Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL 1. Bring it to 'em!

**Disclaimer: I do not own YGO ZEXAL and never will! Sadly…!**

**C-Y-F: One of my first fics, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

I held my hand out, "Rio, are you okay?"

Rio smiled and took my extended hand, "Yeah, of course, Rima!"

I smiled and before I knew it Rio had been turned to dust. I fell to my knees, "RIO!"

"RIO!" I screamed out as I sat up on my bed. I breathed heavily as I clutched my blankets. I smiled sadly, "That dream, again?"

I woke up and did my morning routine.

Oh, my name is Rima Tsubasa. What else? Um, I live by myself in my house. Okay, my parents are ALWAYS away on business but that really isn't anything new. I'm neighbors with Yuma and we're good friends…I'm best friends with Shark and…Rio. Anyways, I love dueling, but who doesn't? I was a finalist in the Duel Nationals but I forfeited because I got sick. It was a really pneumonia. So, I wasn't allowed to duel. I don't know why I suddenly got it…

Anyways, I need to get to school.

* * *

I sat at my desk which is right beside Kotori's. Kotori was one of my classmates. She doesn't duel but hey, she's still a good person. She had bright green, shoulder-length hair and cute hazel eyes. She's a really nice person so I have nothing against her.

"Good morning, Rima," she greeted.

"Morning, Kotori," I greeted back with a smile.

She was wearing the regular girl school uniform as I wore the guy one. You know, the red shirt and tie, but I wore light blue shorts with mine. I didn't really want to wear the skirt. It was so short! How can I move in that! First day when I had to wear it, I could barely walk up the stairs without holding my skirt down! It just wasn't worth it. I flipped back my white hair. It reached my waist, which I love~ I also have big, brown eyes.

Yuma ran into the classroom and sat down, "Made it…"

"Right on time, Yuma…for once," I teased as the teacher walked in.

He stuck out his tongue at me. He then just stretched, "Hey, I made it, didn't I?" Yuma was…daring. He liked doing all this crazy stuff. And no, I do not mean drugs and stuff. He just does a lot of challenges. He usually fails though. He had black hair with two pink spikes. A rather crazy hairstyle but it suits him. The Emperors key dangled from his neck.

It was something that he got from his dad. But…his dad sort of disappeared. Yuma has Akari-san, his sister, and Haru-san, his grandmother, with him though. His mother disappeared as well. Speaking of Mirai-san, I had the Empress Key. I had received it from Yuma's mom when I had entered the Duel Nationals, which took place in Heartland. It was sort of a good luck charm to me. It looked like a feather and embedded in it was a small red gem. I miss Mirai-san. She was a really warm and caring person. _More than my mother was_, I thought bitterly.

I quickly looked to the front of the class. Somehow…thinking that hurts.

* * *

**Gym class!**

Tetsuo hit the blocks, "It's impossible! Going over twenty vaults, it's impossible!" Tetsuo was a rather plump boy with hair that reminded me of a pine tree.

"That kind of height?" asked Yuma confidently, "I can overcome it! Kattobingu daze, ore!"

And that's his catchphrase, 'Bring it to 'em!' I watched as he made the jump…and ultimately failed.

"Are you okay, Yuma?" asked Kotori as she stepped forward.

Everyone else around us laughed, Tetsuo being the loudest. It's funny how Tetsuo and Yuma are actually best friends.

"Kattobingu," mumbled Yuma as he lay on the floor. I winced slightly, that'll probably leave a mark.

"Isn't he an idiot?" asked Tetsuo smugly. Again, how are they best friends?

I sighed and knelt down in front of Yuma, "Anything badly hurt?" I asked with a hint of concern.

Yuma looked up at me, probably surprised at my tone. He slightly shook his head, "No."

I patted his head, "Then you're fine." I smiled brightly as he lightly glared at me.

* * *

**Swim class!**

Yuma dove into the pool. I've gotten used to these 'challenges' he always accepts. Actually, he's pretty well-known for doing these challenges…and failing.

"Good luck!" cheered Kotori. I had a sneaking suspicion she liked- I blinked. I shifted my gaze to Yuma then back to Kotori. Maybe…

"It's impossible, it's impossible," said Tetsuo, "It's not possible, right?"

I blinked before realizing he was talking about Yuma and the challenge. "Who knows?" I shrugged, combing my fingers through my ponytail.

A ton of bubbles came up and that was obviously Yuma, who failed.

Tetsuo started laughing as Kotori looked worried, "Yuma!"

I sighed, not even bothering to ask if Yuma was okay. He seemed fine. Yuma spit out water like a fountain. I stared at him in slight disgust. Ew…We swim in that!

* * *

"Just as instructed, the document's basics are…"

I barely listened to our sensei as she droned on and on and on and on…I'm not going to go into details. It's torture already, I don't want to repeat it. Kotori and Yuma were talking to each other but I didn't really feel like eavesdropping.

"Kattobingu!" yelled Yuma as he stood up.

I sweat dropped, bad move.

Our sensei had already started walking towards him but now that he yelled she was right up in his face. There was a lot of giggling from the other class members as I watched in exasperation. This happens at _least _once a week.

* * *

**Dueling!**

I ran out with Yuma and Kotori. Dueling Period! Finally, my time to shine!

Yuma was grinning like mad, "Oh! They're doing it, they're doing it! Yeah!" With that, he threw up his D-Gazer. He yelled, "D-Gazer set!"

Kotori and I put ours on less ceremoniously. I rolled my eyes at Yuma as he jumped around happily.

As the A/R turned on we saw a fish Duel Monster fly by us. We had to duck but I don't think anything would've happened if we let it go through us. We walked through the path looking around.

I hummed as I looked around. Who to duel…? Who to duel…?

"Who are you going to lose against this time, Yuma?" asked Kotori teasingly.

Yuma faltered, "I am going to win this time! If I do Kattobingu I will get a straight win record-"

"Oi, you two, stop flirting," I said as I looked over the hill. I'm pretty sure that was…

"It's not-"

"Yeah, yeah," I said as I rolled my eyes, "Now look over there," and I proceeded to point to the duelists.

"It's Tetsuo!" said Yuma. We looked to each other before nodding. We all ran up the stairs to the sidelines of the duel.

"Yuma, Rima, Tetsuo's opponent is…" Kotori spoke.

"Shark!" said Yuma, finishing the sentence.

Shark…Oh, we're not talking about the animal. I'm pretty sure I told you he was one of my best friends? Yeah, this is Shark. He has purple-blue tentacle hair and his _real_ name is Ryoga. He's got these awesome blue eyes that I wish I had. Oh, he's also a kickass duelist. If I had to pick between 5 pro duelists and Shark, I'd pick Shark in a heartbeat.

"Xyz summon!" said Shark, "When there are two or more monsters with the same level, I can use those monsters as materials and special summon and Xyz monster! I overlay level 3 Skull Kraken and level 3 Big Jaws! Xyz summon! Come, Shark of the sky, Aero Shark!"

An orange shark appeared on the field with missiles connected to it.

"Xyz summon?" questioned Kotori.

"The special thing about Xyz summon is that, the material monsters aren't sent to the graveyard, but become overlay units and support the Xyz monster! I don't have any Xyz monsters but it's amazing I tell you!" spoke Yuma, amazed.

I nodded in agreement, "Xyz monsters can help your deck immensely. It can be a great comeback!"

"Go, Aero Shark!" ordered Shark, "Direct attack!"

Tetsuo was hit with direct damage.

**Shark: 4000LPS **

**Tetsuo: 0LPS**

**Shark is the winner!**

We took off our D-Gazers. That was a good finishing move. I expect no less from Shark though.

"Tetsuo…" whispered Yuma.

Shark walked over to Tetsuo with a smirk, "As promised, I will be taking this…"

To my disbelief, Shark picked up Tetsuo's deck. W-why?

"What are you planning to do with Tetsuo's deck?!" asked Yuma as we ran over to Shark.

He glanced at me before turning back to Yuma, "Who are you?"

I glanced at the deck and then back to Shark. What's he doing?!

"I am Tsukumo Yuma, this guys' classmate!"

"Oi, you know who this person is, right?" asked Goon #1.

"Yeah, I know," said Yuma, "The boss of the bullies of this school, Shark!"

"You sure know well," said Shark, "but this is a righteous reward."

I was confused, "What?" Righteous award?! How is taking someone's deck a righteous reward?!

"In this duel, we bet our decks."

Decks…? Why would he…There's no reason to take someone's deck!

"For what purpose…?" and Yuma trailed off.

"These guys…" started Tetsuo, "kept telling me that I don't have any experience to call myself a duelist…"

Yuma tsked, "Then I will beat him in a duel and get that deck back!"

"Yuma," I warned, putting my hand on his shoulder. That might not be a good choice.

"Stupid!" said Goon #1 as I retracted my hand, "Shark-san has skills to enter a world national!"

"He isn't someone you can win against!" said Goon #2.

I stared at the goons. I won't deny that Shark is a good duelist but saying rude things to Yuma like that…! I was with Shark at the Nationals, I have been friends with him ever since he started dueling!

"How would I know that?" asked Yuma, "I'm also aiming to be the Duel Champion!"

Sharks' eyes narrowed, "Duel Champion?" he stepped closer to Yuma, "Do you know how strong you must be to be a Duel Champion?"

"I don't know that…but…"

"Then you shouldn't blurt out such things!" yelled Shark. I winced, he snapped.

"I am free to dream, right?" asked Yuma.

"A dream, eh?" said Shark and then he held out Bronk's deck, "If you want this deck back, hand over something you value precious."

"My most precious thing…" said Yuma as he looked down to his Key. Oh no…please no!

Before I could do anything Shark had ripped the key from its rope on Yuma's neck. "S-Shark!" I called out. What the…?!

Yuma advanced but the goons stopped him, "What are you doing?" He yelled.

"It looks like this is a really prized possession," said Shark smugly.

"Give it back!" yelled Yuma. That was from his dad…

"Should I show you this thing's real value?"

"Eh?" asked Yuma.

My eyes narrowed, what did Shark mean by that?

Shark dropped the Key to the ground, "Precious things, you know? You will know its value when you lose it. It's real value!"

We all gasped as Shark stomped on the Emperors Key.

The goons freed Yuma who fell to his knees. He picked up the main piece before glaring at Shark, "You bastard! How dare you?!"

Shark moved his foot to reveal the lower piece, "Your precious thing just broke…and has disappeared." He had kicked the piece away, out of our sight.

"Too bad," said Shark, "but looks like I can't return this deck."

"You are a coward, Shark!" yelled Yuma as he tried to punch said-person.

Tetsuo held him back, "Stop!"

"But I will give you a chance," smirked Shark, "If you are planning on becoming the future Champion, let's battle with a duel! If you beat me, I will return this deck. But if I win, I will take your deck! This week Sunday, location is in the park in front of the station. If you want to get the deck back, come."

Before I could let him leave, I ran in front of Shark.

"What is it, Rima-"

I slapped him hard across the face. He looked shocked and held his red cheek. "Shark…why are you doing this?" I asked him quietly. "There's no need. Making someone lose something valuable…" I looked him straight in the eye, "You don't feel the least bit sorry? Especially when you, yourself almost lost something valuable?"

Shark just put his hands in his pockets, "Huh. I didn't think you would do that." I saw how he just dodged what I said.

"Well, you thought wrong, Ryoga-oniichan," I said sadly as I walked back over to Yuma's side. It was just something I called him when I felt like it. He usually tells me never to call him that in public.

He stared at me before walking off with his goons.

I knelt down in front of Yuma, "Sorry, Yuma…I could've done something but…"

"It's alright," said Yuma, not looking up at me. I noticed how he clenched his fists tightly. It's something you do when you try not to cry. I stood up, looked to Kotori and Tetsuo. "Don't worry. I'll take him home," I said.

* * *

I held the rope connected to my Key. I watched it glint in the small amount of moonlight, "Mirai…I don't know why you entrusted me with this."

* * *

I sat beside Yuma as everyone around us jumped vaults.

"Hey, Yuma?" I asked.

"Huh?"

I put my hand on his shoulder, "I know I'm not the best of friends but you know, I'm here for you."

He stared at me before looking back down, "Thanks, Rima." He was being really down today.

"Yuma!" yelled Kotori as she ran over to us, "You aren't challenging twenty stacks today?"

Yuma gripped his half-key, "It's okay today. I'll pass."

"Yuma…" whispered Kotori. She was obviously worried.

* * *

"Yuma!" yelled one of the boys, "Aren't you Kattobingu today?"

"Next time…" said Yuma, waving his hand in dismissal.

Kotori and I were in the water in front of him. She looked at Yuma thoughtfully before splashing Yuma with some of the water.

She smiled, "Come on, cheer up, Yuma!"

"I know…" said Yuma, "But I can't get any strength right now. Because the key broke…I can't believe I'm not able to Kattobingu."

Kotori and I lifted ourselves up onto beside Yuma.

"Yuma…" said Kotori, concerned for him.

I clutched my Empress Key. Shark has gone too far.

* * *

Kotori and Yuma went walking around while I went straight to the hospital.

I went to the Front Desk, "I'm here to see Rio Kamishiro."

I barely listened to the nurse as I went through the familiar doors to Rio's room. As I entered I saw her there, lying on the bed.

I sat on a stool and watched Rio, "Hey, Rio…"

Rio was my closest friend in the world. She was Shark's younger, twin sister. She had long, blue hair with light blue bangs. She's one year older than me but we still became friends. I put my bag down. Rio looked a mummy, wearing all those bandaged around her body. I think she was asleep but she could be awake.

"I wish they didn't cover your hair," I smiled sadly. "I always loved stroking it since Shark will never let me touch his hair, the meanie."

Rio was covered in bandages and wires but I talk to her like she was her normal self.

I sighed, "Your brother is being a big jerk. But…I know he will turn back to normal soon enough."

I touched Rio's bandaged hand softly, "I love you, Rio-chan." A few tears ran down the side of my face, "I miss you…" I dried my tears and left.

* * *

Yuma held up a card, "Just how am I supposed to use this card?"

When I had walked back home, I noticed Yuma's bedroom light was on. I joined him in arranging his deck. He showed me the other half of his key. I have to thank Tetsuo.

"Just keep it in your deck, Yuma," I said, "It could help in a tight situation."

Yuma nodded, "This deck is something my dad used. If I can use this deck well…I am sure it's strong!"

* * *

I strapped my deck-box to my belt. I was wearing faded jeans shorts and a white t-shirt. My hair was decent so I was ready to go. I walked out of my house to be met with Yuma running past me. I rolled my eyes and raced after him. I was able to catch up, "Yuma, this duel is gonna be a hard one, I should know." I walked beside him, seeing various scenarios flashing through my head.

"Ah," said Yuma, "I know. But I'm not backing down!" He smiled bravely.

I smiled, "Alright! I wish you the best of luck then!" I really do.

* * *

"I will congratulate you for not running away in fear," said Shark, "But if you ran away with your tail running, your deck would have been safe."

Yuma pointed at him, "Instead of running away from someone like you, I would rather quit being a duelist! Kattobingu daze, ore! Duel Disk, set! D-Gazer, set! Duel target, lock on!"

**A/R Link established.**

"Duel!"

"Hang in there, Yuma!" cheered Kotori.

"Let's go! My turn, draw!" yelled Yuma, "I summon Zubaba Knight (Atk: 1600-Lvl: 3)! It's the first turn, so I can't attack. So I end my turn like this!"

No set cards…Zubaba Knight has no effects…This might be bad.

"My turn, draw!" said Shark, "I summon Big Jaws (Atk: 1800-Lvl: 3)!"

"An attack power of 1800?" asked Yuma. Not good. Sure, if Shark attacks there's not much damage but…

"Zubaba Knight's attack points is 1600," said Shark, "Big Jaws's attack points is 1800. When two monsters in attack position battles, the one with the lowest attack will be destroyed and you will receive damage equal to the difference of their attack points."

"He had a monster stronger than Zubaba Knight in his hand?" questioned Yuma.

"That kind of trash monster should have been summoned in defense position," said Shark.

I closed my eyes. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…" I mumbled under my breath to calm down.

"What are you doing, Rima?" Kotori asked me, confusion in her eyes.

I opened my eyes, smiling at her, "Just calming myself down."

"All…alright," she said, blinking.

Shark continued, "Well, even if you had a better monster than that, it would've been pointless. I activate the magic card Aqua Jet! Until the end phase, a Water-attribute monster's attack is increased by 1000 points (Atk: 2800)!"

"It's here!" said one of the goons.

"Shark-san's magic combo!" said the other.

"Battle," ordered Shark, "Go, Big Jaws! Big mess!"

Zubaba Knight was destroyed.

**Shark: 4000LPS**

**Yuma: 2800LPS**

"Zubaba!" yelled Yuma. He lost a good deal of life points.

"I set one card and end my turn!" said Shark as he smirked.

"Damn it!" cursed Yuma, "But I only lost 1200 life points! My turn, draw! I summon Gagaga Magician (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)! I'm counting on you, Gagaga!"

"What?" asked Shark, "Only an attack power of 1500 and it's in attack position? My god, what a total misplay."

I half-agreed, what was Yuma up to? An equip spell, a monster effect?

"It's not!" said Yuma, "I equip from my hand Wonder Wand to Gagaga Magician! A monster equipped with Wonder Wand will have its attack increased by 500 points (Atk: 2000)! If the attack power is low, then I will power up with an equip magic card!"

"Alright!" cheered Kotori, "With this, it's power is higher than Big Jaws!"

"Go, Gagaga Magician!" ordered Yuma, "Attack Big Jaws!"

"To totally ignore my face down card…" said Shark, "Trap activate!"

"Trap card?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

"Zeus Breath!" said Shark, "This card activates when my opponents monster attacks and it negates the attack!"

Yuma was caught in the tide. Shoot…

Shark continued, "Also, when there is a Water-attribute monster on the field, it inflicts 800 points of damage to the opponent! My Big Jaws is a Water-attribute monster! So, you will take on 800 points of damage!"

**Shark: 4000LPS**

**Yuma: 2000LPS**

Yuma was already down by half his life points. Yuma better get a bit of defense on because this isn't the end.

"Damn it!" swore Yuma.

"Is that so…trap card, eh?" he asked and he flipped up, "Alright! I set one trap card! Turn end!"

"Yuma!" yelled Tetsuo face-palming.

"Idiot," I said shaking my head, "Set cards can be a trap or a magic. If you tell your opponent, well, it can be advantage for them!"

"Dang it!" yelled Kotori, "Get yourself together!"

"H-hey, it's not my fault!" Yuma shouted back.

"You stupid trash," said Shark getting Yuma's attention. "My turn, draw! I summon Skull Kraken (Atk: 600-Lvl: 3)!"

"Attack power of 600," said Yuma, reading its stats, "Alright. There aren't any monsters on his field that has higher attack than Gagaga Magician!"

"Like it can go that easy," said Shark, "I activate Skull Kraken's effect! When Skull Kraken is summoned, it destroys face-up magic or trap card on the opponent's field! I destroy Wonder Wand (Atk: 1500)!"

"What?!" asked Yuma shocked.

That's bad.

"With this, Gagaga Magician's attack power has become lower than Big Jaws."

"This is bad!" said Tetsuo, voicing my thoughts.

"Huh?" asked Kotori.

"With this, Shark has two monsters on his field," said Tetsuo, "This pattern is the same as when he dueled me!"

"And that would mean…" I said, "An Xyz summon!"

"Looks like Yuma really can't win…" said Tetsuo.

"Yuma…" whispered Kotori.

I stared at Yuma, "You two may have lost hope but I'm gonna keep cheering Yuma on."

"Rima…" said Kotori.

It was true though. Yuma needs someone to be behind him, "Yuma!"

Yuma didn't answer as he was staring at the ground.

"What's wrong?" asked Shark, "Are you really planning on becoming the Duel Champion with those kinds of skills?"

Yuma clutched his Key.

"Because you are still clinging onto something like that, you can't win in a duel!" mocked Shark.

I reached up and held my Key. Shark is being such an ass!

"What?!" asked Yuma angrily.

"I just thought of something good," said Shark, "If I take away your deck, just like your key, I will rip it all apart!"

"You bastard…" growled Yuma.

"In the end, you can't do anything all alone, can you?" Shark insulted Yuma. He then started cackling.

"Stop joking around!" yelled Yuma, "I am not someone like that! No matter how much I fail, no matter how much I get laughed at, I will always Kattobingu because…I always believe in myself! My Kattobingu hasn't finished yet!"

Yuma ripped his half-key from its cord and it was glowing insanely. I looked down to see the Empress Key glowing as well. The hell?

As the glow died down…uh? Where the hell am I? Let me rephrase that, where are we? Yuma was beside me holding his key.

Yuma looked to me, "Rima?"

"Where are we?" I asked as I saw a gate in front of us.

"Long story," he said.

I was about to ask him to clarify but then his key changed. The other half of it…was back?

"Now, open the door!"

I knew it was the creepy door-gate-thing talking.

Yuma looked shocked, "This is?!"

"Open the door!" said the demon door, "If you do, you will obtain a new power but in exchange…you will lose something you hold most precious."

Yuma looked at his key.

I smiled, "I may not know what the hell is going on but…Kattobingu!"

Yuma smiled, "Thank you, Rima." He then started sprinting towards the demon door, "I am going to Kattobingu all the way!"

He shot his hand through the keyhole. Yuma was knocked backwards and a barrier surrounded me. I looked down at my key, "Could this thing be doing this?" I asked myself.

The chains on the door snapped and it opened. I don't know if it was just me but I saw a blue figure fly through. Actually, did I see two? I blinked. Okay…

I don't know if there was a second one but I have no clue where it went. The first one though 'hit' Yuma and a bunch of cards surrounded him. The barrier was still in place but it was fading.

"Huh, what…what is this?!" asked Yuma.

In a blink of an eye, we were back to the duel.

Yuma was sitting while my key had stopped the barrier and its glow.

"What…what was that just now?" asked Yuma, "A dream?"

"No…I don't think so," I said to him.

Yuma still look confused and he looked at the key in his hands, "That's right…What happened?"

I heard a grunt of pain. I turned to see Shark hunched over, "Shark?"

"What is this?" he asked, "Strength is overflowing within me…" he yelled in pain?

"Shark, what's wrong?" I asked worriedly. He may be acting like a jerk but we're still friends.

He didn't answer and he winced in pain, "I overlay the level 3 Big Jaws and Skull Kraken! I construct the overlay network with the two monsters! Come, No.17 Revise Dragon (Atk: 2000-Rank: 3)!"

"Numbers?" asked Yuma.

"I've never heard of number monsters before," I said steadily.

"That isn't the monster he summoned in my duel!" said Tetsuo.

"Then what is that?" asked Kotori.

"I'm the same with Rima," said Tetsuo, "I've never heard of numbers before either"

Shark continued, "I activate Revise Dragon's effect! Once per turn, by using an overlay unit, Revise Dragon's attack points increases by 500!"

"What?!" asked Yuma disbelievingly.

"Go Revise Dragon, vice stream (Atk: 2500)!" ordered Shark.

Yuma was pushed backwards by the blast. Gagaga Magician was destroyed.

**Shark: 4000LPS**

**Yuma: 1000LPS**

"Yuma!" yelled Kotori.

I bit my lip, three thousand point gap…

"Looks like the match is set," said Shark, "I will finish you off with the next blow!"

Yuma was still struggling on the ground, "Ugh…it hurts…Damn it, looks like I can't-"

"Stand up!"

My eyes grew wide as I noticed…that blue being again. It was an actual person.

"Let's win," he said.

"Who are you?" asked Yuma, voicing my thoughts.

**Alright! First chapter revised on 19/05/13. **


	2. My name is Astral

**Disclaimer: I do not own YGO ZEXAL**

* * *

"Let's win" said the…I was about to say man but he doesn't look old. He actually looks our age, maybe a year older. It's sort of weird thinking about this, considering he's blue.

"Who are you?" asked Yuma.

I already said he was blue but he also had these jewels all over his body. He had almost-white, blue hair and earrings. The part that stuck out to me was his eyes though. They were mismatched. One was white while the other was a golden hue.

Yuma flipped up, "Ju-just who are you?!"

"Astral" the being said.

"A-Astral?" questioned Yuma.

"My memory of that is clear," he said.

"Wh-what's this guy on about?" asked Yuma. Right, I forgot, Yuma is a very impatient person.

"What's wrong, Yuma?" asked Kotori as she used her D-Gazer to talk to Yuma.

I rolled my eyes, lazy little suckers. Wait…They can't see this Astral?

Tetsuo used his as well, "What're you talking to yourself about?"

That definitely confirmed it.

"Can't you guys see him?" asked Yuma, pointing at Astral.

"Eh?" asked Kotori.

I guess to Kotori and Tetsuo it looked like air, "Come on, here! Right here!" Yuma shouted.

"Is someone there?" asked Kotori as her and Tetsuo squinted to look.

"Of course there is! Rima, you can see him, right?!" Yuma asked, desperately trying to convince himself he wasn't crazy.

"Yes, I can see Astral," I said as I watched him hop around Astral.

Yuma nodded, "See? Rima can see him! There's this weird-looking guy right here!"

"Rima, huh?"

I blinked and looked at Astral. He was looking at me, "Yeah…my name's Rima," I said as I pointed to myself.

He nodded, "So you, too, can see me."

"Could he be so scared he's lost it?" asked Tetsuo.

"I'm not scared!" yelled Yuma.

"I don't think…anyone other than us can see Astral," I said to Yuma.

He reached up, "Are our D-Gazers broken? Hey, where did we get these from?"

"Yuma, all D-Gazers are made by the exact same brand unless its' custom made" I said with an eye-roll.

"You can't understand my existence, can you?" asked Astral.

"Could it be you're a ghost, right?!" asked Yuma.

Ghost…? I was totally lost by that.

"Ghost?!" asked Tetsuo and Kotori incredulously.

"What kind of effect does a ghost have?" asked Astral, "When does it activate?"

I smiled slightly despite the situation. He was talking about dueling.

"Huh?" asked Yuma, "What are you talking about?"

"It seems like I have lost my memory," said Astral, "Most likely when I arrived in this world some kind of impact scattered them, or so I'd assume."

"Scattered?" I questioned. How can a memory…scatter?

Yuma went around Astral, "ME-MO-RY?! Memory loss, you mean? Besides that, what about memories being 'scattered'? It's no good! I've totally lost it. Why during such an important duel?"

Personally, I think Yuma is overreacting.

"Calm down," said Astral.

"This is your fault!" yelled Yuma.

"Is Yuma okay?" asked Kotori.

I sweat dropped, "Define 'okay.'"

Kotori looked worried, "He's been chatting to himself for a while now."

Yuma was talking with Astral but Astral wasn't really listening. Well, maybe a bit but not really.

"I knew it was too much for him, challenging Shark to a duel," said Tetsuo.

"Tetsuo, you aren't allowed to wimp out too!" yelled Kotori, "Both your and Yuma's decks are riding on this duel! Like we'll let someone like Shark take them away."

I laughed slightly, "You go girl!"

"Get it together now, Yuma!" yelled Kotori.

"I have got it together!" Yuma yelled back. He looked to Astral, "So only Rima and I are the only ones who can see this guy. On top of that, since that numbers card appeared, the feeling I get from Shark has suddenly changed."

So he noticed as well. Something's wrong with Shark.

"No.17 Revise Dragon" said Shark, "When this Xyz monster appeared, energy rushed into me. Right now I feel like I can't lose to anyone. I will take your deck! I set one card on the field. Turn end!"

"Numbers," said Astral making me face him. "There should be some kind of important memory linked with that. My instincts are telling me to win this duel."

"Duel?" asked Yuma, "You know about duels?"

"You just figured that out," I said, "When Astral was talking about the ghost, you truly didn't think that had anything to do with dueling?"

"Shut up!" said Yuma crossing his arms, "He was asking about a ghost weirdly. It had nothing…" he thought for a second before sighing, "Ah, okay you win."

"Rima is correct," said Astral, "I am a duelist."

"A ghost that's a duelist?" asked Yuma, shocked.

Not sure if he's a ghost but okay…

"A ghost that's a duelist?" questioned Tetsuo and Kotori.

"I am a duelist!" said Astral and he pointed outwards, "My turn!"

"It's MY turn!" yelled Yuma angrily.

I think it was sorta cute that Astral was doing that.

Yuma continued, "My turn, draw!"

Astral looked over Yuma's shoulder, "I set Gogogo Golem in defense position"

Interesting…I guess he knows about said-monsters effect.

"Don't butt into my duel!" yelled Yuma irritated. Ugh, he's so loud, "I summon Gogogo Golem (Atk: 1800-Lvl: 4) in attack position!"

"1800 attack points can't defeat his monster," said Astral. Hopefully, Yuma knows that.

"I know that!" said Yuma, "From my hand, I activate the magic card Unprecedented Wind! It increases the attack points of one attack position monster by 1000 points until my next turn (Atk: 2800)!"

Kotori jumped up in joy, "Yuma, now's your chance!"

Even if this attack works, Shark will not be finished off. However, the monster will be destroyed, which is great.

"Go, Gogogo Golem! Attack Revise Dragon!" ordered Yuma.

The attack went through creating a bit of smoke.

**Shark: 3700LPS **

**Yuma: 1000LPS**

"Alright!" cheered Yuma, "Now Revise Dragon is destroyed and I've started chipping off Sharks' life points! Yay!"

I stared off into the smoke though. I caught a glance of the blue-ish purple. How…?!

"Look" said Astral staring at the rising smoke. Ah, so he saw it as well.

"H-huh?" asked Yuma.

"Even though the life points went down…" said Kotori before shaking Tetsuo, "Why didn't he beat it? If they're both in attack position, the one with more attack points wins, right?"

"Not always," I said with narrowed eyes, "A lot of things could get in the way, such as monster effects and set cards."

Tetsuo nodded, "Ah, what Rima said."

Astral nodded, "That's correct."

"Wait a minute!" yelled Yuma, "Revise Dragon should have been destroyed, shouldn't it?"

"Whoops," said Shark, "I didn't tell you, did I? A number can't be defeated, except by another number."

Yuma faltered, "No way. I don't have a number!"

"Numbers can't be beat unless it's by another number?" asked Tetsuo incredulously, "What are you supposed to do about that?"

"Bu-But numbers have nothing to do with it," said Yuma, "Gogogo Golem's attack points are higher than Revise Dragon's."

Did Yuma forget about the overlay effect?

"On the next turn, Gogogo Golem will be destroyed" said Astral, "If there is a monster with 800 attack points or more in his hand, we already can't win this duel."

"I still have 1000 life points…" said Yuma.

"But Revise Dragon has one overlay unit left," I pointed out.

"Hah?" asked Yuma, "What does that have to do with anything?"

I face-palmed, what an idiot!

"My first result of my observations: Your dueling tactics are far inferior to mine," said Astral to Yuma.

"Inferior?!" asked Yuma, mad. But then he sweat dropped, "S-so what are tactics?"

I almost fell, "Yuma…"

"It means your strategy," explained Astral. With that tone of voice, it was as if he speaking to a child.

"Oh right, my strategy," said Yuma before glaring, "What was that?!"

"This will decide the match!" said Shark, "My turn, draw! Cheh…I summon Drill Barnacle (Atk: 300-Lvl: 3)!"

I sighed out of relief as Astral spoke, "300 attack points. We're saved."

"Like I said, what are you on about?" asked Yuma. We pretty much ignored that.

"Revise Dragon's effect activates!" said Shark, "It uses one overlay unit and its attack points go up by 500 (Atk: 3000)!"

"3000 attack points?" asked Yuma, "For real?!"

"One of Revise Dragon's overlay units remained," said Astral, "It was obvious he'd use that effect and increase its attack points. Rima warned you."

Yuma needed to learn how to read a situation.

"You're kidding!" yelled Yuma, who was generally shocked.

"Go, Revice Dragon!" ordered Shark, "Attack Gogogo Golem!"

**Shark: 3700LPS**

** Yuma: 800LPS**

"He dropped my life points to 800!" said Yuma and he finally figured out the rest.

"I still have an attack remaining," said Shark, "Drill Barnacle, drill attack!"

Yuma was thrown backwards, "Damn it!"

**Shark: 3700LPS **

**Yuma: 500LPS**

"Yuma," said Kotori in concern.

Yuma may be losing but he still could have a chance.

"When Gogogo Golem is in defense position, just once, it has an effect which prevents it from being destroyed by battle" said Astral, "If you had done as I instructed, and played Gogogo Golem in defense position, this pinch wouldn't have been so-"

"Shut up!" shouted Yuma as he jumped up.

"Hm?" Astral stared at his hand. Actually, he looked sort of…transparent.

"What is this?" he asked, "My very life is being depleted" He closed and reopened his eyes, "Numbers…"

"Huh?" asked Yuma.

"I've remembered," He said quietly, "These numbers are pieces of my memory! Numbers are special cards among Xyz monsters. They cannot be defeated by cards of this world. What's more, in a duel between numbers, the victor absorbs the losers' number"

"What do you mean…?" I asked. Absorb?

"If I cannot win this duel I will be erased from this world," said Astral, "I must win this duel."

Yuma looked irritated, "I've been trying to win from the start! But right now I don't have any cards I can use to counterattack. On his next turn, if I can at least stop Revise Dragon's attack, even if I take Drill Barnacle's attack, I'll still have 200 life points."

"It's useless even thinking about that," said Shark, "Drill Barnacle's effect activate! When it deals damage to my opponent, it can increase its attack points by 1000 (Atk: 1300)! Also, Drill Barnacle is a monster which can direct attack in the first place. Next turn, if it can direct attack it's over!"

Sadly, that's true. Yuma better get a good draw.

"For real?" asked Yuma, "If I get hit by that I'll really lose. What do I do? What do I do? Oh! I had a trap card set! Um…What was this card again?"

I couldn't see the card on the Duel Disk. I was a bit shocked that Yuma forgot about one of his set cards.

Astral spoke, "Bye Bye Damage, huh? If you had activated that on top of dealing damage to him, Gogogo Golem wouldn't have been destroyed."

Yuma's making a bunch of mistakes.

Yuma stomped his foot like a child, "I forgot because you were grumbling at me!"

"How about you give up this duel already?!" asked Shark.

"Like I'd give up!" retorted Yuma.

"Are you telling me you still have a way to win?"

"I'll never give up!" countered Yuma.

"Never give up?" repeated Shark. I had to strain to hear the other part, "I don't like hearing those words."

"One thing after another…" said Yuma. staring at his deck.

"There's still a chance," said Astral, "Summoning two monsters are the requirements for it. Listen carefully, um…"

You'd think Yuma would introduce himself by now.

"My name is Yuma!" said Yuma impatiently.

"Now listen carefully…Toma."

I nearly burst into laughter. I stifled it though and Kotori looked at me like I was crazy.

"It's not Toma!" said Yuma not amused, "It's Yuma!"

"With your next draw, pull a card that can special summon monsters," explained Astral.

No idea what he's talking about. It could be advance summon, fusion summon or Xyz summon. That doesn't help much.

"A card that can special summon?" repeated Yuma.

"Whatever you do, you must pull that card," said Astral.

"Oh, shut up!" said Yuma annoyed, "Both my and Tetsuo's decks are riding on this duel! My turn, draw!"

"Monster Reborn, huh?" said Astral, "Destiny hasn't abandoned me yet."

"I'm the one who pulled it!" shouted Yuma, "I summon Ganbara Knight (Atk: 0-Lvl: 4) in attack position!"

"Attack position?" I questioned. That doesn't make much sense. Unless he's trying to be a target, this won't really help.

"Yuma!" yelled Tetsuo, "Why in attack position? Ganbara Knight's attack points are zero!"

"Wha?!" shouted Yuma, "Oh no!"

"It seems I win, huh?" said Shark obviously enjoying this little moment, "Give up!"

"I will never give up!" said Yuma, "I can Kattobingu anytime!"

"Kattobingu?" repeated Astral questioningly.

"Kattobingu is taking on a challenge," said Yuma, "The heart to never give up. When a person gives up, their heart dies."

"You're all wind," said Shark, "'Never give up, never give up'. Guys like you irritate me the most! First off, how are you going to stand up to my monsters with a zero attack point monster?"

Yuma let out a breath.

"This will do," intercepted Astral, surprising me, "If you had played it in defense position, our chance would've been lost, Toma," he added.

"It's Yuma!"

Those two are exhausting.

"Revive Gagaga Magician with Monster Reborn," ordered Astral.

"What?" asked Yuma, confused.

"I must not disappear here," said Astral, "Trust me."

Yuma stared at him, contemplating it. He turned, "It's not like I believe you or anything."

I rolled my eyes, "Stubborn…"

He rather didn't hear me or he ignored it. I choose the former.

Yuma continued, "From my hand, I activate the magic card Monster Reborn! The Gagaga Magician in the graveyard is revived (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)!"

"Calling out a 1500 attack point monster at this point, what's the point of that?" asked Shark.

"With this, the requirements are in place," said Astral, "Overlay the level 4 Gagaga Magician and Ganbara Knight!"

No way… I stared at him, an Xyz summon?

"That couldn't be…an Xyz summon?" asked Yuma.

Astral didn't answer, "Look at your extra deck."

Yuma took a card from there and stared at it, "What is this Xyz monster? I can't read its' text."

What? Is it written in a different language or something?

"I can read it," said Astral, "No.39 The Aspiring Emperor – Hope."

"That's a number card?" I asked.

"That's right," said Astral. So he had one the entire time…

Yuma looked confused, "So, I have to summon it?"

"It's the power granted to you," said Astral.

Yuma looked ready, "Now, I have to bet on this. Kattobingu daze, ore! I overlay the level 4 Gagaga Magician and Ganbara Knight! With these two monsters I construct the overlay network"

Astral and Yuma spoke in unison, "No.39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

I grinned, they might have a fighting chance! Hope looked cool.

The duo spoke once more, "Go, Aspiring Emperor – Hope! Attack Drill Barnacle! Hope blade slash!"

**Shark: 2500LPS **

**Yuma: 500LPS**

"I did it!" cheered Yuma, "I did big damage to Shark!"

"A number?!" asked Shark, shocked.

"This is our only trump card for defeating Revise Dragon" stated Astral, "Aspiring Emperor – Hope!"

"Another number?!" asked Tetsuo incredulously. Ah, I forgot they couldn't see Astral.

"Aspiring Emperor – Hope?" asked Kotori, "Did Yuma have a card like that?"

"He didn't," said Tetsuo, "As far as I knew…"

"With this, I end my turn," said Yuma. Then he cheered, "That right there was my first Xyz summon in my entire life!" He ran over to us, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Did'ya see that?"

"Yeah, we saw," said Kotori.

"You saw, right?" asked Yuma.

I don't blame him for being excited. However...I stared at Shark.

"Kattobingu, it has paid off!" said Yuma happily.

"What're you so happy about?" asked Tetsuo, "Hope's attack points are 2500. If it gets attacked by the 3000 attack point Revise Dragon, it's over."

"That's right!" said Yuma getting back to his senses, "This is bad!"

"Though you've summoned a number, you're still no match for me!" said Shark, "My turn, draw! From my hand, magic card Surfacing, activate! This card special summons a Water-attribute monster from the graveyard. Be reborn, Big Jaws! And now I release Big Jaws to advance summon Jawsman (Atk: 2600-Lvl: 6)!"

"Advance summon?" asked Kotori.

"It's-" Tetsuo and I stared at each other. I nodded, "You explain."

He nodded, "It's a way of summoning where you release a monster to summon a high level monster.'

Shark continued, "This cards attack points increase by 300 for each Water-attribute monster on my field except itself. Revise Dragon is a Water-attribute so Jawsman's attack points are 2900. This is the end! First up, Revise Dragon attacks Hope!"

Yuma dodged an A/R rock, "Doesn't Hope have some kind of effect?"

Astral explained, "Hope's effect is, by using one overlay unit, it can negate a monsters attack."

Nice effect.

"Tell me that sooner!" yelled Yuma, "I activate Hope's effect! I use up one overlay unit and negate Revise Dragon's attack! Moon barrier!"

"So that's Hope's effect?" stated Shark, "However, if you dodge attacks but can't defeat my monsters, you can't win"

"Defeat his monsters…" said Yuma.

"You only have one overlay unit left to use," said Shark, "Numbers can't be defeated by an attack, except that of another number but damage can pass. If you want to escape this damage then use your last overlay unit! Go, Jawsman! Attack Hope!"

"Right now, it's as he says," said Astral. It's the only thing they can do, "Use Hope's effect again!"

"A way to defeat his monsters…" said Yuma and then he grinned, "Alright! Trap card Bye Bye Damage, activate! This protects one monster on my field from being destroyed by battle this turn!"

"Why didn't you use Hope's effect?!" asked Astral incredulously.

I looked on in worry. Yuma must have a good idea to lose life points like this.

"'Cuz I'm me!" smiled Yuma before being attacked, "And when the player takes battle damage, it inflicts double that damage to the opponent!"

**Shark: 1700LPS **

**Yuma: 100LPS**

"Now Yuma's life points are only 100," said Kotori.

Damn it, Yuma! I glared at said-person before sighing, he better win this.

"Because you activated a trap, I activate the continuous trap Urchin Bomb!" announced Shark, "This is a trap that inflicts 1000 points of damage to my opponent when my turn comes. Now my victory is assured!"

"It's no use," said Tetsuo, "Yuma had already lost."

"It can't be…Yuma…" said Kotori.

"No," I said. I stared blankly ahead. "He's going to win."

"Rima?" asked Kotori but I ignored her. If Yuma has a certain card in his hand…he'll be able to win.

"Now, just give up!" said Shark smugly.

Yuma stood up, "I'm not done. I won't give up yet!"

Shark sneered, "You only have one turn left. Why won't you give up on this duel?"

"Right back at you," said Yuma fiercely, "Why do you want me to give up so badly?! If you're so insistent about it, are you sure you haven't given up on something precious?"

I looked away, Rio…

"Haven't you given up on something precious?!" asked Yuma once more.

I turned to see Shark's eyes widen. For once, he looked back to normal. My hope was snatched as soon as it came. Shark's eyes got that evil edge once more.

"As long as you don't give up, you can Kattobingu again, anytime," said Yuma courageously, "I'll show you!"

"Are you still saying there is still a way to turn this around?" asked Astral.

"There is!" said Yuma and I believe him, "A combo in my deck to beat him."

Yuma took something out of his jacket, uh…

I ignored him for a second and looked to Shark. He looked really out of it.

"My duel meal!" I heard Yuma yell.

I looked back to him just to see him scarf down a rice ball. I rolled my eyes, "Boys."

He then did some flips, "Recharge complete! My turn! Right now, if I'm going to win, it has to be right now!" He started running, "Kattobingu daze, ore! Draw!" He then landed on his behind. Gosh...

He looked at his card and smiled, "It's here! Go! Hope, attack Revise Dragon!"

"Unbelievable!" said Astral, shocked.

I was stunned myself, "Yu-Yuma!"

"Why?!" asked Kotori.

"Why with the lower attack point Hope?!" asked Tetsuo.

"And now I activate Hope's effect!" ordered Yuma.

I blinked, "Eh?"

Yuma continued, "By using an overlay unit, Hope's attack is negated!"

Shark was chuckling, "What's the point in a combo that can't deal damage to me?!"

Yuma was still smiling, "The point is its over! From my hand, I activate the quickplay spell Double-Up Chance!"

"A quickplay spell?!" asked Shark incredulously.

I smiled, finally understanding. It's that card that Yuma didn't know how to use.

Yuma explained, "When a monster's attack is negated, this card doubles its attack points and lets it attack once more (Atk: 5000)!"

"5000 attack points?" asked Shark disbelievingly but he knew the answer.

"Kattobingu, Hope!" yelled Yuma, "Attack Revise Dragon!"

Shark was thrown backwards but the impact.

**Shark: 0LPS **

**Yuma: 100LPS**

**Yuma is the winner!**

I couldn't believe that just happened. Yuma…won?!

The A/R dispersed.

Yuma looked like he couldn't believe it either, "Did I…win?

Tetsuo then said, "Yuma…"

"Won…" said Kotori.

"Against Shark…" I finished.

We all looked at each other before they dashed to Yuma. I went as well but I was watching Shark out of my peripheral vision.

"I won!" yelled Yuma as he jumped up, "I won against Shark! I won, Kattobingu!"

I was still walking while watching Shark. I hope he's okay…

"Losing against a guy like that…You've fallen too low, Shark!" yelled the minions and they ran away. Poor Shark…

I bumped into something or someone. Someone grabbed my shoulder and I was able to keep my balance. I blinked before noticing it was Astral, "Ah, sorry."

"It's fine," he said as he let go of me.

He was staring at Shark for a bit before holding his hand out towards him. What was he doing? I watched as a card lifted out of Shark's chest. Well, you don't see that every day. The card flew to Astral's hand.

Shark flinched and the No.17 disappearing from his hand. I looked at No.17 in Astral's hand. First it was white but then the text appeared. I…I was able to read it. It wasn't in Japanese (kanji) though…

The card glowed before dissolving into the air. I watched as Astral's eyes widened. He looked really shocked.

"Are you alright?" I asked him in concern.

He was able to snap out of it, "I'm fine. Thank you, Rima."

I was about to answer him but my key felt a bit warm. I looked at it, "What…?"

Astral stared at my key, "That is…?"

I was about to answer him but then I saw Shark walking up to us.

"Shark," said Yuma unsurely.

Shark held out something. It was Tetsuo's deck! He looked somber, "As agreed."

Yuma put his hand on it, "Right, I'll have you give back Tetsuo's deck."

Shark turned around, his back facing us, "Yuma Tsukumo, I'll remember this."

He started walking away. Yuma then said, "Shark. I had a lot of fun! Let's duel again! This time without betting decks…let's Kattobingu to each other!"

Shark walked away without another word. Though, he turned back to me and gave me a small smile before leaving.

I smiled, he's back to normal…

"Believing in one single draw," said Astral gaining our attention, "and betting everything on it, huh?"

"Huh?" asked Yuma, "You're in a different mood."

True…

"Well, whatever," said Yuma as he smiled, "No problem!"

"It seems you're a duelist that exceeds my understanding," said Astral before adding that word, "Toma."

Suddenly, Yuma looked really annoyed and irritated. Just by the look on his face, I laughed. "It's not Toma!" yelled Yuma, "It Yuma!"

"You always have to exaggerate," I said as I put my hands behind my head.

"Oh, so Toma is always like this, Rima?" asked Astral.

"Now I know you're messing with me!" yelled Yuma, "You remembered Rima's name but not mine!"

I smiled. Astral did remember my name.


	3. The Events After the Fact

**Disclaimer: I do not own YGO ZEXAL**

* * *

"So…you're gonna keep following me around?" asked Yuma, a bit annoyed.

Currently, we were walking home. Yuma was speaking to Astral.

Astral was floating around us, "It's not that I don't want to leave. I just don't know how. I might learn how to leave once I regain all of my memories." I stared. So he needs all of the numbers...

"And just how are your memories gonna return?" asked Yuma.

"Haven't you been listening?" I asked, "Numbers, Yuma, numbers."

"Huh?" asked Yuma.

"By gathering all the numbers," rephrased Astral.

"Numbers?!" asked Yuma, "You're not about to tell me that I'm the one who's gotta do it, are you?!"

"Yuma," I said as the boy kept talking, "Yuma!" he still wasn't listening. I grinned as he walked near me and I tripped him. He stumbled but he didn't fall, damn.

He glared at me, "Rima!"

I shook my head, "You never listen."

"Hah?!" he asked.

He was about to say something else but I interrupted, "I said, 'you never listen'!"

He looked pretty irritated.

"I see what you have to put up with," said Astral, putting his hand to his temples.

"What was that?!" Yuma asked, "If that's what you think then quit following me around!" and he started walking away.

I noticed Tetsuo trying to touch something in the air. Oh, Astral. I glanced at the blue being. Seeing a blue being...is weird, right? I went after Yuma as I heard Kotori say, "Yuma…You're becoming really weird lately."

Astral was flying by my side while watching Yuma, "Observation #2: You are weird. I'll be sure to remember that."

You know, Astral was just bluntly funny.

Yuma turned to face him, "I'm not weird!"

All of a sudden, we heard a scream.

We looked towards Yuma's house, "Wh-What the?" asked Yuma.

"Isn't that Akari-san?" I asked. Akari was Yuma's older sister.

We all dashed into the house and up the stairs to Akari's office. Yuma opened the door first, "What's wrong, onee-chan?"

Akari was staring at screens. They all said 'Error'. She looked shocked, "It's gone. The manuscript's gone…! The system's been infected by a virus…And there's only one hour until the deadline…"

"C-Calm down, onee-chan," said Yuma. I've witnessed this enough times to know that she won't calm down.

"I won't make the delivery…" she whined.

"At times like this…my onee-chan gets…!" Yuma didn't finish.

"We better get outta here," said Kotori.

"Right…!" said Tetsuo.

We all started running. First silently, but then we broke into a run.

"Yuma!" we heard, "You better find an explanation for this, pronto!"

* * *

After we ran, we walked to around a bit.

"It's impossible to deal with my onee-chan when she gets like that…" said Yuma. He looked ahead of him, "That aside, the delay is way too much."

We looked in front of us, it was true. The cars haven't been moving for, I don't know, ten minutes?

"Yeah…" agreed Tetsuo.

Kotori looked up, "The traffic lights are all corrupted and the monorail's stuck in its tracks!"

"What is a monorail?"

I looked to Astral, "A train. That over there is the monorail," I then pointed up to the yellow train.

Astral looked to it, "A form of transportation?"

"Yeah, exactly," I replied.

All of a sudden we heard a racket. We looked beside us to see the vending machine throwing out soda cans.

"Wh-what's this?" asked Yuma as he was the closest. He looked at it and smiled, "Whoa! How lucky! It's raining juice!" A bunch of juice cans were spurting out of a vending machine.

I watched as he picked up a bunch. He was grinning like crazy. I took one from the pile and started drinking it.

"H-hey, Yuma!" yelled Kotori, stomping her foot. "You can't just take that! Rima, you can't take one either!"

"I'll give them back," said Yuma in a bouncy voice.

I blinked while looking to Kotori, "I don't think they'll want this back." My soda can was already empty. Kotori glared at me but I just smiled innocently.

An Obot, a cleaning robot, suddenly appeared and grabbed Yuma. He was then shoved into the Obots mouth. "Cleaning, Cleaning!" It yelled.

"Hey, you!" yelled Yuma, his face filled with garbage. "Lemme go! Lay off!"

Astral was floating upside down, mimicking Yuma. I tilted my head before rolling my eyes. I'm better off to just let him be.

* * *

I walked into my home. Yuma and Astral went into their, I mean, Yuma's home.

"I'm home," I mumbled to the empty house. Of course, no one was here. My parents (if they could be called such) were never home. They both buried themselves into their work, and they were barely in Japan, nonetheless Heartland City. Hell, they both haven't been here since my 11th birthday and they left as soon as they came. I'm 13 now. Yeah, that's sad. It's not like I care though. I don't...

I sat on my couch and reached under it. I took out my violin. It was in its silver case. Yep, I play violin. This was from my parents. I opened the case to reveal a beautiful white violin. It was in perfect condition. I love this violin, it was all I truly had from my mama. Oh well, it doesn't matter.

I didn't feel like playing so I put it back and slid it under the couch. I stood up and walked to the kitchen. On the counter was a picture of me, Shark, and Rio. I smiled and held it up. Even if those two were one year older than me, we were still close, especially Rio. My fingers tightened around the frame. Rio...I put the photo down and went to make dinner for myself. Just myself.

* * *

**School!**

We were all at our desks and just as the bell rang Yuma ran in. He sat down and sighed, "Made it on time."

I looked at Yuma and saw that he was Astral-less. I blinked, "Yuma, where's Astral?"

"Not a clue and I don't care!" he said as he put his hands behind his head.

That's weird…And after that whole thing about not being able to leave. I looked ahead of me at my screen. Well, he should be alright. I hope.

"Okay!" said our teacher, Ukyo-sensei. "Everyone, listen up!"

Everyone settled down and listened to him. Ukyo-sensei was our math teacher and was favourited among students. Ukyo-sensei explained, "Due to yesterday's communication error, the entire school's broadcasting computers are down, as a result. So we can't access the textbooks. The cause of this error was-"

"Me!" yelled Inchou, "Please let me answer this!"

He looked really excited. Inchou was a bit of a, what is it, smarty-pants? Yeah, he's 'smart'. He annoys me a lot though. He had light blue hair and he's what you call a nerd.

{Inchou = Class Rep}

"Oh?" asked Ukyo-sensei, "Inchou, you know something about this?"

"I do!" said Inchou standing in front of the class, "I simply used my programming skills to mentally place myself in a similar setting. To summarize, the malfunctioning issue was caused by someone infiltrating the city's host computer. So if I were to create-"

"Sensei!" yelled Yuma all of a sudden. Yeah, I was getting bored too, "How 'bout we make today into a duel tournament?!"

I stared hopefully at our sensei. He thought about it, "Hm…Perhaps. Why not?"

I grinned and stood up. I then shouted, "Yes!" I wasn't embarrassed. Dueling was a huge passion of mine! Anyways, a ton of other students were cheering as well.

Yuma was yelling out too, "Booyah! I'm gonna Kattobingu (Bring it) to every last one of you today!"

"All right!" yelled someone else.

"That's Ukyo-sensei for you!"

I smiled, Ukyo-sensei was so nice! I smirked at all the people, "Now who to take on first…"

"Fairy-hime, will you be dueling today as well?" asked one of the girls. Fairy-hime basically meant Fairy-princess. I was a bit popular, you might say.

"Of course!" I said to her, "Well, depends if someone wants to duel with me. Do you want to?"

"No, not you, fairy-hime!" said the girl, "You would beat me in one turn!"

"Nah, everyone's a good duelist so you are too" I said with a wink and I turned to Kotori.

"Fairy-hime is so cool!" I heard from behind me.

"Yeah!" I heard someone agree.

My smile just grew. I was used to praise around here. Ever since duel nationals.

"Seems like someone is popular," said Kotori with a smile.

I shrugged, "I guess."

"Yuma-kun!"

We turned to Inchou.

He pointed to Yuma, "To summarize, you duel with me!"

"Sure!" said Yuma, happy to have a challenge, "it'd be my pleasure!"

I sighed, "I guess I'll have to duel later."

Kotori smiled, "Oh, come on, this duel will be fun to watch."

I watched on with a bored expression, "alright…"

"Duel disk, set!" Yuma continued his duel ritual, "D-Gazer, set!"

"Duel target: lock on!"

**A/R Vision Link Established.**_  
_

"Duel!"

"You can do it, Yuma!" cheered Kotori.

Can he really? I stared at Yuma. The only time I've actually seen him win a duel was yesterday. And that was technically Astral.

"Yuma-kun," said Inchou, "Is there any merit to the rumors that you defeated Shark?"

"You bet!" said Yuma proudly. But, to be fair, Astral sort of won it, "It's true!"

"I just can't believe that you did," said Inchou with a glare, "despite having never defeated me in your entire life."

"It's the truth, Inchou" said Tetsuo smugly.

It's the half-truth. Truthfully, it's hard to count that as a true win. I mean, Yuma had the aid of Astral. Aspiring Emperor - Hope was also added to his extra deck during the middle of the match...I don't see it as fair.

"We're the witnesses!" said Kotori as she smiled.

"So I see," said Inchou, "Meaning that if I were to win this duel…"

He left it open-ended. What was he on about? I could tell I wasn't the only one confused.

"To summarize, it would mean that I am better than Shark, correct?"

I glared at him. No one is better than Shark! And if there was someone better, it would most certainly not be Inchou!

"You keep saying 'to summarize'…" said Yuma, thinking about something, "It'd be really bad if your throat was sum-mothered by that sea lion-sized sentence!"

"If my throat was smothered?!" asked Inchou incredulously.

I rolled my eyes, Yuma's jokes made absolutely no sense to me. Kotori and Tetsuo just sighed out of exasperation.

"Okay, let's get it on!" yelled Yuma, "I got me a numbers cards! Huh?" To my surprise, he started freaking out, "Gone! The number's gone!"

Gone? Wait…if Astral's gone and the numbers are gone…Did Astral take them with him or something? Aw, that might mean he wouldn't be coming back. That sucks, I wanted to duel him, he seemed like a challenge. How disappointing...

"Here I come!" said Inchou, starting his turn, "My turn, draw!"

"H-hold on a minute!" yelled Yuma.

I sighed, relying on that one card...I'm starting to wonder if Yuma dueling with Astral was a good idea. What happened to his Kattobingu?

**Skip to end!**

"Go, Bugman X!" ordered Inchou, "Direct attack!"

Yuma was pushed backwards by the impact, "You gotta be kidding me!"

**Inchou: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 0LPS**

**Inchou is the winner!**

Tetsuo face-palmed, "Four thousand to zero…"

"How embarrassing," I mumbled as I combed my fingers through my ponytail. Yuma could've at least damaged his life points!

"Y-Yuma…" shouted Kotori, "He totally wiped the floor with you!"

"As expected, someone like Yuma-kun who never studies could never beat me!" said Inchou arrogantly. "To summarize, a fool can't hope to win a duel!"

"What?!" asked Yuma, shocked.

A fool can hope to win. They just _can't_ win. There's a difference.

"Don't be like that, now," said Ukyo-sensei, "Life and dueling are one and the same. It never goes as you plan. One should learn through messing up. Bugman, for example, lives off of failure. Bugman: an electrical fairy that lives off of the other bugs. It becomes extremely powerful because it lives off its bug friends. It's said that those who witness its full moon-like appearance may forever live in happiness."

I stared at him blankly. What kind of bull-

"Sensei!" said Inchou, "To summarize, there's no such thing as stuff like that in real life!"

Maybe there is, maybe there isn't but just because you don't believe it doesn't mean it's not there.

"There is," said Ukyo-sensei, "I'm sure of it."

Yuma stood up after hearing that speech.

"Yuma," said Ukyo-sensei, "Its fine that you lost just now. You have to learn from it. Isn't that the challenge spirit you like to call Kattobingu?"

"Ukyo-sensei!" yelled Yuma in admiration, "You're right! I'll always keep Kattobingu!"

Ukyo-sensei just laughed at his enthusiasm.

I smirked, "Now that that's over with…Who wants to duel?"

No one answered but I looked around. I raised an eyebrow, "No one?"

"I will!" yelled Yuma in excitement.

I grinned, Yuma's going down!

**Skip!**

"Alright, Athena, blow him away!" I yelled as Athena attacked Yuma's Gagaga Magician.

"I play Bye Bye Damage!" he yelled and he smirked, thinking he was saved.

Naïve, little Yuma. I grinned, "I activate Champion's Vigilance!" My trap card flipped up, "Since I have a LVL 7 monster, I can negate the activation of your trap and destroy it!"

Yuma face turned into one of horror, "Oh no."

"Oh yes!" I held my arm out, "Athena, finish him off with your heavenly burst!"

Yuma braced himself but he still flew backwards.

**Rima: 3500LPS **

**Yuma: 0LPS**

**Rima is the winner!**

I took off my D-Gazer, "Good move at the end, Yuma, but my fairies are just too much!" I said with a fake sigh.

Yuma jumped back to his feet, "Awesome duel, Rima! Rematch?"

I was about to reply but the bell rang, "I guess it'll have to be some other time," I said as I put my cards away.

"Fairy-hime beat Yuma-kun with her ace monster!" said someone.

"Oh, I heard she has a huge winning streak!"

"Yeah, no one can beat her!"

I laughed at the praise but winked and said, "Thank you~"

I turned and started walking with Kotori. I knew some of the boys were staring at me love-struck but it's just puppy love. They'll get over it. I just noticed something…I have fan boys while Shark is 'secretly' popular with a lot of the first and second year girls. Hell, I think even some third-years have crushes on him. Poor them though because Shark only loves Rio and me. As a sister though. Yeah, I know what some of you were thinking.

* * *

**Outside!**

"Ukyo-sensei sure is a nice guy!" said Yuma happily as Tori and I walked with him.

I had to agree a bit. Ukyo-sensei is a really nice teacher.

Yuma continued, "He's really smart when it comes to teaching math and he's really nice on top of it! I'm definitely gonna become like that man!"

I paused. Yuma...math...? I burst out laughing.

Yuma stared at me, "What?!"

"You? Really smart?!" I laughed harder. Seeing Yuma like that...It's impossible!"

Yuma growled at me, "Hey!"

We heard tires and we stopped walking. A red car stopped in front of us.

The window rolled down to reveal Akari, "Hi, Yuma!"

"Onee-chan!" said Yuma, surprised.

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. She's going to make us do stuff, isn't she?

"Why don't you three come for a little drive?" asked Akari.

If she was anyone else, I would've thought she was kidnapping us. Yuma hopped into the back while Kotori looked like she was going to the front. When she opened the door, I quickly sat there and grinned, "Go sit with Yuma, Kotori."

She pouted before complying and sitting beside Yuma. Those two are so cute!

Akari started driving. Without taking her eyes off the road, she spoke, "It's a certainly good thing that the computer virus incident that spread yesterday only lasted for a while. But what if things had lasted much longer? There's a very good chance the entire city would be thrown into a huge panic."

"A-A huge panic?" asked Yuma shocked.

My eyes narrowed. That's true…Important information would've been destroyed and such.

"Beyond traffic lights and vending machines," said Akari seriously, "Suppose the banks' data was erased and rewritten. Or say the hospital lost all its data. It'd be a terrible thing, wouldn't it?"

"Y-You serious?" asked Yum,a popping his head up front.

"Who would try to do such a thing?" asked Kotori.

"An emotionless person," I said as I leaned back in my chair.

"Well, the computer virus was transferred from the jurisdiction within your school," said Akari.

We all looked at each other, "Eh?!"

Akari drove us back to school, "I want the three of you to stake out the jurisdiction. There's a good chance the culprit will appear again."

* * *

"This seems pretty interesting, don't you think?" asked Kotori.

I nodded, "It'd be pretty fun, I guess. Nothing beats dueling, though."

"Hold it," said Yuma, "Why do we have to do this?"

"I don't wanna hear any complaints!" said Akari sternly, "It's my article that was ruined by this! Once we find the culprit, I'll karate chop the guy 'til he's blue in the face!"

I mumbled, "Akari is sort of…"

"…violent" finished Kotori as we watched Akari drive away.

**Inside!**

"Listen up, you two," said Kotori. She looked to Yuma, "Your sister said the culprit is sure to appear in the library so he can access its personal computer"

"What a drag…" complained Yuma.

I opened my D-Pad and read some stuff on basic tactics for dueling. It's best to remember the fundamentals, right? Speaking of, Astral being gone...I looked around, oh well.

"Gosh!" said Kotori, who was looking behind a shelf, "Shape up and get on lookout already!"

"Don't worry, Kotori," I said looking up from my Pad, "I'm pretty sure the person will be, or at least try to be, secluded from anyone else."

Kotori looked at me, "But…"

I changed from tactics to card sales. I looked to Kotori, "Since we're in a library, I don't want to miss the chance to study."

Kotori smiled, "Well, at least you aren't wasting time like a certain someone…"

Yuma wasn't really listening as he leaned back on some books.

**Skip!**

Hours had passed and nothing had happened.

I had read about a ton of duel history already because I had nothing else to do. Occasionally, I would look around the corner with Kotori but otherwise I was reading about Yugi Muto or Seto Kaiba.

Yuma let out a big yawn as the last person left the library.

"It's almost closing time," said Kotori, looking at her D-Gazer.

"Maybe he's just not coming today?" suggested Yuma tiredly.

Kotori took a look around the corner. She gasped, "Yuma, Rima, look! Isn't that…?"

Yuma and I looked around the shelf as well. My eyes widened as Yuma said, "Inchou!"

"He looks pretty suspicious," said Kotori as we stared at him.

I was about to contact Akari before we did anything but Yuma ran around us and to Inchou.

"Yuma!" I whispered loudly as the idiot ran over to Inchou. Inchou sat at one of the computers and held up a USB stick.

"That's a flash drive!" stated Kotori.

Yuma's about to blow our cover anyways so I stepped out of our hiding place and started walking to Inchou.

Inchou plugged the flash drive into the computer and a Bugman appeared on the screen before dispersing. Inchou yelped as he stood up, "Don't tell me this is…!"

Yuma grabbed Inchou's shoulders, "Caught you! So you were the culprit behind that incident!"

I slammed my hand on the desk, "I should've known, you criminal lowlife!"

Inchou shook Yuma off and sat down at his computer, "I am not!"

I faltered, "Wait, what?" What?! He was surely the person! I just saw him!

"I am not the culprit!" said Inchou confidently, "I was being used!" He continued typing away at the computer, confusing me. If he isn't him then who is it?

"You're a liar!" yelled Yuma with his fist out, "We just saw you input the virus! What're you doing?"

"I'm intervening the culprit!" said Inchou, "If I search for any locations that accessed this machine from the outside, the culprit has to be there! Damn it! I came here to retrieve the data files so I could reveal the culprits whereabouts! Without knowing it, I activated the installation files that launched the virus bomb."

Only thing I was getting was 'blah blah data, blah blah boring scientific stuff'. I'm sorry but I get nothing about science, technology or math. If I wasn't able to use it, I didn't need it.

Now Inchou said something I can understand, "I accidentally released the virus bomb into the city! Found him!"

One part of a map started blinking.

"Where is that?" I asked as I didn't know how to read this type of map.

"The abandoned tower!" said Kotori.

* * *

Yuma turned on his D-Gazer and called Akari. We were running quickly to the tower. Yuma explained the plan to Akari.

"_He triggered the virus bomb?" asked Akari incredulously._

"Yeah!" said Yuma, "I'm looking for the culprit! So you have to do something about the bomb, onee-chan!"

We hung up as soon as Yuma said that.

**Skip!**

"It's over there!" yelled Inchou as we came upon the tower, "The culprit is inside the nodule within the top of the tower!"

We were walking inside the tower, looking around.

"You sure the culprit's really hiding out in here?" asked Yuma.

"I am," said Inchou, "He is here, without a doubt." He led us through some doors. We looked around, taking in our surroundings. Nothing look out of- The doors behind us closed, making me snap out of my reverie. We all turned to it shocked.

I gasped, "How…?!"

"Surprise, surprise."

We all turned to face the voice. Standing there…was Ukyo-sensei!

He was staring at us, "Despite the various options, you made it here so quickly."

"Ukyo-sensei!" I yelled out loud. He was the culprit? He was the one who did this?

"Why are you here, sensei?" asked Yuma.

Ukyo-sensei just smirked at us.

"Eh?!" asked Inchou, "So, to summarize, Ukyo-sensei is the culprit?!"

"I suppose you could say that" said Ukyo-sensei with a glare.

"You gotta be pulling my leg, sensei!" yelled Yuma in shock. I guess it was shocking since he sort of looked up to Ukyo-sensei.

"The very fact that our Inchou was able to make it here was all within my expectations."

"To summarize, this was a trap!" said Inchou. You know, I swear his catchphrase is 'To summarize'. God, it was annoying.

"The virus bomb you uploaded will go off in a mere thirty minutes," said Ukyo-sensei, "Because I truly wanted you to witness firsthand my virus bomb being set off."

"So that makes me your accomplice?" asked Inchou.

Great, nice, of course, he thinks about himself before thinking about the consequences.

Ukyo-sensei threw away his glasses and loosened his tie. He started cackling as a number mark appeared on his neck. Wait…Number 34? Oh please no…I stepped back, "He's a number holder!"

"Numbers!" said Yuma shocked. We looked at each other. Astral…

"Sensei…" said Yuma staring up.

I caught a glimpse of light. What the…? Something appeared from the key…It was Astral!

"That's the mark of the numbers…" said Astral, shocking Yuma shitless.

"You didn't get sent away?!" asked Yuma disbelievingly.

"Of course not," stated Astral.

"But you weren't here all this time!" yelled Yuma.

"Are you alright?" I asked concerned. I mean, he hasn't been here for the whole day.

"I am fine, Rima. Thank you for your concern," said Astral with a nod of his head.

"Why are you worried about him, Rima?" asked Yuma, "He's so annoying!"

I shrugged, "That's a matter of opinion."

Yuma turned back to Astral, "Where were you?"

"A place that is not of this world," said Astral, "I am not even sure of its existence."

"Hah?!" asked Yuma, confused.

I blinked, "A world within the key?" That's what he came out of anyways.

"Exactly," he said to me.

"Gah, talking with this guy's a waste of time!" shouted Yuma in confusion and annoyance, "Sensei, why are you doing something so stupid?!"

"Consider this a challenge issued down from me!" said Ukyo-sensei, "It is no different from your Kattobingu!"

That…is totally wrong.

"No it's not!" yelled Yuma, "Causing trouble for others isn't what we call Kattobingu!"

"Yuma, let's duel him," said Astral.

"Huh?" asked Yuma.

Astral probably wants to collect the number like he did from Shark.

"His heart is being engulfed by the numbers," continued Astral, "Trying to persuade him is pointless unless we remove the number from him"

Yuma hissed and looked to our sensei, "Let's duel, sensei! If you lose to me, you'll agree to stop that virus bomb!"

"Duel?!" asked Ukyo-sensei, "So be it! If you win, I'll stop the virus bomb. But I do wonder if you can oppose me."

"I'll show you my strength when I Kattobingu!" yelled Yuma, "It's a match!"

I looked at them worried, "Be careful, you two. Remember the duel with Shark?"

Yuma nodded, "Oh! D-Gazer, set! Target: lock on!"

"Yuma will be fine," said Astral to me.

"How about you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, "Oh, and you have the number cards, right?"

"I do. We'll both need it to win," he said as he floated to Yuma's side.

I hope Yuma will duel well today. I remember his duel with Inchou and the one with myself. If he doesn't win, Astral will die.

**A/R Vision Link Established.**

"Duel!"

"Come on, you two!" I cheered, "You gotta win!"

"You can do it, Yuma!" cheered Kotori as well.

"If you don't, I'll be framed as a criminal!" said Inchou with his hands clamped together.

"I'll be going first," said Ukyo-sensei, "My turn, draw! I set a monster in face down defense position!"

"Face down defense position?" repeated Yuma, "What kind of monster did he set?"

The possibilities ran through my head. Flip effect, high defense or maybe a bluff.

"I will leave it at that and end my turn," said Ukyo-sensei.

Good, there's no face down cards.

"My turn, draw!" yelled Yuma drawing his sixth, "I summon Gagaga Magician (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)! I have no idea what the defense power of the monster he set is! Fine! No use over thinking it. Gagaga Magician, attack that thing!"

The card flipped up to reveal…

"Come out, Bugman X (Def: 2000-Lvl: 3)!" announced Ukyo-sensei.

A high defense monster…Yuma should've thought this through a bit.

**Ukyo-sensei: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 3500LPS**

Yuma got hit with a small amount of damage, "It's got 2000 defense points!"

"Yuma's monster stayed in one piece but his life fell!" said Kotori, confused.

I let Inchou explain. "When you attack a monster with higher defense power, the attacking monster isn't destroyed, but its attack power is subtracted from the other's defense power" finished Inchou, "To summarize, that's 2000 to 1500!"

"The consequence: he takes 500 points of damage" I said.

"I thought you were horrible at math," said Kotori as she looked at me.

I shrugged, "When it's dueling, it's easier because it's in the hundreds/tens tables."

"Then it's my turn again!" said Ukyo-sensei, "Draw! I summon Bugman Y (Atk: 1400-Lvl: 3)! I continue with a magic card from my hand, Bug Load activates! This card lets both players select one level four or lower monster on their field. We can then special summon a monster from our hands holding the same level as the chosen monster."

Now why would he do that…?

"I special summon Bugman Z (Atk: 0-Lvl: 3)!" said Ukyo-sensei.

Oh god, they're all the same level!

"Okay!' yelled Yuma not noticing, "I got a monster in my hand with the same level as Gagaga Magician! I'm gonna take Gogogo Golem and-"

"Yuma, summon it in defense position," said Astral.

Right, Gogogo Golem's effect will help with defending against the number card.

"Gogogo Golem has an effect that will allow it to not be destroyed by battle once per turn," said Astral.

"I don't mind dueling, but I never asked for you to tell me how to duel!" said Yuma, irritated. Yuma turned to the duel, "I summon Gogogo Golem in attack mode (Atk: 1800-Lvl: 4)!"

I sighed. It would've been best to listen to Astral. He'll need protection since it was Ukyo-sensei's turn still.

"How 'bout it?" asked Yuma, "You won't break 1800 attack points so easily!"

"You just provided me with the chance I needed for my victory!" said Ukyo-sensei with a creepy grin. "I overlay Bugman X, Y, and Z! I construct the overlay network with my three monsters."

"He played it, as expected," I said as I stared at the overlay network circle.

"An Xyz monster using three overlays?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

"Oh, yes!" yelled Ukyo-sensei, "Xyz summon! Show yourself, No.34 Computer Beast Terra-byte (Def: 2900-Rank: 3)!"

"Numbers?!" asked Inchou, "Please tell me what the monster is!"

I ignored him.

"A numbers?" asked Yuma shocked. He gasped before looking at his extra deck. He took out two cards, "Got it! Wow, I got Revise Dragon in here now too!"

So they only appear when Astral does…Interesting.

"Allow me to proceed!" said Ukyo-sensei, "I activate Terra-Byte's effect! I can use one of the overly units on this card once per turn and gain control over one of the opponent's level four or lower monsters for the turn! This is the perfection that makes up my dueling!"

"Ah!" yelled Yuma, "My Gogogo Golem is…!"

"Go, Gogogo Golem!" ordered Ukyo-sensei.

He destroyed Gagaga Magician.

**Ukyo-sensei: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 3200LPS**

"Gagaga!" yelled Yuma in anguish.

This could've been negated if he had listened to Astral's advice.

"What do you think of my perfect dueling?" asked Ukyo-sensei.

"'Perfect, 'perfect', is perfection that important?!" asked Yuma.

It isn't. Our sensei is just a HUGE perfectionist.

"It is," said Ukyo-sensei, disagreeing with me. "Perfection is everything. I infected this city's program in order to pursue the perfection I seek! A dunce like you can't hope to win!"

"This is the same sensei I praised so much?" asked Yuma downhearted, "It hurts."

"Where does it hurt?" asked Astral, flying next to Yuma.

"My heart!" yelled Yuma.

"Observation #5: Humans feel pain in their hearts. I'll be sure to remember that."

How'd he get to #5? He was at #2 when I last saw him.

"To summarize, I understand this pain I'm feeling all too well," said Yuma.

Ah, he's taking Inchou's catchphrase.

"Yuma-kun!" yelled Inchou, "Yuma-kun! I hate to bring it up at a time like this, but…'To summarize' is meant to be the finalizing part of the sentence to give closure to the subject at hand. So to summarize, it gives off a meaning of 'absolute finalization' of sorts."

Kotori sighed and shared a look with me. Man, this kid is just…

"What'cha talking about?" asked Yuma confused, "I can use it however I want!"

"To summarize, it means an idiot like yourself can't possibly hope to defeat me!" said Ukyo-sensei.


	4. Turnaround Countdown!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal.**

* * *

"I set one card face down," said Ukyo-sensei, "Turn end."

Gogogo Golem returned to Yuma's side.

"Damn!" shouted Yuma, "I can't believe he's using my monsters!"

_Computer: Virus bomb activation. Twenty minutes remaining._

"My turn!" announced Astral as he held his arm out.

I giggled. Wait, what? I _giggled_. Something's wrong with me. I felt like banging my head on the wall but it would look weird.

"It's my turn, still!" Yuma yelled.

"Seems like Yuma-kun is talking to himself the whole time," said Inchou, "So in any case, is he alright?"

"Just fine, just fine," defended Kotori, "Don't worry about it. That's just Yuma's Kattobingu mode."

"Yuma, don't get dragged down by this!" I cheered, "Do your best, okay?"

Yuma gave me a thumbs up, "Oh! My turn, draw!"

"Yuma, summon Ganbara Knight," ordered Astral.

Yuma glared at the alien, "There you go with your mouth again!"

I was sort of conflicted at to whose side I should be on. Astral is being bossy but Yuma is sort of borrowing the number cards and such. He sort of owes Astral a bit.

"This duel involves numbers," Astral said seriously, "If that guy takes my numbers away, I will vanish."

Yuma looked away, "I don't really care about your things."

Astral spoke to Yuma, "With your power, winning is impossible."

I sweat dropped, that's not a good thing to say to someone who is 'helping' you.

Yuma shouted, "What did you say?! If that's how you wanna put it then, it's decided! This duel, I most definitely, will not listen to you!"

I sighed. Those two are like kids!

"You won't listen?" asked Astral, "What do you mean?"

Yuma stepped forward, "If you're heading right, I'll go left! You just went with Ganbara Knight, then…I summon Achacha Archer (Atk: 1200-Lvl: 3)!"

Wait…My eyes widened, "Yuma, that's not a good move!"

"Impossible…" said Astral. We looked at each other worried. If Yuma continues dueling like this…Add in Terra-Byte's ability and magic or trap cards. He could've done something productive like bringing out Hope or something…

"When this card is successfully summoned, it can inflict 500 points of damage to the opponents' life points!" announced Yuma.

**Ukyo-sensei: 3500LPS **

**Yuma: 3200LPS**

Just a small amount of damage but it's better than nothing.

Yuma grinned, "How's that! Sensei's life points took some damage!"

Astral crossed his arms, "However, it was all too costly. If you had summoned Ganbara Knight, you'd have two level four monsters. Then you could have Xyz summoned Aspiring Emperor – Hope."

"Ah, I see! Just like that…" then Yuma remembered his stubbornness. "I know those kinds of things too!"

I stared at Yuma before saying, "You realize he had a set card, right?"

"Huh?" asked Yuma, confused.

I looked to Ukyo-sensei, who looked pissed, "What I'm saying is that his set card is most likely a trap which can get in your way."

"S-so?" asked Yuma, "It's not like he activated it"

I shook my head. Yuma doesn't get it. Ukyo-sensei is someone who is a perfectionist. It's probably not a card that can hurt Yuma directly but can be used for his own gain.

"How dare you scrape my life points?" asked Ukyo-sensei, "I activate my trap card, Damage Vaccine Omega Max! With this card, when my life points receive damage, I recover life points equal to the amount of damage."

**Ukyo-sensei: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 3200LPS**

"Wait!" yelled Yuma shocked, "In other words, the previous attack was totally useless?!"

I knew it.

"Rima was correct with her assumptions," said Astral, "Perhaps you should switch places with her."

"That wouldn't be quite fair," I smirked. "Switching in the middle of a duel?" Oh my god...I'm flirting with him?!

Astral tilted his head before nodding, "I suppose it would not be fair."

Now back to Ukyo-sensei, "What I'm after is a flawless victory. I won't allow my life points to receive any damage."

"Flawless?" I heard Astral mutter lowly.

Inchou started freaking out, "This is bad! There's no reason to go there at all! The one who sent the virus bomb was me! So, in any case, I'm gonna end up as a culprit!"

"There's almost no more time yet," whispered Kotori, "Yuma!"

"I'll end my turn, like this!" said Yuma.

"My turn, draw!" announced Ukyo-sensei, "I activate the effect of No. 34 Computer Beast Terra-Byte! Once per turn, by using one overlay unit, I can take control of one of my opponents level four or lower monster!"

"Ah!" exclaimed Yuma, "Not my Gogogo Golem again!"

"If you had summoned Hope, that guy would have nothing to steal from you," said Astral, "The point of Terra-Bytes' effect is to control monster with levels. However, Xyz monsters have no levels. You're dueling is imperfect, far below my own."

Right…Xyz monsters have ranks. Astral's knowledge and skill about Duel Monsters intrigues me. I smirked, sound like a fun challenge.

Yuma looked away, "Shut up! Even though I took some damage, Gogogo Golem's still coming back to my field. And then…"

Ukyo-sensei's laughter interrupted Yuma, "I'm not the kind of foolish duelist that uses the same strategy every turn. Continuous magic card, Virus Mail and Cracking activate!"

"Hey," said Kotori, "Continuous spell, what is that?"

"They're magic cards that remain on the field as long as you meet the requirements," I explained quickly, "There effect stays on the field as well. They are a pain to get rid of."

"Virus Mail's effect is that once per turn, one of my level four or lower monsters can attack directly," explained Ukyo-sensei, "And after that, that monster is destroyed."

"This is…" Astral left is open but it basically means Ukyo-sensei has an upper hand.

"Go forth, Gogogo Golem, direct attack!" ordered Ukyo-sensei.

Yuma was thrown backwards from the impact.

**Ukyo-sensei: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 1400LPS**

Ukyo-sensei wasn't finished, "At the end of the battle phase, Gogogo Golem, due to Virus Mail's effect, is destroyed!"

"Gogogo Golem!" yelled Yuma. Shoot, now summoning a number is gonna be harder.

"And then…" continued Ukyo-sensei, "At this moment, my other continuous magic card, Cracking, is activated! When a monster you own is destroyed, and then sent to the graveyard, you take 800 damage to your life points!"

**Ukyo-sensei: 4000LP **

**Yuma: 600LPS**

"You see?" asked Ukyo-sensei, "This is my Terra-Byte combo!"

"Damn!" shouted Yuma, "Terra-Byte combo…At this rate, it's only gonna get worse!"

I felt…sort of a pinch. I don't know what it was but something inside me felt like it was being pinched. It didn't hurt much but it was still weird. Why is this happening now? I could feel it in my heart. Truly, it is in my heart. What's happening?

"Eh?" asked Yuma and I looked to Astral. He was fading…Yuma stood up, "You…Somehow, your body is fading away."

Astral stared at his hand, "Whenever you lose your life points, I lose my life force."

"Your…life force?" asked Yuma.

I looked down at my key. It felt a bit warm against my skin. The throbbing pinch in my heart was still there and it felt like it wasn't leaving anytime soon. I hope it gets better…

"Yuma, what's the matter?" asked Kotori, "He doesn't look so good."

"That is really terrible!" said Inchou getting in our faces, "Ah, I can't think of anything! That's right! Yuma-kun!"

Yuma turned to be met with the sight of Inchou doing some weird pose. I had half a mind to push him down but thought against it. It was actually pretty comical.

"Yuma-kun, you are…sleeping dragon, aspiring phoenix!" said Inchou as he made some weird act. I stifled a laugh.

"Huh?" asked Yuma, "A comedic performance?"

"Right?!" I said in agreement. Inchou was acting weird.

"That's not it!" said Inchou, "Garyu is a sleeping dragon and Housuu is a phoenix's young. So, in any case, you have great talent sleeping inside of you!"

"M-me?" asked Yuma, pointing to himself.

Oh I get it…Inchou is trying to raise Yuma's spirits with flattery.

Inchou pointed at Yuma, "If you can wake your sleeping powers, you'll definitely win!"

I added to it, "Yeah Yuma! With your Kattobingu you can do anything because you never give up!" Eh, might as well humor him.

Yuma blushed out of embarrassment before rubbing his head, "No way…if you're gonna praise me like that…Alright! I'll do my best!"

"Observation #6: Humans will do their best when given praise…" said Astral in amazement.

Oh god no. Astral is going to fail this, I'm sure.

"Yuma," said Astral, "Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you."

"What is it?" asked Yuma.

I sighed, Astral…

"About your replenish and release eternal combo-"

What? What has Yuma been teaching Astral?!

He continued, "-Can't even leap over a vault, causing a scene at the pool, persistently stubborn and strange…"

I stifled a ton of laughs. Ignorance is bliss, Astral.

"So, in any case," said Astral after a glance at me, "You are quite magnificent."

I burst into laughter while clutching my stomach. Kotori and Inchou stared at me like I was crazy as I doubled over.

"You!" yelled Yuma, mad. "You trying to pick a fight or what?!"

My laughing came to a stop as the room started moving. I blinked as I looked around, "What's happening?"

"What's that?" asked Yuma, "The room…it's moving?"

Kotori grabbed onto my arm to keep balance as I stared at Ukyo-sensei. He was smirking. What a freak! The roof of the large tower opened up, showing the night sky.

"We're outside!" stated Inchou.

"It's climbing fast!" said Kotori as we looked up.

Ukyo-sensei chuckled, "This tower is a special stage for watching the virus bomb's results!"

Kotori, Inchou, and I ran to the ledge to see outside.

"I set one card face down, turn end," said Ukyo-sensei.

"Damn it!" swore Yuma, "Sensei, just what in the world happened to you?"

"Like this…!" I heard Astral say. I watched him as he stared at Yuma. He must have an idea to win. But…with Yuma not listening, can he win?

"Let's go!" said Yuma, "My turn, draw! Awesome, I got a nice card! I summon Goblindbergh (Atk: 1400-Lvl: 4)!"

"Alright!" cheered Inchou, "When Goblindbergh is summoned successfully, in any case, the player can special summon one level four or lower monster from their hand!"

"Yuma!" said Astral, "Zubaba Knight, from your hand!"

"Absolutely not!" said Yuma.

Why would Astral say that? He knows Yuma won't listen.

Yuma continued, "You chose Zubaba Knight, in that case, I'll special summon Ganbara Knight (Atk: 0-Lvl: 4)!"

Wait a second, that works...I looked to Astral. He met my gaze and nodded. Aha! Astral is using reverse psychology to trick Yuma! Smart boy…

Yuma's eyes widened in realization and he yelled, "Oh! On my field there are level four monsters, Ganbara Knight and Goblindbergh, so that means…! I can Xyz summon Hope, isn't that right?"

Astral remained silent but I could tell he was happy with the decision.

"Kattobingu!" shouted Yuma, "I overlay my level four monsters, Ganbara Knight and Goblindbergh! With these two monsters, I construct the overlay network! Xyz summon! Come out, No.39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope. I'm counting on you, Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

"No.39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope…" said Ukyo-sensei in shock.

"Yuma, don't set down the trap card from your hand," said Astral, "This one you cannot use."

I smiled at Astral but he wasn't paying attention.

"Shut up!" yelled Yuma, "Listen up, I'm not gonna follow your orders! I set one card from my hand, turn end!"

"It's my turn, draw!" said Ukyo-sensei, "I activate Terra-Byte's effect! By using one overlay unit, I'll gain control of Achacha Archer!"

Yuma hissed, "Again, my monsters were…"

"And then," continued our sensei, "With Virus Mails effect, after a successful direct attack, Achacha Archer is destroyed!"

"At this rate, so in any case, Yuma-kun will be defeated!" said Inchou, worried.

Yuma, Astral…Please win this!

Yuma stepped backwards, "There's just no way outta this!"

"Such an amazingly nice effect, isn't that something Hope has?" asked Astral.

I snickered, Yuma is so gullible.

"Hope's effect," said Yuma thinking about it, "That's right! I activate Hope's effect! By using one overlay unit, one monsters' attack will be negated!"

"Virus Mails effect will only activate after a successful direct attack," said Astral, "When Hopes effect negated the attack, there was nothing to send to the graveyard. This means Cracking's follow-up effect cannot be activated."

"I see!" said Yuma, "This way sensei's combo is under control!"

"Oh?" asked Ukyo-sensei, "So it looks like I've underestimated you."

"Not sure how, but Yuma-kun is pretty smart," said Inchou.

I laughed, "Yeah right!" That's so hilarious.

Kotori turned to me, "So, in any case, this is the work of the dueling spirit?"

"Dueling spirit?" asked Inchou.

No, he wasn't a part of this joke!

"Just like that, his overlay units are all used up," said Astral informatively.

"Ah!" said Yuma, excited, "Terra-Byte's combo is no longer usable."

"However," interrupted Ukyo-sensei, "Did you think that I wouldn't be able to read your strategy?"

"What?" asked Yuma, confused.

There's no way. I stared at Ukyo-sensei, could he have a backup plan?

"With this, I finally have everything to complete my flawless victory!" said Ukyo-sensei, "Trap activate, Bug Switch! When I have Bugman X, Y, and Z in my graveyard, by changing my defense position monster to attack position (Atk: 0), I'll special summon Super Bugman in face up defense position (Def: 3000-Lvl: 4)!"

"What's this?" asked Yuma.

He summoned a high defense point monster…

"I was expecting an attacking monster, instead it's in defense position," said Yuma. He smiled as he thought he was out of the deep end.

"You'd really think I would make a meaningless move, like that?" asked Ukyo-sensei, "I activate Super Bugman's monster effect! When this card is in face up position on the field, all attack position monsters Atk and Def points are switched."

"Oh damn," I said in shock. That's not good.

Ukyo-sensei continued, "Terra-Byte's defense is 2900. Therefore, Terra-Byte's attack power becomes 2900!"

"Attack power of 2900?!" repeated Yuma incredulously, "Also, Hope and Archer's attack power has…"

Hope (Atk: 2000)

Archer (Atk: 600)

They've lowered by a huge amount! At this rate…

"And now it's my turn to attack!" announced Ukyo-sensei, "Go forth, Terra-Byte! Attack Hope!"

"Don't avoid it!" yelled Astral. Wow, the desperation in his voice made his plan that more obvious.

"Of course I'm gonna avoid it!" yelled Yuma, "I activate Hope's effect! By using one overlay unit, one monsters attack will be negated!"

"Yeah!" cheered Kotori.

I was still a bit worried because there wasn't any overlay units left.

"This is no good!" yelled Inchou, realizing the same thing, "If Hope uses up all of its overlay units, Yuma-kun won't be able to defend against any more attacks!"

"I set one card, turn end!" said Ukyo-sensei.

I stared at the card. I wonder what it is…It's definitely a trap card to assure his 'victory'.

"No matter what, during my next turn, we'll settle this once and for all!" said Ukyo-sensei.

Yuma growled, "It's my turn, draw! Terra-Byte's attack power is 2900. If I can't defeat sensei this turn, Hope is finished!"

"Just giving you one piece of advice," said Astral, "If I'm not mistaken, with Zubaba Knight and Achacha Archer, you can't Xyz summon Revise Dragon, just a thought."

"That's just…" I sighed as Yuma actually went with it.

"That's right!" said Yuma, "I have another numbers card in my possession! I summon Zubaba Knight (Atk: 900-Lvl: 3)! Kattobingu! I overlay my level three monsters Zubaba Knight and Achacha Archer! With these two monsters I construct the overlay network! Xyz summon! Come out, No.17 Revise Dragon!"

"A second number, is it?" asked Ukyo-sensei, "However, you forgot Super Bugman's effect. When Super Bugman is on the field, all attack position monsters Atk and Def is switched. Revise Dragon's Def is zero. Therefore, its attack power becomes zero!"

Yuma face palmed, "Ah! All this trouble to summon Revise Dragon…It's all because of you, you kept saying these useless things!"

I sweat dropped, "You're blaming Astral?" It was just Yuma's choice to follow the 'advice'.

Yuma ignored me as Astral closed his eyes, "If I didn't avoid it, if I didn't avoid that one, then- huh? Could it be you…It was on purpose?!"

"Yuma, activate Thunder Shot from your hand," instructed Astral, "After this, your victory will be guaranteed."

"Eh?" asked Yuma.

If I remember correctly, Thunder Shot is a spell that deals damage to the opponent for each monster they had.

"This time it's not a lie," said Astral opening his eyes, "Otherwise, I will vanish from this world."

If he does vanish…does that mean he _dies_?

Yuma faltered but I knew he was gonna listen, "From my hand, I activate the magic card Thunder Shot! For every monster, on the opponents' field, I inflict 500 damage to you! Because of that, you take 1000 points of damage!"

**Ukyo-sensei: 3000LPS **

**Yuma: 600LPS**

Finally! His life points went down!

"You haven't heard me at all, have you?" asked Ukyo-sensei angrily, "I activate a second Damage Vaccine Omega Max! With this card, when my life points receive damage, I recover life points equal to the amount of damage!"

**Ukyo-sensei: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 600LPS**

Shit.

"Oh no!" yelled Yuma, "So it was totally meaningless?!"

"Yuma, the trap card" said Astral calmly.

I just remembered they had one. Let's hope it helps, a lot.

"Trap card…" said Yuma before smiling, "I get it! I activate my trap card, Unprepared Danger!"

"Wh-what?!" asked Ukyo-sensei.

I grinned, "And just like that, Yuma's in the lead!"

Yuma grinned also, "When the opponent recovered life points, I can select one monster on your field and destroy it! The one I choose to destroy is Super Bugman!"

"Splendid!" cheered Inchou, "At this rate, in any case, with Super Bugman' effect gone, the monsters with their Atk and Def switched will go back to normal!"

To say Ukyo-sensei was shocked was an understatement! "Oh no!" he yelled, "Terra-Byte's attack power is zero!"

"Let's go, Revise Dragon!" ordered Yuma, "Attack Terra-Byte!"

"And since their both numbers, Terra-Byte is destroyed!" I added happily.

**Ukyo-sensei: 2000LPS **

**Yuma: 600LPS**

"And then, Aspiring Emperor – Hope direct attacks!" yelled Yuma, "Go! Hope Sword Slash!"

Ukyo-sensei was pushed back greatly by the force.

**Ukyo-sensei: 0LPS **

**Yuma: 600LPS**

**Yuma is the winner!**

"Hooray!" yelled Kotori, "Yuma won!"

As the duel finished…the pain disappeared. I guess I should call it 'the pinch' but now it's gone…What does this mean?

"It's a miraculous reverse victory!" cheered Inchou as he grabbed Kotori's hands and spun her around.

"I won, I won!" cheered Yuma, "Kattobingu!"

"Somehow we managed to win this," said Astral as I walked towards them.

"But…How did you know Ukyo-sensei was gonna try and regain his life points?" I asked as I stared at Astral confused.

"Because his goal was flawless perfection," said Astral, "His duel was filled with flawless elements. Because of that, after taking Thunder Shot damage, he would definitely recover those life points. I firmly believe that."

He held his hand out and retrieved the number card from Ukyo-sensei. The mark of 34 disappeared from his neck. "A card piece of my memory," stated Astral, "No.34, a piece of my memory…My name is Astral. The place where I come from is…Astral World. In this world…I…"

"Astral world?" I repeated.

"Yes," said Astral as he looked a bit distant.

"Sensei, sensei, sensei!" said Kotori as she shook Ukyo-sensei awake.

"I…what's going on?" asked Ukyo-sensei.

"He doesn't remember?" I asked slowly. Shark remembered though…

"I suppose not," said Astral as we stared at Ukyo-sensei. Ah, I totally forgot about the virus bomb!

Yuma ran over to him, "Sensei, hurry up and stop the virus bomb already!"

"Virus bomb?" repeated Ukyo-sensei, "It's no use, that thing can't be stopped. There isn't any disarm switch."

"What did you say?" asked Yuma incredulously.

"What do you mean there's no disarm switch?" I asked. There's always a disarm switch!

"Then our city will…!" said Yuma, shocked.

I stared at Ukyo-sensei as everyone started panicking loudly. "What does the virus bomb do?"

"Turn on a magnificent sight," said Ukyo-sensei smiling, "The museum lights are what I'm turning on."

"No way," I said as I fell to my knees, "All this trouble, for some lights?"

Everyone else was still panicking to hear our conversation. Astral heard it though, "So, no bomb will go off and the city is safe. Well, the good thing is that I received one more piece of my memory."

I smiled up at him, "So now there are 97 to go?"

"It's a lot but we'll manage," he said confidently.

"Ha, if Yuma will finally listen for a change," I said to him.

"That too," he said as we stared at Yuma.

_Computer: Three, two, one._

Kotori hugged her knees as tears filled her eyes. Inchou was freaking out and Yuma was sort of as well.

"If they had only listened," said Astral, closing his eyes.

"Ah!" yelled Yuma, "The town's gonna be thrown into panic and chaos!"

"It's already over!" shouted Inchou.

"Idiot," I muttered under my breath.

Everyone had walked over to the edge while Astral and I stayed behind.

"What do you mean 'great panic'?" asked Ukyo-sensei.

"But sensei, the program released to the city, isn't it gonna cause a great panic?" asked Yuma.

"Who is going to do such a terrible thing?" asked Ukyo-sensei.

"Nothing happened," said Kotori, looking around.

"It's true during the preparation I cause a lot of trouble…"

"Then, what's the temporary bomb used for, anyways?" asked Yuma.

"Alright, coming up" said Ukyo-sensei with a thumbs up, "This is now perfect! Everyone, please look at the sky with your D-Gazers."

"Look up to the sky with the D-Gazer, then…" said Yuma, complying. I did as well.

"Wow!" yelled Yuma, "That's Bugman!"

"It's a giant Bugman!" we all shouted.

It was cute!

"I've noticed the city's night view, it coincidentally generated this matrix code," said Ukyo-sensei.

I crossed my arms, "Personally, I think there's no such thing as coincidences."

"Yes, I agree." I turned my head to face Astral. He nodded.

"So that's what the D-Gazer was reacting to," said Yuma, "And projected Bugman!"

"However, the code was imperfect" said Ukyo-sensei, "It's all because that buildings lighting is no more"

"The perfection sensei was looking for…was all just for lighting up that building?" asked Yuma.

"Yes, that is all"

Everyone fell. I can't believe Ukyo-sensei would do that.

"Sensei…" whined Yuma.

I felt eyes on me and turned to Astral, "What's wrong?"

"Your key…"

I looked down at the Empress key, "Oh, ah this? I got this from Mirai, Yuma's mom, when I was competing in the duel nationals"

He looked surprised, "You were in the duel nationals?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I was a finalist along with Shark."

"So, I presume you are an excellent duelist?" asked Astral.

"You can say that," I said, blushing in embarrassment.

Astral was so sweet. But, he's probably just saying that because we're friends. Wait…friends? Are we friends? I guess we are because I want to know more about Astral and he probably thinks vice-versa.

Astral stared at the card in his hand, "Observation #7: The pieces of my memory, number cards. Those who touch it, the desire and darkness in their hearts becomes amplified…I'll remember that."


	5. The other side!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal**

* * *

I laughed at Kotori's joke as I bit into my candy, "Really?"

"Yeah," said Kotori as she took a bite out of hers too, "Because of that, really…"

A boy passed us and before I knew it my candy was upside-down.

I blinked at it, "Upside down…?"

Kotori stood up while glaring at the boy, "Ah…that guy!"

I blinked and looked to where she was glaring, "Why…who was that?"

"Tokunosuke," said Kotori as she sat back down in a huff.

"Ah, I remember him!" I said in shock, "He's the trickster, right?"

"Exactly" said Kotori.

He tried to break my violin. I hate him for it but he said it was by 'accident'. God, I don't like him. He's also the one who always says, 'Ura'. It means opposite side or back.

* * *

**At school!**

I saw everyone together and I ran up to them, "Morning, everyone!"

"Good morning, Rima," said Kotori with a smile.

Yuma was in a conversation with Tetsuo with Kotori and I listening in.

"Astral?" asked Tetsuo.

I blinked. We were talking about Astral?

"That's what this guy wants to be called," said Yuma and I just noticed Astral there.

"Good morning, Astral," I said, beaming.

"Hello, Rima," Astral greeted back. He didn't smile but Astral's just that type of person.

"This guy…here?" asked Tetsuo, puzzled.

I totally forgot they couldn't see him.

"Don't the two of you call him a ghost?" Yuma asked as I remembered Kotori at the tower.

"I am not a-"

"'I am not a ghost'," said Yuma, copying Astral. He turned to our friends as Astral watched him, "'I am Astral, who came from the Astral World.' Like that."

I rolled my eyes. Yuma seemed irritated by Astral or something.

Yuma pointed at Astral, "Since yesterday, this guy was really bossy and annoying."

"Not 'this guy', it's Astral," said Astral with a tiny bit of annoyance in his voice. I don't blame him. I would get pretty annoyed by Yuma as well. Especially with that loud voice of his.

"Ah-!" Yuma basically yelled, "I got it already!"

As a few second years passed by, I heard snippets of conversation…which was about Shark. If they are saying bad things about him, I swear-

"Yuma-kun!"

My head snapped up, that voice…

"Isn't this Yuma-kun over here?" A boy ran in front of us. That boy was Tokunosuke. He was rather short for his age, and he had circular green glasses and a shooting star hat. He was also wearing the Heartland Middle School uniform.

"Tokunosuke…" said Tetsuo, suspicion in his voice. I didn't trust the guy either. He tried to break my violin!

"What are you guys chatting about so happily?" asked Tokunosuke.

"Dueling," I deadpanned. No f-in way am I telling this guy about Astral.

Tokunosuke's smile dropped for a split second but it was back as soon as it disappeared. He beamed brightly once again, "Oh. Anything bad about my dueling?" he asked.

"Hah?" asked Yuma confused.

"Anyway, I don't mind this at all," said Tokunosuke, "Whether good or bad, I welcome it all!"

Kotori and I exchanged looks. Both of us were wary about Tokunosuke.

"Who are you anyways?" asked Yuma. He didn't know Tokunosuke? Oh wait, he wasn't in elementary school with us.

"You haven't heard about me?" asked Tokunosuke, "From the outside, he's just a middle school student. On the inside, he's just a middle school student. Both ins and outs, I've achieved inner-outer harmony! Omoteura Tokunosuke is…simply me. I'm from your neighbor class."

I could tell Yuma was a bit weirded out, weren't we all? "Huh?" asked Yuma a bit overwhelmed.

"Actually I was thinking of giving this to you, Yuma," he held out a card, "Baby Toragon! An Xyz monster!"

I watched as Yuma's eyes got all sparkly, "Xyz monster?!"

I was a bit confused. Why would he give Yuma an Xyz? They're pretty expensive, as well as rare.

"This is to thank you for defeating Shark!" the moment that left his lips, I growled. He continued, "I've always suffered a lot thanks to that guy."

I turned, "Shark is not like that!" I walked off angrily. Shark may have made a few bad decisions but he would not do that! Idiot Tokunosuke.

* * *

Kotori walked up to me as the three walked into class, "Hey, Rima?"

"Yeah, Kotori?" I asked. I had calmed down now.

"Tokunosuke's trying to give that Xyz card to Yuma," said Kotori. Yuma didn't accept it? "We don't trust that guy so we're trying to keep them apart from each other."

I nodded, "I understand. I'll keep him away from him as well."

Kotori nodded as Yuma walked up to us. Astral had acknowledged me with a nod before going inside the key. That's gonna take some getting used to.

* * *

I was walking to meet up with everyone. I saw Yuma walking by some bushes and I ran towards him. Tokunosuke jumped out from one of the bushes with the Xyz in his hand.

Sighing, I grabbed Yuma's arm as I passed him and dragged him away quickly from Tokunosuke.

_Later…_

All of us had met up and Yuma was sitting on the steps.

"You're leaving yourself wide open…" said Kotori as I told her about what happened.

Yuma stared at us tiredly, "Aren't you guys being a little too distrusting?"

"Maybe but Yuma, he's no good," I said with narrowed eyes.

* * *

I was walking home after a short detour to the store for a bag of chips. As I came upon Yuma's house, I saw someone there. More specifically, Tokunosuke.

I glared at the boy as he looked like he was eavesdropping or something, "What are you doing in front of Yuma's house?"

He jumped at the sound of my voice but smiled 'sheepishly', "Hey Rima-chan. I was just, uh, checking the sidewalk, right? You never know!"

I smiled, "You know, everything has a flip side," I was using this against him.

"Yeah, like you!"

I blinked, "Huh?"

"You're looked up upon my a lot of people! The flip side? You're truly a loner."

I stared at him blankly, "So?"

"Bye!" he said as he ran away.

Ah! He used that as a distraction. I thought about what he said. "A loner, huh?" I contemplated.

* * *

Entering the classroom, Inchou showed me the photos of Yuma and I totally disregarded them. Yuma wouldn't do those things and that's all there is to it.

I put my violin down on my desk. In music class, we were all learning to play one instrument. Then, I walked over to Tetsuo and Kotori. I glanced back at the group that was mad at Yuma, "Hey, who do you think sent out those photos?"

Kotori closed her eyes in frustration, "I don't know but Yuma wouldn't do those things in a million years!"

"Yeah," said Tetsuo as he crossed his arms, "Yuma's not that type of person."

Speaking of the devil, Yuma ran into the room, "Ohay-"

"Yuma-kun!" said Inchou angrily as he stood in front of our friend. Our other classmates were behind him, "I didn't think of you as that type of person. I can't believe you're doing this behind our backs…"

"Behind your back?" asked Yuma as Astral appeared behind him, "Am I up to anything?"

We watched as Inchou started talking once more, "Are you up to anything?! Even being shameless has its boundaries! Everyone's got these anonymous photos on their mobiles! So in any case, what've you been up to? We know everything! Destroying the flowerbed, causing trouble for our teacher, cheating on your tests and then, you even ate Taichi's lunch! And then replaced it with a frog! When Taichi noticed this, he took the day off from school!"

"Eh?!" asked Yuma incredulously. We knew he was innocent, "That Taichi was…Tch! I would never do anything like that!"

"That's exactly what I said!" said Kotori as we interfered with the fight, "There's gotta be a misunderstanding here!"

"You all know Yuma!" I said angrily, "If he says he didn't do it, he didn't do it!"

"Yuma isn't a shady guy on the inside at all!" said Tetsuo heatedly.

"You three, although I can understand that you want to support Yuma, but there's some really solid evidence here," said Inchou. "Yuma-kun, from now on we're strangers. Anyways, everyone, let's go."

Stupid Inchou! Even after Yuma helped him from the Bugman incident...!

"Ah!" yelled Yuma trying to get them to come back, "W-wait a minute!"

As Inchou passed us, he said, "By associating yourselves with Yuma, nothing good will come from it."

Sticking my foot out, I let him trip and stumble. With a glare, I walked over to Yuma's side.

"Like I said, it wasn't me!" said Yuma in remorse.

"Yuma, we believe you," said Kotori as we walked over to him.

"Yeah but…"

"Astral, Yuma's innocent right?" I asked the floating being.

"I wouldn't know, being inside the key most of the day," said Astral as he crossed his arms.

"Who are you talking to, Rima?" asked Tetsuo.

"No one, Tetsuo," I said as I waved him off. What in the world happened?

* * *

**Music class!**

"Yuma, you can't stay upset forever," I said as I finished tuning my violin.

Yuma was my partner for music because we were both using violins. Everyone else, excluding Kotori and Tetsuo, didn't want to come near Yuma.

Astral appeared suddenly from the key. He was looking around asking questions about the instruments. Yuma said only one-worded answers. After a bit Yuma got a bit annoyed and left the classroom to the washroom. Astral stayed though, still intrigued by the instruments.

I put my violin on my lap as Astral stared at it, "What is that?"

"Oh, this is my violin," I said happily as I showed it to him, "You use it to play music. It makes such a pretty sound too!"

"May I hear you play?" asked Astral.

I smiled, "Yeah, sure."

I put my violin on my shoulder and my chin rested on it. I took out the bow and started bowing. I played Ave Maria. It was my favorite piece because it gave me such a nostalgic feeling. I closed my eyes when I played. I had memorized this song by heart already. I was lost in the music and I barely noticed when everyone in the class had gone silent.

As I played the last note, my eyes fluttered open. A few seconds later, I heard clapping. I brought the violin and bow to my side as I noticed everyone in class _had _been listening to me. Pink dusted my cheeks as I distracted myself with putting my violin away.

Astral was staring at me blankly, eyes glazed over. I tilted my head, "Are you all right, Astral?"

He snapped out of it and looked down. "That music..." He put his hand to his heart, "It makes me feel sad. I'm trying to remember something but...why can't I remember? I feel so nostalgic. Why does your music make me feel like this?"

I stared at Astral. It hurt me to see him look so confused and...sad. This is the most emotion I've seen from Astral so far. That's right. Astral has almost none of his memories. So...not being able to remember them must be so hard for him.

"It's okay, Astral..." I tried to comfort him by putting my hand on his. "I'm sorry I played the music. It just made you sad and confused..."

"It's alright, Rima," Astral lifted his head to look at me. "If you could...could you play again another time? It might help me regain my memories and your music soothes my mind."

I smiled, "Yeah, I'd be glad."

He smiled back and I swear my heart skipped a beat. I was glad that Yuma left so I was the only one to see Astral smile. It was a nice one too…It had to be the first time I saw him smile, even if it was a little bit.

* * *

**After school!**

I was planning on hanging out with Yuma but I needed to pick up some rosin for my violin bow.

I was in the mall at the music store. I looked around for some violin rosin. You'd think I'd be able to find some by how many times I've been here. It took a while but I found it. I paid the man and walked outside. I didn't have my bag because it was hard to carry both that and my violin case.

I sighed as I stretched my arms out, "I'm so tired~"

I felt the small pinch once more. I looked around, "What in the world?" Why was this happening at a time like this? I wasn't doing anything physical…Even if I was, I don't have any conditions…

I yelped in surprise as my key flew up to in front of my face. W-what was happening?! It flew in one direction and since it was still on its chain…It pulled me with it! It was drawn to something and it was weirding me out!

As I looked up ahead I saw Yuma and Tokunosuke dueling! I was able to quickly put on my D-Gazer to see the stats.

**Tokunosuke: 2500LPS **

**Yuma: 3600LPS**

Yuma had…Baby Toragon?!

My key didn't stop going as it was going straight towards…Yuma's key? Yuma and Astral had seen me as my key tangled itself up with Yuma's. It had finally stopped moving.

"What are you-?" Yuma said in shock.

I carefully untangled our keys and mine was back on my neck, "I…I don't know. My key just reacted and it flew, by itself, here, taking me with it…"

"W-what?!" asked Yuma, "How's that possible?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know."

Astral stared at my key, "Maybe it's somehow connected to Yuma's key."

"Yeah, but why now of all times?" I asked. Before anyone could answer Tokunosuke shouted, "As I said, I activate Uratra (Ultra) C!"

I sidestepped away from Yuma and turned to face Tokunosuke. Uratra C…I don't think I've heard of that card. Well, I better let Yuma finish this duel.

Tokunosuke smirked, "Uratra C's effect is, when Baby Toragon is successfully summoned to the opponents' side of the field, I can choose one Xyz monster from my opponents' extra deck, special summon it to my side of the field, and equip this card to it."

"From my extra deck?!" asked Yuma, attention now back on the duel.

"As long as he doesn't know what your cards are, it won't matter," I said calmly as I watched Yuma's shock.

He sweat dropped, "About that…"

"You did not," I said, trying to convince myself. He did not just give himself a huge disadvantage.

"He did," said Astral, confirming my thoughts.

I glared daggers at Yuma. "Idiot!" I shouted.

"In other words," said Tokunosuke as I returned my attention to him, "Aspiring Emperor – Hope now belongs to me! We'll settle this right now! The moment you Xyz summoned Baby Toragon, your luck came to an end."

Wait…what happens if someone takes Yuma and Astral's number during a duel? Does Astral get injured or something?

"For the sake of Xyz summoning Baby Toragon, he special summoned the three Chuubone Juniors to Yuma's side of the field," explained Astral.

I get it now. Yuma is way too trusting.

"How can this be?!" asked Yuma, "But, how did Tokunosuke know of my Baby Toragon?"

"Wait, he didn't give it to you directly?" I asked, surprised.

"I got a fan letter from a girl," said Yuma in confusion.

I face palmed, "Now who in the world would give one to you?"

"Hey, I could get fans!" said Yuma, irritated.

Tokunosuke smirked before taking his hat off and putting on a wig, "I wrote this for you with all of my feelings…" he said in a high pitched girl voice.

Yuma gasped, "Ah! The sender of that fan letter…Isn't that Tokunosuke?!"

Tokunosuke, with a big smirk, took off the wig and put back on his hat, "That's not the only thing. The one who sent all those fake photos to everyone's mobiles, just to make you all alone…that was also me."

"So it was you?!" I asked angrily.

"Everything has a flip side to it," said Tokunosuke, "Whether it's sending you, Yuma, that fan letter, or sending everyone those fake photos, or even trying to break Rima's violin for someone. And of course, this duel included!"

"What do you mean break my violin for someone?!" I cut in.

"Oh, some second year asked me to for a card so I said yes but since I wasn't able to, they just laid off!" said Tokunosuke.

Second year? Why…I don't remember having any enemies. Ugh, wait…I could think of a few people including Shark's fan girls.

Tokunosuke just laughed before turning back to Yuma, "Take a look at the note on your back."

I looked on Yuma's back to indeed see a note. I snatched it from his back and opened it so we three could see it.

"When did you put something like this…!" said Yuma before continuing to read it, "In this duel, the winner will take from the loser one card of their liking, I have agreed."

"Ante-rule" stated Astral.

I have played by this rule once or twice but I never took any important cards from the person. Wait…Yuma agreed by reading it out loud!

Yuma glared angrily at the boy, "Tokunosuke!"

Tokunosuke smirked at us and pointed, "If I win, I will be taking your Aspiring Emperor – Hope!"

"The numbers?!" asked Astral incredulously. So the duel had come to that…

"You've been deceiving me from the beginning, haven't you?" asked Yuma full of hate, "Everything you said about believing in me or being my friend, was it all just a lie?!"

Tokunosuke smirking face was annoying me already, "This world is filled with hidden truths! Falling for this is your own fault!"

"Tokunosuke!" yelled Yuma angrily.

"So this is this human's hidden dark side," said Astral stunned, "Is that the bizarre power's true form?"

"Dark side?" I repeated, mostly to myself.

"Prepare yourself," said Tokunosuke, "Continuous trap, Uratra C, activate! I special summon Aspiring Emperor – Hope, from Yuma's extra deck, and equipping it to this card! Appear, Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

"Aspiring Emperor – Hope!" yelled Yuma, "It got stolen away!"


	6. The Treacherous Numbers!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal.**

* * *

"Aspiring Emperor – Hope…was taken away," I said in shock.

Tokunosuke laughed, "You fell for it, Yuma! When this continuous trap, Uratra C, is on my side of the field, this duel is mine for sure! If I win, as promised, I'll be taking your Aspiring Emperor – Hope!"

"You're after my number, aren't you?" asked Yuma. If Tokunosuke is a number-holder already…we're in trouble.

Baby Toragon purred as I looked to it. It had a cute, but sad, expression on its face.

All of a sudden Tokunosuke screamed in pain. He was shot with 'lightening' and he fell to his knees.

"T-Tokunosuke!" yelled Yuma in shock. Just like Yuma, always thinking about others.

I wonder...After seeing what numbers did to Shark and Ukyo-sensei…

"Not sure what's happening but my body is surging with energy…" muttered Tokunosuke.

"What's happening?" I asked, a bit freaked out.

Tokunosuke stood back up with a shout.

"He took one of the numbers away, didn't he?" asked Astral.

Yuma turned, "One of the numbers?!"

On Tokunosuke's right hand the number, 39, appeared on his hand.

"He has the mark!" I said in shock.

"Aspiring Emperor – Hope's number…" said Yuma.

I felt a pain once more. It was no longer just a pinch, it was more like a sting. It felt like someone was injecting a needle into my heart.

"Tokunosuke…" said Yuma concerned.

I heard something and I turned to see Astral kneeling on the ground, "Astral?"

"What's wrong?" asked Yuma, shocked and confused.

I knelt in front of Astral just as lights, like overlay units, orbited around him.

Astral closed his eyes in pain, "My body is…!"

"W-What's with these streams of light?" asked Yuma.

"Hey, Astral?" I asked worried, "Are you alright?"

It was clear that he wasn't but I didn't know what else to do. At least now my pain was off my mind if only for a moment.

Astral said if he lost his numbers he would disappear but…he didn't lose his numbers completely…I was confused and worried at the same time.

"Don't tell me this guy is going to disappear," said Yuma, thinking the same thing, "Because I accepted his duel…"

"What are you talking about?" asked Tokunosuke as I turned my head to face him, "Hurry up and end your turn."

Did he not see our friend was injured?! Then again, no one else could see Astral.

I placed my violin (case) down beside me seeing as it was a bit heavy. I watched Astral but I glanced back to Yuma, "You have to win, Yuma." Yuma had two more numbers to defeat Hope.

Yuma understood but he didn't exactly have the requirements for an Xyz summon, "Turn end!"

That was all he could do for now.

"So I see you've prepared yourself," said Tokunosuke, "I'll take the victory in one shot. My turn, draw! I attack Full Elf with Aspiring Emperor – Hope! Hope sword slash!"

**Tokunosuke: 2500LPS **

**Yuma: 1900LPS**

Tokunosuke smirked, "With that, our life points are 2500 vs. 1900. The tables have turned. I set one monster in face down defense position, turn end!"

Great, I could feel the sting once more. Hold on…Yuma lost life points when I felt it. Then again, during the duel with Ukyo-sensei the same thing happened…Are these connected? And does this have to do with my key?

Yuma grit his teeth, "My turn, draw! Alright, I got it! With this I can summon a number! I summon my level 3 monster, Rai-Rider (Atk: 1200-Lvl: 3)! And then, I activate Gagaga Magician's monster effect! Once per turn, before the end phase, this card's level can change to anything between 1 and 8!"

I smiled, he can summon Revise Dragon. It won't be strong enough to defeat Hope just yet but it's a good start.

Yuma continued, "I change Gagaga Magician to level 3, the same level as Rai-Rider! Alright, here we go! I overlay my level 3 monsters Gagaga Magician and Rai-Rider! With these two monsters, I construct the overlay network! Xyz summon! Appear, No. 17 Revise Dragon (Atk: 2000-Rank: 3)!"

"No. 17?!" asked Tokunosuke incredulously, "There are other numbers? In that case, this one is mine too! I activate my continuous trap card, Hidden Mist!"

The whole field became a dark and foggy place. I had a bad feeling about this card.

"W-What's happening?" asked Yuma, "This fog…"

"It's A/R, Yuma," I said quietly as I watched Astral, "But be careful, this card seems…" I left it open ended.

Tokunosuke pulled his glasses up, "This is the fog of betrayal. Continuous trap Hidden Mist effect is, when a monster is special summoned to the opponent's side of the field, I get to gain control of that monster!"

A puppet master appeared above us and it turned Revise Dragon into a marionette!

"Revise Dragon!" I shouted in shock. Tokunosuke's taking almost all of our chances away.

The Number 17 appeared on Tokunosuke's left hand, "Here it comes!"

Astral's stream of light was beginning to cover him even more. "Astral!" I shouted as I moved towards him.

The light became a cocoon around Astral just as my hand reached it. My hand couldn't get through. "No…" I whispered. Astral…what was happening? Astral was crying out in pain and all I could do was watch helplessly.

"Astral!" yelled Yuma in worry.

I could barely see Astral through the cocoon.

"Astral!" yelled Yuma, "Hey, Astral! Astral…"

Our keys glinted for a mere second before going back to normal. I guess it was just a trick of the light. Astral's cries of pain had stopped but I could tell he was still in agony. My stinging pain is nothing compared to Astral's.

"Yuma!" said Tokunosuke as we both looked at him, "It's about time you accepted that you've lost! As for falling for the trap, you have no one to blame but yourself."

"Why would you do this?!" I asked in anger. I was talking about how he hurt Astral. How dare he?!

Yuma cut in, "Why must you deceive others around you just to win?"

"That kind of thing?" asked Tokunosuke, "Definitely. Duelist is meaningless if you're not the winner! After all, this is the rule of our world! I knew this more than anyone."

"Huh?" asked Yuma, confusion adorning his features.

"That was when I first started dueling…" he started.

_Flashback_

"_Hm?" asked a boy with red hair, "So Toku-chan's starting to duel? Will you teach us how to play?"_

"_Really?" asked young Tokunosuke._

"_However, we're playing with an Ante-rule," said the redhead._

"_Ante-rule?" asked young Tokunosuke._

"_It's a gambling duel," said one of the boys, "The winner takes the loser's cards."_

"_Take them?" asked Tokunosuke, unsure._

"_This way, you'll be able to duel seriously and get better real quick," said the redhead._

"_We're just looking out for you."_

"_Hm…" said Tokunosuke._

**Tokunosuke - But that was all lies. **

_He lost many duels against the boys he called 'friends._

**Tokunosuke - Day after day, those guys kept taking my cards. **

"_That idiot, didn't even realize he's getting ripped off," said the redhead._

"_Thanks to him we got some really nice cards."_

**Tokunosuke - At that moment, I realized. Everything has a hidden flip side. These guys putting up a smiling face just to get close to me, they're always hiding something. Isn't that right? **

_Flashback end_

"And then I decided," finished Tokunosuke, "If that's the case, I'll pursue the hidden side of the world to its fullest!"

"Tokunosuke…" whispered Yuma.

I closed my eyes, sad story…but don't we all have one? I may have sympathy for him but…Astral is on the line in this duel. Astral's one of my friends now and I won't let him hurt him.

"I vowed to use that hidden world to bring them my revenge," said Tokunosuke, "In order to master the sleight of hand. I practiced hard every day. And then, I took back the cards that were taken from me. I was hated, but I'm glad. After all, everything in this world has a hidden side. As long as I won, everyone wagged their tails at me. That is human nature. The true nature of society and such, lie and deceive if you can't win. Same thing with dueling, winning means everything!"

"That's not dueling at all!" yelled Yuma before I could.

Tokunosuke was wrong. Dueling is all about fun. It was about honesty and believing in yourself and your abilities.

Yuma continued, "Winning is everything, and such…Dueling is the clash between soul and soul!"

"That's right," I said in agreement. Dueling is one of Yuma's only passions and he took it seriously.

"If that's how you're gonna put it then you can live forever like a hopeless loser," said Tokunosuke.

"Keh," spat Yuma.

I looked back to Astral to see him in the same condition.

"I-"

"Baby Toragon."

I turned to Astral as he interrupted Yuma, "Protect it."

"Astral…?" I asked, confused. Why do we need to protect Baby Toragon?

"Protect it…" he repeated weakly.

"Hey you, are you alright?" asked Yuma, worried.

"Baby Toragon," he whispered once more.

Yuma argued, "But Baby Toragon can't beat the numbers!"

"Baby Toragon," he said once more in a weak voice. I think that's what got to Yuma.

Yuma turned to face the duel, "I will…I will…change Baby Toragon to defense position!"

Baby Toragon smiled as it flipped to defense position (Def: 900).

There's one thing though…I don't remember its' ability. I'm pretty sure that's why Astral wanted Yuma to protect it.

"And then, I set one card face down!" said Yuma, "Turn end!"

"Trying to harden your defense, are you?" asked Tokunosuke, "It's all useless! My turn, draw! I activate Revice Dragon's monster effect! Once per turn, by using one overlay unit, its attack power is increased by 500 (Atk: 2500). And then I flip summon!"

"Flip summon?!" asked Yuma.

"When a face down defense position monster is changed to face up attack position by the player," explained Tokunosuke, "In other words, even if it wasn't attacked, its flip effect can still be activated! Appear, Uragutan (Atk: 800-Lvl: 4)! I activate Uragutan's flip effect! Defense position monsters are switched to attack position!"

