Yu-Gi-Oh! Love Selflessly – Chapter 8
Before long, the sun had set and the moon, now full and bright, lit their way through the woods. As they walked, they heard the rustling of the trees, the hooting of owls, and the chirping of crickets. Yugi said, "Wow, it sure got dark in a hurry." Téa looked around nervously and said, "Yeah. Maybe we ought to set up camp somewhere." Emiko nodded in agreement. Tristan said, "Don't tell me you girls are afraid. You've got us protecting you." Emiko said, shrugging, "I guess so." Téa snickered, "Okay, but who's protecting you guys?" Tristan said nervously, "Alright, good point. Let's set up camp." Joey said confidently, "Relax, you guys. There's nothing in these woods but crickets and squirrels."
The five of them continued to walk, looking for a place to camp for the night. They finally found a neat clearing where they could stay. As the group sat in a circle, Tristan took it upon himself to tell a ghost story for entertainment while the moon rose higher and higher.
"And when they finally pulled over to look and see what was in the back seat of the car," Tristan said, building the suspense, "they saw over twenty pepperoni pizzas with double cheese and meatballs." Téa laughed, "Oh, please! What kind of a ghost story is that supposed to be?" Emiko laughed and Joey groaned, "If I don't get some food, I'm gonna be turning into a ghost!" He turned to Emiko and said desperately, "Em, please tell me you brought something to eat in that backpack of yours!" Emiko chuckled and said, "Sorry, Joey...I kinda...I forgot to grab food." Joey sighed deeply, but then caught something out of the corner of his eye. He turned and ran to the spotted, yellow mushroom, saying, "Hey, my meal ticket!" Before he could pick the mushroom, Yugi said, "Hey, wait! Wild mushrooms can be poisonous, Joey!" A woman's laugh cut through the forest. Mai, walking towards them, said, "So do us all a favour and let him eat it." Joey sighed, "Now what do you want, Mai?" Mai smirked, then took a bite of a granola bar. Joey and Tristan both gasped.
"That's it," Joey growled, "You can duel me, you can insult me, but you're not eating in front of me!" Mai winked at him and said, "You're that hungry, are you?" She smiled and said, "Ok, then, give me your star chips and I'll give you some food." Joey grimaced and said, "Forget it! You know star chips are priceless!" Mai laughed and said sweetly, "I was just kidding, Joseph. I'll be more than happy to share if you can manage to ask politely like a gentleman." Joey folded his arms and pouted, "Right. So then you can go and make fun of me for that, too?" Mai shook her head and said, "Look. By tomorrow, I'll have won my way into the castle, so there's no point in me keeping an entire knapsack of food." Yugi said gently, "Sure would be nice not to have to duel tomorrow on an empty stomach." Joey said skeptically, "How do we know this isn't just another trick? Give me just one good reason to trust you." Mai said, setting her bag on the ground and unzipping it, "Because it's either me or that poisonous mushroom." Emiko relaxed a little and said, "I guess you're right." Mai emptied the contents of her knapsack, laying them out on the ground for everyone to see, then said, "Before we can dig in, I want Yugi to go look for some firewood." Yugi nodded and said, "Sure." She turned to Joey and Tristan and said, "And you two boys can go fetch us some water." Tristan agreed, but Joey was reluctant. Yugi stood up and said, "I'll go and get us that firewood." Emiko stood up, too, and said as he walked off, "Wait up, Yugi! I'll help you!" He turned to wait for her.
"Alright," he said, "Let's go." Mai turned to Téa and said, "Well, I was going to offer this to both of you girls, but there's a makeshift shower right over that way if you want to freshen up a bit." Téa smiled and said, "Thanks, Mai." She stood up and took Mai up on her offer.
