Episode 10:

The Brief Reprieve

The morning after, everyone was rather shocked when Ree told of what happened the previous night. "Kaiba challenged you to a duel?" Tristan exclaimed, disbelief evident in his face. "And not only that-" chipped in Tea, "you tell us that you almost beat him?" Ree nodded. "He won in what I was hoping to be his final turn..." she replied, almost starting to not believe her own story herself.

"But then again, he was only playing easy with me... Of course, I would have lost a lot faster had he taken me seriously..." Ree added quickly, feeling more and more insignificant as she talked about it. "...since I'm not that great of a player..."

"Still," noted Joey, "to last that many turns... Man, you must be pretty good! Maybe you could even take me on next time!" He laughed before adding, "After all, I wasn't just runner-up in Duelist Kingdom for nothing... and even I couldn't beat Kai- " At this, Mai gave him a harsh nudge in the ribs and retorted, "Hush, Joesph, I could've beaten you if I had really wanted to," before turning to Ree encouragingly.

"You know, you really shouldn't put yourself down so much, hun," she remarked, leaning casually on a very pained Joey holding his ribs. "Have some more faith in your skills! Anyway, I for one believe it when you say you almost beat him. After all, it is possible to beat the impossible- and Yugi's testament to that, right, Yugi?" said Mai to the diminutive Duel Monsters Champion. Yugi nodded. "It's true," agreed Yugi, "everyone has different weaknesses... You just have to find them. I have beaten Kaiba myself, so I know."

Yes, but I'm pretty sure that my dueling skills aren't quite up to par with yours, Yugi... thought Ree rather glumly. She knew he was trying to help, but somehow, comparing herself to the Champion wasn't exactly cheering her up.

"And I suppose you will have to see him again tonight for your project?," enquired Bakura, who had just joined the conversation. Ree frowned slightly, looking slightly perplexed. "Well actually..." she began, then stopped. After all, would they believe it if she told them he was letting her take a break? Mr. Jack Frost just suddenly grew a heart and had compassion? Not in any eternity.

"Well what?" asked a curious Tea. "Don't tell me... he made some ridiculous condition when you lost?" Ree gave her a small, awkward smile. "Well that's the thing... Since I lost, I was supposed to have meetings with him, the same time, every single night until we get this project finished, but..."

"But?"

The girl fiddled nervously with her violet hair ribbons before answering.

"He... He said that..." She looped a thick strand of dark hair around her finger.

"He said that he'd let me have a break, so... Um, today I could have a day off...?"

It was as if a stun grenade had been thrown. The gang was speechless. There was a lengthy silence as puzzled looks were exchanged before Joey broke the silence with the statement that was in everyone's heads-

"Are ya kidding me?" and... "Kaiba-? Seriously?"

Tristan slammed a fist into his palm. "There is no way that guy would do something for someone other than himself. It has to be some kind of trick!"

"Yeah," agreed Joey, his usually amiable face twisting into a scowl.

"I reckon ya shouldn't listen to him. Knowing Kaiba, it's probably just what he wants you to think." Ree blinked in surprise. "You really think so?"

The blonde folded his arms. "Yeah well, me and Yug here's experienced more than enough of Mister Smileypants to last a lifetime... and let me tell ya, for all the times we've given him a hand, we haven't had one real thankyou from that guy." Tea nodded. "That's true... he's never been too happy about us helping him, either." On a roll on his train of logic, Joey then announced, "Ya know what I think ya should do? I reckon you should turn up anyway. That way, you'd show him that ya didn't fall for his trap... and really mess with his mind." He then grinned brightly at his own genius. Ree sweatdropped. "...Um... maybe we're overthinking this a little," she murmured, though she didn't doubt it could be possibly true. He did, after all, foresee their first project meeting. Serenity, who had been quietly observing the entire time, finally spoke up, her kind eyes filled with concern. "Hey guys, maybe Ree's right," she stated, clasping her hands. "Maybe Kaiba really was letting her take a break...?" The girl then looked to her older brother for support, but he shook his head. "Nah, Kaiba's too much of a jerk to do something like that. I betcha anything he's got something planned."

I just wish I knew what that something is, thought Ree.

"Well then, trap or not, I think you should just go and enjoy yourself today, don't you think?" smiled Bakura. "Because then you'll both be taking his word and having fun, which would be quite the opposite of what it'd be like working on the project." Ree returned the smile. He was right. It was much preferable to labouring with metal in a cold workshop, that was for sure.

"So then, what do you have planned for today?"

