And Koromaru was his Namaeru (Rei no Kaado)

[mugenginga]

* "As you wish." *

Haytham turned towards the door and walked out. Atem let out a long sigh and trotted over to quickly gather the cards, including the three decks not his own. He headed out the door, and Haytham was already out of the hallway.

Haytham would be passing Kousei just outside the apartment.
-----

The tension was only broken by Atsuro's comment. Yuugi gave a concerned look at Atsuro's words. He wasn't quick to jump to distrust, but he could tell everyone more or less agreed with him. Jounouchi looked puzzled after a moment.

"Hey, then why would he be helping Bakura? The guy can't afford a famous lawyer, right? Wouldn't whatever passes for a government here have to have assigned him one?"

"He gave me the willies," Anzu said, rubbing her arms.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato frowned. "That's true, they should have given Anpu a state-appointed attorney in that case."

"I have heard that the police are doing an investigation of Hikaru-san's law firm," Naoto put in. "He may be doing this kind of work to draw attention away."

"So he's helping Anpu for free..." Souji noted.

"And have it come back to bite him in the ass once it's all over with," Kanji growled. "So whadda we do?"

"I go and testify on Bakura's behalf," Atsuro said. The others looked toward him, and he continued. "Even with this guy as his lawyer, he's trying to get him off, right? It'll be better for Bakura once he gets his body back if he's not a fugitive. I don't think Anpu would stay in jail if he was found guilty."

[mugenginga]

Yuugi frowned, "Atsuro-kun's right. We can't do anything for Bakura-kun if his body is convicted of murder. Even if Hikaru-san tries to manipulate him afterwards, he'll be free."

"We have to let that guy blackmail Anpu?" Jounouchi said, his voice incredulous, "This is so annoying! That stupid bastard hijacked Bakura's body and now he's having to pay for it!"

"Won't he just mess up?" Teddie asked, "I mean, Adachi-baby did, so..."

There wasn't a chance to answer because there was a quick knock followed by an opening door. Atem steppd inside, and he looked stressed. He glanced around the apartment and muttered something in Ancient Egyptian under his breath.

"Has that lawyer come and gone?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji was rather thankful for the interruption from Atem. In truth, he wasn't sure how much of that was Adachi manipulating Bakura and how much of it was some weird fatherly instinct Adachi had. Everyone turned toward Atem as he entered the room.

"Yes," Naoto said. "Unfortunately, it would seem that the attorney that had been appointed to Anpu was Hikaru Kousei, who is rather infamous for his rather unlawful tactics. Particularly... blackmail. It's entirely possible that even if Bakura gets off, he will still be in trouble from Hikaru-san."

"And he wants me to come in and testify on Anpu's behalf," Atsuro added. "I'm not too worried about him trying to blackmail me, because I don't think there's anything on the island he could use to blackmail me with, but I'm still worried about how this is going to turn out."

[mugenginga]

Atem looked annoyed at Naoto's words. That just made a bad situation worse. He looked towards Atsuro.

"We've got larger issues than that. I can only assume he's seen your conversation with Anpu, as he left me with a less than subtle indication he thinks I stole the Ring."

Yuugi's eyes widened, "He looked at the Puzzle odd, too!"

"He's setting something up... Atsuro, I'm not sure you've got nothing to worry about either," Atem said, "I hate to bring this up, but it's a real concern. You have to start thinking how he could use your relation to Abel against you."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Atsuro's eyes widened as Atem brought up the Ring. That had been what he'd pretended Atem had done... and what Anpu had been trying to convince him, too. Of course, that got pushed out of his mind as Atem brought up his involvement with Abel.

"I don't think anyone even knows about Abel, except for you guys and some of the hotel staff. And he wouldn't know I stayed at that hotel, any--" Atsuro's eyes widened. "Oh crap, they would know about me. The police got involved one time at christmas because of a fight Abel had with Lucifer; we had to give them our names. But even so, that should be the only way he knows about us!"

"Atsuro, the Court has been on the Island for a good month now, and your activities weren't exactly legal most of the time," Souji said. "Even if you were trying to keep your presence a secret, someone would have found out. Someone knows about the Court."

