Chapter 17
(following anime episodes 69 and 70)
It was more quite than usual in Zola's house. Down in the garage, both Crow and Jack were absent, while Yusei was working hard on adapting his frame to the new engine design that Hanako proposed. He was so concentrated to his work, he hardly realised she was there with him, sitting on the floor just few inches away, trying to reassemble the parts of the engine, so that she can turn it into a V4 instead of V-Twin. They were both present, yet absent: without chatting or talking, both silent and focused on their task; but silence soon disappeared when Yusei's voice reached Hanako's ears.
"You really think we can make that V4 in six months?"
"No", Hanako murmured, turning her eyes to him, keeping her poker face on, but then his reaction of disappointment made her smile, as she continued, "We can make it in 3 months!" And instead of getting back his smile, Hanako's face saddened, when Yusei just moved his look away, focusing on the W.R.G.P. poster, as he let a sigh and moved the sweat from his forehead with his forearm! Seeing him like that, she tried to say something to make him feel better, but just when she opened her mouth, someone rushed into the garage.
"Hello!" Sweet child's voice suddenly filled in the garage, so Hanako looked up to see who was it, as the kid continued to explain his visit, "I came to pick up Dupont-san's computer!"
"Marco?" Hanako whispered through a smile, when her words made Yusei look up to see Marco's presence.
"You're helping Dupont-san today, Marco?" Yusei started, "Working hard, I see!"
"Yup, I am!" Marco smiled widely, looking like he was proud of himself.
His posture made Hanako giggle, but at the same time, it made her heart feel so sad, how he was so young and yet destined to work so hard, just because of his financial situation, "Delivering packages again?"
"Yeah, Baby!" Marco shouted with joy, "'Cause I have a sick mum and brother at home, so I have to buckle down, work and make money", he explained, making Hanako remember her kids from under the Daedalus Bridge and how they were all so talented and workaholic, but none of them ever had a chance to prove their worth because Satellite was quarantine for people like them.
Yusei looked at Hanako's facial expression, knowing exactly what was on her mind, so he tried to get to the point as soon as possible, "You were able to fix it, right?" He raised one eyebrow at Hanako, as she was the last one working on Dupont's computer.
"Sure", Hanako snapped out of her thoughts, "I left it in the back!" She pointed to the back left of the garage, "It's covered with the dark red sheet!"
Yusei nodded, before he looked at Marco, "Just give me a second!" He said, moving to the back of the garage.
Marco watched Yusei leave, so he turned his head back to the prototype frame, smiling widely, "Is that a D-Wheel, Baby?"
"It's just a test frame", she said, "We are trying to develop a new engine for our runners".
"I see... When I grow up, I want to become a Turbo Duellist, too!" Marco's face suddenly showed a huge smile, distracting Hanako's mind from her work and negative thoughts.
"I'm sure you will!" Hanako managed to smile softly, "Working so hard, you will grow up very strong!"
As Marco nodded to her statement, Yusei came back, holding the box with computer in it, taking it outside and looking at Marco, "Come with me!"
"See ya later, Baby!" Marco just shouted happily and ran outside the garage to catch Yusei's steps, while Hanako just nodded with a smile, getting back to work.
"Thanks a lot, Yusei!" Marco smiled, as he watched Yusei place the computer on Marco's wooden cart. As he made sure everything is on its place, Yusei buckled it up with some plastic wires and clapped his hands few times to remove dust from them.
"You should thank Hanako... She did it!" Yusei nodded.
"She is such an amazing girl!" Marco smiled, looking at Yusei so naively and innocently, not even realising how Yusei's facial expression suddenly changed. Marco was not even getting a clue how his words made Yusei think more about Hanako... She was occupying his mind in the past few months a lot and he had no idea what was happening with him...
But looking at Marco's confused look, he just shook his head and smiled back at him, "See you later, Marco!"
"See ya!"
Yusei returned back to the garage, after Marco waved him goodbye, as he closed the door, seeing Hanako looking up at him with saddened face, "Is something wrong, Baby?"
"I am just wondering what makes him keep working so hard", she murmured, turning back to her work.
