"Alright, thank you, Mazaki, keep us updated the moment you hear anything." Mokuba nodded subconsciously as he finished writing down everything he had needed from the attorney. "Yes, I've gotten it all. I'll make sure it's all in her file with medical."
His older brother's eyes looked up from the technology he was working on as his brother paused, wondering what else the woman they had sent had to say.
"I'll pass on his thanks to Oniisan. Good night, Mazaki. Feel free to start an hour later tomorrow." With that the younger Kaiba put the phone down and smiled ruefully at his brother. "Apparently Mutou-Sensei says thank you."
Seto just snorted. He had the mutt to thank more than him. If Jonouchi had not let the CEO know that someone was threatening to buy out the Mutous, he would not have known to check with the city planners and get the purchase rejected. Everything else he had done was simply so he could keep an eye on his greatest rivals and avoid having to hunt them across Japan if the Mutous had been forced to move by the purchase.
Since Kaiba Corp owned Domino City, as it had built up around the workers who lived on site during its life as a weapons manufacturer, and the company owned the land it was built on, writing off the debt was something he could easily do.
It was certainly less troublesome to write off the last of the mortgage debt to the Mutous so they would stay in Domino where he could watch them than to run the risk of losing access to the pair who had defeated him soundly and never get to challenge them or reclaim his pride ever again.
"Mazaki got those details you wanted for Yugi's file," Mokuba continued, noting the expression on his brother's face.
"Good." Seto huffed, turning his eyes back to the GPS parts he was tinkering with, preparing it to be included in a trial tracker to ensure it worked before he moved forward with implementing them in the second edition of the Duel Disk, and trying to ignore the relief that was bothering him. "I don't have time to waste with complaints from the medical department. Do they have any idea when she's going to be out of the hospital?"
"Probably two weeks, but she'll be on rest for another couple according to the doctors?" his little brother offered, not entirely sure since Doctor Mutou had not been certain on the timings. "Mazaki spoke to Mutou on his way out, and it sounded pretty bad."
"Which gives me time to perfect the coding on this. Plenty of it." The CEO nodded, thinking out loud as he called up a website and scanned through the jeweled items on screen, looking for something he could use as a case. "And by the time they're back at full strength, I'll be ready to challenge them with the Duel Disk."
Mokuba had to hide an amused grin, aware that his brother was rather obsessed with the Queen of Games.
Well, more specifically both Queens of Games and the way that both girls had managed to defeat him in Duel Monsters, something that no one before them had ever managed.
If it were anyone else, he would have accused them of having a crush, but he knew his brother better than that.
Seto had his pride to win back and his World Champion title to reclaim.
Sugoroku relaxed as he kicked off his shoes, having finally gotten home after an absolutely awful evening, herding Otogi Ryuji towards the stairs, wanting nothing more than to go to bed, but fully aware that he had one more thing he needed to do.
The Puzzle hung from a chain around his neck, and he had no plans to take it off until he went to bed, not wanting to leave his other granddaughter on her own unless he had to. That and while he was hoping Otogi was willing to start fresh, he was not willing to risk Meisa's safety by leaving the golden treasure where the teen could get his hands on it.
"Otogi?" Sugoroku called, having been thinking on the way back from the hospital. When the teen looked back over his shoulder, the elderly man smiled. "Before we sleep, I have a business opportunity for you. If you're interested?"
Ryuji paused, then slumped down into a chair with a nod.
"You were going to launch a new game soon, weren't you?" the elderly gamer asked, having remembered the signs in the windows of the Black Clown and taking a seat on the sofa. "Do still have the stock available?"
Ryuji grimaced slightly. "I have the pre-orders and half the stock I wanted on my shelves still in my storage unit; the rest was in the warehouse at the Black Clown. I don't have enough money to get any more made until I sell about half of what I have now, but I have no ability to distribute because my shop front is gone."
Sugoroku nodded, thinking. "I have an offer for you. If you help me clear out space in the storage room and basement, I can act as a distributer for you. I'll mark it up at a decent price; depending on the figures you give me, I'll take half the profit and you'll take the other half so we're both making money on it, and once you've got a larger supply, we'll talk to some of the local stores and try to get them to stock the game for you. We'll discuss further figures once we're distributing to other stores."
The game designer paused to consider his offer. It was not an unreasonable one. Making room for stock in the shop downstairs would allow the Kame Game Shop to sell Dungeon Dice Monsters and give him an income, rather than leaving him reliant on his Otosan's funds becoming available.
