Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Chapter 9: Lessons
A/N: In this chapter I decided to pick up the pace a little bit and introduce the circumstances more quickly. This way, everyone will still be able to find out what's been happening but also be able to read the other details that I've had in mind since I first started this story two years ago. Hopefully, it doesn't move too fast. If it does though, just e-mail me and I'll clear anything up. Also I'm sorry that it took so long for me to get this chapter up when I promised an update more than a month ago. I'm sorry to say that my computer crashed in mid-March and I lost every file that I had saved on the hard drive. Thankfully I had backup copies for all my stories but they were older versions that didn't include the changes that I had made. So I had to do a lot of reconstruction on them when I could find the time between work, school, and home life. I hope that everyone can forgive me for that and I try to speed up production of this fic in the future.
The rest of the day was a long process of explaining the facts and asking questions that no one was willing to repeat after it was done. Surprisingly, after hearing the entire story, Kaiba took things remarkably well. At first, he had been a little skeptical that Yugi and Solitaire were telling the truth. It was something that had been engrained into him since childhood when he was forced to look at things logically and deny that there could be anything but cold hard facts to support existence. It was how he did things with his company and was one of the reasons why he was so successful with what he did. Yet it was also what limited him to what he was capable of believing in.
Well, Kaiba got the facts that he desired. A demonstration of Yugi's powers was the deciding factor that saw to that. He watched dumbfounded as the Hikari levitated both him and the couch that he had been sitting on almost to the ceiling. Since he had known full well that there were no wires attached to his furniture, Kaiba knew that what he was experiencing was no trick. What it did, once he had gotten over his shock, was cause the young CEO to launch into a thousand questions about their world and abilities.
Like before, Yugi and Solitaire tried to answer his questions to the best of their abilities. Naturally, some answers were easier to come by than others. Like how they had been with such abilities and what they were most often used for in the Shadow Realm. Then there were those answers that were easy to give but were difficult to accept. One of which was when Yugi revealed both his true nature as a hikari and the estimation of his age by human terms.
With this, Kaiba was a little more than skeptical than he was with everything else. He might have been willing to accept the existence of magic since it was actually possible to see that in action for himself. When it came to age however, unless someone had been with a person for a long time or had actual records, it was impossible to be certain of things. Especially when in the case of appearance, as there were always those who either looked older or younger than they really were.
Regardless of whether he believed Yugi about his age or not, the demonstration of his powers was enough to convince Kaiba that he was telling the truth about not being human. And that was enough to ensure that with a few conditions set down by Kaiba that they would be able to remain at the mansion for the duration of their visit to Earth. Of course, staying meant that they would have to follow Kaiba's conditions to the letter or face having to find other accommodations. One was that Solitaire would have to remain out of sight at all times when around anyone but their select group. If she saw or sensed anyone else coming, then she was to either hide herself immediately or return to the room she would be sharing with Yugi.
One thing Kaiba Seto did not want to happen is that he suddenly find his home swarming with fortune seekers and whacked out scientists because they heard there was some unknown species running around. If that happened, he would have to spend countless hours and funds trying to convince them that it was a mistake. So he made it clear that either Solitaire follow this or both of them were on their own. The other condition was that neither Yugi nor Solitaire ever to leave the mansion without someone to accompany them. As they were unfamiliar with both the general area and Earth customs, it was for their own safety. Plus, though he didn't say anything, Seto figured that it would be the best failsafe against any retaliation from the infamous Yami. If he was as powerful as hikari and dragon claimed, then the last thing that they needed was to have him angered because Yugi had gotten hurt. So Seto wasn't going to take any chances with Yugi and would instill as many safeguards as possible to ensure his safety without raising suspicion.
Thankfully, he had had Jou and the others to help back the safeguards. Though they weren't aware of what Kaiba was doing, they all agreed that it was best that the pair have a guide. None of them wanted anything to happen to their new friends, so they wanted to do what they could to make sure that they were all right. Which helped to ensure that even if they didn't fully like the restrictions that Yugi and Solitaire would agree to them. It was something that would make life easier for everyone in the long run.
