"How do I even put this on?" I hear Aki say from the other side of the bathroom door. "Oh wait nevermind." I hear her fumble around a bit. Maybe I made her Riding Duel suit a bit too tight. It's a few second before I hear her zip it up. I hear her take a deep breath, before opening the door. Aki's face is completely red, nearly matching the colour of her suit. I ended up going for black pads with black stripes for accents, along with a design on her abdomen.
"How do I look?" She asks.
"I think you look great, the person who designed that suit is really talented. Like someone should really give their own clothing line, y'know?" Aki laughs.
"Thank you. This is so different." She looks down. "I would never have imagined myself wearing one of these." Everything seems to fit right, I won't need to make any adjustments thankfully. I'm sick of working with that fabric.
"Don't mention it." I wave my hand. "But now you are, and you're rocking it. We should probably go show the guys." I let Aki go down the stairs into the garage first.
"Alright, it's all tuned." I hear Yusei say, following the clinking of tools.
"Lookin' sharp." I cringe as Crow wolf whistles. I shoot him a glare and he shuts up.
"You are what you wear, as they say." Jack comments.
"I don't look like myself." Aki moves the helmet in her arms awkwardly.
"Well, it suits you, doesn't it?" I groan at Yusei's pun. I see him roll his eyes. We finish the walk down the stairs. We stand at the foot of the D-Wheel Yusei threw together in a matter of days, just for Aki. "I built it out of parts I got from a friend's junkyard. It should manage fine if you're using it to practice."
"Thank you, Yusei." Aki smiles. "I'm going to use it to get my Riding Duel licence."
As soon as Aki leaves later, I hit Crow over the head. Everyone turns to me.
"What was that for!?" Crow shouts at me.
"You don't wolf whistle at a girl!" I shout back. "No, you tell her 'wow, you look beautiful' or 'that colour really brings out your eyes'. You wolf whistle, she's uncomfortable and only thinks you like her for how she looks instead of her personality or whatever."
"Okay, fine, whatever!" Crow throws his hands up and goes upstairs. Jack goes off and does whatever Jack does, honestly I don't even know at this point. Probably something involving expensive coffee. Then, it's just Yusei and I in the garage. I sigh.
"You're right." Yusei says.
"Thank you!" I over exaggerate my face. "I mean, I already knew I was, but still." Yusei smiles while shaking his head.
"So, you said you finally finished your Riding suit." He gives me this look which honestly makes me a little flustered.
"Pervert." I smack his shoulder, I can feel my face heating up. "And yes, I have. I'll try it on at some stage for you." I wink at him, two can play at that game.
Yusei and I arrive after school ends to watch Aki try to get through the handling section of qualification. I've explained how the whole 'getting your licence' thing works to Yusei. First, they check you can actually handle a D-Wheel and not crash while going around a set course. Then, there's a Riding Duel you have to win to get your licence.
"They're at it, huh?" Yusei says as we walk up to Rua and Ruka in stands by the side of the track. The first guy attempts to turn on the first corner, only to crash into padding at the corner.
"Jackass! You went too fast! Next!" The next guy goes, moving a lot slower to avoid crashing. "Wrong! Drive like that damn slow and you'll get rear-ended! Next!" Aki moves up to her starting position.
"Good luck, Aki!" Rua shouts over to her. Aki sets off. Wait.
"H-Hey! You're not going to make that turn!" I lean as far as I can over the railings, in the hopes that she'll hear me. But no. She still crashes into the padding, and is sent flying onto the grass. I close my eyes and cringe, before opening them slowly. I see her getting up onto her knees. She's fine, for now.
Aki goes to make another lap. I sure hope she doesn't over do herself.
"Aki sure is trying hard, huh?" Rua comments.
"Yeah." Yusei responds.
Aki's D-Wheel starts shaking again, only for her to go flying over the handlebars. I hop over the railings of the stand and run over to her.
"Aki, are you okay?" I shout at her before I reach her.
"Aki!" Yusei, Rua and Ruka call out one after the other.
Aki just stands up casually like nothing happened, and I sigh. "And I almost had it too!" She looks at me and gasps. "I got it! If I stick it out there a little longer and hit it in one shot, I might make the turn! Yeah, that's it. That's got to be it!"
"She's totally in la-la land…" Rua's words trail off.
"This is just how she gets." I add.
I don't run out the next time she crashes, or the time after that, or again actually. She gets up perfectly normal every time, so the need to run over isn't really there.
