Dinner With A Shark

Chapter 1

Heartland was shimmering with thousands and thousands of lights. Strings of tiny light-bulbs resembling sparkling snow hung from the front of various shops, all doors were bordered by tear-shaped lights, twinkling with rainbow and white.
The trees lined up on the sides of the main streets were all covered by a colorful sparkle, and in the middle of the city a massive Christmas tree stood tall and proud, covered with bright white fake snow, myriads of simulated stars and lots and lots of other ornaments, from gold glittering bells to big glass orbs, painted or filled with various or weird materials and ideas.
Dangling from the lowest branches, there were hundreds of Duel Monsters cards signed by all those people who wanted to make a wish, or to leave a message for a passed away loved one.
Yuma used to take one of his cards and write something on it, often for his parents, rarely for himself, when he was a child, but he stopped the tradition when he began attending high school.
He grew up full of hope, and hope never gave him anything, so he decided to give it up, eventually.
Some time after, following the insane events he had been through with and without Astral, Yuma made up his mind one more time, and settled on leaving again his messages, but for the people who really needed help. Sure, a few lines of text written on a card were just words, but Yuma liked the feeling that followed.
Yuma liked the warmth those positive and encouraging thoughts infused him with, and he also tried to donate something to charity every year, to give a more tangible mean to written wishes.

However, the card he had tied on one of the branches, carefully avoiding the glass orbs to not break them, had a much different kind of wish on it.
For the first time in years, Yuma's handwriting depicted a personal wish.
Something he desired for a long time, but never had the courage to pull into the light.
Yuma glanced at the card he hung and suppressed a sad smile: the shark of the artwork seemed menacing and dangerous, so similar to the first impression he had of the person who used that same card.
"Big Jaws" was the first card Shark, as people called him back then, had summoned on the field during their first Duel. And it was one of the cards he overlaid to Special Summon the first Number Yuma ever faced, "Number 17: Leviathan Dragon".
Thinking about that Duel, Yuma shook his head; they had been both so naïve and brash, so reckless because of the stakes.
They dueled again, after that first battle. Again and again, until they started knowing every single move the other was going to do, both of them so hopelessly predictable in their eyes.
They dueled until they developed a strong and durable friendship, much more solid than the one they started building during their school years, although not less fierce.

Some of Yuma's old friends didn't want him to hang out so much not only with Ryoga, but also with his sister Rio and the other Barians, thinking poorly about their character growth, but the black-haired duelist didn't care too much about their opinion.
Sure, they still were his friends, but they were wrong. Positively worried, but wrong nonetheless.
Yuma sighed, staring at the Fish-Type card dangling from the Christmas tree, and finally turned his back to it, leaving the crowded square to head back home.
It was late, after all, and his sister was certainly waiting for him to come home for dinner.

Despite Yuma being a fully fledged adult by then, Kari still treated him as a little brother in need of protection. More than ever, after witnessing the huge amount of nightmares, sleepless nights and crying crisis Yuma had been through after the whole mess with the interdimensional war and Astral's disappearance.
Yuma still clutched at his chest, sometimes, missing the familiar weight of the Key around his neck.
Noticing the course of his thoughts, Yuma distracted himself by eyeing a food stand not far from him, not wanting to indulge too much in unpleasant memories and considerations, and headed straight towards it, attracted by the smell of sweet chocolate and caramel.
Taking a mental note on avoid eating too much before dinner, Yuma scanned the list of options neatly written on a blackboard and chose a simple cup of hot milk chocolate, served with whipped cream, chocolate chips and a spoon carved in white chocolate, all sprinkled with caramel drizzle.
He bought one for his sister too, dark chocolate and whipped cream, paid for both hot drinks and hurried home, to avoid letting them cool.
The steam coming up from the drinks carried a sweet and inviting smell, that trickled Yuma's nostrils all the way home.