Hope you are all well. Pegasus makes an appearance towards the end of this chapter. I always like writing him because he's so dramatic and almost camp.

No particular warnings for this chapter, so enjoy.

Chapter 11.

Arrangements.

Having both brushed their teeth and got themselves ready for bed, they prepared to settle down.

Yugi relaxed on his back into the mattress, his head resting comfortably on his pillow. He glanced across at Anzu sitting on her side of the big bed. She was playing with her phone.

Thanks to his lingering jet lag, a disturbed and stressful night previous, Yugi was feeling exhausted. But despite his exhaustion, he was relieved and contented. Anzu had agreed to go home to Japan and start afresh, which was a huge weight off his mind.

She had also cheered up immeasurably, laughing playfully, and even kissing him! He had not expected such a quick change in her, because she had been so desperately unhappy after he had seen her flaunting it at that club. And then there was the trauma of Tony turning up at her apartment, threatening them with violence, and then dying in pretty violent, alarming circumstances.

To what extent had Anzu been involved with Tony? Yugi still wanted to ask her about her about her relationship with the man, but now was not the right time. Not after she was starting to become more like her old, chirpy self. And, anyway, she would most likely talk about it eventually, once they had returned to Japan and were settled in their relationship.

He felt his heavy eyelids drooping closed. Sleep would come easily tonight.

Meanwhile, Anzu set her alarm volume to go off quietly, before placing her phone just under the edge of her pillow, so that it would wake her, but hopefully not be loud enough to wake Yugi, and then she snuggled down on her side, gazing across at him. He was laying on his back, eyes closed, hands folded over his chest, breathing steadily. He still looked as boyish as ever. When he was clean shaven and relaxed as he was, he could easily still be mistaken for a teenager.

Sensing she was now settling down now, he blinked his eyes open and rolled onto his side to face her. He peered at her, eyes heavily lidded. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, "I was just thinking; this bed is so huge, you look like you're miles away." She scooted closer.

He scooted closer as well, until their noses were almost touching. "Better?"

"Better, she agreed," lifting her head and leaning over to place a little kiss on his cheek. "Goodnight Yugi," she smiled. He smiled back at her.

"I was just thinking too," he said, voice soft and relaxed, "Do you want to meet me after work tomorrow?"

"Sure," she said, already looking forward to it. "I get off at two. What time do you finish?"

"Supposedly by six. But it's the final day and Pegasus is putting in an appearance. I'm expecting him to keep me busy; he hinted at me having dinner with him when I spoke to him on the phone the other day." He did not look, nor sound too keen on the idea of having dinner with Pegasus, and Anzu could understand why; Pegasus had done some pretty terrible things under the influence of the Millennium Eye. Anzu found him quite scary with that horrible eye, and she wondered what filled the hole it must have left after Bakura took it from him. It was gross to even think about.

Yugi continued, "He asked after you. I didn't know what to say, since we weren't speaking. But it would be really nice if you could accompany me?" He said, hopefully.

"You mean, be your chaperone, Yugi-Boy?" She put on a mock Pegasus voice when she spoke the pet name Pegasus had given him.

He lifted his head off his pillow and grimaced at her. "Ugh! Your impression is even more annoying than the real Pegasus!"

She pretended to look offended. "It was supposed to sound creepy, you know? Like Pegasus."

"Hmm," he shrugged, "He's not so much creepy, as irritating these days. I asked him not to call me Yugi-Boy, but it was like water off a duck's back. Kaiba tried the more blunt and aggressive approach with him, and that didn't work either. Pegasus might be brilliant in his field, but he's completely mad and infuriating."

He was starting to get a bit agitated, so reached across and patted his shoulder to calm him, "Yeah, I'll come with you. I haven't seen Pegasus for years, except for on TV. It'll be nice to catch up."

"If you say so." He chuckled, relieved she was agreeing to come. "Message me when you finish work, and I'll hopefully know what the arrangements are by then."

"Okay," she nodded, leaning across to place another little kiss on his cheek.

"Shall I turn the lights off now?" He asked.

"I think so."

"A proper kiss goodnight first though," he said, placing a gentle, loving kiss to her lips. She responded and the kiss lasted a few seconds before they parted, smiling lovingly at one another. Neither knew who instigated it, but they both started placing more tender little kisses to one another's lips and cheeks.

Knowing he would become aroused if this carried on, Yugi placed one last kiss on her cute nose, winked at her and moved away.

"Night," he said, reaching up to turn off the light.