"You're falling too much!" I shout over to her as she drags her D-Wheel back to the start again.
"I am... aren't I?" She says, rubbing the back of her helmet. I notice scuffs in the paintwork and I sigh again.
"Turn with your body!" Yusei shouts at her the next time she crashes. I say shout, Yusei can't really shout, it's more a 'raising of the voice' kinda thing.
"Yeah, I know, but…" She avoids our eyes.
"You're trying too hard!" I lift one leg onto the railings as if that would her hear me better.
"I am trying too hard!" She grimaces as she gets back on her D-Wheel.
"Yuuka!" Aki takes her helmet and smiles. "I think I got the hang of it with that last one!"
"How about we make this the last run for today?" I say. "Don't want to overdo yourself." She nods, setting off. She miraculously makes the turn this time.
Eventually, she's able to handle the full course without crashing. They've made the course more difficult since I done it. I mean, the loop-de-loop section and the ramps were still there. There's just a lot more of them now.
"Woah, awesome, Aki!" Rua exclaims as Aki clears the final ramp.
"Alright, you pass!" The instructor shouts as Aki comes to a stop in front of us. The twins high-five each other and cheer. I give her a thumbs up as she smiles. "Time to announce the results of the test!" The instructor gathers everyone around the starting line. "The only one who passed this class was Izayoi!" The instructor brings out his kendo sword again, banging it on the ground. "Everyone else failed!" No surprise there. One of them made it passed the first corner in the end, only to struggle with the second.
"Dammit, beaten by that girl?" One of the guys who failed mutters. "Talk about lame." Another one. "Yeah." Disgusting. Girls can be D-Wheelers too, and we'll look good while kicking your ass. Yusei looks like he suddenly remembers something, and goes to get his D-Wheel. He's going to show Aki a trick, no doubt. He appears with his D-Wheel a few minutes later and parks it beside Aki's.
"All that's left is the graduation-certification duel. Give it your all out there." He says. Aki nods. "It's not a check item in your lessons, but, from my experience, there's this one thing I think you should commit to memory." Yusei starts driving and does a quick 180 turn, followed by another one, then starts driving backwards. "This." He says when he gets back to us.
"Turnback?" Aki asks. I remember spotting that in Kaoru's notes. I shake my head, he's such a meticulous notetaker.
"Yeah, if you master this, you can handle almost any situation." What Yusei says is true. If anything goes wrong on the track, it's definitely helpful.
"I'll give it a try." Aki nods, getting back on her D-Wheel. She shakes on the first turn.
"Watch out!" Ruka shouts, but it's too late. I close my eyes again. When I open my eyes again, her D-Wheel is lying on the grass while Aki is on her back on the tarmac. I sigh.
"This might be kind of tough…" I hear her say.
"We might want to try something safer." I turn to Yusei. I'm sick of seeing her crash and having my heart in my mouth.
"Didn't you bring Kaoru skating before he got his licence?"
"I had almost forgotten about that." I shrug my shoulders. I'm sure if Kaoru was listening to my thoughts right now, he'd be complaining. I can't hear a sudden change in the pace of his thoughts, so I assume not.
"Why don't you bring Aki skating?" Yusei asks as Aki walks up to us. She looks slightly nervous.
"Aren't you the one teaching her this?" I look at him.
"I've never skated before, and you know how the turnback works." I sigh again. "Besides, I've got a job tomorrow morning." That's right, tomorrow's Saturday so Aki's off school. I guess it'll be fun for me as well.
"You wanna go skating tomorrow?" I ask Aki. "I can teach the turnback without the fear of you crashing."
"Umm, yeah." Aki seems slightly hesitant, but I pay no mind to it.
To my surprise, although the twins come along, they don't join us in the rink, preferring to just watch. Then again, I don't think the twins are fully comfortable with me yet.
"Alright." I say, standing in the middle of the rink with Aki. "Umm, skating has a lot to do with using your body to move, and so do D-Wheels. Something like that anyway. I'm terrible at this kinda thing, sorry."
"It's okay." Aki still seems kinda nervous. "Thank you for coming anyway."
"No problem." I smile. "I'll just show you, that would work better." I start skating backwards, making somewhat of an oval shape around Aki. "This should be perfect for getting the feel of it." I stop a little bit in front of her. She skates forward, only to stumble. I manage to catch her so she falls into me. "You've never been skating before, haven't you?" That's why she was so nervous.
