"You want me to what?" said Anzu.
"We need someone to represent the Kaiba Corp aspect of the tournament, since Hibari is supplying someone to represent the town we're using."
In some sick twist of fate, that person was Kyoko Sasegawa. Seriously, what were the odds his one-time crush would end up being the announcer?
"Why me?"
Kaiba twitched.
"You do realize the odds of Yugi reaching the finals, right?" he asked.
"Just because she hasn't been dueling long doesn't mean she can't get to the finals!" said Anzu. She shut up at the look Kaiba gave her.
"She beat the actual creator of a game, with a deck she hadn't personally made herself," deadpanned Kaiba. "The chances of her not being in the finals are so astronomical it's not even worth considering."
Anzu settled down at the backhanded compliment he gave her friend.
"So why me?"
"You and the rest of the cheerleading squad somehow managed to sneak onto Duelist Kingdom, despite the fact that only duelists were allowed. Which means that chances are you and the other idiot will try to get onto the transport for the finals to support Yugi and the mutt," said Kaiba flatly. "I'd rather have a known security risk I can control than one that shows up randomly."
More like he wasn't stupid enough to try and keep Elements away from their bonded Sky, especially considering the tournament was merely a cover for the White Dragon clan to get rid of some Triad flunkies and secure a secondary base for specialized training.
Having announcers meant that he could justify having a security team over Yugi's Elements so they didn't end up kidnapped and forced to activate their latent flames. That was one headache he'd like to avoid completely.
"I'll do it, but only if the terms are reasonable," said Anzu.
"Just so we're clear, you can pick whatever costume you want to wear for the tournament so long as it doesn't violate any decency laws. There are going to be underage duelists participating and I would prefer not to deal with the headache of the media coming after me later," deadpanned Seto. "Besides, this means Yugi will have someone she knows on stage when she helps me open up the tournament."
"Wait, what?" said Anzu.
Seto gave her a sly smirk.
"Yugi is becoming a known player among the serious duelists. I plan to use her to get some other girls interested in the game, thus increasing the customer base for our products. To that end I'm going to use her notoriety among the dueling circle to help me show off the duel disk as a promotional thing," he said.
In reality he was using it as an excuse to hide the fact he was giving Yugi a custom duel disk specifically for her...it would have a special flame tracker on it so that it would be much harder for her to slip off their radar, and Noah was going to be observing her every move in the tournament. He was sure that the king in the puzzle would agree to a few minor modifications to his other half so long as he understood it was for her protection.
Yugi's expression when she heard they were going to do a special promotional match to show off the first generation duel disks was hilarious. Especially when Seto made it clear he expected her to dress up, not just wander around in her school clothes as was her habit.
While she finally had a new wardrobe, she rarely had a proper opportunity to wear it.
"I can't duel in front of everyone!"
"It's no different than when you dueled Pegasus...that showing was live after all," said Seto flatly.
"WHAT?!"
Seto glared at her for that.
"I need you to help me promote the first generation duel disk so that we can hopefully encourage other females to join the dueling circuit. Right now the only decent female duelists for them to look up to are Mai Valentine...who is entirely unapproachable and has a chip on her shoulder because dueling is considered a mostly male dominated game and she's well into her twenties... and you."
That seemed to hit home.
"What about Rebecca?"
"Who?"
"Rebecca Hawkins. Her grandfather is the one who gave mine the Blue Eyes card."
Seto did a quick look up and wasn't impressed.
"Regional champion in America only, and from what I can tell she's only been dueling since the arenas became available for public use," he said. "I need someone who's easily approachable and can relate to the primary age groups of those who will show up. Besides, you managed to beat the creator of the actual game with a deck you didn't build yourself. That alone gives you more notoriety over any other female duelist currently on the circuit."
Yugi calmed down slightly at that. It was still weird hearing Kaiba compliment her.
Yugi tentatively raised her hand.
"Um...if we're doing an exhibition match, would cosplay be acceptable?"
She still wasn't used to the idea of dressing up, but cosplay was another matter entirely.
