Author's Note:

Here is Chapter 10 of "The Kingdom [be]Comes"!

A few updates to previous chapters: so I decided to add a small quote from various people/movies/books/songs etc., at the beginning of each chapter. The quote either summarizes the general idea of the chapter or reinforces the message (if there is one). So each chapter now has a quote (right after the Author's Note) right at the beginning.

Okay, now about Chapter 10: the beginning may seem quite a bit random and unrelated to anything but I wanted to flesh out a few characters and add some character development and conflicts for future chapters. Also, some humour because the rest of the chapter is kind of angsty.

Huge thanks to Gemini Chaos, FanficFemale, MoonlightLotus18, and Fabrefan for being so awesome.

Thank you for all your thoughts, ideas, reviews, concerns, questions.

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

NineInchNailed.

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

~Winston Churchill.

It was closer to 4am that Crow stumbled out of 24/7 coffee place, exhausted but cheerful. Sometime after cranky Yusei and Aki left together Crow got a phone call from Sherry LeBlanc who, having just arrived back to Japan, was inviting everybody to go out with her to a lounge.

"I miss you all so much, can we hangout right now? We have a lot to catch up on," she said over the phone.

After sending off the underage (and very disappointed) twins home, the age appropriate group (minus Ushio and Mikage) went to Blanche, a lounge chain based in France and which incorporated Renaissance and Medieval themes. No wonder Sherry liked this place enough to suggest it. Or maybe it was because she was this place's co-founder. Crow also texted Saiga to come, as the fellow engineer spent most of his time helping Martha around the orphanage, and appreciated getting included into evening hangouts with Team 5D's.

"You made it, guys," Sherry smiled, getting up to give them hugs. The stunning blonde wore a dangerously low white corset which revealed her ample cleavage, a pair of skintight jeans and a pair of white high heeled pumps. She looked like a million dollars, as always.

"And these are my friends from France – they tagged along for a road trip when they found out I was visiting Japan," she said, pointing to a bunch of bored people who took up half of the VIP booth: "This is Dominique, Pierre, Richard, Mirabelle, Gerard and Depardieu. I'm afraid they don't speak a word of Japanese."

"Great!" Saiga and Crow cheered as they ogled the two French girls.

They all sat down and Sherry gestured at the numerous martinis and pitchers of beer. "Eh?" the blonde gasped when Crow refused the drinks, "You don't drink? How can it be?"

"Don't drink and drive, remember?" Crow grinned and winked at her. Saiga and Carly, meanwhile, jumped at the free opportunity.

After some binge-drinking time had passed, Sherry slowly asked, "So…why didn't Yusei come?" Her tone of voice betrayed the casualty she was trying to convey - it was obvious that this question's been eating at her ever since they walked in. "I've called him a few times and he didn't pick up… I take it he doesn't want to see me."

"He's busy today, that's all," Jack said and Crow nodded, watching a group of dancing girls in sexy dresses with drool coming out of his mouth.

"I see…oh, what about Bruno and Izayoi Aki why aren't they there?" Sherry continued asking unceremoniously.

"Bruno just sort of comes and goes now that the four of us are no longer living at the Poppo Time garage," Jack was the one to reply again. "And Aki left somewhere with Yusei."

"Oh, I see…" Sherry mumbled, taking a sip of her martini. She paused for good measure and then asked, as casual as ever: "So are Yusei and Izayoi Aki out together now? They seemed close. Not that I care, of course."

Jack sighed. Crow smacked a hand over his forehead, paused, and then tried: "No, Sherry, no, they're not. They're still just friends."

"Okay," Sherry smirked as she stared off into the distance. She then downed the rest of her martini and grabbed one of her girlfriends, pulling her to the dance floor.

"Seriously, does every girl we know want to sleep with Yusei?" Crow complained when Sherry was nowhere to be seen.

"Fuck if I know!" Jack retorted.

"Whoa, a scoop! …Sherry-san likes Yusei? Tell, tell, tell! What happened? Is that why he doesn't want to see her? Did something happen between them?" Carly asked rapidly, eagerly sipping at her green apple martini.

"No," the two Signers quickly answered in unison, exchanging a knowing look.

"Okay, anyway," Saiga said, orienting back to Crow's topic. "We only know like…five girls…so I dunno man… Why do you care though…are you jealous or somethin'?" He gulped down his fourth glass of beer.

