Yuto woke up gasping for air. What was he doing again? Why couldn't he remember?

Where was he?

He looked around the entirely white space he seemed to occupy alone.

What is this place? He thought.

"I really wish you guys wouldn't do this."

Yuto startled and turned around from his place on the ground. He looked up to see a boy, looking around 14 like himself. His eyes were crimson and framed by dual-colored green and crimson hair. He was wearing a school uniform of some kind with the jacket thrown over his shoulders like a cape. Laying on top of his orange shirt was an oddly familiar pendant. In fact, everything about this boy seemed familiar, like his very being resonated with an empty space inside Yuto.

But the most peculiar feature on this boy was his face.

He had Yuto's face.

"Who-"

"Am I?" the boy finished for him, a small smile gracing his lips. Yuto felt that space inside him stir when he saw it. He had a feeling that this boy should always be smiling.

The boy seemed to think about the question playfully before responding. "You won't remember when you leave here anyway, so I guess it won't matter. My name is Yuya. Nice to meet you, Yuto."

The boy, Yuya, held out his hand to Yuto, most likely to help him to his feet. With an unusually small amount of hesitation, Yuto grasped it. When he grabbed the offered hand, Yuto felt that space inside him swell before settling.

Like Yuto had just found a piece of himself he never realized was missing.

"Wait, how do you know my name? I don't remember ever telling you what it was."

Yuya's smile turned sad, just for a moment, before returning to its previous brilliance.

"No, you wouldn't remember that, would you? You may not remember Yuto, but you told me your name a long, long time ago." Yuya then turned around, just in time to watch a brilliant light envelope the white space the two of them stood in. Yuto had no time to cover his eyes and was instead blinded by the light. Black spots danced in front of his eyes as he tried to rub them away.

As the light finally died down, in its place was another boy, this one wearing a white, red rimmed biking suit and with dual-colored hair of yellow and blue.

The new boy blinked his eyes, trying to adjust them to the brightness of the white space they were all in. He then turned to look in Yuto and Yuya direction, surveying his surroundings, he revealed a pair of green-blue eyes on another familiar face.

They were now three-for-three in look-alikes.

"Where am I?! Who are you two?! What is this place?! Where's Rin?!"

He was a bit too loud for Yuto's tastes, but Yuya seemed to take the new boy's volume and exuberance in stride, walking up to him and offering the boy a hand to stand as he did for Yuto.

"Good to see you haven't lost that enthusiasm, Yugo. Rin's been making sure you haven't gotten into too much trouble, right?" Yuya asked with a smile.

Yugo, apparently unphased by Yuya's knowledge of his life, grasped the latter's hand and allowed himself to be brought over to Yuto's spot in the white space.

"Eh? Oh, yeah, she's kneed me dozens of times to stop me from picking fights. She's the best, isn't she?" Yugo responded with a smile that revealed just how much the boy loved this "Rin" person. Most definitely a crush, then.

Yugo looked around the space after a few moments and, as if suddenly remembering he didn't realize where he was, asked, "Where are we anyway? And who are you two?"

"Well, my name is Yuya, and the quiet one is named Yuto. To answer your other question, we're in the Bridge Between." Yuya replied.

The Bridge Between, Yuto thought, that explains literally nothing.

"Where's that supposed to be?" Yugo asked, "I've never seen it on any maps at school, though, I didn't really pay much attention to geography. Maths was always my better subject."

Yuya looked like he was about to respond before he turned around once more. "Hang on just a sec, we still have one more person."

Then the "Bridge Between" filled with a bright light once again. Yuto, expecting the light this time, covered his eyes just in time. Yugo, on the other hand, got an eye full of the light and cried out in frustration and pain.

When the light finally went away, yet another boy sat on the ground. Like the rest of the people in this white space, he had two-toned hair, violet with pink underneath, which framed a pair of purple eyes and yet another familiar face.

If another person with my face shows up, I swear I'm gonna lose it.

Yuya walked over to the other boy, his movements a bit more cautious this time. All the same, he held his hand out to the other, a smile ever present on his face.

"Are you alright, Yuri?" Yuya asked, his eyes searching the other's face for a reaction.

Yuri looked at Yuya and his outstretched hand in suspension before cautiously grasping it, allowing himself to be helped up.

"And who might you be? Some guy who liked my face so much you decided to copy it?"

Yuya just chuckled, the previous tension in his stance now gone. "Just as blunt as usual, aren't you?" The two of them walked back over to Yuto and Yugo, who by now had his sight back after the light blinded him.

"Hey, pinky! I asked my question first! Wait your turn!" Yugo yelled at the other.

Yuri looked at Yugo, clearly unimpressed, glancing at Yuto, before turning his attention back to Yuya. "So, tomato head, where are we?"

