Umi and Yugi explored the city and beyond, helping her to grow reacquainted with her homeland. They went shopping and ate ramen; they browsed the tech district and wove their way through otaku as they hunted down souvenirs for Umi's friends back in the US. They even convinced their grandfather to spend a couple of days with them in Disneyland. It was Yugi's first trip. Umi had been to the original once, but was still amazed by the experience. It was doubly fun for her, because she got to spend it with Yugi and to see it through his eyes as well.

They were both exhausted on the train ride back home, but they were still too excited to sleep.

"That was so much fun. I can't believe that Grandpa and I have never gone. What was your favorite part?"

"Oh it's really hard to top Pirates of the Caribbean, or any of the mountains. But my favorite thing today was meeting the characters. Even though I've been to the one in California, I've never stopped to meet Mickey or Minnie." She looked at the photos they had purchased of their character meetings.

"They are pretty great pictures." He smiled as he looked at them. "I think I like Space Mountain the best. It was just like crazy fast."

Umi laughed. She loved seeing him so happy. The only time he looked quite this happy was when he was playing Duel Monsters. She had watched him play a few times with their grandfather. Yugi had won, because he always won, but she could see in how they played just how much they both loved the game.

But when he was not playing, or talking about Duel Monsters, Umi had noticed that he seemed to have a shadow that clung to him. She had wanted to ask him about it, but every time she tried, she did not know quite what to say. She had tried asking him if anything was wrong, and he just said that things were fine. She knew it was a lie, of course; she could feel that things were not fine. But if he did not want to talk about it, she would not pry, at least not too much.

"Oh, right, Umi, I just remembered. There's a festival this weekend. We should go!" Being summer, festivals were plentiful.

"Well, I should probably get a yukata then. I'm sure the one I used to wear won't fit any more." Umi said. Yugi laughed.

"Grandpa still has the picture of us from when we were kids, from before…" His voice trailed off slightly before coming back to the memory. "You know the one from the year Mom dressed us in matching yukata. He keeps threatening to show it to any girl I bring home…"

"The purple one with the koi fish on it? Oh man. I'm sorry, Yugi." Umi chuckled. Their grandfather snored loudly next to them.

"I haven't been to a festival in the last few years." He said quietly. Umi looked at her brother, willing him to continue, but he closed the door to his heart quickly. "So, I might need a new one too."

"You know what that means, right?" Umi beamed, nudging him with her shoulder.

"Ugh, yeah. Shopping."

Umi laughed at his stereotypical response, knowing that she had already overtaxed his shopping abilities already.

"Maybe Grandpa has an old one you can borrow." She suggested.

"Eww, no. I'd rather go shopping."

She smiled and laughter danced in her eyes as she linked arms with him. Their grandfather jerked awake as the train pulled into their local station.

Upon reaching her bed, Umi had promptly passed out.

Neferet shifted uncomfortably at the bottom step to the altar. The inner sanctum of the temple was shrouded in darkness, punctuated only with a scattering of torches and lamps surrounding the platform upon which the home of the Gods stood. The fire light flickered dully in the golden structure that housed the golden image of the God Osiris. Her mother stood at the top of the platform, alongside the elder priest. They bowed to the statue of Osiris, bathed and anointed it in oil and smoke. They left offerings of grain, milk, and honey. Neferet watched intently, trying to take everything in. By her side, a young priest, who she now knew as her cousin Seto, whispered to her the details of what her mother was doing. She was to take her mother's place as God's Wife, and would be expected to perform such rituals frequently in order to keep the Gods appeased.

This seems simple enough. She caught her mother's eye as the older woman descended and fell in line behind her as they egressed from the inner sanctum.

"Seto," the older priest said once they had entered the filtered light of the hypostyle hall. "Take the princess and teacher her the incantations. Both the daily ones and the ones she will need to recite at the ceremony."

"Of course." He stopped and turned. "This way, Princess."

The sudden changed threw Neferet off for a second and she had to hurry to follow the tall priest. He did not slow his stride to allow her to catch up, and her skirts were far more restrictive than those to which she was accustomed. He stopped at the entrance to another part of the temple complex and waited for her to catch up. She could feel his intense gaze on her even at a distance. She slowed her steps purposefully as she approached. I am a princess, she thought, and I will make him wait for me.

She tried to walk confidently, as she had seen her mother do, but it felt as if his gaze could see through any pretense, like he could read her soul with those eyes so blue. As she neared, she felt his gaze traveling over her body and felt a rush of desire that she could not explain. When she stopped before him, he looked flushed and his eyes darted from hers quickly.

"Come, Princess."

"I have a name." She replied.

"I know." She thought she could hear a smirk seeping into his speech.

"Then use it." She commanded with more authority than she felt. He led her along in silence for some time before they reached a door. He opened the door and held it open for her. As she passed into the small room, he whispered.

"As you wish, Neferet."

