I've kept you guys waiting, but I think it was worth it. Behold, the next chapter of StarCrossed!

Special Thanks

DragonHeart64 - Oh yes, Fujiwaka won't escape Judgement, but he still has to commit some more crimes. Mokuba is getting a bit reckless, and it will have consequences. For Fujiwaka, mostly, as he'll soon find out. To be honest, I hadn't thought of paparazzi yet, but it's a very good idea and I think I'll use it. Thanks for reviewing :D

Eragonfan - You seem to have some mixed feelings about the outcome of Raiku and Risa's adventure, and I don't blame you. But no worries: help is on its way. A little risk only adds to the fun (mine, especially, gna-gna). You seem to have your own ideas about the meanings of the cards and I can honestly tell you that you are W-R-O-N-G! Find out the meaning in this chapter (although, don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you went speculating :)). I'm glad to have made you an addict and I'll keep doing my best to improve. Thanks for reviewing :D

Dragongal - God forbid the bad guys win, right? Well, of course they won't, but the good guys are having a bumpy ride that will only get bumpier. What's going to happen to Emiko might surprise you, by the way. Thanks for reviewing :D

HopelessRomantic183 - Then I guess I've succeeded, then? Your worrying about the characters' well-being is most appreciated, I'm glad to see how into the story you get. Oh, Fujiwaka isn't done with them yet, but I know who's not going to be done with HIM soon after this chapter! Whoo-haa! Yeah, I'm looking forward to that, can you tell? xD Nope, you got the card thing wrong (okay, not completely, you got part of it right)! Of course, one of the Dragons symbolizing Kisara would be way too obvious, so that's not happening. Thanks for the effort, though. Thank you for the many compliments, they always manage to make me smile :D

IN THIS CHAPTER
Mokuba, are you friggin' stupid?
Risa just can't sit still for long.
There's a bonding moment.
Guess who saves the day?
Hasako, how dare you confuse my readers?
As for the meaning of the cards...
The Business Trip - Day 1

I've dedicated this story to HopelessRomantic183.

I've dedicated the pairing Mokuba/Emiko to Eragonfan.

I apologize for any errors in advance.

Disclaimer: I own the plot and the OC's, but nothing more.

Thank you all very much for reading!

ENJOY!

Wednesday, May 18, very early in the morning

Original POV

Raiku still wasn't fully back in the world of the living, but now at least she was aware of her surroundings and somewhat able to talk. The captors had at least had the decency to apply a bandage to her shot wound. They hadn't removed the bullet, however, and they'd given Raiku so much morphine that she had blacked out for hours.

It was clear that the professionals had handed the girl over to Fujiwaka's henchmen, since professionals would've searched her much more thorough and they would certainly have found Raiku's pocketknife, which was hidden in her left boot.

Nori only had the clothes he was wearing. His gun, knife and taser had been taken from him. His shoulders were hurting like hell by now since his hands were still bound to his back and that was not quite a comfortable position.

Raiku could move around, although not well, and although she didn't say anything, Nori knew that she was in a lot of pain and needed a doctor as soon as possible.

Nori also knew that things were looking pretty bad both for him and Raiku. As soon as Fujiwaka was done with whatever he needed them for, he would probably kill them.

Nori had made up his mind.

"Raiku," he whispered (there was someone guarding the door, so they had to be a little quiet). Raiku looked up with tired eyes. Her body had used up almost all of the morphine and the pain was getting worse.

"We have to escape," Nori said. Raiku managed a sarcastic smile.

"Talk about stating the obvious, Sherlock," she answered with a raspy voice. Nori chose to ignore that comment.

"Listen to me," he whispered urgently. "I've paid close attention and I've discovered that they relieve the guard after they give us our breakfast. That's when we have to strike, 'cause the new guard is always late. I have a plan."

}:{

8.34 AM

Seto and Mokuba had had breakfast very early in the morning since Seto had to leave early for the business trip to the USA. Therefore, he wasn't there to watch Mokuba leave for school so Mokuba could skip easily. Her told his guards and chauffeur that he wasn't feeling well and that he would stay home today. No one had questioned it and now Mokuba was using every resource he could think of to find the location where Nori and Raiku were held captive.

