I do not own Yugioh, as that's Konami's business. I do own my wonderful OC however!

Never Be late.

That had always been Carmines creed when it came to his inherited shop. Always arrive early to open, and be late to close, never the opposite. So when many a common folk saw said shop owner making a mad dash for who knows where, they only need hear his thoughts to understand.

"IM LATE!" Carmine thought. For the first time in only God knows how long he had slept in, and was consequently late, by a full hour nonetheless.

When he finally arrived to the shops location, he was surprised to find a line in waiting, few as it was.

"Bout time you got here!" One of the potential customers yelled out as he quickly began opening up the shop for the day.

"Sorry!" Carmine yelled back as the door opened.

"Rough night last night". He finished as he quickly zoomed around the shop, opening cases and setting the cash register for the day. His body wasn't the only thing zooming around however, his thoughts were to dashing like mad. When he said he had had a rough night, he believed it to be true, yet for the life of him he could not remember why. What he did remember was locking up his shop before making his way home… and then waking up this morning. Though he was sure SOMETHING had happened, he just could not but a finger on what. But as the day went on, he quickly found his thoughts drifting to other matters, things like business, cards, and most importantly…

"CARMINE!" yelled the thought in question, namely Leo.

"Hello Leo, no Dexter today?" I asked him as he made his way forward, though I mentally winced at my tone, something Leo caught as his progress slowed to a awkward shuffle.

"N-not today, h-h-he said he was busy". Leo stuttered out. I couldn't hold the sigh that escaped me at that moment.

"Leo-"

"I'M SORRY!" He suddenly wailed out. My only thanks was the shop's current emptiness besides us.

"I DIDN'T MEAN TO-!"

"LEO!" I yelled out, silencing Leo in one foul swoop. I quickly looked around the shop, before making my way over to shops door before closing it shut with the, "Be Back Soon" sign hanging on the door.

"Follow me". I told a confused Leo.

"Where are we going?" He asked, though still followed as I lead us to the back of the room to the metal door Leo had only been through once.

"Um, Carmine-".

"Listen Leo". Carmine said as the large door swung open to reveal the shelves of boxes and cards.

"While it was wrong of you to go snooping around my shop behind my back, I can't necessarily blame you for doing so". Carmine stated as he moved past the shelves to the second metal door in the back of this room.

"That being said, I still want an apology for breaking into my family's most private room". He said as he began to undo the lock placed upon the door.

"Im really sorry Carmine, I promise i'll never do it again!" Leo stated confidently, at least it was until you saw the tears in his eyes.

"Good, now it's my turn". Carmine stated as a loud click resounded throughout the room.

"Carmine?" Leo asked befuddled.

"While it's true that you had no place coming in here, I had no right to treat you the way I did, and for that I apologize". Carmine declared as he descended down the wooden stairs, Leo close behind.

"So in order to make things right I decided that I would properly show you my family's greatest secrets".

"Wait really?" Leo asked, sounding more concerned than surprised.

"Why not? You've already seen it after all, no point in hiding it. But I must make one thing clear Leo". Carmine said while turning to face Leo.

"You cannot tell ANYONE about this, not Dexter, not your parents, not a single soul, understand?"

"Of course, I promise Carmine". The child stated with the most serious tone Carmine had ever heard from Leo. At the declaration Carmine couldn't help but smile openly.

"Good, now come. I have an exhibit to present after all". Carmine stated as he made his entrance to the hall below.

As the torches lit themselves, exposing the hall in all its ancient glory, Carmine couldn't help but release a sigh of relief, seeing everything exactly were he left it, the three cards in separate pedestals standing in front of the broken Egyptian sarcophagus, the three items still stashed securely into the slots they belonged to.

"Behold Leo, the fabled Tomb Of The Pharaoh, with three out of the seven Millennium out to show". Carmine almost proudly stated with a gesture to the tomb.

"Whoa, that's so cool!" Leo exclaimed… before suddenly scratching the back of his head with a sheepish expression.

"Now if only I knew what any of that meant…" he said while trailing of embarrassed.

"In all honesty i'd be surprised if you even remembered a quarter of what I said, let alone knew this all before hand". Carmine finished with defeated sigh.

"So for now, just know these are super rare and very old rocks and baubles". Carmine stated halfheartedly.

"You got it!" Leo stated with a thumbs up, before looking over to the pedestals.

"So then, what are those? They almost look like duel cards". Leo asked as he walked over to them, Carmine following along.

"That's because they are Leo, these are after all the three Egyptian God Cards! The most powerful cards in all of duel monster history". Carmine finished with a flare, most discernibly proud of the subject at hand.

"Wait really?! I've never even heard of these cards, yet there the most powerful?! If so then why are they just sitting in your basement, and not like, you know in a deck kicking bad guy butt! And can I have one?" Leo rapid fired off.

"A, the reason you've never heard of them is because there thousands of years, dating to before the very creation of the Duel Monsters game we so know and love. B, the reason there sitting here is… complicated, and it would be best to leave it at that for know. And C, no". Carmine said to a disappointed Leo, finishing ticking of his list of Leo related question and answers for the second. Though to his surprise, Leo almost looked concerned a second later.

