Twelve Hours And Counting
-grnnnnn- "Man..." Katsuya leaned against the tree with a groan as the last rays of sun left the sky. Regardless of all the fish they'd eaten earlier, it had still been a number of hours since that time; it was getting late... And his stomach was protesting considerably. "I'm hungry..." He knocked his head back against the tree, the others merely sighing in response. The fact was, without breakfast the most they'd had was a few cooked fish with Ryota; and even with that...
"Maybe we can find Ryota again tomorrow," Honda was muttering, arms crossed as he leaned against the tree as well. "Get some more fish..." That sounded great, if only they could do that right now... "He what time is it anyways?" Katsuya blinked, turning to the others at the question. Well, he didn't have a watch... So... One of them had to at least.
Bakura that one person, he pulled his sleeve back and clicked on the built-in light to look at the time. "Just around eight o clock..." As he looked up from the watch to turn to the others, Yugi stared at the sky. By this point, the stars were already visible... In fact, it was almost pitch black on the island, the only light in the area being Bakura's wrist watch.
"Wow..." He blinked a few times, pulling his legs in for warmth as he sat down with the others. "It got dark and quiet really fast here..!"
There was a nod from the tree, Honda sighing. "Yea... Haven't seen any other duelists for a while..." Try a few hours really... The air was fairly cool, not a breeze around them as the feeling of solitude came over. As it was, one would think that rather than forty (Or however many were left, he wouldn't know) people it was just the five of them. In addition to Pegasus and Mokuba in the castle of course.
He sighed, staring at the sky before another growl came through the air. -grunnnnn- Damn it not again. The blond attempted to ignore his protesting stomach, instead moving to get comfortable on the tree. Come on, come on... He had to hold off for at least tonight, there wasn't anything in the area at all! "There isn't any one the island that's stupid enough t' duel when it's dark out..!" Another grumble, and he kicked at the ground before sitting up. "Nnnnnn, and I'm still hungry!"
Beside him, Honda shrugged. "Don't look at us! None of us have anything other than books and starchips..!"
Books and god damned starchips- 'Your life depends on them', not! Bullshit... Stupid american... "Shit man..." He groaned, rubbing his head before looking up with a growl. "Damn it! Screw starchips, I want some fucking food!" Even a mushroom would be good right now... He slumped forwards, groaning as the others sighed.
"I'd like some potato chips instead of starchips," Yugi was muttering from his own spot, giving a similar groan to Katsuya's. They were all hungry really...
Anzu as well was muttering something, and Katsuya continued to scratch at his head with a scowl. Had to be something around here they could eat, something... Didn't Honda mention mushrooms and edible plants earlier? Oh hey... He moved over to one of the trees at the side, blinking as he looked at something white at the base. Now what was this..? Plucking it up, he narrowed his eyes before wincing. Shit... "Heh... A... A mushroom!" He continued to stare at it, stomach growling yet again at the prospect of something even remotely edible. Man... He hated these things... Completely, but at the same time... The others behind him as well turned, following his gaze before the blond nodded. Right! Food was food! This would just be fuel for tomorrow! "I'm gonna eat it..!"
"AH! Don't do it Jonouchi!" The others jumped, grabbing him as the mushroom fell to the ground. He growled, struggling against their hold as they continued. "You don't know if it's poisonous or not!"
"Yea, what happens if you start tripping out!"
"DAMN IT," he shouted, finally pulling himself from their grip. It was a giant white mushroom, there wouldn't be a problem! "MY STOMACH'S GROWLING!"
There was rustling from the side, and they turned as the voice of the same woman who had seemingly been following them around all day came into the clearing. "Jeeeze what a crowd," she muttered, smirking with raised eyebrows. "All of you seem so hungry..!"
He groaned, turning as Honda stared with a red face again. Great... "Ackkk... Not you again..." His expression quickly changed however, when he noted that she wasn't talking any more... Instead, she was eating something. Something that suddenly appeared very, very appetizing despite being nothing more than a chocolate bar. "A-Ahhh..." The others followed his gaze, staring at the chocolate bar before he shook it off. Whatever! Like he wanted her food..! "Tch! Kujaku Mai," he said with a scowl, crossing his arms. "What the hell are you doing here anyways!"
The woman seemed to ignore her, still eating the chocolate. "Mmm... This choco-nuts bar is really, really good," she said as she chewed, holding the remainder out. "How about it Jonouchi, I'll trade you my bar for your starchips..!"
Katsuya snorted, gritting his teeth. Starchips for chocolate, what did she take him for! Regardless of what he said earlier... "Like hell I'd do that," he shouted, hair bristling slightly in annoyance. "These starchips are worth lives! I'm not trading them for anything!"
"Hnhnhn!" Mai chuckled, shaking her head with a wink. "Really, I'm just joking... If I was that much of a lowlife, I wouldn't have made you guys my enemies in the first place!" Tch... Don't fuck with him, seriously... Just what the hell did she want... As he continued to growl, the woman's smirk grew. "Don't give me that look... I almost feel like you're going to eat me!"
Another snort, regardless of what his grumbling stomach had to say about it. "Hah! Who would wanna do that, smart-ass bitch..."
Again, she winked at them, taking the bag off her shoulder as she spoke. "Well... Perhaps you don't see things that way, but how about this?" He blinked, raising an eyebrow while she addressed them all. "Why don't we call a truce for tonight," the woman began, Katsuya still frowning in response. "All of us are duelists right? We need to take it easy once in a while..!" Heh... Now what was that about... He narrowed his eyes, still frowning. He didn't trust this lady... Following them around all day, as if she was staking them out... What happened if two of their chips were missing in the morning, or worse? (Though he admitted that would not likely happen...)
Yugi however, was quick to jump on the offer. "That's true," he said with a grin, nodding at the offer. The boy waved her over, still grinning. "We're all tired from dueling all day... So sure! Come sit with us!"
"Ahhh, thank you~!" She walked over, opening the drawstring on her bag before dumping the contents on the ground. Cans and packets of various instant foods clattered out, along with a few bagged vegetables that looked as though they were drying out. "Now then... You guys want something to eat right," the woman began, Katsuya's stomach being all she needed for an answer. She chuckled, before pulling the drawstring back tight and taking a seat. "Well I have all sorts of stuff! If we get a fire going, we could cook up enough food for everyone!"
They stared as the contents fell to the ground, gasping. "Hah! This is..." Yugi gaped at the pile, shaking his head. "Food, tent, lantern... She has everything!" That tent was small, they weren't using it. Either way though...
Katsuya gaped at the pile, unable to keep a smile of his face. All this stuff..! Alright... So maybe she wasn't that bad. "Sheesh... This is incredible..." He still didn't trust her though. Not one bit. ... He leaned forwards, grabbing a few things and inspecting them. Still, this was a lot of stuff...
As they continued to rummage through the pile, Anzu turned to Mai with a raised eyebrow. "So how come you brought all this stuff with you..?" That was a good question... He blinked, turning slightly as Anzu continued to wait for her answer. No one else really knew that the tournament would be on some island that wouldn't have food and a decent shelter, so why had Mai come so prepared?
The woman merely shrugged, shaking her head. "Well," she began, before crossing her arms. "You can't really trust too many people in a tournament like this..." Why did she look at them when she said that? "So really, it only makes sense to prepare... Now then," she said with a smirk, turning on the others. "Boys! Time to start cooking; Anzu-chan and I will wait for you~!" Wait what? Why couldn't they do it!
He growled slightly at that, while Yugi merely nodded and grinned. "Got it," he said, turning to the others. "Lets get going!" Awww man, he couldn't argue when Yugi was already so gung-ho about this...
