Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V

It was a normal day in Maiami City, at least by Yuzu's standards. The weekend had arrived yet Yuzu wasn't particularly thrilled for it. She was still reeling from this weeks events.

First, Sawatari threatened Yuya behind their backs and Yuzu confronted him, only to be saved by a boy who looked a lot like her best friend, only he could XYZ Summon.

However, due to that Sawatari was injured (allegedly) and LDS took action by threatening to press charges, unless they won a best out of three duels, which eventually resulted in a tie breaker which they barely won.

Yuzu's confidence had been withered during the conflict after being crushed after her first turn by the Fusion user Masumi Koutsu. As much as she wanted to undo it, there was no way to.

There was also the issue of Yuya's participation in the Junior Youth Maiami Championship. He had twenty-six wins and twenty losses, and in order to qualify he had to have competed in at least fifty matches with a 60% win ratio. If he wanted to enter he would need to win at least four matches. Yuya considered duelling her, Ayu, Futoshi, and Tatsuya but they each shot him down due to age difference and in Yuzu's case because she was qualified and they'd duelled many times before, so there was really no point.

"How about getting Gongenzaka to help you?" Yuzu suggested. "It's thanks to the Gongenzaka Dojo that you've gotten most of your matches this past year, right?"

It was true. Most of Yuya's matches that he'd racked up this year had come from their childhood friends Dojo. Yuzu had even taken part in a few matches this year which she was grateful towards. It definitely helped with her qualification.

"I'm thankful for that," Yuya admitted bowing his head. "He always helped me whenever I needed it. Even the fact that I'm aiming to become a pro now is thanks to Gongenzaka. But that's exactly why I don't want to rely on him anymore! Instead I have to become who Gongenzaka can rely on! With my own strength!"

The others stared at him in awe at how sincere and inspiring his speech was. Yuya had the strangest ability to surprise people when they least expected it. In particular, his words resonated with Yuzu.

"With you own," she repeated. "You're right!"

Yuzu immediately turned and started running, much to her friend's confusion.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Yuya called out.

"Don't worry about it! I just thought that I want to get stronger too!" Yuzu shouted back as she continued running.

Her friends called after her and asked about Duel School but she just told them to tell her father that she won't be showing up today.

'Yuya is trying to change. Now I know I can't stay like this!' Yuzu thought determined. 'I have to get stronger! Strong enough to be able to protect You Show Duel School! And there's only one way to do that! I have to learn other summoning methods!'

If she was going to stand any chance against duellists like Masumi in the future she couldn't only use tribute summon. She needed to learn something new like Fusion or Synchro. Even Ritual would be a good idea, as long as it was something outside her normal duel style. And there was one person who could help her with such a thing.

'Sora's my best bet. If he could teach me fusion summon, then maybe I'll stand a chance against Masumi,' Yuzu thought. 'Afterall, who better to take down a fusion user than another fusion user. Sora would probably know the best way to counter.' Yuzu stopped running as she suddenly realized something. 'Wait hold on! If Sora knows how to deal with a fusion user, wouldn't Masumi be the same?'

Yuzu stood to the side of the street and started to consider her next course of action. Sora was sure to know everything about fusion summoning, but Masumi would know the same. The girl had been studying at LDS, the top duelling school, and was well versed in the method, which meant she probably knew how to counter it.

'Uh, what do I do? I need to get stronger in time for the championship, in order to protect the school. Maybe I could learn one of the other types. Ritual wouldn't be too hard but there's the matter of getting the right cards for it,' Yuzu pondered.

There weren't that many practitioners of Ritual nowadays. Since the other summoning methods had arrived it had become less and less common. It was still used, Yuzu knew that, she'd even seen a pro or two use it on tv. However, it wasn't as popular as the other summoning methods.

That left her with only one choice.

'I should learn Synchro or XYZ,' Yuzu realized as she leaned back against the wall. 'But who could teach me? The only ones who are them attend LDS, and I seriously doubt any of them will teach me. Why would they? I'm not a student.'

Yuzu scowled at the unfairness of the situation. LDS taught everything. Why? Why couldn't there be a single duellist who learned those methods outside of the institute?

'Ugh, I've never seen anyone aside from Sora who could,' a memory of a boy with a face similar to her best friends flashed through her mind. Yuzu froze instantly. 'Wait, hold on a second. That guy from before. He could.' The one who saved her from Sawatari could XYZ summon. 'Wait, then, maybe if I. Hold on a minute! This is the same guy who caused a lot of trouble for the school before, and me. Why would he help me? Then again, he did step in to protect me, though I'm not really sure why.'

