Character: Yuuka Sasaki

Summary: Not just marked, but now a psychic. Yuuka thought life couldn't get worse. Surely joining a duel gang would make her feel less alone in the City, right?

Yuuka

Everything started going wrong the second that the bone in his arm snapped. It was terrifying really. It was like a dam suddenly burst, like this thing inside me suddenly came to life. Almost like my insides burst into flames, catching everything around me in their blaze.

Everything was suddenly out of control. My body was slowed and everything else was going at a blistering speed.

I declared my attack with Fabled Soulkius. His field was empty, except for a set card that he didn't flip. It was basically a guaranteed win. I don't know what happened. Maybe I saw Kasumi's reflection on the glass of the kitchen window. Maybe I just felt shitty about my entire existence in that moment, it's not uncommon. But something snapped. Kaoru put his arms up to shield himself from the attack. I knew something was wrong the second the attack connected. I heard the dull crunch of a bone. I've heard my own arm make that sound, I know what that means. I couldn't stop it. The world moved around me at that blistering pace. Kaoru gets knocked off his feet. He cradles his arm and screams. My feet stuck to the ground beneath me. Kasumi runs out the back door of the house, she's screaming too. There was blood, dark crimson dripping onto the grass. That didn't scare me, not really. It was his eyes. They looked up at me in fear, wide and unblinking. He didn't need to say a word. His eyes said it all. Monster.

I ran up to my room, picked up my nightstand and put it in front of the door. I threw clothes and underwear into my backpack, flinging my school stuff onto floor in the process. Then, I ran out of the front door and never looked back.

So, that's an experience I'd rate in the top three worst moments of my life. Along with such classics as discovering my mother's corpse and being arrested for telling a Security to respect my basic human rights, basically dragging me from everything I knew and loved. I'm not sure where this will fit in, but it's up there alright.

I'm probably the last person that my dad expects to be at his door. The second he looks at me, he knows something wrong. He makes me peel off my Duel Academy uniform jacket. It started raining as I ran, gods know how long ago that was. It's practically dark outside. Nancy, his new fiancee, comes out of the kitchen, carrying two full wine glasses. She freezes when she sees me.

Coming here was a bad idea.

But it's not like I had another option.

I lie on the bed of the spare room. I hear whispers in the hall. I suppose we'll let her stay. I suppose. I lied about why I'm here.

I said that I didn't want to live with Kasumi anymore. I kept fighting with her, that I couldn't deal with her anymore so I left. My dad seemed to understand. I suppose that would explain Nancy.

"Yuuka," I hear my dad knocking on the door. "Can I come in?" I make some sort of noise, so he opens the door to find me lying facedown on the bed. "Let me sit down." I scoot over closer to the wall as I hear the door close. I feel the bed sink as he sits down.

"What do you want?" I ask.

"I talked to your mo-Kasumi." My dad knows that I refuse to call Kasumi my mother, and he respects that somehow. I always imagined that he would hate that, but I'm still surprised even now. But I still feel uneasy. What did Kasumi say to him? I just hope she didn't tell him that I am a psychic. I don't want to get disowned. "She said that she respects your decision, and that you're welcome to come home anytime. Are you sure you want to stay here, honey?"

"I'm sure," I answer very bluntly.

"Well, Kasumi told me about the trouble you're having at school." I sigh into the pillow. "Your record is sketchy at best. You've gotten a lot of detentions."

"That's because the teachers hate me since I have a mark." My dad is silent. It's true. I get sent to detention for doing the slightest thing wrong, even if someone else does it and doesn't get punished for it. It's just straight-up prejudice. Everytime I try to call the teachers out, I only get in more trouble.

"If you don't want to go back, I won't force you." He sighs too. "If you catch my drift."

"I don't want to go back." I start sniffling, but no tears fall.

I can't go back. I'm a psychic. I think of poor Aki Izayoi. I see how she gets treated. She's an outcast just like me. Everyone hates her because she leaves a path of destruction wherever she goes. I will do the same. Just as I thought that nothing could get worse for me, this happens. A marked Satellite and a psychic. A deadly combination. Every City citizen's worst fear.

"Okay, honey." My dad reaches up to pat my head. "Just tell me if you want something to eat." He stands up, I feel the bed spring back up without his weight.

"Okay, dad, I will." There's silence. He still hasn't left the room. I turn onto my back and sit up. He's just looking at me. I can't read his face at all. His brows are furrowed completely. I can see what Nancy meant when she said that both Kaoru and I look like our dad. The resemblance to Kaoru is a bit too much for me right now.

"I'm sorry," is all he says. His eyes go down to the floor, avoiding mine completely. I don't even know what he's trying to apologise for.

"Thank you for doing this for me." I change the topic, not knowing how to respond. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Don't worry about it, kiddo." He makes an attempt at a smile, before he closes the door.

The next few weeks are rough. I spend as much time outside of the house as I can. As much as I appreciate my dad's kindness, I can't bear to spend time around him. My brain keeps imagining what will happen if my dad finds out that I'm a psychic. I'd be homeless, probably. I've been doing some research into psychics at the library, where I spend most of my time. It's common for them to be kicked out of their homes when they come out, even losing their jobs. It's my greatest fear. I have no one to turn to. Everyone would know about me being a psychic then, and I would be alone.

I've learned that psychics like to hang out in the Daimon Area. Not only that, but it's also the place where the marked people in the City live. Which is why I've come here. Surely the people here understand what I'm going through. Maybe there are even other marked psychics, just like me.

Yesterday, someone roped me into dueling them. It was my first time dueling since the incident. I thought, maybe, it was a one time thing. But no, my first attack caused a huge gash to appear on his arm. At least, it didn't break this time. I thought as I ran into a public bathroom, crying.

I'm back again today. I'm wearing a hoodie, so I can at least hide my face a little. It's pretty gloomy outside, so I don't look out of place with my hood up. I see the guy that I dueled yesterday. Very tall, with golden curls. His accent was very weird, I couldn't place it. I think he said that his name is Felix, which doesn't help much. I sit against the wall, and hope that no one recognises me from yesterday. I want to talk to people, and actually make friends. Especially now that I have none. Kaoru is probably scared of me, I imagine that he never wants to see me again. Emiko probably feels that way too. We had gotten pretty close since I moved to the City. But before she was my friend, she was Kaoru's. She's probably taken his side. I can't imagine that she wants to see me either.

