Chapter 28
(following anime episodes 96 and 97)
Everything was crimson red... The sky above the ruined city was coloured in pastel reds and pinks, leaving an impression of blood covered clouds dancing around the sky, looking like the wind was taking them far, far away, but not even the softest breeze could be felt in the air. Everything inside and outside, everything around was farcical and intangible and the surroundings seemed like... They were just an illusion.
"Where am I?" Hanako murmured into her chin, looking around, seeing nothing, but ruins with rock blocks sticking out of the ground, like someone threw a bomb on the Graveyard and made all of the tombs to crack and fall apart, leaving their leftovers spread all around the ground. No buildings, cars, traffic, any signs of life could be felt around, no matter how hard Hanako tried to look around for any signs of life, "What is this place?" She muttered again, while her heart was shivering in fear inside her chest, feeling like something bad was about to happen, so she started running away from unknown force, an enemy that was unbeknownst to her... but she kept going, alternating between her two feet, while her breath was becoming shorter and shorter. Her running body soon came into a halt, when she felt a soft earthquake making the ground tremble below her feet, followed by the roaring sound of thunder striking through the sky. Looking up, Hanako's eyes widened when they landed on a huge junk of scrap-iron parts sticking out of the redness of welkin above her head, "What the...?" She whispered to herself, seeing the construction in the air that looked like a castle at first glance, but there was something familiar inside of it, she just couldn't put her finger on it!
"Baby!" She suddenly snapped out of her thoughts, turning around when she heard familiar voice behind her back.
"Yusei?" Hanako called his name, questioning her sight in confusion, because she was finding it hard to believe that Yusei was trapped in this weird dimension just like her. She was able to smile warmly as soon as her eyes landed on his figure, but her facial expression drastically changed, altering into fear and dismay, seeing a strange mechanical construction planted on his right eye, "Yusei, what happened to you? Are you all right?" She ran to him, watching him smile sweetly at her, as she cupped his cheeks, studying his face thoroughly.
"I am fine, my love", he whispered, making Hanako's heart to skip a beat at his words, while her cheeks started blushing softly, "Don't worry!" He added, being so kind and gentle, Hanako was trying to realise what was going on, but her effort went down the drain when Yusei cupped her cheeks in return and leaned his forehead against hers, letting her stare into his left eye, seeing how his entire right frontal was covered in junk of metal with a red circle resembling the right eye.
"Yusei, what is going on?" She asked, feeling a strange aura coming from his body, making her own body to tremble in fear of the unknown, so she pulled away from his touch.
"We have to go there", he answered, not minding her reaction at all, as he just pointed his finger up to the sky, showing her place he was referring to.
"And how are we supposed to get here?" Hanako asked suspiciously, getting the strange feeling from Yusei's figure that was standing before her eyes, so she started doubting the veracity of his appearance.
"I will take you there!" Yusei smiled, leaving again another suspicious trace in Hanako's overall impression on him, but she just nodded her head, wanting to know what will happen and where she was. Her reaction made Yusei chuckle, as he reached his hand towards her in attempt to take her to that strange castle sticking out of the sky.
"Okay", Hanako muttered weakly, placing her hand into his, as the surroundings around them abruptly changed and their bodies were teleported to the castle in a blink of an eye, without her even noticing the movement of her body, like someone just deleted the background and pasted another one around her.
"Come!" Yusei said as soon as they arrived at the strange construction, so Hanako blinked her eyes few times, before she nodded her head and started following him around the maze they were in. Everything looked like inside of a spaceship, walls made out of strange construction unknown to her, without much light showing the path, so she was barely able to see a thing. Her steps were slow and cautious, because she tried not to get lost or trip over something, when she heard Yusei's voice again, "There!" He shouted abruptly, while Hanako could hear his steps tapping the ground faster and faster, making her realise he sped up his pace.
"Yusei, wait!" She shouted, looking around the pitch black surroundings, not being able to move so fast, before she heard a loud and terrifying scream coming from the room that opened its door, revealing some light into the darkness around her, so she started following the path revealed, waling inside. Her vision was blinded and disturbed by the piercing light at first, so Hanako closed her eyes, waiting for her eyes to get used to the intense light, before she fully opened them again, seeing nothing but pure whiteness and blur, "Yusei", she whispered, looking around the wide open space, seeing Yusei lying on the floor, in the middle of nowhere, "YUSEI!" Hanako screamed vigorously, as her voice cracked in the process, while she was watching Yusei's body lying lifelessly on the ground, so she ran to him, placing his head into her lap, sitting on her knees, "Yusei, say something!" She whispered, cupping his left cheek, moving the fringes away from his face.
