Chapter 22
(following anime episode 80)
The noise from the garage of Poppo Time was reduced to the point, where not even Zola could complain anymore, so she was quite satisfied with how the guys started listening her advice and being silent, not making a lot of mess in the past few weeks, but the truth is, with Crow doing his deliveries and Jack and Yusei being absent most of the time, Hanako was the only one hanging out in the garage, so there was no space to make a huge mess like before. She was neat and the garage was always tidy when she was around, but the only thing she was able to mess up was her own clothes and her face... Just like today! She was finalising her new engine, testing the parts and checking if everything was in its place, before she returns the engine back into her runner to finish this once and for all! But even though everything seemed so perfect, there was this one fact that was making her lose her hope day by day, because only one engine wasn't enough. She had three more to go!
"It's four more to go if Aki is going to participate, too", Hanako murmured into her chin, removing a sweat from her forehead, leaving a trace of grease on her skin, after the glove she was wearing traced her forehead, "Or I could just give her my own engine... It's not like I'm going to need it anyway!"
"Need help with something?" Her eyes widened, when she heard Yusei's voice near her, so she turned around, seeing him taking off his helmet, hoping he didn't hear her silly murmuring.
"Yusei", she murmured, "I didn't hear you coming".
"Yeah, I turned off the engine", he explained, approaching Hanako with a smile, "Is there something wrong with the new engine?" He asked, looking at Hanako's wonderful creation, so he started wondering why she had such disgruntled look on her face.
"It's not", she sighed, feeling like giving up, "I just don't", she tried to find excuses, but suddenly felt so worn out, she decided to be honest with Yusei, knowing he will be able to understand, "I wish I could help you more!"
"But you already helped us more than I expected you will", he smiled brightly, looking into her eyes filled with disappointment, like she was ready to give up on this any second now.
"I know, but still", she tried to protest, because she wasn't feeling helpful at all, since the engine needed a programme to power it up.
"Come with me", Yusei said, so Hanako snapped out of her disbelief and looked at his eyes, asking for an explanation, "I wanna show you something!" He gave her a wink and started walking away, leaving her frozen in place with a blush on her face at the unexpected handsome wink from his side, but soon she shook her head and jumped behind him, keeping up with his steps, walking towards the computer Yusei was working on, so she watched how he sat down and turned it on, as she kept standing behind his left shoulder, looking at the screen.
"Is that Momentum Engine?" Hanako raised her eyebrows when she saw the screen.
"Yes, the one that is using the Yusei project", he explained, showing her the virtual construction of the engine.
"But it's not moving!" Hanako said with confusion in her voice, seeing how something was wrong with the engine.
"No, not yet", Yusei answered, "I need a programme to power it up!"
"So you want to tell me that the engine I constructed only needs the programme to be able to move and we're done with our work?"
"Yeah", Yusei nodded, but Hanako realised his face was still worried and somehow sad, so she kept looking at him, wanting to know the reason behind his feelings, so he soon continued, "But my point is... You did a great job with the engine and you shouldn't be feeling so bad about it, because I am the one who is not able to construct a programme for your creation and the one who should be feeling useless!"
"Yusei", Hanako murmured, as her eyes started shimmering like lake water under the night starry sky, so she placed her hand on his shoulder, "We're all in this together, right?" She smiled, trying to make him feel better, "There must be a way we can help you with it! I know I am just a mechanic, so programming isn't my thing, but if you need a suggestion or something, I am always willing to help!"
"You see this part here?" He suddenly pointed his finger onto the screen, "It's-"
"Yusei gear", she shouted happily, "I know!"
"So you heard about it?"
"Yusei!" Hanako crossed her hands and offered him a judging look from her eyes, "I am fixing runners on a daily basis. I see that gear more times a day than I see you!" She joked, wanting to make Yusei feel better.
"You're right!" He smiled, making Hanako's heart to skip a beat at his reaction, leaving her happy to at least cheer him up just a little bit.
"Your dad was a genius", she started, " His Momentum became a heart of every single D-Wheel in the world!" Hanako smiled brightly, thinking about the genius creation of Dr. Fudo, waving with her hands excitedly, but soon calmed herself down, as she looked at Yusei again, chuckling at his surprised and shocked reaction on her sudden burst of excitement, "I think you have a lot of traits your father had!"
"But you never met my father... Just like me", his face saddened, making Hanako frown at his reaction, like she was able to feel his deep emotion.
