Disclaimer: Yuugiou (Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters) is the property of Takahashi Kazuki and respective publishers, including Shueisha, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, Toei Animation, 4Kids, and others. I would never claim to own it or attempt to make money off of it- just think of this as a written, free doujinshi and hopefully we'll get along fine ;)
Vocabulary: Ojii-san is grandfather.
Artifice
Magic has never really been important to Rebecca. It isn't that she doesn't believe in it- having grown up with Ojii-san she has always had the idea that it was real, as real as her genius, even if it shows proof of itself less often. And then there is darling, Yuugi and that other self of his, the Pharaoh who had dared to lose him. Rebecca hadn't been all that surprised by the Orichalcos, just annoyed…and frightened for Yuugi.
So since magic holds no special lure for her, she doesn't understand why Ishizu Ishtar does.
Perhaps just because she's a very intelligent woman? She is the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiques, after all, and at quite a young age. Rebecca can't help but admire that, and hope that she'll be similarly well-established by the time she's Ishizu's age.
It's a practical reason, but, having heard what she has about the Ishtars, Ishizu almost seems like a walking myth. She acts ancient, like she should have been alive three thousand years ago rather than in this modern time period. Her words are artful, always chosen carefully, and she has a gift for smoothing over misunderstandings- necessary, with that prideful younger brother of hers hanging around.
She would be a worthy opponent, and Rebecca is annoyed that she isn't annoyed when Ishizu turns her challenge down.
"I would be glad to duel you, Rebecca, but I no longer carry my deck with me- it is still in Egypt. But I will be sure to have it with me when we meet again." And Ishizu smiles, too kind and beautiful for Rebecca to do anything but accept that.
Ishizu also has a strange talent for knowing what the day will bring. When Ojii-san complains that there will be too many tourists tramping about in the museum today, Ishizu assures him otherwise, and is right. She seems to have a sixth sense for when there is a disagreement going on, always appearing in time to prevent any unnecessary conflict between that Malik guy and whatever idiot he's taken to insulting today. With Rishid apparently incapable of telling off his master/younger brother/whatever-he-is even subtly, Ishizu tends to be the only one for the task.
Maybe she's taken in some influence from her time wearing one of those Sennen Items? Or maybe she's been a seer all along. One day Rebecca will ask, when she feels less flustered trying to pose questions to Ishizu which are out of her ordinary depth. It's almost like trying to be nice to Anzu when Yuugi's around- theoretically she could do it, since she does actually like Anzu, but it just doesn't want to come out. However she has no good reason for being reticent around Ishizu, so she will overcome it.
For now she just observes her, though, listening to Ishizu's discussions with Ojii-san on history and the politics surrounding archeology, sometimes contributing and sometimes just listening with half an ear while she works on the museum's software. They'll part ways soon, she and Ojii-san returning home to America when he's done overseeing the exhibition of his new findings, but for now Rebecca is happy with her observation. She's starting to find that one can learn a lot about another person by watching her.
AN:
It seems to be my night for both drabbles and unnamed pairings. As always, if a shipper's club ever does update with a name for this, I'll change the summary accordingly.