Riddle thought he was slowly going insane. Being stuck in his younger self and having to deal with his mother's toxic behavior 24/7 was an absolute nightmare.
The only respite he had was following the Queen's rules, as he planned to regain his position as the housewarden of Heartsabyl, and his mother was 'fine' with his ambition as a short term goal. After all, he would need to have the Queen of Heart's rules memorized to be housewarden.
He was lucky that his mother wanted to brag about her 'genius son' enough to bring him to the family reunion in the Shaftlands.
He mostly kept to himself, since the majority of the people there were either underage, more interested in their little friend group, or were much, much older than him.
He could sense his mother sneer at one of her distant cousins, who lived in a magic-less city called Domino. The only reason she tolerated their presence around her was because the man's son and grandson were highly influential people.
Riddle didn't expect much...most of the family had accepted the fact he was more inclined to keep to himself and not talk much.
The last thing he expected was his cousin's grandson to sit next to him without even asking, or for his two friends to join him.
One he mostly dismissed, as he had scruffy blonde hair and wore casual, but well fitted clothes. He looked like a barely acceptable delinquent, to be honest and Riddle honestly doubted he was part of the family.
The second teen was a bit more respectable looking, but was clearly someone who spent a great deal of time outside and in the wilds. His hair was scruffy, but in a stylish way and he had healthy tanned skin, with familiar verdant green eyes.
The third teen was his cousin (according to his mother), and was a highly famous model who worked under a pseudonym. He had three toned hair with gold bangs that he had pulled back to partially cover his red and black hair, and a fair complexion. His eyes were a familiar purple and he wore an ancient pendant that appeared to be made of pure gold that had a stylized eye on the front that felt dark in nature.
"Who would have thought we'd run into Roi des Roses here?"
That voice. That nickname. Riddle's head whipped towards the green eyed blond with no little sense of hope and disbelief.
"Rook?!" said Riddle incredulous.
"I should have guessed you'd remember everything as well," sighed his cousin. Riddle's head whipped to him, as he knew that voice rather well. "Grim's with us too, but he's currently on a leash since Grandpa didn't want him to charge at the food again."
"Wait...Grim is..." started Riddle. "Actually, when did you dye your hair?"
"This is my natural hair color, but I've been wearing an expensive wig. It's good to see you again Riddle," said Yugi. Or rather, Vil.
"I'm just glad I'm not the only one who remembers. I thought I was going insane," said Riddle with open relief.
"Is your mother still..." started Vil, then made the near universal motion of "cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs".
"Yes," said Riddle unhappily. "I don't know if I can survive another year with her, much less two."
Vil looked at him, and honestly he had heard things about Riddle's mother, and about how her toxic helicopter parenting was almost directly responsible for his Overblot. It had come out after they woke up at STYX.
"Would you like to be 'kidnapped' until it's time to go to Night Raven?" asked Vil.
Riddle snorted...before he realized Vil was being entirely serious.
"Wait...you're not joking at all, are you?"
"You're tolerable to be around, and Jou could use a roommate that could help him pay rent," said Vil flatly. "If nothing else I can get rid of her in a way that would allow you to sue for early emancipation."
Riddle looked to the third teen, who Vil had only introduced as "Jou"...likely for this reason.
Either way, he was quick to exchange contact information with his cousin, and relieved he wasn't going crazy after all. Also, he wasn't sure how to handle the joke Vil made about "Good friends call you on your bullshit, but real friends help you hide the body."
He wondered what it said about him that he took Vil up on the offer to 'do away' with his mother since he couldn't take her narcissistic personality any longer. Besides, his grandparents already had a trust set up to pay for Night Raven once he was accepted, so it wouldn't matter if she was taken out of the equation.
He did love his mother, but he wasn't about to put up with another month of her helicopter parenting. Besides, it wasn't like this was permanent.
It said volumes that less than two months after the family reunion, his mother's reputation had imploded...all because she was unable to threaten and harass others into silence, due to the fact she was in a 'coma'.
~*~*~*~*~
Riddle looked at the apartment. It was slightly messy, but that was to be expected from a teenager living on their own with no parental supervision.
His father hadn't hesitated to sign the papers that gave Riddle his emancipation, mostly because it meant he wouldn't be responsible for his own son while trying to salvage his wife's reputation while she was in a coma. It really said volumes of his relationship with his father, which was pretty much nonexistent.
"It's not much, but it's home," shrugged Jounouchi.
"It's still better than back with her," said Riddle.
Riddle and Jounouchi shared a Look, as both had lived with toxic parents. Sure, there were a few growing pains as Riddle still followed the Queen's rules and had to adjust to no longer being under his mother's shadow. Jounouchi took the sniping with ease, as Vil had extensively explained the situation to him and had made it clear he could crash in the spare bedroom should either of them need a break from each other.
They were also welcome to visit the shop for a free dinner, as living alone was expensive especially for a pair of emancipated minors who were unable to get a higher paid job due to labor laws.
