For the next week, the missing students enjoy their school life as if it was something to actually enjoy. And why shouldn't they enjoy it? They missed their friends, teachers and the normalcy of school life that they took for granted.

As usual, Yuma hung out with his friends during lunch outside. They are enjoying their lunch and the day when Yuma notices something out of the corner of his eye. It looks to be like a person watching from a distance, not daring to come closer but not wanting to leave either. He turns his full attention to the figure, but when he does the figure is gone.

"What is it Yuma?" Caswell asks. "Did you see something?"

"No I don't think so," Yuma replies. "But It looks like a person was watching us."

"Don't worry about it!" Bronk claps Yuma on the back. "How about a duel after school? Just for fun though, right?"

Yuma grins at the proposal. "That sounds great!"

~.~.~

Yuma walks home alone after school. All his friends had to go home early, or they just wanted to walk home alone. Either way, the boy didn't mind. He has Astral, who is currently nursing a recurring headache, with him. Neither of them spoke of what happened with Shing at the moment, but it was becoming too heavy to keep inside.

"Astral, where do you think she went?" Yuma asks suddenly as they passed through the park he and Bronk usually dueled in.

"Who?" Astral asks even though he has a good idea on who Yuma is talking about.

"Shing of course. I mean, she just released us and ran off. Doesn't that seem a little off to you after she was so hell bent on taking over?"

Astral struggles to think of a reasonable explanation, but his headache is making it nearly impossible to do so. Even though he is constantly massaging the gems in his forehead, the headache wouldn't go away. "I wish I knew Yuma, but for now we have to ger back to finding the Numbers."

"Yeah I know but-" Something catches Yuma's eyes. He turns his eyes slowly and discreetly to a person sitting on a bench they just walked by. It is the same person in the cloak that he saw during school.

Before the person has a chance to get away, Yuma turns his full attention to them. The person seems to flinch.

"Hey there!" Yuma calls. "Who are you?"

The person doesn't answer. Instead they stand up and run away. Yuma follows in close pursuit. He's still fairly conditioned from the training he underwent while he was under Shing's control, so this kind of exertion was nothing to him. Still, the one he's chasing is much faster than him. Almost inhumanly faster than him. They pull away faster than Yuma could catch up until he turns a corner. The person is.

"Who do you think that was?" Yuma asks, as he turns back to go home."

"Something stopped me from feeling who they were," Astral replies. The fact that his head is still pounding from the mental assault Shing dished out wasn't helping any either.

Yuma looks back to where the person was and shrugs. He would find them again, he knows it. After all, this is the second time he saw them. Who knows how many times this person found him. Or better yet, this person is probably following him around. There is no aggressive moments though. In fact, when Yuma approaches they run away instead of attacking.

He makes it his mission to see who that person is under the hood.

~.The Next Day.~

It is the weekend. Yuma is free today aside from a few chores, but he gets them out of the way to have the rest of the day to himself. He is alone today. Astral keeps to himself in the key to try and heal his headache and Dark's wound. He walks alone, pretending not to be looking for someone. But his eyes look around discreetly.

Just as he predicted, the person in the cloak is watching him. Hiding in a nearby alleyway. Yuma is careful not to put his full attention on the person until he's close to them. That's when he stops.

"Hey." He whispers."

The person gasps and turns to run, but the boy catches them by the wrist gently but firmly.

"Don't go. Let's just talk, okay?" I want to know who you are."

The person turns toward him, but the hood covers any features they have. "If you knew who I was, you wouldn't want to know me." The person, who is a female by voice, replies.

Yuma narrows his eyes in familiarity. "Do I know you?"

The girl shakes her head and pulls away. "You don't want to know me." She turns to run, but Yuma keeps his grip tight.

"I want to be your friend."

"My friend?" The girl turns her head away. "If you knew who I was you wouldn't be saying that."

"Why do you keep saying that?"

The girl just shakes her head. "Just leave me be."

"But why? You look so sad."

"Maybe I want to be sad. It makes me feel better."

Yuma suddenly grains and pulls her along. "You know what feels better than sadness? Happiness and friendship! Come on, I'll introduce you to my friends!"

The girl suddenly pulls away. Her hands grip the sides of her hood. "Do you really want to do that? After everything I put you and your friends through…"

"What do you mean?"

The girl pulls her hood down. Her green slit eyes stare at Yuma sadly, The boy takes a step back, his grip loosens. Seeing this girl, who had him practically enslaved him, shook him to his very core. Why is she following him? Is she planning on using him again for something else? His mind works on overdrive for a while before he finally registers the sadness in her eyes. She isn't planning anything.

She sees the look of shock and fear in Yuma's eyes' That was to be expected; she had enslaved him and forced him to attack his friends for her own wishes, She looks away from him and wrenches her arm free from his grasp even though he isn't holding on tightly at all. Pulling her hood up, Shing runs off with tears in her eyes. She's absolutely sure Yuma hates her.

Yuma is surprised at her sudden escape. One second he is holding her wrist, and the next his hand is empty. He debates on chasing after her, but she is long gone before he can even give chase. He walks the rest of the way back home.