"Yeah, kind of, actually! I mean he's got all these gorgeous girls constantly drooling for him…I mean, who wouldn't want that? I mean…what does he have that I don't? Is it his complete asexuality? Guy is my best friend but even I know that he'd prefer a motorcycle over a girlfriend, any day. So is that what appeals to women nowadays or something?" Crow muttered while thoughtfully looking over at the only French girl left at the table.

"Fuck if I know!" Jack repeated.

"M-maybe it's because he wears short-sleeved shirts more often than you do…so that…shows his arms or somethin'…and he wears blue and that compliments his eyes…or somethin'…" Saiga slurred.

"How does that even make any sense?" Crow snapped, "What the hell is that?"

"Ugh, you guys are so clueless!" Carly blurted out drunkenly, still apparently eavesdropping on their discussion and apparently having forgotten all about her earlier questions about Sherry. Her glasses were a bit crooked and her bra strap was hanging off her shoulder as she leaned over the table. "You guys just don't get women! It's all so obvious! Like, for one, Yusei is super smart and like hands-on and stuff? And kind of like a bad boy but with a heart of gold? Confident and stuff? And, like, the fact that he's good-looking doesn't hurt his chances."

Jack glared at Carly with the most annoyed expression in the world. Carly, noticing it and quickly catching herself, quickly added with a bright blush on her face: "Not like I think Yusei is attractive at all. Atlas-sama is the only one I could ever like!"

"Hmph," Jack looked away, folding his arms.

"Hey, what the…what, are you saying that I don't have all that?" Crow protested, thrusting his thumb at his chest, "I, Crow-sama, have all of that and more! Especially the bad boy part, the confidence, heart of gold and the good looks!"

Jack snorted, loudly, and Crow smacked him in the back of his head, "Shut up!"

"Did you just hit me – Jack Atlas!?" the former King shouted, scrambling up to his feet.

"That's what you get for making fun of me!" Crow snarled in return.

The two of them stood growling at each other when Sherry suddenly returned and pushed them apart. Surprisingly, for such a slim and beautiful woman, Sherry was remarkably strong. "Break it up, you two, you're drawing attention. What did you get so wound up about anyway?"

"Nothing," Crow muttered, grimacing at Jack, and sat back down. Jack followed suit, sitting down next to Carly, and folded his arms, looking pissed.

Sherry sighed, took a place next to her other friends and all of them began jittering in French while drinking their martinis and cocktails.

Some more time had passed with occasional conversations, dancing and non-stop drinking for everybody but for Crow and Jack. Saiga, having drunk even more so, noticed Crow still staring at the snobby-looking girl at the table and leaned over to mumble into his ear, "Okay, man…why don't you just try out that "aloof-unattainable-heart of gold"-Yusei approach and see how it goes? I mean…what do you have to lose?"

It was extraordinary how much more sense Saiga made when he was out-of-his-mind wasted versus when he was a little tipsy.

"Okay, you know what? You're right! Why the hell not?" Crow nodded and shoved Saiga out of his way so he could slide over and sit next to the French girl. For the life of him he could not remember her name.

"Uhh…hi! Um…jamay-pelle Crow," he spoke in broken French the only expression he knew. "Uhh…and…uhh…and you?" he asked, awkwardly gesturing some made-up sign language to her.

The French girl looked at him for the first time from under her black framed glasses, and then raised her chin, looking away. "Enchanté," she mumbled, looking bored and annoyed.

"Ashanti? Your name is Ashanti? What a pretty name!" Crow exclaimed.

Carly, Saiga and Jack burst out laughing while Sherry flipped her long blonde hair and said, "Don't even bother, Crow. Let's just say you're not her type."

Crow thought for a second and then decided that it was time to apply Saiga's advice in action. He changed his facial expression to a grave frown and then seriously exclaimed: "Damn it, Sherry! You've got to pull yourself together! Or have you not heard about our new enemy? I was trying to let your friend aware of the potential danger of being here in Neo Domino. The more every single one of us knows of the danger…the more there is a chance of surviving this... together." Crow then thoughtfully looked somewhere far off, into the distance, and added sadly, "Sometimes… sometimes there's just no time left for anything. Not even love … when the fate of the world rests on your shoulders."

"Oh, Crow…" Sherry whispered, reaching out to touch his shoulder, "I didn't know…you have to tell us everything." She then turned to her friend and quickly translated what he had just said.

