The warm summer evening gave way to a storm as their feet pounded on the silent night-time streets. It sucked the humidity and the warmth from Domino and drenched everything that dared to be outside.
That included Meisa, who was forced to take shelter three blocks from the Kame Game Shop. A covered bus stop sufficed nicely, allowing the Pharaoh to wring out her jacket which lay over her shoulders like a wet blanket.
It was probably a good thing, she decided as she shucked the soaking wet denim, shivering slightly. The text they had sent out earlier would have Katsuya waiting for her when she got home. He would want a good explanation.
And she did not have one. At least not one that would not have her friends hating her forever…
Her stomach churned as she thought about what Ba-Khu-Ra had snarled at her earlier.
It had taken hours for the thief's words to sink in, but now they had, she was not sure she could ever think about things the same again…
'Anesan?' Imoto's shaky mental voice made her pause as she laid the jacket on the bench to dry.
'You've been thinking about it too, huh?' The Pharaoh asked with a sigh as she finished placing the jacket and slumped down next to it. Her hand shook as she lifted the Puzzle up at eye level.
Bakura's people had been sacrificed to create the item that held her soul…
She let it fall and leaned back, her head resting on the cool glass of the shelter as she swallowed hard. Her sister took ghostly form and sat next to her; her gaze fixed on the floor as her whole spirit shook.
'It's… it's hard not to.' Meisa could feel Yugi was not dealing with it any better than she was. 'Knowing… knowing what created it… what created all of them… I don't… I can't…'
Imoto's horror and disgust only worsened the ache in Meisa's heart. The knowledge that her own uncle had killed an entire village to gain power. That her father may have known about it, or worse, encouraged or condoned it…
That she had been using an item created by so much pain and suffering…
'Ba-Khu-Ra isn't wrong to be angry.' Meisa admitted, her head drooping and her shoulders sinking as thunder rumbled overhead, 'I… I don't think… I couldn't be as calm around us as she is, if I were in her shoes.'
'She said we were days from fulfilling our promise to her though, so at least we were trying to make it right when everything went wrong.' Yugi tried to reassure her twin, able to sense the loathing that was building within the Pharaoh and trying to cut it off before she hated her ancient family. 'And we don't know if your Otousan was in on it or not. We can guess but…'
'We can't know for sure.' Meisa allowed, before an odd thought made her smile ruefully. 'It's weirdly fitting though. That our uncle was a mass murderer.'
'What do you…?'
'Mahad told us Kaiba's past life was as our cousin. That means his father was the one who destroyed Kul Elna.'
'And Kaiba Corp used to be a weapons manufacturer, so Kaiba Gozaburo is… was responsible for an insane number of deaths…' Yugi realised with a wince before trying to offer a good idea to hold to, 'At least he didn't make any more Millennium Items?'
'That we know of.' That was a sobering thought and Meisa scuffed her boots on the ground as she said it, 'Imoto… I'd understand if… if you don't want to wear the Puzzle anymore.'
Yugi's head shot up and she stared at her twin, surprise and shame clear. 'I…'
'You don't have to lie to me. I can sense how little you want to do with the Millennium Items now.'
'Anesan…' Yugi trailed off. The Spirit of the Puzzle was not wrong. She did not want to touch the items, yet alone use their powers but she knew she did not have a choice.
Her sister was bound to the Puzzle, giving it up meant giving her up. Something that Yugi was unwilling to do. Forcing Meisa to live in silence and solitude within its confines, because of something she was not responsible for was not fair.
Plus, Battle City was too close. With Ishizu now guaranteed to be hunting them, there was nothing she could do but wield her Item so she had magic to defend herself and others with. It was that or let Ishizu run rampant and possibly destroy everything she cared about.
Those were not the only things bothering her though…
'I… Anesan… when I got given the Puzzle, I was told that the one who completed it got one wish. Kind of a payment for having to be responsible for the magic it gave…' Yugi swallowed hard, her hands gripping the bench so tightly that her spectral fingers passed through the wood and her nails bit into her palms.
