Food was being delivered to the tables as Yugi and Katsuya headed through the doors to join the rest of the exhibitors and guests for the event, the Queen of Games comfortably leaning into her companion, and his arm around her shoulders.
A few steps into the Maiogi room, the Dragon Duelist let out a soft hiss and dropped his arm from the Magician Duelist's shoulders. When she glanced up at him in surprise, he nodded towards the nearest table. Shooting a look in that direction revealed three cameras pointed in their direction.
She let out a quiet sigh and stepped away slightly, not really wanting her personal life in the Dueling magazines or tabloids, and pretty sure Katsuya would not like it either.
Her mind tumbled over the fact he had admitted that he liked her as they headed for their assigned table. She liked him, too. Probably in the same way, considering the way their kiss had made her feel like the world was made of sunshine and rainbows and nothing could ever go wrong again.
It made her nervous, though, as she bowed to the others at her table and took her seat, Katsuya on her right-hand side. She struggled enough when her friends were in danger as it was. If the wrong people found out that she had feelings for Katsuya, she just knew he would become an active target for anyone who wanted to get at her, and she was not sure how she would handle it.
That and Domino High did not allow relationships between students, which was another reason they would have to keep their feelings a secret from others.
Part of her could not help but think that even if she admitted her feelings, Jou would realize he had made a mistake and tell her that he did not want to be with someone whose very presence put his life in danger. Or worse, he had found someone better. He liked Mai, too, after all. The Harpie Duelist was much prettier than she was.
'Easy, Imoto,' Meisa murmured, trying not to mentally frown at her twin's low self-worth, as Yugi watched the Tenmas rise to the podium. 'It will be alright. Katsuya wouldn't hurt you like that, and we'll do our best to teach him how to summon safely so if anyone does come to bother him, he'll be able to defend himself.'
'You're right, I'm sorry, Anesan.' Yugi took a deep breath and actually started eating. 'I'm just…'
'I know.' The Spirit of the Puzzle wrapped spectral arms around her sister in a hug, feeling safe to do so when she knew she could not be picked up by cameras. 'But Katsuya's our best friend, he likes you a lot, and he's right: the past might be written, but the future is ours to shape. Besides, he's able to defend himself, or did you forget the guy whose jaw he broke for stealing the Puzzle?'
'Wait, what?!'
As the Spirit of the Puzzle explained about what Jou had done to the guy who had jumped Yugi at the arcade somewhere back near the beginning of the year, Katsuya glanced across the table. Sat opposite them, the younger Kaiba brother was giving his older brother an odd look. Mokuba had not missed the way Seto had tensed up when Yugi and Jonouchi had entered the room. Now his Niisama had the very flat, expressionless look he got when he was hiding away what he thought about a situation but had no one to sneer at, and Kaiba Corp's Vice CEO was not quite sure how to handle it or if he even should.
He elected not to act right now, not wanting to give the press any reason to question his brother's wellbeing.
As the Tenma twins introduced themselves to the press, a projection screen unfurled from the ceiling, allowing them to reveal images from the various digs that their father had been on, and photos that showed how the game had been modernised for the current age as they explained where the game had come from.
Yugi drank in the images, Meisa watching intently, too, as photo after photo of ancient tablets with monsters carved into them flashed across the screen. Ancient tablets that would have once been used as Diaha summoning tablets back when they had been on the throne.
They were accompanied by the modern-day versions, showing what the monsters looked like now they had been, in Gekko's words, brought back to life.
As the last of the images faded away, Yugi glanced around at the other tables, where some of the invited press were already looking at the tablets on display, and then to the group who had been sat with the Crawford children. The press would be putting two and two together and getting nine or ten rather than four since they had no context, but just the fact they were already looking at the display tablets made the Queen of Games a little nervous.
"Our father wanted to be here to reveal the source of the game he holds so close to his heart." Gekko gave a sad smile as he drew their attention back to him. "But unfortunately…"
The double doors leading to the rest of the hotel slammed open, revealing someone that none of the children from Domino were happy to see.
"Now, now, Gekko." A man with straight silver-purple hair that covered the left side of his face, his expression full of amusement despite the slightly narrowed right eye, swept into the room and joined his sons at the podium. "You really think I would miss this?"
Kaiba was about as happy to see Pegasus J. Crawford as Yugi and Jonouchi were. He glanced at the pair, amusement settling under the surface at the fact that Meisa had already taken control and was giving the CEO of Industrial Illusions a rather sharp look.
