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real-life-pine-tree · 7 years ago

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Arc-V Aftermath: Dance Do-Over (2/26)

When all is said and done, things have quickly recovered in the four dimensions. But when weird things start happening, the Yu-Salad Boys and the Bracelet Girls quickly realize they have some loose ends to fix. Co-written with @violetganache42.

WARNING: Dub names will be featured in the story.

Yuri switched back to Yuya while heading downstairs. He knows how Yusho is still having a hard time trusting him, especially after carding him, so he would rather let the son of a Dueltainer talk to him. Besides, Yusho and Yoko would still get filled in on what’s wrong with Yuto now that they know what happened.

Before sitting down to eat breakfast and talk to his parents, Yuya was greeted by En, Core, Kilo, Watt, and all the other pets his mother rescued. Some of them jumped on his legs, wanting to lick his hands and face, while the rest barked and meowed with excitement.

“Whoa!” Yugo exclaimed. “That’s a lot of pets!”

“Mom just can’t say no to strays,” Yuya explained as he picked up En and cuddled the corgi pup in his arms.

He looked over to see his mother in the kitchen—cooking a few more pancakes—and his father, who had just finished breakfast. “Morning, Yuya!” Yoko pleasantly said. “Were you talking to your friends?”

“Yeah,” Yuya answered, setting En down on the floor before taking his seat at the kitchen table. “And I need to talk to you and dad.”

“What about?” Yusho asked.

“I want to host a dance at the LID’s Center Duel Field,” Yuya explained, sensing that Yuto wasn’t present.

“What for?” Yusho asked.

“It’s for everyone who attended the Heartland Duel School dance,” Yuya continued.

This surprised Yoko and Yusho. They were curious as to why Yuya wanted to host a dance at LID’s Center Duel Field, so their son filled them in on what happened that very night. He really wants to give the students who attended the last dance another chance to hang out, sing, dance, and have fun, but more importantly, he wants to bring back the smiles that were taken from them by Duel Academy. He was also determined to make this an extra special night for Yuto and Lulu.

“What a kind thing to do for your friends,” Yoko said.

“And I’ll get everyone in Paradise City in on it,” Yuya continued. “It’s clear that the people of Heartland are still recovering, so they need to be happy again.”

“I don’t see why not,” Yusho said. “I’ll even contact Skip and Declan to see if they could help out.”

Throughout the day, Yuya, his parents, Yugo, Yuri, and Sora worked together to put together the upcoming dance. It was going to be a lot of work, so they need all the help they can get. Yusho called Declan and Skip to inform them about his son’s surprise dance for the students at his duel school and asked if they can help. Naturally, they both said “Yes”. Declan offered to distribute inviations to the people in Heartland City while Skip said he’ll talk to Zuzu to help prepare Lulu for the dance; they also made sure to keep it a secret. Shortly after hanging up, Zuzu and Henrietta came in to see what their respective relatives were talking about.

“What’s going on, dad?” Zuzu asked.

“Great, you’re here!” Skip said. “I need to speak to you privately.”

“Uh… Sure,” Zuzu said. “Okay other me’s. I need you to…go away for a while?”

“No, wait, Rin and Celina need to hear it as well!” Skip corrected.

“Alright,” Lulu said before she disappeared into Zuzu’s shared mind.

“Okay dad, Lulu’s gone,” Zuzu informed.

“There’s going to be a dance for the former students of Heartland Duel School,” Skip explained. “I need you to get Lulu ready for tonight.”

“A formal dance?” Zuzu asked.

“Yes!” Rin cheered. “As a fashionista of the Synchro Dimension, I would be more than happy to help Lulu switch out those old rags for better outfits.”

“I think Lulu can handle it herself,” Celina replied, aware that Rin and Lulu have different fashion sense.

“Don’t worry, dad,” Zuzu said. “I’ll see if Julia can help out.”

“So Declan, is there anything I can do?” Henrietta asked as Zuzu went over to the Krystal residence.

“As a matter of fact, there is,” Declan answered. “Because Yuya wishes to have the dance located the Center Duel Field, I was hoping you can arrange the decorations.”

“Certainly, Declan,” Henrietta replied.

As the day went to, Declan finished working on the invitations. He then scrolled through a list of XYZ residents who attended Heartland Duel School on his computer. After checking, he sent the invitations to the former students’ Duel Disks, except Yuto and Lulu. The gray-haired teen decided to message Shay to head on over to LID for measurements. It was obvious he was going to need a new suit.

Meanwhile, in the XYZ Dimension, life was slowly returning to normal for the people of Heartland. They have been working together to clean up and rebuild the city. Aster Phoenix, the Tyler Sisters, and Mamoru Noro even decided to stay and help the citizens out, continuing to distribute food, drinks, and medical supplies, as well as assist in reconstruction. Just then, a notification alarm went off from someone’s Duel Disk. Followed by a second. No, third. Fourth. Fifth. Now, multiple notifications were popping up from several Duel Disks. This was rather bizarre.

One of the Duelists who received a notification alarm was none other than Sarah. “Hey Alex, are you getting this?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Alex answered as he checked his Duel Disk. “I wonder what it’s for.”

They checked their notifications to see what it was. They received what looked like invitations. This was rather unexpected, but that quickly turned to joy when they read the invitations. They were invited to a dance at the Leo Institute of Dueling.

“A dance?” Alex asked. “We haven’t attended one since…”

Sarah sadly looked over at Alex. “I know,” she agreed. “Hopefully you can wear something than a hoodie and a poncho this time.”

“It was my cleanest poncho!” Alex insisted.

Meanwhile, Aster checked his Duel Disk. “That’s strange…” he noted. “My Duel Disk doesn’t have a notification.”

“Neither does ours,” Gloria said as she and Grace showed Aster their Duel Disks.

Back at the Pendulum Dimension, Zuzu was heading towards the local spa, where she—well, technically Lulu—was supposed to meet up with Julia. The long, dark-haired girl has never met Zuzu’s XYZ counterpart before, so spending some time preparing for the dance in there can also result in the two girls becoming friends. The Fusion Dueltainer also figured this would finally give Lulu a chance to bathe; since she constantly had to deal with Duel Academy, she pretty much earned it.

Zuzu stopped in front of the spa’s entrance and looked through the windows to see if Julia was in there. Sure enough, she was there, waiting near the front desk for Lulu. “You want me to go to a spa so I can bond with a Fusion Duelist?” the dark-haired teen asked.

“Sure,” Zuzu said without hesitation. “You need to know that not all Fusion Duelists are evil. Julia’s a nice person, so you should spend the day with her.”

“Alright,” Lulu said. “If you say so.”

Lulu switched places with Zuzu, still feeling a tad bit unsure about this Julia person. She opened the doors and entered the spa; the sound of the bell grabbed the Fusion Duelist’s attention as she saw what looked like Zuzu but wasn’t actually.

“Uh… Hello?” Lulu told Julia.

