Queer As Tachi – Chapter 38

                Duke Devlin’s big game shop was bustling with people and the palpable excitement of a super event on Sunday, as gamers of all ages bellied up to the registration tables to confirm their spots in the regional tournament and find out what time their first duels would be played.  Until the festivities began everyone thronged the store upstairs, hanging around, looking at merchandise, bragging about their decks, and generally getting underfoot.  Yugi, Joey, and Mai walked through the middle of the mayhem, looking around in interest and hoping to find Duke sooner rather than later.  He had promised them VIP seats, after all.  Pausing so as not to crash into several younger kids running through the store, they followed the haphazard line of entrants to the registration table, and sure enough, there was the master of ceremonies, looking a bit harried through his usual air of coolness.  Spotting his friends heading towards him put a touch of a smile back to his face.  “Hey, guys,” greeted them, making the whole line of entrants turn to see who he was talking to.  “You made it!”

                “That’s right,” Joey bragged, “here we are.  So where’s this VIP treatment you promised?  Does it involve food?”

                Duke’s shoulders sagged with a little sigh.  “Sorry, I don’t even have seats set up at the arenas,” he replied.  “But you’re free to come and go anywhere, so you can see all the duels.  You can put your coats in my office, that’s about all I can give you.”

                “It’s okay,” Yugi assured.  “We just wanted to be here to check things out.  No big deal.”

                “Oh…dude!”  Duke began to grin more broadly.  “Check out what just came for me in the mail yesterday…”

                Among the papers scattered across the registration table, there was a pile of brightly-colored flyers for the tournament with the future date of the final round, but Duke pulled something out from underneath them and held it up.  It was an enormous poster, featuring a rather dark and sultry image of Yugi glaring over his cards at the camera.  A big firework stamp in the corner promised that “world champion Yugi Muto” would be among the finalists in Hong Kong to pit one’s dueling skills against.   Yugi stared wide-eyed at it, while Joey burst out with a scream of laughter, and a number of youths in line to register began to whisper excitedly that Yugi was there among them.  “Oh, no,” Yugi moaned.

                “Is that from the last round of photos you just had taken?” Joey wondered.  “Man!  And I thought the last set were over the top.  That’s just…wow.”

                Duke grinned around the poster.  “I think they’re hot.”

                Yugi groaned in embarrassment.  “Leave it alone…”

                “Oh, they totally are,” Mai teased.  “Yugi, you look so…rowr!”  She laughed brightly.

                “I didn’t know dueling could be so sexy,” Joey snorted.

                Yugi clapped a hand over his face.  “Guys, shut up!” he complained.

                “Did they make you pose like that, or was that your idea?” Joey continued.

                “Those are his clothes,” Duke pointed out.  “Wait’ll you see the rest, Yugi…”

                Yugi looked up sharply, gaping.  “The rest?  What do you mean?”

                “I got a whole spread to promote just this regional tournament today,” Duke replied with a smirk, “and then a set to go up tomorrow after the finalists have been decided.  They’re all like this.  Super-slick and sexy.   I’m impressed – way to go.”

                Blushing fiercely, Yugi looked away as his friends erupted with a fresh round of giggles.  “Okay, okay,” he groaned, “that’s enough.”

                “I can just see it,” Joey snickered, effecting his best imitation of breathy porn voices.  “’Oh baby, I summon…the Dark… Magician…’ ooo…”

                Mai played along, swooning up to her boyfriend.  “Oh yes, Joey,” she exclaimed, trying not to break out into laughter, “summon me something!  Now!”

                Yugi quivered, his face beet-red.  “Stop it!” he growled.

                “Duel Monsters is sooo sensual,” Duke added to their taunt.  “Hey, do you suppose that’s what happens when he and Yami are together?”

                “Oh yeah.  Totally.”  Mai snickered.   “’Oh Yami, yes, play that card, yes…’”

                Yugi whirled sharply on his heel and stalked away.  “I’m going downstairs,” he grumbled under his breath.

                “Aww, Yugi…”  Joey reached to snatch his arm, but missed.  “Damn.  Do you think we went a little overboard?”

                “Well, look at the poster,” Duke offered.  “You can’t look at that and not think the same thing.   They sexed him up bigtime.”  He turned the poster to him and admired it briefly.  “Dueling as foreplay.  Yeah, I bet being with Yami is exactly like this.”

                “Gahh!  Thanks, didn’t need that mental image,” Joey retorted.

                “Guys,” Mai said in exasperation.  “We should go make sure Yugi’s all right.  He’s had a rough couple of weeks, we shouldn’t be so hard on him.”

                “Yeah, yeah,” Joey sighed.  “I’ll go.”

                Yugi stood waiting for the elevator to come back up, arms folded and one foot tapping impatiently.  He glanced aside at Joey’s approach and averted his eyes in embarrassment.  “What now?”

                “Hey, I’m sorry,” Joey said immediately.  “That was a little too much.  Come on back, huh?”

                Yugi refused to look at him, but his grouchy expression began to ease.  “But the action is all going to be downstairs,” he pointed out.

                “Okay, then.  Wait a second.  I’ll go get Mai, we’ll all go down and see how Duke’s got this thing set up.”  He punched Yugi lightly in the shoulder.  “No hard feelings, eh?”

                Yugi allowed himself a smile.  “Yeah, it’s all right.  Just cut out the teasing, okay?  I got enough of that from Marik a month ago.”

                Joey gladly returned to collect Mai, and together the three invited duelists made the rounds of the several floors of dueling arenas that had been prepared for the tournament.  In less than a half an hour the first duels would begin, matching up duelists of various skill levels in elimination rounds that would last through most of the morning and afternoon, leading to higher qualifying brackets and the championship duels later toward evening to decide the top three finishers who would go on to the national finals in Kyoto.  Some of the arenas were left old-school style for duelists who might not own duel disks, but the rest had been converted the same way as Duke had done to the one for Mai’s party, with lower walls and open places for duel-disk-toting players to stand.  The competing duelists who had already signed in were beginning to filter downstairs to find their arenas, but it wasn’t till the tournament was about to start that Duke showed up and found his friends.  He looked to be doing his best to toe the line of frazzled without going over just yet, a hard look in his eyes and no smile to be found.  “Sorry, guys,” he said as he came up to them.  “I won’t be able to play tour guide.  I have too much to do, I have to be in three places at once.”

