"Holy..."
That was the sole word that left Kai's mouth as the two stared down the dark hallway. At the end was a single cell, with a lone occupant in the shadow of the single lamp. Yusei advanced quickly- he had a bad feeling about this. As they approached it was visible that the person was chained- several black iron chains extended from the corners of the room to the person's wrists. Long hair fell in waves;black and seemingly streaked with gold. The cell was clean, unlike many others, but totally dry and bare- not even a cot could be found. The girl- it was now obvious- wore a plain white, straight dress, and was painfully thin like the other prisoners.
Hearing new noises, Yuki dared raise her head to see beyond the confines of her small cell. "It's probably Goodwin coming to tell me of his grand achievements..."She was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't- instead, two boys now stood outside her cell. Her vision was blurry from lack of light, but she could vaguely see them after a few seconds. "He looks like brother..." she thought, "but Yusei should be dead-that's what Goodwin told me..." Uncertain and confused, for the first time in years, she dared call out for her brother.
Yusei was still. As soon as he saw the girl's cobalt blue eyes that were identical to his own, he knew. Her hair, too, was another dead give-away; its black and gold streaks were the same as his own. She was weak and pale, and a criminal marker decorated her cheek, but besides that her features were almost identical to how she was 10 years ago.
"Yusei?"
Her voice shocked him to reality. She was looking straight at him, squinting as if she couldn't see very well; most likely because of the voice was questioning, almost uncertain, was weak and thin.
"Yuki..." he whispered. She perked up at the mention of her name, almost daring to hope.
"Brother? Yusei? Is it you?" Suddenly Yusei was filled with rage. Goodwin had already messed with his life enough, but finding out that he had almost destroyed his little sister's life was way worse. He wasn't sure if hell existed, but at that moment he sure hoped it did.
"Yeah.. Just hang on a little bit Yuki! We'll get you out of there." he said with absolute certainty.
Kai had stood to the side as he watched Yusei talk to his sister in years. He noted that the cell itself was not made for a psychic- with Akiza's help, they should be able to break it open easily. He slipped around to the back and made his way to where Akiza was resting.
"Hey Akiza! Can you stand?"
"Mmm...Yeah, give me a sec." She stood shakily, using the wall for support.
"We'll need your help to break open the cell bars- it shouldn't be that hard though. They weren't built to be psychic-proof like the door was."
"Sure."
Moving forward while leaning on the wall, they passed through the remains of the door and walked toward the back of the hall. Akiza heard Yusei talking to someone, and a weaker voice calling him "brother". So they had found Yusei's sister here. When she approached the cell, she saw the girl chained to the wall, with cobalt blue eyes and black and gold hair, she almost thought she was Yusei's twin. One would have to be stupid to think that they weren't related, or otherwise totally oblivious.
Yusei turned and saw Akiza leaning on Kai. "I hate to ask you again Akiza..."
"It's okay. I can handle it." she said, letting go of Kai's shoulder and balancing on her own feet. "I summon Twilight Rose Knight!"
A knight covered in rose petals came forth, carrying a double edged blade. She nodded once, telling the knight to destroy the bars and the chains. He swung his sword and in two strokes cut away the metal. He turned to Akiza, bowed, and vanished, leaving her panting slightly.
Yusei had caught his sister when the chains broke; laying her gently on the ground. Her cobalt eyes stared straight at him, and she smiled slightly, then glanced at Akiza and Kai before letting them slip closed. Yusei knelt beside her and grabbed his sister's hand to feel her pulse, finding it weak. He forehead was also hot; she was feverish and her body was wracked with chills.
"We should get her to the surface; they can give her basic treatment at the tent." said Akiza. She noticed the long cuts- some still open- and bruises, similar to Toby's, that covered the girl's torso. She could only imagine the pain of the psychic duels they were forced to endure here, day after day. Yusei nodded, and picked her up gently, starting towards the door. Kai and Akiza followed, giving one last glance at the cell that was a prison for years. Coming to Yusei's side, Akiza glanced at Yuki, then turned to look at Yusei. His face was a mixture of joy, sadness and worry; unusual for the normally calm signer.
"How long has she been missing Yusei?" asked Kai out of curiosity.
