To paraphrase Louise Rosenblatt, "a story's just ink on a page until a reader comes along to give it life." This in my way of saying, I'd really like to know what you think.

Kei Takei's Moving Earth Repertory Note: Back in Chapter 19, Yugi took Anzu to a performance of Kei Takei's Moving Earth Repertory. He was expecting ballet with girls in tutus and got performance art which he couldn't make heads or tails of until he compared it to due monsters.

CHAPTER 36: GROUNDHOG DAY

GROUNDHOG DAY: Comedy circa, 1993. Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell arrive in Punxsutawney right on schedule to report on the world's most famous groundhog. It's leaving that's the problem. It may seem odd to have a holiday devoted to whether a large rodent will see its shadow. But a bigger unanswered question is what it would take to turn Bill Murray's weatherman, Phil Connors, into a decent human being.

MORAL: It's amazing how many tries it takes to get some things right.

Yugi left before the rest of the house was fully awake. He ran to Anzu's. She was waiting on the corner. He pulled up in front of her, slightly out of breath. He paused, then leaned up and kissed her, a brief brush of their lips.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi."

Yugi looked down, unsure what came next. Anzu was standing with her hands in her pockets. He stole a glance at her. She didn't look mad, but she didn't look happy, either.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you how I felt right from the beginning. I messed up," The words came out in a rush.

Anzu let him take her hand. "Why didn't you?"

Yugi's lips twisted downwards. He blinked. "I don't know. It's just… we've never disagreed on anything."

"Is that true? Or did you just never tell me?"

Yugi tried to think back. "I'm not sure. Nothing this important, anyways."

"When you were still together with Yami… you tried to set us up together. That wasn't what you wanted, was it? And it took you months to ask me out."

"Years. But that's different. I just wanted you to be happy… even if it wasn't with me."

"Oh, Yugi… shouldn't you have left it up to me who I wanted to be with instead of trying to give me what you decided I wanted?"

"I guess I figured you wouldn't want me."

"I guess you figured wrong." The words came out with a snap, but Yugi glanced up in time to see her smile.

Yugi pulled Anzu into a hug. Her arms wrapped around him. He liked being short in moments like this when he was enveloped by Anzu.

Yugi stepped back and drew in a breath. If he was going to be honest, he was going all the way. "But if Yami hadn't been taken, who would you have picked?"

He braced himself for disaster. It was probably the most unfair and selfish question he'd ever asked anyone in his life.

Anzu leaned down. "I didn't know about Kaiba, remember? I did choose. And I'm not going to take it back because you say something I don't like." She brushed her lips against his.

"Oh… Anzu…" he murmured before pulling her closer and returning her kiss.

They were both slightly pink when they broke apart.

"I guess we better head to school," Yugi muttered. They started walking.

"I thought about it all night," Anzu said. "It wasn't all your fault. I mean, a lot of it was, but not all of it."

"Huh?"

Anzu drew in a breath. "I was so sure I was right about Kaiba, I just assumed that you agreed with me. I should have asked."

"Well, I should have said something."

"Yeah, but it was my fault too."

"No, it wasn't."

Anzu's voice rose. "Yes, it was!"

Yugi bit his lip. He didn't agree. He didn't want to get into another fight, either. But that was how he'd gotten into this mess in the first place. "I'm just happy we made up. Is it okay if we don't argue about who was wrong?"

Anzu swung their linked hands. "Okay." She paused. "I'll even try to get to know Kaiba."

"You're the best!"

They walked for a few blocks in silence, then as they reached the school, Anzu asked in a small voice, "I keep thinking about our first date. Do you even like Kei Takei's Moving Earth Repertory? Or did you just pick it for me?"

"I had a great time! Really! But to be completely honest, when I bought the tickets I thought it was a ballet… you know with tutus and stuff."

Anzu laughed. "Oh, Yugi!"

"I loved it. But, yeah… I picked it for you."

Anzu ducked her head and smiled. "I guess I can live with that."

Yugi took advantage of her bowed head to stand on tiptoes and kiss her one last time before entering the school building. They jumped apart as they heard Jounouchi groan behind them.

Jounouchi shook his head. "Don't you two do anything but make kissy faces at each other?" he asked as they walked through the school doors.

The rest of the week passed uneventfully, except that Anzu and Yugi held hands a little more frequently.

