A Monopoly Of Blue Eyes

by FeistyFox

He had refused to believe in his past, refused to be sucked into the fairytale that had been hurled at him again and again. But it appeared that his past had found him whether he wanted it or not. She was here… sitting right here in his class, this ghost from the ancient past, looking exactly as he remembered, exactly how she did in his dreams and the visions he had been shown.

27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Accrued Liabilities

He stood quietly on the observation deck surrounding the lobby, watching as the duelist began to gather outside Kaiba Corp. Below him in the large, open first floor that was meant to show the building off to great effect, Sarah and Mokuba were waiting off to the side for things to get started. Sarah was leaning casually against the far wall with her legs crossed below her, out of the line of sight of the doors, and thus the eyes of the other duelists. He knew she wasn't overly thrilled by the prospect of participating, as she felt she wouldn't do well by any stretch of the imagination, but seemed to be willing as he showed such an interest in having her be part of it. He doubted she would be so compliant if she knew what was at stake, and for the first time since their initially meeting in his office that first day when he threatened to be rid of her he felt self-reproach curl uncomfortably in his belly.

He had started to wonder if at this point it was a kindness to keep her past away from her, or if he was needlessly torturing her in his own way, despite his best intentions. It was one thing to say nothing when she couldn't remember, it was another when her memories appeared ready to bowl her over at any moment and she knew something was off. And he could tell she knew something wasn't right. She had a nightmare this morning, one that had her mumbling in Egyptian, although she insisted she didn't remember what it was about when he shook her awake. But he saw the lie as easily as he had seen all the others. She hadn't even been able to look at him when she said it, and he saw the unease resting inside of her. He'd also seen her studying him intently when she thought he didn't notice as he was getting dressed, as if she wasn't quite sure what to make of him, or as if she were afraid of something, although he didn't know precisely what that might be. He was cognizant enough about how unsettling it was to know something was wrong in that vague, unexplainable way she was experiencing. It made one feel insane and unbalanced.

He also doubted he was helping drive those ill-defined fears away. Shortly after he got home last night, a few minutes before she arrived, he had begun to feel an odd sort of tingling dancing down the back of his neck. He had glanced up, his tie in his hand as he had been changing into more comfortable clothes than a suit in his bedroom, and the feeling had intensified. The millennium rod had reacted to the magic as well, and all at once he realized that what he was feeling was the presence of magic nearby, at least relatively. Rolling his shoulders he went back to his task, aware that in all likelihood the millennium scale had entered the city. Having not expected that sort of forewarning he was unsettled when Sarah arrived, and distracted through most of dinner as he kept feeling little snaps of discomfort along his back. He was unsure if the magic was a result of the other man not knowing how to suppress it and hide himself, or if he was projecting it on purpose to try to get him to react in some sort of impulsive manner. Either way Sarah had noticed, but may have put it down to his mind being on the tournament if he hadn't nearly lost his head with her in bed.

No sooner did they lay down together than his past fears started mixing up with his present ones. A part of him, a large part, was terrified that they were doomed to repeat their past and this might well be the last time they had together. His memories of grieving for her, as well as years of loneliness and self imposed isolation after she was gone as the priest were throbbing in his chest with painful intensity. The playful, lust-filled, titillating atmosphere that had pervaded the last few nights they had together had been replaced. Feeling overwrought by emotions, which were blasting at him from all directions, he had been far and away too intense for her to think everything was fine. Sarah had responded to his silent entreaty for closeness at once, allowing him everything he wanted as he clutched her to him. In the aftermath, with him panting harshly as pleasure warred with fear, she had stroked his neck and back, as if she could see where he was being bothered, and nuzzled at his jaw comfortingly. She had whispered reassurances into his ear as he tried to catch his breath and asked him what was the matter. Instead of answering he had kissed her deeply as he cupped her face, trying to convey what he was feeling, and sank into her again. They hadn't slept much last night as he couldn't seem to get himself to leave her alone no matter what he was telling himself about resting and keeping her safe, but he had managed to distract her enough not to ask again.

Angry at himself for his lack of self-control he watched them both with unbridled affection as they interacted. Stretching her back slightly Sarah twisted her arm, trying to adjust to the duel disk on it as she spoke to Mokuba, who was leaning against the wall next to her. His brother was glancing about cautiously as he spoke to her, trying to appear calm, but the stiffness in his shoulders was giving him away. Mokuba had accepted his reasons for having Sarah in the tournament, but was no more comfortable with that than he was. Where he was trying to temper his terror of losing her down so he could think straight, Mokuba appeared to be trying to work out how best to help her make it through to the finals, where arguably she would be safer with both of them nearby at all times. Around them his employees were making last minute adjustments to the display as a camera crew set up to broadcast the start of the tournament. As he watched Sarah pulled her deck out of her pocket and showed his brother something in it when he made a motion toward it, either explaining something or asking his opinion on whatever they had been talking about. Mokuba was listening attentively and nodding, taking in whatever she was saying solemnly.

