We find a spot in the harbour so we can do laps away from the busy highway. It strikes me that this used to be Red Serpent's territory, not too far from where Yusei and Aki were attacked all that time ago. Yusei is currently doing laps while Aki and I have the stopwatch. Yusei finishes another lap and Aki stops it.
"That was your fastest time!" She shouts to Yusei. I hear another D-Wheel approaching us. To my surprise, it is neither Jack nor Crow. Instead, it's a D-Wheel that I don't recognise.
"Looks like you're doing well." The driver opens their visor.
"Sherry!" Aki exclaims. I should have figured from the giant mass of blonde hair.
"Since we're in different blocks, we won't meet in the preliminaries. I came to say hello." Sherry looks me up and down in my riding suit and winks at me. Should have figured, I think to myself. Everything about her screams I am very much a lesbian.
"So you're also entering?" Aki asks. "I figured you would have."
"There are suspicious people among the participating teams." Sherry tell us. "They could be Yliaster's assassins. Be careful."
"Sherry!" Yusei calls as he stops beside Sherry's D-Wheel. "Stop putting yourself in danger." First, causing Security HQ to shut down after a bomb threat. Now this, she must be a busy woman.
"I told you that there are things I must do, even if it means facing danger." There's an intense look in Sherry's eyes. "Someday, I want to talk to you in detail about what we saw." She glances at me. Does she know what that was? "Stay safe through the preliminaries, Yusei!" Sherry drives off, leaving us in complete silence.
My walk through the graveyard is dead silent. Then again, it's the middle of the morning, and I'm in one of the less visited spots, away from the giant memorial. I lay white carnations at the foot of my mother's grave. I kneel just in front of them. I thought maybe I'd be able to say something if I was alone. But nothing comes. It has been too long. Twelve years now since she left me. I've grown up and I've dealt with things in my own way. I wonder what she'd think if she saw me now. I don't know enough about her to say. I put my hand to my neck, where the choker she'd given Kasumi as a gift normally sits. Maybe some things just can't be put into words. I hope wherever she ended up, she's proud of me. I press gloved fingers to my lips before touching the gravestone. I stand up, letting my eyes trail over the grave one final time. My hands fidget. It feels wrong. I should have so much more to say other than I miss you. But after twelve years, memories start to fade. The sound of her voice has vanished from my mind. I can't imagine the smell of her as she held me close. Her face blurred ever so slightly. My mother stands as this impressive figure in my mind. A symbol of strength, dignity and beauty. I wonder if that's really true. I can say nothing about her. Kasumi only speaks of her in hushed tones before the tears spill and she has to stop. I wonder if I should just move on. You can only grieve so long.
I start walking away from the grave. I take my time, I decide to walk the long way. I spot Reika kneeling in front of a grave. You'd almost miss her as her short, light turquoise hair almost blends into the sky. She doesn't notice me until I take a seat beside her.
"Hello Yuuka." She says, moving her eyes back onto the grave in front of her. "I haven't talked to you properly in a while."
"Not really since Christmas."
"And it's the end of summer, I thought we were friends." She chuckles to herself.
"I've been busy, and so have you, if Shinji is to be believed." I answer back.
"That's true." She smiles. "Has Shinji told you that we've been looking into opening up our own garage?"
"I know you've always wanted to do that."
"Yeah, it would be nice." I look down at the name of the grave. Mari Hoshakuji. It's familiar to me, but I can't quite place my finger on it. "My sister." I notice Reika's face falling.
"But you told me she died long after the Zero Reverse." I mutter, not wanting to say anything to upset her even more.
"We couldn't afford a grave after the fire, with us having to move and my mom being put in a wheelchair." Reika shrugs her shoulders. "We decided to put in Mari's name for this place, they didn't ask."
"I'm sorry." I honestly don't know what to say.
"Don't be. I get more than enough sympathy from everyone. You get sick of it after a while." She sighs. "Everything happens for a reason, she was wanted somewhere else."
"I suppose you're right."
"Yeah." There's a sad smile on her face. "You gotta be happy. You don't know when your time's gonna be up." She turns to me. "If you ever need anything, I'll always be there for you, okay?"
"I know that." A small smile creeps onto my face. "You always have."
"Except when I hated you." Reika laughs.
"Cause you thought I was stealing your best friend."
"I didn't realised at the time that Anako liked you liked you, okay?" She makes this face, as if cringing a little bit at old memories. "Speaking of Anako, everyone's excited about the suits you sent them. They're meeting at Shinji's place tomorrow to try them on. They want to try them on together for the first time." She rolls her eyes. "They're all such dorks, I swear."
