Burning Loose Threads
In the scheme of things he supposed that things 'settling down' was never a very accurate way to describe their life. It tended to simply move onto the next 'major thing' really, with little to no break in between.
And in fact, he could practically hear the cackling of the 'other Bakura' when Yugi frantically called him the next morning to ask if he had his backpack, having spent most of the day collapsed on a bed in exhaustion and blissfully unaware of everything. "I grabbed Bakura-kun's!" he shouted in panic, Katsuya biting his lip and attempting to separate one voice from the other in his head. "What happens if he has-"
"Errr..." He coughed. Calm down... Calm down, it wasn't as though the thought of cackling evil-Bakura meant for sure the worst had already happened... As it was he shook his head, regardless of the action being invisible to his friend. "Yea... Sorry Yugi, but I've still got mine..." There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end, and he hurriedly continued. "Ah- but hey, Bakura's polite righ'? An' even' then, Otogi might 've grabbed it in the end so..."
There was a shout from outside the kitchen, a fairly amused Kyouko making her presence. "Not that it concerns me, but you have school in..." She pointed to the clock. "Twenty minutes."
He choked. "Awww shit- Listen, Yugi- we'll figure th's out at th' school alright?"
There was a nod on the other end. "Right!"
Fifteen minutes of panicked running and fence hopping, a few scared cats, and one barely avoided car crash later and...
"...Th' hell?" And someone was at the gates that they had never seen standing there before.
Yugi ran up from the road, gasping for breath and stopping with a similarly confused expression as he came into the school yard. "Ah..?"
For the most part, 'everyone' was there at the moment. Anzu (despite protests that she should rest), Honda, Otogi...
Otogi was first to speak. "Oh great, now you can all meet him.." It was fairly clear that that comment was intended to be sarcastic. "Right. Well! Jonouchi, Yugi... Say hi to my cousin," he began, "Who has..." Cough. "'Decided' that now would be a great time to drop by after over ten years or so of nothing."
The group looked over at Deschutes, the man having laughed a little nervously at the mention of 'over ten years'. "Nahhhh..." No way... Hell he saw the resemblance but... "Yer kiddin' me, this guy's yer cousin!" There was a look that said 'I wish he wasn't' in response to that, and Katsuya snorted. "Heh! So tha's what y' meant when y' said 'sight-seein'..!"
"Jonouchi..." Otogi sighed. "Please hold off on 'psychic visions' while he's here..." Uh.
The others stared. "...But tha' wasn't a vision."
"That's right," Yugi added with a nod, "We met him the day before, in a duel..."
As still others nodded, Otogi blinked. "Oh." It sounded like he was trying not to sound like he'd just killed something, why-
Dechutes had a face. A face that was not unlike the one he got during his duel with Yugi when he had the Dark Magicia- ...Oh.
That was why. "Psychic...?" he asked with a strange grin, chuckling. "Well doesn't that sound interesting..?" Oh shit.
The others coughed, Katsuya himself suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. "It's... A long story..?"
"Well I'm not going to judge...!" Really now. "Just ask a few questions..." Fuuuuuuuu-
"Deschutes, is this really the time-"
"Hey, the kid says he's psychic-"
"I said he was psychic. And I'm beginning to regret it," Otogi muttered under his breath.
Deschutes merely shrugged. "Well, then all the more reason to ask a few things to make sure that he's really-"
-BRRRIII-
The bell! Not a moment too soon! "Y' know, I'd love t' answer them but... Really can't!"
The others nodded. "Y-Yea... Sorry Deschutes-san..."
"See you later Deschutes..."
The man blinked. "Right... Later, I have a plane though..." he muttered off in English, Otogi merely heading for the school with the others.
"Exactly." Oof, he wanted him gone too! Oh, was that it..?
"Waiiiiit..!" As the group entered the building someone else barreled past Deschutes, white hair flying out behind him as he held out a back. "Hah... Hah... Hah... Yugi-kun...!"
"Eh?" They turned, Yugi almost conveniently at the tail end of the group at the moment. "...Bakura-kun..?"
The teen gasped for air, slumped over somewhat as he held out a bag. "Hah... Hah, you forgot your bag... So I wanted to make sure you got it..."
"Ah!" He jumped, hurriedly trading it for the one he had. "Right- I grabbed yours too actually, here it is..."
"Thanks..!" As the two continued their panicked exchange Katsuya sighed, laughing quietly as he did so. Man... Somethings just never-
"Pst- Jonouchi." The blond turned, watching as Otogi nodded to the side.
"Eh..?" What, something private..? As the teen moved further into the hall he shrugged, following behind. "Otogi?"
The teen frowned. "I'd have told Yugi earlier but I can't do it in front of Bakura..." Oh make things sound better why not. Otogi easily caught the expression that said that as well, his frown growing a little more sarcastic. "Don't say you didn't see it coming Jonouchi, you don't have to be psychic to connect the dots here."
Tch! "Oi oi, lay off on the psychic crap..."
"Then listen," he hissed. "Bakura insisted on being the one to return that bag. Please tell me that Yugi wasn't stupid enough to start carrying around all the items in it."
"W- All of them?" He snorted, shaking his head. "They wouldn' even all fit in there!" he hissed.
Otogi narrowed his eyes. "At least one of them would," he warned, "And you know what one it is." Yea.
Yeaaaaa he did. "There's no way," he muttered back with emphasis, "Tha' Yugi would've been carryin' somethin' like that..."
"Ah, Jonouchi-kun, Otogi-kun."
"Nyh-!"
"Ah, Bakura..." Otogi was much better at playing 'cool' than he was, Katsuya noted stiffly.
As it was. The blond turned to Bakura, blinking. "Er... B'kura..! Heyyyy..." ...Yea this wasn't working.
Their friend sighed, shaking his head. "I would have said something earlier, but it looked like whatever you were talking about was important... But if we don't get in the classroom soon, you'll probably get in a fair bit of trouble for your efforts..." Eh.
"S-Shit-!"
"Ah- Thanks Bakura...!" Though the thanks were a little strained, they watched as the teen nodded.
"Eh... Not a problem..."
Hahhh... "Right," Otogi coughed, shaking his head. "See you in class..."
"Yea yea yea," he muttered, "I'm righ' b'hind-"
-rrnnnnnnrnnnnnnn...-
The blond froze, a shiver running down his back as he took a step. No, he thought to himself coldly, attempting to shake the feeling as fast as possible. No way...
-rrmmmmmrnmmmmmmm...-
Rumbling echoed through the air, bouncing between loud and faint. And as he stood in the hall, it took a fair bit not to punch the wall beside him. Yugi had definitely put the ring in that bag.
And as the rest of the day would prove, despite Bakura never once acting as though it were the case, the ring was most certainly back in his hands.
Perhaps because he hadn't necessarily done anything, but they never did corner Bakura on the ring. Perhaps it was instead because of how awkward it would be- 'hey Bakura, sorry about everything, but we'd kinda hoped you wouldn't realize we lied about having the ring. You're kind of scary when you have it.' Or perhaps it was even the fact that, despite the ring being there...
He was sure that it was 'their' Bakura there. Not the spirit of the ring, not an act... It was really Bakura.
Which was what made the fact that he politely vanished from the classroom at the end of the day without a word to them so upsetting, he supposed.
As it was, he couldn't do anything about it right now. He didn't have Bakura's number- actually, he wasn't really sure if most of them did, and who knew why that was.
Still- he had work, and Bakura was gone for the moment. Yugi would probably try and talk to him in the end- work off some guilt by offering a trip to Burger World, something like that...
There wasn't much time to worry about it though, as he came into the kitchen dining room to see none other than Seto on the phone.
A very annoyed Seto, he added mentally. "Uhhhh..."
"Over here," Mokuba sighed, head resting on one hand from where he sat at the island. "This could take a while..."
"A while..?" He walked over, turning as Seto seemingly ignored them both and continued a heated conversation on the phone...
...In a language he didn't even understand. "Yakou, put your brother on the phone."
...Annnnd he was catching the other half and he still didn't understand it dammit. "...No."
"NOW."
"He's busy."
