Luck Over Skill
"The Black Clown's opening this week... Yugi, you think you'll be able t' make th' opening?"
This was the conversation that ended up cropping up during the lunch break as the bell rang on the first day of school, the majority of them crowding around where Yugi's desk was. Somehow, with luck, the boy's desk was right beside Katsuya's, a fairly comforting fact when added to the point that they were all in the same classroom. Everyone else...
Scattered around the complete opposite ends of the room. Anzu in one corner, Honda in another with Bakura... Eck... In any case. Yugi rubbed his head, frowning somewhat as he looked back at the blond. "I don't know," he finally said, biting his lip. "Grandpa is really... Really... Not in a good mood about it..."
"Besides," Anzu said with a shudder, shaking her head. "The clown they have standing outside that store is just... Ugghhh..."
The boys blinked, Bakura turing to Yugi with raised eyebrows before looking back at Anzu. "...Just what exactly do you mean about the clown..?"
Yugi coughed, shaking his head as he answered for the woman. "Er... He got really close with the balloons he was passing out to the kids outside the store..."
...Kay... What did that mean... "Look, can we just change the subject," Anzu asked, attempting to push the subject as far from the conversation as possible. "...Please?"
Er... Rough subject then? Y-Yea, uh... "Hey Jonouchi," Honda asked, hands behind his head. "You said your sisters bandages were supposed to come off a few weeks ago right?" The blond blinked, looking back as the teen asked this. "So... How'd it go? You said the surgery went alright didn't you?"
The others turned, looking somewhat expectantly as the blond smirked. "Heh... Gave 'r a call las' night," he said with a grin, laughing. "They're cured!"
"Aaaahh! That's great!"
"We should go visit her," Honda said with a grin, nodding his head.
Katsuya laughed, shaking his head. "I think I'll visit, an' you can stay here... She's jus' started High-school," he continued seriously, crossing his arms, "And I ain't lettin' anythin' bug her!"
"Awww, so mean," Honda said with a sigh, shaking his head. "Have a bit of sympathy..."
"Eh, what's so mean?"
The group jumped, Katsuya fumbling over his desk before staring as Mokuba stood at the door to the room. "H-H-Hehh! M-M-Mokuba!"
Mokuba grinned, laughing as the others stared. He walked over, cloth wrapped bento-box in hand as his unbuttoned jacket flew somewhat behind him. "But... You're supposed to be in school," Honda muttered, eyes wide as the boy sat on one of the empty desks. "What the hell are you doing-"
There was a short laugh from where Anzu stood, the woman shaking her head. "Oh no... You convinced your brother to let you go to Domino Middle didn't you..."
The others blinked, turning. S-Seriously..? She let him do that? Hell, the elementary was one thing, it was the only one in the area... But... Domino wasn't exactly the most prestigious of schools... Hell, the only one worse was likely 'Rintama'...
Nonetheless, the boy nodded, smirking as he opened up his lunch. "Yep! And since it's only a block away," he added with a somewhat conniving grin, "I can get here easy! ...I actually think that might be part of it," he added with a blink, pulling his chopsticks apart with a snap before frowning.
"...Er... 'Part of it'," Yugi repeated, blinking. "How would that..."
The boy again nodded, chopsticks in hand as he picked up a small clump of rice. "Yea! I think nii-sama figures that if anything happens," he explained, taking a moment to chew and swallow the rice, "I can come over here until he shows up, or even just to get help from you guys..."
Katsuya stared, pointing briefly at himself as the others blinked. "Nh... Does sh... Does he really trust us with that kind of thing..? I didn't think S- Kaiba really liked any of us that much, aha..." Though he probably wouldn't be the first to notice that the 'White Day' chocolate he'd bought had not been thrown out... So maybe it was just him.
Their friend merely shrugged, before a shout from the side caught their attention and caused most of them to put their own lunches down. "Kyaaaaah," one of the girls squealed, voice piercing most of the eardrums of those nearby. "That's so awesome!~"
Er... Say what now? They turned, looking over to the far side where a fair number of the girls from the class were crowded and frowning. "Hn... What?"
"Oh... So this is what they meant..." The others shook their heads, turning to Bakura as the albino stared over at a student they didn't recognize. Black wavy hair, green eyes... Definitely not Japanese but... Huh... The teen blinked at the stares, before explaining with a short cough. "A while ago... One of the girls who started a fanclub for me kept on telling me about how she and the members wouldn't turn to the 'dark side' as they put it..." He sighed, shaking his head. "I tried to tell them that it didn't matter, and that I didn't even need a fanclub but she just wouldn't listen..." How terrible Bakura. How... Truly terrible... The albino continued to frown, before shrugging. "Well... At least I have a slight idea as to what they were talking about now...
Yea, he supposed so. Still... A second 'bishie' eh..? The group stared as the girls around the table continued to squeal, the teen they were staring at merely tossing some dice into a cup before shaking it about to somehow stack them all by dropping them from the cup. "Wuaaaaah! Amazing!"
"Sheesh," the blond muttered, eyes narrowed somewhat. "What kinda show-off is that..."
Mokuba stared, blinking a few times before looking back. "Ah... Is he one of your classmates then..?"
The others nodded, still staring. "Hm... I think his name is Otogi Ryuji," Yugi stated, crossing his arms. Wait... So he was Japanese? Then again, he wasn't really one to talk... Being... Blond and all... (Where the hell did he and his Dad even get that?) "He transferred here before the year started," the boy continued, "So he wasn't in any of the first year classes last year..."
Huh... Interesting... Honda nodded with those words, shrugging as he turned to Mokuba and explained. "The fact is," he said as he opened up his lunch, "Now that we've moved on to the second year and changed classrooms, we don't know most of the people here ourselves..."
"It's lucky that we're all in the same class as it is," Bakura added, the others continuing to look over at 'Otogi'. "In fact, I think that the only reason why we're all here is because of overflow from 2-A and 2-C..."
Yea, well whatever... Katsuya frowned, before snorting as he continued to stare at 'Otogi'. "Mannn... Hate those kind of guys," he muttered, crossing his arms. "All he's doin' is usin' dice tricks t' get girls..."
The others turned, a few shaking their heads before Anzu sighed. "That's because you're jealous of them," she muttered, the comment more or less sliding past the blond's attention.
Katsuya crossed his arms, again snorting. "Hn! Whatever," he shouted, grumbling somewhat. "I think it's better to hide your talent, and not show it off to anyone... Better than bein' a big ol' show off like 'Otogi' over there," he muttered under his breath
At this, Mokuba snickered, returning to his lunch while Honda shook his head. "Jonouchi, what kind of talent do you even have," he asked through a mouthful of rice, pointing somewhat at the blond with his chopsticks.
"Gh- You were right there at Duelist Kingdom, what're y' talkin' about! It's in Duel Monsters," he shouted, glaring at his friend, "Duel Monsters!"
"Oh?" The group turned, blinking as Otogi walked over from his desk with a small following of girls behind him. "You're a duelist," he asked with fairly evident surprise, blinking a few times himself. "Really?"
Katsuya blinked, before nodding. "Yeah!" Of course! The two stared for a few moments, before the blond smirked. Heh... Maybe this guy wasn't too bad... "In fact... Y' heard of 'Bandit Keith'," he asked, Otogi nodding in silence as the blond continued. "Former champion of the US... Def'nitly a professional right? An' in th' end, he still lost t' me," he said with a grin, crossing his arms. Hehehe, how could he not mention that? It was pretty awesome...
There was a loud smack sound as Mokuba brought a hand to his head, Anzu and Honda sighing behind him. "What an arrogant look," Anzu muttered, groaning. Wait what?
