For Todo. Welcome to Insanity. I have no idea where this is going to go, it may end up jumping around a lot. But I wanted to write something that would last 3-days! So don't blame me if the plot takes a major shift or if there's actually humor or major (yay) angst. Donno. Probably some cross-over stuff depending.

Warnings: Yaoi, multiple pairings. Confusion. Language prob. More yaoi. Random yaoi scenes between "chapters." Oh, and I yell at flamers in below paragraph! Yeahh!

This story makes no sense for awhile, so deal with it. Flame for all I care people, I really don't care if you want to complain about something in this, because there probably is a lot for you to complain about (if you're not a general flamer, please ignore this, I like nice reviewers ^^). You could complain about that fact that there is yaoi in this, even though I said there would be. Blinnndddd! You could complain that you're confused - well, DUH! Everyone will be, idiots. You could complain that this is one straight forward story and not split up for the quality of your eyes, but I'm having it one straight through thing because I'm being nice to a friend and making it easy for her to print off. So neh to flamers!

Disclaimer: Damn…can't leave this out. Would be…inhumane. So ok…I don't own the following anime: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Inuyasha, Cardcaptor Sakura, Rurouni Kenshin, Shaman King, and Tenchi Muyo. Oh, and not .Hack//Sign. Ack…and I don't own the show Sliders either, because I have a feeling some of the show's concept may overlap this, so it doesn't hurt to put it in the disclaimer, ne?

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Unexpected: Part I

When they come…they never stay long. They get what they want and then move off again - into the sky. We….we hide in the forests. Afraid? Maybe. Maybe we do fear everything around us…and yet we don't. We haven't been here long. Three days, and that's enough for me. Ryou was one of the first to disappear, but he wasn't killed…no…they converted him. They did something to him, making him part demon…turning him against me…against us…

"Malik, come on," a voice called out, startling the boy who was dazing off.

Malik shook his head, shutting his eyes and adjusting a leather skinned sack over his shoulder, his opposing shoulder managing to balance a quiver of arrows and a bow over it. "I'm coming, Bakura," he sighed a bit and followed the silver haired through the forest. The trees mocked from all around them, crisp winds tearing warningly through them, causing them to shake with horrid sounds.

"Hurry up," Bakura nearly hissed, his own pace beginning to speed up, head snapping around when a crash rang in the distance. "Dammit…"

"Go," Malik snapped, eyes searching further ahead on their path to a rock like structure, forming a small cave/hole big enough for both of them.

"Malik, no, I'm not -"

"And take this while you're at it," he scoffed, cutting the other off as he tossed the sack to him. "Now, go," he yelled back again, glaring when the other opened his mouth to protest. He heard Bakura growl, but the other moved for safety in the rock structure.

The trees bent away from a shadow it seemed, a griffin shape taking sharp flight through, the trees dying in its wake. Malik slid the bow from his shoulder and readied it with an arrow, closing an eye to try and line up his sight before releasing it, power bursting from the tail of the arrow as it seared into the griffin's neck before Malik readied a second one. He shot again, the same energy filling around the arrow and buried itself into the creature's chest. A screech filling the air like that of a dying bird and the griffin hit a tree, falling from the sky.

Malik smirked in a pleased way, running passed where Bakura had hid, yelling for the other to follow. "We have to get back to the village, Inuyasha may need help."

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"Iron-reaper soul-stealer!" the half dog demon split a griffin in half, landing back to the ground besides a girl before drawing the blade known as Tetsaiga. "Where are they already?! Dammit….arrrr!" he growled, slicing through another of the creatures, watching its remnants falling to the grounds of their village.

"Inuyasha, I'm sure they're coming…"

"They better hurry up already! Sakura wants to do the spell now!"

"We're here already, dog! So quick complaining!" Bakura yelled as him and Malik entered the village. Malik moved help Inuyasha, firing arrows while the half-demon continued to slice-and-dice. "Where's Sakura?"

"The central platform," Kagome quickly told him, watching the other take to running off right away. Her eyes turned to Malik and she suddenly glared, kicking him hard in the shin and grabbing the bow and arrows, "You little thief! These are mine! I needed these earlier!"

Malik scoffed, rubbing his shin as she took over what he was previously doing. "I was only borrowing them…"

"Go help Sakura or someone!" she snapped in return.

She loses her temper easily…Inuyasha informed me of that when we first got here…We as in myself, Bakura, Ryou, Yami, and Mariku. I still don't understand exactly how we got here…we were in Domino City and my sister was going off on her normal everyday predictions. Funny, after awhile we just tone her out. Maybe we should have listened more closely that day, because that night we all went to sleep like normal, myself sleeping with Ryou curled besides me and elsewhere my yami was with Yami…Bakura, well, Bakura was alone. And then we woke up here. Where here was…I still don't understand.

"Here's the skin, Sakura," Bakura muttered as he tossed the sack onto a wooden platform, raising a brow to the girl in a flowing light indigo robe. She glanced to him, hood falling off her head as she shook out her hair, mumbling something about static before kneeling down and opening the sack. Malik stepped up to the platform, crossing his arms with an annoyed sigh.

"You have no idea how hard it was to hunt that full lizard skin," Malik spoke out with a sigh, watching as the girl pulled out a large skin, the scales gleaming in what was left of the sun light, the moon already beginning to rise. They shined a silver, yet golden color and she smiled at them, intrigued.

"Please tell Syaoran and Eriol that I'm ready."

"Oh, right, we're just going to march off knowing exactly where they are and -" Bakura was cut off.

"Right away," there was a glow behind Sakura and they could see a set of silvery feathered wings unfold. Yue stood for a moment, eying Malik and Bakura before taking into the air, flying overhead.

"I see," Malik mumbled, rolling his eyes. He glanced to Sakura who had spread the skin over the platform, blocking out the sounds of death that were growing louder. Inuyasha must be getting pissed by now. He rose his head in the opposite direction at a string of loud screeches. "They're starting to come from the other side…"

"Then we need to hurry," Eriol's voice came as he landed to the platform from Yue's arms, wearing a robe like Sakura's - only black, and Syaoran following him wore one in a forest green. "The moon is rising, prepare yourselves," he stood by one of Sakura's sides, leaving space between them as Syaoran took the other side, Yue standing behind. The moon moved further into the darkening sky, its rays shining down and catching the lizard skin they all stood on.