"I'll try not to disturb you when I get up," she whispered.

"Thanks," he whispered back. "But I expect I could sleep through an earthquake I'm that tired."

"Why are we whispering?" She wondered, still whispering.

He snickered lightly. "Because it's dark, and the boogie man is hiding under the bed..." He added a sinister laugh, tickling his fingers over her face and neck.

"Stop it Yugi! Go to sleep. And I don't believe in the boogie man."

"Shame.. I was hoping you might be so afraid you will let me cuddle you."

"You are the boogie man Yugi."

"Thought you said you didn't believe in him?"

"I don't. Go to sleep." She scooted closer anyway, and snuggled into his embrace.

"Ah... that's better," he hummed contentedly.

Yugi fell asleep within minutes of them settling, but it took a while longer for Anzu to finally drift off due to his snoring in her ear.

Glad of the big bed, she was able to slip out of his arms and scoot far enough away for his heavy breathing not to be a nuisance. And once she did drift off, she slept like a log.

::::::::::::

When Anzu's alarm went off at seven, it startled her. Although it was on low volume, it vibrated and she thought she had a wasp or something in her ear.

Sitting bolt upright, she squealed as she flicked her hand at her head, trying to swat the annoying buzzy thing away. And then she she saw the light emanating from her phone, tucked under the edge of her pillow.

Rolling her eyes at herself, she steadied her breathing and placed a hand over her heart to try and calm herself down; she hated waking up with a jolt like this, and it would probably make her feel out of sorts all morning.

Worried her flapping about might have woken Yugi, she peered across at him. The room was still dark and she could not really see his features, but luckily he still looked to be sound asleep.

Using just the light on her phone to guide her, she slipped out of bed quietly, picked up her bag and tiptoed to the bathroom.

Once she had finished brushing her teeth and washing, she dressed in her uniform, consisting of dark brown blouse, black trousers and flat, non-slip soled black shoes, did her hair in a ponytail and put on some light make-up, before slipping out of the suite and into the corridor.

Most people were still asleep, and it seemed eerily quiet along the corridor as she pressed the call button for the elevators. She did not have to wait long for it to arrive, and once down in reception, she made her way outside into the crisp morning air.

::::::::::::

Yugi woke a little after eight. He felt happy, and for the first time since arriving here he did not feel jet-lagged.

He took a deep breath and let out a long, contented sigh as he stretched out his limbs. And then he sank back down into the comfortable bed, too relaxed to want to move. But his bladder was full so he knew he would have to soon.

He looked across at where Anzu had slept and smiled. She must have been so quiet, for he had not heard her go.

Sitting up, he reached for his phone to check his messages. As hoped, there was one from Anzu, that read: Hey sleepyhead. Hope I didn't disturb you when I got up? The message was finished with a smiley face and a love heart. It made him smile.

He fired back a message to say he had not heard her go. He wished her a good day, and said he would call her later. He ended the message with a smiley face with love heart eyes.

His bladder could not wait any longer so he jumped out of bead and padded to the bathroom.

While standing there, peeing into the porcelain, it occurred to him that there was a lot to arrange if he was to stay in New York for another week, and he wanted to get it sorted out before leaving for work this morning.

He took a very quick shower to freshen up, put on nothing but a dressing gown, and then called room service and asked for a pot of tea and some scrambled eggs.

While he waited for breakfast to arrive, he rang Seto Kaiba with the good news and... the bad news.

"You're doing what?!" Seto shouted. "You have an important meeting on Thursday." Yugi held the phone away and put it on speaker. He had thought about this being the reaction and was prepared.

"Kaiba! It can easily be done via video conference," he explained.

Seto snorted, and grumbled something that Yugi did not quite catch.

"So, I take it that was a yes?" He asked brightly.

There was an ominous pause. Kaiba was considering Yugi's request, and for a moment Yugi was worried they might be about to had an argument over it. Luckily, his fears were unfounded.

"Very well Yugi. But I need you back here by next Wednesday. I shouldn't need to remind you that the planning inspectors are coming to review the proposals yourself and Mokuba put forward for the new Kaiba Land attraction, and I want you there to answer any safety concerns they might have."

"Okay. I have another question," Yugi said, sheepishly, "I need to rearrange my flight home. But I looked online and..."

"Leave that with me. I will e-mail you the details of your new flight ticket." He could not see that Yugi was grinning; it was what he had hoped Kaiba would offer to do. Kaiba owned several aircraft and had invested in the airline company; he would easily be able to change Yugi's flight for him, with no extra cost. Yugi hoped he would put him in first class too.