Meisa's eyes widened as she understood. She knew what Yugi's wish had been. She was the only one besides Yugi who did.
"I wish for friends I can rely on, and who can rely on me in turn."
'I got my wish, I got friends, I got stronger as a person, I got YOU.' Yugi's voice went up a pitch as the girl shook so hard Meisa was afraid she was going to fall apart, 'And I got it all because they died! Everything I have! Everything I've done! It's because those poor people lost their lives! And I…'
Tears raced down Yugi's cheeks as she trailed off and stared at the floor.
'Imoto…'
'I don't deserve any of you. Not for that price. Not for any price…'
"You're wrong." At Meisa's verbally spoken denial, Yugi's head shot up and she stared at her sister. "You're wrong, Imoto."
'I…'
"You weren't responsible for Kul Elna. I'm not responsible for Kul Elna. We aren't responsible for this damn war!" Meisa shot to her feet and started pacing, anger growing. "Yes, we have the Millennium Puzzle. Yes, we use its power but it's because we don't have a choice. If we didn't, we'd die. Everyone would die. Because we HAD to use it and the Gods to seal away Zorc so he didn't destroy everything!"
Meisa turned to stare at her twin with an intensity that prevented Yugi from looking away.
"I can't defend the actions of my family, but I will NOT let you destroy yourself because of something that isn't your fault. You are NOT responsible for what happened. Your wish doesn't change what happened or why. It was just the payment you deserved for having to put up with this bullshit! We were left this mess by my family and I promise you, I'm going to clean it up. I will do whatever I need to, to get those people the afterlife they deserve. Just like they should have done in Egypt."
'Anesan…'
Meisa's shoulders sank as she pulled their phone out of her back pocket.
"But first of all, I'm calling Ba-Khu-Ra… even if she won't pick up, I need to at least leave her a message. She needs to know I understand…"
'Good luck.'
Amane had collapsed on the sofa the moment she had gotten home from the boat and had not moved in hours. Instead, she had stared at the ceiling and tried to think of something, anything, that would allow her to fix the fact that Ishizu was now locked on her best friend and would be trying to kill her in just a few days.
Nothing had come to mind. With the Shadows binding her soul, she was little more than a puppet that danced at the demon's whims. He held all the strings for both her soul and that of her sister. Not that they had ever been entirely certain where Ba-Khu-Ra ended and the demon began, but now…
It didn't really matter.
Their freedom was a lie. Their choices, something the demon allowed them to make.
The blank spot in Amane's memories where the events of the night she had gotten the Millennium Ring had once lain now grated on the Ring Bearer's nerves. The demon had been happy to take them away from her after everything it had gotten in exchange, but Amane regretted the deal greatly.
Being there had allowed her to save Ishizu's life and she did not regret that, not entirely. But it had also allowed the creature that frequently possessed her to send another Item holder over the edge and tumbling into the demon's clutches.
Her phone rang again but she did not need to look to know who it was.
Yugi had been trying to reach her for hours. Ever since Amane had spotted Shadi and fled. She had even come to the house to check if Amane was okay.
The Ring Bearer knew she needed to speak with the Puzzle Bearer. She knew she needed to let her know what had happened, but she could not bring herself to speak to the other teen.
She did not want to have to admit to just how much she had been made to betray her friend…
'I didn't make you go.' The demon hissed at the back of her mind. The reminder stung viciously as Amane pulled a pillow over her head, 'You went to Ishizu's aid by yourself. You gave me what I needed.'
'You didn't tell me you were going to push Ishizu to kill Yugi!' Amane snapped back, trying to push the creature from her mind, only to find herself locked in place, unable to move mentally or physically. The bands of Shadows that encircled her soul pulsed for a moment, causing a burst of pain and making Amane whimper quietly.