Thirty minutes later, when Carly was passed out over Jack's lap and Sherry and her French friends were bored of lounging, Crow and Ashanti began making out in the darkest corner of the booth. There were some slobbery sounds.

"I can't believe that worked," Saiga mumbled, now mostly sobered-up, while watching the make-out session in front of him with a combination of disgust and fascination.

"Believe me, that generally works," Jack retorted, the obvious expert on the 'aloof-and-unattainable' method, and stood up, pulling unconscious Carly with him. "We're leaving. Keep in touch if something comes up. It was nice to see you, Sherry."

"It's time to leave anyway, this place closes at 3," Sherry yawned and got up as well. "We'll keep an eye out for those strange duels but let's hope that the whole thing just blew over. It was nice to see you, guys."

Crow and Ashanti ended up going to a 24/7 coffee place across the street to resume their silent making out and it was around 4am that Crow decided that it was time to call it a day.

"You are so great, Ashanti…hey, if you want to continue this further, especially today, then I'm totally up for that. What do you say?" Crow was asking as he was holding the French girl's hand, his face flushed and grinning.

The girl just smiled at him, pulled out a pen and doodled her phone number on his hand, not before leaning up to kiss him on his cheek, "Au revoir, mon chéri. On s'appelle."

"Totally," Crow said, having no idea what she just said but her phone number was a good indication.

They parted ways after Crow suggested – by awkward signing – that he could drive her to her hotel but she refused, opting for a cab instead. Humming happily because he had gotten to second base today (and completely unplanned too!) Crow walked, almost skipping, to where he parked his D-Wheel. When he finally got there, he was stopped dead on his tracks: there was somebody waiting for him.

It was a very pale tall man, appearing to be in his early twenties, wearing baggy gray clothes. His tousled white hair almost blended in with his skin and further accented the man's dark, almost black, eyes. The part that probably astonished Crow the most was the fact that this guy was leaning against Crow's D-Wheel like it was his business!

"Yo, what the hell? What are you doing with my D-Wheel? Who are you?" Crow shouted.

"Two days ago, a servant of an Egyptian God - The Sky Dragon of Osiris - took flight for the first time in 28 years. I'm on a mission to find out who it is that summoned it and if the Great Pharaoh has returned to the land of the living to restore the Great Balance," the man said, his voice very low and strangely disinterested. "Now, the word on the street is that the famous Team 5D's and their sidekicks has been quite involved in this subject matter: since you are an important member of 5D's, Hogan Crow, then you probably know who the current owner of the God card is. Why don't you tell me who it is so I can be on my way?"

Crow gritted his teeth. There was no way he was going to give out Yusei to whoever was serving Set. And he also wasn't going to let him go without a fight.

"What makes you think that I would tell you anything at all? Who do you think I am? And I won't let you go through me without a duel. Why not show me what this awesome power of Set is all about?" Crow provoked.

The pale guy waved his hand at him. "I'm not very interested in wasting my time. This isn't what my mission is about. Why don't you just wait until some suicidal and bitter kid comes after you? If people are given the means of achieving their revenge, no matter how petty the cause, then there will always be someone coming after every single one of you. You might as well come to terms that Neo Domino will destroy itself, one way or another, this day or the next, and that there isn't much any of you can do about it. Set is just giving people the freedom they always wanted. He's making this world right. He will become the God of Kingdom Come. The new world order."

"What is it that you're rumbling on about? You want a reason to duel me? Fine! How about this?" Crow asked, pulling the Sky Dragon of Osiris card out of his pocket and showing it to him. "I summoned this dragon that day. Now, do you want to duel me for this card so I can kick your brainwashed ass?"

The strange guy stared at the red God card in his hand, then glanced back at Crow's face, and a wide grin crossed his features, "Ah, yes. I am interested now." The guy then moved away from Crow's D-Wheel and activated his duel disk, "This won't be a Riding Duel, Hogan Crow, so pick up your duel disk."

Crow mixed the God card into his Black Feather-based deck and approached his D-Wheel, equipping the duel disk onto his arm. "You seem to be quite acquainted with me. Is there something I should call you besides You-Brainwashed-Son-of-a-Bitch?"

"Since it's such an honour to finally meet the Chosen One I think it's only proper that I should introduce myself: you may call me Mahdi," the man responded.

"Alright, Mahdi. Let's duel!" Crow exclaimed.