Of course, hikari and dragon weren't the only ones who had to agree to conditions. Seto also had a few thrown his way once things were ironed out. With a few well-chosen threats, Jou had made it clear that his lover wasn't going to study Yugi and Solitaire's powers no matter how curious he was about them. Unless they voluntarily allowed their abilities to be studied, Kaiba was to leave them alone. Otherwise, he would find himself sleeping alone in a very cold bed for the entire duration of the pair's stay on Earth.
That was the one threat that Jou could ever give that Kaiba would always believe, so he did not doubt the validity. So the pair of visitors were perfectly safe from any unwanted attention in the scientific department. Not there weren't other ways for one's curiosity to be satisfied. The weeks that followed the initial introductions were quite the learning experience for both the humans and their new friends. Not only were Yugi and Solitaire learning more about the Human Realm than they would have back home, but Jou, Honda, Anzu and the Kaiba brothers were getting firsthand experience in how matters were dealt with in other realities. Namely, they were finding out that a lot of what they thought that they knew about life was just a big joke compared to what their new friends were telling them.
For starters, there was no doubt now about whether or not their universe was the only one capable of supporting life. There was also no question that there was intelligent life in these other worlds. That fact was evident enough just by having the two newcomers present. No the questions instead came to be about how the society from which they came from worked and how things were different in the alternate dimension. There were also a few about how many different worlds there actually were, though that was an answer that no one could give. In those matters, the best that could be said was that things were decided according to the will of the fates and that it was best to accept that.
In any case, it was a situation that went both ways. Just as the humans had questions about the Shadow Realm and other places, so too did the newcomers have theirs about how things worked on Earth. All in all, the questions that were being asked were also what helped to build the foundations for relations between the two groups. It gave them all a chance to get to know each other both personally and based upon the culture from which they originated. Things were made easier this way since both sides were allowed to overcome any ignorance that might be present at the same time rather than on separate occasions.
Not too surprisingly, after they had gotten to know each other, Yugi and Mokuba had become remarkably close. Though one was exceptionally older than the other was, their mindsets often placed them on the same wavelength. Something that soon led to them becoming playmates who often spent the evenings playing and teaching each other games before the younger went to bed. Then anything else that Yugi might want to know or play would be placed in the hands of the older humans.
Something that proved to be easier said than done. For all his appearance of being frail and delicate, Yugi had a surprising abundance of energy and could keep going long after others had tired out. In fact, it wasn't unusual for him to still be going when the rest of his friends were too tired to even bat an eyelash let alone say anything to get him to slow down. The only ones who ever seemed have to enough energy to come close to keeping up with him were Mokuba and Solitaire.
For the former, that simply came from the energy of youth and childhood. Being a child, it was natural for him to have so much energy in order to grow and learn about the world around him. The latter however, simply had more stamina than any human could possibly hope to possess. It was a common thing for any species of dragon to have such a trait because of the necessity to survive the harsh environments they often inhabited. That and she was used to dealing with Yugi's massive energies from several millennia of association. Not to say that everyone wasn't able to build up some sort of rapport at time when on.
That was especially helped by the relationships that had steadily been formed among the group. For Yugi, that was a process that proved easiest due to her friendly and cheerful nature. He soon had everyone, even Kaiba to an extent, talking with him as if they had known one another for years. There were some relationships that developed more closely than others. In particular, the one that Yugi got along with best out of the humans was none other than Jonouchi himself.
Despite their initial meeting, the two had become remarkably close. This might not have been too surprising since Jou was the human that Yugi spent the most time around. Since Kaiba had a company to run and Mokuba was still in school, the two of them were usually gone for most of the day. Honda and Anzu came over as much as they could, but with their jobs, families and getting ready for college entrance exams taking up a lot of their time as well, they couldn't be around as much as they would have liked. Since he had no family other than his younger sister that he liked to deal with and Kaiba had basically insisted that he be the one to take care of his lover in all things, he was the perfect choice to remain with Yugi. Thus giving him the chance to get closer to Yugi as he explained the human world as best he could.
