I'm in the house of a stranger who says he wants to help me.
I'm using his computer and it seems this world doesn't have Domino City, nor even Duel Monsters.
Anzu was unsure about which part was the most surreal.
Since when she had known "the other Yugi" she'd lived experiences pretty far from ordinary, she should've been used to it.
Yet as long as they were souls trapped in a camera or people possessed by an evil spirit, if someone explained it to her, she could understand. This time there wasn't anyone to explain anything.
Since she'd seen Yugi being swallowed by a creepy-looking purplish vortex and, without thinking farther, she'd run after him trying to catch him, she had been faced with a lot of questions and no answer. She'd thought she had travelled time, then rejected that theory after a quick check.
Then, Kaito. He was a kind guy, at least he seemed so. Something in him made her trust him, yet some negative experiences with Bakura e Marik had, unwillingly, made her prepared to suspect, even against her own instinct.
She got suspicious knowing Kaito was searching for Yugi, too (or for someone with his same looks, though the chances of a sosia were laughable).
Either she'd been so lucky to find an ally (Anzu really wanted to believe that), or she'd met one of the Pharaoh's enemies. If not else, that last chance would mean they hadn't found him yet.
Her eyes went back to the PC and she sighed. She definitely had to solve her doubts on Kaito. He had gone out soon after turning the computer on.
He'd even prepared her a toast, to be fair, she hadn't touched it though. One reason was that, for all she could know, he could've put a sleeping pill in it, but it was mostly because, despite she was fasting since the previous evening, she wasn't a tiny bit hungry. She had nausea just thinking about eating.
She'd spent half an hour to search about her world's news (uselessly) and about Tokyo, the strange city she'd happened to be in. Now she typed, feeling a bit uneasy, one name: Kuroba Kaito. /
«I believe him».
«Your opinion doesn't matter, crazy thief!» Shinichi immediately countered, irritatingly glaring at both the last arrived and the alleged Pharaoh.
He'd already been betrayed by Haibara, a conjurer pronouncing himself about the existence of magic was the last thing he needed.
Kaito's answer was a smile. «How do you explain this situation then, tantei-san? His story unfolds everything. How could the raven-man appear from nothing, why there are two guys who speak japanese with a pretty curious accent around Tokyo and why they seem so lost». (Atem, hearing that, raised an eye-brow). The thief paused and went on. «Putting all that aside, anyway, I already knew magic existed. And I'm not speaking about mine» he said, thinking about Akako, the creepy witch who attended his same class. The idea of contacting her didn't make him happy, yet maybe she could tell them something more about other dimensions.
The shrunken seventeen years old guy shook his head in deep denial.
Checking every possibility, he'd ended up rejecting them all. A very small part of his brain was starting to consider the chance that the scientist's theory was correct, though he denied the possibility with all the rest of himself. He was in a crisis.
He'd felt something similar just one time a football player he seriously admired had committed murder, even if everything hinted at him, irrationality had tamed him and he'd appeal to pretty improbable theories, theories worthy of Kogoro.
This time though it wasn't about feelings.
Magic was against his every belief. It was an explanation someone like Misao Yamamura, the uncapable detective of Gunma, could accept. Not him.
«Two?»
Atem's voice stopped his thoughts' course. He was talking to Kaito. «You said two guys? Did you met someone else like me?» he insisted, standing up. It appeared he couldn't stay still after that revelation.
Another umprobable theory came to the highschool detective's mind. Maybe that guy was an Organization's agent? Maybe they suspected him and used Atem to make him give out his cover.
It took seconds to reject that thought too, he shook his head disconsolate. A strategy this elaborated didn't make any sense, if they'd had suspects on him they'd take him without double thoughts – plus Haibara seemed at ease. She didn't trust the stranger completely, yet she wasn't in deep terror as when in presence of someone of them.
«Yes, two» Kaito confirmed. «Before coming here I met a girl who speaks exactly like you. Her name's Anzu». The boy's reaction confirmed his view of the situation. Now he just had to convince the little, wary detective to collaborate. It appeared he had some serious difficulties accepting all those news.
Meanwhile, relief had appeared on the Pharaoh's face. «Where is she now?»
«She's safe at my house. She wandered all day long to find you, she needed a bit of rest but wouldn't hear of it. To convince her to stop I offered her to use my pc to gather informations».
Atem nodded. At least Anzu was safe. He had a bad feeling about Yugi, though.
«You said everything unfolds, but it doesn't. I don't know why I was separated from my friend. I shouldn't even have a body, actually».
Shinichi had had enough of all that rubbish. Everything that foreign guy said was as absurd as his hair, completely illogical.
