At school the next day, Vanessa boasted all morning about how she talked with Yugi on Saturday. But her voice was filled with awe as she recounted how he gave her dueling advice and suggestions on how to improve her deck and the best strategies for any of the hypothetical situations they had thought up of.

"I even gave him advice on his own deck," she said, a growing smirk on her face. "And he took me seriously, but of course I already knew he would. I did play Dark Magicians myself before."

"Why don't you play them anymore?" Her friend sitting beside her asked.

"The meta is always changing, and I change with it if I want to win."

"But can't—" They were interrupted by our English teacher, Ms. Bandercroft. While she was an enjoyable teacher and even joked with us a lot, she was strict when it came to working and doing her assignments. "Ladies! Please, no talking if you haven't finished work."

"But I've already finished, Ms. Bandercroft," Vanessa put in.

"Gabrielle hasn't though," Ms. Bandercroft said sternly. She turned to regard the clock on the wall. "Lunch is in twenty minutes. I want everyone's work before then."

They went quiet, Vanessa taking out her phone and Gabrielle hastily finishing the rest of her paper.

Sara, who was sitting at the desk beside me, chuckled and turned to me. Her voice was hushed as she spoke as to not bring the attention of Ms. Bandercroft. "How was the party for you, (Y/n)?"

"It was pretty good," I replied, my voice equally low, keeping my eyes concentrated on the work in front of me which was asking me to explain the meaning of the poem we read in the beginning of class. "I talked to Yuya and we danced together."

"You danced with him?!" Sara's attempt at being quiet was thrown out the window as she squealed, her eyes widening in delight and surprise. "For real?"

A blush crept to my cheeks and I brushed my hair behind my ear self consciously. "Not romantically! We just did some funny dances to the pop songs the DJ was playing."

"Uh huh." Sara nodded though her tone was still teasing, the grin on her face growing even wider.

I shot her a playful glare. "What about you?" I asked. "You ran off right when we went in."

"Haha, sorry about that," she said. "I saw Benjamin and all of them so I wanted to say hi to them."

"It's alright. As long as you had fun."

"I did!" Sara smiled, but then she frowned. "I wish I could've met your friends though. The tournament guys I mean. They seem like really nice guys from what you've been telling me and everyone else."

"They are," I said, trying to hide my smile. I was really lucky to have met them and to even call them my friends. Having this opportunity was rare, and I was glad that they had been kind people instead of the type of duelists often seen on television, who just dueled for fame or money. These guys, even Yusaku, looked like they dueled for fun. And that was the most important thing about being a duelist in the first place.

The rest of the school day went by and finally, we were dismissed from our last class. Math was the worst to have at the end of the day. It wasn't any better to have as my first period either, and that had been the case when I was in seventh grade.

I said goodbye to Sara and our other friends before walking down the street towards the park. Hopefully Yusei and the rest of the duelists wouldn't get lost, but at least it wasn't Jaden tasked with bringing everyone to the meeting place. I chuckled, remembering how he told me he had gotten lost when I first met him in the mall.

I passed through the park gates and looked around to find the others. We hadn't said specifically where we would meet up in the park. To my surprise, all seven of them were crowded together near the playground equipment. Yusaku and Yusei were playing a game of chess on one of the tables with an ingrained game board on the surface. The chess pieces must have come from the bins underneath the tables that held various games and cards for everyone to play with. Yugi, Yuya and Takeru were sitting on the bench next to them while Jaden and Yuma watched the game excitedly over the two elder boys' shoulders, seeming to be cheering them both on.

"Check," Yusei said just as the guys on the bench noticed me and Takeru said, "Hello (Y/n)."

The others collectively turned to me and smiled, chorusing greetings except for Yusaku who acknowledged me with a nod of his head, his face passive.

"Hi everyone!" I jogged the last few steps up to them. Yugi and the rest of the boys on the bench scooted over together to allow me to squeeze in at the end of the bench.

"So did Yusei tell you what happened yet?" I asked them once I sat down.

"Sort of," Yuya answered for everyone. "He wanted to wait for you before he revealed everything."

"What's he said so far?"

"I just told them that something concerning has been happening to you lately," Yusei said.

"Yeah." I nodded and took in a breath, trying to find the proper words to explain what had been happening for the past week or so. "Uhm. . . I'm not really sure what's going on but I've been forgetting things. During the party I couldn't remember who Yusei was and my friends have been forgetting stuff too, like the tournament actually happening."

The boys frowned, their pleasant and interested expressions going serious after I explained the recent events. Yusaku and Takeru shared a look, and Yuya's eyebrows furrowed.

"That's definitely weird." Yugi was the first to speak. "But how does this relate to us exactly?"

"It's been happening ever since the tournament ended," I explained. "Me and Yusei thought you guys would know anything or could help us figure out what's happening."

