CW: underage drinking, intrusive thoughts about SA

A/N: BEHOLD. ROSEKNIGHT ANGST DISPLAYED FOR ALL TO SEE.

Team 5Ds had defeated Team Unicorn. Though Aki was cheering with her friends, she couldn't help but feel bitter. Their first victory had only been achieved because of Yusei. Aki couldn't let herself celebrate. She had too many mixed feelings about her own loss. The doubts about her own capabilities as a Duelist were weighing her down.

"Hey, Aki, where are you headed?" Crow called out to her from the pit stop. "We've got to party!"

"Sorry. I have to cool my head." Her head tucked into her helmet, her gloves tightened against the joints of her fingers, her boot on the gas pedal.

The rush of wind against her skin couldn't cool off the boiling anger underneath. The others wouldn't get it, the sheer frustration of losing for the first time in such a major tournament. Aki's parents showing up to cheer her on softened the anger, but it still felt like magma in her veins. Somehow, Aki ended up at the pier where she'd initially done time training with Crow. The sun was starting to set now, seagulls returning from the ocean, heading to their nests for the night.

Aki took off her helmet and stared at her reflection in the visor. Her brow creased, her lips set in a thin line, her eyes twitching on occasion. "I look pissed..." the psychic thought. She sighed in defeat.

The sound of a D-Wheel approaching caught Aki's attention. A familiar white D-Wheel and its familiar Duelist rolled into the pier, stopping right next to Aki. "I'm surprised to see you here of all places, Aki," Sherry greeted while deboarding. "I heard Team 5Ds won. You have my congratulations." She extended her hand. The redhead didn't take it. "What's wrong?"

"I lost," Aki said bitterly. She didn't take her eyes off of her helmet, off of her reflection of frustration. "I didn't do anything right today."

Sherry looked surprised by Aki's negative words. "I watched the duel. I don't think you did as badly as you think," Sherry insisted. Aki remained silent. "Well, if you'd like, I can take you to my favorite place to go to when I'm stressed out. It's not too far from here and I'm pretty sure they'll let you in."

"I'm pretty sure they'll let you in" translated into "It's not a place you're supposed to be in" in Aki's head. She turned the helmet in her hands. Would she get in trouble if she went? If she wasn't so frustrated, she would've declined. But these feelings of hers weren't going away any time soon.

"Lead the way," Aki said simply.

Sherry was right. The location she was speaking of was a bar tucked between a makeup store and a pawn shop in lower downtown. Aki locked her D-Wheel next to Sherry's and eyed the old-school neon OPEN sign. This was absolutely a place she wasn't supposed to step into. But when Sherry confidently opened the door to let her in, she couldn't help walking through.

The interior was small but cozy, plants lining the windows and a scratched vinyl playing lazily on a turntable in the corner. Several booths were already filled with patrons chatting quietly, not paying Aki nor Sherry any attention when they walked in. The bar, entirely made of hardwood, was commandeered by a dark haired middle aged Mama lazily wiping away a highball glass. Her long black hair was tied back in a tight ponytail and the white button up she wore was lovingly ironed with not a crease in sight. Judging from the way she held herself, she'd seen many a night at this bar.

"Welcome in," Mama greeted as the two sat down across from one another in a booth. She walked out from behind the bar towards them with a notepad in her hand. "How unusual of you to bring someone with you, Sherry." She gave Aki a once over, her brow raised. Aki prayed that she wasn't recognized even though her Duel had just been televised. "Usually, you take someone with you."

"Hey now, Mama, don't go showing off my dirty laundry like that," Sherry complained with a wave of her hand. "My friend and I are here to let off some steam today."

Aki twiddled her thumbs, not sure what to do. "I've had amazake on New Years, but outside of that..." It felt embarrassing to even think she had no experience with alcohol.

"Do you know what you want?" Mama asked Aki.

"We'll start with two glasses of Riesling," Sherry answered. Aki breathed a quiet sigh of relief when Mama left to get their drinks. "We want to drink slowly. Have you ever had wine before?" Two identical wine glasses half filled with white wine appeared in front of them.

"No." Aki sniffed her drink cautiously before taking a sip. Sweet with a bitter undertone. And very drinkable. "It's a lot less bitter than I expected. My mom drinks a lot of red wine at home and it never smells good."

