"For the last time, Kaasan. I'm not leaving. Yuge's done too much for us for me to run now!"
Amane's head rang as she opened her eyes and her muscles ached, but the sound of Jonouchi's furious snarl was enough get her to force herself out of the double bed, wrap herself in a sheet since her clothes were in the tumble dryer, and open the bedroom door to find Honda on the other side, looking grim.
"What's going on?" She asked, both curious and concerned.
"Kawai's throwing a fit about the magic shit." Honda grumbled, "She's threatening to take Shizuka and leave but…"
"And I'm not going either!" Shizuka's voice suddenly filled the silence.
"Kawai Shizuka, I am your mother, and…"
"Yugi nearly died because she was protecting Katsuya!" Shizuka interrupted her mother. "She could've been killed getting the money to help me! I'm not going to run away now because of something that isn't her fault!"
"You will come with me this instant, or…"
Amane didn't wait for Kawai to finish her sentence. Instead, she flicked her still damp hair over her shoulder and strode into the living room, adjusting the sheet so it hung like a toga. In there, she found Kawai glowering at a half dressed, still damp Jonouchi, who had Shizuka pressed against his side, while Rebecca and Mai watched from the sofa.
"If you're so concerned about people's lives, you'll shut up."
Her glare and snap made silence fall and had both Jonouchi and Honda checking which Bakura was in control of the body right now. She didn't care though, her glare was fixed upon the source of pain for those she cared about.
"Yugi needs rest. We all need rest. Causing chaos now, when the shit is about to hit the fan is furthering Ishizu's cause. If you really wanted to help your kids, you'd be making sure there was food and something for them to drink before they went to fight."
"Or I could stop them fighting at all," Kawai glowered back. "I have guardianship of both my children, it's my job to protect them. Letting them go and fight in some magical war isn't protecting them! Your parents should be stopping you! Dr. Mutou should be stopping Yugi! I had to resuscitate her! She's in no fit state to compete!"
"You think I don't want to stop her?" Sugoroku asked from the kitchen doorway, his furious tone causing everyone to turn and look at him. "That I want my granddaughter in danger? That I want her dead? I've spent months working to avoid this. It came anyway and now I have to do what I can to support her."
"Just lock her in the basement till the crazy woman goes away!" Kawai hissed out, "Then she's safe, my children are safe, everyone is safe!"
"No, they're not." Amane cut in. "Right now, we're locked in a tournament. It has rules that ensure fair play. Our magic works off of games, so it will punish someone who breaks those rules. If we drop out, we're not protected by those rules anymore. Ishizu could come here, break in and kidnap whoever she likes. Or worse, she just sets the store on fire!"
"You're exaggerating. You just want to keep risking everyone's safety so you can play your stupid games!"
Amane had never been as insulted as she was at that moment. After everything she and her Other Self had done to help Kawai's children and save their friend, that was what was thought of her?!
Mai, seeing the darkening expressions of the teens, rose to her feet, smiled at the teens then grabbed Kawai's arm and dragged her into the kitchen, slamming the door shut behind them. Amane sighed once the two adults were gone, though she felt sorry for Doctor Mutou. Her shoulders sank and she slumped into the nearest available chair.
"Sorry." Jou's apology made her smile at him, though she didn't feel it. "She wouldn't listen…"
"It's fine, most parents would be the same." Amane shrugged, "She has a point about Yugi's condition, and I know my mum would've been just as bad if it'd been me and Ryou. My father would probably be encouraging us instead, so he could try and get Ishizu's Rod for his artifact collection."
"Still… how you feeling? You scared us." Jou did look legitimately worried, which she appreciated.
Still, she just shrugged, hungry and exhausted, in pain and fully aware there was at least one more duel to go before this was settled, possibly many more.
"Let me know if I can help at all?"
'He's already helped enough already.' Ba-Khu-Ra's grumble in the back of Amane's mind wasn't entirely fair.
'We didn't exactly stop it.' The Ring Bearer pointed out before smiling at him.
