Chapter Text
Yugi and his cousin, Yami, were in their room. It was a very boring day. There seemed to be nothing to do.
“Yami, do you think we could go see Tristan?” Yugi asked. Tristan lived across the city.
Yami sighed. “You know we can’t do that, Yugi.”
It was true. They couldn’t. Domino City was a city divided by race. Tristan lived across the city because he was black. Yugi and Yami weren’t allowed to see him because they were white.
Yugi thumped a pillow. “I wish we could, though.”
Yami got up and sat on the bed. “In Egypt, we weren’t segregated like this. We didn’t separate the races because we were all part of one race—the human race.”
“I wish it could be like that here,” Yugi said. “But unfortunately, we’re in Southern America, not Egypt, and that really sucks.”
-O-o-O-
“Friendship is the most important thing in the world!”
“Are you gonna talk about friendship all day?”
Téa and Joey were hanging out at the park. The park was the one place where black and white people could hang out because it was right on the line that divided the black side from the white side.
Half of the Domino City park was in North Domino, the white part. The other half was in South Domino, the black part. There was a thick, painted red line that divided the park and the city. No one dared to cross it.
“Dis sucks. We can’t see Tristan just ‘cause he’s black and we’re white,” Joey complained.
“Don’t worry, Joey. Friendship knows no race,” Téa responded.
Suddenly they saw a flash of red, white, and black run past them and behind a tree.
“What was dat?” Joey asked.
“I don’t know,” Téa answered.
They walked over to the tree, which was somewhat hidden by a bunch of bushes, and saw something so shocking and so illegal, it nearly stopped their hearts.
Seto Kaiba and Tristan were kissing, groping, and caressing each other.
“I love your beautiful, sharp eyes,” Tristan said.
“And I love your sexy, spiky hair,” Seto said.
“OH MY GOD!!” Joey screamed.
Seto and Tristan turned to look at the tree and saw Joey and Tea, standing there, with their pupils looking dilated.
“What are you two doing here?!” Seto whispered.
“We were about to ask you the same thing!” Téa exclaimed.
“Hey, Tristan,” Joey said.
“Hey, Joey,” Tristan said.
“‘Hey, Tristan?!’ We come here and see two people of different races playing tonsil hockey, one of which is Kaiba, and all you can say is ‘HEY TRISTAN’?!” Téa was nearly yelling.
Seto jumped up with lightning speed and put his hand over her mouth. “Be quiet! Do you want everyone to know about this?!”
“Seto, it’s okay,” Tristan said.
“Yeah, we won’t tell nobody about dis,” Joey said.
-O-o-O-
“Grandpa, can we go to the museum?” Yugi asked.
“No, Yugi. It’s run by Ishizu and it’s in South Domino,” Solomon said.
“What’s so bad about South Domino?” Yami asked.
“Those people there aren’t like us, Yami. They’re different. They’ve probably got completely different rules and morals, if they even have any at all,” Solomon answered.
“I’m sure they have the same morals and rules as us,” Yugi said. “I bet they’re just like us.”
Solomon thought of saying something else, but decided against it. “They’re young,” he thought. “They’ll learn when they’re older.”
Tristan walked home, lost in thought. “I wish I didn’t have to see Seto in secret. This sucks. Why is our town so messed up when it comes to diversity?” he thought.
He then became so immersed in a daydream about being able to see Seto without it being a secret that he didn’t notice Marik walking right next to him.
“What’re you thinking about?” Marik asked.
“I was just thinking about Seto.”
“You’re still thinking about that white boy?”
“Well, aren’t you thinking about Noah?”
Noah (Seto’s and Mokuba’s older brother) and Marik used to be dueling buddies until Noah’s father, Gozaburo, and Marik’s sister, Ishizu, found out and wouldn’t let them hang out together anymore.
“Well, yeah.”
They walked in silence to their neighborhood.
At the Kaiba mansion, Noah had beaten Mokuba at Duel Monsters for the fourth time.
“Wanna play again?” Noah asked.
“No freaking way. You’ve beaten me four times already,” Mokuba said.
“Well, since I can’t hang out with Marik, there’s no one else to duel.”
“You could duel Seto.”
“I haven’t been seeing much of him lately.”
“We could go outside,” Mokuba suggested.
