I kept yawning as I made my way to school the next day. I hadn't slept well, despite not dreaming through the night. It seemed that even in the instances that I'd managed to fall asleep, my brain had too much going on to let it stay that way. All the old worries compounded with the new ones—I couldn't seem to get it all sorted out.

Thanks to my lollygagging through getting ready for the day, I arrived at school just as I needed to, giving me no time to talk with any of my friends before class. I'd have to wait until lunch to talk to Makoto. Part of me felt guilty that I was asking him to hang out just so I could vent for the second time, but he'd told me before he'd always be there to talk. I trusted him enough to cash in on that.

I kept to myself until lunch time finally rolled around. I saw Yuugi, Anzu, Honda, and Jonouchi gathering together, and though I couldn't help but be curious, I really wanted to talk to Makoto first.

Standing from my desk, I weaved my way through the classroom, walking over to his desk where he was still seated, talking to another female classmate of ours. When she saw me, her eyes widened, and she said a hurried goodbye to Makoto before rushing off. Bizarre, but okay...

Makoto seemed confused as I was, and looked to where she'd been looking, which was at me. His eyebrows rose. "Oh, hey, Mara."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You haven't been spreading rumours about me, have you?" I teased, taking to sitting in the seat in front of him.

"Oh, yeah, every rumour I could think of. Sorry, it's just who I am."

I laughed. "Makoto the life-ruiner. But, really, I'm morbidly curious. What was with that? She ran off right when she saw me."

He grimaced. "Well, she was telling me that she heard a rumour that we're dating."

"Oh…? Why, exactly? It's not like we just started being friends. I think we actually used to hang out more than we do now."

"I don't know, someone's jealous, probably. You know how people get."

I nodded. "Mmhmm. Especially about their 'dream boat Makoto.'" I tried to say it with a straight face, but ended up cracking a grin, and he started laughing. "Okay okay, sorry, I heard someone call you that before; I had to use it."

He hadn't quite reined himself in yet, though he had his hand over his mouth as he tried to quiet his laughter. "I can't believe you said that with a straight face!"

"I didn't! I ended up smiling anyway!"

"Jeez, I'm never going to get that out of my head..." He took a deep breath, finally finishing his laughing, though he still had a huge grin. "Sorry, sorry, did you want to ask me about something?"

I nodded again. "Yeah, actually. I have another weird story. Are you free anytime soon?"

"Mmhmm, yeah, I mean, I usually am. I just make it seem like I'm not. You know how much I hate people."

I raised an eyebrow. "...Okay, you almost got me on that one. Just until you said you hated people."

He leaned back in his seat, his expression confident, eyebrows slightly lifted and lips turned up in a subtle grin. "I'll get you one of these times. Everyone's fallen for something I've said at one point or another."

I rolled my eyes in good nature. "Yeah, yeah, so are you free soon or not?"

"Yeah. I really usually am. It's more a priority thing than a time thing. Today's fine, actually."

I smiled. I didn't understand how someone could be as reliable as Makoto was, but he managed it. "Okay, yeah, today then. Meet at the entrance way again?"

"Sure. I'll be there."

"Thanks. See you after school!" I stood from the chair, already knowing where I was heading next. I was still curious about what my other friends were talking about.

As I approached, I heard Anzu speaking. "It feels like it's gonna become a really tough rival."

"What is?" I asked, walking up beside her.

She looked at me. "Oh, hi, Mara. A new game shop that opened."

"Grandpa's really unhappy over it," Yuugi added, his lips turned down in a frown.

"Seems they've made some new game called D.D.M."

"'Dungeon Dice Monsters.' right?" Jonouchi tilted his head.

Honda raised an eyebrow. "Why... do you know that name?"

"There was a flyer for it in today's paper."

"You read the newspaper?" I asked incredulously.

He scowled. "I read them while delivering them at my part-time job!"

Anzu's expression imitated Jonouchi's. "Aren't part-time jobs prohibited here?"

"I don't wanna hear that from you! I have special permission to work for my tuition!"

Interrupting the conversation, the sound of a bunch of squealing girls sounded from the hall, likely stemming from the next class over. We all looked at each other, and the mutual curiosity was tangible.

I had to laugh a bit. "Let's go see what's going on."

In agreement, we all headed out of the classroom. Once in the hall, I peered into the next class over, though Jonouchi pushed past me to see better.

"Rude!" I huffed, though let him, remaining in the doorway beside Yuugi.

