TW: Non-Con in the form of a surprise kiss. Nothing explicit enough to warrant tagging the entire fic but here's a heads up.


Yugi was awake before her alarm the following morning. Nightmares of falling and glittering, broken gold had forced her out of a deep sleep and even as she pulled on her school uniform, she could not shake the undercurrent of unease they had caused.

Still, her older twin had not woken up, so hopefully it had been a nightmare rather than a vision of some kind. As she headed downstairs to sweep the floor of the shop before she headed into school early, she could hear the quiet noises of her friend snoring away, her grandfather's radio alarm clock playing something classical quietly as he came around in bed, and the early morning traffic. After the sheer insanity of the last few weeks, the normalcy of those sounds was entirely welcome and helped to settle her nerves a bit.

Turning on the radio before pulling out the broom gave her something to focus on besides the slowly fading memories of tumbling, broken limbs and the Millennium Puzzle, shattered and scattered. The bright and cheery early morning DJ, who she was certain was probably hyped up on more coffee than was good for him, had a good range of music selected for the, in his words, 'cool, dry autumn morn,' and as she hummed along to a song by Hikaru Utada, she finally felt relaxed enough to contemplate what she was going to be doing today.

Excitement coursed through her as she thought about the upcoming meeting with Yamada-Sensei and Eiko regarding the duelling club. When she had not been able to get back to sleep, she had started listing ideas for things she wanted to do with the club. She also wanted to hear the ideas of the younger student before the meeting, since the club had been the idea of Eiko and her friends in the first place. She did not want to just come in and override them, even if she was going to be Club President, especially when they had only asked her to participate because they had needed to convince the school's Principle that the club was worth the school's time and sponsorship.

Her mood faltered a little at the reminder that before Duelist Kingdom, before she had become 'Queen of Games', she had not actually been invited to join, even though at least one of the potential club members belonged to her class. She wanted to think that she would have been welcome anyway, but past experience with others at her school reminded her that there was a good chance that they had not actually wanted her there.

'Imoto?' The drowsy mental voice of the Spirit of the Puzzle, who had woken up because of the swirling emotions and painful thoughts their bond had picked up, made her straighten up slightly and take a deep breath. 'You okay?'

'Yeah, yeah, I'm being silly, that's all. Sorry, Anesan, I didn't mean to wake you.' Yugi went back to sweeping, trying to push her emotions back under control and ignore the way her stomach knotted up and her chest constricted painfully at the notion she was not truly welcome.

'You realise that we could well have missed the sign-up sheets for the club with everything that was going on?' The question made her sigh, realising that no matter how hard she tried, she could not hide anything from her other self.

'I know, like I said, I'm being…' Yugi trailed off at the pulse of sisterly love and concern that flooded the soul-to-soul connection.

'It's not silly, not with your history,' the Pharaoh grumbled as she pushed herself out of the Puzzle and sat on the stool behind the counter that their grandfather supposedly never used and yet had never been moved out of the way. 'You've been bullied and made to feel unwelcome by other children for years. It's natural for you to be a little wary of being hurt again, but you can't let it stop you from making more friends.'

The lighter twin nodded thoughtfully as she kept sweeping. The darker twin was not wrong. Until she had solved the Millennium Puzzle, she had not really had friends. Anzu had been her protector, that was true, but even the dancer had not always been around to stop other kids picking on her. Nor had Anzu always stopped the snide comments and mean pranks that had come Yugi's way from her other friends. It had only been in the last few months, since she had made her wish on the Puzzle, that she had known that she had friends she could rely on, and she had been doing her best to be reliable for them in turn.

This was really the first time she had stepped outside of that group of friends except for Mai, who had been her idol when it came to duelling for ages, and Amane, whom she wanted to be friends with both because it 'felt right' and because the other girl needed all the support she could get regarding the Spirit of the Ring.

As if thinking about her was a method of summoning her, there was a knock on the door, and when she turned to look, she found her friend was there, waving at her and looking a little embarrassed.

She unlocked the shop door long enough to let the Ring Bearer inside and then relocked it, before turning to her. "Hi, Amane, you okay?"

"Don't suppose I can get a look at your maths homework?" the part-English girl asked sheepishly. "Mine might have ended up shredded."