"Bullshit he is, now how did you get this number?"
A bit of silence, and then... "Wouldn't you love to know...~"
"Yakou if you don't put your brother on the phone right now I'm going to do whatever it takes to get you institutionalized..." Errr...
"...What's goin' on," he finally asked cautiously, unable to look away from the one sided conversation before them.
Mokuba again sighed, crossing his arms. "We had Yakou and Gekkou fly the jet back to the hangar for us."
PF- what. "You actually let th'm-"
"It's not like they could steal it- it's kinda hard to hide that thing."
He blinked. "... Point. Alrigh', so then what's-"
"They used it to trace our home phone." …
What. "...Kay... How..." He... Probably shouldn't ask, it's probably obvious from their view but-
Again, Mokuba sighed. "Calls from the jet automatically go through the home phone first, since its more secure than the work phone. Yakou found out, and now he's threatening to trace it again if it's changed." Uhhh...
"Threatn'n her with what, I thought we were past-"
"They want to make a birthday call since they know they wouldn't be allowed in on the day of."
"...Wh-" For a moment, he was fairly confused. A birthday call? That was it? That was all?
Then he remembered who this was.
And then, looking back to a somewhat red-faced Seto ('How in the hell did you get my birthday in the first place..!' ...Oh so this was the PAST he was hearing in his head.), he quickly stood. "Yea... Yea I think I'm gonna head t' work early t'day..."
Mokuba snorted, but nodded nonetheless. "I'll make note of it Katsuya-nii..!" And with that he turned his eyes back to the table, Katsuya hurriedly making his escape- and not a moment too soon either.
'NO, you will NOT call my office if I'm unreachable here, and you know EXACTLY why!'
Ooooooh... Not too soon at ALL.
. . .
He was dreaming again. At first he thought it was just a game- a board game with players in the guise of figurines, playing out the whims of others.
But he was standing on stone with bare feet, and dressed in naught but a simple and worn tunic.
And rather than a slash through his middle, there was a blade in his stomach. And shouts... Shouts of rage for both himself and for he with the blade. Shouts of horror, and outcry...
And the sound of air rushing past him he noticed as the blade was torn out. Rushing through his middle, and from around his sides as he fell back... Back...
Into darkness...
He could hear a whistling in his ears...
'Jonouchi...'
A whistling that seemed to increase, twisting and changing its pitch.
'Jonouchi...'
And for a split second as he approached the ground-
-bnnnnnggggg! Bnnnnnnlllgggggg..!-
"NHY!" Katsuya jumped as the sound of the ringing phone met his ears, the blond coughing almost hoarsely as he looked around. "Hah... Hah... Wh..."
There was someone standing in front of his bed he realized dully- someone tossing something at hi- "Here. Catch."
"Wh-" -crack- "OW- FU..."
"Pick up the PHONE." Owwwww who threw-
His head cleared, and with somewhat bleary eyes he stared. "...What." It looked to be a mix of some kind of... Machine and the Alligator sword. Actually, it looked to be a very poor mix of a robot and the Alligator Sword, enough that he almost forgot about the phone.
The monster's mouthed 'PICK IT UP' was enough to remind him, and fumbling with it for a moment he answered it. "ER... Moshi moshi..?"
"Ahhh! Katsuya-nihan! I finally got through!"
"S-Shizuka..!" He looked over to the clock almost immediately, eyes just about bulging in their sockets. T-Two PM..! "AH- When did-"
"Aha... I just thought I'd check in to see how you were... Are you alright nihan..?"
The blond blinked, looking over to the monster that was still standing in his room and slowly trying to find the right words. "Ahhhhh... Yea. Yeaaaa... I'm... Fine..." What.
"Just pay attention to your call, I'm not going anywhere..." THAT DID NOT HELP.
...Not that his sister had guessed of course. "Aha... Well, I was wondering if you could pass a message for me- I know that Mokuba-kun mentioned it was Seto-k... Um... Seto-san's birthday in October..." Eh? This was about Seto's birthday...? "Could you pass along a 'happy birthday' from me nihan? I have a feeling that none of my calls will get through if I wait until the day of... Or even the week before actually..." Ahahahah...
"Hahaha... Y-Yea, tha's... That's probably a good call," he coughed, shaking his head. Right. "I'll pass th' message along."
"Ah! Thanks!" There was a pause. "Oh- Before I forget..." Eh? Before she forgot...?
He blinked, frowning as a brief flash of ice came to mind. Alright that was weird, but what did-
"Nihan, would you like to come and spend the holidays with mom and I..? If you're not going to be busy around then..?" EHEEEEE!
"Ah- Y-You want me t' come over for Christmas..!"
Shizuka laughed somewhat on the other end, shaking her head. "If you can't, that's okay... I just wanted to ask while I had the chance; I wanted to tell you, Keichi-kun woke up earlier this week... We couldn't call you until now though..." Eh-
"Ah- Ryuzaki's up? An' he's alright..?" No... Creepiness? No weirdness..?
"Yep!" AH, yes! "The doctors held him for a few days to check on his eyes though..." His... His eyes...?
"Er... Why..?"
His sister paused, shrugging. "It's not much, don't worry..! They just-"
"Turned gold..?" Yea that's weird-
"Nihan..." ...Oops. "Nihan, please don't finish my sentences..." EEEH-
"AH- S-Sorry, Shizuka..! I didn't-"
Laughter came from the other end, and the blond groaned. "Ahahahah- it's fine..! Anyways, I have to go... I hope to see you at Christmas! Maybe if you're lucky you can meet Katsugi-kun!" EH-
"K-Katsugi-?"
-click-
The phone was dropped, loud cursing meeting the air instantly. "AAAAAAAHHHH- Not anoth'r one..!"
"If it's any consolation," the monster beside him started, "I don't have a clue what you're talking about." Yeaaaa, well-
AH- He abruptly turned, giving an almost accusatory glare to the monster beside him. "Ah- tha's righ'..! Who are y' anyway, I didn' put you in my deck..!"
The monster shrugged. "'S cause you haven't opened the booster pack yet- been sitting in your drawer long enough though, so I figured I'd drop by." He paused. "Didn't think I'd get stuck though..." Ahahahahaha... Yea... Well then.
"Righ'... An' you're...?"
"Cyber-Tech Alligator at your service," he said with a casual salute. "Think you could send me back now..?" Eh?
There was a bit of an awkward silence between the two, ending with Katsuya looking back to the side table and slowly looking inside the open drawer where the unopened booster pack was. "Eh... Sure," he found himself saying in the end. "...Sure thing."
"Wait you said what-!"
Mokuba's reaction to his agreement with Shizuka was...
Unexpected really, though in hindsight he probably should have seen it coming. Literally. "Er... She... Is kinda my sister Mokuba... I mean, spendin' some time with 'r in th' summer was great, but th's Christmas...! I haven't been able t' do tha' in..." He leaned back against his chair, whistling. "Phew... Years..."
The boy frowned at this, sighing. "Nnnn... I know but..." There was a pause, before he crossed his arms in defeat. "I was kinda hoping you'd spend it with us again..." Ohhhhh no no no no no-
"O-Oi, don' gimme tha' face..."
"Katsuya-niiiiiii..."
"Oi! You'd do th' same f'r yours wouldn' you..!"
At that Mokuba blinked, looking away rather guiltily. He was right after all- if anything in fact, he'd been caught in the act, and as he realized that he sighed. "Mmnnnn..."
"...Y' know, it's only f'r a week..."
"I know!" The boy scowled, before abruptly trading the expression for an almost devilish smirk. "But you know, if that's the case, then you definitely can't skip out on Neesama's birthday, got it!"
EHHH? "AH- I wasn' even plannin' to!" he protested, only to get cut off.
"You have to make sure it's the greatest birthday ever, got it? I'll even set things up- you have to spend as much time as possible with her though!"
"Wh- What are yah, some kinda match maker..?"
The boy frowned. "What makes you say that..." Erk-
"N-Nothin! I wasn' sayin-"
"Saying what, 'mutt'." Oh shi-
Katsuya swallowed, slowly turning around as Seto stood in the hall. "Errr... Hiiii Seto-chan...~"
The woman narrowed her eyes, Katsuya choking. "Do I really have to say 'stop calling me that' again, or should I just stitch your mouth shut so you can't?"
