What Would You Do? YuseixOC

Chapter 24

"Now bring it back! Yes, good boy! Good boy, Rocky!"

The stick is deposited back into my hand by the growing dog, along with a handful of his slobber. While I play fetch with Rocky, Saiga and Yusei mill about the yard, running tests on the bike and playing with the computer respectively.

Yusei has been upfront with me, but there is much he won't say. Something happened in Neo Domino City a few nights ago, but that's all we know. He's gone so far as to tell me about his mark glowing and the glyphs he'd seen in the sky. He's trying to make good on what he'd said by the Daedalus Bridge and it fills me with hope. He's taking steps in the right direction, unstable as they are.

In the days since he faced Kiryu, he has waxed and waned. His confidence bristles into a balloon but then deflates as if popped. Two steps forward and one step back. Last night, he gave me something, his silent way of telling me I am still on his mind.

However, is it friends that gift each other jewelry? Is it family? Is it strangers? Or is it lovers, blindly facilitating the wants of their heart and soul?

He assured me that there was no need to be shy, that there was nothing spent on this trinket besides time. It is an act of gratitude for another, not a favor to be repaid.

Rally had been the one to find it, Yusei confined to the house as he was. I never saw the list he passed to the younger Satellite, never saw the plentiful categories of parts and components he required for the D-Wheel, and never knew that at the end of it was one singular whim. It was not a necklace or a fanciful ring he had wanted, but a shield for my most precious item.

A case. A frame. Anything that would serve that function.

I'd started to understand what Rua had meant when I met him in the Daimon Area. Yusei is by my side once again, doing not much of anything but working and thinking. It seems that my permanent place is wherever he happens to be. Moons have come and gone in the time we've shared, but the moon's company is but a paltry thing compared to the lasting joy that is the boon of friendship.

But then I'm thinking of our friends in the city and it burns at the edges of my consciousness that I don't know whether they're alive or dead. There's no way for us to reach them.

Yusei is well looked after, having his bandages changed nightly by Martha or Dr. Schmitt. They say he's healing quite nicely and all that will remain is a small scar.

Rocky evidently decides playtime was over when he trots over to slump down upon the information-gathering brunette's feet. Saiga glances down at the furry animal and proceeds to simply ignore him.

Earlier, I spoke at length with Martha about having Rocky stay here at her home. He really is getting big. He's too weighty to carry everywhere, and no doubt growing ever larger. The kids also love him. He would do such good for them. He can help guard the place and teach the kids responsibility, but also be a light in their lives.

"Hey," I greet, nearing the blue-eyed duelist in his clearing by the trees. He tilts his head in my direction. "It looks much better. How are the RPMs hitting?"

His lips thin as if suppressing a smile. "Nearly back to 7,000 per second."

"Good." It's not what I want to talk about, but it'll do. He's been off the past few days and not just from the injury. He hasn't been himself. Before the subject can deepen, Saiga materializes in the corner of my eye.

"Looks like you're finally back in action here." He carries his laptop in both hands, standing over the red and white machine.

"Yeah, the D-Wheel, you mean."