"Hey, Yugi- check out the new girl." It was the last period of the day, a study hall, when Yugi Moto looked in the same direction as his best friend, Joey Wheeler, his finger pointed at a girl sitting alone in the front of the classroom. Her hair was the first thing to catch your eye, being that it was a fiery red in color and stuck out around the sides, followed by her taste in clothing. She was wearing a light blue shirt, with aqua colored sleeves, black denim pants and a sash matching her shirtsleeves tied around her waist.
"Yes, I see her," replied Yugi. "Why?" Joey smiled.
"She's kinda cute, ain't she?" Teá Gardener, the only girl in the group, groaned.
"How can you tell?" she asked him. "Her back's to us." Before Joey could answer, his long time friend, Tristen made a comment of his own.
"The back looks good to me." Yugi had stopped listening to the conversation shortly after answering Joey's question. He watched the girl over at a desk in the front of the room, away from everyone else. As Tea had said, her back remained to them- he had yet to see her face. He didn't know if she wanted seclusion, or was just afraid to speak to new people. He stood up- there was one way to find out.
"Hey, Yuge, where you going?" asked Joey. Yugi looked at him and smiled.
"I'll be right back, Joey."
With that, Yugi walked over to the girl and cleared his throat. She looked up at him from her book- her dark brown eyes were outlined by a pair of silver framed eyeglasses that rested on her rose colored cheeks. He could see that there was some sort of design on her shirt, colored dark blue and surrounded by a black circle, and a large chain necklace around her neck.
"Hello," he said. "I noticed you sitting here by yourself and, well I was wondering if you'd like to come sit with me and my friends." A surprised look came over her face, followed by her biting her lip in hesitation. After a moment, she nodded.
"Sure," she replied. "I-I'd love to." She picked up her stuff and followed Yugi over to his friends. Teá noticed right off that she seemed really nervous, but couldn't tell why. Teá looked at the new girl and gave a friendly smile.
"Hi," she said. "I'm Teá- what's your name?" The girl looked back at Teá and smiled as she sat down.
"I'm Torina," she replied. "Torina Peg." After the rest of the group introduced themselves and talked for a bit, Torina seemed to relax but was still kind of quiet, prompting Yugi to ask her a question.
"Torina," he said. "The design on your shirt- what is it? It looks like something off a Duel Monsters card." Torina instantly brightened up.
"It's the symbol for light," she replied. "And it is on a lot of Duel Monsters cards- do you play, Yugi?"
"Play?" asked Joey. "Torina, this man is a champion!" Torina bit her lip again, then her eyes widened as a bright light filled them.
"Wait a second- your the Yugi Moto and Joey Wheeler? From the Duelist Kingdom?" As Yugi and Joey nodded, Teá noticed that Torina's excitement seemed genuine, but it also seemed to be hiding something. "That is so cool!" Torina continued. "I really wanted to participate in the tournament but... my uncle wouldn't let me." Yugi was about to ask why she wasn't allowed to be in the tournament, when he got a good look at her necklace. Like he had noticed before, it was a charm on a large chain- a gold diamond with the same designs as his Millennium Puzzle.
"Torina, your necklace," he said. "Is it a Millennium Item?" Torina put a hand to the charm, then looked at Yugi and shook her head.
"Nope, sorry Yugi," she replied. "A lot of people have thought that and tried to steal it, but this was actually made after the seven Millennium Items."
"What's it called?" asked Tristen.
"Called?" asked Torina. Yugi held up his puzzle.
"Mine is called the Millennium Puzzle," he said, taking note that Torina took particular interest in the puzzle when he mentioned it's name. "Does yours have a special name?" Torina nodded.
"It's called the Millennia Diamond, created by an Egyptian queen, wife of a great Pharaoh."
"Wow," said Teá. "Was it really?" Torina nodded. "How do you know all this, Torina?" Torina smiled. She really liked Teá- she was such a nice person, how could you not?"
