A/N: I'm back with another 5D's story! =D This was originally going to be a short, quick one-shot, but somehow, it escalated to over 13,000 words. O_o So I decided to split it into a two-shot, so if you guys decide you don't like it (sad panda TT~TT), you can leave early. The first part will focus on the fun the group has at the amusement park, just in case you're wondering where in the world did my summary come from. The second will deal with, well, everything else. So if you do like it (happy panda ^v^), you can continue on to the next chapter that will have that part. I'll leave the long explanations of the things I incorporated into the story until the very end, so if you guys get tired of my ranting, you can leave. =3 Without further ado:

~Revelations in Reflections~

It was only a week after the prevention of Ark Cradle's decent upon Neo Domino City, but life continued to move quickly. Summer was ending, and soon, Rua, Ruka, and Aki would be returning to school. In order to make their summer last while they could, Rua proposed a get-together with the whole team. There were a few bugs in the plan. They had to figure out where they could go and when to, if they even could, get together.

Ever since the aftermath of the battle, the team had been slowly drifting apart. Everyone was always being preoccupied with something that made seeing each other all the more difficult. Yusei had taken responsibility of working on the Momentum project in order to prevent the catastrophic future Z-ONE had foretold, and with his tendency to overwork, tearing him away from the project was quite the task. Crow was rather busy at times due to his job, although he was planning on letting the Blackbird Service go for the newest offer of being a part of the Neo Domino Police. According to Yusei, Jack had been disappearing from their garage from time to time, sometimes not reappearing until the next day. Out of the team, Rua and Ruka were most successful in keeping close contact with Aki, but there were still times when Aki wasn't available. And not to mention, the blunet that once brought great entertainment to the group was no longer present in their team, only leaving an aching wound in their hearts.

Still, Rua was not one to give up easily. And eventually, he was able to get everyone into Yusei's garage one day for a team meeting.

Step 1: Get everyone together. Check.

Step 2: Convincing everyone to go somewhere. Working on it.

"I don't know, Rua…" began Yusei, already doubtful. For once, he was adorned in something other than his classic cobalt and ebony jacket, and instead was wearing more formal attire such as the blue button up shirt and black slacks. It didn't seem to fit Yusei very much in Rua's opinion. He wondered vaguely why he was wearing it. "You know I'm busy with the Momentum Project." Did working on the Momentum require Yusei to dress in weird outfits?

"Yeah, and the Blackbird Delivery Service doesn't run itself, y'know," added Crow, also in his lemon-colored uniform. "Not to mention, I'm going to have that pain in the a-" he paused, catching himself and Aki's scathing look, "Er, pain in the rear job, now," he finished, slightly relieved at her new expression of approval and the fact he managed to avoid cursing in front of the twins. "It'd be really hard to find a day where we can all get together and just have fun."

An exasperated sigh fought its way out of Rua's mouth before he could stop it. Why was everyone so pessimistic and shutting down his plan before anything had even started? "C'mon, guys!" he whined. "You're not even giving the plan a chance! Ruka, Aki, and I are going back to the Duel Academy soon! I want to do something exciting before being buried in work."

"He has a point," Aki murmured, and everyone's gaze turned to her. Clearing her throat out of nerves from the new stares, she continued. "Ever since we stopped the Ark Cradle from crashing on Neo Domino City, we've been drifting apart a bit." Her gaze dropped to the floor and she seemed to be a bit crestfallen. "Honestly, it's gotten to the point where it's slightly lonely. The last thing we did together was…" Her expression became pained, her eyebrows scrunching together as she shut her eyes tightly. "Was Bruno's… service…"

The air in the room had quickly been filled with tension at the name of their lost teammate. The memorial service had been very difficult. Due to Bruno/Antimony's situation of not originally being born in their time, along with his second lifetime being quite short, he never had the time to make as many bonds as he should have. However, there were a few people who agreed to attend. Mikage, Ushio, and, surprisingly enough, Sherry, were a few spectators of his memorial. His friends of another time, Z-ONE, Paradox, and Aporia were mentioned, as well as Bruno's alternative personality, but the team had focused mostly on the Bruno they had known and loved. Bruno, who always gave a laugh to the group. Bruno, who had helped them with the engines of the D-Wheels for the WRGP. Bruno, who cheered on the team during the intense duels. Bruno, who would be a member of Team 5D's forevermore.

