More~
Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (c) Kazuki Takahashi
The next morning, Yuusei was sitting with his friends eating some thin porridge, watching the news on their pirated television.
"…And I'm sorry Gerry I'll have to come back to you, urgent news just in!" The coifed reporter said, grinning rakishly into the camera then turning serious. Yuusei and his friends leaned in, half interested. "Our breaking story – Summoning the Love Card! Yes that's right, we have news of a love story between two top duellists, once thought to be rivals. But we have proof that this is real, folks!"
"But who are these duellists, Roland?" The other reporter asked, acting as if she didn't know.
"Well, Roxanne, none other than the world-famous Jack Atlas and Yuusei Fudo!"
Yuusei spat his porridge out in shock, eyes bulging as it burned his throat. His friends stared at him as the news station quickly rolled a couple of rather revealing pictures, and though they were careful to blank out any excessive nudity, they lingered rather a lot on close up shots of their faces, leaving no one in any doubt as to the truth of the pictures.
"I hear you cry, surely this is a hoax!" The over-enthusiastic anchor said, waving his hands dramatically. "But now we go live to the exterior of the Atlas building, to join the plucky reporter who broke this story. Over to you, Angela!"
The blonde reporter grinned at the camera and swept her arm to encompass the mob of reporters outside the door of the building.
"Thanks, Roland! This is Angela, reporting the truth! And here I am, waiting for Mr Atlas to leave the building. Oh, and look over there, the doors are opening, there he is! Mr Atlas, Mr Atlas! Is it true you're sexually involved with Yuusei Fudo? How long have you know each other? Was it loneliness that drew you to the shooting star of the Satellite?"
Jack brushed them all off, ignoring them with an expression like stone as he was escorted by several burly men into a limousine, pulling a beret over his face.
"Well!" Angela said, sounding breathless and just a little cross. "I will be following Mr Atlas until I get my scoop! The only question I have for you, Roland, is: where is Yuusei Fudo? Does he have no comment? Where does he live – does anyone know this? And back to you, Roland." She winked and the screen flickered back to the news station.
"Well you heard it here first, folks!" The chirpy female reporter said. "And we'll be following this story very closely, of that you can be sure. Now, some background history on these two amazing duellists…"
Tank wordlessly switched off the set and they all stared at Yuusei, except Rally, like they'd never seen him before. He met their eyes briefly then looked down at the table and started cleaning up the porridge he had spat everywhere. Rally helped silently while everyone else just stared.
At last, Nervin stuttered, "Y-Yuusei, is the TV right? Are you and Jack lovers?"
Yuusei looked up and met all their eyes, forcing them to look away first. There was a strength in him that stopped him being embarrassed. Calmly, he said, "Yes, Nervin. It's true."
There was a stunned silence.
-x-
Jack flopped into the chair in front of Goodwin's chair, absolutely livid. "You said you'd destroyed those," he said in a dangerous tone.
Goodwin raised his hands in a placatory way, shooting a glare at Lazar. "We had made plans for them to be destroyed, but obviously they were leaked. We didn't mean for this to happen – both your reputations are ruined now."
"I don't care about that! I care about the mob of reporters trying to find Yuusei!" Jack burst out. "I know what the press is like – once they get their claws into him, he'll never be free of them, and I won't have that. So we need to throw them off his track, let him hide."
Lazar and Goodwin exchanged a glance. "So you really do care about him then," Goodwin said.
"Care?" Jack said angrily. "Of course I care, I bloody lo—" he stopped suddenly, looking shocked at himself.
He sat back down in the chair and sighed, ignoring the other two as they met each other's gazes again. "I'm going to leave to city and go back home, where I belong. But I don't want a herd of reporters following me to Yuusei's hideout, do you hear me?"
"Yes, Mister Atlas," Goodwin said quietly after a few moments. "I know of a way."
-x-
"Well, say something you clots!" Rally said into the dead silence, glaring at the others and putting a hand on Yuusei's arm. "It's not like he's changed or anything, he's still our Yuusei!"
"It's just who I am, guys," Yuusei said quietly, squeezing Rally's hand briefly in thanks.
"What about Akiza?" Tanner said after a moment.
That made Yuusei look up. "What about her?"
"Well, weren't you and she…? You know."
Yuusei slowly shook his head. "No, Tanner. I'm with Jack. I've never been with Akiza."
"What, really? But the gossip was—"
"Look, no!" Yuusei cried in exasperation. "I've been with Jack since before I met her, and I'd never cheat on him!" he slammed his chair back and stormed out, leaving a heavy silence in his wake where everyone glared at Tanner.
Finally Rally sighed. "Let's not all jump at once to go comfort our friend, guys," he said sarcastically and swept out after Yuusei.
He found the duellist down quite a ways in the tunnels, staring up at a crack that showed pure sunlight, sitting on the filthy ground. When Rally had sat beside him he sighed, not taking his eyes off the light filtering through.
"I thought they'd understand."
Rally put his arm around the older man in a brotherly fashion. "Just give them some time, they'll come around. I mean, it had to be a shock to find that out about one of your closest friends through a news channel, rather than him…" Rally let the implication stand in the air between them.
"I know," Yuusei said tiredly. "I know I should have told you guys what was going on… but it was just so private, so precious… and everyone was prying into our lives, with the duels and the Fortune Cup and everything, we just wanted to keep it to ourselves, where no one else could sully it." His voice turned bitter. "Is it really too much to want to be with someone and not have it picked apart by strangers? All I want is to be with him, and now… now we can't make our livings. Just because some nosy reporter wanted to make a big splash, we can't duel for our livelihood anymore. Who would want to employ a pervert, after all?"
His last words echoed off the walls and Rally flinched slightly and said nothing.
A long time later, when the last echoes were nothing but vagaries of memory, Rally spoke, his voice gentle. "You're not a pervert, Yuusei. It's like…" He cast around for an example. "Some people like to use special Dragon-decks, and other people prefer Scrap-decks. It's down to the person what they choose, and there's nothing wrong with that. Please don't be mad, Yuusei."
Yuusei hung his head, looking down at the filth they were sitting in. "I had just hoped that my friends would be there for me when I needed them."
Rally looked around, half hoping for the rest of the gang to materialise, but of course that didn't happen. "They will be, Yuusei. They'll come through."
"But I don't want them at some point in the future when they've decided they're still my friends after all," Yuusei whispered. "I want them now, when I need them."
Rally could only pat his shoulder and hope things would get better.
-x-
"Jack?" Tank said in confusion, blinking at the slightly smeared communications panel. "What are you calling for?"
Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. "I need to talk to Yuusei. Urgently."
"Ohh," Tank said with exaggerated tact. "I'll just go fetch him, and we'll all clear out to give you some privacy—"
"Tank!" Jack barked. "This is not one of those calls! Now just get him, we need to talk about damages and suing the ass off that Angela person for invasion of privacy. Now get him!"
Tank conferred with Blister and then they both shrugged down at the screen.
"He took off, Jack," Blister said calmly. "After we saw the news…well, we weren't exactly thinking straight. Tanner said some dumb stuff and it ticked Yuusei off, and he left. Rally went after him; they're somewhere in the tunnels."
Jack scowled at them in frustration. "Some friends you are. If you see him, tell him to contact me. We need to talk." With that the screen went dead as Jack disconnected.
"I don't know what Yuusei sees in him," Tank said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, I don't know," Blister smiled, teasing the portly man. "He certainly seems to care about Yuusei. And he's rather handsome, you have to admit."
"Not you too!" Tank exclaimed. "Is there just something about Jack that turns men's heads?"
Blister just laughed.