Odd Couple

His first impression of the woman in the game shop was that she belonged in a high-end game shop, not because he disliked her but because she gave the impression that she believed Kame Game to be beneath her. She held her fur-collar coat tight around her chest, as though to conceal her pearl necklace, and kept her bag clasped tightly in her hand. Even as she glanced over the shelves of games, she glanced at him as though she expected him to knock her over and grab her purse at any moment.

“Excuse me,” The woman called as she skirted around a display. “I'm looking for a birthday gift for my daughter.”

“Of course! Do you know what kinds of games she likes? Puzzles, card games perhaps?”

“I'm not sure. She lives with her father, and I'm not much for games, myself. She said this is her favorite shop – I hoped you would know.”

He thought of all of his regular customers. Most were pre-teen boys who wanted the latest craze, or old men who sought puzzles and shogi. The only regular females were Anzu and Kokoro, and only the latter shopped more than once in a blue moon.

Upon closer inspection, the woman did resemble his grandson's girlfriend, though only just. They shared the same body type and little else, except for their distinctively wavy reddish hair. Where Kokoro was a trim athlete with sharp, almost European features, the woman before him was a soft, and clearly hailed from a Japanese ancestry – and where Kokoro was laid back and almost flippant, the woman in his shop was high-strung and stern.

“You must be Oshiro-san.”

“Nishimura, actually. Nishimura Haruka. Oshiro Takumo is my ex-husband.”

“My apologies. Kokoro-chan never mentioned you had separated. I am Muto Sugoroku.”

She made a distant hum as she looked over the recent arrangement of digital pets. None seemed to appeal to her, and she turned away to look at the wall of puzzles behind him. If she hadn't said it, he wouldn't have believed she was related to Kokro – the young woman was never that rude. Finally, the woman looked back towards him, a frown set firmly in place.

“I know she plays that card game, Duel Demons?”

“Duel Monsters. Yes, we have quite a selection of cards, actually, if you'd like to have a look. I know of several that she's had her eye on.”

He didn't miss the woman's obliviousness to his grandson's relationship with her daughter, either. He might have been annoyed Kokoro kept Yugi a secret from her family, but the longer he spent with the woman, the more he was certain she would do everything in her power to separate them, and Kokoro's lie of omission was obviously not because she was ashamed.

He pulled the case of cards from beneath the glass display case. Each time Kokoro came into the store, she paused to peruse the Duel Monsters selection, though she never purchased anything, as much as it was obvious that she wanted to. When he mentioned it to Yugi, the young boy had admitted Kokoro would have bought them, if she could afford it. Yugi himself had thought about buying them for her with the money he earned in the shop, but had decided against it at the last minute, at his grandfather's urging to get her something more memorable and lasting.

The woman hummed somewhat thoughtfully as she looked them over, then picked up an Amazoness Queen card to investigate it. It wasn't one Kokoro would want – she already had one, in fact. Though he had never seen her duel, Yugi had told him more than enough about her deck for him to have a solid grasp on her strategy, and what cards would most benefit her. Unlike his grandson, who preferred a somewhat basic strategy of trap defense and bolstering magic, Kokoro had built her deck to defend her own life points while striking directly at the opponents.

“If I may...” He began, plucking six cards from the display. “Kokoro has been after these for some time.”

Choose One, Amazoness Village, Acid Rain, Curse of Darkness, Time Machine, and Zoma the Spirit Trap. The woman looked them over, her face curled with derision, but eventually nodded. She sat her purse on the table, but made no move to produce a wallet – he wondered if she expected him to give a discount, when she started to speak.

“I...” Her voice seemed to break. “I need a favor, actually. I'll take the cards, of course, and...I need you to help me.”

He paused, caught entirely off guard. She pulled the Amazoness Queen card again, and placed it on the counter beside the others.

“My divorce...” She sighed. “It took its toll on my relationship with my daughter. For the longest time, she hated me, and we've only just begun to speak again. Because of that boyfriend of hers, of all people – Yugi, I think his name was. I can't pretend to know what drew Kokoro to him, but it's obvious why she cares so much for him. He's very sweet, even after the awful things I said to him.”

They both paused – she breathed deeply as she collected herself, while Sugoroku was struck silent. He had known his grandson had a big heart, but to reunite an estranged mother and daughter – particularly when Kokoro, judo champion and stubborn as a mountain, was that daughter – was unbelievable. After a long moment of shuddering breaths, the woman finally schooled her face back into a semblance of her previous, impassive mask, though her lips still quivered. A tear ran down the side of her face, a soft track of ruined make up in its wake.

“I don't pretend to know the first thing about my daughter. But I want to. Rebuilding our relationship has been difficult, to say the least. We have nothing in common, and it seems whenever we talk it devolves into an argument. But Kokoro loves this game, doesn't she? That boy, Yugi, told me they play it all the time.”

She pushed the Amazoness Queen towards him, suddenly a strong as she had been when she entered the store. Sugoroku suddenly saw more of Kokoro in her – or, more appropriately, more of her in Kokoro – than he had ever imagined. Estranged as they may have been, Kokoro inherited much from her mother beyond their build and hair. They shared the same intensity, a fire behind a carefully schooled stone mask.

“I'd like you to build me a deck, around this card. I may not understand Kokoro's obsession with this game, but...if it will bring us closer, I'll learn to love it too.”