"Looks like 'not showing off' didn't last too long..." H-Hey! Hey!
"Katsuya-nii," Mokuba said with a frown, looking up at the blond as the teen looked back with an annoyed frown. "Didn't you just say-"
The boy was cut off, Otogi abruptly grinning and pulling Katsuya's attention back. "Ahhh, that's pretty incredible," he said with a laugh, before continuing on as the blond grinned. "Duel Monster's is one of my favourite games," the teen continued with a nod, "For you to have beat Keith at that..." He chuckled, shaking his head. "Hey, we should play a game as well!"
Eh... Really? Katsuya blinked, sitting up from his desk as the grin shrank back to a more curious expression. "A game..?" Not a duel monster's match he'd assume but... A game?
The others watched in silence as Otogi pulled out one of his die and cup, nodding. "Yea- we'll make a bet," he continued with a 'smile', "Using this die and cup."
Hnnn... He stared for a few moments, before nodding. A bet eh? Okay then, this sounded fun! "Hehehe... Alrigh'," the blond shouted with a nod, standing up from his desk as Otogi took a seat at another. "Let's go then!"
Otogi nodded, shouts from behind him cheering him on as his 'opponent' grabbed his chair to turn it toward the desk he sat at. "Ok," he said clearly, the blond watching in silence as he took his seat. "Now watch carefully... In my hand I hold only one die... And in my other," he added, gesturing to his right hand, "The cup. Now," he continued, shaking the cup to show it was empty as he held it toward Katsuya, "I place one die in the cup..." The teen continued to shake the cup as he dropped the die in, rattling filling the air as its owner leaned against the desk. "And..."
-SLAM-
"Now," he continued as Katsuya jumped, the cup slamming down on the table to cover the die, "The die is covered by the cup," Otogi stated clearly, moving his hands away from it and continuing to explain. "And there's nothing in my hands..." Yea... That was right... ...Why did he sound like a stage magician... "Now then... Do you believe that I can get this die with my right hand, without touching the cup in any way," he asked, 'opponent' frowning somewhat. Get the die without... "Would you be willing to bet on that?"
Heh... The blond smirked, nodding as he crossed his arms. Of course! There was no way he could get it out; the die was in there, definitely... "Sure thing," he said clearly, nodding his head.
Otogi crossed his arms, continuing on with a smile. "If I lose, then for one week, I'll do anything you ask... Anything," he emphasized, the blond across from him narrowing his eyes. "Of course," he added as the girls behind him screamed, the others momentarily looking at them before turning back, "Contrary to that," he warned, smile darkening into an odd smirk, "If you lose Jonouchi, you have to do whatever I say for an entire week..."
"Heh!" Katsuya smirked, the others still looking in silence. "Can't refuse that!" This would be pretty interesting... ...What the hell would he make Otogi do though, hnnn...
Chuckling filled the air, Otogi lifting a closed fist up. "Hehehehehe... And yet after all that talking," he said with a sigh, "I already have the die in my hands..."
...No fucking way. "What!"
Otogi smirked, narrowing his eyes. "What, you think I'm lying," he asked, gesturing to the cup. "Why not see for yourself? I'm telling the truth..."
Gh! Like hell! The blond reached for the cup, ignoring the sounds of a slap behind him as he lifted it up. The die had to be- "E-Eh..." He blinked, pausing for a moment. It... It was... "It's still..."
In a flash Otogi reached out, snatching the die in his right hand with a smirk. "Aha! I got the die," he said with a grin, holding it out for Katsuya to look at with wide eyes, "And I didn't even touch the cup!" He chuckled, leaning back and crossing his arms as his 'opponent' seethed. "I win!"
W-WHAT? "Are you kiddin' me," he shouted, standing up from the desk. "That's bulshit!"
Yugi frowned, the others scowling as well. "That's really cheap Otogi-san! You can't call that a game!"
"Yea," Mokuba added with a scowl, before turning to Katsuya with a somewhat annoyed frown. "Though you have to admit," he added rather darkly, "Katsuya-nii, you fell for that hands down..."
"Nhhh..." He groaned, turning on the boy. "You're s'pposed t' be on my side!"
Otogi merely laughed, shaking his head. "Really," he said, looking at the group, "When determining the win or loss of a game, don't you use your opponent's weakness against them? Hehehehehe..." Damn it... Katsuya growled, the others narrowing their eyes as Otogi continued. "You should listen to your friend there Jonouchi," he said calmly, shaking his head. "But back to the matter at hand... A bet is a bet," he continued as he stood up from his seat, smirking darkly. "From today until next week Jonouchi, you have to do whatever I say... Understand?"
Katsuya slammed his head into his hands, groaning. "Ahhhhhh damn it..." What the hell... How the hell did he fall for that...
"Jonouchi-kun, don't listen to him," Yugi shouted, Otogi still smirking as the boy glared at him. "This is a cheap trick," he continued, shaking his head. "This was a set up, it's not fair!"
The teen snorted, shaking his head. "Cheap," he repeated incredulously, smirking. "And just how exactly is it cheap?"
"You said it yourself," Yugi continued, frowning as he looked up at the teen. "If you got the die without touching the cup, you won! But you just tricked him into moving it for you!"
Otogi merely shook his head, spinning the die around in his fingers. "And that's gambling! All I said was that I didn't have to touch the cup... Therefore," he said with a smirk, "I didn't cheat."
The boy continued to frown, looking decidedly torn as he ran over the answer. Despite what all morals said, the fact was... "B-But..." ...Damn it...
Mokuba sighed, shaking his head. "Sorry Yugi... But he's actually right... And the fact is," he added, muttering as he shook his head, "The 'other' you has pulled that a few times as well..."
The boy fell silent, biting his lip as Otogi continued to smirk. "Listen... From the very start," he said calmly, "It was Jonouchi's own fault that he didn't notice the weak point in this game..."
"Weakness," Yugi repeated incredulously, Katsuya scowling as the others watched in silence. Oh come on, did he seriously have to keep rubbing it in then?
Otogi shrugged, pocketing his die before explaining. "If my hand didn't touch the cup," the teen began, "Then it was impossible for me to take the die! What other choice did I have? For the game to be fair, of course I would have to fool someone into moving it for me! Then again," he added with a smirk, "Jonouchi would need to know if the die was still there, so all he could do was lift the cup and look beneath it..."
Wait wait wait... The blond narrowed his eyes, running the words through his head again. "Wait a sec," he muttered, shaking his head. "So you planned that from the start?" He knew he'd lift the cup?
"Hahaha!" Otogi grinned, shaking his head. "You finally got it! It took you long enough!"
Katsuya grit his teeth, narrowing his eyes. Alright, that was just... "Again," he shouted, clenching his fists as he glared over the desk. "One more time," he continued with a growl, "We'll try this again!"
"Hnn..." Otogi brought a hand to his chin in thought, before nodding with a dark smirk. "Alright then, I suppose we could do that... However," he continued, frowning, "If you lose again, you'll be my 'dog' for the next two weeks, day and night... No exceptions," the teen added, Katsuya swallowing in response. "Clear?"
Shit, he definitely had to win then... "J-Jonouchi-kun," Yugi protested with a frown, looking at the blond nervously. "Don't compete again..."
"Yea Katsuya-nii, don't you think he's probably going to pull something like this again..? And besides," Mokuba added with an equally dark frown, "If this guy decides to keep you past a certain time, Nii-sama's going to-"
The blond scowled, not looking at the two. "Just mind yer own business, I'll be fine!"
