7. Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V A New Story of Pendulum (Synchro Arc)

Chapter 33 Determination Duel

The hallway was silent except for the faint echo of Yuni's knuckles against the wooden door. "Katrina..." she called softly, her voice carrying both concern and hesitation. She waited, but no sound came from inside. The air around them felt heavy, almost suffocating. Even the dim light of the corridor seemed to avoid the door.

Yuni knocked again. Still nothing.

"Geez, what is wrong with her?" Yuya muttered, folding his arms. His brows furrowed, a mix of worry and frustration in his tone. "I know she lost to Yugo on purpose, but why is she devastated?"

"I have no idea," Reisho replied quietly, his usual calmness edged with unease. "She even congratulated Yugo after the duel... she didn't look broken then."

Yuni hesitated before rapping on the door once more. The sound echoed through the hall — and finally, a faint voice came from within.

"Leave me alone... I am a monster..."

The words froze the three of them. Yuni's hand trembled against the door. "Katrina, you're no monster!" she pleaded. "Just tell us what's going on!"

But no answer came. Only silence — thick, crushing, and painful.

Yuya frowned, lowering his head. "She's calling herself a monster now? What's going on here?"

"This is really abnormal..." Yuni said under her breath, her expression darkening. "This is just like the time when she transformed into a half-vampire... but I thought she was used to being one."

"And when she came back to us from Heartland, she was acting completely normal," Reisho added.

"Heartland..." Yuni's eyes widened slightly. "Wait a second. Katrina was known as the Vampire of Heartland. But nobody ever told us how she got that nickname — or how people in the Xyz Dimension even knew about her... condition."

Yuya straightened up, his tone serious now. "Yuto, Rumi. I guess we really need to know what happened with Katrina."

The pair exchanged uneasy glances before Yuto finally spoke. "The thing is... we didn't know she was a half-vampire when we found her seven years ago."

Rumi nodded, folding her hands in front of her. "Her identity was well-hidden — until that day."

"That day?" Yuni repeated. "What happened that day?"

Rumi's eyes dimmed. "I'm not sure you know this, but Katrina... she had a crush on my brother."

Yuya exhaled through his nose, half-expecting that answer. "We knew. It wasn't exactly hard to notice. But what does that have to do with Kurosaki?"

Rumi's voice softened. "One of our classmates was named Lisa. She came from the same branch as Ron and Jean. She was our friend... or at least, we thought she was."

Yuto continued the story with a grave tone. "Lisa also had a crush on Shun. And so did Katrina. Before Yusho-sensei arrived in Heartland, Katrina basically lived with the Kurosakis. Four whole years under the same roof."

"Lisa confessed to my brother," Rumi said, her words trembling slightly. "But he refused her — said he didn't feel the same way. I think... he might've had feelings for Katrina instead."

Reisho blinked. "Seriously? I guess all that pain from losing his family made it hard for us to imagine him in love like that."

Rumi nodded faintly. "Lisa didn't take rejection well. The anger, the humiliation — it twisted her. She began plotting revenge. Eventually, she decided to kidnap me and Ruri."

"Wait, what?" Yuni's voice shot up in disbelief.

"It's true," Yuto said grimly. "Although I didn't know at first. It happened right before Lisa's birthday. We were planning a celebration for her... completely unaware of what she was planning for us."