Ambitions from the Heart

Written by: TheDemonHuntress

Chapter3: An Unexpected Visitor

Once the whole gang returned from their duels and was reunited, we decided to visit Yugi's grandpa's shop.

As I walked into the shop, which I hadn't been in for a while, the color blue greeted my eyes. It was everywhere: on the walls, the ceiling, the shelves, and even the counter. I was forced to remember Grandpa's Blue-Eyes White Dragon card. It had blue eyes. And it was blue.

"Helloooo!" Joey called out while the rest of us stood around the counter. It usually wasn't common for Grandpa to leave the shop unattended.

But he appeared from the backroom, polishing a collector's box.

"Hello," he greeted us all, not expecting us to have visited him. "How are you all today?"

"Fine," Yugi replied. "We just came back from dueling."

Grandpa nodded with approval. "It's a fine day for dueling, with the Battle City Finals over now."

It was true, that dueling seemed to be less stressful with Battle City being over.

There were no more evil threats or constant duels, so there was time to relax. I personally was not looking forward to any more tournaments soon.

"Uh… grandpa?" Yugi asked, looking somewhat nervous. "When'd you get the shop painted?"

"Ah, while you were still in the Battle City Finals," Grandpa answered. "You know that my favorite color is blue… do you think I overdid it?"

An uneasy silence followed. But I spoke up, saying, "Err… no. It's beautiful!"

At once, the rest of the gang agreed verbally or silently. I could not hurt the old man's feelings, so it was nice to see him beaming at our comments, although I did feel quite guilty as well.

That afternoon was spent freely, with the boys checking out their decks, while Mai and Tea had the freedom of questioning me further about Kaiba. But it wasn't their new prototype that they were asking me about. It was about the real deal: Kaiba himself.

"So you say that you saw him three times today…" Mai began. "I'd say that's a lot of encounters with a president of his own company…"

I despaired at Mai's knowledge of the situation. "Mai, I'm not trying to meet up with him! I never said that I liked him! Because I don't! And Battle City is over… I'm not going to see him much anymore."

Mai didn't answer, because at that moment, the front door opened, and a guy walked in.

He wasn't any ordinary customer, though. I had seen him many times before, but not in the Battle City Finals.

His name was Andrew, and he, just like Kaiba, owned his own company in Japan. Only his company, eHawk, was the largest rival company of Kaiba Corp. So naturally, it only made sense that Andrew was also one of Kaiba's rivals in Duel Monsters. But besides being Kaiba's rival, he was also Yugi's.

Today, he entered with an air of dignity around him. He was only 16 years old, yet he commanded so much respect for one so young. He wore a black coat and black pants, to match with flashy black shoes. Everything about him was polished to the very finest. Sunglasses concealed light brown eyes, which were like dazzling jewels. He kept his brown hair short, so that it just barely grazed the top of his tall collar. He was a fashionable, yet intimidating figure.

"I thought I would find you here," Andrew began, removing his sunglasses. "If you weren't in Duelist Corner…"

Yugi smiled. "Hiya, Andrew."

"The whole gang's here…" Andrew noticed, having a look around the shop, and resting his eyes on Mai. "Good to see you here," he added, warming up as he nodded his head towards Tea and I.

Joey looked pretty jealous at that moment as he asked furiously, "Eh, and what're you doin' here anyway?"

Andrew directed his attention to Joey. "I was only looking for Yugi, in case he wanted to duel me. I wasn't looking for any competition…" And he gave a rich laugh, one that echoed within the confinements of the store.

"I think that you'll be the one running out of luck!" Joey pulled out his deck and challenged Andrew.

"You will get your turn," Andrew said hastily. He turned to Yugi. "So, Yugi? What'll it be?"

I could see Yugi hesitating with the decision, as we had just settled down in Grandpa's shop, which we hadn't visited in at least a month. To leave now would surely upset the old man.

"Go, Yugi." Grandpa surprised me as he laid his hand on Yugi's shoulder understandingly.

