Wednesday came and went, with Thursday following closely behind, but clarity on the whole situation was no closer than it had been when they had passed out in bed.

As Yugi and Katsuya made their way to the room where the Domino Senshi, Domino High's Duelling Club, were to gather, neither of the Mutou twins could help but feel there was a missing piece to the puzzle of what had caused the men to attack. Not that they could ask. They had re-summoned Mahad last night, but his only suggestion was to say that perhaps they felt some loyalty to Akhenaden and had wanted revenge for his downfall.

That did not entirely ring true. Spontaneous revenge was one thing, but Bakura had been injured so quickly and so badly that she had resorted to making a deal with a demon to survive. As such it was doubtful that it had been a spur of the moment attack. Despite Mahad's assumption, Yugi and Meisa were certain it had been a premeditated assault.

They wanted to ask Ba-Khu-Ra about the contract she had made and find out if there was a loophole they could use to free their betrayed friend. However, Amane had pointedly asked them to not poke her other self until she was certain the Thief Queen was calm enough to speak with them without lashing out. She could not promise that Diabound, or worse Zorc, would not make an appearance otherwise, and they might not get so lucky a second time.

It did not help that Namu was proving to need more training in the store than had been anticipated. Since Jii-san did not have time to work with the new hire, that meant Yugi had to do it, taking away from her time with her friends. Including Amane. Not that Yugi was entirely sure he was as incompetent as he seemed. Not when he seemed to be able to assist Jii-san relatively fine when she was elsewhere.

The door was open as they approached, reminding Yugi that she owed Eiko a favour. The Club Secretary had been keeping the club running while she had been in hospital. Eiko had even picked up the club room keys from the game shop, where Anzu had left them, so they could keep using their assigned room.

The Queen of Games was a little nervous as she hesitated outside the door. Her fingers brushed over the edges of the Millennium Puzzle, helping her ground herself. The Domino Senshi had been lovely about the fact she had been unable to attend for a few weeks. The bouquet of white anemones, white tsubaki, sakura and suisen that the club had sent had been beautiful. She just hoped they did not mind that she was running a little late.

A hand on her shoulder made her jump slightly, and she glanced up at Katsuya. The small, reassuring smile he was giving her helped her take a deep breath before slipping through the open door. Most of the club members were already there, and several faces lit up when she walked in.

"Mutou-kun!" One of the male Kobayashi triplets, Koichi if she was remembering correctly, grinned brightly and called over, "Glad you're feeling better."

"Me too. It's good to be back." With the Puzzle completed and hanging around her neck once more, she could sense magic flowing again, and as she looked around the room, she was surprised to feel small amounts of Shadows clinging to several of the Domino Senshi.

'Anesan, make a note of who the Shadows are interested in, please? Barring myself and Katsuya?' she asked the Pharaoh as she moved out of the doorway and towards the Club Secretary, allowing the last of the club members entrance to the room.

Daisuki Eiko, a younger student with green eyes and long black hair who, if Yugi was remembering the portfolio correctly, was an Insect Duelist, grinned at her as she approached. "Hey, you heard about the change of rules for the School Duel League?"

"They're using the Expert system." Yugi nodded, having been caught by Yamada-Sensei this morning with the new rule sheet. "I've never used them before, so we'll be learning together."

"They don't look too hard. We just need to remember the tribute rules." Eiko grimaced momentarily before pausing and pulling something out of her pocket. "I hope you don't mind, but I had a copy made."

"Why would I mind?" the Puzzle Bearer asked as she took the set of club room keys from Eiko, holding them up so she could admire the Dark Magician keyring made of purple resin that now hung from them. "Umm… do you want this back?"

"I needed a way to tell the sets apart," Eiko admitted, looking a little worried. "I thought you might like it."

"It's really cute," Yugi reassured her, putting the keys in her jacket pocket, smiling brightly. "Thank you."

That made the younger student relax a little as Yugi turned to the rest of the Domino Senshi. She was about to start going over the new rules when a quiet cough in the doorway made her turn to look.

Anzu was stood there, looking torn between nervousness and excitement as she asked, "Can me and a friend come in?"

"Sure." The Puzzle Bearer nodded, confused since Anzu was not normally interested in Duel Monsters for more than friendly matches. Then her eyes widened as the dancer was followed into the room by a certain young woman with blonde hair and eyes the same purple as Yugi's own.

"Mai!" The volume increase in Yugi's voice as she bounced across the room, delighted that her friend had arrived, caught the attention of the other Senshi, whose various reactions the Queen of Games completely missed. "Hi! It's good to see you."

"Hi, Yugi." Mai smiled back. "Anzu called me to let me know you'd been in hospital, so I thought I'd drop by, but you were out before I got into town. I'm glad to see you're okay."

