Part two of Something He Didn't Tell You.

20! - Former Agent Cereza

One year and four months after Yami's revival from his coma.

Later That Day

A young woman in her mid teens rolled over at the obnoxious sound of her digital alarm clock that sat beside her lamp. With an annoyed groan, she raised her fist and slammed it down. She nailed the button to shut it off, and rolled back over to slowly open her drowsy eyes at her white ceiling. Her sea foam colored irises squinted at the fact that her room was engulfed in darkness. The curtains of her windows weren't closed but the sun wasn't even out. Probably night time. She glanced back over at the clock on her nightstand to see that it was a little after seven. She huffed out a sigh and slowly sat up, craning her back. She yawned loudly and rose her arms to stretch and pop her bones. She then reached over to her tall table lamp and grasped the wire hanging from it to illuminate it's bulb. Ah, now her room was lit.

She swung her legs out of bed and scratched her caramel skinned hands in her messy hair. She made a smaller yawn as she stood up and walked out of her small bedroom to get to the bathroom next door. She looked herself in the mirror, noticing she was still in her pajamas. Well, it was just a sports bra and white panties. Eh, she knew plenty of other people who lounged around in their underwear. She began to peel off her clothes, planning to step in the shower for a quick wash. She planned to brush her teeth and comb her hair afterwards. Then again, she should probably shave while she was at it too. Hair just shouldn't grow in certain places, especially not for a lady like herself.

After her short but nicely cleansing shower, she wrapped a light blue fluffy towel around her body. She didn't wrap herself quite right, so her breasts were barely concealed, but who cares? No one else was here but her. She was going to go back in her bedroom to work on her laptop, but she wanted to grab a quick snack first. She carefully made sure her feet were dry so she wouldn't slip on the floors, before exiting the room. She went downstairs and traveled to her little kitchen. Her hair was damp, dripping water onto the kitchen floors as she walked. Once she entered, she realized the lights in the kitchen were on. That was strange, she always turned it off before going to bed. So why-

-Did she see a spiky tricolored head poking in her refrigerator?

"A...Atem!?"

"Hm?" The man halted his movements and raised his head to turn to the side. He was wearing his signature leather jacket along with his normal black outfit.

"W-Wait, don't look-!"

"Why?" Atem turned completely around to face his little sister. He saw that she was indecent, and her skin was moist with shower water. A sweet smelling aroma of feminine body wash wafted his nose. With a scream she tried her best to cover her body with her hands, turning away with a crimson red face. With a rather bored expression, Atem just raised an eyebrow. Her squealing and fidgeting was irritating him quickly, so he furrowed his brows and scowled. "Yo." He commanded her attention and she flinched from his deep voice. "Chill the fuck out and stop screaming. It's just me." He reminded blandly.

"But I'm-"

"Naked? No shit."

Mana gritted her teeth in exasperation. "Atem!"

"What?" He answered back with a lingering growl.

"I'm your little sister, you're not supposed to see me like this!"

The elder sibling just rolled his eyes and turned back to the fridge. He grabbed a bottle of soda and simply flicked off it's top with a small jerk of his thumb. He closed the fridge and rose the bottle to his lips. "Mana, I've killed people while they were in the middle of fucking before. Not to mention I'm gay. I don't give a shit about your A cup boobs. Besides, you got a towel on." He tipped the drink upwards and gulped down it's contents.

"That's not the point..!" She fumed while stomping her bare foot, slightly embarrassed at the fact that he knew her bra size. "Why are you even in here!? It's nighttime you creep!" She watched as Atem finished the bottle in less than a minute, walking to the open recycling waste bin to throw it away. He crushed the glass bottle in his hands with no effort, letting the broken pieces scatter in the bin. He didn't even get cut. He walked past his annoyed sister who continued to nag him about his sudden home invasion. "I'm talking to you, butthole!" She pointed her finger directly into his back.

Suddenly, her hand was seized. She winced in slight pain, as Atem had copious amounts of physical strength. One little touch and he could snap her arm off. "Do you ever stop talking?"

She pouted in response. "Hmmmph!" She snatched her hand away and crossed her arms.

