Someone pointed out that Soul has a fighting style similar to Gilgamesh from Fate/Stay Night. I will admit it right now.

It is purely coincidence. I am, however, rolling with it.

So, yeah, I'm into the Fate franchise now.

Let me explain. I created Soul, WAY before I even knew about Gilgamesh's existence, both in history and Fate. Soul's ability to use swords as projectiles was something I thought was original until I learned about Fate.

However! Gilgamesh is great, so I will roll with it just as planned.

Check out my Tumblr!

I go by the same name as here, oddeyes588

Chapter 22: At long last…

Hot.

It felt hot.

Yuzu felt hot.

Her heart-rate accelerated. Her breathing got heavier.

"What…"

Her face was flushed, and her knees started to buckle.

She tried to reach out for Serena, hoping to lean on her sister for support. Yuzu didn't know why, but she felt sick…

But, to her surprise, Serena was clutching her chest and leaning heavily on the railings just like her. And it wasn't just Serena. Ruri and Rin also looked awful.

Suddenly, she felt cold and hot at the same time. She felt drenched in sweat in an instant, and her body felt like it was on fire. At the same time, however, she felt a weird kind of coolness reverberating through her body.

Black spots were starting to appear in her vision. Was she blacking out? Why?

She practically collapsed against the railing, breathing hard.

"Yu… ya…"

She could've sworn she heard the sound of a powerful beast roaring.

"You… you've been what?" Soul asked.

"Living! Well, more like being a spectator in your life, but I've always been with you since that day." Cahya said nonchalantly, "Not in a creepy way, though."

"Wait… so does that mean…?" Syrup started to ask.

Cahya smiled at her. "Yup! I'm technically the same age as Soul! Though, I guess I'm technically one year younger…"

Both Soul and Syrup stared at the young girl before them.

"Oh, my appearance? Well, since I never actually grew up physically in life, it seems that I'm stuck looking like this…" Cahya sighed.

"So, you've… lived a life, through me, essentially?" Soul asked.

Cahya thought for a moment before smiling. "Well, I never had any control over anything so it's debatable, but I went to school with you, learned with you, and matured with you." She explained. "Though, not physically, as you can see."

Soul leaned back, as though a large weight had suddenly been lifted off of his shoulders.

"So… you got to live some form of the life you missed…" he sighed.

Cahya smiled at him again. "Yes… normally, it should have been impossible."

"Then how did you do it?" Syrup asked.

"It's a long story," Cahya sighed, "so buckle in…"

There are a lot of stories about vengeful spirits remaining in this world because of unfinished business.

Who knew that, though rare, it could be true?

In my case, it wasn't anger that kept me in this world. I was just in so much despair… I had unfinished business, because I knew that my kind older brother would blame himself for my death.

But still, it should've been impossible.

I tried to hold onto Soul, to keep myself anchored to this world.

But it was impossible. The dead are meant to pass on. My regrets just weren't enough to keep me in this world for long.

But as my hold started to slip, I suddenly felt something grab my arm and refuse to let go.

I opened my eyes, and there it was.

The Blade-Messiah Dragon, at least incorporeally, had burst out of you and grabbed me as I started to pass on.

Next thing I knew, I was in the landscape of your mind.

"Blade-Messiah… did what?" Soul asked.

"You've hated your power this whole time, and with what you knew, it was perfectly justified." Cahya said softly, "But the power of a duelist comes from the beings of the Spirit World, the monsters. Though rare, the full spirit of a monster will inhabit a duelist to give them strength, and this is slightly more common with Ritual Duelists." She explained.

I tried and tried to communicate with you… but every time I tried to be specific, you wouldn't hear it. I could only communicate with you through brief and vague messages.

And unfortunately, you gained some demons that day.

Your self-loathing manifested as the voices you hear in your head. There are three voices, and I was one of them. I was the supportive one.

So, as I searched for a way to communicate directly with you again, I focused my efforts towards being the thing that kept you together.

Years passed and I matured mentally along with you. Though it annoyed me that no matter what, I still had the body of a child. But those were just trivial matters.

No matter what I did, I had no way of talking to you completely.

My situation here was never permanent. One day, I was sure to be repelled from your body as a soul that doesn't belong.

But then, you made a friend.

She was bubbly, cheerful, peppy, and bright. Honestly, the opposite of you.

Yet you got along so well.

I was happy. Perhaps now, even if I failed to save you, she could instead.

Then, she made her first trip into your mind.

I had never imagined that there could be someone with such vast amounts of Spiritual Energy. At first, I thought she was a monster and hid myself.

But she was here to help, I was sure of it.

And she was the perfect one.

With such vast amounts of Spiritual Energy, it was perfectly possible for her to forcibly drag you into the deepest parts of your mind, where I resided. Though, I suppose I'm putting it a bit crudely.

The fact is, while I don't know why Syrup has so much power, she was instrumental in bringing you here.

Soul looked over at Syrup. She looked like she was fidgeting in her seat.

"Syrup?"

Syrup suddenly turned to face him, looking surprised.

"A-ah…?" She stuttered.

Cahya giggled. "It's clearly something that I have no right to pry in. As thanks for your help, the least I can do is leave it alone."

"So…" Soul decided to ask the question on both his and Syrup's mind.

It pained him to do it. He wanted to stay here with his sister and talk with her for days, catching up on all the conversations they had missed.

But he couldn't.

He knew that something was happening outside.

"A-agh…!"

"Urk…!"

"Gah…!"

Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri each let out audible gasps as pain surged in their chests.

Blade-Messiah's attack suddenly dissipated instantly, and Yuya (Odd-Eyes Rebellion) was floating in place as a menacing, inky black aura emanated off of him.

Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon was already a particularly dark-themed monster, so to the spectators, it must've looked normal.

But something inside Yuto's gut told him that he wasn't looking at Yuya anymore.

He was watching a beast stare down another beast.

Meanwhile, however, the more insightful teachers were beginning to feel uneasy.

"What… what is this feeling…?" Judai muttered as he watched the two monsters stare each other down.