Gekko stepped aside without hesitation while Yakko subtly pulled a chair up to the microphone in case his father needed it. Richie smirked, having called their father after Yakko's foul up the previous evening, and aided in getting him here so they could have a meeting after the event. Meanwhile Dupre was surprised and pleased to see their father, fully awake and aware, as well as internally grinning at the fact that all the crew from Domino suddenly looked discomforted, considering they had thought that they had the upper hand last night.
"I thank you for getting this started, my boy, but I think I need to say the next bit myself." The creator of Duel Monsters allowed embarrassment to show as he turned to the assembly, plugging something into the laptop attached to the projection system as he did so.
"Many years ago, I discovered the tablets that would become the modern game of Duel Monsters while I was suffering greatly from the loss of my wife," Crawford admitted, his voice softer than Meisa had ever heard it, "and I drove myself into creating the greatest game in the world because that was what she would have wanted. My darling wanted to make the world a brighter, happier place, and I failed her when I ran the Duelist Kingdom tournament. I was so lost in my vision for the future that I failed to prepare for the present. I offer my apologies to everyone who was at Duelist Kingdom for not offering food and accommodation, and for the behavior of some of the staff. The vetting process was not done by Industrial Illusions but by a normally reliable, independent security contractor. We consider the behavior of their staff a breach of contract and will not be using them again."
'It was a pretty speech,' Kaiba silently thought, 'but it means nothing when it's mostly lies to cover up his murder attempts.'
"Industrial Illusions will be getting in contact with every Duelist that was invited in order to ensure compensation is delivered; however, for our finalists, there's a little something extra."
He gestured to the table, where Meisa, Katsuya, Seto, and Mokuba were sat. "Kaiba-boy? Will you join me?"
Seto's eyes narrowed and he got to his feet sharply, glancing between Jonouchi and Mokuba.
The blonde nodded subtly, understanding the implicit request. 'Protect my brother.'
Reassured, since Yugi and her friends had not been the ones to fail Mokuba after his escape on Duelist Kingdom, the CEO of Kaiba Corp stalked up to the podium, body language hiding the fact he did not want to be anywhere near Crawford.
"Crawford." The shallow nod was enough for those in the room who were Japanese to understand that Seto barely respected the man in front of him anymore.
"Kaiba-boy, I'll move aside for your astounding presentation in just a minute, but first I want to present you with this."
As he handed over the card he had created, its image flashed up on the projection screen. It was a Dragon/Effect card with 1800 attack and 1300 defense. The image upon it was a warrior in pale blue and silver armor, carrying a lance.
"The Keeper of Dragon Magic will be a powerful ally to your dragons, Kaiba-boy." Crawford spoke plainly. "He will help you get your dragons out faster with the Expert rules in place."
Seto just nodded as he read the card's full effect. When the knight was normal or special summoned, he could call Polymerization or another Normal 'Fusion' spell to his hand from his deck. Not only that, but if he revealed a fusion monster in his extra deck, he could Special Summon one of the needed material monsters to the field in face-down defense mode.
The CEO's eyes widened as he understood just how potent the card was. Each effect could be used just once a turn, but in three turns he could call all three of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons to the field without tribute AND have Polymerization in his hand ready to go. Crawford was not lying. The card was a huge help for his deck.
"Thank you." He was not entirely successful at keeping the confusion out of his voice as he thanked the man both because the Keeper of Dragon Magic was an amazing card, one that he was going to have added to the hologram system as soon as possible, and because he had to maintain the 'yes, our companies are allies' facade.
"A minor gift, that's all." Crawford waved it off before lowering his voice. "I'll be calling to discuss other opportunities later."
When Seto nodded, having expected it, Crawford raised his voice again. "Jonouchi-boy, your turn."
The blonde rose hesitantly from the table, glancing at Meisa, who looked a little confused, but nodded and subtly gestured for him to go, since Crawford did not seem to want to harm them.
The Dragon Duelist headed up, noting the flashes of cameras as he shook Crawford's hand, trying not to show that he felt like his skin was crawling.
"For Jonouchi-boy, the Red-Eyes Baby Dragon." The former Eye Bearer offered the card in question as the image on the screen shifted to show it. "A child of your most powerful beast. The child will ensure that not only will it be easier to summon his parent, but the father will be more powerful for its sacrifice."
