Peacetime
On Christmas Day, a box was placed on Jonouchi Katsuya's bed. It was not the bed he was sleeping in at the time; in fact at that time, the closest thing he had to a bed was the couch in his sister and mother's living room. It wasn't like they had a spare bedroom after all, and while they did at one point, it was currently full of boxes and shelves and very much devoid of a bed.
And yet, despite this, there was a box there. A box which had no warning, or label, or anything to give the slightest clue of its origin.
Which was why, after an eventful return filled with a tackle from Mokuba and a drive back from the airport to the house, he found himself staring at this box with narrowed eyes.
"...Mokuba...?" he called out from where he stood, not really moving from the spot while he stared at the box. "...Did you guys get me somethin'..?"
The answer he got was a 'no', strangely enough. Seto herself had actually hidden her gift inside Mokuba's in fact, though the boys were both quiet about it when Katsuya had opened that particular present on the drive back to find Mokuba's rather amazing scale model Red-Eyes to find a fairly expensive looking watch.
They figured it was better to take things as it was than to ask her about it really; she seemed to prefer that.
As it was, THIS box came from neither of them.
Which was why, when the spirit of the Other Yugi floated up through the floor behind his friend, Katsuya was still staring at it while sitting in his desk chair. "Hey Yug'."
"AH- You saw me coming!"
"Ehhh... Sorta," he admitted with a shrug, looking back a moment. "More heard t' be honest."
"...Oh." he somewhat lamely said in response. "...I see." He floated over, looking from Katsuya to the box. "...I would have thought you'd have opened all your Christmas presents by now," he added, raising an eyebrow. "It's January already."
Hahahahaha... He simply laughed. "Aha... Yea well... I don' really know who it came fr'm..."
"...How is this stopping you." WH-
"I- IT AIN' STOPPIN' ME!"
"If you grabbed a chair to sit on, then yes it is."
"No it ain'!"
"It is," he continued with a blank face, his friend merely standing to point an accusing finger in it.
"No it ain', an' I'm gonna prove it..!"
"Are you?" he asked, smiling rather innocently in response.
Katsuya froze, looking back to the similarly 'innocent' box before sighing. "Ahhhhhhghhh... Alrigh'..." He walked over to the bed, snatching the box off of it as he took a seat. "Le's see what's inside!" he muttered under his breath, putting a hand up to half-heartedly push his privacy invading friend to the side. "D' you do this t' Yugi too?"
"...Yes?"
The blond stared at him a moment, before grinning with a snort. "Ffft- Someone's gotta teach y' a thing abou' personal space..!"
"It's not hard to ignore when no one sees you."
"'XCEPT I C'N STILL SEE YOU Y' WISEASS-"
'Yugi' grinned at that, arms crossed as he sat mid air. "So you can. Box?"
Fffffttt he was going dammit! "Alrigh'!" Dammit, he was more than a little nervous about this okay?
...Opening the box... And-
"...Oh fuck."
"Nnn?"
Another half-push to the side as the boy leaned over to look, Katsuya briefly scowling. "SPACE."
"What is it though..?"
"It..." What he pulled out of the box had the Other Yugi silent as well, and within good reason. To most, the shoes would seem like nothing special. Though cleaned of any loose dirt and easily removed scuffs they were clearly worn, even with the shoelaces replaced. Well used soles and well rubbed sides, they were arguably in worse condition than the shoes he had now. There was even a hole in the front of one of them.
A hole that had been caused by a small dagger a year and a bit ago. "Those are..."
"M' air muscles..." The box fell to the floor, Katsuya holding the shoes a moment and slowly moving them over in his hands. "But... But these w're left at Pegasus' castle," he whispered, 'Yugi' merely staring and listening as he spoke. "Firs' one fell off when I w's runnin' fr'm 's goons," the blond continued, recalling how the badly worn shoelace had done him in. "..An I had t' leave th' other one t' 'scape 'nother..."
"...If you left them there, that would mean there's only two people who could have given these back," his friend murmured, watching Katsuya smile somewhat and slip the shoes off.
"Heh... Still fit p'rfectly," he muttered, shaking his head. He didn't look back up, simply nodding. "...But... ...F'r th' Tenma brothers t' even bother keepin' these after all tha'..."
"The fact that they returned them to you even," 'Yugi' added, shaking his head.
"Heh." The blond merely leaned back on the bed in the end, toes wiggling somewhat in the shoes as his smile grew. "Shit... Who th' hell knows what's going on anymore," he laughed, shaking his head. "Nothin' ever makes sense..."
'Yugi' didn't say much after that for a bit to be honest- when he did it was to get them on a different subject, which wound up switching between what happened for whom during the Christmas holidays (apparently, 'Yugi' had no problem in spying on a few friends occasionally, though he insisted it was accidental.), and... ...A dream.
If there was one thing that tipped him off to the fact that something was wrong, it was the fact that the 'original' of the two Yugi's appeared at the mansion less than a week later. It was the first day back for school- a day Katsuya would normally expect to spend sitting around in class, bored out of his skull as teachers went on about the importance of coming exams in late March. It was ALSO a day that he didn't expect to see the Other Yugi in control of the body... At least not until the end of the day.
...And yet...
"fFPTTTT-" Cereal and milk went flying as the seemingly solid, yet definitely ethereal form of his friend floated through the wall across from him, the boy blinking rapidly in response as it flew through him and over the counter.
"...Bad time..?" he offered with a laugh, the blond across from him choking down what was still in his mouth.
"S'n'f a..." Okay self, breathe... BREATHE... "G-Give a guy warnin' man, what's goin' on..!"
The spirit continued to laugh somewhat awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "Erm... S-Sorry! I just didn't think it'd be something to talk about at school and..." He looked to the side rather sheepishly. "I didn't want the other-me to know..."
...What. He shook his head, frowning. That... Sounded curiously similar to the request that the other Yugi had made... ...A few days ago...