The Gem-Knight Duelist walked over to Lulu. “You smell,” she said bluntly.

“Excuse me?” Lulu asked, alarmed.

“It’s your body odor,” Julia explained. “It smells like burnt rubble and blood. If that isn’t enough, your face looks unwashed and your clothes are severely damaged.” She lifted up a lock of Lulu’s hair. “And your hair feels too greasy, even under normal conditions.”

“Your point?” Lulu asked, taking a few steps back to make sure Julia stopped touching her hair.

“Zuzu explained everything to me,” Julia continued. “You need a complete makeover. Thankfully you came to the right person. By the time we’re done, you’ll feel like a new person.”

Lulu felt a little bewildered; she didn’t expect Julia to instantly find out how she hasn’t bathed in a while. It’s like she can detect imperfect hygiene, and you know what? Given that she can detect people’s talent and hesitation, one can consider this to be no surprise that she can also tell when someone is dirty.

Julia directed Lulu on where to follow her. Without any hesitation, she went along with her. The two girls headed to a special room designed for full-body pampering, which is what the XYZ user clearly needed. In it, there was a bathtub with a bathmat in front of it and was in between a couple of tabletops. One of them had bottles of bubble bath soap, shampoo and conditioner, makeup remover, face cleanser, and a facial cleansing brush whereas the other had a couple of candles with a sweet, cherry-blossom fragrance; both tabletops had small cabinet doors that contained towels and facecloths. Not too far away was a chair that had a light yellow bathrobe on it. There was even a smaller room meant for getting changed in and out of clothes. Lulu was astonished at the room she was led to.

“This is amazing!” Lulu exclaimed. “How-”

“I’m a regular customer,” Julia explained. “I was saving a lot of reward points, so I figured they could go to good use.”

Lulu was nearly in tears of joy. “Thank you,” she said.

Elsewhere, Yuya and Yusho were at a local clothing store, planning on getting Yuto a new tuxedo to wear for tonight. Since the tomato-haired boy has the same body figure as his XYZ counterpart, he’ll be helping his father with measurements. While that is going on, Yugo and Yuri were conversing about something; they wanted to figure out how they were going to get a new pair of prescription glasses for Yuto since his first pair was probably destroyed during the Invasion.

“I know!” Yugo exclaimed after a bit of thinking. “We’ll have Yuya go to the eye doctor so he can see what Yuto’s prescription is!”

“Except Yuya, you, and myself all have perfect vision,” Yuri pointed out.

“You sure?” Yugo asked, suddenly standing too close to Yuri. “‘Cause you tend to squint a lot.”

“I can assure you my eyesight is normal!” Yuri exclaimed, shoving Yugo away from him. “I simply have smaller pupils!”

“Geez, I thought that after the whole Zarc thing, you’d stop acting like a jerk,” Yugo muttered loudly.

“The darkness within Zarc’s heart merely clouded my judgement,” Yuri corrected. “That doesn’t mean my personality completely changed when that same darkness vanished!”

“Guess that explains why you haven’t gotten along with Celina yet,” Yugo pointed out.

“Miss Celina simply has a hard time accepting I have somewhat changed,” Yuri insisted.

“She probably doesn’t like how big of a spoiled brat you are,” Yugo remarked.

“Oh, that is it!” Yuri exclaimed. “Now you just got personal!”

As Yuya was about to try on one of the first suits in the fitting room, he overheard his Fusion and Synchro counterparts arguing. He wondered what they were even fighting about; they were supposed to find a way to get Yuto a new pair of glasses, but knowing Yugo’s short-temper and rude remarks and Yuri’s high nobility, disputes like this are bound to happen. Yuya decided to quickly intervene and help them formulate their plan.

“Come on, you guys,” Yuya said. “We’re supposed to be figuring out how to get Yuto new glasses without him finding out about the dance.”

“He started it!” Yugo exclaimed.

“Excuse me?!” Yuri angrily asked. “I’m not the one with a rude attitude!”

Yuya let out a sigh; if those two keep it up, either this day will go on forever or Yuto will end up finding out. Within only a few seconds, he conjectured an idea on how they will carry out their plan. It might be crazy, but it could work.

“I think I know how we can get this to work,” Yuya said. “But I’m going to need Yugo’s help.”

Yugo directed his attention towards Yuya when the latter mentioned his name. He looked rather puzzled; why did he need his help? Heck, why can’t Yuri help as well?

Meanwhile, Shay had just arrived at the LID main entrance. A bit earlier, he received a message from Declan telling him to come meet him inside the institute for suit measurements. He pondered on why he needed to be measured for a little while. Then again, he wore this outfit ever since the Invasion, so it would make sense to try and find something nicer to wear.

Upon entering through the doors, he noticed Declan waiting for him at the main lobby near the front desk. “Thanks you for coming, Shay,” Declan said.

“Why did you want to see me?” Shay asked.

“I have recently found out the Invasion on your home dimension began on the night of a formal event,” Declan explained. “And because of that, you have been wearing the same tuxedo underneath your coat. Correct?”

“Yes,” Shay explained. “When the Invasion started, none of us had time to change outfits.”

“Which is why I asked you to come here,” Declan continued. “Think of it as a thank you gift for serving the Lancers.”

Shay accepted the gray-haired teen’s offer. He hasn’t worn anything else other than his tuxedo and a trench coat since the night of the dance, so this will finally give him a chance to try on something new. Besides, it was the least he can do after being a member of the Lancers and helping them defeat Duel Academy.

Back at the spa, Lulu finished taking her bath. Seeing that it was her first one in a while, she needed it. She even got to bond with Julia during that time. It started when she asked the dark-haired girl what Fusion Summoning was like in the Pendulum Dimension; she and Zuzu are the only two Fusion users who were great people. Julia’s response was it was mainly used for Dueltaining, especially in Zuzu’s case. She continued by explaining how much her friendly rival has improved in this particular special summoning technique ever since they first met. The rest of their conversation involved discussing beauty tips and the different dueling strategies they use.

With Lulu wearing the bathrobe and had a towel wrapped around her head, Julia informed her that she can get dressed in the smaller room; she mentioned about picking a new outfit for the now clean XYZ user. Lulu was eager to see what her new friend picked out. When she walked into the changing room, she saw a long, sleeveless, and really beautiful dress hanging up. It was sky blue with frills at the bottom, had a lighter shade of blue around the chest area, and peacock feathers were attached on the side. Next to the dress were a pair of matching sapphire heels. She was so ecstatic about the new outfit Julia got for her.

Not long after finding the right suit for Yuto, Yuya and Yoko were sitting in the waiting room, waiting for his eye examination. “Wait, why would Yuya need an eye examination?” one may ask. Ah, but there’s a catch. It was actually for Yuto; Yoko being asked and taking Yuya to the eye doctor was part of his and Yugo’s plan. Of course, Yuto still doesn’t know about what’s going on. He was still deep within the shared mind, replaying his memories of his mother like home videos. He couldn’t help but repeatedly watch these memories, from his days as a baby to his gradual appearance and personality change to the last night he saw her. After everything he’s been through, he really missed her.

