(A/N: I would like to give a huge thanks to DA's Starcookies who has begun drawing fanart of Dueling Trigger Finger, the first two pieces without my knowledge—but no less welcome—and the rest at my request to make this series SOAR. I encourage you to check out the work she's already done on the Horn of Pythagoras and Blackland Void Dragon. And then feel free to come back and read this chapter. Here we go!)
With the monster attack shut down thanks to Hajime's efforts, Kyoko and Chihiro were able to make their way to the KaibaCorp building safely. As they entered the building, Chihiro spotted Roland.
"Hello, Roland. Is Mr. Kaiba still in?"
"Mr. Kaiba has flown out on important business," Roland responded. "Can I help you?" He then quickly spotted Kyoko. "You. I thought Mr. Kaiba threw you out, young lady."
"He changed his mind. I did leave him my business card," Kyoko fibbed.
"I should call to confirm that," Roland said, going for the phone.
Chihiro froze, but Kyoko remained calm and collected as ever. "Oh? Didn't you just say he'd flown off on important business. I was under the impression that "important business" meant "Do not disturb" when it comes to Seto Kaiba."
Roland sweated, taking his hand away from the phone, which allowed Chihiro to breathe. "Y-yes, I-I suppose that's true."
"I'll be escorting Detective Kirigiri around, Roland," Chihiro said. "If Mr. Kaiba gets mad, you can tell him it was all my idea."
Roland nodded and dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief. "You truly are a benefit to Mr. Kaiba, Miss Fujisaki."
Chihiro laughed happily. The young programmer then took Kyoko into the employee elevator and swiped his card.
While Chihiro didn't have access to top level security at KaibaCorp, such as R&D and Kaiba's personal laboratories, he did have access to the security camera room in the building, which was all the access he needed for what he and Kyoko needed to do. In the security room, sat a computer terminal off to the side of all of the security monitors. Chihiro logged on using it.
"All yours, Detective," Chihiro then smiled, stepping to the side.
Kyoko began tapping away at the computer, accessing data files and doing her best to start crossing off suspects both internally and externally with the data she could acquire. Log files, USB storage, e-mails, Kyoko had access to all of it.
Unfortunately, with Chihiro stepped to the side and Kyoko's back to the entrance, she was in plain view of one of the security cameras, which focused in and zoomed in on her. This prompted a visit from an AI within the KaibaCorp system.
Suddenly, the monitor Kyoko was looking at shut off and the security monitors swapped out for a teal background that each showed part of a face that only Chihiro and Kaiba would recognize. "Sneaking behind Seto's back, Fujisaki? Tsk, tsk. And here I thought you were the second most loyal only to Mokuba."
"Oh, hello, Noah," Chihiro smiled. "I wouldn't call it sneaking around. Miss Kirigiri is a detective. We're trying to help Mr. Kaiba with the bad PR he's getting lately."
"A detective?" Noah got a good look at Kyoko's face, running her facial recognition through a global database. "Kyoko Kirigiri, age 15. Homicide Detective. Suspect to conviction ratio 100%. Time employed: 9 years, 5 months, 7 days, 14 hours and 23 minutes."
"Impressive," Kyoko stated. "What…are you, exactly?"
"Noah is KaibaCorp's security AI. He used to be a human, but an accident caused his mind to be digitized. He's also Mr. Kaiba's step-brother if you can believe it."
"You're sure it's just stepbrother?" Kyoko asked. "Their resemblance to each other is uncanny."
"Let's put the matter between Seto and me aside for now, detective. You said you were investigating the public relations nightmare currently befalling this company."
Kyoko approached the security terminal, standing right in front of Noah's big head. "That's right. And if you're the security system then nothing should be able to get by you, is that right, Noah?"
"That's correct. I know all and see all if it pertains to KaibaCorp."
"Please, Noah," Chihiro said. "I know you and Mr. Kaiba have your differences, but I'm sure that—"
Noah smirked as though his ego had been massaged. "Please don't beg me, Chihiro. There's no need. I've had my own suspicions that someone was setting up poor Seto, but I thought it was just my imagination. To hear a professional detective mark it as sabotage though, I believe I can share my own theory."
"Why didn't you share this with Kaiba?" Kyoko asked.
