Yuu heads out for a day on the town in the hopes of finding Yumi.

Losing meant death. That's what they'd told her ever since she was old enough to understand it. That's why they made her practice and train and prepare so rigorously. That's why they punished her when she failed. No matter how badly she was hurt, it was only because her losing when it really mattered would mean death for everyone.

That's what she believed, or at least had to believe to stay in control of herself. That's what made her actions now so terrifying. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she'd be punished far more severely than ever before if she was caught. Not even those torturous three days following the tournament would compare.

Fitting, then, that it was that tournament that spurred her into her current state of action. Yuu knew there was no such thing as "duelist's pride". Not in this place, at least. Even so, her mind was almost constantly occupied with thoughts of her loss to Takano Yumi.

Despite having treated her tenderly during their brief meeting, she proved to only be an obstacle in the end. Yuu couldn't help but see her as the reason she'd been punished as she was after that loss, her formerly perfect dueling aptitude suffering as a result of the mental fallout.

After much consideration with herself (and a small spider she found in her room), she realized that settling the score was the only thing she could do to overcome these feelings. Yes, her handlers would be upset that she left the facility without them by her side, but they'd obviously be pleased to learn she managed to defeat the only other human she'd ever lost to. It would be tangible proof that it was merely a fluke, that she wasn't just a failure and would be able to do her duty once the time came.

Escaping the place she reluctantly called home wasn't too difficult. She knew every facet of the path that led from her room to the way outside. She'd memorized the patterns of security cameras and other people who walked through these stark white halls. Even the door wasn't too much trouble given how many improvised uses a metal arm could offer.

Her small size and unassuming appearance allowed her to leave the building without so much as a second glance after blending in with a crowd of others going about their business in the company that carried out its work above them as a cover. Soon after, Yuu was finally set free onto the streets of Chiba.

Now came the hard part – actually finding Takano Yumi, as she had absolutely no idea where she lived. Yuu's questionable judgment told her she would eventually be able to find Yumi if she simply searched for her, though. She'd never had to look for anything before, so she assumed that's how this worked. How hard could it be to find a single person in a city she barely qualified as living in?

Hood up, she walked off down the street in the direction she thought Yumi might be (she looked right handed when they met, so she assumed it was to the right). She received a few glances from other pedestrians, though it was more for the fact she kept pushing through people rather than anything that made her stand out. As far as anyone could tell at a glance, she was just an average child.

That was unusual for her. Though she wasn't treated well, it was hard to argue her handlers ever made her feel average. Even the sensation of not being under a near-constant watch was alien. It was hard to say for sure, but she thought she almost enjoyed it.

On second thought, she hated it. She hated it very much if it meant small, hairy beasts were going to assault her. In reality, it was simply a small dog in a park across the street barking at her, but given that this was the first exposure she'd ever had with one of those, it was kind of blowing her mind and terrifying her at the same time.

Trying her best to avoid conflict, she ran in the opposite direction as before, ironically placing her closer to Yumi's house despite her earlier reasoning. Unsure of whether or not the dog had chased her (it hadn't thanks to the tiny girl holding its leash Yuu hadn't even noticed), she continued running until smacking into a police officer at full speed.

Yuu was knocked to the ground, the sheer force of her surprisingly swift running pushed the adult back. "Hey, quit running on the sidewalk!" he ordered, shaking his fist before realizing she was just a small child. The man was perplexed as he watched her roll backwards from the fall and move into a crouched position, staring at him like a scared, trembling animal ready to escape.

People were beginning to stare now. Trying to calm the child down, the officer asked, "Where are your parents? Are you out here alone? Why don't you come with me and we can sort this out?" As he reached forward, she suddenly lunged and bit him on the index finger, slamming her metal palm into the side of his wrist and breaking it with alarming proficiency.

Yuu took off running again after that, unsure of which direction she was even traveling anymore over the panic, the cursing of the man, and the shouts of other people on the street. Narrowly avoiding being struck by a car as she carelessly sprinted across an intersection, she barely looked where she was going while charging ahead, only wanting to put distance between herself and a person she considered a threat.

Finally running out of breath several blocks away, she huddled into an alleyway and covered her head. This was a terrible idea after all. She had no idea what the world outside was like. What did she think she could accomplish by trying to leave? She hadn't even seen a single glimpse of Yumi this entire time.

She was unfortunately reminded of the fact she hadn't been given anything to eat today after catching a whiff of something very good over all the garbage. Following the scent, she came upon a simple ramen stand tucked into a row of other buildings.

