WUN: Among the Stars

by stellartrishula

A collection of oneshots and side stories set in the Waking Up Normal universe, told by a variety of characters throughout the timeline of the story.

5. Another Suitcase In Another Hall III

Anako

---

"Let me put it on record that I'm only doing this for Kaoru." I say, walking into the house where Yuuka's friends live. For some reason, this is where Takumi is hosting the pre-drinks for his grand finale night out. Everyone that helped them with Team Liberation, meaning the battle with Cardinal Dragons, was allowed come. Emiko is coming with me because no one can really stop Emiko doing anything, and especially not Kaoru. But, only the actual Team Liberation, plus Shinji because Takumi said so, is allowed go to the club afterwards. I think about going to Psycho afterwards just out of spite.

"Because you're his friend." Emiko finishes.

"Exactly." I sigh. "Because if I'm going to get over she who must not be named, I need to interact with her at least a little bit."

"Good, you've clearly rehearsed this."

Thankfully, Yuuka is running around talking to everyone that's not us. Emiko and I are just having a grand old time eating the party food that Yuuka laid out. So we don't waste the occasion of us being dressed up, Emiko and I are going to bar together after the pre-drinks. Emiko put on a lot of makeup and very high heels in order to get in. It's amazing that despite how tall her heels are, she's still smaller than me. Mentally, I take note of how much I like that.

"Yuuka!" Emiko calls out to Yuuka, once she's stopped teasing Jack Atlas about drinking coffee during a pre-drinks. "This food is so good, oh gods." She takes another ridiculously tiny pie. She thinks the tiny pie is cute, she told me this, but then she shoves it in her mouth in one go like she's reenacting Godzilla with it.

"I literally just stuck all of this into the oven like," she takes out her phone, "two hours ago."

"Give me the brand of these, they're so tasty." Her eyes are practically bulging looking at all the food. Knowing Yuuka, this is probably some dirt-cheap brand that she modified in some way to make it taste better.

"I'll text you it later," she says. Then, she gives us a look up and down, realising that we look very fancy considering we're not going to Psycho with them. "What are yous up to tonight? Don't say Psycho, I can't listen to Takumi complain all night."

"Going to a bar, actually." Emiko corrects her. "They have lots of board games, we should all go sometime." She pulls my arm, dragging me practically on top of her. I can feel the rum burning in my cheeks. Yuuka looks very awkward all of a sudden. Well, things are very awkward between us right now. She hasn't texted me at all, or even looked at me since I arrived. I really hope I don't lose her as a friend. Bad enough that my love's unrequited, I would hate it if our friendship was too.

"I made this great joke earlier," I chuckle as an attempt to get rid of the awkwardness. "We were talking about the cocktail sausages. Emiko said she's not really fan of sausage. Then, I went I like all kinds of sausages, except man sausage." Yuuka nearly spits out her drink as she starts laughing.

"I have screenshots which contradict that statement." Shinji butts in.

"I mean, relatable though." Yuuka nods thoughtfully, as if she literally does not have a boyfriend with a dick.

"I also have screenshots." Takumi leans into the conversation, without removing his arm that's around Kaoru's shoulders. Yuuka shakes her head with wide eyes and walks off. No doubt both of them were referring to our relationships with Raiden. That's something that neither of us want to be reminded of.

"So," Emiko starts. "What's your deal?" Oh boy, here we go. "Kaoru said you're bisexual, and you've made a joke about it too. Yet, you just said you don't like dick. What is the truth?" She squints at me.

"I don't know," I avoid her gaze with wide eyes. "I guess I don't see myself with a guy as much anymore. Maybe it was just Raiden, or maybe I'm just not attracted to dudes anymore. I have no idea."

"Anako, are you a lesbian?" She leans into me and asks very quietly.

I go silent. Maybe that's why I couldn't like Kaoru even though he's practically a male version of Yuuka. Actually, that would make a lot of sense. Then, the fact I only slept with women after I left the City. I literally have not found a single man attractive since I first started associating with Raiden.

"Oh my gods, I'm a lesbian." I mutter to myself, but Emiko just happens to hear me.

"It's okay. We still love and respect you." She nods slowly. "It doesn't matter what you identify as. What's important here is that we all love and respect women."

"I drink a glass of respecting women juice with every meal."

"Same," she fakes being super emotional as she nods. She told me that she's pansexual. All I took from that is that she likes women, because that's what's important to me in a cute girl.

"Emiko!" Shinji shouts over to her. "I won our bet!"

"Oh Yuuka, why couldn't you have waited a few months? Geez." Emiko sighs, handing Shinji a bank note from her purse.

"What bet was it?" I ask.

"Whether Yuuka would get with Yusei before she turned twenty," she shakes her head. "I lost."

"Shinji told me that Yusei was my competition," I sigh, "I didn't know that meant she liked him back."

"Hey!" Emiko looks at me with her big eyes. "What did I tell you about getting depressed?"

"Not to."

"Exactly!" She smacks me on the back a little too hard, as if it were that simple.

We continue talking, while filling ourselves up with food. Our thinking was that if we eat as much as we could now, we wouldn't have to spend as much money on food later. Then, the room suddenly gets quiet. Everyone seems to realise it at once. Team Liberation and Shinji are nowhere to be seen.

Yuuka burst in the door. She sees that everyone is still here. She quickly says that she forgot something and they're all going out now, she thanks everyone for coming before running upstairs. Something is definitely wrong. Emiko thinks so too. But we have no way to help. Yusei runs up the stairs after her, so he agrees. We say goodbye to everyone before leaving. No one's waiting outside for Yuuka. Maybe they've gone ahead, Emiko says without anything prompting her. I would agree, but the fact that Yuuka's face was so neutral back there. That's what she does when she's hiding something.

I try to focus on Emiko, until it's hard not to. She's in front of me and she's smiling at me. She matters in this moment than Yuuka does, that's what I tell myself.

Then, I need to resist the urge to yank her hair as she kicks my ass in Monopoly. She does this while smirking as she sips wine, leaving lipstick marks on the glass.

"You can't buy that street!" I practically scream as I feel the vodka start to cloud my brain. "That's where Psycho is, you can't take that away from me. That's like- my home!"

"But it has that little nerdy shop, and that's my home."

"How about we co-own it, and no one pays rent?" I pick up some fake money and wave it in her face.

"Bitch, I want that rent when you land on it next turn, so no." She takes the card and adds it to her ever-growing pile. Somehow, despite taking as many turns as me, she somehow has twice as many cards as me.

"You know what, I don't think Monopoly is made for two players."

"I don't care," Emiko grins at me.

"That's because you're winning."

"Yes, so why would I complain?" The grin turns into a smirk. Then, I'm torn between slapping her across the face or kissing it instead, and I'm not sure which idea sounds better to me.

---

The lead up to the WRGP goes quickly. Yuuka finishes our team's Riding Suits, they are mostly red and black with some extra colour for contrast. It was my idea, it makes us look very uniform. We duel each other and go over our strategies. We find cards that work with each other's deck, so that we can try leave them for the next person if one of us loses.

The first day of the tournament arrives in the blink of an eye. We have one of the morning matches. We're on the opposite side of the board from Yuuka's team, meaning that the only time we could face them is in the final. Speaking of which, they're also dueling on the first day but in the afternoon slot and in the Memorial Circuit Stadium, since they're in Block A and they just happen to be one of the favourites to win. That's not a surprise, since the team contains both Yusei Fudo and Jack Atlas, two of the most iconic duelists of the last year. Turns out that our match is in the Horizon Ring Stadium, a slightly smaller stadium, since we're in Block G, and we're dueling Team Small Field, whose odds to win are better than ours.

"Where's Yuuka sitting?" Emiko asks as we enter the pit.

"She's not coming," Shinji shoots a glare towards Kaoru. Both Emiko and I are glancing between Shinji and Kaoru. It's not like Shinji to glare or speak so passive aggressively.

"Why is she not?" Emiko prods.

"Turns out Takumi only started to Team Liberation to basically take over the world." Shinji slams his water bottle on the desk. "And Kaoru sided with him over Yuuka."

"We're here to duel, so can we just-"

"You betrayed your sister, and she had a panic attack so bad that Yusei almost brought her to the hospital."

There's silence as we all stare at Kaoru. He doesn't respond. His face is completely emotionless.

"Kaoru, what the fuck?" Emiko's voice goes up about an octave. Everyone begins talking at once. It's hard to exactly hear what they're yelling at Kaoru. I say nothing, and just stare at him. He looks back at him, as if for help, but I just shake my head.

He sided with Takumi, who was up to some questionable shit the entire time. Then, I realise why Yuuka reacted the way she did. He might as well have sided with Raiden. It hurts me now that I think about it. After all that Yuuka and I have been through, he goes against all that and it's being rubbed in our faces.

Team Small Field come over to our pit to wish us a good game. I notice that their Japanese is actually quite good, despite their thick Indian accents. We get up to shake their hands and wish them the same.

That shuts everyone up again. Our opponent heard us arguing just before our match, they probably feel like they're in a good position right now.

