"Dueling Hearts"
 
 
(Note: Jada's character is mine. But not Yugi and his friends, okay? :)
 
"Wow, Jada, that sweater makes your boobs look really nice!"
 
Jada Mercury leaned on her locker, thinking thou shalt not kill -- at 
least
not whilst thou is wearing white angora---- "What do you want, Monty?" 
She
was petite - only about five feet tall and maybe 100 pounds, with a
waist-length mass of glossy black waves and huge dark almond-shaped 
eyes.
She closely resembled her famous father, Freddie Mercury of Queen, down 
to
the protruding front teeth. In other words, she was widely considered 
the
prettiest girl in Domino High.
 
"Monty, go away," Yugi Mutou said. "Please." He was only about four 
foot
ten, with big spikey plumes of red-on-black hair that gave him another 
six
inches. Several fluttery blond shocks fell around his face. His eyes 
were
huge and a blue-violet color. He was shy, very sweet, too nice for his 
own
good at times - and, in Jada's opinion, the cutest boy in school. They 
might
not have technically been "going out," but they were pretty much
inseparable.
 
Monty Markham, better known as Monty the Moron, stepped between them 
and
leaned in closer to Jada. She stepped back. He wasn't particularly fat, 
or
thin, or ugly - but he was, well, just there. "So. D'ya wanna go to the
Valentine's dance with me? We could, ya know, get to - heh-heh - know 
each
other better, if ya know what I mean?"
 
"No. I have a date already," she replied, although that was perhaps a 
bit
presumptuous. Yugi technically hadn't asked her to the dance - yet.
 
"Like who? That Mutou runt? C'mon, get real. Doncha wanna go with a 
real
man?" Monty inquired, apparently oblivious to the fact that Yugi was
standing right there.
 
Jada turned on him. "Listen, moron. If you were the only other person 
on
this planet I would not have anything to do with you. So go flush 
yourself
down the toilet. Capeesh?"
 
"Ya know you're kinda sexy when ya get pissed off?" Monty said, 
grinning.
 
Joey Wheeler, who'd been standing nearby at his locker watching in case 
Jada
needed help, decided to step in.
 
"Monty, she told you to get lost," he said. "What part of go flush 
yourself
down the toilet don't you understand?" He stepped closer. "And if you 
bug
Jada or call my buddy Yugi a runt one more time, you're going to be 
dealing
with me." He glared at Monty until the other boy slunk off, to much 
nearby
laughter.
 
"Markham, you're a loser!" someone added, holding his thumb and 
forefinger
in a L-shape on his forehead for emphasis. "You can't open your mouth
without shooting yourself in the foot!"
 
"You just wait! I'll show you! I'll show all of you!" Monty yelled, 
shaking
his fist, then getting conked in the head with a well-aimed apple.
 
Jada looked at Joey as they walked off. "Is it just me, or does talking 
to
him leave you feel like you just ran your face through a cobweb?" she 
said.
 
"I don't know about cobwebs, but he leaves me feeling like I just 
picked up
something really slimy and disgusting," Joey said with a shudder. "Come 
on.
Let's get out of here."
 
Two periods later, in the cafeteria:
 
"Tristian, it's getting cold---" Yugi sighed.
 
"Shut up, Yuge. You can't hurry art," Tristian Taylor replied absently,
looking through the viewfinder and frowning.
 
"Art? It's my lunch---" Yugi leaned his chin on his hands with a sigh,
watching as Tristian adjusted the top half of the hamburger bun ever so
slightly. He had known they'd all rue the day Tristian signed up for
Photography 1. He looked around and saw Jada. She was halfway across 
the
cafeteria, talking to a blonde girl sitting at a table with a banner on 
it:
STUDENT GOVERNMENT VALENTINE CARNATION SALE. It was a tradition at 
Domino
High to send carnations to all your friends on Valentine's Day. White 
for
just friends, pink for secret crush and red for true love.
 
Joey looked as well. "So did you order yours already?" he asked Yugi.
 
Yugi nodded. "I'll bet Jada gets about a hundred pink ones," he sighed. 
"I
wonder who she'll pick?"
 
