Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! isn't mine, nor will it ever be mine! *cries*
I think everyone knows what's gonna happen in this chapter, since Mitsuko wants to go independent on getting money for college! I wonder if everything will go smoothly like the manga chapters I based it on...?
Chapter 5: The Job From Hell
Mitsuko let her hair down and tied it in a ponytail in the girls' bathroom, before she walked to her afternoon job, at a diner named Burger World. She worked harder than anyone else, just to put the tips she got into the Millennium Puzzle box. She even took extra shifts when she could, even to closing time.
She was pulling her second shift when Anzu came in, both staring at each other in shock.
"Mitsu? What're you doing here?"
Oh no! What's she doing here?! If she brought any of the others, I'm sunk! Act natural, Mitsuko! She smiled and waved the girl in. "Welcome to Burger World! What can I get you?"
Now it was Anzu's turn to squirm. She then murmured, "I, uh, wanted to apply..."
"Mutou! Get moving! You're not paid to stare at the customers!"
"Yes Boss!" she chirped and waved to Anzu. "She wants to apply for a job!"
"Is that so? I always need more workers, so fill in your information right here and I'll take a look once you hand it in. Good work Mutou, you're getting a raise for recruiting."
"Yes Boss!"
"Now get going, you're blocking the door!"
She went to the cash register and began her shift there.
A few days passed in peace, but then the two girls' absence was noticed by the boys of their group. Yugi and Honda were swamped with homework, so Jonouchi and Atem (the former skipping out on it while the latter had actually finished almost as quickly as Mitsuko) followed Anzu, since Mitsuko had given them the slip.
"What if by the off chance they're not going to the same place?" Atem questioned his taller blonde friend.
"Aw come on, they've got to be, they leave at around the same time: right after school," Jonouchi assured the former pharaoh. "She's going in a building, let's follow her in!"
"Isn't this—"
They entered and a waitress greeted, "Welcome to Burger World! What can I get you?"
The pair was befuddled. They followed the girl to the table and ordered, the girl going to the counter.
"Two combos for table five!"
A familiar voice rang out from the back, "I gotcha!"
Atem reached out subtly and realized it was Mitsuko. He frowned and asked Jonouchi, "What would possess Mitsuko-sama and Mazaki-san to work at a diner when it's against school rules to work an after-school job?"
Jonouchi stopped before he could speak when Mitsuko came over and put the tray down. "Sorry to keep you waiting! Here's your food and just let me know if there's anything else you would like!"
Atem opened his mouth to ask her, but she looked up when a voice called, "Ko-chan! I'd like another combo!"
She smiled and turned away from them, going to the counter and calling, "Sozoji-kun would like another combo, Anzu!"
"Another? That guy must have a crush on you to be spending all this money!" Anzu teased from the back.
Mitsuko giggled buoyantly and took the food when it was ready. She walked over to the table at the end corner and Jonouchi and Atem stared at the sight of Sozoji, wearing his street clothes and his sunglasses off when Mitsuko came over. She placed the tray on his table and took the empty one he had, placing a paper in his hand. He opened it and his eyes lit up.
"Thanks, Ko-chan! This advice is gold!"
"Would you like me to bag this up so you can get going on your music, Zo-kun?"
His face flushed and he grinned. "Sure! I need to write this down right away!"
He scurried off after leaving a huge tip.
"How much did he leave this time?" Anzu asked.
"Fifty thousand yen."
"You're so lucky! I wish someone would give me a tip that large!"
It was then the two girls speared the two boys with glares so sharp daggers would be less painful.
"What should we do to them? Glue their mouths shut?" Anzu whispered to Mitsuko.
"We could always threaten to lock them in a room with my favorites blaring from the speakers."
"We both know Jonouchi's a rumor spreader of the worst kind, we can't let them leave or else we'll get found out for sure!"
The door chimed and Mitsuko hissed, "We'll deal with this later, there's a customer."
She walked over and only got a flash of orange and "777" before she was grabbed and the click of a gun made her freeze.
"Okay, everyone on the floor or the girl's dead!"
In desperation, she called out mentally, /Atem-ou, help me!\
Atem, who was on the floor next to Jonouchi, snapped his eyes on her. /You wish for my help now, when you've ignored me or treated me with hostility for so long?\\
/Oh no,\ she growled. /You are not being that guy today. This job is very important to me, and MY LIFE IS BEING THREATENED!\
/Promise me you'll treat me civilly and I'll help you.\\
She gritted her teeth, but sighed inwardly. /Fine, but if you don't hurry, Jii-chan'll have your hide for getting his favorite granddaughter killed.\
/You're his only granddaughter.\\
"You! The bitty kid with the funny eyes!"