Beside them, Bakura had already grabbed a few additional packages from the pile, taking a few more from Anzu and grabbing a pot. "You can leave the cooking to me," he stated with a smile, Yugi grabbing a pile of wood from the side to build a fire. "I'm used to cooking for myself, so I'm pretty good at it..." That made sense...
As the two moved off muttering about how, in Yugi's words, 'it's just like camping!', Mai turned on both Katsuya and Honda to toss them a second pot and bucket. "And you two," she shouted with a grin, Katsuya catching the pot with a scowl, "Can get some water!" Oh great, they were camels...
Still grumbling, he handed the bucket over to Honda. "Man, why the hell do I have to take orders from you..." He found his hand shooting up on reflex as something else was tossed his way, looking at the back with a raised eyebrow. "'Shower'.. Wait, yer gettin' a shower set up too?" The blond shook his head, turning away. Leave it to someone with 'Peahen' for a last name... "Sheesh, why don't you get the water... Ow!"
He was quickly elbowed by Honda, who still had a bright red blush across his face. Well obviously someone was thinking... Of something irrelevant. "Dumbass! We're getting food out of it!" Oh come on, like she'd take away the food if he badmouthed her! ...Actually that was likely to happen. Shit. Maybe he really was thinking straight right now... At Katsuya's set scowl in response to that, the teen pulled him off through the woods on the way to find some water. "Just suck it up Jonouchi!"
Katsuya was still frowning, but he nonetheless held his tongue for a few seconds. Suck it up, suck it up... It was probably just until morning anyways... "Yea yea..." He then grinned, chuckling as he noted that even as they were meters away from the woman, his friend was still red. "Least I know where my limits are... You c'n kiss yer chances goodbye if you think this'll get you in her good books!" His friend aimed a fist towards his head, and he dodged it fairly easily. "Heheheee!"
"Come on man," Honda was saying, adjusting his hold on the bucket that he had. Though he held a scowl initially, it quickly changed to a grin. "It's not like you didn't notice her either!"
Actually... Not... Really. Hell she was hot but she didn't really do it for him. Not a clue why but... Just didn't work. It was probably all the stuff from the duel... That or he was just verbally masochistic and preferred Seto's endless insults over Mai's breasts... (They were both still hot though) "Eh," he ended up muttering as they came to a stream, dunking the bucket and pot both under water. "She's alright... I guess..."
Shit, he shouldn't say that. That was effectively blasphemy in Honda's eyes... "Alright," his friend said with a raised eyebrow. "She's 'alright'? Dude..." He brought up his hands, each one around his shoulder as he turned to the blond. "Her boobs," he began, enunciating his words, "Are THIS BIG. How can that not get you going?"
"Sheesh..." He scratched the back of his head, a half-smile on his face. "Don't ask me how my head works! I'm just worried about Mokuba alright!"
This was apparently enough to call the topic 'over' for Honda, as the teen raised an eyebrow before snorting in response. "Yea... I got yah- you get really weird when that happens, you know that?"
He snorted. Weird? Please, that wasn't weird! (Was it?) "Psh, not as weird as you were earlier today! Since when did you call 'im a 'weasel'!"
"It works with Johji!"
"Yer nephew's three Honda! THREE."
"You and I both know he acts a hell of a lot older than three!"
Needless to say, the topic very quickly vanished from that of the busty blond at their 'campsite' into something else entirely after that.
Getting back to the campsite had been fairly easy compared to finding the stream; it probably helped that Yugi and Bakura had gotten a fire going however, and the light was fairly apparent. A warm glow was visible even through the thick trees and bushes of the forest, and it was more than a welcoming sight. At the moment, Mai was turned to some sort of curtain; obviously she'd already set up the shower using a portable change-room of sorts, and only needed one thing. Namely what he had in his hands. As Honda moved over to the fire to give Bakura the pot and bucket of water, Katsuya handed Mai the shower bag.
The woman took it, smirking as she looked the bag over. "I'm almost surprised," she began, before moving to hook the bag up to a pole above the curtain. From inside, Anzu's hand could be seen grabbing for it, Mai turning back to face Katsuya as she continued. "For a moment I thought you would have poked a hole in it just to spite me!" As Katsuya merely snorted and took a seat on the side, she caught a look from where Honda was sitting. Namely the slight stare that he seemed to continuously be sending over towards the curtain. "Don't you even think about it," she shouted, Yugi as well blushing and ducking down to pay attention to the meal Bakura was preparing. "I see anyone even glance this way they're not eating a thing tonight, got it?"
Katsuya leaned back against the tree he was by, rolling his eyes. Yea yea, like he wanted to spy on Anzu anyways... She'd probably kick his ass for it in the end, regardless of a fight! She didn't look it, but she had a mean right hook... There was a reason why he and Honda used to call her 'Mazaki'. As Mai continued to level a look to him, he averted his gaze. Suck it up, suck it up... God this was annoying, he thought with a growl.
It didn't really help when Mai moved to take a seat beside him, resulting in a raised eyebrow on his part. "Nh? What're you doin', weren't you helpin' Anzu with the shower?" Or at least somewhere away from him? Maybe?
She laughed, shaking her head. "Anzu-chan knows how to use it, trust me... And I'm more than capable of making sure she gets to shower in peace from here," she added with narrowed eyes. The woman seemed rather surprised at the dismissive shrug she got in response however, and frowned before leaning in to him. "I don't get you at all," she finally said with crossed arms, watching as the blond gave her a look that said 'Oh really now?' while attempting to edge away. She continued to frown, leaning against the tree before speaking again. "Loud moron like you, I would think you'd be ogling anything with breasts!" Hey, he took offense... (...Though as soon as he could, he was getting some porn tapes when he got back.) "Instead," the woman continued, snapping him from his thoughts. "You're acting almost as though you're handcuffed to a completely different person..." Her voice had been kept low as she spoke, preventing anyone else from hearing. It helped of course, that the water from the shower-bag was pouring on the ground now though... Either way.
Katsuya coughed, before turning on the woman. "Ah wait... You're questioning my love life," he asked with a laugh. "What, creepin' me out with yer cards wasn't enough?" Stop following him please..?
"Well," she said with a smirk. "You certainly don't give the reaction I would normally expect from someone your age..." Someone his age..? Granted she probably had a point there. Few months ago and... Well... Idly, Katsuya fingered the empty key-box around his neck as he thought back to a certain someone comatose on a bed. What was wrong with him, honestly... Even he knew that wouldn't go anywhere, coma or not! He blinked as he realized Mai was looking at his key-box, frowning as the woman continued to stare. "Oh," she said, an innocent tone of curiosity in her voice as she pointed at the object, "Now what's that..?"
He coughed, looking at the pendant before answering the woman with a shrug. Not like she needed to know about his private life... "Eh... Jus' a box I got... Nothin' in it, if that's what you're after..." He narrowed his eyes, while Mai merely snorted in response.
"Please," the woman said, shaking her head. "I don't need a key that doesn't exist." How did she know it was- Right. Outline on the box. Looking at it even in the light of the campfire, the shape of a key was fairly prominently visible. Mai's expression softened, and she looked up at the sky with what seemed to be a pout. "Besides... It was just a question! No need to get so defensive about it! Unless..." She smirked, before looking in with an odd stare in her eyes. "Hnnn..." The stare continued, beginning to give Katsuya a very nervous feeling. "Maybe you really are chained up, neh, 'little boy'! Hnhnhnhnhn!" Ignoring the growl she was receiving in response to that, she continued to smirk and gave Katsuya a suggestive wink. "Anything to do with this 'Seto-chan' you mentioned in our duel perhaps..?" Hang on what!