More coughing, and he looked away. "'M good, m' good..." S-Sheeeeesh, the Tenma brothers really had her in a mood didn't they..!
Seto said nothing more on that, merely walking past to look at Mokuba. "What are you planning?"
The boy smiled. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about neesama..~ I was just talking to Katsuya-nii about how he was going to visit Shizuka-chan for Christmas..~"
She turned, narrowing her eyes at the blond and opening her mouth to speak before he cut her off. "I jus' found out! Iw's gonna tell yah, I swear!"
Seto seemed to continue glaring for a moment... Only to quickly smirk and turn back to her brother. "Oh I know you would... Unless you wanted to lose your job of course..."
"AH- I wouldn-"
"Exactly." She turned her focus back to Mokuba. "Mokuba... What are you planning..."
"Exactly what I said before," he responded innocently. "Nothing~!"
"Mokuba..."
The boy grinned, and before his sister could say anything more he ran out of the room. "You'll find out later neesama..!~"
"Ah- Mokuba..!" The woman turned, Katsuya instantly ducking and hopping off his chair to flee.
"Katsuya..."
"See y' on th' 25th Seto-chan!"
"The twen-" Back to where Mokuba vanished now- "MOKUBA..!"
"AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAH~"
It really was a wonder that he was able to do anything at all that week, but at least the two seemed to have 'solved' things before it was time to eat later that evening.
"Maaaaannnn... 'F there's one thing I hate about getting' presents..."
A number of days after the 'deal' had been made with Mokuba had now brought Katsuya to a somewhat familiar position. As usual, he was attempting to think of a present for Seto... As usual he was stuck on what present to buy...
And as usual it felt a little like he was visiting his Dad as some sort of escape to that. Well at least he'd be on parole in a few months...
Though really, walking toward the prison center in the middle of autumn after school wasn't exactly something he'd have pictured himself doing two years ago. (Damn, things had changed...)
Nonetheless, with his hands stowed in his jacket pockets he continued on his way, ignoring the cool wind that was blowing for the moment and sighing. "Aaaaaaghhhh be so much easier if she w'sn't a damn billionaire..."
"Mm? What, Kaiba?"
"NHY-!" The blond jumped, coughing as the floating form of the 'Other Yugi' abruptly appeared beside him. "What th-" He looked around for the normal one, eyes wide. "How th' hell..?"
The spirit grinned. "Hn! We've been practicing- at the moment, I can be at the exact opposite end of the city without trouble!" Errr...
"Th- The other end..." He chocked, staring at his friend a moment. "Is tha' ev'n safe..?"
"Of course it is, why wouldn't it be?" Errr...
Reasons? He shook his head. "N-Nevermind... An' anyway how long 'f you been followin' me?"
'Yugi' shrugged. "Not long really- I was just wondering why you were going this way. ...Decided it would be better to wait until there was no one in the area to talk though," he added with a chuckle, Katsuya's face heating up somewhat in response.
"Gee... Thanks..." Way to remind him that no one could see the guy. "It's nothin' you'd be interested in, in any case," he continued with a shrug. "'M jus' visitin' my dad."
"Mm? Your father?" Damn it 'Yugi', who called dads 'father' these days? He looked away for a moment, before grinning in the typical 'odd' manner he had. "Well then- this could be interesting couldn't it."
"AH- O-Oii," he laughed as he rubbed his head, "Y' don' have t' follow f'r somethin' like tha'... We... We don' talk about much..."
"Maybe, but I've never actually seen your father Jonouchi- I'm curious. I won't say anything if it makes it better, but I'd really like to see him..." Yea... Probably to figure out how he could see past the bottle throwing...
Ahhhhhh what the hell. "Alrigh'... Not a word though yea? Already hard 'nough t' explain away finishin' his sentences..."
"You have to do that often then?"
"Er..." Yeaaa...
Decided not to answer that. The spirit took his silence as enough of a response as it was in the end, shrugging and floating along with him as they came to the detention house. Perhaps he was just too distracted with other thoughts to realize this wasn't the best idea of course...
In the end though, as the blond took his seat on the one side of the glass with his father on the other, it hit him about as hard as a ton of bricks.
"Katsuyaaaaaaa!"
Suddenly all of the conversations that were typical of dear old dad were coming to his mind, and the fact that an invisible version of one of his best friends was there was not in any way comforting.
Nonetheless, shaking himself as the other Yugi stared, he grinned. "Hey! How's it goin' dad?"
"As wonderful as it can be in a jail cell!" the man responded, grinning and laughing despite things. The comment was obviously meant in good humor- though despite it, Katsuya was still subject to watching Yugi's mild shock over the blunt statement. His dad sighed, smile softening. "I can't wait to get out... Get back to living right, ah? And seeing you, and maybe seeing Shizuka..!"
"Heh- Well, only a few more months righ'?"
The pair both laughed, and the elder grinned. "Right! Ohhh, but Katsuya..." Oh shit. "Katsuyaaaa, you need to tell me what's happened since you came in! It's been so long..!"
"Ahh... W-Well, it hasn' really..."
"It's been months! Of course it has..!"
"Months?"
The spirit quickly got a look that said 'shh', hurriedly covered by a nervous laugh. "Aha... W-Well tha's true... But nothin' big's happened, honest!"
"...Battle City? The R.A. project..?"
"Well... I mean, I made th' semi-finals 'f th' Battle City tournament, but tha's about it..."
"...Wouldn't everything else count as well..?"
As Katsuya continued to ignore the spirit, his father grinned. "Ahhhh..! Semi finals..! So close! One of the others, they were talking about that... Couldn't watch those matches, but..." The grin grew, and he continued in an almost sing-song voice. "I got to see the other battles...~"
EH- He choked, eyes widening. "Wh- Y' watched me duel..!" What what-
"Of course I did..!" D-Dad, why- "You thought your old man wouldn't want to see?" The man pouted falsely, crossing his arms for good measure as Yugi watched in what was likely amusement. "What kind of father wouldn't..!"
"Err... It- It ain't that, really..! I jus' didn' expect..."
"Next time, you should definitely win Katsuya..! Make your old man proud..!"
He coughed again, laughing. "Dad, how much abou' duelin' do y' even know...?"
". . ." Katsuya's dad stared, looking up in apparent thought before answering. "...You play... ...With cards."
"Wh- But there's so much more..!" Not now Yugi.
Katsuya sighed, shaking his head. "Errr... Tha's one way t' put it..."
"Mm." More false pouting, and the old man shrugged. "Well, in that case, you should fight for your girlfriend then..!"
"GH-" He sputtered, ignoring the sudden look of stupefied amusement from his friend to attempt speaking. "D-Dad!"
"Well you obviously haven't gotten close enough to her yet! You need to work on your charms son..! Take her out for a nice date, and rent out a room-"
"DAD-!"
"Ohhh, Katsuya, you're completely red-faced, why..?"
Stiffled laughter was coming from the 'empty' space beside him, and it took all he could not to simply turn and growl at his friend. "Gh- There's a cop righ' there..!"
"It's not illegal!"
"Tha' ain't th' point..!"
"Hnhahahahah! Ahhh Katsuya..." His dad rubbed his forehead, attempting to calm himself before speaking again. "Ahhh.. You should at least do something special for her..! Get her a nice dinner, or a present..."
"Er... W-Well, I guess her birthday 's comin' up..."
"Ehhh? Kaiba's?"
Before any looks could be given in response to that, Katsuya's dad jumped. "Ohh! Is it? What are you going to do? Something special..?"
"Eeeehhhh-"
"Have you considered chocolate?"
"EEEEHHHH..." W-Well-
"Sir," a stern voice spoke, both 'Jonouchis' turning to the source. The policeman gestured to the clock, nodding his head. "Visiting hours are over sir- I need to ask you to leave now."
"Ah- Tha' soon..?" At Katsuya's words the cop merely nodded, his dad giving a somewhat resigned sigh.