                “It’s okay,” Yugi assured him.  “We’ll just wander around, we know where everything is.”

                “I’ll see you at the halftime break,” Duke promised before whisking away again.  Shortly after, they heard his voice coming through the intercom system that connected all the arena floors, announcing that the first round was about to begin.

                The three friends walked from arena to arena for a while, checking to see whether there was any action worth monitoring before passing to the next one.   So far, none of the elimination-round duels looked to be very challenging, some were progressing very quickly.  Between the splashy posters and the whispers among those in line to register in the morning, word got around that Yugi Muto was there, along with a couple of other well-known championship duelists, so within an hour or so of the start, the threesome realized they were being watched everywhere they went.  Duke would appear and disappear like a phantom, circling around arenas, checking off competitors, instructing winners and losers what to do once their round was over.  He had to monitor everything, keep track of the advancements through the tournament brackets, and be sure no one was cheating.  He had brought in a few official IČ referees to handle each arena so he didn’t have to try to be on everything himself, and some of his employees from the store were serving as wranglers for the throngs of kids.  It was crowded on every floor, but Yugi and his friends were able to get a good look at a fair number of duels and congratulate players now and then on games well played.  “What do you think?” he asked Joey after the first round ended and the brackets were being reset with the next level of competition.

                Joey made a disgruntled face.  “Eh, they’re all small-time,” he complained.  “Something tells me that you, me, and Mai are the only ones from Domino gonna go to the finals.  Oh, and Kaiba.   Duh.”

                “Maybe,” Yugi sighed.  “They all look so little.  Were we ever that young?”

                “Face it, boys, you’re getting old,” Mai chided them both.  “Joey comes of age in a month.  And to think, you used to be a couple of little geeks just like these kids, wide-eyed and full of dreams of the championship.”

                “Yeah, but we’re old pros at this now,” Joey countered.   “These kids are gonna have to be geniuses at gaming to beat us.”

                “Or each other,” Yugi laughed.  “I must just be used to the hardcore way Yami and I have been forced to play in order to save the world.  I’ve never seen so many amateur mistakes made in one place.”

                “Well, from the way you told us about it, Pegasus really opened this tournament up to anybody,” Mai remembered.  “Like he’s trying to find the next Yugi Muto out of the sea of amateurs or something.  Who knows?  Maybe one of these runts will surprise us all.”

                The only concessions provided for breaks between rounds were water stations, so the gang stopped at the nearest one and got some glasses.  While he stood waiting to fill up, Yugi heard someone call his name and turned around to look.  A little boy was heading his way, waving enthusiastically while towing a teenaged companion along behind him.  They seemed familiar, but Yugi couldn’t put his finger on why until they came up to him and the youngster crowed, “Yugi Muto!  I knew it, I knew it!   See, Kazuma?  I told you!  It’s Yugi!   Hi, Yugi!”

                Yugi blinked in surprise at the two, who appeared to be brothers, as his mind scrambled to place the face and voice.  The hospital.  Springtime.  The little kid!  What was his name?  “Uh…hi,” he stammered in the meantime.  “It’s, uh, good to see you again.”

                “Look Yugi, look,” the boy continued to enthuse.  “My brother is okay!  I told you he would be!  Didn’t I?”

                The teenager sighed in exasperation.  “Akira, you’re making a scene,” he complained.  “I’m sorry, my little brother is a bit on the hyper side.”

                “That’s okay,” Yugi chuckled, finally remembering everything.   “I remember you!  How are you doing, Akira?  How’s your mom?”

                “She’s fine,” Akira beamed.  “Now that Kazuma’s back, she’s happy again.”

                Kazuma stared at him in disbelief.  “Wait a minute.  You mean Akira was right all along?  He really did meet you at the hospital?”

                “Yeah,” Yugi laughed.  “Back in the spring.  I was there to look after my grandpa.  We hit it off, didn’t we?” he added to the younger one.  “He wanted me to meet you.”  He cocked his head curiously.  “So are you dueling today?  Or just watching?”

                Kazuma shook his head.  “I didn’t enter the tournament.  I…I’m not really in shape to.  I haven’t been back on my feet all that long, it’s been ages since I even looked at my deck.  But Akira wanted to see the tournament, since it was so close to home.”

                “Mom won’t let him travel anyway,” Akira interjected.   “If he won, Mom wouldn’t let him go to Kyoto or to the finals.”

                Kazuma chuckled awkwardly.  “Mom is optimistic,” he said to his brother, giving Yugi a shy glance.  “I’m not good enough to win, Akira.”

                “Maybe you just need some practice,” Yugi smiled.  “I brought my deck, even though I’m not dueling today.   If you want, later, maybe I’ll give you some tips.”

                “That’d be cool,” Kazuma admitted.  “Maybe later.”

                “Kazuma was in the Duelist Kingdom tournament,” Akira interrupted.  “But he didn’t get very far.”

                Yugi’s eyes widened.  “Really?”

                Kazuma nearly blushed, now.  “I was eliminated in the first round,” he admitted.  “Went home on the first boat.”  He nudged his brother and let go of his hand.  “Why don’t you go get a drink of water, Akira?  It’ll be a while till we can get lunch.”

                The distraction proved perfect, as Akira immediately forgot he was having a conversation and went to fill a glass at the unoccupied water station.   Yugi gave the teen a friendly smile.  “If it’s not too personal of me to ask,” he began, “how long have you been out of the hospital?”

                Kazuma sobered, though he didn’t object to the question.   “Only a couple of months,” he replied quietly.  “I woke up sometime in April or May, according to Akira not too long after he dragged you in to ‘meet’ me.  But I’ve had a lot of physical therapy and stuff to do in order to recover.  This is really the first I’ve been out of the house for a long time.  I should be able to go back to school after the holidays.”  He looked away sheepishly.  “You don’t want to hear my life story.”

