Umi was smiling to herself as she walked through the glass door that separated the shop from the outside world. Her fingertips were lightly stroking the singular emerald at her neck while the other hand gripped the silver casing of the tablet to her chest. She was in a great mood that was spoiled in an instant.
"Where have you been?" her grandfather asked from behind the counter. His eyes narrowed as he looked from her to the vehicle driving away from the curb.
"I was with Seto." she answered honestly despite feeling like it was none of his business where she was or what she had been doing. He was still her grandfather and so she felt she owed him a modicum of respect. He seemed to sputter at her answer.
"What exactly were you doing with him?" the older man demanded. Umi knit her brows together wondering if he gave Yugi this kind of interrogation when he had gone out with his friends.
"Nothing. We went to lunch and then shopping."
The old man glared at her. Skepticism was evident on his face as he searched hers for any signs of misdoings. After a moment, his eyes fell on the sparkling green stone around her neck.
"Where did you get that?"
"Seto bought it for me." Her hand flew to the stone in an effort to protect it.
"Why? What happened that would make him want to give you such a gift?"
Umi just stared at him, shocked by the insinuation buried in his question.
"Give it to me." He held out his hand.
"Grandpa, when Umi gets home... Oh you're here!" Yugi said from the doorway to the house as he entered the shop. He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed that neither his sister nor his grandfather had noticed his presence. He looked from Umi to his grandfather as they stared at each other. They had the same steely glint in their eyes and the same determined set in their jaws.
"Give me the necklace." the old man said slowly.
"No. It was a gift and I don't have to."
"Then I guess you can leave. You will do as I say or you will no longer be welcome here."
The words stung. Yugi felt their impact as his grandfather said them and felt the pain of them reverberating through his sister.
"Grandpa!" he called out in shock.
Umi just held his gaze a moment longer. She felt as if she were trapped with Derek once more, given an ultimatum that she had no choice but to accept. But this was her family and it felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest. She was sure Seto would take her in if she asked. She wanted to run to him, but Yugi's presence stopped her. She stood rooted to the spot as she stared at her grandfather, but reached out for her brother. He needed her now. Umi hated having to choose.
"Give it to me." her grandfather demanded one last time. "or get out."
Umi reached behind her neck and unclasped the chain that held the emerald around her throat. Her eyes never broke from the unblinking stare she had on her grandfather as she dropped it into his outstretched hand.
"Now. You will not see that... boy again." He spat out the word as if he had far more colorful descriptions for the young man that had won his granddaughter's heart.
"What?" Umi felt a dry anger blowing through her like the wind across desert sand.
"You will not see him, you will not talk to him, and you sure as hell will not go out with him alone."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Umi exploded. Yugi flinched. He had never felt his sister so angry.
"Grandpa! You can't do that!" He sided with his sister.
"You cannot trust him, Umi. He kidnapped me and put me in the hospital. He tried to kill your brother. I cannot bear to think of what he might try to do to you."
"He's not like that, Grandpa. You don't know him."
"I know enough." He said with finality before his gaze fell on the silver box pressed against her chest. "Give me that, too." the old man pointed at the tablet she had been clutching.
Umi stared at him. Her lips were pressed into a tight line and her eyes were narrow as she placed the tablet on the glass case before turning and elbowing her way passed Yugi into the house.
Yugi watched her disappear up the stairs like a storm of fury before he turned to his grandfather. The old man was picking up the tablet and placing it and the necklace in a bag behind the counter.
"Grandpa." Yugi approached him with caution. "He's not like that. Not anymore."
When the old man turned to him, Yugi saw that his eyes were glistening with tears. He wiped his eyes with his shirtsleeve.
"Why do girls have to be so difficult?"
Yugi wondered if it wasn't that girls were difficult, but that people expected them to only do what they were told and never do things that they wanted for themselves.
"I don't think she's being difficult, Grandpa. Kaiba loves her." The old man froze for a moment, considering the revelation.
"I'm only trying to protect her. After what happened when your mother died." He let the sentence hang in the air, shaking his head as he went back to work.
Yugi watched him for a moment longer before he also returned to the house up the stairs.
