Yumi and Sakuya's friendship grows and they decide to have a sleepover. Food is eaten, secrets exchanged, and promises made, but is Sakuya still not completely honest with who she is?

A little more than a week had passed since the incident at the park. Yumi and Sakuya had only grown closer despite being forced to pretend to hate each other, though this was fairly one-sided on Sakuya's part. So long as the details of their relationship and the truth to what had happened afterwards weren't mentioned, Yumi continued to treat her as her friend in public.

"Just tell me what you said to everyone," Yumi prodded with a mouthful of rice. She'd invited Sakuya over to have lunch for the first time that day. Mostly because someone coming over to visit was exciting and spending time with her friend was nice, but also to try and force the truth out of her. The entire week, she'd ask (in increasingly more direct and perturbed manner) what their story was supposed to be to explain how Magician had ended up back in her deck and why she was allowed to come to the park once again.

Sakuya laughed nervously, trying to deflect like she'd been doing since the first time Yumi asked. "Don't worry about it," she said. "Just keep doing what you're doing and it'll be fine."

"Tell me!" Yumi insisted, pouting and bouncing up and down in righteous fury while still seated at the table. The sight of her ridiculous-looking anger nearly broke Sakuya's stoicism, forcing her to hold in any more laughter. There were no signs of stopping in the near future and there was a limit to how long she could look at that before cracking, so she was forced to relent.

"Well," she began, Yumi pausing mid-bounce to listen. "I might have told them you started crying and begging to have it back, and I felt bad at how pathetic you looked and gave it to you." Quickly trying to change the subject as Yumi fell over in shock, she announced, "Everything tastes really good, ma'am. Thank you for having me here."

From the next room came a cackle. Sliding open the door, out walked a long haired, skinny old woman puffing on a crumpled cigarette and wiping something from her hand onto a pink apron. "That's kind of you to say. That granddaughter of mine never brings anyone over here, so it's always too quiet. Come back whenever you want." She gave Yumi a pat on the head despite her grumpiness and glares directed at Sakuya.

"I still think you should just tell everyone the truth," Yumi grumbled after her grandmother had left the room. "Everyone would like you a lot more if they got to see you like I do."

"No, they'd just hate me." She said it with a degree of certainty that seemed to imply she'd considered this idea plenty of times before. Finishing the last bits of food left, she put down her chopsticks and placed her hands together.

"Why? You're really nice when you don't boss everyone around and call us mean names in other languages."

"Not everyone forgives as quickly as you do," she answered while getting up from the floor. "Thank you for inviting me today. I guess I should go home now."

Yumi took her hand, turning Sakuya's face a bright red. "No, don't go yet! I haven't even shown you my room, and stuff." She took off running through the house, dragging the other girl's embarrassment-frozen body along with her. Nt until they made it to the other part of the house did she finally let go.

"L-lewd..." Sakuya grumbled, trying to compose herself at the unseemly amount of touching.

"My room's not that messy," Yumi replied, missing the point of her statement. Despite this, she still pushed a pile of dirty overalls into a corner to try and tidy up. Most out of place among the various trinkets and clothes scattered around the small space was the completely clear area in front of the closet. "I wanted to show you my cards, too." Opening the door, she pulled out a long, paper box from the floor that had previously been resting under a heavy coat.

Opening the lid, she scooted over across the floor to let Sakuya take a look through it. The box was nearly full, but even that wasn't saying much. There was only about 300 cards, at best. Suddenly, she felt almost guilty about accepting the offer for lunch. Sakuya was fairly aware of how poor her friend was based on the state of her duel disk and bike alone, but looking around at just how old all the appliances were in the house and how few things Yumi actually called her own, it started to set in just how bad their financial situation had to be.

Even more so, most of her cards weren't great and it was fairly obvious the majority were leftovers other people didn't want; so much so she might have even fished them out of the trash. There were a few here and there with some value, but the longer she looked, the more she understood that Yumi's deck contained virtually every powerful card she owned. "This just reminded me," Sakuya said, opening her own card hold. She sifted through her deck and pulled out a card. "I said I'd give you some stuff to help you improve your deck, so you can have this."

