I have decided to do my own 30 day OTP challenge! At first, I was wondering who to do it for, but then realized that my true OTP doesn't get enough love. Thus a Wishshipping 30 day OTP challenge. This will not be updated daily, nor will it all be in the same universe. And, for those of you waiting on my next House Rules chapter, that will be up soon.

Yyyyy

Joey shivered in the early morning winter chill. It was only forty degrees out, but the breeze cutting through his old jacket made it feel lower. He was on his way over to his buddy's house to pick him up for a small duel tournament being held at the local community center.

"I sure hope it's worth the walk." He grumbled, finally spotting the familiar blue roof at the end of the road.

Yugi was outside waiting for him, warm breath making tiny clouds in the air. He was bundled up in a dark, thick, winter jacket that made Joey think of the marshmallow creature from the Ghost Busters movie. Earmuffs gave his hair a funny part, and the scarf Serenity had made him for Christmas was tied tightly around his neck. Yugi, with his small frame, had always had a harder time with the cold than Joey.

"Yo, Yugi." He called out when he was close enough.

Yugi turned and smiled. "Hi, Joey." He waved and ran over to greet his tall friend. "You all ready?"

"'Course I am." Joey lifted his jacket to show his duel case.

"Let's get going, then." Yugi held up his own, and the two started off down the street.

About five minutes later, Joey found himself wishing he had actually spent the extra few minutes it would have taken to find that old pair of gloves he'd dug out of his closet when the weather had started turning. His pockets didn't exactly offer the best protection when it came to keeping out the wind. He glanced over at Yugi to see how he was faring. Despite slightly rosy cheeks, the shorter teen seemed to be fairly warm wrapped up in his little cocoon of winter clothing.

"Joey? Are you alright?" Yugi caught him staring and tilted his head to the side. "You look cold."

"I'm fine. Just gonna have to remember to dress warmer next time." Joey grinned, trying to act tough. He knew it wouldn't work, especially with Yugi, but he had to at least attempt to preserve his dignity.

"Here," Yugi pulled off his earmuffs and scarf and handed them over. "You can use these." Joey tried to protest, but Yugi slipped them over his head and he felt instant warmth flooding into him. His buddy's tiny body had warmed them already and the knitted scarf was especially thick. "Um," Joey saw Yugi blush and look down at his hands. "I don't think my gloves will fit you."

"Nah, don't worry about it, Yug. I'm a lot warmer now. Thanks." Joey shrugged. He was a bit warmer, but more than that, he didn't want Yugi taking off anything else. He didn't want the champion duelist getting sick for his sake.

They were silent for a few seconds, and Joey turned his mind to the tournament. It was just a small one, only scheduled to last until shortly after lunch, but it had sounded like fun so they signed up. Lunch would be served for free to the participants and-,

"Here." Yugi said again, this time much more soft and uncertain. Before Joey could respond, he felt something reach into his too-large jacket pocket and envelope his hand in warmth.

"Yugi?"

Blushing profusely, Yugi let go of Joey's hand and dropped his arms to his sides, refusing to look up at his friend. "Sorry."

Joey felt his heart drop a little when he saw how upset Yugi looked. Swallowing, he removed his hand from his pocket and wrapped his fingers around Yugi's, squeezing slightly. No words were exchanged as they continued on their way, but Yugi did perk up a bit. He made sure Joey's hand was warm the entire way there.

Yyyyy

The competition ended up being better than expected for such a small tournament, but still not on the same level as most of the people they'd dueled in their past. In order to allow the others to have fun, the two ended up dropping out pretty early on, though they stayed until the end to answer questions and give advice.

On their way back, however, they remained silent. It wasn't uncomfortable at all, more companionable than anything, really, but it did leave room for thought. Joey had his hand at his side again, holding onto Yugi's warm, gloved hand, but his mind wasn't as far away as Yugi's. While Yugi alternated thinking about the blazing hot sun of Egypt, the hot cocoa he would make when they got back to the shop, and the soon-to-be-falling snow, Joey was thinking about Yugi's hand.

