I do not own Yu-gi -oh GX

Wit is the salt of conversation, not the coffee

"Toffee Coffee, Basso Espresso, Loco Coco, and The Coffee Break Cake….are we in a coffee house or have we stumbled into 'Who-ville'?" Zane asked, eyebrow cocked, as he scanned over the menu. "I mean I know this place is called Bean Scene but isn't all this rhyming pushing it a bit? Listen to this 'have the chocolate deluxe for just three bucks;' how can you possible enjoy such a cheesy themed café'?"

"Hey, the coffee here is really good and every once in a while they have some really good poetry readings," Jo argued back.

"Mmmmm, poetry huh, who could have possible guessed that?" Zane sighed with a sarcastic eye roll.

"Ya, poetry, but the main reason I come here is because the sign over the register makes me laugh," Jo uttered as she pointed to the sign behind Zane's head.

"Oh," Zane inquired curiously, as he turned his head toured the register. His eyes did a quick scan of the coffee house. It was a quant, cozy little shop with a winter cabin living room feel to it. The walls were festooned with photographs and paintings, and many comfy leather chairs were spread through out the room. The contour was to the left side of the room and many scrumptious pastries were displayed behind the glass. Dangling, just above the register was a bright, cheery sign that read 'Friends don't let friends go to Starbucks'. Zane snorted silently to himself and turned back to find Jo staring back at him with a satisfied smirk on her face indicating that she saw the humor the sign had brought him.

"Well I'm going to get the Steamy Creamy Cake and The Great Bambino Cappuccino," Jo decided as she put the menu down and walked over to the register to order her coffee. "Coming Truesdale?" Jo called over her shoulder.

"In a minute," Zane replied as he scanned the menu one last time. The doorbell jingled as a cool draft entered the café, indicating that someone, or a whole group, and just come in. Judging by the clattery noise, Zane concluded that a fairly large group must have come in, but what struck him as odd was that the group seemed to come to a dead silence as the door came to a shut.

"Big Brother," someone whispered.

Zane stopped dead in his tracks. No, no, no, it cannot be him, Zane thought. It just can't be. I know I haven't been the friendliest guy lately, or ever for that matter, but there is just no way my karma can be this bad. If there is any fairness in the world, please let that not be Syrus!!! Zane turned to face the person that whispered those dreaded words, praying with all his might that it wasn't, but knowing on the inside that it was indeed Syrus.

"Syrus," Zane replied, now starting face to face with the little brother that he had left in serious pain only a few weeks ago. Not that I wasn't in pain when he completely ignored me after the whole Phoenix episode; of course he wasn't the only one, Zane thought to himself as he scanned the group. They were all there, the lot of them. Atticus and Alexis where standing off to the left side of Syrus, where as, Chazz, Hassleberry, and Bastion were standing to his right. Jaden, the bright, sunny, naïve little child dressed in red, was stand right next to Syrus in the middle of the group. And he, Zane noticed, was the only one that seemed happy to see him, although the look did seem a little fake. All the others seemed to have an uncomfortable, awkward look about them except for Syrus. Syrus just looked like he was about to cry or puke, Zane really couldn't tell.

The minuets ticked on as the silence only continued. Well, say something. Zane told himself. Don't just stand here like an idiot. Ohm gosh, this is the longest that anyone has ever not said anything. Just say something!!! It doesn't have to be clever, or even give an explanation for our last meeting; it just has to be Words!!! Any words will do!!!

"I see our little duel didn't completely slaughter you," Zane sneered deciding that he would just keep up his malevolent, foul display in hopes that maybe his so-called friends would finally be convinced that he was a lost cause and just leave him alone. Zane watched as the expressions on his friends faces changed from discomfit to looks of shock and disbelief, just as he hoped and planed they would. What he was not expecting was for Syrus to completely snap.

"What in the world is wrong with you Zane? What happened to my brother? The one who always spoke of respect and actually cared about people. This can't just be because of some duel, something else happened to you. Please just tell me what's wrong so I can help. I don't want to lose you; I don't want you to end up alone," Syrus screamed as tears appeared in his eyes.

"Did you ever consider the fact that maybe I don't what to be found, especially by you; I like were I am," Zane said in a profound, earnest tone as his eyes narrowed. "For you information I like being alone; in fact I plan on ending up all alone. I have no need for friends and as for family…Well, family is nothing more than strangers that happen to be related to you."

"You can't really mean that," Syrus gasped as horror filled his eyes. He wasn't the only one either; the whole group had a look of aghast on their faces.

"I mean every word; I'm tired of being salt," Zane said remembering the analogy that Jo had used earlier.

"Salt?" Syrus asked with a question mark in his eyes.

"Just forget it," Zane snapped. "What are you people doing here anyway; shouldn't you be back at the academy?"

"New tournament," Jaden said while putting his arms around Syrus, who had started to shake as he was trying so hard not to cry.

"Yah," Atticus piped up, "you pair up into teams of two, and for the first part of the tournament each of the team members battles in individual duels and earns points for their team. Then the top eight teams move on to round two, where they compete in tag-team duels. The last duel is suppose to be--"

"Between the two members of the wining tag-team," Jo interrupted. "Since you were taking so long I ordered for you, it's called Black Bite of Night Coffee, you didn't peg my as a cream and sugar kind of guy. So are these the old academy friends?" She asked as she handed Zane a cup of steaming hot coffee, and turned to face the group. The group in turn stared back and, take in her black wardrobe and the duel disk on her arm, came to the obvious conclusion, that she too was an underground duelist.

"I suppose you could call them that," Zane signed as he took a sip of his coffee.

"I'm Atticus," Atticus said stepping up and taking Jo's hand, while flashing one of his signature cheesy grins. As the unofficial love guru of the group, Atticus saw it as his official duty to meddle in any possible love match for his buddy Zane. Maybe, just maybe a new love, or in Zane's case, first love could bring him back, even if it was with another underground duelist. After all, to negatives make a positive, right. Fingers crossed. "So may I know the name of the girl that's keeping Zane from being alone"-eyes smirk at Zane- "on this lovely night?"

"It's Jozette, but Jo for short. Atticus, huh, Zane has told me so much about you."

"Really."

"Yah, but he was wrong. You are as dumb as you look," Jo said with a glare. "Let's go Zane." Jo grabbed Zane's hand and pulled both of them out the door.

Atticus, along with the rest of the gang just stood and stared as the two underground duelist walked out of the coffee house.

"What just happened?" Chazz asked.

"Well, apparently according to Zane it seems that it takes two to be alone," Bastion said with guffaw.

"I have to get that girl away from Zane," Syrus stated with determination "she's obviously another underground duelist and she's only getting Zane more lost. It may be the only chance to get my brother, my real brother, back."

"Not so fast there little blue," Atticus said while stand with his arms crossed in the famous all-knowing Atticus stance, "sometime if you put two lost people together, they end up finding each other."

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Well, here is chapter three and I hope you all like the story. I would like to give a Big Thanks to Beautyheart18 my only reviewer so far (I actually started writing this after I got her second review.) Please leave a review and tell me if I should keep writing this story. Thanks for reading.

Oh, and by the way I have nothing against Starbucks, in fact I love their coffee. But I did see a sign that said that in a coffee shop that I went to with my grandmother and it made me laugh. So all the Starbucks lovers out there please don't throw cup of hot coffee at me.