"Duel," Mahdi smiled, pulling out a knife and digging it into his arm.

Yusei woke up exactly at 6am due to the obnoxious ringing of his alarm clock, which he'd forgotten to turn off. Needless to say he didn't get much sleep tonight, not even for the three short hours. After the evening with Aki, his mind and his heart would not stop racing. He was haunted by the physical memories: the touch of her lips, the taste of her kiss, the trembling of her hands…the warmth of her breath…as it hitched and mixed with his own…the single, elusive, soft moan when he pressed her against the wall…the arch of her body against him… He had been tossing and turning all night, feeling fevered, recalling and living through it all, over and over again. Fantasies and veiled desires, wide awake and sweltering within each cell. They had all tangled and pulsed into reality. And it was kissing, only just kissing…and yet…

Like a slow and bewildered zombie he finally sat up and smacked the stupid alarm off. Then he headed to take a cold shower, the shock of which helped regulate him (mostly) back to normal. And, when it couldn't remove the full heat of what he'd felt, he'd taken matters into his own hands.

Eventually, after about thirty minutes, he was on his way – driving to Crow's house through the empty, early morning streets of Neo Domino.

While driving Yusei had to admit to himself that, regretfully, when he discovered that the Egyptian God card was missing that the first person he suspected was actually Aki. After assuring him that he wasn't burdened alone and that she would be there for him, what better way to prove this to him than by taking away the one thing that singled him out for this battle?

And then it occurred to him that there was one other person that also thought about it that way: Crow. Especially after what he'd said to him yesterday, no matter how harsh and asshole-ish. And especially after Crow confessed, during Yusei's and Rutger's lethal duel, how the only fate that matters for all of them is being Signers and friends together. "As friends we must take care of one another…that's always been your motto, he recalled the fellow Signer's words.

Then followed by that awkward and out-of-nowhere hug and the mysterious, "You'll thank me for this later." Since Crow had been an accomplished thief once upon a time he had certainly acquired some quick and subtle skills. Although Yusei wasn't quite sure why Crow had taken Osiris' dragon, he at least knew that his intent wasn't malicious. However, it didn't make it any less stupid.

Yusei arrived at Crow's building a quarter to seven and impatiently knocked on his apartment's door. This was around the time that the Signer was up and getting ready to do his deliveries. However, it appeared that today he was taking his sweet time waking up.

"Crow, it's Yusei – open up," he called, twisting the doorknob just in case but the door was locked up. So Crow wasn't home? Did he leave early or did he not come home today at all? Either way this was strange.

Yusei moved away, trying to think of where Crow could possibly be when suddenly there was a bright ache in his right arm. He looked down and saw the red illumination of his Signer birthmark and it was the reason why Crow wasn't home: there was trouble.

At the very same time Aki sat up sharply on her bed, abruptly awakened by the burning mark of the Crimson Dragon, and grabbed her arm. Crow, she thought instantly.

Yusei raced to where he sensed Crow was with what seemed to be the speed of light. Why is the Crimson Dragon birthmark acting up now? he was thinking. If Crow is in one of those sacrificial duels then why didn't the birthmark react when Aki and I were in those duels? Could it be that there is something worse happening to him?

It was then that he noticed the pale morning sun becoming blocked by unusually heavy thunderstorm clouds. There was earsplitting and repetitive thunder on the distance, followed by rapid flashes of lightning in the abruptly darkened sky. Oh no, no, he thought anxiously and pushed his D-Wheel further to its limit. Tell me you didn't, Crow.

The Signer mark led him to a parking lot behind a downtown lounge named "Blanche." Nearly a kilometre away he could already see the colossal scarlet seal of Sutekh Sacrificō, the sacrifice to the God of Chaos achieved through the means of unwinnable duel.

"Crow!" Yusei called out once he practically jumped off his D-Wheel and ran up to the boundary of the seal. "Crow! What's happened?"

Crow was looking up at the dark sky and its dangerously low storm clouds, and his pale opponent was doing the same. Crow was at 1200 Life Points and he had a monster on the field – Blackwing Syrocco the Dawn (ATK2000/DEF900) – and two facedown cards; his bleeding opponent was at 200 Life Points and had La Magra equipped with Drain Leach magic card (ATK6800/DEF3000), and no facedown cards on the field.

"Yusei!" Crow winced and faced him. "Yusei, I'll explain everything... I took the card only because I wanted to teach you a lesson but this asshole here just had to challenge me to a duel! But once Osiris appears this will be over and we'll talk."

