"I just can't believe you!"

"Hey, you are not my mother, let go!"

Haruko had started berating Van just a matter of seconds after letting her presence known by her classmate. Clearly, seeing the boy there did upset her, but it wasn't just his presence alone what did so…

"You were supposed to rest, just look at you!" she exclaimed before Saori placed her hands on the blonde's shoulders.

"Uhm, Haruko pl-please try to relax…" asked while gently trying to pull her away from their classmate.

Eventually, Mokuba, who just watched the scene as weirded out as the rest of the group, decided to speak up "So… I feel like I've missed a thing or two, correct?" Then blinked, noticing the patched up bruises on Van's face and while pointing out he asked "Oh woah, hey what happened to you, Van?"

Van would then grab a fork and bring a piece from the slice of black velvet, he lifted his hand close to his mouth "Well it's a long s-"

Haruko then suddenly stated, "He fell from the stairs!"

Catching everyone surprised, Van included. He quickly gave a glance to Haruko, his look clearly saying, "What on earth are you talking about?"

The girl then crossed her arms, "He was distracted talking to me and slipped down the stairs…"

The boy narrowed his eyes, not knowing what to say, while Mokuba stared at him just for a confirmation. Everyone else also didn't really know what to comment about, or why she was making up a story. Or at least everyone but one person…

"Ah yes!" Saori exclaimed, "We got really worried about a bit right there!"

Chiaki and Koji looked at each other and shrugged, confused. And Van simply closed his eyes for a moment and, after having a bit of cake, decided to stand up. "Uhm yeah, do you guys mind if I… forgot to ask Haruko something yesterday."

"Uhm… sure?" Mokuba said, still confused, before turning his attention to the rest of the group.

Saori quickly reacted, "Oh, how about I bring a couple of chairs, so you can join here?"

Both Haruko and Mokuba nodded, with Haruko walking off a bit, shifting her attention to Van and nodding, "Let's go."

They ended up going just outside the Café's patio.

Van decided not to beat around the bush and ask directly, "Alright, what on earth are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" The girl asked, crossing her arms before shaking her head, "Ugh… you never think things through don't you?"

That's when it clicked, "Wait… you didn't tell them a word" With his eyebrows going up

Haruko just pressed her lips and stared at him, looking serious, "Of course not! Imagine Seto finding out that someone stole something from his sister!?"

"Uh… do you think he would take things too far?" The boy scratched his cheek.

"Ugh, COULD YOU-" screamed for a moment before just closing her eyes and taking a bit of a breather? "… Could you and your friends please just play along? I promise I'll make it up for your troubles, seriously!"

The boy raised a hand, "Fine, fine… relax it's no trouble, no need to make it up for things. We can help you out, keeping the secret."

"It's just a favor, not asking for help!" exclaimed while clenching her fists in front of her chest.

"Jeez alright!" The boy replied, although he couldn't help but to think, "Asking for help, asking someone to do you a favor… what's even the difference?"

Then, after reaching to a bit of an agreement, they went their way back inside. Joining back the rest of the table. Two new chairs were added, with Mokuba already sitting in one of them.

The two teenagers would occupy the free seats, Van would quickly finish his coffee, which by now was lukewarm, and Haruko would take her seat next to her step-brother. Smiling at him as if nothing had happened.

"Is everything alright?" Mokuba asked his step-sister, to which his question was replied with a single nod and a gentle smile.

After occupying her seat, Haruko asked, "Shall we order something?"

Saori would approach once more to the table, having noticed that her friend was back, "Alright, what can I do for you two?" asked cheerfully.

Meanwhile, Van pulled out his phone, tapping a bit on its screen. He acted casual, and almost seeming uninterested in those around him. However, once he was done with his phone, he'd place it down on the table and look over to his friends from the corner of his eye.

Both Koji and Chiaki's mobiles would vibrate as a message reached them. It was actually from Van. Both of them looked at each other after reading said message, then looked over to their friend on the other side of the table, and the trio nodded in agreement.

"Hey Van, how are you feeling the disk so far?" The youngest of the Kaiba brothers asked the boy with the blue sunglasses.

