Chapter 40
Reunion
Author's note: just to not get in trouble, I should remind everyone that I don't own anything YuGiOh. I just own my characters and Dark Mage of the Sea owns hers.
This chapter will coincide with the second half of the 34th chapter of A Star Among Darkness, with each chapter focusing on a different POV.
When a sentence is **like this**, it's sign language. When a sentence is ~like this~, it's phoenix speech.
Thank you, Dark Mage of the Sea, my coauthor and best friend.
The next day, Atem and Tima dressed in the outfits they came back in. Wrapping the shoe ribbons up her legs, Tima asked, "You ready for this?"
Atem adjusted his jacket the way he liked it. He was not sure how to answer so he asked, "Are you?"
Tima took a deep breath. "I think so."
Atem agreed. Just then, there was a knock and Tsuki stuck her head into the room. "The limo's ready."
Tima looked at Atem and smiled. "Shall we?"
Atem took her hand. "Yes."
Just as they were pulling up to Domino High School, Kiko looked up from talking with her friends and their phoenixes. "Are you nervous about seeing them?"
Tima chuckled but nodded. "Yeah. I mean…it's been a while since we've seen them."
Stroking Hikaru's back, Crystal smiled. "Cheer up. I know they'll be happy to have you two in their lives again."
Atem smirked. "Is that a vision you're having?"
Crystal rolled her eyes in amusement and shook her head. Bri tilted his head at them with a sparkle in his eyes. ~We will truly see how strong their bond is with you two.~
Tsuki smiled. "I can't wait to see their reactions."
Hikaru and Nayru cooed in agreement. Surrounded by their new friends, Atem and Tima felt their nervousness melt away.
At Domino High, the group headed towards the decorated gym; the phoenixes remained outside on the roof. Tsuki, Kiko, Crystal, and Ukino sat in the front row; Atem and Tima sat in the last row. Soon, the 3rd years came in, two by two dressed in their uniforms with a special flower pin. The couple looked among the students and found their friends. Yugi walked in with his sister; Joey walked in with Merina; and Tristan walked in with Tea. The ceremony started with the school anthem sung by the students and was followed by a speech from the principal. The gang listened but the siblings became distracted. They looked around the audience and Tiki whispered to Yugi, "Is it me or is someone…familiar watching us?"
Yugi nodded. "But who…?" He connected with Tarra outside. ~Do you sense anything?~
Looking at the window, he saw Tarra fly by. ~Yes…it feels familiar…but I can't really see.~ She "chuckled." ~Your gym needs to invest in clearer windows or at least clean them.~
Yugi smiled and focused on the ceremony. Despite doing so, he still felt that familiar feeling.
After the ceremony, the graduates gathered outside to take pictures with each other, their family, and their teachers. Joey pushed his way through the crowd and soon found the siblings with Solomon. Laughing, the blond jumped onto Yugi, almost knocking him over. "We made it!"
Yugi was too focused on trying to stand up under Joey's weight to answer. Tiki giggled. "Joey, you're about to crush him."
Solomon laughed heartily as Joey stood up straighter. "Ah, to be young. I'm very proud of all of you."
The three smiled widely as Tristan, Merina, and Tea came up. Tristen smirked. "Never thought I would see Joey in a graduation ceremony."
Merina snickered. "After the last couple years, I guess anything's possible."
Joey glared at them. "Watch it, you two!"
Merina playfully rolled her eyes before looking around. "Have you guys seen Ryou?"
Tiki nodded. "He and Rose left as soon as the ceremony ended. They're going to London to be with their parents for the summer."
Tea came over and hugged Yugi from behind. "I can't believe we finished high school."
Yugi's eyes sparkled like stars. "And now we can face the future together."
Tea smiled and kissed his temple, making Yugi smile with glee. Tiki looked at her brother, happy for him being in a relationship with Tea. She turned to talk to Merina and noticed she looked annoyed at them. The brunette was about to get her friend's attention when her cell phone rang. Seeing the ID, she smiled and stepped to the side to answer it. Joey noticed and looked annoyed. "I bet Rich Boy is on the phone. What kind of man doesn't go to his girlfriend's graduation?"