"Well... You heard him, his mother is very sick..." Yusei tried to explain, but it didn't look like Hanako was pleased with that, "You think there is something more behind it?"
"I doubt medications are that expensive if they have insurance... Plus, we live in Neo Domino now; don't you think there should be a better way to earn money for food?" She was murmuring, like she was talking to herself, while she kept her mind focused on the engine rather than keeping an eye contact with Yusei.
"Well... When you put it that way..." Yusei started, but his words were soon shut down by Crow appearance, as he got down the stairs with unpleased expression on his face.
"Something bothering you, too?" Yusei asked, moving his attention from Hanako to Crow.
"We're in the red again..." Crow shouted angrily, as his words made Hanako stop everything she was doing.
"Again?!?" She shouted, "How's that possible?!?" Hanako jumped up, running to Crow, to grab the papers from him.
"Geez, it's great that Satellite got connected with the city, but I never figured the prices of things would go up like this!" Crow was explaining, not pleased with their current situation, while Hanako was going through the papers and checking their financial income and outcome.
"Welcome to reality, Crow!" She giggled, rolling her eyes playfully, seeing him sadden his face, looking at the W.R.G.P. poster.
"Will we ever be able to enter the Riding Duel World Grand Prix?"
"Don't be silly!" Hanako smiled, "Why are we working so hard, if nothing will come out of it?!?"
"She's right, Crow!" Yusei nodded, "We just have to do it step-by-step!"
Hanako smiled to Yusei's statement, turning her eyes back to the papers, going over and over the numbers Crow was keeping the track of, but then she looked at their financial statistics that made her facial expression drastically changed, "OK! Who's spending 3,000 Yen every single day?!?"
"3,000 Yen?!?" Yusei raised his eyebrow at Hanako, not knowing what was going on.
"Crow, I can't earn this much money!" Hanako sighed heavily, as she folded papers and pushed them hard against Crow's chest, looking at Yusei worriedly, not knowing what to do now or even what to say, feeling like whole their work has been thrown away into the wind!
"Jack..." Crow hissed angrily, "So, where is he?!" He looked at Yusei, like he knew where Jack went, as Crow's rage was getting stronger and stronger, "He better be looking for work!"
Yusei looked at him, as his smile faded away, "Nope, he's at his usual place!" He shrugged.
"Usual place?" Crow stopped for a while, before it occurred to him, as he saw Hanako moving her thumb over her shoulder, pointing to the café across the street to gesture to Crow what Yusei meant by that, "That jerk!" He shouted angrily, rushing through the garage door, running across the street, shouting Jack's name!
Hanako started running after Crow, approaching the door to close them behind Crow, but before she did so, she looked at Jack sitting outside the café, drinking his coffee in peace, with a smile on his face, when Crow ran to him, shouting his name angrily once again, "Jack!" Hanako's face turned worried with a slice of sadness on it, as she started thinking about the W.R.G.P. and that engine they still have to develop, but if Jack keeps doing this every morning, 10 months won't be enough for the new engine to be constructed!
"Hey, Baby!" Hanako snapped out of her thoughts, when she heard Yusei's voice, "Is everything all right?"
"Yeah", she murmured, refusing to close the door, "It looks like Jack has no idea how hard it is to earn so much money for that single cup of coffee he likes so much..." She moved her eyes to Yusei, hoping to get a reaction from him, but he just smiled at her and moved back to his work, focusing again on his engine frame without saying a word. His reaction made her sigh with disappointment, as she finally shut the door, "Well... I just hope Crow will be able to make Jack change his mind..."
* * *
Later that night, Crow was keeping the track of their financial situation down in the garage, while Hanako was still working on the engine.
Hanako was feeling nervous, because she had no idea what were Crow and Jack talking about this morning and ever since Jack hasn't come back home, "Hey, Crow!" She murmured, suddenly stopping with her work.
"Oh, Baby, I almost forgot you were here!" He smiled, turning his chair around to meet Hanako's gaze. She seemed a bit down, so Crow started being interested in the reason of her statement, "Is something bothering you, Baby?"
"I am just thinking about Jack... And all..." She whispered to herself, like she didn't want Crow to hear her.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine!" Crow smiled.
