To make up for you guys having to wait so long for the last chapter, here's more fluff to tide you guys over while I finish up the next chapter. This is sort of like a part one, so to speak, since 'part 2' is way longer, so please excuse the fact that it's kind of short.

"And now, Botanical Lion, destroy his Rose Token!" I commanded my monster. As the Plant monster let out a roar of agreement, I found myself turning my thoughts elsewhere. Kaze said I had to have faith to control my powers. I just had to believe. After what happened, it would have been hard not to. Control of my powers was within my reach. If I just managed to extend my faith a little more…

I heard the shatter of Divine's Rose Token, which caused me to look up as my monster began its retreat. A few of the shards from the rose had flown back towards Divine but it didn't appear to hurt him. Just like Kaze said…! I could do this…!

"Aki," Divine muttered as he brushed his coat a bit, almost looking as if he was having trouble choosing his words. "Are you worried about your powers again? You're holding back. I thought I told you that you have to accept them if you want to control them," Divine said.

"About that… I talked to Kaze for a bit and I think I might be starting to control my powers in a different way," I decided to not beat around the bush and come straight out with it. Divine at least deserved that much. His eyes widened at the news before he looked down towards the ground, muttering a bit to himself.

"Are you really okay with this?" Divine eventually asked. With this…? Controlling my powers was what I wanted, so certainly it was… but that wasn't what he was asking, was it? Sensing my confusion, Divine decided to continue, "You're letting your potential go to waste this way. If you master them my way, you could be even more of a help to your friends."

"Why can't they both work?" I found myself asking this aloud. It was a question I had on my mind for the longest time since I discovered that both Kaze and Divine had different means of controlling their powers. They both reached the same goal, so why were their methods different?

"Aki, Kaze's method involves taking a different route than mine. My way will allow you to have full control of your powers and go all out. From what I can see of Kaze's method, it revolves around concealing it," Divine remarked.

"Kaze's method isn't like that. It's about trust and understanding," I quickly jumped to Kaze's defense even though there was no need to. "I just… If I could gain control of my monsters using Kaze's way, then I could go all out anyway. Kaze's method has less people get hurt, too. I know that pain is a part of my powers, I understand that, but that doesn't mean I should make everyone feel that pain," I continued, trying to justify my point. It wasn't as if I was totally against Divine's method. There were plenty of things that I took from them; I learned to accept my powers and not fear them as much. It was just that with Kaze's method I was seeing more immediate results, whereas with Divine's method, it almost appeared to get worse before it got better.

Divine didn't say anything for quite some time, instead choosing to just stare at me. Eventually he gave a shrug with his uninjured arm. "That's fine. I'll rework the schedule for you. Take the day off. My arm is acting up anyway, so I'm going to go get some medicine," Divine excused himself as he deactivated his duel disk. Something seemed off with him as he walked away, but I couldn't place my finger on it. Hopefully I didn't offend him… If I had the day off again, though, then I could visit Kaze.

With this thought in mind, I left to check on the duel puzzle room, since that was where I found him last time. When I poked my head inside, though, I found the two members in charge waiting silently, which as a little disturbing, actually. They just sat there, staring blankly ahead unless somebody was in the room. I felt a little bad, but I supposed that someone had to do it. More importantly, though, Kaze wasn't here…

Maybe he was in his room? That wouldn't be too strange. Maybe something came up with his lessons and he ended up with the day off as well. His room was… It was… 114, right? It was just a ways down from the end, so I suppose the actual number didn't really matter when I mentally knew the location. And so I began walking to Kaze's room, trying to think of what I'd say on the way. It might be awkward to just say that I wanted to spend the day with him, but on the other hand, I didn't just want to spend our free time practicing with my powers.

As I arrived, I decided that the natural approach was the best. I'd just tell him about the situation and I'd see what happened from there. That's what I had always done in the past. Not wanting to intrude should he being doing something important, I knocked on the door first. "Kaze, are you in there?" I called out. I waited a few seconds in silence before deciding that I wasn't going to get a response. Maybe he was sleeping…? I twisted open the doorknob before peeking into the room. There was nobody there and Kaze's duel disk was nowhere to be seen, which meant he was out and about. If he wasn't in either of the usual spots, though…

Out of options, I pulled out my PDA and opened my registered duelist list. I could find out where he was by pulling his profile up. At least, that was what I thought. When I clicked on 'Kaze Kokoro', his profile showed up like normal, but the map was blank. Almost as if Kaze wasn't registered on the network… That couldn't be the case, though, because he had a profile, right? It wasn't like our signals were blocked, either. Unless… Signals being blocked… Did Kaze go back to the arena for some reason? It seemed unreasonable but it wasn't entirely impossible. If that was the case, though, then I had to go help him out!