Anzu moved to sit next to Jonouchi as Yugi shrugged off just how injured she had really been, and pulled out the deck she had been working on for the last couple of days. Katsuya leaned closer, his voice low as he murmured, "You call Mai in?"

"She gave me and Yugi her number and said to let her know if anything important came up, so I gave her a ring," the dancer whispered back. "You complaining?"

"No, just curious." He could see how happy Mai showing up had made Yugi, plus the Senshi were staring, eyes wide, at having a professional Duelist here that was not one of their classmates.

That and he certainly was not above appreciating the view of his best friend, bright and happy with one of the cutest smiles on her face he had ever seen, next to a gorgeous blonde with a kickass personality and who could kick his butt if he irritated her. "I'm just surprised to see you here. You stopped playing Duel Monsters with Yuge and I the sixth time I kicked your butt, claiming it wasn't fun anymore."

"I…" Anzu hesitated as Yugi introduced her friend to the Dueling club. Anzuwas too proud to admit the real reason that she had rung the Harpie Duelist, which was not as altruistic as she was making out, but she needed something to tell him. "Mai's been staying at my house since she got in, so I've been trying to duel against her in the evenings. I've learned a lot."

The fact that they had been working together meant that they were ahead of the group when Yugi started working with the club on the new Expert Rules. Not that they were all that complicated. The major change to the game was the introduction of 'Tribute' Summoning. In order to summon a monster higher than level four, you now needed to tribute lower level monsters to pay for them.

With the new rules in place, if Yugi wanted to summon a level five or six monster, like her Summoned Skull, she would need to tribute one monster, while her level seven Dark Magician would require two tributes, unless a card specifically stated otherwise, like, for example, Double Coston, which counted for two tributes for DARK attribute monsters, or Kaiser Seahorse, who did the same but for LIGHT creatures.

The problem she could see, however, was that with the School Duel League adapting to the new 'Expert' system, a few of the Domino Senshi would require complete revamps to their decks if they wanted to compete.

She was grateful to Mai and Anzu for the help as she worked through the decks with those she could and promised that for the next meeting she would be bringing her box of spares and possibly, if she could convince her Ojiisan, some of the new boosters which contained monsters who were suited for the new expert rules. In the meantime her twin sister took spirit form and circled the room, picking out who in the room the Shadows were interested in.

'If you're still interested, Mai and all the Kobayashis are Shadow-touched,' Meisa informed her twin as she passed the identical boys, Koichi and Koji, who had short, messy black hair and brown eyes, and their sister, Maru, whose brown eyes matched her brothers, while her long brown hair did not, noting that despite the darkness clinging to them none of the triplets could see her.

Yugi glanced at the Harpie Duelist, who was working with Eiko and Maru, surprised that they had not sensed that sooner, then paused to try and remember what decks the triplets played and came up with Pyro, Vampires, and Wights, but not which triplet played which monster type.

'This guy as well.' Yugi glanced up at Meisa's call to check who she was talking about.

'Kon Orochi,' Yugi filled her in, remembering the blue-eyed, older student as the Serpent Duelist who had been worried that they would be made to wear leotards after the name 'Senshi' had been chosen. She could not help but be amused that he had done his roots since she had last seen him, ensuring that his hair looked blonde all the way through. 'Anyone else?'

There was a pause as the Spirit of the Puzzle continued around the room, trying to get a feel for the Duelists her twin was teaching, only to pause by a younger student with dark green hair and green eyes, who was working through his Dinosaur deck alongside a blue haired Duelist who ran an interesting mix of dragons. 'These two as well.'

'Teramoto Tetsuo and Nishihara Haru.' The lighter half of their shared soul shared, unable to help but wonder what it was about Duelists that made the Shadows interested in them.

Before she could even think of what questions to ask to find out, the bell went, giving them the heads up that their extra hour in school was over. She quickly scribbled down the names, wanting to cross-reference them against the portfolio she had been given when Eiko had approached her about running the club to see if there were any similarities in their records that would explain it, and helped pack up. As the last out she locked the door behind her and smiled slightly as she saw that someone had drawn a proper sign to go in the window. It had a Dark Magician drawn at one end and a Blue-Eyes White Dragon drawn at the other.

"Teramoto drew it," Katsuya said, having seen her notice it, as he, Mai, Anzu, and Yugi headed for the shoe lockers.

Yugi paused for a moment before nodding, glad that Katsuya had continued to come to the duelling club while she had been absent so he could fill her in on such things. She bit her lower lip for a moment before looking at the others.