Yusei's left bicep began to ache and he clutched at his arm. He felt the wetness of his jacket, knowing that the mysterious mark of Osiris was bleeding again. At the same time, it didn't actually hurt as much as it did the times he first saw the card or when he summoned it in a duel against Takashi. In fact, it was practically painless.

Yusei then looked up at the sky and realized that the divine dragon should have shown up by now. Instead, the flashes of lighting became more rapid and violent and were at this point dangerously and unsystematically hitting different patches on the ground.

"Um…what's going on? Why isn't it coming?" Crow muttered, now severely apprehensive of the strokes of lightning slamming into the ground.

Yusei shook his head, finding no words.

"Oh my…it looks like the Egyptian God isn't obeying you!" his opponent shouted and laughed loudly. "Maybe it's time you've decided on a different strategy because it looks like the Dragon of Osiris has found its master but that master isn't you!"

"Shut up, Mahdi!" Crow retorted boldly but his facial expression betrayed him, displaying his actual anxiety.

"This doesn't look good, Crow. You must get out of there. Now," Yusei advised, extremely worried, while glancing from the sky to his friend who was in immediate danger.

"I can't get out unless the duel is over, remember?" Crow reminded him.

"Crow! Yusei! What's happening?" Aki screamed having just arrived at the scene. Right behind her the car with Rua, Ruka, Ushio and Mikage drove up as well, followed by Jack and Carly. Aki let her D-Wheel drop to the ground, uncaringly, as she rushed to Yusei's side.

Yusei looked away from the increasingly dangerous situation and as he set his eyes upon Aki, for a brief second, he had forgotten about everything. His face felt hot as memories of touching her, kissing her, holding her, stirred from within his heart. His pulse began racing. She wasn't looking at him, her concerned amber eyes were focused towards the rambling dark sky. He studied her as she nearly radiated all that was good, all which held potential for impossible happiness. It was a moment of deep insanity. A moment of destiny.

Yusei looked away and he was back within the dire, horrible reality now. And he felt unforgivable guilt for having escaped it, for having abandoned everything, for having lived an instant so selfishly, and for having betrayed Crow like this.

"Set is up and running again and inspired someone to take down Crow. Crow took possession of the Sky Dragon of Osiris," Yusei finally managed to brief Aki and the rest of the gang that just approached them.

"Crow, watch out!" Rua yelled and Crow narrowly escaped a lightning strike which just slammed into the ground where he was standing.

"What made you think that you have the power to control a God," the guy named Mahdi was still laughing, ranting on and on nonsensically. "What made you think you're entitled to such power? What made you think you were the Chosen One?"

And then, for a moment, everything felt like it was in slow motion.

Crow turned to look back at Yusei and gave him a small smile. It was as if his eyes were saying, Don't worry, man, everything will be alright.

And then a bright flash of lightning struck the ground exactly where Crow was standing.

"No!" Yusei screamed, fists punching at the barrier of the crimson seal, which was equivalent to hitting a brick wall.

"Crow! Crow! Crow!" everyone else was screaming. Cries resounding.

The deafening roar of the Sky Dragon of Osiris, the divine Egyptian beast, blocked out the rolling sounds of thunder and signified its disappearance. Seconds later the clouds cleared out revealing the blue, sun-lit sky.

Crow was lying on the ground, motionless. The tall pale guy named Mahdi was still standing, unharmed by Osiris' dragon's sudden retaliation. "It appears as if I had won…" he smirked. "It's time that Set collects this blood offering."

"No, back off! Don't you dare lay a finger on him!" Yusei shouted.

"If you touch him you won't leave this duel alive, you son of a bitch! I'll break both your legs!" Jack yelled.

"Please don't hurt Crow!" Rua and Ruka cried.

Mahdi ignored their pleas completely. He began approaching Crow's immobile body and just before the Solid Vision of all the monsters on the field began to disintegrate, Aki screamed: "No, stop! The duel isn't over yet."

Mahdi stopped and glanced at her. "Yes, yes it is," he said, looking perplexed by her outburst. "A duel is over when one of us loses. He's unconscious. He can't duel. He loses by default."

"No, he withdraws from the game. The duel can then commence another time!" Aki insisted.

Yusei stared at her, astonished. She was fighting for what she believed in, no matter what.

