A/N 10.04.2022: It may look similar, but I swear I've added at least 2900 new words to this chapter in the rewrite. The end was cut, it will be rewritten in the next chapter but I really liked the end.
"Now bring it back! Yes, good boy! Good boy, Rocky!"
The stick is deposited back into my hand by the growing dog, along with a handful of his slobber. While I play fetch with Rocky, Saiga and Yusei mill about the yard, running tests on the bike and playing with the computer respectively.
Yusei has been upfront with me, but there is much he won't say. Something happened in Neo Domino City a few nights ago, but that's all we know. He's gone so far as to tell me about his mark glowing and the glyphs he'd seen in the sky. He's trying to make good on what he'd said by the Daedalus Bridge and it fills me with hope. He's taking steps in the right direction, unstable as they are.
In the days since he faced Kiryu, he has waxed and waned. His confidence bristles into a balloon but then deflates as if popped. Two steps forward and one step back. Last night, he gave me something, his silent way of telling me I am still on his mind.
However, is it friends that gift each other jewelry? Is it family? Is it strangers? Or is it lovers, blindly facilitating the wants of their heart and soul?
He assured me that there was no need to be shy, that there was nothing spent on this trinket besides time. It is an act of gratitude for another, not a favor to be repaid.
Rally had been the one to find it, Yusei confined to the house as he was. I never saw the list he passed to the younger Satellite, never saw the plentiful categories of parts and components he required for the D-Wheel, and never knew that at the end of it was one singular whim. It was not a necklace or a fanciful ring he had wanted, but a shield for my most precious item.
A case. A frame. Anything that would serve that function.
I'd started to understand what Rua had meant when I met him in the Daimon Area. Yusei is by my side once again, doing not much of anything but working and thinking. It seems that my permanent place is wherever he happens to be. Moons have come and gone in the time we've shared, but the moon's company is but a paltry thing compared to the lasting joy that is the boon of friendship.
But then I'm thinking of our friends in the city and it burns at the edges of my consciousness that I don't know whether they're alive or dead. There's no way for us to reach them.
Yusei is well looked after, having his bandages changed nightly by Martha or Dr. Schmitt. They say he's healing quite nicely and all that will remain is a small scar.
Rocky evidently decides playtime was over when he trots over to slump down upon the information-gathering brunette's feet. Saiga glances down at the furry animal and proceeds to simply ignore him.
Earlier, I spoke at length with Martha about having Rocky stay here at her home. He really is getting big. He's too weighty to carry everywhere, and no doubt growing ever larger. The kids also love him. He would do such good for them. He can help guard the place and teach the kids responsibility, but also be a light in their lives.
"Hey," I greet, nearing the blue-eyed duelist in his clearing by the trees. He tilts his head in my direction. "It looks much better. How are the RPMs hitting?"
His lips thin as if suppressing a smile. "Nearly back to 7,000 per second."
"Good." It's not what I want to talk about, but it'll do. He's been off the past few days and not just from the injury. He hasn't been himself. Before the subject can deepen, Saiga materializes in the corner of my eye.
"Looks like you're finally back in action here." He carries his laptop in both hands, standing over the red and white machine.
"Yeah, the D-Wheel, you mean."
Saiga senses the same thing I do. I know it by the sadness in his cool brown eyes that stare down at Yusei. The younger man stands to view Saiga's findings.
"How did it go?" He asks.
"It seems like your hunch was right." He's determined to continue his conversation with Yusei even when Rocky follows him, perching himself once more on top of his feet. "The Dark Signers came to Neo Domino City. This building here is the headquarters of the Arcadia Movement."
"No. That's where Aki stays." I'm tearing up at the vision onscreen. The highrise was demolished, a sizeable crater forming around it. It's not outside the realm of possibility that the casualties may rank in the tens of hundreds. Inside the demolished city, what looks to be representations of the Nazca lines are etched in the dirt. A lizard and some kind of bird.
Yusei must have asked Saiga to look into what had happened. He told me his mark glowed in the same way it had during his duel with Kiryu. We agreed that if there were two Earthbound Gods in the city, there was something big coming. The dark signers are making their move and they won't wait long.
"So, Izayoi was attacked by them?" Yusei worries, his body going tense.
