Umi could not sleep. Everything that had happened in the last day had her mind racing. She took the cards from her dresser and felt their power wash over her.

"Neferet, I need to learn more about them."

"I am not sure that's a good idea while you are still sick."

"Maybe you can show me more about your own training?"

She felt like the spirit sighed at the request.

"I do not remember much. It was rather dull and I never felt like I was any good at it."

"Anything you remember would be helpful."

"Perhaps you should retrieve the necklace? It showed you visions before, perhaps it will be able to give you what you seek." Umi looked at the cards and then to the wall that separated her room from her brothers. She still shivered in the blankets slightly. She should probably take something for the fever, but she did not want to get out of bed, not even to try to get the necklace from her brother. She reached out for Yugi's mind.

"I'm in the other room you know." he sounded annoyed.

"Yeah, but it's so far."

"What do you want? I'm trying to study." He was definitely annoyed, she thought.

"I was wondering if I could borrow that necklace thing."

"Are you sure you should try using it while you're sick?"

"Ugh, Neferet said the same thing."

"Listen to your spirit friend. Go to sleep, Umi."

She sighed.

"Um, Yugi?"

"What?" She could tell he was getting angry.

"Have you told him?"

"No. Not yet."

"Oh."

She should have told the Pharaoh what she knew, but the vision shown by the necklace had angered her so much she could not think properly.

"Yugi?"

He sighed. If they were talking face to face, she imagined that he would be talking through gritted teeth.

"Yes, Umi?"

"Seto asked me out. On a date."

He was silent for a long time.

"Yugi?"

"Grandpa's going to kill you."

She chuckled.

"You assumed I'm going."

"Of course you're going, Umi. So when is it?"

"The date?"

"Yeah."

"Sunday."

"Hope your fever is gone by then."

"Yeah, me too."

"Go to bed." He said with some finality as he pushed her mind from his.

She tried to lay down once more, but sleep would not come right away. Eventually, Neferet showed Umi what she had desired. She drifted off to sleep with Neferet's memories of a more carefree time and Seto's arms around her.

Yugi wanted to throw things. He knew his chemistry final would be difficult enough without all of the distractions of his life, but he could not stay focused. He kept thinking back to the story his sister had told him. It made sense now, the darkness that had blossomed within her, why their connection had waned after he completed the puzzle, why the Pharaoh was attracted to her. He shuddered at the last thought.

Umi had finally fallen quiet and he tried to focus once more.

"Partner."

"Oh for... What?" The spirit seemed to shrink back from his anger.

"Is this a bad time?"

"No. I mean, Yes. I've got an exam to study for."

"I guess we can talk about it later." Somehow, Yugi thought that the Pharaoh sounded dejected.

"Fuck." he muttered as he closed his textbook. "No. Let's talk about it now." Yugi resigned himself to failure tomorrow as he laid down on the bed.

"Umi is Neferet."

"Apparently. Or at least she is the reincarnation of Neferet, just as you think I am your reincarnation."

"And she was my... wife?"

"That's what Umi said."

"It explains why I feel as I do."

"It does.

"But if she is my wife, why did she say that I did not deserve them? Who is them? Why was she so angry?"

Yugi took a deep breath and sank into the space between their souls where the Pharaoh was waiting for him.

"She was angry because you hurt her, well, Neferet, in the past." Yugi could barely meet his eyes.

"I could not have. I may not remember why, but I feel strongly for her."

"Does the word 'Duat' mean anything to you, Pharaoh?" Yugi asked, trying to avoid the unspoken question that hung between them.

"I cannot say that it does."

"It's an Egyptian word. Umi used it several times when we were talking. I still am not sure what it means fully, but I think it's related to the Shadow Realm."

The Pharaoh's eyes widened at the connection.

"Yes." His gaze seemed far away as he concentrated on something that Yugi could not see. "It's more than that though." The spirit shook his head. "But I don't know what it is exactly." He let out a frustrated breath. "It was so close, Yugi. A piece of my past. It felt like doors were opening, things were becoming more clear, and then, it stopped. And things seem just as jumbled as ever."

"I'm sorry, Other Me." He looked at the spirit that looked so much like him. "We'll figure it out, I promise." He placed a hand on the Pharaoh's shoulder. The ancient one looked from the hand up to its owner. The crooked smile on his counterpart's face showed so much compassion. The Pharaoh pulled Yugi into a tight hug, just as Umi had the other day in the park. He could feel Yugi stiffen in surprise before embracing him back.