"Stupid girl," Mahdi sighed, shaking his head. La Magra and the rest of the cards on the field began disappearing into thin air.

There was no way Aki was going to let anything happen to any of her friends. She had to try something. Anything. She stared at Blackwing Syrocco the Dawn, the remaining monster on Crow's field, and willed it, forced it to move, to attack. It was absurd, it was impossible but…she had to. She had never done this before, affected and materialized a monster without playing it herself, but she had to try. If anyone could try and succeed at something like this, it was her. Please, move. Move. Move! she was concentrating intensely, a headache awakening and beginning to overwhelm her.

Everybody gasped when the disappearing Blackwing Syrocco the Dawn suddenly moved and materialized, rushing into a direct attack against the Crow's bleeding opponent, completely outside of the duel rules.

"Aki, how are you-" Yusei began but he was unable to finish the sentence. He looked at her, completely dumbfounded.

"What the fuck?" Mahdi looked up to see Blackwing Syrocco the Dawn flying at him and, a second later, the monster smashed into him and threw him back like a rag doll from an overwhelming physical attack. As he hit the ground, unconscious now, the sacrificial seal had vaporized as if it was never there before.

Everyone rushed towards Crow, trying to awaken him. Aki had stayed back, panting. Lightheaded and weak. "That was…too much…" she whispered breathlessly. A gray haze stretched over her field of vision, ringing drowned out the sounds in her ears. She stumbled back and lost her balance. No one else had noticed except for Yusei, who remained by her side. He quickly stepped in and caught her.

"Aki? Aki?" he called, worriedly, and lowered to one knee, one arm cradled around her shoulders. Eyes closed, her head rolled into the nook of his arm. Her face was very pale and it alarmed him. He peeled off his glove and touched the back of his hand to her cheek, feeling its abrupt coolness.

Then slowly her eyes opened and she looked up at him.

"Yusei…"

"Aki, are you okay?"

"Yeah…I think so," she nodded lightly, blinking away blurry vision until it cleared. "Did I…did I do it?"

"I don't know how but you did," he said. "Are you sure you're okay? You had fallen."

"Yeah, let's just hope I never have to do that again," she murmured. She could taste a faint taste of copper in her mouth and decided not to mention it. She smiled lightly at him, silently wishing to be held forever like this. And Yusei wished for the same thing, no matter how selfish it was at this very moment, no matter how unethical.

The Emergency sirens brought them out of their still daze. He returned her a quick smile and helped her back up to her feet and then both of them rushed to tend to Crow, joining others. Nobody noticed their minute of intimacy. Meanwhile, the Emergency crew arrived at the scene (apparently Ushio and Mikage called for it right away) and hurried to help get Crow and Mahdi to the nearest ER as soon as humanly possible.

After four long and agonizing hours of waiting room hell, all of them were called into Crow's recovery room.

"He's stable but…he's in a coma. I'm afraid that there isn't anything we can do. He may come out in a couple of hours, days or maybe even weeks…" the doctor informed them gravely.

Yusei closed his eyes, feeling burning pain within them. Crow…why…why would you do this? What were you trying to do? Were you aware of the risks? Were you trying to protect me? How could you do this?

Ruka and Carly began to cry while Rua, Ushio and Aki were more discreetly wiping at their tears. They knew he was alive but not knowing when he'd be back to normal? Not knowing how long it'd be?

Jack remained stoic but the most perceptible of them could have noticed his clenched, shaking fists.

"The other man brought in is also stable…And he should come to in a couple of hours," the doctor finished and politely left the room.

"Let's give them some privacy," Aki whispered and ushered the gang out of the room so that only Jack and Yusei could remain with Crow. The three of them, friends until the end.

The two of Team Satisfaction sat down by the hospital bed and silently watched Crow's vitals and heart monitor.

It felt like eternity before Yusei exited the recovery room. His azure blue eyes looked dead, his face insipid. Without looking at all his friends lounging outside of the room (and not even noticing that they were joined by Saiga and Bruno, whom he hasn't seen in over a month), he went right across the hallway and practically slammed the door open to Mahdi's room. He needed to get to the bottom of this. He needed to find out what Mahdi knows. He needed somebody to pay for what happened to Crow. The two nurses in that room gasped and hurried to usher him out, "Please, sir, this man needs his rest. He's still unconscious and he needs to recover. We'll call you when he's awake."

