Morning comes, just as it always does.

That doesn't make me feel anyway better.

I must have blacked out while I was crying, a somewhat normal occurrence. Because one second, the only light was coming from the garage, and the next second, all of it is streaming from the window. No one's up yet, so it still must be early.

I hear Yusei put his foot on the bottom step of the stairs going up to the kitchen. It creaks as he withdraws his foot, not going any further.

I'm still angry at him. I didn't want to hurt him by ignoring him completely, but he needs to know that I still am upset and angry because of what he did. Saying that he's sorry doesn't change the fact that he promised me that he'd come out of the duel alive, only to try and sacrifice himself as soon as the duel was over. No amount of apologises could ease that pain.

It must be because he knows that I'm still here. He knows that I don't want to see him, at least for a little bit. I look at him, and I see Z-One. Separating him from the other Yusei and Z-One is going to be hard. Will I ever accomplish it? It seems unlikely. The resemblance between them is uncanny. Even now, I'm having a hard time remembering which memories belong to which Yusei. Even their markers are the same, which doesn't make anything easier on me.

Jack comes into the kitchen, and the first thing he does is look out the window into the courtyard. He scoffs and walk over to the kitchenette and put on the kettle.

"Want a cup?" He asks, not looking at me.

I say nothing.

He places a cup of black coffee on the coffee table in front of the loveseat. He walks down into the garage with his cup. At least he's drinking instant coffee now. That cafe across the courtyard must be closed. I hear Jack and Yusei talking in the garage. Their voices are quiet so I can't hear what they're saying. Yusei must have slept on the couch last night. Did he avoid going into the kitchen last night because of me? Probably.

Crow comes down next. He takes one look at me and flinches. "Mornin' Yuuka." He sighs when he doesn't get a response. I glance at him, he doesn't look particularly surprised. I look at the cup of coffee, still on the table, in front of me. Crow looks at it too. It's no longer steaming. I can almost tell just by looking at it that's it's cold. His head whips around when he hears Yusei and Jack in the garage, so he goes downstairs.

I'm left alone again.

That's what I want, isn't it? Just to be alone with my memories that doesn't belong to me, so I'm not forced to relive them every time I look at someone. But that's impossible. There's nowhere I can go in this City where I am completely alone. Her City looks almost identical to mine. Her friends look the way mine do. The line where she starts and I end is very blurred, to the point where I question if there is a line in the first place.

I get up off the loveseat up shakily. I hobble over to the kitchenette. I stand there, looking at the kettle. I'm not hungry in the slightest. I can't remember the last time I ate. I should probably have some coffee. No. I don't want coffee. The caffeine will only make me more aware of my surroundings. I don't want that. I don't want to be reminded of who I am and who I'm with at this particular time. I sit down on the floor and open the cabinet beneath the sink. I rustle around between all the bottles of bleach. I hear a glass bottle cling against a wall. I grasp the top of the bottle and pull it out from the back of the cupboard. I turn the bottle around in my hands. I'm grateful that I stocked an emergency supply somewhere where the guys would never think to look, since I'm the only one who ever seems to clean around here. I hear the garage open and slam shut. I jump a little at the sudden noise, but it doesn't actually bother me that much. I don't care who sees me like this. I'm depressed and I can drink vodka straight from the bottle before noon if I want to.

"Where is she?" Kaoru's voice booms from the garage. "She hasn't called me, and I know she's alive." The guys answer all at once that I'm upstairs. I hear the sound of Kaoru jogging up the stairs. I stand up and place the unopened bottle of vodka on the kitchen counter.

"Yuuka?" I hear him call. "Yuuka-"

He stops the second he sees me. I stand looking at him from the kitchenette. His eyes widen once he realises that it's me.

"What- What happened?" He asks me, barely above a whisper. I shake my head, I already feel the tears burning in my eyes. I remember the last exchange that I had with him. I told him what he should do if I didn't return from the Ark Cradle. But I'm here now, for better or for worse. He practically tackles me into a hug. The tears start rolling down my face, soaking the shoulders of his jacket. Sobs rack my entire body, leaving my body writhing in pain. Kaoru rubs my back in an attempt calm me down. He tries to use words, but they don't register in my brain. I cry until I run out of tears and I'm left shaking and out of breath.