Merina looked at Tiki, who was squealing. "You know how busy Kaiba is. There was probably a work emergency that happened."
Tristan smirked at Joey's annoyed look. "Dude, you need to get over the fact that they're dating."
Joey said nothing but stepped forward towards Tiki. Seeing him, Tiki quickly said, "Bye, Seto!"
Just before Joey could reach for the phone, Tiki hung up. "Can I help you, Joey?"
Merina rolled her eyes. "You need to let it go."
Joey scoffed. "No! Kaiba's a jerk and Tiki deserves better!"
He then yelped and held his leg: Tiki kicked his shin. Flying above the gang with the other phoenixes, Earthzina shook her head. ~When are you ever going to learn?~
Everyone agreed as they headed for the front gate. Tristan said to Tiki, "I still can't believe you managed to convince Kaiba to let us use his mansion for the party."
Tiki smiled happily. "I have my ways."
Joey gagged, making her glare. Before she could say something, Tsuki, Ukino, Kiko, and Crystal came up. Merina grinned. "Hey, girls."
Tsuki smiled. "Congratulations, you guys."
Kiko nodded. "We're glad we got to see it."
Tristan smirked and gestured to Joey with his head. "You girls got to see a miracle with this dude graduating."
Joey went for Tristan's throat, making Crystal laugh. "You guys are giving me flashbacks to the day we all met."
Tristan and Joey were too busy fighting to react; everyone else smiled and remembered.
As Domino High let out for winter break, Merina looked at the gang. "Guys, let's get some hot chocolate! I know a really good place!"
Wrapping her arms around Yugi to get warm, Tea agreed. "Sounds good. Where?" Merina told them the name, making Tea pause. "Isn't that a little pricey? Maybe somewhere else?"
Merina tensed up a little, prompting Tiki to say, "It's a treat to celebrate winter break! We can have a treat."
Yugi agreed, making Merina feel better. She then got a text and looked at it, making her grin. Joey tried to look over her shoulder. "Who you texting?"
Merina hid her phone. "Keep your nose out! But, if you must know, my friends from Seien Girls' High School want to meet up. I'll tell them to meet us at the place."
Tristan tilted his head. "Seien…isn't there where you went when you first moved to Japan?"
Merina nodded as she texted. Tea asked, "Why did you transfer? I don't think you ever told us."
Merina shrugged nonchalantly. "I only went there because Dad worked there as a history teacher. You know…free tuition. When he got a job at Domino University, we couldn't afford the tuition on his salary."
Yugi smiled as they started walking. "Well, we're glad you came here."
Merina went pink; it was hard to tell if the pink was in response to the snow or if she was blushing.
Entering the cozy café, the gang looked around at the treats and drinks that were available. Four girls wearing the same uniform were looking into the display case. Merina perked up. "Girls!"
The four turned around. Before Merina could introduce them, Joey pointed to the blonde girl and said, "You!"
Kiko blinked in surprise before smiling. "Need an umbrella again?"
Everyone looked between Joey and Kiko. Merina asked, "Kiko, have you met Joey already?"
Kiko nodded. "I offered my umbrella to him one rainy night. He looked like he had a rough day and needed a little help."
Joey blushed a little and explained to the gang, "Earthzina and I were heading to Tristan's and I didn't get a chance to grab my umbrella on the way out. I'm just glad she was heading in the same direction."
Tsuki asked, "If it was raining, why didn't you grab your umbrella on your way out?"
Joey started to squirm, uncomfortable. "I…had to leave rather quickly."
The girls looked confused but the gang caught Tristan's eye, who said under his breath, "His dad."
The gang immediately understood, knowing how Joey's father was. Wanting to distract Joey, Tristan told the girls, "You girls might want to move. The second Joey sees chocolate, he'll bowl anyone over to get his fix."