My thoughts resolved, I made my way to the front doors, throwing them open before descending the stairs quickly. I made a brisk pace as I dodged between the traffic of other Arcadia Movement members. For all I knew, Kaze needed my help. As I took my first few steps into the dilapidated downtown district, however, I found myself pausing. This was a different side of town from the arena, so there were no landmarks to reference. I hadn't paid enough attention during the drive, so as for where the arena was in terms of here…

Even so…! I thought back to all of the anguish Kaze had gone through during our stay with Keisuke. If that sketchy bartender somehow kept some more blackmail to get Kaze back after all of this… I should have known something was up when he let us go so easily…!

These were the types of things that I thought about as I rushed through the streets, checking down every alley, every nook and cranny, to try and locate the arena, and thus Kaze. Sometime during my search, it had started to rain, but I paid it no heed until nearly an hour later when my search bore no fruit. That was also when I realized that I had no clue where I was. I had put so much focus on trying to find the arena that I had totally forgotten to pay attention to where I was. On a normal day, that'd be fine, but with the thoughts of danger off my mind, the rain was now quite obvious as it soaked through my clothes and chilled me to my bones.

Out of options, I began to look around for some shelter. Most of the buildings were simple rectangles, so they offered nothing, but I did notice a fire escape on the side of one of said buildings. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than being out in the open. I jogged over to the building, dodging around people with umbrellas as I did. Now with some of the rain blocked, I pulled out my PDA once more. It seemed rather pathetic, but I supposed that I'd need Kaze again. Could I really just call him up and say that I got lost looking for him? If he were at the arena, would he even get my call? Would it be best to call Divine, then? He was wounded, though, thanks to me. Ida? She certainly seemed like the best choice and she'd probably jump at the possibility of being a hero. I might even need her to help with the rescue.

I held my PDA up to my ear as ringing emitted from my phone. As more and more rings went by, I found myself tapping my foot on the ground. What if she didn't answer?

"Hello, this is Ida!" Ida's cheerful voice suddenly answered, easing my worries.

"Ida, it's Aki! I-" I started to explain the situation.

"Unfortunately, I'm a little busy with heroing! Be sure to leave a message! I'll get back to you as soon as I can!" Ida's voicemail, I realized pathetically late, concluded before there was a beep. Suppressing a sigh, I simply ended the call before leaning against the brick wall behind me, staring out at the rain to try and get an idea.

Come to think of it… The last time that it rained was when I went home. Kaze had given me his jacket to keep me warm… I found myself subconsciously tugging at my arms, trying to remember that comforting warmth. Kaze had always been there for me, yet the one time that he needed me, I couldn't even find him…!

Suddenly, I hear the revving of an engine. A D-Wheel…? In the middle of the street? Was this some kind of police chase? I found myself peering around the corner of the building, where the sound had come from. There was a fairly bulky, dark blue D-wheel driving through the rain. That was all that I could really see through the droplets of water. What were they doing here, though…? Without warning, the D-wheel started to turn, curving into the alleyway that I was in and skidding to a stop, splashing a bit of water into my face. The rider quickly jumped off, allowing me to see the red jacket and jeans that they were wearing. That meant…! Then the rider took his hat off, shaking his hair a bit to get rid of some of the water matting it down.

"Aki, what are you doing out here?" Kaze demanded to know. He didn't seem to care about what my answer was, though, as he quickly ran forward, placing his hat onto my head to keep the rain off of me.

"I… I got done early and I tried to find you, but you weren't at the Movement… and when I tried to find your location using the network, nothing showed up, so I thought Keisuke had somehow lured you back and…" I trailed off as he took his jacket off and wrapped it gingerly around my frame, leaving him in just his gray undershirt. "Kaze, your hat is important to you, right? Take it back, I'll be fine. I don't want it to get ruined because of me," I said as I reached up to take the object in question off. Kaze caught my wrist before I could though. It wasn't hard enough to hurt, just a simple, light gesture to keep me from taking it off.