He froze, sputtering slightly slightly as he turned a minor shade of pink. Screw everything else she said, how did she know... He didn't remember saying anything during the duel about her, except when he was... Shit... Ahhh hell, what kind of hearing did she have! "W-Where..." He shook his head, frowning. No he knew where... At the duel box, when he'd been muttering to himself..! "Y' heard that!" For a brief moment, Bakura turned from where he was tossing in chopped carrots to the stew he was making. Ack- Had he heard the last part..? Katsuya bit his tongue, watching the teen turned away before he continued. Well... Not like she knew who 'Seto-chan' was... Mind as well play it cool, keep her from mentioning the name again... "Tch... She might be on my list of people t' get starchips for, but that certainly ain't the reason, I can tell yah that!" Besides, as soon as she woke up, all of those ideas would fly out the window, because the chances of dating someone with her attitude were less than an ice-cube in a volcano. Or perhaps the sun.
Mai chuckled, shaking her head. "Whatever..." She stood up, the water in the shower having stopped for the moment. Looked like Anzu was done then... "I'm going to take a shower now..." The woman gave him a wink, and he frowned as Mai continued. Hihhhh... She was really getting a kick out of this wasn't she! "Given your 'apparent' lack of interest in anyone else, I think I can trust you not to look... But if you do," she added with a glare, crossing her arms again. "You can kiss your food good-bye!"
Tch! Suck it up, suck it up... He waved her off, shaking his head. "Yea yea, whatever..." Don't look... Sheesh! He was going to make sure he was as far away from that shower as possible! Walking back over to the others at the fire, he blinked as Yugi stood up to move towards him. "Eh, Yugi..?"
The boy smiled, looking up at him with a fairly questioning stare as he came over. "I was wondering," he said quietly, stopping about a foot away from the blond. "Earlier, the other me asked to talk to you about the duel with the ventriloquist..." The ventriloquist... Ah, that was right! He'd forgotten about that... After his duel with Rex, he'd been so completely lost in the cheer of getting the card and star-chips that they'd ended up moving on to look for more duelists. Yugi had probably just been polite and not said anything... "Actually," he continued, pulling the teen from his thoughts. "I was wondering if I could talk to you instead... It's bugging me too, and really, we both have the same question so..."
He blinked, before nodding with a smile. Hey if it was the same question than there were no problems with that now were there? "Well sure! What is it Yug'?" The boy shook his head, and he frowned. "Hn?" What did he mean 'no'..?
"Not here," Yugi said, smiling nervously. For the moment, Bakura and Honda were thankfully too distracted by the cooking stew to pay attention to what he was saying, and after looking at the ground a moment, he turned to the woods. "Over there- is that ok with you, Jonouchi-kun?"
Err... He scratched his cheek, before nodding. "Yea... 'S fine... But why do we have t' go somewhere else?" And why the woods? At night? Seriously, he was getting shivers down his spine already...
The boy smiled, rubbing the back of his head. "Erm... You'll see!" Er... He'd see? Man, whatever it was he was keeping it under wraps... Yugi turned to walk off into the woods, Katsuya following behind with his hands in his pockets. For a few moments, he found himself distracted by the rest of the woods. It was pretty damn creepy in here... If it was dark before, at 9 in the morning during Yugi's duel against Haga, it was pitch black at this point. Any light that made it through the trees did little more than add a ghostly silhouette to any reflective surfaces in the area, creating a particularly haunting appearance for Yugi in his opinion.
He looked around, swallowing before regaining his composure. Right... Not like there were any axe-murderers around after all. "So... Yug!" He turned to his friend, smiling despite the overall atmosphere of the area. "Yah wanted t' ask somethin?"
Yugi nodded, taking a seat on a log and watching as Katsuya did the same. "Yea... Um..." He frowned, fingering his puzzle as they fell silent. Whatever he wanted to say didn't appear to be coming out that easily... Just what was it he wanted to talk about anyways? "I was wondering... Earlier, when you mentioned the girl with the 'Se' and 'Hito' kanji for her name..."
"Nyh?" The blond blinked, staring at his friend a moment. "You mean Set... Seri-chan?" Seri really didn't sound right... Though he'd decided it a while before, it was better to keep the 'better name' under-wraps really. Besides, it was one of the options Yugi had come up with.
The boy blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Oh... You... Found out her name then?" He coughed, nodding as he stared awkwardly at the ground. Weird, almost like he knew the name didn't fit either... "Erm... In the duel box," he began, frowning slightly as he shuffled his feet, "When the other me was fighting against the ventriloquist... I heard... Rather... I saw someone." Before Katsuya could do anything more than frown with slightly wider than normal eyes, the boy continued. "When the Blue-Eyes White Dragon disappeared, I saw a little girl..." A.. Wait, a little girl? What the hell did that have to do with Blue Eyes? Briefly, he recalled the bizarre 'near death experience' he'd had during Bakura's hellish 'Monster World' game; back then, around that time he too had seen someone...
'You!' That time...
Katsuya swallowed, before speaking. It couldn't be... "A lil' girl?" He coughed, attempting to laugh a bit. It sounded rather fake, but nonetheless. "Haha! Ha! Must've been the fish... Heck, I'm th' only one with a sister, an she's a lil bit old t' be called 'little'! Y' must have been seein' things!" He had to!
His faltering laugh was cut off as Yugi turned to him, expression fairly severe. "Jonouchi-kun," he began, hands still on his puzzle. The boy looked up with non-faltering eyes, and he continued. "It's true we didn't know her when she was small but... For the next few seconds after she appeared, she changed..." Changed..? His frown increased, mouth held partially open as he hesitated to say something. What did he mean change..? "Jonouchi-kun," Yugi continued, placing his hands on the log beside him. "The little girl... In the end, she looked exactly like Kaiba-kun did... During out Death-T match."
He drew back, eyes wide. What... Briefly, he recalled that moment in the duel. The split second where for a moment, he swore that he'd seen Kaiba standing right in front of him with a legitimate smile on her face. He'd passed it off... It was a split second after all, and just as quick as he'd seen her she was gone... But... "You... Y' saw S... Y' saw Kaiba..?" He turned away, rather pale for the moment. Shit... What did he say..? His best friend had more or less said 'I know what you know,' but left it up to him to either cover it up or admit the truth..! "I..."
"Jonouchi-kun... ...I... I know you're probably not supposed to say anything," the boy said as he kicked at the ground and turned his head away nervously. "But I have to ask... You said all those things before, about a girl who acted like Kaiba-kun, and had the same written name..." He turned back, hesitating slightly before continuing on. "So I have to ask Jonouchi-kun, if this girl and Kaiba-kun are maybe... Well..." Yugi coughed, smiling nervously. "Are they maybe... The same person..?"
Katsuya blinked, staring with the same frozen expression he had when Yugi had mentioned Kaiba's name. His friend continued to stare, faltering just slightly when it looked like he wouldn't answer. Yugi... There was no way that seeing Kaiba in there was a fluke of indigestion right? Not in that way... And... The disappearance of Blue-Eyes and all that... He closed his still open mouth, mentally nodding to himself. He couldn't just say 'no' after that... They'd both know it was a lie, and he wouldn't live with lying over something like this. Besides, he decided as he mentally nodded. If she herself had really been there, for some reason or another... Then maybe that meant, even on an unspoken level, that just maybe she had a bit of trust in Yugi. "...Yea," he said finally, slightly pink in the face as he turned to look at a tree in front of him. "Yea... S...She is..." He rubbed the back of his head, before coughing slightly. "It... It's a long story but... 'S kinda why I got hired actually," he said with a slight laugh before drawing off. Erm... This was kinda awkward... Kaiba was already a rough subject for Yugi really, so he wasn't sure what to say... Not to mention, what he could and couldn't say after the secret was out... "So... ah..."
They fell silent again, neither of them really sure what should be said next. In the end however, it was Yugi who spoke first, turning to his friend with a wide smile. "Well... Either way, what I said at Burger World doesn't change!" What he said at- Katsuya blinked, remembering the boy's words back then. 'Whoever it is,' "I'm happy for you, Jonouchi-kun! I don't really know how this will work," he continued nervously, laughing quietly. "But... I'm still happy."
