This is cheesy and angsty, and I DON'T CARE.
Also not every random inspiration will be like, 20000 words (like Partners In Crime), this is just a oneshot.
The first thing Yuzu noticed was the sudden feeling of air underneath her.
The second was Yuya's voice crying out her name, and his arms wrapped protectively around her body.
And finally, falling, the feeling of plummeting to the ground with nothing to grab onto.
She might have screamed, but she didn't hear it.
And in an instant, everything went dark.
Beep… beep… beep… beep…
When Yuzu finally opened her eyes after god-knows how long, the first thing she noticed was the beeping noises coming from her heart-monitor.
The second was how EVERYTHING HURT.
She cried out in pain, thrashing her arms and legs about desperately. Her entire body pulsed with unimaginable pain. She couldn't focus on anything else, the pain was too great.
"She's awake!?"
"Sedatives! Now!"
Yuzu continued to scream desperately, she screamed for her father, for her friends, for… oh god, Yuya, was he okay!?
A sudden prick in her arm was added to her anguish, but thankfully, whatever she had been injected with allowed her to fall unconscious once more.
"YUYA! Yuya! Yu… ya…!" Her voice slowly died out as sleep took her into its arms once more.
Hey, at least it wasn't the arms of Death.
While the drugs kept her asleep, her mind kept replaying the moment before, well, any of this happened, again and again.
It was just another official duel, Yuzu had pushed Yuya to a corner, only for Yuya to pull another trick out of the bag and destroy her monsters, leaving her with merely 100 life points remaining.
She now hovered high up in the air, having been blasted up there by the attack, and Yuya found it necessary (to Yuzu's embarrassment) to use Odd-Eyes to jump into the air and catch her, riding on the back of his dragon the entire time.
Her face went a deep red, and the crowd went wild.
Before suddenly, the Action Field below them suddenly started to vanish, including the monster the two were riding on.
Odd-Eyes seemed to rear its head to look at its master, a look of worry in its heterochromatic eyes. It roared desperately before vanishing into the light.
"YUZU!" Yuya had yelled desperately as his dragon vanished from underneath him.
The next thing she knew, he had embraced her and put himself between her and the ground approaching quickly from beneath them.
She would then wake up right before hitting the ground, waking up and shooting into a sitting-up position in the hospital bed she had been placed in.
She felt the urge to throw-up, tears ran down her cheeks, and she managed to block out the dull pain in her body that still remained.
Yuya had sacrificed himself to protect her.
If her body had been broken this badly, what had happened to Yuya?
Her body reacted before her mind could, screaming out Yuya's name and trying to get out of the hospital bed, only to be immediately pushed back down onto the bed while she thrashed desperately to get away.
"YUYA! WHERE'S YUYA?" She screamed before she felt another prick in her arm.
"YUYA! WHERE ARE YOU!? YU…ya…" her voice trailed off as she was forced into slumber once again.
After the first fiasco, it was found necessary to strap her to her bed this time.
Mind you, it didn't stop her from trying. She fought desperately against her restraints, she had to find him, she had to make sure he was okay…
She suddenly felt large, hairy, and familiar arms wrap around her, and she instinctively relaxed.
"It's okay Baby Girl…" Said the voice of her father, Shuzo, "Daddy's here…" he said softly, Yuzu could feel the tears being held back by her father's sheer determination.
"…Dad…!" Yuzu whimpered as she sobbed into her father's embrace.
She finally calmed down enough for the doctors to take off her restraints, and allow visitors into her room.
Almost immediately after, her room was filled with the faces of people she knew. Friends, family… but no Yuya.
"Where's Yuya?" She asked immediately, the atmosphere of the room suddenly turning dark.
"Where is he!?" She said again.
She suddenly saw Yoko, Yuya's mother, in the crowd of people in her room. She looked like she had been crying for quite some time, tear lines appearing vividly in her face.
"He's in a coma, Yuzu…" Sora replied solemnly, Yuzu almost let out a sigh of relief at the fact he wasn't dead.
