Yu-gi-oh 5Ds: Rise of Darkness and Corruption (Athene/ImaginaryMuse & Razgriz)

Anyone who had resided in the Satellite would have known the simple but brutal truth. It had never really been a place where much of anything 'good' ever happened. Yet it was also fair to say that it had never been in such a state like it currently was. This truly was the worst, something that had seemed impossible to imagine. An already poor section of town now overrun by two types of people, three technically, though some fell under more than one category.

There were the duelists, the gangs, and anyone who belonged with Sector Security.

Anyone with enough common sense could figure how the alignments usually went; most individuals were duelists and gangsters. However, with the power in Sector growing faster than it had in years, the fear and intimidation was beginning to influence a good number of people.

For some, it got to the point where they were betraying their own friends, comrades, allies - whatever one wished to call them - and going so far as to turning them in.

It was these events and many more that helped inspire another young duelist, yet one that was far different than many others the Satellite had ever seen and not yet gotten to know properly.
It was, to put it in a kind way, disgusting. Not just the city, but what it had become. It was hard to call the Satellite any sort of residence, which was sad given it was the home of many duelists. Lower-class in wealth, yes, but it wasn't like the Tops or any of its residents would even dare try to help them out.

The thought made seventeen-year-old Yuna scoff and roll her eyes.

Yet to everyone else, she went not by her real name, but Yukio.

There had been a very subtle yet dangerous undertone which revealed a rather misogynistic attitude towards women. She had detected that much even at a very young age, long before she hit her preteen years.

Much like many of the people in Satellite, Yuna's own life had taken a few, sudden turns.

However, she had no regrets with the new - if not unexpected - alterations. In fact, she embraced them, perhaps quicker than most would.

Two years ago, after barely getting away from Sector herself, Yuna decided enough was enough. Literally and metaphorically, she put her foot down. What was the point in being a duelist if even that was a crime?

Originally, she considered giving up and going back to her 'home', or what she used to call that.

Instead, the idea to create a discreet, fourth division entered her head. An owner of the first and now most successful sanctuary. A place where anyone - so long as they didn't work for or aid out Sector - could come and hide out. They could stay for only one night or a week, however long they needed to stay out of Sector's radar.

It was one of the best ways for Yuna to get back at Sector whilst simultaneously avoiding any direct confrontations with them.

... Not that she couldn't hold her own in a duel. Still, if they called for back-up and outnumbered her ... yeah. She understood how badly it could get in a matter of seconds.

Upon creating her haven, effectively named Yomi which meant underground - Hell specifically, Yuna also changed herself. Not completely, but enough to keep up a more masculine guise. Her hair was left at its normal length. She'd seen her fair share of men with longer than shoulder length locks, so it was easy enough to lie about.

The main thing that switched, therefore, was her name and voice. Yuna had been blessed - or cursed, depending on one's point of view - to be relatively flat in the chest area. Bandaging them up and appearing as if she had nothing at all as opposed to the Bs she truly possessed was one of the simplest tasks she'd self-taught herself to this day. Still, she kept them bound as a precaution.

Not to say this didn't hurt. But after doing this for a few years, one managed to get accustomed to the sensations and not let the pain bother them as bad as it may have in the beginning.

Before running away, she had been raised in a household with more men than women. Add in the fact she had lived on her own in the streets of Satellite and it had made the task of sounding as if she had been born a male that much easier.

Thus, the 'birth' of Yukio had emerged with that of Yomi.

Of course, there was a reason she was able to succeed in any of her operations. Not quite 'friends', per se, but definitely allies. Some of the first people who had found her and her hideout, to be precise. They had come to an agreement about one thing; the creation of Yomi was a smart and beneficial thought. But, even Yuna had to confess their fears had been right; without aid in any form or fashion, it would be found out about.

And, when push came to shove, it would be as quickly ruined as it had been built. That would be but the tip of the iceberg, too. Then there were all the thoughts involving her and the first trip to the Facility.

Her head quickly shook as she bit her lip to stifle a frustrated growl.

"No! Don't! You've come too fucking far. Don't bother dwelling on that shit."

Tilting her head back and guiding it against the wall behind her, Yuna elicited a low sigh as she briefly closed her eyes.

Alas, the reprieve was short-lived. To be fair, it almost always was. Still, it didn't change what occurred next. Hajime, whom was effectively Yukio's right-hand man, and one of the few people who constantly stayed in the base 24/7, walked inside.

"Got a report?" Yuna inquired, immediately shifting to her male counterpart as she opened her mouth and spoke. Upon seeing an affirmative nod, she merely gave Hajime one of her own. "Go on then."

"Our help should be on their way to give the weekly supplies."

"Good. And Sector? Have things been getting steadily better?"

"Very gradually but yes."

"It's a start," Yuna muttered, mulling over the thought before nodding again. "Very well. Let anyone who's still here know food should arrive soon enough. They know the drill; failing to help out will lead to them not getting anything. We all need to do our part, after all. I'll be down shortly."

Yuna subconsciously held her breath, only sighing again after Hajime left. "Appreciate the loyalty," she mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper, "but ... ugh. He'll be the death of me."

Taking a moment to quickly change out of her outfit from yesterday and change into a new pair of ripped jeans and a camo shirt, and combat boots, Yuna descended down the small flight of stairs that led to the living room, more or less.

Each face that came into view was greeted with little more than a polite nod or wave, sometimes both. Yet, she didn't stop, knowing they already knew the situation. Instead, Yuna continued to walk, finally halting when she was a few paces away from the front doors.

Crossing her arms over her bandaged chest, she leaned against the wall and patiently waited. They were usually on time; Yuna wasn't honestly worried about that. But she'd decided upon making herself Yukio that if she was going to look like a male, she may as well play the part. So, she took up the role of a nonchalant leader, one who was very capable of having quite the tempers when the right buttons were pushed. Before then, though, she otherwise appeared to be a calm and collected young man who had been smart enough to find and make use of this abandoned warehouse.

That was the gist of what people viewed her as; nothing more, but certainly nothing less.

There had always been two things that almost gave away Yukio was not at all a man, but a woman disguising herself as one. Her face, as it - unfortunately - did look far more feminine than not. Then, there was the additional factor of her height. She wasn't in the usual range, mind you. But the fact Yukio wasn't quite six feet also made a good amount of eyebrows raise, which in turn led to glares or punches, depending on how quickly people wised up, among other various factors.

In truth, days like today were some of her favorites. She had a reason, an excuse to stay away from a good majority of people. Hajime and Sosuke were two of the few people whom didn't question what were otherwise some very amiss-looking details about Yukio, and it was primarily for that very reason that whenever Yuna had to be around people, they were by far her preferences.

" .... That's un-fucking-called for .... "

Sure enough, a quick peek helped allow Yuna to see she'd been correct. Her instincts had screamed that many pairs of eyes had - once again - found and rested upon her form. Not out of lust, but curiosity. Still, staring was one of those things that even the youngest duelists knew not to do. Anyone who stayed here had to follow some rules and, in her opinion, they were relatively basic when all was said and done.

Common sense and courtesy; they were two of the main things she really asked for, if not demanded from time to time.

But given all that she was allowing these people to have, it seemed like more than enough of a fair trade.

Thankfully, the seemingly never-ending feeling of being constantly gawked at ended. As it did, her thoughts went back to a plan that had been racing through Yuna's mind for a good year or so now. There was a damn good incentive she hadn't dared try to act on it. Without the proper amount of people, it was suicidal, or at least dangerous enough to guarantee one a trip to the Facility.

Summed up, she was trying to figure a way to get rid of the Facility altogether. Yet, Yuna was also attempting to come up with a solution that didn't involve too many casualties. It'd be preferred to keep it as close to zero, if not at that. However, if that couldn't be helped at all, keeping it low would work.

Still, the moment that cursed building is gone, it'd make everything with Sector cease ... right?

That was the other thing keeping her from acting. She understood that it could actually result in the very opposite result. Rather than giving up, that may be more than enough reason for Rex to all but declare war against everyone in Satellite, particularly those associated with gangs.

If it came down to that, then it wouldn't be just her in serious trouble. At least 95% of the population within Satellite would be royally fucked, and definitely not in the best of ways.

"... Urgh ... "

An irritated sigh helped enunciate the exasperated reaction. Her hands raised briefly beside her head before lowering and landing over her bound chest yet again.

Back to the drawing board it goes ...

Ah well. It seemed her mind chose a good time to put that on hold. The tell-tale signal of three consecutive knocks made Yuna push herself off from against the wall and walked forward to rendezvous with Sosuke.

"Sosuke, man, Yukio's gonna have a fit!"

" ... I can speak for myself fine, thanks. Ehh. I've seen worse. I'll admit, it's a bit cringe worthy, but not the absolute worst. Anyway, Sosuke," By now, Yuna's full attention and mindset went back to Yukio and were focused solely on the other leader, "Good to see you arrived well enough. Nope, definitely don't mind a surplus. We're actually kinda overdue for one."

Making a 'come on in' gesture with his right index and middle fingers, he walked inside and started leading him further into the mostly empty building.

"Alright everyone!"

The words rang out loud and clear. "Move! Those who want their share for the day, you know the rules! We'll accompany you soon enough!"

After allowing everyone else to move ahead, Yuna allowed them to proceed onward. Everyone, including Sosuke, knew Yukio as a person who did things for a reason. Now was no exception.

And sure enough, he would get a confirmation within a matter of moments.

The pace slowed, but steadily, Yuna did make 'his' way towards the opposite end where the rest of Sosuke's crew was unloading the supplies.

"These runs," Yukio slowly inquired, "They've been staying smooth, yes? Rumors have been spreading life may or may not get a bit more ... difficult. As if it weren't enough, I know. Just ... double and triple checking that they haven't gotten any leads on you. And the quickest way ... "

Moving her head from side to side, Yuna waited to ensure only Sosuke was around before lowering her voice and whispering into his ear, "Would be if any of your own men are beginning to panic, if you get my drift."

The most stoic of expressions would be seen on Yukio's face as he looked right into Sosuke's eyes. "Mind you, it's not meant as an insult. Just a precaution. I'm screening my own people, trying to anyway. Me and Hajime are pretty certain we've found anyone that could have been a threat and dealt with appropriately. What of you? That's all I wanna hear the answer to."

Yuna stood across from the much taller man, hinting she was about six or so inches shorter, and waited patiently to hear a reply. Positive or negative, she would mentally steel herself. It was one of those times where hoping for the best but possibly expecting the worst definitely came in handy.

Sosuke wasn't feeling hungry at the moment, odd for someone his size for sure, but his guys and those that were already here needed their shares more. Soon enough, people began digging in, Sosuke's guys trying to help divide the spoils evenly for the house to share. Any that wouldn't be eaten now would be stored in the plethora of supply cabinets around the warehouse, where Yukio's personnel would closely monitor them to make sure no one was stealing.

Though at the moment, Sosuke was more about wanting to get down to business; he'd seen enough effeminate looking men to not even bother giving Yukio a second look. Sector itself had its share of scrawny twinks that tried to pick a fight with him...Something that ended badly for them, since even though he didn't have the muscle mass of someone like Armstrong, he was a lot more physically competent than most officers realized. Benefit of constantly skirmishing with the police, after all.

And right now, he was getting what he wanted: An audience with the guy that held the same interests as he, namely keeping Security off everyone's backs. "About as smooth as we can make them; Security's been monitoring that damn pipeline more and more, and there's only so many times Yamichi can hack their cameras to run the loop. Honestly surprised those idiots haven't figured it out yet." he then told the young man, knowing full well what he was referring to. "Luckily, most of the new recruits seem to be from the Tops, thinking we're not such a bad threat. Which means your spoiled, silver-spoon-fed trust-fund baby looking for the prestige without the risk." Sosuke then added; part of his spare time was watching the bug Yamichi had installed into their security feeds, looking at the waves of recruits Sector was bringing in.

His next question had him narrow his eyes threateningly, showing that he didn't like what she was implying, sensible as it was. No one else really paid the two much mind, trying to help get the food and water supply squared away and inventoried, along with the canisters of gas-based fuel they managed to sneak out for Yomi's boiler room. "None of my guys are traitors, Yukio. Try to choose your words more carefully, or else I might just think you're trying to insinuate something." was his reply, a little bit of heat lacing every syllable. His tone made it abundantly clear that he didn't care for the implication, mind as the refuge manager tried to pad the statement.

Letting out a sigh through his nose, he then asked, "But if I might, can we change subject? This weekly schedule needs to change. We need to cut back on delivery time; we can keep it up for now, but within the next week or two, twice as many officers are going to be flooding the streets. And the Security warehouses we can hit are getting slimmer and slimmer, not to mention trying to use that trash pipeline to get in and out of New Domino is starting to become unusable." He wasn't trying to play up drama, but the fact was Security was beginning to put the squeeze on them, and if something didn't happen soon...Everyone was going to lose.

Yuna took a moment to silently dwell over Sosuke's reply. For the briefest of seconds, she wondered if perhaps he was trying to conceal something she may not know. Were things really going as smoothly as Sosuke was trying to insist? Or had he experienced a close call and just didn't want to tell her - him, technically?

