Meganekko

With the beginning of summer came a lot of new things. For the most part, it came with a sort of division between himself and the others due to events planned for the month of July. Mokuba had been right about the 'compensation'; sure enough, about a day after school finished and his 'part-time' job moved to 'full time', a check came in the mail.

"Haaah! 20,000 yen!" It was of course, rather far cry from the million he'd won before, but it was as Mokuba had predicted... Namely enough to get a train ticket to and from Osaka to visit his sister. It was the economy trip of course, but hey- he'd expected no less, and he had a feeling the same would be for his sister. "Shizuka-chan, here I come~"

At that moment, Mokuba poked his head in the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. Come to think of it, he thought for a moment, Mokuba didn't seem to be doing the work for KaibaCorp anymore... At least, no more than the nearly figure-head styled works that he'd done before hand. A form of work that had Katsuya wondering if the only reason he had the position was so that his sister could effectively monopolize more of the company. Yay? "Hn... Katsuya-nii, what are you talking about..?"

That was another change, the blond idly added to his mental list as he ate his cereal. Since that day in the hospital, Mokuba had taken to adding the 'nii' from 'Ani' to his name. It was kinda weird actually, though he wondered what kind of reaction Seto would have if she woke up and heard the kid say that. "Eh..." He held out the check, Mokuba looking over it blankly for a few moments. "Came in this mornin'. I was thinkin' of askin' my mom if I could visit her for the month..." He coughed, remembering his job... Which was supposed to grow into a full-time position now that school was out. "Er... If that's alright with yah..."

For a moment, Mokuba said nothing, before grinning. "Hah, no problem," he said as he passed it back. "On one condition!"

"Er... What's that?" Mokuba had also been acting a lot more loose around him... If the 'nii' wasn't any sign at least. Though now that he thought about it, everyone acted loose around him. He didn't think it was possible for anyone (Save a certain comatose bitc- Er... CEO)to act 'tight' around him really... But this was kinda pushing it. Just a little.

The boy smirked. "I get to come to."

Ok. He wasn't expecting that. Katsuya blinked, shaking his head a few times. He wasn't expecting that one at all. "Nyhhh... Say again?"

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "I. WANT. TO. COME. Should I break it up into letters instead," he asked as he crossed his arms. "I haven't been able to have a decent vacation in ages, if you're going, I wanna come too!" Why did the claim that would normally be obviously exaggerated if made by anyone else seem so pathetically honest in this situation?

He scratched his ear, frowning. "Hnnn..." Sheesh, much as he liked this kid... Mokuba could really be a brat sometimes. And the worst part was, the kid could technically fire him and kick him to the curb if he didn't like his answer. He didn't think he'd do that of course... "Yea but..." He continued to frown, finishing off the rest of his breakfast. "What about..." The statement was left unfinished, Katsuya turning away awkwardly.

That brought him to the third 'new thing'. After the hospital had essentially flat out stated that there was nothing more they could do for Kaiba, Mokuba had pretty well flipped out and gone completely overkill on their asses. Instantly, everything was moved over and paid for, a few doctors made to check in on a few things and otherwise but out. Not that Katsuya minded overkill... Hell, in the end, they'd still gotten everything they needed for the maids to cover what was needed from that point on.

It was just... Eerie. To walk past the open bedroom door and see Kaiba's still unmoving body 'sleeping' in the bed with a tube in her nose that led to the stomach for food. Machines bought out from the hospital sat at the bedside, monitoring Seto's vitals. Occasionally, Seto just wouldn't be there, having been moved to the washroom to be cleaned up, a thought that disturbed him just as much as the bed issue. It was worse during the afternoon though. When the maids would carefully lift the woman's body into a wheelchair and sit her by the window, as though hoping, praying, that somehow the light pouring through would wake her up. Regardless of the fact that it obviously wasn't.

The creepier part? Seto wasn't comatose anymore. She'd entered what the doctors had called a 'vegetative state', a 'semi-aware coma'. Mokuba was ecstatic at the hospital when they said it. The prospect of his sister even showing the slightest sign of recovery was incredible, and the kid had practically been bouncing off the walls. Or he was... Until he was told that when a vegetative state progressed too long, there was a high risk of it becoming permanent. Which essentially meant that even though, when sitting at the woman's bedside, Kaiba occasionally opened her eyes, she wasn't actually looking. Her eyes were still blank, soulless, staring at the ceiling or wall or whatever the hell her head was turned towards... And it wasn't likely to change any time soon.

It was like a zombie. Except that zombie was silent as the grave and paler than a ghost, simply existing in the room.

Now that Katsuya thought about it, that was probably why Mokuba needed some time away from the house. Anything to just forget about the shell of a woman they were living with right now. "Yah know what," he said with a false smile, cutting himself off. "Sure. I'll call my mom... BUT," he added as he moved for the phone, turning to point accusingly at Mokuba. "I pay for my own train ticket, alrigh'? An' we're goin economy class!"

Something seemed to flash through Mokuba's face for a moment as his friend said this, but in the end, he grinned. "Great! I'll pack my things!" As he left the room, he turned for a moment. "What kind of things can we do in Osaka? Like... I heard that they're known for food..."

The teen froze, having just finished dialing the number. "Er... I... I dunno..."

"Oh." Mokuba left the room, his voice still audible as he went down the hall. "Let me know so I can pack everything right!"

He nodded. "Will do!"

Little did he know just how much his sister would tell him in those few minutes over the phone as a result. Because if he had... Any doubt about the stereotype with girls and phones.

He did not doubt it now.

"Sheesh," Katsuya said for the umpteenth time as he and Mokuba boarded the train and took their seats. "This list is huge..."

Mokuba nodded, looking down the list of activities that the blond's younger sister, 'Shizuka', had apparently decided for them. "Yea... Can she and your mom even afford all of this?"

He shook his head, still staring at the list with wide eyes. "I don't know... But I'm glad we had it while we packed..." Lest they end up incurring the wrath of the two women... He could hear them now; 'We gave you a list! Why aren't you ready!'

There was a lot more to Osaka than food, Katsuya had quickly decided when his sister picked up the phone the other day. Shizuka had been surprised of course; he rarely called, what with long distance and not wanting to take advantage of Mokuba's cash and all (Given the fact that, as the boy admitted shortly after the call was made, he was officially a 'figure head' once more). She was more than glad though, to hear his voice. Even more so that he'd be coming to visit for once... And from what Mokuba could tell from asking, this would be the first time Katsuya saw the girl in person since he was ten.