«Stop that» he ordered, not able to hold it any longer. He looked towards Atem. «Enough with that baloney. Tell me how'd you know he was coming». He cross-eyed Kaito. «Did you two make previous arrangements? Was there an agreed hour? How-»
Kaito stopped him putting an hand on his shoulder. «Easy, tantei-san, easy. I know it seems absurd, yet you can't close your eyes. What are you talking about, anyway?»
Atem didn't bat an eye hearing the fake kid's accusations. He saw he was clearly conflicted, even if he didn't totally see why, but he couldn't really afford to care.
«I felt his arrival. I see you don't believe me, but I can't afford to waste any more time» he explained briefly. He turned to Kaito. «Take me to Anzu, please». He'd want to immediately go to Yugi, but he had no idea where he was. He was hoping his friend had found something.
The moonlight thief glared to Conan, still clearly conflicted, then to Atem again. He nodded. «It's better if you stay here, though. I'll go taking her» he said.
On the house's door, he hesitated for a moment. «Tantei-san, please clear your mind as I'm out. We'll need your brain too». /
Anzu took her head in her hands, it hurt. She'd got too many news, too fast. She closed internet and lied on the bed for a second.
For a second… according to her will.
She woke up a couple hours later. She barely sttod up, her head feeling heavy. She rubbed her eyes to wake up completely. She risked a stroke, seeing Kaito in front of her.
He sat on a chair, his arms lying on the backrest, watching her with curiosity.
«Did you sleep well, princess?»
«…what time is it?» she whispered, still a bit dazzled.
She'd thought to be in her room for a moment… then reality struck her with evidence.
He gave her an envelope. «I see you didn't touch the toast. Do you want me to taste it, so you'll see it's not poisoned?» he offered.
She was going to say she wasn't hungry, but he stopped her with a nod.
«You should eat, we must go somewhere. There's a surprise» he said smiling.
«A surprise..?»
«I'll explain while we walk», was Kaito's only answer. Then he took her arm and brought her outside. /
«If I'd understood correctly, your soul is trapped in that… puzzle, right? A magic object of your world».
«I guess you can put it this way», Atem answered. Millennium Objects' history was a tad more complicated than that, though that wasn't the time to talk about it.
Since the other guy - Kaito - had gone off, the little scientist had reached him. She'd given him something to eat and made him some questions.
The other "kid", on the other hand, had stayed away.
Ai's facial expression changed. «It could be…» she murmured.
Atem gave her a curious look. He said nothing, silently inviting her to go on.
Even Conan came out of his trance and got closer to listen to his friend's deduction.
«It could be», Ai repeated, now a little higher, «that your puzzle doesn't get a shape in our world. It's a magic object after all, and like a certain someone teaches us, magic doesn't exist here» she paused there, glaring at Conan.
He glared back at her, confused. He didn't see her point.
The Pharaoh, on the contrary, got it. «You mean…»
Ai nodded. «The object that traps you got no shape, you soul does though. The puzzle… you could be it yourself», she said, with the same expression of a zoologist faced with an endangered species.
«That makes sense», Atem said, studying his own hands. That explained how he could have a body even if parted from Yugi, too.
«I doubt that», Conan commented. He got closer to the alleged Pharaoh.
«I don't know if I can believe you», he said. «Yet I know the Organization is looking for you, whatever their motive is. No matter how I look at it, we should join our forces». His upset expression said the contrary, yet Atem appreciated his effort.
«Will you help me finding Yugi?»
Shinichi took a deep breath, then nodded. He sat on the desk and switched the PC on. There must be some kind of trace, if there really is someone like him around… perhaps they're twins.
Shiho turned her eyes on the ceiling. It'd be really hard to make Kudo change his mind.
She sat on the sofa and switched the tv on. Maybe there would've been some interesting news. /
«It's here!»
Anzu stopped for a moment to recover her breath and looked at the house in front of her.
Was Atem really there..?
She hadn't found out much on Kaito, except for his father's death eight years before that. It was enough to her; maybe she was being reckless, yet she'd decided to trust him.
That didn't look like a trap, anyway.
She reached the guy in front of the door, eager to see her friend.
«You can't stop me from going!»
«It's clearly a trap! I am going!»
«No way!»
Kaito couldn't even open the door that Conan and Atem's voices reached the two outside.
Anzu's heart skipped a beat, recognizing Atem's voice. No doubts anymore: it was him.
She entered while a little girl – she noticed, astonished – started saying:
«Calm down, both of you. You can't simply rush there without a plan, none of you» she said, cross-eyeing the other kid inside the room. Anzu realized the voice arguing with Atem before was his.
Atem shook his head no. «It's something I have to do anyway», he said.
Just then he noticed Anzu, a smile's shadow appeared on his face. «You're safe».
She reached him; they and the kids formed a kind of a circle. Kaito walked himself into the center of it.
«Did we miss something?» he asked, tense yet excited at the same time.
Maybe the time to face his father's murderers had finally arrived.