Heartaches

Chapter 84

By KellyQ

"This is it!" MC said watching Harald and Yusei ride to the starting line. "One loss and one tie! Let's hope that there is a winner!"

Harald glanced at Yusei. "God bless you, Yusei."

Yusei rolled his eyes. He wasn't in the mood for the pep talk.

"On your mark, get set, go!"

And both competitors were off. Smoke, dust, and carbon dioxide trailed behind the motorcycles. Yusei watched in awe at how Harald was handling his bike. Every move that he made was smooth and elegant. I didn't think about having a good look at how Harald rides his motorcycle before, he thought.

Harald's thoughts were similar as he watched Yusei. "You do have quality," he acknowledged, "and I'm sure that your father had some qualities before he died!"

Yusei sighed. That may have been true, but he was not like his father. Hakase was more open with his feelings, and he had a stronger will. Yusei shook his head to rid himself of negative thoughts of people comparing him to his father.

The race went on. The obstacles were different compared to the last race. They had to zigzag around cones, and leap over piles of gravel.

The crowd watched with anticipation, wondering who was going to finish the race. Both Yusei and Harald were close to the finish line—shoulder to shoulder. MC watched closely to see who was going to be the victor.

Suddenly, smoke started to emerge from Harald's motorcycle. He glanced behind, sighed, and he adverted his attention back to the race to see that you Yusei had crossed the finish line. The crowd was cheering and clapping as he rode to the pit stop.

"And our winner is our Shooting Star—Yusei Fudo!" MC announced with triumph.

Harald stirred his motorcycle into his pit stop and pulled his helmet off as Brave and Dragan walked up. Sebastian made his way over with a tray of tea in his hands, as the crowd was still cheering.

Harald got off his bike and made his way over to Yusei with his other teammates close behind. Crow and Jack also stood on each side of Yusei.

They gave each other a bow.

"You beat us fair," Harald admitted, taking Yusei's hand and brought it to his lips.

"I have an announcement to make!" MC spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "The next race will be held next week, because of Team New World not being fully established. The rules state: that you need to have three or more on a team. If you have two, you can't participate. Good luck!"

A dark smirk made its way to Primo's lips. He glanced down at Yusei and Bruno. The crowd was confused as they glanced at each other, before they got up and made their way out of the stadium. Carly, Mina, Trudge, Rally, Leo, Luna, and the orphan children came bustling down to congratulate them.

"Yusei!"

He and the others turned to see Rally and the others running toward them. Yusei smile when Rally jumped into his arms, almost knocking him over.

Brave smiled as well when he saw the children crowed around them, squawking and cheering. Brave averted his gaze to Crow and watched him interact with kids and he had to admit that it was cute. Brave also had to admit that he was not alone about wanting a better future for the next generation.

"Yusei," Harald finally spoke up getting everyone's attention, "you and your team need to be careful. Team New World maybe doing this on purpose so that they can find an opponent worthy of taking you guys down."

Jack scoffed in response, "let them find the strongest opponent! I will take them down myself!"

"I think that if we all work together, we'll beat any opponent that comes our way," Luna said, adding her opinion, glancing around the group. By now Yusei had put Rally down.

Harald also glanced around the group and extended his hand to Yusei. "We can help you train for the next race," he offered.

"That's a good idea!" Leo chimed in.

A confident look made its way to Yusei's face as he shook Harald's hand, "sure. We'll take you up on your offer, in exchange; we'll share half of the money with you guys."

"What? We need more then they do!" Jack protested, "what about getting new clothes and such—!"

Crow's snicker didn't go unnoticed. "Define new clothes—Jack. Because I do believe that—from the last time I looked—you don't wear half of your wardrobe."

Jack winced before he frowned at Crow who looked calm when he was finding it hard to believe that Jack worked hard on his behalf for the children's future.

"What are you saying?" Jack protested again, "of course I was thinking about the kids!"

Crow raised a calm eyebrow as he tried to refrain from snickering again. "Right," he muttered sarcastically.

"There's going to be enough for them and us, Jack—and you know it," Yusei spoke up, annoyed that his boyfriend and Crow would even want to start an argument over something like money. But than again—they would argue over silly stuff from how many cups of Ramen one could eat—to who was more heroic.

Jack grumbled under his breath, but he agreed nonetheless.

To Be Continued …