Author's Note:

So this is Chapter 3 and I have to admit that it is sort of a filler chapter. The thing is, I wanted to develop Aki as a character first before jumping into plot driven action and even though I planned to make it all into one chapter, Aki's development stretched to 8 pages and I figured that I might as well split this chapter into two.

So while the previous chapter was Yusei oriented, this chapter is solely Aki Izayoi oriented and explores Aki's thoughts, feelings and dilemmas regarding everything that's been going on.

I hope you enjoy this pseudo-psychological analysis of a "Yu-Gi-Oh!" character and let me know what you think about it or if you have any advice to fix the possible crappiness.

Thank you for reading!

NineInchNailed.

Update: this chapter was updated on July 5th, 2011. I pretty much only added a paragraph or two depicting some additional emo thoughts Aki has regarding Yusei. Nothing groundbreaking. Why did I do this almost a year since it's been published? Because I'm crazy.

2025-03-12: Realized I made a small mistake with ages and updated Aki's' birthday from 19th to 18th. Nothing changes plot-wise as a result of that.

"We are afraid to care too much, for fear that the other person does not care at all."

Anonymous.

Aki Izayoi loved four things in life, very dearly.

She loved the game of Duel Monsters. She loved the thrill, the exhilaration and the strength that duelling brought her. It was only through duelling that she was able to make herself heard and to vent out her frustration, her pain, her anger, her hate and…a few times…even her love. As a duellist she felt empowered and secure and it was only through those means that Aki felt like she was capable of defending herself. And her cards, especially her beautiful and sacred Black Rose Dragon, were her shields against attacks – verbal and physical. She also treasured her D-Wheel which allowed her to experience duelling on a whole new level which bordered on almost metaphysical. Her self-loathing towards her treacherous powers, furthermore, did not inhibit her undying love for duels.

She loved roses and, especially, red roses. They were her favourite flowers (which she thought was made pretty obvious by her duelling deck) and she always felt emotionally connected with them. Her explanation for this bond was drawn from her memories.

When she turned 14 years old, her frightened and confused parents decided to send her away to the Duel Academy. An hour before a car was supposed to arrive and pick her up, Aki ran away and hid in the colossal garden behind her house. There, sitting under that cloudless and perfect blue sky, on that perfect trimmed grass, surrounded by those perfect flowers, the imperfect teenage girl – a freak of nature – fought against her tears. She knew that crying wouldn't solve anything: it wouldn't miraculously take away her powers, it wouldn't get her parents to change their minds, and it wouldn't make her parents love her again. But she was hurt. She was hurt and she was alone, and there was no force strong enough to stop tears from rolling down her cheeks. Absently, Aki fixed her glistening eyes on a blooming bush of red roses, the shadow of which concealed her. She ripped off a flower and felt a sting on her skin. This was a blossom as lovely as it was vicious and she thought there could be nothing more beautiful; more flawless. Melancholically, Aki began pressing her fingertips against the thorns until a light prick turned to pain and she drew her own blood. She then squeezed the rose in her fist and, with her blood now blending in with delicate rumpled petals, she felt strangely at peace. The last traces of tears dried on Aki's serene face as she came to a wonderful conclusion.

From this day forth she would metaphorically become like a rose herself. She would be beautiful on the outside but hide her true inner self – that which was unsightly; she would appear fragile but be fierce if anyone attempted to get too close. Her thorns would protect her against those who are disgusted by her and who, overwhelmed with fear of unknown, could retaliate against her with violence. She would build a wall to defend herself from the world as it was the only way to keep herself from getting hurt. Because she also knew that there would be more pain to come in the future; likely worse too.

With silent and heartbroken acceptance, young Aki came out of her temporary garden sanctuary and finally complied with her parents' wishes and left her home to live in the Duel Academy.

Things have changed drastically in these past 5 years and today Aki Izayoi still loved roses although she now attached a greater aesthetic quality to them rather than the melancholia of her teenage years.