"Is it… deja vu?" Yusei replied as he held his head.

"Yeah… but at the same time, I'm certain I've never seen anything like this before…" Judai said as he held his own head.

"Yuma, those are your students, right?" Yusei turned to look at Yuma.

Yuma was shocked for different reasons.

"What the heck! Since when were my students this talented!" He exclaimed, "Three of them are notorious for sleeping in my class!"

Yuya

Yugo

Soul

"Well, one of them is the Pendulum kid, right?" Yusei asked. "By the way, Atem said he would handle it, but has he actually done anything with that kid since then?"

Yuma scratched his head. "Hm… not that I know of…"

Back at the fight, both Yuya and Blade-Messiah were growling at eachother.

Yuto could somehow tell, even as he clutched his chest in pain.

That wasn't Yuya.

He, Yugo, and Yuri had all lost their transformations and were on the ground, exhausted and clutching their chests.

Yuya was the only one fighting right now.

"Of all… the rotton times… to get a fucking heart-attack…!" Yuri growled.

"I don't think… this is a heart-attack…" Yugo gasped.

"I. Don't. Care. Fusion!" Yuri snapped.

Yuri and Yugo, still able to bicker despite the circumstances, were cut off as Yuya let loose a ear-piercing roar.

Blade-Messiah responded with a roar of equal magnitude, and suddenly, they were gone.

Yugo blinked. "Huh—"

Suddenly, a shockwave knocked them all flat on the ground.

"Guh…! What the…?" Yuto gasped as he looked up.

His grey eyes widened.

This wasn't possible a moment ago.

Yuya couldn't do this before. None of them could.

Yet…

Flying through the air, matching Blade-Messiah's speed perfectly, Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon clashed with Blade-Messiah as they took to the sky. Both of them became streaks of light as they clashed repeatedly in the sky. With each clash, a shockwave powerful enough to push Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri flat onto the ground would reverberate through the stadium.

This wasn't strength at Yuya's level.

Yuto could hardly even keep his eyes on the fight. One second they were somewhere, and the next second they had clashed somewhere else.

Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon was matching Crystal Wing in terms of speed, and clashing perfectly with Blade-Messiah.

Speaking of Blade-Messiah, the armored dragon had now gone through countless weapons.

With each clash, Soul saw shards of metal fly as whatever weapon Blade-Messiah was holding was shattered. He was certain he had seen swords, spears, and even a halberd at some point.

It was good that they were fighting in the sky. Blade-Messiah was also firing swords as projectiles, and it was similar to firing a machine gun at this point. Yuto could see them fly through the sky like beams of light before crashing into the barrier that kept the spectators safe.

On Yuya's end, electricity would crackle violently in all directions every time he made contact with Blade-Messiah. At one point, he even managed to grab Blade-Messiah's head and slam it into the barrier, dragging his enemy ruthlessly across the barrier before Blade-Messiah slammed him with a particularly powerful attack in retaliation, knocking him away.

Finally, however, they stopped clashing and settled on the ground, glaring eachother down.

Blade-Messiah was holding a new sword that Yuto didn't recognize.

The sword crackled with electricity and purple flames, and Yuto suddenly felt the air freeze.

It wasn't a metaphor. Yuto felt the air literally freeze as the tension in the air skyrocketed. Yuto felt like he was going to suffocate and audibly gasped.

He could still breathe, but the source of this atmosphere was because of the weapon in Blade-Messiah's hand.

Snapping Yuto out of his trance, Yuya suddenly let out a blood-curdling roar as electricity crackled even more violently around him.

Was it going to end now? Yuto didn't even know if he was even looking at Yuya right now.

Blade-Messiah took a stance, holding the demonic-looking blade up with both hands, and the tip pointing towards the sky.

The wings on Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon's back ignited, and a sinister light started to grow in its maw.

As the two dragons readied their ultimate attacks at each other, Yuto heard the voices of Soul and Yuya.

"Fall! Balmung!"

"Strike them down! Thunder of Revolution - Lightning Strike!"

Blade-Messiah swung its blade down, and with a massive explosion of light, a massive beam of light flew towards Yuya.

Yuya responded in kind.

With a massive roar, a beam of darkness and lightning blasted from his maw, flying to meet with Blade-Messiah's own beam of light.

Instead, however, they passed each other.

Both beams of light passed each other and continued forward to destroy their respective targets.

And with an explosion of light, both attacks met their targets.

"Fascinating. Truly fascinating…" Roger muttered to himself as he watched the match through a monitor. "I never thought I would be reminded of that day…"

"You understand now, right?" Cahya asked.

Soul looked down and nodded. "Yes… but still…"

Could he really control this power? After rejecting it for so long?

Cahya could seemingly tell what was going on in his mind, as she cupped his face in her hands and looked him right in the eyes.

"You'll see me again, I promise." She said confidently, "We need to spend some more time together. And you should be more confident in your abilities. I know you can do this…"

Soul softly held one of his little sister's hands, gripping it tightly.

"Right… just watch, your brother needs to look cool for once…"

Syrup took one look at him and smiled. "It's funny. He's always looked so relaxed, but now… it really feels like he's happy…"

"Are we ready?" Syrup asked.

Soul took a deep breath before nodding his head. "You better stick around until we get to talk again." He said firmly.

Cahya nodded. "It's a promise."

A door had appeared in the field in front of them, and Soul started striding confidently toward it.

As Syrup started to follow him, she suddenly felt Cahya's small hand grasp her own.

She looked back at the young girl, tilting her head in confusion.

Cahya's face was downcast. "In this realm, it's possible to feel things like negative emotions off of people who have suffered…"

Syrup's eyes narrowed.

Cahya's downcast face suddenly changed into what looked like a forced smile.

"I know this is rude… but it's a little hypocritical to try so hard to save someone else, when you haven't saved yourself." She stated bluntly.

Syrup stared at the girl.

"Do you know?" She asked.

Cahya shrugged. "It's just a theory that I can't prove. You don't have to tell me if I'm correct or not." She said. "But I hope you take what I said into account."

Syrup bit her bottom lip and removed her hand from Cahya's.