Yisuba had spoken of a room in a maze of corridors and rooms. And underground, no less. Mokuba had looked up a map of the subway, since he thought that such a maze wouldn't be located anywhere near the subway, and so he had concluded that Nori and Raiku were being held captive near the outskirts of the city, most likely near the industrial zone and company headquarters. But that still left him with a huge area to investigate. No less than twenty-six companies were located in that area, most of them with multiple buildings. Mokuba hoped that Fujiwaka had done the obvious and thus held his captives near his own company.

Mokuba spend no less than an hour and a half to get detailed maps and photos of Fujiwaka's territory, as well as reports on the construction of the building.

But it was time well spent. Mokuba discovered that the main building was linked to the building of a neighboring company in case something happened in either one of the buildings and the people inside would have a way out. However, Mokuba couldn't find a single corridor or tunnel or anything like that on the aerial photographs he'd found. He sat back in his chair and looked at the photo on his computer screen, biting his lower lip and thinking.

What were the odds that Nori and Raiku were somewhere in that underground corridor that was said to run between those buildings? The reports were very clear. The escape route had never been used. Well, not officially. But Mokuba didn't think it impossible for Fujiwaka to expand the area for personal use.

"Best lead I have," he mumbled, and got up. He had work to do.

}:{

Meanwhile

Risa at Kisara's place, pacing trough the rooms and trying to figure out what to do. Kisara had told her not to do anything stupid while she was on her own. Risa hated to make her cousin worry, but she, for one, was more worried about her sister. Raiku was injured. She needed help. And Risa was willing to bet all of Japan that Raiku hadn't received the medical attention she needed. Oh, they would keep her alive, for the time being, but they wouldn't take good enough care of her.

Then Risa stopped and decided. She went to the room she shared with her sister and changed into comfortable pants, a t-shirt and a sweater, none of them bright-colored. Then she put on a pair of white sneakers and hid her computer device in her left sock.

"Fujiwaka, ready or not, here I come," she growled as she dashed out of the door.

}:{

Fujiwaka mansion

Emiko was now no longer tied up, but she was in so much pain, both physically and emotionally, that she didn't bother moving anyway.

She wrists were no longer bleeding, but they stung terribly. She was cold, since she was only wearing the dress she'd been wearing when her father had caught her and it wasn't a warm dress. She was dirty, hungry, thirsty and dead tired.

She could only think about Hasako's evil smile as she closed the door to destroy Emiko's photos those precious, precious photos of Mokuba. It had taken her years to get those! Not only that, those photos were what had gotten her through the hard times she'd suffered in this house for the past few years. And there had been a lot of hard times.

The door opened. Someone sneaked inside, clearly not wanting to get caught. The woman (that much Emiko had seen) lit a small lantern and Emiko felt a fresh wave of hate wash over her as Hasako revealed her face. What struck her as odd, however, was that Hasako had a small basket with her. There were some bottle of water, a towel, a washcloth and food.

Was this woman out of her bloody mind?

Hasako knelt down at Emiko's side, wet the washcloth and started to clean Emiko's face. The girl shrieked and tried to get away from the woman as far away as possible. Which wasn't very far. Hasako looked at Emiko with a sad look in her eyes and tried again. She had to try for four or five times before Emiko just gave up and let her do whatever the hell she wanted. It wasn't as if she wasn't doing that already anyway.

After washing the girls face, Hasako continued with her hands, arms (she was very careful with Emiko's wrists), feet and legs. Then she used the towel to dry the girl off completely. Next she produced a small bottle with a brownish liquid from the basket and started to carefully clean Emiko's wounds. Povidone-iodine. Shit, it stung like hell, but Emiko didn't make a sound. Hasako bandaged the wounds when she was done and sat back, putting the basket in front of the girl.

"You need food, and water," she said softly.

"What do you care?" Emiko snapped. Hasako only looked sadder.

"I can understand your father's reasoning, to an extent," she explained. "But to treat you like this… that's just cruel."

Emiko snorted.

"You didn't seem to have a problem with it when you ordered the guard to use that stick." She said. Hasako rolled her eyes.

"Your father gave me orders to punish you that way and I'm not stupid enough to think the man loves me so much that he won't have everyone report my actions to him," she told the girl. "Believe me, it was difficult enough to get here unnoticed. Now eat."

Emiko obeyed slowly.

"So you were just keeping up appearances?" she asked. "All this time, I mean?"

Hasako shrugged, which looked very out of character.

"Appearances are deceptive," she answered, though not really answering the question. Emiko swallowed.

"Did father… did he tell you to destroy my… my photos?" she asked weakly, wanting to start crying all over again. Now it was Hasako who snorted.