"Anything too racy, lewd, or overly ridiculous is a no-no," said Seto without hesitation. "It has to be functional, practical, and safe enough for children under ten to wear if they wanted to replicate it."
Yugi blinked at the prompt response.
"Why do I have the feeling you've had bad experiences with cosplay before?"
Seto thought back to the trauma Reborn could cause with his cosplay closet...including the horrifyingly memorable times he successfully fooled everyone into thinking he was a hot woman...and shuddered.
The worst part was that he was one of the rare, rare few who could tell it was him in three seconds flat, and thus had to suffer the trauma of being forced to play along whenever his Elements couldn't tell it was him. Like the time they hired a hooker, only for it to be Reborn.
Yugi had to stare at the almost literal rain cloud over Kaiba's head.
"You don't want to know, trust me," he said in a dead tone. "How someone who radiates pure alpha male energy can pull off a cross play is beyond me..."
Yugi sweatdropped in confusion. That sounded like some seriously deep-seated trauma...
"Would Dark Magician Girl be acceptable?" she asked.
"With a few minor alterations, it could work. Your favorite monster is the Dark Magician, right?" said Seto.
Yugi didn't know why she blushed...it wasn't like he had said anything weird. She nodded, unwilling to trust her voice.
"Some discreet bike shorts and a few adjustments to the skirt, and the costume would be acceptable," said Seto. "Though if we're going that route, I'll need to get a costume as well... However my biggest concern is going to be that."
Seto was staring directly at her Puzzle...or more specifically, at the slight haze caused by the Pharaoh inside it being present beside his other half.
"What's wrong with my Puzzle?"
"If we do this exhibition duel, then I don't want him to appear. At all."
Yami shifted with Yugi for a moment.
"Do you have a problem with me?"
"With you personally? No. The problem is that I want someone who is easily relatable to the female duelists, and you are the last thing that comes to mind," deadpanned Seto.
"What?" said Yami, baffled.
"You radiate the arrogance of a king, and Yugi's soft feminine aura is replaced by the harsher male one you give off. If I wanted unapproachable arrogance, I would have gone to Valentine," said Seto flatly. "This is not some crazy life or death match...this is just something to show off new technology. At most I want to play a few rounds on a set time limit with the winner being the one with the most life points by the end of fifteen minutes. There's no reason you need to get involved at all. Besides, the Puzzle doesn't really fit the aesthetic of Dark Magician Girl anyway."
Yami blinked. Twice. Yugi slipped back into control after that.
"So all I need to do is duel for fifteen minutes in a Dark Magician Girl costume?"
Seto nodded.
"I'm generating hype for the duel disk systems, not issuing a formal match. This is mostly for the commercial anyway, so if necessary we can make it sound like it ended in a draw," said Seto. "Also, your friend Anzu has agreed to act as the announcer for the finals, with the representative from Namimori opening the official tournament."
"Why is it going to be held in Namimori anyway? I would have thought you'd have it in Domino," said Yugi.
"I'll explain after the exhibition match. That way your mind will stay focused and not give a bad showing."
"I can't believe I dueled you in a Dark Magician Girl costume...is it really alright for me to keep it?" asked Yugi. She didn't even feel the need to pull down the skirt...it was slightly longer than the pictures, and there was a discreet set of bike shorts under it. Even her grandfather and mother could find no fault in it.
"Consider it thanks for humoring me and leaving that Pharaoh out of it for once," said Seto. "Coincidentally you can keep the duel disk as well... We had one specially modified for you."
Yugi hugged it to her modest chest.
"Wait. Specially modified?"
"It has a lot to do with why the tournament is being hosted in Namimori. I'll explain it once you have the Puzzle on, because that Pharaoh needs to hear this as well, if only so he knows what to look for."
Yugi took the Puzzle from Anzu, who she suspected had a strong crush on Yami for some reason.
Kaiba could sense Yami manifest next to her, though he doubted the male spirit was wearing the costume.
"So what is this about?" asked Yugi.
