Saa, geimu no jikanda. Mahou meets Sugoroku and Yuugi.
"I'm heading out, Grandpa!"
"Okay. Have a good day at school, Yuugi!"
Sugoroku Mutou stood behind the shop's counter and watched his grandson leave. He glanced over at the clock.
Tony should be arriving soon, he thought. How strange that he called me out of the blue after twenty years and asked if I still gamble. I haven't been to a casino in years. But after telling me what he needed, how could I possibly say no? I will say it's not the type of gamble I'm used to taking.
A luxury car pulled up in front of the shop. Three American men and a Japanese girl with a suitcase got out. The oldest of the men put his arm around the girl's back and guided her to the store. The little bell on the door chimed when they opened it.
"Welcome!" Sugoroku greeted.
"(Sugoroku!)"
"(Tony!)" Sugoroku walked out from behind the counter. "(I must say I was surprised by your call.)" He shook Mr. Scarletta's hand.
"(Sorry it was on such circumstances,)" Mr. Scarletta apologized. "(Thank you for doing this for me.)"
Sugoroku turned to the girl. She was nervous, ducking her head down with a white knuckle grip on her suitcase. She was not much taller than Yuugi and had multicolored hair.
"Mahou, this is Sugoroku Mutou," one of the other men said. "Mr. Mutou, this is Mahou Mutou."
Mahou looked up at the man Paul introduced her to. He was a short old man with gray hair sticking out from under a bandana, a pink shirt, and gray overalls. Gentle purple eyes stared at her while he smiled.
"Hello, Mahou-chan," he said. "It is very nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too. Please take care of me." She gave a little bow.
"Of course I will take care of you," said Sugoroku.
Mahou ducked her head again. "Thank you," she whispered shyly.
While Paul and Mahou were saying goodbye to each other, Mr. Scarletta shook Sugoroku's hand again.
"(Everything has been taken care of,)" Mr. Scarletta said. "(There is plenty of money in the account. She's agreed to sell her remaining paintings. You will be able to support her along with your grandson. She will want for nothing. And I know you are no thief.)"
"(Tony, I would never dream of taking more than needed to make her comfortable,)" said Sugoroku.
Mr. Scarletta looked at him solemnly. "(Take care of her, my friend. This girl has been through hell.)"
Mr. Scarletta turned to Mahou. He took her hands in his. "(You will be safe here. Sugoroku will take good care of you. You don't have to worry.)"
Paul translated for her.
"Thank you for everything," Mahou said.
"We'll keep in touch," Paul told her. "If you ever need anything, we're a phone call away."
Mahou nodded.
The Americans left, leaving Mahou alone with the game shop owner.
"Let's get you settled in, Mahou," said Sugoroku. "My grandson and I cleaned out the spare room for you."
Sugoroku showed her around the shop before taking her into the residence. He showed her the common areas and where his room was and then took her to her room.
"And this is your room," he said, opening the door for her.
It wasn't very large, almost the size as the room she had slept in, but this one felt didn't feel like a prison.
"You can decorate it however you want," said Sugoroku.
"Thank you," Mahou said, setting her suitcase down.
"My grandson, Yuugi, sleeps up in the attic."
Mahou looked up at the ceiling.
"You don't have to worry about him being noisy," Sugoroku assured her. "He loves all sorts of games. He'll be excited to have another person to play games."
"I'm not sure how much fun I'll be to play with," said Mahou.
"Don't worry, we'll teach you," said Sugoroku. "I'll leave you to unpack. If you need anything, I'll be down in the shop." He began to leave.
"Wait!" Mahou called after him.
Sugoroku stopped. "Yes, Mahou?"
She hesitated for a second. "Um, what have you told your grandson?"
"I told him the daughter of a distant cousin was coming to stay with us," Sugoroku replied. "Her uncle, who had been taking care of her, recently passed away and she had no other family to go to. My plan was to let you tell him about yourself."
"Okay," Mahou whispered. He's not far from the truth.She recalled Takamine sprawled out on the floor bleeding and Mr. Scarletta saying something to the men she learned later were Eddie and Vinnie, who had stayed behind at the apartment.
Sugoroku left and Mahou looked around the room again. She opened her suitcase and started taking things out. She didn't have much along the lines of clothes, but brought the fabrics with her. She pulled out the piece of linen and sat down on the bed.
"I'm free," she whispered. "I'm free . . . I'm free . . ." She buried her face in the linen.
