Chapter 40
(filler between episodes 130 and 131)
Part I
The dawn in Neo Domino city was yet to welcome the sun on the horizon and everyone in Poppo Time was still asleep while Yusei was making his escape. At least that's what he thought – he would just sneak out before someone wakes up. Unlucky for him, Jack was already there, drinking his morning coffee, giving Yusei a hard time to just leave like that. And to make it even worse, Crow just got up to keep Jack company because they agreed to help Hanako around.
"You can't be serious!" Jack exclaimed, hearing the idea Yusei had in mind about leaving Neo Domino to visit Martha's orphanage.
"Our final duel against Team New World is in two days!" Crow joined their discussion, protesting by Jack's side against Yusei's plans.
"I have to go!" Despite their protests, their raven-haired friend was persistent, calmly finishing the check-up on his engine before turning it on to test if everything was okay. "Answers to unlocking Hanako's memories lie in that house".
"How can you be so sure about it?"
"I just know it", he replied to Crow's suspicions, acting as if he knew exactly what he was doing. It seemed almost as if a call from the future came to tell him what he needed to do. Either that, or his Heart suddenly woke up from a deep slumber, understanding that it was time to act.
"You've gone completely nuts!" Jack noticed, taking another sip of his coffee with his eyes closed, enjoying the taste in his mouth, and not looking much bothered about Yusei's idea, at least he didn't show it or have it as expressed as Crow did.
"Maybe", Yusei answered, dragging his runner outside of the Poppo Time garage, "Keep an eye on her and make sure nothing happens to her until I'm back!"
"What could possibly happen to her with us?" Crow raised an eyebrow at Yusei's command, watching him drive off into the city, soon disappearing from view.
"I don't think he trusts us much", Jack's voice just came out of nowhere as he took another sip of his coffee.
"I think the real question is whether he trusts his own self..."
* * *
After his journey to Satellite, Yusei found himself in Martha's orphanage, sitting at the table, and drinking some warm coffee she had prepared for him while kids were playing outside with his duel runner under the strict surveillance of Martha's sight.
"I came in search for the answers", Yusei explained briefly, while his eyes were focused on the mug, staring at the blackness of his coffee, and not finding comfort in it as he used to. The sight of the darkness reminded him of the void that swallowed Sherry and Hanako that day in the shuttle, and nothing was ever the same afterwards. How was he supposed to live freely and calmly, when everything around him was reminding him of how much he had messed up?
"My dear Yusei", Martha managed to let the kids go and move her eyes to Yusei, showing a lot of affection in her words that even her voice smiled. She knew she had to pull Yusei out of his deep thoughts because they must have been as black as the coffee he was drinking, "Only you can make her remember because you're the only one she has no memories of..."
"She told me the same..."
"She did...?"
"Yes", he confirmed with a nod after seeing Martha get confused for a moment. He then moved his eyes to Martha just to give her enough attention for such a heavy topic that crawled into their conversation, "We met in her memories... In her nightmare". He hesitated a little at first, realising how crazy and insane that sounded when he said it out loud but Martha didn't seem to be bothered by his senseless experience, "I had a dream about her being trapped..."
"And what happened in that dream?"
"I kissed her".
Silence stroke like lightning. It felt almost as if memories of that nightmare kept chasing him like he was a refugee who had escaped their prison, their dark realm of torture... They felt so real, he could still feel the goose bumps on his skin when he would try to recall the softness of Hanako's lips and the way their kiss tasted; he could still see the fear in her eyes, the tears she shed before waking him up... The entire experience was so thrilling, his body would be drugged with adrenaline every time he'd recall those moments; and for some reason, he kept doing it over and over again.
"And she responded?" Martha asked to bring Yusei back to reality but also because she wished his feelings were reciprocated. It was more than just sheer curiosity. A woman her age already had a decent amount of experience and intuitive sense to know things but having that skill came with a lot of consequences, and one of them was drowning her in curiosity, leaving the need to feed it before it could get hungry again.