                “No, it’s okay,” Yugi assured.  “When your brother asked me to meet you, my heart went out to you, and your family.  I wished you all the best.  I’m glad to see you’re doing so much better.  Take care of yourself.”  He smiled again as Akira returned to them, drinking down half a glass of water in a single gulp.  “My offer is open anytime you want to duel, later.”

                “Yeah, sure.  C’mon Akira…”  Kazuma reached to shake Yugi’s hand.  “It was good to meet you, for real this time.”

                “Sure.”  Yugi beamed as the brothers headed away, going to find a place to sit and watch the next round of duels take place.

                Joey and Mai came up behind their friend.  “So who was that?” Joey wondered.  “Some fan?”

                “Oh…someone I met a while back.”  Yugi turned to them with a big sigh.  “All right.  What do you suppose would be the best duel to watch, now?  These first few rounds are sort of boring, it won’t get really good until later, when the better players are up against each other.”

                The trio headed for a different floor where older youths were dueling, where they knew Duke to be, so if nothing else they could sit back in a corner and privately heckle him for being a responsible shop owner and adult.  He had his hands full sorting out an issue between two duelists, so his friends let him be and walked around to the other arena on that floor to see how that duel was shaping up.  As they passed down the corridor, Yugi felt a prompting from his inner spirit and glanced aside at the door to the restroom, and grinned from ear to ear at the memory of what he and Yami had done in there during Mai’s party.  Joey glanced back at him and caught him before the smirk could vanish.  “What are you grinnin’ about?”

                “Nothing,” Yugi said innocently.  “Boy, it looks a lot different down here than it did during the party, huh Mai?”

                “Yeah, you can actually see where you’re going now,” Mai chuckled.

                As they came around the corner, one of the spectators standing near the back glanced toward them, and then gave a start.  “Yugi, Joey!” he called to them above the noise of the duel.  “What are you doing here?”

                All three friends looked at the same time, and all smiled.   “Mokuba!” Yugi said for all of them.   “Hi!  Wow, it’s been a long time…”

                “I know,” Mokuba Kaiba enthused, stepping aside to talk to them without disturbing the duelists or other spectators.  He was looking a bit older and taller, but still the same lean, lanky youth with shaggy black hair and wide, friendly eyes that smiled far more than his brother’s.  Yugi realized, then, that in all the conflict with Kaiba that summer and fall, he had never seen or heard from Mokuba.  Apparently, he hadn’t been a part of his brother’s plot.  “So let me guess,” he said as they clustered together in a corner to chat.   “You’re here to check out the competition.”

                Yugi laughed.  “Something like that, yeah.  Where’s your brother?”

                Mokuba frowned.  “He was too busy to come down,” he complained, “so he sent me instead.  He wants me to report back to him on the tournament.  I just want to watch some good gaming, I don’t care.”  He glanced at the others.  “So Joey.   How come you’re not competing?”

                Joey smirked.  “’Cause I don’t have to.  I’m already in,” he added, seeing Mokuba’s questioning look.

                Mokuba’s eyes widened.  “What?  You’re an invited finalist?”

                “Yup.”  Joey thumbed over his shoulder at his girlfriend.  “Mai too.   All three of us are in it, we don’t have to jump through the hoops like all these guys.”

                “No way!”  Mokuba stared at them, and then snickered.  “Oh man.  Wait’ll my brother hears this.”

                “What?” Joey shrugged.  “I’ve been a finalist in every tournament in the last how many years?  You’d think by now somebody would recognize that I’ve got talent, even if your big brother doesn’t.”

                “Well, I know that,” Mokuba snorted.  “Why do you think you got invited to the Grand Prix?  Besides for comic relief,” he added with a snide grin.

                “Watch it, small fry,” Joey warned.

                “Man, it feels like forever since we’ve seen you,” Yugi interjected, steering the conversation somewhere less insulting.  “What have you been up to?”

                Mokuba grinned widely.  “Middle school!”

                “Really?”  Yugi faced him to continue talking, though Joey and Mai were distracted by the duel going on just beyond them.   “I thought you would have opted for being tutored at home like Kaiba was.”

                “No way.”  Mokuba scrunched up his nose in distaste.  “Just because he was brought up that way doesn’t mean I wanted to be.  It actually was a big argument between us, after he left school and I reached the age where I had to decide.  I didn’t want to go through what he did, even though I know Seto wouldn’t treat me the way Gozaburo treated him.  It’s just…thinking of being cooped up in the house with tutors all day brought me back to what life was like around Gozaburo, and I didn’t want to be reminded of that every single day.  I wanted to go to a normal school, and meet people and have friends.”

                “Well, that makes sense,” Yugi offered.  “You can’t make friends if you don’t meet anybody.”

                “Exactly.  So, we compromised,” Mokuba explained.  “He agreed to let me go to a regular school on the condition that I let him enroll me in the best private school he could afford, and if my grades were good enough, he’d let me pick my high school.”  He shrugged.  “I still got another year before I get that far, though.”

                “How’s it going?”

                “Okay, I guess.”  Mokuba grinned sheepishly.  “It’s pretty clear that Seto ended up with all the smarts in the family, though.”

                “I see,” Yugi tried to laugh, though in the back of his mind he couldn’t help but think of Seto Kaiba’s angry outbursts and insulting behavior toward him.  It was difficult to speak well of him when he had been such a jerk all year long.  “And now you’re just hanging out, checking out the tournament on his behalf?”

                “Pretty much,” Mokuba nodded.  “Oh, hey – I heard about your grandpa.  How’s he doing?”

                “Oh, he’s fine,” Yugi replied casually.  “He wasn’t down for very long.  I had a hard time making him stay on bed rest when he was supposed to,” he added with a cute little smile.  “But he’s back up to speed.  He and I run the game shop together, now.”

                “Yeah, I kind of gathered that.”

