Hello, wonderful people of the internet! Like the title says, we are back in business! I intended to only be gone for a few days but then I was distracted for two weeks, a global pandemic broke out and then it was now. Obviously, this year has not been as easy as past ones and we've all been a bit busy but don't worry, I have a slew of upcoming chapters in the works. Both this one and the next one (about to be published any minute now) are direct continuations from the previous chapter. Just a quick recap to bring us all up to speed;
#Greek God of time Aion altered everyone's memories to make them believe Akiza died on Ark Cradle,
#Everyone had radically different lives as a result and Yusei got himself an interim new girlfriend to boot,
#For reasons as yet unexplained, Yusei managed to resist long enough to find Phantom who
#Was locked up for assaulting a lot of cops and seemed immune to the memory wipe (but crazy already)
#Using rambling clues from Phantom, Yusei was able to bring Musume back from Convergence (where she had been stuck because of Aion),
#Then, with a combined Deck of both his and Akiza's cards, beat Aion only for her to be struck down by unknown forces.
#Back in the past, Jaden had been investigating Rare Hunters for Yugi and found his cards mysteriously changing only to be told by Yugi that Yusei would soon need their help.
#When we last left off, Phantom had seemingly regained her sanity and sworn allegiance to the Signers. She promised to return after sorting out a few things.
#And then it was now and you must read on to find out what happened next...
As the recently recuperated weirdling silently vanished from sight down the stairs, Musume narrowed her gaze and gripped the blade in case of another surprise twist. "If that's all," Walking over to the sink, Yusei dumped his coffee down the drain. "I'm going to take that nap." Ditching his dirty mug, he smashed a toe into the table as he went past. Maybe a small bit of caffeine wouldn't have been amiss.
"Might as well get started for the day." Waiting until she heard a door open and shut from below, Musume slipped down the stairs to get time in on Runner maintenance. One of her last acts before Aion had struck had been to start unravelling the secrets hidden inside the Dilucesco Duel Runner and she was keen to continue the work.
Opening his door, Yusei was being welcomed by a sight that made his heart slow to peaceful levels. Sprawled messily across half the bed, Akiza still had one arm trailing across the near side of the mattress. Carefully lifting it a matter of inches, he gently slid back into place and pulled the duvet back over them both. "Thought that she might actually kill you this time." Dragging herself over, she settled into place atop his tightening chest. "What was it about?"
"Phantom woke up." Holding her tight to his chest, he could feel an ear pressed over his heart. Even with the fear coursing through him, the beat was steady and slowing. "Said that she's here to make sure the Signer bloodlines continue to stop the Dark Signers from automatically winning next time."
"Huh." Sliding nimble fingers up and down his rib cage, she was able to sense the tiny defects which marked his wilder years. A faded crack here, a healed break there. Wounds of survival. "I never thought about it like that." Truthfully, neither had Yusei. He had been too focussed on his own deteriorating health to consider the far distant ramifications. Even then, he hadn't thought about whatever mystical lineage had somehow ended up being his responsibility. "Did you ever think about children?"
"Who would, with my brothers?" With his condition previously making any sort of long-term relationship impossible, he had also been unable to seriously picture either of his brothers as parents. Crow was too free to be tied down for long and Jack was too... Jack. "What about you? Did you ever think about having kids someday?" Tickling down his side, her fingers paused between one bone and another.
"Not for a long time." Tantruming children were bad enough. If they inherited her abilities to move things with their minds, it could have become extremely dangerous.
"What about Musume?" Feeling those fingers pressing back up and down his chest again, he let out a slight breath that he had been unconsciously holding. "Does she count?" Instantly, he regretted the words. Curling her fingers back, Akiza levered herself onto one arm and looked at the wall above their heads.
"Everything is different with her." Fine-tuning the machine in the garage downstairs, the fully grown adult was nearly a stranger to them. They knew where she had come from, how she had ended up in their lives, nearly everything that mattered. They just hadn't lived it with her. "It's like she's closer to a cousin instead of a daughter." Akiza instinctively cared for the half-wild child and knew the feeling was reciprocated yet there was too much strangeness for it to be an easy relationship.
"Really?" Looking up at her, he tried to imagine what sort of family reunions the Izinski's had. "Are many of your cousins like that?" Still staring at the wall, she was only listening with one ear to his question. "Phantom mentioned something pretty weird before she left." It hadn't really mattered with all the other questions going on at the time. "Do you think it's odd that we don't have any siblings who aren't Signers? Or any at all?" Staring down at him, it took a minute for the question to work its way into Akiza's head. Although the three men in the house were definitely brothers, it was in a bond deeper – yet not of – blood.
