"It was a good duel Yugi, a little more and you would have beaten me, I can see how you beat Kaiba" Weevil stretched out his arm to offer him a handshake, but his opponent looked devastated. "Don't get discouraged, there will be more tournaments and it's certain that we will continue to face each other." He didn't want someone of Yugi's level to go down because of just one defeat.

“…” The puzzle boy still didn't respond, Weevil decided to give him his space and just went to grab the star from him. “S-Stop!” Yugi grabbed his arm.

“C-Calm down, Yugi” The force he used hurt him a little and frankly he was a little scared by his expression “Don't make this harder than it is.”

Watching the scene, Mai shook her head and went to get her own stars, she preferred to leave her strongest rivals for the finals, while the friends Yugi went to intervene.

“Yugi, please don't do it! I know it's hard!" Tea put her hand on his shoulder

“You must accept your defeat, I have educated you better than this”

Weevil looked around, that sounded like an old man's voice.

“Grandpa” The puzzle boy finally let go of his opponent

“Did you hear that too?” The insect boy was very agitated, it couldn't be that Yugi's grandfather was dead and he was talking to them about the afterlife... Right?, but no one answered him.

“Yugi… if you want I can give you your star back.” You could see the pain on Joey's face as he said, he really needed this prize to pay for his little sister's surgery so she wouldn't go blind, but Yugi's grandfather was in a more precarious situation.

Tristan didn't say a word, he knew that questioning his friend would only make it worse and he accepted his decision.

“Alright, listen!” Weevil was getting tired of how strange and dramatic this was, it seemed like someone had died, literally Tea was almost crying.

“What do you want, bug face?! If you're going to gloat, we're not in the mood!” Joey looked ready to hit him, Weevil ignored him and focused on the puzzle boy.

“Do you want to keep your star?” He wouldn't let her go for free, he'd never done this before, other than imagining it a few times, but everyone seemed desperate, including him.

Yugi looked up, seeming to be trying to figure out if it was some kind of cruel joke.

"You see, Yugi, you can continue in the tournament... if in exchange you lend me your cheerleader" Weevil cleaned his glasses.

"What?!" The puzzle boy didn't understand it or couldn't believe what he was hearing.

“I am confident that I will win this tournament like the previous one I participated in, however, lately I have been feeling a little lonely at the top, let's just say I would like some company during the tournament and you seem to have good company.”

He put his glasses back on, he was already beginning to regret this, but it was too late to back away.

“You're disgusting, I'm going to…” Joey Wheeler was approaching his game board menacingly.

“Control him or I'll call security to expel him” He wasn't afraid of a high school hooligan.

“Joey, calm down! Think about your sister, you won't achieve anything if they kick you out!” Although Tristan also wanted to hit the bug boy, he knew that he had to restrain his friend.

“Are we going to let him get away with this?!” Joey was trying to free himself from Tristan

"Get my way? I won fairly, I'm just giving Yugi an alternative, he can reject and leave the island, there aren't even any lives at stake. Besides, I just want a little time with her, we're not going to do anything illegal."

“You threw the Exodia letters into the sea!”

“A regrettable accident, Yugi, we don't have all day.”

“I…” The puzzle boy was about to reject, he would never do that to Tea or any of his friends.

“I will” No one could believe the girl's words, not even Weevil, he only gave her this opportunity on a mere whim.

“Tea!”

“Did you go crazy?!” Joey and Tristan tried to stop her, Yugi was just speechless.

"We can't allow Yugi to leave the island, her grandfather needs him and if I can help him, it's my duty as a friend to do so." Despite her words, she was sweating, she was just acting brave.

“… P-Perfect, you can keep your stars, see you in the final if you make it that far, follow me cutie, I want us to get to know each other better”

Bug Boy walked away from the gaming table, taking deep breaths to calm himself, followed by Tea, who turned one last time to look at her friends.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The duo was walking deeper into the forest, with Tea a step behind him, Weevil was nervous, but he had to start a conversation to break the ice, he shouldn't let the situation go to waste.

“While I find my next opponent, how about we get to know each other better?” No one would believe that they are just acquaintances walking around, especially Tea's expression that indicated that she was not very comfortable.

“Why did you want me to come with you?” She had some ideas that she preferred not to think about.

Weevil was already regaining control again and was going to take advantage of this opportunity.

“Didn't I already say it? I wasn't joking, I want people who are on my side... I'm not kidding myself, I know I'm not magazine models, I don't have the necessary charisma and my taste for insects doesn't help, but this game is the first thing I'm good at, since I won the national tournament, people start to recognize me, however, I'm not naive, I know it's just fame, what I want are genuine people who care about me, not the champion. ” They both stopped walking and the girl stared at her back “I won't deny that I was jealous of you, you broke into a private island for a friend; It is obvious that most of you are not duelists; I would like to be part of that, but after what happened with Exodia, I knew I didn't have a chance... I'm not going to say that you're so pretty didn't matter."

Tea does not expect this type of confession from Weevil, she, like the rest of her group, believed that the insect boy was only making fun when he said that it was an accident and that this was another way to hurt Yugi.

“Have you tried to open up to other people?”

“The last girl I tried it with threw soda in my face.” It would be even more unfortunate if this was his first choice.

She lowered her head at his response.

“Look, if when the tournament is over you don't want to talk to me again, I'll understand, I just want to try. Also sorry if he seemed antagonistic during the duel, sometimes I get too into them” (Although not as much as you) The closest thing he had to a human friend was Rex Raptor, although he believed that the dinosaur boy saw him more as a rival.

Tea, as sensitive as she was, was beginning to feel bad for Weevel, she in a way reminded him of Joey and Tristan before they became friends with Yugi and if she gave them a chance, why not him?

“Why do you like insects so much?” It was an ice-breaker question on her part as good as any.

The bug boy turned around in surprise and gave her a small smile, before continuing walking.

“I'm not really sure when it started, since I was a child they have always impressed, from their enormous strength for your size, their immense will to survive or how some species work so well as a team, I felt a certain connection with them... and they don't judge like people, humans can't be like a colony of ants"  Also thanks to his mother he got along well with animals in general.

Like almost any girl, Tea was only afraid or repulsed by insects, but she wasn't going to reject someone because of that.

“You just have to find the right person for your colony, friendship will keep you together like the queen.” She paid attention to her biology classes.

“That's what I've been waiting for” He smiled at her reference, perhaps he was getting better at judging people's character. “What about you? Do you have a hobby or something?”

“I have always loved dancing, my dream is to go to a dance academy in the United States when I graduate”

"I wish you luck." He considered telling her that he would like to see her dance, but he didn't know if it was appropriate.

“Thank you” It was a little positive reinforcement for her, even her family didn't think he should continue with it, because she had a part-time job, to be able to pay for it.

“You know, I just realized I don't know your full name.” He wiped his glasses to hide his embarrassment.

“Tea Gardner” She understood his hand.

“Weevil Underwood” He responded to her greeting, both of them continuing to talk as they walked through the forest.