14 – Oh Yeah...That's Probably Important.

Ishizu and I wake up the next day in each other's arms, same as usual, just with fewer pieces of clothing this time.

Last night was intense, but more in a PG-13 kind of way. Ishizu had little to no experience with all of this, except for what she had read in Shojo manga and played in Otome games, and even those rarely went past the confession of love stage.

Still, she was eager to learn, even if she had hard limits due to my age. It just so happened that I was an apt teacher. Plus, I got to 3rd base, so I wouldn't be complaining. 

When we part from our morning kiss, Ishizu realizes her state of dress, - or rather lack thereof - and she immediately buries her face in her hands.

"I...I'm a pedophile..." She grumbles in a depressed voice.

"No, that would require us to have sex or do sexual acts and for me to claim it was unwanted, which we both know is not true. Also, you are only 2 years older than me! We are not that far apart in age. There is even a senior girl, at my school, that dates her childhood friend who is 4 years older than her! She barely gets any shit about it from anyone, because she is a good student and a hard worker. People only care about this stuff if you make it a big deal about it." I scoff at her, then kiss her forehead and force her to look at me with a hand on her chin.

"Ishizu, I am fine waiting as long as you want, and I promise that I will never pressure you into doing anything you are uncomfortable with...Besides..." I say to her while cradling her cheek lovingly. I then trail off and scrunch my eyebrows in thought.

She looks at me innocently and asks with sparkling eyes, "What is it, Toshi?"

"I am pretty sure there is not a teenager alive that would mind being preyed upon by you. You are, easily, the hottest pedophile ever." I say with a serious nod.

She blushes, puffs her cheeks out, and then tackles me back on the bed. "You're such an asshole!" She exclaims while hitting my sides lightly.

I just laugh and laugh, holding her close to me and trying to land kisses on her face, which she doges while pouting.

After a couple more minutes of cuddling and flirting, Ishizu sighs. 

"We better stop. I need to get to class soo-" Then she freezes and checks the clock. It clearly says 9:00 AM on it. 

"Toshi! You're late for school!" She exclaims, feeling guilty for not realizing it earlier.

"Relax, babe, I called out sick while you were still sleeping. I wanted to cuddle a bit more with you," I say with a shrug.

"You...Why? You're not sick! You shouldn't slack off because of me!" She demands with a huff, standing and pointing at me. Clearly forgetting she was only in her panties. 

She looks down and lets out a cute little, "Eep!" but I grab her outstretched hand and pull her back on top of me before she can move.

"Don't you think we have more important things to discuss?" I growl into her ear.

"T-Toshi...I really don't think we should do anything during the day! What if Marik or Odion hear us?" She asks with a blush while looking away.

I blink and pull back to look at her.

"...I was talking about my Anubis persona..." I say giving her a questioning look.

Ishizu whips her head around and practically glows with how much she blushes.

"I had no idea you were so horn-"

"Shhhhhhhh!" Ishizu, beet red, covers my mouth with both hands and glares down at me with a promise of murder if I complete my sentence. 

I wave my hands in placation, swearing to behave, and she finally lets me go. 

"Let's get dressed and make breakfast together. I want to discuss my plans for the future and more about our Egyptian items. We also need to discuss your goals and plans for your clan and family's future. I wasn't joking when I said I will help you in any way I can, Zushi."

"Sure, but...Zushi...?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.

"You call me Toshi, so I thought mixing the characters of your name into a rhyming nickname would be cute. Zushi also means illustration, which is fitting since you are the perfect picture of my past, present, and future." I smile widely at her, knowing that this line was a zinger.

Ishizu gasps and holds her breath for a second, her face becoming tomato-like, and her wide eyes starting to glisten at their corners. Then, she exhales a deep sigh.

"That was probably your best one yet." She says in defeat as she mounts me and pins my shoulders to the bed.

"Looks like we will have to wait to eat until brunch-mmwh," I start to say, but am interrupted by my lovely girlfriend.  