Aki let out a shaky breath in an attempt to calm herself. Sure, they had not been as close as they could've been (perhaps due to her initial dislike of him), but he was still one of the few friends Aki had been able to make. He was a part of Team 5D's. She had lost a loved one before, but losing Bruno was a fresh wound to her already scarred heart. Aki opened her eyes, and found the floor in her line of sight. "A-Anyways, we really should really make time for special occasions like this." She turned to Rua, who still had a sullen expression on his face. "Where did you want to go, Rua?"

Rua blinked in acknowledgement to his name and looked up at Aki. "Oh, well, about that…" He scratched his head in embarrassment, and began to let out a nervous laugh. Ruka, Crow, and Jack sighed, used to Rua's behavior. Aki's expression fell slightly while Yusei's expression remained neutral.

"Don't tell me you didn't think of a place to go, Rua," growled Jack.

Rua jumped at the tone of Jack's voice and quickly made a shaking gesture with his hands while exclaiming, "N-No! That's not it!" He gaze turned to the ground as he scratched his head again. "The thing is, I'm not sure you guys would want to go there… It's kind of kiddish, even by my standards…"

"Where did you want to go?" Yusei asked, setting his cobalt gaze on Rua. His tone of voice was reassuring, giving Rua encouragement to continue.

"It's… an amusement park."

"…"

"I-I get it," began Rua, immediately believing that the team's lack of response meant that they really did believe the idea to be stupid. "The amusement park? Ha ha, right, I guess I was being stupid." He continued to scratch his head in embarrassment as he racked his brain for more ideas. If they didn't want to go to the darn amusement park, where would they want to go then?

"No, that's not it," Ruka interjected, interrupting Rua's thoughts. "I think that's a great idea," she gushed, her eyes sparkling in delight at the idea.

"Wha- really?" Rua asked, surprise coloring his voice.

"It's not that bad of an idea," Crow agreed, nodding his head, seeming to think of the idea. "I heard the rollercoasters hold some excitement, though I doubt it's anything close to Riding Duels." He grinned at the image of riding his Blackbird while having fierce competition in a game of Duel Monsters.

"I agree as well," Yusei said, a small smile working onto his face, giving Rua hope that he might have actually made something work out right, for once. "I could probably ask everyone at the lab for a day off."

"Well," Jack sighed, and Rua held his breath as the last teammate who had yet to give his judgment spoke. "Everyone else is going, so I might as well."

"YES!" Rua exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air in exultation. Ruka giggled slightly at her brother's expected behavior. "Finally! Amusement park, here we come!"

"The amusement park…" Aki muttered quietly, seemed to be lost in thought. Once again, her voice attracted everyone's eyes.

"Is there something wrong, Aki?" Yusei asked.

"N-No! Of course not. I like the idea, it's just," she hesitated, her cheeks coloring a slight pink, but the reason for it was lost within the group. She sighed before continuing. "I've… never really been to one. You know… An amusement park," she finished, bashfully turning her gaze to the wall.

"WHAT?" Rua exclaimed, slamming his small hands on the table, startling Jack slightly, who was drinking some coffee at that moment. He did, however, effectively return Aki's gaze to him. "Aki-san, you haven't been to one?"

Aki's cheeks began to redden even more at Rua's exclamation. "Well, I've been to one once, but at the time, I wasn't really going there to enjoy the rides and attractions and-"

"That settles it!" Rua interrupted suddenly with his golden eyes burning with a new vigor. "Aki-san has never been to an amusement park! After eighteen years! We have to make this experience last for her! I refuse to let her walk away from an experience like that! I mean, even Jack's been to an amusement park!"

To this exclamation, Jack choked on his coffee, and Crow asked with a bemused expression, "He has?"

"It's nothing," Jack replied sternly, setting his coffee on the table, glaring at Rua. "How did you even know about that?" He demanded.

"Carly-san," Ruka replied for brother, who was currently trying to repress his urge to cower at Jack's glowering expression. "We saw her recently, and we sort of just came across the topic."

