Cat: So, once again, Yuzu barely appeared, so i have tried to make do... Yeah, its really short and boring, I'M SORRY! :'(

Rena: Oh, and by the way, if you're wondering where we were last week, we were up in the north of Scotland... Where there is no wifi. So, Cat had to live without Naruto, Fairy Tail and Yu-Gi-Oh! for almost two weeks.

Cat: It was horrific!

Rena: So, please be kind with reviews, we struggled on this chapter :P

Cat: This story is in Yuzu's POV. Please give me some artistic licence. If i put stuff that isn't in the anime in here, don't flame. There would be no point in reading, if it was just the anime in words.

Chapter 17- A Fulfilling Meal

After waking up from a restless sleep full of strange dreams, I lay in my bed and stared at the white ceiling, wishing nothing more than to fall back asleep. Alas, that was not going to happen, I realised quickly. So, I dragged myself out from under the covers and began to get dressed in the dark box that was my room. Groping around, I found every item of clothing, not even registering what form of item it was.

Every night I leave my clothes in a little pile in order, so it didn't require much brain power and so I didn't have to even look at the shirt to know what it was and tug it on. It was routine. Not going into detail, it goes underwear, shirt, skirt, socks.

Then, my hand felt the texture of the seat. I had successfully made it through my clothing pile but I frowned. My semi-awake brain was telling me something wasn't right. I glanced around the room, wondering what I was forgetting, my eyes resting on the cabinet.

Normally, underneath all of my clothes, I leave my bracelet, so I never forget to wear it.

The drawer scraped open, revealing a mess of booklets, old duel monster cards and shreds of paper. Resting precariously on top of my diary was the bracelet, rocking slightly from the movement.

Should I wear it? Or not?

I bit down on my lip, picking it up and inspecting it closely. It was no different from usual. A small dent on the bottom right side of one of the hoops and a couple of minor small scratches here and there.

But whenever the masked man appeared, it glowed. And he either appeared or disappeared. I couldn't make any logical link between the mysterious person and the object but they were linked somehow. And, seeing as that guy doesn't come across as someone who wants to be friends, it could be safe to leave it here in my bedroom.

However, not wearing it made me feel… Strange. I wouldn't go as far as saying I felt naked without it but… The best way to describe it is this way: Someone who wears a watch everyday forgets it one morning and goes off about their business. But whenever they want to know the time, they end up staring at their bare wrist and feeling a bit stupid.

Well, no, I didn't feel stupid. More like, it's a change that would take a while to adapt to.

But why did I have to adapt to it? It wasn't proven that there was a connection… Much…

In the end, I slipped it on my wrist, vowing that if the masked duellist did ever show again, and my bracelet decided to glow, I would lock it in the desk. But it felt good to wear it, even if my conscious was making it feel a bit heavier than usual.

Running downstairs, I grabbed my purse and phone and ran out the door before my dad even saw me. I had agreed to meet Sora outside Yuya's house, after he had had breakfast.

Arriving outside the house, I found Sora just trudging down the steps, wiping crumbs off his face and pulling his usual lollipop from his pocket. I waved and ran up to him, expecting to see Yuya running out the door.

"He's already gone," Sora said, when I asked. "He thought he was going to be late for his duel and ran. He even skipped breakfast."

I shook my head, placing my hands on my hips. "He needs the energy for his duel! Why would he be so stupid and skip breakfast?"

"Well, I didn't and it was delicious!" Sora chirped as he began skipping down the road, me running to catch him up. "It was from a recipe by some famous chef! Mitchie-something-or-other…"

I wasn't really caring about who the creator was of the recipe for Sora's breakfast, I was more concerned about Yuya. He only had four matches and he had to win them all. I felt terrible that I couldn't go see him but I had my own training to focus on.

But I was walking beside Sora, to a duel arena where he had to take on six people and win them all. I was here to watch how he fusion summoned and how players reacted to the powerful monsters. Then, I would start the proper work and begin fusion summoning myself. However, fusion took a lot of preparation and time. I was going to have to tweak my deck and change combos. And get used to the new deck before the JYC.

However, the JYC still felt miles off too me, weirdly. Probably because of the other things preoccupying my mind, not just the competition.

Before, I had viewed it as just a competition that people entered if they wanted to climb the career ladder of being a duellist. I hadn't decided what I wanted to be and, a few months ago, I really wasn't fussed.

Then, after my disgrace of a duel trying pitifully to defend You Show Duel School I realised that I had to step up my game. I wanted to step up my game. And a big way to do that is to have experience. And what better way to gain experience than duelling tons of different people in the city?