                Yugi’s smile faded.  “Uh…just how much do you know, Mokuba?” he wondered as lightly as he could.   “Your brother has been to see us…well, a lot, but…”

                Mokuba also sobered.  “Yeah, I know,” he said quietly.  “He doesn’t tell me hardly anything about work.  I got most of my information on you by eavesdropping when he was yelling at Roland about stuff.  Look, Yugi…”  He gave his friend a contrite look.  “I don’t know what Seto did to you, or anything, so I can’t really explain why he does what he does.  But I know he’s been really edgy for a while, trying to get his KC game shop plans to work the way he wants.  He’s making a huge investment into them, and wants everything to go smoothly.”

                “I suppose,” Yugi sighed.  “Still, he could be a little nicer about it.”

                A wry grin returned to Mokuba’s face.  “This is my brother you’re talking about.”

                “So is that all it was?  He wanted our game shops so he could make way for his own without having any competition?”

                “As far as I know,” Mokuba said.  “Like I say, he doesn’t always share everything about work.   I know what he wanted initially, but then after you and Duke both said no to him, he stopped talking about it openly to me.  He’ll tell me about plans, and he’ll say stuff when things are going really well, but when they aren’t, he kinda keeps it all to himself.”   He chanced a smile.  “Just so you know, I told him it was a bad idea.  I knew you guys weren’t going to sell to him.  But he had some hope that he could at least get his hands on Duke’s shop, if nothing else.”

                Yugi gave him a smile in return.  “Well, I guess there’s no hard feelings.  I know that business is business, and Kaiba is just being Kaiba.   At least now we can go back to settling things on the dueling floor like we used to.”

                “Oh yeah – and he’s definitely going to be there in Hong Kong with his A-game,” Mokuba smugly assured him.  “I can’t wait to see it.  This is his chance, Yugi.  You better watch out.”

                Yugi laughed.  “Yeah, well, he’s not the only one who’s going to be at the top of his game.   You can tell him I said hi…”

                “Yo, Yug,” Joey suddenly interrupted them, turning swiftly to them.  His voice was dreadfully serious.  “You gotta see who’s dueling now.”

                “Huh?”  Yugi and Mokuba both turned to him, and looked past him as he leaned out of the way to let them have a clear view of the arena.  There was a familiar slender figure standing in one of the duelist spots, raising his duel disk to begin the round.  Yugi gave a start.   “Bakura!”

                With his attention on the game and his opponent, Bakura didn’t hear anything in the crowd even remotely resembling the voices of friends.  Yugi wormed his way through spectators to lean up against the low wall of the arena, crouching down to peer between legs if he had to.  It didn’t look like the spirit of the Ring was in control, Ryo was smiling rather normally and acting quite calm for a duelist, but he played as strongly as Yugi could ever remember.  He still battled with Fiend monsters, but never pulled out any of his dark side’s favorite smackdown tricks.  He didn’t need to; the slightly older man battling him talked a bigger game than he played and lost after a sequence of rather dumb mistakes that seasoned tournament players knew to avoid.   Ryo seemed pleased and mildly surprised that he had won, and crossed the arena to offer his opponent a polite handshake before clearing the floor for the next duel.  He hadn’t gotten three steps outside the arena when Yugi blundered straight up to him, startling him.  “Oh!  Yugi!  Hello!”

                “Bakura!” Yugi exclaimed.  “What are you doing here?”

                Bakura raised his left arm, brandishing his duel disk.  “Playing in the tournament, what else?”

                “But…”  Yugi blinked at him uncertainly.  “Why?”

                Ryo looked down at his deck in his duel disk with a perplexed look.  “Well…for fun.  Is there any other reason?  Oh!”  His eyes immediately saddened, and he looked around at the people in the vicinity before ducking away to one side, where he and Yugi could converse more privately.  “Yes, I suppose given our past history and what just happened to us recently, it does look bad for me to be playing in a tournament where I will eventually be able to face you,” he admitted quietly.  “But I swear, Yugi, it isn’t what it looks like.  The spirit of the Ring had nothing to do with entering, I chose to do it on my own.  I wanted to have fun.”  He gave Yugi a plaintive look.  “I miss the days of dueling and laughing like we did in school.  I want to try to recapture it, if it’s at all possible.”

                Yugi gave a little defeated moan.  “Oh, Bakura…I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to imply…”  He clapped a hand to his face in embarrassment.  “Let’s rewind that and start over.  So, Bakura!”   He mustered a smile.  “I see you’re playing in the tournament…”

                Bakura chuckled in amusement, relaxing his shoulders.  “Why yes, Yugi.  I thought it would be fun.”

                “It should be,” Yugi offered, dropping the act and speaking more naturally.  “You’ve got as good a shot as anyone at making it to the national finals.”

                “That would be nice,” Ryo admitted.  “Kyoto in January?  Though, really, I just want to see how far I can go.  I know I’m not anywhere near the caliber of you and Joey, or Kaiba, but I want to do my best and see just how I stack up in the world.”  He gave Yugi a painfully sincere, sad smile.  “Battle City doesn’t exactly count.”

                Yugi nodded.  “Well, I wish you the best,” he said.  “I’d like to duel you for fun again, and not with any souls or Millennium Items at stake.  So…hang in there.”

                Ryo nodded back with a smile.  “Are you here alone, or…?”

                “Oh, no, Joey and Mai are here too.  They’ve been invited as special finalists just like me.  We’re all just here to watch today.”

                “Oh, good!”  Bakura smiled cheerily.  “Let me go and get an update on when my next match will be, and I’ll come over by you.  All right?”

                “Yeah, sure.”  Yugi gave him a little wave as they parted and went in different directions.  Almost immediately, he was conversing mentally with his spiritual partner.  “I can’t believe it.  Bakura, in a tournament?”

                “What are you so concerned about?” Yami asked him.  “You seem on edge.”

                “Well…it’s Bakura!  How am I to know that he’s not really here to try to get in a position to try to take the Puzzle from me in a duel?  I don’t want to suspect him of anything like that,” Yugi fretted, “he’s my friend, but…”

                “Yugi,” Yami said patiently.  “That’s all there is to it.  Bakura is your friend, and he’s given you no reason to think otherwise.  Let it go.”

                “I want to,” Yugi sighed inwardly.  “I suppose…if it had been the spirit of the Ring, pretending to be Ryo, you would have sensed it already.”

