Staring apprehensively up at the looming cruise ship in front of him, Kyo Yakura began to have some serious second thoughts.

Well, to be perfectly accurate, his second thoughts were just resurfacing- he hadn't stopped doubting his decision to enter Duelist Kingdom since he had agreed to do it last night. Still, actually standing in front of the thing that would take him to the island, dueling gauntlet on hand and deck in pocket, just made him realize how, well, real this was.

"I can't do this. I can't." He muttered, and promptly turned around to walk in the opposite direction.

However, no sooner had he taken five steps before a voice called out after him. "Kyo! Waitaminute! Don't you even THINK about running!"

Grumbling a muttered swear word, Kyo slowly turned around to face his tormentor: the reason he was involved in this mess, his cousin Tamao. She skidded to a halt a little in front of him, hands on her hips, as she shoved her face close to his. "You wouldn't be breaking your word now, would you, cousin dearest?"

Standing next to her was a boy just a little taller than her, his messy red hair in disarray as it always was. He chuckled a little at Tamao's antics, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Tama. He's not going anywhere."

Tama glanced over her shoulder at him. "You don't know what I went through to get him to come, Toshiro. I think my interest is well founded!" Nevertheless she straightened back up, causing Kyo to give a sight of relief.

Now that she was a least a little calmer, Toshiro turned to Kyo and waved in greeting. "I see she finally made you crack, huh?" He asked, smiling. "You don't know how excited you made her by agreeing. It was almost all she talked about yesterday."

Rolling his eyes, Kyo replied, "I can imagine. But, yeah… Your girlfriend can be ridiculously persuasive when she wants to be." Not knowing how much Tama had told him, Kyo deigned not to mention the real reason she had broke through to him; that story was one he only told when he absolutely had to.

Simultaneously blushing, Tama mumbled something in the negative in regards to the girlfriend mention, and Toshiro just laughed again. Even Kyo would admit the two were cute when they were denying the obvious.

Returning to the topic at hand he asked, "So, Toshiro, you don't duel, do you? Why are you here?"

Pleased by this change of subject, Toshiro replied, "Well, I'm known as a collector of cards- fairly well known, for that matter. I guess that merited my invitation." He held up his gauntleted hand in proof. "I'm just going as a spectator; you know, see the great duelists with my own eyes and all that." After a pause he added, almost hesitantly, "Including you, Kyo."

Kyo shrugged. "I'm not returning to dueling for the fans or fame, but thanks anyway."

Judging by Tama's glare she was about to reprimand him for being so rude, but that was when a voice came on over a loudspeaker. "Attention duelists! Boarding shall now begin for the ship that will take you to Duelist Kingdom! Please begin boarding now!"

"I'm getting in line before I change my mind." Kyo grumbled, walking towards the boat with the slightest of waves at the two of them.

They watched him go for a moment, then Tama let out a heavy sigh. "He's so… Augh. Sorry, ignore him; he might still be mad at me for making him do this."

Toshiro shook his head with a smile. "No, Tama. From the little I know about your cousin, he never does anything unless he genuinely wants to. You might've played a big role, but he wouldn't be here unless at the most basic level he wants to."

"Heh… You're probably right." Tama agreed. "I don't know anyone more stubborn than him."

Silently, Toshiro wondered what had finally convinced Kyo to come to the tournament, but he knew that that was a question for another time. Instead, he offered his arm to Tama with a grin. "Our carriage awaits, mademoiselle. Shall we go?"

---

Away from his cousin, stuck in the line of duelists waiting to board the ship, Kyo was acutely aware of how out-of-place he truly was. All of the duelists around him were so excited for this tournament, all were babbling about their various strategies, showing off their favorite and rarest cards… And then there was him, the guy who had a three-year-old strategy and hadn't gotten a new card in the same amount of time.

Who was he fooling, anyway? There was no way he stood a chance in this thing. There was no point. Some new, up-and-coming duelist would wind up winning, or some well established dueling name. Hell, he even heard that Seto Kaiba would be entering as well as some other big names. He couldn't beat them!

