Forgotten Friend (Part 2)

DIMENSION: MANGA (The One That Saves the Day)

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Hanasake's Home

"I like long stories. Hang on?" Hanasake looked behind him. "Did you hear that? It sounded like a scream."

///Yuugi: Sounds like the other me taking care of things with Jounouchi./// If Atem hadn't come back, more people would definitely have been lost to that vicious game. It may have been optional, and with Kaiba and Shizuka, most likely they could have triumphed eventually. "Maybe a scream. I don't know."

"Oh." Hanasake was less responsive to the scream now. He was still staring at Satiah. "Do you like archaeology, Satiah? Recovering the past?"

Satiah didn't respond at first. "I prefer to leave the past buried usually. It's better to focus on the future. Only if the past is associated with helping the future do I bother with it."

"I can't place your accent," Hanasake said again. "Is that American? Egyptian?"

"Egyptian American." Yuugi noticed that Hanasake was focusing a lot on Satiah.

"Hang on, I have something for you to see. Let me get some refreshments, and I'll share some interesting things with you. Especially about your puzzle box Yuugi. You should know it's past." He left and came back with glasses for everybody filled with soda. He put them all down for everyone to grab, but personally handed one to Satiah. "Here you go. Satiah." He sat back down. "Okay. Don't worry, this is just a copy of the original information. I would never have that around food. Anybody want some chips?"

"I think we're fine." ///Yuugi: Be polite, find out what he wanted to share, and get out./// The Dragon Game should have been dealt with by now, yet Yuugi still felt something wrong. ///Yuugi: I can't just go up and kiss Anzu again./// He got up and followed Hanasake out the door. ///Yuugi: Hanasake was a good friend. But? Maybe there is something else in here.///

"Critical."

Hm? Critical? Yuugi found him at a safe. "Did you say critical?"

"Oh yes," Hanasake said as he pulled something out of his safe. "I always say critical when I open my safe. It's? It's a habit." He closed it. "There are all kinds of egyptian notes right here."

///Yuugi: Why would he say critical when it opens up?///

///Atem: When what opens up, Yuugi?///

Atem was close enough to hear Yuugi now? Good. ///Yuugi: Hanasake says critical when he opens his safe. Kind of strange. Unless the last number reminds him of a critical. The frozen dice numbers. Could they be a safe code, the dice? Could it end in 00? Could it be the combination to his safe, Atem?///

"Are we going or not?" Hanasake asked. "I wanted to show you some interesting things about your old puzzle you used to wear all the time." He held up the papers as he closed the safe back up.

"What's the rest of those papers for?" Yuugi asked, noticing more in the safe.

"Oh? That's my current work for my client," Hanasake said. "It's over a predynastic scripture tome. I still have a long way to go but I never leave anything out in the open." He went into the room with the papers he had to share with Yuugi.

"Do you have a bathroom?" Yuugi asked. "Of course you do. I mean, um? Can I use it?" ///Yuugi: I've got to get into that safe.///

///Atem: Yes, Yuugi, get in there.///

"Sure, down the hall." Hanasake gestured toward the end of the hall. "I'll wait for you."

Yuugi waited for him to start to leave. He peered out to see him go past the hall. The house was a decent size, but no mansion. He didn't have much time. He went over to the safe. Two criticals, a fumble, a six, and a twelve. That was five numbers. Ends in critical. There weren't many numbers, but finding the right combination of even a small set of numbers. ///Yuugi: I have to do it and get back.///

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"I'm sure Yuugi won't take long." Anzu took the reigns, knowing Yuugi probably spotted something if he said he wanted to use the bathroom. "Your life must be really fascinating now, why don't you tell us about it?"

"It's just there." Hanasake eyed Satiah again. "Do you want some more soda? Food?"

"No."

"She's great." Anzu couldn't let him get up to go to the kitchen. Whatever Yuugi was doing, he was going to need a distraction. "Have you ever been to America? I've lived there for a long time now." Probably not the best interest but she needed something. "You must have gone all over, lucky you." He was still a lot more focused on Satiah though.

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Yuugi went out the backway his clients went out with the prize. ///Yuugi: Sorry Hanasake, there's no way you can do that job./// He found Atem and Jounouchi.

"That was easy," Jounouchi said to Yuugi as he came over with the papers. "What's that?"

"Direct translations that guy you just fought was having done." Yuugi gave it all to Atem. "Here. Did you at least get his name before he was destroyed?" Yuugi asked. He knew Atem wasn't going to be pulling punches, and neither was Jounouchi.

"Yep." Jounouchi pulled out his wallet. "Got his name, address and everything else in his wallet before we took care of him. All of him. If people hadn't been living nearby, I don't think Atem would have stopped."

Sounded like Atem. "Great. I have to get back before Hanasake knows I left." Yuugi headed away again and back into the house. He strolled through the halls. ///Yuugi: We stopped it all before it even started much. There was some real loss of life in Australia./// Huge numbers of casualties they couldn't prevent, but now the world would be safe. When he reached the room with the others, he walked in casually. "Sorry."

"Well? There's deodorizer, so it's fine." Hanasake looked toward the others. "Did you want to know about your puzzle? It came from an ancient egyptian tomb of the Unknown Pharaoh. People died to get it. People who discovered it died too."

Oh. He didn't sound like he knew a whole lot that was new. ///Yuugi: The faster I get out of here, the better./// "Oh yeah, my grandpa had a lot of that detail."

"Oh. Did you find out the name of the pharaoh at the time? Does your grandpa know?" He asked.

"I never found out the name," Yuugi lied, not wanting to wrap Hanasake into anything. "Grandpa is gone now too."

"Oh? Oh, I'm sorry." Hanasake stood up. "I know that hurt. Um? I better get back to work now, but it was great seeing you again." He nodded toward Satiah. "It was really nice to make your acquaintance. An absolute true honor."

Yuugi and Anzu both waved goodbye as they left with Satiah. They headed back to the car where a triumphant Jounouchi and Atem were at. It was always apparent when they accomplished something great. Each of them always had a smirk on their face.

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Tomoyo Hanasake put away the snacks and food, and then pulled out his phone. "I messed up but I covered as best as I could," he said, his voice no longer the same. "There is a traitor somewhere, Yuugi Mutoh knew the combination to my safe. Not only that, but Atem split from Yuugi Mutoh, he has his own body. If that wasn't bad enough, there is a strange woman that looks just like Anzu. She's not on our side, she isn't on any record of coming back to a host, nothing." He slid his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose. "I know everything about Hanasake's past but I don't know who she is. Something's wrong. I need to get this information to the Greatest Pharaoh of All Time."

"So there's a traitor in the kingdom? Terrible, but there's nothing anyone can do now anyhow. No reason to bother Pharaoh. Let's hope the traitors straighten up once the new dynasty begins."

"Yep, but we are down one item too." Hanasake licked his lips. "That ridiculous group that stumbled upon us that got a hold of one of the Pharaoh's treasure items. Seto Kaiba managed to steal it from them. Of all things, the rod. That's a big coincidence."

"Hanasake. Someone probably is, that is a lot of coincidences, but who cares? The Greatest Pharaoh of All Time cannot be stopped by a single item or any of their parlor tricks. Besides, it's done. I will be arriving soon, and with his favorite item, Bakura will be too. Let's focus on the task."

"Okay." He was right. There was nothing out there that could stop the Greatest Pharaoh of All Time. If the traitors continued, the Pharaoh would deal with them.