Inside the classroom, a group of at least ten girls surrounded a desk, where a student I'd never seen before sat. He had long black hair, which would likely reach to the middle of his back if it weren't pulled up in a ponytail. Bits and pieces of chin-length hair hung around his face, including a larger chunk on the left. The rest was held back with a read headband, printed with black diamonds. He appeared to have eyeliner on as well, making his deep green eyes appear more vibrant. I'd never seen someone with eyes green enough that I'd describe them as emerald instead of green, but he fit the description. A dice earring hung from his left ear, and from there down, he looked like a regular student—blue uniform, and a black shirt underneath the jacket.

"He's pretty good-looking," I murmured, looking to Anzu. Instead of just getting her attention, the boys looked at me, their faces scrunched up. As funny as it was, I protested, "What? Can I not point that out?"

Back at the desk, the girls all squealed again, drawing everyone's attention back. It seemed the student they surrounded was simply doing dice tricks, but the girls were all enthralled. Well, when a guy was popular, it wasn't uncommon for the girls that liked him to show uncanny interest in him, regardless of what they had to be showing enthusiasm for.

Jonouchi grumbled, "Who is this guy...?"

Honda turned to two male students sitting at the desks right by the door we sat at. "Hey, is he from your guys' class?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, he's a new transfer student name Ryuji Otogi."

Honda turned back to Jonouchi. "Okay, that answers your question."

"I don't like it," he continued to grumble, arms crossed over his chest. "I can't stand guys like him who use cheap tricks to pick up girls!"

I had to roll my eyes. He was just jealous.

"You're just jealous of whoever's more popular than you!" Anzu spoke my thoughts.

Standing up straight, Jonouchi was yelling again. "I'm the type of guy who keeps a well-sharpened katana in its sheath! I don't need to show off my talents to others!"

"You actually have talents?" Honda spoke, shattering Jonouchi's vision. I somehow managed to tone down my laugh to just a snicker.

"What the hell were you watching when we went to Duelist Kingdom?"

"An amateur who won by pure luck, right?"

"What was that?"

"Come on, you two!" Yuugi tried to break it up. He failed.

"My talents were awakened on that island!" Jonouchi continued to boast. "My talents as a Duelist!"

"Hmm? You say you're good at Duel Monsters, huh?"

We all looked to the source of the voice. It seems while Jonouchi and Honda were arguing, they'd drawn the attention of the new student. If that wasn't testament to how oblivious Jonouchi was to the volume of his own voice, I didn't know what was.

Jonouchi's whole posture turned smug. "It was a little while back, but did you hear? This guy name Keith Howard was the U.S. champion and stuff, and he was one hell of a strong man."

I sighed, beginning to lost interest in the situation. He only said that so he'd sound stronger. He truly was a professional braggart.

"Well, he sure put up a good fight, but he couldn't stand up to me!"

"He's totally bragging..." Anzu murmured.

Honda nodded." He's just drawn ever katana he's got."

"I hope ya get it now!" Jonouchi continued. "I'm—"

Otogi turned to Yuugi. "Are you the Duelist Kingdom champion, Yuugi Mutou, by any chance?"

Ouch.

Yuugi's expression turned sheepish. "Y-yup."

"I heard the rumours about your victory."

Jonouchi leaned in, pointing at himself. "Have you heard any rumours about the young talent, Katsuya Jonouchi?"

Otogi chuckled. "I'm terribly sorry. Would you like to play a game with me so you can show me what this 'young talent' thing is all about?"

I tilted my head. Otogi was being rather accommodating of Jonouchi's pushiness. Almost too kind. Most people wouldn't put up with his bragging if they didn't have to, right?

"A game?"

"Right." Otogi held up a die and a purple cup. "We'll use these."

All of the girls behind Otogi began to cheer, and Jonouchi nodded. "Okay, I accept!"

"In that case, watch closely." He walked to the nearby desk where the boy Honda had asked for information about Otogi sat, and set the die on the table, then the cup over it, concealing the die. "Now, do you think I can move the die into my right hand without touching the cup?"

"Ain't it obvious that's impossible? Unless you have some kind of telepathic abilities, there's no way you can get to the die."

I folded my arms over my stomach. I'd seen this one before. It wasn't so much a trick as it was tricking someone. It was clever, in a way, but maybe Jonouchi wouldn't see it that way.

Otogi glanced at Jonouchi from the courners of his eyes, grinning confidently. "As I was talking, the die should have vanished from the cup."

"What?"

"You think I'm lying? Then why don't you see for yourself?"