"You're important to me too, Aki," he whispered as he looked straight into my eyes. I felt my face heat up despite myself. Kaze didn't seem to notice, however, as he released his grip before pulling his jacket onto me tighter, buttoning the top button so that it'd stay on. "Here, get on and hold tight. We have to get you back to the Movement so you can change," Kaze said before walking back over to his D-wheel, jumping onto it before turning and offering me his hand. I took ahold of it, albeit nervously, before placing my foot on the side of the D-Wheel, using it as leverage to lift my other leg to the other side so I could sit properly.

Now I was on, sure, but what did I do next…? What did one latch onto? The D-Wheel? Apparently my silence cued Kaze that something was wrong, as he turned around to face me. "Aki, you have to hold on to me," he pointed out softly. Hold on to him…? "You know, like, just hold on to me. I don't want you falling off," Kaze clarified. I found myself a bit embarrassed at not knowing how to do it right away, but I figured later was better than never. I reached my arms forward, wrapping them around Kaze's torso before leaning forward, placing my face against his back. Feeling that I was secure, Kaze revved his D-Wheel up once more before starting off. Whether it was because of the D-wheel itself or Kaze's concern for me, he started off fairly slow, which I appreciated.

… It was warm. Holding Kaze, I mean. Even in the midst of a downpour, I felt undeniably warm. I tried to revel in this warmth, holding on to Kaze tightly for the rest of the ride.

"We're here," Kaze's voice brought my attention back to the present. I quickly unwrapped my hands from his torso and sat up, allowing him to get off the D-Wheel first since I had no idea of how one parked a D-wheel and if he needed to do anything else. Instead of doing something with his D-wheel, however, Kaze simply turned back around to face me before placing one arm around the small of my back and the other under my knees before lifting me into the air. My face quickly heated up until my cheeks began to sting.

"K-Kaze! I can walk just fine!" I insisted.

"You probably could, but I don't want to take any chances. Please just let me take care of you, to make up for me being gone and worrying you," Kaze said. Well, when Kaze set his mind to something, I supposed there was no arguing with him… Resigning myself to being carried in bridal style, I buried my head into his chest, trying to hide my flushed face. It didn't necessarily help, though, since it brought me in even closer contact with him. Whether it was the rain or Kaze's natural smell, he smelt like the ocean… Ah, what was I thinking about…!?

I reluctantly lifted my face, making sure to face away from Kaze though so he wouldn't see my embarrassment. Maybe if I focused on something else… Thankfully, a distraction decided to present itself in the form of a certain gray-haired teen.

"Kaze! You found her!" Ida called out as she darted over to us.

"It was easy once I realized that her PDA was still activated. Sorry for bothering you, though, Ida," Kaze apologized.

"Oh, no, it was no problem. I mean, I usually don't do anything else anyway. I had Kage help me out. He was really quiet, but he knew his way around, so he showed me all of the likely places," Ida smiled a bit as she bounced on her heels, apparently pleased with her job. What exactly did she do though…?

"Ah, right," Kaze said upon seeing my confused expression. "When I came back from D-Wheel practice, I went to check up on you and see if you were doing alright but Divine told me that you had been dismissed for the day. I asked around a bit and everyone said you were fleeing the building in a hurry. I thought… I guess I thought maybe something had happened… Maybe your father came to visit," Kaze muttered. I felt him shift a bit on his feet but paid it no heed. "So I asked Ida to keep an eye out around here in case you came back while I was out, and then I took the Movement's training D-Wheel to search for you."

"So it's all my fault," I found myself murmuring to myself. Ida raised an eyebrow.

"Aki, it wasn't your fault," Kaze peeped up. "It was my fault for not telling you that my PDA wasn't connected to the mapping system anymore," he continued. It wasn't..? Why wasn't it? It had been earlier. Did he change the settings after we started staying at the Movement? Maybe he somehow found out how to do it in order to keep people from finding us. If that was the case, maybe I should do that as well. The last thing I wanted was my father tracking us down. "Anyway, Aki's been out in the rain for a while and I'd like to let her warm up. Could you get Mr. Fujita to put the D-Wheel back in the garage for me? I kind of just left it out," Kaze turned his attention to Ida as he spoke.

