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As the smoke cleared, Gage fell to his knees. He’d lost. Again. Faintly, he could hear the sound of footsteps approaching from across the duel field.
“Well it was looking kinda close for a bit in the middle there, but it looks like I got you in the end.”
Usually Gage would reply back with some witty remark, but this time all he had was a dry and bitter taste in his mouth.
“You doing ok there buddy?”
Cimo crouched down and placed a hand on Gage’s shoulder, his overenthusiastic stage persona giving way to genuine concern as he lowered his voice below what the microphones could hear. “Seriously, I haven’t seen you this beat up in ages.”
Gage scrambled to his feet abruptly, brushed off the dust from his suit, and pulled a grin across his face as he replied back with a quick “Yeah bro, looks like you got me again”, hoping nobody caught his moment of weakness.
Still whispering, Cimo leant in and asked: “Why do you keep doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“This whole positivity thing. Keeping up the confidence week after week, loss after loss. Most people I know would crumble, but you keep going. Why? How come you always keep smiling?”
A shiver ran down Gage’s spine. What was it that kept him coming back? It wasn’t like he was gaining prestige from his endless losing streak, nor was he making any more than he could be pulling in on the pro duelling circuit. Did he really think he could still win? A series of memories flashed before his eyes; a montage of damage steps and Cimo’s maniacal laugh. Was that all it was? He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. But the laugh kept repeating, an ongoing melody now accompanied by memories of Cimo’s face. Gage blinked. That was it.
“It’s you.”
“Huh?”
“It’s you. The reason I keep going. Keep up this whole thing. It’s always been for you. Every time I’m close to breaking I just look at your face and…” Tears began to well up in the corners of Gage’s eyes.
“And?”
“And I think… I think I’m in love with you.”
Cimo paused for a second. Then, in front of the whole crowd, in front of the international audience and the shocked commentators, he grasped Gage’s face in his hands and pulled him in for a kiss. Perhaps, Gage thought, this is better than any victory.