Destined to be Yours

Chapter 17: Confusion

As the group was running to catch up to Insector Haga, Akia noticed Bakura standing behind a tree, observing them. Akia started slowing down her pace. The others didn't notice, since their attention was focused way too much on chasing Haga. Akia was starting to seriously question Bakura's motives. Was he following them the whole time? That was something that Akia deemed highly probable.

"Bakura... What do you really want? I need to get to the bottom of this," she thought.

Akia then went to where Bakura was hiding. He saw her coming, and made no attempt to get away. He actually looked at her, and waited for her to reach him. Even though he would never admit it, he enjoyed being around her. She made him feel... good.

As soon as Akia reached him, she looked him straight in the eyes.

"Why are you following us?" She asked him.

"I have my reasons," he replied.

"What reasons? Why did you even go through all the trouble to get here? Is it really just for the Millennium Eye?" Akia kept prodding.

"I don't feel like telling you now," he dismissed her questioning.

Akia clenched her fists in frustration. Upon noticing that, Bakura chuckled.

"What's so funny?" She retorted.

"Nothing. I just find your reactions... amusing," he justified.

Akia blushed out of embarrassment. She tried to calm herself down. She knew that she wouldn't get any answers out of Bakura. At least, not out of this Bakura... Did Ryou even know what the Spirit of the Ring wanted?

"Whatever... I'm going back to Yugi," the red-eyed girl told him as she turned around and started walking away.

"Leaving so soon?" The Spirit of the Ring asked.

Akia stopped right in her tracks. What was Yami Bakura implying? Did he want her to stay? That was ridiculous. Why would he even care? The Spirit of the Ring was just pure evil. He wouldn't care for another human being.

"Yeah, why does it matter to you?" She questioned.

"There's something... about you. Something that I want to figure out," the Evil Spirit confessed.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." She mumbled.

He kept mentioning that he felt something strange about Akia. She was also feeling something around him. As if they had met before, long ago. She just brushed off the feeling, however. She didn't want to get involved with the Spirit of the Ring. She turned away again, and started leaving. Bakura wouldn't have it, though. He went after her and grabbed her wrist before she could get any further. He grabbed it with so much force that she yelped a little, "ow! Let go!"

"Stop struggling, and maybe I will," he ordered her.

Akia calmed down, knowing very well that she could never overpower him. Bakura loosened his grip a little. He then moved Akia's face with his other hand, so that he could look into her eyes. Akia started blushing uncontrollably at the sudden contact. They stayed like that for a while, and Bakura finally let her go. He looked away, puzzled at the whole situation. He felt strange. He thought that maybe he felt something hostile towards her, like a threat from the fact that she possessed a Millennium Item, but it wasn't like that. The feelings he felt around her were comforting. He wanted her to be there, around him, all the time. He felt almost happy when he had any kind of contact with her.

Akia also felt confused over the whole situation. The Spirit of the Ring was evil, pure evil! However, she wasn't afraid of him. If he really only had evil intentions, he would've seized any opportunity he had to take her Millennium Scale.

"...I'm going back to Yugi and the others," Akia stated.

"That's right, I shouldn't let Bakura distract me from both my and Yugi's objective here. We need to get the Star Chips so that we are able to go rescue grandpa," she thought as she darted away from Bakura, in the direction where she believed Yugi and the others chased Insector Haga.

By the time she made it, Yugi had just won. She also noticed that, out of the spectators, Kujaku Mai was there.

"Why is she there, of all people..." The red-eyed girl scowled internally.

Akia didn't really like her. She didn't even know why. Was it because Jounouchi was physically attracted to her? Maybe. She just didn't like her.

It looked like the older woman was in some kind of disbelief that Yugi was able to beat Insector Haga.

"Yugi!" Akia ran over to him, smiling at his victory. She then stopped a bit in her tracks, realizing that it wasn't exactly Yugi who was in front of her. She was used to the Spirit of the Puzzle, but she sometimes didn't really know what to call him. Calling him Yugi felt a bit weird to her.

"Akia! Where the heck did you disappear to?" Jounouchi asked her.

"Who cares? Yugi won! Let's celebrate!" Akia cheered.

Yugi then headed down from the platform, and so did Haga.

Insector Haga's legs gave way, and he kneeled in defeat.

"This isn't possible!" The resigned boy yelled out.

"I can't believe the Regional Champion of Japan was one of the first to lose his Star Chips in this tournament," the other Yugi mocked him.

"Yeah... He's way too cool to be Yugi. What am I supposed to call him then? Spirit of the Puzzle?" Akia pondered.

Yugi, or more like the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, grinned almost evilly. He then started throwing and catching two Star Chips in his hand playfully.

"It's the rules. I will take your two Star Chips!" He chuckled.

Jounouchi then came in and shouted at Haga, "now get the hell off this island, you cowardly bastard!"

He then took Haga's glove from him.

"I'll take this glove off your hands," the blond stated.

Insector Haga was then taken away by some of Pegasus' henchmen. Jounouchi and Yugi then joined back up with their friends.

"Now what?" Akia asked.

Yugi looked at his glove. He still wasn't back to the real Yugi, "now I have three Star Chips."

"Aw... You beat me by one!" She whined.

"I need seven more, and you need eight," he looked her way.

"And I need nine..." Jounouchi sighed.

Akia grinned at her tall friend.

"You'll get your chance to shine. I can't wait to see how much you've improved," she encouraged him.

Akia then looked around and noticed that Mai was no longer around. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Hehe! I'll show just how good I've become!" Jounouchi told Akia.

The Spirit of the Puzzle then receded, and the real Yugi took his place. It looked like only Akia who noticed that change.

"Well guys, let's not waste any more time then," her brother said.

They all then set off, in search of new opponents.