"And Hikaru-san seems like the kind of person who would know all the right ways to find that kind of information," Naoto added.

"Shit." Atsuro gave a sigh. "This just got ten times worse."

[mugenginga]

"We can't just let them lock Bakura-kun away! I mean... you know what I mean!" Anzu insisted.

Atem shook his head, "The best we can do is get Atsuro's story straight. Even if he dodges now, it strikes me as likely he'll get brought in by force if Kousei has to. I think we can count on Anpu getting off if this man is as good as he claims..."

"But the issue is what we're supposed to do afterwards," Yuugi finished. He crossed his arms, "If there was someplace we could hide him... but I think that could bring Kousei on us."

"There's got to be someone we can ask!" Anzu insisted, "Some way we can fix this. I refuse to believe there's nothing we can do!"

"If you guys knew anyone good at manipulating the law..." Ryoji muttered.

(OOC: FF. CANON KNOWLEDGE TO THE RESCUE, YES? XD *points at Minato and especially Atsuro*)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

At Ryoji's words, something clicked in Atsuro's head. They did know someone who was good at manipulating the law. In fact, they knew him better than they thought. He looked a bit nervous as he spoke. "I can think of someone, but he's not going to be too happy about it..."

"What? Who?" Kanji asked.

"I was thinking we could ask Kaiba," Atsuro said. He flinched, almost as if he expected to be reprimanded. Naoto only frowned and thought a little more about that.

"Kaiba is a businessman. He would likely be good at working outside the law," Naoto agreed.

"Didn't he turn you down the last time you asked him to do something, though?" Minato spoke up. Naoto nodded.

"Which is why I'm a little apprehensive about asking him," Naoto said. "It's possible he may just turn us down again."

[mugenginga]

Everyone looked up towards Atsuro in confusion. They knew someone like that? Atem's eyes widened at Atsuro's mention of Kaiba's name. While he would freely admit it wouldn't be outside the man's character, the only thing of that sort he knew about was Death-T. The ability to hide a death trap as an amusement park opening hardly seemed like the type of legal manipulation they would need.

"If we ask him really nicely..." Anzu mumbled.

"That guy wouldn't give a drowning man a glass of water!" Jounouchi growled, "Do you honestly think he'd help a guy he doesn't even know? I bet he wouldn't care to see Bakura behind bars, either!"

"He's right," Honda said, "Only person Kaiba's ever gone out of his way to help is Mokuba."

"...I might have an idea that might work," Yuugi said. Everyone looked at him, "Anzu, you said that the new cards were coming out on the first, right? Isn't that really quick?"

Atem's eyes widened, "Kaiba's planning something. It's a holiday, too. Kaiba is definitely planning something."

"Um..." Ryoji muttered, wincing as a bunch of people looked at him, "How is that supposed to help...?"

Atem smiled, "People know our world, right? I'm no marketing expert, but what do you think it would do for sales if Partner and Kaiba had a match at the launch of that card set? Atsuro, I've seen how you were looking at the cards. What do you think are the odds that would attract attention? I think if it attracted enough, we might be able to talk Kaiba into helping us... especially if Partner won."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Atsuro gave a grin as Atem asked his question. "Well, I can't speak for any other worlds, but I know that you and Kaiba were pretty much plastered on every booster pack. If Yuugi and Kaiba dueled, I think it would attract enough attention that it would double the sale of cards. And if you guys were using Duel Discs for it, that alone would make people want to watch."

"So you're going to take advantage the attention all of this is going to garner to request Kaiba's help?" Souji asked. "Well, I don't know how well that will work, but it's worth a shot."

Kanji turned toward Yuugi "Hey, and this way you can finally get around to dueling that Kaiba jerk!"

[mugenginga]

Yuugi gave Kanji a nervous grin at his shout and nodded. He wasn't looking forward to it that much, but... if something good could come out of it, he had to take the shot. He gave a nod.

"I just wish I could put together a better deck," Yuugi said, "He knows everything that I've got in the deck right now."