So after finally getting it through to the girl's head that yes, he could afford to come, and no, his dad was not involved, she'd proceeded to call her mom over and (To his horror) go over a long list of events for them to do over the summer. They'd been so into it, that it took him about fifteen minutes before he could finally tell them about Mokuba... By which point the boy had given up waiting and was standing beside Katsuya with a suitcase.

Shizuka clung to the fact that Mokuba would be coming instantly for reasons completely beyond Katsuya's knowledge(He'd thought they would disagree for the first bit really). Apparently, as was revealed earlier, she was gushing over the idea of having a young boy at the house that she could talk with when Katsuya started acting like a prat. Now that he thought about it though, she was just joking about that. Right?

Right?

None the less.. "Lesse... There's the Kaiyukan Aquarium..."

Mokuba nodded. "Yea," he said with a smile. "It's second largest aquarium in the world,"

Beside him, Katsuya scowled. "Lemme finish..!" As the boy fell silent (albeit with a smirk), he continued. "Anyways, the Tempozan ferris wheel, which is beside it... Shin-Umeda City... Er..." He frowned, turning to Mokuba. "What's that?"

The boy grinned. "Oh! I heard it's really cool... It's got a floating garden, an underground mall, a-" Well sheesh, what did they need a list for?

"Alright alright, I got it!" He watched as Mokuba pouted about being cut off, before shaking his head. "I'll jus' wait till we're there... Er, lesse now..." He continued down the list, shaking his head. "Osaka castle, the Sumiyoshi Taisha temple, the Tamatsukuri Inari Shrine.." He paused frowning. "Why are we visitin' a fox shrine..?"

He shrugged. "I dunno, but I'm leaving something there when we go; Inari's supposed to be the god of industry you know..." The boy leaned back on his seat, the train beginning to move. "And I could sure use some of his help right now..." Oh yea... Business problems.

Katsuya nodded. "Yea... I hear yah..." He frowned, looking at the boy. "Hey, is it alright..? You comin out here with me an' no one else?"

Another grin. "'Course! What, you think I'd come here if I was liable to be shot or something?" He laughed, Katsuya going red; those had been his thoughts actually... "Sheesh Katsuya-nii... I cleared things up with Isono, it's fine! Besides," he added with a smirk, "I should be fine with someone I hired for security!"

The blond scowled, clutching his list. "Yea yea yea, cause hey, not like I have to face your sister when she wakes up if somethin' happens to yah..." He was assuming that when she woke up she'd be different of course. Then again, the other Yugi's 'penalty games' had to have some sort of affect... He thought so at least. "Lesse... Lastly we've got the Tennouji Zoo, Tsuutenkaku tower, the city itself, a beach trip and..." He gaped, reaching the bottom. Shit, by this point he'd just written down whatever he heard, he didn't actually expect... "Holy shit... They're taking us tah Universal Studios!" As if all the other stuff wasn't expensive enough!

The boy jumped, his thoughts mirroring Katsuya's. "Seriously? With everything else they have on that list?" Mokuba's jaw dropped, and he snatched the list from the teen's hands. "Lemme see that..." Sure, he could easily afford all of this (Actually, he'd kinda told Katsuya to make sure they knew he'd be paying for himself), but... Holy shit... "What did your mom do, win a lottery Katsuya-nii?" He could see the zeroes floating around in his head...

Katsuya merely shook his head, wondering himself. "I... I don't know... I mean..." He frowned lightly, taking the list back and pocketing it. "I thought they were tryin' tah save up for her operation..."

"Operation..?" Mokuba blinked. What operation..? He hadn't heard anything about... Wait, he didn't hear about Shizuka 'ever' let alone a surgery, of course he didn't.

The blond sighed, leaning back on his seat. "Yea... Shizuka-chan's got a condition," he began, rubbing his head. "Her eyesight's deterioratin', disappearin' day by day... Th' doctor's don' know when it'll really be gone for good, so for now it's jus a matter of glasses an' a helping hand when it blacks out but..." Katsuya bit his lip, before continuing. "There's a surgery they could do... It's only a 50% shot, but it's the best they've got. Only problem is..."

Mokuba blinked, knowing what Katsuya was saying. "The cost... Then," he said with a frown, "If you knew all this, why didn't you say anything?"

He snorted. "Seriously? Yah already gave me a job and a place to stay, regardless of what happened at 'Death-T'." Katsuya's voice became rather stiff, while Mokuba flinched at the mention. "I mean... Yer s... Yer brother," he corrected as he noted that a few people on the train were listening in now. "He's sleepin an' he hasn' woken up... And then there's everythin' else yah mentioned..." The blond sighed, shaking his head. "I can't ask that. Not for th' price it is..."

The boy blinked, turning away awkwardly. He couldn't fault him for that... But this wasn't... This wasn't Katsuya's fault! This wasn't-

"Hey," the blond said, a hand on his shoulder. "You still mad at 'im? Yug' I mean?"

He nodded. "Of course," he said somewhat curtly. "I mean... Because of him, n-niisama is..." The boy sighed, holding his bag close. "At the same time though... Even with all that's happening, I know that..." Mokuba swallowed, turning to Katsuya with a frown of sorts. "Niisama will wake up! I know it... I just wish..."

That she could be there with them.

While Katsuya didn't think that Seto would have necessarily come along if she had been awake at that point, the thought was still there as the train headed for its destination.

Four hour train trips sucked hard, but when he thought about it, it'd still been fun. After the awkward silence had been broken by the free drink that came with their ticket, Mokuba had spent a majority of the ride peering around his friend to look out of the window.

Judging his reaction, he had't really left Tokyo... Ever. "Woah," he said as he stared out the window, sipping his drink. "We get four hours of this?" Well, maybe not four hours of Mount Fuji but...

Katsuya shrugged, grinning. "Nyh... 3 and a half actually. Should probably sleep teh tell you the truth..." He winced, before yawning. Truth be told, the train they'd taken was an early one... While the sun was up already, it was actually about 5 in the morning... Sunrise was 4:30 AM, and they'd boarded the train at that exact moment.

As for when they woke up to get there... Ick. Mokuba laughed as the blond yawned again, shaking his head. "I'm not tired... I told you to go to bed early didn't I?"

He scowled. "Yea, but yah seem to forget that my job is night shift!" Meaning he'd been awake the entire time! As he attempted to get into a comfortable enough position to sleep in, he yawned again. "I mean... 'S great that yah didn' fire me when yah got those other guards in..." He paused, before adding with a short smile, "Yah know, the qualified ones?"

