Disclaimer: Put simply, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters. I do own (from this chapter) Jemu and Tory.

Reader Notes: This is the sequel to "Your Heart & Mine". You do not really need to read "Your Heart & Mine" in order to understand the plot, however I do suggest that you read at least a little bit of it. If you DO want to know the plot of the first story but don't want to read it, ask through a review and I'll try to email you the basics.

Review Notes: NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism IS allowed, and I would actually appreciate it. This will help me to form the story better, but make it nice :D

MidnightBallad's Notes: I know that a bunch people have been waiting for a sequel to my first Yu-Gi-Oh story. So here it is! The chapters will be slightly shorter (perhaps), because four pages on MS Word really gets to me after a while. For the people who have read "Your Heart & Mine", I will be putting up some fan art soon. I also did make a website for it, but until I get some decent art up, that idea has been scrapped.

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Chapter I:

Investigations

Kaiba Manor, Friday 10:15 p.m.

Seto Kaiba returned home from a very long, wet Friday at his office. His once sleek hair-do was messed up, his eyes were dark and full of weariness, and his butt hurt from not moving it for several hours at a time. Briefcase slung over his shoulder, Seto opened the door to his luxurious manor and stepped into the entrance hall, slipping off his coat as he did so. He was drenched from head to toe in water – results from a late-night thunderstorm.

Dropping his briefcase on the ground, Seto proceeded to the staircase, where he leant on the banister and called, 'Mokuba! Are you still awake?'

There was only silence. Sighing deeply, Seto went up the stairs, ready to fall asleep as he did so. When he passed his little brother's room, Seto poked his head in the door to check if Mokuba was awake but had not heard him. The raven-haired boy was dozing away on his bed, face buried into the unknown depths of his pillow. Seto smiled inwardly and closed the door as quietly as he could.

Eventually, Seto found his way to his room, flopping down on his double bed – which seemed softer than usual after sitting on a computer chair all day – and found himself reflecting on his week in a blur of computer bleeps, telephone calls and messages from his secretaries.

For the past week now, Seto had fallen deeply into a mystery that concerned Duel Monsters, as did most aspects of his daily life. It was an amazing discovery that involved some things called the 'Essence Items', duplicates of the six original Millennium Items.

Three months ago, Seto had had a run-in with one of the six Essence Items, the Essence Rod, owned by a young man whose soul did no longer belong to his word. Put simply, he was dead and not coming back.

A strange thought had struck Seto in the few days before he truly begun his research: were there any other Essence Items out there? Seto had asked a girl in his class who knew very well of these Essence Items, and she had answered him with a yes. Ever since that day, Seto had left school – no questions asked from the staff – to ensue the search for these Essence Items.

A week later, and he was no closer to finding these Essence Items. But his faithful worker, a young girl called Jemu, had found out that every one of the Essence Items were scattered around the world, and the only Item that was confirmed to be left in its original place was the Essence Puzzle; Egypt. The problem was, the other five Items had to be gathered with the Essence Puzzle before it could be used.

Once the Items were together, Seto planned to use the power of the Essence Puzzle to his satisfaction.

Seto grinned. It's so good, being me... He thought, before falling into a very deep sleep.

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1:30 a.m.

Unfortunately, Seto's deep sleep did not last very long. He was awoken minutes later by a very annoying wringing in his hear. Giving a very loud groan of disapproval, Seto slammed his hand down on his little black mobile and held it to his ear.

'Seto here.' Seto muttered, kneading his forehead. A tinny female's voice said to him, 'Kaiba-san?'

Seto was immediately awake. He knew the voice on the end of the phone – it was Jemu, the girl who had been researching the Essence Items for him. 'I'm listening, Jemu.'

'Hai (yes), I can tell.' Jemu said, laughing under her breath. 'I just found something very interesting in an online auction.'

Seto held his breath. 'Don't tell me...'

'The guy is called Akogi, and owns a massive software company like you, but it's a little more popular in America. Anyhow, Akogi has a photograph here of some rather odd-looking scales he says he owns.'

Seto opened a drawer on his bedside table, seizing a pen and a notebook that was riddled with scribbles already. 'How much does he want for them?'

Jemu began to quote something that had obviously come from a caption below the photograph of these scales. 'Akogi says that they are 'one of a kind Egyptian scales' that are worth at least...US nine hundred thousand dollars.'

Seto rolled his eyes, sitting up in bed. 'Is he serious?'

'Hai. Full of greed, if you ask me. Are you willing to pay this much, would you like me to bid for you?' Jemu asked. Seto could hear her typing away on her computer.

'No, that won't be necessary. I'm not even sure if these scales are really the Essence Scales. Does he have a contact number?' Seto asked, pen poised. Jemu answered him, 'Well, you can go to his office. 149, Baxter Street.'

Seto wrote this down, also saying, 'And just where is Baxter Street?'

'New York.' Jemu replied. 'Maybe you should just phone him?'

'No.' Seto said quickly. 'Jemu, I need you to book me the earliest flight to New York. I don't care what seats, what class – just get me there.'

