The Art of Thievery
By Rosz of the Angel
Disclaimer: i don't own YGO, a'right? ....And i don't know any other language besides English, except for some Japanese, a few French and Spanish, and that's basic'ly it.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
His dad chuckled. "No, Ryou," he said, "they're your new housemates."
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
::Chapter Two::
Back Into the Night
Ryou stared at him. "You're joking, right?" he asked finally.
"No joke," he father chortled, heading for the garage. Ryou sank down into the couch. Did his dad this of his reaction funny? Ryou shook his head, and focused on the more important topic in his head: Houseguests? he thought. "For how long are they staying over?" he asked his dad, yelling.
"Oh, about a year and a month," was his answer.
Yami will NOT be happy, he thought, sighing. It's bad enough when Dad's around, because he mustn't know about Yami. But at least, when he's gone, Yami could roam around the house..
\\Don't use that word like that\\ Yami Bakura said through their mental link, \\You make me sound like an animal.\\
\Sorry..\
\\Better be\\ was his disgruntled reply. \\And when's your father leaving? I want OUT.\\
\Um, this weekend, Yami\ replied Ryou.
\\Good.\\ Pause. \\What will i 'NOT be happy' about?\\
\Uh....\
"NO FAIR!" yelled a voice from upstairs.
"IT IS TOO FAIR!" another voice yelled.
"IS NOT!"
"IS TOO!"
"IS NOT!"
"IS TOO!"
"NUH-UH!"
"UH-HUH!"
"NUH-UH!"
"UH-HUH!"
"NUH-UH!"
"UH-HUH!"
"NUH-UH!"
"NUH-UH!"
"UH-HUH!"
"HAH!!!"
"SHI---"
"WILL THE BOTH OF YOU ~PLEASE~ THE HELL SHUT UP?!?! HONESTLY, I DON'T HAVE THE PATIENCE TO PUT UP WITH THIS EVERY TIME WE MOVE!!!"
The screaming stopped. Ryou sweatdropped.
\\What the HELL was that about?!\\ Yami Bakura demanded.
\We have houseguests\ Ryou mumbled.
\\How old are they? Five years, or what?\\
\Er.... The ones that were arguing, Rosz and Blu, i think, are about fourteen years old. I dunno. And the one that asked them to shut up was about my age.\
\\And how long are the staying?\\
\Erm, Dad said about a year and a month.\
\\Good Ra....\\
Ryou sighed. \Don't worry\ he said, \you can still come out when they're not around.\
\\Hmph.\\
Rosz came down the stairs, and jumped the last the three at the bottom with a thud. "Hey, sorry about the noise," she apologized.
\\Who's the hell's that?\\ Yami Bakura asked.
\Ambre Rosz\.
"Uh, Earth to Bakura?"
Ryou looked at Rosz, startled. "What is it?" he asked.
"Nothing," Rosz said, shaking her head, "Just looked like you were soulless or something, 'cuz i guess you spaced out. Cool.. I didn't think anyone could do that."
Ryou gave her a blank stare. "Do what?" he asked, a bit baffled.
"Uh, you know, look soulless."
"??"
Rosz shrugged. "Nevermind," she said. She looked around, and asked, "Hey, where's the kitchen? Can i get something to eat?"
Ryou nodded. "Sure. The kitchen's there," he added, pointing across living room, where the kitchen was sectioned off. As Rosz made her way, the white-haired girl came down the stairs quietly. Ryou didn't hear her until she said,
"Where's your dad?"
Ryou jumped, and turned around. She was staring at him impassively, her face with the expression like a rock. Ryou shifted; somehow, her eyes made him uneasy. "D-Dad's in the garage," he mumbled, slightly intimidated, "I guess he went out."
Yuriko turned her head slightly to the direction of the kitchen. "Rosz is pigging out in your kitchen, isn't she?" she asked.
"Hey! I heard and resent that!" was Rosz's yell. "Mainly because it's not true!"
"May i go eat something as well? I'll make sure she doesn't clean out your kitchen," she said. Ryou chuckled, and said yes. The girl quietly walked into the kitchen.
\\Who in the name of Ra is THAT?\\ asked Yami Bakura, staring at her intently.
\Haqikah Yuriko..\
\\....Interesting. Hikari, I'm taking over.\\
Instantly, Ryou felt a winter, minty sensation wash over him; his yami had taken over. Now, Ryou found himself in his own soulroom. Knowing that his yami wouldn't give him back the control of his body until he was done, Ryou shrugged, and decided to do whatever he did in his soulroom in situations like these.
Yami Bakura (who i will now refer to as Bakura, just to simplify things) watched Yuriko walk into the living room, holding a can of pop.
"Haqikah."
Yuriko looked at him. "I told you to call me by my first name," she said, slight irritation. Bakura narrowed his eyes at her: No one, and certainly not even some unknown girl, tells him what to do. But he had to pretend to act like Ryou.
"Sorry," he said innocently, inwardly grimacing at said-word and tone. "Habit, you know."
Yuriko nodded slightly. "Anything i can help you with?" she asked.
"'Haqikah'.... that's a female Egyptian first name, meaning 'honest'. How did it become your surname?"
Yuriko's eyes widened in slight surprise. "Oh? You know Egyptian?" That was more of a statement than a question.
Bakura snorted. "Know it? I speak the language."
Yuriko gasped really softly. "Well, excuse me," she muttered, "So do I."
"I'm talking about the Ancient Egyptian language," Bakura said.
"So am I," Yuriko retorted.
Bakura arched an eyebrow. "~Right~," he said sarcastically, in the Ancient Egyptian tongue, "~You're probably refering to that poor excuse of a national language those modern-day Egyptians speak, which is Arabic, you know.~"
"~I'm well aware of that,~" Yuriko replied fluently in the same language. "~Didn't you listen to Rosz? She mentioned we were bilingual.~"
Yami Bakura started. "~How do you know that language?~" he demanded. "~That Ancient tongue has long ago died from modern knowledge! There is hardly anyone who speaks it that well.~" He narrowed his fierce chocolate-brown eyes in suspicion.
"Well, my knowledge isn't modern," replied Yuriko in Japanese, matter-of-factly. "I was taught by my guardian's family, for family business---"
She was cut off by a dark-haired girl, who was about as tall as she was. "Hey, Yuri-chan," she greeted cheerfully, who had just came from the kitchen. She hung her arm around her white-haired friend's--- Yuriko's, not Bakura's--- neck. "Are you telling some family history?" She smiled, but glanced a meaningful look at Yuriko, who gave a half-smile.
"Of course, Rosz," she replied, "We can't remain strangers while we live together."
'Rosz' nodded. She whispered something in Yuriko's ear before making her way upstairs. Bakura had heard her, but made no sign of it. However, he looked curiously after her.
She had whispered softly to Yuriko: "You know the drill: Don't tell him too much!"
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Just as Blu finished unpacking, Rosz entered the guestroom. It was a sunny-filled, spacious room, with a bunkbed in one corner, and another on the opposite side. There was an empty wooden desk between the two bunks. At the foot of each bed were oak-wood drawers (which had six drawers each), whose surface gleamed in the sunlight. On the other end of the room, there was a double door, which lead to a small, but spacious, square, walk-in closet.
Blu closed her duffelbag, which had the Japanese characters (kanta?) for 'Umi no Tenshi'. Her stuff, which was not all of it, was on the lowerbed of on the bunk. The closets doors were wide open, and Blu threw her bag in there. Rosz stood by the door for a while, watching her shorter friend proceed to transfer her things into two drawers of one of the oak-wood drawers on the farthest-side of the room.
((Authoress's Notes: Here's a VERY rough sketch of the room:
______,___,______ {-- wall; the two commas there is the window
|---|,,,,,,,,* +==| {-- '==' are the bunkbeds
|__|,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,[| {-- '[' is the desk
|,,,,,______+==| {-- '+' are the oak-wood drawers
|_*| {---Doorway
The comas "," take the place of space-marks. The '*' by the doorway is Rosz; the other '*' is Blu))
Blu looked up at Rosz. "Guess you'll have to sleep at the bottom," she said, smiling sweetly.