It was tiny. Smaller in size than his sister's, though not as delicate. He had had the privilege of seeing it grow over the past few years, not just in size, but also in strength. He had watched his buddy take on so many opponents, stare them down and not back away. He had seen him defeated and terrified, ready to give up, and then turn around with even more courage and drive than before. But he had also seen him angry and frustrated, not to mention scared, of him. And, Joey remembered to this day and would not soon forget, seeing Yugi's back as he blocked Ushio the giant from them.

"I can't do that to my friends!"

Joey gave Yugi's hand a squeeze and closed his eyes, knowing there wasn't anything he was going to walk into in front of him.

"Joey? What's wrong?" Yugi looked up, snapping out of his thoughts of snow and hot cocoa.

"Yug." Joey opened his eyes, but trained them on the street instead of his friend. "Why are we friends?"

The sudden question caught Yugi off guard, and he didn't answer right away. After a moment, though, he managed to find his voce. "W-what do you mean? Do you . . . do you not want to be?" His voice grew faint, and he pulled his hand back, only to find that Joey wouldn't let it go. Couldn't let it go.

"That's not it. At all." Joey saw Yugi look at him in confusion and sighed. "Just, why me? I was horrible to you and you saved me. You could have gotten seriously hurt, maybe even killed if he'd hit you just right, for me and Tristan. And it's not just that. Back when you dueled Panik, you said you'd dealt with several bullies in your life. I just . . . why did you let me become your friend?"

Yugi lowered his head to stare at his shoes. This wasn't what he'd expected when he'd woken up that morning. "I . . . I guess there are several reasons." Yugi mumbled. "The main one being the fact that you didn't hurt me."

"I did some pretty inexcusable things, though." Joey returned.

"You did, but you have the human decency to feel bad about it. I've dealt with bullies in the past that didn't. They needed to feel like they were strong or above someone." He dropped his voice and held Joey's hand tighter. "Or they just wanted to take out their anger on something that could feel pain." Swallowing thickly, he continued. "You were different. It was like you actually meant what you were saying about toughening me up. Making me a man. And I'd felt really guilty about you two getting attacked. Ushio had told me the day before that he'd make sure I wasn't bullied anymore. I just brushed him off as a creep and forgot about it until the next day."

"You knew?" Joey hadn't heard this before.

"Yeah. I'm really sorry. If I'd known what he was going to do, I would have stopped him somehow. As it was, Yami was the reason he ended up being institutionalized." Yugi reached up with his other hand and held Joey's large, calloused one in both of his, making the blonde's heart flutter. "That was the first time Yami possessed me."

"I never realized that. What game did he make Ushio play? I know he tended to use games other than Duel Monsters back then." Joey rubbed his thumb over the back of Yugi's hand.

"Well, Ushio told me that I would have to pay him to be my 'bodyguard', not that I wanted him to be, obviously, and if I didn't pay he'd use his knife next time he beat me up. Yami somehow doubled the money and convinced Ushio to hand over his knife and they balanced two stacks of the money on their hands and took turns stabbing bills. In the end, Ushio tried to stab Yami and Yami temporarily locked his mind in a delusion that everything was money."

"That creep was forcing you to pay him?" Joey asked, clearly (and understandably) upset.

"Yeah, but that was three years ago, Joey. This was all years ago. We're all friends now. And the world doesn't need saving. And Yami got his own body. And there haven't been any psychos trying to kill us lately." Yugi ticked everything off one by one on his fingers, never letting go of Joey's hand. "We're friends, the two of us. And how we started doesn't affect that one bit."

Joey sighed and spun Yugi around so that he could wrap him in a one-armed hug without having to let go of his hand. "Alright. Not one bit."

"Race you back for hot cocoa." Yugi grinned.

"Oh, you're on." Joey grinned right back.

Yyyyy

Please tell me what you thought! Wishshipping is just too cute to resist! X)