Hey, guys! Like I mentioned in the last chapter, this will NOT be a dueling chapter. Instead, we're going to focus more on Mitsumi's perspective, so this is like a day before her final, official duel takes place. That also means that next chapter will be the final official duel for Mitsumi's qualifications!

Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh series, only the OCs.

"Oh, I see!" said Mitsumi, talking to Yuya on her D - Pad. "So, you managed to win your duel, huh? I guess tomorrow will be your final duel before you're finally qualified to enter the tournament. Good job! As for me, it's the same. If I manage to win tomorrow's official duel, then I'm good to go, too!"

"How'd you manage to win so far, anyways? I mean, not that I doubt your skills, but..."

"Oh, I just got...really, really lucky. You said you struggled with your duels, right? Well, if that's the case, then compared to my duelists, yours were a lot tougher than mine."

Of course, that comment was another one of Mitsumi's lies just to butter up to Yuya and give him a slight bit of encouragement. In reality, perhaps a few of Mitsumi's opponents were tougher than Yuya's opponents, considering one of them, namely Clover, used to be a Junior Pro Duelist just like her.

"Well, I'm gonna meet up with everyone else later today...except, Gongenzaka. He said that he'll be real busy during the tournament, and I don't wanna disturb him. Wanna join up with me?"

Mitsumi glanced at her watch and shook her head. "Oh, no thank you. I've still got to take care of Grandma. I still have to do some shopping and cook up tonight's dinner."

"Man, I wish I could eat dinner with you, Mitsumi!~ Your cooking is always delicious! Er...Don't tell my Mom that, or she'll kill me."

Mitsumi gigged as she collected some vegetables from the vegetable aisle. "Don't worry, I won't."

"By the way, what kind of duel did you go through today? I had to face some Ritual user girl named Mieru."

"Oh, another Ritual user? Just like me!"

"...Hey, yeah! Huh, I guess Ritual Summoning isn't that common around these parts. Sorry, I kinda forgot you used Ritual Summoning, Mitsumi."

"No, it's alright, Yuya. Hmm...For me...I had to participate in a Tag Team duel."

"I thought official duels were only one-on-one? Oh, well. So, who happened to be your partner."

Mitsumi didn't even bother faking nor hiding her annoyance. "...Sawatari-san."

"Oh...Oh! ...Oh. I am so sorry for you."

'You have NO idea!' Mitsumi wanted to say. Instead, she brightened up her expression, and with a fake, chirpy tone, said, "No, no! It's alright! I'm okay! He didn't bother me...too much this time. Actually, he was much more impressive and stronger than before!"

"Hmm...Mitsumi, just say the word and I'll confront that jerk! I'd tell him to leave you alone, but...You know how stubborn he can be."

'You'd think after the high number of rejections I've given him, he'd learn a thing or two. God I wish I threw him off that Action Field earlier,' Mitsumi thought, annoyed. "P-Please don't hurt him, Yuya! I don't really love him like that, but I don't want to see him get hurt."

"Oh, don't worry. Yuzu and Gongenzaka will happily take up that offer. ESPECIALLY YUZU."

'You have no idea how much I want that. Actually, you have no idea how much I want to JOIN her with that,' Mitsumi though, wearing an evil smirk at the evil. "Well, even if that's the case, I'd still stop them. I don't want to see Sawatari-san get hurt." 'I totally do.'

"Mitsumi, you're too kind for your own good...Well, the offer still stands if you want to join me and the others. If you see Gongenzaka on your way back home, say hi to him for us!"

Mitsumi nodded. "Okay, I will! See you, Yuya!" She hung up and headed to the next aisle to grab some flour. 'If Yuya does win his final match, maybe I'll make one of his favorite desserts as a reward! Hmm...But he's got so many favorites, that it's hard to choose! Ugh! I can't reach the top of this! Oh, why does the flour always have to be at one of the taller sections?'

