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Chapter 2: Reporter Reporting
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It's a few days later. The red carpet preview for Jack's movie, Atlas Rising, is currently on T.V., and Jack asks Mina to leave them alone again. His handler glances at him and Yusei with suspicion, but despite whatever protests she might have, she still leaves.
Yusei, who manages to leave the hospital in the early hours of the morning to retrieve clothes and snacks—and ramen, in Jack's case, as he can't stand the hospital food—is dressed differently today. She's wearing a red sweater and white shorts (borrowed, she tells him) and Jack finds himself actually liking the change. He refuses to say anything about it, though.
She has her legs crossed and is watching the movie preview with her chin resting in one hand. She turns to him with a raised eyebrow and asks, "Atlas Rising? Who's idea was that?"
"Goodwin's," Jack responds with a grimace as the man himself appears on the screen and welcomes the audience with a flourish. "… It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Yusei doesn't hassle him about it, instead giving a conceding tilt of her head and going back to watching the preview. As Goodwin speaks, Jack eases his way out of bed; he's recovered enough, and it's just his arm that is still a problem.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you: what is a king? What qualities does a king possess? What does it take to make it to the top? All these questions shall be answered in Atlas Rising, the cinematic documentation of Jack Atlas' ascension into glory…"
Jack comes to stand beside Yusei, who looks up at him from her seat and smiles.
"You're looking better," she says, and he nods.
He begins, "I feel better—," but he's interrupted when a voice from the television exclaims, "Excuse me, Director Goodwin! The narration for the preview just said that Jack Atlas was born in the Tops; it's a bit odd, isn't it? Did you not know that Mr. Atlas was born in the Satellite, like current champion Yusei Fudo?"
Jack freezes, and Yusei looks at the television with wide eyes. The crowd bursts into a flurry of questions and exclamations as Goodwin refuses to answer and leaves the room without further comment, only telling them to enjoy the film.
"Jack?" Yusei asks concernedly. She stands up and comes around to his front, looking up at him. "Jack, it doesn't matter where you're from. It doesn't matter if they know—"
"It means everything, Yusei!" he bursts angrily. She doesn't back away, instead taking him by the arms and holding him steady as his shoulders shake and his hands clench into fists. He bares his teeth and hisses, "You don't know what this means. You can't fathom what this will do to me, what it's already done! I'm finished, Yusei; everything I've ever done, all that I've accomplished… It's gone, all because of the fucking Satellite!"
Jack pulls away from her, running his a hand through his already tousled hair. His fingers are trembling, and it has nothing to do with his incomplete recovery.
"You don't understand," he says to her. "You could never understand…"
He can feel Yusei staring at him, and her gaze is heavy. Eventually, she asks in a steady tone, "You blame me for this, don't you? I'll leave, if you want."
Jack contemplates this for a moment, but he shakes his head. He looks at her; she's staring at him with that immeasurable blue-eyed gaze, and Jack knows what he wants to do.
"No," he responds with resolution. "We're both leaving. I'm not staying in here another moment."
Yusei blinks, apparently not having anticipated this answer. "Shouldn't we find Mina and—?"
"No," Jack interrupts. He grabs Yusei by the hand and storms out the door, and they're gone.
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Carly Carmine stares owlishly into the park, completely disbelieving of her luck.
There, sitting together on a bench near the looking pool with absolutely no one else around, is Jack Atlas and Yusei Fudo. Yusei is dressed differently from the pictures in the news—her flaring black and gold hair is telltale enough—while Jack is sporting his usual Turbo Dueling uniform with a cast adorning his arm.
They don't even look like they're trying to hide, but there are no reporters or even passerby in the park. Their backs are to her; Jack's uninjured arm rests across the top of the bench and curls just slightly around Yusei, and their heads are leaned towards each other. They seem to be having a conversation, although their faces are so close together that they easily could have been kissing as well.
Carly, remembering the recent rumors that they might be dating, fumbles with her camera and nearly drops it before snapping a quick picture of them.
She wants desperately to ask for an interview to go with the photo, but a part of her feels guilty. They seem to be having an intimate moment, and she doesn't really want to disturb them...
"C'mon, Carly!" her inner voice urges. "You're a reporter! You'll never get the scoop of a lifetime if you're not brave enough to even take the plunge!"
At this, she pulls out her fortune deck, murmuring, "Just to be sure…"
She draws Fortune Fairy Hu. "Drawing this card means your fortune today is 'Not too Bad'," the card says.
"Not too bad," Carly repeats to herself, nodding determinedly. "I can work with that!"
Enthused, she glances back to the bench where Jack and Yusei are situated only to discover it empty.
"What? Where'd they go?" she yelps. "They were there just a second ago—!"
Carly looks around frantically and quickly spots the two Duelists walking along the looking pool together, still deep in conversation. They're heading towards the exit.
"Wait!" she cries out, running down the steps towards them. "Wait, Jack! Yusei! Excuse me!"
They simultaneously glance over their shoulders at her outburst. Jack takes one look at her and starts walking faster, but Yusei grabs his uninjured arm and forces him to wait. He glares at her and seems annoyed, but she shoots him a look and he allows her to keep him still. With this, Carly manages to catch up to them quickly.
The reporter comes to a stop in front of them, leaning down to put her hands on her knees as she pants. She gets her breath back and stands upright again.
