It was hard to hear what was going on around them over the noise of hundreds of Duelists discussing moves with hundreds of others, but that was the price you paid when you attended a tournament of this size.

The Japan School Nationals for Duel Monsters was full of high school age duelists who were looking to increase their professional ranking or earn their way into the internationals. The Domino Senshi, the dueling club from Domino High, had turned out their best, having spent the last few months earning their way here.

Including their two internationally ranked Duelists, Mutou Yugi and Jonouchi Katsuya.

Something that certain opponents were not happy about.

"This isn't fair!" A tall, broad-shouldered teen glowered down at his opponent as he shot to his feet, knocking his chair over on the way up. "You had to have cheated."

"I didn't cheat." His small-framed but bold opponent glowered back, red eyes narrowed and stance firm, flicking her ponytail of black hair with its red tips back over her shoulder, its blonde highlights catching the light as it moved and her blonde fringe getting in her eyes. "The judge went over that move with you twice. You chose to continue. That's not me cheating, that's you making a poor choice."

"You probably bribed the judge," the teen, whose blazer decreed that he was from Wakkanai High School, snapped out, eyes narrowing. "You'd have the funds. Or maybe you got your sponsor to do it for you."

"I would never…" the girl, whose red arm band labelled her the Club President of the Domino Senshi, trailed off as her opponent raised his hand against her and the Pendant that hung on a chain around her neck, an upside-down pyramid, started to glow in preparation for self-defence.

"That's enough." A large male with messy blonde hair caught the boy's wrist as he moved to smack the girl, his brown eyes narrowing. "You're embarrassing your school."

The teen glowered back at him and opened his mouth, only to shut it when he saw that the boy was accompanied by a second large teen with brown hair that came to a point at the front. Instead he shook off the blonde's grasp and stalked off towards the banner that his school had put up, still grumbling about it being unfair for the World Champion to be competing.

"You okay, Yugi?" the brunette asked the girl as the pendant's glow died down.

"I'm fine, Honda," the girl in question replied, her shoulders sinking. "Thank you for your concern. How did you and Katsuya do?"

"We kicked ass," the blonde bragged, herding the girl over to their own corner, where the teacher and their chaperone were waiting for everyone to regroup.

The brunette chaperone in question smiled at them as they approached. Her assistant, an auburn-haired girl, fished out bottles of water from the supply bag and handed them over to the returning Duelists, two of which thanked her and slumped into the supplied chairs, while the other gave the chaperone an appreciative nod before ruffling the hair of the assistant.

"Hey, sis, you're holding up great." Katsuya grinned at Shizuka, his brown eyes meeting her bright green eyes. Eyes that had only recently finished recovering from a difficult and dangerous operation. Eyes that could finally see everything clearly.

"Okaasan has been doing most of the organisation with your teacher," Shizuka admitted with a laugh. "I just have to hand out the water and snacks to keep you guys going."

Katsuya looked over at his mother, who had only come back into his life recently. He still did not know how he felt about her. There had been a lot of hurtful words over the years, but when he had needed her after the death of his father, she had come rushing back. And she had gotten him free of all the debt his father had tried to saddle him with, with a little help from the mother of one of his other friends.

He scanned the gathered group, noting that some of the other members of their motley crew, including several of the other students, like the Insect Duelist Eiko and the Kobayashi triplets, who favoured zombies, pyro, and vampires, had already returned. Then as he turned his gaze to the dueling crowds, his eyes rested on the two he was interested in keeping an eye on, a girl with shoulder length brown hair, whose blue eyes were focused on them as she walked with another girl, a teen with long white hair and brown eyes.

He waved them over as an ad started to play on the screens around the arena, showing off the gorgeous views of the theme park that was opening soon. The same theme park that the top two schools were going to get tickets to attend the grand opening of.

The same one that was hosting the finals of the Battle City tournament.

'Hekigan looks incredible, Anesan,' Yugi offered, taking spirit form to watch the ad for the island theme park, thematically named 'Blue Eyes', play out through her own purple eyes, her own hair a mirror of the one using her form, without the blonde highlights. 'I just hope we get to enjoy it.'

'We will, Imoto. I promise,' the Spirit of the Puzzle, a three-thousand-year-old Pharaoh, said, though she was not certain of it. The finalists of Battle City were going to get a week paid by the company that owned the park, but that did not mean they were going to get to enjoy it.

More than once over the last couple of months, they had tried to reach out to Ishizu, who bore the Millennium Rod, and every time they had been rebuked. While her sibling, Marik, still worked at the shop, he had informed them that his sister did not want to talk to her. Not until she was ready to do what needed to be done.

And they were nowhere near ready for the final battle.