He needed to know, though. "Why would you help me like this?"
"Because I'm not stupid enough to turn down a business opportunity like this." He really was not, the amount of funds that the new game would bring in, especially considering he would be the only seller to start with, would pay for the staff member he was going to have to hire to replace the student who had left and cover for Yugi while she was incapacitated and Katsuya until he had recovered. "And you don't deserve to have your future ruined because your Otosan was an ass."
"I…" Ryuji trailed off. If he was smart, he would admit nothing and take the deal. If he was lucky, Yugi's head injury would prevent her from remembering his fear-driven threats, and he could escape retribution and start over. However, guilt was eating away at him. Everything that had happened over the last few days had been started by him, and he was not as innocent in events as he wanted others to believe. Plus if it came out after deals had been made, everything could fall apart again.
This had been started by lies and trickery. It needed to end with truth.
"Otogi?" The curious head tilt from the elderly Game Master told Ryuji that Mutou knew something was wrong.
"I… I need to be honest with you. Before we make any deals," the Game Designer started. "I… I'm the one who paid those muggers to jump Yugi. I told them they could keep any money she had on her, plus the ten thousand I was paying them, if they got me the Puzzle."
Sugoroku's eyes narrowed, but he did not do more than listen.
"When that didn't work, I threatened Jonouchi so he would pull away from Yugi while he was trying to work out how to deal with me and deliberately implied that I was interested in your magomasume to make other girls jealous. I implied that the only thing between me and the other girl was Yugi, so they would bully her and I could swoop in and look like a hero because her usual guardian was avoiding her. I thought it would make Yugi listen to me. I wasn't expecting them to shove her down the stairs, but I did take advantage of the situation to grab a piece of the Puzzle, so Yugi would freak out when she found it missing and I would look good when I returned it."
The flat expression and dead silence made Ryuji shudder.
"I swear I was planning to try and get Yugi on my side so Otousan wouldn't hurt her like he hits me, but the thing with Bakura got out of hand, then Yugi confronted me and threatened to call the cops, and… I panicked." His hands balled into fists as he gazed at the ground. "I threatened the safety of you and her friends so she would shut up and listen. Even threatened to destroy the Puzzle piece I had stolen. I told her if she came alone and kept quiet, you'd all be safe…"
"And she walked right into your Otosan's trap." The ice in the voice of the elderly gamer was sharp.
"When I started all of this, I thought Otousan was right. You had stolen years of life from him, so it was only right we took our chance to fix it." Otogi breathed, "But once everything was in motion it was too much. It felt wrong to keep hurting those who weren't really involved… so I gave Yugi a chance to free her friend. I couldn't do anything directly. I couldn't. Not when Otousan controls all my finances, my home, and my life, but she took that chance and…"
"Your Otousan hurt her because of it." Quiet consideration emerged as the old man sat back.
"I don't know what happened or why Otousan's ritual room caught fire, but Yugi is in hospital because of me, and," he gulped, expecting to be kicked out onto the street, "I felt you had the right to know before you and I made any deals. I'm not a victim in this, and I don't deserve to be treated like one."
Silence fell as Sugoroku thought through what he had been told. That Otogi had done so much to hurt Yugi infuriated him, and part of him wanted to throw the boy out and refuse to let him ever come within sixty miles of him and his granddaughter.
However, Ryuji was wrong about one thing. While he was complicit in what had happened, he was a victim. He had been raised by an angry, controlling, abusive man who wanted his revenge and did not care who got hurt in the meantime. Even with that upbringing he had, still he had managed to see that what was happening was wrong. He had tried to help in his own way, and what happened after the doors had sealed was not his fault.
Still…
"And if you had the same choices now?" Sugoroku asked, watching the teen carefully.
"What Otosan was doing, what I did?" Ryuji's voice wavered. "It was wrong and I regret it. I regret it a lot. I never meant for Yugi or Jonouchi to end up in hospital. I never wanted Bakura to get hurt. I wouldn't let Otousan hurt them. Even if it meant I got injured in their place. I can't honestly say more than that."
"Thank you for being honest with me." The old man nodded, silently wanting to hug the boy who looked so upset and defeated. "Yes, this does change some things. For example I expect you to bring all business matters through me from now on, not Yugi, but I'm not going to retract my offer. You know what you did was wrong, and if this cycle of pain and revenge doesn't stop now, it will only worsen. I will not harm the future of a child for the lessons they were taught by their Otousan."