Jack doesn't seem impressed. Yusei is looking at her with wary hesitation, but she's not hostile. Carly hopes that this is a good sign.
"I-I, um…" she mumbles, suddenly struck with the realization that Jack Atlas and Yusei Fudo are right in front of her. "I-I was, uh, w-wondering if, um—"
"Just spit it out already," Jack says, annoyance evident in his voice. "I don't have time for this bull—"
"Jack," Yusei interrupts. "The least we can do is hear her out, okay?" As Jack grumbles, the Duel Queen turns to Carly and says kindly, "Now, did you need our help with something?"
Encouraged, Carly exclaims, "Y-yeah!" She fishes out her camcorder from her shoulder bag and says, "I-I'm Carly Carmine, and… Um, you see, I work for a n-newspaper, and I really, really need a story for the front page! A-actually, my boss said I'm gonna be f-fired if I don't come back with something good..." She laughs nervously as Jack and Yusei exchange glances. "So, um… W-would it be too much trouble to ask you two for a quick interview?"
"Yes," Jack immediately says with a scowl. He turns to leave, and Carly's heart falls.
Yusei reaches out and stops him again. He looks back at her with obvious irritation.
"Yusei, you can't seriously—"
"Wait, Jack, let's think about this," she responds. She glances between him and Carly for a moment before saying, "The media's going to come after us one way or another, right? We might as well get it out now, while no one else is around. After this, we'll find somewhere to hide out before the rush, okay? And besides…"
She goes up to Jack and turns him towards Carly, who is staring at them with wide eyes behind her glasses.
"… She said she's going to be fired, Jack," Yusei continues. Her tone is gentle, and it has his attention. "Shouldn't we help her? Out of all of us, you know how important a career is, right? We were just talking about it…"
Jack stares at her, conflicted. Eventually, he throws his free hand up in the air and says with exasperation, "Fine! Fine, whatever, let's do it… But I'm blaming you if this turns out badly."
Yusei only nods. Carly looks at the pair with sparkling, grateful eyes, and in that moment, the young reporter thanks the heavens for Yusei Fudo.
They're soon situated back at the bench by the pool, and there is still no one else around. Carly inwardly squeals with glee at her luck as she sets up her tripod.
"Today is a lot better than 'Not too Bad'!" she thinks, looking through the lens to see Jack fussing with Yusei's hair—"Geez, do you even use conditioner? You look like a mess, here, lemme just…"—and she just swats his hands away.
Carly giggles and notes that they really do look like a couple. Soon enough, she has all her equipment set up, and she says to them, "Alright, are we ready? Here we go!"
She presses the record button.
"This is Reporter Carly Carmine for a special, exclusive interview in Domino Park!" she says, mentally applauding herself for not stuttering. "We're here with former Dueling champion, Jack Atlas, and current Duel Queen, Yusei Fudo!"
The two Duelists look professional. Jack's earlier annoyance is nowhere to be found; he's smirking at the camera and has his head held high with confidence despite his injured arm. Yusei sits peacefully at his side, unsmiling but calm.
They look so cool, and it fuels Carly's burning enthusiasm tenfold.
"First off: Miss Fudo, congratulations on your victory at the Fortune Cup!" she says. "It was very exciting, and I watched with bated breath at every moment!"
Yusei gives a small smile and nods. "Thank you."
Carly turns to Jack. "And Mr. Atlas, how has your recovery been going? You gave us a nasty fright with your accident at the end of the duel! Your fans have been very worried about you."
"I'm fine," the former King replies. He is clearly experienced with interviews; he tilts his head just so and the natural light hits his best features. He smiles charmingly and says, "I've been recovering well and swiftly. They don't need to worry; I can get through anything."
"Wonderful!" Carly exclaims, and she's internally weeping at just how well this is going. Mr. Pitts will just be begging to keep her! Maybe she'll get a promotion? Grinning at these thoughts, she continues, "So, Yusei, Jack, here's the question that's been on everyone's minds: are you two dating?"
With the same amount of confidence, Yusei says, "No," just as Jack says, "Yes."
They look at each other. Yusei is incredulous; Jack is expectant.
Yusei tries again. "No, we're not."
Jack puts an arm around her and counters, "Yes, we are."
She looks sharply at him, frowning. "We're not dating," she whispers heatedly, and it's audible to the camera.
"Well, I say we are," Jack replies, not bothering to lower his voice. "Why not? You said earlier that you don't have a problem with me anymore. I don't see any drawbacks here."
"Jack—"
"Yusei, c'mon—"
To Carly's complete astonishment, they start bickering. They completely forget about her and the camera and instead argue about whether they're dating or not.
"Jack, you can't be serious—"
"Why would I joke about this? Look, we—"
"I don't see why you're so set on us being—"
"It's simple! I—"
As they continue to quarrel, Carly sighs and turns off the camcorder for now.
She should've expected something like this to happen. It was way too good to be this easy.
The reporter settles down on the ground and watches the Duel King and Queen bicker. Neither of them seem willing to back down.
"This might take a while," she mumbles to herself, adjusting her glasses.
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A/N: There's actually a lot more Carly in this story than I intended… She's mentioned at least once in every section from here on out, I think. XD
Ah, well, thank you for reading! :D