Key*

"Hi." -Regular speech
Hi -Someone is thinking
"Hi" -A ghost/Duel Monster is speaking

(3rd Person PoV)

Yuga sat down at the table, across from his mom. Her lips were pursed in a concern look.

"So are you going to explain why it's dangerous to have a ghost be soul connected to me?" Yuga asked.

"Yes and it has to do with your great grandfather. The one where you inherited your ability from. My father's father," his mom explained.

"Ah...didn't he die surprisingly young?" Yuga asked.

"It was just after having his second child. It's officially stated that he got a heart attack and died from it but a doctor told my great grandmother a secret. The heart attack was a cover up of what really happened. He died...because his soul was absorbed by the ghost that he was soul connected to," his mom explained.

"...tell me more about soul connection," Yuga said, quietly.

He could tell that Yusei was right next to him but he tried not to look at him.

His mom seemed like she didn't want to continue. But she took a deep breath and started to explain.

"When a human and a ghost touch humanly things at the same time, especially things that were sentimental to the ghost, that connection is so strong that it reaches out to the human soul and connects to the two of them together. At least until the ghost passes on. How the ghost passes on is the same thing as you would help a regular ghost out on the streets. However this ghost can't be six meters away from the person that they're soul connected to," his mom explained.

"Six meters...the size of a tennis court right?" Yuga asked and she nodded.

"The ghost that your great grandfather was connected to, couldn't pass on as no one was quite sure on how to do it. So they stayed. And the more they stayed connected to your grandfather, the more jealous they got, the more angry they got...the more hungry they got," his mom explained.

"Hungry?" Yuga seemed confused.

"You know how ghosts can't remember most things of their past? They all have a hunger for knowledge. They must know what happened to them in order to make way for them to pass on. This ghost however, couldn't do that and so in their jealousy, in their anger and in their hunger, absorbed your great grandfather's soul which killed him," his mom told him.

"..." Yuga looked at the table. His mind was conflicted.

So if I don't help you pass on, you'll go out of control and kill me? He thought.

"I can assure you that I'm not that type of person. I will never hurt an innocent like that even if I'm dead. Even if I can't remember my past, I will still stick to my morals," Yusei explained.

It made Yuga feel a bit better but still worried.

"What we know about soul connection is still new but most of what we know is that whoever gets soul connected to a ghost...well let's just say that...," his mom trailed off.

"I'm not going to die if that's what you're implying. I still got much to live for and Yusei, that's his name, just told me that he wouldn't hurt me and I...strangely trust him," Yuga then looked at Yusei who was looking back at him.

"You trust him? That fast?" His mom asked.

"Let's just say that we have something in common," Yuga explained, remembering his duel against Luke.

"I...I see. Well that's all that I have to say to you so eat dinner, brush your teeth and head to bed. You still got school tomorrow," his mom told him.

"Yeah," Yuga gave her a nod.

(Time skip)

Yuga laid in bed and stared at the ceiling. His mind was still conflicted about what he just heard. Well anyone would be like him when they just heard that they're up for murder via ghostly interference!

So he's not taking it very well as his mind went haywire with many, many thoughts. Which of course, Yusei could hear.

"Yuga," he started after listening to his thoughts for five minutes, "I told you, I'm not going to hurt you in any shape or form. I don't hurt innocents, my morals are not going anywhere even when I'm a ghost."

"I know that but...," Yuga turned to his side where Yusei was sitting on his nightstand, the moonlight shining on the transparent figure.

"I still can't help but worry. I mean, I always wondered where I got my abilities. I know I got it from my mom's side since she can sense ghosts but mine are stronger and sensitive than hers as I can actually see ghosts. And the fact that I'm basically repeating history here doesn't really help, you know. I just don't want to die early," Yuga admitted.

"Admittedly, I am not too caught up with your family's history especially since I have known you for not that long but I feel like we can work something out. From what I can remember, I dueled in the past and I think I was good at it. I think we can start trusting each other from there," Yusei explained.

"Ha...I guess I am pretty lucky that I'm soul connected to a duelist," Yuga said with a smile on his face.

"I guess you are. Now go to sleep, you don't want to be late for school," Yusei told him.

"Alright," Yuga gave him a nod.

