The Heart of the Cards:
Jounouchii Katsuya
By Soul_Shard_Wielder
Yu-gi-oh! is owned by Kuzuki Takahashi,
My soul is owned by some really not-nice people
Please don't mess with either one
I never realized how much this would make sense to me;
I mean, it was KAIBA, for damn sakes.
Mr. Hard-ass himself tells me to write a summary of my life.
Says it'll 'help'
I laughed at first, told him 'I don't need no help'
And he looks at me with that STARE (the one that makes your blood run cold)
straight in the eyes and growls outs 'write it.'
I'm on my seventh one and it's actually looking pretty good
Better than any school paper I ever written.
I'll probably keep this one and I'm using the sixth as my draft.
(the others are all in story heaven a.k.a. the fireplace)
I'm almost glad that Kaiba bullied me into doing this.
Almost.
I guess I should start this like I started the last three.
The divorce and the goddamned judge's 'fair ruling.'
Oh, don't get me wrong, Mom and Serenity needed their asses out of there fast
but the 'one kid to each parent' bit?!?
WHAT, WAS HE BLIND?!? MOM WALKED IN ON CRUTCHES, FOR HIGH HEAVEN!!!
DON'T TELL ME MY DAD WAS 'SAFE' TO BE AROUND!!!
I always scream in time with the words...
Of course, I said I wanted to be with dad...
Of course, I'd do the same thing again if I had to...
Of course, I hated every second of it...
And of course, I did it all for Serenity...
No brother worth his shit ever lets his little sis get hurt if he can stop it.
And I'd be damned if I ever let my 'dad' see her after a little booze time.
Well.
After that shit was over, and I was alone in Hell-Central
(dad's place)
I proceeded to part 2 of my ever-so-brilliant plan:
find a way to keep from jumping every time I heard a noise.
I'm serious; I'm alone, I'll jump from me moving in my chair.
It's why I sleep at school;
so used to not sleeping at night, I have to sleep in the day.
Also the reason I started to hang out with the wrong kind of crowd.
I needed something to do at night,
well, besides stare at the ceiling and hope dad don't show up.
He drank more after the divorce. ass.
Thing was, I was young and I was desperate,
maybe not desperate, but close.
I got in and I learned how to fight.
I was good at it and I was loyal. To a point.
We started hurting nice people, I walked.
Usually alone, but not always.
Got to the point, no one wanted me.
But I didn't need them, so I left the gangs.
Started my own path and what a path it was.
Didn't think I'd do it.
Beat the all-time high score,
win the jackpot,
you know, beat the odds.
I still don't believe it.
It all started with Tristan.
I don't know what he was doing there at that warehouse.
I don't know what I was doing at that warehouse.
Saving some kid or getting saved,
I don't know, but he saved my ass that day.
We were buds before that fight,
hell, we were in fights before that fight.
That one, though, that one sticks in my mind.
Always has, and always will.
Never knew how bad-ass his right really was up 'til then.
(doofus always led with his left)
After that, Tristan and I watched out for each other.
I had his back, he had mine.
Dude was the first one to call me 'Jou' outside my family.
(some other guy called me 'Joey,' realized I liked it after I slugged him.
So I say thanks and tell him everyone calls me 'Jounouchii' except my friends)
But he's family now, anyway.
We weren't born that way, but that never mattered before.
I don't know what made me and Tristan pick on Yuugi back then
I think I do now, though.
I think I knew somewhere in the bottom of my heart
that this little shrimp needed a spine transplant
and that I, like it or not, was the surgeon in charge.
So I needled him. So what.
I was... pretty sure he knew I was just kidding around.
Right?
The day he brought the puzzle.
The day that, while we didn't know it,
would change our lives forever...
well, it started like any other day.
Tip-toe past Dad.
Meet up with Tristan.
Needle Yuugi.
Dodge the class prez, Tea.
Sleep though class.
And then, Lunch.
When I took that piece of the puzzle, I think,
That's when Fate grabbed little Yuugi by the ass and ran for the hills.
When Yuugi stood up to that big monster of a senior,
I realized Yuugi wasn't that bad and I was something lower than slime.
Yuugi had stood for me and I had taken something important to him.
I was trying to be his friend, dammit.
FRIENDS DON'T DO THAT TO EACH OTHER!
I keep shouting while I write this, someone's going to call the cops...
I set things right, of course.
Yuugi wouldn't have saved the world several times over if I hadn't.
Still, I'm usually the one in trouble.
Kind of weird, if you think about it.
Why is that, anyway?
Well, whatever...
The next day was weird as hell,
the senior, in the hospital, self-inflicted.
Yuugi, wearing that pendant that the puzzle turned into,
and I'll be damned if he wasn't already walking taller.
It wouldn't be the last time, either.
