Small Note

Sakura: I am so happy with my reviews! They keep pouring in and they made me want to type up the next chapter! I am pleased to see everyone is enjoying this story and in this chapter we will find out what happens to Yuugi.

Chapter 3

STARTING OVER

I've found my way back home, but nothing is going right

It was rather difficult for Yuugi to sneak around the tomb and get to the entrance when so many people were working. He would have to hide behind a statue until some of the workers passed by before hurrying to the next hiding place. Adrenaline was flowing through Yuugi's body keeping him moving because he feared getting caught. Just when Yuugi believed he was home free and he walked out of the tomb with no one seeing him, a hand came down onto his shoulder.

Yuugi looked up and to his left to see the main boss of the dig. He wore a frown on his face as he looked down at Yuugi.

"Yuugi, what were you doing in that tomb?"

Yuugi gave a nervous smile. "Sir I have no idea what you are talking about. I was just standing around near the front. I know we are not allowed in the tomb."

The boss sighed. "Yuugi I saw you come out of the tomb." He turned and motioned for Yuugi to follow. "We're going to have to go back to campus and see the dean."

Yuugi swore his heart fell down into his stomach. It was all over for him now.

As the two walked toward one of the jeeps, he saw the two boys who had gone down with him smiling and waving at him. He glared at the two, before getting into the passenger seat. 'How could I let them set me up like that?' Yuugi thought as the boss started the car and drove through the desert.

The four hour drive back to the campus was horrible. The whole time Yuugi's stomach was in knots and his heart was beating a hundred miles per minute. When they pulled in front of the administration building, Yuugi felt like gluing his booty to his seat. His boss came around and opened the door for Yuugi. Having no other choice Yuugi got out and walked the death march all the way to the dean's office.

The dean wasn't a strict guy, but if you broke the rules he wouldn't be afraid to lay the law down. He was a guy who was big on rules and enforced them.

After what seemed like forever they arrived at the door with the words dean's office across it. His boss opened the door and they walked into the small front office with the secretary in it.

She looked up as they arrived and smiled at Yuugi. "Hello there Yuugi, I haven't seen you in a while. Are you here for a visit?"

The boss walked up to her and whispered something. Yuugi sighed and took a seat waiting on his faith.

It wasn't but 10 minutes later that the dean walked out of his office. Another student was behind him and he didn't look happy. Once the student was set free, the dean turned to Yuugi. The dean was a tall elderly man with gray hair and bread. He had bright blue eyes that showed he was a kind and caring man.

The boss of the dig got up from his seat and walked up to the dean. "Sorry to disturb you Mr. Riley, but we had a problem at the dig."

"So what my secretary emailed me was true."Mr. Riley shook his head and gave Yuugi a stern look. "I will have a word with young Yuugi Mutou here while you return to your job site."

Yuugi followed the dean back into his office where the door was shut and he sat in a seat in front of Mr. Riley's desk. Mr. Riley calmly walked behind his desk and took a seat. "I understand from the email my secretary sent me that you were found coming out of the tomb you were observing at. Yuugi you know you are not allowed in those tombs. Why would you do this?"

"It wasn't just me in the tomb sir!" Yuugi argued. "There were two other students who talked me into showing them the tomb."

Mr. Riley sighed. "Yuugi, those boys were never seen in the tomb or coming out of it. We have no way to prove they were ever in there. According to the email, your boss on the site only saw you coming out."

Yuugi looked down at his hands in his lap, his golden bangs covering his eyes. Nothing he said would make things any better.

"Yuugi you had so much promise. If those boys had asked you to jump off a bridge would you do it?"

Yuugi rolled his eyes, which the dean didn't see. "No sir."

"I'm sorry that I have to do this, but I'm going to have to expel you. I can't let you get away with this or others will think they can too."

Yuugi quickly looked up at Mr. Riley with wide eyes. "Please! Don't do this sir!" He felt like crying, but held them back. "I have worked so hard and I don't think I deserve this. I will do anything to make this better."

Mr. Riley shook his head. "It's out of my hands Yuugi. If you wish to come back after a year, your record will be clear and you will be free to start over."