"I didn't say I knew him", she started explaining, placing her hand on his shoulder again, "But after everything I've heard about Dr. Fudo and after so much time I was able to spend with you... There are some similarities not even a science can hide away!" Hanako smiled brightly again, remembering how intelligent and smart Yusei is, regardless of the childhood he had that never offered him a proper education, "And I bet your father sensed something great in you!" She changed the image on the screen, moving it to Yusei gear, "See this little guy here?" She showed him the centre gear, "The centre gear won't move unless you surround it with other gears that are powered by the monster cards you play!" She leaned over his shoulder, showing him the screen where he designed the construction of Yusei gear, "The heart that makes other gears to rotate and boost the engine is the centre gear, the bond between the others!" She giggled at the thought that popped into her mind, "Just like you!" She added, getting to the main point of what she intended to say in the first place.
"Thank you", she suddenly felt his hand on hers, seeing how he turned his head over his shoulder, looking deeply into her eyes with a smile on his face, "I needed that!" He felt how his thoughts started travelling to the past times, when he met Hanako for the first time at Martha's orphanage and every moment they shared together. How she grew up so fast, into a wise and bright young woman, filled with so much hope and happiness that made his heart feel like home, so he always wanted to keep her by his side. And even though they've changed, she was the only person, who was able to understand him better than anyone else, knowing exactly what to say to make his day brighter, making him forget about the world and enjoy the little things in life, even if it was only for a second or a minute... It was worth it.
"I'll get it!" Hanako's voice suddenly brought Yusei back to reality, when his runner started beeping, but before he was able to turn around, he felt soft warmth on his cheeks, so his eyes widened when he realised Hanako kissed him and ran away to answer the call, "Oh, gramps?!" He was stunned by her bright smile, when she heard a familiar voice coming from the other side, "Wait, I'll connect you with the screen!" She shouted happily, running towards Yusei and connecting the runner to the computer screen wirelessly, so Ushio's face showed on the screen where the Yusei gear was few seconds ago.
"It's good to see you, guys!" Ushio nodded his head as a sign of greeting, "Is it just a part of my imagination or you two always come in a package?"
"Get straight to business, Ushio!" Yusei said calmly, not even giving Hanako the chance to answer Ushio's teasing words.
"Ah, sorry", he started scratching the back of his neck with slice of embarrassment, but soon gained his posture, as his facial expression became more serious, but warm, "I need you guys here tonight!"
"What do you mean by you guys?" Hanako raised an eyebrow, looking at Ushio's strange behaviour.
"Yusei, Jack, Crow and you", he answered, "Mikage-san and I wanted to invite you to dinner!"
"Dinner?" Yusei asked confusedly.
"Yes!"
"Sorry, Gramps, not hungry!" Hanako answered, placing her hand on her belly, feeling how she was losing her appetite.
"What about you, Yusei?"
"Well... I'm going to talk to the guys and see you tonight!" He answered, with a nod, so Ushio smiled back at him, nodding in understanding, making Yusei hang up the call.
"What's gotten into him so suddenly?" Hanako murmured, deeply thinking about the call.
"So you sense it, too?" Yusei asked, moving away from the computer, "I feel like he wants to talk to us about something very important!"
"I don't know... But there must be a reason why he wants to see you tonight. I doubt he's going to treat you to dinner just like that!"
"There's only one way to find out!" Yusei said, winking at Hanako, as he moved to his runner, "So you're not going with us?" He asked, putting his helmet on.
"No", Hanako answered, "I need some time alone", she gave him a smile, seeing how he nodded his head, respecting her decision.
"I'm going to get the guys", he said, revving his engine, "I'll see you later, Baby!"
"See you", she smiled brightly, watching him leave the garage, so she stayed all alone once again, turning around, trying to remember what was the last thing she was doing, "Now, where was I?" She giggled to her own thoughts, getting back to work, to see if there is something she can do, before Yusei, Crow and Jack come back home.
* * *
"Please stop!" Hanako heard a loud kick coming from the garage, while some strange voice started screaming, like it was begging for mercy, "I'm against violence!"
"Hey, Jack!" Crow shouted, "What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" She heard Crow's voice, so she rushed downstairs from the kitchen, seeing a strange man lying on the ground, surrounded by Crow, Jack and Yusei.
"Guys, what's wrong?" Hanako asked worriedly, coming down to them, approaching the strange man, assuming Jack probably hit him and knocked him down, so she kneeled next to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders, "What are you doing, Jack?" She asked with fear in her eyes, looking up at Jack, seeing how his fist was still up in the air, tight and ready to fight.
"Stand back, Baby!" Jack shouted angrily, "He has some explaining to do!"
"Jack, calm down!" Hanako reached her hand before him, while trying to guard the stranger with her tiny body.
"Now, say it!" Jack continued, putting down his hand, because Hanako was on his way, "What did you do to my Wheel of Fortune?"
"What are you talking about, Jack?" Yusei asked, with his body leaned onto his runner and his arms crossed.
"The Wheel of Fortune's power has increased!" Jack said coldly, standing back and looking at Yusei, not even minding what that information could mean for him.