"Don't suppose you know where my bag went?" She asked, seriously craving an energy drink and a bar of chocolate and aware she'd stashed some in her backpack.
Katsuya didn't hesitate to bounce across the room, snatch her bag from the pile that'd been built by the door, and bring it over. She felt a lot better once she'd chugged a bottle of Gatorade and downed a couple of Kit-Kats and sighed in relief as she slumped back into her chair. It hadn't entirely fixed the issue, but it'd eased the fatigue enough for her headache to ease and would keep her going a bit longer, until she could sleep tonight.
'Jonouchi's hovering. I think he wants to ask something.' The Thief Queen sounded far more amused now there was more energy available. Amane tilted her head at her friend, who shifted from foot to foot and gave her a sheepish grin.
"Don't suppose you have a spell that can fix things?" He asked, holding out a Dark Magician card that looked fine to her, but caught Ba-Khu-Ra's attention. The Ring Bearer 'stepped back', allowing her sister control. The Ring Spirit took the card from him and examined it, her lips pursing as she realised it'd been clipped.
"Sen's got a trick that might work, but I dunno if we should burn the energy right now." The Thief Queen gazed up at him. "How urgently do you need this card?"
"There's a trick that I can do if I end up against Ishizu, but I need a Dark Magician." Jou looked determined, "If we can beat her before she gets to Yuge, we can take her God card off her and half the threat."
'That's not a bad idea, sis.' Amane offered, able to sense Ba-Khu-Ra considering his words too. 'Especially considering how close it came…'
And it really had come close. The Shadows were still seeping from the cracks in the seal that'd formed when Yugi had stopped breathing. Any chance of taking out Ishizu before she could finish the job was worth taking.
'Alright, it's only a minor thing after all.'
Amane took over and pulled out a small pouch from her bag, fishing two magnetite lodestones from it, placing them upon the card and focusing her magic through her hands as she called, "Time to be whole, and take the field once more."
The card glowed. The two stones melted, the liquid running around the card and filling in the missing space and glowing with the card briefly, before the light faded away, revealing a whole and repaired card.
"I love being a nerd." Amane grinned as she handed the card back to Jou, even as her world spun a little, suggesting that hadn't been the best idea. "Shadows work through any game. So I chose a spell from DnD, called Mending."
"You're the best, Kura." Jou grinned, hugging the card tightly, fully planning to give Yugi the red Dark Magician once this was all over, but wanting it in his deck for now.
Amane startled at having a nickname from him, then gave him a bright smile. "Of course I am. Now why don't you go and wake Yugi, so we can get food in her before we get going?"
As he bounced down the stairs, Amane grinned after him, finally feeling like a member of the group.
His sister, Shizuka, nervously approached once he disappeared, "Umm, Bakura-san?"
"What's up?" Amane asked, concerned about the younger girl who had been through so much today.
"Thank you. For helping me and for helping my brother." Shizuka shifted from foot to foot, in a manner so similar to her brother that it made Amane suppress a chuckle. "I'm not gonna say I'd do anything to repay you, but if you need something reasonable, I'm willing to help."
"You're smarter than your brother then." Ba-Khu-Ra took over, making the girl wince, "He nearly owed me everything."
"Oniisan does his best. And so should I." Shizuka's smile was hesitant. "Right now that means watching my words."
"Smart girl. I don't need anything right now, not from you, but if something happens to me, keep an eye on your brother for me?"
"I'll try."
"Do your best and I'll consider it paid."
"Alright."
The door had barely shut behind Kawai Sakura, Mai and Sugoroku before Jou and Shizuka's mother was wheeling on the younger woman.
"You have no right to…"
"Hear me out." Mai's sharp gaze and firm tone cut her off. "If you try and fight them on this now, when Yugi nearly died while trying to help them, they're going to resent it. I know Jonouchi, he won't flee now, no matter how much you press him, and if your daughter's anything like him, neither will she. Insulting their friends and pressuring them will make them turn on you and you could lose them both."
Sakura's shoulders sank. Mai wasn't wrong. Shizuka had already threatened to run away from home once to be with her brother.