"Baby", Yusei mumbled unambiguously in pain, wincing in the process with his eyes closed shut, "Listen", he whispered, opening his eyes, "No matter what happens to me... You stay strong!" He added, reaching for her face, wiping a small tear from her cheek, "And don't let Satellite make you wither and die, my beautiful flower!"
"Yusei, stop talking like you're going to die!" She shook her head with her eyes closed, letting more tears roll down her face, "Fight, Yusei!" She whined in pain, feeling her heart aching inside her chest, "Don't die on me right now!"
"Ako... They separated us long time ago... And now that I finally found you, my love", Yusei started mumbling, leaving an impression of a raving lunatic, but that didn't stop him from continuing, "I have to leave... But there is something I have to tell you first!" Yusei whispered, closing his eyes for a second, before he opened them again, still smiling at her, "I love you!" He added, before his eyes closed and his hand fell down from her cheek, touching the ground. His body showed no signs of life...
"Yusei", Hanako murmured through a whisper, shaking his body to wake him up, but there was no response from his side, "Yusei... NO!" She cried out, raising the tone of her voice, "YUSEEEI!" And just when the last breath came out of her lungs, everything disappeared, as her body twitched, coming out of her illusions. Hanako blinked her eyes few time, looking around her surroundings, while her body was sitting on the bed in what seemed to be Yusei's room at Poppo Time house. It took her few seconds to realise what happened and where she was, noticing how it was quite silent in the house, like no one was around, but then she heard Bruno's soft voice.
"Ah, Baby", he said, smiling lovingly, as he approached her and sat on the bed next to her, "You're awake!"
"A dream?" Hanako whispered to herself, thinking about what just happened in the vision she saw, understanding now that it was just a bad dream, a real nightmare.
"A dream?" Bruno reiterated her words with the same amount of confusion in his eyes, looking like he was lost and confused at the same time, "You're not dreaming, Baby... You were sleeping and now you are awake!" He added with a sweet smile on his face, feeling happy how she was all right.
"Where is Yusei?!"
"He went with Crow, Jack and the others to the W.R.G.P. arena to practice for the Tournament!" He explained, remembering how they had to make Yusei move, because he refused to leave the room until Hanako wakes up, "He was with you all the time, but they have scheduled practice, so they had to leave the garage!"
"I see", Hanako whispered, muttering into her chin silently, but loud enough for Bruno to hear her words.
"He was with you all the time, you know?" A bright smile was spread widely from his left to his right ear, so he closed his eyes adorably, showing Hanako his teeth smile, before he opened his eyes again, "He didn't sleep last night, because he was waiting for you to wake up!" Bruno kept smiling, hoping his words will make Hanako smile too, but once she showed no signs of relief or happiness, he saddened his face, almost entirely copying the contours of her face, "Baby, is something wrong?"
"I just had a bad dream", she whispered, pulling her knees up and closer to her chest, as she wrapped her hands around her knees, curling on the bed, while staring down at the bed sheets, hypnotised by her own thoughts.
"Don't we all have bad dreams sometimes?"
"This one was different", Hanako answered to Bruno's words of comfort, tightening the hold around her knees, pulling them even closer to her chest, "I think it has something to do with what we saw from that Z-ONE card yesterday..."
"Yeah", Bruno nodded his head, remembering how he woke up on the shore of Satellite with Yusei right after that strange feeling pierced his soul, while Hanako was lying unconscious next to them, "I think that thing helped us escape!" He explained, telling her the same thing he told Yusei last night.
"That thing", Hanako reiterated Bruno's words, "Might be alive", she whispered to herself, deeply thinking about the origins of what they saw, because she could clearly remember that blue eye staring at her and making her feel like her soul has been captured into a specimen, kept there for testing and experimenting, not even she was able to explain the way she felt last night before she fell asleep and started dreaming that strange dream with Yusei being a cyborg or half-human or whatever he was...