In the end, it was decided not to ask for that response. For now, she would trust him. Their relationship was by no means perfect; however, she had considered it more than acceptable enough to say they were definitely allies. Not quite comrades nor friends even. Still, he was one less person she had to fear may attempt to back-stab her in any form or fashion.

"Alright then," she finally mused, nodding her head in an attempt to reassure herself. "Yeah. Sounds about right. They're not really known for making shit easy, anyway."

Her brows furrowed slightly when Sosuke went on to reveal the pipes were being more cautiously watched.

"Hmmm. Damn. Understandable. Tell Yamichi for me his efforts have definitely been appreciated. Still, it's ... irritating that they've chosen to survey the pipe area."

It had been agreed quite a few times in the past that the area would very likely come in handy.

But now, it seemed even Sector was beginning to understand this. Or ... they had at least noticed something vital enough to initiate the new set of surveillance around and inside the pipes.

Yuna raised her hands beside her head as the eyes narrowed. "Okay, okay. I get it. I'm not trying to suggest anything. Still, it'd be bad to just let your guard down, especially when the dangers are very real. And more so due to what you just hinted, it'll be much more likely to get worse before better. Just something to keep in mind; nothing more, nothing less."

After that, no more hints on the topic would be heard, revealing Yukio definitely heard and understood the warnings perfectly well.

"This weekly schedule needs to change."

... It wasn't the most surprising set of words she could have heard. In truth, this was overdue, quite honestly. The deal she had been able to strike with Sosuke was enough of a miracle in itself. Keeping this supply up and running weekly? That was .. yeah. One hell of a feat in itself. Even Yuna couldn't deny that.

"Hah .... "

A long, defeated and slightly irked sigh elicited from her lips.

" .... Yeah. I hear ya, loud and clear. Kinda wish I didn't but ... "

A sly smirk crossed her lips as she lifted her head, looking right up into Sosuke's eyes. "I understand. It'll be letting the others know that will truly be the most difficult task, not me."

To the very slightest of extents, she couldn't blame them. They were so used to the routine. Even for herself, this news - albeit not shocking - was annoying slightly.

Still, she was the leader of this hidden sanctuary. With her role came the need to possess certain traits. Adaptability was one of them. Clearly, she was being asked - maybe even demanded - to practice using that ability now as opposed to later.

"... So ... what exactly are you thinking? Make this a biweekly thing?"

Yukio grimaced, but forced himself to add in the new and - unfortunately - possible option down on the table. "Monthly?"

If it were completely up to her, she'd agree much quicker to biweekly. However, if things were so bad that it had to be a monthly thing, well ... then Yuna would have to do some major thinking whilst eating with her visitors of sorts. In fact, she'd probably have to talk to Hajime and start working on a plan, if not several of them.

While Yuna wasn't proud of her sins, especially things like stealing, she had done it only when absolutely necessary. And if history had to repeat, she would do that with her actions. Because when all was said and done, everyone here mattered. So even though she wouldn't be overly happy, she'd consider and go through with theft yet again, if only to ensure morale didn't drastically lower.

Heavy truly is he who wears the crown as they say, Yuna mused, fighting off the urge to twirl some strands of hair over her fingers nervously.

Well, it was certainly unexpected of Yukio to agree so easily; Sosuke kind of figured that the young man was going to try and fight him. Tell him that he needed to make this weekly delivery work by whatever means necessary...An action that he foresaw leading to a very nasty brawl that neither side needed to experience. Tensions were already high enough, and Sosuke knew that any infighting would only weaken the good - not perfect by any means, but good enough - thing they had going here.

So it was kind of a relief to see that he agreed, nodding as Yukio said it was overdue. "Honestly, I kind of wish there was another way...But that bridge that used to connect us, you know those assholes in the Tops will never pay to have it rebuilt." Sosuke commented, again heat in his voice; though this time not at Yukio. Honestly, it was kind of pissing him off...Knowing that while the snobs got to live in their luxury, they were practically fighting and scurrying to stay free, let alone get something to eat.

His teeth clenched a little as he thought about this...

Thought about his brother.

And for a second he felt like he was going to lose it, until Yukio brought up another topic for their conversation. It was clear that she didn't sit well with the monthly thing, and honestly neither did he. The people that used this place had enough shit to deal with, and though monthly would be safer...Suddenly having to ration the food and water so much could prove disastrous to their efforts, some might even see it as a blind betrayal. He knew it, and it seemed Yukio did too, which meant bi-weekly seemed to be an acceptable compromise.

"Glad to see we're still on the same page...I can't promise the shipments will be any larger, but I can at least guarantee they'll come in once every two weeks." he then told the hideout manager. He had little to no qualms about stealing what they could; Rex Goodwin declared war on the people of Satellite long ago, and if that holier-than-thou son-of-a-bitch wanted a war, he would steal everything he could and break every one of Security's officers if he had to.

This wasn't just about class warfare: This was survival, and who dares...wins. And though it had been hard getting his guys onboard with the current setup with Yomi, he had a feeling that they would welcome more time to gather supplies.

"In any event...Good talk." he finalized, straightening the collar of his jacket as he added, "Now come on, let's chow! And don't worry about my guys; I'll let them know about the change." That last bit he kept quieter towards Yukio, coming back out into the main room where a few residents were happily eating and jawing with each other, some of the younger ones also playing Duel Monsters to help pass the time. Had to find some way to keep these kids entertained; life was hard enough without it.

"Sosuke! Everything alright?" Yamichi said as he noticed the Disciples' leader coming over to the food cabinet, the head honcho replying "Yeah, it's all good...Don't worry, just had to talk shop was all." before grabbing a protein bar and a bottle of water. Wasn't much, but he'd been accustomed to eating less; and at the very least, his crew got more out of the deal. None of Sosuke's guys were stupid enought to pry further; talking shop meant business between bosses, even though he would inform them later.

"Where's that patrol we saw on our way here, by the way?" he then asked the techie young-man as he ate and sat down, Yamichi pulling a pilfered and altered handheld device Security used, something like a fat radio that had an oversized screen and needed two hands to operate. "Looks like they're headed towards the Slums, near that old reactor building. Why?" asked the tech, to which Sosuke replied, "Because...Now that I'm fueled up, I'm feeling feisty...Where's my Duel Disk? I'm gonna squash some Sector bugs." Yamichi did not like the idea of the boss man going out to do that; even with the cards they stole, Security had been beefing up their armor and their decks. And strong a Duelist as Sosuke was...It was getting too dangerous. "Uh, Boss? I don't think that's a good idea...We almost got caught last time..." then said one of his other underlings, a medium-sized blond-haired twig that wore a black vest and slim black pants.

"Eh, the hell's your deal? You doubting me, Raiko?" Sosuke then asked, to which Raiko responded fiercely, "No! But if you go hunting alone again, who's gonna be there to back you up?! It's almost like you want to get thrown in the Facility, you've been taking too many solo risks! At least let me go with you!" Sosuke snorted, "Raiko, trust me, man...It's me you're talking about. You think they gave me that stupid nickname the for no reason? The Satellite Fiend?" It was here that he actually laughed, "You think the person who gives the 'criminals' these nicknames would do a more imaginative job...But what do you expect from Sector pigs, am I right?"

"What's with that look? Hmmm?"

It had likely been a subconscious reaction, but for about five seconds - long enough for Yuna to notice - a confused expression appeared on Sosuke's face. "What? I can be reasonable. I'm not all brawl but no brains sorta guy, ya know?" It was a tease, and even without the tone being included in her voice, even a child - should one have been nearby - would have been able to realize that much.

"But for real, I get it."

The joking expression vanished as swiftly as it was seen, now replaced with a more stoic look on Yuna's face. "I don't like admitting it, but I understand. It's another of the many necessary evils that have suddenly become a part of our lives." A frustrated sigh helped enunciate the end of her thoughts as she slid her hands into her pockets. It was a habit, though slightly forced, to help her seem more convincing as a male. Mind you, it wasn't that Yuna had a one track-mind. The more appropriate logic was she never once forgot the guise she was attempting to maintain, as well as why she started living as Yukio instead of Yuna.

Sosuke was one of the few people that she could be around and not fear for her life, among other things.

But he was one of the rare exceptions. If anyone else were nearby her should Yuna's true identity be discovered, it was very fair to assume things would get much uglier than a brief, verbal exchange of insults.

"In any event...Good talk."

The words helped yank Yuna out of her thoughts. Her head tilted as she raised an eyebrow. A new smirk emerged as she chuckled softly. "Good talk? You make it sound like we haven't had many of those. Yeah though. I will admit this is by far one of our much more smoother conversations. Hands down." And they seemed to have agreed to end this at the best possible time. Only three steps were taken towards the mess hall before her stomach angrily growled. "Yeah, yeah," she muttered, "Shut up. Working on it."

There were times when Yuna didn't need to be told twice to do or say certain things. This was easily a perfect example of one of those moments. She eagerly sat down across from Sosuke and began to grab some food for herself. Her head lowered as she silently gave thanks for the food before finally beginning to eat. Slowly but surely, Yuna felt herself briefly zoning out. An array of what-ifs were trying to rush through her head.

.... But why?

She didn't have that many things to do. A few, sure. This was the mindset she tended to follow when she was in a tough duel, or making a difficult decision.

You're over-thinking probably ...

Her head moved from side to side for a few moments before ceasing. As the movements halted, she found herself looking into the eyes of Hajime.

"Oi, Yukio-san? You okay?"

"Heh. Yeah. Just ... spaced out for a while."

The blue-haired male scoffed before sighing softly in relief. "You ... looked ... " Raising one of his hands, he deftly swung it through the empty air, choosing to drop the subject. "Never mind. Anyway, what's on our agenda?"

"You should know not to bring that up at a place like this. Business can be talked about somewhere more discreet."

" .... Right. My bad, Yukio-san."

Only after a slight pause lingered did Sosuke take his turn to speak up. Suffice to say, the words definitely grabbed Yuna's attention. The smug glint in her eyes easily revealed that much. She waited, allowing Sosuke's men to have their exchange and finish that much before joining in.

"If you're worried that much about him, I can tag along."

"Yukio-san?! Are you out of your mind?! You've been staying under the radar so well, and ... "

Yuna took her own turn to give a stern glare and affirmative nod to her own right-hand man. "Yeah. I am. I appreciate the concern but let's not lie to ourselves. There's always going to be a risk of me being found out about. Even if I stayed here, that would be the same. Though I do enjoy remaining here and ensuring things continue to go smoothly, I won't lie. I have been a bit stir-crazy. I feel pretty good about my deck and all, but hell, what better way to test and make damn sure I haven't lost my touch by going with Sosuke?"

" ... Is this really -- ??"

"Your agenda, since you asked for it not but a minute or so ago, is to take my spot. Until I return, you will be in charge. There will only be one person I will accept a 'no' from."

Now Yuna turned her head, leaning forward slightly as she looked at Sosuke with the same mischievous smirk adorning her face. "So ... what do you say? If you mind the extra company, I'll understand. I may not be a fiend like you, but I sure as shit am something else. A fighter of sorts, literally or otherwise. I can always remind you ... and it'll be easier for you to do if you say yes. But I won't force that reply to come from you."

Simultaneously, it wouldn't stop her from continuing to secretly hope to get the answer she wished to hear.

So, she paused and waited, curious to find out what Sosuke would say regarding her offer.

"I'm serious, Sosuke! You said it yourself, Sector's getting bolder and more reinforced! You can't keep pulling these stunts like you used to!"

"Oh? You're making me sound like an old man, maybe I should get a cane and ride around in a wheelchair, then?"

"You know that's not what I meant!"

At Yukio's offer, though, the little quarrel ended right then and there, everyone's attention focused on the leader of Yomi. Sosuke raised a brow; well now, and here he thought this little punk was just going to sit and let his crew do all the legwork. Yukio might not be such a bad guy after all...That was, if his dueling skills were any good. But perhaps there was only one way to find out.

"Sosuke...Man, I don't like the sound of this." Yamichi started to say, but Sosuke held up a hand. "So, you want in? Alright. I've been kind of curious to see how you Duel." Raiko stepped in, adding "Boss, try to remember he IS the reason we even have Yomi." Sosuke then turned to face the young man, stating "I know damn well who he is, Raiko; but think of it this way. We've been doing most if not all of the gruntwork, risking our safety to keep Sector out of reach of this place."

"So how much will people's confidence in this place rise if they know the leader is willing to duke it out with those gorillas? Think about the kind of message that sends...And if Sector hears about it, they're going to shit themselves." he continued, slowly seeing that more people were starting to get his point of view.

"Yukio's super tough! He can kick any Sector clown's ass!" shouted one of the younger teenage hideaways, another chiming in, "Hell yeah, that's Yukio for you!" And soon enough the few people that were there, minues a few holdouts like Yajime and Raiko, seemed all too eager to witness the two leaders give Sector a good ass-kicking. "Well, seems my hands are tied...Get your deck ready and let's go show Sector we ain't going down without a fight." Sosuke stated confidently as he slid his Duel Disk onto his arm and led the way out...Before long, the bike that let his crew carry the massive shipment here carried the two bosses off to their next destination.