Hearing her name on his lips sent her heart thudding once more. The wave of desire washed over her once more, and she could not tell if it was her own desire that she felt. His eyes were on her once more, hooded and darkening in the low light of the library. He brushed a stray hair from her cheek and chewed on the corner of his lip in what seemed like a nervous habit. The light touch of his fingers on her skin felt like lines of fire, yet she leaned her cheek into his palm. He sighed deeply before pulling his hand away. She looked into his eyes one more time, seeing pain and regret there now where there was once desire. He walked across the room and retrieved a scroll from the wall.

"You will need to know this by the end of the day. You must recite it flawlessly." His voice had returned to the formal, professional tone it had when he called her 'Princess'. She longed for him to call her by her name once more.

"Umi! It' time to go!" Yugi called from the bottom of the stairs that led to the top most level of the building. Umi struggled to pull on her geta as she left the room where her mother usually stayed. Her grandfather had insisted that she stay in it this trip.

She walked carefully down the stairs to join her brother. She thought Yugi looked quite handsome in his indigo yukata. The dark colors made him seem older, despite his size.

"I think I've forgotten how to walk in these things." She said as she joined him at the bottom of the stairs. He turned to her, his smile quickly giving way to speechlessness.

"What?" Umi looked over her attire, searching for something, anything out of place. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Huh? What? No." Yugi struggled as he came to his senses. "Your eyes. They're so green." Umi blushed slightly as she smiled. She had picked the matcha colored yukata because it had such an impact on her unusual eyes. It did not hurt that the flowers on it were purple—her favorite color.

"Oh, Yugi, Umi. You both look so grown up!" A middle aged woman dressed in a brick red yukata greeted them in the kitchen.

"Umi, you remember, Mrs. Takanada, yes?" her grandfather asked as they walked into the common area.

"Oh, yes, Mrs. Takanada. It is a pleasure to see you again." She bowed deeply. Mrs. Takanada had watched her and Yugi as children. She had never had children of her own and her husband had died young. Umi had always wondered why the young widow never remarried.

"I've invited Mrs. Takanada to come with us to the festival." The old man explained, smiling at the woman who was young enough to be his daughter. Mrs. Takanada blushed slightly as she returned his smile. Umi looked from one to the other several times before piecing things together.

"We should get going, then." Yugi proclaimed before slipping a fan in the back of Umi's obi and heading for the door.

At the festival, Umi pulled Yugi from stall to stall, fascinated by everything. They ate and played games—Yugi won, most of the time. They honored their ancestors and made wishes for the future. Umi was so preoccupied with watching the vendor at one stall prepare his specialty dish that she did not notice Yugi stiffen beside her and tug on the sleeve of her yukata.

"Oh, is that Yugi Muto?" a shrill voice asked.

"Why I think it is." A different voice answered, laughing. Umi felt panic rise within her and turned to see a group of four girls her age hovering nearby. The one in the front, the shrill voiced girl, pointed at her and Yugi, laughing.

"Is that a girl with him? How could he get a girlfriend. He must have paid her to come with him." Two of the other girls laughed. One girl, who stood back a bit in the shadows, shifted nervously, her eyes darting to the ground. Umi could feel anger and frustration and pain radiating from her brother. She took a step forward to confront them. She was not about to let them torture him like this. His hand wrapped around her wrist like a vice, stopping her in her tracks.

"Yugi." She said softly but insistently.

"Don't, Umi. It will only make things worse." His violet eyes darted from the girls to her. She could see the tears welling there that were threatening to fall. The leader—Ms. Shrill, Umi thought—continued her barrage of insults at Yugi's expense. Umi struggled against his iron grip. She wanted to give that girl a piece of her mind.

"See, even she can't stand to be around him." Ms. Shrill said, noting the struggle between the twins. "You should ditch him and come hang out with us." She said to Umi. "Don't you think, Tea?"

Umi saw the girl who had hung back clearly then, recognizing her brother's childhood friend from the last time she had visited. Like Umi, Tea had grown, of course, but Umi still saw the scrawny girl she and Yugi had played with at the park.

"Tea?" Umi asked, her voice carrying a thousand unasked questions.

"U… Umi?" the other girl asked uncertainly. They stared at each other a moment, one's eyes full of accusations, the other's full of regret and shame. Tea could not stand up to Umi's scrutiny for long.

"Come on, guys." She said, in an effort to distract the rest of her band. "Let's get some kakigori."

The leader sighed in resignation.

"Sure. He didn't cry anyway. Where's the fun in that?" The leader walked down the path followed closely by her two minions. Tea lingered a moment, the look of shame plainly evident on her face as she watched Yugi for a moment. She seemed to want to say something but eventually she scampered after the other girls.

Umi felt Yugi's hold on her wrist slack and fall away. When she looked at him, his head was bowed and the dam had broken. Tears flowed readily from his eyes to the packed earth beneath them.

"I… I wanna go home, Umi." He whispered. She could not hear him over the noise, but she could feel his broken heart and finally understood what had felt so wrong.