Suddenly, the flour was yanked away from her fingers and handed to her. Mitsumi turned and saw that it was Hokuto, one of the three duelists that came to You Show Duel School for that three-person competition after the whole Yuto and Shingo incident. She always remembered him being that XYZ user that dueled against Yuya and lost.

Right besides him was the also another one of the three duelists, Masumi. As Mitsumi recalled, Matsumi was that Fusion user who fought against Yuzu using her Gem - Knight Fusion deck. Out of the three duelists, Mitsumi kinda liked her because she seemed very sharp and observant, just like her.

"Oh...Thank you," said Mitsumi, receiving the flour bag from Hokuto. "Can...Can I help you two with something?"

"Actually, not me. Masumi was the one who wanted to talk to you," replied Hokuto, pointing to his stern-faced friend.

"...I'm not the only one who wants to smack Sawatari in the face."

"Eh?" Hokuto and Mitsumi stared at Masumi, dumbfounded at what she said. "W-What?"

"Next time you try and talk to someone on the D - Pad, you may want to lower the volume a bit," advised Masumi, hinting that was how she and Hokuto knew about the phone call Mitsumi had with Yuya. "Anyways, your words say that you don't want to hurt him, yet I can tell that you do."

"W-What? No! Of course not!" said Mitsumi, quick to bring up her kind persona. "I may not like him romantically, but I would never dare to hurt him!"

"...If I wasn't such an expert, I would have believed you behind that fake expression," commented Masumi, narrowing her eyes. "At least you hide your emotions much easier than others. Tell me, how lo-"

"Uh...Matsumi? Why are we here, anyways? I know you didn't come here for a snack," interrupted Hokuto. "Instead, you just insisted we follow and talk to this girl."

'Wait, how long were they following me?!' Mitsumi thought before turning to Masumi with a smile. "S-So, can I help with somethin-"

"Save your false smiles and stuttering for someone who cares," scoffed Masumi, causing Mitsumi to form an irk mark on her head. "All I want to know is one thing. What do you know about the masked duelist and his companion?"

"Uh...You're really going to have to be more specific."

"I encountered a strange man with a red scarf and sunglasses earlier and apparently, he has some sort of masked friend. I had no idea what they were talking about, but I saw the masked duelist knock his friend out and say something about dueling being unsuited for Yuzu Hiragi," explained Matsumi.

"Yuzu? Wait, so the masked duelist talked to Yuzu?" wondered Mitsumi. "I'm sorry, Kotsu-san, but...I didn't know about this. Actually, this is the first I've heard of this. Yuzu-chan never told me anything about this."

Masumi glared at Mitsumi, trying to detect any lies coming from her, only to come up with nothing. "You really don't know anything, do you?"

"Kotsu-san, I don't mean to sound rude, but you're really not making this whole interrogation thing much easier," Mitsumi said. "You say, masked duelist, but I don't know anyone like that. I mean, there are a lot, and I mean, A LOT, of masked duelists in this city."

Hokuto nodded. "Yeah, she has a point there, Matsumi. I mean, I've met a couple of duelists who dresses up a lot and sometimes they wear masks, too. Maybe you should elaborate more on that."

Masumi sighed and turned to Mitsumi. "Alright, let me be more specific. No, let me draw you a picture." From her back pocket, she took out a small notebook and a pencil and began drawing down something. About a minute later, she presented Mitsumi her drawing. It wasn't a completely accurate picture, but it was enough for Mitsumi to identify who it was.

'Yuto?!' Mitsumi thought; a shocked expression forming on her face. 'Oh man..Yuto, what the hell did you do to piss off Kotsu?'

"Judging from your expression, you know who he is. Maybe I should have been more clearer about this," commented Masumi. "So, what do you know?"

Mitsumi had no idea what Yuto had been doing, but despite all that, she didn't think he was a bad person, having spent some time taking care of him for a little while that night. However, at the same time, she wasn't really that close to him. They weren't enemies, but she own nothing to him. And even if she did, they were pretty much even now, with him having shown up and saving both her and Yuzu from Shingo, and in return, her taking care of a hungry and tired Yuto until he regained his energy.