Atem crossed his arms, "The issue is getting a hold of him. Anzu."

Anzu jumped in surprise at being addressed, "Wh-what?"

"Do you think you could get me and Partner to a store where you saw those signs? There might be a contact number, and if I know Kaiba he's set instructions to to alerted if I call him. I'm not sure why I didn't think of this before."

"He can't be that arrogant, can he?" Ryoji asked, "I mean, getting contact with the owner of a company just because of an unassociated name?"

There was an awkward silence from all the members of Yuugi's world in response.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Atsuro gave a nervous grin as Ryoji spoke up. He decided to be the one to break the nervous silence. "You'd be surprised..."

"Anyways," Naoto said, changing the subject. "Looking for a contact number would be a good idea, especially since Kaiba's just arrived on the island recently. He likely doesn't have a large company set up yet, even with his acquiring of the Duel Monsters title, so it's possible the contact number goes straight to him."

Meanwhile, Koromaru was asleep on the floor.

[mugenginga]

"I don't know about the company thing, he was able to set up a tournament in a matter of days before," Atem said, "But I am confident we'll be able to get a hold of him regardless. If he's got nothing else going for him, it's his dedication towards his priorities. And despite his attitude, he is a damn good Duelist."

"How soon do you need the number by?" Anzu asked.

Yuugi counted some things on this fingers, "As soon as possible. The first is like four days from now, and that's if you count that day."

"I think I'm excited about this!" Jounouchi said, "Yuugi, there's no way you'd lose to that guy!"

Yuugi gave a nervous grin, "It's always been Atem who dueled him..."

"That's not true, Yuugi!" Anzu said, "Remember, you're the one that fought Bakura in Atem's Memory World! You freed Honda-kun and were able to help us get Atem his name!"

Atem blinked, "You Dueled that piece of Zorc? You never told me about that."

"It wasn't that big of a deal... I had to protect Honda-kun and help you!"

Teddie took a step towards Souji, "Sensei, what are they talking about...?"

Ryoji looked fairly lost as well. Honda looked like he'd swallowed something bitter. He was constantly getting possessed, he really didn't need any kind of reminder of it. It would actually be quite a funny expression, especially to those that knew his history and could guess what it was about.

(OOC: Someone should maybe ask Atem if he managed to contact Haytham or Asim since the group seems to have forgotten it... XD)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji shrugged. He wasn't really sure either. Obviously it was stuff that had gone on in Yuugi's homeworld, and the mention of Bakura and Zorc meant it had to do with the old piece of Zorc that had been in the Ring before Anpu had been. "Card games?" he suggested to Teddie.

Atsuro and Minato, on the other hand, understood what was going on a fair bit more than just about everyone else who had not come from Yuugi's universe did. Atsuro had to keep from snickering at the expression on Honda's face. Poor guy was always getting possessed.

Naoto sighed. Somehow things had gotten derailed again. "Not to interrupt, but did you meet with either of the two avatars you were trying to contact, Atem?"

[mugenginga]

Teddie just looked more confused at Souji's response. The idea of "card games" being used to protect someone just didn't make any sense. You had to cut the guy some slack, he knew less about the setting than even Souji did.

Atem seemed a little startled at Naoto's question, but gave a firm nod, "Haytham is stubborn in his original idea of how we should interact. If I refuse to act as Pharaoh, I suspect he won't give me the time of day, let alone anything of actual importance."

Anzu gave a small frown, "Why won't he just be friends with us? Does he think he's so much better than us mortals?"

"I think he's just trying to do his duty," Yuugi offered, "Maybe he just doesn't know any other way but to try and get Atem to help?"

"He didn't tell you anything?" Jounouchi asked, "So it was just a giant waste of time?"

Atem glanced at Yuugi and then Anzu. While Haytham hadn't told him, he had gotten something important. He considered for a moment just dodging Jounouchi's question and explaining later, and his focus gathered on Yuugi again. The short teenager gave him a confused expression and Atem gave a slight bitter smile before shaking his head.

"I know who the ghost was," he said.

Anzu blinked, "What? Ghost? When did you guys run into a ghost?!"