For the occasions when he mixed things up a little too much, which actually happened more often than Jou liked to admit, Anzu was the one that helped to clear things up. She was the one that became like a sister figure of Yugi and a very protective one at that. Anzu was that one that not only made sure that Yugi didn't get too confused, she was also that one that kept Jou and Honda from introducing him to certain concepts that he didn't need to know about. Concepts that would either confuse Yugi beyond reason or just give him the wrong impression of humanity, something which Anzu did not want to happen.
She took this experience far more seriously than the others. While they were all excited and curious when it came to learning about a new world, she was the one that saw it as an opportunity to act as sort of ambassadors for the Earth. As far as she knew it was the first real contact that humans had had with other intelligent beings and she felt that it was important that they make as good an impression as possible. Hopefully it might prove to the people of the Shadow Realm that it was safe to trust humans in the future if the chance ever arose to make peaceful contact. Yugi, though completely unaware of Anzu's hopes, took either side in stride. He just accepted them as more of those strange Earth customs that he would probably never understand.
The closeness that he shared with Jou, Anzu and Mokuba was not the case with all the humans of course. For example, Yugi and Honda got along well enough, but they just weren't able to connect with one another the way that the former was with the other three humans. The best that they were able to manage was to be relatively good friends who had a few things in common with one another. Otherwise, they didn't spend as much time together as they did with the others and were never really alone with each other like Yugi would sometimes do with the others.
The same thing applied to Seto and Yugi, only this did not hold the friendly relations that Honda had created with the hikari. For them, it was based mostly on civility and little else. Yugi was always friendly with Kaiba, there was no doubt about that since he always tried to be kind and cheerful with just about everyone he came into contact with. Kaiba on the other hand, just didn't come out of his shell in the same way that he only seemed to manage with his little brother and his lover. Just like how it had affected how he processed the world around him, so to did his upbringing affect how he interacted with those around him.
For the most part, Kaiba Seto had been raised to be cold, ruthless, and willing to do anything necessary in order to get what he wanted. That was how his adopted father, Gozuboro, felt that anyone would ever be able to make it in the business world. So he had taught his adopted son that if he were to show too much emotion, then it would show that he was weak and thus give his enemies an opening with which to take him down. As a result, anything that Seto felt outside of anger or disgust came to be limited to a select few. In his life that was the little brother who had been in his care since they were very young and the lover who had proven to be the grounding effect that he needed in his life.
When it came to everyone else, Seto would either ignore them or tolerate them. For those that he felt were incompetent with their work, he ignored outright. They were not people worthy of his attention and time. For those that could prove their merit, then they would be given the tolerant respect that was given to those that didn't shirk their responsibilities. A mixture of the two was given to Jou's friends, as they were people who meant something to his lover but were not of any worth to him. So he let them in his house and would speak to them on occasion in order to keep his lover satisfied. Something which Yugi seemed to accept from his personal experiences with Yami, since he never pressed the matter when it presented itself.
It was an entirely different matter when it came to Solitaire. If anyone attempted to treat her that way, then she would most certainly make her opinion known. This was what made her relationships with the humans far different than the ones that Yugi had. When it came to Mokuba, she would be gentle but stern. Though she had threatened to do so with the older humans, Solitaire would never harm Mokuba. In her opinion he was still little more than a hatchling as humans went and so still had a lot to learn. So where she might be willing to bite or scratch someone else when they offended her, Solitaire was willing to cut the boy some slack when he was a around her.