Yuriko had claimed the upperbed of the bunk on the opposite side of the window, and earlier, Rosz and Blu had quarreled loudly over the rights to the other upperbunk. Blu had won. Rosz then had shrugged, and said she planned for that to happen, so she could have the lower bunks mostly to herself. Blu knew better, though, and smirked very smugly, heavily annoying Rosz, who then went downstairs. Now she was back upstairs, and Blu's tone irked her.
Rosz rolled her eyes and flopped onto one of the lowerbeds. She was done unpacking, and sighed in disgust. "Oh, shut it," she muttered. Then Rosz remembered something, and rolled over. Not looking at her best friend, she remarked, "You know, there's something with that Bakura."
"Besides the fact that he has white hair for a Japanese teen, what of it? You find him cute?"
Rosz made a face. "He could've bleached his hair. And, yeah, so what if he is?" Blu grinned wickedly at her. Rosz knew what was going on in her mind, and she blushed lightly. "I do not!" she groaned.
"Suuuure you don't," Blu sang, "Sure you don't have a crush on him."
"I don't," Rosz grumbled flatly. "He's just cute, a'right? Nothing wrong with that."
Blu was still grinning. "You're gettng defensive," she commented, dodging a pillow thrown at her. But then her grin vanished, replaced by a more serious expression. "I thought the archeaologist didn't have a son."
Rosz snapped her fingers. "I know. We were talking about that downstairs, when we were being introduced. I wonder where his mom is."
Blu shrugged. "Work, trip, divorce, died, or walked out: Choose your pick," she stated.
"But onto more important matters: Since our nighttrip to the musuem was all over the news, we can't go back there. Remember, they're expecting a huge catch of valuables back home. How else are we gonna bring in the goods?"
Blu flipped her wavy hair over her shoulder, and then smacked her forehead. "Uh, rob homes, Rosz? Duh!"
"Oh, yeh," Rosz said sheepishly.
"And to think, you're an honor-student...."
Rosz didn't take to this insult well.
*Pow!*
"Hey!" Blu said angrily, recovering quickly from the hit of the pillow that was thrown at her. She quickly retaliated, picking up the pillow and hurling it at Rosz's direction. The taller, yet a few months younger girl growled lightly, "That's it!"
The two waged a full-out pillow fight. Or rather, pillow WAR.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Yuriko stared out the window, eyes narrowed. The archeaologist has a son? That means they won't truly have the house to themselves while the father is gone. No matter; it's poses no problem. The boy doesn't seem to be any harm.
But then again, the keyword was SEEM. She knew better. Her instincts were yelling something about that boy, but she just couldn't place her finger on it. She could -sense- he was a pure, innocent soul, but then, she would sense something else, another presence, weaving into and out, being one, and yet seperate with the boy's soul. Not knowing what it was was so frustrating!
Yuriko buried her head in her arms on the window sill. The boy, Bakura, was like a white-haired angel, but when she talked to him, he reminded her of a white-haired demon instead. (Don't ask; she makes a habit of comparing people to other things.)
Speaking of white-hair.. Her hair was naturally white, with light, silver highlights that could only be glimpsed in the light of the sun or moonlight; preferably in the moonlight. She didn't know exactly why, or how, but her hair didn't shine under artificial light.
Bakura's hair.. Is it natural? He's Japanese, and I've never seen a Japanese person with natural white hair, she thought. Bleached? Maybe he had dark-colored hair, but lived somewhere where his hair was heavily exposed to the sun, like Egypt or Saudi Arabia. But that doesn't explain his pale skin, though..
But that doesn't matter....
Yuriko jerked up, hearing yells and loud *thumps* upstairs. What the hell are those two up to? she thought, frowning.
Something white streak past her. Yuriko saw it pause briefly, and saw a mane of white hair turning the corner. Bakura can run, she thought, running up to catch up with him.
As he reached the stairs, Yuriko was already racing up them, jumping the last two steps none-to-gracefully. She skidded across the bare wood floor, and stopped at the door to the room where her friends were in. Hand on the doobknob, she turned it quietly, without making a sound. She found Bakura behind her, so she placed her finger on her lips, signaling him to remain silent.
Yuriko pushed the door, opening it slightly, and slid into the room unnoticed. Bakura did the same. With Blu and Rosz fully occupied, Yuriko stepped into the open.
Smoothly, she kicked the the door close with a loud slam. *BAM!!*
Rosz and Blu froze.
"Uh-oh," they murmured, hastily trying to hide the pillows behind them, while watching Yuriko scowl heavily at them. She surveyed the room, noting that all their clothes were scattered everywhere.
"I want you to clean up this mess," she told them quietly, staring hard at them with her now bloodred-eyes. Her eyes shifted to Bakura for a split-second, but they focused on the two girls before her. "I would ground you, but there are things to be taken care of at the moment. Consider this as a warning." She strode out of the room, muttering, "What a disgrace you are to the family name."
The two shocked girls slumped to the floor. "I thought she was gonna kill us," Blu breathed, eyes wide.
"For sure," her friend agreed, still breathless from their fight. They look at each other, and then realized the presence of Bakura in their room.
"Uhhh.. Yes?" they asked meekly.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Yami Bakura was still in control of the body he shared with his hikari, and found this whole, though small episode amusing. Figuring any action was over for now, he gave Ryou the control of the body.
Ryou blinked in his soulroom. The next thing he knew, he was in the room his father had reserved from any guests that happened to come by, which such guests were rare. As far as he knew, he didn't have any family relations.
"Uhhh.. Yes?"
Ryou was brought back into the real world. Where was he again? Oh yes, in the guestroom.... He looked around with his chocolate-brown eyes, observing that the bedroom was turned upside-down.
\Yami, what happened?\ he asked through their telepathic link.
\\Ask the immature ones on the floor.\\ answered his dark-half. \\Obviously, they had some sort of fight with the pillows and clothes.\\
That's when Ryou noticed the two slumped figures on the floor, looking at him expectantly. He ran his hand through his long, layered white hair and sighed. Instead of asking what happened, he ran through the memory of his Yami of the most recent events.
\\Who said you could go through my memories?\\ Yami Bakura growled.
\Sorry, Yami.\
"Do you two need help unpacking?" he asked the girls politely. The girls nodded vigorously, and jumped up.
"Yeah! We do!" they said. "Follow!" they added, running out of the run. Bakura followed them downstairs. He saw Rosz pause, taking a scarf and wrapping it around her neck, while Blu waited for her and him to catch up. They went the door.
Rosz shivered at the sudden breeze blowing playfully in their faces. She made her way to a metallic-silver Ferrari. Ryou gaped as Rosz took out the carkeys to the vehicle, pressing the remote button to open it.
"Is that yours?" Ryou asked, still gaping. Rosz looked over her shoulder, grinning. "Nope! It's Yuriko-chan's!"
"How old is she?" Ryou knew relatively nothing about cars, except some information on Ferrari's.
"The car, or Yuri?"
Blu rolled her eyes, and opened the trunk of the car. "Yuri, stupid," she said. "Yuriko-chan's 16," she told Bakura.
"But.." Ryou began.
"Yeh, I know," Rosz interjected. "The legal age here is 18, but Yuriko got her license in the US. But, she had to have it specialized, since we were entering Japan as immigrants. The Ferrari was a present from my family."
"I hope she remembers to drive on the -left- side of the road," Rosz sighed, picking up two boxes and handing it to Bakura. Blu took two, and she took two herself. Rosz locked the car. They went back inside, and up the stairs.
The three set the boxes near the doors of the closet. "We can open them up later," said Blu, eyeing the still-messy room out from the corner of her eye. Rosz nodded.
"Do you need help?" Ryou asked. The girls shrugged. "Just throw the clothes on the bed," Rosz replied, "And we'll do the rest."