Blushing, Joey went for Tristan's throat. "That happened once and it was the last piece!"
Everyone laughed at them until the owner asked for them to either behave or leave. Tristan and Joey stopped fighting so Tiki said, "Merina, introduce us!"
Merina nodded and introduced her eight friends to each other. They ended up hanging out in the café until the sun went down, getting to know each other.
As the phoenixes landed on their respected guardian's shoulders, everyone heard a very familiar male voice: "We're proud of you all as well."
Everyone froze. Joey said, "What the hell…?"
Tea said, "That's impossible."
Tsuki grinned. "We have a little surprise for you."
The four girls moved aside, revealing Atem and Tima. The gang's eyes widened, still unable to move. Merina was the first to break the silence: "Impossible…"
Tima could not help but chuckle at this. "Come on, Merina. You know things aren't impossible with our group."
For a full minute, no one moved. The gang was completely lost for words. Just before the couple could say anything, they were suddenly knocked to the ground: Yugi and Tiki ran up and glomped them. Before the couple could fully register what happened, the siblings started to talk at the same time. Yugi happily said, "I can't believe this!"
Tiki squeezed Tima. "This has to be a dream!"
"Please don't wake us up if it is!"
"Please tell us this is real!"
Tima and Atem looked at each other and smiled. Hugging the siblings back, the couple helped them back to their feet. Atem started, "It's not a dream, my friend."
Tima nodded. "We are here…to stay, this time."
Hearing that, Joey, Tristan, and Tea pounced on the couple. Joey and Tristan got Atem in a chokehold-hug and Merina and Tea hugged Tima tightly. Tarra even swooped down and landed on Atem's shoulder, hoping up and down happily. Everyone else who were leaving had to walk around them and gave them disapproving looks; some adults even muttered about kids having no decency in public. The group did not care; they were too happy that Atem and Tima were back. Once the initial excitement slowly started to die down, everyone pulled back, giving the couple some air. Joey smirked, "So couldn't stay away, huh?"
Tima shook her head and Atem chuckled. "Our bonds were even more powerful than we realized. Tima asked Ra if we could come back in our own bodies and He allowed us."
Tima smiled as Yugi hugged Tea's arm. "I haven't been this happy since our first date!"
Tima looked between Yugi and Tea and asked silently with facial expressions. Tea was too busy looking at Atem to answer; Yugi, however, nodded. Atem grinned with pride. "Well done, Yugi!"
Blushing deeply, Yugi looked away. He had forgotten how much Atem liked to tease him about Tea. Seeing his blush, Tea reached over and stroked Yugi's bangs. This made him smile a puppy-like smile. Tristan and Joey snickered between themselves and Joey said, "Careful, you two. We're going to get diabetes from this sweetness."
Going so red he was almost glowing, Yugi broke away from Tea and tried to yell at Joey and Tristan. But his yells only made his friends laugh harder. Calming himself down, Joey teasingly put his hand on Yugi's face, silencing him, and said, "Come on, we got a party to go to!"
That caught Atem's attention. "Party?"
Breaking away from Joey's hand, Yugi nodded. "Mom and Grandpa are throwing us a big graduation party."
Tiki smiled. "And I convinced Seto to let us use his mansion so we can have more room."
Joey grimaced again. "The one thing Kaiba's useful for."
Kiko grinned. "He could have told her to keep you out."
Joey gave her a look. "Can it, Monkey-Girl."
Kiko stuck her tongue out. "Doggy-Boy!"
The two blondes started a brief banter, making every human and phoenix laugh. Just as they were ending their banter, everyone heard a car horn. They looked up to see a car pull up and one of the window rolled down to reveal Scipio in the driver's seat. They greeted him and he waved to them. "Hey, kids. Congratulations on the graduation." He then looked at Merina. "Ready to go, Merina?"
Merina nodded. As Torru flew into the car, Tiki looked at Merina. "What? You're not coming?"
