This takes place just after the main characters graduate college (except for one) and long after the Pharaoh goes to the afterlife, but strange things still happen to Yugi and company. I wanted to try writing an "Aftermath" story with supernatural and sci-fi elements.

I also wanted to try my hand at writing a longer story with pairings and attempting to portray them in a less humorous way. This is kind of an exercise in character interaction and how they'd handle certain situations.

There is one difference from the canon: Noah is alive. I decided to put this in an slightly alternate universe where the "Virtual Arc" didn't happen and Noah didn't die (Gozaburo's still dead, though). In this universe, Noah was living with his adoptive brothers and was roughly the same age as Kaiba, but he just didn't draw attention to himself.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

-O-o-O-o-O-

Today was a most unfortunate day for job-hunting.

Twenty-three year old Joey Wheeler leaned back on the park bench and dropped the newspaper he'd been holding. There were absolutely no job openings anywhere in Domino City, so he might as well relax and enjoy the balmy late afternoon weather.

"This is so not how I planned things," he thought, running his hand through his messy blond hair. "I was supposed to have at least graduated college by now."

He knew he needed to get a job in college. He knew it had to be at least part-time. He knew he should aim to graduate after four years. What he hadn't known was what the heck he wanted to do with his life. He'd gotten to college, ready to take on the world and was immediately fenced in by the choices.

Normally, Joey loved choices. In high school, nearly every decision was made, or at least very strongly recommended by teachers, guidance counselors, and parents. They chose their classes based on the school's scheduling system, they were told which classes they had to take—sometimes they were given assigned seats in the cafeteria.

But in college, a student not only had to choose a schedule and lunchtime, but a major, and basically, your life. To further complicate the process, said student had to keep in mind that some choices may seem right at the time, but turn out to be mistakes later. Add the fact that some majors led to profitable careers (but not necessarily a happier life) and it felt darn near impossible.

So impossible that Joey had to take a year off to get his head straight before finally choosing a major the beginning of his Junior year. Ah, the benefits of having a mother that works at your college.

At least he'd made some progress in terms of living arrangements. He'd moved out of the crappy apartment he'd had in high school into a slightly less-crappy trailer. It was pretty sweet for a while, even after Bandit Keith moved into the trailer next door. At least he didn't have to hear his neighbor's activities through a five-inch wall. The worst he got from him was a crack about how he'd "peaked in Duelist Kingdom."

"Littering. I'm gonna have to make a citizen's arrest."

Joey looked up to see his best friend since grade school, Tristan Taylor, standing behind the park bench and tapping the rolled up newspaper against his palm. "How's the job search going?"

Joey sighed. "Not good. The only opening is in Monopolis."

"That's actually pretty good-if you want a ten mile run every day."

"I have a car," Joey pointed out.

"Yeah, on cinderblocks."

"I'm gonna find tires for it! Just as soon as I get the money." Joey took the newspaper from Tristan and flicked through it absently. One of the late buses drove past. Its occupied state only reminded Joey of his poor luck with the want ads.

"Why don't you try the game shop? Mr. Muto could probably use some extra help."

Joey lowered the newspaper. "For the same reason you don't."

Tristan shrugged. "Yeah, well, that's Yugi and Bakura's deal."

Bakura had moved in with Yugi after college. Yugi needed a roommate; he was paying rent while staying at the game shop and it was lonely after the Pharaoh moved on.

Yugi had totally understood why they didn't take the jobs, though occasionally he'd hint, "Sometimes things get a little hectic at the shop." Still, he knew that once Joey and Tristan had made up their minds, they were pretty much set.

"Plus, I don't want to feel like I'm getting a handout or something. I mean, that'd be like getting a job referral from your mom." Tristan absently kicked at the grass under the bench. "He probably has enough people. The store would get crowded and there'd be no room for customers if we all worked there. But it would be better than my old job."

"What ever happened to that place, anyway?"

"The Health Inspectors shut them down for making hotdogs out of non-approved meat products." Tristan scratched his chin. "Maybe that's why we never had a problem with pigeons and rats."

"Gross." Joey shuddered. They'd actually eaten there, too, but chose to stick with the fries.

"It was just as well. Train fares were getting higher and I had to take a train and a bus to get to a point five blocks away from the place. Though, now that I think about it, there was probably a good reason for that."

"At least you know you want to do something with writing." Joey stretched out on the bench. "As usual, I have no idea what I'm doing."

Tristan sat down next to Joey. "You know what Téa would think of this."

Téa thought they were being ridiculous. "If you see any jobs anywhere, you should take them," she'd said. "It's not like anyone's going to care that you happened to know your employer's grandson." She had jumped on the first day job she could find. The rest of her time was spent practicing dance, in acting and dance lessons, auditioning, and hanging out with the gang.

Joey sat up. "We're guys. We hafta take care of ourselves, not expect other people to do it."

"Speaking of guys who take care of themselves," Tristan started. He looked at the colorful disc-shaped object that loomed on top of a building in the distance. "I wonder how Yugi's getting on with Kaiba."

Joey shuddered to think of what Kaiba, Yugi's new-and-old boyfriend, would think of them. Joey acted as if he couldn't care less about how Seto Kaiba saw them, but he knew it was a lie. He really wanted to put that jerk in his place for all the cracks he'd made in high school and success was the best revenge.

Sure, Kaiba had become slightly less obnoxious since he and Yugi started seeing each other back when Yugi was in college (Kaiba could afford to skip it, the lucky bastard), but the occasional dog wisecrack made it to Joey's ears. "So you're searching for a job so you can put tires on that rusty old car so you can drive to said job. Really, Wheeler, you're like a dog chasing his own tail." Then—and this was a new thing—he'd drop his smug tone and advise, "Why don't you just take the bus? There are literally no jobs here and none of the trains go to Monopolis."