Even without Saiga's answer, I know Aki must be involved in this. She's a signer and she was in such close proximity. I have this horrible feeling in my gut that tells me something is wrong. I need the young girl to be okay.
"It appears so. I heard she was taken to the hospital." Saiga turned to Yusei. "Are you worried about her as a signer? Or as a friend?"
"A friend." His eyes looked glazed for a moment as he reminisced. "But, as I am now, I couldn't possibly help Izayoi."
"Yusei..." I don't know what to say. He's dealing with something beyond my comprehension.
However, in this turn of events, I am destined to hold my tongue as a helicopter descends into the field we occupy.
A cup of coffee sits on the table in front of me. An exact copy of my mug still rests on the tray Martha holds, waiting patiently at the stranger's side.
"I serve as a senator in Neo Domino City." There's an impeccably groomed, yet hairy, man sitting at the table with us. Martha insisted that she serve the drinks, that I had done far too much by cooking dinner a few nights ago, and that I must sit. She can be very pushy. "No, I'm Izayoi Aki's father, Izayoi Hideo."
"Izayoi's father? So, what exactly can I do for you?" Yusei can be as sharp as an arrow at times, and yet the past few days he acts almost lost. The ratio is heavily skewed for the better but lately, it feels like his mind is elsewhere.
It's clear the man is distraught, his dark hair hanging over his face. This has to have some relation to the auburn-haired signer we met at the Fortune Cup.
"Yusei... It must be because of that incident." His eyes turn to mine, taking in the gravity of what I've said.
"I want you to save my daughter, Aki!" The congressman finally raises his brown orbs to meet deep blue. "Aki is unconscious and in a coma with no signs of regaining consciousness. We're her parents, yet we can't do anything! We're unable to save her!"
"Now, you just calm down." Martha sets the saucer and full cup down in front of him. "If ya don't explain the situation rationally, we won't know what's goin' on!"
He's looking properly put in his place, like so many that make the mistake of upsetting Martha. He sighs wearily at his steaming cup.
"My wife said that it was our- No, it was my fault that our daughter ended up this way. I thought I was doing everything in my power. However, wrapped up in the busy life of a senator, the time that I could share with her was limited. Despite that, I tried my hardest to spend time with her, no matter how brief!"
He misses her birthday. He never has time to duel with her. When he finally does, her powers reveal themselves and he shows her a side of him that no child should have to see.
He calls her a monster.
When a child is in pain, they need their parents to be their foundation. Instead, he allows her to flail on her own, sucked under the surface by the rolling tides.
As if that wasn't enough, he hits her. He sends her away to be someone else's problem, partying and laughing in her absence.
There are so many missteps in their relationship that it's hard to find the good things in between. Aki must have felt so discarded, so unloved.
"I could never forget the look on Aki's face then. She had come back, wanting so bad to see us. My daughter's heart is firmly shut and my voice can't reach her."
I can barely look at him, the bite of bile in my mouth.
"But, as I am, I don't think I can save her either."
"Please!" He leans forward to grasp Yusei's hands atop the table. "I heard from Jack Atlas! He said that since you tried to save her during the Fortune Cup, you could definitely rescue Aki now!"
"Yusei," I call him. The senator has made a lot of mistakes, but Aki is my friend. "If you don't, then I will. Even if I can't save her, the least I can do is try. Don't you feel the same?" Pleadingly, I look up at him with sincerity.
Yusei wouldn't normally give up like this. He acts like he's afraid of failure, looking back down at his lap unsurely.
"Yusei, an important man is pleadin' with ya. Go 'head and help him. You're afraid of Kiryu, aren't ya?" Martha is an expert at cutting you down to size as efficiently as possible. "You're afraid of fightin' with your former friend Kiryu, afraid of facin' one another, that 's the point in havin' friends if you can't face 'em?"
"Holding a grudge against Kiryu won't get me anywhere."
Yusei looks like a kid, staring at his hands clasped in his lap. Martha striding over and pinching his ear only makes him appear even more so.
"Ungrateful child! Can't take a hint, can ya? Right now, you've got the door to your heart all closed up and the one who can open it is sittin' right next to ya!" Martha shouts, putting Yusei through the wringer with her stern voice. "She and your friends are the ones who can open that door, aren't they? Being with your friends will knock on that door. Once you hear that sound, that door may open. But first, you have to face them. Ain't that right, Yusei?"