Ryou nodded, and helped pick up the various assortment of shirts and jeans, and an occasional skirt, on the floor. Meanwhile, Rosz was inspecting one of the boxes out of the corner of her eye while she was folding the clothes. Strange, she thought, I've never seen that box before. Then, Rosz shrugged. Might be a package from my 'rents (slang for 'parents') at home..
After Ryou left to clean up his own bedroom, Rosz suddenly grinned at her friend and hastily tore (not literally, though) the box open. Her friend looked on curiously. Rosz took out a black-cased business suitcase. Blu turned to her with an interested look.
"Is that what I think it is?" she asked. Rosz nodded.
"Yep! I thought so. My Going-Away present from home!" she said happily. Rosz then peered into the box, and a smile lit up her face. "Hey, look! You got one, too! So did Yuri, for that matter."
Blu took out her present. It was a suitcase much like Rosz's, but instead, it was silver. She grinned excitedly. "Hey, i wonder what we got!"
"Probably something to help us out with our jobs."
"Most likely," Blu agreed. "I mean, when was the last time they bought us something that had to do with our occupation?"
Rosz pretended to think hard. "Uhm.... since never!" she exclaimed with feinted shock and surprise. The two girls burst out laughing.
"So.." Rosz tried to calm herself down. "When are we gonna open these oh-so-kind presents?"
"On our first school night," Blu announced, a sullen tone in her voice. Rosz looked at her, puzzled. "How do you know that?" she demanded. Blu waved something white in her face.
"I found this letter in the box," she replied. Rosz read it:
"To our Lovely little Trio---
By now that you have already read this letter, you may have already been settling in your new abode. We meant to mail this to you sooner, but were delayed by your little 'slip' a the Musuem, which would've proven disasterous. {{Here, Rosz grimaced.}} We hope you succeeded in a'ttaining your targets.
Along with this letter came your supplies for your next 'hunt'. DO NOT OPEN UNTIL YOUR FIRST SCHOOL NIGHT. {{"Damn school..."}} We WILL know if you happen not to comply with our wishes. The cases are rigged with a satellite tracking chips, which will be activated once you open your gifts. But the wait will be worth it. You will enjoy the newest additions to your new supply kit. Have fun.
We have no new exam missions for you yet to raise your current ranking. In the meanwhile, do want you can to acquire more jewels and such. Do NOT steal any hard cash, understand?
Loving You Always,
~Mom, Dad, & Family
PS: We have been informed that you have been enrolled in the local schooling buildings. Rosz and Blu, you have been enrolled in Domino City Junior High School; Yuriko, you in Domino High. We expect you to EXCEL in school. Just because you're in a different country DOES NOT mean you can slack off this school year. You WILL NOT be excused from proper education. Have a fun time at school.
Love you."
Rosz raised her eyebrows. "'Have a fun time at school'?" she repeated in disbelief. "What are THEY on?--- OW!!! What the hell?!" She turned around angrily, and started. "Blu---"
"What?" Blu asked innocently from the other side. "Wasn't me, yanno."
"Then who---" Rosz looked up into Yuriko's red eyes. "Oh shit."
Yuriko scowled. "Yanno, you're face is gonna be stuck like that if you don't stop," Rosz remarked, only causing her scowl to become more deeper. "Shut it," the older girl snapped.
"My, is Yuri-chan lost for words?" Rosz teased. Yuriko growled, and flexed her fists experimentally. Her eyes narrowed.
Blu murmured uneasily, "You're pushing it, Roszi. You're forgetting what she can do." Suddenly, Rosz apologetic, and grabbed Yuriko's arm, pulling her close. (Rosz: Just so we're on the same page.... there's NO YURI/SHOJO-AI in this fic. Thank you.)
"Aw, sorry, Yuriko," she said, grinning. "Ya know it's hardly rare for you to be teased this easily. Something's up, so why duncha tell us?"
The white-haired girl shook her head. "Sorry, it's nothing, you two," she sighed. "It's stress, I guess. On top of our occupation, we now also have to worry about the last thing on our To-Do list: our school grades." Rosz and Blu glanced at each other, but said nothing. So Yuriko continued, "Anything from home?" Rosz and Blu nodded, and handed her the letter, who scanned it. "In the meantime, we'll follow their advice. Starting tonight."
The younger girls jumped up. "What?!" they exclaimed in unison. "For real?!" Then they looked disappointed.
"What's that look for?" Yuriko demanded sharply. Rosz sniffed, and said rather regretfully, "Mom and Dad gave us these wickedly cool gifts, but we can't open 'em til Monday night!"
"So?"
"It would make our jobs a hell lot easier."
"'Easier'? How hard can that get? Honestly, you're going soft," Yuriko snorted.
"Well, so~rry!" Rosz huffed. "Let's just prepare, okay? And what are we gonna tell Bakura?"
Yuriko shrugged. "Say we're gonna fill out some paperwork," she replied carelessly. "Come on, we have work to do."
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
((7:30 pm; 9 hours later))
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The houses on the quiet street stood side by side, while many of its occupants prepared for dinner. A cool breeze swept through the darkening night as, unknowingly, the houses were being watched by a normal-looking black Lexus, which was parked along many other cars on the street. One house in particular was being watched.
Unbeknowst to the residents inside, and everyone else in the neighborhood for that matter, two silent figures scaled the east wall of the house, the darkest side of the house, opposite direction of the setting sun, which painted the sky a light pink against the white, cotton-candy clouds. From the Lexus, two eyes watched these two figures carefully as they disappeared into a window. The watcher spoke into a mouthpiece, which was attached to the earpiece on her left ear.
"Progress?" she asked.
"Ransacking master bedroom," one voice acknowledged. "No interuptions so far."
"Booty?"
"Funny-sounding slang, Sky," the other voice commented. "But we've come across some nice looking piece of jewelry. But you know what they say: 'What has 'bling' may not be the real thing'."
"'Bling'?" questioned the first voice.
"Slang for shiny-ness, i think, Fleur," the voice answered.
"'Shiny-ness' s'not even a real word, Thorn," Fleur muttered.
"More work, less talk," Sky, or Blu, as it was her new codename, chided. "Your time: Seven minutes. Start!"
Fleur and Thorn, aka Yuriko and Rosz, nodded as they made their way around the room with penlights as their only source of light. The room's lighting was turned off, and turning it on might draw some attention, something they did not need. With gloved hands as usual, Rosz went through the drawers, careful not to put anything out of place. One of the signatures of a professional burglary was making sure not to leave any evidence of a break-in; it had to look like there wasn't one in the first place.
Meanwhile, Yuriko went through the large walk-in closet on the opposite side in the window they had to entered, quickly scanning the room once. Without a second glance, the girl, who had her hair in a bun, hidden under a cap, made her way to the shoeboxes stacked in one corner of the room. She opened the boxes, and turned over each shoe. Each time, a piece of jewelry fell out. Why was she not surprised?
"So predictable," she sighed, gathering her load in a stringed-backpack. "Oh well, makes the job easier for me." Yuriko walked out of the closet, just as Rosz finished closing the drawers of a vanity table. She, too, had gathered a load of jewelry in a sack, and now slung it over her shoulder. Just as they were about to exit the way they had entered, Rosz paused, before taking out a ziploc bag, which held a piece of paper.
"Just what are you doing?" Yuriko said, a bit uneasily. Time's almost up..
Rosz took out the piece of paper with a pair of tweezers. "A little teaser," she replied cheerfully, waving the paper with the pronged steel. Yuriko snatched at it by the corner, eyebrows furrowed. She read the short, but undeniably mocking message:
"'Tenku beri much por ur donation of 'bling'. ~Not Urs Truli (No Da?)'."
('Thank you very much for your donation of jewelry. ~You Sucker (Ya know?))