"Great! Thanks Kaiba." There was a knock at the door – an excuse to end the call quickly. "I gotta go. Room service is here with my breakfast. And, thanks again."

"Don't thank me Yugi. I will be making sure you more than make up for your absence, next week," he said caustically. That did not surprise Yugi at all.

"I'm sure you will," he said, after Kaiba had hung up, snorting lightly as he went to answer the door.

He opened it to find a young woman standing beside a stainless steel hostess trolley. "Good morning, sir. Your breakfast."

"Thank you," he nodded, standing aside to allow her in. She steered the wheeled trolley over to the table, and slid open a door in the side revealing a heated compartment containing his food.

She unloaded it and placed it on the table for him. "Enjoy your meal sir," she smiled, hesitating to leave.

It suddenly dawned on Yugi that she was probably waiting for her tip. "Oh! Just a minute. I'll get my wallet." He went into the bedroom, and quickly returned, handing her five dollars. She thanked him and left.

He sat down to eat. The plate was covered with a stainless steel dome and when he lifted it off he was confronted with a large platter of scrambled eggs, toasted wholemeal muffins, bacon, mushrooms and grilled tomatoes. He rolled his eyes at it. After last night's meal, all he had wanted was some scrambled eggs and green tea. Another week of eating like this and he would not be able to do his trousers up!

He poured himself some tea, and then tucked in. Despite worrying about his waistline, and not thinking he was that hungry, he still ate it all.

As he scraped up the last forkful of food from his plate, his mind turned back to his list of things to do before work. Kaiba had been easier to deal with than he had thought.

The next task was to ring Grandpa.

He figured that Grandpa would probably be harder to convince; he had already complained about having to pay Mai for working extra hours at the weekend because Yugi was away. He had been expecting Yugi back in time for this coming weekend, but now Yugi would have to tell him he would not be back until the following Monday or Tuesday.

He checked the time and dialled. Grandpa was probably drinking his usual evening glass of sake about now. Hopefully he was in a good mood.

"Yugi! How goes it my boy?" He chuckled, "Have you had any luck with Anzu yet?"

"I'm working on it."

Grandpa chuckled. It was his dirty chuckle. "Try using the Muto charm, my boy. Works every time," Yugi rolled his eyes, but of course, Grandpa Muto could not see his reaction.

"Don't worry Grandpa. I am," Yugi said, matter of factly. "Thing is, we still have a lot to work through, so I plan to stay here for another week." There was silence. "Grandpa? You still there?"

"Yes. Yes, Yugi. I'm just thinking. When you say another week, does this mean you won't be able to run the store next weekend?"

Yugi got straight to the point. "That's exactly what I'm saying. But I'm sure Mai or Jonouchi will be happy to earn some extra money. So perhaps you could ask one of them if they can cover for me."

"But profits..." Grandpa began. However, Yugi was prepared for this and cut him off before he could launch much of a protest

"Profits are good Grandpa. We can easily afford it. And I hardly ever take time off; I'm desperately in need of a break. I also need to spend some quality time with Anzu if I'm to win her back."

Grandpa sighed and relented. "Of course Yugi. You are a good grandson and I expect too much of you. Take as long as you like."

Yugi grinned. "Thanks Grandpa."

"Oh! And Yugi? Good luck. Don't forget to show her what a Muto man is made of!" He chuckled.

Yugi laughed in return, "Yeah... I won't. She's already coming round. Listen. I have to go now. I've gotta get to work. So I will see you a week Tuesday, okay?"

"Keep me posted on how it goes with Anzu?"

"I will. Bye Grandpa."

"Bye Yugi." Grandpa was still chuckling when Yugi hung up.

Yugi heaved a big sigh. He loved his grandfather to bits, and knew that the old man felt the same way about him. So he should never have doubted that his grandfather would be anything less than understanding.

He finished getting ready for work. Not wishing to be late again, he left the suite allowing plenty of time go get the conference centre. On the way out, he stopped by reception to check on the room situation.

As he half expected, the suite was booked, so he would have to vacate it after tomorrow - shame, but he could not afford it anyway. However, he was able to reserve another, more affordable room if he wanted it.

"Can I get back to you this evening to confirm the room?" He asked the receptionist. "Only I have one or two things to sort out first." Namely, confirmation of his flight time home, and, more importantly, see if Anzu would agree to move away from her flat and share his room with him.

