Five
"Be sure to come home right after school you two. And have fun!" Mr. Muto stated as he waved goodbye.
Danny and Yugi waved back and started for school, "Since when is school ever fun?" the half ghost boy questioned the tri-colored hair boy walking beside him.
"Who knows," Yugi replied as he gripped his backpack's straps, "But don't worry, I'm sure you will be a lot more welcomed at Domino High."
Danny frowned at this and sighed as he glanced forward. He wasn't really too sure about that. He did not want to discourage his new friend, however, so he kept his mouth shut. The two boys walked toward school and talked about Duel Monsters some more. Danny did realize that some of his research has been right. Yugi became famous after defeating Maxmillion Pegasus at Duelist Kingdom.
However, there seem to be some things left out that Yugi wasn't telling Danny. The half ghost boy had a feeling that maybe Yugi just didn't want to tell him. And he decided to not pressure him. Besides, not like he didn't have his own secrets. Just as the two boys came up to the school, a limo passed by on the street that cause Yugi to stop in his tracks. Danny did the same and frowned.
"What's up, Yuge?"
Before Yugi could speak, the limo stopped and the door opened to reveal a really tall and mature teenager. Danny blinked as he realized he recognized this guy anywhere: Seto Kaiba. Kaiba gave a curt nod to the driver and the limo drove off down the street. The tall brown haired young man glanced over and spotted Yugi and Danny staring at him. His cold blue eyes seem to pierce right through Danny.
"Yugi." Kaiba coldly stated and his voice seemed as icy as his stare.
"Hello Kaiba." Yugi politely greeted as Danny shifted his icy blue eyes to him and to Kaiba.
"Do you plan on entering my next tournament?" Kaiba questioned as he walked over to the two boys.
"Well actually-" Yugi began before he was cut off,
"You better because I will stop at nothing to make sure I become the King of Games." Kaiba glanced at Danny, who in turn gave him a blank stare.
Without another word, Kaiba walked off toward the school building as Danny and Yugi looked on. The half ghost boy turned toward Yugi who gave a small sigh of relief. Danny had remembered hearing of how Kaiba was Yugi's greatest rival, but he never saw how they were off the screen. The small exchange was enough to tell him the relationship between both.
"I take it that's the great Seto Kaiba huh?" Danny questioned casually as he and Yugi started to make their way toward the school.
"Yup. He's never wanted to give up to beat me." Yugi answered as a familiar looking group came rushing up.
Danny could see two new people have joined and he frowned in wonder on which they were, "Hey Yugi, Danny! Good to see ya both made it!" Joey greeted as he waved his hands.
"Hey guys!" Yugi waved back.
"We kind of saw the exchange with Kaiba. What happened?" Catzi was the first to question.
"Nothing much. He wanted to know if I was entering his tournament." Yugi answered as he shrugged like it was no big deal.
"Oh that Kaiba. What would I do to give that rich boy a taste of my knuckle sandwich." Joey growled as his hands curled into fists.
"Ease up, Joey, violence is never going to solve anything." one of the new teenagers, a long black haired boy with bright green eyes stated.
"Oh yeah, Danny, these our other two friends, Duke Devlin and Aiden Thomas." Tea introduced the black haired boy and a spike brown haired teenager.
"Hey." Danny waved as did Duke and Aiden.
The group walked inside and headed for the main office to help Danny get his schedule and locker for the month. The half ghost boy felt like some new kid to be doing this. He felt lucky to have a group of good friends to help him out as of now. After getting the things he needed, he saw to his relief that he was in the same classroom as Yugi and the others. This will makes things a lot simpler. Or so he thought.
As soon as the group made it to the classroom, the teacher immediately walked over, "Ah yes, one of the exchange students, very good. The rest of you please take your seats," the man shooed Yugi and the others away before Danny was slightly pushed to the front of the class and the bell rang above their heads, "Attention everyone!" the teacher called out to class, "Please look forward!"
