8.1.03 - Well, this certainly took long enough, didn't it? I feel really bad about taking so long. Please forgive me! ;_; Actually, this will probably go up about a week after this is dated, because I'm on vacation.
Ahh, my throat hurts so much. ;_; Remember how I said I though I was catching a cold back in the Valentine's Day chapter? Well, I DID catch a cold. And it hasn't gone away completely yet. It's getting worse again now. Five and a half freaking months… God.
Anyway, a lot of stuff happens in this chapter. The chapter is 22 pages in html format, and 11 pages in Microsoft Word, 10-point Times New Roman (this is all without my notes). It was really hard to write, by the way. Not sure why, but believe it or not, I enjoyed writing the duels. Well, I liked deciding what would happen. I didn't like writing it out in the final draft, because there's only so many ways you can play cards, you know?
Anyway, if you read the horrid Otogi's Birthday chapter that I have since deleted and noticed that it said that there were two chapters left in this plot, it lied. Actually, I changed my mind. I've combined the two chapters in this one, and that's why it's so freaking long.
I'll probably have the next few chapters out within a week after I put this out. They're short, I've already written them, and it's sort of an easier storyline to write. Sort of.

I'd like to thank my collection of Yu-Gi-Oh cards for helping me write this chapter. All 399 of them!! ^^ (Yes, EXACTLY 399. Not 400. Actually, by the time this is posted, I'll ave probably bought about six more booster packs… -_-)

I use the Japanese card names in this chapter. The main reason for this is because I like shouting "Shishasousei!" better than "Monster Reborn!" Actually, I asked Mab for her opinion, and she thought it was a good idea to use the Japanese names. I don't know why. I originally had the English names in parentheses in the chapter, but I thought that was kind of distracting, so I made a page with the Japanese and English names of the cards, in alphabetical order by Japanese name. It's at http : // www . angelfire . com / oh5 / duel_standby / pages / cards . html. Just take out all those spaces. ^^;;; (Yeah, it's in the same format as the pages on my website. I was too lazy to make it different. -_-) And… um… oh, yeah. If any of the card names are wrong, that's probably because of an error in romanizing the kanji. I think there was something else I wanted to say, also, but I can't remember…

Chapter after this is special "chapter." YAY!!! Because… there are no notes at the bottom… because that would ruin the mood. So all the notes are in the next chapter.

Cinnamon Eyes

Wednesday afternoon, 3 days until the festival.

Class 1-A was assigned a plot of land on the school grounds, and afternoon classes had been cancelled for the rest of the week in preparation for Sakura Matsuri. As well as the dice game, the class had decided to set up a caramel apple booth.

Otogi was in charge of the construction, and Hitomi was in charge of general organization. However, some strange things were happening…

"Hitomi-chan!" Otogi came jogging up, sweaty and exhausted. Hitomi held out his water bottle, and he gratefully took it.

"I think I'll take a break now…"

She nodded. "That's fine. My break is just about over."

"Oh." He sighed. "That's too bad."

Hitomi opened her mouth to respond to that comment, but something suddenly bumped into her, causing her to fall into Otogi's arms. And it wasn't the first time that had happened that day…

"Sorry!" yelped a boy, running by with a piece of plywood.

Otogi looked down at the girl in his arms. "Hitomi-chan, are you okay?"

Hiding her red face, Hitomi pushed him away. "Get away, Otogi! You're all gross!"

He laughed, and she glanced at her nonexistent watch, trying to find an excuse to get away. "My break's over now, I should get-"

"Hitomi."

Hitomi spun around and looked up to see who was addressing her. "Seto-kun…" She looked behind him puzzled. "Class B is…"

"Yuugi told me to give this to you." He held out a box.

"Oh!" She took it and smiled up at him. "Thank you, Seto-kun!"

He also gave a small smile before walking back to his own class.

Turning back to Otogi, who was scowling bitterly, Hitomi handed him the box. "Here. Check through the contents while I'm off break. What's wrong?"

He scoffed, then grinned. "Nothing's wrong. What's in the box, though?"

"Duel Monsters cards that I ordered from Yuugi-kun's shop. They're the prizes."

"Oh?" He set the box on the ground. "You could have gotten them from my shop…"

Hitomi started walking off. "Well, I said I'd get the prizes myself. Without your help." Before he could answer, she turned and ran off.

***

Spotting Keiko and some other girls painting the sign for the caramel apples, Hitomi frowned. This is too much of a coincidence… She knelt by the sign and took a brush.

"Hey, Keiko?"

She turned her head, looking at Hitomi with huge brown eyes. "Hi, Hitomi! You pulled your hair back, I like it! It looks cute…"

Hitomi silenced her. "Keiko, has the class been trying to set me up with Otogi?"

Keiko blinked and scratched her head. "Uh…"

The three other girls looked at each other, then ran off. Not that it was suspicious or anything.

"Um… uh…" Keiko faltered. "What makes you think that?"

