Yufi and Cairo roam the school yard side by side, observing the different booth set ups for various clubs. Students hand out pamphlets outlining their respective organizations while some hand out small pieces of candy in an attempt to get interested newcomers to join. Perhaps the biggest club display is that of the Dueling Club, complete with high quality cardboard cutouts of duel monsters from Blue Eyes White Dragon to Dark Magician.
"There!" Yufi points out with excitement and she walks over along with Cairo trailing behind. The current members look to be very sophisticated by their demeanor and each wears a gold pin on their jackets which causes Yufi's eyes to glow with fascination. Among the current members are Weevil and Rex who are the first to greet her.
"I figured you'd come over," Weevil says to Yufi, pushing up his glasses with a confident smirk. "Only the best of the best are allowed to join this club as you can see by our pins."
"Well she beat you. I'd say she's more than worthy of joining," another male member points out to which Weevil blushes with embarrassment.
"Shut up!" he snaps before regaining his composure. "Of course you are more than welcome to join, Yufi. We meet every Wednesday after school, but we also have other meet ups outside of school to eat and things like that."
"Sounds like a ton of fun! Sign me up!" Yufi smiles.
Rex looks to Cairo whose attention is elsewhere. "Well what about you?" he asks. "I assume that you know how to duel too." Though she does not answer, he follows her line of vision to another booth that consists of scrawny, nerdy looking kids who appear somewhat introverted and shy, looking anxious to even hand out their own flyers. Their sign has a large gaming remote with a smiley face and the fact that someone as intimidating as Cairo is seemingly interested, surprises him.
Weevil follows her gaze before bursting out into laughter. "Don't tell me you're interested in being in a club with those losers!" he teases while some of the other duelists snicker behind him.
Rex opens his mouth to speak, but when Cairo turns her head back to look at them, her intense stare is enough to shut them all up. She walks away shortly after, leaving an uncomfortable feeling among all of them except Yufi. Weevil walks over to Yufi and places his arm around her shoulder.
"Look Yufi, if you wanna fit in, I suggest not being seen around her," he says and she looks at him confusedly.
"What do you mean? She's my cousin. I'd never abandon her."
Weevil backs away and shrugs his shoulder. "Hey, it was only a suggestion!"
The group of gaming nerds huddle close together as the small event begins to come to a close. The stack of flyers they printed for passing out hasn't been touched at all due to their social awkwardness. A small shadow hovers over them and they all slowly turn around to see a silhouette of a girl with long hair, her naturally amethyst eyes purportedly glaring at them.
"Uh…h-hi," a girl with orange hair and freckles says shyly. She gets the courage to pick up one of the flyers and outstretches her hand to shakily give it out, a gasp of surprise emitting from her lips when the other girl takes it.
Cairo steps up so they can fully see her face and they are surprised when they see a smile on her lips. "I'd like to join your club please," she says politely.
"R-Really?"
"Yeah. How do I sign up?"
"Uh…"
Cairo tilts her head at her hesitation. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" she says waving her hands. "I just…well…aren't you…a Mutou?"
"Will that be an issue?"
"Oh, of course not! It's just surprising. We thought you'd join the dueling club."
Cairo looks down to the plastic button she is wearing which is just an image of the gaming control with the yellow happy face. "Can I have one?"
The girl smiles. "Of course! Welcome to the club!
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As the sun begins to rise on the beach, a certain magician takes an early stroll after not being able to sleep. She walks on the portion of the beach where the sand and water just meet, feeling the cool waves hitting her feet and ankles. The flight was long and she was hoping after not being able to sleep on the plane that she would have a decent night's rest once they got to their hotel suite. But she was only able to close her eyes for a few hours until her thoughts started taking over.
A vibration from her phone causes her to take out her device from the back pocket of her blue jean shorts and she is surprised to see it is none other than Yugi calling. "What's he doing up so early?" she asks herself before picking up. Her answer comes in the form of blue skies and occasional clouds in his background. She taps her forehead. "Oh yeah…you're a few hours ahead of us."
"Just checking in to see if you two got in safely he says with his usual smile.
"Yeah, we made it in not too long ago. Surprised they even let us check in at the time we did, but the manager is a big fan of Atem apparently and even bumped up our rooms to a suite," she explains.
Yugi chuckles. "How cool! This trip should be good for the both of you," he says, knowing all too well about their situation and unbeknownst to her, he and Téa are the ones that suggested this.