Merina smiled. "No, no. I am. Daddy just needs to get me my graduation gift first."
Ukino asked, "Will it take long?"
Merina shrugged. Scipio commented, "Mine took all day but it's more detailed than hers will be."
Everyone looked confused, making Merina smile. "I'll show you guys tonight. See you later."
With that, Merina left with her father and Torru.
A few hours later, Kaiba Manor was alive with a party. Mrs. Mutou was working in the kitchen with the staff, Tiki, and Tima on the food and drink. Solomon was entertaining the girls from Seien with tales of his time as an exploring gamer. Joey and Tristan insisted on taking care of the music. They acted like DJs, keeping everyone entertained with their antics and music. Joey especially tried to focus on the music because Mokuba kept watching him. "Nii-sama told me to make sure you don't break anything of ours."
Everyone else kept busy with dancing, talking, and just hanging out. Drink in hand, Atem looked around. He felt a little out of place. 'This is so odd. I'm usually just watching parties…not actually participating.'
As he looked around, he saw Yugi talking to Tsuki with Tarra on his shoulder. Atem felt a little jealous; he missed having Tarra by his side. Watching her, he could see even from a distance the sparkle in the phoenix's eye. He could not help but smile. 'As jealous as I am…I am happy that she's with Yugi. It's as it should be.'
As he started to fill a small plate with snacks, he did not notice that Tea was watching him. When he returned, Tea felt her feelings towards him come back tenfold. While she tried to find happiness with Yugi, she knew deep down that she felt more feelings for Atem than her current boyfriend. She peeked at Yugi and, seeing him still talking to Tsuki and clueless to what she was doing, approached Atem. "Hi, Atem."
Looking up from his carrots, Atem smiled. "Hey, Tea. Nice to see you again."
Tea nodded, trying to keep it casual. "Yes…it is nice to see you two again." She then put on a flirtatious smile. "I've missed you, Atem."
Atem looked around, not noticing her smile. "Tima and I missed you too; we missed all of you. I still can't believe we've been gone a whole year."
Tea looked a little annoyed but managed to collect herself. Taking a chance, she reached over and touched his shoulder. He looked at her as she started to bat her eyes cutely. "I know, right? So long…I know you missed us…especially someone like me, right?"
Atem gave her a blank stare, not sure what she was doing. Before he could answer, he suddenly felt someone grab his wrist and yank him away. "We need your help, Atem! Mom has the food ready and we need an extra pair of hands to bring them out! Chop chop!"
Tea could only watch as Tiki yanked Atem into the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, he saw that there were a lot of plates full of food ready to go out. "Um…glad to help."
Tiki smiled. "Always glad to have extra hands."
As she turned to keep stirring the drink, she saw Tima sign, **Thank you.**
Tiki nodded. As Mrs. Mutou spooned some dip into a bowl, Atem smiled politely at her. Seeing who it was, she diverted her eyes and went back to getting more dip. A little uncomfortable, Atem asked Tiki quietly, "Did I do something wrong?"
Tiki shook her head. "It's just…a little odd for Mom to see her son's doppelganger. I mean…we haven't told her the whole story."
Atem looked at Mrs. Mutou and pointed out, "We have to tell her eventually. It doesn't feel right to keep her in the dark."
Tima agreed. "Especially since Grandpa already knows everything."
Tiki was just about to agree when her cell phone rang. She looked at it and saw it was Merina. "Hang on. I need to get this." Moving to a corner, she answered. "Hey. Where are you?"
"Stuck at the mechanics."
"You're kidding."
"I wish. We finished getting my gift and were on our way when our engine blew up on us."
Tiki stood up straighter, now very worried. "Oh my goodness! Are you all right?!"
"Oh yeah, we're fine. If anything…" her tone went sarcastic and teasing, "…this will teach someone to pay attention to the little light on the dashboard."
Tiki heard Scipio comment back, making both girls giggle. Tiki said, "Well, where are you? I can send a limo to you."