He laughed, unable to keep a grin on his face. "Ahahahah! That would come t' mind f'r you after this kind of secret comes up, wouldn' it!" Honestly, he didn't know how this would work out himself... Probably fail horribly in the end, because of something stupid he did. He'd sure as hell try anything he could think of first though! (Not sure if that would help but...) Still grinning, the expression faded just slightly as he turned to stare at the trees again. "Yug'..." The teen swallowed nervously, looking back at him worriedly. "Lis'n... I... I know tha' Se-... Kaiba did all that stuff t' your Grandpa and everyone else..." Hell, him included, looking at the original battle plan for Death-T! "But..." He gave a wry smile, unsure of what his friend was going to say on it all. He said he was happy for him, and he didn't doubt it but... Well, the short-lived rivalry had ended on a more than sour note. "I dunno if it's 'cause I haven't actually seen how much of a bitch she can be for th' past few months or what, but I can't really hate her right now..." He just couldn't... Not after spending all that time with Mokuba, listening to the kid talk about all the good things he knew... He couldn't...
The boy stared, before nodding with a smile. "It's fine," he said, grinning. "The other me's penalty game won't fail! She'll wake up better than ever, ok? What's done is done," Yugi continued with a nod. "When Kaiba-ku... Ah... Kaiba-san," he corrected, Katsuya snorting at the quick change over, "Gets up... It won't matter, ok?" Well... If he said so! "Until then, we'll both keep this secret!"
"Right!" Nodding, the two stood up as chatter began cropping out from outside of the woods. It was more or less difficult to really tell what they were saying, but it sounded along the lines of 'smells good...' and 'is it ready yet..?' Katsuya turned, blinking at the sounds before smirking. "Well," he began, grinning again as Yugi made for the clearing. "She better not be too much 'better', or I'll have t' apologize t' Mokuba for givin' him a new sister!" The pair laughed simultaneously at that comment, before Katsuya softened the grin to a more serious smile and continued. "Hey Yug'," he said, watching his friend turn back for a moment. He could have easily said something to the others... But that wasn't him. That wasn't his friend... This kind of secret... Even though he'd failed to keep it, accidentally dropping hints and all, he knew that it was still completely safe. Their secret... And Mokuba's too, once they got him out! "...Thanks." For all that hadn't been said, there wasn't anything else to say really... In the end, despite things, he felt a lot better than he had before they had that talk. "...F'r everything."
A large smile was all he got in response before a shout came from the clearing. "IT'S READY," Bakura was shouting, Katsuya's stomach giving a fairly loud growl in response to that. Come to think, he smelled something really good... "TIME TO EAT!" Really good...
The two came through the trees, Katsuya practically drooling as he spotted the food being dished out among the group. "Woaaahhhh..." He grinned, charging forwards to grab a bowl on the side and take a seat. "It looks great!" Turnip, chicken, onions... Ohhh it smelled delicious...
Bakura merely smiled calmly, pouring some of the stew into Yugi's bowl before moving on to Katsuya. So far, Anzu and the others already had bowls, the woman watching with a frown as Honda essentially drowned himself in his own meal. "Thank you," the teen said quietly, before dishing himself a bowl. "But really, it isn't much..."
As Anzu grabbed a spoon with a 'bon appetit!', Yugi shook his head. He'd already taken a spoon himself to taste the dish, and given the wide smile, the smells were no lie. "No really! It's amazing Bakura! You did a good job!" A really good job, Katsuya noted as he took a bite of his own. Mmmmm...
From the side, Mai smiled at the conversation cropping up. Grabbing herself a spoon, she turned to the boys with a wink and sat down again. "Better eat up," she began, crossing her legs as she started on her own bowl. "You'll need it for when the duels start up again in the morning~!"
Honda instantly gave a salute, a red-faced grin set in place. Despite the fact that he'd obviously already moved on those words(His bowl was half full), he nodded. "Hah! Yes Ma'am!"
Beside him, Katsuya looked at him incredulously. "What the hell Honda, you aren't even a duelist!" He'd better not ask for seconds, he was starving!
"I can still eat!"
"That ain't the point!"
As the pair began bickering yet again, laughter surrounded the clearing. All in all, the evening was taking a turn to the positive side, if not the loud one. It took a bit to quiet down of course... But given the state of hunger everyone was in, it didn't take long for silence to settle once again, replaced by slurps and clattering dishes. In the end, when Bakura was handing out seconds, Yugi ended up turning to Mai with a light smile. "That reminds me Mai," he said, the woman blinking as she was addressed. He looked at her glove for a split second, before continuing. "You already have 8 star chips don't you?" The others turned, noting that the number around her wrist had in fact not changed one bit. Looked as though she'd had just as much luck as they in finding more duelists. "You might be the first to reach the castle tomorrow!" Hoh... That was right... Not bad actually. (Though he wished it was one of them instead...)
The woman merely smirked, before nodding. "Ah, maybe... But Yugi," she added, turning to him with a fierce stare. The boy seemed to jump under it, listening as Mai continued. "Eventually, I'll fight you as well, understand?"
An awkward silence fell over the group, and Anzu laughed. "Ah... Hey, can we forget the dueling for now..?" As Bakura nodded in agreement to that, Mai shrugged and shook her head.
"No," she said rather bluntly, before eating some more of her stew. "We might have called a truce for now," the woman continued, looking up from her bowl. "But in the morning, everyone's an enemy! That's what it means to be a duelist!"
Katsuya and Yugi found themselves staring at the woman in silence as she downed the rest of the stew and got up to turn to Bakura. "Thank's for cooking the food," she said, before grabbing her bag and turning away to a tent she'd set up before. "I'm heading back to my tent now though. Anzu-chan, if you want, you can bunk with me~." As Anzu in question blinked at the offer, Mai merely winked. "You never know what could happen with all these guys around!"
As she said that, Katsuya bristled. "OI! What was that!" Mai merely chuckled in response, disappearing into tent a fair distance off. "Jeez..." He shook his head, before downing the last bit of his own food to help Bakura clean up. "What an annoying woman, honestly..." 'You never know what could happen', they weren't going to do anything! ...Well... He couldn't actually speak for Honda really but still... He wasn't stupid enough to try it...
Cleaning things up didn't take too long; soon enough, everything was packed up to the side while the boys essentially collapsed on the ground by a tree. Bakura looked at his watch as they set up their own 'camp', the ground thankfully being dry enough that sleeping without a tent or sleeping bag wouldn't be an issue. "Hn... Ten o'clock," he muttered, before pulling a sweater from his bag to use as a pillow. Ten eh? Not bad... Back home, he'd be going to sleep in half an hour or so. Though he'd be in a bed at the time... Thankfully for them, thanks to the temperature differences between the island (WARM) and Tokyo (December meant cold really), they still had their jackets and things to lay on. The teen turned to them all as they attempted to get comfortable, a faded light from the tent visible in the distance. "We should probably get to sleep now..."
Katsuya nodded, yawning loudly as he collapsed on his back against the tree. "Hwaa! Got that right... I'm so stuffed that I could sleep for days..." That would be bad though, so he'd just trust in the others to wake him up in the morning really... As it was, thanks to the combination of the food and temperature, sleeping out under the stars was more a bonus than a pain. Giving another yawn, he watched as Yugi pulled out the camera from his bag to move away from the group. "Ah... Yugi?"
