Disclaimer: I do not own this story, anime, manga, etc. Created for entertainment purposes only.
Chapter 12
Kame game shop reopened for business within days. It took a lot longer to contract someone to make the repairs to the roof of the house, since business for contractors was booming and some damaged homes and businesses were a higher priority than others. At least it was only a little damage to the covering, they had no leaks to worry about. They never did find the missing letter for the sign, necessitating getting a whole new one and reinstalling it with the lights, a small job that Tristan could actually do himself on an afternoon off from work. Being open to customers was the most important thing, and when they were finally able to hang the sign out saying that Kame was back in business, it couldn't have come at a better time. Fans had lost cards to the storm, in their damaged houses, and were looking for replacements out of necessity to have some small sense of normalcy restored. At least, Yugi figured, there was enough damage to Kaiba Corporation's headquarters to keep Kaiba busy and not bothering him for a while. Or so he thought.
Not even two weeks had gone by since the typhoon when Yugi found himself face to face once again with his rival. This time, Kaiba had brought his henchmen (as Yugi called them), dark-suited with dark glasses, and left them standing guard at the door while he strode confidently into the shop with his briefcase. Elbow-deep in paperwork from invoices covering the past two weeks plus the week before the storm, Yugi just shook his head with a sigh. "I don't have time for this right now, Kaiba," he said tiredly. "Whatever you have to say, the answer's still no, goodbye."
Kaiba did not break stride nor even flinch, coming up to the counter and setting his briefcase rudely on top of Yugi's papers. "You had better listen, and listen well," he said curtly, though a smug smile faintly played across his lips. "This is my last offer. After this, I take no responsibility for what happens to you and your store."
Yugi looked up at him, startled, as he flipped open the briefcase. "Last offer? You mean you're finally giving up after this?"
Kaiba shot him a narrow-eyed glare over the lid of the briefcase. "I never said I was giving up. But I don't have the time for this dancing around the issue, either. You're going to listen to what I have to say, and we're going to finish this once and for all."
Yugi folded his arms sternly over his chest, facing Kaiba with all the spite and anger he could muster in the face of his rival's natural intimidation. "Are you sure you have the resources to be making me offers I can't refuse? I saw the pictures on the news, I saw how badly your office building was damaged in the typhoon."
The CEO just smirked. "My insurance covers natural disasters, Yugi."
"So does ours," Yugi shot back.
Kaiba only frowned a little bit as he retrieved a document from his briefcase and closed it. "I'm surprised you're still in business, actually. I assumed that storm damage on top of hospital bills and everything else you have to take care of would drive you to the poorhouse. It seems you're a little tougher than I expected."
Yugi faced him squarely without a reply to that. Their insurance had covered most of the cost of repairing the damage, but not all of it. They were going to have to have an exceptional autumn and holiday season to cover the rest. Kaiba laid the document out before Yugi, but he only eyed it from a distance. "What is this? Another offer?"
"Maybe you should call your grandfather in. After all, you're only co-owner of the shop. You can't make this decision without him," Kaiba smirked.
Yugi looked doubtful and nearly threw the offer right back in his rival's face, but decided to give him at least his chance to explain, and took a step or two back in order to shout up the stairs. "Grandpa! Can you come down here a minute?"
"Just a second!" Grandpa called back. "I've got tea on. Is it important?"
Yugi frowned across the counter at his visitors. "It's Kaiba."
Immediately, they heard the pounding of feet on the steps preceding Grandpa Muto's arrival. He wore a faint scowl similar to his grandson's. "Oh. I see," he remarked. "Is this about buying the game shop, again?"
Kaiba straightened up, all business, to deliver his proposition. "I figured I wouldn't hear back from you about my last offer, Mr. Muto. I can see where Yugi gets his stubbornness."
"The answer is still, and always will be, no," Solomon said curtly. "I expect you came here thinking that we were in deep financial straits thanks to the typhoon. Well, I'm sorry to have to burst your bubble, but we came through the storm fairly well. A few missing shingles, but that's about it."
"Even so, I think you should have a look at my offer," Kaiba said, not at all deterred. "I'm sure you feel all warm and fuzzy about protecting your store and all the fond memories it holds, but at a time like this, an offer such as the one I'm willing to make you can cause all those memories to fade quickly away."
Pouting dubiously, Grandpa Muto picked up the document and glanced over the cover page, only to find that there were no details on it. He had to flip the page to find the figures, and Yugi watched in horror as his grandfather's eyes widened considerably. He glanced up quickly to Kaiba. "Fifty million?" he breathed incredulously.
Kaiba stood there looking haughty but serious. "As well as the purchase price of a new house anywhere you choose in the city. I understand that this shop is also your home, and it wouldn't be fair to ask you to move without having some place to move to."