Despite herself, she glanced at Rosz, who took it back and tucked it under a lamp on the vanity table. "Can't you spell?" she asked, amused, before slipping back into the night's welcoming shadows, Rosz following her.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Surprisingly, this only took three minutes and a half. After hitting a few more houses, they returned to Sky, unloaded their goods, and went back to work. Each trip took 10 minutes, on average, each time bringing back jewels from three houses. They stopped after an hour, around 8:30, and returned to their new 'home'. The Lexus wasn't theirs (it was Fern-san's), so they quickly transfered their stuff into the Ferrari before driving the car back to its owner to some disignated spot.
Ryou was in the living room, reading some book he picked from his dad's small library in the basement for some school project. Something on the ruins of some civilization in the Amazon..
The doorbell rang. Briefly he wondered who'd be visiting him at that late in the evening, but then remembered his guests, who went out to do some errands. He didn't give them keys to the house yet.
Ryou sighed, and bookmarked the book, closed it, and opened the door. In stepped Blu, smiling a "hello"; Rosz, who grinned with sparkling eyes; and Yuriko, who had a small smile tugging at her lips, following them.
Each looked particularly pleased over something.
Ryou looked at them. "So, did you finish your business?"
"Hm? What?" Yuriko glanced at him, a bit distracted. "Business? Oh, yeah, sure. We did." The other two girls echoed her after saying a cheerful 'Hello, Bakura!'.
Ryou picked up his book and flipped to the page he was reading. "Uhm, are you going to be attending school during your stay?"
"Daaaaaaa--- OOOW~!!!"
Ryou jumped up, and looked in which the yell came from. He saw in time Rosz lose her footing, and slip down the steps. He walked to her, helping her up. Crap," he heard her mutter, "I forgot all 'bout that."
Yuriko and Blu looked at her, and shook their heads.
"Tita ChiChi was right: you are such a klutz," commented Blu with a sigh. "100%."
"Er, 'Tita' who?" asked Ryou, puzzled.
Rosz looked at him. "My mom," she said cheerfully. "We're Filipinos, see, and we call most adults 'Tita' or 'Tito', be they aunts, uncles, or family friends. Blu and Yuri call her 'Tita Chi-Chi'; 'ChiChi' is her nickname (her real name's MarieFe) among family and friends, just like my dad's nickname is 'YingYing', but they call him 'Tito YingYing'. Other adults are either 'Ninang' or 'Ninong', if they're godparents; 'Lola' or 'Lolo' if they're old seniors, like grandparents."
Rosz started to babble more on terms like 'Ate`', meaning 'older sister', but was cut off by two sharp smacks to the head from Yuriko and Blu. "OOW! Dang it, what was that for?!" she demanded angrily.
"Give Bakura's ears a rest," Yuriko ordered. "Besides, don't waste his time, because he's doing some research."
"Oh?" Rosz peered at the thick, big book in his hand, and read the title, "'Ancient Civilizations of the World, and Their Culture'. Er, interesting, Bakura. Whatcha reading about?"
"Civilizations in the Amazon," was his answer. "I have to write a report on one of them. It's due on Monday."
"What's today again?" asked Blu, who was now at the top of the stairs, "Isn't Thursday?"
"I s'pose," Rosz shrugged. "Why?"
"Three days 'til our school days start."
"Aww.."
"Yeah, I know."
"Um, are you all starting high school?" Ryou asked them.
The girls looked at him, and Yuriko shook her head. "I'm the only one who's going to be in High School; I'm a sophmore. Rosz and Blu are still in Junior High. Since they're still thirteen, they were supposed to be in seventh grade, but instead, they're in eighth grade."
"Oh. Well, I have to finish my work." Ryou sat back down on the couch, and became engrossed into the book.
Once inside their room, Rosz and Blu flopped onto each lower bunkbeds. "Wasn't that fun?" Rosz exclaimed happily. "Wait 'til they discover my card!"
"'Card'?" Blu raised her eyebrows. Rosz nodded her head, and pulled out a copy of the card from her pocket, and gave it to her lifelong best friend. Her friend read it, and grinned. "Cool!"
~*~ ~*~
Friday came and passed, their exploits were discovered, although they weren't deemed the culprits, much less the suspects. Since it was done in another neighborhood, more than ten blocks away, no one would think to look at the street they now resided on. The news were full of it:
"Every single house on the street has reported robberies."
"The most suspicious thing was that only the master bedroom had been stolen of all valuable jewelry."
"It was a well-done job: None of the victims had realized they were robbed, until they began to look for a specific piece of jewelry. When they couldn't find it, they looked for their other belongings, only to find them missing!"
"But the most strangest thing was that none of the victims had left their home the night of the robbery."
"Investigators are wondering, Could this somehow be related to the robbery of the Elemental Jewels Collection at the Domino City Museum of History?"
"How terrible!" exclaimed Mr. Bakura, shaking his head at the news airing on the radio at dinner. "I hope they catch those burglars before they steal anymore from innocent people. Right, kids?"
"Yup," Rosz agreed seriously, as if fearing her own possessions would be stolen.
"Definetely," added Blu with wide eyes, as if shocked as well.
"I have a feeling they won't be stopping anytime soon," Yuriko murmured.
"What makes you say that?" inquired Ryou's father.
"After getting a big load of stolen goods in one night, do you think they'll actually stop?" Yuriko pointed out. "It's more likely they'll stop for a couple of nights, for unsuspecting would-be-victims to let down their guards. Then--- Bam! They'll hit again during dinner time."
"Makes sense," commented Ryou. Within his soulroom, Yami Bakura nodded in approval. This girl really knew how a thief's mind worked. However, why would a thief hit at dinner time? he thought to himself. Ryou echoed his question aloud with, "But why dinner time?"
Yuriko looked at him, studying him. Finally she said, "When the house is empty, the residents would've set on the alarm, something the thieves would have to mind. If the residents were home, having dinner, the security alarms wouldn't be on guard, and it would be easier for the thief."
"And how did you come up with all this?" Mr. Bakura asked, an eyebrow arched. Yuriko just shrugged, saying, "It makes sense, doesn't it? It just so happens I have alot of common sense."
The radio spoke again:
"It's just been discovered that a note was found in one of the victim's house. Authorites have been puzzling over it's message, as they could not figure what it said. It apparently isn't Japanese, and it looks like it's in English, although it seems that the thief is quite illiterate.
After much studying, it was found that the card read: 'Tenku beri much por ur donation of 'bling'. ~Not Urs Truli, No Da?'. In other words: 'Thank you very much for your donation of jewelry. ~You Sucker, Ya know?'. Apparently, the insult was not only aimed at the victims, but it obviously mocked and taunted the police investigation department. Talk about one bold, and humorous cat-burglar."
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Rosz: Phew! Finally done! Sorry it took me two weeks longer than expected! (-_-) I couldn't post it up any sooner, because all week I was moving into my new apartment, and I was settling in. I didn't have access to the Net, so it gave me time to finish this. I'm actually starting on ch4, but it'll probably take me MUCH longer.
(-___-++) Damn schoolwork! And for the first time in my entire academic life, I got a Progress Report. Only students who are failing a subject (which is actually a first for me!) get those kind of reports. And you wanna know what subject I'm failing?!
Yuriko: She's currently failing English/Language Arts (ELA).
Rosz: *rolls on the floor, clutching her head* ELA, OF ALL SUBJECTS!!!
Yuriko: This is really bad news, because she just got a full scholarship for a school, and now she thinks that her teachers will think she's slacking off. (-,-;)
Rosz: *still rolling* ARRRRGH! *stops, and sobs* (T-T) boo-hoo....
Ryou: *walks in* (^^;) um, What's wrong, Rosz?
Rosz: *sobbing* R-R-Ryou....
Ryou: yes?
Rosz: I'm failing ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS!
Ryou: Don't feel bad; most of my classmates don't do well in that class.
Rosz: Ryou, in your case, that's like failing Japanese Grammar.
Ryou: Oh.... *gets his arm hugged by Rosz*
Rosz: *sniff* Not good, not good at alllllll....
Ryou: ^ ^;;;;;;
Yuriko: Please help make my hikari feel better by reviewing. And by reading&reviewing her Clover(by CLAMP)/YGO fic, once she posts it up.
