Author's Note: Sorry about earlier, apparently if I just do a straight copy+paste from word, things get weird...bad formatting! Ok, enjoy the chapter!

"So, Eliza, how are things going?"

Katsuye groaned and glared at Mai as Shizuka looked over at where Mai's voice came from. Her eyesight was bad at the moment, as bad as it had been in a long while, which meant Katsuye was using the last few days of her vacation to visit. School started soon, and with the newer, larger game store going up near the Kame Game Stop that Sugoroku ran, there was less chance of her really being able to get away to visit and try to make up for lost time.

"Eliza?" Shizuka asked, confused.

"It's from some movie," Katsuye told her, "My Fair Lady. Apparently one of the songs is about dancing."

"And your sister looked very happy after the dances," Mai told her, smiling as Katsuye felt her face go red with embarrassment, "I have some photos for you to look at, after the surgery is done."

Shizuka smiled at that, appearing happy to hear that her sister had been the center of attention for a good reason, and Katsuye groaned. "I can't believe you took pictures, Mai."

"I didn't. The professional photographer that the PR guy hired so we could get out information about the fundraiser and everything Mokuba set up took the pictures. They're really good...your sister looks very pretty."

Katsuye grumbled, mostly for show. She'd hated the makeup and everything they'd put her in, and she'd hated that Varon made a scene to try and get a 'date' with her. But she had the dress still, because it was a nice dress and she could always pull it out and look at it later on, when she was feeling the need to remind herself that she could look good, even if it was with a lot of effort.

It might also help to remind her that Kaiba was a gentleman and, despite being able to move well and fight pretty good, the guy couldn't dance to save his life, not until she'd whispered for him to think of it like really nice fighting and to focus his coordination on that. Then, he was fine. It was very…

I am not associating Kaiba with cute anything, she thought to herself, despite the fact that her mind easily supplied how cute he'd been when he was younger. She thought instead that he'd been very graceful after she'd mentioned the fighting thing, that he'd been able to talk to her a bit about how nice she looked, and had finally mentioned he was going to be in school because…

"What's wrong, Katsuye?" Shizuka asked, getting Katsuye's attention. She always seemed to know when Katsuye needed to be called back to reality, at least, even without her sight.

"School's starting soon, and Kaiba mentioned he has to go back."

Mai frowned at that. "He's running a business, he shouldn't have to go."

"They need him to go so he can take the exams. Even if his adoptive father was big on studying and forced him to learn a lot in a short period of time, the new shareholders group wants him to prove himself and at least take classes. If he can get into a university or take business classes as well, that will add to how things work."

Mai frowned at the news. "They're pushing him for that?"

"That, and they pointed out that Gozaburo Kaiba got all of his money from building, buying, and selling weapons. Since Kaiba has changed the company's image to that of an amusement park and game place instead, it means that they have to make changes in their images as well. Gozaburo Kaiba had a lot of the power and was a bit of a dictator - Kaiba's dictating to others what needs to be done, so he can focus on being the new figurehead and also on R&D. I guess he's better with that aspect than some of the others. But it means that the shareholders want him to make sure he can have the paperwork to back it up, and that he, ah…" Kaiba hadn't put it lightly, and it'd gotten a laugh out of Katsuye when she heard it, and even gotten him to chuckle a bit (she definitely did not think about how his chuckle had made his whole chest rumble and how being pressed against it had sounded and felt). "...basically he needs to work on his people skills. They're apparently very rusty."

Mai raised an eyebrow and Katsuye frowned at her. "What?"

"Are you glad that Kaiba-kun gets to be at school with you, at least until the exams?"

Katsuye frowned again, confused. "It's school, I'm glad we're there, but it's not like we hang out. And anyway, he'll probably be gone after the exams, there's no point in him staying."

Mai let out an exhausted sigh, getting both younger women to look at her in confusion. "I give up. Is Mokuba-kun also in school?"

"Yeah, he's still going to the school he started in. I guess Kaiba wanted him to make friends his own age, instead of just being kidnapper-bait or whatever."