"Some of the Senshi are Shadow-touched, so it's not just people touched by the Millennium Items who can access the Shadows," she informed the group as a whole, remembering her promise to tell Mai if normal Duelists could learn to use Shadows back when she had explained herself to the Harpie Duelist on Duelist Kingdom. "You too, Mai."

"What does that mean?" Mai frowned at her.

Katsuya though looked thoughtful. "That explains why I've been a little on edge around them. Any idea why?"

"It means you've got limited access to Shadow magic, Mai. As for why, I'm not sure, Katsuya." Yugi shrugged, pursing her lips. "I know you, Anzu, and Honda have been picking up Shadow magic because you've been touched by it so many times, but you were the most sensitive of the three of you until Anzu had her soul ripped out and you'd only participated in one extra Shadow Game, and none of the Senshi or Mai have ever been in a Shadow Game, so there's got to be another factor."

"If Bakura was talking to us, we could ask her." Katsuya huffed.

"I know, but…" Yugi's shoulders sank as she remembered just how furious and upset the Thief Queen had looked just before Diabound had arrived. "I don't think she's okay right now."

The former gang member grimaced slightly. Even if the Thief Queen had been forced into making the deal with the demon in order to survive, she was still their enemy, and her long term plan was to take all the Millennium Items for herself and see Yugi dead. If they let themselves get too sympathetic to her, they would forget that fact and their defences would be down when she did turn on them.

"I know, but she's the only one we can ask." He huffed, shifting his backpack on his shoulders. "Meisa doesn't remember anything, and I wouldn't trust a word that came out of Shadi's or Crawford's mouths. We don't have many other options."

Yugi grimaced but did not say a word, having sensed the flinch that her darker self had given when Katsuya had brought up her lost memories. The loss was a sore subject for the Pharaoh, who had surrendered her memories and her name in order to seal away the demon that Bakura had merged her soul with, and they were still trying to work out a way of getting them back without unlocking that spell.

Jonouchi was not wrong, and that was the problem. There was no one they could trust to give them the truth, except perhaps Mahad, and summoning him regularly with magic was not really an option because it took so much energy. With more time and practise, she was sure it would be an easier task, but right now she did not have the energy to summon him every time she had a question about Egypt or Shadow magic. She and Anesan were compiling a list of questions for the next time they thought they were up to summoning him, but they needed someone living who they could trust to teach them more and help them understand.

Right now the only one available was Ba-Khu-Ra, and Yugi was loath to risk antagonizing her when everything the Thief Queen had thought she knew about the situation had been turned on its head. If she even believed it when she calmed down.

Jou hesitated, then let out a sigh. "Speaking of Shadow-touched Duelists, there's something I haven't told you about the fire, but it might need to be discussed somewhere a little more private."

Mai paused, a slight frown on her face. "So you just want me to leave?"

"No. No." Yugi shook her head rapidly, able to sense her twin's curiosity about what Katsuya looked so nervous about. "You proved you can be trusted on Duelist Kingdom, and since you have Shadows, you might as well learn about them, plus you're our friend. I was going to invite you back to the shop."

The Harpie Duelist looked appeased by that, and they eagerly rushed back to the shop.

The shop was heaving as they arrived home, and both Yugi and Katsuya dropped their bags and darted to help clear the customer load, alongside Jii-san and Namu. Anzu would have taken Mai down the road to a nearby cafe to wait so they were not in the way, but the Harpie Duelist surprised them all by nodding to Sugoroku and jumping in to help, which meant the dancer did too. It took a while, but by the time the store was due to close, they had managed to get the customer numbers down to a more reasonable level.

As Namu swept the floor at the end of his shift and Katsuya locked the door, preventing any more customers from entering, Jii-san finally got a chance to turn to Yugi. "You had a package arrive this afternoon."

"From who?" Yugi wished she had not asked as her grandfather fished out a large, heavy-looking package from behind the counter and she spotted the Industrial Illusions emblem on the packaging.

"Oh, hell, no." Kastusya swore the moment he looked at it, noting the way Yugi leant on the nearest counter, trembling. "Toss it out."

Mai, who was easily able to remember what she had been told about the events leading into Duelist Kingdom, grimaced, while Anzu put her hand on Yugi's shoulder, trying to offer support.

"Industrial Illusions phoned just after the store opened this morning." The elderly gamer's grimace told the teens that he agreed with their assessment, while Namu looked on, confused. "Crawford requested a video conference with Yugi. When I explained that the only computer in the house isn't webcam compatible, I was told that something would be arriving to fix that, and then this showed up with a runner."

Yugi's chest felt tight, her stomach roiled, and her body trembled as she beheld the package. The last large package that had arrived from Industrial Illusions had been the one containing the video tape that had allowed Crawford to steal her grandfather's soul. While she wanted to hope that Crawford would know better than to try it again, she could not help but be anxious.