The third thing Aki loved was rain. The soothing whispering sound of raindrops, the gloomy sky, the distant rumbling of thunder and an occasional spark of lightning illuminating the sky... She used to like sitting on the windowsill of the Duel Academy tower and simply observe, entranced, as the cars splashed by, or the drops of water rolling down the fogged up window, all the while feeling warm and safe. Nowadays, Aki preferred the sound of the rain hitting the fibreglass shield of her helmet as she drove through the city on her D-Wheel.

And, above all else, Aki loved...Yusei Fudo. She loved him as her friend: he was trustworthy, supportive, loyal, dependable and protective. She loved him as her saviour: he showed her the right way when she was lost in the deception of the Arcadia Movement, and helped her reconcile with her parents after many years of disarray. And she also loved him...or rather was in love with him as a man that he was: strong, honourable, passionate, independent, serious, street smart and book smart, thoughtful, caring, kind, selfless, compassionate… and he also turned out to be stunningly handsome, to boot. Aki knew that the day she was unable to list a single flaw and ran out of fingers and toes to count all of his good qualities that she was in trouble. She knew that she loved him and that she loved him deeply, wholeheartedly…and hopelessly.

It didn't start out like this, however. Aki never really planned for this to happen and she would have never willingly chosen for this to happen either. She knew she had some bad attachment ...issues: she progressed from severe avoidant attachment patterns – as a result of being abandoned by her parents – to intense anxious attachment – as a result of being sheltered and soothed by only one person, Divine. After being by herself for so long and shunned by everyone she anxiously held onto Divine, giving up all of herself and her free will to him. She didn't care that she could've been taken advantage of – she just needed a place to belong and a person to protect her, at least for once in her life. She turned a blind eye to the Arcadia Movement's antics and went along with everything as long as they accepted her for who she was. And Divine…he might not have had the best intentions in mind but he saved her, gave her shelter and support, and she could not have been any more grateful. And...she loved him – she was willing to stay with him forever – but, on the other hand, she was not in love with him. In fact, the few times he had touched her with...certain different intentions, she actually felt a little disturbed. But then again, she knew that she owed him...and she was well aware that he knew that too.

The day she watched Divine die in front of her was the day she felt like she'd never have a home again or somebody to help her. She had lost a confidant, a caregiver, a friend, and the only man who cared and showed sentiment towards her. She also felt exposed, like she was thrown out into to the whole world again with an open invitation for more persecution and violence to occur against her.

That's why when Yusei Fudo entered the picture, tried to break through to her and to convince her that she should never give up on herself, and then promised that he'd always be a shoulder for her to lean on, that he had such an astonishing impact on her. Right after hers and Yusei's first duel, she began to slip away from Divine and everything Arcadia stood for. The guilt she felt when she found out about the cruel experiments that Arcadians performed was beyond overwhelming: her naivety and her desperation to belong inhibited her common sense and morality. She probably could've suspected that something strange was going on and she probably could've prevented all that pain and death – and yet, her own self preservation was far more critical for her. Aki was never going to forgive herself but Yusei was there to hold her up and to tell her that he had no right to judge anyone and that, regardless of anything, he'd always accept her. He helped her get through her loss, intolerable guilt, and near mental disintegration.

So Aki was very cautious: she didn't ever wish to find a replacement for Divine in Yusei and to use him as a container of her free will, and so she resisted her feelings for a time. She attributed the first traces of liking to her own problematic issues of attachment and fought against them – she denied herself the very simple fact that ever since the first time she had laid her eyes upon him she had always, irrevocably, found him attractive. That, once the Signers assembled together and went to fight against the Dark Signers, Yusei's mere presence began to bring a smile to her face and that, in those moments, she'd feel the happiest she's ever been. And that, by the time the city finished its months-long recovery after the Signer battles, she now lived constantly with him in her heart, a kind of sweet hurtful ache that at times made her tremble.

