Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! and/or Harry Potter.
Chapter 2
Meetings
"Have you packed everything?".
"Yes.".
"Light clothes for the day?".
"Yes.".
"Your coat for the night?".
"Yes.".
"All those cleaning stuff in your bathroom?".
"Yes.".
"The knife I gave you in case you need it?".
"It's under my belt.".
"The Ring?".
"Under my shirt.".
"The Eye?".
"In my pocket.".
"Your Ka deck?".
"Along with the knife.".
"Your Dia-Dhank?".
"It's called Duel Disk. And it's in my suitcase.".
"Whatever. Your Tarot deck?".
"In my handbag.".
"Any dolls in case we need to trap someone?".
"Also in my handbag.".
"Water and something to eat?".
Ryou paused and turned around to face a worried-looking Akefia. "You're acting like a over-worried mother and whether I have something to eat or not is the last thing you ask?", he deadpanned.
"I'm not acting like an over-worried mother!", snapped Akefia flushed with embarashment.
Ryou smiled softly. "Sure you aren't.".
The Thief King pouted. "I'm not.".
The boy rolled his eyes at the spirit. "Anyway, food and water is also inside my handbag.". After that, Ryou threw his cell phone in his bag, grabbed his luggage and headed to KaibaCorp.
Meanwhile, at the Kame Game Shop…
"Yugi, it's time we left! We are going to be late!".
"I'm coming, Grampa!".
Atem showed up in his spirit form next to Yugi. "Are you ready, Aibou?", he asked.
"Hmmh!", nodded Yugi enthusiastically. "I can't wait to see Ishizu-san and Malik-kun again. And Bakura-kun will be there as well!". Yugi was very happy that Ryou would be with them. All the times before he was left out of Yugi's group because of the spirit of the Ring, but now they could all hang around each other just like they always wanted.
"I am a little worried about Bakura though.", spoke Solomon, following the conversation between Yugi and the Pharaoh. During the battle in Atem's Memory World, the gang had found out that Grampa was the Reincarnation of Atem's Royal Advisor, Siamun; just like Kaiba was the reincarnation of High Priest Seth. It was a big surprise for everyone when Solomon had revealed that he could always see the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle.
Yugi had guessed what his grandfather was thinking. "Yeah. It's the first time he will meet his father in years! Must be awkward…!", he laughed nervously.
The three got out of the shop, Solomon, locking the door behind them.
Atem frowned. "I am more worried about Bakura's father.".
Yugi sighted. He knew what his other half was talking about. "Akefia-san isn't that bad.".
"I would beg to differ.", replied Atem stubbornly.
"Oh come on, Mou Hotori no Bokou! Ryou likes him! That says something!".
"Now now Atem, Yugi is right. You should be more lax with the young lad.", added Solomon cheerfully.
Atem scowled. He didn't like when he was losing an argument.
"Hey Yugi! Wait up!".
The trio stopped. "Joey! Honda-kun! Anzu!", beamed Yugi. Then he noticed something. "Em, guys? Why haven't you got your luggage with you?".
"We couldn't.", replied Joey. "Anzu and I will go vacation with my sis to America with Rebecca, Duke and the others…".
"I will go vacation with my family…", continued Honda.
"But we came to see you off!", beamed Joey.
Anzu winked at him. "Remember, our friendship is strong no matter how far we are.".
"Always with you, pal!", concluded Honda.
"Thanks, everyone!", cheered Yugi.
And with that, the gang headed to the Building of the KaibaCorp.
It wasn't too long till they arrived.
"Good morning, everyone.", greeted them Ryou.
"Good morning, Bakura-kun!", greeted Yugi. "How are you?".
"I'm fine, thank you.".
"That's good to hear, Bakura-kun.", said Solomon smiling.
"Thank you, Mr. Motou.", replied Ryou with a soft smile on his own.
The five friends continued chatting happily until Kaiba and Mokuba showed up. "Looks like you're in time.", said Kaiba. "I wouldn't like it if you weren't.", he added with his usual cold manner.
"Hey, watch it, money-bags!", barked Joey.
