The Girl From America

Though White Day had long since passed, the 'panic' in the classroom was far from completely over and done with. True, 'year end exams' had long since finished, with the Class President and teachers (not to mention parents) both finally off everyone's backs about studying. And while it was certainly a lot less tense than the year prior in Katsuya's opinion, it was good to have that behind them now. After all... Sure, everyone was screaming about the entrance exams the year before, rather than exams in general... But exams were exams. Briefly, the blond wondered how his sister would be getting around that; the bandages were supposedly off by this point, and given that she herself would be entering high-school... Of course, now that the exams were done and gathered and marked, there was the marks themselves to worry about, which easily pulled Katsuya's concerns elsewhere.

It was needless to say after all, that he hadn't done too well this time around either. Well enough to make it into the next grade, that was for sure. But... Not well enough to even begin to make his mom too happy with the results. Which was why he was making sure to stay as far away from the phone as possible damn it.

Despite that particular panic calming down however, there was still one particular subject that had not only him, but even Seto herself sitting on the side decidedly confused. And although he wouldn't really call said panic a 'panic', given that he, Honda, and Yugi had pretty much treated it as they did for the summer exams (with a pen in hand for 'Bingo'), this was probably a legitimate panic... At least on the part of the one bringing it up.

"So," Mokuba said at dinner that evening, finishing off his food and looking across the table at his sister. "What was middle school like?"

They might not have shared a glance on that subject (since when the hell did they share glances at all?), but they mind as well have, to say the least. Seto stared for a moment as her brother brought the question up, blinking a few times as the room fell silent. "...Mokuba," she finally said, expression largely unreadable as she stared back at the boy. "...I never went to middle school..."

Yea, that was probably going to put a plug on the advice, wasn't it... The boy blinked, as though silently saying 'oooooohhh...' before Katsuya shrugged. "Eh... If you can't help, that doesn't mean I can't help though, righ'?" He smirked, leaning somewhat on the table as Mokuba turned to him. Hehehe... Finally something he could answer that Seto couldn't. "Ask away, this'll be no problem!"

There was a snort from the side, Katsuya turning an unimpressed stare to Seto as the woman smirked. Oh, what, she suddenly had something? "Hn! And what do you think your advice will do," she said with usual dark humor, "Teach him to fail his classes and get in fights?" Oi oi, that was a low blow...

He growled, crossing his arms as Mokuba groaned at the side. "Hn! Then what th' hell do you suggest, if your idea is so much better?"

Mokuba raised his eyebrows at that, turning to his sister as the woman blinked. Good question ahhh? Katsuya as well stared, briefly holding a blank expression as the room fell silent once more. "...Ah..." Wait... He blinked, a grin slowly forming on his face. Wait what? Did... Did he actually render her speechless? The woman quickly lost the surprised expression, moving away from the table and grabbing her papers as she made to leave. "I need to finalize a few plans," she said rather bluntly, moving to the door as the blond behind her let out quiet, wheezing laughs. "Try not to interrupt my work," she continued, pulling the door open to walk out. Oh god, this was beautiful! Ahahaha!

The door to the hall closed shut, the sound followed by Mokuba's head slamming into the table with a groan. "Hnnnnnngg..." Oh. Funny as it was, it didn't fix anything huh...

"O-Oii," Katsuya said somewhat nervously, grin still in place as he turned to the boy, "I'm still here aren't I?" Hey, he could still help!

He looked up, before nodding somewhat and leaning back on his chair. "I guess... But no offense Katsuya-nii," he said with a frown, "Nee-sama has a point... Wasn't middle school where you met 'Hirutani'..?"

Well... Yea but... Oh come on, that didn't make him completely useless... The blond frowned, leaning back in his chair. Still, good point good point... Hnn... "Well... Jus' use common sense then," he said with a grin, looking back at the boy. "...An' don' insult anyone bigger than yah," he added with a cough, rubbing the back of his neck. "Probably somethin' t' avoid as well..."

Mokuba blinked, a rather unimpressed stare in place in the face of the 'advice'. "...Will do, Katsuya-nii..."

"Well what d'yah wanna know then," Katsuya asked, giving a slight 'shrug of defeat'. "Probably help t' know what's buggin' yah..."

The boy leaned back on his chair, frowning. "Well... There are a few things," he said calmly, before turning. "But... Well... A lot of the other guys in the class keep mentioning a hair restriction," he continued, leaning on his arm. "And when I looked into it, the site for Domino's middle school said that the limit is five centimetres past the shoulders..." He bit his lip, scratching his head and looking at the table. "I kinda like leaving my hair long, so..."

Oooooh... That one... That one, he wouldn't really know... Katsuya frowned, crossing his arms in thought. "Hnn... Yer right on that," he muttered, narrowing his eyes for a moment. "They do have restrictions... But y' know," he said with a smile, looking back to the boy with a grin as he remembered something, "Bakura's way past th' limit, an' he's left alone completely!"

Mokuba blinked, eyes wide. "Really," he asked somewhat excitedly, before frowning. "...Are you sure that's not because of... You know..?" Katsuya blinked, staring briefly. You kn- ...Oh. Yeaaaaaaa... The ring... Hahah...

He coughed for a moment, before shrugging it off with a slight shudder. That couldn't be the reason, it couldn't... "Eh... Seein' how that was a good few months back," he said somewhat slowly, attempting to convince himself of the fact, "I'm pretty sure that ain't th' case. 'Sides," he added with a nod, expression brightening. "Karita didn' even r'member all 'f that, so I'm pretty sure it's somethin' else."

"I guess you're right," Mokuba said with a nod, moving from the chair with another shrug. In all honesty, they were long since done the meal anyways so...

"I could call 'm if y' want," Katsuya continued, hands in his pockets as he followed the boy out of the room. "I mean... I don' think he's too busy now that exams are over," he added, scratching his head. "He was pretty much impossible t' contact durin' exam hell," he muttered, frowning somewhat. And at the end of it all, they found out why. Bakura... Had gotten the near top marks in the class...

Damn it...

Mokuba nodded, looking up at the blond as they moved down the hall. "That sounds good," he said with a smile, leaning back somewhat. "When is he free," he asked, Katsuya stopping in the hall for a moment.

"Eh..." Good question. Ahh... "He should be free this Sunday actually," he said, staring up for a moment before looking back at the boy. Bakura didn't seem to do much else... And he wasn't in any clubs at school so... "I'm gonna be goin' t' Yugi's that afternoon," he continued with a slight nod, "If y' want, I could take yah to his apartment on th' way."

Again the boy nodded, hands held behind his head as he looked up. He was getting a little taller actually... Hard to tell, but if he stood beside Yugi... "You could just give him our address," he said plainly, blinking a few times as he continued. "I mean... It's not like that won't work just as well right?"

Well, he guessed that made sense too... "Right... I'll go give 'm a call then," he said, giving the boy a wave. "I gotta get ready f'r work too though," he added, Mokuba nodding in response. "So I won' see yah for th' next bit... G'night then, alrigh'?"

The boy nodded, waving him off before leaving for the rec room. "Right! Thanks, Katsuya-nii!"

"Heh!" He smirked, heading off down the hall. "No problem!"

Needless to say, Katsuya had been right; Bakura was indeed free on Sunday afternoon that week, and was (apparently) more than happy to help when the blond called him. As to when Katsuya had called... Well, there was a phone in the security room... Nonetheless, Bakura had agreed to come by and talk. Which was why, that afternoon, Mokuba found himself waving the blond off before leading the albino inside the house through the front gate.

"Thank you for inviting me in," Bakura said politely as the door shut behind them, the both of them taking their shoes off. "Your house is incredible..! ...If you don't mind me saying," he added, holding his shoes as he looked at the boy. "Ah... Where should I..."

"Over here," Mokuba called out, leading the teen to the coat room and handing him a pair of slippers. "You can use Katsuya-nii's slippers for now," he continued, switching his own shoes out and pulling on his slippers as well. "He tends to just walk around in his socks anyways..."

Bakura blinked, before nodding and taking the slippers. "Again, thank-you," he stated, the boy merely shrugging in response as his guest put the slippers on.

"Well it was this or your apartment," he said, leading Bakura toward the rec. room. "So really, either way would have worked. Besides," he added with a short laugh, grinning somewhat. "It's not like you're going to kill me or something right? The ring is gone now!"

There was a small smile in response to this, his guest nodding in what appeared to be agreement. Yea... There was no way! ...Though that expression... The boy shook it off, continuing toward the rec. room and pushing the door open. In any case... The two sat down on the couch, Bakura coughing slightly. "Actually, now that you say that," he said somewhat nervously, Mokuba turning to the teen curiously, "Honda-kun has been looking at me with that sort of expectation it feels like... It's rather unnerving actually," he added with a frown, "It's had me on edge since we got back from the Duelist Kingdom!"

Ah... Really..? ...But why would Honda... "Well... It's probably nothing right," he said, pulling his legs up on the couch and again pushing the thought from mind. "I mean," he continued with a slight laugh, "You'd have said something if there really was a problem, especially after last time!"

Another nod, the albino's smile appearing more genuine. Phew... And here he almost thought something was wrong... "Of course! Now," he continued, folding his hands politely across his lap. "Jonouchi-kun said that you wanted to ask me a few things about middle school..?"

Mokuba nodded, pausing for a brief moment as the question was asked. The smile seemed real but... Something seemed... Off... About Bakura somehow. He couldn't figure out what... Maybe something in his eyes... But something... He shook it off mentally, pushing it out of mind. Probably nothing... Had to be nothing, right? "Ah... Yea," he finally said, nodding again. "I was just wondering, if you had any advice..." On anything really... "Katsuya-nii doesn't really have the best track record," the boy continued with a slight cough, "And nii-sama never went to middle school... So..."

"Ahh, I see..." Bakura leaned back on the couch, silent for a brief moment. "Well," he began somewhat quietly, "I have to admit... My own time in middle school likely wasn't much better to tell the truth." It wasn't? As Mokuba blinked, a somewhat confused expression in place, the albino continued. "I was often teased for my hair colour you see," he said calmly, bowing his head somewhat, "And often times when it seemed I had finally made friends, it would turn out that they were speaking badly behind my back... And of course," he added somewhat lowly, looking away to the side, "When I finally started making true friends..."

