Chapter 15

I let out a sigh as I sat on the bus next to Akiza, the red head holding my hand tightly as she only got more tense the longer that we sat together on the bus.

Exams had come and gone. Unsurprisingly, Akiza had done very well on her exams… The person she'd faced had been terrified and had still been hurt when they duelled, but she only had some light bruises that would fade in a day or two, rather than potentially broken bones like Akiza had done in the past. The PSD had really helped tone down her abilities.

Even other people were taking notice that Akiza's duels were no longer hurting others as much as they once did. They did notice that she still hurt others and avoided her as such, but they were definitely starting to take notice that she wasn't hurting them as much.

Granted she did still have that episode for some time where she was hurting people even worse, so people were keeping their distance.

However, now the two of us were on the way to Akiza's house in the tops. I was dropping her off for some morals support, given Akiza hadn't returned to her house ever since she'd started Duel Academy. She'd chosen to stay at the Academy during breaks… The only reason she was coming back was because I was returning home for the Break, and she wanted to be able to visit me easily whenever she wanted.

"How are your new cards looking?" I decided to ask Akiza to help get her mind off things.

"Huh?" She looked at me. "O- Oh yes, my new cards. They've been… Amazing, truthfully. An excellent addition to my Deck… Garden Rose Maiden is a very useful card; I wasn't aware Synchro Tuner monsters even existed."

"They are rare," I nodded. "And required for a very special type of Synchro Summoning known as Accel Synchro."

"Accel Synchro?" She questioned.

I smiled at her. "A Synchro Monster created by the union of a Synchro Tuner and a Synchro Monster. The two layer on top of one another, creating a new path of evolution- Accel Synchro. It's usually done on a Duel Runner using 'Speed' as something of a catalyst, however I've got a friend who's working on modifying a Duel Disk to reproduce the effect."

"That's interesting," she hummed. "I presume that Accel Synchro monsters are far more powerful than regular ones?"

"Usually, yes," I nodded. "They tend to have exceptionally powerful effects, but it can be a hit or miss. Plus, the Duel Spirit has to be capable of evolving using Accel Synchro, and some Duel Spirits just aren't suited for it."

"Interesting," she hummed. "Could Moonlight or Black Rose Dragon evolve in such a way?"

"I don't see why not," I told her. "Black Rose Dragon is a Signer Dragon, after all. And Moonlight is incredibly similar to Black Rose Dragon… Why, you could almost call them twins!"

She chuckled softly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. "What about you? I'm aware your Blue Storm Armada is still growing by the day, you must be constantly improving and changing your deck."

"I am," I nodded. "I even started carrying around a Side Deck to swap out cards as needed to deal with certain opponents…" Though, among the Duel Spirits I'd been recruiting, I now had several mechanics- given they did have to help keep the ships for the Armada running. So, building a Duel Runner was no longer quite as impossible as it would have been before.

'You're totally going to buy a driving skill from the shop, aren't you?' Pandora asked.

'You're goddamn right.'

"What's with that look?" Akiza asked, tilting her head.

"Ah, just planning to get a Duel Runner built," I told Akiza. "Of course, I'll do it safely and get my Duel Runner license and all that good stuff," I assured her quickly, no need to have her panicking. "Just thought it would be nice to have one, in case I ever enter a tournament."

"… Can you even get hurt from crashing with your mark?" She asked. "I mean, I understand if someone with… Ccapac Apu's mark might get hurt since they don't have as many benefits as yours or mine do, but would you be hurt even if you crashed?"

"Depends on how good my reaction time is, and if I were to start going into shock from the fact I'm about to crash," I told her. "Hence why I'll make sure I can actually drive the Duel Runner before I start using it. Or, at the very least, drive it very slowly as I get used to it."

"Well, I'm glad you're at least taking proper precautions," she nodded. "I won't stand for you being hurt by anyone but me."

"That's very…" I paused. "Anyone but you?"

She blushed and looked away. "… Anyone but me," she repeated, more shyly but firmly.

"My girlfriend is a sadist," I slumped in my seat. "And I'm not a masochist."

She blushed red and covered my mouth. "D- Don't talk so brazenly in public like that, Yuno…!" She looked around, but nobody seemed to be listening or even paying any attention to us. After all, they had their own lives to live.

I responded in a mature way by licking her hand, making her 'eep' and snap her hand away.

"You licked me?" She asked incredulously. "Are you a child?"

"Only on days that end in a Y."

She considered that and then rolled her eyes at me. "You're a dork…"

"I'm your dork," I corrected her.

She glanced away and held my hand tighter. "… Yes, I suppose you are," she agreed.

I chuckled and lifted her hand, kissing her knuckles.

Her cheeks turned red. "… Are my hands so dear to you?"

"Every part of you is so dear to me," I said in an over the top 'knightly' voice.

