So this wasn't exactly how I wanted this to turn out, so I will make it up to you in the next chapter. Not much really is going on, except Battle City is now back on with full swing.

Battle City

Kari threw her arms out as soon as she stepped out into the sunlight. She breathed it in through a large deep breath and Mokuba smiled, taking her hand to tug her forwards. She opened her eyes and looked down at him before letting him lead the way. Since Yugi's friends had found out about Seto and her relationship, she and he had agreed to keep their distance for the rest of the tournament. The public didn't need to know and they especially didn't need to know about the whole Marik thing.

"Kari!" a female voice called after her and she spun around to see Mai Valentine running after her with a large smile on her pretty face.

"MAI!" Kari squealed and let go of Mokuba's hand to go to her, embracing her immediately. "Oh Mai, I missed you so much. I thought you were gone forever," she said into her arm. Mai tightened her grip on her best friend.

"Thanks to you, I'm not in the shadow realm. Yugi and Joey told me everything," Mai explained at Kari's curious tilt of her head.

"Everything?" Kari hesitantly asked while they pulled away from each other.

Mai caught onto her meaning and nodded. "Yes, but your secret's safe with me. However!" Mai threw her arm around her friend's shoulders and they began walking away from the blimp together. "You must tell me every single detail of how you obtained that cold hearted man's heart."

Kari busted into laughter, feeling extremely relieved that everything was all over and she could be truthful about her relationship with her friends. "Of course, after the tournament though. We have to be careful with what we say," she explained with a grin, before poking the taller woman in the side. "Plus you gotta tell me! You tell Joey how you feel?"

Mai pinked and looked away from the small blond's probing blue eyes. "I don't know what you are talking about Kari. And I'd appreciate it you'd drop it."

Kari was taken aback by her friend's snappy retort so she said nothing in return. Obviously it was a touchy subject.

Kari shivered as the wind picked up around the duelist ring set outside the duel tower. Now that Marik was gone, there was one more duelist she had to go against in order to move onto the finals. She hadn't seen him either since getting her memories back. Mokuba had been assigned to be around her the whole time, by Seto of course –since he wasn't able to be around her during the tournament—and the only person she'd seen was Mai. It was the like the group had avoided her for some reason and she sincerely hoped that the information they had uncovered about her and Seto would change their friendship. She didn't have anyone outside of the Kaiba's, besides Mai, and she had finally had some. The idea of Yugi not wanting to be friends with her anymore really hurt.

She chanced a glance in her boyfriend's direction and seemed to sense her looking at him because they caught eyes for a brief moment. Lips curling upwards at her, she felt the reassurance he was trying to give her from the sidelines. He looked away though and Kari blew out the breath she had been holding. Suddenly, the group of friends along with Mai walked up to the other side and gave her a grin. Relief flooded through her and she smiled back brightly.

Their eyes moved away from her though and she followed their gaze to see Yugi entering the dueling ring. Her heart leapt and she took a step forwards. "I thought you weren't going to show up," she admitted with a small smile.

Yugi wasn't smiling though and her heart constricted. "I would never miss a duel," he responded quietly and she had to strain her ears to hear him. He looked upset and she bit her bottom lip. Was it because of their kiss that they had shared had made him uncomfortable?

"I know," Kari said, trying to catch his eyes. "Yugi are you ok—"

"Go first," he interrupted and Kari stared at him with large eyes, wondering what was wrong. Kari sighed and figured she'd talk to him after the duel.

"Okay," she said as she slid her deck into her duel disk, Yugi doing the same to begin the duel.

The duel started and continued on like any other duel. However, Kari felt her heart wasn't in the duel and neither did Yugi. He was having a hard time looking at her because all he could see was her and Seto against the wall making out. Yami was in his ear, trying to convince him to let him take over, but Yugi wanted to do this on his own. He needed this. Or at least he thought he did.

Kari shuddered from the wind, wishing she had chosen to wear a sweater. The sun was bright but the wind was icy. It was incredibly contradicting and ironic to say the least. She wished she knew how to make Yugi feel better from whatever was upsetting him. Yugi never looked so upset and she didn't like it. It didn't fit his character. It wasn't right.

In the end, Yugi won and the cheers from the sidelines were deafening. Yugi wasn't phased by it. And Seto was smirking.

"Kari you did great!" Mai reassured her, seeing the deep frown on Kari's face as she stared at Yugi. The friends realized that it had probably offended her that they were cheering for Yugi so they piped up their cheers for Kari as well.