She finishes with an understanding grin pasted on her face, looking down affectionately at the two of us.
If Yusei were to refuse what she says in any way, there will be hell to pay. He just smiles and nods, an admirable response.
The chair legs scrape against the wooden floor when Hideo stands up suddenly. "Thank you, Yusei! Pinoko, Martha, thank you for your support! We'll head out right away!"
"You like each other, right?" Martha postures once the man has exited. Her grin grows playful at our stuttering replies. "Ha! No need to be shy! Go on, now! Live out your dreams before you get hitched, ya hear?"
"Martha!"
"Rua! Ruka!" I shout, wasting no time wrapping the two of them up in a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're all right." Sniffling, I pull myself together before I let them go.
"Pinoko! Yusei!" Rua's smile drops when he passes us by, walking confidently into the large theatre Hideo points him to. The glass walls make it a perfect observation room if you can't come into contact with the subject. We wouldn't be staying outside though, filing in after the two men.
"I'm sorry, Rua. He's... tense, recently." Patting his head when I stand, I throw him a reassuring look. Shockingly, the twins are accompanied by the former Duel King. Turning to the tall man, I introduce myself awkwardly. "Uh, hi. We haven't really met. It's good to meet you, Jack." It comes out sounding like a question.
He doesn't shake the hand I offer, looking me up and down appraisingly. "Hm." He's gigantic, standing nearly two meters tall. To an outsider, it would probably look like he's our babysitter. "You're Pinoko, I hear." He tosses a pointed look at Rua.
"That's me."
Yusei stands at the girl's bedside, wiping a tear off her cheek. Unbidden, jealousy flares up in my stomach. It's wrong. She needs Yusei and I would do the same thing in his position, but seeing him treat her gently almost makes my lip curl.
What am I doing? I told him to save her, I can't react this way!
Their birthmarks glow in unison, the act of comforting her seemingly waking her from her sleep.
"Yusei, you came to save me?" She says, sitting up on her knees to face the duelist.
"Aki..." Hideo says, huddling his wife under one arm. She stares at him, eyes comically large.
I can't blame her for not wanting to see her father. If my dad appeared to me after all this time, I'd rage at him, but there's still a part of me that craves his presence. Somewhere under all the hate, I think that Aki must want him to hold her tight and tell her that he loves her. It's what I would want.
"Why are you here? I no longer need you! I have Divine!" She spits it with such venom that I think I could have been mistaken. Her resolve cracks at the end as if something heavy had been dropped on her. Her hands come up to clutch at her head, sobbing out her words. "Divine is... Divine, he's gone! Divine had told me that I wouldn't have to think anymore! That he would think for me!"
She curls into herself, looking small and fragile. The grief is palpable. The air tastes of regret. She stumbles out of bed, facing the only one who could save her.
"Izayoi, calm down!" he says, unknowingly sending her deeper into her ire.
"Divine was... He gave me the one thing Papa deprived me of! My, my place! And now that I've lost that place, you're here to laugh at me! Then I'll show you.." She bodily pushes Yusei away. No matter how untrue what she says is, she believes it. She's beside herself with anguish, thinking she has lost the only home she could ever know. She dons her Duel Disk and backs away.
"Aki, no!" I cry, but she isn't hearing it. "We want to help you!" Jack grabs my arm when I step forward, shaking his head. He's right, but my heart is crying, her pain stirring sympathy inside me.
"...just one more time. The power of a monster!"
Yusei tries to talk her down. She's past the point of talking.
"Stop, Izayoi! Your father is hurting too!"
"Weren't you the one? The one who said that signers... that friends would show me the way? You are also my enemy! You're an enemy who's snatched my place away from me!" She plays a card, causing a gust to form. The bed and medical equipment that had monitored her are now airborne, crashing down into wreckage on the floor.
It forces Rua and Ruka to fly back, only saved by Jack's legs being in the way. I'm almost blown away myself, halted by a hand around my upper arm.
Does Jack actually have a nice side? Or at least a side that isn't maligned.
