Before we move on with this chapter, I need to inform you about some changes I made in the first chapter of this book. Thanks to Okazakisan's help, I decided to change the universities where Yusei and Estelle will attend.

Yusei will attend the Technical University of New Domino City and Estelle will attend the New Domino University of the Arts, so they'll be studying in two separate universities in the same city.

Special thanks to CitrusUnshiu and Okazakisan for beta reading a few scenes.

The chapter is in normal point of view.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's characters! I only own my OCs!

Chapter 2: Game Night

The ball rolled across the slippery path with its target right by its sight. The ten pins scattered around as the ball hit them right in the middle.

"Strike!" Judai exclaimed in joy as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. "That's ten points for us!"

"That and bonus points on our next turn, Judai", Brave laughed heartedly.

Judai grinned widely as he sat down next to Brave and took a sip of his water drink. "It's been a while I played bowling. Glad I still got the swing", he chuckled.

Estelle stood up from the stools and grabbed her bowling ball after the pins have been cleared up and a new set of pins were prepared. "This is going to be tough to defeat", she commented before she did some practice swings with her hand holding the ball.

A couple of days ago, in the beginning of August, both Goodwin and Kaiba proposed to treat Team 5D's, Team Royal Knights, and Team Ragnarok as a thank you gift for protecting the city from its destruction with the Ark Cradle. Kaiba had invited the teams to Kaiba Land where they could ride every attraction for free. Of course, due to their popularity, the teams got bombarded by tourists and fans who thanked them for saving their lives, so that was a long day for them. Goodwin's choice of showing his gratitude was treating the teams to a three course meal in a five-star restaurant, much joy to the gluttonous people like Leo, Crow, and even Judai.

This Saturday evening, the teams came together to have a game night in a local game bar that had bowling, shuffleboard tables, indoor mini-golf, and other activities they could play with and have a nice time. Team Ragnarok, mainly Harald, took the liberty of booking the game bar for a whole evening for themselves, so they could enjoy each other's company without getting assaulted by fans.

Estelle and Crow were playing bowling against Judai and Johan while Yusei, Harald, Dragan and Johan played shuffleboard in another corner of the game bar. Luna, Mei and Sakura were doing a round of mini-golf. Leo was busy playing in the arcade section, spending tokens he had bought from the front desk to get fabulous prizes. Aki was with him for a while before she had to visit the restroom. Carly and Jack sat by the bar and talked away. Sherry sat at the other side of the bar and slowly sipped on a glass of red wine while watching the rerun of a soccer match on the large television. Mizoguchi was a table away from her where he talked with Harald's butler Sebastian and exchanged advices.

The brunette raised her ball to the front of her face and aimed her eyes in the middle of the pins. She took quick steps toward the track and swung her arm before she threw the bowling ball at the slippery track. The ball wobbled a little to the left and missed the main target, but still struck a couple of pins that flew around before they settled down, revealing three more pins standing.

Estelle hissed softly through her teeth in slight disappointment. "Not a strike, but better than nothing", she commented before she walked back to the chairs.

Crow stood up to take the next throw and patted Estelle on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I got this", he assured her with a grin.

Estelle chuckled in return and sat down while the Blackwing Duelist grabbed his bowling ball. He did a few practice swings as well before throwing the ball. It rolled down the track in a straight line and hit the remaining pins.

"Alright! That's a spare!" Crow grinned widely and pumped a fist in the air. "Now we've caught up to you guys!"

"Don't count your chicken before they hatch, Crow", Brave teased as he got up from his seat and stretched his arms. "We're gonna win this match."

Crow smirked with a hint of pink blush on his cheeks. "Oh yeah? We'll see 'bout that!" he retorted playfully.

Judai smiled warmly at the two reddish haired men. The way they interacted with each other reminded him of the good old times when he and Johan were their age. Back in Duel Academia, they both felt attracted to each other, but they were too young and immature to understand the weird feeling in their hearts. It took a couple of years after the graduation and a worldwide journey for Judai to mature and gather wisdom to finally realize his love for the man from the north. And now here he is; happily married to Johan and working as a teacher in Dueling in one of Sweden's Duel Academies.

