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Yuno sat in his Sultan, staring idly across the street. The city had been quiet today, besides the usual- no wars were happening, no casinos were being hit. Yuno himself had only done one bank with the boys earlier and although there had been a chase, it wasn’t a particularly exciting one. They had gotten out easily, and he’d even had the chance to flex his Vagrant tricks. Though some might have been happy with an easy job, Yuno wasn’t exactly the type. At the end of the day, it was more about the thrill than the money for him, and nothing was more of a thrill than a good chase. At least until you went to prison. It was nice to not lose money on a job for once, though.
That still left Yuno bored out of his skull, though. He mentally went down the list of his friends- was there anyone around to get into shenanigans with? Mister Lang? Out with Cerberus. Mickey? In prison, again. Tony? Racing. Ray? On a date, as usual, though it seemed to be a second date, which was a lot less usual. X was asleep, and that left Yuno with- well, with a lot of choices, actually. You would think one of the most well connected people in the city would be able to think of someone to boost with, at least. He was pulling up blank, though. Something felt… off. Maybe one of the girls? They’d definitely get sent to prison, but at least it would be funny. He pulled out his phone and dialed April’s number. She could always be manipulated convinced to do something fun.
She picked up on the second ring. “Heyyy Yuno, it’s your girl April!”
“April! Are you busy right now?” Even if she was, it was probably something he could insert himself into, right?
“I’m- No, not really, but-” She seemed hesitant, but whatever relationship problem she had going on wasn’t his problem.
“Great! Do you wanna do some-” boosting was definitely too risky with April “-house robberies with me?”
“You know, I would love to, Yuno, but I’m currently-” She cuts herself off and pauses for a second. “Have you heard from Ray Mond today?”
“Ray Mond? What’s she got to do with this?”
“Well, I said I wasn’t busy, but she is, and- can you go pick her up?”
“What? Is she in a chase or something? I have my Sultan, I can probably get her out,” Yuno sat up in his seat, ready for some action. Finally, something to relieve the boredom.
April laughs, a little nervously. “Yuno, that’s- she’s on a date.”
He slumps back again. “A… date.”
“Yes. Yknow, when people go out together, because it’s romantic, and-”
“You want me to pick her up from a date?” he says incredulously, ignoring her rambling.
“Well, she told me that she’s uncomfortable, and wants out, and you are her brother…”
“And you don’t want to do it,” Yuno says resignedly.
“Yes! Exactly! See I knew you’d understand! And… well, you’ll see.” She continues before he has a chance to say anything else. “She says they’re in the UwU Cafe parking lot right now. Thanks Yuno! You’re the best!” April hangs up before he can say no, effectively sealing the deal. Maybe he should stop underestimating her.
Well, it wasn’t a chase, but maybe he could instigate something. At least that would be funny. UwU Cafe was nearby, anyway, and she was his sister. He pulled onto the road and drove in the right direction, although admittedly a bit slower than usual. Relationship drama was not his thing. Who was she even on a date with, anyways?
When he pulled into the parking lot, a familiar red Lamborghini was already present. Well, that answered that question. Yuno thought they were over? Or something? Didn’t Rae reject him already? But, it’s not like he kept track. And in any case, it wasn’t the first time Ray had gone on a date with someone who’d already rejected him.
Yuno parked his Sultan off to the side and got out of the car. Luckily, he was already wearing one of his ‘grinder’ outfits after the job earlier, so he could scout around relatively unnoticed. Without his signature helmet or shoes, he was basically unrecognizable until he spoke. Ray and Rae were nowhere to be seen, so he assumed they would be inside. For once, he walked into UwU without immediately running headlong into the kitchen. That would have definitely blown his cover. Instead, he slipped into a booth near where his targets sat, and prepared to listen.
“You know, Rae, out of all the dates I’ve taken here, this has been the most enjoyable by far,” Ray said from behind Yuno.
“That’s- that’s lovely Ray. Really, thank you. I just love hearing about all your other dates! Haha!” Rae seemed upset, and Yuno could see why. Even he knew that you shouldn’t bring up other people on a date.
“No, no, I didn’t mean it that way! I just-” Ray, fortunately, was interrupted with the arrival of their food.
“Right, I’m sure you didn’t,” Rae replied tersely after the waiter walked back to the counter. “Let’s just eat, okay?”
“Okay.” Ray sounded a little… lost.
“Sir.” Yuno jumped, startled. The waiter had returned to his table. “Are you going to order anything?”
“Uh-” Yuno coughed, then spoke exaggeratedly slowly, as if that would somehow mask his voice. “I’ll just have- some rice balls? Please?”
The waiter squinted at him, but only said “Sure, that’ll be $500. State ID?”
Yuno gave his ID, wincing at the price, but he couldn’t use his employee discount without giving himself up either. “Jesus, $500. The food really is pricey here.”
“That’ll be right out for you, sir. Good luck eavesdropping.” The waiter walked off, chuckling.
“I- Uh- Thanks!” Yuno called after his back, then returned to his focus.
Behind him, Rae seemed to be speaking again. “Raymond! This was wonderful, and all, but I think I should get going now. I have some stuff to do with… Yuno! Yes, Yuno.”
“Yuno? We could hang out all three of us, if you want? He’s my homie! I’m sure he won’t mind!”
Rae seemed flustered by this, although really Yuno thought she should have expected that. “Oh, you know, I just remembered! I was actually supposed to hang out with April! Silly me, mentioning Yuno, right?”
“Oh, April, of course! Well, I would never want to keep you from your plans!” Maybe Ray was finally taking the hint. “But, I have to say, this is the best date I have ever been on in this city, Rae.” Or maybe he wasn’t.