"Hm, to tell the truth I haven't had a chance to use it much more other than the duel with Koji" replied before shrugging and adding "There will be more duels though, there always will be."; raising a fist in confidence.

"Plenty, actually!" Mokuba then noted, "Pretty sure this week is when the clubs will begin their inscriptions and activities, right?"

"That's right!" Chiaki then exclaimed in realization, "We have to sign in to the dueling club this upcoming week!" Then looked over to Mokuba. "Hey, could you please tell us a bit of what's the plan behind it?"

The youngest of the group smirked and lifted a finger, "Well I'll try not to spoil things too much, so I will tell you what is the main focus of the club. The first thing is that the Dueling Club is to introduce potential new duelists into the growing scene of the game. There is also something more. We wanted to grant duelists an easier access to a potential professional scene."

The group listened with attention before Chiaki pointed out "Hmmm so teaching and competition…"

"I get it, at least from a pro-scene" Koji then stated.

"What do you mean?" Van asked, raising an eyebrow, with his previous expression of indifference and lack of interest completely gone.

"Well, simple. Interschool competitions!" Koji then replied, "We can have Takato as our example…" The boy paused for a moment, thinking about things for a bit and then spoke, "The other day when we spoke after school, remember? He told us how he used to be part of the Judo club, and represented the school in the interschool competitions."

"That does make sense, hm…" Haruko stated "… I wonder if the clubs will make individuals representing schools, or the idea of forming a team of duelists from members will be the case."

"Haha you guys are on the right path" Mokuba then commented, referring to their guessing so far. He would then he would take a sip from his smoothie. "I'm curious how you guys will do then, specially the two of you." Then he looked between Haruko and Van.

While the boy simply hummed in question, Haruko asked, "W-wait, why us?"

"You are my sister, so it's obvious why…" The boy responded with a smile, but then his expression would switch to a smirk while looking over her classmate, "Him however…"

Van's eye narrowed, with a small sweat drop running down one of his cheeks, "what now… wait, did they find out?" Crossed his mind.

"You are the one carrying my brother's duel disk after all." would Then Mokuba say.

"Your – WAIT!" Van exclaimed, "That disk is Seto's!?"

The boy's excitement would then soon back up by Chiaki's exclaim of "No way, that's so cool!"

"You can consider it a token of thanks from Kaiba Corp for likely sparking more interest in the dueling club through your duel at the school." The younger Kaiba sibling stated with a prideful smirk.

"Well that's cool and all for him, but what about me? I did my part in that duel, specially getting my butt kicked by Van!" Koji asked with a shrug.

Mokuba blinked, noting that he was right, "Oh! Hmm… well, you already own one of the latest models, but I think there is still a little something we can do for you. It will take a bit, though."

"Oh…? Hm, alright, I'll take you on that!" Then looked around, "Well, what do want to do now, guys?"

"Well… Mokuba and I were just going to walk around the city and enjoy the afternoon." Haruko replied.

"What about Rika and Sayuri?" Chiaki asked, noticing that she didn't include them in her plans.

The Kaiba step-sibling just shrugged with a bit of a sad face, "They were but caught up with family matters, so they are not available today."

"Then let's tag along together, we were kind of going to do the same thing" The chubby boy suggested, gesturing with his hand welcoming them.

The pink haired girl chuckled and added, "Yeah. Besides, it's going to be funnier that way."

"Uh… are you guys sure we won't be butting into your plans too much?" Mokuba then asked.

Finally, Van, spoke up while resting his chin on top of the palm of one of his hands, "It's not like we are some exclusive group. We can hang around together, there is no problem." Then he would chuckle, looking at Chiaki and Koji, "Don't get your hopes too high though, I still need to get to know this city a lot better, and I don't think these two have any plans yet."

"Hey!" Both of them exclaimed in response to his remark.

Then Koji slammed a palm on the table, with a hand pointing upwards, he called "Alright this is my call, we go to the arcade!"

"Yeah, I agree!" Chiaki exclaimed, "Let's get going, I remember you two were going to have your rematch in an arcade!"