The boy turned, before smiling. "Just going to talk to Grandpa a bit," he whispered, looking over at the tent briefly. "I don't want too many people to know... I trust Mai, but it's just... I don't want this affecting any duels we have against each other..." Ahhh... Well, no worries in that case. Deciding not to do more than nod, Katsuya leaned back against the tree and stretched. Yugi's grandpa... He and Mokuba both had their lives literally on the line at the moment... The teen frowned, chewing his lip as he thought over the events of the day. Mokuba... He'd been right within his reach, and he hadn't been able to get him back. And now, he was reliant on Pegasus' tournament once again. Four starchips... If he lost even once tomorrow, there was a good chance he wouldn't gather the remaining needed to fill his glove in time. And when that happened...
Mokuba... His frown deepened, the thoughts continuing to stab at his brain. If he didn't make it there... What would Pegasus do to him..? Hell, what would he do to him for running off, there was a lot that could happen, and he wouldn't know a thing... It scared him... The same as when Yugi had been strung up on a hook like a gutted fish by Hirutani's gang, left to gasp for air with wide and almost hopeless eyes. It scared him... But at the same time, he couldn't do more about it. What would happen, he thought with a wide-eyed and nervous frown, if he didn't make it? If his last few duels had been won on chance, and nothing more? He shook his head, growling. He couldn't think like this... He couldn't! Yes, Mokuba's life was on the line... But if he just worried about it and didn't do anything, then he'd just end up making things worse! He gave yawn, rolling over. He needed to sleep... Just forget about it and focus on the positive... Sleep... All that food had him drowsy anyways, and in the morning he'd definitely win the star chips he needed. For now though... "Hwaaaaah..."
...So sleepy...
... ...
...
It felt as though he'd only had his eyes closed for a second, but for the moment, he had never felt a stronger urge to open them than ever before. Opening his eyes and staring upwards, Katsuya quickly pulled himself to his feet with wide eyes. Where... Where was this place..? He looked around the thick fog with a frown, coughing as a few wisps of smoke blew past his face. Weird place... A mix of purples and blacks... Last he checked he was on the island, resting up to go after some more duels... Not to mention Pegasus. Not here...
This place... He continued to frown, shivering slightly as the mist continued to wrap around him. It was so dark here... An endless expanse of fog and clouds that created a mostly impenetrable curtain surrounding him. Almost as though there was nothing in existence. Hell, he decided as he rubbed his arms absently, shivering from the cold, it was even worse than when he was in the 'Monster World', on his death bed. At least then, it was just dark. Even without the floor, just dark... There had been warmth, and despite the silence and the fear he'd had at the time, he had at least been able to feel a small bit positive for a moment. But here...
He looked down at the almost violet dirt ground, and then back and around at the endless black sky. It was like he'd been thrown into some nightmare plain, or a field in a horror movie... And it gave him shivers beyond even Shizuka's rendition of 'Botan Dourou', or any other zombie movie he'd seen in his life time.
-Grrrrrrnnn...- "Hn..?" Katsuya blinked, turning slightly as a dull growl was heard behind him. There was nothing around him... Just swirling fog, endless and black. "What was that..." The teen whirled at the sound of another growl as what appeared to be a shadow arose through the fog. What the hell was that... He squinted as he attempted to make it out, leaning forwards slightly with a frown. Growling... He heard nothing but growling, but why...
"Grrrrr... RRAOOOOOOOOOOO!" He froze as the shadow began to clear, the fog and clouds moving out of the way as an enormous white dragon charged through. While still a fair distance away, its size was still rather evident, and Katsuya found himself looking towards it with stiff horror. "RAAAAAAOOO!" It hovered across him, blue eyes staring down with a menacing glint before snarling again. "RRRROOOOOOOOO!" Oh fuck... OH FUCK...
Oh god... Oh god oh god this couldn't possibly be happening... The dragon came closer, lowering it's mighty head and snapping its jaws at the teen. With a startled shout that snapped him from his paralyzed fear, Katsuya leaped out of the way, eyes wide and face pale. "H-Hah!" He rolled to the side, watching in horror as the dragon turned its head towards him yet again. It landed, taking a step towards him and baring its teeth threateningly. "Shit..." Scrambling to his feet, he felt the heat of the 'burst stream' singe the ground behind him, only instilling more fear into him as he ran. "SHIT!"
Katsuya's feet scuffed across the ground as he ran, eyes wide and face pale as the dragon continued to roar. He could practically feel its breath on his back, the rumbling behind him sounding almost like a taunt as he panicked. "RAOOOOOOHHH!" Fuck fuck fuck! How the hell was this real! Monsters didn't exist like this, and the only exception was on Bakura's weird-ass game board! And those were normal now!
"Fuuuuck! Get away!" He stumbled as he ran, squeezing his eyes shut in his fear. Just go away... Go away... "Get away from me!" He charged blindly through the fog, swinging his arms as he ran. "Ghh... HAHH!" Teeth snapped at his heels, and Katsuya felt his feet catch something on the ground. "Gack!" The ground came up to him at full force, dirt and grit grinding painfully into his face and hands. Blue Eyes came up before him to give another growl, and as the teen pulled himself up to sit and turn toward the beast, he found himself looking up with wide eyes. Was this it... Was this really it..? This had to be a dream... He couldn't die here... He didn't even know where the hell 'here' was, or if this crap was even real! And it couldn't be real... It couldn't! After all, why would Blue-Eyes of all things be attacking him? This was... It was... "G...Ghn... D-Damn it..." The dragon lowered itself to the ground, taking a step forwards as a low growl filled the air. "Damn it..!" He shuffled back in a pathetic attempt to distance himself from the beast, only to tense as his back thumped against something. "What..?"
Katsuya turned, frowning as he was met with a 'curtain' of fabric. Hang on... What was this doing here... A curtain..? But there had been something solid beneath it, so that couldn't be it... He slowly looked up, before jumping back in shock as the clouds above cleared. "S-S..." The teen's eyes widened further as he looked upwards, neck strained under the pressure. "Seto-chan!" Above him, the leering form of Seto Kaiba could be seen, wearing the same pyjama's he'd last seen her in. The woman had her arms crossed, face partially hidden in the shadows of the sky and her hair both. Even with this however, it was more than easy to tell she wasn't pleased, her eyes appearing to narrow further than they already had been after he shouted. "Gh... How did you... How are you..?" It had to be a dream... It had to be, there was no way all of this was possible..!
The woman continued to leer down, her dragon also staring down without a 'word'. Finally, she turned on him, lowering her arms to her sides with clenched fists. "You..." Her eyes narrowed, and she gritted her teeth. "Pathetic..." What...?
"Tch... Who are you calling pathetic," he barked, standing up with a scowl. It had to be a dream... And if that was the case, nothing could really hurt him here right? And besides, just what was she even comparing to him right now? The dragon? There wasn't anything else here, and he'd be damned if he let that happen! "Lets see you face off against your dragons, see how you fare!" Though given this was 'Giant!' Kaiba... She could probably pick up the dragon in one hand...
The woman scowled, eyes staring down at the teen with nothing but loathing. "You honestly think that's the reason for your weakness, MUTT?" At that last word he winced, gritting his teeth.
He quickly recovered however, instead continuing to shout out at the woman. "Well," he spat out, clenching his fists with a glare. "It's hard t' tell when y' beat around th' bush like that, 'SERI'!" The teen growled, watching as Kaiba's enormous form merely narrowed her eyes further.
"Fool... MORON!" She crossed her arms, the shadows appearing to almost revolve around her. "My brother put his trust in YOUR care," she roared, Katsuya visibly growing pale at this. "He relied on YOU for protection, a mere hound!" The blond continued to shrink back at those words, while Seto in the meantime visibly became more enraged. "You're lower than just trash, MUTT... Even a loser like you should realize that!"