"But he might be brain-dead…" he continued, "There's a good chance that he'll never wake up…"
Yuzu's entire world seemed to break around her.
And she wailed desperately once more, for the boy she knew from childhood, for the boy who crossed dimensions just to save her.
As per her request, Yuzu was moved into Yuya's room, although it was more of a necessity than a request. Yuzu had pleaded desperately to be in the same room as Yuya's, but it took her neglecting all of her meals for the hospital to finally give in.
He seemed so… peaceful, really.
Yuzu had been placed close to Yuya's unconscious body, allowing her to grasp his hand in hers as the sound of constant and slow beeps filled the room, the indicators of both of their lives still being present.
"I'm sorry…" Yuzu whimpered as she clenched his hand in her own, though he didn't squeeze back. "I never should have challenged you… this is all my fault…" She whimpered.
"Please, wake up…" She said desperately, "I can't live a life where you died because of me… and I still have to tell you something…!" She said as she squeezed his hand with hers.
"I… I love you…" She whispered quietly.
She could have sworn she felt his hand twitch, but in the end, it was just her imagination.
After a month of recovery, Yuzu found herself put into physical therapy in order to walk again, though Yuya still had yet to wake up.
There was a fear that even if-no when Yuya woke up, he would be paralyzed beyond helping, and therefore unable to participate in action duels properly.
Yuzu's heart broke at the thought, Action Dueling was everything to him…
She constantly wished that she could do something, do something instead of just holding his hand every hour of the day. Something that could wake him up.
But in the end, she was just a badly injured girl who could do nothing but pray to whatever gods had allowed this to happen. Ironic, isn't it?
The trauma ran deep, and Yuzu found that she now had a fear of heights.
She hoped that she would get over it one day, but for now, simply standing at the top of some stairs caused her body to tense up as memories of that day flashed through her mind.
Trauma sucked.
She also couldn't help but feel bad when she requested that Yuya's counterparts, Yuri, Yuto, and even Yugo, be kept away from her room. They resembled Yuya too much, she remembered Yugo gently shaking her awake one morning, and bursting into tears as she thought that Yuya had woken up, and was now waking her up as well.
Regardless, her wishes were apparently understood and respected by the boys, and she hadn't seen them in the past few weeks.
In a way, she longed for them to visit her, just to let her see the face of Yuya with his eyes open. But in the end, the sadness that came after realizing that it WASN'T Yuya looking at her, but one of his counterparts made it pointless.
This feeling was worse than when they were separated into different dimensions, at least then, they knew that they were somewhere.
This time, however, was completely different.
Yuya was right here, right next to her.
Yet she might never see him again.
Yuzu could now walk with the help of crutches, and with Yuya in her mind, decided to try and smile again.
She figured that maybe if she kept positive, Yuya's own positive soul would respond somehow.
She was delusional, and she knew it.
Still, it was good to keep hope in one's heart.
It had been two months, almost three, since the accident.
Being discharged from the hospital didn't exactly stop Yuzu from spending every day next to Yuya's bedside. But being able to walk normally again also allowed her to duel, so she did find time to practice again. Whether it was dueling against someone like Sora or Masumi.
She remembered looking at Yuya's deck one day and seeing his prized Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon inside. Somehow, the image in the card looked as sad as her, it's usually shining eyes looking dull and downcast.
She decided to borrow it, somehow feeling as though it was the right thing to do.
The shine in its eyes remained dull, but she felt as though it had brightened ever so slightly when she first summoned it during a practice duel.
"Yuya will wake up… I know it…" she said as she held the card in front of her, "So just be patient, okay?" She continued.
She didn't know if she was talking to herself, or to the card. Either way, the meaning remained the same.
"I'm sorry to inform you… but we've diagnosed him as brain-dead…" the voice of a doctor said to Yuya's parents.
Yoko could hardly hold back the tears, and Yusho could only grip his wife's shoulder as he tried to stay strong for the family.