The same couldn't be said when it came to Jou and Honda. With those two, Solitaire's relationship was almost relatively the same. Whenever one of them annoyed her enough, she would threaten to zap them or play some sort of prank in order to get back at them. The difference was that Jou turned out to be more of a target for the dragon than Honda ever did. That was simply because Honda had a bit more sense than Jou when it came to not insulting someone who could basically turn him into a living light bulb if he wasn't careful.
Solitaire's opinion was dramatically changed when it came to Anzu. Out of all the older humans, she was the only one that the dragon didn't try to pick a fight with. The reason was that Anzu was the only one who made any real sense out of the whole lot. The others were either too dull or too full of themselves to suit her. Something she wasn't afraid to let others know if they annoyed her past the breaking point and which had more than once started an argument with whoever was pestering her.
That was especially true when it came to Kaiba. For some reason, despite his admiration for the Blue Eyes White Dragons and their kin, there was almost no respect beyond the barest form of common courtesy between the CEO and the dragon. When they weren't ignoring one another, the two were arguing over one thing or another. To most it was just a major cause for a headache and something that they either ignored or tried in vain to stop. Though after a few unfortunate incidents when the two would forget their argument and turn on whoever interrupted them, the former became the regular reaction.
Privately, Yugi always smiled whenever he saw Kaiba and Solitaire arguing with one another. He knew that in her own way, Solitaire was just finding a way cope with their situation by finding something familiar. Since he shared similar traits with Dark Magician, who had long since become Solitaire's main and favorite sparring partner, it seemed that she had chosen Kaiba to fill that role. Yugi never said anything of course. It would only ruin things for Solitaire both in her enjoyment of arguing with someone and by revealing that she found such a connection to home in Kaiba. Those were things that he knew that his friends would never be able to live down, so he just sat back and watched as Solitaire argued to her heart's content with Kaiba Seto.
Today, there was no such argument to worry about for the moment. Though it was Saturday afternoon, Kaiba was at work trying to iron out the final details on a new project that his company had been developing. It was something that had come to take up a good portion of his time and so kept him out of the house more often than he or his family would have liked. Still, it kept him and Solitaire from arguing endlessly, so there was a small consolation to look forward to.
Instead the main source of entertain came in the form of Mokuba and Yugi. Since he had no school that day, Mokuba had taken the opportunity to play with Yugi. It was a rare chance for a young boy who often had to spend his free time alone or in the company of his housemates' older friends. To finally have someone who didn't mind playing the sort of things that were more enjoyable for someone his age that didn't insist that they stop after only a few tries. As well as someone who could tell far better factual stories about his homeland that held Mokuba's attention in ways that Earth stories couldn't compare to.
Not to say that there were times when Mokuba felt a childish frustration with Yugi. The knack he had for winning games on the first go could be very annoying at times for someone who was used to playing at the expert level for his age. But this could easily be overlooked from the lessons and pieces of advice that Yugi offered whenever they finished playing their games. Somehow, the hikari always had far better observations and strategies than anyone that he had ever met before. That included his own older brother, who was a renowned Duelist champion and game specialist that was supposed to have no equal in the world.
At the moment, neither one was interested in games though. What Yugi and Mokuba had planned was the second favorite activity that they shared in common with playing games and that was solving puzzles. This was always something that kept them entertained when they were tired of games and wished for some other challenging amusement. And today, they were going over ones that made Yugi look as if he was almost drooling with anticipation.
As Mokuba handed him one such puzzle, Yugi breathed, "I have a lot of puzzles in my collection, but nothing like this."
"Do you wanna try it?" Mokuba asked.
"May I?" Yugi responded.
"Sure," Mokuba nodded.
"Thank you," Yugi replied as he eagerly took hold of the puzzle.
While he started on the puzzle, the other occupants of the room watched him with amused curiosity. They were all sitting on the couches away from the window, looking much the same as they did the first day that Yugi and Solitaire had been brought to the Kaiba mansion. The difference was that the atmosphere was nowhere near as tense as it had been that day. Now, it was completely relaxed and laid back.