"It can't be!" Jonouchi went right ahead and lifted the cup from the table, revealing the die still there. "Isn't the die right here?"

Otogi picked up the die with his thumb and forefinger, grinning. "I just moved the die to my right hand, and I didn't touch the cup. I win."

Once again, the girls all squealed, and I had to fight the urge to cover my ears.

Instead of accepting the loss gracefully, Jonouchi started yelling. "Are you freakin' kidding? You're the one who lost, by winning such a low method! Let's have a Duel Monsters match, fair-and-square!"

"Very well." Otogi answered easily, twirling a bit of his hair with his finger. "However, there's a condition I'd like to set before we start the game."

"Sure, I'll take whatever you throw at me."

Otogi shrugged. "I don't even have my own deck."

Behind him, all the girls began to protest, saying that made the challenge unfair.

"I-I get it. So what do you wanna do about it?"

"Before we Duel, we open new packs, and build our decks from them. It's a reasonable condition, right?"

"That's way too reckless!" Yuugi piped up, stepping forward. "If you aren't using the cards you're used to, you're bound to lose! Besides, there are a ton of cards Jonouchi doesn't even know about."

"Don't worry about it, Yuugi! I accept your condition!" Jonouchi crossed his arms, a confident grin on his lips.

"That's right, we've got to make this better than the last game. If you lose, how'd you like to become my dog for a week?"

"What?" I spoke automatically, but Jonouchi did too.

"Sure. Interesting. So, if I win, I'll be taking that little cheering section over there as my fans!"

All the girls protested. I didn't blame them. Why did they have to be drawn into the equation, against their will even?

"Good. The match will be held after school today. We'll hold it at the Duel Ring in my newly opened game shop. Got it?"

"Yeah!"

So Otogi owned the new game shop? Wow, talk about successful. Then again, Kaiba was my age, and he had a whole corporation under his watch. Either way, I was starting to feel like I was behind.

"I'd like you guys to watch your friend's 'cool battle' as well." Otogi spoke to the rest of us. With that, he waved goodbye and headed back to his desk.

This all seemed like a bad idea. Otogi acted like he knew exactly what he was doing. Maybe he already had a plan in mind. I really didn't like it. Regardless, I wouldn't be joining them. I already had plans to hang out with Makoto, so I'd have to tell Jonouchi I was rooting for him beforehand.

At the end of the day, I hurried down to the entrance way to meet Makoto. Since I had to explain the everyone that I couldn't be there for the Duel since I'd already made plans, Makoto beat me to the lockers. He was already waiting by mine, changed into his outdoor shoes when I walked up.

"Man, you take a long time to get down here," he teased, and I scoffed at him.

"Man, you must not have much to do with your life if all you do is wait around for me."

Despite smiling, he dropped his jaw in mock surprise. "Ohhh, Mara, that's a low blow. Ouch."

I laughed. "Yeah yeah. I'll apologize if you want me to." I opened my locker and got out my shoes, wasting no time in changing into them. "So, where are we heading? I don't think I want to sit around."

Makoto nodded. "Alright. Walking for now, then? We could head toward the plaza and figure it out from there."

I put my indoor shoes into the locker and shut it, turning to him. "Okay. Let's go then." Shifting my bag more comfortably on my back, I led the way out of the school. "Well, I will let you know that this story isn't as crazy as the last. Crazy enough that I wanted to wait until after school to tell you, though."

"Noted. Fire away."

I took a deep breath. "Alright. So. I was at Yuugi's game shop with everyone yesterday, and Mokuba—like, Seto Kaiba's little brother Mokuba—showed up. In the middle of the storm too! Something had happened to Kaiba when he confronted the people that tried to help Pegasus take over Kaiba Corporation. I told you about that, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well, I guess they convinced him to a sort of wager? If he could beat a game that was in development for a while about about to be released, they would let him fire them without question. But if he lost, they couldn't be fired."

"I'm guessing he didn't just fire them anyway?"

"No. I didn't get much of the backstory on that. Oh, and it wasn't just a video game. It was a full-on virtual reality game. It's going to be opened up to the public at Kaibaland soon, as far as I know. But the higher-ups had changed some coding, specifically making it impossible to get out of the game unless you win. So, Mokuba came to us for help. Jonouchi, Mokuba, Yuugi and I went into the game."

Makoto's eyebrows rose. "You went into a virtual reality game knowing you couldn't get out unless you won?"