Katsuya continued to stare upwards as she said this, gritting his teeth. That... To bring that up... "I did... The best I could... To get Mokuba..." His jaw clenched, and the teen shook as he attempted to hold the glare. "I did all I could... I tried my best! And I'm still trying! Gh-" He cringed as the dragon behind him snarled loudly at his feeble excuse, falling silent when Seto
The dragon roared loudly at the feeble excuse, causing Katsuya to cringe yet again under Seto's shouts. "The 'Best you can do'? Don't make me laugh! If that's the 'best you can do', then maybe you really are just a failure of a dog without a home! Because while you whine here mutt," the woman spat with a snarl, "You FAILED my brother! My BROTHER, who gave you EVERYTHING! Who entrusted you with the KEY, who gave you a JOB, and HOME! And while you sit here, sleeping peacefully as though nothing is wrong, he could very well be dead! You are NOTHING," Seto continued. "Nothing but a mongrel who does nothing but beg at the side of the streets! A failure by even the standards of a stray!" 'Make-inu!', she shouted at him, the words fading into the shadows. 'Make-inu'... 'Make-inu!'
The shouts continued to whirl around him, and as he looked down at his hands he watched his jacket shift into a brown, furred costume. 'Make-inu!', Seto continued to shout, pointing at him accusingly. 'MAKE-INU!' He tried... Damn it, he tried... "I'm sorry," he whispered out, fingers digging into the ground as he bowed his head. Mokuba was snatched off, but it was that or possible everyone there would have died..! He... There was no other way... There wasn't... "I'm so sorry..." Tears began to stream down his cheeks, the hood of the costume he was in falling over his eyes. "But please believe me," he forced out through his coughs, receiving no answer in response, head bowed even further down. "Believe me, when I tell you... That I will die... Before I let that happen to him..." Slowly, the blond lifted his head to look up at Seto, face red and hair stuck awkwardly to the sides of his cheeks. "You understand," he forced out, raising his volume. He slowly pulled himself up to his knees, eyes shining with determination through the tears. "I know he's still alive... I know it! And no matter what, I hold by my promise..! I may be a 'make-inu'... A failure even by a dog's standards..." he bit out, stumbling to his feet even in the ridiculous costume he wore, "But at least this 'MUTT' knows what matters!" As he said this, Seto merely glared down, eyes narrowed before she snorted. "Got that, 'SERI'?"
"Hn! This dog still hasn't been trained," she muttered, arms still crossed as she glared down. "Even when disciplined, he still dares to bite back..." Abruptly, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon behind him vanished from sight, and as Katsuya turned to notice its absence with a wide eyed frown, the woman continued. "Jonouchi," she said loudly, tone both commanding and questioning at the same time. He turned as she spoke, looking up at the woman's still leering face. "Know this... When you feel true fear, you become so much of a loser that you don't even have the right to stand on two legs!" Katsuya gritted his teeth as the woman said this, only to frown when she continued. Wait... There was more..? "However..." However? That didn't sound like Kaiba... The woman above turned her back to him, speaking again. "Despite this fear, I will remember the promise you made, MUTT." The promise... "So I expect you, even when you cannot stand, to fullfil it! Until your last breath!"
As Seto turned her narrowed gaze back to him, he nodded. Alright... He got what she was saying now... "Yea..." Regardless of how much of a bitch the woman was about this, she was right. He didn't like saying it... But she was! Maybe this was some fucked up way for his conscience to say 'Get a grip you moron! You can do this!' Or hell, maybe this was some weird spiritual plane and this was where Kaiba's soul was. (That would really suck.) But either way..! "...I'll keep my promise! Don't sweat it!"
The woman snorted, and the shadows clouded around his vision to bring everything to blackness. "Tch..."
'I wasn't going to, Mutt...'
As the shadows continued to surround him, he thought he heard a shout of terror, and someone speaking...
"PENALTY GAME!" A wait wait... What was that!
Katsuya shot up as the loud shout came through the air, looking around as Honda and Bakura as well moved from where they'd been sleeping. "Hnn... What the hell..?" Did he just hear the other Yugi shouting..? Why would he have switched out in the middle of the night..? He turned to Bakura, frowning. "Man what time is it..?"
The teen rubbed his eyes with a yawn, looking down at his wrist. "Ah... Hwaaa... It's... It's only 11..." Beside him, Honda stood up and stretched with a frown.
"Great.. Well something obviously happened..." He as well yawned, before looking towards where the shout had come from with dull eyes. Wasn't that far away... Probably the next clearing over really, Katsuya thought as Honda continued. "Mind as well go check it out right..?"
He nodded, stretching as well before heading off. "Yea, I guess... Wonder why Yug's duelin' this late though... Not to mention who, I mean... There's no one else up this late, an' Mai called a truce..." Though if she broke it, then good on Yugi for beating her. Not that she probably did that... Regardless of how much he trusted her, she seemed pretty honest about that truce... Plus, he doubted that she'd have pulled something bad enough for the other Yugi to set a penalty on her; he seemed to be reserving those for the 'real' assholes lately.
They came into another clearing, watching as Yugi handed something to the woman only for her to walk off. 'It was nice meeting you guys,' she was saying, walking off with a sad expression. Weird... Why would she try to leave without all her stuff...? He frowned, watching as Yugi called after the woman right when they joined up with him. Anzu in the meantime, turned to them with wide eyes.
"Ah... Jonouchi," the woman began, blinking. "Honda, Bakura... What are you three doing here..?" That would be the question...
The teen frowned, scratching his head with a yawn as he attempted to shake off the drowsiness. "Tch... Woke up after yer loud talking..." Or more specifically, Yugi's dramatic shout. Maybe it was some sort of requirement for the penalty, like it wouldn't work or something...
Mai stared at them all, looking at the ground with a small smile. "Hnhnhn... Again," she began quietly. Again? What did she mean again? "Why is it that you guys always have to gather up just like that..." She looked up at them all, and from behind the others, Honda coughed.
"Bakura," he began, his blush rather quickly ridding him of any sleepiness he had. "It's just about 11 right?" At the nod he got in response, he smirked. "Then for one more hour," he continued, looking back at Mai, "You're our friend!" As the woman gave him a blank 'eh..?' look, he winked. "While we were eating, you said 'We're enemies tomorrow', didn't you?" That was true, she did... And it figured that Honda would be the one to take advantage of that, not that he blamed him. Honda chuckled, hands in his pockets as he continued. "Well, it's not tomorrow for another hour! which means that right now, we're not enemies... We're friends, got that?"
The woman blinked, staring at them all with wide eyes while the others nodded. "Mai," Yugi began, Katsuya idly noting that it was the 'other Yugi'; given the dead/soulless looking guy in the duel box, he had a feeling he knew what he heard earlier... (Was that a noose attached to his wrist?) "We duelists are here on this island to fight fair and square... But there are people here who are trying to prevent us from doing that!" There were..? "Pegasus' 'Player Killers'!" At this, Katsuya looked back at the duel box with somewhat wide eyes. Oh... Uh... That explained it he guessed. He briefly thought back to the ventriloquist, wondering if he had been another of those 'player killers'. Huh... "I don't recognize those men as duelists," Yugi continued, Mai merely looking at him with a slightly confused frown. "I don't want them to ruin our battle... So I want you to take these star chips," he shouted, handing over a handful. "And allow the events of tomorrow to decide who is the strongest duelist!" Eight star chips...
"Mai," Anzu was saying, Katsuya looking at the woman's empty duel glove. Mai had lost again... "Didn't you say that your dream was to fight Yugi..?"
The woman shook slightly, still frowning. "I... ...That is..." She stared at the star chips, turning her head away. "...I..."
Katsuya stared, frowning slightly. Shallow reasoning or not, seeing Mai like this was bugging even him! Shaking his head, he sighed. Alright... There was one sure-fire way to fix this..! (And if it didn't work, he wouldn't have to worry about tomorrow at all.) "MAN," he shouted loudly, the others turning to him with raised eyebrows. "We aren't getting anywhere with this!" He smirked, crossing his arms. "So... I have the perfect solution!"