The Van stood up and noted, "Ooh, that's right. Any particular game, Koji?"

The brown haired boy hurried to catch with Van, stating, "Hah, you bet!" Both teenagers then stopped by the counter and started speaking with one of the employees there, asking for the total of their orders.

Chiaki then looked over at Mokuba and Haruko, "come on!" with a bright smile on her face as she reached out to Haruko's arm and gently pulled her along.

"H-hey, wait, we still got to pay…!" Then she caught a glance of the boys at the counter, particularly Van muttering some words to his friend, and both nodding at each other. Followed by that, she caught how the boy pulled out a card from his wallet and handed it to the cashier. "A credit card…?" thought to herself before reaching the door.

However, as entertained as he was, to the point of tagging along with the girl for a bit while laughing. Mokuba did hear out Haruko and noted, "I got it." before joining with the two teens at the counter.

"Okay, okay I'm coming along, you can let go. Chiaki!" the blond haired girl protested, so her classmate could let go of her arm. And it worked, the girl did let go of her arm and just laughed with a silly smile on her face and rubbing the back of her head. Haruko couldn't help but sigh and smile a bit, "You are a bit similar to Sayuri, you know?"

"Hehehe, you think so?" Chiaki replied, then resting her hands down her waist.

Her question was met by a nod from her classmate, who would then add, "When it comes to going out and having fun, she is always the first one to make the calls and drive us to do something."

Chiaki then, encouraged by what she felt as a compliment, "Well, then we might be the ones who will give a little bit of momentum to our group!" stated, raising a fist in a challenging manner. The question was, however, who she was challenging? Only she knows…

Haruko, who was now standing next to her, dreaming classmate. Simply stared at her with a mix of disbelief and disappointment. "No… actually, she is like a mixture of Sayuri when we are not in school and Rika when we are… the three of them will be a problematic mix" crossed her mind. She couldn't help but to imagine all the ideas and plans those three would try to carry out for the group, with the addition of the three new friends. Friends… was it the proper way to address them yet? She pondered on that while they waited for the boys to come out from the Café.

When the boys did so, Mokuba was the first one to speak up, "Alright, are we all ready to go?" Glancing at the members of the group, seeking their approval.

However, before they would all embark on their way to the arcade, a familiar voice would call out his name "Hey, is that you, Mokuba!?" a voice, with a tone that suggested both surprise and joy.

The person calling was a young adult, probably close to, if not starting, their 20s. Green eyes, long, black hair, part of it held in a ponytail. What most likely would be the detail to catch more eyes, however, was the earring he branded hanging from his left ear. A single, dice – shaped earring.

The group's attention was brought onto this person, Haruko then looked over to Mokuba, "Uh, is he a friend of yours?"

The boy then simply laughed a bit and trotted closer to the man, "It's been a while, a couple of months, right?"

"It has been yeah, read some rumors about your brother, is he alright?" The individual asked Mokuba.

"He is doing fine, nothing serious, so don't worry." The boy then replied.

Haruko then approached Mokuba, tapping his shoulder and asking, "Hey, would you care to tell us who is he? We are a bit in the dark here."

The man then looked at Haruko, "Oh, you must be the latest rumor I've heard of. The new family member?"

"Haha, yes, this is Haruko." Mokuba replied.

The man then looked at Haruko and at the rest of the group, "Right, let me introduce myself. I'm Ryuji Otogi, I co-run Otogi's Café with my father. You could say that we've met and got to know each other a bit through our friends."

"Your friends, huh?" Van noted slightly tilting his head.

"He is friends with Mutto and Wheeler, they were hanging around together through Battle City" commented the boy while crossing his arms and looking at the group he was with over his shoulder.

"What!?" Everyone screamed in unison, with their attention focused on Ryuji. In a blink of an eye, Haruko, Koji and Chiaki would have moved close to the café's co-owner, bombarding him with questions. Those akin to fans of the king of games. Prompting the man to take more of a defensive stance, as he wasn't used to a group of fanboys of his friends approaching him in such a manner.

