Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal
Title: Shock To The Soul
Characters: Akari, Yuuma, implied existence of Kaito
Pairing: Yuuma x Kaito
Word Count: 500||Status: One-shot
Genre: Romance, Family||Rated: PG
Challenge: Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section A, prompt #95, write a paragraph with at least four fullstops; Written for the Zexal Flash Bingo, prompt #000, romance
Note: This takes place somewhere in between episodes 13 and 14 in a slightly alternate univere with soulmate countdowns on one's wrist.
Summary: Something is bothering Yuuma. As his big sister, Akari wants to find out what it is.

Something was wrong with Yuuma. Akari wasn't certain what but once she found out, she had plans on how to handle whoever it was. If it wasn't a someone, she had other plans. But if it was...well, she was a big sister. It was kind of her job to watch out for the brat.

She tapped on his door for what had to be the fifth time. He still didn't come out and she snarled under her breath. "Yuuma! If you don't open this door, then you're grounded for a month!"

The idea of not going out except for school usually worked. But not today.

Well, she wasn't going to wait any longer. Whatever it was, she needed to know the problem so she could fix it. She pulled the key to Yuuma's room out of her pocket – she'd wanted to at least give him the chance to tell her freely – and opened the door, stalking right in.

"Yuuma, what is -" Her words cut off the moment she saw him. Or to be precise, the moment that she saw the line of glimmering green numbers on his left inner wrist.

She'd known that his countdown would end soon, but she hadn't checked recently to see just how close it was. She'd wanted to be there, to meet her future in-law and brother's soulmate in person.

Then she realized something else. The numbers have stopped and they're green. They haven't touched. That could mean any number of things but most of all, that the two meant to be hadn't made physical contact with one another.

"Yuuma? Who is it?" She took a more careful step now, looking down at him. "Is it someone you know?"

She almost didn't expect him to answer, but the words came anyway. "Not really. I dueled him last night. His name is Kaito. That's all I really know about him."

He didn't sound like the Yuuma she knew. They'd all known he'd meet his soulmate sometime soon, so it wasn't the surprise of it having happened. She didn't know what it was.

She settled herself down next to him and wrapped an arm around him. "Don't worry. I'll find him and we'll get this sorted out." Whoever Kaito was, he couldn't hide from the power of the press.

For a moment, Yuuma's gaze flicked over to an empty patch of air, and for all the world she would've sworn he was listening to someone. Then he looked back at her. "Big sister, I can handle this."

He looked as if he thought he could, even while looking partially scared. She frowned at him. "Yuuma."

Yuuma pulled away from her, plastering a smile on his lips. "Come on, it's not that big of a deal! You don't need to worry about me!"

"I always worry about you," Akari reminded him. She would still try to find Kaito. She still wanted to know about her brother's soulmate, and why Yuuma looked so upset at having found him.

The End