"Thank you, Partner." the spirit whispered to him as their souls seemed to merge.

Yugi fell asleep, secure in the knowledge that no matter what Umi-Neferet had said, no matter the truth of the story, his Other Self was no longer that person. He may not remember who he was or why he was here, but he had grown through the course of his stay. And Yugi had grown with him.

Umi spent much of the rest of the week trying to figure out just how she was going to get out of the house for her date. It was now Friday evening and she had yet to come up with a plan. At least she was feeling better. But since she was feeling better, Tomoe had cornered her about helping out with more chores around the house and in the shop.

"Umi, you should start helping with the cooking." the older woman had suggested earlier in the day. "No one wants a wife who can't cook." Umi rolled her eyes at the statement, wondering what Tomoe would know about the matter. Sure, the woman had been widowed young and she had been with Umi's grandfather for several years as his live-in girlfriend, but as far as Umi knew, Solomon had yet to even suggest that they get married.

"I know how to cook about three things, Tomoe. And all of them are things I learned on the digs in Egypt. I'm not sure I can even find the ingredients here."

"All the more reason I should teach you!" She said excitedly. "You're like a blank slate, Umi. Good for me to educate, but not so good for catching a husband."

Umi sighed.

"What if I don't want to 'catch a husband'?"

Tomoe looked at Umi as if she had suddenly grown two extra heads.

"What girl your age doesn't dream of getting married?"

"The American kind?" Umi suggested, but she had known several girls at her old school who were already planning their dream weddings and their futures as wives and mothers. Umi had always thought it weird. Even when she was little, she had not been interested in playing house or being a bride.

"I find that hard to believe. Every little girl dreams of having their prince charming coming to sweep them off their feet and of a beautiful white wedding gown."

"Not me." She admitted. Tomoe sighed.

"A shame. Well, I guess even a career woman needs to know how to cook. We will spend all weekend practicing."

Umi panicked.

"I can't. I have plans."

"Plans? Perhaps a date?" Tomoe asked suggestively. Umi blushed. "Why would a girl who never wants to be a bride need to go on a date?"

Umi blushed even more deeply. Tomoe giggled.

"It's not like you and Grandpa are married." Umi said defensively.

"Ah, true." Tomoe leaned forward conspiratorially. "So, who is this date with?"

Umi chewed her lower lip nervously.

"Just this guy I met. Grandpa doesn't like him."

"Oh! an illicit affair! how exciting! Like Romeo and Juliette." The older woman clapped her hands in glee. Umi was certain she was imagining it was like one of her dramas.

"It's just one date, Tomoe. But I'm not even sure how I'm supposed to go without Grandpa putting a stop to it."

Yugi and his friends came into the house. Tomoe's eyes lit up as she saw Tea. She called the young girl over and they began to work out a plan.

Seto looked at the company reports as he sipped his coffee. He was relieved that everything they had done to shore up the company seemed to be working. Stocks were still down, but they were no longer falling. He smiled to himself. It had been difficult work, but he did it. He and Mokuba had done it, he corrected. He looked over at his brother who had passed out sometime after they had eaten. He was so proud of Mokuba, of how he had handled the situation, especially with his own preoccupation. His plans to host a tournament within the month had gone over quite well with both the public and the stockholders. He had convinced them that it would be the perfect way to christen the new stadium. He had poured more money into it than he had anticipated, but it was a thing of beauty and state of the art. He glanced back at Mokuba sleeping and felt his own eyes grow heavy. He laid his head on the desk.

"Just for a second..." he thought as dreams took him. He dreamed of green eyes swallowed by darkness, which was then obliterated by a shining white light from which a dragon... or was it a woman? sprang forth. The light was then devoured by darkness once more as the world around him was consumed by war and famine. The city around him decayed from a shining jewel in the desert to a barren wasteland. The faces of the people transformed from happy, joyful faces to the boney grins of death before his eyes.

He opened his eyes and he was back in his office with his head on his desk and a cup of coffee sitting near his computer. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He was alone in the room. The lights from the city below cast odd shadows across the floor and walls. He stood, stretched and walked to the window that stretched from floor to ceiling. He looked out over the city below, at the millions of lives he shaped.

"It was just a dream." he told himself.