It was closer to the WRPGs – when the six of them and Bruno became the Team 5D's – that Aki, finally and with despair, understood that what she felt for Yusei Fudo simply couldn't be attachment or a schoolgirl crush based on gratitude. Although, all along, she had a worrying suspicion that she loved him a little...she just knew then, without a grain of doubt, that she was madly, head-over-heels in love. And this love consumed her, she lived and breathed it. She longed to be near him. To be touched by him. And...to be looked at in the same way that she looked at him.

Aki really couldn't figure out if Yusei felt anything towards her or if he couldn't reciprocate her feelings at all. Sometimes she would catch him looking at her, almost dreamily it would seem, but then next he'd be looking at his cards or his constantly upgrading D-Wheel with the same type of expression. Other times he would offer her a compliment over her duelling skills and other times, like the recent time that she wore a beautiful dress for the gala (and she, herself, felt quite beautiful), he wouldn't say anything or not even notice. And occasionally there would be a time when he would practically ask her out – such as the time they went rollerblading – and, when she would anxiously show up, he'd do everything in his power to indicate that this was anything but a real date by asking other people (Rua and Ruka) to come without telling her! But the greatest source for Aki's confusion over Yusei's mixed signals by far...was his apparent interest in other women.

She had occasionally overheard from the guys that he (Yusei), Crow, Saiga and Jack often went out to bars and some hot spots. They were very hush about it and never brought up this topic when she, Carly and the twins were around, but she had walked in on a few fleeting conversations such as these. Carly also confirmed that Jack did go out beyond their general hangouts and Crow, once, offhandedly bragged about the attractive girls they met the night before. Nonetheless, Aki wasn't very concerned and didn't attach any importance to this issue. It was inconceivable to her that Yusei could be actively interested in some other women – she was convinced that for a meanwhile he was in a duelling stage and only concerned about tournaments and D-Wheel upgrades. But this was until the two terrible weeks of March happened, her birthday month.

In March, Aki came to see Yusei early in the morning because she wanted him to fix the rusting on the bottom of her D-Wheel. She didn't let him know beforehand that she was going to stop by and she had no idea that he went out with Jack, Crow and Saiga the night before. He promptly opened the door to her excited knocking and she saw him standing there, looking drowsy with sleep, and wearing rumpled clothes which he had apparently put on in a hurry. It was unlike Yusei to sleep-in late but the only thing Aki could pay attention to was the fact that he was shirtless even though he made an effort to throw a blue jacket over his shoulders. She remembered being completely stunned by his toned abs, forgetting what she was doing at his house to begin with. How did a card-playing mechanic have a body like this and since when?

"What's going on, Aki?" Yusei asked as he groggily rubbed his eyes.

With a blush rising to her cheeks, Aki looked up into the mesmerizing blue of his eyes (it truly was the most unique and beautiful colour she had ever seen) and smiled, opening her mouth to answer when... she felt a chill of horror stab through her heart.

There was a fresh love bite on his neck.

Instantly a terrible image popped into Aki's head of some drunk girl straddling him and sucking on his neck, and then him pulling that slut into a passionate kiss.

"Aki?"

Maybe...maybe she was in his bed right now. Maybe that's why he was in such sloppy dress.

Room began to spin before her eyes and Aki felt nausea bubbling in her stomach. She stumbled a little and squeezed her eyes shut.

"...Aki? Is everything okay?"

She was going to be sick. Right here. Right in front of him. She'd be sick and the man she loved would turn away in disgust or, worse, lead her inside where she might actually see this woman. Another woman who might be just lounging there. Wearing rumpled clothes...or none at all.

"You're..."

Those bone-chilling thoughts finally brought her back to her senses and Aki pried her dying eyes open. Trying to keep her voice from shaking, she mumbled that she had forgotten something at home. Her refusal to look at him made her miss the concerned look on his face – being that he saw her abruptly become noticeably paler and look like she was about to faint – and, further, she didn't wait for his response and just turned and ran out of his house as fast as humanly possible. She sped home on her D-Wheel, miraculously without getting into any road accidents, and then in her room collapsed on her bed and cried until she felt like there were no tears left in the whole world.

