When All Was Lost...
Chapter Thirty-Two
32
"And there we have it folks! He won, won won again~ Our grand champion, Jaaaaaaaaaaaaack~ Atlaaaaaaaassssss~"
She could hear the tv announcer belt out the victor of the turbo duel that was broadcasting from the Neo Domino City track.
Yusei's group of friends gathered around the small box tv.
She tried to continue her sleep...
But she tossed and turned on that musky couch that she had fallen asleep on some time during the previous night, still draped in Yusei's Jacket as her blanket.
Jack...Atlas...
"Who's the master of faster!? Who rules the duels!? That's right it's me! Jack Atlas!"
"And so spoken are the great words of a champion!"
It seemed to be an interview with the champion.
"Tell us, , do you have any words for any of your fans and spectators who may want to challenge you?"
"Indeed I do!"
He spoke smugly.
With a familiar confidence that somehow comforted her.
"Bring~ it~ ON-"
VRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOMMNNNNNMM~
"Ahhhhh~!" she let out a yelp and found herself stumbling out of the couch, startling the rest of the group as she fell onto the floor behind them, due to having been startled by the sound of a revved up engine and wound up tied up in the sleeves of a blue leather jacket.
"Hahaha~ Good morning~!" Yusei grinned from behind the drapes,"I didn't wake you up, did I?"
"I think you know damn well that you did..." she grumbled,"What gives!?"
"What gives is that it's the middle of the afternoon! You should be getting up!" He huffed walking over to her,"I guess it's good to see your sleeping habits haven't changed." he chuckled,"You've always been able to sleep anywhere any time...thank you~" he swiped his Jacket from her shoulders and threw it back on over his arms as he grinned.
"Wow, Akarii, you jumped about 10 feet there~!" Nervin snickered playfully.
"Hey in her defense, Yusei pulled kind of a dick move~!"Rally tried to defend the girl, but it was hard not to laugh.
She was sure she looked silly.
Akarii scoffed and stood to dust herself off.
She could hear the group talking about Jack Atlas.
It was in scattered muttering, but she thought she heard something about Jack having stolen Yusei's best card and his duel runner, which he used to leave the Satellite.
Akarii blinked at the thought and looked over to him on the telivision wondering if that were truly the case.
But she didn't linger long on it, it sounded serious, and she was already dealing with a serious situation of her own.
"So, Akarii." Yusei approached her and knelt beside her,"How are you feeling today?"
"Hard to say..." she sighed,"I don't feel any different than yesterday."
"I guess you didn't remember anything then?"
"Well...I'm not sure that's entirely true." she blinked.
This seemed to catch his attention.
"I haven't quite been able to put pictures to it yet..." she said softly,"But I hear a lot of phrases, and familiar statements. I hear familiar voices...in my memories, but I haven't yet put them with the right faces."
Yusei listened patiently.
It seemed lost to him.
Understandably so,it was complicated even to Akarii.
"You know what helps me...when I'm lost in my own head?" Yusei asked softly.
"What?" she blinked and looked up at his smiling face while he handed her a wrench,"Tinkering." he chuckled and led her to the back area where he seemed to hold his personal workshop. There was a mass under a drape and he whipped it up revealing his Duel Runner underneath.
""Give me a hand, will you?" he smiled at her warmly and patted the spot next to him,"I think the front tire could use a little tightening."
She stared blankly for a while, shifting her gaze between his red runner and the wrench in her hand.
Holding it felt natural...and she gripped it tightly.
Akarii knelt down where she was asked, and began tightening any loose ends, just kind of working naturally without much thought, allowing herself to do what her body seemed to be knowingly doing on its own.
Sitting next to Yusei was so peaceful.
So familiar.
She would close her eyes and listen to the distant voices from her past. Trying to pin point the ones that were his.
"Hey can you pass me the whatchamuzit?"
"The Whutchamuzit?"
"Yeah this thingy is loose."
"Thingy?"
She could hear Yusei's snickering with every made up word she said. It was amazing that he even understood anything she said at all.
"Let me guess, you're going to use the whutchamuzit on the dohickeymabob, right?"
"...It's a majigger."
"Ah, got it!"
The memory faded into an echo of Yusei's laughter.
And this time with her eyes closed, she could actually see it.
The two of them together in grease stained enforcers uniforms, tinkering with her old runner that they made for her...
A smile creased her lips when she opened them again in the present.
"Yusei...can you pass me that whutchamuzit? This thingy is loose...I should..tighten this dohickeymabob...right?"
From the corner of her eye she could see Yusei cracking a smile.
"Actually..." he said gently with a chuckle,"...That's a majigger." he grinned.
"Revv her up." said Yusei, with his arms crossed as he continued to smile.
Akarii returned his gesture and moved to the handle bars.
She gave it a few revvs and the engine whir echoed around the tunnel followed by the cheering of all of Yusei's friends.
She felt a sense of accomplishment.
"That's great, Akarii, thanks a lot." he smiled as he adjusted his gloves. Watching him like this, made her feel a miss.
Like he was leaving...
"Hey...Yusei." she reached for him and lightly tugged at his sleeve,"I...heard you all talking." she said softly,"Is it true" she blinked,"Did Jack really do those things?"
Yusei remained silent for a moment before relieving a held in sigh.
"A lot of things changed when you disappeared, Akarii." he said softly,"When Kalin got arrested, and then you disappeared...Jack changed too."
"I see...and so...you're really going to the city?"
"I am." he said firmly,"And I'm leaving tonight."
To Be Continued