Day 2. Colour | Greyscale

Sherry's life wasn't always as difficult as it was right now, quite the opposite in fact. As a child, her life couldn't have been more colourful. She had everything, lovely parents, lovely maids, her language and culture teachers were super friendly and her personal favourite: horse riding courses. She loved the white pony, he was very energetic, kind of like a storm. Her nerdy brain immediately thought of the German word Sturm. She liked the word, it sounded cool, and her favourite literature movement Sturm und Drang had the word in it too. Her days were filled with laughter and happiness, but everything changed that one night where she was woken up by gun-shots.

This day changed everything, turning her colourful life into a dull, grey one. From that day on, she didn't even feel alive any more. It was as if the death of her parents was the death of herself as well. If you'd ask Sherry what she has experienced doing these past eighteen years, she couldn't even say much. Running from Yliaster was certainly one thing she did. Training to not be vulnerable was another. Trying to connect clues to get her revenge was the third one. And cultivating her skills that she learned when she was a small child was the last one. Four things over and over again, like a dull routine that she couldn't escape from. And she didn't expect this to change until she got her revenge.

She never got her revenge in the end. Even worse, she joined Yliaster because Z-ONE had promised her to change the past, to change the fact that her parents died. It was the biggest mistake she could have made, but what else were her options? In her dull, grey life, she didn't have the time to make friends. She only had Mizoguchi, who would be better off without her too. This feeling didn't change, even after Aki and Crow defeated her and she joined their side again.

The Signers were all smiling, happy that Arc Cradle vanished, that Yusei came home without any serious injuries, that they could have normal lives again. As for herself, she didn't know what to do. Faking a smile for the moment convinced the others that everything was fine – not that they cared too much about her anyway. She looked into the sunset while the Signers greeted Yusei who just landed on the platform they were standing on. I'll fight for the future, that's what she said before. What future though? Without friends a possible future seemed as grey and dull as the past years that she has been living. And she didn't see how she should get friends with the way she is, with the things she knows. Running, training, cultivating skills and trying to get revenge. She will be stuck with this dull, grey life.

Or at least that's what she thought. Contrary to her expectations of not having any friends, the Signers didn't stop contacting her. Jack always had something important to tell her, mainly because he was on a journey to find out who his parents were. It turned out that Jack and her were cousins. Crow invited her over to Martha's, because he thought she would be a great help with the orphans – she wasn't sure where this thought came from, but she would lie if she said she didn't enjoy spending time with the kids. Yusei contacted her because he needed someone to talk to, someone who knows what it means to loose a loved one. Talking to him always ended with both of them crying, but they agreed that whatever they discuss and whatever happens in the garage, stays in the garage. Weirdly enough, the twins Rua and Ruka thought she could help them with some of their homework. She never had proper education due to running from Yliaster, but somehow the things the students learn in Duel Academia were easy enough so that even someone like her could explain it.

And lastly, Aki. To be honest, it always felt special when the red-head contacted her, but she couldn't pinpoint why. Maybe it was the fact that – unlike the other Signers – it wasn't just one reason why Aki contacted her. Sometimes Aki needed help with Physics and Sherry seemed to be able to help her, sometimes she wanted to go to a new café to try it out but she didn't want to go alone, sometimes she just wanted to have a girl-talk. They happened to spend a lot of time together, even though the red-head was busy trying to master the university administration exam.

One day she was talking to Mizoguchi in their small apartment that they rented. "You sure can't stop talking about Izayoi," was a comment he made during their conversation. Of course Sherry hadn't noticed it before, but now that Mizoguchi pointed it out to her, she realised herself that for the past hour she only talked about the red-head. She felt a hand on her shoulder, it was Mizoguchi's. "I'm happy when you are happy, milday," he said softly and she was confused. What did he mean with that? She decided to not push the topic and talk about something else. It didn't last long though, after five minutes she talked about how she went to a café with Aki again. And maybe it was at that time she realised she was falling for the red-head – which scared her more than she would admit to anyone.

She never expected these feelings to be mutual either. She always thought that Aki surely had someone to love already, and all their girl-talks about theoretical love-stories between two people was Aki's way to get ideas for her date with her loved one. So of course when the red-head asked her to have a girl-talk in the evening at the beach – right at the sunset of course – she didn't expect the red-head to talk about her feelings for Sherry. It was very surprising and with each moment where Sherry didn't say anything because she was just too stunned to speak, Aki's confidence shrank. "It's okay, you don't have to feel the same way," Aki finished her confession, staring at the ground trying not to cry. Sherry scooted closer to the red-head, placing her hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. "I'm bad at confessions, I've never done this before," Sherry said gently, which caused Aki to look up from the ground again her eyes gleaming with hope. "I like you too, Aki," Sherry continued, "but don't expect me to be good at relationships, I don't have any reference for that." A small laugh escaped from Aki's lips, before she threw her arms around Sherry's broad shoulders, hugging the blonde woman tightly. And with that, Sherry's dull, grey life became colourful again.

A/N: Kind of cliché one-shot in which the depressive character is magically healed by just having friends (and eventually getting into a relationship).