A/N: Soooo, this update (when I said weekly I meant sometimes between Mon-Sun not every 7 days, I can't wait that long to post), the duel continues and Shark is being a grumpy little fella. And next chapter we hit the plot plot. Anyway, thank you for reading, and reviews would be loved. Enjoy.


"My turn," Yuma called, whipping out a card. "Draw!"

Akina – 4000
Yuma – 2000

He glanced at the card then back to the field. The Ghostrick House presented as an old haunted house, with them in the hall, stairs creaking above them and wind howling through the windows. It meant face down monsters couldn't be attacked, but if all the monsters on his opponent's were face down, he could attack directly. The pair of monsters on his opponent's field were face down. He could use that to his advantage. His own Gogogo Golem could still do damage, even if it was cut in half by the haunted house. That could still work. But then there were the three face downs on her side of the opposite side of the field.

Yuma couldn't believe it. He was being schooled by a tiny, excitable girl who found creepy creatures cute. And he was sure he could hear Shark's sarcasm in the background. His self-proclaimed fan was bouncing up and down, enjoying the duel, and Yuma had to admit, it was exciting to see what would happen next. He might have underestimated her to start with but that all stopped now. It was time to go all out.

"Yuma," Astral said quietly, floating behind him. "You've let her get quite the advantage. I thought you said this wasn't going to be difficult."

"I underestimated her a little, no big deal," Yuma replied. "We've got out of worse pinches. Just leave it to me. Alright, Akina, I summon Gagaga Magician!"

The magician spun out onto the field, chains flaring and Akina almost squealed. 4/1500/1000.

"You're going to XYZ summon!"

"Yeah I am!" he said. "So firstly I flip my Gogogo Golem back into face up position then I use my level 4 Gagaga Magician and Gogogo Golem to form an overlay network. XYZ summon! Come forth, Number 39: Aspiring Emperor, Hope!"

Akina cheered as the white and gold warrior burst onto the field. 4/2500/200. Yuma grinned back at her. Her energy and excitement was catching. Not that Yuma needed any help to get worked up. They were just bouncing off each other and the intensity was building. He could feel it.

"I can't believe it, Yuma!" Akina cried. "It's Hope! This is so cool!"

"Your deck is awesome too, Akina," Yuma called.

"Yuma, don't get too emotional, it'll cloud your judgement," Astral warned. "Just because you can attack doesn't mean you should."

"I know, I know," he replied. "Still, no point running from a fight. Ghostrick House's effect means I can attack directly. Hope! Direct attack!"

"Yuma, her face downs-"

"Hope sword slash!"

Hope shot over the face down monsters and slashed down at Akina but she giggled. "Still going easy on me, Yuma? I active my face down Book of Sun to flip my Ghostrick Lantern back face up." The ghostly monster grew from the shadows and inside the Jack-o-Lantern eyes flashed. 1/800/0. Yuma grinned. "Now you can't attack me directly, Yuma!"

"Ah, but your Lantern is toast!" Yuma replied. "Let's go, Hope!"

Hope slashed through Ghostrick Lantern with a golden flash and Akina fell back to the dusty ground with a scream. Yuma almost felt sorry for the girl, and for a moment he wondered if it was too much given how young she was. Still, a duellist was a duellist. She'd probably be insulted by the idea of going a little easier. The dust settled and Akina was bent over, leaning on her knees to catch her breath.

Akina – 3150
Yuma – 2000

"It's so cool that you're not going easy on me anymore, Yuma," she panted, straightening up.

"I figured if you're going all out, I should too." He grinned and glanced at his hand then the two remaining face downs. "I'll set a face down and end it there."

"Alright!" Akina cheered. "I can't believe it's Hope. I'll show you my ace too, Yuma!"

"I can't wait to see."

"Yuma, take things seriously," Astral warned. "She's obviously talented for a child."

"Are you suggesting I'll lose to a kid?" he said, turning to him. "I don't rely on you anymore, you know?"

"But you are still very reckless."

"Alright, my draw," Akina called. She laughed and bounced up and down bringing an even larger grin to Yuma's features. That was the great thing about younger kids; they never hid anything. There was no darker motive or unspoken story. "I start by flipping over my Witch of Ghostrick." The blonde witch bounced up, spinning her broom and winking over at them. 2/1200/200. "Then I activate my face down spell, Level Meister! So I send the level three Stealth Bird from my hand to the Graveyard, and Witch of Ghostrick becomes level three too." The witch giggled and her broom grew a little. "Next I activate Monster Reborn from my hand to bring Stealth Bird back to the field."

She giggled and jumped around on the spot as the almost invisible bird flashed onto the field with a screech. 3/700/1700. Yuma could hardly contain himself. Two level threes. There was an XYZ monster coming and she'd promised it was her best. He loved seeing other duellists at their best.