"Thanks," I say dumbly as the wind subsides. He grunts in reply, not much for chit-chat.
"The only way my voice will reach Aki's heart really does seem to be through dueling!" Yusei refuses to be distracted from his task. I need to follow his example and not let my mind wander. I can't believe I was envious... He's going to save Aki.
"That's right. We aren't friends! We are indeed destined to fight!"
"You're wrong! This is a duel to prove our friendship! Any time you're ready!"
If any duelist can be called brutal, it's Aki. Her style cuts through all the fat, right to the bone. She knows how best to hurt her opponent.
"Reverberate, Stardust Dragon!" The wind is picking up by the time Yusei summons the dragon. Even he's being worn down from the damage.
"But Black Rose Dragon has higher attack points." As if in answer, Stardust shifts its leg to cover us.
"Stardust!" I breathe, stunned by the selflessness of the monster. "It's getting in Aki's way..."
"I think..." Ruka looks up at the beast, green orbs glassy but not watering. "He's saying that he wants to protect us."
"I end my turn." It's just like Yusei to be worrying about us when he's the one with the target on his back.
"Protecting your friends? What an utter farce," his opponent giggles, her honey-colored eyes hiding behind the overgrown fringe of her wine hair. "You're all talk. You can't save anyone at all! My turn!"
Aki doesn't know, I keep telling myself. She doesn't know that she's wrong. That Yusei isn't like that at all. He's the Shooting Star of Satellite in more than name only.
She attacks Stardust, hitting Yusei with her Hate Rose Whip once for good measure. Because of her card, Thorn of Malice, Stardust Dragon stays on the field. It won't be destroyed by any of her attacks, a permanent punching bag for her vitriol.
"No!" I can't help but worry. Even when I know he's doing something crazy and dangerous, I know it's for the greater good and I can't bring myself to try and stop him. It really is just like Martha said.
"Yusei, there comes a time in every man's life where they have to do just one thing reckless. But no matter how reckless it is, if what you're doing makes sense, then your friends are sure to help out."
A stray vine from Aki's dragon threatens to slice us. It gets close, but Yusei and Stardust are both alert and ready. The hulking form of the dragon steps in front of us, stretching its wing to shield us from the thorned whip. So near, the impact of it is deafening.
"Stardust Dragon!"
When Ruka speaks, it's like Stardust can hear her, crying gently. I'd never heard such a kind noise from a Duel Monster's card.
"Aki, that's enough! Please, stop this!" Her father pleads with her.
"I end my turn." She still sounds malicious, unaffected by the words of a near stranger. They had been apart for so long.
"My turn!" Yusei plays a spell from his hand that allows him to cut in half a monster's attack points, though it stops that monster from being destroyed in battle this turn.
He selects Aki's dragon as the target, bringing its attack points down to 1500.
"Stardust Dragon's attack power is greater than Black Rose Dragon's now!" Rua cries in happiness.
"Izayoi!" Yusei's poker face is well-developed, unflinching in the face of her hatred. "Stardust's soulful strike is going to open your eyes! Stardust Dragon attack Black Rose Dragon! Shooting Sonic!"
Her life points lower to 3600, barely a scratch.
"But Black Rose Dragon cannot be destroyed."
"I set two cards face-down, ending my turn."
"During this end phase, Black Rose Dragon's attack points return to normal. My turn!" Her only move is to attack Yusei and his dragon with her own at full power. She doesn't even look at the card she'd drawn, her animus driving her to inflict pain. "Due to Thorn of Malice's effect, Stardust Dragon isn't destroyed, but it loses an additional 600 attack points. I place a card face-down to end my turn."
Stardust has only 1300 attack power now and Yusei's life points are slipping away, just 700 left. He pulls himself off the floor, standing strong despite the harm she's done.
"My turn!" Yusei pauses after yelling. It's as though he's waiting on a particular card. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."
"Finally run out of options, have we? Indeed. This is how you really are. Be it saving others or helping others... You can't do either!"
I'm near tears, holding in the sobs by some virtue I can't name. The things she's saying couldn't be farther from the truth. Yusei is strong and he can save people. He saved me. He can save her, too.
"You're right! I don't have the power! There's no way I can save anyone, but I... I just can't turn a blind eye while a friend continues to get hurt!"
