A/N: Hi everyone!! Welcome to my newest Faithshipping (Yusei x Aki) story! Please let me explain a couple of things real quick: first, I really can't say I remember where this idea came from. It just struck me one day and so I'm running with it; hopefully it'll end up well!! Second, this story is sort of a partial AU because of how I'm working it; it starts off before the anime and some fundamental things will be changed because of my alterations. However it won't change a lot, really (I don't think) so hopefully this'll work. It's also important to note that I will only be dealing with the anime up through the Dark Signers arc, and I will not be dealing with anything beyond that (directly), just because it would take forever! I hope that won't disappoint anyone! That said, as always please forgive minor OOCness and/or errors as I'm only human, but above all, please enjoy the story!

Summary: Team Satisfaction stumbles upon a girl named Aki in need of help. Yusei continues to run into her over the days that follow, and soon enough they become friends. Their relationship continues to develop even while Team Satisfaction is making their rounds in the Satellite, but what happens when Aki suddenly disappears while Yusei is out with the others? And what secrets is she hiding? Will Yusei ever see her again?

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds in any way, shape, or form.

Entwined Destinies

Chapter 1: Destiny Begins

Fifteen year old Yusei Fudo sighed as he listened to his friends bicker. They weren't really arguing, but after nearly half-an-hour of it, it was still getting on his nerves. He wondered how Kiryu was putting up with it.

The four of them were resting on the sidewalk, just a couple of yards away from an intersection. The intersection itself was what had spawned the entire 'argument' to begin with.

Yusei was sitting on an old box that was filled with something he was trying not to think about, resting his elbows on his knees and letting his head hang forward slightly as he tried to drown out his friends. The sun reflected off of his duel disk, reminding him that it was past noon and none of them had even eaten yet.

To his left and somewhere just out of his peripheral vision, Kiryu was leaning against the wall of the building behind them. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and his attention was clearly elsewhere, his eyes unseeingly following the shapes of the clouds in the smoggy sky.

Jack was standing in front of Kiryu, to Yusei's direct left, and glaring at Crow as he waited impatiently for his turn to speak. The expression on his face was making Yusei rethink his earlier assumption that they weren't really arguing.

Crow was standing before the group, facing Jack with his back to the street, and waving his hands as he spoke. "Just because you don't like that guy in the Undead Gang doesn't mean we should go after them next. C'mon, it's smarter to head to the South Side and take out those fairy-duelists first. You know I'm right."

"I know no such thing," Jack argued immediately. "The Undead Gang is stronger, if we start there then your little fairy friends will be even easier to take out; they'll be too scared to put up a decent fight."

"Or we'd be giving too much away," Crow countered. "We don't want to let every duel-gang out there know exactly how good we really are yet, or they might actually have time to think up a good defense strategy."

"You know what I think?" Jack said, suddenly looking smug and crossing his arms. "I think you're just scared to take on a real duel-gang, and that's why you keep throwing out these lame excuses."

Yusei cringed and held his breath. Crow wouldn't stand for being called a chicken, and someone was going to have to separate them. He was pretty sure it'd be him.

"Scared?" Crow repeated incredulously. "I ain't scared! It's not my fault I'm trying to think with my head, you self-centered-!"

"We're going after the Magicians," Kiryu declared easily, cutting through their argument and stopping whatever Crow had been about to say. The three of them looked over at him, startled at the intrusion. He hadn't spoken since the argument had begun.

"We are?" Yusei asked, confused at the choice.

"Why them?" Jack demanded.

Kiryu met the blonde's gaze and shrugged nonchalantly as he pushed off of the wall. "They'll have heard of us, but probably won't really believe we're any threat. So we'll make a statement with them." He shrugged again, as if to say, 'that's all.'

Jack frowned but uncrossed his arms. "Fine, then, we'll go after the Magicians. But how do you intend to find them?"

Kiryu's face curved into a smirk and he said, "Well, for that, we'd need bait."

"Then I volunteer Crow," Jack declared.

"Why me?" Crow asked, one eyebrow raised high up his forehead.

"Because you look like a hot-head," Jack explained. "And they won't question your rash decision to challenge one of them, once you get their attention of course."

"Jack's right," Kiryu agreed, stepping forward and pulling his hands from his pockets. "You'll just make a scene, get their attention, and get them to drag you into their lair so that they can make an example of you. Then once you've got 'em feeling all self-assured, we'll show up and wipe the floor with them."