"I don't want to leave you so soon, Grandpa…" Yugi stated.

"Just to see you with all of your friends has been enough for me," Grandpa replied. "You have fun dueling."

"Thanks, Grandpa," Yugi said with a hug. "I promise we'll be back soon."

Andrew smiled, but then his face contorted into a frown as we exited the shop. "Hopefully you won't be as good as Kaiba…"

"Oh? And why's that?" Joey asked with a tease.

"If you must know," Andrew continued, "I just dueled him and came within a fraction of beating him."

"Not that jerk…" Tea muttered.

"But it was," Andrew said almost sadly. "He gets better with every duel."

Even as I watched Yugi and Andrew's duel progress, I was wary of Andrew's attitude. Being one's rival didn't expect you to be friendly with them, and it most certainly didn't require it.

Andrew was a competitive duelist. If there were someone else to compare him to, then I'd say that he vaguely resembled Kaiba at times. Andrew did not interact much with people, and he never quite got along even lines with Yugi. So this sudden… change over him was surprising. Not to say that it was genuine, though.

I snuck up on Mai and landed a question: "So you're on a little bit better than good terms with Andrew?"

She shoved me aside. "Now that really is nothing." Her voice and expression were so serious that I didn't doubt her. "So what if he thinks differently?"

Perhaps it was true. Andrew was that kind of secretive guy. He needed to keep his secrets- like his company's information secret from Kaiba- or else he might as well stop dreaming of one day overpowering Kaiba Corp.

I sensed that the duel was nearing its end. Yugi had his Dark Magician out on the field, while Andrew's Gate Guardian had just been destroyed. One more attack and Andrew was done for.

And so it did happen. Suffering two defeats in a row was not something that Andrew was used to. The poor guy slumped to his knees and let his cards flutter to the ground in front of him, something a duelist was taught not to do. It was almost considered dishonorable.

"How did I lose… again?" Andrew cried with despair. "My strategy was working… I had my Gate Guardian out…"

Losing to both of your rivals in back-to-back duels was disappointing. But Kaiba and Yugi were top-ranked duelists. Maybe Andrew was setting his expectations too high…

"There are more aspects to dueling than strategy," the spirit of the pharaoh replied. "You must also believe in and trust in the heart of the cards."

"What kind of advice is that?" Andrew asked angrily. "I've heard that thousands of times from you! It's probably a lie-a lie that you made up!"

He picked up his cards and stormed away furiously. And he seemed really angry, or upset.

"What was that all about?" I asked at last. "Looks like someone's temper got the better of him…"
"Hmm… ever since when did you become a bully, Yugi?" a cold voice sounded from behind him.

I turned around, and to my joy and dismay, I saw Mr. President of Kaiba Corp. Only this time, he was alone.

"Just because that freak went crazy doesn't mean that Yug is a bully, rich boy!" Joey retorted.

"Oh, it's the mutt," Kaiba said indifferently. "Maybe it was your vicious barking that scared him away?"

"As a matter of fact, it was," Joey replied proudly. "No, wait… no it wasn't!"

Kaiba gave an evil-as-hell smirk. "They say that dogs aren't as smart as humans, Wheeler. You'd be the perfect example of that."

That last comment left Joey just fuming. I knew better than to let him argue any further with Kaiba.

I pulled him back and warned Kaiba, "Stop it with the dog jokes."

"Perhaps your mediocre friends don't even deserve a pet mutt like you," Kaiba replied, glaring at me with those twin icicles he had for eyes. I returned his gaze, but trembled. Out of fear or beauty, I wouldn't know.

Just ask quickly as he appeared, Kaiba left. His encounters were always brief, although I wished for a deviation from the normal routine.

"Damn it," Joey said. "I could've got him!"

"Save it, man," Tristan said.

We walked away that day feeling rather confused about Andrew's abrupt departure. Although never considered friends, Yugi and Andrew never did hate each other, either.

But the little voice in the back of my head insisted that I would meet up with Andrew again. Only he wouldn't be quite as happy when that next time came.