"What?!" Yusei asked in surprise, feeling shocked by Jack's words.
"Well, if you've let him explain, maybe you'd know what happened!" Hanako shouted at Jack, helping the stranger to stand up, but he was too big and heavy for her, so she gave up on the idea. Luckily, there were no bruises on his face, so she sighed in relief, knowing Jack didn't hurt him... yet!
"All I did was adjust the computer in the D-Wheel a bit", the stranger explained, as he got on his knees and put his hands together, begging Jack to let him go.
"You did what?" Hanako's eyes widened, as she kept looking at him, while kneeling next to him.
"No way!" Crow shouted in disbelief, "Yusei tried to increase the power of our D-Wheel so much and this guy did all that in that short amount of time?!"
"That's the only thing I can think of!" Jack shouted angrily, keeping his hands crossed, so Hanako jumped up and stood before him, feeling her hands shivering out of anger.
"That's not the reason to treat this poor guy like that!" She started shouting at him, feeling few tears gathered in her eyes, as she pointed her hand behind her back, where the stranger was begging on his knees to stop being treated like this, "Have you lost your mind?!"
"You stay out of this, Baby!" Jack shouted, not feeling very happy for Hanako sticking her nose into his business.
"Wait, Jack!" Yusei suddenly said, approaching the stranger and placing hands on his shoulders, making Hanako turn around to see what he was doing, "Won't you... tell me how you did it?"
"Sure", the stranger said, walking with Yusei to the computer to show him something, so Crow, Jack and Hanako approached them, standing behind to see what was going on, "I changed the timing of the boosters!" The stranger added, typing something on the computer, "Now it can power up slightly!"
"I see", Yusei answered, looking carefully at the computer screen, "I hadn't noticed that!"
"What are they talking about?" Crow turned to Jack with confused look on his face.
"I have no idea", Jack answered seriously, "But don't let your guard down! I'm not sure if he's being our ally!"
"Where did you find this guy anyway?" Hanako asked, looking at them.
"Remember that dinner with Ushio?" Crow started, keeping his eyes locked on Yusei and that stranger, so Hanako looked at the direction Crow's eyes were pointing to.
"Don't tell me he sent you this guy to help us with W.R.G.P.!" Hanako answered, thinking about what could be the main reason behind Ushio's dinner invitation.
"Actually... We were asked to babysit him!" Crow explained.
"Babysit?" Hanako's eyes widened in surprise, "Him?" She pointed her finger to the stranger, hearing his conversation with Yusei.
"If I tweak with the programme, the power should be greater than now", he explained to Yusei, while Yusei was strictly focused onto his words and actions.
"Oh, really?" Crow shouted in huge surprise, moving to the stranger, after he heard his D-Wheel's speed can be improved.
"Crow!" Jack scolded him, "Are you listening to what I'm saying?"
"I'll adjust it right away", the stranger added, turning around, as his eyes met Crow's.
"I can't wait!" Crow shouted hyper-actively, making Jack facepalm himself, not believing how Crow changed his mind so quickly, while Hanako joined Yusei's conversation with the stranger.
"Excuse me, mister", Hanako added, still feeling a bit confused after everything that happened just now, wanting to know who this guy truly was, "And you are..."
"My name is Bruno!" He smiled at Hanako so innocently; she softly blushed, holding her lucky wrench.
"And I'm", Yusei decided to join in, but soon Bruno interrupted him.
"I know! You're Yusei", he looked at him, before he moved to others, "Jack and Crow!" He kept smiling, but Hanako realised he didn't mention her, so she decided to speak.
"Nice to meet you, Bruno!" Hanako gathered her hands, bowing her head respectfully, "I'm Hanako, but everyone calls me Baby!" She said, smiling brightly, happy to meet him, as she looked into his eyes, seeing so much coldness in them, but his smile was so warm and friendly like it didn't belong to his face. She kept looking at him like she was hypnotised, trying to sense his aura, but nothing was happening around him; there was no life, no emotions, no warmth, nothing... Like he was just a ghost.
"A mechanic, huh?" She suddenly snapped out of her thoughts, seeing how Bruno approached her and took her hand that was holding the wrench, like he was a tall, handsome prince ready to kiss girl's hand, so her cheeks blushed even more at the thought of it, while her eyes were locked on his, seeing the lively glow in them. It almost felt like the fact of her being a mechanic made him the happiest man alive! "If he was even alive", she murmured inside her mind, snapping out of her daydreams, seeing how Yusei had a strange facial expression behind Bruno's back.
"So... Bruno!" Yusei murmured, sustaining himself from overreacting, like he was trying to move Bruno's attention away from Hanako, "With your skills, I want you to look at this!" Bruno immediately moved back to the screen, seeing what Yusei was showing him, "It's not moving so well!"
