Chapter Six: There's No Heart in Heartland City

The city seemed so much quieter now. At least it did to Shark. The spark that was once there seemed to be dimmer in a way. Yuma hadn't been around for almost three weeks now. No one had seen him. Not his family or his closest friends.

"I wonder what's up with Yuma? To be completely honest with myself... I'm starting to worry about him."

Shark was walking down the streets of Heartland City. Not paying attention to where he was going as he made his way. He's been doing this lately. Thinking about Yuma and if he was alright. The day when he ran into Yuma in the hall after his freak out in class was still very much visible in his mind.

Everything about Yuma that day was vividly clear. The tears in his eyes and the fact they were all red and puffy. The fact that his face was all red and he could barely stay up on his feet. Something so obviously happened, Yuma just wouldn't tell anyone.

"I'm going to get answers from him today. I don't care how much he bitches and complains, we need to know what's up with him. I need to know what's wrong with him."

Sharks slow walking suddenly quickened into a fast sprint as he turned to go in the direction of the Tsukumo home. He may not have been paying attention to where he was going but he knew the way to Yuma's pretty well. He had to get to the bottom of what was going on. Yuma wouldn't even come out to duel anymore.

"Damn it Yuma! You better have a good explanation for all of this."

What Shark didn't know was that Yuma was going through something you can't just explain to someone. Yuma felt ashamed of himself for what was going on. He should've known something was wrong when Astral was away for so long, but because Astral would usually be away he didn't think anything of it. But now, he wished he had.

When Shark reached the Tsukumo home he knocked on the door as hard as he could. It took a few minutes before someone answered the door, but when it opened the face that hadn't been seen by the outside world finally showed itself.

"Yuma?"

Shark was surprised to see that the person standing in front of him was really the duelist he became such great friends with.

"Hey Shark. Wh-what are you doing here?" Yuma's voice was shaky and tired as he spoke.

"I came to see you. Everyone's worried about you. Are you alright?" Shark tried opening the door to get a better look at his friend, but Yuma wouldn't let the door open any further.

"Yuma... open the door."

"N-no Shark. Now isn't a good time. I don't want to give you whatever it is I have. Please... just leave."

As Yuma was about to close the door Shark put his foot in the door way. He wasn't going to let Yuma push him away this time. Shark was determined to find out what was wrong with Yuma.

"Yuma... I'm your friend. I want to help you, but I can't if you won't let me."

Shark's words sounded like muffled pleading. Yuma's head had been in a foggy state since the night before. Dark Mist hadn't showed up, yet which most likely meant he was with Astral. So maybe this was finally Yuma's chance in getting help.

"Shark... I-I do need--" As Yuma stepped forward to open the door he suddenly fell forward straight into Shark.

"Yuma?! YUMA!"

Shark carried Yuma back into his house and laid him down on the couch. Yuma's face was a bright red and he was breathing heavily as beads of sweat decorated his visible skin. Yuma was burning up with a high fever.

"What the hell happened to you, Yuma?" Shark placed a wet towel on Yuma's forehead to cool him down.

The dripping cold water woke Yuma. His eyes still heavy and his body equally so.

"Sh-Shark..."

"Yuma? Hey, how are you feeling? You suddenly collapsed when you were about to say something. What did you want to tell me?"

"I-I collapsed?" Yuma stuttered as he tried to remember what had happened.

"Yuma, talk to me. What's going on with you? Why aren't you coming to school or talking to any of us?"

"I-I just didn't want to get all of you involved. He's back Shark. He's back and he's taken Astral." Tears started to form in Yuma's eyes as he was finally able to tell someone.

"He's back? Who's back?" Shark questioned.

Yuma looked into Shark's dark blue eyes with his own watery red. His bottom lip trembled as he tried to say his name, but at the same time he was scared to. Scared that if he spoke his name that he would appear and involve Shark in all this mess--but he had to say something with the only chance he had.

Slowly, as his teeth scrapped against his bottom lip and softly bit down on it. Yuma was finally able to form the name of the one he was talking about.

"Black Mist." Yuma hesitantly whispered.

"Black Mist? How long has this been going on Yuma? What is he doing to you?"

"A-after Astral disappeared, I didn't think much of it. But suddenly... a little over three weeks ago... i-it just seemed like a dream. B-but then--out of nowhere he... he..."

Yuma couldn't even finish his sentence before breaking out into uncontrollable tears. Salty tears stand his face and his nose started to run. Putting all the strength in his legs, Yuma stood up in front of Shark and slowly removed his shirt to reveal thick, dark bruises wrapped around his body.

Shark's eyes got big as he followed the bruises wrapped around Yuma's body. Yuma didn't even have to tell him anymore for him to understand what was going on. Shark could tell the Yuma was embarrassed just doing this much to make Shark understand, and he did. Shark took Yuma's shirt from him and placed it back overtop Yuma's head and pulled it back down to cover him.

Yuma looked a little surprised to Shark's reaction to what he showed his friend. Yuma pulled his arms through the sleeves and waited for what Shark was going to do or say next. After a few seconds of silence Shark got up and grabbed a blanket that was hanging on a reclining chair and wrapped around Yuma's bruised and shaking body.

"I'm going to figure this out Yuma. I'm going to find a way to help you, and I know I'm asking a lot from you right now after all that's happened these past three weeks, but I need you to hold out a little bit longer until I can figure this out. Can you do that?"

Shark's tone became so serious that it somewhat shocked Yuma, but he was glad that he was able to let someone know what was going on. Yuma nodded to what Shark said and tightly wrapped the blanket his friend had given him around his body.

"Alright. Get some rest Yuma and I'll let everyone else know that you're alright, and I promise I'll stop by again to see how you're doing." Shark lightly smiled as he made his way towards the door but made sure Yuma was laying down to get some rest before leaving.

"Alright, and Shark,"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you, f-for understanding, and sorry for not saying anything sooner.

"Don't worry about it Yuma, just rest and I'll see you later."

Shark gave one last soft smile before opening the front door to Yuma's home and made his way back onto the streets of Heartland City. Yuma let out a heavy sigh in some relief that he was able to let someone know. A lot of the stress that was weighing him down was finally lifted as he laid down even further into the couch. He wrapped the blanket even tighter and his eyes finally gave up on staying open. Right when his eyelids covered his red orbs he fell into the deepest sleep he ever went into. It seemed like a long time since Yuma felt at ease to go to sleep, something her so desperately needed.

As Shark walked down the street to head home to meet with his sister, all that he learned was starting to go through his mind. Dark Mist was back, Astral is missing and Yuma was being sexually tortured be the twisted Number Card. He said he would help Yuma, but to be honest, he didn't know if he could. As he thought this a sudden coldness suddenly took him over. Something was coming. Something dark, something evil. Quickly Shark changed into his Barian form and he turned to see the one who was causing all his friend's problems.

"You!"

"Hello Shark. What did you and Yuma talk about?"