"…It was nice meeting you in person." She said before turning away and moving to join Soul at the doorway out.

Cahya couldn't help but notice that Syrup's usually cheerful tone was nowhere to be found in her words.

When the smoke cleared, Yuya was lying limp against some rubble, in his normal form.

He seemed at least half-conscious to Yuto, but his main concern was with Soul. Blade-Messiah was still present.

Mind you, the armored dragon was heavily fucked up. It's dark aura was gone, and it was back to its usual golden splendor, despite all of the massive damage everywhere. It's armor was chipped in almost every location, and was even falling apart in some places.

But its eyes were still red with rage, and it was slowly stepping forward towards Yuya.

Yuto was somewhat versed in myths and legends, and he was certain he had heard the name "Balmung" somewhere.

Then, he remembered.

Though it was, most likely fictional… Balmung was said to be a sword that specializes in killing dragons. Considering Blade-Messiah's abilities… it was perfectly possible that he possessed weapons with specific effects and abilities. Perhaps what he had just used was a sword that was highly effective on Dragon monsters, which inspired its name.

Regardless, Yuto could easily see from the results of the battle. Both of the attacks were of similar, if not the same, magnitude. Yet Yuya had seemingly taken more damage from Blade-Messiah than the damage that Blade-Messiah had taken.

Yuya slowly opened his eyes. "What… happened…?"

The last thing he remembered was clashing against Blade-Messiah. Then he…

Blade-Messiah was walking toward him.

Yuya's eyes widened as he scrambled to his feet. "Guh…!"

He didn't know what had just happened, but his head was pounding and his chest was burning. He also felt severely exhausted, like he had just run three marathons in the span of a minute.

"Guh… Odd-Eyes!"

A flash of green and red light, and an injured red dragon now faced down the injured gold dragon.

Exhaustion doesn't just go away. Yuya instantly felt his knees start to buckle under his own weight.

Then, Blade-Messiah charged him.

Raising a chipped and damaged sword, Blade-Messiah roared as it attempted to strike down the enemy before it.

In response, Yuya raised his head… and grabbed the blade with his teeth.

A loud clash reverberated again as Yuya bit into the metal of the blade as hard as he could in order to keep it in place.

"Guh…! Spiral Flame—"

Yuya was cut off by a powerful impact against his chest, and he realized that Blade-Messiah had just kicked him. He nearly let go of his grip on the sword, but he kept holding on.

"Hurry up and come back, Soul…!"

He felt another kick, and his grip lessened again.

One more kick and he wouldn't be able to keep standing. "I… can't hold out…"

Then, just as he saw Blade-Messiah's leg start to come up for him again…

"YUYA!"

Blade-Messiah suddenly found itself pinned at all sides by Dark Rebellion, Clear Wing, and Starving Venom, in addition to Odd-Eyes.

"Hands off…" Yuri growled.

"Our little…" Yugo added.

"Brother!" Yuto finished.

Blade-Messiah roared, enraged by this resistance, as power began to swell in its injured body.

"This has gone on for too long…! Somebody shatter that fucking crystal!" Yuri cursed as he held the injured beast down.

"As much as I hate to say it… Yuri's right!" Yuto grunted. "Yugo!"

Yugo's eyes widened. "But…!"

"Wait, guys! Look!" Yuya called out.

Blade-Messiah's eyes were starting to flash green, and they were starting to hear a human voice within its roars.

"Aah…! Aah…!"

"Good! All the more reason!" Yuri snapped. "Yugo! Smash that crystal or else I'll—OW!"

Yuri snarled as Blade-Messiah thrashed its head and smashed its armored forehead into Yuri's own head.

"Guh… alright!" Yugo yelled as he detached from Blade-Messiah and flew at full speed toward Soul's crystal.

"Fight it! Fight it, Soul!" Yuya yelled as their workload was increased. Without Yugo, the dragon managed to free one of its arms and spawn a blade in it.

"Crap…!" Yuto cursed.

"Whirlwind Helldive Slasher!" Yugo roared as he spun through the air and slammed into the crystal, cracks starting to appear.

"Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon! Mirage Dragon!" Yuya called out.

Immediately, the two Pendulum Spirits of red and green appeared and latched onto Blade-Messiah's free arm, preventing him from swinging it down on one of the brothers.

"Damn it! This thing is hard…!" Yugo grunted as he started to push through the crystal, annoyed by its increased durability thanks to the team-member difference.

Suddenly, Yuri and Yuto were both blown away by Blade-Messiah, allowing the dragon another free hand to spawn a blade in. It spun the blade around in its hand before swinging it down to stab into Yuya.

"Yuya!" Yuri shouted.

Then, Blade-Messiah's eyes stopped flashing green.

It was like all of his limbs were about to be ripped apart.

No matter how hard he tugged, no matter how hard he pulled, his efforts did nothing.

All of this rampaging energy, it was like a soda bottle that had been given a good shake, and had just been opened.

Stop…!

It didn't respond to his command, and Soul couldn't help but think "God, what a pain" even through the pain.

Come on… you're my power, so quit throwing a fucking tantrum…!

He pulled and he pulled, it felt like he was trying to pull at a bungee cord. The more he pulled the harder it became, and if he faltered for even a second, he would be snapped back to the beginning.

Then, he saw it.

Floating among the void of red that he was trapped in, Soul saw the outline of a massive dragon, glaring at him.

"What… are you mad…?"

The beast snarled.

"Yeah, I guess you are…" Soul laughed weakly, "I did keep you sealed for all these years…"

It stared at him.

"Looking back, I was pretty pathetic, wasn't I?" He grunted as he started to pull at his limbs with renewed strength. "But… never again. I will live, and I'll find the bastard that hurt me… no, hurt Cahya…"

It was like he was wearing chains around his arms and legs, and those chains just shattered.

He now stood in a barren field that stretched out infinitely. There was a small hill in front of him, and a sword stuck out of the ground at the top of the hill like a gravemarker.

He walked up the hill and grasped the hilt of the sword.

"Watch me. I'll show you that I'm worthy of your strength."