"Ahhhh... Well, even if it wasn't very long, it was good to see you..."
"Oi oi, I'm comin' back next chance I get got it..!"
"Sir, the time..."
Father and son shared one last smile and glance despite that- and with a nod, Katsuya turned. "Yea yea, I heard yah..! Oi! Old man...!" His dad grinned from behind the glass. "Till next time!"
"Aha! Yes! Until next time!"
That was the last thing he heard before the distance and doors made it impossible to hear, and his own 'sight' decided to cop out- he figured that was alright though.
"So," 'Yugi' said after a moment, grinning from beside him. "Is 'chocolate' on the list of ideas then?"
"AAAAAAAAGH."
The other Yugi was probably extremely wise to 'smoke away' at that moment, as rather than Katsuya's fists coming in contact with his face, it wound up being his fists on thin air.
He'd just have to get him back later, he supposed.
Some people probably figured it was somehow 'funny', the way time seemed to pass more quickly the closer a nerve-wracking day came. And the fact was, that was what it felt like. It wasn't so much that he didn't want the day to come, just that it was... Well.
Really, really making him uneasy thinking about it.
But lo, there it was-
Seto's birthday.
Granted, since it was thursday he was in school for most of it, but still. While Mokuba convinced his sister to take a day off to spend the event with him, his classmates were busy noticing.
While he more or less scowled depending on what the hell they were saying.
"Awwww come on Jonouchi!" Honda was laughing later at lunch. "It's the least you deserve after leaving me hanging last week!"
"I told you I'd have arcade time tomorrow...!"
"Still deserve it."
"G-Guys.."
While Bakura (fruitlessly) attempted to calm the situation growing between the two friends, Yugi sighed. "Hahhhh..."
"I almost wonder if she did it on purpose..."
"Eh?" The others still distracted, Yugi turned to look beside him at Anzu. "What do you mean..."
Anzu shrugged somewhat, neatly placing her chopsticks on a now empty bento box and setting it on the ground. "Normally, Kaiba-san has a fairly strict schedule for things like work hours right? I almost wonder if she purposefully changed them when Jonouchi mentioned it to her..."
The woman's only response to that was a stare really- but as Yugi opened his mouth to add something to that stare, Otogi beat him to it.
"I wouldn't put it past her," he commented idly, briefly pausing to sigh at the antics that the others were getting into now. It involved a headlock, a flip, a panicked Bakura... He looked back to what was looking to be the only sane ones on the roof for the moment. "You saw how she was with him last time after all."
"Er... Last time?" Yugi asked, blinking a few times.
Anzu's look could have dried the oceans, most likely. "Yes... You'll have to clarify- between the soul-stealing demon cards and the coma, I'm not really sure which 'time' you're talking about."
"Hahaha..." Otogi sighed, explaining. "Not quite what I meant. It's a little more subtle than that, but I'll put it this way... When someone like Seto Kaiba begins using excuses like 'don't touch my employees' within Jonouchi's vicinity but not anyone else in the building, there's a pretty obvious difference in treatment."
Oh. The others shared glances a moment, blinking. Come to think of it, even when Honda and Jonouchi were animatedly recounting the events of 'R.A' to Otogi and Bakura, that hadn't occurred... But...
"I think that interfering with things like that is a bit far for Kaiba-san, isn't it?" Yugi asked nervously, laughing a little.
The tallest of the three merely shrugged, the bell for class ringing in the background as he headed for the door. "Kaiba is 'Kaiba'," he responded. "Nothing is too far for her."
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he was wondering if this was going to actually work out well at all. It was, after all, as he'd overheard on the roof. Kaiba was Kaiba, Seto was Seto. Nothing was going to change her attitude in things. In a sense, he woudn't have had it any other way, but...
He sighed, looking at the deck he was holding in his hands. "Nyhhhhh... Should have just tried messin' with th' silver wire..."
At that thought he turned to the desk at the side where the silver wire in question sat, half bent into a series of shapes and occasionally dotted a rusty red. Yeaaa...
Maybe on Christmas.
"Hey, Katsuya-nii..!"
Dammit. The blond shook his head, grabbing his duel disk from the side and fastening it on his arm before answering the door. "Yea, I'm comin'..! Where's Seto-chan?"
Mokuba held his hands behind his head, jerking it slightly to the side. "She's in her study already..." he grumbled, huffing. "I'll make sure she gets out though, don't worry..! You just get to the yard okay?"
He nodded. "Righ'." There were probably plenty of other rooms with space for this (actually, he KNEW there were rooms with enough space), but somehow it seemed like it'd be more fun outside... "She's got 'er duel disk..?"
The boy snorted. "What made you think she goes anywhere without it..?"
Hahahaha... "Point," he responded under his breath, laughing. "Alrigh' then..! Don' make me wait long..!" he called out, the two heading their separate ways as Mokuba nodded.
"I could say the same to you Katsuya-nii..!"
"EH?" What-
What did that even mean, what-!
He didn't even catch a glimpse of what it meant, in the end. Certainly not before he got to the backyard, and not before he began wandering the relatively clear space between the mansion and the line of trees that came before the horse's field. Which was alright for him, really. He wasn't about to fret over it for now, and so instead he stood around with his hands in his pockets to wait. Duel disk on, deck in place... A breeze of wind blew toward his back as he stood, and with it a few fallen leaves to catch his eye.
..Shit. He knew it was Seto's birthday but... Was it really the middle of fall already? It was just one of those things that hadn't occurred; something he hadn't bothered paying attention to between screwing around with the others and sitting around for his job.
...Also dreams, he supposed, but ehhhhhhhhhhh-
"Are you serious."
He jumped, turning at the sound of Seto's unimpressed voice. True to Mokuba's word, she was there with her duel disk. Didn't look happy about it of course, but she was there.
Katsuya grinned. "Hehe... What! Y' said you'd duel me sometime, didn't yah?"
The woman merely stared, light glare unchanging. "I hardly expected you to take advantage of that moment today," she growled, crossing her arms. "Particularly out here."
He shrugged. "Whaaat, y' have a better idea f'r a location?"
"Inside the ball room, one of the basement rooms... To list a very small few of many options," Seto answered dryly.
"Eh." Another shrug. "Here works jus' as well righ'? B'sides, th' leaves look great righ'? Lot more colourful than a plain green!"
The frown persisted, but in the end she snorted. "Tch. You're lucky I have nothing better to do then, 'Mutt'... I think I might just humor your challenge. Perhaps knock you down a rung or too after the ego boost you received from the tournament."
Hahaha... Oi oi, they were technically tied for third in Battle City weren't they..?
Eh. Whatever. "Yea yea... It ain't a challenge, jus' a duel you know..!"
"Hn." Oiiiiii... "Lets just get this over with then," she decided, holding out her duel disk. "You want a duel? Then you'll have one..! I'm not about to turn this down..." she leered, eyes sparking with an almost threatening gleam.
He just about shuddered at that really. C-Casual though, it was just casual..! (Did the word exist in her dictionary?) In the end he didn't bother asking, instead nodding and grinning as his own disk clicked on. "Yea!" Decks shuffled, and cards were drawn-
Of course, since Seto had long since activated her disk she went first. And he figured that was only fair, with her birthday and all. He'd... Probably not win in the end.
Just a gut feeling really. "Well- yer move, birthday girl!"
...He probably shouldn't have said that. Immediately Seto stiffened, a light frown becoming a thick scowl. "Oh just wait," she snarled. "You're about to learn exactly what a real duel is..!" Awwwww shit he really shouldn't have said- "I summon Ryu-Kishin Powered!" she announced, slapping the card to the disk as a tablet of stone arose from the ground; crafted almost from the ground that was truly there it seemed, the stone that appeared was coated with a layer of moss and grass along the top. The monster that thundered through however did not appear to pay it any mind, merely shaking his head with a roar as he prepared for battle. "I then set two cards and end my turn!"
