Chapter 28: Some Things Old, Some Things New

The rest of the evening was pleasantly uneventful and the next day Mokuba and I went back to the condo – which I remembered with surprising clarity. The Arab woman was there, waiting for us. "Welcome home, Mokuba-san, Seto-san. I had them send a few of your things down from the house, but I thought you might prefer to buy anything else."

"Oh." She was only vaguely familiar, which I was beginning to realize was how I saw people I only paid cursory attention to. "Thank you." I remembered where my room was and went there. There wasn't much in it – a bed, a few clothes, some school things.

I went to Mokuba's room. "I think I would like to buy a few clothes. Let's go to the Mall. I worked there for a while, didn't I?"

"Unless you quit last week, you still do, technically." He replied. "Hang on a second." He returned to sending his message. "I'm tweeting where we're going so some of the guys might meet us there, ok?"

Really, I didn't care. I was only interested in meeting the girl I suddenly remembered while looking in my closet. Mokuba told me who the Arab woman was and I greeted Ishtaaru more politely as we left.

At the mall, several of Mokuba's friends met us. I gathered I'd never met them before since he took the time to introduce me to each of them. He chatted for a while then I got impatient and left him to find the store on my own. I passed several boys my age who waved or yelled to me that they'd see me later. Precious few looked more than vaguely familiar.

"SeSe-kun!" A pretty young woman snagged my arm just as I passed a make-up store. "What, don't I even rate a 'hi' anymore?"

The name was ghastly, but for some reason, made me smile. The woman, too, was ... special.

"Oh My God! What happened to your neck?"

I touched it; I had forgotten the bruises were so visible. "I was," I hesitated to find the right word, "attacked." My voice was loud enough to be heard finally, but was still very gruff.

"Oh My God! You poor thing! Was it that new boyfriend?"

"No."

"You don't want to discuss it, do you? Come in. You have to meet my new crew." She looped her arm in mine and pulled me into the store. "They'll never believe I know you." She kissed my cheek.

I was introduced formally – which seemed strange at the moment – to two women and a man.

"Oh come on!" The man scoffed. "The real Kaiba family wouldn't even pass through this dump, Kimura!"

"Actually, my brother and I both go to school here. It's much less distracting than, say, Tokyo or Paris." I thought a moment. "Do you think you could get the other girls together this afternoon?"

"Sure!" Kimura said. "I see Miko-chan and Chou-Chou all the time."

"Good. I'll send a car for you around four. We're having a reception and I'd like you to be there." I looked at the group looking at us skeptically. "You may bring this lot if you'd like." I looked my watch. "I have a few errands to complete, Kim-chan, I need to be on my way."

"Kim-chan!" She pouted. "I'm not KimKim any more?"

I kissed her cheek. "You've grown up since I saw you last. And you have authority now; I should show you more respect." I had known she had a pet name but for the life of me, I could not remember it until she said it.

She beamed. Then she threw her arms around my neck. "It's so good to see you, SeSe-kun!"

"If you're really Kaiba Seto," one of her associates asked, "why aren't you in Tokyo? Didn't your father just die?"

"Yes, he did." Mokuba snapped from behind me. "Say it with respect. He was far more important than you'll ever be." He noticed the girl around my neck. "Hey KimKim."

"Mitaku, God!" KimKim gasped and turned on the woman. "I was trying not to bring that up!" She turned back to my brother and I. "Hi, Moke-kun. We were all really sorry to hear about your father."

"Thank you." I kissed her cheek again and gently pulled her off me. "I really must go. I will see you around four. Do not be late."

Mokuba and I moved on. "You invited her?" He asked me.

"And told her to bring Miko-chan and Chou-Chou. I told her to bring those others if she'd like as well."

"Great." He muttered.

He led the way to a store that suddenly looked very familiar. I remembered the proper way to fold a shirt, and where the spare pricing gun was stored, and a dozen now unnecessary details related to store operations. I headed to the back office, ignoring the cashier telling me that I wasn't allowed in there.

Miko-chan and Chou-Chou were both tagging stock – which really meant that they had an open box of clothing and at least thirty minutes worth of popcorn.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." I said, grinning.

"SeSe-kun!" Miko-chan shouted as Chou-Chou said "Moke-kun!"

They both got up, hugged us and began peppering us with questions faster than either of us could answer. Chou-Chou was still everyone's little sister. Miko-chan's soft hair brushed my arm and suddenly I knew the mistake I'd made with Otogi. It was a nice memory, on reflection, and although what I remembered of sleeping with her was pleasent, I found no desire to repeat the experience.

Finally, I had to laugh. "Enough! We will talk tonight. Go find Kimura at four o'clock; she'll explain everything. In the meantime, I need a few shirts, two pairs of pants and I think Mokuba can probably use a few things as well."

"I have a really awesome set in your locker for you. When are you coming back?" Miko-chan asked, looking hopeful.

"I'm afraid I must resign." I actually found myself feeling a bit of regret. Coming in to the store had brought back nothing but good memories.

"Aw." She pouted for a moment then brightened. "Ok. Clock in."

