Shingo ran, hoping to buy some time before his attacker caught up, but he knew in the end his struggle would be futile. Still he was the type of coward to run until there was nowhere left to go, so he ran as fast as he could.
"Tsk,so predictable," In a flash, his opponent jumped on her monster and flew ahead to block his path. "It's been fun, but I think my little prisoner will have to return to his cell soon."
Shingo glanced around frantically, praying an action card would materialize. However none heeded his call. An already hopeless situation was looking more and more hopeless. Luckily he had one last ace up his sleeve.
"It seems that you have me in a pickle, but I won't give up just yet!" He made the signal and his beloved ace came flying out into the action.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" With those magic words, all spotlights were on the one and only Yuya Sakaki as he rode across on Hip Hippo. "The evil villain has cornered our handsome prince. He has no monsters on his field at the moment, and if he loses, she'll keep him prisoner forever! Not all hope is lost, though. I, the brave hero, have come to save the day." He joined Shingo and they raised their duel disks to challenge Yuzu.
"Hahaha!" Yuzu gave her signature villainous if hammy laugh. "You think another victim for me to defeat is gonna have any effect? I'm not some run-of-a-mill villain, I'm the Evil Witch of Fusion! Bane of do-gooders like you guys."
"Witch? That means you're just a mere mortal, one we can overpower," Shingo sneered. He turned to face Yuya, not even having to get into role. "You ready to do this?"
Yuya beamed brighter than the sun, "Of course!"
"The fun has just begun!" They spoke in unison, and the crowd went wild. Still they were quickly forgotten. Shingo even managed to forget Yuzu. It was just him and Yuya like it should be.
They defeated Yuzu pretty easily. She insisted it was because she knew the audience wanted a happy ending, but she was obviously just jealous of the great duo they made, better than Yuya and her had been. After the duel, she made some last attempts at being intimidating before 'dying' and then Yuya and him had the big kiss. Then just like that, things were over, and the students of You Show came swarming around Yuya. They were much more starstruck by him then their familiar teacher, Mr. Sawatari, so he decided to be a decent human being and help Yuzu up.
"Thanks," She smiled as she took his hand. "Great performance today!"
"I'd expect nothing less of myself," Shingo pretended to focus on his nails so he wouldn't have to look her in the eye. "Still we should probably upgrade the script soon."
Yuzu rolled her eyes. "Jesus, Shingo, we're entertaining eight year-olds, not the members of high society. I thought we had already discussed this."
"Still as a teacher, I know, personally, the students think the story is kinda shallow."
"It's not about the story though! They want something intricate then they should read a book instead of watching us duel."
"The least we could do is give the Evil Witch of Fusion a backstory and-" He was interrupted by the sight of Yuya approaching them.
"Great job, team!" He smiled so brightly, Shingo's cold, salty heart melted. "It seemed like the kids loved it!"
"I thought so. You were amazing this duel!" Yuzu leaned in and pecked the side of Yuya's check, causing them to both giggle.
And just like that, the bitterness was back and more intense then ever.
"Also congrats on the engagement," Yuzu turned to him and spoke like they hadn't had their disagreement less than five minutes ago. He was so surprised by the sudden change in attitude that it took him a beat to even process her words.
"Thanks Yuzu," Yuya spoke for him as he held his left hand up. "Look at how nice our rings are!" She moved to hold his hand, but before she could, Shingo shoved his let hand in her face.
"Yes bask in the glory of the brilliant Masumi crafting. Of course they usually deal with gems but my father was able to pull a few strings and commissioned these for us. Their design is perfectly divine, so elegant with that smooth gold. Aren't you seething with jealously?" He shot her the smuggest grin as he snaked an arm around Yuya possessively.
"Uh, no?" Yuzu looked taken aback by his enthusiasm. "It's nice, but I'm not the biggest jewelry gal."
"Even then, you must be so heartbroken you are still single and alone without anyone to wake up next to everyday like I will with my incredible handsome and sexy husband-to-be."
"Are you talking about Yuya?" She laughed so hard she was almost on the verge of tears. "He has the sex appeal of a sponge. If anything you guys should be jealous you're not getting this fine piece of ass."
"Eh I don't care about being sexy, as long as I'm cute," Shingo knew Yuya was trying to distract him from his little spat with Yuzu, but unfortunately it always worked when he exploited his biggest weakness.
"You're definitely the cutest duelist around," He leaned in and pecked his cheek where Yuzu had.
"Hey, Yuya!" Ayu join the trio on the stage, hanging onto Yuya's other arm much to Shingo's annoyance. "Yay, I finally found you! The Youth Arc League Championship is coming up and I need to test my new strategy against you ASAP! I'm not losing in the finals again this year."
"No prob!" Yuya replied before turning back to face Shingo. "Sorry, but duty calls."
"I understand," He let go of Yuya a little too quickly. "Go entertain the small child." Shingo was ready to leave with them, however Yuzu grabbed his jacket and stopped him from leaving.
"Wait a sec, lover boy, we need a talk."
"I don't want to talk with a woman who-" A glare from her stopped his insult dead in its tracks. "Hmph, fine I guess."
Yuzu waited a few seconds to be sure Yuya was out of earshot before starting her long-dreaded speech. "Look you obviously got some jealousy issues since you're so threaten by the fact I'm his best friend and we're affectionate, but that's your problem. Neither me nor Yuya is gonna change so fix whatever you have going on before the wedding day," Just when Shingo was sure she was planning on insulting him even further, blue eyes softened. "That said, you managed to bring his smile back after everything we went through, so I'll always be grateful to you for that."
"What?" Shingo couldn't help himself. He had been pretty sure she had never forgiven him for the way he acted during those embarrassing middle school years.
"Don't get me wrong, Yuya could do so much better than you. I don't understand his taste. Still Dad trusts you enough to work with the You Show kids, and you have grown up a lot. Let's just say you graduated from garbage to premium, recyclable trash," Yuzu didn't even try to stifle her giggles.
Shingo already had a comeback on his tongue, but he quickly realized this was her attempt at making friends or whatever. Weird, but he supposed he could play a long.
"I'm fine with being garbage as long as he responsible and takes me out," To his surprise she found these even funnier and started to kneel over with laughter.
"Definitely not the worst choice," She sighed once she caught her breath. I'm sure Yoko will be delighted to have you in her family," Shingo let himself relax a little, however he chose the worst possible moment. "Still if you cheat on him, if you betray him, if you hurt him in any way, I'll castrate you myself," Her voice turned deadly as steel. Shingo couldn't help but flinch at the raw intensity of her statement. Still he wouldn't show someone like her any weakness.
"Same goes to you. My relationship with him is just as important as yours and I will not stand for you hurting him either." Instead of being intimidating, Yuzu seemed to relax.
"Good. We'll both be looking out for him. That's a bigger number than it used to be."
What a strange situation. Shingo doubted he would ever befriend Yuzu, however it seemed they had struck up a partnership of sorts. The Handsome Prince and the Evil Witch of Fusion would work together to protect the Brave Hero they both adored.
A.N. Jealous Shingo is best Shingo, also I headcanon Yuya as asexual so yes Shingo did make a pun at the beginning