'Easy, Futago no Imoto.' The Pharaoh's calming presence and soothing words gave her something to lean on as she tried to pull herself together. 'I don't sense Shadows from the package this time.'

'You could sense it last time?!' Yugi squeaked across the soul bond, wondering why the heck the Spirit of the Puzzle had not said anything before now.

'I wasn't sure. I hadn't had much experience outside of Bakura's mischief, and she was hanging around. I thought it was coming from her. I'm sorry.' The apology made the lighter half of their soul internally wince.

'It's-It's okay. You couldn't have known,' the Queen of Games replied as she stepped forward and took hold of the surprisingly heavy and rather large parcel.

"Stay downstairs until I've opened it?" she asked her friends and family, looking between them all.

"Yeah, sure." Anzu nodded, looking at Mai. "You wanted to go through the single cards with me to see if we could find those cards you wanted for my deck anyway."

"Which cards?" Thankful to Anzu for the distraction, which caught her grandfather and Katsuya in its web, Yugi headed upstairs, with the door shutting behind her serving to cut off Namu's question about her wellbeing.

'If it is a Shadow Game, I won't be a fool this time,' Meisa promised her twin as they retreated with the packet to their bedroom, not wanting to run the risk of anyone coming up behind them and getting caught in the trap.

'I know you won't.' Yugi did too. Meisa had learned her lesson about not allowing pride to control her actions. It had nearly cost Yugi her life and both Anzu and Jii-san their souls, but at least the Pharaoh had learned it, and that was all that mattered. 'I trust you.'

Shutting the bedroom door behind them, she put the package on the bed and sat next to it, wondering what the heck she had been sent this time. Opening it revealed a boxed laptop with a letter sat on top. She set the letter aside and went to open the laptop box, only to find that it was unsealed and inside were a webcam and an ethernet cable to connect the device to the internet.

She opened the laptop and found the power button, turning it on, before opening the letter.

"To Mutou Yugi," Yugi read to her other self, who had taken spirit form to examine the portable computer. "You are expected to attend a video conference between myself, Tenma Gekko, and yourself at 3pm on Saturday afternoon regarding your title contract and the events of Duelist Kingdom."

'At least they're giving us warning?' the Pharaoh offered as she turned to look at her light.

"This laptop is for your use only," Yugi continued reading, "snd is to be primarily used for work related to your title as 'Queen of Games', including but not limited to meetings, e-mails, and reports regarding events that you have been sent to. You may also use this laptop for personal business within reason and restricted to your duelling career and schooling. It is advised that you get used to the system before the meeting on Saturday."

Yugi grimaced, deciding she needed to double check her copy of the Queen of Games title contract before the meeting so she knew what they meant by 'events you have been sent to'.

"You know," she huffed at her darker half, tension leaking out of her as it appeared that Industrial Illusions really did just want to talk to her regarding the title, "I'm both impressed that they want to speak with me enough to send a laptop and insulted that they didn't speak to me face to face."

'Well I suppose that with Crawford being American, he can't come to Japan every time he wants to deal with us,' the Spirit of the Puzzle offered.

"See, I would agree with that, but this is signed by a 'Tenma Yakko, Head of Industrial Illusions Japan.' Not Crawford. Who even is Tenma?" she complained. She paused when she saw the computer had booted up. "Right, I'll let the others know it's safe, and then we'll see what they've installed on here."

The spirit just shrugged, rather out of her depth when it came to technology and unable to interact with it without being in control of her twin's body.

Yugi picked up the laptop, brought it down to the living room, where the internet router was, and plugged the device in using the provided cable before darting downstairs to give the others the heads up. Namu had gone home in the time that it had taken her to open up the laptop, allowing them to speak freely.

"So is it cursed?" Katsuya asked as Yugi poked her head around the door.

"No, not cursed, at least not yet. I have a meeting on Saturday, though, after Duel Club thankfully." The Magician Duelist sighed.

"They wanted to talk to you earlier, but I informed them that you had school responsibilities to attend to." Doctor Mutou's words earned him a hug from his granddaughter.

As Yugi pulled away she got a sheepish look. "Speaking of the Domino Senshi, is there any chance I can get a box of the Renouncement booster packs for Saturday?"

"Those are brand new boosters." Jii-san grimaced. "I don't know if I can let you have a whole box. It'll depend on how well they sell. I can probably do two packs each. That would be twenty four, right?"

"That's more than enough, thank you." The girl grinned, bouncing slightly in her pleasure at having been given permission to give her club members some of the new boosters. "Oh, and can I access the safe? I need to double check my title contract."

"I'm just taking the cash drawer up now." The elderly man nodded. "If you would like to follow me?"