Aki grows quiet then. "Friend?" She looks almost hopeful.
Yusei was holding all this in, I realize. It must be what had been making him act strangely, pulling away from the rest of us.
He had been suffering alone.
"All I can do is pray that my friends be saved!"
"You're saying you won't do anything! Divine caught me in his arms! He put my mind at ease! He gave me a place I belong!" She's only getting more incensed. "My turn! Battle! Black Rose Dragon attacks Stardust Dragon! Hate Rose Whip! Divine approved of these powers of mine! He gave me a home that I could return to, no matter how tough it seemed!"
Her monster lashes out, its massive vines hurling out at Yusei once more.
"Stop it, Aki! Stop hurting people!" Her father moves to the field, taking a stance in front of the blue-eyed duelist. No one expects it from him, not even his daughter. He braces for impact, covering his face.
"Watch out!" Yusei screams, reaching out to the senator. With no time to get Hideo out of dodge, he has no other option but to play the game to shield him. "I open my trap card, Guard Block! Damage from this battle becomes zero! Then I draw one card from my deck."
Hideo looks up at Aki, tears rolling across his ducts, unshed. "Forgive me for what I've done, Aki. It was all my fault." He tries, but she rejects him.
"No more! It's too late to say that now!"
"I was afraid of your powers, afraid of you. I'm not tricking you, I'm being honest. I was scared of you." His eyes are closed. Hideo is speaking straight from the heart.
"I knew that. That's why you threw me away! Because I'm a monster!"
"It's true that I stopped thinking in that one phrase. But it's not true. I should have realized I have feelings beyond that. I... We love you."
"And you expect me to believe that!?"
"I'm not asking you to believe me. In fact, the person who was supposed to believe was me. To believe that I love you."
"Be quiet! I'll never believe that!" She doubles down in anger, fighting her father's love. "Due to Thorn of Malice's effect, Stardust Dragon loses an additional 600 attack points! I activate the spell card, Wonder Clover, from my hand! By sending one level four monster in my hand to the graveyard, one of my monsters can attack twice!"
Hideo's cries for peace are entirely ignored.
"Black Rose Dragon, attack Stardust Dragon again! This time, crush Papa!"
"I open my trap card, Iron Resolve! By halving my life points, battle damage becomes zero!" It's just like Yusei to be the martyr. I admire him all the more for it, but I also feel sick with worry.
If his life points drop to zero in this duel, will he die?
"Stardust Dragon's attack power is 700..." says the blonde man by my side.
"What?" Upon realizing it, Aki smiles in glee. "But Stardust Dragon's attack points become..."
"100 attack points," Ruka whispers.
"I open my continuous trap Death Petal Countdown! At the end phase of my turn, by removing one plant-type monster in my graveyard from play, you take 300 points of battle damage." As the petals come rushing towards us, Yusei wars with the father as well as the daughter.
"Please stay back!" he begs the man.
Hideo stays, though, and Yusei has only 50 life points to work with. I pray that this draw gives him the card he needs as foliage shreds their arms and legs. If Aki gets to her next end phase and uses that effect a second time, Yusei won't have any life points left.
She ends her turn, but her power thrashes continuously against the men. The petals are strangely beautiful in their deadly dance. The wind is ringing in my ears, making me wonder whether Aki is even in control anymore.
"Aki... Aki, come back to us." Hideo stumbles closer to her, his words gritting out under the stress. His daughter screams at him.
"Stay back. Stay back!"
"What is he thinking!?" I cry out, the others gasping around me.
"Don't! You're putting yourself in danger!" Yusei doesn't want anyone to get hurt, but they're bound to in a situation like this. He can't the hypocrisy in his own statement.
"It's okay. I've decided that no matter how much Aki hurts me, I won't abandon her. I'll listen to Aki's every whisper."
"I'll never abandon you. You're my precious little sister!"
"I don't believe you! I don't!" The red-headed girl is beginning to break. She's convincing herself to hang onto her rage, but her father's determination to win her back makes cracks in her armor.
"Aki!" Yusei's voice stops her, slicing through the white noise of the room. "They're right there in front of you! The eyes with their gaze on you, the ears that answer to your sorrow... These very things, your father and mother, aren't they the place you belong!?"
