Yu-Gi-Oh New Heroes Integration

With the sunrise, Alex woke up to a rather obnoxious alarm. Every time it rang, it never failed to make him alert. Brushing his teeth, he stared at himself. His hair was a crimson colour, dyed by himself. Unfortunately, it was also very messy since he cut his own hair. He couldn't afford to go to a barber otherwise he'd have to skip out on dinner. After quickly wearing his blue school uniform, he was all set and ready. He left the door, not saying goodbye, simply because there was no one inside to say it too. As he stepped out to leave, an old grumpy man was waiting for him.

"Alex! You've pushed back your rent far too much! Pay up today or I'm kicking you out!" he yelled rather loud for it being so early in the morning.

"Come on, my pay comes in tomorrow, you know that, Gramps." Alex replied sheepishly, while locking his door, "Besides, I've always managed to pay! It's just that this month I-"

"No excuses! You've got until midnight kid, otherwise I'm packing up your stuff and throwin' it out." the old man snapped at Alex.

"Okay, but it's gotten real messy in there. You don't wanna hurt your back."

"You little- Whatever. Midnight, got it?"

"Yes, sir" Alex sighed, defeated. Another thing to worry about.

"Alex, you ready to head to school? Grandpa, what're you doing outside so early?" a girl's voice pierced the cold morning air.

"Ah, Emma, teach Alex some manners, would'ya? His rent's been pushed back far too long and-" the old man spoke softly to his granddaughter.

"Alex's? His pay comes tomorrow, doesn't it? Can't it wait until then?" Emma asked in a honey-coated voice.

"Well... I suppose... But you better not push it back any further, got it brat?" the old man glared at Alex while walking back to his room.

"Yes... sir" Alex replied, relieved.

"Let's go, you owe me." Emma whispered and went down the stairs of the apartment complex. Alex followed suit.

"I wish your grandpa would listen to me like he does to you, Emma." Alex said enviously, "What do I have to do to become his granddaughter?"

"Well, maybe he'll like you better if you joined the family?" she replied with a smile.

"Umm..." Alex was too stunned to speak.

"Oh. That was a joke, I didn't mean anything by it." Emma backpedaled.

"Ah... yeah, I figured." Alex turned his head away, embarrassed. Emma was beautiful, there was no denying that. Her hair was sleek, straight black and her eyes were a sparkling silver. She was pretty popular at school. Alex had a bit of a crush on her, but he didn't want to say anything that would ruin their friendship, or make things worse with her or the old man.

"So... you'll come by the club after school, right?" Alex asked her, trying to make conversation.

"Hm? Course. I'll beat you today as well!" Emma was already declaring her victory.

"No way, I've revised all my cards today, I'm practically a new man!"

"Ha! We'll see about that!"

After a grueling day at his high school, Alex wondered if he would make it to his shift at work. He couldn't afford to miss it. As he entered the clubroom, he heard sounds of both defeat and victory. The gaming club was a weird one. They had games from tabletops to consoles, but everyone had a deck of Yu-Gi-Oh cards. When Emma first joined, she was the only one who didn't have any. The club got together and gave her card packs as a gift for joining. From there, she grew to be the legend of the gaming club.