"Well, kind of... I mean, with all of us, I didn't really think that was a possibility. I just really wanted to help... I'd tagged along all through Duelist Kingdom doing nothing, and I was sick of being on the sidelines..." I folded my arms over my stomach, looking away.

I heard him give a quiet sigh. "I mean, that makes sense, but... You know you don't have anything to prove, right?"

I nodded. "I know. But I don't like waiting for things to happen. I would have hated to be standing around while everyone else did their best. Besides, everyone needed a Duel Monsters Deck to go into the game, and there were four pods. Neither Honda nor Anzu had a deck with them, and I had mine. So even if it wasn't that, I still would have..."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel guilty about it. It's not my place to tell you what to do or whatever, but you're my friend. I'm gonna worry about you if you put yourself in dangerous situations."

"Yeah, I know. And I appreciate the concern. But, I mean, it's dangerous, but it's exciting." I turned my gaze back to him. "I'm not just... doing classwork and going home and being a good high-schooler. It's adventure." He laughed at that, and I huffed. "It's not funny!"

"No, no, that's not why I'm laughing. It just sounds like you're living out what most of us want, you know? Some kind of adventure."

I blinked. "Oh. Then yeah, go ahead and laugh."

"Whatever you say. Sorry, I interrupted your story. Go ahead."

"Okay. So, to get into the game, you have to sit in these little pods. I got a little claustrophobic, so I closed my eyes, and I just... Have you ever had an out-of-body experience?"

Makoto's eyebrows rose. "A... what?"

"Out-of-body experience. Most people have them like dreams. It feels like you're outside of yourself. It's actually a really interesting thing. If you get really good at it, I've heard you can explore around your house, or even further!"

He nodded. "Okay, so no, I've never had that. Also, you might be getting a teeny bit off-topic?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry." I scratched the back of my head. "That's just what it felt like to me. Like I was being pulled a little outside of myself. And when I opened my eyes, I was in a forest. Just like that, I was in the game! And it felt so real! There was a little bit of wind, and I could feel the sunlight, and seriously, I could even hear cicadas, and feel the grass, and all of it. So, we had to fight our way through this adventure game using our Duel Monsters Decks. There was a desert town, and a 'Cave of Death' with a big labyrinth, and a kingdom with a big castle we got to go to, and then, it was so crazy—"

"Okay, okay, slow down a little bit!" Makoto chuckled. "You're starting to lose me."

"Ah, right. So, the castle. First of all, I got to wear this badass armour with a cape and everything. The queen had said we were legendary heroes from a myth they had, so that's why we got all dressed up. The armour of their legendary heroes and all. So, we needed to get up to a castle that floated in the sky, and..." I paused, seeing Makoto's expression. "Hey, this is a video game this time! It's not that unbelievable!"

He laughed. "I know, I know, but it still sounds like a weird game."

"That's because all you play is racing games."

"Ahhh... Okay, I guess so."

"Anyway." I deliberately spoke louder, making him chuckle but pay attention again. I explained the rest of the adventure to him, trying to keep from becoming too long-winded. I was grateful enough that he was listening so intently; I didn't want to waste that.

At the end of it all, Makoto took a moment to mull it all over, and I let him. He had fallen silent after I told him what happened when I'd been hit directly by the Mythic Dragon's attack. I'd been telling myself that it was like what happened when you got killed off in some multiplayer games. Sometimes, you couldn't spawn back in until a certain point. Makoto didn't seem to think the same thing, and honestly, I didn't either.

"Just to clarify, the whole point of what happened was that Kaiba was supposed to be trapped in the game, right? He wasn't supposed to beat it?"

I shrugged. "To my understanding, yeah."

"So, what about the rest of you?"

"What do you mean?"

He shook his head, looking forward. "I mean, you said you got knocked out by that attack by the, quote unquote, final boss, right?"

I nodded slowly.

"And, if they hadn't been able to defeat it?"

My eyebrows furrowed, and I examined his expression, though he was still looking away from me. I knew what he was thinking, and it was what I truly thought would have happened to me as well. "Uhm... I guess... I would have come back in a place further back? With less progress? Like a normal video game."

Makoto met my gaze then. "You sure about that?"

I hesitated, then responded in the same fashion, "Not really..."

He watched me for a moment, then shook his head again, looking forward once more. "I don't know, Mara. You've been getting into a lot of dangerous situations lately."

I frowned. "It's not on purpose."

"Isn't it, though? You knew the whole point was for Kaiba to get stuck in there. There was a good chance the same could have happened to you."