"...10 years..." Akiza's breath hitched. That meant that from 6 years old she had been subject to psychic duels that caused physical injury. It was a wonder that she wasn't already insane, like some of the other prisoners. Toby had only been missing for a year, and even he was slightly confused sometimes. Some rehabilitation would cure him of that, but for Yuki to have not gone insane, there must have been something protecting her. The girl mumbled something in Yusei's arms, and then cried out for her mother. Small tears found their way down her cheeks, and Akiza reached over to wipe them away. Yusei turned and gave her a sad smile before turning his attention once again to the younger girl in his arms.
The wind suddenly howled and blew down the corridor, pushing them back. Similar to how the Crimson Dragon descended, a light blue, silver dragon descended, wings outstretched, blocking the passageway. As the light from the flashlight hit the wings, it reflected, looking like a moon ray.
"That's the light that pointed out the corridor..." said Yusei, gazing in wonder at the beast. Its form was familiar, almost as if he had seen a card like that... That was it! Tsukiyomi Dragon!
His sister's dragon!
"Tsukiyomi Dragon..." muttered Yuki, opening her eyes slightly and reaching a hand out. The Dragon extended its muzzle and allowed itself to be petted gently.
"So you were guarding Yuki and me through the years... you saved us that time in Satellite!" said Yusei. The Dragon looked at him, crystal blue eyes boring into his own.
"Guard my guardian, Signer. You should well know the burden of being a guardian for my Solar counterpart. She is my sole guardian, for the moon stands alone in the darkness. But the moon needs a light to reflect in order to shine."
Yusei felt a bad premonition, but it quickly faded.
Yuki's hand slipped from the Dragon's muzzle, and the dragon nosed her gently. Her eyes closed slowly and the dragon gave him, Akiza and Kai one last gentle look before fading into the background.
"Was that just me, or did you guys also see that?" asked Kai, glancing at the other two. Both nodded silently, then continued moving forward, as if it were totally normal for them;it probably was because of their lives as Signers. He looked at the two of them from behind, thinking that they would look good together, before running to catch up.
Outside...
The trio entered the make-shift hospital, and Yusei carried Yuki over to a bed near Toby's. Toby had fallen asleep, but the rest of the group had spread out nearby-Mina and Trudge had to return to the investigation, but Jack, Crow, Kalin, Misty, Leo, Luna, Bruno, Rei, Carly and Sato had remained close to Misty, talking with some of the other prisoners. Sherry and Elsworth had left- she had a match the next morning- but had told the others to call her if need be. When Yusei came over the group reformed hovering near Toby and Yuki.
"Hey Yusei! Care to explain why you didn't tell us you had a sister?" said Crow loudly.
"Rei, please shut him up. He's gonna get us kicked out." begged Akiza. Rei, sighing, turned to Crow whacked him on the head, causing him to bite his own tongue. He whimpered for a few seconds, then fell silent, fearing her wrath.
"Yusei? You still didn't answer the question." said Jack.
"I don't really have an answer... I mean, I told Martha, but I didn't wanna get you guys involved too, especially not back on Satellite, when we were kids. With the Fortune Cup and the Dark Signers, I didn't want to put something else on you guys, so there was no point in telling you."he said softly, looking back at Yuki. Jack was rather startled. Even back then, Yusei was protecting them by not getting them involved, while he was out searching on his own. It was no wonder he would sometimes come back home late and dirty as a kid; they always thought that he was searching in the scrap piles...
Flashback...
A nine year old Yusei stomped through the rain towards the large brown house in Satellite.
"Yusei! Get in the house! You're gonna catch a cold!" yelled a younger Martha from the doorway. As Yusei went back inside Martha sighed once more at his dirt-smeared clothes.
"You've gotta stop looking. You're just gonna get more injured. You know she wouldn't want that." scolded Martha, whispering the last part. "You're too young. Maybe when you're old enough to take care of yourself, then you can. But I won't have you injuring yourself everyday under my roof."
A younger Jack and Crow stood around the corner, listening to Yusei getting scolded.
"You think he's been searching the scrap piles, Jack? He never told us..." said Crow.
"Probably. I mean, he's always dirty, and its dangerous, so it explains the bruises." Jack stuck his nose up in the air. "Not like I would care."
Crow smirked, then pointed to one of the younger kids playing in the other room. "Look! Akira got cut!"
Jack immediately turned around, "Where?"
Crow snorted, trying not to laugh. "Like hell you don't care!"
