A Heart to Duel For; Yu-Gi-Oh! Protagonists x Reader

Chapter 26: Confrontation

It took a while for the boys to get to Fallen Lake, but soon we were all gathered together at the shoreside. Yugi reminded us that we had to be careful in the laboratory and I led everyone around the lake and towards the building.

As we got closer, the laboratory loomed over us. It was every bit sinister up close as it was far away. I swallowed as I stared up at it. The wind picked up too, making me shiver, and I clung my hoodie tighter against my body.

"We. . . aren't doing anything illegal by going in there, right?" Yuma asked.

"We're not," Yusei reassured him. "I checked; as long as we're on public land, it's okay to be here."

I looked back at Yuma and his dubious face. His usual cheeriness had diminished quite considerably since we reached the laboratory.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," I said gently. I had to remember that Yuma was the youngest here; he was only thirteen, still a child. Yuya, too, was just a year older. I shared a glance between Yusaku, Takeru and Yusei. Maybe this was something only for the oldest of us to do.

"We can split up," I continued, "since there's so many of us. Yuya, Yuma, Jaden and Takeru can stay outside and I'll go in with the others."

I figured Takeru could stay with them to watch over them so that the younger duelists would feel safer. Yusei and Yugi nodded their agreement but Yuma shook his head stubbornly.

"No. I promised that I'd help you. And if it means going in there then I'm gonna do it."

There was such a determined look in his eyes that I couldn't bring myself to say no to him. Instead, I looked around the group again. "Is everyone sure they want to go?" I had to be responsible for everyone's safety and I wasn't going to force them into this. "If you'd rather wait out here then there's nothing wrong with that."

They all shook their heads. Every one of them was set on going inside and possibly finding the end of this mystery, if Dr. Davis did have the answers we needed. I couldn't help but feel a rush of affection for them. These boys who came into a foreign town for an exhibitional tournament showed me nothing but kindness in trying to figure out what was happening.

Maybe when all of this was over, when there wasn't any sort of mysteries or sudden memory loss or articles and strange happenings in history, we'd be able to hang out as a normal group of teens and nothing more.

Even as I pushed open the rusty front door of the laboratory and a chill went down my spine, I could feel the warmth and security from the others behind me, and once again felt the renewed sense of belongingness with them.

The hallway we entered was dark. The only light that came in was through small narrow windows that cast thin rays of sunshine across the floor. Peering through the shadows, I could make out several doorways on either side of the hallway. Yusei took the lead with his phone in hand, its flashlight illuminating the dark.

"It doesn't look like anyone's here," Yuya murmured, looking around with wide, cautious eyes.

"He could be hiding," Yugi speculated in a soft voice.

"Or the power could be off," Jaden said. "This building is supposedly abandoned."

"I don't think this place would be of much use to Dr. Davis if its electricity was cut off," Yusaku replied coolly.

"Oh, right."

"We won't know by just standi—" Yusei began to say when Yuma cut him off.

"Do you guys hear that?"

We all went quiet and I tried to hear what Yuma had noticed. At first I couldn't hear anything at all but then surely enough, there was the soft sound of gurgling, running water.