Yuugi slammed his hands down on Mr. Riley's desk. "Start over?!" Those words felt like a knife to his heart. "I was so close to getting my dream job and making my grandfather proud of me."

Mr. Riley pulled Yuugi's folder with all his paperwork out of his desk. "I'm sure your grandfather is proud of you. We will be happy to welcome you back after a year is up. My decision is finally Yuugi and it cannot be changed."

Yuugi moved his hands to his sides as he stood up. He clenched his fist and looked at the dean with pure hate. "I regret ever stepping foot in his place. I could have gone to a much better college then this dump, but I wanted to graduate from the same place my grandfather did." He turned to leave the room and as soon as he got to the door, he looked one more time back at the dean. "Don't expect me to come back after a year is up, so you might as well lose my file. I will have my dorm cleared out by the end of the day. Good day sir." The door slammed behind Yuugi as he left the dean's office.

After returning to his dorm and locking himself in it, Yuugi collapsed on his bed and finally let the tears fall. Everything he knew was falling apart. He looked at a picture of his grandfather on his nightstand. "I'm so sorry grandpa."

It was good Yuugi had a dorm to himself or he might have scared his roommate. Yuugi liked his privacy so he requested a room to himself and was lucky to get it.

"I feel as if my world has come crashing down and I have no idea what to do."

An hour after his meeting with the dean, Yuugi awoke from the tiny nap he took. He hadn't realized he fell asleep until he woke up and saw that his alarm said six o'clock. "I must have cried myself to sleep."

Sitting up in bed, Yuugi looked around his room. There wasn't much to pack so it wouldn't take Yuugi long to clear out his dorm, but the only problem he had was he didn't have any place to go. He came to the decision to not waste any more time and got up to look up some hotels.

Yuugi got his laptop out of his laptop bag that sat under his bed and started it up. Once it was up and ready to go, he started looking up hotels in Cairo. After looking up about ten hotels, Yuugi began to worry. "How am I going to afford a hotel without a job?" He asked himself.

Cairo University had offered a full ride scholarship for Yuugi to attend the school. To make some money on the side for other things, Yuugi got a small job at the campus bookstore, but after being expelled he would no longer be allowed to work there.

He checked his bank account and realized with the high prices of hotels, he would only be able to stay a couple of nights before being kicked out. Not to mention, Yuugi would need to eat.

"I need a place I can escape to, to start over." It was then Yuugi remembered the place that he found by accident.

Vampire City

Working quickly, Yuugi grabbed the phone book out of his nightstand that the University had placed in every dorm. He flipped through the names until he came to the last name Ishtar. It was only one listed so Yuugi knew that had to be the same Ishtars he learned about. He whipped out his cell phone and dialed the number listed.

It rang twice before a woman answered the phone. "Ishtar residence, this is Ishizu Ishtar."

Yuugi took a deep breath before speaking. "Mrs. Ishtar, my name is Yuugi Mutou and I do not want to sound crazy, but I need to know if you are the one who guards the portal in the nameless pharaoh's tomb."

There was short pause before Ishizu spoke again. "May I ask why you are asking me this?"

"I would like to gain citizenship and enter the Vampire city. I need to start my life over."

"I will be happy to help you Yuugi, but I must ask how you learned about the vampire city."

Yuugi began this short explanation about how he stumbled across the portal and meet the king.

"Oh my, you had quite the adventure dear Yuugi. From what you have told me I would presume you live on campus at Cairo University."

Yuugi nodded, and then realized she couldn't see it. "Yes and I've been expelled from the school. I can't afford anything else, but then I remembered what the King told me. I want to start my life over and get things back on track."

"Yuugi if I may be honest with you. The Nameless Pharaoh's tomb is supposed to be off limits to everyone except the Ishtar family. That tomb is under government protection and no dig is supposed to be going on there."

This news surprised Yuugi. "Are you sure? The dig has been going on for two days so far and the University approved of it."

"I will have to have a word with the University because they have broken a very strict contract. Yuugi if you wish to stay in Cairo I can have your expulsion lifted."

For a moment Yuugi's heart felt so much better. He would have a chance to resume his degree without starting over. It was very tempting, but then he remembered how wrongfully the University treated him. They felt the need to expel Yuugi when they weren't even supposed to be there.