"Let them have their fun." I say. "Tell them to send me a picture in case I need to fix something."
"I will." She nods before standing up. "Come on. I hate lingering here."
Crow and Jack are going to Martha's as something of a good luck gesture. I decided to join them, maybe some of it would rub off on Yusei.
"Martha, we came to visit." Crow shouts as we walk in, carrying groceries that had gotten for her before meeting up with me.
"Oh my!" She puts her hands to her face. "It's nice for you to come, Crow, Jack and Yuuka! Now that's a surprise!" She invites us into the dining room. She brings us cups of coffee. I know she specifically bought it in for us. Even in her old age, she still cares for us too much.
"Yusei couldn't come, I assume?" Saiga sighs.
"Yeah, he's busy with getting ready for the WRGP." Crow explains. "He wants to finish testing the new engine by today."
"How dare he keep working and not visit Martha before the preliminaries!" Jack scoffs. "I'm surprised you even came." He turns to me. "Given you two can barely spend an entire day apart."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask him, furrowing my eyebrows.
"You should learn from him!" Martha looks pointedly at Jack. "I heard from Zora that you can't keep a job!"
"I have no comment regarding that issue." Jack closes his eyes. Crow laughs.
"How are the kids? They're not here?" Crow asks, turning around in the chair.
"C'mon, you guys!" Martha says, looking at the door. Crow stands up as the kids come into the room, clearly hiding something.
"Did you forget to say hi to me?" Crow bends over, getting close to their level. The kids move apart slightly. They unfold a banner with a picture of Crow on the Blackbird drawn onto it. "Did you make this?" He asks, taken aback.
"They're so much trouble. They stayed up late to make it." Martha explains. I bite my lip, trying not to explode from the cuteness overload.
"We're going to bring this and cheer for you, Crow!" Kokoro smiles.
"Crow, do your best!" Taiga cheers.
"You better win!" Ginga says with a wide grin. The kids hold the banner up, and Crow takes it into his hands.
"He doesn't look like me at all." I hear the tears threatening to spill in his voice. "I look more like…" He takes all the kids in his arms, despite the fact his arms don't reach all the way. "Thank you!" Crow sounds like he's definitely going to cry. Jack hums.
"Jack, when you start acting like an adult, I'll make one for you." I laugh as Martha gives Jack a thumbs up.
"I don't want one!" He insists. Everyone starts laughing at his expense.
"Are you jealous?" Crow starts teasing Jack.
The next morning, Yusei and I head downstairs. Bruno's cooking breakfast for himself. Crow's aura is nowhere to be found, which is unusual considering he's not in work.
"Hey Bruno, do you know where Crow is?" I ask him.
"Crow left for early morning practice. The highways are empty at this time. He was full of vigor." He answers.
My phone buzzes. Emiko sends me of a picture of her team together in their riding suits that I made them. I smile. Worth the effort, I think. Anako, apparently, had the idea of using similar colour schemes throughout the outfits. There's lot of reds and blacks, with some pinks and purples thrown in for some variety. They look really well together. Then again, they all look good in those colours. I chose very different outfits for each of them. Despite that, there's a sense of uniformity about them. Underneath the photo, there's a caption. Team Delta! Ready to kick ass and take names!
Yusei's phone rings and I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. I throw on my riding pads. Crow crashed, he thinks that he broke his arm. We find Crow and Aki, sitting in a hallway, waiting to see a doctor. A cast already on his arm. Was she the first person he called? We get called inside the office. The doctor puts up the x-ray, showing us the damage.
"There's a crack in my shoulder bone?" Crow cries.
"Yes, it will take a month to heal." The doctor explains.
"A month?" Jack echoes.
"The preliminaries are in three days. You won't heal in time." Aki mutters under her breath. Crow clenches his fist.
"Do something!" Crow shouts. "I need to enter the tournament!"
"But…" The doctor's words trail off. He's unable to do anything.
"I don't care if I can never duel again!" Crow kneels in front of the doctor. "I don't care if I lose for the rest of my life! I just want to win this tournament!" He bows, his forehead nearly touching the floor. I bite my lip. It's hard to see your friend like this. "Please do something!"
"Enough with that nonsense!" The doctor shouts. "It's impossible for you to enter that tournament!"
"You quack! I won't ask for your help anymore!" Crow stands up, frowning. "I don't need this cast!" He touches his shoulder, only to scream. He hunches over in pain.
"Crow!" Aki and I reach out for him.