He pulled out the sword, and light filled the area.

Blade-Messiah suddenly stopped, and its eyes shone completely green.

"Huh…?" Yuya muttered.

"…Fuck, that was awful—ACK!"

That was Soul's voice.

As if all of the adrenaline wore off, Soul suddenly crumpled to the ground as his transformation came undone, all of the pain from the battle suddenly hitting him like a truck.

"Hah…!" Yuya gasped as his Pendulum Spirits vanished, and he returned to his normal form.

He saw Yuto and Yuri do the same, and in the distance, he saw Yugo finally crash through the crystal, shattering it completely before landing on the ground and returning to normal as well.

It… it was over.

Yuya's head pounded, and his chest felt hot.

But they had done it.

He didn't even hear the announcer declare their victory, as Yuya immediately fell backwards and lost consciousness, falling into a deep sleep.

But before that… Yuya heard the faint cheering of the crowd.

…They were cheering? But… Yuya hadn't prioritized entertainment during this match, he had prioritized Soul's life.

What… what was this feeling of uneasiness that filled his chest?

"It… must be my imagination..."

"Yuzu? Yuzu, are you alright…?"

Yuzu slowly opened her eyes to see Serena shaking her shoulder. They were still at the arena, and her sisters looked exhausted, but it seemed like Yuzu was the only one to pass out,

"Urgh… what happened…?" Yuzu mumbled as she rubbed her head. Her legs still felt shaky, but she could stand.

"I dunno. Suddenly we all felt really sick, then you just collapsed…" Serena explained.

"The match is over, though." Ruri pointed out, though her voice was a little weak.

Yuzu gasped, her eyes snapping open. "It's over!? Who won?"

Her question was answered by Rin's relieved smile.

Yuzu looked out and saw Yugo gasping for air behind the shattered pieces of Soul's crystal, while Soul, Yuya, Yuto, and Yuri each laid on the ground nearby, completely exhausted.

"Hey, that kid was amazing, right?"

"Isn't he just a first-year, though?"

"Actually, aren't they all first-years?"

"Damn, UDA's incredible…"

Yuzu let out a sigh of relief as she leaned against the railing again, her body drenched in sweat. For once, she was actually grateful for the costume she was wearing. It exposed skin, which was embarrassing, but it was also quite airy and easy to breathe in.

She then noticed Yuya being loaded onto a stretcher and shot back to her feet.

"Come on! Let's go and meet them at the hospital." Yuzu said as she started to run off. "Yuya was way too reckless! I'm gonna make sure he gets an earful when I get to him!"

In the commotion, Yuzu unfortunately didn't notice that her bracelet was glowing softly.

It was a pure white landscape.

An endless white void that stretched out infinitely, and Yuya was walking in it.

It was… peaceful.

Yuya looked at this pure landscape and thought it was peaceful.

But… something felt off. He looked around, but no matter where he looked, it was just white. There wasn't anything wrong.

Then, he felt a chill.

It was like a cold, wet hand had just latched onto his shoulder.

He spun around, shocked. But there was nothing there.

He could still feel the hand, though. He swatted at the empty space around his shoulder, but nothing happened.

Then, he saw it.

Right in front of him, a single spot of black was visible in the endless expanse of white.

It was getting bigger… or perhaps it was getting closer?

Yuya didn't know why, but his entire body tensed up in fear.

So he turned and ran.

Springing as quickly as he could, he dashed in the opposite direction of the black dot. He took a look behind him, and his eyes widened.

The black dot was expanding, and it was growing closer.

No… it wasn't even a dot at all.

It was a mass of black, inky hands.

"What the…!?"

Yuya ran, but the black was overtaking the white faster than he could run.

He looked behind him again, and saw countless hands reach out for him.

And then, just as he saw one of the hands reach out and almost grab his face…

Everything vanished.

Yuya opened his eyes, looking up at a white ceiling. He was still in the same clothing as before, but there was a series of lamps hanging over him that casted green light on his body. As he laid in this light, he could actually feel the various bruises along his body healing.

"Ah! You're awake!"

Yuya recognized Yuzu's voice. "Ah, Yuzu—"

SMACK

Before he could get anything out, he felt a familiar pang of pain across the back of his head as Yuzu smacked him with her Paper Fan.

"That's what you get for being reckless!" Yuzu declared.

Yuya winced as he rubbed the place that Yuzu had ruthlessly assaulted. "Hey, you would hit an injured man!?" He exclaimed.

"If you don't want the fan, then don't be an idiot!" Yuzu snapped back.

"Y-you're not my mom!" Yuya exclaimed.

Yuzu's face flushed. "O-of course not! I'm just the one who keeps you from doing stupid things!"

"Ah, still going with the tsundere act?" Ruri teased from nearby.

Yuya looked around and saw Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri in similar beds next to him, and the rest of Yuzu's sisters were here as well.

"R-Ruri!" Yuzu shouted.

Ruri flashed Yuzu a "Tee-hee!" Kind of look before promptly looking away.

Yuri, meanwhile, noticed that they were still in their costumes. "So, what's with the skimpy outfits? Don't tell me that you've all fallen for me…"

Yuzu, Rin, and Ruri each shot death-glares at Yuri.

"Ooh, such intense stares…" Yuri grinned. "Oh, stop it! You'll make me blush!"

Serena stared at him. "They are pretty nice outfits. I can move easily in them, though it exposes a bit too much skin…"

Yuri had his ever-present grin on his face. "Glad to hear that you like it…" he said with an evil grin.

"Why do I have a bad feeling?" Yugo asked.

"It's Yuri, isn't it justified to always have a bad feeling around him?" Rin said as she sat next to Yugo.

"Fair point."

"But seriously… you guys didn't have to dress up for us." Yuto said as he sat up in his bed.

Yugo, surprisingly, nodded. "Yeah, seriously. As great as you guys look…" he said as he eyed Rin, "your brother is probably going to kill us—"

Before Yugo could get slugged for the way he was looking at Rin, the door burst open to reveal Shun. Everybody in the room froze as Shun scanned the room, filled with four exhausted brothers and four sisters dressed with, in Shun's opinion, too little.