"I can't blame Kawai for being upset." Sugoroku admitted with a sigh as he gazed towards the door, "Seeing that thing? Knowing that it nearly killed Yugi and that there's still two more of them out there? If it wasn't for the fact Bakura wasn't wrong, I wouldn't be letting her go to the finals. What that woman is doing…"
Mai paused, suddenly remembering that she'd met the Bearer of the Millennium Rod before and that yes, she was Mai's age.
Kawai though, hadn't, and frowned, "Wait, she's not Yugi's age?"
"Ishizu?" Doctor Mutou asked, "She's an adult. Old enough to know better than this."
"And old enough to have learned not to take out her pain on those younger than her." Kawai grimaced, remembering how she'd taken out the pain of her divorce and the abuse she'd suffered at the hands of her former husband, on her son.
Mai glanced in the direction of the living room, then downwards, towards the basement's gaming section, where Yugi was sleeping off the aftereffects of the venom Ishizu had infused her with and her brief demise, during the duel at the docks.
She had been annoyed about the whole mess before. She thought of Yugi and Anzu as little sisters and Jonouchi was a decent kid. To be reminded that they and their friends were being harassed and attacked by someone her age or older just made her angrier.
They were children. While they were linked to the whole Egypt thing, they had nothing to do with anything done there. Or with anything a tribe they'd never interacted with for more than ten minutes decided to do. Even Meisa, the Pharaoh, was innocent in this, because she would've been long dead before the Tomb Keeper tribe had decided to screw things up.
That Ishizu had decided that it was okay to kill them, for something they hadn't been involved in, was unfair and needed to be stopped.
"I'll deal with it." Mai's words drew the attention of both parental figures. "I'll knock out any kid that gets between me and Ishizu and I'll take the bitch's God card so she can't use another one against them."
"But won't she just attack the kids once they're out of the tournament?" Sugoroku was worried.
"Not if they're smart. If they can stay out of her reach, she won't be able to touch them or security will be on her." Mai shook her head. "So as long as they don't end up against her in the tournament, they should be safe, but they need to at least get to Hekigan so Ishizu doesn't just waltz in here, or pick them off on the street."
Kawai grimaced, "I'll be on Hekigan anyway. I should be there already, I'm part of the medical team for this tournament. I managed to get them to agree to let me travel with the finalists because Shizuka was sick. So I can do Yugi's medical exam later and if one of them does get hurt. I'll be there to treat them but…"
"You don't want them to be in the position in the first place." Mai understood, "I don't either. Trust me to deal with it? Even if I have to knock out everyone before the finals?"
Kawai hesitated. She didn't know Mai like the kids did. They trusted her enough to share their secrets with her though, so that was a huge point in her favour. "If anything happens to my children…"
"It won't be Mai's fault." Sugoroku stepped in, giving Kawai a sharp look before smiling at Mai. "If Meisa trusts you, I'll trust you. I believe you'll do your best."
"Ishizu's giving a bad name to female duelists by picking on kids. I've worked too hard to get more women in the game to have her messing things up now." Mai nodded in reply. "That and Yugi and the others happen to be amongst the few people I actually like. I'll be damned if I let her take any of them out. I mean, I can't do much about anyone who gets put against her in the tournament without getting myself kicked out, then I'll be no use to anyone, but I'll do everything I can."
Kawai huffed as she turned towards the fridge, where the sandwich ingredients were being stored. She started fishing them out, knowing that she should at least feed the kids before they left.
"I'm still going to take Katsuya and Shizuka back to Tokyo, away from all this magic stuff once this is over."
"I don't think they'll go, but we can talk about that later." Mai huffed, having done what she could and now determined to smack some sense into Ishizu.
"Before then," Sugoroku moved to help Kawai prepare the food, aware that everyone would need to leave soon. "What do you want in your sandwich?"
"Got any chicken?"
Katsuya was hesitant to wake his girlfriend up as he slipped past the curtain and beheld the sleeping Queen beyond, but he knew he either had to, or needed to carry her to Hekigan.