"Yuge, everyone knows who she likes," Joey said, giving his friend a
friendly poke with an elbow. "Except maybe the lucky guy himself."
 
Yugi didn't reply, much less get the hint. He changed the subject 
instead.
"Tristian, I'm going to drop dead of starvation if you don't let me 
have my
lunch back---"
 
"Here." Dawn Phillips offered him a celery stick stuffed with peanut 
butter
and strawberry jelly.
 
"Uh --- no thanks." Yugi said, giving it a slightly dubious look. None 
of
them could figure out how on Earth Dawn ate those things. She was a 
friend
of Jada and Tea's who liked hanging around with them even if she didn't 
like
Duel Monsters.
 
Tristian finally got the picture he wanted and let Yugi have his tray. 
Dawn
went back to the latest issue of Hot! as Jada came over with tray and
backpack.
 
"Hey guys, I almost forgot. I got the latest issue of Duelist," she
said,putting her bag down on the table to fish it out. "It's got a 
preview
of some of the hot new cards coming out next month."
 
"Hey, y'all!" The speaker was a tall, skinny girl who still managed to 
look
dumpy. She had long stringy dark brown hair and huge round glasses that
would have looked good on Elton John but not on her. She was wearing 
far too
much makeup and trailing clouds of perfume. She wore a black sweater 
that
didn't quite cover her bellybutton and a plaid mini a bit like Jada's, 
but
much shorter. In fact, it was considerably wider than it was long. "So 
what
do y'all think? Is George like guaranteed to ask me out or what?!" she
trilled in a suspect southern accent.
 
"Tiffani, where did you get that accent? You didn't have it this 
morning in
P.E.," Jada said. She had one, too, but hers was the genuine article,
courtesy of her mother.
 
"And more to the point, isn't George going out with Penelope 
Galligher?"
Joey added, speaking with his mouth full. "Hey, Mai's on the cover!" 
Mai
Valentine was one of the top-rated duelists.
 
"You guys met her?" Jada said. "What's she like?"
 
"Besides gorgeous?" Joey said with a mock swoon.
 
"She's really very nice. Much more so than you'd think," Yugi said, 
then
wondered if he should have said it at all. Jada, however, didn't take
offense.
 
Tiffani ignored them entirely. "Hot, huh? He won't be able to resist," 
she
said to Dawn, who shrugged.
 
"I don't know," Jada replied, trying her best to be diplomatic. 
Tiffani, to
be fair, tried hard - much, much too hard. "Hey Yugi, could you ask 
your
Grandpa to hold an Amplifier card for me when they come in?" She 
pointed at
one of the new ones.
 
"Amplifier?" Yugi leaned over to look and a spikey plume of his hair 
went
across her face. She ducked it and pointed at the card.
 
"Just hope they have an Earplugs card, too," Tristian deadpanned.
 
"One more crack like that and you'd better hope they have a Body Cast 
card
in there somewhere," Jada retorted with a smile.
 
"What do you guys see in that dumb game, anyway? It has got to be the 
most
boring----" Dawn broke off with a little squeal. "Oh ----- my -----
GAAAAAAWD! It's Justin Timberlake WITHOUT his shirt! EEEEEEEEEEEE!"
 
"Where?!" Tiffani ran to look. "OH ----- MY ------ GAAAAAAWD! 
EEEEEEEEE!!!!"
 
Jada groaned and slid down in the chair. "I do not know them, I do not 
know
them, I do NOT know them----" She looked at the magazine. "Is that 
Weevil
Underwood?"
 
Yugi nodded. "He got thrown out of the Battle City semifinals for 
cheating."
 
"That's the little scumbag who threw Yugi's Exodia cards over the side 
of
that ship," Joey added. "Then Yugi went and beat him anyway."
 
"He wouldn't have lasted long enough to make the island if I'd been 
there,"
Jada observed, leaning over a bit to read the short article, putting 
one
hand on the back of Yugi's chair as she did. Her hair brushed his cheek 
as
she did and he couldn't keep from shivering a little. This close, she
smelled like lavender. He suddenly found himself wondering what it 
would be
like to kiss her. Not that he'd ever kissed anyone before.
 
