SPOILERS FOR EPISODES 97 AND 140

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

d i s c o n n e c t e d

By the time I realized, it was already too late.

Aki, my friend, was something different. At first, I admit, I didn't trust her. She always struck me as the angry, world-hating sadist of the group. But as time passed by, I realized she wasn't any of that; none of that at all.

Aki was everything but that: she was mature; despite that tiny inkling of child-like innocence hidden beneath her tear-stained eyes. She was kind; never putting herself above anyone else and always willing to help. She was intelligent; logically calculating every angle and degree to a perfect 90. She was broken; so shattered that if you saw her you would just stop what you were doing and help her pick up the pieces. But by saying that, I'm not saying she's weak. No, not at all.

Aki, my friend, my dear friend, is one of the strongest people I know. Having lived through a life of rejection and coming out on top, is unbelievably strong. And the best thing, she shares her strength with the rest of us.

Like when I crashed my D-Wheel that one time. She was nervous and even probably frightened when she said she'd take my place in the WRPG, but I could tell that even though she was terrified, she was ready. And that other time on the Arc Cradle, especially. If it wasn't for Aki, I probably would've made the second biggest mistake of my life by joining Z-ONE.

And the first biggest mistake of my life?

Waiting too long.

By that time, it was already obvious to everyone that Aki had feelings for Yusei, my best friend in the entire world, heck, the entire universe. I don't know when I began to notice, but when I did, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was just that certain look she gave to him and to him only or that little smile of pure happiness when she was around him, the glances and grins that he himself actually returned. Now, I've known Yusei my whole life, and I can sincerely tell you that never before in his life has he looked at someone the same way he looks at Aki. There was something stirring between them, something that I myself had no part of.

It hurt. It really did. But when you think of it, I really had nothing to offer her. I'm not the one who picked her up, healed her wounds, and saved her from herself. I didn't do much of anything, so it was actually pretty logical for her to choose Yusei over me. And honestly, despite the pain, I'm happy for them. I'm happy for Yusei because he's finally found someone he cares deeply for, after all those years of silence. I'm happy for Aki because even after all that hurt, she's still willing to give her heart to someone.

It really sucks when stuff like this happens. Seriously, it truly, truly sucks. It's not like I can do anything about it, though. I mean, you gotta play the cards where they lie, right? And right now, all I can do is be grateful that they found each other. If them being together makes them happy, then heck, I'm happy too.

Now if only Jack would admit he likes Carly.

A/N: OH GAWD, WHY DID I WRITE THIS. Sorry for the crappy crap story, I never write because I'm lame, lmao. But the other night I had a dream that involved a love triangle with Crow, Aki, and Yusei AND I COULD NOT HELP MYSELF. (Plus, I kind of...looked at some fanart on Pixiv. LOL) I don't really know if I ship Crow like this yet since I think that Crow and Aki are just really good friends, but I just wanted to try this out. And I had to add Yusei in because I'm a rabid Faithshipping...shipper. LOL

Thanks for reading!