By Rosz of the Angel
Disclaimer: i don't own YGO, a'right? ....And i don't know any other language besides English, except for some Japanese, a few French and Spanish, and that's basic'ly it.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
His dad chuckled. "No, Ryou," he said, "they're your new housemates."
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
::Chapter Two::
Back Into the Night
Ryou stared at him. "You're joking, right?" he asked finally.
"No joke," he father chortled, heading for the garage. Ryou sank down into the couch. Did his dad this of his reaction funny? Ryou shook his head, and focused on the more important topic in his head: Houseguests? he thought. "For how long are they staying over?" he asked his dad, yelling.
"Oh, about a year and a month," was his answer.
Yami will NOT be happy, he thought, sighing. It's bad enough when Dad's around, because he mustn't know about Yami. But at least, when he's gone, Yami could roam around the house..
\\Don't use that word like that\\ Yami Bakura said through their mental link, \\You make me sound like an animal.\\
\Sorry..\
\\Better be\\ was his disgruntled reply. \\And when's your father leaving? I want OUT.\\
\Um, this weekend, Yami\ replied Ryou.
\\Good.\\ Pause. \\What will i 'NOT be happy' about?\\
\Uh....\
"NO FAIR!" yelled a voice from upstairs.
"IT IS TOO FAIR!" another voice yelled.
"IS NOT!"
"IS TOO!"
"IS NOT!"
"IS TOO!"
"NUH-UH!"
"UH-HUH!"
"NUH-UH!"
"UH-HUH!"
"NUH-UH!"
"UH-HUH!"
"NUH-UH!"
"NUH-UH!"
"UH-HUH!"
"HAH!!!"
"SHI---"
"WILL THE BOTH OF YOU ~PLEASE~ THE HELL SHUT UP?!?! HONESTLY, I DON'T HAVE THE PATIENCE TO PUT UP WITH THIS EVERY TIME WE MOVE!!!"
The screaming stopped. Ryou sweatdropped.
\\What the HELL was that about?!\\ Yami Bakura demanded.
\We have houseguests\ Ryou mumbled.
\\How old are they? Five years, or what?\\
\Er.... The ones that were arguing, Rosz and Blu, i think, are about fourteen years old. I dunno. And the one that asked them to shut up was about my age.\
\\And how long are the staying?\\
\Erm, Dad said about a year and a month.\
\\Good Ra....\\
Ryou sighed. \Don't worry\ he said, \you can still come out when they're not around.\
\\Hmph.\\
Rosz came down the stairs, and jumped the last the three at the bottom with a thud. "Hey, sorry about the noise," she apologized.
\\Who's the hell's that?\\ Yami Bakura asked.
\Ambre Rosz\.
"Uh, Earth to Bakura?"
Ryou looked at Rosz, startled. "What is it?" he asked.
"Nothing," Rosz said, shaking her head, "Just looked like you were soulless or something, 'cuz i guess you spaced out. Cool.. I didn't think anyone could do that."
Ryou gave her a blank stare. "Do what?" he asked, a bit baffled.
"Uh, you know, look soulless."
"??"
Rosz shrugged. "Nevermind," she said. She looked around, and asked, "Hey, where's the kitchen? Can i get something to eat?"
Ryou nodded. "Sure. The kitchen's there," he added, pointing across living room, where the kitchen was sectioned off. As Rosz made her way, the white-haired girl came down the stairs quietly. Ryou didn't hear her until she said,
"Where's your dad?"
Ryou jumped, and turned around. She was staring at him impassively, her face with the expression like a rock. Ryou shifted; somehow, her eyes made him uneasy. "D-Dad's in the garage," he mumbled, slightly intimidated, "I guess he went out."
Yuriko turned her head slightly to the direction of the kitchen. "Rosz is pigging out in your kitchen, isn't she?" she asked.
"Hey! I heard and resent that!" was Rosz's yell. "Mainly because it's not true!"
"May i go eat something as well? I'll make sure she doesn't clean out your kitchen," she said. Ryou chuckled, and said yes. The girl quietly walked into the kitchen.
\\Who in the name of Ra is THAT?\\ asked Yami Bakura, staring at her intently.
\Haqikah Yuriko..\
\\....Interesting. Hikari, I'm taking over.\\
Instantly, Ryou felt a winter, minty sensation wash over him; his yami had taken over. Now, Ryou found himself in his own soulroom. Knowing that his yami wouldn't give him back the control of his body until he was done, Ryou shrugged, and decided to do whatever he did in his soulroom in situations like these.
Yami Bakura (who i will now refer to as Bakura, just to simplify things) watched Yuriko walk into the living room, holding a can of pop.
"Haqikah."
Yuriko looked at him. "I told you to call me by my first name," she said, slight irritation. Bakura narrowed his eyes at her: No one, and certainly not even some unknown girl, tells him what to do. But he had to pretend to act like Ryou.
"Sorry," he said innocently, inwardly grimacing at said-word and tone. "Habit, you know."
Yuriko nodded slightly. "Anything i can help you with?" she asked.
"'Haqikah'.... that's a female Egyptian first name, meaning 'honest'. How did it become your surname?"
Yuriko's eyes widened in slight surprise. "Oh? You know Egyptian?" That was more of a statement than a question.
Bakura snorted. "Know it? I speak the language."
Yuriko gasped really softly. "Well, excuse me," she muttered, "So do I."
"I'm talking about the Ancient Egyptian language," Bakura said.
"So am I," Yuriko retorted.
Bakura arched an eyebrow. "~Right~," he said sarcastically, in the Ancient Egyptian tongue, "~You're probably refering to that poor excuse of a national language those modern-day Egyptians speak, which is Arabic, you know.~"
"~I'm well aware of that,~" Yuriko replied fluently in the same language. "~Didn't you listen to Rosz? She mentioned we were bilingual.~"
Yami Bakura started. "~How do you know that language?~" he demanded. "~That Ancient tongue has long ago died from modern knowledge! There is hardly anyone who speaks it that well.~" He narrowed his fierce chocolate-brown eyes in suspicion.
"Well, my knowledge isn't modern," replied Yuriko in Japanese, matter-of-factly. "I was taught by my guardian's family, for family business---"
She was cut off by a dark-haired girl, who was about as tall as she was. "Hey, Yuri-chan," she greeted cheerfully, who had just came from the kitchen. She hung her arm around her white-haired friend's--- Yuriko's, not Bakura's--- neck. "Are you telling some family history?" She smiled, but glanced a meaningful look at Yuriko, who gave a half-smile.
"Of course, Rosz," she replied, "We can't remain strangers while we live together."
'Rosz' nodded. She whispered something in Yuriko's ear before making her way upstairs. Bakura had heard her, but made no sign of it. However, he looked curiously after her.
She had whispered softly to Yuriko: "You know the drill: Don't tell him too much!"
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Just as Blu finished unpacking, Rosz entered the guestroom. It was a sunny-filled, spacious room, with a bunkbed in one corner, and another on the opposite side. There was an empty wooden desk between the two bunks. At the foot of each bed were oak-wood drawers (which had six drawers each), whose surface gleamed in the sunlight. On the other end of the room, there was a double door, which lead to a small, but spacious, square, walk-in closet.
Blu closed her duffelbag, which had the Japanese characters (kanta?) for 'Umi no Tenshi'. Her stuff, which was not all of it, was on the lowerbed of on the bunk. The closets doors were wide open, and Blu threw her bag in there. Rosz stood by the door for a while, watching her shorter friend proceed to transfer her things into two drawers of one of the oak-wood drawers on the farthest-side of the room.
((Authoress's Notes: Here's a VERY rough sketch of the room:
______,___,______ {-- wall; the two commas there is the window
|---|,,,,,,,,* +==| {-- '==' are the bunkbeds
|__|,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,[| {-- '[' is the desk
|,,,,,______+==| {-- '+' are the oak-wood drawers
|_*| {---Doorway
The comas "," take the place of space-marks. The '*' by the doorway is Rosz; the other '*' is Blu))
Blu looked up at Rosz. "Guess you'll have to sleep at the bottom," she said, smiling sweetly.
