'What do you think, Anesan?'
The Spirit of the Puzzle frowned at the hesitation in her twin's tone and tilted her head as she considered her twin's outfit. The sleeveless, knee-length black dress that was held in at the waist with a wide purple belt would not have been her first choice for an outfit; in fact, she was fully aware that it was not Imoto's either, but it was a tidy outfit that did look good on her. Since the girl wanted to make a good impression on the older woman, the dress was a better option than their normal casual wear.
Still, she could see that her twin was uncomfortable, and she could not tell why. Then a thought occurred to her. The last time they had worn a dress had been the night they had been kidnapped by Hirutani's gang for standing up to their boss and ended up in hospital. She knew that her twin's memories of that night were fragmented because of the injuries she had taken, but there were enough available that flashbacks were an issue. It was not unreasonable that the nervousness would be related to that.
'It's cute…' The Pharaoh trailed off and headed for the wardrobe. She could not interact directly with objects in the living world when she was not possessing her twin, but she was at least capable of pointing things out to Imoto ever since the girl had started seeing her when she walked around as a ghost.
'There's a but there.' The mental voice of the mortal half of their shared soul wavered as she followed the spectral half, wondering what the spirit was going to suggest.
'If you go into this meeting uncomfortable, then Katsuya's mother might try to take advantage of it,' the dark Yugi told the light one as she scanned the wardrobe for the item of clothing she was looking for, 'but might I suggest you try these, underneath that dress?'
When the older twin's fingers brushed through an item of clothing, the younger pulled down a pair of purple leggings with subtle gold swirls in them. Yugi paused to consider them, then nodded and slipped them on. Returning to the mirror attached to the back of her bedroom door, the teen did a twirl, trying to get a good look, and causing the skirt to lift slightly as she spun, and then smiled, seeming more satisfied with the clothes now her legs were fully covered.
'You know, that would look good with the gold bangles that Jii-san bought you for your birthday,' the spirit offered when her twin's smile faltered and her fingers ran over the scars around her wrists caused by the rope burns from the kidnapping. The scars were normally covered by long-sleeve tops or jackets, not on display like they were now, and Yugi paused to consider her twin's suggestion, then nodded again and slipped across the room to the wooden jewellery box that her grandfather had given her. Opening it revealed the cartouche that Anzu had given Oneesan, a golden ankh pendant that she had not yet worn out because the one time she had tried to wear it, it had gotten tangled in the rope of the Puzzle, and a pair of bangles made up from gold squares on elastic that had been engraved with Egyptian hieroglyphs and other symbols.
She slipped them on and held her wrists up to the light coming through the window, grinning brightly at both the glint that the sunlight gave the golden tiles and the fact that they covered the burns, before turning to look at the Spirit of the Puzzle and pausing when she saw that the ghost was kind of staring. 'Anesan?'
The Pharaoh paused and sighed, then got to her feet. 'It's nothing, Imoto. I just… there was a moment when I thought I saw…'
The girl stepped over to the ghost and wrapped her arms around her in a hug, still partly startled that she could physically touch her twin, but able to sense that the other soul needed it. 'Talk to me?'
'Have you considered getting your ears pierced?' the Pharaoh asked as she hugged the girl back, kind of relieved to have something in this world that she could touch. When confusion pulsed over the bond from her twin, she followed it up with, 'I had a mental flash of something. Gold earrings and jewelled collars and bangles shimmering in bright sunlight.'
The Puzzle bearer backed up, left hand going to the matching ear as she considered her twin's words. 'Could it be a memory?'
Before the Spirit of the Puzzle could answer, the doorbell rang and the Pharaoh retreated into her Item. Yugi took a deep breath and headed for the front door, kind of dreading the upcoming meeting. She reached the living room in time to hear her grandfather talking to a pair of adults and heading up the stairs. Katsuya had gone very still, worrying her as she entered the room.
"Katsuya?" Yugi's worried tone brought the scowl that had been aimed towards the stairs down on her. "What's wrong?"
"She brought the damn boyfriend." The other Duelist's hiss told Yugi that this was not a good thing.
"What do we need to know?" The sudden deeper tone and red eyes told him that it was the Spirit of the Puzzle in control, suggesting the Yugis were nervous about this meeting, too.
