Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL 1. The Last Duel

**Yes, I'm starting another fanfic. I first came up with this idea while I was watching the duel between Yuma and III in the Zexal anime. I know the result of the duel, but this fanfic is based on Yuma either losing or just not finishing that duel at all. Everything that takes place is based on this alternate outcome, meaning there's no Astral following Yuma around...yet. With luck, I'll be able to update this one as regularly as my other two fanfics, Heir to Hellsing and Through Another's Eyes.**

**Another thing about this fanfic; it will be dark, there's going to be angst, and maybe even Yuma being an ass. Because of how this fanfic is set up, the Yuma here is very different. He's abandoned everything in Heartland, including his Deck. Yes, he'll be a bit more on the brooding side, but I do intend on working in some of his normal goofiness every now and then. After all, he isn't really Yuma unless he has a few derp-type moments.**

**I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, or any other YGO series. If I did, do you really think I'd be publishing this here?**

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**Chapter 1**

**The Last Duel**

"_**YUUUMAAAA!"**_

Yuma opened his eyes with a gasp. He'd fallen asleep—again. That last duel he'd had with Astral… it still haunted him. The guilt that he hadn't been able to do anything was still gnawing at him, four years later.

Grunting, he pushed himself up off the ground, onto his elbows. For whatever reason he couldn't fathom, he couldn't forget that duel against III. It had been going so well…until III had used that weird power against him. It had made him forget his kattobingu—his heart. It had also rendered him unable to see or hear Astral, which III had used to capture the being and destroy him.

It had been Astral's scream of agony that snapped Yuma out of it.

It was also the last time he dueled. Anyone. He locked up his deck, and came to Neo Domino City. What irked him most was that he couldn't resist the siren call of the Duel, so he built a new deck and enrolled in Duel Academy. He told them that he had no family left.

It was a lie.

So, here he was, a senior at Duel Academy, fighting off memories from five years ago. Memories that he wished he could forget.

Memories that screamed at him the way Astral had before he died.

Suddenly, a paper bag replaced his view of the city. It was Zei Utaki, a friend of his at DA. He called him his friend because he couldn't find a better word for it. He was solitary here, and rather than his happy-go-lucky self, he stayed distant from everyone. Zei and his other acquaintance, Tōya Kotetsu, only thought he considered them friends…and he kept it that way. "Hi, Zei."

Zei took a seat next to him and plopped the paper bag down in his lap. Opening it, he found two ham and cheese sandwiches. He missed his grandmother's rice balls (which he liked calling "duel meals" back then), but didn't show anything. "So this is where you've been for the last two class periods," Zei said, taking a bite out of a tuna sandwich. "Misaki-sensei was going neurotic in Biology."

Yuma grunted. "I don't like that class," he said, nibbling at his own ham and cheese. "Not a fan of Dueling History either. Thus, I skip both."

Zei let out a long-suffering sigh. "Dude, you have _got_ to stop skiving class." He said. "If you do, you won't have the credits to graduate."

Yuma grunted. Honestly, he really didn't care. But, if only to appease Zei and Tōya—and his teachers—he showed up to classes regularly. Or, semi-regularly at the very least. If it weren't for the fact that something inside him still couldn't resist Dueling, he wouldn't be attending Duel Academy. There were just too many painful reminders of his past.

Of Astral. Of the Numbers….

Yuma cursed under his breath and took a swig of the milk Zei had brought. "So, what was Torinote's reaction to my skipping DH again?"

Zei shrugged. "He was cool with it." He screwed up his face and did an accurate imitation of their Dueling History teacher's voice. "'Eh…Tsukumo's not here, but I won't count him anyway because he's hardly ever here. Can't blame him, since the class is boring as hell. If I had my way, we'd actually be dueling in here…' yeesh, I think he likes his class less than you do, and he's the teacher!"

Yuma snorted in laughter. "And that's when you know a class sucks; when the _teacher_ doesn't even want to be there!" He said, waving his sandwich. He sighed and went back to his surly self. "I _really_ don't want to be dueling today."

"Cheer up, buddy." Zei said. "At least you're only dueling Tōya instead of the brute hall monitor. You and Big T know each other's decks like the backs of your hands."

"Yeah…." Yuma fidgeted with his sandwich. He was only half done with it, but he wasn't all that hungry. The memory from his last duel was still too fresh. What didn't help was his little nap on the roof had only let him relive it…and he hated it. He looked to Zei, wishing that he could honestly enjoy dueling as much as the surfer-jock did.

Zei Utaki was skinny, tanned, had bright amber eyes, and dark hair that flopped down into his eyes like a mop. If you were looking for Zei on a weekend, especially in the summer, your best bet was to look down by the beach. The kid spent nearly all his time on his surfboard. His deck was even water-based…another reminder of his days in Heartland.

Tōya Kotetsu on the other hand was all muscle, was taller, and had hair he bleached white. Their nickname for him was Big T because of his size. Tōya intimidated most people, but Yuma and Zei knew that despite how big he was, Big T was an oversized teddy bear at heart. Thankfully, his deck didn't bring back any memories from his old life; it was a Chess deck. Fittingly enough, Tōya's second love was chess…and taking things apart to see how they worked.

And today Yuma and Tōya were scheduled to duel each other. Fun. Yuma's current deck was based around the old Dragunity archetype. He couldn't stand to use Exceed monsters anymore. Like so much else, it reminded him of Heartland…and Astral and the Numbers and….

Yuma shook his head to clear it. Zei noticed the motion. "You all right, buddy?"

"Yeah; just flashbacks." Yuma replied. "I'm fine…probably just nerves over the coming duel." He quickly downed the last of his ham and cheese sandwiches and stood.

"You are one weird dude, Yuma." Zei said, following Yuma as he strode to the door and back inside. "You're a helluva duelist, yet you seem to not like it that much." He frowned at him. "Is it something to do with how you lost your family?"

_If only you knew…_ Yuma kept the thought to himself. "Sorta…it's complicated." He said, dodging the question. "Let's just get that duel with Tōya over with. Who knows; maybe this time he'll stop bugging me about using old cards."

Zei laughed. "Suuuure he will. And I'll hang up my surfboard and take up knitting." He patted Yuma's back. "This is Big T we're talking about, buddy; we both know he'll never stop ribbing you on that deck of yours."

Yuma shrugged. "One can always hope, I guess…."

_**000**_

Whistling off-tune, Yuma set the bags on the counter. School had ended half an hour ago, and he took the time just after to get some necessities; groceries, toilet paper, new light bulbs as he'd realized the previous day he was out…anything a high school student living on his own would need. He'd refused to stay in the Duel Academy dorms, instead deciding to live in an apartment by himself. He worked at a nearby coffee shop on the weekends, and that coupled with a scholarship he'd gotten from the school and help from Zei's family paid for rent, bills, school expenses, and other needs.

He was repacking the fridge as the doorbell rang. Once he'd convinced the veggies into the crisper drawer, he went to answer it. It was a deliveryman, and he was holding a small package. "Tsukumo Yuma?" He asked.

Yuma nodded. "Yeah…why?"

The deliveryman handed him the package and pulled a clipboard out from under his arm. "This package arrived for you…I was told you'd have to sign for it." He said as Yuma took the package and clipboard.

"Any idea where it's from?" Yuma asked as he signed his name. Okay, so his writing was still messy…somehow, he doubted that would ever change.

The deliveryman shrugged as he took the clipboard back. He handed Yuma a copy of the slip. "Nope; there's no return address…. At least, there's none that I can see. There might be one in the box." He tapped his hat. "Have a nice day, then Mr. Tsukumo."

Yuma raised his hand in a wave as the deliveryman left. He closed the door behind him, slipped the signed slip into a filing slot on his desk, and took a close look at the package. It wasn't too big; enough to carry in one hand, and then some. If he didn't know better, he'd think….

He snorted. "No way." He dropped the package onto his desk, took a few steps back to the kitchen, then sighed and returned to it. "It's probably just a prank that Zei and Tōya are…playing…"

He trailed off as he read the address. Just like the deliveryman had said, there wasn't a return address, and Yuma couldn't recognize the handwriting. Whoever sent it wasn't someone he knew. _Ookaaay…maybe it's not a prank._ He thought. _But if it's not, then what is it…?_

Yuma, now curious, carefully opened the package, making sure not to tear the paper. He dropped it on the desk and started on the box. He used his pocketknife to cut the tape, and when he opened it his breath caught in his throat. Inside the cardboard box was something that brought all his buried memories rushing to the surface.

It was his old Deck.

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**And so the wheels begin to turn. Someone has sent Yuma is old Deck, but for what purpose? It'll become clear in the next few chapters. As for what's coming next month...let's just say he's getting an even bigger surprise.**


	2. Old Friends and New Beginnings

**Hello there! Since there was a large amount of feedback on this story when I published it a few weeks ago, I've decided to update it before my other two fanfics, _Heir to Hellsing_ and _Through Another's Eyes_. Before I get into the chapter itself, though, I'd like to give some thanks: **

**To Resha Tsubaki, HeroOfFate, and Hinata001 for adding this to their Story Alerts. Cookies!**

**To Hinata001 and GetsuRoze for adding this to their Favorite Story list. Again, more cookies and thank-yous!**

**And to the reviews! Hearing you guys give feedback is one of the best things about writing! Thank-yous to Resha Tsubaki, Happyreader (), Kiyuzanova, and GetsuRoze. Cake to all!**

**And now, to the story. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL or anything else relating to Yu-Gi-Oh. If I did, then Yuma would've lost his duel with III and...this would be a story arc in the anime.**

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**Chapter 2**

**Old Friends and New Beginnings**

Yuma yawned, sliding into his seat. He'd grabbed a coffee on his way to school; he'd been up all night pondering why someone would send him his old Deck. He'd finally drifted off to sleep sometime around two or three in the morning, and he was still groggy as his alarm had gone off at seven. "What's up with everyone?" he mumbled sleepily as he slipped in beside Tōya.

"We're getting a couple new students, apparently." The burly faux-blonde said. "Rumor's going around they're from out of town. Think you might know them?"

Yuma shook his head, taking a gulp of his coffee. "I don't have any family left, remember?" He replied.

"Just asking," Tōya said, crossing his arms. "Well, we'll be finding out who they are soon enough…." He nodded his head to the clock.

Glancing up to see the time, Yuma set his coffee aside so he wouldn't bump it and rushed to get his books and pencil out. English was the first class of the day…and frankly, he sucked. It was of those classes he wished he could skip, if only it wasn't for the fact that Tōya would track him down and make his life hell if he did skip it.

The teacher entered the room, and the students bowed and gave their usual greeting. Hayashi-sensei, their teacher, clapped his hands to get the noise level down as everyone took their seats again. "Right. I'm pretty sure you guys have been hearing about the new students joining us today," he said. "I know, normally students start at semester, but these two were quite adamant about beginning as soon as possible."

As Hayashi-sensei was speaking, the two students in question—a boy and a girl, both around Yuma's age—entered the classroom. They hadn't said their names, but Yuma recognized them both right away. He couldn't believe his eyes…he was so riveted on the two figures (especially the girl) that he didn't hear Tōya or Zei asking what was up.

"…both from Heartland." Hayashi-sensei finished. He nodded to the two students.

The girl spoke first. Like the rest of the girls, she had on the red blazer and light blue skirt with her uniform, which was perfect. A pink, oval-shaped D-Pad was on her arm. Her amber eyes were still the same, and her hair had grown out and was now tied back in a long green ponytail, though she'd filled out since Yuma had last seen her…then again, four years _had_ passed. She gave the class a smile and casual salute. "I'm Mizuki Kotori, nice to meet you all!" She said brightly. Yuma's heart skipped several beats as he heard her voice; it had matured with the rest of her.

The boy on the other hand was leaning up against the chalkboard and, unlike Kotori, hadn't bothered to write his name on the board. Another familiar face…though Yuma couldn't decide if he was friendly or not. Probably not, judging by the surly aura around him. He had the blue blazer and pants of the uniform, though he hadn't bothered with the tie and the top two buttons on his shirt were undone and his backpack was slung over one shoulder. His purple hair hadn't changed at all; it still looked like an octopus was on his head. "Kamishiro Ryoga," he said simply, not opening his eyes. If he did, Yuma knew that they'd still be in the perpetual glare they always were. His D-Pad was the same, and the shark's tooth pendant was still around his neck. Having said his name, Yuma heard whisperings from several of the girls.

"I don't effing believe this," Zei said. "The Asia champ is in _our_ class?" His look of dumbstruck changed quickly to excitement. "Hey, Yuma! Got a pen I could borrow? Please?"

Yuma looked over at his friend. "I thought that IV guy was the Asia champ," he said as Zei rushed to pull a blank paper out of his notebook.

Zei shook his head. "Where've you been for the past four years, Yuma? Ryoga 'Shark' Kamishiro has been the Asia champ since the World Duel Carnival! He beat the snot out of IV back then!" He replied excitedly. Tōya handed the flipping-out Zei a pen with a sigh. "He's held onto the title ever since; nobody can touch that guy in a Duel!"

"Er…I don't follow dueling that close," Yuma said, blinking at Zei's enthusiasm. Hayashi-sensei had shown Kotori and Shark where they could sit until they got permanent spots. That route brought Kotori to the front row, where Yuma could see the back of her head. Shark kept on going; apparently his temporary seat was in back.

As he passed, Zei tried asking for an autograph, but it came out as a weird squawk. He wouldn't have gotten it anyway; the glare Shark gave him was so full of venom Yuma was surprised the surfer was till breathing. What got Yuma was when Shark came to the row he was in.

The purple-haired duelist slowed only slightly, studying Yuma. He made brief contact with his one-time-rival's sapphire eyes, then looked back to his desk. _It's just a coincidence; you're just imagining things._ He thought.

Once Shark had taken his seat at the back of the class, Tōya was nudging Yuma in the arm. Yuma looked up. "Hm?"

Tōya pointed at Yuma's desk. There was a perfectly folded note lying on top of his English book. Yuma picked it up and read it:

_Meet me on the roof after class. You've got a _LOT_ of explaining to do, Tsukumo._

_-Shark_

Zei groaned. "Seriously? Why didn't you _tell me_ that you knew him?" He asked in a whisper, clearly jealous.

"I don't want to talk about it," Yuma said, turning his book to the right page. When he saw Zei's glare, he added, "Seriously, drop it, Zei. I _really_ don't want to talk about it."

Zei shrugged. It was a simple expression, but it told Yuma volumes. Summed up, it translated as _you're soooo explaining later._

Yuma sighed as class began. He tried to focus, but the fact that his closest friend and biggest rival were _in the room with him_ made it rather hard to concentrate.

_**000**_

When Yuma made his way up to the roof for break, he saw that Shark and Kotori were already there. Kotori was looking out over the city, with her back to him. Shark on the other hand was standing with his arms crossed, the glare fixed on his face. "What the hell is wrong with you, Tsukumo?" He demanded once Yuma closed the door.

"Hi to you too," Yuma said, striding up to face Shark. It looked like Yuma wasn't the only one to have changed in the past four years; Shark had as well. He was still skinny, but now he planes of his face were harder, not as boyish as they used to be. He also had a couple inches of height on Yuma now.

Shark tapped a finger against his arm. "What the hell happened to make you leave Heartland?" He asked. "Do you want to know what happened when you left your Numbers behind?"

"Don't know, don't care." Yuma said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "But you're going to tell me anyway."

"Damn right; Kaito was about to break into your place when he'd gotten word you'd gone AWOL." Shark said. "You left everything behind, Tsukumo; the Numbers, that key of yours, even your Deck. What makes it worse is that you didn't tell anyone."

Yuma fixed Shark with a glare of his own. "Maybe because I didn't want anyone to know where I went." He said, a hint of menace coloring his tone. "And I sure as hell didn't want to bring anything with that reminded me of Heartland. I was getting on perfectly fine here, and now you guys have shown up. Thanks for ruining everything, Shark."

Shark scoffed. "Something's been shoved up your ass, all right." He said. "And I thought _I_ was supposed to be the one with attitude problems. Yeesh, Tsukumo; what cactus did you land on this morning?"

"I didn't land on anything," Yuma replied, keeping his voice as even as possible. "I've already told you; I didn't tell anyone where I went because I didn't _want_ anyone to know where I was." He took a deep breath. "I want no more connections to Heartland or the Numbers, plain and simple. And I sure as hell don't need any reminders about Astral—"

"Ah hah," Shark said, slowly. He uncrossed his arms and took a step closer to Yuma, so they were almost nose-to-nose. "_That's_ what this is about, then; what happened to Astral." He said. "So instead of facing the truth, you ran away. If _that's_ your 'kattobingu', then I'm sorry I considered you a duelist at all. If running away is what you do, then you're more of a coward than anything."

"Shut up, Shark." Yuma growled. "I'm not a coward."

"Guys, stop it." Kotori said. She'd turned around while he and Shark were trading barbs, and she was now glaring at the both of them. "Preferably _before_ you two start swapping fists."

Neither boy was listening. "Not a coward? Then what do you call running for the hills when Astral was killed?" Shark asked, his face set and his eyes icy. "Or better yet; if you're not a coward, why'd you leave the Numbers behind? I thought that even without Astral you would've kept on collecting them." He snorted. "You were probably too afraid you'd lose now that _he_ was gone…."

Yuma didn't reply…well, not verbally. He let out with a yell of rage and plowed his fist into the side of Shark's face. _"No!_ You two idiots!" Kotori shouted, but before she could intervene Yuma was about to nail Shark with another punch.

Shark blocked the punch and returned one of his own, hitting squarely on Yuma's nose, breaking it. As Yuma was trying to recover himself, Shark got him with another punch to the side of his face, then grabbed him by the collar and shoved him up against a wall. "I've got half a mind to bash your head in right now, Tsukumo." He said through gritted teeth. "Don't go taking out _your_ failings on me or Kotori. The both of us came here to track down _you, _idiot."