Had Mokuba been listening to anyone else with such rapt attention he had no doubt his jealousy would have shot sky high, but it was different with Sarah. Other than the obvious trust he had in her she also provided something to Mokuba that he simply couldn't, and he knew she had been for well over a year. Mokuba needed a strong female figure in his life. True, he could easily take care of his brother, had been doing so for years, but he certainly couldn't be a mother for all his protectiveness. Sarah appeared to have no trouble filling that role, or at least one very near it. She was kind, understanding, and affectionate where Mokuba needed it. There was something about a woman that calmed a man, no matter what age. His own mother had been much like Sarah. She had been funny, sharp witted, and quick to dole out praise and tender affection. Mokuba couldn't remember that of course, but he could. Nine years he'd had with his mother, nine good years, before the her illness had taken her away from him. It had been the start of the end of his childhood.

Despite the lingering anger he had over that, and the bitterness, he was pleased he had somehow been able to provide Mokuba this relationship. He wouldn't deny him a second role model that he considered to be one of the most competent people he'd ever met, not to mention the most loyal. As much as he coveted his brother's love and affection, as much as he hoarded it as well as his precious blue eyes, he recognized that he couldn't be everything to his brother and eventually Mokuba would start to truly resent him if he tried to keep him too close. On some level he knew their lingering arguments could easily lead to just that, and it was the last thing he wanted. He could be a great deal, could be the most important, but he couldn't be everything. He also recognized that emotionally, he wasn't… he struggled. Not with what he felt, because nothing meant more to him than his small family, but in how he showed it. Mokuba knew of course, but perhaps he needed a more open person, a more physically affectionate person, some of the time.

As he turned that over, watching them and trying to plan the best way to keep them safe in this tournament, which would no doubt be shifting about them chaotically by the moment, he heard footsteps behind him. Turning his head he saw Yugi waiting there for him to notice, his eyes locked on where he stood. He huffed, turning away from the balcony, trying to distract the man from the sight he appreciated far more than any grand work of art hung up in a museum. "Managed to sneak in again? I'm clearly throwing my money away on my security."

The other man raised an eyebrow, hardly put off by his sniping. "If you're done snarling like a rabid hyena?"

Thinking Yugi had gotten up on the wrong side of his generally overly optimistic and cheerful bed he smirked, pleased he had irritated him so quickly. "What do you want, Motou?" He asked, although he knew well enough why he was here. "I'm not in the mood for a friendship speech and I hardly need a pep talk. No one here can beat me, not this time, not without the god cards."

That rankled him, he saw it in his eyes, but Yugi held his temper. "We both know why." He stated. "And I know you sent Mokuba to talk to me, so there's no point in pretending otherwise."

"Mokuba sent himself." He informed him. "I was more than happy to let you all live in ignorance."

Yugi shook his head, frustrated with him, but not at all surprised. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, feigning disinterest.

Yugi didn't take the bait, simply got to the point. He supposed in some ways he respected that. "This isn't about your duel disk launch and it isn't about showing off, although you made it look that way." The other man was watching him intently. "I don't even really think it's about finding another millennium item. You don't care about collecting them. I don't even think you really want the one you have." He said nothing, only raised an eyebrow enigmatically, trying to get him to believe that was exactly what he wanted, although Motou was smarter than that. "Something happened. This person, the one with the scale, he did something to you. That's the reason behind all of this."

"And why would you think that?" He asked, his face expressionless.

"Because I know you." Yugi answered calmly. "And I felt the magic last night, and at your display with Keith. I know you had to have felt it too." Yugi sent him an annoyingly knowing look. "And you have the millennium rod with you now the same way you had it that night. I felt something happen after your duel, but it was over before I could get to you."

Irritated by that he said nothing, narrowing his eyes and thinking the last thing he wanted was Yugi's help. Ignoring the glare Motou stepped forward, next to him, and looked over the balcony. His metaphorical hackles went up as reddish purple eyes landed on Mokuba and Sarah with unsettling intensity. Sarah was frowning down at a card as Mokuba spoke, his hand on her shoulder. "For a man that doesn't believe in fate you certainly have embraced yours." He remarked. "Your dragon returned to you completely. You guard her as closely as you do Mokuba. The gods know you keep her as close to you as your deck." He tapped his fingers on his hip. "I thought you would have told her by now, who she is. You were thrown back in time with us, you know very well what I say is true even if you won't admit it. She would believe you now. She trusts you enough. What's stopping you?"

He refused to get near that subject with Yugi. He also refused to admit only minutes ago he was question that very decision. He had been forced to realize his past, and the results had driven him near to insane, although no one knew. For months after their trip back in time he had nightmares and visions so real that he felt as if he were still there. He had stopped sleeping and ate so little he had dropped enough weight for Mokuba to notice. He'd felt as if he were going crazy, and all the emotions from his past life had leaked into this one despite his ability to compartmentalize every other aspect of his existence. He had grieved for Kisara a second time, for the woman he had lost thousands of years ago as if it were a fresh wound. It had been traumatic, and no matter his concerns about her worry he didn't want to subject her to that. He was happy with her, more than happy just the way she was. It didn't matter to him if she couldn't remember any of it, in fact, he was relieved by it. Relieved that she simply accepted him right now as he was with no artificial feelings from another life swaying her decisions. He was truly accepted by few people and she was one of them. She'd said she loved him, and he knew she had meant it. He wouldn't ruin that, and knew Yugi would never understand what that meant to him, not when he had always been taken care of by someone. "My personal relationships are none of your concern."