The married couple may not have a child of their own, but that gap got filled when Johan became young Harald's private tutor in Duel Monsters. And now with the addition of Dragan and Brave in Team Ragnarok, they were a complete family. It was more than enough for Judai to feel full in his soul. It was an amazing feeling to sense the warmth of a loving family, something he never got to experience when he was a child.

"Alright! Another strike!"

Brave's cry snapped the middle-aged man out of his maze of memories. Estelle and Crow looked bothered by Brave's strike, which meant the Nordic team had a big advantage at the last round.

"Guess it's my turn to throw the final ball", Judai commented before he stood up and stretched his body.

"We're not doing good, Estelle…", Crow cold sweated.

"Yeah… Good thing this isn't about life or dead", Estelle commented with a soft chuckle.

"That'd be an instant dead for us", Crow chuckled before his smile turned into a frown. "Yusei almost died in an incident related to bowling."

"What?!" the brunette turned to the Blackwing Duelist with big surprised eyes. "When did that happen?"

"Back when we were the Enforcers", Crow explained. "We were conquering the area of Satellite that was under control by Team Dirty Work. The trigger was they had kidnapped one of the kids I looked after. That really set the fuel on fire in me. Just as I defeated one of the punks, he said they had set up a trap inside the abandoned bowling arena they made their hideout, so I ran after the guys to warn them. I pushed Yusei out of the way just before the roof collapsed above him. That was a really close call, but none of us got hurt."

Estelle sighed in relief by the end of the tale. "You reacted so fast, Crow. You really are Crow the Bullet", she smiled. "No… Crow the Savior."

"I like that!" Crow grinned at the new nickname. "But the real savior is Yusei."

Judai and Brave had listened closely at the tale from the young man's life after the adult scored an eight in bowling, and they were both intrigued to hear more. "The Enforcers? Conquering Satellite?" Brave repeated.

"You wanna hear about it?" Crow asked the two members of the Nordic team.

"Yeah!" Judai nodded eagerly. "I haven't heard any stories about the old Satellite, so I'm curious!"

"Kuri kuri!" the spirit of Winged Kuriboh chirped next to its master.

"I too enjoy a good story if Judai enjoys it", Yubel appeared behind Judai as she rested her arms on the back of the chair.

Estelle smiled to herself as Crow regaled Judai and Brave with his tale of the old Satellite. She realized she had to throw the final shots for her team of the bowling match. Since she already knew most of the old story, she got up and grabbed her ball to finish the game.

As the sound of clattering bowling pins rang in the air, Jack listened to Carly as she enthusiastically described her new workplace. He may have his usual poker face, but that didn't mean he wasn't paying attention. In fact, he enjoyed hearing the happiness in her voice.

"I've even got my own office where I can type my articles in peace without having anyone looking over my shoulder and yell at me to retype and add something completely made up!" Carly smiled behind her thick spectacles. "It's entirely different how it used to be in the old newspaper. We had our desks literally next to each other in a small space and we didn't even have screens between us. I used to get so distracted by the noise around me that I ended up choosing to work from home."

Jack nodded with a soft hum while he rested his right cheek against his right hand that was popped up on the table of the bar. "That explains why you worked at home even back when you took care of me", he commented.

"Yeah, I needed peace and quiet to focus on my articles", Carly nodded. "My former boss was always so loud and complained all the time, so that only made the workplace worse."

Jack frowned at a thought that appeared in his head. "If the environment of that newspaper was terrible, then why didn't any of you report it to the authorities?" he wondered.

"Because that stupid old boss of mine threatened to fire the one responsible for the report and make sure they wouldn't get hired by another newspaper", Carly sighed. "I heard that happened to someone the year before I was hired and that person struggled a lot to find a way of living in the paparazzi world."

