Chapter 10

                                    

                                          
EDIT 09.06.2022: Ruka and Rua do not look 145cm in the anime to me, so I'm going to use those as height measurements for the timeskip.
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I'm standing in Martha's yard. Why am I back here? I was in Neo Domino before, wasn't I? I don't remember what I came here for, but the plush grass looks so inviting. Wind sweeps through the trees, stirring the branches and leaves. I look up to the bright blue sky, clear of stormclouds for miles and miles.
"Yusei!" I look down from the expanse of the sky. Pinoko is between the tree trunks, strolling toward me. She gets closer and grabs my hand, pulling me to the blanket of green below. The grass is even softer than it looks. "Yusei."
Laying on our backs, I turn my head to see her already looking at me. She's smiling, then her mouth is moving again. "Will you come back to me?"
"Always," I say, not sure why she's asking. I'm not going anywhere today and she's right next to me. Where do I need to come back from?
"Then wake up." Her voice isn't coming out of her mouth anymore, but from somewhere else. "Wake up." I'm staring at her lips that form those words, but they aren't from the Pinoko in front of me.
"Wake up, Yusei. Please wake up." I pry my eyelids apart through sheer willpower. For just a second, before I truly wake, I want to go back to that grassy yard with her, but I force myself to sober quickly. We crashed, that's the last thing I remember. "Yusei!" Her voice calls me, warbling. She's kneeling over me where I rest, my back to the cushion of a sofa. There's a blanket covering us up to the shoulders. Her shoulders sag at the sight of me, making me take in her ragged appearance.
Her clothes are rumpled, hair tousled, and bags under her eyes, but she's uninjured at first glance. The room we're in is gloomy, all beige and gray and styled with modern furniture. Pinoko sinks into my chest, my arms coil around her on instict. It's then that I realize the position we're in. Both of her knees are bent, squeezing againt the outside of my thighs, backside in the air. She has her face in the crook of my neck, half of her body laying on top of me. The heat of her breath rushes by my ear, tingling. I'm silently praying she doesn't lean against my bottom half. It's a normal part of waking up most days, but most days don't see me tangled up with my most beautiful friend before breakfast. The reaction of my body floods me with shame.
I'm disgusting, to be thinking about that kind of thing right now. It's clear how fearful she is under these circumstances. She needs comfort, not your dick.
"I'm so glad you're alright. I... I don't know w-where we are. I d-don't know how we got here. I just, woke up and we were both sleeping on this couch and-" She stops, forcing in a breath. "I'm afraid w-we... We might have been kidnapped." She says it quietly, as if putting it into words will make it true. The tent in my trousers is gone immediately, all fantasies of fooling around have been flushed down the drain now.
I see my deck and gauntlet on the coffee table. A voice rings out in the space when I reach for them. "You don't remember?" Pinoko stiffens in my lap. For her sake, I hope that her fears are unwarranted. Two small figures appear from what looks to be the kitchen. "You two were passed out downstairs last night." They approach the couch from behind. I've sat up now, watching them over the sofa's back with Pinoko pinned to my front. Regardless of how nice they seem, I need to know what they want from us before I can be at ease. Why did these kids bring us here?
"Who are you?" I question the children that stop between me and the low table. Pinoko is clearly not about to engage in a conversation, so I take the initiative myself.
"I'm Rua." The young boy points a thumb at his own chest, his green hair swaying as he moves. The girl beside him kneels on the ground and has nearly identical hair, styled in pigtails rather than a single ponytail. Her clothes follow the pattern, matching the other child's but in shades of pink instead of blue. They both wear the same white shorts and shortsleeved jacket. Even their shoes are the same, one pair in pink and one in blue. He waves an open hand to indicate the girl. "This is my younger sister Ruka. We're twins."