Chapter 3 - Back to Life

Yume can hardly believe her eyes and ears. Really, none of her senses seem all that reliable.

Is she dreaming? She must be dreaming. She has to be. Because what she is seeing and hearing have only ever happened in her dreams. So it must be one.

Youko… Youko is smiling. She's laughing. With another child her age.

It's a miracle. It is nothing less than a miracle, and she will do everything to keep it.

"Yakumo, Mr. Bakura. I do not care what it will take. Youko and Hinata will be best friends," she says, grabbing her husband's arm, once Amane has been calmed down after her tantrum.

"I was just about to say the same!" exclaims Marie. "Look at them! They're so… they're so happy," her voice breaks, tears welling up in her eyes. Well, as happy as Hinata can show. It's not much, but it's so much more than she's ever expressed in months.

It's beautiful. It's the most beautiful thing in the world.

Even if they're going to have to teach Amane that they couldn't possibly have ruined her block fort on purpose. They're too little to do anything like that. Right?

She doesn't care what it'll cost or take, these girls will be best friends and see each other everyday if it's what gets them to be human and happy, to at least react to things.

"How's the house market around here?" Marie asks, turning to Yume. She can see her husband pale out of the corner of her eye, but doesn't pay too much attention. He will help her do this, come hell or high water.

"No- now dear, isn't that a bit drastic?" He asks nervously. Osamu is all for a happy daughter and family again, but moving all the way to Domino?

Marie turns fiery eyes on him. He knows that look. He's going to lose. Maybe not today… but soon.

"Osamu…" she says, her voice sharp and deceptively calm. "Don't you want our baby to be happy?"

He swears his heart stops for a moment. He's in trouble. He is in so much trouble with the wife. He has to deescalate the situation quickly.

"Of course I do, my dear," he stammers. He can see Yakumo and Solomon stifling their laughter out of the corner of his eye. They're so going to get it. "But… isn't this a little drastic? What about Amane's school? And my job back in Kyoto?"

"I heard from father that there's an opening at Tokyo University," Yakumo says 'helpfully'. "Since Itamaia-san is retiring. Isn't that right?"

Solomon nods with a large grin. "It is! Very nice department - don't you remember, Bakura? You studied there for a bit, if memory serves me right".

Almost everyone in the archaeology society - heck, the academic society in general - know that for an old man, Solomon Mutou is still sharp as a tack. So of course he knows that Osamu remembers. Old man Mutou knows everything. Somehow. He hates both Mouto men right now. He really does. Throwing him under the bus like this, he will get them back for this. One day.

But not now. Not while Marie is looking so happy, because Hinata is finally showing some kind of positive emotion.

But one day, they're going to get it.

He's sure he could get Yume in on buying a few bottle of pink hair-dye or something. Or putting a strategic red sock in a load of white laundry. Or just throwing them under the bus in return when the time comes. Always fear the wife and her rage.

You can never escape the wife and her rage.

Marie is up to something. Hinata is sure of it. She's been smothering her less, muttering things under her breath less, stares at her less.

Instead, she's happy to the degree that it's creepy. Like she's a maniac. Giggling, smiling, off in lala-land.

"Why, oh why, couldn't I have been re-born in a family with a normal, sane mother?" She thinks to herself.

She's not quite sure which Marie disturbs her more really. The one in denial or the one that's so happy she's practically skipping.

Based on the agonized looks on Osamu's face, she knows she's not the only one who thinks so. And from what he tells her when he dresses her, she's partly to blame, for some reason.

"You just had to go and start getting happy the second you met the little Mutou girl, didn't you?" He pokes playfully at her stomach. She allows it. Somehow, she feels like she owes him this much, after all the grief she caused. "You couldn't just be happy and make friends with your big sister - the convenient first friend. No, you had to go and latch on to a girl who lives in Domino City, you little demon".

Hinata latches onto a finger and just looks at him. He smiles.

"My odd, little girl," he says, patting her head. "So sad all the time… but we love you all the same. I hope you'll get better soon".

Hinata stares at him thoughtfully. He's such a strange man. But he cares. She starts a little when she really looks at Osamu. "He's so young." She thinks. It takes her a moment to realize that he's probably around her age if not a little older, the same with Marie.

"When did these people start having kids?" She wonders. Going by Amane's age, her guess is they're at least 28-30.

She applauds their dedication to their relationship - having kids at 22 isn't exactly a young age, but it's not old either. And they decided they wanted more.

They wanted her to be born.

She blinks in shock at the thought.

