Ship Name: Alterationshipping

Reason: Named as such because they're both trying to change their fate, Shinji wants to change the city with his revolution and Yugo is trying to change his life to a better one like Jack did.

Relation: Found Family

AU: Signer Yugo

Title: First Sign

Summary: Yugo stays out past curfew and Shinji is worried. He has every right to be.

Crow is awoken by the sounds of dishes clanging together aggressively as well as the sound of rushing water. He blinks sleepily at his digital clock, the red numbers reading out 11 PM. Letting out a loud yawn, Crow pulls himself out of his warm bed and heads down the hall where he can make out the soft glow of the kitchen light at the end.

The scene Crow finds is one that he's seen before. Standing in front of the sink is Shinji, his back turned to him. He was scrubbing the plate with enough force to crack the dish. Crow doesn't comment on it. Instead, he grabs a kettle and silently nudges his friend out of the way so that he can fill it with water.

Once the kettle was filled Crow made his way over to the stove and placed the kettle on the burner, turning the heat to high. As he was waiting for the water to boil Crow set about grabbing cups and tea bags.

"So...he hasn't come home yet?" Crow tentatively asked.

"No." Shinji growls, slamming the dish down onto the dish rack.

"Calm down. You don't want to wake the other kids."

"I don't ask for much, Crow!" Shinji cries, ignoring his friend. "Obey the rules of the road, don't do drugs, respect our common brothers, and come home before fucking curfew!" Crow grabs his friend's shoulder with a frown.

"Cool it, man. I'm not gonna say it again." Shinji glares at Crow but after a minute his rage subsides. He twists the knobs to the sink to shut the water off.

"I'm sorry. I just...he hasn't called and he's been gone all day." Crow nods in understanding.

"I get it. Trust me, I do. But he knows how to keep himself safe. The kid is smarter than he looks."

"That last sentence is a bit reaching." Crow smiles and smacks his friend's shoulder lightly.

"Come on. The water is almost ready so I'll pour us some tea and we can wait for him together." On cue, the kettle started whistling loudly. Crow takes it off the burner while Shinji heads to the living room to slump tiredly onto the ragged couch.

No sooner did he sit down his duel disk started ringing. Shinji jumps on it, not even bothering to look at the caller ID before he answered.

"Yugo?"

"Shinji!" The voice that responded was not the voice of his brother, but rather his brother's friend, Rin. "You need to come! Quickly!"

"What happened? Where's Yugo?" Rin's voice suddenly became really quiet. Shinji could hear the sirens through the call, never a good sign.

"Don't get mad but...Yugo was driving me home past curfew." She whispers. Truth be told, Shinji wasn't upset. Mostly because he was being overwhelmed by another emotion - panic. Crow reenters the room, an eyebrow raised. Shinji tosses him the duel disk and runs to his room to get dressed. Crow fumbles with the device before putting it to his ear.

"Uhhh...hello?"

"Crow? Where's Shinji?"

"He just ran into his room. What's going on? Is Yugo with you by any chance?"

"Yes, but there's just one problem! Yugo dueled this freaky Sector Security guy, his arm started glowing, we crashed, and now the whole security force is out here looking for us!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down." Crow tries to soothe just as Shinji reappears from his room, tugging on his gloves. Behind him, a sleepy Amanda follows. "Can you both get away from the search area?"

"That's the other thing..." Rin sighs. "Yugo is completely knocked out. I've tried waking him but he won't get up."

"Alright, look, me and Shinji are on our way. Just keep your heads low and tell Shinji the address."

"Yeah. Okay." Crow tosses the phone back to Shinji and quickly ducks into his room to change. Amanda, sensing the tension and no longer feeling tired watches as Shinji scribbles down the address Rin told him.

"S-Shinji? What's going on?" Shinji does his best to smile reassuringly.

"Everything is fine, Amanda. Crow and I just need to go pick up Yugo and Rin. That's all." Crow reappears from his room, dressed and ready. He nods at Shinji.

"Did she give you the street name?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

"Amanda, can you hold down the fort while we're gone?" Crow asked. Amanda puts on a brave face and nods, determinedly.

"Of course! No need to worry! Be safe!"

