The next day, Yugi drove into the next city, to legally adopt Tobi. He learned his history from the woman running the place.

"Tobias? Good kid. Shipped him to Domino, did we? He went for summer camp, but I heard the camp wasn't doing so hot. Called and said they'd lost some kids. He'd been living at a shelter? Well, I suppose it doesn't matter, now!"

"What about his parents?" Yugi asked, "Do you know anything about them?"

"Yeah. Lived with his dad after his mom left him as a baby. His dad got shipped out here from America in the army, and they lived on base. Horrible accident, really, the kid's dad."

"What happened?"

"All he was doing was crossing the street. The man was in the army, and a regular car was what did him in. Tobias has been here ever since he was 9." The woman said, shaking her head sadly.

"Well, I'll sign whatever you need, and I'll pay whatever it takes. He's mine, now."

"Yes sir, Mr Mutou."

It took a few hours of paperwork, and it was going to take weeks of processing time, until Yugi called in a favor.

"Kaiba? I... I'm trying to adopt a boy, and I need a favor."

"You're adopting?"

Kaiba asked, the harsh edge suddenly missing from his voice.

"Yeah...they say the paperwork is going to take two weeks to go through, but I don't want him to have to go back to the orphanage. Anything you can do?"

"It'll be done by tonight."

"Thank you, Seto." Yugi said, risking using Kaiba's first name.

"Yugi..." he started, his voice strangely soft, "...you made a good choice."

And he hung up.

Yugi was beyond excited to get home that night, knowing that the kid would likely be waiting on him.

When he got in the door, he found shoes that weren't his beside it.

"I'm home!" he called, already loving the feeling of communication with someone other than his cat.

"Sensei!"

"As of 20 minutes ago, you are Tobias James Mutou."

Tobi looked up at him, everything about his face sincere, and his eyes showing age he didn't have.

"Thank you."

"I'll have to set up Jou's old room for you, but first, how about we call for pizza?"

"Could we really?!"

"Sure! Do you want to eat in the dining room, or the living room? We could always watch a movie."

"C-Could we... watch tv?"

"Of course, whatever you want to do. This is a night to celebrate!"

"Thank you. Thank you so much, Sensei."

"Tobi? Call me Yugi. Just Yugi."

"O-Okay...Yuugi..."

Tobias always stretched out the "u" in his name, which was interesting because it was a Japanese native thing to do. His name was technically spelled that way, but since he got famous, he let the second 'u' drop, so that English speakers could spell his name more easily.

They ended up on the couch that night, under a blanket, Isis the cat sitting on Yugi's left side, and Tobi asleep against his right shoulder.

For the first time in a long time, Yugi wasn't lonely. He nearly felt... complete, again.

He slept more peacefully that night than he had in a long time.


When Yugi woke up, he didn't move, as he realized there was still a teenager sleeping against his shoulder.

He carefully checked the clock on his cell phone which he'd left nearby.

12:00PM. Oops.

"Tobi." He whispered.

"C'mon. Time to get up."

He jerked awake, and seemed to suddenly realize where he was.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean...I'm sorry, Sensei."

"It's alright, Tobi. And what did I say about dropping the "sensei"?" Yugi smiled at him, letting him know it was ok.

"Right... sorry Yuugi.."

"It's alright. What do you want for breakfast? I could probably figure out how to whip something up, or, we could go out."

"You don't have to take me out, it's ok..."

"Tobi, I'm going to be honest with you. I have more money than I could ever spend in a lifetime. I know it may not look like it, since I live in a little place like this, but it's true. Besides, I'm still celebrating!"

"We could... really go out for breakfast?"

"Mhm! Go brush your hair and I'll meet you at the door."

Yugi knew Tobi wasn't as shy as he was acting. He saw it when he dueled. He was confident almost to the point of being cocky. Yugi hoped that the longer they lived together, the more he'd see that side of him. The confident, sly, sarcastic side.

"This is so cool..."

Tobi said suddenly, at breakfast.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you've never been out for breakfast before."

"No, I mean... It's been a long time since I've had someone treat me this way."

"Oh... Well, this is the beginning of your new life, Tobi. You can live with me for as long as you want."

"Thank you Se-...I mean,... Y-Yuugi..."

There was something vaguely familiar about the way Tobi said his name, but he decided to ignore it for the time being.

Yugi was overjoyed to finally have someone living with him again. Even though he was 32, he never did look his age, and he still looked around 20. His height, although being better than it was when he was 16, still left him looking a little younger than he was.