She couldn't help but snort and cover her mouth, stifling her giggles. "That was horrendous… But effective…" She sighed. "… We have to talk about my parents, don't we?"

"Yep," I nodded.

She gently leaned against me, burying her face against my shoulder as I lifted my arm and wrapped it around her, pulling her closer against me.

"You smell so nice," she murmured.

"I put on a little cologne," I told her. "First time meeting my girl's parents, gotta make a good impression."

She chuckled before she sighed. "… The first time I used my powers was when I was five," she mumbled to me. "It was… A very bad lead up to it… My dad missed my birthday despite promising me, I stayed up all night just because I wanted to celebrate with him… But, because he's a Senator in New Domino City, he's always busy and he hardly had any time for me… On top of that, he was finally teaching me how to duel… He kept promising and promising to make time for me, but he never had the time…

"Finally, one day, we had the time, and we duelled… I was having so much fun and then, he got a fucking phone call… 'An important meeting has come up,' he told me. Something in me snapped. I felt like he loved his job more than me, his own daughter… I continued the duel, using my Trap Card to inflict damage to him… That was the day my Signer Mark appeared on my arm, and I injured my father…"

I gently stroked her hair as I let her speak. "You must have been so scared," I said in a gentle voice.

"I was terrified," she whispered to me, snuggling up against me more. "I'd just snapped, and I only wanted to use my trap to win the duel in a hurry so that my father could leave… But… Then he was hurt, and I'd caused damage to my surroundings. I was freaking out, I was so scared, and my arm hurt, and I just wanted my dad to hold me… And then, he looked at me and he called me a monster."

I held her tighter as I felt her grip on me tighten.

"My own father. Called me a monster. And my mother did nothing to correct me, staring at me with the same look in her eyes… After that, our family was never the same… I went out of my way to avoid them, and they never reached out to me… Finally, they just shipped me off to Duel Academy. I've taken every chance to avoid going home by staying at the academy for breaks, I even dipped into some of my personal funds to be able to stay over summer just so that I wouldn't have to go back and see them again… But…"

"But at the rate things were going, you would probably want to go back home soon," I concluded for her. "The way people looked at you, the way they treated you… It was becoming too much for you, and you were probably going to return home for a break or even run away just to go home because you were so tired of constantly hearing the word 'witch' thrown in your direction."

"Yes," she nodded against me, confirming my words. "You… Ever since our first duel, you made me feel… Like duelling was actually fun again. When we duel, I don't need to worry about hurting you, I can have fun playing with you… If not for you, I probably would have gone back home and… Well, I don't know what would have happened, but my gut tells me that I would have just been sent away again."

I held her against me tightly, stroking her hair. Now that Akiza was 'mine,' I didn't see any reason why I should isolate her or stop her from making up with her parents. Akiza wanted to be a Dark Signer, and she wanted to be with me. So, I would do my best to help her reconcile… But only if that was what she wanted. If the changes I had caused resulted in her not wanting to reconcile, then that was fine by me.

"Will you stay with me?" Akiza asked timidly.

"That's a question you have to ask?" I chuckled and stroked her hair. "Aki, I'm a very simple man… And also, a very selfish man. I won't lie to you with sugary words and honeyed promises. I want a harem one day, given I know they are legal. I want power, wealth, I want to be the best duellist in the world…" I stroked her cheek. "And most importantly, I want you. Stay with you? Nobody, not even Director Goodwin himself, is capable of taking me away from you."

She let out a heavy breath, and I could feel a lot of tension leaving her shoulders. She must really have been worried about being abandoned, not that I blamed her. She'd been rejected basically since she was five years old. Even if I was dating her now, that kind of trauma ran deep.

"… You want a harem?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Yep," I nodded. "Lots of beautiful and intelligent women… Or, at the very least, funny or good at duelling," I chuckled.

'Ah, that does kinda remind me… Tez, have Infierno Allqu watch over Misty Lola and form a contract with her should anything bad happen to her.'

'Ccarayhua's original host, right?' Tez asked briefly. 'I'll give you this, she's very attractive for human standards… I'll have Infierno Allqu on standby to bond with her.'

"Well…" Akiza nodded softly. "I don't really mind if you have one, just so long as you make sure to give me my attention… I'll warn you; you are my first relationship so I might be very needy and reliant on you. Is that okay?"

"Are you kidding me?" I grinned. "The fact you'll be so needy and clingy is just more proof on how much you care about me. I'd never say no to that… All I ask is that, if I need my space, you give me my space."

"I think I can do that," she nodded with a smile. "… Thank you, Yuno. Without you, I really don't know where I'd be right now, but I doubt I would be this happy."

I just smiled at her. "Since we are in this for the long haul, I'd like to tell you about a secret of mine. Nothing bad, I assure you, but I promise that it will blow your mind…"