Danny felt his face turned a shade of red as all the students calmed down and glanced forward. Now he really felt out of place. Only Yugi and his friends gave him reassuring smiles while the rest of the students stared at the half ghost boy like he was some kind of a monkey in a zoo. The teacher was really no help at all either.
"This is one of the exchange students that came from Casper High School," the elder man shifted his dark brown eyes toward Danny, "My name is Mr. Taka. Now what is your name, son?"
"Danny Fenton?" Danny managed to state.
"And his name is Danny Fenton. Be sure to help him around the school and make him feel welcome seeing of how small he is!" Danny felt his cheeks flush even more red from the last comment.
He glanced up through his black bangs and could see a few guys near the back snickering in an unfriendly way. A few girls up toward the front were giving him that look. He blinked before he glanced down at his red sneakers. He hated being stared at and wished the teacher would just get on with it. He already embarrassed him enough as it is and it certainly killed any chances of him being a good mood.
"Well now, I think sitting right near back by Yugi Muto will do nicely." Mr. Taka pointed out and this made the raven-haired boy lift his head up.
He saw Yugi give him a gentle smile and he smiled back. Now he felt a little better since he could at least sit next to his new friend. Finally, Mr. Taka allowed Danny to walk to the empty desk. On the way, the half ghost boy saw the same boys snicker again and seem to give him the evil eye. He quickly looked away and sat in his desk.
"Sorry about Mr. Taka, he just gets excited about these kind of events." Yugi whispered to the half ghost boy beside him.
"So he likes to embarrass new kids even exchange kids?" Danny joked that caused the tri-colored hair boy beside him to laugh; a smile formed on Danny's face as well.
The lessons in the class made Danny realized of how advanced it was compared to what he had back home. It wasn't like the raven-haired was stupid; he was smart. But how Mr. Taka was talking made him feel like he might not pass it. He tried to focus and go from there. Luckily with no worry of ghosts showing up, he set his mind on concentrating and in the end, he saw that this class wasn't really hard as long as he stated focus.
Finally, by lunchtime, Danny felt a headache start up from him focusing so hard. He moaned as he rubbed his head and black hair before Yugi came up and questioned,
"You doing ok so far, Danny?"
"I guess. My head hurts if that tells you anything." Danny replied as Yugi laughed warmly.
"Ok, well let's get to lunch." Danny nodded to the smaller boy's request and just as they were near the door, Mr. Taka called out,
"Excuse me, Mr. Fenton, would you come here please?"
Danny frowned immediately and watched as Yugi gave him a sheepish grin, "Ok, I'll meet you at lunch. Sound good?" he questioned.
"Sure, dude. Later." Danny answered and Yugi walked out of the door to catch up with his friends.
Danny then turned to Mr. Taka, whom was waiting patiently, "Yes, Mr. Taka?" Danny questioned politely.
"Sorry to keep you from lunch, but I was hoping to give you a few books to help you study. I saw of how much you were into the topic and I was really impressed." The teacher explained as Danny rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, I don't want to fail, sir."
"No one does, Mr. Fenton. But you seem to have a grasp of the subject. I'm sure you will do fine for the next month here," Mr. Taka then gave Danny a few books, "Now have a good lunch and see you back in class."
"Sure thing, Mr. Taka." Danny nodded as he stuffed the books in his backpack and headed for the door.
The half ghost boy realized he only had about a half an hour left till lunch is over. He hoped to see Yugi and the gang before class started again. He started to rush down the empty hallways and rounded the corner when he was stopped short. He gave a cry of surprise when he rammed into something hard and fell backwards. His backpack fell to the tile floor with a loud thud and he glanced up to see the same mean boys from class.
"Well, well, fresh meat?" a boy questioned as he stood over Danny.