The two pulled back while Otogi smirked, pulling a deck of cards from his pocket with a laugh. "Alright then... This time," he said with a nod, holding out the cards as he pulled them from the box "We'll be using this deck of playing cards."
Normal cards, ok... He nodded, still frowning as he thought about what kind of game would be set up. "No problem!"
"Okay then..." He pulled the cards from the deck, pulling four out before pocketing the rest of the cards. "I've prepared four aces," he said calmly, smiling as he held them forward for the blond to see. "Watch..." He flipped them all over, mixing the four cards about the table quickly enough for his arms to simply blur until they were lined up neatly in a single row. "I've mixed them up, face down... Neither you nor myself know which one is which," he continued, the others watching somewhat curiously as Katsuya stared. "It's a standard deck; four suits, two colours. The spades and clubs are black," he explained calmly, "While the hearts and diamonds red... From these cards," Otogi stated clearly, looking back from the cards to his opponent, "You can pick two, Jonouchi; if both of them are black, or both of them are red, then you win! Understand?"
Alright then... So there was a 50/50 shot at all this. Four cards, two were right... It looked fair... He nodded, swallowing as the others moved from where they were eating their food to look over his shoulder. "Alright," he said clearly, Otogi nodding across from him.
"Then start!"
"You better win this time," Honda was saying from behind, eyes wide as he swallowed another chunk of his food. The others merely stared at the cards, Yugi in particular frowning as the blond looked over the four.
Concentrate, concentrate... He'd seen Otogi mix them up, and as fast as it was... Alright! "Ok," he shouted, tapping the two in the middle. Had to be these two, had to be... "These ones!"
Otogi flipped them over in a flash, only for Katsuya to draw back with a groan. "Ah... Clubs and Hearts..." S-Shit, red and black! The blond held his head, looking back over the desk with a scowl. "It looks like I win," Otogi said calmly, gathering the cards again.
"Damn it... Otogi," the blond shouted, gritting his teeth as the others traded looks behind him. No way, he wasn't... "One more time!"
The teen smirked, spreading the cards out again and mixing them. "Well," he said with an odd smile, leaning back on his chair. "Someone's not being a good dog..."
Not. A. DOG! "You shut up damn it!"
"Oooh," he said with a laugh, "Did I hit a sore spot?"
"Ghhnnnn..." Katsuya tapped the middle-left and far right cards, growling. "This one an' this one," he shouted loudly, only to watch as the aces of clubs and diamonds appeared when the cards were flipped over. Hell... No way...
No way, this was 50/50, how did he get it wrong again! "Wow... Jonouchi," Otogi said with a sigh, gathering the cards again and tapping them against the desk. "Your luck is really bad neh? It's a fair game," he continued, shrugging with a laugh, "And you still didn't win..."
The others swallowed, wincing as the blond continued to seethe at the desk. "J-Jonouchi-kun..."
"Katsuya-nii... Ahhh..."
"Alright," Otogi said with a smirk, standing from the desk and tapping the cards against his hand. "Time for you to uphold your end of the bet! From now on," he continued with a grin, "You are my dog, and you have to follow my commands!" Ahh hell, this sucked... This really... Damn it. "And my first order," the teen said with a smirk, pointing at the blond, "Is that you can't speak to anyone other than me..." What? That was bulshit... No talking? God... Katsuya grit his teeth, listening as Otogi continued. "Also, since you obviously take being a dog so well..." Oh fuck no. "When you answer to me, you need to bark like one, understand?" NOOOOOO DAMN IT. AUGH.
"Otogi-san," Yugi protested with a frown, the others as well scowling as their friend slumped in the desk with a groan. "We're classmates! How can you tell him that?"
Honda shook his head, gritting his teeth. "This is just too weird! I get the dog thing, but telling him to keep his mouth shut..?" Wait, so he was alright with the dog thing? "Come on man, you don't even know this guy!"
"That's right," Anzu said with a frown, putting her empty bento box to the side and looking at the blond. "Jonouchi, don't listen to a word this guy says! It's just a stupid bet, you don't have to listen!"
"Yea! Besides," Mokuba added, frowning. "What's going to happen when the teacher calls on you?" Er what? "We get enough calls from your mom complaining about the marks!" E-Eh! This was his major concern? Seriously?
Ahhhhhgggh... Katsuya scratched his head, turning back to the others. Screw it. This was his mess, his issue... "Look... Guys," he muttered under his breath, ignoring the scowls from 'both sides' as it were. "It's alrigh', I'll be fine... 'S my own damn problem anyways," he added bitterly, "So-"
"Jonouchi," Otogi said darkly, pulling something from his pocket as the others turned. What... "I don't recall giving you permission to talk to anyone..!" A sudden clack noise came from the side, a large die smacking the blond in the face before clattering to the ground beneath the desks.
"GH! ITEEE!" OW. Ow fuck what was that! "What th' hell!" The blond rubbed his face, the others jumping with wide eyes before Katsuya looked down to spot the die that had struck him beneath the eye. "Agggghh..."
"God," Honda muttered under his breath, looking from the die to the rather interesting 'one' impression on his friend's cheek. "What a damn skunk..."
Ow ow ow... "Screw th' bet," he muttered under his breath, glaring at Otogi and pulling out of the chair to join the others. "I ain't dealin' with this shit..."
Otogi shook his head, smirking darkly. "Now come on... I even gave you a second round! Besides," he continued, spinning another die around in his hand. "You're the one who went back on your word... Now bark," he shouted, grinning as the blond scowled silently in response. "Come on now, bark!" He swore it when he saw this guy outside of the school...
"...Otogi..." Suddenly, the pain in his cheek was the last thing on his mind... A wind seemed to pass over, the blond slowly moving his hand from his cheek and looking back to Yugi, at where the 'wind' and almost electric feeling seemed to come from. The boy gripped the chain he'd recently strung the puzzle on, eyes narrowed as he made to switch out with his other half. Strands of hair rose up on end, the puzzle itself appeared to glow with a blinding light... "Otogi," the boy roared, the others staring somewhat as the other Yugi's presence was realized, confident tones echoing through the room as a few of the other students stood back with wide eyes. "That's enough!" He pulled the chair back from the desk Otogi sat at, narrowing his eyes. "You've taken this far enough..."
"Y-Yugi..!" Please don't make him go crazy, please don't make him go crazy... "Eh..."
The boy ignored him, leaning somewhat over the table across from Otogi. "How about you play against me," he said with narrowed eyes, the teen across from him merely smirking. "If you win," he continued, "I'll only ask one thing of you, and that'll be all... All you'll need to do is take back your deal with Jonouchi, and that will be all."
Otogi stared, slowly taking a seat again and unfolding the four aces from his hand. "Well... That sounds fair," he said with a nod, placing the cards on the table and slowly spinning them around. "However, if you lose," the teen continued, evening the cards out and leaning back, "You must obey my every order, just like your mutt over there..."
"GH-" Hang onnnnnn... "What'd you jus'-"
"Katsuya-nii," Mokuba protested, pulling at the blond's arm, "Calm down!"
The blond seethed, before freezing up again as the 'normal' Yugi appeared at his other's side. Aw hell, this again..? And... Wait... ...Speaking... Katsuya narrowed his eyes, frowning somewhat. They were speaking, but what about... So weird, the normal Yugi's lips were moving but... "We'll play the same game," Otogi was saying, Katsuya's attention pulled back from the conversation as the 'spirit' Yugi vanished from sight. "Four Aces..."