The male bartender walked over to the duo and quietly placed down the drinks they had ordered a couple of minutes ago. Carly's drink was a non-alcoholic fruit punch with a slice of lime while Jack's was actually a cold Blue-Eyes Mountain coffee with a small kick of vodka. Before the Satellite trio left their place, Jack warned his foster brothers that he might get a drink or two at the bar, so he left his Duel Runner in the garage and caught a ride with Crow. Said teenager got jealous that Jack got to drink alcohol, but now that they were lawful citizens of New Domino City they had to obey the rules.

The blonde hummed softly before he decided to tell the reporter about his upcoming plans. She was the first to hear them, after he had told his foster brothers first. "Carly", he spoke up in a serious voice. "I'll be leaving the city soon."

Carly was about to grab her drink when her hand froze before she could touch the glass. "W-What…?" she mumbled in disbelief and stared at the man with big eyes.

Jack sighed as he knew he had to elaborate his thoughts. "Thanks to the prize money from the Grand Prix, I've saved up enough to travel around the world and challenge the Duelists I Dueled while I was the King of Games", he explained while he raised his left hand up and clenched his fist with a dead serious expression. "I'm going to re-challenge them without the influence of a third party. I'll prove to everyone that I can win without coercion!"

"So… You'll come back after you defeat your former challengers?" Carly asked.

Jack nodded silently as answer. The reporter inwardly sighed in relief after hearing the good news. With a light heart, she grabbed her drink and held it up ceremonially. "Then let's toast for your journey, Jack", she smiled.

The left corner of Jack's lips twitched upward while a chuckle before he grabbed his glass of vodka-mixed coffee. "And for your new job, Carly", he said.

Sherry smiled to herself as the couple's glasses clinked for the toast. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but when you only had a large shelf of glasses and bottles between them and no walls, you tend to hear what people say from the other side of the round bar.

"So Jack's leaving too…", the French beauty mumbled as she traced her index finger on the top of her half-full glass, the red marks of her lipstick smudged on the transparent surface. Once she heard the words "leaving the city", her attention snapped away from the television she watched earlier.

Now that Iliaster was gone, her mission was complete, but it hadn't eased the heavy weight in her heart. She still had some questions she needed to find the answers for. For that to happen, she had to return to her home country and look for information in order to restore her family's lost company.

That also meant she had to leave her friends and allies in Japan…including the girl with the sweet soothing scent of roses emitting from her hair and the smile that brightened up Sherry's days.

Said girl in the blonde's mind sat down on a bar stool next to her with soft sigh after coming out of the restroom. Aki looked a little pale and her eyebrows twitched while she held back a grimace.

"You okay, Aki?" Sherry asked.

"Y-Yeah…", the psychic Duelist spoke in a soft grunt while wrapping an arm around the lower part of her abdomen. "Just…the usual."

Sherry nodded and turned to the bartender who was busy wiping clean a glass. "Bartender, one glass of water, please", the blonde ordered.

"Right away", the bartender nodded. He put away the now cleaned glass and went to a refrigerator to grab a bottle of cold water.

Sherry opened her small purse and dug her hand inside of it while Aki watched her with confused eyes. "You take aspirin?" the blonde asked.

"Yes…", Aki replied.

Sherry grabbed a small bottle of painkillers and removed the lid before pouring two pills onto her palm. She gave them to Aki and put the bottle back inside the purse just as the bartender placed a clean coaster on the table in front of the psychic Duelist before the glass of water itself.

"Thank you…", Aki blushed softly at the sweet gesture of attention from Sherry before she put the pills in her mouth and reached for the glass of water.

The French smiled before she grabbed her wine glass and swirled the remaining alcoholic liquid in a lazy pace. "I always have some painkillers with me", she explained before taking a quick sip of the drink. "Old force of habit after everything Mizoguchi and I've been through", she added in a lower voice.