They were sealed in figurines... Right... Um...

There was a small span of silence, before Bakura turned back to look at the boy. "In any case," he continued, expression somewhat severe, "The most important thing is to not let anyone tell you what you should do; the way that you live is your business," Bakura said calmly, somehow holding his polite tone despite the words. "And no matter what," he continued with a slight frown, "You should live the way you want to... Understand?"

Hahaha... Yea but... "That's easy for you to say," Mokuba said with a small laugh, before turning back. "Katsuya-nii said you have an entire fan-club... I don't think they'd let any complaint's get through!" Though something told him that being a 'Kaiba' would result in a similar reaction... Personally, he'd rather avoid any kind of 'fanclub' reaction though...

Bakura merely gained an oddly 'cheerful' smile, eyes closed as he shook his head. "Don't worry about a thing," he said 'nicely', Mokuba frowning somewhat and looking at the albino oddly. That smile... "If you don't buckle into what others think," he continued with a short nod, "Then nothing bad will happen in the long run... And if you do happen to run into trouble," he added, tone taking an oddly dark turn as he spoke, "Just ask me for help... I'll see what I can do... Alright, Mokuba?"

This... The boy swallowed, staring for a moment. The words had good intentions but... This... This didn't sound like Bakura... "Erm..." He nodded slowly, growing somewhat pale as he attempted to find a response. Maybe Bakura was just having a weird day? Something? ...Hopefully? "T-Thanks..?"

"What are you doing here?" Ah! The two turned as Seto walked into the room, the woman crossing her arms and glaring rather dangerously at Bakura from the door. Talk about timing...

Bakura merely blinked, smiling somewhat oddly as Mokuba continued frowning nervously from beside him. "Oh, nothing," he said calmly, standing up from the couch as he spoke. "Jonouchi-kun thought I would be able to help Mokuba-kun prepare for Middle School..." A fact that apparently didn't sit well with Seto, if the slight 'twitch' in expression was any sign. "I'll leave now," the teen added, bowing politely to Mokuba. "Good luck, Mokuba-kun," he said with the 'standard' and cheery tone that the albino was known for, waving somewhat. "I hope you do well in Middle School!" With that he moved past Seto, the woman giving a narrowed glare as the albino left.

Silence settled rather awkwardly over the room for a moment, the only sound being the clock on the side. "...Mokuba," the woman eventually said, turning back to the boy and walking toward the couch. Mokuba merely blinked, watching as his sister took a seat beside him. As much as he didn't like the reaction most people got when his sister came in the room... He had to say, this time he felt grateful, for some reason at least. Seto crossed her arms, frowning somewhat as the boy remained silent. "...What has you so worried about school that you would turn to someone worse than the mutt for help?"

Worse? He blinked, staring briefly. Bakura 'worse' than Katsuya... That was a first. Though Seto didn't really know Bakura he supposed. And given that the most detailed description had involved what happened in September despite what any further meetings involved... The boy looked back at the ground, frowning. Either way. "...It's nothing," he finally muttered, shaking his head.

Seto blinked, raising her eyebrows somewhat as she leaned against the couch. "If it's 'nothing'," she said rather plainly, "Then what was he doing here?"

The boy continued to frown, crossing his arms. Alright... So his sister caught him on that then, and it was probably expected really... But still! "If I tell you," he said somewhat testily, looking back at the woman for a moment. "You'll do something over the top about it..."

His sister crossed her legs, expression still fairly identical to what it had been coming into the room. "...Hn... I doubt that," she muttered, eyes closing over for a moment. "The most I would do would be what was necessary," she continued, the boy merely staring. Hnn... And what was Death-T then..?

Mokuba continued to frown, sticking with a more 'peaceful' memory for his defense instead. "Nee-sama," he muttered, expression clearly revealing how unimpressed he was. "When I finally told you the reason why I wasn't at school on White Day," he said somewhat lowly, "You acted almost as though Tamaki was a mass murderer..." Quite frankly, Tamaki was probably lucky she was still going to have a house, let alone getting out of things completely.

The woman beside him tensed somewhat, visibly gaining a stiffer expression as she clenched her arms. "...It wasn't nearly that extreme,"she muttered, Mokuba shaking his head at the paper thin defense. "However," she continued, turning to the boy again, "...I would like to know what's worrying you so much." Mokuba blinked a few times, and the woman continued on. "I might not have actually attended Middle School," she said quietly, "But I would still rather not sit on the sidelines about this."

Ah... ...Right... He understood then... Mokuba stared for a few moments more, before closing his eyes and nodding. Alright... He supposed it wouldn't hurt to ask really. "I guess... I'm not really worried so much about school," he finally muttered, shrugging somewhat. Really, it couldn't be much better or worse than elementary right? Even so... "It's more about..." He sighed, looking back at his sister. He didn't want to ask her for help on this really... Since most of the time, 'help' was a little extreme but... "...I was looking online at the rules and regulations for school," he finally said quietly, his sister listening calmly as he spoke. "And there's a restriction on hair length..."

The woman didn't bat an eye, merely nodding. "Hn... I'll handle that then," she said, Mokuba laughing somewhat nervously. He... He hadn't finished...

"I... I don't want to make a scene nee-sama..." Really, his last name did that enough...

His sister merely nodded again, expression still the same as it had been before. "I'll still handle it."

"N-Nee-sama," he continued, scratching his head, "They actually have the right to send me to the office to get it cut off..." Which was actually kind of scary when he thought about it, but really... "I... I don't think-"

"Trust me," Seto continued, crossing her legs and leaning back on the couch with a dark smirk. "They won't."

In the end he supposed, it was probably best to leave it at that really... Even if he had wanted to press further however, a single startling thought that occurred to him at just that moment was holding him back.

A few moments ago, before Seto had come back into the room... When Bakura said his name...

He didn't say 'kun'.

In the end, it seemed that as 'expected', Seto proved to be the most helpful in regards to the issue of 'Middle School'. While she certainly didn't experience it herself, it appeared that this wasn't really something that would help the situation anyways; as it was, Mokuba seemed more set on experiencing it for himself rather than following someone else's guidelines, and more concerned with the rules and regulations themselves.

Though the knowledge that there would be 'no problems' concerning the 'hair concern' didn't make graduation itself any easier, or at least, that was the image that Katsuya seemed to be getting from Mokuba as he and the others stood outside his school. Suffice to say, this was probably the closest thing to 'formal' he owned, what he was wearing right now... And while he didn't know exactly how Mokuba felt about the graduation, he figured it was about as much as he felt now. Namely bored out of his skull as the Principal of the school gave what felt like his third speech. On the bright side, the ceremony itself had been somewhat quick to say the least.

Well, compared to the one that he himself remembered, and at least he hadn't been stuck sitting alone with Seto the entire time during the current one. Then again, something told him that Yugi coming along didn't exactly ease the pressure of things, not to mention everyone else tagging along as well... Namely Honda, Anzu... Sugoroku... In the end, the only one who wasn't there was Bakura, who had said something about feeling out of place. Something Seto apparently wanted everyone else to feel as well... Having mentioned a few times that it was her brother, and while she could understand why Mokuba's 'employee' would want to come... She didn't see why the others had to come as well.

Needless to say, what with everyone flat out saying that they were staying for the ceremony anyways, and Seto sending each of them a rather aggravated look in response, it was probably for the best that the woman had been called out shortly after the main ceremony and speech was over and done with, in order to deal with an accident one of her staff had been in. She had apparently wanted Mokuba to come along as well if the conversation they had on the side was any sign... But Mokuba had apparently refused, if the slight (albeit extremely difficult to detect) disappointment she had in response was proof at all. Either way; at least there wouldn't be a one-sided 'rival stare down' between Seto and Yugi... Though it was beginning to feel like he'd have still seen the stare down, if the constantly materializing 'second Yugi' was any sign...

Nonetheless, that was what had them waiting outside for the moment, waiting for the classes to give their final speeches and let the kids loose. ...Moment being the key word, Mokuba running out with a wide grin with his bag and things in hand. "Hahaha! Guys!" The others blinked, before grinning as the boy ran over, bag swinging behind him. "Haha... Thanks for coming to my graduation everyone," he said with a smile, the others merely nodding in response. "I guess now I'll be in a uniform just like all of you guys huh," he added with a grin, stretching somewhat with his arms behind his head.

"Hehehe, got that right," Katsuya said with a grin, the group slowly turning to walk down the side walk. "What school are y' goin' to anyways, there are like... Three aren't there?"

The boy merely smirked, shaking his head. "Hehehe... That's a secret! You'll find out next week," he continued with a grin, the others turning for a moment at that. S-Secret..?

Clearly it was going to be the school beside theirs. Or something. "Hnnn... If y' say so," he 'muttered', shaking his head. "So," he continued with a grin, "What now," he asked, shifting his grip on his school bag as they walked. "S... Kaiba's probably not gonna be back until whatever that call was abou' 's sorted out so-"

"Ah, about that..." Mokuba blinked, looking up as they stopped at a crosswalk. "Apparently, besides the fact that his secretary was in an accident," he explained, the others turning curiously, "And... She's also being accused of having caused the accident..." The boy rubbed his head, laughing nervously and shaking his head. "So nii-sama wasn't really able to get out of things because of that..."

Oooooh, that sucked... "Hey, Mokuba," Honda asked, craking his neck somewhat. "Speaking of your brother... Did he really have to tell us off for coming, I mean..." He shook his head, frowning. "It wasn't like we were trying to ruin anything..."

The boy shrugged, shaking his head. "I know," he said, blinking. "But nii-sama isn't really too used to all of you just yet... Hah, remember," he continued with a grin, laughing, "The last time we were all in a group, we were giving you a ride back from Pegasus' castle, and you picked up a 'hitch-hiker'... Unless you want to remind him that we broke into the company building," he added, the grin widening.