Kari took her cards and slid them into her box before taking her duel disk off of her arm. She handed it over to Mokuba and ran over to Yugi who was exiting the duel ring. "Yugi!" She called after him, brushing against Seto's hand that tried to grab her to pull her back. He wouldn't be able to do anything anyways, they weren't allowed to communicate.

Yugi turned just in time to see Kari stop in front of him, her hand reaching for his to make sure he didn't go anywhere. "Yugi please, are you mad at me?" she asked him.

Yugi glanced away with a painful expression. "No, I have no reason to be. I'm a little disappointed to be honest, but I knew you and Seto were together from the beginning. I knew that…you didn't have those type of feelings for me with Seto around," he explained in a small voice, feeling Yami's hand on his shoulder to comfort this difficult situation.

Kari recoiled, feeling guilty. She could remember everything. And she could remember how she had wanted to be with Yugi, how she had practically pounded on him at any given moment. She remembered when they had slept in the same bed and how she had woken up on his chest. He made her very happy but she knew that nothing could compare to how she felt for Seto. Even then, she could feel cobalt eyes on her back –assessing the situation—and she knew where her loyalty lay. But that didn't mean she didn't want to be friends with Yugi.

"I—I'm sorry Kari…I….never mind," Yugi said before turning away, breaking free of her grasp on him and mixing in with his friends to leave for the blimp. Kari took a step forwards to stop him, her eyes welling up at the realization that Yugi had feelings for her and she didn't return them the way that he wanted her to, but a small hand grabbed onto her wrist.

Glancing down at it, she saw it was Mokuba. "Come on Kari," he urged and she knew that Seto had told him to do this. "It's for the best," he tried to comfort her but Kari could feel her heart breaking. Did this mean they weren't friends anymore?

Numbly, she let Mokuba pull her back and she watched as Yugi and his friends disappeared onto the blimp for rest. The finals would be held in two hours in the duel tower between Joey, Seto, and Yugi. Battle City would be over soon. Two more duels left. She wouldn't have time to talk to him again. She didn't know how to react.

Seto watched on, trying really hard not to feel triumphant. Kari was his and she always would be. Yugi had to know that. He'd be fine. He was tough, or at least he acted that way most of the time. Battle City would be over soon, Seto would win, would have the god cards and all would be well. They all could go home and live their happy little lives. Things could go back to normal.

However the look on Kari's face as she walked away with Mokuba had him feeling guilty for feeling so happy. His insecurities about how she felt about Yugi were still present and so it was a relief to see them break off their feelings. However, he knew that Kari desperately wanted to be friends with him at least and despite the two boys' differences, after Battle City he had wanted to let Kari remain friends with Yugi. He trusted Kari to not make a mistake in their relationship enough to let her do that. So it hurt him to see Yugi betray their friendship because he had been rejected. Perhaps he should say something?

Yugi was alone in his bedroom, staring at the blank wall, trying not to picture the hurt face of Kari the last time he had seen her. He knew that he needed to get a grip and move on. But the feeling of Kari close to him, kissing him, the smell of her, and the way that he felt when they had woken up together wouldn't leave him. So it was making it difficult. The duel had been hard to do for an emotional reason and it made it worse to know that his decision on not being friends with her was the right one. It was, wasn't it?

He slid his hands down onto his face and took a deep breath, trying not to cry because he knew it wouldn't solve anything. If there was one thing that his Yami had taught him, it was to be strong in the most upsetting situations. However, this time, it was proving difficult.

"Yugi."

The low baritone voice had him straightening up and staring into red eyes. Yami was kneeling in front of him, looking within Yugi's one eyes, a frown etched upon his handsome features. He didn't need to ask him of anything, he knew how Yugi felt.

Yugi let out a shaky breath. "I made the right decision right? To not be friends with Kari?"

Yami eyed the boy in front of him. "I might not have been supportive before Yugi, but I feel like she is trustworthy and dependable. Her relationship with Kaiba is concerning, because you will always have to be on your toes with him. However, she is a good person and a good friend to you. You both care for each other very much. Perhaps being friends with her would be okay."

Yugi slumped. He had been hoping that Yami would tell him that he had been right to break it off with her. "But it's hard to see her with Seto, or to know they are together Yami. What is so wrong with me that Kari doesn't feel that way with me that she does with Seto? She was so happy without him."