Rin felt like she was going to barf any minute. Hiding behind a dumpster wasn't exactly the sweetest-smelling hiding spot but she had little choice. They had nearly been caught three times now and would have been caught a few minutes ago if a rat hadn't decided to dash out of the alleyway, freaking out the security officer.

"I hope you know, this is all your fault." Rin whispers harshly to the unconscious head in her lap. Yugo continues to snore away blissfully. Rin leans her head against the brick wall with a sigh.

Thankfully, despite the crash totaling their bike, they themselves had received minor scrapes and nicks. They should count their lucky stars that they were able to walk away from a crash like that. Rin wasn't sure if Yugo would see it like that once he learns of the condition of their Runner.

Even so, Rin knew that they had a lot more on their plate than just their bike. During the duel...Yugo's arm had started glowing. If she hadn't witnessed it herself, she probably wouldn't have believed him if he had told her. The glow also seem to cause him a great amount of pain. It only vanish when they crashed. What could it mean?

"Rin?"

The voice startles Rin out of her thoughts. Her first reaction was to grab her duel disk and duel, but she relax when she saw that it was Shinji and not some Security goon.

She carefully eases Yugo off her lap, allowing Shinji to drag him out of their hiding spot. She crawls out after him, dusting herself off. She was definitely going to take a shower as soon as she could.

"Crow filled me in." Shinji spoke, his voice low so as to not attract any attention. "I'll have time to be furious with you both later, right now, help me with him." Rin nods, pushing Yugo onto Shinji's back while Shinji grabbed his legs to hold him piggyback style.

Carefully and quietly, the two made their way to the end of the alley. Shinji peeks out to see Crow across the street, hiding in his own passageway. After making sure the coast was clear, the trio book it across.

"Are you both okay?" Crow asked.

"I'm fine, but Yugo..." Rin trails off.

"He's breathing, but out." Shinji reports.

"Then we better get out of here. It seems like the longer we stay the more security shows up. We parked a few blocks down to be on the safe side so we're gonna have to do some ducking and weaving." Crow told Rin. "Will you be fine with the extra weight?" Shinji nods.

"I'll be fine. Let's just get moving already."

There were a few close calls, but they made it back to their Runners without attracting any attention. Yugo stayed with Shinji while Rin rode with Crow. Nobody spoke a word the entire way back.

Amanda was there to greet them by the door when they got home. Shinji carries Yugo in, taking him to the room they both shared in the house. Amanda watched them go with a worried frown.

"Will Yugo be okay?" She asked Crow.

"He'll be fine. This is Yugo we're talking about." Crow pats her head.

"Yeah. It's just been a long night. Speaking of which, you should probably get some sleep too." Rin gently pushes Amanda back to her room, encouraging the young girl to go back to bed.

"Long doesn't even begin to describe this night." Crow mutters to himself. Crow takes a few sips of his now cold tea before starting the search for spare pillows and blankets to set up the couch.

He and Shinji didn't have any more energy to drive after tonight and even if they did, Crow doubts Rin would even want to leave knowing the state Yugo was in. A few minutes later Rin and Shinji return from their respective rooms.

"Well?" Crow asked Shinji.

"He'll feel sore in the morning but other than that, nothing I could see. Now the only thing we need to worry about is Sector Security."

"Well, the one good thing about building an illegal Runner is that we don't have to register it." Rin points out. "So Security can't trace it back to Yugo, even if they wanted too."

"I suppose that's one piece of good news." Shinji agrees and lets out his own yawn. "Then I'm turning in for the night. We'll talk more in the morning." Rin opens her mouth to call him back but ultimately decides not too. They were already stressed enough as is. Not need to make it worse right now.

"Rin, is the couch okay for you?"

"It's fine. Thanks, Crow. Is it cool if I take a shower?"

"Sure. I think we still got some of your clothes here."

"Yeah. I know where they are. Thanks and night."

"Night."

Shinji waits until he hears Crow enter his own room and Rin starts up the shower before quietly sneaking his way back out. Technically there was one last thing they needed to do, but it was dangerous. Stupidly dangerous with the amount of Security out but Shinji couldn't go to sleep knowing about it and he refused to put his friends in any more danger.

Yugo woke up with a sharp gasp. To his surprise, he wasn't in a jail cell. He was home, but how? He remembers the crash but nothing more. Recalling the other events from the night Yugo looks down at his arm, concerned. Biting his lip, he rolls up his sleeve to see the strange red marking still on his arm. It no longer glowed but that did little to quell his panic.

