Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or Kingdom Hearts

Previously:

The telephone started ringing. I was startled at first. Slowly, I got up and walked over to the table that the phone was on. I hesitated.

Who could that be? I wondered. That could be anyone. Tea. Joey. Pegasus. Rebecca. Marik. Heck, maybe even Kaiba. But I didn't really feel like talking to anyone. Nobody would care about what I had to say. Nobody in the world...

No, I scolded myself. I have to put my life back together. Talking is the first step to healing. It's like when we helped the Pharoah beat Zorc. Everyone needs help sometimes.

I reached for the phone with my trembling hand. I put the phone to my ear. "Um..hello?" I asked.

"Hello, Yugi Muto. Feeling a bit down?"


A Girl with a Purpose

I was frozen for a moment, unable to move or utter a word. Slowly, I managed to keep a stead hold on the phone. "W...what? Who is this?" My voice was shaky and uncertain.

"Oh, nobody. Just a nobody calling for no apparent reason." The caller was apparently female. Her voice was soft and innocent, yet I could sense a strong sense of conviction and maturity in it.

I managed to compose myself as I asked my next question. "Then why did you call me?"

The girl giggled. This freaked me out a bit. "Can't a person call just to say hello? Just to exchange a friendly exchange with someone they've never met?" She said this in a playful tone, but I could tell that she was hinting at something a bit more complex.

This statement enraged me. I just assumed that she was another one of those pathetic people who kept demanding things from me. That's all anybody ever did to me, anyway.

Demand, demand, demand. That's all anybody was good for these days. Just ask my wife. I sacrificed so much for her, and all she did was demand that I give her half my earning to her. And she demanded that I hand our daughter to her. Honestly, you work hard for everybody, and this is how they repay you?

No; this girl was just like everybody else in my life that wasn't related to me. Selfish. Just plain selfish.

"Listen here, you little bitch!" I growled angrily. "Don't you play games with me! I know you want something from me! So spit it out already! Money? Cards? Sponsors?"

I was on a roll here. "Maybe you want an autograph so that you can brag about it to your friends and sell it on the internet for millions of dollars! Or better yet: maybe you want to face me in a duel? That MUST be it! I've met many lowlifes like you who think they have something to prove, but in reality..."

I paused for a moment, silently cheering at my apparent victory over this girl. Smirking, I delclared my next comment with as much malice as I could muster:

"In reality all you care about it fame and fortune! Living in the spotlight! Well, I got everything I wanted, and I lost it! Yes, that's right: I lost everything I ever cared about! My friends, my wife, my grandfather...EVERYTHING! Fame was never anything to me; they were! So tell me: why would you inquire about me?"

Panting to catch my breath, I wiped my sweaty forhead with my bloody hand, letting the red liquid trickle down my face and touch my dry lips. I licked my lips with pleasure.

That would show that skank to mess with Yugi Muto.

I thought that I was home free. But nothing would prepare me for what she had to say next.

"Who said I called you because I inquired about you?"

I was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

The girl spoke in a more dark and serious tone. "Everybody wants things in life. Even when you call someone just for the sake of calling them, you still want things."

Now she was not making any sense. "Like what?" I asked in a puzzled tone.

"Satisfaction. Company. Attachment. Happiness. Arent those the things that people eventually want in the end?"

I was silent for a while. I hated to admit it, but she was right.

"Isn't that what makes life what it is; a race against time?"

I was silent again. "I-"

"Then why is my idea of happiness being compared to your idea of what happiness means to others?"

What was she getting at, I wondered. I decided to ask her. "What are you-"

"Why did you jump to conclusions instead of allowing me to speak for myself?"

She had a point there. I did cut her off unnesssarily.

(W: That, and you called her the B-word and S-word.)

WHAT DID I JUST SAY ABOUT THE YOU-KNOW-WHAT?!

(W: [gulp] Sorry...)

Honestly, just when I was getting the hang of this...

Anyway, I began to speak.

"You see, I-"

"Didn't you use to be a kind and caring person who helped others but himself."

I gasped. How did she know all these things about me? It's like she was a psychic or something. Or maybe she was a stalker. I didn't really know. Either way, she was starting to get on my nerves.

"That boy doesn't exist anymore. I can't even remember a time when I was happy..."

I hung my head down in sadness, my hair overshadowing my eyes. A single tear fell from my blood stained face.

I was a complete wreck. A shadow of my former self. I had yelled and abused an innocent person for no fault of theirs; that's something I would have never done if the Pharoah had been around. He would know what to do.

More than anything, I wanted things to be the way they were. I wanted Tristan to still be alive. I wanted my friends back. I wanted my grandtather back.

But most importantly, I wanted my life back.

For a moment, I had forgotten that I still in the middle of a phone call. That was why I was startled and creeped out by the next question that the girl asked me:

"What would you say if I offered you a chance to be happy once more?"

It was so sudden, so out of the blue. But worst of all, it seemed to confirm my suspicions that this girl was a psychic. Or even worse...

She could be...a witch.

(W: That explains why she was so mean to you. She must have heard you call her a skank.)

I am going to advise you to keep your comments to yourself. If you do not, I will seriously-

(W: JUST IGNORE ME AND MOVE ON WITH THE STORY!! (taps pencil on head) Honestly, you are the most distracting narrator ever!)

Whatever...

The comment had gotten my attention, no doubt about it. "What did you say?"

"I'm sorry, Yugi. I wish I had more time to explain. But I must be going. Meet me at the Domino Cafe at 2:30 this afternoon. I have a job for you. Do you accept?"

A job? I thought. "I don't know; I have to pick up my daughter today at 3:00."

"Don't worry: it will only take about 10 minutes. Once again, do you accept?"

After about 10 minutes of pondering, I made my decision. "I accept."

"Good. Oh, and one more thing. Do you still believe in magic?"

Then she cut the line.

To be continued