FireCacodemon: Welcome back to another chapter of Heart of the Plush. Yu-Gi-Oh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Chapter 2

Yami knew that he needed to apologise to the male who came over to him but he needed to get his plushies done and all sorted. He only had a week to get as many plushies as possible made and ready for Pegasus to inspect. Kuriboh was an easy monster to make and produce quickly but the more challenging monsters such as the Egyptian Gods weren't going to be easy to perfect seeing as they were one of the rarest cards, only three were made and from what he read in the news, people working on the cards were killed in some form. Physically or mentally, they were taken down. Since the game originated from Ancient Egypt and they were Gods, he was going to hesitate to make the prototype. He could easily enrage the Gods and bring himself his own...suffering...Yami was going to have to hold off on them until the cards were in his possession. Watching the needle pull the thread through the holes that he put into the fabric to seal off the fabric, he made sure that his fingers weren't in the way of getting pricked. Looking back at the Kuriboh card, he felt that he was reaching the end of making the brown furball. Yami looked over to the white haired teen and his friends before Yami shook his head. He didn't need friends...they only ended up getting pushed away anyway. He'll spare them the pain.

It was only natural that Joey wanted to throw a few punches at Yami for the way he treated Ryou; it wasn't any way that Ryou should have been treated like that, especially with the new kid. Ryou had assured them that he was okay but it didn't sit well with them. Yugi couldn't help be become interested in what Yami was doing. It was unusual that someone was just happily working in the classroom which wasn't about school work. Yugi and his friends either talked with each other and played Duel Monsters or just talked. Neither of them did one or the other, something that Yugi was grateful for.

"Yugi, are you feeling slightly off put by the fact that Yami looks nearly identical to me?" Atem appeared in his spectral form next to Yugi. Yugi nodded slightly. As far as Yugi was aware, he didn't have a twin on any form or any siblings. Yugi could only shrug off the mystery for now and focus on his friends.

"That guy should have treated ya better!" Joey yelled at Ryou. The timid teenager took a step back away from Joey with his hands up defensively.

"I clearly bothered Yami at a bad time," Ryou defended himself against Joey.

"Stay like that a-"

"Ryou's fine the way he is," Tristan defended Ryou against the blond teenager.

"Thank you Tristan," Ryou smiled at Tristan, showing his gratitude.

"Yami has his reasons...when he's not working, we'll go and introduce ourselves properly," Anzu told the group. That was something that they could all agree with. They looked over to Yami; the teenager had his deck out and was happily shuffling through the cards. "Look, he's also a fan of Duel Monsters, so why not challenge him to a game. Any duellist cannot back down from a challenge."

"Hey, that sounds like a good idea," Joey smiled, drawing out his deck of cards. Anzu had hit the mark; Joey was going to duel against Yami. "Hey Yami? I wanna ask you something!" Yami looked up from his cards and over to the blond haired teenager.

"What?" Yami returned the Kuriboh card back into the deck of cards.

"Come on, let's duel!" Joey removed his Red-eyes Black Dragon from his deck and showed Yami. Yami's eyes flashed at the possibility of the duel.

"Sorry, but I've got work...to be doing."

"Are you a chicken?"

"Referring me to a bird doesn't mean anything. I may have the cards but it doesn't mean that I'm a duellist."

"The flash in your eyes said otherwise."

"One duel and then you leave me alone."

"Alright! We'll duel after school with Duel Discs."

"If that makes your boat float..." Yami sighed. It looked like he wasn't going to get much done today as the result of the plush.

Heart of the Plush – Chapter 2

Joey was buzzing with excitement; the last bell rang which meant that Joey was going to get his duel. Yugi and the group were all outside, waiting for Yami to turn up. It didn't take long before the challenged teen came into Joey's sights with his duel disk already clipped onto his arm. Joey brought out his duel disk and slapped it down onto his arm before taking his deck out. Joey and Yami swapped decks to shuffle before returning them back to their owners and got ready for the duel. Joey had the standard duel disk which Kaiba presented to the world while Yami's duel disk looked slightly modified, making it look more kid friendly with a felt outline around.

"Can we do 2000 life points?" Yami asked as the deck was placed in the deck slot.

"Huh? Why?"

"I have projects to complete as well as today's homework."

"Why are you so busy to have fun?" Joey asked him. Yami didn't reply to the question. He couldn't tell anyone why he was the way he was, desperate to prove to Pegasus that he could do the job that he wanted. His dream...he wanted to make it a reality so much but to do that, he needed all the time he could to make the plush. His dream depended on how many he could make before the week was up. "Hello?" Joey asked confused, waving his hand in front of the teen.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Should I go first or should you go first?"