"It's not that strange. Lots of families only have one child." Besides population, expense and the exhaustion of raising even one, many families had slimmed down over the years. What was odd was that six unrelated families had only amounted to five single children and one pair of twins. "Wait, what do you mean Phantom left?" After finally managing to have a full conversation, she had assumed that Yusei would have kept the newest complication from running off at the first opportunity.
"She said that she had to take care of a few things but would be back." Even with boundless curiosity at what could demand her attention, Yusei was tired enough not to care, hopeful enough to trust her and wise enough not to demand answers from someone who could probably snap him like a dry twig. "And I thought the rest of the police should wait for the first half to get back on duty before they had their turn at trying to stop her." Scowling down at him, the attempt at humour did nothing to detract from the way he had let a possible fountain of answers simply walk out of the door.
"How long do you think she'll be gone?" Folding her hand back under the pillow, she lay back down to stare at the unblemished cheek that lay just before her.
"Who knows?" Shifting around to face her, he noticed the way her face smushed against the pillow and wrinkled the tip of her nose. "I've got everything I need right here." Reaching up a hand, he delicately traced the slender curve of her neck along to the point of her chin and back again.
"Mmm." Closing her eyes with a relaxed smile, she was content with the gentle stroking of his fingers. "You know we'll have to tell Musume one of these days?" A momentary pause indicated his trepidation at the idea.
"It can wait." Of course it could. First, they'd stop Yliaster. Then sort out the mess with Abi, get back the SRC, cure his brain condition, solve world peace, invent a remedy for being pummelled to death and then tell Musume that Yusei was sleeping with her mother. And everyone could hide it until then.
A scream and the sound of showering metal came from the floor below. With all the constant turmoil that Musume carried in her wake, they spared a moment to assess the outcome. When there was a shout which included the phrase 'sneaky bitch' as the least insulting part, they didn't even need to walk downstairs to figure out that Phantom had returned as she had promised to. "That was quick." Burrowing deeper into his pillow did nothing to stave off the reality outside the room. "Shouldn't you deal with her this time? I'd hate to think that you missed out on the experience because of me." Placing one stinky foot against his hip, Akiza began slowly pushing him towards the abyss which lay beyond the bed. "Okay, okay. I'm going." Holding himself on the edge of the mattress, he met her amused gaze with a slight hint of concern in each eye.
"What?" He hadn't looked at her like that before. It was unsettling.
"I'm just worried that you might disappear if I look away for too long." It might have sounded more a little silly when he put it like that but not many people could truly say that their loved one had been snatched out of history. Maybe a few but rarely were they entirely sane.
"Hey," Leaning in close, she plucked at the neck of his shirt with one finger. "As long as you don't piss off another god, I think I'll be okay. Besides," Pulling him in close, she waited until it was possible to feel the pulse of his heartbeat through his lips before continuing. "I know that you'll come and get me again if I do." Softly closing the distance all the way, they spent a silent moment until the sound of clanging metal indicated that one – or both – of the walking disasters in the room below had started throwing things parted them again. "Now, you can get me a coffee and deal with whatever the next problem is while I have a shower."
Still dazed from the touch of her lips, it took a moment to recover his scattered wits. "Run that by me again?" This time, her foot made more of an impact and knocked him the rest of the way to the floor.
The noise from below stopped by the time Yusei had made two cups of coffee. Carefully slipping down the stairs with a mug in either hand, Yusei tried to prepare himself for the inevitable danger.
Clamped tight to the ceiling, Phantom was out of reach of the wrench that was being swung her way but only for so long. After ducking a myriad of thrown tools, she had been bewildered to start dodging blows. The thick beams atop the room had once again proven to be her salvation. "As soon as you get down here, I'm going to put a dent in that shiny helmet of yours." Cocking her head, the figure deconstructed the threat in the linear lanes of her autistic mind.
Vantablack is... nearly as 'unshiny' as it is... physically possible to get. And the composite is... extremely sturdy. More of those unusual pauses filled the sentence than had been there earlier. At the time, Yusei assigned it to perfectly understandable fright at the situation. Now, he was wondering if there could be more lasting damage from the fight on the roof.
"Then I'll find something that can dent it." Quietly sitting down on the lower flight of stairs, Yusei carefully placed the two cups of coffee on the stair behind him and observed the scene. Nothing was broken (yet) and it didn't seem that Phantom was in any distress. It was probably best to let Musume vent for a while before breaking the stalemate. "Or maybe I'll just prick you with this again and see what happens!" Pulling out the sword that Phantom had left behind, she began jabbing at the air.
On the one hand, it would probably be better if he intervened while the other hand would probably end up being cut off once he attracted the attention of the woman who hated his guts and would probably stab him if she knew he was sharing a room with Akiza. Splitting the difference, he reached back to grab at an olive branch. "Or we can all have coffee and talk it out?" As one head craned down from the ceiling and the other looked at him with hatred in both glowing eyes, he then realised that this option robbed Akiza of the cup of coffee that he had made for her. All options were turning out to be bad ones that day.