"Hey Carmine, when you say powerful, just how powerful are we talking about exactly?" Leo asked.

"Well…" Carmine said before squatting down in front of Leo, a serious expression on his face.

"Remember how I told you that the cards in the back of the shop were so rare and powerful that many would sell anything to get them?"

"Yeah, I remember". Leo stated confidently.

"Leo, if people would be willing to pay any price for those, then they would literally kill to get these". Carmine said with a grim tone.

"Wait really?!" Leo said, now extremely worried.

"Yes Leo, really. That is why you can't tell anyone, because if anyone were to know I had these… well it wouldn't be good". Yet as Carmine finished talking, Leo no longer looked scared, shaken perhaps, yet oddly… determined.

"I understand Carmine… well really I don't, I mean I know duel monsters is important and all, but to… kill, over it? Yet even if I don't really get it, I promise your secret is safe with me! Not even Santa Clause will know about this". He finished with a knowing smirk.

"I just entrusted both my store and possibly my life to a nine year old who still believes in Santa didn't I?" Carmine couldn't help but reflect.

"Alright then, well that's enough sight seeing for the day huh? Come on Leo, we've still yet to find you a card for your deck huh?" At my obvious implication, Leo instantly brightened up, the serious mood from before long gone, replaced by an eager determination.

"Really? You mean it!"

"Well duh, now let's get out of here". Carmine stated as he began to head back to the stairs, but was quickly overtaken by an energetic blur.

"Come on Carmine! Last one yup is a rotten egg!" The blur shouted, already halfway up the stairs.

"Yes". I thought with some measure of fondness.

"Yes I did".

"Leo!" I shouted out as I finally climbed the the stairs, only to find an empty room. Locking the door behind me, I exited the "Rare" room as I had taken to calling it, and was about to call out once more when I entered the stores main area, and was greeted by none other than Leo's father, Romeo.

"Ah! Hello there Carmine, i'm sorry for entering even though the sign said not to, but I needed to contact you and didn't know how else to, so I showed myself in, I hope that's all right?" Romeo stated with some embarrassment.

"Oh! It's no problem Mr. Romeo, I was just showing Leo some cards in the back and didn't want to have to worry about customers at the time, speaking of Leo-".

"Oh don't worry about that, I heard im making a ruckus from outside the shop, and told him to go wait in the car when I saw him seconds later after I entered. I wanted to talk to you privately after all". Romeo stated seriously.

"Oh? Well by all means, go right ahead". Camine stated, though inwardly he was slightly concerned. It wasn't everyday someone like Romeo came by and wanted to talk after all.

"Actually, it's a bit more of a personal request then anything".

"Really? For me?" carmine asked in surprise.

"Indeed, but to understand I need to explain something first". Romeo explained.

"Well, im all ears".

"Good, so first all you must understand that my and Juliet's work is very important, and as such we extensively travel the world for it. That being said, the nature of our work is not exactly the most… entertaining, and as such we often employed others to watch Leo and Luna while we were away-"

"Luna?" I couldn't help but ask, but at Romeo's surprised expression I quickly waved held up my hands in surrender.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, you were saying?" But Romeo quickly shook his head at me.

"No it's alright, i'm more surprised that Leo hasn't told you you yet after all… that being said it's a painful topic for the boy… for all of us". Romeo said sadly.

"You see, Leo has a sister, a twin to be more precise, named Luna. The two were very close, but then Luna suddenly fell into a coma almost a month ago during school, and hasn't awaken since".

"Oh my". I heard myself say, though mentally I was going through all the instance were Leo would suddenly get teary eyed, or sad, and like a giant puzzle the final piece finally clicked.

"I know it probably doesn't mean much, but im sorry". Carmine stated sullenly.

"Thank you, however now that you have the details it's time for my request". Romeo stated, once again shifting to serious mode.

"My wife and I leaving soon for what could easily be the most important business meeting in our careers, and at first we were simply going to hire a sitter like normal to watch over Leo while we were gone, however my wife brought up a suggestion I simply couldn't ignore. So what do you say carmine? Would you be willing to babysit for Leo while my wife and I went on our trip?" Romeo asked with a mixture of professionalism, and trepidation.

"I know it would mean the world to Leo if-"

"Say no more Mr. Romeo, I accept your request". Carmine gracefully cut in. Like he would answer any differently after all, he was fond of Leo, and now that he new about Leo's sister, well the choice was made for him in the end.

"Perfect! We can talk about specifics later if you wish?"

"Sounds good to me, how bout tonight? Carmine asked politely, though he hoped the nervousness from within wasn't showing, he had never done something like this after.

"Sounds good, we can talk details during dinner". Romeo decided.

Needless to say, it was the greatest feast Carmine ever had.

Hello peeps, and welcome back! Sorry I've taken so long, but hopefully i'll never be this late again in uploading. As for everything else… not much to say. I want to apologize to the Guest that left a review awhile ago, however I can't reply to guest reviews so… shout out I suppose? Other than that if you have any questions, or just want to let me know how much you enjoy the story, or anythings else that doesn't match the mentioned criteria, send me a review or PM me, and i'll respond as soon as I see the message! Other than that, Have a good rest of your day. Peace.