"The boyfriend doesn't like me." The blonde huffed, shifting between Oneesan and the door downstairs. "He's a salaryman for some big corporation in Tokyo."
Yugi sighed as she took control again, trying to get the Pharaoh to rest. She knew the term. Salarymen lived for their jobs, and that was it. They had a pretty decent, stable income, but no real free time. Domino City had its fair share of them. With Kaiba Corp's Head Office in the city it was impossible to avoid them. Not that they were bad people, but they tended to look down on those who did not seek to live the same way.
"Try and be polite?" Her hopeful tone made her friend sigh and run a hand through his hair. "You don't have to live with the guy."
"You being rude about me already, Jonouchi?" At the sound of the slightly sharp, male voice, Yugi sat up a little straighter and turned to look. A rather smartly dressed, ill-amused looking man who looked like he would be more comfortable in an office than in their living room stepped though the door.
She stood up carefully and bowed politely. "Welcome to our home."
"Thank you for having us, Mutou-san." Yugi recognized the voice before she saw the speaker. Kawai, Jonouchi's birth mother, and her boyfriend were clearly taking this very seriously as they both bowed back to her. "This is my fiancé, Takahara Hoshi."
"A pleasure to meet you." Yugi smiled, trying not to remember that the last time she had met this woman, she had accused her of blackmailing Jou with the money. "I hope to get this sorted with as little fuss as possible."
"Of course," Kawai agreed, her tone a little weary as she stepped aside to let Shizuka past. The girl rushed past her mother and Yugi both to hug her Oniisan tightly. Jou staggered slightly, then wrapped his little sister in a big hug and settled on the sofa with his sister on his lap. Yugi sat next to them in the middle seat with Sugoroku gesturing to the two adults to take a seat before taking up the last seat next to her.
"Mutou-san..." The hesitation in the mother's voice made Yugi aware that the woman was uncomfortable as she sat in the armchair opposite her boyfriend. Suddenly the realization hit her that the Mutous looked like a unified front. With Katsuya on one side of her, Shizuka in his arms, and her Jii-san sat comfortably on her other side, it was clear that they would support her decisions in this meeting and Shizuka would probably join them, whereas the adults who had come to ask for her money were now split up, meaning that they could not conspire in whispers to each other.
It probably looked like a power play to the two newcomers, though it had been entirely accidental.
"The cheque from Industrial Illusions cleared in my bank account on Wednesday," Yugi said calmly but kindly, "which means I now have access to the money to pay for Shizuka's operation."
"If you would just sign it over..." Katsuya's mother tried.
"That's what we're here to talk about." Yugi nodded. "But I didn't want to just sign it over…"
"You want to pay yourself?" Takahara cut her off. "Don't you trust us?"
That was a loaded question and Yugi was not about to rise to it, especially when he had been rude about asking it. "Takahara-san, I help organize the finances of the Kame Game Shop. I am aware how easy it is for vital money to disappear into an unexpected bill or surprise damages. I would much rather either pay it directly to the hospital or sign it into an account that isn't linked to any bills so every last yen can go to Shizuka's operation and medication."
"If you would rather we pay the hospital we can travel down to Tokyo at any point as long as we have a little warning on when it needs to be paid by." Sugoroku backed his granddaughter up. "You have a quote for the operation, but we don't know how much it's going to come to in total with hospital stay and medication. If you would rather have the money to hand yourselves, then if you provide an account for it to go into, we can get the money transferred by the bank."
"We came prepared with the account details for you." Kawai sighed, acknowledging that the Mutous had a point as she handed Yugi an envelope which contained the details she required. "How long would it take to transfer? We need the money before Shizuka's next specialist visit."
"I'll go to the bank tomorrow after school and get the transfer started," the Queen of Games promised the two adults. "Hopefully it should only take a couple of days, but it might take up to five."
"Can't you just write a check? How do we know you're going to transfer it all?" Takahara huffed.
"My bank account doesn't have a check book attached to it. They won't put them on student accounts at the bank I'm with. Regarding my transferring the full amount, you two might not know me, but I made a promise to someone very important to me. I won that money for his Imoto-chan's operation, and I won't back out of that agreement. I promise." Yugi was glad that her family had already discussed this before they had even contacted Kawai, and she tried to remain calm for her friend's sake.
