There isn't much to talk about regarding my life with Yanagi. I mean, I had a roof over my head and occasionally he'd amuse himself by teaching me new things. Some of those were dangerous, some were dull, some were so normal that it seemed strange. There was a certain…detached amusement that he took in taking me in, much like the cat he had mentioned. He kept me fed and clothed, but he also disappeared for long periods of time only to return whistling and an "Oh, right, you're still here."

He wasn't quite negligent, given that I had proven myself to be somewhat self-sufficient. He gave me some cash each week for spending purposes. I'd learned to save up a portion in case he disappeared on me and the fridge ended up empty. I also learned how to make more than fried eggs and rice. Occasionally, Yanagi'd eat the food I'd made and then 'reward' me with either some more spending money, or a game, or a walk outside.

I wasn't quite confident enough to leave the apartment further than the grocery store across the road. I also didn't have a key, which meant that I had to leave the door unlocked whenever I left. It made me paranoid—who knew what could get in?!—and I didn't bring it up with Yanagi because I had a feeling that it was privilege I would never get.

Although a more relaxed version of toe-tipping, but I was still very aware that there were certain things I would never be allowed. An apartment key being one of them. Access to certain rooms being another. The TV remote while Yanagi was home.

The entire thing could be summed up into one rule: As long as I was an easy pet to keep, he'd keep me.

Otherwise, he'd have to dispose of me and there was only one way that would end.

Yanagi had a certain fondness for me, that was true. He tolerated some things that he wouldn't in another person, though perhaps not as much as if I were a real cat. But he still held the power, and he had no qualms in exercising it. I did my best to learn the unspoken rules of being a kept pet, and he indulged some of my curiosity and wilfulness. I learned that he would make an exception only once, and thus never repeated any mistakes.

Now that I think about it, perhaps I have to thank him for that habit.

He liked to watch me learn and grow, he liked that I was cleverer than the average child. He liked that I occasionally sassed him and wasn't outwardly afraid of him. Later on, he liked that the fear had tapered into wariness and caution. He liked it when I replied in creative ways when he asked questions like "How would you kill this man?" and rewarded me with knowledge on how to really kill that man. He was quietly frightening, and played the sheep very well.

Also, he liked to play Duel Monsters.

If there was something I can say about Yanagi for sure, it is that he had a passion for Duel Monsters that outstripped a very great majority of people. He loved the game and loved the different cards and his favourite was trap cards that pulled the rug from under people just when they thought they were going to win. He also had many 'troll' cards that frustrated people, like flip effect monsters that returned cards to their hand once they had tribute two or three monsters to summon their biggest damage dealer. His deck was an exasperating mix of effect monsters and trap cards with only one or two high powered monsters. In fact, he won many duels simply through effect damage. Or pissing the opponent off so much they rage quit.

The first time we played, he was delighted to learn that I knew the game. I didn't have a deck—only a mere 4 cards I wasn't even sure were created yet—but he provided an entire shelf of cards for me to construct one with, and then he'd wiped the floor with me. He didn't really go for rare cards like most people did, although by dint of being in the game so early, he had plenty of those. He liked the challenge of figuring out how to work with what he had at hand, something he was delighted to find that I shared.

So I suppose that was another perk, although both of us knew that I wouldn't have be that into Duel Monsters if he hadn't been. It was part survival instinct and part infectious enthusiasm I suppose. Though I can safely say that Yanagi is fair enough in that he's not the type to get pissed just because he lost.

Not that I won that often.

When it came to buying cards, he was so generous as to be excessive. Compared to my living stipend, the amount he was willing to spend to buy me booster packs was ridiculous.

But when you're not the one with the power, you don't really have much say. So I sucked it up and plunged myself deeper into the world of Duel Monsters, to ignore the reality of living like a pampered pet.

Well. I suppose I should be thankful he liked cats, instead of dogs. Dog owners always prefer theirs trained.

xXXx

I won't say that life was particularly hard, though there were the occasional hiccups and terror-inducing pitfalls. I was a clumsy, curious and stubborn person. I was curious about the world, a hazard to myself around furniture, and determined enough to fall over a dozen times to get what I wanted.

There had to be some difference between this world and mine, seeing as technology was far more advanced that it was back home.