Baby Toragon was switched (Atk: 900)! That's bad…I didn't see what card Yuma set but let's hope it's a good one.

"Baby Toragon is changed back to attack position?" asked Yuma but he knew the answer.

"And then, I use Revise Dragon to attack Baby Toragon!" ordered Tokunosuke, "Vice stream! "

"I activate my trap card Half Unbreak!" said Yuma quickly, "Because of Half Unbreak, one monster on my side of the field cannot be destroyed by battle this turn. And then, the battle damage to the player is decreased by half."

**Tokunosuke: 2500LPS **

**Yuma: 1100LPS**

I gripped the bottom my shirt as I felt the stinging pain again. Now I'm almost sure that it has something to do with Yuma, or maybe Astral, dueling.

"So you've been hiding a trap like that…" said Tokunosuke but he was still smirking, "However, Aspiring Emperor – Hope's attack power is 2500. Half of that damage is plenty enough!"

Yuma hissed but I know he must have a plan…right?

"Go, Aspiring Emperor – Hope!" ordered Tokunosuke, "Hope sword slash!"

Yuma flew backwards from the blast but he landed on my lap. I stared at him, "You okay?"

He nodded slowly with a small groan of pain.

**Tokunosuke: 2500LPS **

**Yuma: 300LPS**

"Then, I activate the magic card Book of Reversal from my hand!" said Tokunosuke, "With this card, one of my flip effect monsters is changed to face down defense position. This way I can reuse its flip effect"

"If this keeps up, even if I change Baby Toragon to defense position, Uragutan's flip effect will change it back to attack position," said Yuma as he stood back up, "And I'll take battle damage!"

"Ping-pon," sneered Tokunosuke, "It's great that you finally realized this. However, you only have 300 life points remaining. Next turn, it'll be all over. Turn end."

"Damn," swore Yuma.

I kept shifting from Astral to Yuma. I hope Yuma gets a good draw.

"Yuma, Rima!"

Beside us Kotori and Tetsuo appeared.

"Kotori, Tetsuo!" said Yuma in surprise.

"You guys took a while," I said jokingly.

Kotori ignored it, "Just what in the world is…?"

"You guys are too late," said Tokunosuke, "The outcome is already certain."

"2500 vs. 300?!" asked Kotori.

"And how did Aspiring Emperor – Hope and Revise Dragon end up on Tokunosuke's field?!" asked Tetsuo. They had a lot of catching up to do.

"Come on, Yuma" said Tokunosuke with that evil grin, "It's your turn."

"It's my turn, draw!" announced Yuma, "Needle Swordsman?!"

Yuma…could possibly use that card. It's the effect that's important.

"Looks like you didn't get the card you wanted," said Tokunosuke as he read Yuma's expression.

"Yuma…" whispered Kotori in worry.

"It doesn't matter how you feel, it's still no use," said Tokunosuke, "On your side of the field, you have an Xyz monster from the bottom of the trash barrel, Rank 1 Baby Toragon, that's all. There's nothing you can possibly do."

"There's no way out of it, isn't it…" said Yuma before gasping, "This guy…why Baby Toragon? I see…So that's how it is! Let's go! Baby Toragon! I summon Needle Swordsman (Atk: 300-Lvl: 1)!"

"Attack power 300?" asked Tokunosuke, "What can a card like that possibly do?"

"It certainly can, together with Baby Toragon!" said Yuma. He found out.

"Huh?" asked Tokunosuke, "The card from the trash?"

He's calling his own card trash?! Gr...

"Kattobingu!" said Yuma, "I activate Baby Toragon's monster effect!" said Yuma, "By using one overlay unit, one level one monster can attack directly!"

"So that's the effect…" I said quietly.

"Go Needle Swordsman!" ordered Yuma, "Attack Tokunosuke directly!"

"Merely 300 points of damage," sneered Tokunosuke, "I can barely even feel it!" He stuck his hand out and it was poked.

**Tokunosuke: 2200LPS **

**Yuma: 300LPS**

I smirked, Tokunosuke should be worrying.

"Alright, now!" beamed Yuma, "I activate Needle Swordsman's monster effect!"

"Hurricane!" yelled the small monster. It created a hurricane around us. I shielded my eyes with my hand.

"W-What's this?" asked Tokunosuke as he held onto his hat.

"When Needle Swordsman direct attacks successfully, all of your face up magic and trap cards are returned to your hand!" explained Yuma with a smirk.

"All of them?!" asked Tokunosuke, shocked.

"That's right!" yelled Yuma, "Your cards that took away Aspiring Emperor – Hope and Revise Dragon, since they're no longer on your field, those two will come back to me once again!"

Tokunosuke was stunned, "My numbers, they're…"

"They weren't yours in the first place!" I shouted.

The numbers were leaving their hold on Tokunosuke. He looked like he was in pain…

I don't know why but it felt like my violin was calling me. I stared at it before grabbing my violin out of its case. I took a deep breath as I stood up and bowed on it. I played a music piece that was not familiar to me. It was like a faded memory. It was short but it was enough for the numbers to calm down and go back to Yuma. My violin seemed to be glowing but it was probably just me. I dropped my arms to my side as I watched the marks of the numbers disperse off of Tokunosuke's hands.

"Alright!" cheered Yuma, "Thanks, Rima!"

I nodded slowly, "Yeah…sure." I felt like I had to play. But, why did it work? I mean, music is supposed to calm people so is it the same for the number cards?

"I got the numbers back!" shouted Yuma in joy.

I blinked before quickly looking back to see Astral. The cocoon glowed really brightly before exploding. Astral stood up and floated. I sighed in relief. Astral was okay.

"Hey you, are you alright?" asked Yuma.

"Let's win," said Astral in that serious voice of his.

"Huh?" asked Yuma, confused.

Astral shot his arm forward, "Revise Dragon, attack that face down position monster!"

I laughed softly, this is just Astral telling us to not worry.

"Like I said, this is supposed to be my duel!" shouted Yuma, irritated.

Man, these two… I sweat dropped, "This again?"

Yuma then smiled, "Let's go, Revise Dragon! Attack that face down position monster! Vice stream!"

"Alright!" cheered Kotori.

"Nice!" shouted Tetsuo, "This way there's no more defending monsters!"

Tokunosuke took a step backwards in fear and shock.

"Aspiring Emperor – Hope, direct attack!" announced Yuma, "Let's go! Hope sword slash!"

Tokunosuke flew backwards from impact.

**Tokunosuke: 0LPS **

**Yuma: 300LPS**

**Yuma is the winner!**

"Alright!" cheered Yuma, "I did it!"

I smiled softly at the hyper boy as I put my violin and bow into its case.

"You won!" cheered Kotori.

"You did it, Yuma!" said Tetsuo.

"Well done," said Astral as he crossed his arms, "We protected the number cards."

"It's nothing!" said Yuma indifferently, "It's not like I did it for you!"

"Yuma!" yelled Kotori as she ran over with Tetsuo.

"What an awesome reversal finish, Yuma!" said Tetsuo as he put Yuma into a headlock.

"Thanks to Baby Toragon!" said the spikey-headed kid.

The stinging sensation had stopped the moment the duel had finished but I had a feeling it wasn't the worst of it. Whatever it was, anyway. I noticed Astral watching me as I stood up with my violin case. I looked to him, "Is something wrong?"

"Is there usually something wrong?" Astral asked with a perplexed tone.

I smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, it's just a habit."

"Nevertheless, thank you."

I blinked as I stared at him, "For…what?"

"Your violin music is what helped me recover from what happened," said Astral as he glanced at my case.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. I just played.

"Your violin calmed down the numbers but it also helped me regain some strength," said Astral, "Thank you."

I smiled, "That's what friends are for, right?"

"Friends…?" Astral asked like it was hard to believe.

"Yeah, we're friends" I stated. I thought about hugging him but I thought against it. I held my hand out instead, "Right?"

Astral looked at me before looking to my hand, "Indeed. Yes, we are friends" And he held his own hand out to meet mine. We both held our hands there a moment longer than necessary. Yuma interrupted the moment by walking over to Tokunosuke and saying, "Tokunosuke."

Our hands retracted as I held mine to my chest. I was pretty sure my face was bright red as well. I shifted my violin case to my shoulder to distract myself.

I turned to watch Yuma. He knelt down in front of Tokunosuke, "You can have it back." Yuma held out a card.

"This is…" drifted Tokunosuke as he looked at the card Yuma was holding. I was pretty sure it was Baby Toragon.

"It's your card, after all," said Yuma with a smile. He was still nice after everything that we just went through…Yuma is really kindhearted. Yuma continued, "As an exchange, don't use it for underhanded tricks anymore. Baby Toragon will be sad. However, you're pretty powerful!"

"I'm powerful?" asked Tokunosuke disbelievingly.

"Yeah!" said Yuma encouragingly, "'Especially since you're the first guy I've ever seen that uses flip effects this well!"

"Yuma…" said Tokunosuke surprised. He then looked away, "Hmph. I'm not falling for that. Flattering me like that, what's your real intention?"

Tokunosuke was still on about that?

"Intention?" asked Yuma as he stood up, "There's isn't! I really thought you were powerful! That's why."

"I don't believe you," said Tokunosuke as he stood up not facing us, "Did you really mean it?"

"Of course!" grinned Yuma.

Tokunosuke's head snapped up before tilting it away. He turned to us for us to see his tear-soaked face, "Yuma~!"

Yuma sweat dropped at the action.

I just rolled my eyes. So dramatic…

Tokunosuke sobbed, "Calling me powerful and all that, this is the first time ever! Everyone always called me shameless and dirty…" Tokunosuke wiped away his tears, "It's decided. You can keep the card! As a token of our friendship."

Yuma blinked in surprise before asking, "Really?"

Tokunosuke nodded, "Ura."

Yuma blinked before grinning like mad, "Alright! Alright, alright, alright, alright! I really wanted this! Thanks a bunch, Tokunosuke! With this, we'll become trusted bros!"

They hooked their arms in an 'armshake'.

"Yeah!" said Tokunosuke in agreement.

Tetsuo's eyes narrowed, "All of this because he got a card, what a greedy guy…"

"Returning a desired card…" said Astral as I looked to him, "Observation #9: Even Yuma thinks of things on the flip side…Ura."

* * *

**At night!**

I rubbed my eyes sleepily as I looked out the window. Something just told me to wake up. Then, I saw him. My eyes widened, "Shark?!" He was just walking outside in nothing but his regular attire. Oh, did I mention, it's raining hard?!

I quickly ran downstairs and put on my flats and grabbed my umbrella. I ran outside and opened it up. Shark was still in line of sight. I ran over to him and held the umbrella over his head.

Shark's head snapped up. He looked up at the umbrella before turning around to see me, "Rima?"

"Ryoga-oniichan, what are you doing out in the pouring rain?" I asked. I hadn't meant to add oniichan but it felt right.

"Hn," he grunted.

I smiled at him, "Come on, you can sleep at my place tonight."

I knew Shark had it rough. I haven't seen him in a while as well.

He looked hesitant but I had grabbed his hand with the one that wasn't holding the umbrella, "Let's go," I said softly and I knew he wasn't gonna refuse.

We walked up to my door…which was locked. I stared blankly at the door.

Shark chuckled, "You don't have your key, do you?"

"Shut up," I said in embarrassment.

He let go of my hand and dug into his extra deck box. I watched as he took something out, a key. Right…I had given it to him once.

I blinked, "You had the key…in your extra deck-box?"

"At least I won't drop it," said Shark as he stuck the key in the hole. He turned the knob and we stepped in.

I shook the umbrella to get the water off and he took his shoes off. I put the umbrella away and smiled at him, "So you wanna eat something?" I didn't wait for an answer as I walked into the kitchen and started cooking some fried rice.

Ryoga-oniichan watched me silently as I served some rice into a bowl for him. I told him to sit down as I put some fish on the table.

"Thank you…" he mumbled as he ate his food. He looked like he was holding back in eating.

"Ryoga-oniichan, I live here by myself. No one else is gonna see you scarf down food like an animal," I said, amused. Well, I don't technically live here by myself but still.

Shark looked up at me for a bit. Then he went back to his food eagerly.

I laughed as he had his full, "Alright, Ryoga-"

"Why did you suddenly stop calling me Shark?" he asked.

"Do you want me to call you Shark?" I asked, confused.

"No, it's alright" he said, "It's just the oniichan…"

Ah, it reminded him too much of Rio.

I smiled and hugged him from behind his chair, "Alright. I'll just call you Ryoga then."

I caught Ryoga staring at something. I followed his gaze to see him staring at the photo of Rio and us. I smiled, "That was…a few years back, right?"

"Yeah…" he said as he stood up from his chair and we walked into the living room.

I smiled at him, "Okay, where are you sleeping? Couch or do you wanna sleep on my bed?"

"I'll take the couch," he said as he lay down on my couch with his hands behind his head.

I grabbed the blanket from the chair and threw it at his face, "There. That blanket's a bit thick though but it's sorta cold so…"

"Thanks, Rima…" he said softly as he looked to me.

"No problem, Ryoga" I said with a small smile, "Anything else you need?"

"N-" he then stopped with a thoughtful look, "How about you play your violin for me?" he asked with a smirk.

I hit him with one of the pillows to wipe that smirk off his face. After I took the violin case out from under the couch, "Alright…just a bit though."

I took out the white violin and put it on my shoulder. I grabbed the bow and thought about what to play.

"Neh, you remember that song that you played for me when Rio…"

I stared at Ryoga but his eyes were already closed. I remember clearly…I smiled, "Sure."

I played my violin, strong but gently.

{I suggest you listen to 'Ikuto's Violin Song'. I have no idea how to write what she's playing}

The music flowed from my fingertips and I could just picture Rio's face.

_After…_

I carefully took the bow off the violin and held the violin by the neck. I smiled as I noticed Ryoga had fallen asleep. I silently put my instrument away and slid it under the couch. I watched Ryoga…He looked so peaceful, well, when he's sleeping. I remember when we were younger, he would look more peaceful. I tightened my hand into a fist. This is because off the incident. The one that put Rio into the hospital. She's in coma. It's not one of a large scale but she is in one. Ryoga...After a while of loneliness, his heart blackened and formed barriers around itself. I won't let him fall into loneliness though. I'm here for him. Is this something we have in common? Ryoga and I have been through a lot since we were younger. He's one of my best friends and I'm like a little sister.

I knelt down and kissed his forehead, "Good night, Ryoga." I walked up the stairs to my room.

* * *

**In the morning**

I woke up and walked downstairs to see the couch Ryoga-less. The blanket was folded already and I looked around to make sure if he was here or not. I smiled softly, he had already left. I spotted a note on the table and I picked it up. One simple word was on it…_Arigato_.


	7. The Grand Feast of Justice!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

* * *

I was somewhere I didn't know of. Sand was below me and you could see the dark azure sky.

Someone stood in front of me. He had blue glowing skin so I was sure it was Astral. But…when I looked at the being's eyes, I saw the same dark brown as my own. He said something to me that I could not understand.

I was panting when I sat up. A dream? I lay back down and stared at the ceiling, "Just what…No, _who_ was that?"

* * *

I stared at my desk as I thought about my dream. It was still haunting me. What did it mean?

A hand waved in front of my face, "Rima? Rima?"

I blinked in surprise before looking up to see Kotori, "Oh, sorry, Kotori. What's up?"

"The bell rang," she said before grinning broadly, "Did you hear?"

I stood up as I made sure my deck was still on my belt, "About…?"

"Robin!"

I looked at her, "The TV show character?"

"Yeah!" she said happily, "He's at the waterfront for a shooting and we're going, right?!"

I just laughed at her enthusiasm, "Yeah, sure. Just for a little while though." Robin was a character from an action show. He had spiked up blue hair, a red mask that hid his dark green eyes, a white suit, and a flowing blue cape. I wasn't a huge fan of Robin but he was a cool character. But that's all he was, a character. His real identity is probably a bit different.

She grabbed my arm as we bumped into Tetsuo. She told him what she told me and he agreed.

Kotori ran ahead of us to find Yuma. Tetsuo and I sighed before following the hyper girl.

"Hey, Hey, Yuma!" said Kotori as we spotted him arguing with Astral. "Have you heard?" asked Kotori excitedly.

"What is it?" asked Yuma, a bit annoyed. I guess he was fighting with Astral again.

"Robin is coming over to our area!" exclaimed Kotori.

"What?" I heard Astral ask.

I decided to cut in, "They're coming to a set by the shoreline to shoot some scenes for the next episode or something."

"Huh?" asked Yuma.

"We should all go check it out," said Tetsuo.

Kotori got that sparkly look and was blushing with a smile, "This slightly terrible feeling is unbearable…Aah, Robin-sama!"

I rubbed my head, "Kotori sure is excited."

"Yeah…" agreed Tetsuo.

"I must go meet Robin as well!" said Astral, surprising me. I know Yuma had shown him TV but he was already fan-girling over a character?

"Robin is great and everything," said Yuma as he started walking away, "But I'm gonna go duel…"

Kotori grabbed his collar, "Let's go, Yuma!"

He tried fighting it as I laughed, "Yuma, you're fighting a losing battle."

"But I was gonna duel…!" yelled Yuma upset.

* * *

"This guy is super popular…" said Yuma as we looked at all the cheering fan girls. And when I say girls, I mean girls!

"Robin-sama!" Kotori cheered along.

"At this rate, we won't meet him at all" said Tetsuo.

"Oh well, that's sucks. I'm just gonna go and-" before I could run away, Kotori grabbed my collar. I sighed in defeat and she let go, knowing I wasn't gonna run off.

I heard laughing and turned to see Tokunosuke.

"Everyone, got a problem?" he asked with a smirk.

We walked over to the back area.

He continued, "These kinds of things, you can leave it to me! Everything in this world has its hidden ways. Acting nervous like an outsider, this will only make you seem more suspicious. But if you walk in freely, you'll look just like one of them!"

"This seems like it will not work," said Astral as he floated next to me.

I giggled quietly, "I agree." They would definitely have ID passes and stuff. They won't let just anyone in but it'll be fun to see what happens.

We watched as Tokunosuke started walking carelessly to the gates where a security guard was, "Ah, hard day of work! Last night was sushi at Roppongi. Then it's off to get rich at the Ginza midnight reservation."

The security saw through his act and grabbed him from the collar, "What are you talking about?"

Tokunosuke was making a huge scene…

"Now!" said Tetsuo.

I grinned, "Yeah, he's the perfect distraction."

We ran through. Astral floated by as well. Poor Tokunosuke.

* * *

**Inside!**

"Ah, unbelievable!" said Kotori as we looked around. We were pretty much roaming the halls. I'm pretty sure we're gonna get caught though…

Then I heard a snap. I looked down to see that my clip for my deck box broke. I picked up my deck box from the floor and held it out to Yuma, "Could you carry this for me?"

He nodded, "Yeah, sure…" he grabbed it and put it in his bag.

I whined a little, "My pride and joy…"

Everyone sweat dropped as we continued walking.

"Robin is really here!" said Kotori as we walked by a door.

"Prepare yourself, King of Darkness, Dead Max!"

Kotori gasped, "That voice…It's Robin!"

Against my better judgment, we all walked into the studio room. We quickly hid behind some stage props.

Robin was making grunting noises as he slung his whip around. He then moved his cape back in a heroic fashion.

"He's here…Robin's here!" said Kotori. Okay, I can sorta see why Kotori likes this guy but…he's just an illusion made by TV.

"It's the real deal!" said Testuo.

"King of Darkness Dead Max," said Robin, "Today we will settle this once and for all!"

"King of Darkness Dead Max…" said Astral, "Could that by my enemy?"

I looked to Yuma confused, "What's he talking about?"

"He thinks that TV is real," said Yuma as he watched Robin.

All of a sudden, I heard Astral gasp, "Watch out, Yuma! That's one of Dead Max's servants!"

"Eh?!" asked Yuma scared but then noticed the monster costume beside him, "That's just a costume."

"Costume?" asked Astral puzzled.

"This stuff is all made up," said Yuma. He moved and I heard a press of a button.

I watched in amusement as Yuma was lifted up to the ceiling with the costume. He yelled in fright.

"Yuma!" Kotori and Tetsuo shouted.

You know, is it bad if I'm enjoying this?

Astral flew up beside him, "Yuma, you can fly in the sky?"

Smiling at Astral, I noticed something. I watched something fall out of Yuma's bag. It was a white deck box. I screamed, "Yuma, you idiot! My deck!"

It landed somewhere on the stage and I ran to get it. I didn't notice when Yuma's deck fell as well, near mine.

I quickly picked up all my cards as it had scattered. My hand hit someone else's and I looked up to apologize before gasping. It was Robin! I blinked as he helped me pick up some cards, "Thanks."

He nodded, "You're welcome, um…"

"My name's Rima," I said as I stood up. I put all my cards into my deck and sighed in relief as I had found all my cards. I'm going to murder Yuma! I noticed Robin holding another deck box…It was red…Was that Yuma's?

"My name is Fuya- Robin. My name is Robin," I heard the hesitation.

I smiled, "So your name is Fuya-kun, huh?" I'd rather call him by his true name then by Robin.

"Ah-"

We looked behind me to see Yuma get knocked into a huge prop?

I winced, "That's gotta hurt."

_Later…_

"You!" yelled the security guard, "Just how the hell did you get in here? Now, come with me to the guard office."

Robin told me to go to the first room while he went to get Yuma. I wonder what he wants with us…

* * *

I looked at the bouquets of flowers on the sanctuary. I wonder if Robin, I mean Fuya-kun, is actually a narcissist.

Yuma and Astral came in with Fuya-kun.

"Huh, Rima?" asked Yuma, surprised.

I waved, slightly distracted. Then I realized who it was. I whipped around to glare at him, "How dare you drop my deck?!"

Yuma freaked out, "I did?!"

"And you also dropped yours too!" I seethed.

"This is your deck, isn't it?" asked Fuya-kun as he held out Yuma's deck box.

"Huh?" asked Yuma, "What the…? Oh man, that was close! I can't believe I dropped my deck case…"

I felt like strangling him. I just settled for glaring.

"The life of a duelist…" said Astral, "Unbelievable!"

"You're a huge idiot, Yuma" I said angrily. I had to hold my deck in my hand, "I am never giving you my deck again!"

Yuma just shrunk under my gaze. He looked to Fuya-kun, "Thank you! You totally saved me!"

"No need to thank me," said Fuya-kun, "However, I have a request for you."

"Request?" asked Yuma.

"Please, join me in a grand banquet of dueling!" said Fuya-kun.

"So you duel?" I asked. Wow, that's awesome.

"Yeah, a little bit," he said.

"In that case," said Yuma excitedly, "Let's do it right now!"

"Really?!"

I blinked, his voice was a bit…higher pitched. Could this be how he really talks?

Fuya-kun blushed before coughing, "…No, I mean…Do you really mean it?" His voice was back to the deep voice. Why is he doing that?

"Yeah!" exclaimed Yuma, "I'm Tsukumo Yuma! Let's hurry up and duel!"

A duel between these two? That'd be pretty cool. Yuma's probably going to embarrass himself in front of a celebrity, but you know.

Astral interrupted, "Yuma. Aside from dueling right now, ask him if he knows anything about me."

Yuma grew irritated, "Like I said, he doesn't know anything about you!"

"Yuma, stop yelling at him!" I shouted.

"You're yelling at me!" he said.

We heard a huge scream and turned to see Fuya-kun…hiding under the shelf.

"What's wrong?" asked Yuma, confused.

Fuya-kun was still in a fatal position but he pointed, "T-T-That thing!"

I looked to see a spider.

"It's only a spider," said Yuma.

Fuya-kun…is afraid of spiders? The great Robin is afraid? Well, I was right when I thought the actor and the TV character are different. It was sorta funny.

"Boku, I'm terrible at dealing with bugs…"

{Boku = young boys use this}

"B-Boku…?" I said with a sweat drop. Fuya-kun was acting pretty adorable though.

He was crying, "Hurry, please do something about that spider!"

Yuma took the spider and blew it out the window. I was just watching Fuya-kun, intrigued.

Yuma walked off the seats and came back to our side, "Everything's fine now."

Fuya-kun looked up and got out from his spot. He sighed out of relief, "You saved me…Thank you…"

Yuma burst into laughter, "What's with you anyways? The great ally of justice is afraid of spiders."

I nudged Yuma, "Yuma!"

He stopped laughing.

Fuya-kun took off his mask to reveal his faded dark green eyes. Fuya-kun smiled sadly, "All of this, it's just a fantasy that everyone made up."

He ruffled his hair and it felt down straighter. "My true self is neither powerful nor courageous, compared to Robin. I'm just a cowardly person who can't even stand spiders. However, this image that everyone created…to tell the truth, I'm fed up with it. Every day, I play out the Robin you see on TV. However…There's no one out there that knows my true self."

No one…knows? I looked at him in sympathy, I know how it feels like to be lonely. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his torso. He tensed but I smiled and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry. I know how it feels to be lonely…"I quickly let go of him and smiled.

He smiled at me, "Thank you…Rima-chan"

"Not really sure what' going on, but…" said Yuma before beaming, "Wouldn't it be great to just let out your true self?"

"You mean it?" he asked. Fuya-kun walked over and grabbed Yuma's hand, "Thank you! You're the first person to ever say that to me!"

"Then I'll be the second," I said smiling.

Fuya-kun's face lit up. He was blushing brightly. I wonder why, "Hey you two, won't you be my friends? My name is Okudaira Fuya."

"Fuya?" I heard Astral ask.

"Of course, Fuya!" said Yuma.

"Same here, Fuya-kun" I said.

Yuma smiled, "Hurry up, let's have a duel to our friendship!"

Fuya-kun nodded happily.

"Robin!"

We turned to the door to see a scary woman.

She looked to Yuma and I, "Those children, who are they?"

"Mother…" said Fuya-kun.

"Mother?!" asked Yuma as I studied the lady. She was sort of…I can tell she's a terrifying lady but she was pretty. I'll give her that much.

"Didn't I tell you to not talk to any unrelated outsiders?" she asked.

"That's Galaxy Queen," said Astral, staring at her. Ah! Astral was right! Galaxy Queen was the antagonist in ESPer Robin!

"I-I understand, mother," said Fuya sadly. He was hiding his pain from her. I've done that on many occasions as well. Like when my parents called to tell me they couldn't make it home on my birthday, Christmas and sometimes violin recitals, when I was younger.

"No, you don't get it!" she basically reprimanded. She walked over as I noticed Fuya-kun's eyes water.

"If you keep exposing yourself to your fans like that, you'll end up ruining your hard-earned image!"

I felt my blood boil. How dare she say that to her own son? My parents never did that. Never.

She gestured to herself, "Think about all the hardship I went through to make you a star! It's best for you to live your life protecting Robin's image."

"If you tell anyone you've met Fuya, I'll sue you for trespassing!" said the woman, turning to face us.

"How dare you say that to Fuya-kun?!" I asked in anger.

She had started pushing Yuma out but she turned to me, "What was that?"

I glared at her, "How could you talk to Fuya-kun that way?"

"I'll sue you for trespassing if you don't shut your mouth!" said the woman angrily.

I smirked, "You think I'm afraid of you?!"

Fuya-kun put a hand on my arm, "Rima-chan, just go."

"But Fuya-kun-" I saw the desperate look in his eyes. I sighed but complied with him. I left the room to beside Yuma.

"Yuma, Rima-chan!" said Fuya-kun as he ran over to the door.

"Fuya!" said Yuma, "We're friends, aren't we? That's why, one day we'll duel for sure!"

Fuya-kun looked down, "It's fine…There's no way to keep that kind of promise…No one can save me from this…"

The doors closed as we stared at it. No, Fuya-kun, that's not true…

* * *

**On the bridge!**

I stared at the water as it reflected the sun.

"Somehow, being a star is pretty terrible…" said Yuma as he leaned on the railing, "Just what in the world does this mean?"

"Why is Robin also named Fuya?" asked Astral, puzzled.

"Robin isn't Fuya, it's not like that!" answered Yuma, "Fuya is supposed to be Robin."

"What?" asked Astral.

"Like I said, Robin is just live action," said Yuma, "Characters from TV show don't exist in real life."

"In that case…" said Astral, "Was I deceived?"

I stifled a giggle before smiling, "No, nothing like that. That's just Fuya-kun playing as Robin."

"Playing…" said Astral softly before looking down sadly. "Then about my memories…"

"Like I said, he really doesn't know anything about you!" said Yuma.

I watched Astral. He looked really disheartened.

"I see…" he whispered.

"Huh?" asked Yuma, finally noticing Astral's expression, "What is it? Are you disappointed? I mean, do you feel kind of lonely?"

Astral looked up to us, "What do you mean by lonely?"

Yuma still had a smile on his face, "Lonely means that you're feeling pain from being alone by yourself."

Astral…He must feel lonely because he's here, stranded, on a world he doesn't know about.

"Alone by yourself…" repeated Astral, "Then is Fuya also in pain?"

"Huh?" asked Yuma, surprised.

I just looked back at the horizon. I was pretty sure he was.

"He was crying out for help," I heard Astral say.

Yuma and I looked to him. Astral totally ignored our question.

"Astral, are you lonely?" I asked softly.

Astral look away from us and closed his eyes.

I stared at him before taking his hand in mine. His eyes opened and he stared at me.

I smiled, "You don't have to be alone, Astral. Yuma and I are here."

"Hmph…" said Yuma, looking away but in the end, he does agree. There's no way I'm leaving him alone to suffer. I understood Astral. Loneliness is not something you should feel. That's why I'm there for Ryoga when he asks. I've been through loneliness and being alone.

Astral looked me in the eyes. What was he searching for? What could he see? He nodded slowly, and I saw happiness flitting in eyes, "Thank you, Rima."

* * *

Yuma was sitting cross-legged on the desk as we watched the new video. Astral was floating beside me as Kotori leaned over the desk.

"According to eye witnesses, they said it was the works of popular TV series main character, ESPer Robin," said the reporter, "Was it the real Robin that did all this?"

There's no way Fuya-kun would do that! He was too kind, too timid!

The screen turned to Fuya-kun's mom, "All of this is just slander! Robin would never do anything like that!"

"Agreed!" exclaimed Kotori, "Robin would never do anything like that!"

Yuma and I exchanged looks. Fuya-kun…

* * *

It was nighttime and Kotori, Yuma and I were walking around. We each had one flashlight and Astral floated beside me. I was wearing a white V-neck sweater and faded blue jeans.

"Like I said, why do I have to come too?" complained Yuma.

I just wanted to see if it was actually Fuya-kun. I just can't see that fragile and timid kid doing such bad things.

"Did you want me to patrol all by myself?" asked Kotori as we moved our flashlights around. Kotori continued, "With this, we will clear Robin's name once and for all! Without a doubt, that guy is Robin's imposter."

"That's right…" said Yuma, "A cowardly guy like him…"

"Yeah…" I mumbled, "He'd be too scared to-"

"What are you saying?" asked Kotori as she stopped to look at us.

"No, I mean…It's nothing," said Yuma as we both sweat dropped.

We heard a scream.

"Over there!" said Kotori as we started running.

"Oh!" Yuma said in agreement.

We got to the top of the stairs and looked around. Yuma gasped as we all looked to see a man tied up. We ran over as Kotori asked, "Are you alright?"

She proceeded to untie his binds.

"Yuma, Rima!" said Astral as he stared off in one direction.

We both looked up and we spotted Robin running off.

"Wait a sec!" yelled Yuma as he ran there. I followed.

The way we took was a dead end but that didn't stop 'Robin'. He just jumped up onto the ledge of it.

He turned back to us to reveal that he was, in fact, Fuya-kun. It was the eyes…I could tell it was him because of it.

"F…Fuya-kun?" I asked incredulously.

"Rima-chan, Yuma…" he said in his Robin voice, "Mind your own business."

We watched in shock as he jumped some buildings and disappeared into the shadows.

"Where's the culprit?" asked Kotori as she ran over.

"No…We lost him," said Yuma as we turned to her.

"Yeah…" I said halfheartedly.

Why was Fuya-kun doing this?

* * *

I walked home and lay on my bed. I stared at my ceiling. I just remembered that dream I had the other night. The one with the blue being. Maybe I should tell Astral about this. I know he doesn't remember anything but he should know about another blue being.

My eyelids felt heavy as they slowly closed.


	8. Star Robin is Forever!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

* * *

_Dream sequence_

"Rima…"

I was back at the dream-place. The place with sand and the dark azure sky...

"Rima…" I heard the voice this time. It was deep and masculine.

I couldn't see anyone so I shouted out, "Who's there?!"

"R-"

_Dream end_

I woke up panting. That dream wasn't a bad one but…I looked around my room, everything was normal…

Then it caught my eye. My Empress Key was erect and floating in front of me. It was pointing in a direction. This time it wasn't dragging me that way.

I gasped, "Is there a numbers duel taking place?!"

Yuma and Astral…my key only reacted when Astral was out or something but I haven't witnessed this enough to know for sure. Damn it, why didn't they tell me? I stood up and quickly changed into my white sweater and jeans. I groaned as I felt a sharp sting. Ow, I guess they lost some damage.

I ran outside of my house and locked the door. I stared at my key which was still levitating. I took it off my neck and held the chain in my hand. I smiled, "Bring me to where they are, please."

My Empress Key, seemingly being able to understand, twirled around a bit before starting to fly very quickly to our destination.

I stumbled a few times because I couldn't keep up with it. I kept my grip tight though. I can't afford losing my Empress Key.

* * *

**A bit later!**

"Rima!"

My Empress Key turned limp. I stared at it surprised. Why now?

"Rima!"

Those two voices…I turned around, "Kotori, Tetsuo?"

"I'm so glad we found you," said Kotori as she panted. I noticed the woman behind her. It was Fuya-kun's mom…

"You weren't answering your D-Gazer," said Tetsuo, doubling over.

I blinked before reaching into my pocket and found out that I had quite a few messages from Kotori, Tetsuo and Yuma.

"Now what is this all about?" asked Fuya-kun's mom. She looked really confused and tired.

"Yeah, I was looking for Yuma," I said to my friends as I ignored the woman. I don't even want to speak with her.

"Yeah, he's dueling" said Kotori, "He asked me to get you, Tetsuo and her," she glanced back at Fuya-kun's mom.

I nodded, "Okay, let's go."

* * *

We all ran into the stage area.

"Yuma!" yelled Kotori.

"We brought her here!" shouted Tetsuo.

"It's Fuya-kun's mother!" stated Kotori.

I examined the duel: Four monsters on Fuya-kun's side, one being a number, with all of his life points.

Yuma: Aspiring Emperor – Hope and one set card. 2400 life points…

At least Yuma and Astral have a number card on the field…I checked out the number. It was No.83 Galaxy Queen, according to my D-Gazer. She…She looked like Fuya-kun's mom?! Galaxy Queen was so much prettier, somehow, though.

"Astral, Yuma, are you both okay?" I asked, worried.

Yuma glanced at Fuya-kun before looking to me, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"As am I," answered Astral. "But with Robin's strong monsters and the equip spell on Galaxy Queen, we're having a tough time. Her overlay effect allows the monsters on Robin's field to be invincible."

I looked to Fuya-kun. He was Robin. I can't believe the number took over him.

"This is," said Fuya-kun's mom, "Just what in the world…?"

She gasped as she caught sight of her son, "That's…Fuya? Fuya? Is that really Fuya? What on earth are you doing, Fuya?!"

"You there, who are you?" asked Fuya-kun. No…that wasn't Fuya-kun, that was Robin. He didn't even recognize his own mother…

"What are you saying?" asked his mom, "I am your mother!"

"You, my mother?" he asked incredulously, "Such ridiculous words. My mother is right here!"

He gestured to Galaxy Queen. So, he really is, I don't know, brainwashed?

His mother gasped, "Fuya?"

"Fuya-kun, stop acting like this!" I yelled, "You don't have to do this!"

I swear I saw his eyes flash in recognition. But I wasn't strong enough to break the numbers grasp.

He flinched before going back to Robin-mode, "I'm not this Fuya person you speak of. I am Different Dimension ESPer Robin!"

"H-How can this be?" asked his mom incredulously.

"Fuya's mom!" yelled Yuma gaining her attention, "The incident's real culprit is Fuya…No, it's Robin!"

"T-That's…nonsense!" she argued but I saw the uncertainty in her eyes.

Yuma continued, "To answer his mother's expectations, he worked hard with all his strength!"

"Huh?" asked the adult.

"To achieve that, he's trapped in the haction world with no return!" he yelled.

I blinked…did he say 'Haction'?

"'Haction'?" asked Kotori confused as well.

"Could he mean…Fiction?" suggested Tetsuo.

"Oh…" said Kotori and I. Yuma, that idiot.

"How can this be…Fuya!" yelled Fuya-kun's mom.

Galaxy Queen spoke, "Robin, it's best if you forever lived in darkness under my glory of darkness!" She then cackled.

"Is that how I've been acting?" asked his mother in true distraught. She looked to her son, "Fuya, please listen to me!"

I ran in front of her view with my arms spread out, like a shield. I closed my eyes before reopening them and shouted, "Shut up!"

She did and stared at me in shock. Actually, everyone did but I could care less.

I glared at her, "Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! Listen to you? You're asking Fuya-kun to listen to you?! Have you ever listened to him?! Have you been there for your son?! I bet you don't even care if he wants to act or not! How could you say 'listen' if you haven't been there for him?! How could you say that when you don't pay any attention to him?! How could you say that when you leave your child to themselves?! To be by themselves?! To let them cry in the night knowing their alone?! To know that they just want to be happy but you don't give that to them?! How could you leave him alone, alone, alone, ALONE?!"

My voice had turned into a scream as tears ran down my cheeks. My eyes widened as I realized that I poured my own feelings into that. That's what I felt about my own parents. I could relate but I think I took it a bit too far. Maybe I did but I don't really care.

I took a glance at Fuya-kun to see his eyes wide. I saw one lone tear escape his eye. But then, Robin was back. Fuya-kun's timid eyes were gone as soon as they came. Everyone was staring at me in shock. Astral stared at me. I saw compassion and confusion in his eyes.

I took a breath and angrily wiped my tears away and walked over to Yuma. "Just continue," I whispered.

Yuma didn't pester me about what I said. He looked to Fuya-kun's speechless mother, "Please, just be quiet and watch this duel. The figure of his mother in Fuya's heart!"

Robin interfered, "We shall continue the duel. By using one overlay unit, I activate Galaxy Queen's effect once more! Before my next turn, monsters on my field, not only become invincible, their attack will also inflict piercing damage!"

Galaxy Queen waved her wand, "Now, Star Robin and his comrades, you shall receive my magic once more! Finish off the enemy who stands in your way!"

"I understand!" said Robin, "I activate the effect of Gairuda. When Gairuda attacks, it's Atk is increased by 300 (Atk: 2800)! Go, attack Aspiring Emperor – Hope!"

"Yuma!" yelled Astral.

"I got it already!" grumbled Yuma, "By using one overlay unit, I activate Aspiring Emperor – Hope's effect! Gairuda's attack is negated!"

"However, I still have my remaining attacks!" argued Robin, "Take this! This is the grand banquet of battles! Star Robin, attack Aspiring Emperor – Hope! Surprise punch!"

"I activate Hope's effect once more!" said Yuma. Shoot, he used all of his overlay units, "That attack is also negated!"

Robin noticed the same thing, "But now, Hope has no more overlay units! Looks like your banquet went overboard!"

"Tch!" said Yuma.

"And then, I activate the effect of Iron Giant Ironhammer!" announced Robin, "When Ironhammer is on my field, once per turn, one of my level 4 or lower monsters can attack directly!"

"What?!" asked Yuma. Uh oh.

"Go Puman!" ordered Robin, "Direct attack! Black slash!"

I just noticed I was in the line of fire. Oh shit.

As Yuma got attacked, Astral hugged me with his back to the blast. He let go as the attack was finished and Yuma was on the ground.

I smiled at Astral, "Thanks, Astral. But, you know, I have dueled before right?"

He nodded, "Well, this isn't your duel. You shouldn't even be this close to us."

I raised an eyebrow, "You're a bit irritated."

He looked at me apologetically, "Well, this A/R is a bit too realistic, right?"

I smiled, "Well, you're just looking out for me."

**Robin: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 800LPS**

I grimaced as I was surprised at the sudden sting of pain.

Astral looked at me in concern, "Are you alright?"

I nodded slowly, "Yeah, I'm fine…hopefully," I mumbled the last part. I wasn't sure why I kept getting hurt like this.

"Yuma!" I heard Kotori yell.

I looked to my fallen friend. He looked fine.

"Damn it!" Yuma swore.

I watched as Astral stared at his hand. He started fading and I grimaced. From my own pain or from seeing Astral hurt, I don't know.

He looked up, "At this rate…"

"Damn it!" swore Yuma again as he took my outstretched hand.

"Yuma, activate the trap card!" ordered Astral.

"Trap card?!" asked Yuma surprised.

I guess he forgot about it or something.

"Believe in me!" insisted Astral urgently.

Yuma looked irritated, "Geez…"

But, even though, he still complied, "Trap card activate!"

I listened as Astral explained, "Trap card Sorrowful Appeal's effect is, when the opponent attacked directly and inflicted damage, take control of the highest defense position monster on the opponent's field until the end of my next turn!"

Nice enough effect. It should be able to help for the time being.

Yuma watched amazed, "Whoa!"

Robin gasped, "Ironhammer, have you betrayed us?!"

"It's nothing like that!" said the monster, to my surprise. "I just don't want to be defeated by such a weakling!"

I stifled a laugh.

"Hey…" murmured Yuma, insulted.

"Can't be helped," said Robin, "I set one card face down. Turn end!"

"However, why did you take Ironhammer?" questioned Yuma. "Ironhammer will go back to Robin's field during his next turn."

"That's good enough," said Astral staring at the monster. "No, I should say, if we want to beat him, this is the only way."

"I don't get it at all," said Yuma.

I barely got it either. I bet it has to do with Yuma's other face down though.

"Speaking of which," said Yuma interrupting my thoughts, "You watched the show, right? So what happened in the end?"

Astral looked down, "The ending of that episode…"

"You still remember?" asked Yuma surprised.

"I couldn't see it because you turned off the TV," blamed Astral.

I blinked. What does the TV show have to do with it? Hold on, this sorta does look like one of the episodes. I don't think I watched the ending either though. I looked at Robin who was staring at me. Actually, it was sort of like he was studying me. It was sorta awkward.

Yuma fell in exasperation, "So it's my fault?! Keh!"

I looked back to Yuma to see him draw, "My turn, draw! Only in this duel, giving up is not an option. Fuya…I will surely…I activate the continuous spell Attack Regulation! The effect of this card is, when there are three or more monsters on the opponents' side of the field, my opponent cannot declare and attack"

I bit my lip. I hope this will be able to buy Yuma some time.

"Yuma," said Astral gaining our attention.

"What is it?!" asked Yuma irritated.

"With this, the pieces to our victory are complete" said Astral in a voice so confident I believed him. "Let's win."

"Huh?!" asked Yuma incredulously, "We'll win?! Galaxy Queen can't be destroyed due to Dead Max's Cursed Seal's effect. And thanks to Galaxy Queen's overlay units, all of his monsters become invincible!"

"I saw it!" announced Astral, "When Robin Family is all together, Robin will change Ironhammer into Different Dimension Jet Iron Mode, and using its special attack, Iron Phoenix to crush its opponent!"

"You stupid Robin-fan!" yelled Yuma angrily.

I don't see how that applies to the duel…But, you know, just gotta trust Astral.

"Yuma," said Astral, "Set down the two cards in your hand"

"These cards?" asked Yuma as I looked to see them as well.

My eyes widened, those two?

Yuma hummed, "I really don't like your orders, but…I set two cards face down! Turn end!"

"Useless struggle…" uttered Robin, "My turn, draw! And now, your trap cards' effect is now over. Ironhammer returns to my side of the field!"

"Huh?" asked the monster confused, "What happened?"

"Star Robin," said Galaxy Queen, "Those guys are unforgivable!"

"I understand, mother!" said both Robins.

Fuya-kun…

"That's enough!" said Fuya-kun's mom grief-stricken, "Please Fuya!"

Robin grimaced. Fuya-kun was trying to fight it…His eyes opened with the same taint, "Silence! I am Robin! I must carry on my existence as Robin!"

"Fuya…" whispered Fuya-kun's mom. I felt bad for her.

"Since you're planning to use Attack Regulations to seal off my attacks, I activate a trap card!" announced Robin, "Change! Jet Iron Mode! This card effect allows me to, when Robin Family is gathered on my side of the field, by releasing all of them, I can special summon Different Dimension Jet Iron Mode! Come out, Jet Iron Mode!"

"W-What's this?" asked Yuma.

This monster is going to be bad news…especially now that there's only two monsters on Fuya-kun's field.

I watched at the monsters merged together.

Robin continued, "Different Dimension Jet Iron Mode, his attack power is the sum of the attack of monsters released by Change Jet Iron Mode! Because of that, its attack power is 8000!"

I almost fainted. That many?! It must a rare, if not original, card then.

"Attack power of 8000?!" repeated Yuma shocked. "Just how the hell do we win against that?!"

Astral looked to Yuma, "Don't panic. The trap card."

"Trap card?" asked Yuma.

I smirked, "Yuma, do you honestly don't know what a trap card is? I wouldn't be surprised though."

Yuma looked irritated, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

I just laughed in reply. I know I was just distracting him from dueling but it was the perfect context.

"That's not what I meant," muttered Yuma before staring at his field in confusion, "Ah! Which one do I activate?! That's right. At times like this, I need Duel rice ball!"

I rolled my eyes as Yuma took out some food, "Yuma, always thinking with his stomach," I muttered.

"Not again, Yuma…" said Kotori, embarrassed.

Yuma swallowed it in one gulp, "Alright! My brain is working again! The card I activate is trap card Burning Spirit (Atk: 2500)!"

Hope's attack points multiplied.

"Awesome!" cheered Kotori, "Hope's attack power is doubled!"

"But Iron Mode's attack power is 8000!" argued Tetsuo.

Ah, shit.

"There's no point!" yelled Yuma as he held his head in anguish.

"Now prepare yourself!" said Robin, "All of my monsters have merged into one! Your Attack Regulation only activates when there's three or more monsters on my field. That effect cannot be activated!"

"Damn!" swore Yuma.

"Trap activate!" stated Astral.

"Wha-!" said Yuma confused, "I'm the one who's gonna activate it! Trap activate, Training Cyclone!"

I looked to Astral for an explanation, "Training Cyclone's effect: When control of a monster is switched to the opponent, and that card was released, we can destroy one magic or trap card the opponent controls."

Oh, now I get it.

"In other words, the card I will destroy…" said Yuma smiling, "Dead Max's Cursed Seal!"

A hurricane blew over the field and said-card was destroyed.

"What?" asked Robin. He then gasped and looked up at Galaxy Queen.

She grimaced and glared at Yuma.

Astral continued, "This way, the card that protects Galaxy Queen is gone."

Robin then glared, "Keh! However, my attack will not be stopped. The grand banquet of special attack! Attack Aspiring Emperor – Hope, Iron Mode! Go, Iron Phoenix!"

Fuck.

Yuma gasped, "I knew this wasn't enough!"

"No, this is fine," said Astral in a surprisingly calm voice. "There's still one trap card left on your field."

"Trap card?!" asked Yuma.

I rolled my eyes, "We just went over this."

Yuma growled at me, "Ugh, I'm just gonna ignore that."

He then looked thoughtful, "I see, you already…Let's go! Trap activate, Different Dimension Killer Move, Vector Change! This card's effect, when an opponents' monster is attacking, that monster is changed to defense position (Def: 0)!"

"What?!" asked Star Robin.

Yuma continued, "Then one of the opponent's face up defense position monster is changed to attack mode (Atk: 500)!"

Galaxy Queen was switched and her dress turned white. They're gonna win. For sure.

Robin took a step forward, "Impossible! This way, I can't attack"

He looked to his number. She looked scared. He whispered, "Mother…I-I…No, this isn't over! I set one card face down. Turn end!"

Yuma drew, "My turn, draw!"

"Alright!" I heard Tetsuo cheer, "If he attacks Galaxy Queen right now-"

"Robin will be defeated!" continued Kotori.

But what about that set card…?

"Yuma," said Astral, "Have you prepared yourself? If that card is a counter card to the attack, we will be…"

Yuma looked down before looking to Robin, "But, this is our only chance at winning this duel. The only chance of bringing Fuya back to normal…"

Astral's eyes narrowed before looking ahead, "Alright."

"Let's go!" shouted Yuma, "Kattobingu daze, ore! Aspiring Emperor – Hope, attack Galaxy Queen! Hope Sword Slash!"

Robin shot his arm outwards, "I activate the trap card Star Robin is Forever!"

"What?!" asked Yuma, "It's a counter?!"

Robin continued, "With this card, when my opponent attacks, I can bring back Star Robin with 0 Atk from my graveyard. And he takes the place of the attacked monster"

Star Robin appeared with his arms spread wide.

I was surprised. That trap held no significance. But…it did protect Galaxy Queen.

Hope still attacked and Robin, no, Fuya-kun was thrown backwards from the power.

**Robin: 0LPS **

**Yuma: 800LPS**

**Yuma is the winner!**

"Fuya!" yelled his mother.

The A/R dissipated.

"He won!" cheered Kotori, "Yuma won!"

Galaxy Queen caught my gaze and a tie was created. She disappeared with the A/R. Fuya-kun was laying on the ground, like a child making a snow angel.

I took of my D-Gazer, "That wasn't a counter…"

"But why?" asked Astral puzzled, "Even if Star Robin came back to the field with 0 Atk, the results did not change at all. Why do something so meaningless?"

"It wasn't meaningless," said Yuma.

I wouldn't be able to do this but…Fuya-kun protected his mother.

"Hm?" asked Astral.

"Fuya was protecting, protecting his mother…" drifted Yuma. I know he was thinking of Mirai.

Astral shot his arm outwards. Fuya-kun grimaced but No.83 came out of his chest. The mark dispersed as well. I watched as Astral received a memory.

From beside him, I looked at No. 83 Galaxy Queen. I smiled, "She's so pretty~"

Astral blinked before looking towards me. He then glanced at Galaxy Queen before smiling, "Here."

I blinked, "What?"

He was holding out Galaxy Queen, "Take it. You like her, don't you?"

I looked at Astral in disbelief, "I can't take her! She's one of your memories, Astral!"

He took my hand and placed Galaxy Queen in my palm, "Its fine. And see, she's yearning for you."

And, indeed, the number glowed in my hand before flying, by itself, to my extra deck-box. I smiled, delighted, "Thanks, Astral."

He slightly smiled back, "Friends give friends gifts, right?"

I'll definitely give him back the number when he needs it but for now I'll keep it. If I want to help with getting numbers, I'll need one like this. "Yeah, I promise I'll get you one too." I was going to get Astral one. I don't know what he would want but I'll keep it in mind.

Yuma was staring at something and I looked as well to see Fuya-kun's mother walking up the steps.

"Fuya-kun…" I whispered.

His mother stood over Fuya-kun, "Fuya," she whispered. She reached down and touched his cheek.

Fuya-kun's eyes opened and he sat up, "Mother! What in the world was I…?"

"That's…" she whispered, "That's enough, Fuya. To let you carry that much of a burden…I…"

"Mother," said Fuya-kun, looking down.

"I was mistaken," she said, "I'm sorry."

Fuya-kun put his hand on his mother's shoulder, "Mother…"

A mother…huh? My mom...

"Mom…" whispered Yuma before smiling. But even though, it looked sad. "Heh!" he said, "Somehow, I'm pretty jealous!"

* * *

**After this beautiful moment…**

Fuya-kun bowed to us with his mother a bit behind him. He smiled at us, "Thank you, Yuma, Rima-chan."

Yuma smiled, "It's nothing."

I smiled as well, "I didn't do anything, Fuya-kun. It was all Yuma here." As much as I hate it, I think I'm inflating Yuma's ego.

Fuya-kun blushed before taking my right hand. It surprised me. Fuya-kun was still blushing but he said, "No. Y-you stood up for me. Arigato" He then kissed my hand before letting go quickly in embarrassment.

I was wide-eyed. He just…It's probably just a thank you kiss, Rima. I then said softly, "Fuya-kun…"

He held out a card, "Um…I don't think I need this anymore. You can have it."

I took the card and read it. Cursed Seal of Dead Max…I was getting a ton of cards today.

We said our goodbyes and I didn't notice Astral glaring at Fuya-kun. But I did notice Fuya-kun shudder, "Are…Are you alright, Fuya-kun?"

He smiled sheepishly, "It's just a bit cold for me, good night you four."

* * *

**Outside!**

Yuma chuckled, "This way, that guy can finally return to his true self."

"But Yuma, why didn't you tell us about Robin sooner?" asked Kotori, confused.

Yuma looked back at us, more specifically: Kotori. He then said, "Because you'd be disappointed if you found out Robin was the real culprit."

Aw, Yuma was so sweet. He's probably gonna ruin it somehow, though.

Kotori smiled with a pink blush on her cheeks, "I didn't know you cared that much about me."

Yuma shouted at Kotori, "It's not like I c-care that much! You idiot!"

"Here we go again," I muttered. Tetsuo and I just stood back.

"What do you mean, idiot?!" asked Kotori, "You're not delicate at all!"

"What do you mean 'delivery'?" asked Yuma, confused.

"Hey, hey…" said Tetsuo with his hands raised. He was trying to calm them down.

I sighed, "It's no use, Tetsuo. These two are just…" I left it open-ended.

"In the end, isn't this all because you are a die-hard Robin fan?" asked Yuma.

I felt eyes on us and looked around. No one was there though. Maybe it's just my imagination…

* * *

Robin fought against the power of Galaxy Queen.

"Impossible!" she yelled, "My powers…"

Robin, with a yell, pushed through and hugged Galaxy Queen by the middle. Galaxy Queen's wand dropped in the process.

Galaxy Queen had a distant look in her eye before her purple dress turned white. She smiled at him, "Robin."

He looked up at her, shocked.

She was still smiling, "Robin."

"Mother…" he whispered happily, "Mother!"

Yuma made sobbing noises before turning away, "Such a good episode, right?"

We were at my house watching on my TV because we wanted to watch it together. So that's the ending…huh? It was nice.

"Observation #10: Human's maternal love, I understand as well. I think…" he added.

We smiled at him.

"That memory of mine…" he said, "That's…The memory of my birth."

After a moment of silence, I looked at the time. It was pretty late, "Yuma, isn't Akari gonna be mad you're out this late?" I asked.

"Huh?" he asked and he looked at the clock as well, "Ah! You're right!"

He ran out quickly leaving Astral and I alone.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Rima…" said Astral suddenly and I looked at him.

I stared, "What is it?"

"What did Robin- No, _Fuya_ do with your hand?" he asked.

I blinked before realizing he was talking about the kiss. Ah, I have to explain what that is…Don't I?

He waited patiently.

I rubbed my head, "Uhm…That's…It's called a kiss," I said, starting with that.

"A…kiss?" asked Astral curiously.

I nodded, "Yeah…Um, a kiss represents a bunch of things depending on the person's relationship or place. Um, the kiss on the hand is usually a sign of thank you or something like that."

"So he was thanking you?" inquired Astral.

I nodded, "Yeah…" I hope.

Astral still looked interested, "So what else does a kiss represent?"

I blinked before continuing, "A kiss on, um…the forehead is usually for…for people you adore."

"Adore?" asked Astral.

"Yeah," I said, "Sometimes I kiss Ryoga, Shark, on the forehead to show that I care. But like siblings would. Like, Yuma and Akari, right?"

He nodded, "Is there any more?"

I smiled but I was sort of embarrassed to talk about this with Astral. I nodded, "Yeah…Um, there's also a kiss on the lips."

I saw he was paying close attention.

"It's for…for if you care about the person a lot," I said carefully. I didn't know much because…I've never been kissed.

In that short pause, I noticed Astral move forward to me. Before I knew what was happening…he pressed his lips on mine. My eyes were wide and Astral moved backwards after a few seconds.

I blushed hard, "A-Astral…I didn't finish. Um, kisses on the lips are for lovers only. You know, people who have a strong liking or affection for each other…"

Astral tilted his head, "Did I do something wrong?"

I shook my head but I could still feel my face burning, "I-It's nothing…" I said softly.

Astral left as I lay down on the couch. I stared at the ceiling. My fingers slowly reached up and brushed my lips. I smiled. But it was just that, a smile. I was too busy thinking.

Did Astral mean he cared a lot about me? I guess I cared a lot about him too. I worry about him and I always want to make him happy so I think that counts. But…I don't love Astral. I kept saying that in my head but it didn't really…fit. Then the reality of the situation crashed down on me.

Astral had stolen my first kiss…and I don't think I minded.


	9. Cat's Surprise! Cat Deck!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

* * *

"Still, it's all so strange," said Tetsuo, "That Yuma, he's never even won once against me. And yet, he's been winning lots of duels lately."

So true. If only they could see Astral.

"Hm, what's wrong with that?" asked Kotori.

I laughed, "What's _not_ wrong with that?"

Tetsuo crossed his arms, "Right. Kattobingu and all that, it's more suitable for losing."

Kotori and I sweat dropped. Wow, so much for faith.

"More suitable for losing…" repeated Kotori.

"So it might be true," said Tetsuo, "that Astral guy really does exist…"

"Thank you!" I said melodramatically. God, it took them long enough!

"Hey guys!"

Kotori turned, "Good morning, Yu-"

"-Ma," Tetsuo finished as we gawked at the boy.

"Oh…" I started.

"…My…" said Tetsuo.

"…God," finished Kotori.

Yuma was wearing very ugly ad strange clothing. He looked like a douche!

"What's the matter?" he asked smiling, "Your faces look so strange."

I bit my lip and forced myself to not swear as loudly as I could.

Kotori held her head and I knew she was gonna explode. She stomped her foot, "Enough! I can't take this anymore!"

"Huh?" asked Yuma confused. Such an idiot.

"Deep breath, Kotori," I said, looking at her in amusement.

She calmed down a little, "You see, Yuma…Even though it's not polite to comment on peoples' fashion sense-" She was getting fierce again. She started shouting, "Yesterday! The day before! And the day before!"

I remembered all his crazy outfits. I thought that was just something for his Kattobingu.

Everyone's laughter seemed to erupt.

"If you dress like that, everyone's gonna laugh at you!" Kotori said embarrassedly.

"What the hell do you mean?" asked Yuma, generally confused.

I just sighed, "Stupid, clueless, Yuma."

Yuma glared at me, "Hey!"

"Man…" screeched Kotori. She put a mirror in front of Yuma, "See for yourself! This is what you look like!"

"What the hell?!" asked Yuma, shocked and confused.

"Like I said before, stupid, clueless, Yuma" I said, amused. Sure Yuma wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed but come on!

Tetsuo looked confused, "So…you haven't noticed?"

"I didn't know!" said Yuma, freaking out. "What the hell?! These clothes…!"

"That's not the only thing," I said, looking at Yuma, "Lately, Yuma, you've been totally surrounded by weird things. Somehow, your bento is all fancy!"

Kotori continued, "You suddenly got 100 on your test! And then yesterday…"

I nodded. That rope incident was weird.

"That's true!" admitted Yuma, "Somehow, these terrible things started happening. Who would do something like this?"

I watched as the Emperor's Key glowed and Astral appeared beside Yuma.

"I've been watching you the whole time," said Astral.

"What did you say?" asked Yuma.

"It happened yesterday too," he explained vaguely, "A person came to your room at night, doing something."

"If you noticed why didn't you tell me?!" asked Yuma, irritated.

I sweat dropped, "Astral…" How could he think that was normal?

"You never asked me to tell you," stated Astral.

Mental note: Always think about what you say to Astral and be specific!

Astral glanced up, "Since I'm already in your room, adding one more doesn't seem unnatural."

"That's totally unnatural!" shouted Yuma, "Damn it, in that case…!"

I put my hand on Astral's arm as he looked at me, "Astral, tell me what happens and I'll choose whether or not to tell Yuma, all right?"

He nodded, "I understand, Rima."

Aw, Astral's so cute~

"Whoever did this, I'll definitely find them!" shouted Yuma as he threw his coat down.

Kotori stared at him weirdly, "Full of spirit, but with that terrible outfit…"

"It's not like I enjoy dressing like this!" argued Yuma, pulling on his overall straps or something.

"Oh really?" asked Kotori, "Yuma, you have no fashion sense at all."

Yuma lost a bit of his edge, "What is this? Then how about yourself?"

Kotori smirked at him, "Hey, at least I'm better than you, Yuma."

"Hoh?" asked Yuma burning with his competitive spirit, "Then why don't you show me?"

Tetsuo and I exchanged looks. These two had huge crushes on each other.

"Fine!" said Kotori eagerly, "With pleasure! Then, this Sunday, let's go pick out some clothes for you."

"Interesting," said Yuma competitively, "3 PM at the shopping mall, alright?"

"Fine!" spat Kotori, "Make sure you're not late!"

"I got it!" he yelled back.

"I've never seen a guy so eager to shop for clothes," I said while smirking.

"S-Shut up!" shouted Yuma, a bit embarrassed.

I sat down at my desk as Ukyo-sensei walked in.

* * *

Yuma, Tetsuo, Inchou and I started a Duel Monster card trading circle. It was free time so there wasn't anything else to do. We were sitting cross-legged in a circle.

"How 'bout that card?" asked Yuma, staring at one of Inchou's cards.

"No way!" said Inchou pulling the card back fiercely, "I need this card for my deck!"

"Hm," hummed Yuma, scanning the other two's decks.

I felt someone's gaze on me and turned my head to see Astral floating beside me, looking at my deck which had been scattered carefully on the ground.

I smiled and watched as he looked at one of the cards in confusion.

"Is something wrong?" I asked Astral.

He pointed at one of my cards, "That one there, Water Supreme…"

I picked up the card and showed it to him. "This card's from Ryoga, er- Shark. Water Supreme is an equip-magic card that can raise a fairy's attack power by 500 for each Water-type monster. It also stops anything from destroying that fairy as long as there is a water-type on the field."

He looked at me, puzzled, "You have a light-fairy type deck though. Why would you need a water based magic card?"

I smiled, "Ryoga and I used to tag team battle sometimes and it would be a good combo to win but we don't anymore."

"I understand now," he said with a nod.

I collected all my cards once more and put them in my deck-box.

I looked to Astral, "Hey, Astral?"

"Yes?" he asked.

"It'd be fun to duel one day," I said smiling, "Not with Yuma, but with you."

He smiled, "It would. I look forward to a day like that."

I beamed and the bell ringed.

* * *

"Why are we watching this?" I asked giggling as Astral and I sat on the floor at my place. Yuma went to his house so it was just us two.

We were watching Sleeping Beauty. Astral, for some reason, saw it on a commercial and asked me what it was. And then it led us to this.

"It seems interesting," he said.

We were at the part where Aurora pricked her finger on the spindle.

"True loves kiss is the only thing that can break this spell!" said one of the fairies.

"True loves kiss sounds like a powerful effect," said Astral staring at the screen mesmerized.

I just laughed, "I guess it is, if you think about it that way."

We kept watching as I sleepily leaned against Astral. He didn't seem to mind so I just stayed there.

The prince ran into the room where Princess Aurora was kept. He stared at her before leaning down and pressing his lips to hers.

I felt Astral put his hand on mine. I blushed a bit but it went away quickly. Astral just thought of me as a friend…and I thought the same…I think. Gr, stop second guessing yourself, Rima! Astral just felt the mood of the movie or something.

As the movie finished I stopped leaning on Astral and sat up. I stretched my arms forward, "That was nice."

"I agree," He said still looking at the black screen.

"What's wrong?" I asked as he looked a bit sad.

"That girl, Aurora…" He said, "I wonder why she was sad in the beginning when she found out she was engaged."

That processed into my mind a moment later. I smiled, "Um, probably because she couldn't be with the one she truly loved but it the end, it all turned out well."

"Is true love that strong?" he asked me curiously.

"I can't answer that," I said shrugging, "I haven't been in love before so I wouldn't know."

"So, it is something I have to be myself?" he asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, I suppose."

He just smiled softly at me before leaving.

So cute~ But there's one thing I hope will never happen. I hope Astral will start asking Yuma this stuff or else we might get to the question…what is sex?

I laughed just thinking about it. Astral was so cutely naïve in our world.

* * *

"Ah man, so slow!" said Yuma irritated.

We were waiting for Kotori. She's ten minutes late…

"I'm getting worried, Yuma," I said looking around for our green-haired friend. She would call on her D-Gazer if something was holding her up, right?

"That Kotori…" said Yuma, crossing his arms.

We heard a ton of meows and looked in front of us to see a huge group of cats.

"What the hell?" I asked incredulously. Yuma made a noise of surprise as well.

The one cat that stuck out was the blue one with a letter in its mouth. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Emperor's key glow. Astral came out on Yuma's right.

"W-What are all these?!" asked Astral…frightened? "Somehow, these sounds sends chills up my spine!" said Astral.

Oh this is rich, he's scared. I found something the fearless Astral is afraid of.

"Huh?" asked Yuma smirking at the info, "So you're…scared of cats?"

Astral took a glance at me before glaring at Yuma, "It's only because I haven't recorded them in my observations!"

Well, it's not nice to laugh at other people's fears but this was sort of amusing.

"Well then- let me tell you this!" said Yuma and I knew he was gonna say something stupid. "Those cats, they're super sensitive to the supernatural! So they can clearly see you, you know!"

I hit Yuma upside the head, "Stop saying that!"

He groaned and held his head, "Hey, that wasn't nice, Rima!"

"No, Yuma," said Astral looking to the cats, "Seems like they're looking at you."

"Huh?" Yuma and I both asked before turning and yeah, the cats were looking at Yuma.

"Huh? This ribbon…" he said, staring at the one the blue cat was holding.

"That's Kotori's!" I said in shock.

Yuma knelt down, took the note and stood back up. We both looked at the note.

"What?" asked Yuma.

"Kotori's been captured?!" I asked incredulously. Who would capture her? She hasn't done anything bad…

The cats started running off. Yuma and I exchanged looks, "Let's go!" We started running after them.

* * *

We ended up at a mansion.

Yuma threw the doors open, "Kotori!" he yelled out.

We ran inside the room and as I looked around I saw many cats. Yuma and I stopped when we got to the bottom of the stairs. "What's with this place?" asked Yuma freaked out.

"Cat mansion…" I said looking around. Weird…

"Cats…Cats…Cats!" said Yuma.

We heard a tinkling of a bell and footsteps. We looked at the stairs. A girl was there, "Welcome, please come in."

She has an animalistic, wait no, cat mask on.

"Who are you supposed to be?" asked Yuma rudely.

"My name is Kathy," she said.

"Kathy…?" I asked. I think I've heard that name before.

"Yes," she said and then she took her mask off, "You can call me Cat-chan"

"W-What's with her?" asked Yuma as I tried to figure out who she was.

Nationals, no. Friend, no. Classmate? I think she was my classmate.

"I know of her, that girl," said Astral.

"You do?" I asked.

He nodded, "Always staring at Yuma from faraway."

"Ah~" said Yuma in what I thought was recognition. "Now that you mentioned it…"

"S-Speaking of which?" I heard Kathy say hopefully.

"I don't remember a thing, after all…" said Yuma, making me sweat drop.

Cat-chan also hung her head in shame, "That's fine. I'm used to it anyways."

"Used to it…?" I questioned. Did that mean she was a loner-type?

"That aside, where is Kotori?" asked Yuma urgently, "Why would you do something like this?"

She glared, "Because you're hopeless…! That's why I…"

I heard thunder in the background. Weird, it didn't look like it was going to rain.

"Ha?" asked Yuma, "Just give Kotori back already!"

"Don't worry, I'll give her back," said Cat-chan turning around, "If you can win against me in a duel."

"D-Duel?" asked Yuma, surprised, but he was really worried about Kotori.

"However, if I win…" she just giggled. Also, she pawed at the air and meowed.

"This girl…could it be one of the numbers?" I asked quietly.

"If that's the case, for this duel, there's no choice but to win," said Astral straightaway.

He was right though. Yuma needed to win this duel.

"You don't need to tell me…I'll win!" he said and thunder crashed.

"Let's duel!"

We went to opposite sides of a…balcony, I think. I stood beside Yuma but I wasn't involved in this duel.

"Duel disk, set!" shouted Yuma, "D-Gazer, set!"

I quickly put mine on.

**A/R vision link complete.**

"Duel!"

"Cats always dash forward!" said Cat-chan, "I'll take the first turn. My turn, draw! I activate a magic card from my hand, Cat's Invitation!"

"Magic card on the opening turn…" said Yuma like it was new.

"With this cards effect, I'll add Stray Cat to my hand," announced Cat-chan. She licked her lips, "Then, from my hand, I activate continuous magic card Gathering of Cats."

"Continuous spell?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

"As long as the conditions are met, she can use that magic card as long as she wants," explained Astral.

I shook my head, "God, Yuma, it's like you've never seen one before."

He just turned his head in embarrassment, "Shut up, Rima!"

"Then, I summon Stray Cat from my hand in attack position (Atk: 100-Lvl: 1). Because of this, Gathering of Cat's effect is activated," said Cat-chan, "Gathering of Cat's effect is when Stray Cat is summoned, I can summon another Stray Cat."

"What's this?" asked Yuma, amused, "No matter how many 100 Atk monsters you summon, it's still no big deal."

That Stray Cat must have an effect. Cat-chan must be smart enough to not leave herself wide open.

"Is that so?" asked Cat-chan, "I set one card face down. Turn end."

She pawed at the air, "Welcome, attack whichever one you like."

She's directly inviting him. Something must be up. Set card, card effects, those are all things you have to think about in a duel.

"Alright, my turn, draw!" announced Yuma, "I summon Achacha Archer (Atk: 1200-Lvl: 3)! When Achacha Archer is summoned successfully, it can inflict 500 points of damage to the opponent!"

I watched as the arrow pierced Cat-chan.

**Cat-chan: 3500LPS **

**Yuma: 4000LPS**

She blushed while holding her head. She was smiling, "How dare you, piercing my heart like that." She licked her lips as I watched her confused. Could it be…? Is she trying to flirt with Yuma?

"Stop saying these things that make no sense!" shouted Yuma, "And now I will attack!"

"Wait, Yuma," interrupted Astral, "Her goal is-"

"Astral," I said interrupting, "Just let Yuma attack." I winked at Astral. Let Yuma figure this out on his own.

"But…" he said hesitantly. I understand why of course. This may be a number duel but it's not like it will do anything.

"Thanks, Rima," said Yuma, smirking.

Achacha Archer loaded an arrow but he was confused as to which one to hit. I had used this effect before…With Marshmallon, Marshmallon Glasses and Victoria.

"W-Why are you hesitating?" asked Yuma confused, "In that case, attack the Stray Cat over there!"

Still, Achacha was confused.

"Endless loop…" I muttered. Yuma can't attack unless he gets rid of one of the cats or something.

"Or this one," said Yuma getting confused himself, "Or this one, after all? Ah! Which one?!"

Cat-chan rubbed her legs together, "Both my kittens are saying, attack me. You sinner. When Stray Cat is on the field in face up attack position, you can't attack another monster other than Stray Cat!"

"So that means, uh…"

"Somehow, you've ended up in a tough spot," clarified Astral.

"Eh?" asked Yuma.

"Both of these are the same monster – Stray Cats," said Astral, "If one of them is selected, the others' effect activates. 'Cannot attack monster other than Stray Cat.' Due to that, the results is that neither can be attacked. As Rima said, this is an endless loop."

"W-What the hell just happened?" asked Yuma once more, "Kotori…"

I stared at Cat-chan, something about her is so obvious but I couldn't understand what! It was like it was on the tip of my tongue but ugh!

"Damn it!" swore Yuma, "What should I do?"

Cat-chan sneered at Yuma's expense. Well, not really sneering but sorta.

"Yuma," said Astral, "There's only one way out of this."

"Shut up!" yelled Yuma annoyed, "Be quiet."

Astral and I watched him as he sat down on the ground.

He stared at his hand, "With my own strength, I'll definitely save Kotori!" I also stared at Yuma's hand. He has the right combo of cards, actually.

Astral and I looked to each other. If Yuma didn't figure this out soon, we'll have to tell him.

Yuma suddenly gasped. I guess he got it.

He flipped up, "Alright! I think I got it! I activate a magic card Flip Flap from my hand! With this cards effect, I can change the battle position of one monster on the field."

Cat-chan gasped in shock. She probably didn't count on that.

"I'll change the Stray Cat on the left to defense position (Def: 300)," announced Yuma, "Go, Achacha Archer! Attack the Stray Cat on the right!"

The demon-looking cat was destroyed.

{Kyatto = Cat in English}

"Kyatto" yelled Cat-chan and her point reduced.

**Cat-chan: 2400LPS **

**Yuma: 4000LPS**

I watched Yuma proudly. Good, he's learning how to think before he acts. That's why I thought it was best to let him figure it out. Yuma needs to be able to rely on himself, not Astral.

"I'll definitely save you, Kotori!" shouted Yuma.

"Why?" I barely heard Cat-chan ask, "Why is it not me that's before your eyes…Why do you always look at her? Don't let me leave your sight…You must always look at me!"

"W-What?" asked Yuma in confusion.

I hand covered my mouth to suppress a gasp. No way… Cat-chan likes Yuma! Can't see why but...

Cat-chan held a card out, "I can activate this during opponent's battle phase. Quickplay magic card, Monstrous Cat Transformation! This card can be activated when Stray Cat is destroyed by battle. When activated, I can special summon one Monster Cat from my deck, hand or graveyard."

A ghost looking cat appeared behind Cat-chan. Attack points: 0, Lvl: 1.

"M-Monster Cat?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

Cat-chan was smirking, "When this Monster Cat appears on my field, every level 4 or lower monsters on your field are destroyed!"

Monster Cat growled and Achacha Archer was destroyed. Yuma was left wide open now.

"And then, for every monster destroyed, you take 800 points of damage!"

I stepped away a bit as Yuma was knocked backwards.

**Cat-chan: 2400LPS **

**Yuma: 3200LPS**

Cat-chan giggled, "My passionate feelings, why won't you notice them?"

Oh, god. This isn't good. She's totally jealous of Kotori! When you're angry you duel much fiercer but sometimes…it makes you sloppy.

"Damn!" yelled Yuma, "I set one card face down, turn end!"

He didn't notice, did he? Ugh, Yuma's oblivious to love too.

{I write cat noises like = Nya}

"My turn, draw!" announced Cat-chan, "I activate the effect of Monster Cat. Once per turn, I can add Stray Cat from my deck or graveyard to my hand. I'll summon Stray Cat from my deck. Nya, nya, nya, nya!"

I sweat dropped. She truly does love cats, doesn't she?

"Now there's three level 1 monsters on the field," said Astral urgently.

Cat-chan licked her lips.

"Is it coming?" asked Astral, "The numbers…!"

"If that's coming, then bring it on!" shouted Yuma.

I stared at Cat-chan. If she does have a number…Wait, hold up, I didn't feel any pain. And as I look to Astral, I see he hasn't either. Maybe this is a false alarm…?

"I overlay my level 1 monsters, two Stray Cats and Monster Cat!" declared Cat-chan, "With these three monsters, I construct the overlay network! Xyz summon! Come out, Twin-Tail Cat Lady (Atk: 1000-Rank: 1)!"

"I knew it," I muttered under my breath. Cat-chan doesn't have a number after all.

"Why didn't she use the number?" asked Astral, shocked.

"I activate the effect of Twin-Tail Cat Lady!" announced Cat-Chan, "Once per turn, by detaching an overlay unit, its Atk is increased by 800 points (Atk: 1800)."

"W-wait a minute," said Yuma, confused, "There's still two overlay units left, so that means…If they're all used up, um…"

I sweat dropped. I wasn't a math whiz but this type of math is easy. It's simple multiplication.

"An additional 1600 Atk, then 3400 total," concluded Astral with a bit of mockery.

Yuma turned back to him, "3400?!"

"I beg your pardon…" said Cat-chan giggling.

"Hey, you're awesome! I can't believe you did it!" shouted Yuma smiling. He looked amazed.

Cat-chan started blushing, "T-then…Kyatto…You have to always gaze at me! With a field spell, I can change our world and our battlefield! This is the world I created. Cat World, activate!"

The whole place changed to a, well, Cat World.

"W-What the heck is this?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

We looked around. Cats, cats, cats, cats!

"This place is a paradise for cats," explained Cat-chan, "A world with only me, the cats, and yourselves. And in this world of cats, those kittens attack powers are increased by their original attack (Atk: 2800)."

That's a lot of points.

"A-Attack power 2800?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

"Yuma is finally looking at me," said Cat-chan happily, "Now, Twin-Tail Cat Lady! Go capture Yuma's heart! Direct attack!"

I winced as Yuma got scratched.

**Cat-chan: 2400LPS **

**Yuma: 400LPS**

Yuma acted fast, "Trap card, open! Fairy Gong! This card can be activated when I receive a direct attack" he stood up, "I can special summon from my deck one monster with Fairy in its name, in attack mode! Come, Fairy Joe (Atk: 100-Lvl: 1)!"

Nothing else he can do for the moment.

"That's fine," said Cat-chan, "I'll end my turn like this."

"You're awesome, so awesome!" complimented Yuma.

If Yuma doesn't stop, Cat-chan is eventually gonna fall in love with him.

"R-Really?" asked Cat-chan, flushed.

"Yeah!" said Yuma.

Cat-chan looked away sadly, "But…"

"Huh?" asked Yuma.

"But that's only in the world of dueling," murmured Cat-chan, "That's no good…In reality, when I appear in front of this person…I can't say a thing. That person hasn't even noticed me."

She's…talking about Yuma, isn't she?

"What a terrible guy…" said Yuma in agreement.

I almost laughed out loud but held it in. I looked at Cat-chan in sympathy, "He must be an idiot then."

"No matter how much magic I used on this person…" relayed Cat-chan, "As expected, it didn't work. He never even turned around once. So at least, I can connect with the person I love in dueling…"

"You…love him?" I asked. She loved Yuma? I thought it was just a crush.

"Yes, but he would never notice me…" said Cat-chan dejectedly.

"Just say it!" said Yuma.

"Eh?" asked Cat-chan confused.

"For things like that, just say it directly and clearly!" said Yuma like he was an expert, "Don't give up! No matter what, you'll still Kattobingu!"

"Oh my god…" I muttered. Cat-chan is going to get her heart broken…

"Kyatto!" said Cat-chan, "Kyattobingu! I'll confess. Actually, about you…I've-"

"My turn, draw!" shouted Yuma interrupting.

Cat-chan looked dejected and clearly shocked. Yuma, I'm gonna kill that guy.

"I activate the effect of Fallen Cone," said Yuma, "By discarding Growing Pinecone to the graveyard, I can special summon Fallen Cone (Atk: 200-Lvl: 1)! And then, Growing Pinecone's effect activates in the graveyard. When this card is discarded from the hand, it can be special summoned (Atk: 400-Lvl: 1)!"

"W-wait a minute!" shouted Cat-chan, trying so hard to convey her feelings.

At first, I thought he was going to summon Galaxy Queen. "Y-Yuma, I have-"

"Alright!" shouted Yuma, interrupting me, "I'll use these three to Xyz summon! I overlay all my level 1 monsters, Fairy Joe, Fallen Cone and Growing Pinecone! With these three monsters, I construct the overlay network! Xyz summon! Appear, Baby Toragon (Atk: 900-Rank: 1)!"

I sighed out of relief. I thought he was going to fail summoning Galaxy Queen and that would ruin it for him.

"Next, I summon Gagaga Magician in attack position (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)!" shouted Yuma, "I activate Gagaga Magician's effect! I can change its level before the end phase! I change Gagaga Magician to level 1. And then, I activate Baby Toragon's effect! By detaching an overlay unit, one level one monster on my field can attack directly!"

"Like I said, I'm not done yet-"

Yuma interjected her, "Gagaga Magician, attack directly! Gagaga magic!"

"Kyatto!" yelled Cat-chan as she was hit.

**Cat-chan: 900LPS **

**Yuma: 400LPS**

I just sighed. Yuma wasn't going to listen.

"I'm totally fired up!" shouted Yuma, "Let's go! Baby Toragon, attack Twin-Tail Cat Lady!"

"Yuma, it doesn't-"

I gave Astral a look, "Astral…"

He looked at me confused but he complied.

"I got it, don't worry!" Yuma said to me, "I activate, from my hand, quickplay spell, Giant Shadow of Egotism!"

"Defines Yuma exactly," I said to Astral, who smiled a little.

"With this card, one of my monsters' attack increases by 1000 during battle!" explained Yuma, "I choose Baby Toragon (Atk: 1900)!"

Cat-chan tried to say it, "About you, Yuma…I've always lov-"

Yuma cut in, "Then, due to Giant Shadow of Egotism's effect, the monster battling Baby Toragon will return to its original Atk (Atk: 1000)!"

Cat-chan spoke fast while blushing, "Yuma…I've always lov-"

"Kattobingu!" yelled Yuma, "Go, Baby Toragon! Baby stream!"

"Nya-why?!" she yelled as she flew backwards from the blow.

**Cat-chan: 0LPS **

**Yuma: 400LPS**

**Yuma is the winner!**

The A/R dispersed.

"Alright, I won!" cheered Yuma.

Astral held his arm out. After a moment, as I expected, nothing happened.

Astral lowered his arm, "As expected, there was no number."

I nudged him, "You totally thought there was a number, don't lie."

He just looked away, "Hm…"

I giggled at the way he was acting. We walked over to Cat-chan's side. Yuma knelt down, "Here." He held out his hand, "Are you alright? Now, tell me where Kotori is."

Cat-chan blushed. She told us where she was and apologized.

Yuma had exited the mansion already but I stayed for a moment. I looked to Cat-chan who was watching me. I held out my hand, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Cat-chan. My name is Rima."

"I already know who you are, Rima," she said as we both sat cross-legged on the floor.

"Cat-chan…" I said carefully glancing at the door, "I just want to tell you something…"

She waited.

"Um…Being in love with Yuma," I said putting my hand on hers, "It might cause a lot of heartbreak."

"I know…nya," she said, looking down.

"Yuma is just so clueless to everything," I said softly, "You know, Cat-chan…How does it feel to be in love?"

I don't know why I asked her that but I just wanted to know.

"Why?" she asked.

"No reason, I just wonder you know," I said.

She smiled at me but sadly, "It makes you so happy but yet, so…so sad. You love the person but them not knowing or them not loving you back…it hurts." She put her hand on her heart, "It stings so much…"

I hugged her as I let her sob. Cat-chan is super strong…

"Cat-chan," I said as her sobs died down, "You don't have to be alone anymore. I'm your friend now and I'm pretty sure Yuma is too."

She tensed, "I-I…"

"Don't worry," I said softly, "…I didn't know being in love was like that."

"It's definitely not like the fairy tales," she whispered, "where the prince will just sweep you off your feet…"

We both stood up and Cat-chan wiped away her tears. She looked me in the eye, "You look like you're in love."

I blushed, suddenly thinking of Astral. I closed my eyes and shook my head, "I…I'm not in love."

"Oh, nya," said Cat-chan, confused. "It's just that look in your eye…it looks like me when I stare in a mirror."

I looked at her in puzzlemet, "What do you mean?"

"You have the look of love on your face," she said happily, "You look confused but happy at the same time, that's why I thought…"

"I don't know," I said truthfully, "I do think of someone when I think of love but…he's just a friend."

She just patted my shoulder, "If you fall into love, it's truly hard to get out of it. Trust me, I've tried."

I smiled at her as Yuma walked in, "Hey, Rima! Hurry up!" Astral flew in as well, looking to me.

"Alright, alright!" I said putting my hands behind my head. I glanced back at Cat-chan as I walked out, "Thank you, Cat-chan."

* * *

"The little kitties got tripped up!" shouted Kotori as we walked over to where she was.

"K-Kotori?!" It was a question and a statement.

She looked at us shocked, "Yuma! Rima!"

"What are you doing?" I asked, surprised and a bit angry.

She just laughed nervously.

* * *

"Like I said, I was forced to play with the kittens," said Kotori, "It can't be helped!"

"Excuses, excuses," I mumbled. Yuma and I were walking beside each other with Kotori and Tetsuo behind us. We were still sort of mad at Kotori.

"Geez…" said Kotori, "When will you both stop being mad?"

"I'm not mad!" shouted Yuma, glancing behind us.

"See? You're mad," Kotori pointed out.

"Um…"

We turned to see Cat-chan. She was blushing embarrassed, "Um…Good morning…"

"Hey!" said Yuma with a grin.

"Good morning," I greeted back.

After which, Cat-chan ran off with a smile.

"Um, who was that?" asked Tetsuo, confused.

"My, how rude!" said Kotori. "That girl is from our class, she is…um…"

"Kathy, Cat-chan," said Yuma smirking, knowing something for a change. "She's a strong duelist!"

I noted that Kotori looked jealous, "Eh…didn't know that…"

"Speaking of which, have you found the culprit that's been messing with you?" asked Tetsuo.

"Um, no," I said blinking, "I totally forgot."

"That, I totally don't know as well," said Yuma.

"I'm gonna go now," said Kotori, running off.

"Eh?" asked Yuma confused, "Hey, Kotori…"

"Observation result #11: Somehow, it seems like Yuma still doesn't understand women's feelings."

I looked beside me to see Astral floating there. I smirked at him, "And you're an expert?"

"I did not say that," said Astral, defending himself.

I just laughed, "Sure~" I started walking off as well, "I'm going to go find Kotori. Yuma, you better apologize to her!"

"For what?!" asked Yuma cluelessly.


	10. Shark's Counterattack!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal.**

* * *

As I slept, Galaxy Queen went to the key.

* * *

I stared sleepily at Ryoga as he sat at the edge of my bed. He had put a wet cloth on my head already and I was super sleepy.

He sighed, "Yeah, you have a fever."

"No shit, Sherlock," I said, lying back down.

"At least you still have your winning personality," he said sarcastically as he stood up. "I gotta go, Rima. Can you take care of yourself?"

I nodded slowly, "Yeah, of course."

He ruffled my hair, "Alright, night kid."

"Don't call me that…" I whined.

"Get some rest, I'll come after school," he didn't look at me when he said that.

"Ryoga, I know you don't go to class as of late," I stated. I know he's been ditching because I haven't seen him at school and there's a lot of gossip about him.

He grabbed my blanket and pulled it over my head, "I'm leaving now."

I tried taking the blanket off and I did, "Hah!"

He pulled it back over, "Two out of three, kid."

"I'm only one year younger than you!"

I kept trying to move the blanket off and I heard Ryoga chuckle at me as he left the room. I listened as the door downstairs closed. I couldn't see out the window, but I'm pretty sure Ryoga just drove off on his motorcycle.

I took the blanket off and reached over and grabbed my deck. If I wasn't allowed to go to school, I'll have to at least improve my deck.

I took out my cards and tried to think of new combos. I picked one up, "Maybe this…with Water Supreme? Nah, that wouldn't work…Maybe, ah, maybe Tethys!"

And that's pretty much how my day went.

* * *

Ryoga had come back, like he had said. He put his hand on my forehead before removing it, "You're still sick but it's coming down."

I nodded and yawned, "I'm sleepy now."

"Did you eat?" he asked sitting down on the bedside.

"Did you?" I asked.

"I'm not hungry," he said and right after he said that, his stomach growled.

He held it blushing, "Uh…"

I laughed at his expense, "I could cook if you want."

"No, you're sick," he said.

"There's some food in the fridge," I said and turned over. "You can eat some if you want."

"I don't-"

"If you don't, I'll run outside and break your motorcycle," I threatened, sitting up.

"You're lying," he said, knowing I wouldn't do that.

I chuckled and stood up before swaying on my feet.

Ryoga pushed my forehead with his finger and I fell on the bed. "Ow~" I whined as I curled up in a ball.

"I'll go eat something then," he muttered, rolling his eyes. "Try to sleep."

I listened as he walked downstairs and I heard the fridge open. Alright, he's eating. I'm worried about him. Is he taking care of himself?

* * *

It was late at night and Ryoga fell asleep while sitting on a leather chair. I stood up and got a blanket. I was still a bit dizzy but it wasn't that bad. I walked up to Ryoga and put the blanket on him.

"Rio…" I heard him mumble in his sleep.

I smiled sadly at him, "No, this is Rima." I made sure he was at least comfortable before going back to my bed. I looked at the starry sky in the window. I miss her so much…

Rio was, no, is one of the strongest people I know. She was always so confident, like Ryoga. I don't know how we were compatible. Sure, we were both confident but she was so active. I wasn't a big fan of sports but I was okay. She and Ryoga have a bond though. But they bickerer a bunch which is really funny to me. You'd think that twins would be the best of friends. Shark is actually nicer to me than he is to Rio. It's probably because he doesn't have to live with me, haha.

* * *

I woke up like usual but I almost threw up. Oh shit, I feel like hell. I groaned and put my pillow on my face, "It's too bright!" I whined.

I heard shuffling and rattling. Someone took the pillow off my face, "I closed the blinds, Rima."

It was Ryoga, "Oh hey Ryoga-chan," I said.

"Keh," he said glaring at me, "Baka onna."

{Baka onna = stupid girl}

I glared at him, "That's not very nice"

"I'm not a very nice person," he said moving his hand up to brush his hair outta his eye.

I blinked staring at his hand before smiling, "You still wear those, huh?"

He blinked before looking to his hand, "…yeah."

We were both quiet.

Ryoga looked at me, "You're still sick so stay home."

"But-"

"Stay," he ordered.

"Okay…" I sighed.

He kissed my forehead, "Night imouto."

{Imouto = little sister}

Something in me snapped once he said that. So that's how he thought of me...As he turned, I grabbed his sleeve.

He looked at me.

I stared at him, "Ryoga…I can never replace Rio."

His eyes widened, "Why would you think-"

"Ryoga, please. I won't replace Rio. I won't be someone that you just use as a second. I'm only Rima, not Rio," I said quietly, hand tightening.

"Rima…" he whispered.

"Just leave," I mumbled as I put the blanket over my head. I don't feel like talking now.

"Ri-"

"Go!" I shouted. Regretting it, I whispered, "Just…just go."

I heard a pause before he shuffled out of the room. I heard the door close and I let myself cry. Ryoga, I know you miss Rio. But I never will replace her. I won't be your replacement.

* * *

I sat up and stared outside the window. I was super dizzy but I didn't care. It was evening already but Ryoga hadn't come…I guess he's mad at me or he's thinks I'm mad at him. Either way, I needed to go and apologize. I didn't mean to explode like that.

My key grew erect once more and was levitating in front of me. I grit my teeth, "Ryoga has to wait." I quickly put on some jeans and a t-shirt and ran out of the house. I had no idea where the key was pointing me too but I knew I would collapse if I didn't go slower. I was still sick and dizzy. I shouldn't be running but I had to cheer on Astral and Yuma.

* * *

I was at the pier. My key went down as I stared ahead of me. Ryoga and Yuma were dueling…I didn't see a number so why did my key..?

I ran over to my friends. As I stood beside Kotori, I shouted, "Ryoga?!"

He looked over to me as did everyone else. His smirk dropped and he stared at me, "Rima? What are you doing here?!"

"I heard there was a duel happening and I just had to see it," I lied, quickly making up an excuse.

"You shouldn't be out," he said. He was still worried. Maybe this was the reason why he didn't come. It was because he was dueling Yuma.

I stuck my tongue out at him, "You're not the boss of me!" I looked to Tetsuo, "So, anything interesting happen?"

"Yuma promised to duel Shark without his numbers to prove how strong he is," said Tetsuo, "Yuma's losing so far."

"Keh," I spat, looking to the duel. I saw Astral and I concluded he wasn't a part of this. Yuma probably told him to stay out of this duel or something. And anyways, I didn't feel any pain. Now, one more thing to solve…Who am I cheering for? Before, I was cheering for Yuma because Ryoga was being a jerk but now…

Yuma continued with his turn, "My turn! Draw! I summon Gagaga Magician (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)!"

"Summon it!" yelled Ryoga, "The number! Call your trump card!"

Was he nuts?! You can't defeat a number without a number! Ryoga is smart and cunning when it comes to dueling, hell, he's even that when he's not. I know he would do this with a plan, some sort of strategy, this may be bad for Yuma if he complies.

"Eh?" asked Yuma, clearly confused.

"What is Shark saying?" asked Inchou.

"He should know that numbers can only be defeated by numbers! Even though…" said Tetsuo, confused as well.

"Come on, call the number!" shouted Ryoga, "Do you really think you can beat me without using a numbers?! I accepted this duel to defeat you, who is using the numbers!"

Ryoga…

"Yuma," said Astral, "You have the opportunity to summon a number. You said that it'd be unfair to use numbers in this duel. But if you don't…I don't want to lose the Emperor's Key. For the sake of winning, use the numbers!"

"Yuma, st-"

"Stay out of this, Rima!" shouted Yuma. He was confused but he seemed angry.

"Don't talk to her like that," defended Ryoga. Aw, I totally love him right now.

Yuma looked to Astral, "I…"

I looked down, "For the sake of winning, you say? If that is what you will do I won't stop you but…this isn't the right choice."

Yuma totally ignored what I said and I was okay with that. Yuma was a baka. For the sake of winning? How about for the sake of helping Ryoga? Of helping my oniichan?

"That's right," Yuma said to Astral, "I have to help Shark out at any cost!"

Liar…he just wants to win. If he wanted to help Ryoga he would've done something else. Maybe talk to him.

Yuma held a card, "I activate the magic card Monster Reborn! I revive Gogogo Golem from my own graveyard (Atk: 1800-Lvl: 4)! I overlay level 4 Gagaga Magician and Gogogo Golem! I create an overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, No. 39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

Yuma was really going through with this. I understand why Astral would be worried. Kotori told me Yuma put his key on the line but…This is so crazy.

"Yuma used a number!" stated Kotori, confused as to why he did.

"He promised not to use them, but he still…" said Tetsuo and I knew he was hurt.

"To summarize, Yuma-kun's duels are nothing without numbers, right?" said Inchou.

I glared at him, "It's people like you that I loathe."

He gulped and zipped his mouth shut.

"It arrived, the number!" said Ryoga, "Now I'm getting fired up!"

"Go, Aspiring Emperor – Hope!" ordered Yuma, "Attack Aero Shark!"

"How naïve!" shouted Ryoga, "I activate Friller Sharks' effect! By removing Friller Shark in my graveyard from play, I can negate my opponents attack and decrease the Atk of the attacking monster by 500!"

Aspiring Emperor – Hope's attack lowered to 2000.

"What?!" asked Yuma. Did he really underestimate Ryoga's skills?

"I activate a trap!" shouted Ryoga, "Fish Rain! When a fish-type monster was removed from play, this card allows me to special summon a level 3 or lower fish-type monster from my hand!"

Yuma just looked on shocked. His plan had failed. Oh shit…If Yuma lost, Astral was gone. My eyes widened, I don't know who to cheer for! Ryoga's my onii-chan but Astral is my friend!

"I summon Big Jaws (Atk: 1800-Lvl: 3)!" announced Ryoga.

"I can't defeat Aero Shark with Hope like this," said Yuma.

"Because you wanted to win fast, you misplayed," stated Astral.

"Eh?" asked Yuma, confused.

Astral was right though…Yuma could've won.

"Monster Reborn can also revive a monster from the opponents graveyard," explained Astral, "If you had revived Friller Shark from Shark's graveyard, you could have used Gagaga Magician's effect to Xyz summon Revise Dragon. And Friller Sharks effect wouldn't have been activated."

Astral continued, "And you would have been able to destroy Aero Shark with Revise Dragon."

"Shut up!" shouted Yuma ashamedly.

Astral was just stating the truth…

"It's alright!" convinced Yuma, "Hope's Atk is 2000. And Shark has no monster with more Atk then Hope on his field. I end my turn with this!"

"My turn, draw!" shouted Ryoga, "I activate Aero Shark's effect! By removing one overlay unit, once per turn, I can hit 400 points of damage for each card in my hand! I have two cards in my hand. That means you'll receive 800 points of damage!"

**Ryoga: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 1500LPS**

"Furthermore, I summon Skull Kraken (Atk: 300-Lvl: 3)!" shouted Ryoga.

"There are two level 3 monsters!" shouted Yuma in shock.

"No shit, Sherlock," I said, glaring heatedly at him...I was still mad at Yuma. He was such a dick!

"Don't panic," said Astral calmly, "He has no card that can defeat Hope, a number card."

"I overlay level 3 Skull Kraken and Big Jaws," announced Ryoga, "I create an overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, Black Ray Lancer (Atk: 2100-Rank: 3)!"

"A new Xyz?" I questioned aloud. I haven't seen this one before.

"This duel is mine!" declared Ryoga, "I activate Black Ray Lancer's effect! By removing an overlay unit, I can negate a monsters effect(s) for one turn."

"What?!" asked Yuma incredulously, "Hope!" Then Hope isn't protected by moon barrier.

"We say that numbers can't be destroyed, but in fact, that's just a monster effect!" shouted Ryoga, "If the effect disappears, it can be destroyed!"

I took a step back, "A loophole?!"

"That…" said Yuma shocked, "Hope's monster effect was negated!"

"Go, Black Ray Lancer!" ordered Ryoga, "Black Spear!"

"Hope!" yelled Yuma as his ace was destroyed. He fell to his knees.

**Ryoga: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 1400LPS**

I felt no sting. Was it because this wasn't a proper battle or something?

"Hope was…defeated," whispered Yuma.

"That boy found the numbers weak point…" stated Astral. That means…Astral will disappear?!

"Aero Shark, direct attack!" shouted Ryoga, "Big Eater!"

**Ryoga: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 0LPS**

**Ryoga is the winner!**

Yuma fell down onto the ground. He lost…

"To summarize, it was a complete defeat," stated Inchou quietly.

"Yuma…lost?" asked Kotori, still not believing it. We were joking about it a few days ago but now…

Yuma was on his knees as he took of his D-Gazer, "This must be a lie. Even though I used a number…"

Ryoga took off his D-Gazer, "It was unlikely. To lose against a duelist like you…and to lose everything…A complete laugh." He walked over and pulled the key off Yuma's neck, "According to the bet, I'll be taking this."

"Ryoga…" I whispered, advancing towards him but I stopped midway.

He looked up at me. He saw my heartbroken expression. Had I've been listening close enough, I would've heard his heart wrench.

Ryoga stood up and walked one step, two steps, more steps away from Yuma, "This thing…isn't even worth destroying." He stopped walking as he threw it back to Yuma.

"Shark…" said Yuma disbelievingly.

Ryoga was just standing there.

"Wait!" shouted Yuma.

"Yuma, you don't understand," said Ryoga, looking back. "I am with them because I want to."

"Huh…?" I whispered. I was so confused. Who is 'them'?

"They gave me, whose place has disappeared, a place to be," said Ryoga, "Don't concern yourself with me anymore!"

I was so shocked. I ran forward, "Ryo-" My breath caught in my throat. I fell forwards and hit the ground. My fever…the strain on me running, on standing, even watching this duel, it's taking its effect.

"R-Rima?" Kotori asked, reaching out to me.

"Don't touch her!" Ryoga shouted. He was kneeling in front of me in a matter of seconds, "You didn't listen to me."

"I'm sorry," I whispered as he picked me up bridal style. He carried me over to his motorcycle and he sat in it with me on his lap. I sat sideways while leaning on Ryoga's chest.

As my eyes swept over on Yuma's heartbroken form, I looked away. I saw Astral and he looked fine. I'm glad but now my head is spinning.

Ryoga started up his motorcycle after making sure my arms were wrapped around him. I've rode with Ryoga before but it hurt my head. We sped off.

* * *

We passed two people that said Ryoga's name.

"Is this girl-"

"She's off limits to you," growled Ryoga and we kept going.

"Who were they?" I asked quietly.

"No one, Rima…"

* * *

Against my will, Ryoga carried me up to my room and placed me on my bed. I watched him as he went to go get me a cloth for my head. When he walked back in, I asked, "Ryoga…who are 'they'?" I even used air quotation marks.

He looked at me, "None of your concern."

I glared at him, "Tell me, you bastard!"

He grit his teeth and looked away, "Yuma hasn't told you?"

"N-no…I haven't talked to him yesterday or today," I answered, watching Ryoga.

"I'm in a gang," he said quietly.

Eyes widening, I couldn't believe it. I pulled on his hair, "You are such a damn idiot! What the hell are you thinking?!"

"I'm sick of everyone at school," he said after swatting my hands away.

I stared at him worriedly, "Ryoga-"

"I don't need you worrying about me," said Ryoga, almost seething.

"I worry about you anyways!" I shouted at him, "We're supposed to look after each other! That's what Rio said!"

"Just don't get concerned with me anymore," Ryoga mumbled quietly.

"Why not?!" I literally shouted.

"I can't lose you too!" he yelled at me.

My look softened, "Ryoga, I won't be gone…"

He hugged me and kept me close, "Rio's already…I can't lose you too. You're my only hope. You're the only thing that keeps me, me. You're my other imouto."

I understand now. Ryoga just needed someone with him. I'm the only one close to him left, that is able to be here. He doesn't want me to get hurt if I associate myself with him. Those two we saw on the street…they must've been part of the gang. They probably would've hurt me.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly as I swear I felt something wet on my head. Was he crying?

"I'm so sorry," I whispered over and over again. I'm sorry, Ryoga.


	11. Yuma & Shark! A Tag Duel!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh ZeXal!**

* * *

When I woke up in the morning, Ryoga wasn't there. I checked and my fever had gone away. I did my morning routine and when I walked downstairs, I noticed my couch had a folded blanket and pillow on it. He must've stayed the night and left early. I smiled and walked out the door.

* * *

It was morning and I met up with Yuma and Astral.

I glared at Yuma for a split-second before smiling, "Good morning, you two." Even though Yuma is making me mad, it's just stressful to be mad at him all the time.

"Morning!" said Yuma.

Someone ran up and asked him to duel and he agreed. They both ran off somewhere.

"That was…random," I said as Astral still floated beside me. I looked at him, "You're not going with him?"

"It's not a number duel so I don't think Yuma needs me," replied Astral, turning his gaze to me.

I smiled softly, "How's he taking the duel with Ryoga?"

"He's been dueling recklessly, more than usual," answered Astral.

I looked down, "So he's shaken up…"

"Yes, I suppose he is," Astral confirmed.

I looked up at Astral, "What would've happened if Ryoga took the key?" I asked quietly. I was worried about Astral. He was my friend after all.

"I think I probably would've disappeared," said Astral quietly. I saw the troubled look on his face. If he did disappear…

I wrapped my arms around him in a hug. Astral stiffened under the touch but he quickly relaxed. I looked into his mismatched eyes, "I'm glad you're okay, Astral."

"Rima..." he whispered and he hesitantly put his hands around me. We let go of each other and I smiled at him, "Come on, I gotta get to class."

"Hold on a moment," he said and I tilted my head confused. He took my hand and raised it to his lips. I watched as he kissed my hand. It made me feel much more different than the one with Fuya-kun. This kiss actually made me really embarrassed.

Astral let go of my hand and smiled slightly, "You said that a kiss on the hand meant thank you, right?"

Somehow, I was a bit disappointed but I didn't let it show. I smiled, "Yeah, it does…"

* * *

Kotori and I were in the library. I was looking around and we passed the desks. I spotted a certain spikey-haired boy. "Hey, Kotori, isn't that…?"

"Yuma?" finished Kotori, "Why's he here?"

I shrugged, "Let's go find out." We walked over to him, Kotori in the lead.

"Weird, it doesn't opened," said Yuma confusedly and tiredly.

"Research?" asked Kotori as we planted ourselves in front of him. "It's pretty unusual to see you in a library, isn't it?"

She nudged him over and did the right computer commands. A screen popped up. My eyes widened as I read one of the sentences, "Duel Monsters National Tournament?" Why is he researching that?

"Yeah, give me a minute," said Yuma, moving over to take the mouse.

He scrolled down to a picture of Ryoga. W-what?

They both gasped. Kotori read it, "'The corrupted championship candidate, Kamishiro Ryoga'! This is…about Shark…"

"Yuma…" I whispered. Why was he researching Ryoga?

"Shark's past…" whispered Yuma.

Kotori read it aloud, "'The championship candidate, Kamishiro Ryoga, tried to steal his competitor's deck and was disqualified. The tournaments competitors…"

She continued as I droned out. Damn it, my hand balled into a fist. Ryoga wasn't like that. He was nervous, he did not do it on purpose.

"That's it," finished Kotori quietly.

Yuma moved the mouse and accidentally pressed something and a screen popped up, "Huh?" Astral appeared out of the key at that moment. I looked away from the screen. It was about me.

"'Championship candidate, Rima Tsubasa, forced to forfeit match because of pneumonia. Kamishiro Ryoga and herself were seen outside of their hotel, Tsubasa in an ambulance. This also added onto the stress of dueling to the young water-type duelist…" read Kotori before becoming silent.

"That's…" I heard Yuma say.

I looked back to the screen. Two pictures were on it. There was me holding out Athena in one. In the other, was Ryoga holding my hand as I was rushed into an ambulance. I remember that day…I was in the hotel with Ryoga when I collapsed. Ryoga didn't tell me anything that happened after that, I didn't remember. I almost didn't make it.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said after receiving the looks they were giving me.

* * *

**Outside!**

We were outside and the two of them were talking about Ryoga. I didn't mind. I was too lost in my own world anyway.

"Rima."

I glanced behind me to see Astral, "Hm?"

"What is pneumonia?" Astral asked curiously.

Right, he didn't know about sicknesses I guess. "Pneumonia is a lung infection. It basically gives you a high or low fever, you can barely breathe, you start coughing and sweating a lot...I'm sure if it's not treated right, you can d-d-d..." I couldn't finish the sentence.

Astral seemed to notice and didn't press further. I'm really grateful for that.

"I am glad _you _are alright," he spoke.

I looked back at him and offered a kind smile, "You're a good friend, Astral. Thanks."

He mumbled something incoherent. I questioned him but he said it was nothing. Oh well. I finally decided to get into the lovebirds convo.

"That someone like Shark tried to steal his competitors' deck…" said Kotori/

"That's obviously a lie," defended Yuma and I thank him for that.

"But at the library…" said Kotori, upset.

"Ryoga is not that type of person!" I shouted before calming down a bit. Now's not the time to be losing my temper.

"I understand," agreed Yuma, "Mine and Shark's duel…Such a person wouldn't duel like he does!"

"Yuma…Rima…" murmured Kotori.

"Hey!"

In front of us, a guy stopped in front of us. I recognized him. He was one of the guys I saw yesterday. He was panting heavily. He looked panicked.

"You were at Shark's place!" confirmed Yuma.

My eyes widened at what the guy said to us. Ryoga is…?!

"What, Shark going to commit card robbery?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

"That's right," said the redhead, "Our aniki's suddenly started talking about attacking the museum! It's those cards fault! When they received those cards, their personalities changed!"

{Aniki = Big bro}

Astral floated to beside me, "Numbers!"

"I'm sure that our aniki's are going to make him responsible for the whole crime!" said the redhead, "At this rate, he'll-"

Yuma and I dashed forward. I needed to find Ryoga and I'm sure Yuma was thinking the same thing.

"Wait, you two!" shouted Kotori and we both stopped, "Stop getting concerned with Shark already!"

"I have to…" said Yuma quietly, "I have no choice but to go!"

"Why?" asked Kotori confused, "Why are you going so far for Shark's sake?"

"Wrong!" shouted Yuma, "I'm not doing this for Shark's sake, I'm going there for my own sake!"

"Yuma…" I said. He finally admits it?

"I've been lying to myself," he said. His hand tightened, "I said I wanted to help Shark out of this…But the truth is that I wanted to win! Only because I wanted to win, I used numbers…It's despicable to let it end like this!"

I know what Yuma is talking about. I smiled at Kotori, "You know, I made a promise to someone to protect Ryoga. I don't want to break that."

Yuma and I ran once more after that. That 'someone' was Rio. She made me promise and I don't think I'm doing such a good job. For now, I should help.

* * *

Yuma and I were in front of the museum. I had no idea what we were going to do but as long as Ryoga is okay…Three motorcycles pulled up. I recognized Ryoga's immediately and the others…the gangs' leaders probably.

"Who are you?!" asked one of them. Ryoga looked shocked.

"I- no, _we_ won't let you go any further," said Yuma as the moon came out from behind the clouds.

"What did you say?" he had an evil aura around him.

The other crossed his arms, "You're that grouchy guy from before. But the girl…"

"That is…the Fairy girl," said the first one, "The Fairy-hime."

On both of their arms two number marks appeared. No. 19 and No. 61…

"Look, the two of you," said Astral, floating beside us.

So it does involve Astral. Oh well, I guess we gotta duel.

"If you want to go further, you need to beat me in a duel!" announced Yuma.

"Same with me!" I said in agreement. I haven't dueled in a while and this is for Astral and Ryoga's sake.

"Duel, you say?" asked the first one.

"What are you planning?" asked the second.

"If you guys win…" Yuma held out his ace, "I'll give you my number!"

He's really going through with it. I smiled, these guys won't know what hit them. I saw Ryoga's shocked expression at Yuma's aid. He really doesn't believe anyone would help him...

"But if we win, you won't lay a hand on the museum!" proposed Yuma.

"That's the same as our cards!"

"I see," said the first one, holding his number, "These are called numbers-"

They...just figured that out...Idiots.

"-With yours and our two cards, we have a lot of power. If we can get your cards, we'll be invincible!"

"Come on, Rikuo, Kaio!" shouted Yuma. So that's their names…Wow, I feel so lost.

"Are you planning on dueling him alone?" asked Ryoga.

"No, I'm in as well," I spoke up, knowing Ryoga was just worried about me. I looked to Yuma, "Can I?"

"Of course!" he said, "I won't let Shark commit card robbery!"

"I already told you: don't concern yourself with me anymore, to the both of you," said Ryoga. I was a bit hurt but I was mostly irritated. Ryoga is an idiot. Does he seriously think I'm not gonna help?

"There is no way I can leave you alone like this!" shouted Yuma, "Those guys are only using you!"

Ryoga smirked, to my surprise, "I know that. But…I have no other place left."

"You're wrong!" I shouted angrily, "We've talked about this, you just won't listen 'cause you're a jerk!"

"Rima's…right?" said Yuma confusedly before looking to Ryoga, "This is not a place for you to stay at!"

Ryoga's shock shone through his eyes.

"I won't give up," said Yuma, "This time, I'll make you cut your relationship with these guys!"

"You're being intrusive!" shouted Ryoga. I wonder if he was talking about me as well. "Why are you going this far?!" asked Ryoga.

"Because we're comrades, isn't that obvious?!" asked Yuma.

Ryoga's eyes were full of shock and, well, astonishment. Mine were as well. Comrades...Yuma really thought of Ryoga as one.

"The talking will end right there," said Rikuo.

"If you're both betting your numbers, this is a whole different story," said Kaio.

"It's not two against two," said Rikuo, "We'll fight three against two."

"Right, Ryoga?" asked Kaio. Fighting against these two losers was one thing but against Ryoga…

"Bring it on!" shouted Yuma, not caring. "I don't care if I have to fight against two or three, just bring it on!"

"And I'll duel with you, Yuma," I said smirking, "With me, you really can't lose."

Ryoga walked forward with a smirk. We all looked at him in confusion. He walked to in front of me, like a shield. He turned to Kaio and Rikuo, "Sorry, but I'm gonna stick with these two."

"What did you say?" asked Rikuo.

"Bastard, are you betraying us?!" asked Kaio.

"Shark…?" asked Yuma, surprised.

"Don't misunderstand," said Ryoga smirking, "I'm just tired of their babysitting. Also," he took a glance at me, "I'm not letting you duel these guys, Rima."

"Why not?!" I asked sobbingly. I wanted to duel!

"It's obvious, is it not?" he asked and he didn't look at me, "We're family, aren't we?"

"Yeah…" I agreed softly.

"Interesting!" said Kaio.

"You're challenging us to a tag duel then?" asked Rikuo, "They're stupid."

They were friggin laughing at us. Damn it…

"You know how this is going to be, right, Ryoga?" asked Rikuo.

"Rima, I think you should go over to the sidelines now," said Astral as the battle was commencing.

I nodded and ran over to the side, "Good luck though you probably don't need it!" Especially with Astral and Ryoga. Yuma's good too but…

"Let's go!" announced Yuma, "Duel disk, set! D-Gazer, set!"

I quickly put mine on as well. Okay Ryoga's at a disadvantage because of the number thing but he'll win with the help of Yuma/Astral.

**A/R vision link completed!**

"DUEL!"

"I'll take the first turn," said Rikuo, "My turn, draw! I set one monster in defense position!"

He then smirked to Kaio who chuckled. That seems a bit sketchy…

Rikuo continued, "Furthermore, I set two cards and end my turn."

"Yuma, they seem to be familiar with tag duels," noted Astral, "Be careful."

"I know that!" shouted Yuma smiling, "My turn, draw! I summon Zubaba Knight (Atk: 1600-Lvl: 3)! Let's do it! I attack the defense position monster! Go, Zubaba Knight!"

"Wait, Yuma!" I shouted and he stopped.

Ryoga explained quickly, a hint of exasperation in his voice, "In a tag duel, you cannot attack until all players had one turn."

"Is that so?" asked Yuma embarrassed, "Well then, I end my turn!"

"Ugh, Yuma…" I muttered face-palming. He needs to learn these rules.

"What an amateur," said Rikuo, "This duel will be ours!"

I agreed with him on the first part but I know Yuma, Astral and Ryoga will win.

"My turn, draw!" announced Kaio, "I summon Regent Blizzardon (Atk: 1400-Lvl: 4)! Furthermore, I set two cards and end my turn!"

"We'll make you regret challenging-"

"-us invincible comrades to a duel!"

Ryoga went up next, "My turn, draw! I summon Big Jaws (Atk: 1800-Lvl: 3)! Furthermore, I special summon Shark Sucker (Atk: 200-Lvl: 3)! When a fish-type monster has been summoned successfully, this monster can be special summoned, from my hand."

An Xyz summon already.

"Two level 3 monsters…" remarked Yuma, "Are you going to…?"

Ryoga continued, "I overlay level 3 Big Jaws and Shark Sucker! I create an overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, Underwater Warship – Aero Shark (Atk: 1900-Rank: 3)!"

"Xyz summon in his first turn!" said Yuma astonished, "Shark really is amazing!"

"And he's not even done yet," I said while smirking.

Ryoga nodded to me before turning back to the duel. "I activate the monster's effect! By removing one overlay unit, I can deal 400 points of damage for each card in my hand!"

"I see," said Astral, "Even though one isn't able to attack on the first turn, effect damage still applies."

"I have four cards in my hand," confirmed Ryoga, "That means Rikuo will receive 1600 points of damage!"

**Rikuo: 2400LPS **

**Kaio: 4000LPS**

**Shark: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 4000LPS**

"Yeah, it's decided!" cheered Yuma before looking confused, "Eh?"

Rikuo laughed, "We knew this would happen" and he smirked at his brother.

Kaio smirked, "I activate my trap! Blizzard Egg LV5!"

So they had a synchronized setup.

"This card can be activated when effect damage was inflicted," explained Rikuo.

"It allow the partner player who received effect damage to special summon one level 5 monster," said Kaio.

I get it so far…

Kaio continued, "However, if he's not able to special summon, the player receives 500 points of damage."

There's no way they could know for sure.

"That means-"

Astral interrupted Yuma, "If Rikuo doesn't have any level 5 monsters in his hand, he'll receive 500 more points of damage, it's a dangerous bet."

"Level 5, level 5, huh?" said Rikuo. And even though his face was covered with his hand, I could tell he was smirking. The smirk grew more as he got a card, "I special summon level 5 Bontan Lavasaurus (Atk: 2100-Lvl: 5)!"

"No way…" I muttered. They got a lucky break, that's all.

"I'll go next!" announced Rikuo, "I activate a trap! Flame Egg LVL5! This card allows my partner player to special summon a level 5 monster if effect damage has been inflicted."

I watched worried as Ryoga turned to keep the flames at bay. Then I remembered it was A/R. I hate fire. I just hate it.

"However, if he's not able to special summon, the player receives 500 points of damage," he said.

Yuma shielded himself with his arm, "Again, the same-"

"I special summon Menchi Icebergdon in defense position (Def: 2100-Lvl: 5)!" Kaio was successful.

They're cheating. They're definitely cheating. You may call me a poor sport but I'm pretty sure they're cheating. Damn mongrels.

"He had another level 5 monster?" stated/asked Astral surprised.

"This is a lie, right?" asked Yuma shocked as well, "They suddenly special summoned two monsters!"

"Of the same…level…" then it hit me. They can do an Xyz summon!

"Did you see that?" asked Kaio, "Our perfect combination?!"

"There is no one who rivals us brothers in a tag duel!" said Rikuo.

A bit too cocky, are we?

"What's up with this self-confidence?" asked Astral clearly shocked at their 'luck'. "There is something weird about this duel!"

I think I'll give them a minute or two before I rat them out. Can't be helped now.

"Let's go, Ryoga!" shouted Rikuo, "I activate a trap! Stare LV5! This card lets me inflict 500 points of damage for each level 5 monster on our field! We have two level 5 monsters on our field! That makes 1000 points of damage! Take this, traitor!"

Ryoga braced himself as he was hit with damage. He was pushed backwards by the impact.

"Shark!" shouted Yuma.

"Ryoga…!" I said worried. He still has life points so he's not out but still. I glared at the opposing team. There's no way they could've made that combo without knowing each other's cards.

**Rikuo: 2400LPS **

**Kaio: 4000LPS**

**Shark: 3000LPS **

**Yuma: 4000LPS**

"Keh, he's no big deal," said Rikuo, making me growl lowly.

Ryoga kneeled, "I set two cards and end my turn!"

Damn it, these cheaters!

"W-what's happening in this duel…?" asked Yuma utterly confused, "Neither of us attacked…even so, we're losing life points."

They're targeting Ryoga first, obviously.

"Calm down, Yuma," said Ryoga, standing up.

"Eh?" asked Yuma turning around.

"You can't win this duel like this," said Ryoga and he smiled-smirked. I can't tell which one.

"My turn, draw!" announced Rikuo, "I change my face-down monster into face-up attack position! Come forth, Punch Flamesaurus (Atk: 1800-Lvl: 4)!"

Tetsuo and Kotori ran over to my side. I smiled at them, "Glad you guys could make it."

Tetsuo looked ahead, "Tag duel?! Why are Yuma and Shark dueling together?"

"Don't worry about it, Tetsuo," I said looking back to the duel, "Just watch."

Rikuo continued, "I activate Punch Flamesaurus's flip effect! This monster can increase his level by 1. It's now level 5! I overlay level 5 Punch Flamesaurus and Bontan Lavasaurus! I create an overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz Summon! Come forth, No. 61 Volcasaurus (Atk: 2500-Rank: 5)!"

"Numbers?!" asked Yuma incredulously, "This is, his-"

Already…My key glinted at the sight of it. Alright, mental note: key glows when number is summoned.

"Numbers!" shouted out Tetsuo, surprised.

"You did it, brother!" said Kaio.

"This is mine!" said Rikuo smirking, "I'll show them how dreadful we are!"

I think that was a pun. With him having dreadlocks…oh, never mind.

"I activate Volcasaurus' effect!" shouted Rikuo, "By removing one overlay unit, I can destroy one of my opponents' monsters and inflict damage equal to that monsters' Atk. I destroy Aero Shark, magmax! And now, equal to Aero Shark's Atk, you'll receive 1900 points of damage!"

Ryoga flew backwards.

"Shark!"

"Ryoga!"

**Rikuo: 2400LPS **

**Kaio: 4000LPS**

**Shark: 1100LPS **

**Yuma: 4000LPS**

"Is this the time to be worried about him?" asked Kaio.

"You're next!" shouted Rikuo, "I destroy Zubaba Knight! Magmax!"

Yuma was thrown backwards as well. Only good thing is that they ran out of overlay units.

"Yuma!" shouted Kotori worriedly.

**Rikuo: 2400LPS **

**Kaio: 4000LPS**

**Shark: 1100LPS**

**Yuma: 2400LPS**

I grimaced as I felt the sting. Man, I hate these number duels.

Yuma sat up a little, "W-what incredible strength."

They cackled cruelly at them. "Did you realize how strong we are?" asked Rikuo.

"We'll be taking your numbers!" said Kaio.

We all glared at them. These hyenas are conceited. At the end of this duel, Ryoga and Yuma will win!


	12. The Combo of Hope! Armored Xyz Activate!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

* * *

Rikuo chuckled, "I destroy an opponents' monster and inflict damage equal to the destroyed monsters' atack!"

"This is our Volcasaurus' power: Magmax!"

They laughed once more as I took a breath. Why does this pain/sting/whatever keep growing in intensity?!

**Rikuo: 2400LPS **

**Kaio: 4000LPS**

**Shark: 1100LPS **

**Yuma: 2400LPS**

"Yuma…" whispered Kotori.

The boys stood up.

"It's dangerous like this," stated Yuma.

Ryoga looked to the duel, "But he already used all of Volcasaurus' overlay units. He ca't use the monster effect, 'Magmax', anymore." So he noticed. I'm pretty sure Ryoga also noticed that these guys are, well, CHEATING.

"I see!" shouted Yuma, "Okay, the match begins now!"

"Hm, what begins now?" asked Rikuo, "Ryoga, you're first! I attack Ryoga with my 2500 Atk strong Volcasaurus directly!"

If this goes through…!

"Shark!" yelled Yuma.

Ryoga held his arm out, "I activate a trap! Zeus Breath! This card negates one monster attack!"

I sighed in relief.

"Cheh," spat Rikuo, "You set such a card?"

Yuma wiped the sweat from his brow, "Phew, we're saved."

"'Saved', you say?" asked Kaio, smirking.

Rikuo smirked as well, "Your field is empty! Next turn, we'll put an end to this! I set two cards and end my turn!"

Yuma's up. He went, "My turn, draw! I summon Goblindbergh (Atk: 1400-Lvl: 4)! When this card has been normal summoned, I can special summon one level 4 monster from my hand! I special summon level 4 Gagaga Magician (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)!"

They can summon Hope!

"There are two level four monsters!" stated Ryoga thinking the same thing.

"Wait, Yuma!" warned Astral.

Why…? I then noticed the set cards, "Oh hell, Yuma, listen-!"

"Kattobingu daze, ore!" shouted Yuma ignoring us, "I overlay level 4 Gagaga Magician and Goblindbergh! I create an overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, No.39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

Astral and I exchanged worried looks. If those traps are counters…then we're in trouble.