Yugi stared over his grandfather's shoulder at the paper. "That's insane," he hissed. "How could you want our shop that badly?" He frowned at Kaiba. "What do you want with it?"
"That's none of your business."
"It's totally my business." The frown became a glare. "You can't wave your money around and ask us to pick up our lives and move without us knowing the reason for it. If you're just going to close our shop and tear it down, there's no way we'll let you have it."
"Are you sure?" Kaiba looked from him to his grandfather, who was still staring at the document, reading all the fine print carefully. "You could take me for an awful lot of money, you know. Houses aren't cheap these days. You could extort any amount out of me to get the biggest, most expensive house on the market. The contract is open-ended on that clause."
Closing his eyes, Grandpa Muto sighed. "I don't want a big, expensive house," he said patiently, raising his head at last. "I don't need one. Everything I need is right here. And I'm not ready to retire yet." He flipped the front page back into place and laid the contract peacefully on the counter. "If I learned anything being laid up after surgery, it's that I'm not ready for a life of sitting around on my butt getting old. I don't want to be bored, and have no reason to get up in the morning. And cleaning a big, expensive house is not my idea of staying active," he added smartly. "I'm sorry, but this isn't the right offer. The money is very tempting, but only in the short-term. I have Yugi to think about, and this would not benefit him in the least, any more than it would me."
"I don't want it either," Yugi piped up. "Sure, being back on our feet financially is appealing, but the cost of getting there isn't worth it. This is my life, Kaiba. I'm not selling you my life."
Kaiba said nothing as he picked up the contract and opened his briefcase again. He set the papers inside, but then drew out a different set and laid it in the same place as the first. "Then I have a different offer, one that might appeal to you more than just money," he said crisply. "Read it over."
Yugi took the document this time, and found it all laid out on the cover sheet. "You want to own the shop, but you'll let us stay here and run it?" he asked in awe once he had summarized the gist of it.
"The initial purchase price is considerably less," Kaiba aloofly admitted, "but the difference is, you won't have to find a new place to live. You can stay here, and work the shop for me, but you'll be completely under my control. KaibaCorp will take over the shop itself, and you will run it by my corporate plan. For that, you will be paid a regular salary as any employee of my corporation. Well…" He allowed himself a derisive smirk. "…since living above the shop rent-free will be part of your payoff, the salary will be less than most employees. But a fair living wage by comparison."
Yugi slammed his fist with the contract down on the counter in front of him. "Absolutely not!" he blazed. "I won't be your slave, Kaiba! You can try to shut us down or drive us out of business legitimately, but I won't let you have control over me just so Grandpa can still have a game shop!"
Kaiba eyed him coolly. "Maybe you should talk it over with your grandfather, and see if he agrees with you."
Yugi turned quickly, fearfully, to his grandpa. "Don't let him do this!" he begged in a hushed voice. "This is our shop! You've always run it just the way you wanted…"
"Yugi," Grandpa Muto said sternly in warning. He then turned a wary eye to Kaiba. "Wait here. Yugi and I will discuss this in private and bring you our answer shortly."
"This offer is only on the table for this moment," Kaiba added sharply with a glare at them both. "Make up your minds quick, I haven't got all day. Once I leave this shop, both offers are retracted and you'll have to deal with the consequences of not taking either of them."
"If you want to have any chance of us accepting one of them, you'll have to be patient," Grandpa snapped back. "We won't be long. Yugi?" He gestured toward the door that led to the storeroom and the office.
The second the door closed, Yugi whirled around to face his grandfather. "I don't care," he declared. "I'm not going to accept either offer. It's not right."
"Yugi," Grandpa Muto said as patiently as he could. "You do realize that we are in serious financial difficulties, don't you?"
"Of course I do," Yugi replied, frowning. "While you were in England I looked everything over. You've been trying to protect me, but you don't have to. I know how bad it is. I know we can't even finish all the repairs to the roof because we don't have the money."
"Then you understand why I have to at least consider what Kaiba is offering." Solomon sighed long and paced slowly through the storeroom, clasping his hands before him. "I have always done my best to provide for you, Yugi, I never wanted to see you face a day like this. The game shop hasn't made me rich, but it's made me happy."
"Me too, Grandpa," Yugi said gently. "That's why I don't want to let it go. I want to fight for it, not give up before I've even had the chance to make something of it." He turned away from his grandfather, folding his arms protectively around himself – and the Puzzle. "I can't help that I'm a dreamer. That's just the way I am. Kaiba may think it's silly and naïve of me to hold on to my dreams when the logical thing to do would be to sell the shop and take care of our bills and debts, but I don't care. I have faith. We're not at a dead end, yet, we still have time to turn things around. We don't know what'll happen tomorrow. I want the chance to prove myself."