"Yea... Well you have to admit, people have been looking through the gate a little too much lately..." He sighed, before yawning. Aggggg... Now he was tired too, this was his fault! Ignoring that for the sake of conversation, he tried to adjust his own seat. "Besides; I need someone other than the maids to make sure that niisama isn't attacked or something in the middle of the night..." Though with all the extra staff the 'Big 5' kept requesting... It was hard to filter through.

They fell silent, Katsuya turning away with a nod. "...If that's th' case, then why-"

Mokuba cut him off. "Why come? I've got someone there, don't worry. Hobson might not look like much, but in his younger years, he was a soldier. And that's without mentioning Isono." He curled up in the seat, using his duffel bag as a pillow. "Trust me; if anything happens, he'll be there."

Right. Hobson. Hihhhhhh. He still hadn't gotten over that guy's involvement in 'Death-T'. Deciding not to mention that for the moment, he fingered a picture he'd taken out of his wallet for the drive. How different would she look... Probably not much, it was a recent picture.

Beside him, Mokuba looked over at it briefly before blinking. "Oh hey..." He moved, leaning over the blond's arm to look at it. "That your sister?"

"Yep- She's 14, last year of middle school now." He held it out, showing Mokuba the image of the young girl in a standard school's sailor fuku. "Don' tell my other friends though," the blond added with a scowl. "I don' wanna have to pry Honda off my sister." Bad enough that the guy knew he had one...

Mokuba snickered, returning to his spot. "No worries, I won't..."

Katsuya frowned. "I don' like th' sound of that..." It was the sound of a lie... Or at least the sound of a fake lie.

He didn't get an answer however, as the boy seemed to 'magically' fall asleep once he said that. Little brat... ...Though he supposed he had it coming, with all the good that was going on.

There were pieces missing in the puzzle.

Seto sat by the now tiny pile, where four pieces sat, before looking at the mess of a puzzle she held in her hands. Too many pieces were missing than there were in the pile. And for now, it seemed that none of the ones there would match up at the moment. As to where the other pieces would come from, she didn't know; and that was what disturbed her.

She sighed, putting the puzzle down. As the pieces had come together, she'd felt herself grow. Not like she did in the memories though. More like... How she should have grown. It was hard to describe... A difficulty that she resented. Her hair was still short; she liked it that way, off her back and out of her eyes. Easy to deal with and keep out of the way.

Or maybe that was from becoming too used to the disguise she appeared to take in the memories. She wasn't sure why she was hiding in them... Covering up the way she did. After all, she was a strong woman wasn't she? She could have easily stood her ground and simply cast the disguise aside, setting things right.

Yet something stopped her in those memories, and now she felt that it was too late. Far too late, to make that change. Seto held the puzzle close, frowning. Her name... She still didn't know what it was. She assumed it was 'Seto' for the moment; 'Mokuba' called her 'Seto-neesama', and the Mutt would call her 'Seto-chan'. (She hated that mutt... so much right now...)

She wasn't sure though. There was something else in the back of her mind that was arguing against it, and though she couldn't hear it, it was enough to bring doubt to her mind. The girl sighed, picking up one of the pieces before looking into the distance at a faded image of what looked to be a ceiling. She felt like she could run at that. Just stop the puzzle and 'wake up', but for some reason she knew that wouldn't work. Somehow, she just knew that doing that would be 'cheating', and would only leave her worse off than before.

Besides, all she could see was either a wall, or occasionally a faded image of a sunny sky. Nothing more. And then the 'window' would close, and it would be dark again. "Hmp," she said with a scowl, turning her back at the oddly muggy feeling she got from the 'heat' in the 'window'. "It would probably just be boring anyways!" Besides, it was summer wasn't it? She'd just wait until autumn instead.

The 'window' warmth, the warmth from the sun, it wasn't the same as the heat she got when the Mutt and Mokuba were talking. It was like she was actually there, and even though she felt like they wouldn't have done this if she was awake... She almost liked it. Almost.

Right now though... The window shut, and she shivered. "...Cold..."

They were gone...

When the train pulled into Shin-Osaka station, the boys had been awake for about half an hour. And half an hour was more than enough time for the cheer of vacation to build up. "OSAKAAAA!" Katsuya was (as usual) loudly sharing his excitement to anyone who cared, backpack and suitcase on hand with Mokuba's own bags in his other. "OOOOOSAKAAAAAA!"

Mokuba rubbed his ears, ducking his head down slightly. "Katsuya-nii! Pipe down!" As the blond turned to him, he huffed. "Really... And you wonder why Niisama calls you a 'mutt'..."

"Nyhhh... What's that supposed to mean!" As Mokuba simply laughed in response, the teen continued to fume. "I ain't anything like a mutt!"

Before Mokuba could continue his pestering (Because he had lots and lots of comments for that last one), a pair of voices from the entrance of the station caught their attention. "Katsuya-niisan," one said, the source running forwards to tackle her baggage laden brother. "You came!"

From behind the girl, a middle aged woman with curled brown hair chuckled. Though she was dressed fairly well, it was evident that time had not been easy on her. All the same, Mokuba thought as he looked at 'Ms. Kawai', Katsuya's mother, she appeared to have taken it in stride, and most of her wrinkles were signs of a woman who smiled often rather than frowned. "Katsuya..." As the younger of the two released her brother from her hold, Ms. Kawai moved forwards to pull the teen close in a warm embrace. "Oh it's been so long... To think you would come all this way when your father..." Was in jail? ...Yea...

The teen flushed, coughing awkwardly. "Aw... It... It's fine Mom, jus... Anyways, er, 'D like tah introduce you to my friend..." And employer, he added mentally. As his mother released the hug to look down at Mokuba, he coughed and continued. "This 's Kaiba Mokuba... He's th' one who's given me a place tah stay lately.." Not to mention a job... Though they decided not to mention anything concerning KaibaCorp to the woman.

The women turned to him, Mokuba smiling in response. "Nice to meet you!" As he said this however, he quickly found himself in a bone crushing hug. "ACK!" Wh-Wh-What!

The hug was soon released, as Ms. Kawai gushed. "I couldn't help it... You're so cute, you reminded me of when Katsuya was a little younger than you..."

Really... "Mom, I'm right here..." The woman appeared to ignore this, instead continuing her conversation with Mokuba.

Who looked like he wanted nothing more than to hide in a plant pot after that hug. Flushing completely red, he attempted to listen to what Ms. Kawai was saying. It took a few moments before he realized that she had asked him how old he was. "Ah... Ah... I turn 12 on the seventh..."

Blinking, the girl (Shizuka right?) turned to face Mokuba. "The seventh? That's only in three days isn't it..?" As her mother nodded, she smiled. "Then, we should do something for it, neh?"

