Yuto struggled to maintain his balance, nearly falling onto the floor as he tried to make some movement and eventually heading his way towards the railing for support. Out of all the activities he has done with his mom, this was definitely something he has never done this before. He looked down at his feet, which were wearing roller skates and then directed his head to where the other people were. A lot of them were moving at a stable—and even swift—pace all around the rink while also making sure to not lose their balance. Even Yuya has easily gotten the hang of skating thanks to Alex, yet unlike the loaned Duel Skates, he was able to control when to stop since there weren't any duels involved. The eggplant-haired teen was good at dueling, being a knightly gentleman, maintaining a nice appearance, memorizing Lono's lasagna recipe and her other homemade meals, and keeping a rather strong body figure, but roller skating definitely wasn't one of them.
"Come on, Yuto!" Yuya encouraged. "It's easy!"
"Easy for you to say!" Yuto pointed out, stumbling once more before falling onto the floor.
Sora, on the other hand, was skating with ease. "This is easy!" he exclaimed. "I had to memorize too many dances for Duel Academy's galas, so I'm already quick on my feet!" He showed no hesitation with his skating skills as he zipped by Yuto, much to the eggplant-haired teen's annoyed disappointment.
"Do you need help?" Yoko called out, already skating with Yusho.
"N-No, I'm fine," Yuto lied, wiping a forming tear away from his eye. Why did Yoko have to remind him so much of Lono?
"Doesn't look like it," Yuya said. He proceeded to grab his cousin's hands and pull him back up on his feet.
"What are you doing?" Yuto asked.
"I'm teaching you how to roller skate!" Yuya cheerfully answered. "So just relax and follow my lead!"
Holding his cousin's hand, Yuya started his tutorial off by going at a steady pace, making sure to go slow but not too fast so that they can at least sustain their balance. Some time later, Yuto noticed Yuya was humming a song, spiking his curiosity.
"Are you…humming?" Yuto asked.
"Yeah," Yuya answered. "Mom told me the easiest way to skate is by moving to the beat of Pinball Wizard."
Yuto was baffled. "Pinball Wizard…?"
"You've never heard of that song?" Yuya asked.
"No," Yuto admitted.
"It kinda goes something like this," Yuya explained. He started singing. "Ever since I was a young boy I've played the silver ball. From Soho down to Brighton, I must have played them all. But I ain't seen nothing like him in any amusement hall. That deaf dumb and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball!"
Yuya continued humming and singing as he and Yuto skated to the beat of The Who's 1969 single. But Yuto was more focused on the song's lyrics than skating.
"I don't get it," the Phantom Knights user said. "It's impossible for someone to play pinball if they can't see and hear."
"Technically Tommy isn't really blind and deaf," Yuya explained. "He witnessed his birth father kill the man who raised him, causing his mom to tell him he didn't see or hear that."
That didn't help Yuto. "Tommy…?"
"It's the name of the Pinball Wizard," Yuya clarified.
Are there more songs about this Tommy person? Why exactly did his biological father kill his adopted one? Did his mother tell him he didn't see or hear that murder to make sure he wouldn't be traumatized by it? Yuto always knew songs have a meaning to them, but he never figured they can create a story that share a common lore to them. He might have to do some research to learn more about Tommy and what songs The Who did about him.
"That's it!" Yuya suddenly exclaimed.
"What's it?" Yuto asked.
"You're skating!" Yuya explained
Yuto looked around at his surroundings to see how he was moving fluidly across the rink. He then glanced down at his feet to see they have gotten the hang of skating. He was surprised with how well he was going.
"I… I'm doing it," Yuto said. He started smiling wide and laughing. "I'm actually skating!"
He accelerated in front of Yuya and dashed by Yoko, Yusho, and Sora as he basked in the glory of roller skating for the first time. He usually doesn't act like this, but it feels too long since he last had a chance to do some family bonding. Seeing how the Sakakis are also part of his family, he wanted to make this moment count.
"Yuto, slow down!" Yoko called out. "I don't want you to get hurt!"
"I don't want you to get hurt, sweetie!"
Yuto's eyes widened in alarm. "Mom?" he asked aloud.
The words Yoko said. He heard them before. As quickly as she spoke them, he found himself back into the past when he was younger. He still had short hair with his light purple bangs covering his eyes and wore baggy clothes at that time when his only friends were Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon and his mom. It was prior to meeting Shay when he was the only person in Heartland who stood out like a sore thumb because he wasn't the kind of person who wasn't as bright, cheery, and colorful as everyone else.
From what he could tell from the triggered flashback, he was at his home street, learning how to ride a bike.