Lightning flickered in the distance as ominous clouds cast heavy dark shadows over the sky. He saw the ground shaking in the distance as the shadows loomed every closer. The lightning flashes grew closer, brighter as he watched.

"Be ready, Seto." A woman's voice he had never heard before, but that seemed as familiar as his own echoed in his mind as a white dragon took to the sky and roared at the inching darkness.

Seto gasped as his eyes flew open. His heart raced and his hands shook. The coffee cup still sat next to his computer. The city lights still cast their strange shadows across the walls, but as Seto sat up he noticed Mokuba still asleep peacefully on the chair. When he turned to the window, the night sky was clear as far as he could see. He was still shaking as he leaned back in his chair. He released a deep breath. Exhaustion still wanted to claim him every time he blinked his eyes, as the dream faded into haziness. He lost the details as he stared out over his city, but the fear remained. He was too scared of what he might see should he close his eyes again.

He picked up his phone as a distraction from his need for sleep. As he unlocked the device, his eyes went wide.

"It's Saturday already?" he asked no one in particular. It had just past one in the morning when he turned to his computer and began to google 'things to do in domino city on a date'. He sent a text to Umi asking if he should pick her up. He did not expect to hear back until morning, but after his attempt to visit her, he did not want to risk running into her grandfather just yet. All the suggestions that he found were insipid, stereotypical things like go out to eat at a nice restaurant or go watch a movie. He grunted in disgust.

"If I wanted to feed her something fancy, I'd just have my chef cook for her." he muttered to himself. She did not seem like the kind of girl who would be impressed by a fancy restaurant anyway. He decided to change tactics and googled 'things to do this weekend'. It auto-suggested the city name. There were several events that came up as well as current images of the local city park. The trees were covered in cherry blossoms and the pictures from the week prior showed several couples strolling through the park, hand in hand. It was a lovely sight, and one he had not stopped to enjoy since before he was adopted. He wondered how long it had been since Umi had been able to view the blossoms.

"It's kind of cliche though, isn't it?" He sighed, but kept the idea filed away in case he couldn't come up with anything else.

When Mokuba woke up as the dawn light flooded the windows, Seto was still trying to make plans.

"Oh, sorry, Bro. I must have fallen asleep." the younger Kaiba sat up rubbing his eyes.

"It's fine, Mokuba. I got everything worked out. Even drew up some ideas for the tournament." He absently pushed a notepad toward the corner of his desk. Mokuba looked over the event plans and then at his brother.

"Did you stay up all night working on this?"

"Oh that? No." He never took his eyes from the screen.

"So what did you spend all night working on?" Mokuba slipped around the side of his desk and peered at the computer screen. "Why are you looking up festivals?"

"Huh? Oh. I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to take Umi tomorrow." Seto's fingers danced on the keys as he searched yet another idea.

"Like on a date?"

Seto's hands stilled. He had tried to tell himself that it was not a big deal, but hearing Mokuba say it made it more real somehow.

"Yeah. Like a date."

"What have you figured out so far?"

"I don't know. I don't think she would appreciate a fancy restaurant or anything like that. Besides, that would be too easy. Stereotypical."

"You want something with a little more... personality?"

"Yeah. And then I thought about taking her on hanami..."

"Cliche. Done in every romance anime."

"Exactly. And then I got stuck. So I started looking at various events, festivals, shows. I've looked here and in the surrounding areas. I can't find anything that really catches my attention."

Mokuba crossed his arms in contemplation.

"First, what does she like?" Mokuba asked. Seto thought for a moment.

"She likes robots. She likes computers. Aside from that, I'm not sure."

"I see. And second, what do you want to get out of this date?"

Seto's cheeks turned red as he considered if he should tell his brother what he really wanted out of it. He took a moment to answer. What did he want? He wanted her, physically, but he also wanted to get to know her. He wanted to learn what made her tick, what drove her. He wanted to learn about her dreams and aspirations, her goals and how she planned to achieve them. He wanted her to get to know him as well.

"I... I guess, I really want to learn more about her. Get to know her better."

Mokuba laughed.

"You found the right answer, Seto! Congratulations!"

"This isn't a game show, Mokuba."

"Sorry. But you know, it's perfectly alright to admit that you want to have sex with her."

"And what do you know about that?"

"I know enough."

Seto looked at Mokuba then and saw just how grown up he had become over the last few years. He was almost a teenager now. The thought of having to guide his younger brother through puberty terrified him. He did not think he would ever be ready. But he was thankful that he had been able to provide Mokuba at least some semblance of normality in his young tumultuous life. Maybe he will turn out better than I did, Seto thought.

