Yugi's Birthday Party
Today, Yugi woke up with an enormous excitement. "Today is going to be a very special day." Suddenly Grandpa burst through Yugi's bedroom door.
"Yugi, my boy! Wake up now! Today is a special day my boy!"
"It sure is Grandpa." Yugi swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Grandpa went ahead into the kitchen to make Yugi a special birthday breakfast. Yugi changed into his school uniform and met his grandfather in the kitchen. Grandpa Mutou made Yugi his favorite breakfast and announced the plans to celebrate.
"Well Yugi, what do you say to a birthday party this evening?"
"I say that's a swell idea Grandpa. Can we talk about this later? I'm going to be late." Yugi grabbed his backpack and ran outside. As usual, his best friend Tea was waiting to walk to school with him.
"So Yugi, what's going on today? Do you want to hang out after school?" Tea asked.
"Sorry Tea, I'm going home right after school. Do you want to come over later? Grandpa is throwing a birthday party."
"Whose birthday is it?"
Yugi chuckled. "It's mine Tea."
"You mean it is June 4th already? Wow, I guess the time really does fly." Tea smiled and giggled to herself. When they got to school, they met up with Tristan and Joey.
"Hey Yug! What's up?" Joey asked, ruffling Yugi's hair.
"Uh, Joey, could you cut that out please?" Yugi asked. Joey chuckled and wrapped his arm around Yugi's shoulders. Tristan slapped Yugi's back and laughed with Joey.
"Hi guys!" Someone called from behind. They turned to find Duke sitting in his seat and waving.
"Hi Duke." Yugi greeted. Duke stood up and joined the group.
"What's everybody talking about?" He asked.
"Well it's my birthday today and Grandpa is throwing a small party to celebrate. Do you want to come by after school?"
"Sure, I'd love to." Duke smiled. "Happy Birthday Yugi!"
"Oh, it's Yugi's birthday today?" Bakura asked, walking through the classroom door.
"Oh hey, it's Bakura! He's back." Tristan exclaimed.
"Happy Birthday Yugi."
Yugi smiled. "Thanks Bakura. Do you want to come to my party tonight?"
Bakura was surprised but he agreed. The teacher finally arrived and asked everyone to be seated. Yugi and the others worked their hardest as the school day dragged on. By lunch, the group was getting anxious for the party.
"So Yug, whaddya say? You wanna duel? For old time's sake?" Joey asked.
"You shouldn't mention Duel Monsters in front of Yugi. You know that's a sensitive topic." Tristan said.
"What do you mean?" Yugi asked.
"You haven't spoken of or played Duel Monsters ever since the Pharaoh passed on."
"Nice goin' Tristan. You said we weren't supposed to mention him either. Way to go!" Joey said.
"Would you get off my back? I was trying to make a point."
Tristan wasn't far off point as a matter of fact. It had only been a few months since Yugi's last duel and that was with Atem. Yugi and Atem had been together for years and Yugi learned everything about Duel Monsters from Atem. But that wasn't all; Atem and Yugi had become the best of friends during their adventures and Atem gave Yugi more confidence than he ever had before.
Fate wasn't so friendly; Atem was a Pharaoh of ancient Egypt. Atem was locked inside the Millennium Puzzle until Yugi solved it and set him free. But Atem was destined to return to the Otherworld, in the land of the dead with his loyal subjects and friends. Yugi passed the final test and proved that he no longer needed Atem's help and Atem had his memories returned to him. So it was time for Atem to leave Yugi in the land of the living.
After he left, Yugi was very sad; he and Atem had been together so long and he missed him terribly. Tristan and Joey thought it would be best not to bring anything up about the two of them or the game until Yugi had enough time to recover from the loss of a dear friend. But now the subject was brought up and Joey feared that Yugi's birthday would now be ruined because of it.
"It's okay Joey. It's good to talk about the Pharaoh. We should remember him and the good times we had with him as friends." Yugi said. He meant the words as he said them, but in his heart he knew that thinking of Yami was still painful. "Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing everybody tonight. Come over to my house at 7."
"You got it Yug!" Joey enthusiastically raised his fist and cheered. Later that night, Duke, Tristan, Tea, Joey, and Bakura gathered at Yugi's grandpa's house. Grandpa greeted the guests and showed them to the living room. Grandpa had closed the card shop early and decorated the entire house with birthday streamers and the like. Grandpa got excited for Yugi's birthday and usually went all out.