Ree laughed. "I was hoping to maybe hang with you guys for a bit."

Joey sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Er, actually... bad timing, Ree... cos I gotta take Serenity to the doctor for her check-up. She had surgery for her eyes recently so... they gotta see if her eyesight's improving from time to time..."

Ree's eyes widened. "Ah, I see..." For her gentleness, Serenity was quite strong, thought the girl.

"And I've promised to look after Grandpa's game shop today," said Yugi, apologising. As it turned out, everyone was busy that day, having some appointment or arrangement of some sort or another. Not much of a break if I have noone to enjoy it with, sighed Ree mentally.

"Oh! I know what you can do," exclaimed Tea excitedly, "Why don't you go explore Domino? It'd be great to know your way around the city. I would love to be your tourguide, but as you know, I've got a dance lesson this afternoon..." Ree brushed it off.

"...It's fine," she replied. "I'll be alright on my own." Just like the old days...

But it couldn't be helped, she supposed. It was just unfortunate that the break coincided with everyone else's activities.

Surely she could manage by herself in this city for a single day, right?

Ree glanced at the tourist pamphlet she was holding and frowned. The park she had been trying to get to was supposed to be somewhere around here, according to the pages of the map. Perhaps she was reading it wrong? For all her geography smarts, she was hopeless at map-reading. Not to mention the fact that she had no sense of direction whatsoever... Ree rested her chin on her knuckles, feeling, yet again, incredibly lost. She was sitting outside in the afternoon sun, at the table of a small cafe near a few tall buildings... somewhere in Domino. An almost lukewarm cup of tea sat in front of her, a slight steam billowing and disappearing upwards into the air. She had been there for quite a while now, struggling to figure out exactly where she was and where she was attempting to head to. Maybe I should ask someone, thought Ree, as she took another scan at the panorama around her. I might as well, seeing that I'm not getting anywhere closer to my destination like this...

Then, something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. The girl turned to see several tall men wearing shades, dressed in drab black suits and some wearing headsets, striding nearer in her direction. She found it slightly odd, and almost comical, seeing that the men made quite a stark contrast to the vivid colours that was the quiet picturesque scenery before her. Thinking it was probably some corporate business conference about to take place, Ree looked away and curled two fingers around her cup. As she was about to take a sip, there was a speck of mustard yellow in her peripheral vision. She looked up again, and spied a much smaller personage hidden behind the men; sporting a bright yellow bomber jacket and striped shirt. Ree put down her cup and sat up in her seat, feeling quite sure she knew this person from somewhere. As the group approached, she then caught a glimpse of long, dark hair and a pair of mischevious eyes, proving indeed her thoughts to be correct. It was Mokuba Kaiba, her project partner's younger brother.

Not sure it was appropriate to wave or, in fact, make any contact at all with one surrounded by intimidating, unexpressive bodyguards, Ree resigned herself to just casually taking glances to avoid attracting unwanted and accidental attention. However, it seemed that Mokuba himself had now noticed her, his eyes lighting up in recognition. So unable to escape notice any longer, Ree finally lifted a hand in Hello as the boy broke into a run towards her, causing the men in black to hasten their pace as well. "Hey, it's Ree!"

Ree gave a small, friendly smile as he neared. "Hello there, Mokuba."

Eyeing the posse of blacksuits cautiously, she enquired, "What are you up to right now?" The boy folded his arms with an air of importance, in a manner not unlike his older sibling. "I'm running a special errand for Seto. It's highly confidential, so I can't really talk about it. Anyway, I've just finished, so now I'm heading home." Mokuba then spotted the papers strewn on the table and returned, "What about you, Ree?"

The girl's face flushed slightly as she realised that she was in the embarrassing position of having to admit she was lost... again. Especially since it was in front of a child... and even more so since it was Mokuba Kaiba- who had already seen her lost once already in his home. "Um," she began. "Well you see..."

However, a puzzled Mokuba had then picked up the pamphlet and cut in with, "Why are you looking at a tourist guidemap? Are you trying to get somewhere?"

Ree then had to explain about her sightseeing idea and her general foreignness to the whole Domino area, being only a recent arrival. Mokuba's expression had then lit with an understanding "Oh!" and proceeded with, "I just thought you'd always lived round here..." and then finally, "...So then, are you lost?"

To which a very sheepish Ree replied with, "Yes. I am very lost."

"Well then," said Mokuba, putting his hands on his hips, "Where do you wanna go? Cos I've been round this city loads of times, so I know my way pretty well around here." All of a sudden, a beam of a grin slowly spread across his face as he caught the drift of a brilliant idea.