/He means you.\
"Get me some booze and cigarettes! Lucky Stripe!"
The criminal sat down in a booth, blindfolding Mitsuko with the ribbon she had tied around her ponytail. She bit her lip and knew Atem would be playing a Shadow Game for her life.
"Hey! Who said you could sit down?!"
"Why don't I keep you company?" Atem asked in a playful voice. "If you've got the guts, how about we play a game?"
"Hmmm, a game, I need to have a little fun."
"However, the loser of this game loses his life!"
/You're nuts,\ Mitsuko deadpanned. /But then again, higher stakes means higher rewards. Gambling with your life will only pay off a certain number of times, so be careful.\
/I've never lost when the stakes are this high, Mitsuko-sama. You have no need to worry yourself.\\
"Interesting..." The sound of a liquid reached her ears. "What are the rules?"
"I shall explain them!"
"I'm listening! Heh heh..."
"You and I must stay on opposite sides of the table, and can interact, but with one restriction: We each choose one of our ten fingers and the finger you choose is the only one you can move! Which finger you may use is entirely up to you. So, which will you choose?"
The criminal laughed. "I choose my right index finger, of course! All I need to kill you is this finger on the trigger!"
"Then I choose my right thumb!"
What is he planning? This is a game with his life at stake! What could he possibly do with his thumb? I don't get it! I can't see, so I can't tell what he's going to do!
"What will you do when the game begins?"
"I'll pull the trigger!"
"Game start!"
"HA HA HA HA HA! GAME OVER!"
/WHATEVER YOU HAVE PLANNED, YOU'D BETTER DO IT NOW!\
Click.
/What—is that a lighter I hear? Where did you get that?!\
"I've wanted a smoke for a while. Your last action before dying will be to light my cigarette!"
/That better not be Jii-chan's special lighter! He's been looking for that!\
/Be calm, it isn't, it's just the lighter he ordered to be brought with his cigarettes. Now, listen and know I've won this game.\\
"Here's the lighter! Take it with you to the next world!"
"Huh...?!"
The sound of the liquor spilling over onto the table then seat, plus the tension and fear in the air had Mitsuko tensing as well. /Are you sure the game is won? What if he pulls the trigger?!\
/I placed the lighter on the top of his hand where's he's holding the bottle.\\
"Don't pull the trigger! The recoil will definitely make the lighter fall! Plus, that's Russian Vodka, one-eighty proof!"
Wow, he really thought this game out. How could such a strategist from Ancient Egypt exist?!
He took her hand and pulled her away from the table at a fast walk, her stumbling to keep up.
"Oh no...oh no... But I'm lucky..."
His anguished scream as he burst into flames made Mitsuko jump as Atem untied her ribbon. Her shivering was stopped as he squeezed her hand.
"You're safe, Mitsuko-sama."
"Atem-ou..."
He smiled, just as Jonouchi and Anzu came running.
"Wow, Yami-san! You're AWESOME!" Jonouchi shouted, hugging him from behind.
"Thanks, Jonouchi-san."
"We're glad Yugi and Honda aren't here!" Anzu worried as she looked Mitsuko up and down. "You're okay, right?"
Mitsuko rubbed her arms, which had drops of alcohol on them. "That was scary...I thought we both were going to die..." I'll never be mean to Atem-ou again, if he can save my life with a little game! I'll never, ever, EVER take games lightly again! Anything could become a death match!
Anzu hugged her and stroked her hair. "Don't you worry, Mitsu. We'll take you back home and you can get some sleep, okay?"
Just then, sirens blared as cop cars squealed into the parking lot. Police officers barged in, holding guns at the ready. Mitsuko whimpered and held onto her friend tighter, Jonouchi patting her back. Atem still held her hand, whispering words of comfort to her terrified soul.
"Young lady, are you alright?" an officer asked Mitsuko, as some others inspected the charred corpse of the criminal. He saw her eyes on his gun and put it back in its holster, which made her relax a little. "It's safe now, you don't have to be afraid."