"Okay kids, we can do this one of two ways; we can have cake and ice cream before presents or presents before cake and ice cream. What will it be Yugi?"
"Well, I suppose we could do presents first."
"Alright then Yugi, you sit on the couch there and I'll go get your presents." Grandpa scurried into the hallway and toward his secret hiding place.
"Whoops!" Joey exclaimed, jumping out of his seat.
"What's wrong Joey?" Tristan asked.
"I nearly sat on my deck. Wouldn't want that to happen?"
"You brought your Duel Monsters deck to Yugi's party?" Tea asked.
"I thought I'd bring in case I needed it. You know me and this deck go everywhere. I never leave home without it." Joey said. He held his deck close to him and smiled. Tristan rolled his eyes; Joey was his best bud but sometimes he was too much to handle.
"Here, this one is from me." Tea said handing Yugi his present. Yugi smiled and took the present.
"Aww Yugi, did you really start without your grandpa? That's cold." Grandpa pretended to be wounded.
"Sorry Grandpa." He finished opening up Tea's gift. Tea gave Yugi a Dark Magician figurine that she made in art class. "Wow, Tea."
"Whoa! That looks so cool." Tristan commented.
"Did you make this?" Yugi asked. Tea nodded her head. "Tea this is very nice. I really like it."
"You're welcome." Tea said.
Next was Joey; Joey gave Yugi his own version of the Red Eyes Black Dragon. Yugi thanked him and continued with the next present. After he got through everyone in the group, Grandpa finally presented Yugi with his gift.
"Yugi my boy, as you know I run the greatest card shop there is…" Grandpa chuckled.
"That's true Gramps!" Joey chimed in. Everyone had a laugh and then Grandpa continued.
"Well, in light of my shop's greatness, I've wrangled together a gift for you Yugi." He handed the package to Yugi and waited for him to open it. Inside, Yugi found five of the newest cards that were released last month.
"Grandpa! This is amazing!"
"Nothing's too good for my grandson. Even the King of Games needs new cards every once in a while. So whaddya say my boy? You wanna try them out?"
"One thing first." Yugi went back to his room and pulled out the case that used to hold his Millennium Puzzle. He sat down on the bed and looked at the case in his hands. "Well Pharaoh, this is the first birthday you haven't spent with me. I really miss you pal. I hope you're happy wherever you are."
"Yugi." The familiar voice came out of nowhere. Yugi looked up and saw the apparition of Pharaoh Atem.
"Yami? Is that really you?" Yugi asked, standing up.
"It's me Yugi. I heard your message and I wanted to wish you a very Happy Birthday." Yami said.
"Thank you. That means a lot to me. I sure do miss you pal."
"And I miss you too Yugi. But, you no longer need me. You can stand on your own two feet now. You are doing just fine without me."
"You really think so?"
Yami chuckled. "Don't think I haven't been watching you all this time. I had to; and trust me Yugi, you're doing very well for yourself. You and all of our friends."
"Thanks Yami. You always know what to say."
"Goodbye Yugi." And with that, Pharaoh faded away and whisked back to the Otherworld.
"Goodbye Yami."
"Yugi, come here! It's time to blow out your candles." Grandpa called. Yugi chuckled to himself and went back to his party. All of his friends and the person he cared about the most sang "Happy Birthday" before Yugi blew out his candles. They clapped for him as the smoke surrounded the room with their burnt waxy scent. As they ate together, Yugi gazed around the room at his friends.
Bakura used to be controlled by an evil version of himself who controlled the Millennium Ring. And now, with his own personality back, he was as kind and gentle as ever. Duke was still trying to make a deal with Kaiba Corp. to franchise his Dungeon Dice Monsters game but Seto Kaiba was the most stubborn man Yugi had ever met. But Duke enjoyed spending these times with good friends, even though things didn't start out that way.
Tristan and Joey still fought a lot but they always resolved it like brothers. Yugi couldn't recall a single moment when those two weren't at each other's sides, or throats. Yugi internally chuckled and glanced at Tea. She was smirking at Tristan and Joey; Tea had always been so kind to Yugi and he appreciated her company. Yugi never would've met these guys if it hadn't been for Atem. He thought about Atem's last words to him and smiled.
"You were right Atem. I may not need you but I will always miss you my friend." Yugi thought to himself.
"Happy Birthday Yugi!" They cheered.
"Thanks you guys, you're the best." Yugi smiled, overflowing with joy.