Katsuya paused to read the card properly, letting out a soft breath as he beheld the tiny black Dragon/Effect monster, who had 1200 attack and 700 defense.
If Red-Eyes Baby Dragon was destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, it would allow Jonouchi to special summon his Red-Eyes Black Dragon and equip the baby to it. The full-grown dragon's attack would rise by 300 while the baby was equipped to it, and when the baby was destroyed, his Duelist could add a level 1 Dragon monster from his deck or graveyard to his hand.
"Thank you." Jou nodded to the CEO of Industrial Illusions, already making plans for adjustments to his deck, before going to sit back down.
"Kujaku Mai is not here today, but I will be ensuring that Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon will reach her safely," Crawford continued, flashing the card up on screen, revealing that it too was a Dragon/Effect, this one with 1200 attack and 600 defense.
Meisa's eyes widened as she beheld the effect of the card, which was determined by the number of Harpies Mai had on the field. With one or more on the field, an enemy could only target Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon. Two or more doubled the original attack and defense of the card, while three or more allowed Mai to target one card that her opponent controlled and destroy it.
"And now, for our Queen." Crawford turned his bright smile on the Spirit of the Puzzle, who could not help but shudder, unable to look upon his features without remembering the twisted maliciousness of Akhenaden possessing the man.
"Duelist Kingdom did one thing perfectly: it decided the best Duelist in the world, a Duelist who has defeated the unstoppable Kaiba Seto not once, but twice, and who even defeated me at the game I created." There was no denying that Crawford had the entertainment value: the audience, bar a select few, was hooked on his every word. "An up and coming Duelist who only recently made her way into the competitive scene, the newly-crowned Queen of Games, Mutou Yugi!"
Meisa rose to her feet at her twin's name, able to sense how horribly uncomfortable the clapping and the many, many sets of eyes on them made her twin sister as she joined Crawford at the podium.
"Yugi-girl, since your most loyal Duel Monster is the 'Dark Magician', I'm sure you've already gotten your hands on the 'Dark Magician Girl'," Crawford said as he handed her not a monster like the others, but a spell card called 'Sage's Stone'. "Using this spell, you will be able to easily have both of them on the field at the same time."
Meisa had heard of Sage's Stone before. It was almost as rare as the Dark Magician Girl and had only been released in America so far. She checked the wording on the text as the spell card appeared on the screen and confirmed that if she controlled a face-up Dark Magician Girl, she could use the stone to summon a Dark Magician from her hand or deck.
"And that's not all; a Queen deserves a knight, so to you I give these: 'Knight's Title' and 'Dark Magician Knight'." Crawford passed on the two cards in question, their images together on the screen, one a spell that allowed her to tribute a face-up Dark Magician to summon a Dark Magician Knight from hand, deck or graveyard, and the other the monster in question, who had the same stats as her Dark Magician, 2500 attack and 2100 defense, but could only be summoned via Knight's Title and when it was summoned, could target one card on the field and destroy it.
The Pharaoh could hear the murmurs around the room about the powerful cards she had been given, but unless she could use them in combination with Sage's Stone, or tributed two monsters to summon her Dark Magician, Dark Magician Knight was going to be a pain to use because it relied on her getting her favourite spellcaster out in the first place for Knight's Title to be usable at all.
"I am sorry, Yugi-girl, for the inconvenience you faced while on my island, and I hope that at future events we can get on a lot better." Crawford sounded sincere for a change as he apologised. "After all, things are very different now."
He turned away from the crowd for a brief second, and Meisa grimaced momentarily as she saw that he no longer held the Millennium Eye. She had known it was a thing, after the Tenma twins had told them, but seeing the painful scarring around where the Eye had been for herself made her internally flinch.
"Now, Kaiba-boy, I believe you have your own announcement to make." Crawford stepped aside. Meisa returned to the table and handed Katsuya the cards she had been given. He paused to examine them as Kaiba stepped up to the microphone and Crawford took that seat that Yakko had brought up for him, looking rather tired now he was not the one being focused on.
"Sage's Stone is in the system, but you'll need to wait for Osiris, Knight's Title, and Dark Magician Knight," Mokuba hissed across the table, making her pause to consider options.
"Katsuya, hand me my deck," she whispered, deciding she could ask later, making a quick adjustment as Kaiba swapped Crawford's data stick for his own and then turned to the crowd.