Malik and Bakura quickly stepped off the platform as a glow surrounded the edges of it. Yue's wings snapped open fully and Eriol and Syaoran exchanged nods. At matching time the brunette drew a sword, eyes narrow and Eriol's hand filled with a golden glow that shot out to form a staff of the Sun.

"Sakura, now," the boy with glasses spoke out loudly, eyes holding to Syaoran.

She nodded, holding her arms out, palms facing one another as her key hovered between them, an aura extending from it, shooting out around to engulf Sakura. "Key with the power of my Star! Show your true form before me! I, Sakura, command you as your master! Release!" a wand extended from the small key and she caught it from its position from the air, swinging the staff to hold out before her horizontally.

An air flickering through the area, Malik's mouth dropped open in shock.

I've seen her summon that wand only once since we've arrived. They say she's a mistress of cards, so to speak. I still don't really understand. Eriol had briefly informed me that she was going to construct a shield and block out all the creatures coming to hunt us…harvest us. Normally, she could call forth a card's power and have it do her bidding, but this is a wide area that her power needs to extend over. So Yue had Bakura and I retrieve that lizard skin they're standing on…it grows in energy by the moonlight. And in the moonlight, Yue and Syaoran are more keen from what I've learned. Eriol is just Eriol, I guess. He has power, he'll use it. I just hope it's enough power.

"They've already started!"

Malik turned his head, briefly seeing past the rising glow to see Yami and Mariku staring in shock. But they were good, they did their best to not interrupt.

"Sakura, what are you waiting for?" Syaoran hissed quietly, extending his sword outward towards her, Eriol did the same with his staff.

She smiled before closing her eyes, lowering her head to have her hair cover over them before an unbelievable amount of power whipped from her body, gathering with all around her and forming into the staff.

"I beckon you forth to save us - Fiery Card, Shield Card! Release by my command!"

Two cards were at the end of the wand, activating in the rage of power, Fiery out first, her body twisting into the air as orange flame danced around her. She smirked with a bit of a giggle, twirling her hand around and with a simple flick of the wrist began to make chicken of any griffons coming her way.

The Shield triggered from the ground up around the village, glowering silver from all of the moon's power going into it. Sakura lowered the wand, wavering tiredly, but held her ground a brief moment. The platform's light died away and Yue's wings folded back as he moved to support Sakura. Her eyes shone brightly, staring up at the shield protecting the entire area, "It worked."

"I knew it would," Syaoran smiled softly, checking over on her. He gave Eriol a satisfied look, gaining a gratified nod in return. "Ruby would have been pleased to know that you thought up another bright idea."

The mage's eyes seemed distant for a moment, Eriol turned. "If only she were here."

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"Hello, hello, and welcome to the ending of chapter one! Chapters will be short, but all merged together as one file (which in the end isn't true)…sooo…it's only right to have a break between each chapter," ShadowSpirit gave a nod, hands clasped together as she smiled brightly. "I actually have a plot for this. Surprising, huh? Can't believe I came up with one."

She strode over to a machine on a back wall. "With the help of Muse Torture Institute, we've been able to create a machine that chooses the characters for the authoress and/or author. There's a list on the wall besides the machine with character names and a number besides them, right now there are twelve Yu-Gi-Oh characters. All you do is set into machine how many numbers you want to have come out," sets it to two. "This could turn out good or bad…for me I'm selecting two numbers for a yaoi scene between the characters…now, I must mention that some of the times this machine chooses, I have to ignore because Mokuba, Shinkou, and Anzu are here. May be an exception, but that's if luck chooses them."

Quickly hands out miniature lists to the guests. "Here, so you know I'm not pulling your leg - it's the list of characters and their numbers."

Yuugi (1), Yami (12), Ryou (8), Bakura (7), Malik (2), Mariku (6), Seto (5), Mokuba (11), Otogi (10), Anzu (3), Shinkou (9), Honda (4).

"I'm very sorry if I missed a character you cared about. These are all I feel like dealing with. Now, when I pull the lever, two numbers will appear on that big digital screen up there," she pointed to it nonchalantly and shrugged. "It allows the lever to be pulled three times, one choice must be selected. Luckily, this machine is so nice that it knows I can't use Anzu in a yaoi scene, so anything with her number will be disqualified and I can pull again."

"Now - to the lever!" pulls heavily on it. "Our first two numbers are 4 and 10! Otogi and Honda appear on the list first. Second numbers…ah….6 and 3...doesn't count." She gave a sigh, beginning to think Anzu rigged the machine. "8 and 3, 8 and 9, 11 and 3.…jeez…" pulls again. "Yay, not Anzu. 5 and 1. Yuugi and Seto appear to the list. And final time…ha, poor Yuugi. 12 and 5. Yami and Seto." She gave a long stretch. "I select the last one - prepare for your Yami and Seto intermission scene! Prideshipping away!"

((Don't worry, the rest of the in between stuff will jump right into the yaoi bit.))

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"It's a nice day out."

"If you like rain, I suppose."

"There never was much rain in Egypt. Certainly no snow…Yet I've grown use to that substance…This rain is nice though. Relaxing. Stress free."

"No stress for you anyway. My life is about stress, and standing on the ledge of my building isn't much help," blue eyes stared down, looking over Domino City from where the two of them stood. The drizzle of rain really wasn't bad, his hair was hardly damp by it and they've been standing there for at least ten minutes. Surprisingly, Seto Kaiba's eyes were not cold to say the least, they were softened - something the world has been seeing more of lately.

"You won't jump, will you?" the question was nervously asked. Crimson eyes turned to stare at the other, worry evident. Yami and Seto were atop the Kaiba Corp building and for no apparent reason either…they just wanted some fresh air…and the streets of Domino with the many people around the main landmark…who would get peace and quiet down there?

"Jump? What on earth made you think I would jump?"