So I read. (And got hit by more books than I cared to count)

Before anybody starts rolling their eyes, I must first admit that I'm a bookworm. Or I was. Whatever—the current child-me still is. But I only pursued particular genres, the topmost being fantasy and fiction. So when I started to pick up history books, I slightly amazed myself at my interest.

Anyway. (Don't even get me started on reading IT books and other 'How to Dummies'.)

The world of YGO is some five hundred years ahead of mine, even if the number of years were around the same. The year 1996 is like 2496, or at least, what I imagine of it. Plenty of headway had been made in the research of just about anything. Neurology and brain development had been detailed down to an art, and one of the biggest changes was in how that affected the gaming industry.

Gone were the sneers at gamers and other 'geek freaks', gone was the frowned upon notion that gaming was bad for kids. Instead, gaming companies had R&D departments dedicated to the research of brain development and new games came with neuro-stamps much like the nutrition facts label on packaged food. Games were now marketed with the development they contributed to certain regions of the brain, each genre claiming XX% of improvement in XX regions.

Now, parents shopped for games the way they shopped for children's books. With care and much research. Internet search engines had become far more advanced, with simple AI that could narrow down websites to fit your needs without the hassle of manual filters. Voice control was a commodity that had been refined to near perfection, and even the most basic phone had it.

And that was just a small part of technology.

Bioengineering had long reached a certain point of progress that cosmetic changes to your DNA were now available. Multi-coloured hair that lasted generations was obtainable through a minor cosmetic 'surgery' that fused parts of your DNA strands with that of the respectively coloured creature. Even my silver hair and bright green eyes weren't fully human. To my shock, I am part Egyptian Mau and part Aporia crataegi. At night, if one looked closely, my green eyes glowed a little and the iris expanded far more than a regular human's. Which means that I have some dark vision.

I guess Yanagi hit the mark somewhat on me being a cat.

But so far such drastic cosmetic changes had not truly gained traction, as it was still a world where people didn't dabble too much in their DNA just for the sake of aesthetics. But acceptance of this practice was progressing…which I didn't quite want to think about. However, such surgeries were quite pricy, even if they weren't 'frivolous billionaire' levels of priciness, so hopefully this practice won't be that popular until much later.

I'm also ignoring the bit that I'm not quite human thanks. It's just not worth it to bait the universe lest I get screwed over even more.

xXXx

When I had turned a certain number of years and exhausted most of the public books available in the library, Yanagi enrolled me into a school. No, I did not get a key, but I did get something like a side door into the apartment—pretty much a human version of a cat flap. A mechanical alarm with an iris scan had been attached to the door, which allowed me access to the lock/unlock feature at specific times. Namely when I returned from school.

I won't bore you with the huge hassle that we had adjusting the timing due to the ridiculous notion that Yanagi had that I could teleport the moment school ended. But yes. I had a curfew, and I'd gotten locked out plenty of times. It's not funny, particularly since Yanagi's Control Freak would rear its head whenever he discovered me. He's lax about a lot of things, but not this one. Then, he turns on interrogation mode and questions me endlessly about where I'd been and why I hadn't made it on time before he'll allow me in. But the good part is that he never punishes me by leaving me outside, so I guess he does have a soft spot for me, even if he does treat me like a pet.

But back to school. I thought that I would have it easy and smooth-sailing but. YGO is five hundred years ahead of us. Middle School curriculum was now Elementary school, and vice versa. I was getting quite stumped, particularly in the area of science. Quite a few things had been discovered, and several 'laws' reversed.

(Please don't ask me what happened to Newton.)

I think it took me several months before I snapped out of the shock, finally getting into my head that perhaps this was a bigger challenge than I thought. I lagged behind most of the class until my adult-pride reared its head and I begged Yanagi to let me camp in the public library for several days. Surprisingly, he was rather fine with that. The only thing I had to concede to was being collared with a tracking chip.

…Okay, so I'm getting rather used to the pet thing.

Anyway, school isn't very fun, and I'm still learning new things. Fortunately, I don't think I'll ever be working legitimately, seeing as I have no ID and Yanagi didn't really bother to get me one.

So. That's life in the YGO world I guess.