Even so he nodded, spoon resting in the bowl as he sat back. "Well 'f it's tha' bad..."
His friend gave what seemed to be a sigh of relief, floating somewhat above a chair before speaking. "Hah... Thanks, Jonouchi-kun. I just... I didn't want to worry him with this, and when we're this far apart it makes it easier to say things without him picking up on them..." ...What so visiting him on the other end of town meant no beans spilled? Again the boy sighed, continuing. "There's another reason I'm asking you of course... You have weird dreams a lot, right?" he asked almost hesitantly, watching as Katsuya nodded. "Well... For the past few nights, I've been having one myself. I tried to ignore it," Yugi admitted, swallowing. "But recently, something changed in it."
"Er..." What. "Changed?" Changed... How..?
"It's not much," Yugi told him. "The dream, I mean. I'm walking through a temple I think, wearing armor... At first, I thought it was just a dream of the Monster World, or the Virtual World," he went on, "But then..." He sighed, looking down. "I thought I heard a voice... Calling for me, or the other me even. I thought I saw a hand reaching at the same time even, and I..." Woahhhhhh...
Okay it was pretty much identical until he got to THAT part. "A... A hand..?" As Yugi nodded his friend swallowed, standing from his seat and grabbing his cereal bowl. "I mean... Shit, I don't have a clue what tha's about but..."
"I didn't think you would," Yugi admitted uneasily. "But I didn't want to ask the Other Me, since he'd probably end up worrying..." Oh didn't he just know it.
Still, he'd promised not to say anything to Yugi... ...Damn this was awkward. Maybe it'd be better for them to figure it out themselves? He sighed, nodding. "I guess... Doesn' change th' fact that I don' know what it means though," he muttered, downing the milk in his cereal bowl before taking it into the kitchen. "I mean... If I could help s'mehow, y' know I would! But..." He looked to Yugi, sighing again. "Mannn... ...'F 's any cons'lation... I haven' had any weird dreams myself, so..." ...Or at least nothing... Even remotely related to that...
Yugi didn't need to know about the one he had over the holidays after the mess on new years to be honest. As it was, he seemed to find the fact that there weren't any dreams (that he knew of) relieving. "Phew... Well, that at least helps," he decided. "If Jonouchi-kun can't see it after all, it's probably not too bad." UHHHHHH don't take his word on that! "Anyways. I'm going to go now," the boy continued, turning with a wave. "I'll see you in class, neh?"
Katsuya nodded. "Aah, definitely!" Only a moment after he said this the boy vanished on the spot, likely returning to his own body. The blond sighed, moving back to the other room and grabbing his bag from the ground. Maaaaaan...
He really hoped Yugi was right to figure things wouldn't get worse.
As it turned out, Yugi was both right and wrong about the dreams foretelling darker things to come, though to be honest that depended on the perspective of things. On the one hand, school passed without trouble that day, along with the day following. And the next, and the next... Classes happened as they typically did, and in fact, it seemed things were looking up; from the first day on, Bakura seemed to be over the awkward silence he had with the group since the issues with the Tenma brothers, and was overall his apparently cheery self again.
The key word being apparently, he found himself figuring, as the fact was he had the nasty feeling the smile was being dropped when they weren't looking... Worse, it occasionally felt more like he was being watched.
Not a comfortable feeling from a guy who shared bodies with an actor and thief to be honest.
While the reality of things hadn't been dark however, the dreams apparently were- and while his own occasional visions were perfectly content to either relive what he'd already seen in another one or give heads up of his next dinner, Yugi's dreams apparently weren't.
Which was exactly why he was sitting on the couch of the game room, pretending to play something on his ages-old handheld while having a partially whispered conversation with the 'normal' Yugi. Mokuba at least, was a little understanding about it when he caught snippets, quirking a brow the first time before deciphering the blond's awkward hand gestures and excuses with a slow nod. At the moment in fact, he was off to the side with Seto, the pair catching a rare moment of time together. Aside from their own mutterings as well, the air was filled with the occasional crunch- supposedly Kyouko had brought in a large bag of roasted and seasoned soybeans for a snack, and after some convincing sacrificed a bowl of them for the younger of the Kaiba siblings.
The beans, he'd admit, weren't too bad. He'd tried a few earlier. However, that wasn't quite the point at the moment, and as he briefly spared the two across the room a glance he continued his conversation with Yugi.
"So... Darkness, voices, a hand... An' now y' got red eyes glowin' an' a bunch 'f monsters tha' don' exist on cards?" he asked, looking back up to the spirit that was floating above.
Yugi nodded, resting his elbows on crossed legs and his head on his hands. "U-un... It's gradual," he continued, "But the dreams are definitely getting worse..."
"Man..." He rubbed his head, groaning under his breath. "Th's cannot be good..."
Again his friend nodded, sighing. "I know... And there's not really anything we can do about it but... Well, it helps to talk about it, right?" he asked, Katsuya blinking in response. "I mean... When I think about before, when you started having those dreams and such... And then about how you were around that time..."
Hohhhh... "Ahh... Yea... I w's pretty tense then huh..."
Another nod. "Exactly. I don't want either of us to end up like that again right?" There was some weak laughter, and he shook his head. "Anyways.. Other Me agreed to help Grandpa with the shop today, so I took the chance to come over. I expected Mokuba to be busy with something else," he added, "But I didn't think I'd come in on him playing chess with Kaiba-san..."
As Katsuya turned to glance over at the duo again (before hurriedly turning back to his own game when he realized Seto was about to look up herself) he shrugged. "Ah... You'd be surprised," he told his friend. "It's been happenin' a lot more lately."
"Ehhh? Really?"
"Yep. Still stays at work way too long," he added with a quiet snort, "But she's home on th' weekends at least, an' she seems t' try spending at least some of it w' Mokuba..."