"Damn! Why now?" Tears start trailing down his face. "What am I going to tell them?" I freeze. His mind is only on the kids. I think of their banner and smiling faces.
Crow stands looking out the open shutter door at the rain. Everyone is silent. Aki's face scrunches up. She spends most of her time looking between Crow and I. What is she thinking?
"What are we going to do?" Jack breaks the silence, looking at Yusei. "Should just the two of us enter?"
"According to the tournament rules, if three people enter, you duel with 12000 life points. But if it's just two people, it's 8000 life points." Bruno explains as I sigh.
"That's too big of a handicap." Yusei says, shaking his head at Jack.
"Are you saying that we should give up?" There's venom in Jack's voice.
"No. We've come too far. I want to enter." Yusei answers. It's not just Crow that's hurting.
"My philosophy is that if I'm entering, I must win!" Jack slams his fist on the table and I jump slightly. "I won't duel to lose!"
The room goes silent again. Maybe I could join the team in Crow's place. No. I couldn't. I wouldn't be doing it out of a love of dueling or a drive to win. That's not how it should be. I feel bad. Yusei looks at me. I know he's thinking the same thing. He doesn't want to say it. He knows I would say no. His eyes tell me that. I look away from Yusei to Aki. She stares back at me. Her eyes suddenly widen as she realises something.
"Yusei, Jack." She steps forward. "I am also a member of Team 5D's. Let me enter."
"Aki!" I gasp.
"Are you serious?" Jack asks. Aki meets his eyes. There's a passion burning in her eyes, she nods. Jack smiles, shaking his head.
"That's a good idea!" Bruno sighs in relief. "Having three people is definitely more advantageous!"
"I know that I'm an inexperienced D-Wheeler." She says. "The world has opened up to me since I became one. But I have something to prove. Since the Fortune Cup, the world has thought of me as the Black Rose Witch. They think of me as a psychic duelist who can't control her powers and craves destruction. I want to show them how far I've come as a person. As Yuuka said, if I don't change their opinion of me, they'll always think of me the same way. That's why I want to do this. I want to do this to change the opinion of psychics everywhere." Aki takes off her right glove, baring her Signer mark. "You're my teammates, I want you to accept me. Please!"
"Aki." I mutter. I'm so proud of her. I smile at that thought. Crow starts walking outside.
"Wait, Crow!" Aki calls after him. He turns back, scowling.
"Be quiet! You can't understand how I feel!" Crow runs into rain. The garage falls into silence again.
"Still no sign of him?" I ask as we leave the garage, searching for Crow who still hasn't come back by the next morning.
"Yeah." Yusei answers.
"I'm worried." Bruno sighs. "He was very depressed."
"So he just runs off? He's like a child!" Jack scoffs. "Izayoi was also just talk!"
"Excuse me." I respond. "Aki was not just talk. She was completely serious. I know her best. She's been thinking about this for a while."
I think about my conversation with Aki after that. We drove home together. I ended up going with her to her front door. She told me that she had secretly wanted to enter the WRGP from the start. She never admitted that to anyone. She was too nervous to ask the guys to be their bench-warmer. She thought I already was. Those words that I had told all that time ago still stuck in her head. She wants to change everyone's opinion. Of psychics, of herself. Aki Izayoi really is something.
"Guys." I say as we pass our usual practice stop at the harbour. I spot Aki doing laps, with Crow in the centre. With a stopwatch, I imagine.
"Don't be scared! Or else, you won't be good enough to replace me!" I hear Crow, even from here.
"They made us worry over nothing!" Jack scoffs.
"We were overly anxious." I hear the smile in Bruno's voice.
"Aki, I entrust you with the kids' hopes, as well as mine!" My eyes widen. I can't believe Crow just said that.
"The third member of Team 5D's has been decided." Yusei looks at me and smiles.
"Hey Jack, you owe me a drink if they get together." I put on my best shit-eating grin.
"No!" He shouts. "I'm not getting into this again. I lost the last time and I'm not doing this again."
"C'mon." I pout at him. "Yusei, Bruno, anyone, please. I'll throw in some money too, why not?"
"Fine!" Jack shouts. "If you'll shut up."
I look back down at Aki and Crow, and smile. He trusts her with his kids. That's what he basically said. That says a lot, it really does. He might as well have said I trust you with my life. There must be a part of Aki that understands that, and maybe even responds to it.
I hear my phone buzzing in my storage compartment of my D-Wheel. The message transfers onto the monitor. A message from Takumi, I wonder what it says. The four words I dread hearing the most. We need to talk.