"I've never come here before, that's why." Blush dusts her cheeks. Then again, I suppose she's never had anyone to come skating with.
"It's okay. Here." I take her hands, and gently lead her forward. Her feet move on their own. "Like that." She smiles.
"Let me try on my own." I let go of her hands. I move slower beside her, ready to catch her if she falls.
"That's right, just like that." I smile.
"I just have to be careful about shifting my balance, right?" I nod.
I don't know how long we spend on that rink. It doesn't feel very long at all, but knowing how time works, I doubt it.
"You and Yusei seem very close lately." Aki randomly says out of the blue. "What's up with that?" She gives me this look as she skates backwards, past me.
"What do you mean by that exactly?" I don't let my composure crack.
"I don't know, you two seem a lot closer than you were before." She meets my eyes. She's knows what's up.
"There's nothing to tell. We've just been talking a lot lately." I'm not wrong, just leaving out some key points. Like that we've been secretly dating for a good while because I'm not ready to tell my brother, so naturally, no one else can know to. It's generally okay. Yusei's okay with it. But lately both of us have started to become restless around other people. I don't think our secret can last much longer. I just want to hold my boyfriend's hand and hug him in public, dammit.
Yusei adds the final touches to Aki's new D-Wheel. He lied when he said he had a job, he was really working on this. Managing this in two days is impressive. Then again, all of us chipped in. Aki walks in, confused by the fully polished new D-Wheel in the garage.
"Yo!" Crow calls out to her.
"Yes, we expect some thanks." Jack adds. I smack his arm and he glares at me.
"What is this?" There's a lingering hesitation in Aki's words.
"Crow, Jack and Yuuka helped out. It's your D-Wheel, Aki." Yusei smiles.
"For me?" She blinks slowly, not quite comprehending it.
"I worked on the brakes." Crow wipes his hands in a rag.
"I painted the exterior." Jack smirks.
"I picked the colours because I just learned the difference between a slot head and a Phillips head." That gets a laugh out of Aki. I was able to recognise the different types of screwdriver before, but have only just learnt their names.
"You guys…" Aki looks like she's about to cry.
"It's time, isn't it?" Yusei asks.
"I'll make sure to get my licence!" Aki wipes a tear away before it has the chance to fall.
"Do your best." Yusei smiles.
Everyone manages to show up for Aki's duel on Monday afternoon, surprisingly. Getting Jack to do anything is a struggle at the best of times. I go to sit beside Jack, hoping to have Yusei on the other side of me, but Crow beats him to the punch. We can't complain, because that would make them suspicious and I haven't mentally prepared telling them yet.
"Alright, there they go!" Crow says as we sit down. The first guy starts driving only to crash on their first turn.
"Nevermind." I say.
"Ended before it started, huh?" Jack sighs.
"Geez." The person that will be dueling Aki tuts, taking off his helmet. I recognise him as the officer from the Ghost incident, though his name avoids me now. "Don't think a licence qualification duel will be a piece of cake." He says to Aki beside him.
"It's Ushio!" Crow cries as everyone gasps. I just blink. That's his name.
"Well, aren't these a bunch of familiar faces?" He turns to us, then back to Aki. "Izayoi, luck sure wasn't on your side. More and more people have been trying to get their licence as soon as they announced the Grand Prix would be held, y'see. This test is to weed them out. You need to beat me to pass."
"Why, that-! After all we've done for him, too!" Crow clenches his fist. It's his job, he can't help it.
"Izayoi doesn't stand a chance, it seems." Jack shakes his head.
"You have so much faith in her, don't you?" I sigh.
"Watch out Izayoi." I hear the people who failed this first segment talking. "You won't finish the test." I exhale through my nose. When will they leave her alone?
"Izayoi, I'm not holding back." Ushio says, waiting to start.
"That's fine by me." Aki says, lowering the visor on her helmet.
"We will now begin the graduation-certification Riding Duel! Riding Duel…" The referee raises his arm, and quickly lowers it.
"Acceleration!" Ushio and Aki chant together, starting the duel.
"Field Magic, Speed World 2! Set!" Ushio activates Speed World. "Duel Mode, on." His D-Wheel chirps back at him. Oh yeah, there's no autopilot here. Despite this, Aki manages to make the first turn.
"Aki got the first move!" Ruka cheers.
