I figured it was about time I did a Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal story, given that I happen to play the TCG. I'm still trying to come up with something for 5D's, so just give me some more time. This will be centered on the rare duo of Yuma Tsukumo and Rio Kastle. I really don't quite know how Shark would feel about that. Perhaps instead of Bronk, he'll let Yuma date Rio…

Disclaimer: KONAMI owns the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal and all of the series that came before it.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Astral"


A Break From Number Hunting

Yuma Tsukumo was lying in his hammock that was placed in the attic of his house. The previous night, he had been up Number hunting with Astral, managing to get three Numbers in one day. Astral, Bronk, and Shark noted that as a new record for the kid. Of course he relied on his ace card, 'Number 39: Utopia' as always. Since they were dueling normal Number holders and not Barians, he didn't use his 'Chaos Numbers'. The sun was rising, so Yuma, Shark, and Bronk thanked their lucky stars that they didn't have school today. Shark suggested that Yuma take a day off today, to which Yuma and Astral hastily agreed.

This is when we find our little friend snoozing away in his hammock without a care in the world. In fact, he was so knocked out that he didn't hear the knock on his front door or his sister Kari calling him from downstairs. "He's probably still asleep. You can go check on him if you want. His room will be upstairs behind the 3rd door to the right, but he sleeps in the attic," Kari said to the guest who wanted to see Yuma. The guest made their way to Yuma's bedroom, knocked three times, entered when they heard no response, climbed up the ladder to the attic that he sleeps in, and looked around. The guest then heard some light snoring, so they looked and sure enough, there he was sleeping his head off.

'I think it would be better to wake him up right now so we can hang out,' thought the guest. They looked around the room until a feather crossed their line of sight. The next thing Yuma knew, he was getting tickled on his feet. He was laughing so hard that he literately fell face first on the floor. Yuma knew he wasn't going to get any sleep, so he decided to wake up to see who would be his target for revenge. He came across none other than Shark's twin sister Rio Kastle, who, during the absence of Tori Meadows on account of a trip she and her mother were taking to the Bahamas, decided to hang out with Yuma more. Because of the fact that they share confidence, energy, and kindness in common, she has developed a bit of a crush on him. That would mean that she would have to fight with Anna Kaboom and Cathy Catherine (AKA 'Cat') (and eventually Tori) over the crab-headed boy.

"Good Morning, Sleepyhead," said Rio with her usual cheery attitude.

"Good Morning, 'Shark's Sister'," said Yuma, using the nickname he called her when they first met. Naturally, she knew it was all in good humor. Yuma also made a mental note to ask Shark for tips on getting payback on his sister.


After breakfast, Yuma and Rio went out to the mall for anything but Number hunting. This included going to Rio's favorite clothing store (she got some nice clothes for Yuma as well), playing Street Fighter at Yuma's favorite arcade…just hanging out really. After a while, the two duelists were sitting on a bench drinking milkshakes, perfect for summer weather. They cracked a couple of good jokes towards their older siblings, something that they did quite often. Yuma and Rio's antics did not go unnoticed by Cathy and Anna, who were shocked, as Shark often called Rio an 'Ice Queen'; Anna thought for sure that her personality matched her deck. She looked over at Cathy, who was messing with a few functions on her Duel Gazer. "What are you doing, Cat?" she asked the cat lover.

"Oh, I'm just sending Tori and Shark a message. They're probably not going to like it, though." Cathy got a response from Shark, but it wasn't what she expected. The text read: 'Leave them alone for now. I'll have a talk with Rio when she gets home, and maybe Yuma afterwards'. "Well that was unexpected," said Cathy.

"I wonder why Tori didn't respond yet," said Anna. As she said that, Cat got a response from Tori, this time being the reaction they expected: 'WHAT THE-?! HOW COULD SHE DO THAT TO ME?! I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!'. "Now that's the response I was expecting. What did you say in the initial text?"

"I told her that Yuma and Rio were on a date."

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, you two, but I believe we have company," said Astral. As it turns out, Anna was the only one of Yuma's friends who couldn't see the dueling spirit that resides in Yuma's key. Yuma and Rio looked to where Astral was pointing and they saw the two that were spying on them. Cat and Anna knew this, so they ducked under the bushes they were hiding behind.

"How could they have found out we were here?" asked Anna.

"Now that I think about it, Anna, if they were on a date, Yuma wouldn't have brought his key. Has he ever told you about Astral?"

"No I didn't," said Yuma, shocking the two girls. They saw that he was disappointed in them for hiding from him behind a bush. "What are you guys doing here anyways?"

"We know about your little date with Rio, Yuma! In fact, we even told Shark and Tori!" Anna said before Cathy could say anything.

"Okay, now I have a question. Why are you and Cathy hanging out together? I thought you two hated one another, in addition to Tori," said Rio.

"Oh that. That's because we were having an argument about whether or not Yuma likes cosplayers or tomboys," explained Cathy.

"Wait a minute. You two actually thought we were on a date? If that were the case, I would've told Astral to stay in the key in case a Barian or a Number holder," said Yuma. "If we were on a date, we would've been holding hands. I bet you didn't think of that, now did you, Anna." At this, Anna just pouted, knowing that Yuma had her beat.

"Uh-oh."

"What is it, Cat?"

"What Anna said was true, which means that Tori's mad and Shark is going to have a word with you two," said Cathy.

"Don't worry. I'll clear things up with my brother. It's Tori I'm worried about," Rio said, pointing at Yuma, knowing he was the reason they needed to worry about Tori.


After the little fiasco with Cat and Anna, Yuma and Rio decided it was time to go home. Instead of going to his house first, he immediately decided to walk Rio home. "Hey, Yuma…?"

"Yeah, Rio, what's up?"

What do you think might've happened if we were on a date?" she asked. Yuma pondered on this before giving her an answer.

"To be honest, the same thing, only with Cat and Anna getting it right. Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious. If Reggie approves of us dating, then we should do this more often. By the way, I'm amazed that you hadn't dueled all day. Why is that?"

"Oh yeah, that's because Shark and Bronk are having me take the day off from Number hunting," explained Yuma.

"Let me guess: Kite's doing the dueling for the day, isn't he?"

"Apparently so, although I haven't seen him for a week now." They stood there in immediate silence. It wasn't the most comfortable situation for either of them, especially Rio, who finally decided to get something off her chest. She grabbed Yuma by the vest and pulled him into a rough and passionate kiss. This shocked Yuma, but he decided to go along with it. He knew there was going to be hell to pay once Shark found out, but since Rio was the one who kissed him and not the other way around, he didn't exactly care. Everything disappeared in their world. No traffic. No people. No Astral. Just Yuma and Rio. Unfortunately, they needed a lot of air.

"Why…did you…do that?" asked Yuma, in between breaths.

"That…was a…thank you…and…to tell you…that…I love you," Rio explained, catching Yuma even more off guard. He's kissed Tori before, but it wasn't anywhere near that great. The fires burning between them were so intense, they could burn an entire building if they did it again. "Well, what do you think, Yuma?"

"I think…I'm going to kiss you this time!" With that, she let out an excited yelp as Yuma closed the gap again. This made it official: Yuma Tsukumo and Rio Kastle are officially a couple, Shark's approval or not.

THE END


I definitely had fun writing this one, guys. If you are wondering why I didn't write in a duel, it's because I'm lazy. Read my 'Truck Trouble' one-shot for Bleach. I enjoyed writing this. I hope you enjoyed reading it.