A/N: Chapter 2 has arrived! I found this chapter so much harder to write. I ended up writing the same amount as my first chapter though. I will try to make the next chapter much longer. I'm glad that I got a good response for my first chapter and so I will be continuing this story. I think I will update weekly for now, so I have time to write my next chapter. So please enjoy this chapter, and a review is always appreciated.


Chapter 2: Ferris Wheel

The six friends have finished their food and are now currently leaving the café. "That hotdog was sure filling," Honda said whilst rubbing his tummy.

"You're such a pig you know. I bet the waitress even found you repulsive," Katsuya gags.

"Shut your face! At least I appreciate good food when I see it."

"Right…"

Yugi suggests that they all should go to the arcade area, since they've just eaten. They arrive at the third area of the theme park.

Katsuya notices the game 'hoops' and decides to show off his skills to the others. He slides his coins into the machine and the basket balls are released. The timer begins and Katsuya begins to score points one after the other. Yugi watches Katsuya in admiration, wishing that he could be more like him. When it comes to sports, Yugi isn't the best. The timer ends, and he managed to score 19 points out of 20.

"That was awesome Jonouchi!" Yugi applauses.

"Thanks Yugi. I'm the best in gym class for a reason you know."

"I'll have a go too," Bakura said and puts his coins into the machine.

"You're good at hoops Bakura?" Katsuya asks.

"Well, I haven't played basketball in a long time, so I'm not really sure." The basket balls are once again released and the timer sounds. He struggles to score at first, but after four throws he gets the hang of it. The timer ends again. Bakura scored 12 out of 20. "It seems that I'm not that good at this game," he says bashfully.

"What are you talking about? 12 out of 20 is pretty good for a novice," Honda compliments.

"Thank you Honda."

"I'm going to have a crack at the 'high striker', and see how strong I've gotten over the years," Ryuji points out the machine in the centre of the area. He and the others start to walk over to it.

Ryuji and his friends notice that a small crowd have gathered around the contraption. Confused, they walk up next to the crowd and see that a gang have gathered around it. The levels on the striker go from 1 to 10. One of the members, who appears to be the leader, was speaking to the audience. "Hello ladies and gentleman. I'm about to show you all how strong I really am, so get ready." The leader stands next the striker and swings the hammer down onto the lever. The puck reaches level 8, which is labelled strong. The crowd begin to cheer at his strength. Ryuji applauses him too and walks up to the leader.

"Can I have a go?" He asks politely, raising his arm for the hammer.

"Huh! You think you can beat me kid? It's not easy to get up to the level that I just did. But, since you've got guts I'll let you have a go," the gang leader passes Ryuji the hammer and steps back to the side.

"Go for it dude! Show him what you're made of," Honda shouts words of encouragement and the others cheer too. Ryuji nods and readies his position next to the lever. He places the hammer behind his head and then swings down the hammer onto the lever. In amazement, the bell sounds which specifies level 10. The level is labelled as being the strongest. The crowd gape in awe and applause him. Ryuji passes the hammer back to the gang leader who had also been applauding him.

"I have to admit that was pretty good. What's your name kid?"

"It's Ryuji Otogi, and thanks," he turns and walks back to Yugi and the others.

"Nice one man," Honda praises him as he patted his back.

"Thanks. So, where to next guys?"

"I'm thinking ring toss." Honda suggests. They all turn to leave but are stopped by the gang leader.

"Hold it!" The leader runs up to them and spots Yugi's presence. "Well, well, well, look at what we have here. It's the king of games, Yugi Mutou."

"You know of me?" Yugi asks.

"Yeah. You were the one who defeated Pegasus and Seto Kaiba at duel monsters. Say, why not have a go on the striker?" he challenges Yugi, offering him the hammer.

"No thank you. I'm not really good at this sort of thing."

"Oh I see. You're just another weakling then, who is only able of picking up a deck of cards," the leader mocks him and his crew start sniggering.

"Don't talk to him like that!" Katsuya spats at him.

"Why not? It's obvious by his stature that he's no good when it comes to physical strength. He probably doesn't do well with the ladies either, considering he's so short."