"Of course," the other Yugi said with a nod, before smirking as he pointed to the deck of cards Otogi was holding. "But I want to add the 'Joker' to that..." Eh..? Otogi blinked, frowning somewhat as the boy explained. "We'll take turns picking up one of the cards off this table; whoever matches black with black or red with red wins... But if you draw the joker," he continued with a dark expression, "You lose. And if we both win, or draw red and black" he continued, "Then we'll draw. Is that alright with you?"
Otogi stared, before slowly reaching into the deck of cards at the side to mix in the joker with the aces on the table. "Alright," he said after a moment's silence, nodding as he neatened out the line of cards. "That sounds fine to me..."
"Good... Then I'll go first," Yugi said calmly, the others circling around the table to watch. He pulled a card over, looking it over before leaning back on his seat. Ace of hearts... Across from the boy Otogi pulled his card out, silently looking it over before holding it close. Spades... He couldn't see it but... Yugi drew next, clubs, as did Otogi... "Alright! Show your cards," he said clearly, slapping his own on the table. Yugi's cards... Ace of clubs and hearts. How the hell did he know what without seeing... "Red and black," the boy said, before watching Otogi slam his own on the table with a growl.
"Gh... Black and Joker!" Spades. Otogi had... Spades...
He shook it off, grinning. Hehehe... YES! The Joker! An instant loss! Yugi smirked, crossing his arms as the others grinned behind him. "I win," he said rather confidently, only for his opponent to grit his teeth.
"Damn it," he growled, sending his cards over to the boy with narrowed eyes. "One more time!"
Yugi nodded, smiling as he gathered the cards and re-scattered them. "Alright," he said calmly, Katsuya silently laughing behind the boy as Otogi seethed. How'd it feel to loose eh? "Since I won last game, you can go first..." The cards were evened out, lined up in a perfect row as the boy looked back at his opponent. "Game start," he continued, nodding toward his opponent.
The teen grimaced, before grabbing a card off the table. One... Diamonds... Two... Spades, now back to Otogi... To Yugi...
How did he know...
"Show your cards," Yugi said loudly, revealing the aces of spades and clubs both with a smirk. Otogi grit his teeth holding out the Joker and the ace of diamonds before slamming them on the table. Heh... No matter what, he'd lost!
"Gh... DAMN IT!"
"Hahaha, lost again," Mokuba said with a grin, the others laughing as well.
Hehehehe... "It'll be ten thousand years b'fore you can beat Yugi," Katsuya said with a grin, crossing his arms. What did it matter about the weird sense about the cards, it was probably just wild guessing right? Heh...
"But Jonouchi, if it's ten thousand years, what does that say about your lose streak against him," Honda said with a smirk, the blond tensing and turning on the teen with a growl as he forgot about the 'cards'.
"Why you-!"
"Agggghh... Yugi," Otogi roared, slamming his fist on the table as the crowd jumped. "How dare you," he shouted, gritting his teeth. "How dare you set me in a bar bet!"
Yugi merely chuckled, shaking his head as the others turned to the boy. "Er... 'Bar bet'," Katsuya asked, frowning. What the hell was a bar bet..?
The boy continued chuckling, shaking his head. "Jonouchi," he said calmly, "The game you played against Otogi wasn't a fair game... However," he continued, turning back to Otogi as the blond tensed, "This one was," he said darkly, tone growing dead serious.
Otogi continued to grit his teeth, now faced with a fair number of glares with the knowledge of the foul play. Oh, so the guy really had cheated then? "Damn it... And here I'd been thinkin' I was playin' a fair game..." Damn rat...
"Otogi," Yugi said with narrowed eyes, the teen across from them moving from the desk. "If you think you can put a rift between us with cheap tricks," he spat, pulling away from the desk himself, "You have another thing coming..."
The group was answered with silence, Otogi merely staring at them with narrowed eyes before leaving the classroom. "Hn... Understood," he said somewhat oddly, disappearing into the hall as those paying attention in the room stared after him. "Understood..."
Lunch had, needless to say, passed rather awkwardly after that, given the silence that resulted. The silence was thankfully broken however, when Yugi went to eat the lunch his lighter half had packed, a somewhat successful grin on his face at the idea of eating the bento rather than staring at it... Only for the lighter half to be slammed back into control, the boy sheepishly saying that evidently the 'other' one really didn't like the pickles he'd stored beside the rice. Or the can of milk he'd gotten from the machines for a drink. And of course, the pickle juice had pretty much tainted all of the rice as a result of being packed together so... The only 'safe spot' his other self would have had was... Gone. So yea.
Yea that was interesting. Not quite as interesting as everyone asking where Mokuba's own bento had come from though, once they realized that it had clearly not been store bought; Seto sure as hell didn't make it... Right...
...Right...?
There was no answer to that in the end, the boy instead changing the subject to something else; evidentally, things had cooled down considerably between himself and Rebecca... To the point that they'd exchanged e-mails before she left for America again. As it turned out from what recent e-mails said, Rebecca was currently going through a 'prom rush', trying to get a dress for the event that would take place almost a full month before the end of school itself. Also as it turned out, she hadn't even used her real deck that day against Yugi; she'd built the one she used around her Grandfather's own, as a 'take that' to the people she considered thieves.
Lousy little brat... Though in the end, she was still apologizing about that, and asking somewhat worriedly if everyone was still sore about that... ...Damn it, he supposed he wasn't...
In any case, shortly after that particular bit of info came out the clock had ticked down to ten-minutes to lunch, with Mokuba waving and leaving the room to head back to his own school. The rest of the class went by as expected... Slowly... Borderline painfully as he attempted to figure out what algebra was about...
And with him constantly looking over at Otogi with narrowed eyes, at least from the corner since it was otherwise a little hard to turn to where the guy sat without the teacher noticing. Something wasn't right that guy... He kept looking over at Yugi with an almost... Vengeful look. At first he figured that was because of the card match at lunch but...
Something was off. The look had something else to it, more confused than anything. The blond shook his head as the bell rang for class to end, a few of the others staying behind to deal with clean up. Rather... Everyone but him in terms of people that mattered to him.
Damn it. "Eh... Crappy luck, all 'f you guys gettin' clean up while I don'..." Really crappy...
Yugi merely shook his head, pulling a bucket from the side as the others grabbed brooms and mops to start clearing the room. "It's fine," he said with a shrug, turning to the blond. "Besides, you mind as well go see Mokuba-kun off right?"
The blond nodded, waving at the others. "Right..." True, he mind as well do that... The schools ended around the same time, so... Hey, maybe if he was lucky he'd get a ride back to the house. "Well, see yah," he said with a slight shout, the others calling after as he left the room. Well... He guessed this was alright... Not like he'd have been able to go to the arcade with them or anything...
The blond headed out of the school, switching the 'slippers' out for shoes and walking out only to give a short shout as he was tackled around the waist. "GOH!" Owwwwww what the hell...
"Hah! Gotcha," a familiar voice said cheerfully, a mop of black hair meeting his vision at the same time.
Katsuya groaned, doubling over as Mokuba stepped back to grin. "Oh god, Mokuba... I ever tell y' you've got enough punch t' knock out a bull?" His gut... Ahhhhh his gut...
The boy merely grinned, laughing as his friend recovered. "Hehehe... Nope," he said with a smirk, "But the riding teacher figures that if I wanted I could kick someone clear across the room..."
Yea that wasn't surprising... Didn't he look fairly happy about that though? He shook his head, sighing as he shouldered his bag. "Yea... Well... Whatever eh? Shouldn' there be a rolls outside th' middle school gate for y' or somethin' by now," he asked, people walking around them as they spoke. Normally the car wasn't late...