"Maybe." Yami said, his eyes still on them. "But I think you're ignoring your fate in a dangerous way, and hers as well. Sarah died for you once. I think she would do it again."

"Is that a threat?" He snarled, his metaphorical hackles raising at once.

Yugi looked up at him, his eyes full of compassion. "You know I would never hurt her." The other man told him, and truthfully even he couldn't imagine that. For all the things he could say about Yugi he couldn't deny that he had a kind and generous soul, although he always let that go too far and got himself in over his head. "I want to help you. I want to help both of you if you would just let me. As much as you deny it we both know she ended up here for a reason. She ended up with you for a reason. Her death the first time caused you nearly irreparable harm even after your reincarnation three thousand years later. If she dies again I'm afraid of what you might do."

"Nothing is going to happen to her." He replied sharply. "I've made sure of that."

Yugi nodded slowly. "You certainly taught her to duel." He smirked at the reminder, still reveling in her triumph despite everything. "I think it was a bit mean spirited to have uploaded that video of it. It makes Joey look bad."

"Wheeler makes himself look bad." He told him, his satisfaction in proving it palpable. "The rules clearly state all duels will be broadcast. It's hardly my fault he can't read."

Yugi glared at him. "You go out of your way to make him look like a fool."

"I haven't seen Wheeler in months, and I assure you I would never go out of my way for him." He pointed out, thinking Motou needed to get a grip. "And you should really get it in that head of yours that he is a fool. I never understood why you let him ride on your coattails."

"He's my friend." Yugi told him, staunchly standing by the mutt. He opened his mouth to say something and then a thought occurred to him all at once. Despite his intense interest in all things relating to the group of insipid idiots that followed him around Yugi had always had an irritating loyalty to Wheeler, one that Atem constantly appeared to support. Really, he hadn't understood it as Joey could never keep up with him when it came to dueling, he would never come close no matter how much he was coached. But regardless of how many times he did something stupid, or got them all in a mess with his impulsive idiocy Yugi still stood up for him. He couldn't imagine dealing with that, with all the ridiculous baggage Wheeler carried around with him, but then there were reasons for everything. He had certainly done things in the last two years he had never imagined himself doing for another person, for all Sarah was far from an idiot the way the dog was. He stared at Motou hard for several seconds as his mind ticked things over in the meticulous and thorough way it did, and tellingly the other man briefly broke eye contact with him. He shook his head, his sudden suspicions confirmed, thinking, not for the first time, that Yugi had simply terrible taste in people. "What?" Motou demanded defensively at his silence.

The sudden snap of cruelty that he had been directing at Yugi, one that was constantly waiting to lash out, retreated before he could open his mouth. To his surprise, and no doubt Motou's, he came very close to making a civil comment. "I would take Téa up on her offer." He advised, his voice and thoughts devoid of judgement, and his tone calm. "You won't find what you're after with him."

Yugi looked away sharply. "My personal relationships aren't your business either." He raised an eyebrow at the nasty tone, which confirmed very clearly that he was correct about the nature of Yugi's feelings.

Despite everything a small pulse of empathy managed to wiggle it's way through him. The gods knew what he had gone through before he managed to get Sarah beside him, and the near anguish he had dealt with every day he hadn't had her. "He won't leave Valentine." He told Yugi, wondering how the hell they had gotten on this topic, or why he even cared. "Although I find it likely she'll leave him at some point." He shrugged. "Even so you can do better than Wheeler."

"You don't know him." Yugi replied, although it was apparent he didn't disagree with his statement about Joey and Mia's relationship. "You never gave him a chance. He's a good person."

"That's in love with someone else." He pointed out. "Although in the end I suppose Téa is as well. She liked the darker side Atem had."

Yugi pressed his lips together tightly, having worked that out himself. "You think I don't know all of that?"

"I'm sure you do." He replied neutrally.

Yugi's shoulders slumped in defeat. "I'm sure this made your day."

Had Yugi said that to him only a year ago it would have been true. He would have delighted in the other man's misery for all the irritation he had brought him, all the grief, and all the digging through his past, which he had no business knowing about. He could truly say that he had hated Yugi for a long time. Oh, he had respected him, but he had also hated him, deeply. And while he still wanted to defeat him, to prove that he was in fact the better duelist, he found that the taste of bitterness wasn't quiet as strong as it used to be, even if he was sure he would never really like him. "This man pulled them into a shadow game." He said abruptly, turing back toward the lobby.

Yugi looked over sharply at the information. "What?"

"He drugged Sarah and lured her into the shadow realm when she was disoriented." Yugi was listening intently, taking this as the peace offering he meant it to be. At least he never needed to explain himself with Motou. "Mokuba went after her while I was facing Keith. They dueled."

"Mokuba won then?"

He wasn't sure that was what he would term it. "The duel… ended before either of them lost all their life points." Yugi frowned in confusion, but he didn't elaborate on the statement. "If I'd gotten there any later than I did I'm not sure what would have happened. Mokuba was nearly catatonic from all the energy it took and Sarah barely lived, although she doesn't remember what happened." He felt his rage bubbling back up at the very thought.

"What did he want from Sarah?" Yugi asked.

"What do you think he wanted?" He demanded, thinking that was a stupid question. "He knows who and what she is, although how I have no idea." Yugi let out a soft sound of understanding from the back of his throat, although he wasn't fully sure if he did understand what had actually happened, for all he had nearly spelled it out. "He made a mistake attacking them." He informed the other man. "One I intend to be sure he pays for dearly."