Yugi suddenly felt the pressure of his grandpa's hand on his shoulder, warm and heavy and familiar. "And what if we do come to a dead end," Mr. Muto proposed, "in six months or a year, or whatever?"
"Then we'll do what we have to, then," Yugi sighed. "I just don't want to give up too soon. I don't want to be pressured by Kaiba. If we have to get rid of the shop, then it should be on our time, and our terms…not his." He shot his grandfather a scowl over his shoulders. "And under no circumstances will I let him control me. Selling the rights to the shop and letting KaibaCorp run it is the worst idea I've ever heard."
"I have to agree on that one," Grandpa Muto admitted. "It goes to show you, he really doesn't understand what our shop and home mean to us."
"Please, Grandpa…" Yugi turned back to him and clasped his hand. "I'm asking you as your partner, not just as your family, not to accept this offer. Give me a chance. I know we can do this."
"Even if it means tightening our belts, and working longer hours, and maybe adding on some gaming lines we don't like if they'll make us money?"
"That's far easier to take than knowing I sold out to Seto Kaiba."
Grandpa held his gaze for a moment and then nodded. "All right, Yugi. But you get to be the one who tells him."
The Mutos filed out of their storeroom one after the other, finding Kaiba still standing there, arms crossed, glaring. He seemed to know by the looks on their faces what they were about to say, but he remained silent until one of them spoke. Yugi strode up right in front of him and looked up at him with as determined a look as he could muster. "I'm sorry, Kaiba," he said bluntly, "but the answer is no. On both accounts."
Kaiba's glare shifted to Grandpa Muto. "Are you certain you want to make this mistake?"
"Yugi and I discussed it, and we agree," Grandpa said sternly. "Your offers are very generous, but we've decided to make our own fate the old fashioned way."
To their astonishment, Kaiba suddenly slammed his hands down on the counter, making his briefcase jump. His face went livid, his eyes flashing darkly with fury. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded, mostly to Yugi. "Your shop is going under, you have nothing left! I'm offering you the chance to have a better life than you ever would working behind this counter! Why don't you get your head out of the clouds for once and look reality straight in the face and see that you're never going to have it better?"
Yugi fairly quivered with the strain of holding in his emotions, but he managed somehow to do it. Though his fists clenched at his sides, he forced himself to meet Kaiba's blazing stare and keep from shouting back. "You really don't get it, do you?" he realized. "It's not about the money. It's about making my grandpa proud of me, about carrying on the dream he started. You'd never be able to understand that, so you can't possibly offer me anything in return for giving up on a dream."
Kaiba leaned even further over the counter, staring Yugi down. "And what are you going to do when your dream dies?" he challenged in a deadly murmur. "When you realize you couldn't hack it in the real world and you lose everything?"
"We're not broke yet, so you can stop acting like the shop is already dead and buried," Yugi grumbled, trying not to back away from the stare that was practically in his face now. "If it happens, I'll deal with it then, but there's no sense giving up now when I still have some fight left in me. You know me…" He gave Kaiba a little grin of insolent challenge. "…I don't just surrender."
"This isn't a game, Yugi," Kaiba snapped. "This is real life."
"Like you never approach your life or your business like a game," Yugi shot back.
Kaiba straightened up, though the seething, narrow-eyed glare remained on his face. "You're making the biggest mistake of your life, you know. I can crush you without hardly lifting a finger."
Yugi glared back, though his fists at his sides were starting to shake. "Is that a threat?" he dared. "If you think you can bully me with your lawyers and your money, think again. If you want the game shop that badly, you'll have to duel me for it. I won't hesitate to duel against you as a last resort."
For once, Kaiba's eyes widened in shock, but only for a brief moment. He recoiled a step before regaining his composure, arms hanging at his sides. "Is that your solution to everything? Don't be ridiculous," he snorted. "This is a mature matter, I don't bring my business onto the dueling field. Settling my old score with you is one thing, but I'm not involving the pursuit of your game store in it."
"Then take your offers and leave," Yugi pouted. "We've already said no, so there's no sense in yelling about it. We're not going to bend. We have our reasons, can't you just accept that?"
Still glaring and seething, Kaiba stuffed the contract into his briefcase and picked it up, shoving it into the arms of one of his assistants as they came forward to see if they could be of help. "Fine, then," he spat. "You've sealed your fate, Yugi. I told you this was your last chance, and you blew it. From now on, you'll see just how ruthless the business world can be."
"What, are you going to have some thugs trash the shop or something now? Get real, Kaiba." Yugi eyed him suspiciously. "I don't think you have it in you."
"Watch it." The taller CEO narrowed his eyes even further, looking cold and dark. "You don't want to push me and find out." He kept glaring over his shoulder as he turned to the door. "Don't come crying to me when your shop and your little dream come crashing down around you and leave you with nothing."