"You didn't have a fight this morning, did you?"
"Oh, no! It's just our usual communication, you know!" Crow winked at her, wanting to make sure she stops worrying about silly things like that.
"OK", she just murmured again and moved her look away, which made Crow wonder if there is something else bothering her.
"And what about Yusei?"
"What about him?"
"He's not here!" Crow said like what he was thinking about was obvious.
"He went outside few hours ago", Hanako answered indifferently.
"What? He's meeting with Aki again?" Crow intentionally mentioned Aki just to see Hanako's reaction, but she seemed to be out of the moment.
"Aki?" Hanako asked in confusion, "I almost forgot about her existence", she added, remembering how she hasn't heard from her ever since the Dark Signers were defeated.
"Yeah, well... She's meeting with Yusei almost every day!" Crow started, "I think he's helping her with her studying!"
"With physics?" Hanako murmured.
"I think so, yes!"
"Then it looks like she's coming only when I am not around", Hanako said coldly.
"Like that is hard to do!" Crow joked, as he started laughing like s child, making Hanako turn her eyes to him with a sharp look.
"Very funny, Crow!" She scolded him with her cold voice, not even trying to raise it, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but he's out for business reasons this time!"
"Business reasons?" Crow raised his eyebrows.
"He went to the store for some parts for the engine", Hanako explained.
"Oh, I see... And why are you not with him?"
"Why should I be with him?"
"Because it's fixing stuff!"
"He's working so hard on this engine, he barely eats and sleeps, so I thought he could use a short break, while I do all the work instead", she explained.
"Is that so?" Crow was looking at Hanako, walking around her runner, like he was trying to get more of her attention, knowing his walking around will make her go crazy.
Hanako's eyes were trying hard to concentrate on her engine with Crow walking around like that, so she lost her nerves, "WHAT?!?" She shouted with irritation in her voice.
"Nothing..." Crow murmured with a huge smile of satisfaction on his face, knowing how he was getting that reaction from her that he wanted, but she suddenly stopped talking and the silence took over the garage again, so he decided to do something about it, "You know, you could have joined Aki, Rua and Ruka on the Academy now as a legal citizen!"
"But I don't want to", it took some time to reply, but Hanako finally managed to say it to Crow.
"How so?"
"I already know everything I need to know", she said, "And you know I am not into duelling so much... I have no intention becoming the great duellist!"
"But you build D-Wheels?"
"And I love to ride them, yes. But how's that related to duelling in any way?" Hanako left her engine and looked up to meet Crow's gaze.
"Turbo Duelling?!?"
"OK, Crow!" Hanako rolled her eyes, knowing how there was something more he wanted to get from her than just a plain conversation, "Get straight to the point!"
"Well... I was just thinking about... Maybe you should find someone with similar interests, so you won't have to do it all alone"; he smirked, scratching the back of his neck nervously.
"Crow, I'd rather spend the rest of my life alone than living it side by side with the person I don't love with all my heart!"
"But Pearson is dead, Baby! You should move on!"
"I can't, Crow... I don't know how..."
"Well, you can start with trying to give a chance to someone else?"
"Pearson was unique and you know that!" Hanako shook her head with her face sad, like she was about to cry, "No one can replace him!"
"I never said you should replace him... Just find someone who makes you feel the same way or even better!"
"But I've never found anyone like that!" Hanako got fed up of their conversation, so she tried to get back to work, but then Crow's reaction made her stop and focus only onto him.
"Oh, you haven't?!?" Crow raised his eyebrow, crossing his hands, as he started tapping the floor with one foot.
Hanako looked at him with unpleased facial expression, knowing where this conversation was going, so she just continued her work, not wanting to talk about it, but he refused to give up on that.
"Now when I think about it... You and Yusei have so much in common!"
"Yeah, we do!" Hanako smiled innocently, not getting Crow's point, "We both love engines, runners, mechanics... We understand each other without saying a word and..." She got so much into her explaining, while Crow was just giggling like a child to her sweet reaction after he mentioned Yusei's name. His giggling made Hanako look at him all confused, so she stopped for a while with her work, "What?!?"