"Hn," He began to smile a little. "Sorry."

The soft apology made her eyes dilate. Her expression softened as her cheeks slowly faded from red. "It's, fine.." She trailed off. "Just, you know, call me ahead of time if you wanted to come over." Her gentle tone diminished soon after. "And don't look at me when I'm indecent!" She tried whacking him numerous times, but Atem just allowed her to hit him while chuckling to himself. "Don't laugh!"

"Heheheh."

Soon, the two were sharing a small meal together in her living room. Atem cooked up some cupcakes and cookies, which were filled with vanilla chocolate chips and topped with strawberry frosting. They were Mana's favorites. She got properly dressed in some casual house wear, which was a T shirt, small black shorts with slippers and her blue fuzzy robe. She also made sure she combed her hair. She put on her glasses, as she needed them before looking at a computer screen. Her laptop was with her, as she brought it downstairs to work while Atem visited. He served her, and even gave her a homemade milkshake. Strawberry flavored of course. She thanked him delightedly, and sat next to him on her sofa.

As she took a bite out of a cookie, she looked over at her older brother who seemed, distracted. He wasn't wearing his jacket, as he had to take it off to cook, so it was wrapped around his waist by it's sleeves. He was wearing a white wife beater, but it seemed a bit too small. Mana assumed he borrowed Yugi's, as their body types were different by muscle mass. He was looking at her TV, which was turned off. He looked a little sad, even. "Hey," She spoke while looking away from her light blue laptop. "You never answered me before, how come you popped over?" She gave Atem a copy of her key, so that's why he just slipped in the apartment. But it was still a pretty surprising visit. "You know I work from home at night sometimes, I might be too busy to hang out with you."

"I know," He sighed. "Sorry about that too. I just...needed to talk to someone..." His voice decreased as he spoke. He sounded a little embarrassed, and his eyes were averted away from her as far as possible. He probably hated sounding sensitive, but at least he was being honest.

She smiled warmly at his miserable attempt to ask for help. "Well, you can talk to me about anything. What's up?" She shut her laptop screen down, and took off her glasses. She rested them on top of the computer, before taking it off her lap and putting it down on the couch cushion beside her. "It's not Yami and Yugi, is it?"

He exhaled slowly. "Yeah. Well, no, it's my fault, but I don't feel comfortable around them right now." He leaned back and hugged his arms to his chest. "I lied to them about something important, about D75. It's a long ass story but basically, a lot of shit that happened to Yami was my fault, and I lied to them both for a long time. Dartz and I persuaded the higher ups at D75 to make certain choices, more than once. I was the one who got Yami to join us on our missions, because I practically asked the higher ups for permission." He scoffed. "If it wasn't for me, a lot of things would be different. I told them about it a few hours ago and, they didn't really give me a real reaction. They were shocked sure but, they didn't say anything to me. I left after I cooked them breakfast, 'told them I had to get groceries. But I didn't want to come back for a while."

Mana frowned. She didn't like that they were at odds, and she hated seeing any of them sad. But seeing Atem sad, made her feel bad as well. She leaned against him, feeling his strong frame on her smaller body. She stared at the black screen of her TV along with him, and made a sigh of her own. "Yami hates liars, and Yugi doesn't like secrets." She's known the trio long enough to know that much. "Why did you keep that away from them all this time? What even brought this up?"

Atem stayed in the same position. "I told Yami I could convince the higher ups to lay off of him. They're driving him crazy. He didn't really believe me, so I told him that I had a close relationship with them as a kid, and that I was highly respected." He glanced at Mana to see that she looked a little surprised. Figures. "Yeah. Well I went into detail when they started asking questions, until I eventually confessed everything."

He was being vague about what he did, but Mana felt that she shouldn't press further. Even though this secret seemed big, she could see that talking about it made him feel awful. Perhaps it was best not to pick his brain for now, but she'd definitely ask him about this in depth later. His sister grasped his shoulder with a warm hand, and formed a small smile. "Well listen," She said. "They love you, a lot. I know they'll eventually forgive you. You didn't know Yami was a...um...an incomplete cyborg. It's not your fault. I mean, it's not like you caused anyone to die, right?"

