"Okay…" Yugi breathed as she did final checks on her bedroom. "Ginka's bed has been moved downstairs, the room is clean and tidy, and there's fresh bedding. I don't think I'm forgetting anything?"
'Our spare cards so we can finalise our deck?' Meisa asked, slipping off of the desk, where she had been sat running a spectral hand through Ginka's fur. The silver-furred, fluffy, year-old feline mewed irritably and followed the Pharaoh across the room. When the spirit leaned down to check under the bed, the cat wriggled underneath, into the space which normally held their huge, sectioned cardboard box of spare cards and mewed at her again, determined to get Meisa's attention.
The Pharaoh chuckled and reached through the bed, highly amused that while she had to work hard to touch anything physical, and she was still working on the whole 'being able to move things like a poltergeist' thing, petting the cat was absolutely no problem at all.
Her twin's theory was that the Egyptian belief that cats were the protectors of Pharaohs and guardians of the afterlife had been true and that was why Ginka could both see her and get cuddles. Though Meisa had to remember not to pick up the cat when there was someone in the house who did not know about her existence.
She was still convinced she had given Kawai a rather large shock when she had come out of the kitchen to find the part-ragdoll cat floating in the air.
"I'm guessing I got them?" Her twin chuckled as Yugi scooped the cat out from under the bed, dropped her into the laundry basket, and left her room. Shutting the door while carrying the load was not easy and she was grateful when she felt a surge of joy from her twin and the door shut without her input. "Thanks, Anesan."
The proud grin on the Pharaoh's face told her she was as pleased with herself as Yugi was.
'I'm getting the hang of it, but I'm still not as consistent as I'd like,' the Pharaoh admitted as she scooped Ginka out of the basket and cradled her like a baby, certain that there was not meant to be anyone in the house who was unaware of her for at least another couple of hours. 'And I need to practice as much as I can before our guest gets here. Once Rebecca settles, I'm going to have to hide again.'
"I'm sorry, Anesan." Yugi winced, aware that the spirit had enjoyed the last few months, where almost anyone who regularly entered the living areas knew about her. It had allowed her a measure of freedom and normalcy that was about to be lost.
'It's okay.' Meisa shrugged as she scratched Ginka's head, her grin softening to a happy smile as the cat started purring enthusiastically. 'It's only for a couple of weeks. Besides, it's not like I can't spend time with you all, we just have to be careful about where and when we swap, like when we're out of the house.'
Yugi nodded and put the washing on, making a mental note to throw a fur-collection sheet in with it when it went in the tumble dryer, to try and remove some of the fluff that was currently clinging to them. Then she headed downstairs, pausing by the door to the shop to listen to the sounds of Kobayashi Kiyoko, the white-haired, blue-eyed, half-sibling and guardian of the triplets in the Duel Club, who they had hired full-time using the money that they no longer needed to pay towards the mortgage, talking to Marik about her siblings.
Yugi was still not sure how she felt about having Marik in the shop. He was a good worker and he had been honest with her ever since the reveal that he was not who he had said he was, but she still felt awkward around him. Something that was understandable after he had used a magical charm that Ishizu had made for him, called a Memento, to Challenge Katsuya's father to a Shadow Game. After the man had cheated, the Shadows had gotten involved in the Penalty and Jonouchi Goro had not survived the consequences.
Marik had promised not to bring another one to the shop, but she could not forget what had happened. It also did not help that Yugi could not be certain how much of what went on in the shop got back to his sister.
He had not really done anything wrong though. Goro had been attacking his son and Sugoroku, and if Yugi was to push away everyone who had hurt those who had been hurting others, her friend group would be considerably smaller.
She certainly could not truly be angry at Marik for protecting her boyfriend and grandfather. Especially when just last year, her own twin had set a man on fire for threatening the lives of herself and Anzu. It would not be fair to even consider firing him.
