A/N: Sorry this is late! Life happened, and I'm still trying to get back on the ball. One Hundred Years is still giving me grief, so I may just slap it up, rough edges and all, then move on to the next grief-giving chapter. Meanwhile I've got two other High-maintenance fanfictions and then some to hog my attention, so please forgive my inconsistency. Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter 5: First Impressions Take Two

Mrs. Draconis kept a steadying hand on Yugi's back as she guided him inside. "Always finding trouble, aren't you, Yugi?" she chuckled. "Well, at least now I get a chance to repay some of your kindness from all those years ago."

Yugi looked at her quizzically. "What are you..." His eyes widened in realization. "You remember?"

Kisara gave him a sly wink. "As if I could ever forget. It's good to see you again, Yugi."

Yugi smiled. "It's good to see you, too, Kisara."

The older woman helped him sit down on the couch. "Let me get you some ice for that head of yours."

"Um, sure. Thanks."

There was an awkward pause as Kisara made her way to the freezer.

"So, how much do you remember, exactly?" Yugi broached.

Kisara thought the question over as she returned to hand Yugi an ice pack. "It's easier to remember important people and events than anything else. What about you? What do you remember?"

Yugi sighed, feeling the weight of much more than the ice pack on his head. "Everything. Two lifetimes' worth of memories."

"Three, if you count what you shared with Pharaoh Atem, I imagine."

Yugi nodded solemnly.

"You're truly an old soul, Yugi. In more ways than one. I assume Isa and Atem don't know?"

"No." Yugi shook himself out of whatever reverie he was in. "That reminds me: what about Mahad? Have you seen him?"

Kisara's lips thinned. She shook her head. "No. I try not to worry – the world is a big place, after all – but..."

"But it feels like he should be here."

Kisara nodded. "Atem, Isis, myself, even Bakura – we're all here. Mahad should be here as well. You know as well as I that his reincarnation was no different than mine."

"Well, then, he's probably here somewhere. Maybe someplace you haven't thought of looking."

Kisara sighed. "I hope so, Yugi."

Yugi paused as he remembered something. "Say, I've been wondering... Mokuba's dad... uh, Mr. Draconis... is he... who I think he is?"

Kisara grinned. "If you're thinking of Seto, then yes. He and I have been married almost fifteen years, now."

"That's awesome! How is he?"

"A little different from what you probably remember – a little less uptight and more mature, perhaps – but in many ways, still the same."

"What'cha guys talking about?" Mokuba asked, coming in the door with groceries in both arms.

Kisara smiled. "Nothing, dear. I was just telling Yugi about your father."

Mokuba grinned. "Awesome! Did you get to the part about him being on the City Council?"

Yugi sat a little straighter. "Wait, your dad's on the City Council?"

"Uh-huh. He does most of the talking for them, too. Of course, he's usually the only one with something worthwhile to say, anyhow."

"Huh. Go figure."

Mokuba grinned and set the groceries on the counter. "I'll be right back. I need to get the rest."

Kisara turned to Yugi as her son disappeared out the front door. "Will you be alright if I go help him?"

Yugi snickered. "We both know I've survived worse. Go on."

"Call out if you need something. I mean it."

"I will."

Kisara stood and headed for the door as Isa came in with Bakura, Atem, and Joey.

"How are you feeling, Yugi?"

"I'll be fine. Just a little dizzy."

Isa nodded with concern before turning to Joey. "Now, Joey, I believe you have something to say?"

Joey coughed sheepishly. "Listen – Yugi, right? I'm real sorry about runnin' you over. I didn't know you were standin' there, I swear."

"I believe you. And it's okay; I can tell it was an accident."

Joey let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, man."

Yugi smiled. "No problem."

"Isa," Kisara said as she came in with another load of groceries, "where do the things in these bags go?"

"Just follow me. I'll show you." Isa headed upstairs with Kisara behind her.

Joey cleared his throat. "So. Intros. Name's Joey Fidel." He thumbed at Bakura. "The grump here is Kura–"

"That's Bakura!" the teen snapped.

"Whatever."

"He and his little brother Ryou are called 'the twins' around school. Guess that's gonna change with you around, huh, Yugi?" Mokuba grinned as he came in with the rest of the groceries.

"Oh, yeah, we got two matching sets, now." Joey glanced back at Yugi and pointed at Mokuba. "I'm guessing you've already met the shrimp."

Mokuba darted over and slugged Joey on the shoulder. "My name is Mokuba! I am not a shrimp!"

"Yeah? 'Den how come I can do 'dis?" Joey pulled the kid into a headlock, noogying him relentlessly. Mokuba let loose several incoherent yells of protest.