Yugo, clearly not happy with being ignored, started steaming from the ears, looking ready to strangle the other boy.

Yuya stepped between them, his ever present smile tinted with what appeared to be nostalgia as he tried to calm down the irate Yugo. "I was going to answer your question first anyway, Yugo, no need to get upset. Yuri, could you resist the urge to set Yugo off for at least a few minutes while I explain everything?"

And to Yuto's astonishment, the two boys seemed to listen to Yuya. Yugo stopped his advancement towards Yuri, huffing in irritation but doing nothing else, and Yuri simply nodded in acquiesce towards the red and green boy.

Maybe they're feeling the same connection to Yuya as I am.

Yuya's smile seemed to grow even more as he gestured in another direction. "Then let's have a seat and I'll answer all of your questions."

Suddenly, the empty white space wasn't so empty anymore, as a small covered patio appeared with a small marble table and four matching chairs. The whiteness of the "Bridge" was no longer so white, as the scenery changed to that of a never ending garden, covered in flowers and trees and smelling of nature at its purest. Though there was no sun in sight, the sky was as blue as it would look in midday, and a gentle breeze ruffled Yuto's hair.

The three boys who appeared in light looked to one another in thought before following Yuya to sit underneath the patio's shade.

Yuya looked at the three boys in front of him, a joyous smile plastered onto his face. He looked so happy to have the other three with him, Yuto observed.

"So, as Yugo asked earlier, you are in the Bridge Between. My name is Yuya and I'm the Bridge keeper. As the name suggests, one of the Bridge Between's main functions is to act as a bridge between life and death."

"Life and death? Are you saying that we're dead?" Yuto asked, baffled at the thought. He didn't remember dying.

"I bet you don't remember dying, do you Yuto? Yugo and Yuri, too?" Yuya looked at the other boys in askance. With a little hesitation, the three of them nodded.

"Other than Rin, I don't remember anything." Yugo said.

"All I remember was that I needed to water the lilies today." Yuri replied.

Yuto chimed in as well, saying, "All I remember is that I was supposed to duel with my friends later."

Yuya nodded in confirmation. "I would like to tell you that this is normal for souls who come to the Bridge, but in all honesty, you three will be the first in multiple regards." Yuya smiled shyly, a small blush coloring his cheeks.

Yugo, looking fearful, asked, "What does that mean? Is there something wrong with us?!"

"No, no, there's nothing wrong, per say. It's just that, well, you three show up here more often than any other soul, so I guess your souls are acting like a kind of "preview" for what will happen to the other souls that come here."

"What do you mean by us "showing up here more often than any other soul"? I thought once you go to heaven, you stay there." Yuri said, skepticism clear in his tone.

Yuya quickly shook his head, "Oh no, the Bridge isn't "heaven," Yuri. Frankly, I don't think there is a "heaven" in this dimension. Maybe it would be better to say that the Bridge Between acts as a bridge between death and rebirth. You die, your soul comes here, and after enough time has passed, your soul is reborn into another body, all memories of your previous life forgotten."

"So, when you say that we "show up here more often," you're actually saying that we die more often than other people? Is that why you said, "I wish you guys wouldn't do this." You meant you were tired of us dying all the time and showing up here?" Yuto asked.

Yuya looked down at the marble table, his hair hiding his eyes. "It's not that I'm tired of you three coming here. It's just upsetting that you three don't have the chance to live out your lives down there. You all ended up dying really young this time around."

"You know how we died, Yuya?!" Yugo asked, his curiosity evident in his increased volume.

Yuya nodded, looking up at the three of them. "I'll try and see if I can help you remember, if that's what you want. Frankly, I think it'd be better if you never remembered. You won't remember when you're reborn anyway."

"Will we remember the next time we come here," Yuri asked.

Yuya started, looking caught off guard by the question. "Uh, actually, you might. Usually, when souls appear here, they take the form of a ball of light and mist. They have no actual form to speak of. Over the past few rebirth, though, your souls started taking on more human features. You were still wispy and made of light, but you had shape. Then, during your last visit, you three looked like this, fully clothed and colorful. But you didn't speak. It honestly scared me. Even though the souls lack mouths to speak, all of them have the capacity and most of them do. I was worried something had happened to your souls so I panicked and ended up sending you back sooner than usual. From the looks of things, though, it looks like there was no lasting damage. Based on the few memoires you do have, your memory is still there, just stuck behind a wall of some kind. I think it was just your soul's way of protecting them while it's form changed."

"I don't really get what you meant by all that, but I think what you're saying is that all we need to do is break down this wall and we'll have all the memories of all our past lives?" Yugo questioned, looking at Yuto like he was already trying to break down whatever burier was in his memories.

Yuya quickly reached over to grab Yugo's hand, gaining the other's attention. His smile was shaky as he spoke.

