ONE CARD SHORT:

CHAPTER FIVE - DEAL WITH IT

"I'm reminded of Malik, if you want me to be blunt."

Written by Gregory Smith

All characters portrayed within are copyright 1996 Kazuki Takahashi,

With the exception of Gradius, who is copyright 2003 Gregory Smith.

It took some time, but the school day ended. And, with the rainstorm still going on outside, nobody really noticed the strange, purple tint the sky had taken. They'd all seen some crazy things in Domino City; cards coming to life, giant blimps made specifically for Duel Monsters gaming, Kaiba Land… Yeah, a mildly purple sky wasn't anything to get riled up over.

Then again, for the parties involved in said "crazy things," this was something to be alarmed about.

"You guys reminded of anything by that purple color?" Jounouchi asked, his voice tinged with wrath. Whatever was going on, he didn't like the looks of it.

"I'm reminded of Malik, if you want me to be blunt," Honda returned, right hand clenching into a fist. The same as Jounouchi, Honda didn't like what was going on. It just felt too familiar, and that was a bad thing.

Anzu's heart sank when she heard the name "Malik." Anytime somebody mentioned Malik, she'd start thinking about Yugi. Then she'd start thinking about Yami… Then she'd think about how she and Yugi weren't all that close anymore. All of it really made her want to cry. And she did, sometimes, but it was never when others were around; she liked to think she was stronger than that. And she was, in a sense, but she still relied on everyone for most of her strength. And she'd lost a big part of that strength when they'd lost Yami.

Jounouchi noticed the sudden change in disposition in Anzu, but didn't really know how to deal with it. He felt exactly the same way she did, but he could never come out and state it. They all missed Yami, so why should he even say anything about it? It's not like he had reserved some special right to miss him more than everyone else. His mouth kept shut, although his heart was desperate to scream out what he felt. He wanted Anzu to know; he wanted her to know.

Their eyes met only for a moment, the second time that day. And Jounouchi nodded, as if to tell Anzu "I'm here for you, y'know, if you need anything." And, in all the time they'd known each other, Anzu took this for exactly what it meant and smiled a little.

Across town, another day was ending, and another crisis was beginning.