Joey picked white fuzz from his green jacket. "Jada, I hate to be the 
one to
point this out, but you're shedding."
 
"I'm wha---ow!" She had looked up at Joey at the same instant Yugi had
turned to look at her and they'd bumped noses. "Sorry." Staring into 
his
eyes at this distance was disconcerting to say the least. It would be 
easy,
she thought, so very very easy to get hopelessly lost in those gorgeous
violet eyes of his......
 
"AIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!! Win a date with JUSTIN!!!!!!!" Dawn screeched.
"OH----MY-------GAAAAAAAAAAAAWD!!!!!!!!"
 
"Freakers----" Jada sighed, leaning back in the chair and rolling her 
eyes.
"Leave me out of this-----"
 
"Ooooh, do they have AJ, too? Or JC?" Tiffani squealed, running over.
 
"More like STD," Jada said. "What are you freaking out about, anyway? A 
boy
band or alphabet soup?"
 
"Oh come on, Jada! Don't you think he's like sooooooo hot and all?
EEEEEEEEEE!!!" Tiffani held up the shirtless Justin pic.
 
"Two words: oh puh-leeeeze," Jada sighed.
 
"Isn't that three words?" Yugi said, looking at her with a smile. Jada
pretended to garrote him with the cord of the Millennium Puzzle.
 
The next morning, Valentine's Day, found Jada and Yugi in the computer 
lab.
She was looking around in bewilderment, trying to figure out which one 
of
the five network printers her paper had just been queued to, while he 
logged
on to check his email.
 
"Jada, what's your email address again?" he called over his shoulder.
 
"Which one?" she said, finally finding her printout. Today she had on a 
very
fuzzy pink angora sweater, in keeping with the holiday.
 
"Your school one." He frowned as pink fuzz wafted by his nose. "Is that 
a
new sweater?" He didn't seem to remember one that shed quite so
extravagantly before.
 
"It's jbulsara@dominohigh.ed.uk," she replied. As she spoke, Heather 
came in
bearing carnations.
 
"Hey guys!" she said. "First ones of the day. Let's see---Yugi, you've
got -- one, two, three, four, five -- six white ones and hey, a red!"
 
Jada smiled, looking over and thinking, One red carnation: $1.00. The
expression on Yugi's face when Heather gives it to him: priceless.
 
"And for you---" Heather came over. "Seven whites so far and a red one,
too."
 
"A red?" Now she was the dumbfounded one. Yugi was smiling over at her.
"Yugi, did you----?"
 
He nodded sheepishly. "I guess we were thinking the same thing."
 
"Why you little----" She went over and hugged him. "You're the best."
 
He returned the hug, but, before he could even think of kissing her, 
the
bell rang.
 
"Oh man---" Jada gave him a quick peck on the cheek and grabbed her 
bag,
scampering out of the room.
 
After she left, Yugi flinched and rubbed his arms. The only problem 
with
Jada's angora fixation was that after she gave you a hug, you itched 
for the
rest of the day.
 
Joey, who'd just come in with Tea as Jada was leaving, burst out 
laughing.
"Yugi, you look like you just got mugged by Funny Bunny!"
 
"What? Oh man----" Yugi realized his dark blue jacket was covered in 
pink
fluff. "Not again?"
 
"You need to start carrying around one of those tape roller things," 
Tea
said, trying to help him brush off some of it, then realizing the 
futility
of it and going to look for a roll of tape.
 
"Either that or find a girlfriend who isn't into angora," Joey added.
 
Yugi blushed as Tea came back with a roll of tape and started defuzzing 
him.
"Maybe you should have bought her a sweater that doesn't shed for 
Valentine'
s Day," she suggested.
 
"Let me guess. Jada's on another hugging rampage?" Tristian said, 
coming in.
 
"You're just jealous," Yugi retorted with a smile, looking back at the
computer. "After all---what the heck?"
 
"What is it?" Joey said.
 
"Look at this---" Yugi had gone quite pale. He was looking at a note 
from an
odd ID - disastermaster@hotmail.com - that read simply:
 
YOU BETTER KISS YOUR GIRLFRIEND GOODBYE MUTOU. SHES HISTORY.
 