Late in the afternoon, Sugoroku and Mahou were standing in the shop waiting for Sugoroku's grandson to come home. The door to the shop opened.
"I'm home!"
Mahou turned to the door to see a short boy in a baggy, blue school uniform running in. He had black hair with maroon ends that stuck up in five large peaks, jagged strands of blonde falling into his round face. He had large, innocent amethyst eyes that sat in a round face.
"Welcome back, Yuugi," Sugoroku greeted.
Yuugi looked at Mahou standing next to the counter. He turned to Sugoroku.
"Yuugi, this is your distant cousin."
"My name is Mahou Mutou. It is very nice to meet you." She bowed politely.
"I'm Yuugi Mutou," the boy responded with a bow of his own. "Do you like games?"
Mahou blinked. "Um . . . I guess so."
"I think you should get your homework done first, Yuugi, and then you can help me with dinner," said Sugoroku. "I'm thinking hamburgers tonight."
"Okay!" Yuugi agreed.
"I can help," Mahou said timidly. "I can't cook very well, but I can slice up condiments."
"Sure," said Sugoroku."If you can get started, I'll close up the shop and be there in a few minutes."
Mahou nodded and walked to the kitchen and started taking the things out they would need for the burgers. She was looking for a knife to slice the tomatoes when a door closed hard. Mahou jumped. "I will break your foot! You don't need that to paint!" The memory of Takamine's voice suddenly played in her mind.
Sugoroku walked in. "Mahou, how . . . ?" He saw Mahou's pale face.
Mahou blinked, snapping out of the memory.
"Are you all right?" asked Sugoroku in concern.
"Y-yes . . . I'm fine . . ."
Sugoroku frowned, but didn't press for more.
Dinner started off with Sugoroku asking Yuugi how his day went. Yuugi told him what he did in class and the games he played during free periods. He did mention Anzu, a friend.
"Anzu hasn't visited for a while," Sugoroku said. "You should invite her over. She can meet Mahou. I'm sure they would get along."
Mahou looked up from her plate now that she was being drawn into the conversation.
Yuugi smiled at Mahou. "You'll like Anzu, Mahou. She's really nice. Maybe we'll be in the same class together!"
Class? thought Mahou.
"Oh, that reminds me – I need to go to the school and pick up the paperwork for Mahou to be transferred."
Mahou's eyes widened in horror. School? I haven't been in school in years! Not since . . .
"We'll all go tomorrow," said Sugoroku. "I have no doubt that Mahou will be going to Domino High with you."
Mahou blinked and turned to Yuugi. "You're in high school?"
"Yeah. Did you think I wasn't?" asked Yuugi.
"I . . . wasn't sure . . ." Mahou said. "I thought you were younger than me . . ."
"Mahou is the same age as you, Yuugi," said Sugoroku.
Yuugi smiled. "It's okay. Most people still think I'm in elementary school because I'm so short." He pouted.
Sugoroku chuckled. "Yes, seems we can't escape the short gene. When is your birthday, Mahou?"
"June 4," she replied.
"Huh?"
She blinked at their surprised expressions, thinking she said something wrong.
"June 4?"
"That's my birthday, too!" Yuugi cried.
"Really?" she asked.
"It seems you two have a few things in common already," said Sugoroku. "I think you are going to get along very well."
After dinner, Yuugi went running for a board game for all of them to play when Mahou said she didn't know many games. It was a simple child's board game that was easy enough to get the hang of and the three of them played it together. After playing five rounds, Sugoroku announced it was time to put everything away and get ready for bed.
Mahou sat on the bed, the lights off.
"I'm okay . . . I'm okay . . . I'm okay . . ." she whispered shakily.
She jumped off the bed and ran to the door. She turned the light on. She rested her hand on the door handle before trying it. It turned and the door popped open. Mahou let out a sigh of relief. She went back to bed and climbed in.
"I'm okay . . . I'm okay . . . I'm okay . . ." She played with the polished stone she had in her hand.
Sugoroku had come to check on his new charge and saw the door was open a fraction and the light on. He looked in and saw her asleep in bed. He flipped the light off and pulled the door shut. He walked back to his room to go to bed, recalling the phone call he had with Tony.
"Kame Game Shop," Sugoroku had answered the phone.
"(Sugoroku? It's Tony Scarletta.)"
"(Tony, how are you? I haven't heard from you in years!)"