After some thinking, Mitsumi decided to tell Masumi and Hokuto everything she knew about Yuto, She told them how she and Yuzu confronted Shingo in a warehouse in the docks, when all of a sudden, Yuto appeared to their rescue. She also mentioned how they met again last night, when she found him lying on the ground in the middle of the streets, exhausted and hungry, so she carried him back to her house to rest. They talked for a bit once they were outside her house and that he demanded to duel her before leaving after he beat her. Mitsumi also gave out a detailed explanation about Yuto's XYZ deck, something Hokuto was quite interested in, given that he, too, is also an XYZ user.

After revealing everything she knew, Mitsumi was met with silence from the two. Hokuto had an excited look on his face, presumably about the thought of possibly dueling another, high-skilled XYZ user in the future. As for Matsumi, she was deep in thought, still trying to take in all of the new information she had gained.

"...I see," spoke up Masumi, at long last. "Do you know anything about the red-scarfed man, then?"

Mitsumi shook her head. "I think I recall someone like that, though. But, we were nothing more than passing acquaintances. I accidentally bumped into him and dropped my card, the same card that I returned to Yuto. When he saw me with that card, he got aggressive with me and demanded me to tell him things. I didn't know what to do, but then one of my friends, Gongenzaka, saved me. We then ran to the police station for safety and were escorted back home. But that's all I know."

"Okay...While you haven't given us much information on that red-scarfed guy, you've given vital information about this Yuto person," said Masumi. "Thank you very much for telling us."

"Wait, can I ask something?" asked Mitsumi. "Why did you come to me for help? Shouldn't you have asked Yuzu for this?"

"Well, we could, but I doubt she and her other friend would have known anything," said Hokuto. "Besides, we thought to talk to you since you seemed to be friends with Hiiragi."

"Other friend?"

"Yeah, I heard from Masumi that before, when she encountered that masked duelist guy, Yuto? Yeah, I heard that she saw Yuzu with that blue-haired friend of hers. You know, the one that loves candy?"

"Hey, why are we telling her this?" Masumi questioned her friend.

Hokuto shrugged. "Hey, she answered all our questions. I see no harm in telling her."

Hokuto ended up telling Mitsumi all about what's been occurring the past few days. For some reason, some of the LDS teachers and students have gone missing in some incidents, including Masumi's favorite teacher, Professor Marco, hence why Masumi has been so determined to find the culprit and force them to tell her where the missing people were and what they've done to them. So far, Masumi's had only a few encounters, but the culprit or culprits have always managed to escape.

'If that's the case, then maybe Yuto does know more about what's going on. I know there there's been rumors of people missing, but I didn't think it was to this extent,' Mitsumi thought. "...I'm sorry, but everything I've told you is everything that I know. I'm sorry that I can't provide anymore details."

"No, I suppose this is all we can get out from you," sighed Masumi, shaking her head. "Anyways, thanks for the assist. With this much information, we're one step closing to finding Professor Marco!"

"...Do you really think your professor would have wanted such stupidity...?" Mitsumi muttered under her breath.

Masumi paused and glared at her. "What did you say?"

"Hmm? O-Oh, nothin-"

"No, you definitely said something just now! What was it?!" demanded Masumi.

Hokuto tried to calm her down. "Hey, Masumi, I don't-"

"Shut it!" Masumi snapped, prompting her friend to immediately zip his mouth. "What were you saying earlier?! About Professor Marco being stupid?!"

"I never even said anything like that!" cried out Mitsumi. "But, if you must know, I just think that what you're doing is...pretty stupid."

"How dare you-?! What makes you think what we're doing is stupid?! We're trying to find Professor Marco!"

Mitsumi narrowed her eyes. "You mean, Professor Marco AND the other missing people?"

Masumi gapped and was taken aback by her own wording. "O-Of course, I mean, them, too, but-"

"It sounds like you're mostly doing this for your professor, and disregarding any other victims. I'm not saying that's bad or anything, but it is pretty selfish."

