-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.
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You caught Noah up with your mission of the dagger and the crazy stuff of the events that led up to this very moment. You also woke Jane up to fill her in about the encounter with Ishizu which she grew concerned for because she may be a threat to keep your secret of being from the future. Neither of you have seen that woman since you arrived here so there didn't seem to be a reason to be nervous for now. Noah said he would try to look into the history of the dagger more while you went on to go visit Mai. You put away your duel disk back into your pouch as well as your duel gazer. You allowed Noah to see Jane and to go through your phone if he needed to move from the duel disk for any reason. Jane jumped off the bed and she insisted she was fine with walking even though you told her you didn't mind carrying her but she also told you that it would make you look crazy and suspicious if you were carrying air in your arms. You had to agree with her for this time being.
The air felt tense when you were walking down the hallway to the infirmary. You didn't even know the directions but you just had a feeling that drew you to where the infirmary was. You took a deep breath and opened the sliding door. 'Good, no one is here. I won't have anyone here so see me cry if I end up crying.' You thought to yourself as you made your way over to where Mai was resting. Being the literal embodiment of the fairy tale princess Sleeping Beauty, under a curse to sleep forever and to be only awoken by true love's kiss to break the curse. Except for Mai's princess story, only beating True Marik will end her deep sleep to regain her memories that will awaken her. She was starting to look a little pale now from the last time you saw her. This meant that the duels needed to start acting faster to defeat him to get her back before she loses all of her memories and eventually she will lose her soul.
You sat down in the chair beside her bed. Jane hopped on the bed to sit beside Mai and she looked over to the sleeping Mai with sadness within her cat eyes. You looked at Mai with the same look. "Hey Mai . . . I am sorry I didn't visit you the other day . . . I was not in the right mind to visit you . . ." You clasped your hands together and held onto them tightly to not cry " . . . Mai . . . I know I shouldn't blame myself for what happened but it's hard not to . . . " You went silent for a minute before you stood up and went over to hold her hand. It was barely warm. Becoming slowly colder with every passing second. "I hope we can talk more, and open up to one another more . . . But you have to wake up in order for that to happen . . . Please stay strong and hold on a little longer Mai . . ." You let go of her hand and Jane bowed her head to Mai out of respect to her presence. Mai couldn't see her so she couldn't hear her but if Jane put in any more effort she would pass out. She had used too much of her ability back in the virtual world so she could say nothing to Mai. Jane hopped off the bed and followed you out of the infirmary room.
'Thank you for giving me the courage Yuma . . . Now onto that other promise I made to you, getting something to eat.' You walked around for a while and eventually wound up finally finding the cafeteria but before you went in you saw Tristan also was making his way there from the other as well. You figured he would have already gotten here before you. It was a little odd but you didn't want to pry. "(Y/n), here I forgot to return this to you when we left the ship. I left it on the ship and Kaiba had yelled at me for leaving it and to give it back." He held out the duel disk for you to take and you took it with a smile. "Thank you for giving it back. Did you have to use it against one of the 5?" Tristan turned to look at the side with a look of shame on his face "Yeah and he turned me into a robot monkey as a result." He mumbled with a pout. You were confused but also tried to imagine him being a monkey robot but it was hard to and you didn't want to imagine how it would be like being transformed into that either. "Oh hey (Y/n)!" Serenity perked in happiness when she saw you and Tristan. Beside her was Yugi who waved over to the two of you. You slid your duel disk on your dueling arm when you walked in with Tristan inside the cafeteria. Duke was arguing with Tea on the last piece of cake.