"That freaky guy was holding her hostage and threatened to kill Yami-san! If he hadn't outwitted that guy, both of them would've been dead!" Jonouchi revealed, furious the police hadn't come earlier. "If we'd waited until you guys came, he could've shot all of us!"
Atem sighed. "Not really, he only had six bullets in the gun, including the one in the chamber. I knew what I was doing."
"What happened, young man?"
"Not in front of my cousin, please. She's already in a state of mental breakdown. I don't need her reliving it any more than she has to."
"We have an ambulance outside, we can take her to the hospital to help her calm down."
The three friends looked at each other, before nodding. Mitsuko clung to Anzu the whole way to the ambulance, and curled up in a tight ball as Atem was helped up into the vehicle, reclaiming her hand. She squeezed so hard he stroked the back of her hand with his free one, trying to calm her inside her soul room.
/Mitsuko-sama, please, don't do this to yourself. No one will hurt you under my watch.\\
/I...ca...n...t...\
At that time, her soul room door closed.
/MITSUKO!\\
Her body went limp, the paramedics panicking as they turned her onto her back. One checked her pulse and shook his head.
"Young man, let go of her! Her heart's stopped completely! Breathing following, brain activity at a standstill! I'll have to try and restart her heart before she goes brain dead! Clear!"
The shock paddles made Mitsuko arch off the gurney and slam back down. Atem grimaced, but the machine which monitored her heart beeped once before beginning to beep at a steady rhythm. The paramedics sighed and attached her to a mask to help her breathe. Atem reached out for her hand and then called out mentally, /Mitsuko-sama? Are you there?\\
No answer.
He lowered his head as he tried to keep his composure. This couldn't have happened... Why had she closed her soul room to him when all he wanted to do was make her feel safe?
Sugoroku went nuts when he came to the hospital, his eyes full of fear as he clutched his granddaughter's hand. "Mi! My precious granddaughter! How did this happen?!" he demanded of the doctor as soon as he stopped panicking over her prone form.
"She went into shock after receiving quite the scare this afternoon, Mutou-san, and it stopped her heart. After her heart was restarted, she fell into a coma from the experience. Her vitals are steady, but she won't wake up. It's a very real possibility you will never see her wake up again."
Yugi buried his face in his twin's chest. "Mi-ne! Come back! Please!"
"Yugi, we have to talk to Atem-san about this, come on."
"But Jii-chan—"
Sugoroku pulled his grandson from the room and the boy rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. Atem sat contemplatively in the corner of the waiting room, the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. Anzu was softly sobbing while Jonouchi and Honda were trying to contain their sorrow and anger while making futile attempts to comfort her.
"Atem-san, what happened to Mi?"
All faces turned to the pharaoh. He had a glazed-over look that the others had seen Mitsuko take on sometimes, before he looked up with empty eyes. He seemed a whole other person, once Mitsuko had gone into a coma. He'd always been quiet, but he no longer spoke unless spoken to, and that empty look was all he wore.
"Mitsuko-sama has...closed the door to her soul room."
"Huh? What's that mean?" Anzu asked, wiping her tears.
Sugoroku frowned and murmured, "So her coma isn't natural. Have you been calling and knocking since?"
"Yes," the fifteen-year-old monarch affirmed, "but she won't answer my calls. It's worse than when she was mad at me and wouldn't let me in her room."
Yugi fell into the chair next to him and heaved a tortured sigh. "Can't you open the door?"
"No, she's locked it from the inside. Only the Millennium Key can open soul rooms that have been closed without the occupant's permission."
"Millennium Key? Something like your Puzzle?" Honda queried, desperate to get any answers for their friend.
"Yes. It's current wielder is unknown, and tracking down other Millennium Items is the power of the Millennium Ring, which wielder is also unknown. So many unknowns...the only thing we can do is hope she comes out by herself, or, on the off chance that it's been found and someone is using it, wait for the current wielder of the Millennium Key to appear and convince them to open Mitsuko-sama's door."
Everyone was silent after that.
Before anyone knew it, summer had passed and fall was approaching, yet Mitsuko hadn't woken from her coma. Everyone who knew her had tried to help her wake, but to no avail. She still slept, her face peaceful as the others had to live their lives and Atem protected the Millennium Puzzle with his life, for her soul resided within and that was too precious to lose, even on a Shadow Game, which he had to play several during this time.