Kaoru pulls away from me and pats my head. His eyes widen again. "Your hair…" He says. I meet his eyes. I don't say anything. "Yuuka, your eyes, they're different." I take a step back. Kaoru pulls out the camera on his phone, handing it to me. I pull down my bottom lid and stare at my own eyes. I let go of the lid and have a sharp intake of breath. My pupils are rimmed with orange, surrounded by their regular magenta eye colour. I stare back at my own face in the camera. "What happened? That colour… It's the colour they turn when you start using your powers too much. What happened when you were gone, Yuuka?"

I shake my head, stepping further and further back until my back hits the wall.

Everything just keeps getting worse. Not only did my hair change, so did my eyes? It must have been the Crimson Dragon, I realise. The others would have noticed the change when the other Yuuka appeared. Aki was right beside me, she looked me right in the eyes. No. The Crimson Dragon did this when it gave me the full brand. It was too powerful for me, a non-Signer, to bare. So, it left me like this. What did I do to deserve this? Couldn't have Z-One just saved Yusei himself and I die because I fell off the Ark Cradle?

Kaoru walks forward, pulling me into a hug again. My body starts full-on trembling. He tells me that everything's going to be okay, but I don't believe him. I let myself feel numb, I try to separate myself from everything that's going on. My body stops shaking and Kaoru lets me go. He pats me on the head again.

"Come on." He starts going back towards the stairs. I want to tell him to stop but no words escape my mouth. I still can't speak. I haven't spoken since I got off the Ark Cradle and blacked out. I can't make the words leave my lips, no matter how much I want to speak. "Please tell me that's all over." Kaoru says, walking down the stairs back into the garage.

"What's all over?" Crow asks, rubbing his hands over his cheeks. He looks like shit, to be honest. I'm only noticing it now.

"That Z-One guy, or whatever his name was." Kaoru waves his hand. He seems different then I remember him. Though what I remember is something I'm entirely sure about now. "Please tell me that he's dead."

"Yeah, he went out with the Ark Cradle." Crow sighs and brushes a hand through his mop of hair.

"Good." Kaoru answers. "He deserves to rot in a ditch."

No.

"That's what he gets for trying to destroy the City."

"No!" The word leaves my mouth with venom. I almost choke it out. But I see the look on everyone's face. They know what I meant.

"No." I repeat again. I try to take a deep breath. But it does nothing to calm me down. Any attempt to numb myself is foiled. My body is shaking and I can't control myself. I feel my powers rising and falling like the tide, about to burst forth. "You don't knew him like I did. How could you say that? You don't know what he went through!"

"Yuuka…" Kaoru's eyes are wide and focusing all over my face. His face hardens a little. "I don't care if he's Yusei from the future, or some random maniac pretending to be him. He's still a psychopath who tried to destroy the City."

"Excuse you! You don't know what he went through! None of you do!" I start shouting. My throat feels raw after not talking for days. "And you're glad he's dead. You're pretending he was some fantasy villain, and not a person like you or me. He still had feelings! I can't believe you. Any of you!"

"Yuuka!"

My body starts running for the door. People try to grab my arm but I shake them off. I feel my powers fluctuating. My eyes are burning, but I don't know if that's from my powers or the tears. I start running. My lungs feel like they're on fire. I taste blood in my mouth. I feel like death.

I find myself standing where I saw the Ark Cradle disappear.

The sky is empty except for some wispy clouds. I sit down on the bench and catch my breath. My body starts heaving the way it used to. I feel my breath catching. I feel like shit.

I sit there.

I keep sitting there.

You don't know him like I did.

That's what I said. Like I did. That's the bit that gets me. That phrase keeps the scene replaying in my mind over and over again. Am I that other Yuuka? The more I think about it, the more I feel like I am. I'm finding it harder and harder to draw the line between where she ends and I start. But that line's blurry. It's so far away that I'm questioning if there was a line in the first place.

