Hello hello again! I would like to thank my very lovely reviewer for their kind words and 666Grimmjow666 along with Star-Rose-Lover for reviewing my story! Without all of you this chapter would not have been posted.

Disclaimer: I own only my OC and the plot, everything else belongs to the creator of Yugioh 5Ds!

The dark haired girl couldn't believe it at first; she thought her ears must have been deceiving her. But when she saw the look of shock come over his face she knew, it was true. She drove as fast as she could, not really looking where she was going just driving. 'I'm such a fool! Who was I kidding; I just met them I should have known not to trust their nice-ness! Stupid Raven, stupid!'

She had said this over and over as she drove; she had long since passed the Daedalus Bridge and was now in what used to be considered the Satellite, though most of it had been rebuilt there was still parts that had yet to be either torn down or remolded. Raven saw the sign that said this part was going to be torn down for more housing, deciding this was the best place to work off her frustration she parked her runner and took off her helmet.

~0~

After about an hour or so of destroying a building she decided it would probably be in her best interest to make herself scarce before Sector Security showed up, she kicked a piece of rubble, 'I'm sure they would have noticed this' in front of her was the remains of a worn down building that was ready to come down anyway, it was leaning sideways for crying out loud.

She shrugged though; the city could consider this a public service for all she cared. The frustration had dissipated for a moment but she could feel it still, not to mention the look on Crow's face kept popping up. She let out a loud sigh, "Foolish girl. You should know better by now." She instinctually touched just below her left shoulder as she said this.

"Heh, no kidding girlie!" she gasped as a man with triangle shaped sunglasses stepped out from the shadows, more men appeared around her all wearing the same tacky sunglasses. The first guy walked up to her and gripped her tightly around her waist, "Aren't you a pretty thing and a psychic duelist too boot!" Raven narrowed her eyes, his breath reeked of alcohol and smoke, and it made her want to puke as she tried to wiggle out of his hold.

When she couldn't get out she decided to make him let go, so she focused her energy and pushed him back against the building behind him. Two others tried to grab her but she pushed them back turning away from the one with the horrible breath. It was a mistake on her part; horrible breath punched her in the jaw just as she turned.

That was a mistake on his part. "Fine, you wanna go. Let's go!"

The first thing she became aware of was a pounding, or a banging sound. Raven wasn't sure which but it made her head hurt, that and the sunshine was the shinning through the window in her bedroom. She winced as she got up and felt the bruises from the previous night. "Those guys sure did on number on you, but I don't think they will bother anyone for a while. I'm such a do-gooder." She laughed dryly at this.

After she had beat the thugs senseless she had come straight home and fell asleep, now she was paying the price of using her power too much. Everything seemed to hurt. She noticed however the pounding didn't seem to stop though; it wasn't coming from her head however. "Ugh, who would be at my door?"

She begrudgingly climbed out of bed and put on a sweater, she had fallen asleep in a pair of black sweats and a blue tank top and didn't want to show the visitor more skin than necessary. Her apartment was small, but nice; the door of her bedroom just down the hall from the living room with an adjoined kitchen and a bathroom right across the hall from her bedroom. She didn't own a TV but she made up for it with shelf after shelf of books, and a large black couch shaped like a L that the previous owner had given her.

It was small and didn't have much, but she loved it. What she didn't love however, was the constant pounding that was coming from her front door, the person on the other side was being annoyingly persistent. "Blackbird Delivery!" she raised a brow, "I didn't order anything…ugh, it must be for Ms. Carrie next door. I keep telling her to put up a new letter on her door."

A few days ago, her next door neighbors 'I' came off the door. So she decided instead of paying to get a new one she would just paint it on, sadly the women was seventy and had a very shaky grip. Meaning her 'I' ended up looking just like raven's 'L'. Said girl sighed.

The pounding got louder, she glared at the door. "Yes, yes I'm coming! Geeze, so impatient." She opened the door as she said this, her eyes got wide as she saw who was on the other side. Crow stood there with a bright yellow jacket on, the emblem reading "Black bird Delivery" with a tiny crow next too it. In his hand he held a box marked for none other than Ms. Carrie next door.

"R-Raven? You live here?" she folded her arms; 'I so don't wanna see him right now!' she nodded in response. "Oh! Well, that's cool! So um did you order a delivery?" she sighed, "No, your looking for 2I not 2L." she pointed across the hall to the ladies door. She yawned, "Now if you'll excuse me." And tried to shut the door, Crow stuck his foot in the door preventing this.

"Wait! I uh…I wanna apologize for last night! I was outta line with what I said. It wasn't cool, I'm sorry." Raven sighed again, but conceded defeat when she looked into his eyes. "Go deliver the package, we can talk after." With that she walked away leaving the door open.

~0~

It was quite a deal later as Crow re-entered her apartment, so much time in fact Raven had brushed her teeth and fixed her hair and gone to the kitchen to make breakfast. By the look on his face she assumed the elderly women had told him the story of her dueling days, which was one story a person could only sit through once, and she guessed the elderly woman had left him off half way.

She took pity on him; the story itself was punishment enough. "You can go ahead and sit on the couch, will fruit tea be alright? I don't have anything else at the moment."