Yuriko had claimed the upperbed of the bunk on the opposite side of the window, and earlier, Rosz and Blu had quarreled loudly over the rights to the other upperbunk. Blu had won. Rosz then had shrugged, and said she planned for that to happen, so she could have the lower bunks mostly to herself. Blu knew better, though, and smirked very smugly, heavily annoying Rosz, who then went downstairs. Now she was back upstairs, and Blu's tone irked her.
Rosz rolled her eyes and flopped onto one of the lowerbeds. She was done unpacking, and sighed in disgust. "Oh, shut it," she muttered. Then Rosz remembered something, and rolled over. Not looking at her best friend, she remarked, "You know, there's something with that Bakura."
"Besides the fact that he has white hair for a Japanese teen, what of it? You find him cute?"
Rosz made a face. "He could've bleached his hair. And, yeah, so what if he is?" Blu grinned wickedly at her. Rosz knew what was going on in her mind, and she blushed lightly. "I do not!" she groaned.
"Suuuure you don't," Blu sang, "Sure you don't have a crush on him."
"I don't," Rosz grumbled flatly. "He's just cute, a'right? Nothing wrong with that."
Blu was still grinning. "You're gettng defensive," she commented, dodging a pillow thrown at her. But then her grin vanished, replaced by a more serious expression. "I thought the archeaologist didn't have a son."
Rosz snapped her fingers. "I know. We were talking about that downstairs, when we were being introduced. I wonder where his mom is."
Blu shrugged. "Work, trip, divorce, died, or walked out: Choose your pick," she stated.
"But onto more important matters: Since our nighttrip to the musuem was all over the news, we can't go back there. Remember, they're expecting a huge catch of valuables back home. How else are we gonna bring in the goods?"
Blu flipped her wavy hair over her shoulder, and then smacked her forehead. "Uh, rob homes, Rosz? Duh!"
"Oh, yeh," Rosz said sheepishly.
"And to think, you're an honor-student...."
Rosz didn't take to this insult well.
*Pow!*
"Hey!" Blu said angrily, recovering quickly from the hit of the pillow that was thrown at her. She quickly retaliated, picking up the pillow and hurling it at Rosz's direction. The taller, yet a few months younger girl growled lightly, "That's it!"
The two waged a full-out pillow fight. Or rather, pillow WAR.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Yuriko stared out the window, eyes narrowed. The archeaologist has a son? That means they won't truly have the house to themselves while the father is gone. No matter; it's poses no problem. The boy doesn't seem to be any harm.
But then again, the keyword was SEEM. She knew better. Her instincts were yelling something about that boy, but she just couldn't place her finger on it. She could -sense- he was a pure, innocent soul, but then, she would sense something else, another presence, weaving into and out, being one, and yet seperate with the boy's soul. Not knowing what it was was so frustrating!
Yuriko buried her head in her arms on the window sill. The boy, Bakura, was like a white-haired angel, but when she talked to him, he reminded her of a white-haired demon instead. (Don't ask; she makes a habit of comparing people to other things.)
Speaking of white-hair.. Her hair was naturally white, with light, silver highlights that could only be glimpsed in the light of the sun or moonlight; preferably in the moonlight. She didn't know exactly why, or how, but her hair didn't shine under artificial light.
Bakura's hair.. Is it natural? He's Japanese, and I've never seen a Japanese person with natural white hair, she thought. Bleached? Maybe he had dark-colored hair, but lived somewhere where his hair was heavily exposed to the sun, like Egypt or Saudi Arabia. But that doesn't explain his pale skin, though..
But that doesn't matter....
Yuriko jerked up, hearing yells and loud *thumps* upstairs. What the hell are those two up to? she thought, frowning.
Something white streak past her. Yuriko saw it pause briefly, and saw a mane of white hair turning the corner. Bakura can run, she thought, running up to catch up with him.
As he reached the stairs, Yuriko was already racing up them, jumping the last two steps none-to-gracefully. She skidded across the bare wood floor, and stopped at the door to the room where her friends were in. Hand on the doobknob, she turned it quietly, without making a sound. She found Bakura behind her, so she placed her finger on her lips, signaling him to remain silent.
Yuriko pushed the door, opening it slightly, and slid into the room unnoticed. Bakura did the same. With Blu and Rosz fully occupied, Yuriko stepped into the open.
Smoothly, she kicked the the door close with a loud slam. *BAM!!*
Rosz and Blu froze.
"Uh-oh," they murmured, hastily trying to hide the pillows behind them, while watching Yuriko scowl heavily at them. She surveyed the room, noting that all their clothes were scattered everywhere.
"I want you to clean up this mess," she told them quietly, staring hard at them with her now bloodred-eyes. Her eyes shifted to Bakura for a split-second, but they focused on the two girls before her. "I would ground you, but there are things to be taken care of at the moment. Consider this as a warning." She strode out of the room, muttering, "What a disgrace you are to the family name."
The two shocked girls slumped to the floor. "I thought she was gonna kill us," Blu breathed, eyes wide.
"For sure," her friend agreed, still breathless from their fight. They look at each other, and then realized the presence of Bakura in their room.
"Uhhh.. Yes?" they asked meekly.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Yami Bakura was still in control of the body he shared with his hikari, and found this whole, though small episode amusing. Figuring any action was over for now, he gave Ryou the control of the body.
Ryou blinked in his soulroom. The next thing he knew, he was in the room his father had reserved from any guests that happened to come by, which such guests were rare. As far as he knew, he didn't have any family relations.
"Uhhh.. Yes?"
Ryou was brought back into the real world. Where was he again? Oh yes, in the guestroom.... He looked around with his chocolate-brown eyes, observing that the bedroom was turned upside-down.
\Yami, what happened?\ he asked through their telepathic link.
\\Ask the immature ones on the floor.\\ answered his dark-half. \\Obviously, they had some sort of fight with the pillows and clothes.\\
That's when Ryou noticed the two slumped figures on the floor, looking at him expectantly. He ran his hand through his long, layered white hair and sighed. Instead of asking what happened, he ran through the memory of his Yami of the most recent events.
\\Who said you could go through my memories?\\ Yami Bakura growled.
\Sorry, Yami.\
"Do you two need help unpacking?" he asked the girls politely. The girls nodded vigorously, and jumped up.
"Yeah! We do!" they said. "Follow!" they added, running out of the run. Bakura followed them downstairs. He saw Rosz pause, taking a scarf and wrapping it around her neck, while Blu waited for her and him to catch up. They went the door.
Rosz shivered at the sudden breeze blowing playfully in their faces. She made her way to a metallic-silver Ferrari. Ryou gaped as Rosz took out the carkeys to the vehicle, pressing the remote button to open it.
"Is that yours?" Ryou asked, still gaping. Rosz looked over her shoulder, grinning. "Nope! It's Yuriko-chan's!"
"How old is she?" Ryou knew relatively nothing about cars, except some information on Ferrari's.
"The car, or Yuri?"
Blu rolled her eyes, and opened the trunk of the car. "Yuri, stupid," she said. "Yuriko-chan's 16," she told Bakura.
"But.." Ryou began.
"Yeh, I know," Rosz interjected. "The legal age here is 18, but Yuriko got her license in the US. But, she had to have it specialized, since we were entering Japan as immigrants. The Ferrari was a present from my family."
"I hope she remembers to drive on the -left- side of the road," Rosz sighed, picking up two boxes and handing it to Bakura. Blu took two, and she took two herself. Rosz locked the car. They went back inside, and up the stairs.
The three set the boxes near the doors of the closet. "We can open them up later," said Blu, eyeing the still-messy room out from the corner of her eye. Rosz nodded.
"Do you need help?" Ryou asked. The girls shrugged. "Just throw the clothes on the bed," Rosz replied, "And we'll do the rest."