"No problem," Ida smiled cheerfully. She started to dart off but suddenly paused, turning around to face us. "Hey, Aki! Make sure to rest up! It's not the Justice Brigade without the three of us!" she called out before sprinting away. Once she was gone, Kaze continued with his original path to my room.

"It's A145, right?" he asked, glancing down at me briefly as he did.

"Ah, yeah. It'll probably be locked, though, since I usually lock it before I head out," I noted, internally hoping it'd be enough of an excuse of Kaze to let me walk by myself. It was far too embarrassing to be that close to him.

"That's right, you guys lock your doors here," Kaze murmured to himself as if he was still unused to the idea. I found it a bit endearing, though, and found myself smiling a bit. A few seconds later, we arrived at the door to my room. Kaze lowered himself a bit, allowing my feet to hit the ground. Once I felt I had enough balance, I righted myself, thankful to be back on my feet a decent distance from Kaze. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my key, inserting it into the knob before twisting it. After that, I opened the door, allowing Kaze to come in as well. I still had his clothes, after all.

"So, uh… I'll go change real quick. I'll get these back to you," I decided to let Kaze know what I was doing as I walked over to my closet and picked out the nightgown and spare clothing that Divine had supplied me. The brunette gave me a slight nod, taking in the sight of my room as he did. Compared to his, mine was rather elaborate, so I couldn't blame him. Kaze's room didn't even have a closet or bathroom, from what I could tell. I walked over to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I doubted that Kaze would peek at me, but at the same time… I really didn't think I could handle any more embarrassment.

I started off by taking off Kaze's hat and unbuttoning his jacket. Once they were off, I folded up his jacket into a fairly presentable form, resting his hat on top of it before continuing with the rest of my clothes. When I finished taking my uniform off, I placed it on the towel rack to dry before picking up the nightgown. It was nothing extravagant, just a plain t-shirt and sweatpants with a maroon robe, but it did its job. After I was content with my appearance, I picked up Kaze's clothing before opening the door and heading out.

Kaze was still there, as expected, but he seemed a bit distracted. He had that far off look on his face, almost like what he had when he was talking with Duel Spirits. "Kaze?" I called out softly. I didn't want to startle him, but I did want to make sure he was okay. After what happened on the first day, I didn't know if there was a malicious spirit out there that would hurt him or if his powers weren't working as they should. Either way, I needed to make sure he was okay. When I didn't get a response, I quickly walked over to him, shaking his shoulder's lightly. "Kaze!" I tried again. This time Kaze's eyes widened and he jolted back a bit. He looked around, probably for some danger, but upon finding none he relaxed.

"Ah, sorry, Aki. I got distracted," Kaze smiled softly, but it almost seemed forced. I continued to stare at him for a few seconds, waiting for him to elaborate, but he didn't seem open to divulging.

"Here's your stuff back. Thanks for letting me use them," I said as I held the objects in question out.

"Not a problem. Like I said, I want to make sure you're safe," Kaze said as he took the clothes back. He placed his cap back on his head and slung the jacket over his shoulder, apparently finding it too wet to put back on.

"Kaze… are you sure you're okay?" I decided to voice my concern.

"Aki, I'm fine, really. It's taking me a while to get used to getting up early, so I'm just a little more tired than usually," Kaze tried to ease my worry. I suppose that'd make sense… It was hard to keep your focus up when you were tired. "Well, I think I'm going to go hang this up to dry. Make sure you rest up, okay?" Kaze smiled before turning and heading out the door, making sure to shut it behind him.

Was he really okay…? Divine probably won't have a new lesson plan for me by tomorrow, so I should be able to check up on Kaze to see how he's doing then. Like he said, though, I was out in the rain for a while, so I should rest up to avoid getting sick. With these thoughts in my head, I laid down onto my bed and drifted off to sleep.

Reviews:

- Lion Heart Leon(/Anonymous later on down the response line) : Haha, well, if you enjoyed the last chapter, I hope you enjoyed this one just as much. Now that the characters are fairly familiar with each other, we can start heading into the realm of fluff. I totally didn't think about the rose petals being there until you pointed it out, though. Like, wow, unintentional romantic scenery. Once I finish fixing my tablet and my started drawings, I might get around to drawing some of these scenes.

- MegaDragon520/Tyler Nator: I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for your constant support!