"Th… thank you." Ryuji breathed, stunned, "We can discuss percentages once I get a list of costs sorted again. The last melted with my computer. Are you willing to assist in pre-order distribution?"
"How much is postal and how much is pick-up?" Sugoroku frowned, wondering if that money had already been taken and where it had gone and if he was making the right choice.
"It's all pick-up and pay on receipt," Otogi reassured him. "Those prices are set already, at 20% mark-up from production costs, except the boards, which are up by 50%."
"Is the release date fixed?" Sugoroku suddenly grimaced, wondering if he would have enough hands in the store.
"No, but I was aiming for next Saturday." Otogi shrugged, having planned to have crushed Yugi in his final beta test and fixed any issues with the game by then, and now realizing that left extraordinarily little time for his new business partner to prepare.
"So, I've got a week and a half to hire a new staff member." Sugoroku scowled.
"If it helps, I'd be willing to work, no cost, on launch weekend," Otogi offered, wanting his launch to be a success.
"It does." He saw the elderly Game Master relax a little. "It gives me a little more time. I'm still going to put the job application out there tomorrow morning."
"I assume this comes with the caveat of if I do anything to harm Yugi, or her friends, you'll stop stocking my game?" Ryuji asked, tapping his foot as he realized that he did not have the money to pay his usual lawyer anymore and would have to go through any contract with Doctor Mutou himself.
"That was going to be in the contract, yes," the former archaeologist agreed, "and you'll lose the assistance I was going to give you regarding getting other stores to stock your game."
Ryuji nodded, unsurprised.
"We'll start on the storeroom and basement before school tomorrow and move the stock in the day after. That way we'll have everything in place before launch day," the elderly man informed Otogi. "We can work out contract details once we've both slept and can think straight."
"That sounds good."
Sleep had not come easily to the Bearer of the Millennium Ring, but she had managed to get a few hours at least, and Amane tried to ignore the ringing of her phone as she fished a bottle of water out of her fridge the following morning.
She knew who it was. The school would be trying to reach her in order to find out why she was not attending today.
She just did not have the energy to deal with it right now. Despite the healing spell she had cast on herself upon waking, she could not handle dealing with other teenagers or the school who gave so little care to their students.
Especially when going to school would mean answering Honda and Anzu's questions about what had happened last night.
It was that more than anything that was preventing her from going. She did not really want to stay inside the house by herself, but the thought of going to school and having to explain everything was too much for her. She did not have the mental fortitude to deal with the upset and disappointment in her that would accompany it.
She was surprised that the demon had not yet lashed out at her, like he had after she had screwed up the victory in the table top game. Wondering if it had seen her breakdown last night as punishment enough, she let out a relieved breath as the phone stopped ringing and settled down to paint some of the Monster World figurines she had spread out across her dining table.
It was nearly an hour before she sensed the Thief Queen beginning to wake up enough to keep an eye on her safety; she hesitantly sent a mental nudge, trying not to wince away when the Spirit of the Ring sent an irritated grumble in reply.
'What, landlord?' the other soul demanded, displeased with having to wake up fully so quickly.
'What… what happened yesterday? In the fire?' At the Ring Bearer's slightly scared question, the Spirit paused and emerged from the item to sit on the table, her expression uncomfortable.
'I'll admit, I let my emotions overwhelm me.' The Thief Queen's voice was more shaky than Amane had ever heard it before. 'And I shouldn't have done. I'm sorry.'
Amane could not help but stare at her darker self at the apology for a few moments, then she lowered her head, remembering that the Spirit of the Ring did, in fact, care for her, even if the way she showed it was quite twisted sometimes. 'If I told you that you weren't in control of your actions, would that surprise you?'
The thief's head snapped up and her gaze turned considering, pursing her lips as she thought. 'No, it wouldn't. My half of our soul is so twisted up in Zorc's power now that I basically belong to him. If he wants something, I can't stop him, and I don't always want to.'
Amane nearly asked which it had been when the demon had hurt her last, but decided that she already knew the answer. The Spirit of the Ring might be an utter cow at times, but she did like Amane. It was highly unlikely that she wanted her host hurt.
