Yu-Gi-Oh! Love Selflessly (Version 2 - SEMI FINAL)

Chapter 18

The four finally arrived at the duelling arena. They made the decision to split up and look for anything that could hint at a camera, microphone, or anything. Emiko walked out onto the balcony and sighed, "Guys, there's nothing up here." Tristan was searching what had been Seto's side of the field. He looked up and said, "There's gotta be a hidden camera or something here. Keep searching, guys." Téa walked onto the balcony, too, and suggested, "Maybe he isn't really a cheater. He could be really good at guessing cards, like a psychic or something." Bakura searched Pegasus' side of the field, kneeling down to look below the board. Tristan said, "I once spoke to a psychic, Téa. The lady said I'll have a nice girlfriend within six months. It's been a year and I haven't had a single date. I don't believe in psychic powers." The girls sighed and kept searching. Emiko was about to give up when she looked down at Tristan and saw something odd.

"Tristan!"

Téa looked down and gasped. Bakura asked, "What's wrong, girls?" Téa pointed down at Tristan, who had stood up to make sure everything was alright. She said, "There was a beam of light on Tristan's back!" Emiko pointed up towards the intricately-designed wall, seeing a small hole in the center of a floral embellishment, and said, "Look up there." Bakura and the girls ran down and around to rejoin Tristan on Kaiba's side of the arena. They all stared up at the small hole in the wall and Bakura said, "That's quite odd, isn't it?" Téa had an idea and said, "Wait. Tristan, go stand on the platform and pretend to hold a card up just like you're duelling." He nodded and walked over to the platform. As he held up his imaginary hand of cards, the beam of light was placed near-perfectly where his cards would be positioned naturally. Tristan turned around and said, "I'll go check it out. You all wait here." He ran out of the room, up to the balcony, and climbed up onto the elaborately carved wall, managing to reach the small hole, no bigger than a golfball. He looked through the hole and saw a tall tower.

"Tristan," Bakura called, "What do you see?" Tristan said, "There's a tower right across the courtyard. Isn't it convenient that the window happens to face in this exact direction?" Emiko sighed, a relieved smile forming on her face. Tristan theorized, climbing down back onto the balcony, "It'd be a piece of cake for one of Pegasus' cronies to hide in the tower with a telescope and spy on Kaiba's hand. Then the goon relays Kaiba's cards." Tristan ran back downstairs to the duelling platform and Téa said, "Pegasus could be hiding a receiver under his hair." Tristan said, "Good thinking, Sherlock. There's bound to be tons of proof hidden in that tower." Bakura asked, "You can't be thinking about going out there!" Tristan said, "That's exactly what I'm thinking." Bakura gasped and said worriedly, "Wh-what about the guards?" Tristan placed a hand on the white-haired boy's shoulder and said, "Don't worry. You'll be safe with me."

After at least an hour of walking through the castle's hallways and outside into the maze-like courtyard, the four made their way up onto the rooftops using a grappling hook Tristan picked up along the way. They shimmied slowly and silently along the narrow ledge, trying to lean on the sharply slanted rooftop. Emiko felt herself trembling and her heart pounding in her chest, her nerves starting to get the better of her. Téa let out a sudden gasp. She had slipped and she would have fallen off the ledge if the boys hadn't grabbed her quickly, pulling her up and covering her mouth, listening for any noise from the guards down below. The echo of Téa's voice faded, but the guards didn't seem to notice.

"Thank goodness," Emiko thought. Téa shoved Bakura's and Tristan's hands away and whisper-yelled, "Ugh! Tristan, I can't believe your plan is to enter the tower from the outside!" Tristan nodded and said quietly, "Yep. You wanted to avoid the guards. I don't see goons up here." Bakura, Téa, and Emiko sighed as Tristan moved ahead on his own, not waiting for them to follow. They somewhat reluctantly shuffled along, catching up to Tristan, who had stopped just beneath the balcony where the window was. He swung the grappling hook up, making sure it was firmly attached to the stone balcony before addressing the others.