Chapter 24.5- The Calm Before the Storm
The eve before the grand opening of the Great Multi-Game Tournament is spent quite differently by a lot of different people.
Above a game shop in Hanafuda, a group of children and a lovingly patient grandmother are occupying the livingroom to put the finishing touches on the costumes they'll be wearing. In the kitchen their older siblings are surrounded by all manner of different, brightly coloured cards, assembling them into decks. The grim silence that surrounds them is a far cry from the lively chatter that can be heard faintly through the open door, and the care with which they build their decks more reminiscent of soldiers preparing for war than teenagers getting ready to participate in a tournament for a children's card game.
(To them, they are).
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In an apartment closer to Domino City Centre, another teen is pacing as he practices the speech that will present the game he's worked so hard to create to the entire world. His hands are shaking and he has barely eaten or slept in days. A dark-skinned woman in a tailored suit sits next to his father on the couch, just smiling calmly and offering the occasional correction or word of support. In her lap she holds a golden cane, absentmindedly running her hands along the smooth metal.
(The father says nothing, the light in his eyes long gone. The boy is none-the-wiser to the chains she's carefully weaving around him).
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In another apartment, two brothers cook dinner side by side in solitude, neither of them speaking. Behind them on almost every available surface lie endless piles of documents and photographs trying to figure out where their sister might have gone, what she might be plotting in the darkness, just out of sight.
The most recently received photos show her walking around Domino City, sitting at cafés, shopping… and always carrying the stolen Rod with her. The final image shows her looking directly at the camera through a thick crowd. The photographer is still in the hospital following that encounter, his camera little more than dust by the time help could arrive - the only reason they even have the photos is thanks to an immediate backup function that sends all photos to Cloud-storage the second they're taken.
They dread what might come to happen.
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In Germany, two girls are about to finish packing up their things and head to their airport, ready to fly to Japan. They talk excitedly, carefully wrapping up gifts and treats. Chocolate and candy and cookies and little cakes, hoping to surprise the little sister that they haven't seen in person in much too long.
(Well… haven't seen in person in a place where most humans would meet, at least).
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A young girl in a nightgown, clutching a stuffed bunny, sits on the floor in an opulent hotel suite, absentmindedly looking out at the skyline below her. On a couch sits a bald headed man with a book, absentmindedly thumbing through the pages.
The hour is getting late, but she cannot find rest, cannot sleep. Millions of thoughts run through her mind in endless circles, over and over again. The man, her bodyguard and caretaker for as long as she can remember, notices her turmoil, but says nothing - waiting for her to tell him whatever's on her mind.
(He has a strong feeling he already knows).
Finally she says, in a very small voice: "Carson?"
He doesn't look up from his book. "Yes, Little Miss?"
"Have you ever regretted anything?"
He chuckles quietly. "Of course I have, plenty of times. I regret not punching your father at least once for how he treated you and the Elder Misses, for instance".
She gets up from her spot on the floor and pads over to him, crawling up on the couch to lean into him. He instantly closes his book and wraps his arm around her shoulders in a hug, holding her against his side.
"It's been fun, being here," she says after some time of them sitting silently like that.
"Yes?"
"Yes," she nods, closing her eyes. "It was fun, meeting and playing with everyone. Cass, Nate, even that stupid mushroom-headed Hiro Oshitaki. I… I've liked having friends".
He runs his hand through her hair, just the way he knows she likes it. And the way that will get her to fall asleep the quickest. "How about the Mutou-children? Didn't you get close to them, too?"
She nods again, but the movement is jerky and almost hesitant. "I did! I… I did…" her voice trails off, like mist in the night. "They're all so much fun and so nice once you get to know them. They know what it's like to- to be alone, and to miss someone. I… I-"
Her voice hitches. He offers her a handkerchief. She snatches it out of his hand quickly and rubs at her eyes.
"…Little Miss, is there anything you regret?"