Yumi's eyes went wide as she held it in her hands. "Holy Barrier – Mirror Force!" she read. "But this is a super rare card. Don't you want it?"

Sakuya only smiled, shaking her head. "It's okay. I have one already. I brought that for you." She was lying, but it didn't matter. It was just a card, and if it could make her friend happy and repay her in some small way for all the kindness she'd shown in such a short amount of time, it would be fine to part with.

"You're so cool!" She dove in for a hug, but was nimbly dodged at the last second, running into the floor.

Sakuya crossed her arms and turned up her nose. "You're too eager to keep touching me."

"You mean you didn't like holding my hand before?" Yumi asked with a laugh.

"Of course not," she replied. "Your hands are too rough. It's like you work in the fields, or something." The blush had returned.

"I do. Grandma makes me tend the garden we have in the backyard when it's planting season. We try to grow most of our own food, so it was really cool that we got to eat shrimp when you came over." Yumi traded out one of the cards from her deck to include the Mirror Force she'd just been given, then dropped them back into her pocket. "Hey, we should go to your house next time. I bet you've got a big mansion with all kinds of food, like takoyaki. And horses." Takoyaki and horses were Yumi's favorite, though in vastly different categories.

"Why would I have any of that?" she asked, trying to ignore the fact she'd inadvertently mocked her friend's actual chores like a careless ass.

"Because you're all rich, and stuff."

"Oh, right. There aren't any horses at my house, and I'm not really allowed to have friends over. Sorry." Biting her bottom lip, Sakuya searched for something else to talk about. "I never asked, but are you visiting here for the summer? I still never saw you in the park before the other day."

She shook her head. "No, I live here. I just didn't find that place until 7th year because my old school wasn't anywhere close to it. My whole family used to live here before my parents went away."

Sakuya's expression dropped. "What do you mean? Where did your parents go?"

"We're not sure," Yumi admitted, suddenly looking very contemplative and serious. "I was really young at the time, so I don't really remember the details too well. Grandma won't talk about it with me, either. I just know they had something important to do and haven't come back yet." She wasn't sad saying this. She missed them, for sure, but she respected their dedication to whatever task they were out there trying to accomplish. "Before that, though, they were pro duelists, just like I'll be one day."

"Really?" Sakuya asked, the mood whipping back around to positivity suddenly. "Are they anyone I'd have heard of?"

"Of course! My dad is 'White Tiger' Bunta, the three time Japanese National Championship best of eight and one time champion, and my mom is Stella Gallardo, the two time American National Champion. They met by accident at the World Tournament when they thought they were paired for a duel, but then they both lost when they found their real opponents."

For the first time in a long while, Sakuya was amazed by something. "Your parents are really that good?" she asked, almost intimidated by her friend's lineage. It sort of begged the question of why she wasn't a lot better at the game, unfortunately.

"They're amazing! I bet they could even win the World Championship when they come back now." Despite how worked up Yumi could get, this was the first time Sakuya was seeing her feel this much pride in something. She loved her parents a lot, which is why she had already started preparing for what would come next. "What do your parents do?"

Sakuya sighed slowly. "My father is a businessman and my mother...isn't here anymore." She remained stoic while saying this. It hurt to think about, but she knew she'd have to talk about it after foolishly starting the parent topic herself.

"I'm really sorry," Yumi said. She had no idea this would happen. Reaching out to touch her friend's hand in condolence, she recoiled at the last second. Sakuya didn't like being touched. She didn't want to make another mistake.

"It's okay." She smiled weakly to try and convince Yumi she was fine. "I actually have a scar from it. The accident, I mean." She pulled up her t-shirt to reveal a jagged line along the left side of her stomach. "I only have one kidney now, too." An unconvincing laugh punctuate her statement, memories start to flash back to her. The sound of the horn, her body shifting in an instant and being tossed through the side window, the pain that literally blinded her at one point and the feeling of crawling along the pavement, all ending on the sight of deep, red blood pouring out of the leg next to the car door.