"So what are you going to do, now?" Yugi asked him spitefully. "Whatever you want to do to our shop, you can't. Are you going after Duke, now? Do you think he's more ready to sell out to you than we are?"
Kaiba paused at the door and gave him a hunting look back. "You don't know anything about my plans. Maybe I will buy Devlin's shop – and then force you both out of business."
"It's not going to happen," Yugi declared. "Duke doesn't want your money any more than we do. And besides, he's got contracts with Industrial Illusions that Pegasus won't let you have, either. Duke won't let you have control of Dungeon Dice Monsters."
For once, Kaiba actually threw back his head and barked a short, spiteful laugh. "Dungeon Dice Monsters," he repeated. "What a joke. I don't want that ripoff piece of crap game," he scoffed. "Duke Devlin and Pegasus can keep it for all I care. It's the game store I want. Thanks, Yugi." He smirked coolly. "That's a valuable piece of information I can use in negotiations." With that, he yanked open the door and swished out.
Yugi just stood there trembling, waiting until Seto Kaiba and his escort had left and the car pulled away. Only then did he let go, and wilt onto the counter in front of him with his head in his arms. Grandpa Muto came forward from where he had been hiding in the doorway to the house upstairs. "Yugi?" he queried.
After a long silence Yugi lifted his head, and Grandpa could see that fortunately, he wasn't in tears like he suspected. Yugi merely looked tired, and stared at the door across the shop as if afraid it would burst open to admit his adversary one more time. "Why does he have to be like that?" he wondered. "He and I are the same age, we went to school together…and he acts like I'm just a little kid compared to him." A worried light crept into his eyes. "I wonder what he means by 'how ruthless the business world' is?"
Grandpa pondered it, pursing his lips. "Do you think he's back to his old ways? Intimidating and forcing people to do what he wants?"
"I don't know." Yugi sighed and closed his eyes, becoming downcast. "I'd like to think he's changed for the better, but…after that outburst, I don't know what to expect from him." A thought suddenly snapped his head up, and he reached for the phone. "I'd better call Duke. He's probably next in line."
The offer made to Duke Devlin was also of the "last chance" variety, and Duke was not exaggerating when he told Yugi a couple of days later that Kaiba was on the verge of pitching a fit when he left empty-handed. It was apparently a really good story to share, so the two young men made plans to meet for dinner later in the evening and talk it over. Since both of them had successfully stymied Kaiba and any plans he had for their stores, they wanted to strategize just in case their rival became serious about "consequences" of their dual rejections. While on the phone discussing the matter, Yugi was aware of his grandfather behind him going through the day's mail, but as soon as he hung up, he turned to find Grandpa Muto holding out a thick mailer, some kind of flyer, to him. "I think this might interest you," he said before going back to the stack of bills and invoices.
"Hmm?" Yugi took the flyer and glanced at it, his eyes widening at the splashy, foil-embossed logo above the address label. "The Tokyo Game Expo! When is it? Ooo! End of October!" He pulled it open and quickly read over the promotional information, grinning excitedly the whole time. "Wow, this sounds really cool. I heard about it last year, I wished I could have gone." Yugi's face fell as he lifted his eyes to his grandpa. "But I can't this year, either. We don't have the money."
Grandpa Muto snorted. "You didn't read over all the information, did you? About the retailers and other professionals?"
"Retailers and…?" Yugi flipped the packet open again, hunting out the section just past registration information about professionals. "Special rates for professional attendees for the convention?" he murmured.
"Why do you think I get these flyers every year?" Grandpa gathered together the rest of the mail and made to take it with him into the back office, grinning at Yugi. "I went once or twice, back in the day, but I haven't been able to take the time to go down since you started high school. They still send me the flyers, though. Maybe you should think about going to the actual convention part of it, since, well, perhaps my health will keep me from traveling this time of year."
Yugi was about to point out that Grandpa had traveled all the way to England and back, Tokyo wouldn't have been a stretch, but his grandfather went along his merry way to the office to take care of the bills, leaving Yugi to watch the store and read over the packet again. "The Tokyo Game Expo," he read to himself. "It would be nice to go, but…we don't have the money for things like this."
Within his mind, his spiritual partner was observing everything, including Yugi's offhanded comments. "It falls just a few days before the full moon that month," he noticed, seeing the dates on the flyer through Yugi's eyes. "You wouldn't have to pay for me to come along, it would just be you."
"Well…the special rates for retailers are nice…" Yugi gazed wistfully at the glossy flyer in his hands. "But then there's a hotel room, and taking the train down there…and Grandpa would have to run the shop all by himself while I'm gone."