Jack growled, pissed that the younger boy had gotten the better of him. He lunged for Crow-
"I also don't want peeping toms under this roof! If you need something to do, go get some firewood for the fire place!" Martha held both boys by the scruffs of their shirts.
Jack huffed and Crow smirked again. "Saved by the bell..."
"I asked for some wood! It ain't gonna walk from the shed!" yelled Martha from the kitchen.
"Coming!"
End Flashback...
"She looks like an angel..." Luna whispered softly from beside Yusei. He saw the younger signer place a wet towel on Yuki's warm forehead. Yusei looked at her curiously, and she pulled out a duel card from her deck. It was a picture of a black-haired angel with a white dress, who had bright blue eyes and golden sun rays turning some streaks of hair golden. She carried a glowing object, and was surrounded by a bright blue sky. The name was "Lost Soul", a magic card that allowed you to regain control of a monster on the field that was under the effect of a monster effect, spell or trap card.
"Mmm... She is one too." he said, smiling softly.
"Great. Now Yusei's going all soft." said Jack, rolling his eyes. All the girls, with the exception of Luna, who was too sweet, glared daggers at him. He shrunk back, and started a conversation with Sato and Kai, who were attempting not to laugh at him.
New Domino City Hospital, 1 Week Later...
Yusei and Akiza were waiting in the hospital lobby. Yuki was being released that day and Yusei had gone to pick her up. Akiza had tagged along; she wanted to meet Yuki and also wanted to spend sometime with Yusei. They had been talking for a while, mainly Yusei asking about Akiza's plans after school. Frankly, she wasn't sure. She loved dueling, but even after everyone's support and help, she was still terrified of her powers. Nightmares still plagued her sleep; the Black Rose Witch arising and destroying everyone that got in her way- including her friends. And she was chained like a rag doll within her own mind. Her own screams woke her up several times- thank goodness her parents were often out, and that the rooms were soundproof.
She couldn't help but wonder if she could ever be 'beautiful' like Yusei had said she was. Her thoughts turned to the man sitting beside her. She was sure she loved him, but there was no way she would show it. Yusei was beautiful; strong, brave, caring, helpful.. heck, the list could go on forever! While everyone accepted her, she knew that the past was something that couldn't be erased, like a shadow can't be cast out. The shadow of the Witch would always hang over her, whether she liked it or not.
She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw the medial doors open. Yuki walked out slowly, looking around nervously. She was wearing the new clothes that the girls had gotten for her on a 'girl's day' at the mall. Black combat boots, long black skinny jeans, an a white sleeveless shirt topped by a mid-length hoodie that could also be used as a duel runner jacket. Her long hair was trimmed to her waist, and shone brightly in the sun. 'She looks better than before; at least she isn't as malnourished.' thought Akiza. Yuki had been in the hospital for longer than most of the other prisoners- most were examined and then sent to temporary apartments given by the city. Those who needed severe rehabilitation were forced to stay at least 3 weeks, but they were few and far between. Toby had been released several days earlier after an overnight stay at the hospital because of his confusion, which turned out to be a simple case of malnutrition and dehydration.
Yuki was forced to stay a week because of her initial fever, which was worsened by her poor immune system, and weak body, once again due to malnutrition. She also had a series of long open cuts on both arms and legs, most likely from the psychic duels. A minor fracture in her left ankle required a brace, which was to stay on for at least 2 more weeks. Her eyes were also weak from the lack of sunlight, so the doctors were forced to perform a small operation to save her eyesight. It had kept her in the hospital for longer, but they'd healed quickly. Due to her fragile state though, she hadn't been allowed any visitors; not even her older brother had been able to come, although she'd heard someone that sounded like her brother yelling outside the door to her room once.
Yuki stood uncertainly by the medical doors, unused to all the noise and movement. She found herself wondering whether anyone was even there to get her- she'd vanished for 10 years, and she wasn't sure about what her brother would be like. What if he'd changed? The what ifs' plagued her mind, until she saw a tall figure with spiky black hair and golden stripes moving quickly towards her along with a shorter red-haired lady, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. A closer inspection showed that it was indeed Yusei, and the lady that she had seen along with her brother when they had rescued her. When her brother stood in front of her, Yuki didn't know what to say or do. She'd probably caused him to worry, so she should apologize, and ask him to forgive her for leaving him alone for 10 years.