"Eeeh?!" Bruno gasped in surprise, widening his cold grey eyes, "Are you sure?" But after he blinked his eyes few times, he saw Hanako just shaking her head with her face still covered in sadness.
"I don't know what it was, but", she started, when suddenly the noise of loud steps could be heard outside the room she was in, so she moved her eyes to the door, waiting to see what is going to happen, when she saw Crow panting heavily, leaning his palms on his knees to rest.
"Crow?" Bruno asked through a murmur, while his eyes were locked on Crow's appearance just like Hanako's.
"Baby, you're awake!" He said so suddenly, Hanako started blinking her eyes in confusion, trying to understand the reason behind his sudden reaction, but then she remembered how she has no idea what time is it and for how long she has been sleeping.
"Crow", Hanako heard Yusei's concern in the background, so her heart skipped a beat as soon as the sound of his voice reached her ears, before Yusei appeared right next to Crow on the doorway.
"What is all this fuss about?" Hanako murmured curiously with slice of irritation in her eyes, because she thought they were overreacting to what happened to her. She watched Yusei leave a sigh of relief, while Crow just smirked at her cheerfully.
"We thought you're never going to wake up!" Crow explained, moving inside the room, when a sudden roaring voice of Jack's thundered through the hallway.
"It's what Yusei thought!"
"Right, right", Crow waved with his hand , sitting on the bed next to Hanako, while she was looking at Yusei, who just tried to hide his blushing face from her in attempt to hide the truth behind Jack's words, "Listen, Baby!" Crow started talking, so Yusei took the opportunity to move away from the doorway, but Jack managed to grab his jacket and drag him inside the room, closing the door behind, so everyone was now gathered around the bed that Hanako was sitting on, while Crow kept blabbering about his ideas, not minding the scene that was playing behind his back, "Martha called us today! She wants to see us before the W.R.G.P. begins, so what do you say we all go pay her a visit tomorrow?" A wide and bright content smile curled around his lips, as he kept gazing at Hanako like he didn't plan on stopping, until she accepts his proposition.
"Sure", she murmured, while her eyes were still focused on Jack and Yusei behind Crow's back, even though she was looking right through them, because her mind was still trapped somewhere in her nightmares and the vision she saw in the Security building. She soon snapped out of the vagrancy around her own mind, realising how everyone was worriedly looking at her, so in order to stop that sight from escalating into something worse, she decided to change the mood around them, "How did your practice go?" She smiled softly, putting her worries and concerns aside.
"Yusei duelled Andore from Team Unicorn!" Jack decided to start the story first, not wanting to have any unnecessary details to lump themselves in with simple explanation of what really happened during the practice, "But the duel was halted!" He ended sternly, while his face seemed a bit disappointed in what was hidden behind his words.
"I see", Hanako murmured silently, nodding her head, "Guess you found yourself a tough enemy!"
"If not the toughest", Yusei muttered all of a sudden, making everyone look at him because they thought he was never going to talk.
"Well", Hanako chuckled, still trying to keep her mind off of her nightmares, "You three can achieve anything if you work together!" She added chirpily, while her body moved on its own, hyperactively jumping out of the bed, making her stand on her two feet like nothing happened, "You are like brothers and your bond is so strong that not even Team Unicorn can shatter it!" Hanako added with a smile that was soon followed by a cheerful wink, before she walked outside the room like she was the only person there, leaving everyone astonished by the sudden change of mood from her side.
"What's wrong with her?"Jack was the first one to murmur in disbelief, shifting his eyes' focus on Crow and Yusei.
"Isn't she always like that?" Bruno interrupted, trying to find the main point behind Jack's question, but before anyone could answer, Hanako's vivacious and perky voice echoed through the hallway again, moving the eyes of the guys to the doorway, where the sound was coming from.
"I am making dinner tonight for anyone who's hungry!"
"See?" Crow muttered into his chin manifestly applying to Bruno the main point they were trying to prove.
"I still don't get it", he just whispered awkwardly with a dose of embarrassment in his voice, bowing his head.