Without being able to talk Ishizu down, they could be certain that Battle City was going to be unpleasant. After what had happened to Katsuya's father, it was all too possible that Kaiba Corp's Hekigan could be their final resting place, rather than the fun and games it was promised to be.

The white-haired girl paused when she saw the expression on the spectral form of her friend. She knew what was coming. All the most trusted high schoolers who regularly spent time at the Kame Game Shop did.

Her hand went to the golden Ring that hung from a rope around her neck. She knew the spirit that lived within had a plan, but she had no idea what that plan was.

'I have deals in place, Sen,' the spirit in question, Ba-Khu-Ra, the Thief Queen, reassured the girl she called sister using her native language of Ancient Egyptian. 'We will be safe, and worst-case scenario I am older and more powerful than her. Even her demonic other self doesn't stand a chance against me.'

'I know, Voice. I just…' She did not like to see her friend all twisted up mentally like Yugi had been for the last few months. It hurt her heart to see it, not that she would ever say that to the Puzzle Bearer.

"Amane?" the brunette with the Ring Bearer asked, concern clear on her face. "You alright? I know you lost that one, but…"

"It's not the duel, Anzu." Amane shook her head with a sigh. "It's…"

When she gestured to the screens, where the ad was ending and the results table was replacing it, her companion winced, far too aware of what she was thinking. "It'll be okay. It has to be, right?"

"Right." The pair exchanged smiles they did not feel as they reached the small group, who had collectively let out a groan as they realised they had slipped into second place, having failed to acquire enough points in the last round to maintain their first place position.

"It's alright." Yugi took over to speak to her team. "There's still a round of duels left to go, so there's still points to take, and no matter where we end up, this is our first year in the tournament, so I am very proud of how well you've all done. And if we stay in second I look forward to going to Hekigan with you all."

She could see some of the younger students relax and start to smile again at her words and sent Anzu a grateful look. The lessons on public speaking that they had been attending together had done wonders for her confidence.

"And once this is over, I'm paying for a round of burgers for everyone," the Queen of Games continued, "because I'm sure you're all as hungry as I am."

"Oh heck yes," Katsuya grumbled, his stomach rumbling.

"Not that the snacks haven't been great, Kawai-san." Yugi turned to look at the chaperone, realising she might have been insulting. "But…"

"No, I get it, Mutou-chan." Sakura waved it off with a grin, fully aware of the fact teenagers were bottomless holes when it came to food.

"Now if I can have your attention?" the teacher called, clapping his hands together. "I have the list of the last matchups here."

As he distributed names and table numbers, Yugi took one last glance around at the group and felt a pair of spectral hands on her shoulders, offering reassurance.

'We've all got this.'

'You're right.' Yugi smiled as she headed for her table, thoughts of the unpleasantness from the last duel almost forgotten. 'We have a good team and, honestly, I'm not ashamed to be sat in second.'

'It's not a position I'm used to, but if you're happy, I'm happy.'

'I am happy. They're having fun and that's what matters.'

She could sense her twin did not entirely agree and sent amusement down the bond. 'Besides, there's no point getting mad at them for losing points when we're the ones who taught them. Their losses are our losses. We'll just have to work through what happened and see what we can do for next time.'

'You're right, you're right… Sorry.'

'It's okay. Now help me work out which table I'm meant to be at.'

"To the Domino Senshi! And to second place at our first nationals!" Yugi called, holding up her cup of soda, ignoring her twin sister's unsubtle pride at having taken the Top Duelist position at the tournament, even if their team had come second.

"To us!" the cry came back from her teammates, several of them raising their own sodas before taking a sip and diving into their food. Not that it was a fancy meal, but Burger World had available tables, and with the way the team was eating, Yugi really did not think they cared.

She took a bite of her food and relaxed, having been craving something more solid than energy bars and cookies for the last few hours, before glancing towards the adult table, where her teacher and Kawai were sat, discussing what had gone well and what had gone wrong, with the second place trophy sat between them.

When the male teacher had informed Yugi that she needed a female chaperone to go with them if she wanted to take female Duelists to the competition, she had not expected Kawai to step in. She had honestly expected to need to ask if she could borrow the store's new full-time staff member for the day, or whether one of the mothers of the other girls could help.

Kawai had heard her discussing the problem with Katsuya and Shizuka and jumped at the chance to support.

She supposed that she should not be entirely surprised. Ever since Kawai had claimed legal guardianship of her son and moved to Domino, she had been doing her best to act like a responsible adult. She had even been trying to get into the things he liked so she could understand when he got excited or upset about something.

It did not mean that everything was entirely settled between Katsuya and his mother, there was too much pain on both sides for it to be that easy, but at least they were trying.

