And I'm back from my long walk off a short pier! I'm glad you like the story so far, and I love the jokes you guys are cracking with the title of the story! ^_^ You guys make me giggle.

((Yugi to Yami))

(Yami to Yugi)

//Ryou to Bakura//

/Bakura to Ryou/

Aibou- Partner/Soulmate

Yandounishi- Landlord

Mou hitori no boku (sp?)- My other self

And onto the chapter! ^_^

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

She strutted down the halls of the school. She was the queen, she was the ruler of this place. No one could stop her. She could have any guy she wanted, and there was one guy in particular she had her sights on.

Of course he was too easy for her to pick off. She needed someone a bit harder. Someone who wasn't putty in her hands.

Then she spotted her prey, passing her without so much as one look. It was a guy who she knew wasn't felling head over heels for her.

Smirking, she tossed her hair and shouldered her bag, and walked after the boy, keychain clinking on her bag.

Chapter 4: Of Paintings and Charms

"It'll be only for an hour. Please Ryou?" They had some free time at the end of class again, and Helena had opted to spend the time with Ryou surprisingly, instead of Yugi and company.

"I don't know…" Ryou replied, and Helena frowned.

"Please?" Her eyes were pleading. Helena's bracelets clinked against the desk as she laid her hands on the desk. "I haven't had anyone willing to let me paint them in a while. Please Ryou? You only have to stay for an hour. I just need a preliminary sketch then I can do everything else without you." Ryou bit his lip while Helena pouted.

"I'm not sure about this." Ryou said.

"Come on Ryou!" Helena pleaded taking his hands up into hers. "One hour and then you don't have to do it again. Please?" Ryou bit his lip.

//Do you mind yami?// He asked his yami, not knowing how Bakura would feel if he accepted without his permission.

/As long as it gets the girl to shut up, I don't care yandounishi./ Was Bakura's irritated response. Ryou sighed.

"I guess," He sighed, watching Helena's face light up like a Christmas tree. "But only for an hour."

"Of course, only an hour Ryou." Helena smiled, releasing Ryou's hand and leaning across the desk to give him a hug. In Ryou's mind Bakura stiffened, but Ryou didn't notice. "I promise you won't regret it!"

The bell chose to ring at that moment, and the two gathered their stuff up and left the class room.

In Ryou's backpack, the bracelet that was given to him yesterday by Helena jarred heavily against one of the books, creating a new chip in it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

((Something wrong mou hitori no boku?)) Yugi asked Yami at his locker once school was done. The once-Pharaoh had a look on his face that signaled something was up as he looked down the hall, standing by his hikari in spirit form.

(Just thinking aibou.) Yami's response was distracted. Yugi knew something was up with mou hitori no boku, so he peered past the door of his locker and looked in the direction that mou hitori no boku was looking in.

Spotting Ryou and Helena, Yugi ducked his head back into the safety of his locker door.

((Why are you spying on Ryou and Helena mou hitori no boku?)) Yugi asked, his head peering out from behind his locker door again. Ryou seemed to be wrapped up in a conversation with Helena, and he seemed happy enough.

And Bakura was nowhere in sight.

(I'm not spying on them!) Yami protested indignantly, tearing his eyes from the two to look at his aibou. Yugi laughed as he went back to putting his books into his locker.

((Sure you weren't mou hitori no boku.)) Yugi poked at Yami, pulling his shoes out of his locker. He looked down the hall once more and waved at Ryou and Helena who looked down his way before switching his school shoes for his street ones(1).

Placing his shoes back into his locker, he shut the door and took the initiative and walked over to Ryou and Helena.

"Hey Yugi," Helena smiled, holding her bag in front of her as she looked down upon him.

"Hey Helena, Ryou." Yugi smiled brilliantly back. "The others and I are going to the arcade. Do you want to come?"

"Sorry Yugi." Helena's voice replied flawlessly. "Ryou and I have plans. Maybe next time?" Yugi frowned. Of course he expected Ryou to deny- he always did, but Helena? She didn't seem like the type to refuse any invitation.

Then again, she did say she and Ryou had plans…

"Really?" Yugi asked, curious, and Helena nodded, smile still fixated on her face.

"Yeah," She nodded. "He's letting me do a painting of him after school. Maybe I could do you sometime Yugi? I'd love to have a try at painting someone with hair like yours." Helena laughed as Yugi's face burned red, and even Ryou cracked a smile.

"Well, we should get going," Helena told Yugi. "It was nice chatting with you."

(Well she's right with one thing aibou.) Yami laughed at Yugi who was still flushed red.

((What?)) Yugi asked, Yami still laughing.