The ones who would remain a bit behind and watching the scene taking place would be both Mokuba and Van, with the little boy noting.

"I guess going to the arcade will have to wait…" having an embarrassed smile, kind of feeling it for Ryuji right now. His attention, however, would then shift over to Van, "Aren't you joining them?"

The teen just adjusted his sunglasses and responded, "Ehh… I guess someone here has to keep a bit of dignity, right?"

Mokuba then changed his expression to a smug, asking, "Or is it perhaps you have something they don't have…?"

Van's eyes sharpened a bit as he stared the youngest of the Kaiba siblings down. "There it is again… screw it…" Then he ducked in front of the boy, hands over his knees. Staring at him, full of suspicion on his face. With a lower voice tone, "Alright, spit it out… what's with all the weird faces from all sudden?"

The boy then chuckled a bit, and while keeping the smug replied, "Well… since you ended up bearing his disk. Seto and I thought it would be fair to do a bit of investigation…" then paused just show a playful grin on his face and asked "how did those tournaments go?" winking at him.

"Wha-…" Van just closed his eyes and pressed his lips, "Of course all those stories about Seto are true, or rather, won't do justice just to how eccentric he is." crossed his mind. Taking a deep breath and raising his hands in front of him, in a halting gesture, the teenager asked, "Alright… what do you want in exchange for keeping that a secret."

Mokuba would quickly reply, matching his lower voice tone, trying to keep this between both Van and him, "Oh? Well, I was planning to keep that a secret, expecting none in exchange.". Then he'd turn around and shrug, "but if you are feeling the generous, I can keep you up to that!"

Van would press his teeth at his answer, "No way you are not lying. He was totally waiting for me to say something like that…!" The boy just clicked his tongue and looked aside, annoyed, hands now relaxed on his knees having surrendered before the wits of the boy.

"Let's just remain civil for now, alright? I may ask you a small favor later on in exchange for the secret. How about that?" before snickering a bit, noticing how annoyed the teenager was. And even more when his only answer was a grunted huff from Van. "Perfect, then!" the boy remarked, taking that as a reluctant agreement to his terms.

"What a pain in the ass…" He then stood up and looked over the group thinking "If I came clean from the start about having something even close to a professional run there'd be no way that duel between Koji and I would have happened."

The group, naturally, having met someone who was close to the king of games, put a pause to their plans of visiting the arcade. They were soon back in the Café, but this time, sharing a couple of seats by the counter.

"It's quite incredible that you and Yugi managed to forge a friendship, even after that rocky start. " Koji noted.

Saori, who was now finishing her shift and listening as well, commented "And to hear you share such nice moments together is so…" she trailed off for a moment, trying to find a way to describe it…

Chiaki, however, then butted in by joking, "So there is still hope for Van and Haruko to become best buddies!"

While that made the rest of the group laugh at her remark, both Van and Haruko were not as entertained, with the boy simple rolling his eyes and looking in a different direction. While Haruko frowned at Chiaki, exclaiming, "Would you drop that now? We are getting along better already!" Then she would look over at Van, who was already avoiding giving Chiaki's joke any more room, and tap his shoulder, "Isn't that true!?"

"Hm…" That was the only thing they could hear from him.

The girl just stopped for a moment, confused, then she started shaking him from his shoulder "Hey what do you mean 'HM…' what kind of answer is that!? HEY!" the girl kept shaking him, causing a more humorous scene for those witnessing it.

When things calmed down, Saori then asked, "So, where are they now?"

Ryuji looked at Saori and looked down with a small, melancholic smile. "Carrying on with their lives, as it's set to happen eventually." His words did actually spark the curiosity of the group, even making Haruko and Van focus back on what he was saying, "As I mentioned before, Anzu moved went to pursue her dream in America. The next one was Yugi himself. It turns out, not long before the graduation, he did the smartest thing and began sending applications to different universities…" He eyed the teenagers as he spoke, "… one of them was a university in the United Kingdom. Apparently, his grandfather insisted on him just giving it a shot, even if it was a shot in the dark."

"And what a shot!" Mokuba noted.