Yugi scanned the room and smiled slightly when she saw Shizuka talking animatedly to Anzu, who wrapped her arm around the girl.

Shizuka had found herself with many friends since she had moved into town, as she had more freedom with her eyes fixed, and when she was not spending time with them, she was frequently at the shop, either visiting her brother or just relaxing until her parents got home.

They were happy to have her. Her mother was often busy working at KC Medical, while Takahara, Kawai's fiancé, did not often get home from his job at a local accountancy until late into the evening, so they were more than happy to let her have some company. Not only that but while they did not expect her to help around the shop, the fact that she was learning how everything worked and wanted to assist was more than welcome.

"I just can't believe we're getting to go to the finals AND getting a paid trip to the theme park," the voice of Kobayashi Maru, the only girl amongst the triplets who had attended the competition, made Yugi look in that direction, to where she and Daisuki Eiko was practically bouncing in their seats as she babbled at Kobayashi Koichi and Koji, Maru's brothers.

Her words made the Queen of Games look back at the adults' table.

Next to the trophy lay an envelope that Yugi was less than happy about but had no way to protest without looking like a lunatic. Inside were the details that her teacher would need to apply for the tickets for the club's trip to the Battle City finals and their three days' stay at the theme park.

'We're the ones Ishizu is angry at,' the spirit of the Puzzle pointed out, trying to be reassuring, 'I doubt she'll involve innocent spectators.'

'I hope not.'

'There's no point worrying about it right now. Even if she does, you've been practising so you'll be prepared for any sneak attacks, and when it comes to duelling, we'll win and keep them safe. I know it.'

'You're right,' the light-souled sister agreed, reassured by the confidence her twin had in her, and the fact she had taken advantage of the tournament's delayed time frame to practise using her magic until she felt confident that should she need to, she could defend herself. 'Besides, there's other things to worry about. Professor Hopkins and Rebecca arrive soon and I have no idea what she's like.'

'She's a Duelist like us, so hopefully we'll get along fine, but we'll see. At least we got the basement ready. You sure that you're okay with her using our room?'

'She's the guest, and the gaming area gets a little cold when the heater turns itself off automatically. I don't mind it, I just bury myself in blankets, but Jii-san said she's from a hot part of America, so it's only fair to let her have my room. It's in the attic and heat rises after all.'

Yugi took another bite of her burger. With only a couple of weeks left until Battle City, today's tournament had been good practice for them. Not that they had expected to be waiting this long, but Battle City had been pushed back to the start of the summer holidays, rather than the Spring ones.

Kaiba Corp had not explained why, other than technical difficulties, but Yugi suspected that it was something to do with the park where they were holding the finals and the fact there had been awful weather over Spring break, which was not ideal for an outdoor tournament. Not that she dared to ask. She might have accepted the Kaiba Corp sponsorship and was on decent terms with her handler, but that was a company matter and she did not think that she was so important that they would give her secrets like that.

It did not really matter. Whenever the tournament was held, she knew that it was not going to be easy, and she was not entirely looking forward to it. Especially since Professor Hopkins's granddaughter Rebecca was going to be staying with them so she could compete while he was on a dig. Jii-san had tried to get his old friend to convince his granddaughter not to compete after what Marik had done to Katsuya's father, but it had not worked, which meant Yugi was going to have to worry about someone else who could be hurt.

An arm wrapping around her and pulling her into a hug made her tilt her head back to look at her captor, revealing Katsuya had dared to hug her in public. Noting the teacher was thoroughly distracted, she leaned against him happily, taking a moment to enjoy contact with her boyfriend.

They did not get enough chances to just do this spontaneously. Domino High had a strict no relationships policy, so if they got caught, they would be in trouble or worse expelled. That meant that while they were in public there could be no signs that they were a couple.

Not that Yugi had dared to utter the three magic words yet to her partner. With the risks that were coming up, she did not want to risk his safety by telling him how she felt.

Especially after Azra's warning. The Bearer of the Millennium Necklace had been very clear on what could happen when she had spoken to Katsuya…

"If you get between Ishtar and our Pharaoh, you will die, and your death will lead to the death of our Pharaoh and the world."

The Queen of Games could not bring herself to bind him to her by telling him she loved him when that risk was on the table. She was certain he knew anyway, but she also knew he was waiting for those words and she was not going to give them.

Not yet. Not until the tournament was over and they were all safely back at the shop.

That did not mean she was not above enjoying a cuddle though, especially when her friends were willing to shift positions in order to hide the pair of them from the teacher's gaze.

Letting out a contented sigh and resting her head against Katsuya's shoulder, she let herself relax.

She could worry about the future later.

Right now she had her friends, her sister, and her boyfriend, and all was right in the world.