I wonder what Yusei would think, what they would all think. Bad enough that I disappeared without a trace. Now, I'm a psychic. I want to think that they'd accept me no matter what, but that thought still lingers in my head.

"Mind if I sit?" My head turns suddenly as I realise that the voice was directed towards me. I look to see a taller girl looking down at me. Her bright red eyes are focused solely on me, which makes my heart beat faster. I nod slowly. "Aw, thank you." She sits down beside me, against the wall. I find it hard to look directly at her, she's awfully pretty. She runs her fingers through her long, light purple hair that's in a high, tight ponytail. I wonder what it would be like to have hair that long. My hair's never gone past my collarbone, just for convenience sake in the Satellite. But now that I'm in the City and can actually take showers everyday, it would be possible to have hair that long. "I saw you dueling yesterday."

"My duel?" I ask, my hands start shaking. I fold my arms in attempt to stop them. So much for my attempt to blend in. "I-I-"

"Don't worry, I'm a psychic too." She smiles at me. "I'm not here to do anything bad."

"Oh okay," I sigh in relief. "I've never met another psychic before."

"Really?" She seems rather surprised. "You must have recently discovered that you're a psychic then."

"Yeah," I answer.

"And you're marked too? You poor thing. You must have nobody then." Her eyes are wide. They go to my wrists. I pull my sleeves down.

"I guess so." I shrug my shoulders. I don't know how long I'll have my dad's support for. It feels like there's a countdown until I'm out on my own.

"I'm gonna tell you a secret." The girl leans into me. I turn my head so I meet her eyes. "Have you heard of duel gangs?"

"Back in the Satellite, yes. I didn't know there were any here." I answer honestly. Her eyes squint a little before she continues.

"Well, I'm part of one." She flicks her ponytail back over her shoulder. "It's called Black Flag. It's full of people just like you and me, psychics. You don't have to be alone anymore. We'll be your new family if your family doesn't accept you. Black Flag is already one huge family, and I want you to be a part of us."

"That sounds great," I say. I think of Team Satisfaction back in the Satellite, if they're still even there. We were one big family too, and I wouldn't have traded them for anything in the world. I want to be part of them now. Would they make me part of the team if they knew I was a psychic? It would surely be a lot of help if I joined them. "Why me?" I ask.

"Well," her eyes shift slightly. "I saw your duel up until you surrendered and ran off. You have a lot of potential as a psychic. If you got the right training, who knows what you'd be capable of." Her hand moves over her mouth. Her eyes scan over me, she's reading me like a book.

I nod slowly. This random girl saying I have any sort of potential makes me feel a lot better than I have recently. I can only take so much of people telling me that I'm a worthless piece of Satellite trash. That alone makes me want to follow her to the ends of the earth. Having someone who actually believes in me is something that I haven't had in a long time.

"I could take you to meet our leader, if you'd like." The girl raises her eyebrows. "You don't have to but I think it would be-"

"I'll go," I answer. Her face falls slightly like she wasn't expecting me to agree so quickly.

"Oh, that's good." She nods quickly and stands up. She offers her hand to me, and I take it. "That's great, actually." I smile, for what feels like the first time in weeks. "Hold on," she starts laughing, "I don't even know your name!"

"It's Yuuka," I bit the inside of my cheek. Her smile is big and bright, focused only on me. I can't help but feel a little overwhelmed.

"Is there a last name that goes with that, Yuuka?"

I immediately go to say Hattori, the name I've gone by my entire life. The name on the birth certificate that Kasumi showed to get me into Duel Academy.

But then, I think of Kasumi Hattori. My birth mother who seemed to regret my entire existence the moment when I first stepped into her house. Going by Hattori now just feels wrong. Knowing where that's where Hattori came from, instead of my adoptive mother who just happens to be her sister. I can't use my own name, because all I can think about is how that woman hated me and just wanted to change me into a perfect daughter without a marker. So, I go for my only option.

"Sasaki." I say, taking my father's name. "Yuuka Sasaki."

"Anako Senmatsu, it's nice to meet you." She replies. Anako tilts her head and smiles. "Come on, let me bring you to our base." She leads me out of the Daimon Area and into the surrounding sidestreets.

"So Yuuka, tell me about yourself." She tries to make some light conversation.

"I'm from the Satellite, if you haven't noticed." I answer. I notice that, as I'm walking through the neighbourhood around the Daimon Area, less people are staring at me. This is where I belong instead of the stuffy, rich suburbs. "Yeah, I got arrested for insisting that I'm a human being. I got sent to the City once they found out that I had living family here."

"Yikes," Anako's eyebrows raise. "So, I'm guessing that your new family didn't take too kindly to your mark and your new powers?"

"Yep," I sigh, "so now I'm just doing my own thing."

"That's fair," Anako nods slowly. I smell the Sound before I see it. She leads me down to the waterfront before continuing down along it. Somewhere across there is Yusei and others, if they're even still alive. They seem so close, but they might as well be on the other side of the world. This dock isn't anything like the harbour closer to the suburbs. The other side is nice and clean, lined with restaurants and cafes. This dock looks dirty and grey in comparison. Shady looking boats are tied to it. "Black Flag controls from the docklands to the Daimon Area." She begins to explain. "Our whole territory is from the Daimon Area to the Downtown District. That's actually a problem area for us. Onyx Slicers are trying to sneak into the area over the last few weeks."

"So, that must be a big territory right?" I speak slowly, remembering what Yusei said about Team Satisfaction. "I'm new to this City, so I'm not exactly sure. But, if Black Flag is a target, that means your territory must cover a lot of ground."

"You're right." Anako's pace slows. Her eyes are fixed on me. "You're familiar with gangs then?"

"Oh yeah, I was part of one before." I answer, not exactly telling the truth. It's making me look cool in front of the pretty girl, so I'm going with it. "Back in the Satellite, I was part of the biggest duel gang. It was pretty cool."

"Why did you leave?"

"Got arrested, they don't know where I am."