 
"What's that supposed to mean?" Joey said, frowning.
 
"My girlfriend?" Yugi looked at him, fear slowly dawning in his eyes. 
"Do
you think they mean Jada?"
 
"I don't know----" Joey looked nervous as well.
 
"Did Jada get any weird notes?" Tea said.
 
"I don't know. She didn't log on," Yugi said, then quickly logged off 
and
grabbed his bag. "I'm going to go make sure she got to English class 
all
right!"
 
He didn't see the pair of narrowed eyes watching him from a nearby 
hall.
 
 
"So show me this note," Jada said, following Yugi into the computer 
lab. It
was fourth period by then.
 
"Check yours first," Yugi said, finding a computer well away from a 
small
group of younger kids assembled under the watchful eye of a teacher.
Sometimes the elementary school borrowed the high school computer lab.
 
She logged on, with Yugi looking over her shoulder, but the only things 
in
her inbox were the Domino High Upcoming Events Calendar, her horoscope 
from
Yahoo! Astrology and the story Yugi had sent her about the upcoming 
Battle
City Finals.
 
"Nothing," she said, sounding relieved despite herself as she logged 
out so
Yugi could log in. "Right click on it and see if it'll let you view the
header. That'll tell us where it was sent from."
 
He did. She frowned over his shoulder. "Hmmm. It was sent late last 
night,
but see that "apparently from" there? There's a good chance the 
destination
is spoofed."
 
He looked at her. "Meaning?"
 
"Meaning that it's like driving all the way out to Pokey Oaks to mail a
letter so nobody will be able to figure out you're really in Domino 
City,"
she replied. "I wouldn't worry about it, Yugi. It's someone's idea of a 
very
lame joke."
 
Across the room, the teacher suddenly said, "Okay class, now we're all 
going
to type in www.whitehouse.com and look at what our President is doing
today." She wrote it out on a nearby whiteboard.
 
Yugi and Jada looked at each other. "Isn't it www.whitehouse.gov?" he 
said
over the sound of thirty pairs of eyeballs getting really, really big.
 
Neither of them noticed the thirty-first pair of eyeballs watching them 
from
the coax closet.
 
 
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. After school, Yugi and Joey 
walked
into Burgerpalooza to find Jada, Tea and Dawn trying to console they
hysterical Tiffani, who was sobbing at a table several away from the 
door.
 
"The heck--?" Joey said.
 
Jada came over. "She's upset because she only got whites. She wanted a 
red."
 
"From who?" Joey said.
 
"George Achenbach. For some reason she got it in her head that George 
was
going to ask her out for Valentine's Day," Jada explained.
 
"Isn't George going out with Penelope Galligher?" Yugi said. George was 
one
of the biggest stars of the football team - and one of the nicest guys 
at
Domino High.
 
Jada nodded. "You should see the cute little koala he got her." Before 
Yugi
could feel bad for not thinking of that himself, she added, "Not to 
mention
the red carnation I got." She went to fetch some napkins as Joey nudged 
the
now-blushing Yugi. "Way to go, Yuge."
 
"Guys, keep an eye on her to make sure nothing happens. I'll be right 
back,
okay?" Yugi said, heading for the mens' room.
 
"That creepy note kind of freaked Yugi out, didn't it?" Dawn said as 
Jada
returned.
 
"Yugi's sweet," Jada said, "He just worries is all. Here, Tiff, we'll 
help
you find a guy." She wrote out the names of eight or nine boys they 
knew,
not including Yugi's, on the napkins, which she then arranged in a 
circle.
Then she took Dawn's vanilla Coke bottle and set it on its side in the
center.
 
"Wh-what are you doing?" Tiffani snuffled dismally.
 
"Easy. You spin the bottle and the guy it ends up pointing at is your 
true
love," Jada said.
 
"Jada, you go first. Let's see who your true love is!" Dawn said.
 
Jada smiled slyly. "Oh, you know that already, guys----"
 
"Ewwww, look what just came in---" Dawn groaned. "It's----
 
Before she could finish, there was a shattering crack that Jada at 
first
thought was someone dropping a plate. Then everyone screamed and dove 
for
cover and she realized it was something else altogether.
 
