I'm still alive! And this chapter's the longest chapter in this fic so far.
I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed so far(cause I've been rather negligent in than department, I think...)
Reviewers: chocoryou, animeloverj, VSSAKJ, Jastoz, Ann, Lady Frei (the start of Yami and Mai's relationship will be coming up in in a few chapters; don't give up on me!), KuraiBakuFan, and emma.
THANK YOU!
communication between host(hikari) and yami/.../
this means that the scene is changing:-. -. -. -. -. -. -. -.
disclaimer: I do not own Yugi-oh.
Before you start you ought to know that I've changed all POVs to third person except Ryou. I've also gone back and changed the other chapters so that they match that same pattern. I'm sorry if you like it better before, but I decided that this would be the best remedy for the confusion with POVs.(Instead of sticking with the idea of just labeling each scene, I decided to do things the hard way. n.nU)
Chapter 11: Enter Amane
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"G' morning, Odion," Malik mumbled, stretching as he came into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Master Malik," Odion answered, continuing to keep an eye on the meal he was preparing. "Did you ever find that card?"
Malik scowled as he took a seat at the kitchen table. "No, I didn't. I might have had better luck if someone would have lent me a hand..."
Odion sighed. "Master Malik, I'm certain that the card would not have become any harder to find, if you'd waited until today to look for it..."
Malik's scowl deepened. "Yeah, well, maybe I should skip school to look for it all the same..."
Odion gave him a sharp look. "You know what Ishizu would say."
Malik slumped down in his chair and hit his head on the table. "I wish I didn't have to go to school," he mumbled.
"You should consider yourself lucky, Malik. I'd love to go to school and see my friends instead of sitting around with nothing to do."
Malik lifted his head to look over his shoulder at the source of the soft, feminine voice.
"Hmph. Easy for you to say, Serenity. You don't have a mountain of homework due today," Malik sniffed.
"But she probably wouldn't put it off until the last minute either, Master Malik."
Malik tried to turn his look of surprise into a glare. "What was that? Darn it, Odion, you're starting to sound just like Ishizu."
Instead of replying, Odion decided that now would be a good time to turn his full attention back to fixing their breakfast.
"Oh, look on the bright side, Malik," Serenity said, coming to sit next to him.
Malik grumpily turned to look over at Serenity, once again. "What bright side?"
Serenity was trying hard to keep a straight face as she said, "I'm sure your teachers won't be any more upset than they were the last time this happened."
Odion quickly turned his laugh into a cough.
"Wha'd ya mean by that?" Malik asked indignantly.
So Malik was forced to go to school without Odion and Serenity giving him any hint that they might try to look for his card for him while he was gone. When he walked sulkily into the classroom, he noticed Yugi and the others, but when they tried to give a greeting (with forced cheerfulness, since none seemed to have forgotten the episode at the mall) he chose to ignore them and walked over to his desk instead.
Just as Malik was thinking about where the card could possibly have gone if it wasn't at their apartment, Bakura came into the room and the group of friends(although that might be a bit of a strong term at the moment) had a bit more luck with greeting him than they'd had with Malik.
Malik didn't pay him much heed until Bakura mentioned 'Malik's card'... Which, of course, was followed by an inquisition, a praise to Ra, and finally instruction to leave it at his house after school. Malik would have waited at his home for Bakura, but Malik was in such a good mood that he decided to go and help Odion at the museum after school. He'd been a bit hard on his step-brother that morning, after all.
The rest of the school day went a little faster than the average school day. Rather than every school minute taking two minutes of real time, the school minute was only taking about a minute and three quarters. Even with how bored he was, Malik refrained from doing anything to spice up the day with the exception of when he'd swiped Bakura's watch when no one was looking. Much to the Egyptian's disappointment, the only thing the pale boy did in retaliation was give Malik an irritated look and ask him for the the watch back after class.
Malik was so happy to be out of school, he decided, despite his sister's ban, to take his motorcycle to the museum. He rationalized that he didn't have any other transportation and Ishizu wouldn't mind it just this one time... Well, as long as she never found out about the other times...
When Malik arrived, he was a little relieved to see that the dirty, little yellow car was gone which meant that Ishizu had already gone home. Malik found this a little odd, since Ishizu didn't have any jobs she had to go to on Tuesday. 'She's probably just taking a break,' Malik thought. Ra knew she needed one as Ishizu had been acting sort of testy lately...