Hitomi put her forehead into her hand and placed the brush on the ground. "Let's see. A week ago, I come to school and see the entire class, save me and Otogi, in a huddle, obviously discussing something. A few minutes later, the two of use are chosen by unanimous vote to be in charge of festival activities for our class. So…" Hitomi took her hand down to look Keiko straight in the eyes. "Otogi and I were forced to be together a lot. And now, during the actual booth construction, we are somehow being pushed, hit, shoved or tripped into each other every few minutes." She sighed. "If you wanted to do this, you could at least be a little inconspicuous."

"Well…" Keiko twiddled her fingers. "We were planning on doing more, but…"

"What?!"

"Well, when we elected you two, you both seemed completely indifferent to the situation… so…"

"STOP IT, okay?!" I suddenly burst out. "Do you know how embarrassing that is?!" Hitomi quickly stood back up, and immediately felt horribly lightheaded. Oh, damn… She briefly blacked out, but came to as soon as she landed in somebody's arms.

"Hitomi-chan, are you alright?"

Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes. "Hello, Otogi."

Keiko started backing away. "I… that wasn't my fault!" She hurried off.

Otogi stared after her. "What was going on? I heard you yelling, and…"

"She organized the entire class in a scheme to get us together." Hitomi stood back up, ignoring the pins and needles pricking at her skin and the red spots dotting her vision. "I got mad, overexerted myself, and fainted."

He sighed. "You really don't like being in the sun, do you? Are you okay? Should I take you to the infirmary?"

"No, that's all right. Is there water anywhere, though?"

He held out a water bottle, and she took it and drank. After a few moments, a thought struck her and she spluttered, pulling the bottle away.

"What is it?"

Hitomi gave back the bottle. "Was that your water bottle?!"

He shrugged. "Yeah."

She glared at him, blushing. "You… you…" Not finding the right words, she just turned around and walked off. "Go back to your break!"

***

Saturday afternoon, day of the festival.

"Thank you, have a nice day!!" Hitomi waved the customer off, then turned to call behind her. "We need more apples up here!"

"Haaaaaaai!"

"Oi, Hitomi-chan!" She leaned out the booth and looked to her right, seeing Otogi in a similar position from the next-door booth.

"Hey, Otogi!"

He grinned. "How are sales going over there?"

"Great!" She gave the 'V for Victory' sign. "How about you?"

Otogi chuckled. "I think you may have ordered a little too many cards."

"Oh, well. More for us to keep!"

"Hitomi?"

Hitomi came back into the booth to address the girl tapping her shoulder. "Yes?"

"Your shift is over now. You can go on break if you want."

"Thanks, Masami," she smiled. Grabbing her jacket and a caramel apple, she exited the booth and made her way to the other booth. "Otogi, we're on break now."

"Oh, really?" He stared at her. "Then, do you have something planned to do or something?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "I was thinking that we could go to class B's setup. I think you might like it, Otogi…"

By this time, Otogi had come out of the booth and was standing next to her. "That's right, didn't they get a big plot of land or something?"

Hitomi nodded as they started walking. "That's right."

"What did they need so much space for, anyway?"

She smiled. "What, they didn't tell you?"

"…No."

"Do you have your deck, Otogi?"

***

Yuugi waved at them cheerfully as the two walked up. "Hi guys!"

"The King of Games and the world champion…" Otogi sighed. "I should have guessed that you'd be doing duels…"

Yuugi laughed nervously, and Seto approached them as well.

"Are you dueling, Hitomi?" Seto asked.

Hitomi nodded. "Who do you think I should duel, though? I'm really not that good yet…"

He crossed his arms and looked around. "How about Bakura over there?"

She bristled. "Eh… Bakura…?"

"Um, Kaiba-kun…" Yuugi broke in. "I really don't know if that's a good idea…"

He raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Er, well, you see… Bakura-kun… um…"

"Hey, Hitomi-chan," Otogi whispered in her ear. "You don't seem to get along that well, right? So you can settle your differences in this duel."

Hitomi thought that over. "Okay, then. Yuugi-kun, Seto-kun, I'll duel with Bakura."

Yuugi scratched his head as Seto called Bakura over. "Well, okay, then… Oh, Otogi-kun, Jounouchi-kun wants to duel with you."

Otogi shrugged indifferently. "Sure, whatever."

Bakura walked up, smiling politely. "Hello, Kawara. You and I are going to duel, then?"

Hitomi smiled back. "That's right, Bakura."

The three other boys sighed and began talking amongst themselves.

"They try to dissemble their dislike of each other, but you can just tell they don't get along," Seto said.

"Is there really a reason for that?" asked Yuugi. "I mean, they've only hung out together a few times, but they never got along to begin with…"

Otogi shrugged. "Hitomi-chan sticks with her first impression of people. That's what I'm having troubles with."

Seto looked at him. "What, did you come on too strong or something?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He glared at the CEO, who just turned to the shorter boy.

"Yuugi, you and I were going to duel, right?"

Yuugi rubbed his neck bashfully. "Well, okay, I guess. Oh, Hitomi, Otogi-kun!" He handed a box to each of them. "Take these."

"Those are Duel Disks," Seto explained, seeing the confusion evident on their faces. He pointed to the device on his own left arm. "You put it on, then put your deck in there. Then…"

Otogi grunted, putting his disk on his arm. "I think we can figure it out."

Hitomi also put hers on. It surprised her how light it was, despite its appearance of being made of sturdy, solid metal.