'I don't have to.' The creature whispered in her ear, 'You belong to me. Unless you wish to spend the rest of this whole thing trapped in a card, or one of your precious Monster World figures. That dragon the Pharaoh's court bought for you would make a very pretty prison…'
The phone stopped ringing and sent the call to answer phone again as Amane processed the threat.
'You need me to spy for you.' She reminded the creature carefully, not wanting to be punished again.
'I need something that looks like you.' It disagreed far too quickly, suggesting it had expected her response, 'All I have to do is not raise the illusion and suppress my energies and they'll never know.'
'Yugi would know.' Amane was certain of that. The Puzzle Bearer had been hyper aware of the energies surrounding her for the last couple of months, ever since she had started getting the hang of utilising the magic in her Puzzle. More than once, Ba-Khu-Ra had tried to pass herself off as Amane and had only been caught by Yugi.
'The Pharaoh's brat is a thorn in my side.' The demon grouched, backing off enough that Amane could move again. 'One I want to remove but can't.'
'Can't?' Amane dared to press as she sat up, snatching up the phone as it vibrated with a text letting her know she had a voice mail.
'Don't get me wrong, I can kill her easily. I could even make you do it. It would be satisfying to do so during one of those sleepovers you both enjoy so much, when her guard is so low that she's willing to sleep right next to you.' The demon snarled out, making Amane wince, having hoped the creature had not noticed those moments. 'But the Pharaoh can't regain her full strength without the brat. So, if I want to take that power for myself, I have to care about Yugi's survival. For now.'
Amane could not help the spike of envy that stabbed into her. Just a few months ago, the creature had tried to end her because of her refusal to stop getting in its way.
While the Ring Bearer did not want her friend to be murdered and had gotten herself badly hurt and enslaved trying to stop that from happening, the realisation that HER survival mattered less to the creature POSSESSING HER, than that of Yugi, was a bitter tasting victory.
'Oh, don't worry, little one.' The condescending tone was heavy enough that she could feel the weight of it as she felt a spectral hand pat her on the head. She flinched from it, causing the voice to gain an edge of amusement, 'I've realised just how valuable you are.'
'Oh?' Amane feigned disinterest as she cleared the notification and contemplated listening to her answer machine, fully aware that the creature disliked when it was not being paid the attention it felt it deserved.
'Close enough to the Pharaoh's brat to be allowed to sleep in her chambers. Important enough to Ba-Khu-Ra for her to give up what little resistance I allowed her for the last few millennia. And a whole soul of pure enough Light that I am stronger than I've been since the seal was first created? Oh, I am never letting you go. Not now that I have you bound this tightly.'
Once again, the shackles on her soul pulsed, but Amane was too shocked to let out the whimper the demon was looking for.
'Whole?!' Her surprise was matched by the disbelief that flooded the bond from the Thief, who had been awoken by the burst of pain and her shifting mood.
The creature, frustratingly, did not answer. It merely sank back into the depths of their connected soul rooms, leaving her and Ba-Khu-Ra without any clue what it meant. After all, Amane held parts of Ba-Khu-Ra's soul and vice versa. They should not be able to be complete without each other.
Then it hit the Thief Queen.
During Duelist Kingdom she had come to the realisation that Yugi had parts of her soul that SHOULD have been lost to her. Like a Ren, a True Name, which she had bound her sister to so she could enter the duel against Pegasus.
That had probably happened because Yugi had been reincarnating over and over, using each life as a chance to regain some of what she had lost when she had sealed half of her soul.
But she was not the only one.
Amane had been reincarnating and regaining strength too. While Yugi's recovery had been stunted because she had been hunted, Amane had not had that problem. Plus, the Ring had found her much earlier in history than the Puzzle had found Yugi.
If the demon was to be believed, that meant that Amane had finally finished her recovery and was, in fact, more her own person, than she was Thief Queen.