And he didn't think she would appreciate the humiliation of him carrying her around Kaiba.
He quietly approached and shook her, gently to start with, and when that didn't work, with a little more force. On the eighth shake, red eyes snapped open and Shadows flickered for a moment as he backed up, putting his hands up and swallowing hard. The Pharaoh's glower eased as she realised who was waking them, but Katsuya knew that if anyone except him or someone she trusted had put a hand on her, they would've been blasted across the room.
"Sorry Mei, but you need to be up. We have to leave soon."
"One moment." She mumbled, closing her eyes and reopening them in the corridor between her soul room and Yugi's.
Taking a moment to gather herself, she sighed. She felt better than she had when she'd passed out on the bed next to her twin, but she was still too tired for the upcoming mess. Not that it mattered, there wasn't any more time to rest, and as such, she had to suck it up.
Heading into Imoto's Soul Sanctuary, she paused at the sight of the girl, fast asleep, curled around the Kuriboh plushie that held her memories of good times with her friends. A soft smile grew as Meisa leaned in the doorway.
As upset as she'd been when Imoto had risked her life to save her friend, as angry as she was at Ishizu for endangering her sister and the others, as terrified as she'd been when she'd returned to an empty vessel, the sight of her twin, venom free and sleeping peacefully, helped lift some of the darkness that'd been crawling in, tempting her to make Ishizu hurt the way Ishizu had hurt those she cared about.
A temptation she'd only been resisting because they were so low on energy, because Yugi had taught her that continuing the cycle of pain would only lead to more pain and because she didn't want to let her twin down by letting herself fall to the Shadows.
She was just glad something good had come of the whole mess.
In working with Ba-Khu-Ra, during the Thief Queen's brief ownership of the Puzzle, she'dfinally worked out how to fully utilise the insanely powerful magic the Puzzle contained. Something she'd been hesitating to push without training but hadn't hesitated to wield to revive her Imoto.
It irritated her no end, to know Ishizu's plan had worked.
That she'd only come to finally understand the Puzzle's magic because Ishizu had pushed them so far.
That the knowledge had come at the cost of her sister's life…
Her hands balled into fists and her whole body trembled as she remembered the sheer despair that'd surged when she'd connected to an empty, lifeless vessel.
She'd known Yugi was getting dangerously close to being out of time. The body had been sluggish at best and almost unresponsive at worst and her sister's soul had been wracked with agony, but she'd dared to hope that Ishizu wouldn't push her twin to destruction, because of the side effects that would have on the seal keeping the demon at bay.
She'd been wrong. She'd been so painfully wrong.
There was nothing, nothing the Shadows could do to her that could match the sheer torture of knowing her Imoto had managed to save everyone they cared about, except herself.
She owed Ba-Khu-Ra so much. If the Thief Queen hadn't reacted as quickly as she had? If she hadn't shown Meisa how to draw in the energies of her friends? If she hadn't worked with her?
Her twin would be gone. The world would be gone.
Everyone and everything she cared about, would be gone.
Ishizu would've taken everything from her…
The trembling turned from terror to fury and she turned her face towards the floor, not wanting to direct any of it towards the girl who'd given her so much.
Yugi was innocent.
She hadn't been the one who'd betrayed the Ishtars.
She wasn't the one who'd made the rules that had ruined so many lives across the millennia.
She didn't deserve the agony she'd been put through.
And she certainly didn't deserve death.
That her twin's light had been, briefly, snuffed out, for something that she'd been completely innocent of was far beyond unreasonable.
And the only reason Meisa wasn't tearing Ishizu apart for it, was because the other Item holder wasn't around.
That and the Pharaoh was pretty sure the Shadows would've done it for her.
After all, Ishizu had broken the rules and that never ended well.
Meisa's eyes blazed amber as she welcomed the retribution of the darkness. Ishizu deserved everything that'd happened to her.
"Anesan?"
At her twin's trembling voice, her head snapped up. Yugi's gaze met hers, concern plastered across her face.