"No, don't worry about it."
"Are you sure? I don't want you to miss out."
"Tiki, don't worry about it. I need to rest after my gift, anyway. It took more out of me than I expected it to."
"But…"
Merina's voice went firm. "Tiki…it's fine. Besides…between you and me…I don't think it's a good idea of me to be around Tea right now. I saw how she was looking at Atem…and I've had it."
Tiki nodded. "Okay, if you insist. Just keep me updated."
Merina agreed and hung up. Putting her phone away, Tiki went back to the food. Seeing everything was ready, she, Tima, and Atem brought the dishes out. Seeing and smelling the food, everyone started to come over. Joey grinned. "Damn! Yugi, your mom makes the best food!"
Yugi smiled. "Yes, she does!"
Mokuba came over and situated himself next to Joey. Crossing his arms, he stated, "Just don't slobber all over the floor, Joey." He grinned. "Or Nii-sama will make you clean the whole mansion with a toothbrush!"
Joey glared. "As long as it's Kaiba's toothbrush."
Mokuba glared but could not retort as Tiki came between them and smiled at the preteen. "Thanks for having us. Would you like something to eat?"
Mokuba grinned. "Thanks, Tiki!"
Joey gave Tiki a look. "What's with you always defending Mokuba and Rich Boy?"
Tiki rolled her eyes. "What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't defend my man?"
Joey made a gagging noise. In response, Tiki and Mokuba kicked Joey's shins, making him yelp in pain. Everyone laughed and then got themselves some food.
The party went on for hours, ending only when Mrs. Mutou took Solomon home after midnight. The friends laid out either on the couches or in the numerous guest rooms and fell asleep: Mokuba told them they could spend the night. Sighing contently in their guest room, Atem pulled Tima into his arms and curled up on the bed. "This was a great day."
Tima nodded and smiled at him. She then thought of something. "I wonder how Kaiba will react."
Atem chuckled and fell asleep.
The next morning, Atem was startled awake by a yell coming from downstairs. Tima did not stir so he headed downstairs, still trying to wake up. As he got closer to the kitchen, he could hear Joey yelling at someone. Opening the door, he saw Earthzina pulling Joey's shirt back as he was yelling at Kaiba, who looked very proud about something. Rubbing his eye, he asked, "What's all the noise?"
Without looking, Kaiba held up his hand. "This does not concern you, Atem." After a few seconds, he registered what he said. "Wait…"
Everyone looked at him in the doorway. "Morning, everyone." He then looked at Kaiba and smirked. "Kaiba."
Kaiba was stunned. "…I must be hallucinating."
Joey rolled his eyes and went forward, ignoring Earthzina pulling his shirt. "When will you get your head out of your—"
Kaiba cut him off by putting his hand on Joey's face. His eyes never left Atem. He finally spoke up: "How the hell are you still around?"
Tiki looked up at Kaiba. "He came back. He and Tima." She then looked at Atem. "She still sleeping?"
Atem nodded. "I'm letting her sleep in."
Kaiba continued to stare at Atem, not noticing when Joey knocked his hand off his face. After a minute, his face went from shock to his trademark smirk. "I'm happy you came back…so I can finally defeat you."
Joey and the phoenixes rolled their eyes; Tiki pressed her lips together to not laugh. Atem smirked. "Name the time and place."
Kaiba's smirk widened. Seeing this, Tiki pulled back and loudly cleared her throat, getting the young men's attention. "After breakfast, you two can duel to your heart's content."
As she opened a cabinet, Atem smiled and gestured to the door with his head. Before the three could leave, however, Tiki tossed all of them an apron. Atem and Joey looked at the aprons, confused by what she was doing, and Kaiba looked at Tiki. "What's the meaning of this, Tiki?"
Tiki put on her own smirk. "Thank you for volunteering, boys. I was starting to wonder how I was going to cook for everyone all by myself. So wash up and put those on! You three will be put to work."