"Right in front of me... No... No!"
"Then I'm going to shatter the shell you're wrapped in, that misguided hatred, to pieces! My turn!" His eyes flash. He must have gotten the right card. "I equip the equip spell, Silver Wings, to Stardust Dragon! Next, I activate the spell card, Release Restraint Wave!"
"That card...!"
By destroying one equip spell on my field, all spell and trap cards on your field are destroyed!" The wicked spikes on her dragon disappear, leaving it on the same level as Stardust. Both of their equipment had been obliterated. "With Thorn of Malice being destroyed, Black Rose Dragon and Stardust Dragon's attack points revert to normal! Stardust Dragon attacks Black Rose Dragon! Shooting Sonic!" Her monster takes the hit, exploding into a bright flare.
"I activate Hedge Guard's effect from my hand! By sending this card to my graveyard, one monster on my field isn't destroyed in battle." She avoids the loss of her dragon, but Yusei's move wasn't useless. He'd destroyed her continuous spell. "The attack points of the selected monster are halved for this turn."
Around us, the currents grow more turbulent, the bright purple petals swirling menacingly in the air. I try to shield the twins, but my body just isn't big enough to provide relief from the harsh draft.
"Aki..." Hideo starts.
"Papa... Papa!" For the first time, the female duelist realizes the recalcitrant atmosphere of the theatre. "My powers... won't obey me. Stop it! I don't want to hurt Papa!"
There are machines and papers flying through the air, one heading straight for Hideo's unguarded head. "Papa!" With effort, she crimps her hand into a fist and everything becomes still. It's like being in the eye of a hurricane, the intense power all around us had ceased in the shake of a lamb's tail. She's incredulous, her honey eyes glimmering.
"Aki..." Hideo falls to his knees. His daughter crosses to him and I thought I might cry at that. After the ups and downs of the last hour, my heart is ready to give out.
Aki gathers herself, raising her head. "Yusei. Please finish this. End this battle."
He nods to her. "I open my trap card, Synchro Halo! If a Synchro monster was unable to destroy your monster in battle, that Synchro monster's attack points are doubled, and it can attack once more." Aki rises, her father slumped over her shoulder. It's the first time I've seen her look so happy. "It's time to break the witch's spell! Stardust Dragon attacks Black Rose Dragon! Shooting Sonic!"
The end of the battle creates such a bright light that I need to look away. Lifting my gaze, I promptly locate Yusei just steps away. I sprint to his side.
"Yusei! Are you alright?" I wrap my hands around his shoulders and neck, looking him over for any deeper wounds. His clothing is torn in spots where Aki's attacks had nicked him. Single red lines strike both of his cheeks, one of them splitting right through his marker. "You're covered in cuts. You're lucky you didn't lose a finger."
I know I'm fussing over him, but he's so quiet I fear that his injury had opened. He fidgets and shifts, embarrassed by the attention. I make a note to give him closer attention later, but I resign to his whims. For now.
Giving him a look to let him know it isn't over, I mercifully let my hands fall so we can approach Aki and Hideo.
"Aki, your father accepts you. You have a place if you want it. Think for yourself. Draw a conclusion."
Tears shine in her eyes while she takes in his sentiment. Then she smiles, putting her hand over her father's. "My place... is here."
We can all smile now. Rua and Ruka leap for joy before rushing to join us.
"I knew that a mark was a bond between friends! Even though I don't have one..." Rua says jokingly, rubbing his hand on the back of his head. He's always trying to lessen the tension. For that I'm thankful, but...
"Rua, you don't need a mark to be a true friend." I embrace the young boy, hands on his little shoulders. "We're all in this together, mark or no mark."
"All of us were drawn together by this mark, and then became friends." Yusei kneels and bears the mark that he speaks of. "It's not a wretched mark."
"But I had a friend I used to believe in. I still hold those feelings in my heart." Aki looks up at him, torn, with tears still streaming from her eyes.
"I had a friend like that too. But we didn't see eye to eye, and we drifted apart. I don't know where these feelings will lead. Since we were friends in the past, I'll carry that burden and press forward."
I would hear no complaints when I dragged Yusei to another room to treat his injuries. The kit bolted to the wall carried a wide variety of medical tools and topical creams, providing me with all that I required.