"Ha! As if Seto would heed my counsel! He probably would tell me I'm being paranoid or something. Besides, he turned you away once already, didn't he? His ego is too large not to want to figure things out himself. And anything that humbles Seto is a good time in my book. So, why don't we all work together?"
"Thank you, Noah," Chihiro smiled.
"Pardon me while I pull up the official records," Noah said and then his face disappeared, collapsing in on itself, transforming into a progress bar that was represented by a Blue-Eyes White Dragon head unleashing white lightning.
When the progress bar finished loading, Noah returned. "Take a look at these," he said, flashing papers and stock market data on the screen next to him.
"Financial records? And the stocks?" Kyoko asked. She studied them. "Wait a second…isn't this…?"
"Yes, it would appear someone has tried buying out KaibaCorp from Seto the same way Seto bought it out from Gozaboro."
"Aquaduct Blue. Ori Incorporated. Paradise Unlimited," Kyoko said, reading off of the list of buyers. "I've never heard of these companies."
"I don't expect that you could have. They're shell companies," Noah stated.
"What's a shell company?" Chihiro asked.
"A shell company is a fake company used as a front to hide fiscal gain for a person or corporation," Kyoko explained. "Do you know where all these shell companies are coming from?" Kyoko asked.
"No. I've been trying to find out since this started. I'll need one more hour. Sit tight for a moment you two. I'll have your answer shortly."
"Thank you, Noah," Kyoko said.
"My pleasure," Noah smiled egotistically.
After driving for a good solid hour, Domino's airport finally came into view. "Here we are," Junko said as she rounded a corner and, taking one hand off the wheel, flashed a card through an infrared reader to get to her private airstrip. There, Yugi and friends saw a gray, unmarked airplane, big enough for a small party.
"What's this? We're not stealing an airplane, are we?" Joey asked.
"Don't be stupid," Téa said. "Didn't you see her flash a card to get in here? She's a fashionista. Though…" Téa looked up at the very boring airplane. "I expected the private jet of a fashionista to be a bit more…colorful."
Junko laughed. "Well, I did want to paint it a whole mishmash of colors, but the studio wouldn't let me, so I painted it boring old gray." In truth, Junko painted her private jet at regular intervals so that she wouldn't get bored of its design. The gray was just a phase.
Like opening the trunk of a car, Junko took out an electronic key from one of her blouse pockets and held down a button on it. The door nearest the cockpit open, complete with automatically lowering ramp. Junko then slammed the trunk of the jeep as she got out. "Well, don't keep me waiting, let's go!"
"Okay, but uh, who's piloting this thing?" Tristan asked.
"I am," Mukuro said with her usual stoic demeanor.
"Um, aren't you a little young to fly a private jet?" Mai asked.
"Oh, it's mostly autopilot. Besides, Mukuro's a trained soldier," Junko said as Mukuro adjusted her gloves. "She totally knows how to fly. I mean, it's mostly auto-pilot anyway. Just the taking off and getting down parts are the parts that require any sort of real skill unless you hit turbulence. So come on," Junko said, beginning to walk up the ramp. "Let's go."
The gang followed Junko up the ramp and into the plane, parting from Mukuro as she secured herself in the cockpit to begin liftoff. The group marveled at the cozy little setup in Junko's plane. Comfy chairs facing all sorts of directions, a pantry stocked full of all sorts of snacks and instant foods for and not for the microwave. Speaking of…
"Move!" Joey shouted, grabbing 3 breakfast burritos and throwing them in the microwave, salivating as he watched them spin.
"You must be really rich to afford all of this, Junko," Miho said with a smile.
"Well, being the number one trendsetter in Japan certainly pays the bills," Junko chuckled. "Though, this is actually bought and paid for by my agency. It's still for my personal use though."
"You have a lot of parties on this thing?" Tristan asked, getting comfortable, having set the reclining position to one of the chairs to all the way back.
"Less than you might be thinking," Junko said with a wry smile.
"Still, talk about luxury," Mai said. "I wish I could afford something like this."
"You're a professional duelist, right Mai?" Junko asked, taking a seat and crossing her legs.
Mai nodded. "I'm nowhere close to the best, but my reputation at least has gotten me into every major tournament you can think of."
"Except the regionals apparently," Junko chuckled.
"Wha—hey! How do you even know about that?" Mai snapped.