"You did get pretty close with each other in the past six months or so", Crow winked at her, making her realise what was on his mind whole this time, so her face became crimson read, as she felt like her cheeks were burning.
"That's because of..." She tried to explain, but seeing Crow's teasing face made her shake her head, realising what was the real intention behind his words, "Don't you even think about it!"
"You have no idea how cute you look when you blush like that!" Crow laughed, teasing her even more, like they were kids in the orphanage again.
"Crow, stop!" Hanako covered her face with her hands, feeling embarrassed by the thought of seeing Yusei in other ways than just a friend.
"Why don't you talk to him about it?" Crow approached Hanako, wanting to move her hands away from her beautiful face, but then someone interrupted them.
"Talk to me about what?" Yusei entered the garage, holding a bag with supplies for the engine. His voice made Hanako immediately move her hands away from her face, as she looked up to see Yusei's character standing on the entrance.
"Nothing!" She shouted shyly, not wanting to think about it anymore.
"Is there something wrong, Baby?" Yusei asked, approaching her, slightly worried about her.
But Crow knew how Yusei won't give up on her know, unless he finds out what was the reason behind her feelings, so he decided to jump in, "It's Jack!" He shouted quickly, just to move this conversation away from the main point.
"Jack?!?" Yusei was confused.
"Yeah!" Crow started, "You see... He went out this morning and..."
Yusei looked around, "He's not back again?"
"Seems so!" Crow said, feeling proud of himself, how he made Jack find a job and actually work to earn some money just like everyone else, "That'll fix his wagon!"
Hanako knew Crow was trying to help her distract Yusei from their previous conversation, so she just played along, "He hasn't come back home whole day", she whispered worriedly.
"Just leave 'im! That will teach him a lesson or two!"
"And what if something happened to him?!? You can't always think like that, Crow!" Hanako wasn't happy with his answer, "Besides, it's already too late to be wandering around or even working somewhere!"
Crow's smile faded away, "Well... I guess I have no choice!" He started going outside, so Yusei decided to go with him, but after Hanako just stayed in the garage, Crow stopped and looked over his shoulder, "Not coming with us, Baby!?
"I'll wait here and make you a dinner, so don't be late", she just smiled softly, seeing both Crow and Yusei nod in agreement, as they went outside to look for Jack, leaving her all alone in the garage, so she decided to get straight to preparing the dinner, hoping they will come home soon.
* * *
The time Hanako spent alone in the garage passed quicker than she expected it, as she was preparing the table for Jack, Crow and Yusei, not expecting guests tonight. She was so nervous to see them again, thinking about her conversation with Crow and thinking about how she got so close to Yusei, not even realising when it all started. She felt her hands shaking, as she was having a hard time focusing onto her work, so she just prepared everything for the dinner and decided to stop with her work for tonight.
"Hey, Baby, we're back!" She suddenly heard Crow's voice, so she ran down the stairs, to meet them in the garage, eagerly waiting to see Jack safe and sound.
"Jack!" Hanako smiled widely, seeing Jack coming inside followed by Crow and Yusei, but they were not alone, there was Marco with them and Carly accompanied him inside, making Hanako slightly confused, "Marco?!?" She looked at the kid waiting for an explanation.
"Sorry it took us so long, Baby!" Crow smiled, winking at her.
"What happened, guys?" Hanako ran to them, "Marco, are you alright?!?" She knelt down before the kid, placing both her hands onto his shoulder, seeing his embarrassed face, like he was hiding something.
"Well, Baby, looks like you were right about that debt Marco had!" Yusei smiled softly, looking at her.
"Debt?" Hanako raised an eyebrow, looking at Yusei then turning her look back to Marco, "So it wasn't just for your family?"
"Nope!" Crow shouted, "It looks like some Garome guy made people to sign false documents, like some kind of contract and then he was taking money from them!"
"That jerk!" Hanako shouted angrily, jumping up and approaching the door, "Where is this guy, I'll kick his ass!" She was angrily hissing, waving with her hands around, but then Crow stopped her, grabbing her dungarees and moving her back inside the garage.
"Chill, Baby!" Crow said calmly, looking at Jack, "Jack already solved this!" His words made Hanako turn her eyes to Jack, seeing him ripping off some papers and talking to Marco.