The second set of tablets rose to a similar guise behind the Ryu-Kishin, and as he looked over the blank faces he smirked. Heh. This beat a table top match any day..! "Alrigh'... Y'r gonna have t' do better than tha' though!" he laughed, slipping his first card to the disk. "I summon Gearfried in attack mode!" As the tablet rose his grin grew, the iron knight cracking his knuckles in anticipation. "Too bad f'r you," he added with a laugh. "Those traps ain't gonna work on Gearfried..!" Not if they were her usual at least..! So!
"Ready when you are..."
"Gearfried!" Katsuya announced- "Attack!"
"Hnhnhnhn.." As the monster charged his summoner froze, watching as his opponent smirked. "Really... The cards aren't intended to effect yourmonster... Activate trap!" she announced, the first of blank tablets crumbling into a lens that forced the light around Ryu-Kishin to shrink and distort. "Shrink! Ryu-Kishin's life points are halved," she announced, Gearfried's bladed arms easily skewering the beast as a noxious gas slowly erupted from the resulting wound. "And with his destruction, the Crush Card Virus is activated..!"
"NGH-" The gas filled the field and immediately Katsuya brought his arm to his face, coughing as the wind blew it over the field. Wheezing, the Iron Knight on his side of the field collapsed in a fit, and the blond moaned as his tablet crumbled as well.
"Awwwwww..." Nooooooooo... He looked to the other cards in his hand, sighing as their images appeared to blacken. At the same moment, other cards were being spat from his deck... And with yet another resigned sigh he started sending them to the grave. "Sorry ev'ryone..."
Across from him his opponent merely snorted, still smirking. "'Sorry'..? I would think a weak duelist would have plenty of weak monsters; this just enforces that!" she laughed.
"Bah! I still got plenty 'f strategies t' combat y' Seto-chan..!"
"Katsuyaaaaaaa..." Okay maybe he should just not use her name for most of this match, urk-
"Go on!" he called out, cutting off whatever scathing remark she was prepared to make. "Make yer move!"
"Hn..." The woman rolled her eyes, sighing. "Such a boring duel... Very well! I draw!" she announced, doing just that. While Seto looked over her hand, Katsuya had to swallow. Okay so he SAID he had something but...
Well.
He was still defenseless dammit..! "I summon La Jinn!" Seto called, a new tablet rising as the ethereal deity materialized from the stone. "Attack him directly!" Awwwww craaaaap...
"Khu- Kah...!" Still coughing from the virus he grimaced, watching as the jinn nodded and charged. With a fist raised it prepared his attack, expression impassive and-
Dust met his face, and as his coughing fit increased the jinn snorted and crossed his arms. "Mmn! Pathetic," the monster decided, Katsuya's points dropping by 1800 as it shifted back to his place. "I merely blew upon you!"
Oh be quiet man, he was too busy dealing with potential lung infection. "Planning on discarding a few internal organs with those coughs?" While the blond frowned, she continued. "Really... Didn't you know fools can't catch colds?"
"Yea yea... Imagine if it really was a cold..!" The woman seemed to stiffen briefly at that, and in the pause resulting he drew his next card. "Whatever- 's my turn!" And with the cards in his hand now, he mentally crossed his fingers. "First, I summon th' Swordsman of Landstar," he announced, tablet rising before the card could even be placed. "An' next..." Please work please work please work... "Graceful dice!"
As the tablet rose and the angelic imp floated forth from newly carved stone, Seto rolled her eyes from across them. "Hn... You can't win everything with luck, Mutt..!"
"Heh... I c'n still try can't I?" ...Okay not the best comeback but- "Watch!" he shouted, the die falling from the imp's hands. "Th's roll's gonna set things right..!" Bounce... Bounce...
Four!
The swordsman's blade glowed with power, and Katsuya pumped a fist in cheer. "WHOO! Alrigh'! Landstar! Attack th' Jinn!" he ordered, the swordsman's increased power more than enough to cut down the beast before them to inflict a little more damage to already cut down points.
His opponent merely scowled. "Hn... Don't get so excited yet," she drawled, drawing her card as it came to turn end for Katsuya. "The duel isn't over..." Briefly she looked over her hand, eyes snapping up as she prepared to make her move. "If anything, we've just begun!" As she spoke yet another tablet appeared, again rising from the earth around them before crumbling away to reveal the image of what lay within. "I summon the Blade Knight," Seto cried, the armored man stepping out with a loud crunch of leaves beneath his feet. "And I attack the Swordsman of Landstar!"
"Ngh-" Bracing himself for the backdraft he averted his gaze, the mute soldier giving a single sharp cry as the opponent cut through.
"HN!" The knight snorted, giving one swish of his blade before replacing it in his sheath. "Bring out a real opponent next time, Ancient..!" Tch. Ancient this ancient that...
...Was everything in Seto's deck like this..! Across from him another tablet arose, his opponent calmly setting another card. "One card face down," she stated, apparently calming slightly with the move in her favor. She fixed a triumphant smirk Katsuya's way, arms crossed once more. "End turn!"
"Heh." Despite the severe blow to his lifepoints he had to grin, a fact that had his opponent's own expression freeze just slightly. What... Surprised to see him in this kind of mood?
She had a lot to learn, didn't she?
"My turn then," he announced with a laugh. "Y' might 've cut me down, but I'm jus' getting' warmed up here..!"
"Warmed up with nearly a quarter of your life points remaining?" she responded dryly, a somewhat cruel smirk joining her words.
He stiffened somewhat at that, but shook it off. "Oi oi... Jus' watch..! I summon th' Little Winguard in attack mode," he called out, tablet rising as Seto frowned.
"...Is this some moronic attempt at strategy, Mutt?" Even the Winguard seemed to take one look across the field before giving a loud 'eep!' at her chances, looking back with wide eyes.
"Please say yes, please say yes..!!"
Ahahaha... Oi oi, what did she take him for..? "Maybe," he said instead, taking another card from his hand as he winked at his monster. "Why not see f'r yerself? I play th' magic card Legendary Sword!" he began, his monster jumping as her own blade began to glow. "An' with tha', I att-"
"Activate set card 'Absorb Spell'!" Seto countered loudly, Katsuya's smile locking in place as it 'cracked' in a sense. "Diverting your 'power up' to the Knight!" she finished with a grin, the glow fading from Winguard's sword as it transferred to the Blade Knight instead. "Hnhnhnhnhn... Nice try 'Mutt'... But not quite..." BAHHHHH.
Like that was going to get him! "Mannnnn... You f'rget my name again? Mutt this mutt that..." he joked, shaking his head as he took another card, "Maybe I oughtta think 'f somethin' f'r you!"
"...Try it," she snarled almost immediately, her opponent stiffening. "And you'll see what happens."
"AHEHEHEEee... I set one card," he decided to say in the end, coughing a little uneasily as the Winguard in front of him swallowed. "End turn!"
"Um. I hope you have a good idea Katsuya," the Winguard said with a swallow, "Because I could have at least gone into defense..." Ahahaha...
Yea... Well, he'd hope that there wouldn't be an attack but...
He swallowed, watching Seto draw her next card. Looked like he got his wish. "Hnhnhnh... Not afraid of an attack are you?" she chuckled, looking across as he stiffened.
"Nyhhhh... Jus' a little..!"
The woman's smirk grew. "Too bad..! I can do much worse after all- I pay 1000 lifepoints to play this," she announced, a new tablet rising at the side where her now destroyed spells once stood. "Enemy Controller!" Shit. "I take control of the Little Winguard," she continued with a grin, "And while Icould sacrifice both of these monsters," the woman went on, Katsuya grimacing as the large device appeared from the earthenwork to seemingly 'zap' his monster into a drone like state, "I think I'll play this..."
...Dammit.
"Cost down!" As the next tablet rose and crumbled the dust seemed to shoot toward Winguard, covering her completely as the monster slowly walked toward Seto's side of the field. "And with that done, I only need one sacrifice for this..! WATCH!" she cried, "This is a real monster! I summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon..!"
In an instant the Little Winguard crumbled into the ground, vanishing into nothing but a rising flow of dust to form a new, larger tablet. Despite the darkened soil and moss however, the dragon which broke through the stonework was as white as its name, and completely untarnished by the ground. She stepped forth with a loud, song-like roar that had both Katsuya and Seto herself looking toward her magnificence, before the great white dragon took her position at her master's side.
