First of Many (Rei no Kaado)

[mugenginga]

Teddie attempted to look up at Issun as what seemed to becoming standard when the Poncle jumped into his hair, leading to him tilting his head back and seeing nothing. After all but trying to roll his eyes into the back of his head he blinked and rubbed his eyes. He jerked a bit as the phone rang and looked towards Souji as he pulled out the cellphone, looking confused. Ryoji blinked and even Sayuri seemed confused.

Honda gave a larger frown than the rest of the mostly confused group as Atsuro looked at the ground and sighed. He walked forward and threw an arm around Atsuro's neck, putting a bit of extra weight to drag Atsuro down a bit. It was kind of rough, but not enough to pull him to the floor. He'd probably stumble though.

"Hey, we're going to see Yuugi duel. You're gonna drag him down if you pout like that," Honda said, his voice fairly cheerful and having a smile on his face. He looked ready to punch Atsuro in the arm if it came to it.

"Um..." Ryoji said. He closed his mouth for a moment and then looked at Minato, talking low, "Was he expecting a call...?"

"You better keep Sensei safe," Teddie said, looking straight at Sayuri. He sounded quite serious.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato turned toward Ryoji and gave a small shrug. "I think it has to do with that thing Atsuro was supposed to be doing for Bakura..." he whispered back.

Atsuro was certainly not expecting Honda to suddenly throw an arm around his neck, so he definitely ended up stumbling a bit. He looked up at Honda with a smile that only seemed to accent his sickly features more. He laughed, and said, "Yeah, I shouldn't let that guy get to me so bad, huh? We should get going now so we're not late."

He held Souji's cellphone back out to him, and said, "Don't die on us while we're gone, okay?"

"I'll be fine," Souji said. He turned toward Teddie. "And Teddie, I'm not so weak that I can't defend myself if worst comes to worst." He didn't sound like he believed it.

[mugenginga]

Teddie gave Souji a critical look as he said he'd be fine, but he didn't say anything. Ryoji looked to consider for a moment, and then recalled the conversations in the apartment before. He winced at the thought of that and what Naoto had said about things.

Honda tightened his grip around Atsuro's shoulders and walked towards the door, "Alright, everyone out! Let the man get some rest!"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

At Honda's order, everyone went ahead and left the room. Before leaving the room, Minato turned toward Sayuri once more with a concerned expression, but he said nothing.

Souji rolled over and very quickly fell asleep again once the others left the room. Amaterasu lay her head down on his stomach and whined sadly.

Once outside, Minato turned to Atsuro. "Was that call from Kousei?"

Atsuro gave a small nod. "Don't worry about it, I've got it taken care of. So, shouldn't we get going and find the others?"

[mugenginga]

Sayuri didn't appear to notice Minato's glance. She had already gone down to her knees and given Amaterasu a concerned look. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as Souji rolled over, her face mirroring the sadness in Amaterasu's whine.

Ryoji gave a frown towards Atsuro as he said things would be okay. Naoto was really concerned about the man, so... "Are you sure, Atsuro?"

"I don't know if we should leave Sensei alone..." Teddie said.

"Hey!" Honda said suddenly, clapping his hands in front of the group, "Could you guys at least pretend you don't feel like it's the end of the world? Souji's alive now, right? Let's not just give shit up, okay? We've got a Duel to watch!"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Atsuro's expression didn't change a bit at Ryoji's question, and in fact, he only gave another laugh. "Don't worry about it! Like I said, I've got everything taken care of. And Honda's right, we should go watch that duel already!"

They set off from there back to the main festival. After some time, the group managed to find Yuugi's group again.

"Hey," Minato called. Issun suddenly lept off of Teddie's head over to Yuugi.

"Hey, hey! Are you getting ready to duel? Is it time yet? I wanna see how this newfangled card game stuff works! Is it anything like Hanafuda? Come on, tell meeee!"

[mugenginga]

Yuugi's group had finally managed to find an ongoing Duel that didn't have people freaking out about their presence, apparently some time after seperating from Abel. Atem had a somewhat tired but calm look on his face. It appeared Sugoroku was chattering at him, and the former Pharaoh's expression indicated he had been for quite some time. Jounouchi could be seen rubbing his head and Anzu had her hands on her hips and looking at him, indicating he'd done <i>something</i> wrong.

"Yo, Yuugi!" Honda waved his hand, somewhat covering Minato's words.

Yuugi looked over in surprise as Issun jumped over to him. The sudden movement surprised Teddie out of his mope temporarily, and Honda had to catch him so he wouldn't fall backwards. He looked down towards the Poncle as he jumped up and down, causing his voice to seem like it was fading in and out. Yuugi looked confused for a moment as he processed what was said, and held out a hand so that Issun could land and hear him better.

"Ah.. it's not anything like Hanafuda..." He said, given kind of a embarassed chuckle, "It's more of a battle game. Are there wizards and summoners in your world? It's kind of like that."