There was a little bit of a disturbance among this tranquil scene however. Not the kind that came from Solitaire and Kaiba arguing, for which they were all thankful. That wouldn't be happening for a few hours yet since the latter wasn't home yet. He was still at the office, working on some new programs that he was planning to market in a few months. So there was no need to worry about that war happening just yet. No the disturbance in the group this time came from Honda who was observing Mokuba and Yugi from where he was lounging on a couch.
"I just don't get that little guy sometimes. One minute he's acting some little kid who can barely get along without his mommy and the next, he makes someone like Einstein look like a first grader," Honda snorted.
"That's a hikari for ya," Solitaire replied from where she lay on a couch arm near Jou," They're some of the strangest creatures ever born. Sometimes more naïve than a newborn and other times, the wisest creatures ever to walk the realms. It's what helps them to deal with those temperamental yamis of theirs."
The humans glanced at one another when they realized that unintentional irony Solitaire had just mentioned. Solitaire was truly a temperamental creature herself. Sometimes she would refuse to say anything about what happened in the Shadow Realm and other times, it was impossible to shut Solitaire up. Now was probably going to turn out to be one of the times that they wouldn't be able to silence her. Which meant the humans could look forward to at least an hour of her babbling on the complexities of the Shadow Realm and those that lived there.
Of course, as they had come to learn from Yugi, there were ways to steer to this to their advantage. If they could get in a few subtly placed words, they could get Solitaire to talk about something that might actually be of interest of them. And especially something that didn't send the dragon off in a tirade that wouldn't end for hours at a time. A situation that they were willing to try to avoid at all costs, given the dragon's attitude during those times.
"Hey Solitaire," Jou called.
Turning back to him, the dragon answered," What?"
"Just how many of these hikaris are there?" Jou asked," You keep sayin' it like there's more than just Yugi. How many are in the Shadow Realm?"
For a moment, Solitaire actually looked like she was taken aback by Jou's question. She obviously hadn't expected him to ask her something like that. Normally when someone asked her something, it was about what sort of powers her fellow Monsters had and what it was like living under the rule of someone like Yami. But now it was an entirely different subject that did surprise her but one that decided to answer anyway.
"Including Yugi, there's three that I know about. The other two are Ryou-sama and Malik-sama, hikaris to Bakura-sama and Marik-sama," she replied.
"What are Ryou and Malik like?" Anzu said.
"I've never met them personally, but I've heard about them from Yugi and other Monsters who are in their yamis' service. They say they're nice enough and that's about the standard personality for a hikari," she replied.
"But if they're nice like Yugi, then why can't you talk with them too? I thought being his servant meant you were allowed to do certain things," Anzu protested.
"That only applies if we're in Yami-sama's palace, not someone else's. If we're visiting someone, even another hikari, I have to keep my mouth shut and stay in Yugi's quarters unless he specifically asks for me to accompany him. It's not the best idea to go wandering around another yami's palace if you don't live there. You never know just what nasty surprises they might leave waiting for you," Solitaire corrected.
The way that she said those last few words sent involuntary shudders up more than one spine. They had heard some of the more vivid descriptions of the Shadow Realm's dangers from Solitaire already and if it was something that made her nervous, then they knew that it had to be bad. Which was enough to keep most of them from asking for any further information the matter. As always though, there was an exception to the majority rule and this was found in none other than Honda Hiroto.
"What sort of 'surprises'?" Honda asked almost nervously.
"Trust me, you don't want to know," Solitaire insisted.
She gave a visible shudder at that thought. Seeing that, the humans decided that it was better not to press the subject any further. None of them had ever seen Solitaire react to anything like that before, even the horror films that they had introduced her to one evening. So they decided that anything that was bad enough for Solitaire to act like that, then it was something that they didn't want to know about. Which meant that it was time to move onto another part of the same subject, just not in that particular area.
"So other than making traps and having hikaris, what are the yamis like?" Anzu asked.