The look on Seto's face made it relatively obvious what she was about to do. "Hnhnhn... It seems our duel didn't last too long!" she laughed, pointing her dragon forward. "Exactly as I expected...! Now.. Blue Eyes!" she called, the dragon taking a deep breath as she looked toward Katsuya. "BURST STREAM..!"
"HAH-!" A resounding slap entered the air as he activated the tablet at his side, palm stinging just slightly as a pair of small lambs tumbled out from the once blank stone. "Act'vate th' set spell... Scapegoat!" The first leaped directly before him, taking the hit directly and becoming naught but ashes in an instant. The second however, gave a loud bleat before curling up near his feet, the blond giving it a brief look before turning back to his opponent with an expression of grit determination.
"Hn! Of course you would have that," the woman sighed in response, as though this new development was only barely delaying some other plan. Fingering her one card for a mere moment she pointed her other monster forward, the scapegoat at Katsuya's feet standing with a jolt. "Blade Knight gains 400 attack points due to his effect," she announced, the monster's blade seeming to glow with still more power from the barely existing hand of cards in Seto's grip. "NOW! ATTACK!"
"HnnnnHAH-!" As the monster charged the scapecoat leaped into his path, cleaved easily in two as another lamb came to take his place. Speaking not another word the knight moved to take his position again, Katsuya swallowing. Alright... No monsters with more than 1500 attack points in his deck, annnnd...
...Blue Eyes right across from him. Shit. Not good he thought to himself, drawing the 'Battle Warrior' and preparing his next move with a sigh. "Hahhh... Set one card," he announced as it came to his turn, a blank tablet coming to his side as another rose almost directly in front of him. "An' after tha', Battle Warrior in defense mode- End turn!"
"Really, your delays are getting worse the longer this goes," his opponent 'scolded', triumphant smirk still fixed in place.
"Tch!" He snorted. "As if..! You jus' wait an' see what I've got in store," he added, his own smirk coming into existence. Maybe he didn't have any strong monsters, but he had a plan...
He just hoped to hell it worked..! "My turn," Seto called out, drawing her next card and giving it one look before placing it on the field. "I play the spell Card of Demise!" she announced, Katsuya staring with somewhat wide eyes from across her. She'd be able to draw until she had five cards his mind told him, watching as Seto did just that. ...Provided she discard it all in five more turns... "I'll be sure to destroy you before this card's effect comes in full force," the woman stated, as though realizing just what was on her opponent's mind. "Until then... I summon the Kaiser Seahorse!" she announced, tablet rising and crumbling almost as quickly as she made the summon. Covered in violet and sea blue armor the almost coral-like knight stepped forward, giving nothing more than a scoff at what lay across him on the field. "And then I attack! GO!" she ordered, the knights charging forward as the last of the scapegoat bleated in defense. While both were cleaved in two their tablet shattered entirely, before that of the Battle Warrior's followed beneath the fires of Blue Eyes herself. "If you intend to prove me wrong Katsuya, you'd best do so quickly," she laughed, apparently not catching her slip as the blond before her briefly stared in surprise. "Because it looks as though your next turn will be your last..! Unless of course," she added almost idly, "You intend to give up..."
His grin could probably have rivaled a few of Seto's really. "Hehehehe... As if, Seto-chan..!" Drawing his next card he set it on the duel disk immediately, tablet rising from the ground only to buckle and spin as it formed an ever familiar grinning faced pot. "I play Pot of Greed!" he announced, drawing his next two cards as the pot in question crumbled into two more tablets. "An I've got jus' what I need... Firs' though, I'm activatin' my trap!" the blond shouted, hooded imp leaping from the tablet to begin digging at the ground in an instant. "Graverobber! I pay 1000 lifepoints t' activate th' effect of yer very own 'Enemy Controller," he continued, his opponent going white. "DESTROYIN' BLUE EYES!"
...This was probably not a good idea. "WHAT..!" As the controller took effect the dragon roared, clutching her head immediately- in but an instant however, there was no head to grab. Instead the dragon dissolved, just as the Little Winguard before, vanishing into a wash of dust on the ground. "Blue Eyes... YOU..."
"I ain' finished yet," Katsuya continued, catching his breath as the lifepoint train took effect. "I play th' spell Monster Reborn..! Bringin' Blue Eyes White Dragon t' MY side of th' field..!"
The roar that met his ears was incredible, and for a brief moment it drowned out the snarl from across him. The tablet of the dragon rose tall behind him as the ankh of the spell appeared, drowning the field in a brilliant teal light. With a singing roar the dragon launched forth from her tablet, soaring through the air before landing protectively at his side. Once more, the dragon roared... But it seemed calming almost, and perhaps even reassuring. And as Katsuya stared the dragon briefly rubbed her head against his, before batting his hand with it.
"Ah- Alrigh, Alrigh'," he muttered, giving the beast a slight pat on the head. "Er..."
"Get your hands of my DRAGON," his opponent roared, the blond swallowing somewhat uneasily. Okay, this really could have gone a little better but...
"She ain't yours righ' now!" he instead countered, pointing the dragon forward. "An' b'sides tha', she doesn' seem t' have any problems with fair play..!"
"YOU..." OKAY HE SHOULD PROBABLY SHUT UP NOW.
"ATTACK TH' BLADE KNIGHT!" he called out, the dragon rearing as she prepared to send a blast of flame forward. "BURST STREAM!"
"Ugh." As the fires flew across the field, the Blade Knight seemed to almost sigh in resignation. "At least you got the damn attack name right..." O-Oi oi...
It wasn't like he did that for EVERYTHING he attacked with right..?
As the fires cleared he tried not to pay too much attention to the livid expression on Seto's face, instead placing one more card on the field. "I summon th' Hayabusa Knight in d'fense mode," he stated clearly, the smaller tablet rising up with the carving of the bird headed knight at his side. "End turn! Maybe y' shouldn' assume th' end of a duel so quick!" he added, smirking again as Seto continued to glare. "Anythin' can happen..!"
"Ahh..." Oh shit. As Seto clenched her fists and looked across the field he felt himself pale again, before the woman settled with drawing her next card. "You're right... 'Anything' can happen..." Why did that not sound like an agreement. "You made one very... VERY... Big mistake though," she continued lowly, Katsuya silently cursing under his breath as Blue Eyes seemed to look down at him in mild (and potentially amused) worry. "You. DO NOT. TOUCH. BLUE EYES..! I still have Kaiser Seahorse," she roared, pulling it from the disk and sending it to the grave as she made her move. "And he accounts for two sacrifices for any Light monster..! SO WATCH," the woman snarled, another tablet rising in song as the Kaiser Seahorse crumbled. "I sacrifice the Kaiser Seahorse to summon my second Blue Eyes... AND NOW, MUTT," she continued in rage, "I'M SENDING YOU TO HELL!"
"S-Sheeesh..! C-Calm down," he laughed uneasily, the other dragon roaring just as threateningly. "'S not tha' big a deal..!"
"Oh it is..! ATTACK!" she ordered, the first of the dragons immediately charging a blast in retaliation as the second launched their flames. "BURST... STREAM!"
Ducking under his arms the white flames encompassed the entirety of the field, blinding him just long enough that by the time he looked up with spots in his eyes the field was cleared of both the dragons. "Holy shit," he groaned, holding his head. "I get tha' they mean a lot t' yah but..."
"But nothing," she spat, setting another card to the field. "I play the Monster Reborn, bringing Blue Eyes back to the field!" As the tablet that had been destroyed so often again returned Seto narrowed her eyes, her dragon soon appearing to her side with an apparently similar outlook on the match. "There's only one place for Blue Eyes," she continued, almost spitting on the ground as she roared. "UNDERSTAND?"
"I GET IT..!"
"And the next time you even THINK of dueling-"
"We hav'n even finished this one yet..!"
"Blue Eyes should never even be anywhere NEAR your HAND-"
"AAAAAUGH-"
"Aouuuuuuuunnnnnn..."
The pair jumped, turning as the white dragon on the side yawned.