Yugi watched him for several long moments before nodding slowly. "Let me help you, Kaiba. I know we've had our differences, we still do, but he's after what I care about too." Yugi's eyes strayed to the doors. "We have a better chance together."

He shook his head, hating accepting help from anyone, but especially Yugi. Still, the strategist in him saw the advantages. While it was true Yugi's magic was all but gone, he did still have some, the residues of it lingering about the puzzle like an odd smell. And he was a good duelist, the best save for himself, and he could use that. "Do what you want, Yugi." He told him, figuring that no matter what he said Motou would stick his nose in the way he always did. "But know that if it comes down to you or your nerd herd and them, I'll pick them every time."

Yugi sighed again, upset he wasn't eager to embrace the prospect. "I suppose that's more than I honestly expected." He replied. "Be careful, Kaiba." That said he turned and headed back toward the stairs, going toward the lobby to wait.

Giving him a few moments to get out of the way he eventually stepped up to a section he could be seen from and put one hand on his hip, more than ready to start this. "Open the doors." He ordered, his voice carrying down to his staff. People sprang to their places at the order and he saw the cameras turn on. Sarah and Mokuba both looked up toward him as Yugi eased his way onto the floor and ensconced himself near a different wall. Within seconds of his demands the doors to his company were thrown open and duelists began to pour in, many of which he recognized, or had personally defeated in the past. There were a few faces he couldn't identify, but he wasn't overly concerned. Behind them he saw the flashes of cameras going off and knew there were news crews from all over also waiting for this to get started. As the room filled up he smirked, his eyes gliding over the competition as excitement tingled up his spine. While this was certainly set up for a dangerous purpose he couldn't deny that he enjoyed dueling, and at least here he would have some sort of challenge presented to him. Really, it got boring after awhile, knowing that so few people could even hope to stand against him.

The noise in the building increased noticeably and he spotted Sarah and Mokuba trying to blend into the background as best they could. The went largely unnoticed as people streamed in, as they were out of the way for the moment. Within minutes the place was full and he spoke, drawing everyone's attention up to him easily, although he had already been spotted by a few of them as he stood in a prime spot above them to dictate his expectations. "Welcome to the second round of Battle City. I'm so pleased to see a few of you are still foolish enough to think you can beat me." A varying degree of responses to that occurred simultaneously and his smirk grew as he spotted Joey flipping him off in the crowd. "I hope you're ready for the most grueling tournament of your lives. Only fifteen of you are going to make it to the finals with me, so I suggest you listen to the rules, because I won't be repeating them." Cat calls went up and he lifted his arm to show off his newest product. "My new duel disk system is state of the art. All the duels are going to be broadcast from them, so I suggest you put on a good show as doubtless every sponsor in the world will be watching. This tournament is for world ranking as well as a hefty monetary prize, so don't think your competition is going to go easy on you. And by the way, no one can turn down a challenge without being disqualified."

Duelists began to eye one another, hungry to win and to figure out who to go after first. He went on as no doubt countless strategies began to be formulated below him. "The original Battle City rules for summoning and transfusion monsters are the same, but your anti isn't. You won't be putting a monster up this time, but two thirds of your deck. Once someone beats you they have the option of taking any spell or trap card you own as a personal prize, winners choice." Uneasy murmurs went up at that, as the only thing in the rule book about that was that an entry fee would be discussed at the opening. He had thought it would be a bit more fun to announce it this way, and he hadn't been wrong. "Or…" Attention returned to him. "If you're too much of a coward to let a card go you can always give up an additional entry mark in place of a card, but keep in mind only the first sixteen duelists with six marks move on. Once we get to the finals you will be giving up a card if you lose, so think carefully before you make your choice."

Waves of anticipation were starting to ripple around. He let it build for a few moments, watching the duelists below him with a critical eye. "Finals start in two days, so use your time wisely. All the duel disks will be activated two hours from now, which should give you more than enough time to organize yourselves in whatever way you want. Any public part of the city has been opened for you to use. I would think carefully about where you go, because some places are going to benefit you more than others." He let that hint sit and saw duelist sharing glances. "One more thing." His eyes landed directly on Joey. "As one duelist insisted we start a bit early last night I didn't get a chance to go over all the requirements for entry." The mutt rolled his eyes, clearly seeing where this was going, and aware, for once, of what was being suggested. "So, Wheeler, you appear to owe another duelist something. What's it going to be?" Sarah's eyes had gone wide as he pulled her fully into the spotlight. He needed to be sure the holder of the millennium scale saw she was here, and to be perfectly fair she did get a card or an additional mark as part of her win. It really only added icing to the cake that he could further taunt the mutt. He did note that Mokuba had vanished at some point, and was no longer in the room. However, he had been insistent he help Noah track the duelists and assumed he had exited to get to the control center almost as soon as people started coming in. "One of your cards? Or would you like to give up now while you have the chance? I'm sure she'd take your last mark from you if you prefer the easier option."

