Chapter 10: Finding Secrets
After Yori bid Yami goodnight, she headed to her room to change out of her torn shirt. But rather than putting on pajamas, she pulled a new long-sleeved shirt over her head, crept down the stairs, and exited once more into the night.
The streets were empty, illuminated only by moonlight and the occasional puddle of yellow beneath a street lamp. As she walked, she spun the gang leader's throwing knife between her fingers; she'd stowed the knife in her pocket after the shadow game because only an idiot let a free weapon go to waste. The knife wasn't large, but it was well-balanced and weighted to throw with a lot of force.
Without her bracelet running interference, she found Katsuma's building easily, even in the dark. A burst of crass laughter from inside told her business hadn't closed for the evening.
She slammed the door open, smiling sweetly at the dimly lit interior.
"Knock, knock," she said.
The six gang members inside scrambled to get their bearings, swearing like sailors, reaching for weapons. In the chaos, it was easy for Yori to take down the two boys closest to the door. Her best guess for Katsuma was a guy near the window who looked older than most of the others and had draped himself in gold chains. He barked an order at a girl near him, which confirmed her suspicion.
Yori strode forward. The girl swung a punch at her, but Yori twisted to the side—grabbing the girl's wrist with one hand and the back of her neck with the other—and used her own momentum to send her crashing to the ground.
Then she had Katsuma by his collection of chains. She ducked his punch, shoving him up against the wall. She yanked her handful of necklaces up, twisted it, and speared her throwing knife through the loop into the wood behind him, pinning him in place with barely enough room to breathe. Not a moment later, she had her own switchblade in her hand, blade pressed just below his Adam's apple.
"Everybody back down," she said, eyeing the two girls still standing. They raised their hands in surrender.
Once satisfied, Yori brought her eyes back to Katsuma, who was practically steaming at the ears.
"Katsuma, is it? If not, this is gonna be really awkward."
"What do you want?" he snarled.
"There's a new gang on your turf. Forehead tattoos, purple cloaks—hard to miss."
He sized her up, keeping his mouth shut.
"Look." She lifted her knife from his throat, held both hands up. "Gesture of goodwill. I'm here for them, not you. They're after my friend, and I don't stand for that."
He stared pointedly at her deck pouch. "Your friend a duelist, too?"
"None better."
"That's why. White collars with dirty tactics. They sell rare cards to underground collectors. Tell her, Hibiki."
One of the younger boys near the door grimaced. "I just lost my Minerva to a group yesterday. Don't know how they knew I had it, but they did."
Yori could hazard a guess at that. If Hibiki was anything like she was, he paraded his best card for street cred constantly. She couldn't count the number of times she'd lured people into duels—or into betting more than they could afford—by telling them her trump card.
"What do you mean 'a group'?" She frowned.
"They run in packs of four or five, call themselves 'Ghouls,'" Katsuma said. "At least three groups so far, probably more coming with that tournament. It's gonna be a feeding frenzy. You and your friend should keep your heads down until it all blows over."
Yori smirked. "Probably. Who's their boss?"
"Their 'master'?" Hibiki scoffed. "Bunch of freaks."
"Haven't seen bossman yet," Katsuma said. "Come tournament time, sure we will."
"Where are these clowns camped?"
Katsuma shook his head slightly, as much as his chains would allow. "Don't know that. Only pop up at night, though."
Naturally. Their appearance would draw attention during the day, not to mention the added scare factor from ambushing people in the dark.
She eyed a line of purpled skin on Hibiki's neck. "Hey, your bruises from them?"
His scowl was her answer.
"If I see your Minerva, I'll drop it back here," she said. She yanked her throwing knife out of Katsuma's chains, freeing him. "Thanks for the help."
He rubbed his neck. "Won't get anywhere going after them alone. You need a family at your back."
"I've got one." Yori smiled. She headed back to the game shop.
"Ghouls?" Yuugi's eyebrows shot up. "And they're after rare cards?"
"And you," Yori said (Yuugi was still adjusting to thinking of her by her new name). "So just be careful, okay? Don't go out at night."
Yuugi scrubbed harder at a spot on the glass. The early afternoon sun slanted through the door of the game shop, pooling his shadow beneath him. He tried not to think of fire.
"I'll be careful," he promised. "How'd you learn all this?"