As Mokuba blinked, looking slightly flustered (He'd come to avoid attention after all, not get more), Katsuya grinned. "Hah, yea! That's a great idea!" At that moment, his stomach grumbled, and he groaned. No breakfast... Ehhhhh. "Ny... Can we get some food first..?"

A louder grumble came through, Mokuba blushing as he looked down at his stomach in question. "Er... Yea... If that's alright with you Ms. Kawai..." It was kinda weird, not being the one in charge for once. Though he kinda liked it; made him feel a little more 'normal'.

She nodded. "Of course; follow us, we can go over the summer plans in the car, it's a long trip back to the house."

The boys nodded, before following them in. They had... No idea what kind of horrors would be in store.

Leaving two women alone to plan for even a day could be catastrophic! But sadly, Katsuya didn't know this since most of his friends were male... And as Seto had pretty much been brought up as a boy in her later years, to the point where she had become some kind of industry running machine, looking at how Seto got when she planned things (A process oddly similar actually) wasn't enough to warn them.

Needless to say, it was only the prospect of breakfast that eased their confused and addled brains as they left the car half an hour later.

The next two weeks could scarcely be described with words. If anything, words could only describe the beginning of each one 'event' that took place, while the rest of the day (in Mokuba's opinion) could be matched only in snap-shots they had.

The words however, were generally something along the lines of...

"KAIYUKAAAAAAAN!" "Katsuya-nii, please stop yelling!" "Nii-san..." Shortly after which they would end up watching a whale shark in an immense tank.

And...

"TEMPOZAAAAAAN!" "KATSUYA-NII!" "Really, Niisan, you're too loud..." This was particularly annoying given that they were at the top of a ferris wheel.

And...

"TENNOUJ- GACK!" Katsuya doubled over as his sister finally sacked him between the legs to shut the boy up.

As the blond keeled over with a wheezing 'itain...', Mokuba stared at the woman with a mix of fear and shock, as did most of the creatures around them at the zoo. "Next time," she said with a frown, pushing the glasses she was wearing back up her face. "Listen to what we say, Niisan..." ...Women were scary... Not just Seto... It was all women...

There had been a muffled 'hai', and the three continued on their way through Osaka. So far, the summer had been... Amazing. The first day had been dampened slightly when their suspicions on the amount of summer activities they were having were affirmed of course... Shizuka was indeed going blind, and the doctors had told them the amount of time left. With the time they'd been given, operation costs would be impossible to amass; the current trip was effectively a 'blow it all away' event, a great big 'party' before the wall hit them.

However, Shizuka quickly calmed her brother down by simply telling him how glad she was that the boy had come. How proud she and her mother were, that he had continued to go to school rather than simply getting a low-class job out of Middle School. And, more importantly, the fact that even if she wouldn't see anymore, she would always be able to see that summer in her mind... And it was likely that last fact that mattered the most to Katsuya.

So far, Mokuba thought as they sat on the steps of the Tamatsukuri shrine at the end of the day, this was an incredible summer. That day in particular had been spent traveling just about everywhere, as Shizuka showed them around the enormous city of Osaka and dragged them around to store after store.

And in that one store he'd come across... Mokuba looked down at the two lockets he'd bought, each styled like the back of a duel monster's card. He'd spotted them while Shizuka was pulling Katsuya out of a game store. Looking at them... He couldn't help but feel like they would be good for his older sister. After all... Even if she wasn't 'really' there, the fact that she was now opening her eyes was proof that she was closer right? So then maybe, if they gave her some more pieces to the puzzle by being there... By finding things to add to it for her...

Mokuba watched as the sun set before them, Katsuya and Shizuka sitting at the steps further up to share stories on what they'd missed with each other. He wished... He wished he hadn't taken those days at the orphanage for granted. So badly, he wished now... Listening to the chatter behind him, unable to make out the words, he wondered what would have happened if they had never seen Gozaburo.

Would they have still ended up in Domino? Would they have never been adopted? Or would things be completely different? He fingered the lockets he'd bought, idly thinking back to his birthday. That day... He and Katsuya had no idea what Shizuka and 'Akie' (Katsuya's mom) were planning, but they'd been pulled out of the house and separated fairly quick. Shizuka left with Katsuya for something or other, and Akie dragged him off for a 'drive' to pick up food from the grocery store. Apparently he needed to 'experience grocery shopping', as well as help an 'old woman' when her own children weren't. (He had decided not to mention that Akie was the one who sent the two out of the house.) And so he was pulled off through the aisles, being handed wrapped packages and things.

With strict instructions to not look in any of the bags. At all. They'd driven back, Mokuba confusedly carrying half the groceries from the car before walking into an oddly dark house. Eeriely dark in fact. For a second, as he put the bags on the table and looked for the light, he'd thought the worst; that Pegasus had gone to the next level and hired someone to take him out only to find no one but Shizuka and Katsuya in the house. And that the someone had decided to take them out instead.

As soon as he turned on the light though, he was quickly proven wrong. "SURPRISE!" "Happy birthday!"

"Hwah!" Mokuba had jumped, eyes wide as Katsuya, Shizuka, and Akie (Who had gone in first... So really, it figured.) leaped out from behind the table, decorations strung around the room. It was... Unexpected. Really unexpected, though at the same time, he probably should have guessed... Yet...

Birthday's at Gozaburo's were generally a fancy dinner, reminders of expectations, and maybe a book. They didn't have big parties with thickly iced cakes and colourfully wrapped presents, like what was sitting on the table. Gozaburo didn't believe in games after all; they didn't 'rule' companies. Sadly those words had only incensed Seto, driving her to prove the dead man wrong... And that year, after Seto drove Gozaburo into suicide, there hadn't even been a 'dinner'.

This year however... Was different. There was Shizuka and Akie didn't know what to give him of course, so what they did do was pester Katsuya the day before on likes and dislikes, to find out that he'd never been to a street festival. So his present wasn't so much something to play with, as something to appreciate A LOT, as the women had, at the last minute, ordered in a yukata his size.

Sadly, he had found himself sorely confused, as since any conversations he had never even touched on yukata's and festivals, he had no clue why he was being handed something that looked like a bathrobe. He'd only been 6 when he and Seto had been adopted after all; so any memories of festivals were really... Faded. Almost non-existent actually.

So after an awkward question of 'what is it..?', he'd quickly gotten a loud 'HEH, YOU DON'T KNOW?' from Katsuya. He then watched as Shizuka smacked her older brother over the head for shouting in the house again, and ended up pulled aside by Akie to explain that later in the month they'd be going to a festival, and a yukata was what you wore at those events during the summer. Apparently.