"Hm!", huffed Kaiba with a smirk. "It appears that the Mutt and the Geek Squad won't be joining us.".
"I'm not a dog!".
"Oh, how sweet!", moaned a raspy voice in ancient Egyptian with a mocking manner. Akefia had taken control of Ryou. His wide smirk exposed his fangs, creating a very creepy result. "The High Priest is sooo sad that his cute little puppy won't keep him company…".
Kaiba send the Thief King a murderous glare. "Shut up, you peasant.", he growled in a very dragon-like manner, completely oblivious to the fact that his reply was in the same language as the one that Akefia had used earlier.
"Please, I was always far from a peasant. Your personal supplies had made sure of that…". And it was 100% true.
"Hm! You could never touch anything from my belongings.".
"The guards would beg to differ.".
"That is only because you are always using your dirty tricks to-".
"Em, Ni-sama?". Kaiba, hearing his brothers voice, snapped back to reality, only to see that everyone was staring at his weirdly.
Kaiba quickly regained his composure and pushed his brain to switch back to Japanese. "Ronald!", he called his personal assistant.
The tall man with the suit and the black sunglasses ran immediately to his boss' side. "Yes, Kaiba-sachou?".
"Take their luggage and load them on the jet.".
"Yes sir!". The man grabbed everyone's suitcases and with surprising strength he vanished into the building.
"Follow me.", instructed Kaiba. Akefia gave control back to Ryou, and the five – or was it seven? – people headed into the skyscraper, the goodbyes of their friends breaking the silence of the early morning hours.
In Egypt the time was 11 o'clock at night, and the darkness had found Dr. Andrew Bakura sitting alone in his hotel room in Cairo. Ryou will be here tomorrow, was the thought that he was pondering in his head. This would be the first time he would see his son in over four years.
He wasn't sure how to feel about that.
Dr. Bakura could easily recall the small encounter he had with Ishizu Istarh a few days earlier, when she had informed him of his son's arrival.
Andrew was sitting at his office at the digging site, ready to renew his application asking for permission to begin the project at the village of Kul' Elna. He couldn't understand why they wouldn't give him permission; they said that he was chasing fairy tales, but he was sure that there was something there.
"I see you are working as hard as always, Dr. Bakura.".
The blue haired egyptiologist raised his head to face the last person he wanted to see in at this moment – or any moment, for that matter. "Ishizu Istarh.".
The ebony-haired woman smiled at him, her usual I-know-something-that-you-don't smirk playing in her lips. "Good evening, Mr. Bakura.", she greeted him politely. "It appears that the Antiquity Board has not approved of your application.".
"It hasn't.", confirmed Andrew, focusing back to his papers. "But I will push them and I'll have approval by the end of the week.".
"Oh. really?", she aked eyebrows raised. "I take it than that you are not planning to stay to Cairo during summer.".
"No, I don't.". Dr. bakura knew that she was trying to drag him away from Kul' Elna. His son's letter fleshed through his mind for a moment, but he pushed it away.
"That is such a shame.", commented Ishizu, not sounding sorry at all. "You see, this summer my brother Malik took the liberty to invite some of his friends and their relatives over here in Egypt to spend the holiday together. It happens that the retired Professor Solomon Motou is among them. I believe that you have heard of him.".
Andrew remained silent. Of course he had heard of him; the retired archeologist who was the first person to ever enter the Tomb of the Nameless Pharaoh and come out alive. Where was Ishizu getting at?
"I have met his grandson, Yugi.", continued the woman. "He and Ryou are classmates at Domino High.".
Andrew slowly turned his gaze to Ishizu, who was looking at him with serene eyes… and an amused smirk. "Malik invited both Yugi and Ryou to Egyot. He had invited the rest of their friends too, but unfortunately they couldn't come. I have convinced Mr. Seto Kaiba to take the responsibility to bring here the two along with Professor Motou to the Cairo airport. They will arrive at noon in three days. Of course, I have paid all their expenses.".
Andrew froze. "W-What did you say?", disbelief dripping from his voice. "Ryou… will be here!?".