                “And I sensed nothing,” the inner spirit assured.  “It’s just Ryo, playing Duel Monsters for fun.  Smile and wish him luck.”

                “Okay.”  Yugi put on a smile, or at least a less worried look, by the time he returned to Joey and Mai, who had been watching him from across the crowded arena.  “Hey, guys,” he greeted them again, with a nod toward Mokuba who was still standing near them.  “What’s next?”

                Joey’s eyes were hard and dark.  “What’s up with Bakura?”

                “Nothing,” Yugi shrugged.  “He’s dueling in the tournament for fun.  He wants to test himself.  That’s all.”

                “You sure?”  Joey frowned uncertainly.  “’Cause after the last time you and I saw him…”

                “I know, that’s in the back of my mind,” his best friend admitted, “but really.  Yami doesn’t sense any trouble.  Ryo and I have both been through a lot in the past few weeks, it’s nice to be able to put it behind us and go on like normal.  I can imagine, if he’s already jumped straight into second-year courses at the university, he’s under just as much stress as you are, Joey, and wants to have some fun.  I’m not going to tell him not to.”

                Mai eyed both friends warily, as if trying to puzzle out details from their conversation to judge against what she knew or didn’t know about the “past few weeks” in their lives.  “What are you two so freaked out about?” she complained.  “Bakura’s only trouble if he’s got the Millennium Ring, and I don’t see it on him.  Do you?”

                “I guess you’re right,” Joey sighed.  “Well, as long as Yami’s sure.”

                “Yeah, he’s as sure as he can be.  And I don’t really sense anything either, so…Bakura’s okay.   I’m glad, you know?”  Yugi smiled at his friends.  “In school, he always seemed so sad.  I don’t really know much about his life, so I can’t say why.  It’s good to see him smiling like that.”

                While they stood around talking, only halfheartedly watching the next duel at that arena, Bakura came up to them, saying hello to Joey and Mai and taking time to catch up on their lives so they could all settle into a friendly hangout for the afternoon.  Thanks to his partner’s assurance, Yugi relaxed considerably and treated Ryo like it was any old day at school or at play, knowing that if the spirit of the Millennium Ring did decide to rear his bushy-haired head among them, the pharaoh would sense it and warn him.  It also gave him something to do, someone to watch, rather than wander aimlessly from arena to arena in search of a decent spectacle.  The further he progressed, the more nervous Bakura became about his future opponents, and having Yugi there to assure him that he would do all right helped him greatly.  By the time they reached the late afternoon meal break before the big final rounds, Bakura had made it all the way to the top eight.  Even Joey was grinning and lauding him after that.  “Thanks,” Ryo said shyly as they all gathered around him to pat him on the back.  “I can’t believe I’ve gotten this far.  I thought for sure I was going to lose that one.”

                “Hell of a way to pull it out, though,” Joey complimented.   “That Dark Necrofear may be creepy, but it’s a hell of a monster.  And just what you needed.”

                “It’s not hard at all to summon,” Bakura admitted.  “It’s just a matter of whether I draw her.”

                “And now look where you are!” Yugi grinned.  “You’re going to be going up for one of the three slots at nationals.  The top three finishers get to go, so there’s a pretty good chance you might be one of them!”

                “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Bakura said with a cute smile.   “And here I thought I was just giving myself a nice study break before finals.”

                “Gah, don’t remind me,” Joey groaned.  “I gotta go home and study after this is all over today.”

                “Do you want to go with us to get something to eat?” Yugi asked Bakura.  “Maybe some company will keep your mind off being nervous about the next round.”

                Ryo thought about it and brightened up.  “Sure, that would be nice.”

                The four of them left the shop together and walked up the block to a little hole-in-the-wall noodle shop where they could grab a quick meal without having to fight crowds of duelists bent on the same mission.  A good number of those who had been eliminated early just left, not wanting to stick around and see how badly they had lost, but a few would be returning like Yugi, Joey, and Mai to watch the last rounds and see who ended up going to nationals.  One or two local players had what could be considered a minor fan following, and to be sure, the whispers that Yugi was floating around somewhere kept a few interested in seeing what he thought of the three finalists.  Yugi felt a fresh wave of contentment as he sat with his friends talking about perfectly mundane things like work and school rather than Millennium Items and shadow games.  Ryo and Joey swapped worst-class stories across the table, and Mai impressed them all with tales of her swanky new editor’s job that she was enjoying far too much, before they realized it was getting close to the time Bakura needed to be back.  He walked with Yugi, privately giggling to each other over Joey and Mai walking in front of them firmly attached at the hip and being cute.  When they got back to the game shop, Bakura had to leave them to prepare, so Yugi and his friends found a nice corner by the side of the arena to watch the duels progress.

                Two by two the final rounds passed, and bit by bit the winners came down from upper arena levels to sub-level six where the final duels would be played to determine the top three finishers.  Whoever ended up as the final two were automatically guaranteed a spot in the national finals, barring any incident of cheating, but where they placed lent to their national ranking and would be important next month in Kyoto.  Not to mention the bragging rights of being a winner versus second or third.  Yugi, Joey, and Mai remained where they were, since Bakura was already dueling in this arena and eventually the final round would be played here – whether he was in it or not.  As the afternoon and evening wore on, it appeared he very well might be.  The duels were getting harder and fiercer, but Bakura found himself steadily progressing forward until it was announced that he had defeated his last preliminary foe and would be going to the final round.  Stunned and excited, Ryo slunk away to find the corner where his friends stood so he could have their support while he waited for the runner-up duel to finish to determine third place, as well as let the knowledge sink in and his hands stop shaking.  Yugi patted him encouragingly on the back.  “That was great!” he enthused.  “Man, you’re dueling better than I’ve ever seen you!  You’re going to Kyoto!”

                Bakura blinked in astonishment at him.  “I am, aren’t I?” he said unsteadily.  “No matter whether I win or lose this last round…I’m in the national tournament.”

                “And if you make your way to the top there, just like you did here, you’ll be coming with us to Hong Kong,” Joey said with a big grin.  “Way to go, man.”

                “You should be proud of yourself,” Mai added.