"Kaiba Corp," Seto started as the logo appeared on screen, "is already looking to the future, rather than dwelling on the past. The future of Dueling will soon be in your hands with the new Kaiba Corp Duel Disk."
Katsuya's eyes widened as it appeared on screen, along with footage of the realistic monsters it could summon, but Meisa was distracted, swapping out one card in her deck for another.
"The first forty-eight will be given away, free to the entrants to the Battle City tournament!" The Pharaoh's head snapped up. "Only those ranked four stars or higher may enter the three-day competition, in which you will battle to earn the right to compete in the finals. The last eight standing will duel for the grand prize and for the rarest cards."
Murmurs spread around the room at the 'rarest cards' comment.
"Battle City will be held with the ante rule. The loser must give up their rarest card to the winner." Kaiba's words made Yugi internally grimace. Azra and Karim had been insistent that they needed to enter Battle City, but if they lost a single match, they had a bunch of rare cards they could lose, including the Egyptian God Monster and her grandfather's Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
She would need to give the latter back to him if they were going to compete. It would not be fair of her to risk the dragon's safety.
"Accommodation and meals will be provided, and if a Duelist does not want what is on offer, the cafes, restaurants, and hotels on Battle City grounds will provide a discount, allowing competitors to have the food and rest they desire."
That earned Kaiba a dirty look from Crawford's children, but the man himself just had a rueful smile, like he had expected Seto to try and one up him.
"And to give you a taste of the duels to come, Yugi." Meisa turned to stare at Kaiba, unflinching, knowing what was coming next. "I challenge you. Show me your victory wasn't a fluke."
"I believe I outplayed you the last time we met, Kaiba." The Pharaoh's voice was even and calm as she reminded him gently that to the public there had been a win since Exodia had won them Death-T. Internally though, she was excited. She had been looking forward to the duel ever since they had known it was going to happen.
Irritation flickered across Seto's face when he could not call her out on it being her twin that had outplayed him, not her, but it was swiftly hidden behind his game face as Mokuba pulled a demo model Duel Disk out from under the table. "I doubt you can do it a second time."
"Of course I can." Confidence oozed from her as she slipped the long left sleeve of her kimono up and, with a little help from Katsuya, put on the Duel Disk. With smaller sleeves, the equipment would have been easy to put on, but she could see the contemplating expression on the CEO's face as he made a note of the problem to fix in the release model.
The two moved to the open part of the Maiogi room, shuffled each others' decks, and moved into position, Kaiba taking his spot on the side of the room matching up with the tablets of his monsters, while Meisa stood opposite.
Cameras flashed as they put their decks in place and activated the Duel Disks, causing the attached projectors to disengage and shoot out to their correct positions, ready to display the field. However, neither of them noticed as they considered their opening hands.
Seto could not help but be proud of his deck as he gazed at his hand. Meisa did not stand a chance.
"I summon Lord of Dragon in attack mode!" he called, placing the Spellcaster in the monster slot on his Duel Disk. With a flash of rainbow light the dragon-bone-armoured spellcaster appeared on the field, a flash of a square displaying its attack as 1200 and its defense as 1100. "And I activate the Flute of Summoning Dragon."
The Spirit of the Puzzle grimaced internally as with a pair of powerful roars, two Blue-Eyes White Dragons appeared on the field, their opalescent scales shimmering in the light, their eyes glowing with a faint light as the system showed their 3000 attack points and 2500 defense. "I can't attack right now, but next turn, Yugi, you're done."
'Well, that's… bad.' Yugi's weak chuckle as Meisa considered her hand made the Pharaoh snort softly. Kaiba's move had bypassed the Tribute summoning rules and left them on the back foot.
"I set one card face-down," Meisa called, slipping the card in question into what she had been shown was one of the magic and trap card slots, "and summon my Alpha the Magnet Warrior."
The silver knight with magnets all over it appeared on the field, its 1400 attack and 1700 defense flashing up briefly.
"Now, Alpha! Attack his Lord of Dragons!" The magnet warrior leapt towards the spellcaster, lashing out with its sword. Lord of Dragon shrieked as he was run through and shattered into light particles, Kaiba's life points dropping by 200 as punishment for his destruction.
"Your move, Kaiba."
Seto was no fool. Meisa would not have left her weaker monster in attack mode if that face-down card could not protect her monster or her life points. He briefly glanced at the life point counter, which read 3800, before glowering across the field.