"With all her body and soul!"
"You know, Yusei", she responded still with a smile on her face, "Dreams are sometimes just a reflection of our inner state. If it was your dream, only you know what that kiss represents".
"What do you mean?"
"Dreams usually show you how you feel and what you desire", she started explaining, noticing by his facial expression that he wasn't really supporting her theory, "In this case, it is your love for Hanako and the wish for her to reciprocate that love".
"And what if... it wasn't just a dream?" He whispered, letting those words float between them. No matter how crazy or senseless they were at that point, somehow, he still believed what he saw was real. It felt like a dream at first but it was so much more than that, it must be...
His thoughts took him to the past, back to the scrap-metal junkyard where he was looking for spare parts for his runner. It was also one of those days he wanted to be alone and think about his life in Satellite and the meaning of existence.
But his thoughts were soon interrupted when his eyes landed on a duel monsters card lying in between the picked junk. His hands reached out for the card, seeing it was worn out and used but not ripped or highly damaged. After flipping it around, Yusei's eyes widened when he read the name of the card - Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier.
He knew very well this card would make Hanako happy and his lips curled into a smile at that realisation. He quickly picked up his stuff and headed back home, talking to Hanako about what he encountered that day at the junkyard.
"Wow, you really found it at the junkyard?" Her face couldn't hide the surprise that was mixed with excitement while she was holding the dragon card in front of her eyes.
"Mhm", Yusei nodded, slowly imitating her reaction and forming his lips into a smile. "You can keep it".
After that confirmation, a silence appeared between them as Hanako moved her eyes towards Yusei, not knowing what to say. She only gave him that gaze of approval as if wishing for him to confirm his statement just to make her ears believe she heard it well in the first place.
"It's all yours".
"Yusei", she stumbled while trying to pronounce his name through a half-dry throat, gulping just to make it easier for her body to process what she was about to say, "I-I don't know what to say..."
"There's no need to", he confirmed, getting up from her bed and shrugging with a smirk, "You said you wanted to build your own deck... I just thought this card seemed like a good starting point".
"But", Hanako tried to say something that was interrupted by an inner thought, or so it seemed to him so Yusei raised an eyebrow at her. Now noticing this, Hanako inhaled deeply and continued, "I don't think I'm powerful enough to hold such a card..."
"I see", Yusei mumbled before falling into deep thinking, trying to find some words of support and comfort but all he could think of was letting the silence take over them both. However, Hanako didn't seem to accept that idea so she broke the silence between them quite quickly.
"I have a better idea!" She smiled while jumping happily towards him, handing him the card. "Let this dragon be the symbol of our friendship".
She confirmed as Yusei took the card, not saying a thing but just observing the monster he had in his hand. Soon, he noticed from the corner of his eye that Hanako already moved away from him, beckoning him to approach her as if she had something to show him. "What is it, Baby?"
"Look", she pointed at a secret box within her closet that he has never seen before, "I haven't showed this to anyone yet. It's my secret space".
Seeing she was excited about showing it to him, Yusei let her do what she intended, keeping his eyes on her, and waiting to see what she had planned to share with him today. So far, it seemed very important to her – it's what he was able to conclude based on their interaction and her facial expressions.
"Sometimes I fear I might lose all of our memories", she started by expressing herself while gazing at the distance, "Especially if we are all going to separate one day and go our own ways".
"Hanako, I..."
"It's okay, I know what you're about to say".
"You know I'll always stay by your side no matter where we go or wherever our lives take us", he said either way, feeling like he needed to express it regardless of her heart most likely knowing what was on his mind.
"I am aware of that", she whispered through a nod but then kept to her own mind, "But this is different... I want you to keep this card with you as a reminder of our friendship, and our bond. Then, if I ever lose myself or my memories fade away, you can have Gungnir to help you remind me of those treasures I once had".
