Fun Fact: Sawatari has other Tuners in his deck besides Tuning Gum. He has Sinister Sprocket, Dark Tinker, Stygian Security. He often sides in Sinister Sprocket when he knows his opponent uses Pendulums.

Chapter Summary: Yuri has thrown out Yuto's deck, so the duo go to the dump and search for the missing cards.

Dear Diary,

I invited Yuzu to watch a movie with me. It's an animated movie about duel monsters that compete in a Des Koala's singing competition. I've already seen the movie with my dad, but I just knew Yuzu would have loved to see it, too.

I hope she likes Johnny. He's my favorite character!

We're supposed to go this Thursday, which is when movie tickets are half price. That's usually Yuto's day with the body, but Yuto agreed to take over the body on Wednesday this week instead.

I have to go and help my mom wash seven of the dogs. But when I get back, I want to tell you all about how Yuzu and I tag-dueled today.

All the boys had their decks kept in a desk in Yuya's bedroom, always available for those days when a particular boy got to have their day in the sun. They would share their Extra Deck, so three of the dragons would always be close together, and available for all the boys to use.

Dark Rebellion was safe. But when Yuto went into the desk to grab his main deck, he couldn't find them. When he checked their Extra Deck, all of the Xyz monsters were gone. When he checked with Yuri, Yuri confirmed that he threw the cards away the last time he was in control of the body.

Yuto didn't plan on spending his day searching through a garbage dump. But there they were, searching through a garbage dump. And of course, this was all because of a certain little deviant.

Maiami Landfill was one of four dumps the cities used, and it was the second one they hit that day. Unable to figure out which landfill his cards went to, Yuto was left to try and search all of them, before the garbage would be destroyed.

Which brought us to Yuto now. The boy knelt down in a pile of what seemed to be spaghetti and pumpkin chunks. His gloved hands dug through the mess, desperately searching for any sign of his cards.

Wow, this trash-filled dump looks really familiar! Yuri said excitedly. Don't you recognize it, Yuto?

... Why? Yuto thought.

It looks just like Heartland after Academia invaded!

Yuto didn't respond.

Maybe if you look under some rubble, you'll find your parents' bodies.

Yuto paused his digging. He slowly rose up from the spaghetti-pumpkin chunk pile and started to walk towards another pile of trash.

Come on, eggplant. Don't be mad, Yuri said condescendingly. I did you a favor! Now you can stop being Xyz scum and join the winning team.

Yuto heard footsteps. He stopped in his tracks and turned to see their guest. It was a man in a blue jumpsuit; the caretaker of Maiami Landfill, who gave Yuto permission to search through the dump.

"Find yer cards yet?" the man asked.

"Not yet, sir," Yuto said politely.

"Ya better hurry up though; I can't hold off clean-up forever."

"I understand. Thank you, sir."

Yuto, tell him that he reeks of booze and should clean himself up first.

"I'll let you know when we find the cards."

Yuto, no. Stop being a dick. Go insult that man.

The caretaker gave Yuto a small nod, then sauntered away from the scene. And Yuto returned to a trash pile, where he started to dig for his cards.

Yuto? Why are you ignoring me? ... Yuto?

Because there's no point in giving you what you want, Yuto responded.

Boo, you slag heap. You're no fun to talk to.

And so, Yuto went through garbage rifling through anything he could find. Through the organic foods pile, to the papers, to the plastics. And all the while, Yuri looked over his shoulder and made comments about what he saw.

Yuto, check around those used adult diapers. Trust me, I think your cards might be there.

Yuto wondered why the garbage was even organized; he simply imagined that they would crush or bury the garbage without bothering to categorize everything. Since Heartland's waste disposal was a guarded secret, he wasn't as familiar with waste disposal as he could have been.

You know, eggplant, if you let me take control of the body, I'll take over the search and let you have a break.

"I wish Kurosaki was here," Yuto said to himself. "He's really good with trash."

Yuto couldn't help but egao at that one. It all went back to an inside joke between the two of them; when Kurosaki found out he liked-

Why are you ignoring me, Yuto?