"Hahaha, you know what," Honda said, shaking his head as the others smirked, "I think I'll just go with your brother not liking us."

"Heh! Good plan," Katsuya said with a laugh, shaking his head as they stopped at the crosswalk.

The group waited patiently, watcing as Sugoroku moved forward to push the button for the light. The old man calmly waited for the light to change, turning to the others as the cars drove past. "So," he said with a smile, arms crossed behind his back as he looked at Mokuba. "I imagine that your brother should be quite proud of you," he continued, bowing his head somewhat. "You left that school with top marks, good for you!"

Mokuba nodded, grinning as Katsuya laughed behind him. "Hah! Yea, unlike me nyh?"

"Oh god... That's not even funny," Anzu said with a slightly humored groan, shaking her head and laughing. "Jonouchi, you, Honda, and Yugi got such low grades, I didn't think we'd all end up in the same class..."

Come on, they weren't that bad... "O-Oi," he muttered, laughing quietly.

"A-Anzu," Yugi said quietly, the woman still shaking her head.

Honda as well groaned, shaking his head. "S-Seriously..?"

"Anyways," Sugoroku said rather gruffly as they crossed the street, pulling the conversation back to himself as Mokuba snickered in the background. "Since this is such a big event," he continued, "I think we should celebrate! Now," the man muttered, turning to the boy, "I don't know if you already have anything planned..."

Mokuba and Katsuya both shook their heads, dropping the subject of marks completely with the topic. "Not any more," Mokuba said with a wince, rubbing his head. "Nii-sama's going to be busy for at least two hours now thanks to that accident..." There'd probably still be a dinner but... Not for a while to say the least.

"Good," Sugoroku said with a laugh, the others trading confused looks at what was apparently considered 'good'. "In that case," he shouted, grinning widely as he laughed, "Lets go wild with this!"

"Er... G-Grandpa," Yugi said with a slight laugh, shaking his head with worry. "Shouldn't you take it easy..? I mean... I don't think 'going wild' is really..."

The old man snorted, shaking his head and 'flexing' his arms. "I'm in perfectly good health, no matter what your mother says," he shouted, stretching a bit in an 'attempt' to prove the fact further. "This party will be the greatest thing since- OHH!" A loud crack came through the air and the old man winced, hands flying to his back as he stooped over. "Oh... Oh my back," he muttered, rubbing it and continuing to wince. "Ah..."

"G-Grandpa..."

"O-Oii, Jii-chan..."

"Jii-chan..."

"O-Ojii-san..."

"Er... Jii-san," Mokuba said with a cough, helping the old man up as the others crowded. "Are you... Are you alright..?"

"I'm fine," he grunted, back giving a rather loud crack as he straightened himself out. The boys jumped back with somewhat wide eyes, staring as the man made his way around the corner to the Kame-Game shop. "Perfectly fine," he continued with a slight wince, "Let's just get to the house, I think I have some ice..."

"Hey!" The five turned, blinking as a loud, accented voice came over the air. "You're Sugoroku Mutou right," a young girl shouted, pulling a large suitcase behind her with a frown. They stared, blinking and turning briefly to the old man behind them as he shrugged. Evidently he didn't have a clue either... Er... Who was this kid..? The girl continued to scowl, dirty blond hair pulled up into childish pigtails and 'accented' with an oversized sweater. She came toward them, adjusting her grip on the suitcase behind her and holding a teddy bear firmly in her arms before stopping before them with a rather loud 'thump' on the part of her luggage. "My name is Rebecca," she said in English, dropping the suitcase handle to cross her arms. "And you have some nerve," she continued in Japanese with a growl, "Keeping a lady waiting!"

They continued to stare, Mokuba raising his eyebrows. "A lady," he asked incredulously, the others as well staring. "You can't be any older than me!" That was probably a long shot, she looked eight... True, not much shorter than Mokuba and Yugi, but... The bear and the 'cutesy' clothes were really pulling his brain through a blender on this...

'Rebecca' as she was called, merely glared, continuing to scowl at what was evidently a 'rough subject'. "Yes," she bit out in an almost ear-splitting tone, "A LADY. Anyways," she continued, the teens sharing awkward shrugs and glances while Mokuba scowled at the retort, "I came all this way from America," the girl muttered, crossing her arms and continuing to scowl. "It took you long enough to get to your own house!"

Well sheesh, sorry if they had things to do! Stupid little... "Wait," Katsuya muttered, shaking his head. "Yer from th' states," the blond repeated, Rebecca turning her glare on the blond the moment he started speaking. He ignored the look, frowning. "What's a lil' girl like you doin' alone in Japan then?"

The girl merely snorted, adjusting her grip on the teddy bear. "I don't talk to rude people," she said rather snippily, Katsuya blinking and frowning somewhat. Sheesh, and she was calling him rude..? "And besides," she continued with a somewhat smug tone, mixing it with a sickeningly sweet one as well, "I can take care of myself... I got here, didn't I?" Aaggghh, stop switching languages, he didn't know any English as it was..! "Isn't that right 'Teddy-chan," she added, smiling sweetly and turning to her bear.

The group merely stared, watching the girl cuddle with the teddy bear. Yeaaaa... Not helping the image there... "Alright, alright," Sugoroku said, stepping forward and shaking his head. "There's no need to argue..." At least not yet, the blond added mentally. "Now then, 'Rebecca'," he continued, "Why don't you tell me what it is you want? You wanted to ask me about something," he asked, idly rubbing his back as he addressed the girl.

Apparently... Though why a kid would come all the way from the US for that was beyond him... "I want you to give it back," she said bluntly, the others tilting their heads for the most part. Give... Give what back...

A question on everyone's minds to say the least. "Erm... 'Give it back'," Sugoroku repeated, blinking a few times as the girl held her hand out. "Give what back..?"

"The Blue-Eyes White Dragon card," she shouted, the others widening their eyes. B-Blue Eyes! What! They continued to stare, shocked silent by the demand. Besides the fact that the card was rare enough for people to kill over it (something they knew...) Erm... ...That card was kind of- "As the current duel monster's champion of the USA," she continued with narrowed eyes, before any of them could voice their confusion, "The most powerful card in existence should only naturally belong to me..." WHAT. "Don't you think, Teddy-chan," she added, the others struck completely silent as the girl cuddled her teddy-bear.

Ok... Hang on... "H-Hey, jus' 'cause yer th' champion," he said with a cough, "Doesn't mean it's-" Wait. Waaaaait, back up a moment... Katsuya shook himself, frowning as he re-thought the words over. "Hang on," he said with a snort, "You've gotta be what, eight," the blond continued, laughing. "How are you-"

"I'm twelve," the girl spat, gritting her teeth as Katsuya jumped back. Honda and Anzu both pulled an amused smirk at the growl, shaking their heads in silent laughter despite the situation. "And yes," she continued bitterly, "I'm the current champion! What, is it so hard to believe that a 'little girl' can be the champion of a children's trading card game?" W-Well, that wasn't really what he was getting at... But...

Yea. Yea it was. He coughed, drawing back as Honda shrugged. "Hey, we're just saying," he said with a smirk, stiffling his laughter as he shook his head. "You can't blame us for finding it hard to believe..."

"Ooooooghhh..."

Mokuba and Yugi both frowned as the girl continued to seethe, remaining mostly silent as the exchange of one-sided 'insults' continued before them. Abruptly however, they both froze, eyes widening as they realized something. "Ah," the older said, blinking a few times before turning to the others. "That's right," he continued, Rebecca turning from where she was glaring at the others to stare. "There was an article in a magazine about this..."

"Yea, I saw that article," Mokuba added, nodding. "Nii-sama even mentioned it... 'Hawkins, Rebecca'... The child prodigy who's coming close to graduating High School already," he said with evident shock. "In addition to winning the championship title for Duel Monsters in the United States even..." He swallowed, the others staring with wide eyes. Wait... So not only was this kid legitimately the US champ but... H-Hang on, high school? She was graduating!

Rebecca appeared to beam for a moment, before loosing the proud smirk as the others continued. "The first champion not to be a member of the 'Card Professors'," Yugi said, staring somewhat. "And the only reason why was because-"

"Of my age," Rebecca shouted, eyes narrowed as she began to huff. "I know! Now," she continued, frowning and holding her hand out again. "Hand over the card you stole," she said with a snarl, "I don't want to be here any longer than I need to!" What, she have a problem with Japan or something? Geeze!

Waaaiiit... Hang on, he could have sworn that Seto was actually muttering something about the 'Card Professors' refusing someone... Katsuya shook his head, glaring down at the kid. Right, whatever. "An' we told you," he said with a frown, "Bein' th' champion doesn' mean y' get th' card! 'Sides," he added with a smirk, "Bein' th' champion of th' states also doesn' make you th' most powerful duelist! After all," he continued with a grin, Mokuba smacking his forehead while Honda and Anzu both shook their heads at what they knew was coming. "I beat th' las' champion in December! And on top 'f that-"

"Yea, second place in Japan," the girl muttered, rolling her eyes. "I know... God," she continued, crossing her arms. "Even a monkey could beat Keith Howard by this point! It's not exactly a secret that he's completely screwed over!" Oh gee thanks! The blond scowled, listening as the girl continued. "Besides... 'Second' is nothing compared to first," she said with a smirk, 'winking' with a fox's grin. "If you aren't first," she continued, glancing at Yugi for a moment as the boy drew back a little, "Then you aren't worth anything."

"Hnnnn..." Alright, that was it damn it! Who did this kid think she was anyways! "You little- Gh!" Katsuya scowled, everyone save Sugoroku hurriedly holding the blond back from Rebecca as he snarled. "O-Oii!"

"Trust me Jonouchi," Anzu said with a laugh before frowning. "It's not worth it."

Honda nodded, patting his friend's shoulder. "Yea man... Seriously, you've slept through worse..." Like hell he had!

The blond continued to grumble, crossing his arms as Sugoroku gave the four a short look before turning back to Rebecca. Stupid little pre-pubescent rat... "Listen, Rebecca," he began, shaking his head somewhat and frowning. "I understand that you're very smart for your age," the man continued, "But this card is very important to me! I'm not going to just give it to someone!"