Her brother's eyes shrunk as his face darkened. "...Dartz..." He whispered to no one.

She flinched at this and tried to immediately cheer him up from his upcoming despair. She even tried to make him face her, but she could see that he wouldn't look her in the eyes. "W-Well it's not like you deliberately tried to get anyone killed, right?"

All the light in his red eyes was drained from that single question alone. He just placed a hand over his face and turned away from her once more. "I almost did..." He muttered, shocking Mana. "I didn't know Seto, or anyone else at the time. I was just a kid, it was every man for himself. Yugi was all I had, all I knew..!" He exclaimed. "I just, wanted him to live, I didn't..." He placed both hands over his eyes.

"Okay, wait, wait wait!" Mana cried, grabbing his wrists to pull his hands away. "Alright, so you did something bad. You've, done a lot of bad things. You kept a big secret away from them, from everyone. You lied and broke your promise not to keep secrets from each other, and you might be responsible for a lot of terrible things that's happened to them. But," She grabbed both of his arms and pulled him close to embrace him. "There's nothing you can do now. You've admitted the truth, and came clean. Like I said, you had no idea about Yami, no one did. And whatever decisions you made as a kid, you were ignorant. You didn't know you would make friends, you only thought about surviving." She caressed his face and grimaced at his sorrowful expression. "But now you can do something right, by helping Yami."

"If he'll let me."

"I know he will, and I know they'll forgive you." She placed a kiss on his nose. "Believe me, call it a girl's intuition."

Atem lowered his eyes, before gazing into his sister's. He didn't say anything to her, but she could tell that he was basically asking 'are you sure?' Mana nodded with a smile.

"Trust me." She replied. Suddenly, Atem hugged her back. His strength nearly took the breath from her lungs as her ribs creaked, but she was glad nonetheless. He buried his face against her shoulder blade, holding her smaller frame against his own. He smelled the scent of her strawberry shampoo from her hair, and her sweet smelling perfume. Managing to get in a position where Atem's arms were no longer crushing her abdomen, she made a sigh of relief and pat his spiky head. "You big ol' dummy. People say you're tough as nails, and I used to be so scared of you. All I knew was your brand name, 95.I. Whenever someone uttered that name, I'd get all tense. But now," She grinned. "You're just a big softy."

"Shut up," He grumbled against her. After some time of hugging, he then muttered, "I love you, Okht."

This made her heart warm up. "Aww, I love you too-" Hold on a sec, what'd he just say? "Wait, what?" She blinked. "What'd ya say? Oh...Ok..Okht, or something?"

Atem squinted his eyes. "¿Mi hermana?"

"Okay, that was Spanish right?"

"You don't know that either?"

She shrugged with a sheepish grin. "I was born in America, then I moved to Japan at a young age. I had Caucasian foster parents, 'till they gave me away and moved back. I'm actually an American when you think about it. I only speak Japanese and English, big bro."

"So you weren't born in Egypt?"

"No," She trailed off.

"Were you even aware that we were Hispanic as well?"

"Wait, we are?"

Atem let go of her and instantly face palmed. "Mana, Cereza is a Spanish name. It means fucking 'cherry' in Spanish. Okht means sister in Arabic."

She just shrugged again. "I don't know, sorry."

He groaned and tiredly got off of her and the couch. "You're ignorant to your own roots, great. Something else I oughta teach you, I see." He took off his jacket from his waist and slipped his arms in the sleeves. "Anyway," He looked to glance at her from the side. "Thanks for listening to me, I appreciate it." He smiled at her. "I'll trust you. Hopefully they won't be pissed at me." He reached down to grab her soft hand and pressed a small single kiss on her knuckle. He then ruffled his fingers through her deep brown hair. "I'll teach you Spanish and Arabic some other time. Right now, I should get home and I should let you work." He walked away from the couch and made his way out of the living room, and towards the exit.

With stains of red painting her cheeks, she waved goodbye. "Glad I could help. Good luck! Oh, and call me!" She reminded him as he waved without looking, and stepped out of her apartment. He locked the door back tight, and she could hear his heavy footsteps echo away. She puffed out a breath of air.