"No, he can't be…" Yuzu spoke up, "He isn't, he can't be brain-dead!" Her voice began to rise in volume.
"It's been too long… and he's shown no signs of life for this entire time…" the doctor said solemnly, Yuzu shook her head, her eyes beginning to water. "This is Yuya we're talking about! He isn't gone! He can't be!" She continued.
The doctor sighed and turned his attention back to Yuya's parents, "Right now, you have two options…" he said, "You can keep him on life support, which will not only be pointless. But a large drain on yourselves…" he explained, "or you can pull the plug here… and allow him to rest…" he finished.
"No…!" Yuzu gasped, "He's not gone… he's right here… he's right here…" She whimpered as she clutched his hand with her own.
"You don't have to decide right now…" The doctor said as he began to leave the room, "I'll give you all some time…" he said before closing the door behind him.
"Yuya… please…!" Yuzu cried into his side, "You have to wake up… you have to wake up soon…!" she sobbed.
"We can't… we can't let him die…!" Yuzu exclaimed as she and her friends and family sat around Yuya's unconscious body, his parents at the center.
"Yuzu…" Shuzu started to say, "Do you really think this is what Yuya wants? To lay here for the rest of his life as a vegetable?" He asked.
"He won't be here for the rest of his life! He's going to wake up! I know it!" She said firmly.
"Please, Yuzu…" Gongenzaka spoke up, "Remove yourself from the bias of your heart and think… what would Yuya want?" He asked.
Her mind suddenly flashed to a time of her childhood. When she and Yuya were still small children, oblivious to the problems of the world.
"Hey, Yuya…"
"Yeah, Yuzu?"
"Why are you always late?"
"Er… I sleep in… a lot…"
"…Seriously?"
"What! I like my sleep!"
"You need to stop being such a lazy bum!"
"Hmph!"
"Yuya!"
"Whatever! It's not like I'm gonna spend my entire life in bed, so why do you care?"
"Because we're friends!"
"Hmph…!"
"HMPH!"
"Oh, relax Yuzu… I always get up eventually!"
"Yeah, EVENTUALLY"
"Yeah! Staying in bed all day is boring after all! I'd never do that!"
Yuzu broke down into tears as the memory played through her head.
Gongenzaka gave her a small smile, "It hurts me too, Yuzu…" he said softly, "but you know it as well as I…" he said calmly.
"H-He… wouldn't want this…!" Yuzu finished as tears poured down her cheeks.
The realization of this fact seemed to plunge Yuzu back into despair once again.
"Are you ready?" The voice of the doctor seemed to echo in Yuzu's ears.
"…Yes…" Yoko said, her voice cracking.
The doctor slowly bent down behind the life-support system.
"No… no… please, god… no…!"
Beep… Beep… Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…
"NOOOO!" Yuzu wailed as the sound of steady beeps, the confirmation that Yuya was still alive, became a single, long noise that signaled despair.
He was dead… he was dead… He. Was. Dead.
She couldn't help but wail as she held threw her arms around the boy, the boy that she had loved since she was eleven.
He was gone… completely gone… dead…
She felt as though her smile had gone with him.
This was her fault, wasn't it? She was the one who had barged in one day and challenged him to a duel. She was the one who had, to entertain the crowd, taken their duel into the sky. She was the reason he had taken the brunt of the fall for her.
It was her fault.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…!" She wailed as tears continued to fall.
…eeeeeeeeeeeeeeep… Beep… Beep… Beep…
Her heart skipped a beat, she gasped as her head shot up to look at the heart-rate monitor above Yuya's head.
He had been taken off of life-support, his heart-rate had flatlined… and yet…
"He's alive…!" She gasped as her smile returned to her face.
"I can't believe it…" The doctor muttered as the family around him took sighs of relief.
"…uzu… Yuzu…"
Everyone in the room fell silent again.
Yuya's lips were moving ever-so-slightly, words seeming to come out of them.