"He didn't tell you not to go," Yami pointed out. "He gave you the flyer. Perhaps it's possible after all."
"Maybe." Yugi didn't want to get his hopes up, but the flyer looked so tempting. Spending a weekend in Tokyo surrounded by gamers and gaming professionals, finding out the latest trends and releases way before the general public…it was a dream vacation for someone like him. He filed the packet under the counter for now, but considered asking Duke about it when they met up later that night.
ously thought his head was going to explode," Duke laughed as he leaned on the table with his arms folded. He had graciously decided to treat Yugi to dinner out instead of staying in, as an all-encompassing celebration that neither typhoon nor KaibaCorp had put either of them out of business. "You know how he gets when he's pissed off – you can practically see him boiling over, the way he growls and his eye kind of twitches…"
Yugi chuckled under his breath as he savored his tea. "Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about. He did explode in front of me – he slammed his hands on the counter and started yelling at me like I was a kid he needed to scold."
Duke shook his head slowly, the long tendrils of jet-black hair swaying elegantly around his face. "That man needs a serious priority check. Where does he get off trying to bully us around? It's not like we haven't put up with him for all these years, we know exactly how to handle him." He took his tea to him and curled his hands around the cup as if to keep them warm. "I really hope he meant it, and this is the last I have to see of him. I'm sick of him sniffing around all the time, trying to capitalize on any potential hint that I might need his money."
"It upsets me that he tried to use a natural disaster, of all things, to add on to his empire," Yugi groused. "Coming around after Grandpa got out of the hospital was bad enough, but…honestly! It's like he has no shame."
"Oh no, he has some," Duke said wryly, taking a sip of his tea. "Just enough to keep his pride and that smug ego of his. It may be distasteful to you and me, but he knows it's a good business tactic." Duke set down the cup as a server came up to them with their plates, pausing the conversation only long enough to be served before continuing. "I don't fault him for that, but it's still annoying as all hell. Well! It's over and done with, according to Kaiba, so I'm not going to waste another minute worrying about him. Itadaki masu."
Yugi enthusiastically agreed, digging right in. "Did he make any threats, though?" he asked after the first bite.
"Threats?" Duke repeated. "What, like…?"
"Well, nothing specific." Yugi kept his eyes lowered, poking idly at his food. "He just said a couple of nasty things about being ruthless and not pushing him or I'd find out if he had it in him."
Duke snorted. "That's just Kaiba being Kaiba," he scoffed. "He talks a big game, but I don't think he'd go that far. He knows that even if he tried something stupid like roughing us up or wrecking our shops, it wouldn't have the intended effect. It would do the exact opposite."
"I guess you're right." Yugi sighed and fell to eating for a bit, hoping to drop the discussion of Kaiba and truly forget about him as Duke suggested. Then he remembered the flyer in the mail from earlier that day, and brightened up a little. "Say, Duke…have you heard about this year's Tokyo Game Expo?"
Duke looked up with a sly grin. "Oh yeah. I'm already registered."
"You're going?"
"Yeah. I try to go at least every other year…but this year I kind of have to." He leaned on the table again and gave Yugi a cool smile. "Industrial Illusions is going to have a big booth and make all kinds of announcements, including some stuff about Dungeon Dice Monsters. I have to be there to promote my game."
Yugi sat up in excitement. "Cool!" he exclaimed. "I know you said you were working on an upgrade…"
"Yeah. Got it finished, it's coming out this winter. The company's making a big push for it." Duke returned to eating, though he gave Yugi a casual glance across the table. "You should go. It's really cool. If you're a game designer or a retailer or anything like that, they have special rates and a whole industry convention that the people who just go for the games don't get to see."
Yugi sighed softly. "I'd like to," he said, "but…I don't think I can afford to."
"You can afford the retailer rate. And besides, the game companies always have tons of free stuff they want to give away to people like us, to try to get us interested in carrying their games. Free lunches and dinners, free game samples, I even got a portable CD player once." Duke gave him a serious look. "You're in the perfect position now. You're not just goofing off in your grandpa's store anymore, you're part owner. That makes you a game professional. It's in your best interests to go and learn about the gaming industry, if you're that intent on being a part of it from now on. It looks really different from the inside, there's a lot you should know and aren't going to learn just standing behind the counter."
Yugi nodded absently. "I know, you're right. It's not the registration, I can handle that. It's the other expenses. Hotel and travel and stuff. We kind of splurged a little on Grandpa's vacation to England earlier this summer, and then all of a sudden the typhoon comes along. We have no extra money for stuff like that."
"I suppose." Duke nibbled at his meal for a bit, wearing a thoughtful look. "What does your grandpa think about it?"
"He gave me the flyer and said I'd find it interesting," Yugi had to admit.
"So it's not like he said you can't go."
