Scary Memories and Some Comfort

Me: Hey everyone! This is chapter 5 of Forgotten Love! I'm glad that I finally uploaded this!

Yuma: Yeah, what happened?

Me: I had a writer's block so big that I couldn't write for days! It…was…horrible!

Yuma: Well, we're happy that you're back now.

Me: Thanks! Okay, who's going to say the disclaimer?

Kotori: I will! Animecartoonlover36 doesn't own me, Yuma, or the other Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal characters. She also doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal.

Me: Italics are thought bubbles and bold texts are flashbacks. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The next day, Yuma was running towards the hospital. "Ah, shoot! I'm late again!" Yuma cried out. As he hurried towards the hospital, Astral materialized from the key and floated near Yuma. "Yuma, where are you going?" Astral asked him, confused. "You know already! I'm going to visit Kotori!" Yuma explained, huffing. "Yuma, you should be dueling instead of visiting Kotori all the time. The World Duel Carnival is almost here." Astral told him, annoyed. "I know that! I was just dueling with Tetsuo a few minutes ago." Yuma said, frowning. "But you only dueled one time before leaving. Face it, Yuma. Kotori is distracting you from what is important." Astral argued.

"Hey! Kotori is more important than dueling!" Yuma shouted, turning his head towards him. Unfortunately, Yuma wasn't looking at where he was going and tripped over something. He then fell down onto the ground face first. Astral slowed down and stared at him. "Are you okay, Yuma?" he asked him. Yuma slowly stood up and grinned. "Yeah, nothing's broken." Yuma replied while brushing himself off. "Huh? What's that red stuff on your forehead?" Astral asked, looking at him. "Red stuff…?" Yuma murmured, confused. He touched his forehead with his fingers and felt a small twinge of pain. He quickly looked at his fingers and saw some faint blood on them.

"It's just some blood. I got a small scratch on my forehead from the fall." Yuma told him. Astral nodded and was about to ask him what blood was when Yuma quickly stopped him. "Anyway, we should hurry to the hospital! Come on, Astral!" Yuma cried out, running ahead. Astral stared at Yuma's retreating form and sighed. He then quickly floated after Yuma to the hospital. When they got to the hospital, Yuma walked up to Kotori's door and knocked lightly. After he heard her reply back, he opened the door and walked inside. "Hey Kotori, how's it going?" Yuma asked, sitting down in his usual chair. "I've been doing well." Kotori told him, smiling cheerfully.

She then noticed Yuma's forehead and gasped. "Yuma, what happened to your forehead?" Kotori asked him, concerned. "Don't worry, Kotori. I just tripped and fell down while I was coming over. I guess I was a bit clumsy…" Yuma explained, scratching his head in embarrassment. "I understand. But still, you should get that scrape cleaned." Kotori muttered, thinking. "Ah, I know!" she cried out, smiling. She stretched out her arm towards the small bedside table that was near her and opened the drawer. "One of the nurses told me that they kept some supplies in here for patients." Kotori explained while rummaging through it. "Ah, I found them!" she exclaimed happily.

Kotori then pulled out a white bottle labeled hydrogen peroxide, a box of bandages, and a bag of cotton balls. She pulled out one of the cotton balls and opened the bottle of hydrogen peroxide. She then carefully poured enough of the liquid onto the cotton ball. "Can you come closer, Yuma?" Kotori asked, turning towards him. Yuma frowned a little and opened his mouth to argue but stopped. He sighed and moved his chair so that it was closer to her. Once he was closer, Kotori carefully pressed the cotton ball onto the scrape.

Yuma flinched a little when he felt the medicine touch the scrape. After a few minutes, Kotori took the cotton off and threw it into the trash can. She then grabbed a bandage from the box and peeled the wrapper off it. Yuma's face turned light pink as he felt Kotori's fingers place the bandage on his forehead. "There we go." Kotori said, satisfied. "A-Arigato…" Yuma said while stammering a bit. "You're welcome." Kotori told him, smiling. Yuma smiled back at Kotori's cheerful mood. Suddenly, Astral materialized from the key and floated next to him. "Yuma," Astral called out. Yuma frowned and turned his head towards him. "What is it now?" Yuma asked, annoyed a bit.