It was then that Aki had come to a decision that this could no longer continue: she knew that she just couldn't go on waiting for Yusei and hoping that someday he'd return her affection. Rejection was always one of her most prominent fears and what she saw that day only confirmed to her that she was right to have had doubts all along. She just couldn't waste any more time than the two long and unbearable years that have already been wasted. It pained her but it was the right thing to do; it would only hurt her more in the long run if she kept waiting; wishing; dreaming.

But Aki couldn't bear to face him after what had happened and pretended to be sick for two weeks (although, technically, she was quite sick but emotionally). She had only seen Carly during the meanwhile, and she explained everything to her and Carly, who had always known about Aki's feelings, offered her support and comfort, just like she always did over this matter.

A much worse thing occurred when those two weeks had passed.

Exactly fourteen days since she saw Yusei Aki had her 18th birthday which she hoped everybody would forget about. But that didn't turn out like she hoped it would because, first, her parents congratulated her early in the morning (and this she didn't mind), and then Carly gave her a call, apologizing for being unable to stop by today. Aki was quite alright with the turn out and spent the rest of the day in her room, reading a textbook, until her mother knocked on her door in the evening and told her that there was somebody at the front door to see her. Surprised, Aki slapped the boring book shut and hurried downstairs, actually delighted that Carly had managed to make a trip here anyway.

To her greatest dismay it wasn't Carly that had come to see her. It was Yusei.

The raven-haired Signer donned his usual outfit with jeans, blue long-sleeved jacket, and a black t-shirt. He stood in the foyer of her house, his posture impeccable, and his expression as composed and unreadable as ever, and calmly looking up at her as she stood paralyzed at the top of the stairs. He was holding something behind his back, presumably his motorbike helmet. Aki's mother and family butler had inexplicably vanished and gave the two duellists the privacy Aki absolutely detested.

"Happy 18th, Aki. I know you've been sick for these past two weeks but I was worried about you being sick on your birthday so I decided to stop by. I hope that's okay," Yusei said, surprisingly verbose at this moment.

Aki was frozen in one spot, speechless, and her eyes wide. She was completely mortified. She wasn't ready to see him, she hasn't yet gotten her emotions under control, and she wasn't at all prepared for him aesthetically – she hadn't brushed her hair, she was wearing her comfortable home clothes, and she wasn't wearing any make up. She imagined she looked so gross that she involuntarily marvelled how he hadn't yet run away screaming.

"Um...th-thanks, Yusei," Aki finally managed to mumble, completely embarrassed, and put on a smile as she slowly began making her way towards him. All in the process she anxiously smoothed her hair and her clothes, trying to look a bit more presentable.

Yusei still stood motionless with his hands behind his back and waited for her to get closer.

When Aki finally neared him, she quickly glanced at his neck and with relief wasn't able to see any love bites. But she actually felt worse when she stopped looking – she realized that she was still desperately clinging to the hope that he would no longer be dating anybody else and that, instead, he would want to be with her.

"Happy birthday, Aki," Yusei repeated and with a smile presented her with a bouquet of red roses. It was quite large, to the point where it was astonishing how he managed to conceal all of it considering his rather slender frame.

A short breath escaped Aki's lips as she stared at the roses he was holding. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The arrangement itself was flawless, the light limonium greens playing up the contrast of the twenty four scarlet flowers that were bloomed to perfection to reveal the shade of most exquisite red wine. It was the colour of the most intimate passion, something she'd never known and would never know with the man presenting her with this gift. The sweet aroma of the roses reached her senses.

Aki's gaze turned glassy as her eyes began watering. This...this was just...cruel – why was he doing this? It was almost like he was oblivious to everything and didn't even realize how much seeing him all those days earlier impacted her! She dazedly reached out and accepted the bouquet from his hands, nodding with that fake smile and concentrating very hard on thinking about something else instead of the torture that was happening right in front of her. Her thoughts trailed off to the beach… sunset… ice cream… duel cards… her friends… Yusei… Yusei… Yusei, oh no, her thoughts always, always, returned to Yusei.