"He's got a gun!"
 
Before she could move, she was grabbed around the neck from behind and
pulled to her feet. Something cold pressed against the side of her 
head.
 
"Okay, everyone, whaddya think? Shall Disaster Master shoot her now or 
wait
'till later?"
 
Monty? she thought. Monty the Moron?
 
"Jada!" It was Yugi's voice. "Monty, let her go!" He was half under a 
table
and starting to get to his feet. He'd been on his way back when Monty 
had
burst in and fired the warning shot.
 
"Yugi, no, stay back!" she yelled, then cried out when Monty hit her in 
the
side of the head with the barrel of the gun.
 
"Shut up and look pretty for Disaster Master, you snotty little bitch," 
he
said.
 
Oh no you don't, Yami Yugi thought.
 
Jada looked at Yugi again and saw, just in that instant, a glowing eye
briefly appear in the middle of his forehead. In a quick flash of 
light, he
scrambled out from under the table. "Markham, I said let her go! Now!" 
The
steel in his voice startled Monty enough to make him loosen his hold on 
Jada
slightly, who stomped on his foot as hard as she could. He let out a 
yell
and she broke free and stumbled. Yami Yugi caught her. "It's okay."
 
"Yugi---?" She looked at him, bewildered, for a moment not quite 
certain it
was him. She'd never seen that sort of look in his eyes before, that 
sort of
fire. Despite the situation, she couldn't help but think that it was
quite --- well, sexy. Which was, admittedly, one heck of a weird thing 
to be
thinking at a time like this.
 
"It's okay," he said again, putting an arm around her waist, then 
giving her
a quick kiss on the forehead, in the same spot she'd seen the eye 
appear on
his. "I'll help you."
 
"She's mine, Mutou. Give her to me or else!" Monty pointed the gun at 
them.
 
Around them, everyone else had frozen in mid-stride, like a photograph. 
Jada
looked at Yami Yugi again, realizing they were the only three who knew 
what
was going on. It made no sense, but neither did the idea of Monty the 
Moron
holding a gun to her head.
 
"She doesn't belong to anyone, Monty. She's a person with a mind and 
free
will of her own," Yami Yugi replied. "However---" His gaze flickered to
Jada, just for an instant, reassuringly. "If Jada here is willing, 
there's a
game that will make her heart's choice perfectly clear."
 
"A game?!" Monty's response was an incredulous snort, Jada's sounded
bewildered.
 
"Sit down and I'll explain." Yami Yugi sat down at Jada's table. She 
sat
down with him and, after a moment's consideration, Monty did as well,
sitting across from Jada.
 
"It's really very simple," Yami Yugi said. "I believe it's known as 
"Spin
The Bottle." Jada, you take this bottle and give it a spin, like 
this---" He
set her half-full Vanilla Coke bottle back on its side on the table, in 
the
middle of the paper scraps, and gave it a quick spin. It wound up 
pointing
at the far wall. "Whoever it ends up pointing to is the person who is 
truly
in your heart. Monty, if it's not you, you lose and have to play a 
penalty
game. If it is--"
 
"Yes?" Monty said, grinning.
 
"She is yours and I give you my life," Yami Yugi replied. Jada, who was
already paper white, went slightly green. "However, you must also agree 
to
accept who her heart chooses. It may well be neither of us. That is for 
her
to decide."
 
"Deal. What are you waiting for, sweetie?" Monty pointed the gun at 
Jada.
Yami Yugi gave him a look and he lowered it, but didn't put it down
entirely.
 
Jada swallowed hard. "But Yugi---"
 
He looked at her. "In the Shadow Games, the truth within your heart 
decides
your fate."
 
She looked into his beautiful, fierce violet eyes. "If that's the case,
then----here goes." She took a deep breath - and gave the bottle a hard
spin. She had no doubt about what was in her heart. None whatsoever. 
She
knew exactly where the bottle was going to end up.
 
The bottle whirled, slowed, and finally came to rest exactly where 
she'd
known it would - pointing straight at Yami Yugi. He looked at it for a
moment, then at her with the same little smile that meant nothing but
trouble when they dueled. She was looking at him and smiling a little
herself.
 
