He really should have expected it...two seconds after meeting Chrome, she became best friends with the girl. Fortunately the quiet Mist was already bonded to him, or he might have been worried.
Mukuro was definitely sulking, and it was amusing as hell...even if the stare down he gave the possessing spirit inside Yugi's pendant was almost as amusing.
To be fair, his method of possessing Chrome was almost identical to the way this 'Yami' took over Yugi, except he wasn't quite good enough to separate himself from the Puzzle and he couldn't quite perform a full possession like Mukuro could. After all, whenever Mukuro manifested himself in his other half, he changed everything...including her gender.
Seto...foresaw many headaches heading his way. On the plus side, this mean Yugi now had a female she could talk to openly, and Yami had someone else to bother besides their shared Elements and Seto.
Though not even he could have predicted the outcome of introducing Yugi to Chrome.
With the girls...
Chrome was nodding in sympathy as Yugi mentioned her complaints about still being treated like a child despite being a teenager. The only time people took her seriously was when Yami was in possession of their shared body.
"Have you considered altering your wardrobe? No one took Bossu seriously until he started altering a few things at the advice of his mentor," said Chrome.
Yugi winced.
"It took us a month solid before the teachers stopped complaining over the fact I was wearing the boy's uniform because it was the only one they had in my size."
"When was the last time you had your measurements taken?" asked Chrome.
"At least a year?" said Yugi. "I mean the last time was when the school asked for them so they could send me my uniform."
Chrome gave her a knowing look.
"Does the uniform feel tighter whenever Yami takes over, or about the same?"
"Actually, it has been feeling a bit tighter than it used to since he showed up."
"I thought so. When Mukuro-sama started taking over my body, it caused it to undergo a few overdue growth spurts to compensate. You might be wearing the wrong sizes."
Seto, from dint of long experience, spoke up around that time.
"I could care less if you use my card so long as you keep me out of it...particularly any 'fun' you plan to have with your other half," he called out.
Chrome smiled at him beatifically at him, and he snorted at the fake innocent look.
"Kufufufu...my Chrome is quite the devious one," said Mukuro.
"Just remember, Muto is more like my old self so don't go crazy," said Seto.
"Understood, Bossu," said Chrome dutifully.
Translation: Yugi was more like his former self as Tsunayoshi before Reborn's training won out and he started wearing the high end clothing out of habit. Before that point Tsuna had preferred the main brand stores that sold at a more moderate price compared to the tailored clothing he eventually filled his closet with.
Even now Seto preferred to buy his own daily wear, and only wore tailored outfits from established craftsmen whenever he needed to make a strong impression beyond "arrogant dragon".
A few days later...
Yugi had to admit, she was thoroughly enjoying herself. The last time she did a girl's day with Anzu, she had allowed herself to be swept around by her friend rather than voice her opinion. She didn't really do girly girl like Anzu, and she preferred to stay inside and play games over going out often.
Chrome was much easier to talk to, and just as quiet as Yugi was. She understood, and avoided the louder, more crowded areas for the quieter, more sedate stores. While the idea of using Kaiba's credit card bothered her a bit, it was nice to update her wardrobe for the first time in three years.
Much as Chrome had guessed, the appearance of Yami had caused her to undergo a minor growth spurts...one Chrome assured her was likely the first of several, as her body adjusted to having an older spirit inhabiting her body and taking control. While she was unlikely to ever pass a C-cup, she was perfectly okay with it.
"Why is Kaiba helping me like this?"
Chrome gave her a small smile.
"While I can't go into full details due to certain restrictions, the simple fact is that he empathizes with your situation...and he still feels guilty for all the trouble he put your family through over a card," said Chrome.
"He empathizes with me?" said Yugi surprised.
"He was forced to go from a middle class family into a pseudo nobility due to his father, and the transition was extremely difficult and rough. His home tutor would not tolerate disobedience and made it clear he would not allow Bossu to go back into his old life, regardless of how much he hated the fact he was now the heir. To make matters more difficult, one of his older cousins who was assumed to inherit was beyond angry that Bossu was picked over him simply because of the fact he was a legitimate heir...despite the fact that the cousin had the right mentality and already had the training needed to lead the family."
"So what happened?" asked Yugi, morbidly curious.
"In the end he gained the position his cousin had coveted, but the simple fact of the matter was he had been picked just to act as a puppet leader," said Chrome sadly. "If not for his friends, he never would have managed to stand on his own two feet."
Yugi was silent...she couldn't imagine the pressure Kaiba had been under.
"He was a lot like you once," said Chrome.
"He was?"
"He was kind and gentle, and despite being harassed he never stopped helping others. But after all that he went through, he's had to hide that kindness behind the dragon persona he's created. It's the only way he can protect the people precious to him, because they won't hesitate to use someone like me against him to further their own ends."
"I...I had no idea," said Yugi.
"That's why he's helping you now. He sees himself in you and he doesn't want you to suffer that sort of thing without support."
Yugi would keep this in mind later when she saw Kaiba again.
Seto was in Namimori for the first time in years. The first thing he did was head to a flower shop. Despite the fact he hadn't been here in over ten years, he still knew where everything was.
The shop clerk was nice...perhaps a bit too nice but he ignored it.
Mokuba would meet him up later at the sushi restaurant...Seto had checked and a certain Rain Inactive had recently been benched due to his arm being broken from over practice.
He calmly walked through the quiet graveyard, flowers in hand. He vaguely registered the presence of a reporter who had recognized him and was openly curious why he was in town, hoping to get a scoop.
