Heart of the Duel: A Yu-Gi-Oh Fanfiction

14: Tricks Up the Sleeve

Kira walked Joey down to the main floor, squeezing his arm in comfort. He was stiff with anxiety. She didn't blame him. With a smile, she looped her arm through his. "Don't worry Joey!"

"You think I'll be okay?" Joey asked her as they rounded the corner. "That I have a chance?"

"I know it!" she told him.

"Thanks, Kira," Joey told her with a wide grin. Then he stopped as they saw Yugi standing by the entrance to the arena, leaning against the door in exhaustion. "Yugi."

"Huh?" Yugi jumped in surprise. "Oh, hey Joey and Kira. What's up? Are you okay?"

Kira dropped her arm away from Joey as the blond gave the younger boy a serious look. "Yugi, if I win this, then we're next. You dueling against me. What do you think about that?"

Kira smiled over at Yugi as he gave Joey his own smile. "I think we can look forward to an honorably fought match."

Joey smirked. "Nice call. Then you give it your best and I'll give it mine. And we'll stay best friends no matter what."

Yugi nodded confidently at their exchange.

Joey then turned back to Kira. "Thanks for walking with me, Kira. It helped alot."

"Absolutely Joey. You are going to do great!" she encouraged.

Joey nodded excitedly and then burst into the arena. Yugi and Kira laughed as the doors swung shut behind him.

"Yugi, you did great," Kira told him.

"Well," Yugi said as he walked over to her. "I couldn't have done it without you."

Kira grinned and then looked down awkwardly. "Look I'm sorry about what I said last night. Weird stuff has been happening and I'm very confused and terrified."

"No worries," Yugi replied. "We won't let anything happen to you, Kira. We all have your back."

"Thanks, Yugi," Kira told him with a blush. "We should probably get back to the others to help cheer on Joey."

"You are right," Yugi agreed.

Suddenly Joey burst back out of the room and sprinted past them.

"Joey!" Kira exclaimed in surprise. "Where are you going?"

"I lost my entry card!" he shouted back with no other explanation.

Yugi frowned. "That's not good."

The girl sighed. "You go back to the others and stall the duel. I'll go with Joel and help him look for the card."

"Okay." Yugi nodded and they split up as Kira ran after Joey.

She stopped at the entrance to his bedroom, finding him tearing the place apart in a hurry.

He turned to face her. "I don't get it. I can't find that card anywhere!"

"How much time do we have?" Kira asked.

Joey groaned. "Like two minutes!"

"Pegasus took my cards for the tournament, otherwise I would give you mine," Kira said with a sigh.

"Kira, what do I do? What do I do?" Joey panicked, running his hands through his hair. "If I don't have that card back in one minute I have to forfeit!"

"Let's just think for a moment!" she shouted after him, following as he ran back down the hall.

The boy suddenly stopped and fell to his knees. "I can't believe it. After lasting on this island all this time, after beating duelists with twice my experience, after getting past all of the traps, I'm going to get disqualified from this tournament 'cause of this?"