They stopped short upon hearing a new sound. All heads turned to the couch, where Yugi was cackling uncontrollably. "Sorry," he gasped. "You- you just remind me... so much of my friends."

"Really? They sound like my kinda crowd. Mebbe you can introduce us to them!"

Atem socked Joey in the same spot Mokuba had nailed.

"Ow! Hey! What was dat for?"

Atem yanked Joey down to his level and hissed something in his ear.

Joey's face went slack. He straightened when Atem released his shirt front. "Sorry, man. I-I didn't–"

"It's okay. There's no way you could have known," Yugi replied.

Joey deflated in relief. "Thanks."

Bakura cleared his throat after a moment. "Anyone care to clue me in?"

Yugi offered a weak smile. "My friends all died a long time ago."

Bakura's eyes widened. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I see."

Joey shifted on his heels. "...Hey, listen, Yugi... if ya want to, maybe you can be pals with all of us – I mean, there's a couple of us that ya haven't met yet, but they're good guys, and.. well, since you're Atem's brother and all, we might as well get to know ya, right?"

Yugi smiled, tears pricking at his eyes. "Thanks, Joey. I'd like that."

A muffled 'bang' came from upstairs.

"Bakura!" Isa's voice thundered.

"And that's my cue to vanish," Bakura smirked. "See you lot later." He was across the room and jumping out the nearest window almost before Yugi could blink.

Isa stormed down the stairs a moment later. "Where's Bakura?" she demanded.

Yugi blinked and pointed at the window. "He, uh... went that way."

"Let me guess," Atem deadpanned. "Pressure-activated firecracker under the hall rug?"

Isa threw up her hands. "Yes! And it was full of paint, too! It's going to take hours to get those colors out!" She huffed in frustration, then started as though remembering something. "Oh. Joey, I got a text while I was upstairs. Your mother has been looking for you. You'd best head home."

"Uh, yes, ma'am," Joey replied awkwardly. "Hey, Yug, nice meeting ya. Maybe later, we can all meet up and, you know, talk and stuff."

"Sounds great," Yugi nodded.

"I'll see you around."

...

"Memory problems, huh? So what do you remember?" Mokuba asked Yugi.

The black-haired boy was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, from which Yugi had been ordered not to budge in light of the afternoon's excitement. Atem was leaning against the couch arm opposite Yugi.

"Well..." Yugi pressed his lips together, mulling over what to say or keep hidden. "I remember my friends, and I remember my Grandpa... I remember what happened to most of them... but, other than that, pretty much nothing."

"Anything that might help figure out how you got here?"

Yugi shook his head. "Aside from walking around, it's just a big blank. There's my loved ones, the stuff we did, and then I'm waking up in a hospital room."

Okay, so that was a bold-faced lie. But it was the safest thing to tell them, all things considering, and as close to the truth as he could get for the same reasons.

"Sorta weird you'd only lose parts of your memory," Mokuba mused.

"Well... my friends and my grandpa are- were the most important part of my life. They meant more than the world to me. Maybe that's why I remember them and not much else."

"Guess that makes sense. Still pretty weird, though."

Yugi smiled. "Well, it's still not the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me."

Atem smirked. "I take it you remember something weirder."

"I remember a lot of things that were weirder."

"Like what?"

"Oh, man, where to start? There were a whole bunch of times we'd have to deal with muggers or kidnappers, take on nutcases in card games, face down bullies – usually all on the same day."

"Okay, now you're just messing with us," Mokuba grumbled.

"I'm dead serious! Me and my friends weren't exactly 'normal' ...from what I remember, I mean. We had this thing for attracting trouble from the weirdest places everywhere we went. Sure, we had fun and went to school like all the other kids, but... there were always those little reminders that we weren't your average kids on the block."

Mokuba and Atem exchanged a meaningful look upon hearing that. Yugi pretended not to notice.

"Heck, even on a good day, I'd be waiting for one of those not-so-little reminders to pop out from nowhere and send everything to Ammit."

"Send to what?" Mokuba and Atem asked in unison.

"Huh? Oh! That's just a phrase I came up with a few- a while back. You see, Ammit was a creature from Egyptian mythology. He devoured the hearts of condemned souls in the afterlife."

"That's... unsettling," Atem said.

Yugi laughed. "A lot of our adventures were just that. It's why I came up with the phrase to begin with."

"I'm starting to get the feeling you'd get along well with Ryou."

"You got that right," Mokuba concurred. "Ryou's really into that kind of thing."

"Mokuba, I think it's time we head home. We don't want your father to beat us there," Kisara called.

Mokuba smirked. "Yeah, you're right. He'd never let us hear the end of it." He stood up. "See you 'round, you two."

"Bye Mokuba," Yugi and Atem called as the Draconises vanished out the front door.

"So... what do you want to talk about now?" Yugi asked.