You sat with them after you got yourself a decent amount of food to eat. Tristan had multiple plates to eat which was a lot for even your own stomach to handle. He was chowing down like this large amount of food was normal but he was not the only one since Joey was also doing the same. Joey won the cake through the classical game of rock, paper, scissors. Tea was of course sour about losing the game to Joey out of all people for cake. He even ate it loudly to brag to her of his winnings. Yugi nudged him in the arm to eat quietly but also to stop teasing poor Tea. "I thought you already went to (Y/n)'s room to return the duel disk to her?" Duke eyed your duel disk then laid his sights back on Tristan. You made sure to stay calm and not over think things when Duke said that. "Yeah but we only went to her room once and I forgot which way to turn to get to her room. So I ended up lost." Tristan laughs it off while hanging his head low. Serenity tilted her head to the side "Ah so that's why you looked overwhelmed when you returned to your room." She shrugged. Tristan gulped when Serenity was ratting him out with so little effort.
'Serenity my beautiful goddess why must you betray me.' Tristan glanced over to you who was calm and collected. You then looked at him with only a soft smile. "I got lost trying to get here to this cafeteria myself so I understand. This place is huge after all." Your assurance made Tristan feel less tensed up. 'Even though my cover is blown, Tristan hasn't said a word. I can trust him to keep his silence.' You wanted to interrogate Tristan to see how much he must have heard between you and Noah but forced your journalist instincts from doing so. Taking a lot of willpower to not shake it out of him too. Jane was confused a little since she was out of the loop herself because she was asleep when you were talking with Noah so she didn't know what was going on. With that, Jane didn't feel the need to give in her opinion because she didn't see anything wrong.
The group continued to talk about things they plan on doing once this entire tournament is over. You didn't even think much on what you would do after all this was over. Knowing you still will have to live in that hotel for a little longer before trying to find leads for your new quest for the daggers deeper history. You lied about what you will do after, saying you will go on a trip somewhere but your residence will be this city for the time being. This was also a false hope you had to make this possible but you knew it most likely will not because of time.
"Oh Yug how is that millennium necklace that Ishizu lady gave ya after the duel with Kaiba? It didn't get damaged from the virtual world did it?" Joey asked after wiping his face with a napkin since he had a lot of frosting on his face. 'So she knows Yugi? It isn't a surprise about that. She knew about the millennium items so there was no doubt she knew about Yugi and possibly Yami. This is the first I have heard about this. She gave it up because of Yami being the nameless pharaoh? I thought she was coming after me? What changed her mind?' Your mind was riddled with questions as Yugi pulled out the millennium eye necklace from his pocket. Showing it to Joey "It didn't get damaged luckily. Even after taking so many falls down those wormholes Noah kept summoning onto us." Yugi and everyone at the table sighed at the memories of those things. Just thinking back on them made everyones brains hurt. You played along even though you knew Noah was just trying to keep his father away but also tried to get to you in order to save himself. Selfish but you did manage to save everyone else in the process so it was a win win at the end of the day. Yugi put away the necklace but he did notice the way you looked at the necklace. You looked familiar with it but he didn't think it was the right time to ask you about it.
"Attention duelist, the next duelist who will compete with one another will be announced. Meet in the new arena in the next 5 minutes."
The announcement was made after 20 minutes of talking with everyone. Mokuba came into the cafeteria and was there to escort everyone to this new arena the intercom person spoke about. "Come on, let's go!" He gestured to them to hurry and follow him. All of you threw your trash away, cleaned up your table, and then followed Mokuba. Jane followed beside Mokuba when they all met in a room where Kaiba was standing with the same lottery blue eyes dragon ball machine. "I will be pulling this time." Kaiba announced and he pressed the button to start the raffle. "Please let it be me, please let it be me." Joey prayed softly to himself. Craving for a redemption duel after dueling that judge who was cheating. It was no fun and a worthless duel. He wanted to regain his dignity with a real duel. Serenity giggled to her brothers dumb actions while Tea rolled her eyes at them. The balls started to slow down in the ball pit and out came a number ball from the dragon. Kaiba snatched it quickly and scoffed at the sight of the number.
"Duelist number 5, Marik. He will be the duelist who will be in this match." He tossed the ball over to Mokuba who stumbled a bit to try to catch it. Kaiba immediately pressed the button again to start the raffle again.