The amber drained away at the call of her Other Heart, her light, her conscience, her mercy. Yugi's light chased away the darkness that'd been pulling her down, allowing guilt to seep in. Her fury had pulled Imoto out of a deep, well needed sleep and that wasn't fair.
"I'm fine, Imoto. I'm sorry." She breathed as she carefully stepped around the games and toys on the floor, trying to avoid breaking anything, and moved to the bed, gently placing her hands on Yugi's shoulder.
"Me too."
Suddenly the Pharaoh was pulled into a hug.
"It's ok. You're okay. I'm here. I'm here." Meisa promised her sister, hugging her back tightly, able to feel the soul in her arms trembling, "And Katsuya's waiting outside."
"I'm sorry." Yugi's voice shook as hard as her frame, "I just… I… I'd won. I didn't think she'd… and I couldn't…"
"You couldn't lose him. I know."
The Pharaoh had known, even as she'd given her twin control. Yugi's handing the Puzzle to Katsuya hadn't entirely surprised her but she knew she'd be having nightmares about being unable to protect her twin from Osiris's wrath and having to restart her heart for a long time.
"I'm just glad you're alive."
And venom free. Seeing her twin, alive, mostly pain free for the first time in nearly twenty-four hours and finally able to recover some life energy, rather than being constantly drained of it, was the best thing the Pharaoh could think of.
"Me too." Yugi smiled sheepishly as memories flickered through her mind.
The Pharaoh reached for what her twin was seeing and froze as she caught the sight of two people she'd only seen in photos, Mutou Junko and her husband, Akihiko, hugging her twin, while an older woman who looked like Jiisan's long deceased wife, Youko, watched with a smile.
"Oh! Our Kaasan and Tousan sent this hug with me."
As Yugi's hug tightened, she fed her sister the memory of Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen and Queen Tiamat hugging her and asking her to bring their pride in their daughter back with her.
For the first time in a long time, the Pharaoh was speechless and just clung to her twin, taking as much of the hug as she could get, and not pulling away until they both jolted as Katsuya tried to shake them awake, thinking they'd fallen asleep again.
"Obaasan sent a message for Jiisan too." Yugi smiled sadly when she pulled back. "But I don't know how to tell him."
"We can…" A second jolt made the Pharaoh grimace, "We'll discuss this later."
"We can't afford to be late." Yugi agreed, planning to share all the memories later. "Can I…"
"Take the lead." Meisa nodded, helping her twin to her feet. "If you need to rest, let me take over?"
"Will do." With that Yugi headed out, into the body, where she sat up to find Katsuya hovering nervously. "Hi."
"Yugi I'm uhh… well uhhh." He hesitated, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"I am too." She reached up, pulled him down and kissed him briefly on the cheek, "I love you and I nearly got us killed. I…"
The kiss Katsuya planted upon her lips silenced her.
"Next time, tell me what's wrong, even if I start ranting at you?" Katsuya asked, brushing her cheek with his hand as if needing to see for himself that she was real and solid, his expression softening when she leaned into his touch.
"You scared me. I nearly lost you."
"If it helps? I terrified me too." Yugi's rueful smile made Katsuya relax as he helped her out of bed. "But I'm here. I'm alive. And I plan to stay that way."
"Good." He smiled at her, "Oh, and I love you too. Now come and eat before we have to go."
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Yugi darted up the stairs after him, still aching all over but in much less pain than she had been all day, allowing her to enjoy a chance to relax. "Don't eat my food!"
"You'll have to come and stop me!"
As she watched Yugi and the others eating and chatting, taking a moment to pretend they didn't have a care in the world now that their clothes were warm and dry, Amane found her gaze shifting more often towards the Puzzle Bearer who had come so close to leaving them all.
To leaving her.
'Sen? She's alive. Jonouchi's mother said she's breathing okay. You can breathe.'
Amane let out the breath she didn't realise she'd been holding.
'We can't let that happen again. We can't.' Amane gave Yugi a smile when the Puzzle Bearer looked her way and got one in return. 'We might not be able to protect her after Battle City is over, but we have to stop Ishizu from getting another chance.'