Suddenly, Yugo barged in. “Hiya!” he exclaimed.

“Not now,” Yuto said, wiping away forming tears from his eyes.

“Nope!” Yugo cheerfully said. “Yuya needs you out right now.”

Yuto was suddenly shoved out of the deep part of the shared mind. What on earth is going on? he wondered. And why does Yuya need me? It can’t be that important, can it? Before he knew it, he and Yuya quickly switched places, with the former taking control. What is this place? He looked around to find himself sitting in a chair in a doctor’s office. An eye doctor’s office.

“What’s going on?!” Yuto asked.

“It’s okay, Yuto,” Yoko reassured. “Yuya wanted to get new glasses for you.”

“But I don’t need glasses!” Yuto insisted.

“Relax, it’s my treat,” Yuya said. “Just sit back and go through the eye exam.”

Yuto couldn’t believe he was going through with this, let alone Yuya and Yugo planning something like this. Yuya did say it was his treat, but he still wasn’t so sure about it. Glasses always looked weird on him, so why do they even bother trying?

A couple minutes later, the eye doctor came in. “Hello Mr. Sakaki,” he said, thinking Yuto was Yuya. “Shall we begin?”

“Fine,” Yuto muttered in response.

Back at LID, Declan was typing down a list of measurements he needed to find a tuxedo that fits Shay. At the same time, Shay was wondering how Yuto and Lulu were doing.

“Does Yuto and Lulu know about the dance?” Shay asked.

“So you figured it out from my message,” Declan remarked.

“You’re usually not this generous,” Shay pointed out. “The new suit is for the dance.”

“Correct,” Declan replied. “And to answer your question, no they did not. Yuya wanted it to be a surprise for them.”

“Can’t blame him for doing that,” Shay said. “Discovering that they and the other counterparts turned out to be the center of the universe must have been hard for them to comprehend. At least my parents understand that Lulu is permanently fused to three other people. They still miss her, though.”

“If it makes you feel better, my father recently informed me that he’s currently working on a way to separate all eight counterparts,” Declan said.

That piece of information astonished Shay. Leo Akaba, the man responsible for the Invasion, having the Obelisk Force card innocent people and Yuri kidnap Rin and his sister, and fuse all four dimensions just to bring his daughter Ray back, is working on a way to split them back into their individual bodies? This was amazing! That means his parents can see their daughter again! Simultaneously, another question struck his mind. After everything Leo did, why is he suddenly doing this? Is it an act of redemption? Or has he accepted that Ray may never return? Or was it both?

“Why is Leo doing that?” Shay asked.

“He takes full responsibility for Zarc’s return,” Declan answered. “He learned that if he had never tampered with the dimensions, none of this would have happened. Bringing back Zuzu was part of his separation plan. Once he receives a blood sample from each of the counterparts, he can work on separating them.”

“How come he never told anyone about it?” Shay asked.

“He’s aware of any possible consequences that might occur during the separation,” Declan continued. “For all he knows, they might receive permanent amnesia, or even end up with severe mental damage. He fears that the procedure is too risky at the moment.”

What Declan said just now is reasonably understandable. Not every plan is smooth sailing from here on out, especially the fact that the separation plan is still in its early stages. Who knows how long it will take for it to take shape? From the sound of things, it was going to take a while. It was also worth noting that this may be the first time someone is attempting to separate souls back into their individual bodies via blood samples. Shay didn’t think that was possible, but this is Leo they’re talking about; he would do whatever it takes to fulfill any plan he has, no matter how long it takes. The teen wondered if Lulu will be mentally okay or if she will remember anything once the separation is complete. He then decided not to worry about that at the moment; for now, he just wanted to focus on getting ready for the tonight’s dance.

“Thanks for telling me about it,” Shay said.

“You were the closest to Lulu,” Declan replied. “I figured you would understand.”

Elsewhere, at the eye doctor’s, Yuto finally finished his eye examination; throughout the entire exam, he wasn’t very fond of it deep down. Now he just has to wait for the results, but one thing is for certain: there is no way he was going to wear glasses, regardless of what anyone says. He said they look weird on him before and that’s an opinion he was going to stick with. Yuya, Yugo, and Yuri, on the other hand, would all beg to differ.

“What’s wrong with wearing glasses, Yoot?” Yugo asked.

“I told you, I would look weird,” Yuto repeated.

Yuto’s counterpart all agreed he would actually look nice in glasses; as an added bonus, it’ll be their first time seeing him wearing them since they have never seen him with a pair on his face. Yuya couldn’t help but comment they would make him look smart.

“Smart, huh?” Yuto repeated.

“Yeah,” Yuya replied. “Like a sharp businessman.”

Yuto pictured himself as a businessman with glasses on. Not only do they go with the suit, but they also seem to help give off an intelligent impression. This thought gave him a bit of second thoughts about thinking glasses looking weird on him; Yuya was left a bit dumbfounded on whether if that compliment fed his ego.

The eye doctor came out with the results; sure enough, Yuto needed glasses. But the fun part was coming up. One of the best things about getting glasses is choosing a pair that go well with the person. The Yu-Salad Boys offered to help him out pick some, such as choosing the shape and color of the frames. Some time later, they settled on the glasses with rectangular, light gray frames that worked well with his dark gray eyes. With a suit picked out and the examination finally out of the way, they now need to worry about Yuto getting ready without ruining the surprise.

“Thanks for the glasses, Mrs. Sakaki,” Yuto said. “Now I should really let Yuya-”

“Not yet,” Yoko interrupted. “As soon as we get home, I need you to shower.”

“What?” Yuto asked. Did he really smell that bad?

“Every time you take over, your stench makes the whole house reek,” Yoko explained. “It’s for the best.”

Later that afternoon, Yuto and Yoko returned to the Sakaki house and the first thing he did was taking a shower. He immediately headed straight to the bathroom, shutting the door for privacy and taking off his tattered attire. It was clear they also needed to be cleaned; he tossed them in the hamper so that they can get washed. Closing the shower curtains, he turned on the water and adjusted the nozzle until it was set at a comfortable temperature. He stood underneath the shower hose as water sprayed out and rained down on Yuto’s entire body, soaking his hair in the process. It was a miracle how it still maintained its shape despite it being as greasy as Lulu’s; he wondered how his girlfriend is doing right now. Once his hair was all wet, he grabbed a bottle of Yuya’s shampoo so he can lather some in his hair, but there was one problem: the bottle didn’t have enough shampoo for him to use.

“Yuya, please tell me you have more shampoo,” Yuto said, holding up the bottle.

“That should be enough,” Yuya pointed out.

“For you,” Yuto corrected. “Didn’t you notice my hair is longer than yours? I need more shampoo to get it fully washed.”

