Heartaches

Chapter 11

By Kellyq

Rally blinked when he looked at himself in the mirror. He had on one of Mina's white shirts, and shorts. He stared at his own refection and sighed. Rally's knees were locked together, his hands were holding down the shirt, and his curly-red hair was combed. His body was thin and frail, and even though he was clean, faded cuts and bruises could be seen. It had been two days, and Rally was slowly starting to recover from what happened to him. He also got to know Mina, Jack, and Yusei.

"Why would they want to save someone like me?" he murmured to himself. "I'm nothing special."

Mina placed her soft slender warm hand on his shoulder. Rally shifted his gaze to the young woman. "You look fine. I promise."

Rally gazed back at his reflection as his hands nervously pulled the shirt down. "Its not that. I'm not used to wearing something like this."

Mina smiled. "When we get to the shopping mall, we'll get what you something you're used to wearing, which are dresses, right?"

Rally cringed. "I .. I know that's wrong ... but that's what I like to wear."

Mina was about to say some reassuring words when the door bell rang. Rally watched Mina walk out of the room with a blush on her pale cheeks. He followed her to the door, and she opened the it. A well fit, muscular man stood there. He had slanted hazel eyes, black hair, and his eye brows were shaped like a fat checkmarks. He wore a white shirt and a black coat, with black pants. In his hand was a single rose. This man went by the name of Trudge.

Mina blushed when he handed the rose to her. "Thanks," she murmured, smelling the flower.

Trudge smiled to her and eyed Rally for a moment. "So, that's him?" Mina nodded her head. "Let's go."

When they got to the mall, Rally stayed close to Mina. She led them to the clothing department. Rally loosened up and looked around. He walked over to the kids section and started to look at some dresses.

Trudge stared for a moment. "Uh - Mina, doesn't he know that he's a boy instead of a girl?" he murmured to her, watching Rally pick out an orange dress, and held it to his body to see if it would fit.

Mina was about to answer, but Rally beat her to the punch. "Mina? Can I try on this?"

The young woman smiled. "Sure."

Rally's face lit up as he turned and went to the fitting room to try it on. Mina and Trudge followed the boy and waited for him to come out. After a few seconds of waiting, Rally came out. The dress had long laces at the bottom and a 'v' shape collar.

Rally twirled around like a ballerina. "What do you think?"

Mina smiled. "It looks great on you. How does it feel?"

Rally smiled. "I like it." he paused for a momnet and his smile faded when he remembered Jack and Yusei. What if they didn't approve of him waring a dress?

Mina watched the boy closely. "Is everything alright?"

Rally fidgeted for a second before he hesitated to answer. "H-how will I tell Jack and Yusei that I like to wear dresses?"

"I don't know Mr. Fudo that well to tell a straight answer, but Jack can care less if you wear a dress," Mina answered.

The three came back to Jack's condo three hours later to see Yusei's motorcycle parked. Trudge glared at the vehicle with mild hate and disgust.

"Trudge ..." came Mina's voice, snapping the man out of his thoughts. He turned his full attention to her. "Thanks for the nice time and the flower."

Trudge scratched the back of his head nervously and a light blush made its way to his cheeks. Rally watched for a moment, grabbed the two bags and headed to the door. He knocked a few times and smiled when Yusei opened the door. The older teen smiled and stepped out of the way and Rally walked in. Yusei closed the door and left it unlocked as he watched Rally put the bags on the floor.

"Did you have fun going shopping?" Yusei asked. Rally nodded his head, the uneasy feeling returned to his gut. Yusei's expression softened. "You don't have to show me if you don't want to," he said softly.

Rally bit his lip, "If I show them, promise you won't laugh at me?"

Yusei's expression didn't change as he reassured the child, he wasn't going to make fun of him. Rally's face lit up and he grabbed the bag. He turned and walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Yusei waited for a moment and the door to the bathroom open at the same time the front door. Yusei did a quick glance to see Mina walk in. His eyes shifted back to the bathroom and Rally walked out wearing the orange dress.

"Do you like it," Rally asked, twisting his body, a blush on his soft cheek.

"It looks great, Rally. Orange is a nice color on you," Yusei complimented.

Rally chuckled, feeling totally relaxed. He spun around like a ballerina. "I like orange! It's one of my favorite colors! Besides blue."

Mina observed the whole thing quietly, and that was when she noticed that Jack wasn't present. "Where's Mr. Atlus?"

"He's keeping his end of the bargain he made with Godwin," Yusei informed, facing her. "If he takes Carly out on a few outings, Godwin will help with our friend and help us find out who hurt Rally."

He bit his lip. "I'm okay," Rally reassured in a small voice. The two turned their full attention to the child. "You guys don't have to go that far for me."

Yusei stepped up and knelt down to Rally's eye level and touched his cheek. "You're a sweet kid, Rally, and you remind me a lot of myself when I was your age - But what happened to you was not okay."

Rally looked away. "I ... I know. It's ... just that I don't remember what fully happened. That's all."

Yusei pulled Rally close and held him tenderly in his arms. Mina watched for a moment and smiled. I'm glad that Jack has someone like Mr. Fudo. I just hope that when Carly finds out she'll understand, Mina thought.

To Be Continued ...