"There he is... He's so creepy... No! Akia! This is no time to waver! It's only one date for your brother's sake! And Jounouchi's... Why am I even thinking of that idiot at a time like this! Whatever! I don't have a choice." Akia thought to herself while taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.
"U... Ushio-senpai!" She tried to call out to him in a friendly voice.
Ushio turned around to find Akia waving at him with a small smile on her face.
"You? Smiling at me? Something hit your head?" Ushio poked fun at her.
"You don't have to phrase it like that. Enjoy it while it lasts," Akia said in between her teeth.
"So? What do you want?" Ushio asked her.
"The debt Yugi owes..." The girl trailed off, not wanting to say what she needed to say out loud.
"You have the money? Or are you asking me to lift it? Because that won't happen," Ushio stated.
"Even if I agree to go on a date with you?" Akia asked softly, trying to sound as flirty as she could be.
Jounouchi and Honda were watching the whole scene from afar.
"That idiot! What is she thinking?" Jounouchi whispered to Honda.
"Well it can't be that bad, right? It's just a date..." Honda replied, trying to reason with his friend.
"Of course it's bad! I won't let her do this!" Jounouchi retorted with a louder voice and started trying to go stop Akia.
Honda was using all his strength to keep Jounouchi from acting rashly. In the meantime, the conversation between Ushio and Akia was still going.
"A date... It would be enough to lift the debt off of your brother..." Ushio pensively responded, rubbing his chin in wonder.
"That's great!" Akia cheerfully answered.
"But..." Ushio cut her enthusiasm short.
"What is it?" Akia asked, afraid of what was coming next.
"The other two won't be off the hook because of one simple date," he grinned widely, loving every moment of what he was doing.
"The other two... You mean Jounouchi and Honda?" Akia inquired to make sure.
"It will take more than just a date to get them out of this," Ushio reiterated.
Akia clenched her fists, feeling her anger bubble up. She took a deep breath, thinking of Yugi, Jounouchi, and Honda, and calmed herself down.
"What else do you want?" She whispered.
"I want you to be my girlfriend... permanently," Ushio gave out his conditions with a smug look on his face, "as long as you're my girlfriend, I won't lay a finger on any of them. Deal?"
As much as Akia hated him, she cared about Yugi, Jounouchi and Honda's safety more.
"...Deal," she muttered.
"NO DEAL!" Jounouchi shouted out as he came out from where he was eavesdropping.
"Damn it, Jounouchi!" Honda yelled at his friend.
Jounouchi was finally able to get away from Honda and ran next to Akia, facing Ushio.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Akia asked him, secretly relieved that he was there.
"I should be asking you the same thing! Why would you even consider going out with that creep?" Jounouchi reprimanded her.
"Stop meddling with my business!" She retorted.
"This is not just your business," Jounouchi didn't let up and argued back, "I'm involved in this too!"
"I don't think it's your decision to make, Jounouchi," Ushio told him off in a menacing tone.
"Yeah? As if I'd let her date you! Over my dead body!" Jounouchi shouted at the bully.
"It's your funeral," Ushio shrugged and punched Jounouchi in the face, which caused the latter to lose his balance.
"Jounouchi! Ushio-senpai, you said you wouldn't touch them!" Akia cried out to the imposing student.
"Well," he started justifying his actions, "I only said that as long as you're my girlfriend. This is still not the case. I can beat them up as much as I want for now."
"I won't stand for this! How dare you fool that poor girl?!" Honda said his piece while standing defensively in front of Akia.
"He didn't fool me, you idiot!" She corrected him, annoyed at his assumptions, "who are you even calling a poor girl??"
"Well, here's one for you too," Ushio chuckled as he punched Honda who then ended up in the same position as Jounouchi.
"This is bad... I have to do something..." Akia thought to herself as she pondered on what to do.
"Ushio-senpai, please..." She went up to him and put a hand on his arm, trying her best to calm herself down and seduce him, "I'll do anything, just leave them alone."
"Anything...?" Ushio raised an eyebrow, interested in what she had just said.
"He's probably going to come up with something awful. But... What else can I do?" Akia felt her heart rate beat faster in fear of what Ushio was about to say.
"Akia! Don't be an idiot!" Jounouchi pleaded with her.
"Shut up!" She yelled back at Jounouchi, not wanting him to get hurt any more.
"Well if you do what I'm going to ask of you, I promise that I'll leave them alone... You won't even have to be my girlfriend after that," he said to her in a light tone.
"Seriously...?" She replied, not fully buying it.
"That is... if you do what I want you to do," Ushio groaned at the thought of what he was about to make her do.
"What is it? I'll do it," Akia whispered in a shaking voice, afraid of what he had in store for her.
"Take off your clothes," Ushio's voice resounded darkly.
There was a long moment of silence. Akia was horrified. She didn't know what to do. This was beyond disgusting. She couldn't do that. But then, there was Yugi... and Jounouchi... and even Honda. Akia started shaking in fear. Tears stung her eyes and threatened to come out.
"...Fine," She answered with a shaking voice.
"You sick bastard! Don't do it Akia!" Jounouchi yelled out, still not fully recovered from the beating that Ushio inflicted on him earlier.
Akia stopped listening to Jounouchi. She knew that, if she did, she wouldn't be able to go through with this.
"Well then, what are you waiting for?" Ushio ushered her.
With trembling hands, she started taking off her bow. Her head was hanging low. She couldn't face anyone in her current situation. She was too ashamed of what she was about to do. Just as she was removing her bow, a hand stopped her. She looked up and saw Jounouchi looking at her with an angry face.
"I told you not to do it," he firmly stated.
"Jounouchi..." His name escaped her mouth and her tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Who told you to stop? You're not off the hook just because of a few tears," Ushio mocked her.
Jounouchi turned to face Ushio and was welcomed with a kick to the stomach.
"Jounouchi!" Akia yelped as she kneeled down next to him as he was on the floor again, coughing.
Yugi, who witnessed some of what had unfolded, came rushing in front of his sister. He was on his way to find the missing Puzzle piece when he heard Akia screaming Jounouchi's name.
"Stop this! I won't let you hurt my friends anymore!" Yugi shouted at Ushio.
"Yugi, get out of here!" Akia warned her brother, scared that he might get hurt.
"Everyone just keeps interrupting," Ushio let out an exasperated sigh and he proceeded to beat Yugi up.
"Yugi!" Akia yelled out, "Ushio, stop it!"
She then tried to hold him back, but he was way too strong for her. He shoved her on the floor.
"Yugi! Akia!" Jounouchi called out their names.
Jounouchi then noticed that Yugi's Puzzle box had fallen out his bag and had opened to reveal an almost complete Puzzle. The only piece missing was the one that Jounouchi stole.
Jounouchi, realizing how important that Puzzle was for Yugi, gave the last piece back to him, who was lying on the floor, all beaten up.
When Yugi got it back, he immediately completed the Puzzle. Akia, Jounouchi and Honda fell into a coma as soon as that happened. When they regained consciousness, Ushio, with a crazy look in his eyes, playing with dead leaves, thinking it was money.
Little did they know that it was the work of the Spirit inside the Millennium Puzzle who challenged Ushio to a Yami no Game, a Dark Game, which resulted in Ushio's loss who then suffered psychological trauma because of it. Even Yugi himself barely understood what had happened.