"Yugi, I need you to be honest with me," her face turns serious. "Has Atem told you anything?"
"Uh…" He isn't sure if he should be the one to say anything. But it's obvious from her question that Atem hasn't said anything and didn't open up at their dinner.
"Please Yugi…I want to help him. But I can't if I don't know what's going on…" She looks out toward the sunset. "Last night, something strange happened."
He leans toward the phone and raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Is he okay?"
"Long story short, Atem made someone hallucinate after they tried to harass me. But it's not like him to go to such extremes, especially for some regular guy." She looks back to the phone's screen. "It's almost as if he lost control for a minute there."
"Hmm…" he looks down with thought. Maybe he should just tell her what he knows. Besides, he's just as worried for Atem as she is. "He told me that's he's been having some crazy dreams recently and that they're disturbing and sometimes realistic in nature."
Her eyes widen. "Really? I wonder why I've never noticed that. He's never woken up in a panic before. At least not to my knowledge."
"I realized something was wrong when he started acting more quiet than usual. He hasn't seemed present lately, even at work. So when we were at Kaiba and Kisara's cabin, I asked him what was wrong and that's what he told me. Though I'm sure there's more to the story telling by what you just told me about last night."
"Yeah…"
"I suggested he go see grandpa once he's back from his trip since he's more familiar with these things."
"That's true. But how long will grandpa be gone? I feel like the more time that passes by…"
Yugi nods understandably. "I know and I agree. You honestly might be his best bet right now."
"I think you're right."
"Just…try and be patient with him. He's not acting this way to hurt you. Knowing Atem, it's more to protect the ones he loves."
"Okay…"
"I'm counting on you Mana."
She quietly crawls back into bed, lightly planting her hands and knees on the mattress' surface so that she doesn't wake Atem who is sound asleep. Their bedroom is dark with a hint of light peeking through the semi-closed curtains. Before she gets under the covers, she looks over at him and sighs. The more she thinks about what Yugi said, the more she realizes he's right. Atem would never do anything to hurt her, at least not intentionally.
'Maybe I've been going about this wrong,' she thinks to herself. 'I'm not gonna get anywhere with him by being upset.'
Seeing him stir and scrunch up his face, she quickly gets under the covers, pretending she is sleep. His eyes flutter open and he immediately sits up, silently yawning before looking over to see Mana sound asleep. But her act is exposed when her stomach begins to growl and he blinks repeatedly. She quickly whips the covers over her face in embarrassment and he rubs the back of his head.
"Food?" he asks.
"Food," a muffled reply comes from underneath the blanket.
YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO
After filling their stomachs, they take a stroll through the large resort. It seems that a lot of guests are already up and going about their day, despite how early it is and others carry around alcoholic beverages wearing their bathing suits. A live band plays off in the distance and all of the various noises is enough to make Atem want to go back to bed.
"Seems like there's a lot to do here," Mana comments, seeing the various shops and attractions. She wears a orange blouse with navy blue jean shorts. "It really makes you not want to leave the resort."
"Agreed," Atem nods his head, wearing drawstring shorts that match the color of Mana's shorts and a white t-shirt. Apart of him is surprised that she is having a casual conversation with him. Not to mention it appears that she is back to her normal, free spirited self. He's not sure what caused the sudden change in her attitude, but he's not complaining either. Maybe they'll have a good vacation after all.
As they walk toward the beach, a pair of purple eyes observes them from behind some bushes, with their gaze specifically on Mana.
Mana stretches her arms over her head and places them behind her back. "It's a beautiful day!"
Atem takes a deep breath, knowing he won't be able to beat around the bush much longer, especially after their heated argument the night before. He turns to her. "Mana…I—"
"Let's have fun," she says, turning her head to him with a smile. "And when you're truly ready to tell me, I'll be here." His eyes widen with surprise briefly before returning back to normal and he smiles, nodding his head.
"So, what do you want to do first?" he asks and Mana taps her chin with her index finger until her eyes lay on a small hut with jet skis lined up. Following her gaze, he smirks. "Very well. Wait here and I'll pay."
"Sweet!" Mana chirps, clenching her fists with excitement. She turns to face the water and she inhales deeply, enjoying the perfect breeze blowing through her hair. "It's gonna be a great trip. Just the two of us, no crazy monster battles, just us having fun and enjoying this time together."
She lets her feet touch the water, jumping a little when she feels how cold it is. Then she relaxes once more, closing her eyes and letting herself be in the moment.