Katsuya's present had come after that, though the teen had had much more time to figure out what to get. In the end, he was quite surprised; he knew that Katsuya's position on security gave him access to all film on the cameras both inside and out, but he never figured he'd have taken advantage of it. (No offense to the blond's intelligence or anything but... Well... 392 out of 400 was all he was saying.)

Somehow, by playing his cards just right at a rare time when he, Mokuba, and Seto herself sat at the table to eat at the same time, he'd managed to make the woman smile... And catch it on the camera by setting it up 'just' so for that one moment. It was a heavy gamble; Mokuba recalled reaming Katsuya out himself for moving the camera from where it was supposed to be, telling the teen that it was his 'last chance' before he considered laying him off. (Though he admitted to lying about that later when they were playing CapMon for secrets, and Katsuya managed to win. For once.)

Even more of a gamble was getting the picture just so that it looked like they were all smiling at the screen. Technically, the smile was more of a smirk; he remembered the day clearly actually... Seto was making that face because Katsuya had said something stupid, Seto had countered, and the blond had (supposedly) scowled in response.

He of course had smiled as well, watching the exchange between the two. It was kinda like watching a married couple on a TV drama, though he'd never tell them that. In that instant though, Katsuya quickly switched from his scowl to a smile as well. And since they'd each been sitting beside each other in a row, they were all facing the same direction...

The quality wasn't the best. That was expected, it was a security camera. But it was framed in a carefully, if not well made clay frame that the blond had likely made with his sister's help. A picture with all three of them... Smiling...

As the sun set, Mokuba's thoughts were pulled back to the present, his eyes watching the colours bleed across the sky. He wanted it to be real... He wanted it to be more than a set up image, a trick of timing. He wanted to go to parks and zoos with her, and not just Katsuya, to see her laugh and smile like when they were little, to comfort him when he needed her there... He wanted... He wanted...

As the other two came up beside him and told him it was time to head back, he put up a smile and nodded.

He wanted his sister to wake up.

Sometimes, Mokuba thought to himself, he didn't know if Shizuka's name was a form of irony or not. 'Shizuka' of course, meant quiet. He knew that much. And her last name, 'Kawai' was just a standard last name of course, but it did sound like 'kawaii'... Which meant cute...

Watching as she proceeded to ream out her older brother for yelling again (This time it was 'MATSURIIIII!'), he laughed nervously. Would they have acted differently towards each other if Shizuka had gone blind already? Or if they simply saw each other later in the year? In any case... "Niisan," she was yelling, crossing her arms after replacing the wooden fan she'd used to silence him. "Stop yelling all the time!"

As Katsuya rubbed his head, looking remarkably different in a yukata (Apparently, Mokuba wasn't the only one the women had shopped for. It was frightening.), he scowled. "Nyhhh... Come on Shizuka-chan.. I haven't been to a festival in ages!" Not to mention, they had made him wear something that looked just a little awkward on him. Particularly with the slight tan all the time outside had given him. "Lighten up!"

Mokuba had to grin at that, though it faltered slightly as the wind passed under his own yukata. Not wearing pants was... Weird... "Katsuya-nii has a point! This is my first time too... BUT," he said, before the blond could blow a raspberry at his sister. "You're still too loud!"

"Awww come on..."

At that moment, Akie came around in her own, rather dark coloured yukata with a smile. "Keep close everyone," she warned as people swarmed about the area. "It's easy to get separated in these places, and I have more than one to look out for now, neh?"

Shizuka nodded, while Katsuya merely shrugged. "Yea yea... Oh, Mokuba!" The boy turned abruptly as his arm was grabbed by Katsuya. "Come on, I wanna show you something..."

Akie's shouts could be heard as he was pulled off, Mokuba barely making out the words 'Make sure you're at the docks by 4!' "Neh, Katsuya-nii," Mokuba said as he was pulled away. "What happens at 4?"

"Hnn..." He blinked, crossing his arms in thought. Lets see.. There were the stands, which they would visit now... And... "Oh yea! There's a giant parade that takes place for th' entire day... At around 5, they enter boats and the parade goes down th' river!" He turned, the bridge and docks clearly visible in the distance. "Mom probably wants tah get there before the crowd really sets in, so we can get on th' boats for that part."

He followed Katsuya's gaze, before turning. "What's so important about the last part of the parade though..?"

The teen scratched his head, trying to remember. "Er... I think it has somethin' tah do with sunset... Can't really remember though..." Gee, that was helpful... "Anyways, hey look! Goldfish stand!" He pulled the boy off to the side, grinning. "Maaaan, I thought these were only around at like... Tiny street festivals!"

Those who were running the stand laughed, before the man closest shook his head. "Just because everyone's busy watching the parade, does not mean that we can't have some other forms of entertainment!" He smiled, gesturing to the multi-coloured goldfish in the shallow pool in front of him. "Why don't you have a go, see if you can take home a friend for your little brother," the man continued, looking at Katsuya.

"Er, actually," he said as he coughed, a little red at the fact that they'd actually been mistaken for siblings. They didn't even look anything alike, how... "Actually, he's not-"

He was cut off as Mokuba searched around the small cloth wallet he had been given earlier for some change. "I'll try," he said with a grin, looking at the price. 200 yen right?" As the man nodded, his grin grew. "Then tell me what to do!"

The man nodded. "A first timer ahh..? Well, all you have to do," he said as he took the money, handing Mokuba a bowl and paper-net, "Is use that 'pon' there to catch as many goldfish as you can." He leaned back, before continuing. "You can continue until the paper in the 'pon' is gone, or if you have enough fish that you want to stop."

Clearly, this game had him by the teeth. Mokuba nodded, before looking into the pool of fish. Ok... Go! The net went in lightening fast, a pair of fish caught on the surface. "Haha!" He carried it over to his bowl, grinning. "Eas- Eh?" The boy's eyes widened as the net fell through completely, the fish falling back into the bucket with a shocked splash. "What?"

Behind him, Katsuya chuckled before he fished out 200 yen himself and grabbed another pon. "Yah gotta go slow wi' these," he said as he rolled his eyes. "I mean, I know th' firs' time I did this, I did th' same thing you did... But paper is paper! It's gonna break in water!" Even he knew that! ...Wait he should rephrase that...

He scowled, going slightly red at the mistake. "Yea yea... Hn?" He blinked as Katsuya put his hand around his, the 'pon' in his grip. "What..?"