Yuma blinked. "Bwuh?"

"He's right, Yuma." Kotori said, coming up to them. "Shark, let him down; I think the broken nose did enough damage."

Shark grunted but let Yuma down. "Not as much as I'd like to do to his head," he growled.

Yuma started to say something, but Kotori shut him up with a look. "Don't start again, you two." She said. She shook her head and sighed. "I swear, I'm never going to understand why guys are such idiots."

"Seeing as I'll never understand why you insisted on coming…" Shark mumbled, which earned him a whack upside the head from Kotori. "Ouch!"

"You're as bad as Yuma, I swear." She sighed. She strode up to Yuma, pushing Shark out of the way. "You didn't really leave because of Astral…did you?"

Yuma shifted uncomfortably. He wanted to lash out at her, but he couldn't. "I…I couldn't stand dueling after that." He replied. "It wasn't that I was afraid I'd lose, it was more like…" he shook his head. "Nevermind. But, Kotori, you're a Duelist now?"

Kotori nodded. Shark snorted. "Right…I'm gonna beat it before you two get mushy and I puke. See ya," he left them alone on the roof, and Yuma stuck his tongue out at him as a sendoff.

"Before you ask, no, I'm not going out with him." Kotori replied. "To be honest, Tetsuo wanted to come too…but since his grades were getting hectic—and they still need a duelist back home, since there's still Numbers loose—he had to stay behind. But, as to your question, I started dueling seriously after you ran away." She pulled something on a pendant out from under her shirt. "Shark took up searching for the Numbers then; it turns out that once someone has been possessed by one of them, it doesn't happen again. Well, not easily at least. I convinced him to let me have this on the way here."

Kotori handed it to him. Kotori handed it to him. Yuma didn't have to open his hand to know what it was; the last memento his father had given him, back when he was a kid.

"The Emperor's Key?" He asked. "This means that you sent me my old Deck…right?"

Kotori frowned. "Someone sent you your Deck?"

Now it was Yuma's turn to be confused. "You didn't know?"

She shook her head. "No. Why'd someone send you your Deck, anyway?" She asked. "None of us did; we didn't know where you were living. You didn't even leave a note for your grandma and sister, idiot."

Yuma winced at her words. If his friends hadn't send him his Deck, then who had? He shook off the question. "Anyway, what kind of Deck do you have now?"

Kotori laughed and gave him a wink. "If I told you then it wouldn't be any fun." She said. Yuma opened his mouth to protest, but Kotori silenced him with a hand. "Don't. I know full well that you won't tell me what Deck you're using these days, so I won't tell you mine either. By the way…" She opened her deck box and searched in it. "Oh, c'mon, I know I had it here somewhere…."

"What're you blabbering about?" Yuma asked.

Kotori waved her hand at him to shut up. "Just a sec…Oh no…. That's _way_ not good."

"What's not good?" Yuma asked.

Kotori shook her head. "Nevermind; it was nothing." She replied as the bell rang. "See you in class!"

Yuma blinked, seeing her go. _Same old Kotori,_ he thought, shaking his head. He looked down to see the second surprise in as many days.

Kotori had given him his Emperor's Key.

Yuma's heart raced. She'd kept the Key all this time. Was she waiting for him to come back to Heartland, or looking for a chance to get to him? Either way, holding the Key in his hand, he knew that something was going to happen. He closed his fist around the pendant and closed his eyes.

"Astral…."

_**000**_

"He has _**WHAT?**_"

Damien winced. His master was in a sour mood today. "He's got the Emperor's Key, Master." He said, taking a step back.

"Do not retreat from me!" his master said, closing the distance between them. He gripped Damien's shirt with one hand and slammed him against the wall. "You were supposed to prevent him from retrieving the Key! It is our way into the Astral World, now that that entity is gone!" He sent an electric shock through Damien's body. "Four years, all down the drain. And it's because of you fool!"

He turned away, letting Damien drop to the ground. "Master, I am sincerely sorry." He said. He gulped, not wanting to be the bearer of even _more_ bad news, but he had no choice. "I have more to report, Master."

His master turned. "What now? Is it another failure?"

"No," Damien knew it wasn't a success…but it wasn't a failure either. More like a statement of fact. "The boy has been joined by a Numbers Hunter."

"Tenjou Kaito?" His master asked.

Damien shook his head. "No, Master. Kamishiro Ryoga."

His master pondered this question for several long seconds. "Interesting…you may leave, Damien." He said. Damien nodded and ran for the doors, grateful to be out of his master's presence.

The figure Damien had been talking to turned to face his throne, deep in thought. "Kamishiro Ryoga, a Numbers Hunter." He murmured. "He should be easy enough to get out of the picture, especially since he wasn't chosen by Astral as a Numbers Hunter…."

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**So Ryoga and Kotori enter the picture, as does the Emperor's key. What happens next? I'm not gonna tell until the next chapter! Keep reading, everyone!**

**~HikariHellion**


	3. Phone Home

******There's a reason I'm calling this chapter "Phone Home". Before that's explained, though, thanks need to be made. First off, to Tsukuyomi-chan, GetsuRoze, and NinjaAndy68 for following this story, and a double- and triple-thanks to Tsukuyomi-chan for adding me to her favorite author and author alert lists. Kudos! **

**Next up are the review thank yous, and there's a list. First to GetsuRoze; your review made me laugh-cliffhangers are one good way to keep people reading...as long as you use them in moderation. Next goes to Resha Tsubaki; I hope my explanation of the term AWOL cleared it up-if you've got any more questions involving stuff like this, let me know and I'll do my best to explain as promptly as possible. Also, to your query as to how often I update...once a month. I know, it's a pain in the butt waiting for chapters, but that's the curse of lack of Internet. Hey, at least this way you know there's a schedule to my updating.**

**Third and fourth goes to our guest readers, HappyReader and anonymous: Glad to see you like this chapter! If possible, find a way to keep yourself updated on new chapters. Like I said above, I update once a month. Please, bear with me on this! **

**Fifth thank you is for Tsukuyomi-chan: You didn't really think I'd let this story go off without a villain, did you? And finally, thank-you number five is out to Kiyuzanova: I love getting reviews like this. If it weren't for the fact that in this fanfic-verse Ryoga was the one who beat Tron, then yes he would've ended up as Faker's assassin. Since that didn't happen...well, we can only assume that Faker's still on the loose. I might make this the case, as it would make it a bit easier to work in Kaito later on like I'm planning. Whups...was that a spoiler? Ah, well, it just makes it all the more fun to keep you guys reading!**

**As usual, disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal or any other part of the YGO saga, as the whole thing belongs to Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of the epic series. I only own what I create in this fanfic, and I'm not getting paid for writing any of it.**

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**Chapter 3**

**Phone Home**

"I attack you directly with Wind Priestess! _Steel air blades!_"

"Augh! I got beat by a _girl_!" Zei groaned, kneeling.

Kotori sighed and pulled off her D-Gazer. "And that's why I told you _not_ to go easy on me." She said.

Yuma gulped. _Note to self; I _never_ want to duel Kotori._ He thought. It'd been two weeks since Kotori and Shark had shown up at Duel Academy in Neo Domino, and already Kotori had a win list lining up. It made Yuma whistle the first time he'd seen her duel, but it was nothing compared to Shark.

Okay, so Shark hadn't done any dueling yet…but Yuma was still waiting to see how much he'd improved. He was also curious to see if he still had Numbers 32: Shark Drake.

There was even some buried part of him that was _looking forward_ to it.

Yuma shook his head, grumbling a curse under his breath. _It'll bring back memories to see him dueling again,_ he thought. _Hell, you should be _dreading_ when you see Shark and his deck in action again. And, inevitably _you'll_ be the one dueling him, so quit._ He picked up his book bag and got ready to head off to fifth period…algebra.

After school, Zei was still complaining.

"I got beat. By a _girl._ She was even using the wussiest Attribute Deck; Wind! Wind, I tell you!"

"Zei, shut up." Tōya groaned. "We get the message; you got beat by the new girl. Get. Off. It."

Zei pouted. "But—"

"Listen to Tōya, Zei. Give it up." Yuma said, slipping on his outdoor shoes. "And here's a newsflash; most of the time, girls are better duelists than guys."

Zei blinked at him. "How d'you know that."

Yuma winced. "Uh, personal experience." _At the hands of my sister,_ he added in his head.

"Ooookaaaay, then." Tōya said. "On that note, who wants to stop for dangos on the way home?"

"I'm in!" Zei said enthusiastically. "You up for some, Yuma?"

Yuma shook his head. "Homework," he said. "And…I want to call someone."

Tōya cocked his head. "Who?" He asked.

"I'll tell ya later. Bye!" And with that, he ran out the door before either boy could ask him again.

As he disappeared down the street—at a full-tilt run, no less—Zei turned to Tōya. "Is it just me, or has Yuma been acting weird the last two weeks?"

Tōya shook his head. "Nope. For once, buddy, it isn't your imagination."

_**000**_

Akari Tsukumo woke with a start as the phone rang. "I got it!" She shouted as she passed the kitchen, where her grandmother Haru was loading the dishwasher. "Hello, Tsukumo residence; Akari speaking."

Silence on the other end, then; "Um…hi, Sis?"

It took a moment for Akari to register the voice. Then, in a shout heard even on the street outside:

"_**WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN, YUMA TSUKUMO!?"**_

Yuma, on the other end of the phone, whimpered. "Yeow…good to see you're doing well, too." He said. It sounded like he'd pulled the phone away from his ear.

Akari growled. "I hope you have a real good explanation for this, Yuma." She said. "Running off four years ago, not even taking your deck with you…tell me, did you _at least_ gain an IQ from that stunt?"

"Eeek…okay, you're mad. Understandable—"

"Oh, more than just 'understandable', runt. The next time I see you, I'm gonna wring your skinny neck."

"Point taken, point taken! You're ready to kill me right now!"

"Good for you; you've got a firm grasp on the obvious." Akari said as her grandmother poked her head into the living room.

"Akari, who is it?"

Akari turned from the phone. "It's Yuma." She replied. "Amazingly."

"Yuma's stupid. Yuma sucks." Obime the O-Bot said as she rolled past with the garbage from the bathroom.

"And hi to Obime too…" Yuma grumbled. "I'm still on the phone!"

"Yeah, yeah." Akari said, putting the phone on speaker. "Okay, why'd you call? I know it's not just to say 'hello, I've been great in Neo Domino.'"

"Yeah…uh, something weird came in the mail about a couple weeks ago." Yuma replied hesitantly.

Haru eyed Akari over her glasses. "You didn't send him that skunk you were threatening, did you?"

"No, but I wish I had." Akari said at the same moment Yuma made a squeak of horror.

"Er…no, it wasn't an angry skunk," Yuma replied. "It was my deck. Did any of you guys send it…?"

Akari blinked. "No, wasn't me. I haven't been in your room since you ran off." Haru shook her head. "Neither has grandma, and Obime doesn't do well on ladders."

"Yuma still sucks." Obime said, this time wheeling to the kitchen with a wipe rag for the counters.

"Weird…." Yuma said. Then he cleared his throat. "I was just wondering if anyone there had, because Kotori and Shark showed up the next day."

"I didn't think they'd go _through_ with that plan of theirs," Haru said.

A pause. "Wait…you _knew_ about it, Grandma?!" Yuma blurted out.

"Knew about it, yes. I didn't know that they'd really switch to the Duel Academy in Neo Domino city." Haru replied. "Oh dear…this is not good at all."

Akari looked at her grandmother. "Why's that?" She asked.

"How did you guys find out about them coming over?" Yuma asked at the same time.

"Our house has become a meeting place between your friends here and Akari-chan," Haru explained. "It was at several of those meetings that your friends—yes, Kamishiro-kun included—started coming up with that harebrained idea. Apparently they decided to go through with it."

"Hey, at least now we know everyone's in the same place." Akari said. "But…Yuma, who'd send you your deck? I didn't, Grandma didn't, I'm pretty sure Kotori and Ryoga haven't…."

"I asked, and they said no." Yuma said. "So I figured you guys had. Guess not…"

Akari was silent for several minutes. "So…if nobody here did, then who?"

The silence on the other end was enough of an answer for Akari.

_**000**_

"Right. Yeah, I'll be fine—you don't need to send my any care packages. Really, Grandma. My grades are _fine._ I'm actually passing…no, aliens haven't transplanted my brain with Einstein's." Yuma said at the end of the phone call. "Right. I'll call you and Akari if things get weird…er, okay, weirder than normal. Okay, bye."

He sighed as he hung up the phone. The call had been harder to make than he thought. The entire time he'd just wanted to hang up but couldn't. He'd told them pretty much everything that had happened since his deck showed up, including Kotori giving him the Emperor's Key. _That_ had prompted Akari to hand the phone to their grandmother and run upstairs to his room to make sure that his Deck and Key were really gone.

Yuma picked up the Key and held it in his hand, feeling the familiar weight. _Astral…you're gone, so why's the Key still here?_ He thought. He clenched his fist around the Key and headed to his bedroom to get to sleep. He'd changed into his PJs when he made the call, and he was glad he had.

He crawled into bed and placed the Key on his bedside table. It was cold, not pulsing with soft warmth like when Astral had inhabited it. He stared at it, shining in the moonlight, for a minute or two before rolling over. _Get over it. He's gone._

And yet, as he closed his eyes, he thought he heard Astral's voice whisper one word.

_Yuma…._

_**000**_

"You _gotta_ be kidding me!"

"Nuh-uh…."

"I'm seeing things. I'm seeing things…either that, or I'm dreaming."

Yuma poked Zei in the head. "Hey, surf zombie. You in there?"

Zei looked like he was in a trance, staring at the bulletin board. Yuma just sighed in exasperation and looked to Tōya. "What's got him in shock now?"

Tōya looked awkward. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me." He said. The bell rung. "You'll find out anyway. C'mon; practical duel first thing in the morning. My guess is that Shark's finally dueling today."

Yuma snorted. _It'd be about time, too._

"Calm down, calm down!" Shisui-sensei said as the class entered the hall. They practical dueling hall was essentially a dueling arena surrounded by seats, like a cross between a lecture hall and dueling coliseum. There was even a referee desk to one side of the field. Shisui-sensei, the teacher in charge of coordinating practical dueling lessons was currently standing in the middle of the arena. "Clearly, many of you have seen the bulletin board outside and know the matchup. For those of you who haven't…well, you'll find out soon enough." He motioned at Yuma to come down. "Mr. Tsukumo, if you please…."

Yuma put his D-Pad on his arm and walked down to the arena. "You're going to be dueling today, Mr. Tsukumo…" Shisui-sensei beckoned another one of the students down. Yuma didn't see who it was at first, but by the time he was stationed at the other end of the dueling field….

"…And it's going to be you against Mr. Kamishiro. Begin!"

* * *

**And the first duel begins! Yuma vs. Ryoga...this ought to be fun. Next chapter, we should be seeing some of Yuma's Dragunity deck, and maybe a few new cards in Ryoga's as well. We'll just have to see...**

**Until then, keep reading!**

**~Hikari Hellion**


	4. Numbers Hunter

**Before I get the chapter started, thanks go out to The Queen of Water for Favoriting and subscribing to this story, double chocolate cookie! And I'd also like to extend a welcome to Avia Jenith to this story, for she has added this to her Alerts list as well. If you guys like what you're seeing in this, then check out my other fanfics, _Through Another's Eyes_ (Yu-Gi-Oh! Original series) and _Heir to Hellsing_ (Hellsing manga). The same goes out to Annie Matsukaze for favoriting this story and adding me to her favorite Authors list. Cookies to all!**

**And of course, I can't leave out GetsuRoze, who's added me to her Favorite Authors and Author Alert lists. I can't thank you enough!**

**And thanks to my reviewers:**

**GetsuRoze, your review made my laugh my butt off! Here is the update you've been begging for, lol.**

**And no, Tsukuyomi-chan, I will not say who sent Yuma's deck…not yet, at least. I _do_ have plans for the Arklight family later on, tho'…and I'm not tellin' what they are!**

**Thanks for the tip in your review, Kiyu—Word doesn't like Japanese names! And yesh, Kotori uses a WIND deck. I do intend to have duels in the future, but they won't be every freaking chapter…there's gotta be room for other content, too! (Like Yuma getting bored in class…ASDFGHJKLF)**

**Cookie for Maxxotic1, our newest reviewer! Yes, I intend on keeping this going.**

**And last but not least, our anonymous reviewer. The update is here!**

* * *

**Chapter4**

**Numbers Hunter**

"I attack your Dragunity Dux with my Shocktopus!"

Yuma repressed a swearword. "Activate trap: Relieve Monster! I return my Dux to my hand to summon another monster in his place!"

Shark snorted derisively. "I counter with Seven Tools of the Bandit." He said. "Your Dux goes to the Graveyard."

**Yuma LP: 1200**

**Shark LP: 3000**

"I set a face-down and end my turn." Shark looked to Yuma across the field. "You're losing your touch, Yuma." He said.

Yuma didn't reply, only drew. The duel was only four turns in, and already Shark had depleted his Life Points to a mere 1200. Until now, Shark hadn't lost any LP; Yuma hadn't been able to touch him. Currently Shark had Shocktopus and Jawsman on his field, and two facedowns, whereas Yuma had nothing.

"I summon Dragunity Pilum, and I'll use his effect to summon Dragunity Militum in attack mode!" Yuma said. "And next I'll use Militum's effect to Special Summon Pilum back from my Spell and Trap zone."

Shark merely raised an eyebrow. _He probably sees this coming,_ Yuma thought, but continued anyway.

"I tune my Dragunity Militum to my Dragunity Pilum! Descend, Dragunity Knight Trident!" He pointed to Shark's Shocktopus. "Trident, attack his Shocktopus!"

Shark didn't do anything to prevent his monster's destruction. Instead, he activated a trap he'd set. "I activate the effect of Life Shield. For every card I discard from my hand, up to 1000 points of attack damage is negated." He sent one of his cards to his graveyard, and his Life Points remained untouched as a result. "You also activated Shocktopus's effect. He now equips himself to your monster."

