A/N: In which we find out who the mysterious girl is.

"Ryou," Amane looked curiously at her brother, "You're not wearing that necklace today." They had decided- er, Amane had decided- to take the tram to Harajuku and meet Téa for some hard-core shopping. After a few minutes of bickering over costumes, the girls had decided just to wear whatever they could come up with. Conveniently for Amane, Yugi had some old cosplay merchandise in one of the game shop's many cardboard boxes, including a somewhat motheaten Naruto robe.

"Oh- yeah, it just... Yeah. Why?"

"Just wondering. Could I look at it when we get home?"

"You can look at it right now!" Ryou rummaged in his backpack for a few seconds, finally pulling out the worn thread and glittering pendant. "You can have it, for all I care. Only hoodlums, Yugi, and girls wear necklaces."

"Interesting set of people, those." Amane held the piece of jewelry up to the light, hefting the weight and rubbing one of the poky things. "You know this is fake, right?"

Silence. A suspicious-looking man nearby settled back into his seat disappointedly.

"Ha, good one," Ryou snickered.

"No, really, this isn't gold. First of all, gold is heavy, this hardly weighs more than a soda can. Secondly, this even feels like paint- look, it's all rubbery." She held it out, and Ryou touched it gingerly. He gave a hollow laugh.

"Wow. All this time, I... I mean, it's no big deal, but... Well, you can definitely have it now!" He tried to smile, but Amane could tell that her brother was genuinely sad. She also knew that the Millennium Ring had been real- real gold, real evil, real everything.

Harajuku was announced, and the door slid open with a mechanical whirr. The siblings got off the tram with mixed feelings on both parts, but they managed to keep Téa from asking about anything.

"Why do I always end up with you when you go shopping..." Yugi groaned.

"Oh come on, when else do you get to see me dress up in skimpy clothing?" Téa replied smugly. She was dressed as an anime character with a tiger print bikini and stubby horns. "Ama-chan! Nice Naruto setup."

"Ama...?" Yugi looked between the two girls as if they had just grown second heads. Ryou handed Amane her bags with a disgruntled growl. "Come on, Yugi, let's go find a manga store before we fill in as caddies."

Yugi tried to make conversation as he was dragged through the sea of humanity, nearly knocking somebody down and tripping over a little boy. "Since when are you so against spending time with your sister? I mean, you haven't seen her in years."

Ryou slowed to a stop, blinking confusedly. "You're right, that was... That was really dumb, and rude, and... Wow." They stood for a few seconds, trying to figure out if it would be more embarrassing to run back now or confront them later. Finally, they settled on wandering around until they ran into the girls again.

"Hey, Yugi," Ryou asked quietly, "Have I been acting weird lately?"

"Uhhhh, a little maybe," Yugi gave him a sideways look. "Why?"

"Nothing, I guess I'm just kind of upset. Amane says the Millennium Ring is a fake."

"Really? Woah, now that's weird."

"Yeah, but that was my only big tie to you when we first met. I just..." Ryou gave him a pleading look. "I just want you to know that I only found out today. So you don't think I made the whole thing up to be friends with you."

Yugi grinned. "Trust me, we've got a lot more in common than a couple pieces of metal." They scanned the crowd for a redhead and a black ponytail. "Oh hey, that's Marik!" Yugi pointed excitedly.

"Marik? Oh, um... I think I remember him. What's he doing in Harajuku?"

"I don't know, but let's go find out! HEY MA-aaaahahaokay, nevermind," Yugi began walking quickly in the other direction.

"What?"

"It's a girl."

"Oh!"

"Hey, don't yell at me and just run off!" A pair of hands grabbed a shoulder each. "What did you want?"

"Uh-" Ryou and Yugi stared blankly at the girl who was giving them an amazingly familiar glare. She had skin like milk chocolate, and hair the color of straw. A piercing gaze gave her a forbidding look, and an amazing mass of gold jewelry was settled over her light purple vest. The boys stared for a few seconds; their eyes flickered between what had to be Marik's face and a few inches downward at what was definitely not Marik's cleavage.

"You're- but- that- and-" Ryou spluttered.

"You actually saved me a trip," Marik smirked. "I guess this needs explaining, though, so you might as well help me find Ishizu so we can talk."

"Wait, how do you know Ishizu?" Yugi frowned.

"He's kinda slow, isn't he?" Marik giggled to Ryou. "But then, he's not the one you like to deal with, right Bakura?" Suddenly, Marik's suspicious face was inches from Ryou's. "Waaaaitaaaaaaaaminute, you're not- Ah, because you're with Yugi." With a final laugh, Marik stalked off. "Anyway, come, help me find my sister."

"So wait, you are Marik?" This time it was Yugi doing the dragging, running to catch up with the new arrival.

"Yes, thank you, I didn't need that pointed out to me."

"But you're a girl!"

"That's equally obvious."

"But Marik is a boy!"

"Look, if you're going to be an idiot I'll just take Bakura and leave you behind!" Marik turned angrily. Ryou cleared his throat. "Um, Marik-"

Suddenly, the girl lashed out at Ryou.

"No, enough with the 'um', why are you acting like this?" She flicked Ryou's head, and he shook it confusedly. "I just don't get it, you're both in there, why isn't he-"

"Marik, I don't think you're used to being a girl yet." Ryou poked Marik's chest awkwardly, which had been squished up against him. Marik raised an eyebrow and didn't move.

"Frankly, I don't much care, and you shouldn't either. At least you're listening to me. There she is!" Marik suddenly darted off in a random direction, bowling over the poor kid from earlier, and Ryou took a deep breath, sighing through his cheeks. Marik came back with a brownish cat clutched in her arms, beaming wide. "Yugi, Bakura, I'm not sure if you recognize Ishizu, but..."

"So let me get this straight," Yugi held up a hand and closed his eyes. "Marik's a girl, Ishizu's a cat, and Atem is another person- what- what is going on?"

"That's what we're here to explain," Ishizu said calmly.

"I'm severely confused right now..." Ryou gave the cat a mystified look. "But I get the feeling it isn't going to away if I scream like a little girl and run in the opposite direction as fast as I can."

"Finally, sense appears," Marik rolled her eyes. "And no it won't go away, so all you get to do is pick: your place or mine."

There was an awkward silence.

"...okay, that came out wrong, but seriously; Ryou's apartment, or my hotel room?"

"Hotel room," Yugi and Bakura said at once.