'He was so afraid that the Puzzle and Ring were going to be destroyed, he lashed out in a way he hasn't done in centuries,' the Thief Queen continued as she stretched. 'He might try to push me to attack whenever there's an opening, like after Yugi's little trip down the stairs, but he doesn't push for control like that unless… well, we're no good to him dead, and he'll lose strength if parts of his soul are destroyed. How did we get out of there?'
The Ring Bearer's eyes widened as she felt her other self rummage around her memories, trying to find out what had happened after she had lost control of herself, and the Thief's light tried to hide the meltdown last night from her dark.
Unfortunately for her she was too slow and she felt Ba-Khu-Ra mentally stall. The spirit went still as a rock where she was sat on the table, expression shifting from anger to terror and then vanishing entirely as she watched Amane with a blank expression.
'I didn't realize you had so low an opinion of me that you'd consider killing yourself to be free of me.' Amane gulped at the completely flat, emotionless tone.
'I was… I was in a bad place,' the Ring Bearer offered. 'I wouldn't do it. You saw I wouldn't do it.'
There was silence as the Thief Queen replayed the memory once and then twice, examining the emotions and actions. Amane had to hold on to the table as the emotions from it flashed through her again and again. Then she felt anger seep into her dark's sentiments and saw the spirit's hands ball into fists.
'If I show you something, will you promise not to try that again of your own free will and let me know if you feel like that again?' The spirit's question confused the living half of their soul, but she nodded.
'S…sure…'
The Thief Queen took Amane's hand, opened her senses to her host and replayed the memory, step by step, pausing at the exact moment the knife had fallen from the dish rack to the floor.
Through her dark's senses she could feel that it was wrapped in Shadows. Shadows that had also entwined her in their grasp, flooding her with her own upset and pain, her swirling thoughts allowing them to seep into her and guide her to pick up the blade.
'Zorc… was encouraging me to…?!' Amane trailed off with a squeak, eyes wide.
'Yes,' Ba-Khu-Ra hissed out, 'but the emotions he used to do it were your own. I belong to him, so he can force me to act for him, but he can't directly create the drive to act in anyone else, only whisper a suggestion and multiply the emotions connected to an action. The thoughts behind the action are entirely your own. Once you want to do what he wants you to do, that's when he can get in, take control, and ensure you do it.'
As the moment of history played on, Amane got to see the exact second the demon lost its grip on her. The physical pain had cut through the emotional anguish and kicked in her survival drive, bringing her back to her senses as blood seeped through the small cut.
'The demon said something about the seal breaking…' Amane swallowed hard, trying to change the subject, 'when Yugi was fading.'
'The Seal on the Shadows has been weakening for millennia.' Ba-Khu-Ra paused to check it was safe to talk. When she sensed the demon was asleep, she let out a soft sigh. 'I can't let it break before I get my people through the Gates to the Afterlife, or this world will end before I can help them.'
'What do you…' The Ring Bearer's eyes widened as she realized where her dark was going. 'Yugi's ancient true name is the key… It would be like opening the door properly verses breaking it down with a battering ram.'
'Exactly. If I get her ancient name, I'll be able to control what comes out of the Shadows. If the Seal shatters, then everything that's been trapped there will break loose and destroy everything.' The Thief Queen nodded, still pacing. 'But it looks like Zorc wants the latter.'
'I'll try and stop him so you can free your people, but…' Amane flinched as memories of past punishment rushed through her mind.
'It means you're not safe…' Ba-Khu-Ra sounded angry and full of pain about that fact, assuring her that the Thief Queen did, in fact, want her around and really did like her. 'I like and need you, we're stronger than we've ever been, and you're still not safe from him.'
'I never have been safe, sister, you know that.' Calling the Thief Queen 'sister' made the spirit stare at her, but it felt natural.
'I know.' The rawness of the Thief Queen's tone made Amane wonder how much of the punishment she had taken was to put Ba-Khu-Ra in her place as much as to make the Ring Bearer behave. 'I'm sorry…'
'I know… So how do we make sure he doesn't get a chance to try what he did last night again? Because if he's that fed up of my interference…' The Game Master trailed off, but her other self knew where she was going with it.
'It was loneliness and the whole Otogi mess that allowed him to drive you to that point.' The Thief Queen was still pacing as she tried to think. 'I would urge you to see the Runt more because she makes you happy, but I can't prevent him from controlling me, I'm too tied to him now. It would require magic to separate me from him, and even then it might not work because I signed a contract with him. If there's another opening I can't promise I won't take it.'