"Yeah, he did it!" said Kotori, not noticing.

"W-why?" asked Tetsuo in disappointment. "That Yuma, in the end, he can't win without relying on numbers!"

"Have some faith in him," I said, rolling my eyes. This is a number duel so I don't care if he uses numbers to win. But…that set card…

The brothers cackled. Their eyes were full of lust. "It finally appeared, the number!" said Rikuo.

"We've been waiting for that one," said Kaio, "I activate the trap card Avalanche! Once this card is activated, the summoned Xyz monster cannot attack!"

Shoot…

Yuma was shocked, "Hope is…! Hope is completely covered in ice!"

Rikuo was smirking, "Furthermore, every time that Xyz monster activates a monster effect, you're going to receive 500 points of damage!"

This is going downhill. Fast.

"That…that means I can't use Hope's effect!" shouted Yuma.

"An exclusive trap for Xyz monster…" said Ryoga.

"That was a careless summon," stated Astral.

Yuma finished up, "I set two cards and end my turn!"

"The sealed number is ours," said Rikuo, "Let's decide this at once."

Kaio chuckled, "My turn, draw! Position change! I change Menchi Icebergdon into attack position (Atk: 1300-Lvl: 5)! This is the end, Ryoga. I attack Ryoga with Menchi Icebergdon directly! Go to hell!"

Ryoga scowled. I'm not sure he had a counter card…

"I activate Aspiring Emperor – Hope's effect!" shouted Yuma, "It negates one monsters' attack!"

Even with the effect of the trap?!

"That's stupid!" shouted Ryoga, "Did you forget the continuous trap Avalanche's effect?! You'll receive 500 points of damage!"

Yuma looked to Ryoga, "I already told you that we're comrades, didn't I?!"

Ryoga looked shocked. My eyes softened, Yuma's actually going through with it. I smiled in appreciation. Wait, if the damage goes through…Well, I'm gonna get stung a bit.

"Moon barrier!" shouted Yuma.

"Take this!" shouted Kaio, "Avalanche's effect!"

Yuma was thrown backwards.

"Yuma!" gasped Kotori.

**Rikuo: 2400LPS **

**K****aio: 4000LPS**

**Shark: 1100LPS **

**Yuma: 1900LPS**

I winced in pain, "Ow…" I murmured.

Kotori and Tetsuo seemed to have heard me. Kotori looked at me concerned, "Are you alright, Rima? Nothing touched you…"

"I'm fine," I said, covering it up.

"Are you sure?" asked Tetsuo.

I took a breath and smiled, "Yeah, thanks…but Yuma…"

"Don't tell me…" contemplated Tetsuo, "Yuma summoned Hope in order to protect Shark?!"

"What unnecessary behavior…!" said Ryoga but deep down, he was grateful. Really deep…I mean so deep-

"Beautiful friendship you two have, huh?" asked Rikuo, interrupting my thoughts.

"It's good that you found such a good comrade," said Kaio, "If that's the case, receive my sympathy once more! I attack Ryoga with Regent Blizzardon directly!"

Yuma once again interfered, "I activate Aspiring Emperor – Hope's effect!"

Ryoga and I gasped. Well, Yuma sure is trying to redeem himself.

"Moon barrier!" he shouted. Yuma was thrown backwards painfully to the ground.

**Rikuo: 2400LPS **

**Kaio: 4000LPS**

**Shark: 1100LPS **

**Yuma: 1400LPS**

I took a sharp intake of breath. Ouch…

"Rima, are you sure you're alright?" Kotori asked worriedly.

I dismissed her with the wave of my hand, "I'm fine, Kotori." As long as they win…I'll be fine. I saw Ryoga watching Yuma. He then turned away. I wonder what's he thinking about…

"Yuma…you…!" said Tetsuo, utterly dumbfounded.

"Damn it," swore Yuma as he held his head.

"What's wrong?" asked Ryoga, "Too weak to stand?" I sweat dropped, rude much…

Yuma stood up angrily, "Shut up! I just took a little break! The match isn't over yet!"

Kaio sneered, "It seems like they still don't understand…"

"…our power, huh?" finished Rikuo, "I activate a trap! Volcash! With this cards' effect, I will switch Kaio's monster, Regent Blizzardon, into defense position (Def: 1200-Lvl: 4)!"

Why…?

"Eh?" Yuma asked, confused. "Why did he purposely put Kaio's monster into defense position?"

I looked at the smirks on their faces. This must've been planned or something. These two are definitely cheating! I can see it in their eyes.

"You did it, brother," said Kaio, "Thanks to him, I can activate the spell card The Alert Ice Cave from my hand! This card raises the level of one defense monster on my field by one!"

"That's…!" Yuma's eyes widened.

I just glared heatedly at the thugs. They actually think that their cheating ways will let them win.

"I raise Regent Blizzardon's level from 4 up to 5!" said Kaio.

"There are two level 5 monsters," pointed out Ryoga.

"I overlay level 5 Menchi Icebergdon and Regent Blizzardon!" continued Kaio, "I create an overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, No.19 Freezerdon (Def: 2500-Rank: 5)!"

"The second numbers!" I said, shocked. Damn it, it's getting harder.

Kaio smirked, "I activate Freezerdon's effect! By removing one overlay unit, I can revive one of my partners Xyz monster's overlay units completely!"

"What?!" asked Yuma, surprised.

"The revival of overlay units?" asked Astral, stunned.

"Now that the overlay units are back…he can use Magmax again!" said Yuma.

"Damn them…" Ryoga muttered but it was as clear as day to me. He knows they're cheating, I know they're cheating. They stacked their decks and somehow their decks didn't shuffle or something!

Kaio continued, "I set two cards and end my turn!" The brothers cackled like the maniacs they are.

"No one can beat us in a tag duel!" said Rikuo.

"There is something weird about this duel," said Astral. He noticed as well.

"Ryoga, I think they're…" I looked at him.

He nodded to me before scowling, "They're cheating after all!"

"Cheating?" asked Yuma like it was a foreign word.

"Oh?" asked Kaio smirking, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb!" I shouted angrily. These two are so…!

Ryoga glowered at them, "Doing petty things like cheating…!"

"What is that 'somewhat' thing he talks about?" asked Astral, purely confused.

Astral thought Ryoga said _isasaka _which means somewhat. But Ryoga said _ikasama_ which means cheating.

Yuma and I sweat dropped. "You're so cute, Astral," I said staring at him, smiling.

He blinked at me confused, "T…thank you?"

He was so confused that his manners came in. How cute~ Oh hell, if I keep thinking of Astral in this way…I'm totally loony.

Yuma corrected him irritated, "It's _ikasama_! It's about using deceitful methods!"

"Deceitful?" repeated Astral before his eyes widened, "That means…! They're breaking the rules?!"

Ryoga hit his palm with his fist, "That's something narrow-minded bastards do. Those guys knew from the beginning how many cards in each other's decks are and in which order they'd appear."

"They probably disabled the duel disk's auto-shuffle function as well," I said, glaring at the duo.

"I see!" said Yuma glaring as well, "Like that, they knew each other's hand and were able to summon level 5 monsters that easily…"

"That's why he purposely switched his comrade's monster into defense position with that trap card…and increased the level of his monster to be able to Xyz summon too…If it's like that, they aren't duelists!" shouted Astral.

"If you were honest duelists, you'd never cheat like that!" shouted Ryoga. He was touchy about cheating.

"What about cheating?" asked Kaio, "We don't rely on fate."

Rikuo scorned, "The one who cheated was you, wasn't it? You're the one who cheated at the national tournament!"

With that, Ryoga froze. Almost everyone did, including me.

Rikuo smirked, "The favorite for the championship is a bastard who looked at his competitors' deck in the waiting room during the finals!"

I wasn't able to be by Ryoga's side that time. I had been taken to the hospital. My hand tightened into a fist. All the stress on Ryoga was too much to bear.

_Flashback _

"_The Duel Monsters national tournament has finally reached the finals!" said the announcer, "The favorite for the championship, Kamishiro Ryoga, is doing well and proceeding smoothly."_

_Ryoga was sitting in the waiting room. "Win…I absolutely have to win!" he kept muttering. __He looked up just as his competitor walked out of the room. He heard a sound and turned to see a scattered deck. __His eyes widened, 'His deck!' he thought. __He walked over and looked through the plants at the cards. It was mere seconds yet it ruined his chance._

_**End of duel!**_

"_I'll win!" Ryoga muttered to himself, "Just a little more!"_

_His opponent set a card._

_Ryoga was thrown threw a loop, 'A set card?!' he thought. 'The face-down card he set in this situation…is it that card? In this case, I'll win!'_

_He put his hand on his deck, "My turn, dr-"_

_A bunch of X's appeared around them. _

"_Because of cheating, the player Kamishiro Ryoga is disqualified," said the announcer, "The player Kamishiro tried to cheat with his competitor's deck-"_

_Flashback end_

"What's wrong with that…?" questioned Kotori quietly.

I tightened my fist, "You're not supposed to look at your opponents' deck, Kotori. Otherwise, you would know their strategy and would be able to change your deck accordingly…"

Rikuo smirked, "That's the reason why you were banished from the duel's front stage for all eternity!" The brothers cackled at him making me want to destroy them.

Ryoga was ignoring all of our gazes, "I…I was afraid of losing…"

Kaio laughed like an annoying Hyena, "The championship favorite was scared of losing?"

"How unsightly, eh?" asked Rikuo, laughing along. "What a pathetic bastard you are!"

Ryoga had closed his eyes in shame. There was nothing to be ashamed of though.

"Ryoga…" I whispered.

"Don't laugh at him!" defended Yuma making us all surprised, "What's so funny?! What's so funny about being afraid of losing?! I was afraid of losing too. When I thought I'd lose…I became scared. That's why I ended up using numbers! Even though I said it's for Shark's sake…Truth is, I was scared of losing! I lied!"

"…so the truth comes out, huh?" I said quietly.

"Yuma…" whispered Kotori.

Yuma looked down, "For this reason, I absolutely don't want to lie in a duel ever again! I'm sure that Shark thinks the same. That's why Shark's duel is real! No matter what underhanded tricks our opponents use, we're fighting fair and square! This is our duel right now!"

I wiped away a fake tear, "That was so beautiful," I truly though it was. Yuma was acting more grown up-ish. See how I added the ish?

"Heh," scoffed Kaio, "Behaving so important…"

Kaio smirked, "There is only one frozen number on your field. What can you do?"

"Keh," spat Yuma, aggravated.

"Yuma," said Ryoga.

"Huh?" asked Yuma looking up.

"We'll win this duel," said Ryoga assuredly. Well, if he thinks so. I thought that in the beginning.

"My turn, draw!" announced Ryoga, "I activate the spell card Xyz Gift from my hand! If there are two or more Xyz monsters on the field, I can draw two cards! I summon Spiked Sunfish (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 3)! Furthermore, I activate the spell card Surfacing from my hand! This card allows me to special summon one water-type monster from my graveyard! Come forth, Big Jaws (Def: 300-Lvl: 3)!"

"This is…!" said Yuma, beaming.

"Xyz summon, huh?" I asked, smiling along as I already knew the answer.

Ryoga held his arm out, "I overlay level 3 Spiked Sunfish and Big Jaws! I create an overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz monster! Come forth, Black Ray Lancer (Atk: 2100-Rank: 3)"

"Black Ray Lancer!" said Yuma happily.

Ryoga continued, "I activate Black Ray Lancer's effect! By removing one overlay unit, I negate Volcasaurus' monster effect until the end phase!"

"What?!" asked Rikuo, shocked at the comeback.

"With this, we can defeat the numbers!" cheered Yuma.

"But Volcasaurus' Atk is higher!" noted Rikuo.

"You really underestimate, Ryoga, huh?" I asked, smirking.

Ryoga smirked, "I activate Spiked Sunfish's effect! When this card is sent to the graveyard, it can lower one of my opponents' monsters Atk by 500!" It lowered to 2000. I grinned, they're gonna win. Well, maybe not this turn but soon.

"2000 Atk," said Yuma, "Black Ray Lancer's is higher now!"

"To turn this situation around…" contemplated Astral.

Ryoga held his arm out, "I attack Volcasaurus with Black Ray Lancer! Go, black spear!"

Kaio smirked, "I activate a trap! Compensation Exchange! This card negates your attack, but in exchange, I lose life points equal to Volcasaurus' attack!"

**Rikuo: 2400LPS **

**Kaio: 2000LPS**

**Shark: 1100LPS **

**Yuma: 1400LPS**

Shoot, they avoided it!

"He became a substitute!" shouted Yuma.

Rikuo stood tall, "When I am attacked, Kaio protects me."

Kaio stood up, "That's our way of fighting!"

"I activate a trap!" shouted Rikuo, "Volca Abyss! When my partner received effect damage, this card allows me to look at my opponents' hand. If there is a monster card, I can return that card to the deck. I'm going to check your hand!" He pointed at Yuma when he said that.

"My hand?" asked Yuma, downhearted.

"They don't want you to summon a monster next turn," explained Astral.

Yuma shouted, "My cards are…!"

His cards were Gogogo Golem and Monster Reborn. Alright, at least he could still summon a monster. And if he's smart, he'll think of something. Or Astral will. Either way, doesn't matter.

Rikuo pointed to Gogogo, "Okay, I send that monster card of yours to your deck!" and he laughed.

"Gogogo Golem…" muttered Yuma.

"I set one card and end my turn!" said Ryoga.

"This is your end," said Rikuo, "My turn, draw! Ryoga, I'll start with you! I activate Volcasaurus' effect! It destroys one monster and inflicts damage equal to the destroyed monster's Atk! I destroy Black Ray Lancer and inflict damage equal to its' attack: 2100!"

"Cheh…" I muttered under my breath. I'm sure that set card Ryoga has isn't something that will protect his life points.

"Shark!" shouted Yuma.

"Take this!" shouted Rikuo, "Magmax!"

Black Ray Lancer was destroyed. I shouted out, "Ryoga!"

"Take this, traitor!" shouted Rikuo.

"I activate a trap!" shouted Yuma.

We all looked at him surprised.

"Damage Diet!" cried Yuma, "During this turn, effect damage is halved!"

He barely survives.

**Rikuo: 2400LPS **

**Kaio: 2000LPS**

**Shark: 50LPS **

**Yuma: 1400LPS**

Ryoga quickly reacted, "I activate a trap card targeting Volcasaurus: Hate Crevice! When a monster on my field is destroyed by a monster effect, this card allows me to target and destroy one monster my opponent controls. The player who controlled that monster receives damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack."

That's our Ryoga!

"This is what you were aiming for!" shouted Kaio, "I activate a trap! Compulsory Change! I'll change the trap's target to Freezerdon!"

He was flown backwards by the huge impact. So, he sacrificed himself for his brother.

"Kaio!" shouted his brother in distress.

**Rikuo: 2400LPS **

**Kaio: 0LPS**

**Shark: 50LPS **

**Yuma: 1400LPS**

**Player Kaio is out!**

"Alright!" cheered Yuma, "You defeated Kaio!"

"One down, one to go!" I cheered happily.

"How dare you do this to my little brother? Don't think you can get out of this easily!" screamed Rikuo.

That's…not good.

He scowled, "I activate Volcasaurus' effect! Destroy Hope! Take this! Magmax!"

"Hope!" shouted Yuma as he monster was destroyed, "Damage Diet!"

**Rikuo: 2400LPS **

**Kaio: 0LPS**

**Shark: 50LPS **

**Yuma: 150LPS**

My breathing was ragged. It hurt. It hurt a lot.

Kotori put a hand on my arm, "Are you sure you're alright, Rima? You seem like you're in a lot of pain."

"It's nothing," I mumbled. There's no reason to tell her. She'd just get worried.

"Clever!" shouted Rikuo, interrupting Kotori, "I attack Ryoga with Volcasaurus directly!"

"I activate a trap!" interfered Ryoga, "Last Entrust! This card ends the battle phase immediately. Furthermore, I have to choose one card and add it to another players' hand. Yuma!"

"Eh?" asked Yuma as he caught it, "For me? It says 'another player', is it really okay to give it to me?"

"It's not like there's any other players…" I said as I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," said Ryoga.

"That card is…" I heard Astral whisper. Great, I don't know what it is! I feel so left out.

"It's no use, brats!" shouted Rikuo, "I activate the field magic card Twin Volcano! This card inflicts 500 points of damage during each of my standby phases. Furthermore, when being sent to the graveyard, this card inflicts 500 points of damage!"

We all gasped. Oh man, they're in a tight spot.

"That means…" said Yuma.

"That's right," said Astral, "Once his turn starts, both your life points will reach zero."

Kaio sat up, "With this, we'll win!"

Rikuo cackled like a maniac. Or a hyena. Maybe a hyaniac.

"Get prepared!" he laughed.

"Don't give up," Ryoga said sorta assuringly, "We still have a chance to win this duel."

Yuma nodded, "My turn, draw! Our…chance of winning…" Yuma thought about it as I watched Astral stare at his back. I wonder what they're thinking.

Yuma then looked self-assured, "I activate the magic card Monster Reborn from my hand!"

"Is he going to special summon Hope?!" asked Tetsuo incredulously.

"I'm pretty sure he's learned from last time," I said, watching curiously.

Yuma smirked, "I special summon Black Ray Lancer from Shark's graveyard (Atk: 2100-Rank: 3)!"

Black Ray Lancer, huh?

Rikuo chortled, "Why did you revive Black Ray Lancer which has low attack?! You really are an amateur!"

"Is that so?" asked Ryoga. Man, this probably does have to do with that card.

"What?" asked Rikuo, puzzled.

"I activate the magic card Armored Xyz from my hand!" said Yuma.

"Armored Xyz…?" I questioned. I've never heard about that card before…

"That's the Xyz monster equip card I handed over earlier," explained Ryoga.

Yuma continued, "This card allows me to equip one monster on my field with an Xyz monster from my graveyard. Come forth, Aspiring Emperor – Hope! I equip Black Ray Lancer with Aspiring Emperor – Hope!"

Black Ray Lancers armor came off and part of Hope went onto it (Atk: 2500).

"Heh," said Rikuo, "Even though it's attack is 2500 now, you seem to have forgotten that numbers can only be defeated by other numbers!"

"It can be defeated," said Ryoga.

"What?!" asked the hyena brothers.

Ryoga was smiling or was he smirking, "Thanks to Armored Xyz, Black Ray Lancer is treated as Hope."

"That means, it becomes some other kind of number!" said Yuma.

"Other kind of number?!" asked Rikuo, scared.

"That means, Volcasaurus will…!" said Kaio worriedly. Oh, he knows.

"Go, Black Ray Lancer!" ordered Yuma, "Attack Volcasaurus!"

Finally, that thing is destroyed!

**Rikuo: 1900LPS **

**Kaio: 0LPS**

**Shark: 50LPS **

**Yuma: 150LPS**

Ryoga continued, "Furthermore, thanks to Armored Xyz, when sending the equipped monster Hope to the graveyard…"

"Black Ray Lancer can attack once more!" finished Yuma, "I send Hope to the graveyard! Go, Black Ray Lancer! Attack Rikuo directly!"

"I-impossible!" shouted Rikuo.

I smirked though. He's gonna lose and I'm gonna go home and eat cookies.

"Black spear!" shouted Yuma.

Both of the brothers were hit backwards.

**Rikuo: 0LPS **

**Kaio: 0LPS**

**Shark: 50LPS **

**Yuma: 150LPS**

**Shark and Yuma are the winners!**

The pain finally went away. I sighed out of relief, "Finally…"

Kotori and Tetsuo cheered, "They won!"

"You did it, Yuma!" shouted Tetsuo.

Astral held out his arm to collect the numbers. I watched happily as the number marks disappeared from their arms. When Astral touched the number cards, something in me felt weird.

So many screams…there were so many screams of pain. I closed my eyes in discomfort. What were those screams?!

"Rima?" asked Kotori as she shook me by the shoulders.

"I…I'm fine," I whispered. Those screams…Why…I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts. I staggered over to Astral who also looked shocked. I stared at him, "Astral…did you hear those screams…?"

He looked at me shocked, "You as well?"

I nodded and leaned my head against his chest, "It was scary…"

He carefully wrapped his arms around my shoulders, "Ah…"

We watched everyone else around us. "What…did we do?" asked Rikuo. The numbers effect is gone so…I suppose they forgot? Why is everyone forgetting their memories after being controlled by a number? And why was Ryoga the only one to remember?

"Why did we want to steal cards?" asked Kaio. They both looked up and saw Ryoga.

"S-shark!"

"Run away!"

They both ran away afterwards.

"What's wrong with them?" asked Tetsuo, smirking.

"Don't come back!" shouted Kotori.

I looked back at Astral, "You know, you seemed really calm for a duel involving numbers."

"I have to be calm," said Astral, letting me go, "Or else Yuma will not listen."

"He barely listens anyways," I said playfully. I stared at Ryoga's back. I tilted my head before skipping over to him and I wrapped my arms around him, "You won!"

He chuckled for a second, "You're late, Rima."

"I don't care~!" I said as he tried to get my arms off him.

He was watching Yuma. I droned it out though. I was too busy thinking about the screams. Why did I hear them? And…where were the screams from? Seeing as Astral saw it, I'm guessing it's the Astral World.

I finally let go of Ryoga as he walked over to his motorcycle. No idea where he's going but he probably needs some time to think.

"Shark!" said Yuma making Ryoga stop, "Well…er…Right! I'll return Armored Xyz to you!"

Ryoga put his hands in his pockets, "Keep it. Seems like that card made an amateur duelist a bit stronger."

I held back a laugh.

"Are you calling me an amateur?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

Ryoga just smiled, "See you."

"Shark," said Yuma as we watched him start to ride away.

I smiled, Ryoga has too much pride to tell Yuma thank you. Oh well, I'll tell Yuma myself. "Hey, Yuma?" I asked to get his attention.

"Yeah?" Yuma asked, glancing at me.

"Ryoga's too stubborn to tell you but he really does thank-"

"Don't you dare, Rima!" I winced as Ryoga drove past me on his motorcycle. He must've circled around. I laughed nervously and he left for real this time.

I turned to Yuma, "Never mind!"


	13. The Hunter of Souls! The Numbers Hunter!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

* * *

Yuma, Kotori and I were at the mall. I was trying to ditch these guys so they would have some alone time. Kotori noticed and forced me to stay! Currently, there were a ton of police around because of some bandit or something. We were just waiting it out.

"Cleaning-" an Obot then came crashing down in front of us.

"Shut up!" said the bandit holding a bat. "You garbage robot."

"What the heck is that?!" asked Yuma.

"What about my money?!" I heard, "Don't you care about what's going to happen to them?! Money! Prepare some money for me! Prepare a helicopter!"

"The criminal who attacked the shopping mall demands money and an escape helicopter right now," said a reporter.

"Awful," said Yuma, "It's an incident…" We heard beeping and it was Yuma's D-Gazer. With a shrug, he answered it.

"_Yuma." _It was Akari. "_You're in the shopping mall right now, aren't you?"_

"W-What are you saying?" asked Yuma, trying to act normally. "I am…er…school…I'm still at school!"

"Yuma," scolded Kotori.

"It's okay," said Yuma at us.

"_Yuma!"_

"Yes?!" asked Yuma, fear seeping into his voice.

"_I know that you're there. I see you perfectly through the TV, after all."_

We looked up at the screen and Akari was right. We were on the news.

"I'm on TV!" said Yuma.

"_Listen, bring something home that I can use for the scoop!" _She then hung up.

"To assign me with something like that…" said Yuma, "Man…"

I took out one of my notepads, "Bandit…hostage…What time is it? Four? Anyways…"

"You're actually taking notes?" asked Yuma.

"I'm saving your behind," I said, looking up. "I'll write some more later." The man looked like a strange and rugged. I quickly wrote that down and then put it in my bag.

"Does he want money?" asked Yuma.

Astral appeared in front of us, "Look, the two of you."

We looked at the video of the man and saw a number mark! I'm surprised we didn't notice this yet!

"Numbers," stated Astral.

"The criminal has a number card!" said Yuma.

"That explains some stuff…" I said. No wonder he was doing something like this. Numbers control people, and Yuma and Astral seem to be the only ones who control the numbers. "Yuma, we need to go and get that card," I exclaimed as I ran out of the crowd. Astral needs that!

"E-excuse us!" said Yuma as he ran up to beside me.

"Yuma! Rima!" Kotori shouted after us but she didn't follow.

"E-excuse me!" shouted Yuma as we both ran up the escalator.

"What is that?" I asked as I heard the wind whipping around or something. We stared upwards to see some sort of figure. Oh, that figure was apparently a person. He had mechanical wings on his back and broke right through the roof. I felt a buzz and saw a flash and I wondered what happened.

Yuma wasn't watching where he was running and bumped into someone. As I held out my hand for Yuma, I noticed everyone around us was…frozen?

Yuma grabbed my hand and he straightened himself, "How did this happen?!"

Astral flew to beside us, "The time has stopped!"

"Why…is it like this?" I asked as we looked around. This was strange…I know there was a number but they don't usually do stuff like this.

We then heard whistling. And no, it was not the jolly whistling we do for Christmas. It was one of those eerie tones.

"W-who the heck are you?!" I heard the criminal ask, "What's happening?!"

"Astral, Yuma, let's go," I said seriously as I started running up the escalator.

I easily ran past some 'fat' ladies as I noticed my key glinting. Alright, my key levitates when a number is summoned in a duel with Astral…and Yuma, I think. My key glints when there is a number…nearby?

Yuma was having trouble going through the ladies. Astral and I looked to each other. Ugh. Astral then flew to Yuma, "Yuma, it seems like a duel is about to start above."

We then heard a very pained cry. "W-what was that?" I asked. A duel may hurt but you don't sound that agonized.

After a long time of waiting for Yuma, we finally started running once more. We passed all the policemen and we walked up to the bandit.

"This is…!" said Yuma as I stared in shock, "Why is the criminal…?"

This man…he looked, I don't know, drained? Drained of life…His hair, that I could have sworn was yellow and black, was now an old grey.

The criminal spoke hoarsely, "Number…Hunter…"

"What are you saying?!" asked Yuma.

"Number Hunter, you say…?" I asked. A number hunter? Could this be...? I looked to Astral, "Astral…!"

Astral had the same shocked expression, "Don't tell me…!" He held out his arm to retrieve the number. I wished it worked.

"This is…"

"The numbers has been stolen!" indicated Astral urgently. Another person is collecting numbers.

We looked up just in time to see the boy, this 'Number Hunter'. I remembered as much as I could. Blonde hair, green streaks, white clothes...His eyes met mine and I froze. Light blue-grey eyes met brown and his eyes seem to widen just a bit. I suppose it was because I was not frozen.

"This is…the one from before!" said Yuma.

He had to be the one who did this. He had to be this Number Hunter and he had to have stopped time. Wait, if he stopped time…and he just left…I quickly ran back over to the escalator. I do not want to get caught.

Time did unfreeze. The policemen, as I thought, started 'capturing' Yuma.

Astral stared on, deep in thought, as I watched. The ladies behind me seemed to be confused as to why I was here though.

* * *

"News about the incident in the shopping mall," said the reporter, "This boy has been captured together with the criminal. While the police was trying to capture the criminal, he suddenly appeared-"

Akari spun around in her chair, "So that means you're the scoop now?" She then sighed out of exhaustion. Yuma, Kotori and I were in Akari's office since she picked us up.

"That Yuma, he just became part of the crime scene without knowing," said Kotori, "But how?"

"W-well, don't worry about small things," said Yuma nervously.

"I guess he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time," I said twirling my hair. I don't think we're gonna tell anyone about what really happened. Would anyone believe us anyway?

"Yuma, Rima."

We looked up at Astral, "Hm…?" I asked.

"Won't you talk about the numbers?" he asked.

Yuma covered the side of his mouth, "Idiot! My sister doesn't allow me to duel! There is no way I can talk-"

Akari pushed her chair over to us, "Yes?!"

"N-nothing!" Yuma tried covering it up.

"Don't tell me you're-"

"You're wrong!" shouted Yuma, "I'm not dueling!"

"Number Hunter…" I heard Astral say to himself.

I looked to him, "Astral, if he is a Number Hunter…does that mean he has more than one number card?"

"That's what I'm afraid of," said Astral, looking at me."That must mean he's targeting number-users…"

Yuma and Astral are obviously gonna get hunted…My eyes widened. I have a number…No.83 Galaxy Queen. Will I be targeted then?

* * *

We were at school, before class was going to start. We had a free period for now.

"They made a duel plaza in the neighboring city," explained Tetsuo happily.

"Isn't it awesome?!" yelled Yuma, "Let's go there together next Sunday. Right, Kotori?"

I was sitting on my desk, pretending to read a book. In reality, I was talking with Astral. "The Numbers Hunter…" muttered Astral once more, "I have a bad feeling."

"Astral, what kind of bad feeling?" I asked.

"Just…a bad one," he said, failing to explain.

"Like that, huh?" I asked. I was thinking about it too. The Number Hunter…He must be a good duelist or else he wouldn't have gotten those numbers.

"Be careful, Rima." Astral interrupted my thoughts.

I looked up at him, confused, "What do you mean, Astral?"

"…I will not ask you to return your numbers. I just ask that you be careful," said Astral looking at me worriedly.

He was worried…about me? I smiled softly at him and placed my hand on his. I intertwined our fingers slowly, "I'll be fine, Astral. You and Yuma are watching out for me, right?"

Our eyes locked and for a while, we stayed like that. He then tightened his grip on my hand, "We will."

"It goes the same for me too," I nodded. "I'll watch your backs as well."

* * *

**After dueling!**

"Disappointing!" shouted Yuma as he put his hands behind his head. "If I had gone all out with my attacks…Right, Kotori, Rima?"

I just laughed. I had won all my matches but Yuma…he lost all of his.

Kotori sighed, "In the end, it was a total defeat, right?"

Yuma frowned, "Hey! What's important about Kattobingu is the challenge and to not give up! Next time I'll win!"

My key glinted. I watched it in shock, "No way…" I breathed. A number…was near. I watched as Astral appeared from the Emperor's Key, "Yuma, Rima."

"Eh?" asked Yuma as we stopped walking.

"You should be cautious," he said, "I have a bad feeling."

"I agree," I said quietly.

"Again babbling about that?" asked Yuma, not thinking much about it.

"What's wrong?" asked Kotori confusedly.

"N-nothing," said Yuma, "Nothing."

Raindrops started falling as I looked around warily. A number…My eyes widened, "There's a numbers nearby, I can feel it," I said to Astral.

He gritted his teeth, "I-"

"Rain," said Kotori as she held her hands out.

"Awful, it started to rain!" said Yuma, "Let's go, you two!"

Kotori ran after Yuma as I waited for Astral. We needed to investigate but…I knew something bad was going to happen.

"You're too slow, Kotori!" shouted Yuma as the both of them crossed the street.

Kotori put her hands over her head to shield the rain, "Wait-"

A truck. My eyes widened as a truck sped down the road, right in front of Kotori.

"Kotori!" I yelled as my legs started moving.

"Kotori!" shouted Yuma and I watched helplessly as he pushed her out of the way. He was going to get hit in her place!

A flash. I saw a flush and I suddenly felt cold.

Astral and I looked around. I nodded to him, "Time's frozen once more…he's here." Astral and I went over to Yuma.

"Yuma," said Astral, "Yuma!"

I kicked the boy in the stomach and his eyes widened.

"Eh?" he asked as he clutched his stomach, "This is…!" Yuma got up and looked ahead in desperation, "Kotori!"

"She's fine," I said as we looked at the frozen figure of our friend.

"What the heck is this…?" questioned Yuma.

The sound of whistling reached our ears.

"It's the same as before!" thought Yuma, "This whistling!"

"The Number Hunter…" I said.

Well, it really was the inevitable. We have to duel him. It won't matter who goes first. We both have numbers so that means we both probably have to duel.

"Don't tell me…!" said Astral, surprised.

The guy, from before, walked over to us until he was clear as day. He screamed and the vibrations caused all the raindrops to fly our way.

"Who are you?!" asked Yuma, "Is this your doing?!"

He had some weird robot thing with him as well. Staring at us, he said, "Right now, there is a special field unfolded above this area. Time is now arranged 1: 10000."

"This is my, Orbital 7's, power," said the robot. Orbital 7, huh?

"Only people who possess number cards can move in this space," he said, "As I thought, you both possess numbers."

"Numbers?!" asked Astral, "Don't tell me…!"

"You're the Number Hunter!" I stated.

"You two, this boy is dangerous!" said Astral urgently, "Run away!"

"We should run away?!" asked Yuma.

The Numbers Hunter whipped something at us and Yuma pushed me behind him. I blinked at what it was. It was some sort of red beam/rope. It was attached to Yuma's arm.

"What is that?" I asked, shocked.

The Numbers Hunter smirked, "Thanks to this duel anchor, you can't run away until the now beginning duel is over." The anchor disappeared, or so I thought. The Numbers Hunter pulled back his arm and Yuma's arm got dragged forward. It was just invisible.

"We can't be separated!" said the blonde.

"What?" I asked as I stood next to Yuma.

"This means, you can't run away from this duel," he then put his hand down, "Let me hunt your numbers!"

"I don't know who you are, but I will win this battle," said Yuma.

"Yuma, please be careful," I said worriedly. I'm not sure how good of a duelist blondie over there is so…

"Let me lend you my strength during this duel," ordered Astral.

"What are you saying?" whined Yuma, "Being scared like that all the time."

"There's a difference between ignorant and being brave like you, Yuma," I said, glaring. Wow, I just defended Astral.

"That is right," said Astral, "I do not believe in instinct. But this enemy is different. This is not an enemy you can defeat alone."

"Eh?" asked Yuma surprised, "He's that strong?"

"Probably, this is the strongest enemy you have-" then he thought against it, "No…I have fought against."

"If you say that, I feel an undying will to fight!" said Yuma fearlessly, "I'm aiming to be duel champion. I'll Kattobingu!"

I quickly put my D-Gazer on as well. I wanted to walk off to the sidelines but Astral told me to just stay beside them.

"Photon change!" shouted the Numbers Hunter. His whole attire turned white.

"What's happening?" I asked shocked. That's not normal! A D-Pad was thrown onto his arm and a blue tattoo surrounded his eye. His blue-grey eye had turned a shade of red. Is that supposed to be his D-Gazer?

**A/R vision link completed.**

"Well, let me hunt for your soul!"

"S-soul?" I questioned. Someone's soul…?

"Duel!"

"I'm going first!" he said, "My turn, draw! I activate the magic card Photon Veil from my hand! When I return three light monsters from my hand to the deck, I can add three light monsters to my hand anew." Three monsters…oh hell, they're probably going to be the same level and then…boom! Number monster.

"He switched three monsters!" said Yuma, surprised.

"Furthermore," he continued, "I activate the quickplay magic card Photon Lead! This card allows me to special summon one of the three light monsters I just added to my hand in attack position! I special summon Daybreaker (Atk: 1700-Lvl: 4)!"

He's not done yet.

He continued, "When this card has been special summoned, it allows me to special summon a card with the same name from my hand. Come forth, other Daybreaker (Atk: 1700-Lvl: 4)! I activate the just summoned Daybreakers' effect. Furthermore, I special summon another Daybreaker (Atk: 1700-Lvl: 4)!"

"Three monsters right at the start?!" asked Yuma in shock.

"Now's not the time to get impressed, Yuma," I said. I also just noticed that he hasn't _normal_ summoned yet.

"This is bad," pointed out Astral, "The monsters he summoned are all level 4!"

"That means…" said Yuma as we all know what was coming.

"I overlay three level four Daybreakers!" he shouted, "I create an overlay network with these three monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, No.10 White Knight Illuminator (Atk: 2400-Rank: 4)!"

A glowing white knight on a steed appeared on the field. Already…The only good thing is that it's first turn. There's no attacks.

"Impossible!" said Yuma shocked, "He summoned a number on the first turn!"

"Not yet," said the Number Hunter, "I activate No. 10 Illuminator's effect! By removing one overlay unit, once per turn, I can send one card from my hand to the graveyard and draw a new card from my deck. I activate the effect of Light Serpent, which I sent to the graveyard earlier! When Light Serpent is sent from the hand to the graveyard, it can be special summoned to the field (Atk: 1200-Lvl: 3)!"

So much in one turn…

The dude smirked, "Furthermore, I normal summon Plasma Ball (Atk: 600-Lvl: 3)!"

"A-again!" exclaimed Yuma, "He has three monsters now…How many monsters does he intend to summon?"

Two level three's…

"No," said Astral as we looked to him, "This is…!"

"I overlay level 3 Light Serpent and Plasma Ball!" remarked N.H, "I create an overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, No. 20 Ant Soil Brilli-Ant (Atk: 1800-Rank: 3)!"

"No way…" I whispered. He summoned so many…He is a good duelist but…Astral and Yuma are going to win…they have to win.

"Two numbers in one turn…!" exclaimed Astral.

"The hunting begins now!"


	14. Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon Descends!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal and never will.**

* * *

"There are two number monsters!" noted Yuma, "Moreover, he summoned them in one turn!"

That guy…he did not look possessed. Maybe he had some sort of protection from it…like me and Yuma.

"I'm going to end my turn with this," said N.H. (Number Hunter)

"It's your turn!" said Orbital 7, "Hurry up and do it!" An annoying robot...

"You keep quiet," ordered N.H.

"U-understood!" said Orbital, frightened. I felt satisfaction at that.

Yuma announced, "Here I go! My turn, draw!" Gogogo Golem…Especially in defense, it'll help.

Yuma exchanged looks with Astral and said-person nodded.

"I set one monster face-down in defense position and end my turn!" finished Yuma.

"Here I go, my turn, draw!" he drew, "I activate White Knight Illuminator's effect. By removing one overlay unit, I can send one card from my hand to the graveyard and draw a new card from my deck. Furthermore, I activate Ant Soil Brilli-Ant's effect! By removing one overlay unit, this monster's attack increases by 300 points (Atk: 2100). Go, Ant Soil Brilli-Ant! Attack the face-down defense position monster!"

Gogogo Golem revealed itself (Def: 1500-Lvl: 4).

Yuma explained, "Even though the attack of your monster is higher, Gogogo Golem has an effect that prevents him from being destroyed once per turn!"

"Hm, so you're able to struggle a bit," said the blonde, "But I still have one attack left! Go, White Knight Illuminator!"

Yuma and I shielded our eyes as Gogogo was destroyed. "This is bad!" said Yuma, "With this, my monster is destroyed!"

"But no monster on his field is able to attack right now," assured Astral.

Yuma wiped his brow, "That's right! I'm saved"

"'Saved', you say?" asked N.H, "How about I go all out now?"

He was just playing around to see Yuma's strength. He may not be able to attack but he could do effect damage or summon a monster. Though, I don't think he'll do advance summon. He has two numbers already, they're pretty much invincible because of numbers only defeating numbers rule.

"I tribute Ant Soil Brilli-Ant and White Knight Illuminator," he said, surprising me. He's giving up on the numbers?! "Special summon!" he exclaimed.

"What?!" asked Astral, shocked as well.

"He's tributing the numbers he summoned after that much effort?!" asked Yuma.

"To do such a thing…What is he up to?" I asked myself.

A shield-looking thing appeared levitating beside N.H. It had a blue crystal embedded into the middle.

"What is that?" asked Yuma, speaking my thoughts.

N.H grabbed the shield and he threw it up into the air. It spun around before creating something.

"Incarnation of light, descend now!" he proclaimed.

Tail, claws, wings, body, head…It was a dragon…A huge, glowing, strong, really beautiful dragon.

"W-what is that?!" asked Yuma.

The blonde smirked, "Come forth, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon (Atk: 3000-Lvl: 8)!"

"It's so beautiful," I said in awe.

Blondie enlightened us, "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon cannot be normal summoned. But it can be special summoned when tributing two monsters with 2000 or more attack."

"I've never heard about 'Photon Dragon' before," said Yuma, "You, Rima?"

I shook my head, "No but…" It sorta looked familiar.

That Number Hunter must know what he was doing. Ugh, I need to learn his name! I'll just keep calling him Number Hunter!.

He looked confident, "I end my turn like this."

"3000 Atk…" said Yuma shocked, "The only monster in my deck which can cope with that Atk is Hope. But I need two monsters to summon Hope. If I can't summon it, it'll be dangerous!"

I smiled at Yuma, "Kattobingu, Yuma!"

"My turn, draw!" he announced, "I summon Gagaga Magician (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)! The battle beings now! I activate the magic card Monster's Slot. When removing one monster, which has the same level as Gagaga Magician, from my graveyard, from play, this card allows me to draw a card. If it's a level 4 monster, I can special summon it to the field. Please by level 4! This duel depends on this draw!"

I watched nervously as Yuma took the risk. As much as I believe in Yuma, it's hard to believe in luck.

"Kattobingu!" he shouted and he drew, "Draw!"

"Yes!" I cheered. He got Ganbara Knight!

"The monster I drew is level 4 Ganbara Knight!" proclaimed Yuma, "Come forth, Ganbara Knight (Atk: 0-Lvl: 4)! Now there are two level 4 monsters on my field. I overlay level 4 Gagaga Magician and Ganbara Knight! I create an overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, No.39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

Hope appeared in all of his glory. With him, Yuma will win!

"I'm counting on you, Hope!" cried Yuma.

"It appeared, the numbers," said N.H. He was also smirking. He must've planned on Yuma summoning it. Yuma needs to be careful then. This Numbers Hunter must be up to something.

"Galaxy-Eyes Atk is 3000," said Yuma, "Hope's Atk is 2500. But I'm going to attack now."

"Yuma!" said Astral, shocked.

I was as well. I looked at Yuma's hand and saw the magic card Unprecedented Winds.

Yuma explained, "During the fight with Shark, I understood the Hope isn't invincible. Offense is the greatest defense."

"I see," said Astral, "This tactic is not bad. It seems you found your own way of fighting. Certainly, a drawn-out fight against this opponent would be foolish."

"Fight?" repeated Yuma, "Here I go! I activate the magic card Unprecedented Winds! This card increases the Atk and Def of one monster on my field by 1000 until my next turn (Atk: 3000)! With this, Hope's Atk is higher than his monsters' Atk!"

"Hmm," said N.H amused, "You want to challenge Galaxy-Eyes to a fight, huh?"

Yuma ignored him and continued, "Go, Aspiring Emperor – Hope! Show him your power! Hope sword slash!"

Blondie was still smirking but he said, "That's bad luck. Even though I summoned it with so much effort." That's a bit weird.

"Sorry!" smiled Yuma, not noticing, "It'll be sent to your graveyard soon"

"Yes, _your_ monster" he said making us confused and shocked.

"What?!" asked Yuma.

Blondie's eyes widened, "Don't underestimate Galaxy-Eye's strength! I activate Galaxy-Eyes' effect! When Galaxy-Eyes battles, I can remove both Galaxy-Eyes and the opponents' monster from play,"

Both monsters disappeared. Such a strong effect…

"Hope!" yelled Yuma.

Blondie continued, "With this, you're not able to attack. What will you do?"

Yuma gritted his teeth, "I'll end my battle phase with this"

N.H reacted quickly, "At this moment, I activate Galaxy-Eyes' effect! This turn, when the battle phase ends, all monsters which have been removed from play due to Galaxy-Eye's effect will return to the field."

"Hope…" I whispered.

This is good but also bad. Good that Hope isn't stuck in removed from play but bad because Galaxy-Eyes isn't removed from play. Also, Hope has less attack points now. There are the overlay units but who knows what tricks this guy has up his sleeves.

"So you didn't receive damage, right?" asked Yuma, "With Hope being back, we can evade his attacks!"

"Galaxy-Eyes' true strength has yet to come," he said.

"True strength?" I questioned. He means that…that this isn't his full power?!

"When the monster which was removed from play was an Xyz monster, Galaxy-Eyes can absorb its' overlay units," he clarified, "Galaxy-Eyes' Atk increases by 500 for each overlay unit it absorbs!"

"What?!" asked Astral, shocked.

"Hope's overlay units are…!" exclaimed Yuma.

"There's no more moon barrier…" I whispered. Oh no, Hope is going to get destroyed if Yuma doesn't do anything.

"It absorbed two overlay units from your monster," stated N.H, "That means, Galaxy-Eye's Atk increases by 1000 (Atk: 4000)!"

"4000 Atk…" spoke Astral.

"4000…just like my life points!" pointed out Yuma, shocked.

"Kaito-sama, please extract every single drop of that guys' soul," said…uh, Orbital?

"Whoa, whoa, wait," I said surprised. "Soul?!"

Wait a minute…His name's Kaito! I finally found out his name, ha!

"Speaking of which," said Yuma suspiciously, "That criminal…He looked like his soul was extracted."

I agreed, "Yeah…"

Kaito glared at his robot, "Such an unnecessary thing…To impose the opponent with such fear, that's extremely despicable!"

I raised one of my eyebrows. So he's an honorable duelist. But he just steals peoples' souls as well. Wow.

"I understand!" shouted the robot in terror, "I understand!"

"W-what's this about?" asked Yuma, freaked out, "Answer me!"

Kaito's eyes sorta narrowed before he smirked, "That half-hearted fear will only make me feel worse. I'll explain it for you. My method of taking numbers is a little bit overbearing. When I receive your numbers, I will also extract your soul."

All of our eyes widened. What kind of monster could do that?! Astral's method is way safer.

"And…where does this soul go?!" I asked alarmed.

"Don't know," he said, dismissing it off like a fly, "I don't have any influence on that." It's like he doesn't care…Is he really that heartless?

"But that's…" Yuma said shocked.

Yuma…If Yuma loses…I'll lose him and Astral?! I looked to both of my friends. I wished that I had gone first. I wish I had gone in their place.

Yuma finished off, "I set one card and end my turn."

Kaito started, "My turn, draw! Galaxy-Eyes, attack! Photon stream of destruction! Numbers can only be defeated by other numbers, but you'll still receive damage!"

**Kaito: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 2500LPS**

I bit my lip to stop the scream of pain. A strangled sound came out of my throat though. It hurt. Why does it always hurt?!

"Rima, are you alright?" asked Yuma, looking at me concerned.

I took a breath before nodding, "I'm fine, Yuma. Don't worry." Yuma needs to concentrate on dueling, not on me.

Kaito continued, "Furthermore, I activate the quickplay magic card Photon Wind! This card inflicts 1000 points of damage when, during my battle phase, my opponent received battle damage but the monster wasn't destroyed."

Yuma was hit with damage and he fell backwards with Astral in tow.

**Kaito: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 1500LPS**

I also flew backwards with them and landed on my back. I took short huff of breath. Man, this hurts every single time. I will never get to use to this.

"Furthermore, I draw a card according to the effect of Photon Wind," said Kaito, "I set one card and end my turn!"

I barely stood up. I was struggling and I know Yuma and Astral noticed. We looked to Astral after hearing him gasp. He faded in and out of this world.

"Astral…!" said Yuma worried.

"As-" My eyes widened and I fell back to my knees. I was hurting. I don't know why but…it _must_ have to do with Astral.

"Rima?" asked Yuma as he looked to me.

"I'm…fine," I said wincing, "It's nothing."

I looked to the person that mattered most now. Astral. I looked at him worried, "Astral, you're…"

"My very life…seems to be depleting," he said finally.

"Damn it!" swore Yuma.

"Astral…" I whispered. No, no, no, no. Astral's gonna be fine, Rima. Don't worry…

"Don't stand up"

We looked up at Kaito. I glowered at him, it's his fault that Astral and I are hurting.

"Just surrender like this," he said smirking, "If you do that, you won't have to taste unnecessary pain."

"Do you not see us?!" I asked. I was talking about Astral and I but he doesn't see my friend.

Yuma stood up and glowered at Kaito, "Don't joke around."

Kaito smirked, "I praise you for your fighting spirit but you will regret it."

I stood up as Yuma said, "As if I'm going to give up like this!"

"Just as you wish," said Kaito clenching his fist, "Let me hunt for your soul!"

Yuma continued, "My turn…!"

I watched silently as Yuma's hand hovered above his deck.

"Huh?" he asked, confused at his behavior.

"Yuma!" said Astral, concerned.

Yuma was suffering from something I've had before. It's called dueling fear. He's afraid to continue.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. I looked at him sympathetically, "Yuma, I'm behind you. Don't worry."

Yuma's eyes widened before he nodded, "My turn, draw!" Even though I told him that, I still think he's overwhelmed. I just hope that Yuma can get past this.

"Numbers…If I use this advantage and put Hope into defense position, I'll be protected against his attacks for the time being," Yuma spoke aloud by accident.

Good tactic but…

"Is that so?" asked Astral.

"Eh?" questioned Yuma.

Astral looked to Kaito, "That boy tributed numbers and summoned Galaxy-Eyes. Don't you think he read through your intention of summoning numbers in defense position?"

"That's true, Yuma," I agreed.

"But, what should I do…?" asked Yuma.

"You said 'offense is the greatest defense'," advised Astral, "Stick to that."

"That may be so but…But if we lose this duel, you'll disappear, right?" asked Yuma.

Astral looked at us, "That's right. This time, we're in the same situation."

"Aren't you…scared?" I asked surprised at his 'calm' demeanor.

"I do not know," answered Astral, surprising me. "However, there is nothing else left. This is my destiny."

"Astral…" I said softly. He's so calm. He always was, now that I think about it. Every single time there was a numbers duel…He was calm. I respect Astral for that. And it sorta makes him more attractive. Oh god, Rima…there's a damn numbers duel happening and you're thinking about Astral…I'm so dumb.

"Yuma, get over your fear!" ordered Astral, "You cannot win against this opponent when you show him your back!"

Yuma grabbed his key. He was thinking about…about his dad?

"Let's go, Astral," said Yuma, "Let's unite our powers in this one duel."

Astral nodded in agreement.

I smiled, "Not to add onto the pressure but…"

They looked at me confused.

"If you guys lose…I'll have to duel this guy," I said playfully. I was trying to lighten the mood, "You wouldn't want lil' ole me to be here dueling this psycho, right?"

Their eyes widened, they haven't thought of that. Oh no...That didn't help any.

"Yuma, we need to win or at least make sure he won't hurt Rima," said Astral urgently.

"Alright, alright," said Yuma nodding, "Let's do this."

Astral kept glancing at me worried. Okay, he's a bit less calm. Stupid Rima! Why'd I have to bring it up!

"Let's go!" shouted Yuma, "I'll Kattobingu! I summon Zubaba Knight (Atk: 1600-Lvl: 3)! I activate the trap Copy Knight! When a warrior-type monster has been normal summoned on my field, this card can be special summoned and is treated with the same name and level as the normal summoned warrior-type monster."

"Revise Dragon…?" I asked Yuma. Nice…

He just nodded, "I overlay level 3 Zubaba Knight and Copy Knight! I create an overlay network with those two monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, No.17 Revice Dragon (Atk: 2000-Rank: 3)!"

Orbital 7 made a cry of shock, "Numbers! Numbers! Second Numbers, confirmed!"

Kaito's damn smirk was on his face, "His second numbers. I see! You're also a 'Number Hunter', huh? It's okay to eliminate unnecessary time. I'm going to take all your numbers!"

That's sorta disturbing.

"I activate Revise Dragon's monster effect!" shouted Yuma, "By removing one overlay unit, once per turn, Revise Dragon can increase its Atk by 500 (Atk: 2500)"

"But it's still not higher than my Galaxy-Eyes Atk," noted Kaito.

"That is not what I'm aiming for," said Yuma smirking as I looked at his hand.

I blinked, "Oh!"

Yuma took the magic card, "I activate the magic card Cross Attack! When there are two monsters with the same Atk on my field, one transfers its Atk to the other. The one who received the Atk can attack directly. The Atk of Hope and Revise Dragon is equal, 2500!"

Kaito visibly faltered. He wasn't expecting that.

"Even if you decrease that boy's life points, we won't know how the duel is going to end," said Astral.

"Stop being a pessimist and be happy that we're at least denting his life," I said rolling my eyes.

"But still, Rima…" said Astral concerned.

Yuma continued, "Stop bickering like an old couple!"

I stared at him. "You did not just say that," I said glaring. He says that about Astral and I but not him and Kotori?

He just attacked, "Go, Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 5000)! Direct attack!"

"An unexpected tactician," said Kaito.

I sorta agree.

"Hope sword slash!" shouted Yuma.

"You try to evade loss through attacking, huh?" asked Kaito, "But…I activate a trap! Photonize! This card can only be activated when my opponent declares an attack. When one light monster is on the field, it allows me to negate the attack. One light monster I control gains Atk equal to the attacking monsters"

"6500 Atk?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

He flawlessly stopped that strategy to his own bidding…

"If I get attacked…" whispered Yuma, "It's no good. I can't win…"

I…I don't know what to believe now. I was so sure Astral and Yuma were going to win but…I took a breath, they have to win. They surely will win. I can't lose Astral and Yuma. It'd be too much. Three people I care about are being hurt because of the thing I love, dueling. First Rio, Astral and Yuma may be next.

"Damn it!" swore Yuma.

"It's an assumption," half-assured Astral…in his own way.

"Assumption?" questioned Yuma.

"Listen well, Yuma," said Astral, "We have one chance of turning the duel around."

"Turn this around, you say?" questioned Yuma, "That's-"

"Set the trap card which is in your hand," ordered Astral.

"My trap…?" asked Yuma as he raised the card to our faces.

"The one I have is Holy Armor – Mirror Mail," said Yuma.

I quickly read the description. My eyes widened and I read it once more.

"That's right," said Astral, "Mirror Mail can change the Atk of a targeted monster into the Atk of the attacking monster."

"That's right!" said Yuma, "Even if the Atk is the same, numbers can only be defeated by other numbers"

"That means, his Galaxy-Eyes would be destroyed and Hope wouldn't," I finished off. It's good and it will work.

"This is your 'chance to turn this around', huh?" Yuma questioned Astral.

"That is what I meant," nodded Astral.

"Alright!" said Yuma, "I set one card and end my turn!"

"My turn, draw!" announced Kaito.

Yuma and Astral's strategy is sorta obvious. But...It's our only chance!

Kaito…smirked, "I summon Photon Cerberus (Atk: 1300-Lvl: 3). During the turn this monster has been summoned, neither player can activate trap cards."

Our trap was wrapped in chains.

"What?!" asked Astral incredulously.

"No way…" I whispered. He actually found a way around it.

"With this, I can't activate Mirror Mail!" stated Yuma.

"What's wrong?" asked Kaito favorably. "Did you really think that I'd attack carelessly when there's a face down card on your field?!"

"Would you be surprised if we did?!" I said through clenched teeth. There's no way…

"Impossible!" shouted Astral, "This boys' dueling…is above mine?!"

"Let me hunt for your soul!" said Kaito, "Go, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!"

"Astral!" shouted Yuma, looking for condolence.

"Astral!" I also shouted. I was scared. I was truly scared now.

"This…is the end," said Astral in defeat.

If he thought so…Yuma and I looked to each other. We both saw the fear in each other's eyes. There's…There's no way to win?

"Photon stream of-"

He was cut off by a siren. It was coming from Orbital.

"Kaito-sama," said Orbital. Kaito turned to him…scared? Orbital projected a screen. A message?

Whatever it was, Kaito was staring at it like someone died. "Haruto!" I'm not sure if he said Haruto but…it sounded like it.

"I cancel this duel!" he said shockingly.

He destroyed the Duel Anchor, "My name is Kaito. Remember it well!"

He started running, "Let's go, Orbital 7!"

"Understood!" said the robot. He transformed into some sort of motorcycle. Kaito hopped on and they zoomed away.

As soon as they left, time returned to normal.

Seconds past but it felt like hours. That…just happened? Is this a miracle…or a horrible twist of fate? Why did it have to make us go through that?! The only time such fear gripped at me was when I got that call from Ryoga. In a desperate voice, he had told me Rio was in the hospital. If this is what I felt, what did Yuma feel?

The truck passed by us and splashed us with water. We didn't react. We didn't do anything. We just stared blankly ahead.

Kotori ran over to us, "What's going on, Yuma, Rima?"

Yuma looked down, "My arms and legs wouldn't move like I wanted them to."

"Eh?"

Yuma fell to his knees, "What's Kattobingu? What's a Duel Champion? As if I could become a Duel Champion like this!" Yuma then cried out in agony and I couldn't bear to watch. I knelt down beside him and embraced him. I held him close as I felt his tears soak through my shirt.

"Yuma…" I whispered softly and the boy cried into my shoulder.

I looked up and I saw Astral looking…exhausted? Traumatized? He looked so out of it. He was broken as was Yuma. Holding Yuma tighter, I made sure not to cry. Me crying would make this worst. Kaito...You bastard!


	15. A Fight to the Death, The Duel Lodge!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

* * *

Author's note: I hope you all are enjoying this story. Um, some things may be confusing but I swear I have answers for all of it.

Enjoy and R&R!

**On with the show!**

Currently, Yuma, Astral and I were just being all depressed around Yuma's room. I was playing on my white violin. It was a horribly sad and depressing song but hey, music is for conveying your feelings.

We were all thinking about that Number Hunter, Kaito. Such an interesting person, in a good way or bad, I'm not sure. The only thing I'm grateful for is that Astral and Yuma are safe. If Astral was gone…oh, and Yuma as well…what would happen?

Yuma started snoring making me stop playing. I sighed and put my violin back in its case on the floor. I stared at Yuma half-amused as he fell forward sleeping. He woke up and tried to keep balance but in the end, he fell on his face.

"Typical Yuma…" I said.

"O-ow…" said Yuma and he sat up and laughed sheepishly.

We were looking to see Astral's reaction. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"Astral…" said Yuma softly. He was worried about him as well.

I walked over to Astral and tried to meet his eyes. When I managed to hold his gaze, he was staring right through me. I looked at him worriedly, "Astral…"

Yuma turned around. trying to get a reaction outta him, "Because you always stick to me like that, my soul was aimed at, isn't that right?"

I looked at Yuma horrified, "Yuma!" He was being so rude…Even if it is sorta true. I looked at Astral, "Don't listen to him, okay…?"

"I am sorry," said Astral, ignoring my statement.

"Eh?" asked Yuma, not expecting an apology, "Oh jeez, why are you feeling so down? Defeating that guy, Kaito, is the only way we can survive, isn't it?"

Astral's head lifted up, "Can I win?"

"It's 'I will win' and not 'Can I win?'" said Yuma encouragingly, "This is not only your problem anymore-"

"Yuma! Rima!"

I took my eyes off Astral to see Kotori and Tetsuo at the door.

"Kotori! Tetsuo!" said Yuma, surprised.

I didn't expect them here. They showed us a video and Yuma and I watched. A globe appeared with 'WDC' and World Duel Carnival on it.

"World Duel Carnival?" read Yuma.

"Yeah, it's abbreviated to WDC and will be held at Heartland this time," explained Tetsuo, "It seems like many strong duelists from all over the world will gather for this Carnival!"

Yuma was thinking about something. Probably about Kaito.

"Hey, Yuma…what's wrong?" asked Tetsuo.

"Yuma."

In front of us, shockingly, was Yuma's grandma.

"Granny!" said Yuma.

"Truth is…" she dropped a huge sack-bag in front of Yuma, "I wanted to ask you to go on a small errand."

It was filled to the rim with food. What…?

"T-that means…!" said Yuma and then he looked away, "R-right now, I don't feel like-"

"Oh?" asked Haru, "I wonder where my obedient child went to?"

"H-here!" said Yuma. intimidated. "He's right here, your obedient child!"

* * *

I was walking beside Yuma as he trudged up the stairs. I was just staying beside him because I wanted to make sure he didn't fall backwards or something.

Astral was carelessly perched on top of the bag.

"You comfortable up there, Astral?" I asked in amusement.

He didn't reply. He didn't even look up. I just sighed and kept walking. Astral was being a bit of a jerk. I don't blame him though. He needs some alone time I guess.

Kotori and Tetsuo were panting while sitting down on the plateau.

Yuma gasped as he looked up, "What was that about a 'small errand', granny?!"

There were a ton of steps left. You couldn't even see the top. I was really tired myself. We all sat down/went on our knees.

"I can't walk anymore…" complained Yuma.

Tetsuo opened one eye, "This is pitiful, Yuma. Dropping your Kattobingu 'Go for it' attitude, completely?"

Ah, a challenge.

Yuma looked at him, "What?!"

He stood up quickly with new found energy, "If I take my Kattobingu, there should be something left! Kattobingu daze, ore!"

He speeded up those stairs like it was downhill.

I fist-bumped Tetsuo, "Awesome, Tetsuo."

"Ah…" he said, smirking. Kotori just giggled along.

We made it to the top of the stairs. There was a dojo here? Yuma must've gone in because the door was slightly open.

We heard a loud scream. We all looked at each other. That was Yuma! We ran inside the dojo place to see the hyper-guy running around in circles.

"Yuma!" said Kotori as we stared at him.

"A monkey, monkey, monkey, a mountain monkey!" he shouted, "Right here! Here! Here!"

On his bag was an old man. Where'd Astral go then…?

"Welcome, cute kids," he said to both Kotori and I.

"Eh?" I asked. Weird…

"It's not a monkey," said Tetsu,o amused. "It's an old man."

Yuma looked up at the old man. I looked a bit higher and saw Astral just floating around. He really is out of it.

* * *

We watched as the old man ate all the food that was in that bag. Such a big appetite for such a little man.

"That was tasty, Kotori-chan," said the old man.

I couldn't cook…at all! I mean, I can cook basic stuff but that's it.

"A little longer and I was about to starve!" said the old man, "I thank Haru-san, too!"

"Haru-san, you say?" asked Yuma, "What kind of relationship do you have to our granny?"

The old man just laughed, "Well, I received a lot of help from the gracious Haru-san."

That sounded so wrong.

"W-what is that, old man?" asked Yuma, freaked out as well.

"I am not an old man!" he shouted, "I am the owner of the Duel Lodge, Rokujuurou!"

"Duel Lodge?!" we all questioned incredulously. A Duel Lodge? Sounds interesting.

* * *

"What?! We can't return home?!"

"That's right, there's no path anymore," said Rokujuurou, "Until the day comes, your hearts are thin."

"But that's…" said Kotori, a bit scared.

"Well, you can sleep here if you want to," he said. He indicated to the room we were in. We looked around. It was a mess.

"Sleeping, he said…" said Yuma, "We can't sleep at such a dirty place…"

Rokujuurou just laughed, "The one who works, eats. No, you must not sleep." He then escaped to the next room.

"Hey, wait!" shouted Yuma.

I just sighed, "Let's just start cleaning up."

And we did. Kotori was cleaning the floor while I helped lug some stuff around with Tetsuo.

"Tetsuo-kun, Rima, please put it over there!" said Kotori.

"Okay!" I said as I put down my stuff and Tetsuo did as well.

Yuma was supposed to sweep but he was just leaning on his broomstick.

"Yuma, you shouldn't slack off," scolded Kotori.

"Jeez," said Yuma starting to sweep, "This is so troublesome…Why do we have to do things like cleaning? That old man…"

I saw him looking at the door Rokujuurou went out of, "That old man went in there, right?" Yuma went opened the doors as I helped Tetsuo pick up some stuff.

I heard Yuma gasp, "Awesome!" He was making a lot of noise.

We all sighed and went to see what he was up to.

"Oh, Yuma, you shouldn't slack-"

"What's here?" asked Tetsuo as we walked through the doors.

We walked to the middle. It was a room filled with statues of duel monsters!

I squealed, "All these legendary monsters!"

There was Black Magician, and Black Magician Girl. Blue-Eyes and Red-Eyes…Even Neos was here!

"Awesome!" yelled Tetsuo.

From behind a statue, Rokujuurou came out, "Are you surprised? I put my soul into making these wooden Duel Monsters. In order to raise disciples alone, I made a wooden statue."

"Disciples?" questioned Yuma.

"That's right," said the old man, "The actual idea about this Duel Lodge was to create a place where duelists could study to be prosperous winners. Many famous duelists were raised here."

"Awesome!" stated Kotori, "These wooden monsters look as if they're going to move!" Even though they were wooden, the looked alive! In their eyes, it even looked like there was something there!

"They move."

We all looked at the old man surprised. Moving…monsters?

"They move, you say…do you mean the wooden statues?" asked Yuma.

"Yes," said the old man, "In a duel, of course. Would you like to try it?"

Yuma and Rokujuurou, huh? How cool.

"D-Gazer, set!" shouted Yuma.

**A/R vision link completed.**

We also put on our D-Gazers.

"Duel!"

There were already two monsters on each side of the field.

Rokujuurou explained, "On each of our sites are legendary monsters, summoned in strategic position. On my field are Blue-Eyes Statue Dragon and Red-Eyes Statue Dragon. On your field are Statue Black Magician and Statue Black Magician Girl. The decks we will use are the special wooden decks which I made in this Duel Lodge."

This really is a Duel Lodge!

Rokujuurou continued, "And these four legendary monsters are still wooden statues right now and as long as their power is sealed, their Atk is 0. Attacking is impossible"

"Attack points…0?" I questioned. I stared at the layout. There must be a way to add attack points or something. Maybe those wooden cards…

"What's this?" asked Yuma, confused. "Just as I thought, they won't move!"

"You can say they are moving and you can say they are not," said Rokujuurou, "That depends on you."

"Huh?!" asked Yuma, still confused.

This man…Just what was he up to? Was he teaching Yuma something? I wish I could see the wooden cards. That's probably how you play, considering it's a duel.

Astral floated down to Yuma, "Yuma, the monsters on the field have effects."

"Eh?" asked Yuma annoyingly.

"All the key cards should be inside the deck," said Astral.

I smiled. Even though he's depressed, he's still up for dueling.

"Inside the deck?" repeated Yuma. His eyes widened in recognition, "I see!"

"What are you doing?" asked Rokujuurou as he sat down on the floor in boredom. "The first turn is yours!"

"Okay, here I go!" announced Yuma, "My turn, draw! I activate the field magic card B2 Zone! This field magic card, B2 Zone, is a card which seals the Statue-Monsters effect!"

I looked around. It was so pretty. It was dazzling all around us. All the statues eyes shined and cracks appeared on them.

"Move monsters!" ordered Yuma.

They glowed in response before exploding in a bunch of lights. Then, standing there were all the legendary monsters.

Black Magician whipped around his wand (Atk: 2500).

Black Magician Girl spun around in a circle before winking (Atk: 2000).

Red-Eyes Black Dragon gave off a huge roar (Atk: 2400).

Finally, Blue-Eyes White Dragon growled viciously (Atk: 3000).

Yuma shrieked in joy, "Great! I made the legendary monsters move!"

"Awesome!" said Tetsuo, "There are Red-Eyes and Blue-Eyes!"

I spun around in a circle before smiling, "There's also Black magician and Black Magician Girl! It's like a dream come true!"

Kotori sweat dropped at us. I don't really blame her, she's not a duelist. I don't know why though.

"Alright!" said Yuma, "Go Black Magician! Attack Red-Eyes! Black Magic!"

With that, Red-Eyes was destroyed.

**Rokujuurou: 3900LPS **

**Yuma: 4000LPS**

Rokujuurou was grinning mysteriously, "You do quite well."

"Great!" shouted Yuma, "This is interesting!"

"But I wonder…" said the old man standing up, "Will these monsters really move with just this?"

I blinked, confused. Will these monsters really move with just this…? What did he mean?

"W-what are you saying?!" asked Yuma, utterly confused, "Black Magician just destroyed Red-Eyes!"

The old man chuckled, "The real duel begins now."

Yuma's eyes widened and I watched him as he looked paralyzed.

"Yuma…?" I questioned. What's happening? I watched as Rokujuurou smiled. He did something but what?

Black Magician was acting strange. He was staring at his hands. I looked to Yuma and he was…he was a statue?! How…? This must have to do with the duel.

Black Magician was staring at Yuma. Wait a moment…Is this?!

"What does this mean?" asked Astral, puzzled.

Black Magician…Yuma…they switched bodies? No, wait…they switched souls? Weird…

"Here I go!" announced Rokujuurou, "My turn! I activate the magic card Polymerization! By sending three Blue-Eyes White Dragons from my hand and field to the graveyard, this card allows me to fuse them! Fusion summon! Blue-Eyes Ultimate Statue Dragon (Atk: 4500)!"

"That's a lot of attack points!" I said surprised. With this, one of Yuma's monsters is about to get defeated.

Black Magician looked up at the monster shocked.

"Now I attack Black Magician Girl with Ultimate Dragon!" he announced, "Ultimate Burst!"

Black Magician Girl screamed in pain before being destroyed. Yuma's still in.

**Rokujuurou: 3900LPS **

**Yuma: 1500LPS**

The old man continued, "Furthermore, I activate the quickplay magic card De-Fusion! By sending the fusion monster back to the extra deck, I special summon the three monsters, which were used for the fusion, from the graveyard. Revive, three Blue-Eyes (Atk: 3000)!"

He's going to win. There's no way to stop it since Yuma didn't have any control over his cards.

"S-stop!" I heard Yuma (DM) say, "Please stop!"

Yuma was scared. I think I would be as well if I was put into this situation.

"That's right," said the old man, "Facing such a thing, anybody would be terrified. That's a natural thing."

Fear. The only thing to be afraid of is fear itself but I don't think that's true. Being afraid doesn't mean being weak. I'm not sure what this man is trying to teach Yuma but…

I gave a mere glance at Astral and saw he had his eyes wide. Why…? What was he think- I almost face-palmed. Of course! He's thinking about Kaito.

"It's the same for the monsters," continued Rokujuurou, "The monsters are always exposed to this horror."

My eyes widened, our monsters are afraid? I haven't thought about it much before but…it's true. It's utterly true. They have souls as well, even if some don't think that. They are the same as us.

"Let's go!" shouted the old man, "My three Blue-Eyes, attack Black Magician-no, attack Yuma directly! Burst stream of destruction!"

Black Magician was destroyed and Yuma was back in his body. He fell backwards because of the huge impact.

**Rokujuurou: 3900LPS **

**Yuma: 0LPS**

**Rokujuurou is the winner!**

"_Photon stream of destruction!"_

"_Galaxy-Eyes, attack!"_

I closed my eyes as I thought about Kaito. I think I had gained a fear for him as well. I reopened my eyes and threw those thoughts away. Being afraid won't help me.

"Yuma!" shouted Kotori bringing me back to reality.

"I started you a little," said the old man taking off his D-Gazer. He walked over, "The 'you' right now felt the horror of the monsters. That means you know about the monsters' thoughts. When you know the monsters' thoughts, they shall answer you. That feeling will make monsters, which have died, move."

"If I know the thoughts…" repeated Yuma, "…they will answer my feelings."

That's right. Everyone has fears. Even if they were from other world. I looked in Astral's direction, seeing him succumbing into depression once more.

* * *

Everyone was sleeping soundlessly, excluding Yuma who was snoring, on the ground. I was currently kept awake. Once I was sure everyone was asleep, I walked outside. I gave a deep sigh before sitting on the steps. I was so tired, so exhausted, but I couldn't sleep. You can't sleep until you stay awake the whole night trying. Who thought of that rule? It's stupid.

I hadn't slept the night before either. I will admit it, in my head, that I was too busy and too scared thinking about Kaito. I felt like I should've been able to do something, to help my friends. I failed Astral and Yuma because I just stood there. I could've done something, I know I could've! I looked up at the sky. There were some stars. I could see very few though. I smiled softly, "Stars…" I whispered quietly. I couldn't make out any constellations, not that I know any. It's nice to see them. From my house, I couldn't see the stars because of pollution.

I heard a soft rustling sound and looked behind me to see Astral floating there. I smiled, "Hey Astral, what are you doing up?"

He stayed quiet and stared at me for a bit, "…You look tired."

I blinked in surprise, "Nah, I'm fine." I patted the spot beside me, "Wanna join me?"

He floated over and sat on the steps. He stared at the ground in front of us.

I smiled softly, "You didn't answer my question."

"I noticed you leaving the room," he answered.

"Oh, sorry for disturbing you," I said sheepishly. I noticed how comfortable I am around Astral. It's probably because we're now friends. Close friends, really.

"What were you doing, Rima?" he asked.

He was being a bit more talkative before so I couldn't let this go to waste. I pointed at the sky, "I was looking at the stars. Though, there aren't very many visible."

"…stars?" asked Astral looking upwards.

I pointed at one of the more visible, "Over there." I saw his confused expression as he still couldn't spot it. I just giggled and took his wrist. I then lifted it up and then made his finger point at the star, "There, Astral."

His eyes flashed, "That glistening speck…?"

"Yeah," I said, "It may look small but it's just far away from us."

"Oh..."

After a moment of silence, Astral asked, "Rima, could I ask you something?"

I blinked but nodded, "Yeah, sure." What did he want to ask?

Astral suddenly looked like a confused child. He pressed his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around himself. I stared at him, he looked so young. I forgot...even though I saw Astral as older than me...he was still a kid. A kid with memories he fruitlessly tried to remember.

"Rima..." his broken and small voice startled me. "Rima, why do I feel like this? Why do I shake when I think of the Number Hunter, Kaito? Why do I find myself unable to move at the thought of him? Why do I just want to disappear at the sight of him? Why...?"

Astral...he was so shaken up about this. I reached over and and touched his shoulder. I felt bad once I saw him flinch at my touch. "Astral," I called softly, like I was talking to an injured animal.

He turned his head to me and those mismatched eyes, they looked so confused and sad. It hurt me to see him like this...I opened my arms, "Astral, hugs make everything better." Without waiting for a reply, I wrapped my arms tightly around his figure. "You don't have to be alone in this, Astral," I whispered into his ear.

Suddenly, I felt Astral desperately wrapping his arms around my stomach. His hands grasped the back of my shirt and he held it tight. He rested his head on my shoulder, not allowing me to see his face. I let him as I knew he needed the comfort.

"Warm..." came Astral's muffled whisper.

I tilted my head, though I knew he couldn't see it. "Pardon?" I asked.

"Warm...You're warm..."

Warm? He held me even tighter, "Warm...Rima is warm...I usually feel cold and empty without my memories but...you're so warm..."

Cold and empty...? "Do you feel cold and empty now?" I whispered.

"No...I feel warm."

I put my hand on his head and suddenly felt how soft his hair was. I unconsciously started combing my fingers through his white-blue hair. Mostly though, we stayed quiet in the comfortable silence.

I then saw a white streak of light. I squealed in delight, "A shooting star!"

Astral looked up and saw the trail of the light. "Shooting star?" repeated Astral as he watched the small trail.

I nodded feverishly, "Come on, Astral! You have to make a wish on it!" I clasped my hands together and closed my eyes.

"I wish to forget about Kaito, even for one night," said Astral quietly.

I stared at him shocked and a bit worried. Astral…I smiled and gently clasped one of my hands with his, "I wish…I wish that I could help you with that," I said, smiling.

His eyes widened in the slightest before the corners of his mouth twitched a bit upwards, "Thank you, Rima."

I smiled and I felt his grasp on me grow tighter. Not enough to hurt but enough to know he cared. I leaned my head on his shoulder, "Hey, let's look at the stars."

* * *

_**Astral's P.O.V**_

I spoke with Rima quietly. This girl…she always made my heart beat faster. Did I have a heart? I think I did. I had feelings so I think I actually do. I think that I do have a heart because…because I always feel happy with Rima. That's an emotion, right?

After a while, we stopped talking and just looked at the night sky. A star, like Rima said, is something that gives her hope. I'm not sure what she meant by that though. A star is so dazzlingly bright…like Rima. She shines when she's happy, according to me.

I felt Rima's grip on me loosen. I looked to her puzzled before noticing her eyes were closed. I waited a second and then I heard her soft rhythmic breathing. She was sleeping.

I stared at her white mop and smiled, what was that she always called me? Cute…? Yes, that was it. Cute. She really was 'cute'. I realized she was probably tired. I don't think she has been sleeping well.

I carefully floated to my feet and took one of Rima's arms. I loosely hung it over my shoulders. There, she was now standing while leaning on me. I carefully wrapped my arm around her waist. I noticed I had to stay on the ground to guide her back to the room.

Her eyes fluttered open in the slightest and she looked at my sleepily, "…Asutoraru?" She mumbled hazily.

I woke her up? I didn't mean to. She sounded really drowsy, like she was sleep-talking. I looked at her apologetically, "I apologize, Rima. I didn't mean to wake you up. You can go back to sleep now."

She nodded slowly and her eyes wavered closed. Rima…

I sensibly led her back to the room and lay her beside Kotori. I smiled at her sleeping form and floated over to Yuma, about to go into the key.

"As…tral…"

I blinked and turned to Rima. Her eyes were closed so…She was sleep-talking this time. She was calling out to me. Or was she dreaming? About me though?

Rima, that girl…I like her. She truly is someone I adore. Adore? I stared at Rima some more. I adore her…? What does that mean? I was lying to myself, I knew what it meant.

Rima's looked like an angel in this moonlight. I clenched my hand into a fist. I will not let Kaito hurt her. I won't let him touch her. But for me to protect Rima I need to be stronger. I need to be stronger than Kaito. But…

I touched the Emperor's Key and I was sucked into the world within.

* * *

_**Rima's P.O.V**_

**Day after!**

Pretty late at night was when I fell asleep. According to Astral, I had fallen asleep on him. I guess he sorta guided me back to the room because when I woke up, I was lying down beside Kotori.

Anyway, we were all watching Yuma clean all the statues. Astral was back to his depressed state so I guess I didn't help much. At least I was able to spend a bit of alone time with him last night. I mean, um, help cheer him up. I may like Astral but not _like-like_…I think.

Nope, no, no, no, I'm second guessing myself.

I banged my head on one of the columns as Kotori watched me concerned, "Rima, are you okay?" I stopped and smiled at Kotori, "Just fine, Kotori."

I laughed nervously and just continued to watch Yuma. He was being really helpful today.

"Hey, Yuma!" said Tetsuo as he leaned one another column. "Yuma, how long are you planning on staying here?"

Yuma answered, not looking up from his work, "If you want to go home, do so. I'm going to stay here a bit longer."

Kotori ran off, "Well then, I'll go and make breakfast!"

"You need help with that?" I called out.

"Nah, it's alright!" she shouted back.

"H-hey!" said Tetsuo. Tetsuo went and sat down near the column. He yawned sleepily.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed a cloth myself, "If you're not gonna do anything. Tetsuo, clean."

I walked over and started cleaning Neos. So cool~

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Astral floating around depressed. I swear it's contagious because I'm getting down as well.

"Eh?" I heard Yuma ask as I looked to him, "What's this scar?"

Ah, a huge gash went through the stomach of the statue. I walked over and gasped, "Who would do such a thing…?"

Yuma put his hands on it, "Shouldn't you be repaired?" Yuma asked the duel monster.

* * *

Tetsuo, Kotori and I had gone to the front to get some…stuff. I was just following randomly.

We gasped at who we saw on the ground. "Old man!" I shouted and we all ran over.

Kotori helped him up as he looked at me, "I'm not an old man!"

"Who cares? What happened?!" I asked, shocked.

"A former student of mine…He's come here to get the secret deck," he said hoarsely, "He just went inside. We need to find Yuma immediately!"

We ran into the room to see a man with black hair, blue streaks, talking to Yuma.

"Yuma…" said Rokujuurou.

"O-old man!" shouted Yuma, shocked.

"Run away, Yuma!" said Rokujuurou.

"'Run away', you say?" and he turned to the former student, "Who the heck is he?!"

"He is one of my former disciples," said Rokujuurou.

_Flashback_

_The former student fell onto the floor._

_**Disciple: 0LPS **_

_**Rokujuurou: ?LPS**_

_**Rokujuurou is the winner!**_

"_Why?!" asked Rokujuurou, "Why did you approve of your own darkness?! Don't you understand that you ruin your own lights' power?!"_

_The man growled and picked up his sword._

"_Yamikawa, what are you doing?!" asked Roku watching._

_Yamikawa gave out a huge cry and slashed the precious statue into two._

"_I will…" he said, "…come back! And then I will defeat you and I will take this Duel Lodge's secret deck!"_

_Flashback end_

Secret deck…?

"I defeated you," said Yamikawa, "Where is the Duel Lodge's secret deck?"

"Do you really think I'd hand it over to you?" asked Rokujuurou defiantly.

"What did you say?" asked Yamikawa.

"Do you still not understand?!" asked Rokujuurou, "You're a fool whose heart got conquered by the darkness!"

If he's trying to provoke this guy, he's definitely succeeded.

Yamikawa gripped his sword and shouted in frustration and anger. We knew what he was gonna do. He was going to slash the same statue from before.

"Well then, I'll cut all of them!" he shouted.

I watched in shock as Yuma jumped and grabbed the guy around the waist, "Stop!" he yelled. Yamikawa tried shaking him off, "What are you doing?!"

He managed to, obviously, and Yuma fell to the ground. Yamikawa stared at him, "What are you? Why are you bothering me?!"

Did he just ask 'what' are you? Yuma better play it right or he'll get hit with that sword of Yamikawa's. "I am…" started Yuma, "I am…I am the old mans' disciple!"

"Yuma…" said the old man, surprised.

"A disciple of the senile old man, huh?!" asked Yamikawa, "You make me laugh."

"I won't forgive anyone who insults the master!" stopped Yuma.

"Interesting…I will drag you into the darkness too"

"Duel disk, set!" announced Yuma, "D-Gazer, set!"

**A/R vision link completed.**

We, the spectators, quickly put our D-Gazers on.

"Duel!"

"Do your best, Yuma…" encouraged Kotori.

"Yuma, I will fight too," said Astral, floating down. Of course, he's interested in a duel. I smiled nonetheless. At least my- I mean, _our _Astral is responding.

"Eh?" asked Yuma also noticing, "Weren't you feeling down just now?"

"I was taught something at this lodge too," answered Astral, "I, too, am a disciple."

Yuma smirked, "I'll take the first turn! My turn, draw! I summon Gagaga Magician (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)! Furthermore, I set one card and end my turn!"

"My turn, draw!" said Yamikawa doing some flip, "I summon Armored Ninja Flame (Atk: 1700-Lvl: 4)! Furthermore, I activate the magic card Armored Ninjutsu: Quick Teleport from my hand! This card allows me to special summon one monster with equal or lower Atk than Armored Ninja Flame from my hand. Come forth, Armored Ninja Air (Atk: 1400-Lvl: 4)!"

Two of the same level…Wait a minute. Maybe he doesn't have a numbers- Whoops, I mean Xyz monster. All these numbers duels makes me think all duels Yuma's in involve numbers.

"According to the effect of Quick Teleport, Flame and Air can't attack!" explained Yamikawa, "But…"

"He has two level 4 monsters!" Yuma noticed as well.

I watched Yamikawa's smirk. Yep, he definitely does have an Xyz.

"I overlay level 4 Armored Ninja Flame and Armored Ninja Air!" announced Yamikawa, "I create an overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, Armored Ninja Blade Heart (Atk: 2200-Rank: 4)!"

"He already summoned an Xyz monster!" said Yuma, shocked.

"This speed…it's not ordinary," stated Astral suspiciously.

"I attack Gagaga Magician with Armored Ninja Blade Heart!" ordered Yamikawa.

"Continuous trap, opened!" Yuma reacted, "Gagaga Shield! After activation, this card becomes an equip card for spellcaster-type monsters, I equip Gagaga Magician with this card!"

"Cut it through!" shouted Yamikawa, "Take that!"

Armored Ninja Blade Heart attacked but Gagaga and his shield didn't get destroyed. Yuma explained, "Gagaga Shield protects Gagaga Magician from being destroyed two times!"

"But you still feel the sharpness of the sword," said Yamikawa.

I watched as Yuma was hit with damage. I didn't get hurt but I was anxious.

**Yamikawa: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 3300LPS**

"Furthermore, once per turn, by removing one overlay unit, Blade Heart can attack a second time!" said Yamikawa.

Gagaga Magician won't be destroyed but his vulnerability will come back. Gagaga Shield was destroyed.

"Receive the feeling of the swords' sharpness a second time!" yelled Yamikawa.

Yuma was hit and landed on his back.

**Yamikawa: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 2600LPS**

"Yuma!" shouted Kotori in worry.

"You idiot," said Yamikawa, "If you didn't intend to protect your monster, you would survive without getting damage."

"Hey! I'm the only one who can call Yuma an idiot!" I shouted angrily at Yamikawa.

Everyone around me sweat dropped including Yuma.

Yuma snapped out of it and looked to Yamikawa, "The monsters are my comrades! And my comrades are fighting in order to overcome their fear right now! That's why I'll protect my comrades until the end!"

"Yuma…" I whispered. I just gained a little bit of admiration for Yuma.

"Comrades, you say?" asked Yamikawa, "How foolish! By cutting your monsters, I will crush them and that thought!"

"Stop making fun of this!" screamed Yuma, "I absolutely won't let you do such a thing!"


	16. The Deadliest Ninja Arts!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

* * *

I heard rain pelt against the roof. Blinking, I looked out the window. I don't think it's A/R. Lightning flashed several times.

Yamikawa finished off, "I set two cards and end my turn!"

"Keh," spat Yuma, "I will defeat you with my monsters- no, with my comrades and friends!"

Yamikawa scoffed, "You're as bright as the light in a cloudless sky, youngster. I see, you seem like the master. If so, I'll tell you! The light tears the darkness apart, the darkness will swallow the light!"

The darkness will swallow the light…That sounds like numbers. Well, to me.

"Do you best, Yuma!" encouraged Tetsuo.

"Yeah, what he said!" I cheered.

"But this duel…is kind of frightening," said Kotori, scared.

"His darkness has increased over the years," said the old man.

Yuma started, "Here I go! My turn, draw! I summon this monster by decreasing its' Atk by 500 points! Come, Dododo Warrior (Atk: 1800-Lvl: 6)!"

What strategy will Yuma use…?

"Are you hurrying to fill your field?" asked Yamikawa, "If you had tributed Gagaga Magician, Dododo Warrior's Atk would have been higher than Blade Heart's."

"Why did Yuma protect Gagaga Magician by lowering Dododo Warrior's Atk?" questioned Tetsuo.

"Interesting…" I said, staring at Yuma. He really was taking that 'monsters are my comrades' seriously.

"I'm sure Yuma is…" said Kotori.

"Yuma…are you planning to protect the monsters until the very end?" asked Astral.

"Do you have a problem with this?!" asked Yuma, frustrated.

Astral looked away smiling, "No."

I smiled at that. Astral understood and he was being sweet.

Yuma beamed at the answer. He then turned back to the duel, "Let's go! I activate the magic card Instant Blow of Friendship from my hand! When my monster battles this card allows me to destroy the opponents' monster, without inflicting damage. I attack Armored Ninja Blade Heart with Dododo Warrior! Go! Dododo Axe!"

Yamikawa intercepted, "I activate the continuous trap Armored Ninjutsu: Freeze Lock! When there's a ninja monster on my field, this card ends the opponents' battle phase. And as long as this continuous trap card is on the field, the opponent can't change the monsters' position."

Yuma scowled at the result. That's sucks. Now, his monsters are vulnerable to attacks and Yuma can't make them defensive so his life points will be damaged.

"It came," said Astral crossing his arms.

"He still has a lot more to work on!" said Yuma, "I can't afford to lose this duel! I set one card and end my turn!"

Yamikawa smirked, "My turn, draw! I activate Spy Attack from my hand. By sending one card from my hand to the graveyard, this card allows me to look at your face down card. Armored Ninja Aqua, as your life's compensation, creep into the enemy territory and expose his face down card!"

He's sacrificing his monsters like they mean nothing. I thought he was Rokujuurou's old disciple, so he must've learned this. I guess he wasn't a very cooperative one.

"Sacrificing his monsters and wanting nothing but to pursue his victory," stated Astral as he stared ahead, "That is his duel."

"This card is…" said Kaze, shocked.

It was Gagaga Back. He was protecting his monsters. It's just that…you have to pay life points with this.

"Yuma," said Rokujuurou, surprised.

"Oh, Yuma is having such a duel?" We turned to see Haru. She was smiling, "Roku-san, is that your teaching?"

"Honorable Haru-san!" said Rokujuurou as Akari walked in.

"A-Akari…" I said a bit shocked and sorta worried for Yuma.

"It has been a long time!" continued Rokujuurou.

"Onee-san, too!" said Kotori, surprised.

"Like I thought, you're dueling!" she said a bit irritated,."Yuma!"

Yuma turned before turning shocked and scared, "Nee-chan?!"

I don't blame him. Akari is sorta scary.

"Yuma, you again…" she started cracking her knuckles.

"Please wait," interfered Rokujuurou.

Akari stopped surprised, "Huh?"

The old man continued, "Right now, this kid is surpassing the self he was until now."

"Eh?" asked Akari and she looked to Yuma.

"Believe. That is your duty right now, dea.r"

"Nee-chan…" said Yuma.

Astral floated down to Yuma's height, "Concentrate, Yuma!"

Yuma gasped before understanding, "Ah…"

"Have your acquaintances gathered?" asked Yamikawa, "Well then, I will let them perceive your death! Blade Heart, attack Gagaga Magician! Electromagnetic drawn sword mists kill!"

**Yamikawa: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 1900LPS**

"Receive the second sword!" shouted Yamikawa, "By removing one overlay unit, Blade Heart can attack a second time! I attack Dododo Warrior with Blade Heart!"

Yuma was hit with another lash.

**Yamikawa: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 1500LPS**

"Your face down card is Gagaga Back," said Yamikawa, "By paying 600 life points, you can revive a monster. Does that mean you want to protect the monsters until the very end?"

"Is there a point in going as far as letting your monsters revive by using 600 life points for each of them?!" asked Tetsuo incredulously.

"He can't afford it but…" I was sure Yuma was gonna try.

"Yuma…" whispered Kotori.

Yamikawa sneered, "This reviving and one more thing are absurd! I activate the continuous trap card Armored Ninjutsu: Last Mist! When a ninja is on my field, the Atk of special summoned monsters on my opponents' field is halved."

That bastard.

"Well then," he said, "Try to save your comrades. And once again, you're at the disadvantage."

Yuma wavered.

"Yuma, don't hesitate," said Astral, "Stick to your own ideas. Fight with your own beliefs!"

"Huh?" asked Yuma.

"The old masters' teachings may not seem logical at first, but I sense a path of victory in his teachings. I want to see that."

"Astral…!" said Yuma, surprised, "I activate the quickplay spell card Gagaga Back! When Gagaga Magician has been destroyed in battle, this card revives Gagaga Magician and all the other monsters which have been destroyed during that turn!"

Gagaga Magician (Atk: 1500)!

Dododo Warrior (Atk: 2300)!

Yuma continued, "But I receive 600 points of damage for each monster which is revived by that card." Yuma was shocked and he fell onto his back.

**Yamikawa: 4000LPS **

**Yuma: 300LPS**

"Yuma!" shouted Akari worriedly.

"His life is…300," stated Tetsuo.

"He actually went through with it…" I said, just a bit surprised.

"Yuma…" whispered Kotori.

"Furthermore," continued Yamikawa, "According to the effect of Armored Ninjutsu: Last Mist, the Atk of every special summoned monster on your field is halved."

Gagaga Magician (Atk: 750)!

Dododo Warrior (Atk: 1150)!

"I end my turn with this," said Yamikawa.

Yuma stood up with a growl.

"Why are you going so far for your monsters?" asked Yamikawa, "Decreasing the Atk and letting your life points drop to a precarious state. Do you want to commit double suicide with your monsters?!"

Yuma glared at him, "I believe in my comrades. Someday, my monsters will understand my feelings! Surely, they will come and save me!"

Yuma…

"What will they understand?! And saving you?!" asked Yamikawa furiously, "Monsters are not your comrades! They are duelists' servants! I couldn't endure those crappy teachings I was taught here! A duel is something controlled by fear and darkness!"

Darkness…?! How is it darkness?!

"That's not true!" argued Yuma, "That's not what a duel is like!"

Yamikawa scoffed, "Spattering self-important stuff like that. Your life is only 300. If your comrades don't save you before your life reaches 0, it's your loss."

Yuma glared at him, "I believe in my monsters- no, in my comrades! My turn, draw! Great, I drew it! I activate the magic card Gagaga Bolt! When a monster named Gagaga is on my field, I can destroy a card on the opponents' field! I destroy Armored Ninja Blade Heart!"

I smiled, "Finally!"

"What?!" asked Yamikawa, shocked.

Yuma continued, "Now, I attack you directly with Gagaga Magician!"

**Yamikawa: 3250LPS **

**Yuma: 300LPS**

Yuma attacked, "Furthermore, Dododo Warrior direct attack! Go!"

To my disappointment, Yamikawa countered, "As if I'd let you do that! I activate Armored Ninja Aqua's effect! By removing this card from play, I can negate one monsters' direct attack!"

Shoot…

"Answer me, comrade!" shouted Yuma, "When Dododo Warrior attacks, trap, spell and monster effects are negated! Now that Last Mist and Armored Ninja Aqua's effect disappeared, Dododo Warrior can attack directly! Go, Dododo Warrior (Atk: 2300)! Dododo Axe!"

"What?!" asked Yamikawa as he was pierced. He fell to the ground.

**Yamikawa: 950LPS **

**Yuma: 300LPS**

"I did it!" cheered Yuma, "I set one card and end my turn!"

I hadn't noticed but my key glinted. I was too busy watching Yuma and Astral.

"Did you see that?" asked Yuma, impressed with himself.

Astral nodded in reply.

Yuma turned to Yamikawa, "Our feelings were understood by our comrades! We're not the only ones who fight in this duel! My comrades told me so! The master, old man Rokujuurou, taught me that!"

Yamikawa stood up, "Stop screwing around. What are that old man's teachings? I overcame the masters' teachings! I don't have comrades, I don't believe in anyone. I fight by myself and I will win by myself!"

He seems lonely. He sorta reminds me of Ryoga. Actually, no. This dude's a bastard, Ryoga is…awesome. He's awesome and this dude is not. End of story.

"My turn, draw!" said Yamikawa interrupting my thoughts. "I activate a magic card! Armored Ninjutsu: Gold Conversion! I destroyed all cards which include Ninjutsu in their name!"

Destroying his own cards…? What's his aim?

"He's destroying his own trap cards?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

"I then draw two cards from my deck," said Yamikawa.

Gagaga Magician (Atk: 1500)!

Dododo Warrior (Atk: 2300)!

"What is he planning?" I asked. Man, this dude is confusing.

"When there are only monsters on the opponents' field, I can special summon Armored Ninja Earth (Atk: 1600-Lvl: 5)!"

"This situation is strange," said Astral, noticing as well.

Yamikawa continued, "Furthermore, I activate the magic card Armored Ninjutsu: Undead Return! It allows me to special summon one Ninja monster from my graveyard. Come, Armored Ninja Flame (Atk: 1700-Lvl: 4)!"

The destroyed monster was revived.

"When Flame has been successfully summoned, its level raises by 1 (Lvl: 5)!" explained Yamikawa.

I now noticed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my key glinting. My eyes widened, "No way…" I had lost my voice. He had a number and I didn't notice…

On his hand, the number 12 appeared.

Hell! I looked to Astral, "Astral…!"

"He had a numbers?!" asked Astral incredulously. He met my gaze for a half-second but it was long enough for the message to get through. He was in danger.

"It can't be…" said Yuma.

The numbers aura surrounded Yamikawa, "Swallow this, youngster. Both, your light and your resolution…I overlay level 5 Armored Ninja Earth and Flame! I create an overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Come, No. 12 Armored Ninja Crimson Shadow (Atk: 2400-Rank: 5)! This is my new power! The darkness inside the darkness Crimson Shadow, wrap them up in darkness!"

A numbers…A strong one at that. Yuma needs to step up his game a bit.

"N-numbers?!" stuttered Yuma, "I came so far…and now a numbers appeared…"

"A numbers duel…" I said quietly. Man, now of all times?!

"Damn, he even has a numbers!" said Tetsuo.

"This monster is filling Yamikawa with even more darkness…" said Rokujuurou. Well, that explains a lot.

"Yuma…" whispered Akari.

Yamikawa whipped his arm forward, "Carefully taste the attacks of the strongest ninja! I attack Gagaga Magician with Crimson Shadow!"

"B-bad!" said Yuma nervously.

"Yuma, the trap card!" urged Astral.

"R-right!" said Yuma as he remembered, "I activate a trap card! Guts Guard!"

"When a monster is targeted as an attack target, this card allows me to change the attack target," explained Astral.

Yuma continued, "I switch the attack from Gagaga Magician to Dododo Warrior! The now targeted monster can't be destroyed by battle!"

As Yuma got injured I felt the pain once more. I've been getting used to it so all I did was wince.

**Yamikawa: 950LPS **

**Yuma: 200LPS**

"Useless struggle," said Yamikawa, "I end my turn with this."

Yuma stared at him exhausted before plopping down, "I'm saved…But, if he attacks again…"

"Hang in there, Yuma!" cheered Tetsuo.

"Yeah!" I said in agreement. Man, I'm a bit tired myself and I'm just a spectator.

"If only he had a duel meal at a time like this…" said Haru, "What can he do when he's hungry?"

Kotori smiled knowingly an ran out of the room.

"H-hey!" shouted Tetsuo after her.

"Just let her be," I said, rolling my eyes. I'm pretty sure she's gonna go and make something for her boyfriend. Haha, I can mock her in my thoughts.

"What's wrong, youngster?" questioned Yamikawa, "Is this already your end?! Is this the end of your power of believing in your comrades?!"

Astral stared at Yuma, "Yuma, remember. Remember the time when your thoughts became the same as the monsters! Remember the old masters words!"

Yuma looked up, "The monsters' feelings…"

Those two are beginning to formulate a plan or something. I just need to have faith in them. Yuma looked to Astral, "It doesn't matter if it's a numbers or anything else!" He turned to Yamikawa, "I'll show you that I can overcome this pinch with my comrades!" He then stood up with his new strength.

Kotori decided to run in at this moment, "Yuma!" she threw him a rice ball. So that's what she made, "Your duel meal!"

Yuma turned just in time to catch it. He smiled, "That's appreciated!"

Kotori gave him a small 'girly' pose.

"Thank you, Kotori!" he said as he gobbled down his food, "Kattobingu! My turn, draw! I drew it! I drew it! I drew it! I activate the magic card Decrease! This card lowers the level of one of my monsters by 2! I change Dododo Warriors' from 6 to 4! I overlay level 4 Gagaga Magician and Dododo Warrior! I create an overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Come, No. 39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

"Awesome!" I shouted happily. They better win _this _turn or I'll be mad.

"You saw it, Yuma," said Astral, "The equation of victory!"

"Yeah!" yelled Yuma, "I attack Crimson Shadow with Hope! Hope sword slash!"

Hope sliced Crimson Shadow in half.

**Yamikawa: 850LPS **

**Yuma: 200LPS**

"We did it, Hope!" said Yuma amazed.

Yamikawa stood up, "The darkness is closing. I activate Crimson Shadows' effect! By removing one overlay unit, I can negate Crimson Shadow's destruction!" Ugh, what an annoying monster.

Yuma countered, "I activate the quickplay magic card Revenge Attack!"

Um, I don't know this card. I looked to my blue information person, "Hey, Astral…you wanna…?"

Astral explained, "Revenge Attack can be activated when a monster on your field was not able to destroy the opponents' monster."

Yuma continued the explanation, "It raises Hope's Atk by 1000 and allows him to attack a second time!"

"What?!" asked Yamikawa.

Hope raised his sword (Atk: 3500)! A ray of light came from above. That's…weird.

"What is this light?" questioned Tetsuo as we stared at it.

I don't know but…It made me feel better.

Rokujuurou gasped, "This is Aspiring Emperor – Hope's power"

Astral raised his arm in unison of Yuma, "Light of hope!"

"Cut through the darkness!" shouted Yuma.

They spoke together, "Hope sword slash!"

Yamikawa fell backwards as the impact affected him greatly.

**Yamikawa: 0LPS **

**Yuma: 200LPS**

**Yuma is the winner!**

They won!

I watched as Astral lifted his arm and stuck his hand out. The number exited Yamikawa's chest, lifted up, and flew to Astral. The numbers mark dispersed. Astral caught the card and gazed at it.

We ran over to Yuma.

"Yuma!" we shouted.

I hugged him, "You won!"

He laughed and did a thumbs up, "No problem!"

I grinned as I let him go before flicking him on the forehead.

He held his now red forehead, "What was that for?"

"That duel took way longer than it should have been," I said, acting irritated.

He glared at me before smiling, "It was obvious that I'd win!"

Tetsuo smirked, "What are you saying? It was pretty dangerous!"

"Right?" asked Kotori teasingly.

We all sorta laughed.

Yuma looked at us, "Hey…"

We turned just in time to see Yamikawa grab his sword and unsheathe it. He was standing in front of that statue once more. Was he going to slash it?! We just went over this!

Before I could stop him, Yuma ran over. Yamikawa raised his sword, poised to strike. Then, he went for the kill.

Yuma was fast enough to run in front of Yamikawa. He held his arms out, like a shield.

"Move, youngster!" shouted Yamikawa angrily.

"Can't you see it?!" asked Yuma, "The wooden statues' scar?! The old man repaired it with utmost effort! This monster is your comrade, isn't it? Your important comrade!"

Yamikawa's eyes widened as it seemed he remembered something. He dropped his sword and it made a clang as it hit the ground. He fell to his knees, "I…wanted power and strength. But I couldn't see it anywhere but in the darkness."

Rokujuurou had walked over and he placed his hand on Yamikawa's shoulder, "The darkness has been purified. Everything else depends on you."

Yamikawa turned to the old man and bowed deeply, "Master"

Yuma put his hands behind his head happily.

* * *

As we were outside, I noticed Astral gone. In the key, huh? I wanted to talk with him a bit but he seems to be unapproachable.

"Yamikawa plans to study here once again," said the old man.

Yuma laughed, "Let's fight once more! And next time, together with your monster- no, comrades!"

Yamikawa smiled, "Yeah."

Yuma kept laughing before seeing Akari's look. Then, he was scared, "Bad!"

Akari walked to in front of him, "As I thought, you were dueling."

Yuma laughed nervously.

Akari gave him a noogie, "It's no use, huh? Don't overdo it."

"Huh?" he asked, confused. He was allowed to duel...? "Yay!" he cheered.

Rokujuurou held out a deck, "This is the Duel Lodge's secret deck. This deck is appropriate for you. This deck should answer your feelings." A new deck?

"Is it okay?" asked Yuma as he looked to Yamikawa.

Yamikawa had tried long and hard to get it so…He still accepted. Yuma opened his hands and received the deck, "Yahoo!"

"Awesome!" said Tetsuo, amazed/ "With this, you can strengthen your deck for the World Duel Carnival!"

"Yeah, Yuma!" I said in agreement.

"Oh Yuma, you plan on participating too?" asked the old man.

"That's right," said Yuma, smiling. "There is someone I have to defeat at all costs! Right, Astra- He's not here," he said, just noticing.

I closed my eyes, "He needs some alone time, Yuma. He's still a bit shaken up, you know?"

"Yeah, you're right, Rima. He'll come out sooner or later," I heard Yuma say.

Astral…


	17. The Terrifying Fortuneteller - Jin

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

* * *

Tetsuo and Inchou were holding one of my arms each. I glared at them both, "Why are you doing this?!" Why am I being captured?!

Kotori was the leader, "We need to find Yuma as well." Why?! What did we do?!

"Ah, over there!" said Inchou, pointing to where I saw Yuma and Astral.

"Yuma!" said Kotori as we walked up to him.

I looked at Yuma, "Run." I'm warning him right now.

He looked a bit confused, "Morning…?" He greeted in confusion.

"Don't 'morning' me," said Kotori. She grabbed his wrist, "Now, kindly come with me for a minute."

"I warned you," I said as we were led away. I looked up at Astral and smiled at him, "Good morning!"

He just watched Yuma and I get dragged away curiously. "Hello, Rima," he said though.

"W-what's this about, all of a sudden?" asked Yuma.

* * *

Yuma and I were both watching a screen. "What's this?" asked Yuma, confused. It was a bunch of pictures of grey-haired patients.

"We found this on the internet," said Inchou, "These days, many incidents occurred in which duelists were assailed one by one."

Tetsuo continued, "Moreover, it seems like all the victims had a number card."

"A number?" I asked incredulously. Kaito…

"To summarize, you both haven't experienced something similar to them?" asked Inchou.

Yuma tried covering up, "Heh, there was such an incident? I didn't know about it at all!"

I was too busy thinking about what happened. This has to be related to Kaito. The patients had gray hair and looked drained. Their souls were stolen for sure.

"Don't deceive us!" shouted Kotori, "Tell us the truth! Aren't these numbers dangerous things?"

"We really don't know," I said, not meeting Kotori's eyes. We can't lie straight to their faces. That would be despicable but…we're just protecting them.

"Yuma! Rima!" shouted Kotori.

"Er, well, I…I gave to go to the toilet for a bit!" excused Yuma and he ran away.

"Astral, we'll meet up on the roof, okay?" I said as Astral floated by me. He gave me a small nod and he left.

Inchou and Tetsuo also ran after Yuma, seeing as they were boys.

I ran away from Kotori, "I need to go…go to the music room!"

* * *

Yuma was lying down as I sat on the top of the ladder. Astral was just floating there.

"Rima, Yuma," said Astral, "Why did you not tell them the truth?"

"It should be obvious," answered Yuma. "Should I really tell them what happens when I lose against Kaito?"

"Yeah, they'd worry about you, Yuma," I said as I tightened my ponytail.

"You too, Rima," said Yuma, "Kaito now knows you have a number so you're targeted as well."

I knew that. I'm not afraid but it is not gonna be a walk in the park.

"Kaito…" whispered Astral.

"It seems Kaito is hunting numbers again…" noted Yuma. He then stood up eagerly, "If he does, let's go and snatch them back again!"

"Yuma…" I said softly. He wasn't afraid or maybe he's just trying to ignore it.

"You are too lightheaded in your thoughts," stated Astral, facing the other way. "Kaito is not that naïve."

Yuma pouted before looking at Astral, "Could it be that you're afraid of Kaito?"

Astral stiffened. He was afraid. I looked at Astral worriedly, "Come on, Astral. If you're gonna defeat him you have to…"

After a few seconds, Yuma started speaking, "Is it alright for you to be afraid? There's no other way than to win against Kaito and gather the numbers to bring back your memories, right?!"

"We're doing this for you, Astral!" I sai,d a bit frustrated. He's been so depressed lately.

"What if we lose?!" asked Astral fiercely, "You will lose your soul and Rima will be next to lose hers! I will disappear from this world as well!"

"That you say such faint-hearted-"

I noticed Cat-chan beside us and I nudged Yuma. He looked at me and saw Cat-chan standing there.

"G-good morning," she said nervously.

I jumped down from the ladder as Yuma backed away, shocked, "Hey Cat-chan."

"Eh, good morning, err, Cat-chan," said Yuma, surprised. We were just having an important conversation. I sighed, we'll save it for later.

"You both kindly remembered me," said Cat-chan, blushing. She was looking at Yuma so…

Yuma just laughed nervously as I picked up my bag.

"Er…who is Kaito?" asked Cat-chan, confused.

"I'm out," I said, running away. I'm ditching Yuma before he could ditch me!

"Oh crap!" shouted Yuma as I heard him, "It's leaking! I forgot to go to the toilet!"

I really can't tell if he was faking or not. Before I left, I stared at Astral, waving one arm, "Don't think we're done talking about this!"

Astral glanced back at me. He probably thinks we're done with this but we're not! I can't stand to seem his so upset. Maybe it's because I love him. Wait a minute…where the hell did that come from?!

Cat-chan…that reminds me of when she said I looked like I was in love. I…I don't know anymore. Astral's just…

* * *

When the bell rang, Yuma grabbed my wrist and dragged me along with him.

"We're going ahead!" Yuma shouted.

"Wait, Yuma, Rima!" said Kotori.

I was holding my bag in one hand and Yuma was holding my other arm as we stopped.

"Sorry but I have to go on an errand for granny," said Yuma, "Rima's going to help me!"

"See you!" I shouted as Yuma started dragging me again.

* * *

Yuma, Astral and I were on a grassy slope. We were all thinking about something. They were thinking about Kaito, I was thinking about my feelings for Astral.

I wanted to cry. If I did love- no, like Astral that way…Could I handle it? I mean, it hurts me so much when he almost loses a duel. It makes me want to sob and sob and sob. I wish Ryoga or Rio were here…they'd have some sort of advice.

Astral sighed. That's ten in a row.

"You're sighing again?" asked Yuma, "How often did you do that today?"

"Stop it, Astral…" I whined, "You're giving off some depressing vibes." I swear Astral was sighing to bug us because he did it again!

Yuma sat up, "God! Enough already! If you do it once more, there'll be a penalty for you!"

"What would it be…?" I questioned curiously.

Yuma thought about it, "Uh…uhm…"

"Yuma! Rima! Yuma!"

Yuma and I went to the top of the slope and saw Cat-chan running towards us.

"Cat-chan!" I said, surprised. "What's up?"

She stared at us urgently and…scared, "Everyone…! Everyone…!"

Everyone…? Who's everyone?

"What's wrong?" questioned Yuma, "What happened?"

She looked at us, "Kotori and everyone are-" Her eyes widened and she looked like a lifeless doll…that was standing up.

"Hey, Cat-chan!" I said, shaking her shoulders. "What's wrong?!" She didn't answer. I released my grip on her and stared at her shocked. What's wrong with her?

She looked at us blankly, "Listen, owner of a numbers card!" She sounded possessed because a voice was intertwined with hers.

"This is…!" said Yuma, shocked.

Numbers…How did they know about our numbers?!

"My name is Jin," s/he said, "The all-seeing one. I am Kaito-sama's operating servant."

We gasped in shock. This man is working for Kaito?!

"Kaito!" shouted Astral, shaken.

"Listen, Yuma, I am keeping your friends in custody," said possessed Cat-chan. "So come to the mansion. We will bet our numbers there in a duel! Otherwise, your friends' lives will…" Cat-chan stiffened before falling forward.

Yuma caught her, "Cat-chan!"

"Kyatto~" said Cat-chan as she slowly opened her eyes. She noticed Yuma carrying her and pushed him away, standing, "Yuma! I…what in the world?"

Our friends…Kotori and Tetsuo for sure, who else? Maybe Inchou and Tokunosuke…

Is Ryoga…?! No, no, he wouldn't do that. I saw him a while ago so he should be fine.

"Cat-chan, please lead me there!" said Yuma urgently.

"Yeah, I understand!" we started running, following Cat-chan.

"Wait."

Yuma and I looked to Astral.

"This is a trap," he said, "This girl was set free in order to lure us out"

Yuma looked at him, frustrated, "Even if it is a trap, what does it matter? What are you afraid of? Do you mean I should leave Kotori and the others alone?"

"Astral…!" I said. He needed to get over this!

"But can you win against Kaito, Yuma?" questioned Astral.

Yuma faltered.

Astral continued, "His tactics…his power…I experienced both in that duel. There is no guarantee that our current selves can win."

Astral!

"So, you're only dueling against people of whom you are 100% sure you can win against?"

"That's right," said Astral, shocking us both. "For me, dueling is about living. To duel someone I know I will lose against is a foolish intention."

"You bastard!" shouted Yuma.

"Astral, why don't you have faith-"

"It is a pity, but we have no other choice but to give up on your friends."

I let one lone tear travel down my cheek. Astral…why are you acting like this? And...if I was in the situation, you would give up on me too?!

"Stop joking around!" screamed Yuma as he punched through Astral. He ended up on the ground. How can he…?! I'm able to touch Astral so why can't Yuma…

"Yuma…" said Astral, shocked.

Yuma stood up, "I understand. I understand your feelings well! I won't borrow your power anymore!"

Yuma ran off with Cat-chan as I stared angrily at the ground. "Astral…" I whispered.

He looked at me. Soon, a cracking sound filled the air.

Astral's cheek was turning a red colour. His eyes were wide while his head was facing the direction I hit it. His face slowly turned back to me, "Ri…ma?"

I glared at him, "Astral, you idiot! Do you have any idea what you're doing? How you're acting?!"

He didn't answer and just stared at me.

I glared daggers at him. If looks could kill, Astral would be dead a thousand times. I basically screamed at him, "You're an idiot! A jerk! Heartless! Astral, what's happened to you?! What happened to the Astral that was calm, cool and collected? What happened to the Astral that was not afraid? What happened to the Astral that loved dueling, the one that did not run away from it?!"

"R-"

"Astral...You were so willing to just leave our friends, abandon them!" I stared him right in the eye, "If I were in that situation...you would abandon me, right?"

Astral's eyes widened and I interrupted him once more. "If you were in that situation, Astral, I wouldn't hesitate to find you!" My eyes watered as I kept my gaze on him, "Shows how you feel about me."

I took a step back, shouting, "You're not the Astral I'm friends with! You're not the Astral that I care deeply about! You're not the Astral I fell in love with!" After a moment, I realized what I said. I just said…I just admitted I was in love with Astral.

I didn't care that I said it though. I shook my head and stared at Astral who looked shocked, "Just forget about what I said, okay? If you're gonna be like this…just abandoning them, even though you know you're the only one who could help...even if I was in that situation...You say that we're friends, Astral. I even fell in love with you. But if this is how you're acting, I don't believe we are friends. Just...don't talk to me anymore."

I started walking away. It quickly turned into a full-out sprint. I know Astral wasn't following me. He's an idiot. I don't care that I love him, he obviously has his own priorities!

* * *

I sat on the grass. I was on a grassy slope, much like the one Yuma…him…and I were sitting on before. I sighed and stood up and stared at the water. I stared at my reflection and then noticed…my key. It grew erect and levitated in front of me.

I glared at it, "I don't care if Astral and Yuma are dueling! Let them solve their problems without me!" My key wouldn't stop trying to drag me. I got sick of it and ripped my key from its cord and threw it onto the grass.

I immediately regretted it. I felt to my knees and my hands held the ground in front of me. What…was happening? I felt so tired, so weak now without my key.

My eyes widened at what I saw. On my hand, my left one, was the mark. It was the mark of the numbers! It was No. 83…Galaxy Queen's number. What did this mean…? Was she trying to take control of me?!

I was now somewhere else. It was my dream place. The one with the sand and the azure sky. In front of me was Galaxy Queen. She was staring menacingly at me, "Rima, give into it! Give into the power of my number!"

I stared at her blankly, "Why…? How are you taking control of me…? It never happened before."

She cackled evilly and grinned at me, "Because you threw down that Empress Key of yours! It's your protection against numbers yet you just threw it away!"

My key…was protection?

"Especially since T****** resides there!"

I just heard blanks. What did she say?

She then cackled once more, "Give in to your anger!"

"Anger…?" I asked. I was still on my knees, feeling so very weak.

"Your darkness!" she said as I stared at her, "You're sad, right? That Astral guy is hurting you, right? Make him pay for making you upset! Make him pay for doing this to you!"

"Why…?" I whispered. Astral? Why does he need to pay?

"You're sad because of Astral! He's causing you sadness! You hate him, right? You hate Astral! Embrace my power and you will have your revenge!"

I…hate Astral? I want to get revenge? Yes…Yes! Astral made me upset. He's hurting me. He's making my heart ache.

"Yes, Rima!" said No.83, "Fall into the darkness! You hate Astral!"

I watched as the mark of the number burned my skin. Galaxy Queen…she says I hate Astral…I closed my eyes weakly, "I…hate Astral?"

"You do!" said Galaxy Queen cackling, "He is making your heart hurt! He is causing you pain!"

I opened my eyes and I watched as she screamed in pain and my dream place was gone.

I smiled softly as the number mark dispersed from my hand. I whispered softly to my number card I could not see, "He might be causing me heartache but…My love for Astral surpasses any other bad feeling I may have. I love Astral, I admit it. I love him and I think- no, I _know_ that makes me stronger than you."

I then collapsed onto the ground, cheek resting on pavement.

"Rima!"


	18. Chaos Xyz Change! Hope Ray!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal.**

* * *

"Rima!"

That voice…My eyes fluttered open as I saw Ryoga slide down the hill and to my side, "Rima!" He pulled me into his arms, "Rima, what's wrong?!"

I looked at him dizzily. I sat up as I said, "Nothing, Ryoga. You're just seeing things." I'm not worrying him. I stood up and grabbed my bag. When I looked up I saw Ryoga's non-amused expression, "What is it?"

He glared at me, "I just saw you on the ground, looking like you were having a stroke!"

I looked away, "So…?"

"Rima, don't lie to me!" He shouted.

"I only said 'so'," I said as I started walking away.

"Rima!"

I glanced back at him, "Don't worry, Ryoga. I'm fine…" I then walked away from him.

* * *

_**Ryoga P.O.V**_

I watched Rima walk away. She looked as if she was d- injured. I can't bear to think she was dying. But…that wasn't all. I saw her screaming when I was walking one the sidewalk. She said something about…Astral? Astral, she said that for sure. I don't think I know an Astral. Did he do this?!

I was about to run after Rima, the stupid girl, but something caught my eye. What in the world…? I looked at the grass. There, in its glory, was a pendant. At first, I thought it was Yuma's Key but then…No, this was Rima's key.

I picked it up and I felt a small rush of wind. I ignored that, "Why would she leave this here…?"

Rima was most definitely going home or something. That stupid girl's just like Rio, always doing something bad. I then shook my head, I need to find her.

* * *

_**Rima P.O.V**_

I was in my room. I had a quick detour to the store so Ryoga wouldn't find me. I'm pretty sure he came here. I just want to be left alone for a bit.

After a few moments, I would feel shocks, huge ones. I guess that means Astral is dueling. I smiled slightly, "He's slowly turning back to normal, huh…?" Also…No.83 was still trying to take over me. I'm able to stop her just in time though.

My D-Gazer played a small violin piece and I glared at it. Ryoga's been calling me a ton of times. I know he's just worried but he's so…!

I picked up my D-Gazer, about to throw it against the wall, before seeing the caller ID. I blinked, it said 'Cat-chan'.

I obviously answered it, "Hey Cat-chan, what's up?"

"Yuma's dueling Jin," she said and she changed her D-Gazer calling mode to out-view. I was currently looking at Yuma, Astral and, I suppose, Jin.

I was able to watch the duel. I smiled, "Thanks, Cat-chan."

"No problem, nya~" she said but I focused in on the duel.

She gave me small bits of info and I thank her for that. Our friends were over lava, Jin was a numbers user (of course), Kaito was sitting on a throne in the room, Yuma's talking to himself (Astral) and Jin can see the future. That's a lot to take in.

**Skip to end of duel!**

So they saw Astral. They also got a new number, Chaos No. 39 Hope Ray!

I smiled softly, "Astral…"

"Thanks, Cat-chan," I said and I hung up. At least Astral is back to normal but…I really don't want to talk to him for a bit. I'm still pretty mad at him.

* * *

_**Astral P.O.V**_

I was happy we finished that duel. I looked at all of Yuma's friends and they were all smiling and cheering. But…Rima was not here with them.

"_You're not the Astral I fell in love with!"_

I looked down…Rima…She said she loved me. I am glad she does but…I think I ruined that today. I remembered that betrayed and hurt look on her face. If Rima was the one captured, I would've went and helped her! Rima doesn't know that...I watched the doorway, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Rima would arrive. She would be smiling and congratulating us, she would be smiling at me. Then perhaps I could tell her I loved her as well.

Something ran down my cheek. I stared at the drop of water as it fell to the ground. What are those called…?

"Yuma, what is that?" I asked him.

He looked at me, "What's what?"

I floated over to him, "A drop of water. It ran down my cheek, why? Is there a leak on the roof?"

Yuma stared at me before blinking, "You mean a teardrop?"

"Teardrop…?" I questioned. What is a teardrop?

"Ah, how do I explain this…?" said Yuma thinking, "Um, it means you're sad if you're crying. Crying is a lot of tears at once…why were you crying?"

I looked down, "I was just thinking about Rima…She's really upset at me."

"That's not all…is it?" asked Yuma staring at me.

I stared at him, "…She said she loved me and I don't know how to react."

"She…Rima did?" he questioned incredulously. He then looked thoughtful, "Well…it's not that surprising but what's wrong about that? Even I can tell you like her as well."

Yuma was…right? I gazed at him, "Well…she then told me to leave her alone so-"

Yuma rubbed his neck, "Then she's probably really mad. I'd say you just apologize, I've been there with Kotori."

"You love Kotori…?" I asked, confused. Yuma went through this?

"Yeah- wait, what?!" asked Yuma and his face went red, "S-shut up! Let's just go!" And he ran ahead.

I looked away. Rima...Observation #13: Subdivision A...It hurts when someone you love is mad at you.

* * *

_**Rima P.O.V**_

I was staring out the window. Yuma and Astral must be coming back soon. I didn't really want to see Astral right now but…I sighed, maybe I'm just overreacting. I mumbled, "I hope Astral doesn't hate me…" If he does hate me…Man, I didn't want to ruin our friendship. I love him…

I spotted Yuma and Astral going passed my house. Astral's eyes travelled to my window as I quickly ducked under the windowsill.

Oh, I hope he doesn't come here. After a long moment, after I was sure he was gone, I walked back to my bed and lay down.

I felt a small zap. Ugh, No.83, I will not let you take over!

* * *

_**Astral P.O.V**_

We passed Rima's house and I spotted a white blur move pass the window. I continued to stare at the window, that was obviously Rima.

"Astral, I don't think she wants to talk to you right now," said Yuma, noticing I was staring.

I nodded slowly, "I suppose you are right, Yuma…"

I looked down sadly as I returned to the key.


	19. The Promised Kattobingu

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

* * *

_**Rima P.O.V**_

I woke up in the morning. I heard light breathing and looked sleepily at…Ryoga? He was sitting in the leather chair with a blanket kicked onto the floor.

Why was he…? I don't remember him coming in. As I moved to sit up I felt something brush against my skin. Metal…? I looked down to see my key? Well, of course, but…

Yesterday's events came rushing back to me. Oh my god, I left my key on the grass! Ryoga must've noticed it and brought it back. Thank god!

I looked at the time and almost screamed. I fell off my bed and scrambled to my feet. I gave Ryoga's hair a sharp tug before running around the room grabbing my uniform and shorts.

"Ugh, what the hell is wrong with you?" he asked, opening his eyes sleepily.

"If you haven't noticed, we're going to be late for school," I said, rolling my eyes.

He blinked and said, "Does school really matter?"

"Yes, it does," I said opening a drawer and throwing Ryoga's uniform at him. See, he spends the nights here so often he has some uniforms here. I really didn't think that school was important. I just wanted to see Astral and Yuma...

He sighed before grabbing the uniform and lifting up his night-shirt.

I laughed as I walked out my bedroom door, "You could wait until I leave the room, you know."