"Oh yeah, of course." She shakes her head. Was she suspecting some foul play there or something? "We're getting closer to the base. Admittedly, I'm taking you the long way. But I'm guessing that you don't know this side of town well, so I'm showing you the easiest way to remember. Go from the Daimon Area, down to the docks, turn left, keep going until you see Tenjoin Road." She points to a street sign coming up. "Turn onto it." We've left the dock and into what looks like an abandoned industrial estate, with old warehouse-looking buildings in a cluster. "Count three buildings. Turn right." She points to the building covered in symbols made from what looks like black spray paint. "There is the Black Flag base." It looks a bit better than everything else around it. For a second, it almost feels like I'm in the Satellite. I swear I've seen an area just like this before, a cluster of rather small two-storey warehouses. "Come on, let's go."

Anako walks towards the door of the warehouse. She pushes the door open with a lot of force. It creaks as it opens. Eyes dart towards me, some of them drift away just as quickly which makes me feel a little better. The stares of the rather intimidating people in the ground floor room of the warehouse. There's three clusters of people standing around that's practically bare except for a few tables and chairs. I spot a rickety staircase against the wall on my right.

"Hey Anako!" I hear someone call out. A guy leaning on one of the tables waves at us.

"Come on." Anako grabs my arm and drags me with her towards him. "Let's make you some friends."

"New recruit?" I get a closer look at the guy. Tanned skin, brown hair slicked back with an undercut. "The name's Shinji." He puts out his hand for me to shake. I meet his eyes, they're a striking shade of purple. They remind me of Jack's eyes so vividly.

"Uh, Yuuka." I shake his head.

"Nice to meet you." He smiles really big. It calms my nerves. At least he seems friendly. "This is Reika." He points to the girl beside him. I freeze in my spot. I wouldn't have noticed her at all if Shinji didn't point her out.

"Hey," she says in a dull monotone. I just nod back to her. Her light blue eyes look practically dead, like she'd rather be anywhere else but here. She brushes her steel blue bangs out of her face, it looks like they're annoying her.

"Raiden's in his office before you ask." Shinji turns to look at Anako.

"Raiden?" I echo.

"Our leader here," Shinji says. "He's also my cousin, even though we look nothing alike."

"Ah cool." I respond with that, as I can't think of anything else to say.

"Right, I'll go introduce her to Raiden." Anako claps her hands together as she turns to me. "You ready?" I nod in response.

"See you later, Yuuka." Shinji puts up his hand in a half-hearted wave.

"Yeah, I will." I say before following Anako up the rickety stairs. We arrive up onto an empty landing. There's only one door, which I imagine is a single room that takes up the rest of the floor.

"This is Raiden's office," Anako explains. "Don't go in without knocking, he hates it when people do that." She knocks on the door. I hear a muffled response, and she opens the door.

We walk into a barebones office. There's a filing cabinet and a bookshelf pressed up against the bare concrete wall. There's a desk in the middle of the floor. Then, I notice the man sitting at the desk. He perks up in his chair when he notices me peeking out behind Anako's back.

"A new recruit?" He asks. I pick out the similarities between this guy and Shinji. The brown hair, the purple eyes. But that's about where the similarities end. He's much leaner than Shinji and more angular, not to mention a lot paler.

"She's the one I told you about." Anako moves and lets me into the room. She gestures to a spot, a short distance in front of the desk. I step forward, and his eyes meet mine. My entire body tingles, like there's a fire underneath my skin. His eyes are completely different from Shinji's. They're a much lighter shade of violet. I don't think I could forget those eyes. There's something about them that's just so alluring. I get a shiver down my spine. His eyes widen as he watches me shiver. I have no idea what he could be thinking, but if I think too hard about it, I'll just feel worse.

"Ah yes," he say after a long pause. "So, you're interested in joining Black Flag, umm…"

"Yuuka," I burst out. "Yuuka Sasaki."

"Raiden Kimura." He leans forward in his chair, extending a hand which I shake. "It's nice to meet you, Yuuka. I'm glad you've decided to join us. Our gang can never have enough psychics. This is a safe haven for psychics after all."

"You know that I'm a psychic?" I stutter out.

"Of course I know." He looks at me a little wide-eyed. "All psychics can tell each other apart. It's a natural instinct, after all. Are you saying that when you look at Anako and I, you don't feel anything different about us?"

I meet his eyes again, and I concentrate. He raises an eyebrow, so I close my eyes instead. I feel it. It feels like there's a fire radiating from him. I focus on Anako instead. Her energy is lighter, and it almost feels more fluid.

"I think I get it," I mutter. Raiden glances over to Anako, she nods. There's a pause. Raiden keeps staring. Anako takes the cue and leaves, closing the door behind her.

"I'm assuming that you haven't had your powers for long, Yuuka?" Raiden asks, and I nod. "Then, you're going to need training. As you are now, you can't control your powers. Everytime you duel, you're at risk of hurting yourself and everything around you."

Kaoru's face flashes into my head. His wide eyes as he stared at me, then down to his bloodied arm. Raiden sees my eyes, and stands up. He walks around his desk, until he's just in front of me. He leans on the desk, and lowers his head to look at me. I relax slightly. I don't know why, but having Raiden pay this much attention to me is making me feel better.

"I want to help you, Yuuka." He holds my gaze without blinking. "You're going to have to let me help you. I know your new powers seem scary, but you have to trust me. If you don't learn to control them, you'll end up hurting everything around you. I don't want that to happen to you."

"What can you do to help me?" My voice starts to shake. There's something to his gaze, like he's seen it before. He grips his arm that's hidden underneath a plain black button-up shirt.

"I can teach you." He heaves a heavy sigh. "You would be able to only use your powers when you want to. You could at least pretend to be normal."

"Normal?" I echo.

"Pretending." He answers. "I hate to break to you, with your mark and your powers, pretending is all you'll ever get in this City."

"I know…" I sigh.

"Listen," he straightens up. "You want to be normal. That's why we're here. Black Flag is going to change this City. We're going to make a City where we can all live happily. It won't matter if you're a psychic or marked. That's the City that I want for all of us."

"That… sounds great." I bit my lip. I remember Kiryu and his optimism. If our existence in the Satellite was shitty, we would just make a better one. That's what I'm going to do here. I will continue Kiryu's legacy, even if I never get to tell him about this.

"Really?" Raiden's entire body perks up. "Then, you really want to join us?"

"I do." I snap back immediately. "I was in a gang before, back in the Satellite, if that helps. I want to join you, please."