"Um…Yusei…we have more bad news," Ushio informed him once he was kicked out of Mahdi's room. "Since Crow's accident there had been thirty more reported duels. No survivors. The Investigation Bureau is doing their best to prevent these duels but, so far, no success. There will be an announcement tonight. The city might go under martial law if these rates continue."

Yusei looked down and touched a hand to his forehead, trying to bring himself out of a hopeless fog that began spreading before his eyes. Hate began pumping bitter blood within his veins. If he were to find Set, he would make him pay for all the pain, suffering and death he had caused.

"What now?" Jack asked him.

"What should we do?" Rua joined in.

"Yusei, what do you think?" somebody else asked.

"Yusei…" Mikage and Ruka started saying.

The captain of Team 5D's looked up, seeing everyone staring at him. Waiting for him to make some decision, the way he always did. Waiting to do something.

These were the natural expectations. He had to decide. He had to lead them. He had to harden and he had to stop feeling the devastation that had settled-in deeply. Thirty deaths in the city as of this morning, not counting all the others from before… And they were now one Signer short. Crow, his best friend, and who the doctors said may not awake for a long, long time.

What do we do? What can we do? he tried to think, as his next breath was suddenly too short. His throat suddenly too small.

"So, I guess we can just wait for a bit," Ushio mumbled. "Grab something to eat."

Yusei hung his head down, hair concealing his eyes. "I need to be alone right now," he managed and turned, walking away from all of them. Disconnecting.

He somehow ended up in an empty dark recovery room. He didn't know how long he had walked or how far. He was still gasping for air, somehow unable to get just enough into his lungs. Heart beating hard and fast. Was he sick? Was he about to get a heart attack? What was happening to him? He pressed a hand against the wall for support, a hand which formed into a fist. There was hopelessness here, hollow and horrible. Everything broken, everything irreparable, everything-

"Yusei…" a quiet feminine voice sounded and he glanced back to see Aki standing in the doorway. A ray of light coming through the hallway into this empty room.

He looked away, focusing his eyes somewhere on the ground.

Aki sheepishly closed the door behind her, letting the darkness settle back in. "I don't think you should be alone right now, Yusei."

"Aki, I…I don't…"

"Sorry?"

"I…" he tried and failed. She saw his shoulders slouch. Aki. I can't breathe.

"Yusei?"

She never got to ask anything else because suddenly he turned and crossed the distance between them. Her back was against the door, his arms around her, and his face buried into her hair. He had hugged her, tight.

Surprised, Aki tried to catch his eyes but his expression was hidden. She could only see over his shoulder, feel his winded breath on her neck.

"Yusei, it's…" It's okay. She embraced him, arms crossed over his back. "It will be okay."

She felt him pull back a bit and turned her head to see if she could lock eye contact this time. But instead, her own eyes widened when she felt his lips press against her cheek.

"Yusei…" she whispered, hands moving to touch his neck. And she didn't know who had initiated it but the next kiss was on the lips and it was light, lingering. She reciprocated but it wasn't over. His hands – previously on her upper back – moved to her waist. He pulled her closer and parted his lips, deepening the kiss, causing the softest of moans to escape her. And now they were back to the night before, with his body plastered against her own, his hands beginning to wander over her, and somehow more daring, more familiar than during their first session, and she let him, she'd let him touch her anywhere he (she) wanted, she wanted him to-

But it had all suddenly changed. He let out a little gasp into their kiss – subtle, strangled – and abruptly he had broken away. He slid down to his knees in front of her and embraced her stomach. She looked down, worried and somewhat stupefied, and heard him whisper: "Aki… Aki, I just don't know what to do. Sometimes I don't know if there is anything at all I can do. Aki, oh God." He began to shudder.

"Shhh…shhh…" Aki dropped to the ground, embracing him, and gently began stroking his hair. Yusei buried his face in her lap, giving in to her comfort and refusing to let his tears be seen.

Aww…so sad - poor Crow and poor Yusei. I hope everything works out. Also, Yusei and Aki are now even closer to doing it, yaaaaaaay: because what better way to heal pain than to find comfort in each other…

So for next Chapter: Will Crow awaken from coma? Or will he die (!)? Will that random new character Mahdi tell them anything useful? Will the gang be able to stop any duels? Is the city going to die out? Will Yusei pull himself together or will he give up? Will Aki help him make up his mind by offering to get it on with him (lol)?

Stay tuned and you (might) find out!