"Hey... Why don't I become your tourguide?"

Ree began to object, "No, wait... it's okay, I don't want you to miss any important appointments because of..." but the young Kaiba just shook his head dismissively. "It's fine! Since you don't know your way around yet, you need someone to show you round, right? And it's perfect, since I know this place and you don't," he stated excitedly. The boy turned to his bodyguards and began discharging them. One of the men in suits, who had been silent the entire occasion protested, "But Mr. Kaiba Sir, your brother gave us strict orders to accompany you to ensure your safety!" Mokuba waved it off. "It'll be okay. Cos Ree will take all responsibility for me, right, Ree?" Ree sweatdropped and mumbled a confused, "...Um... okay..."

"But, Sir!" came another protest.

Mokuba refolded his arms. "I said it's fine! You guys can go home, and that's an order." The men looked at eachother, as if unsure of what to do. It was one thing to obey their boss's commands, and quite another to disobey them. However, it was also another to disobey the orders of his beloved younger brother... and they weren't quite sure they'd like the consequences of their boss if they spurned them. So in the end, after some debate, the suits reluctantly walked away, leaving with a very anxious, "Please, do make sure to call to tell of where you are, Sir."

After they disappeared from view, Mokuba sighed. "I told him I'd be fine on my own, but Seto insisted that I take a guard with me," he explained to Ree.

"I... see..." replied the girl, who was still trying to get over the fact that Mokuba was being referred to as 'Mr. Kaiba' and 'Sir'.

"This is gonna be fun!" exclaimed Mokuba eagerly. He then gathered up the pamphlet papers and began crumpling them into balls. "Forget about this stuff, cos I'll show you all of the cool places in Domino!"

It seemed that Mokuba was her saving grace yet again. Seeing his zest and the energetic grin on his enthusiastic face, Ree couldn't help but bring herself to smile and laugh. He was just such a likable kid. She only wondered how her project partner would react when he found out she was spending time with his little brother.

I may not like Seto Kaiba very much, but it's not a bad thing that I make friends with his younger brother, right?

Several hours later, there was a resounding, "Yes!" as an ecstatic Mokuba punched the air in victory. "I win again, Ree!" Ree leant, breathless, on her controller buttons, having lost to Mokuba now three times in a row at a game of Monster Invaders. They were at the arcade, Stop Number 8 in his list of "Awesomely Cool Places to Visit." They had been to several parks previously, then to the Cinema, and to a few media stores, toy stores and game shops. After learning with delight that Ree played Duel Monsters, Mokuba had taken her to all the major card shops in the city (Ree refrained from mentioning that she had already faced his elder sibling the previous night) to browse through cardpacks.

Mokuba stretched, then took a sip of his soda. "Okay!" he announced.

"So what's next on the list," enquired Ree, who, though getting quite drained, was riding the waves of Mokuba's seemingly neverending stream of hyperactive vigour. The boy laughed. "Well actually... I've kinda run out of places to go to," he said apologetically. "So... do you have any ideas instead?"

Ree did indeed have places in mind to visit; however, thinking of her young charge, she couldn't exactly see how an energetic ten-year old would be excited to go visit some slow-paced art galleries and museums. Maybe later, thought Ree, thinking of one of the advertising banners they had passed, emblazoned with a picture of an Egyptian sarcophagus. 'New Exhibition Coming Soon' it had read.

"Um, not really," the girl replied.

Mokuba frowned in thought. "Well then, what should we do?" He glanced around the arcade. They had played every game at least twice now. Then his eyes rested on a poster displaying a determined-looking Gearfried the Iron Knight clashing with a fierce Swordstalker. You could literally see the gears churning and click into place as the boy exclaimed, a figurative lightbulb glowing above his head; "I know!

'Why don't we have a Duel?"

I'm feeling a sense of De ja vu, mused Ree.

She could have see that one coming... Ree smiled to herself and began to draw out her deck from her pocket when she noticed that Mokuba's face had sunk into a very crestfallen expression as if in realisation of something.

"What's wrong, Mokuba?" asked Ree worriedly, putting a hand on his small shoulder.

He looked up at her, slightly dejected, and replied, "Oh... but I've kinda left my deck at home..." Ree was surprised, but supposed he was expecting to have returned immediately home after his errand, having not taken his deck with him.

"It's okay, Mokuba... Do you want to go home, then?" She checked the clock near the points exchange counter. It was about 7:30pm- they had been out for approximately four or so hours. "It is getting late, and your brother is probably worried since we haven't made any contact to tell him where you are..."