He had completely cleared out what Jou had left behind in his room, and told Tobi to decorate it however he saw fit. Yugi's room didn't look like that of a 32 year old. He had never moved out of his old room. He didn't see the need to. Although it had considerably changed since he was a kid, most of what was different, was that he had more awards, and professional cases for his Duel Monsters figures.

Anyone guessing might say the room belonged to a 18 year old kid.

Yugi liked it that way.

Occasionally, he wondered if his soul room still looked the same. Somehow, he doubted it. He hadn't ever been able to visit it, since... since...

He wouldn't let himself think like that. He couldn't get caught up in those thoughts again. Not with Tobi here.

Sometimes it felt like centuries passed since he was 16, and sometimes it felt like 10 minutes had passed.

Yugi was enjoying his new life with his new friend, and all went well for the first few weeks. It wasn't until after that, that things started to happen again.

It was at breakfast one morning, which Yugi had decided to cook himself, that Tobi said the first strange thing.

"Yuugi?"

"Hm?"

"I've got... the strangest feeling of... deja-vu..."

"Really? Well, that's weird. We used to sit and talk here sometimes, after class, didn't we? Is that what you're remembering?"

"No... it feels deeper than that. I suppose it's nothing." He said smiling. The day went on normally, but that comment stuck with Yugi. It was odd, and normally people would have passed it off as nothing, but Yugi had been involved in too much... magic... to pass those things off as normal. When something like that happened to him, it meant something.

After school started back up, and Tobi was successfully enrolled in Domino High, Yugi celebrated his 16th birthday with him.

Not long after, word finally got out that he was living there, and his face made it on to several magazines.

"I hope you don't mind..." Yugi said to him one afternoon after school.

"What do you mean? My face is on the cover of "Duelist International"! This is awesome!"

"Good." Yugi said, knowing that his fame was going to cause issues sooner or later.

"You know, you're a pretty good duelist, too." Yugi said, "Those articles don't mention it, but if Kaiba had another tournament, you'd give me a run for my money!"

"Y-Yuugi..." he blushed, "I'm not that good."

"No Tobi, you're amazing. You've come the closest to beating me since... well, it's been a long time..."

Tobi looked at him carefully, deciding whether or not to keep the subject going. Yugi seemed pretty open about it, so he decided to keep talking.

"...How long?"

"Hmm. About... 16 or 17 years."

"Gosh, Yuugi! That's as long as I am old!"

"I'm pretty old, aren't I."

"Nah, you're still cool in my book." He grinned at his father figure.

"Oh, hey, Yuugi?"

"Yeah?"

"You've told me about all of the field spell cards, right?"

"Uhhh... yup. As far as I know. Why?"

"I remember one from somewhere, but maybe it's banned or something? I haven't seen it in play, I just remember it."

"Well, what's it called?"

He looked thoughtful, and Yugi had no idea that his peaceful moment was about to be shattered.

"The Seal of Orichalcos."

Yugi's heart stopped.

"Tobias. Where did you hear that?"

"I... I didn't, I just remember it."

"That card... isn't used anymore. It hasn't been, since before you were born."

"Really? Huh. That's weird... I wonder where I remember it from."

"Can you tell me what it does?"

"I..." , he laughed a little, "What I remember can't possibly be right, so maybe I saw it as a prank somewhere."

"Well? What do you remember?"

"The Seal gives your monsters power... but at the end of the duel... the loser... loses their soul.

Y-Yuugi, something's telling me that's right. How could that be right? Isn't it just a card game?"

Yugi sighed, realizing that he'd have to think back to that time again, for a minute.

"You're right. That's exactly what it does. Tobi, there's a lot about this game that I haven't told you."

"Really? I thought you taught me everything, Sensei." Tobi said smirking.

"I'll tell you about it someday. For now, eat breakfast, or you'll be late for school."

"Gah! You're right! I'll see 'ya later, Yuugi!" He said, as he stuffed a couple of chocolate chip pancakes in his mouth and took off running for the door.

The mention of that card had shaken Yugi to the core. He hadn't heard it's name spoken out loud for a long time. Too long. He never thought he'd have to hear it again. Where could Tobi possibly have heard of it? It was considered a rumor, at best, in the dueling world these days, and no one knew what it did. Only Yugi. He was the only one who took what it did seriously anymore, besides maybe Mai, but she didn't duel anymore. She hadn't, since their first child.

So where had his young companion heard about it? He said he remembered it. But how could he remember a card that hadn't been used since before his birth? Swirling thoughts like those continued to bother Yugi for quite a while after that, but nothing else strange happened for a while.

Life was peaceful, with a kid around the house, even if he was a teenager.

