-Notes-
AO3 Account: 1_Weeb_Writer_1
I do not own Yugioh characters or franchise(s), Belongs rightfully to Toei Animations. Series belongs to Kazuki Takahashi (Yugioh Duel Monsters) & Shin Yoshida (Yugioh Zexal Author) & Naohito Miyoshi (Yugioh Zexal Manga Artist). English dubs belong rightfully to 4Kids Entertainment & 4K Media.
(F/c) = Favorite Color
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It has been a week and today was the day of the Battle City Tournament.
Something told you to get up around 9 AM to get ready for today's duels. Wearing a maroon turtleneck sweater that was tucked into your black skirt, you had matching leggings that complimented your skirt. Putting your (e/c) hair up half up and down (A/N: For those like myself who have pixie cuts, you put a cute hair pin in your hair) as you left the bathroom after you checked if the pony tail for it was in the middle.
"Are you sure you should be using those shoes?" Jane, who was sitting on the nightstand as she motioned with her head to the white tennis shoes. You glanced over to your white tennis shoes, your only pair of shoes too, that were honestly beaten up from these past few days.
Running from the rare hunters and the wall you tore down just made your shoes dirty. It had some mud and dark markings from gods knows what. You were always a little on edge whenever you went out but Mai was kind enough to go with you to places rather than leave you alone again.
Mai claimed "Ugh I guess I can go with you to places" but although she said that, you knew she meant well. Girls gotta stick together from creeps like them. It was safer with her when you went out with her. It was also more fun.
It was harder to inform Yuma and Astral through the deck about these things as they only hoped for your safety since it seems to be getting more dangerous. It had only been a few days too for you at that time. So far not much has happened but it didn't mean you didn't feel uneasy about moving forward.
"You're right. I cannot use those. I will have to clean them at some point. When I have time, that is." You went over to your bed to put on your (f/c) of socks, it may not have matched but no one was going to really see your feet. Jane leaped from the night stand over to your side.
You looked down at your hand as your hand with the dagger and your deck in the other. There was a much larger pouch on the other side of your hip where your duel disk from your time was and the duel gazer with it. The jump from the Rare Hunters came flooding back across your mind. You gripped the dagger "I can't leave it in my bag or here in this room." You set your deck inside your maroon belt with the deck holder. Mai was kind again to you and let you wear these black boots she got which were perfect for you to hide the millennium dagger in. You slid it in a comfortable place of your left boot.
Walking a little around a bit to test it out of the comfortability.
Then it hit you.
"Yugi!!"
You completely forgot that you were supposed to meet 'Yugi' today before the tournament!
You rummaged through your bag and took out your notepad and a pen. Writing something down on a paper, ripping it out of the bed before shoving the notepad and pen back into your bag. Grabbing your duel disk and putting it on your left hand (A/N: or right in case you are left handed) Rushing out of your hotel room to head over to Mai's.
You dropped the note for Jane, who was following you when this was all going down, to catch and used her pink nose to slip the note under her hotel room door.
On the note, it said the following:
"I have to go ahead early! I am meeting up with Yugi before the tournament starts! I wish you good luck and thank you for everything!
-(Y/n) (L/n)"
You ran to the elevator to take you down the lobby and booked it out of the elevator once it reached the lobby. Passing people on your way out and you made a run for it since you cannot really use your duel runner much to get around as it is distinctively in one area for the tournament.
Having only 20 minutes to find the place 'Yugi' told you to meet him up at.
»»--♡--««
You found the place in less than 15 minutes and it also appeared you were rather early. You didn't see 'Yugi' anywhere so you had a chance to catch your breath and sat on an empty bench. There were many other duelists around in this area. Talking to each other about the tournament that was going to start eventually.
You placed a hand over your heart as you tried to calm your breathing to settle down. Once you have calmed your breathing, suddenly the feeling of nervousness starts to crawl across your skin. You didn't understand why you were starting to feel this nervous all of a sudden. You were fine most of this week and felt prepared for this tournament.
What was making you feel all of these nerves?
"Goodness my lady, you're red." Jane gasped as she was sitting beside you with now concern because of how red your cheeks were. 'Oh right. . .' You waved your hands to now try to cool them down 'I almost forgot about that too' You mentally were also screaming since your heart and body seemed to remember before you.
'My heart is pounding like crazy. Why am I reacting like this about a guy I only have met a couple of times?' You puff up your cheeks as you were arguing with yourself in your head 'He is in high school and you're a 21 year old woman! Get a grip!' You unpuffed your cheeks and stopped fanning when you realized something.