Malik went into the museum to look for Odion. It didn't take too long for Malik to spot the imposing form of his older stepbrother, talking to a middle-aged man with purple hair and a small ponytail and a young girl with bluish-white hair that hung freely down her back.
Malik's first impression was that this girl looked like a younger, more feminine version of Bakura, but he knew that that was ridiculous. Even so, these people had piqued his interest, so he wandered closer to them until he could just make out what was being said.
"...and I want it prepared immediately," the purple-haired man was saying.
"Your wishes will be granted as soon as possible, but it will take some time," Odion replied.
"Fine. But I want it finished by Tuesday after next, Mr. Ishtar," the man said. "I look forward to seeing it." Without so much as a good-bye, the man sped off toward the exit.
Odion left too, looking a little strained, Malik noted and Malik made to follow him.
"Father?" the girl said, looking up at the purple-haired man.
Malik's stomach gave a jolt in the realization that she even had the same accent as Malik's white-haired friend... But he had to hear her voice again to be completely certain... He stopped walking, listening intently.
"May I stay and look at the exhibits for a while? I've never been in an Egyptian museum before..." The girl looked up at her father almost pleadingly.
Her father didn't look entirely enthused about the idea. After a moment he let out a sigh. "Well, alright, Amane..."
Amane gave the man a benign smile. "Oh, thank you, Father!"
Malik knitted his eyebrows. What could this mean?
He shook his head and started to turn away. It wasn't like Bakura was the only person in the world with a British accent, after all...
Amane's father gave her a stern look. "But you musn't linger too long. We need to find Ryou soon, before..."
"Yes, Father, I know," Amane interjected.
Malik froze. 'Ryou... that's Bakura's first name!'
Amane's father left telling her that he'd be back in an hour and Amane immediately went off in the opposite direction, presumably to go look at some Egyptian artifacts.
Malik started to walk away to go find Odion, telling himself that Bakura wasn't the only person in the world who's first name was Ryou; although this was quickly becoming a rather weak argument considering all the facts Malik had accumulated. But that didn't necessarily mean he cared...
As Malik started to head off in the direction Odion had gone, he tried to keep himself from thinking questions like: But if these two people were really looking for Bakura after all, then why? And why was it so urgent to find him so quickly?
Malik frowned. He really didn't want to get involved in this... But a part of him was a little afraid that she'd leave in an hour and he'd never get his questions answered.
After a few minutes, Malik finally made his decision. It took him a quarter of an hour to find the girl standing next to a glass case, observing some oddly painted canopy jars.
By this time, Malik was starting to have second thoughts about his decision, but a feeling in his gut told him that he ought to find out more. Being a duelist, Malik had learned to go with his instinct.
Malik went to stand next to the girl and pretended to be deeply interested in the relics that were made to hold some dead pharaoh's organs. After a few moments of the girl not showing the slightest inclination to look over at him, he spoke. "Hey..." Malik said quietly, trying to get her attention.
The girl made no response whatsoever except maybe to hunch a little closer to the glass panel.
"Hey," Malik repeated, a little louder this time.
At this point, the girl started to edge away, all the while avoiding looking at Malik.
Malik was starting to feel irritated, but also a little triumphant at the same time; he felt the same way someone felt when they'd been persuaded to do something that they hadn't wanted to do in the first place and it had gone badly.
Malik decided, instinct or no instinct, that he didn't want answers to his questions so much that he'd speak to some girl who thought he was some kind of freak... Malik started to walk away.
Malik's natural instinct was to blame the fact that he'd wasted so much time on someone else, but really the only thing he could blame was his curiosity. Even so, Malik couldn't help but be a little angry at the girl for thinking him some kind of stalker. Even Malik could see that his anger was completely irrational, but at that moment it didn't matter to him. Before he even had the pretense of thinking it through it, he had turned around and found himself saying spitefully, "Sorry. Just overheard your father say you're looking for a Ryou, and I thought he might mean my friend Ryou Bakura." The moment the words were out of his mouth, he regretted it.
The girl looked up at Malik in amazement. "Y-You know Ryou?" she asked in a whisper.