"Hey!" Hanako shouted, jumping happily to Bruno's side, recognising the design on the screen, "That's Momentum engine Yusei showed me today!" She smiled, looking at Bruno, wanting to hear his thoughts, ready to learn something from him! To her, he was like a mysterious super mechanic who knows all of the engine secrets, so she started craving for knowledge, hoping he will be able to teach her something new!
"It's just using a programme right now", Bruno noticed, carefully looking at the design, "But it's better for us to use that!"
"What do you mean?" Hanako asked him with curiosity in her eyes.
"Baby", he answered, feeling a bit embarrassed for calling her that way, but when he realised she didn't react bad to that, he continued, "Since you're a mechanic, you should understand that the Momentum in a D-Wheel engine gets worn down as it's used", Bruno added, seeing how Hanako nodded her head in understanding, keeping her facial expression so focused, like she was attentively listening to every word he said.
"So it has to be changed every once in a while!" Hanako said, letting Bruno know how she understood his words perfectly, "But since the Speed World improved, Momentum has to be either upgraded or replaced with the new one!"
"Yes, but we can use the programme to improve the speed".
"We can?" Hanako asked, as her eyes widened in surprise.
"Hey, guys!" Jack interrupted them, "Isn't that what new engine is for?" His voice suddenly turned lowered, keeping a slice of worry inside, "Aren't you making a mistake?!"
"Stay quiet for a bit, Jack!" Yusei looked at him coldly, "We're talking about something important right now!"
"W-wait... Are you saying that you don't take me seriously?!" Jack was angered by Yusei's words, making Hanako giggle how his words threw Jack out for a loop, but soon her facial expression changed, when she realised Yusei wasn't even paying attention to it, because Bruno was showing something really important to him.
"Yusei", Hanako murmured, looking how he was completely lost in the conversation with Bruno.
"Well", Crow moved closer to Jack, shrugging with a smirk on his face, "Let's leave it to Yusei! Right now those two are talking about something very important!"
"You too?" Jack's eyes widened in surprise, because he couldn't believe Crow was on Yusei's side, "Fine! Do what you want!" He walked away, giving up on trying to stop Yusei from making a mistake.
Crow smiled proudly, looking how Yusei and Bruno were talking about the new engine, but after few more minutes he realised he couldn't understand half of it, if not even more, "Hey, Baby", he suddenly said, so Hanako turned around, focusing her eyes onto him, "What are they talking about anyway?"
"Oh, so you protested against Jack's theory and now you don't even know what you've done?" She raised an eyebrow at him, crossing her hands.
"Well, it's because", he started, trying to think about the good excuse for his actions, even though he knew Baby was right, "Who cares!" Crow shouted, changing his mind, "Just look at that screen and see what it they're talkin' about is!" He reached his hand towards the screen, so Hanako blinked few times in confusion, before she made few steps and leaned over Bruno's right shoulder to check what was all that fuss about.
"With this way, the power will be more stable", Hanako heard Bruno's words, looking at the screen.
"But if that happens, the power will be lost", Yusei explained to him, trying to find the best option for the engine, "That's the troubling part!"
"I see", Bruno murmured, as he started deeply thinking about what to do in that case.
"That's because you're ruining the RPM of the runner", Hanako said, after she looked at the 2D engine design on the screen, "And if you keep it as it is, the cut-off speed is not fully reachable before the throttle is released!"
"I see you really have a good mechanic here", Bruno said, looking at Hanako over his shoulder.
"Yeah, she was even able to construct a new engine, but I am having a hard time designing a programme for its construction", Yusei said with his voice proud of Hanako, as he smiled at her warmly.
"Really?!" Bruno shouted happily, "Can I see it?" He asked, looking at Hanako's eyes like he was asking a permission to do it.
"Well", she looked at Yusei, and then moved her eyes to Bruno, because she wasn't sure how to react, "I don't see why not!" She murmured, seeing how Bruno jumped up, moving away from his chair, as he looked at her with a strange, overjoyed glow in his eyes, so she escorted him to her engine.
"Hey, Baby!" Crow reached his hand, trying to stop her, but she just ignored his actions.
"Not now, Crow", she said, focusing onto her task, showing Yusei and Bruno the inside of her D-Wheel, where the engine was placed.
"Tch, mechanics", Crow hissed while rolling his eyes, not believing at what just happened, "Maybe I should listen to Jack for once!" He added, walking away, as she reached the half-way point of staircase, sitting on the chair and observing what was going on downstairs, not even trying to listen, because he had no idea what they three were talking about. He placed his hands behind his head, trying to take some rest until Yusei and Baby finish what they had, "That Yusei", he murmured to himself, "I thought he and Hanako would make a perfect couple and now it looks like two fish found their water", he sighed, closing his eyes, as he soon fell asleep, losing the track of time, while Hanako and Yusei were trying to figure out how to improve the new engine with Bruno's help.