"Uh look guys, I really don't want any trouble so if you could just step aside." The raven-haired boy started to get to his feet when the boy who spoke and seemed to be the leader stated,
"Trouble? You Americans are always looking for trouble," Danny gasped when the teenage boy grabbed a hold of Danny's crimson and white shirt before he was slammed against the wall, "Besides, we haven't picked on a runt in a while."
As the other boys snickered, Danny glanced up at the leader of the gang. The boy had messy black hair and cold dark brown eyes. The half ghost boy had been in situations like this before thanks to Dash Baxter. He had ghost powers that he could use no problem, but with a bunch of teenagers watching his every move, he couldn't take any chances.
"Runt?" Danny questioned and felt himself shiver slightly; he also wanted to keep this teenager talking.
"Yeah, ya know that Yugi kid you sit next to? He was always an easy target. But now he has that bloke Joey Wheeler and his little buddies to protect him. Not to mention there's rumors Yugi seems to become possessed if anyone dares try to get him mad."
Danny stared at what the gang leader was telling him. Possessed? Was a ghost overshadowing Yugi? He didn't have time to think this over when a fist punched him in the stomach. He cried out in pain before he fell to the floor as the teenager holding him let him go. Danny's black hair covered his face as leader and his gang laughed around him. Danny's eyes started to glow green with rage. Now he had it. He was about to use his ghost powers when he heard a voice cry out,
"Hey Katina! Leave him alone!" Danny's eyes turned icy blue again as he glanced up through his raven-colored bangs as well as Katina and the other teenagers to see Joey.
"Oh yeah, Wheeler? You and what army?" Katina laughed harshly.
However, Tristan, Aiden, and Duke appeared behind Joey. Danny could see Yugi, Catzi, Tea, Bakura, and Emi further back down the hallway. Katina glared in rage to see that even though his gang members, who counted about four; none were a match against Joey and Tristan alone. And Aiden and Duke were considered good fighters themselves if given the chance.
"Fine. We'll leave him alone," Katina glared down at Danny and grabbed a hold of the collar of his shirt and whispered harshly, "But I will be back to teach you a lesson around here, Runt, without the help of your little friends."
He turned to his gang after he shoved Danny to the floor again. He nodded at them to move on and the group walked away without word or glance. Danny watched them go before he coughed slightly. That blow to his stomach certainly was enough to nearly leave him breathless. And it hurt a lot. He heard his new friends gather around him and he felt someone kneel beside him. The half ghost boy glanced up to see Yugi's concerned large violet eyes.
"You ok, Danny?" the smaller boy questioned as he placed a hand on Danny's shoulder.
"I'm fine," Danny tried to reassure him and rubbed his aching stomach, "He just punched me in the stomach."
"Punched you in the stomach? Why that good for nothing…" Joey started to walk in the direction Katina and his gang went when Tea stopped him,
"Forget it, Joey. You will only get in trouble for fighting at school." The brunette pointed out.
"We're really sorry for not telling you about Katina, Danny," Catzi put in as she and Yugi helped Danny to his feet while Bakura grabbed a hold of the half ghost boy's fallen backpack, "We just were excited to have a new friend be here that we forgot about that bully."
"It's fine, Catzi. It's not your fault. I should have paid more attention," Danny sighed as he rubbed his black hair; he took the backpack from Bakura, "Thanks Bakura."
"It's no problem. But are you sure you are all right?" the British accent white haired teenager questioned with concern.
"Yeah. Like I said, I have to go with this kind of stuff back at home. So it's not really new to me at all," Danny replied as he gripped his backpack; he saw that everyone was staring at him and he smiled sheepishly, "Really, I'm fine." He insisted.
"Well all right then. If you say so." Emi sighed as she held a book in her arms.
Danny nodded before he realized something, "Wait, how did you guys know I was in trouble?" he questioned glancing at each face.
He felt the air around him change and he could see of how nervous all of them looked. He gave them a look as Tristan managed to state,
"Well, you didn't come for a little while so we started to worry. So we came running to find you."
