To celebrate the site being back up, I'm doing a double post!!
Vil was rather pleased with himself, and for the fact that Rook had gotten permission from his parents to stay for the entirety of the tournament. He wasn't concerned about the finals, and was more interested in having a week with his boyfriend that was mostly uninterrupted.
Rook had an absolutely pleased expression, and he had cleaned up rather nicely now that he was able to be with his beloved Vil again. He still wore his usual clothes, but his complexion and general appearance was a lot cleaner. His nails were neatly trimmed and his hair was a lot softer.
Vil made an unhappy noise about his outfit, which was barely acceptable. However he was acutely aware that Rook was far more hands-on when he was at home, so any decent outfits were likely to be ruined in a matter of hours, if not days. Besides, he had all but spent most of his savings on a ticket just to reach Vil the first time, so he was a bit short on cash.
"Remind me to take you shopping later for some proper clothes. If we're going out to eat, I want to make sure no one questions your credentials," said Vil.
"Oui, Roi du Poison!" said Rook, knowing what Vil wasn't saying. It was his way of showing how much he cared for his beloved hunter.
Vil pulled him down slightly for a kiss, since he still hadn't hit his growth spurt yet and heels could only do so much.
"I wonder how Monsieur Crab Apple would react to the fact you used to be as small as him," said Rook with a twinkle in his eye.
"Don't you dare," said Vil, laughing. "If I ever have to reveal that fact, then I want some cameras ready to capture his expression!"
Rook openly loved seeing his beloved Vil laugh like that. He was a lot happier than before, and it was likely an effect of having the other half of his soul being there.
"Shall we, my beloved Vil?" said Rook. He held out an arm for Vil to take.
"Gladly. Be nice to enjoy a duel without some nutjob trying to make my life harder than it needs to be," said Vil with a grin.
Rook had to admit, Vil looked positively radiant when someone took note of his duel disk and challenged him on the street. He was in his element, and it was wondrous to see Vil act so confident without the stress of trying to be perfect all the time.
It made him wonder what exactly had caused his beloved Vil to become so guarded in the first place.
Once the duel was over, Rook pulled Vil close to him and gave him a light kiss.
"Ugh, get a room," said a familiar voice. It was Mai.
Vil smirked at her.
"Maybe after a few more duels," he said jokingly. Mai's eyes widened as she recognized that voice pretty damn quick.
"No way...how the hell did you..." she started, but Vil put a manicured finger to his lips.
"Not out in public. I'd rather enjoy the look of disbelief on that arrogant dragon's face when he figures it out."
Mai, rather than say anything, just cackled. Kaiba's expression was sure to be downright priceless and she wanted to see it first hand.
"So who's the cutie with you?"
"My boyfriend. How did you like the samples I sent your way?" asked Vil.
Mai grinned at him. Now she knew how Yugi had gotten so many expensive name brand clothes, much less the heels.
"They're the best I've ever used. I don't think I'll ever switch back to the cheap stuff I was using."
"To be fair, they really didn't mesh well even if they did make a convincing fake psychic act," said Vil.
"Mind if I pick your brain over lunch? I'm sick of being leered at by the incels that come to tournaments," said Mai.
"I don't see why not," said Vil easily. He rather respected Mai, who had the misfortune of being an older woman competing against literal teenagers.
It wasn't her fault that female duelists were still rather rare in this line of work.
Mai was particularly pleased seeing Vil head straight for one of the higher end restaurants who were unlikely to allow any dueling whatsoever.
"So...how did you go from..." she started, once the waiter had taken their order.
"Pedophile bait to super model class?" he asked with a smirk. She nodded, amused he had outright said it. "I spent a ridiculous amount of time, money and effort to completely revamp my image. Fortunately, I had connections that pointed me in the right direction."
"Connections?" said Mai.
"My father is Erik Venue," said Vil, and was rather amused he managed to dodge Mai's sudden spit-take.
"No way. Not that Erik Venue?" said Mai, once she recovered. She had seen a few of his movies, and he was a pro.
Vil simply smirked.
"Father isn't the only one who understands the value of hiding his true identity from rabid fans," said Vil.
"I'll bet. So why are you walking around with your boy toy during a tournament?"
"To avoid Kaiba, among others," said Vil annoyed. "There's a group of poorly dressed nut jobs looking for 'Yugi', not Vil."
"The fact it gives you an excuse to go out on extended dates with your boyfriend?" said Mai with a wink to Rook, who grinned at her.
"A major bonus," said Vil.
Mai was rather pleased, being able to pick Vil's brain about how to revamp her own image. Even better, he picked up the tab for the food and drinks, since it was a bit out of Mai's budget.
Vil had no problem with taking Mai on an overdue shopping trip to give her wardrobe an overhaul. It was long past time she moved past her image of the "Harpy Queen". It would have to be after the tournament though, which she completely understood.
~*~~*~*~*~
Rook was rather tense running into Bakura.
"So, you're the consort. He could do worse," said Bakura.
"Pardon?" said Rook.
"Better a consort than a concubine," Vil shot back. "Besides, he's rather effective at spotting those blasted Ghouls. Though so far I haven't found Slifer yet."