"This looks great, Baby", Bruno smiled, after he checked Hanako's new engine construction, "It has double the cylinders, can move fast, but safe and has twice the amount of power in comparison to the V2 engine I saw before!"
"Thanks", she blushed softly through a murmur, feeling how someone finally started giving her credit for her hard work, "But I am not much into programming, so I have no idea how to adjust the engine to the new Speed World requirements..."
"Well, that won't be too hard if we upgrade the Momentum engine Yusei constructed", Bruno said, thinking about other possibilities.
"Would that concept work?" Hanako's eyes widened at the ray of hope coming from Bruno's words.
"There's enough reason to test it", Yusei said wanting to show Hanako how he was also working hard to help her with the engine, "I've been through some concepts for your engine and Bruno helped me with his suggestions, so we should be able to make a good programme for your engine, Baby!"
"Really?!" Hanako's eyes widened some more, as she smiled brighter than the sun with her face lit up, while she jumped happily up and down in one place, feeling overwhelmed by the great news.
"Yeah", Bruno nodded, feeling so happy to see her cheerful reaction.
"If you do that, I'm treating you to dinner", Hanako pointed her wrench to Bruno's chest, making Yusei's heart to beat faster at her actions, because he wasn't used to seeing her being so close to male strangers. And just the thought of it made his body to warm up in jealousy with fear of losing her boiling inside his blood, making it hard for him to control his inner feelings, even though he wasn't showing it on the outside.
"Calm down, Baby", Yusei decided to speak, keeping cold and calm voice, while his soul was burning with jealousy inside of his body, "We still haven't done anything yet!" But as soon as Hanako looked at his eyes and started thinking about whether he was bothered by her words or not, she heard a loud growling of Bruno's stomach, so she moved her eyes to him, worried for his health.
"Awww... Talking about dinner", Bruno murmured, feeling slightly embarrassed for what just happened, but then he saw instant noodles behind Hanako's back, so he pointed his finger in the same direction, "Is it OK if I eat this?"
"Sure, I'll bring you some more tomorrow!" Hanako said cheerfully, grabbing the noodle cup and handing it to Bruno, "Here you go!"
"Thank you", he answered, "You're a lifesaver, Baby!" He reached for a noodle cup, as Hanako felt his fingers touched hers when he took it to hiimself, making her body to tremble, so she just kept looking at him, being frozen in place, but he was already near Yusei, trying to open the noodle cup.
"I must say, Yusei", Bruno said like nothing happened, "I expected nothing less from Dr. Fudo's son!" His words made Hanako snap out of her thoughts, so he looked at Bruno in disbelief.
"Dr. Fudo?" Hanako murmured, looking at Yusei's reaction, worried for how he will bear with the memory of his father.
"Do you know about my father?" Yusei turned to the side, while sitting on his chair, looking at how Bruno poured water into his noodle cup.
"Dr. Fudo's momentum is in all the D-Wheel's engines, isn't it?" Bruno answered like it was obvious, "Any D-Wheel mechanic would know!" He looked at Hanako handed him chopsticks for his noodles, "I bet you know it too, right?"
"Mhm", she nodded happily, feeling like she finally found someone who understands her love towards mechanics! Someone, who was fluently speaking her language.
"Come to think of it", Bruno took the chopsticks from Hanako and turned back to Yusei, "Did your name come from Yusei gear?"
"Well", Yusei bowed down his head, avoiding eye contact with Bruno, so Hanako looked at him, waiting to see what he wanted to say, "I think so!"
"I think it's true!" Hanako said happily, placing her hands behind her back, raising her head proudly, while smiling at Bruno warmly, but his face was still cold and indifferent, like he wasn't feeling any emotions at all.
"It's an interesting name", Bruno said, before he started eating his noodles, "The Yusei gear is pretty interesting! One gear alone won't do anything and the central gear uses the surrounding gears to rotate!" He explained, sitting down next to Yusei, as he looked at the gear model rotating on the screen, so Hanako approached him to see what was going on. She leaned over his shoulder with curiosity in her eyes, "If we're just parts of the wheel, what's the central gear that moves us?"
"It's obvious!" Yusei smiled, answering Bruno's question, "That is... the Duel Monsters that are with us in Riding Duels!" Hanako looked at his handsome smile, feeling how it made her heart skip a beat, before it started beating normally again, "And above that, I have bonds with Jack and Crow!"
"I see", Bruno answered, "That sounds beautiful!"
"Bruno", Yusei started, "Mikage told me you lost your memory, but", Hanako listened to his conversation with Bruno carefully, wanting to learn more about this stranger and how come he knows so much about the mechanics, but before Yusei even finished his question, Bruno was already more than happy to share his story with them.