"Never mind!" Jack humphed at the group, walking towards the door, "She is not going to talk about it anyway!" He added, knowing that there was no way to make Hanako talk, even if there was something bothering her, so he just gave up on it, knowing that eventually all of her fears and doubts will come to the surface... it was just the matter of time. And while Crow and Bruno followed him downstairs to the kitchen, where Hanako was making dinner, Yusei stayed in the room, still gazing at the door, not sharing the same thought with Jack, knowing that Hanako must be going through something inside her heart and soul, which is probably the reason why she is acting so cheerful and happy in plain view. She wasn't even trying to hide it, but rather convince herself that she can just put it aside and act untouched by whatever was bothering her, hoping that it will leave her mind or disappear. But from his own experience, Yusei knew all too well that those feelings never go away, those fears are haunting you and will never stop, until you fight them and do something about it; so just like she always talked to him and helped him overcome his fears, he decided to talk to her to help her in the same way, to let her know that she can overcome whatever is bothering her, but before he even talks to her, he knew that his mind has to be cool and calm, because they are having a great duel against Team Unicorn soon and they had to win to come closer to Yliaster and expose their evil doings in order to stop them from destroying the world! Hanako can wait – he concluded! At least that is what he thought...
* * *
When the morning came the next day, Hanako left the garage very early while the others were still sleeping, so that she can visit Martha's place. She wanted to help Martha clean the house, make lunch for the kids and overall just to be around her kids and play with them, because she needed something to distract her mind from her nightmares. She was not able to fall asleep last night, so she stayed awake, thinking about what she saw and that strange Yusei she met in her nightmare. He seemed so real and yet there was something strange about him, something that was making her uneasy, like she knew him from somewhere, but from where? Once she was at Martha's place, all of her fears, thoughts and doubts were gone. Especially when the kids welcomed her happily, shouting her name that started roaring through the entire house, making Hanako's heart to dance happily inside her chest, knowing she was finally able to relax for a while. Once she was done with her chores and lunch with kids, she was helping them make a surprise for Crow that they wanted to do and as they kept going and working hard on realisation of kids' idea, the time kept passing by so quickly, she completely lost the track of it, when she heard the front door opening.
"It must be Crow!" Hanako said to the kids, so they jumped up on their feet and looked at her with fear in their eyes, so she chuckled sweetly at them, "Don't worry, he won't see the surprise before the time comes! You stay here and clean up this mess. I will call you out when Crow will be ready for a surprise, OK?" She kept smiling warmly at the kids, watching them nod their heads in agreement, as she managed to bring a bright smile to their faces, walking out of the room to the living room, seeing Jack and Crow bringing few paper bags full of groceries, placing them on the table, "Ah, just in time for dinner!" She giggled, walking towards the table, sticking her nose into the bags, as she started taking out the groceries and other supplies that the guys brought with them. Corned beef, canned tomatoes, few loafs of bread... She kept taking them all to the kitchen to store them properly, while she kept listening to the conversation between Martha, Saiga, Crow and Jack that was coming from the dining room.
"I see", Saiga muttered, sounding a bit disappointed, "So Yusei didn't come..."
"Yes, he's busy with his job I guess!" Crow's voice answered and Hanako immediately knew where he was and what he was doing, so she ran to the kitchen, even though she was in the middle of her grocery storing. She was holding two cans of tomatoes in her hands, standing on the kitchen doorway and looking at Crow and Jack.
"He's testing his engine with Aki, isn't he?" She asked a bit angrily, not being able to hide the jealousy and irritation by the fact that Yusei was still spending most of his time with Izayoi.
"I wonder how Yusei would react if he saw your adorable jealous face", Martha chuckled, making Hanako's cheeks turn crimson red, so she bit her lower lip shyly, bowing her head and avoiding the eye contact for a second, before she took as deep breath.
"I am not jealous!" Hanako said, trying to defend herself, protesting against Martha's teasing words, but then she saw Martha with one eyebrow raised at her, looking at her like she was hiding something and was waiting for her to sip it out, "I just don't understand what's so special about her that he always chooses to spend his time with her", she muttered shyly, with a dose of embarrassment in her voice.
"If I remember correctly, Jack already told ya why", Crow answered, turning around the chair to see Hanako, "Damsel in distress!" He smirked teasingly, "If you kept asking him for help and wanting him to be around saving your day, he'd be your man, too!"
Hanako furrowed her eyebrows at Crow, pouting at him for what he said, but just when she opened her mouth to say something in response, Jack spoke bluntly, "Really, always with his job!" He closed his eyes, while he was sitting around the table with his arms crossed. He humphed scornfully at his own words, looking like he was strongly offended and irritated by them, "To think that he would reject Martha's invitation before the tournament!"