Umi could feel the dry anger at her grandfather eroding the walls behind which she had locked her tears. By the time she reached the top of the stairs, pinprick sized holes had been punched through and she felt the tears welling in her eyes. She raced through the living area to the second set of stairs and up to her room at the top of them. She bumped into Ms. Takanada but she did not stop. She would not let him see her like this. Her grandfather's words had hurt her more than she would admit. She felt the cycle of her life the last few months repeating once more. She knew she would not be able to make him understand, but she also knew that she would never let him see her cry.
She hated that she cried when she was angry. People would always ask if she was alright and try to be sympathetic. They never understood. They always thought she was hurt, and usually that was part of it. She was hurt betrayed, forgotten, and angry. And the tears would flow like rivers.
She slammed the door shut to her room just as the dam broke and the anger and grief washed over her. She stumbled to her bed and collapsed to the floor before quite making it there. She reached out for Neferet, whose memories and presence had been such a comfort, even when she was being shown the most horrible things. But Umi found nothing but the void that she kept forgetting was there. At the touch of the emptiness within, Umi felt a fresh wave of tears roll down her face and a new round of sobs rock her body. He pressed her face into the side of her mattress to muffle the scream that was erupting in her throat.
Yugi hurried up the stairs after his sister only to find Ms. Takanada staring at the path the young woman had taken.
"What's wrong with Umi?" She asked as she noticed Yugi passing by her. Yugi stopped as if he had a cord around him that had been yanked.
"She had a fight with Grandpa." He turned to her. "He told her that she can't see Kaiba anymore, took away some things that he had bought her." Yugi could feel the rawness of his sister's emotions. He flinched and gasped as they struck him. It felt like a hammer to the chest. He did not bother to wait for Ms. Takanada's response before he hurried to Umi's side. He stood before the door feeling the pain emanating from inside. He tried to hold back his own tears, but the shear force of her emotions was overwhelming.
"Other Me?" he whispered as he touched the puzzle that glittered around his neck. "Help me." He felt the strength of the Pharaoh's spirit fill him, comfort him and provide him strength. He was grateful that Atem had not taken over as he was wont to do, because Umi didn't need the young pharaoh. She needed her brother.
Yugi pushed open the door.
Umi screamed as loudly as she could, muffling the sound by pressing her mouth against the edge of the mattress. She screamed over and over, letting her pain and sorrow and anger flow out of her with her breath. The last few months had beaten and scarred her in ways she had never thought possible. Only two things had kept her even remotely sane-Seto, with his steady, unflinching gaze and his complete acceptance of her as she was, and Yugi's unwavering kindness and compassion. She could not imagine her life without both of them in it, no matter what her grandfather might wish for her.
She screamed once more, but the sound was cut short as her brother's arms enfolded her and held her close. She could feel the sadness within him, his disappointment in their grandfather's ability to forgive.
"He's not like that, Yugi." she whimpered as she buried her face in his chest.
"Not anymore." Yugi stroked his sister's soft, straight hair. "I know. But what Grandpa said wasn't a lie. Kaiba did do awful things."
She pushed away from him.
"You're taking his side?"
Yugi shook his head.
"No. Kaiba's changed. Atem saw to that. I'm proud to consider him a friend, even if he won't admit it himself. And I know that he loves you." Yugi glanced out the window through which the last rays of sunlight were streaming. He chuckled softly as he recalled Kaiba's worry. "He probably loves you more than anything he's ever loved before."
Umi wiped her eyes and nose on the sleeve of her sweater.
"He told me he loved me today." She admitted to him. Yugi's eyes widened at the revelation. He stared at his sister for a moment as she battled the onslaught of tears that escaped her eyes. "But now, if Grandpa has his way, I'll never get to see him again." Once more, Umi's body was wracked with sobbing.
Yugi pulled his sister close again and held her tightly as until the weeping slowed.
"I'll talk to Grandpa." He whispered. "Maybe I can convince him to change his mind." He kissed the top of her head. "Ok?"
Umi nodded as a timid knock sounded on the door.
"Umi? Yugi? Dinner is ready." Ms. Takanada's voice was muffled by the closed door.
"You want to stay here?"