Atem and Joey blinked in surprise. Kaiba stated, "I have cooks. We can just wake one up."
Tiki gave them a look. Deciding to not argue, Kaiba put on the apron. Joey and Atem did the same but Joey did not look too thrilled. Catching Joey's eye, Atem shrugged. "We should help out since we're here."
Itami and Earthzina flew to a corner to not accidentally get their feathers in the food. Joey pointed to Kaiba with his thumb. "But we're dealing with Rich Boy here. Does he even know the difference between a pan and a plate?"
Washing his hands, Kaiba glared at Joey before looking at Tiki. "Did you have anything in mind?"
Tiki shrugged. "I was just getting food out when you came home. I did find the eggs and I think there's also bacon and a block of cheese in the fridge."
Kaiba nodded and immediately took charge. "Atem, get the cheese and cut the block into cubes. Tiki, work on making toast. Bonkotsu…separate the bacon strips. You should be able to handle that."
Joey growled but Atem pulled him towards the fridge. While the three worked on their assignments, Kaiba took a few eggs and heated the stove. To the three's astonishment, he started to make scrambled eggs. When the eggs were halfway done, he took the cheese cubes Atem had made and added them to the eggs. Done separating the bacon strips, Joey asked, "Since when can you cook?"
Still focused on the eggs, Kaiba stated, "I am the CEO of the largest gaming company in the world. There have been times when I had to cook my and Mokuba's own food when I suspected one of my cooks was a double agent for a competitor."
Tiki smiled and nuzzled Kaiba's arm. Atem asked, "Has that actually happened? Would your competitor stoop so low?"
Kaiba murmured, "Better safe than sorry."
Taking the bacon strips from Joey, Tiki gave him the bread and she went next to Kaiba to work on the bacon. Thinking of Tarra, Atem got out some fruit and started to cut them into cubes, making sure to make enough for all the phoenixes. The kitchen was soon smelling delicious.
Minutes later, everyone else had woken up and all sat down at the dining room table for breakfast. All the phoenixes were on Itami's bird tree next to the glass doors, eating from the bowls of fruit. Crystal smiled. "Everything smells good."
Tiki smiled. "I would hope so. Seto made the eggs."
As Seto came in and sat down, Mokuba grinned and hugged his brother. Surprised the CEO was back, everyone nodded to him as Mokuba said, "Let's eat!"
Everyone started to dish up the food and eat. But first, Tiki gave Kaiba a look; he smirked and took her into another room. Assuming, Joey dropped his fork and knife. "Well, I lost my appetite."
Tristan teased, "That's a first."
Tima chuckled. "Joey, just let Tiki date him."
Yugi agreed, catching Joey's eye. "I still don't get how you're so easy-going with this."
Yugi shrugged, popping a piece of bacon in his mouth. "I can't stop Tiki loving who she loves. Besides, on the off chance he hurts her, I will make sure he never touches her again, let alone hurt her again."
At that moment, Tiki and Kaiba came back. Tiki giggled and hugged her brother's head. "You're the best brother a girl can ask for!"
Yugi blushed deeply. Tea smiled at them before noticing, "Did you scratch yourself, Tiki?"
Tiki raised her eyebrow. "No, why?"
Tea pointed to Tiki's neck. "Your neck is bright red."
Tiki went bright red; Kaiba smirked with pride. As Tiki ran off to the bathroom, Joey looked at Kaiba in disgust. "Come on! I'm eating!"
Kaiba did not looked at Joey but still answered: "You are lucky I am in a good mood or I would throw you out on the street."
Joey opened his mouth to argue but Kiko quickly stuffed a piece of toast with honey in his mouth. Tasting the food, he sat down and went back to eating. Everyone looked half-amused, half annoyed. Ukino murmured, "So simple-minded…"
Tsuki agreed but then thought of something. "Has anyone heard from Merina?"
As Tiki came back with makeup on her neck, Kiko nodded. "I texted her this morning. She said she's feeling better but is still going to take it easy."