"Wait...have you actually been dueling them, or..." said Bakura, staring.
"Not a chance. I've had some nice, quiet duels with normal people and have let Rook deal with the Ghouls stupid enough to get too close."
It took a few seconds for Bakura to process this, before he started laughing his ass off.
"You've been robbing them?" he said, howling.
"I've been cursing them, then robbing them of anything useful in their decks," said Vil primly. "Grandpa has been making a major mint off selling the cards I don't take for myself to the weaker duelists."
Bakura laughed harder.
"Coincidentally I told Grandpa to give you a major discount if you swung by for cards," said Vil cheekily. Bakura smirked at him.
This was too damn funny, having the pharaoh's reincarnation robbing people blind rather than go about things the 'right' way.
"Want help finding the god cards?" he asked.
"Seven, yes," said Vil. "Slifer is already here, and I bet Marik kept Ra closer to him for insurance."
Bakura was too damn amused to care about helping Vil find Slifer. It took them all of an hour, and Vil went to deal with the duelist personally once out of view of any witnesses.
Idia, who happened to be passing by with the 'twins' as Vil called them, stared.
"Did you just judo toss that guy and rob him of his deck?" he asked.
"Yes," said Vil. "How have you three been doing?"
"It's been great! So far we haven't find that Kaiba guy though," said ORTHO.
"Idy has been really eager to run into him," said Ortho.
"If you three do run into him before the finals, call me immediately. I want to see his reaction to you three," said Vil.
"Will do, Vil-nii!" said ORTHO.
"So why did you mug that guy?" asked Idia.
"For this. No way am I letting Kaiba know where this particular card is...I'm sure the fact you disabled the tracker on my duel disk is already driving him crazy."
He would be correct, though Kaiba wouldn't outright state such until after the tournament.
"How many locator cards do you need to reach the finals?" asked Ortho.
Vil smirked.
"I already have enough to enter the finals, but I'd rather keep my image clean. How many do you need?" he asked.
"I'm only two cards away from entering the finals!" said Ortho proudly. He grinned when Vil ruffled his hair along with his twin.
"Do you want to earn them legally, or do you want to head to the finals early?"
Ortho thought it over seriously.
"For now I'd like to earn them legally, but can I keep that option open?" asked Ortho.
"Of course," said Vil. "Let me know if you change your mind."
The two groups split off, and Vil was rather pleased to have Slifer back in his deck again. He had no intention of actually using the card, as it was pretty overkill, but having the option was nice. Besides, it would drive Kaiba insane trying to locate the card only for it to show up in Yugi's possession later.
~*~*~*~*~
Solomon was in a very good mood. Thanks to his grandson, he was making money hand over fist selling the cards he kept bringing back. Yugi was a good duelist, but he saw no reason to hoard cards when selling them would improve the shop's finances and strengthen the deck of other duelists.
He wisely did not ask where Yugi got entire decks of cards, guessing it had something to do with the unsavory sorts that had been wandering around the town of late.
As he was checking on the website young Idia had helped to set up in exchange for allowing them to stay at the shop, he noticed something in his e-mail.
Under most circumstances, he wouldn't have paid it any mind. After all, traveling to the other realm was expensive.
But Yugi was able to make portals there, and he had made it so Solomon could see his son rather than communicate by e-mail or phone.
Besides, the family reunion was after the tournament. He was sure Yugi would enjoy it too, and it would give Erik a chance to meet his son's new boyfriend.
The only downside was running into Evelyn Rosehearts. He remembered his third cousin and he honestly pitied her son Riddle. The woman had become an utter shrew ever since a one-night stand got her knocked up and her parents all but disinherited her in favor of her son. Especially when the boy showed all the signs of becoming a powerful mage when he was older.
The amount of snide remarks she gave his side of the family because Erik had mostly left his son to grow up with his grandfather so he could continue his acting career were absurd.
He pushed it out of mind and perked up when he heard the bell ring.
Looking past the door he saw some younger duelists who had likely lost their best card due to the silly rule Kaiba had created.
It was clear the younger of the two was very upset, and was on the verge of tears about losing his rarest card.
He made a mental note to give them a hefty discount and some advice on how to improve their dueling ability.
The kid nearly had a panic attack seeing Yugi and his boyfriend walk in.
"This is your family's shop?" said the older of the two, almost glaring at Yugi.
"Why do you think I recommended it to you? Grandpa was the one who taught me how to play the game, and I knew he'd give your younger sibling some solid advice on how to improve. Besides, the rules state you have to hand over your rarest card...there was nothing about me having to actually keep it."
Seeing the hope in the younger sibling's eyes, Yugi gave him a warm smile.
"Why don't we see what sort of deck you have and what sort of cards will make it better?" said Solomon, giving them a comforting smile.
Yugi reached into his side holder to pull out some cards, and after a moment he placed one on the counter.
"This is his card from earlier. It doesn't really suit my deck and I have no problems giving it back. I only really needed that last locator card to reach the finals anyway."
The two sibling left with better decks and all smiles, even if most of their allowance was gone. Meeting the current "King of Games" as Pegasus had called him was a stroke of luck.