"C'mon," he said with a smile. "Les get some fish for yer real 'brother', alrigh?" As Mokuba looked up with wide eyes a moment before nodding, Katsuya guided the boy's hand to the pool. "Alright! Lets try this again..." As the net hovered above the water, he gently tilted Mokuba's hand to the side before dipping the net in just before the paper. Mokuba's face was tight with concentration, while the blond was flashing back to 8 years ago.

'Niisan,' Shizuka was crying, the pair standing in front of a small goldfish stand. 'Niisan, I can't catch them! They're moving too fast!'

He'd looked over at the fish he had just failed to catch moments and walked back with her then, taking her hand like he was Mokuba's and doing this same thing. Took a few tries... But he'd done it for some reason. "And now... When th' right fish passes..."

'...And it gets just close enough...'

Splash! A pair of fish, one black one gold were quickly scooped out, both falling into the bowl before the net was returned to the water. "It..." Mokuba grinned, turning up to Katsuya a moment before looking back. "It's still intact!"

'It didn't break!', she'd cried loudly. Katsuya mentally shook himself, before grinning down at the boy and pushing back past memories. "Yep! What'd I tell yah? Wanna try for a third?"

He nodded. "Definitely!" The net stayed where it was, and he looked towards one of the fish in particular. "That one!"

Katsuya blinked; the one Mokuba pointed at was completely white, almost like... Holding back a laugh at how a dragon was being compared to a goldfish right now, he nodded. "Alright! Let's move the net over... And..." Three... Two... One... "Gotcha!" There was a splash, and the fish fell into the bowl just as the net broke.

"YEA!" As Katsuya handed the bowl over to get the fish bagged, Mokuba grinned. For a moment however, it faltered. He felt... He felt like he was... Abandoning his sister... Doing this. Calling Katsuya 'brother', spending the first half of the summer with him... He stood there, grin falling as his friend turned with the three fish.

The blond looked at Mokuba a few moments, frowning. "Hey," he said, leading the boy off to the side. "You alright?"

He remained silent, the locket he'd bought almost two weeks ago hanging around his neck. The week before, he'd convinced Shizuka to help split his picture from the orphanage in two; the half with Seto's picture was in the one around his neck now. Eventually, Mokuba nodded. "Yea," he said, putting up a smile. "I'm fine..."

The other snorted, shaking his head. No... No he wasn't alright, and he'd be damned if he let anything kill the happy mood he had. "Yea righ'; cause you sound like a kicked puppy ALL th' time..." As Mokuba merely turned his head down, the blond sighed. "...This... This ain't abou..."

Mokuba nodded. "Do you think it's bad," he asked honestly, slowly turning to look up at Katsuya. "That I can feel happy while Seto is sleeping like that?" He took a breath, before continuing quietly. "Does that... Does that make me a bad person..?" Heck... With everything else he'd done before... He was already messed up enough right?

There was a small silence between the two, and for a moment, Mokuba wondered if that meant he was. But instead, Katsuya balanced the bag with the fish in it in one arm before pulling the boy close. "No... No it doesn'. Cause when it comes down to it," he said with that same caring, 'big brother' tone that he'd come to know again, "Th' fact that you're here an' wishin' for that one person t' be here, or t' even jus' know your here, shows that yah care that much... So if anythin', it makes you a better person than ever b'fore."

Another bout of silence. And then... "Thank you... Katsuya-nii. ...Do you think... If Seto-niisama was awake," he said, careful to avoid female honorifics in the crowd, "That he'd have come along..?"

"...Yea," he said, wondering how he could believe what came out of his mouth. "I do." It would likely take an army, but yea...

A few minutes and dollars later, the two were eating lunch and talking about better things as if nothing happened... But somehow, Mokuba decided, he felt a lot better now that everything was off his chest.

Sounds of drums filled the boats as they set off, the sun idling in the sky as they floated down the river. "Stay together," Akie was saying, arms laden with souvinirs from the day. Shizuka herself had a few packages, making Katsuya and Mokuba feel considerably less guilty about buying the mask and fans they each had in addition to the goldfish. Not to mention all the food they'd eaten; apparently, Mokuba had never had takoyaki... Or even melon bread.

Needless to say, this was a large shock for Katsuya, and he proceeded to load the poor kid with so much food that Mokuba was surprised he didn't explode. Not to mention the promise of getting a nabe to cook sukiyaki and oden in when they got home. Now however, they were on the boats for the final procession of the festival, watching as an old style play was put together before them. As to what this had to do with the festival or the parade, they didn't know.

Shizuka and Akie loved it though, apparently. The boys however, did not, and had so far been hit over the head multiple times for sneaking their monster fighters along, or in the current case, playing with a yo-yo that Katsuya had bought. "OW!" The blond rubbed his head as Shizuka hit him again, and he scowled. "Come on, we aren't th' only ones doin this! We can't be, this play is just..." He cut off with a cough when his mom sent him a 'look', and he turned back to Shizuka. "Why are you so violent..." What happened to his quiet and shy little sister...

She frowned. "Because you aren't paying any attention! Do you even know what this play is about?" The girl turned to Mokuba as her older brother shrugged. "Either of you?"

"Er..." He shook his head, laughing nervously. Quite honestly... He didn't really like plays. At all. So he'd taken Katsuya up on his offer to play monster fighter instead... "No..."

The girl huffed, shaking her head. "Really..." She smiled, turning to the stage with the odd look that Katsuya had seen Anzu get when she talked about 'love'. Oh... Shit... Not that tone! "It's the tale of Botan Dourou... A widowed man sees a beautiful woman with a small girl on obon, and falls in love... So, he approaches her, and vows to always be faithful, and they begin seeing each other at night!" As the boys began listening (It was more interesting when summed up), Shizuka continued. "But then one day, the man falls ill, and cannot see his love for a long time... And when he gets better, he is told that she has died..."

Katsuya blinked, frowning. "That kinda sucks..."

Beside him, Mokuba rolled his eyes. "'Sucks' isn't the word Katsuya-nii..."

They were both rapped on the head with a fan. "OW!" "ITAI!"

"Hnnn... I'm not done yet!" As the pair rubbed their heads, Shizuka resumed her story. "As I was saying... Later, he sees them again, and the woman tells him that she is still alive... They continue to see each other, but," she said, turning a moment as the stage cleared, "One night, the man's servants peer through a hole in his bedroom wall.. And to his horror, the man is making love to a skeleton, with a smaller skeleton sitting at the side!" As Katsuya instantly tensed at the mention of the undead, Mokuba grew considerably pale. "The servant goes to a priest, who places ofuda on the house to prevent the dead from entering... However, as time passes, the servants grow worried that their love sick master will die anyways.. So, they remove the ofuda, and allow the women entry once more. And in the next morning..." Shizuka leaned in, the boys visibly drawing back as she finished the tale. "They find him dead, entwined with the corpse with a radiant expression in his face!"