"(Heh-heh, yes, it has been a long time. Listen, do you still gamble?)"
"(Tony, I gave that up years ago,)" said Sugoroku. "(I'm sorry, but I won't be visiting your casino.)"
"(Bah! You can still visit and not gamble. The invitation still stands. No, this is a different sort of gamble. You see, there's this girl . . .)"
"(Oh-ho! Lady troubles, Tony? Lost your touch in your old age?)" Sugoroku chuckled.
"(Nothing of the sort! No, she really is a girl and she is in trouble. Her, shall we say uncle, was using her talents as an artist to make himself very rich. He is recently deceased and she has nowhere to go, at least nowhere good. She needs a place to stay.)"
"(And you thought of me?)" asked Sugoroku.
"(I worry that her 'uncle's' associates, if they even know about her, will come looking for her. She was his golden goose. I know I am asking a lot of you, my friend. This is a risky thing I am asking of you. But this girl needs a chance to live.)"
Sugoroku hummed. "(I'm not sure what I can do to help her. I can give her a bed and food to eat, but a life . . . with people possibly looking for her . . .)"
"(Let her be your granddaughter.)"
"(Granddaughter? Tony, no one would believe me. They know I only had a son and he and his wife had a boy. People will be suspicious if I start introducing a girl as my granddaughter.)"
"(What about a distant cousin? With the right documents, it wouldn't raise suspicion. Sugoroku, please . . . I know you will take good care of her.)"
Sugoroku sighed. "(I can see why this is a gamble.)" A smile spread across his face. "(You know, I haven't taken a gamble like this before. Sounds like something out of a movie. All right, I'll help.)"
"(Thank you, my friend, and don't worry . . . I'll take care of everything.)"
And he did, thought Sugoroku. Money, records, Tony had thought of everything we would need. This could work, but tomorrow is when the test comes.
Thumping above her was what woke Mahou up next morning. She sat up quickly and saw the light had been turned off and the door closed. She jumped out of bed in a panic and tried the door. It was unlocked. She let out a sigh of relief. Mahou looked around the rest of the room.
Nothing else seems to be disturbed, she thought, seeing that things were left in the same place she left them yesterday.
Mahou got dressed in a white button-down and a long pleated skirt, this one in dark brown. She was in the middle of fixing her hair when there was a knock on the door.
"Mahou, it's Grandpa. Breakfast is ready," Sugoroku called through the door.
Mahou quickly started for the door. Wait . . . I'm not with Takamine anymore. I don't have to rush . . . do I?
"I'm coming . . ." she settled on answering.
Sugoroku's footsteps moved away from the door.
Mahou let out a sigh of relief. This is going to take some getting used to.
A moment later there were pounding footsteps running for her door. Someone banged on it. Mahou jumped and screamed, quickly putting her hand over her mouth.
"Mahou! Hurry up! We're gonna be late!" Yuugi shouted through the door before running off.
Really take some getting used to, she thought.
She looked at her bed. Underneath the mattress were the documents Mr. Scarletta had given her. She hadn't wanted to leave them out where anyone could have come in and taken them in the night. She pulled them out from under the mattress and held on tight to them.
The bus ride to the school was tense for Mahou. She held on tight to the folder against her chest. They got off and walked through the gate. It was a sea of blue and white and orange and green uniforms in the courtyard. Yuugi went to his homeroom while Sugoroku and Mahou waited outside of the vice-principal's office.
Sugoroku turned to her. "No need to be nervous, Mahou."
"But . . ." She tightened her grip on the folder.
"It will be fine," he assured.
The door to the vice-principal's office opened.
"Mr. Mutou?" an older man in a brown suit asked.
"Yes," Sugoroku said, standing up and giving a bow. "Thank you for seeing us on short notice. This is Mahou Mutou."
Mahou stood and bowed.
"Ah, yes, your granddaughter," said the vice-principal. "Come in."
Neither of them bothered correcting the vice-principal's assumption.
Sugoroku glanced at Mahou, or more specifically her multicolored hair. Looks like just the hair and her stature alone are enough to make people think she's my granddaughter.
They entered the office.
"It is rare that we get a transfer student in the middle of the school year," said the vice-principal. He sat down behind his desk.
Sugoroku and Mahou took the two chairs in front of the desk.
"It was unforeseen," said Sugoroku. "Her uncle suddenly passed and she had few choices as to where to go."