Silence. It was more of a shock that made Yusei keep his mouth shut for a moment while looking at her. He needed a while to process everything she had said to him, hoping with all of his heart that she was wrong, and none of those predictions come true.
"Hanako", he stated with seriousness in his voice, trying to reason her in making her believe something like that will never happen, "You know that will never happen and this card won't serve me well when it belongs to you!"
"As you wish!" She sighed without many words and actions to protest his will, as she took the card back just to place it into her secret box, far away from both his and her reach. "Then I'll keep it here until I'm ready or until you need it to remind you of who we once were".
"Yusei?"
Martha's voice interrupted the flow of childhood memories that started travelling Yusei's mind but he was now fully awake, slowly regaining his focus.
"Huh?" His voice was weak at first when his eyes looked at Marta and blinked a couple of times to regain his presence in the real world. "What was it... we talked about?"
"I assume the same that took your focus away from our conversation", Yusei's foster mother chuckled while looking at how lost and confused he was, trying to cope with his own feelings.
"I am struggling to find a way to get her back".
"Is this why you came here?"
"Yes... I believe the key to Hanako's memories is hidden right here, in this house", he confirmed after recalling the memories about the card Hanako left in her room a long time ago; and from what he knew, she never retrieved that card herself, meaning it was still probably hidden somewhere in her room.
"If you want to see her room, I can give you the key. Everything is still just like she left it before you moved away", Martha smiled, knowing that this information would be not only useful to Yusei but also bring him a piece of comfort. His plan might work if things still stayed the same here even though Hanako was a different person right now.
"Thank you, Martha", he finally smiled at her just like she expected him to so she returned the feeling back with another smile, getting up to hand him the key he asked for, then let him go explore Hanako's room at his own pace, giving him enough time and space to stay with his own self, and process every thunder of emotions currently storming inside of him.
* * *
While Yusei was at Martha's place, everyone else from the Team 5D's was in the garage with Hanako who was making some changes on her D-wheel with Bruno. Jack was drinking coffee, Crow was helping Aki with her homework, and Rua and Ruka were keeping their curious eyes on what Hanako was doing.
"You see", Hanako said while pointing towards the engine parts, "Since the power of my engine was improved, I also need a new chip now".
"It must be so exciting to have your D-Wheel improved!" Rua exclaimed with a thrilling tone in his voice. But as Hanako parted her lips to confirm his assumption was correct, the noises were heard coming from the outside.
"Yusei's back!" Ruka shouted happily, recognising the sound of the engine. And while others might have recognised Yusei and his arrival, one thing that crossed Hanako's mind was how she had never seen anyone smile like that. Their reactions to seeing Yusei were something she had never seen before. Even Aki blushed and ran outside together with the twins, who left Hanako alone with Bruno.
"Wow, he really is popular", she commented with a dose of sarcasm in her voice.
"Huh?" Bruno mumbled, finding her comment quite weird, "But even you are this happy when he comes home".
"I am?!?" By her reaction, Bruno couldn't tell if she was disgusted or surprised by what he said. Or was it just a joke and she was pretending?
"See? You're so cute!" He added with a smile, seeing how Hanako's facial expression changed after she thought about welcoming Yusei too.
But then their conversation got interrupted once Yusei walked in with everyone following him with excitement. The only one standing out of the herd was Rua who got extremely happy unlike anyone else, "Guys, Yusei's back!"
In the meantime, Yusei dragged his runner into the garage and looked around seeing Hanako and Bruno working on her runner, "How are preparations going?"
"Perfect!" Bruno answered happily, "I did everything you asked me, now the rest is up to you!"
Short silence arose as Hanako was blinking in confusion at their conversation, trying to connect the dots, "What are you two blabbering about?" She asked, feeling slightly left behind as they were talking about her D-Wheel and things related to it that she knew nothing about. "This is my D-Wheel!"