"She's actually the one who gave me the idea," Rua explained, regaining some of his confidence back. "She said that even you enjoyed it when you guys went on a date."

At the word "date", Jack immediately tensed while Crow's confused expression morphed into one that promised that nothing good would come about of what was about to happen. Chaos was about to ensure. "Ohh, a date?" Crow began, mischievously grinning at Jack.

"Don't start, Crow," Jack growled, locking his famous death glare at Crow. Too bad for him that Crow was very immune to it by this point.

"When were you going to tell us, Jack? After you ran off with this Carly girl and-"

"It wasn't a date, you birdbrain! It was-"

"I think going to an amusement park counts as a date," Crow countered, his expression becoming more entertained as Jack's grew more furious. "Let's see, have I met this Carly?"

"Crow…!" He couldn't even finish a sentence with Crow's annoying babble.

"Could it be that girl with glasses that you were drinking coffee with?"

Bulls-eye. Jack's eyes widened, as did Crow's grin as he took in Jack's expression. "T-That was-"

"You know, I didn't think she was your type Jack. But I guess she's pretty cute. Don't know what she sees in you, though."

And like that, they were off, bickering like they always did in days before. A month ago, Aki and the twins would've sighed as Yusei shrugged it off, deeming the two's argument a normal happening for the team. Today, however, Aki couldn't help but laugh while the twins beamed at each other. Even Yusei gave a chuckle at the scene. This scene was reassuring to the group. It promised that no matter how much time would pass, things would remain the same. Their bonds would never fade away, even in those dark periods of time where it seemed they were drifting apart.

"Wow! Ruka, look at that huge ride!"

The day had finally arrived where team made it all the way to the amusement park. It was a bit of a hassle getting everyone to get a day off from work or whatever they were doing, causing some arguments and tension to fly between the team, but now that they could see the brightly colored attractions and hear the excited screams emanating from the rides, all negative feelings had disappeared within an instant and an electric feeling buzzed in the air for Team 5D's.

"Amazing…" Aki whispered as her eyes widened slightly as she took in the sight of the whole amusement park. "I didn't expect it to be so… so…" She paused as she closed her eyes and took in the tangible feeling in the air. Her chocolate eyes reopened with a new light in them, and her face lit up in a way that was not unlike a young child who had found the stash of presents underneath a Christmas tree. "…Alive," she finally finished, and the twins could only grin at her excitement.

"Where do you wanna go first, Aki-san?" Ruka asked, tugging on the psychic's gloveless hand.

"Me?" she asked, surprised that they had asked her first, despite her lack of experience. She voiced her concerns. "But… I don't know which ride would be the best to go on first."

"That's the point!" Rua said, grinning largely at her. In a magician-esque style, Rua gestured to the grand scene before him. "Pick a ride, any ride! I promise, any ride you choose will be packed with fun-filled adventure!"

Smiling at the young boy's imitation, Aki felt a bit more reassured. "Well then, let's go inside. I guess I'll get a better look if we go inside first."

The group entered the carnival and bought their tickets. The excitement within the park was truly infectious, as the group was soon exchanging jokes and laughs as they began walking. Aki looked around, looking at all the rides, already at a complete loss what to choose.

"You know," Aki began, doubt already clear on her face, "maybe someone else should pick first…"

"Oh, just pick a ride, Izayoi," Jack responded gruffly, earning an annoyed look from the said girl. "None of them are going to kill you."

Her eye twitched slightly in annoyance as she turned back around, resigning to her duty of choosing the first ride. Her gaze was caught by a brightly colored sign and the shouts that were emanating from the attraction. How odd. Were they supposed to be crashing into each other like that?

"How about that one?" she finally said, pointing to the ride she was looking at.

"Bumper Cars?" Crow asked, in slight disbelief at Aki's choice. He honestly had pegged her for the huge spinning swing set. Still, he wasn't complaining; there was a lot of fun when it came to intentionally trying to ram into your friends. A grin stretched across his face at the challenge. "Nice pick, Aki!" He turned to Jack, a smug expression on his face. "Hope you're ready to get flattened, Jack. I happen to be a great bumper car driver. Almost as good as I am with Riding Duels."

Jack scoffed. "Then I have nothing to worry about."

