"Rei! When did you get back!" Yui's reaction was delight.
"Amano Rei! When did you get back?!" Chiha's reaction was alarm.
The sa person walking in had produced completely opposite responses from both of them. Not that Amano's level of shock was any less than theirs, especially after the scene he had just witnessed of Kaiba Chiha happily serving as Yui's devoted pet.
If he had fild that mont and sent it to Kaiba Chiaki, he genuinely wondered what the president's reaction would be upon seeing her younger sister in that state.
"Just ca back for a short visit." Amano set down his bags of gifts, then shifted his attention toward the noticeably flushed and guilty-looking Kaiba Chiha. "And also..."
He gave Yui a brief summary of how he and Chiha knew each other, and the task Kaiba Chiaki had asked him to carry out: finding and bringing her sister ho.
"So little Chiha really is the Kaiba Corporation's second daughter after all."
Yui ate so of the local goods Amano had brought while looking over at Kaiba Chiha, who was crouched on the floor beside her.
There was a reason Chiha was crouching.
"I told you this many tis, but you never believed ."
"I assud it was a severe delusion. You couldn't even explain how you ended up in District 35 in the first place. Now stay crouched. I haven't told you to get up."
"Understood." Chiha had just started to rise and make her case, but Yui pressed her firmly back down.
Amano found it sowhat hard to look at. Kaiba Chiha, second daughter of Kaiba Corporation, being played like a puppet by Yui.
The reason Chiha was being punished with crouching in the first place:
"Trying to stop Rei from getting into the academy? I had no idea little Chiha had given you so much trouble. That definitely deserves punishnt."
Yui reached out and pinched both of Chiha's cheeks. With her face squished out of shape, Chiha could only manage an awkward and pained smile back.
"Now apologize to Rei."
"I... I'm sorry, Amano."
The girl who had once acted like no one in the world was worth her ti was now crouched in front of Amano, obediently bowing her head in contrition.
"It's fine, Yui. It was all small stuff."
Amano's acceptance was not even directed at Chiha. He explained it to Yui, as if the apology had been offered by a dog and the owner was the one responsible.
And honestly, if Amano had actually held a grudge, he would not have agreed to Kaiba Chiaki's request in the first place.
Beyond that, now that he knew Kaiba Chiha had stepped up as a duelist to protect District 32 during the current disorder, it felt more than fair to call them even.
In that case, the ti for calling her a little gremlin had probably passed. The correct term going forward was Yui's loyal pet.
"So that's the situation on my end," Amano said. "What happened on yours?"
", ! Let explain!"
Keshin ca scrambling out from behind the shop counter, where she had taken over Yui's shopkeeper duties, looking absolutely thrilled.
She then walked Amano through everything: finding Chiha in District 35, all the way through the move to District 32.
Amano nodded. "Ah. So the ten cards I left behind for you are the ones Chiha has been using now."
"If it hadn't been for those ten cards," Yui said, "we probably would have all been done for back in District 35."
Chiha, still crouched on the floor, spoke as if moved by sothing deeply personal. "When Yui-nee appeared in front of carrying those cards, she was like a goddess descended. From that mont, I made my decision. I would dedicate every ounce of my loyalty to Yui-nee forever."
Was that really the reason she chose the loyal pet life?
It was probably more than just the ten cards that built this dynamic. Looking at Chiha and Yui together, Amano could tell the relationship had been carefully cultivated over ti. He genuinely had not expected Yui, his childhood friend and neighborhood shopkeeper, to possess a hidden skill like this.
Afterward, the three of them walked back to the old Amano family house.
The place, which had been empty since they left, currently housed Yui's grandfather, Keshin, and Chiha.
Before leaving, Yui had ntioned to Amano that she wanted to temporarily loan the empty house to her relatives who were moving between districts. Amano had not objected. An empty house feared neglect far more than occupation. Left empty and unattended, the already worn little building would probably be approaching genuine collapse by the ti he and Shio ca back from the academy.
With Keshin's group living there, the place had sothing of a lived-in warmth that the empty shell had lacked.
He just had not anticipated that Kaiba Chiha, second daughter of Kaiba Corporation, would also be living in the small, battered house where he had spent eighteen years.
No complaints though. The villa her forr almost-fiancé purchased was currently registered under his na. He was doing just fine.