"You said you were stressed…." Yami trailed off, then shook his head with a chuckle, "Yeah, I couldn't see you jumping. Hmm...maybe you'd want to get away from me?" Yami gave a playful smirk, Seto's response came in pulling the former pharaoh against him.

"Right, of course, Yami. If I wanted to 'get away from you,' I would have just pushed you over the side instead of jumping myself."

The shorter boy rose an eyebrow and stared up at the other.

"I'm kidding."

"No you're not," Yami emphasized, half glaring at the other until Seto's lips were on his.

"Like hell I want to be away from you," Seto mumbled against their brief shared kiss, somehow they still managed not to fall off the building. It was getting slippery out with an increase of rain… His attention was caught when his lover cried out and he blinked, turning in a rapid motion to grab the other's arm and drag him over to the main part of the roof before he fell.

Yami leant into Seto, glaring all the while at the spot he nearly slipped off of. "I'm sorry," Seto murmured, staring over at the spot as well.

"Why are you sorry?" Yami blinked back over to him.

"Think I jinxed you," he caught Yami's confused look and smiled shortly, "was thinking about the rain making it more slippery out. And then you slipped."

"Oi…Seto…don't think things like that…you'll get me killed."

The CEO couldn't help but laugh. A good, natural laugh. Yami enjoyed those so much…his Seto had changed greatly over the last few years from the bitter, cold hearted and alone self, to this…Someone to love. Still mysterious and still holding to parts of his old self…but he was open…and caring. Yami took the pleasure of being part of what changed the other.

"So, was I a good priest?"

Yami was taken by surprise from the sudden question, "What?"

"Was I a good priest to you. In Egypt."

"Er…" he tried to word his next sentence as best he could, "Well, eh, you know I don't really remember much of my past…" he trailed off before giving a nervous laugh, "But I do remember one time you tried to kill me."

"…………"

"Sure you didn't mean anything by it, of course," Yami prodded Seto, raising a brow when the other looked down darkly at him. He gulped slightly, backing away and stumbling on a puddle, falling into it. He didn't care about the water…it was Seto who was worrying right now, the other stalking towards him and towering above. "S-Seto…?"

"Love…" Seto smirked, kneeling down, still keeping the dark and cold gaze.

"………Seto…are…a-are you ok…?"

"I'm…." he suddenly smiled, grabbing the other's shoulders and chuckling, "Just fine, love, just fine," he made a playful gesture before leaning down fully and kissing the eeping other hard.

"You little - you tricked me!" Yami gasped, struggling a moment, but finally let Seto seduce him all over again. How dare the other try to act like killing him and then take the chance to kiss him! If I was still Pharaoh, I'd never let him get away with this. Ah…but thank god I'm not Pharaoh ^^.

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Eriol seemed upset and I saw Syaoran cringe, following after the other in worry. I'd went up to Sakura, asking what that was about and who Ruby was. She said that she was one of Eriol's guardians and before we had arrived, she was captured much like Ryou was. Out of curiosity I wondered if they had been going out like Ryou and I, but she only laughed. I was expecting Bakura to throw something at me to shut up at that point, but when I turned around he was gone. Yue said something about Inuyasha.

"Eriol and Ruby going out? God, that'd be horrible!" Sakura continued with soft giggles, leaning slightly against Yue still for…support.

Yami and Mariku approached at that point, a small animal on Yami's shoulder now awake and looking to Sakura. "Sakuraaaaa!!! You did it!!"

"Kero! You're ok!" she cheered happily, moving away from her moon guardian over by Yami and picking up the small creature into her hands. She danced slightly while holding him, a bright smile over her face. Her sun guardian, Keroberos, had been out with Spinnel Sun (Eriol's sun guardian), trying to fight off as many griffins as they could. They'd done a good job, but Spinnel had returned with Kero on his back, injured. It took a bit, but the two guardians had finally managed to revert to their masked forms - smaller versions of their true lion and panther like selves. Sakura was ecstatic to see her little friend conscious.

"What were you saying would be horrible?" Mariku blinked, crossing his arms.

"If Eriol and Ruby had been going out."

Now Yami was left confused, "And…that'd be horrible why….?"

Sakura stared at them both as Kero weakly flied up and landed in her hair to rest. "Because," she started, "Syaoran would have killed Ruby," at their stares she sighed and threw her hands up, "You're all blind! Syaoran has a major crush on Eriol!"

"He had a crush on me as well at one point…" Yue absently added.

Sakura childishly stuck her tongue at him, "One, he technically had a crush on Yukito - not you. And two, he was drawn to your power. If you went by power, he should hate Eriol like he used to…but he doesn't, this isn't some fluke again," she crossed her arms to the taller guardian, sulking slightly when he rolled his eyes at her. "Fine, don't believe me."

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"Is he going to be ok?" Bakura blinked as Kagome laid Inuyasha down, who was absently curling around a wound.

"Oh brother," the girl kicked the demon-dog in the side lightly, "He's just striving for attention. That piercing is healing as we speak, it's natural for him. He'll be fine by morning," she scoffed, glaring down at the other. "Inuyasha, stop whining and toughen up. Oh, and a little gratitude would be nice."

"You didn't do much than what you normally do," the demon gave up his groaning, it meant nothing anyway. Kagome was right, his wound was healing pretty fast for having a claw go through his body.

"Hn," she kicked him again - rather hard. "Well then, Inuyasha, next time I'll just let you suffer alone," she walked out of the hut.

Bakura stared after her from where he sat, raising a brow. "You two are good at fighting."

"Yeah," Inuyasha grunted, "It's her own fault though."

"Oh really?"

"Of course."

Bakura sighed, "Whatever, I'm going to go get some shut eye," he stood, moving for the exit of the small hut.

"What? I'm not good enough for you to hang around with?" Inuyasha almost pouted and Bakura snorted, almost in disgust.

"Hell no. Maybe in your dreams."

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A smile was on Bakura's face as he rolled over, his bed surprisingly very comfortable. Where'd they find such nice mattresses? And blankets and sheets too….couldn't even afford to make real houses, only small pathetic huts…but all this…? Wait, that's not right, Bakura thought as he rolled over, snuggling deeper into the comforters nevertheless. I fell asleep in hay. Not very warm hay either. His nose twitched, picking up the smell of dog and making a rather loud and annoyed sound. "…The heck is that smell…?"