"Shove it, rich boy." Joey called up, crossing his arms and trying to appear calm. "I'll give her a card. I'm no cheat, and I'm no quitter." Brown eyes met his. "And we're going to settle this in the finals." His smirk only grew as he made a pointed motion toward Sarah. Sending him another glare Joey walked though the crowd toward her, the duelists shifting out of his way, and pulled his deck from the duel disk. Without hesitation he held it out to Sarah. "Take your pick then."

Clearly startled, Sarah took his deck, more out of surprise than anything, and looked up at him with wide eyes. He shrugged and she shook her head, quickly looking through the cards. She picked quickly, but if it was because she found something she really wanted, or was trying to save Joey some amount of dignity he wasn't sure. She handed the mutt his cards back. "Thank you." He saw her mouth sincerely to him. Some of the stiffness left Wheeler's shoulders and he made a casual gesture of acceptance, somehow pulling a graceful defeat out of thin air.

As Sarah tucked the card away he wrapped this up. "I'll see you all in a few hours." His eyes glittered. "Well, some of you at any rate. Most of you won't last the day." That said he turned sharply, his white trench coat snapping around him as he exited. As he vanished from sight he heard the commotion start up again and was pleased with how that had gone as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and texted Mokuba. He was eager to know if any matches had appeared on the security footage.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Having won his first duel with relative ease, he headed back to the control center where Mokuba was monitoring everything, distracted from finding another opponent until he could check on Sarah. Despite his plan to stay near her she had chased him off before the duels could even start. She had insisted that it wouldn't be fair to have him helping her, and while he had no intention of doing so unless it turned into a shadow duel she appeared to think that it was his intention to carry her through the first round, which did not sit well with her at all. Insisting that she wanted to win or lose by herself he saw very few options available to him without it looking terribly suspicious. He had agreed with a shrug and she had been pleased, kissing him warmly as they stood in his office as the count down for the start of the tournament began. Having never kissed her, or shown any sort of physical affection at the office he was caught a little off guard, but quickly returned the kiss figuring there was no harm as his office door was closed. Pulling her close against him he had run his hand over her hair gently as he tucked her head under his chin, showing her more gentle attention in that moment than he could ever recall showing anyone. Sarah had cooed at that, cuddling close as she took advantage of the affection, something he rarely shared with even her except in the aftermath of their lovemaking. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to, but he had found it was difficult for him despite how easily she responded to him. The idea that he might be afraid of rejection bothered him, if only because he viewed it as a weakness in many ways, and he disliked admitting to weakness in himself. As they stood there though, he thought perhaps he should do this more often as he felt some of his stress leaving him as her body heat and scent soothed him.

When she finally rocked back on her heels she smiled up at him and teased him gently about having fun before she left to scope out the competition, kissing him one more time before her escape. He gave her a one minute head start before following her out of Kiaba Corp and trailed her, keeping her in sight as she wandered about aimlessly. He didn't really understand how her mind worked sometimes, because she had led him on more than one rambling, destination-less walk since they started dating, and really even before that when they occasionally met somewhere in town. Apparently she simply enjoyed novelty, that was his best guess, and would go toward whatever caught her eye at any given moment, be that a shop window, a street performance, or a poster that had been hung up that she wanted to read. So needless to say, he had no idea what she was heading toward and strongly doubted she did either.

The real problem wasn't going unnoticed by her, it was avoiding the other duelists, some of whom were looking for him specifically for any number of reasons. He had been accosted within minutes of all the duel disks activating, and had lost track of her as he was forced to stop and address one of them. He wouldn't have bothered to duel the upstart to begin with, but the young teen had boldly run up to him, boasting to his flock of vapid admirers that he was going to take him out. Since he was obligated to accept any challenge he activated his duel band with a sigh of irritation at the hold up. Still, the duel had lasted less than seven minutes, and he supposed it at least got him a third mark quickly enough. It would have taken less time to defeat the kid, but the teen had panicked and it took him too long to make a choice with his cards the last round. The duel, no matter how short, gave Sarah plenty of time to meander away, and with no direction or destination he had no idea which way to go to even attempt to find her. He had snatched a card from the other duelist quickly, barely looking at it as he really didn't need to improve his deck, and left without a word.

The elevator doors opened and he walked into the spacious, air conditioned control room. Large monitors showing duels that were going on throughout the city covered the walls and there were three dozen computer technicians and dueling specialists watching what was going on, checking for cheaters and being sure all the duel disks were responding appropriately. Pleased with how well his second tournament had started he spotted his brother at the main control station on the east side of the room went to him, pulling a chair out and sitting beside him. Mokuba was sitting in front of a monitor at the station watching it run some sort of analysis intently. "Your first duel didn't last long."

He leaned back casually. "I would have been ashamed if it had. I would ask how someone that bad got in the tournament, but I don't really care."

Mokuba shrugged, his usual carefree persona gone. It was odd and unsettling to see his brother looking so serious. "He was ranked third in China if it makes any difference to you. You'll get more of a challenge soon though. Sixteen of the duelist here have already been knocked out. A few of them gave up a second mark instead of a card which eliminated them, and a couple others just got run over by better duelists."

"That matches our projections." He remarked, having anticipated that the lowest of them would be gone within five hours, and the bottom half would be eliminated no later than this evening. Tomorrow it would get nasty, and the duels would become much more vicious as only the top forty or fifty duelist remained.

Mokuba nodded distractedly as he started typing a command into the program, his attention mostly on that. "Some of your statistics have been rather badly skewed."