She did, still glad that she had talked Jii-san into supporting the club as she headed up the stairs, noting on her way past that the laptop had fully finished booting up while she had been downstairs. She grabbed her copy of the title contract out of the safe and darted out of the way, not wanting to be a bother.

Scanning it quickly revealed the lines 'The Title Recipient will be expected to attend at least one event per quarter as determined by Industrial Illusions for marketing and publicity purposes. Failure to attend these events without notice or good reason as accepted by the Head of Industrial Illusions San Francisco could result in removal of the title from the recipient.'

'We should have gone over the contract when we got back from Duelist Kingdom,' the Spirit of the Puzzle grouched as Yugi flopped into the sofa and picked up the laptop, noting that it already had Microsoft Word installed, along with a program called I2-Eye, which she recognised as a chat program.

Poking around in it revealed that her 'contacts list' included a bunch of names of people she had never met, including two Tenmas, one initialled Y, the other G, a 'Dupre S' and a 'Merced R'. Alongside them was a 'Crawford P' that she almost blocked automatically on instinct, a 'Kaiba S' and a 'Kaiba M'. It was almost a relief to see the Kaibas were also on this system, as it meant that if this whole thing was a trap, at least she had easy access to the two brothers to warn them.

Each name had a small coloured circle next to it, and hovering her mouse over them revealed that Tenma Y was the Head of Industrial Illusions Japan and was 'busy', while Tenma G ruled over the American branch, which was the HQ of the whole company, and was offline. Working out easily that meant green had to mean online, that meant that Dupre and Merced were both online and were the heads of the Russian and European branches respectively. She fired off a quick message to Tenma Y, thanking him for the laptop and confirming her attendance at the Saturday meeting, before messaging Mokuba, who was offline, saying hi, before she shut the laptop down to help make dinner.

Food was important now after all, and if they were going to wait till Saturday to hex her, she was going to get a couple of good meals in first.

Once the food was cooked and devoured, Anzu spread out her new cards, looking through them carefully alongside Mai, as Yugi turned to Katsuya,."So, what haven't you told me?"

"You know how Honda and I went back in for the Otogis?" the Luck Duelist asked, getting to his feet so he could pace out his concern and nervousness.

"Which was really brave of you both." The Magician Duelist nodded, well aware that Otogi was disliked by everyone after what he had pulled, and proud of her friends for wanting to help the pair who had caused so much trouble.

"Here's the thing…" Jou took a deep breath. "Honda and Otogi Ryuji got out safe, but the entrance collapsed and trapped me inside."

Yugi paled, Anzu's head shot up, and Mai's eyes narrowed. "But you got out."

"Yeah, but only because I somehow summoned my Red-Eyes Black Dragon." He slipped his deck out of his pocket and drew the top card, a small smile gracing his features when it was the dragon in question. "Like, actually summoned him."

"Like Yugi summoned Kuriboh?" Mai questioned, suddenly more interested and wondering if she could do the same for her Harpies.

"Yeah." He nodded, tilting his head as he realized he could sense fire and darkness from the card. He paused and held the card up. "Red-Eyes, I summon you."

There was a moment when the world darkened, and for a second there was a black outline, then Katsuya wavered and nearly fell. Yugi darted forward and Mai shot to her feet, both of them giving him support until he was in a chair.

"That nearly worked," Anzu said, having been able to feel the Shadows building up as the monster tried to respond to his Duelist's summons.

"I swear I managed it in the fire," Jou promised, taking a sip from the glass of water that Sugoroku got him.

"You probably did." Meisa took over so she could explain what she knew. "Shadow magic is tied to the soul and emotions. The stronger your emotions, the stronger the magic you have access to."

"That makes sense." Mai nodded, thinking hard. "Can anyone do that?"

"I think you need training or exposure to the Shadows." Meisa frowned, trying to remember everything she had heard about the magic. "Bakura was able to summon her Diabound before she got her item, but Mahad said she had been training with us before then."

"Can you ask the Dark Magician?" Jou questioned. "He might know how Mai and I can start learning."

Mai glanced at him, surprised to be included as Meisa reached for her deck. Sugoroku shot across the room and grabbed his granddaughter's hand, shaking his head. "Not now."

"Jii-san?" She blinked at him, shocked by the interference.

"You might have a Shadow Game on Saturday. You're not to use any excess energy before then," their grandfather forbade them. "We can wait for answers, can't we?"

At the sharp look he shot around the room, Anzu and Katsuya nodded. Mai just shrugged and took a seat by the dancer. "Fine. I'm going to be around for a while anyway. I'll wait till it's safe."

"Sorry." Yugi took over and slumped down on Anzu's other side so she could see what she and Mai were up to.