"You were in a gang before?" His eyes are wide. He shifts slightly and leans forward.

"What? You don't believe me?"

"Honestly, it's a little hard to believe." He chuckles. He smiles and I feel my heart flutter. "You're not the toughest looking person around, so you've got to give me some leeway here."

"I suppose you're right." I laugh along with him, a hand going to the back of my neck. "So, have you got an initiation around here? My gang back in the Satellite didn't have one, so I don't know what to expect."

"So, you're not intending to go back to the Satellite?" Raiden raises an eyebrow. "Don't blame you. Sounds pretty rough from what I've heard."

"Are you saying that… there's a way to go back?" I furrow my eyebrows. I had never considered the possibility. As shitty as life was there, at least I had Yusei and everyone else. Maybe I could go back. If they'd accept me now that is.

"Uh, no." His disposition suddenly changes. "At least, not that I've heard of." Something tells me that he's lying. Maybe if I stay, I can get him to tell me. "But about that initiation, it's actually quite simple. You just have to jump into the Sound. It's where we claimed our first territory, so it's more of a tradition." He sees the unease on my face. "Don't worry if you can't swim, everyone will be there. Shinji's had to pull a few people out of the water before."

"Oh, that makes me feel better." I chuckle nervously. "We don't swim much in the Satellite."

"Yeah, I can imagine." He tilts his head back at me. "The Sound must be vile on your side. It's bad enough down this end of the port."

"Nasty." I make a face and he laughs.

"Yuuka, I don't mean to pry but, do you have a place to stay?" Raiden's face suddenly gets sombre. "I know some people in this gang don't have a home to go back to. No one in this gang is alone. We can find somewhere for you to crash until you get your own place."

"I have somewhere." I answer. "At least for now."

"Oh, that's good." Raiden nods. He walks around the desk and opens a drawer. He tears a scrap of paper and writes on it. He holds it out to me. "Here's my number. If you're in a bad place, just call me and I'll sort it out for you."

"Thank you." I run my fingertips over the edges of the torn piece of paper. "I mean it."

"Tomorrow, make sure you bring a spare change of clothes." He smirks at me. "You're gonna get wet."

"Well, jumping into the Sound will do that for you." He shakes his head with a smile.

"Goodbye, Yuuka." He nods towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow for your initiation."

"Oh yeah." I blink rapidly before turning towards the door. "See you later."

As expected, Shinji pulls me out of the water when I jump in. I cough up water for a while afterwards. Raiden just laughs at me. He gives me his jacket, which gets me weird looks from lots of people. I later learned that Raiden is dating Anako, apparently. No one is certain. So that's awkward.

"You're not special." Reika tells me later while we're on patrol together. "Just because they're being nice to you."

I ask Shinji about this, who just laughs. He doesn't tell me what that means, but he definitely knows. I'm just assuming that she was referring to the jacket fiasco. Everyone tells me that Raiden's just like that, he has a reputation apparently. It would certainly explain why no one knows if Raiden and Anako are actually dating or not.

Raiden tells me that I have to keep patrolling for a while. I said it was my expertise. I'm lucky that Team Satisfaction aren't here to call me out on my bullshit. I need to patrol for a while in order to move onto bigger things like fighting other gangs, and making deliveries, whatever that means.

"How are your powers doing today?" Raiden asks, once I come into his office. He stands up and leans on the front of his desk, as usual. "Have you tried those exercises?"

"I tried them." I answer. "I don't know how I feel."

"That's fair." He shrugs his shoulders. "It takes a while for it to work. You're effectively numbing your powers. The real test is to duel someone and not use your powers. You should be able to only use your powers when you want to."

"Why would I want to?"

"Are you serious?" He blinks in surprise. "Psychic powers, when fighting other gangs, are indispensable. I know you said that there weren't many psychics back in the Satellite. But here, in the City, psychics are the only way to win. If you're not going to use your powers, you might as well get out now while you can."

"No, t-that's not what I meant." I spit out. "I'm just… not used to this City yet. It's surprisingly a lot harsher than the Satellite." Raiden sighs, placing both of his hands on the edge of the desk.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I think I'm expecting too much from you-"

"No," I respond immediately. "I'm still adjusting, but that doesn't mean you need to lower your expectations."

"That's good to hear." Raiden raises an eyebrow at me. It's then that I worry about how enthusiastic I must seem. "So, eh, I heard you got invited to a house party yesterday."

"Oh yeah, I don't remember much of it, to be honest." I chuckle. "I've only been told what happened."

"Yeah, Anako told me that you two made out." My eyes widen. I was planning on avoiding that, since they're supposedly dating. He doesn't seem angry, only amused. This only raises more questions, but leaves me with less answers.

"Apparently?" I chuckle in response. "All I know is that there's now a group chat for Shinji, Anako and I. They're bringing to this place called Psycho, it's-"

"A nightclub for psychics." Raiden finishes for me. "Give my name to the bouncer and you'll get into the VIP section. Don't give me that look, I know the owner. People make jokes that all psychics know each other, but it's not exactly wrong."

"Oh okay." I nod. "You should come with us." Raiden blinks at me in surprise. "I know there's this joke that you never show up to anything, but y'know, I thought since Anako is going that you'd-"

"Yuuka, it's your first time to Psycho." Raiden shakes his head and laughs. "That alone makes it worth going." I get this tingling sensation. He always seems to do this to me. He never fails to make me feel special. Maybe I'm just drawn to that in him.

"Alright, if you say so." I laugh along with him.

That night in Psycho, I felt like something was going on between Raiden and Anako, and it was somehow my fault. Shinji told me not to pay attention to it, and keep dancing. Then, two days later, he asks me if I know where Anako is. I say that I haven't talked to her since Psycho, he doesn't respond.

"Yuuka!" Shinji runs up to me as I enter the base. "Have you seen Anako? She's gone missing."

"What?" My eyes are wide. "No, I haven't seen her since Psycho." His hands fly back up into his hair.

"She's okay, Shinji." Reika comes down the stairs, from where Raiden's office is. "She just texted me."

"Where is she?" He all but marches over to her.

"She's gone, she left the City." She sighs. I notice that her eyes are red. "I don't know where she is. She doesn't want us to go after her. It's best to just leave her alone."

"Why are you saying this?" Shinji all but shouts at her. "She's our friend. We can't let her run away after all this."