"Yeah, that's fine." She heard the couch creek and a very audible sigh, resisting the urge to giggle she poured the tea and walked out. Seeing him sitting there on her couch brought a warm feeling to her chest, almost like seeing him there was a natural thing. She shook her head and gave him the cup before sitting next to him legs tucked under her.

He drank the tea in one gulp and placed the empty cup on her coffee table, "I really am sorry ya know." She waved him off, "I know, I'm not mad well not anymore. I think one of Ms. Carrie's stories is more punishment than I could ever dish out." She laughed as his face paled.

"You have a pretty laugh. You should do it more." He said smiling at her, blushing she sipped her tea. "A-anyway, I wanna be friends with you, so it killed me last night that I hurt you like that." Crow didn't look at her as he said this, but she could feel the truth in his words. It shocked her; nobody had ever said that they wanted to be her 'friend'. It felt weird; nice, but weird.

She drank the rest of her tea before placing it next to its companion, "I think you need you understand more about where I came from in order to do that. If you have time, will you listen?" she looked right into his eyes as she said this, he gazed back nodding. "I'm pretty much done with my deliveries for right now."

She nodded; talking about this was going to be cutting it close to her wounds. But something inside told her it was right to put at least some of the truth in his hands. "Alturas is a town not far east from here. The people there are extremely narrow minded, and live in a time where religion rules. From the day someone is born into life there they are guided by the set rules; you must attend mass three times a day, every meal begins with praying to the savior. Stuff like that," she clasped her hands too keep them from shaking, as they most likely were.

"In this place dueling is considered a ritual act, and must only be done by the men. Women were strictly forbidden from doing this. Anyone caught acting against this rule was beaten without mercy then doused with holy water." She shivered as she remembered this. "Everyone is taught is act, think, and be the way it is written in this scripture. And anyone who is different is taught the 'Wrath of the savior' for being a hieratic. They consider it saving when all they do is beat someone until nothing of their soul remains." She could feel tears in her eyes but she blinked them away.

"The people born there do not mind this inhuman behavior; it's all they've ever known. But for an outsider, it is hell on earth until the moment you leave. And even after one does not simply forget what happened, it remains and eventually scars." She removed her sweater to prove her point; her arms were filled with scars from brutal beatings. But that's not what she was showing him; on her left arm just beneath her shoulder was what was burned into her skin. It was the shape of a cross with four triangles of light coming out of the corners.

She couldn't look at his face as she showed him this, but she knew he was staring at it. At the mark she had earned for being born a freak, "This is the mark one gets when you are born outside the social norm; it shows everyone that you are a devils advocate. That your soul needs saving." She quickly covered it up; she couldn't bear to let it see the light. She could no longer talk, her heart hurt too much.

Raven just stared at her lap, waiting for him to say something. "Because you were born a psychic duelist, they gave you that?" his voice was grave, and sad and….angry? She didn't have time to look up as Crow was suddenly on top on her, arms wrapping securely around her back. Her eyes were wide, "C-Crow?"

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry you had to go through that. But I promise, no one here will hurt you like that. Yusei, Akiza, me, and even Jack; we'll protect you! We'll be your friends, and friends wont' do that, ever." His arms wrapped tighter around her as he said this, Raven could feel the truth in his words and relaxed in his embrace, "Oh Crow, thank you." She whispered as a small tear made its way down her cheek.

'Maybe I can trust these guys after all.' She thought silently.

Crow was shocked, his childhood was tough yes. And growing up in the Satellite wasn't easy, but it was cake compared to living your life being beaten and having religious mumbo jumbo being shoved down your throat. As he listened to her story and feeling rose in his chest, anger yes. But also a deep sadness for the girl sitting in front of him, attempting to hide her tears through her bangs, before he was even conscious of it he had her wrapped tightly in his arms.

This girl whom he had just met the day before, who he barely knew and under normal circumstances would be less trusting of her quiet innocence. But this was not the Satellite, and she was more than a normal girl.

He heard her sniffle, "Hahaha I'm sorry I don't know why I'm crying." He chuckled, but held her tighter. "You don't have to apologize, take all the time you need." He said gently rubbing her back. After a while, they awkwardly let go both blushing red and looking anywhere but at each other.

Because of this Crow was surprised when she suddenly started laughing, he blinked thinking she had gone insane. "S-sorry, I was just thinking how funny it is that we just met yesterday and now I'm telling you my life story and then we hugged. I always assumed normal people would run like maniacs from me," she looked up at him with a bright smile then, "You're quite the incredible person Crow Hogan."

His amber eyes widened as a blush as bright as his hair touched his cheeks, even he knew his behavior around her was pretty weird, he just felt somewhere deep in his heart that he needed her by his side. He shook his head at this, 'That's insane! I sound like some creepy stalker!'

Crow knew this but this need still remained, he gasped as he remembered something else important. Though he was glad to not have to think too much about this at the moment, "Do you wanna come over, Akiza is coming with the twins after school. You could meet them if you want…"

He trailed off at the look on her face, she clearly wasn't comfortable with large groups of people though she did try to hide it, but he saw the fear and anxiety in her eyes.