Kaiba arrived at the Mutou's residence that weekend with Mokuba in tow. The front door was ajar. He frowned. He glanced at Mokuba, weighing the alternatives. Kaiba didn't want to leave Mokuba alone on the sidewalk in case something was wrong; he didn't want to take him inside for the same reason.

"C'mon, but be quiet," Kaiba said to Mokuba, his decision made. "Stay five steps behind. At the first sign of trouble run and call Isono."

Kaiba paused and then kicked the door open. He stepped into the hallway. He heard rustling from the living room. He paused again, confused by what sounded like a muffled giggle, then jumped into the darkened room. He was blinded as the lights suddenly went on. He charged forward, stopping only as the shouts of "Surprise!" registered.

"Happy Birthday!" the gang chorused. Yami beamed at Kaiba.

Kaiba whirled around to Mokuba. "Did you know about this? Why didn't you warn me?"

"Of course I didn't know! I'd never do that!" Mokuba protested.

Kaiba took in a breath. He nodded and ruffled Mokuba's hair, then turned to face the crowd in the apartment. They were staring at him open-mouthed.

"Damn, Kaiba. You sure know how to suck the fun out of everything," Jounouchi muttered.

"Did I ask your opinion, mutt?"

At the same time Sugoroku stepped forward and said, "Boys! Enough!"

Kaiba stared at Sugoroku, possibly shocked into silence at being called a boy.

Yugi came forward at the same time. "Happy birthday, Kaiba. I'm glad you came over."

Anzu joined them and linked her arm with Yugi's. "I hope you like the party."

Kaiba glanced at the banner, finally absorbing the bizarre fact that he was at a birthday party… that he was at his birthday party.

His relatives hadn't wasted any of their stolen loot on birthdays. The orphanage had held a group celebration at the start of each month; it hadn't belonged to him any more than to the other six kids with October birthdays. Gozaburo had challenged him on his 15th birthday, he'd killed himself on Kaiba's 16th. It was the closest Gozaburo had come to giving him a present.

Kaiba drew in a breath. He could do this. It was just another business social; he could do those in his sleep. He shifted his shoulders, suddenly feeling the weight of Gozaburo's hand, heavy with the promise of retribution if he stumbled, waiting for him to fail. He blinked. Yugi's friends and family were still staring at him. He nodded to them. "This was unexpected. Thank you."

Everyone shuffled over to add their birthday wishes in subdued voices. Kaiba accepted them with professional smoothness. They sat awkwardly in the Mutou's crowded living room. Yugi and Anzu kept the conversation rolling every time it threatened to collapse. Kaiba, to everyone's surprise, was a perfect, if somewhat silent, guest. He smiled at the appropriate cues. His expression was impersonally but politely attentive. He was on display and acted accordingly. Everyone tried to avoid thinking about how he had acquired such a perfect social mask. Jounouchi had an impulse to bait him, just to see the real Kaiba break through. In some ways letting him yell his heart out would have been an appropriate present, but it also didn't seem fair, since Kaiba probably would have held himself back from responding.

Yami was miserable.

After Yami had disappeared into his own, evidently grim thoughts for the third time, Honda suggested video games and they settled down to play. There was a general, quiet sigh of relief when it was finally time for cake. Eating was easier than talking. The Kaibas left soon after.

The next morning, Yugi and Sugoroku were already sitting down to breakfast when Yami came downstairs.

"What went wrong?" Yami asked as he joined them at the table.

"Besides, everything?" Sugoroku answered.

"It wasn't that bad!" Yugi protested. They both turned to stare at him. "Well, it wasn't," Yugi insisted. "If anything, Kaiba looked so miserable, it made everyone feel sorry for him. I don't know what was going through his mind, but he was starting to remind me of Noa's world." He shivered.

Yami winced. "I don't get it. Why didn't it work?"

"Why do you think?" Sugoroku asked.

Yami shook his head. "It seemed perfect. Games, friends, a surprise…"

Sugoroku looked down at his now-empty plate.

Yugi frowned in thought. "You threw a great party, just maybe not for Kaiba. Maybe he doesn't like parties."

"Or surprises," Yami added, shaking his head again.

"Unless he's the one planning them," Yugi said.

"You seem to be on the right track, now," Sugoroku said as he got up and took his plate to the sink.