Yuzu carefully pondered over her choice. This was a risky move she was taking. That boy who looked like Yuya was dangerous, she could still remember how he generated real damage despite it not being an action field. At the same time, she didn't think he was a bad person, he did try to protect her after all. However, even if she did ask him, there was the issue of finding him. Last time they had met it was purely by chance. It wasn't like he would be at the same place, or would he? She wasn't sure, but she could find out.

That's when a thought struck her.

'Just before he defeated Sawatari, he held up an LDS badge and asked about Academia and their connection to LDS, but Sawatari didn't know anything,' Yuzu remembered. 'Maybe he's still investigating LDS. Then, perhaps he's somewhere near the main building. It's a long shot but it's worth a try.'

Yuzu made up her mind and started walking towards the main building.

'This a bad idea. What if he doesn't want to help me?' Yuzu hesitated. The memory of how easily she was defeated by Masumi haunted her again. She started running now. 'NO! I made a decision to get stronger to protect my friends and family and that's what I'm going to do. I won't hesitate. I can't hesitate. I will become stronger!'

LDS Main Building

Yuzu arrived at the main building to see it was more guarded than usual. Security was only allowing certain members inside, but not before checking them and confirming their identities.

From Shingo's earlier visit to her and Yuya, she learned that an LDS teacher had been attacked by an XYZ user. Yuzu briefly considered that it was the boy from before but remembered he had only acted out of defence. She couldn't understand why, but he didn't seem like the type to go around needlessly attacking people. As she glanced around at the people present, she noticed Sora was there staring at the building while licking a lollipop. It appeared as though he was trying to find some way in.

"Dangit, I really want to fight him," Sora muttered.

Yuzu instantly knew who he was talking about.

'Why that little, so this is why he hasn't been showing up to Duel School!' Yuzu fumed. 'He wants to duel with Reiji Akaba. It's just like with Yuya, when someone or something catches his interest he immediately pursues them!' Though Yuzu did understand why he was interested. That man busted out all the summoning methods in his duel with Yuya, including Pendulum. 'I get why you want to duel him but you won't be able to. He's the President of LDS! He's not someone you can just get close to that easily.'

Yuzu briefly pondered walking up to and speaking with Sora but decided against it. The blue haired fusion user wasn't the reason she was here. Yuzu kept to the side and walked on like she hadn't seen Sora it would look suspicious that way.

If Sora noticed her he hadn't said anything, he just kept looking at the building.

Yuzu walked normally while looking around as if she was just taking in scenery.

'If he was going to spy on LDS, he would likely do it from a location no one else could see him from, like a gap in the buildings,' Yuzu thought.

She had already inspected the gaps from the side she came. There was no one there. As she walked, she examined the gaps, closely and carefully. At first, she didn't see anything. Then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed someone leaning back against the wall of the alley between two buildings. He was dressed in black and staring out at the LDS building and the people entering it. However, it didn't look like he had noticed Yuzu, yet.

'It's him,' Yuzu thought. 'He really was here. Okay, keep calm. Just keep walking like natural.'

Yuzu kept walking normally until she came to the end and turned, now heading in his direction. She walked at the pace other people were walking to avoid alerting him to her presence. It worked for the most part as Yuzu was merely a few steps away from him. Then, without warning, he turned and made eye contact with her.

Yuzu froze. Yuto froze. Both their eyes were locked onto each other and didn't seem to be leaving anytime soon.

'Dammit! He noticed me!' Yuzu inwardly cursed.

'Her! What is she doing here?' Yuto thought.

For several seconds, neither of them moved.

Yuto, unsure of what to do and acting on instinct, turned and started running down the alleyway. Of course, as soon as she saw this, Yuzu was in hot pursuit. Yuto was fast, but so was Yuzu. She had the experience of action duels to thank for that.

'Why is she following me? What does she want?' Yuto pondered as he continued running. He was impressed by her speed. 'She's fast, I'll give her that. But it'll take more than that to catch me!'

Running around a corner Yuto used the balcony and walls to climb up the building. When Yuzu rounded the corner, she saw he had vanished. However, she was smart enough to know that wasn't possible (barring that one time with her bracelet), so she looked up and saw him standing on the roof staring down at her.

Yuzu scowled.

"WILL YOU STOP RUNNING ALREADY!" she shouted. "I JUST WANT TO TALK!"