Is there something that I don't know about? I look between them for an answer. Reika doesn't respond.

"Fine," Shinji just says. "If you want to be like that, fine. I'm going to go find her." He leaves. The door slams behind him, and it's just Reika and I in the room.

"I know that you don't like me, but I just want to say that I'm sorry. You don't deserve this. I've been the friend that disappeared, and I can imagine that it was hard on everyone else. If you need someone to talk to, I'm always here. If you'd even want to-"

"No, that's very kind of you, Yuuka." She nods at me. Reika's face is tinged red, and she looks rather overwhelmed. "There's just a lot going on right now, if you haven't noticed, so I might take you up on that offer."

"Aside from Anako?" I ask.

"Look," Reika points to the wall on the far side of the room. Justice, it says in black spray paint across the entire length of the wall. "Last night, two of our members were murdered down in Cardinal Dragons' territory. It was Yuudai and Kakeru, they were at that house party the other day. People are suspecting foul play, but Raiden won't declare war on them. It's probably because there's some deal between our gangs that Raiden's not telling us about. A few people left the gang altogether, and more are threatening to leave. Anako left the gang last night before this, so I'm not entirely sure what went down there."

"Has Raiden said anything?" I ask, a little tenderly. I don't want to make a bold statement until I've heard his side of the story.

"I just talked to him there." Reika gestures to above us. "He seems pretty down about everything, so I have no idea what he's thinking as usual."

"I'll go talk to him, I guess." I sigh. I seem to make him laugh a lot, so that should help now. At least I think so.

"I mean, if anyone can get something out of Raiden, it's you." Reika waves her hand non-chalentently.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I blink rapidly. I feel the judgement coming from Anako's best friend.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Her eyes narrow slightly. There's questions in her eyes. "He's up in his office. I guess, I'll see you later then, Yuuka?"

"Yeah, see ya." The door closes again, somewhat quieter. I stare at the writing on the walls. Justice, a very strong word. Something is being hidden from me, I can feel it. I can't help but feel like Anako left because of what lies underneath all of this. These deaths are just a symptom of this.

I walk up the stairs to Raiden's office door. I hesitate just before I knock. I sigh and go through with it.

"Come in." I hear him say, his words slightly muffled by the door. He flinches as he notices that it's me. His fingers are knotted in his hair, he looks like he hasn't slept despite it being dark outside again at this point. "Oh Yuuka, I wasn't expecting you."

"How are you doing?"

"Honestly?" He stands up out of his chair and walks over to the window on the opposite side of the room. "Everything's gone to shit." He sighs deeply. "At least you're still here."

"Me?" I mutter.

"Yeah," he turns back around to look at me. "Everyone's starting to turn against me, but you'll stay by my side, won't you?" His eyes are genuine, I can see that. I don't know his side of the story. I said that I wanted to know. But, his eyes are telling me to believe him.

"I will, don't worry."

"Thank you, Yuuka." He smiles, very slightly. "Hey, do you wanna go to Psycho tonight? I don't feel like you got a real introduction to Psycho last time." Raiden and Anako did disappear for a while, leaving Shinji and I on the dancefloor. I suppose that's what he's referring to. "I thought we could go together."

"Yeah, I mean I'm not nearly dressed for that." I gulp. While black jeans, a tshirt and a leather jacket aren't terrible, I'll just feel undressed and awkward. "Last time, I just borrowed some of Anako's clothes and y'know…"

"You'll be fine," he scoffs. "Everyone there is too drunk or out of their heads on drugs to notice."

"Drugs?" I echo.

"Yeah?" He raises an eyebrow at me. "You've never taken any? I suppose not every rumour about the Satellite is true."

"I haven't, and I never will." I shake my head. "I've seen what drugs do to people in the Satellite."

"Noted," Raiden nods. "Do you want to go then?" I would say no. But looking at his face, I see the pain in his eyes. He's alone. I can help him. From the looks of it, I'm the only one who can.

"Alright." He smiles, which makes me feel a little bit better about my decision.

"Another vodka soda for you." Raiden comes back with a drink for me. Someone bumps into my back, pushing right into the centre of Raiden's chest. He manages to keep both of the glasses from spilling. I try to step back, my face already starting to get red from my first drink.

Psycho is so much busier than it was the other day. Raiden says that because it's Friday, it's a lot busier. I would have assumed, but I just forgot what day it was. Somehow, the crowd moves around us and we end up in the centre of it. We keep getting pushed and closer together. I feel embarrassed, but Raiden just looks like he's enjoying this, which makes me feel more embarrassed.

"I have a question to ask you." I shout over the loud music. I gather up the courage after downing the drink within a matter of moments, which earns me an odd look from Raiden.

"Yeah?"

"What was the deal with you and Anako?" His face freezes. He pauses. The music keeps pounding in my head. I can't even recognise the song, because I'm paying that much attention to Raiden's face.

"I don't know," he eventually answers, but I can barely hear him over the music. "I never really knew, and now she's gone. It doesn't matter anymore, she left. I don't care."

I see the pain in his eyes. He says he doesn't care, but I can tell that he's lying. I want to make that pain go away. At this point, at this moment in time, I would do anything to make it stop. My hand goes to his arm. He stares at it, then his eyes move to my face, and then my lips.

He kisses me.

Everything else just seems to fade away. All I can feel is him, and the bruising pressure that he's applying to this kiss. I don't pull away, and neither does he. From what I remember, kissing Anako didn't feel like this. After that, I have no other experience. I feel a fire in my stomach and it's trying to escape. But that might just be the vodka. He pulls away eventually, and looks at me with wide eyes. The lights of Psycho really make the violet colour of his eyes pop.

He leads me to the VIP section, and gets me another drink, and then another one. There's other people in here, not that I'd recognise any of them. We start talk about things that aren't Black Flag, or that kiss. Anything to distract us from that.

"Let's get out of here." Raiden rolls his eyes as two guys in the corner approach the point at which they're not really just making out anymore.

"Yeah, that would probably be a good idea."

Raiden takes me back to his place, since it's closer to Psycho. He said that I can just crash at his place. It's pretty late, from what I can tell. I can start to feel the effects of the alcohol.

"It's a pretty big apartment." I say as I walk in. "How can you afford this place?" I blurt out now that the alcohol has completely removed my filter.