"Why don't you be more like him?" Martha's motherly instinct suddenly altered her face contours, filling it with strictness and scolding.
"Like what?" Jack puffed at her, opening his eyes, "Finding a fangirl to run around me 24/7? No thank you, I already have enough of those!" He added indifferently, keeping his posture, while he tried to look too proud to admit he was wrong or unworthy.
"Jack, get serious!" Martha scolded him with a sharp strictness in her voice, "I heard from Zola that you won't do your job!"
Jack abruptly twitched at her words, gulping softly, before he opened his mouth to answer her words, but then he reconsidered, shutting his mouth, "I have no comment regarding that", he muttered after he changed his mind of not saying anything in his defence.
Crow started giggling at Jack's reaction, so Hanako did the same, enhanced by the sound of Crow's facetious laugh, but then Crow looked around the house, realising something was not quite right, "Hey, where are the kids?" He questioned nervously, "Are they gone?"
"They were working hard with Hanako in the living room, so they are probably still cleaning up the mess they made!" Martha explained, letting a powerless sigh, knowing how troublesome those kids can be.
"Working hard?" Crow questioned, not understanding what they could be working so hard on, so he moved his eyes to Hanako, pleading her to explain to him what Martha was trying to say.
"Hey, guys!" Hanako nodded her head at Crow, understanding the meaning behind his pleading look, before she moved her eyes to the door and shouted happily once again, "Come out!" Once she said those magical words, the door from the living room slightly opened, as Ginga and Kokoro peeked through, before they looked at each other and nodded their heads like they were speaking with their gestures rather than with their words. And once Ginga opened the door, all of his friends from Daedalus Bridge came out: Kokoro, Hikari, Daichi and Taiga; all of them followed by Ginga behind them.
"You kids, aren't' you going to say 'hi' to your Big Bro?" Crow approached the kids with a proud smirk, placing the hands on his hips and leaning towards the kids, watching how they gathered into a circle and turned faces to each other like little ponies sheltering themselves from the strong winds, so Crow blinked his eyes in confusion, not knowing what they were trying to do, "Huh?"
"Come on, guys!" Hanako giggled, trying to encourage the kids to show Crow what they worked so hard on, "Don't be shy! You worked hard on this!" She said, spreading her arms and gesturing them to continue with their main idea of showing Crow the surprise they made. After all of the kids nodded their heads to Hanako's encouraging words, they grabbed a white sheet and spread it from corner to corner right in front of Crow's eyes, showing him a huge banner they made.
"This is", Crow murmured shockingly in awe, as his eyes widened at what he saw on the banner. It was a drawing of him driving his Blackbird with few cheering words to the sides that spelled Good luck! Big Brother Crow, "You guys did?!" He asked, feeling overwhelmed by what just happened, he couldn't find the words to express himself.
"They are really troublesome kids!" Martha smiled behind Crow's back, "They tried so hard to make that!" She added, seeing how Hanako was looking at her with a lovely blush on her face, so Martha nodded her head at her, implying how she did a great job with the kids.
"We'll all carry this and cheer you on!" Little Kokoro said, looking up to meet Crow's eyes, while her face was covered in a huge and bright smile.
"Good luck, Big Bro Crow!" Taiga added, cheering on Crow, because he knew that the W.R.G.P. is going to start soon!
"You'de better win!" Ginga said afterwards, handing the banner sheet to Crow, so he took it between his hands and spread it once again to see it, before he slovenly folded it in a rush.
"I'm not happy at all", Crow murmured to the kids, closing his eyes for a second, squeezing the banner between his hands, "I'm just-" He started speaking again, trying to find proper words to express himself, before he started crying the tears of joy and happiness, completely touched by the gesture from the kids, while Hanako was just watching him with a sweet and loving smile on her face, "Thank you!" Crow finally muttered, wrapping his arms around all five of his kids, pulling them into a tight group hug, "Thank you!"
Hanako chuckled at the scene, moving index finger to her face, wiping one small tear that unintentionally escaped her eye due to the sweet and touching moment being played before her eyes, but her daydream was soon shaken away, when she heard Jack's proud and slightly jealous voice leaving a strong humph that echoed through the kitchen, so she moved her eyes to him, watching how Martha started teasingly smiling at him, "Jack, I'll make one for you as well!" She said, giving him a thumb up, making Jack blush in embarrassment.