Rebecca merely snorted, shaking her head. "Of course it's 'important'," she said with a scowl, rolling her eyes. "You came all the way to California to steal it!"

That wasn't true damn it! "Oii," Katsuya shouted, gritting his teeth, "We already told you, Jii-chan didn't steal any cards!"

"Katsuya-nii," Mokuba muttered, "I think you're getting a little too upset about this..."

"Calm down Jonouchi," Anzu added, shaking her head.

Honda nodded, still holding the blond back. "Yea seriously man," he continued, "You need to chill!"

"RGGGG!" Calm down? This kid was acting like a little rat, why the hell would he calm down! "Damn it!"

As Rebecca smirked slightly at the reaction she was gaining, Sugoroku shook his head. "Listen... I didn't steal this card Rebecca! I don't know who told you this," he continued, the girl quickly loosing her amused expression, "But this was given to me by an extremely close friend-"

"You're lying," she hissed, fists clenching as the others frowned. Um... Woah, that was a quick reaction... "There are only four of those cards in the world," she screeched, "And this one doesn't belong to you!"

Yugi bit his lip, shaking his head. "But that can't be right," he protested, the girl in front of them merely glaring visciously. "Grandpa wouldn't steal anything... And he's had that card for six years," the boy continued, "He never went to the US during that time!

"Well obviously you're wrong," Rebecca argued snottily, the others trading annoyed glances as Yugi and his grandfather groaned. "Your 'Grandpa' did steal this card, and I'm going to get it back!"

They continued to frown, Sugoroku shaking his head. "Even if I was willing to give you this card," he said somewhat shakily, frowning as the girl shook before them. "I can't! It's-"

"Important, you said that already... God damn it," she muttered, rolling her eyes, " I can't get anything done around here..." The girl continued to mutter off in English, Mokuba gritting his teeth as the others merely frowned at what they couldn't understand. "Look," she continued, frowning as she turned her attentions back to the group. "I can see why you don't want to give up the card... I wouldn't either if I were you," she said with a smirk, hands on her hips. "After all... People would kill for something like that," Rebecca muttered, eyes trailing over Mokuba as the boy tensed somewhat. "Some people even have killed for it," the girl added with a smirk, the 'holding back' switching from Mokuba to Katsuya as the boy went red in the face. "But I'm not leaving this country with out it," she continued, frowning. "So enough excuses! Hand it over!"

Yugi sighed, shaking his head. "That's not the reason though," he continued to protest, the others either biting their tongues or holding a red-faced Mokuba back. "If you'll let us explain-"

"Duel for it," Rebecca said calmly, adjusting her hold on the bear. The others blinked, frowning somewhat as they stopped what they were doing to stare. "If you're going to be assholes about it, then we can duel for it," she continued, pointing at Sugoroku. "You and me," she shouted angrily, the old man tensing somewhat. "If I win, I get Blue-Eyes. If you win," the girl continued, "Then I'll leave you alone..." A fate that was surely impossible...

The others groaned, Anzu frowning as the girl fiddled with her bear. "Look," she said with an annoyed frown, crossing her arms. "We're trying to tell you, we can't give you the card, it's been-"

"Ahp!" She shook her head, her 'teddy' doing the same as the woman was cut off. "Not listening! I don't want any excuses," she shouted, narrowing her eyes. "Either duel me, or hand it over now!"

"But the card is-"

"Ahp!"

"If you'll just listen," Yugi attempted to say, only to be cut off like Honda had been.

"Aaaaahp!"

"Aaaaghh..." Mokuba shook his head, scowling as the girl smirked. "Can you please stop tha-"

"Ahp!" Oh seriously..? How was this kid graduating... Rebecca shook her head, the others groaning again before Sugoroku finally stepped forward.

"Alright Rebecca," he said with a nod, still frowning. "Very well... We'll duel for the Blue-Eyes card..."

The girl nodded, smiling in response before cutting the man off. "Good," she said with a contented grin, grabbing her deck. "Now... I have my deck right here... I also heard that a place called 'KaibaLand' has a duel table, and I'd really like it if we could use one of those," she continued, batting her eyelashes with the suggestion.

Mokuba rolled his eyes, rubbing his head in annoyance as the girl 'smiled' at them. "Rrrrrgh... Fine," he growled, glaring at Rebecca before crossing his arms. "We can use the duel table there," he said, grumbling. "You're lucky you came today, on the maintenance check" he added darkly, becoming more and more sore about the girl's comment as she smirked. "Otherwise we'd be booked for three months solid," he continued, turning to lead everyone toward the building. "At which point the table would be taken down completely, and you wouldn't be able to use it at all."

"Taken down," Anzu asked, raising her eyebrows as Sugoroku politely asked Rebecca to follow them to the indoor park. The woman shook her head, looking down at the boy as they moved to stand at the nearby crosswalk. "Why would Kaiba take down one of the most popular sections of the park?"

Honda nodded, frowning somewhat. "That's right," he muttered, hands stuffed in his pockets. "If the table is one of the only ones in the area," the teen continued, "Wouldn't that make it one of the largest money makers at the park?"

The boy merely shrugged, looking up at the others as Katsuya and Rebecca glared at each other behind him. "I was asking him about that myself," he said with another shrug, shaking his head. "Supposedly, by that point," Mokuba continued, "She'll have something 'even better' there... Though I have a feeling I know what that means," he added with a slight frown, Katsuya looking up with those words.

Something 'better' than the table..? Wait... "Y' mean th' duel disk," he asked, Rebecca currently following behind the group in what was apparently content (and plotting) silence. So like... An arena then..? "I dunno," he muttered, staring up in thought for a moment. "It was cool seein' th' monsters life size an' all but..." Well, besides the fact that 'cool' became 'horrifying' really quickly during the last time he saw the things in action... Constantly throwing that thing would probably chase a few people away from the idea... "...I dunno if that thing's really gonna take off..."

Mokuba merely shrugged, the six slowly making their way toward the 'KaibaLand' building as he spoke. "Apparently he's working on a second version," the boy responded, adjusting his bag as the tower came into sight. "One that doesn't look like a disk and operates on the duelist's arm," he added, stopping as they waited for the light to change. "I don't really know what it'll look like when it's done though..."

"Huh..." Katsuya stared off for a moment, before following after the boy as they were taken into the 'grounds' of the building. On the arm huh... But if the last disk was powered by throwing it, then what would power these things? He shook it off, instead watching as Mokuba led them off around the side of the building. "O-Oi," he muttered, blinking a few times. "Shouldn't we go in the main entrance..?"

The boy shook his head, pulling out a card from his pocket and opening the door. "Nope; we'd have to go through the ticket booths for that, and besides," he continued, a few lights blinking from the door as he pushed it open, "The main door to the stadium elevator is sealed off due to the maintenance check. We'll be taking the construction elevator, before taking the hall and stairs," the boy added letting everyone into the building. "That way, we don't have to deal with the crowd in the park either."

"Hn," Rebecca muttered, pulling her suitcase behind her and up the stairs as she brushed past the others. "Smart." What, she thought that they'd do something stupid? Sheesh... She was luck they didn't just drop her off at a police station, the blond thought to himself, watching as Mokuba pushed a few buttons for the elevator. They stepped in as the doors opened, Mokuba turning to Sugoroku at that moment.

"Erm... I just realized," he said with a short cough, frowning as he looked at the man with wide eyes. "Even though it's obviously a lot safer now... Is your heart going to be ok jii-san?" Eh? His heart? I mean... Even before the... End of the match," he managed to force out, swallowing as the doors closed, "You looked... ...Hng..." He looked at the ground, biting his lip as the others turned to the old man. That was right... He'd already gone through intense heart surgery, if anything got his heart going again...

The old man tensed, as did Rebecca, the others falling silent. Sooo... What to do now... "...Let me duel in his place," Yugi said, turning to Rebecca as the elevator moved. The girl turned, frowning. "Please," he continued, frowning as the elevator continued to shoot upward. "Grandpa can't have another heart attack, he's not in any condition for that..."

"Yugi," Sugoroku insisted, coughing somewhat, "I'm sure I'll be alright..."

The boy shook his head, Rebecca in the meantime appearing to consider the offer. "...Alright," the girl said with a smirk, turning around. "That's fine by me... Champion versus champion," she added with a grin, nodding to herself as the elevator stopped. "I like that idea..." They stepped out of the elevator as the doors opened, most of the others shaking their heads. Of course she did... It meant she got to rub in their faces how much of a 'champion' she was...

The others continued to silently grumble, Katsuya shaking his head. "T' think," he muttered darkly, "This brat's graduating b'fore any 'f us..."

Anzu shook her head, rolling her eyes. "At least she's not as bad as other people..." Mokuba turned at that, the woman sighing as she was met with a suspicious frown. "No offense," she continued quietly, tone lowering to a much softer level. "But I'm still not too trusting of your brother yet... He might not be doing anything now," she continued, trailing off.

But what had happened was enough, wasn't it... Katsuya and Mokuba both shared a glance, the younger nodding somewhat. "It's fine," he said quietly, the hall falling silent as they walked. "I understand..." Now that he thought about it... There was a pretty damn big reason why Seto rarely if ever came up in conversation...

That was probably it. "...So," Katsuya said with a cough, attempting to change the subject. Something something... ...Well, mind as well find out more about the 'enemy' he figured. "...Yer in high school right," he asked the girl, Rebecca turning with raised eyebrows at the question.

She frowned somewhat, narrowing her eyes. "I thought that was obvious," she said somewhat huffily, shifting her hold on the bear as she dragged the suitcase up the stairs they'd come to. "Your friends said it outside, remember?"

Mokuba frowned, glaring at the girl. "H-Hey," he muttered, eyeing the girl with obvious annoyance, "He was just asking a question..." The girl snorted, Mokuba rolling his eyes in response. "And besides," the boy continued, "Magazines get things like that wrong a lot of the time; you can't blame us for finding it hard to believe that you're graduating!" Particularly with that attitude! ...Wait.