Sherry pulled at the velcro on her chest plate, unbinding her chest with a deep breath. Aki's eyes darted to the table, trying not to ogle the Frenchwoman. Noticing Aki's sudden shyness, Sherry couldn't help smirking. "I can't wear that thing when I'm relaxing. I'll remember to take it off around you more often." She swirled the wine in her glass, watching the light from the bar refract off it. "Tell me more about why the duel frustrated you."

"It was due to our lack of caution," Aki admitted, grateful that Sherry hadn't lingered on her obvious crush. She took another sip. The wine was making her feel warm, melting the chill in her bones. "We got the wrong information about Team Unicorn's overall strategy because of our duel against them in the training area. And Crow got injured so I took his place. But I barely did anything."

The wine glass emptied extremely quickly as Aki continued to vent about her frustrating duel, Sherry listening while cradling her mostly full glass. "Four turns, Sherry," Aki groaned, her head on the table, her hand holding onto the stem of her empty glass. "In four turns, Andre destroyed me. The world of speed was a lot faster than I'd anticipated."

"There, there," Sherry comforted, putting a hand on Aki's shoulder. "Every victory is fueled by losses, right?"

"It doesn't feel fair," Aki grumbled as more wine filled her glass. "Yusei never loses..." She chugged her glass this time, fully adjusted to the flavor.

Sherry thought about that. "Well, he came close to losing once," she recalled. Aki looked up at her, chin resting on the table. "Against me, as you already know."

A third pour into Aki's glass. "That's because you and him are special." Aki stared despondently at her glass, her cheeks already flushed pink. Like a sand castle slowly disappearing into the rising tide, the feelings of frustration slowly melted away into the fuzzy warmth of being drunk. Aki picked up her head from the table and leaned back against the booth seat with a relaxed expression on her face.

"Feeling a little better now, dear?" Sherry asked. Mama left the wine bottle on their table at this point.

"Yep." Aki looked around at the other patrons. An office lady chatting excitedly with a long-haired punk at the bar, two middle-aged women silently drinking scotch in an opposite booth, and three college-aged girls arguing with one another while their fruity drinks grew warm. "Sherry, is this a lesbian bar or something? There's a lot of pretty ladies here."

Sherry felt the corner of her mouth twitch. "Am I one of those pretty ladies?" she teased. She fully expected Aki to giggle or respond with snark. Instead, Aki suddenly seemed a bit shy, folding her arms over her chest.

"Yeah... you are." The words struck Sherry's heart like Cupid's arrow. "I think you're the first woman I've ever had a crush on."

"Aki only had two glasses. Is she drunk?" Sherry pushed the bottle out of Aki's reach. "I couldn't possibly be your first sapphic crush. There had to be others before me." Much like how Aki wasn't Sherry's first drinking partner in this bar.

"No..." Aki mumbled. "I kind of hated everyone in Duel Academy when I was younger. They were all scared of me because of my psychic powers." She rested her cheek on the table, her hand idly playing with some hair. "But you weren't scared at all. I think that's when I started to like you a lot."

Honestly, Sherry was a bit scared when a massive dragon stopped a truck from falling on her. She could've easily swerved or just driven off the highway entirely to avoid a collision. But Aki chose to save her. It was an act of kindness Sherry never expected from anyone, especially not from a complete stranger.

"You cut a really nice figure in that outfit of yours. And it's really brave to be wearing your hair that long when you Duel. It's really pretty." The redhead's eyes traced the stray golden strands hugging Sherry's arm. "I totally get why you'd wear it down." She cocked her head to the side in thought. "But maybe you'd look just as good with it up?"

"You've got a really cool voice too." Aki cupped her face, resting her elbows on the table. Sherry couldn't help thinking Aki's dreamy expression was adorable. "It's so deep and husky. It reminds me of this cool character in a cartoon I used to watch as a kid. She wore big gauntlets and cool sunglasses."

"I'm flattered." Sherry wasn't used to compliments being laid on this thick. Not that she was complaining. It was nice to be on the receiving end for once. "Is there anything else I should know about myself?"

Aki tapped her fingernails together in thought. "I had some pretty intense wet dreams about you fingering me after we met." Sherry choked on her wine, coughing into her fist. "Ah, oops! I shouldn't be saying that in public." The redhead giggled, leaning further back against the comfortable seat.