"Wh -- Wh --- ?" Monty stammered.
 
Jada rolled her eyes, then glared at Monty. "I could have told you this
before, you know, without all this rigmarole."
 
"NO!" Monty yelled.
 
"Yes," Jada said. "Yes, Monty. It's Yugi."
 
"You little bastard!" Monty lept to his feet and aimed the gun at Yami 
Yugi.
"I'll kill you and take care of her later!"
 
"No!" Jada made a wild leap, throwing herself in front of Yugi. "Leave 
him
out of this!" No way was Monty the Moron going to take a shot at Yugi. 
Not
with her around.
 
"Jada!" Yami Yugi grabbed her wrist, pushing her behind him, then 
turned on
Monty, the third eye glowing on his forehead again. "PENALTY GAME! You 
lose,
Monty."
 
"Th--that eye---!" Monty exclaimed. "What the----?"
 
"That is only seen by those who trespass in my soul. Like those who 
threaten
to harm my friends," Yami Yugi replied. "You can't force yourself upon 
the
heart of another. If you try, all you'll do is shoot yourself in the 
foot."
 
"WHA---?!" Monty squeaked as his hand pointed the gun down on its own
accord - and his finger pulled the trigger. As the gun went off, Yami 
Yugi
dove under the table with Jada. People screamed. Monty let out a yowl 
of
pain and fell over, dropping the gun and clutching his left leg.
 
"What the heck?" Jada said, looking out from under the table, then back 
at
Yugi. "Yugi? What happened?" Something had, she knew, but it was all as 
hazy
and jumbled as a dream. The only thing she knew for sure was that Yugi 
had
just saved her life. She thought she remembered --- no. No. She didn't 
want
to remember. Ever.
 
"I don't know." The fierce fire had faded from his eyes; he was just 
sweet
little Yugi Mutou again. "I thought for a minute he was pointing the 
gun at
you." He looked over at Monty, who was wailing "Did he-----"
 
"He freaking shot himself in the foot!" someone exclaimed.
 
"I shot the little bitch I shot her I shot her ran her through oh yes
Disaster Master showed her who's the boss he did he did!" Monty was
babbling.
 
"The heck---?" Jada looked at Yugi, bewildered. Had he---?
 
"I don't know," he said again, more firmly. "Come on, let's get out of
here."
 
She let him pull her to her feet, then grabbed her bag and followed him 
out
the back door.
 
"By the way, what were you guys doing when Monty showed up?" Yugi 
asked. It
was later that same afternoon and they were in the back room of the 
game
shop, sitting together on a box and talking.
 
"Trying to cheer Tiffani up with a version of Spin the Bottle," she
admitted. "You write a bunch of names out on napkins and the one the 
bottle
ends up pointing to is supposed to be your true love."
 
"Did you spin it?" He looked at her shyly.
 
"I didn't get a chance to," she replied. She had a half-full vanilla 
Coke
bottle in her hand, not the one she'd had in Burgerpalooza. "But if I
had---" she set the bottle down between them, on its side. "I know who 
it
would have been pointing at."
 
"Who?" he said.
 
In reply, she gave the bottle a spin. It made several revolutions - and
ended up pointing straight at him. Yugi looked at it for a moment,
wide-eyed, then at her.
 
She was looking at him and smiling. "Told you so."
 
He looked down, blushing slightly, then turned the bottle so it was 
pointing
back at her. "Does that count?"
 
"Why not?" she said. They looked at each other for a long moment - then 
he
leaned over and kissed her softly on the mouth. She returned it.
 
"I wouldn't have gotten the onion rings if I'd known you were going to 
do
that," she admitted when their lips parted.
 
"That's okay---" he said, smiling. "I think I love you anyway."
 
She pushed a blond shock of his hair back. "I love you, too." They 
ended up
kissing again.
 
A moment later, Yugi's grandfather opened the door, started to ask Yugi 
if
he'd seen the bar code reader - and decided it could wait a few 
minutes.
With a smile, he let the door close and went back to the counter.