"Hey, Honda!" Jounouchi lifted a hand and pushed past an annoyed Anzu. He glanced at the group and looked a little confused. He leaned over to Honda and whispered, "Um, things okay here?"

"Where's Kaiba...?" Ryoji asked.

Anzu shrugged, "Haven't seen him. I think its almost time for things to start though..."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

"Wizards and summoners?" Issun asked as he hopped up into Yuugi's hand. "Oh, wait, you mean something like Rao? She was a priestess, I think that counts! So it's a card game using miko purification slips?"

It was pretty clear Issun was missing the point.

"He's probably planning on making some kind of grand entrance," Atsuro said. He noted Jounouchi's whisper to Honda, and glanced over toward Minato, who shook his head. They could wait to tell Yuugi about Souji until after the duel. No need to distract Yuugi with that news.

[mugenginga]

Honda gave Jounouchi a flat look, "Just focus on the game, okay?"

"Honda, why are yo-"

"Jounouchi-kun, just listen to him! I mean, first you react to someone's hand and now you're bothering Honda-kun! Settle down already!" Anzu said, giving Honda a concerned look once she was finished.

"So you weren't mummified at all?" Sugoroku continued his conversation with Atem.

Atem let out a tired sigh, "There wasn't anything to do that with.. besides, that's for preparation to the afterlife and..."

Yuugi rubbed the back of his head. Oofuda? He wasn't really sure the comparison fit... he reaxched down with that same hand to the belt he was wearing and flipped open his deck case, with the intentions of showing Issun what the cards looked like...

...when what appeared to be a Blue Eyes White Dragon flew over the entire shrine. Quite a few things flew up, seemingly by the force of the passage. It turned around near the back of the shrine and flapped its wings several times to get higher into the air. A strong wind shot down from the force and even more things went flying. The game that had been going on in front of the group suddenly ended as several cards went flying and the players had to chase after them.

Yuugi's eyes had widened in surprise, as had those of his friends. Several of them had thrown up hands to shield themselves from the wind. Ryoji's eyes were pretty much saucers and Teddie was staring up with his mouth hanging open. It was entirely possible that Issun had gone flying thanks to the wind as well, really.

It was Ryoji that managed to say what was probably passing through the minds of at least some of the group, "Is that thing really there?! Holograms don't make wind, right?!"

He was at first answered by Blue Eyes White Dragon giving a rather loud roar, one that caught the attention of the few people at the shrine who weren't already either freaking too much to look up or staring at the giant blue-white dragon in the sky.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Issun sensed the dragon coming before he felt it, though that didn't stop him from being sent flying and landing in a bush. Minato threw up his arms to shield himself, while Atsuro looked up immediately, probably reacting faster than anyone else in their group.

"Woah, that's..." Atsuro said. Issun hopped out of the bush, glowing an angry red.

"Where's the demon that got me? Let me at 'im!" Issun yelled. He got blown away again by the flap of the Blue Eyes' wings.

"What is it if it's not a hologram?" Minato asked. He gave a wince at the rather loud roar.

"You're forgetting this is KaibaCorp technology!" Atsuro said excitedly. "Man, I'd love to see how that thing works! Those special effects!"

[mugenginga]

Yuugi gave Issun a nervous smile as he hopped out of the bush, jumping up and down angrily, his arm stil up to shield from the wind and protecting him from the next few gusts. He had one hand over his deck pouch, successfully protecting his deck. Sugoroku had pretty much fallen back into a bunch of bushes, causing Anzu to rush to his side and try to help him... before getting dropped right back into the bush. Anyone that had been watching would have realized he'd "missed" her hand.

Atem had whirled at the movement and seemed the least bothered by the appearance of the dragon, although he seemed rather serious. Aside from protecting his cards, Yuugi seemed next for being the calmest, actually. Jounouchi had actually leapt at Honda, who was looking at the terrified blond with an annoyed expression as he roughly shoved him off. Teddie was looking at Minato and Ryoji with a concerned expression as Atsuro began to geek about it being a hologram.

"You can't make holograms cause wind!" Ryoji argued at Atsuro.

"Kaiba-kun could have set something up," Yuugi said after he was sure Issun was alright, "Wind machines or something. It wouldn't surprise me."

"And it's very in character for him," Atem frowned. He looked backwards towards where Sugoroku had fallen, "Jiichan, are you okay?!"

Another gust of wind shot down as Blue Eyes White Dragon took a final ascent into the air, which revealed Kaiba standing on top of one of the Shrine buildings in an outfit both Atsuro and every member of Yuugi's group would find quite familiar. He kicked off the roof and jumped down to the ground. About halfway to the ground a Duel Disk came flying from his right and he caught it a moment before he landed. In what swift motion he had it placed on his lower left arm.