Yami nodded and finished his last bite. "I'll go see Mokuba later. I'm sure we can come up with something better for his actual birthday."

Sugoroku spun around with surprising agility for his age. "Another party?"

"Of course! You didn't think I was going to give up just because of a little setback, did you?"

"I'm in!" Yugi said as they exited the kitchen to open the store for the day.

"My brother's in a meeting," Mokuba said automatically when Yami walked into his office on Monday afternoon.

"I know. I'm here to see you. Kaiba's birthday is in three days. I'm ready to try again."

Mokuba raised one eyebrow. Yami wondered if he'd learned that trick from his brother. "One train wreck wasn't enough for you?"

Yami eyed Mokuba. The boy squirmed a little under his gaze. "I expected a fight. You're not mad at me. Why?"

Mokuba frowned and shrugged. "When I walked in and saw everyone… you got him a cake, even. I'm sorry it didn't work."

Yami nodded.

"In the orphanage they'd have a party at the start of every month… you know, for all the kids with birthdays. Boys got an airplane or a truck, girls got a stuffed animal or a doll. Older kids got a book, sometimes. But Nisama would always give me a present on my real birthday. I was the only kid who got one. I felt so special each year, having a real birthday." Mokuba shook his head and smiled. "I was so dumb. I never figured it out. Nisama saved his present, then he'd trade it up if he could, just so he could give me something when my birthday came around. My brother doesn't celebrate his own birthday. Ever. The most he'll let me do is sneak in a cake."

"I'm not his brother. And we're going to take advantage of that fact."

"We?" Mokuba asked.

"Yes."

"He kind of liked it, you know," Mokuba said.

Yami laughed. "You called it a train wreck."

"Well it was! But he still liked it. I mean… not the noise or the crowd or the people or being surprised, he hated all of that…"

"Mokuba, what's left?"

"You threw him a party. He went on and on about how it was a boring waste of time… but every now and then he'd stop ranting and smile. And he palmed a candle."

"What?"

"You know… the candles from the cake. He snuck one in his pocket when no one but me was looking."

"Okay then, let's do it right this time."

"Yami, why are you doing this?"

Yami frowned. Yugi had offered to share his birthday. Yami loved the idea of celebrating it together, of being Yugi's twin. But he'd never found out in the memory world just when he'd been born. It was one more detail that had been too commonplace for anyone to mention. "Everyone should have a birthday. Otherwise it's so easy to feel like your existence doesn't matter, that you're not real. Kaiba is alive. He's here. I want to celebrate that."

Mokuba's face lit up. "I'm in!"

"What do you think your brother would want?"

"Besides ignoring the day altogether?"

"Not helping, Mokuba."

Mokuba grinned. "Sorry."

Yami thought for a moment. What made Kaiba happy? Yami turned away from Mokuba, hiding a sudden flush. If you discounted dueling, it was a pretty short list. Kaiba loved Mokuba. He seemed to appreciate Isono and Tamashiro. He wanted to find those land mines. Yami put his hand in his pocket and gripped the flash drive. He had another surprise planned on that score. And although Kaiba was unlikely to admit it, he enjoyed Sugoroku and Yugi's company. Working grounded him. He had a thing for dragons. Yami frowned. The last item might be a bit difficult to work in.

"What if we wished him a happy birthday here after work with Isono and Tamashiro?" Yami suggested. "And if you can find any Blue Eyes White Dragon decorations…"

Mokuba laughed. "Sure thing. I'll tell Isono and Tamashiro."

Yami gave a theatrical sigh. "Ask them, you mean?"

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "Like they're going to say 'No.' Isono might burst out bawling with happiness."

Yami frowned, but let the matter drop. "I'll ask Sugoroku and Yugi as well."

Mokuba smirked. "Who gets to tell my brother?"

"Boyfriend's privilege."

Mokuba whistled. "Better you than me."

"And the three of us can go out to dinner afterwards. You get to pick the restaurant. Make it a good one."

"Already on it," Mokuba said with a grin.

Yami pulled out the flash drive Kaiba had given him. "Good. Then, let's work on the rest of his surprise if we want it ready for his birthday."