The second they realized he was entering the graveyard, they kept a respectful distance away. He would deal with them later.
"Hi mama...sorry it's been so long since I've been here, but it's been tough to find a chance to pay a proper visit..." said Seto.
Tears he didn't realize were present at first fell onto his cheeks, but he didn't try to hide them. He told her how he was doing, bringing her up to date on all the work he was doing to make sure he stayed free from the Vongola's nonsense.
As he talked to her, he made sure to do basic maintenance on the family gravestone. It had clearly been a while since anyone bothered to do so.
He looked at the time, and decided to leave.
He noticed the reporter and felt some small measure of vindictive amusement that they had to stick around for four long hours for him to leave.
"May I ask who's buried here?"
"My mother," said Seto.
The expression in his eyes said that if any information leaked about which grave it was, he would end them. The reporter backed off, mostly because there wasn't much of a story to be had about the infamous head of Kaiba corp paying proper respects to his dead mother. Sure, it might garner some interest considering very little was known after he was adopted and made heir, but outside of that it wouldn't be the big story they were hoping for.
He walked to TakeSushi, enjoying the exercise. He hated being stuck behind a desk all day.
Sure enough, he recognized the expression in Takeshi's eyes. It seemed his team had pressured him to do all the work like the first time, and had left him behind when his body gave out.
Seto carefully hid a smirk. The only real issue was likely to be Tsuyoshi, Takeshi's father.
"So, I hear that you're the person to ask regarding testing the limits when it comes to baseball."
Seto was careful about how he played this. Tsuyoshi clearly sensed that the teen had ulterior motives, but so far nothing sounded off to him.
"Let me get this straight...your company developed an actual virtual reality system, but you want to test the limits on it before you start the process of making it available to more serious testers?" said Takeshi.
"There is a game developed for it, but it's a bit too specialized to make it very popular and there were some issues with the programming. However a baseball game is simple enough to add to the systems and would get it out there for us to start making a profit. The only catch is that most of my testers aren't exactly athletic types. They wouldn't know how to put the programs through the paces and show if there's any issue with it."
"This isn't like..." started Takeshi.
Seto's expression went flat.
"It's nothing like Sword Art Online, I assure you. There are no secondary power generators in the pods, and if the power does cut out then the player is pulled automatically. I'd rather deal with bitching over lost progress in a game over a lawsuit from having a player trapped inside," said Seto bluntly.
He could tell that he almost had him.
"What happened to the game you originally had loaded onto the system?" asked Takeshi.
"My former board of directors hired a hacker to alter the programming in an attempt to trap me inside. Which is the main reason we're scrapping the original game designed and going for something easier to program."
That, and the original game was ridiculously complicated and required a dueling deck to properly enjoy it.
"What would I have to do?" asked Takeshi.
"I just need someone who can give the controls a full work out, and I plan to have the player on a team with some of the more well known greats from all over the world...like Babe Ruth."
Now he had him, Takeshi was openly interested.
"This machine...it's in Domino, isn't it?" asked Tsuyoshi.
"The lab where it's being developed is on the outskirts of town for security reasons," said Seto. "But yes, since our main headquarters is in Domino."
"What sort of benefits would my Takeshi get from agreeing to act as a tester?" asked Tsuyoshi seriously. He could tell his son was definitely interested, as it let him continue with his love of baseball without having to deal with the very sort of people who put him in this predicament in the first place.
"Considering the requirements, he'll be given a small apartment complete with full room and board for the duration of his contract. In addition, since this is a new field we're studying he'll be given full medical and dental. Due to his age we'll also pay for tutoring if necessary, as we prefer not to have our underage testers lose out on their education because they took their part time job too seriously," said Seto.
Tsuyoshi was rather pleased to hear that.
When Takeshi left the room, Seto made a point to check for any outsiders who might be listening in.
"Do you know of the White Dragon clan?" he asked quietly.
Tsuyoshi tensed.
"I've heard about it. Supposedly the face of the group is a cover for the real leader," said Tsuyoshi.
He really tensed when Seto let a small part of his Sky flames out.
"Officially we're a sanctuary group for flame actives who don't want to take part in active criminal activity like most. Unofficially it's my way of making sure I don't get dragged into underworld politics due to my flame type," said Seto calmly.
Tsuyoshi said nothing, but kept his hand on his knife.
"If anything happens and your son goes active, then I'm willing to offer him sanctuary so none of the established groups try to force him into anything," said Seto.
Tsuyoshi thought back to what he had heard of the White Dragon clan. It was a relatively young clan, one that hadn't really established itself as a mover or player among other new groups. One of the biggest things about it was that it contained flame actives...and that the one leading it was a bonded Lightning.
So far the only thing certain was that it was a good place for recent actives to go for information without being pressured into an established criminal group. He'd heard rumors that it had recently acquired Trident Shamal, a known mafioso.
For what purpose was unknown, but so far the known hit man hadn't gone on any shady assignments for the group.
"What's in it for you?" asked Tsuyoshi.
"If things work out, I get a decent Rain," said Seto. "If not, then at least I know the VR pod works and can handle proper stress."
That seemed to relax the ex-hit man slightly.
(Tsuyoshi didn't know whether to be relieved or resigned when his son bonded to Seto Kaiba two months later. On the plus side, he knew his son's Sky was more than capable of taking care of his Takeshi...on the other, it meant his son would forever be stuck in the world he left.)