"And there is somebody I would like you to meet," Yusei continued and quickly ran outside to his D-Wheel, picked up a little bundle, and then came back just to carefully hand her a small black furred kitten with bright yellow eyes. "His name is Yami and he needs somebody to take care of him. Would you like to be that somebody?" he asked cheerfully. Light was dancing within the amazing oceans of his eyes and there was a bright smile on his lips.

If Aki had had the courage to meet his gaze right then she would have seen it. It, the absolute happiness radiating from him as he looked upon her.

But Aki didn't look. Instead, with her ripped heart sinking (drowning, suffocating) her eyes were fixed on the kitten and the roses, the most thoughtful and precious gifts of her entire life given to her by the man she loved; by the man who didn't (or couldn't?) love her in return. "Yami…" she whispered, petting the adorable little creature in her arms and hearing it purr. Her pulse was racing in the violent quarrel between her relentless affection and her incredulous pain. "Thank...you, Yusei," she said almost too quiet for him to hear. Her tears were clouding her vision now and so she inconspicuously nuzzled to the kitten in order to hide the evidence of her hurt.

Even if Yusei had noticed that something was off with her he really didn't attempt to do or say anything about it. At most it just appeared that he wasn't smiling as brightly as he did seconds ago.

"You're...welcome," he replied with a strange pause and then just stood there, staring at her.

A silence loomed over them.

Aki didn't know how long this agony would last and was praying for her parents to call her or for a phone to ring or anything at all to interrupt this. Her self control was holding by a thread. Was he being this cruel on purpose? Did he notice her slipping away earlier and decided to come over today just to keep her on his leash? Or was he doing this because he actually cared about her? Then wouldn't he realize that this is doing nothing but just making things worse? Or maybe, she suddenly thought, Maybe this is a sign of his friendship.

Aki shifted uncomfortably, stubbornly avoiding looking at him and now with her gaze randomly glued to his shoes. They were the same boots he usually wore – those brown motorcycle ones – but today they caught her eye in that they seemed...more brown than usual. Did that make any sense? After a few moments she realized what it actually was: they were thoroughly and carefully polished. There was usually some dust or motor oil on them – not that she cared, she actually always liked the fact that Yusei never seemed obsessed about his looks (unlike Jack who spent hours lovingly gazing at himself in the mirror) – but today his boots were impeccable, almost as if new from a box.

"Aki..."

Quietly astonished, Aki slowly began moving her gaze up from his shoes, finally noticing that the rest of his outfit was also utterly spotless; borderline wrinkle-free. He obviously took great care in his appearance before coming to see her today, for whatever mysterious reason.

When Aki lastly but hesitantly met his stare (praying that there was not a hint of tears in hers), she saw something strange. The cobalt blue eyes peering back at her were as thoughtful as they've always been but, this time...they were also somehow as clear as crystal.

The thing about Yusei was that he always seemed to be studying everything around him; always analyzing, always thinking. He never simply looked at something - he tended to almost cross-examine. She didn't know if he did it on purpose or without realizing it but he had, by far, the most intense gaze she had ever come across. He could be so intimidating sometimes. A single glance had the potential to make her feel so uncomfortable; so exposed. And it didn't make too much sense because Yusei once told her that he'd never judge her, that he'd always accept her... But now and then Aki couldn't shake off a paranoid feeling that he could somehow tell - just through a brief glimpse into her eyes - exactly what she was thinking about; like he could see every embarrassing image her mind conjured up of him...and her...of the two of them together. On the other hand, Aki could never tell what he was thinking about. They've been friends for a long time now and even then she could never guess, could never predict. Perhaps it was because him and her never became as close of friends as he was with Jack and Crow; but then again, nobody could come close to those guys' bond. Or maybe it was simply because he never tended to speak much and, when he did, he'd always try getting to the point in as fewer words as possible. The occasions when he was as talkative as, say, a "normal" person were not very frequent. He was also capable of lapsing into such long and thoughtful silences that they could probably make Socrates himself feel ashamed. So on top of occasional difficulty Aki felt just by having to keep eye contact with Yusei for longer than a couple of seconds, it was also a challenge to speak to him. Aki sometimes couldn't help but contrast just how much easier it was to talk to Crow - about any topic and concern (except about Yusei, of course) - because he was so open and carefree; it was rare for him not to have a big grin on his face and he had a great sense of humour. She never felt uncomfrotable around him and he was easy to be friends with...but Aki also knew that she never had sexual tension inhibit her behaviour around Crow, unlike how she had with Yusei.

