Cat: Woo hoo! That was such a good episode!... The first time i saw it...

Rena: Urgh, it kept breaking, so we've seen episode 24 at least 7 times, no joke...

Cat: Anyway, please review! It means so much!

Rena: This story is in Yuzu's POV. Please give me some artistic licence. If i put some 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 24- The Wings of Rebellion

"Let's have a huge party today to celebrate me getting into the Junior Youth Championship!" Sora cheered, as we left the school of fortune-telling (and after prizing the creepy girl off Yuya).

"Not yet," Yuya put his hands on his hips, sounding like a scolding parent. "I've still got one left, so the celebrating is on hold until I've finish that!"

"What!?" Sora wailed, turning to Yuya, unintentionally turning into the child in the parent-child gag they seemed to be pulling off rather well. "But then, if you don't qualify, then we won't have a party!?"

"Why you!" Yuya grabbed Sora's head in a headlock, acting like normal friends, both grinning like hyenas, obviously confident in Yuya's next win.

"But I want cake!" Sora laughed, flailing about in Yuya's grip.

"Once I qualify, I'll let you eat cake until you're sick of it!" Yuya announced, obviously not realising how much cake he would have to buy if he was going to keep that promise.

I smiled at them both, relieved that Yuya and Sora were finally friends. Well, they had been for a while but I had never seen them properly show it before by mucking around like ordinary friends do, especially after Sora's stalking when we first met him. But that was all in the past.

But thinking of the past…

I stared down at the card that Yuya had handed back to me at the school. I hadn't even placed Fusion back in my deck box yet. It just didn't feel right. After seeing Yuya pull it off so easily, I almost didn't want to take it back. It made me feel a little… stupid, for not being able to successfully master the summoning on my first try and that was with a teacher.

"This card doesn't suit you,"

My vision almost bore holes into the thin paper. Was the masked duellist, Yuto, right? Should I just forget my hard work and Sora's teaching and enter the JYC like I hadn't trained at all? No. That was out of the question, especially at this age and stage. But what was I supposed to do?

Suddenly, I felt an unexplained prickle down my spine. Glancing up, I saw everyone's favourite LDS fusion summoner. What was Masumi doing here? She looked like she was looking for something or someone. Realising that what she was looking for wasn't in the centre, she ran down an alleyway.

Before I even realised it myself, I was after her, sprinting to catch up. I streaked past Yuya and Sora, who barely seemed to notice until Tatsuya queried where I was going.

"I remembered something I have to do!" I called back, knowing that that wasn't going to get them running after me. I heard Yuya and Sora's muffled voices talking to each other briefly but I could hardly hear them due to the crescendo of my heart as I ran further and faster. "Sorry, go back without me!"

I dashed down the alley that I saw Masumi vanishing into but it looked like she was still moving. The alley was so long, I couldn't even see the end at the other side. That didn't perturb me though, they were common in the city. What got me slightly panicked was the thought of Sora finding either 'Yuto' or 'Shun'.

Or rather, Yuto and Shun finding her.

"Does nobody in LDS realise they're being targeted?" I hissed to myself, as I began to slow down.

I walked down the dark, narrow space slowly, in case of a hidden passage down another set of streets that she could have possibly gone down. Looking left and right, left and right, left and right, I forced myself not to run, or shout for her. I could miss her if I ran and she would probably run further if she realised I was on her tail.

Then I spotted a figure leaning on a grey wall. I cast my gaze down, hoping the anonymous figure would ignore me and let me get on my way. I almost had heart failure as he pivoted on his foot and blocked my path. I inhaled sharply when I saw the familiar purple hair and the mask.

"I cannot let you go any further," Yuto said firmly. "I don't want my friend to be interrupted."

Masumi…

"Your friend… You mean that one from back then?" I whispered, too startled to remember that his name was Shun. "Wait! Don't tell me he's fighting Masumi now?"

Had they just started? Had they been at it a while? Wait, was she with the other two from LDS, Yaiba and Hokuto? I prayed inwardly that they were.

"Please stop him!" I begged. "Didn't you stop him back then too? Why this time-"

"You don't need to know," Yuto's eyes narrowed as he said it. "I don't want to involve you."

Well, I already am involved! What's the point of saying that now? I have to go find Masumi, she could be in trouble!

Without a word, I tried desperately to sprint past him. Just when I thought I was free, he grabbed my wrist in an iron grip that I couldn't shake off, even if I tried.

"I don't want you to get hurt!" Yuto cried desperately.

It was as if time had stopped. I stared into his storm-cloud grey eyes that glistened in the little light that was given in the alley. They were full of an unexplained anger and revenge but still, I could just see sadness and guilt. For what I didn't know but I stood in silence for seconds, staring into the windows of his soul.

"You don't want to hurt me?" I repeated his words eventually, blinking fast. I knew I should have felt touched and, in a way, I did. But, at the same time, I felt fury take over my senses. "Why are you saying things like that to me, while you go and hurt other people!?"