"Okay, let's just put that behind us for now." I sigh as I sit down at the desk. "Kaoru, you're first out so you should be getting ready."

Reika's fingers type furiously on the keyboard. We don't talk to each other. I hear Emiko and Shinji whispering to each other. I could eavesdrop if I wanted to, but at this moment, I just want everything to stop.

"It's almost time for this featured battle!" The MC's voice booms over the sound system. Since this is a lower profile match, we don't get the main MC of the tournament, but someone who is less entertaining. "The crews have returned to their pits, so the duel is about to begin!"

Kaoru drives to the start line, without a word. He exchanges some friendly banter with Team Small Field's first rider, Joel.

"Speed World 2, set!"

"Riding Duel! Acceleration!" The MC's voice shouts, hurting my ears a little. "Both start simultaneously!"

The screams are deafening. This is technically the first match of the tournament, since there's another match starting somewhere right now at the same time as ours.

Kaoru takes the first turn, and an early lead. He manages to Synchro on his first turn and finishes the first rider within five turns.

"He's being really aggressive, isn't he?" Reika comments.

"I've never seen him play like this before." Emiko says, which means that this is really unusual.

The second rider comes out, and since Kaoru is already set up, he's finished in four turns. Kaoru is starting to make reckless plays, that could easily backfire on him, for the sake of winning.

"What's going on?" Shinji practically exclaims. Kaoru flies past the pit, with his D-Wheel giving a thunderous roar. The crowd is going wild. They're cheering his name. Every life point of damage he deals, they only get louder, and I think that I'm starting to get a headache. Considering the fact if Kaoru loses means that I'm up next, I'd say that's not good. He's only lost 1600 life points so far, damn that's impressive. Only losing that when you've dealt 8000 points of damage.

The final rider races onto the track. She's quite tough, according to her profile. She reduces Kaoru to 1100 life points quickly.

Then, I start getting ready to go. I stand beside Reika's D-Wheel, which I'm borrowing for the tournament since I didn't have enough money saved up to buy myself one.

"Special Summon, Judgement Dragon!" Kaoru's voice rings out over the sound system.

I place my helmet back down on the D-Wheel and walk back into the pit. I know there's no point in waiting there anymore.

"Now, I activate Judgement Dragon's effect, by paying 1000 life points, I can destroy every card on the field besides Judgement Dragon. Judgement Day!"

"Is he going to…" Emiko grabs my arm as soon as I'm within reach.

"Judgement Dragon attacks you directly!"

The attack goes through, and Kaoru wins.

The crowd erupts into a frenzy. They scream Kaoru's name.

"Oh!" The MC screams, barely audible over the crowd. "Kaoru Sasaki has taken out all three opponents in quick succession! The World Riding Duel Grand Prix is off to a flying start!"

Shinji and Emiko cheer and practically jump on Kaoru once he gets into the pit. I, however, am not feeling the surge of adrenaline from the win.

"Did I do good?" Kaoru asks me.

"I mean- I guess, you did. You won the match after all." I say without any enthusiasm in my voice.

"Yeah, that's true." He nods and looks away. I feel bad. He, like everyone else here, has a problem in which he thinks he'll never be good enough. I struggle with that too, he's not special. I don't think I have it in me to play nice.

Our leaving was delayed since every single member of press we passed wanted an interview with Kaoru. Just Kaoru, as expected.

We made a deal with Yuuka that we'd go to the first Team 5D's match, and she'd go to the first Team Delta match. We're not sure what to do since Yuuka bailed this morning because Kaoru has suddenly turned into a butthole. We decide to go anyway, since it'll be a good duel regardless.

By the time we change clothes, grab lunch, and arrive at the Memorial Circuit, the match is about to start. Jack Atlas goes first, but his power deck quickly loses to Andore, Team Unicorn's lead, who just happens to use an anti-power deck. He crashes but he manages to push his D-Wheel before their team's Speed Counters reach 0. Aki is up next, she fairs slightly better against Andore. She summons Stardust Dragon, sacrificing herself so Yusei could start with his ace monster on the field. The most shocking moment of the tournament so far, the MC says as Yusei rolls out.

"I'm going to get a drink." Kaoru stands up and practically runs away. I think nothing of it, and neither does anyone else apparently. Except Emiko, who looks at me weird. But she's had a habit of doing that lately.

Turns out that Aki summoning Stardust Dragon was not the most surprising moment of the match. Yusei, the last wheeler, came from behind to defeat all three opponents. Kaoru's not back yet. Yusei dueled three people back-to-back, but that wasn't enough time to get a bottle of water apparently. We decide not to wait for Kaoru, and just leave.

"Hey," Emiko says to me. "I want to grab a tea really quick, want to join me?" Her eyes are wide. She seems to know something that I don't. We say goodbye to Shinji and Reika.

"Kaoru was looking at his phone right before he left." She whispers to me right as we pass the coffee stand. "So, I'm thinking that's something going on-" Emiko pulls me behind the coffee stand. "Shhhh!" She places her hand over my mouth. "Look!" We peek around the corner of the stall to see Takumi walking towards the medical centre with a bottle of water.

"What's he doing?" My words are mumbled since Emiko hasn't moved her hand. That's when she realises that and takes her hand away. "Who's in the medical centre?"

"Could Kaoru be sick?"

"Nope," Emiko hums. "Wait, is it Yuuka? She has a habit of fainting. Let's go." We move quickly over the medical centre. We hid behind the corner.

"Team 5D's duel just ended." I hear Takumi say. "Thought you'd like to know. Yusei manage to defeat all three wheelers on his own. I'd say it was impressive if your brother hadn't already done that today." There's silence. Emiko looks at me and her nostrils flare. "Aren't you proud of him?"

"Leave her alone, Takumi." Emiko practically storms in, guns blazing. I have no choice but to go after her. "Can't you see that she looks uncomfortable?"

"She always looks like that." Takumi scowls right back at her, with a frown. I look at Yuuka, who's looking very pale. She's looking like she's starting to disassociate. No, she doesn't normally look like that. There's something clearly wrong. And that thing is called Kaoru and Takumi.

"No, I know Yuuka, and that's not her normal face." Emiko walks right up into Takumi's face. Well, maybe not his face, considering she doesn't pass his shoulder. "You're up to something, I know it." She brings up her finger up, as if to point at him but missing his face by a lot.

"Kaoru's face makes that obvious," I say as I stare right at him. He gulps. Why is he here with Yuuka? And not one of her friends?

"You keep that Team Liberation thing from me." Emiko turns her anger on Kaoru. Her face is turning redder by the second. "And now this?"

"It's nothing." Kaoru says, clearly lying.

"Where's Jack?" Yuuka asks, completely changing the topic. "He should have been here."

"He left a few minutes before you woke up. He knows you're here, so I suspect someone will come for you." Kaoru answers, and says nothing more. He tells Takumi to shut up as soon as he opens his mouth. Emiko glares at Kaoru. I put my hand on her arm, in an attempt to calm her down.

"You don't need to fight with him here," I whisper to her. "Regardless of what he hid from you, this is Yuuka's problem to deal with. You're going down to their level if you argue with them here. You should wait until we're somewhere more suited for this."

A member of staff comes over to ask Yuuka a few questions. They figure out that she just fainted, and say that she's free to go, with the usual advice to rest and drink lots of fluids.

"Why did you faint anyway?" Kaoru asks.

"Just as said, I haven't eaten today."

"That's a lie," he sneers.

"You wouldn't know that already?" Yusei walks into the room. I don't know Yusei very well. He's pretty stoic, but the way his eyebrow is ever so slightly furrowed gives me the impression that he's pissed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kaoru scoffs.

"The only reason you're here in the first place is because you read her thoughts. You have a lot of nerve showing your face after what you did." Kaoru's eyes widen, and he doesn't react. "Come on, Yuuka, we're leaving." Yuuka, silently, gets up to follow him. I think I hear a sigh from her as she walks passes me.

"You better watch out, Fudo." Takumi says, as the last few minutes haven't already been filled with enough drama. "Team Delta's going to destroy you in the finals. You're not the only person to defeat an entire team by themselves." Emiko looks like she's about to go for his throat.

"Then, I guess we'll just defeat you too." Yusei just casually claps back as he walks out the door. Both Kaoru and Takumi just stand there, eyes wide. Meanwhile, Yuuka is practically grinning as she walks out the door.

"Gods, that was smooth." Emiko chuckles. "But, you-" she turns to looks at Takumi and Kaoru, "you two need to stay away from her. Or you'll have to deal with us." She scoffs and walks out the door. Kaoru looks like he's going to say something to me, but I turn and follow Emiko.

---

Our next opponent is Team Mantis, a band of martial artists from the looks of it. Today's rotation is Shinji, me and then Emiko. Kaoru hogged all the glory last time, so he gets to sit this one out.

Shinji defeats the first opponent but loses within two turns to the next one. I try to remain calm. How many hundreds of thousands of people are in this stadium? They did a count before the match and displayed it on the big screen. I didn't pay attention, I knew it would only make me more nervous. I take a few deep breaths, and just let go. I manage to defeat the second rider with relative ease.

