Kaiba Mansion, Domino City

December 25, 2027

6:56 PM

Christmas dinner was far too quiet. In years past, Atticus would have dominated the conversation, telling stories and singing songs, making their mother laugh and their father's lips twitch— which was about the equivalent for him.

Uncle Mokuba and Aunt Mai would tell stories, too, about their travels around the world. Inevitably Uncle Joey would jump in to correct his wife's retelling of one of his dueling victories, insisting it was far more spectacular or impressive than she'd said. This, naturally, would prompt Mr. Kaiba to make some sort of derisive comment, and an argument would erupt— until Mrs. Kaiba threatened to start telling embarrassing stories about the both of them. It would have been a good celebration, the kind that left people feeling warm and content (and not just from the booze that Uncle Mokuba liked to sneak).

This year… this year was nothing but a cheap imitation, a feeble attempt to recapture a feeling that simply wasn't there anymore. Alexis much preferred last year, when there'd been no celebration at all. Her mother had shut herself in her room and cried for days on end while her father, taking advantage of the decreased population on Academy Island, had conducted another thorough search for his missing son. At least that had felt… honest.

Now it just felt like everyone was just putting on a pretense, a brave face, for some unimaginable reason. Her mother was the one who had been most insistent about the whole thing, throwing herself into the preparations (despite being Mrs. Seto Kaiba, she always handled holidays herself, giving the staff the time off. It was one of the things she'd refused to compromise on.) The dining room was tastefully decorated and the food was perfectly prepared, exactly as it had been before Atticus disappeared, and it was driving Alexis mad. How could the house look so festive when the mood was anything but? How could they gather to eat as a family, when it just made the hole left by Atticus's absence more obvious?

Whatever her mother had been trying to recreate, it wasn't happening. No one seemed to know what to say, and so they all just sat there, silently pushing their food around their plates. Well, Mrs. Kaiba was eating, probably trying to subtly influence others, and Uncle Joey was, too, of course (Alexis didn't think she'd ever seen him refuse any opportunity to eat), but that was all.

Her father was glaring down at his own dinner like he was wishing he could throw it across the room, and neither Uncle Mokuba nor Aunt Mai had touched anything but the wine all evening. Syrus was slumped in his chair, looking absolutely miserable, and Zane was sitting so stiffly he might as well have been a cardboard cutout. Grandma hadn't even come downstairs, claiming she had a headache. Alexis wished she could have gotten away with such an excuse.

Uncle Joey spoke up so suddenly that more than one person jumped. "I heard some exciting news from Tristan a few weeks ago," he announced.

"From Tristan? What kind of news?" Mrs. Kaiba asked, a little too loudly, clearly relieved that someone was talking. (Mr. Kaiba scowled even harder. He'd never been very fond of Mr. Taylor, especially considering the history between his old schoolmate and his now-wife.)

"He and Melody are planning to move back to Domino over the summer."

"Really!? Oh, that's fantastic! Does Tèa know yet? She and Melody used to be best friends, didn't they?"

"Yep, before Melody's family moved away after freshman year. Man, it's going to be good to have Tris nearby again."

"Did Taylor happen to mention why they're moving back here?" Mr. Kaiba asked.

"It's because of his Dad," Uncle Joey explained, sobering. "Mr. Taylor ain't as young as he used to be— can't run his shop by himself anymore. Tristan's comin' home to take over for 'im— not all at once, but he says it's time to begin the process."

"Of course, there's also the fact that that wild daughter of his is simply determined to attend Duel Academy," Aunt Mai threw in with a wink. "They want to be as close to Blair as possible once she starts next year— I understand she gave them quite a fright back at the beginning of the semester."

"Ah, the things one's willin' ta'do ferlove," Uncle Mokuba slurred dramatically.

"A schoolgirl crush can hardly be called love, Mokuba," Mr. Kaiba retorted, snatching his brother's wine glass away from him. "You got into the scotch before dinner, didn't you? You'll be receiving a bill from me for that."

The younger Kaiba either didn't understand what his brother was telling him or was too tipsy to care. "Speaking of my iluss... illustrus… extrem'ly talented nephew, hav'ya thought at all 'bout whatcha're going to do after you graduate, Zane?"

Alexis looked over at her cousin, wondering how he would react to the question. As usual these days, Zane gave absolutely nothing away. "I still plan to duel professionally," he said flatly. "And eventually I intend to create my own dueling league, but that probably won't be for a good twenty years or so." He picked up his glass and took a sip of water, leaving everyone else to shift uncomfortably in their seats. Of course, they knew about Zane's dream of having his own dueling league— he and Atticus had talked about it often enough. Zane would handle the practical, background side of things, while Atticus would be the league's front, doing publicity stunts, recruiting events, and the like. Alexis hadn't known Zane still intended to go ahead with it now that Atticus was gone, and she felt an irrational flash of fury at the thought.

"What about our freshmen?" Aunt Mai finally jumped in, trying to steer the conversation into safer waters. "How did the two of you enjoy your first semester at Duel Academy?"

Alexis and Syrus shared a desperate glance, each begging the other to go first. What were they supposed to say? That their grades weren't as high as they'd hoped? That they were basically social pariahs? That they'd been sneaking around restricted areas doing the one thing they'd sort-of-not-really promised not to do?

"We both passed all our classes," Alexis said finally after the expectant silence had stretched on too long. "And, uh… we made a mutual acquaintance that I think is the adopted son of an old friend of yours? Bastion Misawa…?"

"I'd forgotten about that," Mr. Kaiba said. "That boy Bakura and Maisie adopted after they moved to London is also a freshman at the academy. One of the highest-ranking ones, too."