"Yuugi! Don't keep people waiting!"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Atsuro turned back toward Sugoroku as Atem asked the man if he was okay. He'd fallen into a bunch of bushes. Atsuro ran over to help him as well. He seemed to have either missed that Sugoroku had "missed" Anzu's hand or was choosing to ignore that fact. "E-Er, are you okay, Mutou-san?" It occurred to him as he held his hand out that Sugoroku wouldn't know who he was, but Atsuro decided that introductions could wait for a more appropriate time.

The Blue-Eyes' final ascent revealed Kaiba standing on one of the buildings, to no one's surprise. Minato frowned as Kaiba continued with his grand entrance. He turned to Yuugi.

"Better not keep him waiting," Minato said.

"Man, if I could get my hands on that guy right now..." Issun grumbled to himself.

[mugenginga]

Yuugi had a rather... well, to some it would seem uncharacteristic look on his face as Kaiba shouted for him to come out. Anzu actually did a double take between Yuugi and Atem, and looked almost... frightened for a moment. Jounouchi had a wide grin on his face and Honda had a slight smile. As soon as Sugoroku was helped up, Atem turned towards Kaiba and gave a glare, but it seemed rather confident as well.

"You another one of Yuugi's friends?" Sugoroku asked once Atsuro got him out of the bushes. He brushed off the front of his outfit, "Not from our world, are you?"

Ryoji seemed surprised by Yuugi's expression as the short teenager stepped out from where they were at and approached where Kaiba was standing. The taller teenager gave him a firm glare and gestured with his right hand. Yuugi caught the Duel Disk that came flying at him rather well and slipped it on his arm, and he was giving kind of an unkind glare to Kaiba, who responded with a smirk. The hologram of the Blue Eyes White Dragon shimmered away and he put his hands on his deck as Yuugi slipped the DIsk on and inserted his deck, causing 4000 to display on the top.

"Try not to lose too quickly," Kaiba stated, "These fools here think you can actually Duel."

Yuugi frowned, "I'm not that weak, Kaiba-kun..."

"We'll see," Kaiba frowned, "Duel Start!"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato watched Yuugi walk up to Kaiba. The look he'd had on his face then had been rather Atem-like. There was a bit of surprise there, too, but he didn't really say anything. Issun, on the other hand, got very loud.

"Go get him, Yuugi!" he yelled. "Show him who's boss!"

Atsuro gained a rather surprised expression at Sugoroku's observation. "Er... yeah, how could you tell?" He gave a nervous laugh. "Oh, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Kihara Atsuro."

As he introduced himself, Atsuro glanced slightly toward the duel. He needed to keep an eye on that, too. That was one thing he wanted to watch.

[mugenginga]

(OOC: Honestly, with all my computer blow ups, I've lost the deck list about three times over. So consider us as having a retcon on the cards in his deck. The biggies'll stick around (Black Magician, Black Magician Girl, Kuriboh, etc) but yeah. XD)

The air around the two Duelists was all business as they each drew five cards in one smooth motion, their hands on the side of the deck and drawing without any visible counting. They both looked at the cards in their hands for a moment, and Yuugi slid the fan he'd made with his cards together and drew another card with just his pointer and middle finger. He seemed to be in some world all his own as he looked at the cards before seperating three from the rest.

He took two of the cards, the ones between his middle and pointer fingers, and slid them into slots in the Duel Disk. Two large cards appeared on the ground in front of him, their backs facing up and their faces concealed. He put the third card in one of the slots on top of the Duel Disk. It appeared on the ground as well, the back shown but not the bottom. He looked up at Kaiba. He appeared a little worried, not in his chances but in the situation as a whole. He was biting his lip.

"Turn End!"

"So you want to act like you can play? Well, at least you're not stupid enough to rush in like that losing dog," Kaiba snorted, "My Turn."

Kaiba's method of drawing a card was pretty similar to Yuugi's, although there did seem to be a bit more exaggeration to his moves. He placed the card among his five others and then quickly pulled up three, none of them including the card he had drawn. As Yuugi had done moments earlier, he slipped in two cards into the side of his disk, causing them to appear face down. His third card, however, was placed onto the Duel Disk face up. As he spoke, a shimmer appeared at the area in front of him and a masked knight-like figure sprang up in front of him, standing at an aggressive pose with his sword ready.

"I summon Familiar Knight in attack mode!" Kaiba shouted. He then took a side step forward and threw his hand forward, pointing at the face down monster card Yuugi had set.

Ryoji's eyes practically popped out of his head when Kaiba's monster materialized. The game really used things like that dragon before?! How could anyone tell it wasn't real?! Teddie's hand had twitched as if he were going to summon the card representing his Persona, but he pulled back at last moment, looking instead towards Minato to see if he was reacting. Anzu looked extremely nervous and was biting her lip. Jounouchi seemed to be trying to see Kaiba's Disk for some reason or another, and Honda looked ready to grab him if he darted. Atem was easily the most stoic of the group, his arms crossed and merely watching the scene unfold.

(OOC: I broke before the turn ended cause Issun might be having a reaction to the "card game". XD)