* * *

Ryoga and I decided to walk to school instead of using his bike.

"Rima, yesterday-"

"What about yesterday?" I asked, interrupting him. I need time to think of an excuse.

"When I went to your house, I heard you screaming."

I tripped and fell on my face. I heard his teasing laughter but I droned it out. I was screaming…? Why was I screaming?

"Rima, get up," he ordered.

I shook my head and stayed on the ground, "Why was I screaming?"

"I don't know," he said quietly, "You were screaming about a number. You kept screaming 'Astral, help me! Astral! Yuma! Ryoga! Rio…'"

He finished there. I was screaming for help…Now that I think about it…I felt like someone was strangling me. I sat up and stared ahead. No.83, I'm not able to control her, am I?

"Rima…only when I put your pendant back on you, you stopped screaming."

I looked up at Ryoga. He was looking at me like he would at anyone else, coldly, but…I could see it in his eyes. They were full of worry and remorse.

"I'm sorry…" I whispered, "I…It's nothing, Ryoga."

"I'd wish you'd tell me the truth," he said as I stood up.

"I will, someday," I said quietly and we continued our way to school.

"Someday better be soon," he said as we walked through the school courtyard.

"Kya~!"

"It's Ryoga-san and Rima-san!"

"They're so cool!"

Ryoga and I just ignored them, as this happens sometimes.

"Ryoga, can you pick me up after class?" I asked quietly. I didn't want to meet up with Astral. I may sound weak but I really don't want to face him. I'm so conflicted. The only reason I went to school was because of Astral but I'm still running away.

"Yeah, sure," he said.

* * *

**End of school!**

Yuma was fast asleep beside Kotori. I didn't see Astral today. I think he tried to see me at lunch but I hid on the roof with Ryoga, not that Ryoga knew that. I barely ate though so it doesn't matter.

Ryoga's been trying to figure out what's happening to me. I will tell him, I know I will. I just don't know how to explain. He might check me into a mental hospital or something.

"Remember everyone!" said Ukyo-sensei, "Saturday's the visitor's class so please notify your parents-"

I stood up and make a loud screeching noise with my seat. I grabbed my bag and walked out of class, "I excuse myself!" I didn't care if I got in trouble. It doesn't matter. No one will care. I know I'm being dramatic but I don't want anything to do with my parents.

I felt my key go warm and I stopped to stare at it. What the…? I sighed and continued my way to the next wing.

As I came across Ryoga's classroom, I looked at it. Ryoga…I walked into the room and knocked on the wall since the door was open.

The whole class stopped and looked at me. The teacher, which of whom I don't remember, looked at me questionably, "May I help you?"

The class started saying stuff like 'fairy-hime' and 'Rima-chan'.

I looked around and spotted Ryoga. He was staring at me confused. I felt like crying, "Ryoga, can you take me home?"

He stood up, grabbed his bag, and walked over, "Alright, let's go."

"Kamishir-"

Ryoga glared at his teacher who stopped mid-name. He looked back to me, "Rima."

I nodded and we walked out of the room. When we got out of earshot he started talking to me, "Rima, why do you need me to take you home?"

"I'm tired," I said quietly.

"You normally wouldn't do this," he said as we left the building.

"Ryoga…I'm just really tired," I whispered and I actually am. I don't know if this has to do with last night and yesterday but…I don't know. I'm guessing it's from the number but it might also be from Astral.

My heart aches at just thinking about it. Astral…I love him yet I don't want to.

I closed my eyes.

* * *

_**Ryoga P.O.V**_

Suddenly, Rima stopped talking. I sighed, "I'm really worried about you, you know."

I heard the other students talking. They think I'm dating Rima. They're idiots. I only love her as a sister. She's the only thing I actually keep close because of what happened to my sister. It's too hurtful to go through that fear again.

I blinked as I realized Rima hasn't spoken in a while. I turned to her to see her not there. "Rima…?" I asked the air. I looked behind me to see if she- I gasped, "Rima!"

She was face-first on the ground. She wasn't moving. I ran to her and turned her over. I sighed out of relief, she's just sleeping. She wasn't joking when she said she was tired.

"Nm…Ryoga…" she whispered as I knelt down in front of her and let her crawl onto my back. She wrapped her arms around my neck as I grabbed both our bags in one hand.

"Rima, you should've stayed home today if you felt this tired," I said, standing up. I started walking as I saw her half-lidded eyes.

"Mhm…I didn't want to go to school but…I wanted to see Astral…" she whispered drowsily.

"Who is Astral?" I questioned. After a moment, I knew she was asleep. Astral…I do not know who this Astral is but…If he hurts Rima, I'll kill him.

* * *

Rima still hasn't woken up and I'm a bit worried. Why is she so tired? Who is this Astral? I have a lot of questions that I'm sure Rima won't answer. I heard that Saturday is visitor's class, don't ask me how I know. I sighed and moved a piece of hair out of Rima's eyes.

"Protect her."

I looked around, senses on high alert, "Who's there?"

It was a man's voice. Who the hell…?! No one answered and I guess I just heard nothing.

* * *

_**Rima P.O.V**_

_Dream sequence_

"Rima, please be careful."

A blue figure, _the_ blue figure, appeared in front of me.

I cried out, "Who are you?"

"Please be careful," he whispered and then he was gone.

I fell to my knees and tears ran down my cheeks. Why am I sad? Why…Why does he look familiar? He looked like someone I've known, like a long lost friend.

"Who are you?!" I screamed out.

_Dream end_

I woke up early in the morning. I sat up sleepily and I can't believe I slept for the whole evening and night yesterday. Who are you, mystery man?

I slowly stood on the floor, trying not to wake Ryoga. I walked downstairs and sat on the couch. Today is visitor's classes.

I brought my knees up to my chin and wrapped my arms around them. I needed some time to think. That man…who is he? Why do I have to be careful? I looked out the window and sighed, "I wish I could speak to you, Astral, without you probably hating me."

I miss talking to him and it's only been, um…three days? I really do love Astral. I was watching the window and I saw Yuma run out of his house. Huh? I looked at the time and smiled, "Late again, are we, Yuma?"

He was running and I didn't see Astral with him. I smiled sadly, "Oh well."

* * *

**Time skip!**

Ryoga walked down the stairs, dressed up, "Let's go."

We were going to go visit Rio.

"Alright," I said as we walked over to his motorcycle.

He hopped on and passed me the extra helmet. I grabbed it and jumped on behind him. I wrapped my arms around his waist.

The ride there was awesome! It was so windy, and it felt great. I can't believe Ryoga does this every day.

* * *

We walked into Rio's room and at first, we just stared at her. I was the first to move towards Rio and sit on her bedside, "Good mor- or is it afternoon? Anyways, hey Rio."

Ryoga came to my side and stood over Rio, "Rio."

I smiled at Rio, "You know, Ryoga's been really messed up without you."

"That's not true," he said curtly.

I just took Rio's hand. Ryoga put his hand on mine and we just stayed like that.

I wish Rio was here- I mean, I wish she could talk to me. I knew she could've helped me, even a little, with my Astral problem. I could talk to Ryoga but that's sorta awkward.

"I hate him," said Ryoga as he scowled. He was looking away from Rio and at the wall.

"Him…?" I questioned even though I know who. We both hate him equally. His name is IV and it's his fault Rio is here.

"Rio…please get better," he whimpered.

Does he want some alone time?

"Ryoga, do you want me to-"

"No," he answered surprising me, "Please, just stay…"

He took his hand off mine and I took mine off Rio's. I opened my arms and Ryoga hugged me. I watched Rio, "Hey, don't you think it's too quiet without her?"

"You make up for it."

I hit him upside his head at that to which he laughed.


	20. The Pitch-Black Number!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

* * *

"Kotori, why are Tetsuo and Yuma fighting?" I asked her as we sat down in class. Tetsuo and Yuma were ignoring each other.

"Yuma collected a new numbers. Um, No.96 Black Mist," she explained. "He was really reckless while dueling, I think. Tetsuo's mad because of Yuma being like that. It's just his way of saying 'I care'."

I smiled, they collected a new one? I wish I was there to see it, "Well, they're boys. They'll be back to normal in no time." If only I could say the same for Astral and I.

* * *

**3 DAYS LATER!**

I still haven't made up with Astral. I've been running around him, always making sure I have an excuse. I have to see him sooner or later but…He's been busy as well, says Yuma. He's been in the key and out of the key, thinking. Whatever that memory was…it had Astral thinking a lot. I want to help him out but…I sighed.

I was walking near the school right now. Something just told me to be here. I suddenly felt dizzy, "What in the world…?" I felt it, the numbers. My key levitated and pointed one way. I ran. I have to listen to my key. Maybe I didn't before but now I will. Astral…please be safe.

I ran ahead and saw Yuma, Tetsuo and Kotori. "Yuma!" I shouted.

They acknowledged me but they were staring at something else. A black slime was filtering out of Yuma's extra deck. I knew it was that new number before I even arrived. What the hell is wrong with this one?!

It shot upwards randomly. At least, I thought it was random before seeing it was engulfing Astral.

"What is…this?" he asked, shocked. Black was spreading all over his body. Only half his face wasn't visible.

Something shocked him and I don't know why but I screamed in pain. I felt it. I felt Astral's pain. I fell to the floor, "A-Astral…!"

Kotori ran over to my side and pulled my head onto her lap, "Rima…?"

"Astral!" shouted Yuma, shocked.

I pushed Kotori away. Shocks were covering my body as well, if she was too close…

My key it was warm against my skin, like it was reacting to this. I wouldn't be surprised if it was. "Astral…" I whispered weakly as I was zapped more.

"What on earth is that?" asked Tetsuo as I winced.

"Tetsuo, the key…" I said before grimacing.

He looked to me before running and grabbing the key off the ground.

I pushed myself up and stood, "No.96…"

Kotori was at my side and she stared at both me and Astral worriedly.

"Astral, the number's trying to take over!" I shouted, "You have to fight it, please!" I pleaded, "Astral, I can't lose you!"

Astral stared at me, "R-Rima…!" He winced in pain as I did the same, "You are, No.96! You are hurting us…both!" He managed, seeing me in pain.

"What are you saying there?" asked Yum,a not getting it.

"I've been waiting for this moment for a long time," I heard, "The moment I possess your body and become complete! Destroy! Destroy everything!"

Astral screamed in agony as he was taken control of. I fell to my knees, taking shallow breaths. It hurt…It hurt so much.

I wasn't able to stop him. No.96 made some weird tentacles and grabbed Yuma.

My key was burning my skin now. What was wrong with it? Even if it was burning…it felt right. It made me feel safe. How can I feel safe in this type of situation? It was trying and succeeding at protecting me. How come it couldn't protect Astral as well?

"What is this?!" asked Yuma as he was lifted up into the air.

"Yuma!" Kotori and Tetsuo shouted.

"Release…Release me!" shouted Yuma.

"Yuma…" I said quietly. Yuma, if he gets hurt as well…

"It's useless," said No.96, "You can't run anywhere!"

I coughed hoarsely. Why…?! Why is this number so strong?!

"Yuma, give Hope to Tetsuo!" Astral struggled. He was not completely locked away yet.

"Hope?" asked Yuma, turning to look at No.96.

"Hurry!" yelled Astral.

Yuma was able to grab Hope and throw it, "Tetsuo!"

One of Black Mist's tentacles reached out and almost grabbed it. I said _almost_. I stood up and blocked the way. The card passed me as my key made a light blue barrier around me. Huh?

The barrier did more than stop the tentacle, it dissipated it. Black Mist hissed in pain and I didn't care. I only cared about Astral being safe.

I turned my head, "Tetsuo, you get it?"

Tetsuo nodded, staring at the card he caught, "Eh…Hope?!"

I heard a heartbreaking scream. Astral was locked away! I swayed on my feet before falling face-first. Kotori caught me, "Rima!"

"Astral was…Astral was…!" I said tears running down my cheeks. He was completely taken over now.

"Rima…" whispered Kotori.

"Now I've become the strongest of Numbers!" said Black Mist. I stared at his eyes. They were no longer Astral's striking mismatched eyes. Black Mist's left (his right) eye was pure black while the other was darker gold. He tainted our Astral.

"You…you bastard!" said Yuma, "How dare you do that to Astral?!"

"Come, the brat over there!" said No.96 smirking, "Give that numbers to me!"

"Like hell!" I shouted as both mine and the Emperors Key glowing and making a bigger barrier around us.

"You…" he said tenderly, staring at me. He then turned his face into a scowl, "Girl, what is your name?!"

I stared at him shocked, scared and totally ready to piss myself. I glared at him, "Rima, you freak! Give Astral back!"

"Him…" he said, glaring at me, "It's his fault you…!" He stopped at there and continued to smirk. What was he talking about?! His hand turned back to normal as the barriers died.

"Wha?" asked Tetsuo staring at the Emperor's Key.

Kotori ran over, "Tetsuo-kun, Rima…what was that just now?"

"I am not sure," said Tetsuo as both me and Black Mist had a glaring competition, "But I guess it's due to the power of this key."

Why the hell did Black Mist talk to me?! We're enemies, he's hurting Astral. I will hurt him, or at least, not let him hurt anyone. Astral…I can't stop thinking that this is my fault.

I looked to Tetsuo. According to Kotori, he and Yuma were fighting. What will happen then? Tetsuo wouldn't leave Yuma there like that. He wouldn't.

Tetsuo, to my shock, held out Hope, "If you want this numbers that badly, get it by defeating me in a duel!"

"A duel…?" I asked Tetsuo unsure. If this, this thing has even a little bit of Astral's skill and has numbers…that'll be one hell of a duel for him.

"Duel, you say?" asked No.96.

"No, Tetsuo!" shouted Yuma, stunned, "This guy is very dangerous, hurry up and run!"

We won't. I was about to say something about it before remembering…Tetsuo and Yuma need to figure this out by themselves.

"How can I leave you like this?!" asked Tetsuo incredulously.

"But…" said Yuma unsurely.

"Would you run if you were in my situation?!" asked Tetsuo, "Would you leave me alone and run away?!"

"Tetsuo…" whispered Yuma. He was shocked and thankful.

Black Mist laughed, "Interesting, I will be your opponent."

He turned his tentacles back into legs and Yuma fell onto the ground. Yuma was going to be controlled. I was able to fight it but Yuma…he might not.

"Duel Disk, set!" said Tetsuo, "D-Gazer, set!"

**A/R Vision Link Established.**

"Duel!"

No.96 smirked at Yuma, "You have no freedom, my servant."

Yuma…I was worried about him. If he's going through all that pain I went through…

"I will go first!" shouted Tetsuo.

In this duel, I don't think it matters who goes first.

"My turn, draw!" announced Tetsuo, "I summon Aiaian (Atk: 1600-Lvl: 4)! Then I activate the equip-magic card Spring Punch and equip it to Aiaian. Furthermore, I activate the monster effect of Aiaian. Once per turn, its Atk increases by 400 (Atk: 2000)! At this moment, I activate the effect of Spring Punch! If the Atk of the equipped monster increases, the opponent will receive damage equal to half of its Atk. In other words, 1000 damage!"

"Already…?" I asked, surprised. That was a good move.

Yuma was hit by the punch.

**Yuma: 3000LPS **

**Tetsuo: 4000LPS**

I smiled. Well, not at Yuma but at Tetsuo. The sooner Tetsuo wins, the sooner Astral will be back.

"Yuma!" shouted Kotori worried. I saw Tetsuo was the same.

"I…" said Yuma as he stood up, "I am alright. Now, come at me!"

Yuma…

Tetsuo grunted, "I activate continuous magic Clockwork Catapult! Turn end! Wait, Yuma. I will save you as soon as possible"

That was a nice move this round but…I noticed Black Mist smirking.

He chuckled evilly, "My turn, draw! I special summon Fallen Cone! This card can be summoned if I send one card from my hand to the graveyard (Atk: 200-Lvl: 1). Next, as it was sent to the graveyard from my hand, Growing Pinecone can be special summoned as well! Be reborn, Growing Pinecone (Atk: 400-Lvl: 1)! Then I normal summon Darklon (Atk: 100-Lvl: 1)!"

Three monsters of the same level. I don't know what's needed to summon No.96 but I think that's his aim.

Black Mist continued, "When Darklon is successfully summoned, all monster on my field become dark-attributed and have their level increase by one!"

I knew it. My key glinted but I already knew what was going to happen.

He continued as I watched on nervously, "I overlay level 2 Fallen Pinecone, Growing Pinecone and Darklon! I construct the overlay network with these 3 monsters! Xyz summon! Show yourself, my doppelganger, No. 96! The messenger from the pitch-black darkness, Black Mist (Atk: 100-Rank: 2)!"

Tetsuo gasped in shock. I thought they had seen this dude before.

"That's Black Mist?!" asked Kotori shocked as well.

"Why?" I asked her, "Didn't you guys see him already?"

"No…he looked different," said Kotori, shaking her head.

"It's completely different than before!" shouted Yuma, shocked as well.

This monster has multiple forms? What I'm really worried about though is its low attack. Black Mist seems smart enough to duel properly.

"This is the real form of Black Mist," said…uhm, Black Mist, "I attack Aiaian with Black Mist!"

There's something wrong with this situation…I glanced at the Xyz…maybe it's an overlay unit effect?

"Attack?!" asked Tetsuo incredulously, "With merely 100 Atk…?"

"I activate the effect of Black Mist!" announced No.96, "By detaching an overlay unit, the Atk of one of my opponents' monsters is halved and that halved amount can strengthen my own Atk! Shadow gain (Atk: 1100)!"

Aiaian (Atk: 1000)!

Oh shit. That is one strong effect.

"That means…" said Tetsuo quietly.

"…It means that Black Mist will always be stronger than any other monster Tetsuo has," I finished, shocked.

"That's right, Rima-_chan_," he provoked, making me annoyed, "Go, Black Mist! Black mirage whip!"

**Yuma: 3000LPS **

**Tetsuo: 3900LPS**

Only good thing was it was very minimal damage.

"I set two cards," said Black Mist, "Turn end."

He was glaring at me and I felt like I was gonna get jumped. "Why are you glaring at me?!" I cried.

"Because of him!" he said angrily and turned away from me.

"That doesn't explain anything!" I shouted at him. He is so annoying! And what the hell does he mean by _him?_ I'm just trying to get Astral back but it's not working. I sighed, I guess the only way is by Tetsuo winning.

"So this is the power of Black Mist," said Tetsuo shocked, "My turn, draw! I activate the effect of continuous magic Clockwork Catapult! When my turn comes, it gains one Clockwork Counter!"

"Counter?" questioned Kotori.

"Counters are units you can use to activate certain effect," explained Tetsuo quickly.

Nice effect but it takes long.

"So you want to strengthen the effect of that magic card by saving counters?" asked No.96. Ugh, that damn smirk is…! It looks good on Astral but this freak? No way. Wait a minute…what the hell?!

"I summon Tin Goldfish (Atk: 800-Lvl: 4)!" said Tetsuo, "Next, from my hand, I activate Iron Call! The effect of this card is, when there is a machine-type monster on my side of the field, I can special summon one level 4 or lower machine-type monster from my graveyard! Resurrect yourself, Aiaian (Def: 1800-Lvl: 4)! Then I activate a magic card from my hand, Iron Draw!"

An iron glove appeared on Tetsuo's hand, "When there are two machine-type monsters on my field, I can draw two cards from my deck! Yuma, I will surely save you…"

My key glinted, another number is arriving.

"I overlay level 4 Tin Goldfish and Aiaian! I construct the overlay network with these two monsters!" shouted Tetsuo, "Xyz summon! Come forth, No.39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

"Good job, Tetsuo!" I cheered, clasping my hands together. If Hope is here, his win is assured.

"Hope…" whispered Yuma. I forgot, he has to go against his own monster.

"So you are finally here, No.39," said Black Mist, smirking.

I still felt Astral's pain. I felt the small zaps here and then but I'm sure Astral is going through something worse.

Tetsuo glowed, "What is this feeling?"

The number…I hope the Emperor's Key will protect Tetsuo like the Empress Key does to me.

"So this is the power of numbers…" said Tetsuo. He snapped out of it, "Yuma! I activate the effect of Clockwork Catapult! By removing one counter, this turn Hope's Atk increases by 500 (Atk: 3000)!"

"Atk of 3000!" announced Kotori, excited.

I smiled but that effect of Black Mist…

"Alright, go Hope!" ordered Tetsuo.

Black Mist sneered, "It seems you still don't understand the terror of Black Mist! I activate the effect of Black Mist! Shadow gain!"

"Shit," I swore loudly.

Tetsuo gasped, "I thought Shadow Gain's effect can only be activated when it declares an attack! "

Hope (Atk: 1500)!

Black Mist (Atk: 2600)!

"Hope's Atk was absorbed!" said Kotori scared.

"Oh no," I said. Now that the Atk is higher-

"Go, Black Mist!" said No.96, as he interrupted my thoughts.

"Tetsuo!" warned Yuma. He knew what was happening as well.

"Black mirage whip!" ordered No.96.

Tetsuo's arm was raised, "I activate the monster effect of Hope! It can negate one monsters' attack! Moon barrier!"

I sighed in relief.

"Alright!" cheered Yuma, "It's a success!"

Tetsuo wiped his brow. It was close, too close.

No. 96 scoffed, "Hmph! As expected! I activate a trap, Resilience! If the battle was negated, I get to inflict damage to my opponent equal to the difference of those monsters' attacks!"

Oh god. Math.

"Tetsuo-kun will receive 1100 damage?!" asked Kotori incredulously. She did the math for me.

Tetsuo was knocked backwards.

**Yuma: 3000LPS **

**Tetsuo: 2800LPS**

"Tetsuo!" yelled Yuma worriedly.

"Do you understand now?" asked Black Mist, "How can you ever beat me?"

Can we? Tetsuo will have to. Black Mist…there's no way I'll let him win. I'll interfere with the duel if need be but I don't think it's required. Tetsuo is a capable duelist, I have to have faith.

"Sorry, Tetsuo," apologized Yuma. He was not in control.

If only- my extra deck box opened. What the hell? I took out the first card there, No. 83 Galaxy Queen. I stared at her and back to No. 96. She was reacting to it as well? I looked at the picture of her shocked. She was bound by chains in her picture. Is this because of Astral? I stared at my card.

"Rima."

I looked up at Black Mist and snarled, "What?!"

He smirked, "You will be destroyed last."

My eyes widened, "D-destroyed?!" And why last?!

He left it at that. I want to know what the hell is wrong with that dude. I stared back at the picture of Galaxy Queen. She was suffering as well because Astral is hurt. I put her back into the extra deck-box. Tetsuo has to win.

Tetsuo continued, "I activate a continuous magic card from my hand! Automated Clockwork Machine! When activated, I can place 2 Clockwork Counters onto this card! When my turn comes, it will get one more! And when I send this to the graveyard, this cards' Clockwork Counters can be transferred to another card"

He's able to get more counters faster. I'm not sure what he'll do with them but it must be good.

"So you are trying to save even more Clock Counters?" questioned Black Mist.

"I set one card," announced Tetsuo, "Turn end! Clockwork Catapult's effect will expire now! Hope's Atk will decrease by 500 (Atk: 1000)"

Yuma suddenly gasped in pain. He then started screaming in agony. Why…? I could tell that he was faking. I've seen a lot of fake kindness from some people before.

"What?!" asked Tetsuo, not noticing.

"Yuma!" shouted Kotori, concerned.

What was Yuma doing? Is this some sort of strategy?

Yuma fell to his knees and to the ground. He then slowly came back to his feet. Yuma…I have no idea what you're doing but you better be doing it right.

Black Mist snickered, "Finally, he is possessed by me as well. My turn, draw! I attack Aspiring Emperor – Hope with Black Mist! And I activate the monster effect! Shadow gain (Atk: 3100)!"

I watched angrily as Hope's Atk reached 500.

"I activate Hope's monster effect! Moon barrier!" countered Tetsuo.

"Are you trying to defend like this?" ridiculed Black Mist, "Trap activate! Overlay Banish! It negates an effect from my opponents' monster that uses Xyz material!"

Oh no.

"Go, black mirage whip!" he shouted.

Since Black Mist's a number, Hope was destroyed.

Tetsuo was knocked backwards because of impact.

**Yuma: 3000LPS **

**Tetsuo: 200LPS**

"Tetsuo-kun!" shouted Kotori.

"Tetsuo!" I yelled out. I hope he's alright.

Black Mist held his hand out, "And now, I will destroy Clockwork Catapult!"

"What?!" asked Tetsuo as he started standing up.

"I already see through it," said Black Mist, "You save all those Clockwork Counters in order to strengthen your next summoned monster!"

Black Mist cackled once more. Of course he saw through it.

"You are wrong," said Yuma, making Black Mist look at him puzzled.

"Yuma…?" I questioned.

"His aim was to find a way to defeat you with only one blow," said Yuma, his hair shadowing his eyes. What was Yuma doing? If Tetsuo really was going to do that, why the hell would he spoil it?

"With only one blow, you say?" asked Black Mist.

Yuma droned on, "That guy's set card is Clockwork Explosive…"

"Don't tell him that, Yuma!" shouted Kotori.

Something I don't know about is happening here. Yuma wouldn't do that and- wait a second. Was he targeting that set card on purpose?

"It's useless," hissed Black Mist, "He can no longer hear your voice."

Yuma continued, "The effect of Clockwork Explosive is, when his turn comes and counters increase, it inflicts 800 points damage for each counter on the field!"

"800 points?" questioned Black Mist incredulously. So that's what the plan was.

Yuma spoke once more, "Next turn, the counters of Clockwork Catapult and Automated Clockwork Machine will both increase by one. There will be a total of 4 counters. In other words, 3200 points of damage. If that card is activated, we will lose"

Black Mist did not look happy, "So that's how it is."

"No!" yelled Tetsuo, "Yuma!"

Black Mist's eyes narrowed, "In that case, I shall destroy that set card! I activate thee quickplay magic card from my hand Xyz Cyclone!"

I gasped, "No!"

"Why?" asked Kotori frightened, "What does it do?"

"When an Xyz monster is destroyed-"

"-It can destroy one trap card," interrupted Black Mist. I glared at him and he glared right back.

He then smirked, "Now I end my turn" He leaned over Yuma, "Good job, Yuma. Now I can win this duel."

I wanted to strangle Black Mist and Yuma. Well, mostly Black Mist but I'm sure that would hurt Astral.

Tetsuo stared at the Emperor's Key in his hand. He then grabbed it, "Damn it! Clockwork Catapult…Yuma…"

Yuma looked up and whatever Tetsuo saw in his eyes, it was enough to drive him farther. Tetsuo drew, "My turn, draw! It's here! Due to the cards effects, the counters of Clockwork Catapult and Automated Clockwork Machine will all increase by one!"

"Hmph!" said Black Mist, "Useless struggle!"

Tetsuo continued nonetheless, "Then, by removing 3 counters from Automated Clockwork Machine, I special summon Clockwork Shikigami from my hand (Atk: 100-Lvl: 8)! The effect of Clockwork Shikigami is, once per turn, until the end phase, the Atk of one monster my opponent controls becomes zero!"

"What?!" asked Black Mist incredulously.

I watched as Black Mist's Atk lowered (Atk: 0). "Nice one, Tetsuo!" I said, smiling.

"Then I activate a magic card from my hand, Monster Reborn!" announced Tetsuo, "Come, Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

"Hope is resurrected!" shouted Kotori happily.

"What on earth?!" asked Black Mist and Yuma started laughing.

Yuma then smiled and looked up, "You did it, Tetsuo!"

Huh? What?! I am so confused right now.

"What?!" asked Black Mist, "What is going on here?!"

"I'm just as confused as you are," I muttered.

Tetsuo smiled, "Yuma pretended that he was possessed by you."

Black Mist gasped as he knew he was going to lose.

I laughed. This is awesome!

"Back then, if you would have destroyed Clockwork Catapult, I would have no chance of winning," admitted Tetsuo, "That's why Yuma pretended being manipulated, to defend Clockwork Catapult at all costs!"

"Damn you all!" shouted Black Mist.

"Fuck you too!" I shouted back.

He visibly flinched at that. That confused me. Why did he-

"Our friendship will not lose to you!" shouted Yuma.

"I activate the effect of Clockwork Catapult!" shouted Tetsuo, "By removing one Clockwork Counter, Hope's Atk increases by 500 (Atk: 3000)!"

Black Mist faltered, "Atk of 3000?!"

"Plus, Black Mist's effect can no longer be used!" pointed out Yuma, "You lose, No.96! Go, Tetsuo!"

"This is my 'Kattobingu'!" shouted Tetsuo.

"Impossible!" shouted Black Mist.

"Hope king slash!" yelled Tetsuo.

**Yuma: 0LPS **

**Tetsuo: 200LPS**

**Tetsuo is the winner!**

"Impossible!" shouted Black Mist as he was knocked back, "I was…!"

"Yuma, catch!" shouted Tetsuo as he threw the Emperor's Key.

Yuma caught it and both it and my key glowed brightly.

Suddenly, in a burst of light, Astral appeared. I sighed in relief, he's alright. I didn't notice eyes watching me before disappearing within my key.

I watched Astral shoot his hand out and suck Black Mist in.

Before Black Mist was completed devoured, he stared at me, grimacing, "Hear me now, Rima. Because of him, my heart yearns for you. But do not think that will stop me from becoming the strongest number!" And like that, he was gone.

I was scared now. What did he mean? Him…that means Astral most likely but…I was so confused.

I looked to the sky and stared upwards. I droned out my friends' conversation. I blinked as I felt someone's eyes on me. I turned and saw Astral. We just continued to stare at each other. I then couldn't handle it anymore.

I ran into Astral's arms, "Astral!"

He hesitantly embraced me, "Rima…"

I cried into his chest, "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me for ignoring you and for not helping! I almost lost you and-" My sobs just got in the way of anything understandable.

Astral held me close, "You have nothing to apologize for," he soothed, "Rima…please don't cry, I don't like seeing you sad."

I looked up at Astral, "I'm sorry…"

"Black Mist almost got you," he whispered, "I'm glad he didn't."

I stared at him confused for a second, "What did he mean when he said he yearned for me like you do?"

"You're so clueless to someone else's love but not to your own?" he asked me teasingly.

I was about to retort before my eyes widened at what he said. D-did he just…?

Astral planted a small kiss on my lips. My eyes were wide, Astral…?

When he parted my eyes were still wide. I then figured something out, "A-Astral…I told you kisses on the lips were for-"

"They are for lovers, to show how much you love someone," he defined perfectly.

I stared at him in disbelief, "Astral…"

"I never got to tell you before," he whispered, "But I love you, Rima."

There's no way…Our faces were so close that our noses were touching. I looked down before meeting Astral's eyes, his beautiful eyes. I smiled softly, "Then there's only one thing left to say then…"

Astral watched me, not knowing what I was about to say.

I giggled lightly, "I love you too, Astral."

That was enough for him to go down and claim my lips once more. I let my eyes flutter closed and Astral, he kissed me. I let it happen, I wanted it to happen. I loved him and he just told me he loved me. Nothing could ruin this for me now.

* * *

**Okay, I've been making revisions on all the chapters now that I have lots of time on my hands because it's summer! This chapter and all chapters before this have been edited and added on to with the best of my ability. Please enjoy new readers and/or old readers. July 14 2013.**


	21. Yuma vs The Cleaning Robot Obomi

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

_Dream sequence_

I sighed as I walked through my dream world. I was wearing my nighty as I walked around.

I heard a familiar evil cackle. No…no!

I turned and was faced with Black Mist. I screamed, "Get away!"

He was smirking but he didn't advance upon me. He was a few steps in front of me, "Why should I, Rima?"

I was scared, "Astral!"

Black Mist held his hand out, trying to touch me but a light blue barrier appeared around me. He shook his head, "I can't touch you, shame"

I felt better but…Why was he here? Astral told me he sealed No. 96. Oh, he was in his more Astral-looking form not the true form.

"A-Astral sealed you away, why are you here?!" I asked taking a step back.

"I was sealed here," said Black Mist, "The farthest part of the Emperor's Key. There's an entrance to the Emperor's Key here from the Empress'"

"This is…the Empress Key?" I questioned confused. All this time, this was inside the Empress Key? Actually, that sorta made sense.

"So pretty yet so stupid," said Black Mist staring at me.

I glared at him, "Shut up! Also, you better not hurt me! Astral will hurt you if you do!"

"I'm not afraid of him," said Black Mist smirking, "I'm afraid of a totally different person. T****** is more frightening than he could ever be"

"W-who?" I asked confused.

"Never mind," he said, "Just so you know, you are the owner of my card now, Numbers Huntress"

I blinked, "Your card…?" And he called me Numbers Huntress? I haven't even had one number duel before.

"You are lucky to be able to evade me," he said cackling.

_Dream end_

I had learned a long time ago that my dreams have meaning, that they are not just dreams.

I sat up in my bed and reached over and grabbed my extra deck-box. I opened it to see what Black Mist said was true. There it was, No. 96 Black Mist.

* * *

**At school!**

I continued to stare at my unfinished homework, "Fuck"

Kotori laughed, "Rima, Ukyo-sensei isn't here yet so you could probably finish it…"

"I'm going to fail anyways," I whined and banged my head on my desk. Kotori, Tetsuo and Inchou were standing near me, watching.

"Rima, I would let you look at mine but…" said Inchou.

"Nah, I wouldn't cheat off yours, Inchou," I said raising my head a bit.

"I made it!" shouted Yuma as he ran to beside us.

"Good morning, Yuma," said Kotori as we all turned to him.

"Hi Yuma," I said quietly as I stared at my homework.

"What's wrong with Rima?" asked Yuma as he looked to Kotori and the others.

"She didn't finish her math homework," said Kotori heatedly.

"Shut up," I said twirling my pencil. A hand reached down and held my hand, stopping the pencil. I didn't even need to look up. I could see that the hand was blue, a special trait only _he_ has. I smiled, "Hey Astral"

"Good morning, Rima," he said as he leaned over me and at my homework.

I giggled a little bit.

"What math homework?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

"Of course Yuma forgot," said Inchou face-palming.

"544"

I looked at Astral who was still leaning over me, "Huh?"

"The answer for question one is 544," said Astral glancing at me.

I blinked before smiling, "Oh my god, Astral, I love you!"

I quickly wrote down the number as Astral started answering all the questions.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Yuma staring at us, "That's cheating!"

"Not cheating if there's no evidence~" I sang. Astral also started explaining how he got the answer and I wrote snippets of it now and then.

All of our friends blinked at us, superbly confused.

"Why?" asked Inchou, "How is Rima cheating?"

"Astral's telling her the answers!" shouted Yuma pointing at us both.

I stuck my tongue out at him, "Shut up! This is the last time it happens, alright?"

"That's a lie and you know it!" said Yuma irritated.

I smiled, "Oh you know me so well"

"Rima, not 13.4," said Astral pointing to something I wrote, "It is 3.14"

"Oh," I said smiling, "Arigato, Astral!"

"You're welcome," he said and I sighed in relief as I, I mean, _we_ finished.

"In those few minutes Astral was teaching me, I learned more than when Ukyo-sensei teaches," I confessed.

Tetsuo laughed, "I can believe that"

"Maybe it's because you don't pay attention to Ukyo-sensei," teased Kotori.

I smiled sheepishly, "That doesn't matter"

"Yeah, but she always pays attention to Astral," said Yuma smirking.

"And…?" I asked as Astral wrapped his arms around my shoulders from behind my seat.

"Class is starting!" shouted Ukyo-sensei as he walked in, "Inchou, can you please collect the homework from last night?"

"Hai!" said Inchou as he took ours.

Yuma complained, "No fair! I didn't-"

"No excuses, Yuma," said Ukyo-sensei hearing.

Astral let go of me and floated to beside me, "I'll see you later, Rima"

I smiled, "Alright"

He kissed me on the lips. Wait, let me rephrase that. His lips touched mine for a millisecond before he disappeared into the key. I was fuming. Astral totally did that on purpose! I just sighed happily though, oh well.

I had decided against telling Astral about Black Mist being in my key and me having the card. It would just worry him and that's like the last thing he needs. He already has the numbers situation, and the Kaito situation, on his shoulders.

"There's a test today, everyone!" said Ukyo-sensei.

Everyone groaned, including me. I am so glad Astral just taught me everything I'll need. It's still fresh in my mind so I hopefully won't fail.

* * *

_**Kotori P.O.V**_

I looked at Rima to see her super happy. I was confused. She usually wasn't like this.

I nudged Yuma who turned to me, "Don't you think Rima looks happier now?"

Yuma took a glance at our white-haired friend and nodded, "Astral"

I blinked, "Astral?" What does he have to do with this?

Yuma just smiled, "Those two are in love with each other. They've been ignoring each other for a while. They just got together yesterday-"

"Yuma"

We looked to the front at Ukyo-sensei. I gulped, I can't get in trouble. Wait, Astral and Rima love each other. So kawaii~

"Yuma, Kotori, would you like to share what you were both talking about?" he asked.

I was about to explain before Yuma stood up.

I watched him as he shouted, "I was just saying to Kotori how today's test was totally out of nowhere, sensei!"

"I told everyone last week and every day since, Yuma," said Ukyo-sensei teasingly.

Yuma blushed and crossed his arms, "W-well-"

"Just take a seat, Yuma," said Ukyo-sensei and the whole class laughed.

Yuma sat down and gave me a thumbs up, "See? No trouble at all"

I blushed, "You were defending me?"

"A-as if!" he said looking away.

I looked down a bit downhearted before muttering, "Baka"

* * *

_**Rima's P.O.V**_

A huge blimp advertising the WDC was flying high above us.

Yuma, Kotori, Tetsuo and I were just walking around from after school.

Yuma put his hands behind his head, "Shoot, I totally didn't' Kattobingu that test today!"

Kotori leaned into both me and Tetsuo, "I wonder if you can even 'Kattobingu' to a test"

Yuma got all up in Kotori's face, "I always Kattobingu to everything!"

Chirping noises interrupted him. We all looked down to see a small duckling.

"What's wrong?" asked Kotori as she knelt down and scooped down the bird. She then stood back up and looked at it worried, "Did you stray away from your mother?"

It kept chirping in one direction. It was also facing that way so…We all looked that way confused. There was an out-of-commission Obot. There was also two more ducklings on top of it.

"An Obot?" questioned Yuma as we stared, "What's it doing over there?"

We all ran over to it. Yuma knelt down and held the Obot's head, "Is it broken?"

He looked a bit confused as to why the other ducklings were on it, as were we.

"It looks like these guys are trying to tell us something," noted Kotori.

I went on my knees and poked the Obot, "Why's there an Obot here of all places though?"

Yuma also poked it and a beak came out of the Obot's mouth. We all gasped.

"Yuma, try opening it," I said moving back a bit.

Yuma complied with a grunt and a huge mother duck flew out making him fall backwards to beside me.

The three ducklings flew to their mother happily.

"So we saved their mother?" asked Kotori happily, "Thank goodness"

Yuma then stood up proudly.

"Say, Yuma," said Kotori looking to him, "Maybe we should help this Obot"

We looked at her surprised. I put a hand on Kotori's shoulder, "That's Kotori. The girl with a heart of gold"

When she is not yelling at Yuma, that is. Kotori looked at me a bit embarrassed before turning back to Yuma.

"Don't be ridiculous," said Yuma, hands on his hips.

We took out all the wires, or the mainframe, and Yuma was basically looking at all the wires.

"Let's see," said Yuma, "This goes with that…This cord, maybe?"

I sweat dropped. I don't even think he knows what he's doing. I mean, he gets a lower mark than me in science and technology! And believe me, I'm not good at science. Or math.

"Yuma, are you sure about that?" asked Tetsuo watching Yuma.

"Nope, no clue," he answered bluntly.

We all sweat dropped. At least he admitted it but still.

I picked up a red wire with a damaged end, "I don't think this is supposed to be like this"

"Yuma, try connecting the interior cord with the one Rima has"

We turned behind us to look at Astral, "Eh?"

I handed Yuma my cord, "You have better luck with this than I do"

Yuma grabbed it and looked for the other one. He found it, "So I just gotta connect these two?"

He just made the two cords touch, that's it. Even I knew that wouldn't work.

I saw Kotori take off her clip and hold it out to Yuma, "Why don't you try using this?"

"Guess it's worth a try," said Yuma taking it. He connected it to the cords and the heart on it lit up, "Huh?"

We heard processing sounds before the Obot stood up and put the wires back into it. It's 'ears' blinked before staring at Yuma. It suddenly grabbed Yuma, "Garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage"

Astral, in all of this, had floated over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, from behind. I looked up, just noticing, "When did you get there, Astral?"

"Just now," he said leaning his chin on my shoulder.

"Well, it's gotta be fixed since it's picking up trash now," said Tetsuo.

I laughed in agreement, "True"

"Don't just stand there, you guys!" shouted Yuma.

Astral leaned over a bit and stared at Yuma amused.

I smiled and turned my head slightly to peck his cheek. I had succeeded but Astral turned my head to make our lips meet. It was a just a chaste kiss but I didn't care. What does Astral taste like, you ask? I think that's my little secret.

* * *

"Y-you…"

We were all staring at a bush. There were noises coming from it. Suddenly, the Obot Yuma saved appeared from behind it, "Irritate."

Kotori and Tetsuo were laughing while Yuma was holding his head in exasperation. Astral and I were just standing side by side, Astral staring at the Obot.

"It followed us here!" said Yuma irritated, "My god!" he then sat onto the porch.

"My god," repeated the Obot.

I laughed slightly at that. My hand brushed my extra deck-box making me go rigid. Black Mist…Truthfully, I was scared of him. What if he hurt Astral again? I…I just won't let that happen. I'll protect Astral.

I shook it off as Kotori spoke, "Since it's here, maybe you should look after it"

Yuma stood up heatedly, "Give me a break! I'm busy dueling! I don't got time for this-"

The Obot start beeping making us look at it, "Duel, duel"

A duel disk flew out of its…stomach and onto its arm.

"What?!" asked Yuma shocked.

I watched the Obot curiously, "Strange…"

Tetsuo and Kotori gasped at it.

"You really wanna duel?" asked Yuma before raising his fist, "But wait, do you even got a deck?"

"Jinxed it," I said twirling a piece of my bangs that had fallen out of my ponytail.

"Jinx…?" questioned Astral looking to me.

I smiled at him, "It means doom. So 'jinxed it' pretty much means Yuma doomed it"

Astral thought about it before nodding, "I suppose that makes sense. There's not much logic to it though"

"Are you calling me dumb?" I asked playfully.

Astral didn't notice. He looked frantic, "Rima, I didn't mean it like-"

I laughed, interrupting him, "Astral, I was joking, don't worry"

Astral still looked a bit distressed, "I still apologize, Rima"

I stared at him, "Astral…" I kissed his cheek, "Does that make it better?"

He smiled, "A bit more, maybe?"

I nudged him with my hip, "Don't be too cocky"

He smiled innocently or was it naively? Aw, just makes him cute as a button. Wait, no, Astral is cuter than anything~

Obot beeping interrupted my thoughts. Its mouth opened and about 40 cards came out of it. It all landed into the deck holder. It then raised its claws/hands and shouted, "Duel!"

**Skip to end of duel!**

Yuma flew backwards as Tetsuo, Kotori and I sat down watching.

**Obot: ?LPS Yuma: 1900LPS**

Yuma grumbled in irritation, he was losing.

Obot continued, "I activate the magic card, When You Wish Upon A Star. When I have two monsters on the field with equal attack power and defense power, this card allows me to select one of the monsters and change their level to the others'. I change the level of Rubbishrobo Kettaroo to the same level as Rubbishrobo Cyclacooda (Lvl: 4)!"

"Eh?" asked Yuma shocked.

I had to admit though. This Obot is a really good duelist.

"I overlay the level four Rubbishrobo Kettaroo and Rubbishrobo Cyclacooda. I use these two monsters to construct the overlay network. Xyz summon. Come out, Wind-up Panzer Zenmaister (Atk: 1900-Rank: 4). I use Zenmaister to direct attack Yuma"

Yuma fell onto his back, legs up, "Gah!"

**Obot: ?LPS Yuma: 0LPS**

**Obot is the winner!**

We all stood up as Kotori clasped her hands in delight, "That was amazing, Obot!"

The Obot moved its' mechanical fingers and looked to Yuma, "You suck. You suck"

"What was that?!" asked Yuma angrily as he took of his D-Gazer.

Astral fell in behind him, "Yuma, the dueling tactics of this machine far surpass your own"

Yuma gaped at him before his face turned really red from anger.

I grinned and threw my arm over Yuma's shoulders, "Astral's right, you know"

Yuma glared at me as to which I laughed. He shook my arm off, offended, "You're supposed to be on my side, Rima"

"Am I?" I asked innocently. Nah, I'll pick Astral's side.

"You're really strong!" said Kotori leaning over the Obot.

The Obot suddenly unwrapped Kotori's ribbon.

"What?" asked Kotori confused. Kotori tried to get her ribbon back but failed.

I blinked, "What the hell?"

The Obot tied the ribbon to its' own 'ear'. It then spun around happily.

"Gosh…" said Kotori exasperatingly.

"But it looks kinda happy," noted Tetsuo.

Kotori stared at it, "Could this Obot be…a girl?"

"That seems to be the case," I said looking at the Obot. I guess there could be different gender robots.

"This Obot is?" questioned Yuma dryly.

Kotori turned to us, "I feel sorry for this Obot! Let's give her a name. Obo…What do you think about 'Obomi the Shining Robot'?" she asked.

"Mi…" I said tilting my head. Mi meant beautiful.

"The hell's that?" deadpanned Yuma.

Kotori looked to him embarrassed, "Oh, come on!"

"Let's just stick with Obomi," said Yuma, "Obomi's fine!"

"Eh?!" asked Kotori incredulously. She was totally going to lose this argument.

"Obomi, Obomi," said the Obot as she rolled over to Yuma, "Obomi, Obomi, Obomi!"

Kotori giggled, "Looks like she's taken a liking to you, Yuma"

Obomi, I guess, hopped up and down, "Yuma, Yuma, Yuma!"

Yuma sighed, "Come on, I've got enough issues carrying Astral around with me"

I laughed, "Astral clings to me, not you" I said wrapping my arms around said-person.

"Even though I can't see Astral," said Tetsuo making us look at him, "I know you're the one clinging to him, Rima"

I blushed and nestled myself into Astral's chest, "Shut up!" It probably sounded stifled.

"We can't see Astral, Rima, so we can still see you blushing~" teased Kotori staring at me.

"Man, I just can't win, can I?" I said just leaning my cheek on Astral's chest instead.

He lifted my face up and kissed my nose, I'm still not sure if he was aiming for that. He smiled, "You've won me, Rima"

"I suppose that makes up for it," I said with a fake sigh.

* * *

Yuma and Tetsuo were playing a game of basketball as I leaned on a lamppost. Astral was hovering a bit off the ground in front of me. I just noticed how short I am compared to him.

"Neh, neh, Astral look!" I said pulling his arm near me.

He blinked confused, "Where?"

"Over there!" I said pointing to the little kids playing together. And by playing, I mean shouting.

"Shut up!" shouted the girl, "I was really worried, you baka!"

"W-well, that's not my fault, is it?!" the boy retorted back.

I smiled slightly, "That reminds me of…"

"Of…?" questioned Astral.

I shook my head, "It just reminds me of two friends of mine"

Astral lowered himself completely to the ground and smiled, "Let's go, Rima. Yuma is leaving us"

I blinked and looked over there to see, in fact, Yuma was leaving with Tetsuo and Kotori.

I shouted in frustration, "You guys…!"

I grabbed Astral's hand and started dragging him with me. His fingers intertwined with mine.

* * *

Then they went skateboarding which utterly failed. I grinned as I watched Yuma fall on his face…again.

"Rima"

I blinked and turned to Astral, "Hm…?"

"I love you," he said looking into my eyes. Those mismatched eyes…I loved that the most about him.

I smiled blushingly, "I know, Astral. Why are you saying this?"

He cupped my cheek, "So you remember"

"How can I forget?" I asked him as he leaned in for a kiss. I just grinned and kissed his nose and running away, "Catch me~"

He blinked at where I was and back to me. I stopped and looked at him, "Come on, Astral! The point of this game is to 'tag' the other person"

Astral nodded and flew after me, really quickly. I gulped, "Eep!" I started running away.

But, Astral was able to catch up because I wasn't the fastest runner. He grabbed me by the waist as I stared in front of me. I looked down at the hands around me, "You win…sadly"

He turned me around in his arms to face him. He then kissed my nose making me blush, "Caught you"

* * *

Tetsuo and Yuma were dueling Obomi once more. Kotori was hugging Obomi since she won and the boys were on the ground.

I clasped my hands together, "Obomi's amazing!"

Astral floated in front of me, watching the ended duel.

* * *

_Dream sequence_

I glared heatedly at Black Mist, "Go away"

"I can't, I'm sealed here," said Black Mist crossing his arms.

I growled, "I meant get away from me"

He was so annoying!

He looked to the left, where it was darkest weirdly. He smirked, "The Emperor's Key is that way. I think I'll go and visit my old friend 'the original'"

The original? What the hell is that? Wait…could he mean Astral? I glared at him, "I won't let you near Astral!"

"Is that a threat?" asked Black Mist smugly.

I ground my teeth, "It is. You'll have to go through me to get to Astral"

He fiendishly smiled, "How do you think you can do that?"

I don't know. I smirked, "You're a duelist, I'm a duelist. We both have and/or are numbers. I think we can figure this out"

"A duel?" he asked incredulously, "How can you duel?"

"I'm a former pro duelist, mind you," I said haughtily, "I think I can handle a…a thing"

He glared at me, "Then let's get to it"

A white D-Gazer appeared over my eye. Uh, how the hell did that happen? Maybe it was my key…? Oh to hell with it, I'll ignore it. Also, a white duel disk appeared on my arm. That's really strange. I put my deck in the shuffler, "I won't let you get passed me, Black Mist!"

His own black duel disk appeared, I don't really think he needs a D-Gazer. He smirked, "We'll see"

"Duel!"

"Light before dark," I said jokingly, "My turn, draw! I summon Nova Summoner (Atk: 1400-Lvl: 4) and tribute her for Tethys, Goddess of Light (Atk: 2400-Lvl: 5)!"

I smiled at the fairy as she appeared in a flash. I looked at my hand and took a breath, "I set one card face down and end my turn!"

"My turn, draw!" announced Black Mist, "I summon Herald of Black Light (Atk: 300-Lvl: 2)!"

I stared at the dark creature. That looked exactly like my Herald of Orange Light…I glared at Black Mist, "You're using my monsters!"

He smirked, "No, I'm enhancing them into the dark side"

"My fairies are light!" I shouted at him disgusted. He's using my fairies? I will hurt him if I can.

"My fairies are dark," he retorted, "Now, I activate equip magic card Protector of Black! Now I equip it to my Herald! Now he cannot be destroyed for five turns and I get no battle damage if that monster is attacked. End turn!"

That monster was level 2…I shook it off, "My turn, draw! I activate Tethys' effect! I'll show you this nice light fairy-type monster I drew and I can draw another card!"

He smirked at the card I held up, "The Agent of Mystery – Earth. Low Atk, it won't help"

I just disregarded him. I drew another card and smirked at it. I looked to No. 96, "I summon The Agent of Mystery – Earth (Def: 800-Lvl: 2)! I activate my set trap card Fairy Duplicator! I can duplicate my fairy by one, two or three. I choose to duplicate it two times"

Two more Agents appeared (Def: 800-Lvl: 2).

He smirked, "You're going to summon _me_?"

I frowned, "Don't be so conceited, No. 96. I now activate Level Down, Light! I can lower a level on any fairy monster but…I have to pay 500 for each level I lower. It works on more than one monster as well! I choose all three of my Earths' and lower their levels by one (Lvl: 1)"

Black Mist stared at me. I'm going to summon Galaxy Queen.

"I overlay all three of my level 1 monsters!" I announced, "Xyz summon! Come forth, No. 83 Galaxy Queen (Def: 500-Rank: 1)!"

I grinned as my beautiful number appeared. She waved her wand and cackled.

**Skip to end of duel!**

I was losing. I was losing hard. Black Mist had himself on the field while Galaxy Queen was barely alive. I had one set card and he had one set card. I panted hard, if I lose…No. 83 truly belongs to Astral so if I lose…?

**Black Mist: 2700LPS Rima: 400LPS**

Black Mist smirked at me, "I end my turn! What can you do now, Rima~"

I hated how he said my name. It made me feel dirty. I looked down, can I win now? I was barely holding on…

"Have faith"

I looked around. Who said that? It was that man's voice…

Black Mist looked around angrily, "You better not interfere! It's her fault for asking!"

No one answered back. I stared at him weirdly, "Who are you talking to?"

"It doesn't matter," said Black Mist maliciously, "Just hurry up and lose, stupid girl!"

Have faith? Whoever it was said that. I…I felt like I could trust that person, that man. I can win. I can't give up!

Suddenly, my deck-box opened, glowing intensely. I stared at it in awe, "What the…?"

I hesitantly reached into it and pulled out…Chaos No. 83 Chaos Goddess! My hand shook, "Is this…?"

"What is holding you up?" asked Black Mist with that demonic smile.

It was my turn to smile, he won't know what hit him. I looked to Galaxy Queen and she gave me a swift nod. I smiled, "Alright! Now, I overlay No. 83 Galaxy Queen! Come forth, Chaos No. 83 Chaos Goddess (Atk: 1000-Rank: 1)!"

She was beautiful. Her hair had turned the same snowy white as my own. She has a black dress on and white flurry wings. I quickly read over her effect. Ooh, Black Mist is gonna lose.

Speaking of, he stared at the new monster before sneering, "How will she be any help?"

I ignored him and shot my hand forward, "By using up all overlay units, I can destroy every card on the field excluding Chaos Goddess. Now _your _life points are decreased by 1000 for every card"

No. 86, his set card and my set card…

Black Mist looked at me in horror, "I cannot be beat by someone like you!"

I smirked, "Well, too bad, 96! You're about to get defeated by the fairy-hime!"

All the cards were destroyed and their glow flew to Chaos Goddess' hands. She fluttered her wings and put her hands out in front of her.

I grinned, "Go Chaos Goddess! Black and White Marble Disaster!"

A black and white beam shot from Chaos Goddess' hands and hit Black Mist head on. His eyes were full of anger. If I was him, I'd think I'd be the same.

**Black Mist: 0LPS Rima: 400LPS**

**Rima is the winner!**

I panted in exhaustion as Chaos Goddess disappeared. Black Mist floated to his feet before flying off somewhere else. I defeated him. I helped out Astral. I got a wicked Chaos number. I fell forward.

* * *

_**No one's P.O.V**_

Rima fell forwards, she was too exhausted. Before she hit the ground, someone caught her and held her up, pressed to their chest.

It was a man, his light blue skin seemed to be glowing. He had spiky gravity-defying white hair and he was all but hovering off the ground. His brown eyes were full of pride as he stroked Rima's hair. He smiled softly and kissed her forehead goodnight.

* * *

_**Rima's P.O.V**_

I sat up, looked at the clock and lay back down. It was already noon yet I was so tired. I…the last thing I remember was defeating Black Mist in a duel. I guess I woke up. I smiled softly, my first number duel…

I didn't know that it drained you or maybe it's because I'm not used to it. I stared at the ceiling, I hope I don't get used to it. I think I'll just sleep today. I don't wanna go and grab Ryoga to bring me home again. I fell back asleep.

* * *

I woke up to see a starry sky outside my window. My eyes widened, "I slept so long!"

My D-Gazer rang and I picked it up, "Hello?"

Kotori appeared on it, "Rima, something's happening with Obomi!" She explained some things and I could see Astral peering from over her shoulder.

"Obomi…jewelry theft?" I repeated confused.

"Yeah, we're running there," said Kotori, "Can you catch up?"

I looked at her apologetically, "I'm sorry, Kotori, I can't…I hope you can forgive me but that number duel took-"

I quickly clasped my hands over my mouth. Shit! Astral's eyes were wide in the camera, "What?!"

Yuma shoved his face into the camera, "Number duel?!"

I quickly hung up and stared shocked. I really hope they don't ask.

* * *

"Rima"

I gulped as I slowly turned to face Astral, "H-hey…"

I had made it to school without seeing them and…here they are.

"You were involved in a numbers duel," said Astral. It was more of a statement than a question.

I laughed nervously, "About that…Um, never mind. It wasn't a numbers duel, I just used numbers"

Sorry, Astral but I have to lie.

He looked at me worried, "You wouldn't duel against someone without numbers, Rima"

I looked away, "I did duel with a numbers but…I didn't receive one. I can't collect numbers, 'member?"

He looked content with my answer, "Rima, please don't go headfirst into a number duel. I worry so much about you"

I smiled, "I know, Astral. I love you~"


	22. The Seized Emperor's Key!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

I blinked at what Yuma just told me, "There's a spaceship in the Emperor's Key?"

He nodded feverishly, "Even ask Astral!"

I turned to said-person, "Really?"

Astral nodded, "Yes, parts of it activate when I retrieve numbers-"

"-It wouldn't happen to be filled with sand and always have an azure sky, would it?" I questioned. I wondered if it was like the Empress Key.

Astral looked at me surprised, "How did you know, Rima?"

I looked away for a moment. Should I tell him? I just won't add in the part about Black Mist and that…blue being. I looked back to Astral, "…The Empress Key looks like that"

Astral stared at me, "You…"

I brushed back some bangs, "I've been inside the Empress Key a lot, Astral" I said truthfully.

We stayed quiet until Yuma perked up, "Let's go! We're going to be late, Rima!"

I gasped, "You're right! For a change…" I added.

"What was that?!" asked Yuma all up in my face.

I grinned at him, "Nothing~"

I blew a kiss at Astral, "See ya later!" I then ran away.

* * *

_**Astral P.O.V**_

I blinked as Rima ran off. She just kissed her fingers and then blew on it. I turned to Yuma for an explanation, "Yuma, what was that Rima did with her hand?"

He looked at me, "That was her blowing you a kiss"

She blew me a kiss? What does that represent? I would rather if she actually kissed me on the _lips_, I smiled at the thought. I looked back to the spikey-headed boy, "Yuma, what was-"

"You're so annoying!" shouted Yuma at me as he walked away.

I watched after him. He's calling _me_ annoying?

* * *

_**Rima P.O.V**_

Yuma and I walked into the pool area. Yuma was talking about how he was going to dive.

"Hold on!"

We looked in front of us to see Inchou holding his arms out.

"What's your problem?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

"You're not allowed to enter the pool while wearing a pendant!" shouted Inchou pointing to both mine and Yuma's keys.

"Why?!" I asked. No beeping way am I taking this off! Kotori walked over as well.

Inchou glared, "That's because, to summarize, it's dangerous!"

"It's _not_ dangerous at all!" retorted Yuma and I. That's like saying Yuma's hair is dangerous! Okay, bad example.

"Cat thinks so as well," said Cat-chan suddenly appearing beside Yuma.

Tetsuo walked over as well.

"Say, Yuma, didn't you dive into the pool a few days ago and injure your head as a result? Right…?" asked Kotori.

She winked nervously. I blinked, "Oh hell! I totally forgot!" Inchou hit his head because of the Emperor's Key!

"Hah?" asked Yuma confused, "Head injury? Who hit theirs?"

"God…" said Kotori looking away.

Inchou exploded and took of his cap, "My head!"

"That's no reason for _me_ to take mine off!" I shouted in his face.

He glared, "Yes, it is! They are the same so, to summarize, it's equally dangerous!"

I growled at him as I stomped off to the change room.

* * *

I'm not taking off my pendant. Like hell! I took of my bathing suit and put on my uniform and shorts. I pressed my shorts down while muttering, "I don't see why I have to take my key off. It's stupid!"

I sat down on one of the benches and sighed. I hope Astral is doing better than I am. I'm going to stay here until swimming is over!

I heard a crash. I turned to the door, "What the hell…?"

I stood up and walked over to the door as I heard another huge crash. I ran out of the room and looked down the hall. My eyes widened as I saw a huge drill in my face.

"Rima!"

I was grabbed by the shoulders and pinned to the wall as the drill hit where I just was. I looked to see Ryoga, "W-what's happening?!"

Ryoga shook his head as I noticed the Emperor's Key in his hand, "I'll explain later. Now, run!"

He grabbed my hand and sprinted down the hall. I glanced back at the…the robot, "Is that…?" It looked like Orbital 7.

"Stop running away!" the robot shouted from down the hall. I was sure it was Orbital 7 now. If he's here, Kaito might be as well!

I was barely running. It was mostly just Ryoga dragging me, "W-why do you have the Emperor's Key?"

"That thing was trying to steal it," said Ryoga as he glanced back.

I looked at the key, Astral…

Ryoga pulled me up the stairs quickly. He scowled at me, "You're too slow!"

"Shut up!" I shouted at him as I sprinted faster. I almost fell a couple of times but Ryoga's grip on my hand was tight.

He kicked open the door to the roof and we ran there. We stopped and faced the door, panting.

The ground under us was shaking and Orbital came out, "Gimme that pendant!"

Ryoga turned to it and pushed me behind him. I clutched Ryoga's hand tightly.

"That's enough, Orbital!"

The drill was almost touching Ryoga's nose when it stopped. It retreated and we both looked back to the newcomer. I was at a loss for words, it was Kaito!

"Just butting in like that…" said Ryoga.

"Control your dumb robot, Kaito!" I shouted at him angrily. His eyes flickered in recognition but he said nothing to me.

"_Kaito-sama_," said the robot as I felt him glare at me.

"Shut up! I'll call Kaito 'Kaito' if I want to!" I scowled at it.

He raised his drill, ready to attack, as I glared.

"Orbital!" shouted Kaito once more.

Orbital complied this time, "Kaito-sama…"

"Would you mind handing me the pendant you're holding?" asked Kaito looking to Ryoga, "And while you're at it, pass the girl"

"I refuse," scowled Ryoga, "This doesn't belong to you and I sure as hell won't let you take Rima!"

Kaito looked to me then back to Ryoga, "I'm aware that it belongs to Yuma Tsukumo"

"You know Yuma?" asked Ryoga a bit surprised.

I glared at the robot behind us, "Baka bot…"

"Yeah," said Kaito, "Since he has numbers"

I looked back when Kaito said that. Is he gonna collect numbers here or is it just the pendant? And why the hell does he need me?

"Numbers…" repeated Ryoga, "I see. You're the Numbers Hunter?!"

"Ryoga, don't get involved," I warned. Wait…how did he know about the Numbers Hunter?

"Oh?" asked Kaito, "You know who I am? Then you must have numbers"

I was about to interfere but Ryoga smirked, "And if I did?"

"Ryoga!" I shouted at him. What was he doing? He doesn't have a numbers!

"Then it's just perfect for _me_!" said Kaito, "I will get both a numbers and the pendant!"

His eyes flashed to me, "And I will get the girl as well"

I glared at him, "It's Rima! Ri-ma!"

"Rima," said Ryoga as I looked at him, "Why is he trying to capture you?"

"…Same as Yuma, I own numbers," I answered reluctantly. I also added the plural, I hope no one noticed.

"I already knew that," said Ryoga making me surprised.

"Huh?" I asked tilting my head.

"You talk in your sleep, that's all you need to know," he said, eyes flashing with humor.

Oh my god, what the hell do I say when I'm sleeping?!

"Let's duel!" shouted Kaito.

Ryoga stared at the Emperor's Key as I thought about Astral. He's safe for now but if Ryoga accepts this duel…He will lose his soul shall he lose.

I looked at Kaito, "I'll duel you-"

"No," said Ryoga raising an arm in front of me, "I accept your challenge"

"Ryoga…" I whined to cover my worry.

"Rima," he said in a tone that had to be followed.

I rolled my eyes, "I'll just stay here beside you" I need to stay by your side, I added silently. Rio, I promised you and I'll try my best to keep that promise.

"Duel mode! Photon mode!" shouted Kaito. I watched his whole attire change to white.

"Duel disk, set!" shouted Ryoga.

Kaito's duel disk appeared from Orbital too.

"D-Gazer, set!" shouted Ryoga.

"Now, offer me your soul!" shouted Kaito smirking.

Ryoga quickly put the Emperor's Key around his neck making me unconsciously stroke my Empress Key.

_A/R VISION LINK ESTABLISHED_

"Duel!"

"The first turn is mine!" announced Ryoga, "My turn, draw! I send Big Jaws from my hand to the graveyard! I activate the continuous magic card, Shark Rare, from my hand! As long as this card's effect remains active, you can't attack any of my monsters with attack power less than the monster's I just sent to the graveyard! Big Jaw's attack power is 1800! Now you can't attack with any of your monsters with 1800 or more attack! I then summon Shocktopus (Atk: 1600-Lvl: 4)! I set one card face down and end my turn!"

Already so much…His monster can't be defeated unless the attack power is 1700. Kaito must have a bunch of tricks up his sleeve. I don't doubt Ryoga's abilities either.

"My turn, draw!" announced Kaito, "I activate the Fusion magic card from my hand!"

"Fusion?!" questioned Ryoga incredulously.

I gasped, that totally rejects the magic card!

"I fuse the two Photon Lizards in my hand!" said Kaito, "By sending these small materials to the graveyard, I can special summon the fusion monster from my extra deck! Fusion summon! Show yourself, Twin Photon Lizard (Atk: 2400-Lvl: 6)! Your magic card blocks off attacks from a monster with 1800 or higher attack power. Such basic tricks won't work against me! Go, Twin Photon Lizard! Subliminal Breath!"

Ryoga and I put our arms in front of ourselves as the damage hit.

**Kaito: 4000LPS Ryoga: 3200LPS**

Ryoga reacted quickly, "But I'll use this moment to activate Shocktopus' effect! When Shocktopus is destroyed in battle, it becomes an equip magic card attached to the opponent's monster and you can't change the captured monster's battle position (Atk: 0)! In other words, you're stuck with a zero attack power monster on your field! That changes the situation! I'll deal massive damage next turn!"

I watched on, good move. I smiled, "Nice, Ryoga"

"I-is this guy really good or something?!" questioned Orbital 7 impressed. I suddenly felt a swell of pride for Ryoga.

"I have to wonder if things will go that smoothly for you," said Kaito smirking.

"What?" both Ryoga and I questioned. Ugh, I hate Kaito! He's so irritating in a duel and I have yet to duel him!

"I activate Twin Photon Lizard's effect!" declared Kaito, "If the material monsters used for the fusion summon are in my graveyard, I can cancel the fusion!"

The Photon Lizard's split (Atk: 900-Lvl: 3) and thus, the effect didn't work.

I saw Ryoga smirk at the monsters, nonetheless. There were the same level monsters so I'm sure Kaito's gonna summon a number so why is he…? Oh! Ryoga expected that or something. Maybe that's why he has a face down.

"I overlay the two level 3 lizards!" announced Kaito, "I use the two monsters to construct the overlay network! Xyz summon! Come forth, No. 30! Let your cursed power flow out of you! Acid Golem of Destruction (Atk: 3000-Rank: 3)!"

I stared at it suspiciously. Only rank 3? It must have a weak effect if it's powerful. Well…that's sort of what I thought of Black Mist. Ugh, stupid Black Mist, making me afraid…

"3000 attack points…!" said Ryoga surprised, "So this is his numbers!"

The Acid Golem was actually acidic. It was destroying everything under it with its acid.

Ryoga scoffed though, "Trap activate, Splash Capture! When my opponent Xyz summons, this card banishes two fish-type monsters in my graveyard to grant me control over my opponent's Xyz! I banish Big Jaws and Shocktopus in my graveyard! You fell for it, Numbers Hunter. I was aiming to take control of your powerful monster!"

I watched in worry as the No. 30 mark appeared on Ryoga's right hand. Ryoga started panting a little bit but the Emperor's Key seemed to negate the numbers effect. I smiled slightly, thank god.

"Now I've taken control of Acid Golem!" announced Ryoga as I felt worried for him. Of course, the Emperor Key would protect him like it did Tetsuo, but…If that number was like Black Mist…I could even hear that bastard's laughing ringing in my ears.

"I've stolen your ultra-powerful 3000 attack power numbers!" said Ryoga smirking, "This duel is mine!"

I sweat dropped, so cocky…

"Kaito-sama, this is getting bad!" said Orbital worried. Hah! He should be!

Kaito closed his eyes in irritation, "You stand back"

"Understood…" said Orbital shuffling away scared.

"I activate the magic card Compulsory Removal!" declared Kaito, "This card sends the overlay units attached an Xyz monster on the field to the graveyard. I set one card face down and end my turn!"

No overlay units…There's still the attack though, so that's something to keep in mind.

"So you destroyed its overlay units, did you?" questioned Ryoga crossly, "But as long as it's got its 3000 attack points…My turn, draw!"

Kaito smirk didn't go unnoticed to me, "This very moment, you'll take Acid Golem's curse!"

"Curse?!" I repeated thinking of Black Mist.

Ryoga looked up at the huge monster as it turned to him. Its eyes glowed before attacking Ryoga, which included me, with its attack.

I shouted as both Ryoga and I were knocked back. It left a huge crater underneath us. This is worse than Black Mist!

**Kaito: 4000LPS Ryoga: 1200LPS**

I groaned as I sat up. I'm not even dueling and I'm getting hit with damage.

"You see, Acid Golem is a self-destructing numbers," explained Kaito, "Acting as compensation for being a mere rank 3, yet wielding 3000 attack power. Its body is engulfed with a set of deadly curses"

I went on my knees and helped Ryoga sit up.

"Wh-what did you say?" asked Ryoga incredulously.

"One of those being, if you don't detach one overlay unit from the start of your turn, you suffer 2000 points of damage," he continued.

I looked at Ryoga worried as we both stood up. That is such a horrible effect!

"But Acid Golem still has its attack power!" retorted Ryoga, "Go, Acid Golem! Direct attack him!"

To our surprise, the monster didn't listen.

"It's useless," sneered Kaito.

"What?!" we questioned in unison. This is such a useless monster! No wonder Kaito collected it so easily…

"If Acid Golem has no overlay units attached to it, it can't attack," said Kaito.

"Wh-what did you say?" asked Ryoga shocked.

"I knew you planned to use a magic card when I summoned my powerful numbers," said Kaito a bit smugly.

Ryoga stared ahead, thinking of some way to win. He then closed his eyes in defeat. I placed a hand on his and smiled as he opened his eyes to look at me. My eyes travelled to the Emperor's Key, "You're doing this for a purpose, aren't you?"

I took my hand of his and watched him. He looked down at the Emperor's Key and held it, "That's right, huh? Yuma…I set a card face down and end my turn!"

"My turn, draw!" declared Kaito, "I activate the magic card Photon Sublimation! By banishing two Photon monsters in my graveyard, I can draw two cards! I banish my two Photon Lizards! I draw two cards! I special summon Photon Slasher! If I control no other monsters, Photon Slasher can be special summoned (Atk: 2100-Lvl: 4)!"

Its attack is higher than 2000…Is he…?

He continued, "I then normal summon Photon Crusher (Atk: 2000-Lvl: 4)! Here I come! I release these two monsters for a special summon!"

Ryoga questioned incredulously, "Just what are you-"

"No," I whispered. Galaxy-Eyes…

"This card cannot be normal summoned," said Kaito as that weird shield thing appeared, "But, by releasing two monsters with 2000 or more attack power, it can be special summoned!"

With his hand he gripped the shield-thing and threw it up high with a yell, "Descend, avatar of light!"

"W-what the…?!" questioned Ryoga in disbelief.

"Show yourself, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon (Atk: 3000-Lvl: 8)!" declared Kaito.

The bright-winged dragon appeared before us as it roared.

Lightning flashed in the background as I stared up at Galaxy-Eyes. This will make it almost impossible to win! It's his damn ace!

"What is that monster?!" asked Ryoga.

"His ace…" I said quietly.

"This is over," said Kaito smugly, "Photon Stream of Destruction!"

"What?!" asked Ryoga incredulously, "You're attacking a numbers?!"

"It doesn't matter," I said as I covered my eyes with my arm. Galaxy-Eyes always finds a way to destroy.

Ryoga also covered his face before turning to Kaito, "Impossible! Galaxy-Eyes isn't a numbers! Why can it destroy a numbers?!"

"Without overlay units attached to it, Acid Golem will still be destroyed when it takes an attack," explained Kaito.

Ryoga retorted, "But that attack just now was a bad play on your part! You just set me free from the curse of Acid Golem!"

Kaito laughed making me uncomfortable, "I made a mistake, you say? You're quite the romantic!"

"What?" asked Ryoga angrily.

"The curse has not ended," said Kaito, "When it is destroyed, its controller takes 2000 points of damage"

I gasped, that means…!

Acid Golem appeared from a hole in the ground.

"Wh-what did you say?" asked Ryoga alarmed.

Before I could see it coming, Ryoga pushed me away and he was hit by a huge attack.

**Kaito: 4000LPS Ryoga: 0LPS**

**Kaito is the winner!**

I stared unbelievingly, that didn't just happen…did it? Ryoga…lost?

"Forgive me, Yuma," muttered Ryoga as he looked up.

"Now give it up," said Kaito running over to him, "Your soul"

I wanted so much to look away but I couldn't. Kaito retrieved Ryoga's soul as my oniichan's screams hurt my ears. Kaito grabbed Ryoga's soul but he stared at it shocked, "There isn't a numbers inside this soul…!"

"Of course there isn't," I said tears streaming down my cheeks as Kaito looked at me, "He was protecting Yuma, of course he lied"

I ran over and grabbed the Emperor's Key. I held it tight against my chest.

"A deal's a deal," he scowled as he stared at me.

I glared at him, "You hurt Ryoga, you don't deserve it!"

He held his other hand out, "Give it over or I will hurt you"

I looked to Ryoga and back to Kaito, "No"

With that, I didn't see it coming, but I fell something/one hit my shoulder and I fell unconscious.

* * *

_**No one's P.O.V**_

Kaito put his arm out as Rima fell onto it. He held the girl up with ease. He then glared at Orbital 7, "I didn't ask you to knock her out, Orbital"

Orbital looked down, "S-sorry Kaito-sama!"

"Sh-Shark! Rima!"

Kaito turned to see Yuma, "Tsukumo Yuma"

"You…!" said Yuma surprised, "Kaito…!"

Kaito sucked in Ryoga's soul.

"Shark!" said Yuma looking at him. He then saw the unconscious girl in Kaito's arms, "Rima! Just what the hell did you to them?!"

"Kaito sama, you've used up about 85% of your Photon Mode! You can't afford to duel now!"

"I know that," said Kaito as he walked to the edge of the roof, Rima in hand. The Emperor's Key glinted and it caught Yuma's eye.

"That's the Emperor's Key!" shouted Yuma.

Kaito glanced at the boy before lifting Rima off the ground, bridal-style. He then jumped off the building as Orbital 7 attached itself to him.

"Astral! Rima!" shouted Yuma as he watched helplessly.

Kaito glanced down to the girl in his arms and saw her knuckles white from holding the Emperor's Key. Her grip hadn't faltered even when she was knocked unconscious.

"Astral…" she whispered softly leading Kaito to wonder what or who that was.


	23. The Destined Duel! Astral VS Kaito!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

Kaito was able to grab the Emperor's Key from Rima's iron grip and placed it into the machine. After a few moments, he turned to see Rima no longer there. He blinked in confusion, "What the…?"

Unbeknownst to him, Rima was in the Empress Key.

* * *

_**Rima P.O.V**_

I was in the Empress Key. I groaned, "I can't believe I was knocked out!"

Black Mist was in front of me as I glared at him, "What do you want, No. 96?"

He was staring somewhere and I followed his gaze. He was staring at the pitch-black part of the Empress Key, the gate to the Emperor's.

"Why are you staring there?" I asked in pure curiosity as I stood up.

He kept staring in that direction, "The gate is weak right now"

"Meaning…?" I questioned still confused.

"Meaning someone could go through it," he said quietly, "One person could go through because it is a bit unstable"

He was going to go through?!

"You should go now," he said not facing me, "Go save your lover"

I stared at him in shock. He's letting me go? What happened to the guy that was trying to kill me?!

"Why are you willing to sacrifice your way out?" I questioned confused.

He looked to me and I saw he was smiling, coldly but smiling. It was weird, "I've already told you. My heart yearns for you no matter how much I hate it"

"Black Mist…" I was still afraid but at this moment, it was hard to be.

He opened his mouth to say something before going against it, "This is the last time I will let you get in the way of my plans to become the strongest number"

Knowing he wasn't going to say any more, I ran straight for the pitch-black part.

* * *

I screamed as I fell. "Ow…" I whined as I sat up. I looked around, everything pretty much looked the same except for the giant airship I was currently in.

Galaxy Queen escaped from my extra deck and floated around me. I smiled at her, "Hey No. 83"

"Rima?"

I blinked and looked up to see Astral staring at me, "Astral! I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Rima, what are you doing here?" asked Astral as I scrambled to my feet.

My smile dropped, "Ryoga is…" I wiped away some tears that fell from my eyes.

"Ryoga is…?" questioned Astral as he stared at me worried.

"His soul was stolen!" I shouted in agony.

Astral stared at me shocked as I ran into his arms, "R-Rima…"

Then we heard footsteps.

"I found you"

We turned to see Kaito. Astral held me against his chest protectively.

Kaito's eyes flashed to me in confusion before regaining his composure, "You're the messenger from the Astral World?"

"As I thought, it was you, Kaito," said Astral as the number cards circled us. I felt Astral's hold on me tighten in the slightest.

"Why do you know my name?" questioned Kaito.

I stayed quiet as Astral answered, "I fought with you once before"

"With me?" questioned Kaito.

Right at that moment, Hope flew to in front of us.

Kaito looked a bit surprised, "Oh? Those numbers are…I see. You transferred the original numbers to Tsukumo Yuma"

"You stole the Emperor's Key from Yuma," stated Astral.

I felt my own key respond to that.

"Is that called the Emperor's Key?" asked Kaito.

"Why are you searching for numbers?" Astral asked, thinking of a good question.

"Same question to you," said Kaito, "Why?"

"The numbers are a part of his memory," I answered for Astral.

"What?" questioned Kaito, "His memories, you say?"

"That is correct," said Astral, "Therefore, I collect the numbers. But why are you searching for them?"

Kaito smirked, "It's because I want to know the secret about the numbers, the Astral World and the Barian World"

"Barian?" I quizzed. Astral World I've heard of, but Barian World?

I looked to Astral and he shook his head to show he didn't know either. What the hell?

"I have to collect all the numbers and find the answer," continued Kaito, "Well, could I get all your numbers?"

He then raised his hand and looked at me, "You're in possession of a numbers as well, right? I'd like to collect yours as well"

And my soul.

Astral pushed me behind him, scowling a bit at Kaito, "You will not touch Rima"

"Why is everyone so protective of her?" mused Kaito, "Nonetheless, as long as I can duel you, I won't touch her"

"Does this mean we will both bet all our numbers?" asked Astral as I hugged him closer.

Kaito smirked coldly, "Fate opened the door. Now, let's duel!"

Astral let go of our embrace and held my hands as we floated up to the top of the airship with Kaito following.

Astral and I stood at the opposite side of Kaito. Astral glanced at me, "Though you might get hit with damage, I'd rather you stay close to me"

I nodded at him, "Alright…but you know, Astral, I'll still feel your pain"

During every single duel he's in, I feel his pain so it really won't matter.

He kissed my cheek and said, "Be careful"

"I should be telling you that," I said quietly as my white D-Gazer suddenly appeared over my eye. Wow, it's like magic…

"Duel mode! Photon change!" shouted Kaito as his attire turned white. His duel disk boomeranged to his arm as his D-Gazer tattoo came into place, "Now, let me hunt for all of your numbers!"

I have No. 83 and No. 96, does that count for Astral too?

Astral raised his arm and his blue aura made a dark blue duel disk. I suppose he doesn't need a D-Gazer, "Let's go!"

"Duel!"

Astral started, "My turn, draw! I set a face down monster in defense position. Furthermore, I set a card and end my turn!"

He's going with a defensive strategy, opposite of Yuma. Astral's a good duelist, I trust him, I _have_ to trust him.

"My turn, draw!" announced Kaito, "Let me first seal your set card!"

Astral let out a low gasp but I just kept my eyes on Kaito. Even if he is a strong duelist, it's only second turn.

"I summon Reverse Buster (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)!" said Kaito, "When Reverse Buster battles, it seals one of the opponent's set spell or trap cards"

Chains appeared around Astral's set card.

"Go, Reverse Buster!" declared Kaito, "Attack the face down defense monster!"

Astral's set card flipped up to reveal Gogogo Golem (Def: 1500).

"As I thought, it was Gogogo Golem!" stated Kaito, "I activate Reverse Buster's effect!"

"What?" questioned Astral puzzled.

Kaito knew?!

"When Reverse Buster battles a face down defense position monster, it destroys the monster without calculating damage"

"Cheh…" I muttered under my breath as Astral looked cross.

"Gogogo Golem can only avoid being destroyed when it battles," said Kaito, "According to this effect, it cannot use the destruction avoidance ability. Moreover, when Reverse Buster destroyed a defense position monster during its effect, its attack power increases by 500 points (Atk: 2000)"

He was able to see through Astral's defense tactic. I glanced at Astral to see him frightened? He was thinking about Galaxy-Eyes probably.

"_The power of Zexal…"_

I blinked at that. I looked around to see no one…my imagination? Power of Zexal…I don't even know what that is.

"I set a card and end my turn," announced Kaito.

"You are magnificent, Kaito," commended Astral, "Your dueling skills are beyond my imagination"

What's with the compliments?

"What an honor," said Kaito smirking, "But if you want me to be indifferent by saying something like this, it's no use"

Astral wouldn't do that! He has honor.

"That was not my intention," defended Astral, "You are the strongest duelist, as far as I know. You put all your spirit into your duels. What makes you do this?"

I was wondering why Astral was interrogating Kaito.

"So, you had the time to observe me?" questioned Kaito smirking, "If I dared to tell you, you're different from those burdened people. I think it's just like this"

How damn cocky!

"It seems to me that you have a reason to collect the numbers, is that correct?" noticed Astral.

Kaito's confident smirk turned into a frown, "I don't intend to talk about this to you who'll soon disappear"

"Astral's not going to disappear," I said to myself, failing to convince.

"Is that so?" asked Astral before he glanced at me in worry, "That's disappointing. I am fascinated about you. You have something like Yuma has, right?"

"What did you say?!" questioned Kaito angrily. I stifled a laugh at his lost composure.

"Is it like this, isn't it?" asked Astral, "When I transferred to Yuma, I felt his heart because of that. At the bottom of Yuma's heart is the sadness of having lost his parents. And he struggles with this sadness, with his parent's teachings, which he believes in and keeps on living by"

Astral is more observant than I give him credit for.

"You mean he and I are alike?" asked Kaito incredulously.

"That's right," answered Astral.

"Don't joke around!" screamed Kaito, "I don't have parents or something like that! The only one I have is Haruto!"

"Haruto…?" I questioned flashing back to Yuma and Kaito's duel. He had said that name then as well…

"Cut out that idiotic conversation!" ordered Kaito, "Continue the duel! Now, it's your turn!"

Astral went, "My turn, draw! I summon Gogogo Giant (Atk: 2000)! When this card is successfully summoned, I can special summon Gogogo Golem in defense position (Def: 1500)! And when this effect is used, Gogogo Giant's position changes into defense position (Def: 0)"

The corners of my mouth twitched upwards, he's going to summon Hope! I looked at Astral to see him staring concernedly at Kaito's set card.

Astral then narrowed his eyes, "Cheh…I activate the continuous magic card Double Defender from my hand! This card is activated when there are two face-up defense position monsters on the field, and allows me to negate an opponent's attack once per turn"

"Astral…" I whispered. He was afraid. I just sighed and accepted his decision.

"I set a card and end my turn," declared Astral.

"I surely thought that you'd call out your ace card, Hope, but if you did that, your defense position monsters Gogogo Golem and Gogogo Giant would disappear. And, if you'd use Hope's ability, your defense would decrease. Those two set cards are for protection too, aren't they?"

Astral's strategy is defensive. But…even though I do trust Astral's abilities…you can't win a duel by just defending.

Kaito put his hand on his hip, "You were aware of my set card? Or are you just afraid of Galaxy-Eyes?"

Astral visibly faltered as his eyes widened in fear.

Kaito smirked, knowing the answer, "My turn, draw! I activate the magic card Photon Hurricane! This card allows me to put back as many cards from the opponent's spell and trap cards on the field equal to the amount I have in my hand. According to this, all your set cards will return to your hand"

"What did you say?!" asked Astral shocked.

I was astonished as well, Kaito still found a way through. I clenched and unclenched my fist, I was getting so mad!

"That's right," said Kaito, "The card I set, the one you were so afraid of-"

"Another magic card," breathed Astral at his stupidity.

Kaito sneered, "That's right, it wasn't a counter for your attack. If you had attacked me just now, this situation would have changed"

Such a dick!

"I release Reverse Buster and special summon Photon Leo (Atk: 2100-Lvl: 6)!" announced Kaito, "I activate Photon Leo's effect! Howling Blow!"

I kneeled onto the ground as the weird feeling passed. What was this?

"When this card is successfully summoned, the opponent is forced to put all his cards in his hand to his deck and lets him draw the same amount of cards"

Astral stared shocked as his cards went to his deck. I stood back up.

"Well now, draw new cards to your hand!" told Kaito.

Astral complied in irritation.

"Your strategy is set to the starting point with this," stated Kaito, "I am a little disappointed. Your current tactics were devoted to the defensive side. You are too scared!"

Astral's eyes widened in realization and fright.

"Astral…" I whispered soothingly to him as I put a hand on his arm. Astral…

Kaito continued, "I play the equip magic card Photon Spear and equip Photon Leo with it. When a monster is equipped with Photon Spear and its attack power surpasses its defense power, the defense is inflicted as damage to the opponent. Photon Leo, attack Gogogo Giant! Silver fang!"

Gogogo Giant was destroyed as my key made a barrier around me. Astral wasn't so lucky and he flew backwards.

**Kaito: 4000LPS Astral: 1900LPS**

I floated-ran over to Astral to make sure he was okay.

"_Zexal…The power of Zexal. Astral and Yuma…they need the power of Zexal! To fight…"_

I closed my eyes at that. Who are you? It was that man's voice but why is he saying such gibberish?

Astral got steady and scowled at Kaito.

"You are a good duelist," admitted Kaito, "But you should give up this duel. Your heart is too weak to win over me"

Astral was not weak! Gr…

Astral smiled softly at me before turning to Kaito glaring, "No, I will not give up! If I was the same me as before, I would certainly give up. But, I will not give up now! Because I was taught Kattobingu by my precious friends!"


	24. The Soul's Xyz Summon! ZEXAL!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

"Your life points are half of mine," noted Kaito, "Now, what are you going to do?"

Astral just glared at Kaito's confident look. I sort of swayed a bit before regaining balance. I was a bit dizzy…

"I set a card and end my turn," said Kaito, "What's wrong? You shouldn't already be cornered"

Astral's eyes narrowed as he continued, "My turn, draw!"

Astral started thinking as I stared at Kaito. This situation is…weird. I hope Ryoga, Yuma, and the others, are doing okay.

"What's wrong?" questioned Kaito after a moment, "It's your turn"

Astral looked to me and I smiled, "Kattobingu, Astral, Kattobingu," I said softly. He was going to act on instinct now, I guess.

He nodded and looked ahead a bit more confidently, "I summon Zubaba Knight (Atk: 1600-Lvl: 3)! Furthermore, I send a card from my hand to the graveyard and special summon Fallen Cone (Atk: 200-Lvl: 1)"

He grabbed a card, "I activate the magic card Drop Exchange! This card allows me to send two or more monsters on the field to the graveyard and special summon a monster from my hand with the level equal to the amount of level of the monsters I sent to the graveyard. I send level 1 Zubaba Knight and level 1 Fallen Cone to the graveyard and I special summon Kagetokage. This card cannot be normal summoned and can only be special summoned from the hand (Atk: 1100-Lvl: 4)"

I smiled love-stuck at Astral. This was sort of hot- alright, stop it, Rima. But really, the person I fell in love with is back.

Kaito smirked and spoke, "He has two level 4 monsters"

"I overlay Gogogo Golem and Kagetokage," said Astral, "I construct an overlay network with these two monsters. Xyz summon! Come forth, No. 39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)"

"Awesome, Astral!" I complimented.

I blinked once, blinked twice, before my eyes widened. Where was I?!

I stared at Black Mist who was in front of me, "Black Mist?"

"I'm just relaying a message," he said not meeting my eyes, "_He_ says that your friends need the power of Zexal to win. Your power will be coming soon, so be ready as well"

I blinked confused, Zexal? My power? And who was he relaying a message for? There wasn't exactly people here…Unless, that blue being…I was so confused! I stared at No. 96, "What do you…?"

I felt a small wave of power and I was back beside Astral. I blinked and looked around, it was like I never left. I'm pretty sure Astral would notice if I was gone…

Kaito spoke, interrupting my thoughts, "The numbers has appeared"

"Go, Aspiring Emperor – Hope!" ordered Astral, "Attack Photon Leo! Hope sword slash!"

**Kaito: 3600LPS Astral: 1900LPS**

My key felt warm against my skin. What was Black Mist talking about…?

"I can read your intentions!" sneered Kaito, "I activate the trap card, Armored Back! This card is activated when a monster equipped with an equip spell card is destroyed and will be revived in the same state as it was before it got destroyed"

That's…bad.

"Revive, Photon Leo (Atk: 2100)!"

I glanced at Astral as he was thinking the same thing. Galaxy-Eyes…

"I set a card and end my turn!" declared Astral.

"My turn, draw!" announced Kaito and he smirked at his card, "I summon Photon Circler (Atk: 1000-Lvl: 4)!"

"Photon Circler's attack power is 1000," stated Astral lowly, "He can't special summon Galaxy-Eyes if it's that attack power"

"Is that so?" questioned Kaito smirking, making me feel uncomfortable, "I activate the effect of Photon Spear which is equipped to Photon Leo. When Photon Spear is equipped to a monster which was special summoned, this monster can be treated as two monsters"

"What?!" I questioned. That means he can summon his ace monster!

"I'll show it to you, my spirit!" shouted Kaito, "Descend now, incarnation of light, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon (Atk: 3000-Lvl: 8)!"

I stared up at the beautiful dragon. This is bad. This is _really _bad.

"It came forth before I realized!" said Astral shocked, "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!" Astral gulped but he stayed composed…ish.

"Galaxy-Eyes, attack Hope!" ordered Kaito, "Photon stream of destruction! I activate Galaxy-Eye's effect! When Galaxy-Eyes battles our two monsters are removed from play"

"Keh…" spat Astral frustrated.

Kaito smirked maniacally, "Your field is quite empty this way. Go, Photon Circle, direct attack!"

Astral was hit with a couple of energy rings. He fell to his knees as I stared at him worried, "Astral…" I felt a small zaps up my arm and groaned silently. Ow…

**Kaito: 3600LPS Astral: 900LPS**

"When the battle phase is over, Galaxy-Eyes and Hope are returned to the field. And according to Galaxy-Eye's effect, the overlay units of Hope are removed. For each overlay unit, Galaxy-Eye's attack increases by 500 (Atk: 4000)!"

"4000 attack power!" said Astral disbelievingly.

"Furthermore, I activate the quickplay magic card, Galaxy Storm, from my hand! This card destroys an Xyz monster which has no overlay units left. Disappear, Hope!"

Astral quickly countered, "I activate a trap card, Xyz Reflect! When an Xyz monster is destroyed due to an effect, that effect is negated and inflicts 800 damage to the opponent!"

"What?" asked Kaito.

Ha! He didn't expect that.

A hurricane flew passed him.

**Kaito: 2800LPS Astral: 900LPS**

"Oh…not bad," said Kaito haughtily, "But this is a small amount of damage. Did you forget? Hope is powerless against Galaxy-Eyes"

Hope _isn't_ powerless. That' stupid. He has such an obsession with his damn dragon. Astral…I stared at him worriedly and I think he saw that.

"My Kattobingu is not over yet," retorted Astral. He looked to me and gave me a small smile of comfort. He brushed my hair behind my ear before turning back to Kaito confidently.

"My turn, draw!" declared Astral, "Let me now show you Hope's true form! When I have less than 1000 life points, this card becomes an overlay unit and becomes a chaos Xyz! Come forth, Chaos No. 39! The power of hope, the messenger who changes the chaos into light, Aspiring Emperor – Hope Ray (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

Even though I've seen this monster over D-Gazer, you can actually feel its strength in real! This power…Astral can win!

Kaito's eyes widened in shock, he shouted, "Impossible! A chaos numbers, he says?! The numbers has such a power?! But the attack power of Galaxy-Eyes wins!"

Astral stared ahead, "My aim is not Galaxy-Eyes! I activate Aspiring Emperor – Hope Ray's ability! By using one overlay unit, Hope Ray's attack power will increase by 500 points this turn! Overlay change (Atk: 3000)! Furthermore, it decreases the opponent's monster's attack power by 1000 points! I choose Photon Circler (Atk: 0)!"

"W-what's happening?" asked Kaito shocked and, I think, a hint of fright.

I smiled. This is _finally _going to be over!

"Go, Hope Ray!" ordered Astral, "Attack Photon Circler! Hope sword chaos slash!"

Kaito was lashed backwards with a cry.

"Did I bring him down?" questioned Astral. That's the finishing blow…right?

**Kaito: 1300LPS Astral: 900LPS**

I stared stunned at Kaito, "How…?!" He was supposed to lose!

"Why?!" questioned Astral stunned as well.

"That's too bad," sneered Kaito, "The Photon Circler, which you destroyed, has an effect that halves the damage when it's gotten attacked"

Oh my god! Why won't this guy just accept defeat?!

"I set a card and end my turn (Utopia: Atk: 2500)," stated Astral. He looked at me apologetically. Wait, what? He thought that I would be disappointed in _him_ because he wasn't able to defeat Kaito?

He put his hand on mine and squeezed. He needs some sort of comfort.

"The situation is reversed like this," noted Kaito as he watched the attack' points drop, "My turn, draw! Disappear in front of Galaxy-Eyes! Photon stream of destruction!"

Astral countered, "I activate the trap card, Clean Barrier –Clear Force-! This card is activated when the opponent's monster attacks and allows me to bring its attack power down to its original power"

Astral was knocked backwards as my key shielded me. I ran over to Astral's side, "Astral!"

**Kaito: 1300LPS Astral: 400LPS**

I screamed in pain and fell parallel to Astral. It h-hurts! I lifted myself off the ground and knelt beside Astral, ignoring my own pain. I stared at Astral worried. He was fading in and out.

"You didn't get hurt seriously," said Kaito looking at us, "But your life is only 100 points. Even if Hope's true form appeared, this is the end"

I sloppily shook him, "Astral, get up…! Please!" I pleaded.

Astral looked up at the sky forlornly as I stopped shaking him, "Rima…Yuma…"

Astral stood up and I was right by his side. As I watched him fade, I felt my body zap itself. Astral stared at his hand and then looked at me. He softly kissed my lips as I felt Kaito watching us. I couldn't help but think…that this kiss meant goodbye.

Astral parted with me and a small teardrop fell from his golden eye. He gasped as he stared at it.

I felt someone grab my hand and there was a soft blue light. I closed my eyes from the brightness and reopened them. I gaped as I looked around, I have not been here before! I saw Yuma beside me, "Yuma!"

In front of us was a door with a demon on it.

"Rima?" he questioned as he looked at me.

I hugged him, "I'm so glad you're okay! But…but Astral needs you, Yuma!"

"Astral?" asked Yuma and then he looked worried, "Where is he? Where are you both?"

"Inside the Emperor's Key!" I said knowing I might be shifted back, "Hurry, please!"

The door started speaking making Yuma and I look at it. By the look on Yuma's face, he was familiar with it, "Now, fly through the door. Fly through the door and get a new power in your hands. But, as an exchange, that being will lose his most precious thing. Are you prepared, Tsukumo Yuma?"

"Yuma," I said understanding this power must be Zexal, "Be careful"

And then I returned to Astral, shaking. I fell to the ground and took a breath.

"Rima…?" said Astral as he reached his hand out to me.

_||Astral!||_ shouted Yuma.

Astral paused, _||Yuma…is it you, Yuma?||_

_||Yeah||_ answered the boy, _||Are you alright? Your duel has begun, hasn't it?||_

Astral closed his eyes, _||Yuma, I am unfortunately in a critical situation||_

_||Well then, wait for me! I'm going to your place!||_

_||Wait, Yuma|| _said Astral suddenly opening his eyes.

_||Eh?||_ asked both Yuma and I. We don't have time to waste!

_||This world is different from the world you both live in||_ defended Astral, _||I do not know if you will be able to survive here||_

_||Of course he can!||_ I retorted in my…brain, _||Kaito and I are fine here so Yuma will be the same!||_

Astral looked at me, frustrated, _||Even if I could make you leave, you wouldn't listen! And anyways, I'm sure that your Empress Key is protecting you||_

_||Yuma has the Emperor's Key!|| _I retorted back. Why can't Astral just accept that?!

_||Rima, can't you do something?|| _asked Yuma desperately.

_||I'll help then, Astral|| _I said, _||I may not be Yuma but I can still duel-||_

_||No!|| _Astral pretty much shouted, _||I will not let you be harmed, Rima. I would not be able to go on if you got hurt because of me||_

_||Astral…|| _I can't believe he's being like this. What he should know is that he's already hurting me. Physically, but more emotionally.

_||Moreover, this is my battle in the first place||_ added Astral.

_||Astral, this is nothing you should handle by yourself!|| _argued Yuma, _||You and me, we are one in body and soul, aren't we?!||_

Yeah, but I love Astral not Yuma. I felt like saying the comment aloud but thought against it when my key felt warm against my skin. I unconsciously took a hold of it.

Astral remained silent.

"_Zexal"_

Zexal, huh? I wonder…

_||It's Zexal!||_ shouted both Yuma and I in unison. That was weird…

Astral's eyes widened in shock making me think he knew what it was. He whispered, _||What?||_

_||The door's voice said that||_ explained Yuma for himself, _||It said that we should get the power of Zexal into our hands!||_

_||Why do you know about Zexal?||_ questioned Astral.

_||Do you know what Zexal is?|| _I asked.

_||It is the power that will save my world|| _said Astral.

I looked to the black part of this key, the way I came. I…I had this weird feeling from it, like something was coming through. Black Mist said it was unstable though…I'm pretty sure he wasn't lying…

We heard Yuma's voice once more, _||I'll obtain it, Astral! If I can rescue you, I will pay any price! I'll super Kattobingu!||_

Our eyes widened. "Yuma…" said Astral quietly as he looked upwards.

I stepped away from Astral as I noticed one thing. That pitch-black part was turning light blue. I mean, what the hell?! Furthermore, things are about to get interesting.

"My turn!" shouted Astral. We both spotted Yuma's beam coming towards us, "I construct an overlay network with Yuma and my own body! When two souls from far away meet, the power which passed down will come forth!"

I watched as both my friends rocketed into the sky. Those two are about to be fused!

"I'll Kattobingu!" shouted Yuma as I watched them.

"Xyz change Zexal!" shouted Astral.

Right at the moment they smashed to the ground, the blue light hit me. I closed my eyes as I felt my heart pounding in my ears.

"_Let your astral blood activate within you, Rima!"_

I complied with the voice, though, I did not know what it meant.

"Wha-what's that?!" I heard Kaito ask.

I opened my eyes and the very first thing I noticed was that my hands were blue. I almost screamed and almost fainted. I held my arms out in front of me to see they were the same light blue Astral's skin was. I was also wearing a short white dress, about the same size of the girl's uniform. I stared at my legs, blue, my neck, blue, my hair was still white. I stared at my reflection on the airship, even my face was blue! I was like a girl-version of Astral!

I see I wasn't the only one with a change. Yuma had a suit of armor on and his black hair was now turned golden. His right eye was the same golden as Astral's while the one wearing the D-Gazer was Yuma's. This was the power of Zexal.

I was slightly hovering over the ground as I noticed the only piece of clothing was in fact my dress and that barely covered everything! It was still nice but…I was so confused! I didn't fuse with Astral, last time I checked I wasn't an astral world being!

"W-what is this?!" asked Yuma when he found his voice, "Is this me?!"

"I can barely recognize myself either!" I whined/agreed as my white hair seemed to flow behind me.

"Oh my god, Rima, you got decked!" said Yuma as he stared at me.

"Look at yourself," I said as I saw he looked pretty awesome.

"You look like Astral," said Yuma staring at me.

"I know, right?" I agreed as I turned around in a circle, "It's sort of weird…" I mean, how _could_ this happen?

"You look amazing, Rima," I heard Astral say but he was not visible.

I blushed and I couldn't tell if it showed. I smiled at Yuma/Astral, "Thanks…"

"That voice…" said Kaito making me remember his presence, "Tsukumo Yuma? Does this mean you've…fused? But you're life points are only 400!"

Yuma looked shocked, "It's not more than that?"

Suddenly, Yuma's hand started glowing golden as I tilted my head at that. I could only guess what Astral was telling him.

I stared at my hand and placed it on top of Yuma's. He looked at me and I nodded, "Together, right?" I asked.

He then nodded and I was able to hear Astral, "Together"

"Let's go, Astral, Rima!" yelled Yuma as we pulled the card together, "All this light power! Become the lodging abode of my right arm, illuminate the path of hope! Shining Draw!"

I quickly took my hand off Yuma's as he started his turn, "Go, you two!"

They continued, "Come forth, Zexal Weapon – Unicorn King Spear (Atk: 1900-Lvl: 4)! Unicorn King Spear becomes an equip card to Hope Ray and increases its attack power by 1900 points! Charge, Unicorn Spear! Hope Ray has exceeded Galaxy-Eye's attack power now (Atk: 4400)!"

"4400 attack power?!" questioned Kaito incredulously.

I heard Astral explain, "Hope Ray, which was equipped with Unicorn Spear, negates the effect of an opponent's monster with a field separating effect. Like this, Galaxy-Eyes can't run away! Go, Zexal Weapon!"

Yuma and Astral then spoke in unison, "Unicorn slash!"

To my extreme shock, Kaito countered, "I activate the trap card, Photon Shock! Photon Shock is activated when a Photon Monster receives battle damage and inflicts the damage to both players"

"What?!" we questioned incredulously. After all this…!

"Galaxy-Eyes!" shouted Kaito as he was knocked backwards.

Yuma and I were also knocked backwards because of the blow. I made sure I held my dress down, even in this situation.

We landed on our backs as we moaned in pain.

**Kaito: 0LPS Yuma: 0LPS**

**Draw!**

We survived. We didn't win but we survived. Ugh, this is a good thing and a bad thing!

I floated to my feet as I helped Yuma up as well.

"Kaito, why are you collecting numbers?" questioned Yuma. I was wondering that as well, "Why do you so such devilish things?"

Kaito stood up warily before turning his back to us.

"Kaito!" I shouted at him.

We weren't able to see his expression as he spoke, "I sold my soul to the devil for my little brother's sake"

Little brother…? Wait…it _must _be Haruto. That name is his brother's, it's the only thing that makes sense.

"Younger brother?" repeated Yuma and gasped as he realized something, "Don't tell me it's…Just what happened to you?!"

Kaito glanced back at us as an orb flew out of his hand, "I'll give him back"

"Is that Ryoga's soul…?" I questioned hopefully as it flew out of the key. It is. I smiled, he's going to be okay!

The whole world started shaking.

"W-what?!" asked Yuma as he kept his balance.

I was floating off ground so it didn't matter, "What's happening?!"

I looked over to see Kaito struggling as well. He was not the cause of this. I looked back to Yuma, "You both can handle yourselves, right?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Yuma confused.

I just smiled and flew over to Kaito. Before he could react, I wrapped my arms around his waist and I glanced at Yuma, "Fly up!"

"Up, you say?" he asked confused but he complied anyway.

"Alright, Kaito, let's hope you're not heavy," I half-teased as I flew straight upwards, the way out.

He just stared at me a bit shocked as we made it out of the key.

* * *

I groaned as we made it out of the key and we were lying down on the burnt rubble. By _we_, I meant Kaito and I. I had reverted back to normal as we lay down panting.

Yuma and Astral were somewhere else because I couldn't see them. I looked at Kaito to see him stand up, "Nothing hurt, right?" I asked a bit worried.

He glanced at me disbelievingly, "You shouldn't care"

"Well," I said getting up and wiping ash from my clothes, "It just seemed like a good thing to say"

"I don't need your pity"

I rolled my eyes at him, "Well, if you got hurt I'm sure Haruto would be sad"

He stiffened at that and I knew I got him. I smiled, "I wouldn't want your little brother to go through what I felt"

And, of course, I was talking about Rio.

"What you felt…" he repeated as he looked at the sky.

I closed my eyes before smirking at him, "You better leave before I change my mind about not dueling you"

"I'm only interested in number-holders," he said to me as I saw Orbital rolling by.

I smiled and held out Galaxy Queen and Black Mist, "Well, here's the bait"

I quickly put them away before Orbital reached us. Orbital attached itself to Kaito who stared at me.

I shrugged that off and walked in the direction I heard noise. That _has_ to be Yuma.

I ran over to Astral's side as I saw Yuma on the ground.

"Rima!" shouted Kotori as she looked worried for me, "Are you alright?"

"Better than Yuma," I said staring at the boy on the ground.

I felt Astral pull me towards him and he planted a chaste kiss on my lips.

We then heard wind blowing and looked up to see Kaito flying high above us.

"Kaito!" said Yuma in frustration at not being able to win.

We stayed quiet for a moment before I gasped, "I need to go see Ryoga!"

I was about to run in some random direction before Astral wrapped his arms around my waist, "Astral, let me go!"

"Rima, you're tired," said Astral as he stroked my hair, "You can visit him tomorrow, no?"

I sighed defeated, "I guess…" I just wanted to make sure he was okay.

Astral smiled and I heard Yuma laugh. We turned to him confused.

Yuma then smirked at me, "You know, I think he's just jealous of Shark"

I blinked before starting to tease Astral who went quiet, "Yeah, well, Ryoga is quite good-looking"

Astral growled lowly and pulled me towards his chest, "You're mine, Rima"

"I know," I sang as I looked up to the sky, "That goes for you too, Astral"


	25. The Time Comes, Three Suns Appear!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

**OMG I MADE IT TO SEASON 2! Anyways, on with the show!**

I walked through the Empress Key. I heard a scream…it wasn't mine. I started running, someone was here and I think they've met Black Mist.

I saw a little boy staring up at Black Mist in neutral…fear. I kept running, grabbed the boy, and rolled onto the ground. I heard Black Mist growl in frustration.

I looked down at the boy, "Are you alright?"

I took this time to study him. He had light blue hair with orange dabbed in there. He had really nice golden eyes. He was wearing shorts, a sleeveless shirt and there were pieces of a…bracelet, on the floor.

He looked up at me with those tired eyes, "…Behind you…"

He said it so calmly! I turned, with the boy in my arms, and glared at Black Mist, "Leave now!" I barked.

He just glared back at me.

I sat up and the boy hid behind me. I smiled at him, "Don't worry. I won't let him touch you, um…"

"Haruto," said the boy.

I stared at him in shock. Did he say…?! I glanced at Black Mist before speaking once more, "Would you happen to be Kaito's little brother?"

He looked up at me cutely, "You know niisan?"

{Older brother}

I nodded. Black Mist advanced upon Haruto and my key glowed and made a light blue barrier.

Black Mist hissed at the touch.

Haruto looked at me. Weirdly, he didn't look very afraid now. He crawled onto my lap as I blinked, surprised. I hesitantly petted his hair. Over Haruto's head, I glared at Black Mist, "Go now! I _will_ hurt you"

Finally, he flew off.

After a moment, I looked down at Haruto, "He's gone now, Haruto"

Even though I said that, he didn't get off. I just smiled and ruffled his hair, "What are you doing here by yourself, kiddo?"

He looked up, "I don't know. I was sleeping, neesan"

{Neesan = big sister}

I blinked at the 'neesan'. I smiled at him, "My name is Rima, Haruto. I'm sort of friends with Kaito"

He was staring behind me, eyes wide. I looked behind me to see Black Mist in his true form.

Haruto then screamed and a huge red sphere encased us both.

No. 96 screamed in pain as I stared at Haruto in shock. What the hell?!

No. 96 disappeared while my hair whipped my face, "Haruto!"

His eyes were wide as he kept screaming. Somehow, this sphere was destroying the sand under us. I think this sphere destroys anything. Why it wasn't affecting me, I don't know. Haruto was afraid, is this why this is happening?

I hugged Haruto close, "Haruto…!"

At that, Haruto's scream died and so did the sphere. He looked up at me, "Neesan…"

I smiled at him. Haruto was strangely special, he had powers. They were strong. At this moment in my life, this isn't unbelievable. I understand how this is Kaito's brother. I let go of Haruto as he crawled out of my lap to beside me, "Are you alright?" I asked.

He nodded and yawned, "Yes"

Kawaii~ I stretched my legs out and patted my lap, "You can lie down, Haruto. We'll be here until you wake up, neh?"

He complied and laid his head down. I combed my fingers through his hair. Kaito said that he sold his soul to the devil for Haruto. I looked down at the boy, I can see why Kaito wants to protect him. Haruto must have it rough, if that's the case.

I looked down at the boy. I had so many questions but I don't think I should ask Haruto them, I smiled, "Neh, Haruto? What's your favorite…animal?"

I just wanted to make small talk so he would feel okay. Wouldn't want him crazed, right?

"Butterfly," he answered making me surprised, "How about you, neesan?"

I hummed while thinking. I then kept stroking Haruto's hair, "I like butterflies too"

Haruto turned and faced the always starry sky, "I wish niisan was here…"

Haruto…I wanted to comfort him but how? I still tried, "Haruto…wherever your niisan is, just remember one thing…"

Then I did something really corny. I pointed at the sky, "You will always be under the same sky"

Haruto turned his head to look at me, "You're weird, neesan"

I sweat dropped.

He smiled a little, "Arigato," and then he disappeared.

* * *

I woke up and kept my eyes closed. I can't believe I just met Haruto, Kaito's brother. I was still confused about it but it won't help now. Today's…school, right?

I stared at the numbers on my clock. Ugh, how they mock me! I was going to be late for school but I was so tired! Last night, Astral had brought me home while Yuma went to his, afraid to explain what happened to Akari.

_Flashback _

_Astral watched me as I lay down in bed, "Rima?" he asked._

_I looked up at him, "Yeah, Astral?"_

_He leaned over me and pressed his lips to mine for a moment before just hovering above me, "I love you"_

_I smiled, "Love you too"_

_He lay down beside me and stroked my hair until I fell asleep._

_Flashback end_

I don't really remember when he left but oh well. I'll see him later today, if I decide to go to school.

I just sighed, I don't think I will. I got off my bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower. I stayed under the hot water for a long time, thinking. Just what happened to me during that duel? Blue skin…? I'm sure it has to do with that blue being I've been seeing but what?!

After a moment, the water stopped coming. I looked up and blinked. The water was suspended in the air. I blew on them and they hit the wall. I hit my head on the wall, "Why does Kaito have to duel so early?!"

When I was finished, I dressed into a big t-shirt and black shorts. I stared outside the window. There were…weird flakes drifting down from the sky. They were blue, white and red. I then saw three suns! What the hell?! I sighed and stared at outside. Another reason for me to stay home…I might call Yuma and Astral. Time was frozen so that might not work though…

"_Those are the three suns from the three different planets: Earth, Astral World and Barian World"_

I blinked, what the hell?! That was the man's voice. I turned around, searching for him. Not here…I looked up, "Thank you for the information"

I felt a bit loony but oh well. I'll just wait this out. If Astral and Yuma duel, my key will lead me there.

I was going to grab my violin before passing my parent's room. I paused and stared at the always closed door. I've never been in there for so long…I shrugged and decided to snoop. I hesitantly opened the door and walked inside. It smelled like dust. I sneezed before looking around, it looked like no one had touched this room in a millennia! Well, not like that but still.

I walked over to the bed and lay down on it tiredly. I breathed in the scent of…roses? I smiled and walked over the drawers. I opened one drawer for fun before gaping, there was nothing in it! I mean, nothing! Weirded out, I checked the others.

"Nothing," I said quietly as I opened each one. Then one on the bottom had a letter inside it. I uncertainly took it out of the drawer and lay it on the bed. It was a bit thick but not really. I flipped it over to read the word: Rima. Was this for me? It was so empty in this room. I anxiously opened the letter.

_Dear Rima,_

_If you have found this, you would've found the lack of anything belonging to Toby and I, your 'mother'. You must be wondering a lot of things but first, I want to apologize. I'm sorry we seemingly abandoned you, Rima. I'm sorry we left you alone for so long. I'm sorry that your real parents aren't around. _

_That's right, we aren't your true parents. I've thought that you have found that out but if you haven't, that's one thing we've kept from you. I suppose I should start with this, I'm actually a family friend. That violin? That belongs to your true mother. She was a wonderful violinist. Her name was Victoria._

_Victoria had golden hair and golden eyes. You didn't receive those features from her. She was so amazing. She loved you, don't blame her. We've only been protecting you. Your mom was human. Why we say the obvious is because of your father._

_Your father…Was an 'astral being'. This may not be something I should be telling you through a letter but you, my dear, are half-alien. Laugh at this letter, I would be surprised if you didn't. But one day, you will believe us. You are half astral-being and half-human. _

_We have never seen your father. He was only seen by your mother, Kazuma and Mirai. Those names are familiar, no? Tsukumo Yuma-kun's parents. There's something in your violin…you should be able to find it._

_We've always loved you, sweetheart. We're sorry that it had to happen this way. Please forgive us. There are two photo's attached to this, they're of your mother. _

_Love,_

_Us._

_P.S. Your father's name is Tsubasa which is why we used it for your last name. He had the same snowy white hair as you and the same doe brown eyes._

I dropped the letter onto the ground. No…way… I don't understand…yet I do. I quickly grabbed the two photos.

The first one was of my mother, holding her violin. Tears fell from my eyes, this is my mother? She was beautiful. Her golden eyes were shining brightly.

I looked at the second picture. It was a bit weird. It was a side view of my mom looking up, blushing. I then noticed…there was a light blue haze at where she was staring. I could recognize that blue anywhere. It was that being from the Empress Key…it was my dad. I did the normal thing anyone would've done. I fainted.

* * *

I ended up in the Empress Key. I looked around, where was he?! Where was my dad?!

I spotted Black Mist staring at me from afar, "Black Mist!"

"What did I do now?" he questioned as he put his hands behind his head.

I ran up to him, "Where is my dad?! Where is Tsubasa?!"

He blinked and stared at me, "How did you find out? He said that you didn't know about him"

"I just found out!" I practically shouted before strangling him, "Where. Is. He?!"

He easily took my hands off and he looked angry. He put his hands around my neck but did not strangle me, "You're fortunate that I _love_ you"

I growled, I didn't care about that right now! I glared at him, "Where is he?! You've spoken to him! Where is my dad?!"

Black Mist looked genuinely puzzled, "I don't know. He usually shows up when you're _not_ around"

I growled and stomped away from Black Mist after swatting his hands away. I let a few tears roll down my cheeks, tears of sadness and frustration. I collapsed on the sand into fetal position. This information is too much…! The last thing I saw was Galaxy Queen's card and Chaos Goddess' card circling around me.


	26. Begin! World Duel Carnival!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal**

I woke up staring at the ceiling. I was in my parents, scratch that, _fake parents_ room. I stood up and walked out of the room, pictures in hand. I closed the door and ran to my room seeing as it was still dark and I was afraid of monsters getting me.

I lay down and I couldn't decide whether I was happy or sad. Am I happy to know the truth or was it better that I didn't know? Actually, maybe it is a good thing that I'm an astral being. I'm the same race as Astral, I thought with a smile on my face. I want to meet my dad again…I lifted the photo of my mom and dad and traced the outline. I put them on my night table and fell back asleep.

* * *

I got dressed into a wool sweater and jeans shorts. I walked outside to be almost run over. By Yuma.

I glared at the boy as we both fell onto the ground, "Yuma!"

"Sorry Rima," said Yuma as he scrambled to his feet. I helped myself up.

I smiled at his childish antics. The Emperor's Key caught my eye as it glowed. That reminds me…should I tell Astral and Yuma? Or…maybe I should keep it to myself _for now_. I want to speak to my dad before I say anything.

"Good morning, Rima"

I blinked out of my stupor and smiled at Astral, "Good morning, Astral"

"Rima, wanna duel?" asked Yuma as he looked excited.

I rolled my eyes at him, "Not really~ and anyways, I need to visit Ryoga because of yesterday's incident I wasn't able to see him"

I was talking about time-stopping and what I found out. And also, I met Haruto.

Yuma nodded, "Yeah! That was so weird. We met up with Kaito though who wants to duel me and Astral in the WDC!"

I blinked at that. Kaito…I then spoke, "Well, today the heart pieces are supposed to come in the mail"

"Really?!" asked Yuma with sparkly eyes.

I laughed at that, "Yeah, it's supposed to be today"

"That's so cool!" said Yuma all excited as Astral stared off somewhere.

I looked to him, "Is something wrong, Astral?"

He looked back to me and shook his head, "No, I'm just thinking about going against Kaito"

I smiled, "Come on, you'll get your chance to demolish him!"

He smiled at that and I had a weird desire to kiss him. He must've felt the same because he did just that.

"Ew, you two, can you _not_ wait for me to leave before you make out?!" I heard Yuma say, grossed out.

I smiled at that and wrapped my arms around Astral's neck and I heard Yuma shudder and I heard his footsteps go away. I don't know where he got the concept 'making out' because Astral usually sticks to chaste kisses. I parted with Astral and grinned at him.

Astral smiled slightly too, "Did you do that to bother Yuma?"

I kissed his cheek and said, "Partly. But it was mostly because I wanted to"

* * *

"Ryoga!" I shouted as I saw him on a hospital bed.

He looked up just as I tackled him. He patted my back awkwardly, "Hey, Rima"

I looked up at him, "Are you alright?"

He got his soul stolen so…

He smirked, "Of course"

I smiled, "That's good. When are you getting out of this place?"

He inched away so I could sit beside him, "Later today"

I rested my head on his shoulder, "WDC is starting soon…"

"I'm not participating," said Ryoga making me confused.

"Why not?" I asked. Ryoga would totally destroy everyone!

"Because, there's no reason to," he said and we just left it at that.

"Better for me," I teased, "Less competition"

He smirked and we just started talking about random stuff. It was easy to talk about anything with him because he always makes such sharp remarks. I'd always try to find a way to argue back.

* * *

**Back home!**

When I came home the mailman was there. He handed me my heart piece as my face lit up.

Yay! I smiled at him, "Thank you"

The mailman nodded and went down the street using his scooter. This is so awesome!

I heard a lot of yelling. I sighed and, as expected, it was Yuma. He was arguing with the mailman. I rolled my eyes and walked over to Yuma's side.

The poor man left while I watched Yuma fall to his knees hysterically.

I wonder why he's acting like this…Astral was on a nearby lamppost and he watched us. I smiled and waved at him before walking back into my house.

* * *

**At school!**

"Morning, Inchou, Rima!" shouted Tetsuo as he ran over to Inchou and I. He put Inchou into a headlock smiling, "Are you doing well?"

"Your energy is too high this morning!" whined Inchou as I watched Tetsuo.

"You're acting weird, Tetsuo," I said to the boy as I registered the bell ringing.

Kotori and Cat-chan took my rear. "What happened?" asked Kotori smiling, "Did something nice happen today?"

"Of course there is!" said Tetsuo happily. He held up his D-Pad, "This is starting!"

He showed us the advertisement for WDC. I smiled, that explains why he's so excited!

Tetsuo grinned, "The world's biggest contest which Heartland is sponsoring!"

"The preliminary contest starts tomorrow," noted Inchou, "The winning prize is the Heartland's passport of being free of charge for a life time, and the title of Duel Champion!"

Tokunosuke appeared near us, "And in addition, Mr. Heartland will fulfill one wish of the champions', whatever it might be, ura!"

"That's awesome!" said Kotori surprised.

This, just for winning duels! This is so amazing!

"If I win, I'm wishing for him to increase the number of wishes to a hundred, ura," said Tokunosuke.

W-wow…

"I think that's not allowed, but…" said Inchou surprised and _alarmed_. I mean, what Tokunosuke could wish for if that happened. That'd be…horrible.

"If I win," said Cat-chan making us face her, "I'd be with Yuma-kun…"

I smiled at her, that might not be possible but it's a sweet wish. She hasn't let that crush go, has she…?

"What about you, Rima?" asked Cat-chan to get rid of her blush.

I closed my eyes before reopening them, smiling sadly. I then softly said, "Medical attention"

"Eh?!" asked Kotori worried, "Is something wrong with you, Rima? I mean, are you sick?"

I shook my head, not with me at least. Rio still hasn't woken up. I blinked away tears that were coming on, "For a friend," I said quietly.

Everyone realized how I had gotten sad and decided to leave it as it is. Kotori smiled, "Are you all participating?"

"Of course we will, ura, ura," said Tokunosuke. He held up his heart piece.

"Huh?" asked Kotori confused, "What is that?"

"This is a heart piece," explained Tokunosuke, "A fragment of a heart, ura. This is the passport to the World Duel Carnival, ura"

"I've got one too," said Inchou holding his out.

"Me too," said Tetsuo holding out one.

I held out mine, "Same here"

Cat-chan also raised hers up.

"You've all got one!" said Kotori smiling.

"Well, I wonder about that…"

We turned to see Yuma leaning on the wall, looking all depressed. Astral was also floating there beside him. He looked happier than Yuma…and he's Astral.

"Yu-Yuma-kun, what's wrong?" asked Inchou confused like the rest of us.

"I haven't…got one," he said miserably. Got…what?

"Eh?" asked Kotori confused, "What didn't you get?"

Then the water works started. Yuma cried, "Why am I the only one who didn't get a heart piece?! Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

I blinked at him, "I thought you would get one for sure" Yuma wants to be Duel Champion, doesn't he?

"Yuma, don't you want to participate in the Duel Carnival?" asked Astral.

"That's not it!" shouted Yuma, "I _can't_ participate!"

Kotori walked over to him, "But I wonder why Yuma's place is the only one that wasn't reached"

"Yeah," I said tilting my head, "If mine was, Yuma's should've as well" We're neighbors after all, right?

"That's weird," said Tetsuo as we all crowded Yuma.

"Didn't Astral say something?" asked Kotori.

I looked to Astral, "Astral…?"