Aki drank the ice cold water with the pills and sighed slightly afterwards. She didn't realize how thirsty she was before, the glass of water surely helped. She turned to the blonde next to her with a concerned expression. "It sounds like you have some experience of being precautious…", she spoke quietly.

Sherry nodded in response and took another sip of her red wine. "You could say so", she said, turning her attention to the glass in front of her, her mind drifting off to the past events that she tries hard to forget. A single tear ran down her cheek and dropped onto her left hand. The blonde blinked quickly and used her hand to wipe the wet trace on her check away.

Aki placed a hand on top of Sherry's and squeezed it softly, the concerned look never leaving her face. "It's okay, Sherry", the psychic Duelist spoke gently, her eyes focused on their hands. "I don't know what exactly you've been through, nor do you have to tell me, but I know it must have been hard for you." She stopped for a short time to turn her attention to the blonde's face. "You're a strong woman, Sherry, and I admire you for that."

In any other situation, Aki was sure she would have blushed. But this wasn't the moment for sentiments like that. She meant every word that she was saying, and she hoped it helped Sherry just a tiny bit.

Said blonde finally turned her attention to the redhead, a tiny smile decorated her face and Aki's heart couldn't help skip a beat. "Thank you, Aki", Sherry replied sincerely. "I've never been told that I was strong before."

Aki chuckled slightly, patting the blonde's hand before letting go of it. Not knowing what to do with her hands, she placed them around her empty glass. "There's a first for everything," she commented quietly. She turned her attention away from the blonde, so she couldn't see that the small smile turned into a full, sincere smile.

Mizoguchi smiled to himself after he had watched the interaction between the two Duelists from the corner of his eye. Seeing his god-child happy made him happy. It was about time she found someone she could connect to after all those long years of struggle. The elderly man took a sip of his hot coffee before resuming the conversation with Sebastian.

Luna focused her eyes on the little golf ball and held the golf club right next to it. She switched her target to the hole of the very last course of the mini-golf and made a quick calculation in her head. With a determined nod, she gently swung the club and struck the golf ball. The white ball rolled on the artificial grass that slowed it down, but the force of the little kick was enough for it to roll into the hole.

"Yes!" the female twin pumped her fist with a smile.

"Good job, Luna!" Sakura complimented her. "You got the last hole in just five tries."

Luna smiled with a giggle coming from her throat. "I've never played mini-golf before, so I struggled a little bit", she commented before she hurried to the front of the course to pick up the golf ball.

Mei wrote down the score on the small sheet of paper attached to the small clipboard before she handed it over to Sakura so she could do her final turn of the course. "I don't blame you, Luna. Some of the courses were difficult", she pointed out. "Especially the one where we all scored nine points."

"Yeah, but that's what makes mini-golf fun", Sakura nodded. "Some courses should be harder to play with to give us a challenge."

Luna got off the course while Mei placed down her golf ball on the start panel of the course. The blackette held her golf club one inch away from the ball and checked the course for a brief moment. Feeling confident, she pushed the ball with enough strength so it rolled forward several meters before it got stuck in a corner.

"Still, I thought Leo would've liked playing mini-golf with us", Sakura commented.

"No, he doesn't really like sports", Luna shook her head. "As soon as he saw the arcade, he ran straight over there like a bee. I think he wants to get some rare merchandise for his collection."

"I used to do that when I was a child, but not anymore", Sakura shook her head. "I grew out of it."

"Really, Sakura?" Mei called out as she had heard the conversation from the course. "What about the collection of-"

"Don't finish that sentence, Mei!" Sakura exclaimed loudly with red cheeks.

Luna couldn't help but giggle at Sakura's embarrassed reaction about the near reveal of the teen's secret collection. It reminded her of the first time she spotted Leo's collection of merchandise based on Jack and Red Dragon Archfiend that he proudly displayed in a corner of his room. How time flies by and here they were; having so many friends after being sheltered for so long because of what happened to Luna when she was three years old.

"Luna! Luna, look!"