* | * | *

After eating and discussing our goals and situations more, Ishizu and I planned on the following: 

1. She would assist me as both an accomplice as well as an alibi for my Anubis persona.
2. When I open the Duel Monster's Shop next, I will buy her a matching set of disguise items before anything else.
   1. Not just to assist me, but also because she loved the idea of making whatever clothes she could think of, or trying different hairstyles and colors. I didn't mind as long as it made her happy.
3.  Ishizu will be doing more research on The Keeper and The Guardians of the Forbidden One. She knew a bit about them, mostly that they were supposedly descendants of Babalon and lived in the Israeli Deserts, but didn't know anything of the powers of the necklaces.
4. I will assist Ishizu in watching over Marik and helping along the path of healing. She told me that he was the one to kill his father and that the situation created an evil spirit split personality so that his psyche could avoid shattering. She is searching for a way to banish this evil spirit but has so far been unsuccessful.
   1. I will, of course, be meta-ing the story I know as much as I can to benefit her. I don't care about doing that for others, but for her, I will absolutely. 
5. I will also assist her in anything related to her family. Right now she is investigating her uncle Heishin for embezzling from one of the family businesses, but he is very good at covering his tracks so nothing has been found as of yet. 
6. She is fine with me using some of our dates as covers so that I can go to big events and tournaments. Mostly because she was interested in them as well. 
   1. She even expressed interest in doing some duo tournaments down the line, saying her deck was pretty good. 
7. She will be meeting my friends and she is very excited about it...I have prepared her as best I can... 

This leads us to Friday late-afternoon. Ishizu took a sick day as well so that we could spend the whole day lazing around. We talked a lot, had some fun when we were alone, and watched a movie as well as several television shows.

We were now watching the news and Odion was back from...wherever he goes. He sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee with closed eyes.

Ishizu and I were on the couch, cuddled up close, and trying not to fall asleep there and then. 

"In other news, the Duel Monsters National League Spokesman, Takashima Nobu-san, expressed his frustration that Anubis does not have any contact information or listed mailing address. They wish to invite him to the Regional Tournament as a late entry and a Dark Horse but have so far been unsuccessful in their attempts. I sure hope we can see him there..." 

'I...I never thought of...I'm such an idiot...' I think as I promptly facepalm. 

'Where the hell would Pegasus even send my glove if he wanted to? Plus I may have missed my chance at Regionals, even with them allowing a late entry! Fuuuuuck!'

*Pft*

Seeing my crestfallen look, Ishizu starts chuckling quietly, covering her face as if I wouldn't see or hear, but mocking me with her eyes all the same.

After sulking for more time than I would like to admit, I had an interesting idea.

'Let's do something nice for old man Solomon.' I think with a smile growing on my face.

I give Ishizu a quick kiss on her cheek and tell her I will be right back. 

She raises her eyebrow at me but doesn't ask more. She knows I will tell her when I get back.

Gotta love trust in a relationship. Refreshing, really. 

* | * | *

I arrive at Solomon's shop at roughly 4:30 PM. I don't know when they close, but this is around the same time as when I got my flyers done, so it should be fine. I was dressed in my Anubis persona as I walked through the front door.

*Ding-Dong*

The electric bell rang, signaling my entrance, and Solomon's muffled voice calls from the back behind the same curtain as the first time.

"Be there in just a minute!"

I look around and see no one else was here, which was perfect.

Just as I reach the front counter, Solomon enters from behind the curtain. He immediately freezes once he sees me.  

"Hello," I say in my deep, bassy tone. This mask fucking rocked!

 "O-Oh. Hello...Um...Mr. Anubis?" Solomon, who obviously kept up with dueling news, said while awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "What can I do for you? I don't have anyone else but myself here to duel, I'm afraid..."

I smile under my mask at the kind old man and continue on with my ruse. 

"I wouldn't be able to beat you at my current strength. I am only starting on this journey, whereas your cards bear an almost unbreakable bond with your heart." I say, thinking he would get a kick out of this topic.

"Y-You believe in the Heart of the Cards, Mr. Anubis!?!" An almost creepy-wide smile comes to his face and his eyes seem to sparkle. 

Rather than lying to the man, I simply incline my head. 

