Note: this fic uses literal translations of Duel Monster names.

Another note: If you want to share your opinions or just have questions, feel free to review. I won't bite. Probably. ^^

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Interlude

‒ Working Vacation ‒

-.-.-.-

"Yugi."

"Kaiba."

"Yugi."

"Kaiba."

A glaring contest between king and regent ensued, with Kaiba scowling and Yugi evenly returning the look. It continued for several moments and ended only when the regent had finally had enough, tapping sharply at the report he had previously slammed down onto the desk between them as the glaring contest had ensued.

About an hour prior, Yugi had first occupied said desk, intent on making good use of his time off from his royal duties to do some private research in the grand library.

"What's the meaning of this, Yugi?"

Yugi glanced a second time at the report and then looked back up at Kaiba, tilting his head ever so slightly. "What is the issue here exactly, Kaiba? I thought I still had five days left of my vacation."

Apparently, Kaiba had received word of Judai's admittance to the Duel Academia and of the role that Yugi himself had played in it, stepping in as his sponsor and smiling sharply until Professor Chronos de Medici had felt forced to agree, especially with the addition of meaningful looks and the equally meaningful gestures accompanying it.

Besides, it wasn't as though Kaiba would actually confront him over something as small as having threatened a corrupt official into doing their job; Kaiba was an elitist, but he was an elitist that hated incompetence. "I confiscated Edo Phoenix's Deck and gave him three months to get a new set before transferring to Central Academy. I give you the Deck, and less than three hours later, you‒"

"You've pawned it off to some kid, threatened an Academia official into accepting his late application, and put yourself down as his sponsor, Your Majesty."

Yugi cracked a smile at that and gave the report another considering look before moving on, first to Kaiba and then to Mokuba, who'd just stepped out from between the bookcases, carrying an armful of books. "Edo'll have a new set of contracts by the end of the month, and with the ease that his old Deck bonded with someone else, the match was doomed from the start. To think that you'd spot that kind of thing before anyone of us. Kaiba, I'm honestly in awe."

All three of them, Yugi himself included, knew well that nothing could have been farther from the truth and from the mind of Kaiba as he had effectively not only suspended the Knight of Elemental Heroes but actually stripped him off his rank, sending him off to regain his qualifications for failing to adhere to order in regards to ceasing his association with the Society of Light.

With an irritated huff Kaiba snatched the report back up, folding it once and sticking it into his inner pocket. "If this Yuki Judai turns out to be another Mongrel, then I'm taking zero responsibility."

No one had actually been expecting anything else, Yugi least of them all. "Jonouchi's a fellow Dragon Knight; you should really stop calling him that."

Obviously, Jonouchi had his own collection of less flattering names for Kaiba, including but not necessarily limited to Moneybags, Bastard, and whatnot, and was fairly liberate with his use of them.

Of course, that in itself didn't necessarily mean that Yugi approved of either of their obsessive-compulsive urges to belittle and even dehumanise one another. However, over the years, Yugi had learnt to be more pragmatic about things, because at least now they weren't Duelling or physically trading blows whenever they got into disagreements. "Speaking of Dragon Knights, have the admittance records for North Academy arrived yet?"

"They should be here by tomorrow afternoon. Why?"

Yugi smiled at Mokuba and then moved on to Kaiba, who had been on his way out but now turned, vaguely annoyed yet at the same time mildly curious. "There's a boy named Johan Andersen. Pegasus is sponsoring him."

Kaiba's face darkened visibly; it was a look that Yugi knew very well and that was largely reserved for whenever either the Sage or the Kaiba siblings' adoptive father Gozaburo was brought up in conversation. "He's not joining the Kaiba Corps."

The tone used left little room for disagreement. Yugi wasn't in it to argue though. "He's ranked fifth in the kingdom in terms of raw potential, and he's already the unofficial Knight of the Gem Beasts. If he makes it through the ceremonial trials, he'll be the Knight of the Rainbow Dragon as well."

Kaiba stilled. "The Rainbow Dragon?"

"It's a Level 10."

Yugi made no further comment than that, because all of those present knew that Kaiba's own Blue-Eyes Dragons were only Level 8s.

Incidentally, the Sangenshin, the Three Phantom Gods, were also Level 10s, and so were the Sangenma, the Three Phantom Demons, their whereabouts currently unknown.

Obviously, there were ways of achieving higher levels through Fusion Summoning and whatnot, but to Summon something as high as a Level 10 was practically unheard of otherwise; not because the Monsters themselves didn't exist, but rather because so few passed the required trials.

With a scoff, Kaiba retreated. After a polite nod in Yugi's direction, Mokuba promptly followed.

Left alone to his own devices and thoughts, Yugi slammed shut the book he'd been perusing prior to the interruption and returned it to its proper place.

A crooning sound alerted him to the return of Kuriboh. "How's Winged Kuriboh? Settling in?"

There was an affirmative at that, although it was somewhat hesitant. Soon thereafter followed an explanation that took Yugi more than a few moments to interpret; he was far from fluent after all. "I'm aware, but it'll work out. Probably."

The croon that followed sounded almost disapproving. Yugi waved dismissively. "If it comes down to that, then I'll take responsibility. Kaiba said he wouldn't get involved after all."

The spirit seemed largely placated at that, giving Yugi a slight pat on the shoulder before disappearing altogether.

Moments thereafter, someone new entered the library. "I saw Kaiba storming out of here and Mokuba following, so I assumed I'd be finding you here, Yugi."

Yugi smiled. "You assume correctly, Lady Anzu."

