Destined to be Yours

Chapter 66: The Third Match-Up

Akia went to check up on Bakura, wondering if he was still asleep. When she was on her way to his room, she saw Anzu going inside. Something felt off to her, however, so she quickly followed her.

"Anzu?" Akia called out to her.

Anzu's head jerked up and looked behind her. "Ah, Akia-chan! I was checking up on Bakura-kun. But I guess since you're already here, I'll be on my way."

Akia raised her eyebrows are how suspiciously her friend was acting. She wasn't aware that it was actually not Anzu, but Marik who was in control of her at that moment. He wanted to steal Bakura's Ring while he was asleep, but was unable to do so due to Akia interrupting him.

Akia was deep in thought, concerning Anzu's behaviour until she heard Bakura move a bit. She looked at him and saw that he was getting up from his bed. She went to help him, but noticed that he didn't seem to need any help. She realized that the Spirit of the Ring had probably taken over. She took a step back.

"Well, hello there. Of course you'd be the first person I see when I open my eyes. You just can't get enough of this body can you?" He said with a smirk.

"Well, that's because it belongs to Ryou... I wouldn't enjoy you kissing me if it wasn't because it's Ryou's body." Akia said coldly, realizing just how much damage and suffering the Spirit of the Ring had been causing to Bakura. After talking to him and seeing how tired and paranoid he was, she felt resentment building towards the Ring's inhabitant. She even started cursing herself for ever indulging the idea that she might be interested in him.

"Well, if I don't take over, your little Ryou will sleep through the entire tournament. I'm curious to see where this whole thing goes," the Spirit of the Ring stated.

Akia sighed. She was against him taking over Bakura's body, but she couldn't risk doing anything with her Millennium Scale, in fear that it would seriously hurt the already weakened Bakura. She headed for the door and then turned her head towards the man still standing behind her. "Are you coming? They're going to announce the next match-up soon."

The Spirit of the Ring chuckled, not expecting her to actually want him to come along. "Let's go then." He walked passed her, taking her hand in his and leading the way. Enjoying the touch, she opted not to retract her hand, imagining it was really Bakura who was holding her hand. When they met the others at the assembly room, the Spirit of the Ring did not let go of Akia's hand, but he was now acting like Bakura. He didn't want any unnecessary attention for the time being. Marik was the first to spot them coming in together hand in hand. He averted his gaze, since the scene was making him extremely uncomfortable and annoyed.

Mai, Anzu and Shizuka, on the other hand, were definitely enjoying Akia's blushing face. The guys weren't shy about saying what they thought either.

"So? Is it finally official?" Jounouchi smirked.

"Yeah, you two can't seem to keep your hands off of each other," Otogi commented.

"It's complicated..." Akia mumbled.

"Hey, as long as you're happy, you can just enjoy the moment for now," Yugi reassured his sister.

"Can't believe Bakura's the only one of us who's getting some action," Honda whined.

"Nobody's getting any action!" Akia yelled as she stepped hard on Honda's foot to hide her embarrassment.

"Ow! Geez! Go easy on me..." Honda yelped.

"Haha, all this attention is making both of us a little shy," the Spirit of the Ring replied bashfully.

Akia gazed at the one masquerading as Bakura Ryou. She was very disturbed by how well he impersonated his host. If she didn't know from earlier, she'd think that it was really Bakura and not the Spirit of the Ring.

"May I have everyone's attention to the front please? The next match up is about to be decided." Hearing Isono's resounding voice in the room, everyone turned their attention to the front where the bingo machine was. "Ultimate Bingo, start!"

Everyone looked on in anticipation. The contestants left who hadn't dueled yet were Akia, Mai, Marik masquerading as Namu, and Rishid masquerading as Marik.

"The first contestant is... Number 2, Mutou Akia!" Isono announced.

Akia felt excitement fill her body at the mention of her name. The Dark Personality controlling Bakura let go of her hand and put an arm around her waist.

"I can't wait to see you duel," He whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

"The next contestant that will be dueling against her is... Number 8, Marik Ishtar!" Isono said.

Akia knew that it was actually Rishid who would be her opponent. Which meant...

"So I guess my opponent will be Namu," Mai stated.

Akia was a bit worried about it, but she didn't think that Marik would care about doing anything to Mai, since she was not his target at this point.

"Be careful out there, Akia. We don't know what this bastard is capable of," Jounouchi warned his friend.

"Yeah, don't worry. I will be okay," the red-eyed girl reassured her friend.

Yugi locked eyes with his sister. "Akia, you got this."

Akia nodded in determination. The Spirit of the Ring then kissed Akia on the cheek, taking her and everyone else completely by surprise.

"Here's a good luck kiss for you," he said cheerfully with a sweet smile on his face. Akia's face was beet red at that point.

"Smooth move, bro," Otogi gave him Bakura a thumbs up.

"I just can't resist her. Anyway, you should head up to your match now, Akia-chan," the Spirit of the Ring addressed Akia, acting so unperturbed and natural with everything that he had just done. Akia quickly went to the elevator where she was there with Rishid and Isono. She was going to talk to him about why he was doing all these things for Marik, but she couldn't say anything with Isono there. She hoped she'd find an opportunity later on to get some information out of him.

"...Good luck out there," She said to him, knowing that he was not an inherently malicious person, from what she experienced with him and what Ishizu had told her.

"Same to you. And... please forgive me," Rishid apologized sincerely.

Akia slowly nodded. She didn't want to say more in case Isono got suspicious. When they reached the top, the two Duelists took their place on the Dueling Arena. Akia looked to where all her friends were. Ishizu was there as well. The black-haired girl's eyes then wandered to the person standing in the back, the real Marik. They maintained eye contact, hers feeling no warmth from his. She then looked at Bakura, who was still being controlled. He had the same smile as before, the one he used to impersonate his host. She felt no sincerity from him. She then started thinking to herself how the only person who showed her real sincerity was the real Bakura Ryou. She couldn't wait for him to be back so that they could maybe explore a possible relationship together.

For now, though, she had to focus on the duel ahead. With a confident demeanour, she faced Rishid, her deck and duel disk ready for her match. "I won't go easy on you. I plan to win this."

"We will see about that," Rishid replied.

"Let the third match of the first round of the Battle City Finals begin!" Isono announced.

"Duel!" They both shouted out as they began the duel.