Leo ran to his sister while cradling the prizes he had won from the arcade games. They were all from candy to keychains and even small boxes featuring figurines of Duel Monsters and famous Duelists. "Look at all the stuff I won!" the male twin's smile was so bright it almost blinded his twin sister and Sakura.

"Wow! That's a lot", Luna commented in awe before her expression transformed into a frown. "You didn't spend all of your allowance on these, right?"

"Relax, Luna! I still have more than half of what Mom and Dad monthly sends us!" Leo retorted. "Besides, we barely spend on stuff other than cards and other stuff! It's not like we're the ones who need to pay the bills for our home."

"Fair", Luna replied before she noticed a Kuribon keychain among the pile of goods. "Oh… That keychain…"

"Hm? Oh, the Kuribon one!" Leo dug his hand among the prizes and picked up the keychain. "I actually got it for you, Luna. I saw it and thought you might like it. Here." He held the keychain out for his sister.

Luna gently wrapped her fingers around the keychain and took it from Leo. She stared at it for a second before she smiled at her brother. "Thank you, Leo", she said.

Leo grinned while rubbing his nose with an index finger. "I actually got a mini-figurine of Jack that's from the time he was the King of Games! It's an ancient figurine now! I've got to show it to him!" the boy exclaimed before he rushed toward the bar where said male blonde and Carly sat and had their drinks.

"He's got lots of energy", Sakura giggled softly.

"Yeah, but there are times I can't keep up with him", Luna sighed, her smile still pasted on her lips. "I just wish he could slow down a little."

Mei had just finished the last course and walked back to the duo while bouncing the golf ball in her right hand. "Maybe he will when he gets older", the blackette commented as she had overheard the conversation. "But then again, no one can really predict the future."

"Oh, you're already done, Mei?" Sakura said in surprise.

Mei chuckled softly with a smile on her lips. "Just now", she replied. "I scored five points too."

Sakura held up the clipboard and write down the score. "Five for Mei…", she mumbled to herself. "I already played my part, so time to count the scores and see who got the least points…"

The soft click noise of metal pucks knocking each other off the plank of the shuffleboard echoed around the four players that were divided into two teams. Yusei and Harald were team black while Johan and Dragan were team red. Harald had taught Yusei about the rules before they started the game. They were now on the final round and the red team was leading with overall points.

Johan had just thrown his second and the last puck of the team which had accidently knocked not just one black puck but also a red puck off the plank. The puck on the very front was a red puck that Dragan had thrown, but a black puck was only inches away from its counterpart. "This is it", Johan commented as he stepped aside to let Yusei throw the final black puck. "Good luck, Yusei."

The Signer stepped up to the front of the shuffleboard and placed the puck on the plank. He analyzed the positions of all the pucks that were on the surface. There was one black puck in the 1 point zone far away from the other pucks; that was the first puck he had thrown as practice to get a sense of how much strength he should use when throwing them. There was another black puck in the 2 point zone, but two red pucks were a few inches ahead and on the left side of it. Those two pucks protected the red puck that was in the lead, so if the Signer threw his puck, he could hit the black puck that was in the 2 point zone, but it could end up going in another other direction than forward to knock the black team's puck in the 3 point zone.

Yusei decided to take the risk and threw the puck. It slipped down the waxed plank and went past the black puck in the 1 point zone. It collided with the second black puck and knocked it so it slid to the left, knocking into one of the red pucks in the same zone. The red puck glided to the left and went into the last point zone. It glided to the edge and fell into the gutter.

"Looks like we won this game", Dragan smirked with his arms crossed.

Yusei held back a hesitant chuckle as he pulled back from the table. "This is an interesting game", he said. "I just need to practice a little more to get the hangs of it."

"It's impossible to master something immediately", Harald nodded before he patted the Signer's shoulder. "It takes time, but you did great for your first time."

"Thanks, Harald", Yusei nodded.

