Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Rainbow Stardust [SCRAPPED]

Chapter 3: Earning Yusei's Trust

Sylvia nibbled weakly on the scraps of food her caretakers offered her, trying not to squirm under their watchful... eyes...

It felt more like she was being stared at, in all honesty. The silence was palpable. In fact, if she tried to cut a knife through the tension, it would probably get stuck.

It took ten minutes for their fifth friend, Yusei, to return. No one said a word until then. Rally sat the closest at her side, eyes wide with wonder and worry. Everyone else fidgeted uncomfortably, waiting for someone to say something. No one did.

They were clearly just trying to be polite earlier, acting as though it wasn't a big deal that she had intruded in their home. But now that they were waiting on Yusei's arrival, Sylvia thought, her fate would ultimately be sealed.

Will I be taken prisoner? Do I owe them? I must, right? I used up their precious resources. A waste of space like me has no business burdening other people.

Where were these thoughts coming from? It felt familiar, and almost right, yet also simultaneously wrong to think them. They felt so harsh to her that she wasn't even sure they were her own thoughts. Was this her old personality leaking through? What, was she abused in a past life or something? Jeez.

When the sound of a Duel Runner began to echo through the tunnels of the subway, Rally and the others perked up instantly, seemingly grateful for an escape from the awkward situation, and immediately they filed out of the hideout. Sure enough, Sylvia could see the curved crescent-moon point of a red Duel Runner seat pulling up on the subway. Its driver, who wore a matching red helmet, began rolling his Runner up the ramp and hooking it up to his machinery, right beside Sylvia's.

Don't Duel Runners usually have names? Sylvia's idle thoughts wandered, veering far from the trail. I wonder if mine had one... the name Silver Rocket comes to mined, but it's got those multicolored decals. Rainbow Rocket? No, something about that sounds... cliche. Silver... Painter? No, who would refer to their Runner as a painter? Silver Streak? Silver... Rock...et... Starshower? Starshower sounds cool, but it has nothing to do with my Runner.

Her distracted thoughts were interrupted by the voices of the boys, causing guilt to wash over her once more for letting her mind stray so far from the important matter at hand.

"Yuse, you're back!"

"How was the test?"

"Didja go any faster?"

They bombarded Yusei with questions until, out of Sylvia's field of vision, he did something to silence them. "One at a time."

She gasped. That was it! That was the voice of the man who changed her bandages!

So it really was Yusei, then... Her heart began to pound nervously. How does one approach someone who saved their life?

The boys chatted excitedly for a few minutes, leaving Sylvia to fidget in the hideout. Eventually, Rally finally called back Yusei's attention by bringing up the elephant in the room.

"Actually, Yusei, we need to catch you up on what happened."

The boys fell silent, tension rising in the air again. Sylvia bristled in her seat.

" 'What happened'?" Yusei echoed. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we managed to get some information out of her... See, that girl, she's awake right now. She's in the hideout, listening," Rally explained. "But the problem is she doesn't have any memories. We think it's amnesia."

Yusei hummed. "Nothing on her past, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"I swear her head wound wasn't that bad... but then again, she did lose quite a bit of blood, so who knows..." He paused. "So she actually spoke to you, then?"