"AH!" I moaned in pain.

I'm so scared… I never thought this would happen…

"Come on, Yuma, quit squirming. It'll hurt even more if you don't stay still…" And I never thought that this would happen with… him…

My arms and legs are tied to the bedposts of the bed he and I were on. He grabbed my head with one hand, while the other was pinching my erect nipples. His tongue was wrestling with mine, and he was winning. He jammed himself into me with so much force that I wish I could die just to end it. Please… someone save me… from…

…Kite…

~x-X-x~

Tori looked over at her best friend with a worried look on her face. Yuma had dozed off in class once again, and, of course, that was nothing new, but it looked like Yuma was having a bad nightmare, given the way he was softly moaning, sweating, and twitching uncomfortably in his sleep. Finally, she knew she had to wake him up when she heard a loud gasp coming from him.

"Yuma, wake up!" she whispered into his ear, shaking his shoulder. "Come on, Yuma, wake up!"

Yuma's eyes widened and he fell from his seat, screaming, "STAY AWAY!" so loudly that he grabbed the attention of everyone in the room. They all turned to face the frightened boy with weird looks on their faces.

"Yuma, I know this is usually your nap time, and I'm done trying to make you pay attention at this point, but please don't disrupt the other students," Mr. Kay said, not even turning around from the board to see him.

Yuma looked up from the floor. "Y-Yes sir…" he stuttered. He was about to get up and bow to him, but then he realized a certain bulge in his pants and quickly situated himself back in his seat, before anyone could notice, sitting perfectly still and upright, though deep down, he was terrified. That same nightmare had been haunting him for weeks and nothing he tried got rid of it. It was almost it was trying to tell him that the dream was destined to come true eventually.

"Yuma, are you ok?" Tori asked, worriedly. "You've been having nightmares for weeks now. You usually sleep right through Mr. Kay's class."

Yuma faked a smile and looked at Tori. "Oh yeah, I'm, uh, just fine…" he replied, but Tori knew something was up.

Normally, Yuma would sleep through Mr. Kay's class and not so much as stir in his sleep, but for a few weeks now, Yuma had been having some sort of nightmare every day and he'd wake up, screaming. She'd tried multiple times to get Yuma to tell her what it was that was bothering him, but every time he'd find some strange, unbelievable excuse to leave. She was deeply worried about her friend.

~x-X-x~

After class, Yuma made his way to the gang's normal spot up on the roof for lunch, very relieved that his erection had subsided. He saw that everyone was already there, waiting for him.

"Oh, hey, guys…" he said, taking his usual seat next to Tori and getting out his lunch box. "What's up?"

"Yuma, I think we need to talk…" Tori started.

Yuma was about to take a bite of rice from his lunch, but then put it down and looked at his friend. "Uh, sure… what did you want to talk about, Tori?

"Yuma," Bronk started, "we're worried about you."

"…W-What about, guys?"

"Yuma, you've been having nightmares every day for almost a month. I think it's time you told what they've been about," Flip suggested.

Yuma blushed and waved his hands around. "H-Hey, it's nothing… really, it'll go away soon, I promise!"

"Yuma… it's not healthy to keep everything bottled up," Cathy stated.

Caswell nodded. "Nightmares won't go away until you tell someone what they're about. We want to help you, so please tell us what's going on with you," he said.

Yuma shook his head. "Nope! You guys don't need to trouble yourselves with my problems, especially ones that'll go away on their own…"

Tori sighed. "Alright, Yuma, if you're not going to tell us about it, just tell me this…" she looked him in the eye. "Yuma, have you been having the exact same nightmare over and over again?"

Yuma looked down. "Yeah…"

"Have you been having the nightmares at home as well?"

"Yeah…"

"…Are you scared by the nightmares, Yuma?"

Yuma looked up and gave off a cocky laugh. "Me? Scared? HAHA, I'm Yuma Tsukumo, I'm not scared of-"

"Honestly, Yuma," Tori interrupted.

Yuma lost all of his cockiness at his friend's tone and cradled his knees. "…Yeah…" he whispered.

Astral suddenly appeared next to Yuma. "Yuma, if you're scared then I suggest you tell your friends about those nightmares you've been having about Kite," he said. "If they truly are your friends, then they'll help you overcome this obstacle."

Yuma blushed brightly and turned to face Astral. "HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THEM?!" he screamed.

"Yuma, since we've been linked, I can see into your dreams. And I can't believe you imagine Kite would hurt you so bad… is that why that body part in your pants gets thicker and harder every time you have that dream? Does that happen when you get scared or hurt?"

Yuma blushed so brightly that smoke was actually coming out of his ears. "NEVER SPEAK ABOUT THAT AGAIN, ASTRAL!" he yelled, embarrassedly.

The rest of the gang stared blankly at their loud friend, trying to figure out what the heck he and Astral were talking about. Although judging by his expression, they assumed it was about his nightmares and Astral was asking him questions he'd really rather not answer.

"Um, Astral…" Tori said, trying to speak directly to Astral, instead of using Yuma for a sort of "Astral-communicator" like usual because she knew he hated that. "I think you should let us handle it, no offense, but I don't think you're making it better for him…"

Astral nodded turned to Yuma. "Tell Tori that I will respect her wishes and let the others handle this," he said before disappearing into Yuma's key.

Yuma sunk deeper into his position, burying his still blushing face once again. "Astral's gone…" he muttered.

"Then come on, Yuma, you know you're miserable. If you won't tell all of us, at the very least, talk to one of us about it! I'm your best friend, Yuma, I tell you everything… please, Yuma, tell me about this…"

Yuma remained silent for a while, contemplating whether or not he should tell Tori about what, or rather who, he was so scared, and attracted, of. Like she said, Tori is his best friend and they told each other everything… well, almost everything. He never told Tori that he secretly… liked other guys. Half the time, when Tori was spilling her guts out to Yuma about some boy she was crushing on, roughly 7 times out of 10, Yuma had or was having a crush on the same guy as well. He'd never told her about how many times he's thought about a different number of boys… especially one boy in particular, one that had blonde hair with green bangs and the absolute love of Yuma's life.