*SATELITTLE NORTH SIDE, THE SLUMS*

Kind of ironic when one took in the entirety of Satellite that this area alone was called the Slums. At least, to the fat cats in the Tops this island was a giant slum, but even so this was home to people like Yukio and Sosuke and the countless others their privilege alienated. But right now, Sector was about to get a rude awakening. A pair of officers had just exited one of their cushy patrol cars, two men in their twenties wearing the standard grey uniform and cap. It was clear from how one of them moved that he was a rookie just given the chance to work their own supervised patrol...Which meant perfect target practice for Yukio and Sosuke.

"Hey girls!" a voice called out, both of the cops looking behind them to see none other than Sosuke himself standing there, arms crossed. "Ah! You're..." the younger one started to stutter, the older one stepping, "Sosuke, Leader to the Disciples...How fortunate for me. I might just make Sergeant after I bring you in...And your little accomplice too."

Sosuke just chuckled, "Accomplice? Yukio, you get this guy? My accomplice, hah!" The Sector officer didn't seem too pleased at Sosuke's reply, "You wanna throw down, Satellite trash! Fine, then my partner and I will just have to beat some compliance into you!" Sosuke's grin only widened, "Oh kid, you keep talking like that..." He paused to bring his Duel Disk out in front and activate it, sliding his deck into the proper receiver, eyes glinting dangerously over the rims of his sunglasses, "And you're going to find yourself in a world of hurt."

Regarding the smuggling and sneaking of supplies in? Well, yes. Yuna would have made Sosuke's crew do all of that work. At the same time, that was only because they had come to that agreement. This - whether she would cooperate with Sosuke in additional activities such as dueling - was not something that his men only had to do. Granted, it was something she was springing upon everyone else, at the absolute worst. However, as she saw Sosuke almost immediately grin, Yuna felt more and more confident with each passing second that he would say yes.

She waited, restraining herself from bouncing up and down impatiently in her seat.

Come on, come on .... say the magic words ...

When they finally arrived, Yuna damn well nearly jumped out of her seat, finishing the last few bites of her meal.

"Yukio-san ... are you ... really ... ??"

"Geez," she muttered, sighing as she gave another stern nod. "Yes. I am doing this, plain and simple. Don't make it sound so grim, as if I'm about to die or something. At worst, I'll probably come back with a few bruises, and that's only if they try to include a physical fight after the duel. But for that, you gotta be stronger than most others. Unless we have the 'honor' of meeting the warden, that isn't likely to happen."

Raising a hand, it almost looked for a few seconds like she may dare to slap Hajime. Instead, it went up a few more inches before landing in his blue locks and ruffling it. Right in front of Sosuke's men and her own, causing quite a few people to chuckle. "Consider that your 'punishment' for questioning me. A good dose of humiliation every now and again really does wonders."

Sure enough, Hajime's face shifted, becoming a scarlet hue almost instantly. "Sorry, Yukio-san. I'll take over while you're away."

"There ya go. I knew you'd understand."

Sosuke wouldn't need to wait long. Barely two minutes passed before Yuna re-ascended then descended back down the stairs and exited her haven alongside him. "Make this fun for us both, will ya?" she asked. "I haven't had the ability to do much for myself in way too long. I'm definitely overdue for something like this."

... The North Side, eh? Been a long time since I've been here ...

If she had come here alone, maybe she would be more curious about sneaking to her old home. There had always been a slither of hope that her parents had maybe changed over the years? Preferably for the better?

.... Not likely. That was the reason she left, wasn't it?

The thought made her grimace and bite down on her lower lip. Only Hajime knew that she wasn't an orphan like 90 or more percent of the Satellite residents. Many times, he had said she was lucky, if only because she did still have a back-up plann of sorts for if Yomi was ever discovered and shut down.

But ... was she?

Yuna had asked herself this time and time again. As horrible as her parents had been, she wasn't heartless. So even though Hajime as technically correct about her having a place to go to, she wouldn't dare drag them into her problems with Sector. They had more than enough shit to deal with, more so now that they were without any children.

Unless mom replaced me?

.... That would definitely be something to check on later, simply to ensure at least any sibling she may or may not have was being treated well.

Hmmm ...

Any pensive expressions she may have been wearing immediately disappeared as some unfamiliar voices caught her attention.

"Hey girls!"

For the briefest of seconds, Yuna actually feared her disguise had somehow been seen through. It took all her will power to keep a straight face, though some color probably drained from the mere implication.

... Or ... was that supposed to be an insult?

"The fuck are you going on about?! Do I look like a chick to you?! Oh sir ... I am going to enjoy throwing you off that high horse you think you're riding so arrogantly. Oh yeah. I definitely got this one, Sosuke."

With a quick turn of her left arm, Yuna activated her duel disk. The number 4000 appeared to indicate her life points, and her deck was automatically shuffled. "Hope you're ready ... "

As she drew her starting hand, her smirk widened.

"Because my deck most definitely is. I summon my Marauding Captain who, in turn, recruits my Torapart to enter the field. Luckily - or unluckily - they won't be staying for long. My Captain will Synchro with Torapart!"

Her right hand raised, still keeping the cards hidden from view, as the original spirits vanished, seeming to merge together in a bright void of light.

"Masked guardian and enforcer! Arrive and help these hypocrites learn and see the true meaning of justice! Synchro Summon, Goyo Guardian! Don't worry, I'm nowhere near done. Assuming you remember the second half of Torapart's effect, you'll know you can't use traps until the end. Not that it really matters given my summon's successful but .... "

Yuna allowed her words to trail off, unable to help but feel even more proud - if not a bit sadistic - as the poor officer looked absolutely devastated.

"I then activate Magnum Shield. Surely you know basic addition, right? What's 2800 plus 2000?"

"Wh-what?! Impossible!"

Yuna slowly shook her head from side to side. "Read it and weep. Magnum Shield makes it so that the defense of a monster is added to their attack. Just for extra reassurance, I activate Solidarity. As long as I have one type of monster in my grave - which, I do - everything face-up on my field gains 800 more attack.

So ... I'm sure you can see how high I've raised the bar. Come at me. Try to crumble my wall."

Now the officer was visibly trembling. His hand raised, instinctively trying to land on top of his deck, only to be met with a buzz.

"Haha! Really?! You're already caving in?! One problem, sir. You can't surrender until after the tenth turn. You can call us trash or whatnot. But at least we're not stupid like you bastards. Turn end."

She did have a few more cards that easily could have been set down.

.... But, the guard had pretty much come to the right conclusion. Because unless he could do a lot of summoning that somehow resulted in something being able to defeat a monster with 5600 attack, he was going to be fucked.

Not literally, but it wouldn't be much better than if it had been performed in the actual sense of the word.

Well now, it was very clear that this Duel was probably going to get interesting; the younger one seemed still frazzled that he was actually about to enter a Duel with some of Satellite's more unsavory elements. But that was too damn bad, because that was what he signed up for; though neither of them knew why she was freaking out about being referred to as a girl; Sosuke was the one that called them girls.

In any event, Sosuke was more than impressed that Yukio was able to Synchro Summon on the first turn, pulling out a monster that was decently leveled and powered, only to buff it further with Magnum Shield and Solidarity. Giving a low whistle, Sosuke just laughed "Not bad, not bad." Both of the Sector officers were kind of starting to wonder whether this was a good idea, but like he mentioned...Forfeits could only happen after the tenth turn. The officer across from Yukio, the eldest one, just let out a 'Tch' and said "My turn! Draw!" A slight smirk crossed his face at the card, his next move being "I activate a Spell Card, Graceful Charity! I draw three cards from my deck, then send two to my Cemetery!" Doing so, his grin faded a little more; wasn't exactly what he was hoping for, though he could make it work.

"Ooooh, bad draw? Sorry mate." Sosuke teased, the officer grimacing as he said, "I summon Golem Dragon in Defense Mode, then from my hand I activate the Equip Spell Dragon Shield!" Soon enough, the rock-looking dragon creature was covered in navy blue plates, spikes emerging from its shoulders, legs and head. "Turn end!"

Sosuke just grinned, his starting hand not bad either, "Guess I go next...Alright then!" Drawing a card, he then showed them a Spell Card, one of the main engines for his deck. "I play Dark World Dealings; with its effect, we each draw one card and then discard one to the Graveyard." Doing so, a card would then appear from the Graveyard slot in his Duel Disk, himself placing it on the field, "I then Special Summon Sillva, Warlord of Dark World. And thanks to its effect, when it's discarded to the graveyard by a card effect, I can Special Summon it to my field." Sillva appeared, brandishing his weapon menacingly before Hotsuma continued, "I then Normal Summon Dark Tinker in Attack Mode" The tinier spider-like demon cackled, its six arms waving about. "Remember what I said about being in a world of hurt? Well...Allow me to enlighten you." This new card he managed to snag about a month ago was a doozy, though it was far from his most powerful, and it fit his archetype perfectly. It seemed like a good enough time to show them why he was the 'Fiend of Satellite'.

"You Sector pigs are all about justice, but let's see how your law holds up to this!" he declared, adding "Star of death, shining at Heaven's zenith! Descend and render your judgment on the living! Synchro Summon! King of Divine Punishment, Dark Highlander!"" And in a blaze of black light, the very monster that Sector tried to keep locked up appeared, the massive scythe weapon spun around before being held before him. The blood-red glowing eyes peered from beneath its helmet, like it wanted nothing more than to destroy them. Even if it was just 2800 ATK, his effects more than made up for it. Something the younger Officer seemed to understand, knowing this monster's effect all too well. Smirking as he noticed this, Sosuke replied, "Looks like you get it; you two can't Synchro Summon now...Besides, my friend's Solidarity also gives my Highlander a boost." The display popped up, showing Highlander's power rise to 3600 as a red-black aura surrounded it, cloaking it in black fire."Hold on, how does that work?!" the younger official cried out, Sosuke explaining, "Simple...Tag Duels treat both player's fields as one...And since I have only two Fiend type monsters in my Cemetery, its effect triggers. I set one card face-down and activate the Equip Spell - Big Bang Shot. And I choose Goyo Guardian to give it to." Yukio's monster seemed to laugh a little and spin its kusarigama around, its ATK rising to a whopping 6000 as the blade became immolated in red-orange flames.

"And for my last trick, I activate Dark Highlander's second effect. Say good-bye to your little pussy shield." Sosuke snarked; Highlander's massive scythe then raised up and cleaved through Golem Dragon three times, the pristine armor shattering into tiny fragments but leaving the monster unharmed. "And because he destroyed Dragon Shield, you my friend, take 400 damage." The older officer looked down at his Life Points, seeing them drop to 3600. "I think that will do for now...Your turn little man." Sosuke jeered, holding no other cards in his hand. The younger officer seemed like he was about ready to wet himself, "M-my turn...D-d-draw". He didn't expect to Duel someone out this far, and he didn't have shit to use to battle those two heavy hitters. "I-I Summon Spirit Reaper in Defense Mode! Turn End!" he stammered, the tiny zombie sitting hunched over, its defense a measly 200. It seemed the panic shut down any strategy he might have had...A damn shame.

Well that was a problem. Now they had a second monster that couldn't be destroyed by battle, but at the very least Big Bang Shot would take one of them out. Still, seeing such weak displays was kind of aggravating, Sosuke expressing this as he said rather rudely, "Really? Domino City's finest huh? What a freakin' letdown...Sorry to have to drag you all the way to the Slums, Yukio. I was hoping we might get a little more action here, but I guess Sector's slipping in its recruiting." At this the Sector officer with Golem Dragon just shouted, "Don't count us out yet, scumbag!" Sosuke just sighed, "You have no reverse cards; your only means of defense taken away...And it's my friend's turn. Trust me, kid, you're out of luck...And out of time."

---

And soon enough, the Duel was over; Yukio's super-powered Guardian smashed through Golem Dragon's defense, the differential from Big Bang Shot's power making it into a One-Turn Kill. And after Sosuke activated Compulsory Evacuation Device to get Spirit Reaper off the field and attacked with both Trance Archfiend and Dark Highlander, the younger officer also received excess battle damage, overall a disappointingly easy victory.

"Aghhh, man, what a waste of time!" he groaned as he drove the motorcycle along, parking it in the same alley his guys did before they left; they didn't even try to attack them, just dropped their Duel Disks and hopped into their car, speeding away as fast as they could. Well, at least there were two new Decks that they could either pilfer cards from or just give to the people in Yomi. Those Disks the officers had probably had tracking devices in them; no way they were bringing those to Yomi.

And before long, the two of them were back at Yomi, the initial rounds of concern being waylaid as they explained what happened: Uneventful Duel between two rookie officers, soon the crowds dispersing and leaving Yukio and Sosuke to look through the new batch of stolen cards. "Huh...That pig got a bad draw after all, this deck isn't half bad. Seems Sector's stepping up their game a little...At least with deck-building" he commented, seeing the plethora of useful swarming cards. "Don't worry, Yukio; if we do this again, I'll try to make sure they aren't complete push-overs." he then said off-handedly to the young man, showing him that he definitely wanted to include the leader in more of these 'excursions'. "Didn't figure you for a Warrior deck type at first; then again, seeing as your views and mine coincide, it makes more sense now. Have to ask though, where'd you snag Goyo? That card's not easy to come by." he then asked the Yomi boss; honestly, he was curious and wasn't expecting an answer.