"Do I want to know how?" Yugi asked as she pulled her school bag out from behind the counter and passed the homework in question to her friend, who went to settle on the stool Meisa was sat on, paused, and then settled for leaning over the wooden surface instead to get working.

"Considering the answer is Voice, probably not." The other girl snorted, remembering her dark half's anger fit after school on Saturday, which had caused her to require not only a new copy of the homework to work from, but a replacement bag and pencil case too.

The Puzzle Bearer winced. "Ah, that would be why you didn't come over yesterday, then?"

Amane just nodded, trying to work out if the answers to the problems on the sheet were in fact the same as the answers Yugi had written down and, where she was getting different answers, double-checking them to see whose was right.

By the time Yugi had finished sweeping the floor, Meisa had slipped back into the Puzzle and Amane had finished her sheet. When Yugi looked over, she was grimacing at her friend's answers. "Umm, Yugi?"

The girl in question came over and checked the answers that she had against Amane's, realising that only about eighty percent of them matched up. "Oof."

"Do you want to redo it? I can help," the holder of the Millennium Ring offered.

"Don't have time," Yugi huffed, resigned to a semi-decent score rather than an excellent one. "I've got a meeting at the school regarding the duel club."

"I forgot that was today." Yugi glanced at Amane when her tone wavered slightly, noting the unhappy expression on her friend's face. "I was hoping we could talk while Ba-Khu-Ra was asleep."

"Walk with me?" Yugi offered as she put her homework back in her bag and shouldered her backpack. "We can talk on the way."

"In the open?" Amane's eyes widened. "Where others can hear us?"

"There's going to be barely anyone around. Besides, that way if Ba-Khu-Ra does wake up, there's people to hear me scream." Her tone was teasing, but her friend's expression told her she did not appreciate it. "I'm joking, honest. If she wakes up, I'll let Anesan take over and get out the way, promise."

She saw the Ring Bearer relax a little at that, and as they headed out, she gave her a concerned look. "Are you okay?"

"I…I'm fine, but I think we need to talk, between us, before our other selves go at it again," Amane sighed, "because I'm pretty sure we don't have the same story."

"I kind of figured," the Puzzle Bearer admitted, looking uncomfortable. "Akhenaden said he was telling the truth, but…"

"He tried to kill you." Amane pursed her lips when Yugi nodded. "So… what did he tell you?"

"According to him, Ba-Khu-Ra wanted to overthrow the royal family, used Anesan to do it," the Queen of Games sighed, "and turned on her once Anesan was the last one left."

Irritation flickered through Amane as her theory about the Spirit of the Eye was confirmed. "He told Ba-Khu-Ra something entirely different."

"Oh?" Yugi asked, having been certain that was the case.

"The Pharaoh betrayed her," Amane started, watching Yugi's expression closely and noting the frustration and lack of surprise. "Apparently Ba-Khu-Ra had claims against Akhenaden, and your twin used them to help her get rid of him before she stabbed her in the back. Made it look like she tried to assassinate the Pharaoh so she could send men to kill her once she no longer needed her."

"So he completely and utterly lied to one or both of us of us, and we don't know which." Yugi huffed as they turned to go through the small market street that led to their school and was just setting up for the day.

"We can't. Not without someone who was there being able to verify." Amane shrugged, irritated by that fact. "Oneesan and Ba-Khu-Ra don't count because the Pharaoh doesn't remember and Ba-Khu-Ra only remembers being sent out on a mission and nearly getting killed by your men after Akhenaden was taken down. We can't even get any more information. Akhenaden was the only person around who actually knew what happened, and he's…"

She trailed off as they passed a shopkeeper who was pulling the awning out over her entrance way. Yugi could guess what she had been going to say though. Bakura had gone after Crawford, and no one had seen him since. It was not hard to guess that she had done something to one or both of the men. In fact she probably had the Millennium Eye stashed away somewhere.

'Actually, there might be a way of finding out a little more.' Amane startled as her other self spoke, having thought that the Thief Queen was asleep. 'The Dark Magician should have information.'

'How?' Amane frowned, ignoring the curious look she was getting from her friend.

'When I killed the Pharaoh's right hand man, Mahad, he merged his soul with his Ka beast and became the Dark Magician, specifically the royal purple Dark Magician.' Amusement flooded through the Thief Queen at her landlord's shock. 'He looked the same as the Dark Magician in Yugi's deck.'

