EPISODE 10: THE Z-HUNTER'S ENKA CITY ELITE! YUMI'S NEW LIFE?

The Z-Hunter's elite sat at Mirai's table, the three top duellists in the city. One, a tall, orange haired girl, another, a white-haired man with bags under his eyes, and the last being a red-haired child, no older than Minato himself. The man with the black mask held his computer open, the NO IMAGE sign displayed, as the voice played over the speakers.

''Is everyone here?'

The grey haired man scoffed. 'No.' he said, sarcastically, as the tall orange-haired one elbowed him.

'Your sarcasm is well timed, Mr. Ryoutarou Mazari…especially considering your recent failure count…'

Ryoutarou tossed his hair to his left. 'Fine, let's get down to business.'

The censored image seemed to nod. 'The city's Z-seekers will give you the laydown on the month's events.' Minato and Mirai stood up.

'The activity of rivalling organizations has greatly decreased in densely populated areas of the city.' Mirai says, 'However, this could mean that they are planning for a bigger event... that is all I have for the month.'

The next to talk was Minato. 'A-as activity inspector off the city, I-I've s-seen a sudden spike i-in interest and desire for rare c-cards…' He immediately sat down.

The man behind the screen sighed. 'I believe that is all the two of you have to say, we will begin to discuss other matters-'

'Actually, I have something to report, other than that.' Mirai stood up again, as Minato shook in his chair. He sighed and said 'Minato Muto has revealed the existence of this organization to his assigned Z-Target, Z-Level 9, starting yesterday, Yumi Hito.'

The table raised their eyebrows and sighs of disappointment could be hard. 'I'm not surprised, another screw-up from the Boy Wonder, the Youngest City-wide Z-seeker- '

'Stop, Ryoutarou.' The voice said. 'I'm disappointed in you, Mr. Muto. Do you have anything to say?'

Minato stood up. 'If I hadn't told her, I would've lost contact with a Level 8 Z-Hunter! She wouldn't like you very much if I kept a ton of secrets form her, right?'

'It's not about that.' The orange haired woman spoke up. 'it's about the breach in security you've just committed.'

'Exactly.' The voice spoke up. 'Though I agree about the logic behind telling her, I'm sure a compromise could have been achieved, from what you've told me about her trust in you…'

Minato put both his hands on the table, leaning his back forward. 'I feel like you should trust me more, sir. I'm the one who knows her the best! Hell, maybe with proceeding observation, she could join the Z-Hunters, just like me! I was a Z-target once- '

'Oh, shut up!' Ryoutarou said. 'You don't know what we've been through to get to this point, just because you have a RANK instead of a LEVEL, doesn't make you any better than a fu-'

'Mr. Ryoutarou! We do not use these words at the table.' The voice spoke, as the man behind the screen sighed, pushing up his square, red glasses as Minato did the same. 'Minato Muto, do you believe that Yumi Hito can become a part of the organization?'

Minato nodded, realising the voice can't hear him nodding. 'Y-Yes sir.'

The faceless man spoke. 'Then we will monitor her increasingly carefully. For the breach of security, and as a test to see if she can join our ranks. As for you, you are relieved of your duties as Z-Seeker for the next half-month. Let this be a lesson. Now, onto…'

Minato let his voice fade out, as he thought to himself.

….

….

'The Z-Hunters have a ranking system, in which they rank the Strength of a Duellist, and how much they are able to become the new Z-ARC. Z-levels between 1-6 are average, while 9-10 are high priority, not to mention Z-targets who join the Hunters are given ranks instead of levels…' Minato thought, as he looked across the table. 'Me and Mirai are Z-rank 9, and the elite are Z-rank 10-11…'

'-And I expect many less failures on you assigned missions, Ryoutarou.' The voice said, as Ryoutarou scoffed him off.

'The higher ups like them are given missions to complete, such as infiltration of small duellist circles, causing the disbandment of certain groups etcetera… if I become a Z-negative agent, like Ms. Izumi and Ibuki, I'm gonna have to do that too...'

'It seems like more players with rare cards are having their levels risen, perhaps it's inspiration from getting them...' The orange haired woman, Izumi Ima told the boss, as Minato continued to focus on his thoughts.

'But Z-Seekers like me and Mirai are supposed to relay information to the boss, not take action… not to mention being relieved of duty…'

'-and as far as information reporting goes, there's a Duel Runner showcase and public event coming to Enka from New Domino City, might be worth checking out?' The child, Ibuki, said, smiling.

'Excellent news, Ibuki... Now, is that all?'

The Z-Hunters all replied 'Yes.' In tandem, as the man behind the screen, sitting in his office, flashed his square glasses, and spoke.