He stared at Yuma, "I think it's just Yuma's stupidity"

I laughed at that which Astral smiled at.

"You keep quiet!" shouted Yuma, "Why don't others think I'm a duelist too?!"

"Um, excuse me, but did you apply properly?" asked Inchou disbelievingly.

Yuma looked up suddenly, confused, "Huh? Apply for what?"

"Oh my god, Yuma, you didn't apply?!" I almost shouted at him. What a baka!

Inchou nodded, "It's because there is an application to get into the Duel Carnival"

"There is?" questioned Yuma stupidly.

"Yes," said Inchou patiently. He held out his D-Pad, "Please take a look at this. If you're hoping for participation, you should click here and apply for it."

"It even says _click now_," I said in English, "Meaning: click now!"

"It says a heart piece," noted Yuma, "So they're not delivering a heart piece to every single duelist?"

"Of course they won't, right?!" said Tetsuo frustrated, "Duelists from all over the world are participating"

"I see…" said Yuma as he grabbed the D-Pad.

"You're just so thoughtless," teased Kotori, "That's easy to understand if you'd just think a little bit, isn't it?"

"Oh my," said Astral putting his hand to his temple, "It is the same with your duels"

I laughed at Yuma's expression. I smiled at Astral, "You're on a roll today, Astral"

"Roll…?" questioned Astral a bit confused to the expression.

I just rolled my eyes and pecked his cheek lightly, "Don't worry about it, love"

"Yuma," said Kotori getting our attention once more, "Speaking of it, what about applying now?"

"Yeah!" said Yuma, "Exactly what I thought about!"

"Such a liar…" I muttered under my breath.

Yuma started tapping the screen, "My residence, my name, yes, yes, I've got it"

He stood up when he was finished, "Yeah, it's done!"

"_The application for participation is already over," _said the computer.

"What?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

That's what he gets for not applying before. I sighed and shook my head at his stupidity.

"_Thank you very much for so many applications"_

Yuma screamed in agony and sprinted quickly out of school. I barely saw him leave!

We all ran outside but I really don't like running!

"Yuma!" shouted Kotori, "Where are you going?!"

I watched Astral fly quickly after Yuma as I rolled my eyes. Show off…I stopped when I saw the familiar blue hair. I smiled as I saw Ryoga on his motorcycle, "Hey, Ryoga!"

He was staring after Yuma with an expression that read 'Why is he being so idiotic? How did this person beat me in a duel?'

He looked at me, "You want a ride?"

"Yes please!" I whined as I hopped to the seat behind him. He didn't wait for me to put on my helmet and he sped after Yuma.

We had him in our sights, "That kid can run fast," noted Ryoga as we surpassed Yuma and Ryoga pulled up in front of him.

Yuma stopped running, and screaming, in surprise.

"Where are you running to?" asked Ryoga in his cold demeanor.

I rolled my eyes at that as I jumped off and walked to Astral's side.

"I'm running for the Duel Carnival!" Yuma shouted at him.

"As usual, you have no ability of understanding," on the inside, I think he was laughing.

"You'll participate too, right?" asked Yuma, forgetting his problem for a second, "In the Duel Carnival?"

"No," said Ryoga smirking, "I'm not interested in standing out in public right now"

I rolled my eyes, "You _always_ stand out in public"

"Well, I'm deciding to not be a part of it," said Ryoga raising an eyebrow. He didn't really notice but he had soooooooooo many fan (girls).

"Shark…" said Yuma surprised.

Ryoga closed his eyes smiling, "I will go towards dueling in my own way"

I smiled at him, Ryoga…His goggles slipped over his eyes once more, signaling his departure.

"I see," said Yuma smiling as well.

"See you," he said and he drove away.

"Yuma!" shouted Kotori as she ran over to us, "Shark?"

"Yeah," said Yuma.

* * *

"That's why I count on you!" said Yuma, "If you do so, nothing will leak out to Heartland"

"Even if you say that," said the secretary on the screen, "We cannot do anything"

"Yeah, see, you could just say something like…If I don't participate in the Duel Carnival, I'll die of boredom!" yelled Yuma.

"Huh?" asked the secretary as I rolled my eyes at Yuma.

"Yeah, just look at this acting!" he said as he held his wrist, "Oh, it's no use. It's no use, I'll die! I'm going to die!" and he fell backwards dramatically.

"Thank you for today," said the secretary as her screen disappeared.

Yuma sat up surprised, "O-oh, hey!"

He started banging on the door, "Send it out to me! Send a heart piece out to me! Damn it!"

"He's annoying as if he was drunk," stated Inchou dryly.

I sighed, "This isn't going to end soon"

"Rima"

We all blinked as we looked behind us to see Ryoga leaning on his motorcycle.

"Shark?" questioned Tetsuo as we looked at the boy.

Ryoga kept staring at me, "Rima, we need to talk, now"

I looked at my friends and shrugged. I ran over to Ryoga and we were out of earshot of the others now.

"What's wrong, Ryoga?" I asked as he looked a bit angry. Was that directed at me?

He clenched his fist, "I'm participating in the World Duel Carnival now"

I blinked at that, "But…you said that-"

"I know what I said," he interrupted, "But…IV is here"

My eyes widened, "S-so you want to go against him?"

He glared at me, well, not at me. He was glaring at something he was thinking about, "He…he hurt Rio on purpose to entrap me. He purposely dropped his deck in the waiting room so I would be disqualified. He hurt my imouto!"

He shouted the last thing and I glanced at the others to see they hadn't heard. I looked back at Ryoga shocked, "So IV…he's provoking you to go against him again?"

Ryoga looked at me, "I _have _to"

I growled lowly, "He hurt Rio…We'll duel him then and win! We'll break his damn pride!"

"_I'll_ duel him and win," he retorted back.

I looked at him surprised, what? I wanted to avenge Rio as well. I stared at him, "I want to duel him, Ryoga!"

He put his hands on my shoulders, "Listen, I don't want him hurting you, Rima"

I shook my head, "He won't hurt me! It wouldn't even matter if he did-"

"Yes it would!" shouted Ryoga at me, "It would matter to me. I can't let him hurt anyone else close to me"

"Ryoga…" I whispered.

He hugged me, "Just don't duel him, okay?"

"What if he asks me?" I questioned Ryoga, trying to find a loophole.

"…Call me right away on your D-Gazer," said Ryoga as he parted our embrace, "Don't duel him, you hear me, Rima?"

I nodded, "Okay…"

"Be careful," he warned and he hopped onto his motorcycle and drove away.

I watched after him. Even if I do have to listen to Ryoga, I still want to hurt IV for hurting our Rio. I closed my eyes. My best friend, Rio…

"Rima?"

I opened my eyes to be met with Astral's, "Yeah?"

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

"Why wouldn't I be…?" I whispered.

He wiped away a tear that had found its way out of my eye. He looked at me worried.

I smiled, "Astral, it's nothing. Just something Ryoga said…"

"Did he make you cry?" asked Astral as he stiffened.

"N-no!" I said waving my arms defensively, "He just…He just told me some news, it's nothing"

Astral didn't look fully convinced but I crossed my arms. He took that as me not going to talk anymore. He sighed and combed his fingers through his hair.

I was surprised when he pulled me into a kiss. I blinked as he separated with me.

"Now will you tell me?" asked Astral after a moment of silence.

I grinned, "Nope!"

"It was worth a try," he said tiredly.

I just took his face into my hands and kissed him once more. Astral didn't seem that surprised and he wrapped his arms around my waist. This kiss was less innocent. Astral and I opened our mouths slightly and his tongue fought mine for dominance. I let him win and he kissed me deeply.

* * *

Security got called in and was currently trying to make Yuma. We've been here for so long!

"I really won't return home until I get a heart piece!" shouted Yuma as he pulled on the collar of one of the men.

"I wonder if he really is going to get a heart piece like this," wondered Kotori.

"Well…" said Tetsuo still surprised at Yuma's obsession, I mean, perseverance.

Suddenly, the weird heart door started opening.

"W-what's happening?!" asked Yuma shocked. He probably wasn't expecting this.

A ton of Obots were in a parade with their trumpets blaring. The staff suddenly went into a straight position. Mr. Heartland was on top of all this with two other people. One was a purple-haired lady and the other was an orange-red haired person.

Astral floated to my side as we watched Mr. Heartland.

"Ah, this person…!" said Kotori surprised.

"It's Mr. Heartland!" said Inchou incredulously.

"In person, ura!" added Tokunosuke.

Something about Mr. Heartland made me think he was someone who was not to be trusted.

Yuma stood up smiling, "Hey, old man!"

I sweat dropped, how rude…

"O-old man…?!" repeated Mr. Heartland annoyed.

"Oh that Yuma…" criticized Kotori.

"It's _Mr. Heartland-sama!_" said one of the employees.

"Yeah, yeah, Heartland," said Yuma.

"_Mister_!" muttered the other.

"Yeah, Mr. Heartland," said Yuma. I swear he was doing this on purpose!

"_Sama_!" said the employee.

Yuma started, "Well…you see…It's pretty hard to see the Duel Carnival announcement"

"Hard to see?"

"Yeah, you see…it's hard to see and I failed to notice the click on the participation formula"

"Formula…?" I asked raising an eyebrow. I was having trouble to hold back my laughter. Yuma was being hilariously stupid!

"I'd say he doesn't know when to give up," said Inchou embarrassed.

"No one can say he's carelessly honest," said Tetsuo sarcastically.

"Of course I understand," said Mr. Heartland, "Everything we let you speak out, your request reached to my passionate heart," he grabbed something, "Let me fulfill your wish"

Yuma caught it, "This is…! A heart piece! I did it!"

I gave Yuma a high-five as our keys dangled from our necks.

"You two…those pendants," said Mr. Heartland.

We looked up at him confused. Our…keys? Yuma held his, "Oh this?"

I clutched mine, Mr. Heartland was staring at it weirdly…

"It's surely an unusual shape," said Mr. Heartland staring at both of ours.

"It's a souvenir from my dad and mom," explained Yuma. Why is he telling this guy this?!

I nodded in agreement though, "Mine was a good luck present from the same people…"

"A souvenir?" questioned Mr. Heartland, "And a present?"

"They're a set," I said distrustfully.

Astral came up behind me, he seemed to notice Mr. Heartland's behavior as well.

* * *

"The time has soon come to carry out the promise you made with your father, isn't it?" asked Kotori, "The promise of becoming Duel Champion…"

I was standing beside Astral as we watched both Yuma and Kotori. We were on the bridge, staring at the water.

"Yeah," agreed Yuma.

"Yuma," said Astral making us look to him, "You have to win. If that is a tournament only about the hope of winning, there should be a lot of people, who have got numbers, participating. If we can retrieve those Numbers…"

Astral put a hand on my lower back making sure I heard. I smiled at him, "I'll try to as well, Astral"

"That's the opposite of what I wanted to hear," said Astral softly before turning to Yuma, "But, Yuma, we need to retrieve numbers…"

"That's right," said Yuma, "We'll do that. They are your memories. But, Astral, I'm not intending to live up to victory"

Astral looked confused and I was a bit myself. Astral crossed his arms, "What does that mean? But that is a contradiction to the promise with your father"

Yuma smiled, "I thought about it all the time…about what dueling means to me. I, who always continued losing, have come to win over strong opponents after meeting you. And when I dueled with Shark and Kaito, I first understood that there are things you lose when you're defeated. But, no matter what, I never hate dueling. That's how it is for me. For me, dueling is not about winning or losing. I can't put this into words well but…for me, dueling is connection"

"Connection…?" repeated Astral.

I smiled, "Just think about it, Astral. Dueling is what connected you to us, wasn't it? Because of dueling we met you and…" I placed my hand in his and he interlocked our fingers.

"Yeah," said Yuma, "I want to connect with everyone I duel, like I did with you, Astral. There is no losing or winning. Dueling and contest are different"

"A duel and a contest are different, but if you lose, I will vanish, I cannot take your idea" Astral pointed out earnestly as I stiffened. That's… I looked down sadly and no one seemed to notice. Now, more than ever, Astral disappearing will hurt the most.

"I understand your feelings very well," said Yuma, "I will do everything to save you. But I realized. These are things exceeding victory and defeat. There are more important things than victory and defeat in the first place"

Astral stared at him seriously, "So what will you do about Kaito?"

"Kaito?" repeated Yuma as I stared at Astral.

"That is right," said Astral, "He does not care about your sentiment. He is approaching his duels"

"Kaito," repeated Kotori as I noticed her looking sad, like I did. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Yeah," answered Yuma, "If I lose he might draw out my soul. But that wouldn't change my duels. I will fight him and…"

Astral noticed Kotori as well, "Yuma"

Yuma turned to look behind him, "Kotori"

She was staring at the water. I decided this moment was going to be a bit romantic. I walked away with Astral's eyes following my every move.

* * *

I sat on my couch and let some tears flow. I really was weak when it came to losing someone. And Astral isn't even gone! I rubbed at my eyes in frustration, I don't want to cry! I don't want to feel sad!

It's better if I let my tears go so I did just that. I cried for so long. I love Astral, it's so stupid that he can be gone in one duel!

I heard knocking at the door after a while. I ignored it as it kept going. Who could it be?

"Rima, it's Yuma!" shouted the familiar voice.

I stared in front of me, "Go away!" I didn't really want to talk to anyone right now. I was so dramatic…

"Rima!" shouted Yuma, "Astral wants to talk to you!"

I looked down at the ground, I still don't want to talk to them.

"Rima, he's coming in any way!" shouted Yuma.

A few seconds later, Astral was floating in front of me, "Rima"

I blinked, he actually…Oh well. I brought my knees up to my chest and hid my face by looking down. I wrapped my arms around my knees as well.

"Rima," whispered Astral quietly as he combed his fingers through my hair.

"What?" I asked. It was probably muffled.

"Rima, what's wrong?" he asked me, "You were crying…"

I shook my head in reply.

"Rima, please tell me," his voice pleaded.

"It's just that…I'm just scared," I whispered quietly, hoarsely.

"Scared?" repeated Astral. After a few silent moments, he unwrapped my arms from my knees and lifted my head so I was forced to look at him.

I couldn't lie, "I'm scared that you'll be gone," I choked out.

His look softened, "I…" he looked down, "Rima…I…"

"My fear will come true…?" I asked quietly as I dangled my legs off the side of the couch. Astral's not even answering…

Astral looked back up to meet my eyes. His were full of determination, "Rima, even though I may not be able to win one day…that day is nowhere near soon. Yuma and I will duel our hardest because if I lose, I won't see you again. That's not something I will let happen…Not without a fight…"

I looked at him and offered a smile.

Astral hugged me, "I don't know what will happen if Yuma and I duel Kaito again. Last time, Kaito was able to have a draw. But, next time, we might not be so lucky"

I dug my head into the crook of Astral's neck, "That won't happen, Astral…you can win"

He _can _win and he _will_ win. I won't let anyone any one take him away…I have to try and be stronger than this…

"If I did disappear…what would you do?" asked Astral softly.

I looked up at Astral. I thought the whole point of this was to say he wouldn't disappear. A few more tears fell down my cheeks, "I-I don't know…"

"Promise me one thing though"

"What is it?" I asked.

He held me close, if that was possible, "If I do fade away, promise me that you won't cry…not like this"

I let out a dry laugh, "You want me to do something impossible?" It _was _impossible.

"It is not"

"I don't think I can do that, Astral"

"I don't wish to see you sad if I go," he said quietly.

"Then…I guess I have to promise you, don't I?"

"Will you?"

I nodded, "Alright, Astral. I promise I won't cry but I won't promise that I'll be full of smiles…"

Astral held both of my tear-soaked cheeks, "Thank you, my love," he then kissed me passionately.

I can't let anyone take this away from me.

* * *

**Next day!**

My dad didn't show up so I was stuck with Black Mist for the night. He doesn't attack me, like he could though. I'm glad that my dad protects me but I want to talk to him…why won't he talk to me?

I let my hair loose for the day. I grabbed my white tank top and black shorts. I smiled in the mirror as I combed my hair, today is going to be fun…hopefully. I clutched my comb and closed my eyes.

Astral, I hope he doesn't get number duels and I hope that he does. He deserves his memories back…

I grabbed my heart piece and strapped on my decks. I then walked out the door. I smiled as Yuma ran up to me and we walked to the square together. The others managed to find us and we all joined up.

A parade of Obots were passing by, trumpets blaring. It was so pretty in Heartland! We all ran to the front of the crowd for the countdown.

"It's beginning soon!" said Kotori as we all had our D-Gazers on.

"Yeah!" said Yuma excitedly.

"Dear fellow duelists who gathered in Heartland city," announced Mr. Heartland on a blimp, "I will explain the rules of the Duel Carnival to you. The ground is all over Heartland, and it's over three days from now. The participants have to duel when someone is challenging them. The bet in those duels will be the heart pieces which you've got in your hands, ladies and gentlemen. The duelists who lose this will be out. The requirement of advancing in this tournament is to collect five heart pieces to complete it"

So that's why it isn't whole…

Mr. Heartland finished up, "Well then, this is the end of the Duel Carnival announcement. Set fire in Heartland with your duelist's passionate hearts! Heart burning!"

So it starts. There's a ton of people I have to look for…Kaito, IV and number-holders…

"Well then, let's go! I'm definitely going to win!" shouted Tetsuo and he ran off to duel.

"I'm going too, ura," said Tokunosuke and he ran off. Let's hope he doesn't cheat.

"Everyone is so full of excitement," said Kotori looking after our friends.

I smiled as I noticed Astral had appeared behind us. I went on my tippy-toes and kissed Astral for a second. I grinned and started running off, "See you!"

"Good luck, Rima," said Astral smiling and I left.

It's time to duel!


	27. WDC Kickoff!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

I started walking as I heard a duel start. Oh well, I don't want to wait around and watch. I would've stayed with Astral and Yuma to cheer them on but I have to find some duels myself. The weakest people will probably lose today.

"Hey, you albino!"

I glared and turned around to see two people, definitely older than me. Maybe 15 or 16. I smiled coldly, "Yes?"

They didn't seem to notice. They're definitely idiots.

"I see you have a duel disk on," said number 1.

Duelists…? I smiled, let's fake this, "I-I just started playing duel monsters, are you two in the tournament as well?"

They smirked, haha got them.

The first one smirked, "I'm Skye, and this is Ushio"

Ushio smirked, "Who do you want to duel, little girl?"

I had to keep in my laughter. I looked up at them 'timidly', "Um…Can I duel both at you at the same time?"

They gaped at me, "2v1?"

I nodded, "I-if that's okay with you two…"

They smirked, thinking they would win easily.

"It's your funeral," said Skye as he activated hid duel disk. Ushio did the same.

I can't wait to beat these guys to a pulp!

"Hey, what's your name?" asked Ushio as they distanced themselves from me.

I think they might know my name if I say it. I smiled, "Just call me Victoria"

I blinked at the use of my mom's name. I then smiled, it's fine. I'll use this name.

We all smirked, "Duel!"

"I'll go first. My turn, draw" I said quietly, just to add to the act. I drew a card sloppily and smiled at it, Marshmallon…I placed her down, "I set this card in defense position! End turn!"

"Aw, so scared that she's going into defense," said Skye and I felt a hatred for him, "My turn, draw! I summon Storm Pegasus (Atk: 1800-Lvl: 4)!"

{Beyblade…hehe}

I looked at the beautiful winged-horse. Come on, take the bait…!

Skye smirked, "Storm Pegasus, destroy her face down!"

I smirked as Marshmallon (Def: 500-Lvl: 3) revealed herself. Smoke covered everywhere.

**Skye: 3000LPS Ushio: 4000LPS**

**Victoria (Rima): 4000LPS**

Skye gaped, "W-what?!"

I smiled innocently, "My set monster was Marshmallon. Her effect is that when she is face down and is attacked by a monster, the controller of that monster gets 1000 damage! Also, Marshmallon cannot be destroyed by battle!"

Skye glared at me, definitely not expecting that.

Ushio glanced at him, "Hurry up and end your turn!"

Skye placed set a card, "I set one card, end turn!"

Hm…I have Remove Trap in my hand so I could use that next turn probably.

Ushio nodded, "My turn, draw! I summon Singer T (Atk: 1400-Lvl: 3)! I then end my turn!"

That's all he can do, huh?

I smirked, going to show my real strength, "My turn, draw!" I took a quick glance at my hand, "Alright! I first activate the field magic card, Sanctuary in the Sky!"

My heavenly field spell did its magic! My clothes switched to a white short toga and I was wearing white sandals. Skye and Ushio's clothes turned into longer togas and their shoes changes to sandals as well. Surrounding us were ruins of the fairy world!

"What the hell?!" asked Ushio staring at his clothes.

I raised my arms, "Welcome to the sanctuary of fairies! Now, it's still my turn! I play the continuous magic card, Marshmallon Glasses! Because of this, Marshmallon is your permanent attack target! I now summon Zeradias, Herald of Heaven (Atk: 2100-Lvl: 4)!"

"There's no way a monster that strong can be a low level monster!" argued Skye.

I tutted, "You _would _be right if Sanctuary in the Sky wasn't out. If this field magic wasn't out, Zeradias would've been destroyed! But since this is out, I can summon him! Zeradias, attack Storm Pegasus!"

I just need to defeat one of them to win!

"No way!" shouted Skye, "I activate my trap card, Block Attack!"

I rolled my eyes, "From my hand, I activate Remove Trap! This allows me to, well, _remove_ your _trap_!"

Skye looked shocked as he flew backwards a bit.

**Skye: 2700LPS Ushio: 4000LPS**

**Victoria (Rima): 4000LPS**

To be continued…


	28. Construction Site Duel!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

**Skye: 2700LPS Ushio: 4000LPS**

**Victoria (Rima): 4000LPS**

I chuckled, this is going to be easy. I just need to finish off one of them to win, "I then activate the continuous magic card Fairy Diadem! If one of my fairies attacks and succeeds, I can attack again! Go, Zeradias! Attack Skye directly!"

Skye was knocked backwards onto the ground with a groan.

**Skye: 600LPS Ushio: 4000LPS**

**Victoria (Rima): 4000LPS**

Ushio gasped, "I know where I've seen this chick!"

I winced, aw…

Skye stood up and dusted himself off, "What do you mean?"

Ushio pointed at me emphatically, "Her real name is Rima, Rima Tsubasa! She's a pro duelist!"

"A pro?!" questioned Skye incredulously. They found out.

I smirked at them, "So what? Let's finish this!"

"No way!" shouted Skye, a coward. He took of his D-Gazer, "There's no way we're dueling a pro!"

Ushio nodded feverishly and they both ran away. I blinked, "What…?"

"Hold it right there!"

A man and a woman stood in front of the two of them, blocking their path.

"W-who are you?" asked Skye scared. I didn't even know these people.

"I'm Droite," said the purple-haired lady, "This is my partner, Gauche. We're both part of the committee responsible for maintaining the World Duel Carnival"

"So what?" asked Ushio as I blinked at the people.

Droite and Gauche…WDC committee?

"What do you mean 'so what'?" asked Gauche and I knew he was a very rash person, "It means that you owe this girl two heart pieces because you forfeited, which means losing!"

"B-but we didn't know she was a pro!" argued Skye and he tried to get passed.

"Do I need to teach you a lesson?" asked Gauche glaring at the boy.

Skye gulped and Ushio nudged him, "Come on, Skye! Let's just give the girl the heart pieces!"

"But then we have no more!" retorted Skye angrily.

Ushio glared at his buddy and walked over to me and held out his heart piece, "Here"

I caught it in my hands, "Arigato…"

"You can go," said Droite to Ushio who glanced at his buddy before walking away.

"Are we going to have a problem?" Gauche asked Skye threateningly. Gauche was sort of tough.

"No…" muttered Skye as he walked over and gave me his piece as well. He gave me a dirty look before leaving as well.

I looked at the heart pieces before turning to Gauche and Droite, "Arigato"

"No worries, kid," said Gauche smirking, "It's our job"

I blinked and smiled. Well, I at least got two heart pieces.

Droite's D-Gazer rang or something because she held it up, "Yes?"

She nodded to Gauche and they left. I blinked, I can't believe that just happened…I turned off A/R and put my D-Pad away. I kept my white D-Gazer on just in case.

I took out my heart piece and connected the pieces. Three pieces down…two to go. I smiled, I wonder how the others are doing…


	29. Railroad Deck Takeoff!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

I walked through the streets. No one seemed to want to duel! It was only first day so it's alright but I wanna duel!

I then saw tWO people: Yuma and Kotori! I smiled and tackled Kotori, "Hey guys!"

Kotori looked at me, "Hi Rima," and I got off her.

"Hey Rima," said Yuma grinning. I'm guessing he won a duel.

Yuma and I looked at his Emperor's Key as it glowed a bit. A second later, Astral was out and about. Astral was instantly at my side.

"Why are you out now, Astral? We're not dueling," said Yuma confused. I was a bit as well.

"I felt Rima's presence," said Astral pleasantly. Aw!

I smiled at Astral, "I'm glad to see you again, Astral"

"You guys just saw each other earlier today!" pointed out Yuma.

I stuck my tongue out at him, "That's like a century in my time!"

Kotori just sweat dropped, "Neh, Yuma, shouldn't you put that heart piece in now?"

So he won a duel. I smirked out him, "So who won it? You or Astral?"

Yuma looked at me irritated, "Hey, I can duel too, Rima!"

I smiled, "I know~"

Yuma took out his heart piece and I noticed he had another already in there. So he has the same amount as me…

Yuma tried to put it in but it wouldn't budge, "Darn, the third heart piece…Why…? Why…? Why doesn't it match?! Considering I just got my third heart piece after all that!"

That's weird…Mine got in fine. I glanced at Astral to see him floating above, watching us. Well, mostly me but still.

"They aren't that easy to assemble," explained Kotori, "The heart was divided into several shapes, so only one piece can connect with another"

She showed us a projection on her D-Pad. Ugh, she's right! It might take a long time before I can get perfect pieces! I just got lucky…

"Eh?!" asked Yuma looking at the screen, "Then there's no way I can connect them!"

Astral floated down, on his side, with his arms crossed, "Forget about that, Yuma. We have to find an opponent who uses numbers next time. The reason we participated in the Duel Carnival _is_ to recover Numbers, after all"

I tilted my head, "That is true…" I mean, numbers is the most important thing of course.

"Isn't that _your _problem?!" asked Yuma, pointing at Astral irritated, "And you know what, it's always because of you, every single time, that-"

Astral looked somewhere else puzzled and I followed his gaze. In a flash, someone shot something towards us! Missile!

Astral grabbed me and jetted into the air. I quickly held onto him as he lowered me back to the ground, a bit away from the shooting grounds. Yuma had grabbed Kotori so they were safe. Astral still pressed me to his chest, ready to move if it happened again.

In the spot we just were, there was a crater from the missile. I held onto Astral tightly, "W-what was that…?"

"The hell?!" I heard Yuma say, "That A/R was really powerful!"

I reached up and took off my D-Gazer. I looked at the place, it was real…!

"No, Yuma!" shouted Kotori, "This is real!"

They were shot again with three missiles. Yuma and Kotori got up and ran for it. I pushed out of Astral's embrace as one was aimed for me. My key levitated and pulled me towards Yuma and Kotori. I shouted, "Ow!" Stupid key…Wait, wasn't my dad residing in there? Doesn't that mean he was doing this?

I didn't have time to think as I ran up to Kotori and Yuma's side, "What the hell is happening?!"

"I don't know!" Kotori shouted as we ran.

Astral appeared behind me, "It would seem you are being targeted," he said to Yuma.

"How's that possible?!" shouted Yuma.

"I wouldn't be surprised!" I yelled, "You piss a lot of people off!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" asked Yuma angrily.

Astral grabbed me once more and pushed me sideways. We all barely missed a projectile.

"This way, Kotori, Rima!" shouted Yuma and we all turned the corner.

I glanced back at the girl, she was following us! She was on a weird half-hovercraft half-rocket. She's so…! Wait a minute, red hair, violent, our age…She seems familiar.

"Hold it, dammit!" she yelled at us.

"So she really is after us!" shouted Kotori glancing back.

"Who in the world is she?" asked Astral as he floated beside Yuma and I.

"I don't know but she's a horrible shooter!" I said as I glanced back at her. Why is she aiming for Yuma…?

"Move, move, move!" she shouted, "Eat this!"

A rocket was launched at us! I didn't have enough time to react as Astral grabbed me and pressed me to a wall, his breath hot on my lips. Okay, this is a really bad time to have this situation!

Yuma grabbed Kotori's hand and pushed her onto the ground across from us. They then kept running and Anna followed. Astral and I just watched after them.

I shuffled from my spot, "Astral, can you move now?"

He blinked at my discomfort, "Are you alright, Rima?"

I nodded, "Y-yeah, just fine"

"Your face is red," he said leaning closer to me.

"I'm fine," I squeaked out. Does he not know what a blush is? Yuma needs to explain some things to Astral.

He floated in front of me as I made my breathing normal. Oh my god…! I looked to Astral. He was staring after Kotori, Yuma and the shooter.

"Should we go after them?" I asked Astral as we watched Kotori and Yuma turn.

Astral hummed, "I suppose we should, or we could…"

I giggled lightly at that, "Or we could take our time?"

He smiled at me, "More or less"

I smiled back and we started walking after the lunatic, Yuma, and Kotori.

"So, Rima, how many heart pieces do you have so far?" asked Astral as we walked past a few shops.

I dug into my pocket and showed him, "I have three and, luckily, they all fit," I then put them away.

"You are quickly collecting the pieces," complimented Astral.

I looked ahead of us to no longer see the trio. Oh well. I looked back to Astral, "Um, I haven't seen any number-users yet, have you?"

"No, we haven't," said Astral.

I sighed in relief at the answer. I'm so glad. Well, I didn't even need to ask because I didn't feel any pain and the key didn't react. I just wanted to hear from Astral.

Astral spoke once more, "Rima-"

While he was speaking, I saw a cotton candy stand. I squealed and unconsciously grabbed Astral's hand, "Come on, Astral! I want to go get some cotton candy!"

Astral blinked as I dragged him. I stopped in front of the vendor, "Can I have one strawberry?"

He nodded and passed me one on a cone. I gave him a couple of bucks quickly. Yay! Astral and I walked away as I bit into the fluff cloud, "Delicious~"

I finally noticed that I was holding Astral's hand. I quickly let go. I turned to Astral and stammered out, "S-sorry, Astral"

He tilted his head, cutely might I add, and smiled, "I didn't say I minded, Rima"

He looked at me with those eyes I simply could not resist. He held his right hand out and I took it with my left. He then stared at my cotton candy, "What is 'cotton candy'?"

I blinked and remembered how clueless Astral was about our world. I explained, "Oh, um…cotton candy is a treat made of sugar. It's really tasty!"

After that, Astral and I decided to stay put and find the three later. While I was eating the candy, I kept swinging our hands side to side. Astral had also interlocked our fingers.

I had eaten all my candy. I stared at it sadly, "Aw…there's no more!"

I felt like running back and getting another but I decided against it. I don't want to get fat or anything.

Astral was staring at my lips, "Rima, you have some of it on your lips"

I blushed, embarrassed, "Oh, where?"

I now noticed Astral had started to lean in to me. He spoke softly, "I'll get it," and then he kissed me.

His hand reached up and cupped my cheek as my eyes fluttered closed. My other hand had already dropped the cotton candy cone at the surprise of the kiss. I happily responded to the gesture. I love Astral so much~

When we parted, we were both smiling. Astral's hand still rested on my cheek, "You taste really nice, Rima"

At that, I blushed. A lot. But still, "So did you get it?"

He brushed my bangs behind my ear before looking at me meaningfully, "Get it? I fell in love with it"

* * *

We had met back up with Yuma and Kotori. I decided to part ways though so now I'm by myself. Kotori's going to keep me updated about that weird shooter girl. I hope they're okay. If it's a number-user, I'll find out.

I walked through a meadow, it was so pretty! I felt like dancing in it but then I would look like an idiot. Oh to hell with it! I spun around and picked up a dandelion. I softly blew on it and the fluffs floated into the air. I smiled at it and made a wish. I wish…I wish Astral would remember. He would remember everything soon. I don't like him being sad.

"Are you making a wish?"

I blinked and turned to see a boy. He was a little bit taller than me but not by much. He seemed young but I think he was older than me. He had a cute pink pixie hairdo and green eyes. He was wearing an old-type of clothing with many layers. He looked so adorable!

I smiled at him, "Yeah, I am"

He smiled at me and I felt like I knew him. I stared at him before noticing that he was getting a bit uncomfortable. I smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, you just seem…familiar"

"You sort of do as well," he said rubbing his head, "My name is III"

"III?" I repeated. That name wasn't familiar but this boy…I just shook it off and smiled, "My name is Rima"

"It's nice to meet you, Rima," he said politely, "Are you a duelist?"

I blinked, "Yeah, I'm in the WDC. Are you, III?" Would he ask otherwise?

He smiled and nodded, "Yes, I am," He took out his heart piece. Four pieces!

I grinned at that, "That was fast. I have three, myself"

He took out his duel disk, "Would you like to duel?"

"I can't say no," I said happily. I didn't underestimate III though. He seemed like those types who hide their power. I was surprised when my white D-Gazer and white duel disk appeared magically. Alright, this is probably my dad's doing, however he did it.

III didn't look shocked and he distanced himself a bit. He activated his feather-like duel disk and he did not have a D-Gazer. Instead, a D-Gazer tattoo appeared around his eye. Just like Kaito…I didn't think much of it. Speaking of, I won't use numbers. It wouldn't be fair…

_A/R VISION LINK ESTABLISHED_

"Duel!"


	30. Death Match!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

I quickly grabbed my five cards. I stared at them, alright, this is okay. I looked to III, "Mind if I go first?"

"Go ahead," he said and I drew a card.

"My turn, draw!" I shouted, "I first activate the field magic card, Sanctuary in the Sky!"

The small meadow we were on disappeared. It was replaced with a huge cloud underneath us. My clothes turned into a short toga and III's turned into a knee-length toga. Golden sandals adorned our feet as the ancient ruin's surrounded us.

I noticed III looking at it in amazement. He turned to me smiling like a little kid in a candy store, "This is Athens, right?"

I blinked and looked around. Athena's Greek so…I turned back to III, "Yeah, Greece, right?"

He seemed to be into this type of stuff. An archaeologist type of person?

I continued, "I summon The Agent of Mystery – Earth (Atk: 1000-Lvl: 2)! When this monster is normal summoned, I can add one Agent monster from my deck to my hand. But when The Sanctuary in the Sky is in play, I can add one Master Hyperion to my hand instead!"

My deck gave out the monster and I took it. I smiled, "I can now remove one Agent monster from my hand, field, or graveyard, from play, to special summon Master Hyperion! I remove The Agent of Mystery – Earth! I now special summon the king of Saturn! Come forth, Master Hyperion (Atk: 2700-Lvl: 8)!"

I raised my arm dramatically as my Fairy god appeared. I think this is a really good start. I nodded to III, "I end my turn!"

He nodded and he drew, "My turn, draw! Sorry, Rima, but…"

"But what?" I asked confused.

He smiled, "I activate the field magic card, Treasure Room!"

I sighed unhappily as my beautiful fairy haven disappeared. The field magic made the whole place look like a treasure room! There was gold piled up around us making it beautiful! Beside us was a huge golden throne. Our clothes changed once more. I was now wearing an emerald green kimono that reached my ankles.

III was also wearing a boy emerald kimono. We were sort of matching.

"You destroyed my field magic card~" I whined playfully.

He giggled before continuing.

**Skip to end of duel!**

I would've won a while ago but I didn't summon numbers. If I summoned Black Mist, III would've been finished already but…I'm losing.

**III: 2000LPS Rima: 500LPS**

I had just Athena (Atk: 2600-Lvl: 7). I had two set cards as well. It was III's turn.

"I activate the equipment magic card Ancient Treasurer!" announced III tiredly. We were both tired from this, "I equip it to OOPArts Carter! It doubles the attached monster's attack but it's destroyed after battle phase (Atk: 4000). It doesn't matter though, you're losing this turn, Rima! Attack Athena!"

I started giggling to which he blinked at.

"W-what's funny, Rima?" he asked confused.

I smiled, "I activate a trap!"

His eyes widened, "A counter?!"

Barely. I lifted my arm, "I activate Fairy Protective! It changes the attack target, if my opponent's monster attacks, to myself!"

I shouted in pain as I was knocked to my back.

**III: 2000LPS Rima: 0LPS**

I went onto my knees as I activate my other trap silently.

"Why, Rima?" he asked as the smoke cleared, "You still…lost?"

My Athena was still there and so was his monster. He blinked confused, "W-why? You lost didn't you?"

I smiled and shook my head. I then stood up, "I activated a trap! I activated Fairytopia!"

"But you still lost all your life points!" said III shocked.

I grinned, "Yeah, so? Fairytopia allows me to stay alive. As long as one fairy, in this case Athena, is on the field…I can still survive! Now, doesn't your effect come in?"

His eyes widened in realization, "Eh?!"

His monster was destroyed because of the effect and he was left wide open. He reluctantly ended his turn, "I…end my turn"

I smirked, "Go Athena!"

My fairy descended upon III and destroyed the rest of his life points. He was knocked backwards with a grunt.

**III: 0LPS Rima: 0LPS**

**Rima is the winner!**

I swiped off my D-Gazer and panted as the meadow came back to us. I walked over to where III was lying down. I blinked, puzzled, as I saw him staring at the clouds.

"What are you doing?" I asked him softly.

He smiled, "Just looking at the clouds"

I looked up to see there were cool ones. I lay down beside him and we watched the clouds together.

"Here," he said as he sat up.

I sat up and saw him holding out a heart piece. I smiled and took it thankfully, "Arigato, III, you're an awesome duelist. I would've lost at the end if I didn't have that card"

He smiled, "You're pretty good yourself, Rima. It was an honor to duel with you"

I took out my heart pieces and placed the new one in. It fit! I smiled at III and he smiled back. Now he _really_ seemed familiar. I couldn't place my finger on it.

"It was nice meeting you, Rima," he said softly.

I sighed happily and smiled back, "You too, III. Do you still have heart pieces left?"

He nodded, "I had four when you dueled me. Now I have three"

I grinned, "You can still make it in. It's only first day, after all"

He nodded, "That's true"

I laughed and he laughed with me. A golden half-heart locket that dangled from his neck went unnoticed to me. I would've known what it was…because I have the other half at home.


	31. His Name is Charlie!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

_Empress Key glints = number is nearby or is being summoned_

_Empress Key floats/levitates = Astral is in a number duel_

_Oneechan = older sister_

_neechan = older sister_

* * *

III and I had parted ways already. It was getting a bit dark and I just wanted to sleep! III and I's duel was so exhausting! I then saw a duel. My face lit up as I saw who it was, "Ryoga!"

He glanced at me as I ran over to the front of the mob. There was such a huge crowd! He was currently winning a duel, well duh! I watched happily as he continued.

"Go Ryoga!" I cheered timidly as he gave me a smirk. A lot of people around me were cheering as well.

He shot his arm out, "I activate the effect of Submersible Carrier Aero Shark! Go, air torpedo!"

The other duelist fell onto his back with a groan.

**Generic person: 0LPS Ryoga: 4000LPS**

**Ryoga is the winner!**

I ran over to him. Well, I _tried_ to run over to him. I tripped and fell on my face in front of him. I whined, clutching my head, as I sat up, "Ow~"

He stared at me for a few seconds before laughing. I glared at him, embarrassed. He never laughs when I try to make him but, he laughs when I fall! Stupid sadist!

He kept at it making me really annoyed. He was acting really out-of-character.

"Shark!"

Ryoga stopped laughing but he had a small smile on his face. We turned to the voice to be met with Yuma. I was still on the ground though. "Yuma?" said Ryoga surprised. He forced his smile to drop but his eyes were still full of mirth.

"So you did enter the WDC," said Yuma happily as I stood up.

Even though Ryoga did join…he's not actually in it.

Ryoga turned away from Yuma, "I just entered to take care of a situation," he was all business now.

"Situation?" repeated Yuma confused.

"When I fulfill my purpose, I'll withdraw from this tournament!" he announced angrily. He was thinking about IV.

"A-and why is that?" asked Yuma still confused.

"The guy I once lost to in National Championships has appeared," Ryoga explained somewhat, "He…IV, lured me into his trap. He even got innocent people involved!"

I put a hand on Ryoga's shoulder, "Ryoga"

"IV?" asked Yuma, not knowing who he was, "His trap?"

"I'll pay him back!" shouted Ryoga angrily, "Yuma, don't get involved with me"

He shook my hand off, brushing off the comfort. He then walked away without another word. Ryoga…

"Shark…!" shouted Yuma reaching out for him.

"Yuma," I whispered as he and Kotori looked to me, "Just don't worry, neh? It's…it's family business"

* * *

Kotori had explained to me about the shooter, Anna. I remember her from when I was younger, of course, but we weren't really close. I'm a bit jealous at Astral's interest in her dueling style, though. She told me about the collected heart pieces and about why they were here. A man named Charlie…for Akari.

I smiled, "Tough day, huh?"

"Yeah," said Kotori.

Astral was floating beside me, watching my every move. I raised an eyebrow at him, "What are you doing, Astral?"

He snapped out of whatever and spoke, "I was wondering if human love was the same as this…As what I feel for you, Rima"

I smiled, "Where did this come from?" I asked delighted.

"That duel with Anna…I couldn't understand her attraction to Yuma and how _violent_ she was to it. I thought love was tender and soft," he said thoughtfully.

I stopped to look at him, "Well, a lot of people show love in different ways, Astral. Sometimes it happens when a relationship goes awry. I suppose it was like that because Anna was mad at her crush"

Astral stared at me, "Awry…?" He raised his hand to my cheek, "I love you"

I smiled, "Love you too, but why are you saying it now?"

"I don't want ours to go awry," he said terrified.

Astral…I stared at him in disbelief, "Astral…Ours won't be like that…There's no way I would stop loving you"

He sighed out of relief and smiled at me, "I'm glad. You're the only one I will ever want to love"

So sweet…Our faces neared and my lips barely brushed Astral's before I jumped away from him in shock.

"That Shark…" interrupted Yuma. I glared at him so hard. What a little-! But…He has been quiet, "What in the world happened?"

I would answer him but Ryoga wouldn't like it. And I'm sort of mad because he just ruined my little moment with Astral.

"Yuma," said Kotori looking at the boy. He was off in his own little world.

"Yuma, you baka!" I shouted.

He snapped out of it and glared at me. He then looked to Kotori, "Eh?"

"He's over there," said Kotori and she pointed somewhere.

Yuma and I followed her gaze to see a man, Charlie, on a bench.

"Found him!" said Yuma surprised and he ran over to him, "Old man!" he yelled rudely.

Kotori and I exchanged looks and sighed, will he never learn?

Charlie looked up suspiciously in confusion and annoyance.

Yuma pointed to himself, "I'm Yuma Tsukumo!"

"Tsukumo?" repeated Charlie before looking at Yuma in disbelief, "You…"

* * *

"You came here to capture me?" asked Charlie amused. We had started talking to this guy.

Astral was floating behind me, arms crossed.

"That's your oneechan alright," said Charlie laughing.

Yuma put his hands on his hips and agreed, "That's right. I'm really busy with the Duel Carnival"

Charlie looked at Yuma smiling, "You're in the Duel Carnival? In that case, care to duel me?"

He held out a card that seemed…weird. My key glinted which went undetected by me.

"Yeah," said Charlie grinning, "I just wanna test this card's luck"

"Hey, you in the hat over there!"

We turned to the voice to be met with a big burly man

"You look to be a duelist," he said and he held out a heart piece, "Then, bet your heart piece and duel me!"

"Ho~" said Charlie unfazed, "Interesting"

"You're in the Duel Carnival?" Yuma questioned. Is he…?

"Nope!" said Charlie, "But, Yuma, I'll let you witness a rare kind of duel in this place"

I had no idea what he meant by that. How can he keep such a joyful attitude though…?

**Skip to end of duel!**

"Hey, Charlie!" shouted Yuma, "Why are you betting my heart piece without my permission?! What if my heart piece is taken?!"

Charlie was a weird duelist. _And_ he was losing!

"I know!" said Charlie, "Stop panicking"

"But…" said Yuma indignantly, "There are three Xyz monsters on his field! What are you going to do?!"

"And there's a 3900 gap in their life," added Astral.

**Charlie: 100LPS Generic person: 4000LPS**

"I know, right?!" agreed Yuma, "There's absolutely no chance for a reversal! I'm so stupid!"

"Life is a carnival!" said Charlie making me blink, "So long as the sun remains as one, my luck will never run out!"

That's weird…There were three suns a while ago. His luck ran out a _long _time ago.

"Life is a carnival?" repeated Astral.

"What's this?" asked Yuma surprised, "He thinks he can still win"

"Reminds me of you, Yuma," I said as I watched Charlie. A lot of dueling has to do with come backs.

"Here I go!" announced Charlie, "My turn, draw! Could it be?! I think it is! I activate the quickplay magic card, Reload! This card returns my hand to my deck! And now, I draw new cards equal to the amount of cards I returned! Here it is, here it is!"

I looked at him confused, why is he so excited?

"Hah?" asked Yuma confused as well.

"Huh?!" asked Charlie as he stared at his hand astonished, "Did I screw up somewhere?"

I sweat dropped, so confident now he's so…

"That's what I've been saying all this time!" shouted Yuma distressed.

Charlie then smirked, "I activate the magic card, Triple Ace! With this effect, if I have three level one cards with the same name, I can special summon all three! I special summon three Dice Slot Sevens!"

A net of a cube appeared with all the dots on it. It was light blue with big black hands. Two more appeared with it (Atk: 100-Lvl: 1).

Three of the same level…or maybe it's something else? Who knows?

"They got 100 attack points?" sneered the opponent, "So you finally give up the duel?"

"Nope!" said Charlie, with his happy-go-lucky attitude, "In fact, I'm quite confident. Dice Slot Seven's effect activates!"

Three dice appeared in his hand.

"Dice?" questioned Kotori.

"What the heck is he doing?" asked Yuma sadly thinking Charlie was going to lose.

"This strategy…is based on luck," I said staring at the monsters. It's like Angel's Dice.

"Life is carnival!" announced Charlie and then he threw his dice, "They will gain levels equal to the number I roll on the dice!"

All the dice…landed on six! I gasped, "No way!" That's almost impossible to get!

"All of them are six!" shouted Yuma astonished.

"The probability of three dice all being six is 1/216," said Astral.

"I see who the smart one in this relationship is," I sighed. I have no clue how Astral got this number anyways. Stupid math.

"Nice!" said Charlie like he knew that was going to happen, "Now the level one Dice Slot Sevens all become level seven!"

"There are three level seven monsters on his field," stated Astral. He was right. And if this is what we think, it's an Xyz summon.

"Here it comes!" declared Charlie, "I can feel the wind of strong luck blowing! I overlay my three level seven Dice Slot Sevens! I build the overlay network with these three monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, No. 7 Lucky Stripe!"

A number! I looked at my key to see that it was, indeed, glowing. Shoot, I didn't notice!

"Isn't that…?" breathed Kotori.

"A number?" finished Yuma in disbelief.

It was a spinning top with a dartboard on it. It had two striped arms and a weird top head.

"So he's a numbers-user?" I heard Astral ask tell himself.

It looked like a joker (Atk: 700-Rank: 7).

"Then I activate the Magic Card, Dream Dice!" announced Charlie, "By tossing this die, if a six shows up, the attack power of all monsters on my opponent controls become zero! However, if a number other than six shows up, my monster's attack power will become zero!"

We watched the die and it…landed on six!

"What?!" asked the opponent.

"Six!" I shouted, shocked.

"He got six again!" said Yuma staring at it incredulously.

"Bingo!" shouted Charlie, "Now all your monster's attack power will become zero!"

Astral spoke in surprise, "Until now, the odds of getting consecutive sixes is 1/1296!"

I held my head, "Stop with the math, Astral!" He's giving me a headache!

He looked at me apologetically and lowered himself to the ground. I leaned my head on his chest thankfully. He wrapped an arm around my waist.

"Go, Lucky Stripe!" declared Charlie.

His opponent scoffed, "I will take damage but it'll be a mere 700!"

"Boy are you wrong," said Charlie joyfully, "I activate the effect of Lucky Stripe! When this card battles, by detaching one overlay unit, I can toss a die! And during this turn, its attack power becomes the multiple of that value! Here's the final blow! Kindly accept my good luck!"

I lifted my head and watched in amazement as it landed on six again! Charlie is so lucky!

"Now Lucky Stripe's attack power is 6 times 700! 4200 (Atk: 4200)!" announced Charlie.

"Impossible!" shouted his opponent. He was knocked backwards by impact.

**Charlie: 100LPS Generic person: 0LPS**

**Charlie is the winner!**

The A/R disappeared around us as I was still shocked. I took off my D-Gazer and put it into my pocket. That was…

Yuma swiped off his D-Gazer, "I can't believe it! He brought a huge reversal in one turn!"

"Indeed," agreed Astral, "That isn't your average dueling. What strong luck he has! Until now, the odds of getting consecutive sixes was 1/7776"

"I wonder if it has to do with the number…" I whispered. There was no number mark so something must have had to compensate for it!

"You must be cheating!" yelled the opponent as he stood up, "There's no way all of them were six!"

Charlie started laughing. Suddenly, a spotlight was on him. We all looked above us to see a police helicopter!

"What?" asked Kotori shocked, "What's happening?"

A bunch of police cars also pulled up around us.

"Charlie McCoy!" shouted the police, "You are completely surrounded! Give up and surrender!"

Oh my god, he's a criminal?!

"Whoops," said Charlie, "Looks like I overdid it a bit"

"Put both of your hands on your head!" someone shouted, "Hurry up and abide!"

"Yeah, yeah," said Charlie, still smiling might I add, as he put his hands up. "But I told you before. You can't possibly catch me! As long as I have this card, that is. Be careful, everyone! I'm about to absorb all of your luck!"

Luck…? A huge tornado appeared around Charlie, protecting him. Everyone screamed in shock. We all covered our eyes from the wind, what the hell?! My extra deck-box flipped open making me shocked. Before I could grab her, No. 83 Galaxy Queen was pulled out from it. I stared at it shocked, "Galaxy Queen!"

"The numbers!" shouted Astral shocked.

"Ah!" shouted Yuma as he watched my number go helplessly.

"Galaxy Queen!" I shouted trying to reach out for her but she was already too far away. No! I quickly pushed down the cover of my extra deck before Black Mist could get out too. I now noticed a ton of cards were also caught in the wind. My number card…!

"Rima! Yuma!" shouted Astral getting our attention. We looked up to see the giant donut sign was about to fall.

"Rima, Yuma, run," ordered Astral.

I was frozen in shock, what the hell?! Astral noticed of course, and he grabbed my hand and pulled me farther away from the landing site. Yuma and Kotori were running right beside me. We stopped when we were far enough.

"What are you doing?" Yuma asked Charlie who didn't move an inch, "Run!"

Charlie stayed absolutely calm as the donut fell onto him. We all gasped. Oh my god! Is he dead?!

We then saw something when the smoke started clearing.

"That's…" said Kotori.

Charlie had a deck of cards in his hand and I knew Galaxy Queen was within that. "Did you see that?" he asked smirking, "I have the strongest luck. That's what I've been saying! I will absorb luck! I told you to be careful! Life is a carnival! As long as the sun remains as one, my luck will never run out! Yuma, say sorry to your sister for me! Peace!"

He then ran off.

I glared after him, "Give me back Galaxy Queen!" I shouted.

"Come back here, bastard!" yelled Yuma as we both started running.

Someone on a motorcycle blocked our way making us stop. They took off their helmet, it was Akari. She looked to us, "What in the world is causing all this commotion?"

"Neechan!" said Yuma surprised.

Astral floated to beside me, watching me. I looked at him before turning away, "Sorry, Astral…I lost Galaxy Queen…I'm sorry…"

I didn't see Astral's expression but I think he would've looked disappointed in me or something. I lost his precious memory piece.

"Where's that guy?" Akari asked.

We looked the way Charlie had been running…He wasn't there.

"He's no longer here…" stated Yuma shocked.

I held my head, "I'm sorry, Astral, Yuma"

"It wasn't your fault," said Yuma shocked at my apology, "It was his! Don't worry about it, Rima!"

"I messed up," I said not hearing him. I can't believe I let Galaxy Queen get taken away.

"Rima"

I looked up at Astral who was glaring at me upset, "Astral…"

"Rima, it's not your fault," said Astral as he leaned in to me. His nose was already touching mine, "Don't think it's your fault. It could have happened to anyone. I'm not mad at you"

I tried to avoid his eyes but his face was right in mine! I just closed my eyes, trying to avoid it. I spoke softly, "But-"

"We'll get her back," interrupted Astral. I hope so…I need to get her back! It doesn't feel right without her.

"Do you understand?" Astral asked once more.

"Yes…" I breathed and Astral moved his head away smiling.

"Good," he said happily.

Yuma and Kotori were explaining things to Akari as Astral watched me.

"Neh, Astral…?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, my love?" he asked making me blush a bit.

"I don't understand why you gave her to me," I said. I lost No. 83 so easily…How could he trust me?

"Rima, I…I loved you, that's why," he said as he flew upside down.

I blinked at that but he was so cute~! He smiled at me, "I trust you with her, Rima. That trust isn't gone"

I smiled slightly too, "That means a lot, Astral…thank you"

I took his face into my hands and kissed him. He was still upside down so it seemed like a kiss from a movie. He parted with me and flipped back to right-side-up.

"Astral…we have to get her back, right?" I asked him.

"We will," said Astral confidently. We decided to join the conversation with the others.

Charlie…stole from the museum?

"So Charlie really was behind all this," said Akari, "But that damn guy…! I even brought the motorcycle and rice balls with me…"

"So…the card he used was stolen from the gallery?" repeated Yuma surprised.

"Most likely," said Akari, "Supposedly, whoever owns that card will be instantly granted super luck. Anyone who's owned this card in the past became instant millionaires or famous stars. It's like a card that will guide you to the lucky path"

"Wow…" said Kotori astonished.

"Then who is that Charlie guy anyway?" questioned Yuma.

Akari looked up, "He was dad's classmate back in university. Inspired by dad, he started calling himself an adventurer, to the level of a treasure hunter…a big fool always travelling around the world. Just when I started thinking it'd been a while since I last saw him, he starts making such a mess of things…"

She hopped onto her motorcycle and started it up, "Listen, Yuma! You better find him!"

"Of course!" said Yuma urgently, "That guy has one of Rima's cards after all!"

"Kattobingu to him!" said Akari as she drove away.

"Okay!" said Yuma, "We should get moving!"

"Do you have any clues?" asked Astral as he floated down next to me.

"Huh?" asked Yuma confused.

"That's true," I said in agreement, "We won't find him if we search blindly in the dark"

"Then what should we do?" asked Yuma puzzled.

Astral stared off, thinking, "He's been saying 'life is carnival' several times. I remember that from somewhere"

_Skip!_

We all started running.

"86th street, Area B?" repeated Yuma as we all sprinted.

"Yes," confirmed Astral, "I saw it once when we were riding the monorail. 'Life is carnival', that slogan was written on it. Maybe that's where he saw it as well"

"Does it have anything to do with that guy?" asked Yuma confused.

"I can't be certain…" said Astral. His hunches were usually right though.

"Then we'll have to see it for ourselves!" I said, desperate to find Galaxy Queen.

We stopped on the bridge when we heard police sirens. They passed under the bridge.

"Isn't that the direction towards B Area?" questioned Kotori.

"It is," I confirmed. He _is _there.

* * *

We ran to the area. It was crowded! Apparently, the monorail was evacuated and stopped because Charlie was there.

We all ran through the bars into the place with the monorail.

"Please, wait, passenger!" a person shouted.

We ignored it and kept running.

There was a huge electric shock and the policemen were knocked out. The monorail turned on and we all ran inside before anyone could see.

We saw Charlie run inside too. The doors closed and the monorail started moving. Charlie didn't notice us as he stared at his number, cackling.

"Neechan!" Yuma shouted into his D-Gazer, "I found him! He's currently on the monorail!"

Charlie looked to us and smirked, "I can't believe you actually found me. But, that's Kazuma-san's son for you"

"Cut the small talk!" shouted Yuma, "Give back Rima's card!"

Charlie laughed shortly making me glare at him, "Alright, calm down! This monorail is currently not being controlled by the main quarter. In other words, we are directly headed to their location. What do you think? Care to have a duel with me before we reach the station?"

"A duel?" repeated Yuma.

A duel…A number duel?

"If you win, I'll give the cards back to your friend," he added smiling.

"Yuma, we have to recollect the numbers," said Astral urgently making me remember it was my fault that I lost them.

I sighed softly but Astral managed to hear me. He looked at me pointedly, "We've went over this, Rima"

"I know," I mumbled under my breath.

"Alright!" said Yuma, "Let's duel! Duel disk, set! D-Gazer, set! Duel target, lock on!"

We were now on the top of the monorail. Kotori and I were standing on the ladder, heads sticking out of the emergency escape. It was really windy.

_A/R VISION LINK ESTABLISHED_

"Wait, Yuma!" shouted Kotori worried.

"Duel!"

"Is this really the time to be dueling?!" shouted Kotori.

"You're so loud!" complained Yuma, "Who cares about time and location?!"

"But if this train is really not being operated, who's controlling the breaks?!" asked Kotori.

The reality smashed in. Oh…hell!

"Who cares who's controlling…the brakes?" asked Yuma and he realized as well.

We hit a turn and Yuma fell onto the floor.

"Don't be afraid, Yuma!" said Charlie, "Life is carnival! Everything is based on luck! Let's enjoy this duel!"


	32. Invincible Luck! No 7: Lucky Stripe!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

"Yuma…" Kotori whispered worried. I touched her hand and she looked at me.

I smiled, "He'll be fine, Kotori"

She nodded, "Yeah…" and she turned back to the duel.

Yuma and Astral will win this duel easily…even if it is a number duel.

"Alright, Yuma," said Charlie, "Let our carnival begin!"

"Gotcha!" shouted Yuma, "Here I come! My turn, draw! I'll set a monster face down in defense position and set one more card, ending my turn!"

Defensive…Alright, let's hope Charlie doesn't have the greatest luck in this duel.

"My turn, draw!" announced Charlie, "I activate the magic card, Trading Game! Let's start out small. Let me test my luck a bit!"

A die appeared in his hand, "This card allows me to toss a die once per turn, and if I toss a six, my current life will increase five times! However, if I get another value, my life will return to the value prior to activation!"

Yuma scoffed, "As if you'll get a six that easily!"

But maybe he can…he did last time.

"No," said Astral, "He managed to roll five consecutive sixes in the previous duel. The odds of the next one being 6 is 1/46656"

"The more you say that, Astral, the more possible it'll be!" I whined in complaint. I swear it becomes possible because Astral keeps saying the odds.

Astral looked at me apologetically, "Sorry, Rima"

I dismissed it with a smile, "I don't know why you're apologizing…" because I should be the one to.

"Behold…" said Charlie making our focus him.

"It's definitely impossible!" shouted Yuma.

"There!" announced Charlie as he threw the die. It landed…on a six. I gasped, "What the…?!"

"S-six?!" asked Yuma incredulously, "He got it again?!"

"5 times 4000 is 20000!" calculated Charlie.

**Charlie: 20000LPS Yuma: 4000LPS**

My eyes widened, "So many!"

Charlie pointed, "So long as the sun is round, my luck won't end!"

"Shut up!" shouted Yuma annoyed, "The sun set a long time ago, damn it!"

"Right," said Charlie, "Which means nothing can stop my fortune. I summon Majestic Jester (Atk: 0-Lvl: 1)! I attack the monster in face down defense position with Majestic Jester!"

Attack zero…

"He attacked with a zero attack power monsters?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

"Desperate Mime!" declared Charlie.

Yuma's card flipped over to reveal Gogogo Golem (Def: 1500).

"Gogogo Golem's Def is 15000," said Yuma, "You're the one who's taking damage!"

There's more to this.

"What a pity, Yuma," said Charlie, "I activate the effect of Majestic Jester!"

Another die appeared in his hand.

"_More _dice?!" asked Yuma shocked.

"Is this guy's strategy based on dice and luck?" I questioned myself. I hate basing stuff on that.

"Allow me to utilize this extraordinary luck to its fullest!" announced Charlie, "When Majestic Jester declares an attack, if I tossed a six, it destroys a monster my opponent controls. If I get other values, this card is destroyed and says his goodbyes"

"The probability of another consecutive six is 1/129936," urged Astral.

The bigger the second number is…the lower the chance, right? But…no matter how high this goes…Charlie still prevails.

"L-like hell he will!" shouted Yuma but there was a hint of doubt.

"Here I come!" said Charlie, "Here!"

We all watched the die. Please don't be six, please don't be six!

Even though I pleaded, it was a six. I groaned, "Why?!"

"It can't be!" said Astral shocked.

"Impossible!" shouted Yuma astonished.

How does this happen?!

"Bingo!" cheered Charlie, "I destroy Gogogo Golem!"

The monster was destroyed. Yuma's defenseless! He has a face down though so…

"I set one card and end my turn!" finished Charlie.

There was another rough turn. I hopped out of my place and ran over to Yuma and grabbed his arm. He almost fell of the side. I sighed, "You alright, Yuma?"

He nodded and regained his balance. Astral held out a hand and I took it. He led me back to where I was with Kotori and once he was sure I was safe he went back to Yuma.

"If this continues, we will…" spoke Kotori softly.

"Fret not!" said Charlie smiling, "We're standing next to the world's luckiest good luck charm, after all!"

Yuma drew, "My turn, draw! I summon Gagaga Magician (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)! In that case, I'll win with luck as well! I activate the magic card, Monster Slot! I banish one monster in my graveyard that has the same level as Gagaga Magician! And my card allows me to draw one card from my deck. If the drawn monster has the same level as those two monsters, I can special summon it to my field!"

Astral added the bad part, "But if it doesn't match, the drawn monster and targeted card will be banished! You're taking too many risks!"

Yuma exploded at Astral, "You're so annoying! If I get it, I'll have enough materials for a rank 4 Xyz summon!"

"It's too big of a risk," I said to Kotori and she nodded.

Charlie was smiling though, "It seems you still don't understand. I already absorbed your luck, so there's nothing left for you to use!"

He absorbed all of his luck…?

"Gimme a break!" said Yuma and he looked at his deck, "Come on, my good fortune! Draw!"

It was…Gagaga Girl.

"No way!" whined Yuma. Gagaga Girl was a level 3…Both Gagaga monsters were banished.

Charlie chortled, "I already told you! You can't surpass my luck!"

"Damn!" swore Yuma, "I end my turn!"

"If this continues, our chances of defeating him will trickle to zero percent…" said Astral making me a bit annoyed.

"Say what?!" asked Yuma, "What the heck are you going on about?!"

"Don't you get it, Yuma?" asked Charlie, "The luck attached to my card is absolute. Your father, Kazuma-san, was once my idol who greatly inspired me. I used to think he had everything. But there was one thing he lacked, and that was luck"

"What?" asked Yuma angrily.

Kazuma-san was an amazing man! He didn't need luck!

"If only he had slightly better luck…" said Charlie and he left it at that.

I clenched my fist, is he saying that Kazuma…because he didn't have luck?!

"It had nothing to do with luck!" Yuma shouted furiously.

Charlie covered his expression, "There are some critical moments in a person's life where they can't afford to lose. That's right, even if it means they have to win by relying on luck!"

Why is he acting so weirdly now?

He then smirked, "Here I come! My turn, draw! Alright, here goes! The continuous magic card, Trade Game! If I hit the jackpot, my life will increase 5 fold!"

He threw another die. Please don't get a six!

"It won't come again!" urged Yuma hopefully.

It landed on six! I felt like banging my head against something!

"A-again?!" stated Yuma in shock.

"He rolled a six!" yelled Kotori.

"Life is carnival!" shouted Charlie, "Now my life is 100000!"

**Charlie: 100000LPS Yuma: 4000LPS**

"That's a lot!" I shouted in astonishment.

"100000 life?!" read Yuma shocked, "How can we ever beat that life?!"

"I activate the magic card, Release Change!" declared Charlie, "By releasing one monster on my field, I can special summon one monster with the same level! I release the level one Majestic Jester and special summon Dice Slot Seven with the same level (Atk: 100-Lvl: 1)! Then I activate the magic card, Monster Slot!"

Same as Yuma's card.

"Damn!" said Yuma, "It's the same as me!"

"That's right," said Charlie, "What will happen if I do it? I target the level one Dice Slot Seven! I remove the level one Majestic Jester from my graveyard! Now, if I draw a level one monster, I can special summon that monster!"

It was another Dice Slot Seven! Ugh, I don't like this number!

"Alright, here it comes! I special summon Dice Slot Seven (Atk: 100-Lvl: 1)!"

"You gotta be kidding me!" complained Yuma.

"Next, I normal summon the third Dice Slot Seven (Atk: 100-Lvl: 1)!"

"We're in trouble, Yuma!" said Astral.

He can say that again!

"Dice Slot Seven can raise its level according to the tossed value until the end phase!" said Charlie as three dice appeared in his hand, "Please, give me three sixes!"

Astral stared at the dice, "The odds of getting three sixes are 1/362790000!"

"Stop it!" Yuma shouted, hands over ears, "I don't want to hear that!"

Even though I love how Astral is so smart, I don't want to hear the odds!

"Let's finish this once and for all!" said Charlie.

All three of the dice were sixes! I groaned, "Oh my god!"

"There it is!" shouted Charlie excited.

Yuma fell to his knees in utter shock, "Something so unreal…actually happened"

"The level of all three Dice Slot Sevens goes from one to seven!" shouted Charlie, "I overlay the three level seven Dice Slot Sevens! I build the overlay network with the three monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, No. 7 Lucky Stripe!"

The joker-like number appeared (Atk: 700-Rank: 7)!

"There it is!" stated Yuma.

"The number!" said Astral.

The number mark appeared on Charlie's hand, "It's here, here, here, here! Life is carnival!"

"Darn it!" said Yuma.

Charlie smirked at Yuma, "As I said, as long as the sun remains as one whole unit…my good fortune won't end!"

I held Kotori as we passed a corner once more. "You okay?" I asked her.

"I'm fine, arigato," said Kotori.

Suddenly, her D-Gazer rang.

"_Kotori-chan?"_

"Akari-san?" Kotori asked.

"_Listen carefully_," said Akari, _"There's only five minutes left before this monorail reaches its destination"_

"Eh?" I asked, "That would mean…"

"_Don't worry,"_ said Akari, _"I'll handle it somehow"_

Kotori shouted to Yuma, "Yuma! We're close to the destination!"

"What?!" Yuma questioned as he turned to us.

"Here I come, Yuma!" said Charlie, "I activate Lucky Stripe's effect! When this monster battles, by detaching one overlay unit, I roll a die! And after the battle concludes, Lucky Stripe's attack power will increase by its original attack power times the number rolled on the die. Alright, here I go!"

We watched the die. I still hoped that it would _not_ land on six. It landed on six anyways. We all gasped. This is so impossible!

"It's six!" said Charlie, "Lucky Stripe's original attack power is 700, so times six, its 4200 (Atk: 4200)!"

"4200?!" repeated Yuma shocked.

"I attack you directly with Lucky Stripe!" ordered Charlie, "Super lucky nova!"

"Yuma, use the trap!" said Astral urgently.

"Understood!" said Yuma, "Trap card, open! Clever Scheme! When I'm about to receive a direct attack, by sending one monster card from my hand to the graveyard, this card reduces the battle damage equal to the attack of the sent monster! I sent Zubaba Knight to the graveyard (Atk: 1600)!"

Yuma was knocked onto his back.

**Charlie: 100000LPS Yuma: 1400LPS**

I cried in pain and tightened my grip on the ladder. Oh my god…It felt like someone was clutching my heart. I took a deep breath and ignored the worried look I was getting from Kotori.

Lucky Stripe's attack points went back to normal, thankfully.

"Oh, a trap card?" asked Charlie, "Impressive indeed! I end my turn"

Yuma stood back up, "Damn it!" He looked to Astral, "Hey, can't you do anything?"

Astral looked ahead, "If his fortune really is flawless, then there really is nothing we can do about it"

What does he mean? Is he giving up?

"You can't be serious," protested Yuma.

"Astral, what do you mean there's nothing you can do?!" I asked him.

He looked at me, "His dueling-"

"Is not better than yours," I interrupted.

"But-"

"Hey, Yuma, what are you sulking about?!"

We turned to the side to see Akari on her motorcycle.

"Neechan!" said Yuma surprised.

"Akari?" questioned Charlie.

Her screen appeared before Charlie, "Charlie! Just you wait! I will get there to give you a good beating!"

"You're as passionate as ever!" said Charlie smiling, "If it's a kiss you're after, I'd be glad to oblige!"

Wow. Just, wow. Akari and his past must've been…interesting.

"I need to tell you something regarding that card!" said Akari, "When the sun splits in two, its power will be carried away with the wind"

A riddle?

"Huh?" asked Yuma, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Akari added on, "It's a rumor that talks about how to take the luck away from that card"

The sun…I still don't understand.

"Take the luck away?" repeated Yuma.

"That's what I've been saying!" said Charlie, "Life is carnival! It means my luck won't disappear as long as the sun is round and whole!"

"Two suns…?" contemplated Astral.

"And that's what makes this card's fortune absolute!" said Charlie, "Come on, Yuma. It's probably about the right time for you to be surrendering"

"As if!" said Yuma, "I…I'll never give up! My turn, draw! I summon Ganbara Knight (Atk: 0-Lvl: 4)! When a level four monster is summoned successfully, I can special summon Shadow Lizard from my hand (Atk: 1100-Lvl: 4)! Alright, I overlay the level 4 Shadow Lizard and Ganbara Knight! I build the overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, No. 39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

Yes! The trusty ace has arrived!

"I use Aspiring Emperor – Hope to attack Lucky Stripe!" ordered Yuma.

Charlie countered, "Continuous trap, activate! Dice Crisis! By tossing a die, if I get a six, this card makes the attack power of one monster my opponent controls zero! I then gain control of it!"

Oh no…If he gets a six then Hope will be taken!

"Ole!" shouted Charlie and he threw up his die.

"It won't show up!" shouted Yuma encouragingly.

"Please, don't show up!" pleaded Kotori as she clasped her hands together.

I felt Galaxy Queen calling out to me. I'm so sorry, my number. I watched the die roll. It landed on 6…

We all gasped shocked. Not again!

"Sorry to disappoint," said Charlie, "I got a six again! Now Hope belongs to me (Atk: 0)!"

"Hope…" whispered Yuma shocked.

"He stole the number…" I said. This is getting out of hand! I just want Astral and Yuma to win!

Yuma finished off his turn, "I set one card and end my turn"

Charlie looked up and stared around, "We're pretty close to the final stop. Allow me to finish this duel. After all, you can't win anyway. Everything is fruitless in front of my strong luck!"

"You're pissing me off with this 'luck, luck' talk!" shouted Yuma annoyed, "It doesn't matter whether you have luck or not! All that matters is that a person tries their best in a fight! That's how dueling should be!"

He's right.

"Yuma…" whispered Astral surprised.

"I will not give up!" shouted Yuma.

"I get it," said Charlie, "The allow me to finish this once and for all. My turn!"

Astral looked at Yuma, "Yuma!"

"Hold on!" said Yuma, "Trap card, open! Command of Sword! When there is a light-attribute warrior-type monster on my side of the field, I can activate this effect on my opponent's draw phase! Now draw you card! If the drawn card is a magic or trap card, I can either destroy the drawn card, or destroy one magic or trap card on the field!"

"Is that so?" asked Charlie, "Your goal is to destroy Dice Crisis and get Hope back!"

"Draw it, Charlie!" ordered Yuma.

Charlie grunted, "Draw! The card I drew is Sun's Scale! By tossing a die once per turn, if I get a six, all monsters on my opponent's field will be destroyed! Even if you get back your Hope, my victory won't change! As long as the sun is still around!"

Charlie is getting really annoying!

"The sun…!" I heard Astral say in surprise.

Yuma grumbled, "I target Dice Crisis-"

"Yuma, the sun!" interrupted Astral.

What…what about the sun?

"Eh?" Yuma asked.

"Split the sun!" ordered Astral.

"The sun?" asked Yuma confused and he looked to the spell.

The rumor! As long as the sun stays whole…

"As long as the sun stays round and whole…?" recited Charlie alarmed.

"I get it!" said Yuma, "So you mean…!"

"I can't believe such a thing could happen in a duel!" said Charlie shocked.

"According to the effect of Command of Sword, the selected warrior, Hope, cut the sun from the magic card, the Scale of Sun!"

I smiled, yes!

"I-it can't be!" shouted Charlie.

"Go, Hope!" ordered Yuma, "Hope sword slash!"

Hope sliced the sun in half.

"The sun…became two!" stated Kotori surprised.

Charlie looked at himself stunned, "Wait…"

"That light is…" said Yuma.

"Don't tell me the card's power…" said Charlie before glaring, "How could that happen?! Because Scale of Sun was destroyed, you will receive 500 points of damage!"

**Charlie: 100000LPS Yuma: 900LPS**

I grimaced and felt wobbly. A headache was coming on…I was okay though and kept watching the duel. I saw Astral fade for a second.

"How can my luck disappear?!" Charlie asked, "I activate the effect of Trade Game! If I roll a six, my life will increase 5 fold! Otherwise, it will return to its original value"

We watched the die but it seemed different now. I don't think he'll get a six. We watched the die spin and it landed on…a one!

"One?!" questioned Charlie stunned and he screamed.

**Charlie: 4000LPS Yuma: 900LPS**

His life points turned back to normal!

"So my fortune…really did vanish?" realized Charlie, "I end my turn"

"Yuma, do it now!" shouted Astral.

"Alright!" said Yuma, "My turn, draw! I activate the magic card, Come Back! It will recover one of my monsters on my opponent's field! Come back, my Aspiring Emperor – Hope! Kattobingu da, ore! Chaos Xyz change! Now show yourself, Chaos No. 39! The messenger who used the power of Hope to turn chaos into light! Aspiring Emperor – Hope Ray (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

"Aspiring Emperor – Hope Ray…" repeated Charlie shocked.

He's about to lose. Yuma can't be beat with his chaos number!

"I activate the effect of Aspiring Emperor – Hope Ray!" shouted Yuma, "By detaching one overlay unit, it gains 500 attack points! Overlay charge (Atk: 4000)! And for every overlay unit detached, the opponent's monster's attack power will decrease by 1000!"

Lucky Stripe's attack power lowered (At: 0)!

Yuma continued, "Go! I attack Lucky Stripe with Aspiring Emperor – Hope Ray! Hope sword chaos slash!"

Charlie shouted as he was knocked onto his back.

**Charlie: 0LPS Yuma: 900LPS**

**Yuma is the winner!**

"He finally won!" I said to Kotori exhaustedly.

"Alright, I win!" shouted Yuma excitedly.

"Yuma!" Kotori and I shouted.

He looked to us, "Eh?"

"The final stop!" shouted Kotori.

"We can't make it!" yelled Yuma. We were going to crash!

Akari was on the rails in front of us. She was going to be run over!

"Neechan!" shouted Yuma surprised.

"Akari's gonna Kattobingu!" she shouted and she made her motorcycle go sideways as she jumped off.

The motorcycle actually slowed the monorail down. It stopped right in front of Akari. Thank goodness!

"Neechan!" yelled Yuma as we all went to the edge to see her.

"Are you three alright?" she asked concerned.

"Yup!" said Yuma.

"Yeah!" said Kotori.

"Same here!" I said in agreement.

Akari sighed in relief, "Thank goodness. Right, where's Charlie?"

I stood up and held out my hand towards Charlie. I took a deep breath as I felt Astral's eyes watching me. I opened my eyes just as Galaxy Queen swirled away from Charlie and to my hand. I smiled at her, "Hey Galaxy Queen. Are you alright?"

She was silent, of course, but I took that as a yes. I carefully put her in my extra deck-box. I'm so glad she's okay.

* * *

Charlie had borrowed No. 7 to give to Mayumi, a little girl. Astral wasn't taking it well.

"Okay!" said Yuma cheerfully, "The day's finally over!"

"Yup!" Kotori said in agreement, "I'm hungry now!"

Astral looked at us distraught, "Will she really return the numbers to us?"

"It'll be fine," assured Yuma.

"No, I think we need to be more concerned about this!" said Astral urgently, "Hey! Yuma!"

Yuma and I started laughing a bit.

"It's serious, Rima, Yuma!" Astral said distressed.

I thought about it before smiling. I winked at Yuma, "I got this"

He blinked at me confused as I turned to Astral. We all stopped walking and I was smiling innocently at Astral.

"What do you mean, Rima?" Astral asked, "We need that numbers!"

I smiled and wrapped my arms loosely around Astral's neck, "Neh, Astral?"

Astral looked a bit confused at my behavior. I was trying to distract him from this. "Yes, Rima?" he answered.

I leaned my cheek on his shoulder and kissed his cheek, "Hm~"

I could swear Yuma was blushing because he was telling Kotori to look away.

I then just kissed Astral head on. I totally dominated this kiss. I put some pressure on Astral's lips and I was sort making him lean backwards. I parted the kiss with a small 'smack' and grinned.

Astral sighed happily and I loved every minute of it. He was smiling a lot and asked airily, "What were we talking about again?"

I giggled and Yuma and Kotori got back to me.

"Wow, Rima, that was really…" Yuma didn't finish because he was still blushing from watching that.

"Yuma, why didn't you let me look?" Kotori asked him heatedly.

"Because it would just look like I was kissing air," I answered. That would be pretty weird.

I glanced back to love-struck Astral and held his hand. I was love-struck as well. I started leading Astral home, "Well, let's go everyone!"

* * *

I was sitting with Astral on my bed.

"Rima, I'm sorry I didn't see you much today," said Astral.

I looked at him and leaned my head on his shoulder, "Don't worry. We're both busy with the Carnival and all"

"I love you," he said softly.

"I love you more," I teased.

"That would be impossible," Astral said after a moment.

"How?" I asked delighted.

"I love you more than anything," he said.

"I love _you_ more than anything," I retorted.

He turned to me and kissed me. He dominated this one. Our mouths opened and our tongues danced. He pushed me onto the bed and when we parted we were both panting. How long was that? Hours? Days?

I hugged him, "I love you, Astral"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he said playfully.

"I'm serious though, Astral," I said softly, "I love you more than anything"

I would do anything for him. That's why I want to protect him but...I'm not very good at it. The only thing I think I can protect him from is heartbreak.


	33. Tag Duel of Hell! Fiendish Hero IV!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

It feels like a few days since I've been in the Empress Key. In reality, it's only been a day.

I walked on the sand, searching. I still haven't seen my dad! I swear he was ignoring me…I stopped when I felt eyes on me. I turned to be faced with Black Mist (Astral form). I stared at him, "What is it?"

"Nothing," he almost hissed before flying off. How weird…I think he's trying to find a way to escape or something. Second thing I have to protect Astral from: Black Mist. I won't fail!

_Dream end_

I woke up and looked at the clock. Well, I should get up and get dueling

I smiled and walked outside to go find someone to duel.

"My brave duelists, good morning!" said hologram Mr. Heartland, "It's day two of the World Duel Carnival! That's right! Today's where things get real! Clash your passionate hearts against one another! Heart burning!"

I dug into my pocket and held out my heart piece. I have four so I need one more…Easy enough. I smiled and put it back where it was. It's time to find a duelist!

* * *

"Why does no one want to duel me?" I asked myself as I walked around. I wanted to duel but they would either recognize me or be stupid.

Kotori called my D-Gazer, "Hey Rima!"

"Hey Kotori," I said smiling as I put on my D-Gazer, "What's up?"

"Tetsuo and Inchou are dueling a man named IV," she said smiling, "He seems really nice"

I didn't even hear her anymore. IV…I stared at Kotori urgently, "Where are you right now?"

"Um…Sparet and mos, why?" she asked confused.

I needed to find IV! I looked at her, "Kotori, tell Inchou and Tetsuo to be careful…IV is dangerous"

"Dangerous…?" repeated Kotori confused.

I shook my head, "Just be careful," I then hung up. I need to find Ryoga.

I started running as I called him on D-Gazer, "Ryoga!"

He was dueling but he looked to me, "What is it, Rima?"

"Where are you right now?" I asked urgently.

He heard the edge to my voice, "What's wrong?"

I stared at his picture, "Just, where are you?"

"Across the street," he answered making me blink.

I stopped running and looked around. Ryoga was actually across the street from me, in a duel, and he was staring at me confused.

I turned off the call and ran over to him, "Ryoga, I found him! I found IV!"

His eyes widened before there was a look of hatred on his face, "Where?!" he hissed.

"He's dueling Tetsuo and Inchou, my friends," I said quickly, "Hurry up and let's go!"

"We're in a duel here, girlie!"

I turned to Ryoga's stupid opponent. I glared daggers at him, "I wasn't talking to you!"

"Well, we're dueling so move it, hun," he said smirking.

I growled and Ryoga pushed me behind him. He nodded to me, "I'll be quick, don't worry"

Ryoga continued and I saw he was already winning.

**Ryoga: 4000LPS Generic person: 1200LPS**

Ryoga snarled, "Big Jaws, attack him directly!"

The person flew backwards with a girly scream, "Ah!"

**Ryoga: 4000LPS Generic person: 0LPS**

**Ryoga is the winner!**

Ryoga swiped off his D-Gazer and D-Pad and looked to me, "Where is he?!" He was failing at hiding his hatred.

I closed my eyes before reopening them, "Sparet and mos"

"I'm going," he said as he walked up and grabbed the heart piece from the guy on the ground. He started walking to his motorcycle.

"I'm going too!" I said and ran over to him.

"No, you're not," declared Ryoga annoyed.

"Yes, I am. My friends are there, Ryoga! Yuma, Kotori, Tetsuo, Inchou and, most importantly, Astral!" I said.

He looked a bit puzzled at the 'Astral' but didn't talk about it. He was already too angry, "Get on"

He got on and I hopped on behind him. I held his waist tightly as he didn't wait for me to put on a helmet. He sped quickly to our destination.

* * *

"A true star gives everything to his fans!" we saw IV say, "And I truly mean _everything_"

I growled as I saw Inchou and Tetsuo battered and bruised on the ground. I'm going to destroy him!

"What'd you say?!" asked Yuma angrily as he stood up, "IV, I won't forgive you! Fight me!"

My key was glowing faintly. IV had numbers…I noticed the boy beside him, III?! He…he might have numbers as well. Yet, he didn't use it against me…

"Are you going to become one of my fans as well?" IV asked smiling.

Ryoga started his motorcycle and we drove off the building we were on. My grip on Ryoga was tight, he didn't warn me! We dropped down near Yuma and stopped.

"Found you," said Ryoga smirking.

IV smirked in return. III and I looked at each other a bit confused by the other. I just ignored that and turned to IV snarling.

"Shark! Rima!" Yuma said surprised.

Ryoga jumped off his motorcycle, helmet and goggles still on. He gave me a hand out of the motorcycle as our gaze never left IV's.

I noticed Ryoga was positioned in front of me a bit. I glared at IV so heatedly, "You bastard…!"

"Have you forgotten the faces of your _greatest _fans, IV?!" Ryoga shouted in hatred.


	34. The Determined Revenge!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

_Niisama = older brother_

* * *

"Shark…!" said Yuma both confused and surprised.

"I finally found you, IV!" said Ryoga angrily.

You could actually feel the waves of anger coming from Ryoga. I suppose they were coming from me as well.

"Ryoga, Rima," said IV still smirking, "I actually forgot. You both really are my biggest fans out there"

"IV…" I snarled at the guy. Man, seeing him again was shocking. III was also there which made me confused. Is he somehow connected with IV?

"Then allow me to repay the debt I owe you!" retorted Ryoga.

IV closed his eyes, "Debt, huh?" He reopened his eyes, chuckling, "Oh right, how are you doing, Hik- I mean, Rima? Weren't you in the hospital- Oh wait, my mistake, wrong girl"

My eyes widened before I glared at him. He did that on purpose. And what was he going to say before he cut himself off. Damn it, who cares?

IV laughed a bit at my expression before turning to Ryoga, "How's your 'precious' younger sister doing?"

"Younger sister?" repeated Yuma confused. I'm not surprised, he doesn't know our past.

Ryoga stiffened and scowled at IV. Rio…Rio was the same…she hasn't woken up.

"You set up everything…" said Ryoga heatedly, "It's all because of me…because of me…She…"

"Ryoga…" I whispered. It wasn't his fault…I put a hand on his arm.

He growled at IV, "I will exact revenge on you here and now!"

"Shark…you…seek revenge?" asked Yuma shocked.

IV chuckled, "Excellent. I really like people like you"

III reacted to that. He shot his arm out and a red beam locked onto Ryoga. Is that…a duel anchor?! That's the same one Kaito uses!

"This is…?!" asked Ryoga as he stared it.

III was smiling, devilishly, "It's a duel anchor. You cannot escape without finishing the duel with me"

III was still smiling. He looked like a demonic angel.

"III!" I shouted shocked. He was asking Ryoga to duel? He…I was sure III was a numbers user.

"III," said IV angrily, "This guy is my prey! Get lost!"

"IV-niisama, Ryoga's deck doesn't have any numbers," said III smiling, "Therefore, it wouldn't be necessary for you to become his opponent, right? Plus, Tron's order is absolute"

IV looked annoyed, "Cheh…"

"I'll duel with you, IV," I said staring at him.

IV stopped and looked to me, "You, _fairy-hime_?"

I didn't like him calling me that but who cares? I pointed at him, "You're looking for number-users, right? Well, you're looking at one!"

III and IV's eyes widened, "Numbers-user?!" I don't understand why III didn't use numbers in our duel but…

IV looked as if he wanted to, "Let's duel"

"IV-niisama!" interfered III making us all look at him. He glanced at me before looking to IV, "IV-niisama, leave her alone. She's _my_ prey"

IV looked a bit surprised and…something else I couldn't place. IV smirked, "Stealing mine but I can't steal yours, III? Or maybe…are you just protecting her from being hurt like the rest of my _victims_?"

III stiffened before glaring at his brother, "Rima is my prey, IV-niisama. I will be the one to duel her"

I was so confused. Why did he care? III was protecting me…? Or does he just want to duel me again, a real duel? His protective look…it seemed so familiar. I haven't met III before though…have I?

IV turned away, "The fanservice is over"

Ryoga reached out for him, "Wait, stop! Are you going to run away, IV?!"

IV held up his heart piece. It was full, "I already finished collecting my heart pieces"

A purple tattoo on his hand caught my attention…It was like the green one III had on his own. I didn't really think of it much, I was too busy with our duel but…what are with those tattoos?

"I will wait for you in the finals," said IV and a puff of smoke blocked our view from him. The smoke died and only the ringing of his cackling was left. Where did he…?!

"IV!" shouted Ryoga angrily.

"Calm down," said III 'innocently', "My niisama is quiet busy. Plus, your opponent is me"

Ryoga just scowled in response. I was studying III. This boy is so strangely familiar, and strong.

I then remembered Yuma and Astral behind us. There's not enough time to fill them in. Kotori and Tetsuo picked up Inchou who I looked worriedly at.

"In any case, we have to get him to a hospital!" said Kotori urgently.

"Right," said Tetsuo in agreement.

"Kotori, Tetsuo!" shouted Yuma worried.

III and I were having a bit of a staring contest. I was staring in confusion and he was the same.

"You can observe this duel for yourself and we won't have any problem on this side!" said Tetsuo.

"But…" said Yuma hesitantly.

"Yuma, I agree with him as well," said Astral.

"Astral…" said Yuma before agreeing, "I got it. Take care of him!"

"As you wish, I will clobber you first," said Ryoga as I went to go stand near Astral, "Here I go!"

III also threw his D-Pad, "Duel mode, change!"

"Duel disk, set!" shouted Ryoga.

III's feather-like D-Pad appeared on his arm.

"D-Gazer, set!" said Ryoga.

III's golden D-Gazer tattoo appeared around his eye which turned pink.

_A/R VISION LINK ESTABLISHED_

"Duel!"

"Be careful, Ryoga," I warned, "III is a super strong duelist!"

"How do you know?" Ryoga asked me.

"I dueled him yesterday," I answered.

"Did you win?" he questioned.

I blinked before saying, "Yeah but we both weren't at full strength" I looked at III, "Now were we?"

III was surprised, "I was at full strength, Rima. I just didn't use numbers…"

"I didn't either," I said, "I was at full strength too…"

III was a really nice person. How in the world is he related to IV?

"I will go first," announced III, "My turn, draw! I activate the field magic card, Deep Sea Monarchy – Sunken Kingdom!"

"This is different from the other field magic card…" I said to myself. We were then plunged into water, sea life surrounding us. We are also surrounded by ancient ruins. "Is this Atlantis?" I asked III as I looked around amazed. I shouldn't be though!

"Yes, it is!" said III happily, losing himself in his world. He then shook his head and snapped out of it, "This card increases water-attribute monster's attack power by 300 points!" he explained.

I blinked, does he not know about Ryoga's deck…? And III had an OOPArts deck…I suppose they could be water-attributes but when he dueled me they were earth or light.

Yuma overreacted. He was holding his breath. He couldn't hold it any longer and gasped. He covered his mouth, trying to not suck in water. I just watched amused. I was enjoying this.

"The field has gone underwater!" shouted Yuma not realizing its A/R, "Where's my oxygen tank?!"

"Yuma, this is A/R space," said Astral ruining my fun.

Yuma fell forward after hearing that because he was trying to 'swim up'.

"Astral~" I whined.

He took my hand into his and I just sighed defeated. Okay…But when I glanced at Astral's face, he was in full duel mode.

III smiled, "I summon OOPArts Mayan Machine (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 3)!"

This monster again…! Ugh, it counts as two material for a tribute summon.

III continued, "Then I set a card face down and end my turn!"

"What the heck are OOPArts?" asked Yuma confused.

I let go of Astral's hand to motion my explanation, "OOPArts stands for Out Of Place Artifacts"

Astral continued with me, "OOPArts were art 'works' that were built in the ancient civilization with seemingly impossible technology at the time. Their existence was still wrapping under mysteries"

Ryoga was up, "My turn, draw! I summon Hammer Shark. Then, due to the field magic, Sunken Kingdom's effect, Hammer Shark gains 300 Atk (Atk: 2000)! Looks like you weren't aware that I use a water-attribute deck"

III was still smiling though, "But in the field magic, Sunken Kingdom, you cannot attack OOPArts monsters with level four or lower monsters"

"I knew there was something up with that field magic…" I said to myself.

"So that's your insurance, huh?" asked Ryoga, "But…magic card, Downward Current! During this turn, this card can change my monster's level from any number between 1 and 3! I will decrease Hammer Shark's level by 1 (Lvl: 3)!"

"You duel so strangely," noted III lightheartedly, "What exactly do you plan to do by lowering its level, desu?"

He's so cute!

"I special summon Big Jaws!" answered Ryoga, "When I use a normal magic card during this turn, Big Jaws can be special summoned, from my hand (Atk: 1800)! Due to Sunken Kingdom's effect, Big Jaws will gain 300 Atk too (Atk: 2100)!"

He has enough materials for an Xyz summon!

"There are 2 level 3 monsters…" I heard III say to himself. He still looked confident…or maybe that was just his personality.

Ryoga continued not noticing, "I overlay the level 3 Hammer Shark and Big Jaws! I build the overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, Black Ray Lancer (Atk: 2100)! Xyz monsters don't have levels to begin with so Sunken Kingdom's effect won't work!"

"Nice one, Shark!" complimented Yuma happily.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, why was III still smiling? No matter how cute it was~ It was still weird. I couldn't shake off that feeling of suspicion.

"Go, Black Ray Lancer!" declared Ryoga, "Attack Mayan Machine! Black spear!"

I smiled as III's monster was destroyed.

**III: 3400LPS Ryoga: 4000LPS**

III's smile finally dropped and he looked serious, "Trap, activate! Stonehenge Method!"

Stonehenge appeared around us. In other words, stones bigger than twice our size, appeared around us. Just like the real one!

III explained, "With this card, when an OOPArts monster was destroyed, I can special summon one level 4 or lower OOPArts monster from my deck in face-up defense position! Come forth, OOPArts Colossal Head (Def: 1600-Lvl: 4)!"

Ryoga just stared at it unimpressed, "I set one card and end my turn"

III went again cutely smiling, "My turn, draw! I summon OOPArts Golden Shuttle (Atk: 1300-Lvl: 4)! Then I activate the continuous magic card, Orichalcum Chain! When this card is face up on my field when I performed an Xyz summon, I can use one less overlay unit"

Well, that's not good. _Especially_ since he's a number-user.

"Say what?" asked Ryoga astounded.

"But Orichalcum Chain has risks as well," explained III confidently, "When this card is destroyed, the Xyz monster summoned by this effect will have its control switch to my opponent!"

If I were him I wouldn't have said that. Oh well, III is just like that, I suppose. But…that's a big risk to take.

"I overlay level 4 Colossal Head, Golden Shuttle and Orichalcum's effect!" announced III, "I build the overlay network with these two monsters and Orichalcum Chain's effect! Xyz summon! Show yourself, No. 32! The biggest, most powerful ruler of the deep sea! Its sharp fang shall exterminate everything! Sea biting Dragon, Shark Drake!"

It was a shark, with legs, and much scarier looking (Atk: 2800-Rank: 4)! That's a really strong number! And III didn't have the number mark and he didn't seem effected. I think it might have to do with his tattoos…They might work like my Empress Key.

"A number!" said Yuma shocked.

"Indeed he is…" I heard Astral say to himself.

Ryoga needs to be more careful now.

"So it finally appears," said Ryoga.

III continued, "Due to the Sunken Kingdom's effect, Shark Drake gains 300 Atk (Atk: 3100)! Go, Shark Drake! Attack Black Ray Lancer! Depth bite!"

I watched as Black Ray Lancer was destroyed. Oh no!

**III: 3400LPS Ryoga: 3000LPS**

III kept at it, "I activate Shark Drake's effect! When it destroys my opponent's monster by battle, once per turn, by detaching one overlay unit, the destroyed monster will lose 1000 Atk, and special summon that target to my opponent's field (Atk: 1100)! And it can battle with that monster again!"

That's really bad! Ryoga won't lose this turn but that's a serious amount of damage!

"So that number can attack twice?!" questioned Yuma incredulously.

"But it's more than just 'attack twice'," said Astral seriously, "It's a very overpowering effect!"

"It will bite into you until you have no bones left!" yelled III making me feel weird. III talking like that was weird, "Shark Drake attacks Black Ray Lancer once again! Depth bite!"

Ryoga was knocked backwards with a scream.

"Ryoga!" I shouted worriedly.

"Shark!" shouted Yuma in the same manor.

Ryoga fell onto his back grunting.

**III: 3400LPS Ryoga: 1000LPS**

"Hey!" shouted Yuma, "Are you alright?!"

"Ryoga!" I said staring at him, "Get up!"

He did and wiped his brow, "You shut up, Yuma!"

I noticed how he didn't mention me. Yay, I'm special.

"Do you honestly think I would get defeated like this?" he asked Yuma angrily.

"Then I set one card and end my turn!" finished III, "Well, if you can't think of a way to counter Shark Drake, you have nowhere to escape!"

I noticed this in my duel with III as well…At the beginning, he's all cute and happy. Then, during the middle, he turns serious but is still a bit outgoing.

Ryoga needs to think of something soon.

"That Shark, if this continues…" said Yuma worried.

"But there is a way to bring a reversal under these circumstances," said Astral staring at the duel.

"Eh?" asked Yuma confused.

I nodded, "That's true, Astral. Ryoga just needs the right card" He needs to destroy that magic card.

"But that would require…" Astral didn't finish making Yuma still confused.

Ryoga scowled, "I need to take away his numbers. My turn, draw! I summon Skull Kraken (Atk: 600-Lvl: 3)! I activate Skull Kraken's effect! When this card is summoned successfully, it can destroy one magic or trap on my opponent's field! I destroy Orichalcum's Chain! Thus, I gain control of Shark Drake!"

Shark Drake growled viciously as it went to Ryoga's side of the field. He broke the magic card! Yes! Wait…Shark Drake's a number though!

Shark Drake turned red and it also surrounded Ryoga. Ryoga grunted in pain. I shouted in worry, "Ryoga!" He was going to be taken over if he can't fight it!

"Shark!" shouted Yuma as well.

Shark clenched his hand and he looked like he was in a lot of pain. I must've looked like this when Galaxy Queen almost took over…! Shark was screaming a bit but mostly it was grunts. I was really worried now, Ryoga…I was flashing back to when Galaxy Queen took over me. I mean, _almost_ took over me.

_Flashback_

_I glared at my Empress Key, "I don't care if Astral and Yuma are dueling! Let them solve their problems without me!"_

_My key wouldn't stop trying to drag me. I got sick of it and ripped my key from its cord and threw it onto the grass._

_I immediately regretted it. I felt to my knees and my hands held the ground in front of me. What…was happening? I felt so tired, so weak now without my key._

_My eyes widened at what I saw. On my hand, my left one, was the mark. It was the mark of the numbers!_

_It was No. 83…Galaxy Queen's number. What did this mean…? Was she trying to take control of me?!_

* * *

_She then cackled once more, "Give in to your anger!"_

_"Anger…?" I asked as I was still on my knees._

_"Your darkness!" she said as I stared at her, "You're sad, neh? That Astral guy is hurting you, neh? Make him pay for making you upset! Make him pay for doing this to you!"_

_"Why…?" I whispered. Astral? Why does he need to pay?_

_"You're sad because of Astral! He's causing you sadness! You hate him, neh? You hate Astral! Embrace my power and you will have your revenge!"_

_I…hate Astral? I want to get revenge? Yes…Yes! Astral made me upset. He's hurting me. He's making my heart ache._

_Flashback end_

My eyes widened as I felt my heart pounding in my ears. That can't happen to Ryoga. That hurt me so much before…I can't let him go through the same thing!

Ryoga suddenly screamed in utter pain. He fell to his knees. I put my hands over my ears, I don't want to hear that sound! I watched Ryoga keep grunting or screaming in pain. I then couldn't handle it anymore! I ran over to him and knelt down in front of him, "Ryoga! Ryoga!"

Ryoga was so strong…He was fighting against it. I whispered incoherent words of comfort into his ear, "Ryoga, Ryoga…Please, fight against him!"

He was still struggling, still hurting.

"Do it for her then," I said trying to help. I could barely here myself when I said this, "Do this for your little sister…do it for Rio…"

I think that helped a lot. Yuma was also shouting at Ryoga, "Shark!"

Ryoga then screamed, "I'm not…the same as I used to be!" I knew he was talking to Shark Drake, "As if I'd ever be controlled by the likes of you!"

Ryoga stood up with newfound strength, "Because I am who I am!"

I smiled in relief and stood up. Ryoga was strong enough to fight it. I stared at the number, Shark Drake, angrily. He didn't seem to like me either. We both growled, his louder of course, but with the same amount of ferociousness.

I walked back over to Astral's side who was staring at Ryoga.

Astral look at Ryoga surprised, "So he finally surpassed the numbers power, huh?"

"Shark…" said Yuma shocked as well.

I glanced at III to see his expression was one of astonishment. I think he thought Ryoga was going to be taken over.

Ryoga clenched his fist, "As long as I have this guy's power…Go, Shark Drake! Attack him directly!"

"Go, Ryoga!" I rooted.

"Yes!" cheered Yuma, "If this connects, he'll receive huge damage!"

But III has a set card!

"I won't let that happen!" shouted III, "Trap, activate! Antikythera Gear! When there are 2 or more monsters on my opponent's field, and my opponent declares a direct attack, I can gain control of the monster besides the attacking one, and put it in defense position!"

Shoot…

"Dream on!" shouted Ryoga, "Trap card, Hyper Water Pressure! With this card, by destroying one monster on my field, I am allowed to draw one card from my deck! Now your trap is useless!"

III frowned in frustration.

Ryoga was able to counter perfectly! But…that trap, Antikythera…It seems familiar. Man, everything about III seems familiar! I can't place my finger on it though! I'm so frustrated by that!

"Resume your attack, Shark Drake!" ordered Ryoga bringing me back to reality

III braced himself but he was still thrown backwards. He screamed in pain before falling onto the ground. Somehow…it hurt seeing that.

**III: 300LPS Ryoga: 1000LPS**

"I set 2 cards face down and end my turn," finished Ryoga.

"Nice one," commended III but he was still frustrated. He closed his eyes before reopening them with confidence, "My turn, draw! I activate the magic card, OOPArts Technology! By banishing one OOPArts monster from my graveyard, I can draw two cards from my deck, and send one card to my graveyard. I special summon OOPArts Crystal Bone! When only my opponent controls a monster, I can special summon it from my hand (Atk: 1300-Lvl: 3)!"

He's up to something…

"When this card is special summoned this way, I can also special summon OOPArts Crystal Skull from my graveyard! Revive, Crystal Skull (Atk: 900-Lvl: 3)! I overlay level 3 Crystal Bone and Crystal Skull! I build the overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Show yourself, OOPArts Crystal Alien (Atk: 2100-Rank: 3)!"

An actual 'crystal alien' appeared on the field.

"With this card," continued III, "By detaching one overlay unit, it cannot be destroyed by battle this turn and the battle damage inflicted to this card will inflict to my opponent instead!"

That means if III attacks…Ryoga loses! But, Ryoga has two set cards.

"What?!" asked Ryoga shocked.

III rephrased, "In other words, the difference of Atk between your Shark Drake and my OOPArts Alien is 1000. You shall receive damage equal to that value!"

Ryoga can't afford that! He only has 1000 life points!

"Go, Crystal Alien!" ordered III, "Attack Shark Drake! Reflect Flash!"

"Shoot!" said Yuma, "If this attack connects…"

I stared in shock, "Ryoga…!"

"It's over, Ryoga!" said III smirking.

Ryoga reacted quickly, "Quickplay magic card, Plate Salvage!"

"Oh, I hate this card!" I complained. He used it against me a few times when I had Sanctuary in the Sky on the field!

Ryoga explained, "Plate Salvage negates the effect of a field spell for 2 turns!"

We rose above the water, onto an island. We were all on the ruins still though.

"Awesome!" said Yuma, "Now we are finally above sea level!"

"That's not all…" I said thinking about Ryoga's strategy. He's destroying the effect of 300 extra attack points. The damage is still a lot for him but he survives.

"Now, Sunken Kingdom's effect disappears!" said Ryoga, "Shark Drake's Atk will return to 2800 (Atk: 2800)!"

Shark Drake pierced Crystal Alien's chest with a huge growl. And then, a beam from Crystal Alien hit Ryoga with some damage.

**III: 300LPS Ryoga: 300LPS**

"They're now tied in life points," I stated watching.

"Amazing," commended Astral, "By negating the field magic's effect, he decreased Shark Drake's Atk to preserve his life points!"

"But, both Shark and III have only 300 life left," noted Yuma.

"The next blow will decide the outcome," said Astral.

I tried to see who would win. They're both such strong duelists…Ryoga still has a set card so that's probably protection.

III finished, "I set one card and end my turn!"

Ryoga was up, "My turn, draw! I attack Crystal Alien with Shark Drake! Depth Bite!"

"Yes!" cheered Yuma, "Now it's Shark's win!"

I wouldn't be so sure…III has a set card.

"Not yet," said III, "I activate OOPArts monster Colossal Head's effect! By banishing this card to the graveyard, I switch one monster on my field from attack position to defense position!"

I watched as his monster was destroyed. III winced at the destruction, "Darn!"

"It's no use," said Yuma staring, "His life points won't be depleted if his monster was in defense position!"

"No…" retorted Astral.

I guess he remembered the numbers ability.

Ryoga continued, "But at this moment, I activate Shark Drake's effect! When it destroys my opponent's monster by battle, by detaching one overlay unit, that monster loses 1000 Atk and special summons itself to my opponent's field!"

Crystal Alien came back to the field (Atk: 1100).

III frowned in response, knowing what was going to happen.

"Do you think I would forget Shark Drake's effect?" Ryoga asked III smugly, "Go, Shark Drake!"

Shark Drake dived in for the attack.

III suddenly smiled making me groan inwardly. Of course he had a backup!

He then sang, "Fortunately, I haven't underestimated you one bit. I knew you would be able to control this number! Trap, activate! OOPArts Ley Line Power!"

"What?" questioned Ryoga stunned at the fact he countered.

III explained, "With this card, when a monster was special summoned during the battle phase and battles, I switch the Atk of the battling monsters! Now Crystal Alien's and Shark Drake's Atk are exchanged!"

Now Crystal Alien's was 2800 while Shark Drake's was 1100! That's bad!

III then spoke, "Then I win the duel!"

Ryoga smirked making me blink, "As I expected"

III gasped, "Eh?"

Ryoga enlightened us, "I am the fortunate one for not underestimating you. I knew you would expect me to use Shark Drake's effect"

So he had a backup for III's backup? Does this mean Ryoga will win? I looked at III to see he was utterly shocked.

Ryoga spoke, "Trap activate! Deep Sea Lord's Judgment! This card negates the effect of the trap activated during the battle phase!"

III was dazed, "How could that be?!"

Ryoga destroyed III's trap card. Now nothing was stopping him!

"That's impossible!" said III, eyes wide.

"Resume your attack, Shark Drake!" shouted Ryoga.

Shark Drake tore apart Crystal Alien! I watched in stunned astonishment as III flew backwards screaming.

**III: 0LPS Ryoga: 300LPS**

**Ryoga is the winner!**

A/R vanished as I took of my D-Gazer.

"Great!" cheered Yuma, "Shark won!"

"What a breathtaking exchange of offense and defense," appraised Astral. He was right though, that was an amazing duel!

I paused before walking over to III. I held out my hand to him, "III"

He stared at my hand before taking the offer and I helped him stand up. He was a bit shaky but he was fine.

III smiled at me, "Arigato"

I smiled back slightly. Even if he was a numbers-user and was IV's brother, he was pretty nice.

He then looked to Ryoga with a frown, "I see, you are quite good. I lost to you for today" He then threw Ryoga something. I'm pretty sure it was a heart piece.

III then smiled a bit but it didn't reach his eyes. He was holding up a full heart, "But I am going to the finals. It won't be easy for you if we meet next time!"

I blinked, "How did you get a full one before me…?" That was strange.

III just smiled innocently.

"So that guy finished collecting heart pieces as well?" questioned Yuma impressed.

"You can keep that number," said III to Ryoga making me inwardly hiss. Ryoga…keeping that number? It might attack him…

"Consider it as a reward for winning this duel," said III. He then turned to still smiling. It reached his eyes this time, "Until next time, neh, Rima?"

I nodded, "Until next time," I smiled back.

He leaned into me and kissed my left cheek making me blink. He then moved back and said, "See you"

He held up his hand and the green tattoo/mark glowed. We all looked away at the brightness. When we all looked back, III was gone.

"He disappeared…?" questioned Yuma surprised.

I lifted my hand to my cheek, where III kissed it. That kiss wasn't normal…It had some sort of message I think.

I looked to Astral to see that he was a bit irritated. I blinked at that, "Astral…?" I think he might be jealous of III.

Suddenly, Yuma's D-Gazer rang. He answered it as I walked over to look too.

"Yuma!"

It was Kotori.

"Kotori!" said Yuma surprised.

She was smiling, "I'm in the hospital right now. Inchou is okay for the moment"

I sighed in relief, "That's good"

"I'll come over there as well!" said Yuma happily.

I heard the starting of a motorcycle. The three of us looked up to see Ryoga in his motorcycle.

"Shark!" shouted Yuma.

Ryoga glanced back at him, "Yuma, don't get involved with me anymore…"

He also looked to me, "You better be careful"

And then he left. I hope he's careful as well…Numbers are a dangerous thing.

"Shark…" whispered Yuma, "Something about revenge…Shark!"

"Yuma, stop it," I ordered.

Yuma stopped and looked at me confused, "Why…Why does Shark want revenge, Rima?!"

"I want revenge too but Ryoga forbids it…" I said staring after Ryoga, "IV…IV is horrible. Because of him…"

I sighed in sadness. I didn't want to talk about this, "Yuma, it just…it just has to do with Ryoga's little sister, a very close friend of mine…"

Yuma stared at me, still confused, "Little sister…?"

Astral floated towards me, still a bit mad, "Rima, stay away from him!"

"I'm not staying away from Ryoga!" I shouted at him, angry that he even said that.

To my surprise, he shook his head, "Not Shark"

"T-then who…?" I asked confused.

"III!" he answered, "I do not want him near you"

I blinked, "Why, Astral? Is it because he's a number-user?"

He sighed before saying, "Partially…"

"He's just jealous because III kissed your cheek," said Yuma as he put his hands behind his head, "Right?"

I smiled at Astral, "Oh, come on, Astral~ I love you, not III"

Astral crossed his arms and looked away, thinking.

I sighed before going on my tippy-toes and I pressed my lips to his for a few seconds. I smiled, "All better?"

He sighed happily before saying, "I suppose"


	35. Kotori's Dangerous Future!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

_Neechan = big sister_

* * *

I was joining Yuma and Kotori with you looking for duels. I didn't want to go by myself anymore…

Yuma was currently sitting depressingly on the steps. We were by the water, Kotori across from Yuma, standing. I was beside Astral who was thinking.

Yuma stared at the ground sadly, "Is that darn Shark…really dueling for revenge?"

I sighed, he's really been depressed about this. And dueling for revenge? There's nothing wrong with that…is there?

"Yuma?" asked Kotori confused. I hadn't filled her in. She was staring at Yuma worried.

"It's not just Shark…even that IV guy…" said Yuma, totally ignoring Kotori.

IV…Man, I hate him.

"Dueling isn't a tool for revenge!" Yuma yelled angrily.

Kotori gasped in surprise. She must be confused but…

"Duels aren't meant to hurt people!" Yuma shouted as we all stared at him, "All duelists are friends! So why?!"

I don't agree with Yuma. All duelists are not all friends. There's no way I could be friends with IV now…

Kotori looked down before we heard a rushing sound. We looked to see a blimp with 'WDC' on it.

"Hey, look Yuma," said Kotori trying to get Yuma's attention, "It's a blimp! It must be a special occasion to celebrate the opening of the Carnival! Maybe riding it will lift your spirits"

"Yeah, that'd be cool," I said to Kotori smiling.

Kotori nodded before smiling at Yuma, "Let's look at Heartland City from up in the sky"

"It's unacceptable!" said Yuma ignoring us, "There's no excuse!"

"Hey, how about it?" asked Kotori cheerfully. There's no way Yuma could say no to that.

"No excuse!" Yuma yelled loudly before standing, "We're supposed to be friends! We're supposed to enjoy ourselves!"

"Come on," said Kotori not knowing what he was talking about, "Obviously we're all friends. That's why we should cheer each other up-"

"This ain't funny!" shouted Yuma.

Kotori gasped in…hurt. I stared at her, "Kotori…"

"Oh, god!" shouted Yuma holding his head before sitting down.

"What are you so worried about?" asked Kotori before getting annoyed, "Fine, just do whatever you want!"

"Ah, Kotori!" I said after her as she starting walking away in a huff. I don't blame her.

I sighed as she got out of sight and glared at Yuma, "Yuma!"

"Shouldn't you go after her?" Astral questioned him, "Kotori seems to be really worried about you"

"Yeah, Yuma," I said in agreement angrily, "Kotori has been-"

"Shut up!" shouted Yuma, "Just keep out of it!"

I looked away, hurt, I haven't been yelled at by Yuma before. Maybe I should just keep out of it.

I heard Astral growl lowly before saying, "There's no reason to yell at Rima. She is just trying to help"

"You're so annoying!" shouted Yuma at Astral as well, "Stop butting in!"

Astral grabbed my hand and said, "Fine then," and then we were somewhere else.

I looked around us before saying, "Emperor's Key?" We were on top of the airship.

Astral nodded and asked softly, "Are you alright?"

I smiled, "I'm not going to cry or anything if that's what you're thinking"

Astral just shook his head, "If you were crying I would've yelled at Yuma"

I giggled lightly before saying, "Well, that's really nice to know, Astral. I'm fine though, I'm more worried about Kotori. Yuma really made her upset"

Astral smiled and he leaned his forehead on mine, his breath hot on my lips. Astral then spoke, "Human love I may not understand but…"

"But what?" I questioned. He doesn't understand human love…then how can-

"I said human love," said Astral seeing the look on my face, "I don't understand human love…but I understand alien love"

He thinks that's one-sided…If he knew about me…I smiled, "Astral, alien love is not that much different to human love…All of romantic love is the same"

"Oh contraire, my darling~" he said playfully, "My love for you is much stronger than any out there"

Aw~! I giggled and I know I've never felt this way before. Astral is so much different than anyone I've ever met, in more ways than one…is this true love? I then let Astral press his lips to mine.

I wrapped my arms around Astral's neck and I felt his go around my waist. I tangled my fingers into his hair. Astral then- I broke off the kiss with an eyebrow raised, "Astral…?"

He was looking away embarrassedly. It was really cute to see that expression, "Yes, Rima?"

I nudged his cheek with my nose, "Where _exactly_ is your hand right now?"

Astral was silent and I swear, if he could, he would be blushing.

I giggled lightly before kissing Astral's chin, "Move it up, sir"

He complied and moved his hand back to my waist. I felt like laughing a lot, Astral was so~ I smiled, "If you were anyone else, I would've killed you. Then I would've grabbed Ryoga and he would kill you again"

Astral met my eyes and smiled. Just what I needed, my Astral is a pervert.

Then there was a red light coming from above us. We blinked, parted, and stared upwards.

"Astral, what's that?" I asked confused and a bit scared.

He smiled at my expression before looking up and explained, "It means Yuma is doing something…It usually means something about a number. Other times, he's in a duel. It could truly be anything"

I nodded and we heard Akari's voice.

"What were you doing?" we heard Akari say, "I'm in a hurry here, so answer immediately!"

Yuma's on D-Gazer probably. That's just like Akari though.

"Neechan…" said Yuma unsurprised.

"You've heard of Shuuta Hayami, haven't you?" asked Akari.

"Iyami?" Yuma 'repeated'. Typical Yuma.

"No, it's Hayami!" Akari said back, "You should know him if he's participating in the Carnival, shouldn't you?"

"Akari is overestimating Yuma," I said. I don't even know who this Shuuta Hayami is.

"What do you take me for?" Yuma asked at that moment, "I don't know a guy like that!"

"We can't allow him to create any more incidents," said Akari gaining my attention quickly.

"Incidents…?" repeated Astral puzzled.

"Incidents?" asked Yuma, "Watcha mean by that?"

"Shuuta Hayami seems to have the power to make any future he sees in his mind become a reality," explained Akari making me blink.

I looked to Astral, shocked, "You don't think…"

"A numbers…" said Astral unsure himself. That power isn't possible without something like a number.

Astral grabbed me from around the waist and we flew up to the top of the key.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yuma asked.

"I don't full believe it 100% myself but I saw him take a picture of the future," said Akari.

"And they let a guy like that into the Duel Carnival?" asked Yuma surprised.

We made it out of the key and we appeared beside Yuma who was staring at his D-Gazer. I looked from over his shoulder, Akari was on her motorcycle.

"I don't know why," said Akari, "And since I don't know why, I'm investigating. But with that power of his, he can't lose a duel. Anyway, if you find Shuuta Hayami, I want you to contact me immediately! Got it?!" and then she hung up without an answer from us.

"Gosh, what gives?" asked Yuma and he put his D-Gazer away, "He won't lose because he can see the future?"

"But if there is any truth to it, there's a chance this person might be possessed by a number," said Astral urgently.

"By a number?" questioned Yuma surprised.

"This is a cause for investigation," said Astral, "Yuma, go find him. This man named Shuuta Hayami"

I'll go as well. If it's a number, I'll be forced to watch anyways.

"God, every single one of 'em ordering me around…" said Yuma annoyed, "Who do you people think you are? Right, Kotori?"

I raised an eyebrow, did he forget her absence?

He looked around for the green-haired girl, "Huh? Where'd she go?"

Astral stared at Yuma before saying, "She left a while ago after you said some terrible things to her"

Yuma stood up confused and in disbelief, "Eh?!"

I face palmed, of course he forgot. Poor Kotori…

Astral stared at him with a hint of disbelief, "You really don't remember?"

Yuma just dismissed the idea with a smile, "I did that to Kotori? Like heck would I ever!" He then looked around for the girl that was not here, "Kotori! Kotori?"

Astral then looked away from Yuma to stare at the sky. I guess he's doing an observation. He then spoke after a moment, "Now I understand how you feel, Kotori"

I looked at Yuma, "Well, your girlfriend's not here so let's go find Shuuta Hayami"

Yuma hummed for a second, confused at where Kotori is. Then his eyes widened and he shouted, "She's not my girlfriend, Rima!"

"Because you haven't asked her out yet," I said shrugging.

* * *

Astral, Yuma and I were walking around the city.

"Man, I can't believe I have to find this guy," complained Yuma. We stopped and looked around. Yuma then said, "I don't even know this Iyami-"

I sweat dropped, "Hayami"

"Yeah, I don't know this Hayami's face," said Yuma grudgingly, "How am I supposed to spot him?

We felt the ground shake and a weird sound. I can't explain it, like when paper crinkles or something.

"Sounds like there is a duel over there," stated Astral, "Let's go," he then flew off.

"H-hey!" Yuma shouted in surprise.

"Astral!" I whined as we started running after him.

We ran down an alley before stopping. We gawked at what we saw.

"That's…!" said Astral shocked.

It was a huge camera! That's what the sound was! It wasn't paper crinkling, it was the shutter of a camera! What really struck me was the number mark on it…number 25.

"I knew it…" breathed Astral.

The person dueling the number stepped back, "T-there's no way something in a picture can come true! It's flat out impossible!"

Pictures that can come true? Is this the same type of incident Akari saw? In that case…

His opponent smirked. This must be Hayami. He had chin-length dark but faded blue hair. He was wearing a dress-type of shirt. His D-Pad was part-camera. He then ordered, "Attack the enemy monster! Sure-kill first grade shot!"

The gigantic camera monster had multiple camera flashes and the opponent was knocked onto the ground. A/R vanished.

**Hayami: ?LPS Generic person: 0LPS**

**Hayami is the winner!**

"See?" asked the Hayami, "Just as I said it would be. You were fated to be buried in three turns. I captured all of it on the pictures I shot"

He held up a couple of photos. These are the future shots?

"The future?" questioned Yuma as he took off his D-Gazer.

"And they are sure to become a reality!" said Hayami and he threw the photos. He then walked away.

The photos landed at our feet. I stared at them shocked, they were accurate!

"These pictures…" I whispered.

"He predicted the future?" questioned Yuma disbelievingly. We then looked up, "He can control the future just like my neechan said!"

"Hey, are you alright?!"

Two people ran over to the fallen guy.

"Let's get him to a hospital," said one of them concerned.

"Right!" said the other.

"So he really was using a number," said Astral.

"Why are they dueling like this?" Yuma asked suddenly. He then closed his eyes in frustration, "Keh…"

I blinked, "Yuma…?" Why does he care so much?

"Hey, wait!" shouted Yuma as we came upon our target. Hayami Shuuta…

"Are you Hayami?!" Yuma questioned though we knew the answer.

Hayami stopped but was not looking at us.

"Why?!" asked Yuma making me surprised, "Why can't you just enjoy dueling?! Duelists are supposed to be friends so why do you need to go that far?!

Yuma was really passionate about that. I don't absolutely agree with him though.

"Why?" asked Hayami. He turned so we could see his smirk, "Isn't that obvious? It's so I can obtain numbers!"

Yuma gasped but I wasn't as surprised. But…to hurt people just to get numbers, it's horrible.

"Unfortunately, that man earlier wasn't a numbers holder," said Hayami but he didn't seem to care, "But my search will continue! So I can obtain all the numbers in the entire world! Doing so will produce even _greater _photos! I'll continue shocking everyone all over the world by capturing unbelievable pictures of big scoops!" He then started laughing like a maniac. It sounded stupid.

I wonder how much he has then…I bet he only has his one though.

"This guy's trying to gather the numbers all on his own!" shouted Yuma shocked.

Hayami looked surprised, "So you know about the existence of numbers?! Could…Could you possibly…?"

"Yeah, I have some!" said Yuma making a target of himself. Well, he can at least gather another one.

Hayami's eyes were filled with lust, "I see! So you have numbers!"

"I do!" said Yuma, "But I'll never let a guy like you-"

An engine interrupted him. We turned to our right just to see Akari jump from a bush, on her motorcycle, and land near us.

"I thought I told you to inform me the second you found him!" scorned Akari, irritated.

"N-neechan!" said Yuma surprised.

"Akari!" I said surprised as well. I forgot about the reason we were actually looking for Hayami.

Akari looked to Hayami before taking off her helmet. She stood up in front of Hayami, "Don't you remember me, Shuuta Hayami?"

Hayami stared at her blankly.

"Well, I guess I can't blame you for not remembering an amateur reporter like me," noted Akari before saying, "But I bet you remember the editor-in-chief of the Net News who rejected all your pictures"

Hayami then looked angry. Then he smirked, "Oh, you bet I remember him. He belittled me severely and told me, 'News photos need to have a bigger impact!'"

Well, that sucks. He's probably really angry inside.

"Well, now the editor-in-chief wants to enter a contract with you, but I won't accept that," said Akari zealously, "There's no way I could ever acknowledge a guy who puts the lives of others in danger just to be first to capture pictures of scoops!"

She clenched her fist in anger and I thought she might punch him.

Hayami just smirked, shrugging it off, "I put their lives in danger? I'm shocked! I'm simply trying to capture 'nice pictures'"

What a-

"And you're using this weird power you got that lets you change the future to do so?" questioned Akari angrily.

"Lets him change the future?" repeated Yuma.

"He has such a power…?" I questioned.

Akari stared at Hayami, "You did this before, didn't you? This incident," she held up a photo, "You said something like 'the future will move as I command it to'"

Hayami looked proud, "Oh yes, I can do that. Using the power of the numbers, anyway"

Yuma, Astral and I gasped. His number, of course! There's no way that kind of power was normal.

"I suppose you won't believe it until you see it," said Hayami smirking.

"It sounds like the power of the number this man is being controlled by has the power to control the future," assumed Astral.

"Control?" repeated Yuma.

"That makes sense," I said quietly, "Numbers are strange. No. 7 gave good fortune to its owner, I suppose this one can bend the future according to its owner"

"I'll give you these photos so please hurry and get out of the way," Hayami ordered Akari, "I have no doubt that the editor-in-chief will be more pleased with them!"

