Adeption

By HikariEryaviel

(August 21, 2004. 4:35 PM.)

The young prince walked along the dirt path, and out of the neighborhood he was currently in. He was still cold. The hot chocolate he had gotten from Ina had lasted him a small ways, but its warming effects were beginning to wear off. He shivered and continued walking along.

A few minutes later, he got an idea, and began to warm up the air around him with his magic. He wasn't in the regular city anymore, was he? He could afford to use his magic now.

A little warmer, he walked along the path towards Seto and Jounouchi's house. He figured he could stop by there just in case they hadn't left yet. Besides, it wasn't completely out of his way. He could stop by and check, no big deal.

He continued along the dirt path until he saw a small sign a little ways off the side of the road. It read,

'Those with ill intention should be cautious while entering. The person who trespasses upon my land shall be treated with no mercy.'

Yuugi laughed a bit. It was Seto's way of trying to scare people off. Though, it hardly worked. The sign was so small, you almost had to have someone point it out to you or you'd miss it. Besides, it was old and rickety, so almost no one bothered to spare a glance at it.

Though, the sign had been put up with good reason. Seto was always having problems with people sneaking onto his property. He would get reporters and cameramen snooping around to try and get a good story out of something he did. Seto was a very influential member of society. He had a large gaming company up and running that was making thousands of dollars every day. The man was up to his knees in cash- Of course the media would want to pull something on him!

Though they hardly ever came out with a good story. Yuugi got tired of reading stupid tabloids screaming 'Kaiba creates real life humping porno lizard!' in a font size too big it should have been illegal. But when they did get their facts straight…

Yuugi laughed outright. He entered Kaiba's property and made his way to the intercom, thinking all the while.

There was one tabloid where they managed to utterly humiliate the billionaire. It was merely a week after Jou and Seto had bonded, and they were up in their room, going at it like bunnies. They had left the window cracked open, and the noise they were making was attracting the unwelcome guests on the property. A man had made his way near the window and managed to get a shot of the two.

The window was slightly tinted, but you could tell what was going on behind it. It wasn't exactly hard to distinguish the two from each other, and it was definitely easy to tell what they were doing. It didn't take a genius.

The story made front cover. To this day, it still made Yuugi laugh. Jounouchi had even cut out the picture, and the Prince was pretty sure he had seen it in the teens' wallet. It amused him to no end.

Yuugi, still smiling, walked up to the intercom and pressed the red button on the front of the machine. It made a few dialing noises, and then a woman's voice spoke through it. "Welcome to the home of Seto Kaiba. How may I be of service to you today?"

Yuugi greeted the woman. "Hey Meli."

The voice seemed to brighten. "Oh, Yuugi! How are you? You haven't been around lately!"

"I'm doing just fine, now that I'm over in this district again. I haven't been able to get out of home for weeks! How are you doing?"

"Great, just that I'm bored with this job. Kaiba should have gotten the other stupid girls to do it. They actually like this job!" Her voice was bitter.

Yuugi smiled, despite her unhappiness. "Hey, at least you're not cleaning toilets or anything."

The woman snorted. "Yeah yeah…well, what brings you around here? Kaiba and Jounouchi left a half hour ago."

Yuugi made a face. "Really? Man, I was hoping to catch them before they left. Well…I should get going then, if they're gone already. I'll see you later, Meri."

"See you around, Yuugi!" The machine disconnected with a small click.

Yuugi turned and walked off the property, unhappy that he had made the trip for nothing. 'Oh well, it didn't hurt to check.'

He shrugged and made his way down the dirt road and back to the main street. After a few cars passed by, he led himself across the newly paved road. He walked into an ally way beside a large building, and over to the small chainlink fence. He hopped it easily, and came out on the other side of the building.

In front of him were a huge mass of apple trees, and to his left was a dirt road similar to the one that led to the Kaiba mansion. Yuugi looked back and forth between the road and the trees, seemingly contemplating something, before coming to a conclusion. 'I might as well take the shortcut through the grove, seeing as how I'm going to be late if I don't hurry. Just hope I don't run into Matt…"

Matt was the farmers' son. His father had grown the grove, and his son was always waltzing around inside it. The boy would always harass Yuugi, and he was hoping he wouldn't be forced to talk to him for a while.

He walked in, and pretty soon he was walking out without a hitch. He continued walking passed the road that ran alongside the grove, and into a dirt field. He came to a small plaque in the middle of a field, and leaned down next to it. He reached out and pressed down on the word 'memorial' on it. It gave in, and as soon as the button was pressed down, he twisted it sideways. The plaque moved upward until a small computer was showing. The small device began it's normal routine.

The machine let out a computerized voice. "It is July 24, 2807, and the current time is 11:47 PM. Welcome to Headquarters. Please state your name and reason for entering."

The teen smiled and answered, "Yuugi Mutou. I'm here for a business meeting"

"Analyzing name and voice. Please wait while this information is being processed."

It barely took two seconds before the computer had finished its' task. "Identity confirmed. Yuugi Mutou, seventeen years of age, born June 4, 2790. Neuscion Adept and current Adept Leader. Voice Analysis confirmed. Access Granted."

The small computer automatically turned itself off, and the plaque made its way back to the ground. Right behind the plaque, a trap door was opening. It had a dark staircase leading to the inside of the headquarters.

Yuugi began to walk down the stairs, and the minute he put a foot on the first stair, lights sprang on from the ceiling. He made his way down to the bottom where he came to a wall with another computer imbedded into it. He pressed a button on the screen.

"Eye analysis beginning. Please refrain from blinking until the process has ended. Thank you."

Yuugi's eye was scanned, and he was let in with no complications. The wall slid to the side, revealing a large underground hallway. The place had a very businesslike feel to it. People were running around everywhere, trying to make it to appointments and the like. Yuugi smiled. He loved it here.

He made his way to the elevator, finding it surprisingly empty. He pressed the button for the 3rd level, and felt the elevator move down. The teen allowed himself to relax for a moment. He finally reached his destination, and the doors sprung open.

He walked out into the hall, and towards two big double doors at the end of the hallway. He gripped the handle and pushed on the huge door, it opened without a squeak. What he saw inside made him sputter.

Jounouchi was parading around the office with Seto on his shoulders, looking absolutely ridiculous. Meanwhile, some of the other people in the room were also attempting to get on one another's shoulders so they could try and knock Seto off. Jou started laughing like a maniac and ran as fast as he could back and forth across the room, making Seto look a bit sick to his stomach. Yuugi shook his head, laughing quietly to himself.

He walked in.

Author's Notes: I got lazy. I was going to add lots more to this chapter, but it got put on hold. This was made about a month and ½ ago, and I'm sorry for the delay. The next chapter will be out soon.