"The other 'Yugi' seems quite older than the Yugi I met . . . There is something definitely up with that." You thought out loud to yourself but lowly said it. Jane was so confused with your actions. He wasn't even here yet and you felt the yearn tug from your heart that selfishly desired to see him again. You also felt guilty because Yugi was a nice boy but the other him was pulling all these emotions from you without even trying.
How does he do it?
Why was there a feeling that things like that from him had happened with you before?
"(Y/n)!" You turned to see 'Yugi' wave over to you as he seemed to barely have made it himself. 'By the gods!' He snapped you out of your thoughts from him calling out to you. You got yourself off the bench to walk over to meet up 'Yugi' as he was also doing the same for you.
Jane meowed a farewell for the meantime to give you alone time.
"You look nice (Y/n)" 'Yugi' complimented you once the two of you got close enough to each other. Just when you thought you stopped your heart from beating fast, it started to flutter again. His presence alone made it feel like every duelist around you was not in sight, it was silent, it was just the two of you. 'Yugi' lips formed the gentle smile he seems to always give you whenever the two of you meet.
'Yugi' looked at your duel disk. "Oh you don't have it on right." You hummed to his words and lifted your duel disk arm. It was out of place and not on right. Well, of course it was, you were running and rushing to get here that it would be like this. "May I?" He asked for your consent to touch you which you gave him a nod for him to know it was fine. 'Yugi' moved the duel disk a bit up since it was slipping a bit off where it was before, to make it firmly stay.
While his attention was on your duel disk, your attention was on him. You were feeling a bit shy when he held your hand to make sure it was adjusted comfortably, he even asked you if it was too tight or hurt (A/n: Ha! That's what she said! Okay! Okay I'll stop!) your arm. "Your cheeks are what humans call "blushing" (Y/n)." You choked on air at the sudden appearance of Astral who was standing on the side of the two of you with his arms crossed. Your coughing caught 'Yugi's' attention as it made him jump because you were silent most of the time before.
'Yugi' glanced over to Astral in the corner of his eye but then back at you, saying nothing. Keeping his main focus on you "Are you okay? Did I hurt your arm?" He gave a small squeeze to your hand he held when he pestered these questions onto you. You wipe the tear that was starting to come out of one of your (e/c) "Yes, I am fine Yugi. You didn't hurt me, just came out of nowhere heh." You assured him and his worried amethyst eyes settled to being the gentle ones that just melted your soul.
"So he is this King of Games Yuma boasted about after your encounter with him. He told me to tell you to bring something called an "autograph" from this fellow." Astral pointed to 'Yugi' and you pressed your lips together as you tried your hardest to not try to fight this alien ghost right now. You tried your best to also not look at Astral to not be suspicious. "So Yugi!" You called to him with some excitement to hide over how you were slowly going to descend into panic if you don't keep it cool "Are you excited about the tournament?" You tried to make the situation between the two of you to not make it awkward.
'Yugi' blinked at your light change of attitude. "Sort of, I unfortunately have some beef to resort with Kaiba at the end of this." He admitted with a heavy sigh from being a bit tired of having to always be tied in with Kaiba in his problems for reasons he has not yet figured out just yet.
"You will beat him. I guarantee that." You were confident when you said that. 'Yugi' felt ease with your assuring words to his chest that gave him a little more boost than he didn't usually have before duels. It was a good feeling for him.
"Oh my ~" A very familiar voice spoke from the back of you. You stood beside 'Yugi' to turn to see who it was "Mai!" You perked out of happiness when you saw her. She had a grin on her face rather than her amusing smile she has around you. Having one of her hands on her hips and she pointed somewhere "When is the wedding Yugi hm ~ ?" The two of you were confused before looking down at each other's hands.
"S-Sorry!"
You and 'Yugi' both said at the same time with red flushed cheeks. Standing awkwardly now, 'Yugi' rubbed the back of his neck while you hugged yourself and looked off to the side.
"I would have told you earlier but it did not seem that you were uncomfortable (Y/n). So I thought it was best to keep it to myself." Astral pointed out that you gave a quick squint glare before changing your expression back before anyone noticed that you were glaring at air.
Mai giggled at the two of you, she went to your side and wrapped an arm around your neck "Take a girl out to dinner first before you get handsy mister. I figured you would have manners Yugi." She grilled him but it was only to tease him. 'Yugi' was even considering her words over in his head which made Mai only giggle more. You shake your head to 'Yugi' who you found cute for taking it into consideration.
