.
"I feel the auras now." Once I've said it, I realise that I've cutted off Takumi and Kaoru talking.
"Distracting, aren't they?" Kenta stares off in the direction of the auras. "The question is whether or not they know we're coming."
"They know that Team Liberation will come for them eventually." Takumi looms over us all. He's not quite as tall as Jack, or even as broad. But there's something about him that intimidates you. His mere presence is enough.
"Team Liberation?" Kenta asks.
"Yeah, that's what we're called." Takumi puts his hands on his hips like he's proud of himself.
"Honestly, that's a stupid name." Kenta's words mirror my thoughts exactly.
"I'm the leader here, I get to choose the name." Takumi loses that upbeat tone in his voice.
"Thank the gods you didn't found the Onyx Slicers." Kenta mutters to himself. Judging by the fact that Takumi didn't say anything, I don't think he heard it.
"You two," Kenta points to me and Kaoru, "I want you to head straight for the boss. Takumi and I will take care of the rest." I nod. Since I'm the fastest out of everyone here, I'm more likely to reach the boss without getting caught first. Kenta runs over some basics tips for Kaoru one last time. I admit I listen in. I haven't been in this sort of situation in months, I fear my muscles have forgotten everything. I don't want to run in there and have my mind blank on me.
I'm squatting in the fire escape of the abandoned apartment building with Takumi. I try glancing in the window, I don't see anyone. I can tell people are on the other side of the door. I'll have to be careful going in so I'm not cornered in the room. I'll wait for the signal from Kaoru and Kenta. They're taking a more direct route into the building. They'll distract the people on this floor long enough that I can get in. It's strange for a gang to use an apartment building here. Normally, people head straight to warehouses for that sort of thing. I suspect there's been a recent change of base, considering all of the territory wars going on lately.
Okay, we're going in. I hear Kaoru's voice in my head. I feel a shift in all of the auras in the building. One aura stays at the door, clearly sensing my presence. I gesture to Takumi to climb into the window. I stay just inside the window. I try and figure out the best way to get out into the hallway. Eventually, I decide to break down the door with my body. The guy guarding the door manages to jump out of the way and towards me. He's gotten too close to me for me to kick him, so I decide on my elbow instead. He gets thrown back into the wall. I can almost hear the pain as he hits the wall. He's unconscious. That was easy. Takumi drags me towards the mass of psychics downstairs.
Despite the fact I'm in a room full of psychics, I become a fast-moving ball of mass, throwing out a flurry of kicks and punches. Dodge there. Punch there. Another one down. Roundhouse kick there. I can feel the adrenaline starting to pump in my veins, I try my hardest to suppress it. Another dodge. Something catches me in the waist. Blood starts to drip. Before it even starts to flow, I can feel it healing. I can sense Kaoru and Kenta on the floor below. The narrow corridors of this building give me the advantage. Meaning I don't have to deal with too many people at once. I start moving backwards. The boss will be upstairs. I just have to wait on Kaoru. The floor suddenly feels cold underneath me. The people in front of me slip. They try to take my legs out from under me. I shift my weight, landing a kick square in their face. And a second. Kenta must have his monsters out already. I can feel the unease from Takumi beside me. He mustn't be used to the ice. I move back slightly, when I feel Kaoru and Kenta approaching. I nearly jump out of my skin when I hear the elevator crash down into the basement. Someone takes this opportunity to aim a punch at my head. I catch their hand, twist their arm and knee them in the abdomen. Another one out. They keep coming, so many of them. Each preparing their duel disk. No one pulls out a card. There's too many people here to pull off something like that. I fall into the natural habit of dodging and kicking. My mind starts to zone out like it always does. I've become so accustomed to the violence, that my muscles already know what to do. Shards of ice fly into the corridor. Most manage to duck it, but some fall to floor. Kaoru runs around the unconscious bodies on the floor to me, he grabs my arms and pulls me towards the stairs. A hook fly towards me, grabbing my duel disk. I try pulling myself away from it. Then I realise what it is. Team Satisfaction. It's the hooks they used to force duels, and the loser's duel disk would get destroyed. Another hook grabs my duel disk, and another. I push Kaoru into the stairwell.
"Go on without me!" I scream after him. He's scared but he nods. Takumi follows him. I take a deep breath and face the duelists before me. Kenta seems to be handling the rest of the crowd. A lance made of ice strikes a wall, creating another hole in it. It's probably gonna collapse soon. I activate my duel disk and draw my hand. I try to start but the Arcadia scum beats me to it. I know he's Arcadia, I can tell that by looking at him. He literally runs a Psychic deck, typical. The next one moves, and the other after that. As per Battle Royale rules, I don't draw on my first turn. Somehow, almost like fate is on my side, I manage to Synchro Summon on my first turn. Using Obedience Schooled, I'm able to Special Summon two monsters and tuner. I recognise it as the card that let me win against Raiden. How funny that it's in my starting hand now. As per the rules again, I can't attack, dragging this duel out for longer than it needs to.