Yuna wasn't usually a sadist nor, for that matter, a masochist. But she couldn't deny that there was certainly something very satisfying about how the duel had been going thus far. From start to finish, it was quickly becoming more and more clear that the officer's chances of winning had dropped from about 40 percent to 10.

And that had been before Sosuke took his turn.

After that?

It plummeted even lower, vanishing to a measly, single digit. 1-5 percent, give or take a few up or down movements.

Likely the latter, given how shitty this is looking for them ... she mused, smirking as she watched Sosuke perform his own Synchro Summon. Although the winners weren't typically declared by whom special summoned first, this could easily be one of those times that fell under an example where said rule did apply. Simply because of what the Sector members were doing ... or not doing, rather.

"Well .... "

Yuna shrugged, giving the police a mock salute before drawing. "See ya bastards. Definitely wouldn't wanna be ya though. Hehe."
She wouldn't admit it out loud but truthfully, Sosuke's Big Bang Shot had greatly helped the duel go much faster. Otherwise, she would have had to rely on drawing Raigeki or even another Magnum Shield, simply because the annoying nuisances known as Spirit Reapers could be killed with equip cards. Sure, it would have sucked to use it in order to get rid of the damn thing.

But that was exactly why she was secretly grateful for Sosuke playing such a card.

... Hmm. Noted. See about obtaining defense penetrating cards, maybe?

What had started as a mostly quiet walk back to her base was interrupted as Sosuke did something he didn't usually try; ask questions. To be more specific, they were related to her. Well, her deck.

Still, they had attempted to keep a more 'professional' sorta relationship.

So to hear him ask about something besides their operations and normal routines?

Yeah. It actually was a big deal, if one took the time to think about it.

"Too bad they took the car," she lamented, "That would have been an amazing prize to take with us. Ah well. Not that the D-wheelers aren't good or whatnot. But hell, with a decent paint job and some fixing up, that could be an equally reliable - if not slightly quicker - means of transportation."

"Don't worry, Yukio; if we do this again, I'll try to make sure they aren't complete push-overs."

"Damn straight," she half-teasingly quipped. "Nah. I don't blame you but ... ugh. That definitely was by far the most disappointing duel I've had. Ah well."

Taking the opportunity, Yuna moved behind Sosuke's shoulder and looked while he went through the decks.

"... Well ... at least they're becoming decent with something. Seems you're right about their lack of recruiting skills though."

Admittedly, his original train of thought was right. Normally, Yuna wouldn't respond to a rather personal question like how she got her cards.

However, it was because it had been someone she could trust, much more than a random person.

So, even if he didn't expect it, he would hear her secret.

" ... It's not my proudest moments, though if I had to confess, I would do it again if needed. But ... I dueled for Goyo Guardian, as well as a good majority of my deck. The cards were the prizes me and my opponents agreed to put up for grabs, and thus at risk of losing. Most of the opponents hailed from the Tops, which made earning these that much sweeter. A lot of the wins resulted in physical fights even after the duel ended, just because I have such shitty luck at finding sore ass losers."

A soft chuckle passed her lips as she smirked slyly, her mind going back to the day she'd obtained the first of the two Goyo Guardians that resided in her deck.

"Eh. I know warriors are a common deck. I'd like to believe, however, that I made it unique, or at least one of the strongest decks that exist. Same goes for you though. Prior to the hint during lunch, I didn't really view you as much of a fiend-user. You're not that much of one. Not around me, anyway."

He supposed the car would have been nice; but trying to remove the RFID tracker out without killing the motor for good? That would have taken a lot of time and resources they couldn't afford to waste with the upcoming surge of recruits. Something he told her as they looked through the decks the officers dropped so kindly for them. One was a Dragon Lockdown deck from the looks of it, the other some kind of Zombie deck. Overall, nothing either of them could use, so they were given to some of the younger Duel-happy residents to try out.

Sure, Sosuke taking the time to ask about an opponent's past was a bit unusual, but his curiosity got the better of him here. Truth be told, Synchro Monsters were hard to come by for people of Satellite, for obvious reasons. They were the pride of New Domino's elite Duelists, and who wanted them associated with the low-lifes of this god-forsaken hellhole? Not the Tops or Sector, that was for sure.

"So you did the ante rule too, huh? Nice, always fun to see those self-righteous hypocrites knocked down a peg or ten." he replied, smiling after he told him what went down. "Truth be told, I stole a lot of my cards. Sector warehouses, Sector officers, card shops in New Domino, punk kids from the Tops, you name it. Sure, I won a few of mine from Duels, so I know how you feel about sore losers. A lot of times, though, I took the cards I wanted after some dickwad decided to mouth off to me and needed a bloody nose to remind him to check his mouth".

He then grinned as Yukio told him about the deck he made; if he was the leader of Yomi, then there was little doubt his deck had to be something formidable to keep them safe. "You probably wouldn't know it, but I'm still fairly new to Dueling itself. A lot of it I learned the hard way: My first deck was complete shit, the next one barely better than that...I had to lose a lot of cards and duels, which meant more often than not having to punch and kick my way of Sector traps that tried to arrest me." He'd definitely been around the block with Sector, many times not even by choice...And he got the feeling Yukio did too, hence his forming this little hideaway for the 'criminals' of Satellite.

Chuckling a little as he put his sunglasses into a coat pocket, he then replied "Like I said though, that was a nickname they gave me. I only act that way around Sector because...Well, it's Sector. You wanna know what I think made them call me that, though?" The way he smiled indicated it was story time, and this was one he loved to tell, "There was this one kid in the Tops that ran a Fiend Deck, apparently some hotshot that was trying to get into the big Dueling Circuit over there since being in Sector wasn't exciting enough. Trying to intimidate me with the usual BS about me being Satellite trash. I don't really know what it was he centered it around, but it was strong as fuck and I didn't even touch his life-points after he got me down to under 1000." He then got his own deck out again and after some searching, pulled out three cards:

Negate Attack, Brain Jacker and Bad Reactions to Simochi.

"I usually just keep these cards as search discard fodder, and now I've sidedecked them, but this combo was what actually won me that Duel. Anyway, I pull it off by some act of God and what does he do? He and two of his buddies jump me, saying I cheated. So after I beat them down, I got what I needed and bugged it here to Satellite. Next thing I know, my ugly mug's all over the news; apparently I broke the arm of an assemblyman's son or something, I don't remember exactly who he was. But it seemed to earn me one hell of a reputation, and when the father comes on for a press statement, he says these exact words: 'I call on the good people of Sector to stop this Satellite fiend before he hurts anyone else'. Of course, I could never say anything to contest his words...But yeah, the little shit deserved it and I'd do it again. And since he called me a fiend, I figured what better deck to run than the one his brat tried to beat me with? Better of course, but a Fiend Deck all the same."

Letting out a small sigh, "Anyway...Sorry to talk your ear off, but I honestly was just curious, even if Warrior decks are as common as you say. Besides, the reason I don't act that way to you is because you get it. You know the Tops is full of liars and cheats, and Sector's nothing more than Rex Goodwin's wet dream of class warfare. I made the deal I did with you because I'm sick of seeing people here, who have to fight to survive without those clowns sticking their noses in our business, getting abused by his goon squads. And to be truthful? It felt good to find someone on the same page as me. Makes the good fight a little easier to bear, don't you think?"

Yuna blew a few bangs upward. The sight of the lockdown deck made her that much more thankful they had managed to beat the former owner of that quick. While it was an owner's personal preference which led to determining the type of deck they made, there were just some themes and concepts which sincerely pissed Yuna off.

.... Yeah. Lockdowns were one of those.

"Mhm. I love making people force things like Karma and their own hypocritical words. It's fucking hilarious just to see their reactions, even if it earns me a few black and blue decorations. Eh. It really could always be worse as the old saying goes."

Given the amount of time she had been on her own, it was a miracle she avoided quite a bit; being arrested, broken bones, anything overly severe. The worst had been some sprains which, granted, did hurt like a bitch. But compared to the number of Satellite duelists who already had experienced their share of fortune, or lack of?

No point in trying to sugar coat it; Yuna was lucky and she knew it.

Keeping this guise up too. There's another case in point for ya.

Her teeth lightly latched onto the corner of her lower lip before letting go and concentrating at the exchange between her and Sosuke. "Ah, you too? Not many of those were stolen, but some were. I only really did it near the beginning, just to help me get a deck in the works. I was dumb back then. I had no fucking idea what I was doing or going for."

.... So what had inspired her to go down the path of the warrior deck?

She paused to think about that.

" ... I suppose I got so accustomed to fighting that I just decided to include it in my deck. Something like that."

A lame answer, but at least an honest one.

"There's likely a lot more that I'm not immediately remembering, really. But it's the best reply I can give right off the top of my head."

As Sosuke began to relay his story, she sat atop the now empty table that had been used earlier for lunch. Her head tilted slightly as she listened and watched, genuinely interested in what he had to say about his own background. Sosuke didn't really come off as the type of person to say much, particularly in regards to admitting rather personal details. So hearing this was like a rare privilege. The fact she had been able to do this with him implied one major fact.

The both of them would take this to their graves, lest one tried to be stupid enough to open their mouths and lose a few teeth in the process.

Yuna definitely had no intentions of making such a move and, going off what she was hearing, she felt confident the same was true with Sosuke.

"Heh. Yeeeeeah. Unfortunately, kids who have parents in high places seem to love pulling that sorta shit off. You know, the 'mightier than thou' mindset and if something they don't like happens, they use their parents to sick anything and anyone against their opponents. Ya know though, they do that for one reason. They're scared, even if they won't fucking admit it. So, in an odd way, I view that as a bit of a compliment. Assuming you haven't done so already, that is. But ... "

Placing her hands behind her head, Yuna laid down atop the table. Even with her position changing, however, she kept her own hazel orbs locked with the blue - almost purple - eyes belonging to Sosuke.

... What would he say if he knew, anyway? That you're Yuna, not Yukio?

... He'd probably be infuriated for being deceived. That was her initial thought. Unfortunately, she couldn't exactly blame him. It was this sort of vicious cycle which helped ensure she kept her true identity tightly locked away, literally and figuratively. The few times she had been wounded badly enough that it could have revealed who she truly was, even Hajime was forbidden from helping her out.

He never understood the decisions and, unfortunately, that was the best route to take.

Be that as it may, it only strengthened the one thought she'd had for the past few years now.

.... I wouldn't mind being able to confess this to someone. It'd definitely be nice to wear bras in place of these fucking bandages for damn sure.

"That's your choice," she finally finished, realizing she'd briefly zoned out in her train of thought. "And I respect that."

Her smile widened as Sosuke actually apologized. "Hah! Not getting soft all of a sudden, are ya? No though, it's cool. I didn't realize until a bit after creating Yomi that ... I need to talk more. I can't really lead this group if I stay quiet so often otherwise. And I can't keep making Hajime do every fucking thing that I should be handling. That's not exactly fair, especially when I have no good excuse like illness. I need to step up in that regard. I guess it never hit me just how much I hated being a leader. Still, more than that, I hate - as you said - hypocrites. And anyone affiliated with Sector is definitely a perfect example of that sorta person."

Her head moved slowly from side to side as she sat back up, moving her right knee against her flat chest. "You definitely don't act or play like you're new to dueling. But I suppose I could fairly say the same about myself being in charge of this haven. Interesting we both have something we're relatively unused to doing. And, unfortunately, what you say is very true. I do get it; why surviving is so essential. I suppose .... I would have preferred learning that lesson in a different manner ... "

Offering little more than a casual shrug, Yuna finished the thoughts, allowing Sosuke to hear them, "But ... ah well. We can't always get what we want, especially if we hail from the Satellite. Sad but - from what I've noticed over the years - very true story."

The slightest of pauses would hover before finally, Yuna mustered up enough courage to admit at least one thoughtshe'd been dwelling on for some time. The one that kept her gender safe, for now.

"In truth," she started, lifting her head to look back up at Sosuke, "I've been trying to think if there's a way we can get rid of Sector and the Facility for good without resorting to outright murder. Or at least keeping any tolls as low as possible. Just ... it's bullshit. You shouldn't be able to get arrested for a hobby of all things. But, apparently, you can."

A low scoff was accompanied by the sight of Yuna rolling her eyes.

"Anyway ... it's not just because I believe in real justice. The kind they don't fucking practice. It'd be a hell of a way to lower the morale - if not remove it altogether - from not just Sector, but residents of the Tops. They need a shit ton more pegs knocked away from underneath their feet. That would be the way to do it but ... I'm not sure how. Disregarding the technical parts, namely about not yet knowing how to execute the plan, what do you think?"

Sosuke would realize that was definitely something else new he would hear from Yuna; wanting input. Usually, it wasn't asked for. But then again, it wasn't typically needed. That thus went to suggest just how much faith and trust she was putting in him, and it would only increase if he knew even Hajime hadn't known or heard of this desire.