"Eh... W's tha'..."
Seto said nothing, merely staring at her dragon with an expression that almost resembled embarrassment before turning back to the field with a stiff frown. "Tch. This duel is going to be over with in just one move more," she hissed, crossing her arms. "My turn is over..! Lets see what 'defense' you come up with now..."
"Hahhhhh..." Saved. He was just saved by a yawning dragon, really... What the hell had his life come to... Nonetheless he swallowed, drawing his next card. Baby Dragon... Well, he needed to get something on the field right? "Baby Dragon in d'fense mode!" he announced, one more tablet rising in front of him for a shield. "End turn!"
"Is that all?" The blond merely stared across the field in silence, and Seto snorted. "Blue Eyes will swallow those two whole..! But first," she laughed, taking the card she'd drawn and giving it a minute glance, "Stop Defense!" Awww hell. As the monsters were forced from their tablets the Hayabusa knight shook himself, a light screech escaping him before he drew his sword. He couldn't speak, as it seemed- but he looked back to his summoner with a single look and nodded, as though already knowing what was planned. Across from them, Blue Eyes prepared for attack... And Katsuya prepared to counter. "GO BLUE EYES," Seto ordered. "BURST STREAM!"
As the fires blasted the ground his side of the field was briefly obscured from view, the blond barely able to grope around for his blank tablet to activate it. But as the smoke cleared, it was plain to see what had been activated- and Seto's scowl increased. "Hah... Nutrient Z!" he laughed, grinning despite the bizarre shock to his system the tablet had just given him. "I migh' not have much points left r'gardless, but it's more then what you've got!
"Tch..." The woman merely narrowed her eyes, slipping another card into the disk. "I set one card and end my turn," she then decided, expression otherwise unchanging. "Your move." Ahahahah
Good god she could make anything menacing, couldn't she...
He drew his next card, a wry smile on his face as he realized what it was. Time Wizard... This was his chance then..! A long shot, but it was his chance! "I play th' TIME WIZARD!" he roared, tablet rising the instant its name was called. And as the wizard hopped forward, staff held toward the sky he continued. "Let's work some magic..!" The dial spun.
The hand of the wheel blurred and the symbols with it as the arrow passed over it, Katsuya swallowing as he watched for the result. Red... Black... Red... Black... It was a fifty fifty shot, and if it could land in his favor...
...Crown. "YEAAAAAA!" The Baby Dragon before him immediately began to grow- bones cracking and skin hardening as it slouched over, a beard growing as the beast quickly dwarfed much of the field. "An' because of th' effect," Katsuya laughed, looking across the field, "Blue Eyes is-" His grin fell, watching as a smirk came over Seto's own face.
Another trap. Interdimensional Matter Transporter. "Recognize this card?" she 'asked', the Blue Eyes White Dragon shimmering back into existence with a snarl. "You'll never defeat me with a gambling deck..! And now that it's my turn this is the end!" As still more tablets rose from the ground the Thousand Year Dragon moaned, narrowing blind eyes in confusion. "First- I discard the Thunder Dragon, adding two more to my hand!" the woman announced. "Next, I play this- Polymerization! Fusing the thunder dragons in my hand to summon the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!"
As she spoke a portal appeared behind her, and from within it the sounds of snarling could be heard. Crawling out from its depths and coming to her side the red-scaled beast came, double mouths open and screeching as lightning sparked from its back. "And in addition to that," Seto continued, her opponent swallowing, "I play this- QUICK ATTACK! THIS IS THE END," she roared, pointing the monsters forward in that instant. "TWIN-HEADED THUNDER DRAGON ATTACKS THOUSAND DRAGON... AND BLUE EYES ATTACKS DIRECTLY! GO!" she announced, unable to hear or see what her opponent was now doing as the white fires again filled the air while joined by sparks and the sound of thunder. "ATTACK! WITHBURST STREAM!"
"Hahaha..." The fires and sparks both blasted against the now thousand year old dragon and in seconds it was ash, most of the field leveling itself at the same moment. "HahaHAHAAA!" And as the flames of Blue Eyes' attack slammed against him he felt his body launch backward in the force, laughter faltering only when he finally landed. "HnhnHAHAHAHA- G-OH!" OW.
That hurt...
Still laughing he rubbed his head, standing with a grin. "Hahahah... AHAHAHAHA!"
"What the hell are you laughing about," Seto snarled, disk clacking back into its inactive mode as the last remaining portions on the field faded away. "...HEY! Katsuya..!"
"Hahahah... AHHHHH..."
"SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Sheeeesssssh she was ticked... "Man," he laughed, replacing his deck and pocketing it. "You really got me there..!"
...That comment managed to actually surprise the woman, apparently. "...What."
"I said y' got me!" he laughed again, shaking his head with a grin as he walked toward her. "It was a good match! Light'n up already..! It's yer birthday..! Th' duel was f'r fun, r'member!" He spun, as though to 'help' the subject along. "Righ'? FUN!"
Seto merely stared, as though unable to decide if she was disgusted or confused. Or perhaps both.
The remaining anger from the whole 'got yer dragon' thing probably wasn't helping. "...You're an IDIOT. I don't have-"
"Finish tha' sentence an' I'm tellin' yer brother."
"WHAT?" While Seto barked out the incredulous remark Katsuya merely laughed, grin widening beyond normal limits as the two slowly made their way back to the house. "Tch... Duels are not about... Just take your loss like a normal human being..!"
"Already did! Nothin' wrong with enjoyin' a good match against a strong opponent!"
"That isn't normal in anyway..!"
"Hehehehehe..!"
"Tch..." She apparently gave up, storming ahead to grab the door and go back instead. "Never mind... A mutt like you can't possibly understand..!"
"Hahhhhh... I think it's you not understandin'..."
Oh. Oh maybe he shouldn't have said that, because now she was glaring at him and...
"Uhhhhhh..."
"Go on," she growled. "What am I not 'understanding'..?"
"Erk- Well... 'S just fun, y' know."
"You said that already."
"I know, I know!" he protested, taking his shoes off as they got inside. "Jus'... What other reason would there be t' duel?"
"To win!" she snapped back, as though the answer were obvious. "What kind of question is that!"
"Really?"
Seto paused at that- really paused, as though hesitating not only on if it would be best to answer with her same stubborn remark but also on something else. In the end she merely began to make her way down the hall, Katsuya behind her. "...The duel is over," she stated flatly. "Just drop it."
He sighed at that, but decided to humor her nonetheless. If that was how she was going to be...
"Aha! Not yet, not yet!"
"Eh?" As the pair turned the corner Mokuba seemed to bolt out from nowhere, instantly doing his best to herd the duo toward an opposite room. Given his size compared to them, it was actually a little amusing but...
"Wh- Mokuba! What are you doing?"
"The Tenma brothers are still on the phone! Don't give me a reason for me to hand you the phone!"
"EHH? Why don' y' jus' say she's not here then?"
While Seto settled for a somewhat disbelieving glare, Mokuba snorted. "Yea, because they'll believe THAT! It was hard enough giving them the excuse I just gave them now..!"
"And that excuse is?"
There was no answer, the two suddenly shoved rather bodily into another room before the doors shut. "AH-!"
"Oi..! Mokuba..!"
"Hey hey, Mokuba! Let 's out!"
"No way!" came the muffled response from outside the door. "I gotta distract these guys. You two can watch a movie or something, there's popcorn waiting!"
...Okay what. He knew Mokuba'd planned everything but...
...What.
The two traded a brief glance, before looking toward the couch in the dim lit room. The room was, strangely enough, lit by a TV screen in fact. And as Katsuya walked over to stare at the screen before taking a seat, Seto snorted. "Aha... No."
"Whaaaaat." He smirked, resting an arm on the side of the couch. "Don' like movies?"
She merely fixed him with a glare, standing near the door a few more moments. "I have better things to do than sit in front of a tv screen for three hours."
Katsuya shrugged, grabbing the DVD case that was left on the counter. "Looks like Mokuba put in... Ooh! Thor!" HEEEEEY! He hadn't seen that one yet! ...And with luck his visions would butt out of it too.