Unbeknownst to Mana, a woman with long blonde, spiky hair and purple eyes stands several feet behind her with a card in her hand. "Time to see if she is worth all the hype," the woman says, narrowing her eyes.
Mana opens her eyes and watches two pairs of jet skis speed past her at a further distance in the water, her excitement only growing as seconds go past and she can hardly contain herself anymore. Just as she turns around, her eyes go big when she sees a rather large claw coming right at her and she quickly ducks out of the way, gritting her teeth in shock.
"What the…?" She whips her head around to view the source of the surprise attack, only for the monster in question to try the same attack. Mana quickly materializes her wand in her hands, holding it back and then swinging it forward with much force like a baseball bat, sending the monstrous bird with female features into the water.
"Okay, where did that come from?" Mana asks herself and the sound of someone laughing causes her to look over her shoulder to see a woman wearing a purple skirt and a white crop top.
"I should've known you wouldn't be taken down so easily!" the blonde haired woman says. Her eyes go to the water and her monster springs out, preparing to attack Mana from behind. "Go Harpie!"
Just as its claw is about to make contact, Dark Magician Girl pops out without Mana even having to look, and her magician lets out a battle cry, blasting the winged beast back into the water. Sensing the Dark Magician Girl's presence, Atem quickly turns around from the merchant he is about to pay and he gasps, seeing Mana and Dark Magician Girl standing across from a woman.
Mana's eyes narrow and glow pink as she outstretches her wand defensively with a magical ball forming at the tip. It seems that the one standing in front of her with her hands on her hips is the one that summoned that monster. But she has no idea who she is and why she is doing this. "Stand down."
The woman smirks. "Not a chance. I'm enjoying this."
"What…?" Tilting her head to the side with confusion, Mana opens up her mouth to ask what the woman means by that, but the sound of the Harpie Lady emerging from the water yet again brings Mana's attention elsewhere.
Seeing the split second of her opponent being distracted, the blonde haired woman snatches Mana's wand out of her hand to the magician's surprise. Twirling it a few times, the woman grins. "So this thing is the source of your power, huh? Let's see you—" She narrowly misses a punch and crosses her arms over herself protectively to block the second one.
"You're making me angry," Mana growls.
"What are you gonna do? Turn green?" the lady teases before laughing. But her laughs soon stop when Mana outstretches her hand, causing the Harpie summoner to flinch. The next thing she knows, the wand that she previously snatched is back in the magician's hand. "How did you—"
Mana wags her finger. "Don't worry about it."
"Mai!" a blonde haired man yells, running over to them. "What are you doin'?"
The woman scoffs, folding her arms. "Chill out Joey. I just wanted to see if she is as strong as I think she is."
"Well I hope I answered your question," Mana says, snapping her fingers and making her Dark Magician Girl disappear.
"What's the big idea, Mai? You can't just go attacking random people. Innocent bystanders could've gotten hurt! And now everyone's looking at us!" Joey exclaims.
"For the last time, chill out! They're so naive, they think it's some sort of show. Just look at their faces," Mai says, noticing the intrigued looks of the witnesses along with a few claps. She turns her sights back on Mana. "Besides, she's no random person."
"What do you mean?" Joey asks.
Mai slaps her forehead. "Come on, Joey. It was all over social media. How could you forget about that blue haired guy with some 'mythical beast' that tried to destroy everything? And it showed this woman and—"
"Joey?" Atem approaches them with a surprised expression and all of their eyes go wide for different reasons.
"You know him?" Mana's face and shoulders drop as she looks between them.
"Atem?" Joey says back, mirroring Atem's expression.
"Huh?" Mai cocks her head to the side.
"It's been too long man," Joey rubs the back of his head, grinning from ear to ear.
Atem smirks, now standing directly across from his old friend. "Likewise." They, along with Yugi, grew up together and also attended the same elementary school. They briefly went to the same high school until Joey had to move to the states for family related issues.
"Now do you remember?" Mai asks Joey, motioning at both Atem and Mana. "It's not like it was that long ago. It practically just happened!"
"You know I don't stay up to date on social media stuff. I mean I do remember people talking about some evil guy trying to take over the world. But the dude never made it over to our side of the world so I figured we were all good." Mai slaps her forehead in response.
"Are you still living in the states?" Atem asks.
"Yeah, but we're in the process of moving back to Domino. We just came down here for a little relaxation before it happens."
"What are the odds that we'd be taking a vacation at the same time and destination?"