He frowned. "What?"

Mokuba reached over without looking and grabbed a remote. Clicking it had one of the large monitors closest to them switching information. It had been showing a duel between Valentine and Weevil Underwood, but was replaced by an active list of duelists and how many marks they had acquired. About half still had two, meaning they hadn't battled, or had lost and won at least once to break even. Joey Wheeler was among them, much to his disappointment. Above those sixteen or so were another fourteen with three marks, including himself, Yugi, Mia Valentine, and several other ranked duelists from around the world, including Mokuba's friend Rebecca Hawkins. Above them was a single duelist. Sarah was currently the only one of them that had four marks, which meant a few of those duelists that had managed to grab an extra mark had already been knocked back to three again. He raised an eyebrow at the information, but wasn't overly surprised, especially with her head start from Wheeler. "Sarah's in the lead?"

Mokuba's nodded as a map of the world appeared on his computer screen and a line started zipping about it. "Rebecca texted me an hour ago. She said Sarah wiped the floor with Mako Tsunami."

That did surprise him. He would have guessed she had been challenged by a much weaker duelist. "She beat Mako?" He asked, impressed.

"No, she crushed him." Mokuba corrected. "She took him out as faster than Joey." He handed him his phone, which had been sitting on the table between them. "Rebecca sent me a video if you want to watch it, or I can pull it up."

He did, but let the large screens keep an eye on current duels. Opening the file he watched the three minute duel on Mokuba's phone. Sarah truly had crushed him, and Mako was no pushover. He admitted he was impressed. Grunting, he handed the phone back. "I can see how this ruined my probabilities."

Mokuba sent him a sideways look, a single flash of amusement momentarily replacing the solemn expression. "Admit you're impressed with my ability to spot potential."

"Potential, an easy target for when you were bored, whichever." He agreed with friendly sarcasm as Mokuba chuckled. He turned the conversation to more important matters. "Have you found anything?"

Mokuba appeared grim, his humor vanishing like smoke on the wind. "Yes, but I'm not sure it's what I was actually after."

He didn't like the sound of that. "Explain."

Mokuba hit the control for the monitor closest to them again and the screen flashed. "We have three people participating that weren't part of the original hundred, including Sarah."

"What?" He snapped.

"About fifteen minutes ago this video came in from Hillside Park." Watching the screen he saw that Bandit Keith had showed up, he figured he had put on a good enough duel to be allowed participation since he lasted more than five rounds with him, ready to rip someone's head off. Momentarily confused at who could cause such a reaction he caught up quickly when the camera panned and his least favorite person appeared on the screen. Dressed as flamboyantly as ever Pegasus was merrily taunting the other duelist, who had a homicidal grudge against him for the last half a decade. He clenched his jaw hard at the appearance of the madman he had been very clear was not to get near him, or anyone he loved ever again. "Guess who won?" Mokuba muttered angrily.

"How did he get a duel disk?" He demanded, outraged.

"My best guess is that it was stolen." Mokuba told him. "Just like the five others that are missing from the manifest.

"What?" He snarled.

Mokuba shook his head. "We made twenty extra duel disks just in case of some sort of catastrophe or wide spread malfunction." His brother reminded him, as if he didn't know that. "Somehow between the production lab and the vault two stories up five of them vanished. I have Noah and Roland looking into it, but so far neither have worked out how they went missing, who took them, or how none of the alarms went off when they were leaving the facility."

"Where's Pegasus now? And who else has one?"

"I don't know who else has one." Mokuba told him. "I only know that of the five missing two have been activated. Whoever the other person is they haven't dueled yet. As for Pegasus I don't know where he is. He hacked into your system and turned off the tracking program you installed. Why he left the camera function on I couldn't say. He had to know it was there."

"He wanted me to know he's here." He told him, enraged by so many things right now, the least of which was that Pegasus worked out how to get through his coding, which had been excellent. "And he knew it was pointless to turn off the camera if the other duelist has one."

His brother reached up and rubbed at his eyes. "We have another problem, Seto."

His attention refocused on Mokuba. "The other person with a duel disk will have to show up soon if they want to try for the finals. If it's a Kaiba Corp competitor we can sue them for everything if they try to model any part of it for themselves. Everything on the disk from the design to the coding is copyrighted."

"That's not…" Mokuba shook his head and turned his computer toward him. "I tried hacking back into the duel disk Pegasus stole as soon as I found out he turned off the tracker."

"And?" He leaned forward to see what Mokuba was doing on his computer.

"And I hit this wall." Mokuba told him, clicking to another tab. As soon as it came on he narrowed his eyes and his brother turned the sound back on. The stupid pink rabbit cartoon the madman was so obsessed with began to chant happily as it ricocheted across the screen.

"Hello, Kaiba, hello, Kaiba, hello, Kaiba." It giggled inanely in the dopey tone of all old cartoon characters. He felt his jaw tick at the irritating cheer. This was Pegasus' favorite firewall.

"Turn it off."

"Wait." Mokuba instructed. "Watch what happens."

Frowning, his eyes turned back to the screen as Mokuba crossed his arms and pressed his lips together. After about thirty seconds of the same pink rabbit suddenly reached across the screen, it's arm comically elongating, and grabbed something he couldn't see. A moment later it dragged a blue eyes toon dragon out, a representation of his blue eyes that made him physically ill, and began to dance and bounce around with it as the chant changed. "It's not what you think, it's not what you think, it's not what you think."