"And what are you to Jonouchi, that you'd give up that much money?" Jou's birth mother demanded. "Did he get you pregnant or something?"
When Yugi's mouth fell open at the question, Katsuya rested his hand on hers, trying to reassure her.
"I can answer this one, Kawai-san." The snap in Jii-san's tone told Yugi her grandfather was furious, which was rather unusual for him but kind of satisfying to her, despite the fact she knew she should not take the jab personally. "But first I need an answer from you. Do you have any sort of custody over Katsuya?"
"No, I had to give it up to get Shizuka, why?" The woman sounded confused. Jou opened his mouth to ask something but Yugi twisted her hand slightly and intertwined her fingers with his, cutting him off.
Takahara got it, though, and sounded surprised as he asked, "You have no male heir, do you?"
Dr. Mutou shook his head. "Yugi has a wonderful head for figures and how the shop is run and will run the shop excellently when I am gone, but you know as well as I do, Takahara-san, that there are a considerable amount of businesses who will not take a young heiress seriously, no matter how competent she is."
Yugi could sense how irritated Oneesan was on her behalf about that. 'That hasn't really changed since your time, Anesan. Which one of us pretended to be their brother to make the guards listen to them?'
'Both of us, technically.' The Pharaoh's response made her have to turn a laugh into a cough.
Takahara's tone was full business though, as he asked, "Would Jonouchi be heir to the Kame Game Shop or...?"
"I am currently applying for Kangoken," Sugoroku explained, his tone still sharp. "I can't get Shinken because of my age, but I want to give him somewhere safe he can stay. Katsuya has already proved that he can learn the business and that he is loyal to the Mutou family. So should something happen to me, I know I can trust him to assist Yugi in any business matters."
"If you can convince his father, I have no objections to the adoption." Kawai's voice was soft and thoughtful as she sat back to consider his words. "I can't exactly say no under the circumstances, not when you're paying for Shizuka's operation. You basically have custody already anyway. He lives with you, spends most of his time here when he's not in school, and under your tutelage he's got out of the gangs, got his grades up and gotten a part-time job. You've done a much better job than his father ever did. If you want Kangoken for him in exchange for the money for Shizuka, you can have it as far as I'm concerned."
Yugi bit her lower lip and tried not to wince as Jou's hand clenched tightly, crushing her fingers slightly as the woman's words infuriated her friend.
"You seriously gave up all custody of me to Otosan? Even though the courts almost always side with the Okasan?" Katsuya's tone was flatter than Yugi had ever heard it. "And now you're talking like you're selling me? Did you ever want me?"
"I did, but I had the choice of either taking you with me and getting into a messy and costly divorce and possibly not having enough for Shizuka, or getting a quick, easy divorce where I could get Shizuka away from that, that man, and give up all custody of you. I picked the fastest option. With how similar you were to your father, I thought you would be okay." Kawai's words angered her friend further, and Yugi let out a quiet hiss as his grip tightened further.
Jou flinched at the sound and let go, but Sugoroku covered for him by distracting the other two adults. "I would like Shizuka to be able to visit her Oniisan once she is healed from her operation and able to travel, and vice versa. It's only fair considering how much they care about each other."
"I don't want Shizuka to have to travel too often with how fragile her health is. It might not be wise." Kawai shook her head. "I really would rather just get this settled and carry on the way we are."
Yugi could not explain how she knew Katsuya was about to react, but she felt fire and darkness shift and just knew she had to cut him off. Luckily the fact both Kawai and Takahara were focused on Jii-san allowed Yugi to grasp Jou's hand and stop a reaction before it could happen.
'Imoto. Might I take control?' Oneesan's tone was tense. 'She's going to keep baiting him if we don't interfere. I'm not sure if it's deliberate or not, but she needs to stop.'
Yugi just stepped aside and allowed her older twin to take control. Immediately the air in the room went a little colder and Katsuya's gaze turned down towards his best friend. The blonde highlights informed him that the spirit of the Puzzle had come out to play, though somehow his birth mother and her boyfriend had not noticed.
Before she could say anything though, Shizuka had burst out of her brother's arms and exploded to her feet. "Okasan, he is my Oniisan. He has done anything and everything he could to try to help me. The only thing wrong with my health is my eyes, and that's being fixed soon! Katsuya is one of the most important people in my life, and I am NOT giving him up just because you don't like that he looks like Otosan. That's not fair!"