"Not your fault." The Harpie duelist huffed. "Just don't get suckered again."

"I don't plan to."

Yugi was ecstatic as she closed up the club room on Saturday afternoon, beyond pleased at how well the booster packs had gone down. Everyone had gotten something useful and the Double Coston that now resided in her deck was going to be massively useful the next time Kaiba challenged her to a duel.

And it was only a matter of time before he did.

Trying not to get frustrated when the buses were running a little late, she parted ways with Katsuya at the corner before the shop so he could go on to his other job, and hurried through the busy Saturday shopping crowds. She swept past Jii-san and Namu, not stopping to do more than assist a customer or two, before she headed upstairs and set up the laptop, webcam and all, ready for the meeting.

She had just enough time to change out of her uniform and into a blouse and trousers and grab herself a drink before her new computer made the most obnoxious ringing noise she had heard in her entire life. Guessing that green equalled answer, just like on a mobile phone, she clicked the green button and two faces appeared on her screen, identical in physiology, but very different in expression.

She sat back so they could see her properly and smiled at them both. "Tenma-sans. It's a pleasure to meet you."

She was not being entirely honest with them, but she was just kind of glad that the CEO of Industrial Illusions was staying out of the call.

"Miss Mutou." The soft eyed, pleasant-looking Tenma G, whose video revealed the San Francisco skyline in the background, half-bowed to her. "Thank you for being here promptly."

"No problem. You wanted to speak to me regarding an event?" she asked as her twin emerged from the Puzzle as a ghost to sit on the arm of the sofa next to her. "I'm only going to be able to attend ones that don't mess with my education, I hope you understand."

"The event we want you to attend is during the half-term holiday," the sharp-eyed, irritable looking, Tenma Y, who had the Tokyo skyline in the background, informed her, "We will be paying for your hotel, food, and travel, and you may bring one extra with you at no added cost."

"That's generous." The Queen of Games tried to hide her wariness, wondering if the event was some kind of revenge for what had happened at Duelist Kingdom. "What do you expect me to do while I'm there?"

"As the winner of Duelist Kingdom, you were crowned Queen of Games, and by beating Kaiba in an official match, you grabbed the World Champion title. Many of the Duelling magazines are interested in getting photos and interviewing you," the sharper-looking of the two Tenmas explained. "We want you to attend a press event, run by Industrial Illusions and Kaiba Corp, to provide that in a manner that does not involve them harassing you at your home."

That was surprisingly polite of the two Tenmas, and Yugi found herself pleased that they had thought of it, even if she was not sure she was going to be the best public speaker. Crowds for her normally equaled bullies and pain, not questions and photos. It was going to take some adaptation.

"Plus Kaiba Corp is announcing the release date for their Duel Disk and would like you to duel against a Duelist of their choosing in order to show off the improvements to the technology," the softer added.

"I wouldn't mind doing that." Yugi grinned, looking forward to a challenging match. "Do you know who against?"

"Kaiba himself," the sharper Tenma bit out, "of course."

Of course, indeed. In hindsight it had been a stupid question.

"There is something else, Miss Mutou." The softer Tenma caught her attention again. "We are offering compensation to Duelists who were attending our father's tournament as a way of apologizing for the lack of accommodation and food stalls. Our father was not well before the event and was not entirely within his right mind."

"Every Duelist who attended will be receiving a check worth the equivalent of a thousand American dollars," Tenma Y informed her, expression unhappy, suggesting he was displeased with what was being offered. "As one of those who suffered the most under Father's temporary insanity, we are offering you a slightly bigger compensation than most."

Yugi paused, biting her lower lip as she grasped that there was a good chance these two knew more about the magical events than she had realized. "Oh?"

"In exchange for not telling anyone what happened on Duelist Kingdom regarding the more…" He hesitated.

"Unusual events?" Yugi offered nervously.

"That works." The American Tenma nodded. "The more unusual events on Duelist Kingdom are something we would like to keep secret, so in exchange for signing a non-disclosure agreement to not tell anyone about the magical events on Duelist Kingdom, other than those who already know about them, we are willing to put you on a sponsorship contract. While you're still dueling professionally we would pay for your education, as well as travel and accommodation, with a small stipend for food thrown in."

Yugi stared at the screen for a moment, unsure she was hearing what she thought she was hearing. Then Meisa nudged her gently.

'Imoto? Might I take over?' The Pharaoh barely had to ask before they swapped places.

The Spirit of the Puzzle frowned slightly as she asked, "What's the catch? If you know about Duelist Kingdom's magical events, you know that your father was not the only one on the island who had additional abilities. Why offer me the sponsorship?"