Such a cocky bastard.

"Stop joking!" shouted Akari angrily.

Hayami sneered, "I don't see anyone joking. I'm very busy. I need to duel this guy over here, you see"

So a number duel is starting, huh?

Akari looked at Yuma worried, "Yuma, don't do it. You can't duel with such a dangerous guy"

Hayami sighed out of exasperation, "If you call yourself a reporter, surely you don't have time to laze about here, right? Oh yeah, I'll give you a little present that will give you another really big scoop! This one might make you nauseous though"

He held out a photo, another prediction? I was sort of scared at what it might be. "But it can't be helped since you cornered me like this"

Akari reached out and took the photo. We looked at it. We gasped, it was Kotori! She was on the ground, holding a little girl who was crying. Everyone around her looked panicked and scared. She looked panicked herself.

"Kotori!" said Yuma and I shocked.

"Kotori-chan!" said Akari as she stared at the photo in horror.

"Oh?" asked Hayami, "Are you two by any chance acquaintances of this girl? In that case, you had best hurry along. An incident will occur soon, you see, where that blimp has a wee bit of engine trouble in the skies of Heartland City"

We all looked up in the sky. That's the blimp Kotori wanted to go on!

"That photograph there holds within it the coming of one of the largest scoops to ever strike this area on film," said Hayami carelessly, "And if it should happen…No, all of my photos are bound to become reality. And you can bet Heartland City will be led into a big panic"

No, Kotori…

"How could you?!" asked Akari.

Hayami didn't look like he cared, "Now hurry along and show the editor-in-chief that picture. Once that picture of the incident hits the web, the entire world will feel its impact"

"Stop this!" ordered Akari, "Don't do something so stupid!"

Hayami looked like he was having fun, "'Stupid', indeed"

Yuma then called Kotori on D-Gazer, "Kotori! Answer me, Kotori! Hey, Kotori!"

"Why are you contacting me now?" Kotori asked angrily, still mad about before, "What do you want?"

"Where are you right now?!" Yuma asked worried.

"Somewhere you'll never find me, Yuma!" said Kotori cheekily.

For once, can she stop acting like this?!

"Don't tell me…" said Yuma, "On the blimp?! Are you riding on that blimp?!"

"Oh, you bet I am!" said Kotori not understanding how dire this situation is, "Why can't I?"

"Are you alright?!" I asked her, butting in.

"Yup, I'm having a blast up here," said Kotori angrily, "It feels good to look at the city like this"

"Not that!" shouted Yuma, "I mean, is there anything out of the ordinary?"

Kotori looked confused, "Huh? Out of the ordinary?" The screen then moved as she screamed.

"Kotori!" I shouted with Yuma. No, it's coming true!

We then heard yelling and an explosion.

"The engine!" said Kotori shocked.

"What about the engine?!" Yuma asked worriedly.

Kotori then screamed loudly.

"Kotori!" shouted Yuma.

"You need to stop this at once!" shouted Akari at Hayami, "Hurry and stop it!"

"No can do," said Hayami carelessly, "Because this just came a reality"

Why won't he stop it?! I glared at the guy, "Fix this!"

"You were the one who made it a reality, right?!" Akari asked incredulously, "Return it to normal!"

"Boy do you ever shock me," said Hayami exasperated, "As a reporter, you should be jumping for joy right about now. Who are reporters? They seek scoops, right?"

Akari brought her fist back, "Now you've done it!"

"Hitting me won't change this reality," Hayami said quickly and smugly, "And while we waste our time like this, the blimp draws closer to its impending peril"

Akari looked over to us, "Yuma, Rima!"

We looked to her after trying to call Kotori once more.

"I'll do something about the blimp," said Akari, "Don't you dare take your eyes off this guy!"

She put her helmet on and jumped onto her motorcycle. She revved it up and zoomed off.

I put my hands together and rested them over my heart, "Kotori…" I hope she'll be okay…she'll have to be!

Hayami huffed and smirked, "Finally, that nagging pest's gone away. So, how about we begin?"

"Astral…" Yuma gained said-persons attention, "If the one being controlled by a number loses the duel and has the number taken away, they should return to normal, right?"

"Right," agreed Astral.

"That's what has happened so far…" I said surely.

"Meaning if I beat this guy, the future depicted in that photo will disappear and Kotori will be safe, right?" asked Yuma.

"Spot on," said Astral, "However-"

"Let's go, Shuuta!" shouted Yuma having the reassurance he needed, "Let's duel! Duel disk, set! D-Gazer, set!"

I swiped on my D-Gazer as well. I glanced at the blimp before staring ahead, "Give it your all, Yuma"

"Right!" he said, glancing at the blimp as well.

Shuuta threw up his camera/D-Pad and it attached itself to his arm.

_A/R VISION LINK ESTABLISHED_

"Duel target, lock on!" shouted Yuma.

Shuuta started talking pictures making us confused.

Yuma covered himself, "W-what the heck are you doing?!"

"I'm capturing your future on film!" cackled Shuuta. Photos appeared out of his camera and he held them up, "See? Your future is depicted here. It shows you after you lose this duel and have all your numbers taken away"

He showed us the first one, Yuma was on the ground in pain. "The future shown in these pictures cannot be changed," said Shuuta, "My victory and your miserable defeat was decided the minute I flashed my shutter"

Fake, fake, fake, fake, fake…I kept saying this in my head.

"Cut the crap!" shouted Yuma angrily, "My future won't be decided by someone like you!"

"Duel!"

"I'm taking the first turn!" announced Yuma, "My turn, draw! I set a monster in face down defense mode! And I'll set a card face down and end my turn!"

Defensive maneuver. That's good if you're first turn.

"My turn, draw!" announced Shuuta, "I summon Scoop Shooter (Atk: 1400-Lvl: 4)! I activate the equipment magic card, Telephoto Lens, from my hand! I equip Telephoto Lens to Scoop Shooter! The monster equipped with this card gains 400 attack power for each card in my hand. I have four cards in my hand. So it gains 1600 attack points (Atk: 3000)!"

It's got 3000 attack points! Well, at least Yuma has Gogogo Golem as a set monster.

"I then activate the magic card, Negative - Positive Swap, from my hand! This card forces a face down defense monster to switch into face up attack mode!"

Gogogo Golem revealed itself (Atk: 1800)!

"And their attack power is switched with their defense power!"

Gogogo Golem went from 1800 to 1500 (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)!

"What?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

"Using Negative - Positive Swap reduced my hand by one," said Shuuta, "So Scoop Shooter's attack power goes down 400 points (Atk: 2600). A slight drawback…But this will be more than enough. Go, Scoop Shooter! Attack Gogogo Golem!"

Gogogo Golem was zapped back.

Yuma flew backwards onto his back as I knelt down to stay put.

**Shuuta: 4000LPS Yuma: 2900LPS**

I stood up and ran over to Yuma, "Are you alright?"

"We have urgent news!" said the newsperson, "It seems the blimp flying over Heartland City's skies is currently experiencing engine trouble"

Yuma stood up as we stared at the news screen.

"Wait for me, Kotori!" yelled Yuma, "I promise I'll help you!"

"Not happening!" retorted Shuuta making us stare at him, "It's been decided! The picture you saw before was just the outcome but this entire duel is depicted in these pictures here. On the fifth turn, you will summon No. 39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope, and on the sixth turn, you will be defeated by _my_ number"

He then looked to me, "After the final blow, you will scream in agony and fall to your knees"

I gasped, "W-what…?!" I'll be screaming in agony?!

"The future has been captured with these photographs," said Shuuta, "And they will not fail to become reality!"


	36. The Power to Create Future!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

_I know, I know, I'm very late. I'm sorry. Merry late Christmas!_

**On with the show!**

I glared at Shuuta, he will not win!

"You have only one turn left," he spoke making me mad, "Now, come and get me. Come and get the defeat that was seen in your future."

Yuma spat, "I will definitely save Kotori! My turn, draw! Bye Bye Damage…! I summon Achacha Archer. When Achacha Archer is successfully summoned, he inflicts 500 points of damage to the opponent (Atk: 1200-Lvl: 3)!"

Achacha launched his arrow into Shuuta's chest. Said-person grimaced as he life points dropped.

**Shuuta: 3500LPS Yuma: 2900LPS**

"Yes!" cheered Yuma, "I did it!"

I smiled with him but the moment was short-lived.

Shuuta chuckled, "I already told you that I see through, didn't I? You're baiting me out with those 500 points of damage. Next turn, you will try to activate the trap card Bye Bye Damage."

He held up a photo of the exact trap card, "This is the photo to prove it."

"Impossible…" breathed Yuma shocked.

There's no way Shuuta could…Damn it, it's because of that stupid number! If Yuma activates that trap, he'll be safe from an attack.

Shuuta smirked, "You can block it now if you want because you have no other method."

But…he'll expect it.

Nonetheless, Yuma grabbed the card, "I place one card face down! Turn end!"

I looked back up at the blimp worriedly. Kotori…

"My turn, draw!" announced Shuuta.

Astral started, "Now, because of its effect, it gains 400 attack points (Atk: 3000). Scoop Shooter's attack is now 3000. If he attacks us…"

"I'll take 1800 points of damage," said Yuma, "But, by the effect of Bye Bye Damage, he'll take 3600 points of damage."

"That's true but…" I left it open-ended.

Shuuta scoffed, "I activate the magic card, Night Shot."

"What?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

"This card takes one of the enemies magic or trap card and negates and destroys is. Now which one should I choose? The card that I choose is…on the right!"

It flipped over to reveal Bye Bye Damage. It was then destroyed. He found a way to destroy it…Damn it!

"Bye Bye Damage!" shouted Yuma.

"I summon Scandal Sniper (Atk: 700-Lvl: 4)!" declared Shuuta, "Since I only have two cards, Scoop Shooter's attack decreases by 800 points (Atk: 2200)! But, it's enough to attack. Now, go Scoop Shooter! Attack Achacha Archer!"

Yuma's life points dropped as Achacha Archer was destroyed.

**Shuuta: 3500LPS Yuma: 1900LPS**

"Yuma…!" I said in distress.

"Not done yet!" announced Shuuta, "Scandal Sniper, direct attack!"

Yuma screamed and fell backwards.

**Shuuta: 3500LPS Yuma: 1200LPS**

I felt a stinging sensation and it stung. I ignored it for the time being.

"The effect of Scandal Sniper activates!" said Shuuta, "When it does damage to the opponent, its level goes up by two and switches to defense mode (Def: 2000-Lvl: 6)! Furthermore, I activate the magic card Xyz Frame. During your turn, Xyz monsters cannot attack. Now, all preparations are in place! Now, my turn ends! After that, it will be your turn. Just like the picture shows, you will summon Hope, and lost to me."

He has it all planned out…I scowled, there's no way! As long as Yuma denies it…

Yuma and I looked to the news screen. The blimp still hasn't been stopped or landed or anything…

"Kotori…" whispered Yuma. He then turned back to the duel, "My turn, draw!"

"This card is Gogogo Giant!" declared Shuuta with a smirk.

I looked at Yuma's hand. Shuuta was right.

"That could be the card that you have now," chortled Shuuta, "If Gogogo Giant is successfully summoned, you can special summon Gogogo Golem. And when you have level 4 monsters, you can summon Hope. That's the fate you've been given."

Yuma swore, "Damn…!"

Shuuta glared at Yuma with the number, "Now, call Hope! Your future…"

We heard Kotori scream via D-Gazer. Yuma started, "What happened, Kotori?!"

She looked so afraid, "The engine…The other engine is…"

She screamed again.

"Kotori!" shouted Yuma and me in unison.

Yuma scowled, "Wait for me, Kotori. I will defeat Hayami Shuuta and definitely save you!"

Kotori gasped, "To defeat Hayami-senpai? What is this all about?"

I blinked, "Huh?" Senpai…? Did he go to our school or something?

"Do you know about him already?" asked Yuma incredulously.

Kotori seemed confused but answered, "Well, yes I do, but…Why are you dueling with him?"

"He caused the accident," explained Yuma.

Kotori was shocked, "Eh?"

"He's possessed by a number and has the power to see the future freely. He used this power to take pictures of scoops," I explained to her.

"No way!" said Kotori incredulously.

"Before, I was shown a picture of the blimp…" said Yuma, "And now it became reality!"

"There's no way!" said Kotori, "Hayami-senpai isn't the type of person who would do such a thing. All the pictures he takes are gentle and can see happiness. To do scoop pictures…I can't believe it!"

She had a small crush on this guy…didn't she?

"He is not the Hayami Shuuta you know," said Yuma.

"Numbers take the bad desire and darkness in someone's heart," spoke Astral.

I nodded and clasped my hands together, "And if you don't have the strength to fight it…it'll overcome you."

I spoke from experience.

"You knew Kotori would be aboard and wanted it to fall!" shouted Yuma angrily, "You took photos of her before…"

"I only took the photo," scowled Shuuta, "She's just a victim to me."

"Senpai!" said Kotori in hurt because she knew he was possessed.

"I only create the images, though, they will no doubt become reality," said Shuuta, "I feel sorry for Mizuki-kun. But the photo that came out of my head was something, as a scoop man, I just couldn't miss."

"No way…" whispered Kotori.

"You're sick!" I shouted at Shuuta. You shouldn't hurt someone on purpose…!

Shuuta smirked, "It's true that I'm not the same as I used to be. I took pictures for people's happiness. But I have awakened to want to take scoop pictures. That card was a number. Since that moment I first found it, I changed. I could take scoop pictures, just as I wished. I will give the world more and more scoops that will shake the world. And I will make it my own. That's what I thought. With this one number, I have this much power. If I gain more, I will become the best cameraman in the world! I also practiced here at the Duel Carnival for that reason."

"Every single one of you, are wrong," said Yuma, "Duels are not tools for your revenge or to fulfill your desires!"

Yuma…I stared at the boy. I'm sorry, Yuma but I can't…I won't agree with you.

"No matter how much you will say, 'you can't fight me'. I know, you also want them for yourself, don't you?" he sneered.

"Stop saying stupid stuff!" shouted Yuma.

He's being stupid! Our reason is much better than his. We're fighting for someone! We're fighting for Astral!

"Just saying, but at least I admit it," said Shuuta like he knew us, "You are a demon and you will lose to me in a duel. The numbers will be mine, it's obvious."

"Shut up!" yelled Yuma, "The one who will decide my future is only me!"

"The one who will decide is you…?" repeated Astral.

Yuma was right. He will decide his future, not some stupid person who doesn't even know Yuma!

"Like I will let you decide for me and Kotori!" shouted Yuma, "I summon Gogogo Giant (Atk: 2000-Lvl: 4)!"

"That's right," said Shuuta, "That's good. Now that you've started to make it come true."

"And special summon Gogogo Golem (Def: 1500-Lvl: 4)!" interrupted Yuma, "Now that I use the effect, Gogogo Giant will change into defense position (Def: 0). Damn, I guess there is no other way except this."

"But that will let him proceed with his predictions," said Astral.

Yuma scowled in return. If Shuuta's predictions come true…I glanced at the blimp, Kotori…

"Don't rush it, Yuma," advised Astral, "Once you're confused, you have to stop to find your own path by rebelling his prediction. Maybe a new path and a new future will open. By rebelling against the predictions, even I can't know what future will become. But you're the one who said you get to choose your own future."

I watched Yuma, what would he do?

"What's wrong?" asked Shuuta. "Weren't you going to accept the fate? Now, call for Hope. Call him. Call him!"

Yuma frowned and shouted back, "I won't call him!"

"What?!" asked Shuuta shocked.

I looked at Yuma, happy at his answer.

"I won't move as you predict me to," said Yuma, "My turn ends here! My turn ends here!"

"T-turn end?" repeated Shuuta confused before scowling, "What's up with that?! Stop doing such a selfish thing!"

I frowned, he did not just say that.

"As I told you, as it is seen on the proof of pictures. Just like you summoned Gogogo Golem and Gogogo Giant, you are supposed to use the next turn to summon Hope! And in this turn, Hope is getting destroyed by me! And then your number becomes mine. Then, that girl with you falls to her knees and screams in agony. Your future has already been decided!"

"Pictures have nothing to do with it!" shouted Yuma, "I won't run over the bridge you build for me! No matter what future awaits me, I'll decide to go by my own path!"

I smiled at Yuma, "Good job, Yuma," I congratulated.

Yuma nodded to me before looking to Shuuta, "Well, now it's your turn"

"You won't rebel!" shouted Shuuta, "My turn, draw! I summon Panic Paparazzi (Atk: 1000-Lvl: 2)! The effect of Panic Paparazzi is activated! I release this card to make Scoop Shooter's level increase by two (Lvl: 6). Now that I have two level 6 monsters, I overlay Scoop Shooter and Scandal Sniper! With these two monsters, I build an overlay network! Xyz summon! Come forth, No. 25 Fullmetal Photoglide – Focus Force (Atk: 2800-Rank: 6)!"

So the number finally showed itself.

"You brought out the number!" stated Yuma.

"Go, Focus Force!" shouted Shuuta, "Attack Gogogo Golem! Money force shot!"

It attacked Gogogo Golem.

"Gogogo Golem can't be destroyed by battle once per turn!" explained Yuma.

"Not done!" said Shuuta, "The effect of Focus Force is activated. If another effect is activated, I can use one overlay unit to negate it. Destroy it, Focus Force! How's that?!"

A huge beam hit Gogogo Golem.

Shuuta smirked, "That's the power of Focus Force!"

That damn hyena laugh…

"But now it won't go as the picture shows," pointed out Astral.

"Ah, I see!" said Yuma. He looked back to Shuuta, "Hey! What's the point of destroying Gogogo Golem? Gogogo Giant can't summon Hope alone!"

Shuuta scowled.

"As I thought, his duel isn't the only possible outcome," said Astral, "He rushed without thinking it through. It's true that the number gave him the power to see the future. However, that's only one possible future. The only reason it went so far is because after he had the pictures that showed the future, he told the opponent to do what was shown in the picture. But you had ended Yuma had ended his turn and with that cut the loop of repetition."

I looked at him, "So, the pictures have no way to confirm the future!"

Astral nodded in agreement.

"No way!" said Shuuta as he stared at his photos, "But…I can't accept it. A future that is not something my image created is just…!"

"That picture has no meaning!" shouted Yuma, "The future already changed!"

Shuuta dropped his photos in shock.

"Relying on the power of the number alone, and forgetting to improve his duel skills, was his mistake," spoke Astral, "Yuma. This kid already is no match for you."

He complimented Yuma. I'm totally noting that.

"Yeah!" said Yuma.

Shuuta looked scared and desperate. He turned to Yuma, "But without a number, you can't beat my number! If you think you can beat me, call Hope! My turn ends here!"

A shadow hung over us. We looked up to see the blimp. It was getting closer and closer to the ground.

"Kotori…" whispered Yuma, "I will definitely save you, you hear me?! Here I go. My turn, draw! I summon Overlay Owl (Atk: 800-Lvl: 4)! Overlay Owl's effect is activated! By lowering my life points, I can detach an overlay unit from a monster!"

**Shuuta: 3500LPS Yuma: 600LPS**

"Like I will let you do it!" shouted Shuuta, "I detach an overlay unit to negate your monsters-"

"It doesn't matter!" said Yuma, "You have no overlay units either way!"

I smirked, "You're trapped!"

Shuuta gasped, "Shit!"

"Thank you for the wait," said Yuma, "Now I will show you, Hope. I overlay Gogogo Giant and Overlay Owl. I now build an overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, No. 39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

Finally! I smiled at Hope, this is their ace! They'll definitely win now!

"You have appeared, Hope!" said Shuuta with lust, "Good, the attack of Hope is 2500 while my monster has 2800. So by next turn-"

"There is no next!" interrupted Yuma.

"Go, Yuma!" shouted Astral.

"Kattobingu!" shouted Yuma, "Hope, Xyz change! Come forth, Chaos No. 39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope Ray (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

The Chaos number…

"Hope Ray?!" repeated Shuuta incredulously.

"Hope Ray's monster effect activates!" shouted Yuma, "I detach all of his overlay units and his attack increases to 4000. Overlay Charge (Atk: 4000)! Furthermore, because of my detached overlay units, your monster's attack decreases to 0!"

"Impossible!" yelled Shuuta, "The future…!"

"You're not the only one who can change the future!" said Yuma, "I- no, everyone has the courage to change the future! Go, Hope Ray! Hope ray slash!"

Hope Ray slashed right through Focus Force. The monster was destroyed and Shuuta was thrown backwards by the attack.

**Shuuta: 0LPS Yuma: 600LPS**

**Yuma is the winner!**

A/R dispersed. Astral held his hand out and the number flew to him.

Yuma and I looked at Yuma's D-Gazer. "Kotori!" called out Yuma, "Neechan! You can rest in ease. I erased the numbers power"

We looked up to see that the Blimp hadn't stopped. "Kotori!" I shouted.

There was ringing and Akari's voice rang out, "Yuma, Rima."

"Neechan?" questioned Yuma.

"Even if that weird power is gone, there is no change in the plane," said Akari.

That's bad! But…wasn't it supposed to change?!

"Its' altitude is dropping!" I heard from some smarty person, "At this rate…"

"No way!" shouted Yuma, "Neechan!"

I looked up at the sky. I saw something zoom through the air. Is that…?!

"What's wrong, neechan?!" asked Yuma into the D-Gazer.

"Yuma, Rima," said Astral to catch our attention, "Look at that"

Yuma looked as well and we saw Kaito. He flew straight past our heads. Kaito was with Orbital 7, who attached to him.

"Kaito!" I said in surprise. Kaito dove into the front of the blimp. I saw a small fire soon after, Orbital, perhaps? The blimp dropped onto the ground but it didn't crash.

* * *

We ran up to Kotori who was in front of the blimp.

"Kotori!" shouted Yuma, addressing our appearance.

"Yuma, Rima!" said Kotori smiling. She turned to Yuma, "Thank you for saving me!"

Yuma rubbed his head, "Well, actually, Kaito did most of the sav- huh?"

We saw Kaito on top of the blimp.

"Kaito!" called out Yuma as we ran a bit forward.

Said-person looked to us.

"I give you my thanks," said Yuma, "We are duelists, after all"

"Don't get the wrong idea," said Kaito making me blink, "If the blimp wouldn't have landed, the city would be in a panic. They would cancel the Duel Carnival, after all"

He then flew off.

"Kaito…" I whispered as I tilted my head. Such a weird person…

Yuma smiled, "That guy…"

I glanced to see Shuuta holding his camera. Picture-shy, I ran over to beside him to dodge the picture. Shuuta raised an eyebrow but still took a picture of Kotori and Yuma.

The two heard the shutter. Kotori looked at Shuuta, "Hayami-senpai!"

"Don't tell me you're still-"

"Ah, no, you're wrong," said Shuuta and I no longer heard the darkness in his voice, "I just had to do it. Mizuki-san, I feel terrible about everything that you went through. I am sorry about what I've done."

He bowed to show his apologies.

"Senpai…" said Kotori surprised.

Yuma put his hands behind his head, "Well, everyone is okay, so I guess it's fine."

"Yuma-kun…" said Shuuta surprised.

Akari suddenly appeared and took the photo from Shuuta's hand. She hummed.

"Neechan?" asked Yuma confused.

Akari was smiling, "This is quite a good picture, see?"

I looked at the photo to see Kotori and Yuma smiling. The background was perfect as well.

Yuma looked to Shuuta, "If you can take such a good picture, you don't need numbers."

Shuuta blushed, "Thank you"

Yuma looked up at the sky, "But, I wish I could take one. Just to see myself as Duel Champion and…"

I rolled my eyes, of course.

"Weren't you going to decide your own future?" asked Astral.

"Well, that's true too," said Yuma shrugging.

"Why are you talking to yourself?" asked Akari, reminding me of Astral's invisbility.

I laughed and suddenly had an idea. That picture of my parents…I was able to see papa so would I be able to…? I grinned and looked to Shuuta, "Can I borrow your camera for a sec?" I asked.

Shuuta blinked, "Um, I guess so," he passed me his camera.

I looked to Yuma and shoved the camera into his hands, "Yuma, here"

Yuma held it, "What am I supposed to do with this?" questioned Yuma with a raised eyebrow.

I grabbed Astral's hand and dragged him down so he was at my height. I smiled at Yuma, "Take a picture of this, okay?"

Yuma blinked, "Of-"

I grabbed Astral's chin and jerked him towards me. I then pressed my lips eagerly to Astral's. I heard Yuma's flustering before hearing the shutter of the camera. I broke off the kiss and Yuma was confused. Astral didn't seem to mind but he looked puzzled as well.

"You know, Astral won't even show, right?" asked Yuma as the photo processed.

I smiled, "Just trust me on this one, Yuma"

I was sure that I would be able to make Astral appear. Yuma rolled his eyes and took the photo, "See? Just like I said, you can't see- Oh shit!"

He stared at the photo with his jaw dropped, "It actually worked!"

I grinned, "Of course"

Kotori, Akari and Shuuta tried to look at it but I grabbed it from Yuma. I smiled at the picture, "It's perfect!"

Astral looked over my shoulder and he smiled too, "I'm surprised that worked."

There it was. It was a close-up picture on Astral and I kissing. It only showed above the neck and it was absolutely perfect! I pressed it to my chest, "This is my treasure now!"

I blinked, that sounded…I've said that before.

_Flashback _

_The pink-haired boy placed a golden half-hearted locket into my hand, "Here!"_

_I smiled, "This is my treasure now!"_

_Flashback end_

That boy…I shook it off as I heard Akari and Yuma start bickering. I smiled, oh well. I looked back at the picture. I smiled at it and Astral floated beside me.

"This is proof that I existed in this world…"

I turned to Astral confused, "What do you mean?"

"…One day I will definitely be gone. It's a mark that I was here and that…that I loved and was loved," spoke Astral.

His words made me sad and happy. I kissed his cheek, "I love you, Astral"

"I love you too, my love"


	37. Disqualified from the WDC!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

I had run home to put the photo away. I placed it beside the photo of my parents. I smiled at the likeness. I then looked at my violin case which was resting on top of my desk. I walked over to it and took out the violin. I smiled at it, "Now that I know that this is my mama's, I'll be extra careful."

The words from my fake parents' letter reminded me of something. "_There's something in your violin…you should be able to find it,"_ It said. I stared at my violin, "I wonder if that's true…"

Well, I didn't want to stay and think about it. Before I could place my violin down, I felt a shock. My eyes widened and I was the Empress Key. My violin wasn't with me but…I stared around, I didn't fall asleep. What happened?!

I heard cackling. Oh no. Not now! I turned and saw Black Mist smirking and cackling, "What do you want, Black Mist?!" I asked angrily. I needed to get dueling. I don't have time for this!

"I can't get into the Emperor's Key because I would feel bad if I didn't earn it," said Black Mist shrugging.

No way! I glared at him, "You're not getting near Astral!"

He chuckled, "Oh, really? Beat me in a duel if you want to protect him."

I looked down before nodding, "Alright, let's do this!"

My D-Gazer appeared with my D-Pad. I scowled at him while he smirked at me.

"Duel!"

**End of duel!**

I panted, so exhausted. I fell forward onto the ground. I had won but…I was so tired. It was just like last time. I looked up to see Black Mist was panting as well. He must be exhausted but…he was smirking!

"W-what's so funny?" I asked weakly. I was pathetic, "I won..! You shouldn't be happy!"

He just cackled. I stared at him, what was so funny? He flew over to me and stared at my face, "You know, when you're exhausted, you can't protect anyone"

It took a second to take that in. Would he mean…? I glared at him, "You did this on purpose!"

"Ah, you finally get it," said Black Mist smirking, "I may be weaker but I can still go through the gate and to the other numbers. They'll feed me energy. They're on my side, after all"

My eyes widened as I saw Galaxy Queen and Chaos Goddess fly around him. Tears filled my eyes, "Why…?" I then glared at him, the tears became ones of frustration, "Don't you dare touch Astral!"

He laughed, "What can you do? You're exhausted from this duel. I have the upper hand!"

No…I was going to protect Astral! I was going to protect the one I love!

Black Mist smiled coldly, "There are the ones that protect and the ones that are protected. You are not someone who can protect, Rima. You're defenseless"

My eyes widened. Is that true? Am I truly defenseless? I looked down in despair.

Black Mist knelt down in front of me and grabbed my chin. He made me face his eyes, "But being defenseless isn't that bad. It's what probably made him fall in love with you."

I stared at him shocked as he pressed his lips to mine. He did it softly and I didn't have the strength to push him away. He parted with me but that kiss. It was an apology. I could see it in his eyes.

"I am a number," he whispered as he stood up straight, "Feelings are something that I cannot take. I can only take the negative feelings and that is what I am. Love isn't something I want to give. It's something I need to give. Someone should have these positive feelings. When I become the strongest number…I promise I will destroy you last."

Then in a quieter voice than before, he softly said, "I love you, Rima"

I couldn't reply. Black Mist…I love Astral but Black Mist was sad.

He then left without another word.

I don't love Black Mist, I love Astral. Yet, Black Mist is a part of Astral. I don't love the dark, I love the light. I love Astral. Tears ran down my face and I lay down in the sand. I had no more strength. I succumbed to darkness.

* * *

_**No one's P.O.V**_

Astral was in the Emperor's Key, thinking about his past. Suddenly, a flashing red light appeared. Astral looked up at it, "Yuma's starting a duel? I better get going."

"It's been a long time, Astral!"

Astral looked behind him to be met with a being just like him. But, that being was black. "You're…!" said Astral in shock, "No.96! Why are you…? You broke the seal?!"

Black Mist crossed his arms, "Yes, it was what we numbers wanted!"

Around him, No.83 Galaxy Queen and Chaos No.83 Chaos Goddess were floating. That didn't go unnoticed by Astral.

Astral gasped, "Those numbers…!"

Black Mist hummed and glanced at the female numbers, "These? Oh, right, you must know who these belong to," Black Mist smirked.

Astral's face was one of horror, "What did you do to Rima?!"

Black Mist shrugged but still remained mocking, "That girl is a very strong duelist. She defeated me but she was extremely exhausted. That's how I came here, you know."

"I don't understand," said Astral shocked, "How did you duel with her?! She's safe-"

"Are you sure about that?" asked Black Mist as he enjoyed Astral's expressions, "I've been with her for a long time. It's truly your fault."

"H-how is it my fault?!" shouted Astral, worried for Rima's wellbeing, "I would never endanger her! I would rather disappear!"

Black Mist cackled before looking at Astral, "You sealed me, correct? Do you know exactly where you sealed me?"

Astral stared in puzzlement, "The farthest part of the Emperor's Key."

"You really don't explore, do you?" asked Black Mist mockingly, "The farthest part of the Emperor's Key is over there," he pointed at the pitch black part of the place.

Astral was confused. What does this have to do with his Rima?

Black Mist then answered, "The farthest part of the Emperor's Key is the Empress Key!"

Astral was paralyzed in shock. _'The Empress Key? But that's Rima's…She's been telling me that she's been inside the key…is it possible that she always sees Black Mist? Is it possible-'_

"Is it possible that you endangered her, every night, every day, by sealing me inside her key?" questioned Black Mist while sneering, "She's been keeping it from you because of her feelings. She endangered herself…"

Black Mist looked away at that, pure sadness in his voice, "She endangered herself for you…" He clenched his fist, "You don't know how much willpower it takes me to stop from hurting her! You should protect her but you don't! You're a failure of a _lover_!"

Black Mist turned back to Astral, no longer thinking about Rima. He knew if he did so, he would get weaker. He would get weaker because he would be worried about her, she had fallen unconscious. He glared at Astral and spoke, "I was exhausted but we numbers were able to overcome it!"


	38. Bound To Hope! Hope Sword Mars Slash!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

_This is my second try on writing this chapter. I wasn't sure how to make it but I hope this is all right._

**On with the show!**

_**Rima's P.O.V**_

I woke up and lay down on the sand. I was so tired, I could barely remember what I was doing…My eyes widened, "Astral…Black Mist!"

I quickly stood up and almost fell forward. I was able to stand straight. Last thing that happened…Black Mist went through the black part of the keys. I looked at it, "Black Mist!" I shouted. No! He was going to hurt Astral!

I started running towards it but I was stopped. Someone had wrapped their arms around my waist and their hold was tight! I looked down at the arms, they were blue…I tried looking behind me, "Papa?!"

My papa wouldn't let me look at him. "I'm sorry, Rima," he spoke, "Are you hurt?"

I struggled against his grip, "I'm not! I need to go and help Astral!"

I was able to see him sadly smile before he turned my head back to in front of me. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that," he said making me mad, "It is my job, as your father, to protect you. I won't let you go over there when Black Mist is rampaging"

I tried escaping but his grasp was too tight and I was still tired from the duel. "Papa! Why couldn't you protect me before?! Why couldn't you stop Black Mist?!"

"Your other number and chaos number kept me delayed," said papa in anger. His voice returned back to normal, "I would've helped if I could have. I'm sorry, Rima, but I will not let you go and help Astral."

Frustrated tears ran down my cheeks, "Papa-"

"I will go in your place," he spoke and that made my eyes widen.

He let go of me and I turned to him, "What?!" I asked.

He smiled and I was truly able to see him as my father. He kissed my temple, "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll go save him for you"

As long as Astral had help, I'm fine. I wish it was me though. I then looked at papa, "Astral doesn't know I'm an Astral being!"

"Don't worry about that," said papa, "I'm letting _you_ tell him on your own. I'll just be mysterious"

I sweat dropped but nodded, "Alright, papa."

He then flew out of the Empress Key to the Emperor's. I watched him go, "Be careful…" I whispered after him.

I then lay down on the sand and fell back to sleep.

* * *

_**No one's P.O.V**_

Astral lay limp in the tight hold of Black Mist. Black Mist cackled now and then to signal his victory. Almost all of Astral's body was nearly black. Black Mist would have his control any second now.

Suddenly, above the two, a golden light shone. Astral weakly looked up. The radiant light became a beam and hit Astral. "Yuma, I can feel it," spoke Astral, "You're Kattobingu!"

Unexpectedly, a blue being zoomed from nowhere, no one noticed him…yet. He took in the situation with a smirk. He noticed the power pulsing from the other Astral being named Astral. _'Maybe I won't have to do anything here,'_ he thought to himself.

"My body's been paralyzed!" shouted No.96.

"This is mine and Yuma's…" Astral looked up and smiled, "It's the power of our bonds!"

Astral fought Black Mist's control and you couldn't tell who was winning.

"Bonds, you say?!" questioned Black Mist before screaming. He was persistent though and stayed strong.

The mysterious blue being flew to the side of Astral.

"You!" shouted Black Mist in shock.

Astral was puzzled but he was too busy fighting off Black Mist. Tsubasa smiled at the younger being, "Let me lend you my strength."

Astral stared at Tsubasa in shock and surprise. Tsubasa just put his hand on Astral's shoulder and they both began to glow bright blue. Their combined power was able to destroy Black Mist.

Astral was out of the grip and stared at the newcomer. "W-who are you?" asked Astral anxiously. This man was…an Astral being as well. Astral was shocked at the sight.

Tsubasa no longer spoke and turned towards the gateway to the Empress Key. Astral then realized, "Rima!" He shouted and he rocketed away to find the one he loved. Astral had to rush because Yuma was in need of him as well.

Tsubasa closed his eyes and disappeared.

* * *

Astral quickly saw Rima on the ground. He dove down and scooped her up. She was unconscious. He held her close to his chest, "I'm sorry, Rima…" he whispered. How could he let that monstrosity on this girl?

He then travelled out and to Yuma's aid.

* * *

Astral was holding the unconscious girl as he came back to Yuma. He glanced at Kotori and brought Rima to her arms. He let go of the girl unwillingly but did so gently. He nodded when Kotori caught her and flew back over to Yuma, "Let's win, Yuma."

* * *

_**Rima's P.O.V**_

When I woke up, Kotori was holding me up. I looked up at her sleepily, "Kotori…?"

Her eyes widened and she looked down at me, "Rima's awake!"

Yuma and Astral were there as well. I stood up wobbling and Astral held me up right. I thanked him with a smile. He smiled back. He's okay…Papa must've helped him out.

Yuma looked angry, "Rima, why didn't you tell us about Black Mist?!"

I gulped, oh no. I looked at Astral and he looked mad as well. Astral glared at me, "Give me his card, right now."

I sighed and took out No.96 Black Mist from the extra deck-box. I handed it over to Astral, "Here"

Astral grabbed it with a look of hatred. He passed it to Yuma and looked at me, "Are you alright, Rima?" he asked with worry.

"I'm fine…" I said quietly. Papa didn't tell him anything I guess because I'm _sure _Astral would start asking questions. This would mean…I have to tell him sometime soon. Not yet…

"Now, why didn't you tell me about Black Mist from the beginning?!" asked Astral as he put his hands on his hips.

"Because…" I tried answering, "Um, Black Mist was…I just wanted to protect you!" I said crossing my arms.

Astral's look softened but was still solemn, "_I _will be the one to protect _you_, Rima. I don't want you getting hurt!"

"But I don't want you getting hurt either!" I retorted back. Astral…

"Then protect me from getting worried and sad and nervous!" shouted Astral making me blink, "If you're not by my side, I will get worried about you. I'll be sad because you're not there. And I'll get really nervous because of all the numbers around!"

He then crossed his arms and looked away. I stared at him, "Astral…"

"I don't know why you keep acting like you're supposed to be the strong one," whispered Astral, "Let me be the hero, Rima. You'll be-"

"The damsel in distress…?" I questioned as I looked down.

Astral lifted my chin, "Well, the hero always gets the girl, right?"

I blushed and answered, "Yeah, I guess he does."

"Then it's settled," said Astral happily, "You're the girl that I will get"

"But you already got me"

"Then I'll just kiss you"

"Wait, what- mmph!"


	39. The Destined Showdown!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

I continued on with Astral, Yuma, Kotori and Tokunosuke. I suppose I'll have to duel tomorrow because now I really don't feel like it.

We met up with Tetsuo. Thank goodness, he was okay.

"Well…Guess I made you worried," said Tetsuo. He had a bandage on his cheek, "Me and Inchou are doing okay now. Well, if you call 'okay' cooping himself in his house."

Yuma smiled, "Good! Glad to hear!"

"Yuma's the only one who won in our group," said Tokunosuke.

I coughed.

"Oh, and Rima!" said Tokunosuke quickly.

I smiled, "I feel so loved"

"The tournament is filling up," said Astral, gaining our attention, "You can both be sure that the remaining participants are quite the competition. Don't let your guard down, both of you."

Yuma grinned, "Right, I keep telling you to leave it to me!"

I winked, "I'll be fine, Astral"

"Hey, I sort of feel like we're forgetting about someone," said Kotori.

"Me too," rang a timid voice, "I'm still remaining"

Discreetly, behind Yuma, Cat-chan appeared. Yuma screamed in surprise, "Cat-chan!"

So that's who we forgot.

She held up a heart piece, "I've collected three."

Yuma awed, "Cat-chan, that's awesome!" He held up his heart piece, "I collected four!"

I went to stand beside Cat-chan and Kotori spoke, "And you barely made it through all those matches."

I laughed a little at that.

Yuma looked to Kotori pouting, "D-don't make it sound that way! I just had a bit of a close call, is all!"

Kotori teased him, "Really? 'Just a bit,' huh?"

"Listen, you!" said Yuma annoyed.

I looked at Cat-chan to see her boiling mad. She was jealous. I couldn't help but feel bad for her, "Cat-chan…"

Something suddenly jumped out from nowhere. It stole Yuma's heart piece and ran way. I realized what it was. I screamed, terrified, and hugged Cat-chan. She wrapped her arms around me in surprise. It was a dog!

"Hey!" I heard Yuma shout, "My heart piece!"

There was barking and I knew there were more than one dog. Tears filled my eyes but they didn't fall. I was terrified of dogs! I only like Daisuke!

"Give 'em back!" shouted Yuma as I heard the dogs leave.

"Why's that dog taking your heart pieces?!"

"What're you gonna do? You're gonna be disqualified at this rate!"

"I-I don't know what to do!" shouted Yuma.

"Eh? Rima, what's wrong?" I heard Tetsuo ask.

"Rima?" asked Astral and I looked up. His eyes widened in shock as he saw my tear-filled eyes, "What is wrong, Rima?"

"I…I'm scared of dogs," I barely whispered before hugging Cat-chan once more.

I heard Yuma laughing. "Y-Yuma!" shouted Kotori.

"R-Rima's afraid of dogs!" he chuckled.

I looked up at him, "It's not funny, Yuma!" I shouted.

He looked at me and noticed me crying, "Oh…" He then apologized, "Sorry Rima"

I shook my head, "It's okay…but you won't be. You need to find your heart pieces," I said. He won't be able to stay in the competition otherwise.

Yuma started freaking out again as I let go of Cat-chan. Astral was at my side and took one of my hands. He stroked it to try and make me feel better. I don't like dogs…I'm afraid of them. I've been afraid of dogs for as long as I could remember.

Cat-chan suddenly turned and sent out a yell. I blinked at that, what? A ton of cats suddenly appeared. I laughed slightly. Oh, it was a cat calling.

"I-it's a bunch of cats this time?" asked Yuma, worried about his heart pieces.

"My kitties, go search for Yuma's heart pieces!" commanded Cat-chan and she let out another cat sound. The cats then left. Cat-chan then looked to Kotori, "Kotori, aren't you going to ask some birds to search?"

I sweat dropped, Kotori's name meant bird.

Kotori then looked nervous, "I can't do anything like that."

"Oh, is that so?" asked Cat-chan as she turned, "You can't, huh?" She then smirked, happy to know she could do something Kotori couldn't.

I sighed, "The power of jealousy"

"Jealousy?" repeated Astral as he looked at Cat-chan and Kotori, "…I seem to understand that feeling very well"

I blinked and looked up at him, "What do you mean?"

Astral then stifled a laugh making Yuma look at him. Yuma looked confused but then started freaking out about his heart pieces again.

"What's so funny?" I asked Astral, pouting. Why was he laughing? I didn't say anything funny.

"It's not my fault that you are so attractive but I wish _they_ wouldn't find you as such. Maybe then, they would not look at you but it's highly unlikely," said Astral.

I was so confused. I tilted my head, "Wha…? Who are 'they'?"

Astral looked up at the sky thoughtfully, "Of course, there's always your charm. I suppose this is what I get for having such a perfect girl."

I blushed but I was still confused. By the look on Astral's face, he was enjoying my confusion. I looked away crossly but kept my hand in Astral's.

The cats suddenly came back. They meowed and somehow, Cat-chan was able to understand them. She gasped, "Really? You know where the dogs are?"

They then meowed again and ran off. We all followed suit but I was still a bit scared. To see those dogs again…Astral held my hand and glanced at me with a smile. Okay, I'll try to get over this but…

* * *

We walked into this abandoned warehouse. I was walking beside Astral timidly. I was paralyzed in terror when we saw a lot of dogs in front of us. I let go of Astral's hand. I squeaked and hid behind Astral, "Dogs…!" I whispered, scared.

"W-what are those guys doing?" questioned Yuma as we stared at all the dogs.

Cat-chan then walked confidently to in front of the group, "That's…! Yuma's heart pieces!"

They were on the ground, in front of the dogs. A bunch of cats were on our side and the dogs were on the other. The cats meowed loudly.

Cat-chan held an arm out in front of Yuma, "Yuma, let me take care of this"

The dogs on the other side barked, matching the volume of the cats. I shuddered and Astral brought me into an embrace. I rested my cheek on his chest and my arms were folded between me and Astral's chest. I didn't like dogs…They were scary! I only liked Daisuke because-

"You've got nowhere to run!" shouted Cat-chan, "Return Yuma's heart pieces!"

The dogs growled angrily at Cat-chan and I closed my eyes in fright. These dogs are nothing like Daisuke!

"Stop it at once, ya'll!" someone yelled.

We all looked up at the voice. A huge dog with a barrel tied to its back. It was so big…!

"What's all the ruckus about?!" boomed the big dog.

The dog…talked?

"A-a dog!" shouted Yuma in shock.

"It spoke!" said Kotori incredulously.

"This here's some heart pieces!" said the dog in a low, loud voice, "Don't tell me ya'll been stealin'! Ya damn fools!" It screamed. Yes, I thought 'it'. It was so scary!

"T-the heck is going on here?!" asked Yuma.

"Why'd the dogs take the heart pieces?" questioned Tokunosuke.

"These here heart pieces belong to ya'll?" asked the big dog, "I hope ya'll forgive my followers"

W-well at least they'll give it back. It's apologizing after all.

Yuma then scratched his head, "Well…"

"You thieving dogs!" shouted Cat-chan.

We all looked at her surprised. "Huh?!" asked Yuma confused.

"You can apologize to the police all you want!" shouted Cat-chan. Why was she so angry? I just wanted to get out of here!

"Say what?!" asked the huge…scary…dog, "I thought I heard you call us thieving dogs…"

Cat-chan stayed by her point, "But isn't it true?! Dogs are always up to no good! Like that little act, for example!"

She pointed at a puppy, "They always turn and stare up at you with that fake expression! You fall in love with that pug and want to call him 'Hito-chan'! You feel sorry for it and lose all your sense! Why are you making that weird face anyways?!"

Cat-chan didn't like dogs either? Well, she seems to hate them while I'm just fiercely afraid.

The cats started whining, they were with Cat-chan.

"Say what now?!" asked the huge dog as I trembled in Astral's arms, "Then how about ya'll, then? And you peaceful looking cats are always scheming something!"

The dogs then snarled at the cats. I closed my eyes tightly, "Astral…!"

He whispered slightly in my ear, "Sh…"

"Pipe down!" shouted the huge dog. Everyone was then quiet. He smirked…can dogs smirk? Well, he did, "Since it's come to this, let's settle it with a duel!"

I even looked back to them in shock.

"With a duel?!" we all repeated in shock excluding Astral.

Well, excluding Cat-chan as well. She actually smirked, "That's just what I wanted!"

"Eh?!" we all asked.

I can't believe Cat-chan wants to duel now! Couldn't she have waited until we- no, _I _was gone.

Cat-chan stuck her arm out, "And if I end up winning, you dogs will have to leave this city immediately!"

Oh my…

"I'll return those words right back to you cats!" shouted the dog.

"I-is she really gonna duel a dog?" asked Kotori.

I didn't like being here longer than I needed to. I didn't want to leave my friends here though. I glanced at Astral. I suppose if Astral stays with me…I'll be okay.

"My heart pieces…" complained Yuma with tears in his eyes.

"I can feel it," spoke Astral making me look up at him, "This is a fated showdown between dogs and cats stretching over millions of years."

How true that is…

Yuma turned to Astral, "And why are you so carefree about this?!"

Astral glanced to me like that was the answer. Wait…oh, Astral was just trying to make me feel better! I smiled at him, "Thanks…"

Astral smiled and petted my hair. I blushed by let him do so.

"You two…!" whined Yuma, "Those are my heart pieces!"

"Come on, Yuma, just enjoy the duel," I said quietly as I glanced at the dogs.

"Duel disk, set!" announced Cat-chan.

"Duel disk, set!" said the dog.

"D-Gazer, set!"

_A/R VISION LINK ESTABLISHED_

"Duel!"

"Cat-chan," wailed Yuma, "Please don't forget about my heart pieces!"

I didn't understand why Yuma just doesn't go there and grab them. I would but…there were dogs and I really didn't want to leave Astral's safe embrace.

"Cats always dash forward! My turn, draw!" announced Cat-chan, "I summon Stray Cat (Atk: 100-Lvl: 1)!"

"It's got 100 attack points?!" Yuma asked incredulously, "What a weak monster!"

"No, she's most likely…" said Astral.

It's probably bait, is what he was thinking. I turned around in his arms to face the duel better. Astral still kept his arms around me, which I was grateful for.

"I then set two cards face down, ending my turn!" shouted Cat-chan.

The dog went, "It's my turn, draw!"

"The dog drew…" said Kotori and Yuma in unison.

"…a card?!" ended Tokunosuke and Tetsuo.

"If Yuma can draw a card, I don't see why a dog can't," I said cheekily and Yuma turned to glare at me.

"I summon Triple-Dog (Atk: 1200-Lvl: 4)!" spoke the dog, "And when Triple-dog is on the field, I can special summon another Triple-Dog from my hand (Atk: 1200-Lvl: 4)! Then I activate the magic card, Double Dog! When I have two Triple-Dogs on my field, I can special summon another Triple-Dog from my deck (Atk: 1200-Lvl: 4)!"

"He's got three level four monsters?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

"I don't believe it!" said Tokunosuke.

I stared at the monsters, they were dogs! But…since they're all level four…

The dog did what I thought he would do, "I overlay my three level four Triple-Dogs! I build the overlay network with my three monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, legendary from the olden days! Smoking Dog!"

Everyone gasped when we saw the monster. It was a gigantic dog! I pressed myself closer to Astral.

"How can a dog Xyz summon?" questioned Yuma before holding his head, "Damn it! How is it everyone has such good tactics to Xyz summon so well?!"

"Perhaps its dueling tactics are better than yours, Yuma," said Astral making me giggle.

"Shut it!" shouted Yuma angrily.

"I activate the magic card, Wanderbull!" announced the dog, "This card special summons two Wanderbull Tokens onto my field (Atk: 0-Lvl: 1). And then, I activate the equip magic card, Dog-cking! Dog-cking raises the attack power of the equipped monster by 500 points for each Dog monster on the field! I've got three Dog monsters on my field, so that's 1500 points (Atk: 4100)!"

That's a lot of points!

"It's got 4100 attack points!" shouted Yuma, "At this rate, Cat-chan…My heart pieces will…!"

Kotori, Tetsuo and Tokunosuke stared at Yuma in shame. I was staring at the duel. Cat-chan had two face downs…She should be able to survive. I believe in her!

"That's right!" shouted the dog, "It's a WOOF-Turn Kill elimination (One-Turn Kill)! Go, Smoking Dog! Attack Stray Cat!"

Cat-chan quickly reacted, "Trap card, open! Cat's Deception! When the opposing monster tries to attack my Stray Cat, the attack is negated and that monster is sent back to your hand!"

Alright!

"I anticipated your cat-like shallow thinking," said the dog making Cat-chan confused.

He anticipated it…? That would mean…!

"I activate Smoking Dog's effect!" declared the dog, "By detaching one overlay unit, I can negate a trap card's activation and destroy it!"

"Smoking Dog had such an effect?" questioned Astral shocked.

"It really is a One-Turn Kill!" shouted Tetsuo.

No! That would mean Cat-chan will lose!

Cat-chan's cat was hit with the blast. Cat-chan grumbled from the blast. A ton of smoke blocked her off.

"Cat-chan!" I shouted with Yuma.

"I win, ya'll," said the dog.

"Are you sure about that?"

Cat-chan's voice sounded confident. She's still in!

"Hm…?" hummed the dog.

"I aligned myself just right to absorb Smoking Dog's attack," said Cat-chan.

Surprisingly, she had a new monster on her field. It was still cat-themed though (Atk: 600-Lvl: 4). "I activated the quickplay magic card, Cat Food!" said Cat-chan.

**Dog: 4000LPS Cat-chan: 500LPS**

Her life points were lowered immensely but she was still in the game. "This card released Stray Cat and special summoned Stray Catgirl! And when Stray Catgirl is in attack mode, she can't be destroyed in battle!"

"Quite a crafty way to do so," said the dog, "But you only got 500 of your life remaining. You're as good as dog food! I set a card face down and end my turn! And at the end of the turn, the Dog Tokens are destroyed by their own effect (Atk: 3100)."

"Now you've done it!" scowled Cat-chan, "You saw through a human's trap, even though you're just a mangy dog!"

"Silence, ya stupid cat girl!" shouted the dog making me scared.

Astral whispered something into my ear making me blush red. Kotori noticed, "What is it, Rima?"

I shook my head furiously, "Nothing, Kotori!" Stupid Astral…I glared at him, he's such a pervert! It wouldn't stay on my face though so I just looked back to the duel. I smiled slightly, oh Astral. He's just trying to make me feel better.

"My turn, draw!" declared Cat-chan, "Behold, you foolish dogs who can only obey humans! The noble spirit and the power of freedom cats possess! I summon Cat Girl (Atk: 1200-Lvl: 4)! I overlay my level four Stray Catgirl and Cat Girl! I build the overlay network with my two monsters! Xyz summon! Come on out, Cat Girl Magician (Atk: 2000-Rank: 4)!"

A very cute magician appeared. She had purple hair and a staff. She had a huge hat with cat ears on them.

Cat-chan continued, "Then I activate the equip magic card, Catnip Turbine! This card increases the attack power of one of my Cat monsters by 1200 points (Atk: 3200)!"

"Good going, Cat-chan!" cheered Yuma, "Now it's got more attack power than the opposing monster!"

Cat-chan was smirking but said, "But I can't attack with the monster I powered up with this effect!"

The huge dog sneered, "So you're really just a foolish cat in the end," he then laughed.

"Don't be sure," said Cat-chan, "I activate the effect of Cat Girl Magician! By detaching one overlay unit and halving her attack points this turn (Atk: 1600), I am able to attack you directly!"

The big dog gasped, "What'd you say?!"

"Go, Cat-chan!" I cheered slightly before seeing the dogs glaring at me. I squeaked before hiding my face in Astral's chest.

"Go, Cat Girl Magician!" ordered Cat-chan, "Cat's eye magic!"

I looked back just in time to see the dog fall backwards.

**Dog: 2400LPS Cat-chan: 500LPS**

"Alright!" cheered Yuma.

"Good job, Cat-chan!" I cheered along with him.

"I set two cards face down and end my turn!" declared Cat-chan, "Now Cat Girl's attack power will return to normal (Atk: 3200)! Well?! Did you learn how foolish dogs are yet?!"

The dog was on the ground. He growled, "How dare you?! How dare a lowly cat rebel against us dogs?!"

The voice changed from deep to…a little girl's voice. There was a little girl standing up on the dog's back, "I ain't ever gonna forgive ya!" she yelled. Well, she sort of yelled. It was sort of timid.

"A little girl?!" we all yelled.

She had pink hair and a big hat. She was so small and young!

"Huh?!" breathed Cat-chan, utterly confused like the rest of us.

The dog whined and the girl stuttered. She had a microphone on her…she was the dog's voice?! It didn't seem like she knew she was visible and talking normally. When she noticed, she stammered out, "Eh…uh, huh? Um…" She then hid inside that barrel.

"W-what the heck is going on?" questioned Yuma for all of us.

I was so confused! Why was there a little girl…I'm so confused!

"A little girl just came out of that barrel!" stated Tokunosuke in astonishment.

She was hiding behind one of the dog's legs.

"Is that little girl actually the one dueling?" wondered Kotori, and I was sure she was right.

"So it wasn't really the dog?" questioned Tetsuo.

"This makes more sense than a talking dog," I said and hid my face back in Astral's chest. The dogs were going to eat me, I know it!

Astral stroked my hair, "In that case, it would mean a little girl's dueling tactics are better than yours, Yuma"

I laughed at that and looked up to see that Yuma was mad, "Shut up!" he shouted.

"Thanks Astral," I said softly. Making me laugh was really sweet of him. He just smiled slightly.

"What is your name?" we looked back to Cat-chan.

"Dog…"

"Eh?" questioned Cat-chan as she held one of her cats.

I couldn't hear the girl either. It sounded like 'Dog' though.

"Dog," she said once more, timidly.

"What?" asked Cat-chan, still not hearing.

She spoke into her mike, her voice changing, "I told you, it's Dog! I'm called Dog-chan!"

She blushed and hid behind her dog once more. Now she's reminding me of Cat-chan…

"Dog-chan?" repeated Cat-chan, "Why are you dueling while riding on top of a dog?"

Dog-chan walked out shyly from behind the big dog, "I-I'm…I…I'm too scared to talk with other people. So I've always been alone. Chukichi is my only friend, but I liked to duel…I love dueling…I used to duel against Chukichi all the time. Chukichi tried desperately to remember how to duel. And he dueled against me day after day. But I really wanted to duel against other people! That's why I disguised myself as Chukichi and entered this tournament. But I was too scared to talk to people I didn't know, after all."

That's sad…She's lonely…loves one sort of animal…Oh my god, she is like Cat-chan!

"So then, what do you want to do?" asked Cat-chan surprisingly coldly.

"Eh?" asked Dog-chan as she looked up at Cat-chan.

"Do you want to continue the duel?" asked Cat-chan, "Or do you want to surrender as you are now?"

Dog-chan looked down nervously. She then hid behind Chukichi's leg.

"Hmph," said Cat-chan coolly, "I guess this is all dog-lover can do"

"H-hey," said Yuma, trying to tell her it was mean.

"Be quiet!" snapped Cat-chan. Okay, she's mad if she's yelling at _Yuma_.

The dogs started barking loudly making me fidget.

"Are you always hiding behind a dog's shadow?" asked Cat-chan meanly.

The dog's barks became louder and if it were possible, I would've went closer to Astral.

"You'll be a loser dog all your life!" retorted Cat-chan.

"No, you're wrong!" said Dog-chan weakly.

"But I'm not wrong, Am I?" questioned Cat-chan fiercely, "You're too scared to duel on your own!"

There were now tears in Dog-chan's eyes. Chukichi let out a low growl, a silent conversation between Dog-chan and him. Dog-chan nodded with more confidence, "Duel disk, set! I challenge you!"

"That's just what I want!" said Cat-chan.

All the dogs and cats barked/meowed at each other. It was a messed up orchestra.

"What a thing to happen!" spoke Astral, "I can't believe it went from Dog VS Cat Girl to Dog Girl VS Cat Girl!"

I blinked and I had to agree. What a strange thing to happen…

"My turn, draw!" declared Dog-chan, "I activate the magic card, Wan Chance! If I control no level three or lower monsters on my field, I can special summon Wanchance Tokens on to the field (4). As my dog friends increase, the effect of the equip magic card, Dog-cking, raises the attack power of my Smoking Dog by 2000 points (Atk: 5100)! Battle! I use Smoking Dog to attack Cat Girl Magician!"

Cat-chan reacted quickly, "Trap card, open! Gold Coins for Cats! When my cats are attacked, I can add half the attack power of the opponents' monster, to the attack power of my monster (Atk: 5250!)"

I smiled, she has more!

"She's got 5750 attack points!" said Yuma amazed, "She's stronger than Smoking Dog!"

"Not yet," said Astral, "She's still got the effect of Smoking Dog."

"Stop switching sides," I muttered under my breath. I'm on Cat-chan's side in this duel.

Nonetheless, Dog-chan announced, "I activate Smoking Dog's effect! I detach one overlay unit to negate your trap effect!"

Cat Girl Magician's attack power returned to 3200!

"Oh crap!" swore Yuma, "The cat's attack power returned to normal!"

Cat-chan looked confident, "I've been waiting for that. Even if Smoking Dog makes trap effects invalid, it can't make magic effects invalid!"

Dog-chan gasped and looked nervous.

Cat-chan explained, "The card I set on my field was the quick-play magic, Counter Nyaunter! When one of my trap cards is destroyed, I can destroy one of my opponent's magic or trap cards. Then, I can double the attack power of one of my cat monsters until the end of the turn!"

Dog-chan gulped, "No way!"

Cat-chan stared ahead, "The card I destroy is the equip magic card, Dog-cking! If I destroy that card, Smoking Dog's attack power will return to 2600! And the attack power of my Cat Girl Magician will rise up to 6400! You have nothing left to…protect! I've turned this match around!"

Cat-chan…She's going to win. I don't mind who wins. I just want to get the fuck outta here!

Dog-chan looked sad though…She must think she can't do anything. Chukichi walked over to her and howls quietly. Dog-chan looked to her dog, surprise

"Just give up!" shouted Cat-chan, "You're just a loser dog!"

Dog-chan gasped and looked down, afraid. I felt bad for her.

"Bring it to 'er!" shouted Yuma all of a sudden.

We all looked at him surprised.

Yuma stared at Dog-chan, "Don't you ever give up! Bring it to 'er, Dog-chan!"

Kotori smiled and agreed, "That's right, Dog-chan! Bring it to 'er! Never give up and always challenge yourself!"

I came out of Astral's embrace and rubbed my head, "Sorry, but I'm gonna stay on Cat-chan's side."

Everyone sweat dropped, already knowing the reason. Sorry, but I'm afraid of dogs! I'd rather stay on the cat side! I fidgeted a bit with my hands but I didn't go back to Astral.

"Don't give up, Dog-chan!" encouraged Yuma, "Never ever give up!"

Dog-chan looked down before seeing…oh man, I forgot about her set card! She nodded with more confidence, "Yeah, that's right! I can't let myself give up! I am not a loser dog! I'm gonna dog it to 'em!"

The dogs howled at her side. As long as they weren't near me…

"Trap card, open!" declared Dog-chan, "Defiant Howl! This card destroys one of my own equip magic cards, and returns the attack power of all monsters on the field to their original value (Atk: 2600)!"

Cat Girl Magician's attack power went back to 2000.

"You destroyed your own equip magic," said Cat-chan smiling, "Good of you to come to that realization."

Dog-chan continued, "Go, Smoking Dog!"

Cat Girl Magician was attacked and destroyed! Cat-chan also flew backwards with a scream.

**Dog-chan: 2400LPS Cat-chan: 0LPS**

**Dog-chan is the winner!**

A/R dispersed.

Dog-chan gasped, "I won…?" She then cheered, "I won!"

All the dogs barked happily along with her.

My eyes became glossy as I remembered.

_Flashback_

_The boy across from me blinked as A/R vanished, "I won…?"_

_I sat up as he cheered, "I won!"_

_Daisuke ran towards his owner and hopped onto him, barking happily. The dog was white, slender, and big._

"_I won, Hikari!" cheered the older boy._

_I smiled, "Yeah, you did, Thom-"_

_Flashback end_

I blinked as Yuma invaded my thoughts, "You did it, Dog-chan!" he cheered, "That's the way!"

He then looked upset, "My heart pieces!"

We all looked at him in disappointment and hilarity. Hikari…that name is…

A little white puppy came near me and I screamed in panic. I ran behind Astral and held his arm tightly, "Chri-"

I stopped myself mid-name.

_Flashback_

"_Chris!" I shouted as I ran behind the teenager, holding his arm tightly._

"_What's wrong, Hikari?" he questioned, blue hair glinting._

_Suddenly, a white, slender, big dog appeared. He was barking playfully but since I was young, I thought he was trying to eat me._

"_Daisuke," warned Chris. He then glanced at me with a comforting look, "Don't worry, Hikari. Daisuke doesn't bite"_

"_Oh yes he does!" said a fire-headed boy. He put his hands behind his head and smirked at me, "He just loves eating little girls the most!"_

_I whimpered and hid behind Chris._

"_That's enough!" shouted Chris._

_Flashback end_

I looked at the little white puppy. It reminded me a bit of Daisuke. Daisuke had white fur too.

_Flashback_

_I stared at the fire-headed older boy. He was sitting on the ground with his dog beside him. I whispered, "Are you sure?"_

_He nodded, "Come on, Hikari. Just hold out your hand, Daisuke will sniff it. Then, you can pet him."_

_I nodded but my heart was beating fast. I warily held out my hand and Daisuke got up from his sitting position. I froze when he came closer and he sniffed my hand. He then nudged it which made me laugh. I carefully petted the top of his head and smiled when he seemed to enjoy it._

"_See?" asked the boy, "He won't bite"_

_I nodded happily, "Mm!" Daisuke then hopped on top of me, making me fall to the ground, laughing. He started licking my face, making it wet. I laughed harder and-"_

_Flashback end_

Suddenly, Dog-chan walked over, bringing me out of my memories. I…

"I'm sorry," apologized Dog-chan as she stood in front of Yuma, "I'll give these back to you," she held out his heart pieces.

"Heh?" questioned Yuma as he looked at her hands, "T-those are my…! My heart pieces!" he said happily as he took them back.

Cat-chan stood behind Dog-chan smiling, "And these are my heart pieces. Take them"

She held them out to Dog-chan who looked at them surprised.

"Eh?" questioned the little girl, "But…"

"You won, didn't you?" questioned Cat-chan.

"Yeah," said Dog-chan quietly.

"You brought the dog pretty well out there," complimented Cat-chan, "I used to always only have cats as my friends."

"Eh?" asked Dog-chan confused.

I knew they were alike.

Cat-chan then smiled, "But once I worked up the courage to cat it to 'em, I started dueling. And I made some friends. I made friends with everyone through dueling."

"You became friends with everyone through dueling?" repeated Dog-chan, "Did you lose on purpose?"

Cat-chan laughed slightly, "Take a look."

She pointed to behind Dog-chan. The cats and dogs were playing with each other.

I smiled slightly, enemies trusting enemies…I looked down, smile fading. That won't happen with some people. IV…Ryoga and I…all three of us…will never happen.

"Rima, is something the matter?" questioned Astral as he looked at me.

I shook it off and looked back at Astral, smiling, "I was just being jealous. There's Kattobingu, Kyattobingu, even doggubingu! I want my own bingu…!"

Astral looked thoughtful, "Hm…"

I raised an eyebrow, "What are you thinking about?" Well, I was saying the truth about the bingu's. I want my own! Doggubingu sort of doesn't fit with me though…It wasn't a pun like Kyattobingu, which at least sounded the same.

Astral then whispered in my ear, "Would you like to kissubingu (Kiss it to me)?"

I blushed red and Astral just grabbed my chin and pressed his lips to mine. Yuma popped up at our side, blocking us from the view of everyone. He held up a sign that read 'CENSORED'.


	40. Visitor from Heartland: Haruto

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal**

"Come on, I went so far to root for you, Yuma," said Kotori as we all walked together. Tokunosuke, Cat-chan and Tetsuo had left already. Kotori was holding a ton of candy and treats. She licked her ice cream, "This is the least you can do to thank me for not abandoning you."

Yuma had bought Kotori candy and stuff 'willingly'. "Even so…" complained Yuma. Under his breath, he muttered, "God…You're gonna get fat…"

Wrong thing to say…

"Did you say something?" Kotori asked warningly.

I sweat dropped. Well, at least she's giving him a chance to right himself.

"No…nothing," said Yuma quickly.

We heard a bunch of car horns. We looked at the street. A lot of cars were going this way and that and…there was a little boy walking through on a red light! Wait a minute…My eyes widened, that boy is…!

"What the?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

"That kid's in danger!" shouted Kotori.

It was Haruto! He was going to get hurt…even if he could handle himself. I grounded my teeth together as I saw Astral appear.

"He's…!" said Yuma and I think he knew who Haruto was, "Kaito's little brother?!"

I didn't like this one bit! I was about to go and run for Haruto but Yuma acted more quickly.

"Yuma!" shouted Kotori.

Yuma ran into the street and put a hand on Haruto's back, "What are you-"

He was cut off by a car horn. On their left, a truck was speeding towards them! Kotori looked away and Astral gasped. I knew Haruto could use his power. I shouted, "Haruto!"

Haruto's eyes glowed immediately. I got a glance at his barrier, which was blue this time. Then, the truck flipped onto its side, blocking our view.

"Yuma!" shouted Kotori. We both ran forward but there was too much smoke to see through.

There were tears in her eyes but then the smoke cleared. We saw Haruto and Yuma. I sighed in relief, they were okay!

I stared at the truck though. There was a huge gaping hole!

"What the heck is this?!" I heard Yuma question.

Kotori and I looked at each other before running to the scene.

"Yuma!" shouted Kotori as we came upon everyone, "Are you okay?"

Haruto…was staring at Astral. I shook that off and knelt down in front of the boy. I held his shoulders, "Haruto, are you alright?" I asked worriedly.

He looked at me with the same neutral expression as before, "Nee-san…"

"Don't 'nee-san' me!" I said sternly, "What are you doing here?!"

"Rima, you know Haruto?!" asked Yuma incredulously.

I glanced at him and Astral, "Yeah…Not much but I have met him once before. Now tell me, can he see Astral?"

Yuma nodded, "Yeah, he was even speaking to him!"

I was about to say some more but then we heard police sirens.

"T-this is pretty bad," stated Yuma.

I stood up, it was true. This was _technically_ a car accident. I glanced at the hole, there's no way we can explain that.

"Let's go, Yuma, Rima!" said Astral. Okay, that's an answer. We'll just run away.

"Eh?!" asked Yuma in puzzlement.

"I want to hear this child out!" said Astral urgently.

"Even if you say that…!" said Yuma as he looked to Haruto.

"Yuma, let's go," I ordered. We need to get going if we're going to evade the cops. And anyways, if something happens to Haruto…Kaito _will_ kill us.

Yuma groaned before grabbing Haruto's wrist. We all started running and he yelled, "Fine! Guess there's no helping it!"

"Y-Yuma!" shouted Kotori in surprise.

* * *

We had escaped to Yuma's house.

On the news, it was talking about Haruto. Well, not Haruto, but what he did. I was sitting beside Haruto on the couch. The boy was quiet while Kotori, Akari and Haru were in the kitchen.

"Whoa!" said Yuma shocked, "This became huge news just like that!"

Yuma and Astral were across from us. They were both looking at Haruto. Yuma then held his head, "Why the heck did I have to bring him home with me?!"

"Yuma's making a fuss," said Obomi as she passed us.

"Where did you come from? Why do you know me?" Astral bombarded Haruto with questions.

Haruto just looked up at him blankly, "Hey, why aren't you cold?"

I raised an eyebrow but there was a blush on my face. Haruto glanced at me and crawled onto my lap. I smiled and ruffled his hair slightly and he continued to not answer Astral's questions.

"Yuma! Rima!" said Kotori and we looked at her, "Dinner's ready!"

"You should help out a little!" Akari said to Yuma.

Haruto and I got up. I smiled, "I'll see you after dinner then. I'll go back to my place"

"Are you sure?" asked Akari, "We have more than enough food, Rima"

"It's fine," I said waving my hand in dismissal. I was about to walk out of the room but someone stopped me. I looked behind me surprised. Haruto was holding the tail of my shirt, "Nee-san…" he said quietly.

I stared at him with big eyes, "S-so cute…!" I squealed slightly. He let go of my shirt as I turned to him. I knelt down, "Do you want me to stay, Haruto?" I asked softly.

Haruto nodded slightly. I smiled, "Okay, I guess I'll stay"

"Dinner for six then!" said Akari as she set up the table.

I had to get an extra chair because of shortage. I was about to put it beside Yuma's but then I saw Haruto get out of his own seat. We all stared at him as he moved his chair a bit right, making space for another. He looked up at me and I smiled, knowing what he wanted. Haruto was so adorable! I moved my chair next to his and he sat back down.

The seat arrangement was like this: Haruto and I were at the end of the table. Yuma was beside Akari. Kotori was beside Haru. Yuma was closest to HARUTO and Kotori was closest to me. Okay, that was confusing.

Yuma gasped when he stared at the food, "Whoa! Duel fried chicken strips! Duel grilled fish! Soup with dueling in it! Even duel meat-potato! Looks delicious!"

I had to agree, it did look pretty good.

Just as Yuma was about to grab some food, Akari pushed him, "Hey!" she shouted, "Say itadakimasu first!"

"That's right," said Haru, "It's bad manners when we're in front of a guest."

"I got it," said Yuma as he sat back down in his seat.

Haru looked to Haruto, "Eat as much as you want. So, let's dig in!"

"Itadakimasu!"

Everyone except Haruto and I started eating. Astral was floating on the other side of Haruto as well. I reached forward and scooped up some rice for Haruto and put it in front of the boy. I smiled at him before getting my own food.

Akari and Yuma glared at each other because they took the same chicken strip. I noticed Haruto watched everyone with curious eyes.

"Granny, this nikuja is delicious!" complimented Kotori.

"Is it?" asked Haru happily, "Eat your fill!"

Yuma noticed Haruto not eating, "Huh? You aren't gonna eat anything? You aren't hungry?"

"Don't feel the need to hold back," said Haru.

Akari looked at Yuma, "Maybe _you _should hold back some."

"What's your problem?!" asked Yuma annoyed.

I wasn't touching my food either. I looked at Haruto, "Haruto, what's wrong?"

He wasn't eating, just staring.

"Haruto"

We both looked to Astral. Astral pretended to have a bowl in one hand and with the other, he pretended to have chopsticks.

Eh? I blinked in realization, of course! Maybe Haruto wasn't used to this type of stuff. I can see why Astral understood immediately. Astral then brought his 'chopsticks' to his mouth and chewed on invisible food.

I looked to Haruto. He seemed to have gotten the message. He picked up the chopsticks and picked up his rice bowl. He picked up some of the rice and put it in his mouth. Everyone smiled at him as he started eating. Haruto started eating more quickly. I guess he liked it.

"How is it?" Yuma asked the boy, "Good, right? This is how you eat with everyone."

"Haruto," said Astral softly and the people who could see him, looked at him, "Ask for seconds."

Haruto looked at his empty bowl before holding it out with a small smile, "Seconds."

I smiled and filled it up for him. I gave it back and he ate the rice once more. I started eating some of mine as well.

Haruto got some chicken and he couldn't hold it using his chopsticks. It kept dropping. He looked at it sadly and I knew I had to help. I took his chopsticks from his hands. He watched me as I picked it up for him and I held it in front of his mouth, "Say 'ahh'!" I said smiling.

Haruto opened his mouth slightly, "Ah…" he said timidly.

I put it in his mouth and he chewed on it.

_Skip!_

Akari and Haru had gone to the kitchen to put their dishes away. Astral was floating beside Haruto, watching him, smiling.

I noticed sauce on Haruto's cheek. I took a napkin and wiped it off, "Haruto, hold still for a second," I said as I did so.

Haruto's flinched at the touch but let me do so. "There was just sauce on your cheek, Haruto," explained Astral softly.

I heard Yuma laughing and we all looked at him confused. He pointed to the three of us, "You guys are like a family!"

Astral and I locked gazes before smiling. We both then looked to Haruto. It would be a bit weird because Haruto is Kaito's brother though.

* * *

I hummed a small tune as Haruto slept in Yuma's hammock. I was sitting on the ledge of the window, watching him. The others were downstairs, talking about what to do. The best thing to do is find Kaito but…where would he be?

Haruto kicked his blanket aside and I put it back around him. Haruto was such a mysterious kid…I wish to know more and I know Astral does as well.

Haruto started whimpering, making me sit upright. His eyes opened all of a sudden, "Nii-san!"

I stood up immediately, "Haruto…"

He sat up and jumped down from the hammock. I stared at him, "What's wrong, Haruto?"

Why was he awake? Did he want to go see Kaito?

Haruto opened the window. He glanced at me and grabbed my hand. I didn't have time to react as he jumped out the window. I clumsily landed on my feet and Haruto seemed to be fine. "H-Haruto…!" I said in shock. What was he doing?

He held my hand tightly, "I need to find nii-san…"

He wanted to go see Kaito. I glanced back at Yuma's house, I hope they've noticed. I looked back to Haruto, "I'll come"

We both started walking. "Wait for me, nii-san…" spoke Haruto quietly.

I can't leave him alone. I don't have my D-Gazer on me either…I left it back in Yuma's attic. I hope Yuma can find us though. We started walking through traffic. Oh no. Haruto was able to destroy everything with his sphere. He was determined to find Kaito.

* * *

We were on a bridge now. I had no idea where Haruto was leading us to.

"Haruto!"

"Rima!"

I glanced behind me to see Astral, Yuma and Kotori. They found us. Haruto kept walking though, but they ran up to us.

"Hey, wait up!" said Yuma, "Where do you think you're going? And, Rima, why didn't you tell us?"

I looked at Haruto.

"I must go…" said Haruto.

"Go…where?" questioned Yuma confused.

"To that place," said Haruto, still vaguely, "Where nii-san is…"

Haruto finally let go of my hand. I looked at it, it was sort of red. I looked back to Haruto, worried.

"You're looking for Kaito, aren't you?" asked Yuma, "I understand. I promise I'll bring you back to Kaito's place tomorrow. So for today…"

Once Yuma put his hand on Haruto…The younger boy's eyes glowed bright blue.

"Yuma!" shouted Astral alarmed.

"Kotori, Rima, get away from him!" yelled Yuma.

This orb…it meant he was using his power! I didn't move but Kotori and Yuma were already moved far enough. I was engulfed in his smaller orb with him. I reached forward warily and put my hand on Haruto's shoulder. He then stopped and continued walking forward. He made a small crater but no one was hurt.

"H-Haruto…!" said Yuma shocked.

We all looked at each other. I nodded, "Let's go and help Haruto find Kaito."

* * *

We had been walking for a while now. Haruto was the leader, obviously.

"Nii-san…" spoke Haruto once more.

Kotori looked at us, "He's really trying to go meet Kaito."

"Yeah," said Yuma, "More than likely"

I was about to say something but a spotlight targeted us.

"W-what the?!" I asked surprised.

Above us, a helicopter hovered.

"Found you!" a voice rang out.

The person jumped out of the helicopter. It was Gauche! He smirked, "Okay, boy, your evening stroll ends here. Hm?" He noticed us, "You're…!"

"What do you want from us?!" asked Yuma.

"That's for me to know," said Gauche, "Why are you with Haruto?"

Yuma had to explain, "Well…he kinda…spent the night with me. I took him in!"

"I don't get a damn thing you're saying," said Gauche. He walked forward until he was right in front of Haruto, "Okay, boy. We're going back"

"Going back where?" I asked heatedly.

"What are you doing to do with Haruto?!" asked Yuma as well.

Gauche put his hand on Haruto's shoulder, "It has nothing to do with you three. Now, let's go."

As Gauche pushed Haruto forward, the young boy looked at us. He looked half-scared. It was sort of hard to tell with his neutral expression.

"Haruto…" I whispered.

Yuma then called out, "Hey! Wait a minute!" Yuma ran forward, "Haruto doesn't look like he wants to!"

Gauche turned back to Yuma, "You're such a persistent brat! He's just going back to Heartland!"

I was surprised, Heartland…?

Haruto's eyes glowed bright blue. Gauche moved backwards, "W-what the?!"

"Do not get in the way," said Haruto and his orb appeared around him.

It widened and made the helicopter move back by a lot. I ran over to Haruto during the distraction. I knelt down, facing away from him, "Get on!" I ordered him.

Not waiting for a response, I grabbed his wrist and pulled them around my neck. I made sure he was on right and stood up. We all started running away from Gauche and…I think Droite.

We ran up some stairs as I made sure held Haruto tightly.

"I understand, Haruto," said Yuma as he took the lead, "If you want to go to Kaito, I'm definitely gonna take you there!"

I smiled back at Haruto as we kept sprinting, "You hear that, kid? We're gonna go find your brother"

* * *

We were in a huge tower. Surrounding us was a ton of windmills. I had put Haruto down as he led us through. He seemed to know this place already. We climbed up many flights of stairs.

"Nii-san…" whispered Haruto, "Nii-san…"

On the top was a door. Yuma looked up at it, "Is Kaito on the other side of that door?"

I stopped with Kotori at that. Astral flew to Yuma's side, "Yuma…If Kaito's there…"

They knew they had to duel. Yuma nodded. We all started walking again, if Kaito really was up there…I hope something bad doesn't happen. We walked up to the roof of the tower. There…was no sign of Kaito.

"What's going on?" questioned Yuma as he noticed the same thing, "Kaito isn't here"

Haruto still walked forward. He looked desperate, "Where…? Where are you?" He ran one way, "Gone…gone! He's gone!"

We all walked towards him. "Haruto…" I whispered.

Haruto ignored me and looked around frantically, "He's not here!"

"What do you mean he's not here?" asked Yuma, "I thought you were looking for Kaito…for you brother?"

Haruto suddenly stopped and spoke quietly, "It's really small…It's small and sweet…"

I was confused.

"Small…?" repeated Yuma.

"And sweet…?" I asked as well. What did he mean?

"When my brother isn't around…" said Haruto quietly. He was interrupted by a helicopter flying behind us.

We all turned to it, shocked. They found us already?!

Haruto then screamed in terror. We all looked back to him. Haruto…! He was scared! His orb was not the blue color, it was the red color from with Black Mist!

"Haruto!" I shouted in unison with Yuma.

"Isn't this light different from the other times?" asked Yuma.

"This is…" said Astral before he asked, "Could this light be…?"

He then rocketed towards Haruto. He put his hand on Haruto's forehead and a flash overtook us. "Nii-san!" screamed Haruto, and his power was outraged. We were all pushed onto the metal fence.

"Haruto!" yelled Yuma.

"Haruto…!" I shouted as well, he needed his brother! But…I couldn't help him!

"Yuma, Rima!" shouted Astral over Haruto's screams, "Haruto's searching for something called caramel!"

I was puzzled, "Caramel?" I asked. The candy?

"What do we need caramel for?" asked Yuma perplexed.

"Haruto most likely came here so Kaito could give him caramel!" said Astral urgently.

"So Kaito could?" Yuma and I repeated.

"This is bad, Yuma, Rima!" said Astral, "At this rate, Haruto's powers will swallow up everything!"

"W-what?!" I asked. We were all pressed to the fence because of all of his power.

"S-shit!" swore Yuma, "What should we do?! Haruto, why do you want caramel?"

I worked up the courage to try and fight against the powers. I stepped slowly towards Haruto, my arms held in front of me. I was able to grab onto him. I knelt down and held him but it didn't help. He was still screaming. I glanced back to Yuma, wincing at the sheer power, "Y-Yuma, do you have caramel?!" I shouted.

Yuma shook his head before his eyes widened. He turned to Kotori, "Kotori, do you have any caramel on you?!"

"Caramel?" repeated Kotori confused. She then gasped and took out a piece. I watched as Yuma fought against the power and walked towards us.

"Haruto…! Haruto!" shouted Yuma and he held out a piece of caramel, "Look at this! This is what you're after, isn't it?! This caramel!"

Haruto stopped screaming and his eyes returned to normal. The power kept going, though it was weaker.

Yuma stepped closer, "You wanted Kaito to give this to you, right? I'll…let you…meet with Kaito! So…Kattobingu da, ore!"

He jumped forward and I let go of Haruto as he hugged the boy. "Haruto," spoke Yuma, "You aren't alone. You aren't alone!"

Haruto stopped using his powers and spoke quietly, "Nii-san is…always tired because of me. So…This time, I wanted to give my brother caramel."

Yuma held out the caramel piece as Haruto reached for it, "I wanted him to eat caramel," and he held it in his hand.

"I saw Haruto's memories," noted Astral, "Those two were running away from something and were cornered here. When he saw Haruto was nervous and sad, Kaito gave it to him to give him courage. More than likely, he wanted to do the same for his brother, Kaito."

Kotori looked away with tears in her eyes.

That story was so sad…I stood up wiped my eyes from incoming tears as well.

"Haruto…you…" whispered Yuma.

The helicopter came back. The spotlight targeted us. It landed as we all put our hands on Haruto's shoulders. We won't let them through!

"Those guys just won't quit!" shouted Yuma, "I won't let you take Haruto! If you want some of this, come and-"

The person who walked out of the helicopter was not Gauche or Droite. It was a man in formal attire with silver and blue hair. He looked…familiar. Like, _really_ familiar.

"W-who are you?" asked Yuma.

"I will grant Haruto-sama's wish," said the man. A crest on his forehead glowed and we all looked away from the brightness.

Haruto walked forward.

"H-hey, Haruto!" said Yuma shocked.

What was Haruto doing?! Did he know this man…? He's going willingly so I guess that's a good sign but something seems off…

"It seems Haruto-sama wanted to see me again," said the long-haired man. He put his hand on Haruto's back and they walked back to the helicopter.

"Hey, hold up a minute!" shouted Yuma.

Haruto looked back at us, "My mission is to destroy the Astral World."

We all gasped. To destroy…my father's and Astral's home planet. A young boy doing that? _Haruto _doing that?!

"…In order to produce more screams," he finished off, and he and the man left.

"Haruto…" I whispered in shock. There's no way…

The man glanced at me and for that millisecond, our gaze locked. His eyes looked, pained, before looking forward once more. Why was he familiar…? I…

"Haruto…just who are you…?" Astral asked the wind.


	41. Missing Haruto! The New Enemy, Tron!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

_Sorry for not updating…I've been busy these last couple of day. I had to update my other story yesterday night as well. Though…I've had some problems…nothing big but it's been distracting me. _

**On with the show!**

We walked out of the tower.

"Well, at least it all worked out, right?" said Yuma, "That guy, he seemed to be Haruto's acquaintance."

But…even so, I have a bad feeling about this. That man…He looked way too familiar. There was something about him…

"Yeah, it seems that way," said Kotori, breaking me from my thoughts, "I am sure he was ordered by that Kaito person."

That man was dressed formally. Weirdly, it was like III and IV. But, how do these dots connect? And he was staring at me weirdly before. Did he know me? I swear we've met before but…

"Kaito," said Yuma solemnly.

When Kaito finds out we had his brother in our care, will he try to find us? Who knows now? Haruto wanted to give his brother caramel. At least he'll be able to when that man brings him to Kaito. I have my doubts though. Something was off and I couldn't pinpoint it at all.

"So that guy, Kaito is truly trying to gather the numbers for Haruto…" said Yuma, "But what is going on? What does he really need the numbers for?"

"And how do the numbers affect Haruto…?" I asked but I know I'm not going to get an answer. But…maybe it has to do with Haruto's power? And Haruto's purpose was to destroy Astral's and my papa's world?

All of a sudden, a spotlight was directed at us. We all stared at it, shocked.

"What- What the?!" asked Yuma.

It was a helicopter!

"It's the helicopter that took Haruto!" shouted Kotori.

Her statement was proven wrong when Gauche jumped out of the helicopter.

"You- you are!" said Yuma shocked.

Why was Gauche here? We already gave back Haruto!

"You asshole!" shouted Gauche as he walked up to Yuma, "Where did you leave Haruto at?!"

He picked Yuma up by the collar.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" shouted Yuma, "I certainly sent Haruto back home!"

"What?!" asked Gauche in puzzlement.

Wait…if he's confused…what does this mean?

"Someone came to pick him up!" answered Yuma as he struggled in Gauche's hold, "Didn't you hear about it? It was your comrade!"

The helicopter landed and the door opened. On the side, there was a heart insignia.

"The helicopter that took him had the same marking as yours!" admitted Yuma but Gauche did not let go of him.

Gauche looked to Droite, who had exited the helicopter, "Did you hear that, Droite?"

He then shoved Yuma to the ground. Kotori knelt down beside Yuma but I watched on in confusion. Something was wrong. I could feel it.

"It can't be," said Droite, "The only ones who went after Haruto were us."

Gauche looked to Yuma angrily, "So you fucking lied to us. This brat sure has guts!"

He picked up Yuma again in a manner that looked really painful.

"Ow!" shouted Yuma.

"Please stop!" pleaded Kotori.

"Hand over Haruto already!" ordered Gauche, "If you don't-"

"I didn't lie!" screamed Yuma and he kicked Gauche where most guys do _not_ want to be kicked.

I winced at that. That really had to hurt! Gauche screamed, let go of Yuma, and held _there_.

Yuma ran back to our side and looked at Gauche, "I certainly gave Haruto back! I don't need to hear any of your complaints!"

"This asshole…!" swore Gauche, "You sure don't give up!"

He ran over to us and grabbed Yuma once more. I would help Yuma but I was too busy thinking.

"Let me go!" shouted Yuma.

"Listen carefully!" announced Droite, "We are the main administrators for the Duel Carnival! I can disqualify you right now if you want."

I looked up at that, they can't do that! We don't have Haruto!

"Damn it…" swore Yuma, knowing what would happen.

"If you don't want that, say the truth!" said Gauche malevolently, "Where the hell is Haruto?!"

"That is…!" Kotori said suddenly.

We all followed her gaze. It was Kaito! Orbital detached himself to him and Kaito landed in front of us. Orbital followed suit.

Kaito walked forward, "Where. Where is he?! Where is Haruto?! Droite!"

He's really worried, isn't he? I understand that. Droite had her arms crossed and didn't answer.

"Hey, Kaito!" said Yuma, "These guys keep saying that I abandoned Haruto somewhere!"

Kaito looked at him, "You abandoned Haruto?"

"Of course not!" I said to him, "What do you take us for?"

"Yeah!" said Yuma in agreement, "We certainly gave Haruto back to someone from Heartland!"

Kaito blinked and repeated, "Someone from Heartland…?"

"Huh?" asked Yuma, "Don't tell me…"

If Kaito wasn't informed…could it be that man wasn't with them?

"Damn it!" swore Yuma, "What the hell is going on?! Just who the hell would want Haruto?!"

"Stop saying bullshit, Toma!" said Orbital.

I would've have laughed but I wasn't in the mood. Something happened to Haruto.

"You are the one who hid Haruto-sama somewhere!" said Orbital accusingly.

"You just shut the hell up," said Kaito angrily.

Yay! That robot was being annoying anyway.

"U-understood!" said Orbital, frightened, and he hid behind Kaito.

Kaito looked at us, "You said it was someone who was sent from Heartland. Huh?"

"Eh?" asked Yuma confused.

"How did the person look like?" asked Kaito, "Is it male or female?"

"Male!" Yuma said immediately.

Gauche held him up higher, "Is that all?!"

"It was a young man!" said Kotori, "He was around his 20s and was skinny…And…"

Astral spurted out very in depth details, "Height: 185cm. Weight seemed like at least 70kg."

I nodded and repeated that to Kaito, "Astral says his height was 185cm and weighed about 70kg. That man…he was also wearing European-type formal clothing. I think it was pretty strange."

Kaito narrowed his eyes, like he was trying to think of someone like that.

"He had long hair and blue eyes," said Astral once more, making me look to him.

Yuma repeated this time, "He had long hair and…um…what was his eye color?"

"You shithead!" shouted Gauche angrily, "Stop bullshitting around!"

"Stop it, Gauche!" ordered Kaito.

Gauche looked really angry, "Shut up! I don't need to hear orders from you!"

"Gauche!" demanded Droite.

"Droite!" said Gauche sternly, "You're not believing his bullshit, are you?"

"I can't trust it," said Droite, "But, he doesn't seem like he is lying. Let's go, Gauche. The man who took Haruto should be somewhere else."

"It can't be helped," Gauche then threw Yuma to the ground once more. He walked after Droite.

"Yuma!" said Kotori in worry as she went beside the boy.

Gauche and Droite left with the helicopter.

Kotori helped Yuma up. Yuma looked at Kaito, "I'm sorry…I didn't make sure who he was, yet I let Haruto…"

Kaito stared at Yuma for a small moment before turning around, "Haruto is…currently sick."

"Eh?" asked Yuma confused.

Haruto is…sick?

"Sick?" repeated Kotori.

"Wait a minute, Kaito!" called out Yuma, "It's my fault that I let Haruto be taken! I will help you look for Haruto!"

Kaito glanced at him, "This doesn't have anything to do with you."

"Kaito, I made a promise with Haruto!" announced Yuma, "That I would let him meet you!"

Yuma…I stared at the boy in surprise. Kaito stared at Yuma for a while before facing away, "Orbital."

"Understood!" said Orbital and he looked at us, "If you find him, contact us! To here, Toma!"

The bot sent out a red beam and it hit Yuma's chest. We stared at Yuma surprised as he took out something from his shirt pocket. It was his D-Gazer. I still didn't bring mine…

Kaito and Orbital then left quickly.

"Kaito…" whispered Yuma.

* * *

Yuma, Kotori, Astral and I were walking around. We had no idea where, and how, to start. My head snapped up as I felt something. "D-do you guys feel that?" I asked shakily.

"I don't feel anything," said Kotori as everyone stopped walking.

"Why?" asked Astral as he looked at me in concern.

Something…Something was calling out to me. I turned and looked around, looking for the source. There! I saw something glowing and I was compelled to it. I ran. My friend's voices called from behind me but I wouldn't wait for them.

* * *

I had run into an alley. My eyes widened as I noticed who was there. Long blue-white hair, blue eyes…it was the man that took Haruto! And the man that was familiar…

He looked down at me. His eyes looked slightly happy but sad at the same time, "It's nice to see you again," he spoke quietly.

I stared at him shocked, "What do you mean?" I asked. He knew me. He definitely knew me.

"You don't recognize me, Hikari?"

Thump. Thump. He knew me. That name…Recognition. I knew who he was now. Only four people knew that name. Only four people could call me that name. I stared up at the man in surprise, "Chris?"

He was Chris. All the memories came back to me now. He was Chris. III was Mihael. IV was Thomas. That explained their familiarity. But IV didn't seem familiar…maybe he was familiar. I just pushed that aside and replaced it with my hatred. Hikari…that name from my childhood. I took a shaky step forward, "Chris?" I asked as a ghostly whisper.

"Hikari, I've missed you," he said. He then smiled. It beckoned me forward. I took steps forward until I was right in front of Chris. I had forgotten about what he had done to Haruto. I was too happy to see him.

He then hit me and I faded into darkness.

He caught me. He smiled was saddened, "I'm sorry, Hikari. I'm sorry." He hoisted me up into his arms and left. I was in his arms. He held me steadily, "I'm really sorry."


	42. Yuma & Kaito: A Spirited Tag Duel!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

**I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! I've been in a fight with a friend of mine so I couldn't really find the time…**

_Since Rima is unconscious (Again) and kidnapped (Again), you get to see her past with her cousins. Oh, and when I write 'mother', I mean her fake mother. Not her mama, Victoria._

**On with the show!**

A young white-haired girl walked beside her mother. There were in front of a huge mansion. It was like a castle through the young girl's big brown eyes. Her mother was dragging along a suitcase. The girl knew that it was full of her own stuff. Was she staying here? Her mother never stayed long…She shouldn't have expected she would do so this time. It was the break but her mother didn't want to spend time with her. The young girl was fine with it. She had gotten used to this endless loop of loneliness.

Her mother stopped in front of the huge door. She rang the bell and they waited. A man answered the door with a small smile. The girl looked up at him. The man had blonde hair, which was in a small braid. She zoned out when her mother and the man started talking to each other.

"Sweetheart."

She looked up at being called, "Yes, moth- mom?" She caught herself. She was asked to call her 'mom'.

The man looked down at her with a welcoming smile, "Hello there, Hikari."

The girl blinked, that was her second name. The man noticed, "Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like to be called 'Rima' instead?"

Well, even though her name is Rima, she didn't mind being called Hikari. She smiled, "It's fine, mister…" She didn't know his name.

Her mother spoke up, "This is Uncle Byron. You shall be staying with him."

'Hikari' nodded, she had thought so.

They all walked into the huge mansion into the family room. Hikari saw three people there: A teenager with white-blue hair, a fire-headed boy, and the youngest who had pink-hair. They all looked up as they heard their entrance.

The boy with the fire-hair stood up from the couch, "Who's that?" he asked his father, pointing at Hikari.

"This is Hikari, your cousin," answered Byron.

Everyone looked at him surprised, even Hikari. She didn't know that. These were Byron's sons then. And she supposed that she wasn't going to be known by her real name here.

The fire-headed boy ran up to Hikari and pointed to himself, "I'm Thomas," he introduced.

Hikari smiled, "Hello, Thomas." She thought that was a strange name. An English name, perhaps?

The next one to introduce was the pink-haired boy. He stepped forward and bowed slightly. He then stood straight and smiled a cute boyish smile, "My name is Mihael. It's nice to meet you, Hikari."

Hikari curtsied with her long white dress, "It's nice to meet you as well, Mihael." The smile on the boy's face was cute to her. She gained a small liking for the boy.

"And I am Chris," said the oldest as he walked nearer, "It's a pleasure, Hikari," he spoke.

Hikari felt the warm vibes from him and smiled, thinking these people were nice.

There was a cough. Everyone looked at the source, Hikari's mother. She smiled and knelt down on the ground, arms spread wide, "I need to go now, sweetheart. Can you give me a hug goodbye?"

Everyone in the room was able to see the dull expression on Hikari's face. It was clear as day to everyone she didn't want to hug her. It was oblivious to the woman though. Hikari walked forward and let herself be hugged by the woman. She awkwardly stayed silent and still in the embrace. The Vetrix brothers all exchanged looks with each other. Hikari didn't look sad like a child should have been.

"Bye," Hikari's voice rang out as her mother left. Once the door closed, there was silence.

"She always leaves…" said Hikari as she stared at the door with a dead expression.

Byron looked at her in concern. Hikari was not sad though. She was used to it. Then there was barking.

Everyone's heads whipped to the noise. A white slender dog ran in, tongue lolling.

"AHH!"

A scream rang out from the little girl and she ran behind Mihael. Everyone looked at her surprised. The dog barked with a happy expression as he jumped sort-of. Hikari had small tears in her eyes as she held Mihael's arm tightly. Mihael was confused, well, everyone was. Mihael looked at Hikari, "What's wrong?" he asked softly.

Hikari looked at the dog before whimpering out, "I don't like dogs…"

No one expected it but Thomas laughed. Byron turned to him, "Thomas!" he scorned.

Thomas pouted, "But it's funny!"

"Apologize at once!" said Byron sternly.

Thomas sighed before turning to Hikari, "Sorry," he said. It wasn't a real apology. It was just one that you had to do.

Chris patted Hikari's head before going to the dog, "This is Daisuke, Hikari," he explained, "He is our dog. And please don't worry, he doesn't bite."

Hikari just shook her head. She was young. She didn't understand that and she really didn't want to take chances. She hid behind Mihael again.

Mihael looked at her with a shy expression, "Come on, Hikari. I'll take you to your room, okay?"

Hikari nodded and clung to Mihael's arm. Everyone watched with slight amusement as Mihael blushed profoundly. The duo left the room as Daisuke barked happily.

* * *

(These don't really have any chronological order…)

"Uncle Byron, if I'm bothering you, I can leave."

Byron looked to his niece surprised, "What are you talking about, Hikari?"

He had to call her that name. It was her true name, after all. The one that her father had given her, an Astral World name. He shook his head from the thoughts but looked at the white-haired girl. She was sitting on the couch, legs dangling slowly.

She looked up at him, "I don't like bothering people. I always bother mom and dad, that's why they're never there. Isn't that true?"

Byron looked at the girl in surprise. Did she really think that? His look softened and he patted his lap. Hikari took that signal to crawl onto his lap. He would do this with his little Mihael. She sat on his lap and Byron stared at her head incredulously, "No, sweetie. That's not true, okay? They love you very much."

'_Your real ones are the same,'_ he thought in his head.

"…I guess…" she said warily. Then her voice became softer, "Sometimes, I feel like I'm not related to them at all. I don't look anything like them."

Byron froze. She doesn't know but…

Hikari suddenly hopped up from his lap. She walked over to the desk in his room. She was staring at a picture. "Who's this lady?" she asked innocently.

Byron quickly stood up, knowing what picture she saw. He walked over to her and looked at the picture. He closed his eyes sadly before reopening them. He picked Hikari up and she was surprised. He held her from under her thighs with one arm. He smiled slightly, "Her name is Victoria." It was the girl in his arms…real mother, his sister. Hikari didn't know.

"She's very pretty," said Hikari as she looked at the picture with naïve eyes, "I think I met her once."

Byron almost dropped his niece. He smiled at her confused, "When?"

The girl looked at him, "Or maybe not…She looks like the lady on my duel monster's card. It's called Victoria too!"

Byron stared at the girl shocked. She had that card? If that was true…Byron smiled, "What a weird coincidence…"

"I like that card," the girl said absent-mindedly.

'_I like that card too,' _thought Byron before looking saddened, _'I miss her.'_

* * *

During the first couple of days, everyone was amused by Hikari. She would always walk closely to Mihael. She even held the tail of his shirt when they walked. Mihael didn't seem to mind. Whenever Mihael had to go to the bathroom, Hikari would wait outside quietly. It was strange but it was funny. Hikari was like a duckling following its mother.

Mihael smiled at Hikari, "Neh, Hikari, want to see something cool?"

Hikari looked up at him happily, "Okay!"

Mihael grabbed her hand and led her through the maze of hallways. They ended up at a door. He opened it and walked inside. Hikari gasped at what she saw. All around her were obviously ancient items.

"What are these?" she breathed as she walked into the room. She stared at the items, wanting to touch them but knew she shouldn't. They seemed too fragile.

"OOPArts," answered Mihael as he had the same amazed expression on his face.

"OOPArts?" repeated Hikari, she didn't know what those were.

Mihael nodded and smiled, "Out-of-place artifacts. These were collected by my dad. He really likes this type of stuff!"

Hikari nodded and saw a small golden heart-shaped locket. There was a crack down the middle. Hikari gasped and stared at it. She raised her arm to touch it but let her hand hover above it.

"What are you doing?" asked Mihael as he watched her.

"I want to touch it but…it seems so fragile…" whispered Hikari, "It's like if I touch it…it'll break. But yet, it's so pretty."

Mihael tilted his head as he thought about that. He then smiled, "You're a lot like that, Hikari."

Hikari looked up surprised, "What do you mean?" she asked surprised.

Mihael answered softly, "You look fragile. You look like you'll break. And you're really pretty too."

Hikari smiled, "Thank you. But do I really look like I'll break?"

"A lot," said Mihael, "You look like glass- wait, no…You look like porcelain."

"Porcelain…" whispered Hikari. She raised her hand up to her face, "…Do I really?"

Mihael nodded, "Like a porcelain doll."

Hikari's laugh rang through the room, "A doll? You look like a doll too, Mihael."

It was Mihael's turn to be surprised, "Eh?" he asked.

Hikari kissed his cheek, "A very cute doll," she giggled.

Mihael laughed and there was a small blush on his cheeks, "Yeah, but we're cousins. It's to be expected."

Hikari smiled, "That's true!"

Mihael looked at a vase from Europe. He smiled and turned back to Hikari, "Do you know how they say 'hi' in some places?"

"How?" asked Hikari.

"Well, I think it means 'it's-nice-to-see-you-again," said Mihael. He leaned in and kissed Hikari's left cheek and then her right. He leaned back and smiled, "See?"

Hikari nodded and smiled from the knowledge, "Cute!"

They stayed in that room and looked at all the objects, Mihael explaining them. Hikari was truly entranced by it all. After a very long time, they had both fallen asleep under the pedestal with the heart-shaped locket. It took a while for anyone to find them. Byron was the one to find the young ones.

He stared at their sleeping forms with a slight smile. He looked at the heart-shaped locket and whispered, "Victoria, I miss you, sister. I promise to protect your daughter."

Mihael groaned a little bit as his eyes fluttered open. He looked at his dad, "Daddy, why are you crying?" he asked curiously.

Byron was crying. Tears were running down his cheeks but he smiled at his youngest son, "It's nothing…" he whispered. He reached over and grabbed the locket. He held it by the separate chains, showing the two separate halves. He passed it to his youngest son, "You can have one half," whispered the man, "Give the other to Hikari, okay?"

Mihael was still half-asleep but his eyes shone. He took the two pieces, "Okay!" He put the left piece on and held the right one in his hand.

* * *

Chris was in the room with the grand piano at night. He was currently staring at the piano, thinking of what to do. Suddenly, the door gave a huge creak. Chris's head snapped up and turned to the door. His face softened when he saw who it was, "Why are you still up, Hikari?"

The white-haired girl actually looked like a ghost in his perspective. She had a white nighty on and her pale skin was glowing in the sliver of moonlight coming through the window. She walked in slowly, "I couldn't sleep. I heard noise from the room."

Chris watched her. He then shook his head, "I'm sorry for the noise. I'll bring you back to your room," he stood up but Hikari suddenly spoke, "Ave Maria."

He stopped and looked at the girl, "What?" he asked confused.

She smiled softly, she really did look like a ghost. She whispered, "You were playing Ave Maria."

He then knew what she was talking about. The moment before, he was playing on the piano. What she said was true. He _was_ playing Ave Maria. He smiled sadly, "Yeah, my aunt taught me."

Hikari smiled. Chris knew that she would not know what he meant. He smiled back nonetheless, "She played violin."

"So do I," said Hikari proudly.

Chris stared at her surprised. He then walked over to a cabinet and took out something. It was a regular brown violin. He also took the bow and looked down at his cousin, "Do you want to play Ave Maria with me?"

Hikari thought about it before nodding, "Okay, Chris!" She took the violin off his hands and took the bow too. She adjusted herself and smiled as Chris walked over to the piano.

He looked at her, "Do you need the sheet music?"

Hikari shook her head, "I've memorized it."

Then he counted softly, "1…"

"2…" her voice said quietly.

"3…" they said in unison and then heavenly music began. Chris was surprised at the girl's expertise. Hikari was surprised at the soft playing of Chris. She thought that Chris was a reserved type. He didn't seem to truly smile much. He had those true moments though. Like right now…he was smiling a little bit.

None of them noticed when there was an angel above them, smiling happily. Her golden hair spread around her like a veil. She looked at her daughter, "…I'll always watch over her…" she whispered to herself.

Chris heard the slight whisper and looked up. Nothing was there. No one was there. A small white feather flew to the ground and Chris had tears in his eyes. Hikari did not notice but she felt safe.

* * *

"Stop it, Thomas!" whined Hikari as her older cousin gave her a noogie. This happened almost every day since she's come here. It's almost been two weeks.

He smirked, "What are you going to do about it, Hi-chan?" (Hee-chan)

Hikari pouted, "You're so mean!"

"Yeah, I know," said Thomas as he wrapped an arm around Hikari's waist. He kept giving her a noogied though. He smirked coldly, "That's right! I'm mean. I'm nothing like my brothers!"

Hikari was confused. She looked up at Thomas, "I didn't say you were like them…" she wondered why he was acting so bitter.

"That's right, Hi-chan!" he said a bit angrily, "I'm not like them! You hate me, right?"

"Why would I hate you?" asked Hikari as Thomas let go of her and his eyes were cold.

"Because I'm nothing like my brothers or my dad!" he said, "I can't be nice and I'm not a gentleman or anything…I'm rude and mean. I'm nothing like them and I don't care!"

Hikari saw that he did, in fact, care. She smiled, "Nah, you're just bittersweet."

Thomas looked up at that, "Bittersweet?" he repeated confused.

Hikari nodded and smiled at her older cousin, "Yeah, sure you're mean and rude but it's just to show you care, right? You're not good at saying stuff to people you care about. That's why you just say mean things, right?"

Thomas glared, not at the girl, but just glared. He knew it was true and he was happy inside that she said that. But like she said, he can't say his feelings.

Hikari laughed and hugged Thomas, "I love you, Thomas!" she said happily. It was in a brother-sister way.

Thomas didn't know how to react so he just blushed and pulled her hair a bit.

"Ow!"

"I love you too"

Hikari laughed, "You're a good big brother."

"I'm not your big brother, you know that right?"

"Yeah, you're my cousin. It's the same thing though!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"What are you two up to?" asked Uncle Byron as he walked into the room.

Thomas, embarrassed, rubbed the girl's head hard, a noogie.

"Thomas!" whined Hikari.

* * *

**NOW THE IMPORTANT PART (THE ACTUAL CHAPTER)! This has bits from episode 40.**

Once III and IV left the room, V was alone with his father and Haruto. V looked at the ritual for a moment before walking to the corner of the room. Hidden in the shadows, he had laid Rima down. She was still unconscious. He picked her up, bridal-style, and walked back to where was before.

Tron smirked, "I can feel Haruto's power!" he shouted as Haruto screamed for his brother.

V held Rima tightly, he knew that the girl in his arms would be next. He had hidden her from his brothers. He knew III would be against and would figure out who she was. III was the only one who didn't know Rima was Hikari, their younger cousin. IV knew and V was sure that IV wouldn't like what would happen to Rima. It was better that only he and Tron knew of her presence.

Tron laughed evilly, "Hikari will be next! Her power will be beautiful!"

V didn't know what to do. He couldn't stop anything that happened though. He looked to Haruto and felt a pang. It was gone when he remembered what Dr. Faker had done.

* * *

Yuma, Kotori, Kaito, Astral, and Orbital, were at the gates.

A huge bridge shot up, a path leading to the white castle.

"Looks like they have come to greet us," said Astral with crossed arms. He was calmly angry. Someone had kidnapped Rima, the one he loved most. He didn't know who had kidnapped her but he had his suspicions.

"Well, this looks interesting!" said Yuma as he put on a smile, "Then we will charge in straight on!"

Just as he was about to go, Kaito shot his arm in front of him. "You go back," said Kaito.

"Kaito…" said Yuma surprised, "I can't just go back! The one who gave Haruto to them was me! That is why, until I get Haruto back to your side, I won't go back!"

Astral suddenly gasped. Yuma looked to his partner, "What's wrong?" he asked.

Astral eyes were wide and he was shaking slightly, "I feel Rima's presence from within there," he breathed.

Yuma was shocked, "Rima is…?!"

"What about Rima?" asked Kotori confused.

Yuma looked at Kotori then Kaito before looking back forward, "Rima was captured by the same person! There's no way I can go back now!"

He then ran on the bridge, Astral right by his side. Astral was the most worried right now. Kaito was hot on their heels with Kotori behind with Orbital. Once at the door, Astral shot his hand forward and the door opened. No one questioned it and they all ran inside. They were inside a cathedral, an empty one. There was a staircase too. The huge door then closed behind them.

They all looked at it shocked.

There was laughter, cackling. On a statue were two figures. "We finally meet, Kaito!" said the tallest, "We were tired of waiting."

The two figures jumped down from the statue. It was IV and III.

Yuma immediately recognized them and his face turned angry, "You are IV!"

"You know him?" asked Kaito surprised.

"Yeah," said Yuma remembering the incident. Kotori was shaking from fear.

"Did you come to take revenge for your friends?" asked IV smirking, "That is fine, you can come at me whenever you want."

Yuma growled lowly.

"Don't fall into anger!" said Astral, trying to not fall into his own. He could feel Rima, clear as day. He needed to find her and make sure she was safe. What exactly do they want with her? He frowned, "If you are consumed by anger, dueling will become impossible."

"I know," said Yuma, "I won't use dueling as a tool to take revenge!"

"You people kidnapped Haruto?!" asked Kaito, he knew the answer though. "Where is Haruto?!"

"He is alive, so it is fine," said IV nonchalantly, "Well, for now he is."

"What?!" asked Kaito worried.

"But we can't just return him right now," said IV, "We are a bit busy, you see," he smirked, "If you want to take back your brother…"

III and IV shot their arms out and latched onto Kaito and Yuma with their duel anchors.

"…you can go ahead after defeating us!" said IV.

"This is…" said Astral, "A tag duel!"

"Let's go! I'm going to Kattobingu!" shouted Yuma and everyone did their dueling rituals.

"Duel!"

* * *

"Xyz summon! Come forth, No.33 OOPArts Super Weapon – Machu Mach!"

* * *

Rima shuddered in the arms of V, feeling the number summon. V looked at her surprised as she started having a blue aura around her. It stung him and he was forced to drop her. He watched as she just simply floated down to the floor softly. The blue haze stayed around her, protecting her.

Tron noticed and just smirked at his son, "It would seem Tsubasa still protects her."

* * *

"Come forth, No.39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!" shouted Yuma. Their almighty savior appeared.

"What?" asked III, shocked.

"Numbers…?!" asked IV, shocked as well.

Chris was watching the duel on the screen. Rima was lying on the ground, a bit closer to Tron and Haruto but not by much.

Chris stared at the number, "That boy…" He then gasped and looked at Rima, "Could it be…?"

He had his doubts but maybe, just maybe…could Rima have a number as well?

* * *

"Appear, No.15 Gimmick Puppet – Giant Killer!"

* * *

**Yuma: 1100LPS**

Rima unconscious figure flinched in pain. V glanced at her but did not make any move towards her.

**Yuma: 3600LPS**

She relaxed and that made V do the same. He looked back to the duel.

* * *

"I will give you a different type of service!" shouted IV, "If I do this, I guess you guys will enjoy it, right?"

His arm shot one way and a big screen popped up. On it was…Haruto whimpering and struggling.

Kaito's face was heart wrenched.

"That's…!" shouted Orbital 7.

"Haruto…" said Kaito, it was full of fear and worry, "Haruto!" he screamed.

IV was smirking, nonetheless, "It's your beloved brother's scream of pain." He laughed.

Kaito's face was contorted in rage, "What the hell are you doing to Haruto?!"

"Hm, who knows?" asked IV nonchalantly, "I don't know what my older brother will do anyway. But considering the condition, I would say he needs help as soon as possible."

"Nii-sama…" whispered III. He wanted to stop it but he couldn't.

"Yuma," said Astral as he looked at his partner. Yuma looked to him confused. Astral spoke, "Rima. Where is she?" he asked. If that was happening to Haruto…

Yuma could actually hear the fear from his friend. Yuma turned to IV, "IV! Where is Rima?!"

IV and III looked at him, perplexed. IV snarled, "Why would I have that albino?" he knew he wouldn't capture her. Not her.

"She's here!" shouted Yuma, "You have her! You kidnapped her after you kidnapped Haruto!"

'_Hi-chan…' _thought IV. He looked at Yuma and smirked to hide his own confusion, "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

III was confused as well. They had only captured Haruto…

Another screen popped up beside Haruto's. Everyone's attention went to it. Everyone's eyes went wide when they saw Rima lying on the ground, whimpering in the slightest.

"Rima!" shouted Yuma.

Astral was shocked, "Rima…" he whispered.

"Hi-chan!" shouted IV and he...

III looked at IV, "Nii-sama…that name…"

IV snarled, noticing his mistake. He looked at his younger brother, "Rima and Hikari…they're the same person!"

III was shocked. He looked back to the screen, "Hikari…Rima…" There were silent tears in his eyes, "That was her all along…?"

Yuma, Astral, Kotori, those three knew they were missing something. They knew that they somehow knew Rima.

III looked away from the screen, not wanting to see such things. IV wrenched his eyes away as well. IV clenched his fist, "Aniki…" he growled lowly.

IV looked at Yuma's sad-angry expression. Rima was one of Yuma's friends, after all. IV smirked, not thinking of his younger cousin anymore, "Your face is delicious! I want to see more!"


	43. The Miraculous Overlay!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

I groaned as I sat down, legs crossed. I was in my Empress Key. Chris…he knocked me out!

My papa appeared. He looked solemn, "Rima, you've been captured."

I sighed, "I know…" I looked up, "My cousin, Chris, right? Er- never mind. He's my fake cousin because-"

"No, he's your blood relative," said Tsubasa.

I blinked, surprised, "But that would mean…"

"Yeah, he's your mom's nephew, your cousin. Byron's your real uncle," said Tsubasa, "But…Chris now goes by V, apparently."

I felt a shock and flinched. Papa stared at me, "That stupid soul-string…"

I looked up at him, confused, "Soul-string…?" I asked. I then realized, if I'm getting hurt…I gasped, "Yuma's dueling with his numbers, isn't he?!"

"Yes, he is," said papa. He closed his eyes with a sigh, "If he didn't summon numbers…"

"What are you talking about, papa?" I asked confused, "What's this soul-string?"

He sighed once more before looking at me, "I didn't realize it was so bad. You're in love with him though, and he's in love with you."

I blushed but what was he saying? "Papa, what's going on?" I asked, afraid.

He smiled sadly, "Some Astral Beings…Some Astral Beings have connections with each other. It's called a soul-string. You and Astral have one. If he gets hurt, you feel his pain and vice-versa. Except…"

That explained a lot about us. I always felt his pain. It wasn't always duels, it was way more. A soul-string…it sounds like soul-mate. I looked up at papa, "Except what?"

"Your soul-string is one-sided," said my papa sadly.

"One-sided?" I repeated, "Doesn't that mean…doesn't that mean I can feel his pain but…"

"…He can't feel yours," finished my papa. He laughed dryly, "It's unfair, isn't it?"

I don't understand. Why is it like that?

"Rima…your soul-string can easily be destroyed, making it fine for both of you…" said papa, looking away.

If it's easily destroyed…I frowned, "Then why isn't it destroyed?" I asked.

"…I've destroyed your side of it, making it better for him. He can't feel your pain," whispered my dad, "But Astral…Astral has forgotten how to destroy it."

My eyes widened, "His memory was scattered…" I stated. Of course. Astral and I had a bond. We had a bond that could hurt us both. I smiled wryly, "At least I know when he's in danger."

Tsubasa closed his eyes, "Do you understand, Rima?"

I nodded slowly, "Yeah…it sucks that I always get hurt by him being hurt but at least-"

"You don't understand," said my papa sternly.

I blinked, "Yeah, I do!" I said.

"You of all people know that he can disappear in one duel," said my papa.

I didn't understand. But then, it hit me. I stood up shakily, "If Astral disappears…"

"…You won't disappear immediately but you will disappear in about a day or so…" whispered my papa sadly. He motioned me towards him.

I ran up to him and hugged him. So, if Astral did disappear, not only will I be destroyed inside, I will be literally destroyed.

I looked up, "Papa, who is Yuma dueling?"

Tsubasa closed his eyes before reopening them, "IV and III against Yuma and Kaito. It's a tag duel."

I blinked and looked at my papa, "A tag duel? With Yuma and Kaito, together?"

"Yeah, I can't tell you who's winning because I can't watch from here. But…I know numbers have been summoned," whispered Papa.

"IV and III are dueling…" I whispered. I can't believe they didn't tell me who they were. III especially…

"Don't think that way," said Tsubasa as he held me tightly, "III didn't even know you two were the same. IV knew but he kept it away. They still care greatly for their little Hikari," he whispered.

"I still don't know why they called me that…" I said quietly. I mean, Rima was my first name.

"Hikari's your Astral World name."

I blinked, "I thought it would be something spacey…" I joked before looking away, "Do III and IV know about me?"

"No, I'm sure they don't."

I let go of my papa, "I need to wake up," I said urgently, "I need to go and cheer my friends on. And Haruto. I need to find Haruto."

Papa nodded, "Just try to awake, okay?"

I nodded but I could barely comprehend this information. I whimpered a little bit when I felt more pain. That would mean…my Astral is in danger! I closed my eyes and willed myself to wake up. Astral…please be safe!

* * *

_**No one's P.O.V**_

Once Rima left, Tsubasa clenched his fist. "She doesn't care that she's hurt…she still cares more about her loved one than herself…" he smiled, "That's my girl…"

* * *

_**Back to Rima's P.O.V**_

I opened my eyes. I was not where I thought I would be. In front of me was Haruto. He was looking at me weakly. I gasped, "Haruto!" I said as I ran to him.

"Nee-san," he whispered, "I will protect nii-san this time." He smiled.

I didn't understand. He held out something, "Can you please give him this for me?" he asked me.

It was the caramel. I took it from his hands. I didn't know what was about to happen to Haruto but…by the way it sounded…There were tears in my eyes, "Be careful, Haruto. I'll give him this, I promise."

He nodded before disappearing.

Haruto...


	44. The Forked Paths of Destiny!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh Zexal and never will.**

My eyes shot open. I sat up. I was in a big room. I looked to my left. My eyes widened, "Haruto…!" He was unconscious in the middle of the room.

"You're awake."

My head snapped to the other side of me. There was…Chris- no, _V_. I clenched my fist and I felt something in it. The caramel…I stood up shakily, "Chris…" I breathed.

He closed his eyes before reopening them, "I'm now known as V, Hikari."

"I'm known as Rima now," I said back softly. He was now the enemy.

Something on his forehead glowed for a moment. It was a mark…just like III and IV's. I stared at him, "What are those…?" I muttered.

"This mark protects us," said V and that's all he said.

Protects them…from what? The only thing I can think of is…the numbers. I stared at him, "Are you a number-user as well?" I asked.

"Are you?" he asked back.

I gritted my teeth and unconsciously brought my hand to my pendant. I took a sharp intake of breath before falling to my knees. Shit…I'm still tired.

V stared at me before walking over to me. He watched me for a second before picking me up with one arm, bridal-style. He looked at the unconscious Haruto and I watched amazed as Haruto levitated.

* * *

We ended up on top of a platform. In front of us were Yuma, Astral, Kaito, Kotori, and Orbital. IV, III, and someone else had just disappeared.

"Both of them…" whispered Yuma, "…disappeared!"

"Haruto…!" whispered Kaito.

"Rima…" I heard Astral barely whisper.

They won the duel. I was relieved. I could feel the caramel in my fist. I was about to call out but V did so first.

"Haruto is over here," said V, gaining everyone's attention.

"Haruto!" shouted Kaito.

Astral looked straight at me, "Rima…!"

"You are…" said Yuma, "You are the guy from before! You…You sure fooled me!"

"Move!" shouted Kaito and he pushed forward, "Why…?! Why are you…?! Haruto!"

V's mark glowed and Haruto levitated down to the ground. My eyes fluttered closed. Why was I still tired? The duel was over…

"Haruto!" Kaito shouted. His voice sounded so pained…

"Haruto-sama!" said…Orbital. Yeah, that was Orbital.

"What…What have you done to Haruto?!" asked Kaito.

"Don't worry," said V, "This boy is still alive. But, he has spent all his strength. Yes he had given you the remainder of his powers."

"What?!" Kaito then gasped, "Don't tell me that Haruto is like this because of me…?!

V let go of me and I felt myself be lifted up into the air. I opened my eyes just as he lowered me to the ground in front of my friends. Astral floated down to my side and sat me up. I smiled weakly and watched what would happen.

"Hey!" shouted Yuma as I stood up, "What the hell did you do to Haruto?!"

"Tsukumo Yuma, you are the son of Tsukumo Kazuma, correct?" asked Chris as I stared at him. He knew Yuma's dad?!

"What?!" asked Yuma, "How do you know my dad?!"

"Your father is alive…in the Astral World…"

No…no way…Kazuma was alive…?!

"Hikari."

I looked up at my name. I stared at my older cousin.

V stared at me before saying, "Make sure Uncle Tsubasa is listening."

My eyes widened, shit…I glanced at my friends, and they seemed confused about it. Then, it happened. I glowed brightly and my skin turned blue once more. My clothes switched into the short white dress and my hair flowed around me. My Empress Key glowed and it rang out. In front of me now was…papa. It was Tsubasa.

He was in front of me, arm held out in front of me, "What is it, V?!" snarled my papa, surprising me. He was scary.

"It's him…" I heard Astral say to himself.

"Tsubasa," said V after staring at my papa and me, "If Rima gets in the way of our plans, we will not hesitate to hurt her."

Tsubasa growled, a vicious animal. He glared at V, "You will not touch my daughter!" he boomed.

I froze. I shook it off and looked at V.

"R-Rima?"

I looked at Yuma. I then looked to Astral who looked just as shocked and confused. I smiled sheepishly, "I'm an Astral Being," I confessed.

* * *

"Kaito, hold it," I said as Kaito was about to leave. I was still an Astral Being.

He turned and glared at me, holding his kid brother. He didn't have time to wait. I took his wrist and placed the caramel in his palm. I made him curl his fingers around it. I stared at his shocked expression, "Haruto asked me to give it to you," I said quietly.