"You-!"

"She is right, you know," commented Hokuto.

Masumi whirled around to face Hokuto. "Hokuto, you-!"

"Hey, hey," Hokuto said, raising his hands. "I'm not saying that I'm on her side. I'm just stating my mind. Me and Yaiba already know that you're doing this only for Professor Marco. If we find the culprit, we'll rescue both him and the other people, too."

Masumi nodded and turned back to Mitsumi with a somewhat smug look. "So? How's that for stupidity?"

"The fact that you were willing to say that you'd rather rescue your professor and disregard the others? Or the fact that you're disregarding your own safety that's more stupid in my opinion," replied Mitsumi.

"What's with that last bit?"

"I'm just saying, I'm pretty sure your professor wouldn't want you guys to risk your lives, and by endangering yourselves, you'd only be upsetting him, which is why I say what you're doing is stupid," Mitsumi explained. "Just leave everything to the police or something."

"Technically, LDS forces are investigating this," pointed out Hokuto. "And, we'd be more than happy to leave this to them but-"

"But they can't do anything! They're taking too long and we need to hasten the investigation!" snapped Masumi. "When I think about Professor Marco, all I can think about how much pain he must be in!"

"...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say anything rude about it. I just wanted to say my own opinion, but...I guess it's more harmful than ever," sighed Mitsumi. "But, even though I think this is a stupid idea for you guys to get involved, it's a noble cause."

Although Hokuto didn't even want to get involved in the investigation, he could agree with Mitsumi that what they were doing was indeed a noble cause. "Yeah, plus, if we're lucky, we get to duel that Yuto guy! After all, dueling is pretty much everything, from solving problem to life itself!"

Sensing the unease within Mitsumi, Masumi said, "Hey, speak your mind, why don't you? You look you want to say something to Hokuto."

"Ah...It's nothing, really, but...Well, I guess there is one thing I'd like to speak to you about regarding your last comment, Shijima-san," spoke up Mitsumi.

"Huh? What about? That dueling is pretty much everything in life?"

Mitsumi nodded. "Yes...that you're wrong."

"What's wrong with what I said?"

"It's fine if it's your own opinion, but from mine, I don't think dueling is everything. No, in fact, I think it's much less important than the things that are more important in life."

Hokuto looked confused. "Huh? Things that are more important than dueling? Like, what?"

"Like, family and friends, for instance," answered Mitsumi, smiling sincerely. "Taking care of them, as well. Oh, and love is important, too. I think those things are much more-no, a hundred times more important than some silly dueling."

"Ha! Shows what you know!" scoffed Hokuto. "I'll admit, what you say is pretty much true. Those are pretty important things, but dueling is still everything! A lot of pride and effort is placed in dueling! It's the greatest honor, ever!"

'...What an idiot,' Mitsumi thought, displeased with his response as she put up her fake smile. "Well, good luck with that! Oh, and good luck with your investigation, too! I really hope you don't end up hurt or anything like that! Well, I shouldn't keep you waiting! I've got stuff of my own to take care of, as well! Bye!" She strolled her cart passed them, intent on finishing her groceries.

"Meh," said Hokuto, paying no more heed to her as he shrugged and walked away. Masumi glared behind her shoulder, no longer feeling any animosity towards her as she steeled her mind towards finding the culprits with the new information she received.

That night, after dinner...

"Thank you for cooking yet another dinner, Mitsumi-chan," Aoi said, smiling at her granddaughter.

Mitsumi grinned, always delighted to hear her grandmother speak such kind compliments towards her as she was finishing up dinner. "It's no problem. Like I've said many times over, I enjoy cooking!"

Aoi nodded and said, "So, I hear that you've been going around, participating in official duels as a requirement to enter that new Arc League Championship. I thought you weren't interested in dueling in tournaments anymore, Mitsumi-chan?"

Mitsumi sighed, laying her chin on the table. "Of course I'm not interested. But, I decided to try, one more time, for Shuzo-sensei's sake. And, when you were gonna tell me that he already knew about who I was?"