I hear another crash upstairs, the building shakes. I fall onto my knees. The Fabled Kudabbi moves towards me and arches its head forward. I use its horns to hoist myself up. Kaoru's put a hole in an outside wall. I can hear his thoughts clearly now. Takumi's taking on the leader. Kaoru's impressed with his skills. I ask him who he's facing. He thinks it's the right-hand man. Ice still lingers on the ground. I feel a sudden sharp pain in my waist and I nearly fall again. Kudabbi catches me. The guys start their turns again. One of them manages to Synchro Summon, but it matches Kudabbi in attack points so he does nothing. A X-Saber monster, the name doesn't even register in my brain. That's enough for me to survive this round. As soon as I'm steady on my feet, I'm hit by an attack from behind my opponents. My waist burns and it begins to spread. Before I'm hit by another attack, Kudabbi tackles me through a door into an empty apartment. The hooks on my duel disks pulls my opponents into the wall. I can hear them slam, I can also feel their pain. Kenta shouts out for me. I scream back that I'm okay. I shakily get back onto my feet, Kudabbi helping me. My turn again. I send Kudabbi the monster with the lowest attack points, taking out a good chunk of the guy's life points. I lean on the wall. The guys I'm facing aren't in a good state either. They're getting hit by Kenta's attack too. As soon as the first guy draws, my building starts shaking and I hear a dragon roar. Kudabbi tackles me back. The ceiling caves in, rubble separating me and my opponents. Light End Dragon's head slides through the hole. Kaoru holds onto its head and jumps off onto the rubble.
"Your leader has been defeated. Surrender now." His voice is stern. I blink to make sure that I'm not actually looking at Takumi. Light End Dragon slides around the room. It looks me in the eyes and I shudder. It stops and roars at my opponents. Light End Dragon. I look back at Kaoru. For a second, I swear that I'm looking at Raiden and Dark End Dragon. I start hyperventilating and begin to slide to sit on the floor. I have to will myself not to take my mask off. They surrender, their hooks clamping and breaking their duel disks. I manage to pull on the rope still attached to mine. I hold the hooks in my hand. These will come in handy. Though, how did they get here? I've only seen these in the Satellite, used by Team Satisfaction. Kenta slumps on a wall, panting. Takumi appears with the gang leader on the edge of the hole in the ceiling. I recognise him from somewhere, probably a psychic bar. Takumi leaps onto the pile of rubble, the leader following him. I can feel someone staring at me. Someone upstairs, looking down through the hole. Clothes torn, he stares at me with hate in his eyes. He turns away in anger, it sounds like he kicks something. I don't listen to the chatter around me. I stare at Kaoru, trying to push the image of Raiden from my head. Takumi practically grabs me by the armpit in an attempt to get me to stand up. The gang leader shakes my head. He jumps slightly when he looks at the blood that transferred onto his hand from my glove. I look over to Kenta, he stares back at me. I can't see his face behind the mask, but I can tell he's not happy. It's a small victory in the scale of things, but he could at least not be like this.
People start to leave. Some linger by the unconscious people on the floor, trying to wake them up. Some of them wake on their own. Others have already woken and left. I take a deep breath. I focus on every cut, every bruise on my body. I sit down again, too weak to stand. Everything starts to slowly heal. Kaoru sits down beside me in a heap.
"Just focus on your cuts." I manage to get out. He looks at me, he didn't think I was awake. "We'll find out if you have accelerated healing."
"Oh, alright." I spot a nasty gash on his waist. It's not bleeding that much, but it's still red. "I think this one's healing already." He picks to said gash.
"That's good." It's the same spot that I felt pain in earlier, strange.
Takumi keeps talking to that leader. Probably sorting out everything. He's lucky really. He doesn't have to deal with the fatigue that comes with using your powers. I'm really out of shape if I'm this bad. Though my fatigue always seems to be worse than everyone else's. I actually have get Takumi to help me up in the end. Kenta stares at me still. What is going through that foul mind of his? Probably how much he hates me and resents my existence. I'm sure that's all he thinks about anyway. I'm too tired for this small victory to settle in. Takumi's smiling behind the mask, I can hear it in his voice. I done the least work out of everyone here. I couldn't even finish a simple duel. Still, I'm the worst out of everyone here. I can barely stand, yet alone walk.
It's a silent walk back to Takumi and Kenta's apartment. I feel Kenta's eyes on me. I manage to walk in front of him. We've taken off the masks and wigs, but I still can't bear to meet his eyes. I know he's not happy with me. I'm a disgrace, I'm a burden. I can't carry my own weight. I linger in their bathroom for a while, staring at my own reflection. Nothing has sunk in. I can barely remember what happened. My bags under my eyes are only more pronounced. I can't help but wonder what will come next. There's an endless sense of waiting, and every sign points to Raiden.