Kaito clenched his fist before leaving with Orbital. He must be so worried…

* * *

Astral and papa have been talking. I was still stuck in my Astral Being state. I floated beside Kotori and Yuma as we walked. Kotori was able to see my papa. I guess that means he's visible to everyone, not just us.

"Rima."

I looked up as my papa called me, "Yeah?" I asked.

He looked at me before saying, "I'm sorry. If I'm out, I use your energy with mine. I should get going before you faint."

So that's why I'm tired…I just smiled hazily.

Tsubasa looked to Astral. He smiled slightly, "You're a fine young man, Astral. I wish you luck on finding your memories. And…" he glanced at me, "…Don't be rough on her," he smirked, "She's a bit fragile."

I could feel myself blushing, "P-papa!" I said, embarrassed. I saw Astral smiling a little bit though. Ugh!

Tsubasa looked to Yuma, he was being weirdly quiet. Yuma looked up as he felt my papa's gaze. Tsubasa smiled and placed a hand on Yuma's shoulder, "If Kazuma was here, I'm sure he would be so proud of you, Yuma."

"Do…do you know my dad?" asked Yuma as he stared at mine.

"Know him?" repeated Tsubasa before touching the Emperor's Key, "Who do you think gave him this?"

"You…?!" asked Yuma. Papa gave him the Emperor's Key?

Tsubasa smiled, "Your dad is an incredible man." With that, he looked at me and smiled, "Bye," he said softly.

"Bye papa," I said as he disappeared. I watched as I turned back to my normal state. I was back to a human.

We all started walking once more. Astral was shocked when he found out. He really was. He seems to be fine with it though. I'm glad that my papa and Astral get along. But now…I looked to Yuma. He was now walking in front of us silently. There was the Kazuma thing…As well as the number thing. I was explained a few things by Astral. Mr. Heartland's the enemy, neh…? And Haruto…If we collect all the numbers…It was too hard.

I grabbed Astral's hand and I held it. He held it back just as tightly. We were all silent. I know Yuma wanted to think. I felt Astral float closer to me. This was hard for all of us, somehow.

* * *

We were still walking. I know something was up…If Yuma's father is in the Astral World…why though? Would papa know?

"My dad…" whispered Yuma, breaking the silence, "…may be alive…?"

Kotori looked to me, worry embedded in her eyes. I smiled half-heartedly back. What was I to say to Yuma? Yuma must be happy at least…

"Hey…" said Yuma as he stopped walking, "That's your homeland, right?" He turned and looked to Astral, "Why is my dad over there?" he asked.

Astral was staring at the ground, "With my current memories, I don't know." He said. He seemed confused and a bit concerned.

"Then, if we gather all the numbers and you get your memories, if that happens…!" He then gasped, "But if that happens…Haruto won't be cured…But even if Haruto were to be cured…And if my dad is in the Astral World…Damn! I don't know!" he shouted as he held his head, "I don't know what to do!"

Yuma…to choose between two people…I looked at Astral, what does he think? I…Helping Haruto or helping Astral? If we have to choose…Astral was staring at Yuma, thinking. I looked back to Yuma.

He suddenly gasped, "That's right!" he suddenly looked happy, "My dad might be alive! Dad!" he yelled and he ran away from us, "Dad!"

I blinked, Yuma?

"Y-Yuma!" shouted Kotori and she started running.

Astral and I looked at each other surprised. Astral then nodded and flew off after Yuma. Thing is, I think he forgot he was still holding my hand. He was literally dragging me and he was so freaking fast! I was literally being dragged _in the air_. I yelped as I passed Kotori, who stared at me surprised for a second.

I then shouted, "Astral, you're ripping my arm out!" I said, my arm felt like it was on fire! Astral stopped _finally_. He turned to me with worry written all over his face, "Rima, I'm sorry, I forgot I was holding your hand," he spoke as he let go of my hand.

I rubbed my arm and winced, "Man that hurt…" I whined. God, Astral was too strong. I started running as I spotted Kotori catching up to us. I smiled at Astral who flew by my side, "Let's go find Yuma," I said.

"Are you sure you're all right?" asked Astral worriedly.

I rolled my eyes, "I'm fine, I'm fine," I said. There was much more things to worry about than this.

* * *

Astral went up with Yuma, trying to 'sneak in'. God, what a dummy, that Yuma. Kotori and I just finished telling Akari and Haru that Kazuma was alive.

We were now standing outside, waiting for Yuma and Astral. Well, it was mostly _me _waiting for Astral. I hope Yuma's all right though.

Speaking of the devil, Yuma rounded the corner with a huge bag on his back. When I saw huge, I really mean _HUGE_. Astral was floating by his side.

"Hey, what is with that getup?" asked Akari, arms crossed, "Trying to run away from home?"

"I am not running away from home!" retorted Yuma, "Nee-chan, don't be surprised!"

"That dad might be alive, right?" asked Akari, already knowing.

"Eh?" asked Yuma, confused.

"I heard from Kotori-chan," said Akari, "Are you going to come back after finding dad? Just how is your head rolling anyway? Jeez."

Yuma scoffed, "Dad went to the end of the world, right? Then, I will find dad at the world's end!"

Yuma then jumped off the stairs. We gasped but he landed on his feet, "See you later!" shouted Yuma as he ran off with a smile.

"Hey Yuma!" shouted Akari.

I sweat dropped, what is Yuma thinking? I watched as Astral flew after him. I sighed, why is Yuma running away? Why is he running away from his problems? I know exactly how that feels. It may seem like the easiest thing to do but…

We all started running after him. Then…we lost sight of him. Ugh…

"Where is he?!" asked Akari, frustrated.

I then saw Astral. He glanced at me, motioning with his hand. He then rounded the corner. I looked to everyone else, "He's this way!" I said as I went to follow Astral.

"How…?" questioned Akari slightly before following me.

We then saw him and he wasn't alone. Rokujuurou was here! We all caught up to them, standing behind the old man. It's been a while.

"Yuma, you…" Rokujuurou's smiling face turned serious, "Are you going to throw away dueling?"

"No, that is…" said Yuma, not sure what to say.

"I heard that my student had been working hard, so I came down the mountains and I find him like this…"

Yuma actually explained his problem to everyone.

* * *

"So you had that kind of story?" asked Rokujuurou.

"Good thing you understand!" said Yuma happily. I don't think he gets it. He made a move to leave, "Then I'll be going~"

"Hey, wait a minute," said the old man.

"Huh?" asked Yuma.

Rokujuurou activated his D-Pad, "Yuma, won't you duel me?" he asked. A duel…now?

"Gramps…" said Yuma, "I'm sorry, but I really don't feel like dueling…"

The old man turned angry-ish, "I am your teacher! You think I can just leave you throwing aside dueling?! If you want to go, then defeat this old man!"

"But…" said Yuma, still unsure.

I walked over to Yuma, making him look at me, "Yuma, stop this. Why can't you face your problems?"

"What problems?" asked Yuma, "My dad is-"

"That's not what I meant," I sighed, "Just duel Rokujuurou. If you're running away, don't run away from a duel."

"Why would I be running away?" asked Yuma heatedly.

I saw slight irritation cross his features. How did he not understand?

"You're such a liar," I said. He such a liar to himself. He's running away from his problems. He's running away from choosing Haruto and Astral…He's running away from numbers…he's running away from everything. Can't he see that? "You're running away," I said, glaring at him. I'm not mad. I just want him to see what's wrong.

"I'm not running away!" Yuma yelled at me, "You don't know anything! You…You stupid alien!"

I took a step back. W-what…? _'Stupid alien'_? I already felt the hot tears running down my cheeks. I closed my eyes tightly. I turned on my heel and ran away. This is why I didn't want to say what I am! Yuma didn't accept it…one of my closest friends. I ran. I'm doing the thing that I was trying to tell Yuma not to do. I'm running away.

* * *

_**No one's P.O.V**_

Everyone's eyes widened as Rima ran away. Some were of confusion, not knowing what that statement meant to Rima. Yuma's eyes were instantly full of guilt. Astral was shaking in anger. Astral floated in front of Yuma, eyes blazing, "Yuma!" he shouted. Yuma had just insulted the one he loved. Astral's moved his arm back before trying to punch Yuma.

It went through. Yuma stared at Astral, shocked. Astral brought his arm back before clenching his fist. He wanted to hurt Yuma right now.

"I…" Yuma was staring after Rima's already vanished form.

Kotori was shocked at the statement. She and Rima were talking just before. Kotori scowled slightly before walking over to right in front of Yuma. She then slapped him. Hard.

Yuma's head was turned, cheek already red. "K-Kotori…" Yuma whispered as he brought his eyes back to the steaming mad girl's.

She closed her eyes before reopening them, "Do you know _why_ Rima never told us about her being…" her eyes glanced at Akari, "Being alien?" she asked.

"No…she never said…" said Yuma. Astral was paying attention to this.

Kotori stared at Yuma, "She was afraid that we wouldn't accept her. And you just called her that?! You hurt her feelings!"

"I…" Yuma looked down. Rima was his friend. He didn't want to hurt her feelings.

* * *

_**Rima's P.O.V**_

I kept running. I didn't see where I was going and I hit something. Apparently, it was a person because they wrapped their arm around my waist to keep me from falling. The tears stopped and I looked up at the person. I screamed and instantly pushed myself away. I fell to the ground on my butt. I stared at the person.

"Hey, Hi-chan."

"Don't call me that," I said, clenching my fist, "Don't call me that, IV!" I said, using his fake name, the one I've come to hate.

He smiled coldly back. I looked away. How could I not remember him? His fire-head? His hotheaded personality. I looked back at him, shaking in anger, "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

He stared at me, "About?"

"As if you don't know!" I shouted, "Why didn't you tell me you knew me?!" He kept it away…

He stared at me before scoffing and looking away. He's just as frustrating as when we were kids! Except now…I hate him. I then noticed where we were. We were in front of the hospital! I stared at IV, "Why…Why are you here?!" I asked.

"There's this thing called sex-"

"Why are you in front of the hospital?!" I asked, why is he joking? My eyes widened, "Don't tell me…Rio?!" I asked. I stepped in front of him, "I'm not letting you pass," I said angrily. He's caused enough trouble for my best friend!

He looked at me and I took a step back in shock. His eyes were…so full of sadness, regret? He then smirked, the effect shattering, "Why not?" he asked.

"You've hurt her already!" I shouted at him.

He then put his hand on my head, surprising me. He chuckled dryly, "We'll never be the same, will we?"

We will never be the same but right now…I threw that thought away. I stared at him, choosing not to hurt him, "Why do you want to visit her anyways?" I asked.

He looked away, "I don't know," and I knew that he was at least being truthful then.

My lip quivered as I said this, "Why did you have to do it?" I asked so quietly, I barely heard it myself. Why did he have to touch Rio?

He didn't answer. He took his hand off my head and didn't meet my eyes.

"One night."

"Eh?" I asked as I looked at him.

"One night. Can we act like we were the same innocent kids for one night?" he asked me.

I looked down, "I…" I was going to say no. I didn't know how. I wanted so much to just spend time with my cousin. I looked up, unspoken tears in my eyes. For one night, can we act like nothing happened? I then spoke, "One night. We'll act like we're still Thomas and Hikari…"

He looked back at me, "I want to visit her."

I glared at him but…I walked to inside the hospital, "You stay as far away as possible from her, you hear me?!" I told him angrily. I wanted to see Rio but with this guy tagging along…

* * *

We were outside the door. I glanced at IV. He didn't seem into it. He seemed…sad? I looked back forward, "Are you sure you want to see her?" I asked, "Are you sure you want to see what you did?" I asked.

He didn't answer but he had a determined look on his face. I can't believe I'm doing this…I opened the door and walked in. There she was. She still had the bandages all over her, everything was wrapped up, except for her mouth. She looked like a mummy. I walked over to her and glanced warily back at IV. He was in the hallway staring at Rio. This is punishment for him.

"Don't come closer," I said as I looked back to Rio, "I don't want you close to her. Ryoga and I don't want anything else happening."

"I did that…" he whispered.

I whipped my head back to him. He actually looked like little Thomas again…The one that couldn't stand feelings but when he did…I looked back to Rio, a tear rolling down my cheek, "Yes…yes, you did."

He walked beside me. I glared at him, "I said-"

He did something that shocked the shit out of me. He leaned down and…I gasped, he kissed Rio! On the _lips_! I watched as he walked out of the room. I stared at Rio. She just had her first kiss taken…by _IV_. I turned back to the door. What was that?!

* * *

Now outside, we stared at each other. He completely ignored that kiss and I guess I'll be doing the same. It was night now.

"We're back to normal tomorrow," I said as I stared at him.

"We will be," he spoke.

I took a step forward. I lifted my arms hesitantly. I didn't know if I should. We were still Thomas and Hikari though. I took another step forward and wrapped my arms around IV's waist. He hesitantly wrapped an arm around me.

"I love you, nii-chan…" I recited.

We let go of each other. We both turned and stared at the opposite direction. I then walked away.

"I love you too."

I knew if I looked back, I would betray myself. I clenched my fist and kept walking.


	45. A Nemesis Shows Up Late! Robin VS Gauche

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal and never will.**

_Sorry for the shortness but guess what? I got obsessed with reading other people's fanfics…sorry. Anyways, the next four chapters will be so…I'm gonna cry! Astral…! N-nevertheless…enjoy._

**On with the show!**

I was now in the Empress Key once more. I was with papa. He was speaking to me but I wasn't listening. I kept staring around. What if _he_ was here?

"Rima, is something wrong?"

I looked back to my papa, "It feels…different. I don't know what, but something's missing."

Tsubasa stared at me, "The only thing missing is Black Mist. That's a good thing, isn't it?" he asked.

Black Mist…I clenched my hand into a fist, "It is, but it's so different without him. I'm not as scared but…"

"It's the number card," said papa, "You were, and still are, attached to it."

I sighed, why? I should be scared of it. Black Mist disappeared though. He's pretty much dead. It's the card…I guess that card somehow made me feel stronger, safer. It should've been the opposite.

"The only way to not feel this way is to probably take it back," suggested papa.

"I can't do that," I said, "It's Astral's memory."

"You have Galaxy Queen," said papa, "As long as it's _you _that has it, it doesn't matter."

"If I really need No.96, I'll go take it," I said. I smiled at papa, "Thanks papa"

He smiled back and then the world faded away.

* * *

I was ready to leave. I was about to leave my bedroom before looking to my desk. I walked over and spotted what I needed. It was my jewelry box. I opened it and smiled at what was there. My locket…The second half of the one that III wears…I picked it up and held it close to my heart. III…IV…V…Why are they number-users? I put the locket on. It glinted along with my Empress Key. Perfect.

I grabbed my heart piece as well. I need to gain one more or else I'm out! I glanced at the picture by my bedside. I smiled at my golden-haired mama, "Wish me luck…" I whispered to the picture. I then went out the door.

* * *

"The final day of the Duel Carnival preliminaries of hot battles!" said the holographic Mr. Heartland.

I looked up at him, rolling my eyes. But now that I know he is evil…

"Yeah, anyways, I'll…"

I looked to the source of the voice. Yuma was with everyone: Astral, Kotori, Tetsuo, Cat-chan, Inchou, and Tokunosuke too. Yuma smiled, "Yeah! I will find a way that can make everyone happy!"

"A way that can make everyone happy?" repeated Kotori, surprised.

I couldn't help but smile and say, "You have a kind heart, Yuma," I said, gaining everyone's attention.

They all looked at me. Yuma's smile turned into an apologetic expression, "Rima! I'm-"

He's trying to apologize. I just chuckled, "Don't worry about it, Yuma."

I waved slightly before turning around. I started walking away but glanced back, "This 'stupid alien' forgives you," I said jokingly. It hurt when he said it but it's better to ignore it. I heard comments of confusion from our friends.

"Gah!" shouted Yuma, "I didn't mean-"

I turned and whipped out my heart piece. I held it out, "I only have four pieces, Yuma! I'll need to hurry if I'm going to make it into the finals! You should as well!"

Yuma noticed my smile. He smiled back, "Yeah!" he said excitedly.

I winked before looking at Astral, "Love ya, Astral," I said before walking off once more. Now, I really did have to duel. If I don't get another…Nah, I will. Just have to find some good duelists. I wonder how Ryoga is…I haven't seen him since yesterday. Whoa, it's only been a day. So much happened yesterday though…

* * *

**I was sort of lazy so…I skipped Fuya-kun's (Robin) duel…heheh.**

"Rima-chan, it's really nice to see you again," said Fuya-kun with a small blush on his face.

I smiled, "Yeah, it's been a while…"

"I…" he then looked me in the eye, "I wish you luck in the Duel Carnival, fairy-hime," he teased.

"You too," I said. I paused before finishing up with, "…Robin," I said playfully.

Fuya-kun laughed slightly. Then he flushed slightly before taking out something from nowhere. It was a white rose. He held it out to me and I took it. I gasped, "It's so pretty, Fuya-kun," I said happily, "Thank you."

Fuya-kun turned and ran off. His hair turned back to Robin's. He was now smirking. I laughed, he's being more confident, I'll give him that. I twirled the small flower with my fingers, not noticing Astral's eyes burning into me.

Astral came up to my side, grabbed my chin, tilted my head to his, and kissed me. I blinked and stared at Astral. He let go of me and stared after Fuya-kun. "Why did you kiss me?" I asked Astral.

"One of my first rivals," muttered Astral.

"Eh?" I asked, question marks flying around me.

Kotori walked over to my side. She saw that I was staring at nothing (Astral). She started laughing nervously, "You're a bit dense to things that happen to _you_, Rima."

"What are you talking about?" I asked Kotori. What was she talking about?

Kotori sweat dropped, "It's nothing." She smiled at the flower, "That's pretty though."

"I know," I said as I smiled at the white rose.

"It can't compare to your beauty," said Astral sweetly.

I blushed, turning to stare at the flower and not Astral's dazzling eyes, "T-thanks…" I said giggling.

"What is it?" asked Kotori with a tilt of her head.

I giggled, "Astral's just saying some sweet things…" I sighed happily.

"Astral doesn't seem to be a guy who flirts," said Kotori with a thoughtful look.

And he doesn't seem like a pervert but he is. I smirked though, "Only with me, Kotori, only with me."

**There just **_**had **_**to be something cute and non-serious before…NEXT CHAPTERS! :,( And I was wondering something...Why is there so little OC stories for Zexal?! I guess they're not wanted. LOL. Anyways, please bear with me as it takes a lot of will power for me to update. And...thanks for bearing with me this far. I'm so close to season 3 already! I'm so pumped!**


	46. For the Sake of Family

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

After watching Fuya-kun's duel, I feel like dueling more than ever! It was still a bit early but I really need to get a heart piece! I was wondering but I needed to find a duelist and fast! Yuma's probably looking for some as well. This is so hard! I passed an alley before I stopped. I went one step backwards and looked down the alley. I gasped, "What happened to you all?!" There were so many duelists lying on the ground, moaning and groaning.

"S-Shark…" one of them groaned.

My eyes widened, please be talking about the animal! Ryoga…

"Shark, that guy…" slurred another.

Ryoga…to do this…! What's wrong with him?! My eyes followed the path of fallen duelists. I…the number. The number. He has a number. My clenched fist shook as I started running. I followed the trail of duelists and I reached the stairs. Ryoga was here. He was dueling someone…My Empress Key levitated slightly upward. I looked up, "Yuma's up there, papa?" I questioned. I knew he was though. The Empress Key stopped levitating and turned limp.

Ryoga…How did I not see this?! I started running up the stairs. The one thing I hate, running. But for Ryoga, nothing petty like that will keep me away from him. I tripped up the stairs a couple of times but stood back up and kept running. I had finally reached the top but I stayed on the stairs, out of sight. I could see Ryoga and Yuma from where I was. Astral and Kotori were somewhere behind Yuma, I suspected. I placed my D-Gazer on.

I watched as Yuma fell backwards from battle.

**Ryoga: 4000LPS Yuma: 3300LPS**

I heard a gasp from Kotori. Yuma…

He sat up, "This kind of attack is nothing!"

Now I noticed. Ryoga was surrounded by some weird red aura. I knew exactly what it was. No.32 Shark Drake…I hate that card more.

"Oh?" asked Ryoga with a cold voice and glare, "Oh, then how about this?" he questioned.

He was acting different. Ryoga, is he okay? Yuma, please save him once more!

"Oh, then how about this?" asked Ryoga and he held his arm up, "I overlay level 3 Hammer Shark and Big Jaws! I create an overlay network using the two monsters! Xyz summon! Appear, Submersible Carrier Aero Shark (Atk: 1900-Rank: 3)! I activate Aero Shark's effect! I can inflict 400 points of damage times the amount of cards I have in my hand! I have three cards in my hand!"

That would mean…math…1200 points!

Ryoga then declared, "Take this! Air torpedo!"

I gasped as I watched on.

"Yuma!" shouted Kotori.

Ryoga glared at Yuma malevolently, "Have you understood now, Yuma? Don't involve yourself with me anymore-"

He stopped and gasped. The smoke cleared and Yuma was there, kneeling.

**Ryoga: 4000LPS Yuma: 2100LPS**

Though he was covered in small bruises, he spoke, "Not yet…Not yet! Give me all you got! Shark!"

Ryoga looked surprised but then he glared once more, "You bastard…!"

Yuma stood up, determined, "If you are not, then I will go ahead! My turn, draw! I summon Gogogo Giant (Atk: 2000-Lvl: 4)!"

Yuma and Ryoga stared each other down. I bit my lip as I watched. No.32 is obviously the reason this is happening. Ryoga doesn't have protection, not like Yuma and I do. Not like…IV, III, and V do…

"I end my turn!" announced Yuma as I looked back up. He's not attacking?!

"What?!" asked Ryoga, thinking the same thing.

"Why?!" asked Kotori.

Astral came into view, floating beside Yuma, "Why, Yuma?! If you attack with Gogogo Giant, you can defeat his monster! Just what are you thinking?"

Yuma…the last time he had to duel Ryoga, the time I had a fever, he didn't listen to me. He attacked and tried to win. This time…I'm not sure if he's going for the win.

"No problem," Yuma smiled, "This is my duel."

Ryoga glared at Yuma nonetheless, "Yuma, you bastard…!"

* * *

"Appear, Black Ray Lancer (Atk: 2100-Rank: 3)!" shouted Ryoga and the destructive monster appeared.

"This isn't good, Yuma!" said Astral urgently.

As long as it's not the number…

"Go!" ordered Ryoga, "Black Ray Lancer! Attack Gogogo Giant! Black spear!"

I flinched as Gogogo Giant was pierced with the spear.

Yuma cringed before looking back onto the field, "Sorry, Gogogo Giant!"

**Ryoga: 4000LPS Yuma: 2000LPS**

"Now, I direct attack with Aero Shark!" shouted Ryoga, "Eat this! Big eater!"

I gasped, this isn't good!

Yuma flew backwards with a scream.

**Ryoga: 4000LPS Yuma: 100LPS**

Yuma! I looked back to Ryoga, he was panting. He closed his eyes.

"Yuma…!" shouted Kotori.

Ryoga's eyes flew open as he watched Yuma struggle to stand up. He was still determined.

Ryoga's eyes, I noticed, were full of shock.

"Why are you purposely losing…?" asked Astral shocked.

Yuma stood up shakily, "Not yet…It's not over yet!" Yuma turned to Ryoga, "Shark! Come on, bring it on! Show me all of your skills!"

Ryoga stepped back, confounded. Yuma was really…

Astral flew to Yuma's side, "Yuma, don't tell me you are…!"

Yuma sighed before looking forward, "That's right. This duel, I don't care whether I lose or not!"

Ryoga gasped. His face clearly read 'What?!' Despite this, I smiled slightly.

"Yuma…" whispered Astral, shocked.

"Shark!" said Yuma as he stepped forward, "You hate me, right?!" He kept stepping forward, "Then show me all your hatred! Bring on all your feelings! If your hatred will disappear from it, I won't mind!"

Ryoga clenched his fist and stared at Yuma, "You…you bastard!"

"Hatred!" yelled Yuma, "Revenge! If you duel with them, is it fun?!"

I stared at Yuma. Is this the message he's trying to send across? Even though…even though…the game I love…Is the cause of so much of my pain. Ryoga, my cousins, Yuma, Astral, Kaito…How is dueling fun if…unspoken tears welled up in my eyes. Everything. Dueling. Why…? I wiped the tears away, sadness is not the answer to anything.

"You were someone who loved dueling more than anything!" spoke Yuma, "But are you going to start hating dueling also?! I just…I just can't! I just can't look at you like that!"

Yuma…he…Yuma…this is the reason why…this is the reason why I'm not always crying about Rio. It's all thanks to Yuma.

_Flashback_

_I was walking around. Tears threatening to spill from my eyes, it's been almost a week or two since Rio…since she was admitted into the hospital. I've become a mess. Who can blame me though? Dueling, playing violin, there's been no joy in that lately._

_There was a duel happening across the street. I looked up and stared at the two. Two boys. I knew one of them. His name was Yuma._

"_Just give up!" shouted the other._

"_Never!" shouted Yuma. I stared at him. He was obviously losing but…he still had unwavering confidence, determination._

"_I won't stop until I reach the sky's limit!" shouted Yuma, "Kattobingu da, ore!"_

_I stared at him. Unwavering confidence and determination…In the first time in days, I smiled. Maybe I could borrow that spirit of his sometime. Wouldn't Rio want me to be happier? Not this mess? Kattobingu da, ore…I then kept walking forward. _

_Flashback end_

I had learned that from Yuma. Unwavering confidence and determination…I had taken that from Ryoga and Yuma.

Then, ruining the moment, a huge growl made itself heard. Yuma's stomach…Ruining the moment, the idiot.

Yuma held his stomach, looking at it. He laughed nervously.

"Jeez, what are you doing?!" asked Kotori angrily.

Yuma turned to her, "It can't be helped that I'm hungry!"

"Jeez, you are just…" said Astral, making me smile slightly.

"What?!" asked Yuma as he turned to my alien, "It can't be helped, right?! I got hungry!"

"You seriously have no manners!" said Kotori.

I looked at Ryoga and was surprised. The number aura…the atmosphere…it disappeared! I smiled, nonetheless, Yuma saved Ryoga.

"Jeez," said Kotori, "You sure are a champion at being stupid."

"What?!" asked Yuma.

"Just stop," he swiped off his D-Gazer, "This is just stupid."

"Hey, Shark," said Yuma, "Hey! Stop!"

"I don't feel like doing this," said Ryoga, "After looking at you being stupid."

"Stupid?!" repeated Yuma shocked. I forced down a laugh. "You…!" said Yuma in irritation.

"Let's finish this at the finals," Ryoga smirked at Yuma. Ryoga then walked towards the stairs, where I was. He stopped when he saw me, "Rima." He said in mild surprise. Why should he be? It was obvious I'd be around.

Everyone turned to me now. Yuma blinked, "Rima?"

I was happy. Ryoga was safe. I walked a bit forward, beside Ryoga. I stared at Yuma before smiling slightly, "Thank you, Yuma."

No one seemed to be expecting that. I knew that I owed Yuma a lot. I bowed, "Truly, Yuma, I thank you." I know that fighting a numbers power…it isn't something you should do alone.

"I…uh…" Yuma stared at me. Astral was staring at me in surprise as well.

I then straightened myself. I looked at Ryoga who was staring at me. Breaking my promise, why do I keep doing that? I can't even protect him! Rio…I'm sorry. And Ryoga too. Our eyes met. A secret message, if you knew. We had both broken our promises, one way or another. Even though I should be the one comforting him, especially after what just happened, he's the one who opened his arms.

It was just a second nature to walk into his embrace. I felt his arms surround me, a safe haven for me. I nuzzled my face into his chest. I admit that I do love Ryoga. He was like a brother. He _is _a brother. I just can't bear to see him like that happen to him. No bond is as strong as this one. I wouldn't be who I was without Ryoga, without his presence.

Guess what happened next? This beautiful moment was shattered because…of a certain person's stomach rumbling. Kotori started scolding Yuma for ruining 'such a perfect moment'.

I lifted my head and saw Ryoga's dark blue eyes.

Ryoga glanced at Yuma, humor in his eyes. He looked back to me and patted my head, "I'll see you later," he spoke. He let go of me and smiling slightly. He then walked down the stairs.

I knew something like a number was powerful…Seeing Ryoga's smile…it was something I was going to protect.

Yuma stared at Ryoga, "Shark, we'll definitely meet in the finals!" He then smiled.

Kotori pulled on his ear suddenly.

"Ow!" shouted Yuma as Kotori let go, "What are you doing, Kotori?!"

"Finals and what?" said Kotori in irritation, "If you lost to Shark, you would have lost all of your heart pieces!"

I face palmed. How could we forget that?

Yuma was lost, "Eh?" Then he gasped, "Ah! That's right! I totally forgot!"

"I don't mind you caring about your friend, but if you lost, the numbers and my life would have disappeared as well," stated Astral.

I gasped, no. No. NO. NO! I ran up to Astral and threw my arms around him, "Astral!" I whined. There was no way I was losing him. He placed a hand on my back as we watched Yuma.

Yuma fell to his knees, obviously forgetting like me. He bowed on hands and knees, "I'm sorry! I was just into the mood too much, and totally forgot about the numbers!"

I felt like crying. How could I forget that? If Astral was gone…I can't live without him! Literally and emotionally.

"It's your promise with your father, right?" Kotori asked Yuma, "To become Duel Champion."

Yuma looked up, "But, you know, if it was my dad, I'm sure he would have thrown himself to stop him!" He smiled at us, "That's why he would forgive me!"

"Jeez…" said Kotori as she straightened herself.

"Rima," said Astral as both Yuma and I looked at him. He was staring at my head, "There's…something in your hair," he said as he looked pointedly at something.

I moved out of his embrace, "In my hair?" I repeated confused. I reached up and felt something. It was…I took it out and held it in front of me. My eyes widened, "A heart piece?!" I shouted. It was a heart piece, glinting. It was the perfect fits my heart shape…How did this happen?!

"Whoa!" shouted Yuma as he stared at it.

What the hell?! The only thing- I gasped, "Before Ryoga left, he patted my head! You don't think…?!"

"Shark did that…?" questioned Kotori as she stared at the heart piece as well.

I let out a cry, "Ryoga! I can't accept this!" I shouted. I didn't win this. I bet he's still walking down or at least near this building. I ran to the stairs. I stopped before looking to Yuma, "Neh, Yuma?"

"What is it?" he asked.

I looked down, "You know when you called me a stupid alien?"

He gulped, "I didn't mean-"

"It's now clear to me, thanks to you, of one thing," I said quietly. I clenched my fist, "I can never tell Ryoga about me." He wouldn't accept me. Having Yuma mad at me was one thing, but Ryoga? If it was him…

I started running down the stairs, "Ryoga!" I called out, "Get back here!"

* * *

Turns out, right as I reached the bottom floor,_ finally_, Ryoga was just getting into his motorcycle. I shouted at him but he zoomed off. I ran after him, and that's where I am right now.

I doubled-over and panted heavily. I watched as Ryoga left. He knows I hate running! I let out a sigh and held up the heart piece. I took out my heart shape and placed the heart piece. I have all five pieces. I pouted, Ryoga shouldn't have done that. He needs to get into the finals as well. I guess there's no use complaining about it.

I heard someone moving and looked behind me. I blinked, I was in front of Yuma's house. Haru was holding two bags of groceries, going to her door. I walked over to her and grabbed a bag from her hands, just to help.

She looked at me, "Huh? Oh, hello Rima."

"I'll help you carry these inside," I said, smiling lightly. She shouldn't be holding these by herself.

"Thank you very much," she said happily. I opened the door for her and she walked in. We walked to the kitchen and placed the bags on the counter. She moved to take something out of her bag and it dropped onto the floor. It was of peas. She gasped, "Oh no!"

She went to get the broom. She looked around, "Now where is that broom?" She asked herself. She then nodded, "Yuma's room, I think." She then went to the boy's room.

Obomi came in and saw the mess, "Cleaning." She spoke and she cleaned up the mess for Haru.

I smiled, "Thanks, Obomi."

She only nodded, "Welcome, welcome." She repeated.

I heard a gasp from where Haru would be. I ran over to where she was. She was on top of the ladder, looking at Yuma's room. The words she spoke surprised me, "Hm? You are…"

The voice that returned surprised me more, "Um, I am, uh, I am just…"

"Grandma, please come down from there," I said, recognizing that voice. Haru looked at me surprised before climbing down the ladder. I jumped up the ladder and stepped onto the ground. I looked at the pink-haired boy. I forced myself to say his new name, "III." I said.

III stared at me, "R-Rima…"

I closed my eyes. What to do? Why was he here? I sighed before looking down the hole, "Grandma, don't worry. He's a friend of Yuma and me," I said.

She smiled, "All right. Tell him, next time, take the door."

I smiled before saying, "Can you call Yuma for me? Tell him," I glanced at III, "a boy named III is here."

She nodded and left to make the call.

III and I stood in silence. I turned and faced him. His sparkling green eyes…How did I forget them? He was one of my closest friends, my cousin for crying out loud! But now…but now…we're on opposite sides. I…I stared at III, "III…" I whispered.

He stared at me before saying, "I can't believe I forgot. I forgot Hikari," he spoke in a hushed voice.

I stared at him, unspoken tears in my eyes. I spoke shakily, "I forgot Mihael too…"

We stared at each other. I spotted something on the base of his neck. I smiled slightly and reached up, touching the same locket, "You still have it." I said.

He noticed what I was touching. He smiled as well. He reached up and touched his own locket, "Yeah, I do."

I'm supposed to hate him. He hurt Haruto, he dueled Kaito and Yuma. He even dueled Ryoga. He was a number-user. But…I couldn't bring myself to hate him. This situation sucks. III seemed to realize the same thing. Then a thought came to me, "Why are you here?" I asked, frowning. Why was he in Yuma's house? Sure, I covered for him, but…

He seemed uncomfortable, "Um…"

I sighed before sitting on Yuma's hammock. I glanced at Yuma's various antiques before looking at III once more, "I'll let Yuma do what he wants with you." I lay down and smiled at III, "Just look at the room. Did you see all the OOPArts? They're really cool." I've already seen this place enough.

III blinked before looking around. The nostalgic look on his face was something I missed. He stared around the room in amazement, "Amazing!" He said excitedly. He then started looking around. I smiled at his antics.

III saw a mask and gasped. He knelt down and picked up the mask, "So cool!" he said with a dazzling smile. When he's with OOPArts, he's really happy.

I heard a door slam open. There was running and someone climbed up the ladder. I watched Yuma as he ran in and knelt down behind III, "You, what are you-"

III put on the mask and turned around. Yuma gasped and fell on his butt. I giggled. III was wearing the mask. It looked sort of freaky.

After a moment, everyone joined the party. Astral floated beside the hammock and he glanced at me, to make sure I was all right. I smiled and he took that as a good thing. Kotori came up the ladder and gasped at III's mask.

"Yuma~" said III as he turned his body to us, still wearing the mask, "This is amazing!" He took off the mask, "This is the mask made in the Aztec era!" He looked back, "This is the tablet from 2000 years ago!" He placed the mask down and looked elsewhere, "This is the metal vault made in Hittites! Wow, a necklace made from Inca! Everything is just amazing!"

I giggled and sat up in the hammock. Oh god, III! He's going to explode with all his cuteness!

He smiled and looked at us, "It's the same as the card I love. Look at this!" He held up a card.

Yuma stood up and read it, "Aztec Mask Golem?"

III nodded, "That's right. The deck I use is called 'The OOPArts'. OOPArts is the proof that this world is linked to the ancient world! This world is linked by many dimensions," he clasped his hands together, "And it is believed that the OOPArts came from there. My father had researched this for a long time!" He said happily.

I blinked, Uncle Byron? Speaking of, I haven't seen him. I've only seen my cousins.

Yuma seemed just as excited, "Oh! My dad is also an adventurer! This is all owned by my dad!"

III looked amazed, "Is that so?! Your father is surely amazing!"

Yuma blushed and turned away, "Well, yeah…" then he gasped. He looked at III and backed away from him, "Wait, this isn't the time to talk about that! Because of you guys, Haruto is-"

III immediately bowed, "Sorry!"

I blinked and stared at him.

His eyes were closed, "I am truly sorry about what happened with Haruto's incident."

"III…" whispered Yuma, shocked.

I'm surprised he apologized. I clenched my fist, IV didn't apologize. I don't even know about V.

III stood up and looked away, "But, I had no other choice…"

"You…?" questioned Yuma.

"Yuma," said III sadly, "I have fought all the time with hatred and revenge in mind. But, after watching you duel, I have thought if there was another way other than that."

"Eh?" asked Yuma.

"Just why are you going all out like that for others?" asked III, "Just what is your power?"

Yuma stared at him, "My…power?"

"That's right," said III, "I am different from you. Just how can you fight like that?"

Yuma put his chin in his hand, "My power…My…hm…I don't know something like that, you know?"

"Eh?" asked III, staring in shock.

"It's just Kattobingu," said Yuma, "Kattobingu!"

"Kattobingu…" repeated III.

"That's right!" said Yuma, "Not giving up at all and always challenging yourself! I learned it from my dad!"

"Your father…" said III smiling.

I looked down and dangled my legs. Did my papa know…Uncle Byron? I wonder…I hopped down from the hammock and stood in front of III. I hummed, "I'm glad _you_ apologized," I said.

III blinked, "Me?"

I smiled, "Yeah, someone else didn't. I'm glad you did though."

III smiled back, not truly getting it, "Well, all right."

I stared at him. Pink hair…green eyes…I blinked, "For cousins, we look nothing alike."

"C-cousins?!"

III and I stared at Yuma and Kotori. Astral seemed a bit surprised as well. I sweat dropped, "I haven't told you guys about that?"

"No!" said Yuma.

Akari suddenly appeared from the hole, "Hey, Yuma, lunch is ready."

"Nee-chan!" said Yuma surprised.

Akari smiled at us, "You guys come too."

Everyone went down…except for me and Astral. I laughed nervously, "What's up, Astral?" I asked.

He looked at me. I was shocked at what I saw. Embedded in his mismatched eyes was hurt. Why was Astral hurt? He then spoke quietly, "Rima…what else are you hiding from me?"

My eyes widened. Have I been hiding stuff from him? There was Black Mist, then my father, my alien race, and now, this. I have been hiding stuff from him. Tears filled my eyes, "Astral…"

He looked down, "Rima, hiding these things from me…"

"A-Astral!" I interrupted, "I'm not hiding anything else! Don't you know why I didn't tell you?! I didn't tell you about Black Mist to protect you! I didn't tell you about my papa because…because I barely knew myself! I didn't tell you about me being an Astral Being because I was scared of what you might think! And being related to III and IV? I honestly was going to tell you, I forgot though! Astral, you know I wouldn't just keep things from you for no reason! You're killing me here, Astral! And then there's the soul-string…"

{Um…she already explained the soul-string. I just didn't write it anywhere}

I hiccupped, tears were running down my face, "Stupid Astral! Making me cry…! I buried my tear-stained face in my hands. Why am I crying? Stop crying, stupid Rima…I hate this!

Astral then grabbed my wrists. He made them move to my side. I couldn't move my arms. I was forced to look at him. My eyes widened in shock. Astral was crying too. Astral let go of my wrists. I stared at him. I lifted my right hand and placed it softly on his cheek. Tears were running down his face. The strong and confident Astral…crying? I stopped crying and I just stared into his eyes, "Astral, why are you crying?" I asked softly.

He lifted his own hand and placed it on mine, the one on his cheek. He pressed his hand on mine. Tears were slower now but still there. They were still there. His voice was but a whisper, "You're…always…always in your eyes, you're sad. You can't hold your sadness or else…or else your sadness will overflow."

Astral…why was he sad?

He seemed to understand and his eyes pierced through my soul, "Like how Shark put his anger on Yuma, put your sadness on me. Put all your sadness on me. Then, surely…surely, you'll be happy after."

Astral was…Astral was crying for me. His tears came to a stop. He was staring at me. Is that what he was doing? Is that what he wanted? He just wanted to soak up all my sadness so I would…so I would be left with happiness.

He spoke once more, "Rima…"

I…never noticed before. But now…Now that my face was right in Astral's…I now noticed how full of love Astral's eyes were. Every time he looked at me, did he really look at me like this? I leaned forward before freezing. My lips were almost brushing Astral's. He stared at me. The distance was almost unreal.

I wanted to make sure his eyes were happy not sad. I smiled slightly, "I won't kiss you until you stop looking sad…" I said quietly. I made my lips barely graze his before going back to where I was before, my lips just hovering there on Astral's.

His eyes seemed to light up like me being happy was enough for him to be. That's probably why. Astral was sweet that way. Unbeknownst to me, his hand was on my back. He jerked me forward, making the space between us nonexistent. He pressed his lips to mine and I didn't mind.

After a while, we had to part. Stupid oxygen…I smiled at Astral, "Let's go downstairs…" I whispered.

* * *

We were all sitting down. I was sitting on one side by myself. Across from me was Yuma. Haru and Akari were on my right, and Kotori and III were on my left. III was standing behind his chair though. He kept glancing at me and back to his chair. I blinked, "What's wrong, III?" I asked him confused.

Haru laughed though, "All of our guests are so fond of Rima-chan."

I blinked before understanding. I turned to III, "You want to sit beside me?" I asked him. He nodded but spoke softly, "Um…if it's not too much trouble…"

I giggled, "So cute~"

III looked down, embarrassed.

Everyone started eating immediately.

III was holding a rice ball but…he was deep in thought. I stared at him, what was wrong? I droned everyone out and watched my cousin in worry.

"Nii-sama…" murmured III, thinking carefully about something. His eyes were watering.

What was he thinking about? He was…My eyes widened, his family? He placed his rice-ball down.

"III?" I heard Yuma question.

"What's wrong?" asked Haru.

Unspoken tears welled up in III's eyes. The tears overflowed and rolled down his cheeks.

"You…" whispered Yuma.

III hastily wiped away his tears. He stood up, "I'm sorry. I will excuse myself!" he ran out of the room.

I stood up speedily. My chair fell down from the quickness. I ran after him, "Mihael!" I called after him as I kept running.

* * *

III ran down some steps. He was tearing up so much. Yuma was on my heels as we both ran after him.

"III!" shouted Yuma.

"Mihael!" I shouted as well.

"Yuma!" said III as he waited at the base of the stairs, "After seeing your family, I finally understood! Your power, your Kattobingu, is for protecting the smiles of your family and friends. But I am, my family is…different! The day we swore to fight for revenge, my family lost their smile! But once our revenge is finished, I am sure they will smile once again!"

For his family? IV, V, and uncle Bryon?

"But Yuma!" said III as he turned to us, "If you are in the way, we can't accomplish our revenge! That's why I must defeat you, for my family!"

"Why?" asked Yuma as I stared at III in shock, "Why is it like that?! I mean, with Haruto's case too…!"

"That was my family's will!" shouted III.

"III!" shouted Yuma.

"I have no feelings other than hatred!" shouted III. Mihael…III…

"Don't joke around!" shouted Yuma.

"Yuma!" III threw something at Yuma, "Tonight, I will be waiting for you here!"

Astral and I looked over Yuma's shoulder. It was…a map, a locator card.

"This is a map?" questioned Astral.

"What?" asked Yuma.

"You and me, let's fight!" shouted III. III turned around and I knew…I knew the line had been drawn. The worst thing is…we're on opposite sides. Enemies…that's what III and I are now because I had chosen to side with Yuma.

I lifted my hand to my locket. I ripped it off my neck and yelled, "Mihael!"

III slightly faltered but it allowed me to speak. "Mihael…III…Even though we're now on opposite sides…" I threw him my locket. He caught it, glancing only over his shoulder. "Even though we're on opposite sides, this locket is our bond! If you wear it…if you connect the halves…it means I'm always with you. Even if the line is drawn and we're on opposing sides, we're still with each other in heart!"

III clutched my halved-heart. He quickly connected the hearts. Now, they were whole. He then walked away. There was no looking back for him.

"III!" Yuma called the boy once more.

* * *

"Yuma, he is a powerful opponent," said Astral, "You still plan to go?"

"I know," said Yuma as he stared at the map, "But I…I want to talk to him more! I want to know his true feelings! That's why, I will duel against him!"

I clutched my hand over my heart. III…


	47. Yuma's Denied? The Stolen Kattobingu!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

**Recap: A soul-string is a bond between two Astral Beings. Astral and Rima are closely connected. Their life force is the same. If Astral feels pain, Rima will also feel that pain. If Astral dies…Rima will soon follow. Just remember this.**

Yuma and I were running to the meeting place on the card, Astral by our side.

"Yuma," we both looked to Astral, "Is this really alright?" he asked.

We both stopped.

"III, his resolve is real," said Astral, "I don't know if we can really win against him."

If Astral's in doubt…I don't know. And it's true…III…can be hiding tricks up his sleeves.

Yuma looked at Astral seriously, "I know! But…I want to know his true feelings. I want to do a fair duel against him! You were the one who told me that when you duel someone, you will find out everything about them!"

Yuma…I stared at the sky, III, why is your family separated? What happened during those years I've never seen you?

"All right," said Astral, "I won't say any more. But you still only have four heart pieces. Your entry towards the WDC finals all matters in this duel."

I poked Yuma's stomach making him look at me confused. I glared at him menacingly, "If anything happens to Astral," I glanced at said-alien, "I will hold you personally responsible!" I said to Yuma. I'm serious. If anything does happen, I'm going to kill Yuma.

"Yuma!"

We all turned to see the whole gang coming our way. They all were in a straight line, facing Yuma.

Yuma ran up to them, "Everyone, you came!"

"Of course!" said Tetsuo in excitement.

"Cat!" said Cat-chan, "This is your final battle, right?"

She made it sound worse than it was. I moved my hand up to my chest, worry etching my face probably. Astral tapped my shoulder and I turned to him. He quickly kissed my nose. I blinked, w-what? Astral traced my cheek with his finger, "Tag, you're it," and he flew high up into the sky.

I watched him before being confused. Tag, now? Our way of tag was different from others because it involved a kiss on the nose. I stared at Astral as he floated high above. I glanced at my friends who were completely preoccupied. I held my breath as I watched my skin turn light blue. I smiled and flew after Astral. I floated in front of Astral. I placed my hands on his shoulders. I quickly pecked his nose, "You're it," I said softly.

Astral put his hand on my neck and stroked my cheek with his thumb. I smiled and pressed my face into his touch. Oh, Astral…

"Why do you look so worried?" he asked.

I laughed, "Did you just ask 'why'?" I asked. I can't believe he just asked that.

Astral smiled before frowning once more, "If you're worried about the duel, do not be. I've told you once before, I won't be taken away from you that easily."

I had to smile brightly at that. But this was a number duel. Astral was truly on the line and…I averted my eyes away from Astral, "Out of all people, I just had to fall in love with you." I'm glad I did though.

Astral suddenly asked a question, "Do you regret it?"

I quickly snapped my head back to him, "W-what?" I asked. Astral was looking away, gloom coming off of him. I glared at Astral, how could he even think that?! I did the first thing that came to mind. I pinched him.

Astral whipped his face back to me. He blinked before staring at his arm. "Ow," he said lamely.

I put my hands on my hips, "Stop thinking that. If I regretted it, I wouldn't be here right now." I then smiled, "I love you, Astral. I truly do."

Astral whispered, "Rima…" he couldn't help but smile back. He leaned forward and so did I. Our lips didn't even touch before interference appeared.

"Alright, let's go!" shouted Yuma and he ran off.

"Oh!" shouted the rest of the gang and they ditched us both.

I faced the direction Yuma ran in, "Yuma!" I shouted, steam appearing above my head. It's always him that interrupts everything! I swear, when he gets together with Kotori, I will totally ruin every kiss they try to have!

Astral let out a chuckle. I looked at him sheepishly, "I said that out loud, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did," said Astral, a slight smile gracing his face.

I puffed out my cheeks, "Well…! It's been like forever since we kissed (They kissed last chapter XD)! My lips were getting antsy!"

Astral smiled. I think he was secretly laughing at me. I was about to say something about it but Astral stopped me. With his lips. Yeah, I think you know where this is going. I made a noise that sounded like "mmph"! Astral pressed his lips down on mine and I pressed equally as hard. He parted with me before pecking my cheek, "How's that?" he asked me.

I played with the hem of my dress, "N-nice…" I mumbled.

After a moment, Astral was silent. I looked back up at him and was a bit scared at what I saw. Well, not scared but…concerned for my safety. He had this weird glint in his eyes. He was staring at me like a predator would to prey. I laughed nervously, "W-what is it, Astral?" I asked. He looked like he was about to lick his lips or something.

He came closer to me and I blushed when he pulled lightly at the bottom of my dress. "This dress is short," he mused to himself before I pushed him lightly. "S-stop that," I said, averting my eyes.

"We should get going," said Astral, grabbing my hand.

I nodded before flushing once more as he lifted my hand to his lips. He gave it a soft kiss before pulling me the way Yuma left. The playful smiles were now gone as we got nearer and nearer.

"Win…okay?" I asked him quietly.

He squeezed my hand, "Okay…"

He didn't say it with full confidence. But, there was determination. That's all I needed to hear from him.

* * *

We were all on top of the highway. Before Astral and I were in line of sight of everyone, I switched back to human mode. Only Astral, Kotori and Yuma know of me…I think.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, III," said Yuma, smiling.

"Yuma," said III, "In order to defeat you, I have obtained a new power!" III turned to us. I saw pure anger and sadness on his face. Something about him was different.

Astral flew to Yuma's side, obviously feeling the difference in III as well.

"A new power?" repeated Yuma, confused.

"Be careful, Yuma," said Astral warily.

"After meeting you, after seeing your family, I have found my answer!" said III, "In order to get my family back, I must defeat you!"

To get his family back? What happened, III?

Yuma stepped forward, "I want to know your true feelings! That is why I am fighting! When I fight against someone, they become my comrade, and I can know everything about them! That is what dueling is!" He turned to us, "Everyone here are people who I have made bonds with by dueling!" He turned back to III, "That is why I believe that you and I have a bond too! Let's go!"

"Come!" III shouted back, "Duel disk, set!"

Yuma copied his movements, "Duel disk, set! D-Gazer, set!"

The gold D-Gazer tattoo surrounded III's eye. I saw that our connect locket was still on his neck. I bit my lip before putting on my own D-Gazer. Please win, Yuma, Astral!

_A/R VISION LINK ESTABLISHED_

"Duel!"

"I will take the first turn!" declared III, "My turn, draw!" I saw his D-Gazer tattoo glow slightly. "I activate the field magic, OOPArts City Babylon!"

"This is…!" said Yuma shocked.

Surrounding us was an ancient civilization.

"What?" asked Tetsuo as we all stared around.

Where we were all standing, it was like ruins of a coliseum. I glanced away, we were in the sky!

"Let's go, Yuma!" said III, "I special summon OOPArts Tula Guardian (Atk: 1800-Lvl: 5)! When a field magic is on the field, I can special summon it from my hand! And I normal summon OOPArts Golden Shuttle (Atk: 1300-Lvl: 4)! I activate Golden Shuttle's effect! Once per turn, I can raise this monster's level by one (Lvl: 5)!"

Two level five monsters!

"Is he coming?!" asked Astral.

I blinked, 'he'? Is it a number? I missed the duel between them and III and IV because I was unconscious.

"I overlay the level 5 Golden Shuttle, and Tula Guardian!" shouted III, "I create an overlay network using the two monsters! Xyz summon! Appear, No.33 OOPArts Super Weapon – Machu Mach (Atk: 2400-Rank: 5)!"

A huge ancient building floated in the sky. There was a floatation ring around it and the overlay units orbited it. It was huge! I took a step back, a number! It also seems like a powerful one at that!

Yuma looked up in surprise, "To summon Machu Mach this fast…!"

III held a card, "I set one card face down and end my turn! Now, Yuma, come try defeating me! With your duel!"

Yuma stepped forward, "To hurt other people…! That isn't how you duel! The Kattobingu I learned from my dad isn't like that!"

"Kattobingu," repeated III. He looked up with a smirk, "Sorry to disappoint you, but I won't let you use that."

"Eh…?" I questioned.

Yuma ignored that, "Let's go, III! My turn, draw! Alright, let's go!"

"Don't rush yourself, Yuma!" advised Astral, "He already has Machu Mach on his field. For now, you must defend yourself!"

Astral's right. I stared at III and clutched my Empress Key.

"Anyhow," said Astral, making me glance at him, "Just attacking him head on won't defeat him!"

"Jeez, I already know!" said Yuma, "Alright! I set one monster in face down defense position! And then I set one card, turn end!"

III went up, "My turn, draw! I activate from my hand the magic card, Sarcophagus of Palenque! When a monster with 'OOPArts' in its name is on the field, I can draw two cards from my deck! And during the turn I activated a normal magic card, I can special summon this monster from my hand! Appear, OOPArts Aztec Mask Golem (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)!"

This monster…

"That is III's…!"

_Flashback_

_III turned to us, "My favorite card is also…"_

"_Look at this!" said III, smiling. He held up a card._

"_Aztec Mask Golem?" Yuma read._

_Flashback end_

"Go!" ordered III, "Aztec Mask Golem! Barrenke Blow!"

Yuma's card flipped up to reveal Gogogo Golem (Def: 1500-Lvl: 4)!

"So it's Gogogo Golem," said III smirking.

"Since its Atk is 1500, this battle is a draw," spoke Astral.

"Gogogo won't be finished!" rephrased Yuma.

"And, Gogogo Golem is in defense position, it can't be destroyed by battle once per turn!" explained Astral.

"Then, it can stand against Machu Mach's attack!" shouted Yuma.

III was still smirking, "I am not aiming for a battle. I normal summon OOPArts Cabrera's Catapult (Atk: 0-Lvl: 4)!"

"A monster with an Atk of 0?!" asked Yuma.

I…think I've heard of this monster.

III stated, "Cabrera's Catapult's effect activates!" He grinned and his mark glowed on his hand. "By tributing one monster on my field, this turn, I can change an opponent's monster's Atk to 0!"

He's tributing Aztec Mask Golem?!

"What?!" shouted Yuma.

"Fall!" shouted III, "Attack Gogogo Golem!"

A ball on its chain met Gogogo Golem's fist. Gogogo Golem fell on its back (Atk: 0-Lvl: 4)!

"Gogogo Golem!" shouted Yuma.

"This isn't good!" I yelled. I'm not helping this but it's true!

"This combo is…!" Astral wasn't able to finish.

"At this moment," said III, "Machu Mach's effect activates! When a monster's Atk points are changed, Machu Mach can once per turn, by using an overlay unit, inflict damage towards the opponent equal to the change of the Atk points! So it's 1800 points of damage! Infinity cannon!"

Cannons appeared all around Machu Mach. Energy orbs appeared in front of each cannon. Then…it shot a million bullets!

Yuma and Astral had no time to react. They both fell backwards with a shout.

**III: 4000LPS Yuma: 2200LPS**

I inhaled a sharp intake of breath and put my hand over my heart. O-ow…Kotori blinked and put a hand on my shoulder, "Are you all right, Rima?" she asked.

I nodded, "I'm fine," I said. I quickly looked to Astral and Yuma. They were fine…for now.

"Since Cabrera's Catapult has used its effect, it switches to defense position (Def: 1800)," explained III, "With this, I end my turn."

"This doesn't look good, ura!" said Tokunosuke.

Yuma stood up, "This is nothing at all!"

Astral stood up with him. He glanced at me, looking me up and down, and turned back to the duel when he saw what he wanted. I blinked before feeling happy. I guess he was just making sure I was okay.

Gogogo Golem stood up, attack points returning to normal (Atk: 1800).

"III, that guy…" Yuma said to Astral, "He is totally different from before! Why…?"

"But," said Astral, "If this is his best strategy, there is a way to counter it."

"This is my duel!" chipped Yuma, "I want to win with my own duel!"

"Yuma…" whispered Astral.

"My turn, draw!" announced Yuma, "I summon Gagaga Magician (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)!"

"Activate your equip magic card!" ordered Astral.

Yuma huffed, "Jeez, so annoying! I already know! I activate the equip magic, Bound Wand!"

Astral continued from there, "Also, Gagaga Magician can, once per turn, change its level from 1 to 8!"

I let out a small giggle, oh Astral. Have you not learned?

"Hey!" shouted Yuma, "I already know! I change Gagaga Magician's level to 8 (Lvl: 8)! Alright! Bound Wand's effect activates! It increases the equipped spell caster-type monster monster's Atk by 100x its level (Atk: 2300)! Alright! Wait, but doesn't this mean…Won't Machu Mach's effect activate…?" He looked to Astral for the answer.

Astral stared ahead, analyzing the situation, "No, he probably won't use Machu Mach's last overlay unit for such a small amount of damage."

Yuma nodded, "Alright! Gagaga Magician, attack Cabrera's Catapult!"

III was smirking, "I already anticipated that attack! Trap activate, Costa Rican Stone Ball!"

"What?!" asked Yuma.

"This card can negate an opponent's monster's attack, and the monster cannot attack for the next four turns!" explained III. Gagaga Magician was bound in ropes.

"Gagaga Magician!" shouted Yuma.

"Yuma, set your card," spoke Astral.

"Gah!" shouted Yuma, annoyed, "Damn it! You keep bothering me! I set one card and end my turn!"

III pointed, "And at this moment, Gagaga Magician's level returns to normal (Lvl: 4). Due to Bound Wand's effect, its Atk also decreases (Atk: 1900). My turn, draw! I activate the effect of the field magic, OOPArts City Babylon! This card can once per turn, by banishing an OOPArts monster in the graveyard, it can special summon an OOPArts monster of the same level from my graveyard! I banish Golden Shuttle. I revive my Aztec Mask Golem from my graveyard (Def: 1000-Lvl: 4)."

Again…!

"I change Cabrera's Catapult to attack position," he declared, "And tribute Aztec Mask Golem!"

"You…!" spoke Yuma, stunned, "III! Just what happened to you?!"

"Shut up!" retorted III, "All my monsters just need to become my pawns!"

Yuma argued back, "You told me that you really loved the OOPArts, and that monster…!"

III closed his eyes in pain, "I changed. No matter what the sacrifice, I will defeat you!" he reopened his eyes.

"III…" said Yuma.

III continued, "Cabrera's Catapult's effect activates!"

"This isn't good!" said Tetsuo from behind me.

Tokunosuke spoke, "If Machu Mach's effect combo activates again…!"

The ball on the chain was launched at Gagaga Magician.

Cat-chan stated, "Yuma will only have 300 life points remaining!"

Inchou agreed, "And if he revives Machu Mach to attack, to summarize, Yuma will lose!"

I watched in worry, Yuma, Astral!

"I waited for this moment!" Astral spoke up suddenly, "Use Gagaga Rush, Yuma!"

"So that's it!" shouted Yuma as I sighed in relief. They had a back-up, thank god.

Yuma went up, "Trap activate, Gagaga Rush! When Gagaga Magician becomes a target of a monster's effect, this card can negate its effect and destroy it! And it inflicts damage towards the opponent equal to either of the monster's Atk or Def, whichever being the highest!"

"What?" asked III, surprised.

"Cabrera's Catapult's Def is 1800!" shouted Yuma, "Take damage equal to that amount!"

III flew backwards. I wanted to ask him if he was all right but…I knew that he wasn't. He fell onto his back.

**III: 2200LPS Yuma: 2200LPS**

Cat-chan and Kotori looked to each other and grabbed hands. They cheered together happily, "He did it!"

Cat-chan smiled, "With this, their life points have become equal!" Cat-chan noticed what she was doing and quickly turned away from Kotori, hands on her hips.

I sweat dropped, now? Kotori looked really confused, "Huh?"

I looked back to Astral and Yuma. "Alright!" cheered Yuma. Yuma turned to Astral, "Hey, don't tell me from the beginning you…?"

Astral stared ahead, "Right now, his duel is focused on victory too much." He looked to Yuma, "He is also pressured right now. Compared to you who duels poorly, his strategy is easy to read."

I sweat dropped. I smiled slightly and giggled, Astral~

Yuma stared at Astral, "Your words about me kind of hurt…"

Astral blinked twice before looking forward, "Let's keep going and win, Yuma!"

Yuma looked forward, "Right!"

I watched as III warily stood up. He was saying something to himself.

"III!" said Yuma, "To sacrifice your OOPArts monster, that isn't how you would duel!"

III seemed to glare before hiding his eyes in his bangs.

"I don't know what kind of power you received, but just do your own duel!" said Yuma inspirationally.

Tears fell from III's cheeks. "You don't know," he said, "Being surrounded by your friends…! You who is living happily…! When suffering and sad, my feelings when no one was there for me when I was like that…" He was crying yet he sounded so angry.

"III…!" muttered Yuma shocked.

III had tears in his eyes. His eyes were full of…insanity, "My family that I finally got back…! It was all broken apart!" He stared at us insanely, "It was totally ruined! But…Even so, I want to protect it! Yuma…! You are annoying! You are bothersome! Everything about you!"

III! His green mark on his hand started glowing brightly. He put his other hand over it and he grunted in pain.

"III!" I shouted with Yuma.

III's outfit suddenly changed. He was wearing armor. He shouted at Yuma, "Fall into darkness! Yuma!"

The power of the mark pushed Yuma backwards.

"Yuma!" shouted Astral.

"Yuma!" I yelled as well.

Yuma fell on his back. All of our friends gasped. Yuma sat up but his Emperor's Key started glowing brightly. "What's this?" asked Yuma, "The Emperor's Key…?!" Yuma suddenly screamed.

Something was wrong.

Yuma was suddenly standing up.

"Hey, Yuma, hey!" shouted Astral in concern.

Yuma had a lifeless look in his eyes. He was murmuring something, "I am scared…I am scared…Why am I…?"

Astra stared at Yuma, "What's wrong, Yuma?"

"There is no way I can do it," said Yuma, "There is no way I can win."

"Yuma, what's wrong with you?!" I shouted at him. What was he saying?!

"Don't tell me," said Astral shocked, "It is because of his marking's power…?!"

III spoke, "The Kattobingu has disappeared from his heart. Right now, Yuma can't even see you!" He was speaking to Astral?! How could he see him?! Is this his new power? And Yuma…

"What?!" asked Astral. He turned to Yuma, "Yuma, don't fall into the power of darkness! Yuma!" Astral tried to grab Yuma's shoulder but it went straight through. Astral gasped before clenching his hand into a fist.

I ran towards Yuma, ready to tackle some sense into him, "Yuma!" I shouted. Right before I touched him, III did something.

His mark attacked me and I fell right through Yuma and into Astral's arms. I heard the gasps of my friends as I stared at myself. I was in Astral Being form! I turned back to Yuma and tried touching him. No. No. No! I went right through him!

"Rima, stop interfering!" shouted III as I looked to him. He glared, "Yuma won't be able to see you in that form!"

I turned to Astral, desperation in my voice, "Astral, I can't turn back to normal!" I yelled. I opened and closed my fist, trying to become human. Why isn't it working?!

Astral and I turned to Yuma. "Neither of us can touch him," I breathed. I whipped my head to III, "III! Why?! What happened to you?! Please…! Our bond-"

III cackled before ripping the locket from his neck. He smirked, "This is what I think of our bond! You weren't there for us, for any of us! There is no bond!"

My heart cried for him. He threw the locket down on the ground and left it there. I closed my eyes, III! I reopened them and put my hand through Yuma, "Yuma…!" I whimpered.

"Yuma!" I shouted at the boy.

"…Who's there…?" he murmured.

I screamed as III hit me with the mark again. Except…no noise came out. I tried speaking, _"Astral!"_ The only thing that came out was air.

"Rima?" asked Astral, bring a hand to my face.

"He's still able to hear you…" snarled III, "I had to remove that!"

He…stole my voice?! I tried speaking but nothing came out. I tried screaming Astral's name but it only hurt my throat

"Astral, Rima, I won't let you stand in my way!" III screamed at us. A huge tower appeared behind him. It was like part of a castle.

III smirked, "Within this marking, it has the power to seal you. Disappear, Astral Beings!"

There was a flash, then a scream. I opened my eyes to meet the pavement. I sat up and watched horrified. Astral had pushed me out of the way. He was zapped into the mark before appearing on the top of the tower. He was bound by the mark and chains.

"_Astral!"_ I tried to shout. I looked to Yuma, _"Yuma…!"_ I tried to move him once more but I couldn't. I looked back to Astral. I bended my knees before launching myself to Astral. I floated in front of him. I looked at the chains, _"Astral, I'll get you out of there!"_ I tried saying. I brought a hand to my throat, my voice…

He looked at me sadly, "Don't worry, just don't get hurt."

Why is Astral worrying about me right now?! We both looked back to Yuma. Yuma! We were both absolutely worried for our friend. He lost his Kattobingu? He just looks like a shell of his old self.

"Yuma, Kattobingu had disappeared from your memories," said III, "Since Kattobingu won't be returning to you, you can't see Astral, Rima, nor the Emperor's Key. You are no longer my enemy! Go, Machu Mach! Attack Gagaga Magician!"

The monster was destroyed.

Yuma flew backwards with a scream.

**III: 2200LPS Yuma: 1700LPS**

"Yuma!" Astral and I shouted. I tried to shout at least.

"Yuma!" screamed Astral repeatedly, "Yuma! Yuma!"

He moved his arm slightly and shocks hurt him. He screamed in pain. I held whimpered as I put my arm around myself.

"Yuma!" screamed Astral, "Rima! Yuma! Yuma!"

"Yuma, disappear within the despair! Hehehehhe…" He laughed maniacally, "Ahahahahahahhahahahahha!"

I pulled at Astral's chains. It only hurt me more. I whimpered and my Empress Key. I looked down at it, damn it! The mark was on it! Papa! I looked back at Astral and pulled at the chains.

"_YUMA!"_

**I think you all know what's coming...**


	48. Astral, dead!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

_Happy Valentines Day!_

* * *

Yuma fell to the ground. He sat up with a frightened look on his face.

**III: 2200LPS Yuma: 1700LPS**

"Hmph," said III, "You no longer have the will to fight? Yuma."

Yuma whimpered, "I…I am scared…I am scared."

"_Yuma!" _My voice…I looked back to Astral. He was watching Yuma in worry. I can't believe this happened! One of my best friends, and my true love, are ensnared in this trap. I pulled at Astral's chains once more.

"Rima…" whispered Astral as frustrated tears welled up in my eyes. Why won't these budge?! III…how could you do this?!

"_I'll get you out of this!" _I tried saying but I knew Astral wouldn't be able hear me. I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. I then tried to pull his chains again.

"That's no use, Rima!" III shouted at me and I turned to glare at my cousin, "I set one card and end my turn! Now, come at me, Yuma!"

"N…no!" Yuma said, afraid, "Why must I fight these monsters…?"

I took a glance at Astral before rocketing down to Yuma. I knelt down at his side and tried to touch his shoulder. I flinched when my hand went through him. _"Yuma…" _I tried to whisper.

"What's wrong?" asked Cat-chan, confused.

"Something is wrong here ura…!" said Tokunosuke.

"And Rima suddenly stopped talking too…" said Kotori as she looked at me.

I tried speaking but nothing came out.

"Yuma!" shouted Tetsuo, "What are you doing?! It's your turn! Hey, Yuma!"

I stood up and Yuma did the same.

"Draw!" yelled Tetsuo, "Come on, draw!"

I watched worriedly. Yuma lost his Kattobingu…Astral and I can't talk to him…This is horrible!

Yuma uncertainly spoke, "My…my turn…" His hand shook as he placed his hand on his deck. He closed his eyes in fright but drew, "Draw…" he said.

III was smirking. How could he do this?!

I looked at Yuma. I put my hand _through_ his arm. I closed my eyes tightly, Yuma…

"I…" He said, scared, "I…I…" He brought his arm down with a defeated expression, "I will…surrender this duel…"

Everyone gasped.

III cackled, "For you to become such a coward after losing Kattobingu!"

"Kattobingu?" repeated Tetsuo.

"What do you mean?" asked Cat-chan.

III turned to them, smirking, "Yuma's Kattobingu and Astral have been sealed." He lifted his hand and his mark glowed. "Look at this!"

The mark over Astral glowed once more. W-what was the difference…?

"Astral?!" I heard Kotori say. I whipped my head to her, she can see him?! I looked at my friends, they can all see him?!

"Being at such a place…" said Tokunosuke.

"Rima's voice is also sealed along with her visibility to Yuma. To Yuma who lost his Kattobingu, Astral and Rima, the only thing that is left for him to fear is fear."

"That can't be…!" said Kotori.

"Hey, you are really playing dirty!" yelled Tetsuo.

"_Yuma, open your eyes!" _I screamed. I put my hand through his arm.

The only reaction was a slight shiver and a mumble, "Who's there…?"

He can still feel my presence but he doesn't…

"That's right!"

"This is really unfair!"

"Go ahead and shout all your crap," said III, "Yuma, I am sorry, but I can't accept your surrender! You will lose to me and have everything taken away from you!"

Yuma gasped and took a step back, "N-no way!"

III was still sneering, "Don't worry. I will have you go in peace. Prepare yourself, Tsukumo Yuma! I will break you apart! My turn, draw!"

"This is bad!" shouted Inchou.

"Don't worry," said Tetsuo, "Yuma right now has Gogogo Golem!"

Don't worry, you say! I can't do anything but worry!

"I am not that stupid!" shouted III, "I summon OOPArts Mud Golem – Shakouki (Atk: 1700-Lvl: 4)! Gogogo Golem in defense position can't be destroyed? But that is pointless against me! Go, Mud Golem – Shakouki! Attack Gogogo Golem! Jyoman Laser! When this monster attacks a defense position monster, it can inflict damage equal to the amount of Atk difference to the defense position monster!"

Gogogo Golem was attacked and, because of impact, both Yuma and I flew backwards.

**III: 2200LPS Yuma: 1500LPS**

We both screamed as we fell to the ground.

"Then I activate the quick magic card, Heart of Stone!" declared III, "When an OOPArts monster was unable to destroy an opponent's monster by battle, this card lets the monster attack once again! Mud Golem – Shakouki, obliterate Gogogo Golem! Jyoman laser!"

Gogogo Golem was now destroyed. The aftershock made Yuma scream in pain as I just whimpered.

**III: 2200LPS Yuma: 1300LPS**

"Yuma!" shouted Tetsuo.

I went onto my knees and turned to Yuma, worried.

"With this, you don't have anything to protect you anymore," shouted III, "It's over, Yuma! Go, Machu Mach! Flames of Bril!"

I gasped, oh no.

"If he receives that attack, it's over!" shouted Inchou.

Yuma and I stared at the fireball. I turned to Yuma and analyzed his hand. That card…

"Yuma…!" said Astral and I looked at him. Astral closed his eyes and clenched his fists, "This is…my…last strength!" He opened his eyes, "Remember it! The Kattobingu!" Astral glowed blue. A blue orb appeared and it became a shot towards Yuma. It hit the boy head on.

I closed my eyes from the brightness. I reopened them when the light disappeared. Yuma sat up and stared at his hand. What…did Astral do? I suddenly feel really weak. I glanced at Astral and took a breath. I'll have to trust him on this! I pointed to the card Yuma needed. By the touch, the card glowed.

"This card…" Yuma gasped and looked up. He quickly grabbed the card, "I-I special summon Gagaga Gardna (Atk: 1300-Lvl: 4)!"

"What?!" asked III, shocked. It was mutual. I can't believe Yuma…Astral, good job.

"That's the way to do it, Yuma-kun!" encouraged Inchou.

Yuma took his turn to explain, "When I receive a direct attack, Gagaga Gardna can be special summoned from my hand!"

Yuma shouted as we both flew backwards from the force.

"Yu-Yuma!" shouted Astral as he watched us, "Rima!"

Yuma fell to the ground with a thud but I floated back to my feet.

**III: 2200LPS Yuma: 400LPS**

Yuma's still in. Thank goodness…!

"Impossible…" said III, eyes wide, "How?!" His expression contorted into one of rage, "It was you, Astral!" he snarled at the alien, "You really got in my way this time, Astral!" He shot his hand forward.

I hurtled towards Astral. I flew just in front of him, arms spread wide. I snarled back at III, _"Don't touch him!"_ The only thing that came out was an animal growl.

"Get out of the way or I'll hurt you too!" shouted III.

I glared back fiercely. Hurting Astral was like hurting me anyways. I don't want Astral getting hurt! This soul-string is one sided after all. If I get hurt, Astral won't. It's a good deal.

"Rima."

I heard the slight softness in Astral's voice. I looked at him from over my shoulder. I knew talking was no use so I shook my head. I won't let him get hurt.

"Rima." He said once more. I heard the warning tone. He was telling me to get out of the way.

I shook my head once more, eyes blazing. Certainly Astral knows what I'm trying to do. He won't get hurt if I get the damage of whatever III was planning.

Suddenly, Astral's gaze was so full of intensity that I actually moved a bit away. It was a mixture of love and…menace. I had only seen that on one person. He was telling me to get away…to get away before I got hurt. Just like Black Mist.

He then closed his eyes, "Don't break your promise to me, okay?" he asked.

I stared at him, what promise? What did he mean?

He opened his eyes, determination embedded there. He glanced at Yuma, "Don't give up, Yuma…"

Of course, Yuma didn't hear or see anything.

Astral looked back to me. He smiled a very sorrowful smile, "I love you, Rima Tsubasa."

The feelings in his voice when he said that…I…I love him too. But…why was he saying this now?

Astral then pushed himself against his chains. I screamed as the shocks hit our bodies. It was obvious it was hurting him as well. He was the one getting the most agony! He only grunted in pain, watching me in sorrow as I flew down a bit. It hurt…! I-it hurt! Astral…he couldn't have…he couldn't have done this on purpose, could he? I flew out of my defensive stance. Astral was wide open. There was nothing on his field to protect him.

III realized this as well. All the anger, the rage, the torment, with his mark, he launched it all at Astral. The mark attached itself to Astral, glowing luminously. The chains once more electrified making Astral scream. And if that made Astral scream…

I was only watching. I was only watching but I was connected to Astral. I screamed as well. I flew to Astral but I knew…I knew the pain, Astral's pain, would keep me away from the one I love.

The tower he was connected to…fractured. It was being destroyed!

"**Disappear!" **shouted III.

"YUMA!" shouted Astral, "DON'T GIVE UP!" Then there was a spark of light. After that, Astral was…

In one second. In one tiny little second. With one's anger…in one second…Astral was dead.

"_Astral…" _I had no more strength. My whole body went numb. Gravity. I fell. I didn't feel it when I fell right into Kotori's arms. I didn't feel warmth. I felt cold. All over my body, I was numb, I was cold. I did not register any voices. I had no strength. I was dead but I was alive. I was dead but I was not dead. I could not even find strength. I only felt dead. I felt sorrow in my heart though. Was my heart even beating? No. It only beat for Astral. Astral was dead.

_*Flashback*_

_My eyes widened, "His memory was scattered…" I stated. Of course. Astral and I had a bond. We had a bond that could hurt us both. I smiled wryly, "At least I know when he's in danger."_

_Tsubasa closed his eyes, "Do you understand, Rima?"_

_I nodded slowly, "Yeah…it sucks that I always get hurt by him being hurt but at least-"_

_"You don't understand," said my papa sternly._

_I blinked, "Yeah, I do!" I said._

_"You of all people know that he can disappear in one duel," said my papa._

_I didn't understand. But then, it hit me. I stood up shakily, "If Astral disappears…"_

_"…You won't disappear immediately but you will disappear in about a day or so…"_

_*Flashback end*_

I will disappear. I will die. Keep our promise? What promise was Astral…?

_*Flashback*_

_"If I did disappear…what would you do?" asked Astral softly._

_I looked up at Astral. I thought the whole point of this was to say he wouldn't disappear. A few more tears fell down my cheeks, "I-I don't know…"_

_"Promise me one thing though"_

_"What is it?" I asked._

_He held me close, if that was possible, "If I do fade away, promise me that you won't cry…not like this"_

_I let out a dry laugh, "You want me to do something impossible?" It was impossible._

_"It is not"_

_"I don't think I can do that, Astral"_

_"I don't wish to see you sad if I go," he said quietly._

_"Then…I guess I have to promise you, don't I?"_

_"Will you?"_

_I nodded, "Alright, Astral. I promise I won't cry but I won't promise that I'll be full of smiles…"_

_Astral held both of my tear-soaked cheeks, "Thank you, my love," he then kissed me passionately._

_*Flashback end*_

That's right. We sealed our promise with a kiss. I couldn't even bring up the strength to cry. I was destroyed. I was dead. It was not only from physical pain. It was from the pain from losing Astral.

Everything around me still happened. I only registered what I needed. I barely registered that the duel was still on.

Yuma accidentally moved too back and fell. He grabbed hold of the ledge, legs dangling below him.

The next second, we were all there. While everyone was helping Yuma, I was staring at my hand. I was fading. One second I was there, the next I wasn't. It kept continuing. I looked up from it tiredly, I could not help Yuma in any way. I could not touch him, I could not speak to him, I could not duel for him.

"Why are you guys…?" questioned Yuma as everyone pulled him up.

"It's obvious!" shouted Tetsuo, "We are friends!"

Yuma gasped, "You are my friends…?"

"That's right!" said Kotori.

"Yuma!" said Cat-chan.

"We are…" said Inchou.

"…Comrades! Ura!" shouted Tokunosuke.

Everyone stared at Yuma as he went on hands and knees. I stared at him with a blank, drained expression.

"You really forgot everything?" asked Tetsuo. We all knew the answer though, "You were someone who never gave up!" He grabbed Yuma's shirt, "No matter what the situation, you always fought bravely! That is the Yuma I know!" He let go of him.

Yuma looked at the ground incredulously, "I am brave…? We are comrades…?" Yuma held his head.

"Chatting time is over," said III.

As everyone whipped their heads to him, I slowly turned mine.

III was smirking, "I forgot you guys were still here." His mark glowed and he threw it at us.

Everyone screamed as we were all blasted away. I didn't feel anything. I didn't feel it when I landed beside Kotori. I lay down, fading more.

"Rima!" shouted Kotori. There was something in her hands…She brought me onto her lap, still holding that thing. Everyone was together…except for Yuma.

Crystals surrounded us. Crystals were the fence posts and red bolts of electricity were the chains. We were stuck in a cage. I could fly out but I barely had the strength to keep my eyes open.

"Yuma, I will take everything away from you!" shouted III.

For a second, I thought I stopped breathing. I let myself use less energy, to stay awake even if I stayed dead without Astral. I only registered what I needed, leaving everything else out.

Kotori opened her hand I registered the Emperor's Key. It glowed brightly. We all looked at it. The warmth it was giving off…I had the ability to sit up. My Empress Key shone as well. My body moved on its own. I grabbed the Emperor's Key and ripped the Empress Key from my neck. My friends all watched me with shock as I clasped my hands over them both. I closed my eyes.

"_Kazuma-san…"_ _I watched the man. Where was I…? When did I get back the strength to talk?_

_He only smiled at me, "Put those keys together for me, okay? I need to borrow some of Tsubasa's strength."_

I reopened my eyes. Even though my hands covered both keys, they both still shined from underneath. I did not know what I was doing but I know I finished. I opened my hands. I heard gasps. In my hand was only one key. There was only one key, one Emperor's Key. It looked slightly different. The biggest difference was that the jewel in it was halved into green and red. It was also slightly bigger. I passed it to Kotori before collapsing. I was still conscious but barely.

A blue beam suddenly launched from the new Emperor's Key. It hit III. Though he made a barrier, the beam broke through. All the spells disappeared. The mark on me disappeared but it did not help me. I was still dead.

But Yuma, Yuma was whispered, "Kattobingu."

The prison broke and the rest of our friends stood up. I stayed on the ground, energy gone.

"Yuma! Take this!" shouted Kotori and she threw the new Emperor's Key at Yuma.

He stood up and caught it. It glowed brightly in his hand to which he flinched. He then stared at it, "That's right. The thing I forgot about was…" He grinned, "Kattobingu!"

He remembered…I meekly smiled as everyone grinned happily. Yuma…remembered.

"Yu…Yuma!" said Cat-chan excitedly.

Kotori smiled as well. I wearily stood up and floated beside Kotori. She noticed me and I lay my head on her shoulder. I'm…so tired…

"Impossible!" shouted III as he stood up, "It can't be! To break the power of Tron's crest…!"

"III!" spoke Yuma, "For you to use your crest's power for something like this…" He put the Emperor's Key around his neck.

"Shut up!" shouted III, "You just fall into hell along with Astral!"

My heart was already broken…! I kept tears from falling, how dare he say that! How dare he make Astral disappear?! I made sure to not let tears fall. Isn't that what Astral made me promise?

"Astral?" repeated Yuma. He looked around shocked, "Astral! Where is Astral?!" he asked III.

III was smirking with grim satisfaction, "Sorry, but Astral is no longer here."

"What happened?!" asked Yuma. I don't think he was accepting it…

"Just as I said," said III, "Astral has disappeared."

"What?!" asked Yuma. His eyes were watering, "It's a lie…"

I wish it was. I flinched when I saw my hand fade. I was dying…

"You should have seen it," provoked III, "The way he disappeared."

…Yes, Yuma should've seen it. He should feel the pain I feel. I pushed that thought away. No, I would not hurt Yuma because I…I watched Astral and he didn't.

Yuma stared at III. The tears fell, "It's a lie!" he denied, "Impossible!" Incredible sadness was there, "This kind of thing just can't happen! He wouldn't go anywhere without me! Hey, Kotori, Rima, Tetsuo!" he shouted. He looked at us so the truth would go away.

Everyone looked down. Kotori just stared at Yuma along with me. A tear raced down Kotori's cheek.

"Kotori…it can't be!" shouted Yuma.

"Yuma…" my voice came back as I lifted my head. I stared at him, "Look at me, Yuma!" I shouted. It sounded less louder than I hoped but it was still my voice.

Yuma looked at me and gasped. He knew about the soul-string.

"I'm disappearing, Yuma," I whispered. I closed my eyes to stop tears from falling. Saying it out loud…saying it for everyone to hear…it made it more real.

"No way…" whispered Yuma. He looked at me, wanting to deny everything, "There's no way you're disappearing, Rima! There's no way Astral's gone!"

"How annoying!" shouted III, making my eyes open, "Astral disappeared thanks to my crest's power!"

Yuma had to realize this now. He now acknowledged it. He whimpered, "Astral…!" I had to watch tears run down his cheeks. I could not break my promise to Astral. Yuma fell down to his hands and knees.

"He's gone…" I whispered as I floated clumsily to Yuma. I knelt down beside him, watching tears run down his cheeks. Cry for me, Yuma. I whimpered, "He's gone, Yuma. I will soon follow."

Yuma looked up, hot tears in his eyes. He glared at III, "Rima…I thought you held Rima close to you! I thought you held your cousin close to you!" He shouted, "If so…If so, why are you making her disappear?!"

Gasps followed that question. III just glared at Yuma, "She's still there, isn't she?"

Yuma glared, "Rima is bonded with Astral! Astral may be _in_ my heart but…But he _is_ Rima's heart! They are so bonded that…If Astral disappears, Rima will soon follow! That is their bond! Since Astral is…"

Yuma looked back at the ground. A few more tears fell. I hovered beside him. Yuma…Yuma was hurting too.

"I will protect my family," said III as he just glared at us. I knew it, he didn't care anymore. He sneered, "In order to do that, I will take any means possible. Now, let's continue the duel! I activate the field magic, OOPArts City Babylon's effect! I banish OOPArts Aztec Mask Golem from my graveyard, and special summon Cabrera's Catapult of the same level from the graveyard in defense position (Def: 1800-Lvl: 4)! With this, I end my turn!"

So we're returning to the duel…

"Yuma, you're life points are a mere 400," said III, "I have Cabrera's Catapult and No.33 OOPArts Super Weapon – Machu Mach on my field! You don't have any more chance in beating me! Now, I will break you and your Kattobingu apart!"

Yuma clenched his fist, "I won't forgive you!" He looked up, tears in his eyes, "III…I will never forgive you!" Yuma stood up with a yell, "I am going to Kattobingu! Draw!"

I floated beside him. I will stand by Yuma's side for as long as I can. Astral…! Please be with us in spirit! I looked at Yuma, he was thinking. Yuma's deck box suddenly glowed. Yuma gasped as it opened.

"This is…!" said Yuma as I took a peek, "So you left this for me!"

"Yuma…" I spoke as said-boy looked to me, "Our Keys have merged into one." It glinted when I said that. I found confidence in my voice to lend to Yuma, "You have two- no, you have _three_ Astral Beings behind you on this. I smiled at him, "Astral is in your heart though. You and Astral are a team. Win with both of your power. Yuma…win this."

Yuma smiled his signature smile, "Thank you, Rima. I will fight with his spirit." Yuma looked forward, "Let's go, Astral! The memories of you and me fighting together are my flesh and blood! I activate the equip magic card, Gagagarevenge! This card revives a Gagaga monster from my graveyard, and equips to it! Revive, Gagaga Magician (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)! And I summon Full Elf (Atk: 800-Lvl: 2)! Full Elf can once per turn by sending one monster in my hand to the graveyard, it adds the sent monster's level to itself!"

Yuma…I smiled, good.

"I send the level 2 Overlay Eater to the graveyard, and increase Full Elf's level to 4!" said Yuma.

"It…It can't be!" said III.

"Yeah!" shouted Yuma, "I overlay the level 4 Gagaga Magician and Full Elf! I create an overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon! Appear, No.39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

It hurts to see this number but I smiled nonetheless. It's nice to see him.

"Impossible!" shouted III.

Yuma announced, "This is the last hope that Astral left with me!"

"Hope?" repeated III, "You still think you have that in this situation?!"

"That's right!" Yuma retorted, "In my heart! The flames of hope will never go away! This is the Kattobingu that Astral left with me!"

III's face contorted in rage, "Yuma!" he screamed in anger.

Yuma didn't let it affect him, "I activate the equip magic card, Gagagarevenge's effect! When the monster equipped with this card becomes an Xyz material, it increases the Xyz monster's Atk by 300 (Atk: 2800)! Go, Aspiring Emperor – Hope! Attack Machu Mach! Hope sword twin blade shoot!"

Hope attacked the number.

"This is Kattobingu!" shouted Yuma.

III turned to his monster, "What?!" III fell when it was destroyed.

**III: 1800LPS Yuma: 400LPS**

III stared at Yuma incredulously, "Just how can you do this despite Astral not being here…?!"

"There is no reason!" said Yuma, "This is me and Astral's power! With this, I end my turn!"

"That was great, Yuma," I complimented as I tried not looking at my fading body.

"Unforgivable…" III stood up with malice, "I won't forgive you, Yuma!"

"Come at me, III!" Yuma shouted back.

"My power isn't just Machu Mach!" said III. His mark glowed, "My turn, draw! I tribute Cabrera's Catapult to tribute summon OOPArts Sol Monolith (Atk: 600-Lvl: 6)! When Sol Monolith is summoned successfully, it can change another monster's level to 6! I increase Mud Golem – Shakouki's level to 6! I overlay the level 6 Sol Monolith and Mud Golem – Shakouki! I create an overlay network with the two monsters! Xyz summon! I will show you. This is the new power I received from Tron…!"

I could feel it. It was big and if it was from…Wait, Tron?

"Appear, No.6 OOPArts Atlanthal!" he declared.

A huge Lava-earth being appeared (Atk: 2600-Rank: 6).

"A new numbers…" I breathed.

"Atlanthal's effect activates!" shouted III, "When this card is Xyz summoned successfully, it can equip a numbers monster from the graveyard!"

"Is he planning on equipping Machu Mach?!" questioned Yuma.

No.33 Machu Mach appeared from the sky and latched onto Atlanthal (Atk: 5000)!

We all gasped.

"Atk power of 5000!" shouted Tetsuo.

"Machu Mach's attack power was added to it!" explained Inchou.

Yuma and I glared at the creature. It was strong enough to destroy Hope!

"Atlanthal, attack Hope!" ordered III, "Divine punishment!" A huge tornado targeted us.

"I won't let you!" shouted Yuma, "I activate Hope's effect! Moon barrier! Alright!"

Hope's shield appeared.

"It's not over!" shouted III, "Atlanthal still has more effects! Atlanthal's effect activates! By using one overlay unit, it can halve the opponent's life points! Orihalcon gate!"

I gasped, "Yuma!" I called.

We were both shot backwards. We both fell onto the ground.

**III: 1800LPS Yuma: 200LPS**

The life point change no longer hurt me. Astral was not here.

III smirked at us, "This time I will really bring this to end."

Yuma pushed himself up as I followed, "You…" he said, "You think I will let you?!" He stood up, "I won't let you! I will never give up! That is Astral and my Kattobingu!"


	49. The End of a Fierce Fight!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

III stared at us, "With this, your life points are merely 200. I will finish you off, Yuma! I set two cards face down and end my turn!"

Yuma stared back determinedly, "I will never give up. For Astral who left me with Hope! My turn, draw! Kattobingu daze, ore! When my life points are 1000 or lower, I can use Aspiring Emperor – Hope as Xyz material. Chaos Xyz change!"

This is…A chaos number?! Again…

Yuma continued, "Appear, Chaos No.39! Emissary who turns chaos into light! Aspiring Emperor – Hope Ray (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"

Hope's white parts were replaced with black ones. A green gem was embedded in his forehead. He stood tall with confidence.

"It's here!" cheered Tetsuo, "Hope Ray!"

"Go Kyattobingu, Yuma!" cheered Cat-chan.

III looked up at it, "So it's here…"

I looked up at Hope Ray. Astral…you left Yuma this small sliver of hope. But…because of this stupid duel…I will not cry. If I have to do anything it's keep this promise. Please, Hope Ray, help Yuma win!

Yuma looked forward determinedly, "Overlay Eater's effect in my graveyard activates! By banishing this card from the graveyard, it can transfer an overlay unit from an opponent's Xyz monster to my own xyz monster!"

Now Hope Ray had 3 overlay units!

"All right!" cheered Yuma, "With this, Atlanthal can no longer use its effect! Let's go! Hope Ray's effect activates! By using an overlay unit, it can increase its Atk by 500! I will use all 3 overlay units of Hope Ray! Overlay charge (Atk: 4000)! Continuing on from this effect, Atlanthal's Atk decreases, by 1000, per overlay unit used!"

"That means Athanthal's Atk is 2000," I said quietly. Yuma was doing very well. I could feel Yuma's spirit radiating off him. It gave me strength. But I know I was fading more and more. I'm sure my Empress Key was worth fusing with the Emperor's Key. It helped Yuma so it's fine. Yuma will win, but…this stupid card game!

III was taken aback, "Despite Astral ceasing to exist, how?!" he questioned.

Yuma retorted right back, assurance in his eyes, "No, he exists! Within my heart, and within my Kattobingu! It's what gives me strength! Go, Aspiring Emperor – Hope Ray!"

"I already read this kind of move!" interfered III, "Trap activate, Thunder Pot! This card negates an attack towards an OOPArts monster, and forcibly ends the battle phase!"

Yuma gasped, "Hope Ray!" he said in concern.

Our friends gasped. Cat-chan spoke, "Yuma's attack has…"

"What a move…" said Tetsuo.

III smirked at us with confidence, "Even if it was Hope Ray's attack, looks like it couldn't reach me."

Yuma exhaled angrily, "Not yet! You think I will give up?! I set one card and end my turn!"

III stared at us with a frown. He put his hand on his hip, "You sure are late in giving up, Yuma. As our monsters Atk has returned to normal, you no longer have any means to win. My turn, dr-"

He froze. A pained expression graced his features. He flinched and started panting. Suddenly, worry for my cousin clutched my heart. Even though he was the reason Astral disappeared…why? He is still your cousin, Rima.

III looked back to his number. Determination adorned his face as he glared at Yuma, "I…I will certainly meet Tron's expectations!"

T-Tron…? Who is this mysterious Tron?! III is Mihael. IV is Thomas. V is Chris. Tron is…Tron is…

"…What's wrong with him?" Yuma asked.

"Let's go, Yuma!" shouted III. I heard the tone of fatigue, pain. He continued, "Draw!"

The volcano on the number…it started shaking the ground! A volcanic eruption?!

Our friends shouted in surprise as Yuma regained his balance. My eyes were focused on that volcanic number. What is this?

The volcano erupted and stone chunks fell around us. It landed near Yuma and made small explosions. Yuma shielded himself with a cry.

III braced himself but continued, "When Atlanthal lacks overlay units, on the standby phase, it halves both players' life points!"

Yuma and I flew backwards onto our backs and I saw III do the same.

**III: 900LPS Yuma: 100LPS**

"Rima, you okay?" asked Yuma as he looked at me. He seemed to remember that I get injured during his duels.

I stared at the evening sky. That's right, there was no sky blue…no Astral. "I get hurt when he gets hurt…I'm fine." That was a lie. I was dead. Yuma needed to keep dueling though.

"What's up with him?" Tetsuo asked. We looked at him to see that he was talking about III, "Even halving his own life…!"

"Yuma…"

Yuma pushed himself up, "Damn…! Not yet…! I still have life points remaining!" Yuma turned to III with a fierce look on his face.

III also stood up shakily. He turned to us unsteadily, a ragdoll. His helmet fell off his head. He lifted his head so we could see him. I gasped. His mark…the mark around his eye…it spread all over his face, down his neck even!

Yuma and I picked ourselves off the ground. Yuma stood up, "III…that is?!"

III had an agonized look. He threw his head back and screamed. III…My cousin…III! Shocks racked through his body.

Yuma started running towards him, "III! III!"

"Don't come!"

III's word stopped Yuma short.

III then spoke, "Don't concern yourself with me, Yuma. This is the price for the powers I obtained…But even if my body breaks apart, I…I will certainly protect my family!"

III…his family…

Yuma stared at III with wide eyes, "III, you…"

III raised his arm, "I will defeat you with this attack! Go, Atlanthal! Attack Hope Ray! Divine punishment!"

5000 attack points to 2500 attack points. A tornado targeted us once more. I blocked everyone else's voices out. I focused on Yuma, "Yuma."

Yuma nodded, "Trap activate! Battle Break! When an opponent declares battle with a monster, this card forcibly ends the battle and destroys the monster!"

III turned to his number, "What?!" He turned back to Yuma angrily, "Trap!" I saw his body tense up. He was…he looked afraid to use the trap. Something was up with it…

III's hand shook in fear. He retreated his hand back to himself, eyes closed in fright. He glanced at his number. He looked back at his hand. He seemed to ignore his fear and go on, "I activate the continuous trap card, Angolmois!"

I was shocked. Angolmois…that was a theory or something. It had to do with the end of the world, destruction.

III explained this deadly-sounding card, "This card destroys an equip card, and negates an opponent's trap card and destroys it!"

"What?!" asked Yuma, "Even by decreasing Atlanthal's Atk, my trap is…?"

III continued, "This attack is enough!" he yelled, "Your life points are a mere 100! Continue your attack, Atlanthal (Atk: 2600)! Finish off Hope Ray and Yuma!"

Yuma raised his arm, "Trap activate! Half Unbreak! This card protects Hope Ray from destruction! Then halves the battle damage towards the player!"

Yuma and I were once again forced backwards because of the blow.

**III: 900LPS Yuma: 50LPS**

"Yuma!"

"Remaining life points…50!"

I stood back up. I watched in worry as III fell to on knee with a pain-stricken expression. He started panting, sweat beading his brow. "Yuma…" he said with a strained voice, "You are still…!" He suddenly screamed.

I don't want to hear that sound. It hurt…Stop hurting me. God, please stop hurting me…My heart's already broken, so is my body, stop hurting me!

I watched III helplessly as he fell to hands and knees. Like Astral, shocks moved up and down his body.

"III!" shouted Yuma.

III kept panting, staring at one point.

Yuma stood up with a shocked and worried expression, "III…you…!"

III stood up with the little strength he had, "My true…I will show you my true power!" III shouted at us. He still had willpower.

Yuma shouted back, "Stop this right now, III!" His eyes were watering, "Haven't we become friends?!"

"Yuma…" whispered III, "I don't need any friends…"

"I want to talk to you!" shouted Yuma, "About your family, and about my dad!"

III lowered his head, "Yuma…" His fierce glare turned into a sad happy expression. His looked softened but sorrow was still there. III smiled, tears in his eyes, "Thank you…But…" A tear ran down his face, "It's too late."

Too…late? III…was happy but…it was too late?

"What do you mean by that?" asked Yuma.

III had a dark look, "The trap card I activated…Angolmois is a card of destruction."

A red beacon shot upwards into the sky. III spoke, "On my next turn, it inflicts damage to me and you, and equal to the destroyed Machu Mach's attack points…"

A huge mark appeared in the sky. It looked like III's but it was slightly different. It was like a sideways eye. The strokes on around the mark grew and became huge cords or ropes. They anchored into the ground and rotated around.

"What?" asked Kotori.

"Just what…?!" asked Tetsuo.

We looked around and building started vanishing. Everything around us was being destroyed!

III stared forward, "Basically, on my next turn, we will both receive 2400 points of damage and will be finished. But it probably won't end in a normal draw."

The mark in the sky turned into a small orb. It shot itself into No.6 Atlanthal.

III continued, "Since we battled with numbers up to this extent. But I don't mind. If my sacrifice can meet Tron's expectations," III smiled, "If my family can return to normal as before…"

He didn't care about his own wellbeing?! His family couldn't return to normal if III was…

"III…" I whispered.

"III, you…" said Yuma.

"Hey…" said Tetsuo as our friends looked at the buildings, "That darkness, don't you think it's approaching us? Doesn't it look dangerous?"

Inchou stuttered, "E-even so, this is A/R, right? This can't happen in real…eh?!"

He took off his D-Gazer. I could sense it. This _was _real. The darkness was trying to destroy us.

Inchou gasped, "Wait, now that I see it…! This is real?!"

The buildings around us started vanishing at a faster rate. Red lightning struck around us.

"This isn't good! If this goes on, we will be…!"

"What do we do? Ura?"

Yuma and I turned to III quickly. Yuma shouted, "Hey, III!"

III took a step back and confusion clouded his eyes, "Something is wrong here…!" He looked at everything happening, the vanishing, the destruction, "Don't tell me…! The door to the other dimension is…?!"

He gasped and quickly turned to his number. He held up his hand, mark activating. His mark hit his number but it only lashed back! III screamed as he was hit with a blast.

"III!" shouted Yuma.

"M-Mihael!" I shouted. Damn it! I rocketed towards my cousin and floated beside him, "Mihael!"

III looked up, "It won't work! I can't control it with my crest's power…!"

"Eh?" I asked as I turned to the ginormous number. I had no strength as it is, I could not help!

The arena we were on started cracking, it started destroying itself!

III stared up at his number, "Don't tell me that Angolmois' power…leads the world to destruction?!"

The ground underneath us disappeared and we started falling. We all gave a cry as we were caught in some current.

Yuma looked at us, "Hey, III! Just what is going on here?!"

III stared right back, "If this goes on, this duel will lead us to another dimension. You and me…No…everything will be sucked up into it!"

Another dimension?!

"What?!" asked Yuma with wide eyes.

"It can't be!"

"Help me, ura! I don't like this, ura!"

III looked down, "I never wished for the world to end or anything! Forgive me, Yuma…"

Yuma suddenly looked up, "Kattobingu!"

"Eh?" asked III as we both stared at Yuma.

Yuma continued, "You said if this continues, we will be sucked up into another dimension, right? Then I will defeat you in this duel and stop it!"

Defeat Angolmois?!

III shook his head slightly, "It's impossible! When my life points are lower than 1000, Atlanthal can't be destroyed by battle and I can't receive any battle damage!" He looked down, eyes closed, "With this, we are finished…!"

"Don't joke around!" shouted Yuma, "The duel hasn't finished yet! Like I will give up! That's right. If it was Astral, he would still fight on…"

I nodded to Yuma, "Remember, Yuma? You both have been in a tight situation before! Remember that duel with Kaito?"

Yuma seemed to remember something. He whispered, "Zexal…"

My eyes widened as my hair whipped my face. Zexal?!

"Zexal?" repeated III.

Yuma explained it, "It's the miracle power that Astral and I used!"

I looked at Yuma with a sorrowful look, "But, Yuma…" I stopped tears from falling, "Astral…"

Yuma had the same look, "He isn't…"

I looked away.

"Yuma…Rima…" whispered III. He held up his crest, "Yuma, we might be able to bring Astral back."

My head snapped to III.

Yuma came closer to us, "Bring back Astral?!"

III stared at us determinedly, "Astral disappeared because of my crest's power. That's why, if I were to give you this power…"

"Then Astral will come back?!" asked Yuma.

"Astral will?!" I asked, hope rising in my voice.

III stared at us, "But the problem is if you can handle the crest's power. You might be consumed with its power…!"

"I don't care!" said Yuma, "If Astral will come back…! Now, give me your power!"

III closed his eyes, thinking. There was more to this then III let on.

"III!" shouted Yuma. He either not noticed or ignored it.

III opened his eyes. I saw fear and worry in them. I took a small breath before wrapping my arm around III's waist. He gasped and looked at me.

I smiled, facing his chest. I whispered, "I may have not been there for you then, but…I'm here now. I'll give you an extra boost of strength, III…" I looked up at his eyes, "Don't worry. You're only 15, you're allowed to make mistakes!" I hugged him, cheek resting on his chest, "Now…" I let my energy flow through him.

III put one hand on my shoulder. I felt something land on my head. A tear drop…? III held out his other hand and Yuma did the same. They put their hands together and interlocked their fingers. I could feel t-the crest's p-power!

Yuma started whimpering and he shouted, "Astral…!" he shouted.

"Yuma!" said III worriedly.

"Yuma…" I griped.

"Yuma!" said Kotori as well.

Yuma cried out, "This stupid crest's power…! Kattobingu daze, ore! Astral!"

I felt something within me stir. My strength was returning!

"Rima…you stopped fading!" said III as he stared at me.

I looked up with a smile, "Thank you, III."

As if on cue, Yuma's Emperor's Key glowed brightly. III and Yuma's grasp on each other broke as particles appeared. They formed a figure…My eyes watered, Astral! Astral looked at us, smiling, "Yuma."

"Astral, you…!" said Yuma happily.

"I heard your voice…" said Astral.

I flinched and moved my right hand over my left. I had seen it out of the corner of my eye. This can't be happening now…I saw it and I hoped no one else saw it too…III was staring at me and I looked to meet his gaze. He saw it too. His eyes were wide but I shook my head. Now was not the time. Something caught my eye. It distracted me as I looked to it. I gasped, the heart locket! III and I's heart locket!

I let go of III and dove down towards the halved lockets. I'm not losing that too! I shakily shot my hand forward and grabbed it. I held to my chest, "Thank goodness…" I breathed before closing my eyes. I…what was this sudden fatigue? I felt myself plummeting downwards.

I felt someone wrap their arms around me. I opened my eyes just to see white and gold ones staring right back. Astral smiled at me before rocketing back up to Yuma's side. I put the cord around my neck and put my right hand back over my left. There was no need for Astral to see it.

"Rima, are you okay?" asked Astral as we floated beside Yuma.

He was smiling. Astral was smiling. It wasn't fair! Tears finally ran down my cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" he asked me with a frown, "I asked you to keep your promise?"

My voice sounded high-pitched as the tears kept falling, "Well, you're back so I can do cry now! Let me cry, you jerk!" I pounded his chest, "How dare you?!" I asked him, crying freely.

He winced at my punches but smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, Rima."

"You should be! You're such a stupid jerk-face! You- mmph!" Astral had pressed his lips to mine. He parted with me as my tears subsided, "Jerk-face…that's a new one…" He mused to himself.

"This isn't funny!" I shouted as I pushed myself away from him. I floated on my own and crossed my arms childishly. It wasn't funny…! How dare he make it a joke?!

III whispered, "Oh my god, I'm sorry, Rima!"

I looked at him, surprised.

"I didn't know…I…"

My eyes widened, the kiss. He just saw me and Astral kiss. He had a huge guilty look on his face now. "Don't worry about it," I whispered.

He suddenly screamed in pain. We all looked at him worriedly.

"III!" I shouted as I tried to reach out for him.

III screamed in agony as he was ensnared by No.6. He screamed, "Yu…Yuma! Astral…! Don't be concerned about me, and defeat this thing!" He was…gone. I think he was absorbed but tears sprung into my eyes, "**MIHAEL!**" I screamed.

Astral quickly turned to Yuma, "Yuma, it's Zexal!"

"Alright!" said Yuma in agreement, "Let's go, Astral!"

"Win, Yuma, Astral…" My bangs fell over my eyes, "Please…save him…"

Yuma and Astral turned into red and blue orbs. Yuma shouted, "I will overlay you and myself! I create an overlay network with ourselves!"

"What's that?!"

Yuma and Astral fused into one.

Astral continued, "When two faraway souls connect, the descending power appears. Xyz change! Zexal!"

In front of us now stood Yuma and Astral's fused form. Yuma had spikey golden hair with red spiked bangs. He was wearing his awesome armor and huge D-Pad. I smiled slightly.

"Let's go, Astral!" shouted Yuma.

"To a powerful duelist, all duels are important! Even the card being drawn is created by the duelist!" said Astral.

They both spoke together, "Shining draw! Come, Zexal Weapon Phoenix Bow (Atk: 1100-Lvl: 3)! This monster can be equipped to Hope Ray, and when Hope Ray equipped with this card attacks an opponent's monster, it negates the battle damage, and inflicts 1000 points of damage towards the opponent! Go, Hope Ray! Attack Atlanthal! Phoenix finish!"

The numbers clashed and they were destroyed.

Everyone flew backwards from such force.

**III: 0LPS Yuma: 50LPS**

**Yuma is the winner!**

I opened my eyes to be facing the ground.

"I…?" I heard Yuma say.

I noticed my left hand and hid it with my right. I sat up, everyone was on the ground. I wasn't in Astral Being form anymore!

"Where am I…?" I heard Tokunosuke ask, "It's the location of where we were, ura!"

"Then to summarize, we are alive!"

"I…won?" Yuma asked.

My eyes swept to beside me. I gasped, I was beside III. I crawled over to my cousin, "Hey, Mihael…"

"III, III!" I heard Yuma shout as he ran towards us. Yuma and I helped III up to his feet.

"You…" said Yuma staring at III.

"I know, Yuma," said III, "You accepted the current me. You are my first true friend."

"III…" whispered Yuma.

III turned to Yuma with a smile, "Yuma, I have a favor to ask you. Won't you save my family?"

"Eh?" asked Yuma.

III stared at him, "If it's you…if it is your Kattobingu, I am sure…"

I hugged III. I knew he wouldn't be okay. I saw the pain, the fatigue, the exhaustion in his eyes. III wrapped his arms around me and dug his head into the crook of my neck. He knew I knew. He also knew about my hand. I let a tear fall onto III's head. He wouldn't be okay.

He smiled at me as he pushed away, "Hikari." He suddenly moved his hand to my cheek. He leaned forward and whispered into my ear, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine…" I whispered faintly. Tears fell down my face, "I'm sorry, Mihael."

He traced the full locket around my neck and spoke, "He…he's after you too, Hikari. Be careful."

I gasped and III took a step back. A portal appeared behind him and right before his whole body vanished, a tear ran down his cheek.

"III…" whispered Yuma.

On the ground were two number cards for Yuma and Astral. On them was a heart piece. Astral absorbed the numbers and floated by my side. Yuma grabbed the heart piece.

Our friends ran up from behind us.

"Yuma!"

Yuma put in the heart piece and his heart piece was full.

"With this, you finally obtained 5 heart pieces!" said Tetsuo.

"You've entered the finals!" said Kotori, "Yuma?"

Yume took a few steps forward. He stared at the sunset with a determined look, "III, your feelings…I won't put them to waste! I will overcome it! Duel Carnival! Kattobingu daze, ore!

I walked away from the group. No one was looking at me. I took my right hand off my left. I lifted my left hand up and stared at it. A tear rolled down my cheek. The mark of No.83 stared right back at me.


	50. The Eye of the Storm!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

* * *

_I finally made it to season 3! I hope you enjoy!_

**On with the show!**

Everyone went their separate ways. Yuma, Astral and I walked together. I walked in front of everyone and I quickly dug my hands back into my pockets as I heard my name being called. I looked back and smiled as my papa appeared beside Astral. I ran towards my dad and I let him hug me.

"My little girl…" he breathed as he held me close. I hugged him back but I made sure my left hand was hidden from view.

"Papa…" I whispered, hugging him close. I can't tell him about the number. I'm sure he doesn't know. And I'm surprised I didn't turn into an Astral Being this time. I suppose, since I don't have my Empress Key anymore, we're not as connected.

"I'm sorry," said papa as he kissed the top of my head, "I…was preoccupied." Kazuma-san appeared in my mind as he said that. Maybe…they were talking. My papa continued, "…Since the two Keys fused together…I'm no longer right there with you. It'll be fine though. I'm with Yuma, we won't be that much apart."

He let go of me and turned to Astral. I noticed Astral seemed…nervous? Astral stood straighter, like he was trying to act proper…

"Tsubasa," greeted Astral.

"Astral…" said Tsubasa. He sighed and looked at Astral caringly, "Are you all right? I'm sure that must have drained your power."

"I am fine. I just need to rest," said Astral. Astral resting or sleeping? Yeah…I can't really imagine that.

My papa's expression turned to one of unfeeling. He glared at Astral and I swear I saw my love flinch. Tsubasa's voice was contorted into anger, "But, if you give my daughter that much pain again…I will bring you back to life, pound your memories back into you, make you destroy the soul-string, and I will torture you. I WILL TORTURE YOU TO DEATH!" His voice got louder and angrier with every word he spoke.

I shook and hid behind Yuma. My papa was so scary…and he wasn't even talking to me! I can't even imagine how Astral's feeling. My papa could get really scary when he's mad…

To my surprise, Astral matched Tsubasa's gaze. My papa crossed his arms, ready to listen to Astral.

Astral started out softly, "I know I hurt her. I won't let it happen again, sir. If it does, I'll gladly receive your punishment. Nothing could compare to what I felt when Rima got hurt because of me."

"Astral…" Tears welled up in my eyes. I ran up to him and threw my arms around his neck. I fiercely pressed my lips to his and I didn't care that my papa and Yuma were watching. I parted with him and stared at his eyes, "I love you, Astral." I said passionately.

"I love you too," Astral said in the same manner. He looked at my father, "I love her with all my heart."

Tsubasa just smiled, eyes closed, "Good answer." He opened his eyes. "Love her any less, I'll kill you." It was ten times creepier since he was smiling.

* * *

**Next morning.**

I sat up in bed. I clenched my left hand into a fist and then opened it up. I kept repeating this. The number mark on my hand didn't disappear. Papa…he was my protection from the numbers. He was now in the new Emperor's Key so he can't help me…I closed my eyes and I was in the corridors of my mind. It was pitch-black and Galaxy Queen was standing in front of me.

"Why are you so weak, Rima?" she sneered.

I looked down at the ground. I could not cry. That would be weakness.

"You need to rely on your father?" she mocked, "Your friends don't. Yuma and Astral, your cousins, Kaito, even Shark doesn't need protection from someone. They all rely on their own power."

I wanted to argue. I wanted to say that Yuma relies on Astral, my cousins rely on their marks, Kaito relies on Photon Change, and Shark…Shark relied on his own power. What Galaxy Queen said was true. They did sort of rely on themselves.

"You're afraid of the game that gives you power," she said once more. "You're afraid of Duel Monsters, even though that gives you power. How can you destroy the people you hate without it? How can you get revenge without your weapon of destruction? With duel monsters, you can cause pain."

Dueling…is my weapon? It's my weapon for revenge, for destroying the people I hate? I put my hands over my ears and closed my eyes. I shook my head furiously, "No!" I shouted, "No…" Galaxy Queen was scaring me. Duel Monsters was scaring me. I can't touch Duel Monsters cards!

"Stop showing weakness, Rima," said Galaxy Queen sternly, "You can't be afraid of something…" She suddenly leaned down and whispered into my ear, "…that's a part of you."

I whimpered and I was back on my bed, in my room. I opened my eyes and tears ran down my cheeks. I sobbed, "No…!" I clutched my blankets, "No…" The mark seemed to fade a bit but…it was still there.

* * *

I woke up with a jolt. I looked at the time, it was 4:00. School was already over…I guess I fell asleep at some point. Speaking of, why did I wake up?

"You're still asleep at this time?"

I whipped my head over to see Ryoga. He was leaning on the doorframe, watching me.

"Hey, Shark," I said, trying to sound happy. Yeah…I thought saying 'Shark' instead of 'Ryoga' would help but…it really doesn't.

"Okay, what's wrong?" he asked as he sat down beside me.

"Nothing," I said hesitantly. Great, now he knows something's up.

He just tried catching my eye, which I avoided! I looked anywhere but him. Ryoga had troubles of his own, no need to add mine.

"So…any reason why your cards are on the floor?" he questioned. I followed his gaze and saw my cards scattered on the ground.

I stepped off my bed and knelt down, "N-no reason…" As I picked up my cards one by one, I flinched in fear. I was scared…of my cards. I pulled my sleeve over my left hand.

Ryoga just hummed, obviously not believing me. I ignored that. He knelt down as well and helped me pick up the cards. I held my hand out to take the cards from him. He pulled his hand away though. I stared at him, "Ryoga?"

"Let's duel," he said. He held the cards above his head, "Or else you're not getting this back."

"But…" My eyes flickered to my extra deck-box. It was already on my hip for some strange reason.

"But…?" repeated Ryoga.

I don't want him to worry. I nodded reluctantly, "Okay."

* * *

**Outside!**

"Duel disk, set! D-Gazer, set!"

_A/R vision link established._

"Duel!"

Ryoga went first, "My turn, draw! I summon Big Jaws (Atk: 1800-Lvl: 3)!"

The huge shark monster appeared with a roar. I flinched, which didn't go unnoticed to Ryoga.

"Since when were you scared of Big Jaws?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not," I denied. I looked straight back at the beast and tried to hold my ground.

Ryoga was looking at me with a scrutinizing look. I had a feeling he knew something was up. He just nodded, "I end my turn!"

I put my hand on my deck and faltered. I…I drew a card, "My turn, draw!" I scanned my cards. I nodded and activated a card, "I activate the continuous magic card Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen. With this card's effect, once per turn, if I control no monsters, I can special summon 1 Fairy-type monster from my hand. I special summon Tethys, Goddess of Light (Atk: 2400-Lvl: 5)!"

My silver-haired fairy appeared on the field, feathery angel wings spread wide.

I continued warily, "Tethys, attack Big Jaws! Divine light!"

My fairy raised both her arms and a white orb appeared. She did a battle cry and the orb hit Big Jaws. It yelped before disappearing.

Ryoga was knocked off his feet from battle damage. My eyes widened as he fell backwards with a groan.

"…_With duel monsters, you can cause pain."_

No…! Not to Ryoga! I threw off my D-Pad and D-Gazer. They both fell to the ground with a clatter. I fell to my knees and buried my face into my hands. I cried, "No…I'm sorry! Please…I'm sorry!" I sobbed. No…I don't want to cause pain! I don't want to cause pain to those near me…!

"Hey, Rima!" I heard Shark shout as he grabbed me by the shoulders. I didn't dare look up. He shook me, "Rima, what's wrong?!"

"I'm sorry!" I shouted over and over again, "I didn't mean to hurt you! I'm sorry!" Tears filled my eyes and, again and again, they fell. I hurt Ryoga!

"It was only A/R!" he shouted as he shook me once more, "It was Augmented Reality! It wasn't real! I'm not hurt!"

I didn't listen. I hurt him, I saw it!

"Duel Monsters only causes pain…" I whimpered.

I heard Galaxy Queen's voice. I listened to it. Galaxy Queen's voice overlapped Ryoga's. "That's right, Rima," she said, "Bring pain to everyone. This game brings you power. With power, you can destroy everyone. There would be no pain for you. Aren't you sick of pain? Just give it to others…with my help."

That's right. I'll give my pain to others. I suddenly smiled. I looked up, "That's right," I said to myself, "I'll cause pain to those in my way, to those I hate."

"Rima, what's going on with you?!" asked Ryoga as I stood up.

I giggled, "What do you mean?" I asked happily, "With her help, I'll be fine!" I brought my left hand up to my lips and giggled into it. That's right. With Galaxy Queen, I'll be fine!

I heard Ryoga gasp as I smiled at him. He was staring at my hand. "N-numbers…?!" I heard him say.

I giggled and spun around in a circle. I grinned, "Hey Ryoga…?"

He just stared at me, not knowing what to do.

"I will destroy you last," I said happily with a grin. I then turned and walked away.

"That's right, Rima," she said once more, "Use my power to give pain to those who deserve."

I stopped and put a finger to my chin. I thought about it before grinning, "Astral!"

"The original?" she questioned in my head.

"That's right, Galaxy Queen!" I said as I started walking towards the school. He'll be there of course! I smiled, "Let's go destroy the original!" I barely knew what I was saying. I just knew…I had to give pain!

* * *

Yuma was dueling Tetsuo with Kotori watching them. Astral was floating beside Yuma, watching the duel play out.

I hummed to myself as I walked towards my friends. Yuma was defeated.

**Tetsuo: 2500LPS Yuma: 0LPS**

**Tetsuo is the winner!**

Yuma was smiling though. This probably has to do with the WDC. I giggled as I stood behind Yuma, "I want to duel~"

"Gah!" shouted Yuma as he turned to me in shock. He took a breath, "I didn't see you there, Rima."

I giggled and put my hands behind my back, "I want to duel you, Yu-ma~" I sang. If I'm going to duel Astral and cause him pain, I need to duel Yuma.

"A-all right," he said, a bit weirded out at my actions.

Astral floated beside me with a curious look, "Rima, what are you so happy about?"

I giggled and smiled right at him. I spoke happily, "I'm going to destroy you!" I wasn't fazed by their shocked gasps.

"Y-you're joking, right?" asked Tetsuo.

I shook my head and held up my left hand, "She wants to help me!" I said, beaming.

Another round of gasps. Astral looked at my hand horrified, "No.83!"

"That's Galaxy Queen's number!" stated Yuma incredulously, "But…Rima she, she's never been controlled before!"

I blinked as I realized something. I gasped, "I forgot my D-Pad and D-Gazer!" I swore, "Damn it!" I can't duel with my deck! It was still in my D-Pad because I threw it down during the duel! I heard Galaxy Queen growl in frustration.

I heard footsteps and we all turned to the newcomer. It was Ryoga! He was holding my D-Pad and D-Gazer in one hand.

I grinned, "Yay!" I cheered. I clapped my hands twice, "Thank you, Ryoga! I totally forgot about it!"

He stared me down and I felt nervous. Um…

"No weakness!" I heard Galaxy Queen say in my head.

Right! I took a step forward, hand extended, "Hey, Ryoga, pass it! I'm going to duel Yuma and take his numbers!"

Ryoga narrowed his eyes at me. A part of me wanted to run up to him and hug him. I wanted to cry. Save me…! The bigger part of me was being controlled by Galaxy Queen.

"Shark!" shouted Yuma all of a sudden, "She's being controlled by a numbers! The only way to stop it is with a duel!"

Ryoga's eyes flickered to Yuma before he stared at me. "You sure that's going to work?" he asked, gaze not leaving mine.

"W-well…"

"It will!" I heard Astral say with conviction, "Galaxy Queen's influence will be destroyed if we duel her and win, Yuma."

The only word that reached me was 'destroyed'. What…? Are they going to destroy me? They've caused me enough pain!

"It'll work for sure!" Yuma said after that.

Ryoga reluctantly passed me my D-Gazer and D-Pad. I grinned at him, "Thanks, Shark-boy!"

I ignored his glare and turned to face Yuma. The mark on my hand glowed brighter. "Let's do this!" I shouted, "Let agonizing pain await you!" Now that I can, I will put pain on them.

"That's right," said No.83, "You've suffered enough. It's not fair that they're not suffering."

I nodded as Yuma spoke, "D-Gazer, set! Duel disk, set!"

_A/R vision link established._

"Duel!"

I grinned, "Hey, I'm going first!" I said, an aura of darkness around me. I drew, "My turn, draw! I summon-"

I paused. First thing's first, I got to find a way to summon Galaxy Queen. I nodded as I looked my hand over, "I summon Xyz Fairy Sugar!"

A small fairy, a mere child, appeared on the field with a wink (Atk: 0-Lvl: 1).

I continued with a smirk, "I use her effect! For each card I discard, a Sugar Token appears on my field! I'll discard two cards!" Two Sugar Tokens appeared on my field. They looked like puff balls with wings (Atk: 0-Lvl: 1).

Astral frowned. He looked to Yuma, "Three level 1 monsters."

Yuma nodded, "That means she's going to summon her number!"

"Rima…" I put my hands over my ears. I did not want to hear Ryoga. He would definitely protect me…

"I don't want to hear your upsetting voice!" I screeched, smile dropping. What was I saying…?

"Rima!" shouted Ryoga once more. He knew he was getting through to me. But so did Galaxy Queen.

My mark glowed brighter and it hurt! "Stop it!" I screamed. I threw my head back and kept my hands over my ears, "I overlay Xyz Fairy Sugar and my two Sugar Tokens! With these two monsters, I create the overlay network! Xyz summon! Appear, No.83 Galaxy Queen (Atk: 500-Rank: 1)!"

The number appeared on the field as I slumped forward a bit. I…this sort of hurts. I wanted to cause pain though. I wanted to cause pain to the original! But I love him…No you don't! Yes I do!

My head spun, this hurts. What's happening? Right, Galaxy Queen wants to help me put pain on Astral. My heart ached, why am I doing this?

"You don't want to suffer anymore," said Galaxy Queen, "It's unfair only you suffered. It's his fault in the first place. He started the whole number incident, correct?"

My eyes turned dull as I stood up straighter. I glared at Astral and Yuma, "You started all of this! You started all of this! You caused this!" I yelled, "You deserve to suffer!"

"Rima, what are you talking about?!" Yuma asked incredulously.

"…She's talking about the numbers," said Astral, staring at me helplessly.

"That's right!" I shouted, "I am talking about them! You started this whole thing!" I let out a growl before continuing, "You caused me pain! You hurt everyone!" My eyes flashed, "I HATE YOU!"

Astral's eyes were suddenly filled with sadness. It was overwhelming…I forced myself to look away.

"C'mon buddy," I heard Yuma say, "It's just the number talking! After this, she won't stop telling you how much she loves you!"

I turned back to them with anger, "I hate him! I hate him! I hate you, Original!" I stopped short. I put my hand up to my face. Tears were travelling down my cheeks. Tears? My number mark glowed but my tears wouldn't stop.