Everyone froze.

Shun took a deep breath. "I'm gonna step outside for a bit…"

A moment passed.

Yugo spoke up. "Guys, did we break him…?"

They suddenly heard the sound of Shun's fist slamming into the wall from the outside.

"Damn, no luck, huh?" Yuri stated.

Shun slowly stepped back into the room and stared lifelessly at everyone.

"…When any of you meet me in the tournament, I will be perfectly allowed to slam you into the ground harder than you could ever imagine.

"Shun…?" Yuto started to speak up.

"You get to be slammed with slightly less effort, but slammed nonetheless." Shun said bluntly.

"O-okay…?"

"Well, you're surprisingly calm about this, Big Brother!" Ruri said happily.

"I'm not. I am seething with a burning rage unlike anything you could ever imagine," Shun explained. "Can't you see how angry I am?"

Shun's eye was twitching, and veins were starting to appear on his forehead.

"Holy shit, we actually broke him…" Yuri muttered under his breath.

"I'm going back to my room. Burn the costumes." Shun stated emotionlessly as he left the room.

Syrup, who had recovered much faster than the doctors had expected, walked into the room where Soul was resting by using a crutch to help her with her still partially-broken leg.

Soul was sitting in the recovery bed, and for the first time… Syrup saw Soul without his hoodie on.

"I see that you're not cold anymore." Syrup said with a smile.

"No clue what you're talking about" Soul stated bluntly.

Syrup could've sworn that she saw the edge of his mouth curl into a small grin.

"Thanks, by the way."

Syrup smiled and walked up to him as he faced away from her, and hugged him from behind. "No problem, Soul…"

"Ah…" Soul muttered as he continued to face away from her.

"Hm? Is something wrong?" Syrup asked.

"N-no… sorry, I'm just tired…" Soul muttered.

"Oh! Well, then I'll let you sleep, then!" She said as she released Soul from the hug and jumped back. "Though, I guess you already do that a lot, right?"

"Yeah…" Soul replied.

As Syrup left the room, Soul placed a hand up to his forehead.

For once, he now felt incredibly… hot.

Specifically, his face.

Realizing that his face was red, Soul scoffed at himself. "Geez… was the hug necessary…?" he muttered.

The healing lights at the hospital had recovered Yuya and his brothers enough so that they could go back to their rooms. One thing that Yuya noticed was…

"Did… did you guys come all the way up here in those outfits?" He asked.

Answering his question, they started to walk out of the hospital and Yuzu immediately hid behind Yuya as they started walking in the outfits in public.

"Ah."

Looking at Yuzu's outfit… it really was kind of attention-grabbing. Each costume had large aesthetics and decorations that made them stand out even more than the fact that they were walking around in what was essentially a cheerleader outfit.

Yuya also happened to notice a few guys staring at Yuzu as she attempted (and failed) to hide behind Yuya.

His lips curled into a pout as he started to take off his jacket, which he usually left around his shoulders to just flow behind him.

It was a little difficult because of the Odd-Eyes horns on Yuzu's back, but he managed it regardless. Yuzu looked up as Yuya covered her up as best as he could with his jacket.

"Yuya?"

"Just… stay behind me."

Yuya avoided her gaze and looked ahead, trying to keep Yuzu from seeing his face.

Yuzu blushed and started walking closer to his back.

Yuri, who was watching, scoffed and started to take off his red cape-like jacket. "As if I'm gonna lose to Yuya in gentlemanliness…"

Serena shot him a look. "Gentlemanly? Did you hit your head during that match?" She asked.

"Shut up and take the jacket."

"Fine, I'll let you swim in your delusions."

Yuri held out the red cape and Serena took it from him with a smug smile as she draped it around herself.

Yuto smiled as he saw both Yuya and Yuri offer their jackets to the girls that followed them and started to take off his own jacket.

Ruri smiled at him. "Oh? Joining your brothers in the gentlemanly act?"

Yuto's cheeks reddened, as he offered her his own black cape-jacket. He quickly regained his composure, though. "I suppose I am, aren't I?"

Ruri giggled as she took Yuto's jacket and draped it around herself.

Now, there was just Yugo and Rin.

"…"

"…"

Yugo stared at her. "What?"

Rin stared at him intensely.

Realizing what was going on, his face flushed indignantly.

"W-What!? Excuse me for not having a jacket! I wore the suit you made for me, and I'm not a weirdo who wears jackets like capes!" He exclaimed.

"Hm…" Rin pouted at him.

Yugo flinched. "G-geh…!"

Rin suddenly burst out laughing. "Ha! Don't worry, it would just be really cheesy if you did it after all three of your brothers did it first!"

"Hey! That doesn't make me feel any better, you know!" Yugo exclaimed.

Rin walked up beside him, her arms behind her back as she smiled with a bit of smugness. "Well, relax! I don't need a jacket, you just need to walk beside me and look intimidating."

"L-look intimidating…?" Yugo questioned.

Thinking for a bit, Yugo steeled his resolve and glared forward. He puffed out his chest and started to march forward in a goofy, forced, and awkward manner.

He was anything but intimidating.

Rin had a wide, genuine smile on her face as she laughed, walking alongside him and lightly smacking him in the arm.

"I thought you had broken your leg, Ms. Maple?"

Syrup jumped as she heard a familiar voice when she entered her room.

"Headmaster… Atem…" She mumbled as she turned to see him leaning against the wall in the corner of the room.

The doctors had chalked up Syrup's quick recovery to Syrup being "compatible" (whatever that meant) with the healing equipment available.

Syrup had just laughed it off, but now…

"I'm just trying to understand. Why is it that you heal at such a speed?" He asked, "And don't think I didn't notice your actions during the match your teammate was in."

Syrup's eyes widened. "He knew…?"

Atem simply pointed at his forehead cryptically as he stood up straight.

Syrup immediately turned away. "I have nothing to say, please leave…" she requested meekly.