"Yes, he did, heartless bastard that he is." At Emiko's surprised face, she rolled her eyes again.

"For God's sake, girl! You're in love! It happens to everyone! Why should anyone be punished for being in love?"

Emiko's eyes widened.

"Then… my photos…" she started, unable to finish. Hasako knew, however.

"They're safe and hidden, and not a single one of them is missing. I burned some of my photos of your father instead to prove to him that I burned photos, as were his orders."

Hasako had barely the time to finish her sentence as Emiko wrapped her arms tightly around the woman and cried.

}:{

Fujiwaka Company

Mokuba had to admit that he had been somewhat stupid to come here without a plan. He was well known in the business world and that now proved to be a disadvantage. So, now what?

"Excuse me, what are you doing here?" someone asked him suddenly. Mokuba jumped and turned around. Blue eyes met blue eyes and Mokuba could only look at Risa dumbfounded. She had hidden her hair underneath the same wig she had worn at the Fujiwaka dinner party and was now next to unrecognizable. She was giving him a weird look.

"You are Mokuba Kaiba, aren't you?" she asked to be sure, keeping her voice low so that no one would hear her. Mokuba nodded.

"I am," he said. "And who are you?"

"Risa Mizushima," Risa answered. "I'm going to save your life."

"Excuse me?"

But Risa had already grabbed her companion's arm and was now dragging him in the direction of the building of a neighboring company. Mokuba figured that this had to be the company the other building was connected to. He mentally slapped himself. Why did he go to the Fujiwaka Company if this maze had a back door?

Risa didn't let go until they'd reached the front of the building. It looked terribly shabby.

"Now listen," Risa said with her hands on her hips. "I happen to know that Fujiwaka wants you dead or alive, but preferably dead, so do as I say and keep away from there!"

"Are you here for your sister?" Mokuba asked as if she hadn't spoken at all. This surprised her.

"How do you know?" she asked. Mokuba shrugged.

"Yisuba-san told me," he said. "He also said that his nephew, Nori, is missing. I understand we're in this Rescue Emiko mission together?"

Risa nodded slowly.

"And then you decided to play hero and come and save them?" she asked. Mokuba nodded and she sighed.

"Stupid," she scolded. "And here I thought you were quite smart, figuring out where to go and all. But I've been there, in that place, and you won't get out of there alive unless you know exactly what you're doing!"

"Oh, and you are not playing hero?" Mokuba asked her. He was getting pissed off.

"Well, no, since I'm here to save my sister! You don't have any reason to be here!" she shouted.

"It so happens that I do have a reason," Mokuba argued. "If we can get them out of there, then we'll gain very valuable information, especially about Fujiwaka and his evil business. Besides…" he sighed, and his voice softened. "We'll need them to save Emiko."

And just like that, Risa seemed to understand.

"Well, all right," she said. "But I'm the one in charge, got that? I know where to go, so you just follow my lead, okay?"

Mokuba nodded, but couldn't help but wonder…

"How do you know your sister is still here? Well, I got it from Yisuba, but…"

"Ever heard of twin telepathy?" Risa asked.

"Yes. It exists?"

"Yup. I just follow my sixth sense and it's telling me that my twin is somewhere down there." Risa told him. Mokuba raised an eyebrow.

"Well, that's good, 'cause if the place really is such a maze…"

"It is."

"… then we'll need that sixth sense of yours really bad."

Risa beamed.

"Exactly!" she said. "Now, if you'd please be so kind to follow me…"

}:{

About half an hour later

It had taken some time, but now Risa and Mokuba were standing in front of the rusty door that would lead them to The Maze. Risa wanted to do a check up before going in and so they discovered that, besides Risa's more than handy computer device, they had some pebbles (Mokuba had thought them to come in handy), a small kitchen knife, some crayons (red, light blue and light purple) and some chewing gum. Mokuba had given his companion a weird look when she'd proudly showed him the chewing gum, but she argued that it always helped her calm her nerves. She was chewing frantically when they opened the door.

The corridor was empty and quiet. They walked in and closed the door. Risa walked in front of Mokuba, following her sixth sense, and Mokuba listened if he heard someone approaching. They walked for minutes. A lot of minutes, and Mokuba had to admit that he got a little worried after about an hour.

"Is there something wrong?" he whispered. Risa turned around.

"It's strange," she answered. "She seems to be moving. But I think we're almost there."