"Sure, I would love that, but I'm not expecting it. Honestly, I would be happy if we just got to feel like normal people for once."

"And no sex?"

"Not if she doesn't want to."

Seto could see the wheels in Mokuba's head turning as he processed the last statement.

"And you're alright with that?" He asked as he fought to connect the dots.

"Yeah. Last thing I want to do is risk losing her for a quick personal gain." He smiled up at Mokuba as the boy on the cusp of manhood synthesized his brother's ideas on consent.

"Now, what exactly do you know about sex, Mokuba?" Seto asked, preparing to set the record straight if he needed.

Yugi and his friends sat at a table in a local diner celebrating the end of the school year. Umi met up with them after she finished her shift at the game shop.

"Umi, it's so great that you will be in class with us next year." Tristan said.

"Yeah, you should sit next to me so I can get extra help on tests, Ms. Perfect-Score."

"I'm not going to let you cheat off of me, Joey." She said, sliding in the seat next to Yugi and tucking a small bag beneath her feet. Yugi blushed as he was wedged between his sister and Tea.

"Aw, come on!"

"But, I won't charge you for tutoring anymore."

"Well, I guess you win some, you lose some."

"And you, Joey, tend to lose." Tristan teased. Joey elbowed him in the ribs.

"You met these two after you came to visit me, right?" Umi asked her brother.

"Yeah, that's how I knew it was OK for friends to be like that to each other." He grinned.

"Hey, Umi, what's with the bag?" Tristan asked, tapping it with the toe of his foot.

"Umi's sleeping over tonight." Tea explained as she winked at Umi. Umi grinned back at her.

"A girls' night, huh? Maybe we should crash it." Joey wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Ugh, you're despicable, Joey." Tea said, ramming her foot into his shin.

"OW! Stop doing shit like that, Tea!"

"You did kind of deserve it." Yugi added.

"Oh yeah, whose side are you on, Yugi? I know you wouldn't mind sneaking over to Tea's... OW!"

Yugi kicked Joey's other shin as he laughed nervously. Umi laughed as Yugi blushed. Tea, on the other hand shifted uncomfortably.

"So what are you going to do in this sleepover? Girl stuff like talk about what guys you like and when you think you're going to get married?" Tristan asked. Umi and Tea both rolled their eyes

"It's none of your business." Tea said smiling sweetly, but her eyes looked like she was ready to murder him.

"Ugh, why are guys so self-centered?" Umi asked rhetorically.

"Because you ladies know you can't get enough of us." Joey answered, completely oblivious to the nature of the question. Everyone just stared at him in disbelief. Yugi leaned over on the table.

"Hey Joey. Come here." Yugi beckoned. Joey leaned on the table so that he was whisper distance from Yugi.

"You know it's true, Yuge..." he started conspiratorially.

"Did you forget that my sister was forced in to sexual slavery?" Yugi asked, a tight smile on his face. Joey's face transformed from confusion to realization slowly as awareness of what he had said dawned on him.

"Uh. Oh." Joey stammered

"Do you even know what 'rhetorical' means, Joey?"

"Yeah." he said defensively. "Isn't that, like, when you have an idea about something but you aren't sure if it's right, but you think it is? Like an opinion?"

"That's 'hypothetical', Joey..." Yugi said rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"How are you even in high school?" Tristan asked.

Umi smiled at the exchange before looking over at Tea.

"Ready to get out of here?" She asked the other girl. Tea nodded, laughing.

"Going on a date with Kaiba, huh?" Tea asked teasingly as they got outside. Umi could not help the grin that spread over his face. "Honestly, I never imagined that he would do something as mundane as go on a date." Tea mused.

Umi laughed as they walked down the street.

"Me either, actually."

"So, what are you going to wear?"

"I'm not sure."

"We'll figure it out tonight." Tea said, linking arms with Umi as they continued on their way. Umi smiled at the familiarness of spending time with a girlfriend. It reminded her of time spent with Christa and Terese before everything, when life had been more carefree.

The girls spent hours trying on different outfits and looks.

"Umi, that dress is super cute, but I still think it would look better if you would wear a bra with it." Tea said for what seemed the umpteenth time.

"Ugh. I hate those things."

"As you've said repeatedly, with every outfit you've tried on."