"Shizuka!" Her mother snapped out, trying to get her to sit back down; however, the auburn haired teen was not having any of it.
"No, Okasan. I know you didn't have any rights to see him, but I did, and you tried to keep us apart," the thirteen year old bit out. "I don't want…"
"Kawai Shizuka. Sit. Down," her mother hissed out, furious. "This is not something to be discussed in front of the Mutous!"
"Why not? They're taking me in," Katsuya pointed out, his tone almost as cold as Kaiba's had been when he had first arrived on Duelist Kingdom. "They're my family, just like Shizuka is."
The deliberate denial of his mother as family was not lost on Kawai and her fiancé, the latter of whom considered the scene before them, then got to his feet. "Can we have a moment? To calm down?"
"Go ahead." Sugoroku nodded. "We'll head into the kitchen."
As the two teens that lived there started towards the kitchen, Shizuka moved to follow them. Her mother, still glaring at the daughter who was acting extremely disobedient, went to grab the girl's arm, but Oneesan planted herself in the way. "I would not recommend you do that."
"She is my daughter," Kawai hissed out, trying to out stare Oneesan.
The Spirit of the Puzzle did not back down. "And Katsuya is your son by blood. They are siblings. Is it really so painful to acknowledge that? Can't you give them ten minutes?"
Kawai's hand rose slightly, like she was going to slap the girl in front of her, then it dropped. "Fine. She can go with him."
The Pharaoh nodded and followed her family through to the kitchen, where Shizuka was trembling as she clung to her older brother and Katsuya was hugging her tightly. Ojiisan hugged Oneesan, who relaxed into the hug and let Yugi back out.
The Duelist hugged her grandfather back, aware that Oneesan probably had not made the situation any better, then turned to start making tea for everyone, including the pair quietly discussing things in the living room.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted." Shizuka's shoulders drooped as she pulled away from her older brother. "That wasn't proper of me."
"It's alright, Kawai…"
"Shizuka," Shizuka cut off Sugoroku. "If you're Katsuya's family, you're mine too. So Shizuka."
"Shizuka is a pretty name." The elderly archaeologist nodded. "And it's okay that you shouted. You're allowed to get angry, as long as you remember that once you're done being angry, you have to rebuild the bridges you burned."
"What if the other side doesn't want to build bridges with you?" Katsuya asked, his hands balled into fists and trembling, causing the old gamer to come and give him a hug next.
"Then we find alternate routes," Yugi suggested as she added cream and honey to the black tea in the mug she was working on and handed it to Shizuka, hoping the sugar would help settle her. "Just because she doesn't want you travelling to see Katsuya, doesn't mean you couldn't visit Domino for example."
"You're feeling wicked." Katsuya blinked at her, surprised by the suggestion of malicious compliance.
"I don't like that she's treating you like this," Yugi admitted slowly, pouring the rest of the tea and making it to everyone else's specifications before pausing, wondering how Kawai and Takahara would like their drinks. When Shizuka took over, well aware of her family's tea preferences, she stepped back and unholstered her deck from the leather pouch by the door, starting to shuffle it to ease her mind. "I was hoping that some of it was stress because of the illness, but…"
"She's made it clear I'm not part of her life," Katsuya hissed out, feeling deflated and upset, "and she doesn't want me to be."
Shizuka hugged her brother again, not really wanting to be parted from him, and Yugi took it as a hint to take the tea in to the other two. She found that in the time it had taken her to pour and prep the tea, they were sat down again, and though Kawai glared at her when she first entered, it was Takahara who spoke first.
"Thank you, Mutou-chan." The business man smiled at her as he took the mug he was offered. "I apologize, your family has been caught up in some really messy business I've been pushing for Sakura to settle for a while."
"If I can ask," Yugi braved as she handed the other mug to Jou's mother, expecting to get slapped for the audacity but wanting the answer to her question, "Why don't you like Katsuya? What did he do? Really?"
The woman stared at her for a moment, her eyes widening as if no one had ever dared to ask her that before, then she sat back into her chair and stared into her tea as if thinking about something that she did not like. "You said you knew about the gangs when you came over before Duelist Kingdom?"