She smiled wider this time. "Hey, do you want to have a duel? You should probably test how your new card works in your deck." Something to take her mind off the images. Just something to get them out of her head again. This was a good day with a friend. She didn't want to ruin this.

"Oh. Sure, yeah. One second." Yumi pulled a small table out of her closet, just big enough for something like Duel Monsters to fit on. Worried as she was, she didn't dare push the subject any further. If Sakuya wanted to talk about it, she'd let her. "You won't beat me this time," she said, placing the table down and taking out her deck to shuffle. "I learned all your strategies last time."

"We had one duel," Sakuya said with a chuckle. "A peasant like you can't hope to defeat me. You're a thousand years too early to challenge me."

"You used that one already. And how did I get even worse than the last time?"

"I just overestimated your skill. That's all."

They laughed and set down their decks. "Since you're a guest here, you can go first," Yumi told her with a dramatic flourish of her hand.

"Still making simple mistakes, I see. Fine, I'll teach you not to underestimate your superiors." They were able to play several times before dusk. Needless to say, it was much more fun than their original encounter now that nothing was at stake and they were allowed to enjoy the duel. Despite how many close matches they had, though, Yumi would always end up losing. It didn't matter, though, as she'd always come back ready for more.

While picking up for another, Sakuya looked out the window. "I should be home by now," she said worriedly. "My father's going to be upset."

"It's going to be dark soon, so you should probably stay here tonight. We don't have a car to take you home."

"Are you sure that's okay? I never asked." She shifted back and forth, wringing her hands out of sight.

"Of course it is. Grandma loves company. I'll go tell her you're staying with us, and you can use the phone in the sitting room to call your house." Yumi took off down the hall as Sakuya pulled a cellphone out of her pocket and confirmed the arrangements with her father.

"I'll be back in the morning," she said. "It's just not safe for me to walk all the way home at this time. I' sorry for not realizing the time and being back sooner."

She could hear a groan from the other end of the phone. "Okay, I guess. You be safe out there. It's the wild." He paused, holding in a burp. "It's country, and all that. Come home in the morning."

"I will, father. Don't worry."

"Okay, then. I love you."

"I love you, t-" He'd hung up before she could finish. With a sigh, she put her phone away and stood up to go check the hall for Yumi. On time as ever, she nearly crashed into her as they both tried to walk through the door. "Is it okay for me to stay here?" she asked.

"Yep. I can give you some of my pajamas if you want to change. They're in the drawer over there. Grandma said we can sleep in here, so I'm going to go get the futons." She shot off again to get their beds, forcing a smile out of Sakuya. Yumi was a bright person. It made her happy to spend time with her. For a little while, she didn't have to think about home or keeping up an act and could just enjoy life with a friend.

She was back in not time at all, dragging a rolled up cot into the bedroom, joined by another not long after. Sakuya had changed by then, as well. "They're a little tight, but we're about the same size, after all." She'd accidentally taken Yumi's favorites – red, really soft flannel – and she wasn't too pleased about it.

"I guess I'm stuck with mid-tier," Yumi grumbled under her breath. She pulled out a green, far less soft set and unbuttoned her overalls.

"What are you doing?" Sakuya asked in mild distress.

Yumi blinked in confusion. "Changing," she answered slowly

"Don't do it here!" she exclaimed, her face matching the color of the sleepwear. "Why are you laughing?" Sakuya asked while covering her eyes, hearing Yumi burst out into a fit of giggles.

"You're so weird and shy," she answered, taking her hair out of its tails and dropping the overalls on the floor. "I'll go change outside if it makes you feel better." Still laughing, she walked to the hallway to finish undressing, Sakuya not daring to put her hands down until she heard the door close.

It took her no time at all to come back. "Better?" Yumi asked, now fully clothes and taking her goggles off to place on the dresser next to her hair ties.

"Only slightly," Sakuya answered, turning up her nose in defiance.