"I forgot to ask you something." Astral said. "What's amnesia?" he asked, curious. "Well, amnesia is when you lose your memory. You can lose it after a hard blow to the head. There are other ways to lose your memory." Yuma explained, sighing. "Hmm, that's interesting. So I have amnesia too?" Astral murmured. "Well, yeah. But it's kind of different. Your memories are in the form of the Numbers cards." Yuma told him. Astral opened his mouth to ask more questions when he noticed Kotori staring at them. "Yuma." Astral said, turning towards him. "What now?" Yuma asked, getting more annoyed. He then noticed Astral was staring at something. He quickly turned his head towards that direction and spotted Kotori looking at them strangely.

"Wow, Yuma. You must have bumped your forehead too hard. You're starting to talk to yourself." Kotori told him, her eyes wide. "N-No! I'm not talking to myself! I'm talking to Astral!" Yuma shouted, gesturing next to him. "Astral? Who's that?" Kotori asked, confused. "He's a dueling spirit that lives in my key!" Yuma explained, showing her the key. "I don't know…" Kotori muttered, unsure. She then opened her mouth to argue back when suddenly, the strange feeling returned, stopping her. But it felt different than usual. Kotori flinched a bit when she felt a strong shock of pain flash through her head. She quickly closed her eyes to soothe the pain and saw a memory appear into her mind.

The room was eerie and strange. In the middle of the room, Yuma and Jin stood there while facing each other. They were in the middle of a duel and Yuma's life points were low. Jin had 3500 life points while Yuma only had 1300 left. "My turn, draw!" Jin said, drawing a card. He looked at it and chuckled evilly. "This is the end. You shall fall into the world of Hades together with your friends!" he told him, smirking. "Battle! Big Eye, attack him directly!" Jin commanded, pointing towards him. "Yuma! The trap card!" Astral shouted quickly. "R-Right! This turn, I can use traps again!" Yuma realized.

"I activate a trap, 'Kisaku'." Yuma cried out. The sharp thorn-like object that was pinning one of the cards down disintegrated and disappeared. The other cards that were affected returned back to normal and one of them flipped over. "This card allows me, by sending a monster card to the graveyard, to decrease the damage battle by the amount of the monster's ATK when the opponent declared a direct attack." Yuma explained, discarding the card into his graveyard. A purple circle with many markings appeared onto the field. A monster that was dressed in armor with an axe and a shield appeared from the portal and groaned.

Dododo Warrior: Lv.6 EARTH Warrior ATK: 2300/DEF: 900

"Dododo Warrior, please protect us!" Yuma pleaded. Number 11: Big Eye floated towards them, ready to attack. Dododo Warrior pulled up its shield and waited for the impact. When Big Eye attacked, Dododo Warrior got sent backwards. It cried out in pain and exploded into tiny particles. Yuma and Astral grunted as they felt the force of the explosion push them back.

Yuma LP: 1000

"But that doesn't mean that you can escape from the fear of death! Take this!" Jin shouted, a dark aura surrounding him. "Kibou Ou Hope, attack him directly!" he commanded. Hope, who was being controlled by Big Eye, grabbed one of his swords and flung it towards Yuma. "Yuma, the other trap card!" Astral told him. Yuma nodded and quickly activated the card. "I activate a trap, 'Exceed Wait'!" Yuma shouted. The trap card flipped up and glowed brightly. "This card decreases an exceed monster's ATK by 800 for each attached overlay unit!" Astral said, explaining the effect. The two overlay units that were circling Hope turned into chains and wrapped around him, causing his attack points to drop.

Number 39: Kibou Ou Hope ATK: 900

Hope's attack didn't stop, though. When Hope slashed his sword, Yuma and Astral went flying backwards. Cathy gasped and her eyes widened when that happened. Meanwhile, Kotori and the others were trying their best to not fall into the lava. As they were watching the duel, Kotori cried out, "Yuma!" Yuma tumbled backwards on the floor and stopped with his face on the ground.