"Uhuh! He was as surprised as we were." The Café's co-owner commented with a nod. It was when he left that Jonouchi, Hiroto and I actually woke up to that reality…" Then just shrugged, his face showing a mix of disappointment and defeat. "Time moves on, and people's lives do so as well… I guess that kind of inspired Jonouchi, since he took off from Domino as well."

Van lifted his eyebrows upon hearing that, leaning forth to hear anything else he had to say about that matter. Chiaki, on the other hand, asked, "Wait, I was aware Yugi had left the city—news about that spread out quick. But I didn't know Jono' did so as well. When did this happen?"

Ryuji then rubbed his chin, "Well, It wasn't long ago. He started working at the docks…" "Kind of an irony now that I think about it…" Crossed his mind for a moment, then continued, "He told me he was saving money to get a new Duel Disk, and then travel abroad since he wants to become a full time professional duelist. So, the only ones who stayed here are Hiroto who is working at his father's factory, and myself running with my dad our family business" The man then noticed how all of them seemed a bit down by the realization that the group he had shared so many moments with, eventually ended up splitting."I'm still in touch with everybody, don't get me wrong. It's tougher than just seeing each other in person. But Everyone's doing fine."

"Yes, but, it still happened… you guys are no longer together." Haruko then pointed out, being visibly the most touched by the reality of the situation. And she had partially felt that when some of her friends from prep school moved away. She feared the story repeating itself with Saori, Rika and Sayuri.

She didn't say any other word, felt it wasn't needed, she could overhear the rest of the group talking again, even though their voices sounded muffled to her. She was falling deep into her thoughts… how would it happen? Would it all come down crumbling from differences that would escalate into a fight?

Would it be simply the passage of time and growing bored with each other, perhaps her differences of interests? like her, being into Duel Monsters while the rest of her friends not.

Or would it be just like Ryuji's experience? Things carrying on as they naturally do, and life itself, emphasizing that their time together was over.

It's the natural course of things, isn't it? A fool, she was not, and knew one thing very well. All things are bound to come to an end, but the pondering thought of whether she was going to be ready or not to face that reality once it comes, combined with the uncertainty of how and when it would happen… that was what frightened her the most.

The girl kept her head down, and he hands together fidgeting with each other, growing anxious. She just turned her head slightly, looking at the exit of the Café from the corner of her eye. But It was then when he noticed Van, was looking at her for a moment, however as soon as he noticed her staring back he dodged her look and stared down at the counter.

Something was odd about him. There was a hint of sadness in his look, impossible to pinpoint just why, but it was curious enough to see for her that it managed to snatch those haunting thoughts away from her mind.

After a while, Ryuji then tried to turn things around, asking "So, how about I ask some things to you guys?" with a small smile, then looked over both Haruko and van. "How about you, Van, wasn't it?"

"Huh?" The boy blinked and looked over Ryuji. His instant reaction after looking at the owner was to pull his glasses up for a moment and rub his eyes, acting as if he were a bit sleepy. "Yeah, what is it?" asked as he finished rubbing his eyes, and adjusting his glasses.

"Well how about where are you from? that accent is not from around here" Ryuji laughed a bit. "And perhaps, what are your plans here?"

The boy closed his eyes while responding, "Yeah, It's rather obvious, Germany. I come from Germany." Then after a moment, he would open his eyes showing a confident smirk, "Well, my goal is to climb my way up among the legends of dueling." Then looked over to Haruko with a bit of a smug, "Anything to comment about that?"

The girl huffed and lifted her chin, "I'll keep my comments to myself and just observe for now."

A surprised whistle would catch the attention of both teens, followed by Ryuji's reaction, "Takes plenty of guts to cross continents in chase of one's dream… and you know? I'll respect that, besides it will always be interesting to see the new duelists following the steps of Yugi. What about you, Haruko? I suppose you will be along Mokuba taking the reins of Kaiba Corp?"

"Nope." Both Mokuba and Haruko replied at the same time. With the former snickering at the question. "Everyone thinks so, but no, Sis's not interested in Kaiba Corp at all." Mokuba noted.