Predicting that she had Mirror Force face-down, he switched both of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons to defense mode, then, "I summon Kaiser Sea Horse!"
The blue-and-purple-scaled Sea Serpent monster took the field, its 1700 attack points easily outmatching Alpha's 1400.
"Kaiser Sea Horse, attack the Magnet Warrior!"
He was unsurprised when she allowed her Rock monster to be destroyed. It would be a waste of her card to target his Kaiser Sea Horse alone. Meisa's monster exploded the moment that the seahorse's lance ran it through, and the Queen of Games' Duel Disk beeped quietly as her life points dropped by 300.
Unconcerned, since she still had her backup card, the Pharaoh grinned as she drew, enjoying being able to duel such a powerful opponent with no real consequences. "I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior in attack mode and set two cards face-down."
The face-down cards appeared on the field next to the one she had already laid as the yellow magnetic warrior appeared, its 1700 attack points matching those of the Kaiser Sea Horse.
"And that ends my turn."
Kaiba Corp's CEO scowled. If she had been bluffing before, she certainly would not be now. One of those three face-down cards would be something that could turn the Duel against him.
"I sacrifice my Kaiser Sea Horse to summon my third Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" The sea horse, which was a relatively new card, was worth two tributes for the summon of a Light monster like his dragon.
He was pleased to see the Pharaoh take a step back at the sight of all three of his dragons snarling and snapping at her.
"You remember them well, don't you, Yugi?" he asked with a dark chuckle, enjoying her discomfiture. "They certainly remember you."
"I'll take all three of them down just like I did last time," Meisa snapped back as she drew. "I tribute Beta for the Dark Magician Girl!"
The blonde Spellcaster/Effect monster, dressed in blue and pink armour, took the field and glared up at the trio of terrifying tyrants, despite her having 1000 less attack than the dragons at just 2000.
"And I activate Sage's Stone, allowing me to summon the Dark Magician from my deck."
The purple-armoured spellcaster appeared next to his apprentice, 2500 attack and 2100 defense flashing up next to him. The Dark Magician Girl waved at him happily before both magicians stepped back into position to guard their mistress from the dragons threatening her.
"Just you wait, next turn your dragons are going down."
"No, they're not." Kaiba smirked as he drew. Her back row suddenly meant nothing as he picked a different card from his hand. "I play Polymerization."
The Pharaoh grimaced as the three white dragons disappeared into a swirling vortex of light, from which emerged a beast that was twice as big with three heads and huge wings. A beast with the same opalescent scales, but whose sets of blue eyes were shimmering.
"And my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon will eradicate your Dark Magician!"
"I activate Mirror Force!" the Pharaoh called, hitting the right button to tell her Duel Disk which card she wanted. The Ultimate Dragon's attack bounced off of the shimmering mirror shield and headed back towards the one who had fired it.
"No, you don't." Her opponent chuckled vindictively. "I activate the spell card, Card Guard!"
He discarded a card from his hand and a huge shield appeared in front of his dragon. The blue diamond shield with gold filigree and a card at each of the corners glowed brightly, and the attack turned around again.
"Your Dark Magician dies!"
"No, he doesn't." Meisa activated her other face-down card, and a pair of blue and pink cylinders with gold question marks on appeared above the magicians' heads. "I activate Magic Cylinder!"
The lightning and fury of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon got sucked into one of the tubes and fired back out, heading back towards the shield.
"You can't destroy my dragon this turn!" Kaiba snorted, unconcerned. At least until the attack veered around the shield and headed towards him, "What?!"
"My Magic Cylinder doesn't destroy your monster. It reflects its attack back at your life points!" the Pharaoh declared just before the blast hit its target, ripping away 4500 life points from Kaiba's total and ending the Duel.
Meisa watched as the holograms faded away, noting that Kaiba looked a little ticked at the ease of his defeat. "Good game, Kaiba."
"The next match will mean something," Seto warned her, eyes narrowing, angry at himself and making a note for future duels to not walk into them without calculating every last possibility. "This was just an exhibition."
"Of course." The Spirit of the Puzzle allowed the other teen his pride, the sounds of excited watchers finally piercing her duel focus. She looked around, noting with some amusement that some of the hotel staff had been peeking through the doors to watch.