Then again, Tori is Yuma's best friend after all. No matter what, she always stood by him, and she cared about him more than anyone, even more than his family at times. She would always be there for him.

"Yuma…"

"Alright… I'll tell you…" Yuma finally answered.

Tori smiled. "Really?"

Yuma looked up from his legs and nodded. "Come by after school and I'll let you know… only you though…"

Tori nodded back. "Of course…" She wrapped her arms around the boy and held him tightly. "Don't worry, Yuma, I'll help you get through this… I promise…"

The rest of lunch was spent as the gang normally did: eating and dueling each other. Although, Yuma didn't partake in either and gave his food to Bronk and Caswell, he just sat there against the wall with his arms and legs covering his face. Tori saw that whatever Yuma was going through, it had to be bad, because it was now messing up several different parts of his life at this point. Yuma hadn't slept through a class in weeks without waking up, screaming, he hadn't been eating, and he hardly ever dueled anymore. This was bad, and Tori was determined to find out what was making her friend's behaviour act so unnatural, more so now than ever.

~x-X-x~

After school, Yuma and Tori made their way over to Yuma's house. Yuma didn't even get drowsy once in class for the rest of the day, which only worried Tori more. As soon as they arrived at Yuma's house, they went straight up to his room, making sure not to arouse suspicion from his sister and grandmother. The two made their way up to the attic above Yuma's room, just for that much more privacy. Yuma took a seat in his hammock, while Tori sat down on one of the boxes.

After Yuma told Astral to stay within the confines of his key, Tori looked up at him. "Alright, Yuma, are you ready to tell me what's been bothering you?" she asked.

Yuma sighed. "No, but… I will anyway…" he laid back in his hammock and looked up at the ceiling. "Well, here goes… for the past few weeks, I've been having nightmares every time I fell asleep, you know that much, right?" Tori nodded. "Well… they've been about a certain person…"

Tori grinned. "Oh, I get it now… You've been having dreams of a girl you like shooting you down in front of the whole school right?" she asked, adding in a chuckle

Yuma shook his head. "Not even close, Tor… They've actually been about Kite…"

Tori's grin disappeared and she gave her friend a confused look. "Kite?"

Yuma nodded. "Yeah… in my dreams, he… he's…" Yuma felt his face heat up and tears starting to form in his eyes, "…he's raping me…"

Tori gasped. She certainly wasn't expecting that, not even close. "Really? You dream that kite is raping you? Yuma, I… I honestly don't know what to say to that…" she looked down at the ground. Tori was almost in shock. She wanted to help her friend, but she didn't exactly know how to respond to her best friend having dreams about another boy raping him.

"But… the scary thing is, is that… I like it, Tori…" Yuma started to tear up and he huddled his knees again. "I'm gay, Tori… and I-I love Kite…"

"Yuma…"

Yuma's sobbing could easily be heard by Tori. "Please don't hate me, Tori… please… I know I'm a… a pervert for liking something so wrong, but please don't hate me!" he mumbled through his sobs. "Y-You're the one person I care about more than anyone, except for Kite, and I couldn't stand losing you…"

Tori stood up and walked over to her friend. "Yuma… please, don't beat yourself up about this. I don't hate you, I could never hate you."

Yuma looked up at her, his eyes bright red from all of the crying he'd done. "R-Really?"

Tori nodded. "Of course, Yuma. I'm… a little shocked to find out all of this, that you love Kite, and you dream of him… doing that to you, but I don't hate you. If you love Kite, I don't mind, really."

Yuma did his best to wipe away the tears in his eyes, but they just kept coming. He tried to smile, but he couldn't even fake one. He was just that upset about all of this, and Tori could see it. She was worried that Yuma was going to continue beating himself up over this whole thing, and continue with the nightmares, if she didn't do something to help him… and soon.

~x-X-x~

The rest of the time Tori spent at the Tsukumo household was used for Yuma to vent out his feelings for Kite, and why he loved him. Yuma couldn't really explain it, but ever since he first dueled Kite, it was almost "love at first sight"… or in this case, "love at first fight." He loved how skilled Kite was, to nearly have beaten him so easily.

Tori left just after Yuma was called down for supper by his sister. She had convinced Kari to let Yuma eat in his attic, knowing that Kari and their grandmother would question how upset Yuma looked and how red his eyes were, so she brought it up to him and gave him a warm hug goodbye, before Kari could see him.

The greenette walked through the park, on her way back to her house, sighing in discontent. "What am I going to do about Yuma?" she asked herself. "He'll keep getting worse and worse, unless I can somehow get him to feel better, but how? How?!" She took a seat on bench and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to come up with an answer for this problem.

Suddenly, an idea came to her. If Yuma's nightmares were a result of his feelings for Kite, maybe she could convince Kite himself to help him! If she could just talk to Kite, then maybe she could convince him to at least talk to Yuma, and if he happened to feel the same way, then all the more better!

"But how am I going to find him?" she asked herself once again.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw a shadow passing over her. She looked up, but there weren't any clouds in the sky to cause a shadow. But that was when she looked closer into the sky and saw none other than Kite, with the assistance of Orbital, flying high across the dusk sky.

Tori knew that this was possibly her only chance to see and talk to Kite before he disappeared again, so she got up from the bench and ran as fast as her legs could carry her in the direction Kite was flying in. She was going to catch up with Kite if it was the last thing she'd ever do!