"Well it looks like we already have a starting point," Takeru piped up confidently, shooting me a reassuring smile which I returned. "Let's search up news about the tournament and see if we can find anything."

We all whipped out the devices that were currently on us, mostly our phones, though Yusei pulled out an ipad and Yusaku got out his laptop, already typing away. All of us except for two.

"I don't have a phone." Yuma scratched the back of his neck, smiling in embarrassment.

"And I forgot mine at the hotel," Jaden added sheepishly.

"One of you can use mine," Yusei said. He pulled his phone out his pocket and typed in his password, unlike the others who had simply used their fingerprint to unlock their phones. His gloves obviously prevented him from using his fingerprint, and I wondered why he always wore them. Even at the party he had traded his usual long brown gloves for white ones. It was most likely a personal matter but I couldn't help being curious about it anyway.

"We can share my laptop," Yusaku said politely to Yuma since Jaden took up Yusei's offer.

I focused back on my own phone's screen, scrolling through the various news pages and articles related to 'Adelfell debut tournament' as I had written in the search bar. Nothing of note was coming up; all I could see were reports about the duels and the decks that we all used during it. None of it gave any clues of anything strange going on.

Sighing in defeat, I looked over at the others. "Any luck?"

The others just shook their heads, equally subdued.

"It should've been obvious that it wouldn't be that easy," Yugi said, setting his phone down in his lap.

"What now then?" Jaden asked.

I pursed my lips, frowning. I had no idea what we should do. But it was my problem after all. Shouldn't I make the solution? A few of the others were looking at me curiously, as if waiting for me to say something.

"We can go check out the stadium sometime for clues," Yuya suggested, saving me from speaking. "It should still be open to the public."

"Can that be our plan tomorrow?" Yuma asked hopefully, lighting up at the prospect of going back to the dueling stadium.

The others were starting to agree but I shook my head apologetically. "Sorry, I've got a history project I really need to finish."

"It's fine." Takeru smiled. "Shall we go on Saturday instead?" He looked around the group for their approval.

Everyone agreed to it, nodding and saying various forms of 'yes' or 'sure.' I agreed too.

"Can we all get each other's numbers?" I asked them. "To make it easier to communicate and share information."

"That's a great idea," Yusei said.

"What about Yuma?" Yugi asked, and I remembered what the younger boy had said about not having a phone.

"Do you have a school email account?" Yusaku asked him.

"Yup."

"Give us that then."

"Okay!"

And so a flurry of phone number exchanges—and one email—ensued. By the time I got my phone back, I had six new numbers in my contact list. I edited everyone's names with a different emoji or symbol in front of them to differentiate each one better because seriously, why did almost all of them start with the Yu- prefix? Was it a cultural thing back in their home country I wasn't aware of? Maybe the prefix meant something great or honourable, and these duelists in front of me were definitely that. At least Jaden and Takeru's contacts would be easiest as their names were the most unalike of the group. I also made a new note in my Notes app with Yuma's email, and Yusaku promised that if we made a group chat with everyone, he could link Yuma into it so he could get the messages too and send his own.

"See you guys soon then," Takeru said as he stood up. Yusaku gathered his things as well to leave with him.

"Bye. Thanks for helping." I waved to them with the others.

"Man, I'm starving." Jaden put his hand on his stomach. "I'm gonna go get something to eat. Anyone want to come with?"

"I'll go!" Yuya said, raising his hand, and the two set off together in the direction of the bakery I had shown Jaden.

"I'm going back to the hotel," Yusei said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.

"See you later." Yugi nodded and they all walked off, leaving just Yuma and I still at the bench.

"Are you gonna go home too?" He asked, turning to me.

I didn't answer right away, instead looking around at the park. Much like Fallen Lake, I had spent much of my childhood here playing on the swings and slides and monkey bars. I had even climbed a tree once when Sara's ball had gotten stuck in its branches. Fond memories continued to bubble up in my mind as I observed each familiar sight of the vast playground.

"I think I'm gonna stay here for a while," I finally said. "I haven't played here in ages."

"Cool! I'll stay with you then!" Yuma beamed.

"Thanks Yuma."

I got up and led him to the swings, and we each took one and began a contest of who could swing the highest. The only sounds I could hear were the wind whistling in my ears and Yuma's occasional laughs and whoops of joy and I smiled, allowing myself to enjoy the peace that would no doubtedly soon be shattered.

A/N: Hi guys! This story's definitely taking an interesting direction. I'm sure there are many of you that agree. I just wanted to apologize for the long wait for this update. I was planning to tell you guys here that I was going to take some time figuring out the events for the buildup to the climax but then I was suddenly getting struck with inspiration. The plot points aren't completely figured out yet but I have a much better sense of direction on how to get to the climax which will be really exciting for me to write. Thank you all for your continued patience and support!