"You want a personal account of each one or just the common criteria?" Solitaire yawned.
"Is there a difference?" Honda replied.
"Not much but some," Solitaire said.
"Um, how about a bit of both?" Anzu suggested," Then we can know what yamis are like both ways."
"Suit yourself. Which do you want to hear first?" Solitaire shrugged.
"How about what makes them all the same? If that happens, I mean," Jou said.
"Oh, it happens. Their personalities might be different, but there's plenty in the internal programming that makes them the same," Solitaire grumbled," They're all over possessive of their property and power, beyond overprotective when it comes to their hikaris, treat their servants well if they serve loyally and are always looking for some way to expand on what they already have. Basically, warmongers with enough shadow powers to make life as its known a living hell if the mood strikes them. The only time when they're not doing that is when they're trying to get their hikari into the bed, which happens pretty often since yamis like to get frisky whenever possible."
"Okay, too much information on the last part," Honda gagged.
"Majorly," Anzu agreed.
"Yeah," Jou nodded.
Flicking her ears lazily, Solitaire shrugged," Hey, you were the ones who asked. I was just doing what you wanted. If you wanted me to leave out details, you should have been more specific."
"We didn't think that you would include what was happening in the bedroom," Honda protested.
"Again, you weren't specific about what to include and what not to include. You said that you wanted to know what makes a yami a yami and that's part of it. Not my fault if you're so squeamish about it," Solitaire replied.
"Maybe we should just move onto what each of the yamis are like as individuals," Anzu said quickly before Honda could protest further," It sounds like we've already got down what makes them all alike."
Solitaire blinked. Once again she found herself privately wondering about the nature of humans. They seemed to want to know things but at the same time always got edgy about some of the most natural functions in the world. It was enough to make her wonder just how the species had managed to procreate itself this far. If they couldn't even talk about it without making a fuss, then how were they supposed to get it done when the time came?
Well, if that was how they were, then that was just how they were. As confusing as she found them, Solitaire knew that she couldn't change the views of an entire species. That would take more time and patience than she had ever possessed in her life. In fact, she doubted that there was any creature, be they sweet tempered hikaris, Mystical Elves, or a monk, would have the patience to change the views of humans. The species was just too set in its ways to make any changes to itself without making it more trouble than it was worth.
So she decided to drop the subject altogether and just get on with answering Anzu's question. It would certainly be less of a headache for her in the end. At least by telling how the yamis were different, no one could complain that she was being too specific about anything. After all, since they knew about the yamis' respective personalities to begin with, then there was nothing they could say in protest.
"All right. Well, like I said, there are three yamis that I know about. Yami-sama, Bakura-sama, and Marik-sama," Solitaire began," Yami-sama is easily the strongest of the three and he's also the most rational of the bunch, especially when under pressure. No one can beat him when it comes to strategies which means whenever they have duels, the others eventually lose to him one way or another. I guess you could also say that Yami-sama is the gentlest of the bunch, since he doesn't outright kill someone if there's some evidence that they might be innocent. Though I wouldn't go so far as to say that he's a good guy, since he's had his moments of dark moods like the rest of them. Plus, he doesn't always listen to others when he should."
Anzu and the boys listened well. They knew full well what Solitaire was referring to with that last bit of information. She was talking about how Yami's overprotective nature had kept him from seeing what he was doing to Yugi and so driving him to come to Earth in the first place. They also knew that now they were getting a different glimpse of the person that had unintentionally hurt their friend. For when Yugi described him, it was through a lover's eyes which would not always admit to the faults that his other half had. Through Solitaire though, who was a servant and could see things about Yami that Yugi wouldn't openly admit to, it was possible to see other sides to the dark spirit.
"Then there's Bakura-sama," Solitaire continued," He's not someone that you want to cross. He's known for being very meticulous when it comes to planning out his revenge against anyone that pisses him off. When he's not torturing someone, he's usually off plotting to steal some ancient relic to add to his collection."