"So fickle," she said, pulling herself under the covers. Sakuya did the same with hers, placing her hat nearby on the floor. "Sorry if this isn't what you're used to," Yumi said, starting to feel slightly ashamed at how someone who grew up in a city must see their simplistic living. "We always go to sleep around the time it gets dark here, and we don't have a Western house, so we use these for beds. It's probably different from where you live."

Sakuya was unfazed by the changes. "It's kind of nice, actually. Your house is cozy." They laid in silence for a minute before she spoke again. "I like to get away from home sometimes. It can be stressful there. You're really nice for letting me stay here."

"It's my first time having a sleepover with someone, so it's a lot of fun. I hope we can do it again sometime."

"Just don't undress in front of me again and I think it could happen." She laughed to herself after that. "It's actually my first time, too."

"I don't believe that for a second," Yumi contested. "I bet you have plenty of friends to go sleep over with all the time."

"All of my 'friends' are just afraid of me, or stick around because other people will be afraid of them. Except you, I guess." She shifted under her blanket, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious about uch information she'd dumped in a single day. She wasn't all that used to telling the truth, either.

Yumi only laughed. "I guess we're kind of the same, then. I have people at school that I talk to, but I don't think I've ever really made a friend like you before. I think I scare most of them before I get the chance."

"But how could anyone be scared of you?" Sakuya exclaimed, almost offended at the idea. "You're the least threatening person I've ever met."

"Not everyone lets me keep talking about Duel Monsters the way you do. I start to annoy most people after a while, and I think they all don't believe me when I say I'll be the champion one day." Despite still laughing, this time it felt a bit hollow, like she wasn't really as unaffected as she pretended to be.

Suddenly, Sakuya's expression snapped into seriousness. She crawled out from under her blanket and leaned over Yumi, looking her directly in the eyes. "Is that really your dream?" she asked with an intensity uncharacteristic even to her.

Yumi blinked, then tried to laugh again. "That's awful sudden of you to ask. Weren't you telling me about manners earlier?"

"I need to know," she insisted, not letting up.

After a brief pause, she swallowed hard and said, "Yeah, of course it is. I want to make my parents proud, and I want to make other people happy when they see me play and inspire them to do stuff they got told wasn't possible, too." She couldn't fake another laugh at this. It was too important for her to act like it was a joke.

Sakuya smiled and nodded her head. "Then it's decided," she said decisively.

"What is?" Yumi was starting to become even more confused.

"If you really want to become the World Champion, then I'm going to help you." Her inflection was so matter of fact that it was impossible to see it as anything other than completely sincere. It left Yumi stunned and unable to speak. "If you're as dedicated as you say you are, then there shouldn't be a problem. I believe in you."

Someone believe in her. Believe in her dream. No one had ever said that before. It made her feel things inside her. Weird things. Nice things, but weird things all the same. All she could think to say was a simple, "Thanks," before falling silent.

Sakuya began to move back to her bed, only for Yumi to suddenly think of something else. "Wait, Sakuya."

"What?" she answered, turning back.

Without warning, Yumi poked her friend's button nose with her index finger. "Boop," she said simply.

"Don't boop me!" Sakuya ordered, embarrassed and rubbing her nose. Yumi only laughed, Sakuya finding it hard not to at least smile herself. "You're weird," she said quietly, settling back in. Not long after, they were both asleep.

Morning eventually came with the sound of birds chirping outside. Or maybe it was inside, given all the open windows and doors to try and keep the place cooled. With a quiet sigh, Sakuya shifted over, slowly opening her eyes to confirm that, yes, there was a plump little brown bird inside the room, chirping at her like she'd committed some great offense to all of birdkind (maybe it was feather pillows). It was almost funny how this seemed like a something that would be a typical occurrence in the house.

"There's a bird in the house," she said anyway, laughing quietly. Rolling over, though, she discovered there was no one besides the bird in question to hear her speak. She glanced around the room with a frown, but still couldn't find Yumi. Standing up, she walked out the door and down the hall, glancing into whatever open doors there were and only finding the grandmother snoring and gargling some spit.