He narrowed his eyes and Mokuba turned the sound back off. "Does he know what she is?" His brother asked quietly.

"Yes." He agreed. "The millennium eye showed him everything after he got it."

"We need to stop him before he gets her." Mokuba hissed.

Reaching into his coat he pulled his phone out and texted Sarah quickly even as his mind turned this over. When he was done he held the phone and spoke. "Keep watching everything and tell me if any of the stolen duel disks turn back on. I'm not entirely sure he's the one we're looking for."

"Are you serious?" Mokuba asked, flabbergasted, although he was keeping his voice low. "He's already kidnapped her once and he's stolen a duel disk! He's had another millennium item!"

"Why didn't he try to take her soul at the conference?" He countered. "He had the chance. And why let us know he's here at all?"

"Because he's insane!"

He agreed, but something about this felt wrong. "Pegasus was better at shadow magic then anyone." He pointed out. "He could control dimensional bubbles like it was a child's game. The person that you dueled didn't even seem to know he'd left a way into the shadow realm open. Pegasus is not that careless, and he's obsessed with those damn toons of his. You told me the man you dueled had fiend cards."

"There's no reason he couldn't have had a different deck to duel me." Mokuba argued. "He makes duel monster cards. He has access to literally all of them."

"Maybe." He agreed after a moment, but what had happened wasn't really Pegasus' style. Breaking into his vault, stealing his new duel disk, and participating in his tournament just to irritate him was though. "But keep watching everywhere."

Mokuba was not at all convinced as his phone went off. Looking down he saw Sarah had responded to him "For now everything is progressing well enough. I didn't think he would take the bait this soon." He told his brother. "I'm going to go meet Sarah for lunch." He shook his head. "I'll try to stay with her for the rest of the day."

"Seto, you really need to tell her she's in danger." Mokuba told him. "She's going to get snuck up on."

"I'll keep her safe." He told him, standing up. "I'll bring her back with me in a few hours. Call me if anything interesting happens."

"At a giant tournament with nearly every crazy person we've ever met?" Mokuba asked. "What could possibly happen?"

"Cute." He replied as he walked off, texting Sarah to see where she wanted to meet.

An hour later and Sarah was sipping happily at an ice water as he lounged in his chair. They had opted to eat outside at a small cafe she had stumbled over after her duel with Mako. The food had been good and the location pleasant enough he supposed. They were at the side of a square and had watched a duel about halfway through the meal. Sarah had been amused with it, and he supposed at least the two duelists had been evenly matched. He found he was very relaxed all at once, having enjoyed doing nothing else but eating and being entertained as they shared one another's company. He felt very normal and very at ease with her, in a way that he hadn't with another person. They had been growing increasingly close over the last few months and it seemed less odd than he thought it should have sharing space with her when, up until he met her, he had actively avoided staying near people. True, his brother was an exception, but even before his parents had passed he hadn't been very interested in making friends or playing with other children. It had always been easier by himself.

He knew too what it must look like to other people, and wasn't bothering to hide the relationship at this point. They acted more like a couple than they didn't, and the increasing familiarity and closeness they developed since she moved here hardly helped. Right now in fact, he knew they looked like any other well established pair on a casual date. Turning that over in his head he decided he liked the idea, for himself rather than what anyone else thought, because he had rarely cared for other's opinions on personal matters. As he allowed his mind to wander about Sarah set her mostly empty glass down and leaned forward, smiling at him flirtatiously. "Did you win a duel yet?" He lifted his wrist casually, showing her the third mark he had obtained. Her eyes sparkled. "I knew you must have. Was it a good duel?"

"Not especially." He told her. "It was over quickly enough."

She propped her cheek on the heel of her hand. "I was kind of hoping for a play by play or something. Maybe, you know, an overview."

His lips twitched up at her actually prompting him to boast. "If I thought it was an interesting duel I would tell you. It didn't last long. The kid had no idea what he was doing."

"Oh." She wrinkled her nose, disappointed for him. "That's no fun for you. I thought maybe you would have challenged someone who was really good."

"The competition will be better tomorrow." He assured her. "Most of the low level duelists are out. I would imagine only the top seventy are left now. There'll be even less by dinner."

She scoffed. "That can't be right."

"You're currently in first place." He informed her as he picked up his own drink and took a sip. Her face was priceless. He smirked at the look of dumbfounded disbelief.

"You're a horrible liar." She informed him as she shook herself.

"I'm not lying." He told her. "When I left Kaiba Corp an hour ago you were the only one with four marks. I suppose someone else could have gotten there since then, but you were ahead." She blinked. "I'm impressed you beat Mako. It was a good duel."

"You are?" She asked, confused. "He wasn't very good."

"He's ranked tenth in the world."

Her eyes went wide in disbelief. "What?" She asked faintly.

His smirk grew. "Joey, mutt that he is, is ranked fifth. Or they were I suppose. You've upset them both now."

"That-that can't be right." She protested.