She was just pleased that with Kiyoko's hiring, there was always someone available to distract him if he started asking her detailed questions about what she had been up to, which was better than at the start of the year.
'That's not the only reason we took her on,' Meisa reminded her as they headed down into the basement to check over their new bedroom for the next couple of weeks.
'I know, I know. She needed money and Jii-san's been feeling so much better since he stopped having to work seven days a week. I'm just glad she worked out. It would have been awkward to work with the triplets if she hadn't.' Yugi waved it off and headed down and checked that she had everything she would need, adjusting the Duel Monsters-related wall scrolls that hung from the same beam as the curtain that cut off the sleeping area.
Then she turned to sort out the bed, only to grimace as she noticed the stool that her bedside lamp and alarm clock were precariously balancing on was trying to tip over again, this time into the electric heater next to it. Not that it should be, because there was supposed to be an old schoolbook underneath the short leg.
She glanced around and let out a huff as she realised the book was missing. She was not entirely surprised as she adjusted the objects on the stool to prevent it falling. Amane had been over last night for their weekly gaming session, and it was not unusual for Ba-Khu-Ra to have hidden or moved things to make her life awkward when she was not looking.
'We'll find it,' Meisa reassured her, going to lean down, only to realise that she still had a hold of the cat, who mewed irritably at suddenly being tilted. 'Oh…'
Yugi started giggling as suddenly the Pharaoh had a squirming creature of chaos in her arms, instead of the cuddle monster she had been carrying previously.
'Excuse me,' the Spirit of the Puzzle grumbled, fully aware that Ginka was allowed in the storage areas, since she hunted out any mice that dared to try and chew on the boxes, but she was not allowed in the shop. That meant she needed to ensure the door was closed before she let go of the cat.
Heading up revealed that the door was indeed open and there were customers looking through. She paused to think, which was a mistake as the cat escaped her grasp and darted into the store, taking the opportunity presented.
Meisa darted after her, moving through a couple of customers to try and cut the feline off from reaching the front door. It was an unpleasant feeling for both herself and the customers, who shuddered, and she was not quite fast enough to prevent the cat reaching the door as it opened.
"Oh hello!" A heavily accented young female voice chuckled as she scooped up the cat as it tried to dart out the door. "Aren't you adorable?"
The cat was not amused to be held by a small blonde girl she did not know and struggled to escape before the door shut again, but a pair of elderly men stepped into the store, one of whom Meisa knew, and shut the door behind them.
"Thank you for catching her, Rebecca-chan." Sugoroku took the cat, who melted into a puddle of sulking fluff in his arms, from the pigtailed American girl, who scooped up the teddy bear she had dropped so she could catch the cat.
The elderly gamer's eyes caught those of his spectral granddaughter and she took the hint and darted back towards Yugi, silently cursing the fact the pair from America had arrived early.
'Anesan?' Yugi questioned, poking her head out from behind the curtain as her twin rushed down the stairs, having sensed her irritation. 'Did Ginka get out again?'
'Not quite, but the guests have arrived early.'
Yugi paled, having not expected them for another couple of hours, and then pulled her head back in. Meisa retreated to the Puzzle, though she was not particularly happy to do so already, as Yugi closed the curtain to the sleeping area and turned off her music before heading upstairs.
As she reached the top of the stairs, she found that her grandfather was carrying a rather sulky cat as another elderly man, a dignified-looking one with grey hair and a mustache to match, shut the door to the shop.
"Ah, Yugi, I'm sure you remember my good friend Arthur. This is his magomasume, Hopkins Rebecca." Sugoroku grinned. "Rebecca-chan, this is my magomasume, Yugi."
"Of course I remember Hopkins-Sensei." Yugi bowed to the man and then the girl. "It's an honour to meet you, Hopkins-chan. Welcome to our home."
"Rebecca." The girl held out the hand that was not carrying the teddy bear, releasing her grip on her suitcase to do so. "You can call me Rebecca, Miss Mutou."
