Otogi pushed open the door leading into the Mutous' home, calling out, "Hey Yuugi, guess what!"

When no reply followed, he frowned and wandered inside. Mr. Mutou said Yuugi was here. Maybe he's up in his room?

He hadn't gone very far when Rishid popped out of the kitchen, holding a finger to his lips, jerking his head towards the living room. Otogi raised an eyebrow at the odd behavior, heading into the indicated room to see what was up. What he found made him smile. Yuugi was curled up on the couch with Kiri in his arms like some sort of teddy bear. The diminutive teen was clearly asleep and, normally, Otogi would have left his friend be. He had news to share, though, so he gently shook Yuugi's shoulder while saying, "Hey there, sleepyhead. Wake up."

Yuugi opened his eyes with a groan, then flushed a pretty shade of pink. "Did I really fall asleep?"

"Yeah, but it's not like you had somewhere to be," Otogi replied. Then he pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and added, "I would have left you to it if it weren't for this."

Yuugi sat up and took the paper, reading over it. The more he read, the wider his eyes grew. When he reached the end, he looked up at his friend and whispered, "We did it?"

"We did it!" Otogi echoed with a wink. "They called this afternoon and I got it all set up. That's just the confirmation email."

Yuugi looked back down at the paper, reading through the message again. As he read, his face grew ever more pensive. Eventually he made a small humming noise and rose to his feet. "We'd better let Rishid and Marik know."

"Well Rishid's in the kitchen, so I'm guessing he already knows," Otogi replied, gesturing in the general direction of the door he'd entered through.

A moment later, a distant voice called, "You are correct. We can discuss the matter over dinner if you are able to stay."

"I'm always down for your cooking, big guy," Otogi called back, making Yuugi smile.

The smaller teen then gestured towards the stairs. "Come on, Marik's upstairs."

As they approached Yuugi's room, Otogi could already hear the faint sounds of music escaping under the door. It wasn't the music he'd expected, though. "I thought Marik was having an idol phase?"

"That was last week," Yuugi muttered with a hint of exasperation. Then he pushed the door open, releasing the full power of the heavy metal blasting from the room's stereo.

It was instantly clear that this room had become a shared space. A suitcase overflowing with clothing sat against the wall and a futon was spread out on the floor. Makeup and jewelry unlike anything Yuugi had ever worn cluttered his dresser. Two backpacks leaned against the room's desk. Amidst it all sat Marik, happily curled up on Yuugi's bed, reading what looked like a stack of manga, a stick of pocky handing out of his mouth.

As Yuugi walked over to turn off the music, Otogi took in the scene and grinned. "Your fan club introduce you to more new hobbies?"

"Did they ever!" Marik cried, sitting up on the bed and waving the manga around. "Did you know they make manga with robots in space ? Not possessed demon bots or zombie-piloted death machines. Just robots being robots in space. Look at this thing! There's not a single beheading or rotting corpse in sight!"

After taking a moment to process that, Otogi asked, "Just what kind of stuff has this Ryou guy been giving you?"

"Clearly not the good stuff! " Marik cried, eyes gleaming. "I can't believe he's been holding out on me! I thought Japanese entertainment was all gore and high school drama. I feel cheated! Deprived! We will be having words when I see him next!"

"You know, the more I learn about your relationship with pop culture, the more I'd be willing to pay for a biography," Otogi mused, earning a considering look from the Egyptian teen.

"My life is a fascinating tale, well worth being shared."

"And Ishizu would kill you," Yuugi pointed out, effectively killing the dream.

As Marik pouted, Yuugi held out the email from Kaiba Corp, which Marik took. A minute later, his pout was replaced with a grin. "Oooh, this is excellent! Good work you two! Does anyone else know?"

"Yuugi's grandpa guessed when I showed up and Rishid overheard us talking, but you're the first person we're officially telling," Otogi replied, earning a delighted coo from Marik.

The Egyptian teen placed a hand on his chest, fluttering his eyelashes as he purred, "Why I'm flattered."

"And now it's weird," Otogi said, turning and heading for the door. "I'm going back downstairs to see if Rishid needs help."

Once his co-designer was gone, Yuugi gave Marik a searching look. The other teen sighed and shook his head. "I checked an hour ago. Still no reply."

"I'm sorry, but you did say he's back in school. He might just be busy."