Danny had a feeling that wasn't entirely true. He really wanted to question them when the bell rang. He could see Joey and Tristan looked upset because they missed most of their lunch. The half ghost boy stated he would try to make it up to them after school. The thought of how they knew he was in danger faded from his mind. In the meantime, as the group walked back to class, Yugi and Catzi lingered back to talk quietly to each other.
"We will have to tell him sometime, Yugi." Catzi put in with a frown as she glanced over at her closest friend.
Yugi was slightly shorter than Catzi by a couple of inches, despite Bast was smaller than Yami. And before even getting the Millennium Puzzle and Wand, Yugi and Catzi have been good friends for a long time. The two were used to having to talk to each other privately like this on a few occasions.
"I know, Catzi. But it's really hard to tell someone about having an ancient spirit dwell within a magical item," Yugi replied with a frown, "And I do like Danny. He seems nice and having him as a friend is really great. I just don't want him to think I'm a freak."
"Same goes for me. But you told me you trusted him enough to give that Angelic card. So why is it so different into telling him about Yami and Bast?" Catzi questioned, "If it hadn't been for the Millennium Wand and Yami and Bast feeling that Danny was in possible danger, Katina would have done a lot worse."
"You're right, Catzi. But we have to wait for now. When the time is right, I will tell him. I promise." Yugi replied as the group made it the classroom.
Satisfied with that answer, Catzi departed toward her desk. Yugi went to his own desk and as he sat down, he thought over of what Catzi said. She was right. During lunch, as he and the others were waiting for Danny, he heard Yami tell him that Danny was probably in danger. Yugi was concerned and the Millennium Wand did confirm Yami's words. It really surprised Yugi that Yami was able to predicate that so fast. How did he know?
"I honestly cannot answer that, Yugi."
Yugi would have jumped slightly but he quickly calmed down since Yami had heard his thoughts. He glanced about to the other classmates and could see Katina laughing. He frowned and turned toward Danny who was still rubbing his stomach. The smaller boy frowned even more before glancing back forward to talk privately to the nameless Pharaoh.
"You really don't know of how you knew Danny would be in danger?" Yugi mentally questioned.
"Yes. For some reason, I just felt a feeling of him being in jeopardy and I told you," Yami sighed before he added, "Not to mention there is just something about that boy I cannot put my finger on."
"Do you think you know him from your past life?" Yugi asked and could hear silence for a long while.
"I do not know."
"All right class, hope you had a good lunch. Now let's start discussing about a test that will be coming up in a week." Mr. Taka interrupted Yugi and Yami's private conversation.
Yugi sighed and broke the link from Yami to focus on his studies. In the meantime, Yami was standing in his soul room. He was thinking over of how he managed to know Danny was in danger. He had to admit, the boy looked a bit familiar. He just didn't know if he knew him from his past life or what not. He really wished he had all of his memories so this would be simpler. And he can sense something powerful from the boy too. He really wasn't sure what it is though. It was not unscrupulous or dark for that matter. He wished he could talk to Danny directly himself. However, he heard the conversation between Yugi and Catzi and knew it would be awhile before Yugi told Danny about himself.
After school, Danny's stomach no longer ached with pain and he told Yugi to call up his grandfather. He wanted to tell him that they were going to be a bit late since Danny really wanted to treat Joey and Tristan to a bite to eat. Yugi smiled of how sweet the raven-haired boy was and borrowed Catzi's cell phone to do just that.
"Ya really don't have to do dis, Dan." Joey tried to state as the whole group walked down the streets.
"Come on, Joey, I do this with my friend Tucker all the time. It's kind of a thing I like to do. Besides, I brought some money." Danny stated with a shrug.
"That's really sweet of you, Danny." Tea pointed out with a smile.
Blushing, the half ghost boy merely smiled before he questioned, "Just where is there a good place to eat here?"
"We can get burgers." Yugi suddenly stated after he gave Catzi her cell back.
Danny and the others laughed, "Ok dude. No problem." The half ghost boy replied.
