6 – Moving Pieces

POV 3rd Person

A Hidden City - Valley of the King, Luxor Governorate, Egypt

A boy of 16 years sits at an empty table. In front of him is a large collection of loose papers and broken pencils. 

The boy scribbles frantically on one paper to his left with the stub of a remaining pencil, pauses, and then checks another paper to his right. He nods to himself and pulls out a newspaper clipping to reread for the umpteenth time. 

After finishing the article, he slams it down on the table and glares in hatred at the image attached to the article. 

"Soon. Soon it will be time." He says ominously, a smile of insanity painting his face in darkness.

*Boom*

The door to the boy's room is thrown open and a woman of 19 years rushes inside, completely out of breath.

"Brother!" She yells breathlessly, panic clear in her expression.

The boy quickly pushes the papers into a neat pile and stacks a map of Japan on top of it as the girl hurries to him.

"What is it, Sister? Can't you see I am busy?" The boy says shortly.

The girl feels hurt at her brother's tone and the harshness of his words when she is clearly distressed, but she doesn't have time to worry about that now. 

"He's gone!" She shouts. "I can no longer see him! Past or present, he is gone from my sight!"

"Then he is dead. Good. It was time you let go of that foolish crush of yours." The boy says dismissively. 

"S-Stop being childish!" She denies, turning quickly to hide the faint rosiness of her cheeks, "He was a person with a destiny! True, I couldn't see what that destiny was, but he had one regardless! I know he can't...he can't be dead... Something else must have happened!"

"Well, it is out of either of our hands at this point." The boy waves away the comment, again trying to get rid of his sister. 

"You...you really don't care? After the year we spent with him?" She asks in disbelief.

"He was a pawn, nothing more. I have several. What does it matter if one dies? I have more waiting in the wing-"

*Slap*

The boy recoils at the pain from the hit. He stares in shock at his usually passive older sister as she glares down at him with disgust clear in her eyes. 

"You may no longer care, but I do, and I am going to see for myself what happened. Stay here and brood if you must." She says with one last scowl before spinning quickly on her heels and heading out of the room.

The boy doesn't much care what his sister does, but something clicks in his mind and a wicked smile comes to his face. One that he hides an instant later.

"W-Wait. Sister, I'm sorry. I was out of line." He apologizes and uses his best acting skills to make it believable. "Let's go together to check on him. I don't want you to go alone to an unfamiliar place. It's not safe!"

She stares hard at him, seeing through his act completely, but sighs in defeat. She really shouldn't risk leaving him alone. He was slowly giving in to madness and she needed to be with him to keep him in check. She was the only one who could. He might have become misguided, but he would still never harm her. They both knew that. 

She held a shred of hope that her kind and doting brother would return.

'Maybe a change of scenery will do him good...' She thinks and nods after a moment of hesitation.

"Pack what you need. I have no idea how long we will be staying there, but we leave tomorrow." She says and quickly exits the room to pack.

The boy watches her leave and when she is out of sight the deranged smile returns. 

"It is sooner than I planned, but this still works." 

He looks over at the newspaper clipping again as a laugh truly worthy of a villain escapes his lips. 

The title of the newspaper clipping reads:

"Billionaire Business Owner & Duelist Champion, Seto Kaiba, Loses Duel To Unknown Teenager, Yugi Muto!"

On the clipping, several heavily drawn pencil marks circle an object that the boy, Yugi Muto, wears around his neck.

* | * | *

POV Arakaki Toshiaki

The rest of Saturday was spent looking at cards on online shops and auctions, doing market research on renting rooms in my new house, and calling the utilities and car insurance companies while giving my sob story - gaining a free month credit for 3 of the 4 and paying the current month in the process.

'Damn internet companies are heartless bastards no matter where you go.' I grumble at the, admittedly insignificant, loss of Duel Points.

I then start a checklist of things to do to start renting this place. I would need to call the city to find out zoning laws and restrictions, talk to the homeowners association in this community to make sure I was good to rent to non-family members, acquire homeowners insurance, hire an inspector to appraise my property, do a thorough inspection myself to make sure everything was up to snuff, draft a lease agreement, and look for places to advertise the empty rooms. 

I decided to hire a highly recommended, but still somewhat cheap, lawyer and accountant to help me with the lease agreement and to go through my finances respectively. I probably didn't need them, but I was going for the tried and true "Have & Not Need Vs. Need & Not Have" method. They would be getting my business starting tomorrow when their offices opened again. 

Next was converting the office into another bedroom, installing locks on all the doors to allow for privacy, hiring a cleaning and lawn service because no way in hell was I doing that, hiring movers to help me move the furniture in the office to wherever I decide for them to go as well as moving in new furniture I purchase for the room, purchasing said furniture, and buying new pillows and bedsheets for the rooms - I could charge more if they were already furnished.

I looked through the list and winced at the hefty 500 or so Duel points it would all cost. 

The house and car would run me 50 Duel Points a month and since I got 500 a month for my inheritance, I was earning way more than I was spending in the end. I celebrated taking care of my "Chores" and ordered some pizza for 2 Duel Points. I was left with 1198 Duel Points - Soon to be 500ish shorter. 

Still, this was an excellent start and I was, basically, secure in my foundation in this new world. 