Ryou nodded, and helped pick up the various assortment of shirts and jeans, and an occasional skirt, on the floor. Meanwhile, Rosz was inspecting one of the boxes out of the corner of her eye while she was folding the clothes. Strange, she thought, I've never seen that box before. Then, Rosz shrugged. Might be a package from my 'rents (slang for 'parents') at home..
After Ryou left to clean up his own bedroom, Rosz suddenly grinned at her friend and hastily tore (not literally, though) the box open. Her friend looked on curiously. Rosz took out a black-cased business suitcase. Blu turned to her with an interested look.
"Is that what I think it is?" she asked. Rosz nodded.
"Yep! I thought so. My Going-Away present from home!" she said happily. Rosz then peered into the box, and a smile lit up her face. "Hey, look! You got one, too! So did Yuri, for that matter."
Blu took out her present. It was a suitcase much like Rosz's, but instead, it was silver. She grinned excitedly. "Hey, i wonder what we got!"
"Probably something to help us out with our jobs."
"Most likely," Blu agreed. "I mean, when was the last time they bought us something that had to do with our occupation?"
Rosz pretended to think hard. "Uhm.... since never!" she exclaimed with feinted shock and surprise. The two girls burst out laughing.
"So.." Rosz tried to calm herself down. "When are we gonna open these oh-so-kind presents?"
"On our first school night," Blu announced, a sullen tone in her voice. Rosz looked at her, puzzled. "How do you know that?" she demanded. Blu waved something white in her face.
"I found this letter in the box," she replied. Rosz read it:
"To our Lovely little Trio---
By now that you have already read this letter, you may have already been settling in your new abode. We meant to mail this to you sooner, but were delayed by your little 'slip' a the Musuem, which would've proven disasterous. {{Here, Rosz grimaced.}} We hope you succeeded in a'ttaining your targets.
Along with this letter came your supplies for your next 'hunt'. DO NOT OPEN UNTIL YOUR FIRST SCHOOL NIGHT. {{"Damn school..."}} We WILL know if you happen not to comply with our wishes. The cases are rigged with a satellite tracking chips, which will be activated once you open your gifts. But the wait will be worth it. You will enjoy the newest additions to your new supply kit. Have fun.
We have no new exam missions for you yet to raise your current ranking. In the meanwhile, do want you can to acquire more jewels and such. Do NOT steal any hard cash, understand?
Loving You Always,
~Mom, Dad, & Family
PS: We have been informed that you have been enrolled in the local schooling buildings. Rosz and Blu, you have been enrolled in Domino City Junior High School; Yuriko, you in Domino High. We expect you to EXCEL in school. Just because you're in a different country DOES NOT mean you can slack off this school year. You WILL NOT be excused from proper education. Have a fun time at school.
Love you."
Rosz raised her eyebrows. "'Have a fun time at school'?" she repeated in disbelief. "What are THEY on?--- OW!!! What the hell?!" She turned around angrily, and started. "Blu---"
"What?" Blu asked innocently from the other side. "Wasn't me, yanno."
"Then who---" Rosz looked up into Yuriko's red eyes. "Oh shit."
Yuriko scowled. "Yanno, you're face is gonna be stuck like that if you don't stop," Rosz remarked, only causing her scowl to become more deeper. "Shut it," the older girl snapped.
"My, is Yuri-chan lost for words?" Rosz teased. Yuriko growled, and flexed her fists experimentally. Her eyes narrowed.
Blu murmured uneasily, "You're pushing it, Roszi. You're forgetting what she can do." Suddenly, Rosz apologetic, and grabbed Yuriko's arm, pulling her close. (Rosz: Just so we're on the same page.... there's NO YURI/SHOJO-AI in this fic. Thank you.)
"Aw, sorry, Yuriko," she said, grinning. "Ya know it's hardly rare for you to be teased this easily. Something's up, so why duncha tell us?"
The white-haired girl shook her head. "Sorry, it's nothing, you two," she sighed. "It's stress, I guess. On top of our occupation, we now also have to worry about the last thing on our To-Do list: our school grades." Rosz and Blu glanced at each other, but said nothing. So Yuriko continued, "Anything from home?" Rosz and Blu nodded, and handed her the letter, who scanned it. "In the meantime, we'll follow their advice. Starting tonight."
The younger girls jumped up. "What?!" they exclaimed in unison. "For real?!" Then they looked disappointed.
"What's that look for?" Yuriko demanded sharply. Rosz sniffed, and said rather regretfully, "Mom and Dad gave us these wickedly cool gifts, but we can't open 'em til Monday night!"
"So?"
"It would make our jobs a hell lot easier."
"'Easier'? How hard can that get? Honestly, you're going soft," Yuriko snorted.
"Well, so~rry!" Rosz huffed. "Let's just prepare, okay? And what are we gonna tell Bakura?"
Yuriko shrugged. "Say we're gonna fill out some paperwork," she replied carelessly. "Come on, we have work to do."
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
((7:30 pm; 9 hours later))
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The houses on the quiet street stood side by side, while many of its occupants prepared for dinner. A cool breeze swept through the darkening night as, unknowingly, the houses were being watched by a normal-looking black Lexus, which was parked along many other cars on the street. One house in particular was being watched.
Unbeknowst to the residents inside, and everyone else in the neighborhood for that matter, two silent figures scaled the east wall of the house, the darkest side of the house, opposite direction of the setting sun, which painted the sky a light pink against the white, cotton-candy clouds. From the Lexus, two eyes watched these two figures carefully as they disappeared into a window. The watcher spoke into a mouthpiece, which was attached to the earpiece on her left ear.
"Progress?" she asked.
"Ransacking master bedroom," one voice acknowledged. "No interuptions so far."
"Booty?"
"Funny-sounding slang, Sky," the other voice commented. "But we've come across some nice looking piece of jewelry. But you know what they say: 'What has 'bling' may not be the real thing'."
"'Bling'?" questioned the first voice.
"Slang for shiny-ness, i think, Fleur," the voice answered.
"'Shiny-ness' s'not even a real word, Thorn," Fleur muttered.
"More work, less talk," Sky, or Blu, as it was her new codename, chided. "Your time: Seven minutes. Start!"
Fleur and Thorn, aka Yuriko and Rosz, nodded as they made their way around the room with penlights as their only source of light. The room's lighting was turned off, and turning it on might draw some attention, something they did not need. With gloved hands as usual, Rosz went through the drawers, careful not to put anything out of place. One of the signatures of a professional burglary was making sure not to leave any evidence of a break-in; it had to look like there wasn't one in the first place.
Meanwhile, Yuriko went through the large walk-in closet on the opposite side in the window they had to entered, quickly scanning the room once. Without a second glance, the girl, who had her hair in a bun, hidden under a cap, made her way to the shoeboxes stacked in one corner of the room. She opened the boxes, and turned over each shoe. Each time, a piece of jewelry fell out. Why was she not surprised?
"So predictable," she sighed, gathering her load in a stringed-backpack. "Oh well, makes the job easier for me." Yuriko walked out of the closet, just as Rosz finished closing the drawers of a vanity table. She, too, had gathered a load of jewelry in a sack, and now slung it over her shoulder. Just as they were about to exit the way they had entered, Rosz paused, before taking out a ziploc bag, which held a piece of paper.
"Just what are you doing?" Yuriko said, a bit uneasily. Time's almost up..
Rosz took out the piece of paper with a pair of tweezers. "A little teaser," she replied cheerfully, waving the paper with the pronged steel. Yuriko snatched at it by the corner, eyebrows furrowed. She read the short, but undeniably mocking message:
"'Tenku beri much por ur donation of 'bling'. ~Not Urs Truli (No Da?)'."
('Thank you very much for your donation of jewelry. ~You Sucker (Ya know?))