"Yugi," the teen reciprocated, shaking it before scooping up the bag, "I can show Rebecca where she's staying, Jii-san."
"Thank you. Come join us in the living room afterwards." At her grandfather's dismissal, Yugi headed for the stairs, gesturing for the American girl to follow her. Ginka followed them, weaving between their feet to reach the flat before they could.
Yugi stepped over her at the top of the stairs and turned to Rebecca. "I know what she's after. Could you give her a treat from the shelf next to the door? Any one, doesn't matter which."
"Sure." The girl grabbed a jar from the shelf in question and instantly had the feline's attention. She let out a small giggle as she popped the top and picked out a fish shaped treat, waving it in front of the cat's face.
"So… I heard you have a really rare card in your deck," the blonde girl spoke as she watched Ginka's eyes follow the treat back and forth.
"O…oh?" Yugi turned to look at her, startled.
"Blue-Eyes, she's in your deck right?" Rebecca asked as she threw the treat. Ginka went barrelling after it as the two girls headed up to Yugi's bedroom, where Rebecca would be staying. "She belonged to my grandfather once."
"I know. Jii-san told me that Professor Hopkins gave him her card." The Queen of Games nodded as she held the door open for the younger, smaller girl. "And then he leant her to me for Duelist Kingdom."
"Fair enough, but isn't there an ante for Battle City duels?" the blonde pressed, her eyes narrowed as she slipped into the room. "It's not fair for you to risk her."
"I already went over this with Jii-san," Yugi shot back, guessing where this going and not pleased about it. "He talked with your Jii-san after I offered to give her back and they said I could keep her."
Rebecca scowled momentarily, then quickly hid it away. She had overheard the conversation between her grandfather and Doctor Mutou and what she had taken away from it was something very different. Her grandfather had not originally been willing to let Yugi use the dragon in the tournament. It had been a prized possession before he had given it to Solomon and he had trusted his good friend to keep her safe.
He had been talked into letting Yugi use it, but Rebecca knew he was not too pleased about it.
"I mean, if you're sure? She's so rare, though…" The girl pouted, suddenly looking more like an upset seven year old than the twelve year old that Yugi knew her to be. "There's only three others like her. Wouldn't it be better not to use her? I know Grandpa would be so upset if she got lost."
Yugi winced at the unsubtle manipulation technique. "I've not entirely settled my deck layout yet. She might be in my main deck, or my side deck. Or I might leave her home entirely. I promise that whatever I do with her, I'm going to be very careful."
"You better, or I'll take her back," the youngster grumbled, snatching her suitcase from her host. "Where can I put my clothes?"
Yugi showed her to the chest of drawers and closet without saying another word. She could understand Rebecca's irritation, but she had asked for permission to use the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and it had been given. Her Jii-san said that he trusted her not to lose her, and that was what mattered.
"I'll be downstairs if you need anything," she finally offered. When she did not get a reply, she stepped out and shut the door behind her before leaning on the wall and taking a deep breath.
'Well, she's rude.' Her twin's displeasure radiated over the bond strongly enough that Yugi could feel it affecting her own emotions.
'I get it.' The lighter-souled sister tried to soothe her darker sister. 'I probably wouldn't be too pleased in her place. I suspect she wants Blue-Eyes for herself since it was HER Jii-san's card, and knowing it's going to be in my deck for an ante tournament is probably grinding on her nerves.'
'That doesn't entirely excuse her being rude. She's staying in our house.'
'She's probably tired from travel. I'm willing to give her a little more time before I judge her.' Yugi sighed as she headed downstairs. 'Besides, we don't know what Professor Hopkins told her about the card. He might not be as happy about us using her as Jii-san implied he was.'
Meisa let out an unamused snort. She wanted to deny it, but the whole fiasco with the Otogis had taught them that sometimes their Jii-san did not tell them everything if he thought it might upset them. It was entirely possible that Professor Hopkins had been more reluctant about them risking the dragon than they had been told.
