Mau's P.O.V.
When Maria gets determined, she becomes scary. I wish I could tell her what I've been hiding, but I know Helar, my father, will kill her if I do. "I'm sorry," I said quietly.
Maria's mood let up and she patted me on the shoulder. "It's all right, I just worry about you a lot," she replied with a smile.
"I appreciate it, but I don't want you to worry, you have enough on your mind," I said deciding to change the subject, "Is Seto still here?"
Maria snorted, that's a good sign. We know each other too well. "Yeah, just before you came, he was telling Tea off for missing a crucial note by a lot," she laughed.
"Oh really?" I laughed feeling better already, "I bet that's going to start happening more often."
Maria shrugged in a dismissive manner. "Yeah," she said, "oh yeah! Guess what Mau? There really is a phantom."
I was surprised at that. "Really? Did you see him?" I asked.
Maria shifted from side to side in a distracted way. "In a matter of speaking. He hides his face, but he dresses very stylish," she replied.
"How mysterious," I giggled.
Maria laughed too. "I asked Ryou and Bakura about him, but Ryou just started laughing, and Bakura changed the subject, and hastily too," she said her face clouding in thought.
"That's strange," I started, and saw Seto getting up from where he was sitting, "I'll be right back."
Going over to Seto, I hesitated and then tapped him on the shoulder. "Seto? I-I'm sorry that I didn't come yesterday. I kind of had a nasty fall," I said with a small, embarrassed blush.
Seto smiled in understanding. "That's all right," he said, "You didn't miss anything."
"The good news is that I am able to work here… umm, if I can do it with one arm," I said looking down at my arm.
"You don't have to worry about that," Seto laughed, "I'll let you do lights. All you have to do is sit at the switchboard and flip the switches at the correct time."
"Okay, thank you," I said walking back to Maria. "Do you think we'll be able to go see Ryou and Bakura?" I asked reaching her.
Maria's eyes lit up. "Sure, I'm actually staying here across from Ryou, so I'm picking up on the secret passages and whatnot," she said motioning for me to follow.
Following Maria out of the room, I instinctively headed towards the statue but was pulled gently in the opposite direction.
"I know a quicker way," Maria said leading me into the auditorium and onto the stage.
"I don't see a way," I said confusingly. Maria smiled and going behind a curtain, opened a trap door.
Normal P.O.V.
"Down here," Maria said heading down and walking along the passage. Stopping outside of a door, she motioned Mau closer. "This is Ryou's room," she said knocking on the door, "Ryou, can me and Mau come in?"
"But of course," came Ryou's voice.
Following Maria in, Mau smiled sheepishly. "Hello," she said, "I'm sorry I didn't come yesterday, I really wanted to though."
Bakura looked up from where he was sitting on the floor cleaning a replica of his mask except this one had a silver sheen to it. "It's okay. We figured you were busy," he replied in a soft tone as if he were talking to a kitten or something small and fragile.
Mau subconsciously touched her cast as she looked at the three. "I-If you say so," she murmured.
Bakura put down his mask and yawned. "Please tell me Téa is done attempting to sing, she's giving me a headache," he complained. Ryou wordlessly handed him an aspirin bottle.
Mau giggled. "Even I could probably do a better job than her," she said, covering her mouth with her hand as Maria laughed, blushing at her outburst.
Ryou chuckled quietly. "I have a feeling that anyone can do tons better than Téa," he replied, his eyes sparkling with mirth.
Mau smiled, sitting down in a seat. "Did Maria tell you that I would probably be working in the theater?" she asked.
Ryou smiled. "She mentioned it yesterday. At least we'll be able to do things together," he said.
Mau didn't reply but looked at the ground. Maria, deciding to lighten the mood, whispered to Mau, "Watch Bakura's expression and see if you can pick up anything that I can't."
"Bakura, why won't you tell me about the phantom? He told me that he knows you," Maria asked innocently, watching Bakura's face take on a really odd expression.
"Bakura? How do you know him? What...what does he look like?" asked Mau getting in on it as Ryou picked up Bakura's discarded mask and resumed Bakura's task of polishing it, wanting no part of this conversation.
Bakura grew slightly panicked. There was no way they could have figured it out, but… Making something up on the fly, he mumbled, "If you must know, he…he lives near me, though he hasn't been seen in the theater for many years."
Maria just looked at Mau with an expression that clearly stated: bull. Mau, nodding slightly, pressed a little farther. "Then, you're saying that you haven't seen him...though he told Maria that he knew you?" she asked.
"No, I've seen him, just people in the theater haven't. He wears a mask, cape, and long articles of clothing. Brown eyes, no clue what color hair... keeps it hidden, and is quite tall, maybe between Ryou's height and mine," Bakura explained.
"Don't flatter yourself. You're not that much taller than me," Ryou muttered, turning the mask over and start polishing the other side.
"And the mask is a full-face mask," Maria added to a nod from Bakura.
"What…What do you think of him?" Mau timidly asked.
"I don't know! I never talk to him!" Bakura snapped, losing his temper.
"I-I'm sorry," Mau whispered fearfully, shrinking into her chair.
Bakura realized instantly that he made a mistake. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten mad," he said bowing his head.
"I…should have kept my mouth shut," Mau whispered, "I don't want anyone else mad at me."
At those words, Bakura's eyes narrowed in concern. Standing up, he walked over and crouched in front of Mau, using a finger to lift her chin so that she was looking at him. "What do you mean by that?" he asked softly and gently, seeing her flinch at the touch.
"Nothing," she replied sadly, standing up, "I should go see what I will be doing to work." As Mau left the room, Maria was sure she could see silent tears roll down the small girl's face.