Yuma grimaced, remembering the effect. "And my Trident loses his Attack Points and is stuck in position."

"Good to see your memory hasn't completely left you," Shark said. "Are you done?"

Yuma nodded sullenly.

"Good. Then I draw. Looks like the Duel's over, Yuma." Shark said. "I attack your Dragunity Knight with Jawsman."

**Yuma: 0**

**Shark: 3000**

**-WINNER: KAMISHIRO RYOGA-**

The AR field dissolved as Yuma removed his D-Gazer. He took his deck from his D-Pad and returned it to the case at his waist without saying a word.

Shark strode up to him and crossed his arms. "You know, after four years, I would've expected you to have _improved._" He said. "Guess I got disappointed."

"Shut up, Ryoga." Yuma said, not using his rival's nickname for once.

Shark ignored the comment. "Your new deck doesn't suit you."

Yuma paused at the comment. "What?"

"I said, your new deck doesn't suit you." Shark repeated. "You should've been using your old one. The one your father gave you…the one you and Astral dueled with."

Yuma glared at the violet-haired boy. "I already told you why I don't." He said. "I don't duel. Not with that deck. Not anymore."

"And I think it's a stupid reason." Shark replied. He turned his back to Yuma. "See you next class."

Yuma returned to his place between Tōya and Zei. "What was _that_ about?" Zei asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." Yuma mumbled. Zei pressed on, but Yuma still refused to answer, so much so that he was silent for the entire following class.

Once school was out, Kotori tracked him down. "Yuma! Get back here, you idiot!"

Tōya shot him a glance and gave him a joking smirk. Yuma rolled his eyes and elbowed past him to Kotori—who looked a bit ticked off. The only thought on Yuma's mind was _Oh god, what've I done _now_?_

"Uh, whatever I did, I'm sorry?" He asked tentatively.

The reply he got was a hard, solid slap across his face.

"Ouch! What was _that_ for?!"

"For being an idiot!" Kotori snapped.

"Wha—how the hell was I being an idiot?" Yuma shot back. "Is this still about me leaving Heartland?!"

"Yes…but it's not the reason I'm mad." Kotori replied. "You threw that duel against Shark. I saw it! You two _should_ have been evenly matched! But no, Shark didn't just beat you; he _clobbered_ you!" _SMACK._ Another slap.

"Yeowch! Will you cut that out?! I didn't throw the duel!" Yuma protested. "I just, I…." he trailed off, not knowing a good way to counter her argument. In truth, most of it was valid, but still….

"Not from what I saw." Kotori snapped. "And, like it as not, I'm on Shark's side; you _should_ be using your father's—no, _your_—deck, Yuma. You know it better, and…it knows _you_. Not those Dragunities you've got now."

Yuma's expression turned sad. "You know I can't do that, Kotori."

Kotori studied him for several long moments, and then started past him in a huff. "Fine, then." She said. "Have it your way. Stubborn ass."

Yuma stared after her, rubbing his sore cheek. _She_ has_ gotten pretty,_ he thought. He shook his head, bonking himself. "Gah, quit thinking like that! She's not—" he caught himself, almost saying the last two words; _your girlfriend._

_Could've fooled me, considering how sweet you were on her back then._

_I was __**not**__ sweet on her! Oh, geez, I'm going insane; I'm having a conversation with voices in my head. Not good._ He shook off the weird conversation before rejoining Zei and Tōya.

"So…she your ex-girlfriend or something?" Zei asked, grinning.

"No. She's never _been_ my girlfriend." Yuma made the denial for the second time in as many minutes. "Pissed as hell at me, though."

"Naw, ya think?" Tōya asked. "You two had everyone staring at you guys, you were yelling so loud. What's this about your old deck? Running away from Heartland?"

"Yeah…and during the duel this morning, Shark said something about your deck not suiting you." Zei added. "He said that you should be using your old deck too. And something about a guy called Astral…."

"Shut up. I don't want to talk about it, and there's no way in the pits of hell that you'll get me to spill." Yuma said sharply. Maybe a little too sharply, seeing the looks on their faces.

"Fine, have it your way." Tōya grumbled. "Just remember, you're gonna have to explain eventually. It's pretty clear that you know Mizuki and Shark."

Yuma didn't reply, only grunted assent. _Yeah, I know them…but I wish they hadn't showed up here._ He shoved his hand in his pocket and clenched his fist around the Key. For a moment, it got hot. Really hot. He yanked his hand out with a hiss, the Key still in his fist.

"Yuma? What's wrong?"

Yuma didn't answer automatically, just gingerly opened his fist. The skin on his palm and fingers was reddened from the burst of heat. Now it was more of a mild pulsing. Not like a heartbeat, like when Astral inhabited it, but more like a radar beacon. It took Yuma a moment to register that it could be reacting to one thing.

"Numbers…" he clenched his fist again and ran off, Zei and Tōya trailing behind him.

"Damn it, Yuma! Can't you explain?!" Zei protested as Yuma led them down a side street, then off to another, the pulsing getting more frequent all the time. As he headed down another street, he didn't even register a purple-haired student coming the opposite way—

"AUGH! Watch it, Tsukumo!" Shark griped as he picked himself up off the ground. He and Yuma had collided, causing Zei and Tōya to try and put on the breaks in time…and failing. Shark was presently rubbing the spot on his forehead where he and Yuma had knocked skulls. There was a similar sore spot on Yuma's forehead as well. "What's got your ass?"

"Nuh…nuh…" Yuma groaned, panting and massaging his own sore spot.

Shark got the message. "Numbers." He said. He fished in his Extra Deck case and pulled out a familiar card: Shark Drake. It was glowing softly, a silver-white light from the image. "Let me guess; you've got the Key on you?"

Yuma nodded. "Burned my hand…I didn't know it could pick up Numbers cards without Astral."

Shark was about to say something when Zei interrupted. "Whoa, whoa, _whoa!_ Explanations, please! What's a Numbers card? Who's Astral? What's with the freaky key you two're talking about? How come you two know each other? _Why didn't you tell me you knew Ryoga "Shark" Kamishiro?!_ And does anyone have any Cheetoes?"

"Zei, down." Tōya said, pulling Zei out from between the two boys. "Though, he's got a point; it would be _really_ helpful if you two explained what the hell's going on."

Shark shot Yuma an accusing look. "All right, all right; I'll give you guys the short version. You're going to think I'm crazy, though." He said in defeat.

"Dude, we knew you were crazy the day we met." Tōya said. "Need I mention the skateboard on the stairs?"

"No, and I really don't want to be reminded of _that_ right now." Yuma sighed. "All right, short version: there's ninety-nine cards called Numbers Cards. If someone gets hold of them—well, excluding me, Shark, and another person—they get possessed, and essentially…uh, sorta turn into a demented version of themselves. Then again, Shark's pretty demented to begin with…."

"On topic, Tsukumo, or I just might send you flying."

"All right, already. The only reason _I'm_ not possessed by them is because of a guy called Astral who's from another world, and has no memories. According to him, the Numbers Cards are bits of his memory." Yuma finished. "We good now?"

Zei and Tōya were just staring at Yuma. "And…I'm assuming that whole Heartland business has something in it, too." Tōya said.

"I'm from Heartland, yeah." Yuma said. He pointed to Shark. "It's also why I know Shark and Kotori."

"Great, so we all know what's going on now." Zei said. "Just one question now; is there _anything_ about you, Yuma, that _is_ true?"

"Yeah." Yuma replied. "I hate math and my English sucks."

Shark whacked him over the head. "And, as I'm hoping you two already noticed, he's an idiot."

"I am not!"

Shark snorted. "Riiiight. We'll get back to that. Right now, we've got a bit of a Numbers crisis." And with that statement, he grabbed Yuma by the arm and dragged him off to another side street, Zei and Tōya trailing behind.

"Aw, man…all this running is getting annoying!" Zei complained.

"Says the surfer," Tōya sighed.

"So…what all happened after I left, anyway?" Yuma asked. "I'm assuming since you won the WDC, that means that you beat Tron, too."

Shark nodded. "And you'll be not so happy to know that Faker's still on the loose." He said. "Last I knew, Kaito was still working for him…reluctantly."

Yuma was about to ask what that meant before the Key seared again. "Ow! I think we're close."

"What gave you that—" Shark started to ask the sarcastic question when a shriek rent the air. He motioned to Yuma to put his D-Gazer on as he activated his own eyepiece.

Yuma followed suit, and he gasped when he saw what was making the shriek. "That's…Galaxy Eyes." He said.

Shark only nodded. "C'mon. It's close." And he continued on track, this time not pulling Yuma along. He didn't need to; Yuma followed anyway.

Sure enough, two blocks away, a familiar figure in a white trench coat was dueling a man with a mad fire in his eyes. Key word here being _was_: as the two reached the duel, Galaxy Eyes dissolved into shards of light, causing Kaito's Life Points to drop to zero.

The AR link dissolved as Kaito's coat returned to its normal dark gray. He was breathing hard, and there was a deep cut on the back of his hand. Yuma was about to say something when Kaito keeled over forward.

"Kaito!" Yuma called, running to Kaito's side. "Hey, wake up! Kaito!"

"We need to get him out of here." Shark said, nodding to the man. Yuma looked up, and the man who had been dueling Kaito was striding towards them.

Yuma stood. "Who are you and what happened to Kaito?" He asked.

"Oh. You know Faker's brat." The man said. He had jet-black hair that fell loose around his shoulders, slightly tanned skin, and acid green eyes. He was wearing what looked like a business suit, with a clip on the tie that looked familiar. "He just passed out. My guess is that he overexerted himself. I'm just here to take his Numbers…and his powers."

"Not happening." Shark said, stepping up. He had his deck in its slot already. "Duel me. If I win, you go."

The man looked to him with a bored expression. "No." he said simply. "There's someone else here I want to duel." He turned to Yuma as he pulled a card out of his Extra Deck case. "This look familiar, kid?"

Yuma's breath caught in his throat. "Kibou Ou Hope…" He whispered.

"That's right; it was _his_ card, wasn't it?" The man asked.

"Yuma, take Kaito and go." Shark said. From the look on his face, he meant business.

Yuma shook his head. "No. I'm going to duel him." He said, inserting his own deck into his D-Pad.

Shark shook his head. "Not from that performance this morning," He grumbled, but stepped back. This was when Zei and Tōya decided to show up.

"What the—?"

"Great; more idiots." Shark groaned. "You'd better know what you're doing, Yuma."

_So do I,_ Yuma thought, activating his D-Pad. _So do __I…._

* * *

**Cards Used **

**Shocktopus**

**ATK: 1600/DEF: 800**

**Attribute: WATER**

**Type: Fish**

**Level 4**

**When this monster is destroyed as a result of battle with an opponent's monster and sent to the Graveyard: You can equip this card to your opponent's monster. That monster's ATK becomes 0 and it cannot change battle position.**

**-XXX-**

**Jawsman**

**ATK: 2600/DEF: 1600**

**Attribute: WATER**

**Type: Beast-Warrior**

**Level 6**

**Cannot be Special Summoned. If you Tribute Summon this card, all Tributes must be WATER. This card gains 300 ATK for each face-up WATER monster you control, except this card.**

**-XXX-**

***Life Shield**

**Trap Card**

**Negate up to 1000 points of damage for every card you discard from your hand.**

**-XXX-**

**Seven Tools of the Bandit**

**Counter Trap Card**

**When a Trap Card is activated: Pay 1000 Life Points; negate the activation, and destroy it.**

**-XXX-**

**Dragunity Dux**

**ATK: 1500/DEF: 1000**

**Attribute: WIND**

**Type: Winged Beast**

**Level 4**

**This card gains 200 ATK for each face-up "Dragunity" card you control. When this card is Normal Summoned, you can select 1 Level 3 or lower Dragon-Type "Dragunity" monster in your Graveyard, and equip it to this card as an Equip Card.**

**-XXX-**

**Dragunity Pilum**

**ATK: 1400/DEF: 1000**

**Attribute: WIND**

**Type: Dragon/Tuner**

**Level 3**

**When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 Winged Beast-Type "Dragunity" monster from your hand, then equip it with this card. While this card is equipped to a monster, that monster can attack your opponent directly. When you do, Battle Damage inflicted to your opponent (by the equipped monster) is halved.**

**-XXX-**

**Dragunity Militum**

**ATK: 1700/DEF: 1200**

**Attribute: WIND**

**Type: Winged Beast**

**Level 4**

**Once per turn, you can select 1 "Dragunity" card in your Spell & Trap Card Zone, and Special Summon it.**

**-XXX-**

**Dragunity Knight-Trident**

**ATK: 2400/DEF: 1700**

**Attribute: WIND**

**Type: Dragon/Synchro**

**Level 7**

**Once per turn, you can send up to 3 cards you control to the Graveyard to look at your opponent's Extra Deck and send an equal number of cards from there to the Graveyard.**

* * *

***=This card is one that I designed for this story. Sadly, it does not show up in the anime or in the TCG. You're gonna be seeing a lot of these little stars, as I'm even creating a few archetypes for this story as well.**

**What will happen in Yuma's next duel? Who is this mystery man? Find out in the next chapter!**


	5. Psi-Tronic Destruction!

**Before I get this chapter started, I'd like to thank everyone who helped out in their own small—and nonetheless important!—ways:**

**To Kitsunefighter12 for adding this story to her Alerts and Favorites, and adding me to their Favorite Authors list.**

**To SaintErmac for adding this story and myself to his Alerts lists.**

**To ssscorpioo for adding this to his Story Alerts.**

**To Tsukuyomi-chan for adding this gem to her Favorites**

**And of course, the commenters. To Maxxotic1; you're very welcome, then! It's all right; none of us are perfect, I can attest to that. (Sticking one's tongue to a cold pipe in the middle of winter is not a good idea…I should know….) And thank you for the compliment. I'll try and keep the quality up!**

**To Tsukuyomi-chan; we will discover this guy's identity as the story progresses, don't worry.**

**To Arlownay1991; we shall discover in the next chapter, my friend.**

**To GetsuRoze for her VERY enthusiastic review. I'm not sure how to answer you, except for the announcement that _it's here!_**

**To our anonymous reader; thanks! And the update is here at last!**

**To our guest reader Lightstar; don't worry, Kotori is going to warm up to Yuma again. Hopefully we'll get to see her duel in the future…once I figure out her deck, exactly. We'll also be seeing Ryoga duel in future chapters—full duels, though! I know you said you don't like Kotori that much, and everyone's entitled to their opinions. Thanks for the review and keep reading; we just might get to see the rest of the gang!**

**And finally, to Aristomacho for his two reviews; maybe that "delivery guy" is going to show up again? XDD he's actually just the mailman for that apartment building XD. And to your review of the latest chapter—the update is here! The reason my updates tend to take a long time is because of the fact that I need to go out of town for Internet access. It sucks monkey balls, I know, but sadly the world is not perfect…and nor are the people in it. As for how Yuma will do against this mystery man…read on and find out!**

**PHEW! Looong thank-you section this month. (OHMYFREAKINGAWD IT TOOK AN ENTIRE PAGE TO THANK EVERYONE! THANK YOUS!) As always, I thank each and every one of you guys for reading this story and giving your support—it's what makes writing Remembrance so fun! And now, without further ado, the chapter.**

**(Ack! DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or Yu-Gi-Oh ZEXAL in any way, shape, or form. The YGO franchise is the property of Kazuki Takahashi-sensei and NAS/TV Tokyo, Japan.)**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Psi-Tronic Destruction!**

"_Alternate Reality Vision link established."_

Yuma Tsukumo LP: 4000

**? LP: 4000**

"I go first," the man in the suit said, drawing his sixth card. "I summon Psi-Tronic Shaman in defense mode, and set two face-down cards. I end."

Yuma drew, staring at the monster. _Psi-Tronic? Never heard of that archetype before._ He thought. And, indeed, the monster was weird. It had a vaguely humanoid shape, with two sets of arms, both crossed over its chest, metal legs crossed in a sitting position, and its face looked like it was a cyborg. There were even implants in its chest visible under the white and blue robes, cinched at the waist. On the forehead of the odd-looking monster was a vertical eye, which was closed at present. _I'm not sure if I want to know what that thing can do…._ "I'll summon Dragunity Aklys in Attack Mode! And, thanks to his effect, I can Special Summon a Dragunity card from my hand and equip him to it. Come on out, Dragunity Angusticlavii!"

The monster—a young man with a bow and arrows, eagle headdress, blue-and-white tunic, gold belt, dark blue leggings, furred boots and gauntlets, and wings—materialized on the field. Aklys, the small silver-armored dragon, attached itself to Angusticlavii's bow arm, looking like a silver bladed gauntlet. The man in the suit raised an eyebrow. "Dragunities, then. It's been a rather long time since they've been used in a Deck, hasn't it?"

"You haven't seen the half of it! Angusticlavii, attack his Psi-Tronic Shaman!"

Yuma's monster knocked an arrow, readying to let it fly, when the man in the suit grinned. "I thought you might. "I activate my Shaman's effect; when you attack him in defense position, I can summon a Decoy Token for your monster to attack in his place. My Shaman is safe, as are my Life Points."

"I don't think so," Yuma said as the ghostlike ball appeared on suit guy's field. "As long as Angusticlavii is equipped with a Dragunity monster, he does piercing damage. Even if your monster is safe, your Life Points drop."

"I think not," the man in the suit said. Angusticlavii let the arrow fly, shooting through the gossamer ball and destroying it. "I activate my trap; Damage Eater. As long as I discard the top two cards from my deck, all damage to my Life Points is negated. So sorry."

Yuma gritted his teeth. "I set a face-down and end."