The team entered the line with Jack and Crow arguing once again. While waiting, Rua and Ruka gave Aki the basic idea of bumper cars.

"What you're trying to do is complete as many laps as you can while hitting others in bumper cars," Ruka explained. "You're allowed to hit other people as much as you want."

"Eh?" Surprised by his sister's explanation, Rua asked, "I thought you were just trying to hit everyone. Who said you had to complete laps?" His expression became skeptical at his sister, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Don't go making up complicated rules, Ruka."

"I'm not making them up," she retorted, giving her brother an expression that mirrored his perfectly. Twins… "That's what you're supposed to do in bumper cars!"

"No way! You're supposed to just have fun hitting everyone you can!"

"Then where's the point of having a track?"

"So you can skillfully maneuver your way around your opponents!"

"That's silly, Rua. You're supposed to race!"

"No, you're supposed to-"

"Hey," Yusei interrupted, and the twins and Aki turned to Yusei. "You two are going to have to ride with Aki and me." He gestured to a sign with an arrow. It was the infamous height requirement sign. "I don't think you're tall enough…"

"What!" Rua exclaimed in indignation. "What're you talking about, Yusei! I'm tall enough!" He quickly lined up to the sign, puffing his chest out slightly in an attempt to make himself stand straighter and rise a few centimeters. His efforts, unfortunately, were in vain.

"Sorry, Rua," Yusei responded after double-checking his assessment. "You're just a few centimeters short." With that, Rua had a very comical expression that was a mixture of disbelief and embarrassment. He couldn't believe that he could help save the world twice, yet not be allowed to drive an attraction because he was too short. And he wasn't even short! He considered himself to be average height! Seeing his expression, Yusei said, "It's alright, Rua. You're not short."

Rua's features scrunched up due to his dislike towards the idea that he wasn't allowed to drive; still, he would get to ride with Yusei, and surely he would hit some people for him. "Okay," he said finally, sighing in defeat.

"I'll take Ruka," Aki confirmed, smiling at Ruka.

"Be careful, Rua, Yusei," Ruka warned, as she beamed at the two boys with a slight mischievous glint in her eyes. "You two better watch yourselves, or Aki-san and I just might run you off course."

Her prediction caused Aki and Yusei to laugh lightly, but Rua took her comment seriously and responded to the challenge. "No way! Yusei and I are going to hit you guys so many times, your heads will be spinning!"

They finally made their way to the front of the line, and the group quickly dispersed to the far corners of the track, choosing a bumper car of their liking. As Aki and Ruka climbed into an ivory car, Aki couldn't help but check the car's interior.

"Ruka?" Aki asked tentatively.

"Yes, Aki-san?"

"This is the accelerator, right?" She asked, pointing to the lone black pedal lying at the bottom of their car.

"Yeah, it should be," Ruka replied, nodding. "Why?"

"Well, if that's the accelerator… Then where's the brake?"

Ruka stared at her older sister figure for a moment. She really had never gone to an amusement park, or anything like it. She hoped the claw Signer wouldn't take the upcoming revelation too badly. "Um, Aki-san…" she began gently, "there are no breaks…"

And with a loud siren, the bumper cars started to move despite the fact Aki had not yet pressed the accelerator.

Despite the fact that she had been initially overwhelmed by the fact that the bumper car had decided to accelerate for a few moments without her consent or even the command from the acceleration pedal, the ride had turned out to be quite enjoyable.

Once she had gotten used to the maneuvering, she and Ruka began hunting for victims to hit along the track. They had first came up behind Yusei and Rua and hit the two hard enough that Rua had let out a strangled yell that caused the two girls to fall into a fit of laughter. However, that had changed when Crow had taken advantage of their distraction and rammed into their side. This provoked the girls into the challenge, and the duo was out for his blood. Eventually they got payback by, not only running into Crow, but causing Crow to hit Jack. Sadly, Crow didn't think it was Aki and Ruka's handiwork, but that Jack had somehow hit Crow intentionally. This had led to the two men begin a rivalry, which Aki and Ruka had watched with amused expression on their faces until Yusei and Rua came up from the behind and got them back as well.

