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

Chapter 4: Please Stop Scamming My Friends

TW: Swearing, misogyny, alcohol, smoking, and sexual assault. NO sexual content, however. Also, no pink-haired teenage girls were harmed in the making of this fic.

--

She had a lot on her mind. Rally hadn't realized just how much she was being affected by her condition until her confession to him. She felt useless...

Of all people, Rally understood how she felt. It was how he'd felt for a while himself. For her, she felt like a criminal under interrogation, at least when it came to Yusei. Yusei was hard to read. Without any way to prove her innocence, and without a way to connect to him or pull her own weight...

As the youngest of the group, Rally knew how that felt. It was why he resorted to stealing. She needed parts, eh? Then Rally could do what he did best. It'd have to be without telling her, or anyone, of course. But he wanted to help her. If she did this alone, it'd be too dangerous because she didn't know her way around the Satellite very well.

Rally spent a couple of days with Sylvia, timing her and keeping track of her time and list of necessary materials. Under the pretense of running some errands, he sometimes stole what she needed from the factory or someone else's territory. He did get caught a couple of times, but managed to escape somehow. Sylvia always examined the pieces he brought back and patted his head, telling him he did a good job. He felt a little guilty not telling her he'd stolen half of those items, but still kept his mouth shut. Above all else, he couldn't get caught.

Still, something about Sylvia's smile felt almost like she saw right through him. But if she knew he was a thief—or, she did, but that is to say, if she knew he'd stolen for her—then she didn't say a word. She seemed genuinely proud of him, though it was anyone's guess as to why.

She really was mysterious...

Their practice and maintenance sessions were kept a secret from Yusei, who was too preoccupied with his own Runner to care about Sylvia's apparent leisure time. When he disappeared to do one thing or another, Sylvia sprang into action, Rally right behind her. It wasn't long before Blitz, Tank, and Nervin caught on to what she was doing and began to pitch in. They didn't ask why. It didn't seem to matter. Rally simply told them her plan and they went with it.

"Y'know," Nervin said once, "Sylvia should go with Yusei."

At his bold declaration, the boys' heads whipped to Nervin and stared, slack-jawed. Sylvia's attention was piqued.

"With... Yusei?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. "Where?"

Nervin didn't say anything, so after a while, Blitz answered. "Well... to the City. You're from there, ain'tcha? New Domino City."

"New Domino City..."

"Yeah. It's where all the rich folks live. Or at least, richer than us in the slums." Blitz raised an eyebrow at her. "Have we really never told you his plans?"

Sylvia hesitated, a look of discomfort crossing her face. To try and steer the conversation right, Rally jumped in with a response.

"Yusei's gonna escape the Satellite," he told her. "That's why he's working so hard on his Runner. He wants to get to the City." She had made it clear that she didn't want to know about his motivations or the full plot, so Rally hoped that by giving just the main objective, she wouldn't mind.

She seemed to accept that answer with a nod. "I see... And since it seems like I'm from the City too, you think it would be prudent for me to go with him."

"Exactly!" Nervin beamed. "I mean, there's so much we don't know about you, and stayin' here in the slums probably isn't doing you any favors, right?"

She smiled kindly. "On the contrary, I've managed to make some valuable friends." Her smile grew somewhat tight. "To be honest," she sighed, flipping the wrench in her hands nervously, "the idea of leaving Satellite to follow Yusei makes me nervous. He still doesn't... fully like me. And, I mean, I'd be leaving you all behind, too."