~x-X-x~

It took a while, but Tori had finally caught up with Kite, who had just collected a Number card from some random man that was now passed out on the ground. The two of them were now standing in a dark ally, while Tori was trying to get her breath back from running so much.

Kite gave Tori an annoyed glare. "What do you want, you little pest?" he asked, rudely. "If you don't have anything to say, then leave me alone. I have to obtain more Numbers." He turned around and started to walk away, Orbital following not far behind.

Tori panted for a short while before she finally had enough air in her lungs to speak. "Kite… wait... I need you… to talk… to Yuma…" she said in between her breaths of air.

Kite stopped in his tracks when he heard Yuma's name being mentioned. "…What about Yuma?" he asked, his back still turned to her.

"M-Master K-K-Kite?" Orbital stuttered, confused by his master's actions.

Tori took one more deep breath before she finally had enough air to speak clearly. "Kite… he's been having nightmares for weeks… and they're interfering with his life."

Kite huffed. "And how is this my problem, exactly?"

Tori clenched her fists. "Because, those nightmares are about you, you jerk!" she screamed angrily.

Tori's tone was enough to make Kite turn around to at least look her in the eye… though it was more of a glare in his case. He was slightly intrigued by this conversation.

Tori felt a small bit of guilt in her stomach for telling someone about Yuma's nightmares, after he told her not to tell anyone about them, but this is for Yuma's sake, and she pushed that guilt down so she could deal with it later. "Kite… Yuma has been in love with you ever since he first dueled you." Tori was too dizzy from all of the running to see that Kite had a subtle streak of pink running across his face, and Orbital just assumed that his sensors needed to be checked up. "I'm not asking you to love him back or anything, but please, at least go talk to him."

Kite scoffed and looked away. "Why should I? It's not like Yuma ever did anything for me, other than get in my way of collection Numbers for Hart."

Tori's fists were clenched even tighter. "'Why should I?' That's all you have to say about this? Don't you even care that someone who loves you more than anything else in the world is miserable?!"

Kite turned around again, readying himself for another take off. "Look, just because that annoying brat has feelings for me, doesn't mean it's any of my business. So leave me alone and get lost."

Tori growled in a way that would make any normal person run in fear. Yuma was her best friend, the one person she trusted more than anyone, and she wasn't about to let this guy go without a fight. "Alright, if you won't go talk to him by choice, I'll make you go by force!" She dropped her backpack and opened it up, pulling out a pink-boarded Duel Pad, a Duel Gazer, a deck and a Wrist deck holder. She slid the Wrist Holder onto her wrist and placed her deck inside. "Duel Disk, go!" She threw the Duel Pad into the air and it quickly changed forms to become a Duel Disk, then attaching to her Wrist Holder. Afterwards, she put on her Duel Gazer. "Duel Gazer, let's role!" Finally, she gave Kite an angered and determined look. "Duel me, Kite! Right here, right now!"

Kite let out an arrogant laugh. "You must be kidding me. You, duel me? That's a good one."

"I'm not kidding, Kite! If you beat me, I'll leave you alone and you can do what you want, but if I win, you go talk to Yuma immediately and don't leave until he feels better!" Tori felt herself feeling a lot like Yuma over her challenge. She'd almost never dueled before, and she was going up against someone who had beaten so many powerful duelists, like Shark and, almost, Yuma, but she was doing it to make her friend feel better and she felt proud to do it.

Kite smirked. "Alright, but it'll be your funeral. Orbital, now!"

"Y-Yes Master K-Kite!" Orbital's head opened up, shooting out a glowing ring, which attached to Kite's wrist in the shape of his Duel Disk.

"Go! Photon Transformation!" Kite's outfit began glowing before being changed from black to white. His left eye changed as well, the outside of which had been colored with a blue streak around it. The blonde gave off a confident smirk. "Alright, girly, I hope you're ready to lose." Tori glared at him.

"Duel!" They both shouted, drawing 5 cards from their deck in the process.

(Tori LP: 4000)

(Kite LP: 4000)

"You know, to be fair, I'll give you the first move, since you're a girl," Kite boasted with a cocky smile.

Tori huffed. 'Man, what does Yuma see in this jerk?' she thought. "How sweet… It's my move, I draw!" she picked up the top card of her deck and looked over all of them. "I summon Fairy Archer in attack mode!"

In mere seconds, a hologram of a fairy-like monster appeared on the field in front of Tori. She was dressed in a blue, full-body suit with various white frills and a skirt made of leaves, had red hair tied back behind her head and two pairs of yellow wings with red borders, and carried a golden bow.

(Fairy Archer: Level 3. ATK/1400 DEF/600. EFFECT: Once per turn, you can inflict 400 points of damage to you opponent for each face-up LIGHT monster you control. You can't attack with this card if you use this effect. Only one "Fairy Archer" can use its effects per turn.)

"And guess what? Once per turn, Fairy Archer can hit the opponent with 400 points of damage for each LIGHT monster I have on my field. So let him have it, Archer!" Tori announced, pointing at Kite.

Fairy Archer didn't waste any time holding her bow up. A long arrow with a red gem at the end appeared along the side of the bow, which Archer pulled back and aimed directly at Kite before letting it go. The arrow flew at high speed and slammed into Kite, but said blonde boy hadn't so much as flinched at the actions.

(Kite LP: 3600)

Kite chuckled. "If that's all you got, then this duel is as good as over."

Tori grumbled. "I play one card face down, and activate the spell card, The Fountain in the Sky!" A large, floating island appeared just above Tori. It had a ruined, white temple above it with a pool of clear water in the center. "Now, if one of my LIGHT monsters is destroyed by battle, I can remove it from play to get back life points equal to its Attack points. I'm done so it's your move, bring it on, Kite."