"Oh I know lots of things," Junko said, as screaming, misery, torment and panic could be heard only in the back of her mind as a wide, toothy grin emerged on her face. "Lots of things."
Yugi was about to question further when the microwave started beeping indicating Joey's burritos were done. Followed by that was Téa's voice.
"Here, sit next to me, Yugi," she said, caressing the arm rest of the seat next to her.
"Oh, uh, sure…" Yugi said, taking a seat next to his childhood friend.
Junko chuckled. "Awww, how cute, should I get the wedding dress now?"
"N-no," Yugi blushed. "Y-you've got it all wrong. Téa and I are just friends."
Téa blushed even harder. "Y-yeah, j-just f-friends."
This caught Junko's interest fiercely. "You don't say." She could see the interest both had in each other plain as day, but if they weren't officially a thing, that was all that mattered. I can use this, Junko thought. She scanned Téa over. Her analysis? Téa seemed extremely harmless, super friendly and willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt. However, Junko could see past that with just a glance, further and further into Téa's psyche and all to do with how she looked at Yugi. She could see it, the clinginess, the slight twitch in her eyebrow. Why don't you just pee all over him if you want to mark your territory so bad, Junko thought, the depravity of her mind playing out that exact scenario in her head, filling her with delicious despair. Yes, you will be simple enough to overcome.
She then looked at Yugi. You on the other hand…you're not the one I'm most concerned about. You're easy to figure out. Little to no friends, all the aggressiveness of a beta male, and willing to do anything to help a friend. It's the other you that I really want to meet up close and personal.
"Junko, are you okay?" Téa suddenly asked. "You're going cross-eyed."
"Huh?" Oh drat, she must've been using her talent without realizing it. Good thing she had the perfect cover for dimwits like these. "Oh, I must've just spaced out a moment. Happens to the best of us," Junko said with a wily, giddy grin.
"What were you spacing out about?" Joey asked.
"Excuse me, but it isn't rude to ask a lady her personal thoughts," Junko replied.
"Yeah, Joey, show some class," Tristan said. "This is why you don't have a girlfriend."
Heeding her better judgment, Mai kept herself from blurting out, "I'd be his girlfriend." Instead she just snickered.
"What are you laughin' at?" Joey asked, offended.
"Nothing, Joey," Mai said, taking a seat not right on top of the teen, but where she had a complete, unobstructed view of him. "Nothing at all."
"Hi everyone," Mukuro said, coming on over the speaker system. "I'm about ready to take off. Please make sure you're all sitting down, seatbelts buckled." There was a slight pause followed by a very worn and tired, "That means you too, Junko."
Junko kicked her legs a bit and laughed. Mukuro never changed.
"What's so funny?" Téa asked.
"You had to be there," Junko said with an amused grin.
It took a short while, but Mukuro was surprisingly able to get the gang to a proper cruising altitude and then joined them all in the passenger area, auto-pilot properly set.
Joey and Tristan immediately scrambled over to the table fused into the floor to play Duel Monsters the old-fashioned way. Miho stood in between them to one side to watch the game. Mai stayed in her seat, but observed nonetheless.
From the sight of the duel to the other side of the plane, Junko's eyes fell upon Téa once more, watching her patiently, waiting for her opportunity. And then, after a couple of tense, unpredictable amount of minutes, Téa got up and went to go fix herself something to drink.
There we go, Junko said and unbuckled her seatbelt, gliding across the room and sitting where Téa had just been. "Hi, Yugi," Junko said, her eyes staring at him luridly like a cougar eyeing up a boy scout.
"J-Junko," Yugi said, flustered. "U-um, T-Téa was sitting there."
Junko craned her neck about, her blonde hair swishing this way and that way, "Oh, I'm just borrowing it," Junko said as she put two fingers on Yugi's wrist and then walked the fingers on her hand up his arm, her nose drawing very close to Yugi's shoulder. "Did anyone ever tell you how cute you are?"
"I uh…um…"
From the food area, Téa froze while watching this. Even though Junko wasn't watching her, she knew this was the case. The brunette didn't really know how to respond. The most rational part of her said "Junko doesn't mean anything by it. She's just friendly. She's an idol." The rest of her went. "FUCK OFF BITCH! THAT'S MINE!" followed by the sound of intense growling.