                “Thank you, all of you,” Ryo said warmly.  “It’s nice to know that I have friends here, to watch me and cheer me on.”

                “You’re definitely not alone,” Yugi smiled.  “We’re here for you, Bakura.”

                “Thanks.”  He leaned against the wall and gave a huge sigh.  “I think I’ll just rest here for a moment, and try not to think about my duel.  I know I’m already bound for nationals, but…it would be nice to go there as a champion.”

                Yugi nodded and turned away from him, so he could watch the duel to determine the third-place ranking winner and leave Bakura his space to catch his breath.  He couldn’t help but be a little concerned, seeing how far Bakura had made it without interference from the Ring spirit and wondering just how long that could last.  But he kept it in the back of his mind, and trusted in Yami’s faithful presence to be aware of any changes to Bakura’s aura or spirit.  The current duel was pretty interesting, finally, featuring a smackdown-style player who obviously emulated Kaiba to a disturbing degree getting thoroughly trounced by a younger player who had a patient, careful strategy involving redirected attacks and good defense.  From a strategic viewpoint, Yugi was rather fascinated by the way it played out, though he found himself discussing with Yami the entire time just which card in his own deck would come in handy against each attack or trap.  Not that he expected to have to face any of these people in the world tournament, but that’s what a gamer with his instincts did.  At last, it was over, and the conservative player was given the distinction of coming in third, meaning he would join the top two duelists in Kyoto.  That meant it was Bakura’s turn, and he gave Yugi a wary little smile as he edged away from the wall and went out to join Duke in the center of the arena.   Yugi waved and added a “good luck” as he passed.

                As the host of the show, Duke stood in the arena to oversee the shuffle and cut of the final duelists’ cards, enjoying the attention of the spectators a little too much.  Bakura’s opponent was a man some four or five years his senior, broad-shouldered and overconfident.   He roughly shuffled through Bakura’s deck, until Ryo politely asked him, “Could you treat my cards with a little more respect, please?”

                “If they’re so precious to you, why don’t you have them in protectors?” the guy sneered.  His cards were all in plastic sleeves, making them incredibly difficult to shuffle.   “It doesn’t matter.  You can just forfeit and take second, I’m going on as the top ranked duelist one way or the other.”

                Bakura lowered his head so his opponent couldn’t see his eyes as he finished delicately shuffling the plastic-coated cards and held out the deck.   “The only way to know that for sure is to play the duel and see who wins,” he said calmly.  “You’d best not underestimate me.  I was, after all, one of the eight finalists in Battle City.”  He lifted his head and gave a sudden cheery smile that lit up his face.  “Well, I didn’t make it much father than that,” he admitted with a laugh.  “But I was there.   I was simply unfortunate enough to have to face Yugi in the first round.”  He glanced over his shoulder to where Yugi and Joey stood at the edge of the arena, watching him and grinning.

                “Whatever,” his opponent retorted, swiping back his deck and handing Bakura’s to him.  “You’re just a nobody, you probably made it there by sheer luck.”
                “If that’s what you choose to believe.”  Bakura turned on his heel and strode to his place at one side, while the larger guy retreated to the other.

                Duke raised a hand high in the air.  “This is the moment you’ve all been waiting for,” he said to the audience.  “The final round of the Domino City regional tournament.  The winner of this duel goes on to nationals with a first-round bye, the loser falls to second place and will have to duel every round.  Duelists, are you ready?”  He glanced to each end of the arena, receiving curt nods from them both, and then lowered his arm in signal.   “Begin the duel!”

                Yugi crouched at Joey’s feet to watch intently, his view unobstructed by feet or the low wall, the Puzzle swinging lazily back and forth by his knees.  Ryo laid a good defense right off the bat, and though his opponent had strong monsters and big attacks, he couldn’t do anything more than nibble at Bakura’s life points.  It would take something impressive to clear out Bakura’s defense, but just as the guy managed to summon a very highly-pointed ritual monster, the simple flip of a Trap Hole left him fuming as his monster went straight to the graveyard.  Bakura kept his cute little smile through most of the duel, even as his opponent grew more and more angry, but it seemed two could play at the same game.  When he finally mounted his own assault, his opponent brashly fought back with his own traps and magic cards.  The duel moved from a tenuous testing phase into an old-fashioned brawl, as the two duelists pounded back and forth at each other.  Yugi began to worry, as each subsequent failed attack left Bakura looking more and more frustrated, his fist beginning to clench beneath the card tray of his duel disk.  “Hang in there, Bakura!” he called out from the sidelines.   “You can do it!  Don’t let this guy rattle you!”

                Ryo glanced aside at the voice, but failed to smile.  He was in a bind, and he knew it.  He had Destiny Board in his hand, but he needed his Trap zone free to defend himself and so couldn’t play it.  His powerful monsters weren’t coming up fast enough.  It was his turn, so he drew and took a moment to study his card.  Ryo couldn’t remember adding this to his deck, and reading the text on it made him realize it belonged to the spirit of the Ring – only he would play with life points so recklessly.  This card could help him win, but he didn’t know if he wanted to play it.  For a moment he stood there, wavering, thinking, but as much as he wanted to slide it into his hand and play something else, he couldn’t move.  His hand froze in place, the card up before his face.  “Come on!” his opponent yelled across the field.  “Standby phase is over, make your move, you skinny little wuss!”

                Bakura’s shoulders went stiff, and he slowly raised his head.  Almost instantly, Yugi felt a chill in his soul as if it had been pierced by darts of ice.  He looked sharply to see the sly, arrogant glare in Bakura’s eyes and the sudden shift in his stance to one of confidence and superiority.  “Oh no,” Yugi whispered under his breath.  “Bakura…”

                “It is him,” Yami warned from inside.  “Quickly, Yugi!”

                Yugi leaped up, nearly knocking Joey back, and wrestled through people to get around to the side of the arena.  A small area around the dueling station had been roped off for the duelists’ comfort, but before Yugi could duck under the rope and seize Bakura, Duke caught him and held him around the arms.  “Hey, Yugi!   You can’t do that!  No one can go in there…”

                “Duke!  You have to stop the duel!” Yugi burst out.  “It’s not Ryo anymore, it’s the spirit.  The spirit of the Ring.  He’s in there and he’s about to do something bad to his opponent!”