"Brother, I'm very sorr-"
Yuki never finished as Yusei pulled her into a tight hug. She was first startled, but soon buried her face in his jacket as she cried. Of course he didn't change; he was her big brother! She was stupid for even thinking that he would forget about her. Suddenly the pain of having not seen him for 10 years came flooding in, and she cried even harder, holding onto his jacket as tightly as possible.
Yusei didn't expect his little sister to want to apologize, and he most certainly didn't want her too. Instead, he wrapped her in the biggest hug he could. She was crying, and he understand why. He just patted her back like his mother used to, slowly calming her down.
"Yuki, I'm sorry."
Those words caused her to stop and look at her brother. "Why?"
"Because I'm your older brother." Yuki stared at him like he was crazy.
"I wouldn't want any other big brother!" she said, laughing. Yusei's heart lightened; she didn't hate him for not having saved her. "I'm glad you're okay." she said. Yusei let her go and tousled her hair. She pouted, and he chuckled, causing her to stick her tongue out at him.
Akiza watched the two siblings from a distance. She knew that Yusei was worried about how his sister would react; his nervous attitude said that. 'I'm glad they're okay..' she thought, smiling as the younger girl pouted and stuck her tongue out at her brother. She'd never thought about having a sibling before; she'd already had bad enough relations with her own parents. But looking at the Fudo siblings almost made her wish she did have a little brother or sister to dote on and take care of. She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice the elder Fudo calling her over.
"Yuki, this is Akiza Izinki. She's the psychic who helped free you, and a member of Team 5Ds. She also happens to be the senator's daughter." he threw in casually.
Yuki, who was extending her hand for a hello, immediately stopped and bowed. Akiza slapped Yusei's arm lightly, as he suppressed laughter at his sister's formal reaction.
"Don't mind this idiot," she said, "you can just call me Akiza. Do you like the clothes we chose for you?"
"Y-yes. Thank you very much!" replied Yuki, smiling slightly.
Akiza looked for any signs that showed that she was nervous about being near a psychic, due to her treatment at the hands of the Arcadia psychic duelists, but found none. Albeit being a bit shy, she seemed rather... normal, considering she'd spent 10 years locked up."It was our pleasure! By the way, you look so cute!"
Yuki blushed as Akiza complemented her, and Yusei noted that she had indeed grown quite a bit. She was also rather beautiful, meaning that he would definitely have to look out for any guys going after her. She was as beautiful as Misty, although Akiza was slightly more beautiful in his opinion. 'Wait. Since when did I start comparing other girls to Akiza?!' he thought, blushing slightly. It vanished as soon as it came, and thankfully went unnoticed by either girls.
"-sei. Yusei! Geez, why do all boys space out so much?" grumbled Akiza, "Can me and the girls take Yuki out for a shopping trip sometime this week before school starts?"
Yusei nodded, remembering that Yuki was indeed going to school the next week. She would be a late transfer, but as soon as Akiza's parents had heard about her, they had demanded that they be allowed to pay for her tuition for a least a year, so she could at least get some schooling. She had taken the entrance exam while she was recovering at the hospital, and had passed with minimum marks. She would be transferring in as a 2nd year student a duel academy; Akiza was just one year ahead of her as a 3rd year.
"That reminds me! Yuki, who taught you?" asked Akiza as they walked through the front gardens toward the parking lot. Yusei listened to her, curious as to that as well. "Not to be rude, but after 10 years..."
"Its okay. A bunch of the other prisoners taught me in the beginning; they had a few books with them. When they moved me to the other cell though, they stopped me from seeing them. I only saw them a few times when they made us duel." she replied softly.
"Why'd them do that?" asked Akiza, glancing at Yusei to make sure he was listening.
"Goodwin said I was getting "too powerful"; that I needed to be contained." she said. Looking up, she saw both of them looking at her. "I'm not psychic though! I don't have powers like Akiza or Toby..." she said nervously.
"He probably meant your guardian powers. They've been developing as you grow older, so he probably feared that you could get away." said Yusei. Akiza nodded, remembering their conversation with Tsukiyomi Dragon.
"You mean with Tsukiyomi?" she asked curiously, "I never knew there were powers in being a guardian- I mean, I would just dream about her sometimes. I can hardly call myself a guardian when I failed to guard myself..."
Akiza stopped and grabbed the younger girl's hand tightly, having known the same feeling.