"Yuto, are you sure you want to do this?" Lono asked.
"Y-Yes, mom," Yuto shyly muttered.
"Alright," Lono said reassuringly. "Let me know when I can let go."
The two headed down the sidewalk at a slow but secure pace as Yuto pedaled the bike. His eyes widened behind his bangs. "I'm doing it!" he exclaimed. "I'm actually doing it!"
He gradually picked up the speed of his bike and grew more excited as seconds went by, leading up to the point where he said Lono could let go. For his first time riding a bike, he couldn't believe how well he was doing.
"Just don't go too fast!" Lono called out. "I don't want you to get hurt, sweetie!"
Distracted by him remembering that day, Yuto nearly ran into the wall of the skating rink, with Yuya catching him—and hitting the wall—just in time. "What happened?" Yuya asked.
"Sorry," Yuto said. "I…got distracted."
Sora let out a laugh as he skated by. "You, distracted?" he asked. "You weren't distracted when Obelisk Force attacked!"
What he's saying was Yuto never gets sidetracked that easily…unless Lulu is involved. What was he even thinking about that almost got him skating towards the wall?
"Your mom said something that reminded me of my mom," Yuto told Yuya. "Then I thought about the time she taught me how to ride a bike."
"Stop talking like that," Yuya said. "My mom is also your aunt."
"I know…" Yuto said. "But it still feels weird." He still can't get over the fact that Yoko reminds him of Lono because they were sisters.
"Come on, Yoot," Yuya encouraged. "Embrace the familial connection. Your last name is Osaku, but you're still a Sakaki."
Yuto raised an eyebrow. "Yoot?" he repeated.
"Yeah, it's the same nickname Yugo calls you," Yuya explained.
"I know," Yuto recalled. "But you don't have to call me that." He may have stayed with his cousin, but that was when his soul was fused with their counterparts and they didn't knew they were related all this time. It was obvious that it may take a while for him to warm up to this recent discovery.
"But we're family," Yuya emphasized. "Relatives give each other fun nicknames."
"You got that right, tomato head," Sora agreed as he skated by.
This was a clear example of familial nicknames: Sora calling Yuya "tomato head" for obvious reasons up to the point where it doesn't even deserve an explanation. Yuto honestly never thought about giving or being given nicknames in a familial manner; he was more used to those in friendships and relationships. Then again, he did grew up as an only child for most of his life. So maybe he could give this nickname thing a try.
"Okay…odd-eyes," Yuto said, noticing Yuya's new dual eye colors.
The first thing Yuya thought about was his ace monster, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. It actually makes sense on why he would be given that nickname because he was one of the first Pendulum monsters that made him into the pioneer of Pendulum Summoning.
"Now you're gettin' the hang of it!" Yuya replied, playfully punching Yuto on the shoulder.
Yuto rubbed his arm before getting back to skating with his family. He made sure he was at a close distance to where Yuya was because he wanted to spend some bonding time with him; although the stuff he demonstrated was typically something siblings would do, they weren't strictly just for siblings. Since Yuto didn't have any brothers or sisters growing up, hanging out with his own cousin was the next best thing.
"I've been meaning to ask you something," Yuya said as the two cousins skated. "What do you see in Lulu?"
"Hmm?" Yuto questioned.
"You heard me," Yuya said. "Since she and Zuzu are technically the same person, I must know why you ended up falling for her."
"Because she's an angel combined with a princess," Yuto answered, smiling softly. "When I'm with her, it feels as if my other half."
"But I'm your other half aside from Yugo and Yuri," Yuya pointed out.
"Not like that," Yuto explained. "According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves."
Yuya snorted a laugh at that. "Except that didn't happen to us," he pointed out.
"But when I met Lulu, I felt complete," Yuto explained. "I was initially captivated by her beauty, but as we spent more time together, I felt a natural connection with her. Don't you feel that with Zuzu?"
"Sort of," Yuya answered. "But it's not like she's my girlfriend. She can be nice, but there's usually nothing sweet about her."
"What about when your fingertips faintly touch hers?" Yuto asked. "Or when she runs a hand through your hair? Don't you feel anything when you're with her?"
"She doesn't touch my hair," Yuya recalled. "Well she hasn't done that in the past, but now…"
He wasn't sure how to say it exactly, but Yuto knew what he meant: Zuzu has been touching his hair lately. But it wasn't casual touches. She gently caressed it with the occasional murmurs of 'you're still Yuya'.
"She has been touching your hair lately?" Yuto asked.
"Yeah," Yuya answered. "A lot."
