Hello there! Since there was a large amount of feedback on this story when I published it a few weeks ago, I've decided to update it before my other two fanfics, Heir to Hellsing and Through Another's Eyes. Before I get into the chapter itself, though, I'd like to give some thanks:

To Resha Tsubaki, HeroOfFate, and Hinata001 for adding this to their Story Alerts. Cookies!

To Hinata001 and GetsuRoze for adding this to their Favorite Story list. Again, more cookies and thank-yous!

And to the reviews! Hearing you guys give feedback is one of the best things about writing! Thank-yous to Resha Tsubaki, Happyreader (), Kiyuzanova, and GetsuRoze. Cake to all!

And now, to the story. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL or anything else relating to Yu-Gi-Oh. If I did, then Yuma would've lost his duel with III and...this would be a story arc in the anime.

Chapter 2

Old Friends and New Beginnings

Yuma yawned, sliding into his seat. He'd grabbed a coffee on his way to school; he'd been up all night pondering why someone would send him his old Deck. He'd finally drifted off to sleep sometime around two or three in the morning, and he was still groggy as his alarm had gone off at seven. "What's up with everyone?" he mumbled sleepily as he slipped in beside Tōya.

"We're getting a couple new students, apparently." The burly faux-blonde said. "Rumor's going around they're from out of town. Think you might know them?"

Yuma shook his head, taking a gulp of his coffee. "I don't have any family left, remember?" He replied.

"Just asking," Tōya said, crossing his arms. "Well, we'll be finding out who they are soon enough…." He nodded his head to the clock.

Glancing up to see the time, Yuma set his coffee aside so he wouldn't bump it and rushed to get his books and pencil out. English was the first class of the day…and frankly, he sucked. It was of those classes he wished he could skip, if only it wasn't for the fact that Tōya would track him down and make his life hell if he did skip it.

The teacher entered the room, and the students bowed and gave their usual greeting. Hayashi-sensei, their teacher, clapped his hands to get the noise level down as everyone took their seats again. "Right. I'm pretty sure you guys have been hearing about the new students joining us today," he said. "I know, normally students start at semester, but these two were quite adamant about beginning as soon as possible."

As Hayashi-sensei was speaking, the two students in question—a boy and a girl, both around Yuma's age—entered the classroom. They hadn't said their names, but Yuma recognized them both right away. He couldn't believe his eyes…he was so riveted on the two figures (especially the girl) that he didn't hear Tōya or Zei asking what was up.

"…both from Heartland." Hayashi-sensei finished. He nodded to the two students.

The girl spoke first. Like the rest of the girls, she had on the red blazer and light blue skirt with her uniform, which was perfect. A pink, oval-shaped D-Pad was on her arm. Her amber eyes were still the same, and her hair had grown out and was now tied back in a long green ponytail, though she'd filled out since Yuma had last seen her…then again, four years had passed. She gave the class a smile and casual salute. "I'm Mizuki Kotori, nice to meet you all!" She said brightly. Yuma's heart skipped several beats as he heard her voice; it had matured with the rest of her.

The boy on the other hand was leaning up against the chalkboard and, unlike Kotori, hadn't bothered to write his name on the board. Another familiar face…though Yuma couldn't decide if he was friendly or not. Probably not, judging by the surly aura around him. He had the blue blazer and pants of the uniform, though he hadn't bothered with the tie and the top two buttons on his shirt were undone and his backpack was slung over one shoulder. His purple hair hadn't changed at all; it still looked like an octopus was on his head. "Kamishiro Ryoga," he said simply, not opening his eyes. If he did, Yuma knew that they'd still be in the perpetual glare they always were. His D-Pad was the same, and the shark's tooth pendant was still around his neck. Having said his name, Yuma heard whisperings from several of the girls.

"I don't effing believe this," Zei said. "The Asia champ is in our class?" His look of dumbstruck changed quickly to excitement. "Hey, Yuma! Got a pen I could borrow? Please?"

Yuma looked over at his friend. "I thought that IV guy was the Asia champ," he said as Zei rushed to pull a blank paper out of his notebook.

Zei shook his head. "Where've you been for the past four years, Yuma? Ryoga 'Shark' Kamishiro has been the Asia champ since the World Duel Carnival! He beat the snot out of IV back then!" He replied excitedly. Tōya handed the flipping-out Zei a pen with a sigh. "He's held onto the title ever since; nobody can touch that guy in a Duel!"

"Er…I don't follow dueling that close," Yuma said, blinking at Zei's enthusiasm. Hayashi-sensei had shown Kotori and Shark where they could sit until they got permanent spots. That route brought Kotori to the front row, where Yuma could see the back of her head. Shark kept on going; apparently his temporary seat was in back.