Atem stared at her silently for a moment, but eventually…

"Very well, Ms. Maple… but first…"

Syrup whipped around to face him, and her eyes widened.

For a brief instant, she saw a glowing third eye on the Headmaster's forehead.

Then, a flash of blinding light.

When the light faded, Syrup's eyes were wide in shock. Atem smiled calmly as he discovered the answer to his questions about her. "Ah, I see now…"

"Look, it's just coffee, see!" Yuri said angrily.

Everyone stared at the cups of brown liquid suspiciously. Yuri had brought these drinks to them, and the last time he had been in charge of beverages, it didn't end well.

Serena sighed. "It's true, I came with him, he got these from a coffee shop." She confirmed.

"Well, if Serena says so…" Yuya muttered as he stared at the drinks. He didn't usually drink coffee, saying that it smelt like sadness and boiled dirt, but he didn't hate it…

What he was suspicious about, was why Yuri had gotten them specifically coffee. Coffee wasn't exactly a fitting drink for a celebration, right?

Also, another thing…

"By the way, why is Serena still in her costume?" Yuya asked. The rest of the girls had already changed out of their costumes, but Serena was still wearing hers. Mind you, Serena had strange tastes, so it wasn't too out of the ordinary for her to keep wearing it, but…

Yuri was grinning evilly. "Let's just say I won a bet and leave it at that, hm?"

Earlier…

"So, remember when you said you would do anything after I helped you out with measurements?" Yuri asked.

Serena stared at him. "Yeah, why?"

Back to the present…

"Personally, this is a pretty lax request." Serena sighed, "I honestly expected worse."

"Please, the rights to choose whenever you wear that thing is plenty enough for me…" Yuri said under his breath.

"Well, I've never heard of alcoholic coffee before…" Yugo said as he took his cup and eyed it, "So it should be fine, right?"

Irish Coffee: A cocktail consisting of hot coffee, Irish whiskey, and sugar, stirred, and topped with cream. The coffee is drunk through the cream.

How could they have been such fools and trusted Yuri so lightly? Of course there was a form of coffee that was alcoholic. Even if there wasn't, Yuri would find a way to MAKE alcoholic coffee.

The truly baffling part, however, was that Serena was actually Yuri's partner-in-crime for this operation.

Yuzu had been a little more cautious and had only had one cup, and she was already starting to feel tipsy.

Meanwhile, everyone else was…

"RIIIIIIIIIN!"

"GET OFF!"

Both Yuri and Serena were still sober, having only pretended to drink but were instead filming the entire thing.

Well, Yuri was filming it. Serena was currently fighting off Yugo, who had mistaken her for Rin and was trying to glomp her.

Rin, meanwhile, had become a sad-drunk.

"Yugo…!" She wailed, her face bright red. "I'm right here…!"

Ruri was in a delirious state. "It's too hot in here…!" She sighed, "I need to wear less layers…"

As she said this, she was already starting to strip.

Yuto, meanwhile, panicked.

"RURI NO!" He shouted, grabbing her and keeping her from taking anything off.

"Get off… it's too hot…!" Ruri yelled weakly.

Yuto was definitely under the influence of Yuri's sneaky alcohol, and while he would usually be stopping her from stripping for any number of reasons… the drunk reason was this:

"No! I don't want anybody else to see you like that…!"

Yuzu's eyes were wide. This was a side of Yuto that she had never seen before. The strict, straight-faced, serious Yuto was… a possessive drunk?

"Damn it, you two…!" Yuzu cursed as she held her forehead, her face growing hotter by the second.

"Oh, I wouldn't focus on us, Yuzu!" Yuri called out gleefully.

Yuzu suddenly realized it. Where was Yuya?

"Yuzu…?"

Her greatest fear, realized.

Unlike the last time they were tricked into intoxication, Yuzu had been fully drunk while Yuya had to deal with her.

This time, it seemed that the positions were reversed.

Before she could react, she suddenly felt Yuya wrap his arms around her from behind and latch onto her.

"Eek—!" Yuzu squeaked as her face reddened and her body froze up.

"Yuzu~!" Yuya sighed as he drunkenly clung to her, "Hm… this feels nice…"

"Ah… ah… ah…!" Yuzu stammered as she tried to process what was happening. "Y-Yuya! How much did you d-drink!?"

"Ehehe… a lot…"

"Crap."

Despite the elation she felt as Yuya rubbed his cheek against her back, she fought those feelings and attempted to pry Yuya's arms away from her.

A big mistake.

Yuya noticed this and immediately held her tighter. "Hm… but it's nice here…"

"Y-Yuya… can't… breathe…!"

Yuya was now squeezing her from behind, his arms around her stomach, and clutching her with all of his strength.

The problem with that, however, is that if you squeeze a person that hard, it becomes a little difficult to breathe.

Hearing that, Yuya's grip weakened slightly, but was still wrapped too tightly around Yuzu to get him off of her.

Yuzu shot a glare at Yuri, who responded with his signature shit-eating grin.

Yuzu clenched her fist angrily before coming to the best decision her slightly-drunk mind could come up with. "Fine… as the only responsible, mostly-sober person in this room… I'll handle this myself!"

Standing up with Yuya still attached, she steeled her resolve. "Come on, Yuya… let's get you and everyone else to bed…" she sighed.

As she started to drag Yuya away, Yuri glanced at Serena.

"Serena?"

"Yeah?"

"Follow them. Record it, too."

"Right."

Soul sighed as he was finally released from recovery, donning his usual hoodie and starting to walk back to the hotel.

…

"It's awfully hot…" Soul muttered to himself as he tugged at his black hoodie. It was a pullover hoodie, and was rather thick. Soul had gotten it because it helped quite a bit when his body temperature was in disarray, but now that the seal wasn't present…

Soul decided to take a detour, specifically to the nearest clothes store.

"A lot of stuff has happened… maybe a wardrobe change would be nice…" he muttered out loud.

He stopped for a second.

"Isn't that right, Cahya?"

He didn't hear any response, but he suddenly felt a very uplifting sensation in his chest. That was enough of an answer for him.