She sure hoped everything would go well.

By the time Atem left Mana's apartment to return home, Yami and Yugi were fast asleep. Atem got in bed with them, to which they began to cuddle the Egyptian in their sleep. When dawn came, Atem made sure he got up first to cook breakfast and get their outfits ready. After all, they still had work and Yugi was finally returning for a few hours today. He worked full time tomorrow, since Heba's influence depleted. Why not go together? At least, that's what they thought. Atem planned to go by himself on his bike, while they drove to work together. When they questioned this, Atem replied that even though he was a former agent, he couldn't just enter the facility normally like an employee. Since he was technically an outsider now, he needed to enter the building through the visitor's entrance, which was actually a more direct way of getting to see the higher ups.

After he showered and got dressed, Atem served them breakfast. Yami wore his suit and Yugi wore his lab coat over his work clothes. The two made normal small talk, like usual when eating. They included Atem in their conversation, who seemed more quiet than usual. They even kissed him and told him they loved him. Telling him good luck when speaking with the higher ups. Yami expressed how grateful he was that Atem was doing this, that he was a real trooper these past couple of months of dealing with them. Everything seemed like nothing ever happened. Maybe Mana was right, they already forgave him. This gave Atem a small feeling of relief.

Soon after, they got in their respective vehicles and drove in the same direction to D75 HQ facility. Atem was in his usual black outfit, with his helmet firmly on his head. Yami had a hard time driving near him, as Atem was a horribly reckless driver. Was he a good biker? Of course, incredibly so. But he didn't care for traffic or public safety, so he was a maniac on the road. He only really cleaned up his act when Mana was with him, but he was God awfully dangerous by himself. When Atem used to drive Yami to school, he was holding back a lot. Atem just loved riding, so he popped wheelies and bunny hops, even driving without hands periodically to check his phone. Sometimes he drove too fast and got in front of Yami, or sometimes he'd slip between cars and trucks in narrow spaces on the highways. While in the car nearby, Yami and Yugi just watched in both amazement and fear.

They thanked God that the drive wasn't far, and they made it to their destination quicker than expected. Yami drove and stopped by the gates to show identification, while Atem waved at them and drove off to the visitor's entrance. It didn't take him long to park his bike and get inside. Just to be patted down by security, taken through a metal detector, scanned and escorted to the front desk by guards. Yup, that's just how he remembered it. Before the receptionist could push up her glasses and say, 'We are not accepting any visitors at this time,' Atem cut her off.

"I ain't a visitor, lady." He growled with narrowing eyes. He remembered her, she worked here as a newbie when he was a kid. She was always rude, didn't treat anyone with respect until she was threatened to be fired or killed. Shame how they allowed her to continue working here after all this time. And it was miraculous that someone like her survived the raid of D75 back when they were fighting Gozaburo. Now she had wrinkles growing around her eyes.

She blinked at his curt attitude. "Well..." She eyed him up and down. "If you need a specific job done, please write in a personal-"

"I don't need someone else to do a job I already know how to do." Atem rose a brow, seeing if she would catch on to what he was trying to say.

"Oh," She lowered her head while whispering to him, "Are you an ex-con, sweetie?"

Wow, Atem felt his own IQ drop down by a few points. Was it really not that obvious? How the fuck did she forget an Egyptian with cherry red eyes, with crazy ass tricolor hair? The fucking guards back out the front of the visitor's entrance even recognized him. "I used to fucking work here you stupid cunt." He hissed with a foul tone.

She gasped, overly offended by his choice of words. She then growled and shot her middle aged eyes towards the security standing beside Atem. "What are you waiting for? Kick this punk out of here!"

They didn't say anything, but they glanced at each other before looking down at the shorter man. Atem just scowled and rolled his eyes at her. He then gave a small nudge to one of the large guards, giving them a nod. A gesture that everything was fine, and that he had this under control. They bowed respectfully and began to walk away from their sight, shocking the receptionist. "Have a nice day, former agent Cereza."