"Well, no…"
Duke rested his chin on his fist. "You do understand the concept of investments, don't you?"
Yugi frowned, annoyed. "Of course I do. I'm not stupid."
"Going to the game expo is an investment, in your shop and your future," Duke said plainly. "It may not bring an immediate reward, but over time, you'll be glad you went. Besides, the companies don't just display their games there – they actively sign up retail shops to carry their new products."
That got Yugi's attention. "Really?"
"Oh yeah. If you go, it'll be all business. Your grandpa probably wants you to go, so you can represent Kame game shop and get some new games you guys can sell over the holidays and stuff." Duke laced his hands together and grinned over them at Yugi, his green eyes smoldering smugly. "And I've got a good tip that something Industrial Illusions is going to announce is going to be of major interest to you."
Yugi's eyes widened. "What is it?"
"Can't tell you." Duke sat back and went back to eating as if he'd said nothing. "They're going to announce it at the game expo. If you were there, you'd hear it first hand."
Yugi groaned in frustration. "Then why'd you even mention it, if you can't tell me?"
"Well, how many different incentives do you need to hear before you'll say you'll go?"
"I told you – we can't afford it!"
Duke shrugged openly. "You can stay with me in my hotel. How's that for incentive?" He swiftly leaned forward, rudely pointing with his chopsticks. "I'll make a pact with you. You scrape up the cash for the registration and the train, as an investment in your future ownership of the game shop. I'll let you crash in my hotel room, and maybe treat you to a night on the town in Tokyo. And someday, when the investment pays off and you're back on your feet, if you feel like giving me a little something to pay me back for helping, then so be it." He arched an eyebrow. "Deal?"
Yugi sat for a moment thinking about it, and then huffed a sigh and swatted away the chopsticks. "Let me talk to Grandpa about it," he said. "If he's all right with it, then you've got a deal, Duke."
"Excellent." Duke beamed and settled back down to eat. "You won't regret it, Yugi, I swear. It'll totally be worth going. Hmm…" He cocked a curious look across to his companion. "The full moon isn't at the same time, is it?"
"No, Yami already figured out that it won't be till after the game expo," Yugi replied.
"Even better – then we just have to worry about getting you there." Duke gave a small laugh. "It'll be fun. You've never been out and about in Tokyo before, have you?"
"Not since I was old enough to know what 'out and about' was, no…"
"Oh man…" The green-eyed grin became even more sly. "Just you wait. I'm totally taking you out to Shinjuku one night while we're there. The best clubs in the city are there. Make sure you pack your sluttiest outfit."
Yugi sat up sharply, blushing. "I do not have any slutty outfits!" he protested.
"Like hell you don't," Duke snickered. "Don't worry, I won't let you get hit on. Yami will kick my ass if I let anything happen to you in Shinjuku."
"You bet he will," Yugi grumbled. "So much for going to the game expo as an 'investment in my future.'"
"The smart thing to do is arrive a day early," Duke explained, "so you can check into your hotel and get settled in. The industry panels and stuff start pretty early on the first day of the convention, if you showed up right then you'd miss out on half the good stuff. Besides, you want to get your fill of the exhibit floor while it's still private. After the first day, they open it up to the general public, and then the place is full of drooling gamer boys and otaku." He rolled his eyes. "You can still look around, but you'll be much happier if you've already made the rounds and done your business before the otaku horde shows up."
"Ah," Yugi said understandingly. "And so, as long as we're there a day early to settle in, we may as well go out on the town."
"Duh." Duke smiled brightly. "Don't worry, Yugi, I've got your back. I really think you should go, and not just so I can show you the wild sights in Shinjuku. You really ought to experience it for yourself. See just how much the game companies are willing to bend over backwards to help you help them sell product. It's insane…but it'll be huge for you. You need this right now, I know you do."
Yugi nodded, his mind full of all kinds of ideas about going and seeing the spectacle of the Tokyo Game Expo for himself. It was one of those things he had always heard rumors of, as a game fan, but never saw as something he'd get to go to himself. Companies usually did save big announcements and game launches for that time of year, to coincide with the publicity the expo could give them. "I suppose KaibaCorp will have a big booth, too," he mused.
"Probably," Duke shrugged. "Hey, maybe that means we'll finally get to hear from Kaiba what all this buyout crap was about."
"Yeah…maybe."
Sometime later in the evening, as he walked home with a full stomach, Yugi found himself revisiting Duke's powerfully convincing arguments for going to the expo now that he could consult privately with his inner spirit. Yami had listened to all of it, but didn't want to distract Yugi until they had left their companion and were in a position to swap comments across their mental bond. "Duke has nothing but your best interests in mind," the pharaoh observed wisely. "Well, and perhaps a few of his own, but you can hardly blame him for being excited to attend the expo with a friend along."