Astral looked over to see a short mint haired boy with beetle round glasses that matched the large bkack beetle on his lime green hoodless jacket. Next to him was a slightly taller boy compared to the mint harried on, he wore a yellow shirt with a dark green jacket. He had a red beanie that slightly hid his single lavender streak out of his long split end brown hair. They both had angry grim looks plastered on their faces while they marched over towards the three of you.
"Two people are approaching." Astral informed you which made you look over to the two boys.
"I thought I heard you Yugi Muto!" The mint haired boy sneers at now, Yugi. When you turned to look over to 'Yugi' he was back to the actual Yugi Muto. Astral floated over to your other side since Mai occupied one of your sides. Mai took her arm off from being around your neck.
"Ugh it's Weevil" Mai looked at Weevil, the mint hair boy, and then the red beanie boy "And Rex Raptor." Mai said under her breath. Obviously annoyed by the two of them. 'Must have some beef with her too. I know they were great duelists that Maximillion Pegasus even recognized before.' You thought to yourself as the two boys approached the three of you.
"I will never forgive you for making a fool out of me Yugi!" This Weevil boy was so angry at Yugi for probably losing to him. You guessed it was from Duelist Kingdom that was held by Maximillion Pegasus who dropped off the face of the earth after that tournament. There was no recollection in any documents you researched the past week leading up to why he left. Everyone assumed it was the tournament of goodbye to the dueling world which was a tournament to be remembered since Yugi Muto became the King of Games. It crowned him as that title for a long time before he died of old age.
There was a lot of history of Yugi Muto that needed to be answered.
"And I will never forgive you Mai Valentine for manipulating me at Duelist Kingdom!" Rex growled through his gritting teeth. Mai looked down at him and shrugged which pissed him off more, you could even see the steam coming from his ears.
You tried your best to not burst out a laugh from his expression being priceless.
A larger tanned muscular man with spiky black blue hair, a wave designed head bandana around his forehead, an old scar underneath his left eye. Blue shorts that were supported by his dueling belt. Wearing a sleeveless robe like attire with white outline and string tie. He locked Weevil in a headlock "Tough talk for a small guppy!" He grinned.
"Mako Tsunami!" Yugi exclaimed from surprise at seeing him here. Not because of the event but coming up to him is what really surprised him. Weevil started to bicker with the Mako who looked down at him with that confident grin of his and was completely unphased by the small boy's spouts. Weevil eventually got out of his headlock and rubbed his throat.
'The way he speaks reminds me of Shark's dueling style. Maybe he uses an ocean type of monster deck like Shark does?' You smile at the thought of Shark who usually didn't like being critiqued of his dueling skills but would laugh whenever Yuma lost to you when you used to duel Yuma in his room when Kari wasn't home. You then would criticize some of his moves to piss him off which would always urk him but he tolerated you nonetheless.
Astral floated over to Yugi and he crouched while he still floated to get a good look at his millennium puzzle. "It really does resemble the eye from the millennium dagger of yours (Y/n). We must question him eventually." Astral mumbled and he stood back to look at Yugi with a hand under his chin as his other hand supported that one with holding his elbow, in a thinking pose. His golden eyes stare down at him. "I feel like there is another presence in his item. It is someone who is like me, I sense they too have no memories." Astral noted his thoughts out loud because the only one he believed was hearing him was (Y/n).
Astral went back over to your side and he glanced at you who simply gave a quick nod but did not bid him eye contact. In order to stay blending in with the others.
"Who are you madam?" Mako looked at you with his deep sea blue eyes that sparkled in admiration for almost everything" I am (Y/n), I am a participant in this tournament." Rex scoffed at you and crossed his arms "You mean you're going to be kicked out of it once I obliterate you from this place." He grinned sinisterly at you.
"Not if someone takes you out of this tournament before I do." You barked back at him while he growled through his gritted teeth from your back talk.
Mai smirked and patted your shoulder. "Nice one" she whispered over in your ear and it made you giggle.
Yugi looked over to the clock above the group. "It looks like it is going to start soon." He told the others who looked back at him when he faced them again.
Rex stomped off while he boasted about defeating everyone in the group.
Weevil left without saying a single word except giving an annoying evil laugh when he walked in another direction.
Mako waved and ekpt grinning "I bid you youngling good luck!" He ran off in another direction. This was when you noticed that the man was not wearing any shoes this entire time. Bold was all you could think of when you noticed.
"This is where we must part, I'm afraid." Mai looked bummed a bit and she gave you a quick hug "I don't want you to hold back on me when we duel (Y/n), we will be rivals after this." She huffed and you hugged her back with a goofy grin "I wouldn't dare." You giggled and the two of you let go of each other.