Tima asked, "So we won't get to see what her graduation gift is."
Ukino pointed out, "I'm just glad she's all right when her car broke."
Everyone agreed. Yugi then turned to Atem and Tima. "By the way, how long have you been back?"
Atem thought about it. "About a month."
Tea looked a little hurt. "Why didn't you tell us you were back?"
Everyone but Yugi noticed Tea said "you," not "you two." Tima tensed. "We needed time to get used to our new bodies."
Atem nodded, taking Tima's hand. "We wanted to call you guys but we knew we had to be fully recovered to see you." He smirked. "Besides…it was a nice graduation gift."
Everyone nodded with smiles. Their smiles, however, vanished when Kaiba asked a single question: "So what are you going to do now?"
Atem and Tima froze as reality set in. Atem touched his head. "Damn…we have nothing but our name and clothes on our backs."
Tima bit her thumb in stress. "No education, no jobs…not even birth certificates!"
The couples looked like they were on the verge of a mental breakdown. Everyone tried to suggest ideas but none seemed to be plausible. The tense air was broken by Kaiba clearing his throat. "You are forgetting you have someone who can make up the paperwork you two need."
Yugi looked at Kaiba. "You would do that for them?"
Kaiba smirked. "I could…" Tiki tapped his hand with her fork, "…and I will. But not for free." He quickly turned his hand and caught Tiki's fork, which was coming in for another tap. "Nice try."
Tima got worried again. "Kaiba, we don't have any money."
Kaiba scoffed with a scoff. "Who said anything about money?"
"Then what do you want?"
Kaiba locked eyes with Atem. "A proper rematch."
While relieved that Kaiba was going to help them, everyone was annoyed by how adamant Kaiba was about the rematch. Atem shrugged. "As I said, name the time and place."
Kaiba smirked. "Very well. But first, I will use you as a guinea pig." Tiki tapped his hand again. "Keep that up and I won't take you out tonight."
Tiki hid her fork on her lap and put on an innocent smile. Kaiba smirked and continued. "I have a new Duel Disk virtual reality technology being developed and I need someone to test it with me. I can't afford to lose another Duel computer."
Yugi tilted his head, confused. "Should I test it with you?"
Kaiba said a little bluntly, "You may be the King of Games but Atem's face is attached to that title."
Joey grumbled, "Damn, that was harsh."
Tristan murmured, "But kind of true."
Joey smacked Tristan upside the head as Atem nodded. "Very well. You got my interest."
Kaiba smirked as Tsuki asked, "What about a living situation? My family can't take care of you forever."
Tiki chirped up, "There's always Seto's—"
Kaiba covered her mouth with his hand and gave her a look. She gave another innocent smile as Atem asked, "What was that?"
Kaiba removed his hand. "Nothing."
Deciding to respect Kaiba's wishes, Tiki looked at Yugi. "Why don't we ask Mom and Grandpa about letting them stay?"
Tima shook her head. "We don't want to be a bother."
Tarra lifted her head, a piece of melon in her beak. ~Nonsense! It'll be like it was in Ancient Egypt!~
Atem asked, "Would we be staying in yours and Tiki's rooms?"
Tiki thought about it. "Probably. You think the guest room is ready?"
Yugi shrugged. "I've been too busy studying for finals to pay attention. But we'll make due."
Tiki giggled. "These next two months will be fun!"
Crystal looked up. "Is it really only two months? That seems so soon."
Tima asked, "What's in two months?"
Tea smiled. "We girls are going to New York for college!"
Atem and Tima looked between Tea and Tiki. Tea smiled at Atem. "I got accepted to Columbia, the best dance school—"
Assuming what Tea was doing, Tiki cut in with, "And Merina and I got into New York University, the best theater school!"
Atem and Tima congratulated both of them. As the breakfast continued, the couple felt at ease with their situation. They were back with their friends, Kaiba was going to help them with paperwork, and they were ready to face the future together.
