Yu-Gi-Oh! Black & White

Catching Up

I knock on the door nervously, hoping he answers quick. I've travelled a long way to get to Mirror City, and I'm not about to leave without seeing my old best pal. "Yuge? Yuge, you in there?" I hear muffled noise suddenly, and then suddenly a very loud "Joey!!!" as the squirt crashes through the door, hugging my waste tight. "I missed you so much, Joey! Its felt like forever." I put my hands in the air, a little terrified to Yugi's openness. "Calm down, Yugi! Its only been a year!" He lets off after that, looking down. "Did you miss me by any chance, Joey?" "Of course I did, Yuge. Why else would I have came all the way down here? Now let the next King of Games in, heh heh!" He laughs, opening the door for me. I walk in to a pretty clean but empty room with a pretty good view. All the furniture inside is a desk, chair, and computer. A hallway is in view, but I have no idea whats beyond it. "Its good to hear you're still trying to follow your dream, Joey." I place my bag against the wall, then looking back at him as he awkwardly leans against the door. "Hopefully you're still following yours too, Yugi." He sighs, walking over to the hall and gesturing for me to follow. I do, looking out of the window that covers one of the entire walls. All I see is the city below. Its kind of amazing, compared to Domino. "Honestly, Joey... I haven't had much time to follow my dream. I did recently get a pretty good job though." "Explains how you afford a place like this." I say, the next room on the opposite side of the hallway coming into view. He has a pretty good television, along with a decent sofa and a coffee table in between. This must be his living room. "It really is a nice pad, Yuge. This stay over should be fun." I smile to him, and he smiles back, sitting on the couch. "Yeah." He then slowly fades into a frown. "I'm sorry, but I don't have a guest room, so this sofa is going to be your bed... Is that okay?" I laugh at him for how silly he is being about this. He just needs to ease down a bit. "Yuge, please! If I can sleep on a school desk I can sleep on a couch!" He simply sighs though, which kind of forces me down with him. "Hey, man. It really is alright, Yugi. I'm just glad I can see you again." He lowers his head, sniffling. Poor kid... He hasn't changed at all. I decide to sit beside him, putting my hand on his back and rubbing. "You know, Yuge... You know that even when were not here in person, were here in spirit for you, right?" He wipes his eyes, lifting his head. "I do, Joey. I really do. But I really am homesick all the time... Its really hard to move away from a place you've been all your life." I simply nod in agreement, it seeming hard to muster up a response to that. "So... How is Tristan doing, Joey? You two still live nearby?" "Yeah. Were still pretty close, but he always seems busy. He escaped his fathers wishes though, and he has been doing his own thing. First thing in the morning I see him leave on his motorcycle. Sometimes he waves, other times he doesn't." "I see..." He lowers his head again, the time seeming to have stopped as the silence continued. "Your Grandpa is doing okay, Yuge. You did the right thing by hiring a nurse to take care of him. I try to make sure and visit the card shop every once in awhile to make sure that nurse is taking care of him!" He smiles to that comment. "Thanks, Joey. That means a lot to me." He sits up. "Is there anything you want to do, Joey?" I laugh awkwardly to the question, scratching my head. "Honestly, I was kind of itching for another duel with you, Yugi... To see how much I improved. But I also know you quit dueling, so..." He smiles down to me, which was weird considering he's still kinda short. "Nah, Joey. Sure, I quit on a competitive level, but I still play casually with friends... Although I don't get those chances much anymore." "Have you met any new friends at your job, Yuge?" He sighs. "No... But I did try. Its a lot harder for me to make friends these days." I sigh back, answering, "Where do you work, Yuge?" He thinks for a moment, his hand on chin, then answering. "I'm a mathematics guy for a tech company, but... I don't remember the exact name for my position." I laugh to that one. "You see, Yuge? Those smarts you had as a kid finally paid off!" "Maybe after about a hundred bullies..." "Sadly, I was one of 'em..." He begins walking to a door I didn't notice before. "Its okay, Joey. Were way past that now. We've been through a lot, together." "Yeah." I say back, smiling. "I'll be back in a sec. I gotta find my deck. You can go ahead and prepare yours on the coffee table, if you want." "Okay." He shuts the door behind him, and things go quiet. It was already almost sundown, orange light bleeding through Yugi's large windows. "This week is gonna be fun..." I say to myself, placing my deck onto the glass coffee table. I look deeply at my Red-Eyes, wondering if maybe, just maybe, I'll win this time.