Soul's usual outfit consisted of blue jeans, black sneakers, a white T-Shirt, and his pullover hoodie.

As he left the store, however, his outfit had subtle changes.

He had replaced his old hoodie with a new one, specifically a black zip-up hoodie instead of a pullover. He left the zipper undone, so his t-shirt was visible underneath it, making for a contrast between white and black.

He now wore new blue jeans, almost identical to his old ones, but with the ripped style instead.

"That feels better." Soul sighed as he started to make his way back to the hotel.

As he returned to the hotel room, his newest ability, aura-reading, suddenly kicked in.

He felt a strange aura of negative emotions around the room.

"Syrup?" He spoke out loud.

Syrup suddenly popped into the room, coming out of the bathroom. "A-ah! Soul! You're back!" She exclaimed, looking flustered.

Soul raised an eyebrow as his golden right-eye, though concealed by his hair, showed him Syrup's aura.

It was… shaky. It looked like it had just exploded and was just starting to come back together.

"Syrup…?"

Syrup's lip quivered momentarily before she suddenly started toward the door. "S-sorry! I just need to… do something!" She said quickly as she moved past him and left the room.

"Uh…" Soul started to call out before stopping.

Confusion and concern filled him. Syrup was normally very keen to notice things like a subtle change in appearance. She would usually make a big deal out of it.

She had just brushed off Soul's new appearance, which was… odd, to say the least, knowing how she usually acted.

But even more confusing was her aura. Why was it in such a state?

He considered following her.

"Go on…"

Spurred on by a familiar female voice in his head, he stepped out of the room and looked for her. She seemed to be long gone…

"I'll… check the lobby." Soul decided, walking towards the elevators.

Yuya passed out.

She was dragging his limp body towards his bed like he was some kind of ragdoll.

Actually, it was more accurate to say that Yuzu felt like she was getting rid of a body, mostly.

The hardest part, admittedly, was lifting Yuya's limp body into his bed. She had to get on his bed and pull him up onto it in order to do it.

Yuzu made a mental note to start working on her upper body strength.

"Alright… now I just have to do the same thing with everybody else…" she sighed. As she said this, her eyes drifted down to Yuya's sleeping face.

…

Instantly distracted, Yuzu started to try and make him as comfortable as possible. Making sure that his head was on the pillow, making sure he wasn't resting on one arm, making sure he wasn't too hot…

That last part was the problem.

Yuya wore green cargo pants. Yuzu definitely couldn't imagine sleeping comfortably in something like that.

"Maybe if I just leave the blankets off him…? No, what if that makes him too cold…?" She pondered out loud.

"Mm…"

Yuzu froze as she heard Yuya mumble something.

Then she unfroze as she noticed Yuya's facial expression twist into one of discomfort.

"Ah! Is he uncomfy!?" She exclaimed.

"Mm… nngh…"

No, was he dreaming about something?

Then, his face changed into a happy one, letting Yuzu release a sigh of relief.

"Mm…"

Yuzu smiled at him, moving her hand closer to brush some of his hair out of his eyes.

As she moved her hand closer, though, she suddenly felt herself get pulled forcefully closer.

Yuzu blinked. "E-eh!?"

A soft "thump!"

"Mm… smells nice…"

Yuzu, who was now trapped with Yuya halfway on top of her, almost screamed in embarrassment as her face burned red.

"Wait! Waitwaitwaitwait! Doesn't this seem familiar!? Isn't this what I did to Yuya when Yuri first got us drunk!?" Yuzu screamed inside her head. "I-in any case! This is moving way too fast for me—I mean, this shouldn't be happening at all!"

Yuzu's mind practically short-circuited as Yuya snuggled up next to her with one leg over her own legs.

"Oh, crap he's a clingy cuddler!" Yuzu panicked, unsure of whether she could even will herself to do anything in this situation. "Wait… stay calm, Yuzu. Is he awake? If he's awake then we can try to reason with him…"

Yuya snored. He was in a deep, deep sleep. Unable to handle the alcohol now in his system, he was completely out of it, and probably out of it for the rest of the night.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Yuzu screamed mentally, "How am I supposed to—wait, maybe I can inch my way out…?"

She attempted to slowly crawl out from underneath Yuya's weight.

As if she had rolled a natural 1, Yuya's unconscious self noticed that the person he was snuggling up to was moving away, even if only slightly, and immediately proceeded to glomp her even more.

"It's even worse now!"

The worst part wasn't even the fact that she was completely and utterly trapped. The thing that had her panicking the most was…

"He's… he's too close! I think my heart might explode…!"

It was true. Yuya was positioned in a way where his head rested close to her chest, his arm on top of her stomach, and his leg on top of both her legs. She could both hear and feel his breath on her.

Looking again… yup. He was completely and utterly unconscious during this entire ordeal. Who knew that Yuya would attach to the closest heat-source in the bed?

"Wait, that's it! I just need to give him something warmer to hold!" Yuzu thought hopefully.

…

"Yeah, except there's NOTHING HERE!"

There was nothing anywhere near her that could count as something warmer than Yuzu, especially when her blood was burning with embarrassment this much.

Normally, she would have shoved Yuya off with all her strength and yelled at him for this, along with a special slap from her paper fan.

Except… Yuzu was still somewhat drunk, and therefore, much more susceptible to her own fluttering heart.

Also, his sleeping face was adorable and she didn't want to disturb it—

"Wait, NO! WHAT AM I THINKING!?" Yuzu screamed in her mind as the image of Yuya's sleeping face entered her mind.

Yuzu's lips trembled as she felt Yuya slowly creep closer and cuddle up to her in a drunken, affectionate manner.

"I-It's fine… I just have to stay up and wait for Yuya to move around in his sleep and give me an opportunity to escape!" Yuzu thought confidently.

Yuya moved his head around and Yuzu felt his breath on her neck.

"Eep…!"

Yuzu was in no way prepared for Wasted-Yuya to be this clingy and cuddly. She had heard that she was a bit loopy and air headed when she was drunk, so one could be grateful for the fact that one of them has always been somewhat sober.