Kite smirked. "Be careful of what you wish for, little girl…" Kite drew a card from his deck and grinned. "I summoned Photon Sabre Tiger in attack mode!"

A large sabre tiger with blue fur and long, sharp fangs appeared on the field and let out a vicious snarl.

(Photon Sabre Tiger: Level 4 ATK/2000 DEF/300. EFFECT: When this car in normal summoned, you can add one "Photon Sabre Tiger" from your deck to your hand. If there is no face-up "Photon Sabre Tiger" on your side of the field, this card loses 800 ATK.)

(Photon Sabre Tiger: ATK/2000 - 800 = 1200)

Tori grinned. "Poor little kitty, he can't even touch my Fairy Archer," she said confidently.

Kite remained his smirk. "Yes, this 'Kitty,' as you put it, won't be able to bring down your pesky Archer… but 2 will. I use Sabre Tiger's special ability, which lets me add a new Sabre Tiger to my hand." Kite searched through his deck for a new card, then showed Tori it was another Sabre Tiger card and then placed it in his hand, after shuffling his deck and putting it back. "Now I activate the spell card, Photon Lead! This spell lets me summon any LIGHT monster from my hand that I want, as long as it's level 4 or below. So, let's give a round of applause to my other Photon Sabre Tiger!" In no time at all, another Tiger appeared next to the other, looking equally vicious.

Tori flinched, taking a step back. "Nice kitties…"

"Photon Sabre Tiger, attack Fairy Archer!"

Tori gasped. 'What do I do? What do I do?' she constantly asked herself in her head. Then, she remembered her face down. "I activate my face down card, Skill Successor!" Fairy Archer's body suddenly began to radiate red energy. "This trap card gives my Fairy Archer 400 more attack points!"

(Fairy Archer: ATK/ 1400 + 400 = 1800)

"That's still not enough to stop my Sabre Tiger!" Kite stated, though Tori was well aware of power difference.

The first Sabre Tiger slashed through Fairy Archer with ease, tearing it to shreds and then destroyed completely.

(Tori LP: 4000 – 200 = 3800)

Tori held her arm out confidently. "I activate the effect of my Sky Fountain spell. Since Fairy Archer was destroyed by battle, I can remove her from play in order to raise my life points by her attack points: 1400." A transparent image of Fairy Archer appeared before Tori and flew up into the Fountain, diving into the water. Then, underneath the floating island, a light shower of water was released and dispersed onto Tori.

(Tori LP: 3800 + 1400 = 5200)

Kite's smirk stayed glued to his face. "Very well, I'll be taking away those life points in no time. Don't forget I still have another Tiger, now go get her!" The second Sabre Tiger slashed through Tori just as easily as it did her Fairy Archer, making her scream.

(Tori LP: 5200 – 2000 = 3200)

Tori took another step back to regain her balance and then looked bitterly at Kite, who simply looked at her with a look of pity on his face. "Why don't you stop this now? Or I'll be forced to get a lot more drastic…"

Tori shook her head. "I'm nowhere near done. It's my turn, I draw!" Tori drew another card from her deck. "I activate the spell card, Cards from the Sky! Now, I can banish the Dancing Fairy monster card in my hand, and I get to draw 2 cards!" she explained while doing so. "And next, I'll play a monster, face down in defense mode, and one more card face down, and end my turn."

Kite drew a card and threw it in his hand. "I summon Photon Crusher in attack mode!" A large, robotic warrior monster with green and silver armor and holding a thick, steel mace in its hands appeared in between the two Sabre tigers.

(Photon Crusher: Level 4. ATK/2000 DEF/0. EFFECT: If this card attacks, it switches to defense mode at the end of the damage step.)

"Photon Crusher, attack that face down monster, now!" Kite ordered. Crusher complied and charged after the face down monster on Tori's field.

The face down card flipped face up, bringing forth 2 cartoonish creatures. One of them had a green body with a pony tail of stringy, purple hair with a ponytail. The other had a pink body with two, purple pigtails on either side of its head. Both of them had a yellow halo glowing around their waist. The creatures flew away from each other and dodged Crusher's attack.

"What?!" Kite yelled angrily.

Tori smirked. "You see, the monster you just attacked is called Gellenduo, which is a monster that can't be destroyed in battle, so you won't be getting to my life points that easily."

(Gellenduo: Level 4. ATK/1700 DEF/0. EFFECT: This card cannot be destroyed in battle. If you take damage while this card is face-up on your field, destroy it. This card can be treated as 2 tributes for the tribute summon of a Fairy-type monster.)

Kite growled as he watched his monster take a knee, due to its effect. "No matter, I'll get through to your life points after I get those things off the field some other way. I play one card face down and end my turn."

Tori took a step forward and drew a card, gasping at what it was. 'I remember when I got this card, Yuma gave it to me…'

Tori remembered the day Yuma had given her that card perfectly. Yuma had just gotten a new booster pack of cards for himself and dragged Tori along to the store with him. When he opened the pack, he pulled out his Kuribolt card and the card Tori held in her hand now. Since he didn't want that card, he gave it to her, saying that Tori's card should be in her deck more than his, since it looked so much like her.

"Are you going to stare at that card all day, or are you going to duel?"

She glared at him, putting the card she drew and switched it with another. "I summon my Shining Angel in attack mode!" An angel-like monster dressed in a white robe appeared in front of Tori.

(Shining Angel: Level 4. ATK/1400 DEF/800. EFFECT: If this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, you can special summon 1 LIGHT monster with 1500 or less attack points from your deck in attack mode.)

"And now that I have 2 level 4 Fairy-type monsters, I can use them both to build the Overlay Network!" A large, swirling portal of different colors appeared in the center of the field, and Tori's monsters quickly turned into beams of light and dove into the portal. "With these monsters, I XYZ summon… Fairy Cheer Girl!"