Yuma LP: 100

Astral uncovered his eyes and felt a bit strange. He looked at his hand and saw that it and his body were fading. Suddenly, at the lava pit, the rock that was under Kotori crumbled. She screamed as she fell down to the lava. Luckily, Tetsuo quickly grabbed her wrist and she stopped falling. Kotori stared down at the lava, her heart pounding from fright. "Kotori!" Tetsuo said, pulling her up. Takashi and Tokunosuke carefully helped Tetsuo and managed to pull her up onto the small rock.

Back at the duel, Jin was smiling evilly at Yuma. "So you somehow lived through both monsters' attacks." Jin murmured, smirking. "In that case, I activate the permanent spell card 'Tomurai no Mai'!" he yelled out, showing the card. A dark purple circle appeared onto the field due to the card's power. "Both players can't special summon monsters from their graveyards!" Jin explained. Yuma stayed on the ground and tried to catch his breath from the attack. "With this, your arms and legs won't move!" Jin said, laughing evilly.

"Yuma…" Kotori whispered, staring at the duel. "There are no monsters on your field. On my side are two powerful monsters!" Jin told him. While he said that, the effect of 'Exceed Wait' disappeared and Hope gained back its regular attack points.

Number 39: Kibou Ou Hope ATK: 2500

"Now, it's impossible. You and your honorable friends' lives are over!" Jin told him, laughing. "I end my turn." he said. Yuma struggled to get up from the ground and grunted. "Damn…" he murmured under his breath. It was quiet for a while on the field. "This is…the end." Astral whispered, hanging his head down in shame. "Everyone…" Yuma groaned, staring at the screen on the ball. The screen showed Kotori and everyone else standing on a small rock in the middle of a lava pit. Yuma then looked toward Kaito and saw him sitting there, watching the whole thing.

"There is one way to save your friends." Jin told him. Yuma gasped and looked at him while listening. "Surrender. Submit and admit defeat and give me your Numbers. If you do, your friends' lives will be spared." Jin explained, his eyes glowing for a while. "What did you say?" Yuma cried out, surprised. Astral looked at Yuma and Jin, his eyes widening. "How about it? Seems like a good deal, right? With just one sacrifice, you can save all of your friends." Jin said, grinning. He then closed his eyes and chuckled.

Back at the lava pit, the rock that Kotori and the others were standing on was breaking slowly. Everyone gasped and started to panic a little. "HELP US, URA!" Tokunosuke screamed. "Yuma!" Tetsuo muttered. "No…YOU MUSTN"T DO THAT!" Kotori shouted. Cathy looked at Yuma and turned around. "Yuma!" she yelled out, her eyes closed. Jin chuckled more as he heard Yuma's friends cry out to him. "What should I call this…funny entertainment? Screaming and suffering!" he said, sneering a little.

While Jin was distracted, Astral opened his eyes and stood up. He then slowly hovered to Yuma and floated in front of him. Yuma noticed him and looked up. Astral didn't say a word and just turned his head towards Kaito. "As I thought…there was no way to fight against him. The chances of winning are near zero. Even if we continue this duel, we won't be able to save your friends." Astral told him. Yuma just stared at him with a bit of confusion on his face. "There is just one thing we can do. We have to hand over the Numbers…and me." Astral murmured. Yuma gasped and his eyes widened. "You…!" Yuma said, surprised.

"Let us be annihilated together. Let us surrender." Astral whispered softly. When Astral said that, Yuma clenched his hand into a fist and stood up onto his feet in a flash. "STOP JOKING AROUND!" he shouted angrily. "Yuma!" Astral muttered, surprised. "I met a lot of people because of dueling. There may have been times when I lost…but…! Those guys I dueled against…they're all my precious comrades! I can't abandon any of my precious comrades like that!" Yuma explained, his voice rising. "Yuma. That is why I-!" Astral started to say. "DON'T YOU GET IT? You are…my precious comrade! ASTRAL!" Yuma yelled out, turning towards him. Astral stared at him with wide eyes. For a second, his body glowed with power.

Back at the lava pit, Kotori and everyone else had listened to Yuma's little speech. They stared at him through the screen while not saying a word. "Astral…" Kotori mumbled. Back at the duel, Astral and Yuma were looking at each other. "Yuma…" Astral said, trailing off. Suddenly, Jin's voice called out to them. "Hey, brat! Hurry up, surrender, and give me your Numbers!" Jin commanded, the dark aura surrounding him. "Don't joke around! There is no way I'm going to surrender now!" Yuma told him, facing him. "That's fine. Kaito-sama is looking forward to seeing you when you lost your soul!" Jin shouted, excited. He then started to laugh really hard.

