The crowd of students at Domino City High School that Wednesday was split between two factions. One side of students was wearing buttons, hats, and other garments that said things like, "Support Laura Devlin—Kazuki's REAL Girlfriend!" and "Delilah Deceived Samson, Delilah Deceives Kazuki!" The other side of students was laden with garments supporting Delilah, which, needless to say, did not make the decision any easier for Kazuki. Yes, he liked Laura very much—had even kissed her once—but lately Delilah had made moves toward Kazuki that poor Kazuki was unable to resist, and that made Laura even more jealous of Delilah by comparison. Indeed, if the conflict had not reached its breaking point by now, it was soon to do just exactly that.
"Who do you think you are?!" yelled Laura.
"Who do I think I am?! Who do you think YOU are, trying to claim a guy I like?!" Delilah shouted back.
"You creep!" Laura screamed. "I saw him first!"
"Oh, yeah?" Delilah said. "I bet you didn't kiss him!"
"As a matter of fact, I did!" said Laura.
"You little—!" shrieked Delilah. "How dare you?!" And she slapped Laura in the face.
"That's it!" Laura bellowed, and they would have started a fight right there on the grounds had not Koji and Hsu entered the scene between the brawling girls.
"Ladies, ladies, ladies! Save it for the Kaibadome, won't you?" said Koji calmly.
"You save it!" shouted Delilah.
"Yeah!" agreed Laura, apparently forgetting for a moment that she and Delilah were set against one another. "Like you have a bunch of girls fighting over you!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Koji loudly.
"People, this is not the time or the place—" began Kazuki.
"Don't you get involved, Kaz," said Koji. "You're the reason they're fighting in the first place."
"Oh yeah," said Kazuki. "I forgot…"
And he, Koji, and Hsu trudged off toward the cafeteria among the two opposing factions. Together they got their plates of food, and sat down at a table. But little did they know that they were about to have a brush with fame…
"Hey, kid," said a man who approached their table, addressing Kazuki.
"Who are you?" Kazuki wanted to know.
The man showed him a business card and said, "I'm Mike Adamle… the voice of the Kaibadome."
"I know who YOU are!" shouted Koji. "You're that announcer guy from 'American Gladiators'1!"
"That's who I am, indeed," said Mike Adamle, pleased that someone knew him. "And I think you know Larry Csonka, as well?"
"Isn't he that fullback from the Miami Dolphins?" asked Hsu. "My father's a HUGE Dolphins fan!"
"Right again," said Mike. "Now he's the floor announcer for the Kaibadome. But 'American Gladiators' aside, I want to talk to you about a few things going on at DCHS. I understand that there is currently a rivalry going on between two girls here, by the names of Laura Devlin and Delilah Rhodes. I just wanted to ask you, how did this rivalry happen?"
"Well, Mr. Adamle—" Kazuki began, but Mike cut him off.
"Just 'Mike,' if you don't mind," he said.
"Right," said Kazuki, and started over again. "Well, Mike, I was already involved in a relationship with Laura, and Delilah just arrived at DCHS two days ago, and sat down at the table where Koji, Laura, and I usually sit, and she… er…"
But he blushed and was unable to complete the sentence, but became relieved when Koji saved him.
"Delilah made a move toward Kazuki that made Laura jealous," he said.
"I see," said Mike. "Did she say anything that made Laura jealous?"
"She…" Kazuki said, growing redder in the face by the second. "She called me… 'Kazuki-poo.'"
He buried his face in his hands, as though he was ashamed of it.
"Thank you, kid," said Mike. "Say, I never got your name."
"Muto," said Kazuki, who by now had stopped blushing. "Kazuki Yugi Muto."
"Thanks again," said Mike.
"And Hsu and I are the Taylor brothers," said Koji. "My name is Koji, by the way."
"I see," said Mike. "Well, I'd better get going. I'll see you three at the Kaibadome!"
And with that, he left Domino City High School to a sea of murmuring.
"You know who that guy is?" said one student.
"That's Mike Adamle!" said another.
"Who's Mike Adamle?" asked Yugi Muto when Kazuki entered the house after school that day.
"Don't you remember?" asked Kazuki. "He did the commentary for my duel against Mikey Wheeler?"
"You'll have to refresh my memory," Yugi said.
"Mr. 'American Gladiators'?" Kazuki said.
"Oh yes… I think my father caught a few episodes of that," said Yugi. "Didn't his partner go by the name of 'Larry Csonka'?"
"The Miami Dolphins fullback!" Kazuki said excitedly. "You DO know Mr. Adamle!"
"Well, not personally," said Yugi, "but I do know who he is."
"Yeah!" Kazuki exclaimed.
"So what did Mike Adamle want with you?" Yugi wanted to know.
"He wanted to talk about the rivalry between Laura and Delilah," said Kazuki.
"I see," Yugi said. "So that duel's still set for tomorrow afternoon?"
"I guess so," said Kazuki, and Yugi sighed.
"I still think this duel for your affections is a great insult to the Heart of the Cards," he said. "I think the decision should be made by you personally."