"Seriously, this dude sure is popular and not even in a good way." Duke huffs when Marik's name is called to be the duelist of this round. Joey still was praying even after hearing that. Hoping he will defeat the real Marik this time to seek vengeance for sending a fake to duel him, for taking his body, for hurting his crush - oh sorry - his "friend" Mai, and get rid of this evil spirit for good. He has had enough of these posers for duelists during this entire tournament. He had his eyes closed and peeked at the raffle machine as it started to slow down. His heart was racing in anticipation for who was going to be the next duelist. A ball came out of the dragon's mouth.
Kaiba swiped the ball and looked amused to see the number "Duelist number 9, (F/n) (L/n). You will be Marik's opponent in this duels match." Kaiba smiled to himself as he was very curious about your dueling style and tossed the ball to Mokuba to catch but Mokuba didn't catch it. Instead he let the number ball roll bounce then roll slowly pass his feet. He was looking over at you in horror and fear from what his brother announced to everyone. Everyone turned to you. Joey had a confident smile as he turned to you "I just know you will beat him (Y/n), you-" Tea cut off Joey. "No! You can't duel Marik!" She had her hands on your shoulders with a face of terror. Tea didn't want to see another friend of hers be taken by that guy. Mokuba turned to Kaiba "Seto, you have to change it. I-I don't want (Y/n) to duel that freak!" Even Mokuba wanted you to not duel Marik. Especially you, you were the one who protected them all and she didn't want to think about how things would be if he took you away.
"You can't duel him (Y/n)." Yami spoke up, having taken Yugi's place. He was worried for you as he usually is these days. "My lady! You can't! He is too formidable of a foe! Please reconsider!!" Jane begged you to not do this. You looked at Jane then at Yami and smiled softly at him 'I can't do that Yami.' You turned to Kaiba.
"I accept this duel!" You shout to Kaiba who was just pleased to hear how you were willing to duel Marik.
Yami could see the fire in your eyes. Something he has never seen before in you. He also never saw you duel. It was going to be his first time seeing you duel. Tristan saw the look in your eyes 'It is almost like back when Marik stuck down Mai, Joey, and Yami but it's much different . . . I fear this difference will be a blessing and a curse for you (Y/n) in this duel . . .' Tristan thought to himself. Jane was in shock from your decision as she had a bad feeling about this.
"Everyone go follow Mokuba to the dueling arena." Kaiba instructed everyone who was being escorted by guards with Mokuba. Mokuba went and gave you a quick hug "Good luck." Mokuba was trying to not cry and he ran to catch up with the others. Kaiba was waiting for Yami but he turned to Kaiba "May I have a moment alone with (Y/n)?" Kaiba and Yami meet eyes and after a moment of staring, Kaiba nods. Leaving the two of you alone to be with the others in the arena.
"There is still time to convince Kaiba to stop this duel."
"No. I need to do this, Yami."
"I don't want you to be the one to do this (Y/n)!"
"It doesn't matter what you want! What I want is to be the one who does this!"
"I just don't want to lose you because of this (Y/n)!"
You didn't say anything about the last part. You didn't like the fact that both of you were raising your voices at each other. This conversation would hurt even if you weren't yelling. Seeing his gentle eyes that stared at you with nothing but pure kindness and adoration start to brim with tears made your heart ache so much. You walked up to him as you swallowed the lump in your heart as you cupped his cheeks. "You won't lose me Yami. I am not going to lose this duel. I promise." You whispered ever so softly to him. Yami leaned his cheek into your hands and gently pressed a soft kiss on your inner palm. Letting a few tears escape his eyes that dripped down those same palms he kissed. Yami took your hands into his and interlaced his hands with yours. He pressed a gentle but long kiss on your forehead ". . . Okay . . . (Y/n) . . ." his tone was low but he was barely able to say those simple words to you. You managed to hold in your tears in front of him this time to not make him worry for you than he already was. Yami let go of your hands and wiped his tear stained cheeks before he walked beside you out to the arena.