From the portal in the ground came a monster dressed to look like a cheerleader in a marine-blue outfit with violet stripes, matching butterfly wing-decorations on the back, aquamarine-colored hair, and carrying yellow pompoms. She had 2 Overlay Units orbiting around her body. The monster looked remarkably similar to Tori herself.

(Fairy Cheer Girl: Rank 4. ATK/1900 DEF/1500. Overlay Units: 2. EFFECT: You can detach one Overlay Unit from this card and draw one card from your deck. You can only use the effect of "Fairy Cheer Girl" once per turn.)

Kite laughed. "Is this a joke? Summoning yourself? You're a glutton for punishment aren't you?"

Tori groaned. "I use Cheer Girl's effect. By removing an Overlay Unit, I get to draw one card!" Fairy Cheer Girl turned around and held both of her pompoms together, pointing to Tori. One of the Overlay Units revolving around her went directly into her pompoms, making them glow and glitter brightly. She began doing various cheer routines before finally clapping her pompoms over Tori's deck, making the top card glow.

(Fairy Cheer Girl: Overlay Units: 1)

Tori picked up the glowing card and smiled. "Perfect. I activate the spell card, Solidarity! Since the only monsters in my graveyard are Fairies, all the Fairy monsters on my field gain 800 attack points!"

(Fairy Cheer Girl: ATK/1900 + 800 = 2700)

"Now, Cheer Girl, attack Photon Sabre Tiger!" Tori ordered.

Fairy Cheer Girl nodded and then charged after one of the Sabre Tigers, looking ready to destroy it with confidence.

Kite smirked. "You're going to have to try harder than that, girly. I play the trap card Lumenize!" Kite's face down card flipped up and shot a beam of bright light at Fairy Cheer Girl, blinding her and bringing her attack to a halt. "This trap card negates your attack, and then it gives Fairy Cheer Girl's attack power to one of my LIGHT monsters. Looks like Photon Crusher is getting a power-up."

Tori stood in fear as she watched the light from Kite's trap blast her Fairy Cheer Girl back to her side of the field and then shine down onto his Photon Crusher, making it grow to an even more intimidating size. Fairy Cheer Girl cowered in fear and crouched to the ground, hiding her face behind her pompoms.

(Photon Crusher: ATK/2000 + 2700 = 4700)

Tori groaned. 'He's not an expert Number Hunter for nothing…' "I play 1 card face down and end my turn."

Kite drew his card and smirked even wider when he saw what card he held. "I sure hope you've enjoyed this little game… because, now, it's over! I sacrifice my two Photon Sabre Tigers in order to bring out my ultimate beast!" The 2 Sabre Tigers dissolved into particles of light, which combined to form a red, cross-like object in front of Kite. He took hold of the object and threw it into the air like a boomerang. It spun at high speed before it began shine brightly from the center-point. It started to pull in particles of light from close by, pulling it in like a black hole, then creating a blinding flash of light.

When the light cleared, it showed a ferocious, blue-skinned dragon with red and, mostly, navy-blue armor, covering its underbelly, thighs, tail, head, neck, and along the edges of its brilliant, shining wings. Tori was stricken with fear as it let loose a mighty roar.

"Galaxy Eyes… Photon Dragon…" Tori barely managed to say.

(Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon: Level 8. ATK/3000 DEF/2500. EFFECT: You can special summon this card from your hand if you tribute 2 monsters on your side of the field with 2000 or more attack points. If this card battles a monster, you can banish both it and this card during the battle step, and then special summon any monster summoned with this effect at the end battle phase. If a monster banished by this effect was an XYZ monster, then this card gains 500 attack points for each Overlay Unit that was attached to it at the time.)

Kite let off a cocky and arrogant laugh. "What's wrong? Scared of the big bad dragon?" he asked teasingly. "Well, you should be. But before we get to him, I'll switch my Photon Crusher back to attack mode." Photon Crusher stood up straight form off of the ground and held out its mace. "Now that that's taken care of, Galaxy Eyes, attack Fairy Cheer Girl with Photon Stream of Destruction!"

Galaxy Eyes began charging up a powerful and bright ball of light on the inside of its mouth. Fairy Cheer Girl looked up at Galaxy Eyes with a mix of horror and pity all wrapped up in one. She hid behind her pompoms with tears streaming down her face.

"Of course, if I destroy your little doppelganger, then you'll just banish it and gain life points with your Fountain in the Sky spell, and you've seen Galaxy Eyes enough times by now to know it's effect. So I use Galaxy Eyes' special ability, which lets me banish both of our monsters until the end of the battle phase!"

Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon stopping charging power in its mouth, and then it charged after Fairy Cheer Girl, grabbing it in one hand and squeezing her, making her scream. Soon, both monsters had dissolved and were completely removed from the field, no trace of their existence left behind.

"Fairy Cheer Girl!" Tori called out.

"Aw, don't feel bad, it'll be over real soon," Kite said in a disturbingly ominous tone. "Photon Crusher, attack her directly and end this duel!" Photon Crusher charged after Tori with its mace aimed directly at her.

Tori wanted to scream. She was about to lose the duel that she absolutely needed to win, for Yuma's sake. But with the effects of Kite's Lumenize trap, Photon Crusher was just too powerful to withstand an attack from without some sort of defense…

'Defense… shield… barrier… That's it!' Tori quickly turned her head to the ground. Her face down card was still there. "Go, trap card! Clean Barrier – Clear Force!" A large, glass barrier erupted from the ground and covered Tori completely, protecting her from Photon Crusher's mace. "This card takes away any power-ups from a monster that had its attack power increased by a card effect, so now Photon Crusher goes back to its original attack points."

(Photon Crusher: ATK/ 4700 – 2700 = 2000)

Kite groaned. "That may be, but it won't stop Crusher from taking away a huge chunk of your life points!"