"And here I thought you were only interested in Yusei like that," Sherry said, quietly coughing up the rest of the alcohol stuck in her throat.

"Mmm... I like him. I probably like him more than I like you," Aki admitted, suddenly looking downtrodden. "But I'm pretty sure he's got something going on with Bruno. I had dreams about them doing butt stuff." Sherry, once more, choked on her wine.

"That– I–" Sherry was at a loss for words. She'd been the crying shoulder for many tipsy women but Aki was beyond tipsy; she was drunk and talking about things that absolutely shouldn't be said in public. "I think we've had enough to drink."

"Aww what? But I want more wine," Aki grumbled, trying to reach for the far away bottle.

"We can have more when we're at my place." At the mention of Sherry's "place", Aki stood up too quickly and almost fell back down. The Frenchwoman hailed a cab and helped Aki in first before closing the door behind them. Sitting in the backseat, even with the divider between them and the cab driver, Aki immediately held onto Sherry's arm, her body flush against the blonde's.

Through the drunken haze of her mind, Aki couldn't feel embarrassed. She was following her pure gut instinct and her instincts were telling her to hold onto Sherry because she was very pretty. At a red light, Aki groaned impatiently. "How much longer until we get to your place, Sherry?"

"Another minute or two. Just hold out for a bit longer." A thin hand snaked up Sherry's back, resting on the side of her breast. "Aki, what are you doing?" Sherry put her hand over Aki's, pushing it down to rest on her hip.

"They look heavy. I should know." Aki put her other hand on Sherry's chest again, determined to support the Frenchwoman's breasts even though her bra was clearly handling it just fine. "When you've got ones this big, you need proper support. Let me hold them." Were it not for the fact there was a complete stranger in the car with them, Sherry would've laughed at Aki's drunken commentary. And the intense look in the redhead's eyes made her nervous.

Sure, Sherry had brought Aki to the bar with the intent to try and test the waters with Aki, but the redhead dove in headfirst and Sherry wasn't able to keep up. For the first time in Sherry's life, she felt like she was being earnestly (and clumsily) pursued.

The cab driver stopped in front of Sherry's apartment and she quickly got Aki out before the redhead could continue fondling her. In the elevator, Aki continued to cuddle against Sherry. The blonde was extremely grateful nobody else was with them. It pained her that she enjoyed the way Aki's body felt against her. Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe she really needed to get laid.

Upon entering the apartment, Mizoguchi looked up from the newspaper he was reading on the couch. He took one look at Aki's hands running all over Sherry's upper body and immediately stood up, hands on hips. "Madam, I raised you better than this," he scolded. "What do you think you're doing with that young woman?"

Sherry sighed in defeat. "I'm just letting her rest here until she sobers up, Mizoguchi," she said truthfully, helping Aki into her bedroom. Aki flopped onto the bed, starfishing immediately.

"The mattress is really firm." Aki poked the dense surface. She turned over onto her back to face Sherry. "You've got me in your bed." Giggles escaped her mouth.

"Yes, I do." Sherry put a pillow under Aki's head. In a flash, Aki reached out and grabbed Sherry's arm.

"You know..." Aki whispered, "I am interested in you, Sherry. Aren't you interested in me?" She pressed Sherry's hand against her chest, the gloved fingers pressing into soft breasts. The blonde's eyes widened. "Why else did you bring me to that bar? Wasn't it to get me like this?"

"No, it's not like that," Sherry insisted, unable to withdraw her hand as the psychic pulled it lower. The zipper under Sherry's palm moved with her, revealing part of Aki's bra and her soft stomach. "I really did intend to just bring you there with me to drink and flirt a bit."

"At least, I think that's what my original intent was." Guilt sank its fangs into Sherry's chest. She shouldn't have brought Aki to the bar. Aki was in her bed, directly inviting Sherry to have her way with the younger woman. Sherry knew she wasn't a good person; she'd used her charm to hook up with women looking for an escape from their lives more times than she could count.

"Is it because I'm with Team 5Ds...?" Aki asked. "Or... am I not good enough for you because I'm a psychic duelist?"

"You should take her up on her offer," a horrible voice in her head whispered. "She's given you her consent." Sherry trembled. "You can take her to a hotel." She squeezed her eyes shut and exhaled shakily. "It's so easy."

She removed Aki's hand from hers and stepped away, her back bumping against the bedroom door. "Sherry?" The Frenchwoman breathed in slowly, steadying her nerves.