As he passed, Zei tried asking for an autograph, but it came out as a weird squawk. He wouldn't have gotten it anyway; the glare Shark gave him was so full of venom Yuma was surprised the surfer was till breathing. What got Yuma was when Shark came to the row he was in.

The purple-haired duelist slowed only slightly, studying Yuma. He made brief contact with his one-time-rival's sapphire eyes, then looked back to his desk. It's just a coincidence; you're just imagining things. He thought.

Once Shark had taken his seat at the back of the class, Tōya was nudging Yuma in the arm. Yuma looked up. "Hm?"

Tōya pointed at Yuma's desk. There was a perfectly folded note lying on top of his English book. Yuma picked it up and read it:

Meet me on the roof after class. You've got a LOT of explaining to do, Tsukumo.

-Shark

Zei groaned. "Seriously? Why didn't you tell me that you knew him?" He asked in a whisper, clearly jealous.

"I don't want to talk about it," Yuma said, turning his book to the right page. When he saw Zei's glare, he added, "Seriously, drop it, Zei. I really don't want to talk about it."

Zei shrugged. It was a simple expression, but it told Yuma volumes. Summed up, it translated as you're soooo explaining later.

Yuma sighed as class began. He tried to focus, but the fact that his closest friend and biggest rival were in the room with him made it rather hard to concentrate.

000

When Yuma made his way up to the roof for break, he saw that Shark and Kotori were already there. Kotori was looking out over the city, with her back to him. Shark on the other hand was standing with his arms crossed, the glare fixed on his face. "What the hell is wrong with you, Tsukumo?" He demanded once Yuma closed the door.

"Hi to you too," Yuma said, striding up to face Shark. It looked like Yuma wasn't the only one to have changed in the past four years; Shark had as well. He was still skinny, but now he planes of his face were harder, not as boyish as they used to be. He also had a couple inches of height on Yuma now.

Shark tapped a finger against his arm. "What the hell happened to make you leave Heartland?" He asked. "Do you want to know what happened when you left your Numbers behind?"

"Don't know, don't care." Yuma said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "But you're going to tell me anyway."

"Damn right; Kaito was about to break into your place when he'd gotten word you'd gone AWOL." Shark said. "You left everything behind, Tsukumo; the Numbers, that key of yours, even your Deck. What makes it worse is that you didn't tell anyone."

Yuma fixed Shark with a glare of his own. "Maybe because I didn't want anyone to know where I went." He said, a hint of menace coloring his tone. "And I sure as hell didn't want to bring anything with that reminded me of Heartland. I was getting on perfectly fine here, and now you guys have shown up. Thanks for ruining everything, Shark."

Shark scoffed. "Something's been shoved up your ass, all right." He said. "And I thought I was supposed to be the one with attitude problems. Yeesh, Tsukumo; what cactus did you land on this morning?"

"I didn't land on anything," Yuma replied, keeping his voice as even as possible. "I've already told you; I didn't tell anyone where I went because I didn't want anyone to know where I was." He took a deep breath. "I want no more connections to Heartland or the Numbers, plain and simple. And I sure as hell don't need any reminders about Astral—"

"Ah hah," Shark said, slowly. He uncrossed his arms and took a step closer to Yuma, so they were almost nose-to-nose. "That's what this is about, then; what happened to Astral." He said. "So instead of facing the truth, you ran away. If that's your 'kattobingu', then I'm sorry I considered you a duelist at all. If running away is what you do, then you're more of a coward than anything."

"Shut up, Shark." Yuma growled. "I'm not a coward."

"Guys, stop it." Kotori said. She'd turned around while he and Shark were trading barbs, and she was now glaring at the both of them. "Preferably before you two start swapping fists."

Neither boy was listening. "Not a coward? Then what do you call running for the hills when Astral was killed?" Shark asked, his face set and his eyes icy. "Or better yet; if you're not a coward, why'd you leave the Numbers behind? I thought that even without Astral you would've kept on collecting them." He snorted. "You were probably too afraid you'd lose now that he was gone…."

Yuma didn't reply…well, not verbally. He let out with a yell of rage and plowed his fist into the side of Shark's face. "No! You two idiots!" Kotori shouted, but before she could intervene Yuma was about to nail Shark with another punch.

Shark blocked the punch and returned one of his own, hitting squarely on Yuma's nose, breaking it. As Yuma was trying to recover himself, Shark got him with another punch to the side of his face, then grabbed him by the collar and shoved him up against a wall. "I've got half a mind to bash your head in right now, Tsukumo." He said through gritted teeth. "Don't go taking out your failings on me or Kotori. The both of us came here to track down you, idiot."

Yuma blinked. "Bwuh?"

"He's right, Yuma." Kotori said, coming up to them. "Shark, let him down; I think the broken nose did enough damage."

