"Judai! How are those dishes coming along?"

"Great, Ms. Amari," Judai hollered, attempting to hide his aggravation.

He never liked doing the dishes. In fact, one could say it was his least favorite house hold chore, but for some reason, it was always the one he'd end up doing when it came to bargaining for a place to stay.

"Finish up your load and take a break; someone out there is asking for you."

Judai raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Okay." He scrubbed a few more plates, dodging the little splashes of water that attacked him without warning. He blew back his hair and shuffled his sleeves up a little higher so he could finish a bit faster. Two hours straight of washing dishes takes a toll on a person.

Once he had finished, he washed his hands with warm water and untied the apron from around his waist. He took one of the clean plates he just washed and brought it towards the cook for lunch.

"Hey Judai," the man flashed a smile, flipping eggs with one hand and grabbing a few spices with the other. "Going on break?"

"Yes, Mr. Amari," Judai nodded, watching the cook at work. He had a few stains on his extra-large white shirt, hugging his plump belly rather snuggly. His goatee was one of the most noticeable things about him, along with his wrinkly skin and dull hazel eyes.

"Here you are, then." Mr. Amari cleared his throat, tossing two of the eggs he just cooked onto Judai's plate. "There's some toast in the toaster if you're really hungry."

Judai blinked blankly. Slowly he looked down at his large plate that only had two small eggs resting on it. And of course, the possibility of one or two slices of toast.

"Mr. Amari," Judai sighed, not wanting to confront him on this issue, but knowing it was important. "Call me abnormal or what have you, but I'm a growing young adult…I'm going to need more than two eggs and a couple pieces of toast to hold me over."

Mr. Amari immediately stopped his hand work and looked over at Judai with a questioning glare. His eyes glazed over his body and he ended his investigation with a huff.

"Fine." He turned to his line up crew. "Listen up everyone! Give Judai a portion of what you're making!"

They all nodded, barely distracted by the interruption.

"Go ahead," Mr. Amari gestured.

"Thank you, Mr. Amari."

"Whatever."

Judai grinned widely, skipping his way to the lineup and happily watching as the other chefs tossed home fries, bacon, and pancakes onto his plate. After grabbing a glass of milk, he exited the employees' area and entered the dining room.

Apparently someone was waiting for him out there, but Judai didn't spot anyone he recognized. He peeked his head around to a few tables, but no one seemed to realize he was looking for them.

Eventually Judai laid his plate down at an empty table, shrugging off the ordeal and beginning to stab at his eggs.

As if on cue, a person pulled out the chair across from him and sat down. Judai immediately looked up to register the person before him.

He was in shock.

"Kaiser?'

Marufuji Ryo simply stared back, not gifting Judai with a smirk or any means of welcome. The atmosphere instantly grew tense. Kaiser had a way of doing that.

He always presented himself as a no nonsense kind of guy. Judai preferred remembering him as the respectable duelist at Duel Academy that everyone wanted to be like. But somehow, sitting with him at this moment, all he could remember was Kaiser's coarse stage where he had become some sort of sadist and masochist in a short amount of time.

"Judai," he stated, staring daggers at Judai.

"Um, well, it's nice to see you," the teen lied through his teeth, feeling the regret in every word he mumbled.

Kaiser didn't respond; perhaps he wasn't keen on small talk.

"I didn't see you when I came in—", Judai attempted to mention.

"Of course you didn't, I've been waiting outside. One of the ladies who works here told me you'd go on your break soon. I just came in."

Judai gulped his food, nodding nervously. "Makes sense."

Kaiser put his hands on the table, intertwining his fingers as if he was about to interrogate.

"Why are you here?" He asked.

"I need a place to stay," Judai answered simply, staring back at him.

"No. Why are you in Domino?"

"Am I not allowed to return?"

"You didn't answer the question."

"Well, maybe if you asked a relevant question, I'd answer it," Judai muttered, growing more annoyed by the second.

"Judai," Kaiser sighed, rolling his eyes. "I know you think you're doing the right thing, but you're wrong."

"The right thing?" Judai repeated, realizing the words sounded even stupider when he said them. "What are you talking about, Kaiser? Why are you here, anyways?"

Kaiser leaned back in his chair. "Sho told me you came back. He told me where to find you."

"Oh, so you finally treat Sho as your brother now? Do the two of you shoot the breeze and do each other's bidding?"

"Judai—"

"Not sure if you remember this, Kaiser, but Sho called me "big brother" for all of our time at Duel Academy, because you were so persistent on distancing yourself from him."

"Judai-"

"Is that what changed in Domino over the past six months? Your relationship as brothers?" Judai laughed in sarcasm. "What a fucking surprise! Yah know, I was starting to wonder if I had even left at all, but this really proves time passed, doesn't it?"

"Judai!" He smacked the table with his fist, quickly gaining the teen's attention again. "Sho's been acting strange all morning. When I finally got him to tell me what was bothering him, he told me everything. Even things you wouldn't expect him to say."

Judai raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What do you mean?"

Kaiser rolled his eyes. "I went to pick him up at 10 this morning for our practice."

"Wait, you practice duel monsters with him?"

"He's the one that's practicing, smartass. Now listen."

~ "Good morni—"

"Come in. I'm not ready yet," Sho muttered without making eye contact, lazily retreating inside.