The third rider, oh boy.

It's a long duel. We both seem pretty equipped to deal with each other's decks. But, in the end, I lose the round. I can't dwell on this loss too much. I weakened my opponent as much as I could have. I set up an opportunity for Emiko to take the win. If I had lasted one more turn, I could have done it.

Turns out that I actually might have.

Emiko, the little spitfire that she is, takes out the last rider in her first turn. Not that he had that many life points left. She lets out a huge scream, once she gets back into the pit. She nearly tackles me to the ground in a hug.

Shinji joins in, lifting the both of us off the ground, for a group hug. We all laugh together, and somehow Reika sneaks her way into the middle. But I notice that Kaoru hasn't joined in.

"We're so close to the finals." Shinji says. "There's only one more qualification match, and all we got to do is win that."

"Even if we don't win," Reika chips in, "the fact we already have two wins could mean that we've already made it."

"It still doesn't feel real that we're actually winning," I exhale. Being dealt the good hand feels unnatural to me. I don't dare question it, in case it slips away.

---

Kaoru: Since you won't look at me, I'm just going to text you. Not that I expect you to respond. I know what I did was wrong, but just hear me out. Takumi's idea won't work, I know that. It's bad and he's just turning into Raiden, I know that. But maybe, just maybe, I could stop him somehow. Make him see that he's wrong. He's in an emotionally vulnerable place right now. Kenta left him because of this whole Team Liberation thing. Maybe that will make him see the truth. I'm sorry, just please talk to me again.

Anako: k

The day after the Team Mantis match, a hoard of duelbots started attacking Riding Duelists. They caused a lot of destruction, and even caused a power outage. The tournament has been delayed for two weeks. Only the top team in each block progresses to the finals, instead of top two. By some stroke of luck, our team was top of our block.

Team Delta progresses to the finals.

It takes a minute for that to register in my brain as I read the news article. Emiko calls me just to scream down the phone.

It's decided that I'll sit out the first match of the finals against Team Black Baron. I'm not gonna say that I'm not salty about that, but I knew I had to sit out a match eventually but still, it's the first match of the finals.

Shinji defeats the first rider and loses to the second, just like last time. Emiko goes out and utterly destroys the remaining two.

Team Delta's odds of winning have greatly increased with every match. Coming into the quarterfinals, we were fourth out of eight. Victory seems tangible now. I'm trying not to think about it too much. Having low expectations is how you stop being disappointed. I go into every match, thinking we're going to lose. It's just easier that way.

"I'm going to tell Yuuka," Kaoru says to me as we leave the stadium. "I think it's time."

"Have you gotten through to him at all?" I ask.

"I think I'm starting to," he nods. "He's putting off planning until the WRGP is over. If I could just push through until then, I stand a chance. That's why I'm telling Yuuka now." There's a pause. "Speaking of her, have you heard from her? Her mind has been silent for like a week now."

"Nah, she's been silent since that day in the medical centre." I sigh. "With all of us." He's silent. "Good luck with that, by the way." I chuckle half-heartedly. "Make sure she doesn't murder either you or Takumi, especially Takumi."

"I'll try my best," he laughs nervously, mainly because he knows that it's a real possibility.

---

Apparently, that night, Kaoru and Takumi kissed for the first time. This made Kaoru barge into Yusei's garage, just to talk to her. She took it rather well, surprisingly. Though Kaoru said something about Yuuka having bags under her eyes and looking about a bit older than she did before, this worries me. I think Yuuka has more important things on her plate than Takumi right now. It sounds crazy, but I have a hunch.

Kaoru, fully bitten by the love bug, decides he should go first since it worked so well last time. Team New World have anti-Synchro decks. His ace just happens to not be a Synchro Monster, which helps his argument. Then, Shinji who's Dragunity deck doesn't entirely focus on Synchros. Finally, it's me since my Spellcaster deck isn't a Synchro deck, well mostly. Emiko sits the match out, since it was her turn anyway, and she relies on her Synchros too much for this duel.

Kaoru summons Judgement Dragon rather quickly into the duel, at the cost of milling an excessive amount. Then, the unthinkable happens.

Kaoru decks out.

Shinji sets out, practically shaking. Kaoru sits on the ground beside his D-Wheel. He leans against it, with his hands grasping his hair to the point of pulling it out. Emiko and I run over to him. He won't listen to us.

"We're going to lose," he repeats to himself, "and it's all my fault."

Shinji instantly loses. We haven't even beaten one of their riders. We're on first rider, Luciano. Shinji comes into the pit, looking a lot worse for wear. His eyes are dead. He hands me the sticker with our logo on it. It's hopeless, his eyes are saying.

He was right.

I lose in two turns. Luciano had set up too much. I- no, we had no chance.

"That's it!" The MC screams over the sound system. "Team Delta have suffered a crushing defeat to Team New World, who progress to the final. The big question is who will face them? Team Ragnarok or Team 5D's? We find out at the last semi-final match tomorrow!"

The world begins to spin around me once I get off my D-Wheel in the pit. It was pointless. All that hard work we've put in. I look at Kaoru, who hasn't moved. They were both right.

Emiko runs towards me. There's tears in her eyes as she hugs me. She pulls away and looks me in the eyes. There's a determination in her eyes. I don't know why. We've lost. There's not a point anymore.

Emiko grabs either side of my face firmly in her hands. She pulls my face forwards, so my lips meet hers. It's a quick kiss, and she practically throws my face away. She's crying, very clearly. The world keeps spinning around me. My mind is trying to process what just happened.

Emiko kissed me.

It wasn't an accident.

She purposely grabbed my face and kissed me.

I don't know what compels me in that moment, but I grab her face and kiss her.

When I pull back, everyone is staring at us like this came out of nowhere. But it didn't. If anyone understands me, it's her. We share a mutual understanding like I've never known. She knows that too, and even responds to it.

Then, everything goes back to the depressing silence as we mourn our run in this tournament. It was good while it lasted. Why does that apply to so many things in my life? We say nothing to each other as we pack up our things. I came here with low expectations. I half expected us to lose all of the qualifying matches. But no, we made the semi-finals. I didn't think we could win the entire thing. But something about coming so close, only to lose, really breaks my spirit.

The tournament is over now. That means I can start to look for my next path, now that this one has closed off. I can handle this. I've done it before, and I can do it again.

---

My life is silent until the WRGP Final. Emiko invites me to watch the final with her at her house. She acts like the kiss, or kisses, never happened. She makes us a big bowl of popcorn and gets some other random snacks. It's Team 5D's versus Team New World, to no one's surprise. The odds to win are in Team New World's favour, especially after our crushing defeat.

Jack Atlas makes quick work of Team's New World's first two riders, Luciano and Placido. Jack Atlas defeated more members of Team New World than our entire team could. Then again, his Scarlet Nova Dragon seems to be the perfect counter.

Team New World's final rider, Jose, comes out onto the track. He then proceeds to fuse with his D-Wheel. Okay, I've seen a lot of weird shit in my life. That must definitely be the weirdest.

"Who would have thought Team New World were a bunch of cyborgs?" Emiko says before she drops an entire handful of popcorn into her mouth.

"Why are you being so relaxed about all this?" I turn to her. "Jose literally ran down the track at top speed and fused with his fucking D-Wheel. Don't you think that warrants more than a who'd have guessed?"

"If you don't question things, it makes things a lot easier." Emiko merely shrugs at me. I wonder if that way of thinking has anything to do with her dad being a senator, who is no doubt up to questionable shit.

The duel starts back up, and an infinity symbol glows around Jack and Jose. Jack says something about taking real damage.

"Fucking wild," I say as I actively try not to question what is happening.

"I know right."

Jack and Crow get taken out reasonable quickly once Jose summons his Machine Emperor. Crow sacrifices himself to let Yusei start with an advantage.

Jose starts talking about mankind's foolishness, and a future of ruin. Is this just part of the cyborg thing? Like they're playing it up for the cameras.

Then again, maybe not.

Luciano, Placido and Jose rise into the sky in a bright light. When it clears, a single person- or cyborg- descends and joins with not one, but three, D-Wheels. Apparently, this fucker's called Aporia, and all of Team New World was actually just different parts of him.

"Did you put alcohol in this soda?" I turn to Emiko, very confused. "Because I feel like I'm on some strong ass drugs right now."

"Absolutely none." She whispers, her eyes not moving from the screen.

He speaks about the future he came from. One where Synchro Monsters destroyed everything, leaving him alone in the world. It almost sounds silly, but given the current situation, I have no choice but to believe his words. Our world is, too, destined for that path. Would Yusei winning prevent that? Yusei seems to believe so, and I trust him. No future is set in stone. It's something we create for ourselves.

Yusei summons the aces of Jack and Crow, alongside his own, and takes down Aporia in one swoop. Aporia and his D-Wheel plummet into the Sound, and explode, sending a plume of smoke into the air. With that, Team 5D's wins the WRGP.

"Do you think they did it?" Emiko mutters, staring at the glass in her hands. I look at her, waiting for her to continue. She sighs. "Do you think they saved the future?"