He's sitting in front of me without his jacket, white bandages coiling around his torso. There was no blood coming from his previous wound, meaning there was no need to undo the bandage until night. I'm relieved upon seeing his overall health.
"Yusei, I know you'll never stop putting yourself out there, so I just... I need you to let me do this. I'm handy with a needle if you need your clothes mended." I soak another cotton ball full of the antiseptic, rubbing it on one of many cuts along his arms. "Hey. Was Stardust... protecting us out there? Was that your doing?"
He lets out a breath of air, wincing only a little at the sting. "I don't know. It was like Stardust was just doing what I was thinking. Maybe it knew what I wanted, or maybe that's what Stardust wanted too."
I smile down at him. This man...
"Please be more careful about it next time. My heart is going to get weak like this. Someday you'll come back and I'll have developed a hernia. Think of me when you're out there risking your skin."
"I am. Thinking of you, I mean." He grabs my hand. Bringing it to his face, he kisses my knuckles tenderly. "Always."
Blushing, I look back at the tube of ointment in my hands. Uncapping it, the green paste oozes onto my fingers. I reach around, rubbing globs of it over each rip in his skin softly. "Thank you for coming. I-I'm not saying you did it because of what I said, but... I'm glad Aki's okay."
All that remains is the cut along his cheek, all others having been smeared with the stuff. Green coats both sides of his face over the ruddy slices.
"You're right. It does smell."
I can't help but chuckle. The hospital had coincidentally stocked their first aid kids with the same ointment as Nervin does.
Godwin's mansion is distinguished by imposing pillars of white stone. The doors reach nearly as high and measure four times as wide as any man or woman. The face of it is decorated with opulent windows, covered in panes of glass lined with painted metal.
It's the kind of dream that would belong to someone with nothing. Had a poor man the means, he'd build himself a manor such as this.
"Whoa! This place is huge!" Rua's amazement shows, eyes full of sparks when he looks upon the great building. "Is this Director Godwin's house?"
The woman in the gray suit, Mikage, drove with us the whole way yet she offers no words. As Godwin's employee, nothing she says can be trusted.
Double doors, so dark they're the color of pitch, creak on their hinges. Our last meeting was less than stellar. Each time I see the old man, the horrid aftertaste of him grows viler and viler on my tongue.
"Speak of the Devil and he doth appear..." The crooked bureaucrat slithers from the dark hall. The doorway dwarfs his rigid stature, both of them towering over us a silent threat. "I have been expecting you. Welcome, signers, one and all. Albeit in a very roundabout manner, I'm pleased to finally be able to meet you all." The bow is exaggerated either in appeal or insult, his hand pressed flat on his ribcage as he bends.
"Hm. You're shady to the core," Jack intones gruffly. As the shortest of our ranks, the twins and I spearhead the group, the taller forms of Aki, Yusei, and Jack crowding behind us.
"Why did we come here?" The female duelist is rattled. It can't be seen in her body or heard in her voice. That she asks at all is enough proof. "Godwin took your friends hostage and threatened Pinoko to force you into participating in the Fortune Cup. Now you're just going to trust him?"
It's foolish to think so little of Yusei. Then again, she barely knows him. She is but a child, just 16 years old herself.
"No, I can't stand for what Godwin's done." Yusei was the one most damaged by the older man's tirade. He had so much taken from him and yet he continues to give back to the world that scorned him. "But the world is now on the verge of destruction due to some mysterious phenomenon and there's no one besides Godwin that knows the truth of it all."
"So you accepted his invite to drag it out of him?" She asks.
Serious as always, there's not a drip of emotion in his voice. "That's all we can do for now."
"Hey, tell us," Rua whines, moving to stand in front of the Director. "What do you want from us?"
"I do not recall inviting you." His ghostly pale eyes turn down at the boy, disdain lacing his words with a tart bite. It's a strange, diluted version of the glare soon sent in my direction.
Godwin's pastel spheres are like knives, stabbing through the windows of my soul and leaving behind a shattered ruin. The cruelty that was just embers before had bloomed into a blaze, a lit match put to a barrel of gunpowder. He's as displeased to see me as I am him.