::::::::::::

Outside, the sun was shining and it was a bit warmer than it had been the last couple of days. The sun was reflecting brightly off the glass windows of the skyscrapers, making Yugi feel more positive about the city than he had since arriving to find it gloomy and rainy. Maybe he was also liking the place more because things were looking up between himself and Anzu. He also had a week off work to spend with her.

He made his way towards the subway and purchased a newspaper from a vendor. He did not really need a newspaper, but it would be good to practice reading in English, and he quite liked doing the cryptic puzzles and crosswords in them too.

Tucking the paper under his arm, he made his way along the street to the conference centre, arriving twenty minutes early.

He smiled to himself smugly; he had beaten all of his co-workers there, bar one; the girl selling merchandise was busy tidying up and putting out more sweatshirts, tee-shirts, key-chains and other memorabilia, that was mostly Pegasus related.

Yugi had a rummage through, and underneath the Pegasus tat, found quite a few memorabilia items of himself. Some, interestingly, had the lightening spikes in his hair from when Atem would take over during duels. He wondered if anyone actually noticed, or if they had just assumed that he used to style his spikes up like that to look more intimidating in duels.

He was just about to buy one of the Yami Yugi key-chains, as a reminder of Atem, when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Yugi-Boy! Good morning to you!" Came the chirpy, melodic tones of Pegasus. Yugi cringed at the so called term of endearment –old habits died hard where Pegasus was concerned. His lip curling into a snarl.

But as he turned around his face relaxed and he managed to greet the CEO with a more neutral expression. "Pegasus." He almost sneered, but realised he should probably smile and be polite, otherwise Pegasus was bound to pick him up for being surly.

"Oh! Yugi-Boy! You don't have to pretend you're happy to see me," Pegasus jested, but Yugi could hear the slight note of hurt in his voice.

"It's not you," he complained, "it's the name. I'm twenty four and you still call me Yugi-Boy." Maybe Pegasus would finally get that his idea of a joke, or teasing, or whatever it was supposed to be, was not that amusing.

"Would you prefer if I called you something else, Little Game," he teased. That did it. Yugi had had enough.

Luckily, Pegasus noticed the thunderous look on his face and quickly backtracked. "Or maybe just Yugi?"

"Yugi will do just fine," he ground out, through gritted teeth.

Pegasus smiled, but with a look of relief on his face. He rubbed his hands together, "Then that settles it. No more Yugi-Boy. I will call you Yugi from now on." He still over emphasised 'Yugi-Boy' but Yugi let it go. Pegasus continued on, with the usual cadence in his voice, "Shall we go and talk business? I would for love you to demonstrate me your game. I have heard such wonderful things about it."

"Sure," Yugi nodded, happy to show him the game he was so proud of, but also hoping that Pegasus would get the theatrics under control.

::::::::::::

Unfortunately, with Pegasus attending, the convention was now swarming with media and photographers. So Yugi ended up having to do his demonstration to Pegasus with a film crew and a whole hoard of journalists watching on. At least it's good advertising, he thought.

It went without saying, that with an audience to play to Pegasus' theatrics knew no bounds. Yugi wanted to hide when Pegasus began teasing them and conducting his audience. He found it amazing just how different Pegasus and Kaiba were when it came to the media. Journalists all hated Seto Kaiba and were petrified of him, whereas Pegasus was like a charming master puppeteer, who had them all dancing on his strings.

Yugi liked to think that he was somewhere in between the two; polite, but saying as little as possible. But he also found it interesting how, although Pegasus was playfully toying with them, he actually gave them very little, sidestepping any questions with anecdotes and questions of his own.

However, the journalists were like sharks at feeding time, and when the demonstration of Spherium concluded, and the journalists failed to disperse, Pegasus became irritable.

And when they started asking questions about the possibility of him working with Yugi working on a new game, and also demanded to know what he planned to do to improve the relationship between himself and Seto Kaiba, the eccentric CEO looked incredibly miffed. He promptly stood up, clapped his hands together and abruptly said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I think we are done for today. I grow weary, and your endless questions are giving me a migraine. Therefore, I bid you all farewell." He promptly turned and left, going back into the staff only area, leaving Yugi alone with them.

"So, are you gonna tell us what your plans to work with Industrial Illusions are, Mister Muto?"

Yugi shifted his weight from one foot to the other slightly, and then squared his shoulders to face the journalist.

"I hate to disappoint you," he stated, "but I have no plans to work on any projects with Industrial Illusions. My contract is with Kaiba Corporation. However, Kaiba Corporation and Industrial Illusions are cooperating on joint ventures regarding Duel Monsters. So, erm... if you would all excuse me, I have work to do. Nice talking to you all."