"Just became you need someone's help doesn't mean you're weak. We're not perfect, and not one person on earth could ever be. Someone helped me enough to make me see that." she said, smiling as she glanced up at Yusei. He nodded, then flicked Yuki's forehead.
"Eeep! What was that for?!" she yelped.
"For being dumb." Yuki grit her teeth, then jumped at her brother, latching her arms around his neck to drag him down. Yusei, caught by surprise, ended up on the grass, and Akiza doubled over laughing at his expression. Yuki was sitting next to him with smug expression as she saw her brother laying flat on his back.
"Oh, you are sooo getting it Yuki!" Yuki paled and ran as hard as she could from Yusei who caught her and tickled her to death. After a moment they both flopped over and lay flat on their backs next to each other.
"Remember how you always did that to me in Satellite?" said Yuki, thinking about her time with her brother.
"Yeah. And you decided to get revenge by putting a cockroach in my hair." he responded. Akiza laughed as she sat down beside them. " That's a good one! I'll keep that for future need! Your hair is perfect for it."
Yusei grumbled and attempted to pat his hair down, only to have it spring straight back up. "It's not my fault that my hair wan't stay down!"
Yuki smiled sadly as she remembered her dad and his own crazy hair. Yusei had definitely gotten his looks, while she thought she resembled her mother, Mia Fudo, more.
"We're gonna be late if we don't hurry now." said Akzia, looking at Yusei.
"Late for what?" asked a confused Yuki.
"The Team meeting. Well, more like a let's-greet-a-new-member meeting along with some other people." replied Yusei, also getting up. He extended a hand to Akiza, who allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. From the ground, Yuki smiled. There was no way she wasn't going to use this to tease her brother.
"We're leaving you behind if you don't move Yuki!" called Akiza, a from a few meters ahead. Yuki immediately jumped up, but winced as she landed on her fractured ankle. As she ran ahead to catch up with her brother and Akiza, he flicked her forehead again.
"Again?! What was that one for?!" she grumbled, massaging her forehead.
"Last time I checked, you had a brace because of a minor ankle fracture."
"And?"
"That means no jumping, running, or harsh activities allowed for 2 weeks minimum."
"Last time I checked, you were my brother, not the doctor." she grumbled under her breath. Unfortunately for her, Yusei heard her muttering.
"Last time I checked, the responsible older brother has to look out for the irresponsible younger sibling."
His comment was received with a near swat to the head from Yuki.
"If the garage is half demolished by the time we arrive, please know that you're gonna be responsible!" called Akiza from her runner. Yusei paled as he remembered Crow and Jack in one place.
"Why's that?" asked Yuki curiously.
"We have some rather...irresponsible friends, who love to fight." replied Akiza as they arrived at their runners.
"Last time they argued, they managed to make the new engine that we were testing out explode." grumbled Yusei, remembering the black smoke pouring out of the garage. "I left them for 5 minutes to go and get the new thrusters from the shop! Luckily we had a spare.."
Yuki looked at her brother, who grumbled as he remembered their numerous 'accidents'.
"You're also a mechanic? Kinda like Dad, right?" asked Yuki.
"Kinda. I just don't work on energy sources. We're looking into new engine and system designs for runners."
Yuki gave him a blank look.
"You don't know what a runner is right?" asked Akiza from her own runner. "You probably never saw one because of your... absence."
Passing her hand over Yusei's runner, she nodded. Tilting her head like a small child she looked at her brother for an explanation.
"You use a duel runner for turbo dueling. It's like dueling while racing a motorcycle. You'll pick it up really quickly- I mean, Akiza got her license after only 3 weeks."
"Mmm. It looks really cool! Could I build my own runner- like yours?" she questioned eagerly. Akiza glanced at her rather surprised. She had almost instantly figured out that Yusei's runner was made by hand. It looked like mechanics ran in their blood.
"Maybe, granted that you can also do your homework at the same time."
"Deal!"
"Good. Here; catch!" he said, tossing her a spare helmet. She caught it and put it, sliding smoothly onto the back of her brother's runner. She was rather nervous, and held onto her brother tightly. When he revved the engine, and pulled out of the parking lot after Akiza, she began to relax. She looked around at the bustling city life; traffic flowing in and out like water on the roads. As they pulled up to Poppo's Time, Yuki saw that Akiza had beaten them there, and was leaning back on her runner, relaxing in the sun. Yuki noticed her brother's attention shift, and resolved to make good use of it. As they pulled off their helmets, she slid off the runner and whispered something in her brother's ear.