"I'm not exactly eloquent either, so no worries. Seems like we've both included pieces of our past into our decks; probably why they've worked as well as they have, you know?" he replied plainly; this life didn't exactly allow one to become a philosopher, nor it did really breed much in terms of actually caring what the upper echelons of society thought of them. "Hah, me get soft? I think it's you getting soft in the head, Yukio; only two ways I go soft: I either stomp a Sector pig in a Duel-slash-fistfight, or after a good hard lay. Not that I've had much opportunity for the latter, but yeah."

That last part might have been crude, but this was him and Yukio talking, literally funneling the so-called fugitives of Satellite out of Sector's control. Crude was what they did. And though it was true Sosuke did have some curiosity in his partner-in-crime's past, these little questions he asked were more about gauging the level of trust each of them had in each other. And so far, it seemed like things were fairly solid between them, enough to where little details about themselves probably wouldn't faze him too badly. Unless that secret happened to be they were working for Sector, then it would a problem.


"Hah, well, that's what underlings are for right? They're meant to handle most of grunt labor, that's why us bosses just need to make sure they're doing the 'right' grunt labor. Someone's gotta keep those goofballs from hurting themselves" he retorted playfully, a smile still on his face as he leaned back in the chair; man it would feel good to sleep in an actual bed for a change...Not on the floor of some abandoned run-down old house that probably shouldn't be standing.

By this point though, Sosuke felt Yukio was about as far removed from Sector's interests as anyone else he knew, so anything else would probably fall by the wayside since the biggest elephant in the room was trying to figure out if someone did turn traitor.

He *did* have a feeling that Yukio was keeping something, but then again...So was he. He hadn't told a single damn soul about his brother, about what he was trying to ultimately do. Everyone deserved a chance to have a secret of some kind, as long as it didn't compromise what they were trying to accomplish here.

And though Sosuke knew this meant letting his brother sit in that damned Facility longer than he should have been - even more aggravating considering the fact that he just wanted to get them out of Satellite at any cost - he couldn't help but feel a surge of anger spike. His fist tightened rather noticeably, enough to where one might wonder if he was having an upset stomach or something.

So when Yukio brought forth his proposal, Sosuke was momentarily and gladly ripped from his train of thoughts. A slight grin crept across Sosuke's face in place of the heavy frown, a small but hearty chuckle bubbling forth as he replied, "You kidding? I've been wanting to kick the damn stool out and let those greedy fucks hang themselves, lord only knows they deserve it." Letting a small snicker escape him, the man added, "But no, I get it; I know not every Tops person is a dirtbag. We both know the Sector supervisory committee, especially that damn Director of theirs, is the reason everyone views us so badly. So hell, even if you don't got a plan, we have time to work it out. How much is more the matter of perspective, and I know for a fact my guys have been all too eager to see the Facility crumble".

He did have something to offer though, in relation to this. "But hey...Today's dueling adventure, if you can call that one, wasn't just us going out to put a hurting some low-level beat cops. You know how my guys and I always try to screw with Sector and pop up on the opposite of the City? Well, I've only hit near the Slums twice so far including tofay...But Yamichi pointed something out and I figure now was as good a time as any to say it: Sector went batshit the first time, which is why I had us hightail it out of there as fast as we did. They send out probably close to fifty or sixty officers....and they check everything."

He paused for a moment to let that sink in before continuing, "Now if you're as smart as I think you are, you'd find that just as weird as I do. Well it is, because when they deployed those numbers of officers, they all converged eventually on that old reactor building...Now it was once, so I could see it being them thinking we use it as a base of operations. But if they do it twice? That would have me me thinking they're hiding something there. Big or small, for them to deploy there in numbers like that, it just screams 'SECRET'." Shrugging his shoulders, he then finished as he crossed his hands behind his head and laid back some more, "I don't know, it could be nothing, or it might be a staging area for something big. All I want to know is...Are you as curious as I am? He's probably watching the cameras right now, if you're even the slightest bit wondering. Oi, Yamichi!"

At this the young man ran up to his boss, "Yeah, Sosuke?" where the leader explained what he was looking for, the techie youngster pulling out that datapad and starting to filter through the camera feeds. This was a result of one of Sosuke's more 'involved' operations, one that he wasn't proud of having to do: Hit the substation and implant a trojan horse into their surveillance system that would bounce the data off every tower it could hit before sending it here. It was Yamichi himself that proposed the idea, and though they'd nearly gotten caught, they smashed a bunch of shit and stole even more to make it look like a heist. Know thy enemy, as the old adage said. "Alright, now filter to the east side of the Slums; if we see a group heading through there on any of those..." Yamichi nodded and did as such, four smaller screens showing the camera angles.

After about ten minutes, a small gathering of about ten Sector officers were seen rushing through...Right towards the old reactor building. "Haha...Knew you fuckers were hiding something." he grinned, patting Yamichi on the back and stating "Good work, dude. Kill the feed though, don't need them accidentally tracing us." Turnign back to Yukio as Yamichi was then called over by Raiko, probably to ask what that was all about, he then asked, "Well? What do you think? Certainly suspicious even for them, right?"

"Probably, yeah," Yuna muttered softly, mulling over why their decks seemed to cooperate with them. Many other people, duelists or otherwise, could easily argue something simple and petty like good draws were what really made them work out. That was no doubt partly true, yes. Still, Yuna liked to believe it was a very small part of a massive, complicated equation. It wasn't just luck that helped Yuna win, or even create her deck. Her opponents were sought out on purpose. She never 'randomly' chose whom she went against.

No. She did her homework.

Although she wasn't good at hacking like Yamichi, she did pay heed to the media. And when it tended to consist of people like the brat who gave Sosuke his nickname of sorts ... yeah. It could really help perform a good number of "convenient match-ups" for future duels, as well as other similar stunts. Of course, she had other aces that she used. But every good magician kept their secrets; well, the ones who were smart, anyway.

Though before she could even attempt to hint to Sosuke how exactly she had gotten her deck so easily, the next set of words took Yuna aback.

"Hah, me get soft? I think it's you getting soft in the head, Yukio; only two ways I go soft: I either stomp a Sector pig in a Duel-slash-fistfight, or after a good hard lay. Not that I've had much opportunity for the latter, but yeah."

.....

There was no way she could keep a straight face. The usually pale hue was almost immediately replaced by a deep crimson color as the implication of Sosuke not being a virgin was revealed.

... It probably shouldn't have been too much of a surprise, honestly.

"Fuck, man," she finally replied, barely keeping her voice correct, "Waaaaaay too much. Heh. Didn't quite need to know that but uh ... fair enough. Point definitely made."

... Go figure. Of course, you're - again - the only virgin in this room.

Granted, she had no one but herself to blame. Hell, she could have easily revealed and given herself to Hajime. There had been more than enough times where the temptation had entered her head. But ... something, be it her stubborn nature or another unknown factor, kept her from doing so. Fear? Possibly. She didn't question Hajime's loyalty. However, what others would do if they found out --- that was probably it. Or something linked to that what-if.

Thankfully, the awkward silence was removed as Sosuke changed the topic. A faint smirk spread over her lips as she moved her head slowly from side to side. "Anyway ... I suppose, yeah. True. As long as work's being divided fairly ... damnit. You asshole. Now you got my mind stuck in the gutter. I may need to sneak in a cold shower pretty fucking fast. Actually ... "

Moving her hands upward so that they created a T-shape, Yuna slid off the table.

"Screw it. I'm gonna splash water on my face right quick. Thanks, ya weirdo for a partner-in-crime."

...It was all mostly a jest, something that was obvious enough.

Within the span of three to four minutes, Yuna reappeared from the adjacent bathroom linked to her private room. Sure enough, hints of water could be seen on her face if Sosuke took the time and effort to look for them.

"Okay so, where the fuck did we leave off with our chit-chat?"

.... Right. Yuna had mustered up the audacity to tell Sosuke about the plan she'd been trying to conjure for a good number of months - possibly years - now. She steeled herself, expecting the worst but praying for the best. Lo and behold, she must have done - or said - something right. Because Sosuke's reaction couldn't have been more perfect. A relieved sigh elicited from Yuna's lips as she chuckled softly, sitting back down atop the table she'd been using prior to excusing herself. "Sweet. Fucking awesome. Well ... that went smoother than I thought. I wouldn't have blamed you too much if you thought I was insane or something."

A hand raised up, eventually finding the black locks of her own hair. Weaving her fingers through the strands, all Yuna could feel was sheer bliss. So what if the plan wouldn't be executed tonight? Having an ally like Sosuke had been a blessing in its own right. Knowing he had her back for something as major as eliminating the Facility and Sector completely?

She felt as if she were on cloud nine.

Screw that, more like infinity .... if there were ever such a thing, anyway.

This night couldn't get better, or so she thought as much. Alas, the explanation Sosuke soon gave proved her wrong. It could and was getting better. She leaned forward, listening intently to every single word that reached her ears. Subconsciously, Yuna rested her hands atop her kneecaps, eagerly waiting to hear all Sosuke had to reveal to her. When he paused, her head tilted and Yuna raised an eyebrow.

" ... Fifty to sixty officers? That's way too much. Honestly, even if they only did that once, I'd still be questioning the number of people included in that scene. But ... yeah. Twice makes it all that much more suspicious. Fuck yeah though. I'm definitely curious."

But ... why did that matter?

The answer came in the form of Yamichi, whom Sosuke called for. As the datapad was produced, Yuna slid back off the table and peeked at the feed from over the other guys' shoulders.

"Heh. Almost looks like they're getting paranoid or some shit."

Her smirk returned - wider than before - and spread further across Yuna's face. "Yeah. Sure as shit is very ... unusual. I'm as interested as you probably are about what this is really all about. Because there's no fucking way the answer is nothing."

The Disciples' leader couldn't help but grin stupidly at the obvious reddening of the young man's face, a hand coming up to stifle what would have been a quite rambunctious laughing fit; Sosuke's mind instantly thought, "oh shit, was Yukio a virgin?" before finally calming himself down enough to tell Yukio what he had.

Even after their little meeting with Yamichi and the Yomi boss telling him that he thought the observation was worth the risk, Sosuke couldn't resist a little more teasing, "You're still a little rosy in the cheeks, you know that? I didn't mean to get you wound up like that, I just didn't think someone with a set as large as you've got running this place would react that way." Leaning in a little more, he then said to him, "Granted I ain't exactly well versed in the more intimate arts of life. Like I said, haven't had much time for it."

Truth be told, though only Raiko knew this, Sosuke had only ever been with two separate women: One before he gained his notoriety here in Satellite that had been her way of 'thanking' him for his saving her from going to the Facility, the other afterwards with some snobby daddy's girl from the Tops out of boredom during one of the operations there to raid Sector waypoints. Both had been one-night-stands, but enjoyable? Oh yes.

"Anyway...Probably shouldn't hit that building tonight, given what we just saw. We'll need to cool our heels for a few days, wait for Sector to spread out more." he then continued like nothing he'd said really had any bearing on the situation. Which to him it didn't, since it was one dude talking to another. Or so he thought at the moment.

---

The time passed on, the respective crews of Sosuke and Yukio laying low for the most part. And now that Sosuke had a better idea of how to get the most officers mobilized to one location, he would use that to his advantage as much as possible. Sosuke and Yukio had spent days trying to find out roughly how long it would take for them to mobilize to that location; the rat bastards had stations everywhere it seemed, based on the small surveillance they'd done of Sector's capability.

But they needed to investigate this now before the surge of new recruits, as well as hit any warehouses they could possibly manage. Supplies were going to get much harder to come by, which was why the Disciples had been trying to deliver the same goods on an accelerated timetable. It wasn't easy, but they had also secured another means of transport: It was a rough-shod raft, scrapped together and hidden in another warehouse, to be used for when the surge came.

Yamichi and Raiko confirmed the pipeline would become almost unusable once the recruits hit the streets, which led Sosuke early on to try and devise another way of getting goods in from New Domino. He hadn't told Yukio about this just yet, even though he probably should have; the Disciples' boss trusted Yukio no doubt, but he couldn't be spilling everything to him in case there was a leak. And this project wasn't complete yet, so he needed to keep it on the down-low in case things went pear-shaped.

Regardless, the last of their days at Yomi were uneventful; mostly just taking some well-deserved R&R, something Sosuke's crew was thankful for, while he and Yukio would talk about how to best approach this old reactor building. And to keep Raiko placated, he even stopped himself from rushing out to Duel any Sector Security goons since they all seemed to be combing the opposite side of Satellite like he wanted anyway.

But soon it was game day; they'd had some fuel canisters rigged with stun devices tampered to send a powerful current to a small explosive charge. Judging by the deprecated state of the building they were after, the door probably could have been opened with a crowbar or something...But Sosuke wanted to make a statement: There was nothing Sector could hide that he wouldn't eventually find, no secret too deep that he wouldn't eventually uncover.

"So...You guys know what the plan is, right? Get every able body you can muster, and cause a ruckus near their checkpoint by Crash Town. Yamichi will activate another virus program and shut down their surveillance; that way they can't track you in case you have to book it. Remember, all you have to do is get the bulk of their forces to respond that area, so don't stay behind and don't even THINK of trying to Duel any of them. Give it ten minutes tops, then run like hell and lay low wherever you can. I don't want any of you getting caught, alright?" he then said, the few guys he had nodding in agreement.