Mai chuckled at that and looked a bit worried but hopeful. "Then I'm glad about that. He's far too serious for his age, he needs to be a kid for a bit longer."

"I'm glad that Mokuba-kun was able to raise so much money," Shizuka said, looking happy and smiling over at Katsuye, "and that you seemed to have so much fun."

"I doubt she had any sort of 'fun'," Kawai Koisaya said as she entered the room, glaring at Katsuye and Mai. Despite all that Katsuye had done, Koisaya still saw her as a failure, and Katsuye had gotten used to the glares and insinuations of what she was doing to have such help. It was another reason Sansone hadn't come to visit Shizuka yet, and one that always seemed to get Shizuka depressed.

Mai glared at Koisaya and said, "I thought you weren't going to interrupt for at least another," she checked her watch, "fifteen minutes."

"Shizuka needs to rest, and prepare for the surgery. I'm sure Katsuye can come and visit after that's all done...no need for her to overexcite Shizuka or do something stupid before a major operation, like she did before."

Katsuye didn't say anything, and neither did Shizuka. Katsuye had taken Shizuka to the ocean, after it became clear that Shizkua would start losing her eyesight and after a particularly bad argument between Koisaya and Sansone. The day had been long but worth the trouble that Katsuye got into, at least until Koisaya had decided to guilt-trip them both into never leaving again by saying that Shizuka had an important thing that day and Katsuye's 'carelessness' had caused it to be rescheduled. It had been one of the many things that had resulted in the divorce, and a reason that Katsuye had been left with her father instead of taken by Koisaya. Well, that and the fact that Katsuye looked more like Sansone, and had always fought against her mother's attempts to make her a 'proper lady', which normally didn't involve anything to help Katsuye's attitude, self-esteem, or general sense of wanting to be a proper anything besides being a good sister.

At least that failure had made it so Shizuka was praised, no matter what happened. Katsuye gave Shizuka a quick hug before heading out, not even bothering to bump Koisaya on the way out while Mai followed, looking upset.

"She's a bit of a bitch," Mai muttered as they left.

"She just doesn't like me, that's all." Katsuye told her as she checked the time. "I gotta get going...thanks for being here with me."

Mai gave her a smile and hugged her close before saying, "I'll drop you off. I have a date."

"I fear for that poor, poor man."

"I'm not that bad!"

Katsuye chuckled as they head out and she looked back at the hospital, hoping for the best for Shizuka.

Kaiba wants to avoid Yugi and Katsuye and their group, but he's in their class and not even reading a book can stop the noisy and friendship-oriented Masaki from trying to get him to join in on their talk about some new game center.

"I'm a bit amazed they even made such a decision," Kaiba finally said as they talked about the huge Clown Center or whatever that was moving in. He'd heard of the game center, and honestly, he didn't like it, "they so far have only made decisions about games and the like that have made sense. Moving in to go against a long-standing store, even if it's small, doesn't always work unless they want to cause them to go bankrupt in a day."

Yugi sighed. "My grandpa's still worried about it…"

"He shouldn't be, if saved his money in a smart way." Kaiba doesn't mention that the only reason someone would do something like that is if they had a grudge against the owner of those stores. Sugoroku Mutou was not always nice, and Kaiba wondered about his past, considering how much he knew about cursed objects and how he'd been able to find an ancient Egyptian puzzle with a spirit inside. Still, mentioning that to his grandson was not likely to be taken well.

Katsuye changed the subject easily, reporting that her sister's operation had been a success and now was going through recovery. Kaiba had smiled at the news, while Yugi had almost jumped up for joy. The rest had looked equally happy at the news, and Kaiba wonders if Mokuba has heard the good news yet or not.

His attention goes to Yugi again as one of the group goes to find out what the commotion is to one side. Yugi is apparently coming more and more into his own, despite how some of his clothing seemed more from Yami's side. Recalling the representation of himself in Virtual World, and what Mokuba had described, though, Kaiba could see piece of the two in the outfit, instead of simply the one person.

