"Shokunin-san, what if my grandpa's soul wasn't released from the Shadow Realm?" Yugi asked worriedly, standing outside the hospital where his grandfather was being cared for. "I mean, Mokuba was right there, and we could know immediately if Pegasus had followed through with his agreement to free his soul, but..."
Harry sighed as the shorter teen trailed off. "Muto-san, in the unlikely event that Peggy somehow pulled a double-cross under my nose, I can go to the Shadow Realm and bring your grandfather back myself. It would have been easier if I had the same Item that he'd been banished with, but I'm perfectly capable of retrieving an illegally banished soul with my Ring," Harry answered firmly.
"Illegally banished?" Jounouchi asked, confused.
"Banishing souls at all should be illegal," Anzu commented sourly.
Honda nodded a firm agreement.
Harry shook his head. "It would take too long to explain," he dismissed, but looked down into Yugi's eyes. "But you'd better take the time to learn anyway," he advised. "Not from me though, I've got enough on my plate. School, cram-school, supervising the running all my family's businesses, and I've got to bring Industrial Illusions into the fold and work on that merger with the Kaiba Corporation," he listed, counting it off on his fingers.
"But if you won't teach me -" Yugi began to protest.
"I learned everything I know from the spirit that's trapped in the Millennium Ring. Learn from your Puzzle. There's a spirit in there too, isn't there?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.
Yugi's desperate frown faded into an assured smile, and he nodded. "You're right," he agreed.
"So, shall we go and see Muto-oji now?" Harry suggested.
Those around him nodded, and, when Yugi saw his grandfather standing there in the lobby, practically threw himself at the old man.
~oOo~
When they left the hospital, Harry's house was in the same approximate direction as the Kame Game Shop, so he agreed to walk with them until they had to part ways. That had been the plan anyway, but then...
"Are you Muto Sugoroku?" demanded a pig-tailed little girl, finger pointed at the old man.
"I am," he agreed. "And who might you be?" he asked, a great deal more politely than the girl had.
"Who might I be?" she asked, suddenly sweet. "I might be Rebecca," she answered. "And I might have just arrived in town," and then she soured. "And I might have been waiting for you to show up! It's not nice to keep a lady waiting you know!"
"It's not sensible to expect people to arrive in time to meet you when you did not contact them ahead of time to expect you," Harry countered smoothly, stepping past the group of friends and the old man to stand before the child. Like a gentleman, he took one of her hands in his and bent over it, ghosting a breath across her skin in substitute for a kiss. "Nor is it polite to scold them for a breach of etiquette when you are performing one yourself," he scolded suavely.
"I can't tell," Jounouchi said quietly to Anzu. "Is Shokunin-san flattering the brat or tellin' her off?"
Anzu shook her head, unsure herself.
"Now," Harry said as he released her hand and straightened once again. "What was it that you wanted to speak to Muto-oji about?"
Sugoroku nodded. "I admit to being curious," he allowed, a smile on his face. "What is it that you want from me?"
"My card back!"
It was a rather stunning answer, and understandably, Sugoroku was in need of some clarification.
"I beg your pardon?" he asked, stunned and confused.
"You've got my Blue Eyes White Dragon, now give it back to me!" the girl answered firmly, and perhaps a little bit shrilly as well, holding her hand out demandingly.
"Eh?" was the general group consensus. Even Harry joined in with the surprised exclamation.
"Listen, you heard what I said," Rebecca snapped. "Give my Blue Eyes back right now!"
"There's a... slight problem," Anzu said from near the rear of the group, eyes darting to Harry as she recalled him saying that the deadline for kisses in exchange for cards had passed. The little girl was not getting that card from him. To say nothing of her demanding it from the wrong person.
She wasn't the only person recalling the incident either. Even Sugoroku was recalling losing the card, though he couldn't remember what had ultimately become of it.
"The Blue Eyes White Dragon is an ultra-rare and powerful card that only belongs in the deck of a true champion," Rebecca informed them plainly. "I, Rebecca, am a true champion," she continued primly, raising a finger for emphasis. "I've travelled the world and beaten many top Duellists while you were away. Isn't that right, Teddy?" she asked her teddy bear.
"You've beaten with Top Duellists around the world?" Sugoroku asked, slightly sceptical, but also willing to be impressed if it was true.
"Yep!" she chirped. "I dare say I'm the top Duellist in America!"
"America isn't the whole world, Miss Rebecca," Harry pointed out. "A number of us, in fact, have just recently come back from a Duel Monsters tournament where the final Duel was against the man who created Duel Monsters." Within himself, Harry amended 'this century anyway', before continuing. "I don't recall seeing you in that Tournament at all."
"And aren't you a little young?" Anzu asked.
Rebecca raised her nose snootily. "I'm eight," she proclaimed.
"Yeah," Jounouchi agreed. "Inches tall."
"Wait a minute," Yugi interrupted. "I remember reading an article before we left for Duellist Kingdom about a Duel Monsters prodigy who was causing a major sensation."
Rebecca nodded in proud confirmation.
"You mean to tell me that this little pip-squeak is a national champion?" Jounouchi asked Yugi quietly.
"What's the deal? Are you questioning my credentials pal?" Rebecca demanded.
"I got credentials too!" Jounouchi said firmly. "I made it to the semi-finals of the Duellist Kingdom!"