"I did some research shortly after I got it. The Queen who had it made was named Hikaru. She..." Before Torina could say more, the bell rang, signaling the students that it was time to go home. Torina bit her lip. "Darn it, I gotta go. Do you guys wanna get together this weekend? I'd love to hear about the Duelist Kingdom and I could tell you more about the Millennia Diamond."
"That sounds great, Torina!" said Yugi. "My grandpa owns the local card shop- we can meet there tomorrow." Torina nodded eagerly.
"Excellent! I'll see ya then. Bai guys- See ya later, Teá!" With that Torina picked up her stuff and skipped out of the room, with Yugi and co. looking on.
"What do you think of her, guys?" asked Teá. "Did she seem a little... well, nervous to you?" Tristen nodded.
"Yeah, I kinda got that feeling," he admitted. "Wonder why that was." Yugi shook his head.
"I've got a feeling that whatever it is, she'll let us know when she's ready." Suddenly Torina rushed back into the room, handed a slip of paper to Teá and rushed back out. Confused, everyone looked at Teá.
"What is it, Teá?" asked Tristen. Teá shrugged, then looked at the slip.
"My cell number," she read to herself. "867-5309. Give me a call sometime! Torina." Teá smiled, then said aloud: "Looks like I've made a new friend."
A short time later, Torina walked into an old warehouse downtown. She had bought the place shortly after coming into town three days ago- a recently acquired building, with the bill paid in cash, would be difficult for her uncle, her 'guardian,' to find, which was exactly the way she wanted it. After what it took to get away, she didn't know what she'd do if her uncle ever found her. But that was the last thing she wanted to think about right now. She'd rather not think about it ever.
She walked towards the back of the warehouse, where a small bedroom type area had been set up, complete with bed, desk, dresser; all the comforts of home- someone else's home. The one she left never looked this causal. Torina set her backpack next to her desk and plopped face up on her bed. She remained there for a second before sitting up and putting a hand on the Millennia Diamond.
"Oh, Hikaru," she said. "What am I gonna do?" Suddenly, the room filled with a bright yellow light. When it disappeared, there was someone sitting on the bed next to Torina... someone who looked just like her, except a little taller- Hikaru, Egyptian Queen and spirit of the Millennia Diamond. She put an arm around Torina's shoulder and held her close in a motherly type hug.
"There, there Torina," she said. "It's not that bad, is it?" Torina nodded, shook her head, and nodded again. "I take it you're not so sure yourself?"
"Hikaru, I met the most wonderful group of people today. They invited me over to sit with them, talked to me like I was an old friend... and this one girl, Teá was really nice too."
"So what's the problem?" Torina sighed.
"They're friends with Torina Peg. If they found out who I really was, they'd never speak to me again."
"You don't know that, Torina," said Hikaru. "These people asked you to sit with them before really knowing you, unlike the others who said they were your friends." Torina knew this was true- everyone else who called themselves her friends only said that because of who her uncle was. Yugi, Teá, Joey and Tristen didn't know who he was, but still, Hikaru didn't know the whole story... yet.
"Hikaru, do you remember hearing about Yugi Moto? From the Duelist Kingdom?" Hikaru nodded. "He's one of my new friends." Hikaru bit her lip, looking even more like Torina as she did so.
"That complicates things a bit, doesn't it?" she asked, causing Torina to grin and give a light chuckle- Hikaru's constant restatements of the obvious always made her laugh.
"There is another thing," Torina said. "But this one is something good."
"And what is that?" asked Hikaru. Torina's grin turned to a full-fledged smile.
"I think I may have finally found your husband." Hikaru looked astonished, her jaw dropping slightly.
"Are you sure?" she asked. Torina shook her head.
"No, but I know one way to find out."
Hikaru was about to say more, when Torina's cell phone rang. Hikaru looked at the phone, then at Torina, a look of worry expressed on her face.
"Don't worry," said Torina. "I changed the number after we left- so Uncle Max couldn't find us. Besides me, the phone company and the school, only one other person knows the number." She reached for the phone and pressed the talk button. "Torina Peg."
"Torina?" asked a voice. "This is Teá."