This was somewhat peculiar, not because of when she has started touching and stroking, but why she has been doing it. There was something about that phrase that got Yuto thinking. "You're still Yuya…" Was it due to him and his counterparts becoming Zarc? No…but it definitely had something to do with him… Was it because of him Awakening? Most likely; after all, it was caused by Zarc's will to reunite his reincarnations as one…and made Yuya's hair stand up more, occasionally making it bear a resemblance to Zarc's hairstyle.
"Do you think it might have to do with what Zarc tried to do with us?" Yuto asked.
"The whole berserk thing?" Yuya asked in response. He briefly ruffled his own hair. "I guess… I think that caused my hair to spike up."
He figured it may have something to do with that. Looking back at the first few times he Awakened, it does show why Zuzu would say something like that. His hair sticking up reminded them of Zarc and the Yu-Salad absorbing each other and reviving their incarnation was traumatizing.
Yuto suddenly smirked. "But at least my hair is better," he said.
"Yuto!" Yuya exclaimed.
"It's true," Yuto said as he skated circles around Yuya. He brushed his bangs back. "Lulu can't get enough of it."
Yuya made a slight pouting face at Yuto's boastful remark. Since when did it become a contest to see who has the best haircut?
"You're wrong!" Yuya replied. "My hair is clearly better than yours! Why else would Aura fall for my devilish charm?"
"I beg to differ," Yuto said. "My hair is much softer than yours. Lulu even thinks it was because of an angel's blessing."
"But mine doesn't stand out as much," Yuya added.
"Mine actually has a more natural coloring," Yuto remarked.
"Tell that to your purple bangs!" Yuya pointed out.
"You're both wrong!" Sora chimed in as he skated by. "Yuri has the best hair!"
That was something Yuto and Yuya can agree on: their Fusion counterpart clearly doesn't have the best hair. Who on Earth would be insane enough to even fall for a cabbage-haired Predaplant user like Yuri?
"So… About Yugo…" Yuya realized.
"Probably," Yuto admitted. "Rin seems to like that stray lock of hair near his right cheek."
"But when was the last time he washed it?" Yuya asked.
"Probably never," Yuto answered. "Which means I still have the softest hair."
"But doesn't your head feel heavy?" Yuya asked. "'Cause it looks like you have too much hair."
This sentence slightly caught Yuto off guard, mainly due to the fact that his hair was the thickest out of all of his counterparts. "I don't have too much hair," he clarified. "It's thicker."
"I'll be the judge of that," Yuya said.
He skated forward to try and touch Yuto's eggplant-shaped hair to see if it was thicker or not. As he leaned towards him and extended his arm out, the latter attempted to push him away a little because he needed some personal space, but that only increased their chances of them losing their balance and it quickly became a 100% probability rate as the two stumbled and fell onto the floor of the rink. With his cousin recovering from the fall, Yuya took advantage of it and placed his hand on the black locks.
"Yep!" Yuya said, touching his own hair with his other hand. "It definitely feels thicker."
Yuto sat up on the floor right as Yuya stopped touching their hair and Sora zipped by them yet again, but this time, it was to see if they were alright. At least the tomato-haired teen was now convinced that Yuto's hair wasn't as heavy as he initially thought.
"Are you two done goofing off?" Sora asked. "Mr. and Mrs. Sakaki said they'll take us out for pizza."
Yuya's eyes lit up with glee whereas Yuto was more amazed to hear what Sora mentioned. After all that rambling about hair, pizza for lunch sounded delicious right about now.
"Pizza?" Yuya happily asked. He got back on his feet. "I'm in!"
"Me too," Yuto replied, also getting back up.
"But I'm serious," Sora said. "Compared to you two, Yuri has the best hair."
"Why would you say that?" Yuya asked as Yuto chuckled in disagreement.
"Have you seen those perfectly-coiffed purple and pink locks?" Sora asked in response. "Yuri is clearly the more sophisticated counterpart."
"You're wrong," Yuto said. "Lulu grew up in a wealthy environment. If anything, she's more sophisticated than Yuri."
"Oh, so we're getting the girls in on it?" Yuya asked.
"Why not?" Yuto asked in response. "Her hair is absolutely gorgeous."
The three boys continued talking about all eight counterparts' hair as they skated to where Yoko and Yusho were so that they can put on their normal shoes and head over to the pizzeria for lunch. Yuto never would have imagined finding himself bonding with his extended family, especially his two cousins, one of which happened to be his own counterpart. He also couldn't believe how a simple song could help him overcome his inability to roller skate and lead him into a debate about hairstyles. All in all, he was glad he discovered his relations with his extended family because he was welcomed with open arms thanks to Yuya. He may have been born an Osaku, but he was really glad to be a Sakaki.