A Longshot vs. dozens of short shots
"Ugh, I can't believe this." Anzu Mazaki fell back onto her bed with her arm covering her eyes; just the other day Yuugi's grandpa Sugoroku had been trapped inside of an 8mm tape by a man named Pegasus J. Crawford, the creator of the card game Duel Monsters and possessor of the Millennium Eye, just like Yuugi's Millennium Puzzle and Bakura's Millennium Ring. With all that weighing on her mind, it wasn't all that surprising that she'd hit another customer at the greasy joint she had been working at after the scuz had grabbed her butt and of course she was fired, because why should the customer be expected to keep their hands to themselves? It didn't help matters that as a high-school student she wasn't allowed to have a job, Jounouchi's paper route the exception due to his father's gambling debts, and of course being a teenage girl meant that the whole deck was stacked against her in so many ways it wasn't even worth saying it wasn't funny. All the stupid humiliating jobs she'd been in, all so she could make it to America.
Then her phone rang. Anzu answered it. "Anzu?"
"Hey Yuugi." Anzu uncovered her eyes. "You holding up okay? You and...the other you?"
"Kind of?" Anzu sat up. "See, there was an envelope on my door, and there were cards inside it, cards about Duelist Kingdom."
"I'll be right there Yuugi." Sure, there wasn't much all that she could objectively do, but her personal problems were peanuts next to what Yuugi was going through; her next job hunt could wait until after she'd seen Yuugi through this crisis.
"Hey Anzu!" She had just arrived at the door to Yuugi's home, the Kame Gameshop, and was not the least bit surprised to see Jounouchi, Honda, and Bakura arriving at the same time; they were all Yuugi's friends, they were all going to be there for Yuugi and do what they could for him. "Man, doesn't seem like we can ever catch a break, doesn't it? No offense Bakura." Jounouchi said.
"It's quite all right Jounouchi, I was quite grateful for all of your help." Anzu remembered their battle with the other Bakura quite well enough.
"You guys coming in or what?" Honda was already opening the door, and so they all followed him inside and into Yuugi's room...
"Oh, hello everyone." They all paused when they saw Yuugi's mother. "I'm glad you're here; I'm going to be seeing Grandpa Sugoroku in the hospital, I hope you won't mind spending some time with Yuugi."
"Of course we don't mind, we're Yuugi's buds."
"Thank goodness, lately he's been doing nothing but holing himself up in his room and watching old tapes of Grandpa Sugoroku."
"R-right." Anzu wasn't the least bit surprised that Yuugi hadn't told his mom the truth about what had happened, about any of the things that had happened since Yuugi had solved the Millennium Puzzle. "You take care and drive safely, okay?"
"I always do, but thank you all the same dear." They watched Yuugi's mom leave, and after a moment's silence they resumed on their way into Yuugi's room.
"Hey guys." Yuugi was in the middle of the floor, legs crossed and cards spread out over the floor. The videoplayer with Grandpa Sugoroku inside was on Yuugi's bed, watching over him; Anzu was struck by the strangeness that Yuugi was, caught in that horrible awkward stage between boy and man, feeling the wants and needs of being a child and being an adult. "There was an envelope stuck in the door, and these were inside." He gestured at the cards. "This one says when to be at the docks."
"And this one shows a picture of the island where Duelist Kingdom is going to be." Honda picked up that card.
"And this one says you need to have at least one star chip on that weird glove that came with the tape." Jounouchi said.
"Huh, The Honor of the King's Left is blank; I wonder if Pegasus will fill that in if you win at the end?" Bakura said.
Anzu hadn't listened to any of them though; her eyes had been on The Honor of the King's Right, lots of gold and jewels pictured and the text simply read 'Great Wealth'; she remembered how in the tape Pegasus had mentioned that there would be a cash prize at the tournament, and Pegasus being an American, his idea of a cash prize would probably be...
"Anzu? Yo, Anzu, you with us?" Honda was waving his hand in front of her face.
"Y-yeah." She nodded at him, turned to Yuugi. "Um, can I ask you something Yuugi."
"Well, sure Anzu, what is it?" How like him; even at a time like this, he was acting like her issues were more important.
"There were two star chips that came with the glove and tape, right?" Yuugi nodded. Anzu took a deep breath, she had to say this directly, she couldn't waver or be nervous. "Can I have one of them?"
"Eh, say again Anzu?" Jounouchi dug his finger into his ear. "Cause, uh, I could have sworn you asked Yuugi for one of the star chips he needed."
"I did." Anzu put more confidence into her voice. "I want to be in the tournament too, I want to have a chance at the prize money."
"But Anzu," Bakura said, "if Yuugi gives you one of the chips, it could leave him at a serious disadvantage."
"I know, that's why I'm asking." She had no intention of forcing the issue, if Yuugi wanted both chips to make sure he had the best chance possible...
"Sure thing, here you go Anzu." He'd already gotten the star chip from the box and was holding out in his hand for her to take.
"Uh, Yuugi? You sure you might not want to think this over?" Honda turned his head to Anzu. "Nothing against you or anything, just...you know, this is real serious what Yuugi's got to deal with."
"My dream's serious too." It had been hers for as long as she could remember, and this was a long shot to be sure, like trying to reach the stars in one mighty jump, but if she could make it, if she could make that jump...
"Yep, and since we've got a week before the boat comes in, we can use that time to work on our decks together." He looked away, and for a moment Anzu could have sworn there was a bit of red on his cheeks.
"Oh ho ho." Yuugi's grandpa said from inside the tape, startling everyone with the reminder that he was still there. "Just remember, I will be chaperoning you two to make sure you really are working on your dueling, hmm?"
"Grandpa!" Yuugi's face was beet red as he grabbed the player and shook it up and down in an effort to shake his grandfather around inside it.
Anzu, meanwhile, clenched her fist and focused her thoughts on the future, on the dream that she was going to grasp with her own hands.