He was reading the hieroglyphs on a fragment of wall on display in the museum when he sensed a person next to him. He looked up, and blinked when he saw another Egyptian next to him. He instantly recognized the man and blurted in his mother tongue, "Shada! Is that you?!"
The man's head snapped in his direction and the next second he was on one knee, his head bowed. "My pharaoh! You've returned to the land of the living after three thousand years!" he exclaimed, almost crying in joy. "The prophesied day has come at last! Have you taken the girl who solved the Millennium Puzzle as your bride?"
"I'm much younger than I was when my soul was sealed into the Millennium Puzzle, the same age as the girl who solved the Puzzle. I wanted to speak with you about that."
"Anything, my pharaoh."
"A traumatic event happened to my chosen bride, which caused her soul room door to close."
Shada's eyes widened in shock. "This is most alarming, my pharaoh. Do you desire that I open her soul room for you?"
"Yes, I do. Follow me, I'll take you to where she is."
During the walk there, Shada asked, "Why are you wearing those clothes? Do you go to the school around here?"
Atem nodded. "It's required, since I am not of the age of adulthood."
"Japanese fashions have changed much over the years. I haven't seen one kimono our entire walk."
"A what? What's a kimono?"
"Perhaps it has become more westernized than I thought."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Shada shook his head. "It doesn't matter, my pharaoh. Is it true that your chosen bride is a female reincarnation of yourself?"
Atem smiled warmly. "Yes, it is true. I was rather shocked myself when she brought me from the depths of the Millennium Puzzle to my sleeping body. Not only is she my reincarnation, she has a twin brother."
"A twin brother? Did he try solving the Millennium Puzzle?"
"He told me he had, but had always gotten stuck in the middle. They took turns until she solved it when she and her brother needed help after finding my body in a sarcophagus."
"It was destiny she was the one to complete it, as it will be that you will marry her and continue on your line."
"Sometimes I wonder."
"Is something wrong with your relationship, my pharaoh?"
"She fights her destiny to be with me. She's headstrong and has her dreams for the future, and marrying me isn't something she wishes for until her dream is realized. I've tried softening her up by offering to help with her dream if she marries me, but she claimed I was 'blackmailing' her and became furious, refusing to speak to me for a whole week."
Shada frowned. "Women have become independent in the last hundred years. Not as submissive and willing to please. Does she feel attraction towards you?"
"I know she does, but she suppresses it because it makes her twin uncomfortable when he sees her lost in thought about my 'dashingly good looks' as he puts it."
"Perhaps her twin brother should be encouraged to step back and not get between you two when she's feeling something towards you. Have you had trouble since you awakened?"
"Yes, and she's the one who's in trouble. She says she's a trouble magnet."
"Is she of small stature, like yourself at this time?"
"Yes, she's about my size."
"A tiny young woman, then. That always draws trouble from those who believe they're stronger than a smaller individual."
"In this day and age they call it 'bullying', Shada."
"During the time of her coma, have you had troubles still?"
"Yes, but they seem to be towards her brother and their group of friends."
"How many friends does this girl have?"
"She always was friends with a girl named Anzu, but a couple boys who used to bully her and her brother turned over a new leaf and have joined the group as well. I consider myself part of it and they allowed it, although they're still trying to find out who I am, since sometimes I'm not subtle with my Shadow Powers."
"You haven't gotten in trouble with the current authorities?"
"They wouldn't believe I used magic to punish those wrongdoers. There's never enough evidence and usually the police aren't informed."
Shada looked up and his eyes widened. "My pharaoh! It's High Priest Set!"
Atem's eyes followed the path of his former priest's and he nodded once he saw the eye-catching billboard. "Oh, you mean Kaiba. I had a run-in with him the beginning of the summer because he tried stealing Siamun's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. He owns a large gaming company called 'Kaiba Corporation' so he believes he's king of Japan, although he holds no such status."
"I see. He sounds very different from his former incarnation."
"Yes. If I've been awakened from my eternal slumber, do you think Set has awoken from his as well, since he was pharaoh after me?"
"I do not know, since I've only been in this city for a short time before we crossed paths."
"I might have to be wary, for Kaiba may have the Millennium Rod in his possession and come across my cousin's sarcophagus."
"Only time will tell, my pharaoh. Are we at this 'hospital' you've spoken of?"
"Yes, we are. Once we're inside, we'll have to speak Japanese so everyone else can understand us."
"I understand, my pharaoh."