'Okay, I have so many questions and I am asking all of them later,' Amane squeaked back, wondering how on earth that was possible and if other Duel Monsters had souls attached to them. 'But you're saying, if we can summon the Dark Magician, we might be able to hear more about what happened?'

'Yeap. You just need to convince the Runt of it and stand back. He never liked me, even before I killed him, and I don't want you hurt.' The admission of it made Amane smile slightly, feeling safer about the spirit that regularly possessed her.

"Yugi? How good are you at summoning right now?" she asked, confusing her friend. "Have you practiced at all since you called up that Kuriboh?"

"No, I've been too tired, why?"

When Yugi tilted her head, curious as to where Amane was going with this, the Ring Bearer grinned slightly. "Bakura told me you had a Dark Magician in Egypt, so if he's the same one, he might have some information."

The Duelist paused to consider that. "Okay, that… I want to know more about that later, but I could probably summon him. I probably shouldn't do it before school though, in case it knocks me out again."

"Tonight?" Amane suggested. "Maybe at your place?"

"Sure," Yugi agreed, wanting information as much as everyone else involved in the whole mess. She did not get to say much more though, as she spotted Eiko waiting by the gates for her. "Meet me at the shop after the store closes?"

Amane nodded and gestured for Yugi to go on ahead.

Her friend took the chance, her head swirling with questions as she waved to the younger, black-haired, green-eyed student. Amane could feel the amusement of her other self flow through their link. 'What?'

'Not telling her the whole truth, little light?' the Spirit of the Ring pressed.

'I don't know the full truth, not yet. You're going to tell me before I meet up with her tonight so I can explain properly,' the Ring Bearer huffed.

'And why would I do that?' Ba-Khu-Ra taunted as the Puzzle Bearer entered the school with her new friend.

'Because you want the information as much as I do, and I'll talk Yugi out of it if you don't tell me,' the living half of the Thief Queen threatened.

Surprise hit first and then proud amusement curled through her, before her dark half chuckled. 'You're learning, little light. Bargaining and threatening me is a dangerous game, but you're beginning to dare. I'm kind of proud.'

'My name is Amane; you may use it. And, yes, I'm learning. I'm not going to be pushed around by you for the entire time you're in my head.'

With that the Ring Bearer also entered the facility.


Two corridors over, Eiko excitedly grinned at Yugi as they headed for the classroom they were meeting Yamada-Sensei in. "I'm so glad you can help. I wanted to ask when the idea first came up, but you seemed so stressed, I didn't want to add to it."

The Queen of Games ran a hand through her hair, looking sheepish as the knot that had formed in her stomach earlier loosened up. "I kind of missed everything else going on while Jii-san was in the hospital. Sorry."

"It's okay." The younger girl shrugged. "You're okay now, though, right?"

"Yeap." Yugi nodded. "So, plans for the club?"

"I have a couple of ideas, like deck building and mini-tournaments against each other, but you taught Jonouchi in like two weeks, didn't you?" Eiko asked, her question stemming from the rumours that had been going around that the Semi-Finalist, who had nearly defeated Kaiba Seto if the Duel Records were anything to go by, had been taught how to duel by the Queen of Games just before Duelist Kingdom.

"I did, but he was willing to listen, we were at it every single free moment of the day, and he didn't have many bad habits to unlearn because he had just started." The more experienced Duelist nodded. "It'll take longer for me to be able to work with the club members because we'll only have three hours a week."

"Ah." Eiko's shoulders sank as they headed up to the third floor, where Yamada's classroom was, having had visions of having a professional duelling team for Domino High in a couple of weeks.

"I do have plans that will help, though," Yugi reassured her, handing over the notes she had made this morning. Watching the other girl's expression light up as she read through them all made her morning that much better, and as they reached the classroom, the younger student seemed much more hopeful. "It's mostly going to depend on whether people take it seriously or not."

"Let's hope this is convincing enough for Sensei at least." Seconds after Eiko knocked on the door, the pair of them were called in.

Yugi took a deep breath and stepped into the classroom. Yamada-Sensei, the sponsoring teacher, was waiting for them as they bowed. A younger man with sharp features and narrowed brown eyes looked the pair of them up and down and then held out his hand for Yugi's folder.