"So, Kaiba Chiha. Are you planning to co back with ?"
Seated on the familiar, long-worn old sofa, Amano asked the key question.
"Your sister has already forgiven you, and she is ready to welco you back to Kaiba Corporation whenever you choose to return."
He had expected Chiha to be visibly relieved and excited at the news.
After all, she was finally being given an exit from life in the slums and a path back to her previous luxury.
Instead, Chiha went completely quiet. A troubled little frown settled on her face as if she was genuinely wrestling with sothing.
Was this really sothing that needed wrestling over? One side was lower-district poverty. The other side was the life of a corporate heiress.
Could she actually be considering staying because she wanted to keep being Yui's loyal pet? Was that pull really this strong? Amano found himself almost curious what it felt like.
"I... I'll think about it seriously."
The mont she said it, Chiha fled out the door like she was escaping sothing.
Amano looked at Yui for so kind of explanation. Yui tilted her head in equal confusion and shook hers in return.
Well. There was no rush. This was only the first day. He had at least three days according to the original plan.
After leaving so mid-level district goods for Yui and Keshin, Amano hoisted his bag and made the rounds to visit the old neighbors and familiar faces in District 32 who had looked out for him over the years.
When he knocked on the Kikawayu family door, Kikawayu's parents turned out to be away.
He also made sure to stop by the scrap yard where he used to work and drop off so gifts for the site supervisor and his forr coworkers.
By the ti he had finished the full circuit, the sky had darkened. The sun sank beyond the horizon, and the night sky's crescent moon rose to replace it, spreading pale light over the dusty ground of District 32.
On the way ho, he spotted Kaiba Chiha sitting alone on a large stone by the roadside.
The girl's already slight fra looked even smaller sitting alone in the open empty street. The faint light of the crescent moon fell across her, and the lonely expression on her face made her look genuinely a little pitiful.
Looking at this strange scene in front of him, Amano had to admit that this girl really was different from before.
He dug a can of cola out of his bag. Sothing like this counted as a mid-level district luxury down here.
Without warning, he pressed the cold aluminum surface of the can against Chiha's smooth cheek.
She nearly toppled right off the stone.
"Amano! Are you trying to kill ?! You scared half to death!"
"The great Kaiba Corporation second daughter, after a whole month of real-world experience, and this is how small your nerves have gotten? Drink up. My treat."
Chiha did not stand on ceremony. She pulled the tab and drank freely.
Maybe back in the mid-level district, the second daughter of the Kaiba family would not have given this kind of cheap everyday drink the ti of day. After spending this much ti in the lower districts, actually getting to drink one had beco a genuine luxury.
She wiped the corner of her mouth, then crushed the empty can in one hand.
"Amano Rei. Do you think I've beco really strange lately?"
"Don't sell yourself short. You were always strange."
Chiha shot him an annoyed look and continued.
"Staying in the lower districts living this kind of poor life, versus going back to Kaiba Corporation to live as a pampered heiress. Any normal person would know which to choose without thinking."
"Oh? The way you said that, it sounds like you might not actually want to go back."
Amano had honestly guessed at this possibility back when Chiha ran off with that troubled expression earlier.
Chiha threw the crushed can at the ground. The tal hit the sandy earth with a clear rhythmic sound that echoed across the quiet District 32 night.
"Go ahead and laugh if you want. You've been laughing at the whole ti anyway. The truth is that these past two weeks, living in the lower districts, is the first ti in my life that I have genuinely felt alive."
"What do you an by that?"
"In the mid-level district, in Kaiba Corporation, nobody ever says it out loud. But I can always tell. Everyone just sees as the useless and spoiled Kaiba second daughter. Even Sister herself, always finding fault with how I make things worse instead of better. This ti she even kicked out of the corporation entirely."
Was that not simply the truth though? The Kaiba Corporation's stock crash a while back had been entirely Chiha's doing.
"Besides Karl, I don't even have a single person in the mid-level district I can actually talk to. Sister is always busy with work. But here it's different."
Chiha looked out toward the flickering lights of the District 32 streets ahead of her.
"Here, for the first ti, I understood what it felt like to be genuinely needed. I can use my dueling to protect Yui-nee and everyone else. I can earn people's acknowledgnt and praise.
"Here, nobody even believes I'm actually the Kaiba second daughter. The acknowledgnt isn't for my family na. It's for as a person.