"Back to me, then." Suit guy said. "I draw. I think I'll set one card face-down and summon my Psi-Tronic Knight in attack position!" Another strange cyborg monster appeared on his field, this one wearing clear glass armor over a silver jumpsuit. The armor appeared to glow faintly along the edges, and looked like something out of medieval times. Like its companion, it had a single vertical eye on its forehead.

"And, now that my Knight's on the field, I can Special Summon Psi-Tronic Shield in defense mode!" another monster appeared, this one being a shield shaped like a vertical eye. What made it even more unsettling was the fact that there was a vertical eye in the center of it. Unlike the Knight and Shaman, this eye was open. "Whenever I summon Psi-Tronic Knight to the field, Psi-Tronic Shield is immediately summoned and equipped to my Knight, increasing his attack by 500!"

It didn't take long for the Knight to take up his new shield, causing the armor to glow brighter, now acid green. "And I think I'll attack your Angusticlavii with my Knight. Go!"

"I activate my trap; Windstorm of Etaqua!" Yuma said, the card flipping up on his field. "All battle positions of your monsters switch!"

"Oh no! I'm trapped!" the man said, then grinned. "Sorry, I can't let that happen. I activate _my_ trap, Psychic Shock. Not only does it negate your Trap, but it also prevents you from activating any more without a 200-Life-Point penalty."

Yuma shielded his face as his trap was destroyed, leaving his Angusticlavii wide open. Both him and the little dragon attached to his arm let out screams as they were destroyed by Psi-Tronic Knight's sword.

Yuma: 3600

"And then there's the nice little effect of my Knight. When I discard one card from my hand, I can inflict 500 points of damage to your Life Points," the mystery man said, discarding the required card. The Knight threw his sword like a spear, and it passed right threw Yuma's chest.

Yuma: 3100

Yuma fell to one knee, gasping. _I really, _really_ hate augmented reality right now,_ he thought. There wasn't a wound, but the pain was real enough to make his body _think_ there was one. He gathered himself, then rose to his feet. "By destroying Angusticlavii, you activated Aklys's effect."

The mystery man in the suit frowned. "What?"

Yuma smirked. "That's right. Since Aklys was equipped to Angusticlavii when he was destroyed, his effect activates. Since he was sent to the Graveyard as an equipped monster, I can destroy one monster on your side of the field. I chose your Psi-Tronic Knight!"

A ghostly version of Dragunity Aklys appeared on the mystery man's side of the field, took aim, then flew straight into Psi-Tronic Knight's breastplate. The glass shattered, and Aklys came flying out the other side, trailing circuitry from the Knight's insides. With a final groan, the Knight disintegrated, letting Psi-Tronic Shield fall to the ground.

"Psi-Tronic Shield survived my Knight's demise, thanks to its effect." The mystery man said. "I end my turn, then."

Yuma drew. "First, I'll activate my Foolish Burial spell card." He said. "This allows me to send one monster from my Deck straight to my Graveyard. Next," he selected his second monster from his hand; "I summon Dragunity Legionnaire in attack mode! Thanks to his effect, I can pick one Dragunity monster from my Graveyard and equip it to him. I chose the monster I just sent—Dragunity Pilum!"

A solidly-built monster, clad in a white tunic with gold trim and blue belt with gold gauntlets, materialized on Yuma's side of the field, followed by a small, green, armored dragon. This little dragon attached itself to Legionnaire's arm. "And as long as my Pilum is equipped to my Legionnaire, he can attack you directly and deal half his attack as damage." Yuma explained. "Dragunity Legionnaire, attack his Life Points directly!"

To Yuma's surprise, the mystery man did nothing to prevent the attack from going through. He stepped back with a grunt as the attack hit home, but other than that there was no reaction.

**?: 3400**

Frowning, Yuma finished. "I set two face-downs and end my turn."

"My turn, then." The mystery man said, drawing. He smiled. "I activate a little number known as Astral Projection. It allows me to make a copy of one of my Psi-Tronics at the cost of negating their attack. Of course, attacking isn't what I have in mind…."

**?: 2900**

Yuma gulped. "An Exceed Summon." He said.

"Exactly, Yuma Tsukumo. And I think I'll use my magic card to copy Psi-Tronic Shield." Suit guy said as a ghostly version of his Shield separated from the original. "I overlay my Psi-Tronic Shield and its copy to open the Overlay Network. Arise, my servant! Psi-Tronic Berserker!"

Yuma heard Shark swear behind him. At the same time, he heard Zei let out a weird sound between a squeak and a hiss. Yuma himself was frozen to the spot as the mystery man's monster rose from the hole in the field.

From the waist up it was humanoid. Well, _roughly_ humanoid at least. It had a human-shaped head and chest, but that's where many of the similarities ended. It had four arms sprouting from its shoulders, each one with a lethal-looking, serrated blade at the end. The spine had spikes coming out of it, decreasing in size as they reached the bottom. There were odd sigils moving along the torso, which was half flesh, half metal and cybernetic implants. From the waist down it looked like a demented horse; rather than just four legs, there were six, and they alternated metal and flesh. The tail was metal, with a lethal-looking spiked ball at the end. The horse half was cybernetic on one side, flesh on the other, and all creepy-looking.

"Now, that I have my master monster on the field," the mystery man said, tapping his chin. "I think I'll have him attack your Dragunity Legionnaire. Psi-Tronic Berserker, destroy his last monster."

The Berserker didn't need any prompting. It let out an unearthly screech, and dove for Yuma's monster. Yuma, on the other hand was prepared, and he activated one of his face-downs. "Relieve Monster! I can return my Legionnaire to my hand and special summon another monster in its place! I choose Mist Valley Falcon, and since your target's not on the field anymore, your attack is negated."

"Tut, tut," suit guy said, shaking his finger. "That's just the normal battle. My Berserker gains one additional attack for every monster I have on my field. I count two."

The truth of the matter sunk in. "Oh, crap…." Yuma said, his face falling.

"'Oh crap' is not the term you should be using. More like 'I surrender'." The mystery man said. "But…I won't even give you the chance of that. Psi-Tronic Berserker, attack his Mist Valley Falcon! Show him no mercy!"

The Berserker let loose with another screech, and again dove for Yuma's monster. The only difference was this time he didn't have a trap card to protect it, and his Falcon was destroyed.

Yuma: 2500

"And now, I think I'll use up one of my Overlay Units to activate my monster's _second_ effect." The mystery man said.

"That thing's got _another effect_?!" Yuma yelped.

"Of course, my young friend." The mystery man said. "By consuming one of my Overlay Units, my monster can inflict Direct Damage equal to that of the monster I just destroyed. I believe your Mist Valley Falcon had an attack power of 2000 points, so that comes out to a rather large chunk out of your Life Points. Berserker, you know what to do."

Yuma barely had time to register this fact as the mystery man's monster really did _eat_ one of its Overlay Units, and then charged Yuma. Again, he decided that the Augmented Reality Field was getting a little _too_ real as he really did feel like he was getting trampled.

Yuma: 500

The corner of the mystery man's mouth jerked upward in a small smile. "And I'm not done. I still have one more attack for my Berserker." He said, pointing to Yuma. "Psi-Tronic Berserker, finish this duel."

Yuma, barely on his knees as the Berserker charged again, activated his last trap. He was flung backwards as the Berserker's attack hit, but he was grinning.

"I activate Double Dip!"

No sooner was the trap flipped did the mystery man's monster's attack connect. Yuma was sent sprawling once again, but this time he was grinning. On his back, he started laughing.

"What's so funny?" The mystery man asked. "You lost."

"No, we both did. It's a draw." Yuma picked himself back up off the ground. "My trap, Double Dip, has an effect of its own. I can activate it when your monster attacks me; in return for your attack, you get damage equal to twice the damage I took! That comes out to 5200 points of damage to your Life Points!"

The mystery man's mouth gaped open, trying to think of something to say as a blast from Yuma's last trap threw him right into a wall.

**?: 0**

Yuma: 0

**-DRAW-**

The AR field dissolved. "You couldn't win, so you decided to end it in a draw. Impressive. I can see why Astral chose you."

Yuma paused in taking off his D-Gazer. "What do you know about Astral?"

The mystery man shrugged. "Nothing much. That I'll tell you, that is." He said. The edges of his figure began to blur, as if he were disappearing from reality. "Though, I will tell you one thing; my name.

"I am Damien. I look forward to fully defeating you in a duel, Tsukumo Yuma."

And with that, the man—Damien—was gone.

"What…what was _that_ all about?" Zei said when he recovered his voice.

Shark glared at him. "If you have to ask, you don't want to know." He shot a glare back at Yuma before continuing. "_Somebody_ here needs to fill in everyone."

"I know, I know. I just want to know what he was after." Yuma said, crouching down next to Kaito.

"…The Key…." The teenager in question groaned, coming around. Yuma backed up, only to end up on his rump. "They were after the Key, idiot."

"Why?" Yuma asked.

Kaito pushed off Shark's steadying hand. "Because," he said, his icy gray-blue eyes fixing on Yuma, "they believe it's the only way into the Astral World."

**Cards Used**

Dragunity AklysATK: 1000/DEF: 800

**Attribute: WIND**

**Type: Dragon/Tuner**

**Level 2**

**When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 "Dragunity" monster from your hand, then equip it with this card. When this card is sent to the Graveyard while equipped to a monster, select 1 card on the field, and destroy it.**

**Dragunity Angusticlavii**

**ATK: 2100/DEF: 1000**

**Attribute: WIND**

**Type: Winged Beast**

**Level 5**

**While this card is equipped with a Dragon-Type "Dragunity" monster, during battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of this monster, inflict the difference as Battle damage to your opponent.**

**Dragunity Legionnaire**

**ATK: 1200/DEF: 800**

**Attribute: WIND**

**Type: Winged Beast**

**Level 3**

**When this card is Normal Summoned, you can select 1 Level 3 or lower Dragon-Type "Dragunity" monster in your Graveyard, and equip it to this card as an Equip Card. You can send 1 "Dragunity" card from your Spell & Trap Card Zone to the Graveyard to select 1 face-up monster your opponent controls, and destroy it.**

**Dragunity Pilum**

**ATK: 1400/DEF: 1000**

**Attribute: WIND**

**Type: Dragon/Tuner**

**Level 3**

**When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 Winged Beast-Type "Dragunity" Monster from your hand, then equip it with this card. While this card is equipped to a monster, that monster can attack your opponent directly. When you do, Battle Damage inflicted to your opponent (by the equipped monster) is halved.**

**Mist Valley Falcon**

**ATK: 2000/DEF: 1200**

**Attribute: WIND**

**Type: Winged Beast**

**Level 4**

**This card cannot declare an attack unless you return 1 card you control to the hand.**

**Windstorm of Etaqua**

**Trap Card**

**Change the battle positions of all face-up monsters your opponent controls.**

**Relieve Monster**

**Trap Card**

**Activate only when an opponent's monster declares an attack. Select 1 monster you control, and return it to the hand. Then Special Summon 1 Level 4 monster from your hand.**

***Double Dip**

**Trap Card**

**Activate only when an opponent's monster declares an attack. Inflict Direct Damage to your opponent equal to twice the damage you would take. (Damage calculation is applied normally.)**

***Psi-Tronic Shaman**

**ATK: 400/DEF: 1600**

**Attribute: DARK**

**Type: Machine**

**Level 3**

**When this card is attacked while in Defense Position, special summon 1 Decoy Token (ATK: 0/DEF: 100/Lvl 1/DARK/Machine) in Defense Position. The attack is redirected to the Decoy Token instead of this card. When this card is sent to the Graveyard, summon the same number of Decoy Tokens as your opponent has monsters on the field.**

***Psi-Tronic Knight**

**ATK: 2000/DEF: 500**

**Attribute: DARK**

**Type: Machine**

**Level 4**

**This monster cannot be destroyed as a result of battle. You can discard one card from your hand to deal 500 points of Direct Damage to your opponent's Life Points. When this card is sent to the Graveyard as an Overlay Unit, you can pay 200 Life Points to reattach it as an Overlay Unit to one Exceed Monster you control.**

***Psi-Tronic Shield**

**ATK: 500/DEF: 2000**

**Attribute: DARK**

**Type: Machine**

**Level 4**

**Special Summon this card from your hand when you Normal Summon, Special Summon, or Flip Summon "Psi-Tronic Knight" to your side of the field. When this monster is summoned in this way, equip it to "Psi-Tronic Knight", which then gains 500 extra attack points. This monster cannot be destroyed as long as it is equipped to "Psi-Tronic Knight". **

***Psi-Tronic Berserker**

**ATK: 2600/DEF: 1300**

**Attribute: DARK**

**Type: Machine/Exceed**

**Rank 4**

**When this monster attacks an opponent's monster, detach one Overlay Unit from this card to inflict damage equal to that of the destroyed monster's ATK power. This monster may attack as many times as you have monsters on the field in addition to the normal battle during the Battle Phase.**

***Damage Eater**

**Trap Card**

**Discard the top two cards of your Deck to the Graveyard. Negate all Battle Damage to your Life Points for this turn.**

***Psychic Shock**

**Continuous Trap Card**

**Negate the activation of an opponent's Trap Card. Every time your opponent activates another Trap Card, inflict 200 points of Direct Damage to his/her Life Points.**

***Astral Projection**

**Continuous Magic Card**

**Pay 500 Life Points. Select 1 "Psi-Tronic" card you control and negate its ATK power. That monster is now treated as two monsters for an Exceed Summon.**

* * *

***This means that the card in question has been created by me. There's a few more archetypes that I've created that will show up in this storyline, such as the Abyss and Infected archetypes. Like the Psi-Tronics, they'll be DARK-Attributes. I'm also going to be drawing all these duel monsters, so bear with me here...**

**Anyway, keep reading everyone!**

**~HikariHellion**


	6. Filling in the Gaps

**It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Chapter 6 of Remembrance!**

**Okay, that sounded corny. First off, the thanks!**

**First thanks go to our newest, Zaconator and Zackis, and to xion judai741for adding this story to their Story Alerts.**

**Next virtual thank-you cookie is for AnimeAdict202 for adding this beauty to his/her Favorite Stories list.**

**Next is for kazikamikaze24 for doing the whole spread; adding the story to their Alerts and Favorites, and adding me as an Author Alert and Favorite Author as well!**

**And our reviewer thank-yous:**

**-First off is for kazikamikaze24 for her review. I haven't done that much research on the existing Exceed/Xyz Psychic types yet, and I've been looking into different archetypes for this story, not just for antagonists. If you've got any good suggestions for Zei's deck, I'll be more than happy to look into it.**

**-Next up is for GestuRoze. I swear, I always look forward to reading your reviews, because they're constantly making me smile (and sometimes giggle). From the looks of it you were smashing your head into the keyboard there…PLEASE don't give yourself a concussion! That would be bad, veryveryvery BAD! Still really glad you like how this is coming along, and I'm looking forward to blowing your mind some more XD.**

**-Tsukuyomi-chan gets the next one. I don't know what it is with people hating the Astral World, I seriously don't. But I can tell you that Astral isn't the only power they want for themselves….**

**-And finally, our anonymous reviewer. Thank you and I'm glad you liked it!**

**You guys already know the usual disclaimer. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, GX, 5Ds, ZeXal, and all that fun jazz. Enjoy Chapter 6, everyone!**

**Chapter 6**

**Filling in the Gaps**

"Wait; so _you_ knew Yuma back in Heartland too?"

Kaito nodded, accepting the coffee from Yuma—something he would never have ordinarily done. The only reason he did was that he was too drained to care. "You…could say that."

The five boys were congregated in Yuma's apartment, in the sitting room. Kaito was seated on the couch, next to Zei and T ōya, and Shark had taken a seat on the arm of one of the chairs. Yuma claimed the last chair that was open and plopped down, resting his elbows on his knees. "We were both looking for the Numbers." He said.

Zei held his hands up. "Okay, what are these Numbers thingies? You said that they turned people into demented versions of themselves…?"

Yuma made a motion somewhere between a shrug and a nod. "Yeah, pretty much." He nodded to Shark. "It's how Shark and I first met. He was possessed by a numbers, and I had to duel him for it—"

"And you beat me, end of story." Shark said sharply. "Let's _not_ drag up unwanted memories. I can remember that pretty clearly, Tsukumo."

Zei made a weird noise like a strangled squeal. "Yuma, _you beat Kamishiro Ryoga?!_ Why didn't you tell us?"

Yuma didn't answer. Shark pointed to Zei with his thumb. "Did you really have to be friends with this fanboy?" He asked, deadpan.

"Hey, I didn't know about that neurosis until _after_ I knew him!" Yuma protested.

"Calm the waters, guys." Zei said. "And I'm not a fanboy!"

Tōya bopped the surfer over the head. "Yes, you are. Need I recount the _Star Wars _movie fiasco?"

Now it was Kaito's turn to give Yuma the WTF expression. "Again I ask; why must you always be friends with idiots?"

"I'm guessing they have IQs that match his." Shark deadpanned. "But enough of…those two. Spill it, Yuma; what exactly made you leave Heartland?"

Yuma sighed, pulling the key out of his pocket. He turned it over in his hands absently, remembering back to four years ago.

"It happened in my duel with III, during the WDC." He began. "He'd taken my memories of _kattobingu_, which turned me into a bit of a scaredy cat. It wasn't until Astral…." He trailed off as the memory of that moment assaulted him.

"_Yuma, snap out of it!" Kotori's desperate cry…_

"_Scared…so scared…."_

"_Yuma, you have to wake up! Remember your Kattobingu!" Astral's unheard urging…_

"_I think not, Astral."_

_III snapped his fingers, chaining Astral to the fortress on III's side of the field. The unearthly scream as the otherworldly being was taken from existence…_

"_**YUUUMAAAA!"**_

_It was that scream that had snapped Yuma back to himself. To the duel at hand._

_To the harsh realization that Astral was gone. _

_And the knowledge that he had lost a part of himself._

"Astral…no…ASTRAL!" He turned his glare to III, his eyes shining. "You. Will. Pay. III."

"Yuma, you in there?"