Crow looked hesitant as Kiryu spoke, and didn't immediately say anything. The group was silent for a long moment; Kiryu waiting patiently, Crow thinking, Jack smiling smugly, and Yusei watching indifferently. Finally, Crow opened his mouth to say something, but the sound that followed did not come from him.

"Just leave me alone!" an unfamiliar girl's voice cried from around the corner.

All four of them turned their attention immediately in her direction, and after a half-second's thought, Yusei was on his feet and the four of them were running.

Aki Izayoi glared at the man before her from beneath the hood of her faded brown cloak. He'd been following her for several blocks, slowly closing the gap between them, so she'd decided to confront him before he could back her into a corner.

"What do you want with me?" she hissed angrily, her fists clenched at her sides.

The man's lazy, stupid smirk was all the answer she needed, but he spoke anyway. "I just wanna get to know ya cutie," he replied.

Her eyes narrowed and she tightened her grip on the half-full plastic bag in her right hand. "Well the feeling's not mutual, so go bother someone else."

"Aw, don't be like that," he insisted, taking another step closer. He was older than her by several years and his legs were longer, so his stride covered more ground. His single step brought him far too close for comfort. "I could be your best friend," he promised.

"Maybe I don't want your friendship," Aki spat, taking a step backwards. "Go away already," she added, hoping she sounded firm and confident. This man was creeping her out. With a final pointed look, she turned and began to fast-walk away. Or at least she tried to.

He reached out quickly and snatched her left wrist, forcing her to turn partially back around. "I don't want to go away," he snarled, his grip tightening. "Not yet anyway."

Aki's eyes widened and she struggled to get her hand back. "Let me go," she demanded. She could feel her anger burning inside of her. She had to get away. "Just leave me alone!"

"Now why would I do that?" the man replied, pulling her closer. "It'd be a damn shame to leave a girl as pretty as you all alone in a place like this."

"You're disgusting," Aki stated, trying in vain to free her arm. The closer he pulled her, the more she could smell him. He reeked as if he hadn't showered in weeks. "I'm warning you," she tried again, "let me go!"

"Who's gonna make me?" the man asked tauntingly.

"I'm pretty sure that's where we come in," a new voice called from somewhere beyond them, near the corner Aki had been trying to get to.

Aki and her captor looked over, though he still didn't release her wrist, to see the newcomers. Aki felt the first faint flickering of hope within her chest as her eyes fell on the four men standing there. Each of them wore brown tattered jackets with no sleeves, bands over their biceps, and well-worn jeans. Each of them wore duel-disks on their left arms. And the shortest one, the red-head, had a mark on his forehead that indicated he'd been in the Facility.

They must be some sort of duel-gang, Aki realized. Their clothes matched far too much for that, plus their choice of accessory, to be a simple coincidence. Not that it mattered to her one way or another. With four witnesses, she stood a chance at getting out of this relatively unscathed.

"Who the hell're you punks?" her attacker demanded, still not loosening his grip.

Aki cringed silently from the pain in her wrist. She was sure it would bruise.

"We're the guys who're gonna make you let go of that girl," the one in the red T-shirt called. He was one who'd spoken before. From this angle, Aki couldn't tell if his hair was white or really light platinum.

The man behind her laughed. "You're a bunch of kids," he began, "you ain't makin' me do jack."

The red-head seemed to snicker slightly at his choice of words, but Aki couldn't wonder long as to why, because her attacker suddenly tugged sharply on her arm, pulling her back flush against his chest. The movement made her cry out and caused her to drop the bag she'd been carrying. He immediately clamped his other arm around her shoulders to limit her struggling.

"Get lost boys," he called, "this girly's mine; go find your own toy."

"I'm not a toy!" Aki ground out as she tried in vain to pry his arm off of her.

"Is that your final answer?" the same guy asked, directing his question clearly to her attacker.

"What do you think?" he demanded, sounding annoyed.

"Just checking," he said almost casually. Then, suddenly, the other three sprinted forward, quickly covering the distance that separated them.

The tall blonde reached them first, fluidly pulling his left fist back and throwing it forward, into the man's face. Simultaneously, the one with the strange raven-and-gold hair reached forward and slipped one arm around her waist, easily pulling her out of the vile man's now-loosened grasp.

The red-head and the blonde stepped between her and her attacker as he struggled to his feet, clutching his nose.

"Are you alright?" the raven-and-gold haired man asked her softly.

