A New Game

There was a quiet click as Yugi closed the front door. He quietly tip-toed downstairs to his room, hoping not to wake his grandfather, but was unsuccessful.

"Yugi"? His grandfather's bedroom light came on and cast a faint yellow glow in the hallway.

He sighed before answering back, "I'm here."

The two stood in the hallway in front of the stairs leading to the basement. Mr. Moto rubbed his eyes and yawned. He looked to be half asleep. "It's quarter after midnight, Yugi. You were supposed to be home over an hour ago."

He looked down at his feet. "Sorry grandpa, some things came up, and I didn't mean to wake you."

Mr. Moto shrugged. "It's alright. Did you have fun, what did you do?"

"Yes, he replied truthfully. Mostly I just hung with Tristan and Joey."

"Did you dance with anyone"? His grandfather asked, winking.

He paused before replying. "...No I didn't. Why do you ask?" He returned the question annoyed.

"I'm just curious. You know, when I first asked your grandmother to dance..."

Yugi suddenly became impatient. "I've already heard this story like a thousand times! Sorry, but I'm really tired and I'm going to bed. Good night, grandpa." He retreated downstairs, his fists clenched in front of him.

Mr. Moto didn't appear offended by his grandson's sudden change in behavior. "I'm sure he's just exhausted-he has had a long day", he reasoned. He yawned again, walked and back to his room. The hallway became quiet again.

Yugi fumbled with his dress clothes, finally able to get his buttoned shirt off. He kicked off his buckled shoes, sending them flying and smacking into his desk. Yugi panicked, "Crap, I hope I don't wake grandpa back up again because now is really not the time time to talk." He hesitated before continuing. After a few quiet moments, he got into his pajamas.

After brushing his teeth, be walked over to his desk and started to pick up his laptop when he noticed the picture he had left by it just hours earlier. He glanced at it in disappointment and removed the one of him and Anzu from the collage. "There's no reason to have it here now", he thought to himself. He got in his bed and turned on his side with his HP lying next to him.

He didn't care that it was midnight and logged on to Facebook. He silently scrolled through the news feed, the only sound was that of his mouse wheel and the occasional keyboard stroke. There was nothing of interest, only that of the annoying advertisements and the posts from all the same people. Without thinking, he paid a visit to Anzu's profile and wasn't surprised to see her relationship status changed. He mentally kicked himself and asked, "Why do I have to be so shy!? Now look where it got me! I wish I would've just told her when I had the chance! Aaaaah!" In frustration he slammed his fists down on the keyboard, luckily not breaking anything. He dried his face of the hot tears before getting up to turn out the light.

Yugi opened his eyes, only to be sad to realize his dream wasn't reality. In his dream he was with his best friends, only years younger. He felt as if he had traveled back in time when the memories that were now pictures now laying on his desk were real. He essentially relived all those memories and couldn't remember a time when he was happier. Things were much less complicated then: his parents were always there to spend time with him instead of being on business trips, drama was nearly nonexistent, and he had all the free time in the world to hang with his friends. He became lost in memories when his grandfather called downstairs:

"Yugi it's time to get up! I need you to help me unpack these boxes. Oh, and sometime this year would be nice!"

Yugi groaned in annoyance. "Seriously? It's barley seven am!" His grandfather did not mess around when it came to new shipments. He wanted more than anything to fall back asleep and dream again, but he dragged himself out of bed and obeyed, not bothering to check himself in the mirror.

His grandfather greeted him at the top of the stairs, "Good to see you're awake. I need you to go get me the box cutter."

Yugi sat on the front room floor and began to cut through the packaging tape on a box. He pulled out thin, golden foil packs of cards. The front had the shape of a old, golden eye (think millennium puzzle) and surrounding it were Egyptian hieroglyphics.

"Wow, I've never seen anything like this before." Yugi eyed the foil packs with curiosity. His grandfather glanced up from the counter. "Oh, that. It's a new game that has become very popular in Japan. It's called Duel Monsters. I think its popularity will come here, too."

"Huh. Sounds interesting. How is it played"? Yugi picked up more boxes and began to open them.

"The winner is declared when a player's life points is reduced to zero. Another way to win is by making your opponent run out of cards before you do. In my opinion, the faster you win the better."

"Seems easy enough," replied Yugi not looking up.

"Believe me, it's much more complex than that. There are different kinds of cards and endless strategies. The deck is made of a minimum of forty cards. A strong deck has a variety of monster, trap, magic, and even some ritual cards. The trick is how you use them-and that's just the basics. For example, monster cards are divided into normal and effect categories. Effect monsters can be at an advantage to normal type monsters, even if their strength doesn't add up. Like this one, (a "Man Eater Bug"). But enough of that, I'll let you figure it out for yourself." He smiled, handing Yugi an official manual.

"Thanks I can't wait to show the guys this! Now all I need is some cards to play with..."

"...Which reminds me, I got this especially for you. Mr. Moto reached under the counter and pulled out a black tin. This is a starter deck, Yugi. It has everything you need to start playing right away. Now, go have fun!" He basically kicked his grandson out the door.

He was taken back by his grandfather's gesture. "Can I at least have a shower first"? He asked loudly.

Solomon chuckled, "yes of course! I just wanted to embarrass you a little. He opened the door to let Yugi back in. A playful frown was on his face.