                “What?  What are you talking about?”  Duke looked over his shoulder at where Bakura stood.  “Dude, you’re crazy.  I can’t stop the duel – it’s a legitimate game.  I can only stop it if someone’s cheating.”

                “But you know what he’s like!” Yugi hissed.  “You were at Battle City, you saw him!  You know what the spirit is capable of!”

                Duke held his gaze for a moment, unable to ignore the panic in his violet eyes, and then glanced back at Bakura again.  “This can’t turn into a shadow game,” he tried to assure Yugi.   “There’s no way.  He doesn’t even have the Ring, how can the spirit be in control of him?”

                “I don’t know,” Yugi admitted, “but he is.   I can sense it.  You can just see it – it’s really him!”

                Neither of them realized that Bakura could hear them until he shot them both a sultry glare over his shoulder.  “Why don’t you stay out of this, Yugi?” he snapped.  “This rodent isn’t worth having his soul fed to the shadows.   I’ll have my way with him and win, my way.  Ryo is too soft to want to do it.  Now, then.”  He turned his attention back to the field.  “I shall play Dark Snake Syndrome.”  From the holographic grid on the field, a black pit opened up and a pair of smoky serpents climbed up out of it, hissing and spitting as they entwined around each other and then slithered to opposite ends of the field.  Though they were just holograms, the big guy recoiled with a start as one snake wrapped itself around him and reared up as though to bite him.  The second serpent coiled around Bakura in the same way, though he merely laughed in spite.   “Starting after I draw my next card, this magic card will take life points away from both of us, starting with 200 and doubling each turn afterward.”  He grinned maliciously.  “I have slightly more life points than you do.  So unless you can attack me with enough strength to wipe out my life points before that can happen, I predict that in three turns, you’ll lose.”  He plucked up another card out of his hand.  “Oh, but perhaps that might be more difficult than you think.  Nightmare Steel Cage!”  He slapped down the card, and a huge metal cage slammed down around his opponent.  “You won’t be able to attack for three turns.  So sad.  Your move.”

                The man across the dueling field grimaced angrily, but drew his card.  He couldn’t remove the magic cards, couldn’t attack, and had nothing on the field to help himself.   All he could do was summon up a higher-level monster and leave it in defense.  Yugi strained against Duke’s arms but gave in, watching helplessly from the side as the dark spirit of Bakura took control of the duel and of Ryo.  He drew a card, and the audience murmured as both players lost 200 life points immediately.  Without being attacked, Bakura could withstand the damage, but he set up monsters to help speed his opponent’s demise, as well as a defense for when the Nightmare Steel Cage expired and his opponent was free to attack again.  From where he stood, Yugi could not see Bakura’s hand, but knew that whatever he was doing was going to be ruthless and calculating.  It was indeed just a duel, but Yugi had no way of knowing whether the spirit of the Ring intended to exact a penalty for losing the game like he usually did.  Within his mind, Yami also watched in trepidation, but his presence was not required just yet.  Still, he waited on the edge of consciousness, ready to snap into control if and when the thief showed his hand.

                Whether it was because he did not actually have the Ring on his person, or because the duel had not progressed to shadow game, Ryo was not entirely gone.   He had some sense of what was going on around him, seeing and hearing it dimly as though he were asleep on a couch in the middle of a raucous party.  At least he knew where he was supposed to be, and was rather annoyed that he felt like he was missing something, like he should have memory of how the duel he was playing had ended.  Some part of his consciousness began to waken, grasping at the muted sensations of thought and emotion and bringing him to awareness.  He didn’t know how the duel ended because it hadn’t, which meant he was still there.  The Ring spirit.   It was his fault!  For the first time in a very long while, Ryo snapped alert inside himself and fought back, wanting at the very least to see for himself that he wasn’t losing the duel and the spirit hadn’t done anything to his opponent or the audience.  No, from within he could tell, the duel was still going on as normal, and the man in the steel cage had to pass another turn for lack of anything to do.   Bakura drew again, and this time 400 life points vanished from both players with the bite of the holographic serpents.  Bakura was playing a game of chicken with life points, and as long as he clung to a minor lead, he would win.  No, Ryo protested.   This is my duel.  I was playing for fun.  I didn’t want to play this way.  I was going to discard that card in order to activate my monster’s special effect, not play it!

                “Ah, just what I was waiting for,” Bakura crooned as he began to play more cards.  “It’s time to meet my Goblin King.”  He played a monster card, whose holographic image appeared as a runty little green goblin on a throne.  “He may not look like much now,” Bakura smoothly admitted, “but a king is only as powerful as the subjects at his control.  My Portrait’s Secret is still on the field, so my King’s attack and defense become 1000 points each.  And for every subsequent Fiend I play, his points will rise.”  He laughed heartily.  “And you have one more turn before the Nightmare Steel Cage is gone, so by that time, the Dark Snake Syndrome will have poisoned you down to a mere handful of life points which I stand ready to wipe out next turn!”

                His opponent stood sweating a little behind the confining bars of the holographic cage, but he stared, boggled, at Bakura.  “Dude, you’re taking this way too seriously,” he exclaimed.  “It’s just a duel!  We’re both already in the finals!  What are you so crazy about?”

                “It’s never just a duel,” Bakura spat, grinning wickedly.   “What are you playing in this tournament for?  Prize money?  Glory?  Pointless and pathetic.  I have my own reasons for dueling, and this time, I will not be derailed.”  His head whipped around so he could glare obviously at Yugi.  “I’m done relying on anyone but myself in order to achieve my goal.  I need every advantage to press through the tournament and put myself in a position to duel you…Yugi…”

                Yugi growled under his breath, straining against Duke’s restraining grip.  “Bakura!” he cried.  “Stop it!   Is it really worth winning this way?”

                “Winning is winning,” Bakura sniffed.  “Would you rather I had won with this?”  He took a card from his hand and showed it to Yugi; the young man flinched, recognizing the Destiny Board.  Bakura snickered.  “I thought so.   Back off and let me win my way, Yugi.  I didn’t ask for your critique of my style.  Be patient – I’ll get to you and your Puzzle soon enough.”

