Ushio drove a kick into Yuto, who had been about to protest, and Yugi immediately scrambled up to once again stand in front of the three of them.
"Don't do this! They're all my friends!"
"My, my, Yugi—you really are a strange one. Isn't this when you're supposed to vent your anger with your fists and feet?"
"Do you think I'd ever do that to my friends?!"
Maybe it was the adrenaline; the usual timidity was gone from Yugi. He stood bravely before the three, even with Ushio facing him down.
"Hahaha—friends? These are the ones who bully you."
"They didn't bully me! Joey was just teaching me how to be a man!"
Seeing Yugi wouldn't relent, Ushio couldn't be bothered to keep hitting them, and spoke straight.
"Fine. Since you insist, we'll end this part here. Now, time to settle up, Yugi."
Ushio grinned.
"My bodyguard fee: two hundred thousand yen."
"T‑Two hundred thousand?!"
Yugi cried out in shock. Yuto nudged Joey, who nodded; he'd figured it out too—this was just a setup for Ushio to line his pockets.
"What's wrong, Yugi‑kun? Planning to skip out on the bill?"
"N‑No... I won't..."
Yugi's courage vanished without a trace, and he agreed feebly.
Only then did Ushio leave with the student council members. Yugi crouched beside Yuto to help him up, but Yuto refused.
"Let us lie here a bit longer, Yugi. You go on home first—don't make your grandpa worry."
"Okay..."
The three of them lay there for a long while before they could get up.
"That bastard... This is just robbery by another name!"
Walking along the little river on campus, Yuto and Joey railed against Ushio, while Tristan was lost in thought.
Suddenly, Joey swung over the railing and jumped straight into the river.
"Hey! Joey—what are you doing?!"
He felt around under the water for a bit, then raised a golden puzzle piece.
"Yes! I found it!"
Yuto's mouth twitched. So he really had bullied Yugi, huh…
At that moment, Tristan tossed him a towel.
"As a member of the Beautification Committee, I don't want to see anybody walking around dirty."
"By the way, that's Yugi's puzzle piece, isn't it? You really didn't get beaten up unfairly, dude," Yuto quipped.
Tristan reached out and hauled Joey up. Just then, Joey spotted Ushio passing behind the chain‑link fence in the distance, with Yugi trailing after him, head hanging.
"Hey! Isn't that Yugi?"
"Yeah! Let's follow!"
The three of them hurried after.
By the time they got around the fence, Yugi was already on the ground, and Ushio was pummeling and kicking him.
"Stop it, you jerk!" Yuto shouted, drawing Ushio's attention.
Joey seized the chance and rushed to Yugi's side.
"Yugi, you okay?"
Yugi was half‑conscious, mumbling the word "puzzle."
Joey placed the piece he'd fished from the river into Yugi's palm.
"Ushio! I've always respected you, but I never thought you'd do something like this!" Tristan raised his fists, and Joey stood up from beside Yugi.
"Oh? You think three against one means you win?"
Without answering, Yuto charged in first like an enraged bull—only to be flattened by one of Ushio's hooks. Joey and Tristan tried their two‑man combo, yet Ushio knocked them down in a single move.
The three of them took another brutal beating and blacked out.
When Yuto came to, it was already night. Yugi and Ushio were nowhere to be seen. Joey helped him to his feet.
"Yuto, can you move? Let's go home. We'll figure out how to deal with Ushio tomorrow!"
"Yeah, okay."
Chances are, there wouldn't be any settling of scores. By now, the Pharaoh had probably put Ushio through the wringer until he was crying for his mom.
So thought Yuto, and he hobbled toward home—though man, did it hurt.
From afar, he saw that the lights at his place were still on.
"I'm home."
He pulled out his key and opened the door. Téa was asleep in a chair in the living room, and dinner was still laid out on the table.
Seeing how late it was, Yuto simply used the landline to call the Gardner household and explain that Téa would be staying over for the night.
Then he carried Téa into the guest room, took off her coat, and tucked her in.
"Good night."
…
Early the next morning, Yuto was woken from sleep.
"Up! Or you'll be late again!"
Groggily, Yuto sat up and glanced at the time. It was still early.
Seeing him up, Téa headed out of the room.
"Yuto, after you wash up, tell me what happened yesterday."
"Okay... haa~"
Yuto yawned his way out of bed, did a quick wash, and went downstairs.
Téa sat on one side of the table; Yuto slumped into the other seat and started on the sandwiches she'd made.
"What time did you get back yesterday?"
"We got jumped yesterday. Joey and I wiped the floor with them, and then..."
Yuto recounted the "whole story"—conveniently leaving out the part where he got beaten senseless.
Téa sighed; she knew this guy all too well and fetched the first‑aid kit.
"Shirt off."
'So I couldn't fool her after all…'
Yuto had no choice except to strip to the waist. He was covered in bruises, though nothing seemed broken.
Téa took out some liniment and dabbed it gently onto the bruises.
"Tell me if it hurts—I'll be as gentle as I can. And didn't you tell me you'd stop fighting after starting college?"
"We really didn't start it. It was them... It won't happen next time. Sorry."
Arguing with someone who cared about you just wasn't on.
Téa nodded. When she finished, she slung her bag over her shoulder.
"Alright, let's go. I already put your bento in your bag."
"Mm."
Watching Téa change shoes at the entryway, Yuto suddenly felt like he was looking at a model wife.
But not yet. Wait for Duelist Kingdom—maybe he could win the championship and make some money.
He vaguely remembered that the prize money there was hefty, and there were even shares under Pegasus's name.
"Yuto, don't space out!" Téa called from the entryway.
"Ah! Coming!"
When they got to school, they overheard a few girls at the shoe lockers talking.
"Did you hear about Ushio?"
"Apparently, he had some kind of huge shock and ended up in the hospital."
"Who knows..."
Just then, Yugi arrived at school too.
"Yugi!"
"Yuto! And Téa! Morning!"
Yugi, the Millennium Puzzle hanging at his neck, greeted them.
For some reason, Yuto felt like the eye on the Puzzle was staring at him.
"Morning. Say, did something happen to Ushio?"
"Ah... um, I gotta get to class! I don't know anything!"
As expected… Yugi was hopeless at lying. Which basically confirmed he knew what happened to Ushio.
When Yuto and Téa reached the classroom door, they caught Joey delivering an embarrassingly cheesy declaration of friendship to Yugi.
"My treasure is something you can see but never grasp—that's friendship~~~"
"Yuto! You jerk!"
"Hahahahahahaha!"
...
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