The man in question was midway through a cup of tea when they reached the living room, and he smiled at her as she walked in.
"Ah, Yugi, it's good to see you again." He raised his cup to her. "You've done a lot since I last saw you."
"It's been a busy year and a bit," she acknowledged, nodding back. "Jii-san says you've done a lot too?"
As the Professor started talking happily about everything he had recently discovered, slipping into English in his excitement, Yugi was startled to hear about a possible connection between Duel Monsters and Atlantis. She had known for a while that the game linked back to Ancient Egypt, but to know that the game could be older again was fascinating.
"Of course, I won't have proof until I can find some actual Atlantean ruins." He grinned at her. "But that's where I'm headed tomorrow. I'll send digital copies of everything to your grandfather, so you can see it early, but I do ask that neither of you release anything before I'm ready."
"Of course not, old friend," Sugoroku promised. "It'll be nice to see the proof we've been looking for for so long, but I wouldn't usurp your announcement."
"I'll get to see them too, right Grandpa?" Rebecca asked quietly from the doorway, cuddling her bear tightly, her voice trembling slightly. "And you won't forget to pick me up?"
"Of course!"
Yugi's eyes widened as the elderly American shot across the room and hugged his granddaughter. Rebecca's standoffishness made so much sense when Yugi considered that the girl was going to be staying with a family that she only knew through phone conversations while her grandfather gallivanted off to another country and a possibly dangerous underwater archeological dig.
She was probably scared because she was in a new country, with strange people, and an entirely different language to her own.
"And in the meantime, we'll keep you safe," Sugoroku promised the girl. "Right, Yugi?"
"Right." Determination surged through the Puzzle Bearer. She was not going to let anything happen to Rebecca. Ishizu was not going to lay a hand on the youngster, if Yugi had any say in the matter.
'And I'll help you with that,' Meisa promised as Arthur's stomach grumbled, making Sugoroku laugh. 'Even if she doesn't know about me.'
'Thank you.' She expressed gratitude over the bond as she darted into the kitchen, certain that she had a good plan to help Rebecca relax.
"I'll make us all some dinner," Yugi called into the living room, knowing food often helped her friends unwind. "Rebecca, do you like ramen?"
"I've never tried it," the girl admitted hesitantly.
"Pork sound good?"
"Sure."
"I'll have it ready soon."
"I'll be back in two weeks," Professor Hopkins promised his granddaughter as he released her from a hug the following morning. "You'll be a good girl for Doctor Mutou, right?"
"Yes, Grandpa," Rebecca promised, cuddling her bear tightly.
The elderly archeologist relaxed and picked up his suitcase, then turned to leave.
"Grandpa?" At her call, he turned back to look. "If I won a card from Yugi… would you be mad?"
He let out a soft sigh and kneeled down at her height. "This is about my Blue-Eyes, isn't it?"
"It's your card!" Rebecca protested. "It's not right for her to be using it like a trophy."
"I gave it to Solomon." Arthur sighed, using his nickname for his old friend. "And he entrusted it to Yugi. I may not like her taking the risk with it, but if he trusts her, then I have to."
"But if I won it back…?"
He considered his granddaughter for a moment, then he let out a sigh and his shoulders sank. "As long as you win it, fairly, I won't say a word, but it has to be a fair game. Understand? No tricks."
"Of course." She pouted, irritated that he thought she would do otherwise. "I'm not like Keith or Haga. Or even Yugi…"
"Now now, you know those rumours were never validated." Arthur's sharp tone made her wince. "You should know better than to listen to rumours after everything you've heard people call me. And I know Solomon. He would have taught her better than that."
"Sorry…" Rebecca gazed at the floor. She wanted to think that her grandfather was right, but the rumour mill had been working at full capacity after Duelist Kingdom and had not been addressed until months later. She knew that more than one Duelist back home still believed there was a possibility of what Yugi had been accused of.