"Er... Wouldn' it be 'graduated'," Katsuya asked with a frown, the others stiffling a laugh at that as Mokuba moved forward to unlock the door at the end of the staircase. What, what was so funny...

"Hn! American schools start in September and end the year in June," Rebecca said, rolling her eyes before turning to look up at the blond. "Shouldn't you know something like that?"

The blond growled, clenching his fists as Anzu attempted to calm the situation down. "Well... It's not like we're taught about how other schools work," she said somewhat tensely, frowning before shaking her head. Geeze, this kid was wrapping them right around her finger like this... "So," she continued, calming herself down somewhat. "What do you plan on doing after you graduate," she asked, smiling lightly. "You have a plan right?"

Rebecca nodded, eyes shut for a moment. "Of course," she said plainly, continuing to pull the suitcase behind her. "I'll be going to University on a scholarship for archaeology next year," she continued, walking through the door as Mokuba held it open.

"Wow..." The others stared, blinking. A scholarship huh...

"Yep," Rebecca muttered, not turning back. "UCLA..." Huh... Sounded slightly touchy about this 'child prodigy' business...

Maybe they should drop the subject... Katsuya shook his head, watching as they moved into a largely empty 'colliseum'-esque room. Honda was looking around idly, as was Sugoroku. Katsuya and Anzu in the meantime both swallowed somewhat as they looked around the arena, Yugi as well trailing his eyes around with what looked to be unease. This place was familiar... Not in a good way either. It'd been a while... "So... Rebecca," Mokuba asked, moving forward to override the 'door' that blocked off the bridges to the table. He punched a few numbers into the pad on the gate, before turning. "What's high school like?"

The girl merely shrugged, the others sharing wide-eyed glances as the girl walked past the now open barrier to the middle. "Eh," she muttered, leaving her suitcase behind the door and adjusting her grip on the teddy bear. "It was okay..."

O... Okay? Those were her words for high school? 'Okay'? Anzu and the taller of the boys gawked, before the blond of the group was distracted by a short conversation between Yugi and his Grandfather. "I'm counting on you, alright," he said calmly, the boy nodding in response as his opponent sat in the domed duel arena. The old man looked over at the dome somewhat nervously, before clapping his grandson on the shoulder and giving him an encouraging smile. "Good luck."

Yugi nodded once more, a determined expression in place. "Alright," he said, turning around to walk off. "Don't worry," he continued, "I'll win, ok?" Of course he would! The record was now 200 plus to zero after all... Briefly, Katsuya saw the 'Other Yugi' mist at the boy's side, appearing to talk about something... Within the few seconds the blond saw him however, he vanished... And rather than switching out for a duel as expected, the 'normal' Yugi was the one to sit down across from Rebecca for the duel.

Huh... That was new... "Ok," Mokuba muttered, moving to the side where a booth stood. The boy pulled the metal door open, hopping in to flip a few switches on what looked to be a small computer system. "I just need to turn on the power..." Katsuya turned from the booth, watching as Rebecca seemed to lean over the table in obvious boredom while her opponent shifted awkwardly. "Sound is turned on," Mokuba muttered, a few lights blinking back in the booth. "Scoring systems," he continued, the large device above the dome flashing as the number '2000' flashed on each side. "The hologram software is turned on... Ok," he said somewhat louder, grabbing a mike from the side and flipping a switch. "The table is running now," Mokuba called out, voice echoing from both the inside of the booth and the center of the room. "You can start!"

"About time," Rebecca shouted somewhat angrily, Mokuba rolling his eyes as the sound echoed through the arena. "Hope you aren't too scared," she told Yugi, the boy merely attempting to smile weakly in response. "After all," she continued with a smirk, "I am the champion of the USA..." Of course she was...

Auuuughh... What a brat... The others moved toward one of the benches on the side, taking their seats. "Did y' really have t' turn on the sound," Katsuya muttered, shaking his head as the two in the dome searched around for their decks. Seriously, now they had to listen to this kid whine...

Mokuba merely shrugged, taking a seat between the blond and Honda. "Unfortunately, yes," he said with a short sigh, crossing his arms. "Otherwise," he continued, "If something weird happens in there, we won't be able to hear what's going on..."

Huh... Not that he wanted to know what qualified as weird but... Katsuya blinked a few times, looking back at the domed arena in the center. Honda and Sugoroku both appeared to be staring at the large dome around the duel-table, the two inside it currently pulling out their decks and shuffling. "Now what is the purpose of that dome," the elder muttered, frowning somewhat.

"Ah..." Mokuba blinked, looking around Honda at the old man. "The hologram software works differently with this table," he explained, smiling slightly. "Rather than being displayed on the board or off the sides like the normal table," he continued with a nod, "They come off the glass itself, so that the monsters are somewhat larger and are more visible to the audience..." Bigger holograms huh...

Besides the fact that he could see why that would be needed with the size of the room, he wondered what that meant for him... The blond shook it off, watching as the two in the middle started the duel. "This will be easy," Rebecca remarked with a smirk, drawing her hand and holding her teddy bear close. "Neh, Teddy-chan~?" The bear 'nodded', Rebecca giggling rather obnoxiously as the crowd groaned. If Yugi could please beat this kid fast... Yugi visibly sighed at the gesture, the others in the 'audience' shaking their heads as the girl continued to insist on taking the first move.

"This kid can't seriously be graduatin'," Katsuya muttered, watching the girl look over her hand. Let alone be the champion of the US... "No way 'n hell..."

"I hear you," Honda muttered, shaking his head with a frown. "That kid looks like she belongs a few grades under her age..."

Not to mention she was taking so damn long for one move... "Alright," the girl finally shouted, "I'll play this!" She slapped a card on the table, grinning as she continued. "Come on out, Witch of the Black Forest~" Katsuya stared at the board, only to blink as a tablet the size of the girl's head materialized beside her. Huh... Alright, that worked... Within a few seconds the tablet blew away into dust, revealing the three-eyed witch hovering in place beside it's master. "Isn't she cute," the girl said with a smile, the others staring at it.

Er... The blond stared, the three eyed witch closing her two normal ones and taking a glance at the audience with the third. Hih-Hihhhhh... Not really... "Why did she play such a weak monster," Anzu muttered, frowning. Eh? The others blinked, watching as a few 'stats' appeared on the screen above the dome. Hey... She was right... "There has to be something else to this..."

"Maybe she's just not actually as good as she says," Honda said with a shrug, watching as Yugi looked over his own hand. Anzu gave him a somewhat skeptical look in response, the teen ignoring it and staring at the arena. "...What's taking Yugi so long though," he continued with a frown, "Normally he would have done something by now..."

That was a good question... Though if he had to say, it was probably just as Anzu said; who knew, maybe the kid had a plan? ...Eh, whatever. "Ah... I summon the Elven Swordsman in attack mode," the boy finally said, coughing somewhat. Probably just taken aback by the weirdness of the situation Katsuya figured, watching as a tablet similar in size to that of the witch appeared beside Yugi. The tablet glowed somewhat, the armored elf pulling itself from the 'card' as the stone vanished into dust. "Now," he continued confidently, the witch turning its attention to the elf with an odd expression of calmness. "Attack the witch!"

The elf nodded, wasting no time as it cut the witch through with his longsword. Briefly, the witch seemed unaffected, a look of resignation on it's face... Within seconds however, the monster's two halves fell toward the ground in a bloody mess, vanishing into a shower of dust before hitting the floor. "Aaaaahh!" The owner of the witch cried, shaking her head. "My monster!" Yeaaaaa, that's what happened when you played something really weak... Rebecca appeared to wail over the loss, holding her bear close. "Oh no... What now," she 'asked' herself, still appearing to frett over the loss. "Ah, what's that Teddy-chan," she asked, appearing to converse with the bear as the others stared incredulously. Okay seriously, what the hell... "Oh that's right," she said with a smirk, winking. "The Witch of the Black Forest has an effect," she shouted 'sweetly', grabbing her deck. "When sent to the graveyard, I can pick any monster with a defense of 1500 or less from my deck to put in my hand! That's right!~" The crowd stared as she did just that, the girl still smirking as she reshuffled her deck and put it back on the side. "Hnhnhnhn..."

Augh... Katsuya shook his head, frowning. "What..." Seriously, there were... No other words coming to mind to describe this. What the hell was wrong with this kid...

The girl drew her next card, remaining silent as she appeared to look over her hand. "Ah... R-Rebecca," Yugi said with a cough, a few minutes passing as the girl stared at her cards. "Rebecca," he continued with a frown, "It's your tur-"

"Shut up," she shouted, glaring across the table. "I'm trying to think! God!"

The others stared, shaking their heads. "How th' hell is this kid the American champ," Katsuya said with wide eyes, watching as even the celtic guardian on the duel table shook his head at the girl. Even the monsters couldn't stand her, holy shit... "Seriously," he muttered, "She's takin' fifteen mintues f'r one turn..!"

"She's not exactly the 'nicest' either," Mokuba muttered, huffing somewhat as he sat back on his seat. "Bringing up things like Nii-sama's cards..." He continued to grumble, going somewhat red in the face at the recent memory. "Hn!"

Honda merely shook his head, shrugging. "Honestly," he said somewhat calmly, "I'm not too surprised..." What, he wasn't? "All girls are like that at that age," he continued, leaning back in his seat.

Hang on what? Anzu turned at that, eyes narrowed in a dangerous 'recreation' of the 'Kaiba-stare' as Katsuya did the same. "Oiii," the blond muttered with a frown, Honda paling somewhat as the glares came his way. "You sayin' that my sister was that prissy when she was twelve then?" Because she sure as hell wasn't! ... (Least not in his opinion.)

"Yes Honda," Anzu added with a low growl, the teen coughing violently as he realized the hole he'd dug. "Just what are you implying... And make sure you speak up," she continued with a scowl, "So we can hear you..."