Yuu watched from the shadow of the alley as the young lady working there prepped something or other. She had no idea what these ingredients would be – she'd never cooked a day in her life, let alone seen the inner workings of a kitchen – but guessed that she had some measure of skill given how quickly and easily she took care of it all. It all smelled really good, too.

A moment later and she was spotted. Ducking back behind the wall, she heard the woman working the stand shout, "Hey, are you hungry? We're open." Though Yuu's behavior probably seemed quite odd, she was still being welcomed regardless.

Peaking back around the corner, she slowly made her way across the street and took a seat in front of the counter. "What are you hungry for?" the woman asked after a quick formal greeting. Yuu gave no response, too nervous to speak or look at anything besides her feet. "Not very talkative? You can just point to one of the dishes above your head or on the menu if you want."

After a quick look over, she asked, "Do you not have money?" Though no response was given, she noticed Yuu begin to tremble slightly. "It's okay," she reassured her. Turning to the back, she yelled, "Dad, I'm going to buy someone a bowl!"

"Tell Kyoko to pay her damn tab first!" a gruff voice shouted back.

"No, it's not her this time!" A few seconds passed, a burly man with graying hair and an electronic cigarette between his lips coming forward to check out the situation. He laughed after taking a single look at Yuu. "Alright, fine. It's coming out of your pay, though, little lady."

She rolled her eyes, sighing loudly. "Whatever. Go watch the stock." Addressing Yuu, she asked, "What would you like? It's fine if you can't pay this time."

Yuu still didn't respond, her head moving back and forth almost as if she was shaking it in slow motion. "Do you...not know what to pick?" She nodded at this. "I'll pick for you, then. I've got good taste, so it shouldn't be a problem."

She was silent as the woman went about making her some food, placing a large bowl of noodles and glistening pork slices piled up with several of the usual ramen toppings. What was "usual" to Yuu certainly wasn't this, though, as she'd never even seen a meal like this before in her entire life.

Almost afraid to eat it, she looked it over for a few seconds before retrieving a pair of chopsticks and splitting them apart. Looking up at the woman as if to confirm that she was allowed to eat, she slowly reached for a single noodle and placed it into her mouth, devouring the rest of the bowl in what may have been a world record almost immediately after that.

"When was the last time you ate?" the woman asked with a chuckle, nearly in awe of this tiny child's ability to inhale food. "You know, I don't think I've seen you around here before. Are you lost?" No response once again. Taking it in stride, she decided to introduce herself. "My name's Haru. Will you tell me yours?"

Several seconds of hesitation later, she eventually managed to squeak out, "Yuu," staring into her empty bowl.

"It's nice to meet you," Haru said cheerfully. "You are lost, aren't you? Where are you trying to go? Maybe I can help you find it."

Yuu wasn't sure whether or not it was safe to answer. Talking to people was scary enough but the fear of someone know her goals and having her sent back prematurely made it even worse. Still, Haru did feed her, and that was quickly inspiring some degree of trust in the woman. After much deliberation, she finally decided to say, "Yumi."

"Yumi?" she asked. "Yumi who?"

"Takano," she answered after a few seconds of hesitation.

"Is that so?" Haru immediately recognized the name, turning the already odd situation even more bizarre. She'd never seen Yuu before yet she apparently had some level of familiarity with Yumi if she led with her given name like that. Not enough to actually know where she lived, though.

"Well, she lives outside of the city, so you'd probably have to travel for a while. If you want, I could probably call her for you." She didn't want to be just giving out someone's home address like that, but if Yuu really was familiar with Yumi, it shouldn't be an issue for the two of them to speak.

And yet it was. Yuu shook her head at the suggestion, immediately seeming to panic. "No," she said quietly. "I need to go." Without so much as a goodbye, she darted off down the street to continue her search, apparently not wishing to be questioned further on her intentions. Either way, Haru would most definitely be giving someone a call about this soon.

Yuu managed to escape without divulging her true intentions, mostly because no one had tried to stop or follow her. Letting on that she was supposed to finding Yumi as an enemy would probably just cause problems, so she wanted to avoid any further delays or issues. She did feel somewhat bad about running away like that, though.

While it was more than the actual nothing she had before, knowing Yumi lived outside of Chiba wasn't of much help to someone who was neither familiar with the city itself or had any idea as to where outside her home was. Given there was someone in this area that knew of her, it was probable that she was at least somewhat close, but that still didn't change the fact she had almost nothing to go on.

