Chapter Text
Someone knocked against the door to her room.
Rin pretended she hadn’t heard it, curling up tighter, trying to ignore the unreal sunlight that fell through the window.
It knocked again.
Hesitantly, she dug herself out of her pile of blankets and staggered to her feet. For a moment her foot caught in one of the crinkles and she had to stop to pull it free. Upon the third knock she yanked open the door, making the person behind it jump with surprise.
“Yugo? What are you doing here?”
She tried to sound sleepy to hide the fact that she had barely slept at all this night.
“What ‘What I am doing here?’ ? We wanted to ride out today. Don’t tell me you forgot that?”
Oh. Yes, she totally forgot about that.
“No, no”, she said hastily. “Just give me a minute.”
She closed the door and plodded through the mess in her room, picking up the pieces of her jumpsuit from where she had dropped them. She definitely needed to tidy up, she told herself, although she knew she wasn’t going to do it.
While she got dressed, she stopped for a moment, gazing at her untouched bed. She felt her fingers curl around her arm. Then she shook her head and hastened out.
In the kitchen she just fished a slice of toast from the toaster before making her way to the garage. Yugo was already there, apparently making some last adjustments.
“There you are. Ready to head out?”
She tried to make her reply sound casual as she took a seat on her Runner. She hadn’t ridden for such a long time, but when her fingers wandered over the instrument panel and finally closed around the handlebars, a surge of memories flashed through her mind.
The countless hours of planning and gathering parts from the scrapyards or recycling facilities. Their joy as they set the parts together. They had been so euphoric when the motor responded for the first time. Yugo had crashed into a wall on his first ride, but they had been able to repair it quickly.
And now that they were living with Yuzu and the others and not in the slums of the City anymore, they didn’t need to work all the time just to be able to fill their stomachs. That’s why they had been spending most of their time with the construction of a second Duel Runner, one just for her.
Hers. It somehow felt strange to say that. Something that belonged to her…
All her life she had been living among trash and among people who were barely better than trash. She hadn’t ever really owned anything, aside from the clothes she wore and her deck.
And then there was that time when she hadn’t even owned herself anymore…
She shook her head and cracked a smile. She probably just needed to get used to it.
“Rin? What are you waiting for?” Yugo asked, having pulled his Runner out onto the street already.
“Nothing”, she said, grabbing her helmet from the nearby shelf and following him into the light of day.
It was such a wondrous feeling… The wind blustering past her head, the long ribbon of asphalt flowing below her… How had she missed this…
Yugo was racing just in front of her, leading the way, just like back then when they had to share the Runner. She remembered having wrapped her arms around his waist so she wouldn’t fall off in one of his reckless manoeuvres. But somehow he had always managed to bring her to their goal safely.
Now that she thought about it, whenever he crashed, he was the only one who would end up getting hurt. So often had he been sitting in their garage, wincing as she cleaned his grazes. So often had she told him to be more careful, knowing that he wasn’t going to listen.
She was glad about that. He always seemed to be smiling when he was able to race with the wind. Even if she couldn’t see it from behind, she was always able to feel his happiness.
She wanted… She wanted to be close to his brightness, regardless of what dark shadows she was casting behind.
“Hey Rin! You wanna make a race?” Yugo shouted over the airflow of their Runners.
For a moment she wanted to reply that she didn’t, but the sight of his smirk when he looked back at her made her reconsider. Her fingers tightened around the handlebars and a smile crept over her face.
“Bring it on!” she shouted, speeding up and bringing her Runner nose to nose with his.
She couldn’t see behind the visor of his helmet, but she knew his eyes were sparkling with the same intensity hers did.
When Rin came back into her room after a refreshing shower and fell back first onto her bed, she was still smiling widely.
It had been a wonderful day and she hadn’t even noticed the hours passing by. She had missed it, the wind rushing past her, the rush of adrenaline as she leaned into the curve, knowing that she was racing over a track of asphalt at a speed that no reasonable person would ever drive at. Her body was still brimming with the hum of the motor. This was so… so amazing!
She was so grateful to Yugo for reminding her of this feeling.
A smile brushed across her lips.
She didn’t know why he was able to move her like this. He was childish, and silly, and reckless. He was absolutely irresponsible and no good at housework. But… his bright smile always managed to cheer her up. Even when they were still children.