Aoi knew what she was talking about and sighed. "To be fair, Shuzo did find out about it first by accidentally looking up your name in the Internet, which he confronted me about it, so I told him everything."

"How do you accidentally-?! Ugh, never mind!" complained Mitsumi loudly. "Even if he did 'accidentally' find out about it, why didn't you lie or something? You know how much I hate it when people discover that I'm actually a former Junior Pro Duelist!"

"I figured it was time to come clean. After all, he's not like the others, Mitsumi-chan," assured Aoi. "In fact, why don't you just come clean like I did with Shuzo and tell your friends everything? If you do, I'm sure they'll understand-"

"No, no, no, no! I can't! Grandma, you know why!" Mitsumi cried out, slamming her fists on the table. "I...I trust Yuya and the others, I really do, but what if they end up like...like those assholes? I can't risk that!"

"Mitsumi...I know for a fact that they're truly good people and would never exploit you."

"How would you know?" demanded Mitsumi. "My last so-called 'friends' said the same thing until they betrayed me with lies and exploiting me! The same thing with the other group! I can't risk it this time!"

"Mitsumi-chan, things are different this time," assured Aoi kindly. "I'm certain they won't be like those bad people from the past."

"...But I can't know that for sure," said Mitsumi. "There's a guarantee that they may or may not turn out like them. Even if they accept it now, they might change for the worst. Grandma, you and I both know that people can change, whether it's for the good or bad, and in my case, people who claim to be my 'friends' always change for the bad just to get what they want."

Aoi looked at her with a stern, but sadden expression. "Mitsumi-chan...despite your best efforts to push yourself forward to the future, you still constantly cling to the past."

"I don't, though!" denied Mitsumi, standing up. "I've moved past that, just like any other decent person! I'm no longer a Junior Pro Duelist! I've discarded any lingering strings to my past! I'm moving to the future! Soon, even if there are a few who remember, eventually, everyone will forget the former child prodigy, Mitsumi Nazuno, one of the best of the best youngest Pro Duelists to ever exist! And I want it to stay that way! What's wrong with that?!"

Aoi shook her head. "Nobody's saying that, Mitsumi-chan. I understand your frustrations very well. After your parents died, it was very hard for the first few years afterwards, but...we still managed. We stuck together because we're the only family we have remaining. And during those years, like I said, it's been hard, with the media, and constantly moving around, and the betrayals, but...I want you to be honest with yourself and your friends, Mitsumi-chan."

"...Even if I tell my friends everything about me, what makes you think they won't act just like my other so-called 'friends?'" questioned Mitsumi. "People, who claim to be my friends, only using me for their own benefits and disregarding any feelings I had for them! And, even if, there's a chance that Yuya and the others will accept my past, will they even accept the real me?"

"...You're referring to who you are right now, and not that other self you made up?" questioned Aoi.

Mitsumi nodded. "That's right. I've lied to them every single day, by having to put up the stupid and shy and sweet Mitsumi-chan that they all know and love. The Mitsumi they know is someone who's kind and sweet and would never hurt a fly. Me? The real Mitsumi? She wouldn't hesitate to squash a fly! She's foul-mouthed, sharp, quick-witted, and pretty much an bitch."

"I will not have you going around, calling yourself that!" snapped Aoi. "Even if you claim to be like that, you're also my sweet, kind granddaughter, the granddaughter who would do anything to make her grandmother happy. Such an evil person wouldn't dare do something like that. Mitsumi, even if they may be taken aback by your true personality, I'm sure, given time, they'll accept you for who you are."

"And if they don't?" wondered Mitsumi. "People today always have kind friends. They don't associate themselves with people like me! And even if they do, it's normally because they want to use them! Just like my former friends did to me! I...Grandma, you and I both know I want Yuya, Yuzu, Gongenzaka, and everyone else to accept me, but I'm afraid! I'm scared of what'll happen! Maybe they'll hate me! Maybe they'll use me! Maybe they won't like me anymore because of who I am! I...I...!"