'And it's not like I can just take off the Ring because it teleports back to me if I leave it unattended.' Amane paused at the look on her dark's face. 'What?'
'It does that because I will it,' the Thief Queen admitted, 'but… I think I can trust your safety around the Runt. She got herself badly hurt trying to help us after all, and we're stronger than her… so as long as the Ring was near enough to you that I could sense if you needed me, I would be willing to… to let you hang around with your friends without me if it will stop you from trying that stunt again.'
Amane let out a soft breath, understanding how hard that offer was for Ba-Khu-Ra. If she was not wearing the Ring, the Thief Queen was trapped inside the item and could not interact with anyone. She was offering to be trapped around someone she considered an adversary, if it would give her host what she needed.
'You're sure?' the Ring Bearer asked, checking that this was really what her other self was okay with her doing.
'I can't lose any more family, Sen, I just can't.' Ba-Khu-Ra's voice was raw with pain as she used the Ancient Egyptian for sister. 'I would rather withdraw a little than risk your safety.'
Amane paused for just a moment, then she got to her feet and actually hugged the other girl, who froze, shocked at receiving the first hug she had been given in five thousand years.
'I promise, I'll keep the Ring with me at all times, close enough that if I'm in danger you can come to me,' Amane swore as she kept up the hug, able to feel her sister's spectral arms wrap around her. 'And I actually wanted to know something else…'
'Oh?' the Thief Queen asked as she pulled away, dusting herself off like she had not needed the hug.
'I was wondering if you'd teach me to use Shadow magic properly.' The startled reaction that Ba-Khu-Ra gave her made her chuckle. 'I've picked some up from you, but it took me far too long to cast a healing spell this morning. It's about time I learned how to do this properly. After all, it's my item, too.'
The Spirit of the Ring considered the other girl, the girl she was taking a risk on by considering her a sister, wondering whether she really wanted to learn magic or she was just offering an olive branch in exchange for her offer.
'Sure.' The Thief Queen decided she did not care. 'We can start today, if you like. That way you'll be miles ahead of the Runt when she gets out of hospital.'
'That sounds good.'
Sugoroku sighed as he put the 'hiring' signs up in the window mid-morning.
He hated hiring new people.
Interviews were always interesting. Generally, he had people from the local area applying. Sometimes they were regular customers too, so he knew them rather well. What he hated, however, was having to turn down excited, enthusiastic applicants because either he had filled the role or they just were not suitable for the job.
Still, between Yugi and Katsuya's hospitalization, the upcoming Dungeon Dice Monsters release, and the part-time student worker leaving, he did not have a choice. He needed a new hand in the shop, and that meant going through the interview process.
School had not long ended when a teenage boy with purple eyes and ash blonde hair that was almost as long as Bakura's walked in, holding a folder and looking nervous as he approached the counter.
Doctor Mutou looked the boy up and down, noting the white hooded top and brown trousers covering dark Arabic skin and the golden earrings at the teen's ears as he wondered what he wanted.
"Hello." His Japanese was accented but clear as the boy politely bowed. "I saw you were hiring and I wanted to apply. I brought my CV, my Right to Work, and my ID with me."
The elderly gamer paused to consider the teen, who was according to his ID a couple of years older than his Yugi. He did not normally accept workers around his granddaughter's age because he did not want there to be any friction between his staff and his household, but this boy was prepared, had legitimate Right to Work paperwork, and, he saw as he looked through the documentation, the teen had a decent amount of experience in shops. He would not need much training to be able to help when the store was insanely busy on launch weekend.
"Do you have time for an interview now?" Sugoroku asked the teen, who smiled brightly.
"Certainly. I need to start as soon as possible to pay for school, so the sooner I can interview the better."
That tugged at the heartstrings, considering the financial state of certain members of his household, and Sugoroku decided he was going to try and help the boy if he could.
"Okay… Namu-san." He looked down at the paperwork to find the boy's name. "Please, take a seat and we'll see if you're suitable for the job."
An hour later Namu walked out of the store, a huge grin on his face as he pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket and dialed a number once he was far enough away from the store for it to be safe.
"Ishizu? Yes, you were right. It's here, and I think we got here first. Thank Rishid for me. The paperwork he forged got me in. That's right, I've got a job."