"Okay, there are three areas where the duels will take place." Yuugi pointed to a clearing that was separated into three sections. "Kaiba-kun and I will be in area A over there, Jounouchi-kun and Otogi-kun will be playing in area B, and Hitomi and Bakura-kun will be in area C at the end."

"All right." Hitomi glanced at her opponent. "Are you ready to go, Bakura?"

He grinned. "Let's."

***

Otogi walked to area B to find the blonde boy waiting for him. "Well, this is déjà vu, isn't it?"

Jounouchi grinned. "Well, I wanted a bit of a challenge, and Yuugi and Kaiba are dueling each other. Besides…"

"…We have our own decks now." Otogi crossed his arms. "Last time, neither of us really got a good idea of each other's battle strategies. But now we can."

"Exactly what I was thinking, Otogi." Jounouchi activated his Duel Disk and shot out the hologram projector, Otogi following suit. "Oh, by the way, Kaiba has set some different rules for these duels."

"Oh? What's that?"

He pointed to the Disk on his arm. "As you can see, the life points are set at 8000. You can attack the player directly if he has no monsters on the field. And, to summon monsters with higher than level four, you have to sacrifice one monster, and sacrifice two for monsters over level seven."

"All right." Otogi nodded. "So, who has the honor of going first?"

Jounouchi grinned. "I will. Ready for this?"

"Jounouchi-kun, how could I not be?"

The two activated their Disks and drew their hands. The blonde glanced at his cards, then placed a card on the disk. "I place set one card and place one monster card face-down in defense mode. Your turn!"

Otogi stared at the holographic card. "Out of curiosity, is it against the rules to look under there?"

"What do you think?"

"As I thought." Pretending to sigh wistfully, he drew his card, then smirked. Jounouchi-kun will get a kick out of this duel. I just need to draw this card's partner… "I play one monster face-down and set one card. I end my turn!"

***

Hitomi turned to the pale-haired boy from listening to Jounouchi. "New rules, huh?"

"Yes."

She activated her Duel Disk and launched the projectors, following Bakura's lead. "DUEL!"

"Mind if I go first, Kawara?"

Hitomi grunted. "Go ahead."

He slowly drew his hand, an evil smirk growing across his face. She shuddered, suddenly becoming aware of why he bothered her so much.

"I set two face-down cards and one monster in defense mode. Your turn!"

She cocked an eyebrow at his evident change in self-confidence. He used to call himself "boku," but now… "Ore-sama? Ore-sama, Bakura?"

He only chuckled. "Are you going to take your turn, or do you pass?"

"I'm not passing on the first turn, stupid!" She glanced at her hand. "I set one monster in face-down defense mode. Your turn!"

Bakura drew a card, then grinned. "I play this field card: Yami!"

Hitomi's face fell. No, not Yami… Then she noticed the cold, rapidly growing darkness lapping at her ankles. She glanced around fearfully, starting to panic, as her opponent cackled wildly.

***

Otogi's attention was snatched away from Jounouchi's Baby Dragon attacking his face-down Yaranzo, hearing the wild cackle of Bakura's other self.

"Hitomi-chan!" He began to dash to the growing darkness when a harsh voice called out to him.

"If you leave your field, you automatically forfeit!"

He spun around, dark bangs whipping him in the face. "Kaiba-kun, you bastard! Don't you see what's happening to her?!"

"I understand that," Seto retaliated. "I'm worried too. But on the field, we're duelists! Our first priority is our deck and our emotions go second! She'll hold her own or fall along with them!"

"Do you know what kinds of cards are in her deck?!"

Sighing, Seto answered, "No, I don't."

"Fairy cards," Yuugi mumbled. "Her deck is made mostly of fairy cards."

Seto paused, letting this information sink in. "Shit."

"Well, Otogi?" Jounouchi asked after listening to this conversation. "Do you forfeit?"

Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. "No. She'll work this out, I know she will."

***

Oooh… Hitomi moaned mentally. This isn't good. My cards are bad for this situation… I have a few non-fairy cards in my deck, but… She was snapped out of her thoughts as a sharp voice addressed her.

"Are you done your agonizing, because my turn isn't over."

"Go ahead and finish, then!" she yelled back. "You have no reason to worry about me!"

"Alright." Bakura flipped his first monster into face-up attack mode. "I attack your face-down monster with Kubinashi Kishi [1650/1900]!"

The giant knight appeared on the field and slashed through Hitomi's card, which appeared briefly as Shine Abyss [1400/1600] before vanishing.

"It's your turn!"

Hitomi growled and drew a card. Glancing at it, she smiled. Aqua Madoor. I used that it my duel with Otogi when he played Yami… She placed it on the field. "I play Aqua Madoor [1400/2200] in attack mode, and attack your..." She paused. Shoot, it gets a power-up, but it's not strong enough to hold up when Kubinashi Kishi will attack next turn. And I've already started to declare an attack, so I can't place a trap now… She looked at her hand, and shrugged. Well, Waboku no Shisha is in my hand, I'll set it after my attack. "Okay… I attack your face-down monster!"

Bakura smirked as his card was attacked and revealed to be Metamor Pot [700/600]. "Are you aware of Metamor Pot's special effect?"