Yugi smiled. "Ahhh. That's great! ...Neh..." He looked back down, blinking. "Speaking of Kaiba-san... ...You know, Valentines day is coming up..."
"SFN-gH-" The sound that wheezed it's way out of Katsuya's throat was odd to say the least, and had the others in the room looking over rather blankly for a moment.
"Uh... Katsuya-nii..?"
"..." Seto frowned. "Katsuya..."
While Yugi took the moment to gape, Katsuya himself merely looked over and attempted to stop choking on his own words. "Gh- Ah... Y-Yea?"
Mokuba was the one to answer that, Seto merely fixing him with an odd narrow-eyed stare. "...What are you doing..?"
"Uhhhhh... Nothing?"
Seto's turn to speak, her stare growing more unimpressed by the second. "...And the choking..?"
"...Soybeans," he weakly offered in excuse, attempting to do anything other than make eye contact with the pair.
"...Soybeans."
"Uh, yea... Cause it's Setsubun righ'?" he laughed, sitting up to rub the back of his head. "Yer s'pposed t' eat as many as y' are old an... I... Tried t' eat 'm all at once, aha..."
The taller of the siblings continued to stare. "...Your lies are more transparent than clean water, mutt." AHAHAHAHA go away.
"Wh- Well..." He shrugged, again trying to cover for himself. "What, you saying you don' do Setsubun?"
The pair raised eyebrows at that. "Well we didn't do it last year..." Mokuba said with a shrug, Seto herself merely continuing her stare.
It was honestly getting kinda creepy, stop stop stop... "Weeeeeell... Do y'... Want to?" he offered with the same weak tone, flinching somewhat as the woman shifted. Idly, he noticed that her hand was still curled up, like she was holding...
The siblings traded looks, before looking back.
Uh-oh.
"NYH-" The blond abruptly fled over the couch, which was suddenly being pelted with beans. "NOT WHAT I MEANT-!"
"THE ANSWER IS NO."
"THEN WHY'RE Y' THROWIN' BEANS!"
"You asked for it, Katsuya-nii!"
"Ahhh..."
Needless to say, by the time he escaped the room, he was fairly salt covered... And Yugi for his part, confused to no end.
"Dude... Is that a bean in your hair..?"
Honda's question the next morning in first period elicited a groan from Katsuya and an awkward laugh from the shorter teen beside him. As it was, the blond started searching around for it shortly after, tossing it aside as his friend snorted.
"Pfff... Didn't figure the Kaiba's were the holiday type," he laughed, shaking his head. "Don't tell me you got the oni mask too!"
The teen was fixed with a fairly unimpressed frown, Katsuya swapping his shoes for slippers and heading to class with the others. "It wasn' even setsubun..." he moaned. "They jus' start'd tossin' beans..."
"Ahaaa..." As Yugi watched, Honda laughed again, his friend growling.
"An' what's so funny abou' tha'...?"
"Nothing?"
"Y' know I could tell ev'ryone abou' yer adventures wi' the nephew..!"
An amused chuckle came from behind, the others turning. "Not before I could," Otogi stated, Honda taking in a sharp breath as the teen walked past.
"But you won't," Honda warned, his roommate unphased.
"Oh... For now."
"WHAT-"
"Hehehehe, an' don' think I'm holdin' back either..!"
"JONOUCHI-"
"Ehhh..." Yugi watched uneasily at the chaos brewing before him, pointing to the classroom door. "Shouldn't we just go inside..?"
The boys looked back to their friend, and then toward the hall clock. "Ah..."
"Hn. 5 to," Otogi noted, slipping under what was almost a headlock from Honda and into the classroom. "Thank you, Yugi..."
"Erm... You're welcome..?"
"Don' think I'm gonna f'rget th' Setsubun thing," Katsuya added with a smirk, Honda swiping the back of his head as he ducked.
"Man just drop it, or I swear I'll find a shit ton more dirt on you in return...!"
"I'll jus' do th' same!"
"BRING IT."
"DON' MAKE ME-!"
As Yugi slammed a hand against his forehead the others in the classroom sighed, watching as the mild scuffle began between the two only to very abruptly be separated by a meter stick. "A-hem!"
"Eh?"
A cough came from the other end of the device, both teens hurriedly breaking it up to look to their home room teacher. "If you could both take your seats," he 'offered', eyebrows raised, "Before I take the 'dirt' that I've found and use it to give the both of you a detention..."
"Y-Y'sir!"
"You got it sensei!"
The man shook his head, watching the pair scurry to their seats before moving to the front. Admittedly, their homeroom teacher was used to this sort of thing. Scuffles like that were just things that Katsuya and Honda did; and they always made up afterward, typically with a no-harm-done sort of thing going between them.
As it were. The blond slumped in his seat as homeroom started, moving to yawn only to flinch as a ball of paper came his way. The ball itself was caught with ease- and then looked at with mild skepticism as Honda gave a thumbs up in the back of his mind before turning to the front. The note in question...
'Ten days...' God fucking-
The note was soon sent back when the teacher's back was turned, a curious spirit of the puzzle poking out from beside Yugi to watch what happened. 'I could say the same to you,' Katsuya had written back, Honda briefly gaining a mildly awkward frown before writing his own response.
The other Yugi ducked as the note sailed above his head, the few students between them merely rolling their eyes (Otogi) or holding their heads (Bakura...). 'Alright,' the note read this time. 'So my chances with Miho have once again failed spectacularly...' The blond sniggered under his breath, before briefly stowing the note between pages of his notebook as the teacher moved to look back. As he was so thankfully recalling/foreseeing/whatever however... '...That doesn't mean you're off the hook! The other guys, they're set.' it read, Katsuya briefly frowning to himself as the words came to mind.
"Hnnnn..." The Other Yugi floated near, and as the teacher looked back the note was pulled out again, Katsuya not particularly caring if it was read by another friend. Yugi himself seemed curious- but turned back to his work in the end, not willing to risk the gap between desks to get them both caught.