"When I realised it, I was washed up on a beach".
"A beach?" Hanako raised her eyebrows, as she crossed her hands, "Where you in some sort of an accident?"
"I don't remember it at all", Bruno said, like he wasn't bothered by his memory loss so much, "But when I work on D-Wheels and duel, It feels like I can remember something!"
"I see", Yusei said with a serious look on his face, so Hanako wanted to make him snap out of it.
"Hey, Yusei, why don't we let him stay here for a while?"
"Is that fine?" Bruno's eyes widened in surprise, as he smiled at Hanako so innocently, like he was just a lost child, so she blushed softly and turned to Yusei, like her eyes wanted him to answer that question.
"Yes", Yusei nodded his head, "For the W.R.G.P., we need a new machine programme and if we work together..."
"If you're okay with me", Bruno interrupted his words, "I'll become part of the gear that reaches toward your dreams!" He finished, so Yusei offered him a handshake.
"Thank you, Bruno!"
"Well, that settles it!" Hanako chuckled at their handshake, realising how Bruno offered Yusei his left hand first, so she started deeply thinking about Bruno, because even though he was so lost and innocent, there was something deep within him that was cold and distant, far away from her understanding, so she wanted to know more about him, just so that she can find the reason behind her strange cautious feelings, "Left-handed, huh?" She murmured inside her mind, hoping they can trust Bruno and accept his help for the W.R.G.P. tournament, because they were short on time and there was a lot of work before them and... Well, on the other hand, Bruno seemed nice regardless of the strange aura she was sensing around him, knowing only time can answer her questions and doubts...
* * *
Next day, Hanako was in the garage all alone again, checking the state of her new engine, before she runs few tests on it and goes for a ride to see if it works the way she wants it to. She was completely drown in her work, she didn't realise it was already early afternoon, so the sound of kids coming back from school made her move away from her focus, when someone suddenly rushed inside, almost breaking the door.
"Yusei!" Rua and Ruka shouted in unison, running inside with overjoyed faces, moving Hanako's attention to them.
"Well, hello there, cutesies", Hanako giggled, jumping up and clearing her hands with a cloth, as the Twins approached her.
"Baby, is Yusei here somewhere?" Rua asked excitedly, like he couldn't wait to meet him.
"He's upstairs in the living room with Bruno and the guys!" Hanako answered, showing them the staircase to the upper floor, seeing how both Rua and Ruka blinked their eyes confusedly.
"Who is Bruno?" Ruka asked, so Hanako smiled warmly, remembering how the Twins still haven't met their new friend.
"He's our new friend", Hanako said, "And he's also helping Yusei with the new programme for our D-Wheels!" Her face lit up, seeing how Rua's eyes widened at her words, making him look as excited and happy as she was herself.
"Oh, can we see him?" Rua asked excitedly, so Hanako nodded her head.
"Sure, I'll go with you, because I need to ask Yusei something!"
"Something like what?" Rua asked childishly, but even though he didn't want to be mean, Hanako's face blushed like an apple at his question, so she turned her head to avoid her face from being seen.
"Something about the engine you won't be able to understand", she lied, looking at the staircase to the living room, "Come!" Hanako started walking to the staircase, so Rua and Ruka followed her, but when she started climbing up, they just ran past her so fast, she blinked once and they were already up, so she rolled her eyes with a smile, hearing how Rua started shouting excitedly as soon as he reached the last step.
"Yusei! Let's play!"
"Rua found a new combo!" Ruka added after her twin brother with almost the same amount of excitement in her voice, so Hanako giggled at their adorable, childish personality, as she walked towards them with only few steps left before she reaches the top, but her eyes suddenly widened, when she heard steps behind her back. She cautiously turned around, keeping her guard up, seeing Aki was climbing the stairs, but before Hanako was able to say something, she was already standing before Hanako's eyes, carrying a book in her hands.
"Yusei, I have a problem with my Physics", Aki started happily, but as soon as she saw Yusei talking to Bruno, her facial expression changed drastically.
"Shhhh..."
Hanako finally got upstairs, seeing how Crow silenced them all, with his finger before his nose and lips, so she blinked her eyes in confusion, moving her look to Yusei, seeing how he was still talking to Bruno about the new engine construction, when Rua asked, "So this is that person Bruno, right Baby?"
"Yep", Hanako nodded her head happily with a bright smile on her face, but no one but her shared the same expression.
"He's refuge entrusted to us by the Public Security Maintenance Bureau", Jack said proudly, acting like he didn't care about it at all, so he crossed his hands, wanting to keep a safe distance from Bruno.
"Right now, he's a super mechanic that's working with Yusei", Crow added, leaning his elbows to his knees, as he was sitting on the couch next to Jack.