The rest of the morning was amazing for Aki. They traveled from ride to ride, rotating between the team members to make the choice of the next ride. Crow seemed to have enjoyed the Spinning Swing Set more than he let on, while Jack had been completely expressionless, if not completely bored, on the Bungee Cord Leap, which Aki couldn't even believe, as she was screaming for her life. The Tilt-a-Whirl hadn't gone well in Aki's opinion, as she could have been seen clutching the trash can after the ride like a lifeline. The twins had even convinced her to ride the Merry-Go-Round, insisting that everyone had to ride it at least once in their lifetime, even if they were no longer a kid. Eventually, the teamed worked up to the biggest attraction of the park: The Kamikaze.

The Kamikaze was the biggest rollercoaster of the park. With intense drops, insane speeds, and gravity-defying barrel rolls and loop-de-loops, it was easy to see why it was the star of the whole theme park.

There was a silent agreement between the crew that they all thought that Aki would at least be a bit tense when it came to riding the rollercoaster, but they were greeted with a big surprise to find out it was the one Aki was most excited for.

"Whenever I heard about amusement parks, rollercoasters were always brought up," she explained after Rua had asked her about her perplexing calmness. "I always had wanted to experience them, and thanks to you, Rua, I finally get the chance." She beamed at the young boy, who was utterly bewildered by her comment.

"Me?" he questioned, pointing to himself with a baffled expression.

"Rua," Aki began, "if it weren't for you, we wouldn't be here having such a memorable day here."

"Yeah!" Crow had suddenly popped into the conversation, moving next to Aki as the line moved forward. "It was a great idea, Rua. We all needed a stress reliever." He grinned as he rubbed the boy's teal hair together, effectively messing it up and causing the young boy to whine at his actions.

"You reminded us of a lot of things, Rua," Yusei stated as Rua was fixing his hair. "You reminded us how important it is to take a few breaks sometimes, as well as keep in touch with good friends." One of his rare smiles appeared on his tanned face. "You did well, Rua."

Rua stared at his older brother figure for a few moments before grinning and rubbing the back of his head bashfully. "Well," he drawled, "it was nothing. I just wanted to get the group together for some fun time before we went back to school."

"Nonetheless, we're all grateful." The group stared at the blond who had joined in on the conversation suddenly, surprised by his uncharacteristic comment. Jack glowered at the group's staring, and retorted in an irritated tone, "There's no need for staring!"

"Well, what do you know…" Crow said, and the group knew that another mocking remark was making its way through Crow's mouth. "The King actually has a heart."

Jack didn't say much after that.

After riding The Kamikaze twice in a row, the group decided it was an excellent time to stop for lunch. They all paid separately for their meal choices (except for Rua and Ruka, as Aki had insisted to pay for the twins despite their attempts of trying to dissuade her). Aki had bought her food and the twins first and sat down at the table. The twins, however, had only placed their food down before they ran off, saying they had seen a quick game they wanted to play. Aki sat down at the table and began to eat alone, until Yusei had arrived at the table next.

The pair continued eating in silence, not making much chit chat as they waited for the others. Whether it was due to Aki's shyness when it came to being alone with Yusei, or his natural quiet, Aki couldn't help but feel slightly awkward, and averted her gaze elsewhere. While sipping on her drink, she felt the weight of someone's stare on her. Her gaze gravitated to her observer, and was surprised to find Yusei looking at her with his ocean blue eyes. "Is there something wrong Yusei?

He blinked once as if surprised by the call of his name. Aki knew he didn't mean to stare at her for a long time, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't pleased. "No," he said after a moment of hesitation, "I just noticed…" His eyes traveled to her neck, and his expression grew thoughtful. "Your hair is getting longer…"

"Oh…" Her hand traveled to her hair, and she ran her fingers softly through it. She hadn't expected Yusei to notice something like her hair length, but in hindsight, it was completely like him to notice everything. It was one of the traits that made it a simple task for him to be a scientist, she mused internally. "Yes," she continued after a few moments of thought. "I've decided to grow it out."

Something in his cerulean eyes flickered, but it disappeared before Aki could try and read it. That was the only way you could tell what Yusei was thinking sometimes. With such a stoic expression all the time, it was surprising how much you could catch if you looked into his eyes. "I think it would look nice, Aki," he responded, a hint of a smile growing at the corners of his mouth.