"...Ah..." Ohoho, someone was just as confused weren't they! "...What does he mean, 'there's still you'..?"
The response was a faded laugh, and a frown in Honda's direction.
"I c'n guess."
His guess was right on the mark and then some.
"Alright," Honda started at lunch, a few of the others watching from the side in amusement. "Now hear me out. I have... No clue what you see in her for personality," he stated, his friend's expression falling to a flat and unimpressed deadpan stare, "But I figure if there's one thing Valentines is for, it's..." He paused for a moment, as though looking for the right word.
"Hondaaaaaa..."
"YEA. Not coming!" he decided, Otogi snorting at the side as Bakura merely watched on with a frozen expression of amusement. It was just their luck actually, that Yugi and Anzu were having their own lunch relatively alone- potentially for the very reason that Honda was talking to him. As it were, the other Yugi looked notably out of place, staring with wide, blank eyes, and occasionally moving to speak before deciding against it with a second thought.
"'S there ev'n a point t' this...?" he muttered, before his friend continued on.
"Look. I'm resigned to a dateless future. I've accepted it. BUT YOU!" Wat. "There is no way I am letting you screw yourself over."
"WA-" Before he could get angry about that, he had to laugh to be honest. "PFFFFF... Man, y' can' be serious..!" Honda merely stared. "Gh- Yer worse at this stuff th'n I am!"
"WHAT- I am not!"
"Y' jus' finished sayin' yer future in dates were hopeless!"
"With Miho!"
"Y' didn' say tha'!"
"But I meant it!" he insisted, "I meant it!"
The three in the background merely shook their heads, 'Yugi' continuing to stare owlishly whilst Bakura looked to Otogi. "...Does this happen often?" he asked, the taller of the pair raising his eyebrows.
"Do you want to know?"
"I'm tellin' yah Honda, y' gotta drop Miho!"
"I guess I could see how long it takes to ship to Osaka..."
"WHAT-"
The others winced, and while 'Yugi' stared the other two followed suit. "...Well then." Otogi coughed after a moment, before clapping Bakura on the shoulder and turning to leave. "To Valentines Day."
"...R-Right..."
As the two left the Other Yugi merely continued to stare at his two arguing friends, floating form tilting in space to follow the various bizarre locks and holds the duo were placing on themselves. "...This is by far the strangest holiday..." he decided in the end. "...By far..."
His only response, as it were, was a mental chuckle from the original Yugi and a rather loud 'YOU STAY TH' HELL AWAY FR'M MY SISTER!' from Katsuya to Honda.
It happened in class.
"Seven days man..."
"Haha, DROP IT."
It happened at Burger World.
"Dude you have like... Three days before Valentines now, you thought of something to do right?"
"D' you have... ANY IDEA... 'F who yer talkin' abou'?"
Honda paused.
"...Yes."
"HONDA-"
...It even happened at the god damned arcade.
"Alrigh' one, two, left, an-"
"IT'S VALENTINES TOMORROW, WHAT ARE YOU DOING-"
"S'N'VA-" The blond stumbled, scrambling for the bar as the 'NNR' screen flashed a rather brilliant 'LOSE' across it. "HONDA WHAT TH' HELL?"
The teen shrugged. "Payback for last week."
…Okay yea he had that coming. Nonetheless he scowled, pulling himself up and rubbing a now very sore neck. "Ghaaaaaaa... Couldn' think 'f a better time f'r tha'...?"
"Well, you shot down every other time..."
He turned, frowning. "Only 'cause y' can' seem t' grasp th' fact tha' 'she' doesn' do holidays."
"You got chocolate last year."
"Yea but-" He turned, pointing at his friend accusingly. "Oh you'd better not be askin' abou' my chocolate-!"
The point was responded with another point. "AHA! See, you know she's going to do it again!"
Katsuya stared, frowning in response. "...An' yer point."
"Well... You've got to do something man, I mean..." He looked around, as though expecting to suddenly be spotted by one of the others as they walked out of the arcade. "This has never happened before." As Honda said this with a tone far more flat and severe than anything he'd been saying on the topic all week, Katsuya stared. "Just... Never happened Jonouchi. ...I don't want to see you screw this up," he went on in that same tone. "And... Well, I guess... ...I know it's weird, but I've never seen you happier man."
"What..." The blond shook himself, looking at Honda oddly. "Th' hell are you..."
He shrugged. "Okay, so I've seen you 'crazy' happy," he admitted. "During duels and such but... It's... Just a different kind, alright? Let me put it in perspective," the teen went on, snatching his friend's attention for the first time in a number of days. "When you win a duel you shout right? You jump, youscream... HAPPY," he reiterated, Katsuya listening in mild confusion. "But then there's other things. When you realized that she was still alive after Battle City," Honda began, "The relief you had on your face was... Intense. But after that... Yeaaa, you smiled a bit, but you just weren't the same. Then that shit with Tenma happened," the teen explained. "She came back. And you had... This look on your face. This bizarre, beaming smile and- and it felt like whatever stones were dragging you down were suddenly gone alright? Just... The mood you had around you..."
Katsuya continued to stare in silence, Honda looking away for a moment and sighing.
"Look... The fact is... It's like I said. I don't get what you see but... Whatever the hell it is, I don't want to watch you lose it. So just... Don't screw up," he repeated, looking back to the blond. "Alright? Don't fuck this up man..."
"Honda... ...C'mon, I ain'-"
"I'm serious," he stated flatly, "One day, the weird shit will be over, and you will still have whatever the hell you call it okay."
The blond snorted, the pair making their way down the sidewalk. "I got it man- I won't screw up."
"Damn right. And when she finally figures it out herself you're gonna tell me how the night goes."
Another snort, followed by a playful knock to the shoulder. "Yea, an' you'll hook up wi' yer own girlfriend when tha' happens righ'?"