"I have my ways," he chuckles. Raiden walks into the kitchen and comes back with a glass of water for me. "This is for you."

"I'm not that drunk, geez." He merely shakes his head.

"It's to stop you getting a hangover, I won't hold your hair back if you're puking tomorrow morning."

"Fine, I guess." I roll my eyes before taking a big gulp.

"Right, you can stay in my bed, and I'll crash on the couch, okay?" He gestures to the only closed door in the room.

"No, it's your house, I'll stay on the couch-"

"Yuuka, I insist." I stare at his face, he won't budge.

"Only for tonight."

"Okay, Yuuka." Raiden shakes his head and brings me into his bedroom, turning on the light. The room is impeccably clean like it's hardly ever used. There's a double bed with black sheets taking up most of the room, with small windows and tables on either side of the bed. The only other thing in the room is a dark-coloured wooden wardrobe. "The bedlinen's clean, don't worry."

"I grew up in the Satellite, do you think I care?" He goes to the wardrobe and opens. He pulls out a large black t-shirt and black gym shorts, for me to sleep in I assume. Is everything this guy owns black, or at least some shade of it?

"I suppose you have a point." He laughs. He takes the blanket draped on the end of the bed, and one of the pillows from the bed. "If you need me, you can just call me, okay?"

"I will, don't worry." I say. He closes the door behind him as he leaves. Then, I realise that I'm alone in a guy's bedroom. That thought makes me feel very rattled. He's just a guy, that's not a big deal right? But then, I did kiss him. That makes things weird now, doesn't it? He hasn't brought it up, so I'm assuming everything's okay. He's going through a rough patch right now, maybe that's just his way of dealing with it.

I change into the clothes that Raiden gave me. I lie down in the bed, a little reluctantly, and turn the light off. The bed is clean, I can smell the detergent. I can't help but feel like this is wrong, but there's nothing I can do now.

"Do you want to go to Psycho again on Thursday?" Raiden asks me when I see him again. He invited me over to his apartment to watch a new movie that he wanted to see. "I know one of the drag queens performing and I thought-"

"Raiden, I don't think we should." He goes to interrupt me, but I keep going. "I know you mean well, but I can't help but feel like I'm a replacement for Anako. You said you weren't dating, but you two obviously had something going on. I think you're only talking to me like this because she's gone. Raiden, I don't want to be some rebound-"

"Yuuka, believe me, you're not a rebound." He sits up straighter on the couch, and turns his body to face me. "Anako is a traitor for leaving us. We don't have time to care for traitors. Just forget about her." The words don't feel right. Anako must have had a reason. I want to know what they are. I think I'll have to stay at Raiden's side to find that out.

"But still, I can't just…" I try to say something, but words fail me.

"You felt that kiss." Raiden's eyes are intense, like they could burn me up in a matter of seconds. He moves closer to me. My back is pressed firmly up against the arm of the couch. "There's something between us, Yuuka. I can feel it, and I know you can too."

There's a heavy pause. We're staring into each other's eyes, and everything else seems to fade away. But it scares me. This feels different than it should. I remember looking into Yusei's eyes and feeling the same thing. But then it felt good. I wanted us to be the only thing that mattered in that moment. There's a weight to Raiden's words that wasn't there before. There's been a sudden shift between us, like we can't go back.

I think about his words. Something between us. I can't quite figure out what he means. Is he talking about romantic feelings? That's the most likely meaning. I've been told that I'm not special because he treats me this way. I have no evidence to prove that he doesn't kiss those girls. This might actually be special.

Do I have those feelings? I honestly don't know. I thought that I liked Yusei, and I still do. But this is different. They might not be romantic feelings, but there are definitely feelings involved.

I don't know what to say, but Raiden makes my mind up for me. He dives forward, kissing me again. There's still that bruising pressure from before. There's a need, an urgency, to the kiss. He creates an iron grip with one hand on my face, and another on the side of my neck. He pulls away suddenly. My eyes barely open to look at him. He goes in for another kiss, and another, and another. Somehow, I end up beneath him on the couch. Our bodies are pressed together so tightly that I don't think there's any space between us.

Like he's suddenly realised our position, Raiden pulls his head back enough that I can see his eyes open. His eyes are dark, they send a shiver down my spine. I think I know what he's going to say, and I don't know if I'm ready to hear it.

"Yuuka," his voice is raspy from all of the kisses. "Will we continue this?"

My body freezes. My mind screeches to a halt. I feel like my feet are teetering over the edge, above a dark abyss, and it's only a matter of time before I fall or I'm pushed. What do I even say? I'm not ready for this. I known Raiden, what, a few months? I can't possibly agree to this. I go to mutter a response, but he beats me to it.

"Please," is all he says.

For the first time, I spot true vulnerability in his eyes. I see someone who just like me. Scared and alone. Carrying this unspeakable guilt around like it's weight of the world on his shoulders.

He's scared, and I am too. What would I get from this? It would make him happy. It would bring us closer, whatever that would mean. The only way that I can find out what's going on in this shitshow of a gang is to throw myself in head first. It's sounds bad that I'm technically using him, but isn't he using me a little too? This will make him happy, and that's all I should care about.

I want to make him feel better, and if it means a little discomfort on my part, so be it.

"Okay I guess," is my response.

Somehow, Raiden and I get into this cycle. I go on patrol, I come back to the base, we talk for a while, we go back to his, and do that. Sometimes, we don't even get back to his place, and he just picks me up and puts me on the table in his office. I'm not going to say I hate it, hate is a strong word. Disgust, now that's a word that I could get behind. I wasn't ready for it, and I knew that. It feels like it's too late to say it, and it's easier to just lie there and wait for it to be over. Not that it takes long anyway. I honestly imagined having sex would be a lot better than it is. Then again, Raiden doesn't put much effort into making sure that I'm having a good time. I haven't told anyone about us yet. I'd probably get called a bad friend, and they'd be right. Anako's barely gone a month and you're banging her ex, they'd say. So, it's probably best that they don't know.

One day, I get into his office. I instantly feel uneasy, though that's not unusual. Raiden's face makes it look like he's hesitating. I'm expecting the worse, like someone's trying to kill me or something.

"I have something to ask you." Raiden holds his hands, placing them on the desk in front of him. I say nothing and sit on the desk, staring at him until he continues. "Don't give me that look."