"Of course they did," I say as I try to convince, not just her, but myself.

Emiko says nothing, but instead, tries to finish off our popcorn bowl. There's silence. We don't pay attention to the screen, as it's just post-match talking.

There's a sudden crash. Emiko puts the popcorn bowl on the coffee table, and immediately jumps up.

"That didn't sound like it was in the house," I say as I get up.

The natural light filling the room slowly dims, until the light of the television is the only light source. Emiko grabs my hand and guides me to the front door of the house, turning lights on as she goes.

People have started to gather in the streets of this wealthy suburb. Most of the natural light seems to have vanished, and the street lights have come on in response. Then, I look up. I hear so many screams that I'm not sure which is mine. Emiko clings to me, her entire body pressed against mine.

There is an island in the sky, blocking out the sun. The thin strip of blue sky that separates it and the Neo Domino City skyline is getting ever so slightly smaller.

"We're going to die!" I hear someone scream. "Run!" "It's falling!"

Emiko just stands there, staring at the island. She doesn't move, it doesn't even look like she's breathing. I pull her back inside the house, and we sit on the couch. I hold her in my arms, and we sit in the silence. There's only grey static on the television screen.

It's the end of the world as we know it.

Emiko and I say nothing to each other. I imagine she's thinking of her family, who are somewhere in this City and not at home with her. For a second, I wonder what my parents are doing. But then, I realise that I don't care.

Then, the power goes out.

Emiko begins to cling to me, sobbing. I hold her tighter. Is it better to stay or run? I don't have to think about that for long, since we get the evacuation message. Emiko uses the flashlight on her phone to run up to her room. She stuffs clothes and essentials, along with a piggy bank, into a small bag. She's about to leave the room but turns around to take two photo frames from her desk. The top one is of Team Delta in our uniforms. I catch a glimpse of the second one as she puts it in the bag. It's a picture of herself, Kaoru and Yuuka in their Duel Academy uniforms with big smiles on their faces. In the most critical times, Emiko's mind focuses on her friends. I think that says a lot about her.

We begin to leave the house. I make sure to grab my purse from beside the couch. We follow the crowd leaving the suburb. Emiko has a firm grasp on my hand. I move my hand slightly, so we can intertwine our fingers.

Once we leave the suburbs, we join with the flood of people leaving the City. The island, which they called the Ark Cradle, is moving faster towards the City. The lack of electricity and Moment means that every single person has to evacuate on foot.

I would check the time, but my phone has died. Shinji and Reika are texting Emiko to make sure that the both of us are okay. They're evacuating, and so is Kaoru. Kaoru tells Emiko that Yuuka and the rest of Team 5D's are up in the Ark Cradle. He doesn't say anything more. She must have known this was going to happen. Maybe that's why she's been so distant lately. The Ark Cradle threatening to destroy the entire City is more important than Takumi being an asshole.

I try not to look back at the City, and just keep going forward.

"If we do die," Emiko begins, "I'm glad that you were the one beside me." She looks right at me, and her eyes are glassy like she's about to cry.

"Me too," I respond as I don't know what else to say. I squeeze her hand, and she returns the gesture.

"I am Z-One," a voice booms. The entire crowd looks back to the Ark Cradle. There's a projection all around it. It looks like some sort of machine with a mask. "The Ark Cradle will soon destroy Neo Domino City, and a new future will begin. You will be living witnesses. The sky will be the duel field. Come, Yusei Fudo. Aporia gave his power to that D-Wheel."

Aporia? Didn't he crash into the Sound and die? Why would he help Yusei?

Who is the Z-One? And what does he want?

Right from the start, Z-One seems unbeatable. His Timelords just look too powerful. Yusei manages to summon the aces of Jack, Crow and Aki without much hassle. Because of this, Yusei is able to deal 1500 points of damage to Z-One. Some people around us cheer. We're walking away from the City, but most of us can't help but look back at the projections.

There's silence. Z-One crashed into a set of low hanging buildings in the Ark Cradle, he slowly emerges, and my blood runs cold.

"Saviour?" He says. Just from that, I feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. "Yusei Fudo, you gave the people hope many times before."

"What do you mean?" Yusei asks, sounding as confused as I feel.

"In my future, your heroic tale was... inspiring." The projections in the sky focus on Z-One's mask. It's starting to chip from the damage he just took. Tiny shards start falling away at the cracks. There's a tease of dark, wrinkled skin underneath.

"My heroic tale?" Yusei echoes. The cracks in the mask grow, joining together. Piece by piece, the left side of the mask falls away. I spot the yellow of a marker standing out against the dark skin.

"You're… Z-One, who are you?" Yusei's voice shakes, entirely unsure what to make of this.

"Hm, since you've seen my face, I should answer. Yusei Fudo, I am your future self."

"What?"

"In the future, humanity's yearning for evolution was insatiable, causing Moment to go out of control." Z-One explains. "That was the beginning of everything. Moment is an engine that reads people's desires. Evolution led to evil ideas, such as temptation and greed, taking over people's hearts, so Moment went out of control. It infected the worldwide network with a certain idea. That if nothing changes, the world will be destroyed. Humans are the cause, so they must be eliminated. In order to save that world from destruction, I led the people. You are me."

Gasps and screams erupt from the crowd. Emiko looks at me, absolutely terrified. I keep a brave face for her.

The projection goes silent as it just focuses on Z-One's and Yusei's faces. Some people stop moving, while some only move quicker. I have to drag Emiko along.

I don't care if Z-One really is Yusei. If his future was that fucked up that he has resorted to destroying the City, then Z-One stopped being Yusei a long time ago. I don't know Yusei that well, but I trust Yuuka to know better.

Things only get worse from there. Z-One summons three Timelords onto his field instead of one. Z-One regains the damage that Yusei just dealt. Yusei goes down to 1500 life points in the blink of an eye.

"No matter what, I won't give up! I do not believe in saving the future by destroying the City! You are not me!"

But despite all that, Yusei refuses to give up.

"I was looking for a way to save the world from destruction. I realised something about the machine army, its power source was Moment. And what powers Moment? The Yusei Particles that were my namesake. They read people's souls, so I knew I had to make people behave morally. But the desires and negative feelings of arrogant people were things that I couldn't change with my own hands. I tried. Believe me, I did. I was Yusei Fudo, the supposed saviour of Neo Domino City. I was a legendary hero who faced all obstacles and never gave up. I knew that I had to become the hero believed me to be."

So, what Z-One is saying that we, the people of the City, caused its destruction in the first place?

"Eventually, my people once again remembered to help each other, understand each other, and the machine army stopped attacking us. I began to feel that the world would be saved. However... There wasn't enough time left to spread the message to everyone. Due to people's negativity, Moment finally started to spin negatively towards destruction. The affected network selected the path of destruction. In the end, I wasn't able to save a single person. I lost that which was most important to me. It wasn't possible to change people's hearts. And I reached my current conclusion. In order to save the world, I must erase the Moment that our father created and Neo Domino City from history."

The world really is doomed.

Z-One summons five Timelords to his field. Are we destined to always follow that path towards destruction? People are still as shitty as they were then.

Yusei asks why Z-One went down that path. He lost Yuuka is what he says. Z-One's Yuuka died, and that's why he is the way he is now. The loss was too big for him, he was alone in the world. He concluded that changing the past was the only way to save the future.

Yusei, barely, survives the attacks of the five Timelords.

Everything feels so grim. Barely anyone cheered when Yusei survived an attack after it looked like he would lose. Emiko clings me, not saying a word.

"I would congratulate you for surviving, but you have little time left." Z-One says. "The Ark Cradle will soon collide with Neo Domino City, destroying that detestable Moment." Just as he says it, a building dislodges itself from the Ark Cradle hits the City.

People begin to scream as a giant dust cloud flies up into the air. I start coughing. The city centre may seem far away from where we are now, but it isn't. If the Ark Cradle falls right now, the resulting destruction would take out every single person evacuating right now.

Another building falls.

I hear children crying for their mothers.

Emiko stops entirely. She looks at me, as if she's just given up. The situation is hopeless, her eyes tell me. Yusei can't win. For a second, it feels like I'm in her shoes when we were at the stadium. I grab her face and kiss her, getting the attention of the people around us.

"You can't give up here," I whisper. "I need you. Let's keep going." She nods slowly. She takes my hand, and slowly interweaves her fingers with mine.

"Okay," she mutters as she tries not to cry.

We keep moving. I can't tell who's going to win this duel anymore. Hopefully we'll be far enough from the City by the time Ark Cradle falls that we won't instantly die.

"Even if Moment vanishes from history, if humanity's evolution leads to desire and temptation, there's no difference from the future you lived in! Can you still say that the world is saved? In order to truly save the future, everyone's hearts must move in the correct direction, and we must create a future where we can flourish together with Moment!" Yusei raises a clenched fist. "If we don't save the present, then the future won't be saved either! We won't be able to save anyone." He stretches his arm straight out to point at Z-One. "Isn't that right, Z-One? I will find a way to save the future!" There's a pause. "I know now," Yusei continues, "I'm not carrying the burden of destiny alone. Everyone in the City is rooting for me. They are giving me power. I see!" He shoots right up beyond the Ark Cradle. "In order to surpass my own limits, I can't do it with just my own power! I must unite my friends' thoughts and form our bond. The bond between Team 5D's make that possible!"