Ree suddenly shivered. Not to mention the fact that he'd definitely kill me if I let anything happen to you, she thought nervously.

Mokuba brightened. "Alright then," he said. "I'll go call the limo."

He expertly flipped open the lapel of his jacket, revealing a tiny communications device. Pressing a button, he conveyed into the receiver, "Mokuba to Limousine Five. I request Pick-up; sending the coordinates now." Seeing Ree stare somewhat impressed, he explained, "Seto had these installed so that I could be in contact wherever I go, so we've both got one. Pretty cool, huh?"

Ree smiled. "Very cool."

They stepped out into the evening, the sky turned a dull pink. The city was quiet, and noone else was on the streets, save a lone, bedraggled old man crossing the road. There was a slight breeze, but otherwise everything was rather still and peaceful.

"So now we just wait?" enquired Ree, shifting slightly in the discomfort of the cool outside air. "We wait," agreed Mokuba. Noticing her shivering next to him, he reassuringly said to Ree, "Don't worry, the limo will be here really soon."

"Oh will it now," said a voice leeringly behind his ear.

The pair turned immediately around, alarmed; Mokuba a little too late. He was grabbed from behind, his arms pinned back roughly and a very unsanitary-looking modified pocketknife held to his throat. "Let me go!" he called out as the assailent dragged them both backwards, several metres distance away from Ree.

"Shut up, kid. Stop moving unless you wanna get hurt," the bedraggled man snarled, knocking hard on the back Mokuba's head. The boy cried out as he felt the blow, then fell silent, his eyes becoming fearful.

"Oi, you there," the man addressed Ree, eyeing her suspiciously. "Little girl. You're looking after this kid, right? If you don't want to see him slashed to pieces before your very eyes, give me $5000 in cash, right now.

'and don't even try to do anything like calling for help," he continued, seeing Ree about to open her mouth, "or I'll cut his wee arm right off." The man grinned, revealing a set of mismatched teeth.

Ree trembled, thoughts flying through her head at mach speed. Why hadn't she been more careful? She hadn't thought of the old man as a threat when she first saw him... But the signs! Why didn't she pay attention to the signs? She screamed mentally. And everyone thought she was smart...

First of all, the smartest thing to have done was to have stayed inside the arcade, where at least there were people to prevent exactly from this incident happening. And secondly, she didn't have five grand! What kind of people did this guy think they were to so casually carry such a ridiculous sum of... Of course.

The man must have overhead part of their conversation of the limo, implying that they were wealthy- Ree included. But fortunately for them, he didn't seem to be aware of Mokuba's true identity and therefore real net worth... otherwise they would be in a trouble so priceless, Ree couldn't exist long enough to pay it off... corpse or otherwise.

She took a deep, inward breath. What was it they were teaching in those alternative Self-Defense classes? Step One: De-Escalation.

"Wait," Ree called out as confidently as she could. "I'll give you the money."

"But, Ree!" protested Mokuba immediately. "You don't-" The girl silenced him with a look that said, Please. Just hold on for a minute, and hopefully I'll get us out of this. Or something to that effect, anyway. To their mugger, however, hopefully the look said something along the lines of, Omigosh I'm so terrified that I'm willing to do exactly as he says so that he leaves us alone and in one piece- Which was the exact truth. Ree's heart was pounding so frighteningly hard and furiously that she was afraid it would break loose from her body.

The old man pressed the blade closer to Mokuba's throat. "Where is it?" he rasped demandingly.

"In my bag," Ree replied, setting her satchel down slowly. "I-I'm getting it now."

Step Two: Make an opening for escape.

She unzipped the bag, careful not to take her eyes off their attacker. Ree took out something small, leatherbound and rectangular.

"You can have everything in my wallet," she said nervously. "If... If you let the boy go." The man just sneered at her. "I'll consider it after you hand me the wallet."

Ree gulped. "A-Alright, then... I'll... just throw it to you, now...

'3... 2... 1..." She prayed in her mind, Poor athletic ability, don't fail me now... and threw. The object soared, a little too high and wide of the man, who cursed and then released Mokuba, shoving him forcefully to the side as he dived at the wallet in greed.

Step Three: Run!

"Mokuba!" Ree called to boy, now freed. He nodded, "Right!" and dashed off to her side, the two of them sprinting as fast as they could away.

They only had mere seconds, before their assailent unbuckled the clasps and realised what Ree had done... Right, she thought, as her heart hammered in her chest. This is not exactly the Physical Education I want to experience ever again...