"Now you won't have to pay any more unfair loans!"
"Thank you, Jack!" Marco bowed his head with appreciation, as Jack took a deck from his pocket, handing it to Marco.
"You can have this back!"
"But even if I kept it..."
"It's true that the society's winds can be cold, but you can never lose your dreams!" Jack interrupted Marco's words, "Never give up and your dreams will come true! Just like your Smile Angel defeated Garome!"
Marco was looking at Jack speechlessly, not knowing what to say, "Jack..."
"I'll be waiting the day you're able to Riding Duel!" Jack said proudly, seeing Marco nod in agreement.
"Well... He sure is going to become strong duellist one day, so you better watch out, Jack!" Hanako giggled, seeing Jack so mature and responsible, not believing he was able to changed so much overnight.
"You figure maybe now he can change his disposition?" Crow smiled, like he read Hanako's mind.
"I think so!" Yusei smiled, as all three of them started laughing, as all of them started enjoying their time together, remembering their early days when they were kids...
* * *
Next morning, Jack decided to go to the café across the street to look for another job, just to help his friends to earn some money for the W.R.G.P., while Crow and Yusei were peeking through the garage door, watching what was going on.
"Guys, what are you doing?!?" Hanako approached them, moving her head underneath Crow's arm just to see what was going on.
"We are cheering on Jack's new job opportunity!" Crow joked, keeping his eyes onto the café, when suddenly someone started shouting angrily.
"You're fired!"
Hanako's body started to shiver, as she saw Jack coming out of the café with his nose up high, "You don't have to tell me: I'm quitting this lousy café!"
"Well... Looks like he really tried hard!" Hanako giggled, seeing Jack's proud face, as he started approaching the garage.
"These commoners truly don't know my worth!"
"I guess people can't change that easily, huh?" Crow just murmured, looking down at Hanako, not really pleased with the outcome of this Jack-trying-to-find-a-job thing.
"We should get back to work", Yusei just added through a sigh, moving back inside, so Hanako and Crow did the same.
"Speaking of work, I still have a delivery to do today!" Crow shouted, as he sat onto the chair backwards, spreading his legs before the armchair, placing his hands onto it for support.
"You should at least eat something for breakfast before you go!" Hanako said, seeing Yusei ignoring them already, as he moved to the test frame, to develop the engine as soon as possible.
"Sure!" Crow smiled happily, but then his face saddened, as he remembered they had nothing to eat for breakfast, "But what?!?" He turned his eyes to Hanako, seeing her wide smile nurturing his soul.
"Stay right here, I'll be right back!" She shouted happily, running to the kitchen, leaving him alone with Yusei.
"Well... She sure is full of energy today!" Crow smirked, moving his eyes to Yusei, remembering how there was something he wanted to talk to him about, "Hey, Yusei!" But he didn't react, but rather stayed in the same position, focusing onto his engine, making Crow continue with his sentence regardless, "Have you heard about that Spirited Away Forest?"
"Spirited Away?" Yusei stopped with his work, as Crow's words gained all of his attention.
"Yeah, that's the rumour that's been going around as of late. They say a lot of people have gone missing in the forest!" He smirked, because he saw Hanako coming down with some sandwiched for breakfast.
"Don't tell me you believe in those stories, Crow!" She approached him, handing him the plate with sandwiches, as she rolled her eyes playfully.
"Well, the kids in the neighbourhood said that some monster is behind it, or something like that!"
"Kids say silly stuff because of their imagination, you should know that!" Hanako was persistent, while Yusei kept listening to their conversation, seeing Hanako placed the plate with one more sandwich next to him without saying a word, while Crow already took the final piece of his and gulped.
"Could it have anything to do with the Ghost Incident?" Yusei finally spoke.
"I think you're over-thinking things! Kids love stories and urban legends, after all!"
"Took you long enough to say it out loud!" Hanako shook her head, before sitting onto the floor, as she got back to her work with the engine.
Seeing them both working hard this early in the morning, Crow realised it was his turn now, "On that note, it's off to work for me!" He jumped onto his runner and rode away to get his deliveries for today.