As Mokuba hurriedly threw his head over the edge of the boat, Katsuya attempted (badly) to stop shuddering. "Nhhhh! You know I don' like horror stories!"

His sister scoffed, crossing her arms. "Sheesh, it's not a horror, it's a romance!" How the fuck was that romantic! She scowled, turning to face the stage again. "Honestly! And you could at least pay attention to the plays after the money Mom paid to get us here!"

Katsuya froze. "Th... It cost a lot t' get on th' boat..?" The look he got told him all he needed to know, and as Mokuba came back the blond quickly snapped his attention to the second play that was beginning.

"Hey," Mokuba said, whispering so that he didn't end up a victim of Shizuka's fan. "I thought we were going to watch the lights as they came on..." Though the sun had set, it still wasn't dark; oranges and reds bled across the sky, and until then, none of the lights strung on the boats would light up.

He nervously leaned over slightly to whisper his answer. "Did'ya know that it cost my mom a lot t' get us here?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "Cause I didn'. And now, I feel really, really crappy for not watchin' the first one..." Regardless of how much he hated these things damn it!

The boy shook his head. "That's what you say now, but if you had you'd probably have fainted as it was..." There was a 'shh' from beside Mokuba, and he jumped. "...Ffff, I mind as well watch as well..." Who knew, maybe it'd actualy be ok.

The actors came on the stage, introducing the name of the play; 'Motomezuka', the sought-for grave.

The story, though supernaturally based, didn't quite get the same 'hihh!' response from Katsuya that Mokuba had expected. Heck, he didn't react to it the way he expected. Leaning forwards to rest his head on his hands, he watched...

She could remember watching a play...

No pieces had appeared since the others left. It had grown cold, so cold, for so long... Seto didn't know how much time had passed since she came to that place. She didn't know how long it had been since 'Mutt' and 'Mokuba' had gone. Even the warmth from the sun wasn't reaching her anymore, and besides her 'window', the darkness had become almost as dense and endless as it had when she first arrived.

It was scaring her. And she didn't like that. "AAAAAUUUR!" She threw the puzzle as far into the darkness as possible, falling to her knees in frustration. She felt small... Like a child, like she had before even entering the orphanage, like she had in the memory of the snow and the truck and the voice... 'Se...ri...' That voice... 'Se...' "Gh..."

Seto clenched her fists, her body now even smaller than it had been when she first came to the room. She had made it so far... Why was it that once those voices were gone, she felt powerless? Why did she need those two to live in here? To feel? As she stared off into the distance where she threw the puzzle, she touched her face, confused. "...Why," she asked, frowning at the sound of her younger self's voice and the appearance of her now tiny, childish hands. "Why am I crying..?" The girl looked over herself, still frowning as the salty tears clung to her face. She didn't cry... She never cried! So why...

...

It was lonely here...

...

She looked over at where she'd thrown the mess of a puzzle, still frowning.

...

Where were they..?

The girl continued to stare towards where she threw the puzzle, eventually gathering the pieces beside her and walking off to find it. She shouldn't have done that... That puzzle was... Important. She didn't know why. But it was, it was very, very important. Enough so that it was her only ticket out of here, her only way of knowing just what the hell was going on, just who she was...

The small glow of the puzzle appeared in the distance, but she still felt as cold as she had for the past and seemingly infinite amounts of time. Placing the pieces she had beside it, she picked the puzzle back up in her hands and sighed.

One of the pieces... Seto rolled the puzzle around in her hands, looking for a happy memory. It would be pointless of course... No matter how many thoughts she drowned herself in, she never understood in the end, never connected, and to make matters worse found herself feeling worse when she got out of it. She couldn't really tell where she fit in them after all; she was always 'not there'.

And yet, she wanted nothing more than to see this one at the moment. She didn't see how it was happy; she was young at the time... Too young to understand anything going on, and honestly she was surprised she 'remembered' something from that time. There was no 'Mokuba', no 'Mutt'... She was with two people at a play of sorts. It was... A festival, she decided, as she fingered the puzzle-locked piece. She didn't know what festival it was, or what it was for... And honestly, she didn't really remember much more about it at all.

But she remembered the play. It had started with... A priest.

A priest was traveling to Kyoto, and stopped with his companions in the isolated village of Ikuta. It was known as, from what Mokuba could get from the context, the 'Field of Life'.

They met with a group of village girls, plucking shoots from the snow. 'Excuse us,' they said, approaching them curiously. 'We heard that this was the town of the 'Sought-For-Grave'. Could you show us the location?' One of the girls agreed to do so, and did just that. After bringing them to the grave however, she begins to tell the tale of 'Unai'.

Two men, Sasada and Chinu, declared their love for Unai in letters. They were recieved at the exact moment, and both men were equally appealing to the family as future husbands. Unai, unwilling to bring jealousy by favoring one or the other, refused to pick between them. Instead, her parents had them compete for her hand.

However, no matter what contest they put together, they were equally matched. Swords, arts, cooking, hunting, fishing, fist-fighting... Nothing could be anything more than a draw, and in her torment, Unai flung herself into the Ikuta river.

At her funeral however, the two men were inconsolable. They had loved Unai deeply, and though they held no resentment for the other, had vowed to gain her love before the other. Now however, she was dead. In the end, they took each other's daggers, and in a deal, slit each others throats to join her in the afterlife.

However, because she was the source of the men's grief, Unai's soul bore the responsibility of their deaths. And so, she was trapped, and remained trapped, in the mortal world.

At the story's end, the priest and his companions prayed for her soul. Unai listened, but they had no affect. She was unable to let go of her grief, and unable to escape both the mortal plane and the Eight Great Hells...

And so, she would remain forever tormented by the demons of her past life...

It was a sad, grim, and almost eerie story, that was for sure. As Mokuba turned away from the stage to look at the now dark sky and river waters, he was joined by an equally morose Katsuya. The pair looked out at the lit boats in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say. "...That story," the blond eventually said, not moving his eyes from the water. "...Did it seem... Did it remind yah of anythin'?" Not waiting for Mokuba's response, Katsuya looked down, frowning. "Cause... I got a really weird feelin'..."

