Chapter 21: Game Plan
As the school day came to an end, Yugi quickly texted Anzu when to meet up with him. He was kicking himself for momentarily forgetting about one last thing.
I AM SUCH A BAD BROTHER! HOW DO I FORGET THE ONE CHORE I GOT EVERY DAY!?
Yami materialized beside him, lounging mid air, leaning against his back as the boy ran, looking around him.
"To be fair, you literally never forget…" He yawned. "What did I even miss today?"
"I'll explain later, just try not to tease me too bad about Anzu today."
That woke up the spirit fully as he flew upwards before twisting upside down so he and Yugi were looking right at each other as he walked, a big grin on his face the whole time.
Yugi met it with a stern look.
"Don't you dare."
"Tell me."
"Don't."
"You know, we need to go shopping for a proper wardrobe. Something more… regal. More silver, ooo maybe some piercings-"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT-!"
THUD!
Yugi yelped as he stumbled back from the force he had walked into… He looked up… before his blood ran cold.
This is just my luck…
Donning a long dark blue jacket, looking like he wanted the ground to swallow him up right then… was Seto Kaiba.
"Oh uh… hi?"
"Don't tell me…" Seto pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Here to pick up a sibling?"
"Yes." He checked his phone. "He should've been out here five minutes ago."
"Probably socializing." Yugi smiled. "How've you been?"
Seto crossed his arms, shrugging.
"... Fine." He mumbled.
"Got ya…" Yugi folded his arms behind his back, bouncing in place. "Feeling better then? How's Mokuba?"
"We're both fine."
"Okay… Hm… Mokuba mentioned…"
No… No, no, no, no, don't-
Yugi snapped his fingers.
"Ah right! You have another sibling. How's Noah?"
Seto grimaced.
"Fiiiiine."
If you call fine what the last few mornings had looked like.
Seto yawned, knocking gingerly on Noah's door. He could hear some kind of noise coming from the room.
It was so early, what was he doing?
"They found the body by the riverbed. It appeared the victim was stabbed 27 times in both the abdomen and the-"
Seto's eyes widened before cracking the door open.
Noah was sitting with Sunny at his feet, a bowl of rice balanced in his hands, eating, as he nodded along to the podcast he was listening to.
"Okay but the weird part of this case was-"
"WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU LISTENING TO!?"
"Oh? Only Murders in the Prefecture. Wanna listen? It's their Saga special~"
Seto slammed the door shut, shaking his head.
Yugi raised an eyebrow.
"Fine?"
"... Does your sister ever subject you to I dunno… Depictions of graphic true crime?"
Yugi bit his lip, trying not to laugh.
"Oh… True crime fan?"
"Yeah…"
"I wish I could tell you. Dad had to enact a "no podcasts at the table" rule not for true crime but uh… archeology and Egyptology."
Seto held up a hand, signaling for silence.
"Nope. Mokuba's already subjected me to some of those thanks to her. I did NOT need to know what they did with the brains."
"Ahh…."
AWKWARD!
It wasn't long before Natsuki and Mokuba came running out… stopping short the second they saw their siblings.
Yugi had a forced smile on his face, tapping his foot while Seto was looking up at the sky.
"... Why does your brother look like he wants the ground to swallow him up?" Mokuba asked.
"Why does yours look like he wants Ra to throw the sun at him?" Natsuki countered.
"Good point. See you later?"
"Later. Remember, ramen shop on Sunday." She winked before running over to Yugi… and giving Seto a glare. "I still don't like you."
"... That's… great."
"C'mon, Nat." Yugi tugged her along. "We got things to do."
"Uwah! But-but, my petty snark-"
"No!"
Seto sighed, looking at Mokuba. He had a smile on his face, watching her go.
"Does it have to be that one?"
"Absolutely."
Seto ruffled his hair.
"... I can't say I fully support this choice."
"Noah does."
Seto inhaled sharply.
While he was working so very hard to work things out with Noah…
This morning hadn't done much for his mood.
"Noah also eats food while listening to true crime."
"Aaaand?"
"... Guuuh I hate how you always win. Fine. I like her. There."
Mokuba wrapped his arms around him.
"Thanks big bro." Mokuba looked up at him, grinning. "So, when is Kisara coming over?"
Seto blushed, not meeting his brother's eyes.
"Let's discuss that at home."
oooooo
"And then he looked like he straight up wanted to just DIE!"
Yugi rolled his eyes as Natsuki recounted the story to the girls.
"It wasn't that bad."
"Oh, it was that bad."
"Nat, humiliating me Amaya style later." He nudged her. "We got something to do."
"Care to fill me in then, oh King of Jackals?"
"King of Games to you." He looked at Akane. "We're gonna help her win over Jonouchi."
Natsuki stopped right in her tracks, turning to Akane with a bewildered expression.
"Are you SURE?"
Akane narrowed her eyes. For a moment, it seemed the temperature rose around them.
"Is there a problem?"
Natsuki shuddered.
"Nooo, no problems at all. Hey, if you like him, more power to ya… Besides, I'm not blind." She smirked. "He IS cute."