Yuri interrupted his thoughts.

Why do you insist on bothering me? Yuto snapped. You already caused enough trouble today.

Because I love seeing you sift through dirt, of course. It's a surprisingly fun hobby.

Yuto could feel the anger rising in him. But with a sigh, he decided to let it all pass and get back to work. He knew better than to give into Yuri any more.

We should invite Ruri here, Yuri said happily. See if she can tell you apart from the other bags of trash.

Nope. Yuto continued to run his hand through some sheet metal and electrical wire. He doubted his cards would be here, considering how organized this place was. But he had to do everything he could, search everywhere he could, for his cards.

Yuto noticed something. Buried inside some sort of metalic box filled with wired, he could make out the back of a card. He quickly pulled at the wires and forcefully ripped them out. He dug through the wires and made his way towards the card, until everything standing between him and it was gone.

When the box was empty, he could see the card. He reached out and picked it up, then turned it around to see the front.

Zushin the Sleeping Giant. AKA not one of his cards.

Oh wow, tough luck, buddy, Yuri said sarcastically. For a second, I was expecting it to be one of your cards. Oh well, guess we're back to square one.

Don't say anything, Yuto. Don't give Yuri the satisfaction of knowing he got under your skin.

You know, Academia had a great way of dealing with trash... We'd card them!

Screw it.

"You know something, Yuri?" Yuto hissed. "You act mean and you push people away. You're a horrible, unsympathetic monster who doesn't care about anyone but himself."

Oh, stop! Yuri giggled. You flatter me too much!

"But in the end, you're going to be alone."

Yuri stopped giggling. He raised an eyebrow and eyed the boy curiously.

"I used to hate you for taking Ruri. For pitting me against Yugo. For ruining my life and taking everything away from me."

Yuri egao'd. Finally, someone appreciated all the hard work he put into ruining peoples' lives.

I'm so glad to be appreciated! Yuri chuckled.

"But now, when I look at you, I feel nothing. Because you're nothing. And you're not worth the anger."

Wait, what? Yuri stopped giggling. His wicked egao briefly slipped away from his face.

"You only have me and Yugo because Yuya wants us to get along," Yuto went on. "But when you push Yuya far enough, even he will give up on you."

Yes, I'm quite the cheeky fellow. A mischievous scamp, if you will.

"And you will be alone, because you will have pushed everyone away. You will never know true love and friendship. You won't have people to mistreat. You will just be isolated and forgotten, like you deserve. And you know that, no matter how bad you try to be, you'll just be a bad memory."

Idiot! Don't you think that's what want?! Yuri screeched. I want to be alone! When everyone is gone, that means I've won!

Both of them were looking furious. And at that moment, both of them could feel an intense, burning hatred for the other. One more attack on them, and they'd blow their top.

Yuto and Yuri both waited in silence, not looking at each other. Yuto scanned the landfill for his cards, while Yuri kept his stare to the ground.

Better to be a bad memory than to be nothing at all, Yuri said finally.

"Do you really think that?" Yuto asked. "Is making everyone around you miserable a better option than being nice?"

... I didn't throw your deck out.

"What?"

I didn't throw your deck out. It was just a joke.

"I don't believe you," Yuto growled.

Trust me this time, idiot. Call our mother and ask her to check her-

"I'm not going to fall for another one of your tricks!" Yuto snapped. "I'll call, she'll look, and we'll all have wasted our time because you wanted a laugh."

Yuri crossed his arms and turned up his nose. So when I try to help, I'm still getting grilled? Talk about unfair.

"I can't tell when you're telling the truth or not. You've spent so long manipulating and tricking everyone around you. And I know better than to trust you, ever."

Yuri was about to speak, but decided to shut his mouth. He closed his eyes and wordlessly slipped back into the mindscape, leaving Yuto alone in the dump. Yuto spent several hours exploring that dump and the next, and the one after that.

Yuto didn't return home until late that night. And to his surprise, Yoko greeted him with his deck. Turned out she found it in her underwear drawer.