Lady Anzu ‒ Mazaki Anzu back in the day ‒ was one of the people that didn't hold any official position in the Duellist Court other than that of royal advisor. Like the rest of Yugi's and Jonouchi's friends from the Domino region, she could Duel and could certainly hold her ground if she put her mind to it, but she seldom did.

This was not to say that she was letting other people stand in the limelight though; she just wasn't very interested in the limelight that Duelling could offer her. Instead, Anzu's lifelong passion was dancing, although it was technically dancing and consorting with kings, considering her track record.

Jonouchi might have usurped the position of Yugi's best friend at some point, but Anzu was still his oldest one and had found another niche for herself now that the road lay open.

In simpler terms, officially speaking, Anzu was a royal consort. In truth though, their relationship was far more platonic these days. At one point, Yugi had indeed been crushing on her. In the end though, she had fallen for another and ultimately, so had he.

"Kaiba still hasn't forgiven you for Atem. He desperately wanted a rematch."

Atem; the name of the once nameless pharaoh whose spirit had brought them all together at least indirectly.

"If he could see us now, I wonder what he'd say," Anzu mused out loud, contemplating her jingling bracelets.

Yugi didn't have to wonder; he already knew. "Nothing much, because he'd be busy rolling his eyes at Kaiba."

"Definitely," a newly arrived Honda chimed in from the doorway, slouching now that he was off from active guard duty. "For a guy who claims not to care about the past, he sure is obsessed with it."

They really shouldn't be the ones to talk, because even now, they have yet to put it all behind them. They had moved on, yes, but they had dragged an increasingly heavier train of memories with them.

"So," Anzu went on to say once the silence had lasted for long enough. "There'll be an event down at the plaza tonight."

"An event?" Yugi dutifully echoed whilst Honda nodded, obviously clued in on it already. "Duelling or regular?"

"Both."

"Will there be a tournament?"

After all, when it all came down to it, Yugi did have five days left of his vacation and there was really no telling when he would be able to have another one. In other words, he'd better enjoy it while he still could.

-.-.-.-

"Yugi."

"Kaiba."

"Yugi."

"Kaiba."

There was a definite sense of déjà vu in the way that Yugi, on the very last day of his vacation, found himself once more in the library and at the receiving end of Kaiba's disapproval.

"What's the meaning of this, Yugi?"

On top of Yugi's desk was a flier containing details on an upcoming tournament, hosted by none other than King Yugi himself. "It's for your birthday. Jonouchi's idea by the way."

On one hand, Kaiba seemed decidedly displeased about Yugi making such arrangements without consulting him and, to add further insult to injury, taking advice from the Mongrel in doing so.

On the other hand though‒ "He'll regret it and keep yapping about it."

"I'm sure he will," Yugi readily allowed, because he was just as certain about that as he had been about Kaiba not being willing to take part of any such thing if there was no merit.

Occasionally, the merit of making Jonouchi experience humiliating defeat was enough. This time though, Yugi had upped the stakes a bit.

"You'll regret it as well, Yugi," Kaiba announced, stalking away with ill-concealed satisfaction.

Putting the summoning contract of Obelisk up as the great prize in the tournament was a bit of a gamble, but‒

Kuriboh materialised next to him, crooning almost worriedly.

"It's alright," Yugi assured him quietly. "For once, I actually know what I'm doing."

Had Atem still been around to watch his actions and hear his thoughts, then he would quite possibly have disagreed. These were not ancient times though, and when it came to experience on the throne, Yugi himself had been king far longer than Atem had been pharaoh. When it came to dealing with emergencies however‒

Unlike the case with Atem, the years of Yugi's actual rule had proven deceptively peaceful. This was of course not to say that there hadn't been trouble brewing. It was definitely there, now more than ever, gradually darkening the horizon. Some of it stemmed from remnants of the pre-Yugi rule. Other actors though, like the Society of Light, were fairly new to the stage and far too proficient at manoeuvring just beneath the point where the court would be forced to intervene.

Of course, had Yugi realised just how much potential for trouble they had been from the very start, then he would probably have had them dealt with before they had managed to spread their influence all over the Duellist Kingdom and even into the Duellist Court itself.

"Hey, Kuriboh?"

There was an answering croon.

"Keep an eye on Kaiba. His affinity for Light Monsters might make him more susceptible than the rest of us."

After all, from the perspective of the Society of Light, getting Kaiba on their side would no doubt prove the ultimate offering; next to attaining the summoning contracts to the Three Phantom Gods, that is.

Kuriboh crooned again, asking a question.

Yugi flicked his hand slightly. Moments thereafter, the Black Magician and the Black Magician Girl materialised in the room, Mahado standing guard and Mana sitting on top of his desk, dangling her legs over the edge of it. He offered up no further explanation than that; no further explanation was after all needed.

With another croon, Kuriboh flitted off in direction of the door, fading from view.

"Keeping busy as always, milord," Mana quipped, giving the paper on his desk a cursory glance. "Using Obelisk and Lord Seto as bait."

"Mana, show proper respect to the Pharaoh."

Yugi and Mana both turned their heads to look at Mahado where he stood decked out in his purple armour with his arms folded across his chest but clutching his staff even so.

"Mahado."

"Pharaoh."

"We're in the Duellist Kingdom."

"Your Majesty."

"And I wasn't even born royal. Really, there's no need for formalities, least of all from you."

"Lord Muto."

"That's grandpa."

"King Yugi."

"Drop the title and we're set."

The effort was decidedly futile, considering the time that they had spent together, especially since Atem had left for the afterlife.

"So?" Yugi said at last, knowing from their continued presence that there were things to report. "Do tell me more about who I have recently agreed to sponsor."

-.-.-.-