I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I know I wrote a merman story already, but I felt that Kaiba's dismissal of Joey wasn't quite right and decided to try again.
Chapter One- The Mission
Joey shivered as he surfaced. Why does The Transition have to happen in winter and why am I the one to find those who are supposed to be merpeople? He swam across the icy surface toward a ramp where humans launched their boats into the water. He climbed up the ramp, using the low banister to pull himself away from the water. Once he was clear of the water, his green and white tail split into legs and an outfit appropriate to the weather appeared: Blue jeans, a fleece-lined sweatshirt, a heavily-lined coat with gloves and a hat in the inside pocket, socks, and winter boots.
Joey sighed in relief at the warm clothes covering his body as he climbed to his feet and put on the gloves and hat. He pulled the collar of his coat up as he walked across the deserted pier and into the town where humans bustled along the sidewalk or drove past in cars. Joey directed his feet into a coffee shop, bought a hot chocolate with money from a wallet in his pocket, and sat at a table that gave him a good view of the people outside.
I know why I was chosen, he thought, carefully sipping his drink. I was told that I'm old enough to wed and that the one who is my match is in this city. Truthfully, Joey was thrilled that the human he would wed was in the city. He wondered if it was a woman or a man, what he or she looked like, and what they were like. I hope he or she doesn't have much of a family as he or she would have to leave them. That'd be rough though they could be human and visit…eventually.
He gazed at the passersby. Those who would become merpeople would send a tingle through Joey as soon as he saw them and their image would become locked in his mind; if it was his mate, his heart would pound in addition to the tingle. Once I find someone, I need to approach them and inform them of their change. I will impress upon them that they must get their affairs settled before touching seawater otherwise they would have to wait a year before they could be human to conclude their business. A human meant to transition would be able to touch seawater before a merperson sees them on land. So, once a destined human is seen by me today, they can't touch seawater before they're ready. I'll need to make that clear too. They may not believe me but I can prove it by taking them to a pet store where they will find that they can talk to water creatures. That ability is all that is needed to convince them but I will change in front of them to really prove it.
The door opened and a tingle went through him. His eyes went to the door to see a pretty blond teenage girl wearing a uniform drift behind the counter and into a door. Ah, she works here. Perfect. Hmm, she's not my mate. Too bad; she's beautiful. Joey waited until she was on duty and not busy before he sidled over to the counter and sat on one of the stools.
"What can I get for you, hun?" she asked with a charming smile. Joey saw her name tag said, "Mai."
"I'd settle for being friends. I'm Joey." He held out his hand.
Mai took the hand. "You're a forward one, aren't you?"
"Actually, I like making friends quickly. So, Mai, tell me about yourself."
Mai and Joey talked in between busy streaks and Joey liked what he learned. He was careful to not say he was a merman and when Mai asked Joey to hang out with her the next day, he immediately accepted and they planned to have lunch at one of Mai's favorite cafes. Joey smiled as he left. He had found a teen who would become a mermaid! My first day of searching and I already found someone. Not bad. I thought I'd be searching for days. He headed back to the pier, deciding to take his time looking to locate the café and pet store. He had a date with Mai and knew without a doubt that the pet store would be on their list of places to go. I plan to reveal her destiny to her over lunch and, of course, I'll need to prove it.
Joey was soon racing down the ramp to head home. He leaped and splashed into the water, his clothes vanishing and his legs becoming a tail again. He kicked his tail in quick bursts before heading off to his city. He loved his home as it had many of the same stores humans did. Of course there were no pet stores or clothing stores which made sense, but there were a lot of accessory stores. It was in one of those stores- one selling buckles and cuffs- that he found his friend, Atem, working. He smiled as Joey swam in. "Joey. I thought I wouldn't see you today."
"Yeah, well, I found someone who will be a mermaid and we're gonna hang out tomorrow. That's when I'll tell her everything."
"One on your first day? That's impressive. Most spend days looking before they find one."
"That one being their mate. Some of those who search only look for their intended and that's it."
"That's true. So, I'm guessing this girl isn't your intended."
"How can ya tell?"
"If she was, you would be swimming about ceaselessly. That is a sign when one finds their match. I did that when I found Yugi to be my mate."
Joey grinned at the memory. Not every merperson is matched to a human. Most found their match among the merpeople. The urge to find his or her match surfaces when one turns sixteen. Joey, Yugi, and Atem all grew up together. Joey and Yugi got their urges that fizzled out after a month of getting the urge, but when Atem recently turned sixteen, his urge drew him to Yugi whose urge re-surfaced and he was drawn to Atem. Neither said anything; instead they hugged and kissed, their tails intertwined. Joey knew he would find the human he would wed and when he or she became a merperson, they would hug, kiss, and intertwine tails as Yugi and Atem did. I will find my match, even if it takes weeks or years.
Kaiba growled as he looked at the stocks website. This is not good, he thought. Not good at all. He heard a knock. "Come in," he said and he looked up to see his little brother, Mokuba, enter.
"Seto? What's wrong?" he asked, taking notice of his brother's bearing.
"The stocks are still falling," Kaiba said irritably.
Mokuba frowned and nodded. Yeah, that is a concern. "Will the project you're working on bring them up?"
"No. The project was stolen."
"What!?"
The head of the project was lured away by our top rival and he took the project with him."
"That's awful."
Kaiba thudded a fist on the desk in anger. "We only hire the best people to work for us and yet our rival lures them away with incentives we can't give them. We still have employees and customers loyal to us, but if our stocks keep falling…" Kaiba sighed. "I may have to sell the company."
"Sell it? But, what would we do if you do that?"
"Perhaps work for the one who buys it or maybe for our rival."
"Oh."
Kaiba managed a small smile. "But maybe we'll rise again and it won't be a concern." He stood and gathered his work. "Let's head home, little brother."
"Okay, Seto." Mokuba followed behind his brother, looking carefree but inwardly he was worried, though not as much as his brother. He had grown comfortable with the level of luxury he enjoyed. The idea of losing that scared him and he couldn't imagine living in a smaller house or an apartment. But if we can't keep stocks from falling, we may have to.
Both brothers climbed into the limo and Kaiba stared out the window as the vehicle drove to their home. Kaiba ran his recent run of bad luck through his mind: The stolen products, the loss of employees, and the falling stocks. All could be blamed on the rival company's president, Zigfried.
He's working to cause the collapse of my company…and he's succeeding. If I don't do something soon, the stocks will fail and I'll be forced to file for bankruptcy and sell the remains of the company and Mokuba and I will be homeless until I can get a job. He suppressed a moan. The situation seemed hopeless, but he wasn't going to give up without a fight.