"If you psych yourself into thinking you shall lose before you even begin, you are doomed on all accounts."

Kyo nearly jumped out of his skin at the cold voice that penetrated his thoughts. "What the- who the hell are you?" He gasped, turning around to stare at a girl with cold purple eyes and long pitch-black hair.

"Your name is Kyono Yakura. You are a user of mainly Warrior cards, and won all the tournaments you entered three years ago. Three years ago you stopped dueling due to the death of your parents, Kenji and Ryoko Yakura, who died in a car cra-"

"Shut UP!" Kyo shouted, staring at the girl as if she were phantom, eyes wide. There was no way she could have known all that, not to mention what she had said before had been a direct answer to his thoughts- his silent thoughts.

The girl merely offered an eerie smile in response. "I am Sukia Oonishi, and I, like you, are merely in this tournament for the sake of a sibling. We have much in common."

"How…?" He asked, rubbing his arms to combat the sudden chill he felt.

"How do I know what I know? It is a curse of mine, to be able to read the thoughts of others, among other things. I apologize; you were thinking your thoughts so vehemently that I could not help but overhear. The line is moving."

Kyo jumped again, startled by how abruptly she slipped from their personal conversation to pointing out something such as that. He followed the duelist in line in front of him, but kept his gaze somewhat on the girl behind him, Sukia. There was something very, very unnerving and even unnatural about her, and Kyo did not like anyone having access to his mind without his express permission.

Once the line had come to stop yet again, he turned around to continue his conversation with the girl, but she was no longer there; instead a girl with her honey-brown hair in braided pigtails stared back at him, her eyes curious as to what was wrong with him.

"How the- I didn't take my eye off her!" He muttered, looking around rapidly for any sign of her dark hair. "She must've vanished in the blink of an eye… Uhg." He pressed his hands to his head to fend off the headache he felt forming. "Must've imagined her…"

Even he didn't believe this explanation.

A light tap on the shoulder caught his attention. "Huh? What is it- did I space out and the line started to move again?" He asked, glancing over his shoulder at the pigtailed girl once again.

"No," the girl replied, smiling. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You looked really pale a moment ago, you know."

"Huh." He replied, shrugging. "That was that girl's fault, if I didn't imagine her. It's nothing." He figured if he talked about the black-haired girl in that manner, maybe he'd come to believe it himself. He refused to believe she had gotten him so rattled.

But that goal was dashed to bits by what the pigtailed girl said next. "You mean Sukia Oonishi, right? Yeah, she can be a bit… spooky. But don't worry too much about her. I go to school with her, and I guess you could say I'm a friend of hers, too." She brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes and laughed. "You should feel flattered; she hardly ever actually starts a conversation."

Kyo couldn't fight the chills he felt, despite the sweatshirt was wearing. "Yeah… Real flattered." He shuddered. "Did you see where she went…?"

"Oh, yes. See that man over there, the one in the suit, the one in charge of boarding people? He brought her to the front of the line. Guess she's a V.I.P. or something of that nature. It's funny, I never even knew she dueled."

"Yeah…" Kyo grumbled, turning around just in time to catch a glimpse of Sukia's dark hair as she passed onto the ship.

He had turned back to the front, but he could practically feel the pigtailed girl's gaze on his back, so he turned around once again. "Do you… need something from me?"

She laughed, blushing slightly. "Uhm, no. I was just… Reminiscing. You're Kyono Yakura, right?" He nodded, wondering how it seemed everyone knew who he as, and her smile grew even brighter. "Thought so. We've dueled before, you may or may not recall. You beat me in a tournament three years ago, but you gave up the spot it qualified you for at Nationals, so I got it as the runner up. I'm just… surprised to see you here. I thought you stopped dueling?"

Giving another of his shrugs, he turned back around. "I did, but… stuff happened. Don't hold your breath, this isn't going to be my spectacular return to glory- I was never that good."