After all, she only held four parts of Ba-Khu-Ra's soul. Ba-Khu-Ra had the other five.
Not that it truly mattered right now…
'Sen?' The call was quiet, hesitant and Amane let out a soft sigh. 'I'm…'
'Don't say sorry, you'd be lying and I can't deal with it. Not right now.'
The Thief Queen could sense that her sister was not lying and honestly did not blame her. Today had been hard on both of them for various reasons, and if it had not been for Battle City being just days away, she would have just headed somewhere exotic for a few days to get away from it all.
'Might I have control? So you can rest?' She spoke gently and asked for the first time in months, trying to make Amane understand that she just wanted to help.
'Fine.'
If Amane was being honest with herself, she needed the chance and as much as she could not deal with Ba-Khu-Ra right now, she knew she could trust the Thief to keep her safe.
The change was instantaneous, and Ba-Khu-Ra roamed the room, finally settling on the windowsill, phone still in hand, so she could watch the rain fall and the lightning flash across the sky. For all that she had spent thousands of years moving across the globe and experiencing things, rain was still her favourite thing.
It had been so rare back in Egypt that a single rainfall had been considered a blessing from the Gods. When the rains came, it was a time for celebration for Pharaoh and slave alike, because the floods it caused provided the food that fed everyone.
Thinking of Egypt made her look down at her phone, where six missed calls from the Pharaoh's brat were evident.
She did not feel up to a trip across Domino to speak with the girl in person, but she did listen to the voicemail messages to find out if there was anything important that she needed to know before she fired off a text message announcing their continued living status.
The first five were nothing of import, just the runt worrying about them but the sixth was different.
It was not Yugi on the phone.
It was Meisa.
And her words hit Ba-Khu-Ra like a truck.
"Ba-Khu-Ra, I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from right now. But before you delete this message, please, just listen.
I know sorry changes nothing so I'm not going to waste our time with something I've already said.
Instead, I'm going to make you this promise.
I understand the gravity of what my family did back in Egypt. I understand why you did what you did when you thought I had betrayed you. And I know you think it's going to take a miracle to fix it now.
But I swear, I am going to do what I need to do to keep my promise to you.
I promised you justice. I promised you your people would get their afterlife. I will work towards the miracle needed to get it done. Just tell me what we need to do to start the process and give me time to figure out the rest, and I swear, I will fulfil my oaths to you.
Because your people deserved better than they got. YOU deserved better.
And I'm going to do everything I can to make it right.
I promise."
The thief leaned against the wall and replayed the message, trying to work out if she had heard what she had heard properly. When it was proved true, she saved the voice mail and slid down the wall until her head rested on her knees.
Three thousand years…
Three thousand fucking years…
And Meisa was offering her exactly the same thing she had offered back in Egypt.
Judgement for her own family. Understanding of why Ba-Khu-Ra had fallen down the path she had fallen. An afterlife for the people of Kul Elna…
And Ba-Khu-Ra did not know how to respond.
She had not planned to tell the Pharaoh what had created the Millennium Items. Not yet.
She had planned to hold on to that information until revealing it would do the most damage, but she had lost control of herself earlier and honestly? She had not expected the Pharaoh to believe her, especially after the first question out of her mouth had been about her son, not about the village.
She should have known Meisa well enough to realise that the Pharaoh had just been trying to deescalate the situation and that she would fully process what she had been told later.
After all, that had been exactly how she had reacted to Ba-Khu-Ra's truth in Egypt, back when Meisa had been a Princess pretending to be a Prince.
She raised her head enough to stare at the phone in her hand, trying to work out how to respond to the voicemail and could not find the words.
Just a few months ago she would have tried to shake off the demon enough to work with the Pharaoh to get what was being promised, but she could no longer do that.
She had given up her chance to do that to protect her sister, who now hated her…
Her head lowered again as she felt tears building.