Then at about twenty metres away, behind them she heard an angry voice hollering, "Hey... Wait a minute! This ain't no wallet, it's a goddamn leather organiser!" Suffice to say, he was after them.

"Keep running, Mokuba," panted Ree, running to somewhere, anywhere away from here. The boy took a quick glimpse behind them. "He's still coming, Ree!"

They raced up the road.

Suddenly, there was a screech of tyres and then there were a pair of headlights in front of them, blinding them temporarily. Mokuba, his eyes the quickest to adjust, yelled, "It's the limo! Come on!" They ran to the side, Mokuba flinging open the door and jumping hurriedly in first. As Ree began to enter the vehicle, she saw something metallic flash through the air, to the ground. She looked down to see the pocketknife, embedded firmly in the ground, a centimetre away from her foot. "What are you waiting for, Ree? Get in!"

Ree looked back, and saw their crazed knife-throwing friend coming about five metres away. Thinking of several other places the knife could have embedded in, she leapt into the limo, slamming the door shut, hard after herself.

"Home," yelled Mokuba, "And step on it!"

The limousine reared forward, engine revving. The old madman leaped out the way, shaking his fist and cursing fervently as he watched the automobile speed past into the darkening evening hour.

Ree sunk heavily in her seat as she was overcome with relief to escape such a dreadful situation, her heart still a myriad of galloping wild horses beating out a dark rythmn in her chest.

There was a few minutes of silence in the limo as the pair had to catch their breath. When he had stopped panting, Mokuba looked at Ree sorrowfully, then looked down.

"Sorry about your organiser," he apologised. Ree furiously shook her head.

"A minor loss," she replied anxiously, "I'm just glad you aren't hurt... and that is much more important."

"Well, I'm fine, thanks to you," stated Mokuba with a tiny grin. "Hey, how'd you think of tricking him like that?"

Ree returned a small smile. "Well, I certainly didn't have the money, but I didn't want to aggravate him further, so I was actually going to give him my real wallet," she admitted. "I only thought of it when I felt my leatherbound organiser in my bag while I was trying to retrieve my wallet. It's rather small, and has clasps... Um, I imagined that at the distance we were from each other it'd look more or less like a wallet to him...

'I guess it was a gamble, but I thought it would give us more time, since the clasps on that thing are rather hard to open." Mokuba stared at her in awe.

"Wow," he stated. "That's pretty clever, thinking of that really quick." Then he tilted his head to the side and said, "You know, you're almost as smart as my big brother."

Ree shirked a bit at the notion of being compared to the narcissistic teenage CEO, and looked out the window. "Speaking of trouble," she began.

"He's going to utterly destroy me once he finds out what I got you into tonight..."

Mokuba frowned. "But you got us out of it, right? Besides, it wasn't even your fault... You didn't even know the guy was a lunatic!" Ree smiled softly.

"True, but as your senior, I was obligatorily responsible for your safety. So... really I should have known better than to place you in danger..."

To her surprise, the young boy scoffed and crossed his arms. "Aw, C'mon, Ree!" he exclaimed. "Don't be so hard on yourself!" Ree blinked. "Huh, must be a habit," she replied, thinking Mai had said something similar earlier.

"If anything," continued Mokuba, "I'd say it was my, the touristguide's fault, for taking you to such an unsafe place in the first place."

At this, Ree chuckled. He was trying to cheer her up, she thought. Amidst his protests, Ree ruffled his hair. "Hey!" he exclaimed, rearranging his locks.

Ree laughed, then said, "Thanks, Mokuba."

The boy smoothed out his bangs. "For what?"

"For the tour today. I had fun."

Mokuba grinned. "Hey, no problem! I had fun too." Then he added, "Oh, and don't worry about Seto; I'll tell him it wasn't your fault."

Ree returned a smile. "Again, thanks."

Mokuba swelled with pride, then mischeviously reminded her, "You won't be thanking me so much when I beat you. We still have to Duel, remember?"

"Oh, is that so? Then I guess I'll have to win then," teased Ree.

"You're on! But I have to warn you though, I'm pretty good since my big brother taught me everything I know."

Ree giggled. "Well then, I'll have to teach you otherwise."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"You're going down, Ree!"

As the limousine pulled into the Kaiba mansion's driveway, Ree suddenly had the urge to check the time. She took a quick peek at the digital clock in the vehicle dashboard. The time '08:05' was displayed in neon digits- the time Seto usually held their meetings. Odd, she thought as she followed Mokuba to the front entrance. How is it that even on her break that she still managed to find herself at this place? Did Kaiba play some sort of psychological mind trick on her? Perhaps he was expecting her, even.