She returned to their table with a proud smile at having proved that she too could defeat Kaiba without having to rely on something like Exodia and got a high five from Katsuya as she sat down.
Mokuba gave her an amused huff as he helped her disentangle the Duel Disk from her kimono sleeve. "You realise he'll be prepared for that next time?"
"Of course." She answered the boy's whisper with a chuckle as Seto stepped back up to the podium to answer questions regarding the release date for the Duel Disks and how people could apply to take part in Battle City. "That's part of the fun of it."
The younger Kaiba stared at her for a moment, then shook his head, a small smile on his face as he retook his seat.
Once Seto was done answering questions, Meisa was encouraged to go back up to answer a few before the event was formally declared over. She hesitated for a moment before getting to her feet, having been tempted to switch with her twin since Imoto did the social thing better than she did, but still not entirely wanting to leave her out when Crawford was around.
'I'll be okay,' Yugi promised her other self. 'If he tries anything, we'll switch instantly.'
The Pharaoh sighed and stepped back, allowing her sister control. The younger Mutou twin stepped up, her throat trying to close for a moment and her hands trembling as her stomach rolled, nausea hitting hard as she beheld the crowd of people who were expecting her to talk to them. "Does anyone have any questions?"
"What are you planning to do with the Duelist Kingdom prize money?" one reporter shouted out before she could pick from the crowd of hands that had come up.
"I don't actually have the prize money anymore. My friend Jonouchi needed it more," Yugi admitted slowly, holding out a hand for Jonouchi, who came over and took it, squeezing gently before standing just behind her, on her right-hand side, where he could protect her. "His Imoto required a very expensive operation, so I used the prize money to cover for it and any related expenses. I'm not giving out details regarding it, though, to respect her privacy."
The grateful look on the blonde Duelist's face left no question that he was beyond thankful for her doing that.
Yugi looked around at the sea of hands, trying not to feel nervous, and relaxed a little as Katsuya put his hand on her shoulder and Meisa mentally leaned against her, supporting her. She chose a young woman in a green blouse,
"Ellie Green, Digital Duelist," the reporter introduced herself, her accent remarkably similar to Amane's. Yugi recognized the publication as being one of the internet's top Dueling resources, which confirmed Green as the site's only reporter, as well as its owner. "Will you be entering Battle City?"
"Of course." The Puzzle Bearer flashed a smile that she did not entirely feel. "While I'm not entirely pleased to be risking my rarest cards, Battle City is going to draw the best Duelists in the world, and dueling against them sounds like a lot of fun."
"Sato Kai, Game On." Another selected hand earned her another name and another question, this time from a reporter from one of the biggest Dueling tabloid magazines in publication. "What do you have to say to the Duelists who claim that you only won Duelist Kingdom because the boys were going easy on you?"
Yugi paused, having missed those accusations while she had been in hospital. She had certainly not won Duelist Kingdom because the others had been going easy on her. She had nearly died while winning that tournament, not that she could tell the reporters that.
"I duelled just as hard as everyone else on that island." She pursed her lips, slightly irritated that her Dueling had been called into question when she had proved she was just as good as the former World Champion, and able to sense her twin's anger on her behalf. "And I Challenge any doubter to come and see just how good I am for themself. I beat Crawford fair and square, but if they think they can do better than the creator of the game, I'll take them on. After Battle City of course."
That, of course, brought in another round of questions. Ones that she had no answer for, like where could the challengers sign up to Duel against her? How many challengers would she be taking in what sort of time frame? Would she be holding a special event for it or was it turn up on the day? If it was a special event, would she be taking signups this far in advance?
Yugi suddenly realized she had made a grievous mistake.
One that she was surprisingly rescued from by Crawford stepping up to the podium, looking rather irritated himself. "I can inform you all now that in no way, shape, or form did I go easy on Yugi-girl; however, if she is still agreeable to going ahead with this duel challenge after Battle City, then Industrial Illusions will support her in organising the event."
He shot Gekko and Yakko a sharp look, fully aware that just because he was fully coherent today, did not mean that he would be when that time came.
The younger Tenma frowned, but the older nodded his agreement.
"Now, are there any other questions?" Crawford's tone was sharp, and Yugi had to suppress a shudder as for a moment he sounded uncomfortably like the spirit who had been possessing him. "Ones that don't relate to the Gauntlet?"
Yugi found herself subject to a barrage of personal questions about her plans for the future, what she wanted to do with future winnings, whether she planned to go professional after she graduated, and more.