"It's hard to explain. But it's more than them just being uncomfortable. I can't bring myself to put one on. I didn't even want to buy this one." She waved the one bra she currently owned before tossing it on the bed. "Tomoe made me.

"And you've never worn it?"

"Not aside from trying it on."

Tea sighed as she picked up the undergarment.

"You should just try it. Please?" She held it out to Umi. Sighing, Umi took it and went to put it on under the dress. When she turned around, Tea clapped.

"You look great, Umi. You should totally wear that."

Umi looked in the mirror and was not displeased with the silhouette she saw. She smiled as she swirled the skirt left and right, the hem licking at her knees. As she looked at herself in the mirror, her smile faded as she thought she heard the voices of her tormentors telling her exactly what they wanted to do to her body. She quickly turned around and sat on the floor. She was hyperventilating as she pulled herself into a ball.

"Umi? Are you alright?" Tea asked as she took a seat on the floor next to her. Umi rocked back and forth muttering to herself.

"I'm safe now, they're all taken care off. I'm safe here." She repeated over and over again.

Tea rubbed her back until she calmed down.

"I can't wear this." She took the dress and bra off and slipped back into her t-shirt.

"Has that happened before?" Tea asked. Umi wiped tears from her cheeks.

"Not often. Mostly I get weird feelings in crowds, like people are undressing me with their eyes. Nothing quite like just now."

"Well, I guess you don't have to wear a bra if you don't want to, but not wearing one might explain why you get those weird feelings and looks."

"Maybe. But I think it's just par for the course right now. I hate it when I feel too pretty. It's like I'm right back there." Umi forced a smile, as Tea looked for another outfit, one that didn't depend on certain undergarments. "Maybe I should just cancel." She groaned.

Tea pulled out a loose sweater and tossed it at Umi.

"Try this with your jeans. And you would regret it if you did."

They stayed up way too late, talking, painting each other's nails and looking at pictures on each other's phones. Tea was scrolling through Umi's gallery and landed on the photos she had taken the night she had been rescued.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about on this date, Umi." Tea smiled as she saw the few pictures that had been taken of the Umi and Seto together. "He looks to be totally smitten in these pictures." She continued to scroll when her face dropped.

"Yeah, he was incredibly sweet." Umi laid on the floor next to her and looked at the image she was now staring at. She glanced at Tea when she noticed that she had stopped on the image of Terese kissing Yugi. Umi was not certain, but Tea looked to be tearing up.

"Terese has had a crush on him since he first visited." Umi said in way of explanation. Tea sat up and wiped her eyes.

"It's fine."

"You know Yugi's been in love with you since like grade 5 right?"

"Yeah." Tea admitted. "I guess I never imagined that someone else might be interested in him. My mistake, I guess."

"Do you like him?"

"I'm not sure. He's a great friend. I would do anything for him."

"But do you like him?" Umi asked again, more pointedly.

"Sometimes I think I do, but other times..." she shrugged. "Sometimes he seems like a completely different person, and then I feel my heart go aflutter, but then he goes back to himself, and he's the boy who's been my best friend since we were kids."

"So, you're attracted to the Pharaoh, but not to Yugi."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Then why did you get so hurt seeing that picture?"

Tea shrugged.

"Being selfish, I guess."

"Tea, I think that you need to tell Yugi how you feel. Free him to find happiness in someone else, if you don't want him."

Tea nodded.

"You're probably right." She sighed. "We should probably get to sleep. What time are you supposed to meet Kaiba?"

Umi looked at her messages for confirmation.

"Eleven."

"At the train station?" Tea said smiling. Umi nodded. Tea laughed. "So typical." she said as they settled down for the night.

Seto stood nervously waiting at the station. He kept checking his phone out of habit and to keep his hands from twitching. Roland and Mokuba sat in a car down the road, he knew, and the scrutiny only made him more jittery. He looked at the phone again, checking the time. It was two until eleven. Looking around, he watched as people greeted each other on the steps and couples paired off and made their way into the city. His heart raced as time seemed to stretch out indefinitely before him. He started to second guess himself. Self-doubt gripped him as he watched the faces of the people coming and going, hoping that the next one would be hers. The clock chimed the hour and the crowd seemed to thin. And he saw her standing at the bottom of the steps. She looked around at the people before her eyes feel on him. She smiled as she started to make her way up the steps. The crowd opened up around him as he made his way to her. The cord that connected them wound tightly, like a spool within his heart until they were together.