"Do you like Akiza?"
The question caught him off-guard, sending the normally calm teen into a state of spluttering as he tripped over his own feet, ending up flat on the laughed heartily, watching her brother turn bright red.
Akiza turned and saw Yuki laughing loudly, then saw the elder Fudo on the ground, with a bright shade of red dusting his normally pale features. Yusei stood up, smirking. He was so getting his sister back for that. Another laugh caught his attention, however, and he turned to see Akiza doubled over in laughter.
"Yuki got you really good, Yusei!" It took a lot to unsettle the head signer, but he had turned a bright red after Yuki had teased him. It truly was a close sibling relationship.
Yusei huffed, then turned and then walked his duel runner into the garage, which was cluttered with all the spare parts for the engine they were building for the WRGP. Akiza followed, pulling in her own runner, and Yuki trailed her, after having noted that Yusei didn't deny that statement. As they walked in, heads turned in their direction. Feeling herself under scrutiny, Yuki hid in Akiza's shadow. Akiza noticed her nervousness, and after resting her runner, pulled her over to the couch, where the other girls, namely Misty, Carly, Rei, Luna and Sherry, were sitting. Misty stood up gracefully, and surprised Yuki by hugging her. Pulling back, Misty introduced all the other girls, who took turns in hugging her. Luna, the last, hugged her, and then made her sit down next to her. Conversation started smoothly, and Yuki was soon laughing alongside them.
Yusei watched from his perch with the other guys near the windows. They'd been discussing the latest engines, while Leo pestered Sato to teach him new techniques for his machine deck. Yusei had been distracted though, making sure that his sister was feeling at home with everyone else.
"Yusei! God, you're such an overprotective brother! Finish the damn calculations already!" yelled Crow into his ear. Yusei cringed, and rubbed his now sore ear. The other guys, who had turned when they heard yelling, held in a snicker, while Leo was outright laughing.
"Look, Yusei. I get that she's your sister and all, but you've gotta be absolutely stupid to think that everyone else isn't capable of protecting her as well." said Sato, "It's something that I also learned the hard way, so don't worry."
"Oh yeah! What was it you did to figure that one out? Follow her to a friends house on a sleepover and hide in their tree?" said Kai, snorting. Sato turned coughed and turned red, looking the other direction.
"I only did that because-"
"Cuz' you're her older brother. Now can we finish the damn equation already?!" said Crow.
"For once, I must agree with birdbrain. I want a cup of coffee after this." said Jack. Yusei glared at both, then solved the equation in a few moments. Crow glared at the paper; 20 minutes' worth of time wasted!
"You forgot to divide by xℓ Crow. The speed is dependent on the power of the thrusters too, so you can't eliminate that." said Yusei. Crow huffed, then turned and used the tweezers to make the modifications to the engine model.
"Aren't you tweaking the wrong wire?" came a voice from beside him.
Crow turned to see Yuki crouched beside him, pointing out a different wire. Yusei glanced back to see that the girl's group had dispersed; Akiza had gone home, along with Misty and Toby, who were currently crashing at her place. Sherry and Elsworth had also left, most likely for another match, and Carly probably had to run to work. Luna had joined Leo, and they were having a mock duel against Kalin as Leo tested out a slightly modified deck, thanks to Sato. Rei had gone over to her brother, and was currently arguing with Jack over which coffee was best? Yup, his friends definitely had their quirks.
"That's the thruster connection, right?" pointed out Yuki, looking at the schematics that Crow held. "Then you should tweak this wire, not that one. That'll change the amount of energy that's being sent to the screens."
Crow glanced at her in amazement.'Yup. Mechanics definitely runs in their blood.' he thought. It had taken him a little less than a week to identify the largest ports and wire connections while still using the schematics. Yuki had looked at them for a few moments and had already identified the correct wires.
Yusei watched his sister point out the right wires to Crow. He wasn't too surprised at her affinity for mechanics- she loved to mess around with the old discards they found in the Satellite dumpsters. She didn't understand the science behind it as well as he did, but she worked well enough with the hardware and software. He even remembered a time when she'd found a discarded duel disk, and repaired the damaged inner boards to some extent. She'd been able to replace the missing wires with spare bits of metal, and had even gotten some of the lights to work. But the extending arm and the software was too damaged to repair, so they'd been forced to throw it away.