Sosuke then continued, "From what we've seen, that's a pretty important station for them since it's so close to the trash pipeline...I know I'm asking a lot of you guys here, but if this turns out to be a big score, then we can bring down not just the Facility...But Sector too, and we all know how fun it will be to expose them for the rotten fucking pigs they are! Especially that dickhead Goodwin!" There was definitely some loud roars of approval from this; of all the people they wanted to see go down, Rex was at the top of the list being the Director.

"You're still a little rosy in the cheeks, you know that? I didn't mean to get you wound up like that, I just didn't think someone with a set as large as you've got running this place would react that way."

"No shit, Sherlock. Yeah. I can definitely feel I'm still a bit crimson."

Thankfully, it was gradually vanishing. Still, it didn't change that Sosuke had seen and realized everything he had.

"Anyway ... ehh. I'm still human. We all got our fucking secrets. Buuut I sorta did set myself up for that jest so it's more my bad than yours. I'll admit to that."

An inward sigh resounded in Yuna's head as the topic was changed to something much more tolerable. "Hmm. Alright. I won't lie, I am curious about what's going on. Still, you do have a point. So, fair. We wait. Until then, don't get your punk ass arrested, hm? It'd be bad for shit to start working against us now."

Flashing Sosuke a smug smirk, Yuna stood up and went back into her room, making a 'come on' gesture towards Hajime. "We got a shit ton of things to prepare for. We'll talk more upstairs."
The next few days zoomed by, as if they themselves were a D-Wheeler. Strategies were discussed, plans and multiple back-up plans were made. Precautions were taken. All the necessary steps that needed to be followed were very thoroughly talked about and looked over. Any errors found within the plans were eliminated and replaced with what were hopefully solutions.

Prior to being told by Sosuke what he had in mind, Yuna took advantage of any alone time and indulged in it. Free time, especially for herself, was a rare treat. And now that she knew they were about to undergo a very dangerous mission ... well ... it seemed like the right course of action to take.

The now newly showered and dress 'Yukio' walked downstairs, clad in a new outfit.

... Well, here goes everything and nothing, eh?

Her arms stayed crossed over her chest. Whilst Sosuke spoke, she remained completely quiet. He had the floor, and would keep it the entire duration of his speech. It wouldn't be until after he was done that she stood beside him, a grin spread across her face, and raised a clenched fist.

"You heard him! Let's all head off! Let's go give them Hell!"

Turning with Sosuke and the others, Yuna began walking towards the front doors of the base, then the real destination.

.... This was one fuck of a risk. But honestly, it wasn't surprising. Truthfully, a combination of what she was about to help Sosuke do plus fear were helping create an adrenaline rush that was beginning to get more and more powerful with each passing second.

Indeed...Much of their integrity was riding on this operation. And if Sector wanted it enough to send that many goons to secure, then so did he. So while most of their combined forces were going to assault the Crash Town station, Sosuke, Yukio and Yamichi were going after the reactor building. The two leaders had nothing more than sidearms, stun grenades and hand-held radios to keep in check. Who knew what they find in there; for all he knew, it could very well be nothing at all worth the effort.

But damn it, he had to try. He had to find some way to hurt them!

Things began to get intense as they neared the building: Just as he thought, it was decrepit, old and barely hanging together. Hell, the damn thing looked like it would crumble if someone so much as sneezed on it. Holding up a fist to tell them to stop, he then whispered, "Yamichi...Everything clear?" The young man held his datapad up, seeming to scroll through the different feeds at lightning speed. The kid was good, Sosuke had to admit that much; besides, if there was anything tech-y in there, Yamichi was probably going to be the only one that would know how to get into it.

"Sosuke, we're good...The others have started attacking the station already." Yamichi replied, hitting his finger once to send a page to a handheld device that Raiko carried; it was set to buzz loudly after ten minutes, hopefully giving them enough time to get the hell out. Thankfully he turned the volume off, else they would have heard the sounds of windows breaking, shots being fired and overall the group raising hell. "Feeds have been killed, we're clear." the hacker stated, Sosuke leading the way until they got to the busted looking door.

In fact, it was so busted that he could almost pry it open with his own hands; thankfully, he did in fact bring a crowbar. It was useful after all, and it hurt like hell to get struck with if the Sector pigs he clobbered in the past were any proof. "Yamichi, change of plans...Just in case shit goes sideways, we're saving the bomb to cover our exit." he then said as he stowed the stolen Sector sidearm - one magazine loaded with a dozen rounds and two more in his waistband - in his pocket. The crowbar then got lodged into the rusted metal frame, and he pulled...Wouldn't budge. But another heave and a loud shearing sound emitted as the door swung open. "See? Easy, now come on...Let's go see what they have in store for us" he then said, redrawing the weapon and motioning with his head to go inside. Before they went too deep, Sosuke set down and hid the bomb near some trash that had accumulated on the outside. Sector wouldn't care that people were dumping garbage here anyway; they thought this place was good enough to send all the Tops' brat trash here, after all.

The entryway was fairly long and dark; made sense though, since there was no power running to this place. He didn't even know what the hell kind of reactor it was. Only that it was something built a long ass time ago and wasn't used since Satellite split from Domino. Figures they would take all the good stuff over to the richy-rich, he thought.

The door that led to the main reactor chamber was sealed shut, so he had them go down a side passage, seeing signs that said 'Research' and 'Advanced Controls'. "This place is freaking huge...And we can't sit here forever; who knows how long we have before they try to swarm us." Sosuke grumbled, turning to his partners, "Yukio, maybe we should split up. Take Yamichi with you; he has a good head on his shoulders, so don't lose him alright? I'm heading upstairs; maybe there's a control room or something." He then pulled out the hand-held radio, "No worries, I'll keep in touch." And just like that, he took off back the other way, Yamichi turning to Yukio and stating "Well, guess it's you and me now. You lead, I'll follow."

(Feel free to control Yamichi for anything you want to include)

Every now and again, Yuna would take a few moments to peek down at the gun Sosuke had given her earlier. She wouldn't confess her thoughts out loud; however, if anyone took notice of her inspection, they wouldn't really need to. It'd be pretty easy to guess what she was more or less thinking.

... Do I really need to use this fucking thing?

Hopefully, it wouldn't come own to that. But then, her mind helped take up a different, and much more logical point of view.

Well ... it's for protection. As long as you use it for that, it can't be too bad, right? At least you're not going to wield it like tons of psychotic people around the Satellite do.

As much as she hated the members of Sector, even someone like Yuna wasn't willing to outright kill them. Not intentionally via murder. Manslaughter? Maybe, if only because that was technically deemed to be an accident. But it was much better - for her conscious, at least - to accidentally take a life than doing so on purpose.

Nodding to herself, she activated the safety and slid it into her back pocket. When Yuna lifted her head, she simultaneously frowned. The building they were going to infiltrate had come into view but... fuck. It looked horrible. Just the appearance of the reactor building screamed "LEAVE NOW" with how unstable it looked. If Yuna didn't know better, a child could come over, sneeze against it, and cause the damn thing to collapse. But ... they were already here. It'd be an insult and a waste to just turn around and give up. They were too close and, if nothing else, Yuna had to help give Sosuke a hand in attempting to make this plan work out.

She owed him that much for certain.

Truthfully, she owed him a fuck of a lot more. But if she had to determine what the bare minimum was, it would be remaining put instead of leaving, even though part of her did want to do just that.

It wouldn't be until the trio - that was to say Yuna, Yamichi, and Sosuke - all arrived near the main reactor room before things finally started to become more ... interesting. The silence that had been surrounding them was broken, first by Sosuke, as he started quickly formulating a plan.

"This place is freaking huge...And we can't sit here forever; who knows how long we have before they try to swarm us. Yukio, maybe we should split up. Take Yamichi with you; he has a good head on his shoulders, so don't lose him alright? I'm heading upstairs; maybe there's a control room or something."

Yuna smirked as she looked over to Sosuke. Yet it would be Yamichi who spoke up first.

"Geez," the hacker muttered, "You talk about me as if I'm a pet, let alone someone who can't hear you. It's kinda embarrassing."

Yuna merely waved a hand through the air, chuckling slightly. After the ... reveal she gave Sosuke a few days ago regarding she was still pure, it was nice to have someone else become embarrassed as opposed to her. "Ehh. He means well. And .... Sosuke's kinda right. You clearly do have a good head attached to your shoulders. Don't worry though; if anything, I intend to ensure nothing dire happens to either of us."

... How was beyond her. She had never used a gun before.

Well, better late than never, I suppose, she mused, taking a slight breath before gesturing with her right index and middle fingers in a 'come here' motion. "Well ... let's go. This place isn't gonna explore itself, after all."

Patting her left hip first to make sure the radio was attached, Yuna began advancing forward, though not before sneaking a glance back towards Sosuke. "Oi! Take care of yourself as well! Don't do anything too hasty!"

Soon, the other leader disappeared from her peripheral vision, leaving her alone with Yamichi.

So far, so good. Keep your own wits about you and you'll be okay. Hell, maybe you can leave here without having to use the gun at all.

Unlike Sosuke, Yuna didn't see a way for her to go downstairs. So, with the only option being straight ahead, she continued to walk on. Deep down, something in her head was screaming, begging for her to run. It wasn't simply because of how nerve-wracking the building had looked, either. No, there was something else, something much more important.

... Unfortunately, she couldn't pinpoint what that 'something' was.

Shut the fuck up. Don't get paranoid. Shitty ass time to risk doing that.

... Yet it didn't fully vanish. If anything, the sensation seemed to get stronger with each step she took. Her teeth latched slightly onto her lower lip as Yuna lowered her hand beside the firearm. At this rate, it'd be much better to be prepared than caught off guard.

Hence why they say 'better safe than sorry'. Perfect time to heed that proverb ...

The old reactor building definitely had an ominous feel to it. Like there was something inherently wrong with it besides it looking it was about to fall down. Given how large it was, no one knew what was inside it. Or even on the other side for that matter, since it was in fact a large complex that took up a great deal of real estate. And with how things were going, it definitely seemed like things were feeling grimmer than usual; this whole establishment held a deep ominous feel to it.

Like it didn't belong here, like it was...alive.

And when Sosuke's voice checked in over the radio, saying "Testing, 1, 2, 3" poor Yamichi nearly jumped out of his skin. "Sosuke! Man, don't do that!" Yamichi whined into his own radio, the Disciples' boss chuckling over the comm "Sorry, buddy, didn't mean to make you scream like a girl." The hacker's face flushed, "I didn't scream! You just startled me!"

After that little playful spat, helping to lower the tension just a smidge, Sosuke then replied, "I don't even know how this place is still standing; I swear, I've seen more holes in the walls than in a Sector pig's head. This damn place doesn't feel right, at all; what could Sector want so badly that they're swarming over it? Speaking of which, you guys have any luck?" Yamichi just sighed, "No...We keep hitting dead end after dead end. And there's no terminals that are working; even tried futzing with the wiring and nothing. All the doors leading further in are mag-locked and there's no way we can pry them open. This whole place is dead as a doornail."

A moment of silence then overtook them, Yamichi just whispereing "...Sosuke?" before Sosuke just whispered back, 'Shh!' It was clear that he'd seen something. A few more moments went past and the silence persisted, before long the leader stating 'Nothing...Place is making me jump at shadows. I found what looks like a control room though...Some of the panels are still lit, but there aren't any windows."

"Panels are lit!? Sosuke, find the central-most terminal!" Yamichi exclaimed, making the boss just say "Whoa, whoa, Yamichi...What is this about?" Yamichi just smiled, "You don't get it, if the panels are lit, there's still power coming from somewhere...Most likely to feed the main computer. Find it and we can probably crack this egg wide open." A small chuckled could be heard over the other side, "I knew there was a reason I kept you around, Yamichi...But, uh, you're probably going to either come to me, or tell me what to do. Computers aren't exactly my strong suit, you know."

And for the next few minutes, it was quite an amusing scene: Yamichi was speaking in literal code, and poor Sosuke - streetsmart as he was - was making an absolute ass of himself, much to the pair's dismay and humor. And despite the frustrations of having to explain basic hacking to someone like his boss, it was clear that Yamichi was very much one to enjoy giving the orders for a change.

"OK...I've got access to the kernel thing...Now I'm just seeing a bunch of lines of scrambled shit." Sosuke said after about three minutes of them talking. "Alright, hit Control, Alt, F4 all at once...That should bring you into administrative mode...." A few taps could be heard on the other side, Sosuke letting out a "Whoa...This thing's going crazy...Something about BIOS reset, initializing some shit....And now it's more garbled text...wait, there's words in here!" Yamichi chuckled, "Congrats, man, you just did your first hard reset on the main drive...Only problem is, Sector's smart about this, so they have programs in place to make it harder to guess. The words you see are potential passwords, so now it's a guessing game...Only thing is, if you guess wrong too much, it'll lock you out. Don't worry though, I've learned some tricks. Go on, pick a word...Any word."