"Mitsumi!" hollered Aoi, standing up before coughing, forcing her to lean against the table. "You're hyperventilating! Just calm down!"

Instead of calming down, however, Mitsumi panicked when she saw the state her grandmother was in and rushed towards her, ignoring her own condition. "Grandma!"

In the end, their talk ended up in a bitter, unresolved conclusion as Mitsumi had to take her elderly, tired, and stressed out grandmother back to her own room to rest for the night. Mitsumi felt terrible, having accidentally causing her grandmother so much stress when she should have been resting before instead of having that talk with her.

Right before she left, she heard her grandmother muttering in her sleep, "Mitsumi-chan...let's visit your parents' gravestones soon...It's been so long."

Mitsumi gritted her teeth, but kept her anger to herself as she gently closed Aoi's bedroom door, careful not to slam it close, though she was visibly clutching the doorknob tightly, as though wanting to crush it in her palm. Once every few years, Mitsumi and Aoi would go visit Mitsumi's parents' gravestones at a faraway town, the town that Mitsumi used to live in, to pay their respects.

Well, at the very least, Aoi wished to pay her respects to Mitsumi's deceased parents. As for Mitsumi, if she had the option, she would never even think of visiting her parents at all, not after all they've put her through. The only reason she would visit though, was for her grandmother. She didn't want to disappoint or upset her loving grandmother, so she would visit them with her, despite having no intention of ever forgiving them. Mitsumi pretty much thanked whatever God existed that caused her parents to die, because if they were still alive, she would have had a much more miserable life than her current life right now.

'Grandma...I...I can't accept your words,' Mitsumi thought, sliding down behind her grandmother's door. 'I...I can't tell the others about me...Not if I want to relive what happened long ago...'

What Mitsumi was referring to happened back when she was still a child, shortly after her parents' deaths. Somehow, the media got hold of her grandmother's residence and were demanding questions and answers, wondering what the "child prodigy" was going to do next, and if she was going to uphold her family legacy as the next Pro Duelist in her generation? No matter what, it seemed like they weren't going to accept her going to a normal life and wanted her to accomplish much more.

Even so, she and her grandmother avoided the press as much as they could, and Aoi enrolled Mitsumi into a private school for children her age, hoping that her granddaughter would get a better and normal childhood with friends her age. It worked for a while at first. Mitsumi got to meet classmates her age, and although she seemed hesitant and shy at first, she slowly began to warm up to them and become genuine friends with them.

Unfortunately, the media found out that she was attending a private school and was practically stalking her everyday, even at school, until the police had to intervene, but by then, it was too late. The entire school knew all about Mitsumi Nazuno, one of the most strongest dueling prodigies in her generations. It didn't take long for Mitsumi's new "friends" to change as well.

At first, it was just asking questions about her Junior Pro Dueling life, which, at first, Mitsumi didn't mind. And then, it was against dueling her that students started realizing just how skilled a Junior Pro Duelist can be. As such, while they grew admiration towards her, they also started growing greedy as well, especially her friends.

They asked for dueling lessons, which she didn't mind at first, but then her friends turned from such good people to competitive rivals, at least, in their own eyes. They thought that if they ever won against her, they'd be just as good as any Pro Duelist. But, each loss caused them to grow more frustrated and aggressive towards her, to the point where they accused her of cheating each time and even resorted to bullying as "revenge" for cheating, when Mitsumi didn't and simply used her skills to beat them each time.

This "revenge" often took the form of them sometimes stealing her lunch, destroying her schoolwork, dumping water on her, and so on. And they even had the galls to force her to come to their birthday parties, presenting her around like she was some sort of trophy, something that extremely made young Mitsumi uncomfortable. When Mitsumi tried to refuse their demands each time, her friends would grow only more angry, and one day, she discovered that they've been secretly stealing her cards, which was the final straw for her as she now got the teachers and her grandmother involved. Before, she didn't want to tell anyone because she didn't want to be seen as a tattletale and lose her friends, but now she couldn't take it anymore.