"Hi." She said, chewing on her bottom lip. A lightweight olive green sweater hung off one of her shoulders. It fell to the tops of her thighs. If she had wanted, she could have probably worn it as a dress, but she had worn it over a pair of dark jeans and a pair of boots. She looked completely and perfectly normal. And to Seto, she looked perfect.

"You look beautiful." he blurted out. He blushed as he drew his eyebrows together, wondering what was wrong with him. He usually was so guarded with his thoughts. But not with her.

Her gaze drifted to the ground between them as she blushed. She looked up at him and his heart stopped. He drew her chin upwards as he leaned down to kiss her. She stopped him, a mischievous look in her eyes as she walked around him and up a couple of steps. She placed her hands on his shoulders as she looked into his blue eyes that were now at her eye-level. Her fingers wrapped around his neck and twisted into his hair.

"Now, you may kiss me." she said, playfully as she leaned forward. His eyebrows shot up as he smiled before he pressed his lips into hers. He had meant for it to be a quick kiss, but she made it so much more. He pulled away from her abruptly, his face shining in embarrassment. He was surprised to also see a flush on her cheeks as she chewed her lip.

"I've missed you." he said, placing his hands on her waist.

"I've missed you, too." She leaned in once more and kissed his cheek.

He wanted to kiss her again, but he felt incredibly exposed.

"So, um. What do you want to do?" He asked. She shrugged.

"I don't know. You have any ideas?"

"I have a few. How about we get some lunch first?"

"I will never turn down food." Umi said as she took his arm and steered him toward the sidewalk.

They sat perusing the menu at a nearby diner.

"I know it doesn't look like much, but their food is definitely worth it." Umi said as Seto frowned at the menu.

"I'm just not sure what to order." His eyes darted from one option to another on the picture-laden card. "This all looks like breakfast." Umi took the card out of his hand and turned it over. "Oh." He was skimming the options as the server approached the table. Seto still could not decide so he just ordered the same thing that Umi had.

"Excellent choice." The server said. Umi smiled up at him.

"You won't regret it, Seto."

At the table behind them, a couple was also trying to order. The girl waffled between various menu items as the guy watched in boredom. Seto was thankful for how decisive Umi had been with her choice, even if it ended up being the choice for both of them. The girl whined that she did not want to eat too much, that she was afraid of getting fat. Seto saw the guy roll his eyes.

"So I never did figure it out." Umi said out of the blue.

"Figure what out?"

"Solid Vision." She said. Seto's eyes went wide. "I asked you to explain it to me the first time we met, but you refused unless I went dinner with you."

"I don't remember that." he said laughing.

"Yeah, but you didn't remember that I kissed you then either." She leaned toward him and placed her hand on his.

"Touche."

"So, I know it's not dinner, but we are out, together, which is what I think was your intention."

"So?"

"So explain it to me?"

"Solid Vision?"

"Yeah. It's been driving me crazy for over a year."

Seto laughed.

"I kind of feel like I would need at least three hours and about ten whiteboards to just go through the theory."

"Well, you've got all afternoon and a bunch of napkins." Umi smiled expectantly. Seto chuckled as he pulled out a pen and grabbed a napkin out of the dispenser.

"Ok, Challenge accepted." He started to write an equation on the napkin but he stopped midway. "What do you know about the wave-particle duality?"

"You mean the theory that electrons, well all subatomic particle really, exist as both energy and matter, and they have to be a complete wave form in order to exist as a particle?"

"Yeah, good. I didn't want to take the extra three or so hours to get you up to speed on quantum mechanics." He went back to writing the equation and explaining how he used wave mechanics and optics to create not only realistic looking holograms, but holograms that felt real in every sense of the word. Umi listened attentively, stopping him when she needed clarification. The number of scribbled on napkins grew exponentially until their food arrived.

Umi took a bite of her lunch as Seto continued to explain.

"Seto, this is crazy. I think you broke physics." She was thoroughly impressed.

"Nah." he took a bite. His eyes slid shut. "Ok, this is really good." he said regarding the meal before turning back to the topic. "I might have bent it a little, but I didn't break it." Umi laughed.

"I'm shocked and amazed that this actually worked." She looked at the equations on the napkins, going through the mental gymnastics necessary to follow his explanation. "If you published the theory behind this, I wouldn't be surprised if you got the Nobel."