"Simply put, the clan that protected Mokuba from Pegasus when he was trying to take over my company called in a favor. It seems the Triads found something that they want and they're trying to establish a foothold in the town. Due to certain circumstances, the strongest fighter of the clan is unable to step in and get them to back down...so Kyouya called in the favor to see if there was anything I could do, like buy them off," started Seto.
Yugi gulped...this was big. She might be a civilian but even she knew that the Triads were the name of the Chinese underworld.
"What are they after?"
"You know that special energy that seems to really make shadow magic energized more than normal?" he asked. Yugi nodded. "Well the underworld believes it has first rights to anyone who awakens it, and Kyouya is a legacy along with a large number of people in Namimori. Someone found out and now they're trying to forcibly recruit people who might have otherwise been left alone."
Yami switched with Yugi. It was a good thing she had switched out of the costume.
"What are you planning?"
"I'm using the tournament to funnel the criminals into areas away from the cameras and scrutiny. If we do this right, then we can get rid of any foreigners trying to disturb the peace and secure an alliance with the clan that protects the territory. The agreement I made means that they retain control over the area in exchange for letting us establish a branch office and a discreet base where my people can get proper training in the power by people who know what they are doing rather than self-training. And since we're technically using civilians to help us discreetly deal with dangerous criminals, the clan has agreed to help police the duelists so that no one gets hurt."
Seto knew from experience that Kyouya's Disciplinary Committee was ruthlessly efficient. If it were anyone other than a medium sized Triad group with large resources, he could have handled the issue himself.
Yami looked satisfied by that answer.
"You said you had Yugi's duel disk specially designed. Why?"
"These groups will sense you, or at least the power you contain. While they might consider Kyouya an asset, if they figure out that you have an extremely rare type, they will stop at nothing to acquire you. There's also the fact that someone with a Millennium Item is coming for you specifically."
"What," said Yami. He did not sound happy.
"I was given forewarning by a Seer with an Item. She said her brother is gunning for you specifically and will likely send deranged thugs after you to take you down, or at least severely weaken you. His Item allows him to control them from a distance, which makes things complicated as that means it'll be harder to guard against him. What little information I do have is that he's from Egypt originally and that the clan he comes from worship the Nameless Pharaoh that had been trapped in the Puzzle for the past 5,000 years," said Seto.
Yami looked distinctly unhappy. Seto had a similar expression on his face.
"So you modified Yugi's duel disk because of this?"
"Chances are that you and your friends could get accidentally caught up in the secondary operation that Kyouya will be leading...especially since this Marik will likely hang to the shadows. The duel disk I gave Yugi has special tracking systems in it, and if you're willing I have other discreet units that you can wear so that we can keep an eye on your location at all times. If you come too close to our operation, then it'll warn us in time to keep you from being dragged into it. Though considering the lengths Pegasus went through, it's safe to say Marik might send people who won't hesitate to do bodily harm on his end," said Seto.
"Why are you helping us?" asked Yami.
"Because no one helped me, and the last thing I want to see is someone like myself being forcibly dragged into the underworld and forced into a role where they would be a mere puppet for the whims of people who don't care about them," said Seto, his expression dark.
It had taken far too long and far too much effort before anyone took him seriously. And it had taken even longer before changes were made that made being a mafia boss even remotely palatable for him. He had hated every minute of being Vongola Decimo, and most of his efforts to this point had been insuring that never happened twice.
Not that it would, since he was the head of a recognized group in his own right. But he knew how persistent the bastards in the Ninth generation could be. And how senile Timoteo was when it came to family.
The only reason they hadn't come for him before now was because they apparently believed him to be dead. Iemitsu hadn't known his wife was dead until after she was buried and his son relocated to an orphanage in another district...and by that time Seto had already changed his records. Sawada was such a common surname that slipping through the cracks was ridiculously easy.
At least Yugi was willing to wear the special earrings which had discreet tracking beacons in them. She always wanted to get her ears pierced, but had never had the courage to do it.