"I... I don't need anything like that!" Jack sharply added with angered expression on his face, folding his hands again, keeping his proud posture in one place.
"What's wrong?" Crow immediately pulled away from the group hug and moved his eyes to Jack, "Are you jealous?" He questioned teasingly, provoking Jack with his words, but all he got was another humph from his side, while everyone else started laughing at them, enjoying the relaxed and lively atmosphere around them, before they had dinner at Martha's place and headed back home to take some rest, before their first preliminary round starts.
* * *
Once the sun started pushing its rays through the clouds again, indicating that another day rose with the peaceful morning in Neo Domino city, Bruno was making eggs for breakfast, when Yusei went down the stairs to him, looking like something was bothering him, but Bruno just kept working on the breakfast, not even minding Yusei's facial expressions, because he didn't even notice it, since his eyes were focused onto the eggs.
"Bruno, I don't see Crow", Yusei finally murmured, looking around the kitchen in attempt to catch a glimpse of Crow's character, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Crow left early to practice", Bruno started with a bright smile on his face, "The highway should be fairly empty during this hour!" He explained, moving his eyes to Yusei for a brief moment, "He seemed really motivated!"
"I see", Yusei mumbled again, not being much of a talkative person, "And what about Baby?"
"She went out for a walk", Bruno answered another of Yusei's questions, while finishing the breakfast. He turned off the heat and removed the pan from the stove, staring at the eggs, like he was hypnotised by them, before he muttered into his chin, "She said something about clearing her thoughts..."
Yusei just moved his eyes away from Bruno, looking at the distance as far as the interior of the kitchen allowed him to, while his mind started aimlessly wandering around the paths of reasons of why Hanako was acting that way and what could be bothering her so much that she started spending most of her time all alone, "Ako", he whispered worriedly, while neither of his heart nor soul were able to understand her behaviour.
"Yusei!" He suddenly heard Hanako's voice calling for him in response, so he shook his head, snapping out of his troubles and blinking his eyes in confusion, thinking how it was all part of his imagination and that hearing her voice calling for him was just a part of an illusion, but then Hanako showed up on the kitchen doorway, panting heavily and trying to catch her breath.
"Baby?" Bruno questioned, looking almost as surprised as Yusei.
"Guys, we have to go to the hospital! Quick!" She added, catching her breath in between the words, while her upper body and her chest contracted at the deep inhalation and exhalation movements. Hanako looked left to right, checking her surroundings, before she added quickly, "Where's Jack?!"
"C-calm down, Baby", Bruno started stuttering, trying to realise what was going on and finding the right words to say at this situation, but thankfully Yusei did that job instead of him.
"First tell us what happened, and then we can act accordingly!"
"Sure", Hanako took another deep breath, nodding her head in understanding, "Crow had an accident during his practice...!"
"What?!" Both Bruno and Yusei shouted in unison, looking at each other in shock and confusion.
"You heard me", Hanako confirmed, "We don't have time to waste!"
"You're right!" Yusei answered determinedly, "Let's go!" He added, moving to the garage and grabbing his jacket with Bruno following him behind, while Hanako went to the café across the house, explaining to Jack what happened. And once he heard the story, he immediately grabbed his helmet and joined Bruno, Yusei and Hanako on their way to the hospital.
After arriving at the Neo Domino hospital, they met Aki, because she needed Yusei's help with her homework again and after hearing what happened to Crow, she decided to come to the hospital, too, "Crow is in a room 14 on the second floor", Aki explained, once they were finally all together, so the group went to the lift and moved quickly upstairs to check on Crow, hearing some shouts coming from one of the rooms and echoing through the hospital halls.
"There's a fracture in my shoulder's bone?" Crow's voice questioned in shock and surprise, before everyone entered the room that had the door left open.
"What?!" Jack, Yusei, Bruno and Aki questioned emergently with shock in their eyes, while Hanako just kept standing on the doorway, listening to the conversation being held between the Doctor and Crow.
"Yes", the Doctor nodded his head, moving his eyes from the group back to Crow, "It will take about one month to fully recover!"
"One month, you say?" Jack asked, looking at the Doctor a bit disappointed by the news.