Photon Crusher managed to crack, and then completely shatter, the barrier that Tori had set up around herself and then swipe her with its mace, sending her to the ground. However, no matter what Kite threw at her, Tori simply would not give up. Yuma was just too important to her to let this chance to help him slip away.

(Tori LP: 3200 – 2000 = 1200)

Tori struggled to pick herself up and took a deep breath. "You're not beating me, Kite… This duel is too important for me to lose… because Yuma needs you, Kite!"

Kite just stood there for a few seconds before he scoffed and crossed his arms. "Since it's the end of my battle phase, both of our monsters return to our side of the field. And because your little cheerleader had an Overlay Unit attached to it, Galaxy Eyes gains 500 attack points."

In the blink of an eye, Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon and Fairy Cheer Girl once again appeared on the field. Galaxy Eyes was looking just as scary as it did before, and Cheer Girl was hiding behind her pompoms again and softly weeping. She looked so scared… so much like what Tori knew she looked like when she was scared.

Tori wouldn't be surprised if she saw herself looking that scared right now, because she was scared. She was scared that she was going to lose this duel. She was scared that Yuma's nightmares about Kite would continue to haunt him. She was scared that she as going to lose her best friend to himself and he'd never be the same again.

'Yuma's been there for me so many times, but when he needs me, I'm useless…' Tori could feel her tears running down her face, just like her monster. 'I'm so sorry, Yuma, but I can't win this duel. There's not a single monster in my deck that could take down Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon…'

She took a look at the cards in her hand, praying for an answer to help her beat the mighty beast, but she couldn't think of anything. Even if she could get a monster out with enough power to destroy Galaxy Eyes, Kite would just banish it with its effect to keep it around for the next turn, and then his Photon Crusher would be able to attack her directly after her monster was out of the way.

But that was when she noticed the card that Yuma had given her in her hand. That one card was the source of all of her strength, it was the only reason that she dueled at all, or even had a deck at all, because it was Yuma who gave it to her. That one card was more important to her then all of her other cards combine.

It was then that she remembered one of Yuma's most famous saying...

"Feel the flow…" she suddenly felt more confident when those words left her mouth.

Kite gave her a strange look. "What?"

"I have to feel the flow…" Tori steadied herself, ready to get her mind out of a self-pity party and back into the duel. "Yuma would never give up, so why should I? Yuma needs me, and I can't let him down…" Tori clenched her fists and held them to her sides. She took a deep breath and screamed, as loud as she could, "I JUST HAVE TO FEEL THE FLOW!

Suddenly, Tori's extra-deck case started to glow, and both duelists became aware of it. Tori gasped and reached inside, pulling out a bright, glowing card. "Could this be…?

Kite stared in amazement. "No, it couldn't be…"

The light coming from the card dispersed, revealing to Tori a brand new XYZ monster, one she'd never seen before…

And then, she knew she could win this duel and get Kite to talk to Yuma.

Tori let out a soft chuckle, waving the card around with a confident smirk. "Alright, Kite, let me tell you this: I'm going to beat you, this turn, and I'm going to bring you down through your Galaxy Eyes."

Kite smirked right back at her. "Well, if you think you can, then go ahead. But Galaxy Eyes Photon won't go down easy."

Tori smiled and put the XYZ monster back in her Extra-deck case for the time being. Then, she picked up the card Yuma gave her and held it proudly, before slamming it on her Duel Disk. "I summon Kuribella in attack mode!" she pronounced. In seconds, a young girl with short, scruffy, brown hair and big, green eyes, wearing a frilly, pink dress and tiny wing decorations on the back appeared on the field. She did a few midair back flips in place with an excited look on her face.

(Kuribella: Level 4. ATK/0 DEF/0. EFFECT: When this card is normal summoned, you can special summon any number of level 4 Fairy-type monsters from your graveyard. If you use this effect, then you lose life points equal to the number of monsters you summon using this effect x 1000 during the end phase of this turn, even if any monsters are removed from the field.)

Tori felt a sense of pride. Even though she'd never used her deck without Kuribella in her life, she's never summoned her once before. She felt so happy that the card that her best friend gave her was finally being put to use. And put it to use she will…

Tori smiled. "I activate Kuribella's special ability! So now, I get to revive any number of my Fairy monsters from the grave, so long as I take 1000 points of damage at the end phase for each one. So I'll use her ability twice, and resurrect my Shining Angel and my Gellenduo!"

Kuribella nodded at Tori's request and pulled out a want with a small ball of fur at the end of it. Two small beams of light shot from the wand, each going to either side of Kuribella, and each opened up a small portal. From each portal, one of Tori's previous Fairy monsters arose from each one, Gellenduo on her left, and Shining Angel on her right.

"And now I'll take all three of my monsters and use them to create the Overlay Network!"

Kuribella, Gellenduo and Shining Angel all turned into light and dove into another Overlay Network that opened up in the middle of the field.

Kite couldn't help but notice that the number '14' had inexplicably appeared on Tori's forehead. Tori looked up at Kite, giving him a look that practically screamed she was going all out this turn, not holding anything back.

"I XYZ summon… Number 14: Goddess of Love and Friendship!" Tori shouted, pointing to the Overlay Network. When she did, a woman dressed in fancy, white robes flew out of it and descended down onto Tori's field, next to Fairy Cheer Girl. It carried in one hand a floating yellow star, and in the other it held a red heart, and had 3 Overlay Units orbiting around her body. This new XYZ monster was about as big, if not bigger than Galaxy Eyes.

(Number 14: Goddess of Light and Friendship: Rank 4. ATK/2000, DEF/2000. EFFECT: Once per turn, you can remove one Overlay Unit from this card and pay 1000 life points: Target one monster your opponent controls. That monster's attack and defense points are reduced to 0 and its effects are negated. This effect cannot be negated with spell, trap, or monster effects.)