"I know," Joey says. Mai rolls her eyes and nudges him on the shoulder, clearing her throat. "Oh, this is my wife, Mai. Mai, this is my old friend Atem. We basically grew up together."
Atem's eyes widen, pleasantly surprised that his friend is married. "You're married? Congratulations Joey!"
"Heh, thanks man!" He turns his sights on the woman standing slightly behind Atem. "And is this your wife?"
"Yes, this is Mana," Atem introduces. "She actually attended Domino High School as well. But by the time she came around, you had already moved."
"I'm sorry for my wife's behavior," Joey apologizes on Mai's behalf who pouts at him. "So, you're a summoner of Duel Monsters?"
"A magician," Mana corrects him. "I'm capable of so much more than just summoning a monster." She gasps when she suddenly feels an arm wrap around her neck and she glares up at Mai.
"You need to teach me some of your tricks," Mai says, tightening her hold.
"Magicians do not reveal their tricks, nor can I teach you even if I wanted to," Mana grunts, releasing herself. "We are born with our abilities. And we look down on those who try to mimic our abilities through smoke and mirrors."
"Well I hope you don't have any hard feelings from our unique introduction. It's not everyday that I come across people like us, let alone women. There were videos of you circulating and when I actually saw you, I just had to witness your power in person."
Mana shrugs her shoulders. "It's alright I guess. Although if you had just asked, I would've been fine with it. My friend Kisara and I spar all the time," Mana explains, causing Mai's eyes to light up with fascination.
As they converse with each other, Atem can't help but smile inwardly. This trip is just what he needed to de-stress and try to free his mind. Not only does he get to spend quality time with Mana, but he gets to also catch up with his old friend as well. He can't wait to tell Yugi who he ran into.
In this very moment, all is well.
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Weevil's jaw drops after he is defeated by one of his club mates. He and his opponent sit across from each other in the middle of the clubroom with a wooden table in between them. He had so much good luck with pulling the strongest monsters from his deck, but even that wasn't good enough. He clenches his hair, groaning loudly while Rex shakes his head in the background.
Yufi frowns. "Well, it's one thing to have powerful monsters Weevil, but you just can't rely on strength alone. Having trap and magic cards can really take things up a notch," she says and he growls in response. He can sense the judgmental looks of the senior members of the organization and a pearl of sweat drops down his temple. This is the second time in a row that he's lost in a duel and it's starting to get to him.
"Great advice Yufi," Weevil's opponent says, making his blood boil even more. "You really could learn a thing or two from our newest member. I suggest you take notes." Some of the members snicker and chatter amongst themselves, causing him to sink in his chair with embarrassment.
Cairo opens up her locker, grabbing her things so that she can head to the school's exit to wait on Yufi. Hearing the sound of a locker door swinging open and hitting an adjacent locker, she stops and leans her head back slightly so that only part of her face is visible.
"The nerve of that guy!" Weevil snaps, snatching his bag out of his locker with Rex standing close by. "I don't need advice from her! Besides, doesn't he know who my father is?!" He looks to a picture that is stuck to the inner door of his locker of him and a taller version of himself wearing a green jacket and red bow tie. "He was a regional champion back in his prime!"
Cairo leans forward so that she is fully concealed by her locker door, but continuing to listen on.
"You seriously need to stop bugging out, man," Rex shrugs, earning him a glare from his friend.
"Was that a pun?!"
"So your last two duels were a bust. Big deal. It's not like you were competing in some sort of championship."
"I wouldn't expect you to understand!" He crosses his arms and growls. "That's why I need that golden object..."
"Or you could just practice like everyone else does," Rex mutters.
"I have a feeling once I get that thing that hangs around Yufi's father's neck, I'll be unstoppable!"
Cairo raises an eyebrow. 'Golden object?' she says in her head. They couldn't possibly be talking about what she thinks they are. And another thing he said confused her as well. 'They think my father is Yufi's father?'
Weevil slams the locker door. "We just need to get Yufi to introduce us and the rest will be easy."
"You're nuts, you know that?" Rex shakes his head. What makes Weevil think her father will just have it laying around for it to be easily taken?
"At least we won't have to get to know Yufi's impassive cousin," Weevil continues. "We'd really be outta luck!"
"Yeah, you said it!" Rex snickers, walking toward the exit along with Weevil as Cairo finally closes her locker door, watching them leave with an eyebrow raised.
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AN: And that concludes another chapter! Let me know what you think in the reviews!