I didn't want to, but I nodded. "I guess. I just... I wanted to help. I've never gotten to do anything important like this before.

This time, I looked away, seeing his head turn toward me from the courner of my eye.

"You... You don't need to put yourself in danger to be important. Or to do anything important. Aren't there better ways?"

"Are there?" I glanced back at him. My words seemed to surprise him.

"You've... always told me you wanted to do music. You can make a big difference with that. And that's not dangerous."

I chuckled. "Haven't you heard all those horror stories about the idols? Them being forced to shave their heads because the paparazzi caught them around, God forbid, a male?"

That got him to laugh. "Okay, but you never told me you wanted to be an idol."

"I don't. And even if I did, I'm too old for when they scout for new idol groups." I shook my head. "Off topic, though. I know something bad could have happened to me, but nothing did. I'll be more careful next time."

He gave a purposefully over-dramatic sigh. "That's what you told me the last time you got into trouble."

"This was different! You haven't met Mokuba Kaiba. He looked so pitiful and desperate all soaked to the bone. And his brother is all he has! How could I say no to helping him?"

Makoto shook his head. "Isn't he like, twelve? I don't think he needs to be babied."

I raised an eyebrow. "Isn't your brother, like, twelve?"

He shot me a mock-glare. "Touché. However, Naoto's thirteen." I blinked, and Makoto chuckled, shaking his head. "His birthday is in March. You missed it."

Frowning, I crossed my arms. "Okay, well, you could have reminded me."

"He doesn't like all the attention. But I'll tell him you wish him a really, really late happy birthday."

"Thanks."

The buildings broke away to the familiar, beautiful plaza that sat near Domino's center. I hadn't realized we had already walked so far. We paused beside the tall clock at the center, and Makoto spoke.

"Well, what do you want to do?" He turned to me, and I bit my lip.

"Uhm, I don't know."

"That wasn't convincing."

I glanced at him, and his lips wore a knowing grin. Rolling my eyes, I couldn't help but grin back. "Alright, get that smug grin off your face. It's just my other friends went to that new game shop that opened, because Jonouchi got all proud, and challenged the owner to a Duel Monsters duel, and honestly..."

"You want to go cheer him on?"

For a moment, I thought Makoto sounded disappointed, but when I looked at him, he just looked pretty neutral to the idea, if not a bit surprised.

I couldn't help it, I giggled. "Actually, I kiiiinda was hoping he'd lose...?"

Makoto's eyebrows rose, but he smiled. "Jeez, Mara, ruthless."

"It's not to be mean! He's really full of himself. It'd maybe take him off his high horse? It's purely hoping for his benefit, honest." No it wasn't.

"That doesn't sound the least bit true. However, I will gladly to accompany you to rooting for your friend's defeat."

"Ouch, that really does sound ruthless. But I'm glad you're willing!" I hummed with a smug grin of my own, heading off in the direction of the new game shop.

When we reached it, I almost paused, seeing a huge crowd gathered just inside the store. Makoto was just as confused.

"Is this all... for your friend's Duel, maybe?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. Let's go see." I continued forward, squeezing through the crowd into the store until I could see giant screens inside. On them, it wasn't a Duel of Jonouchi and Otogi, but an entirely different game between Yuugi and Otogi.

"I thought you said they would be playing Duel Monsters." Makoto paused at my side, looking down at me.

"I did. But I don't even see Jonouchi-... Oh."

The camera panned across the game field, and there, on the sidelines, was Jonouchi, in a dog suit.

"I guess he lost. I didn't think Otogi would take the dog thing so seriously," I murmured. Jonouchi didn't look too miserable, but he couldn't be comfortable in a dog suit like that. I actually felt bad for him. That was pretty cruel to embarrass him like that.

"'Dog thing?"

"Ah, the wager was that if Jonouchi won, he got to steal Otogi's fangirls."

"How does that work?"

"Beats me. But if he lost, Otogi said Jonouchi would have to be his dog for a week. Aaand, the guy in the dog suit on the sidelines is Jonouchi."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

We stood and watched for a few moments, the crowd around us chattering excitedly, and out of curiosity, I glanced around. In the front of the crowd stood Yuugi's grandfather.

It would be rude not to say hello, so I gripped Makoto's sleeve and tugged him with me, approaching the familiar man. "Mr. Mutou? I didn't think I'd see you here."

The grey-haired man looked up at me, his eyes lighting up. "Oh, Mara! I didn't expect you either! I saw the commotion walking by, and I had to check up on it."