Umi nodded again and Yugi had the distinct impression that she was not quite ready to face their grandfather. Yugi helped her into her bed and tucked her in. She grabbed his hand before he left. Her face was etched with grief and pain that she had bottled up and held inside since their mother's death. Her eyes begged him to stay, and he realized how broken and damaged she truly was beneath the surface. He recognized exactly how much of a front she had put on for everyone to convince them that everything was fine and she was adjusting normally.
"I'll come back later." He squeezed her hand before he left.
Umi laid in her bed staring at the wall until she remembered that Seto had apparently left her something on her phone. A brief flash of worry crossed her mind that he might have left something inappropriate. She shook her head at the thought. Seto was not the type to send random explicit pictures. He didn't even seem to take pictures very often. He wasn't like her would be boyfriends from America. She realized that if Josh had gotten ahold of her phone and been able to unlock it, she would have had a gallery of dick pics. She sighed as she scrolled through her images looking to see what he might have left her. It took her awhile to find her voice recorder and see that he had left her a message on it. She eagerly, though apprehensively pressed play. His deep, rich voice poured out the phone. It was full of emotion with a slightly giddy edge to it that must have been due to his intoxication, she realized.
"Umi, I," he sighed before starting again. "I need to tell you something, but I'm not sure how to say it. Geez, it seemed so easy while we were there, but now everytime I try, hell even before then, I've wanted to say it. I, I think you know, but I feel like I need to tell you. Dammit Roland, just go away!"
Umi chuckled as his train of thought was disrupted. Her heart ached not being with him.
"Anyway, I'm not sure where I was going. I miss you, wish I was holding you right now, but I guess I understand why you had to leave. Maybe I'm just being selfish, wanting you all to myself, never wanting to let you go."
He grew so quiet for a moment that Umi wondered if he had fallen asleep on the phone. She wished she was curled up with him as well. Having him next to her was all she could really think about when she was cuddled up underneath his blanket.
"I can't imagine my life without you anymore, Umi. And the longer I'm with you, the more I learn about you, the more I need you. I know you're angry, about what I had planned to do, but my only intention was to protect you. And I know you think that you're more than capable of protecting yourself, but I... I forgot what I was going to say."
Umi listened as he rambled on for over ten minutes. At one point he started singing. She was surprised at how nice his voice was when he sang. At another point, he talked about the future he wanted to share with her. She wanted to listen to him for hours, but she wanted to lay with her head on his chest and his arm wrapped around her, she realized as tears streaked her cheeks and wet her pillow.
She replayed the recording once it had ended, hanging onto the last shred of him that was in her life now that her grandfather had forbidden their relationship.
"I will fight for you, Seto." she whispered as she slipped her earbuds into her ears, hoping to keep this last piece of him all to herself.
Yugi sighed as he trudged up to his room after dinner. The meal had been tense with his grandfather making not-so-subtle comments about Umi's choice in men. He even mentioned that Joey would be a better match for Umi than Kaiba. Yugi could only roll his eyes at how little his grandfather understood his sister. He stopped in front of his door before turning across the hall to look at her room. He reached out to her as they had done since their childhood. Their bond seemed stronger now that Neferet was no longer sharing space with Umi. Yugi wondered if the conflict between Atem and Neferet had unwittingly blocked their own connection. Now that Umi was just Umi once more, Yugi felt the connection stronger than ever, at least as strong as it had been before he completed the puzzle and woke the pharaoh.
When he touched her spirit, it was shadowy and filled with sadness that struck him like an arrow through the heart.
"You should go talk to her, Partner." Atem's voice echoed throughout his being. "She lost more than her lover recently."
Yugi realized that his other self was right. While their trip through his memories felt like a lifetime ago, they only just got back yesterday. Suddenly, Umi's pain made infinitely more sense. He knocked lightly on the door but there was no answer. He brushed her tumultuous mind, hoping deep down that she was asleep, but was she beckoned him inside. He pushed the door opened and stepped inside.
"Close it." she ordered from the bed. He pushed the door shut before sitting next to her on the narrow mattress.
Her eyes were wide open, but staring at nothing. At least that is was he assumed, since he doubted that she found the wall very interesting.