His compliment made her heart flutter in joy, and a smile worked its way onto her face despite her valiant effort to repress it. She wondered if she was blushing bright enough for Yusei to notice. "Thank you…"

"It's nothing. I'm simply stating what I believe," Yusei said as his eyes flickered to the top of her head. "But do you plan on continuing to use your power inhibitor as a clip?"

Her feelings of contentment quickly disappeared at the mention of her hair clip, and her expression immediately darkened and became guarded by reflex. Her hair clip was a touchy topic, even if she didn't want it to be.

Yusei saw the sudden change in Aki's demeanor and knew immediately that he had touched upon an old scar of hers. Remorse flooded through Yusei as he saw her eyebrows knit together, knowing she usually made that expression when she was thinking of a painful part of her past. Namely, Divine. "I'm sorry. That was tactless."

"N-No…" Aki forced a smile in an attempt to assure Yusei that he didn't upset her. "It's fine. I… I'm not sure yet, honestly." Her smile quickly faded, and she berated herself internally. It's been almost two years. Surely by now she should have let go of any kind of feelings she had towards her old mentor. Her love for him had died out long since, but that didn't change the fact she couldn't get rid of her clip. It was a memento of the Divine she had cared deeply for.

Aki felt a gentle pressure on her hands, and with great surprise, found that Yusei had placed his hands upon hers. "It's okay." He gave a gentle squeeze, and she felt a tingling sensation within her hands. His normally intense cobalt eyes seemed to have softened as he looked at her. "I understand."

She felt her heart pick up as she stared into his eyes again and couldn't help but give a grateful smile back to Yusei. He always made her feel wonderful. Those two words were a life saver to her. Whenever she felt as if she were about to drown from her insecurities, her misgivings, her dark past, he would say those two words, and Yusei was able to pull her out of the murky waters once again. Sometimes, the feeling like she was forgiven and saved was so overwhelming it almost made her want to cry. It always felt like a great burden was lifted, and Aki always believed Yusei to be a blessing from the heavens.

It was no wonder why she loved him.

"Thank you," she repeated, her chocolate colored eyes sparkling. "You always understand…"

Before either could say anything else, both were suddenly jolted out of their moment when Crow slammed food onto the table.

"Oi!" he cried with a scandalizing tone as the pair removed their hands from the table. Aki placed a hand on her rapidly beating heart, attempting to calm herself from the sudden drop back to reality.

Crow pulled up a chair to the table and sat down as Rua and Ruka started coming back from wherever they ran off to. "Look, you guys can ride the Tunnel of Love later, but if you don't mind, I'm starving!" He grinned broadly at the pair as he watched them squirm with discomfort. "And I'd rather not watch you two make googly eyes while I try to eat."

Despite the fact that she her face was bright red, Aki could still pull of a pretty mean glare.

The rest of the day had passed by quickly, most likely due to the amount of fun the group was having. The team had stopped by a few more interesting rides, and eventually reached the carnival games. There had been fierce competitions between the team when it came to these games, making the games all the more fun. It had also been very interesting when the Ruka asked Yusei to win Aki a stuffed animal after she was presented with a stuffed animal of Regulus the White Lion by her brother.

"It'd be really sweet!" she had said, her amber eyes twinkled when she had spoken to Yusei. "I think Aki-san would really love it. She'd have a memento of coming here with everyone. And if it's a gift from you…" She left her unfinished sentence hang in the air as the two turned their gaze to Aki and Rua playing a fierce game of Whack-a-Mole.

Before Yusei could reply, Crow interrupted their discussion by saying, "If you won't, Yusei, I wouldn't mind winning one for Aki. I do happen to owe her."

Judging by his joking tone and laughing expression, Crow was only joking and egging Yusei on; however, the said Signer had suddenly become noticeably colder towards Crow, and had made his way towards one of the game booths where you could stuffed animals in shapes of duel monsters were offered and had won a Black Rose Dragon plush toy in a matter of moments.

Crow and Ruka had exchanged looks. Crow's expression was full of surprise towards Yusei's reaction, but Ruka was smiling brightly at Yusei's slightly possessive gesture. She wondered vaguely if Zora's son, Leo, ever came to be on good terms with Yusei.