"Milk, no sugar?" Tossing the wrench aside, the offer of coffee was enough to momentarily appease her.
"Or you can have a black one if you want?" Her tastes tended to switch between the two without a word of warning. It was usually the plainer option yet she had swung for the dairy on occasion. When already glimmering eyes began to outright glow at the original offer, he quickly held out his own cup instead. After as much coffee as he had used over the years to stave off sleep, the endless bitter taste had required mellowing to maintain his sanity. "Do you want anything?" Still balanced between the rafters like a spider monkey, the other pair of glowing eyes tilted in his direction.
No, thank you. Falling to the floor without any hint of difficulty at the landing, she moved for the boiler suit that had been left hanging by the garage door. It was a lot easier to discern the three-dimensional nature of Phantom's form with the outfit. I apologise for the length of my delay. There were certain projects that required my attention. And the pauses had gone again. A rare hint of true foresight told him they would inevitably return as the sound of exhausted footsteps came stomping down the steps above him.
"What's all the excitement about?" Scratching an expanse of stomach as he stretched in the hideously early hour, Crow leaned against the wall like an elderly guard-dog. "Hey, it's... you." Yusei was starting to wish that he had taken the opportunity to get extra sleep. Having even one brother there presented every sign that it was going to be a long day. Especially when Phantom dropped to one knee again.
"Can you stop doing that?" Waving a hand to get her to stand back up, he fought the day from dissolving into chaos before breakfast. "We're just... people. There's no need for bowing." The sensation that everything was about to spiral out of control strengthened as a decaf-Jack chose that moment to arrive beside Crow. "Don't do it, just don't" And she dropped right back down to the floor.
"I forget." Spotting the spare cup a stair above Yusei, he snagged the drink and tried to figure out the increasingly confusing situation. Caffeine was a good start. "Are we friends with her?" Jack was not an easily bought man yet he did enjoy the way that this newcomer seemed to appreciate his natural charisma and grandeur.
"What?" Noticing the increasingly empty mug in his brother's hand, Yusei was realising the amount of plates he was trying to keep spinning in his life would bring at least a few of them crashing down. One of them was going to be Akiza's faith in him when she realised there was no coffee available. "Yeah, she's on our side. Sort of." He had fought a god for her. She would forgive him. Maybe. "Can you excuse me?" Leaving the situation in the capable hands of a knife-wielding nightmare, one caffeine-addicted brother and another with a penchant for pranks, he hurried back upstairs to fix the more pressing concern.
"What's his problem?" With coffee in hand, Jack was unable to see any problems for him.
"Simple. He's an idiot." Enjoying her own brew, Musume had a similar outlook as she kept a glaring eye on her target. One cup of coffee would earn a reprieve. It would take a lot more to stop the fighting long-term. Such an evaluation wasn't lost on the recipient of her ire.
A slight sigh sounded by one ankle as she tried to figure out where she stood with the group. Slowly crouching down, she reached out a palm and let the waiting cat claw her way up to one shoulder. By the time Phantom was standing upright, it was difficult to see her as a threat with the little bundle settling down on one shoulder. Particularly when it began mewling for a rub along the jawline.
As Yusei tried to balance the various supernatural problems in his life against the more normal ones, he could feel all of them starting to slip from his control. He had used to lead perhaps the most advanced institution on the planet and now he was struggling to get a cup of coffee ready on time. "I heard your brothers." Dressed in a simple blouse and trousers, Akiza had made herself presentable before he could finish what passed for breakfast. "How's it going?" Jack's first encounter with Phantom had not gone down well. She was wary of how they would react the second time around.
"Phantom seems to be a lot better." No matter how gifted he was at manipulating physics, there was nothing he could do to make the water boil any faster. "And nobody's fighting yet." It was probably going to happen any second though.
"Uh-huh. And where's my coffee?" She knew the three brothers well. They spoke as well with their fists as they did with language. Which was no excuse to miss out on her coffee.
"Musume took it. I was going to give you mine but Jack took that. I tried to make a fresh cup but" Genuine despair tone entered his voice as he waved helplessly at the still boiling kettle.
"Hey." Taking his hand in her own, she could tell it wasn't really the coffee bothering him. "What's up?"
"It's just... I couldn't stop her. Aion." He had woken up screaming to a world that had forgotten Akiza. A few more days and even he would have succumbed. "And I couldn't figure out how to get you back. Now, even making coffee is too much." So many monumental losses in quick succession were taking their toll. Normally, he would have cleared his head by going for a ride but the discovery of Abi was keeping him on a short leash. Two more failures for the list. "And what if" But he had already told her his worry and was too late in stopping himself.