'You're not wrong.' The Thief Queen agreed, still uncomfortable with how quiet the demon had been since she'd threatened his existence. 'The seal can't take another hit like that. If her heart stops again, or her Light goes out one more time, it's all over…'
Amane grimaced. The first hit to the seal had been when Yugi's soul had only survived because of her friends, back on Duelist Kingdom, and that'd weakened the barrier. This second hit had worsened the damage done and allowed the Shadows to start seeping through to their world. A third time would finish the job, and the seal would shatter.
And if that happened, not only would Ba-Khu-Ra's people never get to the afterlife, but the whole world would pay the price.
'You know what we have to do, don't you?' The Thief Queen asked quietly.
'Can we win against Ra?' Amane's question wasn't a disagreement, but an acknowledgement.
'Our deck can handle it.' The confidence behind the statement wasn't entirely there, making Amane nervous, 'It has to handle it, because if Ishizu gets the Pharaoh opposite her, she's going to activate a Shadow Game and Meisa's not going to be able to stop it. Not with how faded they are.'
'We're not going to be able to stop it either.' Amane could feel Ba-Khu-Ra's reluctance to admit that, 'Even if she sets it up to hurt me? Do what you need to to win.'
'You sure?'
'You need Yugi alive and I can't lose her. She means too much to me.'
'Sen…'
'Tell me you wouldn't have done the same for the Pharaoh before you thought she'd betrayed you.'
Ba-Khu-Ra couldn't, mostly because, 'I'd still do it for her. If I could.'
'The demon can't stop us. Not during Battle City. We're Oathbound to side with her.' Amane had thought her sister's statement was the truth and it made her sad to hear it, because she knew as well as the Spirit of her Ring, that the relationship that'd once meant so much to her, could never be rekindled while Zorc was in the picture.
And there was no way to remove Zorc, without removing Ba-Khu-Ra. Not anymore. Not with his darkness weaved into the Thief's soul so tightly that she didn't know where she ended and the demon started.
The most they could do was ensure that they could get to the day when Zorc could be dealt with and the seal would no longer matter.
And that meant throwing themselves at Ishizu and praying they could take down the bitch and her God card before she could lay another hand on Yugi or the Pharaoh, or any of their other friends.
'Azra said that by siding with the Pharaoh, we'd survive Battle City.' Amane reminded her sister as everyone started gathering bags and rising to leave, 'So if we face Ishizu, we'll win.'
'I hope you're right.'
"Yugi, wait just a moment."
Yugi paused at her grandfather's words, letting the others go past. They gave her a curious look but she just waved it off and waited obediently until they'd left to wait outside, before turning to Sugoroku, "Jiisan?"
The hug he gave her was a shock and Yugi didn't hesitate to reciprocate it, wrapping him in her arms and squeezing just as hard as he squeezed her.
"I know," He started as he pulled away, "That I can't stop you going and that I shouldn't. You need the God cards too much for me to be selfish and keep you here, but I want you to take this with you."
With that, he offered her the Blue Eyes White Dragon card she'd given him back this morning.
"J…Jiisan?" Yugi's eyes widened as she looked up at him, stunned, "This is your prized card. Your most precious treasure!"
"No, Yu-chan, you're my most precious treasure." He shook his head, regretting that he'd ever made her feel less important than a card. "You mean more to me than anything in this entire world and I want you to take it with you and use it to protect yourself. I can't lose you. Not like I lost everyone else."
Yugi took the dragon from her grandfather, slipped it into her side deck to work out properly later, and hugged him again. "You won't, I promise."
"Good." He didn't want to let her go, but he knew he had to and as she started down the steps he called, "I'll be watching the whole thing on TV. Break a leg out there."
"I just might." Yugi laughed, smiling at him over her shoulder. "Oh, before I go, Obaasan's things, the ones you were looking for? They're hidden behind that vent in your room that never shuts properly. Obaasan left a letter for you with them. Watch out for the dust."