Of course they wanted her to be born, all parents do with their children. But it's still…..warming to realize.

"They're good people." She decides. Even if they're odd. She'll never see them as her parents, and she won't call them as such. But she can respect them. For dealing with her, for caring for her, and for raising her.

And with that realization… slowly, her life falls into a routine that isn't just feeling depressed and sleeping.

Over the next several weeks, maybe a few months even, they take many trips to see the Mutou family.

They take turns going to the park, or the zoo, or one of the family houses. Regardless of where they go, they always meet up for play dates.

Marie and Yume get along swimmingly. They're fast friends. Hinata is thankful, it means there's someone else for Marie to focus on than just her.

And Youko isn't exactly bad company, either. Better company than she's had since… well, since she was born again. They're both roughly the same age (Youko is older - she knows, because the little troll was smiling smugly throughout her entire birthday party, and Osamu and Marie were talking about how they had a few more months until the "terrible twos"), but she also shows behaviour that's way more advanced than what is normal.

Hinata knows that too. She sees the books on child behaviour that Osamu keeps looking through. Sees him showing them to Yakumo on occasion. She figures they'll assume Youko and herself are prodigies or something.

She doesn't care. Let them think what they want. Best case scenario, she won't be stuck in pre-school purgatory for as long as she feared. (Though the Japanese school system is vastly different, and much more difficult to maneuver, than the one she was used to… maybe pre-school would be more of a challenge, anyways). She hopes it is or else she'll go crazy from boredom, she's pretty sure Youko would too.

What she doesn't know is… how. How exactly is Youko doing all those things? How is an ordinary 2 year old (smug little bastard) keeping up with someone like her, who has an adult mind? How is this toddler somehow on the same wavelength as her, when it comes to what is funny and interesting? She doesn't care too much for the silly games the kids on the playground engage in - instead, she's much more interested in the puzzles her grandfather presents them with. And although she watches the kids cartoons, so does Hinata. (She's getting to watch her childhood again, she's gonna enjoy it and be nostalgic, damn it. It was hard to find any of her childhood shows and toys as she got older. She's gonna make sure they're saved this time around)

Oh, and pokemon. She's so going to get all of the pokemon related stuff she can, now that she's in Japan. Nothing will stop her. She'll throw as many tantrums as she has to if necessary. Screw her dignity. Almost nothing is beneath her at this point.

Fortunately, it doesn't seem she'll have to. Grandpa Mutou loves to spoil her and Amane, as much as he loves spoiling his biological granddaughter. It seems that they've been unofficially adopted as one big family now. Hinata's pretty sure that Grandpa doesn't mind that at all.

Neither she, nor Amane, mind that at all, either. And if she had fears, once, that Youko would become jealous once she realized this, she has none now. As usual, Youko is incredibly mature about everything. No tantrums, aside from the infamous ones she's heard their parents whisper about - the ones that, eventually, would lead Osamu to seek out the Mutous for help on understanding her own condition.

She wonders what that was about… what could have made her new friend lash out in such a manner? She seems so happy- okay, she cackles like an evil maniac but still. She hasn't done anything to act out, not even cry. So Hinata truly wonders what happened to Youko and what had changed for her.

Maybe… maybe meeting each other wasn't just good for herself, but Youko too. Maybe they've just both been longing for a friend who might one day understand.

As unlikely as that is… Hinata allows herself a moment of hope. Just this once.

Life is better.

Youko wouldn't quite call it good yet, but… it's better. Mostly due to Hinata Bakura.

She's an odd girl. Very quiet. But a fellow troll.

She likes her.

She may just be another 1 year old (not yet two, Youko has that over her, and she knows it bothers her), but she's a clever one. An entertaining one.

So yeah. She likes her.

She's really glad they met. Youko is pretty sure she would have been so bored and gone stir crazy with no friend to hang out with. It's nice to have a fellow troll around. As fun as it is listening to her grandpa's stories, nothing beats messing around with someone who gets it. Gets her specific type of comedy.

She doesn't know how Hinata gets it. She just does. And she is so, very happy that she does.

Nothing, yet, gives her greater joy than doing things that make people second guess themselves and confuse them. Like when someone makes an innuendo and no one is sure if they even realize it or not.

She's happy that she's finally got someone to connect with. Even if there's a bit of a gap between their mental ages, she'll latch on to whatever she can that stimulates her mind. Puzzles, story-time where she can follow the words, making sneaky traps for the other kids in the playground with her new best friend… the list is growing. Which is a relief. She'd been afraid that she would run out of things to keep her entertained and her mind stimulated.