Mokuba merely shrugged, shaking his head. "Nah... I convinced Seto-niisama to let me walk," he explained with a smile, "Since it's closer than the elementary school. Besides," he added with a laugh, shaking his head. "I made it to the house back on White Day didn't I?" Yes... Yes he did, but he didn't think-
"Oh my..." Aw hell not that voice. "Well look who I've run into." The two turned, blinking as Otogi walked over. Oh great... Aaaaaghh... "I don't suppose you want to play another game sometime," the teen asked, smirking as the blond frowned. "Maybe this time you'd have a costume to go with the dog label... A kigurumi would work I think..."
Kigu- The blond growled, clenching his fists. "Otogi..!"
Mokuba groaned, rolling his eyes and pulling the blond back. "Calm down Katsuya-nii, really! And you," he added, crossing his arms up and facing the teen.
Otogi blinked, staring. "...Me," he asked, eyebrows raised. "What is it?"
"Unless you want me to convince my brother to cut the funding for the equipment in your store," he said with a fairly confident frown despite his target being a full foot taller than him, "I suggest you cut it out!"
There was a short span of silence, the two teens gaping for a moment before looking at each other. Now hang on, store? What store? Before Katsuya could ask about this however, Otogi quickly paled, choking somewhat as he looked at the blond. "You... You know the Kaiba family," Otogi asked incredulously, before looking back at the boy with wide eyes. "I... I thought you were one of the first year students!"
Mokuba snorted, shaking his head. "Yea," he said with a smirk. "First year middle school..."
Yea well that wasn't the point here. "So I know Mokuba an' his s- His brother," Katsuya said, shrugging as he looked at the teen. "What's it t' you?"
"You mean besides the fact that he's now realizing how dangerously close he came to losing his and his father's store with nothing but his card tricks," Mokuba said with a grin, Otogi looking down on the boy darkly. "Probably a lot..."
The teen continued to frown, before coughing awkwardly and attempting to recompose himself. "Trust me... It won't happen again," he finally said, gritting his teeth.
Hehehe, as low a blow as this was, he had to say he liked this... "Good," Mokuba said with a smirk, crossing his arms. He'd probably been bluffing but whatever... "Now then..."
Wait... "Wait a sec," Katsuya said, shaking himself for a moment. "Which store are y' even talkin' abou'..?"
The two turned, blinking a few times. "You didn't know," Ogoti asked, frowning. "My father runs the Black Clown," he stated somewhat plainly, "It'll be opening this Saturday..." W-Waaaaaiit...
"...Th' Black Clown," Katsuya repeated, staring. "Yer dad is th' one who built that place?" He shook his head, laughing. "Y... Y'know how stupid tha' giant sign looks righ'? ...Righ'?"
'Kay, that was a stupid thing to say... The blond was answered with a pair of unimpressed stares, Otogi turning back to Mokuba rather than gracing the comment with a response. "This is a pretty big surprise," the teen muttered, crossing his arms and rubbing his forehead. "I hardly expected to meet someone from the company funding our equipment in person... All of that was dealt with by my father," he continued with a short cough, "Everything else I had to do by hand..."
Hehhhh... "What th' hell are y' talkin' about..."
Otogi ignored the blond, continuing on with his 'conversation' with Mokuba. "Do you think your brother would be able to come to the opening of the store," he asked, raising his eyebrows with a genuinely expectant look on his face. "You as well, of course?"
Mokuba immediately shook his head, frowning as he bit his lip. "Sorry; nii-sama's booked solid for meetings through this week and the next... Something about a last minute call..?" A what..? He shrugged, shaking his head again and putting his hands in his pockets. "Of course... I could still come," he hurriedly added, grinning almost darkly as the expression became the same conniving smirk Katsuya had seen when Mokuba planned out the 'Christmas party'. "As long as my friends were there of course..."
The teen instantly nodded, Katsuya watching the exchange with minor confusion. How the... How the hell was he doing this... "Of course," Otogi said, still nodding as he spoke. "I can't do anything about the line up we'll likely have that day," he added, coughing somewhat awkwardly, "So you'll probably want to be there around seven to avoid a rush... But," the teen continued with a seemingly honest smile, "I could probably show you and your friends around, give you a look at the areas that are opening later this year... A sneak peek if you could call it that..."
Oooooh... Yugi would like that a lot... "Great," Mokuba said, still grinning as he turned to the blond beside him. "We'll see you then! Now... Let's go home Katsuya-nii, we need to have supper alright?"
"W-Wait," he said with somewhat wide eyes, shaking himself as he registered all that was going on. "What?"
"Alright then," Otogi said with a smile, walking past as he gave the two a short wave, "I'll see you both on Saturday then!"
So they were... What..? "What th' hell?"
Mokuba snickered, shaking his head and starting off himself. "Just go with it Katsuya-nii, we just got VIP passes into this place... And nii-sama's been keeping me in the dark about this for weeks!"
That bizarre conversation was probably what led to the blond 'mysteriously' getting Saturday off that week in the end, with no questions asked. Personally, he didn't think he'd be buying too much from the store when the main focus was supposedly 'dice'... After Monday, he'd pretty much decided that anything concerning dice sucked.
A lot. Besides... He had other things to worry about. Like the fact that the 'Other Yugi', during any time he decided to hover beside his lighter half, was looking more and more solid as the days went by. And personally... It was damn scary. There was a part of him that even wondered if one day he'd bump into the guy, while everyone else saw thin air. Maybe it was just him but...
Even so... He supposed that since the place was a game store, he mind as well see if there were some new cards there. Take his mind off all the 'weird' going on. At least it wasn't anything creepy though, like zombies or whatever though...
Which left them there. Running down the road as though Death itself was on their heels. "AAAAAAHHH, Katsuya-nii," Mokuba shouted, somehow managing to keep up with the taller easily enough. "How could you sleep in like that!" The two barrelled down the street, shoes skidding across the ground as they ran and pushed past those walking past.
"What, an' you think you're any better," he shouted back, looking at the kid as they turned the corner and dodged around the end of the horrendously expansive 'opening day line up'. "I was almost set t' have Kyouko dump a bucket 'f water on y', you were takin' so long!"
"WUAAH!" The boy shook his head, looking up at Katsuya with wide eyes. "Not that again!"
"Oh, there they are..!"
The two slowed to a slight stop, waving as they shouted out to their friends in the long 'Black Clown' lineup. "Ah... YUGI," Katsuya called out, laughing somewhat as they hopped to the near front where the others stood. "Yugi, hey!"
"Oiiii, Yugi!"
They gasped for breath, watching as Bakura and Yugi shook their heads somewhat before laughing slightly. "Hah... Sorry we're late," Katsuya rasped out, rubbing the back of his head. "Sleep issues... An' transport issues... An'... Stuff..." He blinked, shaking his head. "W-Why're y' pointin' t' th' end Anzu..."
"Back of the line," Anzu said with a 'frown', a hand on her hip as she looked over the two. "You're late, it wouldn't be fair! Come on..."
"D-Don't be so serious," Mokuba whined, still taking deep breaths as he leaned against the wall. "We ran all the way here," he continued with a somewhat pathetic laugh, "It's hard to get around without letting Nii-sama know..."
Yugi smiled, still shaking his head as he looked the two over. "Well, at least you all made it," he said, hands stuffed in his pockets. "The store opens in only half an hour," he continued, "We were getting worried!"
"I have to ask Mokuba... Just why do you need to avoid your brother's attention," Bakura asked, frowning somewhat as he looked at the boy. "I understand he would be worried about you but..." He sighed, scratching his neck. "Well, truth be told, I'm not really sure what all the fuss is about..."