"Hey! ...You admitted she was your girlfriend."
"Wh- DAMMIT-"
"HaHAAAA YES!" His friend laughed, tearing off as Katsuya chased after.
"Get th' hell back here y' asshat!"
"Gonna have to catch me first!"
"DAMMIT-!"
One had to admit, their friendship was fucking bizarre...
But hell if it wasn't a good one.
Not that it saved Honda from what awaited him the morning, of course.
Girls swarmed two desks in particular that day and as they stood to the side and safely away from the chaos, the Other Yugi floating amid them as Yugi himself stood not too far with Anzu, they had only one thing to say.
"...Valentines." Honda muttered, looking over the crowd with an expression not unlike a stunned deer in the headlights. "...You have no idea how happy I am that this isn't any of you," he added, the others turning with raised eyebrows.
"Which one, the mob of fangirls or the subject of their affections?" Anzu asked dryly.
The response was almost instant, a shock of white only briefly appearing in the middle of the crowd before Bakura was again swamped in girls attempting to hand him a box. "Both."
"Erm... Well if it means anything I think someone left a box on your desk at least..."
Honda snapped toward Yugi, expression immediately shifting from 'deer' to 'pointer'. "Are you serious?"
The blank stare in response more or less said '...yes?', and without another word Honda charged through the empty sections of classroom toward his.
"Yesyesyesyesyes-"
"Erm... Who does he think put it there..?" Yugi uneasily asked, the group wincing as a few desks dampened the trek for their friend.
"I think the better question is 'will he be disappointed'," Anzu responded, Katsuya merely staring with wide eyes.
He opened his mouth to answer, only to abruptly shut it and look in the other direction. ". . ."
"...Jonouchi..." As the other Yugi turned to look at the blond the others followed, Yugi himself first and Anzu shortly after.
"...Did you just see..."
"...Jonouchi-kun..?"
The blond merely rubbed the back of his head, shrugging and shaking his head. "Not sayin," he eventually said, the others trading looks. "Not a word..."
"J-Jonouchi-kun, it can't be that bad..."
"IT'S ANONYMOUS..!" The trio (plus one) turned, blinking as Honda stumbled back with the box in hand. "There's no name," he repeated with a grin, "Just chocolate!" They continued to stare, Honda almost expectantly holding the grin before continuing. "...I don't have to do anything for white day!"
Anzu smacked her face and groaned, the others laughing somewhat awkwardly. "Ah... T-That's great Honda-kun! Good for you!"
Katsuya wisely remained silent- partially in amusement- as Honda continued to grin. "Hehe... Yep! This is probably the best Valentines I've ever had..."
"'S th' first one y've gotten chocolate on, tha's f'r sure," he snorted, his friend immediately turning on him.
"WHY YOU-"
"GhAHAHAHA-!"
It was probably for the best that the rest of lunch was spent dealing with either the brawl or the aftermath thereof- the less Honda suspected of him the better really.
Particularly since he was almost certain that the one who delivered that chocolate didn't attend their school.
"MeheheheheehaAHAHAHHAAHA..."
Watching Mokuba laugh in a manner strangely similar to that of his elder sister during the 'death t' period as it could be called, was not typically something anyone would want to see.
Watching Mokuba laugh in this manner while staring at a pile of chocolate that potentially rivaled the size of the fish-tank at the side of his bedroom...
Well that was fucking hilarious. "It's mineeeeee~" he laughed, Katsuya merely staring with the same amusement he had for Honda's 'no white day' reaction. "ALL MINEEEEE!"
Katsuya snorted as he leaned against the wall near the fish tank, shaking his head. "Yea, an how long y' expect t' hide it fr'm yer sister?"
The boy scowled. "This time I'm going to make sure she doesn't find it..! And besides, I could have... Just not gotten chocolate this year!"
There was a span of silence, the amused expression failing to vanish.
"...Oh come on Katsuya-nii..! I'll even share!"
"Ah- Like hell I'm gettin' involved in th's, I know a losin' situation!"
"But Katsuya-nii... Chocolate..."
He shook his head. "Sorry! But y' know, I didn' say I'd tell..."
There was a grin in response to that in an instant, the boy again cackling. "Hahaahah! YESSSSSSSSS! It's all-"
"There you are..."
Mokuba froze, Katsuya as well jumping as the door opened to reveal Seto herself. Sparing but a glance at the blond and the fish beside him, she looked toward the horde of chocolate Mokuba had on his bed, frowning. "Ahaaa... N-Nee-sama!" he laughed, the woman seeming to stare boredly at the boy trying and failing to hide the pile. "How was your day?"
She continued to stare. "I sincerely hope you planned to tell me about this," she stated flatly, colour draining from Mokuba's still 'smiling' face.
"Ahahahahahaaaaa..."
Seto snorted, moving back toward the door. "The chocolate goes to the kitchen within an hour," she warned, before looking back to Katsuya. "And you."
"EH-" He pointed to himself, amusement dropped for shock. "...Me?"
"Follow me, we're watching the Avengers."
"HEHHHH?"
He'd followed of course, in the end. It... Probably wouldn't have ended well if he followed actually! He'd have said the movie choice was interesting to be honest, but after Thor, it was one of the natural choices when he thought about it. Really, he was probably more surprised by the fact that she dragged him off for a movie than anything.
Or at least, surprised that the movie didn't start with them on exact opposite ends of the couch, even though the bowl of popcorn still sat between them as the title credits rose.
Surprisingly enough, the movie experience wasn't too different from what it was during the latter minutes of 'Thor' a few months prior. He supposed it figured in the end- Seto was the one who had the idea really, and really, more power to her for that anyways. He honestly hadn't expected it.
He supposed even with all the joking around at school actually, he hadn't expected the box he found on the bed either- and even though it would mean hell on white day, and already meant attempting to push a spirity Other Yugi out of the room when he showed up from being booted from the puzzle until Yugi's date was over ('Wait, Yugi's on a date w' Anzu? YES!')...