"You too, guys." He replied. He knew those guards. He had to greet them every time he entered D75 as an Elite when he was a child, because he used to have a job where he had to deliver things to secretaries and receptionists. And he had to see this very bitch, every single time. But she wouldn't run her mouth at him again this time. Once they said 'former agent Cereza', her eyes shot up like broken window blinds.

"C-Cereza...?" She murmured.

"Yeah, nice to see you too, cunt." He didn't think she deserved being called by her name.

"Y-You can't talk to me like that! How dare you?!"

"I can do whatever the fuck I want, this is my house. Trust me, I would have went through the employee's entrance, but I need to see some people who are actually important. Unfortunately, I can only get to them through you." Sure, he may not live in this 'house' anymore, but damn it, he was still paying off the mortgage. Therefore, this was still his fucking house. And in his house, he could do and go where ever he damn well pleased without taking shit from anyone. He looked over at her monitor, and lowered his hand towards it. He simply plucked his index finger against it, making it crack and malfunction her computer screen. She yelped, startled by his unnerving physical power. "Oops. Why don't you go get someone to fix that? And no," He said while walking passed her desk and moving towards the elevators. "I don't need a damn visitor's pass. Go fuck yourself."

Just was he walked to the elevator, he could hear others around him whisper in shock if it truly was the famed Atem Cereza. Asking if it really was him, and why he decided to come back. Perhaps he'd return to D75, perhaps he'd return and get a higher rank like Mr. Muto. Or perhaps he was related to him, or that Yami Sennen fellow who took requests. Atem even recognized some people from his childhood. Very few of them he liked, and most of them he despised with grueling hatred. He didn't remember them as clearly as he wanted, as his generation of D75 children mostly lived in one section of the facility. Where the dorm rooms where, and where only the high ranking veterans and Bosses traveled. Other lower ranked veterans or agents never walk around there, they were never allowed. And a very specific select few of guards were allowed up there as well. Still, he could recognize some older faces.

Once he stepped in front of one the large elevators, he could see that this one was already stopping down on the ground level. He took a step back, and watched as the doors slid open to reveal some agents and soldiers. They all dispersed, while some gave him a short glance before walking away. However, one of them was slowly walking out. This one was so old, Atem was surprised she was still alive. He remembered her very well though, as she was someone who would greet him whenever he had to travel on other floors alone as a child. It was only sometimes, but he'd see her and greet her politely. She always greeted him back kindly, and even gave him a pat on the head and some hard candy. She was one of the very few women in this world he actually liked to a certain degree. She was still wearing that black uniform, too. She was an older woman back when he was a kid, but she was a beautiful lady. Even though he couldn't really say that about her now, she still looked kind of cute for an old prune. Her short white bobbed hair shifted once she moved her head to examine the young man she once knew so long ago. He greeted her with a neutral tone. "Hello Mrs. Saiko."

Her hunch back craned as she walked out of the elevator while looking up at Atem. Wow she got short. "Oh my, if it isn't Cerecita." She smiled warmly, watching as he bowed to her respectfully. "Such a respectful young man. God bless him, Dartz and Ishtar taught you well. And you're so grown up, I almost didn't recognize you." She raised her old shaky hand and patted his spiky head while he was still in a bowing position. He stood up straight and genuinely thanked her.

"Thank you ma'am, indeed they did." He tried not to wince as she pinched her shriveled up fingers to his cheek to pinch it.

"Still so handsome." She tipped her straw hat to him. "I wish I could stay to catch up, but I've got information to collect."

He blinked with his mouth agape. "With all due respect, you still work here? Even now? Ishtar made it so that you could leave whenever you wanted without any consequences."

The old hag cackled ominously. She flagged him off, and with a dark look in her eyes, she smirked. "You're only as old as you feel, love. Remember that once you've gotten into your thirties. Age don't matter here," She pointed down to the glossy polished floors while turning around, and walking away. "Those bastards ain't ready for me down there yet, and I don't feel like being judged. Who knows? Maybe I'll be over one hundred years before I die. Kyeheheh!" She waved goodbye to him. "So nice to see that the new generation still respects their elders. Well, some of you anyway. Have a nice day sweetie, and don't have kids until your twenty-seven." She walked away in her old sandals, humming to herself as she slowly moved toward one of the exits.