Realization hit Yuto. “Oh…” he said. “Right… There should be more in the bathroom cabinet.”

“Thank you,” Yuto said, turning off the nozzle and wrapping a towel around his waist. “But I hope you actually have Spike and Curl.”

“Eh… Come again?” Yuya asked.

Yeah, there was one slight problem with that. Actually, make that two. Yuya may have a crazy hairstyle, but it’s not as spiky as Yuto’s; he also hasn’t even heard of this “Spike and Curl” brand, so…that could be an issue.

Yuto let out a groan. “Why do I even bother asking…?” he muttered out loud.

Meanwhile, with Lulu, she was all ready for tonight. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and was amazed at what she saw. The dress and heels Julia picked out looked elegant on her; the loose braid added an extra nice touch to complete her appearance. It was as if she was a completely new person.

“Don’t start crying on me,” Julia said, taking out a makeup kit from her bag. “I still need to help you with the finishing touches.”

“Sorry Julia,” Lulu said, wiping away tears. “I haven’t felt this beautiful in months.”

Julia took out some blush, mascara, and some makeup brushes from her bag. Since Lulu was already beautiful, she only needed a light coat of makeup. Julia examined the assorted shades of blush to see which one would go with Lulu’s skin tone. She took one of her brushes, brushed it in the pale pink blush, and applied it on the latter’s face. Once that was done, she grabbed the mascara and used it to add a black coat on her eyelashes. Now completed with the finishing touches, Lulu looked at the mirror again, having a much nicer appearance with the added makeup; she was as beautiful as a princess.

“Thank you,” Lulu said, beaming with pure happiness. “I…” She couldn’t say anything else due to being so happy.

“Anything for a friend of Zuzu’s,” Julia happily replied. “Now I just need to bring you to the Center Duel Field.”

The Center Duel Field? At LID? Why there? Is anything special going on over there? Before Lulu could say anything, Julia led the way to the duel school; as a student of the Fusion Summoning course, she happens to know how to get there from the spa. A curious Lulu followed her, wondering what is happening.

Back at the Sakaki residence, Yuto had finished showering and is almost done getting ready. The black suit Yuya and Yusho bought fit him well; now all he has to do is put on his tie. He looked at his reflection in the mirror to put it on and make any adjustments to it, but he started fumbling. Something nearly caused him a trigger; he could have sworn he experienced this before, almost like a d��jà vu, but what was it? He soon remembered what had happened back at Heartland City. He remembered checking his reflection on the night of Heartland Duel School’s dance. He remembered spending the night with the dueling club and having fun. He remembered Duel Academy suddenly invading and wreaking havoc in the city. He remembered…seeing Lulu and Shay’s parents getting carded…and his own mother getting killed by an attacking Chaos Ancient Gear Giant…as a way to protect her only child…

Yuya quickly heard sobs coming from his XYZ counterpart. “Is something wrong?” the tomato-haired teen asked.

Yuto heard Yuya’s concerned voice, startling him a little. He wiped away the tears as fast as he could before answering, but up to no avail; his Pendulum counterpart already figured out why he was sobbing. “The last time I wore a suit…it was when…” But Yuto choked up before he could finish.

Yuya could determine what he was going to say—because of the flashback he was told about earlier that morning—and comforted him. “Don’t get all sad now,” the Pendulum Duelist said. “Look at how far you’ve come since then. I can even help you get more clothes for you to wear so you can stop wearing those old rags.”

“S-Sorry,” Yuto said, stammering a bit.

“You can apologize later,” Yugo said. “Now you better head downstairs so Mrs. Sakaki can take you to-”

“Yugo!” Yuri exclaimed.

“Oh… Right…” Yugo said, feeling embarrassed. “Never mind.”

Wiping away the excess tears, Yuto finished adjusting his tie; he was all ready to go, except one thing was missing… His new glasses! He grabbed them off of Yuya’s nightstand, but before he could them put on, he stared at the pair. He couldn’t believe he was going to wear glasses again. This would make tonight the first time he has ever worn them in quite a while. Letting out an exhale, he finally put them on his face and checked himself in the mirror once more. What Yuya said earlier today was true; with the suit and the glasses, Yuto did look like a sharp businessman. He couldn’t help but smirk at his appearance. The Yu-Salad Boys loved the glasses Yuto was wearing… Well, Yugo and Yuri were in awe; Yuya was more stunned at the fact that his earlier comment is feeding his ego again.

Yuto headed downstairs and saw Yoko near the door, waiting for him. She told him Yusho and Sora had already left to go to the Center Duel Field, so they’ll catch up with them.

“I’m ready to go, Mrs. Sakaki,” Yuto said, bracing for impact.

Yoko turned her head to see how nice Yuto looked in his tuxedo and glasses. “Well someone knows how to clean up nicely,” she said.

Yuto blushed a little at her comment; he told her it took a while to get himself ready, especially when he was in the shower. He was more used to his mom being around. He thought back to when she was so proud of how much he has grown and attending his first dance. She even hugged him tightly, so he was kind of hoping Yoko would do the same.

Yoko asked him if he was okay, with him responding that he wished his mother could see him once more, especially considering how well-dressed he is for the night.

“I understand how much you miss her,” Yoko said. “You have every right to mourn, especially since she died to protect you. But you shouldn’t wallow in sadness. Focus on the now and how much you accomplished since then.”

Yuto nodded and thanked her for not only the kind words, but for today as well. Yoko smiled back and accepted his thankful compliment. They both left the house to head on down to the Center Duel Field.

Meanwhile, back at LID, the Center Duel Field was all decorated for tonight’s dance. Streamers were hung around the walls with balloons were scattered and tied up in various places. There were a couple tables located near the Field’s entrance that were set up with a variety of foods and drinks. The center included a stage with the band finishing setting their gear up. Declan walked towards Henrietta, who was holding baby Riley in her arms, to say how impressed she did with decorating.

“I’m impressed, mother,” Declan said.

“I used leftover materials from previous company parties,” Henrietta explained. “Unfortunately I couldn’t find any working festive lights.”

“Not to worry,” Declan said. “As we speak, Skip Boyle of the You Show Duel School is managing the lighting using one of Yuya’s cards.”

“Smile World?” Henrietta asked.

“Not quite,” Declan answered.

Up in LID’s Solid Vision machine room, Skip used one of the machines to activate a card Yuya gave to him earlier; it was called Smile Universe, a retrained version of Smile World. With a click of a button, the devices underneath the Center Duel Field began to illuminate planets, galaxies, and stars across the night sky, with the planets and galaxies having smiley faces on them.

“Not bad,” Henrietta remarked.

“What else would you expect from the son of Yusho Sakaki?” Declan asked in response.

Out of all the former students that were invited, Shay was the first to arrive; then again, he practically spent the day at LID helping Declan with suit measurements. His tuxedo was similar to the one he originally wore, except it looked brand new, was dark gray and the shoes were black instead of brown. Shortly thereafter, a lot more people started showing up. He could recognize them as students who used to attend Heartland Duel School. Among the crowd, he saw Sarah, Alex, and Kite and headed towards them.