Junko then put her whole hand on Yugi's forearm and used it to prop herself up as she then left a long, deliberate kiss on Yugi's cheek.
The sound of glass shattering both metaphorically and literally could be heard from Téa's direction.
Yugi was the first to respond to it. "Téa, you're bleeding!" he exclaimed, bolting from his seat out of concern.
Téa had barely registered that she'd crushed the glass she was holding in her grip. Several bits of broken glass had embedded themselves in her skin. And yet, Téa didn't cry or react. If anything, she was looking at her hand with extreme confusion. Yugi held it by the wrist with both of his hands. "Oh wow, that doesn't look good. Junko, do we…?"
Yugi turned his head almost into Mukuro's chest, the dark haired soldier, already present with a first aid kit. "Allow me."
"Oh, uh, sure," Yugi said.
"Mukuro has dressed shrapnel wounds before. Never on herself of course. Hard to say if she's lucky or just that good."
Mukuro glanced back without turning her head towards Junko and then refocused on Téa, sitting her down and dressing her wound. "Watch your step," she said as she guided Téa away from the broken glass and spilled juice.
"Miho will clean it up," Miho volunteered and started getting papertowels and a dustpan and broom.
Téa's gaze held in confusion as it landed on Junko. The blonde responded in kind. "Téa, what's the matter? Do I have something on my face?"
"N-no, it's nothing," Téa said. What's this I'm feeling? It's like a rush of dread flowing through my body and I almost feel like…she wanted me to feel this way.
"Say, Junko," Yugi suddenly said. He hadn't returned to sitting down, but then again, who could right this second? Even Joey and Tristan had been distracted from their game. "Since you worked alongside Pegasus, how much do you know about the origins of Duel Monsters? Heck, how much do you know about the game in general?"
"You want to know?" Junko asked. "Well then," she said as she traipsed around the room towards the overhead compartments and held up a thick, sea green book. Despite being in good condition, this thing looked simply ancient. "Ta-dah!"
"Wuzzat?" Joey asked.
"This, lovelies," Junko said, adopting a British accent. "Is the Millennium Spellbook. It's the source of all of the Millennium Items. All of the keys to the ancient past are locked away within the bindings of this book. It's been a pain to try and translate," Junko said as she secured the book against her bust, smiling widely, "but totally worth it."
Shocked faces went all around the room.
"Where did you uncover something like that?" Yugi asked.
"Where else? Egypt. I had my last vacation there," Junko replied, still smiling.
From within Yugi's mind, Yami was staring suspiciously at Junko. Something was very not right about this.
"Huh? Oh. Okay, pal," Yugi said and, with little fanfare, let Yami have control.
"Junko, that book could be incredibly dangerous. Please give it to me," Yami said, holding his hand out.
"Oh come on, it's not dangerous. It's just a silly old book. It doesn't really work unless you cast spells with it."
"It's a spellbook?!" Joey exclaimed, alarmed. "Like, real swords and sorcery?"
"Yup," Junko said with a smile. "Seems that way. Haven't really had a chance to test it though. According to the scriptures, you need some sort of catalyst to make it work. I've been decoding the cipher, but it's really difficult."
"Why such an interest in ancient artifacts?" Mai asked.
Junko shrugged. "Why not? Even the most professional of athletes have other hobbies. You're not exactly a dumb blonde either, Mai."
"I…think that was a compliment," Mai said, very unsure.
Junko turned her attention back to the Pharaoh. Yes, very enigmatic. Strong, proud, determined, but that was all she could gather. She sensed emptiness, a sense of longing for a purpose, but content in the current condition of his life. How utterly boring, but at the same time, full of unknown factors ripe for digging into. If I could find just one flaw, he will soon be putty in my hands, Junko thought.
"You can try reading it if you want, Pharaoh," Junko said, handing him the book. "Even if you don't have your memories, I'm sure you can still read Ancient Egyptian."
"Hey, hold on a sec, how do you know about the Pharaoh?" Téa asked. In the entire car ride, no one had said a thing, Junko hadn't even bat an eyelash at the Millennium Puzzle.
"Love, I've been reading the Millennium Spellbook through deciphering it. There's a lot to do with sealing the Pharaoh's soul inside the Millennium Puzzle."
"There is?!" Now Yami was even more interested. He started flipping through the book, only to find something very, very wrong.
What's the matter, pal? Yugi asked him.