Her eyes widened. Damn! Discarding her hand, she drew five new cards. There's nothing that'll help… "I end my turn!"

The grinning boy drew a card. "I'm sure you've noticed that you're in trouble now, or does your intelligence not venture beyond your schoolwork?"

"Shut up and take your turn!"

"As you wish. I play Muma no Bourei in attack mode! And…" He activated his two face-down cards. "I equip Kubinashi Kishi with Yami Energy, and Muma no Bourei with Yami no Hashinken!" His monsters stood at [1950/2200] and [1900/1800], respectively. "Now I attack with both monsters and end my turn!"

Kawara Hitomi [5550 LP]

Sighing, Hitomi drew her next card. Seeing it, however, her face lifted.

***

Otogi turned back to his duel, in which Jounouchi had just lost 300 life points from attacking Yaranzo [1300/1500] with Baby Dragon [1200/700].

Jounouchi Katsuya [7700 LP]

Groaning, Jounouchi said, "Your turn."

Otogi drew his next card and played it on the field. "I play Dark Hero Zombire [2100/500] in attack mode and switch Yaranzo to attack mode. Now, I attack your Baby Dragon with Zombire and attack you directly with Yaranzo!"

Jounouchi Katsuya [5500 LP]

He grinned. "Lucky for you, Zombire can't attack you directly, and each time it does attack a monster it's attacking power decreases by 200 points."

Dark Hero Zombire [1900/500]

"I end my turn."

Jounouchi drew his next card and played it on the field. "I activate Scapegoat!" Immediately, four colorful little goats appeared around him. "Now you can't attack me directly right away."

The other boy frowned. "My turn." He drew his card and added it to his hand. "I attack two of your Scapegoat with both my monsters!" Two of the floating goats were eliminated and Otogi smiled. "Your turn."

Dark Hero Zombire [1700/500]

Pulling his next card, Jounouchi grinned. "I play Testu no Kishi Gear Fried [1800/1600] and attack your Yaranzo!!"

Otogi Ryuuji [7500 LP]

Otogi watched his monster disappear and shrugged. "It's a small loss. Don't get too cocky, Jounouchi-kun."

"I'm not getting cocky! Take your turn!"

He drew his next card and set it on the field. Zombire's attack is less than Gear Fried's…"I play Dark Elf in attack mode and switch Zombire into defense mode! Also," he added, "I pay 1000 life points so that Dark Elf can attack your Scapegoat!" At his words, his elf attacked another goat, leaving only one left.

Otogi Ryuuji [6500 LP]

"Better pull something good, Jounouchi-kun," Otogi called. "It's your turn!"

The blonde drew the next card in his deck and glanced at it before placing it onto his disk. "I play Yoroi Tokage [1500/1200] in attack mode and attack your Zombire!" He watched the monster disappear before adding, "I end my turn."

Otogi drew his card and then looked at Jounouchi fiercely. "Watch out. You're about to lose this duel."

***

"Yuugi!" Seto called from across the field. "Are you ready to start this duel?!"

"Sure!" Yuugi dug through his pockets and produced a coin. "Alright, you call, Kaiba-kun!"

"Heads!"

Yuugi flipped the coin, which came up, as predicted, heads. "You go first, then."

"Get ready!"

The shorter boy did so, allowing the ancient spirit to take over his body.

"Duel!" they both shouted.

The two top duelists activated their Duel Disks. As Seto flipped through his deck from bottom to top, stopping when he got to the top five cards, he noticed a crowd gathering around the dueling area. I suppose they would find this amusing, he mused. World Champion versus King of Games, creator of DDM versus the dog, and a huge black blob. He brought his attention to the duel. "I set two cards face-down and a monster in face down defense mode! Your turn!"

Yami Yuugi furrowed his brow, studying his hand. Magic Cylinder, Ankoku Mazoku Gilfer Demon, Chaos Soldier, Curse of Dragon, Yuugou, and… He drew the next card. Black Magician. He scowled. There are no monster cards level four or under… Sighing, he inserted Magic Cylinder into the disk. "I set one card face-down. Your turn."

Seeing his opponent's empty field, Seto began to laugh diabolically. "Feeble attempt, Yuugi! This duel will be over with this turn!" He drew a card but barely looked at it before flipping over his face-down monster. "I play Devil Franken [700/500] in attack mode and activate its special effect!" The CEO grinned menacingly. "By paying 5000 of my life points, I can call a fusion monster from my deck to the field. And I choose… The Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon [4500/3800]!!" The tri-headed dragon appeared on the field next to Devil Franken, pearly scales gleaming in the setting sun's rays. Giving off a thunderous roar, the steadily growing crowd cheered loud enough to nearly drown it out.

"But that's not all, Yuugi!" Seto taunted. "I also activate Kyodaika and equip it to my dragon! Since my life points are lower than yours, it's attack points are doubled [ATK 9000]!"

Yuugi felt a brief tinge of panic, but soon overcame it. Kaiba's digging himself into a hole here…

"Now, attack! Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!!"

All three heads powered up and blasted a stream of light towards Yuugi, who calmly activated his trap card. "I play Magic Cylinder, directing the attack back at you, Kaiba!"