Sarah was in complete awe over the scenery. “This is incredible!” she exclaimed.

“No kidding,” Alex replied. “First Leo Corporation hands out invitations to a dance, then they offer the students free makeovers, now this!”

“Guess this was their way of apologizing to us,” Kite guessed.

As the three continued to admire the decorated Duel Field, they noticed Shay, who was just about to meet up with them. “Hey guys,” Shay said, walking up to his friends. “Glad you could make it.”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Sarah asked. “We received these unexpected invitations for a dance, then Leo Corporation provided hot baths and new outfits to anyone who received an invitation. I haven’t experienced such comfort in months.”

“Although not all of us accepted the makeovers,” Kite said.

“I bought this shirt with my own money!” Alex exclaimed, gesturing to the tuxedo t-shirt he was wearing along with his usual pants and boots.

Shay, Sarah, and Kite all chuckled at Alex’s response. It’s been months since their last dance and he still doesn’t follow the dress codes. Kite wore a proper suit instead the one his father gave him whereas Sarah had a long-sleeved, aquamarine and white princess gown with a pair of diamond flats.

After a few minutes talking to each other, two girls entered through the doorway. They all looked over to see who they were. Shay recognized the dark-haired girl, who was about to surprise the other one, which he was more focused on. Who was that? She had her eyes closed, but something about her seemed familiar. He then spotted her long, loosely-braided, dark purple hair, lilac side tails, and her now open magenta eyes. It was his sister Lulu! He has never been this overjoyed before and he was extremely happy to see her again.

“Lulu!” Shay exclaimed, so glad to see his sister again.

Lulu heard someone calling her name. She looked to find out where that voice came from, leading her to see Shay running towards her. A small gasp escaped her mouth; she couldn’t believe she is seeing his older brother and was immediately filled with glee.

“Shay!” Lulu happily cried out, knowing she hasn’t seen him since the dimension crisis.

Shay ran up to her and they gave each other the biggest hugs they have ever gotten. “I never thought I would see you again!” Shay exclaimed.

“The feeling is mutual,” Lulu replied.

Kite, Sarah, and Alex saw Lulu as well and caught up with Shay so that they can also hug her. It feels like it’s been too long since they last saw their friend and they are thrilled to be reunited with her.

“You’re alright!” Sarah exclaimed once the group separated from the hug. “And you look absolutely amazing!”

“Thanks Sarah,” Lulu replied. “You look great as well.”

Kite smiled softly. “So how about that?” he asked. “The dueling club of Heartland Duel School is finally reunited. Funny how a dance hosted by Leo Corporation brought us together.”

“Leo Corporation did this?” Lulu asked.

“Sort of,” Shay explained. “It was actually Yuya’s idea. Yuto must have told him what happened when the Invasion began, so this was probably his way of saying thanks.”

For Lulu, this was quite the surprise indeed; she was amazed that this entire event was all Yuya’s idea. They now have another chance to bring back the fun and shared smiles that were taken from them by Duel Academy. However, someone was missing, but who? Lulu realized that the dueling club wouldn’t be complete without Yuto. She was right; he was an important member of the club, where (according to Shay) he underwent a big change ever since he joined.

The five members of the reunited dueling club searched all over the Center Duel Field to find Yuto, but none of them had any luck. Suddenly, Lulu saw two more people enter through the doors, but more particularly, the masculine one. She recognized that spiky, black and light purple hairstyle anywhere; it was Yuto, who was accompanied by Yoko Sakaki. The loosely braided-haired girl stared at the outfit he was wearing. Last time she saw him, his usual clothes were practically his ruined suit on the night of the dance; instead, he now wore a clean black suit with a new pair of glasses. He looked really handsome.

At the same time, Yuto was astonished at what was happening. It was no wonder why his counterparts and Yuya’s parents wanted to help him get ready; this dance is amazing. Before he knew it, his eyes stumbled upon someone staring back at him. The person standing across from him was none other than Lulu and she was dressed beautifully. He found himself blushing at the sight of seeing his girlfriend in person once again.

“Uh… Guys?” Yuya asked Yugo and Yuri as Yuto walked over to Lulu. “Do you feel a weird thing in your hearts?”

“Yeah…” Yugo answered. “Weird.”

“Sort of,” Yuri admitted. “But I do feel something off.”

This was a strange feeling indeed; it has never happened before when Yuto and Lulu were in Yuya and Zuzu’s shared minds respectively. But now that they’re controlling their Pendulum counterparts’ bodies, this feeling was emitting onto the Yu-Salad. Even Zuzu, Celina, and Rin sensed they were also feeling weird.

“Yuya…?” Zuzu asked, concerned why she was suddenly feeling certain things towards the tomato-haired teen.

“Please tell me I’m not the only one getting this weird feeling,” Rin said, almost as if she could swoon.

“Trust me, you’re not,” Celina dully replied.

What on earth is this feeling they’re experiencing? They soon discovered why they were feeling this peculiar emotion: Yuto and Lulu were the reason. Their love for each other must have indirectly transferred to them. For Yuya, Zuzu, Yugo, and Rin, this was understandable, but what about Yuri and Celina? They have been rivals ever since Zuzu returned from the ARC-V machine. For the two of them, this was more unusual than what their counterparts were perceiving.

At the same time, Yuto walked over to see Lulu. Of all the times she was beautiful, this one tops them all. Everything from her attire to her loose braid to the touch of blush and mascara empathized her elegance and beauty. Likewise, Lulu can’t stop staring at his handsome features. His gravity-defying hair, his eyes, his suit. Everything about him was perfect; this was also the first time since the last dance that she got to see him wearing glasses. Although she liked his dark purple glasses, she knew the light gray glasses suited him more.

Once the two were right next to each other, they were so overjoyed to see each other. “You look beautiful,” Yuto said. “Absolutely beautiful.”

“Thanks,” Lulu replied, smiling softly. “You don’t look so bad yourself, especially since you stopped squinting.”

Yuto blushed a little at her compliment; maybe wearing glasses isn’t so bad after all.

Kite, Shay, Sarah, Alex were wondering where Lulu has gone off to until they saw her with Yuto. They ran towards them to give him a huge hug.

Yuto let out a small chuckle. “Good to see you too,” he said.

He was very glad to see his friends. They also comment how nice he looked and thanked them, saying he had some help getting his outfit together from a certain family. He turned around to see Yoko, who was with Yusho, giving him a thumbs up; he smiled back at her and gave her a thumbs up as well.

Now the dueling club was officially reunited.

Declan checked his Duel Disk to see what time is was. 8 PM. It was time for the dance to begin. He took a microphone so that he can make a special announcement to everyone attending the dance.