Yuma growled and looked up at where Kaito was sitting. "Hey, Kaito! Is this guy really your servant? Are you really dueling together with him?" Yuma asked him. Kaito didn't respond and just sat there, his eyes glowing. Yuma stared at him for a few seconds and then gasped, his eyes widening a bit. "Hey…is that really Kaito over there?" Yuma asked, pointing towards him. "W-What are you saying?" Jin stammered. Cathy stared up at Kaito and gasped as well. "Don't tell me-!" she said, trailing off. She then quickly jumped up to Kaito using her cat-like skills.

"I do cattobingu!" Cathy shouted, lunging at him. She then started to attack him over and over again. Suddenly, her attack slashed Kaito's head off and it went tumbling down the stairs. It finally reached the ground and stopped rolling, causing a light blue jewel to fall out of one of the eyes. "A doll?" Yuma cried out, surprised. "What…what does this mean?" Astral murmured, confused. "Impossible! My Kaito-sama is…" Jin stuttered. "I knew it! I dueled against Kaito. He's a strong and scary guy, but he'd never take pleasure in seeing people suffer!" Yuma explained, grinning. "He's not a petty guy like you!" he exclaimed, pointing at him.

Jin stared at him with a petrified look on his face. "I have been afraid…of such a thing?" Astral murmured, staring at the Katio statue's head. "I was scared, too." Yuma said while laughing a little. "If we don't give up, there is still hope left for anyone!" he told him, facing him. "I do kattobingu!" he cried out, smiling. "Yuma…" Astral whispered. "I see. The feelings I had were not only fear. That precious feeling you taught me…Yuma…" Astral realized. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He then opened them and started to glow brightly. "I want to win together with you…for you and for your friends!" Astral said to himself.

Suddenly, Yuma's key started to glow a bright golden light. The key then released a beam of light towards Astral which struck him in the chest. Astral started to glow a light blue as he was filled with power from the key. "Y-You-!" Yuma stammered, astonished. "W-What's this?" Jin shouted. The power from the key started to make Astral appear. Back at the lava pit, Kotori and the others stared in bewilderment at the sight. "That is-! Astral!" Kotori murmured, her eyes widening with amazement. Back at the duel, the bright light from the power disappeared and Astral opened his eyes. "Win, Yuma." Astral told him, facing him.

"Astral!" Yuma cried out, determined. "Let's go! My turn, draw!" he said, drawing a card. "The spell card, 'Come Back'." Yuma read, looking at it. "Take Hope back with that card!" Astral quickly told him. "Yeah! I activate the spell card, 'Come Back'!" Yuma yelled out. "When the control over a monster has been taken, this card takes it back!" he explained. The card glowed and a beam of yellow light zoomed towards Big Eye, hitting it in the eye. That caused it to lose the control it had on Hope. The dark aura that had been around Hope disappeared and he turned back to normal.

"Come back, Hope!" Yuma called out, gesturing to his side. "What?" Jin shrieked, frowning. Hope then quickly flew up and returned back to Yuma. "Everything for a new path of victory has been set!" Astral said, holding out his hand towards Yuma. His hand glowed with power and caused Yuma's extra deck container to glow as well. "This is-?" Yuma murmured, surprised. He reached into the container and pulled out a glowing card. "This is the power of hope. He's the emissary who changes confusion into light. And that's Chaos Numbers 39!" Astral told him. The light surrounding the card started to disappear and a picture of Chaos Numbers 39 replaced the area. "Chaos Numbers?" Yuma cried out, a bit confused.

"This card makes Kibou Ou Hope and its overlay units one and makes it evolve!" Astral explained. Hope then started to fold back into his sealed form. "Let's go, Yuma!" Astral cried out. "Yeah!" Yuma agreed. "Chaos Exceed Change! Come forth right now, Chaos Numbers 39!" they both shouted, activating the card. Hope started to fold back into his sealed form. A galaxy portal then opened up and Hope's sealed form and overlay units entered it. "Kibou Ou Hope Ray!" they both cried out.