And then Hinata "gift-from-the-flipping-gods" Bakura entered her life.

Her mother may be crazy, her father weak to his wife and her older sister annoying in the way most 6-7 year olds are, but she's still a gift. Finally, a kindness from the gods who screwed her over. Royally.

One day, while she's watching a Japanese version of Blue's Clues, she hears her mother talking excitedly on the phone. She assumes it's Marie Bakura that she's talking to, and is about to tune her out when she picks up what her mother is saying.

"You got the house?! That's amazing, Marie! Oh, it'll be so wonderful to have you live closer to us - now the girls can meet up all the time, and go to school together and-"

"Hinata's moving to Domino?" She thinks, excitement bubbling up inside her. That is good news. That is very good news. It's great news. She laughs happily. Finally, she won't have to be alone as often anymore! They'll be able to have so much fun!

Something more bubbles inside her. Like something's finally clicked into place. And instead of laughing again, a loud "Hina-chan!" comes from her throat. A cheer of happiness.

Her first real words.

She can see that Yume stills and goes quiet. "Just a moment, Marie… I think… I think something amazing just happened".

Youko is suddenly face-to-face with her mother, who is looking at her very seriously. "Youko-chan," she whispers. "Did you just speak?"

Something in her wants to just stay quiet. But on the other hand… it's nice to be properly verbal again, so she smiles and repeats herself: "Hina-chan! Hina-chan!"

Then Yume is crying and rushing back to the phone. "Marie! Marie, it's beautiful. Youko just spoke - she did! And guess what? She said 'Hina-chan', happy as can be. I… I'll have to call you back. Yes, it's wonderful. Solomoooon! Youko just said her first words!"

She seems unusually happy about this. Youko gets that she just spoke for the first time, but she didn't think it was that big of a deal.

She tries getting a better feel for her new voice, repeating Hinata's name over and over. Strangely, it feels a little… rough. Like there's an itch, or something frayed in her throat.

Like when you try to clear your throat but that weird feeling of something there remains. She tries humming and while it doesn't hurt, there is an odd feeling in her throat that won't go away. Since she had never really done any talking before, she had never registered it. She had on some level known if was off, she laughed and cackled a lot in the last few months

Her mother doesn't like it. And when she's taken to the doctor a few days later, she knows why. Apparently, her non-stop screaming had done permanent damage to her vocal chords. At least, permanent at the moment. She gets lost when they discuss her options for surgery in the future. They start speaking way too fast for her to follow as her mother gets more distressed.

While Youko isn't pleased by the rasp she has to her voice, she doesn't mind it. She figures she'll either get better and it will go away, or that she will have it the rest of this life. So there's no point in fussing or losing sleep over it.

It's her new voice. She might as well embrace it as it is.

It doesn't take long before other words join Hinata's name in her rapidly expanding vocabulary. It's a lot of basic stuff - Mama, Papa, Grandpa, puzzle (Solomon had been extremely pleased at that one) and various items and foods.

(It seems, even in this life, that she has a very bad sweet tooth. And while she's not a fan of raw fish or many main food courses, they have many foods that she doesn't mind.)

She notices that the Bakura's don't come around for almost a month, in which time she's assuming that they're moving into their new house. She can't wait to see Hinata again, can't wait to see her reaction to Youko speaking.

In that time, she practices like crazy. She wants to say hello to Hinata, wants to ask her questions - the most important one being to formally ask her "want to cause trouble?". To make her her official partner in crime.

She cackles whenever she thinks about it. They'll be the best partners ever.

The new Bakura home is a pleasant looking one. Two floors, painted white, a mix of traditional and western style. And unlike the Mutou residence, it's got a garden, much to the joy of parents and children alike. It may be small, but there's room for a sandbox and a little swingset which is all they could ask for.

It's not that far from the game shop, either, just a few blocks really. So visits will be much easier and more often.

After a long month of moving and unpacking, the Bakura family is finally moved into their new home. To celebrate, the Mutou's are coming over to see the place and catch up on what had happened in the last month.

Yume is beside herself with joy. She had told Youko that morning what they would be doing and her daughter had laughed joyfully and started saying "hina-chan" over and over. It brings tears of joy to her eyes. Her baby girl was doing so much better. She didn't know who, but whoever it was that brought the Bakura's into their lives, she was eternally grateful. Youko has been bouncing up and down and practically buzzing with excited energy since she learned their plans for the day. Yume has to resist talking like a baby to here, Solomon insisted that Youko is smarter than they think and understands them, they should talk to her as if she were an adult and understood. Even if it feels odd.