"That is very kind of you," the vice-principal said. He turned to Mahou. "Remember your grandfather's generosity."
Mahou let out a quiet, "Yes, sir," and looked down.
The vice-principal frowned.
"She is very shy," Sugoroku excused. "Everything is strange for her. I am hoping when she starts school it will give her some stability."
"We will see if she is able to pass her entrance exam," said the vice-principal.
Mahou started to sweat at the mention of entrance exams.
"I'm sure it won't be too difficult for her," said Sugoroku. "She is a very smart young lady. She hasn't been in a school setting in some time, her uncle choosing to home school her, but that doesn't take away from her intelligence. When would the exam take place?"
"I think it would be best if she took them in the next couple of weeks," said the vice-principal. "If you brought the appropriate paperwork, I can get started on the process."
"Of course," said Sugoroku. He turned to Mahou.
Mahou held out the folder, a slight trembling to her hands.
The vice-principal took the folder. "Thank you." He opened up the folder and started flipping through it. "These scores are excellent. There should be no trouble scoring well on the exam."
"Could we possibly schedule them for next week?" asked Sugoroku.
"I believe we can do it late next week," said the vice-principal.
"Excellent," said Sugoroku. "That will give her enough time to settle in at home."
Mahou and Sugoroku returned home after the meeting. When they got into the shop, Mahou sagged against the counter.
"See?" Sugoroku said. "It was fine."
"I thought we were going to be caught," Mahou said with a quiver in her voice. "When he said granddaughter . . ."
"I let him assume," said Sugoroku. "And I didn't lie to him either, but I didn't correct him. And I'm sure you'll be calling me Grandpa soon enough, if only out of respect for your elders."
Mahou gave a little nod of her head.
"Now, you are quite the artist I hear," said Sugoroku. "Maybe you can help this old man arrange things so they are more pleasing to the customers' eyes."
Sugoroku and Mahou spent the rest of the day reorganizing the store. Mahou knew how to arrange things in such a way that it would draw the eye without having to move or empty whole shelves. In the end, they didn't have to move too much from their original spaces. Mahou was now standing behind the counter working on an outline for a new sign.
Sugoroku smiled. She seems to be settling in, though it is still a bit early. She is much more relaxed than she was this morning.
The door opened and Yuugi and a girl with a brown bob wearing an orange and green uniform walked in.
"Welcome!" he greeted.
"Gyaaaah!"
Mahou jumped at the scream, dropping the pen she had in her hand.
"Ah, it's Anzu-chan!" Sugoroku said. "That's cruel, seeing my face and screaming . . ."
She glared at Yuugi. "Just a second, Yuugi!" She turned back to Sugoroku. "A while ago, Yuugi said you gave him a keepsake!"
"Oh, I meant that it will someday be a keepsake!" Yuugi corrected.
"You're killing me," squawked Sugoroku. He crossed his arms and rubbed his chin. "Anyway, Anzu, it's been a while since I saw you here . . . You've grown . . . Especially your chest! It's finally 80 centimeters? Wonderful!"
Anzu pulled back with a forced smiled. What's with this old man?
Mahou made a face.
"Grandpa, can you make tea?" asked Yuugi. "Anzu, I'm taking the puzzle up to my room!"
"That puzzle, you still haven't given up on that?" asked Sugoroku.
"Who's giving up?" asked Yuugi.
"That puzzle is beyond human knowledge, you can't do it," said Sugoroku. "By the way, there's a lot of history behind it."
Mahou came out from behind the counter to listen.
"History?" asked Anzu.
"An excavation team found the Millennium Puzzle," Sugoroku explained grimly. "They brought the Pharaoh's box from a giant valley. But, everyone in the excavation died mysteriously. The last person left this behind because he wanted to live. Yami Game."
Anzu crossed her arms across her chest. "Yuugi, this puzzle sound dangerous."
Yuugi rummaged through his bag and pulled out a gold box. "Yami Game? What's that? I like it."
Sugoroku leaned closer. "Look at the symbols carved in this box. 'The one who solves me, will receive my dark knowledge and power.'"
"I see!" said Yuugi with determined look on his face. "So my wish will come true! I'm excited! I'm definitely going to finish it!"
Sugoroku lunged for it. "Return it! It's a treasure after all!"
"You're only thinking of value! No!" Yuugi yelled, keeping the box away from his grandfather's hands.
Anzu stood by with her hands on her hips. She looked to the side and saw Mahou. "Oh, hello."