"So, they talked you into this, Mutou-san." He looked semi-amused as he handed her the school club rules, took her plans, and leafed through them.

"Yes, Sensei." She nodded, scanning the sheets and becoming relieved when there was nothing unreasonable on it. "I have managed to rearrange my shop shifts so I can take on the duelling club and run it efficiently."

"And you'll be available to coach the inter-school team at tournaments, right?" he asked as he continued to read.

"Coach?" Yugi frowned, having thought she would be able to compete alongside them if they started duelling other schools.

Eiko looked confused as the teacher paused in his reading and handed her a sheet of paper, one that apparently had the rules and regulations on for the School Duel League. Yugi had not even known there was a School Duel League, let alone the established rules for it.

"The Duel League started a couple of years ago, and it was dominated by Insector Haga and Dinosaur Ryuzaki, so they changed the rules this year. Unfortunately, it happens to coincide with the first year that Domino High is competing," Yamada-Sensei explained. "You might want to read rule four."

She glanced down the list and flinched when she read the rule in question. 'Internationally ranked Duelists will not be allowed to compete in City Level League Duels. A school may put up to two internationally ranked Duelists in their teams for National Competitions as long as those Duelists are registered students at the school and have an attendance of more than eighty five percent.'

"Oh…" Her shoulders sank as she realized what that meant. She would not be able to compete unless her team made it to the Nationals.

"As the World Champion, you're internationally ranked." The teacher watched her carefully, able to see her disappointment and noting that she glanced at Eiko, wondering if the girl had been aware of the rule before she had asked. "Are you still okay to run the club?"

"Y…Yes." Just because she could not compete until Nationals did not mean that she could not duel against other members of the club. Plus, if she was able to get her first year team up to the national level, then she would be doing them a favor too. Besides, from the pale skin tone and apologetic look Eiko was giving her, there was a good chance she had not known about the rule change.

It did not mean that she was not disappointed, and she felt her twin rest spectral hands on her shoulders, sympathy flooding the bond.

"Good. I'll get us registered with the school. Your first club session is tonight, correct?" Yugi and Eiko nodded. "Do you have any questions?"

"If I bring in anything from home, will there be anywhere safe to store it?" Yugi asked, thinking of what she would need for her plans.

"You'll have a small budget allocated to the club for purchasing equipment and a locker in the club room for the most valuable club things." He handed Yugi a set of keys. "There's one for your club room, one for the locker within, and another for the safe for club cash funds. I'm sure Eiko will be able to show you to the club room that I've managed to secure for you. You're lucky that the Go Club closed due to lack of interest so there was a free room. The list of rules on how you're allowed to use the room will be on the table in your new club room. I'll be able to give you details this afternoon regarding budget, and you'll need a Club Secretary in order to manage it. That will need to be organized amongst yourselves, and I expect it to be done by the time I get there. Your family runs the Kame Game Shop, right?"

"That's right." Yugi nodded.

"If the shop wants to sponsor the club, they will need to fill out the correct forms, which will be available from the office. It won't be able to provide monetary sponsorship without going through official channels, but if you bring anything from home for free, then that will be fine. Also, between you all, you need to come up with a club name, or you'll be known as Domino High Dueling Club, and I'm sure you can think of something better."

"Yes, Sensei." Eiko grinned, happy that they had their keys and confirmation that they could run. "May we go now?"

"Yes, yes." The teacher waved them off. "You'll need to check out the room before the school bell rings."

The younger student grabbed Yugi's arm and dragged her out of the classroom and down the hall towards the club rooms. For a moment Yugi was unsure how they were supposed to tell which room was theirs, since most of them had the same wooden frame with glass panels in the middle. Then she spotted that room seven had a Duel Monsters card, specifically a Kuriboh, balancing in the window and headed over to that door.

The biggest key in the set the teacher had handed her fit the lock in the door perfectly, and as she pushed the door open she heard Eiko let out a delighted squeak. The room inside was not huge, only big enough for possibly fifteen to twenty people at a long, rectangular table, but it would be large enough for their needs. At the back of the room were huge windows that looked out over the school's athletics track, that opened just enough to allow fresh air in, blowing away the bleach smell from the cleaners. There was also a large locker, that, when opened, had multiple shelves inside for the club's equipment, along with a safe at the bottom. Yugi could not help but feel, as she shut the door, that she was glad for the shelves because it meant she could not be locked in there, unlike her normal locker.