"Then just ask me already." He leans back in his chair with wide eyes. I raise my eyebrows, this is taking too long.

"I was thinking," I shoot a glare at him. "Well, from what Shinji said, you did pretty well in that fight against the Red Serpents. I was thinking, since fighting isn't really my thing, you could be in charge of that."

"Me?" I blink slowly. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I am." He sighs, which makes me doubt him. "I guess that would make a sort of leader. I'll still be leader, and deal with the… behind the scenes stuff. Meanwhile, you'll be more of a figurehead. I think you're ready for it."

"And what if I don't?" I shake my head. "I've only been here for about a year, Raiden. There are people who have been here a lot longer than me. If I could choose anyone to promote, it would be Shinji. He was literally here when you founded this gang, Raiden. I know there's things going on between us, but I don't want this to be brought into Black Flag. Choosing me instead of more worthy people will send out a really bad message. That's not what we need right now. Enough people followed Anako and left after the Yuudai and Kakeru thing."

Raiden stands up from the desk and sighs. He begins to walk over to the window, his dress shoes making clicking sounds on the concrete floor.

"Yuuka," he sighs again. "I wouldn't promote anyone else over you. You have something special, something no one else here has." He turns back around to look at me. "Experience fighting in the Satellite. From what you've told me, gangs in the Satellite are a different beast from what we face here. If we could use your knowledge somehow, we could conquer the City and make it a less shitty place. Can't you see that?"

I almost say yes, but then I hesitate. Raiden's eyebrows furrow.

"Think about it," is all he says before he asks me to leave.

After that, Raiden ignored me for a week straight. Now, you'd think after all the horrid experiences I've had with him that I wouldn't care, but I did. I just naturally levitate to people that make me feel special. Raiden makes me feel that way. Everytime he looks at me, it's almost like all of his attention is directed at me. It makes me feel giddy inside. Now, that I don't have that, I feel worthless. I spend more time with Shinji. He's figured out that something's going on between Raiden and I. He tries to pry details out of me, but I can't bring myself to talk about it.

I still think that I shouldn't be the figurehead leader, or whatever Raiden wants to call it. I lied about having previous gang experience, not that I'd tell him that. I'm weak and fragile, I run for three minutes and I feel like I'm going to cough up blood. I've tried numbing my senses until entire periods of my life just feel like a blur, so my powers don't freak out and accidentally kill someone. I don't know what Raiden sees me, but I'm not a leader. I'm not strong enough to lead people towards some greater purpose. I could never been the face of a revolution.

Yet, here I am, knocking on his apartment door. He opens the door slowly, he opens it fully once he gets a glance at me through the crack. He sighs and leans on the doorframe, but doesn't invite me inside.

"Fine," I say before he has the chance too. "I'll do it. I'll become the figurehead of Black Flag."

He smirks and pushes himself off the doorframe and lets me inside. He closes the door behind me. Once I'm inside, he pins me to the door with his hands on either side of my head. My neck strains slightly as I look up at his face.

"I have one condition," I mutter. He looks at me expectantly so I continue. "I don't want to use my powers to hurt people."

"If that's what you want," he chuckles. He leans down and kisses me slowly. I feel my back arch as I can't help but kiss him back. Oh gods, what am I doing? My other condition for becoming leader was stopping this relationship between us, it would only hurt the gang if it continued. But here I am, kissing him back like the idiot I am because I can't go one week without constant praise and affection.

"Good girl," he says and I get a chill down my spine. "I'll make sure you get your reward."

Apparently, Raiden wasn't talking about sex for once, even though that did happen. A few days later, he brings me to an apartment complex, just a few minutes walk from the Daimon Area.

"Now that you're a leader, you're going to be in a lot more danger." He says, handing me a key. He looks at me expectantly, so I open the gate into the complex. "I imagine you don't want your father getting involved in this, so I went to the effort of getting you an apartment. It's number 5." He points to the stairs beside us, and we walk up them to the next floor of apartment.

We follow the little path about halfway down until we reach apartment number 5, the door looks like it's seen better days. I turn the key in the door. I look around the room as I walk inside. It's one room, mostly. There's a small kitchen unit on my left, a bathroom to my right, and a bed on the opposite wall.

"Now, it's not much-" Raiden begins to say.

"I mean, it's more than I could ever ask for. The building I used to live in didn't even have a roof." I turn to look at Raiden. "But how am I going to pay for this?"

"Don't worry about it." He waves his hand. "Rent here isn't expensive, so I'll cover it. And that includes the bills too."

"Raiden, I-" I can't even finish. Honestly, I'm a bit gobsmacked that he would even consider doing that.

"Stop making a fuss." He shakes his head. "Just accept it, okay?"

"Fine." I huff. Normally, I would continue, but getting out of my dad's hair is what I need. I don't really even see him anymore. I literally just go back to that house to sleep. I don't think he'd even notice if I moved out.

"Good girl," Raiden winks at me and makes me uncomfortable. I think he realises that, so he stops talking altogether.

"Thank you for this, honestly." I smile at him. "I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Just continue to lead this gang, Yuuka," Raiden shakes his head, "as long as you do that, this place is yours."

Our eyes meet and I'm taken aback. I note the threat behind his words. Raiden's put empty threats into his words before. But this… this is the first time that the threat has felt real.

He hands me the mysterious black package in his hands. Upon taking it, I realise that it's fabric. I unwrap the fabric, a cape, and it tumbles away to reveal a mask inside. A pure white mask with red teardrop shapes underneath the eyes. I've seen this before. A mask and cape to hide my identity as I fight gangs.

"Thank you," I mutter with less integrity than before.

"Another thing," Raiden begins to talk again. "I also found you a job. Now, it's not minimum wage. You're still from the Satellite, even if you're a citizen here. My mother's kindly offered you a job in her boutique." Oh that's not going to awkward at all. Oh hi Mrs. Kimura, no, I'm not your son's girlfriend, but he is secretly banging me. "It's not much money, but it should be enough to buy yourself food."

"I just-"

"What?" Raiden raises an eyebrow.

"Thank you," I mutter.

"Just remember our bargain, Yuuka." Raiden turns to walk out. "You hold up your end, and I'll hold up mine. C'mon, let's go." He says, and I can't do anything but follow.