I nodded in understanding. So Yuugi hadn't told him he would be here. Then again, as far as I knew, Yuugi wasn't supposed to be in the ring. "Do you know what game they're playing? I don't recognize it."

"It's that new game they've been advertising here, D.D.M."

I recognized the name as what my friends had been talking about in class. "Oh. Why is that what he and Yuugi are playing?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, the battle had already started when I got here."

Nodding, I looked back at the screen before blinking. "Oh, sorry, Mr. Mutou, this is my friend, Makoto."

Makoto seemed surprised that I suddenly introduced him, but he handled the situation well, regardless. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. Mara's mentioned you; you're Yuugi's grandfather, right?" He glanced to me at he mentioned Yuugi's name to make sure he got it right, and I gave him a little nod.

"That's me! Do you know Yuugi?"

"I haven't met him yet, but Mara's mentioned a lot about Duelist Kingdom. It sounds like he's quite talented."

I almost rolled my eyes at how easily Makoto slid into the conversation. He was so natural at conversation, he must have been from a different planet. But I let him chatter, turning my attention to the screens once more. I knew nothing about this game, but from the look on Yuugi's face, he didn't seem to be winning. I couldn't expect him to, though. It was likely his first time playing, if this game was as new as it sounded like it was. I had never been one for games involving dice. I didn't like luck-based strategy. My temper would tell me the game wasn't worth playing before the odds of good rolls kicked in. Luck was too unreliable to be anything but frustrating to me.

A few minutes later, Makoto had finished his conversation and looked at me, his grin a little sly. Speaking quietly, he raised an eyebrow. "So, the friend you wanted to watch lose...?"

I nodded, rolling my eyes, but grinning back. "Already lost."

"Bummer."

"Yeah, but that's alright. I got to show you how cruel I can be."

Makoto laughed. "By the way, remind me to keep on your good side."

"Makoto, I don't think you can get on anyone's bad side."

"You think? Maybe I ought to try."

I chuckled. "That might be fun to watch."

With our attention turning back to the screens, I began to realize how slow the pace of this game was. Duel Monsters could take so few turns for a Duel to end, but this D.D.M. game had a more in depth strategy, which meant time. Definitely not my type of game. What was entertaining was watching Yuugi's grandpa cheer each time Yuugi had an apparent victory.

I didn't know when we got there, so I wasn't sure about how long we stood there, watching, but by the end of it, I was hungry. I knew that if we hung around, we would be bound to run into everyone else as they left. I didn't feel like being a part of that conversation, so, saying goodbye to Yuugi's grandpa, I led the way out as the crowd dispersed.

"Well, that was interesting," Makoto spoke as we headed away from the game shop.

"Mmhmm. I wasn't too interested in the game, but I glad Yuugi won. Maybe he got Jonouchi out of having to wear that dog suit."

Makoto laughed. "I'm still trying to understand why the other guy had one of those on hand."

"Hm. That's a good point actually. Ew."

"Maybe we shouldn't think about that too much." He pulled his phone from his pocket, then frowned. "Hmm, it's getting late. I should probably head home."

I nodded. The sun had already dipped below the buildings. "I probably should too, then. I didn't tell my mom I'd be out this long."

"Well, I'll walk with you to the bus stop, at least."

We weren't too far from a bus stop along my route home, so just a few minutes later, we reached our destination with a bus driving up the street in our direction.

"I'll see you at school, then!" I told Makoto, stepping toward the bus as it stopped in front of us.

"Alright, but try to stay out of trouble until then. No more evil video games."

I stuck my tongue out at him, and heard him chuckling behind me as I stepped up onto the bus. Even if I bogged down the first half of the afternoon with my story, hanging out with Makoto was fun. Maybe the next time I planned to hang out with Yuugi and them, I could bring Makoto along. Then it wouldn't feel so much like I had two separate groups of friends.

[[A/N]] Lookie, a chapter uploaded within a reasonable time from the last one!

My question from last chapter still stands if anyone wants to put in more input: More of Mara's life outside of the canon, or less? I'm leaning toward more, since this is her fic, but if a lot of people say otherwise, that'll sway me. ;w;

Also, I see a lot of traffic coming in this fic as opposed to before... Did someone talk about it somewhere? Cuz usually I'm like a couple views here and there, but now I'm getting a decent amount of traffic? Who are all you lovely people? THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ MY TRASH-ASS WRITING THAT I LIKE OFF AND ON! I'd love to hear some opinions from you guys!

Thanks for reading! Muah!