I can't tell you what memories are hers, and what ones are mine. Obviously, anything with the Satellite and duel gangs is mine. But if that isn't at the forefront of the memory, it's a lot harder. Which Yusei is mine? Which Aki is mine? Which Crow is mine? Which Jack is mine?

I don't know.

I don't know who I am anymore.

Who am I? Really.

I can't answer that question right now. I know things I shouldn't. I remember an entire lifetime that isn't mine. I'm sitting here questioning if Aki likes scrambled eggs or not, whether Crow is actually a Signer or not, and why Jack chose the name Atlas because that's not his real name. Whether or not my Yusei still loves me or not.

Clearly he doesn't.

He tried to sacrifice himself for the City without even thinking about me for even a split second. He's making so angry right now that I can't even look at him.

Clearly he does.

He kissed my left ring finger before he left. He looked genuinely sorry for what he did. He said he still loves me.

No he doesn't.

If he loved me, he wouldn't have tried to kill himself. But he did. He didn't think about me at all. He broke his promise without a second thought. If he loved me, none of this would have happened.

I start crying, harder than before. I stop breathing in places because my sobs are so violent. I verge on blacking out too. I cry so hard that it suddenly turns to night time and I don't even notice a thing.

Yusei doesn't love me.

That's all I can think about.

The city lights at night highlight the railings of the little plateau I'm on. I walk towards the edge of it and grab the railings. I look in the direction of the city centre. I can see the damage from the Ark Cradle. We lost a couple skyscrapers, some are just very damaged but still there. But the rest of the City is generally untouched. I managed to save most of it. Most of it.

I look over the railings. This little plateau is high enough that the fall could kill me, I reckon. That would be great, I think to myself. All of my problems going away just like that. Yusei wouldn't have to deal with me anymore, nobody would. I'm just a wreck now.

I jump up onto the railings, my feet balancing me on the somewhat thin pole. I look down beneath me. Solid grey concrete. I would die if I fell, I'm fairly certain.

"You promised me you wouldn't try to kill yourself again." I look to my right and see Shinji leaning on the railings. His normally slicked-back hair is falling into his face, it doesn't move in the breeze. He doesn't look at me at all, keeping his gaze on the City.

"I mean I did but…"

"I can't save you this time, Yuuka. I can't cut the noose now."

"I know you can't but…"

"Then why are you here?" I look to my left and Reika is there. I quickly glance the other way and Shinji has disappeared. "You said you never wanted to end up in this place again."

"Because I messed everything up, it can't go back to the way things were. Yusei doesn't love me anymore."

"Things change, and you do too." Emiko suddenly appears on my other side. My head whips over again. Am I dreaming? I blink slowly. The vision of Emiko blurs slightly. "You say you've ruined things before, but you've fixed them. Why not now?"

"Because it's gone too far. Yusei and I can't be together anymore."

"Why?" Kenta asks. That's it, I'm actually dreaming now. Game over. "He says that he's sorry for breaking your trust. You want to forgive him. Why don't you?"

"Because he hurt me. Because of that, our lives are ruined."

"Ruined?" Felix echoes. "Why is this such a big deal? It's just some memories, they might as well be fake ones."

"Because I feel everything she felt. Everytime I look at anything, I'm reminded of something she saw or felt. There's no me without her now. My life is changed forever."

"But she's a reminder of where you need to go." Jasper starts talking. I look away from Felix to him. "A reminder of what will happen, should you choose to do nothing."

"What can I do? I'm not a scientist like Yusei, or famous like Jack. I'm nobody."

"You're not just nobody, you're Yuuka Sasaki." Ben retorts. "You convinced every gang leader in the City to give you their territory. That accounts for something. You have a way of making people see your point of view."

"I only did that because Raiden wanted me to. I just played along in his plan. That's what I've always done. Everyone just uses me. Raiden, Takumi, Z-One, the other Yuuka. Everyone just uses me."