(In the morning)

Yuga put on his jacket and stretched out his arms. He felt refreshed after calming down and having a nice sleep.

He then got on his bike and began to peddle towards school. Yusei floated by him. His day felt like it was going great, even the conversation that he had with his mom was almost fading. Almost is the key word.

As he was peddling, he spotted Luke and called out, "Good morning!"

But when he rode past him, Luke reached out and touch the back of the seat which immediately shut off the bike.

"Hey, knock it off with the Pauli Effect," Yuga stated, the start of his good day already started to shatter.

"It's an emergency! Look!" Luke pulled out his phone and held it up so Yuga could see. Yusei got closer and saw what seemed like videos now had a Content Deleted by Goha icon on them.

"All of the videos has been deleted!" Luke cried out!

"...is that all?" Yuga asked, rather calmly.

"What do you mean that's all? Don't you realize that all of it is gone?" Luke asked.

Yuga sighed and grabbed his duel disk. He put it on which activated it, turning back into a Seven.

"It can still transform so Rush Duels aren't gone so calm down," he assured him.

"Huh...I guess you're right," Luke scrolled through his phone, "but still, Goha should have known it was us. Don't you think it's strange?"

He then gasped with an exaggerated frighten expression on his face.

"What if Goha is observing us!" He cried.

*SNAP*

"Come on, you're going to be late for school," Romin told them as she walked by, moving her phone around.

"I think she took a picture of you," Yusei told Yuga while Luke noted, "that's fishy."

Yuga just looked at her as she walked by.

Later, Yuga and Luke went to Gakuto for information.

"Romin Kirishima. Class 5-1, smart and super athletic. She also plays in the elementary school band, RoaRomin," Gakuto explained.

"Come on! Anyone who goes goes to this school knows that! Your info isn't very helpful," Luke grumbled.

"Well excuse you! Why are you even looking into Romin?" Gakuto asked while Yuga tinkered away to the side. He himself wasn't paying attention to the conversation but Yusei was.

"That's because she's super sus! She knew about Real-Time Duel Programming even though she claims that she doesn't duel!" Luke shouted.

"You are right that she did know some oddly specific things about Dueling," Gakuto noted.

"What if she's a spy from Goha?!" Luke cried and imagined Romin in a spy outfit and reporting to a shady figure saying that Yuga's weakness is him disliking capsicum.

Which he said this out loud.

"WHAT?! Yuga, you don't like bell peppers!? That's high in nutrients for you!" Gakuto asked.

What are they talking about? Yuga thought and turned his head to face them.

"They're talking about Romin and how they're, mainly Luke, thinking about her being a spy," Yusei explained.

Well she did knew some specific things about Dueling despite claiming that dueling isn't her thing and she took a photo of Luke and I this morning, Yuga thought.

"You think that she's a spy?" Yusei asked.

Not really but there is something about her that I can't put my finger on, Yuga thought before speaking up and saying, "it does seem like she is hiding something...hmmm. I made my decision."

Luke looked happy while Gakuto looked worried.

In the classroom of 5-1, Romin was sitting down and listening to music, tapping her foot on the floor and slightly tapping her fingers on her headphones.

But then Yuga dangled a microphone from a fishing pole in front of her which took her by surprise.

"Tada!" Yuga cheered while everyone, except Yusei, looked at him in confusion.

"Umm, what's this?" Romin asked.

"It's my new Road! It analyzes sound waves and determines what's the truth and what's a lie," Yuga explained.

"I-what?" Romin asked.

"Here, I'll show you. I love capsicum!" Yuga said into the microphone.

The end of the microphone glowed with an X, meaning that it worked.

"Alright, now it's your turn. Romin, are you hiding something?" Yuga asked and casted the microphone over to her.

"...does it seem that way?" Romin asked which caused the end of the microphone to glow with an X, much to Luke's delight and Gakuto's shock. But then it glowed with an O and then back to an X and then back to an O.

Then it exploded.

Yusei could feel Yuga's embarrassment at this and as he looked at the others, Luke seemed disappointed and Gakuto was worried.

"W-well that sure was an interesting invention," Romin said, flustered.