He also completely did not notice that Katsuye was now wearing a shorter skirt for the school outfit and looking upset over the whole thing. He did not notice it because that would make him about as bad as the new kid with the bad haircut and dice earring who was leering at her from where he stood in a gaggle of girls.

"Um, Kaiba?" Katsuye said, getting his attention as he pulled out the book he had brought to read, "I...thank you. For everything you and Mokuba did. It wouldn't have gone so smoothly with you both."

"You helped Mokuba, both during the Duelist Kingdom and during that time in the virtual world. I wanted to repay the favor." He glanced up at her. "We don't owe each other anything now, I suppose."

She frowns at him, as if trying to figure something out, before saying, "No. I guess that means we have to actually be friends."

He smiled at that as a new voice cried out, "You cheater!"

The group looked over with a frown at where the darker-haired guy who always hung around Katsuye was glaring at the new kid with the bad haircut. Now that Kaiba got a good look at him, he realized the man was that gaming genius that Black Crown had boasted about, the one who created games and the like. What was his name…?

"Honda, what did you go and do?" Katsuye said, getting her friend to look up at her before turning bright red in embarrassment.

"guy was showing off, and I...might have…"

Katsuye looked at him, then at the new kid, and then let out a long, depressed sigh. "It's sad when someone wants to show off so much they have to resort to gambling tricks to get attention."

That got the boy to glare at her as Kaiba came up and looked at the area. A dice container and two die were on the table, near the girls who were glaring at Katsuye for what she said, and he crossed his arm, muttering, "I see. Apparently the boy gets popular by running shell games. How...very like an attention-grabbing jerk."

"You didn't have to think up a name for him," Katsuye muttered as Yugi came up to look at the game as well, looking upset. Traces of Yami seemed to peek through as the boy glanced at Yugi and let out a snort.

"You always come and bully the new kid?"

"They didn't bully me," the white-haired kid said, his voice polite and almost quiet, "and we didn't have the best start, but at least I didn't try something so underhanded."

Katsuye and Masaki looked almost amazed at what the white-haired kid said, and Yugi looked upset over whatever he saw in the game, or whatever else the new kid was pulling. Honda glared at them all, his face still red, before saying, "Best two out of thr-OUCH!"

Katsuye had hit him upside the head, hard enough that his forehead nearly smacked against the table, and she turned to glare at the new kid. "What did he offer?"

The new kid smirked. "Whoever wins gets the other one as their slave for a week. I won, so…" he shrugged and looked her over in such a way that had Kaiba seeing red. "We can have a go, if you want to win his contract back, but if you lose, you can always accept the time that he already owes me."

Kaiba almost took a seat before Katsuye said, "I'm not playing a shell-game with some loser like you. Honda can pay off his own debts."

"Jounouchi!" Honda protested as Katsuye glared at him, silencing him. Kaiba glanced at her, then back down before saying, "I'll take you on."

The kid looked at him as Kaiba recalled his name was Otogi Ryuuji, and as he saw Yugi neatly switch with Yami for a brief moment, the darker version looking over at him with a questioning look before Yugi reappeared, looking confident but also worried about something.

"You're all idiots," Katsuye growled out, Kaiba glancing at her as he motioned for Honda to leave the seat.

"Trust me, it's not what you think," Kaiba told her, taking a seat and glaring at Otogi as he held up a deck of cards. Apparently they were playing a shell-game with cards instead of one with dice. "I prepared four aces," Otogi explained, showing off for the girls, "and they're face-down now. If you get two of the same color, then you win."

He glanced at the four and then back to Otogi, who was waiting for his move. The game was a bar bet, one that he'd never tried before, and he suddenly felt a presence at his side as Katsuye pulled up a chair and sat next to him before drawing a card.

"I never said you could play," Otogi said, though he looked almost gleeful that she'd joined in.

"You never said I couldn't," she argued back to Otogi, glancing at Kaiba knowingly, "besides, I'm guessing you want to piss off Yugi. Figured you needed a fair idea of what was going on."