Anzu laughed, shaking her head as she turned to the albino. "Personally Bakura... It's probably best that we don't know and just take their word for it..."
The others raised their eyebrows at this, Mokuba and Katsuya merely shrugging at the comment. "Eh... She's got a point," the blond said, shaking his head before grinning. "Some things 'r jus better left unsaid..."
"It's not that bad," Mokuba muttered, before looking across the street at Yugi's house and blinking a few times. "Oh... Wow... Um." He coughed, shaking his head as he looked around the boy. "Compared to the crowd over here, you house is..."
"Not... Lookin' good," Katsuya finished, giving an awkward cough as Yugi briefly looked back as he scratched his head.
"Y-Yea... Even though I didn't think I should say it," the boy said nervously, staring at the completely empty side of the road, "It's completely dead over there..." He laughed somewhat, turning to the others with a small grin. "In any case," he said with another nervous laugh, "Please don't say anything to my Grandpa about this; he's pretty much sworn off this store as his one great enemy! At the same time though, I couldn't resist checking out the new game they're selling, enemies aside, hahaha..." Haha, y- ...Er... Y-Yugi... The others swallowed, a teary-eyed Sugoroku currently standing behind the boy as his grandson continued to talk. Ehhh... "To tell the truth," the boy was continuing with a cough, shaking his head with a sigh, "Grandpa can be really old fashioned... Besides duel monsters, a lot of the stock is... Well... Really out-dated..."
"Y-Yugi..." Damn it even the other Yugi was looking back and growing pale...
"I think you should stop talking," Anzu said with a cough, her eyes wide. "...Now..."
"Yugi," Mokuba added, biting his lip. "Um..."
The boy blinked, the smile abruptly vanishing as his other appeared to say something before vanishing from sight. "Ah... What is it," he asked slowly turning only to see his Grandpa caught in an expression of mixed anger and sadness. Yea. That. "A-AAAAH-"
"Yuuuuugiiii," the man said shakily, face red as he walked forward. "You... You..."
"G-G-Grandpa..."
"YOU LITTLE BACKSTABBER!"
Crowds and crowds of people were developing outside the store, as they had since as early as the night before. The line stretched far down the street and even the next road from outside the main door of the building. It was easy to see, even from the apartment window at the top of the store, that Yugi had managed to get an early spot however. He was almost directly outside the door, standing with two of his friends. Honda had said earlier that week that he couldn't come... As for Mokuba... "...Not there," he began, before pausing as a pair of people hurriedly ran down the road. "Ah..." There he was... Along with Jonouchi...
This would probably make things easier wouldn't it? The 'VIP' tour, he meant. They could beat the crowd in the store, pull Yugi to the side as they were leaving so that no one would suspect anything strange until everything was over and done with... He just needed to make sure his father was... Alright with it...
Ryuji swallowed as he left the room, walking over to the next one and standing outside the door. It seemed to be a constant battle, just standing outside this door... What kind of mood was he in, was he prepared... He took a deep breath, placing a hand on the handle and slowly opening it inward only to hurriedly turn his head away.
Not ready. Sunken eyes and mummified skin, a bald hairless face with a permanent scowl... His father wasn't ready. "Ah... S-Sorry, Tou-san," he began, continuing to avert his gaze and stare at the ground. "I... I didn't know you were busy..."
A rasping, aged voice came through the room, the 'old man' inside putting a clowns mask firmly in place on his head to cover the twisted features and shaking his head. "That's alright Ryuji, it's alright... Come in," he continued, pulling thick white gloves over bone thin and wrinkled hands as he turned around. Nothing remaining of the face save half blind and bloodshot eyes that were looking through the holes in the mask. "Come in..."
"Right..." The teen nodded, coming inside the room and shutting the door behind him with a slight swallow. Normally, coming in when the mask wasn't on was... Disastrous... But... He supposed that because of what day it was, he was... Alright... He walked forward, bowing his head as his father hunched over and grabbed his cane from the side. Straight to business then... "Everything is ready," he said quietly, slowly looking at his father. "We're just waiting for the moment of opening now..."
His father nodded, gripping his cane tightly and staring through the grinning clown's mask as he turned back to the window to stare at the line. To stare at Yugi. "Hehehehehe... The beginning of my revenge has finally come..."
Yes... Yes it... Had... ...Was that what the room in the basement was for then? The one hidden behind the dice monster table..? ...Where the aged stone disc with carved clawed hands and a dragon's maw at the start of a spiralling track sat..? He shook it off, closing his eyes and turning away for a moment. Whatever... All he had to do was beat him at that game, the dice game, and then it would be over. Who knew... Maybe he could get to know that guy. Put this week behind them, it was just a game after all... He seemed nice at least... ...He... "...Tou-san," Ryuji said quietly, taking a deep breath as he turned back. "...There's something I need to say... Earlier this week, on monday," he began, eyes drifting to the ground as his father turned from the window. "I found out Mutou Yugi was in my class..." His father had no apparent reaction, expression unseen under the mask.
But he already knew that he wasn't smiling. "...I wanted to test his strength," he continued, swallowing. "So... I set up a simple card game to play against him... That guy," he said with a smile, looking down at the side as he recalled the absurdity of how easily the boy had turned a bar-bet into an even match. "Heh... ...He's not as 'weak' as he seems..." Not nearly so...
"You..." Ryuji tensed, paling as his father's rough tones came through the room. "You didn't... Lose to him... Did you?" The teen swallowed, looking down at his father as the man walked closer.
"I..." This wasn't his fault, this wasn't his father's fault this was... "N..."
"YOU LOST!" The old man's eyes widened, the sharp sting of the wood slicing into his cheek and tossing him back as his father swung the cane forward.
"Gn!" Even as an old man, his father had a good swing... A single bit of weakness, and who knew if he'd be alive right?
...Right..? "How could you lose to him Ryuji," he roared, the boy pulling himself up and rubbing his stinging cheek. "How could you lose to Sugoroku's grandson? This is unforgivable," he shouted, the sound blocked out by the thick walls surrounding them as his son wiped a small trail of blood from his face. "UNFORGIVABLE!"
"I'm sorry... Tou-san, I..." He swallowed, choking on his breath as he pulled himself to his knees. "I..."
"LOOK AT MY FACE," the old man wailed, ripping his mask off and pulling the teen close by the shoulders and neck. Ryuji turned his head away, biting his lip as the man continued to scream. "LOOK," his father shouted, the rasping tones given a lisp from the lack of teeth and the worn and weak tongue, "LOOK AT ME!" He couldn't... He couldn't look, he couldn't...
"G..." He turned, swallowing back a panicked sound as he looked over the wrinkled and jaundiced flesh. At an almost skull-like, mummified face that was now staring him down with a mix of anger and pain and a whole slew of emotions that all came from one thing.
One night... One night that was all it took... And suddenly Mom was gone, wanting nothing to do with either of them... Suddenly they were moving across the country with only one confusing goal in mind, suddenly there was that 'one thing' in the basement that he wasn't allowed to touch... Just one night...
And everything changed. "Who did this," his father rasped, yellowed and pale skin stretching unnaturally over his skull as he shouted. "Who did this," he repeated, Ryuji staring in panicked and fear filled silence. "Mutou, Sugoroku, that's who! THAT'S WHO DID THIS!"
"I know," he finally shouted, pulling back as his father let go. "I... I know Tou-san," he forced out, rubbing his neck and gasping for air. "You told me... Hundreds, thousands of times tou-san," Ryuji said quietly, "You told me... Please," he continued, bowing his head as his voice lowered to a whisper. "Please just put the mask back on, please..." Don't make him look any longer... Don't make him...