For the third time she nods. "Carson, I… I don't think I want to go through with this anymore".
His arm tightens around her, and he leans down to press a light kiss to the crown of her head as she shakes with unshed tears.
(He ignores the golden light that drips down to stain the black of his suit).
"Shhhh… shhhh…" he soothes her calmly. "It's okay, it's okay. We'll figure it out, don't worry. I'll protect you".
She sighs and clutches at his shirt. Eventually she falls asleep like that. A little while later he tugs her into bed, safe and soundly.
When he leaves the room, another man is sitting on the couch twirling a glass filled with red liquid, staring out at the darkened city. In front of him on the coffee table stands a lone, black jewelry box.
The bodyguard stands at attention. "Sir?"
"Hmmm…" he takes a careful sip of his drink. "An unfortunate turn of events… but fortunately one that has been planned for accordingly. We may even yet be able to persuade her to make the right choice".
Carson doesn't move, ever the faithful protector of his young charge. "And if not?"
Pegasus J. Crawford rises from the couch, a speckle of gold showing through his silver hair as he heads for the door, drink still in hand. "Then you know what to do, Carson. Do not fail me".
Nothing more is said.
Pegasus disappears into the night and Carson is left with another thing he will soon come to regret.
AN: Hi guys, Nordic here!
This wasn't supposed to be chapter 25 - this is literally just a spontaneous idea I had today that wouldn't leave me alone, but it resulted in what is pretty much chapter 24.5? I pretty much ambushed Stars with it, but she liked the idea ^^;
The point of this little chapter is to show transitions, in a sense. Everything will be explained in the next chapter, but for now this is pretty much all foreshadowing and showing how the pieces on the proverbial chessboard have shifted. Someone has gone from having second thoughts to directly wanting out… the issue is now if that is even possible, with how deep in she already is. And Duke… oh, Duke, my boy…
In other news, back in the 27th it was the 3rd year anniversary of Caught in the Game! Weird how time flies. Thank you to all of you who have read, commented, and left kudos in all that time! We appreciate the hell out of each and every one of you, and we are so happy that you decided to stick around our little corner of the fandom.
See you guys next time for the actual 25th chapter.
NordicTwin
Authors note:
Hey all! Stars here.
As Nordic said, I didn't have anything to do with this mini chapter. She surprised me with it, and I was pleasantly surprised. ;) She did a fantastic job with this, showing everyone and giving details without having to go crazy like we normally do, lol.
Now hopefully, finally, we'll be into canon fully in the next chapter or the one after, lol. (It's only taken us 3 whole years to get here lol)
Also!
We're working on revising earlier chapters! We've talked about doing this off and on for maybe 6-8 months now, and only seriously considered it around January. (But we started in the last month or so actually trying to figure how to revise and planning that all and actually writing it)
It's very easy to read the old chapters and see how we've grown and matured in three years. And also how much we liked to go into details and drone on about them. (It's hard not to! Wanting to expand on the world and explain things, but we are working on a way to do that still without the crazy amount of paragraphs to do it.) We won't start updating the old chapters into new ones for a little while yet. Nordic has a final project she's been working on, and I've been burnt out. But we plan to work on the revision in between things and we will let you know when we start to replace old chapters with the new ones.
(altering what's shown and condense things down so there's not so much rambling detail lol. But still have it be the same story.) we will definitely keep you posted on that. If you have any questions you can always ask, we don't mind :)
Shoutout to all of the people who viewed and all of our current followers and faves and our new followers and favorites (Kipp the helper, DianaStarpaws, Gpocevich, bprajit3, Thankfulclock50, HipsterNarwhal, 1, and Samanta Haruna) And thanks to everyone who left Kudos!
Thanks again to the amazingly talented and lovely Moirei for Beta-ing for us, as always :)
That's all for now! Stay safe and have a good rest of your day, week, or month(s). Until next time!
C. S. Stars
Edited/Beta by Moirei
Finished & Published: April 29, 2020