"You aren't sober." Sherry ruffled Aki's hair. "Sleep. And in the morning, if you remember any of this, we can talk more about it." Aki leaned into Sherry's petting and soon fell asleep. The blonde gathered a change of clothes from her dresser and left the room.

"Mizoguchi, I'm headed out," Sherry said in a dull tone. "When Aki wakes up... take care of her." The front door shut and Mizoguchi sighed. He returned to his newspaper on the couch.

Sherry made her way back to the bar on foot, walking as fast as she could. She tore the parking ticket off of her D-Wheel and stuffed it in her pocket, a problem for her to deal with another time. She drove along the harbor area. As the wind whipped against her helmet, she was assaulted by visions of what could've happened in her bedroom.

Aki could've leaned into her touch while they kissed, could've pulled Sherry onto the bed with her, could've threaded her fingers through golden hair. "But it wouldn't be right." Sherry bit her inner cheek, the pain re-centering her focus on the road.

No matter how far she pushed her vehicle, no matter how tightly her knuckles clenched on the handlebars, Sherry couldn't escape the acrid sensation of guilt burning through her chest. "It doesn't suit me to feel guilty," she thought bitterly. "I must be losing my edge if intrusive thoughts are making me feel upset."

She stopped in front of one of the abandoned warehouses and covered her D-Wheel with a tarp. Inside, a single punching bag hung from the roof, its leather exterior beaten and worn from years of use. Sherry changed into a loose t-shirt and pulled out a roll of sports tape from her pocket.

As the plastic tape wound between her fingers, she recalled the way Aki held onto her so tightly. It didn't help that the redhead's Riding Suit left so little to the imagination. While Aki had cuddled against Sherry, the blonde had to do everything in her power not to ogle Aki and to keep her hands to herself.

The Frenchwoman stood in front of the sandbag. "Why else did you bring me to that bar? Wasn't it to get me like this?" A mental image of Aki half naked, her Riding Suit only covering her from her waist down, flashed before Sherry's eyes. She steeled herself and began her routine of jab repetitions.

The sandbag bounced off of her knuckles. "Wasn't it to get me like this?" Another mental image of Aki splayed out on her bed in just lingerie, her face flushed with arousal. The Frenchwoman grit her teeth, trying her best to maintain her focus. She cursed quietly as her timing faltered, whiffing on a punch.

The sandbag swung away from her. "Wasn't it to get me like this?" A final mental image of Aki entirely naked, her nails leaving scratches on Sherry's back, her dilated eyes begging her to keep going-

"No!" Sherry yelled in frustration. She stepped into her punch and missed her timing, the sandbag slamming into the blonde and knocking her down. She laid there on the floor, listening to the chain links grind against one another, sucking in deep breaths of leather scented air. "...fuck."

Aki woke up in the morning with a blinding headache. "Where am I?" she muttered. The bed looked unfamiliar, its light green sheets keeping her warm. A single worn teddy bear sat dutifully next to her, its big paws resting on its belly. On the nightstand, there lay a pack of painkillers and a bottle of water.

There was a knock at the door and Mizoguchi's large frame entered the room. "You're awake. The madam brought you in last night and told me to take care of you." Aki kneaded her forehead, trying desperately to remember what had happened yesterday. "It seems you drank quite a bit."

One water bottle emptied and two painkillers later, Aki settled down on the couch. "I don't remember anything after the first glass of wine," Aki groaned in frustration. "Everything after that is a complete blur. Where's Sherry?"

"The madam is out at the moment. She will likely be back soon though." The sound of the front door lock caught both of their ears. "There she is." Sherry walked in, looking exhausted.

"Aki, you're awake. Are you feeling okay?" Sherry asked. "If so, I can take you back to your D-Wheel."

Aki stood up and grabbed Sherry's hands. "I don't remember anything that happened last night. I didn't... I didn't say or do anything stupid, did I?" The redhead's earnest, almost pitiful, expression made Sherry consider her next words carefully. "If I did, I'm very sorry. It was my first time drinking."

"No," Sherry lied. "You didn't do anything foolish. I made sure of it." She winked. "After all, I can't have a beautiful girl such as yourself ruining her reputation." Aki blushed while blurting insistently that she was only interested in Yusei.

How Sherry wished Aki could remember what she'd said.