"Well... He sure is all fired up about that job, huh?" Yusei joked, repeating Crow's words from few moments ago, not even realising what he has done unintentionally.
"It brings us money to keep doing this, so I am not surprised his spirit is this pumped up", Hanako smiled warmly.
"Yeah, I guess you're right..."
Hanako just looked at Yusei with a soft smile, moving back to the work, as the silence took over again, making Yusei move to his work, too. Both of them started working on the engine again, not even keeping the track of the time, but then Hanako realised the sun is almost setting down, so she looked through the window, enjoying the silence and the beautiful view, turning her head to Yusei, seeing his devotion to work that brought a small smile to her face again, but then she realised that sandwich was still on the plate, knowing how he hasn't eaten anything since the early morning, so she started to worry about him.
"Maybe I should go and make something for..." She started murmuring, but then someone bumped into the garage again.
"YUSEI!" Child's voice started echoing through the garage, making both Hanako and Yusei move their eyes to the front door, seeing Rua and Ruka's friend Tenpei rush into the garage, "Yusei!"
"What's wrong, Tenpei? You look pale!" Yusei asked immediately.
"Ruka got lost in the forest!" Tenpei shouted worriedly, trying to catch his breath, as he pointed outside the garage.
"What?!?" Yusei and Hanako shouted in unison.
"And Rua went in there saying he'd look for Ruka!"
"Forest?" Hanako's body started to shiver, "Could it be..."
"The Spirited Away Forest?" Yusei added.
"Uh-huh!" Tenpei's nod turned Yusei's face pale, as his look was now dead worried.
"What were you even doing in that forest?!?" Hanako asked worriedly, wanting to know more about what happened, before they act.
"...exploring?" Tenpei murmured shyly, not knowing how to say the truth to Hanako, who shook her head in disbelief, placing both her hands on the hips, as she looked at Yusei, who moved his look away, seeing outside, thinking about the Forest and how sunset was already hiding away from the horizon.
"Yusei", Hanako murmured, "We have to do something!"
"You stay here with Tenpei, OK?" Yusei said, as he took his helmet and started approaching his runner, "I'll go find the Twins!"
"Well, sound like a plan!" Hanako sighed, not believing Yusei didn't ask her to come with him.
"Will you be OK here all alone?" Yusei stopped for a moment, as he looked at her once again, before he took off.
"Sure, I'm not a little girl anymore, Yusei!" She smiled, "Besides, I know how to take care for a child!" She looked at Tenpei, who was pale and scared.
Yusei nodded, "I'll be back in no time!"
"Yusei", Hanako reached for his wrist, so he stopped and turned back to her and just when Hanako realised what she's done and how they were in a physical contact, she moved away embarrassed a bit, bowing her head.
"What's wrong, Baby?" He smiled not wanting to make her worry.
"Just be careful, OK?" She hid her hands behind her back not looking him into the eyes, as he just smiled and jumped onto his runner.
"Here!" He shouted to her, making her look up to his direction, before he left and just when her eyes met his character, she saw that he threw something at her, so she managed to catch it just in time.
"What is this?" She looked at him in confusion, opening her hands to see what was inside.
"Find a place where it fits until I get back", he smiled again and left the garage, so Hanako stayed with Tenpei alone.
"What is it, Baby?" Tenpei was curiously looking at Hanako's hands.
"I have no idea what he meant by that..." She was confused, looking at the bolt inside her hands. It looked like it was the same bolt she found in the Riding Roid from that Ghost was riding just few days ago, "I wonder where he found this!" She murmured, knowing how she had even more work now than before... As she promised to herself how she will do more work today, just so that Yusei doesn't have to do all the work by himself.
"Do you need help with something?" Tenpei smiled, looking at Hanako, so she tried to think of something before Crow and Jack show up, since it was already dinner time.
"Ahmmm... I think I'm going to need some ramen noodles!" She giggled, looking at Tenpei with a smile, "Do you think you can go to the store and buy a few for me?"
Tenpei smiled, nodded his head and ran to Hanako, as she gave him some money to buy the noodles, "You can also buy yourself a treat, there should be some cash extra!"