"Uh huh," she agreed, sitting on the arm of the sofa to listen, "and I've met his father, briefly."
Kawai winced, "Jonouchi Katsuya has always been more like his father than any son has comfortably got any right to be. His father… well…"
"Throws bottles at children," Yugi sighed. "I know, but why is that Katsuya's fault?"
"It's… not," the teen's mother admitted, sounding like she did not like admitting it. "But when I wanted to divorce Jonouchi Goro because he was drinking the medication money, he basically forced my hand. Either I could give up Katsuya and he would not chase me for an expensive divorce, or I could take him with me, he'd chase us with lawyers, and because I had all the children, who would be financially responsible for his debts if he couldn't pay, due to them being on the Koseki, I would be on the hook for all his debts, meaning I might not be able to pay for Shizuka's medication."
Yugi let out a soft gasp, stunned that the man could be petty enough to chase his children for debts he had accrued himself.
"Between that and the fact I couldn't look at Katsuya without seeing his father, right down to the explosive temper that occasionally turned violent, I surrendered custody and I left. Once I was gone it was… easier, to just let the resentment build up than blame myself for leaving him there. There was nothing else I could do. Shizuka's medical bills had to come first. Then he got into the gangs and I thought I'd made the right choice." She shook her head and looked at the floor. "You would not believe how happy I was when I heard that he was building a new life with your family. Honestly? I want your Jii-san to get Kangoken. Hell, I'd be happy if he got Shinken. I just don't want…"
She trailed off and shook her head.
"He would protect Shizuka with his life, if that helps?" the Queen of Games offered. When her friend's mother looked up at her, she smiled ruefully. "I know he would. He protected me during the tournament when I got attacked. Yes, he has a temper, I won't deny that, but he is trying to better himself. You said yourself that he's been a better person since we took him in. We're willing to help him get a second chance; can't you try and give him one?"
"It's…" Kawai hesitated.
"Can you just think about it? I… I know how hard it is to have family ripped away from you. I don't want it happening to Katsuya and Shizuka more than it has to." At the Duelist's words, both Kawai and Takahara stared at her, but she did not say anything else, just headed back into the kitchen.
Jou and Shizuka, who had been hovering by the door and heard everything, stepped aside to let her in. Yugi passed them without saying a word and collected her tea, taking a sip for a moment before her grandfather hugged her from behind. "Are you okay?"
She just shook her head, unable to be angry at Kawai for leaving Jou behind if what she had been told was true, but fuming about the fact that Katsuya's father would use his children as weapons against their mother.
"Sorry, Yuge," the blond Duelist sighed as the sounds of his mother and her fiancé talking started up again. "I didn't…"
"You couldn't know. I didn't know." Shizuka shuddered, her tone unhappy. "I'm still mad she wants to keep me from my brother, but Otosan…"
"Is not worthy of you two as children," Oneesan hissed out as she took control, planning to talk to Katsuya about possibly Challenging his father. Shizuka startled at the pitch change and turned to gaze at her.
"Does Yugi have a sister?" Shizuka asked her brother, frowning slightly as she tried to get her poor vision to focus on the girl in question. "Her voice is deeper."
"I… uhh…" Jou looked at Oneesan, who paused for a moment, surprised that Shizuka could tell the difference when most people could not.
"I'm not stupid, Oniisan." Shizuka huffed, irritated. "My eyes might be bad, but my other senses are sharper because of it. I can hear the difference. She was in the living room with us too. Who is that?"
"I'm…" She paused, suddenly aware that she did not actually have a name to give and that fact kind of hurt.
"Meisa." Jii-san spoke firmly, startling both Jonouchi and the Spirit of the Puzzle, scribbling down the name so the two whose vision was good could see the kanji for 'Mei', meaning 'Princess', and 'Sa', meaning 'happiness'. "This is my other magomusume, Mutou Meisa. She doesn't normally like being around people, so she tends to keep to herself."
The Pharaoh stared at him, able to sense her twin's shock and delight as he announced the Puzzle spirit as his second granddaughter, suggesting that Imoto had not been aware that Jii-san was going to offer Oneesan a name of her own, one that he had to have researched to know the kanji off of the top of his head.