The boy nodded. "Yea... Me too..." He didn't understand what that meant though, really... How did anything they knew about have anything to do with that story at all? Looking out at the ocean, Mokuba felt his stomach grow cold. Maybe... It was a sign. Like an omen... Seto wasn't waking up yet... And the way the Big Five was talking to Pegasus was scaring him... Everyday in the house, it felt like someone more similar to Gozaburo was watching him rather than the familiar, calm staff he'd hired before.

It scared him. A lot. And if anyone found out that he held the key to where his sister had hidden the most important information on the company... If anyone of those fighting over it actually claimed their goal... He turned to Katsuya, mentally steeling himself. "Katsuya-nii," he said after a few minutes, before pulling something out of his yukata. "I want to give you something."

He blinked, turning to the boy. "Nh... You wanna what?" He raised an eyebrow, before shaking his head. "I don' need it, whatever it is... Sides, I've probably caused enough problems for yah as is." Presents were not something he deserved after all that.

Mokuba shook his head, grabbing his friend's hand and placing something in it before whispering. "I didn't ask, Katsuya-nii," he said in a tone oddly reminiscent of his older sister. "I said I 'want' to. And I will. Take it, and make sure no one sees you with it... Because this is really important to me, ok?"

The teen stared, fist clenched around the metallic object. "...What..." He swallowed, before tightening his hold on it and nodding. "Alrigh'. I'll keep it then... I don' know what's so important about it but..." Katsuya nodded, before slipping the item into his wallet without looking at it. Whatever it was... "I'll do it."

"Thank you..." The boy sighed with relief, as though having rid himself of a great burden. "Really... Thank you, Katsuya-nii." He smiled, before turning with a jump as a loud crack came through the air. "Ah... Fireworks!" The people on the boat turned, following the boys gaze as the empty boats ahead of them were set ablaze to join the sight of the fireworks on the river. "Woaaaaa..."

It'd been a long time, since he'd seen fireworks like this. Mokuba's reaction told him it'd been longer for him. Their eyes grew wide as they watched, a grin appearing on Katsuya's face despite the depressing mood from the last play. Flare upon flare entered the sky, some falling in a golden rain, and others spiraling in a twisted shower of glittering sparks.

Mokuba as well gained an expression of awe, as a particularly 'excited' shot of white light spiraled up into the sky before exploding into a rain equally as bright. "It's..." He stood, gripping the rail on the boat as he watched. "It's amazing! This is great!" Neesama would love...

He bit his lip. Neesama would love this... So then... Instead of moping about neesama missing this...

He watched the show, a now relieved and confident smile on his face as he and Katsuya's family watched the show.

Instead of moping, and crying about things... He would make sure that next year, Neesama saw this..!

AN: And as you two are having a blast, Seto's sitting in her soul wondering how the hell she's getting out. I hope you two morons are proud. Regardless of how OOC Seto is right now. Some key changes to the 'AN' section of the fanfic... Namely that my 'manga' corner is effectively turning into a guide on Japan as well. AHAHAHA. Whoops.

And in the meantime... I'm gonna pull an Jonouchi and say 'REVIEWWWWWWWWWWWWS~!'

Anonymous Review Responses

Hello again Iona~ Glad to see my use of adaption had this effect~ (Honestly, I always wondered how long it would take to get used to Yugi doing that... Or even for Yugi to get used to remembering that. YUGI DID YOU JUST KILL SOMEONE? ... YEP.) - This happens at least twice with him remembering it. And yet the only time he freaks out is when Kaiba is involved.. Ahhh...

Building up to events is something I find important for this, since technically it was going on while Yugi was having a blast all summer... The fact that you think I'm doing well with it reassures me on it though, so thank you!

And now...

Usagi's Manga and Japan Guide/Corner

The section so talented, it gained another specialty. Ooooooh~

From the title itself! 'Meganekko' (Megane (Glasses) + ko... Which uses the kanji for daughter, 'musume' ) is a manga term for a 'glasses girl'... See... It's never really clear just how Shizuka's vision is deteriorating; one one hand, she'd need glasses. On the other hand, it'd just be randomly copping out on her as it slowly tunnels in, and there isn't even a cure for that one. I opted to go with the glasses one, no matter how 'wrong' it is that her vision is still accessible enough for glasses to do anything when it's going to completely deteriorate in like... three months. I mixed it with glaucoma too~ But you can't cure glaucoma. At all. Oooooooh... Oh well.

All of the locations mentioned in this chapter are real, save (of course) Domino; Osaka is home to many many amazing things... Regardless of being known as a giant kitchen.

On Kaiba's condition; Mokuba says he's in a coma, but smart people can look at his condition in the manga and shout, with an angry point 'LIES'. A true coma would make it impossible for those eyes to be held open (Not healthily anyways), not to mention actually eat properly... And given that there's no sign of any equipment, they were doing just that, which means Kaiba's in a 'Vegetative State'. Personally, I wonder how the heck Mokuba lived with that for so long... Though it would explain his general attitude later. (Still a prick.) In any case; I decided to actually grab this and take advantage of it; as Kaiba's puzzle comes closer, and Kaiba her/himself comes closer to waking up, you'll see it!

Inari is, to be specific, the Shinto god of fertility, rice, agriculture, foxes, and industry. For that reason, many businesses will have a small gate on their roof dedicated to Inari to bring in luck and success. (Kaiba of course, does not, being a giant skeptic.)

Did you spot it? Did you spot the scene that happened early? When Jonouchi asks Mokuba if he 'hates Yugi', he's having the same conversation that Anzu has with him in the manga... During the Duelist Kingdom Arc. Needless to say, Mokuba's at least slightly more mean about his response in Duelist Kingdom.

I probably got both the plays I mentioned in this chapter wrong; I already know that they wouldn't actually be played out in the parade of all things. Nonetheless, see if you can find any of the significance in the plays being there...

Jonouchi's magically gained camera proficiency! This tends to happen when you work with cameras and tapes and things all day/night. Actually, you'll see the fruits of his amazing camera skills later on...

If guessed that Mokuba just literally gave Jonouchi the 'key' to KaibaCorp, congratulations! Oddly enough, as much as this change, it also doesn't change things... You'll see what that means later on.

Jonouchi and Shizuka's mom is never given a name in the manga. It was difficult, but I ended up giving her a name that will either seem to come from just the right moment in time for her, or a name that seems older than she is. (If that's the case then I am very sorry...) As a side note, on Shizuka's behavior... She's less shy and such mostly because of her brother coming to her before she announces that 'uh... I'm out of time'. The result is that she feels a lot more happy about the meeting oddly enough, and a lot less 'mousy'... That or I just killed Shizuka's character and I am very, very sorry about that...

Until next time everyone!