Aki started at his voice and looked up, into his deep blue eyes. They reminded her of the ocean, or the midnight sky; so easy to get lost in. She blinked and finally offered him a half-smile as she reached up and pushed the hood off of her head.

"I think so," she replied quietly.

"You dropped this," the one in the red T-shirt declared, suddenly standing with them, as he held out her bag.

"Oh," she said, reaching for it, "thank you."

A loud thud made her cringe and turn partially back around, despite her overwhelming desire to never lay eyes on that man again. Her attacker was moaning, barely conscious, and lying on his back.

"So, I take it you two don't need help?" red T-shirt asked teasingly, speaking to his friends.

Both boys turned back to face them, and the red-head grinned. "Nah, we got it covered."

Up close, Aki could see that her attacker had been right about one thing. They were younger than she'd initially thought. They looked like they were about her age, give or take a few months.

"So are you ok?" the red-head asked suddenly, looking straight at her.

Aki blushed from the attention and bowed her head slightly, muttering, "Yeah, I'm alright. Just a couple of bruises. Thank you all so much for helping me."

"You're welcome," red T-shirt said sincerely.

Aki offered them a small smile, her blush vanishing, and said, "I guess I'll be heading home now. Thanks again." Then she turned and began walking towards the corner, in the direction she'd been heading earlier.

She'd taken barely four steps when the raven-and-gold haired boy called out, "Wait."

Confused and slightly curious, Aki turned and replied, "Yes?"

His friends were also looking at him with varying expressions of confusion, but his blue gaze never wavered from her face. "This isn't exactly a safe neighborhood," he began, "would you like us to walk with you?"

Aki hesitated, taking in his friends' reactions to his question. The blonde heaved a silent sigh and rolled his eyes, the red-head seemed to chuckle again, and the other one gave a slight shake of his head. When she looked back to the fourth one, she could see a sincerity in his eyes that convinced her.

A small, genuine smile curved her lips and she said, "If you really don't mind, I think I'd like that."

"We don't mind," he assured her easily. His friends' expressions did not contradict his words.

Adjusting her grip on her shopping bag, Aki extended her right hand and said, "I'm Aki."

The boys fell in a loose line as they approached her, and the raven-and-gold haired one reached her first, accepting her hand. "Yusei," he said.

Red T-Shirt stepped up next with an easy smile and introduced himself as Kiryu. The red-head popped up after him, declaring his name to be Crow and that she shouldn't let his marker worry her. The blonde rounded out the group, introducing himself as Jack. But what caught her attention was the brief tingling in her arm when their hands touched. It was coming from that wretched mark, which was concealed beneath her sleeve.

Once the introductions were over, she half-turned to the street again and said, "It's this way."

When she started walking, Yusei and Crow fell into step on either side of her. Kiryu and Jack fell in line behind them, just a couple of paces back. The image of an armed dueling escort in her head brought a slight grin to her lips.

They walked mostly in silence for several minutes as Aki navigated the sidewalk until they'd reached her 'home.' It was a two-story house on a side-street, with two steps leading up to the door. The paint was peeling off in large chunks all along the walls, and the window to the right of the door had a large crack where it looked like a rock had been thrown at it. The heavy door was solidly shut and locked, so Aki had to retrieve the spare key.

"You live here all alone?" Crow asked, his tone clearly indicating that that didn't seem like a good idea to him.

"No," Aki said as she stretched to pull the key off of the top of the doorframe. "I share it with a couple of siblings who were looking for a renter. Most of this place belongs to them. I think."

"Well, at least you're not all by yourself," Crow allowed.

Aki shrugged. "Yeah, I guess," she mumbled softly. After a second, she looked at her escorts and added, "Thanks so much for your help today. And for walking me home."

Yusei offered her a gentle smile, saying, "It wasn't a problem."

"Yeah, if you want to thank us, try staying away from people like him," Jack suggested.

Kiryu elbowed him sharply before adding, "What Jack meant to say is, stay safe. It's kind of dangerous out here."

Aki nodded. "Believe me, I intend to stay away from people like him."

"Good," Kiryu said, "in that case, it looks like our job's done. C'mon, guys, we've got things to do today, and I'm hungry."

"Goodbye," Aki called as they turned to walk away.

Yusei looked back at her, pausing for a second to meet her amber gaze. His expression softened marginally and he said, "Take care, Aki."