"Yugo? You up?" Shinji cracks open the door and sticks his head through. Yugo pulls down his sleeve hurriedly.

"S-Shinji! Hey man! What's up?"

"Quit the crap, Yugo." Shinji sighs, opening the door the rest of the way. In his hands, he held a tray with a few dishes on it. "Rin told us what happened."

"Oh...so uhh...how much did she tell you?" Yugo asked awkwardly as Shinji sets down the tray on his lap.

"We'll talk about it later. Right now, how are you feeling? Anything hurting?"

"A bit sore, I guess. I'm pretty sure my Runner took most of the damage-Ah! My Runner!" Yugo cries out, almost knocking over the tray in his lap. "Shinji! Please tell me my Runner is okay!"

"You should be lucky that the bike is the only thing that took serious damage." Rin scolds, entering the room. "Not only that, but we're also not rotting in a cell right now."

"Rin's right. You're very lucky we got out of there without getting caught and since your Runner isn't registered Sector Security can't trace it back to you." Shinji adds.

"I guess you're right." Yugo sighs, slumping back into his pillow. "But, my deck was still-!" Shinji gently smacks Yugo's forehead with his thought to be lost duel disk before dropping it next to him on the bed.

"Wait...when did you get that?" Rin questions.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes! It does! You couldn't have possibly grabbed it last night unless you...did you go back out?!" Rin accuses.

"As I said, it doesn't matter."

"You two really are brothers..." Rin groans, facepalming. "Doing stupidly dangerous stuff just because."

"Not just because!" Yugo protested. "But Rin is sort of right. You shouldn't have done that. I mean, you would ground me for life if I did that for you."

"Yeah, well, I'm the older brother so it doesn't count." Shinji ruffles his hair. "And don't think I'm letting you off the hook. You're still in major trouble."

"Awww, but haven't I been through enough?"

"That's why I'm not grounding you yet." Shinji points out. "Now eat your breakfast before you spill it." Yugo pouts but doesn't complain as Shinji leaves their room, pulling the door shut behind him.

Rin hesitates for a moment, making sure Shinji is gone before approaching Yugo's bedside and leaning down to whisper in his ear.

"How's your arm?"

"My arm?" Yugo asked, obliviously while taking a bite of toast. Rin sweatdrops.

"Your arm? The one that you were screaming about for nearly three turns? The one that was glowing mid-duel? That arm?"

"Oh!" On reflex, Yugo grabs his arm with the mark. "I uhh...it's fine." Rin raises an eyebrow at his answer.

"You don't sound like it's fine."

"It is. Trust me."

"Mhm." Rin hums before snatching Yugo's arm and forcing the sleeve up.

"H-hey! Rin!" Rin jumps back when she saw the red mark.

"Y-Yugo! What is that?!"

"Keep your voice down!"

"Yugo, what the hell is that?" Rin repeats, softer this time but still fearful.

"Do you think I know?! I woke up like this!" Yugo whispers to her, yanking his sleeve back down.

"We need to tell Shinji."

"No way!"

"You can't hide this from him!"

"I can't show him either! He'll flip his lid!"

"Flip my lid over what?" Shinji gives Yugo and Rin the scare of their lives as he suddenly enters the room again. Behind him were Crow and the three kids Crow had taken in some time ago - Amanda, Frank, and Tarren.

"I...uhh..."

"That fact that Yugo nearly got beat by Sector Security." Rin answers.

"Rinrin!" Yugo cried in shock.

"Aww, it's okay, Yugo!" Amanda smiles.

"Yeah! Those security guys are super duper tough!" Frank says, agreeing.

"And besides, you still got away so that's a win for us!" Tarren adds.

"Hey! He wasn't beating me! And even if he was, he was using these weird cards and a weirder summoning method so that doesn't count!"

"Weird cards?" Crow questions.

"I don't know." Yugo sighs. "He wasn't using a Goyo deck like the others. He was using something called...Earthbound?"

"Earthbound?" Crow repeats, frowning in concern.

"That's strange." Shinji shakes his head. "I hope the force isn't changing their decks. That's just what we need. That's the only advantage we have over them." Crow turned to leave.