It wasn't until she made it to the front door did she find Yumi doing stretches on the porch. "I was worried when you weren't there," she said in relief. There was no fear to be had rationally, but her friend's absence was still scary to think about so suddenly. Any number of things could have potentially happened to cause the disappearance, so it was comforting to know she just liked morning yoga.

"Sorry, I thought I'd be done before you woke up." She arched her back inwards while on her hands and the tips of her toes with an inhale, then curved her spine out while exhaling, tilting her head upwards. She jumped to her feet and twisted her body side to side a few times after that. "Grandma won't be up for about an hour, so do you want me to make breakfast for you?" Her offer was met with a suspicious leer. "What's that for?"

"Somehow, I don't trust you in the kitchen." She ignored the protests and went there on her own. "I'll make something so you don't burn everything to the ground."

Much to Yumi's surprise, Sakuya seemed to be quite experience at all of this, finding ingredients and setting to work almost immediately. "How do you even know how to cook?" she asked as Sakuya went about chopping some green onion and chunking tofu for miso while eggs began to fry in the background. "Don't you have, like, hundreds of chefs and stuff at your house?"

"We try to live simply where we can," she replied, placing some rice from yesterday into the microwave. "We don't actually have any servants, in fact."

Yumi blew a raspberry at that. "That's a waste of good richness." Sakuya rolled her eyes, nudging the eggs as the water began to bubble, dropping in the seaweed and bean paste.

"I'm sure it's just terrible to have a friend willing to make you food so you don't accidentally kill yourself trying to do it on your own." Yumi made faces while Sakuya explained the steps for perfect miso soup. Soon enough everything was done and they'd sat down to eat, Yumi starting to shovel down her food as soon as it hit the table while Sakuya placed her hands together for a moment.

"I take it back," Yumi said between bites of food. "Thank you for wasting your richness. This is good."

Sakuya looked proud of herself for cooking a meal worthy of approval. "I should be getting hoe soon, so we can't start your training until tomorrow. Sorry." Yumi was confused. "You remember last night, right? I said I'd help you become World Champion, so we're going to have to train for it."

"I thought that was just tired talk," she admitted, surprised at the actual dedication to what would see like an impossible goal to a normal person.

"Nope. I decided you're going to be Champion now, so you can't back out." She took a bite of her rice and chewed thoroughly, then continued. "So to make up for that, you're going to have to start learning about the other summoning methods without me."

"You mean like your Fusion?" Yumi asked, slurping from her soup bowl directly and noisily chewing the solid bits.

"Exactly. Advance Summon is good in certain situations, but you'll need more versatility and power if you hope to win against someone who can use them without a lot of luck. Your Magician is your only strong monster, too. If someone locks down your equip cards, it's over."

"Have you been analyzing my deck every time we duel?" Yumi asked timidly, pausing from her food for the first time.

"A little bit," she admitted. "I can actually list the whole thing now, I think."

"That's so cool!" Yumi shouted. "I always heard about people like that It sounds so useful and good. I bet you can even predict what cards I'll play now, too." Sakuya sat with a smug smile, absorbing the praise as it was piled on. "What do you mean by saying I need to learn about them, though? I know what they are. Fusion, Synchro...Xyz! See?"

She shook her head, collecting their dishes after Yumi finished the last of her food and walking to the kitchen as she explained. "It's more than just knowing the rules to the game. It's a mindset you can only obtain by practicing and fully understanding what it means to use those cards." Washing out the dishes, she began to dry and stack them back in the cabinets. "Besides, you only listed three of them. There's a lot more, silly."

Yumi's face signified total perplexity, so Sakuya had no choice but to explain. "Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz are only the three Extra Deck summoning methods. There's Advance Summon, which you seem pretty proficient with, but there's also Ritual and Pendulum Summon."

"I've never heard of that second thing," Yumi interjected, starting to listen more intently now that a mysterious new kind ability was mentioned.

"Ritual Summon involves Ritual Magic Cards to summon monsters with Release from your hand or field. They're hard to use, but usually have a lot of power and good effects. Pendulum Cards are both monsters and Magic Cards, and you can pair them to summon a lot of monsters all at once."