True to his word, Danny treated his new friends with burgers. He had to admit; it felt great to know he had good friends like this. He really wished Carrie, Tucker, and Sam was here. They would really like all these people that's for sure. Joey somehow reminded him of Tucker with all his wise cracks and funny yet kind personality. Tea in a way reminded him of Sam: mature, rational, and always trying to help others out. Catzi too reminded him a bit of Carrie, although Carrie was a lot more hyper and always happy. Catzi seemed a bit more sarcastic, especially toward Joey. But he could see that Catzi and Joey had a sort of a tough sister/brother relationship.
He certainly liked all of them for their own unique personalities. But the half ghost boy still couldn't figure out Yugi. For some reason out of all of them, even Catzi, who seemed to hold something herself, Yugi was the biggest mystery. It probably had to do something with the Millennium Puzzle he was wearing. As Danny stared at it, he realized that he had seen it before. He frowned and wondered why that was. For a moment, he thought he could see a vision come to his eyes. A figure overlooking him and around his or her neck was that Puzzle.
"Danny?"
Danny snapped out of his trance and glanced over to see the others getting up. He blinked and rubbed his head. Catzi, who had spoken, went on,
"You ok? It's time to go."
"Yeah I'm fine." Danny laughed nervously as he too stood up.
After leaving the building, Danny and Yugi said goodbye to the others and started to make their way toward the game store. The sun was just starting to set, and the two boys walked in silence. They both had something on their minds and neither tried to think of a conversation. Finally, Danny glanced over to see Yugi gripping his backpack straps, and he was staring down at the sidewalk.
"Um Yugi?" Danny wanted to break the silence and the game store was still about a half mile away.
"Huh?" Yugi glanced up and smiled, "Oh sorry, Danny. Lost in thought."
"I do that a lot too, man," Danny laughed before going on, "Look, I want to say that I appreciate you in having me feel welcome here."
"Oh. Well it's no big deal." Yugi shrugged off the compliment.
"No really. I mean, you may be the King of Games, but you show that you are pretty much a normal kid," Danny stated before he added, "It makes me glad I'm not the only one who feels like that."
The half ghost boy's icy blue eyes widen as Yugi gave him a look, "What do you mean by that?" the smaller boy questioned.
"Uh…nothing! Totally not talking about anything about me being as popular as you!" Danny tried to shrug it off.
Yugi blinked and opened his mouth to question when a voice said, "Well, well, well, look who came to play."
Danny and Yugi both frowned as they turned their heads to see that Katina and his gang had surrounded them. Both boys saw that they had ventured into an alley without even realizing it since it was a shortcut toward home.
"I told you I would get you back for this, Runt. And it looks like it's a good time to give a beating to Muto like he deserves." Katina chuckled harshly as he cracked his knuckles.
Danny felt his protective instinct flare up as he got in front of Yugi to protect him, "Now hold it, Katina. Leave Yugi out of this. It's between me and you." The half ghost boy pointed out as Yugi glanced over at Danny in amazement.
"Danny? No you can't-"
"Wow, isn't that just noble of you," Katina laughed again as well as his gang, "Very well then."
He snapped his fingers and two of the gang members grabbed a hold of Yugi and pulled him away, "Let me go!" he cried out as he tried to struggle.
Danny glanced over, but this cost him as Katina landed a cheap punch in his jaw. The raven-haired boy gasped as he fell to the hard ground. The gang members started to laugh as Yugi looked on in horror.
"Pathetic." Katina spat.
"Danny!" Yugi cried as he tried to get free.
"Yugi, let me take over!" Yami stated urgently to his vessel.
Before Yugi could answer back silently, he saw Danny slowly get up and take off his backpack. The whole crowd fell silent as the boy glanced up through his raven colored bangs, wiped his mouth on where he got punched, and gave Katina a cold hard glare.
"Bring it on, dude…" he stated as his hands balled up into fists.