And now there they are. In front of the new Bakura home. Youko is squirming in her spot in Yakumo's arms, but they can't have her running off before the door is open. There are cars around, and she could get hurt.

Then the door opens and there's a delighted little shout from a new voice.

"Yow-ko-chan!"

The pronunciation is slightly off, but it's most definitely Youko's name from Hinata Bakura's mouth, and then Yakumo has to put her down, because Hinata has slipped away from her mother and is rushing towards them.

Youko speeds off, almost singing "Hinata-chan!" over and over again, until they collide and jump around in a sort of happy dance.

Yume has to try very hard not to cry, because her daughter is happy and laughing and smiling and so cute that it hurts. She looks to see Marie is in no better condition than she is. It probably means even more to Marie, seeing as Hinata had been silent and depressed compared to Youko's screams and cries. Yume's smile falls a little, she feels the guilt well up as she hears the rasp on her daughter's voice. She pushes it away for now though, this is supposed to be a happy time.

It's not long before the two toddler best friends and Amane are running around the little patch of grass in a game of tag. The girls keep talking and laughing and just speaking. As if they're having a competition of who has learned the most words, or maybe the most difficult. Hinata looks incredibly proud to speak an entire sentence - it may be short, but it looks like it's a major victory for her.

Though when the two eventually stop running and start whispering, Yume feels her mom-senses start tingling.

"They're up to something," she tells Marie and Osamu, from where she's seated by the kitchen table, from which she can see right into the front yard. "My mom-sense are telling me so".

Yakumo snorts. "Please, Dear, they're two. What could they get up to?"

Yume really hates that her husband travels so much, sometimes, because he doesn't even realize half of what those two got up to, before they were verbal. Now that they can communicate with actual words...

"We are going to have no peace now are we?" Osamu asks with a resigned tiredness.

"Nope," Solomon says with a barely hidden grin. "They're going to do great things".

A loud shriek of rage has them looking at the children to see an enraged Amane fall over into the sandbox. Youko and Hinata are standing deceptively innocently a few feet away, grinning like a bunch of loons.

Osamu looks at Solomon with an incredulous expression. "Great things my ass Solomon." He deadpans. "They're going to end up in jail, more likely. Or detention, for starters, once they reach school age".

"My money's on them ruling the world with their closest friends one day as benevolent and much loved and kind gods and goddesses," Yakumo adds with a snicker.

"I believe that I'll go sort things out!" Solomon says hurriedly and moves quickly towards the girls. Osamu and Yakumo watch confused before looking at their wives. Their wives who look very mad and not amused.

"This is not the first time they've done this sort of thing - by far!" Marie sighs, leaning her head on her hand. "Amane is convinced they're doing it on purpose. I'm beginning to believe it's true".

Both men sigh in relief when they see that their wives aren't mad at them.

"Now Marie, they're so young, surely they don't know better."

"Youko can unlock her baby-gate and get to the shop on her own," Yume groans. "And I'm pretty sure she's trying to learn how to read".

"Hinata, too! I have never seen a two year old sit still for so long, it's insane!" Maries adds, looking like the textbook definition of frustration given physical form.

Their frustrated rants are interrupted when Solomon entering the kitchen, the youngest members of the two families held securely by their collars like kittens. "These two have something to explain," he tries (and fails) to say sternly. Instead it comes out in a mix of disappointment and amusement.

"We're so-so-sorree for knocking Ama-nee-chan into the sand," says Hinata, trying to look innocent.

Youko doesn't even bother. She's grinning like a loon and cackling. "Was fun!" She giggles, resulting in Hinata also breaking into snickers of her own.

The wives shoot their husbands "see what we mean" looks.

"And why did you decide that tripping Amane into the sandbox was fun?" Osamu asks.

Both girls look at each other before looking back at their parents. "She fell by herself. We didn't trip her." Youko says slowly, like she's trying to say each word and not mess up. Hinata nods along to what Youko says from where she hangs in Solomons grip.

"We just made her chase us, and then she couldn't react on time, when we turned by the sandbox," says Hinata, just as carefully.

"It was an accident," they declare in unison.

And like that, the Mutou and Bakura families know that those words are going to be repeated an endless amount of times in the future. Said in just the same innocent manner, with the same little smiles and barely hidden snickers.

"We've created little monsters," Yume sighs in defeat, once the girls have gone to the living room to make-up with Amane and watch some cartoons.