"Sure, thank you!" Tenpei shouted happily, so Hanako smiled at him.
"Just be careful and take for yourself, OK? Yusei should be coming back soon, so don't be late!"
"Got it, Baby!" Tenpei shouted back to her, as he disappeared from her sight and left outside to go to the store, before it closes.
Hanako waited for Tenpei to go away, before her thoughts immediately turned to Yusei, thinking about the Spirited Away Forest and whether those rumours were true or not, but then she remembered how she promised to herself how she will work hard today, just so that Yusei can be proud of her when he gets back with the Twins! She was so into the work that she had no idea how time passed by so quickly.
* * *
In the meantime, Tenpei was coming back from the store, when he heard the loud sound of a D-Wheel approaching him, so he turned his head around, seeing Yusei riding his runner with Rua and Ruka on it, making him smile widely, as he started running towards them.
"Guys!" Tenpei was shouting happily, while running towards the garage.
"Tenpei!" Rua and Ruka shouted in unison, waiting for Tenpei to come to them, while Tenpei's smile brought one to Yusei's face. He watched Tenpei carrying a bag with noodles inside, as he was running towards all three of them, but soon he hear another voice near him.
"Yusei!" He immediately turned his head, just to see Aki standing near the garage with her hands behind her back.
"Aki?" Yusei was slightly surprised to see her around here, "What brings you here?"
"I just wanted to talk to you about something", Aki murmured with her cheeks slightly blushing, so Yusei took off of his runner and approached her.
"What is it?" Yusei asked warmly, as Rua, Ruka and Tenpei ran to him and hugged him tight.
"Yusei!"
"Whoa! Careful there, guys!" Aki shouted worriedly, because it looked like they were about to knock Yusei down to the ground.
"Aki, you're here, too!" Ruka smiled brightly, moving away from Yusei.
"Yeah", she murmured shyly, so Yusei realised she wanted to talk to him in private, so he cleared his throat.
"Why don't you three go see Hanako first and hand her those bags over? I'll be right there in a second!"
Rua, Ruka and Tenpei nodded at the same time, before they ran inside the garage to check on Hanako and to leave bags inside the garage, making Yusei move his eyes to Aki, who seemed to be distracted by something.
"Sorry, you were saying", Yusei smiled.
"I was just", she was trying to find words to say, but nothing was coming her way.
"Maybe we should go for a walk?" Yusei smiled warmly once again, pointing to her to start walking down the street, so that no one interrupts them on their way.
"Ah, sure!" Aki blushed even more, as she started walking away from the garage, followed by Yusei, but soon her happiness was broke into piece, when Rua and Ruka started running behind them, shouting Yusei's name in agony and fear.
"Yusei!" Rua shouted, as he was losing his breath on his way to Yusei.
"Yusei! Big trouble!" Ruka added, trying to catch Rua's steps.
"What's wrong, Rua? Ruka?" Yusei immediately stopped, turning around to see the Twins.
"It's Baby..." Ruka said worriedly.
"Baby?!?" Yusei started to fear for her life, seeing the Twins in this state, while Aki was just carefully looking at them, seeing Yusei's face turning pale, "What happened?"
"She is..." Ruka started when Rua interrupted.
"We can't wait, quick! Hurry!" He grabbed Yusei's hand and started dragging him back to the garage.
"Sorry, Aki!" He looked behind to meet her gaze, "We'll talk some other time!" He added, before he started running back to the garage to check on Hanako. But just when they all entered the garage, he saw Hanako lying on the floor like she was unconscious. She looked so lifeless, as she was lying in the middle of the garage, but instead of being dead worried for her life, Yusei just smiled and sighed in relief.
"We found her like this! She's not moving at all!" Rua started, as tears started gathering in his eyes.
"Is she dead?!?" Ruka shivered, when Tenpei mentioned the word 'dead'.
"Calm down, guys! She's just sleeping!" Yusei laughed softly.
"Sleeping?" Rua was confused.
"Yeah", Yusei said when Jack and Crow bumped inside the garage to see what all the rush was about, just to see Hanako lying on the floor.
"Oh, she fell asleep on the floor again, huh?" Jack murmured.