Relieved that he had probably handled that well, he got off the podium as quickly as he could and went to find Pegasus.

He found Pegasus sitting, massaging his temples and looking rather annoyed.

"What was all that about Pegasus? I know you and Kaiba don't get along, but you don't just march away and leave me to answer for you!" He snapped, slightly annoyed.

"Oh, Yugi. You really don't understand, do you?"

"No. I don't," he huffed. "So why not tell me?"

Pegasus let out a withering sigh. "I wish you had spoken to me before agreeing to work on designing your game with Kaiba-Boy," he lamented.

Yugi was taken aback. Was that why Pegasus got so upset with the journalists?!

He sighed apologetically. "I'm sorry. I never even considered it to be honest," he admitted. "After I left school, I helped out in the game shop, with the intention of designing my game in my spare time. But I quickly realised that I didn't have the skills needed to actually make my game possible. Kaiba was experimenting with dimensional travel, and Mokuba needed my help while he was gone. I told him what I wanted to do with my game. He said it sounded awesome and suggested I should talk to Kaiba. Anyway, when Kaiba returned, I asked him what he thought about my idea for Spherium, and he liked it; he also had the technology to make it happen. We made a deal and four years later this is the result."

"And of course the result is impressive." Pegasus praised. He then hummed thoughtfully, appearing to cheer up slightly. "I just wish I had known your plans. I might have been able to help make your game even better! You could have been based here, in my New York office, living with your pretty little dancer." His mood seemed to abruptly swing again. "How is the lovely Anzu by the way? A little birdie told me that things have not been going too well between you two. So sad."

Yugi wondered if it was Mai who told him they had split up.

He wondered what else Pegasus knew. He had a lot of show business friends, and Yugi hoped that news of Anzu's bad career moves, or news of the other night had not leaked back to him. But why should they? Pegasus only mingled with the biggest stars, and frequented the most prestigious of venues. He would never be found lurking in a backstreet nightclub and casino that hosted stripper nights.

Yugi scratched the back of his head, trying to keep his expression neutral. For now he would assume that Pegasus did not know anything, "We've had some problems; it's not easy living thousands of miles apart. But I treated her to dinner last night and we got on well. She has agreed to return to Japan with me. "

"Oh! That's wonderful news," Pegasus said, so enthusiastically that it sounded false. He rubbed his hands together with glee. "Do remember to invite me to the wedding."

Yugi laughed awkwardly and blushed. "Well, it's early days. We've not made any plans."

Luckily, Pegasus seemed to sense it was not wise to press further and instead asked, "Will the lovely Anzu be dining with us later?"

"Yes. If you don't mind?"

"Of course I don't mind! It will be lovely; just like old times –almost." Pegasus suddenly looked a bit guilty, as if he suddenly remembered what 'old times' might mean to Yugi and his friends.

Yugi also noted how his hand came up to touch his cheek, just under where an eye patch now covered the empty socket once occupied by the Millennium Eye. No doubt those memories were as painful for him as they were for Yugi. But at least for Yugi it had been a victorious outcome. For Pegasus it had ended in defeat and humiliation. The cursed Eye had played with Pegasus, twisting his mind. By rights he should have been devoured by the Shadows, but Atem had spared him that fate. It was only later that Yugi discovered how Bakura had torn the eye from Pegasus' eye socket, leaving him for dead.

But, by some miracle Pegasus cheated death, and Yugi found it commendable how he had picked himself up from his complete and utter mental collapse, to re-emerge a new, and enlightened man. For eighteen months, the world had believed him dead; Industrial Illusions was being run by a mysterious benefactor. It was not until Pegasus suddenly re-surfaced that the benefactor was revealed as Pegasus himself, appearing fully recovered and now sporting a golden eye patch underneath that curtain of hair.

But Yugi could still see that underneath the curtain and patch, was a man who still suffered from eternal conflict.

I could not resist giving a little insight into Pegasus. I know that in the manga, he basically just dies. In Yugioh R, he's talked of as if dead. However, he is still alive in the anime, and makes various cameos in the movie, anime and in GX. So I have tried to explain things, as I see them, to show how he might have been assumed dead for a time, when in fact he was in hiding, recovering from whatever his defeat to Yugi and attack by Bakura did to him.

Anyway. I would love to hear your thoughts on it too, so please review and I will see you next chapter.

In the meantime, stay safe, stay healthy.