"Not… your fault…" he whispered as his eyelids began to flutter open.
"Aha…!" Yuzu gasped out, tears gushed down her face, but a smile was etched on her face as well.
He slowly turned his head to look at her.
"…Hey…" he muttered softly.
"YUYA!"
In a single instant, Yuya not only found himself wide-awake but also crushed by the giant group-hug instigated by his massive group of friends.
"O-Ow, hey guys… OW! OW!" Yuya exclaimed as he found himself crushed underneath the weight of his parents AND his friends.
"Yuya… Yuya…!" Yuzu sniffled as she held him as tight as she could, as though she was afraid to let go again.
"Yuzu… so you are safe… I wasn't just hearing things…" Yuya mumbled as he rubbed the top of her head.
"I knew… I knew it… I always…!" She stuttered before Yuya suddenly put a hand under her chin and had her look at him.
"I love you too…" he said softly.
Yuzu blushed, "You… you heard that?" She asked nervously.
Yuya chuckled, "A lot of it is a blur… but I heard everything…" he replied with a smile.
Yuzu's body seemed to react on instinct alone as she lunged forward and kissed him.
"Oh my…" Yuri piped from behind everyone.
"Don't… worry me like that again… idiot…" Yuzu mumbled as she buried her face into his chest to hide her reddening face.
"I'll try…" Yuya replied with a grin.
After a whole fiasco of doctors examining Yuya, trying to find out how exactly he woke up after being taken off of life-support. Then followed by the same type of physical therapy Yuzu had gone through, though considerably harder considering the fact that Yuya had undergone even more muscle atrophy than Yuzu did.
But finally, he was discharged from the hospital.
When he walked out of the hospital, his friends and family were all waiting outside, but ahead of them all was Yuzu.
"Hey," Yuya said as he walked up to her.
"Hey…" Yuzu replied.
"So…" Yuzu continued after a moment of silence, Yuzu had been too embarrassed to look him in the eye since he woke up, much less hold a conversation. "You heard me… while you were asleep?" She asked.
Yuya scratched the back of his head, "Well… it was a bit of a blur most of the time… but yeah," he responded, "I heard you"
Yuzu's face went red, she had talked about a lot of things to Yuya while he was asleep, and it was only them in the room. Some things, she would have normally been too embarrassed to talk about.
Of course, it was usually under the impression that Yuya couldn't hear her.
"I-I have something for you…" Yuzu mumbled as she took out the Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon card, its eyes had its old shine back in it.
Yuya smiled, "Thanks for taking care of it!" He said as he took the card from her, "Come to think of it… we never finished our duel, did we?" He asked.
"I mean… I guess we didn't…" she replied nervously.
Yuya suddenly laughed, "Yeah, we'll have to try that again, and maybe without the whole life-threatening accident happening!" He said cheerfully.
"Y-Yeah…" Yuzu mumbled.
Yuzu suddenly herself being pulled right up to Yuya's chest, she gasped at the sudden contact.
"Why are you so nervous?" He whispered, "I told you… I love you too…" he said softly.
"But… if it wasn't for me… you wouldn't have…" Yuzu tried to say before being cut off.
"I told you…" Yuya interrupted, "It isn't your fault… it never was…"
Yuzu let out a small gasp, "Thank… thank you…" she mumbled as Yuya held her close.
And with that, Yuzu raised her head as Yuya leaned forward, and they kissed.
They had been lucky, and they had nearly lost each other for good this time.
It was a tragedy, followed by a miracle.
I might be really fucking angsty right now, but I still have enough Cliché-Cheesiness to make this Cliché story have a Cliché happy ending.
Melodious: OddEyes, have you gotten sleep recently?
OddEyes: Yeah, totally, why?
Melodious: You look tired...
OddEyes: SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK
OddEyes will now be taking a short break to recharge his batteries, or not, honestly, nobody can control him if he wants to write, so just pray that this man sleeps.