The Tenma that resided in Japan smirked, but the one who lived in America sighed. "Quite frankly, Miss Mutou, we would rather work with you than against you. We could, if we wanted to, use the camera footage from the boat to prove that you used some sort of magic to take Insector Haga out of the competition before it even began; however, we are aware of the sway you have over upcoming female Duelists, and we would rather work with you to help shape your reputation than have you turn them away from the game of Duel Monsters because you were unwilling to work with us."

"What about Kujaku Mai? Or Wong Vivian?" Meisa pressed, confused as to how she had influence when the others had been duelling long before she had, and not looking forward to discussing this with Mai.

"While Wong is a model and actress, she's not a suitable role model for a good chunk of girls because of her reputation for attaching herself to anyone with influence. I believe her current target is Kaiba." Tenma Y huffed. "And Kujaku…"

"Yakko." Tenma G cut his twin brother off sharply before he could be rude about Mai, well aware another girl could take offense on her behalf. "Many mothers don't like Mai as a role model because of her attitude towards others. The new American Champion is a girl too, but Rebecca Hopkins is only twelve years old and does not have the influence and attitude required to be a good role model."

"It's hard for Duelists who want to be taken seriously when the American Champion still carries her teddy bear," Yakko huffed out. "Plus she is prone to a temper tantrum when things don't go her way."

"So you want to have some sway over me, so you can ensure that women aren't turned away from the game." Meisa understood where this was going.

There was a pause as both Tenmas processed what she had just said, then Yakko snorted, amusement clear, "She's smarter than you gave her credit for, Gekko."

Gekko just scowled, his gaze turned to where Yakko was probably visible on his screen.

"Can you blame us?" the Tenma in charge of the Japanese branch continued. "I'm sure you don't want to lose the chance to see more women in the game."

"What do you expect of me?" the Pharaoh asked, pursing her lips.

"Quite frankly, Miss Mutou, this press event will be your first public outing as the Queen of Games. This will be your first chance to present yourself to the world and the Duelists in it, properly." Gekko spoke carefully, "We want to assist you in making it a good impression and allow you to become a role model that female Duelists can aspire to, especially the younger ones."

"And the sponsorship?" Meisa pushed, wanting to know what they expected of her and her twin in exchange.

"It's a bribe mostly, though it's also a guarantee of protection for both sides." Yakko shrugged, "You don't tell anyone about Father's actions towards yourself and the Kaibas, protecting our company, and we provide for your future and we don't let the footage of you using magic leak."

"We'll give you time to think about it," Gekko offered. "If you're agreeable, we'll have you sign the non-disclosure agreement and the sponsorship contracts at the pre-event meeting."

"And what's the dress code for the publicity event? If I'm willing to attend?" The Pharaoh internally grimaced. She and her twin had a lot to talk about.

"You're coming out as the Queen of Games," Yakko pointed out. "This is your chance to make your first impression and show that you are worthy of that title. I would suggest that you think about that carefully and dress to impress."

The Spirit of the Puzzle felt her twin mentally wince as she realized that she probably did not have anything suitable in her wardrobe, and a shopping trip with Anzu would be a necessity, "How soon will you need my answer?"

"If you don't attend the publicity event, you'll be in default of your title contract," Tenma Yakko reminded her with a slight sneer, "but we can wait a couple of days. We'll send you an itinerary in the meantime so you can see what you're getting into."

"I'll look it over and get back to you by tomorrow evening," Meisa promised.

"Thank you, Miss Mutou." Gekko smiled at her, relief clear as his brother dropped out of the call, possibly to send them the information. "I apologize for coming on strong, but Industrial Illusions isn't just our father's legacy, it has been part of our lives since we were adopted by our father. We're rather protective of it."

"I understand." She did too. She knew just how protective her family was of the shop, and she herself was unwilling to see it fail, even though she had only been free for around a year. "I just hope we can work well in the future."

"I hope so too. Have a good evening, Mutou-san."

Gekko nodded was just reaching to end the call when Yugi took over and asked, "How is your Otosan?"

He paused, surprised she would ask after everything they had discovered after Kaiba's snipe about the tournament.

"Father is getting better," he admitted with a rueful smile. "His Millennium Eye was taken from him at the end of Duelist Kingdom, and he has been recovering slowly. I will tell him you asked after him. I have a question, though."

"What's that?" Yugi tilted her head, mostly glad that their father was recovering from having his item snatched, but partly relieved to have the confirmation that Crawford could not come after her with magic again, as well as partly frustrated because this meant she could no longer get information from Akhenaden.

"Do you know who attacked our father?" Gekko's voice was sharper now than it had been so far, and he sounded much more like this twin as he stared at her.