"That is a very tempting offer Ms. Ishtar, but I think I will still go to vampire city."

"Very well, I will need you to come to my house to fill out some forms. Do you have any means of transportation to get here?"

"Yes, but Mrs. Ishtar I have a problem."

"What is this problem? Maybe I can be of some service to you."

Yuugi wasn't sure if he could ask Ishizu to help him with his 'no place to live until he got into vampire city' problem. "I told the dean I would be moved out of my dorm by tonight. It will not take me long to pack, but I have no place to go until I get into vampire city."

Ishizu gave a small chuckle. "That is no problem at all. If you like I can give you a room here at my house to stay in until you get into the vampire city."

Yuugi was about to decline the offer because he didn't want to impose, but Ishizu spoke again.

"Before you decline as I have a feeling you will, just let me tell you that we have more than enough room. Also my home has housed plenty of people who were waiting to enter the city."

It sounded pretty nice and Yuugi didn't want to have to spend the night in his truck. "It will not take me but an hour to pack. May I have your address?"

Ishizu gave her address to Yuugi, who quickly wrote it down. They shared a quick goodbye before hanging up. As soon as the phone call was over, he began packing all his things. Yuugi had kept all the boxes he had used to bring his stuff into his dorm when he first arrived his freshman year, just in case something happened and he ended up leaving.

The first thing he packed was all his clothes which filled two boxes. Another box he filled up with all his books and a fourth box was filled with all his sheets and pillows. The last two boxes were filled with other little items he bought with him and some things he got after coming to Cairo. Yuugi never was one for having many material items unless he really needed them.

Yuugi did a once over of the room to make sure he was not leaving anything behind. Once he was satisfied with his little clean up, he put his laptop back in its bag and grabbed both it and his backpack. He went downstairs to the parking lot to pull his truck closer to the door so it would be an easier walk back and forth. After putting his backpack and laptop bag in the passenger seat, he got in the driver seat and drove his truck around to the front.

It took Yuugi six trips to get all six boxes in the back bed of the truck, before he went back into the dorm building one last time to sign out and give the desk lady his key. The lady was surprised Yuugi was leaving, but wish him good luck with whatever he had planned.

Leaving the building, Yuugi got in his truck and never once looked back as he left the University.

It took Yuugi two hours get to Ishizu's house, which was located in a small suburb. The houses all looked alike and Yuugi had to look carefully at the numbers on the mailboxes to get the right house. Each house was a tan color with black roofs and perfectly cut green grass. After going down two streets, he found the mailbox with the numbers 7540 painted in white letters.

Yuugi pulled into the driveway behind two jeeps, which color couldn't be determined because it was dark. He parked his truck and got out. Two people were sitting on the pouch and waved to him. One was female while the other was male. The female stood up and walked down the pouch steps to greet Yuugi.

"You must be Yuugi Mutou?"

Yuugi shook the woman's hand. "Yes and you must be Ishizu Ishtar?"

Ishizu smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She was a beautiful lady with a perfectly tan and curved body that many women would die for. She had long waist length black hair pulled into a ponytail and lovely green eyes. A simple pair of blue jeans and a purple tank top made up her outfit.

Yuugi looked behind Ishizu toward the man who still stood on the pouch. He was dressed in a simple pair of dark blue jeans and a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The man had a really dark tan, green eyes, and most of his head was bald expect for the shoulder length black ponytail in the back of his head.

Ishizu turned her head to the man. "This is Rishid my older half-brother."

Rishid gave a simple bow of his head before turning and going back into the house.

Yuugi looked at Ishizu confused.

Ishizu let out a small chuckle. "Do not worry about him. He is the silent type and will not talk unless spoken to or if he has known you for a long period of time."

Yuugi smiled up at Ishizu. "For a minute I was worried I did something wrong."

"Do not fret Yuugi, for you are a guest in our house." Ishizu turned and began to walk back up the stairs to go into the house. "I will show you to your room so that you may rest for the night and then tomorrow we can get back to business."

Yuugi agreed with that. "But first I need to get my laptop and a box of clothes so that I may change."