"We are rivals after this squirt" Mai did the hand motion to Yugi with her pointing at her lavender eyes then to Yugi. The teenager laughed with a smile "Right!" He waved to her when she went off in a direction past and behind you.
You turned to Yugi who was already looking at you "I will see you around Yugi." You went up to him and patted his head. Yugi lightly blushed but it soon went away.
"I am going to head off this way. Bye, (Y/n)." Yugi went off into another direction while you were left alone by the ticking clock tower. Him saying goodbye sounded quite sad, your heart felt a sting by them.
»»--♡--««
Yugi made his way up to the school roof and he looked down at the fellow competitors of this tournament. "Who and what was that thing?!" Yugi exhaled like he was holding in his breath. He had a hand over his chest and Yami appeared beside him.
"I don't know but he seemed to have noticed my presence just like we noticed his." Yami pointed out as he looked at his partner. Yugi finally composed himself and turned to Yami. "One thing is for sure, he knows something about that dagger." Yugi watched Yami closely as he nodded in agreement. Yami then turned to look off into the distance.
"I do not know Yugi, but he knows (Y/n) on a personal level by the way he spoke. He also mentioned that she had the dagger and needed to ask even us something." Yami noted to Yugi.
Yugi turned his entire body to Yami "You think that the dagger and (Y/n) may have a connection to your past?" Yugi's question made Yami turn himself towards him.
"I have a feeling there is a bigger connection that we are not going to be able to see until we get that dagger." Yami had a serious look in his eyes.
"I just hope (Y/n)'s involvement is not one that puts her in danger or causes danger." Yugi said what Yami didn't want to hear because it was a possibility that you could be either a bad or good person.
Yami didn't believe you were a bad person, he felt in his gut and knew that deep in his ghostly heart.
»»--♡--««
Astral was on your left and Jane appeared by your feet on your right. A shadow overcame the area. It made everyone, including you, lift their attention to the giant ass green blimp with Kaiba Corp logo on one side while the other had a big jumbotron that was yet activated. The blimp hovered in the sky and over the area you were in.
"Greetings duelist, welcome to my Battle City Tournament. In case you losers have forgotten the rules for this tournament I will recite them along with the other additions of the rules I made for this battle." You crossed your arms as you looked up at the enlarged self-absorbed Kaiba. "Starting with your duel disk, with it you can duel anytime and anywhere. Each of these disks contain a tracking chip so I will know where all of you are at all times and watch every move you make." That thing seemed a little excessive. You knew about the tracking device but decided not to override that system's network because it would make you look more suspicious than you already are. It was to keep Kaiba off your back and get answers for your mission.
Kaiba recited about the rare card trade to the winner then started to downgrade people to get the fuck out of his tournament if they didn't have the balls to go through with it. Considering his rules, it was a little excessive and overwhelming for anyone. Including yourself but you cannot back out now. He also announced that he was going to a part of the tournament too and he will be facing the winner of the finals but the way he said it sounded like he was intentionally aiming this part to a particular individual.
"This Kaiba sure does talk a lot" Astral pointed out and Jane snorted to his opinion on Kaiba.
'Yugi you poor gentle soul. Having to deal with this narcissistic bastard. Kaiba you are embarrassing yourself, chasing after a teenager as an adult because of your pride.' You paused in your thoughts 'Then again, if it weren't for this rivalry. We wouldn't have the advanced technology we have in my time.' You shrugged at this thought and continued to listen in on Kaiba.
"Only 9 of the final duelist will make it to the finals which is in a secret location. The only way you will be getting there will be through these Locator cards." He held up a card with a chip-like piece upon a clear card "You all have gotten your duel disk and with them, you have received one locator card with a piece to a map. Gather 6 locator cards and stack them on top of eachother and it will transmit the secret location of where the finals will be held by a global positioning satellite. As I said before, Only 9 of the elite duelists will be able to go to that distinct location." You already knew that from history books but it was always good still to get a refresher. You did research on what the outcomes were going to be but the finalist duels were never recorded in further detail except the final showdown with Yugi and Kaiba. It was fishy and that was a clue for where you had a feeling something happened, something more than just dueling.
It was one of the leads you needed to go off on. It felt more than those rare hunters you had managed to chase off from last week. Maybe a semi mixture of the two things. You had to get to the bottom of it as it seems all too connected somehow.
"Let the Battle City Tournament BEGIN!!!"
Kaiba's booming voice made you jump from being too deep into your thoughts and you flinched from the yelling of other duelists who were pumped up from the tournament finally starting.
The blimp that had Kaiba's face shut itself off and flew above and away from the city's area.
"And so our journey here begins"
You mutter under your breath as you step forward to find your first challenger.