"Sorry, Ako!" Bruno sweat-dropped, knowing she wouldn't like it but not expecting her to get so angry, "I knew you wouldn't let Yusei put his hands on this runner, so I jumped in to help".
"By tricking me and using my help on the way?!?"
"Calm down, I asked him to do it!" Yusei immediately jumped into the conversation, knowing where this was going. He couldn't let Bruno be blamed for what was his idea in the first place, "If you have something against it, then talk to me", his face was cold and serious, showing no affection at all, and everyone froze in place when Hanako stood up to him.
"You!" She hissed through her teeth like a wild dog, stepping closer and closer to face him, "Next time you do something without my knowledge, I will..."
"You will what?" He asked abruptly as soon as he noticed she couldn't find the way to end her sentence. There was no emotion in his eyes.
"I will..."
"What? Threaten me by saying you'll jump through the window and kill yourself?"
A bit annoyed at first, Hanako kept her eyes on him while her mind was processing the information inside of his question. Soon, her face lightly blushed at the memory of what she tried to do in the hospital. Why is he so cold all of a sudden? She thought to herself while comparing their relationship at certain moments where they would get along, and then fight like mortal enemies.
"Why are you here?"
"I live here", he replied to her question, noticing she decided to change the subject.
"I don't remember you being part of this team".
"Well... Like it or not, I am a very important member of the crew".
"Benchwarmer!"
"No, pit crew", he smiled at her insult, giving a dose of twist to their argument.
"That's even worse, you idiot!" Although her voice was angry and mad, her lips still curled into a smile that gave Yusei a ray of hope.
He was trying to see how far he could go with her and how much he could push her, and this was most likely as far as he would go, "How are you feeling, Baby?" He lowered his voice to be warm and approachable as he placed his palm on her cheek with warmth in his eyes. She was caught by his action and looking at his eyes confused but soon came to her senses.
"I told you not to call me like that!"
Realising he crossed the line with that, Yusei stopped for a moment then continued to carry the conversation, "For how long do you think you can run away from me?"
"For as long as I want to!"
"Running is not a solution. Why don't you stand up for yourself?"
Everyone's eyes were now on the two. It looked like Yusei overreacted a little and Crow was concerned that he may be taken over by his own emotions; especially because this was all about Hanako. However, Jack seemed to notice this so he stopped Crow from interfering, pointing him to Yusei and the look in his eyes. He was not planning on letting Hanako go that easily. It was obvious to Jack that Yusei had a plan, a plan that could actually work.
"It's no use... I tried to run numerous times and every single night, I get caught in your nest!"
"Hanako I know would never say something useless like that". Their heated argument continued while everyone was silently observing them, paying attention to their words, and living in anticipation of how this dialogue was going to end.
"Hanako you know is dead!"
"And what if she's standing right in front of me?"
"She certainly is not!"
"Then prove it to me!" Yusei added lastly, pushing Hanako again with his words but instead of heating the argument even more, she finally broke down.
"I don't know how..."
"By being yourself, Baby!"
"I told you not to call me like that!"
"Why?" Yusei just kept going without any intent to stop, "Because it hurts?"
"Because I hate you so much!"
"Come on, then! Fight me! Fight this fear of yours!" His arms spread, opening his chest to the mercilessness of her attacks, completely vulnerable to whatever she was about to throw his way.
"What are you doing?"
"I am the one you are so scared of. I am the one you hate", his voice started off calm and determined but the more he was releasing, the more his voice was starting to break, leaving his eyes sparkling and Hanako could see tears in his eyes thinking to herself how it must be painful for him to do this...
Yet, she remained silent.
"C'mon! Hit me with everything you got. Strike me with words, emotions, hands, thoughts... I'll take anything you throw at me! I will erase every single fear you have in front of everyone, so you won't be afraid anymore!"
Stunned by his reaction, Hanako was left speechless. The more she remained in silence, the more the echo of his words kept hitting her eardrums, like a gong... until she was no longer able to endure it. There was a lot of pain she was feeling, not because she was hurt but rather because she felt pain inside of him.