"I don't have confirmation, no," Yugi admitted cautiously, not wanting to point them in Ba-Khu-Ra's direction even with her recent behavior. "There's a few people who are hunting Millennium Item holders. It could have been any of them. Especially since I know a couple of them can move unseen. I didn't see who did it, so I can't be sure who it was."

The Tenma living in America grimaced. "I was afraid of that. Thank you again, Miss Mutou."

With that he ended the call.

Yugi groaned as she quickly replied to Mokuba's 'hello, how did you get access to I2-Eye?' with a rundown of being given the laptop for calls to Industrial Illusions. Meisa, as concerned as she was, emerged from the Puzzle and started pacing.

"So… I guess we're going?" Yugi asked her twin, who paused in her steps to look at her. "I mean, they kind of have us over a barrel."

'If it was just the title, I'd say sod it if you didn't want to go, but they say they have footage of us casting magic, and I don't want to risk your safety if it leaks.' Anesan grimaced, starting to pace again. 'Sorry…'

'So we go and we sign the Non-Disclosure Agreement. This isn't the end of the world. It means I could afford to go to University. That's something we couldn't do before,' Yugi offered, trying to cheer her twin sister up. 'At least they've said we can take someone with us, so we won't be going alone.'

Meisa nodded with a sigh. Back-up would be good.

The laptop blipped, showing she had an e-mail, and she opened it to find that she would be expected to be in Tokyo on the Friday before Shizuka's operation, with the event falling on the day it was due to take place. Since Shizuka's hospital was in Tokyo, that meant if she could talk Jonouchi into going with her, he could see his sister the night before her eyes were fixed up and, with the timetable the way it was, he would be able to see her off to the operating room in the morning.

That alone was enough reason for Yugi to say yes, she would attend.

'What about the sponsorship contract?' Meisa asked, sitting next to her.

'We don't really have a choice.' Yugi sighed, kind of wishing that she had I2-Eye on her phone as she asked Mokuba if they were really attending the publicity event in Tokyo and what they thought of the Tenmas. 'We don't want that footage out in the public eye.'

'I didn't even think about there being footage.' Meisa huffed and leaned back a little too far into the sofa, partly sinking into it.

When Yugi thought about it, she was not entirely surprised there was film somewhere. With how many cameras there had been on the boat and all over Duelist Kingdom, it would have been impossible to avoid them all. Especially when some of the magic had been blatantly used around the Duel Boxes which had recorded the duels.

"Is the meeting over?" The appearance of their grandfather at the top of the stairs made the pair jump and turn to look at him. "Can I send Namu up for his break now?"

"Sorry, Jii-san." Yugi winced. "Go ahead. Can I talk to you later, though?"

"You okay?" he asked, worried that Industrial Illusions had threatened her again.

"Eh? We still have our souls," the Queen of Games offered with a shrug as her twin returned to the Puzzle.

Sugoroku was not entirely happy that that was an improvement on the last time Yugi had met with Industrial Illusions by video conference.

"We'll discuss things later," he agreed, "once Katsuya gets home. After all, he's going to want to know if you need someone punched."

"Oh, I plan on telling him. Look." She showed him the itinerary and saw the old man's face light up.

"He'll be happy about this." The old archaeologist grinned. "Are you sure you want to go, though?"

The laptop blipping as Mokuba replied to her question made her pause to check his answer before she said, "I can't really say no, but I want to see if Katsuya wants to go with me before I reply. Besides, it looks like this is legit because the Kaibas are actually in on it."

"We'll work out a plan between us later." Her grandfather nodded, not reminding her that there had been a time when the Kaibas had wanted her dead, despite their turn about since Duelist Kingdom. "In the meantime, come downstairs when you're done and help out."

"Will do, Jii-san," she promised as she sent Mokuba her mobile phone number so they could continue the conversation away from the laptop and shut the device down. The shop needed her, after all, and that had to come first.

Passing Namu on the stairs on her way down, she felt her dark twin startle. 'Imoto!'

'What?' Yugi paused and turned back to look at the teenage guy who was heading into the kitchen for his break.

'Remember on Thursday? When you had me sensing Shadows from the Senshi?' the Pharaoh asked, sounding startled. 'Namu has them too.'

'You're sure?!' The Queen of Games blinked, shocked.

'Dead certain… That wasn't meant to be a pun.' The Spirit of the Puzzle groaned.

'Okay, now I really want to know what makes the Shadows cling to people. Can we summon Mahad now?'

'I think we need to.'

Author Note: I may have looked up Hanakotoba, Japanese flower language, when I was writing this chapter. The bouquet that the Domino Senshi gave Yugi has a meaning hidden within it. "Sincerely Waiting with Kind Respect"

White Anemone = Sincere
White Tsubaki = Waiting
Sakura = Kind
Suisen = Respect

Yes, I am a huge nerd...