Her former friends, now classified as bullies in her opinion, were heavily punished and forced to pay for their actions, including giving back her cards, but it was too late for Mitsumi as she no longer viewed them as friends. As revenge, they started spreading terrible rumors about her, causing many students to hate her and constantly tease and bully her. The new bullying, combined with schoolwork, escaping the media, and helping out her grandmother, was too much for Mitsumi; something her grandmother noticed. As such, she had her granddaughter pulled out of the school, and the two of them moved out of town, never to be heard from again.

To fully escape the media, both Nazunos fled and moved in and out of many places until they were certain they reached a faraway place where nobody could disturb them again. It was a quiet, peaceful town, and for a few years, everything was alright. Aoi got herself a decent, paying job, and Mitsumi happily attended a new school life with new friends.

It wasn't until Mitsumi made a horrible mistake that caused major consequences for her and her grandmother.

Mitsumi decided that since she was really close to her friends, perhaps it was okay to tell them that she used to be a former Junior Pro Duelist. As such, she told them everything, and much to her joy, they accepted and were quite excited that she used to be such a skilled duelist.

Excited in a bad way, that is.

The results were the same like last time, except this group of friends were far more demanding and manipulative, wanting to know more about her skills so they could exploit her weaknesses and use them against her. Luckily for Mitsumi, like one of the many lessons engraved in her mind, she's been taught how to use even her own weaknesses to her strengths by her parents, so that plan didn't really work out for her "friends."

It didn't stop there at all. Soon, new classmates came up to Mitsumi, wanting to be her "friend," but Mitsumi, being young and oblivious, didn't realize their intent of simply using her until it was too late. When Mitsumi realized that nobody at school was her friend, she also realized it was her own fault because now, nobody wanted to be her friend simply for friendship, but because they wanted to use her for their own selfish purposes.

In that response, the people at her school were no different than the manipulative people she encountered during her Junior Pro Duelist days.

Those sort of people tend to exploit other Pro Duelists, using their high status for profit, like merchandise, autograph signings, interviews, fan clubs, TV shows, and so forth. Mitsumi was actually forced to participate in some of those by her parents simply for more entertainment, money, and to raise the family's reputation. In each event, Mitsumi had found herself uncomfortable, unease, and wanting to escape each event as soon as possible because she was often in events with unfamiliar strangers who asked her personal questions and trying to lie with their own compliments and false praises. This happened to be one of the main reasons why Mitsumi quit as a Junior Pro Duelist.

In her earlier days of childhood, Mitsumi had experienced only a small bit of happiness, before that happiness was snatched away and replaced with her experiencing and witnessing the darker, manipulative sides of people, causing her to grow up quite cold and manipulative as well. She truly wanted friends who would stick to her side and not toss that friendship away for profit and their own selfish goals, not what she experienced so terribly.

After moving away once again, Mitsumi and her grandmother ended up in Maiami City, living there permanently ever since the last couple of years. This time, Mitsumi decided she wouldn't make the same mistake twice. At first, it wasn't hard to maintain a shy and polite personality, because she originally had that personality even during her Junior Pro Dueling days, but it had changed throughout the years until she retained it back when she first met Yuya and the others. It was all for the sake of creating a façade so that her new group of friends wouldn't abandon nor use her like her "bullies" did.

It worked out well afterwards. They accepted her into their circle of friends, and the past few years, every single day was full of happiness. Yes, there were hardships, and there were days when Mitsumi grew frustrated enough to want to throw away her shy and sweet façade, but every time she thought of doing so, she would constantly be reminded of her painful past and keep the mask on. The frustration she felt during those times was nothing compared to the harsh pain she experienced from the pain, and she didn't want to experience that a third time.

