BAYSIDE at midnight

Later…

"Yūsei! Aki-neesan!" Rua exclaimed as he and Ruka ran up to them at their meeting place. "You're both here so early. Did you guys even go anywhere tonight?"

"Yes, we did," Aki replied, a big smile still on her lips. "I went with Yūsei around the lake, remember? We even went by boat on the way back. It was lovely." At this, Ruka momentarily cast her eyes down to the ground but didn't say anything.

"WHAAAT?!" At a food stand just around the corner from them, Crow suddenly cried out in disbelief. "But I didn't even eat that much!" Slamming both hands onto the counter, he continued to exclaim, "There has to be a mistake! Let me see… arrrgh!" He reached over the counter, paying no heed to the food items he could knock over. "Let me see the bill!"

Aki giggled at her friend's carelessness. "It looks like Crow has forgotten; the cost can accumulate quickly if he's not careful. But isn't that Crow for you?"

Yūsei simply nodded, smiling despite himself. He was actually smiling; perhaps it was even wide enough to brighten up someday's day. Ruka's eyes slightly widened for he rarely ever smiled, but sadly turned away when once she realised he was looking at Aki.

Some smiles are just reserved for a special someone.

"Hey, where's Jack?" Rua spoke up. "Is he still at—"

"GIVE ME BACK MY RAMEN!" someone yelled from the far distance. "OR YOU WILL FACE THE WRATH OF RED DEMON'S!" A loud crash! ensued, possibly a chair being thrown, and there was a yelp. "NOOO, MY RAMEN! Why must you spill yourself onto the ground?" Hysterical sobs could be heard.

"That certainly sounds like him, alright," Aki continued to giggle. "He seems to be having fun."

"Really?" Rua asked, ears perking up. "Doesn't seem like it…"

"It's called 'sarcasm', Rua," his sister elbowed him. "If you don't know what it is, don't ask."

"Geez, Ruka, what's gotten into you?" the boy complained. "You still haven't told me what you thought of my new dragon action-figure. It's so cool, I tell you! It even spits out gold metal balls if you insert them inside!" Her brother was chattering away and demonstrating his new toy to no one in particular. Ruka turned away with a sigh as Yūsei looked at her with what seemed like concern in his eyes.

"It's time to go home," he said. "People are leaving and the shops are beginning to close. I hope you all had a great time."

"Yeah, I sure did! See, I got a new dragon to add to my collection!" Rua cheered, holding up his prized possession. "And Ruka... Ruka got… uh, what did you get?" He turned to face his sister just to find that she was not by his side, but rather she had migrated to the fence to gaze out at the lake.

"Ahh, Ruka didn't get anything, but I think she had fun anyways," he reassured the others.

"Ruka has been acting strange lately," Aki observed. "Perhaps she's not feeling well."

Rua nodded in agreement. "That might be it! Come on, Ruka!" he called out to her. "Let's go home!" With a quick wave to the older teenagers with him, he quickly ran off.

Aki sighed, watching the twins disappear into the night. "I'm worried about Ruka… "

"Uh," was his way of voicing agreement. Then he did something that outright surprised her – he reached over and took her hand in his, giving her a little squeeze of assurance. "Everything will be alright. Ruka's always been a strong girl, she can pull through anything. In the meantime, we should be heading home as well; the fun tonight is over—"

"Oi!" The two turned to find Crow dragging himself over. "I can't believe it… all that money spent on that food just to have that guy forfeit! And I was about to win!"

"Not everyone can eat as much as you and be able to hold it all in," Jack said as he walked over to the rest of them. "After all, you eat like a pig who hasn't seen food all his life!"

"Oh, yeah?" Crow challenged. "Did you see yourself tonight? I'd rather eat like a pig than act like a slave over ramen!"

Jack's eyes literally bulged out at the derogatory comment. "What did you say?!" he roared, raising his fists as Crow did the same.

"Bring it on, ramen slave!" he challenged.

"Looks like the fun isn't over for them yet," Yūsei chuckled.

"At this rate, the night won't ever end for those two," Aki smiled. "Let's go, Yūsei." This time it was her turn to take his hand in hers and the two walked into the summer moonlight reflecting off calm waters of the bay.

END

Well, folks! That's the end of this short story. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. ^_^

Thank you all so much for your support!