"Man, thanks for the compliment," a soft growl came from someone nearby.

Bakura's eyes snapped open and he stared straight ahead at a white wall.

"I thought you finally got over how my hair smells after a shower? Dammit, well, it's not my fault. You took the last of the scented shampoo."

"W-What…?" Bakura finally sat up, arm rubbing over his eyes before he lowered it, eyes widening when he saw someone standing before a mirror. The form was, as much as it frightened Bakura, dressed in simple black jeans and a deep crimson long-sleeved shirt. He could see a long trail of silver hair past the other's mid-back and at the top of the head, two ears poked out from the hair. The form turned to face him and Bakura almost fainted, "What the hell is going on here?! Where am I?! Why aren't you dead yet?! How did you heal so freaking fast?!"

Inuyasha blinked at him, slightly offended, "Excuse me? One question at a time maybe?" Bakura's glare showed that none of the questions would be asked again at a slower rate. "Whatever. You're home - where else? Why am I not dead? I'm not that old, idiot! And it's not like I have anything to heal from. Jeez, what's with your sudden attitude? Don't tell me you went out with Otogi to go drinking or something again."

Otogi… Bakura shook his head, trying to wake up, "This is some nightmare!"

"Yeah, thanks. At least call me by a demon like you normally do," Inuyasha scoffed.

Still, the other was completely distressed. Why was he here? In a normal seeming home with….with…..INUYASHA! "Where's Otogi…I need to talk with Otogi…." Even though Otogi never was with any of us in the FIRST place…dammit…

"Fine. At least go change," the half-demon grumbled, crossing his arms and watching the other get up, shaking his head at how confused the other looked. "Do you want help?" he rose a brow, slightly taken aback by the other's glare and internally sulked, opening a drawer of clothes and grabbed something for the other, throwing them at him and pointing to where the bathroom was.

Bakura caught the clothes…black jeans like Inuyasha and a deep blue shirt, teal overcoat. Hey, haven't seen that thing in awhile… He sighed and went into the bathroom, closing the door and leaning against it. It was a simple bathroom, though there were a few shelves on a wall that caught his attention. "Impossible…" he dropped the clothes and moved to look at the shelves, noting an array of different pictures spread out along it. One of him…tackling Inuyasha as they rolled down the hill, another of what seemed to be them in a very close staring contest. There was one with Otogi and someone else sitting on a car and waving and finally one with what seemed like…(Bakura shivered) him and Inuyasha sharing a kiss, but both waving hands out to block the camera.

"Where……where did these come from…?"

Bakura had finally changed and stepped out silently, not looking at the surprisingly patient other. "Please, I really need to see Otogi…but I doubt he can help me…"

Inuyasha kept silent, showing the other the way downstairs and out the house into normal everyday streets. No forests, no huts…it seemed like a much smaller town than Domino… He sighed. But it wasn't Domino. He knew it…but all he could do was follow Inuyasha right now…

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"Anna, open this damn door already, you little witch!" Inuyasha growled, banging a fist on the front of an old fashion Japanese house.

"Go away, dog! No pets in here! Go around back!"

Bakura blinked at the voice that yelled back and Inuyasha sighed, leading him around to the back of the house to an open yard, an odd pit in the center with some kind of crystal covering it and a table atop that. Two people were sitting at it, neither one of them were Otogi.

"Hey, Yoh!" Inuyasha called out and one of the boys glanced up, dropping a few cards he was holding in the process.

"Hmm…? Oh, hey you two. What's up?"

"'Kura wants to see Otogi."

Bakura mumbled something to himself about the sudden nickname, but said nothing loud enough for anyone to hear.

"Ah, right, I'll go get him. Come on, Inuyasha…you can torment Anna," the black haired boy calmly chuckled, strolling onto the short leveled deck while the half-demon followed him, snickering.

Bakura was left alone with the other boy who sat at the table still, gathering up all the cards Yoh had left behind. Cautiously, he approached the table, focus off slightly as the other seemed to glare and study him. "…Something wrong…?" Bakura asked, trying to sound casual.

"You don't belong here."

Bakura blinked, "How'd you realize that?" and then he came closer to the table, almost excited that this other may actually know what's going on. "Can you help me? I don't know what's going on, I woke up and I was here, and a few days before that I was somewhere else…I keep…I don't know…" he trailed off, confusing sinking deeper.

The boy flashed up a stack of the long cards, "Have you seen these before?"

Bakura froze and stared at the cards, opening his mouth to say something, but could think of nothing for a short time, "Where'd….you get those…?"

"They were here this morning," the boy handed them to Bakura who sorted through them. "We sensed some sort of magic in them, but couldn't figure how they really worked. Anna said she would work with them in a moment. She's good with this sort of thing. Have you seen them before?" he asked again.

"….Yeah….yeah I have…"

On the top of the stack, lay the Fiery and Shield cards. Sakura cards.

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"You ok, Inuyasha? You look depressed…" Otogi watched the other carefully, standing over besides Yoh.

"Bakura….has forgotten who I am. He woke up this morning shouting questions of where he was and why I wasn't dead," the demon-dog murmured, lowering his head slightly, ear drooping. The other two blinked at the other, never having seen their friend so…upset.

Otogi wanted to say something, but Anna stepped into the room, a sharp glare on her face, "I said no pets!" she promptly began to push the three outside, her beaded necklaces clicking together as she walked. "Everyone out!" yet she stayed outside as well, moving over to the table. "Any luck, Ren?"

"Not really," the boy mumbled and then stood up, jabbing a finger in Bakura's direction, "but he's seen them before. Maybe they're where he comes from."

"He's from here, Ren!" Inuyasha insisted.

"I don't know what happened with your Bakura, but he's not it."

"Give me those," Anna moved towards Bakura, snatching the cards from his hands and scanning them over before sitting down at the table and spreading them out over it, eyes closed. "There are spirits in every one of these…not ghosts…but magic spirits, possessing…strong power…" Anna murmured, clenching her eyes shut a moment as she led both hands over the cards as if waiting for one to call out to her. Attention was drawn more to her when she made a protesting sound, one of her hands seeming bound in the air over one of the cards, the card glowing brightly.