Well, chocolate was chocolate, and this was really good chocolate aaaaah-
Not that it... Stopped the other Yugi from asking how his own 'date' went... ('It wasn' a date!' '...Yes. Yes it was.')
But regardless of what happened in the aftermath of Valentines, if there was one place they were all guaranteed to find themselves later on it was the department store.
In the candy section.
Staring at white chocolate on the afternoon of the thirteenth. "Nnnnn..."
"Aaaahh..."
"Why is it so expensive..."
The boys turned as Bakura lamented his chocolate bill, Honda shaking his head from where he'd been watching. "Man... I'm telling you, just take a page from Otogi's book and skip the fourteenth!"
"But I can't miss a class..!"
"Err... Hate t' break it t' yah Bakura but y' have b'fore..."
"But I was sick!" he protested, "It didn't count..!"
"Hnn, not all the time..."
Yugi appeared to call for his other self to 'shush', looking back to Bakura and shaking his head. "Erm... Didn't you just use the bulk store last time Bakura-kun..?"
"Yea, an it'd be cheaper righ'..?" Katsuya added, finally settling on his own choice of white day 'payment'.
The somewhat distraught teen merely fell silent at that, hand on his chin in thought. "...I suppose..." Ahahahah...
Abruptly he stiffened, turning around to look toward the end of the aisle. "Nyh-"
"Eh?" The others turned. "Oii, Jonouchi... You spot something?" Honda asked, the word 'spot' just barely emphasized as his friend continued to stare off in confusion.
"Er..." He scratched the back of his head, looking back. "Maybe..? I don' see anythin' so..."
"Perhaps it is nothing then," the other Yugi decided, the others falling silent as the blond turned to what was now assumed to be occupied space. "Typically you see something clearly correct?"
He nodded. "Yea, I s'ppose..." Huhhhh...
"Well, in any case, I have what I came for," Yugi decided, holding a small box with a smile.
Behind them Bakura nodded, also smiling despite the obvious nervous feeling behind it. "I think I'll try the bulk store myself..."
"Gonna need any help for tha'?"
Honda spoke before the other could answer, shrugging. "Eh, if he does I'll handle it." he decided. "Not like I have any shopping to do," the teen added with a grin.
"Hahaha... Tha's real great Honda, so what'd the girl who gave you yer chocolate look like again?"
"WHY YOU-!"
"Ah... Sh-Shouldn't we just buy the chocolate now..?"
While the other Yugi awkwardly shrugged to the side, the brawl merely continued on. And hey... It wasn't like they'd be running late for anything right?
How in the hell had he forgotten dinner.
"Aaaaaaaaa..."
"You're late Katsuya-nii..!" Mokuba muttered with a huff, looking up from the table as an out of breath Katsuya came in. "I've been sitting here alone the entire time..!"
"Hah.. hahhhhh... Sorry... Jus'-" Wait. Alone? He frowned. "...Where's Seto-chan..?"
The boy shrugged. "Nee-sama had to work late today," he explained, continuing at the pointed look he gained from Katsuya in response. "I say 'had' because apparently she got a call from someone so..."
Huhhh... "Right..." He shook his head. "Well, guess tha' makes this easier!"
"Eh? 'This'?"
"..." He looked to Mokuba, as though gauging his chances if he said anything. "...Jus' chocolate..."
Mokuba grinned. "...White chocolate..?" he asked, sitting up in his seat.
"...Maybe..."
"And how much..?"
Katsuya began backing away toward the door, frowning. "Y' know, I don' think I wanna say..."
"Heh? But how come, it's just chocolate right?"
As Mokuba moved from his seat, he bolted. "Y' know damn well why not..!"
"Awww come on Katsuya-nii, just tell me!"
"NO!" he shouted back, charging up the stairs as the boy followed. "Y' can ask yer sister if y' wanna know that bad!"
"But she'll never tell me..!"
"AN' THA'S TH' POINT!"
Personally he was lucky the box was so slim, he'd slid it under her office door already and was still running.
Just... A few more rounds and he'd stop...!
"Katsuya-nii...! It's my sister..!"
"Th' point still stands!"
"Nnnnnngggg-!"
"B'sides," he added as he slowed to a stop. "I don' have th' box w' me anymore."
"HEHHHH?" Mokuba balked. "What, you don't..?"
The blond laughed, arms crossed. "Hehehe, nope!"
"But when-" The boy shook his head. "Where..!"
"Eh... You'll have t' ask yer sister tha'! Won' you?"
"AAAAAAGH."
'Aaagh' was probably an accurate way to describe the mood Seto was in when she got home. In fact, it accurately described the mood she had while talking to a few maids, and when going to bed. It even accurately covered how she more or less felt the next morning, to the point that she never actually went into her office between moment 'a' and moment 'b'.
That however, was alright for the moment. It was Thursday that was the 14th after all, not the day before. In fact, it turned out that Seto would be working from home for a span of time for the day, right until after school was out in fact! So there was no way she'd miss it right?
A quick peek under the door crack of the office told him yes, yes she had, and after a quick look around in the hall he opened the door to grab it. Ahhhhh...
To be honest, he'd had a 'feeling' it was like that... "Where th' heck is she anyways," he muttered to himself, shutting the door behind him. He half expected to get an answer to that. However, there was instead silence- and so, scratching his head he wandered down the hall. Had to be around here somewhere right..?
And if she wasn't in her office... "Hnnn..." He found himself staring at the ground in thought, frowning. Nope.
Noth-
"Ah-" He blinked, spotting a bit of light from under one of the doors. Kinda weird for Seto to be hanging around one of the meeting halls but... He grinned, heading to the door immediately. "Oiii, Seto-ch-"
Maybe it was fate's way of kicking him in the face. Or maybe, it just figured 'well, you've had a plenty long break since the last bout of crazy shit', or some other reason he couldn't think of.