Shark grunted but let Yuma down. "Not as much as I'd like to do to his head," he growled.

Yuma started to say something, but Kotori shut him up with a look. "Don't start again, you two." She said. She shook her head and sighed. "I swear, I'm never going to understand why guys are such idiots."

"Seeing as I'll never understand why you insisted on coming…" Shark mumbled, which earned him a whack upside the head from Kotori. "Ouch!"

"You're as bad as Yuma, I swear." She sighed. She strode up to Yuma, pushing Shark out of the way. "You didn't really leave because of Astral…did you?"

Yuma shifted uncomfortably. He wanted to lash out at her, but he couldn't. "I…I couldn't stand dueling after that." He replied. "It wasn't that I was afraid I'd lose, it was more like…" he shook his head. "Nevermind. But, Kotori, you're a Duelist now?"

Kotori nodded. Shark snorted. "Right…I'm gonna beat it before you two get mushy and I puke. See ya," he left them alone on the roof, and Yuma stuck his tongue out at him as a sendoff.

"Before you ask, no, I'm not going out with him." Kotori replied. "To be honest, Tetsuo wanted to come too…but since his grades were getting hectic—and they still need a duelist back home, since there's still Numbers loose—he had to stay behind. But, as to your question, I started dueling seriously after you ran away." She pulled something on a pendant out from under her shirt. "Shark took up searching for the Numbers then; it turns out that once someone has been possessed by one of them, it doesn't happen again. Well, not easily at least. I convinced him to let me have this on the way here."

Kotori handed it to him. Kotori handed it to him. Yuma didn't have to open his hand to know what it was; the last memento his father had given him, back when he was a kid.

"The Emperor's Key?" He asked. "This means that you sent me my old Deck…right?"

Kotori frowned. "Someone sent you your Deck?"

Now it was Yuma's turn to be confused. "You didn't know?"

She shook her head. "No. Why'd someone send you your Deck, anyway?" She asked. "None of us did; we didn't know where you were living. You didn't even leave a note for your grandma and sister, idiot."

Yuma winced at her words. If his friends hadn't send him his Deck, then who had? He shook off the question. "Anyway, what kind of Deck do you have now?"

Kotori laughed and gave him a wink. "If I told you then it wouldn't be any fun." She said. Yuma opened his mouth to protest, but Kotori silenced him with a hand. "Don't. I know full well that you won't tell me what Deck you're using these days, so I won't tell you mine either. By the way…" She opened her deck box and searched in it. "Oh, c'mon, I know I had it here somewhere…."

"What're you blabbering about?" Yuma asked.

Kotori waved her hand at him to shut up. "Just a sec…Oh no…. That's way not good."

"What's not good?" Yuma asked.

Kotori shook her head. "Nevermind; it was nothing." She replied as the bell rang. "See you in class!"

Yuma blinked, seeing her go. Same old Kotori, he thought, shaking his head. He looked down to see the second surprise in as many days.

Kotori had given him his Emperor's Key.

Yuma's heart raced. She'd kept the Key all this time. Was she waiting for him to come back to Heartland, or looking for a chance to get to him? Either way, holding the Key in his hand, he knew that something was going to happen. He closed his fist around the pendant and closed his eyes.

"Astral…."

000

"He has WHAT?"

Damien winced. His master was in a sour mood today. "He's got the Emperor's Key, Master." He said, taking a step back.

"Do not retreat from me!" his master said, closing the distance between them. He gripped Damien's shirt with one hand and slammed him against the wall. "You were supposed to prevent him from retrieving the Key! It is our way into the Astral World, now that that entity is gone!" He sent an electric shock through Damien's body. "Four years, all down the drain. And it's because of you fool!"

He turned away, letting Damien drop to the ground. "Master, I am sincerely sorry." He said. He gulped, not wanting to be the bearer of even more bad news, but he had no choice. "I have more to report, Master."

His master turned. "What now? Is it another failure?"

"No," Damien knew it wasn't a success…but it wasn't a failure either. More like a statement of fact. "The boy has been joined by a Numbers Hunter."

"Tenjou Kaito?" His master asked.

Damien shook his head. "No, Master. Kamishiro Ryoga."

His master pondered this question for several long seconds. "Interesting…you may leave, Damien." He said. Damien nodded and ran for the doors, grateful to be out of his master's presence.

The figure Damien had been talking to turned to face his throne, deep in thought. "Kamishiro Ryoga, a Numbers Hunter." He murmured. "He should be easy enough to get out of the picture, especially since he wasn't chosen by Astral as a Numbers Hunter…."

So Ryoga and Kotori enter the picture, as does the Emperor's key. What happens next? I'm not gonna tell until the next chapter! Keep reading, everyone!

~HikariHellion