Chapter Six- Transition Day
Zigfried signed the agreement and slid it toward Kaiba who signed it and then both men shook hands, making it official. "Kaiba Corp is now yours to do as you wish."
"Good. It will be part of my company, a foreign branch if you will. I'd be willing to let you run it."
"It's a tempting offer but I have already begun preparing for a new life elsewhere. I have recently become engaged and Mokuba is with my fiancée, both awaiting my arrival."
"I see. My congratulations on your engagement. I hope you and your fiancée are happy together."
"Oh, we will." Kaiba left his office for the last time, a smile on his lips. Oh, yes. We will be very happy together and I will be learning to live as a merman.
Kaiba spent the next day getting the last of his and Mokuba's affairs concluded. He collected their school records and, though he didn't know why, he put them in the lock box with all the other papers and obtained a key for it he could wear around his neck. He laid in bed that night, knowing it was his last night in that bed and house as well as with legs. I will be sleeping underwater tomorrow night with a tail.
Kaiba hung around his house, savoring each thing he did. He left the house, putting the keys under the doormat at four o' clock and began his walk to the pier, appreciating the action. He was halfway there when a blond woman fell into step beside him. She smiled at him. "The big day, huh?"
Kaiba nodded. "Finally. I haven't seen Mokuba since our talk in the coffee shop."
Mai whistled. "That had to be hard."
"I had a lot to do, the least of all was enjoying everything I won't be able to do underwater."
"I've been doing that today and when I was off-duty. Still, being a mermaid will be exciting at least for a while."
"Yes and Joey and I will be getting used to being married." The pair approached the boat ramp to see Joey in the water with Mokuba nearby. The blonde's grin was warm and excited. "Today's the day," he said. "Mai, I think a friend of mine would love to have you as a roommate. She's constantly saying she needs more mermaid friends."
Mai laughed at that. "If that's the case, I would be glad to room with her. What's her name?"
"Tea."
"Cute name." Mai descended the ramp, paused at the water's edge, and then slid into it. Her clothes vanished and her legs merged into a light pink and white tail with a light pink seashell bra covering her chest. She smiled at her tail as she slid fully into the water.
Kaiba walked down, enjoying the motion before sitting down, and pushing himself into the water. His clothes vanished save for the key around his neck and saw his legs combine into a blue and white tail with white fins and a blue stripe on each one. Kaiba slid fully into the water and into Joey's arms. Joey hugged him before kissing him, his tail intertwining with Kaiba's. Kaiba savored the kiss and the feel of Joey's tail against his own.
"Come on," Joey said when he pulled back. "The campsite's already been packed up and I'm ready to show you the city." He dove down and the others followed. He picked up a backpack, put it on, and then grabbed a bag before swimming off, moving slowly so Mai and Kaiba could see how the tail was supposed to work.
Joey got a surprise when Mai sped past him with a joyous laugh. Guess I don't have to teach her…or Seto, he thought as Kaiba swam up beside him, looking around and clearly aware that he was breathing underwater. The smile told Joey that he was happy to be in the sea.
Kaiba could hardly believe his eyes at the wide city before him. Joey had been right: It didn't look too different from the city he had left. He followed Joey as did Mai and Mokuba, all three of them looking around and Joey pointing out some shops and explaining their money system. Joey's tour guiding alerted others that they had new neighbors. Merpeople floated beside, above, or looking outside of shops as the group passed either smiling or waving at them.
"Tea!" Joey called to a brunette with a mint green and white tail. "Meet Mai. I thought maybe you could be roommates."
Tea smiled brightly as she came over. "Really, Joey? I'd love company." She offered her hand to Mai. "Let me show you my home and then we can go shopping."
"I love shopping," Mai said as they swam off.
Joey chuckled gently before turning to his new family. "So, I was thinking we could explore the city, meet my best friends, get some dinner, and then head home. What do you say?"
"You said you'd treat Seto and me to a proper meal."
"So I did. I guess you're hungry."
"How about just dinner and heading home?" Kaiba suggested. "It's been a long day and we're not going anywhere and definitely not for a year."
Joey felt a bit sheepish. "You're right. I was just so excited to have you both here. Maybe we could play some games with Yugi and Atem tomorrow."
"Games?" Kaiba asked, interested.
"Yeah. Yugi's grandpa runs a game shop and Yugi loves playing games as does Atem which explains why they're a couple."
"Seto likes games too but I guess you figured that out already."
"When he said the company made and sold games, yeah I did."
The mention of his company made Kaiba sad that he had to sell it but he pushed that feeling aside. It's done, he thought. It belongs to Zigfried now and I'm a merman now and married to Joey who really is a nice guy. He looked around the city as Joey led them to a nice restaurant.
Joey happily perused the menu, wondering which one he wanted to eat while Kaiba and Mokuba read theirs. Mokuba was a little familiar with the food as Joey had described them, but never ate them. Kaiba had no familiarity as he had just become a merman. "Joey, what would you recommend?" Kaiba asked.
"Well, I would think something close to what you used to eat, which was what?"
"Steak for me, but Mokuba prefers a hamburger."
"Ah." Joey swam over to Kaiba's side of the table and pointed to one entrée. "Then I recommend this one for you and this one for Mokuba." He pointed to another item.
"All right. Then, that's what we'll get."
"Great." Joey signaled for a waiter, having made his choice already.
"Ah," Mokuba sighed as they headed to their new home. "That was good and better than those rations."
"I'm not familiar with the rations, but my dinner was good too."
"The rations are usually for camping trips for a short period. If you go on a long one, you bring actual food with you."
"Makes sense." The water grew darker and then lighter. Kaiba looked to see streetlamps glowing with light. "How is that possible?"
Joey saw where Kaiba was looking and smiled. "The light comes from electric eels and sea stars. Trust me, it doesn't hurt them."
"Well, if you've been doing this for a long time, I can't complain."
Joey swam through the lit streets and into the housing section. He looked back to see the awestruck looks on his family's faces and smiled in enjoyment. I'm going to enjoy showing them around, getting them adjusted to life here, and having a romantic honeymoon with my husband. Oh, yeah. I am going to have a lot to do for a while.