"Umi."
She didn't answer. She didn't even blink. He touched her leg and pushed his mind against hers once more.
"Umi." he said more firmly. She blinked and looked at him as she took her headphones out of her ears. "Grandpa is pissed."
"No shit."
"I mean, he's angry you didn't make it down for dinner."
"I'm not hungry." She turned onto her back.
Yugi knew then that something was definitely wrong with his sister. She loved food and would eat for pretty much any reason. She was the only person who could out eat Joey when she had a mind to.
"It's too quiet." she said, changing the subject. she stared at the ceiling for a moment before meeting his confused eyes. "In my head. It's too quiet in there." she elaborated. "Being with Seto, it let me ignore the silence, but now." she sighed. "It's overwhelming."
"Because Neferet's gone?"
She nodded.
"It seems like everyone I care about leaves me at some point, for some reason."
"I've never left." he pointed out.
"No, but you didn't come with me either."
He had to concede her point. She had asked numerous times, but each time he said no.
"I'm here now. And I'm sure that Grandpa will come around, eventually."
"But it doesn't change the silence." She sighed once more as she watched him trying to understand. "Imagine your other self suddenly gone, Yugi. You no longer have his comfort, his advice, his simple presence. Now imagine he's been with you as long as you can remember. And suddenly-poof-gone."
"So Kaiba was, what? a distraction?"
Umi shook her head.
"No. I, I really do love him. When I'm with him though, the silence is a little less deafening." Umi felt herself tremble with the admission of her feelings. She knew that Yugi knew of them, but saying it outloud, admitting it to him made them seem a little more real. She wiped her tears away as they once more started to fall. Yugi pulled the blanket back and laid down next to her.
"I can't imagine it, Umi."
"I know." She nestled against her brother, laying her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her back. She fiddled with her phone as he looked up at the ceiling, trying to imagine life without Atem within him.
"Eventually, I too will be called away, Partner." the spirit echoed within. He wondered if he would be as depressed as Umi was now. The sound of Kaiba's voice from Umi's phone brought him back from his dark train of thought.
"Is he ok?" he asked, listening to the recording.
"I, uh, I think he was drunk when he recorded this yesterday."
"Is that what you've been listening to?"
She nodded against his chest.
"Don't tell Grandpa. Please." she pleaded but he squeezed her reassuringly. "He really is a good guy, Yugi."
"I know." Yugi laid with his sister, listening to his self-imposed rival rambling on about how much he loved Umi without ever actually saying the words. Umi relaxed in his embrace as she listened. Yugi thought she had fallen asleep until she spoke.
"He actually said it today, you know."
"Said what?"
"'I love you.'"
"You know he told me that he's going to marry you." He felt her body stiffen against his in surprise for just a moment before a grin spread across her face.
"When?"
"Before we rescued you." Yugi closed his eyes as he stroked her hair. She had tensed once more at the revelation. "He said he finally remembered meeting you the first time. He didn't go into it more than that, but I think even then, he loved you, or at least was drawn to you."
"I guess that explains why he was so interested in taking me jewelry shopping today." They both chuckled. Umi propped herself up on her elbow and looked at her brother who echoed her movements. He pressed his forehead against hers.
"I know that Grandpa doesn't like him, but I promise he will come around."
"What about you?"
"I think you're good for him, in a way that his obsession with my other self isn't." Yugi looked deeply into her green eyes, feeling a tug from the spirit within to close the distance between them. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "And I would be happy to call him brother." Yugi smiled at her. "I've tried so many times to make him my friend, but he could never drop the act. If it takes you loving him for Kaiba to grow, and if being with him makes you happy, especially makes you happy, then I will be happy for both of you."
"Despite everything?"
"Yes. I will." He leaned conspiratorially towards her and whispered in her ear. "Though I don't think my other self is too keen on the idea." He was not expecting to be blushing and breathing heavy as he pulled away from her. She looked at him skeptically.
"And why might that be?" Umi asked as she noted the color in her brother's cheeks. His violet eyes seemed to shift from purple to red to black as they dilated.
"He's jealous of Kaiba. I think he still sort of sees you as Neferet. In fact, I think he's a little jealous of me right now."
