Yu-Gi-Oh! Black & White

Parted Friends

I open the door and enter a Kaiba Corp museum of sorts. It said qualifiers outside, so I assume this is the place. There are multiple people sitting in the lobby. Strangely, I recognize one of them. Its Bakura, and for once he isn't surrounded by girls. He seems a bit pale. He must still be in bad shape from... Whatever that guy did to him... I decide to walk over to say hi. "Tristan? What are you doing here?" "I could ask you the same thing, Bakura." He nods awkwardly. "Well, you see, I decided to enter Kaiba's tournament. I'm intrigued. He seems to be really different now, so I figured if I wanted to check on him I'd have to go through his tournament. Not to mention that I've been trying a new deck in the past year, and I think I'm starting to perfect it." "Strange. I didn't know you had an interest in Kaiba." "Well... Its not that strong of an interest. Its also just nice to have a reason to get out of the house." I cross my arms, looking toward the clerk in front of some large blue-eyes painting. "Um, Tristan... You still haven't told me why you're here." "Oh, you're right. I plan to enter too." Suddenly, his face turns to stone. "What is it, Bakura?" "Um... No offense, Tristan. But I've dueled you a long time ago and you definitely weren't in the leagues of Yugi... Remember that? Back at school? Has this changed?" I can't help but take aback to that. "Uh... Yeah, I guess you're right. Theres a power cap anyway, right?" "Not to mention... The tourney has already started. I already have a win under my belt." "Well crap." I tap my foot a bit, annoyed. But I guess I never really had a chance anyway. "Well, this is awkward Bakura, but I guess I should go then." "No, Tristan! Thats fine. We haven't had much time to talk in the past. Will you at least stay until my next match?" He taps the seat beside him lightly. I take a minute to think about it, but honestly, I have nothing better to do. "Sure. Why the heck not?" I take a seat beside him, and he smiles pleasantly for it. "Thank you, Tristan. Its nice to catch up. Everyone has seemed to part and I must admit that I've felt terribly lonely..." Poor guy. I kind of know how he feels. I was fortunate enough to live close to Joey, but it means nothing if I don't have time to talk to him. "I understand, man... I haven't gotten to talk to many of them either." "Ah, Tristan! I just remembered something!" He claps his hands, and more than a few duelists look at him weirdly. "Devlin passed by earlier. He was going to join but his deck didn't pass the score check." "You mean Duke?" He smiles wider, closing his eyes. "Thats the one! We even talked for a small bit. He said that he owns a small underground stadium for Dungeon Dice Monsters." "Really, now? Thats strange, not to mention shady sounding." "Yes, but now at least we have clue to his whereabouts. He kind of just disappeared after graduation." I nod, thinking about where that might be. "Thanks for the info, Bakura. I appreciate it." "Of course." I yawn, the early morning still getting to me. Its kind of a jam that I got laid off for being so late earlier... But maybe I can find a job with better times. "So Bakura, whats your new deck like? I remember your old one having zombie and vampire monsters, right?" "You're mostly correct, but now my deck is basically the polar opposite. I run a light fairy deck." "Why did you choose to do that?" Suddenly, his cheery smile turns into a grim frown. "Well... Those old cards are attached to the old me... An old me that was corrupted..." "Oh yeah... Your Yami form..." He nods weakly, brushing his white hair out of his face. "I burned them. And I started anew." "Really?" "Yes. If I was truly a good duelist, then a new deck shouldn't effect my skills. And luckily," He smiles again, even though its a sad one. "I think that I still got it."