When the questions turned towards whether she was in a relationship, she backed away from the microphone. "I'm sorry, I'm done answering questions."
"But, Mutou-san…"
"Yugi doesn't have to answer any question she does not want to," Jonouchi bit out, his irritated tone making multiple people pause.
"That's quite correct," Gekko stepped in. "Thank you, Mutou-san, for your time today."
The Queen of Games nodded shakily, wanting nothing more than to flee to her suite and stay there, well away from the nosey, noisy reporters. She was not used to dealing with this many people wanting to know about her and her personal life, and it was just too much. She felt like throwing up despite having Katsuya at her physical back and Meisa at her mental one.
She had done her duty, and the sooner she could get away, the better, because she did not want to embarrass herself in front of all these people.
"Yugi-girl. I need to talk with you privately, before you head home tomorrow," Crawford murmured quietly as she passed him to get back to her seat, amused sympathy on his features, "but you can leave now, if you want."
"How… how much longer is this going on?" Yugi's voice shook slightly as she tried to understand why the CEO of Industrial Illusions was being nice to her.
"Another hour, but you can go. Kaiba used to show up, snarl at people, and leave. The reporters won't be surprised," Pegasus informed the Queen of Games. "Besides, I used to get stage fright, too. I know what it feels like, go on."
Yugi stared at him for a moment, eyes wide, then nodded and fled. Not that she allowed it to look like she was running. She waited until everyone was distracted by Pegasus talking about how Industrial Illusions was going to support Kaiba Corp's Battle City as part of their apology for screwing up Duelist Kingdom, and then made her way around the room, Katsuya at her side, and escaped out of the back door.
She made it back to her suite and to the toilet before the contents of her stomach came up violently. She did not notice the hand rubbing her back or her twin's mental reassurances until she was done being sick.
"Easy, Yuge. You did good," Katsuya murmured as he handed her a glass of water to rinse her mouth with. "You'll be more used to it next time, and I'll be there to support you then, too."
"You really want to stick around? After that circus?" Yugi demanded, her eyes wide, voice shaking in time with her body.
"I knew it might be coming." Jonouchi shrugged, sitting down next to her and pulling her into a hug. "But I meant what I said earlier, Yuge, I'm not leaving you. Not unless you want me to."
The way his friend clung to him as he freed her hair from the bun and ran his hand through the tresses to make sure he had all the pins out, and the obviousness that the contact was helping her calm down, suggested that she really, really did not want him to leave.
"Katsuya… I…" Yugi got cut off from what she had been about to say by the sound of her partner's phone ringing. The boy fished the device out of the satchel and answered it quickly.
"Moshi moshi?" There was a pause and Yugi raised her head, watching him as his face lit up with joy and relief. "She's awake? Did the… oh thank Kami… yes, yes, we'll be there in the morning, thank you."
"Katsuya?" Yugi asked, her tone curious and less nervous than it had been the last time she had used his name.
"The doctors are cautiously hopeful." Jou laughed in relief. "But they think the operation went well."
"That's great news!" The Queen of Games smiled, still feeling a little awful, but happy for him and for Shizuka.
"Yes." Katsuya could not help the huge grin on his face. "Yes it is. Now to ring her before the meeting later…"
Two hours later, with makeup reapplied and hair falling loosely down her back, Yugi stood outside the door of the hotel room the Tenmas had been using the previous day, with Jonouchi at her side. Within seconds of knocking the door swung open to reveal Richie Merced, who paused, then let out an irritable huff and stepped aside.
"Good luck." At his low whisper Yugi glanced at him, wondering what he knew that she did not.
Inside the room Crawford was at his most bombastic, an attitude that Yugi was beginning to understand was his public face, while talking to a pair of young men, one with pink hair, one with blue.
A hand slipped into hers and squeezed, causing the girl to look at her companion. Katsuya had an odd expression on his features as he watched the trio, one that spoke of mistrust, though she was not sure who it was aimed at.
"Ah, Yugi-girl!" Crawford smiled broadly at he. "Come, come. These are two of our biggest supporters."
Without releasing her hand, Katsuya slipped behind and to her right as she moved over to the group.
"This is Herr Zigfried von Schroeder," Crawford introduced the man, who took her free hand and kissed the back of it. "He's the CEO of Schroeder Corp, one of the biggest gaming companies in Germany."