Seto could only watch as his own monster's attack raged towards him.

Kaiba Seto [0 LP]

An eerie silence fell upon spectators and duelists alike. After a few minutes, Yuugi regained control of his body and broke the silence.

"That was… short…"

At these words, the crowd erupted into loud applause and screams, showing their approval.

Beyond the crowd, however, he noticed a bright blue convertible pulling up to the school.

Ah… she's here…

***

"You know, Bakura…" Hitomi grinned. "One of my strongest, non-Fairy monsters was in that hand that I had to discard."

He stared at her. "Well, too bad for you."

"So technically, it's in my Graveyard now, right?"

"Yes…"

She activated the card that she drew. "I play Shishasousei and revive Holy Knight Dragon!!" The gleaming pink dragon [2500/2300] appeared and gave a roar. "Now… attack Kubinashi Kishi!"

Bakura Ryou [7450 LP]

"I end my turn."

Bakura growled and drew his next card. "I switch Muma no Bourei to defense mode and place one monster in face-down defense mode. It's your turn."

Hitomi drew a card and placed it on her disk. "I play one monster in face-down defense and then attack your Muma no Bourei with Holy Knight Dragon!" She glanced at her opponent briefly. "I end my turn."

Drawing his next card and looking at it, he grinned wildly. "I set one card face-down. Your turn."

"Well, then…" She drew a card and added it to her hand. "I'll attack your face-down monster! Holy Knight Dragon!!"

The dragon attacked the card, which revealed itself to be Genei no Kabe [1200/2050] before disappearing. Bakura started cackling again. "Because of my monster's special effect, the monster attacking it is sent back to your hand!" At his words, Holy Knight Dragon left the field and returned to Hitomi's hand. "And you can't summon it back right away, because it's at level 7 and needs two sacrifices!" He glanced at his set card and grinned. "I'll also take this opportunity to activate my trap card! Ouija Ban!"

Hitomi merely blinked. "Ouija Ban?"

"Oh, have you never heard of it?" He smirked and pointed to a ball of light which had just appeared above his head, marked with the letter D. "I'm sure you learned the Roman Alphabet in elementary school, right? Besides this D, I have four other lettered cards in my deck: Shi no Message E, A, T, and H. At the beginning of each of my turns, I get to find the next letter in my deck and place it on the field. Once the word is completed, I win the duel. You know what word that is, right?"

DEATH. Shi. Shoot, this guy sure has gotten bloodthirsty, Hitomi thought. I knew we shared a mutual dislike, but he'd never actually shown it like this. She bit her lower lip. "Your turn."

"Why, thank you." Bakura drew a card and the letter E appeared above him. "I remove Kubinashi Kishi, Muma no Bourei and Genei no Kabe in the Graveyard from play. And…" He looked at Hitomi, an expression of pure malice on his face. "Pay attention, Kawara Hitomi. You only have a few more minutes to live."

***

"Jounouchi!!"

"Huh?" Jounouchi turned around to see who was calling his name.

Otogi clenched his teeth. "Will you pay attention to this duel?"

A young woman came into view, long wavy blond hair flying behind her as she ran up.

Jounouchi was stunned and almost fell down. "Mai! What are you doing here?"

"What?" She crossed her arms as she stopped nearby the dueling field. "Can't I watch you duel? You were the one who invited me to come, anyway."

"Oh… oh, yeah…"

Otogi laughed softly. "What, Jounouchi-kun? Is this your girlfriend?"

"Whaaaat?!" Jounouchi's face went red. "No way! How could any guy survive with HER around?!"

Mai's face was just as red. "You're not too great yourself, Jounouchi."

"Hey!"

Otogi rolled his eyes. "Can we please continue the duel, you two?"

"Fine with me!!" Jounouchi turned back towards him. "Take your turn!"

He grinned. "All right. First off, I play Shishasousei to revive Yaranzo, then sacrifice my two monsters to summon Cosmo Queen [2900/2450]."

Jounouchi looked at the female monster skeptically. "Sort of reminds you of someone, huh? I mean, not by appearances, but… somehow…"

"Shut up!" he yelled back, blushing. He's right, though, he thought. Somehow, this monster does remind me of Hitomi… "I'm not done my turn yet! I equip Cosmo Queen with Meteor Strike!" He smiled at his opponent. You'll remember this card, right? It's what I used to defeat you last time."

Jounouchi nodded, jaw tightly clenched.

"It allows me to deal you damage in the difference between my attack points and your defense points. And your Scapegoat has 0 defense points." Otogi pointed at the last remaining goat. "Which means that my attack will deal you 2900 points of direct damage! Now, attack!"

"Jounouchi, what are you doing?!" Mai screeched as the attack came towards Jounouchi's Scapegoat.

He turned back towards her, annoyed. "What am I supposed to do?! I…" He paused for a very brief moment, then activated his face-down card. "I activate my trap card, Kougeki no Muryokuka!"

Cosmo Queen's attack instantly disappeared, and Otogi stared on incredulously. "A trap card?! When did you set a trap card?"

"Very first turn," Jounouchi replied, winking. "I forgot about it also."

The black-haired duelist shrugged. "Oh, well. It only puts off the inevitable for one turn. Your turn."

