Author's Note: [A companion fic for my fanart Duel Royalty, found here: rikojasmine. deviantart #/ d5pz2l5 , just remove the spaces.]

… I don't know what happened. This was supposed to be a silly, short little one-shot.

Now it jumps around from angst to humor to touchy-feely stuff to humor and back to angst and it's so much longer than I wanted it to be and I don't know where I lost control of my life. ;_;

So, for the sake of my waning sanity, I have decided to post it in segments.

Hope you like it!

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Love in the Limelight

Summary: After Yusei Fudo's startling victory over Jack Atlas at the Fortune Cup Tournament, the media becomes smitten with the idea that the two are a couple. Yusei is exasperated. Jack is amused. Jack/Fem!Yusei.

Rating: T

Warnings: AU, genderbending, possible OOC-ness, slight crack, assorted butchering of canon

Additional Notes: For this fanfiction, the Signers and supernatural elements are absent. For example, Goodwin in this is just a businessman who knows how to invest in the Dueling industry and takes on Jack because he knows he's profitable. Things like that.

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Chapter 1: Channel Sharks

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"This is Jack Atlas' room, isn't it?"

"Um, Mr. Atlas is still recovering and isn't taking visitors right now…"

"It's alright, Mina." Jack's voice is slightly scratchy, but it's still audible through the door of his hospital room. "Let her in."

The blue-haired woman seems hesitant, but she stands aside and allows Yusei entrance. Yusei nods to her and steps into the room, and she quickly spots Jack leaning against the headboard of his bed with his right arm set in a sling. He glances at her with an unreadable expression and then at Mina, who has followed Yusei into the room and is standing in the doorway.

He says, "I want to talk to Yusei alone," and Mina doesn't look happy about it, but she exits anyway. The door clicks shut behind her before Jack turns his gaze back to Yusei. His eyes are angry as he demands, "What do you want? Come to lord your new title over me while I'm at my lowest? You want to rub it in?"

Yusei just looks at him before shaking her head. "No," she says. Her voice is level and calm. "I wanted to check on you."

"What?" Jack scowls as she pulls up a chair from a nearby desk and sets it beside his bed. She sits down as he drawls, "Could it be that you were worried about me, Yusei?"

She gives him a pointed look and replies, "Of course I was. I saw you crash right in front of me, Jack. I wanted to know that you were okay."

Jack's eyes widen at this, but he swiftly glances to the television and clicks it on with the remote at his side. Yusei gazes at him—he can feel her eyes scanning his face, roaming over his injuries—and he finds himself flinching slightly when she lets out a tired sigh. In his peripheral vision, he sees her rub the heel of her palm against her temple.

"… I know. I know I shouldn't be worried about you. You've done enough for me not to give a damn about you," she says quietly and despite himself, Jack flinches again. Her eyes settle on his face as she continues, "But despite all that, you're still my friend, Jack. You might not feel the same way, but that's the truth I've come to accept. Yes, you've done terrible things; yes, you're selfish; and, yeah, you're an asshole. We all know that. But you're still my friend, Jack, and I just wanted you to know that… and to make sure you were alright. That's all."

Jack's head spins, but he manages to scoff. "You came all this way just to say that?" he asks, disbelieving. His voice lowers as he mutters, "What a waste of time…"

"That's all," Yusei says simply, and she still isn't angry in the least. It pisses him off.

He doesn't reply, outwardly fuming and inwardly mulling her words about in his head, and Yusei doesn't say anything more. She silently joins him in watching the television.

The news is on. The reporter, a woman with blond hair in ringlets, is standing in front of the hospital where Jack and Yusei currently are. Behind her is a massive crowd of reporters and camera people, all attempting to get past the line of security to get inside.

"This is Angela Raines reporting for Daily Duel news. We're here at Domino General Hospital with an update! The new Duel Queen, Yusei Fudo, was spotted only minutes ago entering the hospital, where former champion Jack Atlas is currently recovering from his gruesome crash in the Fortune Cup Tournament finals…"

"And here I thought no one saw me," Yusei murmurs. Jack glances at her, and he watches as she brushes a lock of dark hair behind her ear. "No one was here earlier. They're certainly quick on the uptake, aren't they?"

Jack doesn't say anything. The reporter continues, "The question now is this: why is Miss Fudo visiting the fallen King? Is it to gloat over her victory? Or perhaps…" She pauses and leans in closer to the screen, an eyebrow arched dramatically upwards. "… It's something more personal? Could she be checking in on Jack's condition? Is it possible that there could be a secret romance going on behind the scenes? Well—"

"You have got to be kidding me," Yusei says flatly. Despite his mood, Jack snorts.

"They've been trying to pair me up with someone for ages," he tells Yusei. He glances at her and smirks. "Looks like they've found a new candidate to work with."

Yusei actually looks horrified, and Jack does all he can to bite back his laughter.

"Oh, what's this? Folks, we have actual confirmation that Duel Queen Yusei Fudo is, in fact, visiting Jack Atlas; she was recently seen to have been permitted into his room! Is it true, then, that there are deeper feelings between them than just the bitter rivalry shown at the Fortune Cup Tournament? The tension is high, ladies and gentlemen, for us and likely for them as well, and only time will tell if these rumors are true! We will continue to wait outside Domino General for more information…"

Beside him, Yusei groans and tiredly runs a hand over her face. Jack watches as she stands up and makes her way to the window.

"Well, looks like leaving won't be easy," she says with a displeased frown, pushing back the curtain and peering outside. She makes a face at the amount of people waiting at the hospital entrance, and she murmurs, "I'm just glad I got here before the paparazzi did. I suppose the problem now is getting out…"

Neither of them say anything for a while, but eventually Jack asks, "Are you going to hide out here, then?"

Yusei turns back to him and sighs again. "I suppose I've got no choice unless I want to be mobbed," she says as she sits back down at his bedside. They look at each other for a moment, but they quickly break the gaze and glance back at the television.

The news channel is still being featured—reporters are still going on about "a rumored romance between the former King and the newly crowned Queen"—and Yusei leans over Jack to grab the remote from the table on his other side. She looks at the remote and then at him.

"Is there anything else to watch?" she asks, and Jack feels his mouth twitch upwards at her exasperated expression.

"Channel surf, Fudo," he tells her. "You'll find something to stimulate your little mind, surely."

Yusei punches him (gently) on the shoulder and begins abusing the Channel Up button on the remote. Jack tells her to stop whenever a children's show comes on, but she ignores him and keeps going. When she stops on a channel that she finds even slightly interesting, he makes multiple and often inappropriate comments until she tells him to shut up.

Jack can tell she's holding back a smile. He settles back into his pillows, and he finds it to be more comfortable than before.

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A/N: To be updated soon! I've got about 8.6k words of this supposed-to-be oneshot already written, so I'll be able to post regularly for a while. Not sure how much time I should put between each update, though…

Please leave a review; they're very encouraging! Thank you for reading!