Ren blinked and leant over, reading the card's name aloud, "The Snow?" he blinked and noticed Anna was struggling and himself and Yoh quickly dragged her away from the table. "Anna?"

Her breath came out ragged as she stared, hand shaking and eyes wide, "T-That…." quickly she shook her head, shaking the current thought off. But the magic she had felt wouldn't leave her be - her body was pulled up to stand, the beads glowering and being drawn towards the table. Otogi moved to try and help the other's hold her back, but Bakura merely stepped to the table itself, almost forgetting about his Sennen Ring and allowing to materialize into view, trying to use its power to stop the cards.

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We've been searching for Bakura all day…I don't understand it! The Shield is still active, he couldn't have been taken! My yami thinks Bakura hated us all and left, I wanted to hit him but Yami told me not to. Sakura has had the Fiery and the Wood outside making routes, trying to find any clue of where he may be.

I don't know what to do. Kagome and Inuyasha were the last people to see him and Inuyasha had the very last look. Said something about Bakura saying he was going to bed. The inu was not happy at all, he'd been ranting most of the day saying that if Bakura had stayed watch over him - then he wouldn't be gone. Sounds selfish, if you ask me. Then again, they're both ignorant, they belong together. Oh well. Not my problem if they're blind.

Ever since the Shield has been up, none of the griffins have tried to…er…eat us. That's a plus. We don't want Sakura to waste anymore magic until absolutely necessary.

"Still no luck…" Kagome sighed, sitting down besides Inuyasha. They had a bonfire going not far from the village center, actually it was really just an everyday thing. They had bench-type seats circling the entire fire set up. No one normally got burned.

Inuyasha sat with crossed legs, sulking.

"Are you still blaming this on yourself…?"

"No," he only scoffed, but Kagome smiled at how untruthful his answer sounded.

Malik approached them quietly, watching the flames flicker. It was relaxing, he supposed.

We were even more worried now. I was standing with our group of "mages" (Eriol, Sakura, and Syaoran which kind of included Yue, Kero, and Spinnel) and one of Sakura's cards activated itself. The Snow card…it was kind of odd. The spirit was acting very neutral, but seemed like she was wishing to say something. I didn't get it, I felt left out for my only source of power being the Sennen Rod. So…I wondered off. And here I am by Kagome and Inuyasha. They say they have other friends that aren't here - I don't believe them. …Who'd want to be their friends?

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"What is it…?" Sakura stood before the card's spirit, trying to communicate with the white kimono dressed being. "You must have come to tell me something….this isn't normal…" her eyes glanced back to Yue and Kero, beckoning for help…but both guardians were just as clueless. She looked back to The Snow. "Please, do something. I don't understand."

"Mistress…"

Sakura jumped to full alert. The card rose with color for a moment, arms opening from their idle position in in front of her. A blue-crystal gem hidden by her hair slightly flickered with energy and the spirit continued to speak. They all listened carefully. It was a bad sign when Eriol didn't even follow what was going on.

"I am…distressed, Mistress."

"I see. But why…?"

"Someone is trying to awaken my soul in another time, another place. And it is not you, nor Master Clow."

Eriol blinked now, "What? That's not possible."

"It is, Lord Eriol. I have made mental connections with The Return, who informs me that this happening has not occurred in the past, but it is going on in the future. The Time was briefly able to say that he could see a familiar form from here trapped in the future."

"….Who…?" Sakura mouthed, but had an idea already when the card was able to form of the Sennen Ring in snow. "Bakura?" she questioned more to herself and then voiced louder, "Was it Bakura he saw? One of the people who randomly arrived here recently?" the card's spirit nodding in response. "…But….how did he get in the future…?"

"My apologies, Mistress. I do not have the answer to that neither do any of the others." With that the body glowed and Sakura caught the card that flew into her hand. She sighed, returning it to her pocket and looking to the others. "So Bakura isn't here. But the future. ...Wait until the others hear about this…"

************************

"Master! Wait up! Master, why are you bothering with them…? It's not like we can get in! They have that….that…protecting thing up!"

"Quiet, Jaken," the form snapped, looking over the cliffside and down towards the guarded village, The Fiery still standing watch, though she was being rather lazy now. The figure straightened after tearing one of the front talons of a griffin from the dead corpse. He closed his eyes, focusing his mind to relax as the talon melded with the rest of his arm. "It will do for now," he sighed, briefly cursing his brother for slicing off his real arm. But that seemed….so long ago….Pretty soon he'd have enough ingredients for a spell to reincarnate his original arm.

"Lord Sesshoumaru…" the small demon whined again, still wanting an answer, but the other just began to find a way down the cliff side. "…Do you really know what's going on…?"

"Yes - to an extent. Now once again, Jaken. Be. Quiet."

The small toad like being instantly did so, following along in silence.

************************

"Excuse me, Inuyasha?"

Whoever just interrupted my nap should pay. But then again, it was Syaoran and he was leaning on his sword. Hn, he wanted to talk with Inuyasha anyway. Not me. So now I'll just pretend to sleep because good luck to me if I can fully get more shut eye.

"What?" the inu growled, turning his head towards the boy who rose a brow in return.

"What's taller than you, has longer hair than you, is older than you, and has what we believe to be a tail?"

"Your mother?" Inuyasha snapped in annoyance, earning hit over the head from Kagome. "What?"

"Wrong. One more guess."

"A personal bodyguard you hired so I don't ring your neck here and now?"

Syaoran frowned, "Wrong again."

"Dammit, you!" Inuyasha moved to stand finally, ready to attack the other, but Kagome held him back.

"It's your brother."

************************

"How could I leave out Sesshoumaru? That's like suicide, seriously. Ah, does Sesshoumaru HAVE a tail. I thought he did at one point, and I heard someone say he did…but…I don't knowwwww," she shrugged. "To the lever then. This fic I think really is mainly a crossover of Yu-Gi-Oh and Inuyasha. Hope no one has much of a problem with that. And heh, Bakura and Inuyasha as a pairing? Aw, come on. It could work," she pulls the lever. "2/1, 12/7, 8/10. 8/10 it is. Welcome to Ryou/Otogi - Minorshipping. In Otogi's PoV, by the way."