"What's wrong? You've got the first move, right? It's your turn! C'mon, play!" Ushio knocks into the back of Aki. Even with her nerves clearly showing, he does this. "If this is enough to spook you, you can't handle a Riding Duel!"
"That Ushio is hazing her!" Crow tuts.
"That's not fair!" Ruka shouts.
"It happens often in Riding Duels." Jack answers her. Sad, but true.
"My turn." Aki hesitates for a split second. "I draw!"
"How much momentum can you create this turn?" Ushio says more to himself than Aki.
"I summon Revival Rose in defense position(DEF:1300). I activate the Speed Spell - Summon Speeder!" An error noise erupts from Aki's D-Wheel.
"What is Izayoi doing?" Crow facepalms.
"You need Speed Counters to use a Speed Spell." Jack tuts.
"She's very nervous." Yusei says.
"It's the first time she's had to take her hand off the handle." I add. "Admittedly, I did the same thing in my first duel."
"Stop stalling!" Ushio shouts at Aki.
"I end my turn!" I can hear the panic in Aki's voice.
"My turn!" Ushio says, as their Speed Counters increase for the first time. "Here I go. I summon Stygian Street Patrol(ATK:1600)! Battle! Stygian Street Patrol attacks Revival Rose! Stygian Street Patrol's effect. You take damage equal to the destroyed monster's Level multiplied by 100 points!" Aki's life points drop to 3600. "I set one card and end my turn! What's wrong? Bring it, Izayoi!" Ushio bangs into the back of Aki's D-Wheel again.
"My turn." Aki starts her turn. "I summon Twilight Rose Knight(ATK:1000)! When this monster is successfully summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4-or-below Plant-Type monster from my hand! I Special Summon Lord Poison(ATK:1500)!"
"Nice, Aki! She's getting the hang of it!" Rua cheers. Black Rose should be making an appearance then.
"Level 3 Twilight Rose Knight tunes Level 4 Lord Poison! Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch dark flower set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear, Black Rose Dragon(ATK:2400)!" Black Rose Dragon spreads its majestic wings and roars.
"Izayoi... You can't scare me by summoning Black Rose Dragon when you're flustered." Ushio smirks. Black Rose wasn't materialised, how could that scare you?
"Battle. Black Rose Dragon attacks Stygian Street Patrol. Burn him up! Black Rose Flare!" Ushio's life points drop to 3200.
"Not good enough, Izayoi. I activate the trap card, Final Penalty! When a monster is destroyed in battle, you take damage equal to half its attack points. Then, the attacking monster is destroyed!" Aki's visibly shaken as her life points drop again, this time to 2800.
"She lost her cool." Crow shakes his head, worried for her.
"Aki, stay alert! Strike back at him!" I lean over the railings to make sure Aki hears my shouts.
"When a monster is destroyed, I can Special Summon Revival Rose from my graveyard(DEF:1300). I set two cards and end my turn!" Aki's aura quivers.
"My turn!" Ushio starts his turn. Their Speed Counters now stand at 3. "By removing Stygian Street Patrol in my grave from play, I can Special Summon a Fiend-Type monster with 2000-or-fewer attack points from my hand! I Special Summon another Stygian Street Patrol(ATK:1600)! Next, I summon Stygian Security(ATK:100)! Level 1 Stygian Security tunes Level 4 Stygian Street Patrol. Synchro Summon! Come, Stygian Sergeants(ATK:2200)! Battle! Stygian Sergeants attacks Revival Rose! I'm not done. Stygian Sergeants are scary twin beast policemen. When Stygian Sergeants successfully destroys your monster in battle, it can attack again. And it gains 800 attack points this time(ATK:2200-3000)!"
"What?" Crow gasps, turning to me. "Aki has 2800 life points. If this attack succeeds, Aki will lose!" Geez, Crow seems awfully worried about Aki. Hmm, more blackmail material for me.
"I attack you directly!" Ushio laughs.
"I activate a trap!" Aki interrupts. "Offensive Guard! When I'm directly attacked, I can halve your monster's attack points until the End Phase(ATK:3000-1500). I also draw one card!" Instead of hitting 0, her life points drop to 1300 instead.
"What? You survived?" Ushio tuts. "But it's still my turn! I activate the Speed Spell - Speed Demon! When I have 3 Speed Counters, you take 1000 points of damage!" Aki's life points drop again, this time to 300.
"She survived, but she only has 300 life points left. This is bad." I notice Crow's fists clench.