His eyes widened slightly in shock and I took the opportunity to rip my arm out of his slackened grasp. I glared at him furiously. "Are you saying it's ok if Masumi gets hurt!?

He looked down, looking guilty.

"Just who are you!? No, all of you!" I demanded. I was sick of the worrying, the insecurity and the fear these people had caused.

"Answer me!" I leaned forward, as we continued to stand in silence. "Who are you!? What are you after!?"

He blinked, slowly lifting his gaze from the patch on the ground and finally looked at me, then shifted his gaze again to look at the polluted city sky. "We're after our comrades…" he whispered. "Saving our dear comrades who have been captured by our enemy!"

Enemy? Like, LDS? Or does it go deeper?

"Captured comrades?" I stared over, hoping he would elaborate and shed light on the circumstances. It was like I was holding few pieces of a massive puzzle, which were all hidden. However, there was one piece that I was determined to place to create some kind of picture. "Is that… Ruri?"

His head snapped back so he could look into my eyes. For some reason, he seemed surprised that I knew the name 'Ruri' even though he had called me by that name and so had his friend Shun.

"That person…" I explained, referring to Shun, not wanting to sound rude by saying his first name but I didn't know his second one. "He looked at me and called me Ruri…"

"Ruri!" he cried, facing me. I backed away.

"Why is Ruri here?" he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. He tugged his shades off to reveal eyes of an eerie golden green. "Did you get away?! Did you manage to escape on your own!?"

"Is Ruri your captured comrade?" I asked. Then, a thought hit me that made a few things fall into place, showing the foundations of my puzzle. "Do I look like her?"

After a second of hesitation, he pulled his mask off to reveal the bottom half of his Yuya-double face. "That's what I thought at first. 'Why is Ruri here?' But you are not Ruri. Ruri would never learn the enemy's summoning method!"

There's that word again… "Enemy?" I queried. "Fusion summoning is your enemy, you said? The reason I learned Fusion Summoning was to protect the school! Because I want to protect my friends!"

He looked completely astounded at my words. Like the idea of fusion summoning being used for good was unheard of in his ears. I wasn't using fusion summoning because I was an enemy. Nor did I want to be one. I wanted it for the good it could do, the strength it would bring me and the pride I could win back. Not to steal Yuto and Shun's 'comrade' Ruri, or whoever she was.

"We too are fighting to protect our comrades…" Yuto said after a while. "In order to end this conflict and create a world where nobody has to be hurt!"

I listened entranced by his words. In the end, their goal was a good one. They just wanted to save Ruri. Unfortunately, their task painted them as the bad guys. However, I was wondering how saving the person in question would 'end the conflict' and 'create a world where nobody has to be hurt'.

"I don't want to involve you in that conflict," Yuto said, looking down at me. "But, if you have no choice but to fight, I want you to survive. Even if it means using Fusion summoning!"

He took a step closer, closing the distance between us, so that we were almost touching, but not so close that it was uncomfortable. "The you who is trying to get stronger and protect your friends… The you who is trying to change yourself isn't wrong." Then, he did something I would never expect him to do, he smiled.

"With that, you're trying to change yourself into a different Yuzu from up until now." Yuya smiled.

Like before, when I didn't know who Yuto was or what his intentions were, when the thought of him terrified me, the faces of Yuya and Yuto began to blend together in my mind. Their smiling faces. However, this didn't creep me out at all. It made me want to smile too.

"I'll continue to fight," Yuto grinned. "With Ruri and my comrades. In order to save our future!"

"You are a lot like Ruri…" he smiled wistfully, then he was off, running in the direction I came.

"Wait!" I shouted after him, as the dark cloak began to fade with the surroundings. "Tell me! Who is Ruri!?"

Suddenly, a wind howled through the alleyway, ruffling our clothes and hair. It was more like a shock-wave, actually, the way it was so sudden and strong.

"Ruri is one of our comrades," he turned back and faced me. "And Shun's younger sister."

"What about you!? What's your name!?" I cried, wondering what I should call him, if we ever met again.

"I'm Yuto," he said softly, barely audible over the wind.

"Yuto…" I repeated, surprised he didn't give me his last name.

Then, the wind was gone and so was he. The puzzle I had been trying to complete was left unfinished but with a few new pieces added. So, if that was the case… Why did it feel like the puzzled had been jumbled by someone and I would have to start again?

"Yuto."

Cat: Not a lot, i know, but in the scheme of things, there actually wasn't much for this episode because of the LDS duel... And OMG that duel was AMAZING! The teamwork of the three! And Shun's comeback! Geez!

And wasn't the computer effects of Shun's XYZ just beautiful? :') Seriously, they went overboard on the fire!

Am i seriously fangirling over computer effects? ¬_¬

Rena: Anyway, today's question-

It's another one based on the story and not the show, sorry. But, if you could get us to re-write 3 'In the Mind of Yuzu' chapters, which three would they be? You don't have to write why but it would be appreciated if you had a few reasons.

Thanks everyone, you guys are my life xx

-animewatchers186