"Sure is but I call them Roads! Speaking of which, hey do you want to come to my Road Laboratory? I have a ton of cool stuff in there!" Yuga stated, happily.

"E-eh? Yuga, did you just invite a girl over like that so easily?" Gakuto asked, shocked.

"Yeah, I did," Yuga said, raising an eyebrow.

Why is he acting like I asked her out on a date? He thought.

Yusei had no answer for him.

"Wait, Yuga, quick question. Did you invent Rush Duels there?" Romin asked.

"Yep!" He nodded.

"Alright, I'll come along," Romin said.

"Sus," Yusei could hear Luke faintly say that.

(Later)

Yuga took them all to a secluded, small building which was tucked away beside some shipping containers.

"Here we are!" Yuga announced and the door opened up and a green drone appeared from it. The same one that was live streaming yesterday.

"That's the drone!" Gakuto realized with Luke and Romin nodding to agree with him.

The drone looked at them and noticed Romin. "Is that Romin from RoaRomin? I'm such a big fan! Can I have your autograph please?" The drone took out a notepad and a pen with excitement.

Gakuto and Luke dramatically face fall at this.

Romin took the pen and notepad before looking at Yuga.

"Does the drone have a name?" She asked.

"...ummmmmmm," Yuga trailed off, his mind going wild with many names but none seemed perfect for the drone.

"Come on! Come on! Please give me a name so she can write!" The drone begged.

Give me a minute, Yuga thought and Yusei gave him a head pat (or attempted to) before saying, "take your time."

A short moment passed and Yuga finally spoke up, "how about...Kaizo!"

"Kaizo? As in 'remodel?'" Kaizo asked and Yuga nodded.

"That name is too literal," Kaizo complained with disappointment and Romin sweatdropped at this.

After that, they all went inside Yuga's lab. "Whoa," Romin looked at the multiple Roads that Yuga had in the lab. Some were broken while others were neatly tucked away in corners.

"You built all of this?" She asked while looking at Yuga's modified bicycle.

"Yep!" Yuga stated.

Meanwhile, a glass sphere that had tubes attached to it descended onto Luke's head, where he was sitting on a spinning chair, and began to spin him around.

Gakuto tried desperately to get it off Luke.

Romin winced as this was happening and turned to look at Yuga.

"Sooooo," she drew out the o's in her so, "what's your most impressive Road?" She asked.

"That's obvious. It's Rush Duels!" Yuga replied.

"Are they really that impressive?" Romin asked.

"You will know once you try," Yuga replied while in the background, Luke stopped spinning.

"Nah, I told you before. Dueling isn't really my thing," Romin declined.

Hehehe, Yuga thought as he planned his next words carefully.

Yusei sweatdropped at this as he saw his face break out into a cheeky grin.

"Yeah it makes sense. You know that you'll lose so you're not really up for dueling," Yuga shrugged.

A red tick mark appeared on the side of her head as Romin twitched with irritation as he said that.

"I guess losing to the creator of Rush Duels can't be helped," Yuga sighed, dramatically.

"If we get passed the thought that he drew with you yesterday," Gakuto said to Luke who pushed off the sphere and gave him a cocky grin.

"Don't be so certain that I'll lose," Romin told Yuga.

"Don't worry about it. Everyone hate losing," Yuga stated in a singsong voice.

"We won't know unless we try!" Romin snapped and poked a finger on Yuga's shoulder.

...

"Hehehe," Yuga grinned as Romin realized what she said.

She took a step back and said, "ah but I can't duel without a Duel disk or cards. Bummer," in an attempt to brush it off.

"Here you go!" Yuga and Kaizo showed her two things.

"You can use this Duel disk," Kaizo stated.

"And you can borrow my spare deck!" Yuga added on.

"E-eh?" Romin looked at the two objects before shouting, "fine! I'll do it!" She took the two objects.

"Well would you look at that," Gakuto noted.

Kaizo floated by Romin and suggested, "here, let me carry your things so they won't get in the way."

"No," Romin said.

"Are you sure? Your guitar case would be a hindrance to you," Kaizo asked.

"It's fine," Romin said quickly.

Kaizo deflated and sighed, "fine."

"Huh, she's always carrying that case around with her. I wonder if it carries spy equipment," Luke wondered.