Trying her hardest to avoid a pair of sisters coming her way (easy enough considering they were far too busy discussing the particulars of some kind of bake off in the near future), Yuu returned to wandering around with no direction.

Maybe it would be prudent to try and take the train. That's how people got around in the city, right? She could ask them to take her out of the city, she thought, though that still didn't change the fact she had no money. You probably needed that to get on.

Head down as she pondered these things, she ran into another person, nearly falling over from the impact. "Watch it!" the man yelled, pointing at her accusingly. "You could've hurt me! The hell's your problem?"

Yuu wasn't sure how to respond to the screaming man in a dingy white tracksuit. He was quite loud and obnoxious as he continued to rant, gesticulating around to emphasize the importance of not walking into people before suddenly demanding money. "So pay up! If I'd been carrying a drink or something, you'd totally have just spilled it on me and would need to pay my cleaning bill."

Not only was this complete nonsense, she was still broke as the day she was born and couldn't pay him even if that logic was sound. Unable to speak to articulate this, she simply shook her head and tried to back away. Unfortunately, he'd apparently picked her out as vulnerable target, stepping back into her personal space and leaning down to nearly touch faces. "What? You trying to run? Don't even try. I was on the track and field team in high school. They called me the cheetguar, since I was as fast as a cheetah and a jaguar at the same time."

Several people had noticed him making a scene by now, though they did little to try and stop him. Most simply pretended to ignore the situation or talked among themselves about how rude he was, preferring to stay out of it. "We going to have a problem?" he asked, cracking his knuckles for emphasis to really drive home the fact he was both ready and willing to beat up a child who caused him a minor inconvenience.

Obviously, Yuu was far stronger and better trained than some random blowhard in the street, but she never enjoyed the sensation of hurting another person. Earlier in the day was an accident, her body moving on instinct and muscle memory once she felt surprised. If possible, she'd much rather avoid doing something like that again.

Spotting the duel disk strapped to the man's arm, she decided to propose another means of conflict resolution considering he didn't seem like he'd let her leave without a fight. Her arm opened up to become her duel disk, the man stepping back. "Whoa, that was cool. That almost looks like a du- oh, I get it. You think you can take me on like that since you're so little and weak and can't take a punch?" He scoffed. "Tough luck there. Your boy Koro's the best duelist in this city, so get ready to get beat even harder!"

Evidently accepting the challenge, he moved to the opposite side of the street, activating his duel disk in turn and shouting, "Duel!" within seconds. "I'm going first and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

After a few seconds of consideration, he began to laugh. Not simply a chuckle, but uproarious laughter that insured anyone that hadn't been paying attention to his earlier antics certainly was now. "Oh, man. You're screwed now. My hand's just too good! I'll start things off with a Giant Rex! Then, I'm going to set the other four cards in my hand. You scared yet?"

Yuu did not respond. Outside of some very specific circumstances, it was plain to see that he'd bricked about as hard as humanly possible with that deck. He was relying on his sheer, unwarranted confidence as a bluff, but anyone more experienced than a five year old could tell he had virtually nothing to do beyond ending his turn and hoping for something to use with his set feints by the next draw.

Beginning her turn by drawing a card, Yuu didn't feel the need to vocalize her cards. This was not a duel of any importance or any kind of official match or test. It would simply be easier for her to stay silent and let the technology do the work for her.

She began with her typical opening move of summoning MD Base Unit in Attack Position, adding the next two copies to her hand from her deck. Her next move was to activate the Field Magic, Fusion Renaissance Agency. The industrial scenery of the card's picture had barely finished materializing along the sides of the streets before she activated its effect, discarding a Card Gunner to add the Fusion card to her hand.

Next was Iron Call, summoning the spent Card Gunner to the field with its effects nullified. This wouldn't matter, though, as her aim was obviously to Fusion Summon. Using both the monsters on her field and a second MD Base Unit in her hand, she wordlessly called out her ace with hand outstretched to the sky. Due to its effect, all three of her monsters in the Graveyard were banished and the beast's ATK grew to 3300.

"You trying to psyche me out?" Koro asked indignantly. "It ain't working! A big dragon can't get past my defenses!" This was a lie as proven by the declaration of battle, Machine God Dragon – Fusion rearing back and spewing a burst of energy at the Giant Rex. "Ha! Reactive Armor, activate! It blows up your attacking monster!"

To his shock, the enemy's attack blasted through the bits of deadly armor that flew towards it, taking Giant Rex and 1300 Life Points with it. Utterly confused, he finally decided to read the alert on his duel disk's screen that explained the Fusion dragon could not be destroyed by anything while it attacked.