There was a 'click' and Sosuke's reply was , "The hell does '4/10' mean?" Yamichi snickered "It means four characters are in the right spot in the word itself. Try another one that has any of the letters in those positions."

A few moments passed before there was another click. "Six out of ten...Getting closer, right?" Sosuke asked, Yamichi nodding "You probably have two or three more tries left"

A third click, Sosuke let out a slight 'Whumpf' and stated "Fuckin' A, that scared the shit out of me...Message popped up telling me I have one more try. But it's seven out of ten now. And there's...one, two, three...four more words that I can use." The hacker just grinned, "No problem, don't use those yet. In the code, try to find a bracket pair." A moment of silence persisted before Sosuke asked, "Yamichi, you do realize I have no fucking clue what that means, right?" Yamichi paused for a second, eyes to the ground in wondering, then said after a snap of his fingers "Look for things that look like half-boxes or sideways birds".

And just then, Sosuke let out a fairly loud 'Whoop' before saying "Yeah! I'm in! Yamichi, you're a genius!" A prouder smile could not be seen on any other man at the moment, the young hacker replying "Alright, alright, but we should hurry this along...Is there any way to open the doors?" Sosuke replied, "Yeah, there's a prompt about a lockdown....And a missing reactor." THAT threw Yamichi off for a moment, but he shook his head "Don't worry about that, it's probably because the place is decrepit. Just end the lockdown and it should open the doors."

Having done just that, small 'clacks' could be heard resonating throughout the facility, evidence of the mag-locks being released. "Alright, you guys should be clear; I'll see you in the reactor room. I can't believe it, we're actually about to get dirt on these scumbags!" Sosuke cried out jovially, Yamichi turning to Yuna and saying with a smile "Alright, well...Let's see what ol' Sector's keeping behind door number three, shall we?"

Of course, when the pair went through the door...They would find themselves back outside, the backmost walls of the facility completely gone. And looking at something that would definitely make them stop. "What the frig..." Yamichi whispered; he was expecting to find something interesting here...But this was completely unexpected! "Hey, uh...Sosuke, remember that missing reactor notice you saw?" Yamichi then said into his radio, only for Sosuke to reply back, "Yeah...And I think I see why." He was standing in one of the upper doorways on an observation platform, seeing it all.

Yuna could have done with continuing to walk around and repeatedly experience the strong aura surrounding this place. It wasn't like she was overly superstitious, anyway. So if she had to be honest, she would have questioned just how 'ominous' this place actually was.

However, what was starting to irk her was the lack of finding anything. Literally, this place appeared to be empty. And that was the thing that made her more on edge than anything.

... Does Sector have their own master hacker or some shit?

Not likely. Possible, yes, but it wasn't likely. Which meant - assuming that guess was right - the feed she'd seen with Sosuke was accurate. So this was indeed the right place. But then ... why had they been led here? Was it really as simple as a red herring sorta trail?

Again, possibly, more so than the last option. There were reasons Sector wasn't well known for having many overly intelligent officers, after all.

.... And yet, something in her gut was screaming that there was something very amiss.

Motherfucker!

When Sosuke's voice broke the otherwise eerie silence, she too joined Yamichi in jumping. "Asshole," she muttered bitterly under her breath. "I agree with your right-hand man. Give a few seconds head warning next time, eh? Geez."

Her arms crossed her underneath her flattened chest as she listened curiously to the exchange the two soon had. Yuna at least understood the significance of the lit panels but ... that was as far as she got. The rest was as confusing for her as it was for Sosuke. Of course, she wouldn't admit that out loud. In fact, she purposely kept a smug expression on her face in hopes that maybe Yamichi would be tricked into thinking she also was completely on the same page as him, and would possibly relay that much to Sosuke.

.... Maybe that wasn't for the best, now that she thought more about it. What if they actually needed that sort of knowledge and Yamichi wasn't around?

Fine, fine ...

A soft sigh elicited as she leaned carefully against the nearest wall, tapping her foot lightly against the ground underneath her. "Not trying to rush you two but ... you probably should attempt to hurry this up. Just in case."

At least Yamichi agreed with that much, as he even said for Sosuke to make the process of the hacking faster.

Finally, a set of loud noises signaled .... it had worked?

"Well .... I'll be damned. Guess you're not too old of a dog to be taught new tricks."

Yuna snickered slightly, finally moving away from the wall behind her. "Yep. Let's see what all the fuss was about indeed."

Five steps. That was as far as Yuna moved inside the room before damn well tripping. But it wasn't over her own feet.

" .... The fuck?"

She started to kneel down and examine the source - which had been a thin wire. She barely finished sinking down to her knees before hearing from behind her, "FREEZE! PUT YOUR HANDS UP, NOW! YOU TWO ARE UNDER ARREST!"

........ Fuuuuuuuck ....

For about five seconds, she did seem to comply. Her muscles refused to move and poor Yuna made the mistake of turning her head. If there had been any doubts what the wire was for, she was now certain. It had been some sort of alarm, an interesting one to be sure, as it was tampered with to activate silently. Or at least in another form or fashion.

Either way, Yuna found herself staring at somewhere between five to seven officers, all with their own firearms trained on her.

"Take Yamichi with you; he has a good head on his shoulders, so don't lose him alright?"

As the words raced again through her mind, Yuna narrowed her eyes. The almost lost resolve quickly returned and without a second thought, she grabbed one of Yamichi's arms, helping hastily drag him behind the nearest source of cover. It wasn't the best, no. But it was good enough, especially because after she made her move, Sector followed suit with their own.

"FIRE!"

Soon, bullets began to fly towards the two, using whatever they could to keep from being hit by any of the ammunition. From the walls to furniture, any and everything Yuna deemed useful enough was being incorporated in this dangerous game of Hide and Seek.

"Okay so .... you go on and try to finish up whatever exactly you're working on with Sosuke. I promised him I'd keep you covered."

Deactivating the safety mode, Yuna offered Yamichi a sly, albeit somewhat nervous smile.

"I'm sure as shit not gonna break that promise. I got your cover. Wait for them to have to reload before going, okay?"

When the first pause came, Yuna ducked from under a fallen table, took aim, and pulled back on the trigger. She couldn't help but smirk as it landed. Nowhere deadly, but enough to get the message across. If Sector came wanting a fight, congratulations. They were getting what they had asked so desperately.

"AH, FUCK! I'M HIT!"

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! SHOOT BACK!"

Yuna ducked back down, though barely in time, as the second barrage of bullets began. She looked back, watching to make sure Yamichi had managed to move without sustaining any injuries of his own.

The giant crater before them - the edges raised up as if something had literally dug down into it - would have been normally enough to completely distract them, but then the assholes of Sector decided to make themselves known before any of them could question what the hell this was. Sosuke, from his position, could see the officers funneling out from behind the torn walls that revealed the outside to them. At least a half-dozen of them...And both Yukio and Yamichi were caught in the middle.

And once Sector started firing, Sosuke returned with some of his own, emptying the magazine with unusually fast trigger pulls. More of the Sector officers were hit, one of them looking up and seeing the man shooting down at them "Up there! Third floor balcony!" And soon it was his turn to duck, the rest of the officers dumping their bullets in his direction now. Sosuke then called out as he reloaded, "Yamichi! Take Yukio and get out of here! I'll cover you both!" And sure enough, his gun erupted once more, one of the officers that was trying to make for the doorway where his two comrades now backpedaling to go behind cover.

Yamichi, meanwhile, had managed to hide behind one of the sofas in the lounge; the poor kid looked completely overwhelmed, but he did seem to realize that now was not the time to shut down. Already his datapad was hooking into an access terminal near the door where the Sector assholes were firing on them from. "Almost...Got it!" the hacker declared, the heavy doors slamming shut behind and blocking the Sector officers outside. "Yukio, this way, we need to move! There's an emergency exit" he told the man, having already remotely disabled the alarm in case it was still active.

Sosuke got his cue to move when he heard the police shout about how they were locked outside now, the one in charge telling them to go around; now he needed to make his escape. Fuck! This went to hell in the worst way possible; he honestly wasn't expecting Sector to show up in force like that. Maybe an officer or two to investigate, but the magnitude of the response suggested they knew beforehand they were coming.

Which meant this whole thing had been a trap. And now they were caught in it.

The Disciples' boss ran as fast as he could throughout the maze of hallways, unknowing of the peril that awaited both him and Yukio and Yamichi.

Yamichi's escape route seemed to be working, using his datapad to close every door they ran through so that Sector couldn't follow them. The labyrinth of hallways was quite dizzying though, especially since the exit itself would only lead right past the main entrance...And when they finally emerged outside, at first there was no one...And Sosuke was nowhere to be found, not that it mattered. The orders were clear: If they were by some small chance compromised, get the fuck out by any means necessary.

"This way!" Yamichi whispered, knowing full well there could be an ambush; he could hear sirens already, sicne the two of them were now in an alley that led past the main entrance, but the only clear route of escape was right past the plethora of guards outside the main doorway. "Fuck...They have the place surrounded. Yukio...We need to get going now, I'm sure Sosuke will catch up with us." Of course, he said with almost no enthusiasm; sure, the guy was a meathead sometimes and more than a little bit of a smartass, but he was the the reason some little shrimp like Yamichi wasn't behind Sector bars right now. And he didn't want to leave him behind, but the longer they stayed here, the more they risked being exposed to Sector's fury.

Sosuke, meanwhile, was trying to navigate through the halls; he could hear voices all throughout, telling him that Sector was starting to move in and sweep the building. No doubt the first group reported he was still lurking about, and he knew it would be not too long before they closed the noose on him. 'Think, man...' he chastised himself, moving to peek around a corner where he saw three goons standing in the middle of a junction, the one furthest to Sosuke's left speaking into a radio and telling them that they hadn't found the Fiend yet. That alone made a small smirk cross his face, even though things were looking fairly grim.

And just when things couldn't get better, the trio split up, one of them heading right down his corridor with the rifle drawn. He needed to time this right, and stowed the gun in his waistband. His body tensed as the footsteps drew closer, and then...The Sector pig soon found his gun knocked down and his throat constricted in a sleeper hold, Sosuke's free hand covering the officer's mouth as he tried to struggle; after a few minutes the resistance slacked and the officer rendered unconscious. "Thanks for the free upgrade." he muttered, taking the new shiny weapon for himself.

However, there was one last obstacle to clear: The entrance, and he could just tell there were a number of them out there. There was a reason he left the bomb behind where he did: It never hurt to be too well-prepared, something that he thought about when he fished the detonator out of his pocket. It was actually his radio, but tuned to a different frequency. All he had to do was hit the talk button...

And the only thing everyone outside would hear was a static-y 'Fire in the hole'.

And when he did, Yamichi and Yukio would see the devastation first hand: A massive burst of light preceded the violent explosion, the concussive wave blasting all in its path clear out of the way before drenching the area surrounding the entrance in fire. All of the D-Wheelers parked there were either blown to shit or overturned, the officers either thrown against walls moaning in pain or burning in their uniforms as they screamed and tried to strip them off or roll on the ground to extinguish the flames.

"Holy shit, Sosuke..." Yamichi muttered, momentarily stunned before grabbing the boss' hand and shouting "Let's go!" running past the ruination with him in tow. A few of the officers seemed to recover quicker than expected, however, and saw the pair running down the alley towards a street. "Stop them!" he shouted, drawing his sidearm and along with his fellow officers, unleashing a violent barrage...One of which would unfortunately strike Yukio in the shoulder and leg each.

Something that would undoubtedly be a grim situation; however, Sosuke soon emerged himself, his own shots landing in the officer's backs and dropping them. Whether they would survive or not mattered little to him; these assholes were trying to kill his friends, and he saw that Yukio had been hit. "Damn it, what a fucking cluster...Yamichi, take my gun and cover us. We're leaving." he then said to the hacker, gingerly lifting Yukio so that he was now riding on the man's back...All of this before they had to high-tail it out of there...

He just prayed the group near Crash Town was able to get out alright.

"Yamichi! Take Yukio and get out of here! I'll cover you both!"

Yuna's eyes immediately narrowed, and even though Sosuke had spoken those very words via a radio, he may still be able to feel the glare being given to him by the leader of Yomi. "You out of your fucking mind?! You're not a --- "

Unfortunately, she was just really good allies with Sosuke. As such, it made sense that Yamichi would make the end verdict which - to her disappointment - was to heed Sosuke's command. There was at least one thing she was taking solace in, and it came in the form of seeing the hacker didn't look as pleased with doing this as Yuna did. That definitely made her feel well enough to begin going along with the decision to move on ahead without waiting for Sosuke.

" ... Fine," she bitterly replied, "But only for two reasons. One, I promised Sosuke to keep you alive. Two, you've known Sosuke longer than me. I'm trusting you to know him and his abilities. Still, he's not a one-man army, like I was about to say. This is pretty fucking borderline suicidal for him to take up by his damn self."

Yet as Yuna began to follow close behind Yamichi, she could hear he was right. From seemingly every direction, loud cries of things like "FIND THEM!" or "SHOOT FIRST, ARREST LATER!" continued to ring throughout the otherwise empty sky and building. The more Yuna heard Sector demanding to succeed in their hunt, the more dire she began to comprehend the situation they were all in was.