"Come on, Akina, show me what you've got."

"Of course!" she replied with a grin. "Using my level 3 Witch of Ghostrick and Stealth Bird, I form an overlay network! XYZ summon! From the darkness, Ghostrick Alucard!"

The pale monster jumped onto the field, cape billowing and fluttering, a smirk on his lips. 3/1800/1600. Akina giggled and clapped her hands, dancing on the spot again. Yuma was confused. That was her ace monster? It must have had a decent effect

"Yuma, with Hope face up she can't attack directly," Astral said. Yuma nodded. He'd already got that part. "That's her weakness, you have to force her into battle and her monsters low stats will do the rest."

"That's what I do best, Astral," Yuma replied.

"Next I activate one of my face downs," Akina called. "Creature Swap!"

"Oh no…"

"Yuma," Astral snapped. "Will you listen to me now?"

"So, I get control of Hope and you get Alucard," Akina called. The monsters vanished and reappeared on the opposite field. Akina blinked and staggered slightly, her body getting a golden glow and the number 39 appearing on her hand. Yuma smiled. At least Hope wasn't known for possessing people. "Wow… Hope… Next I activate the Book of Moon to flip Alucard face down!"

"At least that's all her face downs gone now…" Yuma sighed.

"But now she can attack directly, Yuma," Astral warned.

"Oh yeah."

"Hope, direct attack!" Akina called.

"I activate Damage Diet! This halves all battle damage I take this turn and Ghostrick House halves it as well!"

Hope's sword flashed down and Yuma tumbled back a few paces as Akina cheered again. She was so full energy. Yuma grinned as the dust cleared again.

Akina – 3150
Yuma – 1375

"Wow, Akina," Yuma called.

"I'll end my turn there. Your turn, Yuma."

"Alright! Draw!"


Ryoga had already lost interest. Seeing Yuma getting beaten was nothing new. Even if he had improved and the kid had an interesting deck, since Astral was stepping in there wouldn't be much more of a fight. Unless she was much better than she seemed. Maybe she could hold on. Either way, he'd been distracted by the pair of new comers. Ken and Miki were watching from a distance. Ken was watching the duel with a small smile but Miki looked as distant as she had on the roof.

Ryoga knew her, he was sure. He knew her from somewhere. Finding her on the roof had given him the sudden feeling of déjà vu but he couldn't place it. She couldn't duel, that was what the kid said, wasn't it? Miki wasn't even wearing a D Gazer. Who didn't know how to duel these days? Everyone knew how even if they weren't as excited by it. Given her two younger sisters seemed to be rather talented duellists…

Something was off.

After a moment, Miki glanced at her watch and pulled away, walking off. Ken gazed after her for a moment before shaking his head as Yuma and Akina cheered. Shark glanced over his shoulder. The duel was over with Hope back on Yuma's field. Astral was certainly a better duellist than the kid. He'd lose all faith in the pair if they lost to her while working together.

"Did Miki see?" Akina called to Ken.

"Of course not," Nico muttered.

"Yeah, but it was an awesome duel," Yuma called. "Even someone who doesn't duel should appreciate that!"

Akina cheered and Yuma was nearly bowled over by her hug. "Thank you so much, Yuma! You're so cool! You can teach me how to duel even better, right?"

"As long as it's Astral's advice," Kotori teased.

"Hey, Astral didn't help that much," Yuma argued.

"Even if Miki didn't see, I did, kid," Ken called and Nico ran over to be scooped up into his arms. "You've improved so much."

"So, you guys all know each other?" Tetsou called.

"We're family," Nico muttered.

Ryoga frowned and glanced in the direction Miki had gone. They were all family? With different names? Was it possible they were adopted, or where their bonds simply that close? Still, if there was one thing Ryoga understood more than anything it was the bond between siblings. He watched Rio with the others silently, shoving his hands in his pockets and leaning against the wall. If he saw Rio acting like Miki he'd do anything to make her smile again. But perhaps that was just Miki's way of acting. He didn't know her well enough to know but it seemed wrong for someone to be that dead behind the eyes. He was sure it didn't suit her. Somewhere in his past, and hers, something was different, Ryoga knew it. Not that he really cared, why should he? It was just something to puzzle over rather than listening to Yuma and the kid.

They stayed out duelling late, Ryoga watching from his position. He wasn't going to duel them not matter how much they tried to convince him too. The sun was setting when they began to walk home. When asked, Ryoga pointed out that he was only hanging around with them because Rio was but even Akina looked like she knew better. What was worse was that Ken seemed to be flirting with Rio. That certainly wasn't acceptable.

"So, you duel too?" Rio said.