Everything was perfectly normal, until Yugi woke up one night to hear his door creaking open. Tobi thought he was asleep. The boy was shaking. Yugi was tempted to rush over and make sure he was ok, but his curiosity kept him from moving, at least for the moment.

Tobi sobbed once, and proceeded to lay on the floor, close to Yugi's bed. If he knew Yugi was awake, he'd probably leave. Why was he there, anyway? Yugi waited until he was sure Tobi was asleep, and then he carefully got out of bed, picked him up, and put him in his bed. There was a pretty comfortable chair in his room, and he decided to sleep there, instead. He smiled at the boy now sleeping peacefully in his bed, before falling asleep himself in his chair.

As has been proven many times over, most teenage boys are hard to wake up in the morning.

"Tobi."

"Mmmph. Fivemoreminutes."

"Tobi, it's time to get up."

"ButYuugiIdon't-." He stopped dead, seeming to realize that he wasn't in his own bed.

He bolted upright, and looked around.

"Yuugi! Why am I-..? I'm sorry!"

Yugi smiled at him, concerned, but loving.

"It's alright, Tobi." he said as he sat on the edge of the bed, "Now, care to tell me why you were so upset last night?"

"You... You saw that...?"

Yugi nodded.

"I'm so sorry... it was stupid, just a nightmare."

"Nightmares aren't stupid. You can tell me about it, if you want."

"Yuugi, you didn't sleep in that chair, did you...?"

"That doesn't matter."

"I'm sorry... I just... I couldn't be alone, after that..."

"What happened?"

Something obviously had him shaken.

"It was... so strange."

Yugi waited for him to continue.

"I was completely and utterly alone. I couldn't see, or hear, or feel anything. Just, darkness... and loneliness..."

Yugi tried not to let his worry show through, so he wouldn't scare Tobi, but hearing this unnerved him.

"I... it felt so long..."

"How long?" Yugi questioned casually. Once again, Tobi's answer managed to scare him more than he allowed to show.

"Millennia."

Yugi was shaken out of his scared thoughts by a sob. Tobi was crying again.

"Shh, it's ok. You aren't alone. I'm here."

Yugi pulled him into a casual hug.

"I..." he said in between sobs, "I'll be late for school..."

"It's Saturday."

"Oh Yuugi... I've never had a dream that felt so... real..."

"Well, it's alright. It's over now. Come on, why don't we get some breakfast."

"Y-Yuugi wait..."

"Mhm?"

"Don't leave me. Please..."

"Tobias... don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

Yugi didn't leave his side at all that day. He seemed completely shaken by his nightmare, down to his very core.

And Yugi was concerned about it, as well. His answer as to how long he had been alone is really what had Yugi completely stunned. Millennia, he said. It could be a coincidence, but he doubted it. When was anything ever, in his life? Everything in Yugi's life seemed to have reason. Plus, he somehow knew about cards he shouldn't have, and now this? He didn't like where that was going. He didn't like where it was leading.

Unfortunately for Yugi, strange things continued to happen.

One day when Tobi left his school notebook on the table, Yugi glanced at it absentmindedly, and saw something that shocked him.

"Tobi, what's this?"

"What? Oh. I was doodling in class."

"Yes, but what were you doodling?"

"I dunno," he shrugged, "It was just something on my mind, so I doodled it."

Yugi stared back down at the nearly perfect drawing of the Millennium Puzzle.

"Well, it's very good."

"That? It's just a doodle..."

"Got a name for it?"

Yugi was trying to remain as casual as he could, but he really didn't like where this was going.

"Hmm... Something tells me it's a puzzle, but that's what it looks like when it's finished. I dunno, it's an odd shape for a puzzle, but it sort of fits... I thought it looks kind of Egyptian, doesn't it?"

"It does. Did you see it somewhere?"

Surely that was all this was. He had seen Yugi wearing it in one of his pictures. That was all.

"No. I was just doodling things in class, and that came to mind. Why?"

"You've never seen it before?"

"What do you mean, Yuugi? I thought I made it up..."

He walked across the room, pulling a photo album from the bookshelf, and flipping through it until he found a picture from all the way back in Duelist Kingdom. He definitely had the Puzzle in that one.

"Look." he said, pointing to the picture, "Look familiar?"

"Whoa! It's like my drawing came to life! Wait, it's real? That was YOU? You owned it?"

Yugi sighed.

"It was called the Millennium Puzzle. It... I don't own it anymore... not since..." Yugi paused, not even liking his own words, "not since before you were born."

"Whoa... that's really weird..."

Despite how much that concerned Yugi, he managed to let it go.