“Attention everyone,” Declan said. “I would like to thank you for attending tonight’s dance. I’m sure a lot of you are wondering why Leo Corporation is doing this for all of you, but wonder no longer. As you are probably aware, I have only invited former students from Heartland Duel School.”

He explained how their last dance was interrupted by Duel Academy when they invaded Heartland City. During that time, students realized he was right about what he was saying. During the Interdimensional War, people from Leo Corporation were turned into cards because the XYZ Dimension were confused as to who attacked them. Their confusion led to a grudge against the company because various members of LID were carded all because they were in the Fusion Summoning course. They all felt guilty about their past actions, but Declan reassured them it was okay; he knew how sudden and unexpected the Invasion was for everyone, especially for the former students.

He then went on to mention that putting the dance together was all Yuya’s idea; the Pendulum Duelist felt bad about what happened that fateful night and how Leo Corporation helped him set everything as a way to revive the lost smiles. Everyone cheered, applauded, and thanked Yuya for making this event possible. Although he wasn’t there physically, he saw how happy they were about attending the dance and was flattered with their thanks.

“There’s more,” Declan continued. “As we speak, my father, Leo Akaba, is currently working on making amends, as he takes full responsibility for causing the near destruction of the four dimensions. That is why I am pleased to announce that everyone in the XYZ Dimension will receive new clothing courtesy of Leo Corporation.”

Everyone’s faces were filled amazement; it felt like forever since they got to wear different clothes, especially since the clothing stores were pretty much destroyed. They all got excited after hearing the news.

Once all the announcements were made, it was time for the dance to officially start. “So Leo takes full responsibility for Zarc’s resurrection?” Yuya asked.

“Well I did give in as soon as I felt RinRin disappearing,” Yugo admitted.

He wasn’t wrong. If Leo hadn’t abducted the Bracelet Girls and fused them back into Ray, the whole Zarc incident wouldn’t have happened. But what matters now is everyone having an enjoyable time at the dance.

The band started playing music and everyone began to spend the greatest night of their lives. Some ate and drank, others danced to the songs, and the rest chatted with their friends. The dueling club talked about how they have stuff they should catch up on; after the whole Invasion fiasco, it would be nice to find some time to hang out with each other.

“Then Rella kicked that Ancient Gear Hound with her glass slipper-covered feet and reduced the Obelisk Force soldier’s life points to 0!” Sarah concluded.

Lulu laughed in amusement. “He must have been surprised that you defeated him using your Fairy Tails,” she said.

“He was,” Sarah said. “You should have seen the look on his face when I creamed him!”

Although Sarah rarely dueled, she uses a Fairy deck, consisting of not only Fairy Cheer Girl, but also Fairy Tail cards, with the XYZ monster Fairy Tail - Queen as her ace monster.

“So what have you been up to lately, Yuto?” Alex asked.

“Yuya wanted to give me, Yugo, and Yuri a tour of Paradise City a while ago,” Yuto explained. “One of the stops was a local museum, where I noticed an Egyptian exhibit featuring an ancient puzzle…or at least I think it was supposed to be an ancient puzzle. The only thing that was on display was a golden box.”

An ancient Egyptian puzzle? How odd. Rumor has it that the puzzle once belonged to a great pharaoh who was best known for sealing away the dark magic that caused special kinds of duels called Shadow Games. And now that magic hasn’t been on Earth’s surface for 5,000 years. Yuto remembered seeing something written in hieroglyphics on the golden box. It read: “The one who solves me shall gain the powers and knowledge of darkness…” He figured who that person could have been if they solved this puzzle. Perhaps a shy, game-loving high school boy who would’ve been destined for greatness…

“Has anyone tried to solve it?” Lulu asked.

“According to Yuya, a team of archeologists who discovered the puzzle mysteriously fell ill,” Yuto answered. “Since then, no one has dared to even touch the box containing the pieces.”

That piece of history didn’t sound too good. The gang pondered on what will happen if someone did try to solve the puzzle. Lulu didn’t like the thought of it; dealing with the Fusion Dimension after the Invasion was bad enough. The last thing she needed was someone unlocking the powers of darkness and bringing back these “Shadow Games” five millennia later. Yuto reassured her and the others that as long as the puzzle remains in the museum’s Egyptian exhibit, nothing bad will happen. Besides, they should focus more on enjoying this dance, which is exactly what they did.

“Then I guess it’s a good thing no one has solved the puzzle,” Lulu said, snuggling close to Yuto.

Yuto couldn’t help but lovingly look at his girlfriend snuggling next to him; it was really adorable to see her all snuggled up. He reached out his hand to pull her in close when something rather atypical happened. Instead of having it on Lulu’s hips, it accidentally went and touched her butt. A yelp escaped her mouth and an embarrassed Yuto quickly apologized; she forgave him, but mentioned it was unlike him to do something like that. She was right; Yuto is more of a gentleman and even he knows it, but what could’ve caused this unusual action? …Or who? He had a thought on who was responsible for this, and he is within Yuya’s shared mind.

“That was Yugo, wasn’t it?” Lulu asked.

Indeed, it was Yugo. But why did he do something like that? Yuto might need a moment with him. Whatever he did might lead to some new and awkward issues.

“Oopsie…” Yugo said. “Didn’t mean to do that.”

“Don’t be sorry, you moron!” Yuri exclaimed. “Can’t you see-”

“-you’re ruining the moment?!” Yuto immediately covered his mouth.

Whether it was accident or not, Yuto was clearly mad at Yugo for doing something so perverted. He was just having a nice time with his friends and girlfriend. Of all the times for a stupid “accident” to occur, it had to be tonight. Before he could scold at him more, the Synchro Duelist blurted out that he just saw Rin instead of Lulu less than a minute ago. That was oddly surprising to hear; actually, it was more odd than surprising. Yuto asked him to explain what he meant by that. This action may be the beginning of what could spell bad news for all eight counterparts in the near future.

Outside of the Yu-Salad’s shared mind, Sarah and Alex both wondered what their dark, dual-colored haired friend was up to. They knew it involved his counterparts, but they didn’t fully understand it; they were still new to this merge after all. It was a good thing Kite, Shay, and Lulu had a grasp on it, seeing they were more tangled in the Interdimensional War than the duo. They decided to have the rest of the dueling club help them answer the questions that left the two a little confused.

“Yugo…saw me?” Rin asked, amazed.

Zuzu noticed her blush wasn’t fading away. “I still feel weird,” she admitted.

Celina huffed in annoyance. “Give me a break,” she said. “There’s no way Lulu’s feelings for Yuto are actually transferring over to-”

But they were. It was indirect, but the signs were evident on the other six counterparts’ faces. Although Yuya, Zuzu, Yugo, and Rin like it, Yuri and Celina didn’t. Having feelings for someone who aided Leo in his conquest to fuse the dimensions by carding people? Preposterous! She couldn’t bear the thought of being in a romantic relationship with him; if it did happen, disaster would be waiting around the corner. The closest thing to a relationship she’ll ever have with him is a rivalry and it’ll remain like that.