"I guess, but it's not like him. Ryou usually at least sends me a quick note to say he got the email and will write back soon."

Seeing the concern in his friend's eyes, Yuugi switched topics, motioning to the stereo. "Did you at least pick out something good for tonight's training session?"

Marik stood up, popping the CD player open and pulling out the disk that he'd been listening to. "You bet! Beating Tem's ass to this one's gonna be extra sweet."

At that, Atemu took over, glaring at Marik as he exclaimed, "Had I my true form, you would suffer to land a single blow!"

"Yeah, sure," Marik agreed with a smirk that only served to deepen Atemu's scowl.

"You doubt me still?"

"I mean, the evidence is stacked against you, couz," Marik teased as he headed towards the door, an aggravated former pharaoh close on his heels.

Yuugi watched the exchange with a soft smile. For all that he disliked the trials of having to share his room with someone other than Atemu, he couldn't deny that Marik was a welcome addition to their lives. While Yuugi's friend had accepted his partner, there was still an element of distance brought on by their unfamiliarity with magic.

Marik had no such hang ups.

It turned out that being raised in a secret cult gave you a very strange normal meter. That and the odd similarities between his and Atemu's upbringings had made them fast friends. A bond made even stronger by Marik's continual references to their shared lineage. Even now, when they were bickering over fighting prowess, Marik's use of the term 'couz' still made happiness flood across Yuugi's link to his partner, betraying Atemu's true feelings on the matter.

The annoyance was equally genuine, though, and Yuugi had a feeling that he was going to be suffering through the fallout tomorrow.

Why couldn't they get stress relief from something less demanding, like knitting? Something that doesn't leave me with constantly aching muscles. At least I can make Atemu drive during school if they go too far, he mused as they entered the kitchen where Rishid quickly put them to work setting the table. As they went about their task, Marik continually tried to steal pieces of the strange greenish brown patties Rishid had made, but each effort was expertly blocked. Only when they were all seated was anyone allowed to eat.

Instead of switching back, Yuugi let his partner keep control. He'd grown quite fond of letting Atemu sample Rishid's cooking to see what triggered memories. Most of the time, the food did nothing, likely because 3000 years of culinary development had come and gone. Occasionally, though, they'd get a hit.

As Atemu took the first bite, his eyes widened. Then he glanced at Rishid and asked, "What is this?"

"It is called Ta'ameya," Rishid replied, expression curious. "A modern dish, by all accounts."

Atemu nodded. "I do not recognize it as a whole, but there is a flavor to it that seems familiar, even with Yuugi's pallet."

Rishid glanced down at the meal, thinking, as Marik suggested, "This uses coriander and cumin, right? Those would have been pretty common by your era."

"And garlic has always been a staple of Egypt," Rishid added. "Those are the main spices in this dish, though there are several milder ingredients, too, doubtless altering the taste beyond what you would have known."

Atemu took another bite, considering, then smiled softly. "It tastes of home."

After a moment's silence, Rishid calmly stated, "I will make it more often then."

This earned a grateful look as they returned to eating. Eventually, Yuugi and Atemu switch places so that Yuugi could try the dish as well. Once most of the food was gone, Yuugi looked around and said, "We should talk about next week's meeting."

"Sure thing. What did you want to discuss?" Marik asked.

Yuugi looked over at Otogi. "I actually mostly wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"What's he like?"

For a moment, Otogi was lost, but then a look of understanding flashed across his face. "Kaiba?"

"Yeah. You're the only one of us who really knows him. I have some thoughts on what we're getting into, but I'd like to get your read on him to see if it fits my impressions."

Otogi considered the question for a minute, then shrugged. "I don't know if I'd say that I know him, but sure, I'll give it a shot. Kaiba's... ruthless, egotistical, a total megalomaniac, and the most brilliant person I've ever met. You know how Kaiba Corp used to be a weapons and technology company, right?"

The question earned nods and noises of confirmation, so Otogi continued, "Do you know how hard it is to completely rebrand a company almost overnight? Because that's basically what happened. When he took over the business, he shut down the weapons branch and poured everything into the tech side. At the same time, he announced that they were opening a gaming division to expand to new markets. Now the company is solely focused on electronics and games, which it sells to both military and consumer clients. That's a move that really should not have worked, but it did, mostly because he didn't have to hire a bunch of designers on day one. All the initial tech and games were his designs, which sold like hot cakes.