Damn, twenty-seven? Well, maybe that number wasn't too bad. Still though, that old witch was insane. Atem completely forgot about that. No wonder she survived the raid, she was just as crazy as anyone else here, if not crazier. Shit, he kinda wished she had rose in the ranks to be a veteran so he could have learned a thing or two from her. Not only that, but she had to be immortal. That chick was at least in her seventies. Elephants would be jealous at how wrinkly she was, Jesus. He kinda felt bad for her kids and her husband. Looking back to the elevator, he saw that some people had already entered as he talked with Mrs. Saiko. He could still get on. He then moved forward and stood in the middle, staring at nothing as the door closed. He looked over at the control panel that was off to the side, and leaned over to press his finger on the very top floor. Once he stood back where he was, he placed his hands in his pockets.

Then, he felt someone tap his shoulder to gain his attention. He looked beside him to see a man taller than himself make a half grin. He was middle aged as well. "Hey, are you that Cereza kid who retired a year or so ago?" He stared at Atem's hair and smiled wider. "It is you! How ya doin', boy?"

...

Boy?

"You know the rules, boy. Look straight, and walk back to your dorms. Don't you remember the last time you disobeyed us? You don't want the scourge again, do you?"

Ohoho...

Holy shit, that was Mr. Kou. That was one of the guards that beat the shit out of you if you were 'disobedient'. And by beat, it wasn't just punches and kicks. They used anything they could find to whip your ass until you died or fell unconscious. Man, fuck that guy. He'd act like he didn't even exist, he could burn in hell for all he cared. "...Go fuck yourself." Atem mumbled while looking off somewhere else.

The man frowned, but he made a sympathetic expression. "Ah, you probably hate me. Ya know, for puninshin' you kids for acting out." Holy fuck was that an understatement. "I get it. But things are different now! That was just bottcamp for you youngins, that's all!"

...

...Boot camp?

Fucking boot camp?

Boot camp in the actual army, wasn't nearly as fucked up as D75. Those sergeants wished they could be that gruesome, compared to the torturous punishments they made innocent young children go through. He had to hold himself back though. He couldn't kill any workers, or else he'd be detained and get in some serious trouble that no one could get him out of. He bit his lip and slowly closed his eyes while exhaling lowly.

"You know, I actually had a few kids myself. I could show you some pictures-"

"Oh hey, look!" Atem said excitedly as he turned around with a false smile, and steadily held up his fist towards the older man's face. His middle finger slowly tipped up, almost poking him right in the eye. Once the man got a good look, Atem snatched his arm away as his face began to twist into complete rage. Wrath induced flames sparked in his red eyes, and he talked slowly and deeply, so he could follow every damn word he was saying. "Now go get yourself some fuckin' viagra, and go fucking fuck yourself," He walked to his direction, nearing closer until he reached his chest. "You fucking cock shining, douche blasting, cum guzzling pathetic little shit." He whispered sharply. "Oooh if I was allowed to fucking kill you, I wouldn't. I'd torture you for days, waiting to hear you beg for me to kill you. Just like you did to us all those years ago. Like when I threw that apple at one of your little bitch ass friends," He tilted his head. "I bet you wanted to tear my fuckin' head off didn't you?"

The man stared in silence.

"Yeah, I know you did. Well guess what big guy?" He slapped his own chest as a gesture. "I'm right the fuck here, I ain't a little boy anymore. You can try to hit me all you want. Beat me, torture me, spit on me, yell at me. All the things you bitches used to do back then, you can do now." Atem took a step back and shrugged. "I could just say I started the dispute, that I deserved it. They'd believe me. You wouldn't get punished. So come on, boy," He mocked. He spread his arms out while wagging his fingers at him. "Hit me. Fucking try to fight me, right here in this damn elevator."

The others who were waiting inside the elevator looked alarmed, and desperately looked to see when their stop would come. They really didn't want to get roped up in a fight inside of an elevator. Not only that, but some of them like Mr. Kou, recognized Atem and knew exactly who he was and what he could do. They were backing away against the walls, watching closely and cautiously with their suit cases and clipboards. Even now, Mr. Kou wouldn't speak or make any kind of remark or action. His eyes were shaking.