"Raiden? Why does it always lead back to Raiden with you?" Anako asks. "You're so hung up on him. Why?"

"Because he's defined every part of me. Everything I am now is because of him. Now he's gone and I'm nothing now. I have no identity. I'm just a nobody."

"Are you sure?" Miguel asks. "If so, then make something of yourself. Why are you here?"

"Because I don't know how to go on. There is no going on. I have no future. The other Yuuka took away my future by giving me her memories. I can't go towards the future if I don't know who I am. I'll just spend my life worrying if my future is going to be as bad as hers. Raiden took away my past. Everything I do now is a result of him. He hurt me so bad that I can't sleep at night. There is no me without him and now he's gone."

"Is this really because of me?" Everything slows down as Raiden appears. I look over at him. The wind blows gently, his bangs move with it. He looks towards the City coolly as if it belongs to him, and he doesn't even care. "You think everything that happened to you is because of me? You becoming a Dark Signer? You getting involved with Z-One?"

"No, that was all me."

"You're blaming Yusei and I, but you came here on your own."

"Yes."

"You say you want to end it all, but what will that change?"

"No one will have to deal with me anymore." I look back at my Neo Domino City. "I'm a broken mess of a person now, they're better off."

"Are they?" Raiden asks. "Yusei needs you. He only feels more guilty now. He'd have caused your death, not once, but twice. He feels guilty because of Z-One, and Bruno too. Even moreso for the Zero Reverse now because of that."

"But he hurt me the way you hurt me. He told me he'd never do that."

"People make mistakes, you know that better than anyone."

Silence.

"Maybe you're right." I answer. "I need Yusei. He's my sun, my moon, my stars. My rock. I need him more than anything." I take a deep breath. "And he needs me. He may have fucked up, but so have I. We've recovered from me coming back from the dead to kill him. He forgave me for that, even though he shouldn't have. Who's to say that we can't recover from this? He can earn back my trust. You know why?" I look at Raiden, who almost seems frozen in my dreamlike vision. "Because we love each other. There's nothing stronger than that." I take a deep breath. "I love him, and he loves me. I know that now."

Raiden smiles at me. I can see pain in his eyes. But I put that up him not actually being here. I know he's not here. This is only a vision created by my brain because I am mentally ill and delusional.

Then, I get tackled to the ground. Something- Someone grabs me by the legs, pulling me down from the railings. I land on my shoulder, which takes most of the blow.

"Just what did you think you were doing up there!?"

"What's it look like?" I reply sarcastically. The pain in my shoulder tells me that I'm not dreaming. I really just got tackled off the railings mid-suicide attempt. In fairness, I did calm down up there. But they don't know that.

"It looks like you were about to fling yourself off the railings to your death. After someone promised me that they'd never do that again."

"Shut up Takumi, why do you care?"

"Why do I care? Because I'm your friend."

"If you're not with me, you're against me. Exact words." Takumi rolls me over onto my back and hovers over me so I have to look at him. I just close my eyes. At least his head blocks out the street lights.

"You know what, Yuuka? That doesn't matter right now." I open my eyes in surprise. That's unlike Takumi. Apparently he didn't stop talking about his plans for world domination. Why would he now? "You're still my friend. I may have been an asshole-"

"May?"

"I was an asshole, but you need me right now. So we're putting that behind us at least for a minute or two."

"That's a surprise." Takumi grabs my arm and pulls me up so I'm sitting up. I look through the gaps in the railings at the City lights.

It hits me what I almost did, and I start sobbing again. Takumi sits down beside me and rubs my back. The sobs only become more violent so he pulls me into a hug.

I tried to kill myself.

Again.

After I promised so many people that I wouldn't. Oh gods, what are they going to think? How could I be that stupid? I have things I want to do and see. Not even that. I would have been leaving Yusei behind. I love him more than anything in this world, and I forgot about that? I feel awful. Takumi gets me to stop hyperventilating. He makes me take deep breaths, guiding me through it. He rubs my back and counts backwards from ten.