(An artist would just love to try painting your hair.) Yami laughed as Yugi flushed red once more.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You painted all of these?" Ryou inquired, looking at the paintings hanging on the walls. Helena shook her head.

"Not all of them." She replied. "Just the ones with the people." There were only three paintings with people.

One was pictured in Paris, France, obvious by the boy leaning against the Eiffel Tower with a cocky smirk on his face. Another was a boy pictured in the USA standing between the Twin Towers, his hands resting on the points. The third was in New York, the boy leaning with his back against the Statue of Liberty.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Helena asked, bringing Ryou back to reality. He shook his head.

"No thank you," He answered. Helena shrugged.

"Alright." Helena said. "Do you want to just get on with it?" Ryou nodded.

"If you don't mind."

"Not a problem." Helena traipsed past Ryou to a closet down the hall. She opened the door and pulled out an easel.

"Do you want to pull over that wooden chair?" Helena asked Ryou, indicating towards a chair against the wall. Ryou pulled the chair over as Helena set the easel up and set a sketch pad on it. She grabbed a stool and a pencil before setting the chair up before the easel.

"Sit," Helena ordered Ryou, pushing him lightly backwards to the chair. He did so as Helena took her perch on her stool and started telling Ryou little things.

"Ryou could you fold your hands on your- yes, just like that!" Helena smiled brilliantly. "Tilt your head to the left a little bit- right there! And, hold that position please." And silence filled the room with the only real sound being the scritch-scratching of Helena's pencil on paper.

/I can't believe you agreed to do this yandounishi./ Bakura grumbled, appearing out of the ring in spirit form. Ryou frowned mentally, keeping his eyes schooled in front of him. Neither noticed Helena's eyes flicker towards the vicinity that Bakura was in before going back to Ryou.

//You said you didn't mind yami.// Ryou reminded his dark gently just before the scratching of Helena's pencil paused for a moment.

"Ryou, I just remembered." Helena's voice broke through the silent room. "You still have my bracelet."

"Do you want me to get it?" Ryou asked, and Helena shook her head, eyes going back to the paper.

"Nah." She told him. "Not know. I don't want to lose this pose."

"Alright." Ryou replied.

The silence continued for a bit until a shock went through the room.

It wasn't a real shock that the humans could feel, but it was a shock that Bakura felt loud and clear. He jumped in shock, appearing out of the ring once more.

Ryou didn't notice him this time, and Bakura didn't care in the slightest.

What had shocked him… It was almost like shadow magic. It had the same initial make up as the shadows, yet it was still slightly different. Bakura didn't like it one bit.

/Yandounishi./ Bakura's mental voice was commanding. /Tell your little girlfriend that you have to go./ He was ignored.

/Yandounishi!/ Bakura shouted, standing in front of his hikari, waving his hand in front of Ryou's face.

Ryou didn't blink; he only kept staring ahead of him like nothing was wrong. The only sound other than Bakura was the sound of Helena's pencil.

Eventually, that stopped as well. Helena stood and flipped the sketchpad shut.

"Well, you're done Ryou." Helena smiled, tucking the sketchpad under her arm and picking the easel up. "You can go now if you want."

Just as quickly as it had come, the magic was gone. Ryou blinked, and jumped slightly at the sight of his yami in front of him.

//Y-Yami?// Ryou stuttered a bit surprised in his mind.

"Ryou? Didn't you hear me?" Helena's voice echoed as she popped her head back into the living room. "You can leave now." A smile was on her face. "Now shoo. I'm sure you have better things to do than stand in my living room."

"R-Right." Ryou blushed. "I'll see you tomorrow then." Ryou started for the door, but by then Bakura had had enough and shoved his hikari out of control.

He stomped to the door and wrenched it open and slammed it shut. Ryou flinched as Bakura made their exit, disappearing down the hall.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"My, my." She mused to herself. "Someone's in a bad mood, aren't they my little host?" She chuckled as she looked at the painting standing in the middle of the table.

A face, twisted in fear, could do nothing but stare helplessly up at her captor.

"Nonetheless," She was practically singing. "We will have him trained soon enough. He may not have put the bracelet on yet, but he soon will." Her eyes were gleaming.

"And when he does," She purred. "Nothing will stop me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

So, both Yami and Bakura know something is up. But, who will act first? And who was that at the end?! Oh, alright, I know, it's easy if you've been paying attention.

Next chapter introduces another character! Everybody's favorite Egyptian: Malik! XP I'm not sure if Marik is going to make an appearance yet or not...

Oh well. Please read and review and tell me what you think!

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out!~~