The black and gold sealed form arose from the galaxy portal and began to unfold. His armor folded out on his body while his wings emerged from his back. He growled when he finally entered the duel field, his three yellow overlay units circling him.

Chaos Number 39: Kibou Ou Hope Ray: Rank 4 LIGHT Warrior/Xyz ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000

"W-What is that?" Tetsuo yelled out. "Awesome!" Kotori commented, amazed. Back at the duel, Jin stared at the monster with wide eyes. "Chaos Numbers, you say? But my Big Eye is stronger!" Jin told them, his voice rising. "I activate Kibou Ou Hope Ray's effect! Kibou Ou Hope Ray can increase its ATK by 500 by using one overlay unit." Yuma and Astral explained, their voices merging together. Hope Ray extracted his hands out and grabbed the massive sword on his back while unsheathing it. "I use all three overlay units and increase Hope Ray's ATK! Overlay Charge!" they exclaimed together. The three overlay units were then absorbed into his sword, causing his body to glow white with power.

Chaos Number 39: Kibou Ou Hope Ray ATK: 4000

"What?" Jin cried out, his face turning worried. "And, each overlay unit I used decreases my opponent's monster's ATK by 1000!" Yuma and Astral explained once more.

Number 11: Big Eye ATK: 0

"Impossible-!" Jin stammered, petrified with fear. "Go, Kibou Ou Hope Ray! Attack Big Eye! Hope Sword Chaos Slash!" Yuma and Astral ordered, pointing at Jin's Number. Hope Ray lifted up his massive sword and swung it at Big Eye, slicing it in half. Big Eye fell down into pieces and exploded into tiny particles. Jin screamed as he felt the explosion blow at him. He was unable to keep his stance and flew backwards onto the hard ground.

Jin LP: 0 – LOSER

A picture of Yuma's face appeared with the word WIN as the buzzer that signaled the end of the duel blared out. The augmented reality then started to disappear. Back at where Kotori and the others were, the lava pit started to disappear too. It turns out that they were actually just standing on a table in the middle of another room. Kotori and the others looked down and felt embarrassed a little. "Huh? Err…eh?" Kotori murmured, looking around the room.

Back at where Yuma and Astral were, Astral stared at Jin and held out his arm. The Numbers card appeared on Jin's chest and floated towards Astral. He then retrieved the card by grabbing it in his hand. Suddenly, a door opened and Kotori with the others came running out. "Yuma!" Kotori called out, running towards him. "Are you alright?" Yuma asked, taking off his D-Gazer. He then ran towards the group with a smile on his face. But when he got closer to them, they just ran past him. Yuma then fell down anime style when he saw them surrounding Astral.

"Awesome, Astral!" Kotori commented, smiling. "Thank you, Astral!" Tetsuo told him. You were awesome!" Takashi said, amazed. "We're comrades from now on, Ura!" Tokunosuke shouted. Astral floated to Yuma's side and stared at the group. Kotori and the others didn't notice that Astral wasn't even standing there anymore and kept on talking. "You guys…why are you only talking to Astral?" Yuma asked them, angry. "I saved you guys!" he cried out, furious. The others then noticed Yuma shouting and turned toward him. "I'm disappointed, really!" Yuma muttered, stomping away to the door.

"Yuma!" Kotori called out, running to him. "Wait!" Cathy said, following them. Takashi, Tetsuo, and Tokunosuke started to follow them as well. The group then started to try to cheer Yuma up a little as they walked out the door.

As the memory ended, Kotori opened her eyes and stared down at the blanket that was covering her. "That was…interesting. So Yuma was telling the truth. Astral does exist…" she murmured to herself. She then turned her head towards Yuma and saw that he was still talking to Astral. Yuma kept his head toward Astral and frowned as he argued back. Suddenly, she heard a couple of sentences from Yuma that sounded strange.

"Look Astral, I know that we have to practice hard for the World Duel Carnival. And I know that we have to get all those Numbers cards as well. I understand that if Kaito gets those Numbers cards, something bad might happen. So stop reminding me that. There is nothing wrong with visiting your best friend in the hospital every day." Kotori heard him say. As Yuma and Astral argued more, Kotori quickly looked away from them as her thoughts ran in her head.