The teen continued to cough, before a shout from the board pulled their attention back. "Ok," Rebecca called out, putting a card on the table as a tablet simultaneously appeared at the side. "I've decided! I summon Sangan," she said with a smile, the large, three-eyed fuzzball appearing in a blast of tablet-induced dust on the girl's left. The monster gave a feral growl, stretching out on green limbed arms as its three eyes looked around the field in opposite directions. Rebecca giggled, hugging her teddy bear and grinning. "This one's even cuter than the last one, don't you think? Hnhnhn!"

Er... No, the blond thought, the others rendered silent as yet another 'weak' monster was summoned to the field. He stared at the snarling, green-skinned mass of hair, the look on his face likely mistaken for the shock that everyone else had. No it really wasn't... And whoever compared this thing to Kuriboh was blind damn it. "Ah..." Yugi appeared to blink a few times, drawing his next card and shaking his head. "Right... Elven Swordsman attacks Sangan," he called out, the girl giving a loud scream as the monster's blade cleaved her monster in two.

The large counter held above the dome beeped, Rebecca's points falling with the sangan's corpse as the girl wailed. "Ahhhh! No! No, damn it," she shouted, going somewhat red-faced as her field was again left clear. She growled, throwing up a middle finger for a brief moment as the others gawked at the insult. Seriously, what was this kid's problem...

"Y-You weren't going to win that fight anyways," he protested somewhat weakly, eyes wide as the girl merely growled at him. "Sangan has less attack points than the Swordsman," he continued, "It really isn't-"

"So you were taking advantage of me then," the girl screeched, Yugi staring at the girl in shock. How was that taking advantage of her! "Did you hear that Teddy-chan," she wailed to her bear, holding it close. "He's being mean on purpose!"

Yugi continued to stare, pulling back somewhat and shaking his head. "I- I'm not..!"

"Ah, what's that," Rebecca asked, quite obviously talking to her bear again as the others stared. "You say I shouldn't give up? Oh, that's right," she said cheerily, squeezing the bear tight as she moved for her deck again. "Sangan has an effect too!" Oh what the hell! "When he goes to the graveyard," she explained, putting her card-hand on the table for a moment, "I get to pick a monster with 1500 or less attack from my deck! Hnhnhnhnhn!"

The girl hurriedly went through the cards, those on the sidelines shaking their heads. "A kid like that would leave you completely insane in a few minutes," Anzu muttered incredulously, eyes wide as they stared. "How on earth can any one stand her..?" That was one of the many questions of the day...

"I want to know how she's graduating," Mokuba said with equally wide eyes, leaning forward somewhat. "I mean... I don't think I acted like this when I was five..!"

Actually, there were moments before Death-T happened... Not that he was saying anything on that... Mostly because he kinda got why... Honda grimaced, crossing his arms. "There's no way this girl is the champion, let alone a 'prodigy'," he muttered, frowning. "Just no way..."

"Hnn... This strategy seems familiar somehow..." The four turned, blinking as Sugoroku stared out at the arena. ...That had nothing to do with their topic but...

Familiar..? "What do you mean," Anzu asked from beside him, the others waiting for the response. "Is there actually a strategy to this..?" The whole summoning weak monsters and searching the deck thing at least...

The man frowned, slowly shaking his head. "Hnn... It can't be..." What couldn't be? Make sense damn it! "I can't completely remember," he muttered, eyes narrowing somewhat. "But the last two moves..." The man trailed off, a shout from the arena pulling the crowd's attention to the arena yet again.

"My turn," Rebecca had shouted, having finished re-shuffling her deck yet again. She reached for the deck, drawing her card as Katsuya abruptly tensed somewhat. The elf on Yugi's side of the field had done the same, along with the observing 'Other Yugi' behind him... The air... Something had changed in the air...

"Does something feel different about Rebecca," Honda suddenly asked, the teen's eyes narrowed with slight suspicion as the others looked at the girl. Maybe not 'feel' but 'look' definitely applied... Her face... The childish pout was gone, as was the 'years younger' grin she held earlier... It was almost as significant a change as when the 'two Yugi's' switched out even...

They continued to stare, watching as Rebecca grinned darkly and pulled a card from her hand. "Hnhnhnhnhn... Things just got interesting," she said with a smirk, abruptly appearing much older than she had beforehand. The card was placed on the field, large tablet appearing behind her with a grinding, groaning sound that echoed across the room. The girl's stare narrowed somewhat, Rebecca leaning back as the tablet slowly dusted out of existence to send wave of destruction across the field. "Very interesting..."

Something told him that this duel was about to get a lot more serious than he thought...

AN: And thus it begins! Rebecca is... Honestly I have no words for her, but believe it or not, I was as objective as possible when writing her... Unfortunately, the fact is, her age, depiction, script, and overall mindset (which I will not avoid at all) really... Don't work for her. AT ALL.

...She gets better? UM. Right, well... Funny how the air always seems to change when things get SERIOUS. Hehehe. Anyways! This duel was cut off really early neh? We didn't even finish the 'episode'.

But that's because the rest of the duel will easily fit into the next chapter and give us time to finish it. Easily. So really… It's probably for the best that the duel hasn't been cut evenly in half, as otherwise, the next chapter would be far too short. I can't merge the first part of the next arc into this one after all… The time skip is too much, and the events aren't similar enough, like with the 'Valentines/White Day chapter'. Sooo… Yea. Heck, even with that the chapter's fairly short. Heeeeee...

At least I get to spice things up with Sugoroku's story in the next chapter. With Rebecca's fake-plotting moments to serve as a buffer for time. (Seriously, how long do these matches take!)Keep an eye out for foreshadowing, mehehe...

Poll Results are Unchanged, so you'll have to consult the last chapter for those...

And in the meantime...

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Three this time!

First off, welcome to the fanfic Szaphyr! You found this through TVTropes?

SWEET. Love that site... And it's nice to hear that you liked it; personally, I'm not surprised that you thought twice before clicking... The words 'Gender-bend' in any fanfic tend to do that really... Not to mention 'Puppyshipping' to those who know.

As for the research and character development, again, thanks! I like to keep things realistic... Almost to an obsessive point actually, I sometimes wonder if it's more of a fault than a bonus really. Also like to keep things accurate... Though I'm going to have to consult the anime for a few choice points of Battle City thanks to lack of manga resources. (Oh well.)

Which makes me wonder what I'll do about Yu-Gi-Oh R; not all of that is online, and not all of it is available in the bookstores in my area... And the chunk that's missing is a nice large one right in the middle. Curses!

AH! Spelling mistakes... The bane of my existence. Generally comes about because of my use of spell check... Either OpenOffice will auto-correct it as I type without me realizing, which gets interesting grammar results, or I'll spell it Canadian one way and then American the next... Grammar isn't my strength either; takes me about as long to edit as it does to type each chapter, hahaha!

Oh? Hey, don't hesitate to be nit-picky if that's what you think! It'll help with later chapters! In any case, I hope you enjoy both this chapter and the ones to come!

Hey again Iona!

Hehehe, doing non-game related things is something I like to do with this... Because no matter how game related everything in the series is, lets face it, that's not all they do. (But you're right! LEGASP! I couldn't avoid it! Ahhhhh...)

Poor Honda indeed, though at least he was spared the money shelling in the second half of the chapter... And hahaha! I think Jou eventually just said 'Alright... Still don't know how to do this so... *runs*'

Ohhhh, if you had fun with that, wait until Jonouchi sees Ryuzaki again... They're liable to have an entire conversation about Shizuka, without realizing they're talking about the same person until someone finally mentions her by first and last name. Which should be interesting to say the least... (Particularly since they really aren't dating, and Ryuzaki really was just being a friend. Awwww.)

Hehehe, almost... It's too amusing to see what happens, so you can't really feel sorry...

And as a matter of fact, yes it does... Unfortunately, this will take a violent turn for the worse once Battle City starts, if you think about Duel-Disks and direct attacks... (At least most monsters will be relatively nice about it though.)

Pictures indeed! And ohoh! Both you and Cynical Gamer got it right on the dot! I'm thinking more goats than sheep though, due to the area they're in; sheep are more mountainous or widespread than goats... Pretty sure they still used staves.

Hehehe, don't worry, I did all the research anyways... And speaking of research, the Scapegoats are rams; they have a weaker version of them that uses 'lamb tokens', and the scapegoat card itself summons 'sheep tokens'. Also, they are far too fluffy to be goats, hehe. (Speaking of Scapegoat, did you know that the four sheep are the same colour as the four pacman ghosts? Cool huh?)

In any case, next we have Cynical Gamer... Hey! If you look up, you'll see that you guessed correctly! Actually, I was somewhat surprised by how quick I got the right answer, hehehe.

Did you know? Egyptian shepherds/goat herds were likely wage earners rather than farmer's paying their own way, as they tended to just look after flocks for other people... That or they were simply paid to do their own thing, little hard to tell. Still, learn something new everyday...

Hohhhh, you have a point with the voices there... Guess it is a good thing then.

And very very hard to choose... But the squiggly can never be wrong! NEVER!

Thanks for the fanfic link! That was hilarious! And ooooooh yes they could... Yes they could...

My definition of good? ...Well, you are right on the 'good at being evil', mehehe...

What am I doing to Jou? ...Hehehe. I refuse to stop foreshadowing! It's too fun! AHAHAH!

Answering questions is something I tend to enjoy doing really... Probably why I do so much research; I don't like not having an answer...

Yes, the present! First off, thanks for saying that; the Legendary Heroes was kind of my 'worry wart' arc; mostly because it's so different from the original compared to the standard 'minor change' that I slipped into everything else. Let's face it, compared to having Jonouchi springing soulless-Kaiba from a cell, the Legendary Heroes was effectively canon 'in name only'.

Not to say that this wasn't the most fun I've had writing an arc since I plotted out certain frightening scenes in the Duelist Kingdom, ehehehe...

Kaiba's liable to have that reaction to many more things as we go along... Many more... But ohhhh, it's fun to have the 'Ice Queen' melt, it really is. Particularly since it's actually quite realistic for Kaiba to slowly gain a soft spot for the moron despite all stupidity; she eats supper with the guy every freaking day, you get used to things when that happens.

Welp! That's all for now, so enjoy this chapter and the next! Whoo!

Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner

The section that takes up between ¼ and 1/3 of the chapter. Suddenly, the word count for the fanfiction as a whole makes sense doesn't it... (And suddenly, it's far more apparent as to how much over the limit of 'talking about things' it goes. AHHHHHHH...)

The title of this chapter mirrors that of the title for the Japanese episode that started off the 'duo' for this part of the series. Completely, in fact. The dub called it 'The Wrath Of Rebecca' instead... Ouch... I like 'The Girl From America' just a little more me-thinks...

The date by the way, is March 24th in the fanfic when we start off; basically the friday before the last friday of the year. Whooo! I don't actually know what kind of date graduation goes on in Japan... Suffice to say, I assumed, so if I'm horribly wrong on this, please, LET ME KNOW!

Something you should know, but since Jonouchi was avoiding a call to his mom between White Day and the current date for the fanfic, he doesn't know that Shizuka hasn't taken the bandages off... In fact, she won't actually come out with that fact for a while...

Back on subject! I imagine that asking Kaiba for advice on middle school would do absolutely shit for Mokuba… Not because Kaiba wouldn't want to help obviously, given that Kaiba would do… Anything… For the kid… (ANYTHING) But more the fact that Mokuba appears to initially be asking about experience, as everything else that Kaiba could look up is something that Mokuba likely already looked up himself.

Of course, Kaiba never went to Middle school, given the whole tutoring deal, and the fact that they were adopted before Kaiba started... (Kaiba would have been 11 when Middle school started; they were adopted when Kaiba was 10 though.) Soooo yea. The lack of experience would mean Kaiba would literally be rendered speechless on the topic.

When the only mentions of Middle School consist of beating the crap out of people and hanging around with a guy like Hirutani (You know, the one that tried to kill Yugi? And in Jonouchi's case, kill the blond twice?)... Not... The best advice on hand to say the least. Particularly when the beatings spread into High school as well. Hihhhhh...

Hair! Oh hair! Yea, you know what's coming next… Of course, Ryuzaki isn't going to be making an appearance, since that would be absolutely moronic, but either way. It's a good question really; if Karita (the gym teacher), who originally threatened to shave poor Bakura's head due to the length restriction, didn't remember dick squat about the soul-stealing issues after the fact, then…

Why hasn't anyone gotten on Bakura's case about that? It's actually a frightening thought, until you remember that Bakura was completely 'ring free' until the Duelist Kingdom, which means that he had plenty of time to have people in his face about that. And yet nothing happened. My opinion? CLEARLY, the class president in half of the classes is a woman. A woman who knows that Bakura's hair makes him bishie. So all the girls band together annnnnnd...

Power to the students I guess, though I'm pretty sure that works extremely badly in Japan...

Before anyone comments on the fact that Yami Bakura is able to flawlessly imitate his lighter half, I point out that there are a few instances where… Yami Bakura doesn't appear to really care if he's being 'un-Bakura'-like… Case in point, the moments before the final match of the Duelist Kingdom went a little like this in the manga;

Bakura: Kill him for Kaiba, Yugi!

Honda: ... ... *Something isn't right here…*

In any case, same situation here; it seems so terribly off, but at the same time, the prospect of the ring from hell coming back is just… So horrifying that they can't accept it. At all.

Then again, Yami Bakura is keeping relatively polite, to the point that the only thing that's really making him seem 'weird' is the fact that he specifically gave advice against bullies (the normal Bakura wouldn't have said it quite so bluntly), and offered to… 'Help'.

Yeaaaaa… 'Help'. (Clearly he's bored.)

Note that once Kaiba comes in, the effort actually increases in terms of speech patterns though; Yami Bakura knows that Kaiba doesn't know the difference between himself and his light, but he knows damn well that Kaiba doesn't miss things like how they speak; and since 'light' Bakura has already been firmly established in Kaiba's head as a shy, polite albino kid with odd tastes in the occult, even omitting the honorifics on names, something he would normally do, would likely set Kaiba off.

Particularly since she's still rather paranoid about the two (Mokuba and Bakura) being in the same room… And rightfully so I might add.

Of course, in the end, Mokuba did catch it...

Running people out of the room. Just one of the many advantages of being Seto Kaiba I guess..?

Ahhh graduation! It's quite a big deal in Japan, in fact… I could probably compare the Elementary Graduation (Which is normally quite simple in North America) to possibly a standard highschool ceremony.

There are lots of customs (which rarely, if ever, change) concerning this. Using the page I had for reference in this one, so far the image is this… The ceremony involves lots of singing (including the school song and the national anthem, 'Kimi ga Yo'.) from what I can tell... There's also a dance of sorts (I… Think…), along with lots of bowing to the Principal, the teachers of course, and then finally going on stage to receive the diploma. Afterward there's a lot of speeches, and then even after that, the kids go to their homeroom for a final speech from their homeroom teachers.

It's around that point that Kaiba had to duck out sadly… (Though the parents aren't present for the homeroom speech anyways, so as a result, Kaiba wouldn't either.)

Now, one thing I didn't quite get was that it seems that this would all take place during the day rather than the evening… But I think that might just be because of the lighting in the video I got to see. Ah well…

Also yes, that means everyone is dressed formal-ish. I say 'ish' because they all had school as well, so really, the only ones who had to really do much were Yugi's grandpa and Kaiba… And in Kaiba's case it was just a matter of maybe adjusting her suit. (Everyone else just did up the jackets of their uniform completely for once. Yugi's is normally at least slightly undone, whereas Honda and Jonouchi both leave their jackets open.) ...Though it does mean more fan-art for you... (Mostly because the students are expected to dress nice as well. For obvious reasons.) ...Though that fanart isn't until next chapter...

Here's a completely different point that I probably should have brought up last chapter... But while everyone walks home with Yugi most of the time it seems, there's a very good reason why no one meets up on the way there, save Anzu. Anzu for one, actually goes out of her way to go to school with Yugi... ...So she doesn't always show up with him.

But in addition to that, Yugi takes the city bus to get there- hence why I have Bakura, Honda, and Jonouchi talking before school begins, with Yugi and Anzu more often than not coming in a good few minutes after the fact, if the last two come in at the same time at all. After all; while we don't see how Bakura and Honda get around, it's probably safe to say that they walk.

As neutral as Honda tends to try to be on the topic of Kaiba when Mokuba is around (for obvious reasons), when the topic of Kaiba directly comes up, it's not really avoidable... And lets face it, Kaiba isn't too likeable, particularly when the most they know of Kaiba is from Death-T, school annnnnd... Duelist Kingdom, the latter of which is probably the only reason why anyone can even stand her for the moment. (Besides humoring Mokuba at least.) ...Not to say that Kaiba isn't amazing but... Tell me honestly, how long would you stand Kaiba in real life if you had to?

Yugi mentioning class '2-B' will be something that comes up next chapter, but it concerns the fact that they (Namely him, Jonouchi, Honda, Anzu and Bakura) all managed to get in the same class… Despite the fact that this is normally decided on via the grades of all the students. Maybe it's a balancing type deal, who knows… (Anzu certainly doesn't get as bad a mark as the 'three boys' though, and I doubt that Bakura has those kind of grades either.)

In any case, classes in Japan tend to go like this: The first number (In this case 2) is representative of the year. The second 'number' (Some schools use numbers, also letters) represents the classroom... In this case, 'B', meaning that they're the second classroom so to speak. (Probably one of three classrooms. It's an organization thing.) So being in class '2-B' means that they're in the second classroom for the second year students (Grade 11.).

A note on the term 'jii-san'; you obviously don't need to be related to use it, as not only is it 'grandpa', it's also 'old man'. Obviously, the politeness involved varies depending on the honorific used… Mokuba is using 'san' more because he doesn't feel particularly close to the old man, rather than to be polite though. Also because he still feels rather guilty about the Death-T fiasco…

You know, the one where Sugoroku almost died? YEAAAAA. Good thing they decided not to toss him in the duel box again.

It's actually hard for me to really get a grasp on Becca's hair colour, despite it not actually changing at all. On the one hand, her initial appearance makes it look almost brown, likely due to lighting on the screen and screencaps. On the other, later episodes have it more as a sandy-blond colour... Also... Due to lighting issues I'm fairly certain. And then some more of those episodes have her as golden blond. AAAAAAHHHH WHAT.

And then I remembered something; a lot of people have 'seasonal hair' so to speak. In my family for example, I normally have golden blond hair… But it darkens to an almost dirty brown-blond in the winter. Which actually works rather well, given that much like how Rebecca's initial appearance is around early spring, the Doma Arc should happen in the summer time… Yay seasonal hair! Basically, this is my way of saying 'I can't be bothered to pick and choose which lighting system is right! Let's just use all of them!'

(You should see my fiancee's hair; goes from black-brown to freaking blond-brown. Weirdest thing you'll ever see, I swear...)

A slight hint for those who missed it somehow, but English is in underline form rather than the standard italics. YAYYYYYY… Mostly because while I normally put it in italics, the fact that she's using mixed speech would make it seem more like she was putting emphasis on certain phrases... As that is my other use for italics.

Also, Mokuba will likely be the only one (save Sugoroku) who has a clue what the girl is saying when she slips into English, as... Well, Mokuba was constantly sitting in on Kaiba's English class, and lets face it, there is no way Sugoroku started chatting it up with Arthur in Japanese while they were in Egypt.

She really does speak like that by the way! For some reason, despite her clearly using Japanese rather well, she still introduces herself in English, and (for no apparent reason besides the fact that it's cool to swear in foreign languages I suppose) constantly says 'God damn it!' (It sounds like 'godamit!' Heheee.) … Even when it makes no sense at all. (Her first use of the phrase in the original is after Jonouchi mentions rather proudly that he's second in Japan at the moment; Rebecca then says 'God damn it! I don't speak to rude people!'. Kinda had me for a moment.)

Some notes on Rebecca; besides the fact that she is every bit the little snot we know her for when she's introduced, keep in mind that while the dub said she was eight (Though arguably, some eight year olds are worse...), she's actually 12. Hence my little inside joke there. Anyways.