Yusei tunes all of Team 5D's aces, summoning a new monster, Shooting Quasar Dragon. The monster takes out all five of Z-One's Timelords, at the cost of itself. It leaves Shooting Star Dragon in its place, and Z-One with 700 life points.

"A counterattack straight from the soul!" I hear a voice shouting. Could that be the MC from the WRGP? "A surging wave of six attacks! See that, Z-One? This is Yusei's... I mean, Team 5D's inner strength! Z-One has 700 life points left! Win for us, Yusei! The future of Neo Domino City rests on your shoulders!"

The entire crowd has come to a halt. Everyone's eyes are on the projections. Somehow, Yusei has inspired hope in us. Almost as if he had broken open the door to a better future right in front of us.

Then, just as the smoke clears, there's another door waiting.

Z-One summons his ultimate ace, Sephylon, the Ultimate Timelord, who's attack points shoot up to 20000, when four other Timelords are summoned.

"I haven't given up on my future yet!" Yusei shouts over the wailing of the crowd around me.

Yusei activates a trap that lets him summon Stardust Dragon, and lets it gain attack points for every Dragon-Type Synchro Monsters in his grave. The dragon grows to a magnificent size as it reaches 23000 attack points.

The other Timelords attack like a shield for Sephylon. Stardust Dragon break through that shield, one Timelord at a time. As the final attack lands, Yusei wins the duel. The impact of the attack sends Z-One flying, a fiery explosion ruptures from where he landed.

"It's finally over!" I hear the MC roar. "A miraculous duel! With a miraculous huge come-from-behind victory, leading to Neo Domino City to our future is our hero, Yusei Fudo!"

The joy, in that exact moment among the crowd, is indescribable. Everyone is cheering so loud that it hurts my ears. People are hugging each other, even people they don't know. Emiko practically throws herself at me, crying. She shakes me, saying that everything will be okay. Did Yusei really just tear open a door to a better future?

Then, as soon as that new future shined, it dimmed just as quickly. The rainbow light that was being emitted from the Ark Cradle disappears entirely. I think it may just be the Ark Cradle stopping once and for all, but I was wrong. The Ark Cradle itself begins to rumble. The buildings that cling to it begin to slide down. Chunks of debris fall, hitting the Neo Domino City skyline.

So much for saving the future.

The crowd screams and begins to run. I grab Emiko and run with them. I run so fast that she nearly falls a few times.

"Stop!" Emiko yells at me. I stop, letting her catch her breath. "I can't believe I'm going to die a virgin!" She cries.

"The City is about to be destroyed!" I yell back. "Why do you care about your stupid virginity?"

"Because I wanted my first time to be special!" Tears come to her eyes. "Now I'll never know that intimacy!"

"Okay, if we survive this, we can have sex." I scoff. "Now you have to run to survive."

"But if we do that, we need to be dating." She blinks awkwardly at me. "I don't want to have sex with someone I'm not going out with."

"Sure, we can do that." I don't think about what that means in that moment, I just want to run as fast as I can. "Now, let's go."

"Okay, can I have a kiss first?" She looks at me with a smile, as if we won't die any moment.

Then, I realise what she just asked me. Her smiles means that she meant it.

"I love you, Anako." She puts a hand up to her eye, in an attempt to stop herself crying. "I don't care if the world ends, as long as I have you."

I used to regret coming back to this City. Until now, it's only brought me heartbreak, pain and confusion. Just being here means I could die any moment.

But now, having this beautiful girl standing in front of me, looking at me with nothing but pure love in her eyes. Somehow, that makes everything up until this exact moment in my life worth it.

"I love you," I mutter before kissing her, and that somehow begins to turn into a make out session in a crowd when we could die at any moment. Then, the cheering starts. We break apart very suddenly, both of us gasping for air. I mean it wasn't a typical romantic declaration of love, but any light in a dark situation is needed.

Then, I realise that no one is looking at us.

I'm able to look clean over Emiko's head. She sees me looking and turns around. The Ark Cradle is simply fading away, allowing the first daylight to shine. Emiko turns around and keeps kissing me. I'm not complaining, honestly.

As soon as she lets go of my face, she grabs my hand and we run through the crowd. We pass Kaoru and Takumi, they call out to us. Emiko barely stops to say hello before running off again. I can't but laugh at my girlfriend and her determination to get back as soon as possible. My girlfriend, how sweet those words seem to me.

---

After the whole Ark Cradle incident, the City takes a while to get back up and running. There's damage to skyscrapers in the central district, alongside the rubble of the same skyscrapers that fell from the Ark Cradle. Aside from that, the City was relatively unharmed.

Our friends are all okay. Some people are more than okay. Kaoru and Emiko are practically singing with joy. Then, Kaoru realises that he hasn't heard from Yuuka at all. Considering when she was supposedly up there when it disappeared, I suggest that he should check if she's okay. He knows she's alive, he can tell that much. But he can't hear her thoughts, she turned off the connection before going into the Ark Cradle. Kaoru says that she was expecting to die. The Ark Cradle continued to fall after Yusei won the duel against Z-One, I wonder if she was anticipating that.

Kaoru goes over to Yusei's place to check up on her. A few hours later, Emiko and I get added to a group chat that's full of Yuuka's friends by Kaoru.

Crow: Hey everyone, Yuuka's gone missing. She ran out of our place a few hours ago. If everyone could look for her, that would be much appreciated.

Kaoru: I think something happened to her, please help if you can.

Various people answer to the chat, saying that they'll help. We do the same and start looking. The sun's just gone down. Yuuka must be missing a long time, I think she must have ran out when Kaoru went to see her. I start texting Kaoru to see what happened. Apparently, she's very shaken after everything and she ran off after he made a comment about Z-One. Kaoru noticed one thing, she couldn't look in Yusei's direction at all. That explains everything. Z-One being Yusei must be messing with her head, big time.

"I hope she's okay," Emiko whispers as we walk around the Daimon Area, having already checked the Docklands.

I think about the possibility that she tried to kill herself again. It's definitely likely, given her history. Judging by how worried Kaoru is, I imagine he's thinking the same.

"Me too," I mutter back.

Our phones buzz simultaneously. We stare at each other for a few seconds before opening the message.

Kaoru: Yuuka's okay, she's on her way back to Poppo Time.

I sigh in relief. Emiko's looking at me, but I keep my gaze on the message.

The last time Yuuka killed herself, I ran to her side.

She didn't want or need me there, I know that now.

Why should I run to her side now? Yuuka is my friend, and I love her only in that way. I don't think I love her enough to do that again.

Emiko slides her hand into my limp hand at my side. I feel her warmth, and I made up my mind.

"Will we go to Poppo Time?" She asks softly.

"No," I reply. She looks at me weirdly. "We're not what she needs right now." Her face softens, and she nods.

I text Shinji, saying that I'm just going home. He says that he's doing the same. He repeats my own words back to me, we're not what she needs right now. It's amazing how wise Shinji is sometimes. He called Yusei when Yuuka last attempted, he knew that's what she needed. I'm starting to think that Shinji knows Yuuka better than she knows herself.

Maybe that means, I'm wiser than I thought.

---

The next time I see Yuuka is for the Key to the City ceremony. Emiko says that the government needed to give Yusei something for defeating Z-One and stopping the Ark Cradle. Yuuka's hair has suddenly grown so it sits at her waist, she says that her powers caused it to grow. Ironically, I chopped all of my hair off, so I have a little bob. I decided to chop off all of my hair. I feel like I've turned over a new leaf in my life, and I decided to celebrate it. I've let go of Yuuka after so long, and I managed to get myself a girlfriend. Also, coming out as a lesbian to people. No one seems overly surprised. Though, Yuuka was surprised that Emiko and I are dating. Then again, she thought Kaoru was straight for years, so she's an exception.

Since Emiko's dad is a politician, he manages to get us invited. Mostly because he knows Yuuka as well. Unfortunately, since she's accompanying the guest of honour, we can't sit with her for the ceremony.

"Welcome, ladies, gentlemen, and variations thereof." The senator has barely spoken, and the crowd is deathly silent. "Our city has faced many challenges over these few short months. The challenge in accepting a long-lost sector of city back into our open arms. Creating the World Riding Duel Grand Prix, elevating our homegrown talent to a world stage. The onslaught of the dueling robots known as Diablo. Finally, the Ark Cradle threatening to fall and destroy our City. But, look, we are still standing here strong today. We, as one unified people, overcame everything together. A special mention goes to our police force and a select few brave citizens. We will continue to face our uncertain future together. We will fight any obstacle in our way, the same way we have done everything else, together." There's some clapping from the audience. "Today, we are gathered to bestow a great honour to a brave citizen. The Key to the City is given to a valued member of our community, for a heroic service to our community. There are many individuals in this room to whom we could give this award, but today, we give this award to one brave man in particular. He faced immeasurable odds on our behalf. He fought with his life on the line to guarantee a better future for us all. Because of this man, we all here to fight another day for a better future. This man, born in the Satellite, fought for equality for the people of the Satellite, resulting in the construction of the bridge that connects our own City to the Satellite. Now, he has saved our people once again. Welcome to the stage, Yusei Fudo!"