"Come on, Hanako! Make your move!"
"Why are you doing this? Are you crazy?"
"I'm a friend, Baby! And I do what friends are supposed to do... And I do it best!"
"What do you want from me?"
Realising at this moment that Hanako wasn't going to act or at least she showed no signs of that intention so far, Yusei let his hands fall down, releasing a soft, painful moan because of what he was about to say, "DUEL ME!"
"Me?" Hanako pointed a finger at herself to make sure she understood his request, "Duel you?"
"Yes!" It was as simple as that. Short and determined, followed by a nod, "And if you win, I will leave this place once and for all... leaving you with your friends and everything you know about me will disappear with my existence being moved far away from you".
"And if I lose?" Soft trembles in her body could be sensed in her voice as well; she became terrified.
"You will give me a chance and accept me as a friend. If I lose, you're free to do whatever you want and I will do anything you request from me".
There was no reaction that came his way. At least not for a few moments that Hanako took to think. Everyone had their eyes on her and she could feel the pressure of that attention so once she decided to speak, her voice came out vested in a very insecure and apprehensive tone, "Ok..."
"Hey, Yusei!" Crow was the first one to protest once seeing that things are going way too far, trying to remind Yusei that Hanako might not be in the state to duel right now. "She just got out of the hospital... You can't do this!"
But no matter the uneasiness coming from her friend, Hanako showed no signs of weakness, "I accept your challenge!" There was no space for infirmity right now, not in her voice nor her heart, and it was also giving her body the spirit to fight and prove that she could do anything and needed no one – especially not someone like Yusei who would only bring pain and suffering into her life.
"She's crazy..."
Crow's muttering reached Hanako as she showed a smirk, clenching her fist and sending it Yusei's way until it got to the tip of his nose, close enough to feel him but not strong enough to hurt him, "Let's cool this icy barrier down!"
"I say we burn it!"
Jack shouted with pride, clenching his fist as well and cheering on Hanako which gave him a few side-eye glances from his friends around, especially Crow. "Whose side are you on?"
"Obviously not yours!" A short scuff returned to Crow in the same way Jack received his judging glance, taking revenge on his friend on purpose just to heal his hurt pride.
"She was in a coma just last week!"
"She is going to riding duel, it's not like she has to move much!"
"Oh, since when the duelling became a trifle to you?"
They kept playing table tennis with their arguments that kept jumping like a ping-pong ball, waiting for one of them to score but then Ruka interrupted them because it became annoying, and they were not in the centre of attention. This was about Yusei and Hanako now.
"Stop it, you two! This is serious!"
Her words made Yusei look at Rua and Ruka for a moment then moved his eyes back to Hanako, wanting to conclude this before they started, "So... What's it gonna be, Baby?"
"We duel", she informed him with determination, nodding her head just to superpose her statement, showing no fear or reluctance.
But Yusei stayed silent to what she said; he slowly moved to his runner and then placed his helmet on, leaving the garage with a loud rev of his engine.
Hanako wanted to do the same but then she felt something was pulling her down and her eyes moved to the source.
"Baby, are you sure about this?" Ruka's eyes started pleading her to reconsider, expressing her concerns.
"I have to", she replied, placing her helmet on and then pulling her runner out of the garage slowly, while trying to calm her shaking hands. "This duel might have answers to so many questions that I have..."
Hanako's statement ended all of the talk in the garage at that moment, leaving her friends bidding her farewell with their eyes only, following her moves until she disappeared from sight.
It was scary how much Hanako hated Yusei and wanted to get rid of him, erase him from her life and the lives of all of them, but it was even scarier to know they were both about to duel – and even thought this wasn't a life or death situation, it felt like it, to all of them. So everyone could only hope and pray Yusei had a plan that could actually work, and that this duel will not end in a complete disaster.