Regardless, whatever the true reason for it was, Yusei Fudo remained an enigma to Aki, that impossibly deep sapphire of his eyes as fascinating to her as it was cloudy.

And Aki always knew that it were precisely his eyes that had first captured her. They simply burned into everything that commanded his attention. Aki recalled clearly how profoundly this calculating gaze of his had shaken her right before his and her duel in the Fortune Cup finals.* When she came face-to-face with him and when he was only known to her as the mysterious man from Satellite who bore a crimson symbol on his arm alike to hers. ("Fudo Yusei, that's his name," Divine told her earlier, "Competent duellist but he's still and always will be only Satellite scum." Divine spat the last word with such bitterness that it surprised Aki. It wasn't like him to care about social status. Aki knew she didn't: she came from the most privileged of backgrounds and she was still a freak of nature. Perhaps if, like this Yusei from Satellite, she bore a criminal marker on her face then people would fear her less; maybe it'd give them a greater reason to hate on her rather than be afraid of her. Aki didn't mind being disliked – it was the terror in people's eyes that drove her mad.) This Yusei Fudo – her next duel opponent – stopped in his tracks and regarded her as she, herself, stopped just a single pace away from him. Or, rather, his stare pierced into her and Aki felt as if he was somehow peering into the darkest centre of her heart – into all the hideousness she had hidden and desperately locked away – and it was overwhelming; it felt like she was violated. And then he spoke up - in that deep, calm and soothing voice - and asked her about her mark and why she considered it to be "wretched". Aki cringed and clung to that awful birthmark on her forearm, feeling only pain as it suddenly pulsated in new waves through every fibre of her being. Who was this Yusei Fudo really and why did he want to know this about her? Why did he even care? And why, god oh why, was he looking at her like this? She had never before felt so transparent, so forcibly open to someone, and aside from loathing she actually felt frightened. She wanted to scream, to push this man as far away from her as she could. Sometime after, Aki knew that Yusei was only trying to understand her, to see what was hurting her, to help her... But at that moment she felt only hostility, only the deepest hatred and fear of this man. Of this stranger who, for some unknown reason, tried to rip through the thorned fence surrounding her flawed heart and succeeded by nearly skinning her in the process. With just a single glance.

Because the day those haunting blue eyes had fixed upon hers, had studied her and read her for the first time, was the day they've become permanently imprinted in her soul.

But now, right now, his gaze wasn't burning into her. It didn't feel at all like he was trying to read her. Somehow, Aki felt like...like he was permitting her to read him. At this moment Yusei suddenly seemed open to her. She didn't think it was possible but he looked almost vulnerable.

Aki stared at him, trying to comprehend what it was she was seeing, but he didn't give any time for her interpretation to occur.

Because then the horrible thing happened, something that Aki could never have imagined.

Yusei embraced her.

This was the first hug that the two of them had ever shared. Aki remembered how she had often imagined what hugging Yusei would feel like – she always imagined that it would be warm and strong, that she would feel safe and secure in his arms, and that he would smell like a pleasant mix of cologne and probably car oil. Additionally, Aki always envisioned that his embrace would be intensely erotic.