"Super mechanic?" Rua's eyes started sparkling brightly, "Then should I ask him to work on my Duel board as well?!"
"Maybe", Crow answered indifferently, keeping his focus on Yusei and Bruno.
"Crow", Hanako said with slice of irritation in her voice, "He's not the only mechanic around, remember?" She placed hands on her hips, trying to scold him, but he shared the same attitude Jack did, not caring about a thing, so Hanako let a sigh, moving her eyes back to Yusei, because everyone was blabbering something behind his back.
"This is strange", Rua murmured, "Could there be that much to talk about?"
"Now, the amount that they've talked has surpassed how much I've talked to Yusei", Crow sighed, shrugging powerlessly.
"They are like two ducks side by side", Rua murmured, seeing how Yusei kept talking to Bruno, not minding his surroundings at all.
"It's not ducks but lovebirds and that's only used for describing a man and a woman!" Ruka rolled her eyes, as she scolded her brother.
"Hmph!" Aki suddenly hissed, so Hanako looked at her, seeing how she wasn't looking satisfied with the situation.
"Aki?" She murmured, seeing how Aki just turned around, holding her book tightly in her arms, while her face talked more than words ever could, so Hanako knew exactly what was happening inside of her head and more importantly, inside of her heart.
"I'm going home!" She said angrily, "It looks like I'm a bother if I'm here!"
"Aki", Rua murmured worriedly, but then he smiled, realising what was probably bothering her, "Could you by some chance be jealous?"
"Stop talking about adults business, you're just children!" She looked over her shoulder, piercing Rua with the furious look in her eyes, even Hanako froze in place, feeling how her hands started shivering with fear, because Aki was a powerful psychic duellist and was practically a weapon Divine constructed in his big Arcadia project.
"She's really angry!" Rua said, making Hanako snap out of her thoughts, so she smirked at how Rua was thinking the same thing as she did.
"Well", she shrugged with satisfaction in her voice, "She can't expect for Yusei to be with her 24/7!"
Cunning smile showed on Rua's face, "Now you sound jealous!"
"At least she was right about one thing", Hanako answered, "Stop sticking your nose into adults business!" She placed hands on her hips again, leaning towards Rua and Ruka, looking angry and mad, because she wasn't able to hide her emotions and feelings towards Yusei, especially now when he kissed her underwater and was dancing around her thoughts day and night.
"Hey, Baby", Hanako blinked her eyes, snapping out of her embarrassment moment, seeing how Ruka was looking at her curiously, "Do you know what they're talking about?"
"I'll go check!"
"Oh, man!" Crow suddenly shouted with irritation in his voice, seeing how Hanako happily jumped towards Yusei, like she just waited for an excuse to talk to him, "You shouldn't do that! Now she'll be sticking with them and no one will take care of our dinner today!"
"Sorry", Ruka saddened her face and bowed her head, keeping her hands behind her back shyly.
"Well", Crow sighed defencelessly, "It'll be a worth all the trouble if we can get one step closer to the completion of the new engine!"
* * *
The night soon came, so Hanako went to sleep, after she made coffee for Yusei and Bruno, who were still working hard and trying to construct the programme for Hanako's new engine without sleeping for two days! She was tired herself, and just thinking about how Yusei and Bruno haven't slept for 48 hours made her so sleepy and exhausted, so she overslept the next day, sleeping soundly until Jack's angry shouting voice woke her up, so she ran to the garage in a flash.
"What do you mean the data has been stolen?!"
"That was careless; I should've kept a backup!" Yusei said to Jack, trying to stop him from punching Bruno's face.
"Yusei and I were both careless", Bruno said, defending Yusei, but Jack moved to him and grabbed him by the collar, "We can't do anything about it!"
"Are you the culprit?!" Jack shouted angrily into Bruno's' face, ready to make him talk by force, "I thought you were suspicious from the start!"
"You're wrong, it's not me!" Bruno said with his voice shivering, so Hanako ran to Jack and grabbed his arm, wanting to stop him from hurting Bruno, again!
"Let him go, Jack!" She said calmly, but still keeping her posture, "You can't just pick on the weak when you're angry!"
"Don't stop me! I'll get everything out of him!"
"At least tell me what's going on here!" Hanako said angrily, making Jack let go off Bruno's shirt.
"He stole the programme for our engine!" Jack shouted even louder, pointing his finger at Bruno, talking about it like he was 100% sure his theories were right!
"What?" Hanako was left surprised, as her eyes moved to Bruno, looking at how confused, scared and lost he looked, so she realised he wasn't guilty, but before she was able to react and say something to Jack again, Crow jumped in.
"Stop it already!" He firmly stood between Jack and Bruno to keep Hanako on a safe distance and make Jack not to touch Bruno again.
"Are you trying to protect him as well?!" Jack hissed angrily.