It stops eventually. I sit there on the concrete. Somewhere in there, Takumi made me sit with my back against the railings. So I feel the cold bars on my back. I try focus on that. It's something tying me to the real world that's around me.

"Yuuka?" Takumi asks.

"Yeah?" I mutter.

"Why?"

"You wouldn't believe me."

"Try me."

"In the Ark Cradle, I saw a future version of me." I sigh, not even looking at Takumi's face. "One that was attached to Z-One. They sacrificed themselves to save the City. I was going to throw myself into the reactor to stop it falling, and to stop Yusei from doing it. They stopped me and Yusei. She imprinted herself on me before that. She left me all of her memories. I can't tell what's real and not real anymore. Yusei promised me that he wouldn't walk to his death, and broke that promise. I don't know if I can ever trust him again. Honestly, there's too much going on right now. I don't know how to deal with it. I don't know how to move on."

Silence.

"Interesting."

"I nearly killed myself, and all you can say is interesting?" I chuckle to lighten the mood. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"I believe you." I turn to look at Takumi. "Know that at least."

"Interesting." I reply.

"Please go get help, Yuuka."

"Takumi, I'll be in a straitjacket before I can say alternate future."

"I don't know, but I just want you to get help. You need it."

"I know."

Silence. My stomach rumbles and I hide my face in embarrassment. Takumi looks at me completely serious, eyebrows raised.

"Are you back on your bullshit again? How long? A day?"

"Like two, probably."

"I'm gonna go find something for you to eat, you stay here."

He gets up before I can even say something, so I just let him. I sit there and listen to the sounds of the City. My Neo Domino City. I suppose the City is truly mine now. I conquered all of it, and now I've saved it from being wiped from history. No one can take it away from me now. It's mine and mine alone.

That's not quite right.

It's mine and Yusei's City. It's ours.

It will never be taken from me now. I've fought tooth and nail for this City, I've given up everything for it. Saying it didn't belong to me would be a lie.

I hear Takumi running back towards me before he says anything. I spot the familiar logo of the local burrito place on the side of the brown paper bag. He takes the tinfoil-wrapped burrito out of the bag and hands it to me.

"I figured that's what you would have wanted."

"I'm not gonna say no," I say as I take the burrito. I tear the tinfoil and take a bite as quick as I can. My stomach is in pain from the hunger.

"Man, you just really love burritos, don't you?" Takumi raises an eyebrow and smirks as he makes his shitty joke.

"No, that's you. You're the gay man here." Takumi laughs and goes to respond, but I cut him off. "Mention my brother and I swear I'll beat you up."

"Come on, I'm not that bad. We've been dating for like two days, give me a break."

I look at Takumi, who stares right back at me. The conversation dies, leaving us in silence. I used to be great friends with him. I feel almost disappointed that we're not anymore. We confided a lot in each other, and now there's nothing. He's kind of the only person who really knows what happened with Raiden, and I know everything that happened with him. I know by the silence that he feels the same way.

"I'm sorry." Takumi looks in my eyes as he says but then quickly looks away before he continues. "I did a very shitty thing, I know I fucked up and I'm sorry."

"Wait what?"

"Y'know, I thought I could change the world by taking it over, if you will. It was a stupid idea, and I regret even coming up with it in the first place. I'm sorry for all of the pain I've caused to you, and to Kenta too."

"Wow," I mutter. "Wasn't expecting that."

"That's what Kaoru said too." Takumi huffs in something resembling a laugh.

"You already said that to him?" I raise an eyebrow. "I would imagine that we react the same to a lot of things."

"He was there when I realised it."

"When was that?"

"It was when we were being evacuated." Takumi stares at nothing in particular in front of him. "Kaoru was practically having an anxiety attack. He was worried about you, the Ark Cradle, everything. I was trying to calm him down, but nothing was really working. So, I kissed him and told him I loved him. In that moment, it was like everything went away. He had this big smile on his face, and he was only looking at me. In that moment, I realised something."

Takumi goes silent for a second, he smiles.

"Sometimes, you have to learn to stop fighting and protect what you already have."