Kaiser raised an eyebrow in confusion, but shrugged it off and followed his brother inside. "Long night?"

"You could say that," Sho mumbled, disappearing into his room to finish changing.

"It's not like you to not be ready for our practices."

"I'm aware," Sho hollered dryly. He emerged a few minutes after, fully dressed and with a bag slung over his shoulder. He made his way to the kitchen to prepare his lunch.

"Aren't you going to offer me coffee?" Kaiser taunted, a sly smirk on his lips.

"I'm a little behind this morning, bro," Sho reminded in annoyance. "If you want coffee, make it yourself."

Kaiser threw his hands up in surrender. "Relax. I'm only teasing. Besides, you normally offer me some."

"Not today."

Kaiser intently stared at Sho, noticing all his actions were off beat and messy. Something was off, but he couldn't put his finger on what. "What did you do last night?"

"Nothing you'd care about."

"On the contrary, I'm rather fascinated. Did you come home late?"

"Is it that obvious?" Sho raised his head to look at his brother, specifically to cater that line with as much sarcasm as possible.

Kaiser snorted in response. "Well then, where did you go?"

Sho dropped his knife onto the counter, turning around to fully look at Ryo in aggravation. "Why do you want to know?"

"Why are you giving me attitude?" Kaiser rebutted. "I'm just asking you a question."

"Many questions," he turned back to fixing his sand which.

"Well excuse me! I just want to help."

"Oh yeah, help, okay, sure," Sho sarcastically rambled. "The same way you helped me when we both went to Duel Academy and you avoided me like the plague?"

"Sho—"

"Or when you went A-Wall on all of us and turned into some psycho sadist?"

"Sho, please—"

"Just because you came back and try to act like everything's going to be okay, doesn't mean the time you deserted me hurts any less."

Kaiser got up on his feet, walking towards his brother and putting his hand on his shoulder. "Sho, I know what I did was wrong, and I know I can't change the past, but I'm trying to fix things for us. I want to be in your life."

"Yeah, but he doesn't."

"Who?"

Sho growled, pulling away from his brother and wrapping his sand which in plastic wrap. "Judai," he mumbled.

"Who?"

"Judai!" he yelled. "Judai!"

"Judai?" Kaiser pondered. "Sho, it's been six months since you've seen—"

"He's back."

"What?"

"That's where I was last night. With Judai. And Manjoume, for that matter."

"Judai? Manjoume? Was there some sort of reunion?"

"No. Judai came back from Europe. He pranced into all of our lives like it's no big deal. He doesn't realize what he's doing."

"Well, what is he doing, exactly?"

"Gambling. Working at cheap diners so he can crash for free." He put up his fingers for quotations—"Living on the edge."

"So, you're not happy that he's back?"

"That's the thing, Ryo. He's not back. Asuka told me that he's not planning on sticking around." He hesitated for a moment. "He got really drunk last night. I kinda had to leave him at Manjoume's because it was so late at night I didn't want to wake up mom or dad, especially since they had work so early this morning. I just texted Manjoume, asking if he was alright…and, well, he said that he was, but he also said I shouldn't get used to worrying, because he'd probably split in no time."

Kaiser's face grew tense; heat pulsed through his body and made him scrunch his fist. "That's not okay."

"Why do you care?"

"Because I've done this before. I know what it's like to run off. It's always a selfish move. You never realize how many people you've hurt until you've come to your senses, and by then, it might be too late."

He was speaking from the heart. From experience. He couldn't allow Judai to mess with people like that. Not if he could do something about it.

"Where is he? Which diner?"

"Ren's diner, why?"

"I'm going. Let's practice for a couple hours, and then I'll head over."

"You're not serious."

"Someone has to put him straight. I know that must be difficult for you, but it has to be said. Someone has to tell him the truth."

"You'll really do it? You'll go talk to him?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then, I need you to tell him something for me."

"What?"

"Tell him…tell him I said, well, that he might think that coming back to Domino is right. Even if he only comes for a bit. He might think that meeting with us all again makes up for how he ran away so long ago. But it doesn't. It makes things worse. And if he plans on leaving again…well, tell him, …hmmm, tell him it would have been better off if he had never came to begin with. Whatever he thinks about us…about this city or his plans in general, they're wrong. He's wrong about all of us. He either stays, or he goes, but let him know he's hurting us more than he can imagine with the latter." ~

"Sho…said that?"

Kaiser nodded. "He doesn't want you to treat him or his friends like pawns in your game of life, Judai. He wants to be seen as a true friend. It's unfortunate you haven't done your part."

Judai lowered his head in thought. "I've done a lot for him…"

"You don't just stop doing things for your friends because you've grown tired."

"Those are some deep words for someone who wasn't around a lot for your younger brother."

Kaiser suppressed a growl. "I already told you how much I regret those decisions. But I'm making up for them now." He stared deep into Judai's eyes. "When will you?"

The two marinated in the tension for a minute longer before Kaiser rose up from his seat. "Commit, or leave. Leave and never come back. Those are your options, Judai. I'd choose fast, if I were you."

Judai watched as Kaiser strutted away, heavily swinging the door open and making his exit. Judai moaned in tiresome, looking down at his food to find it less appetizing than before. He took a few more extra bites before tossing the rest.

It was going to be a long day.