'Then the meeting is over, good luck Z-hunters of Enka city. I will issue in Mission Reports for you all soon' he said, as his screen buzzed off, and the Hunters left the table.

However, as Minato walked out the door, Mirai called for him.

'What is it now, Kaiba?'

Mirai sighed, and breathed in 'I want to apologise for the way I treated you and Yumi… I believed I was in the right…'

Minato flashed his glasses. 'I don't know what to think, you've acted like this since I was your Z-Target, before you became the City's Z-seeker… I guess 3 years ago? Honestly, I didn't want to leave My Z-Target in the dark like you did, but hey, it's the first time you've apologised, so…'

Mirai held his former friend's wrist, stopping him from leaving. 'Listen, at the rate Yumi is growing, she might become Z-level 10 soon… they'll start pursuing her soon…'

Minato struck up at the them. He pulled his wrist off. 'She'll be strong enough when they try. I know her well enough to know that…'

Minato walked out of his apartment.

…

Later, at Minato's home, he noticed Yumi had went home.

'I guess her grandmother's friends had left…' He said, disappointed, as he pulled out his school's history book, studying on it.

His grandfather sighed. 'I've known that hag for a long time, and honestly, Yumi should just live here, anything better than that woman… not to mention her friends.'

Minato buried his face in his history book. 'I wonder when she's gonna be back, I'm sorta worried about her now...'

...

'Yumi lay in her room that night, thinking about her confrontation with her grandmother that afternoon.

'And why are you so neatly dressed? Hasn't the school taken you in?'

'Grandma, these are the same clothes I left in- '

'Bullcrap! So clean after two weeks? Did you crash in some civilian's home again!?'

'I didn't do it last time- '

'YOU WANT TO ARGUE WITH ME!? YOU THINK I CAN'T SEE WHEN YOU'RE LYING!?'

'Grandma, stop! -'

'DON'T YOU GRANDMA ME- '

Her grandma had gotten a little violent on her, but at least it wasn't as serious as when she was a kid. She had always dreamed of having the courage to stand up to her, at least, she started thinking about it after he had revived her confidence. She had always thought of what to say…

She held up her 'Odd Eyes Synchron,' which was now carefully sealed within a Card sleeve, given to her by Minato's grandfather.

'…I'll repay you one day, Minato… for all you've done for me…' She thought, sitting up on her bed, in her barren, empty room. 'And one day, I'll finally conquer all this fear, this anxiety… for Minato, and for Him...'

She put the card in her pocket, and drifted to sleep.

'I'm coming for you… Yuya Sakaki…'

…

The moon is high in the sky, as a group of workers lift up the giant metal curtain of the new Duel Runner Showroom, two scientists standing before it, marvelling their new achievement.

'So, how long are you staying until you need to return to New Domino?' One asks, talking to a tall man with black hair spiking downwards, tufts of it spiking up with yelloW highlights. The man had sharp eyes and a long, white lab coat.

'Probably just half a month or so,' He said. 'They told me to take a break.' He spoke coolly and calmly.

The other man sighed. 'Well, have fun… try not to pester the young ones on the D.R.A.G Sims… I'm gonna go back to the Hotel..'

The other man walked into the shining Showroom, Duel Runners of different color and size everywhere, lined up in rows, with stairs leading upwards to the research facility. He walked to the left of the bike rooms, entering another through a metal sliding door. Inside was a shining Neon room, with arcade machines with a Motorcycle attached to them, lined up upon the walls. The title card of these machines read:

D.R.A.G SIMS!

D: DUEL

R: RUNNER

A: ARCADE

G: GAME

SIMULATION!

The man smiled, before turning off the machines, and leaving to close shop.

…

Yumi arrived at school as always, exhausted as if she had ran there.

'Something wrong?' Minato asked, chewing on a chocolate bar beside Yumi.

'There were men in suits stalking me all the way here… don't suppose you know why?'

Minato almost choked, deducing that that must be the Z-Hunters' added security. 'I-I might have an idea…'

He told her about the meeting of the previous day, all down to the part where he reconmended her to join.

'If you join us, we can prevent something like what happened with Mirai, and you can do a part in stopping people from doing the same… I probably should've asked before recommending you…'\

Yumi sighed, and looked the other way. 'It's fine… no more secrets between you and me… and what you just said… Z-hunters sounds fun.' She said the last line sarcastically, as in the corner of her eye, she spotted.

A black suited man watching her

'Don't do this again.' She warned Minato.

TO BE CONTINUED

NEXT TIME: EPISODE 11: YUMI HITO UNDER SURVEILANCE? THE DEAL WITH THE BOSS!