You went to stand in your post as Marik was already standing on the other end.'I now realized what I want . . . I just don't have the heart to tell you yet (Y/n) . . . After this . . . I will . . . I promise that to you . . .' Yami thought as he watched you from the sidelines with the others who were just as worried as you.
"Took you long enough." Marik scoffed as he had his arms crossed, looking impatient from where he was standing. "So much for that threat you gave me for if I was your opponent." He chuckles to himself. Putting his deck into the deck holder of the duel disk. "You almost made me think you were all talk." You were ignoring him and shuffling your cards before you were getting ready to put them into the Kaiba Corp duel disk. "I will make sure to let you reunite with that girl Mai. She was weak minded, I mean even you were weak." You stopped shuffling your cards and he grinned when you froze. Your eyes shadowed as you had your head hung low.
Marik continued, "You can't save a person from my power so what makes you think someone as pathetic as you is going to win this shadow game!" He taunted as he held his millennium rod in his free hand. He laughed maniacally as he turned the entire field into a shadow game before the match even began. "No! You have to stop this duel!" Serenity tugged Joey's arm to make him do something. Anything. To stop this duel. "Damn you Marik!" Yami growled as he was fearing for the worst seeing that he made it into a shadow game. He was trying to remain calm but the person he cared deeply for was in a predicament he couldn't stop.
You held your deck in your hand "Jane, I allow everyone to see you." Marik was confused about what you said. Jane gasped when you said, "What are you doing My lady?!" Jane exclaimed which made everyone startled because there was cat talking that appeared out of nowhere. "I thank you Marik for making this into a shadow game."You tossed your Kaiba Corp duel disk to the side. Marik raised an eyebrow when you tossed your duel disk aside. Marik laughed, "How are you going to duel me without that?!" he was cracking up until he saw you whip out your purple duel disk and duel gazer from your pouch. You slide your deck into the card holder and activate your duel disk. "What the hell?!" Marik was stunned by this new duel disk he had never seen before.
"My lady! You can't duel with that! Dueling with that and if you use what I think you're going to use you're risking the fabric of time! He isn't worth that risk!!!" Jane exclaimed and you narrowed your gaze at Marik. "I won't, not with this shadow game in play. I won't be risking anything." You assured the stressed out Jane who was becoming frantic. This risk of using your duel disk and the summons you know worried her to her very cat core.
"Why is there a talking cat?! Where the heck did that duel disk come from?! I am so confused right now!" Joey was scratching his head that started to hurt from this reveal. 'That's the same voice I heard back from that virtual world!' Serenity came to the realization of why Jane sounded familiar to her.
"You're . . . You're not from here are you (Y/n) . . ." Tea spoke with shock as she was finally understanding the things you told her before this tournament even started. It was all making sense.
"So you are from the future." Marik grin widened as he was cracking up even harder as he came to the realization himself. "Oh this is rich! You think your pathetic deck will be able to save you from being annihilated from my god card?! Think again!" He activated his duel disk.
You looked over to Yami who was just paralyzed in shock as you revealed this secret. A secret you managed to keep concealed within this dark realm for the times safety. 'All this time . . . You kept yourself distant even though you were so close . . . because of this . . . (Y/n) . . .' He was shocked to the core. Yugi was in spirit beside him as he was just as shocked as Yami when you announced this reveal. They were seeing you, as was everyone else, in a totally different light.
"I am sorry for hiding this Yami . . ." You apologized and turned away to face Marik. "I promised you I would win and I will. I won't be holding back on this duel as I have with the others just to get here. You will meet your end here True Marik! I will prove it! Here and now!" You placed your hand on your deck.
"It's time to duel!"
You both shouted as you both drew your starting cards to begin this duel.