"Cheap tricks!" he said to dismiss its power. "You won't be looking so tough when it's my turn again!" After setting a single card, Yuu gave him the chance to prove that statement. Given her cards had all been banished, the Field Magic's secondary effect had no targets at the moment and did not activate.

With a sneer, he drew his card, returning to his previous cackling once he saw it. "Oh, you're dead now!" Pressing a button, one of his set cards flipped up. "Ultimate Evolution Pill, activate! I banish the Giant Rex in my Graveyard and the Gagagigo I just got to draw to summon a big ass dinosaur right out of my deck! Let's see what I feel like killing you with today."

He looked back to his screen, tapping it a few times after his deck's contents failed to show up. "This thing broken?" It was not, of course. Yuu had simply activated God's Pronouncement, negating the effect at the expense of 2000 Life Points. Upon noticing this, Koro stomped his foot. "You can't just do that!" he said futilely. "Quit using cheater cards!"

Despite all his rage, he had to accept the results. "Fine. Either way, I banished Giant Rex, so I get to summon it back in Defense Mode. Just try to get past it again next turn." It was quite obvious she could get past it just as she had before. The only question left worth asking would be whether or not she could do it while also ending the duel.

Drawing, Yuu played Pot of Greed and Avarice, banishing the top ten cards of her deck to draw two more. It didn't much matter what she got so long as it could either let her summon something that could walk over Giant Rex or do the job itself. Thankfully, that's exactly what she got.

Summoning Necroface, the cursed monster's effect activated. Returning a total of 14 cards back to the players' decks, its ATK raised to 2600. Pointing forward, its tendrils lashed out to smash Giant Rex against the pavement. "Wait, hold on!" Koro pleaded. His set cards were still of no use, leaving him wide open. Yuu's dragon immediately jumped on the opportunity, blasting away the last of Koro's Life Points without a second thought and winning her the duel.

Koro lay on the ground in a pile of humiliation, unable to bother anyone else for the time being. Yuu walked off without a word, ready to continue her mission and be done with this annoyance. Unfortunately, she was no closer to finding Yumi from any of this.

By sheer luck and force of will, though, she was somehow on the right track. After a good twenty minutes worth of more wandering, she caught sight of a familiar pompadour walking with someone in a hood. She remembered seeing the two of them at the tournament several months back, but more importantly remembered that they were somehow associated with Yumi.

Based on bits of conversation she overhead from the taller one from afar, they were going to see her at this very moment. This seemed like just the chance she was waiting for, keeping track of them as they headed further and further out of the city on foot.

It became more difficult to follow them once the crowds thinned out and they'd fully left the limits of Chiba, but she found laying face down in the grass and not moving seemed to be good enough camouflage. At least, neither of them seemed to notice when they turned back to check whether that oppressive, gloomy aura hanging over them belonged to someone behind them.

She didn't know how long they walked ahead of her, her thoughts far too preoccupied with what she was going to do when they finally arrived. What was she going to do, anyway? She came all this way not actually knowing that, hoping that whatever the best course of action might be would present itself once she was face to face with the enemy. That's what she assumed would happen when the real threat arrived, at least, so wouldn't it apply to Yumi, as well?

There was little time for planning now, though, as they'd arrived at the old Takano house. Yuu hung back, barely hiding herself behind the mailbox as the two she'd followed made their way up the dirt path. They didn't even make it to the door before Yumi burst out, greeting her friends with her trademark enthusiasm.

From the sounds of it, this was the first time they'd gotten together here in a while, something called school keeping them apart for some reason. It didn't matter to her, though. All that mattered now was proving that she wasn't a failure.

Without even realizing it, Yuu was beginning to shake. Anxiety spiking beyond what she assumed was even possible from her limited life experience, she had to force herself to step out from behind cover and advance on her target.

"And now that the November tournament is over, we could..." Yumi trailed off, squinting her eyes to try and make out an odd shape at the end of the path leading to her house. "Did someone else come with you?" she asked her friends.

"Nah, just us," Kazuhiko said, Hideo shaking their head in agreement as they both turned to look. What they saw was a trembling, heavily breathing Yuu stomping towards them, expression still as cold as normal despite all this.

"Wait, is that Yuu?" Yumi said, still remembering her from all that time ago.

"No way," Kazuhiko replied. "Did you even tell her where you lived? How'd she get here?"

"I didn't. I don't...that's her, though." She walked forward, scratching her head before giving an awkward wave. "Uh, hi. Yuu, is that you?"