Yami arrived at Kaiba Corporation well before the official end of the work day on Kaiba's birthday. He'd remembered Kaiba's fondness for shirts that snapped or zippered. Today's choice was a gold stamped black cowl neck shirt that snapped at the neck with a gold and blue scarab. It fell in a diagonal slash across his body to the bottom of his thighs. Two more matching scarabs fastened the garment at the at the chest and waist. The shirt's lining and edging were an electric Caribbean blue. The slender pants underneath were a darker shade, with black cord running down the seam. Tamashiro took a look at his outfit and smiled as she buzzed him into Kaiba's office.

Kaiba whistled softly and walked forward to greet him.

Yami glanced from Kaiba's quickly donned smile to the desktop behind him and sighed. Of course, Kaiba had chosen his birthday to continue his land mine hunt.

But Kaiba had also made an attempt to dress for the occasion. His coat fell, as usual, to his mid-calves, flaring slightly at the hips. It had a geometric sunburst pattern on either side, stretching from shoulder to thigh. The sunbursts were pure cool fire: silver at the center, passing through steel and sapphire, then radiating out to a midnight blue. Yami grabbed Kaiba by his silver streaked blue tie; it was thin enough to make an acceptable leash.

He pulled Kaiba down and kissed him, then backed Kaiba up until they were leaning against his desk. Kaiba lifted Yami up, without breaking contact. Yami wrapped the ends of Kaiba's tie around his fist even as he wrapped his legs around Kaiba's hips for balance. They were half lying across the desk, with the weapon designs still in the background, by the time they broke apart. Kaiba had managed to undo all three fastenings on Yami's shirt.

"Happy Birthday," Yami said as he slid back to the floor and re-snapped his shirt together. He pulled his flash drive out of his pocket and laid it on the desk.

"You really worked on it? Did you find anything?" Kaiba asked as he straightened his tie and reached for the drive.

"I hope so. But I didn't do it alone. Mokuba helped me."

Kaiba spun around to stare at Yami. He drew himself up to his full height and clenched his fists. "How dare you!"

Yami's eyes widened. "What?"

Kaiba glared at him. "This is my business, not Mokuba's. I should have known that you'd barge in and usurp my authority the moment it suited you!"

"I didn't do anything if the sort and you know it, you overbearing asshole!"

Kaiba spit out each word, "Mokuba doesn't need to know I'm looking for those damn land mines."

"Has it ever occurred to you, genius, that Mokuba is smart enough to know when you're trying to find weapons whether you tell him or not? Get real!"

"I don't need you to tell me how smart Mokuba is!"

"Then try talking to him. It's this great new invention for figuring out what the other person is thinking or wants. You should give it a whirl sometime."

"Stop telling me what to do! But I forgot: you always know best, you always have a plan for how I should live my life." Kaiba paced the room, his frown etching itself more deeply into his face with every step. Each breath brought fresh examples of all the things Yami had decided that Kaiba needed... birthday parties he didn't want, group dates with people he generally avoided.

"Stop rocketing around the room! Mokuba wants to help. I'm betting you already know that."

"That's not the point! Will you listen for once! I'm Mokuba's guardian, not you!"

Yami bit the inside of his lip. His brows drew downwards as he tried to figure out what they were fighting about. "I know," he said quietly.

"Then act like it!"

"I don't understand, Seto. I'm not trying to supplant you. No one could."

The calm tone, the use of his given name, seeped through Kaiba's rage, an ointment poured on an open sore. "So, I suppose you think you're his best friend now?" His words were still biting; the tone was calmer.

"No," Yami said seriously. "You are. And he wants to help his best friend and most honored brother, if you'll let him. He wants you to know that."

Kaiba drew in a breath. He didn't need Yami to keep repeating that Mokuba wanted to help him. But Kaiba didn't want to look weak in front of Mokuba; he didn't want his little brother to see his own doubt and uncertainty, his own private failures.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at Yami, waiting for the next insult to be flung at his head. Yami met his gaze, his own eyes wide and unblinking. As silence seeped into the room, the anger from their fight fled as suddenly as it had arrived. Kaiba folded his arms in front of his chest. He was willing to listen.

"You are the older brother," Yami said. "It's your call. I'll respect your decision without question."

Kaiba snorted. His voice rose again as he snapped, "Without question? That'll be a first. You knew how I felt. That didn't stop you." It was only now, facing Yami, that Kaiba realized how much that stung.