"I…I can't read a word of this," Yami said, shocked out of his mind.
"I'm sure you can read some of it," Junko said with a smile. "Keep trying."
Junko was right about that. Some of the characters looked familiar, but most of the book seemed completely untranslatable to the Pharaoh. "Why is…?"
Junko pat him on the shoulder. "Sit down and I'll explain," Junko said.
Yami took a seat, gazing at Junko with those, in her opinion, dreamily slanted eyes.
"I'm not surprised that the Pharaoh couldn't read this book. Most of the characters in here go beyond the time of Ancient Egypt."
"How did you work that out?" Mai asked.
"Trial and error," Junko said.
"So then what language are they written in?" Tristan asked.
"I think I know," Yami said, catching on, "Atlantean, correct?"
"Correct," Junko said, sitting down, putting the book on her lap. "None of the passages in here make it seem like this book was written by you or your followers, at least not initially. Most of the early and middle passages are written in Atlantean dialects. The parts that are written in Egyptian are from when the book was used by Ancient Egyptians. Honestly, whoever created the Millennium Items must've been one of your ancestors, Pharaoh. I doubt even they knew what they were doing when they created the items."
"And how can you be certain of all of this?" Yami asked.
Junko threw open the book, letting it stop, as the pages flew, on a seemingly random page. "The Millennium Puzzle shall be king of them all, a pyramid by shape, to be worn only by the Pharaoh and his descendants and reincarnations. Should Egypt collapse, 5,000 years shall pass before the dawn of a new era of the Shadow Game."
"How do we know you ain't just making stuff up," Joey said, getting suspicious.
"I believe her."
Everyone was surprised to hear the Pharaoh speak. "You do?" Téa asked.
"Yes. That entire passage sounds…familiar, almost as if I'd read it before. And the book itself also looks familiar, as if I'd seen it before, but in a different form," Yami stated.
"What you're seeing now is its true form," Junko said. "The book used to resemble one of the Millennium Items, eye symbol and everything, but ever since I got this stone from Dartz," she said as she took the necklace she was wearing off, "The book has held this form, with a symbol resembling that of the Orichalcos."
"That's a bit creepy," Joey said.
"I agree," Junko said and walked over to Yami, affixing her necklace around his neck, boobs deliberately right in his face. Despite being thousands of years old, tight pants feelings in the presence of attractive women were as base an instinct back then as they were today.
"There, it fits you so well, Pharaoh," Junko said with a smile.
Yami was blushing hard, forced to return to Yugi to have time and distance to deal with the image of Junko's cleavage swimming about his head.
Yugi, still having a nice view of Junko's chest, laughed nervously as she sat back down.
"Awwww, did the big, strong Pharaoh get cold feet?" Junko chuckled.
Over by Mukuro, Téa's eye twitched.
Yugi only swallowed and stared at the floor in shame and embarrassment.
"What else do you know about the Millennium Items, Junko?" Miho asked for Téa and Yugi. "Yugi's been tryin' so hard for the Pharaoh's sake to find out everything he can. Please tell us what you know."
Junko nodded and put on a pair of eyeglasses, hair inexplicably compressing into a ponytail. She then grabbed a tablet and the big TV screen on the wall came to life like a white board. Her drawings had less artistic integrity than a 7-year-old's, deliberately, but they got the point across. "5,000 years ago, a monster uncontrollable by the powers of the shadows, Zorc, broke free of its containment. Even with the power of the Egyptian Gods, Zorc could not be entirely vanquished. To seal Zorc, the Ancient Egyptians engaged in a covenant to seal Zorc away, except for one, a priest."
"Kaiba's ancestor!" Yugi exclaimed.
"From what I can gather, that sounds accurate," Junko replied. "This is the fated battle many speak of, a showdown between the Pharaoh and his greatest rival. Unfortunately, what they were fighting about and the outcome of the duel is one of life's greatest mysteries."
"Oh, so even you don't know anything beyond that, huh?" Yugi sounded disappointed.
"Untrue, after weeks of research, I have at least uncovered the motive," Junko said.