"Collection?" asked Jou.
"Yeah. Bakura-sama is known for having one of the most extensive collections of gold and artifacts in the Shadow Realm. Most of it he's supposed to have stored away for his own power, but there are rumors that say he uses the jewelry to make gifts for his hikari, Ryou-sama," Solitaire answered.
"Any particular reason why he steals so much or it one of those yami things?" Honda said.
"Bakura-sama probably just does it because he likes the challenge. A lot of the things that he has were stolen from the deeper portions and tombs of the Shadow Realm where even yamis have to be careful. Things like that always seem to catch his interest. I guess that's why he's sometimes known as the Tomb Robber to those that don't dare name him out loud," Solitaire replied.
"The guy has all that power and he spends his free time as a thief? You have got to be kidding me," Honda snorted.
"Hey, I said that's just what he's like. I never said that I understood why he did it," Solitaire insisted.
"Okay, okay. So we have a Yami and a Bakura. So who's left?" Jou sighed.
"That would be the worst of the bunch, Marik-sama. I'm not really sure if you want to hear about him that much. He's not exactly the most…pleasant person to learn about, even for a yami," Solitaire replied warily.
"Oh come on. If Yami just has a temper and Bakura likes to spend his free time stealing things, how bad can he be?" Anzu said.
"Try being a complete psychotic maniac. I just said that out of all the yamis, Marik-sama is the craziest. Anything can set him off, which is why it's a good idea to keep as far away from him as possible. Even the other yamis know that. In fact, the only person that doesn't have to worry about setting him off is Malik-sama and that's only because that's his hikari," Solitaire snorted.
Her tone was one of absolute seriousness. Enough so that the humans sat at absolute attention as she spoke. This yami was obviously different from the rest if he had Solitaire acting so nervously just by speaking about him. Just how different had yet to be discovered as Solitaire seemed to be getting more nervous the more she thought about it.
"I've heard stories about him that make my scales curl. Things that we adult Monsters won't even say in front of someone who hasn't even seen their first century of life. All done because they did something that he considered an insult to himself, his power, or his hikari," Solitaire shuddered.
Her tail curled tightly against her side with a spinal crest that was flattened firmly long her back and her claws started to clench through the couch fabric as she continued to speak. The grip that she was starting to use was so strong that it was starting to cut through the fabric. Jou almost started to scold her about that but a look from his friends stopped. Even with the damage, it was obviously not the right time to bother with things like that. Solitaire didn't even seem to know what she was doing.
"You okay, Solitaire?" Anzu asked gently.
"Yeah," Solitaire said, breathing in deeply to calm herself," Yeah, I'm okay. Just getting a little out of it. Marik-sama is just one of the few things in the Shadow Realm that I actually fear. I saw some of the stuff that he can do once and it just makes me nervous every time that I think about it."
"Hey, no big deal. We're all afraid of something," Jou replied.
"Yeah, I guess so," Solitaire nodded.
The conversation lagged away from the topic of yamis and the Shadow Realm after that. For the rest of the afternoon, they compared notes on what they would spend the next week doing when they got together. Among which was how to fix the couch arm without Kaiba noticing that anything was wrong.
A/N: Well, here it is. I hope that the length and content make up for the lack of update. Also if anyone was offended by the inside jokes that I threw in, I apologize. That was just for a friend who needed a laugh from a bad week. If you're reading this DK, then I hope that it worked for you. Plus the things that I put in about Yami Marik were not meant to be bashing. Next to Yugi, he's my favorite character from the Yu-gi-oh! series. I just wanted to something in there about him that would make Solitaire quiver for once. That way I get to put in my version of him and it shows that there's indeed that the spunky little dragon is afraid of. Well I promise to try and update faster this time around. I have at least half the chapter done already. Since school will be letting out in a few weeks, I'll have more time to write then. Until which, thank you all for reading and I hope that everyone enjoyed.