Anyone who knows anything about that age will know that no matter how bratty most kids in that age group can be, the girls tend to take the cake hard. Rebecca admittedly, will get much better even within this arc, partially due to (thankfully) being able to comprehend crap a liiiiiittle bit more than most… But the fact is, between being a champion and a prodigy, she has a lot of hot air running through that head, and when you mix that with a vengeance drive…

Yeaaaa not the best attitude to say the least. At all, especially when you consider the fact that in addition to the cattiness that comes with that age, she's already gone through the added hell of grade nine and ten high school girls. And you can bet that as a 'child prodigy', there was some serious ostracizing there. In any case…

Basically you have severe social issues (In that the twelve year old among eighteen year olds will be very out of place) + severe cattiness due to age/hormones (Don't you tell me I'm blowing this up, I have been there.) + blind rage… And the end result sucks. (Speaking objectively here by the way… I'm not trying to bash her... You can probably tell though, because I have a bad habit of defending myself when I feel like I'm being a jerk.)

In addition, please keep in mind that this girl has already convinced herself completely that this 'old man' stole her card, and therefore, anyone even associated with the guy is pretty much the spawn of satan himself. Hence her going out of her way to be a jerk.

She's going to regret this so very very much in the end...

For those who don't remember, Duel Monsters isn't that old. It was created shortly after Cynthia, Pegasus' girlfriend died... So likely six, seven years prior. Oddly enough, this still fits in rather well with the Noa arc; as Kaiba was eleven or twelve when the two were adopted, Duel Monsters would have started out a few months before adoption. Yayyyy~

It also fits in for Mai's own story, but as I just said. That's another story.

In the Japanese version, Yugi mentions that there was an article about Rebecca, as she was the youngest to reach championship in Duel Monsters… In the US. The Dub said 'inter-continental' for some reason… In any case! When Rebecca returns in the Doma arc, she's in college. Hence the prodigy, high-school status. As Doma has to happen within less than two years of this point in the fanfic, she's either graduating now, or the next year, in December. Ended up going with 'now', just to push on the graduation fun... Also because I don't think Rebecca would be taking a lap-year...

On another note... It's interesting how 4Kid's made the same mistake of lowering a twelve year old's age only for her to reappear with a fair bit of added height and curves a year or two later… (Much like Rebecca, 'Blair' from GX was supposed to be 12 rather than 8. And then, like Rebecca, she reappeared when she was 14… So the 'ten year old' looked like she was 14… WHOOOPS.)

Now here's an interesting question; in the Japanese anime, Rebecca never says that Keith told her the card was stolen by Sugoroku, she just says 'she was told' (I didn't hear a 'Keith' in there.)… And given that I'm working the manga angle, this works out so much better. In any case, why did everyone roll with it when she demanded the card? Why not just tell her off and call someone? When I think about it, they were probably just being nice… Not to mention, unwilling to listen to her ranting while they waited for whoever they called...

Why didn't Sugoroku guess who Rebecca was as soon as the last name came into play? Because I pulled a silly for the sake of plot; Rebecca is a granddaughter; that means that there would be a good chance of her having a different last name than her grandfather. So while Rebecca has her dub name, 'Hawkins', old 'Arthur' still has 'Hopkins'. ...Seriously though, why did they bother changing that... Hopkins is a plenty common last name...

You can thank the extremely helpful site 'Yu-Jyo . net' (Spaces so that FF doesn't just delete it from the page) for the location of Rebecca's home. It's still estimated of course, and it's quite likely Rebecca doesn't live at her Grandfather's house, but since she's assuming they stole from her Grandpa anyway, the location still applies.

Specifically, Rebecca's grandpa lives somewhere near the Altamont Pass, which is a few hours away from San Fransisco… So while they obviously don't live in San-Fran, they do live in California.

It's no secret that the CEO of Kaiba Corp is a sixteen year old with no parents to speak of, and a younger brother. (Particularly since in Japan, kids can be on their own as soon as they're 14 last I checked.) Mostly because bigshot CEO's jumping out of buildings after a giant change in control tend to make the news like that... It's also not likely much of a secret that one of the people whom Kaiba got one of the three Blue-Eyes cards from ended up dying... (Though that was suicide) So yea. This is Rebecca taking a direct shot. Jerk.

Originally in the anime, Becca showed up immediately after Sugoroku was discharged from the hospital after Duelist Kingdom… So obviously, everyone was instantly telling Becca that he was in no condition to duel (Because hey, playing a card game… So hard on the heart right?)… But I can't do that right now, because it's already over three months from that point! Oh well~

Taking down the Duel Table? Now why would Kaiba do that...

Well, there is an arena at the top of that building in Yugioh R... Not to mention everywhere else in the building. But they are right; it's mostly to do with the fact that if the Duel Disk works out, those tables will be very obsolete.

Kaiba was forgiven far, far too easily by everyone in the Canon guys, seriously. Yea, Jonouchi bickers with him constantly, but think; this guy originally showed up for a second time and just about killed Sugoroku, and in the manga's case, everyone else as well. Now it's kind of understandable on Yugi's part; he forgives people fairly easily, it's in his character.

But everyone else? Hah. HAHA. Haaaahh no. At least Jonouchi has the excuse of being a moron and falling in love before the woman could prove to him what a bad idea that would be in this fanfic. (Also sitting around Mokuba kind of gave him an overload of 'positive-ish outlook'.) ...In addition, Jonouchi lives in the same house, giving him a much longer look at Kaiba; so while he knows that she's legitimately a better person (Looking at Christmas among things), the others... Not so much. Doesn't really help that most of what Jonouchi gets to see comes with the added threat of tell NO ONE. Because hey; the privacy of the home is expected to remain as such.

Honda has a similar, if not worse opinion of Kaiba in the fanfic when compared to Anzu by the way, not that you can see it too well; most of his 'neutrality' around her is because he considers himself in debt to Mokuba… Because hey, the kid saved his life during Death-T, and he hasn't really been able to do much since… Though he's obviously not going to pretend to like Kaiba. (Unfortunately, given the fact that Honda also knows that despite doing every damn thing possible to save the kid in Duelist Kingdom, Kaiba was still the one who turned the 'heart attack machine' on Mokuba... Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaa...)

As for Anzu… She'll be nice, but she certainly won't pretend to like Kaiba just yet. She's slowly warming up to the idea that Kaiba isn't a complete jackass anymore, as is Honda… But it takes time guys. Time.

Rebecca's reaction to Mokuba's question kind of tells you how much it would suck to be the 'child prodigy'… Because seriously, you think a twelve year old is going to be doing much a the prom or the grad party? Or anything else involving the kids six years older than her for that matter?

On another note, 'UCLA' is the 'University of California (Los Angeles)', for those who don't know. I wanted to make sure I got a University with actual ties to the archaeological field... That was my first hit doing a search in the area. (I'm nit picky like that I guess...)

So here's my beef; it's actually stated in the rules for the manga that the two duelists (or more) have to cut and shuffle each other's decks before the duel begins. And yet not only do they quite clearly not do this (At least with the Duel Disks, it's explained that the device automatically does it for them), but it's really blatant with the 'Rebecca' series of episodes, where the duel literally mirrors that of the grandfather's own match years prior.

WHAT. WHAT! I somewhat explained it in Rebecca's case here; given that some of her cards are currently illegal, I don't really know about how many were allowed in the deck when it wasn't. So I'm assuming that she has the maximum number of each card in the deck… Namely three. Thus increasing the chances of replicating the duel a lot. (And also making the constant death of the Witch of the Black Forest make sense.) After all; when your deck is made of monsters that search the deck...

And then of course, there's the added 'sentience' all the cards seem to have. That probably helps too. Hehe.

For some reason, Rebecca is convinced that all of her monsters are cute. (Well, except for the Shadow Ghoul, which she simply calls 'her favourite'.) Personally, I wonder if this was part of an act… It certainly looks weird enough to have been an act… Not to mention, I really doubt she would have made Champion with that deck. REALLY doubt it. It's too damn suicidal.

Ooooohhh Honda, you better throw away that shovel...

Keep in mind that this (Jonouchi's response to Honda's comment on girls) is even with Shizuka's 'ooc' bit in the summer chapter; that's nothing compared to Rebecca after all... Also, Jonouchi wasn't talking to his sister when she was twelve, so he can't really say.

I can confidently say that she was not prissy at twelve though, hehehehe. (Maybe a little 'two-sided' though, in terms of reactions; catch her in a good mood nothing happens, a bad mood... Errr...)

Here's a random fact; 'Sangan' isn't the actual name of 'Sangan'; in Japanese, it's known as 'Kritter'… Sangan does, however, have Japanese origin, as mentioned a few chapters back.

In the Japanese version of this scene, Rebecca gives Yugi a 'Bras d'honneur' (French for arm of honour. It's not honorable obviously.), an insulting gesture where you hold up one arm bent and out (Like an 'L'), and then grip the inner side of the elbow with your other hand.

It's about as insulting as flipping someone off with the finger… And is obviously more common in other countries as opposed to North America. Or at least I get that impression, given that more often than not, I see people throwing up the middle finger rather than their arm… Probably because the action is fairly similar to pumping your fist.

(Though that's not to say you don't see it in North America at all... I just don't think it's really that common. Maybe it's me being Canadian, where we're all private jerks as opposed to public ones.)

Anyways, I don't know how common this insult really is in Japan sooo… Yea.

For double the effect, combine the finger with the bras d'honneur... You will insult people with that.

Obviously in the Anime, we got these giant stadium sized arena things rather than tables, so really, the shouting and the insults probably didn't have quite the same effect that they would if a kid was right up in your face. So really, Yugi was basically just staring incredulously the entire time.

But when it's right across a table, it's kinda one of those things that has you edging away, just a little.

Things just got REAL. It's about this point that Sugoroku finally realizes that the duel is mirroring that of his own from a few years back... Which is understandable, given that the first two could have been a fluke. So now you know how the next chapter starts, yaaaay~

IN ANY CASE...

That's it for this chapter! I hope you enjoy the next one! (Though don't be surprised if my updates are suddenly very slow. Holidays and such neh?)