Malik didn't answer, suddenly feeling a little panicked. What had possessed him to say that? Now she'd demand that Malik help her locate the white-haired boy.
Amane suddenly seized the front of Malik's shirt and brought her face about an inch from his, not unlike the way Malik had done with Bakura earlier that day. "You must tell me where to find him!" She looked up at Malik with imploring eyes.
"N-Now hold on a second!" Malik cried. So startled was he by this sudden boldness that he momentarily forgot his anger. Malik grabbed her wrists and tried to pry her off. "I don't even know where he lives-" Malik said, which was a rather convenient excuse, but true all the same.
"But you could get in contact with him, couldn't you? If he's your friend..." The girl let go of his shirt and stared at the floor.
The adrenaline rush Malik had had a few moments before from being angry and then being startled had begun to ebb away and so Malik now felt only faintly irritated. Malik still didn't much care for the way this was going, though. While it was true that he could just call Yugi and ask, Malik still wasn't interested in helping this girl even if it would be helping Bakura as well.
Malik turned around and started to walk away, mumbling angry curses under his breath.
The girl looked stunned for a moment before taking a few steps forward and crying, "W-Wait! I-"
Malik turned his head and gave the girl a slight glare that silenced her immediately. "Wait for what? I thought you wanted to find Bakura."
Amane's look of desperation was replaced with a look of confusion. "I- What?"
Malik let out an irritated sigh. "You seemed so hyped up about finding Bakura a few seconds ago, but if you don't want me to call the person that would know where to find him..."
Amane suddenly grinned broadly. "Oh, please do! Thank you, thank you, thank y-"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Malik said, cutting her off. 'Ra, she sure is hyper active...' Malik thought. Why hadn't he considered the possibility that she'd ask him to help her in her search when he'd been deciding whether or not to ask her before? Then again, he probably wouldn't have minded so much earlier when he was in a better mood...
So Malik weaved his way through the crowded lobby until he reached the small phone booths. He wished he could have just given the girl the phone number as he took a look at the long line of people. But he knew that if he'd done that, Yugi probably would have refused to give some strange girl that kind of information and so naturally she'd have come back to Malik...
Malik, rather than wait, promptly started pushing and shoving his way to the front of the line. He chose to ignore the complaints and curses from the more patient citizens, since if he didn't, he'd have done something he'd have regretted later on.
When he finally reached phone, he realized in annoyance that it was a pay phone. It was too late to go back and make the girl pay for the call, so Malik had to scrounge around in his pocket for the few yen he'd been keeping in hopes of getting a soda sometime. Malik remained oblivious to the people waiting in line as they exchanged looks of exasperation and outrage.
He stuck the coins into the slot and dialed little Yugi's number. The tone rang several times before someone picked up.
"Hello, you have reached the Kame Game Sh-"
Malik didn't have to ask who it was for he recognized the voice. "Cut that out, Yugi. It's me, Malik," Malik said crossly.
"Uh... oh hi, Malik!" Yugi's voice crackled over the phone line. "Is... something wrong?" Yugi seemed to have picked up Malik's tone of voice.
"No," Malik said firmly. "I just wanted to ask you something."
"What is it, Malik, that it couldn't wait until school tomorrow?" Yugi asked, sounding rather unenthusiastic.
"Where..." Malik didn't finish for a second. Suddenly, what he had come to ask didn't sound especially brilliant. But Malik knew that it was too late to turn back now and rationalized that he could always give Yugi full details about this situation later. "Do you know where Bakura is right now? Or how to find his apartment or something?"
"Malik, what-" Yugi started.
"I'll tell you later!" Malik hissed into the phone. Malik knew that this probably sounded like it was some confidential thing that couldn't be said over the phone to anyone listening, but he wasn't in the mood to play Twenty Questions.
"Well, uh, I don't know where he is right now, but he should be coming back to the Game Shop later this evening..." Yugi said, sounding a little uncertain.
That was good enough for Malik. "Thanks, Yugi," he said into the phone, sounding less than thankful, before he slammed the receiver back down on the cradle. With that said, Malik marched off to tell the girl what she wanted to know.
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Please r & r. Even if it's just to say, 'I was here! I read it!' Constructive criticism and flames are welcome.