Beside him, Anzu blinked. "A solution..." As Katsuya laughed quietly with a grin, she frowned. "...Jonouchi," she said with narrowed eyes. "What is it..."
He grinned, moving over to Yugi. "That's easy," he said, his friend raising an eyebrow before jumping as the blond snatched the pile of starchips from him. "Neither of you want 'em, so I'll take them instead! AHAHAH! Everything's fixed!" He beamed, fist tightly clenched around the starchips. Yugi stared at him incredulously, and the blond continued to laugh. "YES~ Now I have ten starchips! I get to be the first one to go t' Pegasus' castle!"
As he continued to laugh (Completely forgetting the initial reasoning behind the plan in lieu of possibly getting Mokuba out), Mai began to seethe across from him. "Y-You... NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE," she screeched, the laughter halting instantly. Right... This was supposed to be a bluff... Uh..! ...Well, he was still bluffing, wasn't he? "You're doing no such thing Jonouchi!" At the smirk she got in response, she continued to growl. "Hand them over, right now! You m-" She blinked as the teen held out his hand, waiting for Mai to do the same. "A-Ah..?"
"Sheesh," he muttered, rolling his eyes with a smirk. "There you go, all of them!" Katsuya dropped the chips in her hand, continuing to smile as Mai stared. "If your pride is too much to allow you to play with those starchips," he began, putting his hands back in his pockets while the woman held her starchips. "Then throw them into the sea for all I care!" As the woman continued to stare, along with the others, he continued. "It's your choice after all... But as for myself, I won't throw them away! Not the starchips... Nor my dream!" His promise... Watching as the woman continued to frown rather oddly (Almost as though fighting off a pang of jealousy rather than rage oddly enough), he shrugged. Whatever... Up to her really, but he knew he wouldn't have stomached just taking those star chips... If Mai left the island in the morning, then throwing them into the ocean would be as good as what would happen. He moved to return to the clearing with a wave, yawning again as he remembered just how late it was. "Anyways... So long, Kujaku Mai," the teen shouted as he disappeared through the bushes. "I'm going to sleep!"
And personally, that was probably all he wanted right at that moment, aside from the obvious, he told himself as he lay back down against the tree. Just a good long night's sleep, so he could make it through another day of dueling with no hard feelings by the end of it. Just needed to sleep...
Eyes fluttering shut, he gave one last loud yawn before doing so.
AN: HEY YUGI. HEY HEY YUGI. DID YOU KILL SOMEONE?
...HEEEEEELL YEA!
Ohhhh penalty games how I love you... Hooray for new chapters eh? I recently put up a forum for where the challenges will go... Technically there's only one 'real' challenge (as everything else was just an invite for people to make requests on fanfic chapters and such), but it's there if you're curious.
Speaking of the 'challenge', Iona recently sent in her own opinion on what Kaiba's 'fem voice' would be; she picked the voice of Princess Ursa (AKA Zuko's Mom) from Avatar, due to the mature and adult tones. If you don't let the personalities clash, it does indeed fit rather well... If you think otherwise, than more inspiration to find 'the right one' for you I suppose, but let me know what you think that 'right one' is then!
Also, the current poll results...
WOW. Cross dressing really appeals to you guys! So far, the only change from last chapter is a 50% bonus in votes for 'Female, Crossdressing' Priest Set; as of now, it's 3:1 in the cross-dressing favor, while the original male version sits with no votes at all.
In other news, I'm looking at the hit vs visitor count, and I've come to the conclusion that I have about 52 regular readers, 3-4 of which review on a regular basis. I say '4' because I don't know if one of them is a recent reader... Given their own comment though, I'm gonna go with three, since they're like me in terms of reviewing only when something REALLY matters.
And now... For the usual things!
Anonymous Review Responses
I have two again! (I feel so loved~) First off, from Fire-Ant! ...Has anyone ever told you that you're amazing? Unfortunately for this amazing theory of yours (Which appeals to me, it really does), given how the polls are going, it's very likely that Priest Set will end up female. If things make a turn around however, you never know... I might just imply a few reincarnation related things... (I'm a sucker for them, I really am.) It'll probably not end up like that, and be more of the intended result of 'this is why Kaiba likes Blue-Eyes. A lot.'
And from Iona... Yessss Pegasus is indeed a creepy creepy creeper... A creepy creepy creeper who may or may not get what's coming depending on how I work out the Doma and 'R' sections into things... As it is, while it took me a bit to get around personality differences (This is actually why I recommend going after singing voices.), I have to say, you have good ears. Personally, this voice fits rather well, and you chose wisely... Not to mention for all the right reasons! (I find it slightly ironic that it's the voice of a royal. Heheheee...)
And yay~ I was wondering how Ryuzaki's depiction would be taken... Particularly since, when I double checked in the manga, not only do we literally only see him after Duelist Kingdom during that once scene where he asks Jonouchi how his Red Eyes card is doing, but that... Well... You never even see the thief in the manga for the Millennium World, it's just a random thief that Bakura corners; no Ryuzaki or Haga to be found. (Though I wouldn't put it past Haga...)
Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner
The section that has more on the manga than on Japan this time around! Who would have thought?
When Jonouchi mentions calling Anzu 'Mazaki', he references the first chapter. He and Honda were chased off from bullying Yugi by a mere word from the woman, and as they ran off they called her 'Mazaki'; regardless of the fact that this stems from not knowing her, this also references her more 'boyish' attitude... Normally, if a guy is unfamiliar with a girl around their age in Japan, they'll refer to them by their given name with the honorific 'San' (IE, 'Anzu-san'.). The last name basis tends to just be an informal way of referring to another male that a guy knows; note that while Yugi attaches 'kun' to the end of the names he uses (Showing politeness), much like Bakura, his other self does not. Another interesting note that will affect later chapters is this; from this moment on, Yugi uses the 'san' honorific rather than the 'kun' honorific with Kaiba, as while using 'kun' would be considered rude when used with a woman (It's a 'male only' honorific, the exception being elderly folk with small children.), simply calling her 'Kaiba' would be even worse! So 'san' is the proper term to use, as 'chan' would only be used with a woman he was extremely close with... And given that he isn't that particularly close to Kaiba...
Oddly enough, this implies a good deal of respect as well, which will obviously confuse the crap out of anyone who doesn't know about Kaiba's secret. Which makes things even more amusing.
Interesting note; but while Honda is continuously 'going after' Mai throughout the 'Man Who Came With Night' series, Jonouchi isn't. If anything, he's voicing a deep hatred for the woman, which is interesting to spot. Particularly later in the Duelist Kingdom arc, when it's plainly obvious that Mai is fighting off a crush for the teen, while Jonouchi is blatantly wonder what the hell she's doing.
For some reason, when Mai leaves to go to her tent, she says 'thanks for the food'. Most likely this stemmed from 'Gochiso-sama-deshita' (Pronounced 'Gochso-sama-deshta'), which is the proper way of thanking someone for giving you food that they prepared. This is where 'Itadakimasu', or 'I will recieve!' comes into place as well; contrary to popular belief, it isn't used before every meal in Japan... Just the ones that someone at the table actually bothered to make for you. You won't see it used in a fancy restaraunt or a fast food place. (That would be silly.)
Mai really does appear to be stalking these guys; in the manga, her thoughts make it seem as though the reason is because of partial curiosity... Specifically, she can't figure out what ties the entire group together, and she actually feels quite lonely... Hence why she's following them around and treasuring the offered friendship A LOT. Later on, you also get a glimpse of her implied crush on Jonouchi... Which has taken an awkward turn here. (You tell me which you prefer; Mai attempting to pull the attention of Jonouchi away from Kaiba when the latter could care less, or Mai taking a more 'big sister' role. It makes sense for both really... Given that she's over 20, and the others are all 16-17. Erk?)