"I'd recommend you do this slowly and carefully, Yugo. If you break that wall too much, all your memories from all of your past lives may come flooding out at once. I don't know nor do I ever want to find out what happens when a soul overloads like that."

Yugo looked at Yuya in awe and slowly nodded his head.

Why do I get the feeling that this is the first time someone other than that "Rin" person has ever been able to slow this guy down once he gets excited. Yuto thought.

Yuya smiled, the worry in his expression fading. He looked to Yuto and the other boy, Yuri. "You two should try to get past the wall, too. We just want to remember the most recent life, okay? We'll see if you guys can remember the others later."

Yuto nodded and closed his eyes. He concentrated on the blank space in his mind, where he was certain his memories were hidden. As he concentrated, he felt himself hit a wall in his mind. Yuto began to slowly push against the wall, feeling it bend slightly but it refused to go any further.

"Imagine yourself holding a small hammer and nail," Yuto heard Yuya's voice through the blackness of his mind.

Doing as he was told, Yuto imagined a hammer and nail appearing in his hands. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the items appeared.

"Now," Yuya's voice continued, "make a hole in the wall using the nail. Remember, we don't want the hole to be too big. Just large enough for the memories of your past lives to flow out like a small leak in a building."

Yuto nodded, and began hammering the nail into the invisible wall. After he got it all the way in, he used the back of the hammer to pull out the nail. As soon as the nail was removed, water began flowing out of the hole.

"That water represents your memories, okay? Just think about wanting to remember you past life, and touch the water. Your soul will do the rest."

Yuto reached out and touched the small stream. Suddenly, flashes of images ran over his eyes.

He saw himself, as a small child, building a sand castle in the park's sandbox. He saw himself dueling his friends from school, with Dark Rebellion as his ever present partner. He saw himself watch in awe as Dark Rebellion appeared for the first time on the Real Solid Vision field.

Then, he saw himself walking home with friends from school. He saw a little girl run out into the street, chasing after a cat. He saw the car speeding down the road, the driver looking at his phone, unaware of the child in his way. Yuto watched as he dropped his school bag and ran to the girl. He saw as he pushed the girl out of harm's way, just as the car collided with his body. Finally, he saw his friends running to him, one of them on their phone calling the police. He saw the blood on the ground underneath his cracked skull. Then, everything went black.

Yuto's eyes snapped open.

So that's how I died. He thought.

Yuto looked at the two others who were searching their memories. Their eyes, too, were open. Yugo was silently crying and Yuri looked pained, trying to keep his tears from spilling. When Yuto reached up to touch his face he found that he, too, had been silently crying at his own death.

Yuya looked at the three of them, a sad smile on his face. "So you all were able to get past the wall to your memories, right? You weren't too overwhelmed, I hope?"

Yuto looked at the other before slowly shaking his head. No, he wasn't overwhelmed, just saddened. He had been 14 when he died, not even in highschool yet.

"I can see why you recommended only one past life at a time," Yuri said, "anything more and I don't think I could have taken it. Witnessing one death per visit is enough for me." The purple eyed boy shrugged.

Yugo completely gave up trying to be silent with his tears. His head fell forward into his arms on the table and covered them with his tears.

His death must have been pretty bad.

Yuya reached across the table to place a comforting hand on the other's back. As he confronted Yugo, the crimson eyed Bridge keeper turned to Yuto and Yuri.

"Do you have any more questions? I'll answer as well as I can."

"Why do you look like us?" Yuri asked, the question seeming to catch Yuya off guard. "Does your appearance change to look like the souls you're going to interact with, or something?"

Yuya gave a sheepish smile to them in response.

Guess Yuri was right. Yuto thought. Yuri continued to look at the other boy before he slowly nodded.

They spent the next few minutes in silence as Yuya confronted the distraught Yugo, whispering comforting words into the other's ears. It took some time but soon, Yugo was back to his, apparently, normal self, if a bit mellowed.

"So, when will we be sent back?" Yuto asked, wondering how much longer it would take for them to be reborn.

"Oh, it shouldn't take that long. Time flows differently on the Bridge than down on Earth. You'll be reborn soon enough!" Yuya said, standing up and making his way to the small clearing by the patio. He turned to face them with the flare of a professional performer.

Yuya reached behind him, pulling out a deck of regular cards. The cards seemed to jump from one hand to the other as he shuffled them.

"How about I entertain you guys while we wait?"

Yuto couldn't find it in himself to deny the request.

AN: Only the first chapter and I already hate how I've written it. Ugh.

Yuya acts weird because he knows stuff they don't and would rather they never find out. Yuya never actually confirmed or denied Yuri's assumption on his appearance, which is why Yuri was still looking at him in suspicion before he just accepted it. The boy's got secrets, I tell you.