Yugi's face fell.
"No. I don't wanna hear this."
"He is really cute… and sweet…"
"To quote my bestie: "He's a-" Natsuki looked to Yugi. "... You know what? I'm not gonna finish that."
Yugi cleared his throat.
"Hey, look! Home! Where I won't have to hear my little sister say anything like that about my best friend ever again!"
Natsuki grinned.
"Why would you tell me it BOTHERS you!?"
"Mokuba Kaiba."
Her face heated up before hurrying into the shop.
Anzu whistled, crossing her arms.
"Impressive. That's the fastest you've ever stopped a tirade of hers."
Yugi sighed heavily.
"It's for the greater good. And my sanity."
Anzu ruffled up his hair.
"N'aww you're adorable when you're being protective."
His face heated up before clearing his throat, opening the door with a flourish.
"L-Ladies first."
Anzu looked back to him with a knowing grin.
"You can't run from this."
"I can avoid hearing it as long as possible." He deadpanned.
"Hm, fair."
He shook his head, closing the door behind him.
"Grandpa, we're home!"
Solomon peered around one of the shelves, smiling.
"Ah, welcome home you two! And you brought guests?"
"Yup!" Yugi smiled. "We were hoping for your kind of help actually."
Solomon raised an eyebrow, leaning on the broom in his hands.
"Oh?"
Yugi gestured to Akane.
"Go on."
She fumbled with her hands, her face heating up.
Anzu rested a hand on her shoulder, giving a thumbs up.
Akane took a deep breath.
"I wanna tell Jonouchi how much he means to me and how I truly feel about him. I want him to know that… that he's special in his own way. I want him to know all of that… but I get so scared trying to write letters or trying to talk to him about it that… I was hoping there was a gift I could give him with it attached." She explained, fiddling with the ribbon on her uniform. "You can't ever take those words back. I want them to count."
Solomon nodded, smiling softly.
That certainly took him back to better times.
"Well, I think I know just the thing to help you out." He headed behind the counter, rifling through the cabinet behind it.
Yugi and Natsuki exchanged a knowing grin, hurrying over to the counter.
After a moment, he produced a white box, setting it on the counter.
"This is a gift that will help you find your voice with him. I can guarantee it will help." He explained, lifting the lid off.
Inside was a blank jig-saw puzzle.
Akane tilted her head.
"A puzzle?"
Solomon nodded.
"With this puzzle, you write your message out. You can use a dry erase marker to erase it if you're not sure… and when you are, break up the pieces and present them to him." Solomon explained. "When the puzzle is completed, he'll see your full message."
"Graaandpa!" Natsuki whined a little. "You can't leave it at that! I see that look in your eyes."
"I was just getting to that." He chuckled. "This is also a puzzle I've kept in stock for decades for moments like these… because a very long time ago, I asked my dear wife to be mine with this same puzzle… and when my son proposed to his wife, he used this same puzzle. It never fails to guarantee a couple's happiness."
Yugi smiled.
And one day, I'll get the courage to use it myself…
Akane's eyes were wide in wonder.
"You think so?"
Solomon winked.
"I know so."
"I'll take it!"
Akane started to take out her wallet when he held up a hand.
"Huh?"
"No need." Solomon grinned. "I think I'd be doing this puzzle's legacy a disservice by charging you for it. Just be true with him. Alright?"
"Okay! Thank you so much!"
"Anytime."
Anzu grinned.
"Now, we need a plan."
Akane held the puzzle box close to her.
"What if I… just put it in his desk?"
"He'll probably take it out the second he sees it." Miho sighed. "He's pretty bad at keeping things subtle."
"If that happens, play keep away." Natsuki propped her chin up.
Yugi nudged her hard.
"Instead of a BAD IDEA, how about when he does, I'll take him to the roof and he can finish it there? Then you'll know right away."
"And we'll distract any teachers."
"O-Okay… You guys didn't have to do all this." She smiled. "Thank you."
oooooo
AAAAAA HOW AM I THE LATE ONE!?
Anzu cursed under her breath as she booked it towards the school. She could already see other students hurrying inside… Along with some of the boys gawking at someone walking up.
Oh great, she's keeping an eye out… Who's that with her?
Standing beside her, was a boy around 16, with long snowy white hair. He was right beside her, whispering as he nodded to someone in particular.
She slowed down.
Ms. Chuono seemed to lock onto one student in particular, going over to them.
"My, oh my, what's that on your bag?"
The student swallowed hard.
"Just a… a charm."
Ms. Chuono ripped it right off of her bag.
The girl made a grab for it before it was held out of reach.
"It's not against the rules, I checked-!"
"It is as of today. We'll be cracking down more on personal items." She smiled coolly. "Now, run along." She eyed the girl's ears. "Take out those earrings as well."
"Y-Yes, ma'am…"
She looked to the boy beside her.
"Good eye."
He smiled, perking up.
"Anything for you, Ms. Chuono! Happy to help!"
Snitch… Anzu grimaced, keeping her head down as she walked by them.
She stole one last glance over her shoulder…
Why is he glaring at me like that…?