"It would be a lot more fun to go with a friend," Yugi admitted. "Duke's been there before, he knows his way around."
"I'm inclined to agree with him, I think you should go," Yami suggested. "But perhaps you should discuss it with Grandpa first."
It was late enough that the shop had closed already, so Yugi sought out his grandfather upstairs. Upon hearing what Yugi wanted to ask him about, Grandpa Muto smiled knowingly. "Yugi," he began, "why do you think I gave you that flyer instead of pitching it in the garbage?"
Yugi's eyes widened. "Even though money is tight?"
"What Duke said to you wasn't just a load of hot air," Grandpa said. "It really is an investment. If you're serious about owning the game shop and keeping it from closing, you need to know what the game industry is like. You need to know how it works, and what you have to do in order to balance the needs of your customers against the pressures the game companies might put on you. And I'm sure it'll give you a unique perspective on both KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions, since you've dealt with them before in different ways." He clapped a hand to his grandson's shoulder. "Yugi, I'd like for you to represent Kame game shop. And if Duke is willing to help you get there, then you have my complete permission. If I remember correctly, there's a special rate plan for retailers where you can pay half of the registration now and half at the door – it would work out just right, because you can save up the other half in the next month."
"That's true," Yugi realized. He then eyed his grandpa suspiciously. "What's all this about your health not being up for traveling?"
"Oh…" Grandpa faked a cough. "Yes, I'm sure I'm coming down with something. And after what happened to me this spring, I think I should take it easy. You know, sit in my comfy office chair and sell games all week while you're gone." He suddenly winked. "At least that's what you can tell the company representatives who might wonder why such a young lad is representing an established retailer."
Yugi shook his head in exasperation. "You just don't want to deal with the crowds and KaibaCorp."
"I never said that. You'll never prove that." However, Grandpa grinned smugly as he went to pick up the newspaper he had been reading when Yugi came in.
he had mailed in his registration for the Tokyo Game Expo, Yugi felt like the rest of September flew by. It helped that he was working as hard as he could, spending long hours in the shop, but there wasn't much else he could do anyway. The fall semester had only been delayed for a few days by the typhoon, otherwise it began on schedule, which meant Joey's freedom was over and it could be days at a stretch between calls or emails to his best friend. As long as he knew Joey was working hard and doing all right, Yugi stuck to his grueling shop schedule, hoping to build up a little extra money for the trip to Tokyo if at all possible. Joey and Mai were intensely jealous that he got to go, and he was forced to promise to bring back extra freebies from the game companies if he could score any. There was still a whole month to go before the convention, but Yugi knew his admission had been processed when he started receiving postcards and flyers addressed to him at the shop, from exhibitors and companies who wanted him to check out their booths at the show, sign up for raffles and get showered with free gifts. It was strange, but amusing and exhilarating at the same time. He even got a giggle at being placed on the KaibaCorp mailing list and receiving a postcard reminding him that some kind of big announcement would be made at the KC booth at a press conference one day.
Waiting for the game expo was not the only thing that kept Yugi eagerly watching the calendar. There was still a full moon to be had in the meantime, a day off to play and enjoy his lover's company. He had not forgotten about Yami's injury and the uncertainty of whether it would affect the subsequent ritual, but with time and distraction, he no longer fretted that there might be a problem. Yugi was more inclined to take Yami's word for it and expect that the bump on his head had vanished completely with the dissolution of his corporeal body, and upon its reinstatement this month there would be no sign of lasting hurt. They made tentative plans with Joey for the evening of the ritual day, as Yugi had not been able to see his friend since school began, but the rest of the time they intended to spend with each other alone, making up for having had their day completely ruined by the typhoon a month prior. It had taken this long for things to get back to normal around the city as it was, but at least the game shop was seeing a typical business pattern once again. Kids thronged the shop in the afternoons once school was out, and now that Yugi was spending a lot of those afternoons working, hardcore Duel Monsters fans knew that if they wanted to rub elbows with the reigning world champion, all they had to do was swing by Kame. Yugi never touted his fame, and was usually somewhere between modest and embarrassed about it, but if it meant more customer traffic in the shop, he was willing to suffer with it.
After yet another long, tiring day in the shop, Yugi flopped down on his bed to rest his eyes for a bit, though he kept raising his head to check the time and make sure that he didn't accidentally fall asleep and miss midnight. The rising full moon gleamed in a corner of the skylight, splashing blue-white light across his bed as it climbed higher. At last, feeling sleepy and needing to temporarily distract himself, Yugi got up and sat down at his desk instead, thumbing through the small stack of expo flyers he was collecting from the mail. Not every offer sounded interesting, and he knew he wouldn't make every scheduled event and giveaway since too many of them were running at the same time on the same days, but he figured as long as he kept the cards and brought them along to compare to his official expo schedule, he'd be able to plan for the best ones. The video game companies had some cool game launches that he wanted to see, but since Kame didn't sell video games or consoles, if he had to miss one because of a more important event, he could live with it. Finally, it was getting close enough to midnight to prepare, so Yugi pushed back his chair and collected the things he needed to conduct the ritual before kneeling in his usual spot, in the middle of his bedroom floor beneath the skylight.