"It is." He assured her, bemused she was flustered. Sarah was fun for him to tease. This was all so very pleasant and all at once feeling as if he had to explain this encounter away if anyone asked was abhorrent to him. "I don't like hiding this." He said abruptly. Sarah turned her attention to him, her eyes showing a wary kind of disbelief, and he went on, telling her what he wanted. "I'd prefer we were open about it."

He saw the nervousness in her. "I'd like that, but everyone at work…" She fidgeted with her napkin. "You have to know what it's going to look like. And I'm not at all ashamed or embarrassed, but I want to be able to do my job right, and if everyone thinks I'm only here because we're sleeping together…" She shook her head a little.

"You're completely competent in every way." He pointed out. "The people you usually work with know that. And it's not as if it can be viewed as a way for you to get a promotion. There's nowhere for you to go as you're the only person in your department. Everyone else will either work that out too or they can leave."

"You mean you'll fire them?" She asked, clearly unsettled. "That's not fair, Seto. People are allowed to think what they want even if it's not complimentary to me."

"I hardly care what they think, but if they won't work with you then they clearly can't do their jobs and can go elsewhere." He shrugged. "It's going to get out, Sarah. I'd rather be the one to be in control of when and where it happens."

She nodded slowly. "You're right." She agreed. "I honestly keep waiting for it to show up in the paper one morning." Looking up at him she gave him a small, nervous sort of smile. "What a weird thing to worry about. I don't suppose there's any chance you might consider a career change? I always imagined myself with a penniless teacher, or maybe a college professor."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"I mean, yeah, I guess." She shrugged. "Not that I ever thought about it all that much, but I figured that would be nice in a hypothetical kind of way." Her eyes glittered with amusement. "Not that there's anything wrong with being a business mogul I suppose."

He huffed out a laugh and picked up his drink. "My father was a professor." He told her, shocking himself by sharing that. Other than answering her question about their looks and parentage, he had never said anything about his parents. He had certainly not brought the subject up himself. He wasn't sure why he was bringing it up now, other than it felt like a natural progression in the conversation.

"Was he really?" She asked with interest, and he relaxed a little with the way she questioned him, as if this were no different than any other subject they talked about. "What did he teach?"

"Mathematics." He told her. "He had a doctorate in mathematical analysis. He used to take us to his lectures after my mother passed away, although I'm sure Mokuba can't remember that at all. He never did quite manage to work out how to find us a babysitter." He shook his head a little at the memory. "Maybe he just liked having us there."

"That sounds pretty boring." Sarah said.

"He was a fairly good lecturer." He told her. "It was certainly more interesting than school."

Sarah eyed him for a moment. "You understood the math didn't you?"

"Most of it, yes." He agreed easily.

She shook her head ruefully, as if she should have known better than to ask. "What did your mother do?"

"She stayed at home with us." He told her. "But she would fix computers on the side, and occasionally contract out to set up computer networks for companies. That was when the internet first started getting big."

"I suppose all of that explains your brain." She said cheerfully.

He rolled his eyes. "What did your parents do?"

"Nothing as impressive." She assured him. "My father owned this little hardware store in town that my grandfather had opened when he was in his twenties. It was maybe twice the size of my apartment. My mom worked at the library and tutored local kids through French class every now and then." He thought that all sounded very peaceful and very normal, the way his life had been when he was young as well. "I doubt either of them would believe what I'm doing now."

"Translating?" He asked. "You've always been good with languages."

"I meant translating at one of the biggest and most successful companies in the world, on the other side of the planet. Neither of them ever lived anywhere else. I'm sure they would have been shocked."

"I imagine that would have been a surprise." He agreed. "But I'm sure they would have been happy with how well you've done for yourself."

Sarah shrugged and changed the subject easily. "So, anything interesting happen yet? Other than my odd placement at the moment?"

He rolled his shoulders. "You could say that." Sarah frowned and he went on. "Five duel disks have been stolen from Kaiba Corp."

"What?" She asked, shocked. "How?"

"I don't know." He told her. "But I know who took at least one of them."

"Oh, good." She calmed slightly, understanding how that could affect things easily. "Are the police-"

"I haven't called them." He interrupted. "At the moment I'm going to let him compete."

Her eyebrows popped up. "Really?" She asked. "Who is it? They must be good if you let them cheat their way in, not to mention steal from you."

"Pegasus." He told her, his voice devoid of emotion.

Silence fell between them for several long seconds. Sarah was staring at him blankly, although he knew something was going on behind her eyes. She had to have some sort of opinion about this. "Pegasus is in Domino?" She asked at last, wariness in her eyes.

"He's already beaten Bandit Keith." He told her.

Sarah's face suddenly filled with a strange combination of wariness, guilt, and trepidation. He frowned at the reaction as she drew into herself, her shoulders hunching up, looking as if he was going to smack her. He was fully unsettled and disgusted by the reaction, even as he wondered what the hell she was about to say. "Seto, I really need to tell you something-"

"I challenge you!" Someone barked right in front of the table, causing Sarah to jump badly and stop what she was saying. Turning, he glowered, wondering who was stupid enough to interrupt him in the middle of a conversation and more than ready to blast them into the losers pit along with everyone else. This was clearly not a good time.

Author's Note: Sorry for how long this took. I'm not sure the next chapter will be any faster between the holidays and the excessive snowfall, which has me out shoveling for hours on end. (At least I will have amazing triceps!) I hope everyone has a great holiday! Cheers!