I stared wide eyed at him. He looked at me so innocently, giving a small smile. It's Yugi this time. Not the Pharaoh. Oh, Gosh, what will happen to Yugi?

It was true that I'd never much cared for the kid, but he was a human, too. Would he be affected if the Pharaoh inside the Puzzle was sent away?

"What are you doing here?" I asked him. "And how did you get in? Bakura locked the door..."

Shadow Magic.

"It doesn't matter," Yugi said, approaching me cautiously. Seeing my journal wasn't out, he seemed to let his guard down slightly. "Aria, I need you to get away from here."

"What? Why?"

"Bakura has a dark presence inside of him. It's been rubbing off on you. You need to leave."

"I can't leave. I chose to be here. I know about everything. I know about the Items, the Shadows, the dark spirits inside of you and Bakura. I chose to be here. I chose to help."

"I don't think you did," Yugi said. His expression was sad, pleading. "Bakura can toy with your mind in the Shadow Realm. He's changing you. You have to come with me now!"

I shook my head, clutching my bag. The weight of the golden Items somewhat reassuring.

Yugi glanced at my bag, then back to me. "Duel me, then." he ordered.

I was taken aback for a moment. "What?"

"Duel me. If I win, you come with me away from here. If you win, I'll leave you alone."

I gulped. Yugi was a dueling legend. The King of Games. How could I possibly beat him?

But how could I possibly refuse?

I felt the dark smirk on my face again. The same as when we were in the alley.

"You're on, Yugi. This'll be good practice."

I pulled my deck out of my bag, shuffled it twice, then set it on the floor. I didn't feel like leaving to find an arena. He'd never let me come back if I did. I also pulled my journal from my bag and lay it beside me.

Yugi eyed it cautiously. I had only pulled it out to mess with him, and it appeared to be working. Did he know that it was a Millennium Item? Or did he only know that it possessed Shadow Magic.

"Don't worry," I heard my dark voice say. "This doesn't have to be a Shadow Duel if you don't want it to. I can play normally."

I saw the Millennium Symbol on his Puzzle shine, and Yugi closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again.

"Ready?" he asked, same as he had been before.

I was confused. I thought he was going to let the Pharaoh duel me. I didn't really care if he didn't. Either way, I was going to crush him.

I couldn't afford not too.

***

The duel was close. I had three monsters out, all ready to crush him with one final move, until Yugi activated Swords of Revealing Light. I couldn't do anything to stop it, and he built up his offensive force and crushed me with his Dark Magician.

I sat there, gaping at the cards before me. How had I lost? I didn't understand. I had played perfectly. How had he come back from that?

Yugi was staring at me, and I reluctantly looked back at him, sadness filling me. I'd lost, and that meant that I had to leave Bakura.

"Where do I go now?"

Yugi seemed confused. "Can't you just go home?"

I shook my head quickly, and felt a tear slide down my cheek. I felt like falling apart, but I kept my voice steady.

"You don't understand, Yugi. I wouldn't be here if I could go home."

"What happened?"

For some reason, I found myself telling him everything. I even told him parts I hadn't told Bakura yet, like me enjoying sending someone to live in the Shadows for the rest of eternity. I told him what Bakura had said, and that I was here because he was protecting me.

Yugi seemed shocked. When I was finished speaking, Yugi sat quietly, staring at the floor. I sat patiently, waiting for him to process, tears still streaking my face.

Finally, Yugi glanced up at me.

"We'll find you a place to stay."

'We' as in him and his friends, or him and the Pharaoh?

I sadly nodded. I stood and went to the kitchen, leaving my things where they were. I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a note to Bakura, explaining everything. I didn't want him to freak out when he noticed I wasn't here. He needed to know.

I took another piece of paper, smaller this time, and wrote another note on it. I told him that I would meet him in the alley at midnight, and that if he wanted to take me back, to come meet me. I hid this note under the first, so that if Yugi came in, he wouldn't see it. Then I returned to the living room, where Yugi was still sitting on the floor.

He had put my cards back into my deck and sat them beside my bag. I glanced up from them at him and noticed he was flipping through my journal.

I instantly pulled it away from him. He didn't say anything about it. He just stood and picked up my things for me. He handed them to me with a sad smile, then led me toward the door. I opened it and walked through the threshold, scanning quickly for Bakura. I saw a shadow move behind some trees, and I instantly knew it was him.

I felt a wave of sadness wash over me. He was going to be so mad at me when I saw him again. But I would have to deal with it if I wanted to help him. The only problem was, I had no idea if he would take me back.

***

We arrived at the Game Shop within about half an hour. Yugi and I hadn't talked during the trip over, nor did we even look at each other. Well, I didn't. I kept my head down, hoping Yugi would leave me alone, which he thankfully did.

We went inside the Shop, where Yugi's grandfather was hanging posters of sales. He got off of his ladder and walked over to us.

"Oh, Yugi, you're finally home. Where have you been?"

"Uh, just getting ready for the tournament, Grandpa. Aria and I are going upstairs. She wants a few tips for the tournament."

"Alright. You two behave yourselves. If you get hungry let me know."

"Thanks, Grandpa!" Yugi pulled me along up the stairs and into his room, closing the door behind him.

I glanced around the room quickly. There was a bed in the corner, a desk beside it with a lamp, a closet, and a mirror. On the desk, a blue and silver thing that I had never seen before.

I walked over and picked it up. "What's this?"

"It's a Duel Disk," he said, approaching me. "Kaiba Corp. invented it to make the tournament easier for people. Instead of everyone trying to find an open arena."

"You mean Seto Kaiba invented this?" I asked, shocked. I knew he ran a fancy dueling company, but I had no idea he was able to make technology like this.

"Yeah, he's pretty amazing at stuff like this, actually."

"Wow..."

"So do you want to join the tournament?" Yugi asked suddenly. "The way you dueled me today tells me that you could go pretty far."

"I still lost."

"Yes, but maybe people would start taking you seriously. You and Mai would be pretty good companions throughout it all."

Who? "I don't know..."

"You'll be great. You should do it. It might take your mind off of things."

"I guess it could be fun..."

"Alright! Let's go to a game store and get you signed up!"