"I hear people talk." She gave a strange smile. "Warn Yami, too?"
He nodded. "I will."
She stepped around him, ready to head out the door. It wasn't uncommon (she was out on the street more than she was ever in the game shop) but Yuugi didn't quite like what he saw in her eyes.
"You're not going after them, are you?" he asked, grabbing the handle so she couldn't open the door.
She hesitated just long enough to tell him the answer.
"You can't tell me to be careful and not be careful yourself!"
"Okay." She gave a small laugh. "That's fair. But we need to know what we're up against. I can get more information and still be careful."
Yuugi's eyes widened because she hardly ever used the word "we." From the very start, Angel—or Yori—had been constantly polite but also constantly aloof. She declined every invitation from Grandpa to dinner and every invitation from Yuugi to play games with him and his friends.
There was only one invitation she'd ever accepted.
Yuugi's grin split his face from ear to ear. "So yesterday actually went really well?"
It had been nearly midnight by the time Yami relinquished control the night before, which was a good sign, but he'd said barely a word about the date. He'd talked about the Egyptian exhibit, tournament announcement, and shadow game in a facts-only style. And although Yuugi didn't want to make him uncomfortable by prying, his curiosity was nearly killing him.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Yori said, but her cheeks had pinked.
Yuugi giggled.
Someone tugged on the door from the outside, startling him. He saw Ryou's confused face through the glass and hurried to swing the door open.
"Sorry, Ryou! I was just cleaning."
"No worries, mate." The albino stepped inside with a smile. His hair was barely clinging to its low ponytail, and he'd apparently been in too much of a hurry to put in contacts since he had on his square, black glasses. "Sorry I'm late; I got caught up painting the new miniatures. Want to see?"
Yuugi nodded so hard his fringe spikes bounced against his forehead.
Yori took her opportunity to head for the door again, but Yuugi quickly lifted a hand.
"Wait! You haven't really met Ryou, have you?" He grinned, hardly able to breathe past hope. He'd introduced her to all his friends, of course, but only as a group and only in the three seconds of passing she gave him before she booked it from the room.
Yori rolled her eyes, but she didn't bolt. Yuugi grinned.
"Ryou, this is Yori. That's her real name."
"Ryou Bakura. It's a pleasure." The albino smiled warmly, extending his hand.
After a moment of hesitation, Yori took it. She nodded.
"If you're ever up for it, we—" Ryou's voice cut off in a hiss of pain. Gold light flashed through his shirt, and he yanked Yori's sleeve up to reveal the Millennium Bracelet. His eyes were sharp, the sharpness Yuugi recognized all too well.
Then he was facedown on the floor.
Yuugi blinked, his mind racing to catch up.
"Ryou!" he shouted, still reeling. He dropped to his knees next to his friend.
Yori had one hand planted on the back of his head, the other twisting his arm behind his back, her knee pressed into his spine. Then her mind seemed to catch up as well. She released him and stepped back. Ryou let out a small moan as he raised his head, glasses crooked across his face.
His eyes were the soft brown of normal Ryou again.
"I'm sorry," Yori said, face flushed. "I just thought you were. . . . Are you okay?"
"I'm alright, mate," Ryou assured her, straightening his lenses and rubbing his nose. He blushed as he sat up. "I don't know what came over me, sorry."
Yori didn't stay for more than that. The bells jingled behind her.
Yuugi could see the front of Ryou's shirt trembling. He could make out the faint gold outline of the ring.
"Hey, did you make a miniature of the white mage's apprentice?" Yuugi asked, trying to distract him. He grabbed Ryou's fallen bag and held it up. Maybe if he could connect to Ryou—
The Eye of Horus glowed beneath Ryou's bangs, sputtering like a car engine attempting to turn over.
"Ryou, it's your life!" Yuugi said desperately.
But Ryou turned to him with sharp eyes and a wicked smile. The Eye of Horus flared before fading.
"Sorry, little Yuugi," the spirit of the ring purred. "Ryou isn't home right now. Would you like to leave him a message?"
"Yeah." Yuugi felt heat from his own Millennium Item. "A message to kick you out!"
/Yuugi, is everything alright?/
/I've got this./ Yuugi didn't mean to be so abrupt, but maybe if he stayed himself, he could still reach Ryou.