"Geez, again?!?" Crow rolled his eyes and all three of them started laughing like crazy.
"How is she able to sleep like that?" Aki jumped in peeking through the door of the garage.
"She's always like that", Jack crossed his hands.
"Some things never change I guess", Yusei nodded.
"Well, they don't, but I ain't carrying her again!" Crow shouted, "She's not a child anymore!"
"No, Crow! You're just too small", Jack said coldly.
"Am not!"
"Sure are!"
"Am not!"
"You are!"
"Guys, that's enough!" Yusei said calmly, "You're going to wake her up if you keep on like this!"
"Wasn't that the whole point?!?" Rua was confused, as Ruka, Aki and Tenpei still had no idea what was going on.
"Sorry, Yusei, but I'm too tired for this..." Crow added, waving with his hand, as he started climbing upstairs, "I'm gonna go grab something to eat before going to bed!"
"Yeah, me too!" Jack added, following Crow behind.
"Me three!" Ruka joked while everyone stayed silent and there was now only one person that stayed, so everyone looked at Yusei!
"What?" He was confused at first but then just sighed, "Fine!" He approached Hanako and gently placed his hands underneath her neck and knees, keeping his touches smooth and soft, not to wake her up.
"Be careful, Yusei", Ruka murmured while Aki was just watching Yusei carrying Hanako in his arms, thinking about how sweet and caring Yusei was, as she couldn't help but start daydreaming about him.
"Don't worry, Ruka! She won't wake up", he explained.
"How so?" Rua was confused.
"She's sleeping like a baby if she has that wrench in her hands", Crow shrugged and yawned because it was too late, "Maybe we should all go to sleep!"
"You're right!" Rua and Ruka said in unison, as they grabbed Aki's hands, before accompanying her outside the garage and back to their homes.
Yusei took Hanako upstairs to his room, because they had only three; one for Crow, other for Jack and the third one for him, so they agreed to switch rooms every weekend, so that Hanako can stay in one of the three, while one of the guys will be sleeping on the couch in the garage. One week Crow would sleep on the couch, another would Yusei and so on...
"You must have worked hard these days because of me", Yusei murmured, while carrying Hanako to his room, as he looked at her peaceful sleeping face. As soon as he entered the room, he placed her body gently onto the bed and covered her with a sheet, so she won't be cold, but seeing her sound asleep just made him realise how tired and sleepy he was, so he yawned at the sight of her, before he fell asleep, too.
Meanwhile, Jack and Crow had their noodles for dinner, but when they realised Yusei's not on the couch in the garage, they went to his room to see what was going on and what they saw there left them speechless. Yusei was lying on his bed, facing Hanako's back, while his hands were wrapped around her. She was just lying on her right side and holding his thumb in her fist like a newborn baby.
"I knew it!!!" Crow shouted through a whisper, as both he and Jack were peeking through the door.
"And to think why she got that nickname", Jack whispered.
"Yeah", Crow giggled, "Wasn't it your idea?"
"I thought it was yours", Jack looked at Crow in confusion, but soon realised it doesn't even matter now. He turned his eyes back to Hanako and Yusei, enjoying the sweet night silence, but then Crow started with his questions again.
"I can't believe she fell asleep on the floor again, while holding that wrench of hers!"
"And she's holding Yusei's thumb!"
"Well, whoever gave called her Baby first was not wrong at all!" Crow smiled softly.
"After all, she is still our younger foster sister and we have to protect her, Crow!"
"We sure do, Jack!" Crow whispered back, remembering something else, "Hey, Jack! Do you think Yusei sees her as more than just a friend or foster sister?"
"Why?" Jack looked down at Crow's hair, as he was standing behind his back.
"Look at them", Crow started explaining, "They're like", he suddenly stopped, not finding the words to explain how he felt.
"Like what?" Jack was confused, "Don't make me kick your ass!" Jack raised one hand up into the air, angrily whispering back at Crow.
"Calm down, Jack!" Crow panicked slightly, closing the door and leaving Yusei and Hanako alone and in peace, "It was just a guess anyway!" He rolled his eyes, as both of them went to their rooms to take some rest, knowing how tomorrow another hard day is waiting for all for all of them.