"What are Numbers cards and who is this…Kaito? Wait a minute…I saw those Numbers cards in that memory I just remembered. But…I still don't understand much about the Numbers cards…" Kotori muttered, pondering. Suddenly, she felt the pain shoot through her head again. But this time, it was stronger. She grunted as she felt her head throb and closed her eyes together really tight. Kotori then saw flashes of memories appear, including people in the hospital that had really pale skin and empty-like eyes. After those were shown, another memory squeezed into her mind.

It was a warm afternoon as the sun slowly rose down. Yuma and Kotori were walking together. Yuma quickly stopped walking when she told him something. "Apology?" Yuma cried out, facing her. "But if neither side is willing to apologize…" Kotori started to say. "Hmpf! After all, it's his entire fault!" Yuma muttered, annoyed. Kotori gasped at what he had said as she watched him dash away. Yuma stopped running when Astral floated in front of him. "Yuma, do you think it's okay if things continue like this?" Astral asked.

Yuma nodded and turned away from him. "As friends, isn't necessary to communicate and share your thoughts?" Astral questioned him. "Friends?" Yuma mumbled, his eye twitching. Yuma then spun around and pointed at him. "Tetsuo is not my friend anymore!" he shouted. Yuma gasped and his eyes widened as he saw who was in front of him. Instead of Astral, Tetsuo was standing there with an angry look on his face. "…n-no…" Yuma croaked softly. "Geez…" Kotori said with a hand on her forehead.

Tetsuo stared at him for a while and then turned around while walking away. "Tetsuo!" Yuma cried out, grabbing his shoulder. Tetsuo turned around and swung his arm, causing the key to break from the rope. Yuma fell down onto the ground from the force and grunted. The key flew into the air and landed behind them with a loud clank. "Y-You were the one coming at me! And grabbed me all of a sudden…" Tetsuo told him. Suddenly, black slime oozed from Yuma's extra deck case. It moved behind the two and began to pump into Astral's body. "What is…this?" Astral murmured, scared.

Suddenly, shocks of electricity began to appear onto Astral's body, causing him to grunt in pain. "Astral!" Yuma cried out, getting up onto his feet. "What on earth is that?" Tetsuo murmured, backing up a bit. He then gasped and turned around towards where the key had landed. He ran to the key, picked it up, and turned back. Meanwhile, the strange black sludge was still pumping into Astral. "You are Number 96!" Astral muttered, groaning. "What are you saying there?" Yuma asked, confused. Suddenly, a voice appeared from somewhere and started to talk.

"I've been waiting for this moment for a long time. The moment I possess your body and become complete!" the voice cried out. "Destroy! Destroy everything!" the voice commanded. Astral gasped and screamed out in pain. Purple tentacles shot out from Astral's body and started to grab Yuma. Yuma gasped as the tentacles wrapped around him and pulled him into the air. "What is this?" he cried out, surprised. "Yuma!" Tetsuo and Kotori shouted. "Re-release me!" Yuma ordered while struggling to break free. "It's useless, you can't run anywhere!" the possessed Astral whispered, giving them a malicious look.

Suddenly, the real Astral appeared in front of Yuma. "Yuma, give Hope to Tetsuo!" Astral told him. "Hope?" Yuma questioned, confused. "Hurry!" Astral yelled. Yuma nodded and opened his deck container. He reached into his deck and managed to slowly pull out the card. "Tetsuo!" Yuma shouted while throwing the card to him. Tetsuo caught the card and looked at it. "Ehh…Hope?" he exclaimed, surprised. Astral then screamed out as he was swallowed by the evil Number. "Astral…" Yuma mumbled, looking behind him.

"Now I've become the strongest of Numbers…" Dark Astral shrieked, laughing evilly. "You…you bastard, how dare you do that to Astral!" Yuma hollered, furious. Dark Astral just ignored him and stared at Tetsuo. "Come, the brat over there, give that Numbers to me!" he yelled, extending his hand towards Tetsuo. Tetsuo gasped as the hand zoomed toward him. Suddenly, the key started to glow and created a shield around Tetsuo just as the hand reached him. Dark Astral frowned and retracted his hand back.