"Yusei," Placing one hand on his chest, she could feel the beat amplified by fear. "Aion took two days from our lives. There's nothing that we can do to get that time back. But we can't let it cost any more time. I'm going to work with Din to help you and nothing you can say is going to stop me."
"But," He was miserable at the way she seemed unaffected by everything that had happened. Whatever had the rest of them had endured, she had simply woken up with two days missing.
"No buts." Kissing him gently on one cheek, she could feel his heartbeat start to slow. "I'll figure out how to help you. You work with Phantom to figure our how to help her. And just think," Giving his chest one last pat, she had that playful smile that kept him woven about one finger. "You can always play with your brothers if you get bored." As if on cue, a crash sounded from below.
"Tell me that was planned." He doubted the ability of his brothers only slightly. Akiza would have to be the brains of the operation.
"You take care of them, I'll finish getting ready." Giving him another brief kiss, it was possible to make out the sounds of feet stomping across the floor below.
As she walked back towards the bathroom, he tried to hurry down the stairs around the figure going up them. "Musume." Nodding familiarly, Yusei tried to be polite. What Musume said with her silence and glare pushed his good manners almost to the limit. Reminding himself for the umpteenth time to find out why she hated him, he let them pass one another without further comment.
Downstairs was even more tense than when he had left. Musume had been outright in her dislike. Both his brothers lacked the subtle tack of being unobtrusive which resulted in three silent people watching one another stand around. At least the crash had just been from a toolbox being knocked over and nothing worse. "Are they bothering you?" Breaking the uneasy stalemate, Yusei waved his brothers in the direction of the sofa as he approached their quarry.
Not... really. Flicking her eyes to the pair as they began squabbling over who would sit at which end of the couch, she struggled to understand either man. They seemed unstoppably childish.
"Ignore them. It helps." Taking the advice in stride, she nodded once as he took his first proper sip of caffeine that day. "Can you explain your outfit a bit more? You mentioned vantablack." Gesturing to the hidden armour, he was overcome with curiosity. Vantablack was an irritatingly fragile material. To wear it while walking around was a feat in and of itself. He could barely scarcely imagine the innovation behind it. "I'm curious how it all fits together."
… I cannot tell you everything. Reaching into a pocket of her borrowed outfit, she pulled out a dusty pencil and notepad that he hadn't even known were in there. But I will... share what... is safe to. Leaning the pad against the wall, she carefully began writing out lines of characters.
Akiza rarely felt the need to put any committed level of effort into her appeared but not practising medicine directly meant she could risk a touch of mascara without worry. Even if she had to make do with Jack's eyeliner until she could replace her own. Giving her appearance one last check in the bathroom mirror, she made to head to work. There was just one last distraction.
Waiting at the mouth of the hallway with a serious case of resting-bitch face was Musume.
"Akiza." Perfect teeth meant that she would never need any dental work done unless she continued to grit them so hard. "Can I... ask a favour?" It was unlike her to ask for help and Akiza took a second to fully register the moment before she nodded. "Get this book out of the SRC library for me?" Taking the proffered slip of paper, she read the name with confusion.
"Why do you want an ethics book?" With the topic clearly expressed in the title, she knew of few fun people who could argue morals. Most people in the field ended up trying to determine the exact roots of good and evil and went mad in the attempt.
"I... heard about it when I was getting a drink. The bartender thought I might appreciate the contents." She was careful to avoid mentioning Convergence directly with an unknown in the house. It could have meant a lot of awkward questions that she didn't have the answers to. Thankfully, Akiza was wise enough to follow the misdirect.
"I'll see what I can do." It was difficult to negotiate the library when they knew she was working for Din. Of the long list of people who couldn't stand the sadistic little dwarf, the library staff had a reputation for hating him the most. His habit of treating all their knowledge as raw materials for his work without regard for their procedures was on the verge of all-out war.
She still remembered the first time she had tried to file a request for an actual book. A security team had appeared outside the door to Din's lab within thirty seconds.
"Keep an eye on the boys for me." Tucking the slip into a pocket, she balanced out the favour with one of her own. "You know what Crow can be like. The other two aren't any better." Those perfect teeth were grinding again. Musume understood that she was being told to behave herself at the same time.
"Fine." Having a sword hidden in her boot had been uncomfortable at first but she was starting to find the pressure reassuring. It meant that she had a surprise advantage should the rest of her more obvious advantages decide to stop helping her. It also helped to have something to focus her anger on. "But I don't trust the new one. I'm not taking any chances with her." A few feet below, Phantom paused in her writings for a moment. There was just the faintest hint of a smile as she returned to her task.
What's in the book? Is it reviews? Find out in the next chapter!
(But it's probably reviews, right?)