The next month went by in a blur. Despite the little bit of drama that had ensued immediately following me meeting Yuugi, Anzu, Jonouchi, and Honda, I enjoyed hanging out with them after that. If I were being completely honest, I also felt that I could get some answers about the Blue-Eyes by being around them, too. Maybe it made no sense practically, but I told myself I felt that way due to the Blue-Eyes reentering my life the same day I met them. For now, it was the only lead I had.

One day, I felt a somber mood hanging over them at school, and the moment I had the time to talk to them, I joined them as they were huddled around a desk, investigating a few Duel Monsters cards. I'd stayed at home to help my mother clean up the house the night prior, instead of accepting their offer to hang out. They had planned on watching a Duel Monsters Tournament that Jonouchi had entered but been dropped out of rapidly. I wanted to go, but I still felt like I needed to make it up to my mother for the times I'd been late coming home.

As I joined everyone, I tilted my head. "Hey. Everything okay, guys?"

The fact that I didn't get an immediate answer was telling enough.

"Something... happened," Anzu started slowly. "The creator of Duel Monsters, Pegasus, challenged Yuugi to a Duel, and when Yuugi didn't win..." her voice dropped to a quieter tone, "Pegasus took Yuugi's grandpa's soul."

"His... soul?"

Jonouchi spoke up then. "Yeah, it sounds unbelievable, but we were all there, and Gramps won't respond to anything."

"The hospital says his vitals are all fine," Anzu continued, "but he won't wake up. They can't give a medical reason why."

"Wow..." I murmured, folding my arms over my stomach. I didn't know what to think. This didn't seem like something that would happen, but what reason was there for it not to? From the look on Yuugi's face, this was happening. "Why would Pegasus do that?"

"He wants me to join his tournament," Yuugi finally spoke, handing me one of the cards from the desk. "If I win, Grandpa gets his soul back."

I took the card and looked it over. The image was that of a little castle, and below it, some text, beginning an explanation of the tournament. "Duelist Kingdom? Why does he want you in this tournament so bad?"

"I don't know. He said he knows of me because I beat Kaiba. I don't know if that's his reason for all of this though."

"Hmm..." I handed Yuugi back the card. "You're going, then?"

"I have to."

"Still, it's hard to believe," Honda said. "That Pegasus guy. He's no ordinary man."

"And we can't even come with you without an invitation." Jonouchi crossed his arms in frustration. "We can't be there to help."

Anzu nodded, and Honda reached for two of the cards on the desk. "It would be great if we could all go." Something on one of the cards caught his eye, and the brunet blinked in surprise. "Hey, Yugi, look at this 'Glory of the King's Hand' card. It says, 'an enormous cash prize.'"

"It means the winner will receive a huge cash prize." Yuugi nodded.

"Hey, let me see that!" Jonouchi grabbed the card from Honda to look at it himself.

Though Jonouchi's response seemed questionable, no one mentioned it. Instead, the talk of the tournament continued until we all had to return to their desks. I wondered what all of this meant. Yuugi had beat Kaiba, so Pegasus went to extreme measures to make sure Yuugi joined his tournament? The pieces didn't fit together in my head yet.

Every day that passed after that seemed more tense as the tournament approached. We were all worried, but there wasn't anything we could do.

The day that Yuugi was going to leave, when class let out, I noticed Honda and Anzu approaching my desk. Normally, once class ended, we'd just say our goodbyes and go our separate ways. This was different.

I stuffed my things in my bag and stood, just as Anzu spoke.

"Mara, Honda and I had an idea!"

I gave a little laugh at the vagueness of her words. "Okay, for what?"

"For going with Yuugi to the tournament!"

Despite her upbeat energy, I raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Don't we need invitations?"

"To get on board while being noticed, yeah," Honda spoke, and I wasn't sure I liked the mischief in his expression.

Anzu continued, "We won't be able to get on the ship like that, but what about with everything else they'll be loading on to it? We could sneak on with the cargo."

My eyes widened. "You're really willing to do that? That's really, really illegal."

"We can't let Yuugi go to the tournament by himself, though," Anzu insisted, her frown stubborn. "We're telling you now in case you wanted to come with."

I took a deep breath, scratching the back of my head. It was dangerous and stupid, but that only made it sound more interesting. "I want to, but what about my parents? What could I tell them?"

"Say you're at my house for the weekend!" Anzu chirped, smiling with confidence. "They wouldn't mind you hanging out at your friend's, would they?"

I shook my head. "No, they'd be fine with that. I mean, you guys are really serious about this?" They both nodded. I paused, mulling it over for a moment, and once I came to a conclusion, I nodded back. "Alright, I'm in."

"Good! The ship will be letting passengers on around nine-thirty, so we need to get there before that to make sure we get on," Anzu explained. "I'll text you more about where we'll meet. We're planning on being there at least an hour early."