They bypassed the woman at the desk and as they walked down a hallway, Sozoji brushed by them, holding a huge bouquet of flowers. He entered Mitsuko's room and cried, "Is she awake yet?"
Sugoroku's voice, patiently exasperated, answered from within, "No, not yet. I still don't know how you and my granddaughter became friends, when Yugi's nervous around you."
"She inspired me to become a better artist! I'm no longer a man of karaoke! I've moved on and become a musician! I want her to wake up and listen to my music I made just for her!"
"You're too old for my granddaughter Sozoji, it would never work."
A strangled sound escaped the man's throat. "Bu-but she's the Goddess of Heavy Metal! I need her to help continue my work!"
Atem sighed and Shada asked, "Is something the matter, my pharaoh?"
"Every other day Sozoji-san visits, claiming he's making a band and she's one of the vocalists. She's just beginning her years in high school, while he graduated just after she went into a coma. I think he wants to date her, since he's had a crush on her for months."
He led his former priest into the room and Sozoji looked up, Sugoroku smiling at Atem's appearance.
"Oh, it's you, and who's the weirdo in the turban?"
Atem ignored him and walked over to Mitsuko's bedside. He placed the Millennium Puzzle around her neck once more and closed his eyes, traveling to the corridor between their soul rooms. Shada used his Millennium Key to follow him inside.
"I see, your souls are bonded together, thus this place has been created. I assume the closed door you face leads to her soul room?"
"Yes."
"She doesn't answer your calls?"
"No."
"Very well. I'll open the door by force."
He raised the Millennium Key and turned it in midair, Mitsuko's door opening. What surprised Atem was when Mitsuko came running out, grabbing him in a fierce hug.
"What took you so long?! I've been stuck in here forever!"
Shada raised his eyebrows in confusion as Atem held her back, as confused as he was, he wasn't going to refuse a hug from her. "I...I called and knocked every waking hour on your door... Why didn't you answer, saying you were stuck?"
She scowled and yelled, "You were speaking gibberish! How was I supposed to know how to answer to that?"
"Mitsuko, you're speaking in Ancient Egyptian."
"I know that! You think I'm a moron?! I can't understand Japanese anymore, for some weird reason!"
Shada spoke up for the first time. "Perhaps the shock you received has blocked your ability to understand or speak your mother tongue. This will be troubling when you awaken."
"I've been asleep?! Why didn't you say so?! I'm waking up right now!"
Mitsuko's eyes snapped open and she gasped, finding herself in a hospital room, her body feeling much weaker than when she'd been aware of it.
"Mi! You're finally awake!" her grandpa cried as he took her hand, his eyes full of joy.
She blinked and had to process that he was glad she was awake, but the words were as foreign to her as Ancient Egyptian had been when Atem had first awakened. She felt someone holding her other hand and looked over to see Atem, with the other guy who'd been with him over his shoulder. She smiled and greeted, "Thanks for dragging me out of there, Atem. And you too, whoever you are."
The other Egyptian bowed to her. "It was my pleasure, my queen."
She rolled her eyes. I guess since Atem trusted him enough to get me out of my locked soul room, he has to be one of those priests he's told me about from three thousand years ago. "Who are you anyways? We haven't been introduced."
"In the ancient past, I was called High Priest Shada, but now I am called Shadi."
She quirked her eyebrows and then snorted. "A little change in name, it's no big deal. Thanks again."
Her grandpa, who was shocked still by her speaking fluent Ancient Egyptian, cleared his throat and addressed the three of them. "Excuse me, what's going on here? Who is this man you've brought here, how did you wake Mi from her coma, and why is she speaking fluent Ancient Egyptian?"
Atem smiled and gestured to Shadi. "This is Shadi, the wielder of the Millennium Key and Scales. He was the one who brought Mitsuko out of her locked soul room with the Millennium Key's powers. And lastly, Mitsuko's speaking Ancient Egyptian possibly from the shock she had before her soul room shut on her. She can't speak, read or understand Japanese anymore."
"Thank you very much for bringing my granddaughter back Shadi," Sugoroku replied warmly with a smile on his face, before he began to panic. "This is terrible! What will she do about school once she's back on her feet?! Mi! What're you going to do?! No one will understand why you can't speak Japanese anymore!"