The thoughts, however, couldn’t leave their minds. The thoughts of the other counterparts wearing formal wear was impossible to not think about. Zuzu with her hair down, donning a sleeveless, purple dress with several frills below the purple belt and a pair of flats. Rin having her short, apple green hair curled and wearing a two-piece pink dress—a sleeveless top exposing her midriff and a floor length bottom that splits near the knees—with white flats. Celina without her yellow-orange ribbon tying her hair back and having on a long and simple looking gray dress with a thin white ribbon tied around the lower torso and some heeled boots. The Yu-Salad sporting suits reflecting their personalities—Yuya having on a red tuxedo that gives off an impression of entertaining the audience, Yugo with a white suit based on his Turbo Dueling style and rather impulsive behavior, and Yuri wearing a more luxurious, purple suit that highlights his nobility. They were impossible to not think about.

Yuri chuckled a bit. “You’re trying to seduce me, aren’t you Miss Celina?”

“Celina?” Shay asked, sounding a bit concerned. The indigo-haired girl who saved him after his duel with Sora and rebelled against Duel Academy by joining the Lancers? Why would Yuto mention her all of a sudden? Unbeknownst to Yuri, he unintentionally made his XYZ counterpart say his line out loud.

That was when Yuya had an idea. “Yuto, you brought your deck with you,” he recalled, remembering how Yuto placed his deck in his jacket pocket before heading over to the dance. “Can you check it?”

“What for?” Yuto asked.

“I want to try a small experiment,” Yuya answered.

Yuto took out his deck and checked it like Yuya asked. He wondered what this “small experiment” is until he noticed his cards were jumbled, baffling him. Instead of a Phantom Kinghts deck, he now has a Performapal/Phantom Knights/Speedroids/Predaplant deck. How did Yuya, Yugo, and Yuri’s cards get mixed up with Yuto’s? This night feels like it keeps getting weirder and weirder.

“Whoa!” Yugo exclaimed. “Not bad.”

“Not bad?” Yuri repeated, getting miffed. “What are my lovely, elegant Predaplants doing with such pathetic cards?!”

“This happened once before,” Yuya explained, recalling how Yuto’s love for Lulu caused him to duel with Phantom Knights. “Our conflicting feelings for the girls are causing our decks to get mixed up.”

If that’s the case, then does the girls’ feelings for each boy also result in their decks getting mixed up as well? Yuto asked Lulu if she brought her own, but she said “no.” Of course, with Yuto’s jumbled deck for reference, it’s safe to assume this may have happened to the girls as well.

Yuto put his deck back in his jacket pocket. “But we shouldn’t worry about this problem now,” he said. “We should just enjoy the dance.”

He was right; the night was still young and the former students were enjoying themselves, so the best thing to do is to have fun as well and resolve this peculiar issue another time. Besides, they can’t let this night go to waste. Leo Corporation worked really hard to put Yuya’s genius idea together. The other dueling club members agreed to discuss this issue after the dance and proceeded to spend tonight having fun.

Some time later, everyone continued to celebrate with one another. It was also the perfect opportunity for them to reconnect, share past fun memories and create new ones. At one point, the band was taking their break as the students socialized, except Shay. He couldn’t stop thinking about what happened to Yuto and his counterparts earlier. He knew his friend and his younger sister were in love with each other, but he didn’t expect their love to be that strong. Did it inadvertently result in the rest of the Yu-Salad and Bracelet Girls to be put in some kind of trance? Whatever’s the case, he has to help them out. And he has just the song to fix it…

Shay checked to see if no one was looking, albeit the band since they were probably in their breakroom. He walked casually in order to make sure people became suspicious; a few seconds later, he snuck behind the stage. He looked at the main stage to find the speakers and saw them plugged in with the band’s musical instruments. Checking once again that no one would notice, he quickly unplugged them. He then took out his Duel Disk and a connector to plug it into the speaker. He went online to look up Yuto and Lulu’s song; it was called “Close To You” by The Carpenters. Found it, he thought once the first video in the search results showed up. He clicked on the video and—for a brief moment—the song played through the speakers. This will hopefully help all eight counterparts out.

Lulu let out a small gasp. “Yuto, this is our song!” she recalled.

“Indeed it is,” Yuto agreed. He placed one hand behind his back and he bowed slightly as he held out his other hand to Lulu. “May I have this dance, Ms. Obsidian?”

Lulu smiled softly. “Of course, Mr. Osaku,” she answered, intertwining her fingers with Yuto’s.

Together, Lulu Obsidian and Yuto Osaku danced to the melody of their song. Their gracefully fluid movements and well-timed choreography captivated the attendants. In the two XYZ users’ shared minds, the song seemed to have snapped Yuya, Zuzu, Yugo, Rin, Yuri, and Celina out of whatever trance they were in, mostly due to how each dimensional duo has a song that best suits them.

“Man, this song is too slow!” Yuya complained. “I’m outta here!”

“Me too!” Yugo said. “Besides, RinRin acts too much like a mother. There’s no way I can be attracted to that!”

“I was never attracted to Miss Celina in the first place,” Yuri agreed.

“Well…this is awkward,” Zuzu said, blushing hard. “We better give these two some privacy.”

“Yeah,” Rin replied. “I don’t even know what I was thinking. Yugo’s loud, rude, and disgusting. Why would I fall for that?”

“I’d rather go on a date with that Sylvio guy than fall for that cabbage-haired jerk,” Celina said in utter disgust.

And with that, the six counterparts retreated back into the shared minds, leaving Yuto and Lulu to spend the rest of the night with each other. Shay’s plan was a success. The two danced to the rest of “Close To You,” and everyone around them clapped and cheered for them; they pulled off one heck of a dance. Shay unplugged his Duel Disk from the speaker, plugged the instruments back right where they originally were, and exited through the backstage, with only a couple minutes to spare before the band returned from their break.

Even when the song came to an end, Yuto still held Lulu in his arms. “You smell nice,” he said.

Lulu responded by placing her left hand on Yuto’s cheek, her fingers briefly touching the stray light purple bang that hung in front of his eye. “And your hair feels a lot softer,” she replied.

Their eyes stared lovingly at each other as they embraced their cleaner features. Within a few seconds, their faces moved closer and closer until they locked lips, with Yuto’s hands on Lulu’s hips and Lulu still having one hand on Yuto’s cheek while the other rested on his shoulder. They were finally sharing their first kiss.

The rest of the former dueling club watched from a distance, with Kite smirking. “Well it’s about time,” he remarked.

Yuto and Lulu’s lips slowly moved apart after spending a few seconds locked up in their kiss. They looked back into their eyes before Lulu embraced Yuto in his arms.

“It’s been a long time since we had moments like this,” Lulu remarked, embracing Yuto’s warmth. “But you know this can’t last any longer.”

“I know,” Yuto agreed. “We’re each stuck with sharing a body with three other people.”