And deep down I had another motivation. By getting far in this tournament, I could prove to Kotsu Masumi that I wasn't a weak duellist. That I was strong and I could duel just as well as her. I wasn't 'blinded by the jewels' or whatever she said that day.

And, of course, the small drive of wanting to win was also there. A girl can dream, right? Everyone entering was dreaming of winning. Yuya wanted to win, Sora wanted to win, Sawatari wanted to win (well, he didn't say so, but he has that personality. Losing is not an option, in his head).

When we arrived, I sat on my folded legs, watching Sora's duels but, at the same time, not watching at all. I couldn't focus. Not even when he fusion summoned.

He could have fusion summoned, synchro summoned, xyz summoned and pendulum summoned in that duel, and I would be non-the-wiser. Well, maybe that is a bit extreme but you get the idea. My brain was rattling old and new thoughts around in my head.

Yuya is masked duellist, masked duellist is Yuya.

Yuya is NOT masked duellist, masked duellist is NOT Yuya.

Masked duellist is connected to my bracelet, my bracelet is connected to the masked duellist.

Masked duellist is NOT connected to my bracelet, my bracelet is NOT connected to the masked duellist.

Masked duellist is a concern.

Masked duellist is NOT a concern.

Yuzu should be paying attention to the masked man.

Yuzu should NOT be paying attention to the masked man.

Yuzu should be paying attention to Sora's duel...

Yuzu should be watching Yuya's duel…

Yuzu should…

Yuzu…

Yuzu…

"Yuzu!" Sora screamed in my ear, causing me to jump. "Have you been listening?"

"Wha-?" I squeaked stupidly. "Yeah, sure, Sora."

He gazed at me suspiciously through his emerald eyes. "Did you even pay attention during the duel?"

"…Yeah," I said slowly. "It was good. You won, right?"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course I won. But did you see how I won?"

"Uhhh… Yeah… Down to the last trap card…" I lied through my teeth, unconvincingly.

"Well, we're to break for lunch," Sora said plainly. "They need time to find me two other opponents."

"What? I thought they had all six," I looked up at him, then decided to stand myself to stretch my legs.

"Two backed out," Sora shrugged and walked off, to talk to an official or a person along those lines.

I yawned, stretching my arms out wide, my bracelet sliding down my arm and stopped just before my elbow. Glancing at it, I rested my arms by my sides and felt it wall back above my hand. I don't think I had ever been so alert over an inanimate object but I couldn't stop.

I glanced around, wondering if there was any canteen to be seen. Having skipped breakfast myself, I realised I was absolutely famished. Slipping past countless members of the audience (Sora had attracted quite a crowd) and out into a corridor, I strolled into the maze of the building, trying to find anything along the line of edible food.

Ten minutes later, I found myself in a deserted white corridor, no closer to finding food. I couldn't even smell anything in the air. Was there even a canteen here?

I turned left and saw a human being walking away, back to (I presumed) the arena. I ran after him and asked him if he knew if there was a canteen around, or something.

"No, sorry," he apologised, fiddling with his cap. "We only have vending machines and the closest food store to this building is a McDonalds, about fifteen minutes away…"

I thanked him, my stomach complaining loudly but he showed me to the vending machines, anyway.

I stared, my eyebrow twitching. I had never seen such a bad choice of junk food to choose from for such high prices. I stared at it, wondering if it was worth it.

It wasn't exactly the most fulfilling meal but it would have to do.

Sighing, I pulled out my purse, slotted the coins in, pressed the correct combination and watched as a chocolate bar fell down and I bent down and pulled it out. Yanking the wrapper down, I didn't have time to savour it as I stuffed it in my mouth.

After murdering the sweet food brutally and quickly, I heard the screams of many people floating up the corridors. Either someone had died, or Sora was duelling again. He had picked up quite a fan club in the past few duels.

I sighed and followed the cacophony of sounds back to the tournament. I was going to try harder to pay attention this time.

My chances in the JYC depended on it.

Cat: ... Gomen Nasai...

Rena: Ok, a few questions now... (Lacking Yu-Gi-Oh! questions, sorry guys -_-' )

1) What do you like about my form of writing the most? (no, i'm not fishing for compliments, i need to know this stuff!)

2) What do you like least about my form of writing? (please be nice, you have to admit, it is hard asking for stuff people don't like about your work...)

3) Is there anything i should improve/try in my writing? (i'm always open for new ideas!)

Now, off to do chapter 18 before episode 19 comes out... Keeping on top of this is tiring!

Sorry it took so long, love you guys!