Kaiba smirked as he saw Yugi continue to look worried. He glanced at the cards, noting that she'd given him less of a chance, but also knowing that his luck would be better, pulling the same color card, than her's.

Or, at least, a bit closer. He glanced at the three and at the overturned one - a red heart, before turning over one and smirking as he did.

"What do you know? We win."

Otogi glared at them and then snorted. "I guess I should've expected as much from Yugi's rival, though I'm a bit surprised you let his bitch draw first."

A firm hand kept both of them from standing, both looking back to see that Yami had come out, his eyes glaring at Otogi before he gave an answering smirk. "You want to play me so much, you only had to ask. So...let's play a game."

Katsuye stayed a moment longer than Kaiba did, looking up at him before slowly rising and moving the chair, waiting as Yami took a seat and said, "Let's make this game interesting...five cards, instead of four."

Kaiba waited, Katsuye shifting and looking a bit more confident as they did. Kaiba mentally calculated the odds and barely managed to blink or flinch at the realization, as he watched Otogi attempt to win against this new game.

It says something about the guy, that he can always win a set bar bet but that he loses so badly in a fair game.

After the second loss, Yami stood, his point already made as Otogi yelled, "You played a bar bet, didn't you?"

Katsuye snorted in disgust. "That's rich, coming from the asshole who was using bar bets to mess with us. The game is fair."

"No matter what happens, whoever pulls the Joker loses," Kaiba said, "but if neither pulls that card, then the game is a tie. It's better than the game you were playing against myself and Jounouchi…" He considers before leaning in to say, his glare leveled at the now-worried Otogi, "If I hear you saying anything bad about Yugi's friends or myself, remember that I own a corporation, and you just have one measly store. I can make sure it, and that sorry game you're thinking of marketing, is just a footnote in history."

The group walked back to their own area as the girls went to titter around Otogi, Masaki gushing over Yugi as Katsuye glared at Honda, who looked at least sheepish.

"Seriously, what the hell were you thinking?"

"It...seemed fair…"

"My ass it 'seemed fair'," Katsuye growled out, "I told you about enough of those that you should know better. How can you not know a bar bet and unfair game when you see it?"

Honda was silent and Kaiba glanced at him as the other boy's eyes went to Otogi, then back down. "Look, I said I was sorry."

"Showing off does not become you," Kaiba said as he pulled out his book, getting Honda to sputter in protest while Katsuye frowned at him, as if confused.

"Wait, I thought you and Miho were going good."

Honda muttered something else, and the rest of the break was spent with Katsuye and Honda having a heated, whispered debate before Yugi came over to look at Kabia. He sighed and glanced up over his book. "Had enough praise?"

"Yami did the work," Yugi said, looking a bit upset, "but I don't like it. You know who he is?"

"He's the game designer for Black Crown," Kaiba told him as Yugi took a seat, "beyond that, though, I don't know much." He paused again, "Are you going to the grand opening?"

Yugi nodded, looking a bit upset. "Jii-chan isn't going to be happy, though. He's mad about the competition."

"Depending on the game, it's not likely to be serious," he said, "he also has to compete with Kaibaland, remember?" Yugi was quiet a moment longer before Kaiba added, "I'm going there as well."

"To see if it's viable?"

"I doubt it. Otogi will probably try to keep it only in Black Crowns, but if it's interesting enough, he'll have to market it somehow. Having it be a secret thus far has allowed him to build up buzz behind it, but after the reveal, unless he can prove it to be as viable as, say, Duel Monsters or any other game, he'll end up having to bow his head and actually sell it to other groups."

Yugi is quiet, his eyes a bit unfocused, before he asks, even more quiet then before, "Did you threaten Otogi?"

"I did, mostly because he insulted me."

Yugi gave him a look and Kaiba finally closed his book to have a serious conversation. "Katsuye might be able to handle herself, but that will not stop me from at least offering my support. As I said, we don't owe each other anything, meaning we can be friends. If I'm right, friends don't let others insult them."

