#yuaki

Akiza paced on the highest floor of the Arcadia Movement. Over the railing, she spotted Movement members rushing to and fro in their typical robes with no sign of the man in charge. Ever since the Fortune Cup, the activity had been nonstop.

The elevator doors slid open. Sayer exited while massaging the bridge of his nose. Two women followed behind, working together to carry an unconscious girl. Akiza neared his side, hissing, "Where have you been? I woke up in my pod, and you weren't there. Don't you know I need you more than ever right now?"

He groaned at the ceiling. "Can't you comprehend for a moment how our phones are ringing off the hook, reporters are trying to corner me at every turn, and it's on my shoulders to keep this place from crumbling? You're my world, Akiza. I want to be there for you every moment, but I am only one man. I am so sorry. Can you forgive me?"

She rapidly blinked to fight off the wetness in her eyes. "Y-yes. I'm sorry for bothering you."

"You're never a bother, but I must admit I'm overwhelmed." He glared at the unconscious girl. Akiza gasped. It was the same Movement member who'd tried to comfort her–the shadow, the fugitive from the Facility. Sayer snapped, "It's all Yusei Fudo's fault, that damn Satellite. This girl had a run-in with him, and now look at her. Fudo has a penchant for sending psychics into psychosis, I suppose."

"It's not right," Akiza snarled. Her fingers curled into fists. "Someone has to do something about him."

"And I will," Sayer said, laying his hand over Akiza's. "Wait in my office, please. I have to make sure this one is well situated for recovery."

He snapped for the women to follow him. Akiza let herself into his office and lingered. She paced back and forth. Outside, the sun set on New Domino. She lifted the half that remained of her Black Rose Witch mask, letting it catch the grim amber of the ending day.

Behind Sayer's desk, a panel hid away a screen showing the location of every marked criminal. Akiza wasn't *supposed* to know of its existence. There she stood, though, typing in Yusei's name. He was moving through the slums, an area Akiza knew like the back of her hand.

She returned the panel to its place, slipped on the mask, and ascended to the roof.

/\/\/\/\/\/

Yusei clung to the shadows in DAIMON, praying he might run into Blister. He figured it was only a matter of time before Godwin or one of his lackeys picked him up by force, and he wanted an opportunity to speak with Blister before the inevitability came to pass.

Overhead, wings flapped. He froze. In the middle of the City, he might have heard a pigeon or a swallow. He may have lost his mind because whatever the flap was sounded as massive as an airplane. He crouched behind the dumpster in the skinny alley. Dusk offered him plenty of darkness to work with, and he favored the low visibility.

Anything above him, however, would have no trouble spotting him.

The dumpster soared into the sky. He hissed in a breath and stumbled back. Trash flew in all directions as the massive metal object flipped over and over before crashing into the street. Tendrils shot at Yusei, stabbing into the wall behind him. The ancient bricks coughed dust.

Crimson petals drifted down around him.

"No," he said.

Vines wrapped around his torso. Thorns cut open his skin as the black bonds tightened, trapping him against the building. Street lamps flickered on. Copper light landed on the scarlet dress and flowing hair of the woman standing before him.

"Aki-"

She raised her hand palm-up, and a vine shot down from the Black Rose Dragon floating above them. The tendril wrapped around his throat. "I'm done listening to your poisonous words. You're wrong about me. I'm right where I belong. After all…"

She walked her fingers up his abdomen to his chest and caught his jaw, her fingernails digging into his skin like her thorns. Blood dripped onto the pavement. She smiled. "I like the view from here."

Yusei thrashed against the vines. Black Rose wound them tighter. His breaths wheezed. The movement of the sharp thorns tore apart his jacket and ripped off swaths of his shirt. She studied his chiseled musculature, the relentless tears in his tanned skin, his agonized expression.

Something warm rioted in the seat of her belly.

She cast out her arm. The vines snapped back, and Yusei collapsed to the ground. He held his own throat and swallowed air. She'd almost killed him.

Almost.

She wanted to shove him down. Straddle him. Claw his face off. No, something else. Her face heated like her stomach had, and she covered it despite her mask. Shame and desire interlaced like her walls of ivy. She stumbled back from him.

He rose to his feet, swaying, and held his arm out to her. "Akiza, please. Can't we-" He coughed. A shudder rattled her. "Let's talk?"

"After what I did to you, you want to *talk*?"

"I know it's not you!"

She shoved his shoulder against the wall. Wet blood smeared the palm of her glove. "What the hell is wrong with you? What do I have to do to get you to leave me alone?"

He pinned her with a glare, sapphire eyes shivering with his grit teeth. "I know that's not what you want. You found me, after all."

She winced and backed away. He slumped and fell to the ground, slowly, slowly. She said, "I'll kill you," but it came out as a barely audible whisper.

"I can't imagine a better way to go."

The statement struck her like lightning. She stood stock-still, and it was all she could do to remain standing and drawing breath. Yusei pulled off his glove with his teeth and showed her his birthmark. Her focus flicked to her own.

"Whether you want it or not, we're connected."

But she knew whatever sparked between them came down to more than a fucking skin condition.

Which sent her mind spiraling, thoughts of skin-to-skin, of where else he might have birthmarks, of of-

Black Rose Dragon swooped down and swept her onto its back. She held onto its neck, her pulse pounding.

Forget him, forget him, forget him.