"Okay. Soon, so I can give my parents the fake plan."

"Got it! We'll see you tomorrow then."

I nodded again and grabbed my bag, sighing as I left the room.

Part of me was excited to do something so adventurous, but I did wonder if I'd found myself hanging around people who attracted these kinds of things. Maybe I didn't mind. It was fun planning all of it. I'd have to see if it was fun living it. This was a dangerous scenario, and just because it seemed fun didn't mean it also wasn't completely illegal.

As I paused in the entry room of the school to switch back to my outdoor shoes again, I saw Makoto standing at the end of the row, his eyebrows furrowed as he talked to someone. Or, it looked more like as someone talked to him. I recognized Maemi easily; her bright red hair really was hard to miss. This scenario wasn't new. Maemi still hunted down Makoto to talk to him, trying to get back together. Maemi wasn't a mean person, and when the subject wasn't Makoto, I really liked talking to her. Whenever I saw them talking though, I couldn't blame Makoto for actively trying to avoid her. She was still pretty stuck on him. While it must have been hard for Makoto, I felt a little bad for Maemi too. She obviously cared about him a lot.

I did my best to keep to myself, changing back into my outdoor shoes, but then waited until Maemi hurried off, looking upset. She headed out of the school, and I caught sight of Maemi's best friend, Liam, chasing after her. I didn't know Liam barely at all, just that he had moved here from Ireland because his father had to transfer for work. Even though he spoke perfect Japanese, his Irish accent was ever present. He'd followed Maemi around like a lost puppy ever since he'd met her, and anyone could see he really liked her. He must have never said anything to her, though.

I could tell Makoto clearly looked frustrated, but I stepped over to him anyway, peering up at him. "Hey."

Makoto glanced at me, unsurprised by my appearance. He must have seen me before. "Hey. Guess you saw all that?"

"I did. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

He shook his head, chuckling. "I don't think it's possible for her outbursts to be private. I think she likes to make other people see, hoping it'll make me go easy on her. I don't know what else I could say to be any kinder about it, though. She doesn't take even the nicest 'no' for an answer." He cleared his throat then. "Anyway, it's in the past. I was actually going to text you later, but I'll tell you now. You know that shopping center by the ocean Critias always calls the boardwalk? Me, him, and couple others are going to be hanging out there on Sunday, if you want to join in. It probably won't be the whole day, so it won't take up too much of your time. We haven't hung out in a while, you know?"

My heart grew heavy. It seemed I'd somewhat neglected my other friends since meeting Anzu and them. I missed it. "I'm... actually not going to be around this weekend," I sighed, frowning. "I'm sorry, that sounds really fun, though. Maybe just you, me, and Critias can hang out sometime next weekend or something? Next time everyone's free?" I had to make the offer, otherwise I would have felt worse. I wanted to join them; I really did. This weekend just happened to be the one weekend I wasn't free.

"Hey, it's alright, don't look so upset." He chuckled, though from the look in his eyes, he seemed a little concerned. Maybe I really did look so upset. "We'll hang out some other time, alright?"

"Alright. Thanks for inviting me, Makoto. I guess I haven't been as sociable recently. I need to get back out there!" I twittered, bringing myself to smile again. I didn't want him worrying too much about me over something little like this. "I'll see you around?"

"You know it."

As I walked past him, my smile faded. I didn't regret making friends with Yuugi and Anzu and them, but I couldn't believe I hadn't realized I'd barely spoken to the rest of my friends since. That was awful of me. I'd give my focus to my new friends this weekend, but I wouldn't forget about my old friends again. Now that I thought about it, I wondered what Makoto would think about everything I had seen and experienced since the start of the school year. He had said something interesting was bound to happen. Understatement of the year.

When I arrived back home, I told my mother I'd be staying at Anzu's for the weekend, and headed downstairs to pack a bag. I didn't know what all I'd be needing, so I packed light, packing a single change of clothes and a water bottle. Being the beginning of the school year, the weather remained a bit cold, so I put in a light sweater as well.

All while packing, I responded to each of Anzu's texts. We'd be meeting near the pier, meaning I would be taking the bus.

Not wanting to have to worry about the time, I changed out of my school uniform and grabbed my backpack, hurrying out the door as soon as I could.

When I arrived at our meeting place, Honda was already there, and Anzu arrived a few minutes later.

"Are you guys sure about this?" I murmured as we investigated the ship from a distance, looking for an easy way in. "There might be a bunch of security by the time they start loading all of that on there."

"We'll make it work." Honda's response was simple. Whatever happened, he and Anzu were dead set on getting on that ship.

"Alright..." I sighed, taking the down time to braid my hair. I didn't want it getting caught on anything.

As night fell, the three of us began making our way closer, and thanks to some commotion near the line of passengers, the two security guards that were around were drawn over there, giving us a clear path to sneaking into one of the shipping containers.