"That's gay." I blurt out the first thing that comes into my head. Takumi's eyes narrow as his brain registers what I said.

"And there goes the nice moment."

"It's true though, you're gay."

"We all know this, Yuuka."

"You were never in the closet in the first place."

"Neither were you."

"That is true."

Takumi chuckles and shakes his head.

"I missed this," he says.

"Me too." The silence returns but it's more comfortable, I sigh feeling a little better. We continue eating our burritos. The sounds of the City are dulled tonight. Everything isn't back to normal yet, but it will soon. I know that. Things heal and change. Yusei and I, our relationship, will be okay, that's for certain.

"You think you can stand?" Takumi asks me, throwing his tinfoil into the brown paper bag. I do the same.

"Eh." I shrug my shoulders. "I'm kind of scared to go, if we're being honest."

"This is honesty hour, after all." Takumi says, standing up. He throws the brown paper bag into a nearby trash can. "But I think you need to go back. I've seen Yusei today, he's not looking too good."

"What do you mean?"

"He looks like shit, roughly as bad as you I reckon."

"Oh geez." I grit my teeth slightly. "That's not good." I remember how I flat out refused to even look at him last night. I feel bad, and honestly, I deserve it.

"I don't know what happened between you two, but you need to talk about it. You look pretty guilty right now." Takumi holds his hand out for me to stand up. I take it and stumble a little as I stand up.

"I imagine both of us are feeling that way." I answer while sighing.

"Come on, everyone's out looking for you." Takumi starts walking, forcing me to throw my arm over his shoulder to keep me balanced.

"They are?" I raise my eyebrows and make a face. "I didn't mean for this to happen."

"I know, but you have been gone for a good few hours. Kaoru thought you had blacked out somewhere because he couldn't hear your thoughts. Surprisingly, he called me for help. So, if anyone asks, you happened to find me on the way back. Cause I know all of your friends want to beat me up."

"Sure, sure." I nod my head slowly and sigh again.

By the time that I can barely see Poppo Time, I can already feel everyone stressing out. Takumi opens the door for me, and I can practically feel everyone's heads whipping around before the disappointed.

"Excuse me." Takumi says, walking further inside. "Don't look at me like that. Look who I brought."

"Yuuka!" Everyone seems to shout out in unison.

"Where were you?" Aki runs up to me and grabs my arms. Her nails dig into me a little and I flinch. "We were so worried. What were you doing?"

"Hey, hey, leave her alone for just a minute." Takumi tries to get Aki off me. Her eyes widen a little before her brows furrow. "She's been through a lot, you're scaring her. She doesn't have to say what she was doing if she doesn't want to, okay?"

"And who do you think you are?" Aki takes her hands off me, turning her attention to Takumi. "Do you know what you did to her? You betrayed her and you made Kaoru do the same."

"Aki, this isn't the time for this." Aki's head whips around as Crow tries to step between them. "You can yell at him another time." Her eyes narrow, but she stands down. She hunches a little as she crosses her arms.

"Thank you, Takumi." Yusei says, cutting in. I hear the sincerity in his voice. He knows what I was about to do for certain. I look at him for the first time since coming in. I have to bite my lip as I feel my heart sink. Takumi was right. He looks like a mess. He's gotten rid of the clothes he normally wears for a plain t-shirt that's a little too big for him and jeans. I can see the bags under his eyes from across the room. I didn't think it would be this bad.

"Why is he here though?" I hear the frustration in Kenta's voice. "We're here for Yuuka, but somehow Takumi makes it all about himself like always." I see Yusei's eyes widen slightly as he stands beside Kenta.

"Who's gonna tell him?" Crow looks to me, before looking at Kaoru.

"Not me." Kaoru jumps in immediately.

Kenta looks to Kaoru who turns away. His eyes move around the room before landing on me, and then they widen.

"No, please don't tell me..." Kenta stares right at me. I feel compelled to say something, so I do. The only way I know how, over-exaggerated sarcasm.