Yugi finally smiles as that, obviously happy, before saying, "We're going over to the store around 9am, so we can be in line for the opening. Katsuye should be there about 10:30...she has work, so she might be a bit late."

Kaiba is quiet a moment before he says, "You're inviting me to come with your group?"

"Anzu has dance practice, so right now it's just Katsuye and Yami and me," he says, shifting a bit, "Honda might be able to come, and Bakura said he might also, but neither are really sure. Plus…" he's quiet a long moment, as if listening to something, then says, "Yami wants you to come as well."

"Why?"

"He said he's not sure what's going on with Otogi, and he knows he'll call us out. If he's playing a new game, he knows you'll be interested in seeing it and some of the features. Also, he wants you to make sure no one goes after Katsuye. She can protect herself, but he also worries about someone attacking her suddenly."

Kaiba considered a moment before nodding. "I'll be there, then. Perhaps my presence will cause enough of a scene that Otogi will think twice about being a menace."

Yugi is quiet a bit longer and frowns at him. "Yami said you're thinking something else. He's worried too...Otogi wouldn't have been so bold if he wasn't being pushed into something."

Kaiba nods in agreement. "I can see what I can find, and we'll talk tomorrow."

The line is long, even at 9am, and Mokuba is hoping to try and see the front of the line while Mai Kujaku and Varon, who stand in front and offered to 'babysit' on their 'date', chat. Varon gets Mokuba up on his shoulders and cheering as Kaiba glances at Yugi. He's in something besides the school uniform, and it suits both personalities, yet again. It's odd, considering the conflicting viewpoints in some things, but it's nice to see that they both can work in harmony and that Yugi is comfortable enough to dress as such. He's wearing a black, long-sleeve shirt with dark jeans and a light vest over it, and the chain around his neck and connecting to the Puzzle makes him look a bit unique.

"Otogi is a name connected to your grandfather's," he finally mutters, Yugi stiffening at the mention, "your grandfather had a reputation as the King of Games, before this."

"What happened?"

Kaiba is silent a moment. "Officially, Otogi wanted to work under your grandfather. Neither lost, but there were rumors about Otogi using...underhanded methods. It was never proven because your grandfather could play the same game and also win or lose, so there was no way to see if he was cheating or not. But one day, he disappeared."

Yugi is quiet before whispering, "Jii-chan...he said he didn't know anything about it, but he's been very unhappy about it."

Kaiba considers before saying, "Whatever happened, shortly afterwards your grandfather retired from being the King of Games. He came back and started a business, and whatever had happened was lost. No one is sure of what happened, exactly…" Kaiba pauses, considering what else he'd heard. "However, at least one person said that Otogi challenged your grandfather to a game called Devil's Chess." He adds, "Also, Otogi Ryuuji never attended normal school before yesterday - he was homeschooled, for the most part."

He heard Yami's voice, though Yugi was still in charge for the most part. "You think this is all an elaborate set-up for revenge?"

"Cliche as it may be, though I have little room to be casting stones, even if the Death-T stage is now set up to not involve anything dangerous. But I do believe that he will try something." He looks up at the building and the store in general. "Be careful. I don't like this."

Yugi nodded as Katsuye raced up, Mai turning and letting out a sigh. "You could've taken the day off."

"You could've not brought Varon, but here we are."

"Hey!"

"Katsuye-chan!" Mokuba yelled happily from his spot, getting down and racing over to hug her. "I heard about Shizuka-chan, I'm glad she's doing better! Can we go visit her after this? Do you know what's going on with the whole D.D.D thing? Nii-san says it's probably something new or some board game or something."

"It's probably dice, knowing the guy," Kaiba mutters, getting Katsuye to look over at them and give them both a smile. Apparently, despite what happened yesterday, she's fine with the protection. He supposes she'd only be angry if it went overboard.