Oh no... Joey's paranoia must be getting to me... Ree shook it off.

Then any doubts and suspicion was soon pushed aside at the arrival of their host as he opened the heavy oak doors. Seto Kaiba was standing wearing what looked to be his dinner finery, and seemed genuinely surprised to see her. Maybe even slightly annoyed. Then he ignored her, addressing his brother.

"What happened, Mokuba? I expected you hours ago."

"Sorry, big bro," replied the boy, looking downcast. "Since Ree's new to town and all, I was showing her around the city and stuff! ...I didn't think it'd take so long..." Then he glanced at Ree next to him and continued, "...and then we got attacked by this guy with a knife who was trying to steal our money-" He was cut off by a furious Seto who yelled, "What?"

"That is why I told you to bring a guard with you. Why did you send them back?" He glared at Ree, then enquired to his brother, "...Are you alright?"

Mokuba nodded.

"Actually, it was all thanks to Ree that we managed to get away," said he, trying to put in a good word for her, "...so it's not her fault..."

Seto stared long and hard at the girl before finally announcing, "Hmph. Then you will be compensated for your effort."

Not even a real thankyou, mused Ree, again recalling Joey's words. "I-It's fine," she stated, averting the steel in his eyes. "I just wanted to make sure Mokuba was okay... so I can't accept any sort of reward as such..."

Seto seemed to skip over her words and gave her a chillier glare than usual.

"I hate owing debts."

What was his problem? For some reason, and today especially, thought Ree, it seemed as though he was determined to make her hate him. What could she have done to upset him? After all, she still barely knew him! She could only think of when they had first accidentally walked into eachother that day, but surely he wasn't so petty to go as far as this for revenge? Or was he simply angry that she was becoming friends with his brother? He was so unsociable. Then, as if in reaction to her thoughts, Seto stated, "I see you've chosen not to accept my offer for taking a day off." Unbelievable.

"I... beg your pardon?" Ree was desperately hoping she had misheard, clinging to the thinning rope that was hanging over the abyss that was soon to be her tolerance.

Seto Kaiba folded his arms, the beginnings of his arrogance emerging.

"Why else would you be here? Albeit a few minutes late, but you are still here, no less." Ree just couldn't understand it... he was so hostile in comparison to yesterday. "Actually," she began, "I am here because of your brother..." She tried to maintain a level-headed stare to meet his, but had to blink mutiple times so as to not be frozen by his ice.

"Oh, is that a fact?"

Why was he so cold to her? She had actually thought they were somewhat civil... guess she had thought of him wrong, yet again.

Seto smirked. "Come now, Ree. We both know the real reason why you are here. Evidently, it is because you were too ashamed of your efforts in our last meeting, so you decided to come back for some more practice, correct?"

Ree clenched her fists tightly. Don't hit him, don't hit him... But her tolerance was beginning to break. Underneath her normally peaceful and shy composure, a war was brewing. "...The world doesn't revolve around you, Seto Kaiba. If you knew that, then perhaps you'd know I came here for someone other than yourself."

The boy shrugged. "Mere words. They fail to cover for your presence here. Why don't you make it easier for both of us and admit the truth for yourself?"

He... he was so...! Whatever his intentions were, it was working. Ree's dislike of him was rapidly expanding. However, she said nothing, in an effort to calm herself. Seto hmphed satisfactorily. "As I thought." Ree couldn't take it anymore.

"...You-! Y-You are-!" Ree struggled to find words to describe exactly how infuriated and exasperated she felt.

"And I am what, exactly?" said Seto, adding the final drop of gasoline to what was left of the burning funeral pyre that was their conversation.

Just how angry was he trying to make her? Her tolerance cap exploded.

"You... You are the most insensitive, cold-hearted, conceited, ungrateful... insufferable, discourteous, horrible and cretinous ignoramus I've ever had the misfortune to encounter in my life!" Ree yelled, her small voice just about breaking. "I... I can't... What is wrong with you?" She turned around and ran, furiously battling her instinct to scream; blinking back small tears.

I will not cry in front of him. Never.

"And where do you think you're going?" Seto yelled at her as she left. The girl turned back and furiously glared through watery eyes. "Anywhere, as long as it's away from you!" She shook her head angrily. "You know, I was giving you a chance, despite what everyone said; hoping you'd prove them wrong.

'But I guess Joey was right, after all. You're as cold as they say."

Continuing down the path she called, "...and don't bother holding a meeting tomorrow, because I won't be coming. Not anymore."