"Come on tough guy," Atem swung his bangs out of his face and leaned himself closer. "Give me a nice shiner, would ya?" He pointed to his own face. "I fuckin' dare you."

The elevator dinged, and the elevator doors opened. People sprinted off of the elevator quickly, no longer wanting to stay in that tension filled claustrophobic room. They didn't care if it was their stop or not, they did not want to be in the same room with an angry former child of D75.

The Egyptian scoffed and stepped to the side while crossing his arms. "This is your stop, isn't it?" He nodded his head over at the doors. "Get lost, pussy." He insulted dismissively. Without another word, Mr. Kou fled from the elevator, leaving Atem all alone. He just shook his head as he waited for the elevator to continue ascending. He thought he'd at least insult him back, maybe throw a punch or two. The same guy who joined in on beating the kids, ran away from him like a little bitch once he was finally confronted. The epitome of a true bitch-made asshole. Atem sucked his teeth as he leaned against the wall.

Tch.

Whatever...

Ah, things never changed.

Completely pitch black, with three large stained glass windows that were the room's only source of light. A humongous circular glass table with a dark wooden top. White plush cushioned office chairs, about thirty in total lined up around the table. It seemed as if nothing else in the room was visible thanks to the darkness and the small amount of light shining though. There were high tech equipment hooked up all around the room, but they were inactive and gave off a dull light blue glow. Computers, projectors, holograms. Pictures of previous Bosses and note worthy veterans were lined up across the walls, that were dimly lit with lights at the bottom of their frames. There were tall black double doors as the entrance, and dark oak double doors inside that led to a panic room. Digital holograms of the world map and global clock, was beside the main projector hanging from the ceiling of the room. Unsuaully large bonsai trees were at every corner of the room with white square pots. A small shishi odoshi was set in the middle of the huge table, but it wasn't a normal fountain. It only hit the rock of it's structure if someone was nearby the room on the outside.

This was the Higher Ups' boardroom.

On the outside of the room were two pairs of guards standing by either side of the hallway in front of the entrance. There were other guards at certain parts of the corridor, making it so that no one could just sneak by to get to the entrance. They acted as sentries for the perimeter of the floor. Beside the double doors was a face, eye, tongue and fingerprint scanner. You could not enter unless you were scanned and accepted by the computer. Otherwise, the door is locked tightly. No other room besides two restrooms and a break room that were all a little further down the corridor, was present. Those and the boardroom were the only rooms present on the floor. No one was allowed to enter this floor unless given permission ahead of time. No one could just pop over unless there was an emergency. If anyone set foot on the floor without permission or any valid reason, they would be severely punished depending on who it was. However, Atem didn't necessarily care for this rule. As stated before, this was his home. And in his home, he traveled where he pleased. He was just going to pay a visit to his realtors, that's all.

As he stepped on the soft black carpets, he didn't falter. He kept moving and walking just as confident and bold as he did when he first got here. When security saw him, they immediately stared back at nothing just like before. They recognized him, but Atem for some reason didn't recognize any of them. Perhaps they were new, but the higher ups told them about Atem. He wasn't hard to describe or recognize, so they probably assumed that's who he was and let him be. Once he walked down the corridor and stepped in front of the entrance to the boardroom, he saw that the pairs of guards wouldn't let him pass. He narrowed his eyes and put his hands in his pockets. One of the guards, a female, pulled down her tinted glasses and glanced at him. "Cereza Atem?"

The Egyptian said nothing back. She knew who she was already.

Hearing his silence, she placed her shades back on and stood by like a statue. "I am sorry former agent Cereza, but you mustn't enter at this time without permission. Please request an audience first, then return-"

Atem rose a brow. "You'll let me in if I fucking say, unless you want me to rip your tongue out of your mouth."

"Threats are not necessary, sir. But I will ask you again to please leave and come another time. The superiors are in the middle of a private meeting-"

"I personally don't give a shit, and I'm not going anywhere." He then glanced behind himself without turning around, glaring at the other pair of guards behind him. "And I dare you to try and escort me out. I'm not a threat, and I don't have any weapons. It's not like I'm gonna try to kill one of them. But I may consider hurting one of you, if you continue to stand in my way."