                From within, Ryo heard and understood every word.  No, he cried, I will not let you hurt Yugi!  Even as Bakura ended his turn and laughed in derision at his opponent’s inability to do anything except lay traps and watch with horror as his turn passed, Ryo’s courage began to well up inside him again.  It was as though he were viewing himself from outside his body, there but not, invisible to everyone, so with one last cry of I won’t let you do this! he lunged, arms outstretched, and tried to grab onto his possessed body with ethereal arms.

                Before he could draw, Bakura suddenly doubled over, clutching his head in his hands.  The audience began to murmur again, wondering what he was doing.  “Hey, Bakura,” Duke called from his referee’s position.  “You okay?  Do you need a break or something?”

                The Nightmare Steel Cage had evaporated, leaving the opponent free to attack and defend again, but until Bakura drew, his turn would not begin.  He stood there trembling, holding his head, fingers clawed into his hair.  He did look as though he were about to be sick or something.  Yugi stood tensed, waiting, not needing Duke to hold him back now.  Then, Bakura’s hand fumbled for his deck, and though he still stood hunched, head down, he managed to draw a card.  His turn began, and the dark snakes wrapped around both players bit away 800 life points from each.  It appeared to take Bakura considerable effort to put the card in his hand and pull another to play.  “And now,” he panted in a seething breath, “I summon…Souls of the Forgotten.”  He paused to regain his composure, while the monster appeared on the field, but then clutched at his chest as if trying to find the Ring that should have been there.  Bakura’s control over his vessel was incomplete, and now Ryo was fighting him with every step.  “That brings…Goblin King…up to two thousand points,” he continued to announce.  “Goblin King…attack his Sonic Duck!”

                His opponent was down to only 100 life points, which was exactly the difference between the Goblin King and the Sonic Duck that had been trapped in the Nightmare Steel Cage.  The guy could see his defeat rushing toward him, but at the last second he activated a trap card that would negate the attack and deal enough return damage to Bakura to drop his life points to zero.  The audience watched at the edge of their seats as the duel came down to its final moment.  Bakura, however, had a quick-play card waiting also, which could save him from just such a situation.  Trap Jammer could be played in sequence this way, negating the trap and allowing the attack to resume.  But his vessel was fighting, and distracting him from being able to play the card.  Bakura raised a hand to his duel disk to activate the card.  Yugi watched in distress as the willowy body in the dueling station quivered, very clearly wavering between darkness and light.  “Bakura!” he called out.  “Ryo!  Don’t do this!”

                Ryo heard the cry from within and clung to it, finding his mental strength to push aside the presence in his mind and regain control of himself.  With a little gasp he burst through into awareness, opening his eyes just seconds before the life point counter was about to drop.  He lowered his duel disk to his side, refusing to activate the card that would save him.  The effect from his opponent’s move washed over him, blasting away his monsters and the rest of his life points.  The crowd cheered enthusiastically for the spectacular duel, since they didn’t understand nor care about any personal conflicts of Bakura’s.  Yugi sagged against Duke with a sigh of relief, but then stepped aside so Duke could go out to the middle of the arena to declare a champion.  He needed to hand out the appropriate tokens from Industrial Illusions that the top three finishers would need in order to register and enter the national finals.   The bigger guy was clearly thrilled to have pulled out a stunning victory, and punched his fists triumphantly in the air with no thought for sportsmanship or politeness toward his foe.  Ryo, however, didn’t seem to care.  He smiled weakly at the crowd as he received his second-place credentials and then tried to silently slink away off the battlefield.  He couldn’t leave without passing Yugi.  He lifted his eyes to find Yugi standing there, waiting, but Yugi surprised him by leaping forward and clasping his hands.  “Ryo!  Are you all right?  Is everything okay?  I could feel it when you came back, Yami sensed the change and it was like…like the sun exploded or something.”

                Ryo blinked at him.  “I…I don’t know,” he stammered.  “I think I’m okay.  You…knew?”

                Yugi faced him solemnly, still holding his hands.  “Remember, I have Yami with me.  He can sense the spirit of the Ring whenever he comes out, he knows the difference.   But we could feel you fighting back, too.”  He tried to smile.   “I’m sorry you didn’t win…”

                Ryo shook his head furiously.  “No, no, don’t be,” he exclaimed.  “I didn’t want to win if it was going to be the spirit and not me doing the winning.  I did want to make it to first place, but I want to do so under my own dueling skill – not the manipulations of the Ring spirit.  I may have dropped a place in the standings, but it was worth it.”  He pulled the magic card from his duel disk and showed it to Yugi.  “See?  I had a Trap Jammer waiting.  I could have just discarded the Destiny Board and his trap would have been negated.  But I let him win, fair and square, since it wasn’t my skill that got me into that situation.”

                Yugi stared at the card.  “Wow…I don’t believe it…”

                “I don’t want that dark side of me thinking he’s the one with all the skills around here,” Bakura added with a faint hint of a smile.   “I don’t want to duel with any goal other than enjoying myself.  If he’s in it to face you for your Puzzle, Yugi…”  The smile faded.  “I’ll stop him.  I promise you.”

                Yugi nodded, though the look in his eyes remained sad.  “I think it would be great if you can end up just dueling for yourself,” he said.  “That’s a better goal than anything else.  Focus on that.   Maybe it’ll give you the strength you need.”

                “Yes, I hope so.”  Ryo put all his cards into his deck and pocketed it, deactivating the duel disk.   “Well…I think after that I…I just want to go home and get some rest.  That took a lot out of me.  You don’t mind if I say goodbye, now?”

                “No, it’s all right.  Take care of yourself,” Yugi said softly.  Bakura smiled again, and left him.  Yugi was aware of Joey and Mai coming up behind him, surely wanting to know what had just happened, but he stood for a moment just gazing after Ryo’s departing figure.   I really hope he can stand up to that spirit, he worried.  Because if he can’t, we’re going to be thrown into yet another tournament where we have to duel for our lives.

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