Jounouchi drew his next card and frowned. "I set one card and place one monster in face-down defense mode. I end my turn."

Otogi stared at Jounouchi's face-down card. Could it be a trap card? Or is he just calling a bluff? He looked back to his Duel Disk and pulled his next card. "I'll just attack this turn. Cosmo Queen, attack the Scapegoat!!"

This time, there was no trap card waiting, and Jounouchi lost the 2900 life points.

Jounouchi Katsuya [2600 LP]

"It's your turn."

"Alright…" Jounouchi drew his next card and smiled from ear to ear. "I sacrifice my face-down monster and Yoroi Tokage to summon… the Red-Eyes Black Dragon [2400/2000]!!"

Otogi scowled. "So? It's still not enough to defeat Cosmo Queen."

"And I set one face-down card. Your turn."

He stared at the face-down card. Is it another bluff…? He drew his next card and cheered inwardly at seeing what it was. "Jounouchi-kun, I know you'll enjoy this!"

The blonde cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

Otogi nodded, placing his card on the field. "I activate Dimension Dice and play Dice Dungeon!"

"What?!" Jounouchi stared at the field, perplexed, as it turned into a gridded pattern, with a die sitting in the center. "You… but…"

"Pegasus based these cards on my game," he answered, grinning. "We each choose one monster to go into the Dice Dungeon and we roll the die to determine how their attack points are affected for the turn. If your monster is destroyed, you can choose another one to use, but if mine is destroyed, so are the two magic cards. Anyway," he continued, "I choose to use Cosmo Queen. You?"

"I choose the Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

The two monsters made their way onto the field, and the two boys started intently at each other. Finally, Otogi made his move.

"I'll roll now. Dice roll!" The die was thrown into the air and landed on -. "Ah… that decreases my monster's attack by 1000 points…"

Cosmo Queen [1900/2450]

Otogi shrugged. "Oh, well. Take your turn, Jounouchi-kun!"

As was asked, he drew his card and placed it in his hand, then turned back to the field. "Dice roll!" The die landed again, landing, again, on -.

Red-Eyes Black Dragon [1400/2000]

"Ah, that does no good." Jounouchi scratched the back of his head. "I'll end my turn, then."

The raven-haired boy drew his next card and placed it into his hand, rolling the die again. "Dice roll!" This time it landed on -. "Ah, good. A 1000-point increase."

Cosmo Queen [3900/2450]

"So now…" He brushed his bangs out of his face. "I'll attack your Red-Eyes!"

Jounouchi Katsuya [1100 LP]

"Jounouchi!!" Mai yelled. "I didn't come to watch you lose!!"

Frustrated, Jounouchi ran his fingers through his hair. "Calm down, Mai!! I can still win. Gear Fried!" He pointed to the gridded field. "Go into the Dice Dungeon!" His monster obeyed, and he took his turn. "Dice roll!" The die landed on -, meaning that his monster's attack would be doubled.

Tetsu no Kishi Gear Fried [3600/1600]

"Yeah!" He punched the air excitedly. "Now, attack Cosmo Queen!!" With Gear Fried's attack, Otogi's monster was destroyed, along with Dice Dungeon and Dimension Dice. "What now, Otogi?"

Otogi Ryuuji [5800 LP]

"You're in no position to taunt me, Jounouchi-kun," he calmly replied. "I'm still in the lead. By a long shot."

"Yeah, whatever, just take your turn!"

Otogi glared and drew his next card. "I set one card face-down and place one monster in face-down defense. Your turn."

Drawing his next card, the golden-haired boy grinned. "I could take a chance on destroying your monster now, but I think I'll take the sure-fire approach and destroy my monster as well." He activated one of his face-down cards. "Black Hole!!" His Gear Fried and Otogi's face-down Gargoyle were eliminated from the field. "And I'll play this monster; Toki no Magician [500/400]!!" Jounouchi took a breath. "But I'm not near done. I also play Shishasousei and revive Baby Dragon! And…" He took a card from his hand and placed it on the field. "I play Yuugou, combining the two to make Thousand Dragon [2400/2000]!" The enormous orange dragon materialized on the field and lowered its shaggy head to ground-level. "Now attack directly!"

Quickly, seeing the blast coming towards him, Otogi activated his face-down card. "Waboku no Shisha!" Three robed ladies appeared on the field, canceling the oncoming attack.

Jounouchi scowled. "I end my turn."

Sighing in relief, Otogi drew his next card. "I place one monster face-down and end my turn."

"Alright." Jounouchi took the top card from his deck and placed it on the field. "I play Rocket Senshi [1500/1300]!! And I attack your face-down monster!"

The monster attacked, destroying the face-down Aku no Mumei Senshi [1000/500].

"And I'll also attack you directly with Thousand Dragon!"

Otogi Ryuuji [3400 LP]

"It's your turn, Otogi."

He turned his next card and grimaced. There aren't any monsters in my hand that can withstand Rocket Senshi's attack… He bit his lower lip worriedly. So then he'd attack me directly again, bringing my life points to 1000. Then the next turn, even if I do get a monster with over 1500 defense, he could attack it with Thousand Dragon and attack me directly with Rocket Senshi, depleting my life points completely. So my only choice… Closing his eyes, Otogi placed his hand over his deck. "I forfeit."