Mitsuko winced a little as she sat up, feeling Atem's magic working on her so she could recover quickly, maybe even within the day. "I'll go to school, and Atem can help me with my classes, since I helped him when he was learning Japanese." She turned to Atem again and asked, "You will help me, right?"
Atem nodded. "Anything to get you back to normal again."
"I appreciate that."
"How are you sitting up already? Your muscles should be atrophied from lying still for so long!" Sugoroku asked, confused by how mobile she was.
Atem explained, "I've been helping her stay healthy with my magic. It was what I could do at the time while going to school and spending time with the others."
"Thank you for that, I know Mi doesn't like being in hospitals for long stays."
Don't I know it. I probably smell like I haven't showered in years. Ew. Mitsuko fingered her greasy hair and pleaded, "Can you call someone in here so I can take a shower and get these stupid tubes out of my arms. It's making me feel queasy just thinking about it."
"I'm sure they have an alarm telling when your vitals began to rise to normal."
And, just like Sugoroku said, the doctor and a nurse came in, startled that she was sitting up and was wholly comprehensive.
"Mutou-san! You shouldn't be sitting up like that! You just woke from a coma!"
Sugoroku shook his head. "She's just fine, as you can see. She's not in any pain and has been chatting with us for the last few minutes."
In frenzied but practiced movements, both doctor and nurse checked her for any problems she could've gotten from her time in a coma, finding none as they finished.
"You're right, she's just fine!"
"It's a miracle!"
Sugoroku smiled. "Is she fine to go home, then?"
"Of course, let the nurse get a wheelchair and you can sign her out as you leave."
"Thank you, doctor."
Shadi bowed and stated, "Thank you for allowing me to meet you two, my queen and her grandfather. I'll take my leave."
Mitsuko scratched her head and then began fiddling with the Millennium Puzzle. "Could anyone tell me what's been going on since I was last awake?"
Atem shook his head and sighed. "Oh the stories I'll tell you, Mitsuko. Quite a bit's happened, and I'll be talking for a good while."
Yugi came home to seeing Sugoroku smiling like his birthday came early. "I'm home, Jii-chan. What's got you so happy?"
The old man was skipping around, humming one of his favorite songs as he dusted the shelves. "Welcome home, Yugi! It's wonderful! Mi woke this morning and now she's back home!"
The spiky-haired boy lit up like a sunrise and cried, "Mi-ne's better?! YAY!"
"She's in the living room with Atem, who's stuck to her like a burr to a horse's tail since she's come home."
Yugi began to run up the stairs, but was stopped when Sugoroku called after him, "There's one problem she has from being in a coma: she can only speak Ancient Egyptian right now, not a lick of Japanese."
"WHAT?! YOU MEAN SHE WAS JUST LIKE ATEM-KUN WHEN HE FIRST WOKE?! THAT SUCKS!"
"Now, now, calm down. Atem's working with her so she can at least have some comprehension by tomorrow, although it's going slowly."
The sixteen-year-old raced into the living room (their birthday was in June), where Mitsuko was talking slowly with Atem. "Mi-ne!"
Mitsuko leapt off the couch and hugged her twin just as tightly as he was, tears in her eyes. Her voice was shaking and awkward as she whispered, "Yu-nii."
"How come she said my name like that?" he asked Atem when the moment was over and they'd sat down.
"She demanded the first thing she learned in Japanese was how to say what she calls you. She's picking things up rather quickly, although not quite quickly enough that she'll be understandable by tomorrow, when we go to school."
"She's going to school tomorrow?! But you didn't go to school until you could at least speak in sentences!"
"She needs to catch up on her studies, Yugi. Jii-chan thinks it's important and she agrees. She told me she wants to get a scholarship so she can go to college."
Mitsuko, who was staring into space, touched Atem's mind, suddenly jerking back when she could understand what was being said through his thoughts. Atem turned to her and asked, "What's wrong? I felt you, then you pulled back like you were burned."
She touched his mind again and then forced out like she was saying something unpleasant, "I…can...under...stand...through—" She gritted her teeth and then spat out, "YOU!"
Both Yugi and Atem were gob smacked. Yugi hugged her and cheered, "That's great! You'll be able to learn faster this way and be better in no time!"
Mitsuko smiled and nodded. "I...won't...let..." She grunted in effort. "...this! Beat! Me!" She shouted the last part, grinning fiercely.
Her speech was flat and without its usual cadence, like she was learning to speak for the first time, but at least she was speaking. Atem smiled fondly and patted her shoulder. "Good, Mitsuko. Keep going, you'll get better in no time."