"But the preliminaries are in 3 days!" Aki protested with concern in her voice, "He won't make it!"
"Please do something!" Crow added after them, falling on his knees and begging the Doctor to help him get rid of the condition he was in, "I have to participate in the tournament no matter what!"
"But you..."
"I'm begging of you!" Crow interrupted Doctor's attempt to protest against his pleading, "I don't care if I can never duel again! It's even okay if I lose! But I have to participate in this tournament!" Crow bowed his head, losing all of the hope and thrill he had just this morning, "So please do something!"
"Don't say foolish things!" Doctor angered his face, clearing his throat at the realisation he said those words a bit too strictly and angrily, before he lowered the tone of his voice, but kept it stern and narrow, "It's impossible for you to participate in the tournament with that condition!"
"You quack doctor!" Crow was pissed off by what the Doctor said and he had no intention in hiding it nor was controlling his words that started slipping over his lips, "I won't ask you for any more favours!" Crow threw at him angrily, furrowing his eyebrows, "I don't need this cast!" He added, moving his hand to the shoulder in attempt to remove the cast from his injured arm, but the very first moment he touches the shoulder, he started growling in pain and wincing repetitively.
"Crow!" Yusei and Jack shouted in unison with concern in both their eyes and their voices, but then Hanako made her way through, getting tired of Crow's insults and him embarrassing himself in front of the Doctor and everyone else, so she approached her childhood friend and grabbed him by the ear.
"Excuse me doctor!" She said angrily, but politely, "I am sorry if he has been rude to You!" She added, before she started dragging Crow out of the nursing room, straight to the hall where there was no one around.
"Ouch, Baby!" Crow kept wincing in pain, trying to follow Hanako's steps precisely and pedantically, so that her hold on his ear would hurt less, "What are you doing?"
"He is just a man doing his job!" Hanako started shouting crossly at Crow, letting go of his ear, "How can you be so rude?! Are you nuts?!"
"Fuck it, Baby... Why?" He shouted back at her with the same amount of anger and fret, making Hanako's body to twitch at the cursing word that escaped his lips, "It had to happen in time like this!" He added, turning around and clenching the fist of his left hand that wasn't injured, so he won't have to be in pain during his burst of emotions, "What am I supposed to say to them?" He asked her, closing his eyes, as the tears started leaving his eyes, rolling slowly down his cheeks.
"Crow", Hanako whispered at first, hurt by the sight of him, knowing he was referring to the kids. It suddenly made her remember his reaction yesterday and how he was touched and surprised by the kids' banner, he was probably going through so much pain due to the disappointment and regret he was feeling inside of his heart, "I know how you feel, but swearing and crying over it won't heal your shoulder!" She decided to speak regardless of his reaction and his feelings.
"Sorry, Baby", Crow shifted his eyes to her, piercing them with rage and wrath, "But this time not even you can understand me!" He hissed aggressively, turning his back to her and walking away, while Yusei, Jack and Aki went outside the Doctor's room after they heard Crow's sharp insults.
"Well", Hanako looked at her friends, before she moved her eyes back to Crow, watching him being already far away from the group. She let a weak and impuissant sigh, while shrugging, "At least he apologised..."
"What should we do now?" Aki whispered, looking at the group, knowing that without Crow, they will never be able to win the tournament, because W.R.G.P. is a Tournament with signed up groups consisting of three members; not two and not one, but three... And with only Yusei and Jack, their disadvantage would be too risky.
"I don't know", Yusei answered, as he started walking through the hallway, following Crow's distant steps, "Let's take Crow safely home first, because he can't drive in that state!" He added, not even looking over his shoulder, because his eyes were firmly focused on his friend, "We'll think about the plan once we get there!" He just added, as everyone started following him behind.
Hanako was the last one to start following Yusei's steps, remembering that nightmare she had, because she had that same dream all over again last night and she knew that the very first moment she falls asleep, the same thing will happen over and over, like she was trapped in an endless circle of events she had no idea how to escape from... She was even afraid to fall asleep! And just what was the meaning behind those dreams? Will Yusei really die soon? And why did he have the metal part with an eye attached to his right side of the head? Just what is going to happen during the W.R.G.P. that no one is aware of...? Maybe those nightmares were just a sign, a warning given to her from that Z-ONE card that Sherry tried to analyse... A warning before her Future turns into Hell.