"There's nothing to protect", Crow said strictly, "If he was the culprit, he would have run away after stealing the data", he explained, raising his finger into the air, like he used to do when he would lecture his kids, to prove his point to Jack, "What kind of thief would stick around after stealing something?"
"That's true", Jack murmured silently, deeply thinking about it, but refusing to admit he was wrong, "But... Can't you create the programme once more?" He placed a hand on Crow's chest, moving him to the side, so that he can look into Bruno's eyes.
"It's not that simple", Bruno shrugged, "Creating a programme needs lots of work, and it's complicated!"
"He's right, Jack", Yusei said to help Bruno, because he thought Jack would trust him more, if he agrees with Bruno's words, "It's near impossible to recreate it".
"Then the only way is to find the thief?" Jack asked, while Crow was sniffing around the garage, looking for clues or fingerprints, so he blew the dust over the table and the computer, to see if something will happen. He used to use this trick quite often when stealing from rich to help the poor, so he knew what he was doing.
"But, the thief hasn't left behind any evidence! I can't find any fingerprints!"
"Without any evidence, how will we find the thief?" Jack asked, looking at Yusei and Hanako, hoping to receive some good advice from them, but then Bruno murmured something, like he found what they've been looking for.
"What's wrong, Bruno?" Yusei looked at him, watching how he approached the shelf with the tools.
"One of the cup ramen has disappeared!"
"What?!" Jack shouted angrily, looking how Bruno pointed to the shelf, "My cup ramen has what?!"
Bruno searched through the garbage, while anger was flowing through Jack's veins, "Ah, found it!" He moved to the drawer, taking tweezers from it and picked up the folium from the trash bin, "I found the thief's fingerprint!" He said happily, seeing the trace of fingertip on the ramen cup cover, "The thief ate this cup ramen while stealing the data!"
"What?!" Jack's eyes widened.
"Really!?" Crow added with slice of doubt in his voice.
"Maybe he couldn't get the cover off and removed his gloves", Hanako murmured, looking at the fingerprint, seeing how both Bruno and Yusei moved to their computers in sync, like they secretly agreed on their next step, so she watched them typing something very important into the computer.
"Are you really doing this, Yusei?" Jack asked worriedly, standing behind his back, so Hanako moved closer to see what was going on, as she couldn't understand what they were trying to do.
"Yes", Yusei said determinedly, "If we enter this fingerprint into the Security's database, we can find the thief!"
"Security's database?!" Hanako's eyes widened, "You can't hack the database like it's a child's play!"
"She's right, Yusei!" Jack gave Hanako a look of agreement, "Security's database is protected by a strong firewall! If we make a mistake in hacking, we'll get caught!"
"If we use all the world's servers to hack, we can get in within 5 minutes!" Yusei answered calmly, turning to Bruno, "Can you get in within 5 minutes?"
"I should be able to, somehow!" Bruno said, nodding his head.
"Well?" Yusei turned over his shoulder to Jack, "Should we stop, Jack?"
"I, Jack Atlas, will leave that decision up to you!" He answered, raising his nose proudly into the sky, like he was a child angry at his friend for breaking the rules.
"Don't hit me if we fail!" Bruno said, before he tried to get into the database.
"Of course I'll hit you!" Jack answered coldly, so Hanako rolled her eyes with a soft smile on her face.
"You know what, guys? I'm going to make myself some tea!" Hanako murmured, moving her hands through the air, like she was trying to navigate herself with the movement of her fingers, "I'll be right back!" She said, seeing how no one paid attention to her, so she just sighed powerlessly and walked away, moving to the kitchen to boil some water for the tea, as she took a cup and placed a tea bag inside, waiting for the water to boil. And soon her tea was ready, so she took her cup and went back to the garage, hearing how Crow and Jack started shouting happily, like they won the W.R.G.P., so she blinked her eyes first at their reaction, but then she just smiled brightly and approached them all.
"This guy is amazing!" Crow shouted happily, while Jack nodded his head in agreement.
"By the look on your faces, I'd tell you were able to figure this out, while I was gone", Hanako said, seeing the screen on the computer matching the fingerprint with other fingerprints in the database, when suddenly the fingerprint turned red and the words below it stated 'matched', so she leaned towards the screen to see what will happen, when the profile of the culprit showed on the screen.
"This guy is...!" Yusei, Crow and Jack shouted in disbelief with one voice.
"Do you know him?" Bruno asked curiously, turning his head over his shoulder to look at others.
"Impossible!" Hanako murmured, not believing her own eyes.
"The Vice Director of the Public Security Maintenance Bureau", Yusei explained, as Hanako leaned over his shoulder to see the screen clearly, realising how there was no mistaking it at all, so she spelled the name of the person from the screen, while she was having a hard time to understand the reason behind his actions.
"Jaeger..."