There's a thunderous applause. Yusei slowly stands up. He waves to the crowd awkwardly and makes his way onto the stage. The senator opens the decorative box containing the key, which is only a symbol if anything. He shakes Yusei's hand while handing him the box with the other hand. His eyes are firmly placed on the crowd as the flash of cameras sound. The audience continues to clap, with a few cheers. The senator comes back to life as he stops posing for the cameras. He gestures from Yusei to the giant podium beside them. Yusei looks between the senator and the podium, and then to the front row of the audience. Finally, he cautiously stands up at the podium.

"Thank you, Senator Takahashi and everyone, for this award. I feel undeserving of this award." I hear sharp intakes of breath from the crowd around me. Emiko looks at me, confused, mirroring what I imagine is my own expression. "This award was presented to me, but it could have been given to any number of people. I am being given this award because I dueled Z-One in an attempt to save the City. I could not have won that duel without the help from my Team 5D's teammates. They are just as deserving of this award as me. Anyone could have taken my place. I just wanted to save my home, Neo Domino City. Who's to say that anyone here wouldn't have done the same in my place?" Yusei looks down at the front row again. There's a beat of silence. "Neo Domino City, if I may be honest, I did not save the City." Audible gasps sound around me. I feel Yuuka's aura spike in the front row, since her aura is now far more powerful than it ever was before. Is that why she was so shaken by the Ark Cradle? "I dueled Z-One. I may have won the duel, but I did not save the City. The Ark Cradle continued to fall. Z-One, as his last act in this world, gave up his life to stop it from falling. With that, he allowed us to take our future with our own hands. I was not the one who convinced Z-One to let us take control of our future." There's a beat of silence. "Yuuka Sasaki. She was the one who saved the City. She did what I could not. She saved the City, not with Duel Monsters, but with her courage and words. She is the one deserving of this award."

The room is dead silent. Senator Takahashi exchanges nervous glances with the other senators at the front of the crowd. There's some mutters as Senator Takahashi suddenly nods his head. He makes a move towards the podium. Yusei steps down, waiting just a few steps away from it.

"Thank you, Mr. Fudo, for your speech. My colleagues and I agree that your bravery in the face of such danger in your fight for all of our futures is still warranting of this award. But, we invite Ms. Sasaki to speak if she wishes."

Emiko's hand flies to hold my own. Our eyes are firmly fixed on the head of light blonde hair in the front row, barely visible from where we are. Everyone's holding their breath, waiting for Yuuka to move. Yusei looks positively sickly on that stage. I doubt he expected this would happen. Then, Yuuka stands up.

"Welcome Ms. Yuuka Sasaki to the stage." The crowd erupts into a thunderous applause. Yusei smiles at Yuuka once she gets onto the stage. Senator Takahashi gives Yuuka his hand to help her up to the podium. She takes a deep breath, and there's a beat of silence. Despite her calm exterior, I can tell she's panicking. I can feel the prickle of her aura, even from where I'm sitting.

"People of Neo Domino City," she begins, "I hesitate to call myself the saviour of this City. I am only a normal girl from the Satellite. I grew up in this City, it's shaped me into the person who stands before you now. Everything I've experienced here has led me to where I am now, to say those words to Z-One when I stood on the Ark Cradle as it fell. I agree with Yusei. Anyone here in this room could have saved this City. I am not unique. I am ordinary, unimportant. I am undeserving of the attention which you give me now. Anyone from this City, who's been where I have been, who's felt what I have felt, could have said those same words. I love this City. If any of you listening, love this City like I do, you could have been here instead of me. All of you are just as deserving as me of that title. As for the uncertain future, you will, no doubt, look to us. We saved you once, so we can save you again. That thought will surely cross your minds. But I say this to you, do not ask us to save you, ask each other." She takes another deep breath. "I think we are all deserving of that title. Every single person has the chance to change fate. You must grasp it with your own hands. You can prevent another Z-One from rising again. Saving only one person could change everyone's future. If someone had saved Z-One in his doomed future, I would not be speaking in front of you now. The only way to prevent the terrible future Z-One spoke of is to change our future. It is shaped by the people who are here now, not just a team of duelists. If you believe there is a future, you must fight for it. I ask of you, people of Neo Domino, become your own saviour. Together, we can change the future." She looks back at Yusei, who smiles at her. "When they call out Yusei's name, or my name, saying that we are the saviours of this City. Know that we are only thinking of you. We are not the only saviours, each and every one of you is able to be someone's saviour. That is enough. You only need to look at me to see that is true. Thank you."

Yuuka exhales deeply, as her shoulders shake a little. I hear a slow clap coming from somewhere in the audience. I turn my head around to see who it is. I'm only able to catch a glance, but someone else stands up to clap, blocking my view. I don't need to look long to know who it is. Emiko stops clapping to put a hand on my arm. She looks at me with worried eyes. I just shake my head and start clapping. Yuuka bows slightly before stepping off the podium.

"Thank you, Ms. Sasaki, for your words." Senator Takahashi says as he returns to the podium. "That marks the end of the ceremony. We cordially invite you into the reception for the afterparty." The audience claps again. Then, it dissipates as everyone begins to stand up.

"What's going on?" Emiko asks me as we enter the reception, our arms linked.

"I think I just saw Raiden," I mutter just loud enough so she hears me.

"Wait, that Raiden?" Her eyebrows furrow as I nod slowly. Her entire body tenses like she's ready to fight Raiden right then and there.

"I can't see him, don't worry." I pat her arm affectionately. "And he can't hurt Yuuka because I think she's gone for interviews."

Kaoru told me that Raiden was back in the City. He met him not that long ago, when he came to talk to Yuuka about something. Raiden worked for Z-One up in the Ark Cradle. He tried to kill Yuuka because she left him, causing him to lose everything. Apparently, he's seen the error of his ways, but I doubt he's changed that quickly. I thought I'd never see him again, and now I have the chance. I don't know how to feel.

My eyes immediately go to the waiters going around the room with trays of champagne glasses. Some people have started dancing in the middle of the room to the light classical music that's started playing. Emiko starts to pull me towards the centre of the room, with a grin on her face. She stops us in the dead centre of the room. She puts my hand on her waist and grabs my other hand in her own. She puts her other hand on my shoulder, as we start to sway to the music.

"I'm glad my dad likes you." Emiko chuckles. I met him a few days ago. He asked if Emiko wanted to bring a friend to the ceremony. While he was talking about Kaoru, Emiko decided this would be the perfect time to bring up the fact that she got a girlfriend. So naturally, they invited me over for dinner. My mom seemed more enthusiastic about the prospect than her dad, but I've gotten the impression that her dad doesn't have many emotions to begin with.

"Me too, I thought that he'd hate me." I sigh. She asks me why. "Well, me being a psychic, and something of an activist. My type doesn't really mix well with politicians."

"I suppose that's true," she hums. "A few years ago, he might have. He's become better in the last few years. He seems to be one of the more open-minded senators." I notice her choosing her words carefully. "He was one of the few senators that were for Satellite unification."

"That's good, but he likes me though?"

"Seems like it," she nods, "I mean, he hasn't said anything bad."

"I'll happily take that."

We keep dancing for a while, just content to live in the moment. I notice Emiko's dad dancing with Yuuka, they seem to be talking about something serious. Emiko notices it too but doesn't say anything. Emiko's dad knows Yuuka well. The dance was probably just a nice gesture now that she's the saviour of the City. It feels weird to think of that. That shy, scrawny kid I saved in the Daimon Area has now saved the City. I'm proud of her. It's taken a lot of struggle for her to get to this point.

It's taken a lot of struggle for me to get to this point.

The only question is where do I go from here?

Emiko's dad leaves Yuuka's side, only to be immediately replaced by Raiden. I tense, and so does Emiko. She doesn't know what Raiden looks like, but I imagine she's put the pieces together. I'm trying to figure out if I should go over there or not. Yuuka looks uncomfortable, but so does Raiden which makes things harder.

"Don't go over just yet," Emiko whispers. "They look like they need to talk."

I decide that she's right, and we continue dancing. That is until I hear the clinking of glass trying to get attention.

"Everyone, I have an announcement to make." Senator Takahashi proclaims from the entrance to the main hall. "In addition to the Key to the City, we are going to celebrate both Mr. Fudo's and Ms. Sasaki's bravery and courage even further." I hear mumbles in the crowd. Emiko looks at me with a confused face. "My fellow Senators and I would like to announce something here and now to honour our saviours. We are pleased to announce that the education system, proposed by Ms. Sasaki, shall be put into action. This system will allow any former Satellite resident to the right to free education. The government will give aid to any Satellite who wishes to start their education. It will allow a Satellite resident to begin their education at any stage, even third-level university, if they so wish."