"First up, I'll remove an Overlay Unit from Number 14 and pay 1000 life points in order to drop Galaxy Eyes' attack points to 0 and nullify his ability!" Tori announced.

(Tori LP: 1200 – 1000 = 200)

Number 14 did as her new master wanted immediately. One of the Overlay Units rotating around her body shot off by itself and slammed into Galaxy Eyes, sending a paralyzing shockwave through the dragon's body.

(Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon: ATK/3500 – 3500 = 0)

"Unbelievable, that girl actually has enough power to control a Number card. It isn't even trying to take control of her…" Kite muttered in astonishment, groaning over the fact that his best monster was now powerless. Then, he noticed a particular card in his hand.

"And let's not forget, since Goddess of Light and Friendship is a Fairy monster, my Solidarity spell gives it another 800 attack points!"

(Number 14: Goddess of Light and Friendship: ATK/2000 + 800 = 2800)

"And now, I banish the Skill Successor trap from my graveyard in order to give her another 800 attack points!"

(Number 14: Goddess of Light and Friendship: ATK/2800 + 800 = 3600)

"This is it… this is the end of the line, Kite. Number 14: Goddess of Light and Friendship, attack Kite's Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon with Loving Star Beam!" Tori screamed as loud as she could, pointing at said dragon.

Goddess of Light and Friendship nodded, holding out her hands, closing the distance between the star and the heart in each respective hand. The two shapes began charging power, swirling energy back and forth between the two hands.

Kite looked down at and then picked up the card in his hand. It was the monster, Kuriphoton. 'If I use Kuriphoton's effect, I can pay 2000 life points and discard it, and prevent myself from taking any damage this turn, and then she'll take damage since she used Kuribella's ability to summon all those Fairies. I'll win the duel…' he thought.

Just as soon as Kite had finished his deduction, Number 14 had finished charging up her attack and fired a beam of yellow energy, surrounded by millions of hearts and stars, which orbited around the beam like a typhoon.

Kite smiled. He didn't discard Kuriphoton. He just smiled warmly and lowered his hand, letting his Dragon get obliterated by the blast and his life point meter drop down to 0. 'You win…'

When the holograms disappeared, Tori was suddenly hit with a wave of exhaustion, and she dropped to her knees, breathing heavily and holding her new Number card in her hands, though she was still leering up at Kite. "Alright… I win… so you better… go talk to…" she said in between her breaths, before she finally passed out, letting Number 14's card slip from her grip and fall in front of Kite's feet.

Kite undid the Photon Transformation and picked up the card and smiled, putting it back in her deck. "Orbital…" he called out.

Said robot rolled to his master's side. "Y-Yes?" Orbital asked.

"Take this girl home, I'll meet you back at the lab when I'm done," he ordered, placing Number 14 back into Tori's deck and walking away.

Orbital was confused by his actions. In all honesty, he never thought that Kite would lose the duel, and even if he did, he didn't think that Kite would honour the conditions of the bet. But none the less, he slung the girl, and her bag, over his back and proceeded to carry her to her house… of course, he first had to find her house…

~x-X-x~

Yuma sighed, lying in his hammock in despair. He hadn't moved from the hammock since Tori was over, not even for his dinner, which was just sitting on one of the boxes, cold and forgotten about. Yuma didn't feel hungry at all, which shocked even him, he was just so upset about the nightmares and his feelings for Kite that he didn't have the motivation to do anything except sit in the dark and sulk.

Astral had tried several times since Tori left to get Yuma to eat, but every time he did, Yuma would just ignore him and bury his face in his pillow, and so he'd given up trying and went back into the key.

Yuma turned over, facing the window next to him with his eyes closed. "Why can't I be normal?" he asked himself. "Why can't I fall for a girl? Why can't I have normal fantasies? Why-"

"-do you talk to yourself?" a familiar voice cut him off.

Yuma didn't even realize that it wasn't him that said that. "I don't know, it helps me feel better!" he shouted. "…Wait, I didn't say that…" He popped his head up from the hammock and looked around the room, wondering who it was that spoke to him, but all he saw were the boxes of his parents' treasures scattered around the attic.

Yuma shrugged and sunk back into his pillow. "Guess I was just hearing things…"

"No you weren't…"

Yuma was starting to get scared and curled up under his blanket. "Astral, if you're playing tricks on me by using weird voices to mess with me again then knock it off!"

"Look out the window, you idiot!"

Yuma turned slowly towards the window, fearing what might be lurking on the other side of the glass. But when he saw what was there, he nearly screamed in shock. "K-Kite?"

Kite banged on the window, shivering slightly. "Yes, it's me, now let me in! It's freezing out here!" he yelled angrily.

Yuma didn't hesitate to jump out of his hammock and unlock and open the window, allowing Kite to step inside. Said blonde took a seat on the treasure chest under the hammock and took a deep breath. "Thanks, I thought my face was going to freeze off."

Yuma blushed and nodded. "U-Uh, no problem…" Yuma couldn't believe what was going on. The boy of his dreams – and nightmares – was sitting right in front of him, rubbing his hands together to warm them up. He could feel his cheeks becoming flushed. The number gatherer stood up in front of Kite, looking down at him. "K-Kite, not that I mind, but… what are you-"

Yuma froze on the stop, unable to remember what he was about to ask after Kite got up, spun him around and wrapped his arms around Yuma's waist, nuzzling his nose close to his ear. "I'm sorry, I need the hug to stay warm, what were you about to say?" Kite asked in a deep, seductive voice, reaching his hand up Yuma's shirt and rubbing his chilled hands all over the latter's stomach. Yuma shivered at the touch.