But that always meant an ordeal for whoever wasn't completely drunk.

Yuzu felt his leg shift again and rub against her thigh.

"E-Eep…! I… I can do this…!" She whispered to herself.

Yuzu's face was bright red, her breathing was coarse and labored, and her heart was beating at a mile a minute. Her mouth hung open as she gasped for air as her body heated up, and she could have sworn she saw her breath as a fog for a moment.

"Hah…!" She sighed.

It was going to be a long night.

Soul, having checked the lobby and found nothing, ran outside.

Quickly brushing the hair away from his right eye for a moment, he scanned the area looking for any spiritual signs of Syrup.

He found it.

Following her, Soul found himself walking towards a large park. It was already nighttime and the sky was dark with clouds. Soul couldn't even see the moon.

"Why is Syrup here…?" Soul muttered as he noticed that Syrup's "trail" was leading into a forest-like section of the park.

The trees were now getting thicker, and it was even harder to see.

Soul stumbled on a particularly large root, but managed to catch himself by grabbing onto a branch. "Tch… fucking pain…" he cursed as he stepped over the troublesome root.

Then, he suddenly found himself someplace bright.

For some reason, he instinctively ducked and hid behind a tree, peeking out from the side.

It was then that his eyes widened.

What…

"What is that… no, what is she…?"

Soul didn't know. He had never heard of this before. Actually, no… it seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember anything about it off the top of his head.

As he saw this clearing, the clouds suddenly parted, allowing the moonlight to shine through and beautifully illuminate the clearing.

First off, in the clearing, he saw a beautiful, glimmering lake. It was frankly the prettiest piece of nature he had ever physically been to.

Second, Syrup was in the lake.

He saw her clothes neatly folded on a dry rock near the water. At first, Soul was confused. Syrup was in the nude, and seemingly bathing in the lake… but why? There were plenty of better places to take a bath, namely, inside a bath.

But he didn't even have time to think about the fact that she was indecent. Something else that was far more shocking grabbed his attention.

Yes, far more shocking than the fact he was he was essentially peeping on a naked girl.

"Hah…" Syrup sighed after dunking her head in the water and flipping it back, allowing her short hair to flap damply behind her.

She had ears.

No, not just regular ears. In addition to her normal ears… on top of her head…

Similar to leaves in appearance, they were like cat ears, except significantly longer, and seemingly like leaves.

And even more… Syrup had a tail.

It was, this time quite literally, just like a large leaf. It started out the color of her skin but quickly and immediately changed into a bright green color. It looked like it had the same texture as a leaf, with lines running along it like it was.

Soul thought they were fake at first, but his ability to see aura… it confirmed it otherwise.

Spiritual Energy radiated profusely from those ears and tail. On top of that… Syrup's aura seemed so… free and liberated now.

He could see that both the ears and the tail were connected to skin, and they moved like they were real as well. Soul could see Syrup's tail swish happily through the water.

Soul didn't understand what he was looking at.

How could this even be possible? What even was it…?

Then, he had a revelation.

"But… that's impossible…"

He took a step back as he tried to process all of the thoughts in his head, and…

CRACK!

"Shit…!" Soul cursed in his mind. Right beneath his foot was a twig that he had just loudly snapped.

Further proving that the ears were real, they twitched and suddenly pointed in Soul's direction. "Who's there!?"

Soul audibly gasped. She didn't sound angry… just scared.

Soul managed to see her facial expression for a brief moment. Her tail was suddenly flat against her back, and both her hands went up to her head to try and cover her ears. She was more afraid of someone seeing those ears and tail then she was with someone seeing her body.

She looked… terrified.

Her eyes were wide, her eyebrows scrunched upward.

"I can hear you—I mean, I can see you! I can't hear you! I can only see you!" She suddenly exclaimed, sounding flustered. "Come out!"

Soul's breathing was fast. He considered the option of remaining hidden…

"I said come out!"

Something hit the ground next to him like a bullet.

Soul's eyes widened. He saw a brief flash of green fly past him and strike the ground beside him. The ground beside him was now smoking slightly.

He looked back at her from behind the tree again. She had one hand free now and was pointing a finger at Soul's direction. Her finger was smoking slightly, just like the spot that had just been struck.

"I won't miss next time! I…!" Syrup said in a panicked voice.

Soul immediately jumped out from behind the tree. "Wait! It's me! It's me!" He yelled.

Syrup's eyes widened as she lowered her finger.

"Soul…?"

Her hands now covered her body instead of her ears and tail. Her ears, however, were flat against her head as if still trying to hide, and her tail was still flat against her back.

"W-why…?"

"You were acting strange, that's why…" Soul muttered, "you just saved my life, essentially… then, when we see each other again in real life, you run out in a panic…"

Syrup looked down and fully realized her indecency and dropped with her knees to her chest, her cheeks red.

"Please look away…" She said meekly.

"Y-yeah…" Soul replied, turning his back.

He heard the noise of clothes rustling, and Soul did his best to look away.

"I-I'm decent now…"

"Right…"

Soul turned around. Syrup was still damp, having just gotten out of the water and thrown on her clothing in a rush. Her ears were flat against her head, and Soul could see her tail peeking out from underneath her skirt.

Syrup was the first one to break the silence. "Is there any chance you can forget this happened and never talk about it again?" She asked.

Soul gulped. "I… don't think so, no…"

"Figures…" Syrup chuckled timidly, "I can't believe I let this happen…"

The question had to be asked.

"Syrup…" Soul spoke up, "Are you… a hybrid?"

End

I've been leaving on so many tense moments that Bonus Scenes have always felt out of place. I promise they'll return someday, hopefully next chapter.

Also, when I finally break past a two-month-long writer's block, I suddenly start writing with no obstructions whatsoever. It also helps that I'm sitting at home doing nothing during quarantine.

So, this chapter came out pretty damn quickly.

I'm making up for the deadlines I missed! Woo!

To clarify some questions you all might have…

Cahya still exists within Soul for now.

Syrup is still a mystery.

Both Yuya and Yuzu become clingy when drunk.