Mahou flinched back. "H-hello. . ."
Her voice caught the others' attention.
"Ah, this is Mahou Mutou," Sugoroku introduced. "She's going to be staying with us for the foreseeable future."
"Mutou? Are you Mr. Mutou's granddaughter? I'm Anzu Mazaki! It's nice to meet you!"
Mahou gave a little bow in return.
"Mahou, you've been working hard all day," said Sugoroku. "Why don't you go up with Yuugi and Anzu. Make some friends."
"O-okay . . ."
Yuugi ran upstairs while Anzu and Mahou followed more slowly behind him.
"Yuugi didn't tell me he had someone staying with him," said Anzu. "When did you get here?"
"Um, yesterday," replied Mahou. "I'm taking my entrance exam next week to see if I can go to Domino High with him."
"That's great!" chirped Anzu. "Maybe you'll be in our class! That would be nice!"
"Yes," Mahou said in a little voice.
Up in Yuugi's room, he was already sitting at the desk with the golden box on the desk. Mahou saw the Eye of Horus on the side of it. As she came closer, she saw the hieroglyphs covering the sides of the box.
Yuugi saw her looking. "Mahou, you haven't seen this yet." He took off the lid. "Here, you can look."
Mahou looked inside and saw pieces of gold in various shapes. "It's a puzzle, right?"
"Mm-hmm!"
Mahou reached forward. "May I?"
Yuugi nodded. "Just don't lose any pieces."
Mahou took one of the pieces out of the box. She weighed it in her hand.
This is gold! Solid gold! she thought in shock.
Mahou remembered holding solid gold before. Takamine had brought her a piece to study so she could paint the gold objects in a painting, believing having the object would make her paint better. Mahou wouldn't say it worked, but she committed the color, weight, and feel to memory.
She rolled the piece in her hand and looked it over several times. She couldn't feel a scratch or nick or indent of any sort in it. It was perfectly smooth. She looked at the box and gently placed the piece back inside. She then looked at the box again.
"It's pretty, isn't it?" asked Anzu.
Mahou startled. "Uh . . . Yeah. Sorry. I've only seen things like this in books."
"You like history?" asked Anzu.
Mahou was caught a little off guard. "I read a lot of art books."
"Do you draw, too?" Anzu pressed.
Mahou looked at the gold box. She then turned to Anzu and Yuugi, the corners of her mouth tipping up a bit. "Would you like to see?"
"Sure!" they said.
"I need paper and pen," said Mahou.
Yuugi gave her a piece of paper and a pen.
Mahou stared at the gold box for a long moment and then handed it to Yuugi. She sat down at the desk and started drawing.
Yuugi and Anzu looked over her shoulder as she made quick, precise strokes with the pen. In moments she had the outline of the golden box and was now adding the details like the Eye of Horus, but also the hieroglyphs on the sides and the design around the edge of the lid.
"That's amazing!" they cried.
Mahou gave a small smile. "Thank you."
Sugoroku came in with tea and snacks.
"Grandpa! Look at what Mahou drew!"
Sugoroku looked at the sketch. "Ho ho! That is very good, Mahou."
"She did it with only looking at the box for a few moments!" Yuugi went on excitedly.
"It's not that great . . . I know I didn't get the hieroglyphs right," said Mahou.
Yuugi opened the box and grabbed a few pieces of the Millennium Puzzle out. "Let's see if you can draw these after a few seconds." He placed them on the desk and grabbed another piece of paper.
Mahou took the paper. "Um . . . Okay. . ."
"Twenty seconds on the clock!" he chirped, looking at the clock.
Mahou stared at the pieces.
"And go!" Yuugi said.
Mahou looked away and started drawing, not looking up, not that she could see as Yuugi placed a book between her and the pieces. After a few moments, Mahou leaned back.
"How did I do?" she asked.
Yuugi moved the book.
"That is so close!" Anzu gasped. "You're amazing, Mahou!"
"You'd be really great at memory games," Yuugi added. He cleaned the pieces back into the box and put the lid on.
Mahou blushed.
It turned out she was very good at memory games. They later switched over to board games until it was suppertime.
"Good night, Yuugi, Mahou!" Anzu called as she left the shop to go home.
"Bye, Anzu!" Yuugi called back, waving. He turned to Mahou. "That was a lot of fun!"
Mahou looked at him and gave a little smile.