"Well... um, you mentioned your grandfather earlier. What was he like?"

Yugi considered whether he should reiterate his stance that he and Atem weren't really twins. Another glance at Atem's face made the decision for him. Yugi sighed and looked away to collect his thoughts.

"Grandpa was..." a smile tugged at his lips. "Something else. That's for sure. I get the feeling he would have liked you."

He glanced back in time to catch the wistful smile on Atem's face. He took it as a sign to go further into detail.

"Grandpa's the one who raised me. He used to tell me all kinds of stories about his travels, especially in Egypt. Kinda ironic how that went."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, uh. Well... we uh, you see we ran into a lot of trouble that all traced back to Egypt in some form or another. It's not really important. Anyway, when Grandpa settled down, he opened a game shop. I grew up helping out around the place. We lived on the second floor. Would have been running the place in his stead if I hadn't... anyway. I loved games as much as he did, and he taught me everything he knew about his favorites. Especially Duel Monsters."

Atem sat up straighter. "You like Duel Monsters?"

"Sure. It's my favorite game."

Atem jumped up. "Wait here." He scrambled up the stairs like he was Joey heading for a buffet. Yugi only had to wait a minute and a half before he came pounding back down the stairs with a large shoebox. He carefully set it on the coffee table and opened it. He reached in and pulled out a deck of cards – Duel Monsters cards – with a smirk. "Care for a duel?"

Yugi grinned. You bet!" Yugi's hand went to the deck holster on his belt. his smile faded. Oh, wait...

Atem seemed to understand Yugi's dismay. "I have extra decks if you need to borrow one."

The smile returned in part. Yugi opened his mouth to respond, only to pause. That tingle in his fingertips...

"Are you alright?" his twin asked.

Yugi scrambled to open the holster. Instead of an empty container, he saw cards.

No way.

He pulled them out. "I don't believe it." He stared at each card. They were all there.

"...Are you alright?" Atem ventured.

"Y-yeah," Yugi breathed. "I... I just... I didn't think they were still here."

Something wet trailed down his cheek. It took a second to realize it was a tear. He quickly wiped it away. "Sorry about that. Guess I don't have to borrow your cards after all. So, whaddaya say? Shall we Duel?"

Atem smiled. "Let's Duel."

...

"Officer Orion!" the Captain called.

Stella looked up from her desk. "Yes, ma'am?"

The Captain strolled over and plopped a file on top of her stack of work. "Look into this, will you? Seventeen-year-old kid with no records we can track down. And when I say no records, I mean no. Records. Birth certificate, online profile – you name it, he doesn't have it. Even facial recognition came up empty."

Stella raised an eyebrow at her superior as she picked up the file. "How high is this on priority?"

"For now, consider it Top. If you hit a wall and keep hitting it, we'll talk."

"Yes ma'am."

The Captain nodded and walked away.

Stella understood what had been left unsaid. They both knew, after all, what had happened the last time New Domino law enforcement found someone without records. Everyone in the Anomaly Division did. Granted, Bruno had turned out to be an ally, but his sudden appearance had been a harbinger everyone had failed to identify. It was the whole reason the Anomaly Division had been created nearly seventy years ago.

Officer Orion flipped open the manilla folder. Her eyes skimmed the general information. She stopped at the name.

Her eyes narrowed. Was this a joke?

Maybe this kid is a die-hard Duel Monsters fan? But... nobody talks about the King of Games anymore.

Her eyes shifted to the photo clipped to the documents. She choked on her breath.

"You okay, Stella?" someone asked.

Is this for real? Or an elaborate hoax? But he has no records... and it's too close a resemblance to ignore...

"Y-yeah. Fine. I just need to... take five."

Discreetly snatching the photo from the folder, Stella made a beeline for the restroom. After confirming she was alone, she locked the main door, pulled out her phone, and dialed her mom's number on "holo." A holographic image of a ringing phone appeared over her device. It was quickly replaced by a grey-haired woman.

"Stella, honey! You don't usually call me during work hours. Did you get the day off, or is something wrong?"

Stella's face was grim. "Mom, a few minutes ago, I was asked to look into someone. Someone with no records and no facial recognition profile. Remind you of anyone? Say, a certain mechanic you used to know?"

Her mom's brow furrowed, then her eyes widened. "Bruno."

Stella nodded. "Captain wants to make sure this isn't something similar."

"Good for her. What do you know about this person so far?"

"If my theory is right, a lot more than anyone else would think."

Her raised an eyebrow. "What's the theory?"

"That's why I called. The file I was handed contained a picture of our mystery guy. I wanted to confirm my suspicions with you." Stella held up the file photo so her mom could see it. "Mom. Is this who I think it is?"

The woman gasped. "Yugi!"