"Everything okay, Crow?" Shinji asked his friend.

"Just going to the library. Gotta...look into something really quick. I'll be back."

"Can we come with you?!" The children exclaimed. Crow thought for a moment before sighing.

"Alright. Go get ready."

"Yeah! The kids cheered before racing off.

"Oh, Crow, can I join in too? I actually have a book that needs to be returned."

"I don't see why not." As the two turned to leave Rin made sure to give Yugo an 'we're talking about this later' look from behind Shinji's back before following Crow out. Yugo, thinking the conversation was over, turned back to his now lukewarm breakfast.

"I wasn't serious about grounding you, you know."

"Hmm...?" Yugo looks up at his brother with a mouthful of oatmeal.

"You made some pretty dumb decisions but we made it through alright and losing your runner is punishment enough." The loss of his runner finally hits Yugo.

"Oh...right. Okay." Yugo says quietly. Shinji gives him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

"Not today, but maybe...I'll cash in a few favors and see if we can get started on a new one." Yugo perks up instantly. "It wasn't your fault completely." Shinji continues. "Even though you were driving out past curfew there is no excuse for running you and Rin off the road like that. You both are still kids after all."

"Really? You're gonna build me a new Runner?!"

"Not quite. You are gonna build yourself a new Runner." Shinji pointed at him. "It's gonna take a lot of work, but Crow and I will help and so will Rin I'm assuming." Yugo was practically glowing with excitement.

"Can we use my design?!"

"Yugo, you know we can't afford to be picky." Shinji sighs as Yugo reaches into the side table next to him and pulls out a sheet of paper, holding it out to Shinji.

"I know that! But how cool would it look if I had a white Duel Runner!" Shinji decides to humor Yugo, taking the drawing and giving it a once over. "So, what do ya think? Pretty awesome, right?"

"Uhh...yeah..." Shinji says slowly. "Did the kids color this?"

"What? No. Why?"

"No reason!" Shinji hands the paper back to Yugo. "White Duel Runner! Got it! I'll see what I can do!" Shinji rushes out the door, leaving Yugo baffled. Yugo examined his drawing. Maybe he should get Rin's opinion on it when she came back. He sets the drawing back on his table. The shift in movement causes his duel disk to fall to the floor.

Yugo lets out an annoyed groan, carefully moving his breakfast tray off his lap so that he could more easily reach down and grab the dueling device. Yugo's mind flashed back to his duel with Security and the events that had transpired.

Yugo pulls out a card from his Extra Deck, flipping it over. He runs his thumb along the card art seeking comfort in the familiarity of his ace monster, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. At least it hasn't changed.

"We need to tell Shinji."

"You can't hide this from him!"

Rin's words echoed back at him. Yugo knew he should tell the older male. After all, he was the closest thing to family he had but that was the problem. Shinji has cared for Yugo since they were little and if last night had proven anything it had proven the almost dangerous lengths Shinji is willing to go to for him.

For once...Yugo wanted to protect Shinji, even if that meant keeping secrets from him.

"I can handle this on my own, right Clear Wing?" Even in his own mind, his dragon was shaking his head at him. Yugo rolled his eyes, returning the card to his deck before tossing his duel disk onto the side table with his drawing. "Thanks for the boost of confidence." He says sarcastically. Yugo sighs in frustration and returns to his mostly cold breakfast.

He was going to deal with this himself, even if the whole world was telling him that he couldn't.

Author Notes

You know, I don't know why the writers didn't allow Shinji to be friends with Yugo. I mean, every other counterpart has a 'male best friend' character. Yuya has Gong, Yuto has Shay, and you can argue that Yuri has Dennis. Who the hell does Yugo have?

Reviews

Ulrich362

I'm glad to be back and very overjoyed to see some old faces. Although I love meeting new people, I'm certainly more comfortable with old friends. I'm glad that you like the new series and I hope that you continue to enjoy it!

nightshroud96

Me too. I think 2 years was a long enough break. I'm sure a lot of people have probably already moved on from Arc-V, but when I get attached to a series I'm kind of glue to it for...forever. So we got a few dragon ships for you. Those ships would be Resonanceshipping (Odd-Eyes x Dark Rebellion) and Flightshipping (Odd-Eyes x Dark Rebellion x Clear Wing x Starving Venom).