With that thought in mind, I smiled and went to bed in my new home, feeling like I had accomplished a lot today. 

* | * | * 

500 or so? HA! try 667 Duel Points. That is what it cost me Sunday to get everything I wanted to be set in place. I won't get into the specifics, but let's just say using round numbers screwed me in the end. 

I still had 531 Duel Points, but that was much lower than I wanted it to be. I also wanted to go duel to earn some more, but by the time I was done, it was close to 4 pm! I only had an hour before most businesses closed normally, but since it was Sunday, most were already closed!

I cursed under my breath. A lot. But, I had to get ready for school tomorrow and I still needed to print out the flyers to hang up around town.

I'll admit it, I got scammed on these. The design for the flyer cost me 20 Duel Points online, which, at the time, I thought was nothing. That was before I realized that was $200 USD! For a downloadable, form fillable, flyer! I seriously needed to get my head together. I was spending these Duel Points way too frivolously. 

Sighing, I pull out my phone and look for a printing shop nearby my house that was still open. As if by fate, there was only one. Kame Game.

Okay, that name meant nothing to me, but when I got there, I realized where I was. This was the game shop Yugi's Grandpa owned and also the place he lived. I was now in main story arc territory and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. Still, I needed to get these flyers printed, so in I went.

As I entered the green-roofed shop, an electronic bell rang, and an old man's voice called from a back room separated by a curtain.

"Just a moment!" 

I waited at the front counter and looked through the glass display case at the Duel Monster cards. There were not that many interesting ones, but he did have a copy of Monster Reborn in a sealed and locked glass case of its own and with a price tag of 10,000 Duel Points. 

'Hmm...The one I saw on an auction site was for 14,000...Why is it so cheap here? Maybe they raised the price due to the auction site's fees?'

I was lost in thought when a short, older man was suddenly in front of me, behind the counter, and woke me from my musings.

"Interested in Duel Monsters, young man? We have several packs for sale and I can help you get started if you'd like?"

I looked up and saw a surreal sight. Solomon Muto stood before me in all his 4'10" glory. He looked like he did in the anime, but real. The realness of an anime and manga character standing in front of me momentarily shocked me silly. 

"Kid...?" Solomon asked with a tilt of his head.

"Oh, sorry," I answer quickly, trying to get back on track. "I am a fairly experienced player myself, and I am not looking to buy any cards today...but I was just curious why you were selling that Monster Reborn card 4000 Duel Points cheaper than auction sites do?"

"Ah..." He answers while scratching the back of his head and looking uncomfortable. "You see, I was hoping to recoup some of my costs. Running this shop isn't cheap you know! Even if I sell it for a bit lower than normal, I opened it myself from a 100 Duel Point pack, so any sale above that is profit! Plus, It could be a draw to bring more people in to visit!"

He smiles brightly at me and I can't help but smile back, his energy is infectous. "I see, sorry for intruding, I was just curious. I am actually here to have some flyers printed if that is alright?"

"Sure, sure, no problem! How many do you want and do you want to pay in Yen or in Duel Points?" He asks and moves around the corner of the L-shaped glass display case to a large office printer. 

"100 copies should be fine, and duel points, please," I answer politely.

"Alright, we will say 1 duel point for the lot, sound fair?" He asks and starts up the printer. 

Huh. No. No, that is not fair. I don't know why, but I feel for this old man struggling to keep a gaming shop open. I had a game shop I used to play at as a kid, but it closed down in my teens because no one went there anymore. I always felt bad for not spending more there and buying online instead. Who knows, my business might have kept them open!

"Sorry, I think that is much too cheap. Let's say 10 Duel points." I counter with a smile.

He spins around with a raised eyebrow and shakes his head. "Sorry kid, I am not in the business of robbing people. I appreciate the thought but-"

"Alright, then 1 Duel Point for the flyers and 9 for a tip. Surely you won't tell me that you don't accept tips?" I say, my smile not leaving my face.

"Are...Are you serious?" He asks in astonishment. 

"Certainly. I will also do my best to tell others to check this place out, your service is incredible. I would hate to see you struggling further and I have the points, so just take them." I say with a shrug and a wave of my hand as if it was nothing.

He stares at me for a long while, then looks me up and down, before smiling even wider. "You're a good kid, you know that? You are welcome here anytime!"

After that, I hand him a flash drive and pay as we make idle chit-chat. The flyers print out one at a time in the background. 

Halfway through the 100 flyers, the door opens again and a voice calls out behind me.

"Grandpa, I'm home.'

Solomon answers with a happy smile on his face. "Yugi! Welcome home! Come and meet my new friend, Arakaki-kun!" 

"Arakaki-senpai?" Yugi asks curiously, obviously aware of who I am, though I have no idea how.

For my part, I have frozen. 

'Shit. I wasn't planning on getting involved with him. What do I do? How should I interact with him? Be cold and distant? Become friends? Just be passing acquaintances?'

There were a lot of reasons to do any of the above. As the main protagonist, it was not wise to piss him off or make an enemy of him, but how I acted around him may impact my life immensely moving forward. Him being a friend would have a lot of pluses, but it could have equally as many minuses...

He is a nobody now, but he would be one of the most influential people in the world in a few short years. 

What do I do now!?!