"I-I… I forgot…"

Kite smirked and nibbled down onto the edge of Yuma's ear, resulting in a soft moaning coming from said boy. He then took Yuma's Key off from around his neck and placed it in one of the boxes near him, though Yuma could care less at the moment. "We don't want Astral to come out and witnessing this, do we?" he asked, pinching Yuma's nipples and licking his tongue up the side of Yuma's face. He started to lift Yuma's shirt up and off of his body, tossing it aside like an old rag.

Yuma couldn't believe this was happening to him. This went almost exactly like his nightmare did: Kite coming up to him in the middle of the night, being flirty and seductive, running his hands all over his body, and then stripping him. He was scared, yet at the same time excited… in more ways than one…

Kite smirked, grabbing hold of the large bulge in Yuma's sweatpants, making Yuma softly moan. "My, my, Yuma, you're hard already? Why, I've only just begun…" he said with a sinister chuckle. Suddenly, his nightmares were the least of Yuma's concerns.

~x-X-x~

After an hour or two of moans, cries, and squirts later, Yuma was lying across the floor, his clothes scattered across the floor. His backside was throbbing and oozing an odorless and colorless liquid, his breath was short and his face flushed brightly. His body was covered in a few hickies and bruises. Kite was lying next to him, wearing only his pants and smiling at him. "Now, what's this I've been hearing about you having nightmares?" he asked with a grin.

Yuma shot up from the floor, but he laid back down and clutched his bum when he felt a searing pain run all the way up his back and down again. "H-How did you know…?" he asked, trying not to scream in agony.

Kite smirked. "Let me just say this…" He leaned into Yuma and whispered into his ear, "You're friend, Tori… she's a better duelist then you think she is, and she can be pretty persuasive," and then left a kiss on Yuma's forehead. Yuma giggled and kissed him back on the lips, forgetting all about his pain for a short time.

"I don't think I'll be having any nightmares anymore. Thank you Kite…"

"YUMA!" Kari's loud voice boomed through the attic, coming from down in his room. Yuma nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard it. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HECK YOU'RE DOING UP THERE TO MAKE SO MUCH RACKET, BUT KNOCK IT OFF! I HAVE A STORY TO WORK ON IN THE MORNING, AND IF I DON'T GET ENOUGH SLEEP I'M GONNA THROTTLE YOU FOR IT!" she screamed angrily.

Yuma scrambled to grab his clothes and get up onto the hammock, but the pain came rushing back and left him almost paralyzed on the floor. Kite simply smirked and stood up, walking over to the hole connecting to Yuma's bedroom. He hung from the edge and hung his head upside down through the hole, facing Yuma's sister with a smirk on his face. "I'm sorry, miss, I'll be sure to keep Yuma quieter next time we're going at it," he said with a cocky attitude. "You shouldn't hear another peep out of him for the rest of the night."

The annoyance and anger written all over Kari's face was washed away and replaced with a look of confusion. "Going at it…?" Suddenly, she knew what Yuma and this boy she didn't know where up to.

Kite pulled his head up from the hole and looked over at Yuma, who was trying to crawl his way to the window. "Kite, help me! Throw me out the window and let me fall head-first on the concrete! It'll be better way to die than what Kari is going to do to me!"

"Yuma!" Kari called out again. "I don't care what you're doing with this boyfriend of yours, but from now on… KEEP IT DOWN!" This was followed by a loud slam, indicating that Kari had left Yuma's room and gone back to her own.

Kite grinned. "Guess I don't need to throw you out a window now, huh?" he mocked with a laugh. The blonde stood up and walked over to his struggling lover, scooping him up in his arms and giving him another kiss on the forehead. He laid the boy back down in his hammock, face down, and crawled in next to him. Yuma crawled closer to Kite and cuddled into his chest.

~x-X-x~

Tori walked into school with a frown on her face. She was still worried about Yuma, and she didn't know how it went with him and Kite, or if Kite even talked to him at all. All she remembered was winning the duel and then passing out. "I hope Yuma's ok…" she said to herself. She sighed, praying in her head for the best, that Yuma would be in school with that same goofy smile on his face.

When she walked into her classroom, she was pleasantly surprised to see Yuma standing at his deck talking to Bronk and Caswell with a smile on his face. Not the fake smile he'd been using for weeks, a real Yuma smile. Tori felt a sense of relief flood her entire body.

Yuma looked over his shoulder and saw Tori staring at him and walked up to her. "Hey, Tori, can I talk to you in the hallway for a second?" he asked. Tori quickly nodded and followed Yuma outside of the classroom, where there were only the two of them. "I know you talked to Kite last night, Tori."

Tori looked down at her feet, that frown creeping up on her face again. "Which leads me to ask you if you talked to Kite last night as well…?"

Yuma grinned. "Oh, we more than talked…" He pulled down the shoulder of his shirt, revealing a large hicky just below the surface. "Kite made his point very clear, and he made it in a few other parts of my body I'd prefer not to show you," he said, scratching the back of his neck with an embarrassed grin on his face.

When she saw the hicky, Tori suddenly became extremely embarrassed, having an idea of what the two of them were up to. "O-Oh… uh, congratulations I guess, glad you're feeling better…" she said with a blush on her face.

Yuma laughed and straightened his shirt out again. "I wouldn't be if it weren't for you, Tori. Seriously, I can't believe you challenged Kite to a duel, and won! I'm really proud of you, Tor, you did awesome. You're the best friend a guy could ask for." He pulled his friend in for a soft embrace.

Though initially confused, Tori smiled and hugged him back. "Thanks, Yuma."

When the two of them let go of each other, a thought popped into Tori's head, making her flinch. "Uh, Yuma?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't we have swimming class today?"

"Yeah, why?"

"…Don't you have to take your shirt off?"

"…Oh no…"