"I end my turn," Yuzu said.

"Enough," Yuya muttered, looking down. He stared at the ground for several seconds.

"It's your turn," Yuzu said. Yuya could tell she was trying to sound cheerful, but she sounded anything but.

"I forfeit," Yuya said. "You win."

"Yuya…" she started. "We've… we've all suffered. But that doesn't mean it's the end. We can move forward. We can bring smiles-"

"I SAID ENOUGH!" Yuya bellowed. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! I DON'T WANT TO DUEL! I DON'T WANT TO ENTERTAIN THEM! I DON'T WANT TO MAKE THEM SMILE! I JUST WANT TO DIE!"

He was slightly surprised to hear himself say that last part, but it was true. He hated it. He hated everything. He hated this game. He hated what it did. He hated the world... the people… he hated humanity for what they had done… for what they had made him do twice now. The memories of his past life were still fragmented… vague... but he remembered enough. Most of all, he hated himself for what he was, for what he had done. He hated everything. The only thing he didn't hate…

Yuzu said nothing for a few moments. "Your father-"

"MY FATHER WAS AN IDIOT! A GOD DAMN FOOL! HE WENT AND GOT HIMSELF KILLED… AND FOR WHAT?"

"LOOK AROUND YOU! HE WAS WRONG! ABOUT EVERYTHING! HAPPINESS? ENTERTAINMENT? BRING THEM SMILES? THE ONLY THING THEY'RE CAPABLE OF… THE ONLY THING I'M CAPABLE OF…" he gestured vaguely around himself.

"It's always the same," Yuya said, more quietly. "It's impossible. It was impossible then… it's impossible now." He knew now… even back then… Zarc's dream… his dream… it was to bring joy through dueling… to make everyone smile. What a fool he had been. No matter what he did… no matter how many lives he had… it would never happen. Whether his name was Zarc… whether it was Yuya… it was always the same. He just wanted it all to go away.

"Just…" Yuya looked down again. He could feel the tears falling. "Just leave me alone."

A/N: This is an AU where things didn't go exactly as in canon. The important differences:

-The carded people didn't come back. Arc-V absorbed all their life energies and killed them.

-Zarc wasn't sealed in Reira. Instead Yuya's darkness was purged at the end of the Zarc fight.

-Yuzu came back at the end of the Zarc fight

-Nothing post zarc fight from canon happened