"Can't." He said between bites as he devoured his food like a starving man.

"Can I?" She asked hopefully.

"Nope. Trade secret."

"Fucking capitalist."

"I think that's the first time I've ever been called that. At least to my face." He chuckled.

"Seto, this could have a huge impact on so many fields."

"And I plan to make a lot of money developing it for them. But I can't just give up control of the technology. It could be incredibly useful, or incredibly dangerous." His voice grew quiet. "Gozaburo wanted to use it for war. I can't let that happen." She leaned across the table and kissed his cheek.

"That's a good enough reason for me." She caressed his cheek.

"So, um what do you want to do now?" He asked as they finished the lunch.

"Desert?"

"Really?"

"Hell yeah." She said seriously. Seto smiled. She is definitely not like other girls, he thought.

It was mid-afternoon by the time they left the diner. The servers had started looking at them impatiently as they sat and talked. Eventually, they got the hint.

"Hey guys, what are we doing?" Joey asked as he met Yugi and Tea outside a diner near the train station. They both shushed him and waved him out of the way.

"We're spying." Yugi explained, as he watched his sister and his rival talking through the window. He felt a spike of anger as Umi leaned over and kissed Kaiba on the cheek.

"Down Pharaoh." he said inwardly to the spirit.

"But if what you told me is true, she's my wife." his response was part anger and part melancholy.

"You two sure have strange ideas for what to do on a date."

They both shot him a death glare. Sighing, Joey joined them in their intense observation of the restaurant across the street.

"Why are we spying?"

"Umi's on a date with Kaiba." Tea added.

"With Kaiba? Man, that girl has no taste." He shook his head as he looked at them through the window.

"Just because she didn't want to go out with you doesn't mean she doesn't have taste." Yugi countered.

"No, but going out with Kaiba does."

"I wonder what they are talking about." Tea mused.

"And what is with all the napkins?" Yugi asked. The trio scurried into an alley as the pair left the diner. Umi slipped her hand in Kaiba's, and he brought it to his lips.

"She's rather forward, isn't she?" Joey asked, mournfully.

"She grew up in America. She might as well be American." Yugi said, frowning. He also was concerned at how easily Umi was able to show such physical displays of affection in public, from the kiss at the train station, to holding hands now. He worried that Kaiba might get the wrong message and angle for more than Umi was ready to give. Tea had told him about Umi's panic attack the night before, which is what prompted their stakeout.

"Come on. Let's follow them." Yugi said as he moved down the street at a fair distance from his quarry.

"Hey, is she not wearing a bra?" Joey asked Tea as they walked.

"Of course you would notice." Tea said rolling her eyes.

They followed the pair as they wove through the city. Eventually they ended up at the science museum. They watched as Umi and Kaiba enter the extremely modern building. Yugi laughed. The last time he had been to the museum was when his middle school class went on a field trip. He could not remember the last time Umi had gone, but he thought she might have went once while she was visiting with their mother, on one of the days he had school.

"What a couple of nerds." Joey remarked as the pair disappeared.

"Actually, it's rather a stroke of brilliance. Umi loves science."

"You sound impressed. I wouldn't be impressed knowing that my sister was in there with a guy who wanted to get in her pants."

"Because leaving your sister with two guys who wanted to do the same thing so you could play in a tournament was so responsible, Joey." Tea noted.

"Tristan and Duke know that I would kill them if either of them touched Serenity. There would be no bodies."

Tea rolled her eyes.

"Should we go in?" She asked. Yugi contemplated it for a long time before he pulled out his wallet.

"Nah. I trust Umi." He said, seeing that it was practically empty. "Wanna get some ramen?"

"They have a planetarium?" Umi asked excitedly. "I don't remember that being here last time I came."

"Want to go see the show?"

She was practically vibrating with excitement as she looked up at him. As they sat in the darkness, he slipped his arm around her shoulders.

"Stop bouncing." he chuckled, his voice low in her ear.

"Sorry." She tried to still herself. She leaned against him as she looked up at the domed ceiling. "I love space. For a long time I wanted to be an astrophysicist. I still kind of would like to."

"What made you change your mind?"

"I got more interested in building actual things than the theory. I'm hoping to get my mechanical engineering degree. I'd really like to specialize in aerospace engineering."

Seto chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Umi said defensively.

"Nothing. You're not like any girl I've ever met, Umi."