"Sure." She took his hand and led him from the festival. She saw their grandfather on the way out, hiding in a quiet spot with Mrs. Takanada. She figured that they would not be missed, but she also did not want him to worry.

"Grandpa!" she called over the crowd in his general direction. "Solomon Muto!" She tried again when she realized that six elderly men—none of whom were her grandfather—turned her way. This time, her grandfather met her eyes. "We're going home." She called back. She could not be sure if he heard her, but at least she tried. She could feel Yugi's spirit fading quickly into the depths of despair.

Yugi stripped off his yukata and got ready for bed on autopilot. He could hear Umi trying to talk to him through the door, trying to get him to talk to her about it, but he just could not answer her at the moment. He sat at his desk by the window, a bright moon shone in the night sky and glinted off of the golden box that sat there. He opened the lid and picked up one of the pieces inside. The questions at his door grew silent as he set to work trying to put the pieces together.

He had grown so focused on the puzzle that he did not hear the knock at the door some time later.

"Yugi?"

He tried to ignore Umi calling, questioning from the other side. He slid two pieces into place. They fit. Progress. He set them aside and tried a few more combinations.

"Yugi." Her voice was more insistent. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and wiped away the tears that had been steadily falling since they had gotten home. He walked over to the door, standing with his hand on the knob, hesitant to open it.

"Yugi." She pleaded. He unlatched the door and opened it a crack before returning to the puzzle across the small room. It was not exactly an invitation, but he knew that Umi would take it as such. She pushed the door opened and closed it behind her. He felt her questioning stare on the back of his head as he manipulated the pieces of the puzzle, trying to learn something about its form. She sat on the edge of the bed closest to him.

"Yugi." She called to him one more time, her voice colored with concern.

"I don't want to talk about it." His voice was harsh in his ears, raw with emotion.

"Fine, we don't have to talk about it." She said annoyed. He continued to manipulate the puzzle pieces in silence.

"You're still working on that thing?" she asked after watching him for a few minutes.

"Yeah. I've never given up on a puzzle, and I'm not about to start now. I will solve this thing if it is the last thing I do." Umi smiled despite herself at his enthusiasm and dedication. She realized that he had a fighting spirit she had never really noticed before. When it came to puzzles and games, she knew that he would never give up. She just wished that he would be that determined when it came to standing up for himself.

"So… Does that sort of thing happen often?" she asked, nonchalantly.

"Not talking about it." He replied. She sighed in frustration.

"I know how it feels, you know." She leaned back on the bed. His hands stopped their seemingly random motion as he turned to look at her. "Getting picked on, told you're not good enough. It happens to me all of the time."

Yugi had always seen his sister as perfect, flawless, while he was the freak. He never imagined that she might not fit in as well as it had always seemed.

"I'm told that I'm not pretty enough to hang out with the cool kids, or that I'm too smart for my own good or that I will never find a boyfriend. And it hurts."

"But you have the robotics team… You all seemed so happy in the pictures…"

"Yeah, but they are the only friends I have, Yugi. And I was lucky to find them." She wiped a tear from her cheek. Yugi crawled onto the bed and sat next to her. He pulled his knees to his chest and leaned against her.

"You'll always have me, Umi." He smiled up at her.

"They don't know what they are missing, not being friends with you." Umi wrapped her arm around his shoulders. "You have the biggest, most loving heart I have ever known."

"What happened tonight, that was… that was nothing." He started, feeling secure enough in her warmth to give voice to his pain. "No, I take it back, tonight hurt, but only because Tea was there. The girls aren't a big deal usually. The other boys though, they make my life hell." He stared out into space as memories flashed through his mind.

"That's why I love the breaks we get from school. I never have to go out and do anything, or see anyone—only the people who come into the shop." He hoped she would say something, anything, but she just held him in silence.

"I thought it would get better at a new school, but middle school has only gotten worse. Tea started hanging out with those girls and I'm alone. I try, all of the time, but all of the boys only want to play sports, and all of the girls want to watch the boys."

"Well, that's stupid." She finally spoke. A mirthless chuckle escaped him.

"So they call me a baby or a little kid, because I want to play games. I've tried to play ball with the others, but it didn't work out so well."

"What happened?"

"They wanted to use me as the ball."

"Oh."

"Since then I just keep to myself. The teasing hurts, but I can deal with it or ignore it, and yes it's awful to never have anyone to talk to. No one ever wants to be my partner in class, but at least I'm not being beaten up every day anymore." He felt the warmth of her love wrap around him as her arms had done earlier.

"Well, you will always have me, little brother." She hugged him tightly.

"You're only older by like what? Five minutes?" he protested, yawning. He felt drained and the exhaustion from the last few days weighed upon him now that the excitement had subsided. Umi laughed as she snuggled into his bed next to him.

"You should really just come live with me and mom." She whispered as she drifted off to sleep. He lay next to her, hovering on the edge of sleep himself, wondering if she might be right. A tiny whisper inside him, however, kept him rooted to where he was.