Tiny minor change here, but in the manga, Jonouchi says 'what an annoying girl.' rather than woman. I'd normally not mention it, but it hints at a bit of character development/difference between fanfic Jou and manga Jou... Because as anyone can see, they're obviously there.
Another change is Yugi's conversation with his grandfather. Originally, he didn't move from his spot beside Jonouchi and the others to do so, but I realized that with the tent so close by, he probably would have wanted to prevent Mai from finding out about that particular issue... In the end, it also means that Jonouchi, who probably isn't as deep a sleeper thanks to security issues (Not to mention his constant complaints of being woken by talking (Not screaming guys. Talking.) from how far away? And in the manga, it was the sounds of conversation before the duel, that or it's implied as such!), didn't hear Mai ask Yugi to wait on the hill for Anzu later.
Because really, when you think about it, if Jonouchi wakes up because of Mai talking, and doesn't make it to the spot until after Yugi's duel, that probably implies a sensitive sleeper. A really sensitive sleeper.
You can bet that when Jonouchi recalls mini-Seto saying 'YOU!', that 'you' translates into Japanese as 'ONORE!' Onore is the term that Kaiba uses most of the time when saying 'you'. It's a rude way to refer to another person, similar to 'teme' (Which is essentially synonymous with 'bastard' and is used a few times by Jonouchi and Yami both), as well as Jonouchi's use of the word 'omae'... Though 'omae' is more 'informal' than rude in comparison, particularly when lined up alongside something like 'teme
'.
One might think I'm beating on Honda here from Jonouchi's point of view... Don't get me wrong, Honda's pretty awesome in my opinion. But the thing is, he's also the only one that Jonouchi knows would actually try peeping on anyone; Bakura's wayyyy too polite to try it, and Yugi's too modest, given his attitude in earlier chapters about following Anzu around. And here's some food for thought; his nephew had to get the perverted attitude from someone... So it's not that I'm bashing him, in fact, far from it. It's just that thanks to Jonouchi's current ignorance towards Mai's assets, he's now the only one really voicing his interest...
The 'dream scene', if it wasn't already obvious, was taken from that of the anime... It never happened in the manga. My reasoning for this? Aside from the fact that I wanted to keep the scene with Jonouchi in that ridiculous kigurumi in? While Kaiba is going to completely trounce Jonouchi in a duel next chapter, it's not going to break him that much. The reason is more because the duel itself doesn't start for the same reasons; after all, in the manga, Jonouchi goes after him because he's still incensed over Death-T (Keep in mind, that in the manga this is a year after those events. Way to hold a grudge! Not that I blame him given what happened...)... And Kaiba decides to humor his challenge in order to test the Duel Disk. In the anime, he's just pissed because Kaiba's acting like... Well Kaiba, as the guy essentially comes in, blows Yugi off (Yugi asks him to join them. Who the hell knows why...), insults Jonouchi (Understandable.), and then moves to leave. (Jonouchi doesn't take this well, and gets physically trounced by Kaiba before the duel.)
Combining what with the fact that Manga!Kaiba has a legitimate look of approval (As in 'Ohh... Not bad.' A rare moment needless to say.)when Jonouchi summons Red Eyes Black Dragon... There's no reason for him to have that 'I lost, oh noes!' dream after the fact... At all. Provided he notices the expression at least.
More on the dream, I based it on the Japanese rather than the Dub. Mostly because while I absolutely love the dub for it's suggestiveness in that scene... Kaiba kept cutting Jonouchi off, and I couldn't really have that for this one.
Much as I would have loved to have 'her' shouting 'SIT AT YOUR MASTER'S FEET', while Jonouchi bows his head in shame. (Not that this will ever happen of course. But it's an amusing image nontheless.)
...Also, interesting point on that particular dream... In the original version (It's obviously erased from the dub.), the kanji 'Ma' is on the back of Jonouchi's dog costume. This is the first part of 'Makeru', or 'to lose'. (The 'ke' in 'make' (Ru is just a character at the end of each verb. Think of it as a 'root word' term.) is written in hiragana. It's weird, but not uncommon... For example, in 'tabe', from the verb 'taberu', or 'to eat', the 'be' is also written in hiragana.) However, 'make-inu', which is often translated out to 'loser dog' (Due to Inu being dog) is actually only meant to mean loser, without the addition of the term 'dog'. Obviously the dog suit was playing on the 'inu' part anyways (Japan loves puns guys. Loves them.), but it's similar to calling someone say... A bitch. You aren't calling them a dog. You're calling them a bitch. (And if you didn't know that 'bitch' is the breeding term for a female dog, you do now.)
While I called it a 'costume' in the chapter, I used the word 'kigurumi' in this section here. What's a kigurumi you ask? Look it up on google images, but they tend to essentially resemble over-sized sleepers for adults and children as opposed to infants, generally made to resemble animals; the hood, of course, is the head. (Some hoods have faces, others just ears.) They're rather popular actually, particularly among (of course), young women and children. In any case, the dog costume that Jonouchi wears in the anime (First during the dream, then later after losing to Otogi, AKA 'Duke Devlin') is a kigurumi.
Jonouchi's being surprisingly introspective isn't he? He tends to do that alot in this fanfic however, as it seems to have come with his 'character development'. Some might consider his 'introspection' as out of character, but it actually isn't. If you look in the manga and anime both, (at least outside of the dub), he has a good deal of scenes where he's surprisingly deep. Take for example the 'toss them into the sea' part of this chapter. Alllll manga guys... Though that isn't exactly a strong example... (I should look harder.)
Did you catch the change in Mai's attitude? Probably not, as it's fairly difficult to tell until a little later; you'll definitly notice then though... Also, before anyone goes 'wait, she left her stuff behind...!' noooo. No she didn't. She's still there at the 'campsite' with everyone... Just that Jonouchi goes back to sleep before everyone gets back to him. (She returns with everyone else.)
To be specific about Yami's penalty game... Due to the fact that he's betting less than he'll win, his life is also offered up. However, he doesn't say this, and instead, 'Panik' as he's called in the dub (In Japanese, he's 'The Player Killer of Darkness'. Rather, 'Yami no Player Killer', with the latter being in katakana and obviously harder to read than I made it out to be.) actually latches a noose around his neck. And before anyone says, 'why did he let him do that?', it was fired at him. As in 'spring loaded'.
He even implies that he's already physically killed a number of duelists on the island with this tactic, stating that once Yami loses, he'll strangle him to death. (Mai got off lucky it seems. Also, in the anime, this is replaced with fire. As strapping Yugi to a noose at one of those stages would be rather silly.) In the end, Yami plays mind-games with him, increasing his fear throughout the duel by saying 'in 5 turns, I will win', and that 'each turn is a step closer to the gallows', after first asking the guy if he can feel the 'noose tightening around his neck' (And of course, Yami's using illusions to actually instill that feeling on the guy). Creeepyyyyy. In the end, his penalty game is the illusion of being hung, and, well... His neck kinda snapped as a result, so he's dead. (WhooooH! Hey Yugi, did you just kill a guy? HEEEEELL YEA.)
If Kaiba seems OOC in the dream, that's probably because it's 'DreamKaiba'. As in, Jonouchi's thoughts forming a Kaiba before his eyes.
Though if you wanna get spiritual I guess you can pretend it's the part of Kaiba that decided to not wake up with the woman... (The part that remembers Jonouchi.) But I'm fairly sure that isn't the case, given that the dream was originally supposed to stay a nightmare rather than some twisted pep-talk. I don't even know if it can be called that actually...
ANYWAYS.
Until next chapter folks! See you next time, with KAIBA VS JONOUCHI.