"I don't know what's wrong with her, she's been acting distant all day. She used to tell me what was wrong, but she keeps it locked up now so tight, I can't help her anymore. Maybe I'm…" Maria said trailing off, too horrified at her own thoughts to continue.
"You're not a bad friend," Ryou soothed as if he could read her mind, putting down Bakura's mask, "I can't think of a reason why she would shut us out like that though. Maybe it has something to do with her arm?"
"It's possible. How did her arm break?" Bakura asked turning around and swapping his masks so that he now looked out of the silver one.
Maria's face clouded. "She said she fell down the stairs," she started, "But she's used that excuse every time a bone or something is broken or sprained."
"By the way she was acting, that doesn't seem likely," Bakura said in thought.
Ryou nodded. "I agree," he said, "By the way she cringed when Bakura got irritated, you think she's being abused or something."
"Yeah. I used to live next to her, but my parents moved me across town for unclear reasons. They said that they wanted a change of scenery, which I think is totally crap," Maria said.
"Maria, I need you to get Mau down here. We need to find out the truth. That point Ryou said is a valid explanation," Bakura said, a determined fire coming into his eyes that Ryou hadn't seen for about five years.
"Well of course it's valid, I'm the brains of us two," Ryou joked.
Maria rolled her eyes and left the room as Bakura and Ryou started bickering. Going up to the stage, Maria found Mau sitting on the stage, her legs dangling over the edge, reading a list of switch numbers, attempting to commit them to memory.
"How's it going?" Maria asked softly, sitting next to Mau.
"Okay," Mau replied not looking up from her list.
"Is rehearsal done? I don't hear singing or Téa being yelled at anymore," Maria asked.
Mau looked up and listened. "I heard the tail end of her being told off. At this rate, you'll replace her in no time," she replied with a small smile.
Maria laughed. "I wonder what Téa's going to do when I get trained enough to replace her?" she wondered.
"Maybe work at McDonalds?"
"Possibly, are you going to come back down later?" Maria asked.
"...Yeah, I guess I could right now if it won't be that long," Mau said after a moments hesitation.
"Okay, Ryou told me to tell you that you can come whenever you want," Maria said standing and helping Mau up.
Mau nodded. "Okay...Bakura...isn't still mad is he?" she asked.
"No, he cooled down quite quickly," Maria replied heading down the stairs.
Neither said anything until they reached the room. Entering, Ryou looked up and smiled.
"Welcome back," he said as Bakura waved slightly from where he was now cleaning the white mask.
"Thank you," Mau said sitting in her chair.
Bakura put down his now clean mask. "What shall the four of us do? I for one feel like pranking Téa
"Umm...I don't know..." Mau started not, really one to want to hurt anyone, no matter how they act.
Ryou cut her off with a soft laugh. "Go do it yourself Bakura... his pranks are harmless, Mau. All he's wanted to do is put hair dye in her shampoo," he explained.
"Oh dear..." was all Mau could say.
"What color?" Maria, on the other hand, asked with a grin.
"Bright pink?" Bakura suggested.
Mau giggled. "Only she likes pink so..."
"How about black then? She loathes that color," Maria said then.
Bakura grinned and started to leave. "Perfect, I'll be back in a bit," he called over his shoulder.
Ryou watched him go. "Pity," he said heavily, "I was going to suggest white."
Mau looked at him. "...Would you want her to have your hair color?" she asked.
Ryou shrugged and replied, "I wouldn't care, but Bakura might."
"...I'm...sorry I left like that earlier..." Mau said looking a bit regretful that Bakura left before she thought to apologize.
Ryou smiled. "It's no problem. We figured that you wanted alone time," he replied.
Mau still looked uneasy. "...It was still rude of me..."
"Bakura does it all the time. I'm used to it," Ryou replied.
Mau looked away. "...I'm still sorry..." she whispered.
Maria said nothing but gave Ryou a warning look when Mau wasn't looking. Ryou, seeing the look, shut up immediately.
"Maybe...it was a mistake to get a job here...I'm only troubling you," Mau said looking back over.
"Not at all... we like having you around... trust me when I say this, it's very lonely down here," Ryou hurriedly said.
"If you're sure..." Mau sighed.
"I'm sure," Ryou replied with a smile as Bakura slipped back into the room with a satisfied smirk on his face.
"So Mau, tell me about your family. Do you have any siblings, what are your parents like, that sort of thing?" asked Bakura getting the ball rolling on the plan he and Ryou cooked up while Maria was getting Mau.
"I have three older sisters, triplets...and my father...my mother passed away shortly after I was born," Mau said with slight, miniscule hesitations when she mentioned her father.
"Man, It's been so long. Why don't you tell us what they're like," Maria said. "I haven't seen your family in forever, so I forgot," she added sheepishly.
"Okay, my sisters are rather close to each other and… well… have better things on their minds. ...My father is...well like any other father I guess..." Mau said, fidgeting a little.
Bakura looked genuinely interested. "And what's that like? I've lived down here since I was two. I don't remember mine that much…besides what Ryou's told me about him," he said lying on his stomach on Ryou's bed.
"...He takes care of me," said Mau, half much to Bakura's disappointment, but half falling into his and Ryou's plan perfectly.
Ryou knew it was his turn and was well prepared for it. "Mau, I have a feeling that there's more than that about your father. Why else would you avoid it?" he asked in a barely audible voice.
Mau looked at the floor for a few moments. And then looking at her arm, slowly rolled up the sleeve as Maria gave an audible gasp.
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YSF: Gomen friends, I had to leave it at a cliffie. It just entices you to anticipate the next chappie, of what happens, only Schala knows, so read and review, and I'll write faster.
P.S. The phantom of the opera movie totally kicked my butt into gear, so kudos to them. shifty eyes I still think the phantom is ugly… like Bakura as the phantom. (JK Schala. ;)