Yami placed his hands on his partner's shoulders. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with Yugi. Don't ever let me hear you say that again. You are bright, beautiful, caring, and incredibly kind. You're smart and…handsome," Yami said with a little tinge of pink on his ears. He needed to be completely honest with his light. Yugi looked away with his own blush. "Yugi, you have seen how much Seto and Kari care for each other. Would you really want to disturb that?"

Yugi shook his head, a tear falling down a round cheek. Yami slid his thumb over it, wishing he could wipe it away. But Yugi understood the gesture. He sucked in a breath then sighed. "You're right Yami. As usual…" he said with a slight laugh mixed in with his miserable appearance.

Yami felt his heart speed up at the sound of his laughter and he fought with himself before letting himself say it. He'd been holding back long enough. "You know aibou, you may need to look a bit closer to what you have in front you that is more attainable than Kari Tsubaki…" his words were uncertain, as if he was trying them on for size. Yugi looked up at him with confusion and Yami felt his cheeks redden.

"What are you saying?" Yugi asked him but without another thought in his mind, Yami pulled the boy in for a kiss catching him off guard.

Eyes wide and open, Yugi watched as the spirit pressed his lips against his own, feeling the strange sensation of cool pressure. He felt a strange sliver of something he'd never felt before tingle down his spine with the kiss and as Yami pulled away ever so slowly –crimson meeting amethyst—Yugi felt frozen.

They were silent, Yugi's mouth parting slightly from shock and cheeks as red as Yami's eyes. Yami was panicking on the inside, hoping that he hadn't ruined anything between them. But on the outside, he was expressionless. He didn't want to make himself vulnerable to rejection. However his heart was definitely on his sleeve with this one.

"Please say something," Yami breathed, his blood running cold from fear.

Yugi couldn't speak and he lifted a hand to his lips, feeling the tingles that Yami's lips had caused. "You…you kissed me," he finally said and Yami tensed.

"I shouldn't have done that," Yami realized that this wasn't going anywhere. He'd ruined it. He stood up and walked away from his partner, the only one who had had his heart in his whole life.

Yugi jumped up and grabbed Yami's hand, making him stop. "Why did you kiss me, Yami?" he asked, his voice shook and his heart sped up with apprehension.

Yami swallowed and turned to look down at his light. "I thought it'd be obvious…" he muttered and looked away. "I'm sorry Yugi. I shouldn't have done that. You were already upset and I…I thought maybe you felt the same…somewhere deep down, but I realize I was mistaken."

Yugi's mind was spinning with this new information. Of course he and Yami were very close. He had never saw him as a brother or anything platonic. What had he thought of Yami? He was a very grand friend. He had felt attraction to Yami on more than one occasion….but he hadn't thought even thought of the possibility. He had been focusing on Kari since Battle City had begun and before that, he had been trying to save his Granpa. He hadn't had much time to think of Yami as anything other than his friend. He had been more than a friend hadn't he? Their tender moments they had together had definitely awoken something in Yugi's heart he couldn't exactly understand just yet. But he definitely didn't know if he could reciprocate Yami's feelings for him…

"I—Yami, please. Don't take this as a rejection," he said wobbly and his voice broke when Yami locked eyes with him. Yugi could see the hope in the red eyes. He had never seen his partner behave this nervous and vulnerable before. "I just haven't thought about….you like that. It's just a bit overwhelming."

Yami's hope died down and the disappointment along with the embarrassment returned. "Okay," Yami stated before disappearing into the puzzle. Yugi tried to feel for his partner, trying to call him back mentally, but Yami shut himself inside of his soul room and stuck the walls up around his mind to keep Yugi out. Yugi felt even worse, but with this new information, his feelings for Kari were slightly dimming. And he slowly slid down to his knees, his hands going to his head as it began to hurt with confusion.

I give complete credit to my very first reviewer for the last part of the chapter: godessisis. I wasn't sure what to do with Yugi now that Kari had her memories back and she gave me the idea for me to start pushing Yami and Yugi. (Which was the ultimate idea for them anyways as I am an avid puzzleshipper) So thanks! And I'm sorry that it took me this long to post this chapter. I had meant to yesterday, like I told you, but then I got super busy.

Next Chapter: Yugi, Joey, and Seto duel in the duel tower to eliminate of them. Seto ponders about the millennium rod. Kari gets sick of Mokuba. : ) Any ideas, let me know. I'm writing this for you all, not just me. : )

Thanks for reading! Please review!