Yugi then scowled at him. "You're calling her by her first name. Did something happen?"
Atem shrugged. "She started calling me just by mine, too. Perhaps we've made a large progression in our relationship."
"She's been in a coma for four months! How could you have made any progress?!"
"I was in her mind, constantly calling for her at her soul room door. She knows that I didn't give up on her and understands my feelings better than before."
Mitsuko smiled and took his hand. "Atem...always...was...there... Knocking. Calling. My n...name. He...cares."
Yugi still didn't relent. "You made a huge jump in honorifics! Going from 'Mitsuko-sama' and 'Atem-ou' to just plain names is too jarring for everyone to keep up with! At least call each other 'Mitsuko-chan' and 'Atem-kun'!"
His sister pulled a face and then shook her head. "Too...hard. For. Now."
Yugi huffed and then crossed his arms, only to snap his fingers. "Oh! I almost forgot! I'll be right back!"
He ran out of the room, calling, "Jii-chan! Jii-chan!" and making an awful racket, before he came back with Sugoroku, both carrying wrapped packages. Yugi held out a small box and announced, "Happy Birthday!"
She raised her eyebrows and stated jerkily, "Birth. Day. Three. Months...ago."
"Yeah, but you weren't awake then, so we're giving you your gifts now!"
She took the box and unwrapped it, then lifted the lid. A small device on a keychain with a screen and buttons lay inside. She lifted it up by the keyring and tilted her head. "What's...this."
"It's a portable pet game! They're really popular right now at school and I thought you'd like one!"
She smiled and hugged him. "Thank...you."
Sugoroku grinned as he presented her a flat, rectangular present. Atem smirked as he sat back, obviously knowing what the gift was, but wasn't telling. "For my precious granddaughter, I hope you like it."
She grinned back and unwrapped it, only to stare in wide-eyed awe. Yugi bounced up and down as he demanded, "What card is it?! Which one?!"
She'd gotten a Duel Monsters card that was put in a flat plastic case and hung on a silver chain. She was speechless, since she knew this card was so precious to her grandpa. Tears gathered in her eyes as she murmured, "Blue. Eyes. White. Dragon."
Yugi turned to Sugoroku and exclaimed, "You...you gave her that card which you got from your old friend from America?! Why?"
"It's precious to me, but not as precious as you two are in my life. I think Arthur would understand, plus I was able to snag a second, which is hidden just behind that one."
"H...how?! There's only four in the whole world!"
"Several years back, before the game was popular, I decided to collect the cards and came across it in a pack. I suppose I was meant to have two, one to represent each of you."
"Oh. You want Mi-ne to protect them for you so they won't be stolen again?"
"Yes, and I want her to know that her life is more important than those cards. I lost my composure when I found out one was missing and when it came back, I knew I valued them far too much, since I'd missed visits to the hospital over such a small thing. Mi, they're yours to keep, do with them as you wish."
Mitsuko looked up at him, tears escaping to run down her cheeks. She hugged her grandpa and whispered brokenly, "I...don't... I...can't...thank. You. Enough. I...love...you...Jii...chan..."
Sugoroku returned the hug and then held out his hand. "May I?"
She nodded and handed him the necklace, letting him loop it around her neck and then fasten the strong clasp. It rested just below her collarbone, and could be hidden under her school jacket, which was loose enough not to show the corners. Right now it lay outside her top, but would be hidden whenever she went outside.
"Maybe we should put another card over it, so no one will find out she has them!"
"Unless she wants to, I won't force her. Mi?"
Mitsuko shook her head and then cradled the pendant, a soft smile on her face. She was tapped on the shoulder, then looked up to see Atem in front of her. He put his hands on her shoulders. "This is my birthday present to you."
He then closed in and kissed her, her eyes wide open as she stiffened in surprise.
Yugi gaped and Sugoroku (who'd given the pair permission to date now that they were sixteen) smiled proudly, knowing that this was the start of a beautiful relationship between the two.
It sounds like the end, doesn't it? Nah, not even close! We haven't even finished the first arc of the manga yet!
How did everyone like my interpretation of the two chapters? I included some shout outs to the missing chapters that Mitsuko was not awake for, especially the ones in which Kaiba first appears!
Hmmm...speaking of Kaiba... *grins* Love him so much!
Please review!