Yugi and Emiko walked around, picking up dry branches and twigs to use for firewood and for kindling. Yugi said, "You know, Emiko, I always felt like there was some kind of connection between you and Kaiba." She said, reaching down to grab a small handful of sticks, "I'm really sorry I never told you guys, Yugi. I was just afraid." Yugi sighed. After a moment of silence, Emiko said, "I heard about your duel with Seto. I'm so sorry about the way he treated you guys." He smiled and said, "Don't worry about it Em. It's not your fault." She looked over her shoulder at him, then said softly, "I know. It's just...the night before, we got into a big fight. But after your duel with him, he seemed...like his mind was reset." She returned to picking up branches and continued, "He seemed more like the old Seto we knew and loved. The old Seto who would be there to protect me and Mokuba when people tried to hurt us." Yugi turned to her. She looked down at her feet.
"I miss them both, Yugi."
He said softly, "I know. Don't worry, Emiko. We'll get your brothers and my grandfather back." She nodded and Yugi said, "You know, it's very brave of you to jump into action like you did. You could have just run away like Kaiba told you to, but instead, you're here. You're here, looking for them, and doing your best to save them." Emiko smiled and said, "I mean, it's what family does, right? They look out for each other. Kinda like how you're here to save your grandpa." Yugi nodded and said, "Yes. Not to mention, Joey's here for family, too. He's duelling in the hopes of winning the three-million-dollar prize for his sister, Serenity. If she doesn't get a certain operation soon, she'll go blind." Emiko looked up at Yugi in surprise. Yugi chuckled and said, picking up a final piece of wood, "You really do some crazy things for the ones you love."
"Hey," Mai said as Yugi and Emiko returned to camp, "Took you two long enough." The two set down their armfuls of wood and Yugi said, "Yeah, sorry about that. It took us a little longer to find some of the bigger branches." Emiko said calmly, "Alright, let's get this fire underway." She set up the branches and some twigs as Joey said, looking through the bags of instant rice, "I'll cook all this up. I'm quite the culinary mastermind, I'll have you know." Tristan said, doubtful, "Oh, really?" Emiko said, smiling as she grabbed a box of matches from Mai's knapsack, "Alright, Joey. I'm game. I've got the fire."
Soon, they had a raging, warm fire going and had a pot of water set up to boil while Joey set up all the food and thought through what he was planning to do with it all. Mai said, waving Emiko over as Téa returned to the campsite, "Hey, Kaiba. Come here for a second." She looked up at her, her eyes narrowed in skepticism, but Téa urged her, "Go ahead. It's alright. She's got a makeshift shower set up." Emiko relaxed and stood up. She walked through the trees towards where Mai was standing.
Mai said, twirling a piece of her long, blonde hair between her fingertips, "Did you want to take a quick shower to freshen up? You ran off with little Yugi before I could ask you." Emiko said, "Are you sure?" Mai smiled at her and said, "Sure. Just because you hang out with those boys doesn't mean you have to smell like them." Emiko smiled back and followed Mai just a little further out where, sure enough, Mai had a shower set up, only covered by a stand-up shower curtain. She stepped inside and stripped down cautiously. It felt strange to be showering in the woods, but she was grateful anyway. She did get pretty sweaty throughout the day. As the cold water hit her, she felt her body erupt into goosebumps, but she got used to it fairly quickly. She let the water run through her hair and over her skin, gently cleaning the dirt from the day off. She ran her hands softly over her scraped, rough knees, then turned off the water, shivering slightly. Outside, Mai stood guard. Reaching up and grabbing the towel Mai had given her, she dried off and slipped into the change of clothes she had brought with her, then stepped out of the shower.
The girls returned to the camp, where Joey was sitting at the fire, cooking a meal using the supplies from Mai's pack. Mai teased playfully, "Look at you go, Joey. The only thing missing is a chef's hat and a cute apron." Joey laughed and said, "Jeez, alright, already!" Emiko couldn't help but laugh. Mai was tough, but she seemed to mean well. As they all sat down to wait for dinner, Emiko said, "So, how exactly did you come to meet Yugi and the others, Mai?" Mai said, "Well, I happened to see little Yugi on the boat here." Joey said, "Yeah, and would you believe that the first duel I ever fought on the island was against her?" Emiko smiled and said, "Wow. So that's how you know each other." Joey said, "Yeah, but I wouldn't have won that one if it weren't for Yugi. He helped me out big-time!" Tristan said, "But this last time, he did it without Yugi's help!" Mai sighed. Joey took a look at the instant rice packets simmering away in the water, then at the curry sauce in the makeshift double-boiler above the rice, and said, "Alright, looks like we're ready to eat!" He grabbed some paper plates from Mai's pack, served a little onto each plate, topped it with the curry sauce, and passed it around. Emiko said cheerfully, "Wow, it smells great, Joey." Mai passed around a soda to everyone, Téa gave everyone a spoon, and they all sat around the fire, ready to eat.