She didn't respond. Or, more accurately, she was far too afraid to speak at the moment. This presented a problem, though, as she kept moving forward regardless while clenching her fists as hard as she could, no doubt giving off a fairly menacing look without meaning to.

Kazuhiko stepped in front of Yumi, coaxing her behind him. "Something's not right here," he observed, Hideo picking up on the same vibe and stepping ahead of the others.

"What do you mean?" Yumi asked. "It's just Yuu."

"Yeah, but I don't think she's here to have a nice conversation," he replied, snatching Hideo's glasses out of the air as they were tossed at him. It took quite a bit for that to happen, the cloudy and kind of dirty lenses no longer obscuring Hideo's unexpectedly bold green eyes. They only ever did this when the situation got serious, partly as a mental switch and partly for the simple fact they expected to potentially be punched in the face.

Intercepting Yuu several feet from where Yumi stood, Hideo put out their hand to stop Yuu's advance. She did so, still shaking and afraid. What, specifically, she was fearing at the moment wasn't clear, but it wasn't a state conducive to making good decisions.

Just as she'd done earlier, she moved in a combination of panic and instinct to try and bite Hideo's fingers. As if anticipating some kind of retaliation, Hideo curled their fingers into a fist at the last moment, shoving Yuu back with a palm to the center of the chest as her teeth chewed into air.

While a fight wasn't her intention, she was entirely powered by conditioning at this point. Regaining her footing almost immediately, it was clear to everyone something had changed about Yuu with that shove. Though her default expression wasn't exactly emotive, she now looked almost like she was sleepwalking, eyes going dark and mouth hanging just the tiniest bit open.

This made her next move all the more surprising, slamming her metal arm into Hideo's last second guard like a club at an alarming speed. As they grit their teeth at the pain, Yuu's free hand shot forward to strike up at the face, once again caught with just a moment to spare before making contact.

She moved on more than simple reflex and instinct, but as if these actions were rehearsed. This was only proven further with how she expertly freed her hand from Hideo's grip, circling her arm around to both break free before seamlessly launching into a side punch.

Hideo hadn't expected a scrawny ten year old at least a head and a half shorter than they were to be this adept, paying for it in spades once the hit connected. Yuu capitalized on this opening by drawing back her metal arm, smashing it into Hideo's crossed arms as a punch this time and sending them rolling backwards along the ground.

Ready to run in as back up, Kazuhiko stepped forward. Hideo stopped him, though, raising there hand to say that they could handle this while standing back up. Yuu shuffled forward, her arms hanging a short ways in front of her like some kind of ghoul, that almost unconscious expression still on her face.

She was skilled, that much was for sure. That said, it was quite obvious just from how careless her attacks seemed to be and the current "stance" she'd taken that she was not at all concerned with defending herself. It wasn't clear whether she was simply never taught how to do so effectively, whatever trainer she might have had banking on the idea no one would want to seriously try to harm a small child, or possibly that she just didn't care whether or not she was hurt so long as it meant hurting the other person more.

Before they could have a chance to exchange blows once again, Yumi ran out from behind Kazuhiko. Though he tried to stop her, she'd gotten too far ahead and was able to successfully stand between the two of them. "Wait, stop!" she yelled, Yuu not seeming to hear her as she continued approaching.

It was at that moment that Yumi did the only thing she could think to do and hugged her. "Everyone just calm down," she said, Kazuhiko running up beside Hideo as both prepared for another go if need be. "No one has to get hurt, so just calm down."

At first, Yuu almost seemed poised to attack Yumi, metal arm rising up like she was about to drive her elbow into her enemy's spine. But she didn't. She stood there, motionless, and allowed herself to be hugged. As far as she could remember, that was the first time anyone had ever done that to her.

Slowly, she came to her senses, her previous violent inclinations vanishing like a fog had lifted inside her mind. This left her fully cognizant of Yumi's kind gesture and completely unable to deal with it. She came so far to defeat her, yet here she was embracing her. How could she deal with such a contradiction?

She couldn't, plain and simple. Yuu slowly fell to her knees, taking Yumi with her. It started small with a sniffle, though the tears came shortly after that. Seconds later, she was outwardly weeping into Yumi's shoulder, clinging to her as best she could and returning the hug.

Neither Kazuhiko or Hideo could quite parse what was happening, Yumi's grandmother similarly stumped as she walked out on this scene late after hearing an unfamiliar wailing coming from the front of her house. While Yumi was just as confused as the rest of them, she was content to let Yuu cry as much as she needed to for the time being.