"What…" Tetsuo murmured, confused. "Tetsuo-kun…what was that just now?" Kotori asked while running to him. "I am not sure, but I guess it's due to the power of this key." Tetsuo told her, staring at the key. "You bastard…" Dark Astral mumbled while growling angrily. "If so…as long as I beat him, and return the Emperor's Key to Yuma, maybe Yuma can be released!" Tetsuo thought. "If you want this Numbers that badly, then get it by defeating me in a duel!" Tetsuo told him, showing him the card.

"Duel you say?" Dark Astral murmured, interested. "No, Tetsuo! This guy is very dangerous, hurry up and run!" Yuma cried out, his eyes widening. "How can I leave you like this?" Tetsuo said, frowning. "But…" Yuma started to say. "Would you run if you were in my situation? Would you leave me alone and run away?" Tetsuo questioned angrily. "Tetsuo…" Yuma murmured, surprised a bit. "Interesting, I will be your opponent." Dark Astral agreed, making the tentacles holding Yuma disappear.

Dark Astral then decided to control Yuma as a puppet to duel Tetsuo. "Duel disk, set!" Dark Astral and Tetsuo cried out, unfolding their duel disks. "D-Gazer, set!" they both shouted, activating their D-Gazers. "AR-Vision, link established!" the computer said, showing their life points. "Duel!" they yelled, ready to start the duel.

Kotori's eyes shot open after watching the memories. Even though she had remembered Tetsuo during the process, she still felt kind of scared. Meanwhile, Yuma and Astral were done arguing with each other. Yuma turned his head to Kotori and was surprised to see her look scared. "Kotori, what's wrong?" Yuma asked her, worried. Kotori just ignored Yuma's question and glanced at him. "Yuma…these Numbers cards…are dangerous, right?" Kotori asked quietly. Yuma gasped a little when she mentioned the Numbers cards but didn't say a word.

"My memories…showed me images of people…that had their souls taken from them. And they all had a Numbers card before their souls were stolen, right?" Kotori murmured. "The reason why I'm talking about this is because…you also have a Numbers card too. And if you have one, then…your soul will be stolen too…" she muttered. "Even though…I don't even know you, I feel like you're important to me. You visiting me every day are the only memories I remember of you. The other memories are still kind of blurry to me. I just…can't stop worrying about you…" she explained, finally finishing.

The room was quiet for a few seconds after Kotori had finished speaking. Yuma was shocked a bit for a few minutes but then smiled and placed his hand on top of Kotori's hand. Kotori quickly looked up at Yuma when she felt his hand on hers. Yuma could see that tiny tears were forming near her eyes as he stared into them. "Don't worry about me, Kotori. I'll be fine. After all, I did promise you that I'll do my best to win at all costs." Yuma assured her. "We made a…promise?" Kotori mumbled to herself, surprised.

"Well, even though I don't remember that promise, I'm sure that you won't break it. Thanks, Yuma." Kotori told him, smiling back. "You're welcome." Yuma replied. He then looked towards the window and noticed that it was almost late. "Well, I better go home now. It's getting late and I've got to practice my dueling for the World Duel Carnival." Yuma explained, sitting up from the chair. "World Duel Carnival? What's that?" Kotori murmured, confused. "I'll explain that to you later. Right now, I've got to go home before Akari yells at me for being late." Yuma said, opening the door.

"Okay, see you tomorrow." Kotori said, waving goodbye. Yuma waved back before closing the door shut. As he was dashing towards home, Yuma was grinning happily. "Don't worry, Kotori. I'll make sure that I'll win every duel. You can count on me!" Yuma said to himself. He then ran towards his house, with a smile on his face.

Me: Well, that's the end of this chapter! Sorry for the huge wait.

Yuma: It's okay. All that counts is that you upload it. It doesn't matter how long it takes, I guess.

Me: Wow, thanks. (smiles)

Kotori: Well, here are the episodes where each flashback comes from:

Remembering Astral: Episode 18

Remembering Tetsuo: Episode 20

Remembering the Numbers cards: Episode 20

Me: I don't own the episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal. Anyway, please review and bye!