Johan and Dragan grabbed the pucks and put them in a stack on the other side of the table for the next people who wanted to play. "I'm gonna grab a drink", Dragan informed the group. "This game made me a little thirsty."

"I need to visit the washroom", Johan told them. "I'll be right back." With that said, both he and Dragan left the leaders of the teams to do their business.

"Do you want to play another game of shuffleboard, Yusei?" Harald asked.

"Sure", Yusei replied.

Estelle walked over to the duo while they prepared the game. "Can I join too?" she asked.

"Oh, hi, Estelle", Yusei greeted his girlfriend. "Are you done playing bowling?"

"Yep. Crow is telling Judai and Brave stories about the time you were the Enforcers, so I finished the game for us", the brunette explained before she gently placed a hand on Yusei's arm with a relieved expression. "I heard what happened when you guys were facing Team Dirty Work. I'm so glad none of you got hurt."

Yusei recalled the time he and the Enforcers challenged Team Dirty Work after they had kidnapped one of the orphans that Crow looked after at the time. If it hadn't been for Crow's quick actions, he would've been crushed by the concrete of the collapsed ceiling.

"Yeah, that was shocking", Yusei confessed. "I'm thankful to Crow for saving my life."

Harald cleared his throat to snap the couple out of their moment. "Do you know how to play shuffleboard, Estelle?" he asked.

"I've never played it before", the young woman replied.

"Then how about you two play and I'll act as a referee?" the Swede suggested. "I'll help you how to count the points properly."

"Thank you, Harald. I appreciate it", Estelle smiled.

Yusei stood on the side and watched while Harald taught his girlfriend about the rules for shuffleboard. Estelle listened with intrigued eyes and asked the Swede a few questions in their native language, which the Signer couldn't understand. He then took a look around the game bar and checked how the rest of the group was doing. Everyone had a smile on their face with no care of the world, just enjoying themselves with the games.

The observer held back a chuckle as he watched Leo pester Jack by showing the blonde all the goodies he had won in the arcade. The blonde nonchalantly swept his hand in the air, telling the male twin to buzz off and go play somewhere else. Leo pouted with an irritated expression before he dumped the goods on a nearby table and ran to the bowling section to ask Crow and Brave if they could play a round. Judai had left the young men a while ago to get a drink from the bar where he met up with Johan and Dragan.

To Yusei, it was an odd feeling to finally live a leisurely life. He always had to stay cautious in the old Satellite, especially when he and his foster brothers formed their Duel gang in order to protect the innocent islanders from criminals who got shipped from the mainland.

Then came the involvement with the Dark Signers, and later Iliaster when he had to stay extra vigilant due to the lethal warnings from the Three Emperors of Iliaster and the Four Stars of Destruction. After receiving confirmation from Estelle that there were no more threats coming their way, as far as she knew, the Signers didn't have to worry about saving the world once more.

Of course, the threat of the Meklord Emperor Genocide was still embedded in his mind, even though it was decades away, but the anxiety of the future will perish as soon as Yusei finishes his studies in the university and develops a program that will prevent catastrophes involving the Ener-D Reactors.

Yusei realized just now he was literally picking up his deceased father's unfinished work. Dr. Fudo wanted to cancel the development of the Reactor when he realized its rotation was unstable, but the city rejected the proposal and they replaced him with Roman who overrode the system and created Zero Reverse due to the Earthbound Immortal's manipulation. If Zero Reverse had never occurred and the city hadn't rejected Dr. Fudo's request, then his father might've created a program that could've kept the Reactor stable for a lifetime and the future that Yusei's other self went through and endured wouldn't have happened.

The Signer shook his head to erase those thoughts. He couldn't waste time thinking on all what ifs. He had to concentrate on the present times that he and his friends have saved from Iliaster and their destructive ploy.

"Yusei!" Estelle called. "Are you ready to play?"

Said man turned to the brunette who had become an important part of his life. He was more than ready to play…and protect the people precious to him for as long as he would live. He will do his best to protect the future.