"Of course," Ken replied with a soft smile. "Our older brother Hiro taught all of us how to duel. I'd love to see you duel sometime, Rio. Doesn't a duel come from the soul? I'm sure yours is warm and soft."

Ryoga almost scoffed. Warm and soft were not the words he'd use to describe Rio's duelling or her soul. He was about to put in his piece when Yuma piped up. "If your brother taught you all to duel, why can't Miki duel?"

"Mother says it's because she doesn't have the soul for it," Akina said. "Duelling comes from the soul, without your soul you can't duel."

Yuma nodded thoughtfully and Ryoga noticed Astral was looking pretty concerned too. Miki didn't have the soul for it? Well, some people just didn't have the fighting spirit a duellist needed. Someone as apparently dead as her probably lacked the passion. Although, it still didn't sit right.

"Ryoga," Rio said, suddenly in front of him and glaring at him. "You're spacing out. What are you thinking about?"

"Anything other than this bunch," he replied, turning away.

Rio glared at him knowingly but turned away anyway, joining Ken again. Ryoga scowled and followed silently. Akina was chattering away on Ken's back and the other three were more than happy to talk to her. Nico was trudging along at Ryoga's side. At least he wasn't the only one unimpressed by the situation.

Soon it was time for Yuma and Kotori to go their own ways and Akina insisted on another hug before Ryoga became the focus of her attention, much to his displeasure. He could handle kids well enough, he didn't mind them but after a while the charm wore thin. He had enough problems putting up with adults- and respecting a certain blond certainly didn't mean he'd tolerate his quirks- and kids his age- Yuma might have essentially saved him but he and his friends were still naïve morons. Youngsters wore his patience too thin.

"You were really cool in the WDC too, Shark," she said, leaning over and tugging his sleeve. Ken groaned and adjusted her weight as she wobbled. "It was really impressive how you lost on purpose to save Yuma."

"I didn't, I just-"

"Yuma must mean a lot to you," she continued, ignoring his protests. "He's such a cool duellist, I bet even you knew he was going to win from the beginning." Ryoga gave up arguing and just let her chatter on about how awesome Yuma was. Rio was giggling to herself and Nico just followed along looking bored. "Will you duel me sometime, Shark?"

"Maybe," he muttered when Rio elbowed him.

"Yay!" she cheered.

"Come on, kid," Nico said, turning away up a street. "Goodnight Shark, Rio."

"Goodnight Nico," Rio called. "You too, little Akina."

Nico carried on walking while Ken paused and flashed Rio a charming smile as Akina grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Of course, and him if he turns up to class."

"Night, Shark," Akina cheered as they turned away.

Ryoga grunted and turned away, carried on with Rio at his side. Something about that family was off. Either Rio didn't notice or didn't care. She was smiling fondly. He wasn't sure if it was Akina or Ken's charms that were making her smile like that. He was wondering about the family. Akina was a talented duellist with a weird play style; Nico presented as playful and charming when her family wasn't around and cold when they were; Ken was apparently able to charm his way out of anything and make anyone believe he was harmless and Miki was seemingly dead and soulless. It all felt weird.

"I suppose you expect me to hang out with them too now," he muttered.

"Ryoga, don't be so grumpy," she teased. "Maybe if we surround you with pretty girls you'll finally stop being so anti-social."

"I'm not anti-social, people are just morons," Ryoga argued.

"You used to be so sweet," Rio said with a small smile.

"Things change."

"Do you think it's true that your soul has to do with your duelling?"

"After losing my soul, it's not the kind of thing you just get up from, believe me." Rio smiled bitterly and he shrugged. He was over what had happened in his duel with Kaito. "I was almost completely out of it, I couldn't move or speak or think…" He paused. "It was like I was nothing but a limp hollow shell, watching everything and unable to do anything about it. Just watching. She has a soul. At least, some of sort of soul. A duellist's soul, maybe not."

Rio giggled and shook her head. "You've not changed inside really, Ryoga. You've just put on all that tough armour."

He shook his head and turned to gaze at the water by the side of the path. Rio laughed softly. So perhaps it was true. After his humiliation he'd suffered. Their parents had been so concerned for him they'd quickly made the move to Heartland, away from everything in his past. But it was still sore. He'd still hurt. So he'd dropped the name Kamishiro Ryoga and become Shark. It had all been going so well until Yuma. He almost believed that the goodness and softness inside him no longer existed. Rio was the only part of Kamishiro Ryoga left until Yuma forced him to remember everything and face it all.

"I think we've met them before," Ryoga said finally. "They're familiar."

"Usually that means trouble," Rio said.

"Yeah, that's what worries me."


In the Next Chapter: Ryoga's sense of deja vu is growing worse. His sleep is interrupted by hazy images- and by Kaito in his room for some reason.

Eight Missing Souls?