"Hey, Yuma!"

"YUMA!"

Ryoga's sharp shout snapped Yuma out of his reverie. "I…sorry." He said quietly. "I just…I couldn't help but remember that duel with III. I don't remember anything between when he used that weird crest to take away my memories of kattobingu and when Astral was killed, but…I lost that duel. I was too caught up in my rage over III's murder. He killed Astral, and when he did, I think he really _did_ break my kattobingu.

"What happened that night…" Yuma shook his head. "I couldn't stand to keep the Numbers, my deck, the Key…anything that reminded me of Astral. I left it all behind. I packed a suitcase, and left Heartland on the next train to Neo Domino.

"Once I arrived, I told the school I enrolled in that I didn't have any family, legal guardians, or anyone who'd really pay much attention. I tried giving up dueling, but…well, that kinda didn't work." He motioned to his old D-Pad on the coffee table. "I built a new deck based on the old Dragunity archetype, and I try not to duel much anymore. It dredges up too many nasty memories about…that day.

"So, there it is. Why I left Heartland and showed up here. Are we good now?" Yuma looked up to the four faces all trained on him.

Zei was, for once, subdued. "I guess, but…you're saying you didn't always run Dragunities? They're kind of an old archetype…why not use the Hieratic monsters or X-Forces?"

Yuma shook his head. "Eh…it kind of goes back to the whole 'I don't want to bring up old memories' thing." He replied. "The Numbers are all Exceed monsters, and using Exceeds sort of…well, you get the idea."

"Only," Shark said, pointing at the lone deck lying in the center of the coffee table. Yuma's old deck. "_Someone_ has other ideas. Whoever sent you your old deck is telling you something, Yuma."

Yuma shrugged again. "What I'd like to know is who sent it in the first place." He said. "I know you or Kotori didn't send it, and I called home to see if anyone there had anything to do with it…" he trailed off, looking to Kaito.

Kaito paused with his coffee cup halfway to his lips. "Don't look at me." He said. "I had nothing to do with it, either. I don't even know where the hell you _live_—er, lived."

"That's strange," Shark said. "Because someone who looked a _lot_ like you tried breaking into the Tsukumo household to get hold of the Numbers. From what I hear, Yuma's sister beat him over the head with a clipboard."

Kaito winced. "I would've remembered _that_." He said. He took a sip of coffee and turned a quizzical eye to Yuma. "Is your sister psycho or something?"

"Sometimes…" Yuma groaned. "Aren't we getting off-topic? What were you doing here in Neo Domino?"

Kaito looked away. "I have…reasons."

Tōya gave Kaito a look. It was one of his tell-or-I'll-mess-with-your-head-until-you-do looks. "And they would be…?"

Kaito still didn't reply. Tōya sighed. "Fine, if you won't tell, then I'll just start humming 'It's a Small World' until you crack."

"Please tell him," Yuma pleaded. "Not only would I like to know, but you _really_ don't know how sadistic Tōya can be."

"And I should take that advice, why?" Kaito grumbled.

Tōya began humming, showing that he was going to make good on his promise.

"All right already!" Kaito said, kicking Tōya. "I left because I caught a lead on the Numbers! You idiots happy now?"

Shark snorted. "Figures."

Kaito flipped him off. "I didn't ask for any help back there."

"Fine. Then I guess we should've left you lying there for some mugger." Ryoga said, shrugging. "Frankly, I don't give a shit."

"Calm it down, you two." Tōya said. "I can tell you two hate each other's guts—"

"You have no idea." Shark interrupted.

Tōya continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "—but you really need to save it for the dueling field. You said you were after these…Numbers, Kaito?"

Kaito nodded. "And there's several here." He said.

"The only one I know of is Shark Drake." Ryoga said, tapping his Extra Deck case. "And Hope, seeing as someone's sent Yuma his deck."

"I didn't check my Extra Deck." Yuma said. He picked the case up from the table and opened it. When he did, his heart seemed to stop for a second.

"Yuma…?"

He took out the cards in the case and went through them. "…They aren't here. None of my Numbers cards are here." He said, replacing the cards and case. "Not even Hope's there."

A chill settled on the room. "Well, that's just swell," Zei said finally, flopping back on the couch. "And what do we do if the bad guys have them?"

Nobody answered. They didn't need to.

_**000**_

"Ugh…do I really _have_ to wear this thing?"

"Yes, you do." Yuma said, peering at Kaito. It had been a fiasco, but somehow over the weekend him, Shark, Kotori, and Tōya managed to get Kaito enrolled in Neo Domino's Duel Academy. They'd passed it off as him being some obscure relation to Yuma.

Needless to say, Kaito had protested. Violently.

And so, here he was, being escorted to his first class by none other than Yuma Tsukumo. Kaito tugged again at the white, collared shirt and the tie. _I miss my coat already…_ he thought sullenly. It was bad enough he had to claim to be some weird cousin or something to Yuma, but that he was stuck in a school uniform.

Oh, how the times change. Only a few years ago, he'd have been more than happy to ditch the stupid coat Faker made him wear, and now he was bitching about wearing something else.

But to be honest…a tie? Really? Even _before_ he was a Numbers Hunter, he hadn't worn the cursed things.

Kaito snorted. "I might skip, just so I don't have to wear this uniform." He grumbled.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…"

Kaito sighed. "Why, may I ask?"

Yuma stopped him at the door to homeroom. "Hayashi-sensei can get a bit neurotic if you miss English, and Misaki-sensei tends to throw things at you if you don't show up to biology." He replied. He slapped Kaito on the shoulder. "Well, see you in class. Good luck…"

Kaito shuddered once Yuma had shut the door. "'Good luck', he says. Somehow, I don't trust that." He grumbled.

"And you must be Yuma's cousin," a voice said behind him. Nearly jumping, Kaito turned to see the homeroom teacher (_This must be Hayashi-sensei,_ he thought) right behind him. "I'm Hayashi-sensei, the English teacher. I also handle homeroom when there isn't a duel first thing in the morning."

Kaito gave a small bow. "Nice to meet you," he said…more of a mumble really.

"Don't worry; you'll be fine." Hayashi-sensei said, misinterpreting Kaito's grumpiness for nerves.

_And probably also asleep._ Kaito thought as he followed Hayashi into the classroom. Not bothering to write his name on the board, he leaned up against it as the teacher gave the brief introduction. When he got to the part where the teacher said he was related to Yuma, Kaito repressed a shudder.

As he strode to the seat he'd been assigned, Yuma gave him a small thumbs-up. _Oh, yeah…this is going to be a pain._ He thought dejectedly.

_**000**_

"I believe we've all learned something today." Kotori said at lunch.

"Yeah?" Zei asked, his mouth full of Cheetos.

Kotori pointed to Yuma and Kaito with her chopsticks. "Don't let those two be lab partners on dissection day." She said.

"He started it," Kaito said, pointing his own chopsticks at Yuma before returning to lunch.

"I did not." Yuma griped, his mouth full of rice ball.

"Really? Then pray tell, who was it who decided to see if he could get the pig's eye to squirt in my face?"

"Hey! I wasn't _aiming_ for your face! I was aiming for the back of Shark's head!"

"Keep me out of this, or next time _I'll_ be the one chasing you around the room with a scalpel."

"Whatever. My point is, _I wasn't aiming for you, Kaito!_ It was an accident!"

"Uh-huh. Sure. Like you laughing your ass off was an accident."

"Hey, the look on your face was funny! Besides, you can't pass off the fact that you turned your scalpel into a throwing dagger."

Tōya sighed. "How's about we all discuss how you two _both_ got detention from Misaki-sensei today because you were _both_ being idiots." He said, carefully setting down his bento. "What did she relegate you two clowns to?"

Neither Yuma nor Kaito said something.

"I'm gonna take a guess," Zei said, holding up his half-eaten sandwich. "Toilet cleaning duty."

"No way!" Yuma said, while at the same time Kaito burst out with an "Are you _stupid?!_"

"They have to clean up the biology lab after school. _All_ of it." Kotori supplied.

Yuma stared at her with a dumbstruck look on his face. "How do you _know_ that?" He asked.

"Simple; I was listening at the door."

"…Oh." Yuma said. His Key burned hot again, then went cold as before. "Ouch!"

Zei blinked. "You all right, Yuma?"

Yuma shoved his hand in his pocket and felt the Key. It was back to normal; not even the slightest pulse in heat. "Y-yeah. I guess…." He replied, still a bit confused.

_What the hell was that about?_

_**000**_

"How goes the attempt?"

Damien turned as his master entered the room. He shook his head. "The Numbers aren't enough to open the portal, Master." He said, his eyes downcast. "We need another source of power. We need the Key."

"Which is near useless, thanks to your _two_ blunders." Damien winced as his master stressed the word 'two'. Not only had he managed to keep Yuma from regaining the Key, he'd also failed to take it from him in a duel. A double failure on his part. "Any more screw-ups and I might need to find myself a new aide…."

"I assure you, Master, that will not be necessary." Damien replied, recalibrating his instruments. "Though…I might have a theory that may give _us_ the power to open a gateway, with or without the Key."

His master seemed to pause. "Proceed."

Damien pulled up an image on one of the computer screens in the chamber. It was in the shape of a stylized shield.

"The power of the Varian is still in this world."


	7. Broken Promises

**Bah! Gomenasai! I'm so so _sooo_ sorry it took me two months to update! I got delayed due to a little something called Murphy's Law. For those of you who aren't familiar with the name, here's what it states: anything that can go wrong _will_. First the Great God Murphy made himself known in the muffler on my mom's car. It died. No, it didn't drop out of the undercarriage—thank goodness!—but it did stop doing it's job, which is, well…muffling. So before we could go anywhere, she had to get the dang thing fixed, which took only a day.**

**The following week I was _intending_ on updating, when we'd be in town. This is also the week my grandpa came back from the nursing home for physical therapy. Unfortunately, he also came home with the flu. This wasn't so much of a problem, until it spread around the house. I didn't know I was sick until the night before, when I ended up running at full tilt to the bathroom to puke. As I discovered the hard way, I couldn't keep anything, even _water_ down without heaving. A few hours later, around my third puke (there were four rounds in all…blech) we discovered that everyone was sick.**

**So, yes, as a result of this not-so-great chain of events, I haven't been able to update until just this week. To make up for the missed time, I'll update two chapters at the same time this month, so that way I won't feel so bad about it and all you guys can get a double-dose of _Remembrance_.**

**Disclaimer: same as last chapter's, just because I'm too lazy to copy-and-paste it here. XP**

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**Chapter 7**

**Broken Promises**

"_Win for me…please, Nii-san."_

Ryoga sat staring the card, Mirror Force, remembering the last promise he gave to his little sister, Rio. For what seemed like the millionth time, he felt like he'd betrayed her trust. _Damn, IV…if you hadn't put Rio in the hospital, then none of this would've happened._ He thought. He shook his head. _No…it's my own damn fault. _I_ was the moron who had to go peeking at your deck, like the dumbass I am._

That particular incident had happened nearly five years ago…and yet, he was still beating himself up for it.

Not only had he been disqualified from the match…he hadn't gone to see his sister since. Broken promises atop broken promises.

Ryoga sighed, returning the card to his deck case. He leaned up against the wall, staring into the sky. The gray clouds were reflecting his mood…all the day needed was rainfall.

Right on cue, he felt a raindrop hit his forehead.

Dammit.

_Well, lovely._ He thought sullenly. _Just what I need; stuck in a rainstorm and no umbrella._

Then again…his luck had been kind of rotten as of late. Why that was happening, he had no idea. Thinking about it, he had no idea why he was getting so damned pensive either….

He shook his head. _It's probably just from tracking down Yuma._ He thought.

As if called by his thoughts, the crazy-haired, hyperactive duelist came his way, sporting an extra umbrella. "What's that for?" Ryoga asked grumpily.

"Hey, I'm just trying to be nice." Yuma replied. "Besides, no offense, but…you're looking kinda pathetic."

"Pathetic? How the hell do I look _pathetic_?!" Ryoga snapped.

Yuma backed off a few steps. "It's just…you were sitting there, kinda brooding and, well…it made you look a bit pathetic."

Ryoga stood. "Watch who you call 'pathetic', Tsukumo." He growled. "Need I remind you of your 'skating down the hall' fiasco?"

Yuma scratched the back of his head, apparently having perfect recollection of that day. "Uh…can we not go into that?" He asked, pointing. Zei and Tōya had just exited the school, snickering about something.

"What's this about Yuma having a fail on wheels?" Zei asked, waggling his eyebrows. Yuma replied with a groan.

Ryoga looked from Zei to Yuma. "Erm…I'll let Yuma tell you _that_ story." He said, taking the umbrella from Yuma. "I'll just give you a hint; he nearly ran over a teacher."

"Shark!"

"It's true," Ryoga said, opening the umbrella. "Is there any other reason you're bothering me?"

Yuma shrugged. "You just looked like you were thinking about something." He replied.

Ryoga didn't reply to that statement…mostly because it was true. He _had_ been thinking about something. His sister, who as far as he knew was still in the hospital. He hadn't been to see her since he'd been kicked out of the national championships, when he promised her he'd win.

_Well, that went well, didn't it?_ He scolded himself. _You lost, then ran away. Hell, you're not even sure that Dad gives a damn. He probably hasn't even noticed you're gone, seeing as he's drunk half the time…._

"…Shark? You all right, Shark?"

Ryoga looked up. Yuma had a worried look on his face…apparently his thoughts had been a bit too obvious. "I'm fine." He grunted, turning to head back to the dorms.

Yuma, on the other hand, wasn't convinced. He motioned for Zei and Tōya to wait for him as he caught up with Ryoga. "The look on your face isn't saying 'I'm fine'. It's saying 'I'll tell you I'm fine when I really don't want to talk about what's bothering me'. So, what's up?"

Ryoga stopped and stared at Yuma. "When did you get so good at reading people?" He blurted.

Yuma shrugged. "Answer my question and I'll answer yours." He said. "What's wrong?"

Ryoga stared at Yuma for a few seconds before looking down and sighing. "It's…complicated." He replied softly.

"Trust me, I know complicated." Yuma replied, slipping his free hand into his pocket. When he withdrew it, he was holding the Key. "Need I explain?"

Ryoga nodded, just slightly. "Right…I've been thinking about my sister since I got here." He said, idly kicking at a pebble. "More than normal. I guess it's just…."

Yuma frowned as Ryoga trailed off. "It's just…what?" he asked.

Ryoga started to shake his head, then stopped himself. He didn't know why, but he felt like it'd be a good idea to tell someone. Though, why on Earth he was telling Yuma, he had no idea. "I guess it's just that…. I never told you where the Nationals were, did I?"

Now Yuma looked more confused than ever. "What's that got to do with anything?" he asked.

Ryoga tapped his foot. "They National Championship was here—in Neo Domino, the same year I was kicked out for…you know." He replied. "It's also where Rio was injured in that fire. From what the hospital's said…she still hasn't come out of her coma."

"And this has to do with what happened then," Yuma said, realization dawning.

Ryoga nodded slowly. "She asked me to win…for her. Since I was kicked out of the Nationals, I haven't been back to see her since. Even when she was transferred to the hospital in Heartland, I made excuses not to see her. When I won the WDC, I told myself to make a visit, but I just never did." He replied. He shrugged, his free hand still in his pocket. "I was too chicken. I guess you're right…I am pathetic."

There was silence for several moments as everything sunk in. "Er…sorry, it's just…I didn't know—"

"Yuma, you sound like an idiot." Ryoga sighed. "Besides, you're not the one who broke a promise to their little sister. So, yeah, I'm a pathetic moron." He turned to go. "See you in class tomorrow."

As he left Yuma standing there, a thought crossed his mind:

_What if I was wrong to leave?_

_**000**_

"Wooo! Weekends rock!" Zei said, grinning from ear to ear, practically running out of the school building. "First thing I'm doing when I get home is grabbing my surfboard and wetsuit and then running down to the beach and saying hellooo to the sweet ocean!"

"_After_ you finish your homework." Tōya said, stopping Zei's crazy grinning in its tracks. The blonde duelist let out a long-suffering sigh. "Seriously, Zei, I feel like your mother sometimes. I'm your roommate; I shouldn't have to remind you constantly about your need to do homework…especially considering the fact that you're nearly failing history."

Yuma burst out laughing at Zei's expression. It looked like a strange hybrid of being sick and embarrassed and panicked all at the same time. In fact, he was laughing so hard that he didn't notice Kotori come up behind him.

"You're not doing that much better, Yuma." She said, cutting off his laughing. "And, like it or not, I'm coming home with you and getting you to finish your homework for once."

"We can make it into a study group, then." Tōya said.

"Thanks…but I don't want to get testosterone poisoning." Kotori said, brushing off Tōya's offer. She looked from Zei to Yuma—who was now wearing an expression nearly identical to the surfer's—as she replied. "Besides, _one_ of Yuma is bad enough."

"I'm not as bad as Zei!" Yuma protested.

"I beg to differ," Kotori sighed. "From what I see, the only difference between you two is the fact that he's a surfer and you're not."

Yuma couldn't respond to this…well, not without sounding like a complete idiot. Now it was Tōya's turn to laugh. "She's got a point, buddy." He said, clapping Yuma on the shoulder. "On that note, I'll see you guys tomorrow. Provided we're still on for the skate park?"

"You bet," Yuma said, waving tentatively.

"See you then!"

As Yuma set off to his apartment with Kotori by his side, he was curious about the other reason why she'd decided to help him study (not that he wanted to in the first place). "Hey…what's up?" He asked.

Kotori shrugged. "Other than the obvious fact that you're going to flunk without help?" She asked. Yuma looked away. She nudged him playfully. "I'm worried about you, Yuma. You left without telling anyone, without taking your deck with you, and you've gone all this time without _talking_ about anything. It can't exactly be stress-free."

Yuma shrugged. "I've learned to live with it." He mumbled.