Ishizu's smirk widened. "Yes. Your son accepted the invitation right away. My brother said he sounded very enthusiastic about it.".
Andrew said nothing. He tried to slow down, to stomach the information…
…and he still couldn't.
He sighted. Pondering things in his head wouldn't do him any good.
In his own hotel room Bill Wesley was writing a letter to send to his family in England.
"Dear mom,
How is everyone doing? I haven't heard of you guys for quite a long while!
I'm sorry, but I can't come to England this summer. A muggle archeologist named Dr. Bakura is starting that project at the village of Kul' Elna, and the Goblins ordered me to aid him. They believe that there might are various hidden magical treasured there.
I must say that I agree with that. There are many weird rumors about that village in the magical community here in Egypt, and I am more than excited to go. Oneof the muggle superiors, Ishizu Istarh, is against me going with them, but we'll see how it turns out.
However, I'm not really sure that Miss Istarh is a muggle. There are many rumors about them in the wizarding community here, and the goblins also know their name. I don't think that the Istarhs are working with You-Know-Who, but I will stay to find out more.
As for me, I'm all good! I still keep my good reputation as the customer-bringer to Gringorts, and all that thanks to style. No, I haven't cut my hair yet. Send my love to everyone back home! Write back soon!
Your son,
Bill.
P.S. Send my love to Fleur as well.".
Bill used a drying spell on the parchment and folded it. "Acio Galleons, Sickles and Knuts!". He gathered the coins and started counting. "I just hope they are enough…".
"Thank Goodness, we are finally here!", exclaimed an exhausted Mokuba. The others wholeheartedly agreed. That was a hell of a flight.
"Remind me not to put you two in the same area for longer that fifteen minutes Ever. Agin.", Kaiba told the two Millennium Item holders. "I won't stand another flight like that.".
"Ni-sama, you were also arguing with Akefia and Atem.", reminded him Mokuba. Seto Kaiba looked at his younger brother full of surprise. Ever since when does Mokuba believe in the tales thrown by the Geek Squad?"By the way, what were you arguing about?", asked the boy curiously. "You were talking in that weird language all the time and I couldn't understand a thing.". Oh. That's why.
Before Kaiba could tell Mokuba that their argument was of none importance, a platinum-haired Egyptian entered the fray. "Hey, everyone, what's up?".
"Malik!", beamed Ryou.
"Hey, Ry!", beamed back Malik, trapping the albino into a friendly headlock. "Ready to spread some havoc?", he asked, a mischievous grin adoring his face.
"Nope. But I am.". The Thief King had taken his Hikari's place, wearing an expression that was almost identical to Malik's, complete with a tint of greed that everyone knew that it meant trouble.
"Don't you dare you try anything, you vandals.", growled Kaiba, interrupting the two. "I've had enough of you lashing out on buildings already.". Malik stared and the CEO in confusion while Mokuba sweat-dropped. What were they arguing about?
Atem, inside his Soul Room, face-palmed. "Three thousand years and the grudge is still on.". Yugi nodded awkwardly.
"Oh, come on Kaiba!", whined Malik. "We won't do anything too bad!".
"That's what I'm worried about…", sighted the Pharaoh.
Kaiba threw the blond and the white-haired thief a cold glare, and turned around muttering something among the lines of 'psychotic criminals' and 'mental yard rejects'. Fortunately, neither of the people mentioned heard that.
"Now now young men,", spole Solomon for the first time, in an attempt to change the subject. "We should all be heading to the hotel.", he suggested. "Everyone must be very tired, right?".
The four – six, depending on how you look at it – duelists nodded. The Yamis were never fond of airplanes and that, along with the far-too-early wake-up call, Kaiba and the Yamis' constant arguing, and the long flight had exhausted them.
"This way, Gramps!", offered Malik cheerfully. The rest of the group grabbed their luggage and followed the blond out of the building.
A pleasant surprise awaited them there.
"Odeon-san!", exclaimed both Yugi and Ryou, the former in joy, the latter in surprise.
"Great.", grumped Akefia in disappointment. "Just what we needed. Someone to supervise me and Malik.".