"Now?"

"Yeah. You can ring up one sale now and one sale before you leave. Then we can say today was your last day and use your employee discount for whatever you buy."

I laughed. "I hardly need a discount now." She pointed at the time clock and I complied, shaking my head.

I did surprise both of them by simply trying on all of their suggestions on to verify the fit and then purchasing everything. After a few test fittings to gauge his size and style, Miko-chan and Chou-Chou had as much fun dressing Mokuba as they did me. Between us, we spent several thousand yen – far more than I'd ever spent in the store before.

We left, reminding them to be on time, and receiving a flurry of hugs and kisses.

The trip home was uneventful and we had time to change into our new clothes while a banquet staff cooked and decorated. Guests began arriving and raved – many of them had become friends of mine apparently after my 'fall from grace' and had never seen the condo. Some of them I remembered on sight. Others I pretended to remember. The girls from the store arrived, dressed to impress most of my classmates – which they did quite charmingly well – and KimKim's co-workers were properly awed into apoligising for their earlier rudeness.

I heard a familiar voice behind me. "So you had to do this the night I came home."

I turned around and recognized the boy as a flood of memories fleshed out the photos Ryou had shown me.

"It hardly would have been worth the effort if it didn't inconvenience you, Honda." I tried to keep a straight face but I couldn't stop the smile.

He grinned back. "It's good to see you, dude." He huged me and as much as I wanted to deny it, it was welcome affection.

"And you."

"And us!" Mutou piped up from behind him. "What happened to your voice?"

"You had to bring the motor mouth?" I teased, ignoring the question.

"His car." Honda said with a shrug.

"My car." A woman I recognized as Mai corrected him.

I looked over again, intent on saying something clever, but the thought died. Behind Mutou stood Mai. And Pharaoh. Mutou Yami.

Or, more properly: Horus Mighty Bull, Luck of Thoth, He of the Two Ladies, Wisest of the Divine, Horus of Gold Victor Over All Opponents, Celestial of Appearance, He of the Sedge and Bee Most Prized of Atem, Son of Ra, Atemu the First, Twelveth Pharaoh of the Third Dynasty, King of Upper and Lower Egypt.

He did favor his 'brother', but to say they look alike was to say diamonds look like crystals. The quality of one far exceeded the other. Suddenly, I remembered everything – from our first meeting to our last.

It was just a bit depressing. I pushed those feelings aside.

"It's good to see you all." I said, forcing a smile. "Honda, Mutou, I'd like to speak with you in the study for just a moment." I led the two of them back and secured the room. "As I'm sure you've heard things did not go as anticipated with Gozaburo."

"Yeah," Mutou nodded. "We're all real sorry about your Dad."

"You ok about that?" Honda asked. His expression looked more curious than sympathetic.

"Yes. Yes, I think I am. My brother is grieving; you may wish to share your condolences with him." I sighed. "I have another issue. Gozaburo ... injured me before he died." I rubbed my neck, thinking of the bruises again.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you were going to mention that." Honda frowned. "Was it an accident?"

" ... no."

"Then how did he... ?" Mutou started, but Honda stopped him with a shake of his head.

I almost answered the question anyway, but I suspected that Honda could guess what happened and Mutou would be unreasonably distressed by the information. Instead, I cleared my throat and went on. "An unfortunate side affect was some memory loss – especially of people. I have re-constructed some of it –" I paused and smiled. "I remember you two," I teased, "sadly. But I have no idea who most of the people here today are."

"So you want us to introduce you to everyone?" Mutou perked up.

"Certainly not. I would rather they not know about this short-term issue. What I would like is for you to greet people by name when I am near them. In most cases, seeing their face and hearing their name at the same time has been enough to trigger functional memories."

"Ok. I'll tell Mai and Yami..."

"You most certainly will not." I sighed; the boy wore down my patience simply breathing. "I would have told them myself if I had wished them to know."

"But..." I glared at him and he frowned. "She's gonna ask me. I'm gonna have to tell her sooner or later."

"Really!" I snapped. "Find a spine."

"You don't get it." He lamented. "She's my wife; she'll drive me crazy until I tell her."

"Fine. You may tell her." I paused to smile slightly. "After tomorrow's graduation."

Mutou moaned and I opened the study door. He left with all the drama of a reluctant ten-year-old. Honda left snickering.

"He'll never make it." He said quietly as he passed me.

"I know. But hopefully he'll try."

The only other interesting thing occurred later in the afternoon when a boy all but accosted me in the hallway as I was seeing another guest out.

"So, um, how you been?" He asked me.

Thanks to Honda, I knew the boy's name was Kajiki and we had been on the Cheering squad together, but it was clear from how uncomfortable he was that there was more to our relationship than Honda had mentioned. He wasn't particularly attractive – especially after seeing Ryou, Joey and Pharaoh – so I doubted we were lovers. But he was vaguely familiar. A study partner, perhaps.

"It has been an unusual week, to say the least."

"Yeah, me too. My sister blabbed to Mako." He looked miserable. "She heard us Friday night."