"Everyone's here right now...but there's no real announcement about the event or anything," Yugi said, getting everyone to look around. Kaiba had to admit, that was odd - even when KaibaLand opened, he had held events and the like. Major events with Monster Chess and Duel Monsters took place there as well, so having next to no information about the game, beyond that you could get the starting pieces for it, was very odd.

What do the Otogis have planned?

The surge of kids going after the new game was massive, but that didn't stop the group from staying together. Mokuba quickly got on Varon's shoulders, allowing them to navigate and wade through the mass of people. Yugi stays close to Katsuye, his friend appearing upset at the crowd and muttering about how easy it would be for her to pickpocket someone in the area. Kaiba, though recognizable, isn't approached by anyone, which seems to put him ill at ease as well.

When security suddenly grabs him, Katsuye is quick to try and follow, but the continued sea of people, as well as security grabbing her and leading her the other way, makes Yugi suddenly very frightened. He struggles, trying to figure out what's going on and why he's being treated like a criminal.

His heart rate skyrockets when the man with the black clown mask takes the Puzzle, and while there isn't a sound or a feeling of his other self being gone, Yugi can feel the distance, the fact that he can't easily call out to his other self or even sense his presence in his heart anymore.

But...the distance never grows, even when he's taken and throw into a dark room, and when Otogi appears and challenges him to a game. He blinks, surprised as he looks over at him, at everything, and realizes something very quickly.

I have to beat them...if I want to get my other self back. I have to win.

Even though this was a game that Otogi had created, Yugi had to focus and win. Even if he had to only guess at the game and what he had to do, if Otogi was like the others he and his other self had to face, he'd do his best to explain things in order to show Yugi how 'weak' and 'pathetic' he was.

I don't fight these battles often…I hate them, I hate these fights, I hate them all…but he would deal with it, and fight with all of his ability.

I have to get my other self back. I have to get the Puzzle back…and I have to win in order to do that.

Yugi was not as proud as his other self, or as able to face enemies in the same confidence that he could. He couldn't look at a board and guess the strategy needed, but after what happened with the Dragon Cards, and with Pegasus, he could face Otogi.

This isn't about my soul, it's about his, and I will protect him like he's protected me.

Bakura frowns as he notices the dark shape around the doorway to the Black Crown game store. He had been slowly regaining strength, slowly testing his limits against the soul that remained as part of Bakura Ryou, and now that he could feel the resonance of another Millennium item, he wondered about it. Apparently, the King in the Puzzle was not as well-protected as he thought.

Though maybe he is, Bakura thought as he noticed the figures moving in the darkness. At least one was a griffin, the other he couldn't tell and almost didn't want to, before there was a hissing noise and a dark voice muttered, "What do you want, Thief?"

He paused, because he knew that voice, and it made him frown when the face and name didn't come to his mind so immediately. He knew little about himself, save that he was within the Ring and that had happened because of the same event that had trapped the King in the Puzzle. After seeing the Eye, he knew that there were no other spirits trapped, but didn't know how he had that information. He knew the Eye had caused him problems and was prone to creating mental instability, as well as granting wishes in a way that was more a curse than a wish. He knew that, if he attempted to use the Eye on Bakura Ryou or pull power from it, he could easily be overpowered by Shadows and his own dark desires.

He also knew that the person inside the darkness was connected to the Items, but in a way that he couldn't name because they didn't have an Item. "The King is in danger."

"You make it sound like his existence doesn't place him in danger, as it does all kings and queens," the person said, without bothering to turn around, "But this trial is for his protector and the one who wishes to be near him, not for the King himself. I suggest you turn back."

He considers it, possibly for a moment too long, because there's a dark, deep growl and hiss at the same time, and he takes a step back in fear when he sees the outline of the chimera in the shadows.

"I'm not giving you another chance, Thief. You've had too many. Now run away."

He did, looking back briefly as he heard some of the men come out to stop her before there was silence. A vague memory called to him, and he whispered, "So…the one whom Evil trembles before has shown themselves. This proves to be more interesting and far harder than I anticipated."