"I'll go first," Yami replied as he drew five cards. Joey did the same before Yami drew another card. "I place 2 cards face down and summon Shop Keeper in attack mode." Yami placed two cards faced down before he placed his first monster down. The card was a level 4, Earth monster. Having the simple appearance as any average male, he was standing behind a till with a sword tucked away on his belt. The warrior type monster was an effect monster based on the card colour with 1800 attack points and 1500 defence points. "I end my turn."

Joey looked at the monster before looking at his hand. He didn't have anything which was stronger than Shop Keeper but he did have one monster with just enough defence to give him time to summon a higher monster. Joey drew his card and smiled. He drew a monster which equalled attack points to Shop Keeper. What he was worried about were the two faced down cards that Yami had placed in his spell/trap card zone. They could be something to prevent him from summoning the monster or it could do anything. He would have to deal with it when it was activated.

"I summon Garoozis in attack mode!" Joey yelled as he slammed the card into the monster card section of the field. Yami let himself smile. So, Joey was playing a monster with 1800 attack points so that he couldn't destroy it. "I'll place one card face down and end my turn."

"A wise move to play a monster with equal attack points to my own; I draw and play my field spell card, Kingdom of Plush. Kingdom of Plush prevents you from playing any spells or trap cards which will negate the summoning of any 'Plush' monsters," Yami said as he placed a plush version of a castle in the field zone on the mat. "I'll enter my battle phase and use Shop Keeper to attack your Garoozis. Both are destroyed and neither of us takes any battle damage. Activating Shop Keeper's effect, I can search my deck for any 'Plush' monster and add it to my hand." Yami picked up his deck and shuffled through before he found the card he was looking for. Withdrawing it from his deck he added it to his hand. Yami shuffled the deck after. "I end my turn," Yami said after.

Everyone watched as Yami sacrificed his monster just to get rid of Joey's monster. Sure it triggered the effect of Shop Keeper but it was possible that was exactly what Yami wanted to happen. Yami wanted to draw a 'plush' monster from his deck but no one knew what it was. It wasn't a strategy that many duellists would have used. It would break the trust of their monsters and no one wanted to do that. For Yami, it looked okay in his books. Duellist Kingdom had happened so they had all seen Pegasus' Toon monsters but this was the first time that they heard the word 'plush' in a monster's name. Atem materialised beside Yugi to get a better look at the game. With Battle City coming up, Joey and Yugi had their decks already prepared in advance.

"Do you think Yami us up to something?" Atem asked Yugi.

"I don't know Pharaoh, but sacrificing a monster so easily...just doesn't seem right."

"I know what you mean; monsters are our prized possessions in this game. It just seems that Yami's pretty keen on getting these 'plush' type monsters out onto the field." Yugi nodded at Atem's comment.

"Well, for now we can only watch and cheer for Joey."

Heart of the Plush – Chapter 2

Joey had the upper hand of the duel. He had his prized Red-eyes Black Dragon out onto the field while Yami's monsters failed to match up to the dragon's strength. Yami's life points were down to 500 while Joey's life points were down to 300. With just his Red-eyes Black Dragon on the field, it was enough for him to feel like he had won the duel already. Yami's 'Plush' monsters were similar to the monsters used during Duellist Kingdom, Pegasus had managed to get a camera crew to record the duels on the island but the final match was corrupted so it couldn't be shown but the news that Yugi had defeated Pegasus blazed around the forums like wild-fire. Yami was about to draw a card from his deck before he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

"Mind if I take this?" Yami asked politely to Joey and his friends. The confused look gave him the answer he needed. Getting up from the game, Yami walked away to take the call. Joey and the others watched. "This is Yami...you're changing the deadline? For tomorrow! Yes sir...Bye..." Yami sounded disappointed but hung up the phone. Returning back to the game Yami sat back down.

"What was that about?" Joey asked.

"I activate my trap, Ring of Destruction. I destroy your Red-eyes Black Dragon which brings us to a draw. Now I have to return home and do my homework," Yami put his cards back into his deck and pocketed the deck away. Yami got up and quickly ran home, leaving everyone else confused about what just happened.

"He ended it in a draw..." Tristan commented.

"Probably if Yami didn't receive the call, he wouldn't have played Ring of Destruction," Atem said, taking over Yugi's body.

"What do you think it could be?" Joey asked.

"Well...he was making plush versions of Duel Monsters, maybe the call was related to that?" Ryou spoke up, having actually gone to talk to Yami briefly; he saw how worked Yami's hands were as well as the materials in his bag and the cards for referencing the designs for the plushies.

"His deck caught my interest," Atem smiled at the thought of having the chance to duel against a deck like that in the upcoming Battle City that Kaiba was preparing.