There's applause. Emiko's eyes widen, like she's heard the idea somewhere before.

"Not only this, but the government will be drafting bills to stop any discrimination against former Satellite residents and psychic duelists inside our City. No former Satellite resident or psychic shall ever be discriminated against based on their former residence or ability to materialise Duel Monsters."

My hands clasp Emiko's firmly, as the crowds claps again. An anti-discriminatory bill for psychics? Surely, they wouldn't know that Yuuka is a psychic, unless she… Did Yuuka somehow pull the political move of the century?

"Now, let us raise a glass to the woman who made this possible. To Ms. Yuuka Sasaki! Long may our saviour queen reign! To Ms. Yuuka Sasaki!"

"To Yuuka!" The crowd drones around us. I think she just did, if that was her condition for becoming the Saviour Queen of Neo Domino City. Not too long ago she was called the Fabled Queen of Neo Domino, now she's a true queen.

"Let's go outside," Emiko takes me by the hand and leads me outside. Not like I had much choice in the matter. I notice that pretty much everyone outside is smoking. Emiko pulls in her dress and sits down on the steps in front of the city hall, so I join her.

"Now why did you pull me outside?" I ask.

"Listen," she says definitively. "I know you're scared to see Raiden here. But you need to say something to him, tell him how you feel." She reaches over and grabs both of my hands. "You'll have to do this alone but know that I'll be waiting for you to finish."

"But-"

"I'll give you a kiss if you do it."

"Fine," I say as if I weren't already going to say yes.

"Good girl." She says before kissing me on my cheek. She hugs me my arm and leans on my shoulder. The cool breeze feels nice on my skin. I can feel goosebumps on Emiko's arms, but she seems content where she is.

We stay outside for a while, just enjoying the night air. The sun has set, and we're enjoying that last bit of light before it becomes dark.

"We should probably go back inside," Emiko mutters into my shoulder. "You don't want to miss Raiden." She practically jumps up and offers me her hand. I take it, standing up and brushing off my dress.

We hold hands as we walk back into the reception area. I spot Yuuka's bright red dress in the middle of the crowd. She's standing facing Raiden, who has our back to us. Emiko lets go of my hand, and grabs onto my arm. I look at her, she nods before disappearing into the crowd.

Raiden begins to walk away. I hide just outside the doorway and take a deep breath. I see him walk right out the door.

"Raiden," I call out to him. He stops in his tracks and turns around slowly to look at me. I see genuine surprise in his eyes.

"Anako?" He squints slightly at me. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for the exact reason you are, for Yuuka."

"She'll never choose you." He sneers. "She loves Yusei too much."

"I know that, Raiden." I sigh. "Sometimes people don't want or need you, and that's okay. I know this, but it seems like you don't."

"What are you doing back in this City?" He scoffs, ignoring my jab. "I thought I told you to leave."

"You don't control me, Raiden." I start walking towards him. "You can't control anyone, not anymore. I am not afraid of you. I will not bend to your will. I came back to protect Yuuka from you. And guess what? It was the best decision I've ever made in my life. I have a beautiful girlfriend, friends who care for me and I care for them just as much. I made my own decision for once in my life, and now I get to rub it in your face."

"What are you going to do now?" He looks at me wide eyed. I stand on the step above him, so I can see his eyes clearly.

"Raiden, you tried to kill Yuuka and destroy the City. You abused her, you tried to ruin my life. You manipulated everyone around you in an attempt to take over the City."

"But-"

"Neo Domino City has no place for traitors, Raiden." I repeat his words right back at him.

"So, what happens now?"

"You will leave this City. You will leave and not come back. Do you understand me?"

His face falls as he realises where those words came from. His mouth moves like he's going to say something.

"Don't," I exhale.

He nods slowly. He begins to walk down the steps. Once he reaches the bottom, he looks back at me one last time. I wait there, staring at him. I see his shoulders slump. He hails a taxi and it drives off. I wait until I can no longer see the taxi, before going back inside.

---

Yuuka makes international news the next day. She doesn't leave the house for the next few days. Whenever she does, she has people taking pictures with her.

Then, she texts me out of the blue. She asks me to teach her to control her powers, just like I did with Kaoru. She tells me that her powers have suddenly gone out of control, which is why her hair grew out. Something to do with the Ark Cradle, that's all she says about it. She said that every time she has a very strong emotion, the power blows. She's crashed a water cooler, shrivelled up a bush and broken a few glasses of water too. It sounds horrible to be honest. The poor girl already has a lot on her plate.

The weather's picked up a bit, so I bring her and Emiko to the park for our training. I start explaining my whole theory about having the aura spread out. I ask Yuuka where her powers are concentrated. Just like I imagined, Yuuka gives the same answers as Kaoru, her chest and hands.

"Take a deep breath in and close your eyes." I guide her through the motions. "Focus on everything around you. Focus on your aura. Feel it moving through your body. Push it from your core, into your arms and down into your fingertips. Now, take a deep breath. Now, push your aura down into your legs and your feet." Yuuka starts to tell me about the tingling sensations that she's getting.

"So, I have a question." Emiko interrupts.

"And this is the time to ask it," Yuuka sighs without opening her eyes. I give Emiko a look, since Yuuka does have a point. Emiko came along cause she wanted to see Yuuka, since no one sees Yuuka nowadays.

"I just want to know what Z-One was like." Emiko speaks very slowly, as if she's unsure of what Yuuka's reaction will be. Yuuka's eyes snap open. "I wanted to know if he died, because I wanted him to." Yuuka flinches ever so slightly. "But Kaoru told me to ask you that instead."

There's a pause.

"Well, he was just like anyone I suppose." She sighs as she starts picking at the blades of grass underneath her. "He was just a normal guy before everything happened. He was a lot like my Yusei, but that's to be expected. But, they're still different people. That's the one thing to take away, I guess."

"How does it feel when people say that Z-One deserved to die?" Emiko keeps prodding. Yuuka hasn't told us much detail, and neither has Kaoru. Everyone's being left in the dark as to what exactly happened, and I think that's the point. I think the night Yuuka went missing is still in Emiko's mind. Kaoru said a comment about Z-One set her off. "I can't imagine that's easy."

"It's not easy, you're right." She exhales through her nose. "I remember the first time I heard someone say it, I ran off in a huff." That means Kaoru said that Z-One deserved to die. "Now, I just try to explain why you can't say that about him. He may have lost his way, but he was still human before everything happened. It wasn't a hatred of humanity or this City that led him to that. It was trauma, and a love of his City."

"That doesn't excuse what he did." I feel myself frowning, but I can't help it. Yuuka excusing someone else's behaviour has gotten her into some bad situations before. Raiden may be gone, but that problem is not.

"I know that, but it explains it." In that moment, I see the age in her eyes. She's seen some things in her life. I think she's put the whole Raiden thing into perspective.

"Also, why did you never tell me about Raiden?" I squint at her. I would have expected that she would have told me, considering we've had somewhat similar experiences. "Because I ran into him after the party. Apparently, you said no when he asked you to set up a school for psychics with him." I learnt about the school from Shinji and Kaoru, who overheard that detail.

"Yeah, and?" I feel my aura flare.

"I mean, you should have said no, but, I thought you would have at least told me." I snap back.

"Sorry about that," she says as she scratches the back of her neck. "I assumed you would have ran into him, he was there from the beginning of the party if my memory serves me right."

I suppose Yuuka had more than enough on her mind that night. Considering he left for good afterwards, bringing him up wouldn't have done much good. I feel a bit bad for snapping at her. With Yuuka, you have to consider the context. She's not normal by any stretch of the imagination.

"What are you going to do, now that Raiden's gone?" I tilt my head, moving the conversation along. "I mean, your entire life since you joined gangs has kinda been revolving around him, if you think about it."

I know Yuuka is going to try to join the police force with Kaoru. But moving on with your life requires more than just getting a new job. Now that there's no gangs, Raiden or Ark Cradle, Yuuka's entire life will change, not to mention her newfound fame.

Of course, that brings up the question of what I'm going to do. To which, I have no answer. For now, I'm still living in Reika's despite being there for nearly a year, while continuing with my job at the psychic helpline. It may be depressing but I'm getting by.

"I have thought about it." Yuuka cringes slightly. "I'm just gonna get on with my life, since it's the only thing I can do."

"I suppose you're right." I look down at my hands. She is right, but how will I go about it? "Are we going to continue?"

Then, it hits me.

This is how I'm going to continue.

Helping psychics is what I was meant to do. That's what I have been doing, that's what I'm doing now. Ever since I joined Black Flag, I've been unknowingly progressing down this path.

I want to help all the psychics out there. I don't want to say it, but I think Raiden had the right idea of setting up a school for psychics.

I don't know how I'll do it. But I want to become a teacher, so I can help every fledgling psychic out there. I want to let them know that they're not alone. That things get better, regardless of how things look right now. That's my path.