Umi closed her eyes only to feel the heat pouring from her brother's nearness. She needed to talk to the pharaoh, but she was scared. Too often, her will had been subverted by those stronger than her. She could feel Atem's attraction manifesting through Yugi's physical reactions. She brushed her brother's mind only to feel the dark void that was the pharaoh's spirit hovering right beneath the surface. She could tell that Yugi was fighting to maintain control and that this matter was one of a very few where the two spirits within him were not in sync. Umi felt his fingers brush the side of her face, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"Dammit, Atem, back off." Yugi muttered. Umi sighed.
"Let me speak to him." she relented.
"Are you sure?" Yugi's hand slid down her back and over her waist. "I won't be able to control him."
"He needs to know for certain. That she's gone. It's alright."
Umi felt her brother's consciousness drift away and the pressure of lips against hers as the young pharaoh gained the control for which he had fought so long. The experience was not altogether unpleasant, and Umi felt that she could understand why Neferet would have been so torn between her duty and her heart. But the kiss did not leave her breathless or make her soul sing as Seto's did.
When he pulled away from her, she looked into his ancient eyes.
"She's really gone, then."
Umi nodded. Atem closed his eyes, sighing.
"I hoped," his eyes drifted to the window behind her. "It does not matter. I found what I was looking for. My time here will be ending soon as well, I guess."
"Eventually, probably."
"What is it like?" he met her eyes once more. "Now that she is gone?"
"What do you mean?"
"I do not want to hurt him, but I think that I will, when I have to leave."
"It hurts, not the process, but the emptiness after. I keep looking for her only to remember she's gone and the loneliness returns. It's like losing your father, only without the added responsibility of taking over the country." She tried to relate the loss to one that he would be familiar with, now that his memories were at least mostly restored.
"I do not want to go. It is going to be so difficult without him."
"You need him too, don't you?"
Atem nodded and sighed.
"I have no one quite like him."
"You have people who love you."
"No, I have servants, retainers, people who follow me because it is their duty."
"Neferet loves you, Atem. She does."
"Then why did she..." He squeezed his eyes shut at the rush of memories and the pain they caused.
"She does love you, but she doesn't love only you." Umi placed a hand on his cheek in an effort to comfort him. "I think that if Seto had never come into her life, she would have given you her entire being."
He looked at the bed between them, trying to avoid her gaze.
"Neferet and Seto have a bond that is," she sighed as she looked for the right word. "You know the story of how the world was created? How Ra emerged from Nun and eventually from Ra came Shu and Tefnut?"
He looked back up at her as the stories his mother and the old women in the harem had told all the children came rushing back to him.
"Shu and Tefnut were two parts of one soul." he added, nodding.
"That is how I think of Neferet and Seto, and by extension, myself and Seto here. We are two sides of the same coin, two halves. That doesn't mean we can't love others, but that there is a connection, a bond that is undeniable."
He smiled and a small laugh escaped his mouth.
"I doubt Kaiba believes that."
"He doesn't like to admit it, but you know it's true." She returned his smile. "Neferet does love you, but she cannot deny the other half of her soul."
"But what I did," he started before she cut him off once more.
"Oh she's pissed about that, but love, marriage, family, it all takes work, effort to make things go right. And sometimes we fail, sometimes we screw up. But if it's worth it, we get up, admit our mistakes, that we were wrong, apologize, and pray. And work to make it right."
"I don't know if I could ever make things right with her. Not now, not knowing that she wants him."
"Well, that is for you to decide. And you can't fix it as long as you're here."
"But I'm not ready to leave."
"You love him, don't you?"
Atem looked deeply in her eyes as he gasped. He had never truly thought about why he was so reluctant to return to his own place, but part of him, deep down thought she might be right. He and Yugi's spirits had been so intertwined for the last few months, since the twins' mother had died and they had sought Umi out together, that Atem was not sure he could live without Yugi. Their connection was like nothing he had ever felt, and he experienced it far more deeply than his physical love for Neferet. He wondered if Yugi felt the same.
"He is my Other Self." he answered her after a long moment, using the words Yugi had always reserved for him. "I do not know how to live without him, not anymore."