"Show me! I want to see how it works!" She jumped up and down while she pleaded for a demonstration.

"Sorry, I don't have any." Yumi's disappointment was overwhelming, making Sakuya feel like a failure of a teacher without even officially starting their training. "Pendulum Cards are too rare. Almost no one has them. I've never even seen one in person, just heard stories."

"Where do you get them? I want to try to find some."

She shook her heard. "I don't know. They don't come in normal booster packs, and the scarcity would indicate they might be prizes for winning tournaments. All the more reason to get you to become the new Champion."

"Then I need to start training!" Yumi declared, running to get her deck. Sakuya smiled, following her. "Are you sure you can't stay to teach me? I don't even know what to use. Fusion, like you?"

Taking her clothes folded from under her backpack, Sakuya rubbed her chin to consider. "I don't think Fusion would be best. I can't think of anything powerful you could make. And you don't have any Tuners, so Synchro isn't available. I guess Xyz would fit you best. Most of your monsters are Level 3 and 4, too, which are the most popular kind."

Yumi nodded, looking through her deck card by card. "Do you have any I could borrow until I can get my own?"

"Not with me, sorry. I'll bring some to the park tomorrow, so come there and I'll give them to you. You might to...beg, maybe. Sorry." She looked to the floor, scratching her head before leaving the room to go change.

"I still think you should tell everyone," Yumi called behind her. "It would be a lot easier for you not to have to pretend all the time."

Sakuya took a deep breath and let out a slow sigh. "I'll think about it," she said before going to get dressed. It was sufficient for Yumi, at least. As long as she really planned to consider it, that is. She trusted her, though, so maybe everyone else could, too.

After getting dressed for the day, Yumi met Sakuya outside to see her off. "Thank you so much for letting me stay here. I had a lot of fun." She was bowing almost parallel to the ground while saying this.

"It's okay. You don't have to be so formal all the time. We're friends."

"Okay, I guess," she replied, a bit self-conscious. "I'll come back some time, pal." Forcing a smile, she punched Yumi's arm lightly. "This feels wrong."

"Yeah, forget I said anything. Don't do that again." They both laughed. "Get home safe. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I will. Promise me you'll start studying for your training tomorrow."

"I promise, see?" She held out her pinky finger. At first, Sakuya was confused by this and not sure what it was supposed to indicate. A hangnail, maybe? Then she remembered seeing it before in a manga. That particular manga started o get weird after a while, though, when the two girls started kissing and doing other stuff that didn't seem appropriate, so she stopped reading, but it was in there. Slowly, she held out her own hand, wrapping her finger around Yumi's, which made her start smiling. They weren't going to start doing that weird stuff now, right?

Yumi waved to Sakuya as she walked off down the road. She'd offered her the use of her bike, but she refused. After Sakuya was out of sight, Yumi immediately went to her room to start reviewing the strategy books she'd gotten from a second hand shop. One was too old to include Xyz, but the others did. She practiced playing it out and setting up fields to perform the summoning for most of the day. She didn't want to let her friend down when they saw each other again.

Cards Used in Order of Appearance

Holy Barrier – Mirror Force (Mirror Force)
Normal Trap
When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Destroy all Attack Position monsters your opponent controls.

Chapter title might be a bit misleading, since we're more introducing a few ideas than giving lots of hard answers. There's also no actual takoyaki, so I've basically lied to your faces, and I'm sorry for that.

No actual dueling in this one. While I generally try to have a decent amount of action in almost every chapter, occasionally I take some time out for character building. I only feel the need to justify this because I know some people are probably a little disappointed when comparing what's going to be a bit of a slower story to the non-stop action of the source material. We take our time here to smell the sunflowers.

Sakuya has a pretty interesting taste in manga. No matter what she ends up picking, it usually ends up as a GL book. Completely by accident, of course.

Not a lot to talk about in this one. Thanks for reading and I hope people enjoyed it.

Granny Takano will return in Avengers 3.