Ryou sighted. "That's because you two need a babysitter.".
"No, we don't!", was the immediate protest.
Roy rolled his eyes at that, but he was smiling nonetheless. "Malik doesn't seem to have much a problem with that.", he pointed out. And it was true. Malik was at perfect ease with the tattoo-faced man.
The Thief King huffed but remained silent.
Odeon leaded the to a slick, black limo which met an approving look from Kaiba, With Odeon's help, in less than a minute everyone had loaded their stuff at the back of the limo and stuffed themselves in. Odeon took the driver's seat, and the lot went straight to the hotel.
Ryou was staring absent mindedly out of the window.
"Hey, Akefia.", he asked through their mental link. The tomb robber turned his attention to his white-haired host. "Do you think that father will hate me?".
Akefia was taken aback by the sudden question, but he knew he shouldn't be surprised, really. "Tch. You worry too much, Ryou. There is no need to be a nerve wreck.", he replied softly. "Then again…", he mused, making no effort to hide his amusement, "the old man will have quite a lot of questions, with that letter of yours. You even added a death threat in there!", he exclaimed with approval. "Who knew you had it in you~".
Ryou frowned. "I had no other choice. If it wasn't for that now father's soul would have already been eaten by the spirits, either he would had ran into Shadi. Personally, I don't know which one is worse.".
Akefia had to agree with Ryou in that. While he had never gotten to know Shaa-da all too well, it was obvious that three thousand years of yielding to Millennium Items and killing for them had really changed the former member of the Pharaoh's Royal Court. By turning him into a stone-hearted bastard, that is. He changed the subject. "Still, your old man is in for a big surprise! He two-good-shoes son being an active member of the weirdest bunch around!".
Hearing that, Ryou took a look at the rest of the people in the car. Solomon was scolding Marik over how irresponsible it was from his part to begin the Rare Hunters and that he should had found another way to solve his problems (said problem was how to kill the Pharaoh and everyone else the Pharaoh knew), Nalik was trying to blame everything on Mariku (even though most of those crimes were his own doing), Odeon from the driver's seat was defending Malik by saying that running such a large organization was a sign of maturity (too bad this argument was invalid since most organizations DO NOT run on brainwashing), Kaiba was criticizing Malik's methods (he tried to kill you and you criticize on it!?), Mokuba was cheering on his big brother, and Yugi had a glazed look in his eyes; an obvious sign that he was trying to hold back a certain spirit from joining the argument.
"Yep, definitely weird.".
Akefia just had to laugh.
Andrew Bakura was pacing up and down in front of the hotel entrance, ignoring the scorching heat. Ryou will be here in any minute…
"YES, WE ARE FINALLY HERE!". Andrew winced at the loud voice, and he, along with everyone else in hearing range turned around to see the source. There in the distance was standing a blond-haired boy, shouting in Japanese like an MC in a reality show. "Welcome to the Hilton Palace Hotel in Cairo! I am hopeful that you will find the accommodation quite satisfying… Bsides, only a palace can withstand the glamorous presence of a Pharaoh, the King and Prince of Thieves, the King of Games, the King of Ego, and of course myself in all my sparkly glory!". Laughter and protesting followed the statement, as the group approached the hotel gate, ignoring the disapproving stares they were receiving from all directions.
Andrew determinately turned his back. He was not in the mood to deal with a boisterous circus.
However one question from that group was that froze him.
"Father?".
…
"Ryou.".
Author Notes:
1. Some reviewers complained to me about the way I am writing people's names. I am telling you now; English IS NOT my first language. I read all the Harry Potter books in GREEK. And there is no "J" and "G" in that Alphabet. And how am I supposed to know how Crouch is written!?
2. A reviewer told me what he would like to see in the future of this story. I hope you understand that this story IS NOT your typical YGOHP crossover. The plot you gave me is way too ordinary for my taste.
3. I am so grateful about your favs and follows! I would never imagine that one chapter and only would make this story so popular. Every time I saw the new e-emails in my account I felt like in heaven. Thank you so much!
