Day 25 (July 31st). Dead Guy Walking: Former Dark Signer, leader of Team Satisfaction/The Enforcers, and a brooding man looking for some satisfaction. Today's prompt is all about Kalin Kessler/Kyosuke Kiryu.

Focus: Written by Time Thief. Thank you.

Characters: Kiryu.

House Rules

I don't know what "living" means. It's not like- that is, I don't want to stop doing it. Anymore. I just don't know what to do with time anymore. I'm sitting on the stairs to the porch outside my tiny Satisfaction Town lodge. Blistering heat distorts the spire of the mountain in the distance.

Working there is something I do. The problem is the rest of my day. I… used to like dueling, but the associations turn me off now. I grasp the harmonica dangling from a string around my neck. Learning how to play was a good waste of time. Now it's second nature, and my mind wanders too much.

"Wow! I can't believe you look so sad on your day off!"

Nico smiles at me. A passing wind kicks up sand and throws the frills of her pink dress. My hands drop from my face to rest on my knees. I say, "This is just my face."

She laughs like it's a joke and sits beside me. "Sooo! You've never taken a day off before. Never! What's the big plan?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" she shrieks. "Why'd you take a day off?"

I exhale through my nostrils and look to the blue, blue sky. "I don't know. I guess I thought… I could figure that out. What sorts of things I like to do, that is."

"You mean you're so old and you don't even know what your hobbies are?"

"I am not 'so old.'"

"Well, you have to do something instead of rocking on your front porch like a ninety-year-old man!"

"I'm just sitting here-"

"For example," she started, "when I have a day off from school or during summer vacation, I like to hang out with my friends! Or, if they're busy, I'll hang out at home and play my favorite games!"

Hanging out with friends is off the table. I like them, sure, but being around them is tough. It's still… raw, if that makes sense? My relationships with them is a chore I need to put effort into. One that's fully worth it, but not one I'd call a "relaxing day off." Learning to feel comfortable with guilt never is.

That leaves the other option. "What games do you mean?"

"Duel Monsters!" West sprints towards us from around back. "You finally have a day off, which means you're ready to take me on! Right?"

Nico shoots to her feet and stomps. "Stop bugging him about it! You ask him every day and he says no! I'm sure his day off is the last time he'd want to!"

I sigh and rest my cheek on my fist. My criminal mark is cool on my knuckle. Always manages to be ice cold like the dead. "Nah, no card games today. I meant what other kinda games y'all like."

"Dangit!" West screams. He clutches his temples. Nico points and laughs.

"Am I missing something?" I murmur.

"I knewww you'd fit into the Crash- er, the Satisfaction Town culture quick!" Nico sings. "I told West you'd be saying 'y'all' within the week, and heee bet against me. He said you're Satellite through and through! Me, though, I know you're not a lowlife. Since you said it, he owes me five buckaroos!"

All Satellites are lowlives? It's… not like I'm in a position to argue against it, so I let it slide. West throws his arms into the air and groans. "What're you gonna do next, huh? Say 'yeehaw' every time you leave for work?"

"Yeehaw," I say.

Fury overtakes his features. Nico laughs at him, and I'm able to smile. It's small but it's there. Nico says we should go to their house, since they have plenty of games to choose from. I still have no idea what she means by "games." West rants the whole way there about me. That's a normal occurrence.

The first thing I notice in their home is the eschewed sepia photograph of their deceased parents. Sergio's eyes always look disapproving to me. I wonder if I'm doing the right thing. It'd be better if I left them alone; it'd be better if it had been me instead of him.

"He's doing it again!" West hollers.

Nico grabs my sleeve and tugs me away from the picture. I blink a few times to remember the current reality. The large table in their living room has had its decorations thrown off for a massive Lego set. I say, "What's this?"

"It's it obvious? Satisfaction Town! Look! The sign even swings, and this one's you!"

I scrutinize the tiny man. "I've never worn a ten-gallon hat. Or a bolo tie."

Nico crosses her arms and throws up her nose. "I accept no criticisms."

Well… that's that.

"Is this the game?" I ask.

"No, dummy!" West shouts. "Legos aren't a game!"

"Okay."

Nico unfolds a card table and drags it into the middle of the hall. Not the best place, but who am I to say? She slams a cardboard case with bright drawings on it. I say, "Mousetrap?"

"Mousetrap!" West's eyes light up. "This is the best one!"

They ravage the box for the board and pieces. As they set up, I take a peek at the rulebook. According to the diagrams, most of the pieces are missing. The two kids are carefully setting up the game nonetheless.

"Okay, here's how you play," Nico said. "First, you take the domino set and have five minutes to make the prettiest design!"

"The coolest design," West corrected.

None of that was in the rules.

"Then you have to throw the metal marble at the domino from ten feet away and hit the starting one or else you lose instantly!"

Not a rule, either.

"If they all fall, you go grab a judge to figure out who the winner is! If you win, you get to move five spaces forward!"

"Goddamn," I mutter, "how long is this game meant to take?"

"Dad used to say it's supposed to take all day," West muttered.

A clever man, he was.

"Anyway!" Nico shouted. "Let's start!"

She thrusts a domino set into my hands. West had taken a head start on setting his up, the rotten cheater. I have enough time to make a pretty simple statement. I throw the marble and nail the first domino. They tumbled one after the other in a sort of lovely tune.

West and Nico stare at the message I've created. West reads, "'Bored.'"

"Wow, Kalin," she grumbles. "You're so expressive."

"Thanks."

"He's not even having fun- he doesn't get it! We shouldn't have invited him to play!" West grumbles.

"Of course he's having fun, you idiot!" Nico screams back. "He's smiling!"

West shoots back, "He doesn't smile!"

He shakes a finger at me then meets my eyes. His jaw slacks. Yeah, sure, I've got a little lopsided thing on my face. What of it. I wipe my hand over my mouth, and by the time my arm falls, the smile is gone.

"Your games," I say. "They're fun. I guess."