"You've spending a lot of time around that guy, Takumi Chiba was it?" Raiden asks me out of the blue one day. He asks his name like it's a question. I know it's not, he's probably done plenty of research into him already. "Are you sure he's trustworthy? He could just be using you. He could be in a gang, you know, and know who you are."

"He's just a friend," I sigh. Everytime I start to make a friend, who just happens to be a guy, he does this. I tell him to leave me alone, and then that person magically never texts me back again. "And don't worry about him being competition either."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Raiden furrows his eyebrows. I shake my head. The other night in Psycho, when we went together, he got into a fight with a guy who was dancing with me. I say dancing with me, it was more like dancing beside me.

"Takumi likes to tell me about how much he likes putting his dick up his boyfriend's ass, so I don't think that's a problem." Raiden gets flustered and drops the subject.

I know that Takumi is one of the gayest people on the planet, so I'm using that to my advantage. Raiden won't get jealous if I spend time with him. Heck, he barely lets me spend time with Shinji. It's only because Shinji is his cousin, and I convinced Shinji to ask out Reika after years of pining. This means that the only guys that I'm friends with are Takumi and Shinji. There's no girls left in Black Flag other than Reika and I. So, I literally have three friends. I'd like to say four, but Takumi's boyfriend Kenta does not like me at all.

As expected, after I became the figurehead leader, a lot of people left. They said it was unfair that I got promoted just because I was banging Raiden, and I had a secret agenda the whole time. They blamed me for Anako disappearing. I must admit that their words hurt. I just kept my head down and let Raiden deal with them. Everyone that's left, aside from Shinji and Reika, despise me. More people are threatening to leave if I don't step down, but Raiden won't let me. Between this and Anako, Black Flag is left with twenty members. This doesn't seem to bother Raiden. He thinks of me as a one man army, it seems.

"Actually, there's one thing I wanted to bring up to you." I straighten a pen on Raiden's desk as I sit on it. I look out the window from where I'm sitting. Raiden's office has a unobstructed view of the harbour. I notice a boat slowly pulling up to the harbour in the darkness. "I asked you if you knew a way back to the Satellite, back when we first met. You said no." I hear him gulp. "Yesterday, I was on patrol down the harbour. But I couldn't help but to hear them talking about going to the Satellite. Those boats, the ones that you watch everyday, go to the Satellite, for the black market I'm assuming. And yet, you never told me."

"Yuuka, I did it for your own good-"

"Like hell you did!" I shout back. "You know how much I hate it here. I would give anything to go back and you know this, Raiden." He closes his eyes and stands up. My hands begin to shake, but I force them to stop. I won't back down, not now.

"Yuuka, do you honestly think your friends would take you back?" He walks over to the window, blocking my view. "With open arms, like nothing has changed?" He sighs, turning back to look at me. "I can tell you now that they won't. You're a marked psychic Satellite. The absolute lowest you can go in society. You've changed, Yuuka. You're a psychic. If you go back, they'll call you a monster. They'll turn their backs on you. Just give up now and save your feelings from getting hurt."

I stay silent for a second.

"You don't know my friends." I mutter. Raiden's entire body flinches. He starts walking very slowly over to me. "They would never do that to me. The Satellite is different, they won't care. You're just trying to control me like you always do. You're controlling who I talk to, what I do, where I go. You're just using m-"

Raiden raises his hand, like he's about to slap me. I flinch so hard that I nearly fall off the table. I'm gripping the table so hard that my knuckles are turning white and I'm panting.

"Do not make me raise my hand again." His voice is deathly low. "Next time, I will not hesitate to strike you."

"I-"

"Leave," is all he says.

"But-"

"Leave." His tone sounds so strict that my body practically throws itself off the desk in response.

And so, it continues just like that. I fall into this cycle. I fight with Raiden, I threaten to leave. He does something to make me feel bad. I stay. He uses me. Then, it happens all over again. You may ask why I don't leave.

The answer is that I'm scared.

Leaving Raiden means leaving Black Flag. I couldn't survive on my own. I'd lose my house, my job, two out of three friends, everything. I suppose I'd go back to the Satellite. But that scares me even more. Would my friends even take me back? Would they look at me, depressed and tainted by the City, and shun me? Probably. Yusei creeps into my head a lot, even when he shouldn't. Things almost got awkward with Raiden because of it, but I just try to suppress that memory as much as I can. But, I would be left with zero options. I have to stay here, as much as I hate it.

So, here I am. Staring at the ceiling, listening to Raiden's slow, steady breathing. He fell right asleep after we did the nasty, as usual, leaving me by myself. I can never sleep afterwards, no matter how hard I try. I can't help but think of the series of decisions that led me to this exact moment. I wonder what would have happened if I didn't get arrested, if I didn't become a psychic, if I joined a different gang. There's no point in wondering, and I know that. I chose my path and I must walk down it.

Suddenly, a red light shines through the curtains. It must be some sort of light show. I expect it to go away or change colour after a few seconds, but it doesn't. If anything, it gets brighter. I get out of the bed, and open the curtains slightly, cautious of the fact that I am very much naked. In the distance, I see a dragon flying up into the sky. Its body is pure red, and the light it radiates blinds my eyes. It must be a psychic, I thought, summoning a very big and powerful dragon.

Naturally, if you see a giant dragon in the sky, you would feel some sort of anxiety or terror. But I felt none of those things. If anything, it calmed me.

Don't worry, the spirit of the dragon seemed to say, almost like a mother. Everything will be alright.

As quickly as it appeared, the dragon disappeared. I continue to look out of the window at the night sky. No stars tonight, just smog. Somehow I'm reminded of that one night with Yusei, when both of us looked up at the stars. That little gadget illuminated his face with a soft, red light, then all of a sudden, I fell for him. I wonder where he is. Is he looking at this sky right now too? Is he thinking of me? I doubt it.

"What's going on?" I hear Raiden shift in the bed. "What was that light?"

"Nothing, go back to sleep." I let go of the curtain, and it falls back, obstructing my view of the sky. I hear the bed creak, and his breathing returns to its slow, steady rhythm. I lie back down in the bed beside him.

I don't know what that dragon was, and why it appeared all of a sudden. I just hope that what it said is right. All I can do is hope that, in the end, everything will be alright.