"Right, Dad," said Kazuki just as Téa entered, carrying a sack of groceries.
"Can you help me unload the car, Kazuki?" she asked.
"I'll be right there, Mom!" he replied.
Later that day, Kazuki went out for a walk in the park, there to meet Koji and Hsu Taylor.
"Kaz, old buddy!" said Koji upon seeing him.
"What's up, guys?" Kazuki asked.
"Waiting for you! What else would we be doing?" said Koji.
"Thank God you guys are here," said Kazuki. "I just had a falling out with Laura."
"Ouch!" said Hsu. "What'd she say, man?"
"She told me that if I had anything to do with that Delilah girl, that it was over," said Kazuki.
The Taylor brothers looked at one another and said together, "Burned!"
"That's gotta hurt, dude," said Koji.
"Yeah, man," said Hsu. "No play for the Prince of Games!"
"Oh, stop it," said Kazuki, just as Laura entered the park and ran toward him in an angry scream. "No!" he shouted as she tackled him down, and Koji and Hsu backed away.
"I hope you're happy, Kazuki Yugi Muto!" she yelled at him. "Playing around with that freak Delilah Rhodes!"
"No—Laura—you don't understand!" said Kazuki, but Laura slapped him in the face.
"If I find one shred of evidence that you were with Delilah, you won't hear from me ever again!" she roared and left the scene in a fit of anger, leaving Kazuki sprawled on the floor, ready to throw up.
"Maybe we shouldn't have said 'burned,'" said Koji.
"Yeah, man," said Hsu. "I didn't see that one coming."
"Get up, man," said Koji as he and Hsu picked Kazuki up off the ground.
"Thanks, guys," said Kazuki.
"Hey, Kaz," said Koji.
"What, Koji?" said Kazuki, a little louder than he expected.
"I just wanted you to know… if Laura dumps you on Delilah's account, you've still got us, dude," said Koji.
"That's right, man," Hsu chipped in. "We're not going anywhere."
"Thanks," said Kazuki again. "So who do you think will win tomorrow?"
"I don't know, man," said Koji. "I mean, in a game of Duel Monsters for affections, everything is relative."
"Yeah," said Hsu. "No man can generalize about the best in the game. And don't believe anybody who thinks he can. In Duel Monsters, anything is possible, especially with the Heart of the Cards involved."
"You believe in the Heart of the Cards, too?" Kazuki asked.
"Of course I believe!" said Hsu. "Uncle Tristan taught me all about it. Told me he learned about it from Yugi Muto."
"Yeah," said Kazuki. "He taught everybody he knew about it, and that's how he keeps winning all his duels."
"Yeah," Hsu said. "Of course, Uncle Tristan didn't do a lot of dueling in his day, but he sure learned a lot."
"How do you do, Kazuki-poo?" said a voice in the park.
"Oh, no," said Kazuki. "Quick, hide me!"
"The bathroom!" said Koji, and they rushed into the boys' bathroom.
"You can't hide from me forever, Kazuki!" called Delilah.
Well, we'll just see about that, now, won't we? Kazuki thought. "Is it safe yet?" he said to Koji.
"I'll go look," Koji replied, and peeked out of the bathroom. Delilah was nowhere to be found—or so it seemed.
"Yeah, Kaz, I think it's safe," said Koji. He, Hsu, and Kazuki left the bathroom. Someone screamed, and Kazuki was tackled to the ground for the second time that day. This time, however, someone was kissing him all over his face—and Kazuki had a very shrewd idea who.
"There you are, Kazuki, darling!" Delilah was squeaking excitedly.
"No—no—get—off—me!" Kazuki grunted, struggling as he tried to get away from her.
"What for?" said Delilah as Koji and Hsu burst out laughing at the whole scene. "You're done with that Laura girl, anyway. Why don't you take me instead?"
"Help—help!" Kazuki called to Koji and Hsu, but both of them were still roaring with laughter as Delilah kept kissing him. Finally, however, it was over, as Delilah left the scene, giggling.
"Way to stick up for your friend," Kazuki said darkly as Koji and Hsu picked him up, still laughing fit to burst.
"Sorry, dude," said Koji, "but that was funny!"
"Yeah, I might have guessed!" said Kazuki bitterly. "I'm going back home."
"Don't let Delilah get you again!" said Hsu, and he and Koji started laughing again.
"You're late," said Yugi as Kazuki entered the house. "And what is that all over your face?"
"Delilah kissed me," said Kazuki, who clearly looked as though he would dearly have loved to take that moment to the grave.
"So she did," said Yugi. He sighed heavily. "And what's this I hear from Téa about a falling out with Laura?"
"She told me if I had anything to do with Delilah, it was over," Kazuki said solemnly.
"Well, I guess it's over, then, isn't it?" Yugi said.
"I don't know." Kazuki shrugged. "I guess we'll find out tomorrow."
"I'm sure we will," Yugi said as Kazuki went to wash himself.
1 "American Gladiators" copyright 1989-96 by Samuel Goldwyn Television (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). All rights reserved.