"I dare you to say that again!"

Anzu turns to Yugi. "You don't have to do it Yugi, just ignore those creeps."

But if I don't, I'll just remain weak and pathetic. And you won't…

Yugi steps forward and takes the hammer from the leader, "fine. I accept your challenge," then walks over to the lever. He positions himself, the way that Ryuji did, and slowly brings the hammer behind his head. Please reach a high level. He pauses for a brief moment then quickly hits down on the lever. To dismay, the puck only reaches level 4, which has been labelled as powerless. The leader and his gang followed by the crowd begin to laugh.

"What was that? My mother could do better," the leader spurts out whilst he falls onto the grown, barely able to control his laughter.

"Shut up you jerks!" Honda yells at them. "He was just warming up."

"Just warming up? He looks knackered already. I can't believe that the king of games is a midget weakling."

Bakura rushes over to Yugi and places his hand on his shoulder. Yugi had by now dropped the hammer and his head was lowered. Is this all I can do? "Don't worry about it Yugi, let's just go someplace else," Bakura reassures him. However, Yugi nudges him away and runs off.

"Wait Yugi!" Anzu shouts after him, but Yugi ignores her and continues on.


How embarrassing! I'm completely helpless without my 'other self'. And worst of all, Anzu saw how weak I was. Yugi was now sitting on a bench, next to the second area of the theme park, his face in his palms. She probably thinks that I'm still a little kid who is only able to rely on others. I hate myself.

Back at the arcade area, Katsuya and the others had moved away from the amused crowd and were now gathered near the 'hoops' game. "Damn it! I can't believe those scumbags!" Katsuya was fuming as he clenched his fist.

"Did anyone see which way Yugi went?" Ryuji asked.

"I think he headed towards this area's entrance," Bakura answered.

"Let's all split up and look for him," Anzu suggested. The boys agreed and they all went off to look for him. I hope he hasn't left.

After roughly 5 minutes, Anzu stumbles upon Yugi. She calls for him but he doesn't respond to her. She decides to walk up to him and then joins him on the bench. She turns to face him. "How are you feeling?" He just remains quiet at her question. She continues to say, "Who cares what those creeps think, you're still the best at games and you know it. There's always going to be something that everyone isn't good at." Yugi removes his hands from his face and rests them on his thighs, still keeping quiet. The two remain silent for a while. Anzu thinks back to the times when Yugi was most confident. I wonder if he's still struggling to cope without Atem. When the two of them duelled together, they were overwhelming. No one was able to defeat them. Yet, Yugi was able to surpass Atem. He needs to realise that he can be himself. He needs to understand that he's gotten much stronger.

Anzu stands up, causing Yugi to look up at her, "come on. Let's go and meet back up with the others."

"Okay," Yugi said and the two of them walk back.

Anzu texts Bakura to let them know that they will be by the water slide. Whilst they were waiting, Anzu pushes the boundaries and asks, "How are you coping without Atem?"

He pauses for a moment. "It's hard, knowing that I can't rely on him."

"I miss him," she states.

"Me too."

Bakura and the others finally catch up to them, all of them breathless from running. "Hey Yugi. I'm sorry, it was my fault that you had to do it. Besides, it was me who wanted to go on the striker in the first place." Ryuji apologies.

"Don't be stupid. It wasn't your fault," Katsuya argues.

"But still…I should take some of the blame."

"I don't blame you Otogi. It was probably silly of me to run away like that," Yugi thinks.

"I would have done the same thing," Katsuya reassures him, "but, if I see that a**hole again, I'll be sure to punch his lights out."

Moving the current conversation aside, Anzu asks, "Does anyone know what time it is?"

"It's four," Bakura said whilst looking at his watch.

"It's that late already!" Katsuya exclaims. "How about we call it a day?" Just as he asked that, Honda suddenly drags him, by the neck, to the side. "What the hell man! Are you trying to choke me to death?"

"Shhh! Have you forgotten? We still need to get those two to ride the Ferris wheel," Honda whispers.

"Oh right. I completely forgot," Katsuya thinks for a moment, "how are we supposed to do that though?"