"W-well you don't have too, if you don't feel well…"

Now that he looked closely she did seem tired, and there was a purple bruise on her cheek that he was sure wasn't there before. If he remembered correctly there were also bruises on her arms from when she showed him the burn marks, like someone had held her arms tightly. Crow wasn't the type of person to pry into others lives, so he decided to ignore them for now; he was shaken from his thoughts as Raven shook her head.

"N-no that's not it, I just don't think that guy…Jack would like it if I came again, he seems scary."

Crow vaguely remembered Yusei telling him how Jack had made the mistake of attacking her, which he paid for by getting pelted with his own ramen bowls. The idea made him laugh, but he could understand her hesitancy.

"Don't worry about him; he will be out getting more Blue Eyes Mountain coffee instead of getting a job like he is supposed too. He should be gone most of the day doing that."

Raven's eyes widened, Crow guessed she had at least heard of it.

"Isn't that stuff like 36 dollars a cup?"

Crow nodded, it always made his blood boil when he saw Jack there emptying their savings on that damned coffee.

"Well…I suppose for a little while, I mean it's not like I have anything better to do." She said staring at her lap.

"Awesome! Though I think you should probably change your clothes, unless you usually go out in your pj's."

He laughed as a blush overtook her face; she quickly got up and looked at him unsure.

"Don't worry; I can just hang out here. I'm done with my deliveries today anyway."

She nodded, telling him to help himself to her kitchen if he got hungry. Only when he heard the water running did he breath a sigh, he also took this time to look around her place. Her lack of technology was a little strange but not surprising considering where she came from. All and all it was a nice apartment; he vaguely wondered how she afforded it.

He saw her dingy orange messenger bag sitting open on the table and remembered how she had watched the children yesterday, her blue eyes staring while her hand moved a mile a minute against the notebook that had slid out onto the table. His curiosity got the better of him as he picked it up and carefully turned to the first page.

His eyes widened again as he looked in awe at what was a flower, but it was artfully drawn. So real looking he felt he could reach out a touch it, he turned page after page. More amazed every time, he stopped when he reached the last page though.

The lines on this one more were more delicate but looked like they were drawn in a hurry, but with no less skill than any other picture. That wasn't the thing that startled him though; in his particular picture was him. The sun shinning down seeming to illuminate his eyes, smiling brightly at something in the distance, with his hands resting on his hips.

Crow was amazed; this girl he barely knew had captured a moment so inhumanly possible and gave it life on the paper.

He was shaken from his thoughts at the sound of a door closing, 'she probably wouldn't like to come out here and see me snooping through her stuff, though it is quite incredible.' He thought as he quickly stuffed it in back into her bag and shifted so that he was lying horizontal on the couch.

He quickly closed his eyes as footsteps came down the hall; she was humming a tune he hadn't heard before, passing him as she went kitchen behind him. A devilish smile appeared on his face as he got an idea, then he lay perfectly still.

Raven held a towel to her head as she dried her still dripping hair, she had on the same outfit from the day before but without her jacket on exposing her arms, looking in her fridge she found a small bottle of apple juice that looked very intriguing at the super market the other day. She opened it with a crack and took a sip, instantly falling in love with it.

It was then she noticed how quiet it was, she looked at the couch and didn't see Crow sitting there. 'Did he leave?' she thought as she walked over and looked over the couch, she blushed at the sight before her; Crow lay on his back one hand folded behind his head the other draped over his stomach, his eyes were shut and breathing contently.

She smiled at this sight, at how peaceful his features were. She also got a better look at his physique; his arms were slim but with toned muscles, the rest of his body seemed to match this and it was well strengthened. But it wasn't that that interested her the most, it was the golden marks on his face, on his forehead was one shaped like an capital 'M' with a circle next too it and under the corner of both of his eyes was triangles with winding lines going down each of his cheeks.

Raven thought they were beautiful and only added to his good looks, her eyes widened as she thought this. Then she noticed her hand, it had unconsciously gone out and was just an inch or so above the 'M' on his forehead. She quickly retracted it as he mumbled something, it sounded like he said her name….

She narrowed her eyes and moved closer to hear what he was saying, her hair falling around them as she stood hunched over the couch just an inch from his face. She held her breath as she did this, suddenly his eyes popped open and he jumped up toward her.

Before she could react or even think he had his lips pressed against her own, their eyes as wide as dinner plates as they stared at one another in shock. Crow pulled away first his face a bright shade of red, and turned away from her equally red face.

"S-Sorry… I was just gonna surprise you…I didn't think you would be so close." Raven looked away from him a strange pain rising in her chest; she looked at the floor and smiled sadly.

"Don't worry about it, I'm used too that. W-we should go!" she said as she slipped on her boots and jacket by the door.

"Ah! Wait! I-I didn't mean it like that!"

Raven smiled at him, putting up her best front as she grabbed her bag off the table in front of him; "I know. Really its okay, come on lets go."

He still looked worried but nodded and walked out with her.

Well there we have it! I do hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please review if you enjoyed it or even if you didn't. Comments help me make this story better! Till next time! :D