Checking the table for the club room rules, she found the list in question, which laid out that they could paint the walls as long as they were white again if the club folded, posters were allowed as long as they were white tacked to the walls, rather than pinned, and furniture was allowed to be brought in, as long as, again, it was gone if the club folded. Printed in red was the warning that if a club was caught misusing the room, it would be disbanded and everything in the club room would need to be removed within twenty-four hours.

"So what do you think?" Eiko grinned at Yugi, interrupting her as she read through what classified as misuse.

"It's going to be brilliant." Yugi smiled back, already considering going to the art club to get some artwork for the walls and mentally cycling through the game release posters that she could bring in from the shop.

The warning bell went off, giving them notice that they had fifteen minutes to get to class before they were late, making them both jump. Yugi quickly scribbled down a note that this was the Duelling Club room on the first available piece of paper out of her bag, planning to make a better sign once they had a proper club name, and put it up in the window in the door, so the others would know where they needed to go later, and put the rules list in the backpack, ready for reading through later.

"See you later, Yugi-kun." Eiko slipped out of the room as Yugi waved over her shoulder at the younger student. The Queen of Games quickly made sure that the locker and the windows were shut tightly and was about to lock up the room when Otogi slipped in.

"Hi!" Yugi grinned at him, still buzzing from all the plans she had for the room, plans that had to be ratified by the rest of the room, but exciting plans, nonetheless.

"Hey, how're you feeling today?" he asked, shutting the door behind him and blocking her exit. Instantly Yugi, who was far too used to getting cornered by bullies and getting beaten up, started looking for escape routes, nervousness kicking in when she realised the only route out of this room was, in fact, the door, unless she wanted to break the windows and fall two stories.

'Easy, Imoto.' Her twin's firm tone and self-confidence allowed her to take a breath and calm herself down. 'He's not an enemy.'

The Spirit of the Puzzle did not add the 'yet' that was floating in her mind to the sentence, knowing it would not help her twin. She did, however, step up to the exchange point, ready to take over in a flash if she was needed as Imoto offered a smaller smile as she shrugged. "I'm okay."

"You sure? Because you were pretty badly hurt on Saturday." His tone was still concerned, but Yugi could not help but mentally grimace as she tried to think of an excuse.

"Minor concussion," she lied, trying to cover up the massive use of magic. "A couple of night's sleep and I was fine."

"Mutou…" There was a moment's hesitation, and then Otogi took a deep breath. "You don't have to hide it from me. You have magic, don't you?"

"What? No!" She shook her head vehemently, backing up slightly, remembering the last few people who had come to her openly talking about magic, like Imori, Ba-Khu-Ra, and Crawford.

"Mutou, don't. I'm sure by now your Ojiisan's told you about the cursed game he got into with my Otosan. I've known about magic since I was three." The tall teen huffed. When she did not respond, his shoulders sank. "I told you, I want to get to know you and have a better relationship with you. I'm not going to judge you for healing yourself with magic. If I had it and got into a fight, I would too."

"A…Are you going to tell anyone?" the Queen of Games questioned, her voice wavering slightly.

"No." The firm reply both reassured and confused Yugi. "There'd be no point. First off, no one would believe me. Secondly, that would break your trust, and how would that help us get along?"

He had a point.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Yes, I healed myself. I had to. I'd have ended up in the hospital if I hadn't."

He nodded, grimacing. "Let me walk you back to class so your classmates don't get a chance to jump you again?"

"Sure." She was surprised at the offer but headed for the door as the second warning bell went, giving them a ten-minute warning for class start. She paused as she reached the door and smiled up at him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He offered his arm and, blushing, she took it. Locking up the club room behind her with a small smile, she put the keys in the inside pocket of her school jacket for safety and headed downstairs.

"So, duelling club?" Otogi asked, sounding curious.

"Yeap. It's going to be a lot of fun." Yugi practically bounced as she walked, unbelievably happy about the way things had gone. "I have so many plans. There's no way we're not going to kick butt in the school league."

"I look forward to seeing it. Or maybe I could join in?" At the teen's question, Yugi paused to look at him. "Duel Monsters isn't normally my game, but I wouldn't mind getting to know certain people better."