"I set one card and end my turn!" Ushio ending his turn causes Stygian Sergeants' attack to return to the normal 2200.
"My turn. I draw!" Aki starts her turn again. "I summon Witch of the Black Rose(ATK:1700)! When I successfully summon this card, I draw one card from my deck. If that card isn't a monster, this card is destroyed. I draw! I drew Dark Verger!"
"I activate my trap!" Ushio interrupts her. "Climactic Barricade! I can activate it when you summon a monster. Level 4-or-below monsters can't attack this turn! Izayoi, I've sealed your Witch of the Black Rose! At the End Phase, Climactic Barricade deals 500 points of damage for every one of your Level 4-or-below monsters! If you don't defeat me this turn, you're finished!" This is not good. Aki needs to Synchro if she wants to win.
"I activate the Speed Spell - Summon Speeder from my hand! I Special Summon a Level 4-or-below monster from my hand(ATK:0)." Dark Verger appears on the field. I sigh, she could be fine.
"Aki mastered Speed Spells." I turn to look at Yusei on the other side of Crow. She just activated a Spell with the right conditions. I squint at him, but he doesn't notice. Crow's too busy focusing on the duel too.
"Level 4 Witch of the Black Rose tunes Level 2 Dark Verger! Lone flower which blossoms in the forest of the sun, appear from the roots and show yourself now! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Splendid Rose(ATK:2200)!" Ooh, I haven't seen that monster of hers before. Then again, I think she only has one other Synchro Monster, not including Black Rose. "Splendid Rose's effect! By removing a Plant-Type monster in my graveyard from play, one monster's attack points are halved until the End Phase! Your Stygian Sergeants' attack points are halved(ATK:2200-1100)! Battle! Splendid Rose attacks Stygian Sergeants!" Ushio's life points drop to 2100.
"How dare you!" Ushio screams at her.
"I'm not done yet. I still have to pay you back!" I hear a sudden confidence in Aki's voice.
"What!?" Ushio exclaims, knowing that the end may be very near.
"I flip over my trap card! Blossom Bombardment! When a Plant-Type monster destroys your monster, you take damage equal to half its attack points!" Ushio's life points hit 1000. She's nearly there.
"Nicely done." Ushio can't help but compliment her.
"The instructor is losing!" The voices beside us say. "That girl... It's time to finish her!" My eyes widen. I manage to catch Jack's gaze, he nods. He heard it too. Sparks fly from a rack holding rods. The rack collapses, sending rods flying all over the track. Ushio accelerates to avoid them completely. Aki isn't so lucky.
"Aki!" I scream.
"Sucker!" My body tenses, hearing the losers beside us. My fists clench. Aki starts dodging the onslaught falling all around her.
"Is she in trouble? If she falls, the test is over!" I hear Ushio say. Aki starts doing some crazy, and turnback! She used the thing I taught her. I feel so proud.
"Incredible!" Rua shouts as Aki accelerates away from the falling objects.
"It came in use!" I sigh.
I turn to look at Jack, he nods. We both stand up and walk over to the losers who did this. The three guys seem shocked to see me walk over.
"And what would you like, miss?" The guy who seems to be in charge of this crew asks. I grit my teeth, crossing my arms. I hate it when I'm called miss, I feel like they're making fun of me.
"You tried to murder my best friend." I feel Jack's presence behind me. I imagine we must look quite intimidating.
"We didn't try to murder her." I frown, he might have. "We just didn't want her to pass her test, that's all. Female Riding Duelists have no place in this world."
"Well, I just happen to be one." I see them gulp. "And you know what else I am?" I feel my aura flare. "Your worst nightmare." I grab the middle dude by the shirt. I land a solid punch in his face. He falls, hitting his head on the railings. They try to get away. I manage to roundhouse kick the furthest one. Jack gets the other one, making him fly into the previous row of seats.
"She did it!" Crow cheers as Aki wins the duel.
"Didn't know you were that strong." Jack says as he starts to walk away, I follow.
"Well, I'm just full of surprises, aren't I?"
"What?" I say as Yusei shakes his head at me as we walk onto the track to congratulate Aki.
"Nothing." He shakes his head, smiling. I laugh. He's probably impressed but won't admit it. Aki takes her helmet and fixes her hair. She looks at me and smiles.
"Aki, welcome to the world of Riding Duels!" I say, smiling. I stretch my arm out for a fist bump. She giggles, meeting me.