"His deck was pretty cool but I don't think we've seen the beating heart of the deck," Joey smiled and nodded.

"I can't help but think there's a connection between the Toon deck that Pegasus used and the Plush deck that Yami used today. Both are revolved around children," Anzu shuffled awkwardly at the connection. The group fell silent, if there was a connection between the two then the phone call was from Pegasus playing a small game with Yami just like they had with Yugi and Atem to force him to join Duellist Kingdom. Pegasus has a cruel way to twist people to making them do what he wanted.

Atem's eyes darkened at the thought of Pegasus pulling the strings which will take away what Yami is working hard for. He watched Yami in the classroom; he was a hard working individual who didn't quite eat the full lunch that was made for him, by himself or by a shop or family member. He couldn't do anything naturally because he was just a spirit but he hated to feel useless. Yugi felt how Atem was feeling and agreed with his concern for his contact with Pegasus; they couldn't help because Yami didn't ask. There wasn't anything wrong with getting him as a friend though, someone to talk to. Just watching him run back home now...the aura of loneliness hovered around him.

Heart of the Plush – Chapter 2

Yami couldn't believe the call that he just received from Pegasus! He was coming tomorrow to come and see how many plush he could make. He knew that he didn't have a week left but Pegasus was an idiot and booked himself up for the rest of the week and tomorrow was the only time he was going to have time to come and see him. Yami was sprinting home as quick as he could, he was only grateful that he was a quick runner so that he wouldn't waste too much time just on travel. He hated to leave the duel like he did but the duel was nothing compared to the drive he had to make the shop as he wanted it. Any duellist would have ended the duel after fighting their hardest, not ending it in a draw. He let his monsters down and he knew that, pulling a cheap trick...he was hoping that Joey would have used a card to send his trap and spell cards to the graveyard. He didn't hate the card, he liked it but playing it that way...Yami mentally slapped himself. He needed to get a grip. A gentle squeak in his bag pulled him out of his thoughts and made him smile. He wasn't far from home now. "Thank you," Yami said as he stopped and pushed the button for the traffic lights.

Getting home, Yami moved upstairs to get changed out from his school uniform and into more comfortable clothing. A simple black t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans was all that Yami needed before he walked over to the bed and got down onto his hands and knees. Retrieving his supplies from under the bed, Yami got straight to work. He'll probably crash at school but as long as he pleased Pegasus with his work, he didn't care. He heard his bag shuffling behind him, looking over his shoulder he saw that the his first made plush Kuriboh was digging around in his bag for any plush that he made during the school hours. The squeaking sound the plush Kuriboh made was perfect, not too high pitch but still kept its cute little side there. Naturally Yami was the only person who ever saw this side of the plush but he didn't mind. From the duel his mind already planned out what the Red-eyes Black Dragon plush was going to look like.

"Where are the others?" Yami asked the plush. Plush Kurboh looked at Yami and blinked before it hopped away from the bag and started jumping up and down in front of the wardrobe. Yami crawled over to the wardrobe and stood up. Taking hold of the door handle he pulled the door towards him. Inside were the first attempts of the duel monsters. They weren't perfect but that made them special and just like plush Kuriboh bouncing in front of Yami, each of them had their own lives. Yami wasn't sure why it was only the first ones but he was glad that it was only the first ones. They were great company after a rough day at work. "You guys can come out now," he smiled. The plush smiled up at him before they climbed out the box.

"What are we making today?" Plush Celtic Guardian asked Yami as the elf-man looked up at him.

"We're just going to make as much as we can, I'm going to try and make a Red-eyes Black Dragon plush for another series. For now, we just need to focus on making Celtic Guardians, Kuribohs, Beaver Warriors, Baby Dragons, Happy Lovers and Thunder Kids. That's series one then all done. We don't have much time before Pegasus arrives tomorrow to see." Yami told the plushies. They all nodded and they all got to work. "I really don't know what I would do without you..."

"We're only here because of you," they all replied happily and everyone got to work. Everyone worked their hardest to make as many plush as possible from the first season of plush that were to be released by Yami if he pleases Pegasus. "Why did Pegasus book himself up?"

"I don't know, most of me think that this is a test to see how well I can work while under pressure. If we do succeed and get the shop, then pressure is going to be there which might feel like this. I'm actually looking forward to working all night," Yami smiled. The plush all smiled and they continued their work much like Yami. He didn't lie to Pegasus; he does work alone.

"Have you made any friends?" The plush version of the Celtic Guardian asked.

"No, and I don't plan on making friends."

FireCacodemon: Silaqui Nailo - I'll upload as quick as I can. Thank you for leaving a review. ^^

Yami: Well, that's all for now. If you enjoyed it, leave a review to let us know. Thank you for reading and we'll be back next chapter.