There was a span of silence, the man doing as asked before slowly walking over to his son as the teen pulled himself up. "I'm sorry Ryuji," he moaned, grabbing his cane from the ground to steady himself as his son grabbed the door handle. "I'm so sorry... Did I hurt you," he asked, reaching up as the teen shook his head. "Did I...
"No," he said somewhat quickly, forcing a small smile on his face as he looked at the old stooped man. "No," he repeated, swallowing back another choke. "Not at all..."
"Oooohh... Ryuji... You're the only one I have," he said almost morosely, looking up at his son through the mask once more. "The only one I can depend on..."
Of course... That was right, he was all he had left wasn't he? "I know," Ryuji said, turning back to the door. "I understand... Both your pain, and your hatred," he continued, steeling himself as he opened the door. How could he possibly think of going back on those thoughts... On the very reason he existed now... "Please," he said calmly, looking back at the old man. "Watch... I'll get revenge for you... I'll defeat both Yugi, and his grandfather," he said darkly, voice unwavering as he said these words. "I promise," he continued, turning back to leave the room.
There was no other way after all... This was...
The only way...
And he kept his word.
AN: Do you know how hard it is for me to hate Otogi now? Seriously? When I re-read that chapter, I hadn't realized that his dad was actually abusive... And don't you tell me he isn't! The panels after he's smacked on the cheek with a solid wood cane include a nice little bruise there!
Anyways, this does mean that Yugi will be getting to the 'dungeon' room a little differently... ...And it also means a little something interesting for the others, just wait.
Ohhh, but you know what this means? It means I might just do this arc from Otogi's point of view. We'll see how you liked him taking the camera here, and if the reaction is positive... Then yay~
Very short note today, mostly since we're back in Canon territory again... And by canon territory, I mean the manga. The anime you see, has so many differences and holes that I can pull and poke and bring them up... But with the manga, I tend to either find less holes, or just stream right around them so that it really isn't relevant. Huh. Anyways...
Back to business! The Poll Results!
Keep in mind that these results are closing after the end of the D-D-D Arc. This is because... Well...
You can probably guess. However, due to the fact that Canon (AKA Male Priest) Set would need at least ten votes to catch up, I'm removing it from the options. So, your two options are...
Priestess Set... Or a crossdressing 'Priest'. Both are female, but one is hiding it. So far, the results are...
Female Crossdressing Set - 13 (Three Anonymous)
Obviously Female Priestess Set - 9 (Three Anonymous)
I don't even know which one I'm rooting for, aaaaaaaahhhh... (But that's good, I'm supposed to be neutral on this.)
Anonymous Review Responses
Hey there Iona~ And yes, she really did need to get that bee out of there... She'll probably get a nice long chill at college oddly enough; she'll be going on digs, taking notes... On mostly her own time, which should probably work for her. Not to mention e-mail as seen above~
It's so weird how similar their attitudes are... But it probably is largely in part the genius factor; though it's obviously quite a bit more intense with Kaiba, as Kaiba didn't even go to the standard school (Save a few months of grade 10 for the hell of it)... So there was even more isolation on Kaiba's part.
Yea, I think you're stretching it with that last one... Though speaking of baby pandas... (*fan art~*)
And hehehe! Wow, you were able to spot the keychain? Nice! And it's more than just saw, trust me. He was already freaking out, beforehand, seeing that girl there just made it worse. (If you want a bigger hint as to where he is, notice this: he's not wearing the dog tags. And he never takes those off.)
Hope you enjoy the chapter~ And the next~ It's a double post day~!
Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner
The section that demands you drop those cards and play with DICEEEEE.
...What do you mean it'll never catch on?
Today's chapter title is fairly simple really... It's based on the nice little law in TV that 'luck' equates to 'skill' in Poker... And most card games. I'm kinda on the fence about it myself.
Anyways, point is, luck pretty much lost out completely in this chapter! ...Because it was a set up. Yaaaayyy...
Originally when this chapter starts off, the Black Clown is news to everyone of the main characters; apparently, a giant sculpted clown and sign wasn't a big enough hint.
Obviously things are different here, so… Yea. Since conversations on D-D-D and the store happened through earlier chapters, we are greeted with Otogi's magic dice instead. WHOO! Dice are badass guys, they showed up in one of Yugi's earliest shadow games.
You know, the one where he broke one with his puzzle?
Also, since Middle School tend to have the same style uniform that Domino High does in terms of boy's uniform, that is why Mokuba was mistaken for a lower year student, and also why Otogi completely missed the fact that Mokuba was Mokuba Kaiba. ...Helps that Mokuba acts slightly more mature than the average twelve year old half the time though. (He has his childish moments... A lot of them.)
It helps that at the moment, Yugi's still shorter (note that I said the moment; I was looking through the manga again, and as it turns out, Yugi really does hit his growth spurt during the series, and is taller than Mokuba by the time Battle City hits. By... A lot... I might add... YAAAAY~)…
It won't be by much (Probably a few inches)… But by the end of things (IE, this fanfic), Yugi will finally hit his apparently cannon height of 5'2'' (Shorter than Anzu), which Mokuba will likely retaliate with 'I'll catch up to you someday!'
And if Kaiba's anything to go by… He really will catch up in the end, and it will be something salt-in-wound worthy... The 'end' won't be within the fanfic though, evidentally; Mokuba's official height is 4'6''... Which is, oddly enough, only two inches shorter than the average 13 year old boy. And given that he's half Japanese in this fanfic, and completely Japanese in Canon (Well, I'm assuming he is at least...)...
So yea. ...Interesting... He's exactly as tall as my sister...
Keep in mind that when I say Yugi is shorter at the moment, he's only shorter by like... An inch. And Mokuba's already around 4'5'' at this point (Average twelve year old... Though that's not until July for him. I can stretch it when he's related to someone six feet tall damn it!)... So really, Yugi isn't actually that short, given that he only has nine inches before he's at his final height. (YAAAAAAY.)
A lot of what Honda says at the start of this manga chapter is rather silly; first he asks if Otogi is one of their classmates (Despite the fact that it's probably fairly obvious given how long morning breaks are, and since it's morning break in the manga…), and then he goes on about how now that they've moved to class 2-B, they don't know many people.
Which is something that all of them probably figured about three years ago, when they first went to the second year of middle school. Because hey, the classes... They all change like that, funny thing.
Makes more sense now though, since Honda's just assuming Mokuba doesn't know. Which is probably true, since Mokuba only just started Middle School.
Here's a random note; one of the girls appears to have Mokuba hair in one of the Otogi panels. BWAAAAAAH? (Thankfully, there is no Mokuba face. That would be very frightening.)
Say it with me guys. OHHHH Jonouchi..!
Now here's an interesting fact; Otogi says that Duel Monster's is one of his 'favourite' games… Now it's possible (And actually quite likely) that he was just buttering Jonouchi up… But when you think about it, he does in fact have a deck in the Noa arc, and he does know how to play… He's just not a professional, likely due to the fact that he's a game inventor, not a duelist.
It's kind of like how Anzu knows how to play, but isn't at the same level as most professionals because she doesn't spend all her time playing cards... She spends her time aiming for her own goals; namely dance.
Originally, Jonouchi does this to steal the attention of the girls that are following Otogi around. But that would be a little silly for Fanfic-Jou… So really, this is just him being too stubborn to turn down a challenge. Laaaaaaa~ (And he does that... A lot.)