"Here, for the first ti, I understood that fighting for soone else could feel this good. I finally felt a real sense of aning in being alive. Can you understand that, Amano Rei?"
Chiha had not expected, even once, that there would co a day when she poured this much of her heart out to her sworn rival Amano Rei.
"Yes. I can understand that. This is the place I grew up, after all. The people in District 32 are genuinely good."
The Kaiba Chiha in the mid-level district had lived behind the polished exterior of extraordinary wealth while carrying an emptiness that ca from never being recognized for herself. The Kaiba Chiha in the lower districts had lived with very little materially, and found a soul that knew what it was living for.
No wonder she was struggling with the idea of going back.
This was probably what people ant when they talked about the difference between being rich in spirit and rich in possessions.
"But what about your sister?"
He had taken the job from Kaiba Chiaki, so a real attempt at persuasion was still necessary.
"If you stay away indefinitely, what happens to her? Kaiba Chiaki genuinely misses you."
"Sister..."
Sothing shifted in Chiha's eyes. She was clearly wavering.
But almost as quickly, so other emotion seed to push the wavering aside.
"No. Sister is the one who kicked out with her own hands. Right now, Yui-nee is my new sister!"
Amano had been holding this back for a while: Chiha had been calling Yui older sister the whole ti, but Yui was actually younger than her.
Was the big-sister obsession really so absolute that anyone she decided to like automatically beca an older sister regardless of age?
"And besides, I can't leave right now!!"
Chiha stood up on the stone with the air of soone making a firm decision. Even standing on the stone, she still could not quite match Amano's height.
"The Eva mainfra governance has broken down in the lower districts, and there are plenty of duelists with bad intentions exploiting the system bugs to prey on people who can't fight back. If I leave, who protects everyone in District 32?"
Amano was genuinely impressed she had thought this far. She clearly cared deeply about the people here. This was also the exact problem he had been turning over in his own mind all day.
He could not stay in the lower districts for long himself. If Chiha left too, who would be here to protect District 32 while the system was in this state?
There was no urgency yet. He still had three days. And these were short-term system bugs. They might well be patched within the next couple of days regardless.
It was already dinner ti. Amano and Chiha headed back together to call Yui ho.
Standing in front of The Tsundere Duelist, they heard raised voices from inside before they even reached the door.
Strange. This shop barely got a handful of custors in an entire week. Why was there this much noise?
Even through the door they could hear Yui's frustrated complaints.
"What do you an I'm fired? Manager, haven't I been a perfectly good shopkeeper?!"
"What do you an Keshin is more suitable for the role? She's ten years old! Absolutely not! I'm calling the authorities on you!"
"You're asking if I want to go to the mid-level district? What would I even do there?"
"School? A dueling academy? But I don't even know how to play cards... and I don't have a deck."
"What? You're offering to sponsor ? You are not doing this out of the goodness of your heart. This is too suspicious. I'm still calling the authorities!"
Standing outside the door, Amano and Chiha exchanged a deeply complicated look.
It sounded like so kind of employnt dispute involving a position change was unfolding inside. As non-employees of the card shop, neither of them was quite sure whether they should go in.
While they were both still deliberating, the door was thrown open by Yui herself. She stord out with a face full of indignation, completely ignored both of them standing right there, and marched off in the direction of ho.
"Wait, Yui-nee! Hold on!"
In full loyal-pet mode, Chiha jogged after her imdiately, asking questions and offering comfort as she went.
Amano turned and looked into the shop.
The man wearing the strange mask was inside, rubbing the back of his head with visible frustration.
"Ah, I think I may have handled that poorly."
The owner of The Tsundere Duelist was soone Amano had barely laid eyes on the whole eighteen years he had lived in District 32. The shop existing at all in a district that had almost no duelists was already a strange enough thing. Naturally, the owner himself was stranger still.
What kind of ordinary person wore a mask as their everyday face to the world?
He had not seen the shop owner in approximately three months. He had never paid the man much attention before, but now, reuniting after this absence, Amano had the peculiar feeling that they had not been apart as long as the ti suggested.
The more he thought about it, the more it hit him.
The hooded man doing reception work at Master Vail's workshop, when he thought about it now, had the sa style of dress and the sa voice as this shop owner.
****
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