Lost in the Waves

Chapter 4: Old Friends/Old Enemies

Ryou staggered into the kitchen, still suffering from jet lag. "Breakfast, breakfast…" he muttered under his breath as he peered into the cabinets in search of something to eat. Suddenly, out of nowhere he heard a-----

"MORNING RYOU!"

"Gaaaah!" Ryou yelled and stumbled against the counter in the kitchen. "Well, that woke me up…"

"Sorry about that!" Yugi said, still in his signature sky blue pajamas, "But I just felt so awake this morning. It's really nice to have someone new in the house!" Suddenly his taller self entered the room. "Morning Yami!"

"Morning who?" Ryou asked as he glanced up at Yugi. Yugi silently and, suppressing a laugh, pointed toward the doorway. Ryou's gaze followed his finger to the figure in the doorway. When he caught sight of Yami, he reeled back. "What the?! How did---why are you---what's going on here?" he babbled staring and pointing at the two Yugi's.

"Good morning Ryou. Did you have a good night's rest---oh…" Grandpa Mouto said, walking into the kitchen. "Oh, boy. Now Ryou, I think we owe you an explanation."

"Then go ahead" the white-haired teen commanded, still wide-eyed.

"Well…uh…long story short, Yami and Yugi have separate bodies now! I'll leave the rest to them to explain!" he said hastily as he backed out of the room.

"Why that old…, so Ryou…" Yami said looking at the Ryou who was now poking his skin to check its authenticity. "It's kind of hard to explain, but I am now able to take on a physical form. As long as I have the Millenium Puzzle on me I can maintain a physical body. When I'm in it, I still have to eat and drink, but I'm not sure if it ages yet."

"He's only had it for about two months now. Just since about when summer vacation started." Yugi added. "Big surprise, huh Ryou?"

"But, how did you learn how to do this? I thought you didn't know how to use the Puzzle's power…" He mumbled anxiously as his eyes flicked from one Yugi to the other, clearly comparing them. He secretly thought to himself, "If they can take on a separate form, then can---?"

"Actually, Malik gave the spell to us." Yami said, confirming Ryou's worst fears.

"Malik?! Are you sure it wasn't Marik?" Ryou shouted while backing away from Yami.

"Well, yes. He asked about you too, by the way. He said we should give the spell to you too, but since you don't have the ring, you don't need it anymore, right?"

"But…but…are you feeling okay? You can't trust him, either Malik or Marik, but especially Malik!"

"Well, for now I'm okay. But I still don't know why he gave the spell to us. I was hoping that you would know."

"Oh! Um…" Ryou stuttered nervously, "I don't know why he would ask about me. I guess he wanted all the spirits to have their own bodies or something…"

"But why would he want you to have the spell if he has the Ring?"

The white-haired teen was silenced as he looked from one Yugi to the other. He had no answer to get himself out of this one and was desperately trying to come up with one when thankfully, Grandpa walked back into the room.

"So did you explain it to him? Cuz, to be honest, I just didn't know what to say!" he interrupted cheerfully. "Now then, Ryou, let's work out your new working hours to pay off that night's stay then, shall we?"

"Yeah, sure!" he replied enthusiastically and took the opportunity to escape the room.

Left alone in the kitchen, Yugi asked Yami, "Do you know the answer to that question?"

"Well, either Bakura would need his host somehow to form a new body, just like we did, or Ryou's lying."

"No way! You should trust him more. And why would he lie?"

"Never mind."

"Well, alright then. Oh look! Here come Joey and the gang!" Yugi yelled excitedly, looking out the window and pointing at the group of teens walking down the street towards the shop.

"They must be here to surprise Ryou" Yami said as he went to open the door. "Hey guys!"

"Yami! Yugi! Where's Ryou? Joey told us he came back last night!" Tea said.

"Yeah, where is he? First he leaves without telling us, then he comes back without telling us. What's with him?!" Joey yelled angrily. "Just wait until I get my hands on him…" he muttered stepping inside, "I'll---" he stopped, stunned at the sight before him.

With Grandpa proudly stepping aside, Ryou was revealed. He wore a large blue apron with KAME GAME SHOP printed across it, with a handkerchief tied over his white hair.

"Um…hi Ryou…" Joey said disbelievingly. "Well, I guess I don't need to do anything now…" he muttered to the rest of the group.

In response to the sight of Tea, Serenity, Joey, Tristan, and the two Yugi's staring at him, the new day employee of the game shop had only one thing to say.

"Don't you dare say a word."

Once again at the Kame Game Shop…

Ryou wiped off his hands and got ready for a lunch break. Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Serenity were sitting in the Moutos' living room, waiting to interrogate him.

As soon as he entered the room, taking off the apron and handkerchief, Joey opened with the first question, "So Ryou…WHY DID YOU LEAVE?!"

"Oh! Well, my dad wanted me to visit him and he got me plane tickets, but they were for that very same day so I had to leave in a hurry…"

"AND WHY ARE YOU BACK SO SOON?!"

"Um…my dad had to leave unexpectedly for a trip, so I headed back here as soon as possible to see you guys again and spend my summer here in Japan!" Ryou replied anxiously, hoping to placate the irate teen. He edged back in his seat and looked for sympathy among the rest of his friends.

"Calm down boy!" Tea yelled and smacked Joey on the head. "So how was your trip Ryou?" she asked gently.

"Well…" Ryou began as Yami and Yugi left the room into the kitchen.

"What is it Yugi?" asked Yami of the smaller boy. "What did you want to ask me?"

"I was wondering…Ryou's back but we're still not really clear on the status of the ring. Malik supposedly has it, but the pieces just won't add up…" Yugi said. Yami observed the younger boy with pride, "At least you've noticed" he said, "Just what I would've expected of the person who could solve the puzzle."

"Thanks, anyway, I was wondering if we should call Marik. He's probably still with Malik, so maybe he'd know what's going on, if there is something going on…"

"No need to" Yami said looking away from his partner out the window, where two easily identifiable dark blonde boys were walking up the driveway…

--------------Author's Comments on Above Chapter-------------

Dun dun dun!!!!!!!!!! I finally brought in M/M. Just to let you know, Malik is the psycho rod guy and Marik is the somewhat good guy (technically not in this story).

Sorry if everything is moving a little slow, and YB keeps disappearing, and the writing's pretty bad, but I promise the plot will get better soon.

Tell me what you think of the writing, I'm trying to be more descript but I keep running out of synonyms for he said or she said.

As always, DO NOT FORGET TO REVIEW because I'm lazy and need a horde of angry readers to threaten to lynch me before I update.