"Wow," Tristan said, "This is great!" Emiko said, "Yeah, it's been awhile since I've had curry. This is really good!" Yugi nodded and said, taking another bite, "Not bad at all. How's yours, Téa?" Téa smiled and said, "Excellent! Four stars!" Yugi turned to Mai and said, trying to start a friendly conversation, "Speaking of stars, I hear you've won quite a few star chips, Mai. How many do you have now? Eight? Or is it nine? However many, it sure sounds like you're in the zone." Mai said coldly, "Listen. Don't think you're gonna fool me with your nice-guy routine, Yugi. It's only a matter of time before-" Téa interrupted, "Can't we just forget about the tournament for one night?" Tristan suggested, "Why don't we make fun of Joey instead? That's always fun." Mai stood up.
"Ok," she said, "Just as long as everyone is crystal clear about one little thing. Any duelist in my way is going down." She turned, setting down her plate and soda, and said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go for a walk." Joey scoffed as she disappeared behind the trees, "Man, she can really ruin a meal." Emiko took another bite and said, "Just let it go, Joey. She's not worth it right now."
After they finished cleaning up the meal, Joey sat back down and said, yawning, "Man, oh, man. I'm fading fast here." Emiko said, smiling, "Yeah. That was really good. Thank you, Joey." He grinned at her. Téa said, looking around, a worried look on her face, "Don't you think we should check on Mai? She's been gone for quite a while, now." Yugi nodded and said, "Good idea." Joey said calmly, "It's probably some kind of trap." Before anyone could say another word, the bushes behind Téa rustled, causing her to let out a scream. Emiko jumped behind Tristan and peered around him towards the rustling leaves. Joey stepped forward, jumping in front of Téa, and said, "Yep. Bet you she's been waiting there the whole time. Come on out, Mai!" The intruder stepped out of the bushes and everyone gasped. Emiko stepped out from behind Tristan.
"Bakura?" she asked, "What are you doing here?" Bakura said, shrugging, "Same as you guys, I guess." Tristan said, "You gave us quite the scare, sneaking around in those bushes." Joey laughed, "Yeah. I mean, for a minute there, we actually thought we had something to worry about. Pretty silly, huh?" Bakura smiled and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you guys." Yugi said, "Come sit with us, Bakura. We can catch up, too!" Bakura nodded and said, "Sure. I'd love to hear how things have been going."
As they talked and explained why they were all there, Bakura just nodded and listened. Emiko told them all how she faced Mako Tsunami. She was also surprised to hear about Yugi and the others' encounter with the eccentric ocean duelist. They finally reached the end of their story, when Bakura made a suggestion.
"Hey, Emiko," he said, "Why don't we pass the time with a little song?" Yugi looked up and said, "Oh, that's right! You like to sing, don't you?" Joey said, "Yeah, you sang at that talent show not too long ago!" Emiko smiled nervously and said, "Oh, yeah. I mean..." She laughed nervously, blushing. Téa said sweetly, "It's okay if you don't want to-" Emiko interrupted, "No, it's alright. I just don't normally sing in front of people." Tristan said, "Come on, it's just us, Emiko. It'll be like we're back home." Emiko thought for a moment, then said, "Alright. What song should I sing, though?" Bakura said, "Why don't you sing that one you've been practicing for a few weeks, now?" Emiko took another moment to think, then nodded at him. She took a deep breath, then started to sing.
Her voice was smooth and clean. Yugi and Téa listened and started to tap their feet in time with the music, making it easier for Emiko to sing her melody. Joey and Tristan both listened, nodding their heads with the rhythm, and Bakura closed his eyes. Emiko looked around at her friends, singing her song, and smiled.
October 18, 2020 – 2433 Words