By animeninjaNIPPON

After an hour, I came to my senses. I went to a nearby card shop. It wasn't as popular as the Kame Game Shop, which meant it wasn't as crowded, and that meant that fewer people would bother me. But secretly, I went in hopes that Haga would be there.

I picked up a packet of Duel Monsters cards and pretended to be interested in them, making occasional side glances to the door. Then I put the packet down, picked up a new one, and did the same thing. Suddenly, my eyes caught a glimpse of a huge Exodia poster. I remembered Haga telling me about how he'd thrown Yugi Mutoh's Exodia cards overboard on the way to Duelist Kingdom. I chuckled to myself. Insector Haga had shown up the famous Yugi Mutoh. Cheating wasn't really my strategy, but to each his own, as the saying goes… and Haga was so clever at it.

I put the cards back and went outside without buying anything. No sooner had I stepped out of the card shop than a commotion occurred at the fountain across the way.

"That'll teach you to cheat my kid brother!" someone yelled as he dumped a person into the fountain. "Don't ever mess with the Tanakas!" The angry boy and his mob stomped away angrily. A dripping wet Insector Haga emerged from the fountain. I felt that lightning-bolt feeling in my heart again as I wished that I had a towel to give to Haga.

"Oh yeah? Screw your family!" Haga yelled after the crowd, which was long gone. He furiously wiped his water-streaked glasses on his soaked shirt, but achieved little success in anything but spreading the streaks further across the lenses.

Without a word, I walked over to him and snatched his glasses out of his hands. He protested, but I dried them off for him anyway, and then returned them. I hoped nobody saw my gesture of kindness. When he put them back on, he was so surprised to see me that he fell backwards into the fountain.

First glancing up to make sure no one was watching me (and no one was), I extended my arm to Haga. "Need help?" I offered.

"I can do it myself," he snapped, pushing himself up only to slip again.

"Here, let me help you."

"I don't need your pity!"

Some unknown force compelled me to grab him by his shirt and pull him out. When he tried to stand up, he fell backwards into the fountain again, this time bringing me along with him.

"What did you do that for?" he demanded.

"You looked like an idiot in there," I replied.

"Now you look like an idiot," he retorted.

I sighed. "Well, now we'll both be idiots together."

He jerked his head at me in surprise, as though I'd spoken some great obscenity. I studied him for a moment: his hair was wet, dripping, shrouding his face in enigma. Something about the way he looked at that moment was very appealing to me, and the way he said "Ryuzaki, take off that hat" made me want to –

"What?" I did a double take.

"Take of your hat," he repeated, almost sexily. So I did. A live carp plopped out of it.

End of part four