Despite herself, she glanced at Rosz, who took it back and tucked it under a lamp on the vanity table. "Can't you spell?" she asked, amused, before slipping back into the night's welcoming shadows, Rosz following her.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Surprisingly, this only took three minutes and a half. After hitting a few more houses, they returned to Sky, unloaded their goods, and went back to work. Each trip took 10 minutes, on average, each time bringing back jewels from three houses. They stopped after an hour, around 8:30, and returned to their new 'home'. The Lexus wasn't theirs (it was Fern-san's), so they quickly transfered their stuff into the Ferrari before driving the car back to its owner to some disignated spot.
Ryou was in the living room, reading some book he picked from his dad's small library in the basement for some school project. Something on the ruins of some civilization in the Amazon..
The doorbell rang. Briefly he wondered who'd be visiting him at that late in the evening, but then remembered his guests, who went out to do some errands. He didn't give them keys to the house yet.
Ryou sighed, and bookmarked the book, closed it, and opened the door. In stepped Blu, smiling a "hello"; Rosz, who grinned with sparkling eyes; and Yuriko, who had a small smile tugging at her lips, following them.
Each looked particularly pleased over something.
Ryou looked at them. "So, did you finish your business?"
"Hm? What?" Yuriko glanced at him, a bit distracted. "Business? Oh, yeah, sure. We did." The other two girls echoed her after saying a cheerful 'Hello, Bakura!'.
Ryou picked up his book and flipped to the page he was reading. "Uhm, are you going to be attending school during your stay?"
"Daaaaaaa--- OOOW~!!!"
Ryou jumped up, and looked in which the yell came from. He saw in time Rosz lose her footing, and slip down the steps. He walked to her, helping her up. Crap," he heard her mutter, "I forgot all 'bout that."
Yuriko and Blu looked at her, and shook their heads.
"Tita ChiChi was right: you are such a klutz," commented Blu with a sigh. "100%."
"Er, 'Tita' who?" asked Ryou, puzzled.
Rosz looked at him. "My mom," she said cheerfully. "We're Filipinos, see, and we call most adults 'Tita' or 'Tito', be they aunts, uncles, or family friends. Blu and Yuri call her 'Tita Chi-Chi'; 'ChiChi' is her nickname (her real name's MarieFe) among family and friends, just like my dad's nickname is 'YingYing', but they call him 'Tito YingYing'. Other adults are either 'Ninang' or 'Ninong', if they're godparents; 'Lola' or 'Lolo' if they're old seniors, like grandparents."
Rosz started to babble more on terms like 'Ate`', meaning 'older sister', but was cut off by two sharp smacks to the head from Yuriko and Blu. "OOW! Dang it, what was that for?!" she demanded angrily.
"Give Bakura's ears a rest," Yuriko ordered. "Besides, don't waste his time, because he's doing some research."
"Oh?" Rosz peered at the thick, big book in his hand, and read the title, "'Ancient Civilizations of the World, and Their Culture'. Er, interesting, Bakura. Whatcha reading about?"
"Civilizations in the Amazon," was his answer. "I have to write a report on one of them. It's due on Monday."
"What's today again?" asked Blu, who was now at the top of the stairs, "Isn't Thursday?"
"I s'pose," Rosz shrugged. "Why?"
"Three days 'til our school days start."
"Aww.."
"Yeah, I know."
"Um, are you all starting high school?" Ryou asked them.
The girls looked at him, and Yuriko shook her head. "I'm the only one who's going to be in High School; I'm a sophmore. Rosz and Blu are still in Junior High. Since they're still thirteen, they were supposed to be in seventh grade, but instead, they're in eighth grade."
"Oh. Well, I have to finish my work." Ryou sat back down on the couch, and became engrossed into the book.
Once inside their room, Rosz and Blu flopped onto each lower bunkbeds. "Wasn't that fun?" Rosz exclaimed happily. "Wait 'til they discover my card!"
"'Card'?" Blu raised her eyebrows. Rosz nodded her head, and pulled out a copy of the card from her pocket, and gave it to her lifelong best friend. Her friend read it, and grinned. "Cool!"
~*~ ~*~
Friday came and passed, their exploits were discovered, although they weren't deemed the culprits, much less the suspects. Since it was done in another neighborhood, more than ten blocks away, no one would think to look at the street they now resided on. The news were full of it:
"Every single house on the street has reported robberies."
"The most suspicious thing was that only the master bedroom had been stolen of all valuable jewelry."
"It was a well-done job: None of the victims had realized they were robbed, until they began to look for a specific piece of jewelry. When they couldn't find it, they looked for their other belongings, only to find them missing!"
"But the most strangest thing was that none of the victims had left their home the night of the robbery."
"Investigators are wondering, Could this somehow be related to the robbery of the Elemental Jewels Collection at the Domino City Museum of History?"
"How terrible!" exclaimed Mr. Bakura, shaking his head at the news airing on the radio at dinner. "I hope they catch those burglars before they steal anymore from innocent people. Right, kids?"
"Yup," Rosz agreed seriously, as if fearing her own possessions would be stolen.
"Definetely," added Blu with wide eyes, as if shocked as well.
"I have a feeling they won't be stopping anytime soon," Yuriko murmured.
"What makes you say that?" inquired Ryou's father.
"After getting a big load of stolen goods in one night, do you think they'll actually stop?" Yuriko pointed out. "It's more likely they'll stop for a couple of nights, for unsuspecting would-be-victims to let down their guards. Then--- Bam! They'll hit again during dinner time."
"Makes sense," commented Ryou. Within his soulroom, Yami Bakura nodded in approval. This girl really knew how a thief's mind worked. However, why would a thief hit at dinner time? he thought to himself. Ryou echoed his question aloud with, "But why dinner time?"
Yuriko looked at him, studying him. Finally she said, "When the house is empty, the residents would've set on the alarm, something the thieves would have to mind. If the residents were home, having dinner, the security alarms wouldn't be on guard, and it would be easier for the thief."
"And how did you come up with all this?" Mr. Bakura asked, an eyebrow arched. Yuriko just shrugged, saying, "It makes sense, doesn't it? It just so happens I have alot of common sense."
The radio spoke again:
"It's just been discovered that a note was found in one of the victim's house. Authorites have been puzzling over it's message, as they could not figure what it said. It apparently isn't Japanese, and it looks like it's in English, although it seems that the thief is quite illiterate.
After much studying, it was found that the card read: 'Tenku beri much por ur donation of 'bling'. ~Not Urs Truli, No Da?'. In other words: 'Thank you very much for your donation of jewelry. ~You Sucker, Ya know?'. Apparently, the insult was not only aimed at the victims, but it obviously mocked and taunted the police investigation department. Talk about one bold, and humorous cat-burglar."
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Rosz: Phew! Finally done! Sorry it took me two weeks longer than expected! (-_-) I couldn't post it up any sooner, because all week I was moving into my new apartment, and I was settling in. I didn't have access to the Net, so it gave me time to finish this. I'm actually starting on ch4, but it'll probably take me MUCH longer.
(-___-++) Damn schoolwork! And for the first time in my entire academic life, I got a Progress Report. Only students who are failing a subject (which is actually a first for me!) get those kind of reports. And you wanna know what subject I'm failing?!
Yuriko: She's currently failing English/Language Arts (ELA).
Rosz: *rolls on the floor, clutching her head* ELA, OF ALL SUBJECTS!!!
Yuriko: This is really bad news, because she just got a full scholarship for a school, and now she thinks that her teachers will think she's slacking off. (-,-;)
Rosz: *still rolling* ARRRRGH! *stops, and sobs* (T-T) boo-hoo....
Ryou: *walks in* (^^;) um, What's wrong, Rosz?
Rosz: *sobbing* R-R-Ryou....
Ryou: yes?
Rosz: I'm failing ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS!
Ryou: Don't feel bad; most of my classmates don't do well in that class.
Rosz: Ryou, in your case, that's like failing Japanese Grammar.
Ryou: Oh.... *gets his arm hugged by Rosz*
Rosz: *sniff* Not good, not good at alllllll....
Ryou: ^ ^;;;;;;
Yuriko: Please help make my hikari feel better by reviewing. And by reading&reviewing her Clover(by CLAMP)/YGO fic, once she posts it up.