Kotori sighed in exasperation. "'Living with it' is different than dealing with it." She said. "Haven't you ever thought about what you running away did to the rest of us?"

Yuma nearly stopped in his tracks. Now that she mentioned it, he _hadn't_ thought about his friends since he'd left. Now that Kotori had brought it up, and he thought about what they must've been thinking these past four years….

He felt like an asshole.

"I guess just an 'I'm sorry' isn't going to do much," he said with a humorless chuckle.

"No…" Kotori said, pushing a lock of hair out of her face. "But it's a start."

Yuma paused on the first floor to make sure he didn't have any mail before heading up to his apartment. "Er…Kotori…."

Kotori looked to him, pausing in pulling out her homework. "Yeah, Yuma?" She asked.

Yuma felt his face get hot. "Um…er, nothing. Forget I said anything."

Kotori lifted an eyebrow at him. She didn't say anything, but Yuma got the unspoken question. Unconsciously, he brushed his hand against the Key in his pocket.

_Maybe…._

_**000**_

The days passed with…er, maybe not _minimal_ chaos, but things were certainly interesting. Unlike his first day in class, there wasn't another incident involving Yuma, a scalpel, and getting chased around the biology lab by a pissed-off Kaito. There_ was_, however, an exploding toilet thanks to Zei. And a near-brawl on the dueling floor between Kaito and Ryoga. And Kotori whacking Yuma over the head with a ruler in math. And….

Well…things were normal. Or as normal as one could get having two of his friends (or was one a rival?) from Heartland show up in Neo Domino looking for him.

However, even with all the chaos and the changing seasons, Yuma could see Kaito getting edgier by the day. He assumed it was because of the Numbers he'd tracked to Neo Domino, but…

Something just didn't add up. The gut feeling Yuma had was telling him there was something the Numbers Hunter wasn't telling him.

He didn't like it.

During break, he managed to corner Kaito on his way back from the bathroom. "Kaito! Hey, Kaito! There's something I want to ask you!" he called from the end of the hallway. He jogged the short distance to catch up.

Kaito paused. "Yuma, what is it?" He grumbled.

Yuma fell into step beside the Numbers Hunter. "I just wanted to know the real reason why you left Heartland."

Kaito let out a frustrated sigh through his nose. "I already told you. I tracked a Numbers here. Probably the one Ryoga has."

"I don't believe that." Yuma said. "Yeah, I can believe you tracking down a Numbers in Neo Domino in two weeks, but there's something about it that doesn't seem completely true." He came to a stop and stared Kaito square in the eyes. "Why are you here, Kaito Tenjou?"

Kaito held his gaze for several moments, before looking away. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're right. The Numbers isn't the real reason I'm here." He replied. "It's…Haruto."

The reply didn't surprise Yuma as much as he thought; the reason Kaito had been hunting down Numbers in the first place was to help his little brother. But the tone of his voice worried Yuma, and it gave him the sense that there was something seriously wrong with the boy. "He's worse, isn't he?"

Kaito nodded slowly. "He went into a coma while I was dueling Tron." He said quietly. "He hasn't come out of it since. After the tournament, Dr. Faker wanted me to take my brother's place. That would've mean transferring Haruto's powers to me, which…" his voice cracked and he took a moment to compose himself. Yuma could tell he was near to tears.

"It would've meant killing Haruto."

The last statement made Yuma's heart turn cold. "He wanted you to…kill your little brother?"

"Not by my own hands, but the power transfer would've still put the blood on _my_ conscience." Kaito replied. "I didn't agree, so Faker tried forcing me to do it. Before he could get me attached to that…_machine_ I ran. The last orders I gave to Orbital 7 were to protect Haruto, at all costs."

Yuma placed a hand on Kaito's shoulder. "You ran to protect him," he said.

Kaito snorted and yanked his shoulder out of Yuma's grip. "Are you _kidding_? I broke my promise to protect Haruto! I'm no better than my fa—Dr. Faker!"

Yuma caught on to what Kaito had started to say. "Hold the phone; Dr. Faker is your _dad?!_"

Kaito looked like he wanted to kick himself. "Forget I said that." He said. "But still. I broke my promise to my brother that I would be there. That I'd give my _life_ to make sure he was safe. To protect him from the bastards like Mr. Heartland and Dr. Faker and Tron and everyone else! I _failed_ Yuma!" he took several deep breaths, calming down. "Just like how you failed Astral, and everyone else."

He stomped off, towards the roof instead of the classroom. Yuma didn't go after him; Kaito needed to cool off. Absently, he patted his pocket.

It was time to reconsider.

_**000**_

That night, Yuma was staring himself in the mirror of his bathroom. What he'd heard from Kaito that day, and Ryoga several days earlier, had made him think. He wasn't the only one who'd made mistakes, and broken promises.

"_We'll find those Numbers, and get your memories back!"_

It was a promise he'd made early on, while he was dueling with Astral by his side. Since he'd dueled Shark that day for Tetsuo's deck, he'd gotten stronger and become a better duelist with Astral's hints and advice. Several times, even, he'd managed to throw the being for a loop with a strategy of his own.

"_I never would have expected you to come up with that on your own, Yuma."_

"_Oh, c'mon! You're looking at the next World Champion!"_

"_Hm. And yet, you can't seem to remember where you leave your Deck half the time…"_

He stared at the Emperor's Key in his hand. _Kaito's right. I failed you, Astral. I shouldn't have run away. I shouldn't have left Heartland. Most of all, I shouldn't have stopped searching for the Numbers cards._

He balled his hand into a fist around the Key. He closed his eyes, remembering _why_ he'd opened that gateway in the first place. He thought back to the day he'd first met Astral, and of the day he'd been defeated in the duel with III.

_That _won't_ happen again._

He opened his eyes and looked into the mirror. Staring down his reflection, he raised the pendant and retied it around his neck. The golden Key rested against his shirt, gleaming in the light.

_Astral…even if you're not here anymore, I'll find the Numbers._

As if in response to his silent vow, the Key grew slightly warm.

* * *

**Yuma's going to start searching for the Numbers again. How the hell is he going to do this? That's for me to know and you all to find out!**

**And, since I didn't get through it in the Author's Notes at the beginning of the chapter, the thank-yous this month! First up to Numbers hunter, for reviewing and adding _Remembrance_ to his Favorites list. **

**Then to RisenKodiak to adding this story to his/her Favorites and Alerts, adding me to his Author Alerts, and for the review. The reason this story doesn't have Rei in it is because I started writing it before Zexal Second started, or at least before I started watching the English subtitles. However, I **_**am**_** considering a way to work Rei into this story, even though it seems that Zei is starting to resemble him.**

**Thanks to Tsukuyomi-chan for her review, and yes the Varian is going to be used in this. Also to GestuRoze, glad it made you laugh! There's—hopefully—going to be more funnies in this story. And I'll try and keep the quality up! To Arlownay1991 for favoriting this story, and the review as well. Hopefully we'll see Haruto in the story, but I'm not even sure about that yet. Hell, I'm not even sure if the story will bring Yuma back to Heartland! And, yes, there will be more funnies with Kaito in high school. Disasters will abound.**

**And to our guest reviewers, AnzuFan and an anonymous. Thank you to both, and don't worry, AnzuFan, Kaito and Shark and Yuma will become battle buddies…provided the three of them can stop trying to get vengeance on each other for five minutes. And I've got a whole comedy act set aside just for when Kaito is paired with Ryoga for frog dissections….**

**Thanks to EndlessDreamer99 for adding this story to her Favorites list and to shinee2ne1 for adding this story to his/her Story Alerts. Thank yous!**

**Normally I'd say until next time, but stay tuned for the next chapter! It should be up by next week…I hope. **


	8. Glimmers of Hope

**As promised, the second chapter in my update of _Remembrance_! I may not be updating in March, though; the breaks on my mom's car have died, so we're not sure when I'll be able to update next. I promise, though, that I'll keep on writing and update once I can get back online!**

**Thanks to everyone who favorited, subscriped, reviewed, and read this story! Read on, everyone.**

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**Chapter 8**

**Glimmers of Hope**

"**I** got an F…."

"That's what you get for not studying." Yuma said, picking up one of Zei's dangos with his chopsticks. He popped it in his mouth.

Kotori raised an eyebrow at him. "Like _you_ did any better, Yuma?"

Yuma nodded. "Yep." He said, waving the paper.

"Let me see that." Kotori snatched it out of his hand and read the grade. "F _plus?!_ How is that better?!"

Yuma shrugged. "It's not a regular F."

"You still flunked the test."

Yuma nearly choked on his dango. "Uh…."

Zei was still in shock. "I got an F…how did I get an F? I studied all night…."

"Goofing off on your Wii isn't studying." T ōya said. "It's not paying attention."

"At least I studied…" Yuma mumbled.

"Not enough, clearly." Tōya said, all deadpan. "By the way, I saw the dueling matchups for Friday…."

Yuma perked back up. "And?"

Tōya peered at Yuma over his can of soda. He took a long drink before continuing. "And, I saw that you two—" he pointed with his chopsticks to Yuma and Kotori, "are going to be dueling each other."

Yuma, once again, about choked on his lunch. "What?!" He blurted.

"From what I heard, we're going to be dueling each other." Kotori said. "Looks like you finally get to see my deck, Yuma."

Yuma groaned inwardly. _I'm not sure if I should be scared or excited,_ he thought. On one hand, he really, _really_ wanted to find out what Kotori's strategies were. On the other hand, however, he'd seen how badly she'd trounced Zei….

"Maybe I should call in sick…."

Kotori and Tōya whacked him over the head in unison. "Yipe! I said that out loud, didn't I?"

"Yes." Tōya said. He poked at Zei with his chopsticks. "Hey, Zei, snap out of it," he told the zonked sufer. He sighed. "He's gone. Way gone."

"More than Yuma in Dueling History?" Kotori asked as she packed up her lunch.

"Way more. Surprising as it is," Tōya said, packing up as well.

A twinge of jealousy—where the hell had that come from?—made itself known in Yuma's gut. He cleared his throat. "Anyway…I guess we'd better get ready for the duel this Friday?"

Kotori nodded, smiling. It was the kind of smile that could send a lesser person scrambling for cover…and one that Yuma had never been smart enough to heed. "See you in the arena, Yuma."

Yuma nodded, hastily picking up his bento. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to be looking forward to dueling his friend, or if he should be scared.

With that quiet smile, scared. Definitely scared.

_**000**_

"Damn it, Tōya! I hate that Chess deck of yours!" Zei flailed, nearly hitting Yuma in the head. The two had been killing time dueling—tabletop, not with holograms—and, predictably, Tōya had creamed Zei.

Tōya just chuckled. "Sorry to say this, Zei, but you've _really_ got to modify your deck a bit." He replied. "It's not all about overpowered monsters; you've got to be able to combine the effects monsters, spells, and traps. Attacking isn't everything."

Zei just stuffed his hands in his pockets and fumed. He blew a lock of hair out of his face and muttered what sounded like oaths under his breath. Not wanting to throw salt in the wound, Yuma fiddled with his mp3 player. He hadn't told anyone that his Key was underneath his shirt…not yet, at least.

As they reached the dorms, Yuma bid the gang farewell. Shark and Kaito hadn't walked home with them that day—they were both on cleaning duty. Yuma bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing; who knew what chaos the two could manage.

_I wonder if they'll have a mop war,_ he thought as he entered the apartment building and checked his mail. He tossed the junk before he headed up the stairs to his apartment, but one letter made him pause. There was no return address, and it was written in a neat, precise hand.

_I wonder if this the same person who sent my old deck…?_ Yuma thought, entering the apartment. After depositing his bookbag on the couch, he slit open the envelope and read the message inside:

_Yuma Tsukumo,_

_You may remember my brother and I from Heartland—the World Duel Carnival. I would like to meet you the day after next, as soon after school as possible. If Kaito Tenjou is there, bring him as well. It is to do with the Numbers._

_-Christopher Arklight_

Yuma blinked at the letter and reread it several times. His first question was _Who is Christopher Arklight?_

The second was _How the hell does he know where I live?!_

He looked on the back of the note to see if there was a place to meet. Nothing. The guy who sent the letter apparently also knew about the Numbers, and the fact that Kaito wasn't in Heartland. As for the WDC….

Yuma shook his head. He'd spent four years blocking out all those memories, and he didn't want any of them bubbling to the surface.

_Christopher Arklight…who are you?_ He thought. Slipping the letter into a drawer in his desk—the same one his old Deck was in—he figured it couldn't hurt to meet up with him.

The 'where' was going to be a problem, though. He took his phone out of his pocket and dialed Kaito's number. Maybe he'd have a clue….

_**000**_

Kaito was already waiting at the door when Yuma caught up to him. From the look on his face, he wasn't looking happy with the meeting. When he'd called him on the phone, Yuma had heard a combination of surprise and anger in his voice.

And his expression was reflecting that.

Earlier that day, he'd been cornered by Shark, who had told him that whatever meeting Yuma was hauling Kaito to he'd be going as well. The expression on _his_ face had told Yuma that there was no arguing with the Asia Champ.

Clearly, even though he and Kaito hated each other, they were passing notes back and forth.

Which explained why Shark was waiting there as well, seeming to ignore Kaito's presence—hell, his whole existence, probably—and tapping his foot.

"You mind speeding it up, Tsukumo?"

Yuma finished tying his shoes. "Yeah. Sure. Like it's my fault Shisui-sensei decided to keep me after class?" He said, striding to and out the doors. "It was something about my duel tomorrow…"

As the trio headed for the edge of campus, Yuma started wondering exactly _where_ this Christopher Arklight was going to meet them. It hadn't said anything on the note, which made him wonder whether or not it was a prank.

It was that moment when Kaito decided to voice the question out loud. "Yuma, didn't you say that Arklight didn't say anything about where to meet?"

Yuma nodded. "Only the time—after school today, Thursday."

If possible, Kaito's glower darkened. "I might know where," he muttered.

"Want to enlighten the rest of us?" It was the first time Shark had addressed Kaito since he'd cornered Yuma.

Kaito peered at his watch, frowning. Okay, so he was _usually_ frowning, but this one meant something. "Just follow me," was all he said as he took the lead.

"Ass," Shark grumbled as he and Yuma caught up to the Hunter. Yuma didn't comment; he preferred staying out of their personal spat.

It wasn't long until they'd come to a place, not far from campus, that looked like an Internet café. "Uh, Kaito…?"

"Zip it, Yuma." Kaito said. He was glaring at two young men chatting, and one of them looked up.

Judging by the recognition on Kaito's face, it was Christopher Arklight.

Christopher opened his mouth to speak, when Shark burst forward to the other man. _"You!"_ he snarled, the expression of hatred contorting his face, making him look way too much like the time he'd been possessed by Number 17.

"Ryoga! Get _off!_"

"Thomas, enough!"

"Shark, what the _hell is wrong with you?!_"

Yuma and Kaito finally managed to haul Shark off the other man, while Christopher had dragged the man away from Shark. The mutual hatred between the two was palpable. "What the _hell_ was that about?!" Yuma asked.

Shark, still breathing hard, his face starting to turn a violent rainbow of a bruise, pointed at the man he'd launched himself at. The guy's face, likewise, was beginning to turn colorful. "Him. That's the rat-bastard who sent Rio to the hospital. He's the _asshole_ who _cheated_ and got me kicked out of the world championship!"

The man snorted. Aside from the black-and-blue-and-green of the bruise forming around his nose and right eye, he had what looked like a scar on one side of his face. His skin was slightly tanned, eyes were green, and his hair was a two-tone of blonde and reddish brown. The black suit he was wearing _would've_ looked elegant if he hadn't just gotten pulled out of a fight with him and Shark. "Sorry, I'm not the one who peeked at my opponent's deck before the duel."

"_I'm_ not the one who set up my deck so that it'd fall over in the first place, and trick my opponent into _looking at it to get him kicked out_ because I was too damned _chicken_ to beat him myself!"

"Calm down, Ryoga." Yuma said evenly. "That was five years ago—besides, I thought you beat him in the WDC?"

Shark nodded and yanked his arms out of Yuma and Kaito's grip. "What the hell is _he_ doing here, anyway?"

Christopher Arklight released the younger man—Thomas, he'd said, but Yuma recognized him as IV. "I brought him. There's something my brother and I wish to discuss with Yuma." He nodded to Kaito and Shark. "And, by extension, with the two of you as well."

_Brother…_ Yuma snapped his fingers. "_Now_ I know where I recognize you from! You're that guy, V, from the old museum!"

"Not anymore," V—no, _Christopher_—replied. His silver hair, long as it was, was now braided and hung over his shoulder. The gray-blue eyes were just as clear as Yuma remembered them—and just as penetrating, too. Now, however, he was dressed in a dark red waistcoat, white dress shirt, dark slacks and shoes, with a dark red tie to match the waistcoat. "I use the name I had before my father turned into Tron; Christopher Arklight."

"Hold it; Tron was your _dad_? But he was just a kid!" Yuma blurted the words out, not thinking. He clamped his mouth shut, worried that he'd say something potentially insulting. Again.

IV kicked the ground and looked off to the side. "It's…complicated." He grumbled.

"And something for another time." Christopher said. "Sit down, you three—_especially_ you, Tom—this is going to take a while."

As the five of them took seats, Yuma noticed that Shark and Kaito were both tense. _There's some kind of bad blood between those two and these guys,_ Yuma thought. He'd known about Shark and IV for a while, but now he wondered what Kaito had against Christopher.

Christopher leaned his elbows on the table, interrupting Yuma's thoughts. "Thomas and I still have our Numbers cards; we're giving them to you, Yuma."

Yuma blinked. "What? Why?"

Christopher studied him for several long moments. Finally, he spoke.

"Astral chose you for a reason, Yuma. I don't know what it was, but I'm sure it was important. It didn't take long for us to get word that you'd left Heartland, after III—Michael was his real name—defeated you. The power he used in that duel took a toll on him as well." Christopher paused for a beat, as if reluctant to continue.