With that, she was gone, leaving Sugoroku wondering how Yugi knew that and how she knew he had been looking when he hadn't mentioned them at all. Curious despite himself, and looking for a way to take his mind off of the fact his granddaughter was walking into danger and he wouldn't be there, he followed her instructions and found, as Yugi had described; a letter, the diary, and the intricately designed golden butterfly pendant, the only heirloom Youko had from her long deceased family and her place of birth, which was now drowned under the waters of a reservoir, with not a single ruby in its wings out of place.
Confused how Yugi could know the letter was from her grandmother when it 'd never been opened, he took the items from the vent, sneezing badly when the dust went everywhere, closed it properly for the first time in a very long time, and sat on the bed.
Opening the letter revealed that Yugi had been right, it was from Youko, in the shaky, unstable handwriting she'd been using towards the end, and, as tears flowed down his face, Sugoroku settled in to read;
"To my dearest Sugoroku,
I know by the time you get this, I'll be gone, but I want you to know I love you now, and always will.
The day we met, when you were passing through my small village and collapsed of hunger, my world reignited. Having you left in my care gave me a reason to move on after the death of my twin sister. Before then, I was lost, drifting in my grief and you brought me back to life.
Coming with you, running away with you was the best thing I ever did. Even if it meant I could never return to my home and the traditions I grew up with, I didn't regret defeating you that day and convincing you to take me along.
I know I wasn't the easiest wife to start with. That my integration into more normal society wasn't the easiest thing we've done. Buying the Kame Game together was easier. Running it, making people happy with our store, gave light to a life I had once thought would be nothing but darkness and grief.
Then we had Akihiko and our world got brighter.
Aki is our little star. Bright, brilliant, a gamer after your own heart. Even when he went away and studied programming, and joined Kaiba Corp, causing that huge row between you, he came back and came to help when I got sick the first time. He was there when we had that fire and had to rebuild part of the apartments, and this time he's been here again, bringing with him his girlfriend Takamoto Junko.
I wish Junko's family could see how lovely she is. It's such a shame her sisters wouldn't talk to her, especially considering those boys probably could use their aunt, after their parents died. Still hopefully her sister will look after them, since Junko can't and it's a boon to our family that she's here. She has a wonderful head for figures and will be a real asset for you once I'm gone.
I can see a future full of grandchildren coming our way and I wish I could be there for it, but I have every faith that you'll make them just as brilliant and just as friendly as our Aki was as a child, and that you'll be there for them where I can't.
Regarding my hospital bills, I know you were going to blow your savings on them, but I sold all my jewellery, except my family pendant and had it all put in an account in your name that you can use for that instead. That way you won't struggle once I'm gone.
The card and bank details are tucked into my diary. Depending on how long it takes you to remember, we always hid important things in that vent, it might have accrued some interest. Not enough to make you a millionaire, I'm afraid, my love, but maybe enough to treat yourself or any future grandkids.
I wish I could be there with you now, and who knows, maybe I got lucky and we're now reading this together while laughing about the thought I wouldn't make it through this round of treatment, but if I'm not? If I'm not there in person anymore? Don't forget I love you.
I will always love you and I will always be there in spirit to protect you and any of our family, even if I haven't gotten to meet them yet.
I have just one request. Live your life and have many adventures. Don't you dare come to me before you have enough stories to keep me occupied for the next few millennia. After all, I'll be waiting…
Oh and if you have to take a second wife after I'm gone, don't make it that bitch from the cafe down the road. You can do much better than her.
Your dearest and most beloved wife,
Mutou Youko"
It took him a moment to stop shaking long enough to put down the letter and pick up the diary. Inside the diary, as promised, were the details, which promised him enough money to pay off more than a few things.
Or, he could put it aside for Yugi's future. Something he was pretty sure Youko would'veapproved of.
Suddenly certain of something, he put it aside with trembling hands, to deal with later and started reading the journal in his hands. As he did, he just wished he'd found this sooner, without the need for Yugi to meet Youko in person…