"It's an impressive story, but it also gives you an idea of who you're dealing with. Kaiba isn't your standard self-important blowhard who only thinks the company's success is due to him. He has hard proof of just how good he is. Almost no one is on his level, but he's man enough to know that he can't do it all, so he begrudgingly hires people. It makes for an interesting work environment because rare indeed is the person he actually respects and there's only one person he loves, as far as I can tell."

This last line caught everyone's attention and Yuugi asked, "Who's that?"

"His brother," Otogi explained. "Mokuba's, I don't know, ten, maybe eleven? He's also about as different as you can be, personality wise. Where Kaiba comes across as a robot, Mokuba's this little ball of sunshine that you can't help but love. It's hard to believe that they share DNA, but there you have it. Not sure how any of that's going to help you in whatever we're walking into, though."

Yuugi bit his lip, thinking hard. Then he said, "Here's my two-cents: Kaiba's smart. He knows that we know something. He also knows that we outgun him, so to speak. He knows that we could show up at any time and take him out, yet we haven't. If I was in his shoes and got something like our game proposal, I'd view it as exactly what it is: a peace offering. Treaty negotiations. He knows that this isn't really a meeting about a game and he's okay with that. He wants to hear our side."

The others exchanged thoughtful looks, then Atemu switched places with Yuugi. "It is a generous interpretation of our enemy's intent, but Yuugi's instincts regarding Kaiba have proved true so far. He seems to think the man is honorable, in his own strange way."

"Yuugi's not wrong," Otogi admitted. "Kaiba's heartless, but logical and he doesn't seem evil. It's more that he knows what he wants and does what he can to get it. That means that his methods might be a bit sketchy at times, but he does seem to have some sort of personal code that he works by. I don't see him outright trying to kill us."

"Even if he did, I'm not too worried about your safety," Marik said. "You've got all three god's monsters now, plus the power of the puzzle. As if that weren't enough, Rishid and I will be waiting outside if you need backup. Kaiba would have to have one heck of a plan to beat all that and I doubt he'd be meeting you at his fancy tower if that was the case."

Otogi sighed and glanced around the group. "I guess all we've gotta do is show up and hope for the best then, huh?"

"Sounds like it," Yuugi agreed. "We should probably still have that pitch ready to go though, just in case he wants to play this through."

"In case?" Otogi echoed, clearly amused. "Dude, we developed a kick-ass game that any company would be thrilled to develop. Evil villain or no, Kaiba's still a businessman. He's gonna want to hear the pitch."

"Even if it's from his sworn enemy?" Marik asked with a disbelieving look.

This earned a light chuckle from the designer. Then he treated Marik to a knowing smirk. "You weren't kidding when you said that Ishizu's the one who runs the business, were you?"

Marik just stared at him with a lost expression as Rishid bit back a laugh. When the tall Egyptian had regained his composure, he looked around the group and asked, "Would anyone care for dessert?"

Once dinner was over, Marik and Atemu walked Otogi to his car, earning a grateful thanks from the game designer. "I think all this magic stuff has me paranoid. I keep getting this feeling that someone's watching me at the oddest moments."

"You are not the only one," Atemu reassured. "Many of our group have had similar complaints. Anzu has even taken to sleeping with her old nightlight."

"Haven't reached that point yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if I wound up joining her," Otogi admitted ruefully. Then he got into his car and gave the duo a quick wave before taking off into the night.

As his car disappeared from sight, the two teens headed in the direction of a nearby 24-hour gym. They hadn't gone far when Atemu stopped. Marik noticed the change almost immediately and spun to face his cousin, adopting a fighting stance. However, he saw no sign of danger. All he saw was Atemu standing on the sidewalk, eyes focused on a distant alleyway.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought that I sensed something, but it is gone now."

Marik relaxed, coming over to throw an arm across his cousin's shoulder as he said, "Yeah, well, with all the spells you've got going, you're the magical equivalent of an overly sensitive car alarm."

Atemu frowned. "Do recall that I am not merely protecting my own person, cousin."

"Hey, no judgement. I'd rather have you jumpy than dead."

"Likewise," Atemu agreed, earning a laugh as they continued towards the gym. Once they were gone, a slim teen with white hair exited the alley, glaring at the spot where they'd once been. He didn't follow, though. Instead, he turned and wandered off into the night.