"It killed him. The power Tron, our 'father' gave him to defeat you and Astral, killed Michael as surely as it 'killed' Astral."

"That all you wanted to say?" Kaito asked. "Because if it is, this is a waste of time."

"It's not," Christopher said. Yuma thought he saw a flicker of the crest on his forehead, but when he blinked it was gone. "It's related to what Thomas and I came to tell you.

"Yuma, Astral isn't gone for good. He's not dead."

* * *

**Things are getting interesting, no? Too bad, you guys have to wait until the next chapter, whenever that will up. Until then, keep reading all!**


	9. Family Reunion

**So. We finally get to see Chapter 9 of Remembrance! And this one ends with a doozy...**

**Before we begin, I'd like to thank my reviewers for the last two chapters: GetsuRoze, 123lionclan, Numbers hunter, and moonshadow2012 for all your reviews. Also to all of you who have favoritied, subscribed, and read this story thus far! **

**And now, on to the story! For the disclaimer, it's in the first chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Family Reunion**

**Y**uma was left reeling by the comment. Astral wasn't dead. "B-but…I saw him _die_. I _felt_ it. I would've known if he was still alive; I'd have felt it." He pressed his hand over his heart as he spoke. "III…your brother…_killed him_."

Christopher's steel-blue eyes bored into him. "If Astral was truly dead, then the Numbers would've disappeared from the world." He replied. "They haven't. Kaito can attest to that, right?" he nodded to the Numbers Hunter.

Kaito looked like he didn't want to say anything, but he finally gave in. "Yeah. He's right. The Numbers are still out there, and people are still using them."

"I've still got Shark Drake, so Kaito's right; the Numbers are definitely not gone." Shark added. It was the first time he'd spoken since they'd sat down. "But someone's got Yuma's."

Christopher's eye's widened in shock. "Is he right?"

Yuma nodded, the look of shock on the young man's normally composed face unnerving. "Someone sent me my deck, and none of the Numbers cards are there with it. Not even Hope is there."

Christopher sat back, his face thoughtful. "That's not good." He murmured. "Not at all…."

Kaito looked from Yuma, to Christopher, to Thomas, and back. "And exactly how 'not good' is this?"

This time it was Thomas who replied. "It means that whoever got hold of the Numbers cards isn't using them to retrieve Astral's memories," he explained. He placed his hand flat on the table, and his Varian crest flickered into existence. It stayed for only a moment. "Chris and I still have our power. Y'see, when Michael died after he beat Yuma in that duel, the both of us turned against Tron. He didn't like it, and let us know that we'd end up like Michael.

"When Ryoga beat Tron—and sent his little ass back where it belongs—Chris and I thought we'd lose our powers. We didn't, which meant one thing; someone's still using Varian powers."

"We didn't sense any until two weeks ago," Christopher continued the narrative, crossing his arms over his chest. "I thought that it was Faker, at first, until Thomas tracked it to Neo Domino."

"That's about the same time I dueled Damian," Yuma said. "He said he knew a little about Astral, and Kaito mentioned that they were after the Key…."

Christopher and Thomas exchanged a look. Finally, Christopher looked to him. "Do you have it on you, now?"

Yuma nodded and pulled it out of his shirt. "Why?"

"Don't let it leave your sight. Under no circumstances are you to remove the Emperor's Key, understand?"

Yuma was surprised at Christopher's sudden urgency. "Uh, sure, no problem." He tucked the Key back under his shirt. "Why do you think they want it, anyway?"

Again, it was Thomas who beat his older brother to the punch. "The same reason Faker and Tron wanted it; to punch a hole into Astral World."

_**000**_

The next day, Yuma was distracted. Everything that the Arklight brothers had told him, Kaito, and Shark was weighing heavily on his mind. It was bad enough that he couldn't even keep his mind straight on his duel with Kotori.

"So, Yuma, what was that about going easy on me?"

Yuma didn't answer. He was bit too preoccupied with the monster currently on Kotori's side of the field; Wind Disciple Trista. She was a pretty monster, Yuma didn't deny; but bad for him, the good looks belied a scary side. Trista was wearing a feathered robe, and had a feathered crest on her forehead that blended into her hair as it went back. The sleeves of the robe were long, and covered her arms. As Yuma had discovered, the female monster's nails were like razor-sharp talons, and had made quick work of his Dragunity Militum.

Also bad for him, Brandistock had been equipped to Militum. He'd lost two monsters in one attack!

Kotori placed a card into the slot on her Duel Disk. A card appeared in a corresponding space on her side of the field. "I place this face-down and end. Your go, Yuma."

Kotori Mizuki LP: 2500

**Yuma Tsukumo LP: 2800**

Yuma drew, resisting the urge to gulp. _Note to self; _never_ go easy on Kotori in a duel. Ever._ He thought, glancing at the card. Dragunity Darkspear. Not too useful when you're facing down a 2100-ATK monster. Adding the card to his hand, he selected two others. "I place one card face-down and end my turn." He said. "Your move."

Kotori drew. "That all?" She asked. Yuma didn't answer, only nodded. "Then I'll activate my Trista's effect and pay 100 Life Points to change her level to 4." A smile curled the corners of her mouth, enjoying the duel.

Kotori LP: 2400

_More than me, at least._ Yuma thought. He should be having fun, but the conversation from the day before….

"Wake up, Yuma! I'm also going to use Trista's _second_ effect, and half her attack power so she can be used as two overlay units! I build the Overlay Network to summon _Wind Priestess!_" What Yuma could only assume was Kotori's trump card descended from the Overlay Network portal, looking regal in white feathered robes. In one hand, the female monster had a tome, and in the other there was a fan which Yuma knew—from watching Kotori cream Zei—was deadly.

Wind Priestess ATK: 2200/DEF: 1800

"Thankfully for you, Yuma, because I used Trista's effect to Exceed Summon my priestess, she can't attack this turn. Your move."

Yuma nodded, and drew. He smiled, having a good idea of what to do with the card he drew. "First I play Pot of Greed, to draw two cards form my deck." He did so, and with barely a glance he continued. "Then, I activate Monster Reincarnation, letting me discard one card to return one monster from my Graveyard to my hand," he did so, and selected another card in his hand—one of the two he'd gotten from Pot of Greed.

"Next I'll summon Dragunity Partisan, which means I can special summon any of my Winged Beast Dragunity monsters from my hand; I chose Angusticlavii." Both monsters were summoned to his field, in attack position, and the smaller Dragon attached itself to the archer's arm. "And, also thanks to Partisan's effect, my Angusticlavii is treated as a Tuner monster.

"Finally, I end my turn with another face-down." The back of the card appeared on the field as he finished, and looked to Kotori.

"You're going to regret that mistake, Yuma. I attack your Angusticlavii with my Priestess, _Steel Air Blades!_" Kotori directed her monster's attack, but Yuma was ready.

"Activate Trap: Windstorm of Etaqua! It switches your Priestess to Defense mode!"

Kotori responded with a smirk. "You're not the only one with a face-down, Yuma. Trap Jammer will negate your windstorm!"

"Then I'll activate my second face-down, Mist Body, and equip it to my Angusticlavii! Even though I take damage, he stays on the field."

The wind blades tore through Angusticlavii, but the monster was intact…unlike Yuma's Life Points.

Yuma LP: 2700

"I'll end with that," Kotori said. "Your go."

Yuma drew. "I activate Dragon Mastery, which gives all my monsters equipped with a Dragunity monster 500 extra attack points." The card appeared on the field, face-up this time. "And, finally, I'll attack your Wind Priestess with Dragunity Angusticlavii!"

The winged archer drew back his bow, and the arrow hit home, taking out Kotori's Priestess. "I end my turn with that."

Kotori LP: 2000

Right then the end-of-day bell rang. Shisui-sensei held up a hand as he saved the duel data in his tablet. "All right, we'll finish this duel first thing Monday morning. Until then, enjoy the weekend everyone!"

Yuma sighed as he pulled off his D-Gazer. He was really starting to get into the duel, too. It had also begun taking his mind off the previous day's meeting. Almost.

Just outside of the classroom, Kotori caught up with him. "Hey, you looked distracted back there." She said. "I thought you were looking forward to our duel."

"I was, but…" Yuma shook his head. "You remember those guys working for Tron, back in Heartland during the WDC?"

Kotori looked surprised by Yuma's bringing up the tournament. "Yeah…oh, no, Yuma. Don't tell me they contacted you!"

Yuma nodded. Kotori looked like she wanted to slap him. Cutting off her comment, he launched into an explanation. "In my defense, I didn't want to get you worried because—"

"Yuma! You still should've told me about this secret meeting!"

Yuma finished tying his shoes and made his way out the doors. "Okay, okay; I'm sorry I didn't tell you." He conceded. "Christopher—that's V's real name—sent me a letter, asking me to meet him yesterday right after school, and asked me to bring Kaito along, too. Apparently Shark—"

"Nii-san! Ryoga!"

The girl's call, which had interrupted Yuma's train of thought, made him look around to see Ryoga not far away, with a scared look on his face. Judging from the hair color, the girl could only be his sister, Rio. She started across the street at a run, not seeing what Ryoga clearly saw.

A car. Going about twice the speed limit, the driver paying more attention to his phone than the road.

"_Rio! Get down!"_

In an instant, Ryoga had run to the middle of the street and shoved the girl out of the way. No sooner had he done so than…

_**CRUNCH.**_

To Yuma, time slowed down. The sickening sound of metal hitting flesh and bone. Ryoga being sent sprawling by the car. The same car skidding to a halt, with the driver shooting out of the vehicle to see what happened. One of the teachers—Shisui-sensei, he thought—running to Ryoga's still form….

Silence. _Get up, Shark. Get up._ The thought reeled through Yuma's head like a mantra.

Ryoga remained unmoving.

Panic was rising in Yuma's chest, filling him with dread. _No, no, he can't be…_

"_SHARK!"_

* * *

**Cards Used**

***Wind Disciple Trista**

**ATK: 2100/DEF:1600**

**Attribute: WIND**

**Type: Winged Beast**

**Level 5**

**Once per turn you may pay 100 Life Points to change the level of this card. When "Wind Disciple Trista" is used in an Exceed Summon, its ATK can be halved to be treated as two Overlay Units. When this is done, the summoned Exceed monster cannot attack the turn it is summoned.**

**XXX**

***Wind Priestess**

**ATK: 2200/DEF: 1800**

**Attribute: WIND**

**Type: Spellcaster**

**Rank 4**

**Increase this card's ATK by 200 points for every "Wind Disciple" monster on your side of the field. By detaching one Overlay Unit from this card, you may select one "Wind Disciple" monster from your Graveyard and increase this card's ATK by the ATK of the selected monster.**

**XXX**

**Trap Jammer**

**Counter Trap**

**Activate only when your opponent activates a Trap Card during the Battle Phase. Negate the activation of the Trap Card and destroy it.**

**XXX**

**Dragunity Partisan**

**ATK: 1200/DEF: 800**

**Attribute: WIND**

**Type: Dragon/Tuner**

**When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 Winged Beast-type monster from your had, then equip it with this card. While this card is equipped to a monster, that monster is treated as a Tuner monster.**

**XXX**

**Dragunity Angusticlavii**

**ATK: 2100/DEF: 1000**

**Attribute: WIND**

**Type: Winged Beast**

**Level 5**

**While this card is equipped with a Dragon-Type "Dragunity" monster, during battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of this monster, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent.**

**XXX**

**Pot of Greed**

**Spell Card**

**Draw 2 cards from your Deck**

**XXX**

**Monster Reincarnation**

**Spell Card**

**Discard 1 card to select 1 monster in your Graveyard, and add it to your hand.**

**XXX**

**Mist Body**

**Equip Spell Card**

**The equipped monster cannot be destroyed by battle. (Damage calculation is applied normally.)**

**XXX**

**Dragon Master**

**Continuous Spell Card**

**Each monster you control that is equipped with a "Dragunity" monster(s) gains 500 ATK. Once per turn, you can select 1 face-up monster you control, and equip it with 1 "Dragunity" monster from your hand.**

**XXX**

**Windstorm of Etaqua**

**Trap Card**

**Change the battle positions of all face-up monsters your opponent controls.**

* * *

**Told ya it'd end in a doozy! Once again, I'm being evil with the cliffhangers. Will Shark survive getting hit by a car?** **I'll let you guys think about that one.**

**Until next time, keep reading everyone!**

**~HikariHellion**


	10. When in Heartland

**First off this month, the thanks to all who read the chapter, favorited, alerted, and reviewed! First off is to our newest subscribers, Gemini-starlight and shadowmwape! **

**To Numbers hunter; I killed off Michael not because I didn't like him—he is a neat character, as are all the Arklight brothers—but because it would make an interesting plot twist. I also wanted a way to bring in the Arklight brothers, and I figured a good way to do that was for Christopher and Thomas (V and IV, respectively) to have betrayed Tron when Michael died after beating Yuma. As for what Shark did to me…well, I gotta keep you all on your toes somehow. ;)**

**To GetsuRoze; Don't cry! *hugs you* Crying is sad, and I don't want to make you sad! (Though if I wanted that I shouldn't have slammed that car into Ryoga XD)**

**To Arlownay1991; Glad you liked the shocker, and the update is here!**

**And to Tsukuyomi-chan; This review made me laugh. I'm glad you like Kotori's cards, but I can tell your priority right now is Ryoga and how he's doing after getting slammed by the dumbass driver. As for whether or not he survives…you're gonna have to wait, lol.**

**This chapter is switching gears just slightly, showing how our friends who've been left in Heartland are doing. So, for everyone who's waiting to find out if Ryoga survives getting hit by the car, you're gonna have to wait until next month to find out. And, don't bother asking me for spoilers; you will get none.**

**Disclaimer: Just read the one in the first chapter. XP Enjoy the story!**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**When in Heartland…**

**I**t was sunny.

Akari scowled at the weather. _Of all days I have to be inside, it's nice out._ She thought. _Damn deadlines…next time I see my boss, I'm _so_ asking for a pay raise. And I'm taking a few vacation days…._

She sighed and turned back to the article she was typing. She let it run through the spell-checker as she checked her phone for what seemed like the hundredth time. The last time Yuma had called—the first time in _four freaking years_—she'd given him her cell number, and he'd said he'd call….

Still nothing.

Akari shook her head. It wasn't such a surprise. After all, her baby brother hadn't said anything about _when_ he'd phone her. Just that he would.

Eventually.

That 'eventually' was turning into 'when I get off my lazy ass and pick up a telephone'. While he'd disappeared for the past four years, Akari still had a bit of Big Sister Syndrome, and she was feeling it now.

(It was either that or the extra-cheese microwave burrito she'd had for lunch…)

The computer dinged that her spell-check was done. Great, now for the conclusion to the article…fun. As she typed the conclusion, she remembered the day she'd discovered Yuma was gone….

_**000**_

"Yuma! Wake up!" She rapped the trapdoor with the broom handle. No answer; he must _really_ be out. "Get down here, Yuma! You'll be late for school! YUMA!"

By now Akari was getting worried. Usually, it didn't take _this_ long for Yuma to wake up. The only time she could remember it being this difficult was when he was sick, and even then he couldn't wait to get to school.

Hell, they didn't need to convince him to go to school at all. It was just getting him to stay home if he was sick that there was a problem. Even then, he would wake up, freak out that he was going to be late, and run downstairs.

The fact that she wasn't getting a response was…unsettling.

Akari leaned the broom against a wall and climbed up the ladder to her little brother's room. "Yuma, I'm coming in." She said, pushing the trapdoor up. It was then that she saw what was wrong.

Yuma wasn't _in_ his room.

Everything was as it had always been, except that Yuma was missing. _Maybe he left before Grandma and I were up…?_ Akari thought, but she already knew that was wrong; if he'd tried leaving, it would've woken up Grandma Haru.

She placed her hands on her hips and sighed. "Okay, Yuma. Enough hide and seek; get your little butt downstairs, _now_, or you're going to be late for school!" She glanced around. No reply, and no Yuma stumbling out of his closet.

Nope, something was so _not_ right.

It was then that the glimmer of sunlight on something gold caught her eye. She looked to Yuma's bedside table, and there it was, right next to the picture of their parents….

The Emperor's Key.

Forget not right. Try completely _wrong._

Akari picked up the pendant. _Dad gave this to him, why'd he leave it at home like this…?_ As the thought crossed her mind, she pulled her D-Gazer out of her pocket. Something wasn't right; Yuma _never_ let the Key out of his sight. Never. "Yuma, what is wrong with you?" She murmured as she dialed Kotori.

"_Huh? Akari-san, what is it?"_ the girl asked, her face creased with worry.

"Is Yuma with you and Tetsuo? He left his Emperor's Key at home." Akari held it up so that Kotori could see it through the D-Gazer's view.

Kotori's eyes widened in alarm. _"You mean, he didn't sleep in?"_

Akari shook her head. "He's not with you, then?" She lowered her arm. "Do you have any idea where he may have gone?"

"_Nowhere, at least not until school was out."_ Kotori replied. _"And no matter what, he wouldn't have left his Key at home, unless…"_

Akari didn't need Kotori to finish the statement. "Something's wrong. _Really_ wrong." She said. Kotori nodded in agreement on the other end. "Right…I'll call you later if I find out what happened." Kotori nodded again as she cut the connection.

Akari slipped the D-Gazer back into her vest pocket as she looked down at the Key.

"Yuma, where did you go?"

_**000**_

Akari hit _enter_. The article was finished, at last. After doing a quick once-over, she sent it off to her boss, and sat back with a contented sigh. She looked out the window, at the sky, and her mind wandered to her brother.

_I hope that he's all right…._

_**000**_

"Tetsuo! Earth to Tetsuo! Anybody hooome?"

Tetsuo glared at Todoroki, whose head popped into his line of vision upside-down. "I'm still here, class rep." He said, sitting up. Todoroki took a seat next to him, handing him a canned tomato juice. "Are Rei and Tokunosuke _still_ dueling?"