But as Seto looked up from where she'd been scowling at the table, a vision hit him.
And truth be told, he'd have appreciated knowing what Seto and the Tenma brothers were talking about before he came through the door.
"...Katsuya?"
"Er... Hey?"
If at least not at all. From the table, the Tenma brothers in question had differing responses, though neither seemed particularly disturbed. Aside from Katsuya himself, Seto and the two were the only ones in the room in fact- though the vision of Yakou idly pointing out that it would be easier and less awkward to hold a meeting where there were no attempts to hide known secrets before being told to stuff it by way of a comment on how strangely chatty he was... Well, it told him that they probably wouldn't have minded either way.
As it was, while Yakou was mildly amused, Gekkou seemed content to hold his head and mutter apologies under his breath at that time, before spotting Katsuya himself. "Ah. Jonouchi-kun," he started, turning toward him. "Is there something we can help you with?"
"Uhhhhhh..."
As Katsuya swallowed, Yakou chuckled, hiding a small grin behind a hand. "Spfff- Something tells me you didn't even know we were in here. Also, 'Katsuya'?" he added, Seto bristling at the comment.
"Tenma..."
"Which one, me or him?"
"You're already trying my patience...!"
Again Katsuya swallowed, idly tumbling the box around in his hands as he breathed. "Uh... Y-Y' know, it c'n probably wait-"
"Heyyyy, no big deal, come join us~"
The others turned to stare oddly at Yakou, his brother sparing but a brief glance before sighing under his breath. "...Yakou we're here for business, not for a chat..."
Seto nodded. "Exactly. I hardly feel that he needs to sit in on a business meeting," she added, Katsuya merely thanking whatever was watching over everything that the tone wasn't directed his way.
As it was, Yakou seemed relatively unaffected, and Katsuya was beginning to see what Seto meant in his vision when she'd said that he was 'strangely talkative for someone who keeps to himself'.
Yakou in the vision had merely shrugged at that. "I don't know... We're talking about the next step in dueling, and, last I checked, he himself was a duelist..."
"Er... I don'..."
"How about we stay on topic," Seto growled, apparently not caring if the blond in the doorway left or not. "Gekkou," she began, the teen in question nodding. "You wanted to know if the duel disk would eventually gain more than just the tracker device. Why?"
Again Gekkou nodded, and he opened a small folder before him. "I thought it would be useful to take advantage of the duelist's attachment to the device. If there were perhaps additional uses- e-mail, clock..."
Err.. He didn't see much for that...
Apparently neither did Seto. "I highly doubt anyone is going to be interested in moving from their palm-sized phone to the arm-length duel disk for their internet connection."
"That or you wouldn't." At the look Yakou got in response he shrugged, smiling. "However, better to hear it from you. As it is, customizing the disk itself would be an interesting add on eh?" Hohhh...
They were pretty basic... "Hnn.. Possibly..." ...And it was on Seto's mind too! Yes! "...I would have thought you'd be asking about something a little 'bigger' to be honest..."
While Gekkou shook his head, Yakou merely laughed. "Like what, duel disks on motorcycles?"
...What.
Seto merely snorted. "Hn! I wouldn't actually put that past you!"
"It would be fun," he idly responded, twin looking up from his folder with incredulity.
"...What? But the focus you would need- That ALONE-"
Yakou for his part did a fairly good job at doing nothing but smiling, shrugging, and leaning back against his seat with a grin. "I'm sure I'd make it work..."
"Not while I'm in charge..." Seto muttered, Katsuya stiffling a snort from where he was. "I really hope that isn't everything however," she continued. "Because I can name a lot of other projects I could have been working on..."
"Like the Solid Vision realism?" Yakou offered, the woman blinking in response.
Before she could answer, Gekkou continued. "We had a few things concerning that actually. Before that however, we have a large number of fusion type monsters in the works that we need to discus for initial animations, as well as a potential new rule for fusion summons..." Alright this was about to get boring, maybe just putting the box in Seto's room or something would be- "Also," Gekkou added, Katsuya finding himself looking back. "We've been getting... Complaints."
That got raised eyebrows. "...Complaints."
Yakou nodded. "Apparently, parents don't like it when their kids are dueling instead of studying..."
As Katsuya paled in the background, there was a cough from Gekkou. "The fact that the two top duelists still attending classes are both bottom of their year doesn't help..."
At this Seto turned, Katsuya uneasily laughing. "Ahaaa..."
"...We'll talk later." OHHHHHH why didn't he like the sound of that..?
"Nyh..."
Seto looked back to the others, hands folded and expression cool. "It's absolutely none of my responsibility if parents can't keep their own children focused on classes. They can find someone else to complain to."
"You sure you want to say that?" Yakou asked, apparently entirely calm about the topic. At the raised eyebrow in response, he continued. "I mean... Parents are typically the ones purchasing the cards, the disk and anything duel monsters related for their children sooooo..."
"So it should still not be my responsibility to make sure someone's ten year old pays attention in math..!" She leaned back in her seat, shaking her head. "It's hardly my fault that they aren't."
"That's wonderful, now explain that to the general public."
"Yakou," Gekkou began, only for Seto to cut him off.
"Allow me to reiterate- their incompetence is NOT my-"
"If y' think they're so incompetent why don' y' give 'm a reason t' pay attention in th' firs' place? Like put a lock on th' thing 'r somethin'."
The others turned, and though he balked somewhat under the sudden attention he continued.
"Er- I mean... Par'nt's c'n put blocks on computers an' such righ'? Why not disks?"
"Because it would make the idea of dueling wherever, whenever fall flat," Yakou offered, only to jump as Seto raised a hand.
"Quite for a minute," she muttered, looking back to Katsuya. "That's not what you said to start. You said 'give them a reason'."