-----------------------

When I moved to Domino, I was of course entitled - the new kid. No surprise there, another slave to the school in these stupid school outfits. I hate them, really I do. Horrible fashion. Anyway, I tried to give myself the title of Loner, I acted it anyway, even after my whole "humiliate Yuugi" fiasco where they all said they'd be my friends. And after all we've been through - I still feel alone. The only one remotely noticing my existence was Honda, and that was to argue over Shizuka. I finally told him he could have her, I don't want her or any girl for that matter.

It seems when I came here though, someone already had the title of Loner…Ryou Bakura. I sometimes felt like we were dueling for the title - who could look the most pathetically alone. I think he won, not because of how he looked…but because whenever I looked alone, people would act like my "friends" and try to cheer me up. No one comforted Ryou, they just ignored him.

Was it because of his yami, maybe? Ever since they've both somehow been revived from the Shadow Realm (Yami did some "tricks" and made Malik and Mariku help), most have left Ryou alone. They all know that his yami is with him… But they don't see it. They don't see that Bakura is really a softy, I only do because I watch Ryou so much. Us loners have to look out for one another, right? I suppose then that wouldn't make us loners. Oh well.

I think Ryou and Bakura are really like siblings, though I have seen Bakura kiss his hikari every so often…I believe…I assume…I hope that they're just kisses meaning, 'I'm sorry I've done this to you. I'm sorry you're alone.' That kind of thing. That's what I've gathered anyway.

"You've got a problem?" I stared down from the tree I was stretched in, raising a brow to see and agitated Bakura standing there, Ryou absently looking bored nearby.

"Not at all," I keenly answered, jumping down, leaning towards Bakura's face and he snorted when I spoke, "Just enjoying this scenic day." I smiled and brushed passed them. I glanced back to see the spirit roll his eyes before joining back with Ryou. Yep, I'm the only one who sees them together like this. I feel special, I guess.

The next day, a Saturday I might add, I headed to a small café in a quiet part of the city. There's this….thing going on there I've been debating about, finally decided I would just go and give it a shot. Some kind of "match up and discuss your problems and why you came here" thing. Might as well try, right? Can't hurt me any more.

I stepped into the café right before they started, not a bad turn out. Ah…and…Ryou is here. How…er…interesting.

I slid in and sat in the back, not wanting to interrupt the woman pairing off people. There were still quite a few others around when she pointed to Ryou, I watched him stand and quickly ducked my head down, trying to stay unnoticed.

"And…you back there, the late one."

I distantly cursed. She could have at least left out the fact that I was late. Then again, I made it exactly on time. "I wasn't late," I murmured before looking to the table Ryou was seated at and moved to sit across from him. "Um, hi." Great, I sound nervous. Or stupid. Or both. Aw, jeez, I'm and idiot to have come here!

Ryou blinks at me softly, a bit confused I take it. "Why are you here?"

"Well, as that's what we're supposed to talk about, I guess I should tell you, na?" he blinked again, but said nothing and waited for me to start. How respectful Ryou, thank you very much. "See…I guess I feel alone, even with Yuugi-tachi…yet I kind of want to be the loner, but I feel like I'm competing with someone all the time just to get that title…"

"Competing?"

"Yeah," I could see he was ready to say more, maybe ask with who. Sorry, Ryou, rather not disclose that bit of information right now. Going to have to cut you off, "So why are you here?"

"Huh? Oh, right. Despite the fact that Bakura suggested it'd be a good idea., it's kind of the same reasoning…without the competing. Then again…maybe I am competing to be a loner and just don't know it? I don't know," yes, Ryou. You are competing with me and don't realize it. I'm sorry, I don't mean to stress you… "Ever since I came back from the Shadow Realm…" he trailed off and I bit my lip. This may be a painful topic for him…dammit.

"You don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to…" I pointed out, just so he doesn't feel bad.

"No…it's really not that bad…" he sighed. Sure it's not that bad, of course. "It's just, I think everyone tried to push me away from them. They were…afraid…"

"Not everyone," I murmured. He seemed to acknowledge the comment with a smile. "I blame Bakura."

"But he's not that b -"

"I know he's not bad, I don't blame him for that. I blame him for acting like an asshole around the others when he really isn't one. I've seen him and you together. He seems such a softy," the other chuckled softly at that, a bit louder when it seemed something clicked it his mind. I'm not sure what. "Are…" I paused, thinking if I wanted to ask a question where the answer could frighten me, "Are you two…a couple?"

"Bakura and myself? Heh, no. We're like brothers. Nothing more than that. Why….were you worried?"

I blushed, but quickly shook it off, hearing him chuckle as I muttered, "No."

He changed the subject for me…how nice. I don't like this topic much either, Ryou. "So who do you feel like you're competing with?"

"You…really want to know?" a nod was my response and I sighed, "You."

"Me?" why…does it sound like he expected me to say him? Ah, whatever. He's as confusing as hell sometimes. "How long have he felt rivaled with me?"

I crossed my arms, "Since I moved here…"

"Ah."

"Ah? That's all you can say is 'ah?'"

"Well," he began, "since I know, Bakura knows, and…heh…you know that you've been stalking me, there's not much else to say," I stared blankly at him from his comment. He smiled brightly. I feel really set up here and not by Ryou either.

I rose my arm a bit over my eyes when a flash of gold encircled the other, catching a brief sight of the ring before it settled down fully. I lowered my arm to look into the eyes of Bakura, the supposed dark spirit.

"Really, do you take me as a fool?"

I blinked, "Not…exactly."

"You act it," he hissed. Chill off, man…that temper is unnecessary. It wasn't much of a temper anyway, just him being him. I've gotten used to it, even though I don't really talk to him much. I just feel like I know him and Ryou better than anyone else.

"…Ok?"

"You're around us all the time, just admit it. You like my hikari."