Ree then ran out of the gates, not looking back, and not caring where she was running to.

"Figures you were one of them," muttered Seto as he observed her figure disappear into the night.

In the few long seconds afterwards, a slightly disappointed Mokuba said quietly, "Seto? I think you should try being a bit nicer to her."

"Tch," remarked an extremely annoyed Seto Kaiba, irritably. He slammed the front doors closed, hard- and stormed off angrily into the mansion; his footsteps ringing hollow across the cold floor.

The boy frowned, his eyes gleaming malevolently. Strange, he thought, looking around. Where did it go? He looked down at the golden halo-shaped contraption in his hands, its pointed pendants hanging loosely, aiming at the ground. It had been glowing a minute before...

He growled in frustration. In the last few weeks, the Ring had been picking up a strange aura in the Domino area, not unlike a Millenium Item. However, the energy being emitted felt like something else, something more ancient than simple Shadow Magic. Unfortunately, every time when he thought he was getting closer to the source of the aura, the trace energy the Ring was tracking would suddenly disappear, making it impossible to gauge its power. He had even begun to skip some classes in school, using his host's weak body as an exuse, to track the aura at its strongest, usually during the day. Some of Bakura's mortal classmates were beginning to get suspicious, so he was forced to create some unfortunate accidents and mind-wipe the rest...

But tonight was supposed to be different. He couldn't risk blowing his cover to any of Bakura's friends, and so he had to feign some ridiculous story about being very involved in extracurricular activities that would take up most of his time. The energy source had been rising in intensity throughout the entire day, and continuing through the evening. He had felt sure he would be able to track the aura to its core this time, since its trace was a lot stronger than it was previously. Then he had traced this energy to this empty street, near the centre of the city, where, yet again, it suddenly vanished- almost as if it was being blocked out by something.

A slight disturbance caught the corner of his eye, and, hearing movement, the Spirit of the Ring turned his head to the left to see a small lone figure, in seemingly aimless direction, running towards him. It was Bakura's friend... What was her name... Ree? He cursed, and shoved his Item underneath his shirt. Noone was supposed to see him tonight. Never mind that now... he had to get rid of her... and with that, he closed his eyes and dived back into the dark of his host's core.

He just needed an opening...

Ryou Bakura blinked, startled. Where was he? It took a quick glimpse at his surroundings and the coldness of the Millenium Ring against his chest to understand the situation. He was searching for something again. Ryou sighed. It was impossible to read the evil spirit's thoughts, but it was most likely something dangerous again. Then, upon hearing footsteps, he turned and saw Ree running in his direction. It looked like she couldn't see him, and she looked rather upset. No question what the cause is, he thought sympathetically. But what was she doing all alone... at this time of the night? Especially with... well, his other half stalking the streets...

No. He had to take her home, and fast, before the Spirit decided to take over and dispose of her...

She was so stupid! What on earth had given her the impression that they could possibly be something close to friends? He was a cruel monster! So heartless... so cold... Idiot. He was an idiot. But it didn't matter anymore, she thought. She didn't want to see him ever again. Ree ran, not knowing where she was going or where she would end up. So focused on her thoughts that she almost missed what sounded like someone calling to her. "Ree!"

The girl blinked and then realised there was someone in front of her. The cool light of the dim streetlamps illuminated his pale hair and skin, turning him silver. "Bakura? What are you doing here?"

The boy gave a small smile. "Taking a nighttime walk," he replied cheerfully.

"But the better question is, what is a young lady like yourself waltzing through the city alone at night? And your eyes are rather red... Did you happen to meet with a certain ill-tempered blue-eyed youth, by chance?"

Ree laughed quietly. "Something like that," she smiled.

"Well, come on, then- let me escort you home... who knows what more kind of unsavoury characters you might meet tonight!" Bakura offered his arm. Ree nodded and took it, thinking of the mugger earlier.

The more this day comes to a close, the more bad things start to happen, thought the girl grimly. No more unpleasant surprises, please...

Just as she thought this, a golden glow erupted from Bakura next to her. Ree covered her eyes to filter the glare and tried to stare through to the source. It seemed to be coming from the centre of his chest... some sort of circular object hidden behind his shirt. "B-Bakura? What's happening?"

The boy quickly unlinked his arm from hers and stepped away from her.