Yami drew in a breath. His eyes drifted shut. For a moment he wondered if they were talking about more than Mokuba, before returning to the fight at hand. "It should have. I didn't think. But Mokuba wants to help. Please listen to him. You're right. You're his guardian. I do respect that, Kaiba. I always have."

Kaiba looked down. "I know," he said softly. "It's just… Mokuba… he feels guilty, like I did it all for him."

"Didn't you?"

Kaiba frowned. He ran a hand through his hair, then waited until it fell back into place. "I don't know anymore. I wanted out of the orphanage, too. I wanted to be somebody… to be so rich and powerful no one could ever mess with us again." He shrugged. "I knew what Gozaburo's business was. The pieces were all there. I just didn't see past getting us into his house. That's on me, not Mokuba."

"Before Egypt, I couldn't see past my destiny. I couldn't even see that it was an illusion. It was what I thought I wanted, what I needed. Sometimes we can only see a few paces ahead."

Kaiba nodded and took a slower turn around the room. Yami could make him feel so disregarded one moment and so listened to in the next. He was tired of trying to sort it out, ready to let go of the battle for today. He pressed the intercom and called for Mokuba.

Mokuba dashed into the room. He came to a halt in front of his brother and stared from the flash drive on the desk to his brother, looming over it.

"Don't be mad, Nisama. Please say I can help. I did my best."

Kaiba reached out and ruffled his hair. Mokuba blinked then launched himself at Kaiba, sobbing.

"It was my decision, Mokuba. This has nothing to do with you."

"If it has to do with you, then it's my business, too! We're a team, aren't we?"

Kaiba nodded, then realized Mokuba couldn't see him. "Yes."

"None of this would have happened if it wasn't for me. Mom would be alive. You'd have two parents!"

Kaiba unwound Mokuba's arms and dropped to his knees so he could look Mokuba in the eye. Behind Mokuba's shoulder, Yami moved to a corner of the room, giving them the illusion of privacy. Yami tilted his head towards the door and Kaiba suddenly realized that he was glad Yami was there. He shook his head briefly at Yami before focusing on his brother again.

"But then I wouldn't have you, Mokuba. Anyway, that's in the past. What matters is our future."

"Do you miss them?"

Kaiba paused. He hadn't thought about his parents in so many years. "I don't really remember."

"I never saw Mom… but I don't remember Dad either," Mokuba said.

"He wasn't at home much. He was always working."

"Like you?" Mokuba asked.

"I'm nothing like him," Kaiba snarled.

"I'm sorry, Nisama," Mokuba gulped out.

"Don't apologize, Mokuba. None of this is your fault." Kaiba thought about their father. He worked to avoid dealing with… everything… his family, his wife's death, probably himself most of all. Kaiba hugged Mokuba. "I want to be better than that."

"You are, Nisama. You're better than everyone."

Kaiba stood up and put his hand on Mokuba's shoulder. He grinned. "Agreed." He couldn't resist glancing at Yami just in time to see him roll his eyes. "Now that that's settled, let's look at your work. I expect it to be up to Kaiba Corporation standards."

"Of course it is, Nisama! Just you wait and see!"

Kaiba went to his desk. Yami joined him. Kaiba paused before inserting the flash drive. He said, in a voice too low for Mokuba to catch the words, "If I could find them, I could disarm them. But each time, by the time I get word of a new location, it's too late. It's like trying to win a race when you're running on a treadmill. Even when we dumped the data into a map, all I could see were all the times I failed to find them in time."

Yami put his arm around Kaiba's waist and leaned against him. "It's like Minesweeper. We'll use the past to find the future. Go ahead."

Kaiba inserted the flash drive. Mokuba came over to join them at the desk. A world map appeared. Yami and Mokuba had reorganized it. Instead of an indecipherable mass of white dots, the land mine locations had distinctive shapes and colors. Kaiba studied the legend. Each site where a land mine had been found was marked, but now the shape and color indicated the time of discovery and whether only a single mine had been located and neutralized or if the entire area had had multiple mines in place when a team had arrived to clear them. Kaiba inhaled then exhaled slowly, welcoming the clarity that came with each slow breath. He smiled, enjoying the familiar rush of impending victory.