Can't lie to him. He'll know 'd be lying and he is capable of killing a person. I sigh and lowered my head a bit, not hearing the body across from me move. "All right, all right. It couldn't have been that obvious…but yes…I like your hikari…I…I like Ryou."

I was being hugged after those words, blinking and seeing the seat across from me empty. I shifted slightly, mouth opening when it was Ryou who released me, not Bakura. Dammit, they can switch control way too quickly. He kissed my nose and of course - I blushed.

"I like you too, Ryuuji. I mean…I had a feeling you liked me…but I was…" he paused, looking down, "I was too shy to ask you, so Bakura set it up… "I think he assumed you were coming here. And how he actually got that woman to pair us together, I'm clueless," he glanced to the ceiling and I rose a brow when he looked back with a nervous chuckle. "Never mind. But I got my answer."

I smiled to him, I was happy, seriously I was. A bit agitated that Bakura set me up, but it got my Ryou…so why should I care. I stood and softly embraced him, resting my head in the other's hair. He continued to speak to me, despite how much closer we were, "So are we still loners?"

"We're loners that stick very close to one another."

************************

"Sesshoumaru?! WHAT?!" Inuyasha practically fell over at the news he received. "Why the hell is he here?! That good for nothing brother of mine!"

Malik jumped at the loud, outraged voice Inuyasha suddenly took on. He looked up, shocked as the other stocked off, drawing the Tetsaiga which grew with strength. He cursed all the while of walking off, Kagome quickly following him.

Syaoran sighed, shaking his head. "Needed to tell him we found Bakura too…or at least know where he is. Hn, impatient demon…"

"Wait, you found Bakura?" Malik looked up at those words. "Well then, where is he?"

"Somewhere in the future. That's all we know."

"Gee, that's so helpful."

"At least he's not dead."

"Hn."

************************

The Shield was the only thing separating Sesshoumaru and Jaken from Sakura, Eriol, and now Inuyasha and Kagome. Yami and Mariku had gotten the news about Bakura and collapsed to sleep - having been searching by foot longer than anyone all day. Amusingly enough, Spinnel and Kero followed them to sleep and they hardly moved a wing today.

"Why are you fucking here?!" Inuyasha yelled, very short tempered at the moment. He did not want to deal with his older brother right now. That included fighting…or talking.

"You should respect Lord Sesshoumaru! He's suggested to give you all information, but you don't deserve it!" Jaken snapped, growling and looking through the almost transparent shield, though there was a pale green glow to it.

"Information?" Sakura blinked, curious.

"Yeah, you will probably give information saying, 'Tetsaiga is mine, I'm going to kill you for it now!'" Inuyasha mocked, imitating his brother poorly on purpose. He waited for the other to bite out a reply, but none came and Inuyasha fell quiet.

"What kind of information?" Kagome suspiciously asked after the younger of the two brothers calmed down in a sulk.

"About how we all ended up here," the demon finally spoke casually. "None of us are native to this land. Some of us have merely been here longer than others…" he shot a glance to Sakura.

"I'm letting him in," Sakura sighed.

"No, don't! If you lower the barrier, we'll be mobbed with griffons!" Inuyasha stumbled. What was she thinking?! This was probably his brother's plan all along! He probably sided with those things and was trying to get them to lower The Shield so they can feast! Inuyasha's attention faded slightly. I see he found himself another new arm.

"I'm not lowering answer," she sighed, summoning forth her wand and drawing a card. "If you try anything…" she was going to saw more, but merely ending up in shaking her head, flicking the card free from her wrist as it met the end of her staff. Those around her backed away a bit. "Release - The Through!"

A bolt of light and a decently sized fairy immediately formed from the card, sensing her mistress's wishes and passing through The Shield, and grabbing Jaken and Sesshoumaru, pulling them through the barrier and in with the others. The card's spirit gave a bit of a spin and Sakura nodded in gratitude, taking the spirit back as a card and slipping it away from view. She stared over at her wand and then to Sesshoumaru…she would have to risk it… The wand reverted back as the Star key necklace and she placed it around her neck, watching the demon carefully. "You will tell us everything."

"Or I will slice off that new arm of yours, showoff. I'm assuming you killed that griffon alone for that arm," he sheathed the Tetsaiga and glared at his brother, waiting for the other and Jaken to follow the others to one of the larger huts, designed for a group of people to lounge in. Inuyasha took up the end, keeping and eye out.

"Inuyasha, did Syaoran tell you?"

"Tell me what?" he blinked up over to Eriol. The only thing Syaoran told him was that his brother was here, and that was painful to his poor inu ears.

"We know Bakura is alive, he's in the future or something, but alive nonetheless."

"Good," was all he answered. Sesshoumaru was here. Couldn't let his older brother pick on him about anything else.

************************

Bakura winced when the power of his Sennen item was pushed away, the air beginning to whip around them, focusing on the table and then to a specific card. Oh no… Bakura thought as energy burst out and the card shifted to its spirit form. The Snow.

The figure looked around and Bakura expected that she was confused, but when she floated towards Anna and helped the girl to stand, Bakura was a loss for words, "Mistress, are you all right…?"

"She's not your mistress…" he started, immediately receiving the card's glare. "Your mistress is Sakura, not her.."

"Can you quiet him up, Mistress?"

"Eh…excuse me…?" Anna blinked and The Snow directed her to the rest of the cards. She glanced to the other's before moving to the table, watching a finger from the card's spirit point to a specific one. Anna picked it up and blinked a bit, rather confused, "The Silent?"

The card's power jumped to life, color swarming out towards Bakura. He blinked and stepped back, only to feel someone tackle him away from the streams of light, hitting that form instead. Bakura winced, looking up to see it was Inuyasha who "saved" him.

The half-demon let Bakura up, dusting off slightly and glaring over at Anna.

"Inuyasha, are you two all right…?!" Otogi called over to them. He watched as Inuyasha's lips moved…but no words came out. "Um, Inuyasha…I can't hear you…" It looked as though afterwards that Inuyasha was beginning to swear - but no one heard anything.

