Mask

"Do you still have that mask?" Yusei quietly asked the young girl sitting besides him.

Akiza tilted her head slightly to the ground. She had no idea how the conversation had changed from school work to the legends of the Black Rose. "What if I do?" She responded to Yusei's question with one of her own, in a tone that was not intended to come off as so defensive as it did.

Still, Yusei's eyes were stricken with guilt. "Akiza, I didn't mean it like that. I was just wondering."

"It's alright, Yusei." Akiza cut him off with a soft smile. "I do have a piece of the mask. Right eye, actually. After you broke it when attacking me with Stardust during the Fortune Cup, that was the only piece I managed to grab before Sayer took me off the stage." Akiza pulled her knees up to her chest. "I kept it...because I wanted something to remind of the monster I never wanted to become again."

"Akiza." Yusei put a hand on Akiza's shoulder, wanting so badly to comfort her. "You know...that I'm always going to be here for you."

"I know, Yusei. I never understood why, but you just-"

Suddenly, Yusei pulled Akiza into his chest and wrapped his arms around her.

"You just tear my mask off." Akiza whispered into the embrace. Yusei's gestures of compassion and love were the most powerful things the young psychic had ever felt. The world just seemed to disappear and every problem running around in her head vanished. Akiza had no idea how he did it, but Yusei had his own special way of bringing out the real her.

"You know it's because I want to see your beautiful face, your stunning eyes and the person you truly are underneath all that plaster." Yusei commented in the most soothing and complementive voice.

Akiza lifted her head to meet Yusei's striking blue eyes. "Do I tear your mask off?" She asked with a hint of playful banter stringed in her question.

Yusei was quiet for a moment. He slowly lifted his hand and brushed back a loose strand of Akiza's hair. "When I'm with you, it's like I can't think straight. Reality is gone and all I see is you. You surly take away that calm and collective attitude I've worked so hard to maintain."

Akiza could not help but laugh. It was flattering for Yusei say such things about her.

"I knew I started falling for you when I first saw you without your mask." He added, thinking back to the moment he stepped in front of the Black Rose.

"Really?"

"Of course."

Akiza closed her eyes and let out a happy sigh. "I've got you under my spell."