"The Rose Duelist"

A Yu-gi-oh Fanfic

By: Seto's Princess

(Partially based on the story from "The Duelists of the Roses" for PlayStation2)

Disclaimer – I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or The Duelists of the Roses.

IMPORTANT MEMO! 8/10/05: I made a few tiny changes to everything from chapters 1 to 8… They are tiny changes, so you do not necessarily have to read them over, but you could if you like.

Chapter 1 – Maki Kaichi

Maki Kaichi, now seventeen years old, suddenly appeared, out of nowhere, in the middle of a park in a town a few miles away from Domino City. She looked around and it took her a while to realize that she was finally home after three years. She did not want to be here, in her hometown. Some people started to stare at her as though they had seen her somewhere before but could not remember where. It was a beautiful summer afternoon. She glanced down at the only thing she was holding in her hand – a white rose. A tear rolled down her cheek as she softly whispered to herself, "Rosenkreuz..."

Maki knew the town well. Even though she had been gone for three years, she knew her way around. After walking for a few minutes, she finally reached her house. 'I wonder how my parents will react when they see that I'm finally home' she thought. Her belt had two small pouches hanging from it; one held her duel deck and the other held her house keys. She reached for her keys but hesitated. 'Maybe I should ring the bell to make sure they're home' she thought.

Maki rang the doorbell to the one family home and waited for someone to open the door. Somewhere inside the house, a young girl shouted, "I'll get it!" The little girl opened the door; she was about seven years old.

"Hello. Who are you?" she asked Maki.

"Um… I um…" Maki replied. 'Who are you? Isn't this my house?' she thought.

"Who is it, Kiki?" called her mother as she walked towards the door.

"Hello. May I help you?" the mother asked Maki.

Maki finally found the words she was trying to say. "Um, excuse me, but isn't this the Kaichi household?"

"Kaichi?" replied the mother. "They moved out a year ago."

"What? They moved out? And they didn't wait for me to come back?" Maki was starting to get worried. How could her parents just leave without her?

Kiki's mother glanced at Maki with a strange look on her face. "Is something wrong?"

"What? Oh, no. I'm so sorry to bother you! Goodbye!" Maki then made a run for it.

Before she knew it, she had reached a small Japanese restaurant a few blocks away. One of the best friends of Maki's family owned it. She gently opened the door and stepped inside. There was no one inside. The place looked very different from how Maki remembered it. The floor was still made of marble but it was black and white in a checkerboard style. The walls were a light shade of green, no longer maroon, as they once had been.

Maki walked up to the counter and called out, "Excuse me? Is anyone here? Mrs. Shuka? Hello?"

"Yes? Who's there?" a woman in her late twenties replied as she walked towards the counter from the kitchen behind it. Once she saw Maki, she stood frozen to the spot but she could still speak.

"M-Maki? Maki Kaichi? No. It's not possible! You… disappeared… without a trace… three years ago! You can't be Maki! Or… can you?" The woman was still in shock and called out to her husband, "Ichiro! Ichiro! Come over here!"

A man with blond spiked hair came out from the kitchen and, like his wife, froze at the sight of the seventeen-year-old girl.

"Oh… my… G-" he began when Maki interrupted him by saying, "It's nice to see you guys too…"

"Is it really you?" Ichiro asked.

"Yep, it's me," replied Maki.

"Prove it. Show us our favorite cards," said Mrs. Shuka.

Maki put the white rose in her pocket, making sure that only the stem was inside, took out her dueling deck from her belt pouch, and started to search for Mr. and Mrs. Shuka's three favorite cards. She found the first, Mrs. Shuka's favorite, Dunames Dark Witch; then Mr. Shuka's favorite, Barrel Dragon; and finally the favorite of both, the Raigeki magic card. These cards were not rare, but Maki was the only one in town who had all three cards together. In addition, Maki was the only one who knew what their favorite cards were. After all, she was their favorite duelist.

"It is you!" Mrs. Shuka cried out as she ran over to hug Maki. "Where have you been these three years?"

"It's very hard to explain, and you would probably think I'm crazy if I told you anyway. Do you know where my parents moved to?" Maki asked them.

TBC…

Please Review! Thanks for all your support! I love all my reviewers! Byebye! By the way, Seto is 16, but he will be 17 in this story.