"Er... Y-Yea," he coughed. "I dunno what would work though, I... I mean 's like y' said, y're not about t' teach 'm yerself..!"
For a moment, it looked as though Seto was about to scowl. To his surprise however she smoothly took the box he still had in his hands, briefly grabbing his shoulder to turn him back out the door instead. "No... That's fine," she instead said, a fairly calculating look in her eye as the others straightened in their seats. "I think I have an idea..."
As to what the idea was, Katsuya didn't know.
But despite the fact that he was met with a shut door, he found himself deciding that simply having the box he'd planned to deliver successfully handed over without question was fine enough.
AN: Da-da-daaaaah! Update time! It's a shorter chapter than the norm, yes, but the fact remains it's the last 'filler' before a major arc; I can't... Put too much in it because there really ISN'T much. In fact a lot of the end was meant to go at the start of the first Arc chapter. And you know what?
WE'RE STARTING THE NEXT ARC IN THE COMING CHAPTER~ That's right, filler arc is over again! However, in addition, there's a new contest out!
See for the arc following whatever may come between the next filler and the coming arc, a fair chunk of the cast will be travelling across the USA from San Francisco California, through some desert-area, and then by any route following to the opposite side of the country.
However, I do not have a set route..! All I know is that they need to get to the east coast in an area where the States can send as many ships out as possible for attack- for reasons which will become evident, believe me.
This is where the contest comes in! I need you to put together what you feel would be the best route for these guys to take! They won't have any accommodation worries- a trailer or an RV will be fixing that. Simply give me a basic line from point A (San Fran) to point B (location of choice on the east coast)!
(And if you're worried about never getting a prize, I DO have that prize for the last one coming along, believe me; it's just that seeing a book cover for this is something I can't well limit to the basic character request format like it was supposed to, so I'm kinda putting a lot into it...)
And with that settled, it's time for...
Anonymous Review Responses
...There are none!
Moving right along then!
Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner
The section that's watching AAAAALLL the hero-movies..!
The title of this chapter goes relatively without saying- 'Peacetime'. That's what this is in the fanfic after all.
...For now...
What's in the box? YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL A FEW PARAGRAPHS LATER.
As to how it got there, it's not as hard as you think. All it took was Yakou trying and failing to get through the Kaiba Mansion door before finally tossing a shoe at one of the still working people. The maid very kindly took the shoes and the box they came in and then beat the man over the head before doing what was asked.
In Japan, the winter holiday lasts from December 23 to January 7, rather similar to North America. ...Or at least to Canada. I dunno about the states.
THE AIR MUSCLES ARE BAAAACK!
Did you know they're based on a real shoe? The 'Air Max 95', from Nike in fact. The Air Max was based, visually, on the human anatomy, with the spine of the shoe resembling the human one and materials representing skin.
Amusingly enough, it was found in a UK forensic study that this shoe was, in 2007 at least, the number one shoe choice among criminals hahaha.
Yugi's dream should seem familiar to those who braved through all twelve episodes of Capmon- and yet not. There's also a few changes. Yami Yugi didn't have this dream in canon as I recall; but I thought... hey. Lets do it.
Setsubun is a Japanese holiday that takes place on the third of February, and while it's not a day off work, there are still traditions tied to it. The largest of them is throwing beans either out the door, or at some member of the family pretending to be a demon, while shouting 'oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi' or some variant thereof. The standard chant translates to 'Demons out! Luck, in!', and essentially means to bring in the coming year with good things while banishing misfortune and bad health. It's typically customary to eat roasted soybeans as well, one for each year of one's life, and in some cases one more to bring in a year of luck.
Nowadays, while Soybeans are the standard (and roasted soybeans ARE a good snack, which is why Seto was eating some in the first place!), some people use peanuts instead.
And here I go flip-flopping on Honda's personality again... It's like I said before, he can be a bit left out. Now, as experience shows, he's the sane man for most. He's got his feet grounded, he's 'normal'...
But lets face it this is the guy who grew up with Jonouchi. Yes, Honda has his serious moments... But he has his damned ridiculous moments too. It all depends on his mood- or rather... What he wants to show from his mood.
Because for that scene in the fanfic, he winds up spilling something he didn't want to flat out tell Jonouchi. And not because he doesn't like thinking about it; but because conversations like that just aren't the sorts of things people bring up out of the blue. Because it's something he's legitimately afraid about. This is his best friend, plain and simple. He will always be his best friend, and the fact is, while Yugi catches things that lots won't about Jonouchi, Honda catches things that even Yugi won't see.
But Yugi is more open about those things, and that is where it becomes even more important. Honda... He'll keep his mouth shut, and respect the fact that Jonouchi doesn't want to talk about it unless he thinks it's a damn serious thing. Or, as you can see, if there's no other way out. Because that's what friends do.
That's what Honda does.
Oh and in case you didn't guess Honda was definitely demanding that Jou one day share stories of Kaiba-sex. And in case you didn't guess further on that, I will not be typing any. (Ohohohoh.)
That last scene? I just referenced not two, but THREE series of Yu-Gi-Oh there. See if you can guess how and where.
Also yes I believe the Duel Academy was created to boost the incentive to work on your grades. I really do.
Fan Art and My Art Section
Admittedly there's not much here, but you know, I thought you might like to see the progress on a costume re-draw at least~
As with always, remove the spaces for the link!
WIP- Costume- 'Monster World' - : / / i. imgur dk8GI. Jpg
Costume- 'Monster World: Kai' - : / / i. imgur tLc9z. jpg
Comic Redraw! - : / / i. imgur OfZl2. jpg
Musical Notes
Nothing much to say other than LOTS OF HOMESTUCK
However, I DID listen to a bit of Panic! At the Disco as well; specifically, the Ballad of Mona Lisa.
Now go, fly my pretties FLYYYYYYY-
That's all for this chapter!
I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you continue to enjoy what follows!