“But even though we were once whole, why does this feel so wrong?” Lulu admitted.

Yuto realized she was right. Several years ago, they were once Zarc and Ray; ever since the ARC-V incident, the souls of all eight counterparts were permanently fused into Yuya and Zuzu. Everything hasn’t been the same for them, especially for Yuto and Lulu. Despite having a great time at the dance, it doesn’t change the fact that they may never get a true happy ending.

Shay, while walking away from the stage, noticed overheard the duo’s conversation. Feeling bad for the two, he told them that Declan told him that Leo is currently working on a way to split them back to their original bodies. He said it requires a blood sample from each counterpart, but mentioned that it is still in progress and negative consequences may occur once it’s complete, so it was too soon to actually separate them.

“What?!” Yuto asked, releasing Lulu from the embrace. “Leo might be able to actually separate us?!”

“Declan told me it’s still in the works,” Shay repeated. “There’s a high risk of permanent memory loss or severe mental damage.”

“Then why don’t we just give Leo our blood samples?” Lulu asked.

“I don’t think it’s that easy,” Shay said. “Leo is probably using Arc-V, so he has to rewrite the machine-”

“I don’t care!” Yuto exclaimed, grabbing Shay by the throat. “I can’t stand being fused to three people! Let us speak to Leo, or I will break you in half!”

This was rather sudden. Yuto would never do something like this and that shocked Shay and Lulu. Veins started appearing on his face and his eyed turned yellow. Is Zarc trying to take over again? Lulu tried to calm her boyfriend down, but Declan arrived to explain what just happened. Apparently, this fit of violence is one of the side effects of being fused with the other counterparts. This worried Lulu, but was informed that this seemed to only happen with the Yu-Salad. The rest, however, applied to all of them. Their jumbled decks was also another side effect, as well as speaking in place of whoever was in control and the unexpected swaps.

Realizing that, Yuto recovered, his eyes changing back to grey and the veins disappearing. “Sorry,” he said, letting go of Shay.

“So can he actually do it?” Lulu asked. “Can Leo really separate us?”

“If this gets any worse, I’m afraid I will have to bring you to him,” Declan said. “Hopefully we can fix this before any mind merge occurs.”

“Mind merge?” Yuto asked, sounding concerned.

“Meaning that Zarc and Ray will gradually take over, erasing you eight from existence,” Declan explained.

The last bit of information was very worrisome. All eight counterparts each had different dreams for the future: Yuya and Zuzu want to continue their paths of being Dueltainers, Yugo and Rin also have similar paths as their Pendulum counterparts, but they want to be professional Turbo Duelists, and Celina and Yuri want to help improve Duel Academy. Lulu wants to be an actress, but Yuto is still unsure of what his dream is. Regardless, if nothing is done about this, Zarc and Ray will return, erasing the two’s incarnations from existence and their futures forever.

Lulu was in tears. “I hope Leo’s happy!” she exclaimed. “This whole mess started because he was too selfish to care about the lives of other people! If it wasn’t for him, I would have stayed in Heartland and worked on my dreams of becoming an actress!”

Yuto looked back at Lulu, who was on the brink of crying. He felt terrible that this was happening to the both of them. Suddenly, he thought of an idea; he was considering about remaining fused with Yuya while he, Yugo, and Yuri separate. He lost everything back at Heartland City that night, so this will give him a fresh new start. Living with the Sakakis and Sora already felt natural to him because Yoko reminds him a lot of his mother. The best part is with Yugo and Yuri splitting back to their own bodies means the risks of Zarc returning is reduced to zero.

“What if I said no?” Yuto asked.

“I beg your pardon?” Declan asked in response.

“I never considered any plans for my future,” Yuto explained. “And I ended up becoming an orphan with no home to go back to because of the Invasion. If I was to stay with the Sakakis, stay fused to Yuya, I can start fresh with a new family.”

“Are you crazy?” Lulu asked.

“Being fused to Yuya feels natural,” Yuto continued. “But with Yugo and Yuri being separated, Zarc won’t come back since all four of us are needed for the mind merge.”

“But Yuto, won’t you miss being in Heartland?” Shay asked.

“There’s nothing left for me there,” Yuto insisted. “No family, no house, no-”

“You could live with us,” Lulu bluntly suggested, carefully wiping away her tears to avoid smudging her makeup.

Live with the Obsidians? Even though they have to rebuild everything they lost, that idea is similar to Yuto’s, in terms of starting fresh with a new family and preventing Zarc’s return, but that means living with his girlfriend and having plenty of time to decide his dream for the future. Yuto actually liked her idea better than his own, although he admits that he will miss being fused with Yuya.

“She’s right,” Shay agreed. “Mother and father heard about you and they’re considering hiring you once ObsidianCorp is rebuilt.”

ObsidianCorp is a corporation led by co-bosses Kameron and Astra Obsidian, where they specialize in maintaining the nature of the city parks. Prior to the Invasion, the family wealth came from how the corporation did a fantastic job at keeping Heartland beautiful. Yuto was honestly not surprised about the Obsidians being wealthy because it could explain Shay and Lulu having rare and powerful cards, due to how powerful the Raidraptors are and how Assembled Nightingale can result in a one-hit KO for the opponent, and wearing incredibly fancy formal attires at their previous dance. Of course, restoring the company is essential for Heartland’s restoration; once that is complete, Yuto getting a job there can help out with figuring out his future.

“Really?” Yuto asked. “You’ll actually help me out?”

“You’re a friend,” Shay said. “And mother and father approve of how great of a person you are.”

“Plus ever since I told them about you, they started to work on wedding plans,” Lulu added.

Yuto officially decided to have his soul separated from Yuya’s once the time comes so that he can start anew back in Heartland. It sounds nice to be living with his friend and girlfriend’s family, especially knowing that they highly approve of their soon-to-be marriage, and working for their corporation.

“Alright,” Yuto said. “I’ll separate from Yuya.”

“Excellent,” Declan said. “I will inform my father that you know about his plan. I do suggest that you tell your counterparts about it.”

As Declan headed back to Henrietta, Yuto and Lulu informed the rest of the Yu-Salad and the Bracelet Girls in their shared minds about what has been happening and how Leo will try to fix it. They were gleeful about how they will finally be split back into their original bodies. They were also informed about the risks of severe mental damage or amnesia, but reassured them that their friends, family, and even Leo will be there to help them out. With that, the dueling club and the rest of Heartland Duel School’s former students spent the rest of the night enjoying the dance.

Looks like they may be getting their true happy ending after all…

#Arc V Aftermath #yugioh arc v #Yuya Sakaki #Zuzu Boyle #Yuzu Hiragi #FruitShipping #Yuto (arc v)#Lulu Obsidian #Ruri Kurosaki #FallenAngelShipping #Yugo (arc v)#Rin (arc v)#Yuri (arc v)#Celina (arc v)#Serena (arc v)#PredatorShipping

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