They looked outside. It had started to rain rather heavily.
“Or not.”
Just then, Seto walked in, looking happier than ever (almost like he was high), even though he was soaking wet.
“Oh, no,” Noah said.
“What do you mean, ‘Oh, no’?” Mokuba asked.
“I know that look. Seto, please don’t tell me you were with Tristan today.”
Seto turned to look at his brothers, flinging water off his hair and trenchcoat. “What if I was?”
“You could get in trouble, Seto! You’re not supposed to be seeing Tristan!”
“What did you say about Tristan?” a new voice demanded.
It was their father, Gozaburo. He had been working in his office and had finally come out.
“We were talking about Tristan,” Seto answered, almost sounding like he was getting an attitude.
Gozaburo looked very displeased. “Don’t even mention that juvenile delinquent’s name,” he said. “You should be seeing people of your own kind.”
“Yes, Father,” Seto answered in an icy voice.
“Your reputation as co-CEO of Kaiba Corp. could be ruined if people found out you were seeing a person of a different race. Not to mention the racial corruption.”
“I understand, Father,” Seto said though gritted teeth.
Gozaburo narrowed his eyes. “Good. We can’t have our company’s reputation ruined.” Then he left.
“I hate this fucking town. Everybody over here acts like black people are lower level life forms or something,” Seto growled.
“But we kids know that’s not right,” Noah said.
“But nobody’s gonna listen to us. We’re just kids,” Mokuba said.
“Then we should make them listen,” Seto suggested…..
-O-o-O-
The Kaiba brothers tried to make the adults listen. They tried to tell them that racism was wrong. They tried to tell them that the rest of America didn’t separate the races, so why should they?
But every adult they talked to said the same thing: “You’re too young to understand it now, but you’ll understand it when you’re older.” It was like listening to a broken record.
That day was Saturday, which meant that a lot of people (mainly kids) liked to hang out in the park.
Joey, Téa, Yugi, and Yami were in front of the dividing line in the park. A group of black kids was on the other side. A few yards away from Yugi and company was a group of white kids. These two groups were not your everyday teens. The white group was a gang called “The A-Club,” and the “A” stood for “Aryan.” The black group was a gang called “Young56.” Merely hearing the names of these gangs could strike fear into the bravest of hearts, because these kids were some bad motherfuckers.
In each of the groups, some of the kids were daring each other to cross the dividing line. This was known as “crossing over” and like I already said, nobody dared to do this.
“Go on! I dare you to cross it, n1&937!” A white boy was yelling.
“I’ll do it when you do, cracker!” a black boy yelled back.
Tristan walked in front of the line to where Yugi and the others were without crossing over.
“This is so retarded,” Yugi said. “Segregation is starting to turn the kids against each other.”
“I know that’s right. I have to see Seto in secret and Marik can’t duel with Noah anymore,” Tristan said.
Suddenly, the other black kids spotted Tristan talking to them. “Hey, get away from those honkies!”
“Who you callin’ a honky?!” Joey shouted.
“Shut up, whitey!”
“Whitey?! Don’t make me come ova dere! I’ll cross dis line and backhand ya somethin’ fierce!” Joey yelled back.
“Not unless I pop you upside yo’ head!”
At that moment, they heard a white kid shout, “Hey, look at Kaiba!”
Seto had come to the park, too. He was currently standing right on the line that divided the white side from the black side.
“Hey, white-boy-Kaiba! You’re in our territory!” a member of Young56 shouted.
“I’m not in your territory, I’m on the dividing line,” Seto stated, starting to get an attitude.
“Kaiba’s gonna cross over!” a member of Young56 screamed.
“You are not gonna cross that line,” an A-Club member said.
“Why don’t you dare me to?” Seto shot back. He stuck a foot out as if he meant to step to the other side of the line.
“If you cross that line, I swear to God, I’ll break your foot,” the white boy threatened.
At this Seto stepped back. As he walked away, the group of white kids was jeering and acting the fool. “Yeah, Kaiba! Keep your ass on your own side!”
Tristan saw the members of Young56 staring at him suspiciously. “I’d better go, guys,” he said quietly. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. We don’t want you to get in trouble,” Yami said.
“Yeah, see ya later. I hope,” Joey said.
Then they separated to go to their separate parts of town.