Once again, she had made a deal that screwed over her people to stop herself being hurt…
Her sobs echoed throughout the house as, curled up in the dark, unable to be seen by anyone except those she could not escape, she finally let go of her emotions.
"So that's everything. I understand if you don't want to be friends with me any longer, but I do ask that you don't punish Imoto for the actions of my family."
Meisa glanced between the teens she considered her close friends. She and Yugi had been pleasantly surprised and a little ashamed to get home and find Katsuya, Honda and Anzu were preparing to come looking for them.
They had not been entirely ready to tell their friends the truth about everything, but the others knew them too well by now. The moment they had gotten a good look at them, Anzu had been demanding to know what was wrong, while Honda and Katsuya covered her retreat from the rain.
Even then they had tried to stay quiet, at least until they could work out the best way to explain things, but they had not been allowed to. The incident with Otogi had taught her friends that when they tried to hide something from them, it was not good news and they had been determined to try and help her with it…
She just wondered if they still felt that way.
Honestly, the silence from her friends was not unexpected. The crimes of her family were a lot to digest and she honestly did not expect them to talk to her again.
It would hurt but she would accept that as long as they did not ostracize her twin.
"You're sure she wasn't just making this up to mess with you?" Katsuya finally broke the heavy silence with a question that was laced with hope.
"She's not." Honda pierced through it with a shake of his head, surprising Meisa. "I already knew. I worked it out on Duelist Kingdom and Ba-Khu-Ra made me promise not to say anything, but…"
"You knew and you didn't tell us?!" Anzu demanded, her hands shaking as she gave him a wide-eyed stare.
"She made me swear not to and I didn't think it would help. Not yet. And honestly, I don't think you want the details. I certainly wish I didn't have them." The look of disgust on his face made it clear just how bad it was. "Meisa wasn't at fault, in fact she was trying to help fix it, but what her family did…"
He just trailed off and shook his head.
"Shit." Katsuya's hands briefly balled into fists before one slammed into the arm of the chair he was sitting in.
"Anesan wants to keep her oath to Ba-Khu-Ra." Yugi took control of the body to speak, her voice trembling slightly, her already awful mood lowered again by the thought that things were worse than they had known. "She promised her justice for what happened and that she would do her best to get the people of Kul Elna into the afterlife. I… I'm going to support her."
"Won't Meisa have to leave for that to happen?" Honda demanded, able to remember what he had been told before and staring Yugi in the eyes. "What happens to you and all this Zorc bullshit if she goes?"
"We… we're working on a plan for that." Yugi swallowed hard and went to sit on the arm of the sofa next to Anzu, only to pause when the girl flinched. Instead, she backed off, trying to hide the hurt Anzu's reaction caused, and sat on the TV unit.
"We've been told that Meisa leaving won't kill me, so I'll be fine. We can't really plan until we speak to Ba-Khu-Ra, because we don't know all the details, but we know we need Anesan's true name for it. Since we need that anyway to unlock Anesan's full power we figure we'll go for that first. And that means getting the God cards."
"Get back over here. I'm not mad at either of you." Anzu huffed, regretting the wince which had been in response to Honda's question rather than Yugi's presence. When Yugi perked up and moved back across the room, Anzu wrapped her arms around her friend and pulled her into the chair with her, certain that Yugi needed a hug. "So we get those and then we find out what else you two need."
She was not wrong and the fact Anzu was still willing to offer help, allowed Yugi to relax a lot as Honda rose to his feet and started pacing.
"She needs all the Millennium Items and Meisa's true name." He hissed out as he paced. "Ba-Khu-Ra told me that."
"Which means talking Azra and Ishizu into giving up their Items, finding where Shadi disappeared to and seeing whether Ba-Khu-Ra is willing to share." Yugi could feel the relief that pulsed over the bond from her twin at having some idea of what they needed to do.
"This doesn't fix the Zorc thing," Katsuya grimaced. "He's been hunting Yuge for lifetimes. Without Mei, Yuge's a sitting duck and if she goes..."