Especially since Seto Kaiba had been undefeated before Yugi had spent time over his house, the night before their first duel.
Not that anyone dared to bring it up where it could get back to the lawyers at Kaiba Corp, who were sponsoring the Queen of Games. Defending yourself against accusations of slander was expensive and it was impossible to prove the theories.
"Maybe I should take you home…" Her head snapped up at her grandfather's disappointed voice, her eyes widening in horror as she realised he was serious. "I'll miss the first couple of days of the dig, but…"
"No! No, that's not necessary," she protested, taking a step back. She knew how important the dig was to the man, so him being disappointed enough in her to consider missing some of it hit hard. "I promise, I'll play fairly and I won't say a word."
"Good. I know Yugi, you and her could be really good friends. If you give her a chance. You're both incredible Duelists and you're both smart." His shoulders relaxed and he gave her a small smile as he knelt down at her height. "And even if you aren't friends, you should at least respect each other. There aren't many female Duelists at your level internationally. You should be sticking together, not sniping at each other."
"You're right." The twelve-year-old flinched, realising that she was at risk of alienating someone who could be a decent friend and would at least be someone safe to spend time with at tournaments.
"I know it can be hard when people are insistent on keeping the rumours and slander up, but always remember to consider the source before you take it to heart." Her grandfather ruffled her hair. "Game On is a tabloid magazine, and even they haven't dared accuse Yugi directly of cheating, unlike that article they released on Vivian Wong."
The child nodded, easily able to remember the article they had released when it had become public knowledge that Wong had taken on a new movie role, stating that they had evidence of her flirting with her opponents to get an easy win during her early career. And how they had had to retract it quickly the following month when Paradius, Wong's new sponsor, had thrown the full weight of their legal department behind dealing with the slander.
"I'm trusting you to take the time to get to know my friend's granddaughter and judge her fairly, just like she'll be trying to work you out. Maybe you two should practice against each other. I know you always have a better feel for people after dueling them."
Rebecca straightened at the suggestion and nodded enthusiastically. The Battle City enrolments were opening at midday. It would be a good chance to test out the new technology AND get to know her counterpart. "Okay, Grandpa. Thank you."
He hugged her tightly again and then stood and picked up his suitcase again. "Alright, I have to go, but I have faith in you, Rebecca. Don't let me down."
"I won't."
At the child's promise, her grandfather left through the shop entrance, confident that he was making a good choice for the safety of his granddaughter.
What he did not know, however, was that Marik had been on the stairs down to the basement, collecting stock, and had heard every word.
"You realise he probably did this on purpose, right?" Katsuya grumbled as the trio headed for 'Battle City HQ', halfway across town. "So we'd miss sign ups."
Yugi just shook her head, amused. "No, Mokuba explained why they were doing it this way when I asked him."
"Oh?" Rebecca asked, clutching her bear close and trying not to get pushed around by the others on the bus by accident.
"When they pushed back the tournament, they found that there were a lot of people trying to backdoor their way into the tournament. So instead of trusting outsourcing registration and the new Duel Disks to anyone before release, they decided to set up a headquarters for the tournament. That way, if there was a problem, people would know where to go." The Queen of Games looked amused. "It's part of their whole 'wanting to show Industrial Illusions up' thing. This way they look more organised than if they let someone else handle it."
As the KC building came into view Yugi let out a soft sigh. "Besides, I asked Mokuba a favour."
"Oh?" Katsuya asked, then blanched as he saw the length of the queue as the bus passed the headquarters next door to the main building, certain more than forty-eight Duelists were in it and aware that it was first come first serve.
"We had to come to do the forms and pick up the Duel Disks anyway, but in exchange for me opening registration, I've reserved us all spaces." Katsuya let out a startled noise and Rebecca gave her a grateful look as they passed where the entrance to Battle City HQ was cordoned off with a blue and white ribbon.