"I will be a professional Duelist. Or, to be more specific, I'll become the next Queen of Games." Haruko then stated with a serene and confident demeanor.

Save for Mokuba, everybody else was taken aback by her declaration. Although after a brief pause, Chiaki would just raise her first "Aw yeah! the more I hear her, the better I like her!"

"Yeah, right, it's because she has that super rare card, isn't it?" Koji noted, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Of course not!" Then she hoped off her seat and went over to Haruko, who looked at her curiously. The pink haired girl patted her shoulder a couple of times, "because she has the guts of a badass. Forgot how she wiped the floor with that Yamada guy in that duel?"

"Well, good point…" Koji just looked at Van for a moment, "Still, can't overlook how Van turned the tables of our duel. It could have been a lucky draw, but still knowing how to use the resources you have at hand proves how good you are as a duelist… specially under such pressure."

The boy the shook his head, "But that doesn't matter, Van and Haruko may be strong, but I also aim for that goal, to be a pro, to be the best, to be the king!"

"Oh, please don't kid yourself!" Chiaki then joked

"What did you say!?" the chubby boy replied before moving up to her, face to face, before an argument exploded.

"At least how they act now, they remind me a bit of how Yugi and Jonouichi are. I'm almost interested in seeing them dueling someday." Crossed Ryujin's mind as he smirked. Then he looked over at Saori, telling her, "You're very lucky, you are going to have a really nice time in High school with them, you know?"

The girl nodded and smiled at her boss, then looked at the group. Van, Mokuba and Haruko were now trying to calm down and separate Koji and Chiaki, in part reminding them where they were.

"Yes, I think we are all very lucky to have met each other…" Her gaze would focus on Haruko, seeing she was behaving now, a more honest and open than usual. "Specially you, hopefully this will help your healing" Went through her mind.

Eventually, they left the Café, and the group continued through the afternoon. They would go to the arcade. Much to Koji's fortune, he was able to enact his rematch against Van through a series of matches in 'Emperor of Fighters 00'. Haruko displaying her reflexes and stamina facing off against Chiaki in 'Dance'n Rumble Remix'. And Mokuba later joining Van and Koji in a series of different games until the evening came by.

The group decided to reunite by the entrance of Gemusensu, where they would then go their separate way. After bidding their farewells.

Koji went on his way home, while Chiaki simply went into the store, to join her dad in tidying everything up before closing the store for the day. That left Van, Mokuba and Haruko who were waiting for their driver to arrive.

"Hey, I tell you we are fine, don't worry." Mokuba insisted to the German teen.

"Pft, beat it. You won't change a habit stuck into my brain by my mom. 'Always make sure your friends go on to their homes safely.'" The boy quoted his mother before adding, "That's what she used to say. Specially if my stop is just a couple of steps away from here."

"I didn't take you for the obedient son." Haruko commented as she walked up to him.

"Well, happens when she can get terrifyingly strict…" Van responded by shrugging before joking at her saying "… future queen, eh?"

She crossed her arms and responded with, "You can joke around, fine. But you are very well aware what that implies." Her words successfully managing to get the boy on a more serious note. "Becoming a pro, and at some point facing against each other."

"Well, I don't see how that's an issue for you. Pretty sure beating me in a duel would work just fine for you" Then he would tilt his head and smirk at her "However, I think the only real thing we can say is 'may the best duelist prevail' right?"

"There here is!" Mokuba exclaimed, pointing at a car parking across the street

Haruko looked over at Mokuba, "Ah, right!" then she looked back at Van "… And yes, you are correct. We'll talk at school, alright?" Then the girl hurried to catch her step-brother, waving back at Van as they moved away.

The boy waved back before muttering, "Sure, better than screaming at each other." Then finally heading to the bus stop nearby.


Author's Note: Alright I hope you all are having a great week. Sorry for the late upload, I was a little bit caught up with work so I finished this chapter -today-. Still I hope you enjoyed the introduction of another former member ot the cast.

So I hope you all are having a good time and taking care of themselves, and enjoy yourselves a good rest along with others. Have a good one and I'll see you all next week!