Her fist hitting him the shoulder caught him wholly by surprise, and he turned around yet again. "What the hell was that for?"

"You can't think like that! You gotta think like you're going to win no matter what!" She told him, turning away from him with a pout. "Honestly, you pessimistic types! You make me ashamed to admit I lost to you!"

"Yeah, well, don't beat yourself up. I'm a different person than I was three years ago, so don't stress about it." The line moving once again, he began to walk; this time they actually reached the entry point. Holding up his gauntleted hand, he boarded at a nod from the man in the suit, thinking that ended his conversation with the pigtailed girl.

He was wrong, to an extent. She quickly caught up with him. "Hey, a moment!"

Kyo stopped, looking over his shoulder at her as she caught up. "Yeah?"

"My name's Selia Hikoshi, and we're going to duel each other in the tournament! Oh yeah, a rematch!"

Blinking in surprise, he shrugged. "Yeah, sure, but… Why are you so passionate about it?"

Selia grinned brightly at him as she turned around, her room being in the opposite direction. "Because, I want to show you something that I think you really need to see, and the sooner you see it, the better!" With a cheerful wave over her shoulder, she was off.

Standing there, Kyo sighed heavily. "Geeze. What is with weird girls and dueling, anyway…?" He wondered aloud.

Somewhere from a little farther down the line of duelists waiting to be let on the ship, Kyo could have sworn he heard his cousin shout, 'I HEARD THAT!'

---

"I trust you find the room satisfactory, Miss Oonishi."

As soon as Sukia had entered the room she had been led to, that mocking voice once again filled her hearing. This time, however, it did not come from the television, but instead a much more normal thing; a speakerphone.

"So this is why you deigned to grant me a special room, Pegasus." She replied, removing the bag slung across her shoulders and placing it on the sofa. "So you could have an audience with me whenever you pleased."

His chuckle resounded. "So you do approve, how wonderful. Say, would you be so kind as to grant me a favor?"

Fixing a sharp glare on the source of his voice, she shook her head. "I refuse to assist you, no matter what it might be."

"What a shame… I fear it's so great a shame that some misfortune might befall this card I hold in my hands… A card with a rather flattering picture of your dear brother, Kuro."

Sukia knew instantly what that meant and gripped the back of the sofa nearest to her in her rage. "What do you want me to do?" She whispered, her voice betraying nothing.

"There is a duelist on board, one you have already had the pleasure of meeting, by the name of Kyono Yakura. I'd like you to… keep an eye out for him."

"That boy is in the same situation as I, and I do not want to do anything to him that should prevent him from finding what he seeks."

"Oh, on the contrary! What I wish for you to do will only help him, that is to say, bring him closer to his dear little sister, Reena. For you see, I want to make sure that the boy at least makes it to my castle. Not necessarily the finals, mind, but he should make it to where I am. I'd like you to assist in this manner, for no one is as good at helping while remaining invisible as you, my dear Sukia."

"Call me that in the future and I shall show you no mercy." She replied, her grip on the sofa only tightening. "But… I shall make sure the boy has the dubious 'honor' of reaching you."

"Good to hear, Miss Oonishi." The click that punctuated this sentence meant the conversation was over.

Turning around, her back to the speaker, Sukia reached in and pulled out her deck. Leafing through the cards idly, she thought to herself, 'I shall make sure he meets with you, Pegasus, but just as certainly I shall make sure that no harm falls him because of it- or his sister. I know not what games you play, but nevertheless I shall put an end to them!'

Author's Note:

Okay, yeah, don't expect updates to always be daily, but this thing is BURNING MY MIND. It practically DEMANDS to be written.

And I apologize in advance if I wind up replacing Bandit Keith with any of my characters. I don't think I need any of them to be in the official finals, but if I do it's Bandit Keith who'll be getting the boot. Still, I'm going to avoid that at all costs. While my gang will meet Yugi and co., that'll probably be later on, and the big players will be the Kaiba brothers. XD

… Actually, I think Mokuba'll show up in the next chapter. Har, I lie.