He pointed to several spots indicating multiple land mines. "This makes sense. These dates all correspond to wars, most of them from when Gozaburo was still alive. The mines must have been discovered in clusters during the conflicts." Kaiba typed in a string of codes and those sites faded to gray. He stared at the remaining marks. "These locations have single mines. Someone must have been monitoring the sites and removed the remaining ones before a Kaiba Corporation clean-up team or the U.N. could get there." He glanced at Yami. "That was part of the specs. I designed them to be easily moved and turned on or off by the buyer."

"A design element we're hoping to exploit," Yami reminded him.

Kaiba grayed those sites as well. Mokuba pointed to the sole remaining cluster of multi-colored dots. "We thought this was important."

"Right," Kaiba said, smiling down at him. "It doesn't correspond to any conflict. Yet several mines have been found in this area – one at a time and over a period of years. Someone is clearing them out and then bringing them back. If I had an illegal arms headquarters I was trying to hide, that's just what I would do."

"Now that we know the site, the next step..." Yami said.

"Is figuring out who's running the show," Kaiba finished.

"It has to be…" Yami said.

"Someone from the past," Kaiba answered.

"I can help! I'll go through our old personnel records. The Big 5 are accounted for," Mokuba added.

Kaiba nodded. "Let's see who else has fallen off the grid." He glanced back at the map, at the one remaining location shining like a beacon. He had a direction. "Thank you."

Yami gave him a sly grin. "Letting go of your old ideas – even a little – pays off sometimes."

"Don't push it." An alarm on his desk sounded. Kaiba looked towards the door and then rolled his eyes. "Does this strike you as a good time for a party?"

"Yes," Yami said firmly, standing on tiptoe to kiss Kaiba again.

Kaiba straightened up and moved away as he heard a knock on the door. Tamashiro and Isono entered with Sugoroku and Yugi following behind.

Tamashiro was holding out a cake. Kaiba stared at it as if it was an alien artifact. Kaiba had had birthday cakes before, from the small cakes Mokuba purchased each year and snuck into the office to the glossy, professionally baked cakes Gozaburo had produced at Kaiba Corporation board meetings, each sugar petal rigidly in place. The cake in Tamashiro's hands was different. The icing had been swirled on top in an attempt to hide that the layers were slightly lopsided. His name had been written with a blue icing gel tube. She'd managed to find a Blue Eyes White Dragon candle. As he gazed at the cake an older memory surfaced: it looked like a cake someone's mother had made.

"Everyone should have a homemade cake on their birthday," she said. Her smile was soft and slightly shy – and totally unlike her usual professional demeanor.

Kaiba wasn't sure how to react. He was still her boss. She'd baked him a cake. "Thank you," he said.

She nodded and put it on his desk. Mokuba went to his desk, opened a file and three Blue Eyes White Dragons chased each other around the desktop. Three more holographic dragons flew overhead, diving and swerving and occasionally phasing through the guests. There was a playfulness to them that Kaiba would never have thought to program into their movements. Kaiba cocked an eyebrow at his brother. Mokuba grinned back.

"Well done," Kaiba said.

Despite his reservations, the party wasn't an ordeal. There were only four additional people in his office and two of them worked for him. No one expected him to talk much. By the time it ended, his shoulders had lost some of their habitual tension.

His guests took their leave. Yami turned to him with a bright smile. "Next up: dinner. I let Mokuba pick the restaurant."

Kaiba groaned. "Haven't you figured out he has terrible taste by now?"

Mokuba grinned. "And boy did I outdo myself! C'mon, Isono's waiting downstairs with the limo. I told him he could drive us."

"Drive us where, exactly?" Kaiba asked.

"It's a surprise!" Mokuba announced.

"Mokuba wouldn't tell me, either," Yami said.

"There's a reason I hate surprises," Kaiba muttered as he followed Yami and Mokuba downstairs.

Kaiba scanned the restaurant as he got out of the limousine. He still wasn't sure what was going on. The restaurant had a wall separating it from the street. The sign over the doorway read, "Chicken Run." He turned to Mokuba and quirked an eyebrow. Mokuba countered with his most angelic look. Kaiba groaned and walked into an enclosed yard.

The first thing that met their eyes was a short, dirt racing track. There were empty wire cages at one end. The lanes were separated with white chalk. A pile of corn kernels waited just beyond the finish line. People were sitting on a small viewing stand behind the track, talking and drinking. A booth for taking bets was tucked into a corner of the yard.