She was right – he was warm and strong, and he smelled incredible with an inimitable mix of shampoo, cologne and garage works. But she was wrong about one thing – there was no way that she could interpret this highly anticipated event as sexy in any way. Aki was locked into her position and with her gifts cradled in her arms, staring blankly at the wall on the opposite side of the room. She frantically tried thinking of what to do or how to react. She felt like she had been stabbed – she wanted to feel him as close as this for so long and when this finally happened she wanted anything but. His touch burnt her skin like fire and his soft breath scalded her neck. His timing just couldn't possibly have been any worse.

She managed to release one of her hands and awkwardly patted his back. It was almost like she was saying "Aww, there, there".

Yusei hastily released her and took a large step back. Aki didn't get to catch his expression because he was already fastening his helmet and concealing his eyes behind the darkened glass.

"Have a good night, then. Take care of Yami and do come out to see us tomorrow, Aki," Yusei said and, without waiting for her reply, gave her a quick indifferent wave and departed. In seconds she was watching him mount his D-Wheel and speed back to the city.

The awkward and painful magic of her 18th birthday allowed Aki to reach a few very final conclusions: firstly, she accepted the fact that Yusei – even if he's not completely oblivious to her feelings – will not attempt to reciprocate. Secondly, she accepted that he most likely viewed her as his friend only and that he might not want to do anything that could potentially jeopardize their friendship. Thirdly, Aki concluded that she will not attempt to lose him as a friend just because she felt for him so much more than that. She knew that she could not bear losing him and that she'd much rather have him as a friend than not have him in her life at all. Thus, lastly, Aki concluded that she will do anything in her power to keep loving Yusei as a friend but that she will no longer keep loving him unconditionally as a man. No, not anymore.

When Aki came to see him and the whole gang the following day – as he had asked of her – everything was alright although a little awkward at first. But thankfully that passed quickly. What mattered was that they were all still together, and still duelling and joking around, but Yusei and Aki, in some sort of mutual understanding, never brought up what happened on her birthday. And Aki decided that this was completely okay. Gradually and quietly she began to pull away from the lead Signer, forcing herself to stop watching for his every move and to stop jumping with excitement whenever there was a chance to be near him. It was enough of that and she had to be strong. So, instead, Aki began turning her attention to other men and, notably, men that were outside of her circle of friends since, aside from Yusei, she was never interested in any of her guy friends.

And then, when in July she came to see Yusei on his 20th birthday, this emotional gap between them remained even though unnoticeable to everyone and including Yusei himself, it seemed. She still cared about him deeply, however, and so she put great care in picking out a gift for him which could possibly match his own thoughtfulness in presents. The necklace with the Eye of Horus wasn't what she thought she'd ever end up giving him but when she saw it on a display at the store she just had a feeling like this was...right, like this was what might be good for him. And then watching him accept her gift and wear it right away brought familiar joy to her, that pure happiness that she always experienced around him and which she had been trying to restrain for months now. She then instantly tried to suppress that surge of feelings by reminding herself that she simply could not continue being hung up on him.

And Aki knew that everybody (and possibly Yusei too), wanted her to stay and hang out but today, out of all of the days, she couldn't. As Aki walked away from all of them she had a distinct feeling that Yusei was watching her but she did not permit herself to look back:

She had a date with another man tonight, on Yusei's 20th birthday, and she couldn't allow for any possibility that Yusei could be able to read it in her now permanently disheartened eyes.

*That whole paragraph (except for the conversation between Aki and Divine) is describing the scene in the episode 23 of anime (and my own emo interpretation) when Yusei and Aki were walking down different hallways and then abruptly met up, and had this whole staring contest going. It was really hot...

After chapter rant: Ooooooooh, drama!...well, kind of. But stay tuned for the next chapter which promises to be much more action oriented rather than just thoughts, feelings and rainbows!

So next chapter, will we find out who Aki goes on a date with? Will we find out what exactly happened to Yusei when an Egyptian god card was revealed to him? Will Yusei find out about Aki's date? Will a villain of the story make his first appearance? WILL CROW FINALLY GET LAID (joking...he already did *wink wink*)?

Stay tuned and you (might) find out!