…OHHHHHH Jonouchi… *shakes head*
Though when you think, it's not that surprising that Otogi could fool them (Or at least Jonouchi) like that; he did distract everyone for a moment with the shouts… And lets face it, Jonouchi's fairly good at pickpocketing himself (Death-T), so really… It's not surprising that for a moment, the idea that Otogi could have taken the die was there.
No seriously, Yugi's pulled this trick as well; things like 'I never said it was only the flowers from the bouquet', etc etc… A lot of them are obviously from 'Season 0' (Including that aforementioned flower one), but even so. Yugi, you aren't completely innocent here… Though I suppose that most of those games kinda happened when the 'dark' Yugi was a little more 'dark' than anything...
It's… IT'S SCHRODINGER'S DIE! (Schrodinger's Cat is a theory based on this; put a cat in a box with a vial of poison gas, close the box, and lock it in a room. The cat is both alive and dead at the same time, until you look. So it's trapped in a perpetual state of existence and non-existence~ …No actual cats were harmed.) So basically, as long as the cup isn't removed... The die is there…
And it isn't there.
Ooooooooh~
For some reason, during this chapter, it was like Bakura, Honda and Anzu magically vanished… In this case, I say that they were just smart and decided to eat their lunch while they had nothing better to say. Because it's lunchtime in the fanfic. As it is, Mokuba's alternating eating and speaking, because hey, this is way more interesting than his school.
Also, Mokuba was trying to tell Jonouchi that Kaiba will likely try and get the blond fired if Otogi holds the blond at the school for something. Because… Well, Otogi did say two weeks, and that kinda covers friday nights and weekends. Annnnd also because Kaiba tolerates nothing.
A note on 'san'… When Yugi uses it with Kaiba, he's being polite; now that he knows Kaiba's a woman, calling her by her last name only is a little too 'masculine' and 'impolite' by his standards. (Obviously not by the other Yugi's standards though.) However, in Otogi's case, it's because he doesn't know him… At all.
Originally, when Yugi switches out, his words are along the lines of 'You're really bold! How dare you bully my friend right before me!' …But as I looked at the line, I found myself more and more confused… Ahhhh, this is what I get for using scanlations…
To explain how the game Jonouchi played was 'unfair', I'll tell you what the two Yugi's said among themselves. Jonouchi was fooled into playing a 'bar bet'. At first glance, the game seems 50/50… However, after the first card is taken out, you have two of the opposite colour, and one of the same colour. Which lowers the odds to 1:3… Not the best odds.
After Yugi threatens Otogi at the end of the card game, Otogi merely smirks darkly… And the chapter ends there. Obviously, I'm not doing that when the chapter is barely half way through sooooo… Yeaaaaaaaa… ...Heheheheheh...
Does Kaiba make Mokuba's lunch? That's up to you… (You can bet that it's made practically though.)
Poor 'Yami' Yugi, his taste in food is mysteriously completely different from his lighter half... (-read: the fanfic author is a dick-) By the way, the rice makes up pretty much two thirds of the average bento lunch soooooo... That would be why he ducked back inside the puzzle.
In Japan, the students get to clean up the school after class end; generally, it'll be a small number of each class picked for certain days... So yea. Actually, we see this in one episode; Jonouchi and Honda are mopping the floors at some point early in the series.
When Mokuba mentions this comment from his riding teacher, it's referencing the large amount of work your legs do when you ride a horse. (Well, English style at least, I don't know about Western...)
In any case. He could probably kick someone... Really... Really hard. (Evidence being a friend of mine who is barely over four feet. Sent a guy a foot or so taller than her across the room. AND I MISSED IT, AAAAAAHHHHH... *we don't like the guy...* )
You might not get Kigurumi!Jou, but you at least get Otogi mentioning the idea of a Kigurumi!Jou. Hehehe. ... (-psst. art below.-)
In the manga, Jonouchi originally wants to buy the dice so that he can re-sell them. But since he actually gets a decent amount of pocket cash from his job now that he doesn't need to pay for his dad, there's no reason for that. In fact, the only reason he's still allowed to have a job is because he 'pays rent' to stay in the house… Which is really nothing compared to the kind of food and board he's got now.
In any case, replacing the conversation that mentioned this is Bakura asking about Kaiba not knowing that they (Mokuba mostly) are all there… Hehe.
Manga Otogi (Ryuji during his point of view) has a very, very intense reason for being a jackass during his 'antagonist' time. Very. Ummm... By the way… His dad really did smack him across the face with a cane. It was… Yea. That entire scene with Otogi was... Canon. It was all in the manga. The only thing I pulled out was Otogi's thoughts, and I still built those based on his expressions and reactions. Hihhh...
In any case, all the signs point to him legitimately being afraid of his dad… And the fact is, it's quite likely that Otogi's father was… Well, a father before his and Sugoroku's game screwed the guy over. (It was a cursed game of Senet.) Which means that all of a sudden, his dad looked ninety… And became an ass.
Needless to say, I'd do anything to get rid of that too.
On a humorous note, when his dad does put the mask back on, there's a 'speech bubble' that says '-put back on-' in it. Heeeee. It's like Takahashi was trying to hand us all a cupcake and say 'Cheer up guys and just forget about the abuse that you just saw... You'll never see that old asshole again when this arc is over~'
Anyways, in all seriousness… Abusive, old-looking fathers… …Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaa… I don't think that Otogi's case is a show of 'easily forgiven' by the end to say the least... Because you need to realize; he really does think that all he needs to do is beat Yugi at D-D-D! Once his dad jumps in and starts amping the danger up to eleven...
He's fucking terrified.
FanArt and My Art Section
Remove the spaces and you have yourself a link! Funny that.
Remember, I love it when other people draw fanart too; if you have a picture you drew for this, let me know!
Thumbnail Posters – http : / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ Thumbnails. Jpg – Thumbnails are basically tiny sketches before a bigger work is made. I tend to do them when I get bored and want to draw a poster of sorts (As you can see, I decided on the one near the top, though I might to one of the others.)... Like how I kinda had a poster merging the events of Duelist Kingdom and Battle City (If only because I randomly stuck a duel disk on Jou's arm), these posters cover Battle City and the Noa's Arc... Though none of them really have anything to do with that, hehehe. Anyways, if you look closely, there are spoilers there so... Yea. But don't look to hard, I doubt you'll guess too fast... (Pssst; I like the bottom left one myself~)
Costumes: Kigurumi Madness: http : / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ Kigurumi. jpg – Originally, I was going to just draw Jou in a kigurumi. But as I was drawing Yami-Yugi laughing his ass off, I changed my mind. (Even if Jou is one of the laughing two) Oddly enough, the only reason why the Kaiba siblings are spared this is because... I couldn't think of an animal other than a dragon for those two, and I didn't want to be that predictable. ... Well, unless you count Ryuzaki in the dinosaur one. Anyways. We have... (Since two of them have hidden their heads in shame) Yugi the panda, Honda the monkey, Otogi the rabbit (Because of all the magic dice tricks~), Ryuzaki the dinosaur, and lastly Bakura... The tiger (I forgot the stripes, AHHHH). Was originally going to be a 'Baku', from the kanji in Bakura's last name (It's a Chinese and Japanese creature from myth, a tapir-like chimera that eats dreams and nightmares), but I decided to go with one of the animals that make the Baku up. Namely the tiger. (It has an elephant's head, rhino eyes, ox tail, tiger paws. WHOO!)
Height Differences – http : / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ HeightDifference. jpg – I'd say that this one speaks for itself... But that second half of the page is pretty much what happens for the rest of the fanfic, as after the Millennium World Arc, Mokuba is apparently 4'6'', while Yugi is 5'2''. HAAAAAAH.