The conversation once again delved back into reminiscing and discussions of the glory days of youth, and this time, thankfully, it stayed there. Both Alexis and Syrus breathed a sigh of relief.

Kaiba Mansion, Domino City

December 31, 2027

10:39 PM

The New Year's party at the Kaiba mansion was, amazingly, set up almost exactly like it had been in years past. Chazz felt an enormous wave of nostalgia wash over him as he walked into the living room, spotting the same decorations, the same food, and (for the most part) the same people. There were several noticeable differences, of course— Atticus's rather loud presence was conspicuously absent, and oddly, though he could see Mr. and Mrs. Muto sitting on the couch talking to the Wheelers and another couple he didn't recognize, Yuki didn't seem to be anywhere to be found.

"Duke! Chazz! It's so wonderful to see you both," Mrs. Kaiba greeted them, accepting a kiss on the hand from Chazz's father with a small laugh. Chazz fought not to gag. (He'd just recently discovered, thanks to the rather extensive therapy he and his parents had been going through the past few weeks, that the two of them had gone out a few times, back in high school. It was beyond weird to think about.) "We're so glad you could come, even though Vivian couldn't make it. I've prepared a gift basket for her with all her favorites; don't leave without my giving it to you."

"As usual Serenity, your kindness and generosity knows no bounds," Mr. Devlin proclaimed. "Vivian will be absolutely thrilled you thought of her." He took in the rest of the room, his eyes widening when they landed on the new couple talking with the Mutos. "I don't believe it! Tristan, is that you?"

The man, a rather plain-looking person compared to the others in the room, turned toward Chazz's father and lit up with a grin. "Duke! It's been too long, my friend!" the two men met halfway and clasped each other's arms. "Melody, come meet Duke Devlin. He moved to Domino a few months after you transferred."

Oh. Chazz thought. They must be Tristan and Melody Taylor. He'd heard about Mr. Taylor plenty from his father— apparently, it was hard not to form a bond with someone that you'd once hung off of a blimp with. While it was flying.

Of course, now that the men were deeply engaged in conversation, Chazz was left standing awkwardly in the middle of the room with no one to talk to. Glancing around, he spotted Zane Wheeler on another couch, listening patiently to a blue-haired girl who must be the Taylors' daughter chatter at him. It took him a bit longer to find Alexis (his stomach gave its usual flutter) and Syrus, hidden as they were in two different window seats. He would have loved to go and talk to his childhood crush, but it didn't look like she'd appreciate company at the moment.

"Chazz—" The black-haired duelist jumped, taken completely aback by Mrs. Muto's sudden appearance next to him. "—oh, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you. Yuki's up in the game room. He asked me to tell you when you arrived."

"Oh, uh… thank you. I'll just… go find him then," Chazz said, backing quickly away from the woman. Normally he wouldn't have been so uncomfortable around her, but after everything he'd had to listen to over the past few weeks, her presence made him decidedly twitchy.

All in all, therapy had not been nearly as bad as Chazz had feared it would be, back when the Duel Academy guidance counselors (the people Chancellor Sheppard had called in to do damage control after the scene his parents had made in front of everyone) had first suggested it. In fact, due to spending two or three hours in his therapist's office up to three times a week, this winter break had been the best one he'd had in a while. It was nice to talk to someone who actually listened to him for once, and, even better, had made his parents listen to him, too.

He really ought to thank his father, he supposed, for taking the horse by the reigns and getting it done so quickly. Mr. Devlin had called Mrs. Kaiba for help in finding a professional who could start seeing them right away (Unsurprisingly, the Kaibas employed several therapists with different areas of specialization). The counselor they'd ended up choosing was experienced in dealing with high-profile clients, but more than that, they were very good at their job, proven by the fact that they actually managed to get through to Chazz's mother, miracle of miracles.

They'd talked about a lot of things together during the past weeks, especially Mrs. Devlin's unhealthy obsession with the Muto family. As far as Chazz understood it, she'd had a terrible crush on Yugi Muto during her teen years and had never quite gotten over his rejection of her. To compensate for her feelings of failure, she had developed a habit of comparing herself to Tèa Muto, the woman who had "beaten her" to Yugi's heart, specifically by measuring their sons' progress against each other.

There had been quite a lot of crying, then, as Mrs. Devlin bemoaned her failure as both a wife and mother, but their counselor had told them that their family was still fixable, it would just take a lot of work, and they'd have to be willing to stick with it. Considering the short-term results, Chazz had no problem sticking with it, not if it meant no longer feeling like such a disappointment (he could do without hearing so much about his mother's romantic fantasies, though. There were some things sons just didn't need to know about their— or other people's— parents).

At long last he finally reached the game room (the Kaiba mansion was big; it took a while to get from one place to another) and lingered outside the door for a moment, wondering if he should knock, before he scoffed. The Chazz did not knock, especially when he'd already been invited in. So instead he threw open the door and marched in, arms crossed and head cocked arrogantly, cutting off whatever Yuki had been saying.

Sprawled on one of the low couches, across from Chazz's arch-rival, was a boy he'd never seen before. He was skinny, wearing a horrendous ugly holiday sweater, and desperately needed a haircut. Upon Chazz's rather noisy entrance, he raised his head, offered a lazy "'sup?" and promptly returned to his flopped stature.

"Chazz! You're here!" Yuki leaped to his feet and rushed at him, and Chazz, fearing a hug or something equally uncomfortable, stiffened in alarm. To his very great relief, his rival merely grabbed Chazz's sleeve and began tugging him further into the room, simultaneously kicking the door shut. "Come on in, dude. We have so much to talk about."

"We do?" Chazz's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Yeah! Belowski and I want to know all about how you became a Spirit Talker!"