“Right, right- I-” Rae floundered.
“You know, I really like you, Rae. I think we could-”
Okay, that was enough. Before he could embarrass himself further, and before he could make Rae feel worse, Yuno gets up from his table, grabs his food from the counter, and walks to their table. “Hey guys!”
“Yuno!” Rae nearly jumps out of her seat. “How nice to see you! I was just telling Ray that we were going to hang out!”
“Weren’t you going with April?” Ray frowns, confused. Yuno almost feels bad.
“Oh, it’s with both of them! Yknow, fun day out, haha!” Rae seems even more flustered now, and Yuno decides to rescue her.
“Yeah, we’re supposed to meet April in a few minutes, actually. We should get going.”
“Yes, yes! Don’t want to be late, hahahaha!” Rae rushes out the door, with Yuno and Ray following her. Ray seems… confused, mostly.
“Ray, can you hang out here for a second? I have to talk to Rae, but I have something to tell you afterwards,” Yuno says with a smile. He doesn’t want to have this conversation, but someone has to.
“Of course, brother! I’ll be right here,” Ray promises.
Yuno slides into his Sultan with Rae.
“Are you okay? That seemed… rough,” he asks cautiously.
“Me? I’m wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!” He only has to stare at her for a few seconds until she puts her head on the dashboard, though. “He just kept talking about his old girlfriends, and I don’t think he meant harm, but it hurts , Yuno! It does! And then he started saying all that stuff about how he really likes me, but I can’t help but feel that he’s said that to all those other girls, and-”
She pauses to take a breath. Yuno knows better than to interrupt her, and he has nothing useful to say anyway, so he waits.
“I think-” Rae hesitates, choosing her words carefully. “I think he isn’t dating anyone for real , you know? I think he’s just… choosing to avoid his issues by dating. And, I feel bad for him, but I also feel bad for me, because it just seems manipulative, yknow?” She sniffles a bit.
“Do you want me to talk to him?” Yuno asks quietly, watching her.
“Huh?” She lifts her head to openly stare at him. “Since when did you get involved in relationship drama? …Are you gonna instigate some crazy situation?”
“No. You’re my sister. Do you want me to talk to him?”
She kept staring at him. “That hasn’t stopped you before but-” she dropped her head down again. “Sure, why not. What’s the harm? It can’t get any worse, can it?”
“Well, it… probably could, to be honest. But I won’t do that, this once.” They may not hang out all the time, but his sister was still incredibly important to him, and it wasn’t fun to see her in pain, especially because of one of his good friends.
“Okay…” Rae said with uncertainty, but she didn’t stop him from getting out of the car.
Yuno locked the Sultan behind him and walked back to where Ray was standing.
“Hey, I was sure ACDC would have kicked in by now! What’s up?” Ray tried to be cheerful, but he seemed a bit off.
Yuno stood there for a moment, considering.
“Yuno?”
“You’re hurting her.” Though there was no inherent threat to these words, Yuno’s cold tone left no room for doubt.
“I- I would never hurt her on purpose! You know that! I just- sometimes, the girls don’t like me, yknow?”
Yuno crossed his arms.
“I know I shouldn’t have said all that stuff about other dates, and I shouldn’t have gotten sappy at the end, but it wasn’t trying to hurt her! I promise! I was only trying to make her-” Ray stopped himself.
“To make her stay?” Yuno continued staring.
“I- yes, yes, I guess so.” Ray sounded disappointed in himself, even. “I really like her, and I thought- it was stupid.” Silence hung in the air for a few moments, then Yuno broke it suddenly, turning away from Ray.
“You know what bothers me the most?” He paused, but the question seemed rhetorical, so Ray just waited. Yuno swung back around suddenly, facing him again. “People telling others what to do, or how to live their lives. Even indirectly.”
Ray took a step back, and Yuno took a step towards him. “I wouldn’t- I’m not-” Ray stuttered.
“I know.” Yuno smiled faintly. “But do you know what bothers me the second most?”
“W-what?” Ray said, thoroughly confused.
“Using other people to deal with your emotions.”
Ray blinked at him.
“Using relationships to deal with your emotions. Taking them out on other people.”
Ray blinked at him again.
“Just because you’re lonely, doesn’t mean you get to date and then leave half the city, Ray.”
This snapped Ray out of his shock. “I don’t- That’s not-”
Yuno stepped away from Ray and sighed. “Look, Ray. It’s fine when you do it to random people. It’s fine when you do it to friends, even. But it’s not fine to do it to my sister, okay?”
Ray stared at him for a moment or two. “...Okay. I won’t… I won’t date your sister. Is that what you want?”
“I want you to not use her to help you cope with your own feelings. If that means to not date her, then don’t date her.”
“Alright. I- I understand, Yuno.” Ray looked torn between defensive and sad. It was probably best to leave him be. The point had been made.
“I’ll see you later, Ray.” Yuno walked away, towards his car and his sister. He would check with Ray in a few hours. But not without driving his point home. He slid into the Sultan’s drivers seat. “I talked to him, Rae. Where to next?”
“You- what did you say??” she looked at him a little disbelievingly, but happy. “What is he going to do now?”
Yuno shrugs. “It’s not important, and that’s up to him, I guess. Wanna do some house robberies?”
She laughed a little hysterically. “Well, there’s the Yuno we know and love. Sure, I guess. Let’s rob some houses! Great timing!”
“It is great timing. I hear a lot of sirens, so the cops are probably busy right now! I bet they won’t even show up!”
“That’s not what I meant- nevermind.” Rae smiled. “Let’s go, Yuno.”