"You probably won't forgive me for this."

The WRGP was coming up soon.

Dark, raven bangs fell across his obsidian eyes. His hands came up, and traced the soft, crimson rose petals, all the while warily eyeing the sharp gleam of the thorns nearby. How he managed to avoid them, he had no clue. Still, he could feel a tiny smile graze his lips, as he leaned over. There were a few more, though with autumn fast approaching, he didn't think the tiny buds would make it. A sad end, but there was nothing he could do about it.

From a distance, Yusei could hear the others laughing. Soft, melodic voices trickled down within the gardens as he continued his way. It wasn't long before he heard panic entwined in those voices, followed by a resounding crash that left everyone speechless. He could practically feel the awkwardness as they all scrambled, trying to come up with a way to hide the mess they've caused. A broken flowerpot? A shattered plate? No, you can't hide it over there; he'd probably know.

He felt himself smile amusingly, before moving onto the next rosebush. It was so long, since he walked here, in these gardens. Though he's taken care of them long before, he felt a bit nostalgic whenever he saw the flowers.

Hey.

Slowly, he turned, and saw her, with a simplistic smile on her face.

Automatically, he returned her smile. "When did you get here?" he asked pleasantly.

A few minutes ago. They're pretty loud," she added mischievously, as she came to his side. They started walking down the garden, the same, red roses gazing back up at them. You can't even hear the music.

Music?

That's right, there was a party, somewhere in the gardens. It was the twins' birthday, and the Signers were celebrating it. Leo had reminded them plenty of times; he even passed out all the invitations, to his classmates, to all the Signers, possibly to even half the city block. No one could resist coming of course, and as such, Akiza decided to allow them to use her garden for their exploits. They were all careful not to litter, of course, but still, Yusei felt a bit bothered by how many people there were, and the garden wasn't even his.

Jack was trying to hold something down.

Yusei swayed a little to the rhythmic beats. "Did they break something?"

She laughed. Yeah, a flowerpot. Funny; I was there, but they made more of a big deal about you than me. This is my garden too, isn't it?

"Yeah, but I'm the one who always takes care of it," he teased. "You're the Black Rose; take care of your own flowers for a change."

He could feel her eyes boring his back, and though she was silent, he knew she was shrugging her shoulders. You've got a green thumb.

"So?"

You're also a really good gardener, so I have an excuse.

He laughed. "You always say you're doing your homework, but every time I see you, you're either sleeping or watching Netflix.

The others were still at school.

For a while, they walked in silence. Streams of crimson kept appearing in Yusei's vision, their swaying petals bringing yet another refreshing wind against him. He admired his work; after hours of dealing with the thorns and vines, hours of yanking weeds from the soil, hours of watering and watching and building that stupid, silver fence, just to try and keep the animals out, he admitted that the view was worth it.

"But I really did love you."

Hey, Yusei.

"Hmm?"

You only ever planted roses here, didn't you?

He blinked. "They were all that I could afford."

But look at that one, in the distance.

Yusei narrowed his eyes. Carefully, he followed her gaze. It wasn't long before he saw the strange flowers. He cocked his head. "Huh."

Aren't those amaryllises?

"Yeah." He scratched the back of his head, asking himself how the flowers even got there. Still, they were incredibly nice to look at. They also reminded him of something, though he didn't know what. "I guess the wind must've blown some seeds over here or something. I don't remember planting them."

She chuckled. But you're the gardner, aren't you? No one plants a bulb that big by mistake.

He raised a curious eyebrow. "Why? Don't you like it?"

I don't really know. It's awfully out of place in a garden like this.

"It's boring though, if there are only roses in the garden."

"You might hate me afterwards. You might hate me forever, even."

The two lapsed in silence. Yusei simply stood there beside her, as he watched the tiny bulb swaying to the evening wind. Yes, now that he did think about it, the flower did seem incredibly familiar. Perhaps he'd seen it before somewhere, probably when the florist was about to throw it out. Maybe he saw it lying alone in an abandoned street; he'd seen a lot of flowers uprooted lately, what with all the construction that's been going on.

And then he paused, for a single, brief moment.

"But I made you a promise, and I intend to keep it."

"Yusei," Akiza suddenly called.

Shocked, Yusei turned back to her. The same, golden eyes stared at him with an even intensity, the same intensity she had when he first laid eyes on her. She wasn't as cold as before, and yet, for some reason, he could still feel an odd coldness from her. Her red, feral hair had loosely been held on the crown of her head, the Victorian outfit she donned contrasting sharply to her pale, creamy skin. There was a slight frown on her face, one that conveyed to him all her uneasy, unreadable thoughts. Quietly, he turned to her. "What is it?" he heard himself ask.

"What'd you think, about amaryllises?"

It took him a while to say…anything. "Where's this coming from?"

She stared at him for the longest time. An eternity seemed to pass by him, as he gazed at his own, dark reflection through her eyes. There were shadows beneath, it seemed. Shadows that he knew had been there for a forever ago.

He saw her.

His breath quickened.

He could feel himself backing away.

"My demonic rose, whose last petals have already wilted, I'm ordering you…"

At that moment, he felt her hand on his.

Carefully, she led him back to her, with the same, odd smile he saw her wear, earlier in the day. "Forget it," she said simply. "I shouldn't have messed with you like that."

He blinked. "It's…it's fine."

"But seriously though," she continued, as she turned back to that tiny amaryllis bulb. "To think that something like this is still here, in a field of roses."

He smiled shakily at her.

There was laughter, in the air.

Someone had broken a flowerpot.

And the music…

"Yusei?"

"It's a broken record," he said aimlessly.

Akiza's lips parted. She was about to say something, when she stopped herself. All the genuinely in her smile had simply vanished, from the moment she walked toward him. Her grip on his hand tightened. "Then we'd better go back. Knowing Jack, he's probably already destroyed the player."

"…And Crow?"

"Trying to stop him," she reassured, drawing him toward her. "I can hear the twins too. They're calling for us."

"…R-right."

And with that, he squeezed her hand back. He allowed her to lead him back to the evening. He looked over his shoulder, and saw the amaryllis. Then, in that same moment, he turned back, and followed the Black Rose out of the gardens.