All eyes were on her. She wasn't fibbing…not entirely. While she had no proof. Her theory was backed up by the rest of her research. "I believe that the Pharaoh was defending his decision to collapse Egypt and ensure the fate of humanity. Even if it meant the collapse of his entire world, if it would stop Zorc, it was worth any price. The priest did not feel that way. He wanted to see Egypt flourish and continue to exist. It is unclear to me yet if he was just stupid, or may have been manipulated by Zorc or another party to desire the throne of Pharaoh so badly that he only cared about one thing: defeating the Pharaoh in a duel that would late come to resemble a children's card game.
"And that's not all I've uncovered. As previously stated, the Ancient Egyptians obtained the powers of the Shadow Realm from a book originally written by Ancient Atlanteans. From what I can gather, humans and duel spirits once lived in harmony, but a powerful force and a great war separated the two forever. I've no idea why this book, the Atlantean Spellbook, as is its true name, was written, or even who wrote it. I have no idea how it ended up in the hands of the Egyptians. When Atlantis fell, there was only one supposed survivor, the king. History has not held record of what became of him. It has all been lost to the ocean."
"Do you have any theories?" Yugi asked, now able to focus on Junko's words.
"Well, either he's been cursed with immortality and continues to live to this very day, or, more realistically, with no one to record the king's history, he just died on his own with no one to mourn his death. Gosh, could you imagine a more pitiful end? Your empire collapses and no one is around to mourn the cessation of your existence."
"And you got all of this just from reading that book?" Téa asked.
"Oh, hardly. The Atlantean Spellbook is a spellbook. It has naught but dark secrets and foreboding prophecies. No, I've simply done all the research I can into such an interesting subject."
"Your research?" Joey inquired disbelievingly. "Ain't you just some fashion girl?"
"Puhuhuhu," Junko laughed as her hairstyle went back to normal and she seemed to sleight of hand the glasses away, "Never judge a book by its cover as the saying goes. I'm a lot smarter than I look." With the same Cheshire Cat Grin she'd shown previously, Junko asked rhetorically, "Do you think I became the Ultimate Fashionista just cause of this pretty face?"
"It is a...very...pretty face," Yugi managed to get out.
"Yugi!" Téa exclaimed.
"I'm just saying!" Yugi replied in a panic.
Junko stood up and stretched. "Well, exposition always makes me sleepy." She walked over to where Yugi was now sitting and took the seat next to him. "I'm gonna nap." Yugi was floored when Junko pushed up the arm rest and started cuddling him like he was a big fluffy pillow. She was smiling and…was she purring too?
Her hand was flush against Yugi's chest and her boobs were pressed into his arm. Yugi's whole body just froze and stiffened.
Téa could take no more internally. Her insides bubbled with rage. A violently verbal tongue lashing was headed Junko's way.
And then it was all cut short when Miho started screaming. Téa looked down and noticed Mukuro had drawn a very scary looking knife and was holding it very close to Téa's neck. And then she put it away, looking embarrassed.
"M-my apologies. I sensed killing intent. I thought you were going to attack my sister."
"Jeez," Joey said, sweating. "With a sister like that, who needs a bodyguard?"
"I hear you," Tristan said, equally disturbed.
Since her hand had been properly bandaged by now, Téa strode to the opposite side of the plane, as far from Yugi and Junko as possible and just started pouting. Mai got up and strode towards her, thinking it was best to keep an eye on the brunette.
As the fear of Mukuro's knife died down, Miho was able to set her gaze upon Junko cuddling Yugi and Yugi's continued inability to deal with the situation. "Awwww, don't they look so cute together?" No sooner had the words left Miho's mouth that she then started using Tristan as a human shield when she felt the icy chill of death running through her.
Separating the two of them from the rest, Mai leaned against the wall to have a heart to heart with Téa about the situation. She didn't say a word at first. She knew Téa needed to vent.
"Who does Junko think she is?" Téa exclaimed, swinging her arms forcefully down towards her sides, hands clenching into fists.
"Easy there, love, you'll get gray hairs if you stress out too much."
"Ugh!" Téa growled and didn't so much bang her head against the wall as much as she did press her forehead against it in annoyance.
Mai rubbed her back. "I get it. You and Yugi would make a cute couple."
Téa flipped around, babbling incoherently and blushing madly.
"Don't worry, I don't think the other two dolts you call friends have caught on yet, especially Joey," Mai said with a wink.
Téa sighed and poked her fingers together. "It's hard, Mai. Yugi and I have always been friends…and then the Pharaoh just makes things more complicated."