Something less… creative to stimulate their advanced sense of humor.

Amane sits on the couch, pouting out of anger as she watches the cartoon on tv. Youko feels slightly bad for making her so mad, she shares a look with Hinata and sees she feels the same, if slightly less so. Hinata is still not as alive and happy as she could be, but she's getting there.

Still… they need to fix this. Youko has come to value family a lot, now that she's lost hers once before.

"Ama-nee," she says, and climbs up on the couch next to the older girl. "Ama-nee, are you still mad?"

Amane frowns and ignores them. Yes, still mad.

Hinata joins them on the couch with Youko's help - then Amane's, when she sees the two struggling.

"We're sorry, Ama-nee-chan," Hinata says, leaning against her older sister. "We just… ordinary games are boring".

"We didn't mean to make you mad though." Youko adds as she snuggles into Amane's other side.

Amane finally sighs and reaches her arms out to hold tightly around the two. Then she grumbles: "I so knew you two were doing all of that on purpose all those times, but Mommy and Daddy didn't believe me".

Hinata giggles, wriggling her way into Amane's lap. "Ama-nee is our favorite," she says, hugging her around the neck. "So much more fun than the adults… 'cept maybe Grandpa Solomon".

Youko nods eagerly, "Grandpa is the bestest!" She proudly exclaims. She can faintly hear him say "of course I am!" from the kitchen.

Everything feels nice in that moment. They're all warm and happy and cuddling and there are cookies baking in the oven.

She's happy. She is genuinely happy and content in that moment.

Hinata yawns, and Ama-nee begins to nod, ever so slowly. Her own eyes feel heavier by the second.

Then Amane is gone, and with her, the lovely warmth. That won't do. She crawls across the couch and gives Hinata a little shove. "Move".

Hinata glares balefully at her before moving to make room. Then Amane returns, carrying a blanket and fluffy pillows. All three girls end up in a pile of bodies and limbs, sleeping soundly and contentedly.

In that moment, Youko decides before being claimed by sleep, life is good.

Life is very good.

A/N:

Well looky here, look what we got written and done in 2 days. The next chapter! Welcome back to CitG my duckies!

Nordic and I had so much fun writing this chapter. It was hilarious coming up with new ways for the girls to be such massive trolls.

Here we get to see some time passing and the girls growing a bit. We see their poor families realizing what they're in for with the girls and how there will be little peace for them really. At one point, I slipped in a minor reference to an AU idea Nordic and I have come up with for CitG. I wonder if you can spot it. ;)

We get to see the moms happy and doing better and being best friends. The poor dads clueless and resigned to appeasing their wives. And Grandpa being an amused enabler who loves his grandkids.

Not much else to say or add really. Plot wise there wasn't much progression. But we did get to see more of their families and interactions and have you connect more with them all.

Uhh…..shoutout to all of the views we've had and all of our current followers and faves and our new follow (Phantomhowl). We've gotten one 'review' so far. PLEASE REVIEW YOU GUYS! We'd love to hear from you all and know what you think!

Thanks again to the amazingly talented and lovely Moirei for Beta-ing for us, as always :)

That's about it really…thanks again for reading you guys and we'll see you next time on Caught in the Game!

Counting Sinful Stars

A/N:

So here we are again. It's been such a pleasure. (Portal 2, anyone?)

Welcome back, everyone, to the next chapter of Caught in the Game! In which meddling mothers are determined that their girls become best friends, only to have it backfire when they reveal themselves to be massive trolls XD

Stars and I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. In many ways, our friendship is like that of Youko and Hinata - two trolls, memeing it up and causing all sorts of mischief. Because we're awesome like that.

Osamu and Yakumo are caught in their wives schemes and can only nod and say "yes, dear" to it. And Amane becomes the favorite victim of the girls' pranks. It's all okay, because they love each other in the end.

Other than that, the girls are finally verbal. As a little tidbit, Yume is excited that Youko is speaking, because she's actually a bit of a late-speaker. (I went and checked several sources on speech development in children. Youko should've spoken before she turned 2). And that little rasp on Youko's voice is going to be there forever.

There isn't really much else to say about this chapter. Life moves on, and the girls come to accept their new positions. Grandpa is an enabler who thinks the shenanigans of the little ones are cute, and he uses it as an excuse to start them on puzzles. He will have his prodigies. Let the love of puzzles spread!

That's it for me for now! See you guys next time, and thanks for reading "Caught in the Game"!

NordicTwin

Edited/Beta by Moirei

Finished & Published May 16th, 2017