It's about a week later when Kaoru comes home with a brand new, shiny D-Wheel. It makes me wonder how much he has saved away, I know he likes to work during the summer but geez. It's a pretty standard D-Wheel, one of the mass produced ones. He managed to get one in black, there's a really nice sheen to it. Then again, I'm pretty sure Kaoru has already polished it.
"You're copying me, huh?"
"Me owning a D-Wheel? Totally copying you, yeah." I can almost hear the sarcasm dripping from his mouth. You'd swear he was spending too much time around me. "I finished my exams, so I figured I'd treat myself."
"Treat yourself, the worst thing that ever happened to my self control." I ponder to myself. Kaoru shakes his head, sighing to himself.
"I needed it though, with everything that's going on."
"I suppose that's true." I go to sit on the mini fridge that's permanently in our garage. "A lot has happened in the last few months." Kaoru frowns.
"It's nearly been three months." He leans on the wall facing me. "Hard to believe sometimes."
"I know." Three months since Kaoru dueled me in front of the old boutique, since I saw Yusei again. It really only feels like a month ago, how time flies. "You had your first lesson the other day, right?"
"Yeah, I fell on my ass a bunch."
"It happens to all of us." I try to suppress a laugh.
"Actually, I wanted to ask you for help." The urge to roll my eyes is strong.
"Do you just have a problem with anything and automatically ask me?" I sigh. He's starting to get into this habit.
"I don't actually, for your information." He crosses his arms. "You're the only person I know who passed these tests, so that's why I'm asking you, dumbass."
"Hey, you're the real dumbass here."
"Shut up." He scoffs. "I was wondering how you keep your balance while on the D-Wheel."
"I don't know, that's just been something I've always been good at."
"Thanks, you've been a great help." Kaoru's mouth forms a solid line.
"Happy to help." I send sarcasm right back at him. "Roller skating is supposed to be good for balance, maybe you should try that."
"I am not going roller skating, geez that's so lame." He rolls his eyes.
"I mean, maybe if you invited Emiko…" I trail off, letting him put the pieces together.
"Why would it be any different if I invited Emiko?" He crosses his arms even tighter and glances to the side.
So, inevitably, I end up tagging along when Kaoru and Emiko head to the skating rink. I end trailing behind going very slowly as Kaoru makes his way around the edge. I'm honestly questioning why I'm here. Emiko seems to be doing a bang-up job. I catch a glimpse at Kaoru's thoughts. He's panicking. He's hyper aware of where Emiko's hands are on his back. Bless him. Don't think he can handle all this really. I should have brought someone else along. In hindsight, I should've seen this coming. It's Emiko we're talking about here.
Kaoru has been gripping the railings for the last few minutes. Emiko's laughing, trying to get him to let go. I swear there's a slight twinge of rouge on his cheeks. We manage to make a few laps. Kaoru's fingertips still graze the railings. Maybe I should just leave. I'm being a horrendously awkward third wheel here. Still, I skate at a snail's pace behind them.
"Kaoru!" A voice calls across the rink. The three look behind to see Anako waving from the far side of the railings. She walks around the outside of the rink to Kaoru. I don't get to hear Anako talk more as Emiko drags me by the arm around the rink. She's pouting and her brows are furrowed. It's hard to keep up with her. I almost fall a few times because her arm is still linked with mine.
"You doing okay?" I manage to get out after a few minutes.
"No." Her answer is very curt. I'm surprised. I've only seen Emiko angry a handful of times in the years that I've known her. I stare at her, waiting for her to answer. She moves closer to me, our arms still linked. "He just ignores me when she's around." She looks away. Oh. I stay silent. "What is even the point of inviting me if she shows up?" She sighs. I pull her into the centre of the rink. I start skating backwards and she follows. A small smile graces her face.
"You're pretty good at this. Have you been skating before?" She looks down with a faint glow on her face.
"Well, I mean, I already have my D-Wheel licence."
"You do?" I'm a little confused to say the least. "I thought Kaoru said he didn't know anyone who passed the test."