Mai raised an eyebrow in interest.
"I just…how do I know if my feelings are for the Pharaoh, whose saved me and helped me when I've been in trouble, or Yugi, who I've known all my life."
"Listen, hun, if you keep wallowing in your own self-doubt, an aggressive woman like Junko will swoop in and snatch Yugi up from under your nose. But, since we're friends, I'll do my best to give you an opportunity to confess. Just don't screw it up, okay?"
"Really, Mai?"
"Absolutely." Mai said with a cheerful smile. "Course, the chance probably isn't happening on this plane ride. Too cramped. But I promise I'll do my best."
"Thanks, Mai," Téa said with a smile. "You're a really good friend, you know."
"Friend...right," A weird feeling course through her whole body.
"Mai?" Téa called, worried.
"It's just...I've never experienced stuff like this until I met all of you...it's nice...to have friends I mean," Mai said, still smiling.
"We wouldn't have you anywhere else, but with us, Mai," Téa declared.
Mai could only smile.
Back in Domino, it took some doing, but Hajime had been able to regroup with Sonia and Yukizome and the other students. After relaying their reports to Yukizome, the ultimate turned teacher took her class to the Atlantean exhibit in the guise of a field trip. If Atlantis bore the source of the situation, then they needed to know all they could about the ancient civilization.
Unfortunately, Yukizome was unsatisfied with the exhibit currently on display. "I'm afraid the exhibit you see here is only a fraction of my findings," Professor Hawkins told the housekeeper. "The rest is being held at a museum in New York."
"I see. New York," Yukizome said, eyes flashing with determination. "Then that's where I'm going."
"I as well," Sonia cried out, looking fraught with worry. "It is the only way I shall understand Rafael and save Gundham."
"I'm going too!" Hajime exclaimed. "Nagito's tied to this and it's the best chance we have at learning how to save Chiaki."
Yukizome sighed. It sounded like this was about to turn into a cross-country field trip. "Then I guess I'm booking a flight."
"Please allow me to accompany you."
The students of Class 77-B turned their heads to see a young woman with pale pink hair dressed in a purple coat and thin gloves walk onto the scene.
"Oh my, and who are you my delicious Sherlock Holmes?" Teruteru asked, licking his lips.
"My name is Kyoko Kirigiri with the Kirigiri Detective Agency," Kyoko declared, arm outstretched, index finger extended. "And I have vital information on this Orichalcos case. If New York has more information on the ancient Atlantean Civilization, I demand to be escorted there at once."
"Ah, me as well."
Hajime then noticed the short young teen behind Kyoko. "Hmm? Oh! Hey! It's Chihiro! How have you been? I haven't seen you since battle city!"
"Oh! It is you, Chihiro!" Sonia exclaimed, only to sigh. "I wish this reunion was on better terms."
"You're acquainted?" Yukizome asked.
"Chihiro is one of Kaiba's programmers," Hajime said.
"Ah, I think I see what's going on then," Yukizome smiled. "Well then, join the club. I'm afraid I can't pay for your airline tickets, but I can at least get you on the same flight as us."
"Money is no object. I have an airline voucher just for this sort of occasion. A Kirigiri must be ready to solve a mystery anywhere after all."
Chihiro smiled. "And I have perks to fly anywhere if it's considered official KaibaCorp business. Let's just say I…know someone who was able to guarantee that not a yen coin comes out of my pocket."
"Be careful in New York," Rebecca told the group. "I know you all think Tokyo and Domino are big cities, but it's a different culture with a lot of people you'll consider weirdos."
"We'll be fine," Yukizome said. "We have me." She took out her cell phone. "And I'm going to tell Kyosuke to meet us there."
Just hold out for me, Chiaki, Hajime thought, looking up at the sun passing by the high rising window. I promise I'll save you. Together, with everyone, we're not going to let Dartz get away with this!
(A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long, I have been obsessed with Smash Bros. as of late. But hey, Happy Holidays, and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate—even though I do not. There will be a hiatus until 2019 for next chapter. It's a…bit of a complicated chapter. I'm actually glad I was able to get all the material I needed for this chapter padded out into one so I didn't have to combine the two. And, let's be honest, you all now can probably see Junko's plan laid out on the table. And if you can't, well, I'm not spelling it out.
Until next time, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)