After that, they had a lot to talk about.

Cards Used in Order of Appearance

Giant Rex
EARTH
Level 4
Dinosaur/Effect
2000 ATK/1200 DEF
Cannot attack directly. If this card is banished: You can Special Summon this card, and if you do, this card gains 200 ATK for each of your banished Dinosaur monsters. You can only use this effect of "Giant Rex" once per turn.

MD Base Unit
EARTH
Level 3
Machine/Tuner/Effect
0 ATK/0 DEF
When this card is Summoned: Add up to 2 "MD Base Unit" cards from your Deck or Graveyard or that are banished to your hand. While this card is in your Graveyard, you can return 1 of your banished Machine-Type monsters to the Graveyard; add this card to your hand. You can only use each effect of "MD Base Unit" once per turn.

Fusion Renaissance Agency (Fusion Recycling Plant)
Field Spell Card
Once per turn: You can discard 1 card; add 1 "Polymerization" from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand. Once per turn, during the End Phase: You can target 1 monster in your Graveyard that was used as a Fusion Material for a Fusion Summon this turn; add it to your hand.

Card Gunner (Card Trooper)
EARTH
Level 3
Machine/Effect
400 ATK/400 DEF
Once per turn: You can choose a number from 1 to 3, then send that many cards from the top of your Deck to the GY; this card gains 500 ATK for each card sent to the GY this way, until the end of this turn. If this card you control is destroyed and sent to your GY: Draw 1 card.

Fusion (Polymerization)
Normal Spell Card
Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monsters from your hand or field as Fusion Material.

Iron Call
Normal Spell Card
If you control a Machine-Type monster: Target 1 Level 4 or lower Machine-Type monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target. Its effects are negated. Destroy it during the End Phase.

Machine God Dragon – Fusion
EARTH
Level 9
Machine/Fusion/Effect
3000 ATK/2100 DEF
MD Base Unit + 2 Machine-Type monsters with the same level
Must be Fusion Summoned with the above monsters, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When this card is Fusion Summoned: Banish all monsters in both player's Graveyards, then increase this card's ATK by 100 for each card banished by this effect. When this card attacks, it is unaffected by the effects of opponent's Spell Cards until the end of the Damage Step. This attacking card cannot be destroyed.

Reactive Armor (Sakuretsu Armor)
Normal Trap Card
When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Target the attacking monster; destroy that target.

Ultimate Evolution Pill (Double Evolution Pill)
Normal Spell Card
Banish 1 Dinosaur monster and 1 non-Dinosaur monster from your hand and/or GY; Special Summon 1 Level 7 or higher Dinosaur monster from your hand or Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions. You can only activate 1 "Double Evolution Pill" per turn.

Gagagigo
WATER
Level 4
Reptile
1850 ATK/1000 DEF

God's Pronouncement (Solemn Judgment)
Counter Trap Card
When a monster would be Summoned, OR a Spell/Trap Card is activated: Pay half your Life Points; negate the Summon or activation, and if you do, destroy that card.

Pot of Greed and Avarice (Pot of Desires)
Normal Spell Card
Banish 10 cards from the top of your Deck, face-down; draw 2 cards. You can only activate 1 "Pot of Desires" per turn.

Necroface
DARK
Level 4
Zombie/Effect
1200 ATK/1800 DEF
If this card is Normal Summoned: Shuffle all banished cards into the Deck. This card gains 100 ATK for each card shuffled into the Main Deck by this effect. If this card is banished: Each player banishes 5 cards from the top of their Deck (or their entire Deck, if less than 5).

Yuu had a big day of meeting a bunch of old side characters. For those interested, the sisters mentioned are Miyuki and Michiko. They went ahead and became the stars of a cooking manga like they talked about a while back. You can read about there adventures as they're published in some magazine, probably.

Got a duel and an actual fight in this chapter. Both were pretty fun to write even if one included Koro, though I do enjoy making him look like a chump. Probably going to show up at least one more time before the end.

Like I warned last time, plot is kicking back into gear now. Took me a bit to get to it since I've been pretty busy with work lately, but now it's here and there hopefully won't be any delays with the next one. Let's see how much foreshadowing everyone picked up on from Yuu thinking to herself about stuff.

You know she's going to have to have a rematch with Hideo at some point. Not with fists, obviously, since no one likes throwing hands with a ten year old, but with cards. Wonder how that's going to shake out.

About all I've got for you now. Next chapter is going to be following up on some dangling plot threads from a while back. Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to give people free ramen.