"I didn't do the test through the school." She shrugs her shoulders. "You know what he's like."
"That's true." I laugh, Emiko joins in.
"I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you a lot lately. Cramming for winter exams, you know how it is." Her bottom lip sticks out.
"Yeah, I know. I say that but I've never studied a day in my life." I chuckle, but my face contorts slightly at the memory of Duel Academy.
"Not surprising. You used to call Maths class nap time." Emiko sighs and rolls her eyes, but it turns into a laugh. "I mean, who else could boast a perfect No Grade in everything that wasn't either Dueling or a language?"
"I mean, if you tried hard enough." I laugh. I nearly topple forward when I'm grabbed by the waist from behind. Emiko pulls me closer in an effort to save me from falling.
"There she is." Anako chirps, a little bit too close to my ear. Emiko's face falls. "My favourite." Anako places her hand on her chest, almost like a pledge. Emiko looks like she's trying to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She scoffs and skates off in Kaoru's direction.
"How are you doing?" I ask. Anako links my arm just as Emiko did. We end up going around the rink faster than I did before. We end up overtaking Kaoru and Emiko several times.
"Pretty good. Been training a lot with Kaoru. He's gotten so good. I'd dare say he's better than you." Rude. "But anyway, how have you been?"
"Okay, I guess. I've just had a lot going on. I need to go back to the gym. I've gotten very unfit since my accident, and it's starting to annoy me. I can't run as well as I use to. I kinda miss just going out for a jog."
"Oh I get you. I mean, you could always just come to the gym with me. I kind of need a gym buddy with me anyway. I lost touch with all of the friends I had before I moved away, so I'm kinda on my own now." Aw, I feel bad. I've been putting off meeting up with Anako for a while.
"Yeah, I'll go with you eventually."
"Aw, that would be great, I'm looking forward to it." I see an actual, genuine smile on Anako's face. It's unusual to see that. She normally hides behind this veil of humour and a lopsided smirk.
"But if you need help with anything," she pauses and looks me directly in the eye, "you can always ask me, right." In that moment, I feel her eyes piercing me. Her aura changes. With a single thought, she can mold her aura into whatever she wants. It flickers for a second, then I can barely feel it at all. I recognise that faint twinge of an aura. It's mine. It strikes a fear inside me. She knows. Every thought in my mind suddenly stops. Her aura almost scares me, swallows me whole. I shiver. It's unsettling feeling your own aura. You should never be sensing your own aura. Why is Anako showing me this out of everything? Why right now? After she said that of all things. I realise that I've stopped in my tracks. I can feel Kaoru's eyes on me. I go to meet his eyes, but he turns away.
"Yeah." That's all that comes out of my mouth. What else could I say?
Anako manages to dive right into small talk after that moment. I think she sensed that I was not willing to talk about that. We make a few more laps around the rink before Kaoru decides he's had enough. He wants enough energy to walk home, he says. He lies. He knows that I'm still out of whack from what Anako said. Kaoru still says nothing even after Anako and Emiko have long departed. We manage to get all the way home without a word being spoken. I immediately head upstairs. The last thing I hear before closing the bedroom door is Kaoru muttering an I'm sorry.
I'm draped out on the couch in the kitchen of Poppo Time. Kaoru wants me out of the house so he can study. Apparently, my thoughts are louder in his head when I'm near him. I don't have this problem. I would very much not like having Kaoru's thoughts constantly in my head. I suppose his thoughts are harder to block out when he's near me. I'm burning through books at a surprisingly fast pace lately. Ever since my accident, I run through a new book at least every week. I never read that much before that. Then again, Emiko's book recommendations have started flowing in.