The woman swallowed a gulp, before making a small sigh and lowering her head. She rolled down her sleeve to reveal a touch screen watch, and held up her wrist to her mouth to speak in it. "Superior T, former agent Cereza is requesting to come inside."

"It wasn't a request." Atem retorted.

She scowled and tried to ignore him. "He's demanding an audience with you." After a few seconds, she placed her arms at her side and moved away from the door. The other guards caught this as a signal to let Atem in, and stepped aside so he could walk to the entrance to get inside himself. The woman held her hand up to the door as a gesture. The entrance slowly slid open like automatic doors, blackness with dim light showing from inside. He could hear that old shishi odoshi fountain whack against it's structure to indicate someone was about to come inside. "Welcome, former agent Cereza."

He just walked passed her and entered the room. "Mmhm." He replied curtly as the doors shut behind him.

Darker than the deepest cave, he could tell they still didn't care much for light in this damn boardroom. In the darkness, he could see the devices in the room that were on standby, were beginning to glow brighter. They must have been activated. The holographic map and clock was glowing, the lights on the picture frames brightened. All giving the room a light blue glow. He could see just a little bit better, as the five Superior Higher Ups stepped into the lights. All males with only one female present, these were the bosses of bosses in Japan's D75.

Superior A, otherwise known as Arthur Hawkins, was the eldest superior of the higher ups. He wore a light beige suit with a red bow tie on his neck. Gray overtook the majority of his hair, making it evident that he was an older man. He was here just before Dartz became a veteran, so he's seen the rises ad downfalls of D75. Superior C, otherwise known as Critias Socrates, was a member of a previous generation of D75 elite children. He was the number one survivor of the play pen of his time. He was tall, had short dirty blonde hair, and sharp, deep purple eyes. He wore a dark navy suit, along with a sleek black tie. Beside him was Superior H, known as Hermos Charmides, who was one of the youngest D75 agents who was a registered child in training. He was just a normal young adult who needed a job, and was recruited for his abilities by the government when he was in his teens. He had short light brown hair, and pale cat-yellow eyes. He wore a crimson vest, a white blouse underneath with black slacks, and a dark gray tie. Then there was Superior T, Timaeus Dion. He was the youngest Superior to ever become promoted to such a high rank, and the youngest member of the Higher Ups. He was also a survivor of his own generation's D75 play pen. He had short light blonde hair, and one cyan blue eye. The other eye was deeply scarred, and covered with an eye patch. He was the shortest member, and even seemed just as, if not shorter than Yugi. He wore a light blue suit and a black tie.

The head of the Superiors, was the only woman in the room. Superior P, known as Cyndia Crawford, was the most powerful member of Japan's D75. Unlike everyone else here in this room, she was the only native to Japan, despite her western sounding name. Superior A was from America, while Superiors C, H and T were all from Europe. She was born and raised in Japan with Caucasian parents, and worked her way into working for D75 thanks to scarily impressive political prowess. She had long bright blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin with an average chest size. Her body was skinny with a few curves, and she was only a little taller than Superior T since she was a rather short woman. She wore a black dress suit with black pumps and see-through black stockings. She was a lovely looking lady, who didn't seem to age a day since Atem last saw her. In fact, none of these assholes seemed to age besides Superior A. They all looked pretty much the same.

Their eyes' gazed directly at Atem, adjusting and dilating as they took in his appearance. Spiky tricolor hair, red eyes that seemed to glow into a brighter scarlet in the dark, an angry expression, and brown skin. That's the Atem Cereza they remembered. Shock and joy began to spread on their faces, some of them smiling as they realized their number one child had returned.

Atem just deepened his frown as they greeted him simultaneously.

"Welcome back, Cerecita."

END - 20!

EDIT: I deleted all questions. I decided it's best that I don't give any clues at all, that isn't good writing in my opinion. The most I'll give to hints, are the bold and italicized (or even normal words that you might gleam passed) words in the chapters.