Eventually, the sun began to descend from the sky, and the team began to ready themselves to head home. Before they left, however, the twins presented Aki with a small black pouch. Aki blinked in surprise, and turned to the twins.

"What's this?" she asked, surprised by the gesture.

"A gift!" Ruka replied as her brother beamed beside her. "We saw it in a crane game, and we just had to get it for you."

"It took a few tries," Rua said, but he seemed to think about it before shaking his head. "Okay, it took a lot of tries. Crane games are always harder than they look, and it was really hard trying to pick that up. But anyways, open it!"

Aki obeyed Rua's command, and a black and magenta headband fell out of the pouch. Her eyes widened, and she looked back at the twins. "You… got me a headband?"

"We noticed how you're still using your clip, Aki-san." Aki tensed once again, but said nothing as the Ruka continued speaking. "We thought that might be because you haven't got any other clips, so we decided to get you that."

"You know," Rua continued, not noticing Aki's troubled expression, "for when you finally get rid of it!"

Aki's cinnamon eyes flashed with almost an angry look, but it quickly disappeared as she looked back at the hair accessory. She knew the twins meant well, and they didn't know what the clip meant to her. No one but herself did, really. She looked over it thoughtfully. It was kind of cute, and the thought behind the gift was touching. Aki let go of her negative feelings and smiled towards the two children.

"Thank you. I like it a lot, and it could be really useful."

The twins smiled at her, and Aki allowed the loving feeling she felt towards them flow through her. They were adorable, sweet little children. She wouldn't mind adopting them to be her true younger siblings if given the chance. To her, they were reminders, beacons of hope that there was a beautiful innocence still within the world despite the darkness she had seen in her past days.

The group stopped momentarily before the exit for last minute bathroom breaks. Rua looked around the park one last time and saw one attraction they hadn't gone to, and it was the one he had been looking for the entire time.

"Hey guys!" Rua called, attracting the attention of everyone minus Yusei, who was currently in the bathroom. "Can we look at one more attraction?"

"Rua, we really should be leaving soon," his sister chided with a disapproving expression at her brother's behavior.

"Aww, c'mon!" Rua whined. "Real quick! I wanna go to the House of Mirrors!"

A sigh escaped from Crow. He wasn't much for discipline, but he did have priorities. "Rua, my shift starts soon, and I really need to get back to the garage soon." He began scratching his head at Rua's sullen expression, feeling guilty. "We don't exactly have time to-"

"No," Aki interrupted. The group turned to her. "We'll make it quick. I'll even go with them, that way I can keep track of time. We won't be more than ten minutes."

Jack and Crow exchanged looks, before turning back to Aki. "Alright then," Crow replied, giving in. "Make it quick though, guys!"

"Alright!" Rua cheered, pumping a fist into the air. "Thanks, Aki-san! Now c'mon!" He grabbed his sister and Aki's hands, dragging them to the attraction.

Crow and Jack watched the trio run off to their destination. The two started to chat to pass the time while they waited for Aki, Rua, and Ruka to return. Despite all the arguing they had done that they, they were practically brothers, so they could have friendly conversations when they felt like not arguing. Not much later, Yusei returned from the bathroom.

Looking around, Yusei asked, "Where did Aki and the twins go?"

"They ran off to see one more attraction before we leave," Jack replied, crossing his arms as if in disagreement with their behavior.

"Shouldn't be long now, though," Crow replied, putting his hands behind his head, showing he was completely fine about the situation. "Aki went in there with them to make sure they don't take too long."

Yusei nodded at Crow's assessment, and sat down on the wooden bench with his oldest friends. The trio continued to talk about random topics, from dueling to current work problems. However, time began to pass, and five minutes turned into ten, ten to fifteen, fifteen to twenty, and the men took notice.

"Where are they?" Jack growled, growing slightly irritated. "Izayoi said she'd make sure they didn't take too long."

"Maybe she got distracted and lost track of time," Crow suggested. He didn't really mind being late to his job. They could handle a one-time tardy from Crow the Bullet.

"There they are," Jack said, a hint of relief in his voice. His amethyst eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the sight in front of him. "But where's Izayoi?"