"What just….happened…?" Anna turned to The Snow, but the spirit had already formed back into a card. Can I…use these…? She smirked, chuckling and holding out her hands, "If I can wield you, give me a sign," and the cards did so, every one of the rising and forming a circle around her. She smiled and gave a soft laugh.

Bakura stood up, pointing angrily at Inuyasha as he glared darkly at Anna, "Give him his voice back!"

"What are you talking about, Bakura?" Yoh blinked, trying to follow what was going on…but nothing was making any sense! He muttered something before leaning against Otogi, earning a headache from the thinking he rarely did. Ren also seemed rather lost and simply kept quiet, dragging the other two into the house.

"Let's not get involved," was all he said at their glances. "I don't want to deal with Anna right now and the other two can fend for themselves."

"I only did what the cards wished me to do…which was to make you shut up, but Inuyasha was foolish and moved in the way."

"That power is not for you! You won't be able to control it!" Bakura growled, already watching the girl's eyes darken out while she scanned the cards that encircled her. Inuyasha stood beside him, glaring all the while, yet sulking because his voice could not be heard.

"Control?" she smiled, "I can control it. Allow me to demonstrate…" she faced one of the cards and plucked it from the circle, looking to the other two and showing them what it was: The Thunder. It glowered from her touch, ready to release upon command.

"Where's Tetsaiga?!" the only thing on Bakura's mind.

Inuyasha looked at him like he was insane. Tetsai-what? He shook his head, showing that he was confused. "Tetsaiga! Your sword! Dammit, Inuyasha…this isn't funny! She's going to….to….barbeque us!"

************************

"Now. Explain," Eriol demanded once everyone was sitting, the others all joining them now. Sesshoumaru stood in the center of their circle, calmly waiting a bit longer before starting.

"Does anyone know anything about parallel universes?"

Most responded with a no, though Eriol said he sort of did and right afterwards Syaoran said he did as well. Questionable gazes looked to him and he quickly shrugged, "…Just from movies thought." And no one bothered to explain to the demons what exactly a movie was.

Sesshoumaru waved them off and continued, "I've come to the conclusion that there are worlds parallel to wherever everyone here comes from, but the walls holding back the worldly connections seem to be torn down. My suspicions are that the beings on this world are the ones who did it."

"You're saying that there are multiple versions of one world, all in different times and realities, is that right?" Yue spoke out before anyone else could, the information seeping into his mind quicker than the others'.

"Exactly," Sesshoumaru commented, "and we'll most likely continue to phase through the other worlds until we're back on our own. Even so, the cycle may continue to go on ever once you are home. What needs to be done, what we need to do…is to decapitate this race and find a way to phase through worlds to our will and a way to replace the barriers…"

Inuyasha's laughter broke over Sesshoumaru's voice and Kagome promptly hit him over the head. "Kagome, don't he see? He's asking for help! He needs us, US!" everyone stared at Inuyasha as if the demon were insane, Sesshoumaru simply seemed bored, and it was Jaken who spoke out in anger.

"Lord Sesshoumaru is trying to be of help and here you are mocking him!" The toad-like demon made an irritated sound and turned for the exit of the large hut, cursing the laughing brother of his master all the while.

"Jaken," Sesshoumaru's voice made the demon stop and look back around. The demon eyed his small follower, eyes signaling his to stay before his eyes narrowed in on Inuyasha, "Do you like it here?"

"Eh…what…?" the younger brother finally stopped cracking up, looking back to the other. Sesshoumaru refused to repeat himself. "No, of course not."

"Then brag after we're off this world. The only reason I'm giving information and…seeking help in this is for we have the same enemy at the moment, dear brother," Sesshoumaru mocked the last part and Inuyasha pouted slightly, seeming to mumble something. The older demon chuckled and played his next sentence from his tongue with a light sneer, "What was that, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha growled to himself, but answered louder nevertheless, "We'll help you," he paused and glanced around at some of the wary expressions pointed towards him. His ears twitched slightly before he sighed, "I will at least."

It's not like any of us wanted to be on this…world. It seems whatever Inuyasha and Kagome have against this…Sesshoumaru, they'll put it aside just to get home. I guess I'll help…better than sitting around and waiting until those beings come and try to eat us. They do NOT want us here, that's obvious…

"How hard can it be to take down a load of griffons?" Malik spoke out of his thoughts, trying to brighten the situation. Sesshoumaru met his eyes with a serious glare.

"Griffons? You're worried about griffons?" Malik nodded slowly to the question and was surprised at the full demon's short laugh. "Those griffons are mere pets. I've only seen one or two of the real beings behind this, I suppose they are demons…Winged-demons, terrible beings really. They can take someone they wound and make them one of their own."

Mariku watched and nearly cringed at the sudden distant expression that framed over his hikari's face and sighed. Ryou, that's who Malik's mind fell back to. They were hardly here for long and Ryou was taken from them…Mariku shook his head, arm circling around Yami and holding the former pharaoh close to him, resting his head into the mass of the other's hair. "Do you want to help?" his lover eyed him and rose a brow. Right, it had been a stupid question, Mariku should have known better. He eyed over towards the two inu brothers. "We'll gladly be of help."

Sakura and Yue had been discussing over the matter, finally coming to the conclusion that their services would be of great appreciation. Eriol and Syaoran already had agreed, so it seemed by that point everyone (including Kagome) would try to get to their goal…

To go home.

************************

Dammit. I wanted it to be one, straight story. But at the point that I finished this part, it's now the 23rd, and though I had to get this done on the 26th, it won't cut it…I would need to be done typing on the 25th, as I still need to edit everything. So I figured this would be an all right spot to stop. When I start Part II, it will start with a yaoi scene - which will actually be the same scene as last time, but through Ryou's PoV.

It'll be more humorous, trust me. Well….yeah, because it has the mental link between Ryou and Bakura in it. I hope you've enjoyed this so far Todo! I think this basically just covered the background of the story, this most likely will end up being a VERY long piece of work…Oi. At least I've started TPYGM's next chapter, but it's at school…so I can't work on it over the weekend -.-;; I'll try and update other things for your amusement, I won't post this until the 25th. I hope.

Only made half way through with editing, sorry all XD