Fuck you all too ... she silently prayed, taking full advantage of the darkness and alleyways Yamichi was leading her through in order to avoid anymore guns firing at them.

It all seemed like the escape was going perfectly, certainly smoother than Yuna had thought. Not that she didn't trust the two other men she was with. But they had obviously had the odds stacked against them.

Ehh, who cares? Just get the fuck out and take your blessings with you on the way out.

Her head turned as she started to tease Sosuke and point out she'd managed to 'keep Yamichi's head on his shoulders' perfectly fine.

When her mouth opened ot speak, the words didn't leave her lips.

Instead, two more loud bangs interrupted her train of thought. By the time Yuna's head turned and she saw the bullets going right for her, she felt her heart sink.

Oh shit! Oh shit! No, no, no, no!

... Was it better or worse that both bullets hit the same side? Her left shoulder and leg respectively? Yuna didn't know and honestly, it wasn't the first thing that entered her brain. First was the pain - the godawful, horrible, agony. Next ... was her instincts taking over as a pained scream resounded from her rather than coherent words.

"AHHHH!"

An adrenaline rush swiftly activated, helping her sore muscles move despite protesting against every move she was now making. Yuna's body was trembling from head to toe, showing the last thing it wished ot do was keep running. But she did, and not just because she didn't feel like ending up in the Facility. Sosuke would royally kick her ass the moment he saved her. Quite honestly, Yuna didn't feel like enduring a beating from the Fiend.

As things were, she understood how high her risk of ... other things failing were. Namely keeping her identity.

FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!

The mere possibility and danger of being discovered caused tears to form in Yuna's eyes. At least it could be blamed by the bullets piercing her flesh. For now, anyway. How long did she have though?

A quick estimate hinted until she arrived back at the base. Once Yuna stepped foot inside, the timer would officially start.
Sure enough, after five to ten minutes of desperately fleeing - helped by a will to avoid capture and the same adrenaline rush that had flooded her body from being shot - Yuna shoved the doors open. Panting and wincing through gritted teeth, she began limping towards her room, ignoring the gasps and stares that she was greeted with. "GET OUT!" she demanded. "ALL OF YOU! NOW! OUT! LEAVE! THIS IS A CODE RED ORDER! SECTOR MAY ARRIVE HERE! I DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF MAYBE ISN'T A GUARANTEE, EVERYONE LEAVE! NOW!"

Her voice barely kept the guise up. Yuna was about half way up the stairs before the face she expected to see found her soon enough.

"But ... Yukio?! Holy fuck! You're shot! What happened?!"

"Don't ... worry ... about me. Hajime? I need you ... to help everyone ... evacuate."

"But ... but you! What of you?!"

Her eyes narrowed as she glared angrily at the blue-haired male. "Did I stutter?! GET! HELP THEM! IF ANY OF THEM GET CAUGHT, I'M NOT TAKING ALL OF THE BLAME! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?!"

" .... Yes."

"Good. Now go!" Yuna didn't turn her head to see that Hajime had actually listened to her. She knew - definitely hoped - he had. No, she was acting, sound, and even thinking like a blood-crazed warrior and right now, there was only one thing going through her mind then and there.

Get to your room. Get, get, get!

Thankfully, there weren't many stairs to begin with.

But once she slammed the door, Yuna felt the first major problem. The adrenaline was beginning to die down, fueled on likely by the blood she'd lost on the way back here.

"Not yet," she pleaded with herself, panting and breathing labored breaths as she staggered forward, knowing what she was looking for and not at the same time. Something - literally anything - to extract the bullets with. Whilst moving forward and rummaging rapidly - desperately even - through various drawers, her hands lifted, ignoring any time a surge of pain shot through her muscles.

The same barbarian-esque attitude remained, if not strengthened, as Yuna all but tossed her shirt off, now effectively half-nude save for the same set of bandages remaining around her breasts. One of the very key things she'd been using to keep her real first name hidden away was the only visible item keeping her from being totally half-nude.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" she muttered, finally caving in and sinking to her knees. Her leg, which had already been used way too much during the run back, was the first to cave in. Her head bowed as Yuna gripped her lower lip, eliciting a very pissed off, infuriated growl.

"SHIT!" she hissed, subconsciously reaching for her shirt to hide herself once again.

.... Only to realize in her frantic state, she'd literally thrown it to the other side of the room.

Shit, shit, shit! Everything will probably end if someone finds you like this ...

The tears her eyes had been keeping now fell down her face as Yuna crawled towards the top, using every ounce of energy to try to reach it before someone walked through the door to her room first.

.... Truthfully, there was only one person she was truly panicking about. Sosuke.

Something told her Yamichi and Hajime would have an easier time accepting learning Yukio was actually Yuna.

But how would the Fiend feel upon learning the Warrior, his own ally, had been lying and deceiving him for so long?

Yuna had no idea and, quite honestly, that was what was terrifying her the most.

If there was anything more infuriating than being deceived into thinking one had done something significant against a numberless and merciless enemy, it was the fact that even the people one saves are - at face value - ingrates. That was what Sosuke felt like; he tried to carry Yukio as far as he could to avoid him fucking up his leg, but the guy was starting to throw such a damn fit that he eventually let him down. Last thing they needed now was getting caught because someone was being a stubborn macho ass. Fine, he wanted to jank his leg up, that was his business.

As it was, he was pissed that Sector had so thoroughly and completely duped him; the lack of anything useful and the swarm of officers there made it all too painfully clear that the entire building was nothing but a ruse. A trap meant to capture any Satellite criminal that dared try to investigate it.

And when they arrived back at Yomi, needless to say he had his own orders to give.

"DISCIPLES! YOU FUCKING HEARD THE MAN, CLEAR OUT AND LAY LOW! WHEREVER YOU CAN HIDE, JUST DO IT!"

At this one of his other guys, a pudgier but tall brown-haired young man by the name Hiro, ran forward, "Dude, you're covered in blood! What the hell happened?" Sosuke grimaced, "It's not mine, but Sector happened; fucking dickbags were waiting for us..." He then trailed off when he saw that a particular someone was missing...And both his stomach and his heart felt like they weighed a thousand pounds.

Oh no. No, no, no, NO! This was not fucking happening!

"Takeshi...Where's Raiko?" he then muttered, leaving Yukio to his own devices for the moment. The man stayed silent for a moment, making the Disciples' leader grab him roughly by the shirt and shout "WHERE IS HE, TAKESHI?!" even though he knew deep down what had probably happened.

"Sosuke...Man, they shot him...Then they took him in."

Those were the words he spoke, and Sosuke just about had a heart attack. "Oh man, Raiko..." Yamichi said, eyes drifting downward as he tried to hide the fact that he was about to cry. Something that the boss showed no fear in doing; he and Raiko might have butted heads a lot, but the guy was honest. Honest and tough as nails, more so than most of his group and that was something.

And to be real? It felt like he lost his brother all over again. And his face showed the closest thing any of them had seen to crushing defeat in a while. A few even muttered that maybe this would make him lost it entirely.

Sosuke on the other hand? At first he'd had some regrets about potentially making a family lose a brother...A father or even a son.

But now he just wished he had put more of them down.

Sosuke's grip slackened, his cheeks shining as the trails of tears ran down, his breath suddenly short and labored...Until he felt someone punch him in the face, knocking the man back a few steps. "Hey, hey! Cool it!" Sosuke then heard others shout, Yamichi in particular "The fuck man, Sosuke nearly died trying to get us out of that shithole and you do that to him? I know you're pissed about Raiko but so am I!" At this Takeshi just said "I'm not pissed that we did it, Yami...We did what we had to do. One thing Raiko told me before he died was that if Sosuke started getting all sissy, he wanted me to slug him. Tell him that we're not out yet. And he's right, Sosuke; if we want to win against Sector, we can't back down. YOU can't back down."

Sosuke, meanwhile just held his cheek, just staring in shock at this normally quiet guy now talking big. Talking real...Talking like Raiko would have. Some people thought that the combination of sour turns would make him berserk...

But he just laughed...A soft chuckle that soon turned into a full-bellied bout of joviality. Only for a second or two, and as he calmed down and wiped the tears from his face, "Man, I really did land the craziest bunch of misfits in the Disciples." Takeshi and Yamichi just grinned, glad to see that their leader wasn't giving up yet after all. "We're still with you man, and if Raiko's alive somewhere...We'll get him out. Even if it means having to level the Facility to do it."

Letting out another chuckle, Sosuke just said, "I should have figured as much...And if we do, well, let's just say I'll gladly be the first to pull the trigger." Straightening himself up, he then shouted, "Alright, ladies, now get your shit together! Takeshi, start helping to divvy up the food and water! Yamichi, I'm counting on you to make sure you hold things down here! Help Yajime with whatever he needs Yukio and I need to have a talk about our next moves." And as the two started to help Yomi get evacuated, Sosuke made his way up to Yukio's room. And thankfully everyone else was so busy that they wouldn't bother them.

"Hey, Yukio...Coming in, bro; look, I know shit went south but we nee...." he started to say, but right as he entered and closed the door, he saw something that would forever change how he saw the leader of Yomi. He obviously noticed the bandages and at first glance, he might have guessed there was a wound or something that was covered...But there were two little peaks that no man Yukio's size should have. Right where the pecs/breasts were.

And for the longest moment, Sosuke went silent; the absolute fuck was this now?! It wasn't until after a few moments that he finally said, "Yukio....There something you want to tell me?"

Fuck, ahhhh! Sweet gods, this hurts!

Not that Yuna expected bullets to feel decent. But this was a new sensation for her, and by no means a pleasant one. Fist fights - and even damage dealt via duels - were one thing she was no stranger to. Actually being shot, on the other hand, was something she never expected to have happen. Or at least, not anytime soon. But it had, and at no doubt one of the worst possible times.

" ... Ngh ... "

The pain and blood loss helped make Yuna actually black out. Thankfully, her consciousness was only gone for a few minutes each time, five at the longest. But never more so than that. Each time she woke up, Yuna saw she was still in the midst of trying to reach her discarded top.

"Goddamnit," she growled, continuing to crawl and advance closer to the fabric. "You've definitely had much better days than today. Fucking hell."

Her fingers barely finished finding and gripping the hem of the shirt before her heart sank. It wasn't overly amazing that Sosuke had indeed come to her room before Hajime. But man, did she wish she'd been wrong. Or hell, him not coming inside for a few minutes would have worked also.

"W-Wait!"

Her head whipped as Yuna forced herself to face Sosuke. No point in hiding anymore and, honestly, he was long overdue for this explanation. She would face him and despite not obviously being a man, would still 'man up' during the confession she was about to give. No, Yuna couldn't read minds. But there was no way he wouldn't ask. He was too smart and observant not to.

"Yukio....There something you want to tell me?"

... And ... there went any chances Yuna could have had to convince him he was seeing things. That maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him. Nope. Not anymore. Now that even he asked for a confirmation, there was only one thing to do. Be honest, brutally so.

Swallowing nervously, Yuna lifted her head, if only to make eye contact. Oh, she definitely felt humiliated. Ashamed. But this was still Sosuke she was talking to, and even if she was about to lose his respect, he deserved the gesture. " .... Yuna."

When she uttered her name, the usual guise vanished. The usual, rough voice was replaced with a gentle, feminine one. Now Sosuke was 100% certain he wasn't staring at an illusion. This did indeed seem to be the true form of Yomi's leader.

"My real name's Yuna Takeda, not Yukio. I ..... "

Her fists clenched as tears continued to fall down her face, now quickening as she expected the worst. "I'm sorry. Really, I am. But I tried living life as a chick. It doesn't ... go well. As a duelist - fuck, just as a person - I wasn't taken seriously. You've been with a few, so I'm sure you saw how they were treated. I was no different. I ... I decided if that was the way things would be, fine. I would just eliminate myself from that part of the equation. Ever since then, I've been viewed much more as an equal and ... "

Her head moved from side to side as Yuna stopped herself.

" .... No. That doesn't really matter, does it?" she mused, gulping again as she stayed silent for another minute or so and tried to calm herself. Of course, that went about as well as either herself or Sosuke would guess; it was a fucking disaster. So, instead, she gathered her next train of thoughts.

"None of this excuses me for the deceit. I realize and understand that. I'm not going to ask or beg for you to forgive me. If you wanna cut all ties with me, I'll understand. However ... don't do it with this place. With Yomi. You're the first - and only - person to know I'm not Yukio. The only person who's fucked up is me so ... please ... don't take any anger you likely have out on them. They're just being smart and trying to stay away from Sector."

Raising her right arm, Yuna moved it across her face and at least triedto wipe some of the tears away. Unfortunately, they were replaced rapidly by a new set.

"I've been trying to fucking get ... something for these goddamn bullets. They ... didn't go all the goddamn way through so they're stuck. Embedded in my flesh. I know I have tweezers somewhere. Probably the bathroom. I'd appreciate the help but after this revelation, I'll respect your decision to just ignore my request for assistance."

Knowing Yuna had said and done all she could, she waited; hoping for the best but definitely expecting the worst outcome.