And still, Seto stared, evidently more than unimpressed.
He tried another option. "...Y' know... If yer gonna be stuck in here as long 's Mokuba figures... Y' mind as well right?"
For a moment, Seto said nothing in response to that.
In the end however, she did indeed take her seat, and though they were initially sitting at far opposite ends of the couch the question of 'who has the popcorn bowl' would eventually drive them to at least sit with the bowl sitting directly between the two. Perhaps it wasn't the most 'romantic' of evenings...
Actually, watching the would be antagonist of their film arguably go through something in a similar vein to what Seto had wasn't romantic at all but...
Well in the end, he decided later that evening, it was a start.
...He did wish Mokuba had at least given them more popcorn though.
AN: LOOK IN THE SKY-
IT'S A BIRD.
IT'S A PLANE.
NO IT'S USAGI FINALLY UPDATING AHHH-
By this point though guys, I'm not making any more update promises. I have to just face the facts- when I started the fanfic, I was pretttttty much just sitting inside all day because UNEMPLOYMENT. Right now, between helping around my mom's house and actually having school and things, updates aren't ever going to be as fast as they used to be. And I think accepting that has helped me a lot, to be honest.
Regardless!
In light of the current fiasco with 's purge, I'm preparing to begin uploading this fanfic on AO3. You'll find me under the same Username as here, and while I'm not moving quiet yet, if for some reason this fanfic is purged I DO have a hard copy of all the chapters to post. For now though, I intend to give a loose edit through each one as I go, as well as throw in some BONUS material...
You can post images with these documents as I recall.
On another note- I haven't forgotten the contest prize! Don't worry, I AM working on a potential book cover image; the issue is deciding what it looks like! There's a LOT in this story, picking a small moment to describe it is HARD...
I might have to go minimalistic on it actually; but even then...
In any case, moving right along..!
Anonymous Review Responses
Imadork~
I'm always here. ALWAYS.
In any case, here's an update~ I hope you enjoy it!
Hehehee. Omg Chocopeep you have the image in my head too now-!
Glad to inspire spur-of-the-moment reviews! I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much!
No Iona.
I AM LATE IN RESPONDING. And in any case, I do hope you enjoyed this update!
PFFFFFF I'M PRETTY SURE SHE'S NOT AN ANGLER FISH- regardless, there is indeed a storm in her thoughts... With time however, it will clear. -u-
Oh no Mana...
It'll be some time before you get to this response, but goodness that is a mean DM!
In any case, I hope you've enjoyed the fanfic thus far..! I'll try to update soon~
In regards to chapter 45/44, the reason she summoned blue eyes then was because points didn't nessecarilly factor in by that point. The ninja was acting more as an NPC than a monster- he had other things at his disposal. More importantly, she'd taken down the dinosaur prior- this gave her as many life points as the monster had attack points, since she hadn't used a monster to fight it, which meant she could spare the cost to summon Blue Eyes if it meant avoiding an obvious glitch.
Oh! And... I can't recall if it was you or someone else, as unfortunately the review was lost..! However, while the monster keeping Seto hostage in that same arc did indeed realize her gender, the program didn't care. Seto was entered in under the guise of a male traveller according to remaining programming; this meant that the program continued as planned, targetting the Princess... While the side along bits that should have kept her locked firmly in the room FAILED HORRIBLY.
As it was, the attack was already underway at that time, technically. :/
IN ANY CASE!
Usagi's Manga and Japan Guide/Section
The section that will be on time for once! NO REALLY-
Why didn't Yugi notice the bag wasn't his to start? Because he and Jonouchi barely if ever touch their homework, and after the events of 'R', they pretty much just collapsed on their beds until the following morning.
Speaking of the bag, the ring was initially returned differently in the manga; it was sitting on Yugi's table, and while the group looked for Kaiba, Bakura spotted it. He then said 'oh there it is!' put it on, and commented on how it was rather mean of Yugi to not tell him he'd found it.
But. Given that it would be silly to do things like that (Yugi, don't leave your items in the open!) it made more sense for it to happen like this; and Bakura will not be quite so close to the others anymore because of this- it's one thing if it's over the course of one day; then Yugi could have the excuse that Bakura was comatose most of the time, and that it slipped his mind after.
Now? It's plainly obvious that they just did not trust him with it. And that stings his trust- a LOT.
'Detention House', if you haven't guessed, refers to the jail. ...Cause. That's what it's called guys.
No really guys, what do these kids tell their parents?
'Yea sorry I'm late mom, I was saving the world.'
'Oh, I didn't come home last night? Yea I slept with a friend. Totally didn't come anywhere near becoming the vessel of one of the embodiments of evil. Nope, nope...'
Hey. The finals might have ended up with non-live film you know... (Kaiba voiced them over and edited certain comatose states out actually- in the end, not including the film of the finals was silly, but at the same time, it's hardly a good idea to have a bleeding dying Jou on screen.) ...But still.
If you haven't guessed, you probably know now! This duel is based on the anime only Kaiba vs Jou for Third Place of Battle City! Of course, since it's happening MONTHS after the fact, the start of it isn't even remotely similar. Particularly the speech Jou gives about how important friends are. And really, it'd be a little silly to do that right now when Seto's probably made more progress than she would have in CANON at this point... As it is though, he brings up a VERY good point; he asks Mokuba how the feelings Jou and the others have for their friends is any different from Mokuba's feelings toward Kaiba.
Course, this additionally means there's no one there to watch, so any other scenes tied to it are gone as well...
Seto's line is based on an actual one that I'm not entirely certain I understand from the japanese anime; after Jonouchi successfully defeats La Jinn, he tells him 'fools can't catch colds'. ...Hmmm... ...This line comes back later in the following episode with 'you can't cure a fool until he's dead'. OWCH HARSH-
In any case as you can see, it's hard to remember just what affects Jou during a duel when you never actually duel him..!
Through most of this chapter's 'source episode', Kaiba is of course calling Jonouchi a 'bonkotsu' the entire time. However, again, Seto is a fair bit beyond that- in fact, she's not actually trying to insult him so much as avoid slipping into 'Katsuya'... Which, is not something she's ready to do just yet of course.
And Jonouchi is totally guessing that this is the reason and being a dork about it, as you can see.
The Little Winguard has an effect- at the end of the turn, you can switch it to defense mode. This is what Winguard is referring to when she tells Katsuya that.
What's this? Is Seto having... FUN? -GASP-
She is! She's not at the point where she'll admit it though; sort of like getting a kid to admit they like broccoli really. Basically, while she's able to get lost in the duel for REAL now... In the same way that you're kinda supposed to (that is, by enjoying it), she's not going to admit it, and she's still going to act the way she normally does before and after, as you can plainly see.
What you thought I was ending this with the duel?
LOLNOPE. ENJOY YOUR MOVIE NIGHT.
Musical Notes
Due to the timing of things, there's again a scattered series of music but...
Go to 'homestuck . bandcamp . com' without spaces, and you'll find a lot of the music I've been listening to as of late! In particular, anything from the album 'The Felt', 'Strife!', 'Medium', 'SBurb' and 'Colours and Mayhem' It's good music guys!
I have also, as per usual, been listening to a few choruses...
In particular, these songs;
www. youtube watch? v=yOhNlTt5lzo - 'Witch Hunt'; it's a male duet, and still subtitled..!
www. youtube watch? v=CJSBnlhTDkY - 'Magenta'; this one is actually in English... And still subtitled, amazingly enough. Also, very relevant lyrics...
www. youtube watch? v=EpHW5WjUZRw - 'Kiseki no Umi'. For the subtitled version, go here; ( www. youtube watch? v=E1QMlBwjIDE ) it's sung live, not by vocaloid, so the subtitled one is also very good!
Lastly...
www. youtube watch? v=gg6RHb5Ml10 - 'Code: Altered'. There were actually three different choruses of this that I was listening to. (Searching 'Code: Altered Gumi English' will get you subtitles by the way) This version is the one with both women and men singing!
In any case, that's all for this chapter!
I hope you enjoyed it! I'll try and get the next one out as soon as I can! Until then, thank you very much for reading!