She grinned up at him before turning back to the dome as the presentation started. She watched wide-eyed as the planets and stars appeared. She named almost all of the constellations faster than the narrator. She looked up at Seto as he named a couple that the presentation had missed.

"Oh yeah. Over there on the horizon."

The narrator discussed the origin of the solar system.

"And the planets formed through solar accretion." They said simultaneously right before the narrator. They both laughed and as they looked at each other, Umi felt his gravity pulling her in. He leaned forward and kissed her in the darkness of the planetarium. They missed the rest of the presentation. A docent tapped Seto on the shoulder to ask them politely to leave so they could prepare for the next showing. They giggled as they exited the theater, before Umi pulled Seto to her. She continued the kiss that had been so rudely interrupted.

"This was fun." She said as she pulled her lips from his, though she was not sure if she meant the museum, the kissing or both.

"Yeah." His eyes were closed and he was smiling. She kissed him lightly again before she took a step back. She laced her fingers with his and pulled him toward the museum proper.

"Engineering, huh?" he asked as they explored one of the interactive exhibits.

"Yeah." She turned a crank that showed how food moved through the body. "I want to build rockets. I had hoped to work for NASA one day, but I guess that probably won't happen now."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't live in America anymore."

"Right. Well, I'm sure JAXA would be thrilled to have someone like you."

Umi grinned.

"You know, you're the first person since I've moved back that hasn't glossed over my dreams as idle fancies. My grandfather and his girlfriend keep telling me I should do this or that so I can find a good husband." Umi sighed. "I don't want to marry someone because I want someone to take care of me. I'm a reasonably competent human. I can take care of myself, or as least I can learn to. And the thought of being stuck at home with kids, ugh. I can't think of anything that would bore me more. If I ever marry, I want to be my husband's equal, and I will fight for equal footing every step of the way."

"So you're more interested in being a career woman than in married life."

"Why not? My mother did it. She managed to balance her career and her family."

"And she left your brother in another country to be raised by his grandfather."

"It wouldn't have been like that if Dad hadn't died."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

"No, It's alright. It's the truth of what happened." She sat on a bench underneath a display of various aircraft.

"My dreams are why I got myself into that situation in the first place." she said after a long moment.

He sat next to her and watched her face as she spoke.

"I was scared that people would try to tell me what to do or how I should live if I moved back. That my options would be limited to something clerical until I got married. Derek offered me a way to stay in America so I could fulfil my dreams. I was so desperate to hold on to them that I agreed to do what he asked me to do. I didn't know it would end up the way it did when I made the deal."

"We rarely know the outcome when a deal is struck. Sometimes it works out fine. Other times, it goes up in flames."

"Yeah." She twined her arm around his and laid her head on his shoulder.

"My dad was an engineer." Seto said as the silence between them stretched on. "Not Gozaburo, my real father. He worked for the space program before he died."

"An engineer and musician? I wish I could meet him." Umi said softly.

"I wish you could too." Seto said sadly. "I would never make you give up your dreams, Umi. The world needs to see what you're capable of." He said seriously. Umi kissed his cheek.

"Thank you."

"We should get going." Seto said as the museum lights flickered to let the patrons know that the museum would be closing soon.

Seto and Umi walked hand in hand through the park as the sun began to set. Cherry blossoms filled the trees lining the walkway and floated down like snowflakes through the cool night air. They walked and talked until well after dark when they ended up in front of the game shop that had become Umi's home. She lingered outside with him. She did not want to leave his side. She may live in the game shop, but she still felt like it was not home. Not like California had been before her mom died, or like Egypt had always been when she was there during the summer. Not like being with Seto felt now. He took her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist. His eyes met hers and she knew that he did not want to leave her either. Their eyes were filled with longing as they gazed at each other. Seto leaned in for a kiss when Umi's phone rang. He straightened as she pulled the phone out of her bag.

"Hello? Yeah." Umi sighed. "I'll be in in just a minute. Sorry, Yugi. Yes, I promise."

Seto stroked her arm as he watched the one-sided conversation.

"I have to go." She said.

"I know. Can I see you again sometime? Next week?"

"Maybe the week after? I don't want Grandpa to get suspicious."

He smiled before kissing her again.

"Two weeks then." He said, his lips brushing hers. She chewed her bottom lip as she looked up at him.

"Good night, Seto." She said before closing the door.

"Good night, Umi." He sighed as he watched her disappear into the building.