The hostess came up to greet them. She was in a bright yellow mini-dress with a feathered skirt. The back was decorated with fluffy yellow and white wings that flapped in the breeze. Red and orange stockings and shiny red shoes completed the look. Kaiba groaned again.

She led them to the stands. They sat down on the metal benches.

"Your table will be ready soon. The next race is about to start."

"Please tell me the name is a joke," Kaiba muttered.

"I did let Mokuba pick the restaurant," Yami reminded him.

"Wimps! You're lucky we got in. They were all booked up, but I got them to make an exception for us." Mokuba grinned. "They might think you're considering making a game app."

"Of chicken races?" Kaiba asked.

"I can't imagine how they got that idea," Yami added.

Kaiba snorted but any further comments were lost as a fanfare blared from the overhead speakers.

"Last bets!" the announcer called out. Staff dressed in shirts with racing stripes carried out the chickens. Each chicken was wearing different colors. The birds were placed in separate pens at the start of the racetrack. With a final trumpet sound and a dropped flag, the doors to the pen opened and the race began. The chickens jostled each other in their haste to reach the corn, flapping their wings and squawking. Finally, a brown and black chicken with yellow and green racing colors reached the corn. The other chickens pushed and bumped their way towards the promised treat. The staff came and collected the birds.

The hostess came back to join them. "Your table is ready," she said.

"What happens to the losers?" Kaiba asked as they walked towards her.

"We're sworn to secrecy." She winked at Kaiba. "Of course, we are a fried chicken joint."

Kaiba stopped short, threw back his head and laughed. His hands came up to his hips as his laughter grew louder. In the background, the chickens started squawking again.

The hostess took a hurried step backwards. "Please follow me," she said as she retreated through the restaurant doors.

Kaiba turned to Yami and Mokuba. "So, for my birthday, you took me to a place where losing really does equal death? I love it!" He laughed again at the stunned look on Yami's face and strode forwards.

Yami tugged at Mokuba's sleeve. "He does know that they don't really cook the losing chickens here, doesn't he?"

Mokuba grinned. "C'mon, Yami. It's his birthday! Let him have some fun."

"My lips are sealed," Yami said as he followed the sound of Kaiba's maniacal laughter into the restaurant.

.

Thanks to Bnomiko for betaing this chapter.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: I had forgotten to thank Onenatroll on tumblr for her amazing fanart for this story in my last chapter! Her blog has gorgeous Yu-Gi-Oh! (a lot of it prideshipping) art! FFNet will strip out the link so I put in extra spaces: .com (slash) post (slash) 163984705818 (slash) i-was-in-dire-need-of-something-with-a-more-upbeat

AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's unclear what memories Yami/Atem gets back during the AE arc. He doesn't have any memories at the beginning and that this isn't actually ancient Egypt at all but a role playing game further complicates things. I thought it was both possible and a bit heartbreaking if he only earned things if people said them directly: like if no one mentioned basic things that everyone knew, like his mother's name or his own birthday, he'd never learn those things. I think that would give added importance to Yami's desire to properly celebrate Kaiba's birthday. He wants to do it because he's really gotten that it's important for him to show Kaiba that he's important and a welcome part of Yami's life, but I think giving Kaiba something that Yami himself feels the lack of would add urgency. And I can see Yami being so sure of what he's doing that he hasn't stopped to consider whether what he's doing is what Kaiba wants. In a way, like Anzu, he's just assuming that he knows.

Mokuba Restaurant Note: Somehow, Mokuba picking out ridiculous restaurants has become a thing they do in this story. It's kind of fun trying to make each one more over the top than the last!

Note to Retsag: Thank you! I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

Tumblr Note: I'm on Tumblr as Nenya85, mostly posting manga frames and screen shots and rambling on about them. If you're interested in checking it out, the link is on my biopage.

Review Note: I reply to all signed reviews. I also post a summary of my replies on my Dreamwidth account. My username is Nenya85. Please note that I will no longer be posting on LiveJournal.

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed. I really look forward to hearing from you (to be honest, it makes my day!) I try to write the story in my head to the best of my ability – but it's incredible to get a glimpse of how it looks to someone who's reading it. I can't express how encouraging it is. Please review.