Sure, she had to constantly take care of a lot of housework and her grandmother a lot of times, and thankfully, her friends were understanding of her situation, but Mitsumi didn't want to distance herself from her friends. As much as she could, she spent time with them, helping Yuya with his homework and taking care of his pets, learning music with Yuzu, and even participating in morning jogs with Gongenzaka. Those peaceful days were the best, and even grew more eventful when she joined the You Show Duel School.

Technically, Mitsumi didn't even want to join a dueling school, only doing so because her friends were in that specific school and she wanted to hang out with them. But, by doing so, she met other kind people she could call her friends, like Shuzo, Ayu, and Futoshi, and now Sora and Tatsuya as well, though she is a bit weary towards Sora, especially for what he said during the whole three-way duel between You Show Duel School and LDS.

At school though, not the dueling school, but Maiami Second Middle School, things were much more different, and her friends remained the same as ever. However, over the years, it's been noted several times that Mitsumi herself has been growing more beautiful, elegant, and stronger, thus resulting in her gaining a fan club, and a lot of unwanted attention. She never wished for it, but she unwillingly became one of, if not, the most, popular and beautiful girl in school.

Because of that reputation, though, Mitsumi has gained a bit of enemies within the school, specifically female bullies, who were jealous of her good grades and looks. She tended to get bullied a lot, but she always managed to hide that fact from her friends and grandmother, because she didn't want to cause trouble nor move again. At the very least, nobody knew about her former status as a Junior Pro Duelist, or she would have had a lot more attention than ever, and she didn't want to repeat what happened in the past a third time now.

Shingo Sawatari was another one of-actually, possibly her biggest fan, and more importantly, also happened to be her savior most of the time she's been bullied. Technically, he also bullies her as well, but it's more of a teasing kind than any physically bullying than what the female bullies do. He always wanting her to be his girlfriend, an offer that Mitsumi had rejected as kindly as possible over and over throughout the years. There were days, just like earlier today, where she wanted to strangle him and be done with it, but, no, she still had to keep up the façade. Besides, he wasn't that bad, just overly annoying in her opinion.

Additionally, to make absolute certain that nothing from her past comes up, she saved up enough money to buy herself a new WATER Attribute deck, while storing away her old deck, the one she used as a former Junior Pro Duelist. If there was one of the few good things she had in her former life, it was that she enjoyed playing with a WATER Attribute deck. She wanted to make herself seem like the weakest duelist in her group of friends, and as such, because Ritual Summoning wasn't that popular, she bought a WATER Ritual deck, specifically a Gishki deck. As a result, she lost most of her duels from thereon, but she didn't really care about the losses, finding friendship more important than dueling.

All Mitsumi wanted to do...was have a peaceful life. Forget what happened in the past, and move forward with the friends she has, without them knowing about her past. She wanted to get a good job, fall in love, get married, have a family, anything to keep her peaceful life, even if it meant keeping her shy and sweet fake personality all the time when she really wanted to let loose her true personality without holding anything back.

Admittingly, there were times when Mitsumi just wanted to sit her friends down and tell them everything about her past and why she lied a lot throughout the years, but at the same time, even if there was a small chance, she didn't want to risk turning her good-natured and kind friends into greedy and corrupted people like her previous "friends" used to be. This would be the third time if it actually happened, and despite Mitsumi wanting to give it a chance, she found herself too afraid of the consequences.

Sighing, Mitsumi stood up and headed towards her room to get ready for bed. It was just going to be another day, where tomorrow, her final, official duel would determine her standing in the tournament. Honestly, Mitsumi shocked herself when she found herself actually being close to meeting the qualifications for entering the tournament, as she just planned to wing it and try her best until she lost a duel. She never planned on winning the tournament, so if it came down to it, she would probably just surrender or purposely lose if she ever made it to the finals. The only reason she entered was because Shuzo requested and pleaded for her to.

With one last sigh, Mitsumi turned off the lights once she finished preparing herself and tucked herself to sleep. Hopefully, tomorrow won't be too...crazy.

Finished! I guess this is much more explanatory for Mitsumi's behavior and why she doesn't want to tell the others about her past life! Read and review!