Todoroki nodded. "And Cat-chan's acting as ref." He said as Tetsuo accepted the juice. "Mostly because those two had a violent debate as to whether or not Man-Eater Bug's effect activated _before_ or _after_ it was attacked by D.D. Warrior Lady."

Tetsuo groaned. "Not again…" he popped open the can and took a drink. "How bad were they scratched?"

"Not very." Tetsuo gave the bluenette a look. "Okay, by 'not very' I mean they still have their eyeballs. It was because they started trying to tear each other apart that Cat-chan decided she was ref. _That_ should be interesting in a bad way, hence why I got out of there."

Tetsuo stared at Todoroki as the bluenette opened his coffee. "Some class president you are." He said, giving him the evil eye.

"Part of being class president is knowing when to get out of the room so you don't get your face scratched, especially if your girlfriend is the one doing the scratching."

Tetsuo nearly choked on his tomato juice as he laughed. Todoroki and Cathy had been going out for a year, which was a surprise on both fronts. It was surprising that Cathy was going out with Todoroki, considering her infatuation with Yuma back in junior high. It was surprising for Todoroki because…well, it was just surprising that he had a girlfriend _period_.

Over the last four years, though, everyone had changed. Todoroki had gotten lankier, a bit geekier (though Tetsuo knew better than to say that to his face), and now had (rimless) glasses. And—just like in middle school—was currently wearing a spotless Heartland High uniform. In short, he looked every bit the part of Class-D president.

Tetsuo had likewise grown up. He still sported the same baseball cap, backwards on his head, but had gotten taller. True, he was still large, but more of that was in muscle, now, especially since he'd joined the baseball team back in freshman year. His hair didn't stick out quite so much anymore, though it was still a bit unruly.

Cathy, Todoroki's now-girlfriend, had filled out and gotten over her shyness. Also, remarkably, she'd become better friends with Kotori. She was still slender and had cat-ear hair, but she no longer wore her glasses; she'd graduated to contact lenses. She still had a bit of a weird cat obsession though…one that Tetsuo—and frankly, everyone else in their group—was a little afraid of.

Then there was Anna Koyuki. She was a bit of a nightmare. Okay, a _huge_ nightmare. She was taller than most girls and even some of the _guys_ in their grade, was not ashamed of the fact that other boys stared at her as she went past—hell, she was a little proud of the fact that she had the title of "hottest girl in the grade". Unfortunately, this also came with a severe lack of filter and a lot of absent-mindedness. She'd become part of their group just after Yuma had ran away, as she'd come around looking for a duel with him.

Of all of them, Tokunosuke had changed the least. He was still short, wore thick-rimmed green glasses, and still ended all his sentences with "ura". Back in junior high it wasn't so bad, but now that they were seniors is was a bit…weird.

The latest member to their group, Rei Shingetsu, was as hyperactive as Yuma was. At first Tetsuo had thought that he and Anna would get along great, as their personalities were somewhat similar. He couldn't have been more wrong; rather than getting along, Anna and Rei were constantly butting heads. They didn't yell and shout and kick and give noogies and what have you anymore, but they were still waging silent war nonetheless. It was disturbing, to say the least.

Just after the beginning of the year, Kotori and Shark had gone through with their plan to transfer to Neo Domino Duel Academy, hoping to find Yuma there. Tetsuo had _wanted_ to go, but his grades weren't doing the best at the moment, so he decided not to. Then again, "decided" in this case was more akin to Kotori reading him the riot act for deciding to go with, and threatening to hide his deck.

So, he'd stayed behind.

As if reading his thoughts, Todoroki piped up. "How do you think Kotori and Shark are doing, anyway? Kotori sent a mass email that they'd found Yuma, but…."

"Nothing since." Tetsuo agreed.

"You think something could've happened?"

Tetsuo finished his tomato juice before replying. "It's possible, but both Shark and Kotori are good duelists. If they've gotten into trouble, even if they hadn't managed to track down Yuma they'd be able to defend themselves. Especially since Shark has those Numbers he's collected…."

Todoroki nodded, his face still betraying a trace of worry. Tetsuo punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Hey, they'll be fine." He said, smiling. "Cheer up, will ya?" He got up. "C'mon, let's see how Tokunosuke and Rei are doing in their latest duel."

Todoroki nodded and stood up, a small smile on his face as well. "Yeah, they'll be fine." He said "Kotori, Shark, and Yuma that is. Not so sure about Rei and Tokunosuke."

The two boys laughed.

_**000**_

Later that day, the group was having their end-of-week meeting at the Tsukumo residence. At first it had been just to check up on Grandma Haru and Akari, then it had turned into a planning session to find Yuma, and then it had morphed into a combination of planning/brainstorming/bullshitting session. It was more or less the latter this time around, with much teasing of Rei and Tokunosuke.

"You know, if you didn't want Cat-chan to scratch your faces like that, you shouldn't have stolen her contacts." Anna pointed out.

Both boys stared at her. "Er, well…." Rei started, but trailed off. It was that moment that the telephone rang, saving Rei from answering.

Akari shook her head. "I'll answer it, guys." She sighed. She went to get the phone, and Cat turned back to the matter at hand.

She poked Rei in the chest. "I'm not sure if it's you or Tokunosuke who's worse; he's a little guy who can't seem to stop looking for trouble—"

"Hey!"

"And _you're_ a hotheaded idiot!" Cathy plowed right through Tokunosuke's protest. She was about to continue talking when they heard Akari's voice raise in surprise.

"_What happened?!"_

"What the heck was that?" Rei asked. Todoroki shrugged. Tetsuo shook his head as Akari reentered the room.

They didn't need to ask; Yuma's older sister delivered the news without preamble.

"Yuma just called." She said, sliding down into an open chair. "He was at the hospital—Ryoga was hit by a car."

The sentence hung in the air. The atmosphere had gone from casual joking to tense as a snare drum in an instant, and Tetsuo took it upon himself to voice the collective opinion.

"Aw _shit._"

* * *

**So now everyone knows what's happening. Every once in a while I'm going to be popping back to the gang in Heartland, and I've managed to bring in Rei Shingetsu! Yay!**

**As always, read & rate & keep reading everyone!**

**~HikariHellion**


	11. Tick Tock

**Finally it's written! I _at last_ have Chapter 11 written! I was halfway afraid that I wasn't going to get it done in time for the update this month. Bah.**

**Thanks go out this month to Raven Tsurara, Bookworm210, and Zeladious for their reviews; to Raven, Bookworm, OblivionDoctor, and Metarex for adding this jewel to their Alerts; and finally to Sword of Ragnarok and Metarex for Favoriting the story. I know it took longer than usual to get the chapter written, and I'm sorry for the _long_ delay, but at least it's done and ready for posting!**

**DISCLAIMER: The same as all the previous chapters, I'm just too lazy to keep on repeating it up here.**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Tick Tock**

_**T**__ick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

Yuma waited. Fists clenched on his knees, he waited, tense as an over wound spring. It felt like he'd been in the waiting room for an eternity, felt as if each second ticked by the clock was counting down Ryoga's life….

_Tick._

Yuma was tapping his foot on the tile. What was going on? Was he still in surgery?

_Tock._

He looked over. Rio, Ryoga's younger sister, was waiting a few chairs away, looking about as anxious as Yuma felt. His fists clenched harder, his nails digging painfully into his palms.

_Tick._

Agh! What was happening? Had something gone wrong? The waiting was driving him up the wall…

_Tock._

Kotori said something to him. Yuma didn't even register the words. He was too worried, too _scared_ to think about anything other than his friend/rival's condition. Zei said something, but like with Kotori, Yuma didn't even register it.

_Tick._

_Swish. Clack, clack, clack._

Yuma looked up. There was a doctor, still in his scrubs and facemask, pulling off bloody rubber gloves, his face grim. "Which one of you is Miss Rio Kamisiro?"

Rio stood. "That's me. Is Ryoga okay?"

The doctor—okay, surgeon—pulled the facemask down off his mouth and nose. "He's…alive." He said. "Your brother is still unconscious, and we managed to repair a good deal of the damage, but…."

_But._ Yuma hated that word. Usually when someone used the word _but_, it meant that bad news was sure to follow. Rio must've been thinking the same thing, because her face went from worried to worrieder…if that was even a word. "But…what?"

The surgeon shook his head. "Despite the surgery, we're still not quite sure he'll make it." He replied. "I'm sorry, but he's too weak for visitors right now, even family. We have him in the ICU on life-support, but he'll need to be monitored closely for the next few days. We'll keep you updated on his condition, but right now we're just not sure if he'll hang on."

Rio nodded, her face falling. "I see," she said softly. "I can fill out my information…."

"That would be great," the surgeon said, nodding. "If there's any change, for better or worse, we'll be sure to let you know first. Are there any other relatives we can notify?"

Rio nodded as she took the data pad. "Our father's…I'll put his information down, for all the good it'll do…." Her face soured slightly, which made Yuma wonder about what the Kamishiro siblings' father was like that made him so _dis_likeable.

When Rio was done, the surgeon looked to Yuma, Kotori, Zei, Tōya, and Kaito were sitting. "Do you all know him?"

It took Yuma a few seconds to register that the surgeon was talking to him. "Uh, yeah. We're classmates. Friends." He answered. "We all go to the Duel Academy."

Kaito looked like he wanted to debate the fact, but he wisely decided to let it slide. For now. Currently, there was a bigger problem.

Whether or not Ryoga would live.

As they left the hospital after filling in their information as secondary contacts, Zei spoke up. "I've…never seen anything like that before." He shivered, and his voice somber. No trace of his usual goofy, idiot, laid-back silliness. Now he looked scared. Quiet and scared. "And I _never_ want to again. Ever."

Yuma gulped down bile. It had been several hours, but he couldn't get the image of Ryoga lying on the ground, unmoving, with a stain reddening his uniform shirt and jacket….

He looked over to where Rio was waiting, next to Kotori, for the light to change. She looked the worst of all of them, like she was about to burst into tears.

The light turned. The group crossed the street, going their separate ways shortly after.

_Shark, you'd better survive…you _need_ to survive, if only for your sister's sake._

_**000**_

They finished the duel between Yuma and Kotori the next monday. It ended in a draw, mostly because neither player was trying very hard. At least, Yuma wasn't—he was still distracted by the previous day.

They both got passing grades, and when the end-of-class bell rang everyone was grateful to get out of the school. Yuma itched at a spot on his chest, just where his heart was.

As he reached to scratch, he felt the key, cool against his skin, brush against his hand. He remembered Christopher Arklight's words about it; _"Do not let it leave your sight. Under no circumstances are you to remove the Emperor's Key, understand?"_

Yuma understood, all right; someone wanted the Key to get into the Astral World.

_How are they going to be able to get there, without Astral there, anyhoo? He's…gone. Dead, at least that's what I __thought__._ Until a few days ago, that was true; he had genuinely believed Astral to be dead. But then, last Friday, the remaining Arklight brothers, Christopher and Thomas—formerly V and IV, respectively—had turned that upside down by telling him that Astral could be brought back.

That he _wasn't dead._

The prospect had lifted Yuma's heart, given him hope. There was a chance that his old partner could be revived. But, there was one little snag.

He had absolutely _no idea_ how it could be done.

That reminder metaphorically kicked him in the metaphorical butt. It didn't entirely diminish his hope, however. It could be done, and that was enough to cheer Yuma's spirits.

At least, until reality hit him in the face in the form of Shark getting hit by a car, driven by some _jackass_ texting behind the wheel. Sure, the guy had realized what happened, but only _after_ he'd noticed the _blood all over his freaking windshield_….

"_YUUUUMMMAAAA! FLYING FACE-KICK!"_

Yuma was yanked out of his angry reverie just in time to duck Zei's shoe. The shoe was closely followed by the rest of the surfer's body, which proceeded to crash into the lockers behind Yuma. "Zei! What was _that_ about?!"

"Gwagh…that _hurt_. Why'd you duck like that, Yuma?" Zei groaned, upside-down with his backpack on his chest.

"I didn't want your footprint on my face, is why. And what's with the flying kick?"

Zei jumped up. "You're not gonna guess what gets started this weekend!"

Yuma blinked at him. "Ooohkaaay." He said, drawing it out. "Big surfing tournament, and you're entering?"

Zei shook his head. "Here's a hint; it involves dueling, and a sweet card as a prize…."

"No. Way. I'm not entering a Duel Monsters tournament." Yuma stepped past Zei to his locker and went about exchanging his school things for his sneakers.

"Aww, c'mon! It's a _tag duel_ tournament, and I need a partner!"

"Then why are you asking me? Why not annoy Tōya into partnering up with you?"

"He said no. Something about his grades slipping and needing to get more studying done…." Zei's face, puppy eyes and all, shoved itself into Yuma's personal space. "Pllleeeeeeasssse, Yuma? You're an awesome duelist, and I'm waaay too afraid to ask your cousin to partner up with me—"

"No." Yuma said, shoving Zei out of his face. "And begging and pouting and doing puppy-eyes won't get me to change my mind. You know why I don't like dueling for tournaments, and you're not going to get me to duel."

"I could pay you…."

"I said no!"

"Oh, come _on!_" Zei followed Yuma to the traffic light outside the building, hovering like a second shadow. "Don't be a spoilsport, Yuma, please! I _really_ need a partner to enter!"

"Then go pester someone else! I'm not—OW!" Yuma's chest—no, not his chest, something _in_ his chest hurt. Bad. It took a few seconds to realize it was his _heart_.

"Yuma? Hey, Yuma, what's wrong?" Zei was crouching next to him, a steadying hand on his shoulder.

Yuma looked up at him. He hadn't even realized that he'd gone to his knees, and now everyone in the area was gathered around him and Zei, worried looks on their faces. He recognized Shisui-sensei not far off, making his way through the after-school throng of students.

"I…I'm fine." Yuma said, standing up again. His heart was still hurting, although not as badly as the sudden pang a few minutes ago.

"You don't look fine, Tsukumo." Shisui-sensei had caught up to them. "You look pale. Are you _sure_ you shouldn't see the school nurse, at least?"

"I said I'm fine," Yuma said, but it came out halfheartedly. Shisui-sensei lifted an eyebrow that said _I don't believe a word of that._ "All right, I'll go get some aspirin or something."

Shisui-sensei nodded. "Utaki, stay with Tsukumo until the nurse is _sure_ he's okay." He said. "And, if you have to, escort him back to his apartment."

Zei nodded. "C'mon, Yuma." He nudged Yuma back inside, the small crowd dissipating.

Once inside, Zei looked to him with concern. "Seriously, man, what _was_ that? You grabbed your chest and yelled 'ow' out of the blue, and then went to your knees. Do you have a heart condition or something that nobody knows about?"

Yuma shook his head, just as confused as Zei was. At first, he'd thought the pang of pain was from the Emperor's Key, but when it had escalated he knew that it was coming from _him._ "I…I have _no_ idea where that came from."

"You ought to see a doc about that," Zei suggested. "I mean, if it's something serious, like an aneurysm or someth—"

"It's got nothing to do with that," Yuma replied, absently. "I've felt something similar to that, when…"

_When something bad was nearby._

He stopped suddenly, realizing what it meant. Only then, it had been when Astral had been residing in the Key, during the WDC, with Tron and his schemes. Now, that _pain_ had come from _inside him_, not the Key.

_What if some of Astral's…essence or something rubbed off on me?_

He belatedly realized that Zei was talking. "…in there, Yuma? Hey, you still awake in there?" Zei waved his hand in front of Yuma's face. "When…what? What're you talking about?"

"Ummm…" Yuma's thoughts took a few seconds to come back together. "It's…nothing. It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

But Zei wasn't going to 'not worry about it'. "It's about that Astral guy, isn't it? You're thinking about him."

"Yeah. No. Well, kinda." Yuma said, sighing. "It's just…back when I was in Heartland, tracking down Numbers cards and competing in the WDC, I'd sometimes feel this…pain, sort of like outside the school just now, but it'd come from the Key and not me."

"And you said that Astral guy hung out in the Key," Zei said, pointing to where it was under Yuma's shirt.

Yuma nodded. "It usually meant that something bad was nearby. Like someone turned evil by a Numbers or Tron." He didn't bother explaining _that_ to Zei's confused look. "It stopped after…."

Zei cleared his throat a few seconds after Yuma trailed off. "So, if you had something like that happen when you still had this Astral guy around, it must mean that something bad is going to happen, right?"

Yuma nodded. _The question is, what?_

_**000**_

_Power…it was a surge of power. What was it?_

_Don't ask me. It felt almost like _him_._

_Bah! Impossible! He's dead! Without _him_, the Numbers have no power!_

_No…they don't need _him_ to have power. It's his apprentice. The boy who wears the Key._

…The_ Key? You mean…?_

_Yes. It still exists. The power we felt…it came from the boy. Not _him_. Not the Key._

_The boy…who would have thought he had power worthy of _him_._

_We'll need to guide him. Him and the others. The boy is Light._

_Light…I wonder if Astral had any idea who he chose when he chose Tsukumo Yuma as his apprentice…._

_**000**_

Yuma whimpered in his sleep, caught up again in one of his nightmares. Sleeping as he was, he was oblivious to the sigil forming on his chest, over his heart like a tattoo:

_Hikari._

* * *

**No, the **_**Hikari**_** at the end is not a reference to my pen name. It is completely to do with the story, so no egoness there. This chapter marks a turning point in the story, where we get to see more than just a few duels against some weird guy in a suit and Kaito getting knocked out and the Arklight brothers coming into the picture. Don't get me wrong! Damien and his master and the Arklights all have their parts to play in this, but now I'm tossing another actor onto the stage of this play that is **_**Remembrance**_**. **

**I hope you all liked it, and don't forget to Favorite, Subscribe, and Review if you do. Keep reading, everyone!**

**~HikariHellion**


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Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, Angst, Sci-Fi