Yes, back then when the world was still a place she was able to deal with…
Slowly she closed her eyes and without noticing it, sleep finally overwhelmed her.
“Damn! I lost again. Okay, one more time.”
She couldn’t help but smirk at the little face in front of her.
“You really don’t know when to quit, do you?”
Yugo made a pouting face.
“How about we continue tomorrow?” she asked calmer.
He maintained his glare for another few seconds before he relaxed.
“Okay. Then I’m going to beat you tomorrow.”
Rin smiled. She knew that wasn’t going to happen, but it was useless telling Yugo that.
She placed the pot with the soup from yesterday onto the little hotplate and took two bowls from the cupboard on the wall.
“By the way, I’ve seen a flyer for the Friendship Cup today.”
Rin turned to him, smiling involuntarily at the awed look in his eyes.
“I see”, she answered and reached for the two glasses that were lined up bottom-up next to the sink. “I guess Jack’s going to wipe the road with his opponent again.”
“Are you joking? Jack’s the King. There’s no way he’s going to lose. That is…” He rubbed his nose with one finger and made a proud face. “…until I defeat him.”
“You?!”
She barely suppressed a laugh.
“You can’t even win a duel against me. How are you going to beat Jack?”
“Hey, this isn’t funny”, he snapped. “Just you wait. I’m going to build a Duel Runner and then I’m going to participate in the Friendship Cup. I’ll fight myself all the way to the finals and I’m going to defeat Jack.”
She gave him an amused grin.
“Really? Then I guess you should start by constructing yourself a Duel Runner.”
She had meant it as a joke. They didn’t have any money to buy the necessary parts. But his blue eyes gazed back at her with a fire she hadn’t expected.
“You know what, Rin? You’re right. I’m going to build a Duel Runner. And it’s going to be faster than every other!”
“Don’t get too full of yourself!” Rin said, smacking his head with the ladle.
Carefully she took the hot pot from the hotplate and placed it on the table.
“And now eat before it gets cold.”
“Yes, mom”, he said, sitting down across her.
As he spooned the soup, she looked at him, thoughtfully.
Yugo was crazy enough to go through with his plan, although he didn’t know what it would take. He wasn’t even aware of how little he knew. It seemed he was going to need her help.
To be honest, she had dreamed of defeating Jack as well, but it had never been more than a silly dream. But on the other hand, Jack had come from the slums as well. He had been a symbol, proof for everybody that even a common could make it to the top.
It wasn’t impossible.
Suddenly she heard a strong gust rattling at the window and looked up. It was unusual to have such a strong wind down here.
“Yugo, have you-“ She stopped.
Yugo wasn’t there anymore.
Confused she got up, looked into the other room which served as their bedroom and even the tiny bathroom, but he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly worried, she opened the door and stepped out.
It was dark, much darker than it was supposed to be. She looked around, but there was nobody here as well.
Then she heard quiet footsteps.
Her eyes widened in horror when she spotted the hooded figure at the end of the alley.
She wanted to run back into the house, but where the door had been only moments ago, was now only solid wall.
“What’s this?” a dreadful voice sighed from far away. “Are you afraid? Then how about we play a little game?”
“Y-Yugo?” she asked when she recognised the features beneath the hood, her voice merely a shriek.
But no. Everything about him was screaming that he wasn’t Yugo, from the sadistic smile to the malevolent eyes.
The eyes of a predator.
With a choked gasp she awoke, heart racing so fast she feared it might burst, her lungs inhaling so deep as if her life was depending on it.
She noticed the white walls of her room and after a while she managed to calm down a little.
She raised one hand to her forehead and noticed it was covered in cold sweat.
She slid from the bed, sneaked over to her pile of blankets in the corner, burying herself deep into them so they could block out the world outside.
Sadly it didn’t help much.
She could escape the shadows outside, but the shadows inside her were something she couldn’t run from. No matter how much she wished to forget, that nightmare would never let go, haunting her for the rest of her life.
She curled up, pulled the blankets around her as tightly as she could and tried to bite back the sobs that welled up in her chest.
Yugo… Anyone…
Why? Why wasn’t there anyone who could make her forget that hell? Why?