The spirit of the ring threw back his head and laughed. He grabbed the chain of Yuugi's puzzle, dragging the boy forward by his neck. Yuugi winced but stared fiercely back.
"Your friend can get rid of me the day you get rid of the pharaoh," the spirit said. "I'd like that day to come as soon as possible; you're the one delaying things. So how about it?"
And for a moment, all Yuugi could see was fire, and all he could smell was smoke.
"No?" The spirit twisted the chain in his hand, strangling Yuugi until he was gasping for air. "Then you'll pardon me if I go on my merry way!"
He yanked the puzzle to the side, slamming Yuugi into a set of shelves and releasing him in the same movement. The door rattled as he hit the street.
Yuugi's vision wavered, spots of black bursting in the sunlight. He coughed, bent forward, struggled to catch his breath. It took him a few seconds to realize Yami was crouched beside him, asking if he was alright.
With Grandpa out on errands, Yuugi wasn't supposed to leave the store, but he could only guess where the spirit was headed.
"Gotta call . . . Yori," he coughed out.
Yami took control, and relief washed over Yuugi immediately. It was temporary, of course—as soon as he returned to physical form, any injuries or pain would return. But for now, it at least allowed him to talk. He recounted what had happened.
He'd been an idiot again. After everything that had happened at the end of Duelist Kingdom, after Pegasus had been found half-dead with the Millennium Eye ripped from its socket, somehow he'd still forgotten how dangerous the spirit of the ring could be. He'd walked Yori right into an encounter with him.
After starting work at the game shop, Yori had written her cell number under the register for Grandpa. Yuugi directed Yami to it, and then Yami punched it carefully into the phone.
If things weren't so urgent, Yuugi would have done something to celebrate Yami's first phone call.
"Hello?" Yori's voice echoed from the phone, slow and wary. Yami had the receiver far enough from his ear that Yuugi could hear her clearly.
"Um, hello," Yami said, gripping the phone tighter than necessary and glancing around as if looking for a teleprompter to tell him his lines.
If things weren't so urgent, Yuugi would have done something to celebrate Yami's obvious crush.
"Yami?"
"Yes. Something just happened; Yuugi and I are afraid you're in danger."
"It's okay," she said. "I saw him. The spirit."
Yuugi's entire frame sagged in relief. The bracelet's powers were among everything else he'd forgotten.
"The ring has the power of finding," Yami said. "He'll likely stay on your trail until he's cornered you. We think he's after all the Millennium Items, though we don't know why."
"I can handle myself."
"Yori"—Yuugi wasn't even sure she could hear him, but he had to ask—"it isn't Ryou's fault, so please—"
Apparently she could. "Don't worry; I won't let anything happen to the real Bakura."
"Thank you." He looked down. "I'm sorry I got you into this."
"You think the best of people and forget the worst. I'd be sorry if anything ever made that change. Hey, gotta go. I'll be home later."
And even with everything happening, Yuugi felt warm when she called the game shop "home."
"You're certain you'll be alright?" Yami frowned.
"You trust me, right?"
Yami closed his eyes briefly, releasing a pent-up breath. "Yes."
"Then Bakura and I will be just fine."
She hung up, and the phone emitted static for a few moments before Yami replaced it in its cradle.
Yori had planned on scouting out the Ghouls, but having Ryou Bakura chase her into their den would do nothing good for either of them. After just experiencing her first shadow game the night before, she also wasn't eager to let him corner her somewhere unprotected. Maybe it was only Yuugi's puzzle that could arrange such things, or maybe it was a power every item had; either way, now was not the time to gamble and find out.
After leaving the game shop, she'd taken off running, weaving through the nearby neighborhoods in case the spirit had any ideas about giving chase, but now that she had Yami's warning about the ring's power, trying to lose him would be pointless.
That left her one option: a trap.
So she made her way straight as she could to downtown Domino, and within the hour, she was standing on the museum's front steps.
An enemy of the pharaoh—that was how Sugoroku had described the spirit within the ring. Which meant the logical thing to do would be to pit him against a servant of the pharaoh.
She bought a ticket for the exhibit, and the woman at the ticket counter recognized her.
"Back again?" she said. "You must have really loved it!"
Yori saluted with her new ticket. "You could say it changed my life."