"Well, you have a good head on your shoulders, Mr. Anubis. What can I do you for?" Solomon asks, smiling jovially. 

"Please, just call me Anubis. I have a request for you if you would be willing to hear me out?"

"Certainly...but what would the star rookie of Domino City need from me?"

"Can I send my mail here?"

"Can...What?"

"Can I send my mail here? I will pay you for it."

"Um...I guess?... But...why would you want to do that?"

I point at the mask.

"Ah! Of course! You wouldn't be wearing that if you wanted others to know who you were!"

I nod.

"Then, yes! But what do you need me to do?"

"Just announce that all my mail can be sent here. I will confirm it if asked. I will pay you 100 Duel Points a month."

"One- *Cough* *Cough* One Hundred Duel Points to collect your mail!?! Are you mad!?!"

"Calm down. It will be more troublesome than you think. Your shop will earn a lot of attention and people will come in and look for me. You will also have to deal with fan and hate mail I get, though just throwing them all into a bag is fine. I am sure you will be bombarded by questions about me as well. I will never ask you to lie for me, but it will, undoubtedly, get annoying after a while. With all these, don't you think 100 DP sounds fair?"

"No, not even close!" Solomon exclaims while crossing his arms.

Damn, he really is a good guy. 

"Well too bad. That is what I am paying you."

"You will not! I am not a robber!"

"Then how about 10 Duel Points for the service and 90 Duel Points as a tip?" I ask with a coy smile, playing a card that I didn't really plan on playing yet.

Oh well. I was having fun. 

Solomon freezes. His eyes narrow and he opens and closes his mouth several times. 

"...Toshiaki...?"

I say nothing and do nothing.

He stares at me for a moment longer, before shaking his head and heaving a sigh. 

"Sure, Anubis. We will do it like before..." Then his eyes mist over slightly as he looks down. "I know you are doing this to keep your promise...to help my store...All I can say is: Thank You. Really, thank you. I will, of course, offer a promise of my own. I promise to keep your identity a secret from even my own family if necessary. You are really a great kid." 

"Not sure what you are talking about, but here is my card for the deal," I say in a monotone, handing over my Duel Points card.

Solomon snorts and gives me a crooked grin, "You can't do that after spilling the beans, youngin...But, fine. I will take your deal, Mr. Anubis."

I shudder at his insistence on the "Mr." title. I think I might have created a monster. 

With the deal completed, I bow to Solomon and head back home, using 3 different personas on the way to keep people off my trail.

'Time to get serious.'

I got the cape, I got the girl, now it was time to save the world...or conquer it. I didn't really have a preference at the moment. 

Still, if things play out how I hope they will, I should be able to enter the Regional Tournament with all the big names in the next 2 weeks. Even if I lose in the first round, that should still be enough to earn my way to Duelist Kingdom. Pegasus invited a bunch of no-names in the anime, so, surely, just being in the Regional Tournament will be more than enough. 

The biggest question then was if I should use my shop before or after the tournament. Since the last day of the tournament is on the 29th of June, it shouldn't matter too much either way as far as the lockout timer goes. The real issue was if I wanted to make a name for myself at the tournament or wait for Duelist Kingdom to surprise everyone. 

If I did it sooner and won the tournament, I would gain a lot of fame and accolades, thus having an easier time getting invited to events as Anubis in the future, but, conversely, I would probably warn the villains of my strength before the plot-heavy stuff starts. I don't know if that would bring any changes, but it could.

The Regional Tournament was merely a means to an end, after all, so it didn't matter to me too much if I won or lost. If I waited, I could probably get up to the semi-finals in the Duelist Kingdom Tournament without anyone knowing my strength, only to blow them all away with my skills. That could be fun...

I also need to decide if Ishizu should come with me or if she should maintain my alibi here. I would miss her and hate to leave her behind, but it wasn't exactly safe there and I could always buy that permanent teleport item from the shop. That might even be the best-case scenario since I could teleport to and from the island to sleep in a warm bed and eat a good meal. Not to mention its uses in case of an emergency...

Hmm...Food for thought.