Not that she had minded having the others call her Oneesan, but it was a title rather than a name. Yugi was also her name now, since her Imoto had shared her Ren, her true name, with her, but it was not one she could use when someone had pegged her as different from her twin sister, and it had not been hers to start with.
Mutou Meisa might not be her true name, the one she had surrendered to save the world so very many millennia ago, but it was a name that she alone could claim. One that had been given to her by a man she considered her grandfather.
"Nice to meet you, Mutou-san. I didn't realize there was anyone else in the house." Shizuka bowed, glad to have gotten to meet Yugi's sister, but wondering why her brother had not mentioned Meisa during the tapes he had sent.
"Mei…Meisa." She half-bowed back, her voice catching slightly as she said her new given name for the first time. "You can call me Meisa. I'm Yugi no Oneesan."
"Oh! You're the Oneesan Katsuya mentioned. It's nice to meet you, Meisa." The delight in Shizuka's tone matched the happiness in Oneesan's chest. Though Meisa was too new to ring true in Oneesan's mind yet, just the fact she had been given a name of her own made her feel a lot better and distracted her from her previous fury. At least for now.
Then it hit her. Katsuya had told his sister about her. She was supposed to be a secret unless they knew they could trust the person being told about her or they worked it out for themselves. That meant her friend trusted his sister enough to run that risk. It was good to know. They just needed to decide how much to actually tell the girl when they got some time alone with her.
"It's nice to meet you too." The newly named Meisa grinned back, making Katsuya pause as he realized that she really did look more like Yugi when she smiled honestly.
"Mutou-san?" Takahara's voice from the doorway made the group turn to look at him. "I think we're calm enough to talk now."
"We'll be there in a minute," Sugoroku informed the man, who stepped back into the living room.
"I hope you have a better afternoon." Oneesan spoke softly, bowing to the girl. "I'm going to head back to my room."
"Sorry if we disturbed you." Katsuya's sister looked embarrassed as she bowed in return.
"It's fine. See you later." She waved it off, headed for the door, and switched with Yugi on the way out, still mentally bouncing as her twin re-entered the living room.
As the others followed her into the room, Yugi retook her seat on the sofa, and Jii-san and Katsuya rejoined her. Shizuka hesitated for a moment before her mother waved her towards Jonouchi with a sad smile. The girl bounced into her brother's lap and he hugged her tightly as Kawai bit her lower lip for a moment before speaking.
"I have been impolite, and I apologize, Mutou-san." She spoke honestly to Yugi, her voice soft and shaky, as if she was trying to suppress her emotions. "I understand that you do not have to offer us this money, nor do you have to defend my children the way you do. I hope that in the future, we can have a better working relationship as we work towards getting Shizuka's operation out of the way and possibly getting her and her brother together more often."
Yugi heard both siblings let out a shocked noise but she fought to hide her response to the words, not entirely trusting them until she had proof. Still, she smiled and nodded at the words. "I look forward to it. I'll get that transfer sorted as soon as I can tomorrow."
"Thank you, Mutou-san." The woman nodded before hesitating as she looked at her children.
"Do we have to go soon?" Shizuka asked her mother, worried that the two adults would want to leave now.
"Would you like to spend the afternoon with your Oniisan, dear?" her mother offered.
"Really?" She practically bounced at the offer.
"Hoshi and I are going to take a walk around town." Kawai nodded, a little nervous about the offer. "The train back to Tokyo leaves at six, so we will be back about five, okay?"
The hug from her daughter that earned her was answer enough, and the nod, accompanied by a smile that really lit up Katsuya's expression, making him look so much different to the abusive, violent drunk that had made her life so miserable, made guilt twist in her gut.
She had done what was necessary when she had walked away with Shizuka, but the Mutous were giving her a chance to make things up with her son. With Kangoken no longer with her asshole of an ex-husband, she was no longer prevented from visiting him.
That meant that she had a chance to be a mother. She doubted that he wanted her to be after the explosion earlier, but if there was a chance, she wanted to try.
"Hey, Yuge? Let's invite the others over, they'll want to meet my Imoto." Jou grinned at his housemate and friend, who pulled out her phone as the two adults who had accompanied Shizuka headed out for the afternoon, leaving the kids to be kids in the care of Yugi's grandfather.