Aki sank onto her bed, the cloak tossed over the chair in the corner of the room and her bag of grocery supplies on the small desk. Her mind was replaying that afternoon's events. The utter terror she'd done her best to ignore earlier, when she'd for once wanted to embrace her anger, when that man had attacked her. She was young, but she wasn't stupid. She knew what he'd been after. Her body shuddered just thinking about it.

But what she couldn't get past was the expression on Yusei's face right before they'd walked away. When he'd told her to 'take care', he'd actually looked like he meant it. She wasn't used to that. But it's not like anyone here knows anything about me. So maybe he did mean it; maybe he's a good person. If he knew what I can do…that I'm not a normal human being, he wouldn't have cared so much. No one does.

And that thought reminded her of the other strange occurrence of the afternoon. That bizarre tingling in her arm. Reluctantly, she raised her right arm and rolled back the sleeve of her shirt so that she could clearly see the crimson mark burned into her flesh. Since I've been in the Satellite, it hasn't flared up once. Not even a little. I just figured it would stay that way as long as I don't duel. But then why did it act up when I shook Jack's hand? I wasn't dueling, I wasn't angry with him, I wasn't sad; none of the usual triggers applies to that.

Her frustration mounted as she thought about it, and she found herself once again glaring at the mark. Her right hand curled into a fist reflexively. What does it all mean? What did I ever do to deserve this wretched thing? I was hoping that living in the Satellite would keep it from causing me pain; that maybe I could live a normal life! Is it going to ruin everything?!

An angry sigh escaped from her lips and she dropped her arm, collapsing on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. She let the anger flow out of her prone body and did her best to keep her mind quiet for several long minutes. Finally, when she knew the anger was gone, she whispered, "I just have to believe that I can do this. I can make myself a life here in the Satellite, where no one knows me. I know I can."

"I've been thinking," Crow declared as they rounded the corner, walking away from Aki's house.

"Thanks for the warning," Jack mumbled teasingly.

Yusei chuckled as Kiryu grinned and asked, "Alright, I'll bite. What've you been thinking about?"

"Well, it seems to me that our good buddy Yusei has a crush," Crow explained.

Yusei's eyes widened and his feet suddenly wouldn't move, despite his commands. "What?!"

Jack and Kiryu burst into loud laughter at his reaction, and Crow quickly joined them. Yusei could feel his face turning red, and the worst part was that it had nothing to do with anger.

"What makes you think that?" Yusei demanded.

"The way you kept staring at her?" Crow offered with a smirk.

Yusei tried a different approach. "Why would I have a crush on a girl I haven't even known for an hour?"

Kiryu was smirking now, one hand resting on his hip. "Because she's cute?"

"Plus, we all know how much you love protecting people, and she made a pretty good damsel back there," Jack added.

"And you were the one who suggested we should walk her home," Kiryu continued.

Yusei frowned. "It was the right thing to do."

Crow waved him off, saying, "Yeah, yeah. That was just an excuse."

"I do not have a crush on her," Yusei stated firmly. His friends looked less than convinced, but Kiryu apparently decided he was done teasing him, because he reminded them then that their current conversation wasn't helping satisfy his hunger. And so they continued walking, in search of some decent and affordable food.

As they walked, Yusei remained silent, contemplating. It would be completely ridiculous to have a crush on a girl I only just met. A girl that, for that matter, I'll probably never see again. He paused when he realized that the thought made him feel saddened, like he'd lost something that he knew had the potential to be significant. Of course, I suppose sometimes life is kind of ridiculous….

"Earth to Yusei?" Crow called, waving his hand in front of Yusei's face.

Yusei blinked, refocusing on his surroundings, and realized that they were standing before a fast food shop. "Uh, yeah?" he asked hesitantly.

Kiryu chuckled and repeated his earlier question, "Burgers ok with you?"

"Yeah, of course," Yusei quickly said, deciding not to comment on his inattentiveness.

Kiryu and Crow flashed him knowing smirks but said nothing, and Jack pretended as though he hadn't noticed anything unusual at all, leading the way into the shop. When their backs were all turned as they filed inside, Yusei sighed silently and shook his head. It was going to be a long day.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Alright, there's chapter one! Please tell me what you thought! Now, I realize that you might have a handful of questions, but please be patient, hopefully they'll all be answered in the next couple of chapters. That said, of course, feel free to ask me; if it's not the kind of question the story will answer in time, I'll be happy to clear it up for you! So, for now, please review and don't forget to go on to chapter two!!