Being the last one to enter, I paused at the entrance, hands balling into fists as my heart rate climbed. "What if we get locked in here...?"

"Then they'll unlock it when we get there! Come on, before we get caught!" Honda hissed, motioning for me to move with his hand.

"Okay, okay..." I murmured shakily, following them to the back. The container was dark, and cramped, and absolutely too small. What kind of a plan was this?

It only took a few minutes before someone began hooking the box up to the crane, and without anyone noticing there were three stowaways on board, it was lifted on to the ship. Panic welled within me. I kept quiet though, not wanting to give us away. Still, my heart raced, and my breathing quickened, hands clutching in fists over my stomach. Nausea washed over me, but I tried to put it out of my mind. Tiny spaces plus puke didn't go together very well.

In a loud thunk that shook the box, the crane dropped us on the ship. The three of us stayed silent and in place until all the cargo had be lifted on the ship, and the whole time, I was curled up in a courner with my eyes closed, trying to imagine that we were in a big, open room.

It must have taken half an hour, but I finally felt movement, and the area around us was silent.

"I think we can leave now..." Honda whispered, walking quietly toward the door. I looked up to watch him, sighing in relief when he pushed the door open. We wouldn't be stuck in there the whole time.

I pushed myself to my feet and dusted myself off, adjusting the bag on my shoulders and following Anzu to join Honda outside. As I stepped out of the box, it was like a weight had lifted from my chest. I hoped I never had to experience anything like that again...

Anzu glanced back at me while we were sneaking to a more hidden spot, and her eyebrows rose. "Mara, are you okay? You look like you're going to be sick."

I nodded in response. "I'm fine now. I'm just not good with small spaces."

Anzu frowned, concerned. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Mmhmm. Thanks, Anzu."

Honda waved the two of us over to a little courner, and we hurried to join him. For now, there didn't seem to be any security around, but it was best to be safe.

"Let's hide out here," he said, sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall.

I nodded, taking a look around before following suit. There were a few big pipes in front of us which would hide them from anyone that would walk by on the deck. It seemed as good a place as any to hide.

For the most part, we sat in silence, unsure of what else to do. At one point, Anzu picked out another of their classmates, Bakura, but he was only on the outer deck for a short while before he returned inside.

About an hour of silence later, I heard something. It sounded like... yelling?

"Hey, Anzu..."

"I hear it too..."

Was that...?

"Yuugi?" I mumbled, and the three of us stood, walking to the railing of the ship. I had planned on peering over to see the lower decks, but when I reached the railing, I caught sight of Yuugi and Jonouchi in the water. "Ah, guys!"

Honda must have already seen them too, and was looking around for something to throw them. I glanced around, and hanging on the railing to my left was a rolled up rope ladder. "Honda, here!" I ran to the rope ladder and grabbed it, tossing it to Honda.

He hooked it on the railing and let it hang all the way down the side of the ship, and Anzu called, "Yuugi!"

Somehow, they heard her, and swam over to grab hold of the ladder. Jonouchi climbed up first, and Yuugi followed after, both of them collapsing on to the deck as Honda helped them over the railing.

We let the two catch their breath, though Yuugi, as always, seemed in high spirits.

"You guys saved us! But why are you on the ship?"

"Well, we were worried about you." Anzu smiled.

Honda added, "We couldn't let you go alone."

"This is something you'll need your friends around for," I murmured, my arms folding over my stomach.

"Thanks, guys!" Yuugi grinned, looking genuinely happy despite the situation.

Jonouchi, on the other hand...

"Sorry, Yuugi..." The blond mumbled. "I only found two of the cards..."

"It's okay, Jonouchi."

"No, it's not! I'm always like this. I can't help anyone. Not even my little sister..."

"Your little sister?"

Jonouchi nodded, and explained, saying his sister would go blind if he couldn't get the money from winning the tournament.

"Then we'll do our best!" Yuugi insisted. "For your sister and my grandpa!"

The rest of the night went thankfully smoother, and when morning came, Anzu, Honda, and I decided we'd exit the ship with everyone else. Honda seemed on edge about it, which I found a little funny. He'd been so eager about sneaking on the ship, but walking off of it made him nervous.

So, there we were. We had all actually made it to Duelist Kingdom. It felt surreal. This tournament had been the subject of all our conversations for the past week, and now we wouldn't just be talking about it anymore. Everyone's excitement buzzed in the air, and it filled me with energy. Even if we were here for serious reasons, I had a lot to look forward to. This was the first real Duel Monsters tournament I'd ever been to.

It was going to be a strange weekend.


Well, this chapter is coming out way later than I wanted it to! I kiiiind of lost track of it for a while! WHOOPS. But here it is now, and I'll be getting out chapter four really soon! Pretty please, if you will, review? Thanks for reading! 3