"Yuma!" roared Ryoga as he looked at the boy, "What did you do?!"

Ryoga…I felt warm. I'm happy. I just looked at Ryoga for a moment before shooting my hand forward, "I activate the equip magic card Dead Max's Cursed Seal!" I got this from Fuya-kun. I spotted Galaxy Queen smiling? I continued, "I equip it to Galaxy Queen! With this, the equipped monster cannot change its battle position and cannot be destroyed by battle! I'm sure you know this, Yuma!"

"W-wait…" said Yuma. He pointed at my monster confused, "Galaxy Queen's in attack position…"

"I don't think Rima would do such an amateurish mistake on purpose," said Astral.

Ryoga…distracted me. I looked down, ashamed. He distracted me from winning. He's always in my way. That's because he's protecting me like he always does. No! Yes, he's always there. No, he isn't!

I looked back up and saw Astral. I wiped my eyes. I placed a card down, "I set one card!" I 'accidentally' looked at Ryoga. His eyes seemed to have read my move and I looked away. Stupid Ryoga.

Stop looking at him! You'll lose this duel! Galaxy Queen sneered at me, "Weak. You're so weak. No wonder you're always hit with pain. Listen to me now. You shall inflict pain…you shall win."

I nodded slowly, arms hanging limp at my sides, "Yes…I have suffered. It is his turn now."

I tried to ignore him but Ryoga still came up in my head. I looked at said-person to see him with a worried expression. He looked towards Yuma, "Yuma, what is she talking about?!"

Yuma stared at me before looking at him, "I'm not completely sure. But don't worry! If I Kattobingu, I'll surely save her! Kattobingu daze, ore!" He looked to his cards and drew, "My turn, draw!"

"Yuma, we must be cautious," said Astral seriously, "This is Rima. She seems to have a reputation for dueling."

"But…" Yuma looked at me, "Something about her is off, Astral."

I just glared at him. Off? Just because I made that mistake…I felt another pair of eyes on me and turned to Ryoga angrily. I shouted, "Stop staring at me! It's your fault I'm making mistakes!"

He remained looking at me with a cool stare.

I couldn't believe this! I tried to stay focused on my duel to bring pain but…! I snarled, "Stop it!" I shouted, "Stop it, stop it, stop it!"

I heard Galaxy Queen snarl loudly. "He's breaking the control," she said to me, to warn me.

Is that a bad thing? Ryoga…the one I held close to me…My mark seemed to dull. My voice spoke on its own, "I…don't…want…to…suffer…by…myself…"

Anger flashed in Ryoga's eyes. I…think it was directed at me. The next second, he was in front of me. "How are you suffering?!" his voice rose, "How, Rima?!"

I felt dizzy because Galaxy Queen was telling me to ignore him. I answered quietly, not thinking, "This number is taking control of me. Astral died and I died with him. III was crying. I was yelled at by Yuma. IV is the enemy. Dueling is hurting everyone. I'm afraid of dueling. And _she_ isn't waking up."

At that point, Ryoga slapped me. Ow…It stung. I dropped to my knees, staring at the ground, "Ow."

"She was _my _sister," he said as he knelt down to my eye level. A weird mixture of warmth, sadness, and worry was embedded in his eyes. He smiled at me, "You're not alone. But, just so you know, she was _my_ sister. It's not fair that you're suffering from that. Don't be so selfish and take all the suffering, and you won't suffer."

Oh, Ryoga…I giggled and I felt the mark fade. He took my hand and stared at the mark, willing it to go away. He gave it a squeeze, "We're family. We always will be. And you know what families do? If one of them suffers, well, we're going to suffer together."

I felt tears form. Ryoga, thank you. The mark dispersed making Astral gasp, "Shark broke the hold the number had on Rima."

"I'm sleepy," I whispered as I fell forward. My eyelids were really heavy.

Ryoga let my lean on him. Just like always. "Don't worry, go to sleep," he said and I succumbed to slumber.

* * *

_**No one's P.O.V**_

Rima fell asleep. Shark stood up and carried Rima bridal-style. He used one hand to deactivate the D-Pad. "Duel's over," he said to Yuma from over his shoulder.

Yuma nodded, understanding. He was glad that his friend was okay. He smiled, "Thanks, Shark. If you didn't step in, I'm pretty sure I'd have a really tough duel."

Shark glanced at him, "Don't think I did this for your sake." He looked back to Rima, shifting her a bit.

Rima opened her eyes sleepily and looked up at Shark, "I love you, Ryoga…" she said before going back to sleep.

Yuma was surprised to see a smile gracing Ryoga's lips. "Yeah, yeah," he said to her already sleeping form, "I know."

Astral knew that they were like family but he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Those three words Rima spoke, 'I love you'…those were supposed to be targeted at Astral. He didn't want to share Rima with anyone. As selfish as he may be, he truly did not have anything that was his.

Shark started walking away.

"A-are you in love with her?" blurted out Yuma.

Tetsuo and Kotori glanced at Yuma, why would he even ask that?! Even Astral had to look at Yuma in surprise.

Shark stopped. He looked back, an eyebrow raised high. Then he let out a chuckle. His eyes glinted as he remembered something. Before Yuma could question it, Shark had turned back around and walked away.

{You thought Astral would save the day, didn't you?! Anyways, let's continue.}

* * *

_**Rima's P.O.V**_

**Next day at school!**

I was walking down some steps to the main entrance. Three girls in my class were chatting in front of me.

"Hey, hey, did you know? It seems for the World Duel Carnival, there are three finalists from our school!" said the girl with blue pig-tails.

"It's obvious that Ryoga-sama is one of them," said the redhead.

The girl in the middle nodded, "Yeah, and Rima-sama too. It's nice to know there's a girl in the finals."

I smiled at that. The girl with blue pig-tails tripped, "A-ah!" she shouted.

"Lia!" the others girls shouted.

I quickly moved forward and grabbed her shoulders. I looked at her in concern, "Are you all right, Lia?"

She quickly blushed in embarrassment, "Y-yes, Rima-sama!"

"Thank goodness," I said, polite-fairy-hime mode on. I smiled slightly before walking on forward.

I felt my D-Gazer vibrate in my pocket. I took it out and read the message. 'Making all the good girls question their preference?'

I raised an eyebrow. It was from Ryoga. He has such a dirty mind. It's obvious he's somewhere around here. I typed back, 'Shut it, Shark.'

I heard a shout, "Kattobingu daze, ore!"

He jumped high into the air. A few seconds later, he fell on his head near the three girls. He jumped up with a black marker, "You want an autograph?" he asked excitedly, "I won't mind!"

I sighed, oh Yuma. My D-Gazer vibrated silently again. I looked at it and smiled as I read it, 'Such a big head.' I agree, Ryoga. I agree.

'Oh, I know.' I replied back.

I watched amused as Yuma ran around asking random people if they wanted his autograph. Kotori finally had enough and grabbed his ear. I laughed.

'Controlled by a girl, how weak,' was what Ryoga texted.

I looked around, trying to find him. How sexist! I finally met his eyes. He was smirking at me, D-Gazer in one hand. I mock-glared at him and typed back 'How rude. I'm going to hurt you, you know'

He raised an eyebrow in amusement, 'Oh really?' he typed back.

I rolled my eyes. Wait a minute. I got an invitation to the Eve party or something. It was for the celebration of the finals. I started walking after Kotori and Yuma but typed back, 'You get the invite?'

'Yeah'

'We going?'

'…Let me think about it'

'All right, captain. See you later' I put my D-Gazer away and walked to class.

* * *

Yuma was sitting at his desk and we all stood around him. Astral appeared and watched me. I gave him an apologetic expression, "Sorry about yesterday, Astral."

"It's fine," he said, hugging me from behind. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I smiled in response.

Kotori sighed at Yuma, "You really are a rock head."

Yuma sighed, "But still. I got into the finals, you know. It's okay to be a little over myself."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, going around asking for autographs, that's totally modest."

Yuma looked at me, "Well, why do you always get asked for autographs?"

I moved out of Astral's embrace. I put my hands behind my back and smiled like an angel, "Cause I'm good at dueling!"

Yuma face faulted, "I'm good at dueling!" He retorted.

Kotori raised a finger, "Maybe it's because she has a fan base."

I laughed, it's true.

"She also gets fan mail," Tetsuo pitched in.

"And is the heartthrob of the boys in 1st year," said Cat-chan.

"And is not arrogant," said Inchou.

"_And_," added Astral, "She's pretty."

I blushed at that comment and held Astral's hand. He's so sweet.

"Ah shut up," said Yuma as he looked down. Then he looked up with a smile, "Oh, that's right! Look at this!" He took out an envelope. I recognized it. I had one too of course. He smiled, "Invitation to the Eve for the finalists!" On the front was 'WDC Eve Invitation' and it had the Heartland insignia.

Yuma looked really impressed with himself, "It looks like it will be open tonight!"

"Eh?!" everyone shouted as they looked at Yuma in shock and amazement.

I moved out of the way and sat down. Astral floated beside me, already done with Yuma's antics. I smiled at Astral, "Hey, Astral?"

"What is it?" he asked me.

I blushed and lost my nerve, "N-never mind…" I said as I looked away embarrassed. I was going to ask him something…but now I decided against it. It's already enough that he loves me. No need to ask him incompetent things.

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking at me in confusion.

"Yeah, it's nothing," I said, my blush not fading.

He was going to ask again to make sure but we were interrupted by the gang. Saved by the bell. There's no use in asking Astral if he would be my boyfriend in the first place. It really wouldn't make a difference. But, just thinking of Astral like that, I blushed.

"I am sure all the famous duelists will gather there!"

"Kyatto~ I wonder what I should wear?"

They started talking about that stuff. Astral perked up when he heard Kotori say 'dress'. He looked at me, "Are you going to be wearing a dress, Rima?"

"It's better if I don't," I said, "I'll probably look horrible."

Astral shook his head. He looked at me, pleading, "I want to see you in a dress, Rima."

I blushed at this but said, "You've already seen me in a dress. Remember? Astral Being form?"

Astral looked up in thought, "Well, as much as I love how short that dress is…" Insert me blushing. "I would like to see you, Rima as a human, in a dress."

"O-okay…" I agreed as I saw his oh-so-dazzling eyes. Yeah, it doesn't matter if he's not actually my boyfriend. I'm just a boy-crazy, wait no. I'm just an _Astral_-crazy thirteen-year-old girl.

Ukyo-sensei came in and class started.

* * *

I stifled a laugh. It was the end of the day, last class. Unfortunately, it was freaking math. Ukyo-sensei was doing a lecture at the front of the class and I could tell everyone was getting a little bit bored. Class was almost over…come on! Oh, why was I laughing? I'm sort of texting Ryoga during class.

I guess I was too caught up in watching my D-Gazer because I heard my name being called. Multiple times. I looked up with a blink.

Ukyo-sensei stared at me, "Rima, would you care to repeat what I just said?"

I stared at him blankly. Oh shit, I'm in trouble. I texted Ryoga quickly without looking down, 'Got caught.'

"What is that you're holding?" he asked, obviously seeing me.

"My D-Gazer," I answered. I'm in trouble anyway.

"What are you doing with it, might I ask?"

"…Texting…" I said as I felt the D-Gazer vibrate a bit.

"Come up here, Rima. Please read those texts aloud," said Ukyo-sensei.

Could've been worse? I stood up and walked to the front of the classroom. I stared at all my classmates. I made eye contact with Yuma with a sheepish expression. Astral appeared and blinked at me. He looked to Yuma for an answer as to why I'm in the front of the class.

The bell suddenly rang. I breathed a sigh of relief, yay!

"Everyone, please ignore that bell," said Ukyo-sensei. He smiled at me, "Please, Rima. Start."

I guess I have to. I sighed. I looked up at the class, "Okay this is me texting." I moved to the left, "And this is the person I'm texting," I said. Ryoga was texting me a few stuff while saying this. I just typed quickly 'I'm reading in front of the class. Oh, I see the entire class'. Yeah, what I wrote will sort of make sense when you hear the entire conversation.

I coughed to clear my throat. I read mine, "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey"

I stepped to the left, "What is it?"

I stepped back to my place, "Nothing~ I'm bored~"

"Yeah, same."

"I'm in math class."

"Science."

I stared at what I wrote before saying, "Dot dot dot." I had said '…'

I stepped to the left, "I see a bird."

"I see clouds."

"I see a stupid hag."

"Your teacher?"

"Who else?"

"Haha. I see…Oh, I see a desk."

"I see a pimple."

"Wow. You're…"

"You should be used to it."

"I know." I really should be used to it.

"I see a ring."

"I see Yuma sleeping."

Yuma laughed nervously in the back. Ukyo-sensei sighed when he heard that but told me to continue.

"I'm not surprised," I said, trying not to laugh at Ryoga's response.

I stepped back to my side, "I see hair."

"I see hair too."

"I see a boring math lesson."

"I see an annoying teacher. Oh wait, she's coming closer. Give me a second…"

"Dot dot dot," I said once more.

Back to Ryoga, "Okay, I'm back."

"What happened?"

"The person in front of me got caught for texting. He's got detention now."

"Aren't you worried?"

"No, this is fun."

"Smiley face, heart symbol," I said. I smiled at that.

I stepped back to Ryoga's side, "I see a dog."

"…What?"

"It's a girl."

"You're so mean."

"Well, it's the truth."

I stepped back to my side, "Got caught." Almost to the end.

I stepped to Ryoga's side. I haven't even read these yet but oh well. "That sucks. I see the clock. The bell's ringing soon."

"I'm reading in front of the class. Oh, I see the entire class"

"Bell rang."

I typed as I said this, "I'm still talking."

He sent me more, "I see the door." I said aloud.

"I see my D-Gazer," I said.

I hopped back to Ryoga's spot, "I see the hallway." I looked to Ukyo-sensei, "That's it."

My D-Gazer vibrated once more. Ukyo-sensei told me to read it.

I looked at it, "I see you." I blinked and looked up at the door. Ryoga was standing there, D-Gazer in one hand.

I typed quickly and spoke, "I see you too."

I put my D-Gazer away and so did Ryoga. Ukyo-sensei sighed, "All right, class dismissed."

A lot of people ran out, tired of school. I walked over to Ryoga after grabbing my bag, "So? You decide yet?"

Ryoga nodded, knowing what I was talking about, "We'll go. I'm going to be staying outside though."

I raised an eyebrow, okay? I glanced back at the others, "Bye guys!" Ryoga and I then left.

* * *

**At home in my room!**

"Why are you going if you're not gonna go inside?" I asked Ryoga as I took out a dress from my closet.

"I'm going to go and taunt IV," he said.

I paused and threw a pillow at his face. He caught it without looking. I walked up to him, "Be careful."

"You really think I can't take care of myself?" Ryoga asked me.

I poked his chest, "I know you can take care of yourself. Just don't start a duel with him! Save it for the finals!"

Ryoga muttered something incoherent.

"Are you swearing at me?" I asked him.

"No," he said as he ruffled my hair, "You just worry too much." He smiled at me with a very cool smile. He actually looked really handsome…I smiled slightly.

"What are you smiling about?" he asked me as he put an arm around my shoulder.

I laughed, amused, "I'm having one of those little-sister-crushing-on-big-brother moments."

Ryoga shifted uncomfortably, "Don't fall in love with me. It's going to be really awkward."

I shoved him playfully, "Like I would ever fall in love with you. We're like brother and sister. That's like saying Rio is in love with you."

He looked a bit sad at the mention of his sister but he smirked nonetheless. He really is strong. I wish I could be like him.

"You take care of yourself during this party and during the finals," he said, poking my nose. He smiled slightly, "I really can't have anything happen to you."

I felt tears of joy coming on. I tackled Ryoga into a hug, "You really are the best!" I whined. I really love him! He's the best big brother ever! Even if he's not my big brother, he might as well be!

"Yeah, now get off me," he ordered. I stepped off him muttering, "Killjoy."

He stood up and said, "Get dressed." He looked thoughtful before saying, "Hey, I need to go pick something up at my place. I'll be right back."

I watched as he left. I smiled, "You really are the best, Ryoga."

* * *

I was all dressed up. I stood in front of my mirror. I was wearing a white dress that reached my knees. It had small light blue straps that I tied behind my neck. The dress was really pretty. The bodice was not decorated with ribbons or anything but it had light blue accents. There were ruffles on the top of it and it was really cute! The skirt was nice and it had small ruffles on the bottom. I had small white ballet flats. On my right leg, the ribbon for the flat crisscrossed to right below my knee. On my left, it just reached my ankle. All in all, I think I looked fine.

I heard a knock. I smiled at the door, "Come in."

Ryoga walked in and he stared at me for a good minute. I blushed and looked away, "That bad?"

He shrugged and stood beside me, "Not bad." After a second of silence, he looked away. "You look nice," he admitted after a second. Hearing that from Ryoga, I smiled.

"Thanks," I looked him up and down, "You're not changing?" I already knew that answer.

"No," he then walked back downstairs. He came up after a second. "Close your eyes," he ordered.

I complied. What was he going to do?

I felt something on my head. I was about to open my eyes. "Don't open them," he said again.

I then felt something getting strapped onto my back. I felt really suspicious but I let Ryoga do what he was doing.

"There."

I opened my eyes and gasped at the mirror. Oh my god.

"You're the fairy-hime, right?" he asked.

Oh my god. On my head was a small crown. It had a small blue gem embedded in it and the whole thing was white. It was like a princess crown…But that wasn't all. On my back was a pair of fairy wings. They were transparent but the small designs in them were blue. I really was the fairy-hime.

"Ryoga…the gem…" I whispered as I reached up to touch the crown.

"Yeah, it's real," he said, looking elsewhere, "It's sapphire."

"Ryoga, that must've cost so much!" I shouted. I looked at him.

To anyone else, he would look uncaring. To me, he looked really embarrassed. "But, thank you," I said as I walked to beside him. I kissed his cheek.

He just smiled, "Don't worry about it. And anyways, that crown is Rio's."

I turned to stone. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. I shook my head furiously, "This is Rio's?! I can't wear it then!" I was about to take it off but Ryoga grabbed my hands, "Don't," he ordered.

"B-but…!" I said as I looked at the mirror. It was Rio's! I have to ask her!

Ryoga just smirked, "She doesn't have to know. And anyways," he shrugged, "It looks better on you."

"Give me a second," I said, "I'll put it back on but I need to get something," I took off the crown and put it down carefully on the dresser. I went into my closet and shuffled around. I laughed as I found it, "Found it!"

I walked out of the closet and grinned. Ryoga paled, "No."

I was holding a shark fin. I bought it when I saw it in a costume store. I grinned, "If I'm wearing wings and a crown, you need to wear a shark fin."

"No."

Before he knew it, I tackled him to the ground. We rolled on the floor a bit. "Let me put…it…on!" I shouted as I sat on him. I grinned, victorious! I straddled his waist and put it on his head. I put the strap under his chin as he sighed in defeat.

After a second, I finally noticed something. I looked at him seriously, "Why do you put up with me, Ryoga?" I asked.

"Because you put up with me."

I stared him right in the eye, "I'm serious, Ryoga."

I got off him and he stood up with me. I stared at him, "Why?"

Ryoga put a hand on my head, "You're thinking way too much. Why shouldn't I put up with you?"

My eyes glazed over, "I'm annoying. I always rely on you. I can never stand on my own. I always have to lean on someone for support. I always get sad and breakdown at the smallest of things."

"You really underestimate yourself," said Ryoga, shaking me out of my rant.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm mostly leaning on you," he said, "I lean on _you _for support. I rely on _you_. No else is there for me."

"But I'm not strong like you…" I whispered as I looked away.

He sighed. He turned my head to look at him. He stared me dead in the eye, "Strong, huh? Who was the one who broke down at the hospital that night?"

_*Flashback*_

_Ryoga fell to his knees. He fell forward again, hands on the ground. The tears poured down his cheeks. He sobbed, he couldn't help it. _

_I knelt down in front of him and pulled him to my chest. No tears escaped my eyes. They weren't even wet. All I knew was that Ryoga was crying. He would cry for the both of us._

_*Flashback end*_

I stared at him. He was the one.

"Who was the one that held me?" he asked.

"I was," I whispered.

"I yelled at you for it one time, right?" he asked.

_*Flashback*_

_Ryoga turned to me angrily. It's been a week. He screamed at me, "You haven't cried once! You don't care for her, do you?! You're just standing there! You didn't cry once! You aren't a part of who we are! Leave us alone!"_

_I just smiled, one tear trailing down my cheek. Ryoga stopped short, eyes wide, shock adorning his features._

_I shrugged. I was shaking though. "Someone…had to be the strong one," I whispered, "You were broken. Ryoga, you needed someone to lean on. You can't lean on someone who is as broken as you." I ran out the door. It was raining hard but I ran. Tears flowed down freely as I went._

_Ryoga had followed me. He grabbed my wrists and pulled me to him. I turned to him, tears pouring down my cheeks. It was all mixing in with the rain._

_He pulled me to him, hugging me to his chest. This time, we both cried together._

_*Flashback end*_

"Yeah…" I answered.

Ryoga hugged me, "Neither of us are the strong one, okay?"

I nodded, "Okay."

Ryoga took off his shark fin and put it on my bed. He took my crown and put it back on my head. He just smiled, "And to answer your question. The reason I put up with you? Well, it's fun having your own personal fan-girl."

* * *

We drove past security. We couldn't get to the back unless we had an invite. I stayed silent in shame as I had forgotten mine. Ryoga brought his though. Thank god.

Ryoga stopped his motorcycle. We were behind the huge place. Tons of paparazzi were in the front though. I stepped off first. I smiled at Ryoga, "So I have to go inside alone?"

"If you see IV," he said that name with malice, "Tell him to meet me out here. But, only if he doesn't threaten you."

"He won't threaten me," I sighed. IV was my cousin…if that still means anything…I touched my locket. III…

I smiled at Ryoga, "All right, pick me up later." Ryoga nodded. I walked inside and was met with that amazing ballroom.

There were a lot of people, obviously. Most of which were duelists, the ones who had made it. I'm sure they were sponsors here as well. I haven't really thought of it but…Kaito, III, IV, V, all those people…would be here. Obots rolled by with trays. On top of them were different foods. In the middle of all this was a huge towering cake. It was colorful and on the top was a thick candle with a heart. It had its own spotlight and everything!

I spotted a familiar blonde spike. Kaito…As I walked up to him, I felt a sense of dread. Seeing Kaito reminded me of Haruto. Is Haruto all right? I hope he is. IV, V, III…and this mysterious Tron as well…They're all breaking one family at a time.

Kaito was in more of a hidden corner of the room. He really did not look like a talkative person. As I came up behind him, I tapped his shoulder. He whipped his head to me with a fierce glare.

I could already tell by one look. His eyes, though he was glaring, were full of sorrow and anger. Something had happened to Haruto and it wasn't good. How I knew? Ryoga was like this before with Rio.

"Nice weather, huh, Kaito?" I asked pathetically. I couldn't come up with anything else. I didn't want to ask him how Haruto was anymore.

Kaito glared harder, turning his whole body to face me, "You bothered me for a reason, Rima."

I heard the very strong malice in his voice. He must be so worried for Haruto. I stared back coolly, "I was going to ask but I'm sure I know the answer. Haruto is not okay."

Kaito's eyes flashed, "Don't concern yourself with something that is not your business."

"Haruto isn't okay, you've proved it," I said, "And anyways, Haruto is my friend. Even if I don't know him or you that much, I know enough. Haruto is my friend." I thought about the young boy. He didn't ever smile, did he? He was always… "Dead…" I said aloud.

"What?" asked Kaito, narrowing his eyes.

I looked away, "I was just thinking about your younger brother. He's quiet for his age. And…he's dead."

Kaito suddenly yanked my hair so hard that my head throbbed. He snarled, "Haruto is not dead!"

Ow…I just met Kaito's gaze, "I didn't mean it in that sense. I just meant he…I don't know, he seems lifeless!"

Kaito let go of my hair as I stood my ground. He stared at me. He knew what I was talking about.

I let out a dry laugh, "In some ways, he reminds me of Astral."

That made Kaito curious, "How exactly? My brother is nothing like Astral."

"Astral is sometimes…" I glanced away, "Dead. He's usually lost in thought or something. He just stares ahead, not doing anything. It reminded me of Haruto. Astral's memory loss always makes him think but…he always goes forward. Even if his memory is gone, he still goes forward." It's something I admire about Astral. I looked back to Kaito, "Sorry for ranting," I said quietly.

"Haruto…doesn't remember much either." Kaito said it so quietly, I wasn't even sure if I heard it right.

"…" I tilted my head slightly. He sort of reminded me of Ryoga, the way he was a big brother and all. I smiled lightly, "Haruto's a strong boy."

I don't know why but Kaito seemed to snap. He turned to me angrily as slammed me into the pillar. His hands were at my throat before I could stop him. He was strangling me?! "How dare you smile when Haruto can't?!" He snarled, "Don't be happy! If Haruto can't be happy…if I can't make Haruto happy, then what kind of big brother am I?!"

I had to smile sadly at this. I dropped my hands from my own neck. I just have to say this. I smiled, even though Kaito had his hands at my throat, even though he was yelling, even though he was angry, even though, I had to say this. "Are you done venting?" I asked.

His eyes just seemed to widen in surprise at my question. It's not good to keep this all in. I'm fine if his anger's pointed at me.

I couldn't really breathe. Suddenly, a pair of hands shoved Kaito away from me. I took a huge breath and sighed. I looked to my savior- my eyes widened.

Standing beside me was IV. He looked at Kaito angrily, "Watch it." IV had done that?

IV glanced at me and scanned me for injuries. I just looked away, what am I supposed to say to him? I can't betray myself and Ryoga now. The lines had been drawn during that talk with III already. I put my hand on my locket and stroked it.

IV obviously seemed unsure of his actions too. He just nodded to me, "Hi- no…Rima."

I just looked up at him. I just shook my head. Kaito had spotted someone, muttered, "Chris…" and walked off. He…knew Chris? V?

"Where's III?" I asked IV as I looked back to him.

IV was silent. I saw his eyes though. So he was still an older brother. He was not a cousin anymore but he was still a brother. He still cared for III.

Something bad had happened to III. Mihael…I looked away and whispered quietly, "Ryoga's outside…"

IV immediately got his game face on and left.

I start walking around, watching my competition. I lifted my head as I heard a commotion. Yuma. Funny how he came up in my head first.

I spotted Yuma at the main entrance. Beside him was Kotori, Tetsuo, Inchou and Cat-chan. Astral was also floating by. I sighed happily when I saw him. I wondered what was taking him so long.

I decided I should show myself. I walked up to in front of the gang. I giggled, getting all of their attention. Their expressions were…weird. All the boys jaws dropped slightly and Kotori and Cat-chan were smiling at me. Most of all, Astral was staring at me with wide eyes, jaw dropped slightly too. I giggled, "I thought I heard a commotion. It was obvious it was you, Yuma."

Astral looked like he was going to come up to me but Kotori and Cat-chan beat him to it. They both stood at my sides with grins. "You're so pretty, Rima! I have never seen you in a dress before!" said Kotori.

I laughed, "Yeah, well…"

"You're so cute~" said Cat-chan.

"You really are the fairy-hime," said Inchou as he put up a finger.

Tetsuo gestured to my wings and crown, "You really went all out. Well, it suits you I guess."

I smiled, "Thanks guys."

"Guys, I think you should move out of the way," said Yuma with a sweat drop.

"Why?" asked Kotori. Everyone complied and moved away from me as we stared at Yuma in confusion.

"Because-"

I squeaked as I was tackled by Astral. I wasn't on the ground though. I was inches _from_ it. I wrapped my arms around Astral to keep myself from falling fully. Astral's beautiful, dazzling, absolutely amazing…getting out of order here…His mismatched eyes met mine.

Yuma sighed and finished, "Because Astral looked like he was going to tackle her."

"A-Astral!" I said, my face reddening probably. It sucks when you're really pale because it gets really obvious when you blush.

Astral floated backwards making me go back to standing. I sighed as I let go of Astral, "What was that for?" I asked lowly.

Astral took a step back (Um…in the air). He smiled and took my hand. He raised it to his lips making me flush. He kissed it softly, "_You look beautiful, madam._"

That made me blink. I raised an eyebrow, "When did you learn English?"

Astral blinked and let go of my hand, "That was English?"

That made both me and Yuma anime fall. We both stood right back up in irritation. "He doesn't even know what he said!" said Yuma in exasperation.

I giggled and kissed Astral's cheek, "It was still sweet. Astral, it means 'you look beautiful, madam," I translated.

"Oh…" said Astral. He just smiled back, "Well, I still mean it. You look beautiful, Rima."

I felt my cheeks go really warm. I giggled though at him, "Where did you learn that from though?"

"TV…" he answered.

Of course. I smirked at Yuma, "Yo, Yuma?"

"What?" he asked, glancing at me. He was looking at people through Inchou's binoculars.

"I'm going to steal Astral for a few minutes," I said with a wink.

"You can't steal what is already yours," Astral said playfully.

Yuma fake gagged, "Oh kill me."

I stuck out my tongue and dragged Astral outside. There were two outsides. One was to the west, where Ryoga was. My hand held Astral's tighter when I thought of Ryoga talking with IV. Then there was the east outside. I'll go there with Astral.

* * *

**Outside!**

I let go of Astral's hand as we left the loud Eve party. You could faintly hear the inside but the calming noises of outside overlapped them. Astral looked deep in thought about something.

I tilted my head slightly, "Astral?" I called.

He didn't answer, he was lost in thought. What was he thinking about? I thought back to my earlier conversation with Kaito. Dead. Astral looked dead right now. I was such a bad…what were we? Lovers? I was such a bad lover to Astral. I haven't comforted him about this, have I? Maybe a little but not really.

I took Astral's hand. He blinked but he did not react in any other way. I lifted his hand to my lips and brushed my lips past them. He looked at me, now reacting.

I smiled and asked what I wanted to ask before. "Astral, do you want to dance?" I asked, letting our hands drop between us.

Astral hesitated slightly, "Isn't the male supposed to be the one to ask…?" he questioned.

I blinked, "Where did you…?"

"TV," he answered without missing a beat.

I stifled a laugh. Oh Astral. I let go of his hand. "So you want to ask?" I questioned.

"It would be the proper way…correct?" he asked me.

I smiled in entertainment, "Well, I suppose. It truly doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is the answer."

"Well, then yes. Yes, I would like to dance with you," he said, a smile playing at his lips.

I held out my left hand, waiting for Astral to put his right. He looked a bit confused but he did put his hand on it. I gently intertwined our fingers. I put on my D-Gazer with my free hand. I picked the song, we needed one, no? I put my hand on Astral's shoulder and he looked perplexed as to where his went.

I smiled, "Astral, you put your hand on my waist," I told him.

Astral pretended he didn't hear me and put his hand on my waist. He looked at me like he did it all by himself. I giggled and played the song. It was low enough for only us two to hear it.

{Song: Eternal Snow. I do not own it. These are the English lyrics}

_How long has it been since I fell in love with you?_

_My feelings only increase_

_Will you notice them_

_Even though I've never once put them into words?_

I smiled slightly at the song. I absolutely adore this song. I moved one step back, Astral moved one step forward. I stepped one step back again, Astral advanced again. I stepped forward this time and Astral didn't seem to know that. We bumped into each other and I smiled at how close we were. A light blush dusted my cheeks though.

_Like the snow, they just  
_

_Quietly keep accumulating_

I danced closer to Astral, chests touching. The only witness to this dance were the stars.

_Flashback_

_I put my hand on his head and suddenly felt how soft his hair was. I unconsciously started combing my fingers through his white-blue hair. Mostly though, we stayed quiet in the comfortable silence._

_I then saw a white streak of light. I squealed in delight, "A shooting star!"_

_Astral looked up and saw the trail of the light. "Shooting star?" repeated Astral as he watched the small trail._

_I nodded feverishly, "Come on, Astral! You have to make a wish on it!" I clasped my hands together and closed my eyes. _

_"I wish to forget about Kaito, even for one night," said Astral quietly._

_I stared at him shocked and a bit worried. Astral…I smiled and gently clasped one of my hands with his, "I wish…I wish that I could help you with that," I said, smiling._

_His eyes widened in the slightest before the corners of his mouth twitched a bit upwards, "Thank you, Rima."_

_I smiled and I felt his grasp on me grow tighter. Not enough to hurt but enough to know he cared. I leaned my head on his shoulder, "Hey, let's look at the stars."_

_Flashback end_

I remember that night. But now, instead of looking at the stars, we were both looking at each other.

I wrapped my arms around Astral's neck. He pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arms around my waist.

_Hold me tight- if this is how it feels_

_I didn't want to know_

_What it was like to be in love with someone_

_I love you- my tears won't stop_

_And so I wish_

_That I had never met you_

I ended the song, taking my D-Gazer off. I put it away and stayed in Astral's arms.

He suddenly pulled away. I stared at him in confusion, "Astral…?"

He looked down, eyes hidden, "Rima…I…I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked. Why was he sorry?

"Everything. For the numbers, for No. 83 and No. 96, for causing you so much pain…" he said quietly.

I shook my head, "No, Astral…You haven't done anything bad to me, okay?" I told him. Before, when Galaxy Queen was able to mark me, I wasn't myself. "Astral, you've done way more good things than bad," I said to him.

He still didn't show me his eyes. He didn't lift his head. He said bitterly, "It would've been better if you fell in love with Shark."

I froze. His words resounded in my head. _It would've been better if you fell in love with Shark_. I made a noise of shock, "Astral!"

"Shark would've been better. You already love him-"

"Astral!" I took his cheeks into my hands. I made him look up at me. I saw the bitterness and sadness in his eyes. "Astral, the way I love you and the way I love Ryoga, they're both totally different! I love Ryoga like he's my brother! I don't love you like you're my brother! I love you like, like…" I tried thinking of something but nothing really came up. I just looked at Astral, "I love _you_."

"Shark was able break the number's hold while I couldn't…"

"I know that, Astral," I said quietly. I looked away, "Ryoga is Ryoga. Astral is Astral. There's a difference, Astral."

"Shark is much stronger than I am. It would've been better-"

"Astral!" I said, raising my voice. I turned back to him. He was making me mad! "Astral…" I shook my head, "You are strong, Astral. Even though you have no memories, even though you have no clue as to what you're doing, you still move forward. Astral, I love you for that! Stop thinking that Ryoga is better than you!"

Astral raised his head to meet my eyes. I smiled and kissed the corner of his mouth. I whispered, "I love you, Astral."

"I love you too," he said back.

I suddenly hugged him and he really didn't expect that. We both cried out as we both fell onto the ground. I blushed as I looked up at Astral. Astral was in between my spread out legs and his hands were on either side of my head. I blushed heavily as he leaned forward a bit. This position…!

"Are you all right, Rima?" Astral asked, his warm breath on my lips.

"Y-yes…" I said nervously. I hope he gets off.

We heard rustling and froze.

"I'm too young to be a grandfather."

I'm not sure if I should be relieved or nervous. Perhaps both. Astral and I moved a bit away from each other and stared at Tsubasa.

"Hey, papa," I said, hoping my blush would go down.

"Tsubasa," greeted Astral with a serious look.

Tsubasa sighed but then he looked a bit alert.

"Papa, what's wrong?" I asked.

He shook his head and smiled, "It's nothing." His eyes said otherwise. "You two get inside soon." He then flew away. I suppose he was going back to Yuma's Key.

Astral floated up and helped me up. I nodded my thanks and kissed his cheek. "We should follow," I whispered.

Astral nodded. He moved a piece of hair from my eye. He smiled, "You really do look beautiful."

* * *

**Back inside!**

I stood next to Kotori and smiled, "Hey you."

"What is it?" Kotori asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm surprised Yuma didn't ask you to dance," I mused. I mean, come on, Yuma!

"A-actually…" Kotori was blushing.

My eyes widened, "He did ask you?!"

"Shh…" Kotori shushed me. She glanced at Cat-chan. She played with her hands, "Y-yeah…"

I giggled and nudged her, "Ooh…" I teased.

"S-shut up…" she said quietly, her face red.

I looked past her to see Yuma. His eyes met mine. I winked and mouthed, 'good job'. He just looked away but he was half-blushing.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed and a drum roll began. We all looked up to the top of the staircase. A door opened and right at the top was Mr. Heartland. He threw his arms apart, "Heart burning!"

Everyone started clapping except for the select few, like me for example.

Mr. Heartland spoke with a grin, "Ladies and gentlemen, and all duelists! Are you enjoying the party?"

My gaze met with Kaito's on the balcony. I felt another gaze on me and saw Droite. W-was she glaring at me? I turned my head back to Mr. Heartland.

"Tomorrow the final match starts for the World Duel Carnival! I will be introducing the 23 finalists that have gathered here!"

23…? Oh wait, it's 24 if you include Ryoga. He probably left already.

"First!" suddenly his hologram fizzed. Then it just disappeared altogether.

I looked around, what the? Suddenly, there was the laughter of a child.

"Hahahaha! Hahahaha! Hahahahahaha!"

Two spotlights turned on. It was directly on…a newcomer. He was all alone, he was a kid. He had blonde hair that was braided over his shoulder. He was wearing formal European clothing. The weirdest thing was the mask. He stepped forward, following the pink carpet. Everyone seemed to be afraid or something.

The boy giggled as he walked. He looked forward, "Whoa! A giant cake!" He continued his trek. He walked up the stairs. He was on the first tier as he looked up at Mr. Heartland.

"You…you are?" asked Mr. Heartland.

"Me Tron!" He spoke childishly, "My name is Tron."

Tron?! The person who III…who gave powers to III? I gently stroked my locket.

Tron walked up the stairs and knelt down at the stairs. He looked up at Mr. Heartland, "Hey mister."

"Eh?" Mr. Heartland blinked. "What is it?" he knelt down to Tron's height, "What's wrong?"

"Hey mister, you and the others…**I will destroy you**."

W-what? Who is this Tron?

Tron ran up to the railing, "You know, I really love cake!" He giggled as he kicked his legs. He looked over at Yuma, "Hey, big bro over there!"

Yuma looked confused, "Eh?"

"Let's meet at the finals."

Then he looked to me. As soon as our eyes made contact, I instantly recognized it. Those strange gold eyes…

_I held up the photograph. I smiled at my mother's photo. Strange gold eyes were brimming with happiness. Her fair golden hair was tied in a braid._

He is…!

"_Hikari, come over here and help me with this please?"_

_I turned around. I smiled up at my golden-eyed uncle, "Sure!"_

He then looked straight ahead. He seemed to be cackling but it was stifled to a giggle. Astral was floating right in front of him. Astral unfolded his arms and stared at Tron, "You can see me," he stated.

Tron suddenly burst out in a giggle fit. He cackled loudly. He moved back and the lights turned off. As soon as the lights turned back on, like his laughter, he disappeared.

"He's gone?!"

"What happened?!"

"Where did he go?!"

"Where did he disappear to?!"

"Just what is he…?" I heard Yuma say.

Someone then ran in. I blinked, um? He was only wearing his underwear. Two Heartland personnel ran in behind the man.

He pointed at someone, "There he is! That guy!"

A guy wearing a green suit and white mask gulped.

"To pretend to be me!" shouted the man. He ran towards the imposter and jumped high into the air.

The imposter turned around and sprinted. He accidentally rammed Inchou down. As Yuma went to help Inchou up, the imposter ran into the ginormous cake.

"You kids, causing trouble again!" said one of the personnel as they looked at Yuma and Inchou.

"No, we aren't!" shouted Yuma.

The man who was clothes-less shouted, "You!" He then fell into the cake as the imposter ran off. I merely stared at the cake tumbled onto the ground. Cake was splattered everywhere.

I was just ignoring it. So Tron is actually…Someone pulled at my hand. I looked down and my eyes widened.

"You killed her."

Tron turned around and left by a portal. I…killed her? Who? My head hurt, I never killed anyone…

During that, all my friends ran out and ditched me. I just stared at the ground. I then walked out of the place. I came here feeling bad. I left here feeling bad and confused.

* * *

It's been a while. I watched the night sky. I then took a deep breath. I took out my D-Gazer, about to call Ryoga. Suddenly, I heard rustling.

"Let's duel."


	51. Let's Go, Tournament Finals!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

**_A/N: Hey, I rewrote this chapter and changed some stuff. So, hopefully you won't be confused. _**

**On with the show!**

I turned slowly to face the person.

"Let's duel," he repeated.

"…Why?" I asked Kaito. I don't want to duel Kaito.

"You're a number holder, aren't you?" he knew the answer.

"So you finally came after mine," I said. I lifted my dress slightly to reveal my deck-box on my thigh. I just barely solved my number problem yesterday! I put both my duel supplies on, "D-Gazer, set! Duel disk, set!" I took my deck out and I felt something off. I shrugged it off and put it into my D-Pad.

"Duel mode, Photon Change!" shouted Kaito. His D-Pad flew from Orbital 7, who I just noticed.

_A/R Vision link established._

"Duel!"

We both drew our respective five cards. I took one look at my cards and gasped. Oh no. This could not be happening.

"You look like you haven't seen your deck before," said Kaito from across the field.

How funny. This is going to be hard. Why? Well, in my hand are Sea Pearl, Shocktopus, Opposing backlash, Tide out, and Ravenous Trade. Why did I have Ryoga's deck?!

_*Flashback*_

_I took a deck without looking and put it in my deck-box._

_*Flashback end*_

This is going to be hard…But the duel's already started. I guess I'll have to go with it. Wait…if I had Ryoga's deck…I have No.32 Sea Biting Dragon, Shark Drake. I couldn't even handle Galaxy Queen!

But…I clenched my fist, "I'll go first!" I declared, "My turn, draw!"

I stared at the new card, Seaweed Snake. I looked up, "I summon Seaweed Snake (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 3)!"

A green snake appeared, seaweed wrapped around it. I nodded, "I activate the Continuous magic card, Ravenous Trade! You'll know what this does in a while," I took a breath, "I end my turn."

He seemed confused. "I thought you used a fairy-themed deck."

How did he know that? I just shrugged, "I thought I would use a different one." Yeah right. Though, I can't just say 'oh, well, I switched decks with someone by accident.' He'll definitely use that to his advantage.

He nodded and drew, "My turn, draw!" He looked at his hand with a surprised expression, "Well, that's odd."

I relaxed a bit but was still alert," What's odd?" I questioned.

He smirked, "Just some cards. I activate the magic card Photon Veil from my hand! When I return three light monsters from my hand to the deck, I can add three light monsters to my hand."

"That's weirdly familiar," I said quietly. He used that same move with the first duel. He's probably going to summon that No.10 or something.

"It is," he agreed. He continued, "Now I summon Daybreaker (Atk: 1700-Lvl: 4)! You remember the ability? Let me enlighten you. Since he was successfully summoned, I can summon another and another after that! So come out, Daybreakers! Now, like before, I overlay my level four Daybreakers! With these three monsters, I create the overlay network! Xyz summon! Come forth, No.10 White Knight Illuminator (Atk: 2400-Rank: 4)!"

Okay, this was getting bad. At least I had Seaweed Snake on. I looked at Kaito nervously, "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were cheating."

"Oh well," he said, "You know what happens next. No.10, attack Seaweed Snake!"

I watched as he did the attack. I was hit with damage and fell to the ground with a yelp.

**Rima: 3100LPS Kaito: 4000LPS**

As the smoke cleared, both of our monsters were gone. Kaito's face was priceless!

"What?!" he asked, "Where's my monster?!"

I smirked, "Thanks to Seaweed Snake's ability, in a battle, after damage is taken, both monsters are banished from play!"

He growled, "I set two cards face down and end my turn."

"My turn, draw!" I shouted. I had a good chance at winning this turn. But…it relies on…My hand brushed my deck-box. Shark Drake…

I bit my lip before continuing, "First I use Ravenous Tide's ability! I can special summon a monster from my hand! I special summon Shocktopus (Atk: 1600-Lvl: 4)!"

Kaito's eyes widened, "That is…!" He glared at me, "That's not your deck, is it?"

So he recognized the card. I shook my head, "It's not but it truly doesn't matter. Now, I normal summon Dire Fish (Atk: 100-Lvl: 4)! I overlay both monsters! With these two monsters, I create the overlay network! Xyz summon!"

I was shaking. I forced myself to open my deck-box and grab Ryoga's card. The number's voice seemed to resound in my head. I whispered, "Come forth, Sea Biting Dragon, Shark Drake (Atk: 2800-Rank: 4)!"

A whimper escaped my lips as the number whispered words of destruction into my ear. I was in the corridors of my mind, it was pitch-black.

Shark Drake advanced upon me before raising its claw. He aimed right for my chest and I awaited the number mark's appearance. Suddenly, a voice rang out, "I wouldn't go near her if I were you!"

My eyes widened. That voice is...Astral? No. That wasn't Astral's voice that was...!

Black Mist flew in front of me with his arms crossed. "Shark Drake, No.32, this girl is off limits. Unless you want me to fight you, I'd suggest not touching her."

Shark Drake drew back and with a snarl, he disappeared. Black Mist watched silently until he left. He looked back at me and I looked at him in shock. "B...Black Mist!" I shouted. What was he doing here?!

"Hey," he greeted casually. He floated in front of me, "I wish I could've helped you before with that No.83 but..." He glanced behind him, "That stupid Chaos Number started annoying me."

I...what?! "How are you here?!" I shouted. There's no way...! He was sealed!

"It was hard," Black Mist said with a yawn, "But, if you must know, I flew here. That idiot Astral was in the Key though. It was hard to sneak off. Oh, and that seal? It's not much. That idiot Astral isn't really concentrating on it so it's pretty weak."

"You just called yourself an idiot but saying Astral's one," I pointed out. I stopped once I remembered I was dueling. "Ah, I'm dueling, Black Mist! I appreciate you helping me though, thank you."

Black Mist rolled his eyes before a light appeared.

I was back. Black Mist, why did you save me? But…thank you. I staggered forward before moving my hand in front of me. On my hand was the number 96. Even though I should be scared, I'm not.

"The number…!" shouted Kaito.

I felt eyes on me and looked up. I blinked twice. Black Mist was floating a bit above me, out of Kaito's sight. Wait, can Kaito see him? I wonder...I threw that thought aside. I continued, "I use one-"

Kaito suddenly started coughing hoarsely. I watched in shock, "Kaito?"

"Kaito-sama!" shouted Orbital 7 as he rolled towards his master.

Kaito fell to his knees, coughing hard. I ran over to him and knelt down in front of him, "Hey, are you okay?" I asked him.

He coughed into his hand before holding it out slightly. My eyes widened, blood! "Kaito, are you all right?!" I asked him as I disengaged my D-Pad.

He glared at me, "I'm fine. Do not concern yourself."

"You've used too much of your photon transformation! It's already over 90%!" shouted Orbital.

"Kaito?" I asked. He was hurt! Even though we were 'enemies' a second ago, he was hurt! He was also Haruto's brother.

I took off my D-Gazer as A/R dispersed. "We can finish this duel another time," I said as he stopped coughing, "You're hurt!"

He just glared at me.

"Why are you glaring?" I asked. There was no reason to!

"Don't take pity on me."

"I'm not," I said in confusion, "You're obviously hurt. And besides, Haruto needs you."

He looked away, glare diminishing.

"Hey, tough guy?" I told him, "We have a mutual enemy, you know. The person who hurt Haruto…"

He looked back to me. Even though the person who hurt Haruto is basically my uncle and cousins…they are the enemy. I just wish they weren't.

I held out a hand, "Truce?"

He glared at me, "As long as you don't get in my way."

I waited for him to shake on it. But…when was there suddenly two of Kaito? The last thing I saw was Kaito's eyes as I fell forward and fainted.

* * *

_**No one's P.O.V**_

Kaito watched in surprise as Rima dropped onto his lap. He stared at her. Just fainting on him like that…

Droite suddenly walked out of the mansion, searching for Kaito. When she saw him, she gasped in shock. That girl in his lap is that girl who is friends with the original number.

Kaito glanced at Droite, noticing her. He moved his hands to Rima's stomach to lift her up as he stood. He narrowed his eyes as the blood he coughed up stained her dress. He stood up, holding her up. Unbeknownst to him, a certain Black Being was glaring at him.

"What happened?" asked Droite as she walked over.

Kaito remained silent, staring at Rima. This girl was strange. Being an Astral Being, and being human. He closed his eyes, turning away from Droite. He started walking away, "Orbital," he called.

Orbital 7 immediately transformed into a motorcycle form. Kaito stepped on, bringing Rima with him.

"Kaito, where are you-"

Droite was interrupted as Kaito ordered Orbital 7 to drive off. Black Mist glanced at the lady before rocketing after Rima.

Kaito stared forward as he drove around. "Orbital," he spoke, "Find out where she lives."

"U-understood!" the robot-motorcycle stuttered, "WDC database search. Participant: Rima Tsubasa. Deck: Light Fairy-type. Address: (Insert address)"

Kaito remained stoic as his loyal robot pulled up at a house. He stayed silent as he leaped off gracefully. He moved towards the door, hearing the girl stir a little. He stood in front of the door and knocked.

No answer. Kaito's eyes were full of surprise, were her parents not home? Kaito looked to his robot, "Orbital, pick the lock."

"Understood!" the robot picked the lock quickly and Kaito walked inside the house. Without him noticing, Black Mist flew in after.

He merely put Rima on the couch. Orbital rolled in behind him, "Kaito-sama, why did you help her? She obviously does not deserve it."

Black Mist silently growled. How dare that robot think lowly of Rima!

Kaito closed his eyes in irritation, "Shut up, Orbital."

Black Mist smirked at Kaito as Orbital complied.

Kaito opened his eyes. He owed this girl.

_*Flashback*_

_Kaito walked into his brother's room in the morning. He rode the energy disk to the room, putting on a smile for Haruto. He stepped off the disk and bid his brother good morning._

_His stoic brother turned his head to look at him. He was holding a sketchbook and a black marker._

"_What are you doing, Haruto?" Kaito questioned as he walked over to his brother. _

_Haruto stared back at his picture he had drawn, "I was drawing."_

_Kaito hummed and leaned over to take a look. His eyes widened in shock. _

_Haruto's drawing was of something he had never seen before. It was a black being with strange mismatched eyes. That wasn't the most surprising thing. Over the whole drawing, Haruto had written 'No.96 Black Mist'. _

_Kaito took the picture from Haruto's hands, "Haruto…what is this?"_

_Haruto put the marker down on the bed, "The scary monster."_

_Kaito gasped slightly. Where had his brother seen a number?_

_Haruto stared out the window. He walked over to it, putting a hand on the glass. _

"_Where, Haruto?" Kaito asked worriedly._

"_Dream place," Haruto answered, staring out the window. It was like he was searching for something._

_Kaito was so confused but he was mostly concerned for his brother's safety, "Did he hurt you?" he asked, going to stand behind his brother._

"_Nee-san protected me," Haruto said quietly._

"_Nee-san?" Kaito stared at Haruto, "Who is nee-san?" Who would Haruto call 'nee-san'?_

"_Rima-nee-san," his brother said._

_Kaito's eyes widened slightly. That girl with Yuma Tsukumo?! Before Kaito could question it more, Mr. Heartland appeared to take Haruto._

_*Flashback end*_

He turned on his heel and exited the house. He repaid his debt. For now.

* * *

_**Rima's P.O.V**_

I ran away. I was running away from something, but what? I ran as fast as my legs would let me. I screamed, "Astral, Ryoga, Yuma, Kaito, Mihael, Black Mist, someone, save me!"

Tron appeared in front of me and I froze in fright. "You killed her."

"Who?!"

"You killed her," he said, glaring at her, "You killed her."

"Who?!"

Tron reached out, about to grab me.

I screamed and a figure immediately appeared before me. It was Black Mist's true form! Black Mist flew to my side, ready to command his counterpart to attack. Tron gasped before taking a few steps back. Black Mist, thank you!

Tron glared at me, "You killed her."

"Who?!"

"My-"

I yelped in shock as I sat up. I was shaking in fear. My heart was pounding in my ears. That was terrifying! I brought my knees up to my chest. "Astral…" I whimpered, "Astral…"

I knew Astral would not come. He was staying in Heartland with Yuma. Ryoga was out somewhere as well. I looked at the time. I have an hour before I have to leave. I wiped my wet eyes and got up. I froze, how did I get here? I don't remember Ryoga picking me up. I was wearing my dress still so…My eyes widened as I stared at my dress. Why was it stained with blood?

Wait, I was with Kaito. Yeah, we were dueling…And he had coughed up blood. I guess he might've brought me back…maybe? I stood up with a yawn. It turned into a scream once I suddenly saw Black Mist.

He seemed amused and smirked at me. I put my hand over my heart, "You almost gave me a heart attack!" I cried out.

"I didn't even touch you, let alone attack your heart!" Black Mist retorted.

I stopped being angry. Black Mist really was...! I giggled, covering my mouth with my hands. He was just like Astral! He thinks too literally!

"W-why are you laughing at me?" Black Mist tried to say angrily but instead it came out as embarrassed.

"Really, Black Mist, you're truly clueless!" I said. I froze as I said that. Black Mist...he tried to attack Astral...he made me collapse...but he also said that he loved me. I turned around, not wanting to see him.

"I wondered how long it would take for you to be scared," Black Mist mused. I could feel his eyes burning holes in the back of my head.

"I don't understand why you would save me in the first place." I moved towards the bathroom, "I thank you but-"

"I saved you because I love you."

I froze. Black Mist...I whispered, "You don't love me. Astral loves me. You only feel affection towards me because of him."

"No. I don't. If that was true, it would be the same for the other numbers. No.83 and No.32 don't 'feel affection' for you."

No. "Black Mist, stop saying that you love me. You don't."

"I-"

"Drop it."

"Drop...?"

"Never mind," I sighed. I changed the subject, "Anyway, why were you hiding from Kaito yesterday?"

"Why were you dueling the Number Hunter?"

I glanced at Black Mist, "Because I wanted to."

"My god," Black Mist said, looking away, "Must you do that? He worries about you enough."

He means Astral, I think. "Well, he worries too much," I retorted.

"He loves you. That's why."

"I know," I mumbled. I love Astral too but he worries too much.

"To answer your question, I am a number. That Number Hunter would be able to see me because I am visible to people who bear Number cards."

I suppose that makes sense.

"Take off your dress."

I turned to him, "Are you as perverted as Astral?" I asked dryly.

Black Mist turned away, "I didn't mean it in that sense. I just...dislike the blood."

"Right..." I said, not really believing him. And...I'm acting so nice to him! Ugh, it's probably because of Astral! I sighed before walking to my bathroom, going to get ready.

* * *

I took the monorail to Heartland. Black Mist just floated beside me, not saying anything. I was surprised at that. Once we got there, I was thrown into a huge stadium. The stands were already full with cheering fans. I counted and saw that there were 24 coasters. They looked like separate roller coaster carts, all aligned in a row. They were on tracks. Strange…

Around me, high in the air, were photos and information about duelists. Ryoga appeared on one screen, stats beside his photo.

I opened my duel-box in worry. I needed to find Ryoga soon! I looked to the side and saw that he was walking towards me. "Ryoga!" I shouted, "I have your-"

"Yeah, I noticed," he said, handing me my deck. I did the same, handing his back eagerly. I took mine and hugged it, "I missed you guys~" I said to my deck lovingly.

"What are you doing?" Ryoga asked me.

I looked up, "Nothing…" I blinked as I noticed Black Mist gone again. He probably didn't want to be seen by the number holders here.

"Right," said Ryoga as we looked at the competitors. There were some unimportant people…and then there were the people that mattered. Kaito, IV, V, Tron, Ryoga and I. Where's Yuma?

I caught Tron's gaze and froze. I moved closer to Ryoga. Ryoga looked at me surprised but didn't push me away. Good. I need some reassurance.

"Look what picture they used for you," said Ryoga.

I looked up at one of the screens and blanched. Aw, really?! They used a photo of me wearing the stuff from last night! I sighed.

"IV-sama!" Ryoga seemed to twitch at that.

"Kaito-sama!" He's getting popular.

"Shark!" "Ryoga-sama!"

"Rima-sama!" "Fairy-hime!"

I wonder where Yuma and Astral are. They haven't arrived yet and it looks like we're just about to get started.

"Heart Burning!" shouted Mr. Heartland. He was the MC. He announced with a smile, "The World Duel Carnival's finals will finally start!"

There was loud cheering from the crowd.

"The first stage is the Park Section! Which means they will be dueling all around Heartland! To name it, the Duel Coaster!"

Ryoga glanced at me, "Duel Coaster, huh?"

So that's what those coasters are for. "A Battle Royale?" I questioned. Well, this will definitely be interesting. I looked around, "Yuma's not here yet…" I'm getting worried. I used my D-Gazer to call him. Once he answered, I asked, "You here yet?"

"Yeah, I'm up at the entrance."

I blinked, "You know you have to be down here, right?"

"Oh!" His D-Gazer turned off and I rolled my eyes. Oh Yuma. I put away my D-Gazer.

"That really isn't surprising," Ryoga said, watching me.

"Yeah, it really isn't," I agreed.

_Insert theme song._

"23 duelists who have passed the preliminaries!" declared Mr. Heartland, "Fight on with your knowledge and strength at stake! Aim for the glorious title of the World Duel Champion!"

IV came up behind us, waving at his fans with a smile. To put on such a façade…

Ryoga pulled me near him, scowling at IV. IV locked gazes with Ryoga with a cold smirk.

I blinked as I felt the cool rush of…stopped time. That was…I looked at Kaito. Now? Really?

I rolled my eyes as time unfroze. Kaito caught my gaze. I looked away, my left hand tightening. Surely, there will be numbers here.

"Oi, Rima!" called Yuma, waving his arm in the air with a grin.

I ran over to him, "Hey, Yuma!" I said, high-fiving him.

He grinned, "This is going to be so cool!"

"Yeah," I agreed.

Astral moved beside me, taking my hand gently. I smiled at him, "Hey, Astral," I greeted.

He smiled back, leaning forward to give me a kiss.

Yuma made fake gagging noises, ruining it.

Astral sighed in annoyance before quickly pecking my lips. I laughed.

Yuma stared at us exasperatingly, "Do you have to do that in front of me?!" he whined.

"Yep," I said, enjoying Yuma's obvious annoyance.

"He's just jealous because he and Kotori aren't together," Astral said, whispering in my ear.

I giggled. Astral is 100% right! I laced my fingers into his hair as I kissed him properly. I made sure Yuma was looking too. Astral and I had one eye open, watching Yuma act disgusted. I laughed against Astral's lips and I'm sure Astral was amused by Yuma too. Just as I was about to make fake lip-smacking noises, Mr. Heartland interrupted.

"Now, soon the bell will ring!" announced Mr. Heartland, "Fighters, get ready to fight!"

Yuma smile came up, "Yes! Let's go, Astral!"

I was about to turn and go before my eyes widened. Behind Yuma was Black Mist. I felt betrayed. Was he really going to attack Yuma?! After he was being so- my thoughts were interrupted as I noticed what he was doing. He kept pointing to Yuma's deck-box and then to himself. I blinked, what? He pointed at the deck-box and then back to himself numerous times. No one seemed to notice him because Astral's attention was on the opponents. I finally connected the dots. He wants me to get his card?!

"Rima, why do you keep staring at me like that?" Yuma asked with a raised eyebrow. A second before he looked behind him, Black Mist shot up into the sky.

"Ah, um, Yuma?" I asked. I hope I won't regret this. I grabbed his deck-box with a smirk.

"Hey, Rima!" Yuma shouted.

I took out Galaxy Queen and put it in. At the same time, I swiped out Black Mist. I hope they didn't notice. Thankfully, I don't think they did. I put it back in my deck easily. "I just wanted to give you Galaxy Queen," I said with a laugh.

"Oh, okay," Yuma said, taking his deck-box back. Sorry for lying, Yuma!

I noticed everyone else going to their coasters. I smiled, "Good luck, Yuma." I kissed Astral's cheek, "I love you, Astral," I said as I ran off to get a white coaster.

Astral said loudly, "I love you too!" I grinned and waved at him as Yuma went to go to a red one.

"This coaster will be connected to your D-Pads," explained Mr. Heartland, "Duel disk, set!"

I held out my arm, D-Pad extending and setting. I threw on my D-Gazer as well.

_A/R Vision link established._

I touched my locket. Lend me some strength, Mihael. I felt eyes on me and looked to my left, IV. We both looked away.

"It's time to give life to the coasters!" said Heartland, "The heart pieces that were gathered from the preliminaries are the Duel Coaster's start key! Set the heart piece into the cockpit!"

I looked at the front to see the controls. There were two screens and a heart-shaped ignition. So this is where it goes. I put my heart piece in it loosely and it glowed in response.

A holographic screen appeared on it. 'Starting grid' then it showed a layout of the field, 'ROUTE MAP'.

I watched the signs. There were marks with M and T. Magic and Trap. I stared forward. I hope I'm ready for this!

Mr. Heartland yelled, "The world's most best battle is about to begin! Starting in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, fire!"

I gasped in surprise as my duel coaster started automatically. I'm glad I'm used to this speed…! Thank you, Ryoga! I'm glad I'm used to his motorcycle speed to do this! I glanced behind me and blinked as I saw Yuma at the start. I pressed my button to call Yuma. He looked like he was about to cry. "Yuma!" I shouted, "What are you doing?!"

"My heart piece!" he whined, "Nee-chan is bringing it but…!"

So he forgot it. I looked ahead of me and blinked as three guys were lounging around on the tracks. Weird…I continued on without any interference. I glanced at Yuma, "Hey, just be patient. I gotta go! Don't worry, Akari will surely come soon! She would never let you down!" I turned off my monitor and sped past a bunch of people, avoiding battle.

"That's no fun, ignoring duels like that," Black Mist said, sitting down beside me on the second chair.

"Well, I don't want to duel them," I said childishly.

"Good job at taking the card," Black Mist said. "I like you much better than them."

I stared forward, "If you say so." I may not trust Black Mist completely but...I'll give him a chance.

After a while, Mr. Heartland's voice boomed, "This is something unexpected! Player Tsukumo Yuma who had a tough time heading off, now left along with a girl!"

One of the blacks screens showed Kotori and Yuma. I blinked, wow.

"The coaster is for one person. But for now, I, as the organizer of this tournament, will specially allow it!"

I tapped the screen to call Kotori.

"Eh, Rima?"

"Kotori, leave out-view on. I wanna be able to see what you guys are doing."

{Out-view = Rima can see everything Kotori is seeing.}

"All right!"

"Kotori, be careful. Oh, and keep an eye on Yuma."

Kotori laughed, "You got it!

I giggled before turning it off. There. Now, if I want to, I can see what they are doing through Kotori. Black Mist seemed to just stare off the side of the coaster. I was about to say something to him before noticing Ryoga on the track beside mine with another opponent. He was sort of ahead though. He was in the middle of drawing but…his opponent looked ready to attack with his monster.

{Sorry if I completely fuck up the rules. The Duel Coaster concept is confusing to me}

I zoomed forward, standing up. I quickly summoned Herald of Orange Light. "I tribute summon Tethys, Goddess of Light!" Herald disappeared as my pretty fairy appeared. She fanned out her wings with a battle cry (Atk: 2400-Lvl: 5).

The two boys in front of me didn't notice. Yet. I activated my magic card before zooming forward, behind the guy against Ryoga. I smirked, holding my arm out, "Tethys, attack!"

Ryoga noticed me and smirked.

The opponent gasped as I destroyed his first monster. I narrowed my eyes as I noticed he had another. Aw! He glared at me, "How?! My monster has more attack points (Atk: 2800)!"

I just laughed. Tethys attack points revealed itself to be higher (Atk: 2900)!

**Opponent: 800LPS**

"…How?!"

Ryoga laughed, "You activated that card?"

"Oh you know it!" I winked back. I grinned at the opponent, "I activate the equip magic card, Water Supreme! The equipped monster raises attack by 500 for each water-type monster on the field area." I grinned at Ryoga, "Your move."

Ryoga tribute summoned Jawsman (Atk: 2600)! He glared at the person, "Go, Jawsman! Shark scream!"

**Opponent: 0LPS**

**Ejected!**

The opponent got ejected out of his seat and his coaster disappeared below us.

"Player Ryoga and Player Rima double-teamed to take out an opponent!" announced Mr. Heartland.

I smirked and noticed that Black Mist had disappeared again. Oh well. I looked ahead. "I'm going forward," I said loudly and zoomed forward, leaving Ryoga in the dust.

I smiled at Tethys, "Let's go, my monster."

She smiled at me and we continued on.

**A/N: Alright! Black Mist is starting to protect Rima from Tron! I wonder what will happen next!**


	52. The Duel Coaster vs The Roaring Train!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

"Some people seemed to be getting ejected behind us," Black Mist said. I noticed where he was now. He was flying on the right of the Duel Coaster, hidden from peoples' sight on my left.

"So that's where you were," I mused.

He sat back down beside me, "I do not want to be seen. Once that idiot Astral finds out I'm gone, he'll strengthen that seal and I won't be able to protect you."

"Stop calling Astral an idiot," I said. My Astral is not an idiot! He's one of the smartest people I know!

Black Mist seemed to read my thoughts, "Well, he's an idiot for leaving you alone."

"Well, he has much more important things on his mind," I said, defending Astral.

"That stupid idiot can't even remember his own memories-"

"Stop calling Astral such things!" I shouted, "I love him, you of all people should know that! Stop saying such things if you know that!" My grip tightened on the joystick.

Black Mist just stared at me silently. I finally noticed he was clenching and unclenching his hand into and out of a fist. "Do not get me angry, Rima." he said and I heard the strain in his voice, "I will not be able to control myself from hurting you."

I remembered the times he wrapped his hands around my neck but did not strangle me. I looked away, "Sorry," I apologized quietly.

I sped forward, watching the map for Trap and Magic points. I almost forgot I was dueling. As long as I had Tethys out, I'll be safe. Well, for now. I wonder how Astral and Yuma are doing…I should stop obsessing over Astral right now. I need to concentrate. But…I looked up and saw a junction. I switched lanes.

"Ouch!" shouted Mr. Heartland, "The ones who were waiting for the late player Yuma Tsukumo are Fall Guys, they who used their team tactics to get through the preliminaries."

Those guys are the ones that were just staying on the tracks. Why are they after Yuma? I know those guys from before though. They're like Rikuo and Kaio but they don't cheat…as much. Anyway, I hope Yuma and Astral watch their backs.

I heard Kaito from frontward, "I have no time to deal with those who don't possess numbers! Disappear! Go, Reverse Buster! Direct attack!" Of course.

"Trap activate, Magic Cylinder!" his opponent said.

Kaito growled.

Should I help him? I smirked and sped forward a bit. I stood up, "I draw! I activate my quickplay magic, Remove Trap!" I shouted.

"Stupid!" I heard Black Mist say to me as he flew away to keep hidden.

**Opponent: 0LPS**

**Ejected!**

The man was ejected from his coaster and into the air.

Kaito and I looked at each other. He narrowed his eyes, "I didn't ask for help, Rima."

"You don't need to, Kaito," I said. We stared at each other. Was he going to attack me?

He looked ahead and sped away. I smiled slightly. I felt someone glare at me and my smile dropped. I sighed, thinking it was Black Mist. I looked behind me to see Droite instead! She was on the track beside me. She glared at me heatedly before speeding up and disappearing in the distance.

What did I do?! And why didn't she duel against me? She must be preserving her life points or something. Black Mist flew back to me, sitting in the seat, "Stop helping the enemy!" Black Mist exclaimed.

"I have a truce with Kaito," I said, remembering last night. At least, I think I do. Speaking of last night...that dream...I looked up at the sky. My hand reached up and touched my locket. Mihael, Tron is confusing me. He keeps telling me I killed someone. I would never do that. But…what is he talking about?

* * *

I sighed as I kept going forward. I'm sure I was like the fourth coaster or something. I haven't seen anyone! I mean, there are the people in front of me that I saw but there's no one behind me! I swear! It's been like twenty minutes! No one has come up from behind or anything! Black Mist was getting antsy as well.

"Why is no one coming?!" Black Mist shouted impatiently.

"I'm not sure..." I said, glancing behind me once more.

Suddenly, appearing on the track beside me was IV. He smirked at me. Again, after hearing Black Mist's sigh of frustration, he flew to the side of my Coaster.

I put my hand on the joystick, watching IV, "You're the only duelist I've seen in a while," I mused.

IV stared at me before cackling. I blinked, "What is it?" I asked him.

He merely smirked again, "Look behind you."

I stared at him. What? I turned my head around to look behind me to see no one. I blinked and tilted my head. I could see a blue speck in the distance but that's it. I turned to glare at IV, "There's nothing there."

He cackled again, "Who do you think is behind you?"

I feel like he knows. I glared, "What are you talking about?" I asked heatedly.

"There's no need to get angry at me because you're alone."

What? I looked ahead, avoiding looking at IV, "You're only allowed to have one person in a Duel Coaster."

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

I tried to ignore him.

"You're alone. Well, if you think family-wise. No one in your family cared about you."

That's right. I turned to glare at him, hot tears in my eyes. He made me so angry! Bringing up family…I closed my eyes tightly, "That's right. When it comes to family, Mihael is all I have." I looked at IV coldly.

He looked away, "He's after you."

Tron. I already knew that. I glared at him, "That's fine. Let's duel-"

There was a shout from behind me, "He's mine!"

We both glanced at Ryoga. He was speeding up, "Don't you dare, Rima!"

Before he got close enough to hear, I said softly, "I don't need family. I have Ryoga, I have Astral."

"And no Rio-"

"Don't say her name, you bastard!" I snapped. I stood up, left hand held in front of me. I want a numbers's power! Let me borrow your power, Black Mist! Let me destroy IV! But…nothing appeared. I stared at it before sitting back down, putting my left hand in my lap. I glanced at Black Mist. He looked at me, "You want me to hurt him?" he asked.

I wanted to say yes! Yes, destroy him! But...I looked down, "No, leave it," I answered.

"As you wish," Black Mist said.

IV smirked at Ryoga, who came up behind me, before speeding forward, "Follow me if you wish," he said to Ryoga. He then sped off.

"Rima, I told you to not duel that guy!" Ryoga yelled at me.

"I know, Ryoga," I whispered. I wasn't going to. I moved my hand to the joystick and went forward.

"Rima, what happened?" he asked, face coming up on the screen.

I shook my head, "Nothing." I looked at him, realizing something. "Wait, you were behind me this whole time?"

He looked at me, "Yeah."

I groaned in annoyance, "No wonder no one came up! You stopped them from coming up! Go ahead of me this time!"

We looked ahead. We were heading into a sort of tunnel. It was the head of some monster. What is that?

Mr. Heartland's voice came up, "With this, the Park Zone comes to an end with the hot battles ending! The survivors are now heading into the Underground Zone!"

Ryoga and I nodded to each other on our screen. "The Underground Zone, huh?" he repeated.

"It seems the weakest are out so now the competition will be harder," I said, looking ahead.

"Seems like it."

"Let's do this."


	53. The Fated Rail!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal! **

"Now, the 14 duelists that have survived the Park Zone are entering the next zone! From the stadium with beautiful sunlight, now they are entering the cave full of darkness!" announced Mr. Heartland.

Ryoga's cart had the number 5 on it while mine had the number 6. I switched into different lane as Ryoga went to another. 14 remaining duelists…Yuma, you better be one of them!

"Now from here, let me introduce the attraction of the Underground Zone! And its purpose is to find an opponent to duel 1:1! And its stage is…Magma, Space, Jungle Canyon, fields with different specialties. Now, lure your opponent into an advantageous field then duel! Fire up! Heart burning!"

Those fields don't match my deck. Oh well. But…wait, 4 fields? 2 to each field meaning…stupid math! Anyway, that would mean 8 duelists. I blinked. That would mean only 8 duelists could go on. There are 14 duelists here though…That means we have to rush!

Black Mist put a hand on mine, the one holding the joystick. I blinked as he moved the Coaster to dodge a Trap Point.

"Thanks..." I said. I need to pay attention.

* * *

I opened up a screen. Kotori's D-Gazer was still on, as I've asked. They were in no trouble but they were the last cart. I turned off the screen and then it happened.

A card sailed through the air. Ow! It cut my cheek a little as it hit my heart piece in its ignition. Oh shit! My heart piece fell out of it because of the card. It fell right off the edge of my coaster. I watched helplessly as it plummeted to the ground way below us. My coaster stopped because its activation key was gone.

"Shit!" Black Mist swore, looking at the fallen heart piece.

As the blood from my cut on my cheek flowed down, I stood up angrily. I turned to the obvious assailant. He was on the track to my right, grinning like a fool. I snarled, "What was that for?!" I needed to get going! I can't go if my cart doesn't work!

He shrugged, still smirking, "I was paid."

"Paid…?" I repeated. Why? Who?!

"You're going to regret that."

Our eyes flickered to the person coming up. Ryoga! I smiled, but…My smile dropped. He should be following IV, not doing this!

After a few seconds, the opponent lost. Black Mist sped forward, looking to see who was in front of us as this happened.

**Opponent: 0LPS**

**Ejected!**

He ejected down and his coaster disappeared. I smiled slightly, "Thanks, Ryoga. But…I can't get my coaster to go. I'm already done."

"Hurry up, I need to catch up with IV," he said, completely ignoring me.

I just stared at him, "Were you listening? I don't have a heart piece."

He rolled his eyes but impatience was settling in, "Hurry up. IV is already ahead."

Why isn't he listening?! I don't have a heart piece.

He just glared at me, "Hurry up! Do you want me to hop over there and get you?!"

What? I sighed, "What are you going on about?"

Ryoga growled, patience now gone. He stood up, hopped over to my coaster, and glared at me.

"What are you- Ah, let go of me!"

Ryoga grabbed me, slung me over his shoulder, and leaped back to his coaster. He put me down in the passenger seat and surged forward.

Did that just happen? I stared blankly at Ryoga. That just happened. What the hell?

He glanced at me, "Your cheek's bleeding."

That snapped me out of it. I poked him, "What was that for?!" I shouted.

"Hm?" he asked, looking at the map. Unit 4 was a bit in front of us. He scowled, "IV…" he said.

Unit 4. IV. Ugh, that's a terrible coincidence. So…now I'm travelling with Ryoga. Oh well. I deactivated my D-Pad and put the cards into my deck-box. I remembered my cheek and grabbed a handkerchief and put it on the cut. It stings.

Ryoga and I finally spotted IV in front of us. Which place is he leading Ryoga to?

* * *

"Ryoga, Trap Point," I warned him.

He was just staring after IV, scowling and muttering curses.

"Ryoga, there's a Trap Point," I said. Still no answer. IV dodged the Trap Point and Ryoga blinked.

I grabbed the joystick, "Oh my god!" I shouted. He wasn't even listening! I turned and dodged it as well.

"I knew that."

"Sure you did," I said. It was obvious he didn't!

* * *

Mr. Heartland's voice came up, "Oh, there are battles in other locations as well! It's the Asian Champion, IV!"

IV was dueling some person while Ryoga was dueling another.

I watched the screen as it showed IV's face, "Now, let's go!" shouted IV, "Killer Knight, direct attack!"

**Opponent: 0LPS**

**Ejected!**

"Even over here, Player Ryoga on Unit 5 is starting a fight!" the screen switched to Ryoga and I.

"Finish him off, Big Jaws!" he ordered, "Big mouth!"

**Opponent: 0LPS**

**Ejected!**

"Eh? What's this?!" Mr. Heartland's voice rang out, "Player Rima is now on Unit 5 as well? I wonder how this came to be! Oh well! I will allow this!"

Good. The screen switched to someone else and I turned it off. A screen suddenly popped up, showing the face of…

I stared back at the person.

"You were saved, huh? You may have your knight, but will he lose his loyalty once he finds out the truth about you?"

Before Ryoga could turn to see, the person turned the screen off. Tron…what are you talking about? I looked away, staring off to the side. Truth…? Did he mean…my family?

I pressed my D-Gazer to contact Kotori. I whispered, so Ryoga wouldn't hear. It's not like he was listening anyway. "Kotori?"

"Ah, Rima?"

"Kotori, how are they doing so far?"

"Okay, I guess. Yuma ran into a Trap Point multiple times but he still has 2000 life points."

"Good."

"I saw you on the screen a while ago. What happened?"

"…Someone threw a card at my ignition, making my heart piece fall over the side."

"That's terrible!"

I smiled, "It's fine. Tell Yuma he better get into one of those 4 areas!"

"Yeah, he knows."

I paused. I then asked carefully, "Were any numbers summoned during this?"

"No, don't worry. Yuma isn't using his because we haven't seen others," said Kotori, "You were pretty weird before, Rima. You know, when you were being controlled."

I looked away in sadness. I can't believe I acted like that before. "I'm sorry, Kotori," I apologized.

"Ah, I didn't mean to bring it up! Sorry, Rima! You have nothing to apologize for!"

"You're wrong. I was being controlled because I let myself be. I'm sorry."

{Rima can't hear Astral through video or D-Gazer. I think I did it in a different chapter but…she can't hear him in this}

"Astral's getting mad," Yuma's voice came up, "He said he doesn't want you to apologize."

I smiled slightly, "He's sweet. But…I should be apologizing."

"Rima, you're being stupid," said Yuma, "Just don't think about it." After a pause, he said, "Astral says it's his fault in the first place. He said he should've never given you No.83."

"I'll stop apologizing if he stops blaming himself," I said heatedly. How could Astral think it was his fault?! Astral didn't do anything!

"He says okay."

"Thanks Yuma, Astral, Kotori," I whispered, "Please be careful."

"Rima, you make it sound like something really bad will happen," said Kotori.

Because something bad will happen. Tron is here after all. But I don't want to worry Kotori, so I said, "Yeah, well, you never know. Good luck, and be careful."

"Yeah, all right."

"Bye," I said, turning off the connection. I hope nothing bad happens but…it's hard to say.

Mr. Heartland announced, "From the 24 finalists, the ones who survived the Park Zone were 14. Now from the Underground Zone, 6 have been eliminated, so the ones left are 8! "

The screen showed: V, Droite, Tron, IV, Ryoga, Kaito, Yuma, and Gauche.

Ryoga and IV are definitely going to be one of the 1:1 duels. I have no clue about the rest.

"Now, from here on, it will be 1:1 duels! They are heading towards 4 fields! Players, fight on! Heart burning!"

Ryoga sped forward suddenly to meet IV's speed.

IV smirked, "Now, follow me, Ryoga!"

Ryoga was scowling. His eyes were full of hatred.

"Ryoga, the field we're heading to is…" I said, watching the screen. The Magma field…

Mr. Heartland announced, "It's here, here, here! This time it's Droite!" The lady who kept glaring at me. "She is also a WDC admin! Her duel skills are also first-rate! Go all the way along with Gauche!"

That lady was after Tron, blocking off Kaito. I stared at the map, why? Why was she after Tron? So, that probably is another match: Droite VS Tron. Tron…I haven't seen him duel. I haven't seen Uncle Byron duel before either.

IV moved slightly, glancing at me through the corner of his eye. I turned away. What is with this family? Mihael…why aren't you here? I wish you were. I hope you're okay, I hope you get better. IV, V, Tron…none of them look as affected as I thought they would. Oh well. I touched my locket, let the real duels…begin.


	54. Tron vs Droite!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

Mr. Heartland's voice came up, "Whoa! The ones who have chosen the Jungle Field as their battlefield are the previous WDC administrator, Droite and the mysterious boy, Tron! The four victory fields have field spells set on them with their own unique abilities! Now, just what will happen in the Jungle Field?"

Suddenly, the screens were filled with static. "Ouch, what happened?! To make such a mistake, I am truly sorry…Staff members! Please fix this immediately!"

So…Tron's duel is not being shown.

I pressed my D-Gazer to look through Kotori. I gasped as I saw where they were. The Jungle Field?

"This is?" I heard Kotori question. I stayed silent, watching. A butterfly flew away.

Kotori, with Yuma, and Astral too if Yuma is there, walked over to a clearing. Two duelists were there. Droite and Tron.

"That person is…Droite," said Yuma, "Tron! Droite…"

Droite had an Xyz monster on her field with three continuous magic cards. She looked over to Yuma and Kotori.

"Yuma~" I heard Tron call out. He was dancing in a childish manner, "Hey~ Look at this~" He waved his arms, "I am currently trapped in this huge trap~" He gestured to the field.

I narrowed my eyes, my uncle is acting strange. He's acting naïve.

"Trap?" Yuma repeated. Kotori looked back over to Droite's field, "Three magic cards on Droite's field…" said Yuma, "This is…"

This Jungle Field forces you to pay 1000 life points if you don't summon a monster. Droite's using her magic cards to use the field to her advantage. They force a player to summon a monster, then destroy it, and then inflict damage towards the player.

"Is it that amazing?" Yuma asked air (Astral).

"That's right~" said Tron after a moment. I'm sure Astral said something.

Tron stared at Droite with a smirk, "Whatever the case, I will win! My turn, draw! The answer is to set a monster face down in defense position! I set one card and end my turn! How is it? Your combo won't activate if it's in defense position, right?"

Droite just stared back with a stoic expression, "There is no point for you to do anything in this situation. You cannot run away from me or this jungle! My turn, draw! At this moment, in order to keep Death Butterfly Invitation activated, I pay 2000 life points!"

**Tron: 4000LPS Droite: 4000LPS**

How much did Droite start with?

She continued, "I activate Photon Butterfly Assassin's effect! By using an overlay unit, I can change one defense position monster into attack position!" Tron's monster flipped up, "Then the targeted monster will lose 600 Atk points!"

Tron looked a tiny bit surprised but he did not look afraid or worried, "Heraldry Beast Abercornway was changed into attack position (Atk: 1200-Lvl: 4)!"

Droite declared, "I attack Heraldry Abercornway with Photon Butterfly Assassin! Butterfly death dance!"

With a battle cry, Photon Butterfly Assassin destroyed Heraldry Abercornway.

Tron put his arms in front of him as he got battle damage.

**Tron: 3100LPS Droite: 4000LPS**

Droite smirked, "And due to Death Butterfly Invitation's effect, the controller of the destroyed monster will receive 1500 points of damage!"

Tron cried out as he fell onto his back.

**Tron: 1600LPS Droite: 4000LPS**

"So cool, Droite!" cheered Yuma.

She's good. But I don't think any of us should underestimate Tron. He taught V, IV, and Mihael to duel after all.

"I set one monster in defense position," said Droite, "Turn end."

Tron stood up, "A perfect combo with no weakness…?"

Droite glared at Tron, "Like I will let you go meet Kaito."

I blinked, what?

"Eh?" Yuma questioned.

"Even by sacrificing your own life points- no, even by sacrificing your own life, you are resolved to protect Kaito," spoke Tron, "You really think of Kaito that much? So this is the power of love, huh?"

Eh…? The power of love? Don't tell me that…Droite loves Kaito?!

"Eh?" Yuma asked, "Love? Droite fighting for Kaito?"

I heard a punching noise and I can only guess it was Kotori, "Sheesh, you really have no sense of manners. But the power of love…it really sounds amazing," she said softly.

Yuma started talking to himself, or Astral, "Stop talking about Rima. Yes, I know you're only saying good things. I already know you love Rima and all that! Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. I don't see how that applies to this situation."

I sweat dropped. The power of love…I smiled to myself at that. Wait, Droite loves Kaito…? It makes sense! That's why she's always glaring at me! Like I could ever like Kaito anyway! Maybe as a friend but the way I love Astral, no way!

"Do you understand?" asked Droite, "Even if you bring out a monster in defense position, you can't run away from my combo!"

Tron's expression seemed dark as he started his turn, "My turn, draw." His voice…he sounds so dark! "I summon Heraldry Beast Bernard's Falcon (Atk: 1000-Lvl: 4)."

"So you have finally understood," said Droite, smirking. No…she's underestimating. "At the moment, a monster is summoned in attack position, continuous magic card, Butterfly Charm's effect activates! The monster in attack position on the opponent's field must attack! Then the continuous magic card, Assassin's Gate effect activates! When a monster without the 'Assassin' in the name attacks, it is automatically destroyed! Then due to Death Butterfly Invitation's effect, it's 1500 points of damage."

Tron fell onto his back then rolled onto his stomach as he was hit with damage.

**Tron: 100LPS Droite: 4000LPS**

"She is so cool!" said Yuma excitedly, "Droite, she might actually beat Tron!"

My hand moved up to my locket. I gripped it hard. No. No, I'm scared for Droite. Tron is the father of V, IV, and Mihael. He's not going to lose this easily.

"I did it…" Droite said happily, "With this, my win is confirmed-"

She was interrupted by Tron's laughter. Tron laughed, "Sounds good. It sounds really good." Tron got up, "The power of love where someone cares about another…I want to know too. Your heart that suffered from caring about Kaito, that memory…I will certainly break it apart."

The cold glare in Tron's eye…Even though I'm only seeing it through a D-Gazer…I'm scared.

"Let's go!" shouted Tron, "I activate the magic card, High Medallion Arts! I can Xyz summon using two 'Heraldry' monsters with the same level in my graveyard!"

"Xyz summoning with monsters in the graveyard?!" shouted Yuma.

Tron continued, "I overlay the level 4 Abercornway, and Bernard's Falcon in my graveyard! I create an overlay network using these two monsters! Xyz summon! Appear, No.8 Heraldry King Genome Heriter (Def: 1800-Rank: 4)!"

A number! It looked like some sort of horse. Speaking of numbers, I wonder where Black Mist is.

"This is…" Yuma said.

Tron laughed a little, "With this, I end my turn."

Droite faltered but glared at Tron, "It doesn't matter whether a numbers is here! I will finish you off next turn! My turn, draw!"

**Tron: 100LPS Droite: 2000LPS**

As her magic card effect came in, she said, "I will not let you reach Kaito! I activate Photon Butterfly Assassin's effect! By using an overlay unit, I can decrease one defense position monster's Atk by 600 points, then change it into attack position! Excite scales!"

The monster switched to attack position (Atk: 1800).

"I attack Heraldry King Genome Heriter with Photon Butterfly Assassin! With this, it's the end! Butterfly death dance!"

Yuma was smiling, "Alright! If this goes through…!"

Tron was smirking. That's bad. He shot his arm forward, "Genome Heriter's effect activates! By using an overlay unit, I can use one of the three effects! I will steal your monster's name!"

Monster's name? Wait, this number has three effects?!

Genome Heriter's wrapped it's hair around Photon Butterfly Assassin.

"What's going on?!" asked Droite.

"Its name has been taken," said Tron, "Take a look," he said calmly, "My Genome Heriter's name has become Photon Butterfly Assassin! Along with it, your monster's name is gone. I wonder what will happen if it is no longer an 'Assassin'?" Tron cackled to himself.

"This…this can't be!" denied Droite.

Droite's strategy is falling apart. I tightened my fist in my lap.

Tron cackled and threw his arm forth, "Now! Continuous magic card, Assassin's Gate's effect activates! When a monster without 'Assassin' in its name attacks, the attack becomes negated and the monster is destroyed!"

He found his way through.

"How poor!" he mused, "Break into pieces!"

Droite's monster was destroyed. Droite stared forward in disbelief, "My combo has fallen apart!"

Tron was enjoying himself, "Then due to the continuous magic card, Death Butterfly Invitation, you will receive 1500 points of damage!"

A yellow tornado hit Droite. She fell backwards with a cry.

**Tron: 100LPS Droite: 500LPS**

Tron's mark seemed to activate. The Jungle Field looked on fire.

"I…cannot defeat this man?" whispered Droite. She stood back up shakily.

Tron smirked, "Oh right, I just thought of something good." His mark glowed and touched Droite, "I will take away your memories."

Droite whimpered in pain before screaming, "NO!"

He will take away her memories.

"Don't tell me…" said Yuma, "Droite's memories have…?! Hey Droite!" he called, "What's wrong? Droite! Don't lose to Tron's powers! Aren't you fighting for Kaito?! Shouldn't you go meet Kaito by winning?!"

Droite looked forward with a blank expression, "I…Kaito…Kaito…" The life in her eyes seemed to come back. She looked at Tron with a determined expression, "That's right! I will not concern myself with anyone! I summon Moonlit Papiyon (Atk: 1200-Lvl: 4)! Then I flip summon Phantom Butterfly Assassin Ulysses that was set on the field (Atk: 0-Lvl: 4)!"

They have the same level. I truly want to believe in Droite, that she will win. But…I know she won't.

She continued with confidence, "I overlay the level 4 Phantom Butterfly Asssasin Ulysses and Moonlit Papiyon! I create an overlay network using these two monsters! Xyz summon! Appear, Photon Alexandra Queen (Def: 1200-Rank: 4)!"

"So you still haven't given up, Droite!" Yuma said.

I shouldn't be giving up on Droite. I am though.

"Photon Alexandra Queen's effect activates!" said Droite, "By using all of its overlay units, by returning all monster on the field back to the hand, it will inflict 500 points of damage per each monster that was sent back to the hand to its controller."

Tron has 100. Droite has 500. She's aiming for a draw.

"Butterfly effect!" declared Droite, "I don't need my life points or my life! With my memories of Kaito, I will-"

"You sure are trying hard, bitch. I will eat away your heart and memories deliciously!" Tron spoke with annoyance in his voice.

My palm started bleeding from my nails digging into it. Tron will…

"Trap activate!" he announced darkly, "Medallion Record! This card negates an effect that uses overlay units."

Droite gasped, taken aback. Her only plan to win was gone.

Kotori stepped back in shock.

"That…that can't be!" shouted Yuma.

Droite just stared at her only hope as it disappeared, disbelief and defeat written on her face.

Tron was smiling in satisfaction under his mask. "The turn?" he asked nonchalantly.

Droite whispered, "Turn…end…"

"Droite!" shouted Yuma, "Pull yourself together!"

She's already lost.

Tron was smirking, "It's coming to me smoothly. Your consciousness, memories, and love!" he cackled evilly, "My turn, draw! Rest well inside me, Droite. I attack Photon Alexandra Queen with Photon Butterfly Assassin!"

"STOP!" shouted Yuma.

"Butterfly death dance!" shouted Tron, "Due to Death Butterfly Invitation's effect, Droite, you will be travelling to the world of the dead."

**Tron: 100LPS Droite: 0LPS**

**Tron is the winner!**

Droite fell to her knees. She was now broken.

"Aw, jeez," said Tron, scratching his head, "Memories of love sure taste bad."

Tron! Droite, I know how she feels. A tear fell onto my clenched fists. I have Astral. If he erased my memories of him…Those memories of love I have, they should never be erased.

"Tron!" shouted Yuma.

A portal appeared behind Tron as he smirked, "Yuma, next time I will eat your heart away."

He disappeared within the portal.

"Droite!" shouted Yuma, running over to the fallen lady. Droite slumped to the side, Yuma catching her.

Droite's eyes opened tiredly, no emotion there. Her whole expression was devoid of emotion. In a dull voice, she whispered, "Please tell that person to remember me…" A tear rolled down her cheek, "Kaito…"

"This can't…!" said Kotori.

Droite. Your story of love…disappeared. More tears fell down from my eyes. I reached up, turning the connection off. Droite…Your memories of love…I wiped my eyes but tears still fell.

I felt a hand on mine. I looked up slightly to see Ryoga. He was staring at me from the corner of his eye. He didn't ask me questions but I knew he was worried.

"I'm fine," I whispered, saying the truth. Droite…is not.

Love is amazing.

I glanced at Ryoga, love is for friendship.

I touched my locket. III, love is for family.

Astral…love is for true love.

Love is hurtful. Droite…it hurts most when it is forgotten.


	55. Galaxy-Eyes sealed!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

"Ryoga…?" I asked.

"What is it?" he asked me, moving the joystick.

My eyes flashed to Tron. I closed my eyes in worry, "Please win when you duel."

"Of course. Like I'm going to lose to him," he snarled.

I stared at him before looking over the side. Ryoga better win when we get to the field. Yuma and Astral better win too. I'll be heartbroken if they lose. I just want everything to be like it was before. Yuma and Tetsuo would be dueling, and Kotori would be cheering them on. Then Astral and I would be playing around with each other, playing tag. I smiled a little bit at a memory.

_*Flashback*_

_"Good night, Astral" I said at my front door. Today was really fun~ _

_He smiled at me and leaned down for a kiss. His eyes fluttered closed, a serene and happy expression on his face. I didn't want to end this yet. So, I think I'll play with him for a bit._

_I dashed inside my house and waited a bit. Astral blinked, noticing my disappearance, and turned to me. He stared at me from the doorway, confused._

_"Catch me if you can," I taunted and ran up the stairs. I looked behind me to see Astral floating up._

_I gulped and ran inside my room. I looked around…bed, no. Closet, no. Window, yes! I ran over to the window and climbed up the fire escape. _

_I stood on the roof and caught my breath. I was about to move around before I felt two arms wrap around my waist. I looked up to be met with Astral's mismatched eyes._

_"Caught you," said Astral. He smiled, leaning down. He kissed my nose before moving his face away from mine. "Tag, you're it," he said softly, remembering our little game._

_I pouted, "Yeah…"_

"_Keep puckering your lips like that, I might put my lips on yours for that interesting ritual called a kiss," he said, smiling._

_I blushed and stopped pouting. I sighed, "You won this time, Astral."_

_He smiled at me, "Do I get a reward?"_

_I smiled, putting a finger to my chin. I hummed in fake thought, "Should you…?" I giggled and wrapped my arms around his neck. I nodded, "Maybe you should~" then I reached up and kissed him. _

_*Flashback end*_

I wish this stupid World Duel Carnival didn't happen! But then, I would not have met Haruto, who is like the cutest and confusing thing ever! However, he's not doing so well. Then again, I would have never met Mihael again. I really loved Mihael when I was younger so it was nice to see him again. But moreover, because of the WDC, he's in a bad condition. Ugh! Stupid Carnival is making everything so complicated! I grabbed Ryoga's hand for comfort. Man, everything is getting so messed up!

Ryoga stared at me from the corner of his eye using his left hand to control to joystick. "You look horrible," he said bluntly.

I let out a dry laugh, "Thanks," I said, not looking at him.

"You look stressed, worried, Rima," he rephrased more nicely.

"Well, I am worried," I mumbled. I tightened my grip on his hand, "Everything's so messed up," I whispered.

Then, my D-Gazer rang.


	56. Grand Decisive Battle in Space!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal! I do own Rima though.**

I stared at my D-Gazer. Glancing at Ryoga, I used the hand that was not holding his to answer it. The face I saw made me freeze. "IV," I said quietly.

"You want to know the story?"

"Of?" I questioned.

"The story of what happened between your father, my father, Tsukumo's father, and Tenjo's father?"

Tsubasa, Byron, Kazuma, and…Kaito's father?

"Kaito's?" I asked.

"Dr. Faker."

I glanced at Ryoga who was staring at me in confusion. He couldn't hear the conversation but he had heard me say 'Kaito'. I looked off the side, "He's his father?"

"Yeah. Do you want to know that story now?"

"…I guess," I whispered.

"I got this story from aniki," he explained.

"Wait, why do you want to tell me about this?"

"…Orders. Your father was something called the Dimensional Gatekeeper. He guarded the gate between the three dimensions."

Papa did? I didn't know this.

"He guarded the gate. I heard from aniki that it looks like a demon-faced door."

My eyes widened, the demon door?! That door is…

_*Flashback*_

_"Open the door!" said the demon door, "If you do, you will obtain a new power but in exchange…you will lose something you hold most precious."_

_*Flashback end*_

That's what the door said to Yuma. My father was…the Dimensional Gatekeeper?

"If anyone wanted to go through the gate to a different dimension, a different world, they'd have to go through your dad."

_Explanation of the stuff from the episode before…_

My eyes widened. Dr. Faker sacrificed Uncle Byron's and Kazuma-san's souls?! How cruel!

"Your father guards the gate. It is his fault my dad had to go through to the different world!"

My dad..."He wouldn't do that!" I defended.

"As the Dimensional Gatekeeper, he knows of all activity between all worlds. It is his fault!"

He wouldn't do that! I looked down, he wouldn't do that...

"That is why we seek revenge," snarled IV.

I stared at IV, "Why does Tron keep saying I killed someone?"

"Not sure. Ask my father. Your father had something to do with it though."

I glared at IV. My father...I shakily took my hand off Ryoga's. I put my hands in my lap, tightening them both into fists.

"Hm, make sure Ryoga is following."

"He is," I said quietly.

Suddenly, IV's face disappeared and a new face came on. Tron stared right at me, "I will have my revenge on you," he said darkly.

I froze, "F-for what…?" I asked, scared shitless.

"For killing her." Then his video chat disappeared. I mumbled, "Ryoga…?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared."

Ryoga stared at me, "What happened? Why are you scared?"

"Are you scared?" I asked, ignoring his questions.

"No," he said, confidence in his voice.

Well, I'm not you. I'm not brave or anything. I'm someone who relies on others. I rely on Astral, Ryoga, III…I also rely on Black Mist. I leaned my head on Ryoga's shoulder, moving my hand to grab something that was not there. Oh, Astral, I just want you to hold my hand! I silently whimpered, Astral…

"Rima."

"Yeah?"

"Who's Astral?"

I blinked and looked up, "What?"

"You said 'Astral'. Who's Astral?"

I stuttered, "U-um…"

"If you're dating someone, it'd be nice if you'd tell me," Ryoga rolled his eyes, "He owes me a duel now," he muttered.

"Why?" I asked, moving my head slightly. His freaking tentacle hair was tickling me! Wait, why does Astral owe him a duel though?

"Think of it as an approval duel," he said to me before looking ahead. He glanced at the map, moved the joystick and glared at IV when he once again got into view.

I winced at I felt a small pain. My locket was getting warmer in anger. Did something happen to Mihael? No…something happened to…a picture of Chris appeared in my head. Something happened to Chris. I looked down. One person at a time…one family at a time…they are being destroyed.

**A/N: Okay, now you've learned something about Rima's father, Tsubasa! The Dimensional Gatekeeper! This piece of info probably won't be that important yet.**


	57. Shark Torpedoed!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal!**

Mr. Heartland's voice boomed, "Let us congratulate Kaito for his epic victory!"

Kaito beat Chris? Well…at least Kaito is getting through, I guess. Haruto needs him.

Mr. Heartland spoke up, "With this, along with Tron, he has entered the semi-finals. The only seats that are left are two!"

A picture of IV, Yuma, Ryoga, and Gauche appeared. I glanced at the map, we're nearing the Magma Field. I looked back at the picture and smile, "Hey, Ryoga?"

"What?" He asked, not really listening.

"You're the only one not smiling or smirking," I said, amused.

Ryoga ignored that.

"Just who will survive?!" yelled Mr. Heartland, "I am sure all the duel fans around the world have their spirits fired up! Now, let us all yell out: Heart Burning!"

Heart burning my ass! Just shut up! I fidgeted when the Coaster followed IV's into a swirl and then we were in the field zone.

Both Ryoga and I exited the coaster. He was full of determination, I was full of worry. It's not that I don't believe in Ryoga…it's the number he has and the opponent he is against.

I shivered, rubbing my arms while I was at it, "It's so cold…"

Ryoga stared at me, "We're in a Magma Field…and you're cold?" I saw worry in his eyes though.

I rolled my eyes. I've always had this! I'm always cold when it's hot! He knows this. "You already knew this," I mumbled. I pulled at his jacket, "Can I wear this?" I asked.

He sighed, "You're so strange," he spoke as he took off his jacket. I took it with a smile. I pulled my arms into the too-big sleeves. I smiled, now feeling more warmth, "Thanks…" I said.

He nodded and walked over to his part of the field. I was on the sidelines and IV walked over to his part.

I looked around. We were surrounded by magma in this field, like the name states. There were a bunch of volcanoes, which were erupting all around us. The ground we were on was charred black.

A fire ball spurted out from the magma river.

"I finally caught you," Ryoga glared at IV, "I won't let you escape any longer!"

"That's bothersome to hear," said IV with a cold smirk, "I didn't run away you know. I just lured you into here…into this scorching Magma Field! In this world full of fire and heat, you will be at a disadvantage."

Ryoga scowled, knowing already. I hope- no, I _know _Ryoga can pull through.

IV continued, "Since your deck is full of Water-attribute monsters, your monsters cannot survive here."

Activating their D-Pads, they started the duel.

"Duel!"

Ryoga went first, "I will take the first turn. My turn, draw! A scorching Magma Field, huh? Don't underestimate me! I activate the quickplay magic card, Plate Salvage! With its effect, it negates a field spell's effect for 2 turns!"

The Magma Field turned into an ice realm. I smiled. Good job, Ryoga.

Ryoga smirked at IV. IV scowled in response.

Black Mist flew in front of me.

I blinked, "Where have you been?" I asked.

"Following Astral." he then flew upwards

I felt two arms wrap around my waist. I could already tell it was Astral before I looked back at him from over my shoulder. "Hey…" I greeted softly.

He rubbed his cheek against mine in affection. I blushed at his actions but I focused on Ryoga's duel. Not liking that he wasn't my center of attention, Astral held me tighter in fondness. I rolled my eyes but gave him small kiss on the corner of his lips.

Suddenly, Yuma and Kotori walked up from behind me too.

"Shark and IV!" said Yuma, stating the obvious.

Ryoga's gaze flickered to the newcomers, "Yuma," he said in surprise.

"So you have come," said IV, annoying smirk coming back.

"But, is this really the Magma Field?" questioned Kotori.

"It's not hot at all," stated Yuma and he sneezed, "Achoo!"

"As expected of Shark," said Astral, gaze turning to the field, "Looks like he paused the field spell using a magic card."

A dizzy feeling came over me. I coughed.

"Are you all right, Rima?" Astral questioned with a worried look.

"I'm fine," I reassured. I leaned into his warm embrace. I felt him press his lips to my cheek. Astral…I truly missed this.

_Insert theme song._

I stared at Ryoga, hoping that he would win soon. Astral breath tickled my neck once more as he said something along the lines of 'I missed you,' and 'Stop neglecting me'.

I smiled slightly, "I'm not neglecting you," I said, knocking my head gently against his. I was thinking about him the whole time during the Duel Coaster thing!

In return, he knocked his head on mine just as gently. I sighed silently in happiness. It was hard to be happy in this situation though. I continued watching Ryoga's duel.

"I summon Tripod Fish (Atk: 300-Lvl: 3)!" Ryoga's monster came out with a screech, "And since there is a Fish-type monster on my field, I can special summon this card from my hand! Come, Shark Sucker (Atk: 200-Lvl: 3)!"

"Two level 3 monsters," said Yuma, "Which means…?"

"Xyz summon?" finished Astral.

At least it's not the number.

Ryoga continued, "I overlay the level 3 Tripod Fish and Shark Sucker! Xyz summon! Come, Submersible Carrier – Aero Shark (Atk: 1900-Rank: 3)! Aero Shark's monster effect activates! By using an overlay unit, for each card in my hand, I can inflict 400 points of damage to the opponent! I have 3 cards in my hand!"

Ryoga glanced at me with an amused look, "So it's 1200 points of damage!"

"Don't look at me when you say that!" I retorted. Just because I'm horrible at math…! Ryoga looked back to IV, acting like he did nothing wrong.

"Hmph!" I said, putting a hand on Astral's, the one that was lying innocently on my hip. Yeah…'innocently.' Astral gave me a very adorable *fake* apologetic look. I rolled my eyes. Oh, he's not actually sorry. I don't mind though.

Aero Shark shot missiles at IV. Said-person fell onto his back due to force.

**IV: 2800LPS Ryoga: 4000LPS**

"I see," said Astral with a calculating look.

Yuma stepped up, "Inflicting effect damage to the opponent on the first turn…! Shark is seriously so cool!"

I smirked at the praise. Oh, I just felt a swell of pride for Ryoga.

Ryoga stared forward coldly, "I set two cards face down. Turn end!"

IV stood up with a chuckle, "We just started and Xyz summoning already. How good. It really gives me purpose to break you! My turn, draw! If I don't control any monsters on my field and if you control an Xyz monster on your field, I can special summon Gimmick Puppet – Magne Doll from my hand (Atk: 1000-Lvl: 8)!"

I shivered at the look of the freaky looking puppet. I've always hated IV's deck. It was creepy. Astral blew on my face to gain my attention. It worked. I looked to him. He gave me a small reassuring half-smile before turning back to the duel. He doesn't know how much that makes me feel better.

IV continued another summoning, "Then I summon Gimmick Puppet – Gear Changer (Atk: 100-Lvl: 1)! This card can have the same level as another Gimmick Puppet monster. It's time for a gear change! Gear changer (Lvl: 8)!"

"With this, IV also has 2 monsters with the same level," stated Kotori.

"He's coming!" said Yuma, worry in his eyes.

What's coming?

IV continued, "I overlay the level 8 Gimmick Puppet – Magne Doll and Gimmick Puppet – Gear Changer! I create an overlay network using these two monsters! Xyz summon! Come forth, No.15 Gimmick Puppet – Giant Killer (Atk: 1500-Rank: 8)!"

The monster was a HUGE puppet! It looked so freaking creepy!

"That is…!" said Kotori in shock and fear.

"It has appeared!" shouted Yuma, "The number that hurt Tetsuo and Inchou!"

Inchou had a broken wrist…this number caused it?! That doesn't make me feel any better about this battle! I pulled at my (Ryoga's) jacket sleeve nervously. It was still cold. Is it the field spell or is it me?

"If you are coming at me all the way, I will return the equal amount to you!" sneered IV, "I will show you the ultimate fanservice!" he shouted.

I heard a small smashing noise. I turned to the sound. It was obvious I was the only one to notice. I stared right at Tron as his hand was aiming at something. It was…a camera? I stared at him in suspicion. The footage isn't being shown to public?

Tron met my stare. A cold smile was on his face. He merely laughed an empty child's laugh before going off somewhere.

I looked back to the duel. I'm scared but I can't be. Not now. When this duel is done, I'll be scared. But now, I don't want to be. My small grip on Astral's hand became tighter. He was looking at me with a worried expression but he probably just passed it off as being nervous for Ryoga. Well, that's half of it. He moved his hand so it was now on top of mine. He rubbed mine comfortably, swiping a kiss from me quickly.

IV raised a hand slyly, "Gimmick Puppet – Giant Killer's monster effect activates! By destroying all Xyz monsters on the field, it inflicts damage to the opponent equal to the destroyed monster's Atk point!"

No! Strings latched onto Aero Shark. In the puppet's chest, a hole opened up.

"This isn't good!" shouted Yuma.

Aero Shark was pulled into the hole and was destroyed. The hole changed into a small cannon, a red orb forming. It formed a red beam, hitting Ryoga.

With a shout, Ryoga was flung backwards and onto his back.

**IV: 2800LPS Ryoga: 2100LPS**

"Ryoga!" I shouted, moving out of Astral's grasp. I wanted to reach out for Ryoga. No! I bit my lip to stop myself from shouting again. It'll just bother him. I balled my hands into fists.

"Shark!" shouted Yuma as well.

IV continued with a smug look, "Then I direct attack with Gimmick Puppet – Giant Killer!" The monster slung his whip.

Ryoga was on one knee, "I activate the continuous trap, Bubble Bringer!" he shot his arm forth, "This card negates an opponent monster's direct attack!"

"Phew~" sighed Yuma in relief, "He's safe!"

I looked forward, feeling better. I bit my lip though as I fidgeted with my hands.

"Well, it doesn't matter," said IV to Ryoga, "When I end my turn, Plate Salvage's effect will no longer be active. Then it will be scorching hell time. With this, I end my turn."

The realm of ice quickly turned back into the Magma Field. I shivered, stupid magma and fire.

"What?" asked Yuma as he shuffled towards the edge. He shouted, "HOT!" as he fell to his bottom.

"It seriously is a scorching hell," said Kotori, looking around.

"Gah…" sighed Yuma as he had ash on his face. I looked away from the sight.

"This is the field spell, Magma Ocean," explained Astral.

"Say all the bluffs after seeing my duel!" Ryoga all but hissed to IV.

IV seemed to be glaring at air. He then scowled before breathing through his nose. He stared at me with a perplexed look.

Something is up. I bit my lip. Please end this duel soon, Ryoga!

"Your attention will be on our duel," snarled Ryoga. He glanced at me before continuing with courage in his voice, "My turn, draw! I summon Hammer Shark (Atk: 1700-Lvl: 4)! Then I activate Bubble Bringer's effect! Then I activate Bubble Bringer's effect! By sending this card to the graveyard, as an exchange, I can special summon Tripod Fish from my graveyard (Atk: 300-Lvl: 3)! When it is successfully summoned, Tripod Fish's level increases by 1 (Lvl: 4)!"

"You dumbass!" insulted IV, "Due to the effect of the field magic, Magma Ocean, when a Water-attribute monster is summoned, it is destroyed! Your monsters just can't live in this environment. Take this!"

Ryoga already knew the effect of the field magic. I glanced at Ryoga, he knows what he's doing.

Two dragons flared up from the magma ocean. Ryoga's smirk confirmed what I knew. As the two dragons aimed for Ryoga, a barrier appeared around his field, making both dragons disappear.

"What?!" asked IV, a shocked expression adorning his face.

"Just what happened?" asked Yuma, confusion in his voice.

Astral crossed his arms, "It's the trap card that activated on Shark's field."

"That is?" questioned IV, staring at Ryoga's trap card.

"Continuous trap, Adapting to Adversity!" explained Ryoga, "This card negates monsters' destruction from magic and trap cards' effects! With this, my monsters can survive in this scorching hell!"

"So cool!" admired Yuma, "As expected of Shark!"

"His momentum of putting everything in this fight…" examined Astral, "It's not to be underestimated!"

It isn't. Ryoga is not weak.

Ryoga glared at IV with malice, "No matter what the cost, I will destroy you!" he growled. A dark red aura appeared around Ryoga. Revenge. I stared at Ryoga, get revenge. Get revenge on IV!

"Yuma, Rima, he is going to do it!" declared Astral.

"Don't tell me…Shark!" gasped Yuma, shocked.

While I want him to get revenge…does he really need to summon his scary number?

"The monster special summoned by Bubble Bringer's effect becomes treated 2 Xyz materials!" announced Ryoga, "I overlay the Tripod Fish being treated as 2 Xyz materials and Hammer Shark! I create an overlay network using the 3 monsters! Xyz summon! Appear, No.32 Sea-biting Dragon – Shark Drake (Atk: 2800-Rank: 4)!"

"That card is the number from that time…!" shouted Yuma.

"Numbers!" gasped Astral.

The number I had used. I stared at it, left hand clenching and unclenching. My hand did not hold any mark though. I'm fine. I stared at the number. I truly hated it. Stop trying to take control of Ryoga…! I looked back to Ryoga. Please be able to resist, Ryoga. Resist the number.

Ryoga shouted, shaking me from my thoughts, "Go, Shark Drake! Attack Gimmick Puppet – Giant Killer!"

IV hissed and fell backwards.

**IV: 1500LPS Ryoga: 2100LPS**

Ryoga continued, "Then I activate Shark Drake's effect! By using an overlay unit, by decreasing Gimmick Puppet – Giant Killer's Atk by 1000 points, I can special summon it to your field!"

Kotori looked confused, "Why is he reviving an enemy's monsters?"

"Uh, that is…" said Yuma nervously. He obviously did not know himself.

Astral turned to us, "Shark Drake can attack the destroyed monster once again after special summoning it."

Yuma piggybacked off of Astral's explanation. He smiled at Kotori, "That's how it is!"

"Eh? What?" she questioned Yuma, more confused.

Yuma just looked ahead with a grin, "IV has remaining life points of 1500! If this goes through, Shark will win!"

I closed my eyes tightly. It's cold. It's cold.

_*Flashback* _

"_Ryoga, it's cold…" I said, ignoring my dizzy feeling._

_Ryoga looked back at me with a few blinks. He was wearing a white shirt with a purple vest over it. "It's fine, just wear a sweater or something," said Ryoga. He looked at me determinedly, "Come on! I need to practice for my duel, right? Can't you help me?" He wanted to practice before the duel with IV. He had made it to the finals of the Duel Nationals. Shark was really stressed out about it. He was doing it for Rio after all. _

_I nodded, regretting it instantly. My head hurt more now…I coughed, feeling my chest hurt too. Why was I sweating too? I was wearing a t-shirt…I looked at Ryoga, seeing his hopeful expression. I smiled timidly, not wanting him to be upset. It's probably just a fever. It'll pass! "O-okay," I agreed._

_Skip!_

"_Ryoga, can we go inside? We've been at it for a couple of hours," I said. I covered a cough with my elbow._

_Ryoga sighed in frustration, "Just one more duel!"_

"_Can we duel in the hotel room though?" I asked, rubbing my arms. "I-it's cold, Ryoga," I whispered. I was sweating a lot and I was getting tired._

"_Fine," he huffed. We both went up to the hotel room._

_Skip!_

"_End turn!" declared Ryoga with a smirk, "Your turn, Rima!"_

_I shakily replied, "My turn, dra-" There was suddenly two of Ryoga. I fell forward and onto the ground. It was colder than ever. _

_I barely registered Ryoga shouting my name. I barely registered as I was taken inside an ambulance._

_At the hospital!_

_When I woke up, I saw Ryoga at my bedside. He was smiling in relief, "Rima…" he whispered._

_I looked at him sadly. I had to apologize. I whispered, "I'm sorry I couldn't finish the duel."_

_With that, a tear rolled down his cheek._

_*Flashback end*_

{This was Rima's story from Chapter 11 I believe. I switched fever to pneumonia though.}

But then, I had pneumonia. I still wonder why Ryoga was crying that time. It's still cold though. Whenever I did get cold, he always looked regretful. Maybe that's why he always got worried when I got sick.

"Rima, you look a little pale," said Kotori, saying it quietly so no one else heard.

"I'll be fine, Kotori," I whispered back. I _will _be fine.

Continuing with the duel, Gimmick Puppet – Giant Killer reappeared with 500 attack points.

IV yelled with a scowl, "Like I will let you! I special summon Gimmick Puppet – Night Joker from my hand (Atk: 800-Lvl: 8)! This card can be special summoned from my hand by banishing Gimmick Puppet – Giant Killer from my graveyard!"

Gr, he countered it…

Ryoga smirked at IV though, hand on his hip in a smug fashion, "You are just wasting time trying to save your own life, IV! With this, I end my turn!"

"I understand!" yelled IV as he turned to face air angrily.

Ryoga frowned in confusion. I blinked too, what the…?

"Eh?" questioned Kotori.

"IV…who is he talking to?" asked Yuma.

What is IV doing?

IV kept looking straight at something, "I get it! That my role is to send Ryoga's heart into darkness! And in order to fulfill that, I set him to fall into a trap, and I hurt his little sister, which was all for Tron! I followed Tron's commands!"

Tron's commands…So it was truly Tron who hurt Rio?! I growled lowly, why am I not surprised?!

Ryoga gasped slightly, eyes widening in shock.

"Eh?!" shouted Yuma, "Because of Tron's command?"

"What does that mean?" asked Kotori.

Ryoga stepped up. He looked at the air angrily, "Tron, are you here?! Come out here!" Ryoga suddenly gasped and punched the air in front of him, "You bastard!" Ryoga had an angry look on his face as he looked around.

"Tron is there?!" Yuma asked.

I didn't see. I heard hate-filled words near me, "Sleep, sleep, sleep! Sleep for eternity! Never wake up!" It was Tron.

The words were targeted at me. I immediately felt a shortness of breath. I stifled a cough into my elbow again.

"Looks like they are able to see him through some kind of power," noted Astral. He suddenly looked one way. Tron was talking to him too.

Suddenly, Tron holograms appeared in front of everyone. I stared at 'Tron' evenly.

Tron suddenly laughed. All the holograms spoke at once, "The reason I am trying to push Ryoga into the darkness is…to control him, as an assassin to take down Dr. Faker."

"Eh?!" gasped Kotori.

"An assassin?!" repeated Yuma.

Ryoga…an assassin?

"Don't give me that bullshit!" shouted Ryoga angrily, "I have no reason to do something like that!"

Tron smirked, "Even if you don't want to do that, you have no choice." He pointed at Ryoga, "You will be my controlled doll, just my own doll."

IV seemed to seethe, "We brothers have fought hard for you, Tron! But why is it not us- no, why is it Ryoga and not me?! I can't accept something like that!"

"I told you," said Tron cheerfully, "People have their own roles. The one that is more acceptable to take down Dr. Faker is…Ryoga…"

The Tron holograms disappeared.

"I won't accept it!" shouted IV, "I will never accept something like that! The one who will take down Dr. Faker will be me! I will prove that I am way stronger than that shithead!"

My locket seemed to warm up a little. I looked down at it, Mihael?

IV continued dueling, "My turn, draw! I activate the magic card Marionette Ceremony – Puppet Ritual from my hand! This card special summons a monster with 'Gimmick Puppet' in its name from my graveyard! Come, Gimmick Puppet – Magne Doll (Atk: 1000-Lvl: 8)! I overlay the level 8 Gimmick Puppet – Night Joker and Gimmick Puppet – Magne Doll! I create an overlay network using the 2 Dark-attribute monsters! Xyz summon! Appear, No.40 Gimmick Puppet – Heaven's Strings (Atk: 3000-Lvl: 8)!"

I stared at the monster in disbelief. Half of it was part violin, that I could tell. It was some scary puppet-violin!

IV continued, "Then I activate from my hand the equip magic card, Destiny Strings, to equip it to Gimmick Puppet – Heaven Strings! This card sends the top card from my deck, and if it is a monster, I can attack multiple times equal to the sent monsters level, with your monster being unable to be destroyed by battle!"

I gasped, oh no. Shit!

"The card that was sent was Gimmick Puppet – Necro Doll!" declared IV, "So, I can attack Shark Drake 8 times!"

Ryoga ground his teeth together.

"What?!" gasped Yuma.

"8 times of attacks?!" noted Astral.

"Ryo-" Before I could finish his name, IV started up.

"Kill him!" shouted IV, "Heaven's Strings! Heaven's blade!"

Shark Drake received damage with a roar.

Ryoga cried out as he was flung onto the ground.

**IV: 1500LPS Ryoga: 1900LPS**

"Shark!" shouted Yuma.

"Ryoga," I whimpered.

"Due to Destiny String's effect, the monster cannot be destroyed by battle. So with multiple attacks, damage will continue being inflicted on him!" explained Astral.

"Continue, Heaven's Strings," IV ordered mercilessly, "Make Shark Drake suffer!"

Just as Ryoga stood up, he was once again knocked backwards.

**IV: 1500LPS Ryoga: 1700LPS**

"Suffer…Suffer more, Ryoga!" raged IV.

Ryoga shouted as he was flung backwards again.

**IV: 1500LPS Ryoga: 1500LPS**

Kotori gasped before looking away, "This can't…!"

"Stop it!" shouted Yuma.

"Ryoga, Ryoga, Ryoga!" I screamed. No! Stop it! Stop hurting him!

"This isn't dueling!" yelled Yuma, "Dueling isn't for anger and revenge!"

Tron appeared again, "I won't have you get in the way."

His mark appeared and hit Yuma. Yuma struggled as chains bound him up. "I can't move…!" spoke Yuma, distressed.

I gasped, "Yuma!"

"Yuma!" said Astral in shock.

"This is the climax," said Tron, "You just watch quietly."

Ryoga fell back again.

**IV: 1500LPS Ryoga: 1300LPS**

"No!" shouted Kotori, "Stop it!" she had tears in her eyes.

"Ryoga!" I shouted, about to run.

"Stop." Tron raised his hand but a mark appeared on my hand. I stared at it, No.96. I looked up and saw Black Mist nod to me.

"Dueling is to make people happy!" shouted Yuma.

"Suffer more, Ryoga," IV said in grim satisfaction, "Suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, and at the end of it, fall into hell! This is the fifth time!"

Ryoga cried out in pain, a sound I hated to hear. I fell to my knees, hands over my ears. "Stop it, stop it, stop it," I whimpered quietly. Anything but that sound. I don't want to listen to him suffer. I pressed my hands against my ears hard. Stop it…

**IV: 1500LPS Ryoga: 1100LPS**

Yuma looked forward, "When you duel, everyone becomes your allies…You can become friends! Hurting others isn't dueling!"

Tron appeared in front of Yuma, "Everyone is friends, right? You are seriously the same as him. As Tsukumo Kazuma."

"Tron…" Yuma glared at Tron.

"He always talked about it," continued Tron, "Bonds, making others happy."

"You guys…you guys were the ones who involved dad!" shouted Yuma.

"The one who took your father away from you was Dr. Faker," said Tron, "If you are going to hate someone, hate Dr. Faker. Oh, you might as well blame him too." Tron looked at me, "The Dimensional Gatekeeper, you can blame him as well."

My…father. I glared at Tron, "My father didn't have anything to do with it!" I snarled.

"Are you sure?" said Tron. He fake yawned, "The Dimensional Gatekeeper's job is to guard the gate between this world, the Astral World, and the Barian World. It is his fault for opening the gate of course."

My father…opened the gate that took Kazuma-san and Uncle Byron away. I looked down, bangs covering my eyes.

Tron laughed and turned back to Yuma, "Blame Dr. Faker. Blame Tsubasa, the Dimensional Gatekeeper. Hate them then darkness will be born from your heart. And then spread it…" He giggled, "Didn't I promise you? That I will eat your heart away next time!"

"Shut up with all your crap!" shouted Yuma, "I can't forgive you! You who made Droite suffer like that! You who used III and V as tools for revenge!"

"Whoa~ so good~" said Tron happily, "It's being born! A darkness within your heart! Anger spreads darkness. Hate me, and hate Dr. Faker!"

"SHUT UP!" screamed Yuma.

"This is the last attack!" IV shouted at Ryoga.

Ryoga cried out as he was thrown back. He fell onto his side.

**IV: 1500LPS Ryoga: 500LPS**

"How is it, Ryoga?" questioned IV with a nasty smirk, "But this isn't the end! Gimmick Puppet – Heaven's Strings monster effect activates! By using an overlay unit, I put a String Counter on Shark Drake! With this, at the end of the next turn, Shark Drake will be destroyed, and you will be taking damage equal to its attack points! With that, it will be the end. With this, I end my turn!"

Ryoga wasn't getting up. He was lying motionless on his side. I finally let my hands lip from my head and into my lap. My legs were both bent on either side of me. I stared at Ryoga, get up. Ryoga, get up.

"Shark, Shark!" shouted Yuma, "Talk to me! I know you can hear me! Shark!"

"Don't tell me Shark has…!" gasped Kotori.

I couldn't care less about the new information about my father. I couldn't care less about Tron. Ryoga was all I was worried about. I felt tears stinging my eyes, "Ryoga," I whispered. Then, I screamed, "RYOGA!"


End file.

Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, Adventure, Romance