Umi smiled at the face that was so like her brother's, yet so subtly different, as a deep sadness filled her heart. She knew that the spirits would have to be separated, at some point, and Atem would have to move on, but she also knew then how deeply the two would hurt when it happened, even if they thought they were ready.
"Do not give up on Kaiba." He said after a moment, realizing that the connection she had described between her and the young CEO echoed his own connection with his partner.
"I don't plan on it." Her eyes were hard, determined as he faded back within his vessel.
"You two were talking for a while." Yugi said, his silence afterward begging for details that Umi was not ready to give.
"Do you really think Grandpa will change his mind?" She changed the subject.
"Eventually. You'll just have to wait it out. Of course, being as miserable as possible wouldn't hurt. Might speed things up a bit."
Umi turned onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. She slipped an earbud back into her ear and played Seto's message to her once more as Yugi slipped from her side and walked back to his room. He felt like he needed to talk with his other self.
Yugi lay on his bed, but his eyes did not see the ceiling above him. His mind focused on the spirit within and when he opened his eyes, he saw the brick corridor separating his spirit from Atem's that he had first seen when Shadi had trespassed into his mind. He stood before the door that led into Atem's heart, hesitating. He raised his fist several times to knock on the wooden door, only to lower it again. Atem had never had reservations about entering his room-invited or not. The pharaoh had been confused when Yugi had refused to do likewise, but Yugi could not barge into that most sacred of spaces without permission. He felt it would be rude. He took a deep breath and steeled his courage as he raised his fist once more when the door opened before him. He was met with his own face, subtly changed, with deeper lines and narrower eyes gained by layers of experience that Yugi lacked.
"Other Me." Yugi knew that was not the name of the being that stood before him, yet he clung to the description.
"Partner."
They stood, staring at each other, trying to find the words they wanted to say. Yugi thought Atem's face looked more pensive than he had ever seen it.
"I don't want you to leave." Yugi blurted out eventually as the bottled emotions erupted within him. Atem's eyes grew wide as his mouth dropped open.
"I don't want to leave either." Atem looked at other version of himself, trying to decide what he wanted to do. He knit his brows together and sighed shakily as he took Yugi's hand in his. Yugi placed his other hand on his double's hip as he stepped closer to the spirit within. He laid his head on the other's shoulder and wrapped him in a long hug. Yugi sighed as Atem's arms answered his embrace.
"I love you." Yugi said, though he was not quite sure if his feelings were more brotherly, platonically, or romantically. He only knew it to be the truth and to be a truth that needed to be told.
"I love you, too." Atem whispered.
Yugi felt his spirit mixing, blending with the other's as they held each other. Atem looked at him with eyes that seemed more red than purple. His face wore a shy smile before he pressed his lips against Yugi's and their souls joined together in a bond more tightly woven than Yugi ever thought possible. In the union, Yugi felt a sense of wholeness, completion, unlike he had ever experienced. He lost himself in Atem's presence, in his love.
"I wish you were real." Yugi felt his thoughts echo through the corridor within his heart. "Like physical, real." he amended at the ripple of Atem's amusement. "I want to touch you, at least once before..."
"So do I." Atem's spirit shimmered with desire that bordered on sexual attraction. "But this, this is good too. I've never felt this before. A connection so deep that you lose yourself."
Yugi felt himself respond with a touch of nervousness as he returned the pharaoh's kiss.
Seto rubbed his hand over his face as he leaned back in the large leather chair behind his desk. Deep down, he hated the work he had to do at the office, the endless meetings and reviews. He wished he could hire someone to do it all for him while he spent his days working in the design lab prototyping new innovations or coding new software for implementation in the devices he built. He was already frustrated by the capabilities of the smartphone he had purchased the day before and wanted to go tinker with it or build a new one from scratch.
But instead, he had to sit in on board meetings where people would try to find the most ludicrous ways to spend his money. At first, it wasn't too bad. When he had taken the company from Gozaburo, it was fun, like a game, and as such it had held his attention. But now, he was tired of the in-fighting, the schemes and plots, all of it.