Yuki had gotten up from her place beside Crow and looked around at the schematics hung up on the other walls. Kai was watching her very intently; it wasn't everyday you saw a girl like her, who had gone through so much, but decided to get back up on her own two feet. Of course, she was still unused to the rest of the world, and she seemed rather akward and shy with others. 'But,' he thought,'that's rather normal for having neever interacted with other people.'
Yusei had gone to stand next to his sister, and was explaining one of the system designs. She was nodding as he explained and was pointing out possible modifications. It was really quite surprising that the girl was even, as the other girls dubbed them, a 'grease monkey'. He hadn't really noticed, but now that he looked at Yusei and Yuki, they looked almost like twins. Her hair was the exact same color and pattern as her brother's, just not spiky. Her eyes were the exact same cobalt blue, and they even had their respective markers on the same side of their face.
"She's pretty, right?"
Kai wheeled around to see Luna staring straight at him. She had Kuriboh in her arms, and was smiling at him. "She's really nice you know. You should talk to her sometime." Before he could clarify she had skipped away to watch her brother finish his match against Kalin, who was leading the boy by a good 2300 life points.
Yuki was staring at an old a furled schematic that she had found in the corner. It seemed to be the designs for a bike/runner cross. It would allow for greater mobility on the curves and it would also be easier to use normally. It seemed like someone had planned to build it, but never got around to it.
Yusei saw his sister looking at an older schematic in the corner. He had also seen it, but didn't have the time to waste building it at the time; they were in the middle of preperations for the WRGP. Something in the corner of page made Yuki freeze, then look at the scroll as if it were solid gold.
"Yusei! Look at the designer's name!" She ran over with the scroll, then carefully unrolled it fully under the lamp. Pointing to the corner, there was a little scribble. Yusei looked at it more carefully under the lamp, and found it to indeed be 4 letters.
Fudo.
His heart literally stopped. It was definitely his Dad's signature. This had been his dad's workshop. No wonder the old lady had been so kind and eager to give it to him! She'd known his father!
"This was Dad's!" said Yuki. "He probably worked here with mom!"
Yusei flipped the parchment over. The back had a little tag on it, with 'Yuki' on it. She froze.
"I'm going to build this one Yusei."
"But you can't build a runner without having a deck." He grabbed his sister's hand and pulled her upstairs. On the second floor, he pulled open a drawer and pulled out a box. He handed the box to his Yuki, who looked at him curiously. When she saw the contents, she tackled Yusei to the ground. Everyone looked on in surprise as the head signer laughed and ruffled Yuki's hair.
She got up and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"Thank you, big brother."
She sprinted down the stairs, a deck in hand.
"Yuki! I told you, NO RUNNING!" came a voice from upstairs.
"Sorry!" came the joyful reply.
"Sorry my foot." muttered Yusei coming down and rubbing his head. Crow snickered, and Jack smirked.
"Could I duel you Rei? Please?" Yuki begged. Rei was rather surprised. Glancing at Yusei, who nodded, she turned to face the younger girl,
"On one condition. You are definitely going to let me do your hair for the Duel Academy Ball."
"...There's a ball? Like the ones in fairytails?"
"You didn't know? You're starting school in less than a week and you don't know about the Ball, the biggest Ball in the City, that's in 4 weeks!?"
"Isn't 4 weeks a long time?"
"Never! The Ball takes at least 3 weeks to prepare for. Hair, make-up, dress, shoes...Misty is soo going to love this!"
"I have to wear a dress?!"
"Of course! Don't even think about wearing casual clothes!"
"Rei... aren't you getting a bit too excited? The poor girl hasn't even started school; much less have time to think about a Ball that is four weeks in the future." Rei huffed, turning to her brother.
"Just because you never went to the Ball, Sato Yukimura, doesn't mean that everyone else doesn't have too!"
"You sound like mother."
"...Oh, you are soo lucky I have a duel rigtht now."
In the meantime, Yuki had escaped and taken her brother's duel disk. She stood at the opposite end of the room, going over her deck quickly before sliding it into disk. Rei pulled out her own duel disk, and inserted her deck.
"Ready."
"Ready."
"DUEL!"