Yugi winced, wishing she could deny it and far too aware of what could happen. Azra had been quite clear, and Zorc had been crowing about it.
"What?" Anzu asked, "What do you guys know that we don't?"
"Don't you remember?" Meisa asked, taking over and looking up at her, causing Anzu to let go. "Zorc made it quite clear. We're on our last chance to stop him."
Anzu's eyes widened as she remembered.
"The seal… it's breaking." She breathed as Honda slumped back down and Katsuya ran a hand through his hair. "And if Yugi dies…"
"Every time Imoto reincarnated and died, the seal got weaker." Meisa agreed, squirming until she was in a comfortable position, "And if she dies now, it's going to break. What's worse is that we've been informed it's not just Zorc we have to worry about."
"What?!" Katsuya yelped loudly, then winced and glanced in the direction of the bedrooms, where Sugoroku and Rebecca were asleep. When no one moved in the corridor, he turned back to Meisa.
"Azra told us that he's not the only thing that's behind the seal now." She continued, "There's other creatures and other souls that have been fed to the darkness… including my Oniisan."
"Your…"
"Atem? The one whose name I took as Pharaoh?" Meisa's shoulders drooped slightly as she cut Katsuya off, "His soul was sacrificed to summon the Gods. That's what we saw Anubis doing in that flashback in Tokyo."
"Shit."
"Yeah."
Silence fell again, this time one of communal understanding. The situation was bad. There was no other way to describe it.
"So even if we get rid of Zorc for good, the world's still gunna end?" Honda demanded, frustrated.
"I… don't think so." Meisa admitted with a shake of her head, "I've been told there's timelines where the world survives this. It doesn't have to end. Which means there's another path and we just have to find it."
"That's… that's shockingly good to know." Anzu felt her heart lift a little. "What about you? Does this mean you still have to go?"
Meisa's silence spoke volumes.
"You are not allowed to go yet." All four teens turned to stare at the doorway, where Sugoroku was watching them all, his eyes narrowed and his expression set.
"Jii-san?" Meisa asked, getting to her feet. "What…"
"I will not have you rushing into this." He spoke with all the authority of his age and position as head of the family, "As you are a member of the Mutou family, you're in my care and I say you are forbidden from attempting to take down Zorc and get the souls into the afterlife until you are truly ready and have a plan."
His posture shifted from stiff and slightly angry, his shoulders slumping as he leaned against the doorframe, "As much as I'll be sorry to see you go, I know I can't stop you leaving Meisa. I also know I shouldn't. That should be your choice to make and you have oaths to keep. But I will NOT have you taking Yugi, your friends, and the world with you."
"I would never!" Meisa's yelp reassured her grandfather a little. "How much did you…?"
"I woke up when Katsuya let the others in." He let out a huff, "And I heard everything. I'm just glad Rebecca's not woken up."
"Oh… oops."
"I swear you're a ninja when you want to be." Katsuya grumped, having been trying to keep everyone quiet enough to avoid waking and worrying the man.
"You'll learn the trick once you have children." Sugoroku let out a snort, before turning back to Meisa, "You're grounded until Battle City by the way, for sneaking out after curfew."
Meisa did not bother to protest it. He was her guardian and she had broken his rules. She could have asked Azra to wait until morning and it was only a couple of nights, he could have grounded her for much longer.
"Am I forbidden from learning my true name too?" She asked instead, "What about acquiring the God cards?"
"I won't stop you competing in Battle City and recovering the God cards. This could be your only chance to get them." He nodded, then his expression turned pensive. He knew she was not going to like his next words, "But if you can't recover your name without starting a fight with Zorc, then I forbid you from claiming it. You will have to wait until you have a chance to do it safely."
Meisa stared at her grandfather and forced down the desire to start yelling. Sugoroku knew how important it was to her to finally have her true name. Not just for the seal, but so she could give her original given name to her friends.