His mind wandered to the feeling of Umi's arms around his waist and her head pressing against his chest. He longed to hold her in his arms once more. He had hoped to talk to her after dropping her off at home the day prior, but once they had parted, it seemed all hell had broken loose. He pulled open the drawer on the side of his desk and pulled out the sweatshirt she had returned to him and inhaled her scent deeply. His eyes drifted shut as memories of her smile, her laugh, her kiss floated through his mind. He needed to see her, to hold her again. Everything would be alright if he could just bury his face against her neck and press his lips against the soft skin there. He could hear her giggle in his memories. He sighed heavily as he watched as what he needed to do warred with what he wanted to do.
"Sir?" his receptionist's voice sounded hollow through the phone intercom, interrupting his thoughts and bring him back to the present. "There's an old man here to see you?" The young woman sounded uncertain. "He, ah, he doesn't have an appointment, Sir."
"Then send him away." Seto replied with annoyance. He buried his face in the soft navy blue fabric in which her scent lingered.
"He says his name is Mr. Muto and that he has something to give to you."
Seto opened his eyes and stared at the phone. A growing sense of unease filled him. He wondered if it really was Yugi's grandfather and what kind of business the old man would have with him. He had been trying to work up the nerve since they returned from the world within Yugi's memories to talk to the old man. Seto felt that he needed to ask him about Umi's future before he made decisions for the both of them. It was the one thing that Roland had insisted upon since he had gone and fallen in love with the girl. He took a steadying breath. Perhaps he could make the best of this unexpected visit and broach the subject of his future with Umi. But still the unease he felt in his gut gave him pause. He shook his head, assuming that the feeling was simple nervousness over asking to marry Umi-when she was old enough of course.
"Send him back." he said after some consideration. He waited expectantly, nervously, uneasy with the thought of the meeting. He shifted in his seat. He drummed his fingers together and tried to put on his typical air of confidence, but his knee bounced wildly beneath the desk. He clenched and relaxed his jaw repeatedly in an effort to relax and regain his composure. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as the door creaked open.
The old man shuffled in to the large office, crossing the distance more quickly than Seto would have imagined possible. His glare was zeroed in on Seto and he moved through the expanse without concern for that which surrounded him.
Seto swallowed hard under the gravity of his stare. There was a malice in the old man's eyes that made Seto's blood run cold. He felt his own gaze and face harden as the old man grew closer. Now was not the time to address the future, a quiet, deeply buried voice seemed to say from within him.
Seto and Solomon watched each other in silence for a moment as the distance between them closed. The dread that Seto now felt where he had once entertained cautious optimism made the time seem to drag on. Eventually, and all too suddenly, the old man placed a silver rectangle down on the edge of the desk and laid a small emerald pendant on a gold chain on top of it.
"Umi doesn't need these." His eyes were as hard as Seto tried to make his own. "She doesn't want them, or anything else from you. You would do well to leave my granddaughter alone. She doesn't need you."
Seto could not help but flinch at the words that stabbed through his heart like a knife. The anticipation he had felt turned to a deep, heavy, sick feeling growing in the pit of his stomach and he fought the urge to retch. He clenched his jaw and swallowed hard, hoping that the old man did not notice. He would not let the old man see how much those few words hurt him. He could not let himself be torn down like this, not by an ancient geezer, regardless of his relations. He narrowed his eyes as Umi's grandfather turned and retreated out the door.
Once he was gone, Seto picked up the stone that had glistened around her neck the day before. A chill ran through his body as he brushed his thumb over its surface. He didn't believe the old man, that Umi had given up on him. He couldn't. The thought made him sick, especially after he had so recently put everything on the line for her. He had laid his soul bare-as broken and scarred as it was-to her and she had embraced it, had embraced him fully and without hesitation. The delicate chain dangled from his fingers as he pressed his fist into his lips in an effort to bite down the mournful wail he felt building in his soul.
He didn't believe him.
He slipped the necklace into his jacket pocket before reaching for the tablet and tossing it into a drawer on his desk.
"Can this day get any worse?" he asked the universe. And then the phone rang once more.
Seto looked at it in exhausted apprehension.
"I need a fucking vacation." he muttered to himself before pressing the button to activate the speaker on the phone.