Jounouchi stood where he was for a few moments, stunned, then gave a great cheer. "Yeah!! I won!!"

"All right!" Mai was evidently just as happy. "If you had lost, Jounouchi, I would have denied ever knowing you!!"

"Heh… good thing I won, then."

Otogi sauntered over, laughing. "That was fun, though, even if I did lose." Smiling kindly, he turned to Mai. "I don't think we've met. I'm Otogi Ryuuji." He extended a hand, which she took gladly.

"Kujaku Mai. I think I've heard of you…"

"And I, you." He paused, then gestured with his head towards area C. "I'd introduce you to my girlfriend, but she's currently stuck in there."

Jounouchi grunted. "If Hitomi had heard that, Otogi, you'd be dead. Or at least mortally wounded."

***

Seto stood at the edge of the playing grounds, arms crossed in typical Kaiba Seto fashion, ice blue eyes fixed on the dark abyss. There really was nothing he could do about it… he was a respectable, upstanding duelist and had no right to interfere with someone else's duel. Despite what might be at stake…

He didn't even notice as a certain group of friends approached him.

"Kaiba-kun?"

Slightly startled out of his trance, the he glanced down at the person that had addressed him. "Yuugi."

The shorter boy wore a strange face, part inquiry, part astonishment, part pity, part… what? "Do you like Hitomi or something?"

Seto managed to keep a straight face, then glanced around at the other people surrounding him. Jounouchi and Honda looked about to burst into gales of laughter; Anzu was smiling, Mai looked utterly confused, and Otogi looked as if he would start foaming at the mouth at any instant. He scoffed and turned away. "I am a man of business, Yuugi."

"Aww, come on, Kaiba," Jounouchi taunted, giggling. "That doesn't say anything!"

"May I remind you who was the one who tripped over his own two feet at the sight of a certain girl? And while dueling, which requires little to no movement of the feet." He shot the coldest glare he could manage.

The blonde was instantly silenced, cheeks bright red.

Sighing, Seto opened up his briefcase. "Yuugi, Otogi, Jounouchi, please return those Duel Disks."

***

"I summon… Dark Necrofear [2400/3000]!" On the field appeared what looked like a mother holding her child… only that it looked like they had been attacked, killed, resurrected into ventriloquist dummies with odd-colored paint jobs, and then attacked again. "And I'll attack your face-down monster!"

Hitomi winced as her Bio Souryo [950/800] was sent to the Graveyard, then drew her next card. "I play a monster in face-down defense position and end my turn."

Bakura drew his card and the letter A appeared above him. "Two more turns," he taunted. "I'll attack your face-down monster!" His Dark Necrofear attacked her card, Harp no Sei [600/1800]. "Your turn."

She drew and grinned, glancing at her card and then back at her hand. Good, this should hold me over, for this turn at least…

"What are you grinning about?"

Hitomi's grin faded as she turned to glare at her opponent. "I suppose you'll just have to wait and see."

Bakura stared at her with a straight face. "It has only now occurred to me that you have no idea what my powers are capable of."

"Psh, powers." Hitomi rolled her eyes. "Sure."

"You don't know just how I could be torturing all your friends outside of this field, do you?"

Hitomi stopped short. "You… you can't do that."

"How do you know?" He grinned menacingly. "As I said, you have no idea what I can do."

"You're bluffing," she muttered, but she was trying to convince herself of that.

He chuckled and tapped his cheek. "I wonder who should be first on my list, after I finish with you?" Smirking, he added, "Maybe that Otogi…"

"NO!"

Bakura's smile widened. "No? You dare defy me? I didn't think you'd have the gall…"

Hitomi gritted her teeth, feeling a blush creep across her face. "You… don't… if you even lay a finger on him…"

"Ha!" He let out a short cackle. "Quite protective of that boy, aren't we? Why would that be?"

"You… why should I tell you?!"

"You wouldn't mind what I did with him, then…"

"God damn it! Of course I would!!" Hitomi was trembling with anger now.

"Yet you won't tell me why," Bakura intoned, cocking an eyebrow.

Hitomi's face went even redder, and she clenched her fists. "…I… love him…" she said softly.

"What was that? I couldn't hear."

"I SAID I LOVE HIM!!" she screamed, furious.

Bakura sighed. "I never can understand these mortals and their emotions." Smirking, he added, "It's your turn, remember?"

Damn him! Shaken from the entire ordeal, Hitomi placed her cards on the field. "I set one card face-down and one monster in face-down defense. Your turn!"

"It's pointless to go on!" Bakura drew his card as the letter T appeared above him. "There's one turn left until your demise! But perhaps I'll spare you if you prove to be worthy." He grinned. "That doesn't seem too promising, though.

Hitomi glared at him fiercely.

"I'll attack your face-down monster with Dark Necrofear!"

"I activate my magic card!" Both cards were flipped up, and she smiled. "My monster is Holy Elf, a spellcaster. With the field bonus and my magic card, Reliable Guardian, her defense power is at 2900!"

Bakura growled as his life points decreased. "It makes no difference! The duel is over next turn!"