Like Yami would say,
"Someone who trespasses on another's soul must challenge the King of Games."
And noone has ever won against Yuugi or Yami,
not if something important was on the line.
I think the only one who really has was Kaiba at Duelist Kingdom.
And Kaiba risked everything on that duel, so it don't count.
Yuugi was the one who introduced us to Tea.
Miss Popularity and Mr. Clam,
known each other since kindergarden.
Who would have thunk?
Still, I think Tea was the one who figured it first.
Not just Yami but... everything.
Our Destiny, with a capital D.
What was on the line.
Sure, Yuugi knew but Yuugi always did.
Tea, Tristan, and me were left out of the 'Mystic Past Hotline'
It was like anybody close to Yuugi or Kaiba
had a past while Yami was still kicking.
And Tea had it hit her like a freight train;
like she was born to figure it out
and she probably was...
Kaiba called it DEATH-T.
Never figured out what the T meant and I'm not asking.
Death traps.
Paid goons.
Showdowns out of a 'James Bond' movie.
It was a...
It was...
It was nuts.
Pure and simple.
AB-SOLUTE NUTS!
*sigh*
It was where we found out about Yami.
The Game King.
But he didn't look any different from Yuugi.
Yuugi sees him different than anyone else so
maybe that's why Yuugi says he has red eyes.
Tea has seen him different, too, but
most of the time, Yami and Yuugi have the same body.
Easy to forget about, the first few times.
After the tenth, well…
A lot of folks ain't right in the head because of Yami.
It serves them right, though.
I'm not the best judge of character
and Yami is everything I think Yuugi could be,
but I still think Yami is missing... something.
I don't know what it is but I think he needs it a lot.
Duelist Kingdom was the first time I ever fought as a duelist.
The Flame-Swordsman and the Red-eyes Black Dragon
My boys, Oh YEAH!
I may not use them anymore,
but those two cards have never really let me down.
My sis needed money for eye surgery.
And Pegasus (the freak) was offering 30 Mill to the winner.
Saving my sister again,
and I know I'd do it again in a heartbeat
It was the first time I met Mai.
I'll get to her, latter.
It was the first time I went against Yami.
It was the only time I have ever been able to tell them apart.
Yami's eyes can have EVERYTHING sucked out of them.
I only really saw that for a second, but that was all I needed.
All I'd wish on my worst enemy.
Yami could kill with his eyes.
Then, that smirk of his joined in and normality came back.
Oh, and Mr. Freaky himself at the time.
Maxamillion 'Pegasus' Crawford.
If I hear his voice ever again, it'll be too soon.
After that, I thought it was over.
I forgot about Adventure Manga Rule #1:
"It ain't over til they say it's over."
Well, I didn't forget, I just didn't think it applied to real life...
I can tell you now: it does.
Boy, does it ever.
3 years straight and still going strong.
It's... great.
I told you I'd write about Mai.
Mai is one of the top Duelists in the world.
She also is one of the few people I don't want to be an ass around.
I think Mai's smile can light up a room,
and I'm glad she doesn't use it often.
She has a lot I can relate to; including the 'tough' image and
the ability to crawl under anyone's skin, including mine.
I am protective of her, almost as much as with Serenity.
I know she can take care of herself, but I don't want to lose her.
Why, I don't know, but I won't think about it now.
Speaking of Serenity, she's doing great.
What she sees in Kaiba, I don't know.
But the ass had better make sure she's happy,
or NOTHING will save him.
Hear that, Kaiba, NOTHING!
*ahem*
Anyway, the rest of that money I got from Pegasus,
it's in its own personal bank account.
I asked Tea one night to help me do it.
Now, I get a little spending cash every month,
and by the time everybody graduates,
they'll be able to go anywhere... except…
*sigh*
Yuugi said he has to stay where he is,
Tea is afraid for Yuugi (why? I don't know),
Tristan and me will never go anywhere, really,
but I think I'm going to ask Kaiba if he needs help running KaibaCorp.
Guy looks burnt out and overworked.
Hopefully, I could get him some free time,
time he could spend with his brother,
or by himself,
or even my sister.
When I think about it, all of us look beat.
Dealing, literally, with the supernatural,
I'm surprised none of us have had a nervous breakdown.
Tea would be the one to go first.
She's cool and all, but she's just not cut out for this.
Still, the rest of us wouldn't be far behind.
Whoever's up there, send us a clue.
Tell us we're doing a good job.
Help us keep from going crazy.
Please.
-Jounouchi "Joey" Katsuya
A suggestion: now you have read this part of "The Heart of the Cards," read it again, but this time, try to use the emotions you got from the first reading. This story was spoken aloud, and with a very bad Brooklyn accent. Also, the slang had been corrected. I wanted this story to be read aloud, and I think it is the best way to read it.