I suppose I have lot more time for that. Before my accident, I worked non-stop. More hours than I'm pretty sure was legal. Not working has been great. I have more free time than I know what to do with. Gang wars only take so much time. I end up patrolling our territory a lot. Walking up and down the borders endlessly. Graffiti covered up and replaced with the simple word, liberation. Takumi's work, I learnt. Kaoru joins me sometimes. A nice break from studying, he says. There's something so liberating about it. Roaming the streets. Coming and going when I want. No real responsibility, except that one thing that I'm not allowed talk about. I suppose I've really had that. No hope of that in the Satellite. Here, I went from full-time education to full-time work in a matter of weeks, and I haven't stopped since then. Until now. Somehow, I feel like this is the start of something for me. Like all this work, all the gang wars, all the talk of ancient wars. It's been leading to something. Something big, something soon.
"He misses you know." Crow seems to comment out of nowhere.
"You need to be more specific." I don't look away from my book.
"You know exactly who I'm talking about."
"Oh, him." I knew who Crow was talking about in the first place. Crow has become something of an unofficial wingman for me. Of course he would be talking about Yusei. "What about him?"
"I catch him glancing at the couch downstairs sometimes." I sit up a little bit straighter. "I think he really misses having you around."
"I suppose. I miss being around here sometimes." I put my book down and sigh. I feel like if I stay around here too much, they might end up figuring out my secret. That I'm secretly running around liberating the City from gangs.
"Are you doing okay?" Crow asks.
"I guess." I shrug my shoulders. I hate having to hide this. But I need to. Knowing how protective they are, they wouldn't let me continue.
"I know you. That's what you say when you're not okay." Crow gives me a pointed look.
"Eh." I shrug my shoulders. "It's been a weird couple of months."
"You can say that again." He shakes his head. I suppose getting suddenly thrust into the world of Signers and saving the world will do that to you.
"Yuuka." Jack is the next to call out to me. I put my book down. I can tell that it's serious.
"Yeah?" I try to act like I don't sense the oncoming super serious conversation.
"Just before Christmas, I was talking to your friend Hoshakuji." Reika? Must have been related to my D-Wheel. Wait, I know what this is about.
"Sit down." I pat the space on the couch beside me. He sits down, resting his forearms on his knees. He stays silent for a few moments.
"She told me about how my security guards treated you after I became King." He looks at me. I look away, scratching the back of my head.
"Yeah, I was pretty pissed to say the least. Thought you had forgotten about your roots."
"I tried to. I had to hide my heritage so I could be King." There's an odd look in Jack's eyes. Memories resurfacing from that time.
"I realised that eventually." And by eventually, I mean in the last few months. "I suppose my emotions clouded my judgement for a while."
"Doesn't that always happen though?" There's a twinkle in his eye that tells me he's trying to tease me.
"Like you're any better." I laugh, then pause. "I took my anger out on you back then. I just felt so lost and alone in this City, and that only make things worse. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Wait.
"Did you just apologise?" Oh my gods. "Breaking news, Jack Atlas just apologised. Where's Carly when you need her?" I laugh. Jack frowns. "I take it you've been seeing Carly again?" He nods.
"She joins me for coffee sometimes."
"Aw, that's so cute." I smile.
"It's not cute."
"Sure." I drag out the word. Jack sits a little straighter and looks down at me. "It's not like there's anything going on between you two or anything."
"There isn't." He scoffs. "What about you and Yusei then?" I repeatedly shush him loudly.
"What if he hears you?" I panic. Despite the fact that I'm whispering, I feel like I'm shouting. "Besides, nothing's going to happen. We're both pretty comfortable where we are now." Jack looks at me. The look in his eyes just screams that I'm lying. It's true. But I'm not going to tell him that. "You know what, I don't have to deal with this today." A mix of a sigh and scoff comes out of my mouth. I pick up my book and head down into the garage.
I sigh again. I catch a glimpse of Yusei now and again from the top of my book. I can't help but stare at him sometimes. I love him. I've tried to deny it over and over again. Tell myself it's only just a crush. Everyone points the small smile that appears whenever he's near. How my laugh seems so much fuller. I've noticed it myself. The way my heart skips a beat whenever he does the smallest thing. The feeling of blush in my cheeks whenever our hands accidently touch. I'm lovesick, that's what I am. I can't deny it anymore. My thoughts in my head always seem to come back to him. I know it's true. I am hopelessly in love with Yusei Fudo.