"A pleasure to meet you, Herr Schroeder." Yugi bowed politely, trying to remember where she recognised the name. Meisa quickly fed her a name of a game they had played together, and she sent gratitude over the link before continuing, "I believe 'Wings of Fate' was one of your company's? I've been playing it recently. It's pretty good."
"I thank you, Mutou-san." She could not help but notice how he perked up at the compliment and was pleased at Meisa for remembering as she looked at the second young man and tried not to freeze at the heavy aura of power that was wrapped around him.
"And this is Mr. Azaes Dartz Vasillikos, CEO of Paradius Inc. A financial company."
The smile on the man's face was one of pleasure as he gave the shallowest of bows. "An honour, your highness, to finally meet you face to face."
"Nice to meet you, too." Meisa slipped into control, being careful to keep the illusion off so there was no outward sign of the exchange, and gave just as shallow a bow. His expression shifted slightly, becoming more amused if anything, confirming in her mind that he could sense her magic, just as she could sense his.
"A gift. For the Queen. Long may she reign." He slipped a ring out of his pocket and offered it to Meisa. It was a stunning golden ring. It was serpent-like in design and held in the snake's mouth was a green gem that, when the light hit it right, looked like it was glowing. The Pharaoh took it from him. Unknown to her, her eyes briefly flashed green, and she let out a soft breath as she felt her power uncoil, like a spring released from a tight vice, and grow in strength.
"Yuge?" Her eyes flicked up to Katsuya's and she paused for a moment, taking in the concern in his eyes, before handing him the ring, realising that it was probably dangerous as she felt her magic coil up again.
And that made Vasillikos dangerous. Though if he was a threat or a possible ally was yet to be seen.
"And who is this?" Vasillikos's eyes narrowed as her best friend pocketed the ring, on the side furthest away from her, recognition flickering across his face.
"Jonouchi Katsuya," the teen introduced himself, watching the blue-haired CEO with narrowed eyes, noting the oddly-coloured eyes and trying not to connect the green eye to the glowing one under the hood in the visions earlier. "Yugi's best friend and Duelist Kingdom semi-finalist."
"Ah, a Duelist of some calibre. If I remember, you nearly beat Seto Kaiba, did you not?" Katsuya straightened slightly at Vasillikos's words, surprised someone remembered. "A Duelist of your skills would be a valuable asset to Paradius's Dueling Team."
He fished a second item from his pocket and handed it to the teen giving him a distrusting look. The boy looked down at it and found it was a business card.
"Email that address, and I'll send you a contract that I really don't think you'll want to turn down." Vasillikos smirked at him, pleased to have gotten to meet with the Pharaoh and Hermos, even if Critias had already left the hotel. "I'm sure a young man like yourself can see a bright future on the professional Duel Circuit."
"Enough of your business, Vasillikos. I want to talk about mine. She is the Queen of Games, after all, not of finance." Schroeder snorted, taking Meisa's arm and herding her away to introduce her to his little brother, who looked starstruck.
"Think about my offer, Jonouchi-san." Vasillikos raised an eyebrow and watched the Pharaoh go. "I could make you rich beyond your wildest dreams."
Katsuya did not answer beyond a simple nod as his fingers rolled the ring in his pocket. Just from touching the ring he carried, he could see why the Pharaoh had hesitated to hand over the piece of jewellery, and he headed after Meisa, not wanting to be too far away from her.
He had started being able to sense Shadows after his very first Shadow Game, and his senses regarding magic had steadily grown stronger as he had been exposed to it more and more. The ring in his pocket, however, boosted it to the point that he could feel just how powerful those in the room with him were, making him wonder what else the jewellery would allow him to do.
Or whether he should even give it back to his friend.
Even before Vasillikos had given his friend the ring, Katsuya had not trusted the man. Something about him had made the teen dislike him on sight. Knowing that he was some form of insanely potent magical just confirmed that wariness for him.
He paused by the open window.
Glanced around the room.
Confirmed no one was looking.
And pitched the ring out of the window.
It tumbled through the air and splashed into the pond in the garden, where it sank to the bottom.
Hoping that Yugi and Meisa would not be too mad at him, Jonouchi quickly caught up to his friend, who was discussing possibly beta testing a game for Schroeder Corp, and joined the conversation, trying to ignore the way he kind of wanted to go after the ring and retrieve it.