"Yuge…" Katsuya hesitated as they stepped off of the bus and headed for the staff door of the headquarters, aware that Yugi did not like throwing her position around.
"Mokuba asked me to open it first, saying that his brother was too busy. Something about last minute preparations. I just happened to point out that people would rush past me and I'd miss signing up." The Queen of Games shrugged. "He was the one who suggested pre-registration for myself and up to two Duelists I picked. I was going to ask Mai if she wanted the spot, but then Rebecca was coming and…"
"Hey, Yugi!" Her name being called cut her off and the trio looked towards the front of the queue, where a certain blonde-haired, purple-eyed Duelist was waving at her. The distraction meant that she did not see the surprise and gratitude on the younger girl's face.
"Hi, Mai!" Yugi waved back, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling in her chest when Katsuya grinned dopily and waved too. She was still not entirely sure that he was not going to decide that the older, prettier Mai was a better option than Yugi and dump his current girlfriend to chase her. She knew it was years of bullying talking when her self-worth tanked, so she tried to chase it away, but it was not easy sometimes.
Especially when, even as a sixteen year old, she was only as tall as Rebecca, who was twelve.
As she headed in through the staff door, she could not help but wonder if all the damage she had done to her soul in her past life could affect the way she grew physically. If so, would it rectify itself when she finally earned the right to be her own person, with her own complete soul, after winning the Ceremonial Duel and sending Meisa on?
Not that she was anywhere near ready for that.
If it meant keeping her sister around a little longer, she was willing to continue to be a shrimp.
Almost within moments of talking to security and entering the building, they had to dodge around someone rushing to do final preparations before opening and nearly got run over by a man carrying a huge box, who had not seen them and would have bumped into Rebecca if Yugi had not pulled her behind her.
"Busy," Katsuya huffed, using his height advantage over the other two to pick Mokuba out from the crowd.
The younger of the Kaiba brothers, who had long black hair and blue eyes, had a clipboard in hand and was checking things off as people reported to him. When he caught Katsuya's gaze, he waved them over.
Guiding the girls through the crowd, he led them safely over to the kid, who had headed for the desks set at the back of the room, where a set of women dressed in identical uniforms were sat, three of whom were watching them expectantly, a form on each of the desks.
"Hey, guys…" Mokuba paused when he saw Rebecca, realising that he was going to have to moderate what he was saying. "You're…"
"Mokuba, this is Hopkins Rebecca," Yugi started to introduce them. "She's…"
"The American Champion. I remember." The Vice CEO of Kaiba Corp nodded, bowing to Rebecca, the name jogging his memory. "I'm Kaiba Mokuba. Pleasure to meet you."
The girl was pleased at being shown respect and bowed back with a grin. "Nice to meet you too."
"You've got about twenty minutes to fill the form in before the doors are due to open." The boy of about Rebecca's age nodded at her politeness. "Yugi, you'll need to be by the doors five minutes before opening."
"Got it."
"Jonouchi, Hopkins, once the opening starts, please stand to one side. We have ropes set up for people to form a queue, but with the size of that line…" At the young Kaiba's grimace the pair just nodded, aware that there were going to be disappointed people by the end of the day.
After all, the queue outside was not racing to forty-eight places, like they thought, but forty-three. Mokuba's brother had already signed up, months in advance, Yugi and her two friends had another three places and Ba-Khu-Ra had dropped in on Mokuba last night to get her registration done, since getting her in to the tournament had been his repayment for the debt he owed her from Duelist Kingdom.
The younger Kaiba half-expected the Thief Queen to go sell the Duel Disk to the highest bidder for reverse engineering, but there was not much he could do about it if she did, and this close to Battle City, it did not matter. There was not enough time for someone to work out how to hack the system and datamine it. Not with how heavily encoded they were.