'Okay, Kaiba-san, sit tight.' Jemu said. There was several minutes of computer noises, keyboard whacking and mouse clicking, before her voice came back over the phone. 'How about 3:30 p.m. this Sunday?'

'Anything earlier?'

'Iie, sumimasen (no, sorry).' Jemu said, apologizing.

Seto flipped closed his notebook. 'That's okay. Just keep the website open and call me if any earlier flights come up.'

'Sadaka (sure),' Jemu answered. 'Ja mata (see you).'

'See you later.' Seto hung up. He was quite confused why the girl constantly used Japanese, but Seto shrugged it off and went back to sleep.

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Yugi's House / Game shop, Saturday 7:30 a.m.

Yugi Moto yawned as he woke up on his favourite day of the week. Lazy Saturday. Good old Saturday can be depended on for many things. Firstly, a good breakfast. Yugi could already smell his Grandpa's pancakes; or, the ones he had bought from the local store. Second, the phone call from one or two from his best friends.

As if hearing his thoughts, Yugi's phone by his computer wrung. Positively beaming, Yugi climbed out of bed and picked up the phone, bringing the receiver to his ear. 'Hello?' He said in an unusually bright voice.

'Yugi? Hey, it's Tory.'

'Tory?' Yugi asked, although there was still a smile on his face. Tory and Yugi had met three months ago after an incident that involved Tory's past and quite an astounding Egyptian scripture. 'Hi, I haven't spoken to you in a while.'

Tory laughed softly – it sounded awfully muffled. 'Yeah, I guess. Are you doing anything today?'

Yugi checked a pin-up calendar that hung from the wall. 'Well, Joey and I were going to go see a movie, but if this really is important...'

'That's okay. Joey can come too. I need to show you something quickly. My dad found a strange article in the newspaper.' Tory said. Yugi could actually hear her shuffling through the Saturday morning paper. 'Interested?'

Yugi nodded, even though Tory couldn't possibly see him. 'Sure. Joey might have a freak-out, but I'll tell him to lay off.'

Tory laughed again. 'Sounds great. I'll meet you at...the ice cream parlour, nine o'clock?'

'See you then.' Yugi hung up, just as his Grandpa walked in the door, holding a very wide plate of pancakes.

'Fresh from the frypan,' he said loudly. 'Get 'em while they're hot!'

Yugi licked his lips. 'Will do!'

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Ice Cream Parlour, Saturday 9:00 a.m.

Joey gave a very loud, unhappy moan. 'Come on, Yugi! We had a whole day planned and now we have to wait around to see a newspaper article? I don't know about you, but I think Tory's just makin' up excuses to see you again.'

Yugi sighed, shaking his head. Somehow, Joey could not put down the fact that he and Tory – or, Yami and Tory – had gone out on something that seemed like a date. After that, Yami and Tory had called it quits, both agreeing that they were only 'going on like this' because of their previous life together.

Yugi pointed at the display of ice cream flavours by the counter. 'Hey, look...ice cream! On me, Joey!' He said, handing Joey his wallet.

'Really?' Joey said, distracted. 'Oh, sweet! I'll be back!' He got up and hurried toward the counter with drool practically falling from his mouth.

A bell above the door tinkled and a blonde-haired girl wearing silver sunglasses with a blue lens stepped into the parlour. She also wore a modest-length denim skirt and a Chinese-style shirt with paper crane patterns on it. Flicking gum off her white shoes, the girl searched the parlour until she found the boy with the tri-coloured hair she was looking for. Grinning, the girl went over to Yugi and stood next to his table.

'Well...do I need an invitation to sit down?' The girl asked, taking off her sunglasses to reveal one blue eye, one brown. Yugi grinned also. 'Hey, Tory! Joey's getting ice cream; sit next to him.'

Tory seated herself and opened a shoulder bag she had been carrying. She brought out a newspaper article – a part of it had been circled in red pen. 'Here 'ya go. Read the stuff in red.'

'Thanks.' Yugi took the paper and scanned the paragraph Tory had circled.

Akogi Kuga is a successful Japanese teenager who works overseas in the United States. Recently, his company sponsored an archaeological dig in Egypt, in which Akogi unearthed a strange silver scale, marked with an Egyptian eye.

"This is really quite an amazing discovery," Akogi says. "And I'd be all too happy to place this in the museum, or sell to someone who really would appreciate it."

Akogi is currently selling the Egyptian scales online for $US 900 000, such is their approximated value.

'Wow...' Yugi said sarcastically. 'Quite amazing.'

Tory rolled her eyes and slammed a hand down on the photograph in the middle of the newspaper. 'Look at the photo, you idiot.'

Yugi did. His eyes widened – there was a red-haired boy in his late teens holding up a sandy set of silver scales. Ones that looked very much like a certain Millennium Item...

Yugi looked at Tory. 'The Essence Scales.'

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MidnightBallad: That was kind of long. The other chapters won't be. So, how do you like the idea? It gets better, with eventual pairings (yay!). Review if you will – NO flames – and let me know if I should continue, or this story will become discontinued!