"Just follow my lead," Honda lets go of him and re-joins the group, "Sorry about that guys. There's still one ride that I'm dying to go on." Honda starts to lead the way, "It's just up ahead." The others just shrug and follow suit.

Honda stops at the drop tower which is located next to the Ferris wheel. He motions Bakura to come over. He quickly mutters something to Bakura before saying, "me and Bakura will ride the drop tower, you guys go and wait by the Ferris wheel," Honda smiles and winks at Katsuya.

Katsuya sweat drops but nods in assurance, and the four of them walk towards the Ferris wheel. Katsuya was walking next to Ryuji and Anzu and Yugi were walking in front of them. Katsyua leans over to Ryuji and mutters, "you grab Anzu and I'll get Yugi. Confused at first by his remark, but Ryuji understood and nods in agreement. As they stood by the entrance to the Ferris wheel, Katsuya and Ryuji waited for an empty cart to come down. Once they saw an empty cart, they both quickly grabbed Anzu and Yugi.

"What are you guys doing!?" Anzu yelped as she was quickly tossed into the empty cart along with Yugi. Once Katsuya released Yugi, he quickly locked the cart from the outside.

"Let us out!" Anzu began bagging on the cart's window while Yugi stood wide eyed, looking at Katsuya. He gives Yugi the thumbs up and he and Ryuji walk away. When they left, the Ferris wheel began, causing Anzu to stumble backwards. She slumps down on the seat and Yugi takes the seat opposite to her.

"I can't believe those idiots. Suddenly grabbing us and locking us up in here. I swear, once this ride is over, they're going to get it!" Anzu moans.

The two didn't speak for a while. Yugi began to think. Why did they do that? They must have planned this beforehand. I can't believe Jonouchi would get me alone with Anzu like this… hold on, we're so close together! Their knees were almost touching. Yugi's heart began to speed up. He looks up to find Anzu looking out of the window, her chin resting on her hand. She's so pretty…

Anzu turns her head to Yugi and notice that he's looking at her. "What is it?" she questions.

He snaps out of his daze, "Oh it's nothing," he explains whilst waving his hands, "you just seem to have something on your mind."

She looks down briefly, then back to him. "Actually, I was thinking about the time when we went to that water park."

"Oh yeah, that was fun."

"Yeah it was. But, I specifically remember when I was in danger. I was on the Ferris wheel and there was bombs attached to it. Luckily, Atem, or your 'other self' back then, saved me. I suppose you don't remember though, as at the time you weren't aware of your 'other self'."

"Yes I wasn't aware at the time. But thanks to him you weren't hurt." Of course she would be thinking of him… He began to feel sick. Why does she keep bringing him up? Maybe she still likes him that way. Ugh, it hurts thinking about it.

The cart they were in finally came back round, and the two of them got out. They see that the other four were waiting next to the drop tower. Katsuya sees the two of them and waves at them. "Did you two have fun?" Only to receive a bashing on the head, by Anzu, in response. She also bashes Ryuji on the head.

"Why did you hit me?" Ryuji asks her.

"Because you were the one who grabbed me and chucked me into the cart, you jerk!" She yells at him.

"But it was Honda's idea in the first place."

"Oh really…?" They all turn to look at Honda who had unexpectedly run off. "Come back here Honda!" And then she dashed after him.

"Man she's strong," Ryuji said whilst he rubbed his head, "so, how did it go?"

"Okay," Yugi simply states.

"What do you mean by okay?" Katsuya questions.

"Well…nothing happened."

"What do you mean nothing happened?! We helped you two to get alone and you didn't even try to make a move on her?"

"I couldn't. I've already told you that she doesn't like me that way."

"And I already told you that how could you possibly know that?"

"I just know all right!" The two of them went quiet for a moment.

"Did she say something?"

Yugi just nods and begins to walk in the direction that Honda and Anzu went. "Are we missing something here?" Ryuji asks.

"No. It's nothing. Tsk, this is what pisses me off about him. Why can't he just man up and ask her out? If he doesn't act soon someone else will steal her away."

Bakura checks his watch again, "maybe it's best that we leave it for today Jonouchi."

"Fine. Let's just go."