"That's impossible," Gakuto deadpanned.

"It's suspicious," Luke said, ignoring him.

Yuga lead them outside and was reassuring Romin with, "you'll do fine even if it's your first Rush Duel. They're easy to pick up on."

"What's with you and treating me like a beginner," Romin murmured before taking her place across Yuga and setting her case down on the ground. She placed on the Duel disk and declared, "I'm ready!"

"Alright, Romin. You can start first," Kaizo said, politely before turning to Yuga, "and you can go second!" He shouted, rudely.

"Eh?" Yuga asked.

"Looks like Kaizo has picked a favorite," Yusei noted and floated beside him.

Yeah no kidding. I wonder why and how is he a big fan of Romin? Yuga thought.

As they were having their conversation, Kaizo turned to Romin.

"Don't worry, I'll be here to support you during your first Rush Duel. Set the deck inside of the Duel disk," Kaizo explained.

Romin nodded and she did exactly that. The blade deployed into a seven and Yuga did the same.

"Let's go, Rush Duel!"

Romin - 4000 LPS

V.S.

Yuga - 4000 LPS

The green dome materialize around them and Kaizo said, "just ask me if you need any help. With our combined strength, we'll beat Yuga into a pulp!"

Meanwhile, Luke thinking about Romin's panic when Kaizo offered to carry her guitar case.

I wonder what's in it? He thought and looked at the guitar case that Romin set down.

Wait, is this a sign that Yuga wanted me to go check out her guitar case? Hehe! Thank you so much, Yuga! Luke silently cheered and began to crawl through the grass towards Romin's case.

However, he didn't get very far when Gakuto noticed him.

"Luke no! This is an invasion of privacy!" He snapped.

"This is all for becoming the King of Duels!" Luke declared while lunging towards the case. Gakuto caught him and was holding him back.

"Uhhh, what's going on?" Romin asked as she looked at the two struggling boys.

"I have...no clue," Yuga sweatdropped before adding on, "I think I should explain the rules to Rush Dueling first since it's your first time."

"No need, I already know them. I start off with four cards and since I'm going first, I get to draw one more to make it five!" Romin stated and drew a card.

Yusei could feel Yuga's excitement and joy as she did this.

"Rush Duels are very important to you, huh?" He asked and Yuga nodded.

"Hey, Yuga?" Romin called out.

"What's up?" Yuga asked.

"I can summon as many monsters as I want per turn, right?" She asked.

"Of course! That's what's great about Rush Duels! We can start off with Maximum acceleration even during the first tu-what are you guys doing?" Yuga started and trailed off to look at Luke and Gakuto fighting.

They immediately stopped and began to whistle innocently like nothing ever happened.

Romin shook her head before looking at the cards in her hand.

"I start off by summoning Spell Archer (ATK: 1000. DF: 400)," she started off.

A humanoid monster appeared on her field.

"And next I-," she started but Kaizo interrupted her.

"Wait, Romin. You can't summon that monster yet. You need to tribute a monster on the field in order to what's called an Advance Summon," Kaizo explained.

"Advance Summon?" Romin asked and thought back to when Luke summoned Dragears.

"In order to Advance Summon, you need to release a monster on the field and send it to the graveyard," Yuga added on.

Gakuto stood up straighter and added on, "take a look on the number that's on the star symbol of your monster. That's called a level. Monsters from levels 1 through 4 don't have any restrictions on summoning but but level 5 and 6 monsters need one tribute to summon and level 7 and above need two tributes."

"Level 7 and above, huh," Romin noted and looked at a card in her hand.

Which means I can't summon her yet. Guess I have to be patient, she thought.

"Well how about this? I release Spell Archer to Advance Summon level 6, Ansler the Magical Swordsman (ATK: 2000. DF: 500)," Romin said and a new monster appeared, replacing Spell Archer.

"Hey, not bad," Yuga noted.

"Quit with your pandering!" Romin snapped and Yuga awkwardly laughed at this.

"Hey Romin. I have a suggestion. How about you set your spell and trap cards down?" Kaizo popped up.

"Hmm? Oh right! In a Rush Duel, I can draw up until I have five cards in my hand when I begin my turn. So it's best to place cards face down...alright then! I set these two cards down and end my turn!" Romin said.