The way he looked at her when he said that made her blush and look at the ground, causing her to miss the pleased smirk as they reached the classroom.

"Hey, Yuge." Katsuya's voice caused her head to snap up, but she did not get to say anything to her friend. The arm her hand was on shifted and suddenly her wrist had been grabbed and she was being spun. Before she could get her bearings, she was pressed against the wall, one wrist pinned by her side, Otogi's warm body pushed up against hers as the much taller, stronger teen kissed her, right there and then with no warning.

Meisa took control and went to push Otogi back using her magic, only for Katsuya to grab him from behind and drag him backwards.

"Don't worry, Yuge. I got this," he promised, then dragged Otogi into the boys' restroom a little down the hallway.

The Spirit of the Puzzle huffed, able to sense her twin was confused by what had just happened, but not entirely unhappy. Trusting Katsuya to remind Otogi to ask before he pulled a stunt like that again, she entered the classroom, noting the dirty looks she was getting from some of the female students.


Inside the bathroom Katsuya pushed Otogi into the middle of the room and blocked the exit. "The hell are you playing at?"

"What's the matter?" the black-haired teen asked the blonde with a smug grin. "Jealous?"

"What? No." The Duelist huffed, not admitting to the way his stomach had tied itself into knots and jumped up into his throat when he had seen Otogi's actions. "She's my friend, and you'd do well to treat her with the respect she deserves, asshole."

"What makes you think I'm not?" The game shop heir snorted, crossing his arms. "I've not hurt her, and she didn't try to push me away. If she had, I'd have backed off."

"I don't know what your game is," Katsuya huffed as the third warning bell went off, giving them a five-minute warning, "but if you hurt her, I'm going to punch your lights out."

"You realize I could ruin you?" Otogi asked, watching the other teen with a raised eyebrow. "A word or two in the right ear, a little money in the right places, and you'd be kicked out of school. Where do you think you'd go then?"

Jou froze. Domino High was one of only two schools he could get into with his available funds and background. The other was Rintama, and he never, ever wanted to go back there. He could be damn certain that if he did, he would be lucky not to get his head caved in after what had happened with Hirutani.

"Better yet..." The malicious pleasure in Otogi's voice ground on Katsuya's nerves. "What would the Mutous think? They would never want you back in their house again if I went to the police and said you'd assaulted me."

Fear pulsed through the Duelist at that. He did not think the Mutous would kick him out without hearing his side of the story, but it had been made clear that if he got into trouble, Doctor Mutou would be unable to get Kangoken. If that happened Jou would have to go back to his father and would probably lose the rights to see his Imoto.

"Understand this, Jonouchi." The black haired teen's voice was dark and amused. "Stand in the way, and I will rip away absolutely everything you care about."

"Yugi won't…" Jou started.

"Yugi won't do anything, because you're not going to tell her. If you do? If you turn her against me? I'll not only ruin you, I'll buy out the ground the Kame Game Shop stands on and bulldoze the shop. The Mutous will lose everything too. They'll both be left homeless and destitute." Otogi cut him off. "And I have the money to do it, Jonouchi. Don't think I don't."

Katsuya's hands balled into fists momentarily, and he felt shadows flare up around him as his anger burned hot. Then Otogi chuckled, making the Duelist realise that this reaction was exactly what the prick was looking for. He forced himself to calm down, noting that the shadows died down as he got control over himself.

"That's right." The Black Clown heir smirked as Jou's hands unballed. "You can't beat me, so don't even try."

The blonde did not justify him with a response. Instead he just stepped aside to let the other teen leave.

"Remember, Jonouchi," Otogi paused to taunt him on his way out, "I'm only interested in ruining one person's life, and it's not yours or Yugi's. Interfere, and everything comes crashing down around your ears."

With that he stalked out of the bathroom, leaving Jou to stew over what had been said.

He could not risk Yugi finding out. He did not want the Mutous to lose everything they worked so hard to maintain. That did not mean that there were not other avenues he could explore.

With Honda and Anzu at his back, he was pretty sure he could mess up all of Otogi's plans, and if worst came to worst?

There was always Ba-Khu-Ra.

After all, the Thief Queen had always been very clear on one thing. No one got to mess with Yugi except her.