But he was not wrong in saying he had the right to forbid her from doing something, especially when those things would risk the safety of her Imoto and the entire world.
Still… to be this close and not be allowed because of the orders of someone thousands of years younger than her…
'Easy Anesan.' Her sister murmured quietly, sending calm and sympathy across the bond, 'You know Jii-san's just worried about you.'
She did know but it did not help her mood.
"Fine." She huffed, her shoulders sinking, "I understand."
With that she retreated to the Puzzle, leaving Yugi to smile ruefully at her grandfather. "I…"
"You're also grounded." Her grandfather stated without preamble. "You knew better than to risk your safety by leaving the house after curfew and with no backup."
"Yes Jii-san." Yugi nodded swiftly, not willing to risk upsetting her grandfather any more than he already was.
She was sure the others could not see it, her grandfather was a Game Master after all, just like her and Kaiba, but she could and she knew that if Meisa had not been so emotionally all over the place, she would have picked up on it too.
She completely understood. She knew how much he valued his family and that he considered the spirit within the Puzzle a member of that. To know that she one day planned to leave them behind was painful.
And Yugi had been dealing with that pain for months now.
"Mutou-Sensei?" Anzu's formal tone caught the elderly gamer's attention, "Is it alright if I crash on the sofa? I'm also out after curfew and getting home is going to be… challenging."
Sugoroku paused to consider. It was rather late and while the gang violence around Domino had died down over the last year, possibly due to the largest gang in the city being dismantled by Meisa and Katsuya, he did not want to be responsible for something happening to Anzu or Honda if they were attacked on the way home.
"You can both stay tonight." He addressed Honda as well, "But please remember Yugi is grounded, so you won't be able to stay over again until after Battle City."
"We'll be good as gold." The dancer promised with a grin she did not entirely feel. The information they had been given was horrifying. Though she was determined to be there for Yugi, she was not sure how well she was going to be able to cope with the thought that there were souls other than Meisa and Ba-Khu-Ra's involved in the making of the Millennium Items.
"Just keep it down. Some of us actually require sleep." The elderly gamer yawned as he turned away. "Yugi…"
"Yes, Jii-san?" At her curious question, he paused. Yugi's heart dropped as his shoulders sank and his head drooped.
"Never mind, I'll talk to you both later."
With that, he headed back to bed, leaving the conversation ended for now and the children to try and decide where they were all going to sleep tonight.
"You can share my bed." Katsuya offered Honda, "Like old times."
"You can have the…"
"Don't you dare, Mutou Yugi." Anzu shook her head, cutting Yugi off from offering the bed downstairs, "Either I'll take one of the sofas or we're sharing the bed."
"But…" Yugi cut off at the stare Anzu gave her. When Anzu had decided something, it was not always worth arguing. Instead, she gave her a rueful smile, "I mean I don't mind sharing. You're taller than me, so you'd be more comfortable on the bed than the sofas after all."
"Then it's settled." Anzu grinned and got to her feet, "Good night boys."
When Katsuya and Honda replied the same, Anzu herded Yugi downstairs. She waited until they had reached the basement to ask, "Are you okay?"
"I'm…" Yugi started to say that she was fine.
"Yugi." The sharpness in Anzu's voice made Yugi pause. "This is a lot. And we saw how Meisa felt. I don't think I've ever heard her voice crack like that before, but you've been doing the thing you do to stop us worrying. Are YOU okay?"
"I… I don't know. I don't know how I feel. It's… horrible and I'm… I think I'm kind of in shock." Yugi admitted as she sat on the bed, wringing her hands. "Can I get back to you once I've processed?"
"Yeah." Anzu nodded, drawing Yugi into a hug. "But don't forget, it's okay to not be okay. We're here if you need to vent or sob or whatever, okay?"
"Thank you."
"Of course! What are friends for?"