Rua squirms before reverting back to his old tactics. In other words, he plays dumb and laughs it off. "Oh, c'mon! Don't be so strict!"
"I have no business with anyone who is not a signer. I kindly request that you both leave." Again, we are graced with the version of him that brandishes refined detestation.
The weight of my protector's aura heats my spine. He shifts closer, inaudibly daring him to remove me from the premises.
The youngest girl leans on her brother, holding his shoulder in a show of physical solidarity. "I won't go unless I'm with Rua!"
Godwin schools his expression, a practiced deadpan coating him with a veneer of objectivity. "There is no way around it, then." He makes a concession, but he won't fool me into believing he's given in.
I can't figure him out, as much as I chew over it. The lesson was a bulky one, weighted down by the untrustworthiness of its source. Why does Godwin have his hand in this? The man acts as if he can barely stand humanity, let alone want to save it.
The golden pendant twists pleasantly under my ministrations. It's likely painted rhodium and yet it is priceless. There's only one photo I adore enough to fit inside, but there's space for two. The diamond shape easily latches open and closed at my touch. The gardens sing with the wind. Acorns are pulled away from their makers by gravity, flowers are shaken loose from their stalks. The circle of life pauses for no man.
The generous branches above cast me in a comforting shade, insulating me from the sun's rays. Some peek between the leafy cover, making the locket in my hands glitter on its vertices.
"Whether you like it or not, it was promised thousands of years ago that you would all encounter as so while at the mercy of destiny."
Signers are bound by fate to each other, not to the outsiders like me and Rua. Rua and Ruka are linked by birth, however, providing each other with the serenity and care they both need to flourish. Where does garbage fit into that destiny? When does rotten Satellite trash bend the path of fate?
There's nothing I can do, assuming Godwin was being truthful. Destiny binds them and calls upon them to fight for our sake. The world rests upon their collective shoulders.
"Dark signers are the souls of the dead who have awakened to their abilities. In other words, they are no longer of this world."
And what a heavy burden it brings. The dark signers are past the point of no return. Every one of them is dead and gone, leaving behind lifetimes of despair for the people that carry their memory.
Yusei.
Jack.
Crow.
Kiryu.
They were once thick as thieves, now forced to do battle with one of their own. Team Satisfaction hadn't been active in years, but the reminders had propelled a chance flyer to the front of my mind.
"Beware! If you see Team Satisfaction, notify the Magician's Four!" the tattered poster had read, stapled to the door of my dilapidated home. I had already lost my family, hopping around to avoid the crime in the densely-packed areas of town.
Every neighborhood had a different dueling gang. There was nowhere to run because there would always be another lurking at your destination. They would fight for riches, fame, power, and territory. Nothing was too uncouth for Magician's Four. After my run-in with one of theirs, I'd sworn off them as a whole.
The story of Team Satisfaction was a different one, a proud one. The team started small, at the edges of the community. They fought honorably, never stooping as low as thieving or beating the civilians. They had eradicated almost every rival team, then vanished. Overnight, all news of Team Satisfaction had dried up.
I had forgotten it until now.
Kiryu was part of that bond, and now he's out to murder the lot of them.
It's chilling. It prevents me from moving. I'm at a crossroads and there are millions of paths before me. If a path is taken, there's no turning back. Yusei has been distant before, but this time I can't see how to bridge the gap.
The path before me is a void and there is a single light guiding me. A lonely star.
The shooting star of Satellite should be in a sky full of his comrades. These celestial bodies share the universe, packing it with their brethren. They are millions of lightyears apart and still, they join together to create pictures and stories and entire worlds. All one must do is look up and believe that they are. A curtain of fog can hide them, but they are never gone. Even in death, their light persists long after them, a farewell glow to their comrades in the heavens.
Stars aren't meant to be isolated.
A/N: I know what I said last time, but I'm losing steam. I promise to have the next chapter out soon-ish, but it will be after I post some updates for Black Beauty. I need to rest my card game mind and use my Hawkins mind for a little bit. By the by, THANK YOU to everyone who decides to take time out of their day to read my little creations. You guys are my lifeblood! I also really appreciate any criticism or advice you precious little things want to drop in my comments or PMs! Hugs and kisses! Til next time~