Yuto furrowed his eyebrows. 'Talk! What for?' Though he had a pretty good idea why. This was about his interference in her duel, would-be duel he should say. He'd only interfered because he thought she was Ruri, they had the same face after all. However, there were a few things that stood out. For starters she hadn't recognised him, even though they had known each other for years. Two, she was surprised he could XYZ Summon; why would Ruri be surprised when she could do it herself? Three, while he hadn't noticed it at first, this girl possessed dark pink hair held up in pigtails and blue eyes, whereas Ruri had long purple hair and pink eyes. With these facts it was evident that this girl was not Ruri, despite their striking resemblance.

Yuzu glared at him from below. It was obvious he wasn't coming down anytime soon.

'So you want to play it that way huh! Fine, if you won't come down then I'll go up!' Yuzu decided.

Being a student of a place like You Show, Yuzu was well adept in moving and jumping around action fields. The real world was no different.

Bending her legs, Yuzu leaped up and grabbed a hold of one of the balcony railings where she quickly pulled herself and continued onto the next one.

Yuto was stunned at what he was seeing. This girl, whatever her name was, was fast and quite athletic to be able to move like that. Maybe she did gymnastics or something. Or maybe she had been out fighting on a battlefield of her own.

'No, don't let it be that,' Yuto silently pleaded.

He had experienced first-hand just how hellish a battlefield could be, and it would be a cold day in hell before he ever wished that life on someone, even if he didn't that like that person.

Yuzu had just started climbing up the ladder for the final balcony. Yuto realized he she should have started running and turned when he heard a loud 'creaking' noise. Yuzu heard it as well, causing her to freeze. Before anyone could react, the bolts from the ladder became undone and it fell backwards.

Yuzu let out a scream as she plunged to the ground. Yuto in the heat of the moment, dived after her.

'If she falls that way she'll end up with more than just a couple of scrapes and bruises,' he thought.

Yuzu closed her eyes and braced for impact. She was surprised when it never came. Opening her eyes, she noticed that the boy from before was holding tightly onto her arm as he hung from the balcony. Shock was evident in both your eyes.

"Are you alright?" Yuto asked concerned. "Can you pull yourself up?"

Instead of answering, Yuzu simply nodded. She then used her free hand to climb back onto the balcony with the boy. Both were panting heavily.

"That was close," Yuto exclaimed before facing Yuzu. "You're a persistent one you know that?!"

Yuzu didn't know whether to take that as an insult or compliment but accepted it all the same.

"And you're an evasive one," Yuzu responded. "Sorry if I startled you but I needed to talk."

Yuto raised an eyebrow. "Is this about me duelling that guy for you? If it is then I'm"

"No," Yuzu quickly interrupted. "I'll admit that's one thing I was going to bring up, but it's not the main reason I'm here." Yuzu faced Yuto with a serious look on her face. "I need your help."

Now Yuto was definitely surprised. He thought she was angry at him, however, that clearly wasn't the case.

"Would it be alright if we talked somewhere more secluded?" Yuzu requested.

Yuto thought about it briefly. "Sure. You lead."

He wasn't exactly sure why he had agreed to speak with her but it couldn't hurt. Besides, he was curious as to why she looked so much like Ruri.

Without further words, the pair climbed down and set off.

The Warehouse

Yuzu lead Yuto to the warehouse where they first met. Yuto was surprised that she'd chosen this place to speak but didn't question it. Once they were inside, Yuzu shut the door and faced Yuto.

"Okay, so you brought me here. What exactly did you want to talk about?" Yuto enquired.

Yuto's expression was calm and collected, however, that was instantly changed to shock and surprise when Yuzu did this.

Walking up to him she placed her hands together and bowed. "Please! Teach me how to use XYZ Summon!"

Hi there. Well, what did you think of that? I've had this story idea for a long time now and I wanted to get it out. Yuzu and Yuto were two of my favourite characters in the anime and I hate how they were treated. Yuzu was turned into a damsel in distress and Yuto disappeared into Yuya.

Also, when watching the anime, I wished Yuzu had learned other summoning methods. She was Ray's Pendulum Counterpart so why didn't she use Pendulum Summon? When she went to the Synchro Dimension I though she was gonna learn Synchro Summon but it never happened. That's why in this fic she'll be using XYZ Summon and have quite a few monsters.

I will be doing Yuzu x Yuto for this fic as I have always loved the pairing and liked the dynamic between them. That said, Yuzu's plot will be different from the canon in which she is more involved with Shun and Yuto's side. Watching the anime I wish she and Shun had had more interaction with each other, especially after episode 21. Yuzu looked like Ruri so why wouldn't he want to talk with her?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this. Please review!