Kaiba, of course, had no trouble finding a job after high school because, duh, he owned a company. His older brother, Noah, and his younger brother, Mokuba (who was still in college), ran it with him. Mokuba was at Domino College, preparing for the wonderful world of music. None of them had to worry about transportation to work because they all lived close enough to the company building to walk. Also, they had cars.

It seemed as though everyone already had his or her lives together, or at least a plan.

"Except me," Joey thought. "Figures."

-O-o-O-

Mokuba was sitting down with his music theory books and his mac and cheese when Kaiba and Noah came home.

"I don't know why you insist on eating that when I could make you something better," Kaiba said, noticing Mokuba's macaroni soup.

"It was easier; I didn't feel like waiting," Mokuba answered, flipping through his book.

"Your main method of cooking involves a microwave, and you're turning your nose up at mac and cheese?" Noah pointed out.

Kaiba scoffed. "Not tonight. I'm actually going to try this time. Also, we're eating earlier than usual; Yugi's coming over tonight." Kaiba crossed the dining room into the kitchen and filled a pot with water.

"I can't join," Mokuba said. "I have a really huge test tomorrow and if I want to get any sleep tonight, I need to multitask." He went up the stairs.

"Don't stay up too late." Kaiba let the lid clatter onto the pot. "Hmm. I'll have to tell Yugi we need to make less noise tonight," he said to himself.

Noah set his briefcase on the kitchen table. "You never mentioned that Yugi was coming to dinner," he commented, his green eyebrows knitting with slight annoyance.

"Is there a problem with this arrangement?" Kaiba reached for the salt, then thought better of it, remembering his increased blood pressure and slightly thickened waistline.

"Yes, there is. I don't like him coming over here." Noah drummed his fingers on the table.

Kaiba went to the pantry for a box of noodles. "And why is that?" he continued in a relatively even-toned voice.

"I don't trust him not to betray you, and by extension, all of us."

Kaiba was suspicious. Wasn't he usually the one who was quick to distrust, rather than Noah? "Why would he do that? I wouldn't let him in our house if I thought he'd turn on me."

"Because remember what happened a few months ago?"

Kaiba shuddered at the memory. "Don't bring that up. That was an anomaly. Nothing like that will ever happen again." Not if I can help it, Kaiba added mentally.

"How can you know for sure?" Noah gripped the cloth of his pants. "You don't know what's going through his head. How do you know he's not just with you for your…" Noah made a twirling gesture in the air with his index finger. "You know."

"If he was with me before that happened, what makes you think he's going anywhere now that he's back? If anything, I thought that would scare him off," Kaiba dumped the noodles into the pot and stirred them.

"My point is, how do you know he didn't mutate into the littlest pervert before you two got involved, or that he's not going to reveal your incident to the world?"

Kaiba slammed the metal spoon on the counter. "Why are you so worried about Yugi? Shouldn't you be more worried about Keith telling everyone?"

Noah was silent for a minute before answering. "Because you seem to care more about what Yugi does."

Kaiba blinked. Who else noticed this? Was he slipping? He turned back to the stove.

"After your run-in with Keith, my level of worry is in the normal range," Noah continued.

Kaiba was about to respond when he was hit with a sudden rush of nausea. He ran to the bathroom across the hall.

Noah jumped up and ran after him. "Seto, are you all right?" He refused to believe the nod he received as an answer. No one who was violently dry heaving over the toilet with a deathly pallor could be okay.

Kaiba's breathing slowed and he slowly began to regain his usual color and then some as a wild flush spread across his face. "False alarm," he told a nearly hysterical Noah. "I didn't feel well for a second."

Noah stared, incredulous. "Really?"

"It's passed, like usual." Kaiba continued back toward the kitchen. Noah clamped a hand on his shoulder.

"You've been saying that all month. You should really get that checked out."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "I'm sure it's nothing." He pulled a packet of Dramamine from his trench coat pocket. "I'll be fine."

The nausea stayed away all through dinner. Yugi went on and on about the business at the shop, the rising popularity of a certain game, and the gas prices. He and Kaiba discussed gaming strategies and the trends in gaming and how they could capitalize on them, with Noah inserting the occasional comment. It distracted Noah from their earlier argument, until he realized that Yugi wasn't only there to talk business.

Yugi seemed like a decent, respectable man; Kaiba wouldn't let him that close if he weren't. Still, Noah prayed to whatever deity would listen and existed that Joey's blabbermouth qualities weren't rubbing off on Yugi. Even though gaming company presidents and duelists weren't exactly tabloid fare, none of the brothers wanted more than six people knowing about Kaiba's incident from about four months ago. Either they'd have men in black knocking down their door or they'd be the laughingstock of Domino and forever known as "The Crazy Kaibas." They couldn't risk a slip-up, and Noah knew Yugi didn't like keeping secrets from his friends.

He hoped even harder that he was wrong about the cause of Kaiba's illness over the past few weeks. If it were related to the event four months ago, how would they explain that to the doctors (and more than one would definitely be involved by then)?

As Yugi talked away, Noah began to wonder if there was any real cause for alarm. Kaiba could certainly take care of himself. Now that he thought of it, Noah wasn't treating Yugi much better than he'd treated Keith, Kaiba's last boyfriend. That was pretty insulting, considering Keith's undesirability at the moment. Kaiba never had shouting matches with Yugi. Kaiba never had to worry about Yugi's eyes—and other body parts—wandering all over Domino. Kaiba never came home from Yugi's house with an enormous bruise on his cheek.

"There's absolutely nothing to worry about," Noah reassured himself. He tasted a bite of Kaiba's "I actually tried this time" cooking. It actually resembled spaghetti.

-O-o-O-o-O-