In the middle of the incantation, Yugi faltered. He was growing lightheaded, and for the briefest second could not remember the next line. Closing his eyes, he took a breath and pushed himself to continue, recalling the Egyptian words again and speaking them aloud as quickly as he could. Upon the last line, he was breathing so heavily that it felt like had just run a marathon. The last word left his lips, and the Puzzle burst like a supernova with silent power. Yugi caught his breath sharply, and that was the last thing he remembered for a while. When he blinked his eyes open, he was lying on his back on the floor with Yami crouched over the top of him, strong hands cupping his face. The sight of violet eyes lifting towards him made the pharaoh sigh hard with relief. "Yugi," he breathed.
"What…what happened?" Yugi stammered, blinking himself alert. His head swam and his heart still raced, but he could breathe and felt no pain.
Yami frowned concernedly. "You blacked out for a few seconds," he replied seriously. "I awoke to find you unconscious on the floor."
He sat back to give his lover room to breathe, and Yugi felt able to push himself up onto his elbows. "Wow, I don't even remember that," he remarked. "Are you okay?"
"Me? I'm fine," Yami said with a bit of surprise. "Whatever happened, it only affected you."
"How long was I out?"
Yami shook his head. "I can't say for certain, but it was less than a minute. I opened my eyes and saw you there, and immediately shook you and tried to wake you. You didn't respond, but only for a few seconds." He took his young love gently by the shoulders and stroked his cheek tenderly. "Are you all right, now? How do you feel?"
Yugi struggled to push himself back to a seat. "I…I think I'm okay," he murmured. "The dizzy feeling is going away."
Yami knelt beside him, still naked, his face turning stony with a dread frown. "It's the ritual," he said darkly. "Every time you perform it, it gets worse. First it was just knocking you back, but now it's knocked you cold."
Yugi could no longer deny it and assure him that everything was all right. "But…why?" he wondered. "At first, it didn't do anything to me. Not for a long time. It's only recently that this has been happening…"
"I don't know." Yami reached to him and combed a hand soothingly through his hair, assuring himself that Yugi was getting back to normal. "Perhaps it's a consequence of repeated use of the ritual. Something that would only start showing after time."
Yugi looked sharply at him. "Well, I'm not going to stop doing it," he said determinedly. "I don't care what it does to me. It's just a little fainting spell, that's nothing – not if it means I can still have you outside the Puzzle."
"Yugi," Yami said sternly. "Don't be selfish. I won't continue to do this if it damages you. I told you I would never hurt you, and I mean it."
"It's not damaging me," Yugi argued. "I fainted, that's all. Maybe I just need to toughen up. The ritual takes something from me to work, right? Maybe I just need to be stronger, or learn better concentration. I'm not a magician, I'm not used to spells."
Yami sighed but did not protest, getting to his feet and quietly going over to retrieve the bathrobe Yugi had laid out on the bed for him. Yugi watched him do so, and then let out a sigh of his own. "I'm sorry," he said, more softly. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I know you're concerned…and I guess deep down I'm a little scared too."
"Yugi," Yami murmured gently, "I like being with you, too. I value my freedom from the Puzzle more than I'd like to admit. But I don't want to hurt you."
Yugi curled his feet under him and turned to look up at Yami where he stood. "I'm willing to suffer this little, tiny hurt on your behalf. We'll be careful. We'll take it one month at a time."
"Very well." The pharaoh held out a hand to help him up, taking Yugi into his arms as soon as he regained his feet. The warmth and solidity of Yugi's body in his embrace soothed his jangled nerves considerably. "But I'm not going to waste any more of your energy tonight. You seem to be low on it. We're going to bed."
Yugi groaned under his breath, but decided not to fight. "Oh, fine," he mumbled into Yami's chest. "Give me a second to get you some pajamas."
Yami let him go to do so, watching him slink across the bedroom to his dresser. "You really wanted to make love tonight," he noticed. "I'm sorry, Yugi. When you're awake, we can." He offered Yugi a sly smile as he turned around with a set of clothing in his arms. "It wouldn't be any fun if you fell asleep in the middle of it."
Yugi laughed quietly. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he conceded. "I am kind of tired. But it's my day off, we'll sleep in," he decided. "And then…"
"And then," Yami agreed, "anything you want. It's been far too long."