Bakura Ryou [6950 LP]

"That is true." She drew a card. "Perhaps. My turn." She looked at the card and grinned. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy your Ouija Ban trap card. And without that, the other three can't stay on the field, either."

He glared as his four cards were sent to the Graveyard.

"Also," she added, "I play Cross Soul and offer my Holy Elf and your Dark Necrofear to summon Tsubasa o Orinasu Mono [2550/2200] in attack mode!!" On the field appeared a beautiful fairy with six wings. "She's a fairy-type, so her points are decreased, but I equip her with Kuroi Pendant, making her attack points 3050!" Hitomi sighed in relief. "But I can't attack you this turn, so it's your turn."

Anger evident on his face, Bakura drew his next card. "I play Chuuya no Ookaji to deal you 800 points of direct damage!"

Kawara Hitomi [4750 LP]

"And," he continued, "I play Berserker [1700/1200] in attack mode!"

Hitomi frowned. "Attack mode? Are you insane?"

"Quite possibly, but I'm not done yet," he replied. "I play Kokoro Kawari to gain control of your Tsubasa o Orinasu Mono!"

"Oh, no," Hitomi groaned, observing her empty field.

"Do you know the combined power of their attacks?"

It's… 1700 plus 3050… She groaned again and looked at her life points. "It's 4750…"

"Exactly. DIRECT ATTACK!!"

***

Hitomi fell to her knees, breathing heavily as the darkness disappeared.

"Hitomi-chan!!" She was quickly swept into Otogi's arms, who squeezed her tightly. "Are you alright?"

She closed her eyes, relaxing in his strong hold. "I lost," she whispered.

Nodding, he replied, "I know. So did I."

"Bakura!" Seto rushed to the pale-haired duelist, scowling. "What the hell were you doing?!"

Bakura looked up at him with huge brown eyes. "What? Is the duel over?"

"Yes, it's over!"

"Kaiba-kun!" Yuugi placed himself between the two. "Stop it! He… um…" He paused, flustered.

Jounouchi grabbed Seto by his shirt and looked him in the face. "Kaiba, leave him be."

Seto hesitated, then scoffed. Removing Jounouchi's grip from the fabric, he mumbled, "None of you are worth my time." He started walking off, raising a hand in parting. "Stay well, Hitomi."

Otogi growled and released his hold on Hitomi. He went to start a pursuit of the young CEO, but stopped when she grabbed his sleeve.

"Don't…" She averted her eyes quickly, blushing. "Don't go. I need to talk to you…"

Otogi rubbed the back of his neck. "Um… okay. You want to go somewhere else, because we sort of have an audience here…"

She turned around, slightly startled at the fact that her friends were watching, then turned back to Otogi. "Okay. Follow me."

***

"Hitomi-chan, where are we going?" Otogi tried not to sound as exasperated as he really was. "We've been walking around for ten minutes, and we're still completely surrounded by cherry trees." He rubbed his head, brushing off several pale pink petals in the process. He noted that her hands were jammed into her jacket pockets, indicating that she was nervous about something. "I mean, I'll follow you for as long as you want, but I'd like to know what's going on…"

He trailed off when he noticed that Hitomi had stopped walking. Cautiously, he moved closer.

"Hitomi-chan…?"

She turned to face him, then looked down at the ground, hoping that he couldn't see her red face in the pale moonlight. "Um… do you think… could I hold your hand, Otogi-kun?"

Otogi hesitated, taken aback, not just by her request but by what she had called him. "Uh… of course…" He reached his hand out towards her pocket, and she silently slipped her hand in his. As they started walking again, he broke the silence. "So… where are we going?"

Hitomi smiled slightly. "Nowhere, really. Just walking."

"Oh, okay…"

They continued walking for another five minutes before she dropped his hand and turned to look him straight in the face. "Otogi-kun?"

He blinked, still not quite used to the new name. "Ah… yeah?"

"I've been acting really nasty to you these past few weeks…" She took a deep breath and continued, biting her lower lip. "How could you put up with my attitude?"

Otogi rubbed his neck, contemplating the question. "Well, in all truthfulness, it wasn't easy. But I guess…" He smiled bashfully. "This sounds so hackneyed, but good things come to those that wait, I suppose."

Hitomi studied his face for a moment, eyes glittering in the moonlight. Feeling a blush start to crawl across her face, she looked away again. "Um… you told me to think about… everything… right?"

"You…" His breath caught in his throat, and he resisted the urge to start twiddling with his hair- that would have made her think that he was indifferent about what she said. "Um… yeah."

She jammed her hands back into her pockets. "Well, um… Otogi-kun, I… um…I…"

Smiling softly, he leaned down and brushed her bangs out of her face. "You've said enough." He paused, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a card. "Here. I thought you'd like this…"

Hitomi took the card and looked at it. "This…"

"It's Happy Lover…" He bit his lower lip, then continued, grinning. "Because, you like fairy cards, right? And also…"

She looked up into his bright green eyes, smiling. "Thank you," she whispered.

Otogi smiled back, leaning down. "I knew you'd like it."

As he approached, her eyes slowly drooped closed, and she welcomed his soft, sweet kiss.