Ishizu opened the door to her home. "Rishid will get your boxes for you. Come inside and relax. I'm sure you have done enough for the day and would like to unwind and get your thoughts together."

Yuugi followed her into her home. "That does sound tempting. Do you happen to have any tea?"

Ishizu walked pass the beautiful and spacious living room and into the open kitchen to get a kettle off the stove. "I was just making some for your arrival."

Taking a look around Yuugi found the place nice and cozy. He took a seat on one of the stools in front of the island in the middle of the kitchen. "So Ishizu, what is it you do for a living besides being a guardian?"

Ishizu placed a cup of hot tea in front of Yuugi, before getting her own cup, then joining Yuugi at the island. "I'm mostly the guardian of the portal for Cairo, but since not many people use the portal anymore, I happen to work part-time for the government along with my husband protecting the tombs in the Valley of the Kings."

"You would not happen to know why the Nameless Pharaoh's tomb is only two hours from here and not in the Valley of the Kings would you?"

Ishizu took a sip of her tea. "I happen to know the answer to that. You see Yuugi; it takes a day to travel to the Valley of the Kings. The Nameless Pharaoh's tomb was placed two hours outside of Egypt for two reasons. First reason is because it was a better location and it was easy to get to for people who wanted to enter the Vampire City. The second reason is because the Nameless Pharaoh is not dead, he happens to be the King of the Vampires. It was wise to not place his tomb in the Valley of the Kings since he was alive and it was to keep archeologists from discovering it and going into it. Unfortunately it still happened and you happen to be the one to stumble into the city illegal."

"Wow, I had no idea that the King of the Vampire City was so old and used to be a pharaoh." Yuugi looked down at his cup of tea. "I spoke with the King and he let me come back with no problem. He even gave me a choice to stay there. I wish I had just taken him up on the offer instead of returning."

Ishizu placed a hand on his shoulder. "Do not worry Yuugi, for justice will be served. The current archeologists on the dig and the University will be in trouble for breaking the contract. I'm glad a person such as yourself is willing to leave the mess behind you."

Yuugi gave her a gently smile. "Thank you Ishizu. I only hope I can start over like I want to."

Ishizu returned the smile. "I have a feeling you will be just fine."

Rishid returned from where ever he was a few minutes later and went outside to get Yuugi's boxes out of the truck. Ishizu then showed Yuugi to a guest room where he could rest for the night. "We will sort out everything in the morning and then you will be on your way to a new life."

Yuugi thanked her one last time, before closing the door to his temporary room. The room was small, but it would serve its purpose just fine. There was a twin bed in the middle of the room, its headboard pressed against the back wall with one window on the right side. On the left side of the bed was a nightstand with a lamp and on the left wall was a desk with a chair and phone. On the right wall was nothing but a door which Yuugi knew had to lead to the closet. His boxes, backpack, and laptop bag were pushed off to the side near the closet that would go unused by him.

Letting out a sigh, Yuugi began looking through the boxes marked clothes to find a pair of pajamas to slip on. He was able to find his favorite pair that was light blue with little yellow stars all over them. He had them since he was a freshman in high school and didn't have the heart to throw away perfectly good pajamas even after he grew out of his teenage years. Even when he finally settled down and had a wife and children he would probably still have them.

"Curse my never changing body." Yuugi mumbled to himself as he got ready for bed.

Once dress and ready for bed, Yuugi turned off the light to the room and parted the curtains hanging over the window to let some moonlight in. He then crawled under the clean white sheets and laid his head on his fluffy white pillow that he bought with him. "I hope I can get some sleep tonight after all that has happen."

It was no surprise that Yuugi laid awake for another good thirty minutes, before sleep finally came over him and he closed his eyes. His dreams however were very surprising because they were filled with a certain mask wearing King.

Sakura: Please do not glare, shoot, or throw anything at me. I had to get Yuugi expelled from the University so he would want to go back to Vampire City. It is all part of the story!

Yugi: I should kill you for doing that, but then again it will only get me closer to the King.

Sakura: Why do you want to be close to the King?

Yugi: The King is Yami

Sakura: I never said that

Yugi: (stares at Sakura with wide eyes)

Yumi: Review! P.S. Who thinks Yami really is the King of the Vampires?