"Dude, did you not know that Kaoru and Takumi were dating the entire time?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Kenta's eyes close for a second before turning to look at Takumi. "You could have waited longer than a month."

"Then, who's that?" Takumi points towards Miguel who has been standing silent besides Kenta the entire time. Miguel has started looking at the ceiling.

"So, Takumi…" I turn around, putting on a fake laugh to make the situation less awkward. "You know Phantom Riders' Miguel, right? You remember him, don't you?"

"You know?" Takumi asks me. "Since when?"

"Around the same time that we started…" Kaoru starts answering but he doesn't realise that the question was directed at me.

"How do you know?" Takumi squints at Kaoru. "And you didn't tell me?"

"It wasn't exactly my place to tell you?"

"Okay, that's it!" Crow starts pushing Takumi out the door. "Get your relationship dramas out of my house. Goodnight everybody! Thanks for helping, but you're no longer needed. Bye!"

"You have my number, Yuuka. Call me, okay?" Kenta says before he walks out with Miguel. His eyes tell me that he knows what happened. There was an urgent tone in his voice, like he has something to talk about. Kaoru tries to start talking to me, but Crow practically slams the door shut. I hear Kenta yelling outside but it gets further away so I think I'm good. Miguel is strong, he should be able to handle it.

"Oh gods, that was awkward." Crow sighs.

"Tell me about it." Aki chips in, while Jack merely scoffs. It's then I notice the lack of the twins. Do they know why I went missing? Do they know what I was doing, and know not to include the kids? Probably, given my history.

"Are you going to tell us what you were doing?" Jack cuts straight to the point. I look at him and I flinch. He's angry. I remember the conversation I had with him once. He's been where I am now, he knows what I'm going through.

I don't respond. I just stare right back at him.

"Yuuka." He says with a little more force.

"Jack," Yusei interjects, "she doesn't have to answer if she doesn't want to."

"Fine." Jack sneers slightly. "We'll talk about this tomorrow." He trots off upstairs just like that.

I see Crow and Aki looking at each other before glimpsing at me and Yusei.

"You know, I better head home." Aki says to Crow. "It's been a long day-"

"You're completely right." Crow cuts her off, nodding furiously. I can see what they're doing. They're giving me and Yusei some alone time, but could at least just say that. But that would involve having normal friends. "I'm going to go to bed. G'night you guys!" Aki gets onto her D-Wheel. The two of them all but fly out of the garage.

There's a beat of silence.

It's just Yusei and I.

I take a seat on the couch. Yusei's still standing in the middle of the garage, looking a little disoriented. I manage to catch his gaze. He seems a little more relaxed when he notices me actually making eye contact with him. He takes a deep breath and a seat beside me. He hunches forward a little and twiddles his thumbs together. There's a noticeable pause. I keep expecting him to say something, but it never comes.

"I didn't mean to worry you." I look down at my hands before turning my gaze to Yusei. He freezes for a second before staring at me, not expecting me to say anything. His hands move out of his lap and onto the couch. I cover one of his hands with my own. His eyes, looking quite wide, jump between my face and our hands. "What?" A chuckle escapes my mouth.

"Didn't expect that, that's all." His shoulders relax as he smiles. He takes his hands away from mine and rubs his face. "It's been a long day."

"Yeah, I can imagine." The soft smile on my face fades. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise," Yusei shakes his head. "It's not your fault."

"Fine," I answer, "I'm not gonna argue with you tonight." Yusei raises his eyebrows a little. I'd be very surprised if I were in his shoes, to be honest. I slip my shoes off and curl my knees up to my chest.

"Come here." Yusei stretches his arm out, and I scooch over on the couch so I'm right next to him. I lean into him. He pulls my legs over his lap and tightens his arms around me. I feel his heartbeat, it's quite fast. It feels good to be so close to Yusei again. As angry as I felt, I still missed this. "I'm not going to make you talk about what happened." Yusei whispers softly. "You can tell me when you're ready."

"We're gonna be okay, aren't we?" I whisper, closing my eyes.

"Yeah." He answers, pulling ever so closer.