The two other Signers looked where Jack's gaze was, and saw two turquoise heads running quickly towards them. Their anxious expressions caused a small seed of worry to bloom within Yusei's stomach. Aki wasn't anywhere near them.

"Yusei! Jack! Crow!" Rua called in an apprehensive voice as he and Ruka ran towards the older boys.

"What's wrong?" Crow asked as the twins approached. "Where's Aki?"

Rua and Ruka paused to regain their breath, and Rua suddenly looked up with a fearful expression. "She's been trapped!"

"What!" the trio cried, immediately bolting to their feet.

"What do you mean, she's been trapped?" Jack yelled at the boy, unable to keep his voice down in this situation.

"Calm down, Rua!" Ruka cried, and the boys were surprised by her calm look. "You're exaggerating because the holograms in there scared you as we were running out."

Rua expression grew slightly annoyed; ignoring the older Signer's confused looks. "I wasn't scared!"

"And neither is Aki-san," Ruka replied. She turned to Jack, Crow, and Yusei to explain the situation to them. "We were walking around in the attraction, and they had an interesting effect of making it look like duel monsters would pop out at us when we were inside. Rua and I ran ahead to look at a very convincing Power Tool Dragon, when we suddenly heard Aki-san scream. We turned around, and at the last second, we saw Aki-san being pulled into the wall."

"You know," Rua interrupted, "I think it was actually a hologram of Mystic Box."

"Now's not the time, Rua!" she snapped, causing Rua to wince and mutter an apology. She sighed, but looked back at Yusei and the others. "Anyways, we went back to where she was, but it wouldn't open for us. We kept calling for Aki-san when she finally responded, saying she was behind a trap door, and it might be stuck. And after that, she just told us to go get you guys." She turned around to glare at Rua. "She wasn't worried, Rua, so don't go around making everyone else more concerned than they need to be."

"Aww, but c'mon, sis!" he cried with indignation. "You were worried too! Don't you think it's a bit freaky that she was suddenly dragged in, but we couldn't find the switch and make it turn around for us?" He crossed his arms with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Jeeze, you just didn't get that chill from inside the House of Mirrors. That's why you're not as worried."

Yusei's eyes widened as understanding dawned on him. "She's at the House of Mirrors?"

The group turned around, surprised by Yusei's sudden outburst. "Yeah," Crow replied in a normal voice, now soothed by Ruka's story. "Didn't we tell you?"

"What difference does it make?" Jack scoffed, eyeing Yusei's distressed expression. "It's a House of Mirrors. Should Izayoi have any reason to be weary of those places?"

Yusei's cobalt eyes met Jack's amethyst ones with an intense stare. "Yeah," he replied, turning his gaze to meet everyone else's. "A House of Mirrors is where she dueled Misty back when we were fighting the Dark Signers." The group's eyes widened slightly in surprise, recalling and realizing the connection Aki had with this attraction. Yusei berated himself internally. Why hadn't he realized?

"Well, I've been to one once, but at the time, I wasn't really going there to enjoy the rides and attractions…"

"The House of Mirrors is where she realized first-hand Divine's intentions," he said solemnly, turning his back to the others. "I'll go find her; you guys can stay here." And with that, he took off towards the House of Mirrors, similar to how he had two years before.

"Hey! Yusei, wait!" Crow cried out, but it was in vain. Yusei had already run off farther than his voice could reach him. "Jeeze," Crow muttered, scratching the back of his head. He didn't even get the chance of convincing Yusei to let them come. Then again, it wasn't like Aki was in danger of dying. "Yusei and his saving people complex…"

"It's how he's always been," Jack replied to Crow's musings, crossing his arms again before sitting back down. They would let Yusei handle it. It wasn't even that big of a deal, really. "Although, it's obvious he tends to get a bit obsessive with it whenever it comes to Izayoi."

Ruka seemed to think about something deeply for a moment, before asking, "Do you think when they come back they'll finally be a couple?" Rua's eyes widened at his sister's question, turning swiftly on her.

"What?" he cried, obviously surprised by the idea. "What do you mean?"

Ruka's sigh was echoed by Crow's facepalm. Jack's simply shook his head at the oblivious young boy. "Rua, I swear… Sometimes, you can be so dense…"

And that's chapter one! =3