She then looked at Gakuto trying to drag Luke away while Luke was struggling to get out of his grasp.

"What are you two doing?" She asked.

Both of them broke apart and Luke began to whistle innocently.

"Nothing nothing. It's Yuga's turn now, by the way," Gakuto assured them.

Yuga just sighed in exasperation before stating, "I'll start my turn now!" He drew a card and looked at his cards, Yusei floating over to look at them as well.

"Alright! I'll start off with summoning Mystic Dealer (ATK: 1000. DF: 0), Luminous Shaman (ATK: 500. DF: 0) and Cyc the Child of Wind (ATK: 400. DF: 600)," He said.

"And then I'll release Luminous Shaman and Cyc to Advance Summon!" Yuga shouted and began to chant, "A wall, a mountain, not even a planet can block my way! Nothing will stop my road to victory! Let's go! Sevens Road Magician (ATK: 2100. DF: 1500)!"

His Ace monster appeared.

"Ah! It's here!" Kaizo yelped and hid behind Romin.

"But I'm not done yet. I summon Spell Archer as well," Yuga added on.

"Whoa," Gakuto and Luke said while Romin just stared at the field, unsure of what Yuga is planning to do.

"I send the top card of my deck to the graveyard to activate Sevens Road Magician' effect. He'll now gain 300 attack points for every attribute in my graveyard. I currently have two, Light and Wind. This is my Elemental Road!" Yuga declared.

"Let's go! He immediately used the effect!" Luke cheered.

2100 —> 2700 ATK

"Now attack! Sevens Magic Attack!" Yuga shouted and Sevens Road Magician attacked Ansler and destroyed it.

4000 —> 3300 LPS

"Now Romin doesn't have any monsters on her field. She's wide open for an attack since Yuga still has two monsters on his field," Gakuto noted.

"Hey Kaizo. Can I use the cards that I set earlier?" Romin asked.

"No sadly. You can use Trap cards during your opponent's turn while you can only use Spell cards during your turn," Kaizo sighed.

"I'll continue my turn with having Mystic Dealer attack you directly," Yuga stated.

His monster threw cards at Romin, lowering her life points.

3300 —> 2300 LPS

"Go Spell Archer! Direct attack her too!" Yuga shouted as his monster shot an energy arrow at her. Thankfully, this was a hologram.

2300 —> 1300 LPS

"Oh no!" Kaizo gasped.

"I end my turn," Yuga said and Sevens Road Magician's attack points went back to normal.

2700 —> 2100 ATK

"Just like that, Romin's life points are down to 1300!" Gakuto gasped.

"Yeah, consecutive direct attacks are always painful," Luke noted and then gasped.

Which means it won't buy me time! I have to look inside that case! He thought and tiptoed over to Romin's guitar case before Gakuto snatched him back.

Hand-Size Draco appeared on Luke's shoulder and gave him a disapproving look.

"Luke, this is a bad idea," it told him.

"It's not!" Luke said which confused Gakuto.

Who is he talking to? He thought.

Back at the duel, Kaizo was yelling at Yuga.

"Yuga! This is her first duel! Lay it off with the attacks!" He yelled.

"I can't just go easy on her even if it is. It'll be like I'm not taking her seriously. But she has nothing to worry about because in a Rush Duel, there's always a chance for a comeback no matter the situation!" Yuga declared.

"No matter the situation?" Romin repeated and looked at the only card in her hand.

If I'm careful and if I get the chance, I can turn this duel around! She thought, determined.

"You know...Romin is picking up dueling rather quickly. I wonder what her turn is going to be like once she draws," Yusei spoke up.

I mean it when I say that there's always a chance for a comeback. Let's see if she'll take it, Yuga thought.

"You trust that she will?" Yusei asked and Yuga nodded.

Yusei looked over at Romin who had a determined look on her face. Maybe Yuga's trust in others isn't too far-fetched.

"Alright...Bring it!" Yuga and Yusei said at the same time.

A/N: I placed in some ghost lore at the beginning of this chapter. It'll hopefully get expanded upon once I get to that point.

Romin and Yuga's duel will continue in the next chapter.

Cya in the next one -Flare