Riddle was unsure how to feel about getting to know his fellow housewarden better, but at least Vil was tolerable. It would have been even more awkward had it been someone like Leona or Malleus.
Also, he found the pharaoh Vil was allowing to possess him both fascinating and disturbing. Yami Yugi (as he was jokingly called) found Riddle's signature spell fascinating.
The room was much smaller than his old one, but the atmosphere was somewhat homey. Riddle put away his few personal items and noticed some books and papers on the table. A quick glance revealed it to be homework.
From the look of things, Jounouchi was struggling somewhat with the content.
"Having trouble?" asked Riddle.
"Eh, it's a bit easier since I've done it before, but it still sucks having to go through high school twice," said Jounouchi. "My grades are at least above a C average."
"Want some help?" asked Riddle. Jounouchi looked at him. "I was consistently in the top ranked spot among my grade at Night Raven. This sort of work isn't that hard for me."
Seeing the blond perk up, Riddle grabbed a few of his text books and began walking Jounouchi through what he considered 'basic' math. While prickly, Riddle was actually rather good at teaching the subject matter to Jounouchi.
To be fair, he had done the same for the less academically inclined among his house mates, including Ace and Deuce.
By the time supper came around (they ordered pizza), Jounouchi had managed to get a majority of the homework done and was a bit more aware of the subject matter.
"You're pretty good at this. You ever considering doing tutoring as a side job?" asked Jounouchi.
"What do you mean?"
"You'd be surprised how much people would pay for a semi-competent tutor."
Riddle had a speculative look on his face. It would take a lot of trial and error, but it still paid better than the jobs that he could access at the moment.
Yugi found it amusing that Riddle ended up using his connections to start up his own tutoring business. On the plus side, Jounouchi's grades had never been higher.
~*~*~*~*~*
Rook honestly hadn't planned to snoop in his lover's closet, but the sight of leathers caught his attention and he had to investigate.
He honestly didn't know Vil had an S and M fetish.
Vil took one look at what Rook had in his hands and hissed in annoyance at the sight of it.
"Mon Roi, if you had such interests you should have said something!" chirped Rook. "I would have been more than happy to indulge in such...passions."
"It's not mine," said Vil tiredly. "It's Yami's preference."
Dear Seven, Vil had been so glad to get rid of all those damn leathers while revamping himself the first time around. He hated how hot they got and how constricting they were. It had been a relief to get away from the punk rock look his other half favored for Seven knew what reason. Vil personally favored a more androgynous look.
Rook had an amused look on his face hearing this.
"Oh?" he said. Vil shivered at the expression on his face.
He knew what was almost certainly going to happen, and honestly he looked forward to it. He had only really started dating Rook their third year, and then everything went to hell in a handbasket because of Yuu and the spate of Overblots.
This was the first time he was able to properly explore anything even remotely kink related since realizing Rook wasn't going to be chased off by the sheer insanity that was his life.
Thinking back to half the weird outfits he had worn while Atem was around, he was more surprised that he had so few stalkers. An 'innocent' looking teenager running around in tight leather and gold jewelry? He might as well have been advertising that he was looking for a 'good time'.
"So what are you planning since the tournament is over?" asked Rook.
"Aside from various modeling jobs, not much. I already know his true name and the truth behind the Items, so I see no reason to scramble around resolving it. I've also removed the god cards and have the best damn replicas in the shop since it's unlikely anyone would be able to tell the difference unless they tried to use them."
"Any reason why?" asked Rook, because that seemed like an odd choice.
Vil's face was flat, remembering that whole Atlantis nonsense.
"That bad?" asked Rook.
"His ego got the better of him and he had sole possession on my body for close to a week before he resolved the issue," said Vil tiredly. "I told him repeatedly not to use that damn card and he still did because he hates losing."
Rook had a flat look on his face hearing that.
"So what does that have to do with the cards?"
"Even in card form, the God Cards can have an effect on the real world. In the wrong hands they can be used to unleash untold headaches. Especially anyone with magic," said Vil tiredly. "Worse, they're one of the key parts of the seal holding his memories back, so I can't exactly get rid of them properly."
"I do have some good news. My parents approved of you staying with us for the next week, mostly so they can get to know you better."
Vil visibly perked up at that. He never really got the chance to meet Rook's parents properly last time, and Rook had already earned his grandfather and father's approval.
Then again Rook was more inclined to keep any scandalous photos for his own viewing pleasure, rather than sell them to the highest bidder and would happily gut anyone who tried to take advantage of his beloved Roi du Poison. His father had reluctantly accepted the fact his son was dating a known stalker, mostly because Rook wasn't the sort to lock Vil up to the point he'd never see the light of day again, much less his family.
Far from it...the brighter Vil shined, the happier Rook was. If only because it was his bed that Vil came to at the end of the night and that he was openly possessive of Rook in his own way.
This was going to be interesting.