She entered the museum, immediately making her way to the basement door. She had to wait for two guests to meander past before she could try it.
It was locked.
Yori glanced in both directions before lifting her shirt and tugging her lock-picking kit from her waistband. The lock barely put up a fight before clicking open. She replaced her picks and hurried down the darkened steps to the basement storage room. The lights flipped on overhead to show some of the statues missing from the previous day. The tablets hadn't moved.
"Hey, Ishizu," Yori called out. "The heathen came back to play."
No one answered.
Yori walked up to the three giant tablets, examining the last one in line once more. The god monsters stared down at her, and under the too-realistic gazes, she felt a small tremor in her legs.
She let her eyes rest on the carving of Yami rather than the gods. She hadn't noticed the day before, but he and the other figure were in the middle of a duel. At least, she could only assume it was a duel. Yami stood with one arm extended toward his opponent while the other man mirrored the pose. Monsters had been carved above each of them. The opponent had a dragon of some kind. Yami's monster looked like the Dark Magician, and she'd heard Yuugi talk about having one in his deck.
With everything that had happened, Yori hadn't had time to put much thought into the idea of her favorite game originating in ancient Egypt. Had it been a game for them, too? Or something more? For just a moment, she wondered if the magic of the Millennium Items was a remnant of some greater magic that had once made monsters come alive. Based on her experience in the shadows with Yami, her imagination didn't have to stretch far to picture it.
"Why have you come?" a voice behind her asked.
Yori turned to face Ishizu, who stared her down with an icy glare.
"I thought you could tell me more about the items. Specifically yours, mine, and—"
"I believe I was quite firm when I said I had no words for you."
Yori smiled, but it was an empty expression. "Why the hate? We just met."
"In your experience, yes." She touched her necklace. "But in mine, I have seen you a hundred times."
So the necklace had something to do with . . . time? Or . . .
"I don't get it," Yori said, shrugging. Ishizu seemed like the type to keep explaining if prodded, especially since she held herself like a queen among peasants.
And sure enough—
"My Millennium Necklace allows me to gaze across the centuries, to behold lost events no human eyes ever witnessed, even to view the truth that has yet to transpire."
"Oh, so you can see the future. Got it." Well, wasn't that nifty.
"I see all."
"So you aren't actually a humble servant of the pharaoh like you pretend to be. Shame, since I was sort of counting on that."
Ishizu's eyes narrowed.
"I mean"—Yori spread her hands—"if you really can see all, then you could have told Yami his past when he asked. You could have told him his name. But you didn't, so either you can't see it all or you just don't care about your pharaoh."
Ishizu had stiffened as she spoke, but then she relaxed.
"Taunts, tricks, games." The woman shook her head. "Your specialty. But it wasn't always; you learned at the feet of a master, a master with eyes of gold. Tell me: How did that alliance turn out for you?"
Yori's heart slowed.
And her breath slowed.
And her hands curled into fists at her side.
Ishizu smiled. She brushed a finger across her necklace. "Since I'm certain your next argument will be that I could have learned such information any number of ways, allow me to inform you of something even you did not know. Your death was slated by the gods for October 25th, 1988. Were it not for interference from an arrogant soul, you would not be standing here open-mouthed today."
Yori knew the date well; it was the day she'd been found on the orphanage steps. It was the first day she could remember.
"The hell do you know about me?" she snarled.
"I know saving your life cost Shadi his own," Ishizu said, "and I know the sacrifice was not worth it."
Yori crossed the room and swung a punch at Ishizu's face, but the woman dodged aside. She avoided the second and third attempts just as easily, as if she knew exactly how Yori would attack before she moved. When she dodged a fourth time, something tangled in Yori's legs, sending her crashing to the ground. What looked like a broom handle had been sticking out from behind one of the remaining statues, unnoticed by Yori and somehow avoided by Ishizu even as she retreated backward.
"It's no use," Ishizu said. "I can predict everything you will do before you do it."
When Yori looked up at the woman lording over her, she caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye.
"Everything?" Yori huffed. "Then how come you didn't predict him?"
Ishizu whirled around just as Ryou Bakura bared his teeth in a smile. The Millennium Ring shuddered against his chest.
"Two Millennium Items for the price of one," Bakura said. "My lucky day."
His ring flashed with light, and the basement filled with shadows.