"Oh, I know all about that," Rebecca dismissed. "First place when to Shokunin Hiei, with second place going to Muto Yugi. But who cares who came in second, let alone only making it to the semi-finals? It's only first place that really matters! Isn't that right, Teddy?" she asked, returning to cuddling her bear.
"But Rebecca, I'm confused. Why do you feel that being a national champion entitles you to a Blue Eyes White Dragon card?" Sugoroku asked.
"No, I don't think that," Rebecca clarified. "The Blue Eyes White Dragon card should be mine because you stole it from me," she answered. Her voice was calm and direct.
Yugi took offence however. "Just wait a minute! No way. My grandfather? He'd never steal!" he objected.
"Well, there are only four Blue Eyes White Dragon cards in the world. Kaiba's got three, and my card is missing," Rebecca answered.
"Huh?" chorused Yugi, his friends, and his grandfather.
Harry, however, just tilted his head to the side and considered the girl a moment before turning to Sugoroku. "Muto-oji, how many years have you treasured that particular Blue Eyes?" he asked.
"Er... years, certainly..." he said, wondering why he was being asked.
Harry turned back to Rebecca. "How long have you been playing Duel Monsters?" he asked, a smile touching his lips. "I read that article too, now that I think back, and I recall that it said you had only been Duelling for one month. Your claim to any card that was held before you even started Duelling is blatantly fraudulent."
Rebecca grit her teeth and growled in frustration. "Fine!" she snapped. "Then I demand the right to Duel for it!" she said, pointing at Sugoroku.
"It won't do you any good to Duel Muto-oji," Harry twittered above her sweetly. "Kaiba Seto already did that. Muto-oji had to go to hospital from the shock of his first ever holographic battle after he lost."
Rebecca's sea-blue eyes went wide. "You mean that Kaiba has all four Blue Eyes White Dragons?" she demanded.
"You won't Duel him for a Blue Eyes?" Harry teased gently. "After all, he didn't make it past Muto-san in Duellist Kingdom, and you yourself said that nobody but the winners matter. Not that it would make any difference really. Kaiba-kun is very possessive of his Blue Eyes, and would show no mercy to someone challenging him over one of them. Then again, even if you beat Kaiba-kun, you still wouldn't get the specific card that you are after, because Kaiba-kun didn't hold onto the Blue Eyes that he won from Muto-oji."
"Shokunin-san, please stop being dramatic," Anzu begged weakly, simultaneously trying to smother her own laughter, as this was a serious situation after all. Even if Harry was making funny faces.
"Yeah," Honda said, throwing in his oar. "Don't tell me you don't want to Duel with her over your Blue Eyes."
Sugoroku blinked up at Harry. This was, after all, the first definitive news he had regarding what had happened to that card after his Duel with Kaiba. No one had been able to tell him at the time, it's fate having completely escaped all of them in the theatrics of the moment.
"You have it?" Rebecca asked, pointing at Harry now.
"I think that as the recently titled King of Games, I am an appropriate person to hold an ultra-rare and powerful card that belongs only in the hands of a true champion," Harry said, throwing the little girl's words back at her. "Don't you?"
"What right do you have to it?" Rebecca demanded, deeply and blatantly put out by this turn of events.
"I saved it from being torn up by Kaiba Seto," Harry answered, leaning down to look her directly in the face, "and when I offered to give it back, nobody present at the time claimed it, effectively giving up any claim they had and giving it to me. So, more claim than you."
"Duel me!" Rebecca ordered. "I challenge you! The winner takes the Blue Eyes White Dragon!"
"No."
For a moment, everybody who wasn't Harry blinked at the same time in stunned silence.
"What do you mean 'no'?" Rebecca demanded.
"I mean exactly that," Harry said. "I have no reason whatsoever, no need or motivation, to accept your challenge. Besides which, I think your only Duelling experience is on holographic arenas, you have been Duelling for only as long as they have been available for Duellists. The nearest holographic Duelling Arena is Kaiba Land, and I know for a fact that you need to book at least three months in advance to get access to such an arena unless you're taking part in a Kaiba Land demonstration or organised tournament."
And he knew because Seto, Mokuba and he had talked about these things on the boat-ride back from the island.
"Besides, I've got more important things to do than cater to an uppity little gaki. Hot bath, homework, board meetings," Harry said, waving his hand languidly in the air as he walked off.
"If you do not accept my challenge, then I'll go to all the papers and say that you're scared of Duelling me!" Rebecca yelled after him.
"I will counter with a public statement detailing this entire meeting," Harry answered, pausing to look over his shoulder at her. "Do you want to be crucified for attempting to strong-arm people out of a card that was rightfully theirs? You won't have any supporters then. Not one. Especially when I'm now the owner of the company that makes the Duel Monsters cards. Besides, if I did it would look like I was bullying you, even if you were the one to challenge me. I don't care for the hassle."
"Pip-squeak, take some free advice," Jounouchi said. "Don't challenge Shokunin-san. It will only end in tears, and it won't be him that's cryin'."
Fortunately for all involved, Rebecca's grandfather – one Professor Hopkins and an old friend of Sugoroku's – showed up then to chastise his grandchild and take her home again. Well, he took her home after spending some time catching up with his old friend, but Harry wasn't around for that much, as he did have all of those things he'd mentioned waiting for him in the near future.
~oOo~