---

Emiko accepts an invitation to a dueling league in England. Everyone on Team Delta got an invitation, but she's the only one who went professional in the end. Professional dueling isn't my thing. She's going to move over after she graduates, which gives us a few months. She finds teaching courses for me near where she'll be living. I don't say anything and look at it just to make her happy.

"Emiko, I can't leave this City." I say as I finally gather up the courage to tell her. "For so long, I was afraid to come back here. I was banned from this City. But things are different now. I want to live in Neo Domino City, because no one can make me leave."

She accepts my decision, with a few tears. She tells me that the league only runs for part of the year, so she can stay with me during the summer. Even though she'll be nine hours behind my time, she insists that we'll text and call lots. She'll stay up all night if she has to, that's what she says about the time difference. It actually makes me cry, knowing someone cares that much about me.

Shinji and Reika are planning to open their new garage soon. They've been saving up for this for a long time. They offer me a part-time on the tills, just so I'd have a bit of cash while I'm at university. While I'll be getting financial support when I'm studying anyway, the gesture was appreciated.

Then suddenly, Reika tells me that she's moving away from her house and into an apartment with Shinji. I get worried for a second, since I'm living with her and her mother in their house.

"What are you talking about?" Shinji asks as I start to freak out. "Did you honestly think we were going to get an apartment without an Anako room?"

"Anako," Reika chuckles, "it's a two-bed apartment and we want you to come with us."

Then, I start crying. Sobbing, if I'm being honest. Shinji and Reika laugh at me, while they're trying to comfort me.

I've been thrown out on my ass so many times, that I just expected it to happen again. I don't need to have a suitcase already packed, ready to go, not anymore. I don't think they quite realise what that gesture means to me.

Living with both Shinji and Reika is interesting. Especially when I know that both of them are planning to propose to the other at the same time, and the other doesn't know about it. Shinji asked Yuuka to be best man, a strange decision but no one could fill that role other than her. Reika asks me to be maid of honour. They end up pulling out the engagement rings at the same time. They told me that there were many tears. Those two are so cute, it's almost enviable. Then, I remember that Reika is asexual, so they don't really do the nasty, and then I'm not so jealous anymore.

Yuuka and Kaoru both get the police force, to no one's surprise really. Though Yuuka being the number one applicant while being the Saviour Queen is a little suspicious, but I don't say anything to save her pride.

Emiko leaves not too long after that. It's hard for the first while, but we get a routine going. I love her to bits, I really do. She brings so much light into my life.

University is a lot of fun. I end up doing teaching placements at the Duel Academy. All of the psychics I tell start laughing. If I wanted to teach psychics, that is the place to be ironically. Then, I realise that Yuuka, Kaoru and Aki have all gone there, which makes me laugh.

Surprisingly, Kaoru was right in the end. Once the whole gang thing wrapped up, Yuuka would have a lot more free time that I'd be able to spend with her. We have weekly brunches together, at a little place a few minutes' walk from the university. That's mostly because her apartment is right beside it. Meanwhile, I have to drive, on the custom D-Wheel that Reika made for me, to university every morning. I even get wrapped up in the wild nights out that Yuuka has with Shinji and Takumi. Because of them, I can't bear the smell of tequila anymore.

I was right in what I told Raiden. Coming back to this City was the best decision I have ever made in my life. It was the first decision I ever truly made myself, and it was worth it. I suppose, regardless of what life has thrown at me, it always gets better. As long as you put the work in and have a bit of hope, it gets better.

---

Shinji and Reika's wedding comes around quickly. They have a black and red colour scheme, because of course they do. There was a reason that this was also the Team Delta colours too. I find a beautiful red dress with a black sash, which the theme perfectly. The bridesmaids don't get the sash, which sets me apart. Yuuka gets a black tux, which she's very happy about. Reika got a somewhat plain wedding dress, but its simplicity suits her down to the ground.

Yuuka and I end up planning most of the wedding. Everyone's starting to predict who will be the next one to get married. Most people's guesses are Yuuka and Yusei. She makes this face like it's unlikely, and glances at Yusei when he's around. I think she wants to be proposed to, but Yusei's not going to in the near future. She mumbles something about them not being old enough yet, and she doesn't say more than that. Her guess is Kaoru and Takumi. That's a fair guess now that I think about it. They moved in together around the same time that Yuuka and Yusei did, even though they had been dating for like six months. Then again, they act like they've been together longer than that.

They have small wedding in a country hotel with great mountain views. They invite friends and close family only. Though, I do notice that Shinji didn't invite his aunt, Raiden's mother, or Raiden. Good thing, they're both terrible people. Shinji's mother seems very happy that they're not here. The ceremony is simple but beautiful. Afterwards, we move to the reception.

My maid of honour speech is quite beautiful, I must say. I talk about how much Reika and Shinji mean to me, how they're perfect for each other, and how I wish them nothing but happiness. Then, Yuuka gets on the stage to tell funny anecdotes about Shinji. It's times like those I think it's best that Yuuka and I never dated.

Once the speeches are over, Shinji and Reika begin their trek around the room to thank everyone for coming. Yuuka and I start talking about the venue. The views truly are beautiful here, I wouldn't mind having my own wedding here someday. I wouldn't go through with that, because Shinji and Reika got married here, but still.

We notice Kaoru, Takumi and Yusei talking on the other side of the room, so we go over to join them. I notice Emiko chatting away with Miguel and Kenta.

"So, you're next, right?" Takumi raises his eyebrows at Yusei as he sips his champagne.

"Can we please stop this already?" Yuuka groans. "I don't think we have much control over that, unless we start planning now."

"What are you waiting for then?" Takumi shrugs his shoulders.

"I've already told you, shut up. But if anything, you'll be the next ones to get married." Yuuka raises her eyebrows right back at him.

"Yuuka, I thought you said that lesbian relationships move faster." Even though Kaoru said Yuuka's name, he's looking right at me.

"Hey, if I'm getting married, I don't want to be long distance." I roll my eyes. Emiko's trying to look into transferring to a dueling league based in Japan. At least then she'd be in the same country, and not on the other side of the world.

"Now that we're talking about this, I bet the next people will be Kenta and Miguel." Yusei chips in. Yuuka nods like that seems entirely plausible. I mean, I wouldn't be totally surprised if that happened.

"When are they bring out the food because I'm so hungry-"

We're interrupted by three champagne glasses exploding in our hands. Everyone's eyes go to Yuuka, who's looking into the distance with the most uncomfortable yet angry expression I've ever seen. I follow her gaze to see Shinji and Reika talking to Raiden on the other side of the room. Raiden makes direct eye contact with me.

Everyone else tries to calm Yuuka down and get the glass shards out of her hand. I dart across the room, leaving my broken champagne glasses on the table beside us. Raiden sees me coming, so he leaves the reception area. I follow him, so that we're outside the hotel.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him. "You weren't invited."

"Geez, you show up to your cousin's wedding and suddenly you're the bad guy." He exhales smoke from the cigarette he just lit.

"You were the bad guy long before that, and you know it." I squint at him. "You're just here to see Yuuka again, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?"

"Raiden," I sigh. "She doesn't want you or need you. You can't keep chasing someone when they don't want you."

"Then, what am I supposed to do with my life?"

"Move on, there's more to life than her." He looks at me like I'll never understand him. If only he knew. "I gave her up. I knew she'd never want me the way I wanted her. Every single day, I'm grateful that I did. I'm happy now, Raiden. But you will never be."

"You don't understand, you never will-"

"Oh, I do, Raiden." I furrow my eyebrows. "You just can't accept the fact that you lost." I see genuine surprise on Raiden's face, and maybe a little vulnerability. Once I would have cared about that, it was hard to get that from him. But I can no longer care. "You didn't come in second place, Raiden. You were never playing the same game."

"So, what happens now-"

"Goodbye Raiden." I say those words so definitively that I feel stronger just from saying them. "For good."

Raiden says nothing. He throws his cigarette on the ground, barely used, and stomps out the flame. I watch him walk away from me until he's out of sight. I think he's finally gone from our lives. Maybe, one day, he'll accept that he lost. It's a hard truth to accept, but you just need to deal with it. I did it, and I'm okay now.

"Emiko, you can come out now." I say out loud, well aware of the fact that she can hear me. She must have slipped out behind me but stayed out of sight.

"You saw me?"

"No, but I knew you were there."

She walks over to me shyly, and wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me into a hug. The warmth of her body feels nice, as I wrap my arms around her tiny waist.

"I'm proud of you," she mutters into my neck. "You're so strong, and you've survived so much. I love you."

"I love you too," I whisper back.

While I hold Emiko in my arms, I think about what our wedding will look like. But somehow, all I can think about is how her face will look as she smiles at me with tears in her eyes.

I fought to get here. I struggle through blood, sweat and lots of tears. Somehow, all that suffering has led me to her. She's like my reward for having put up with all of the shit in my life. It was worth it, if I'm being honest. I realise that I don't care what our wedding looks like. We could just sign the papers in city hall and be done, and I'd be happy. As long as I have her, I'll be happy. I suppose, in the end, that's all that really matters.

END