That meant though that five people who were expecting to get into the event would not have a place, and Mokuba was just waiting for the fallout to happen from that. Still it was his job to deal with it and deal with it he would. He had tickets for those five to attend the finals at least and had managed to swing Duel Disks for each of them, so they at least still got to play with the new technology for a few days before they were released to the public.
It would not entirely solve the issue, but it was the best he had.
Rebecca was first to finish her form, having had the least amount of trouble with it since it was in English, to make it fair for international Duelists to be able to read, rather than expecting them to know Japanese, and she wandered off out of the way, trying to find somewhere she could sit while she waited for the other two to do their sign up and for Yugi to open registration for everyone else.
It was fascinating to watch things unfold from this side. Until now she had always been on the other side of the doors, waiting for events to open. She had not realised how much work went into what she saw and suddenly understood why organisers might get frustrated when things went wrong.
"You okay?" Yugi asked as she sat next to Rebecca, taking a moment to breathe before the opening started.
"I… Thank you." The girl's soft tone was almost lost under the noise of people getting into final positions around them and last minute orders being given out. "You could have let me wait in line and you didn't, so thanks."
"That wouldn't have been fair of me." Her companion shrugged, her eyes narrowing when she saw the receptionist dealing with Katsuya was looking unhappy. "Excuse me?"
"Sure." The girl nodded as the receptionist waved Mokuba over. The Vice CEO's scowl as Yugi hurried over to find out what the problem was told Rebecca that there was an issue, but she did not approach.
Over by the desk, Katsuya looked ill amused. "What do you mean I don't have the rank to enter Battle City?"
"It's only open to Duelists of rank four or higher. Those who have placed in international tournaments. You're only rank three, placing in a National level tournament. Says here that you were part of the second place team in the Japanese School Nationals." The receptionist shrugged, looking at Mokuba, "Kaiba-sama, can you…"
"Your system…"
"I know what the problem is." Mokuba waved it off, cutting Katsuya's protest off as he quickly tapped something into his tablet before looking back at the woman. "Refresh your system please. All of you."
The last was directed at all the receptionists. As they refreshed the system by closing the programs, then logging out and back in again, the teen turned back to Katsuya. "Industrial Illusions was arguing the rankings from Duelist Kingdom until the early hours of this morning. I thought I had updated the system with the updated figures, but apparently not."
When the system refreshed, Katsuya was appeased by the fact he was considered a rank four Duelist and the receptionist, who had only been doing her job, was able to process his application to compete.
While he was distracted with that, Yugi turned to look at Mokuba, who was pointedly looking away from her. "Mokuba?"
"The system needed an update, that's all." Mokuba huffed, unwilling to admit that they had been dealing with a hacker trying to sabotage their systems until three am and that they had been lucky that they had backed up the KC Cloud just the day before. The refresh he had just done to the network was hopefully the last of it before the tournament, but that was why he was here personally, in case more needed to be done. And the checks required to ensure Hekigan's perfect launch would keep his brother busy for the next couple of days, until the matches kicked off.
That was why he had phoned Yugi at an obscene time this morning. He had not expected her to be awake, but the fact that she had been was a massive relief.
Industrial Illusions made an easy scapegoat for the issue, since neither Jonouchi nor Yugi had many good interactions with the company, but honestly, Mokuba was not sure if the issues had been caused by them or not. There was a good chance it was them or a rival company such as Schroder Corp.
"Anyway." Mokuba nodded towards the doors as Katsuya finished up and was handed his Duel Disk, trusting his administration team leader to handle the issues as they arose and alert him if something serious came up. "You ready, Yugi?"
Yugi glanced out the window and smiled nervously as she took in the excitement on the faces of those peering through. "Ready as I'll ever be."
"Then let's get this started."
Author Note: Feb's chapter a little early, because Legends Arceus drops in 30mins and I can't promise that I'll remember to update on Feb 1st. XD