"Ree! Get back- now!" Bakura seemed to struggle with himself, his expression in turmoil. Not now... he thought, as he fought off the Spirit's emerging psyche. Not again... However, the Spirit's hold on the ring was much too powerful to control. Bakura felt the barriers in his mind ferociously crash down as he battled to keep them up; his mind beginning to cloud as he slowly succumbed to his inner darkness. Ree... don't hurt Ree... Then the world faded to grey nothingness and he was lost, locked in the very depths of himself.

The golden glow dissipated, and Ree blinked to adjust to the sudden darkness.

"What... What was that just now, Bakura?" The girl shivered. There was that strange, familiar chill again. Bakura didn't answer. Ree couldn't be too sure in the dim light of the streetlamps but he looked awfully like he was leering at her.

"Um, Bakura?"

He made no motion to answer, but instead chose to lift out the golden object from under his shirt. The eye adorning the triangular centrepiece in the instrument seemed to stare at her. Ree wasn't liking this one bit, and backed away slightly. "...Wh-What is that?"

Bakura laughed, which Ree found rather creepy. This wasn't like the Bakura she knew at all. "Why, this is the Millenium Ring," the boy replied with a smirk.

"The very same instrument I will use to make you conveniently forget that you ever saw me tonight." What was he talking about? Conveniently forget... how? Ree backed further away, hoping he wasn't going to try give her a concussion.

"Indeed, you should be afraid... and quite rightly so," said Bakura, smiling wickedly, "...for the Ring's power is nothing to laugh at."

This is much too weird, thought Ree. Bakura's acting really strange... perhaps I should just walk myself home. To her friend's seemingly complete opposite persona, she stated, "...I don't really understand what's gotten into you, Bakura, but I think I'll go take myself home now..."

The boy chuckled, a dangerous glint in his eye. "Not quite, Ree. For if you believed I was merely joking when I said I would erase your memory, then you are sorely mistaken." With that, he held the instrument flat towards her, and it started to glow ominously. Like a deer in headlights, Ree was transfixed, frozen both by fascination and the horror of what would happen to her... but she couldn't stop staring at the golden object in his hands. Suddenly, one of its pointed pendants rised up and directed at her accusingly, as if drawn like a magnet. Bakura frowned, as if he hadn't expected this. "Odd," he muttered. Then shrugged it off. "No matter." Then the Ring lit up with radiant energy, and a focused beam of golden light shot out from the engraved eye, shooting up to the sky. Watching the beam seemed to drain Ree of her energy, and for some reason, her whole body was becoming numb and useless. Her mind felt very fatigued for some reason. What's... going on... Everything seemed to be evaporating in front of her, disappearing into a strange haze... and then her eyes closed, her weakened body falling to the ground.

The Spirit of the Ring, impassive, caught the girl as she fell. She seemed weak enough... definitely mortal. But his Item had picked up something from her... but what was it? There was no chance it was another Millenium Item- the Ring would have picked up on it a long time ago. So then, what was the Ring trying to tell him? Ridiculous. It was probably nothing, most likely residual energy from hanging with the likes of the Pharoah and his friends. Besides, he thought, surveying the girl closely, this was meaningless in comparison to that other energy he had felt tonight. By the way the Ring was glowing, it was still around here somewhere, though the trace was quite faint.

He would have liked to send Ree to the Shadow Realm- but Yugi and his friends might become suspicious of her absence from class. After all, they had practice in trying to get rid of him countless times before, so they would surely suspect Bakura immediately if Ree had suddenly vanished...

He would have to drop her home first, in Bakura's guise- he had a hunt to finish, after all. He heaved her unconscious body over his shoulder. The girl was small, and surprisingly light. Then he sprinted off, at a speed not quite normal for an average human being.

A weary Ree opened her eyelids to a familiar scene; school books piled on the top of the desk, geographical and astronomical posters sprawled across the walls in perfect alignment... and the purple checkered duvet cover underneath her arms. Too familiar... Ree suddenly sat up. This was her room! But when did she get home? "Ugh," groaned Ree, clutching her hand to her temple. Her head hurt for some reason. What had happened to her?

Let's see, what did she do today... She took a tour with Mokuba around Domino City... and then they got attacked by that mugger... then there was that argument with Seto... and then what? She swore that she had met with someone after that, but the more she tried to recall, the more the memory seemed to slip away from her into a thick fog, like water leaking through cupped hands. Her mind was so hazy... Why couldn't she remember?

She must have been extraordinarily tired, and had went straight to bed after walking home. Yes, that was probably it. It had been a long, eventful day... her brain must have shut down from all the pressure.

Well, no use taxing it further by thinking about it, thought Ree.

Then she rolled over, and fell asleep... feeling vaguely like she was forgetting something.