Mokuba hoped that Raiku had escaped and that he wouldn't have to fight Fujiwaka's dogs.

}:{

Meanwhile

Nori and Raiku were also trying to find their way around. Raiku had managed to make the guard trip when he entered their cell with their food, after which Nori had knocked him out. It had taken precious time for Raiku to grab the man's keys and unlock Nori. She could barely walk, so eventually, Nori had told her he'd carry her on his back. They had been walking for almost twenty minutes now and their escape was bound to be found out within another ten. Yet they still hadn't found and exit, and Nori was getting desperate when Raiku suddenly told him to turn left. When he asked why, she told him not to argue and just do it, so he sighed, shrugged, and turned left. She kept giving him directions until suddenly…

BUMP!

Nori yelped as he walked into someone. He fell to the ground in surprise, careful not to land on Raiku, and looked right into the curious eyes of no other than Raiku's twin, Risa. Behind her was Mokuba, which only confused the detective more.

"What the hell…?" he mumbled, as he let Mokuba pull him to his feet. Risa was hugging her sister, silently scolding the doctor for all she was worth. Quite a lot, apparently.

"We came to rescue you," Mokuba explained. "Looks like you made our job a lot easier."

"We can talk later," Nori said. "We have to go, now. They'll notice our escape very…"

"Alarm! The prisoners have escaped!"

"… soon," Nori finished as they heard the loud cry of the guard in the distance. Mokuba could feel adrenaline starting to wash over him. Risa quickly grabbed her computer device and activated the GPS, while Nori took Raiku on his back once more.

"Run!" he said, and Risa run for the exit, Nori and Raiku behind her, and Mokuba in the back. They could soon hear countless people pursuing them. Nori tried not to hurt Raiku to much while running, but he also didn't want to slow the group down.

Things got nasty at about a one hundred meters from the door. They got at a crossroad when four guards came running towards them from the other end of the corridor. Not good. Nori and the teens would have to get past them to get to the door, and they had very little time.

Mokuba quickly pulled his pebbles out of his pockets and gave his kitchen knife to Risa, who didn't have a weapon of her own. Raiku quickly managed to grab her pocket knife (although it hurt like hell to do so) and gave it to Nori, so that he could defend them both. Then she braced herself for the pain of her injury and wrapped her arms and legs around Nori's body, giving him more room to move without having to support her.

The guards, however, had guns. Mokuba gulped, aimed, and threw one of his pebbles, hitting one of the guards on his mouth. The man growled and spit out some blood and two teeth before he charged again. Risa had charged as well. She made good use of her incredible speed and raised the knife before one of the guards could fire a bullet at her. She quickly cut one of the men's hands, and he dropped the gun. Risa grabbed and hit its owner in the face with it, knocking him out. Mokuba had aimed for another guard and knocked him out as well with a lucky throw that had the man receive a pebble between the eyes. But that still left two other guards. Just as Mokuba made for another throw, no less than six men rounded the corner behind them, while at the other end, another seven men came to their colleagues' aid. Nori and the teens were trapped. There was no way they could make it out without being caught. Things were looking very, very bad.

}:{

10.49 AM

Seto and his employees were on their way to the USA, blissfully unaware of what was happening in Domino City. Of course, it was unthinkable for someone like Seto Kaiba, to use an ordinary airplane, so they were on their way in a company plane, which was different , since it didn't have two or three rows of chairs, but one row. And that one row consisted of multiple tables with comfortable couches , allowing the passengers to actually talk with each other. As it was however, most passengers were napping, making up for the sleep that had missed thanks to the early departure. Mika, however, was wide awake and reading a magazine about BJDs. Kisara would never have thought her friend was into BJDs. Kisara was also awake and reading a book (Gone With The Wind). Seto was sitting next to her, playing with his DM cards. Yes, playing. They were sitting in the back of the plane, Mika a few meters in front of them and not paying attention and the rest of the passengers in dream land, aka: they had privacy.

Kisara suddenly looked up from her book to watch Seto. She'd never really gotten into Duel Monsters, although she understood the game. She happened to know about Seto's obsession with the Blue Eyes White Dragon, one of which he was now looking at as it lay on the table in front of them. Seto caught her staring.

"Do you know the game?" he asked softly. She nodded, smiling.

"Raiku and Risa used to spend entire weekends teaching me about the game and the cards," she said, before her smile faded as she thought about Raiku. Seto noticed.

"It's not just a bunch of cards," he said suddenly. His passion for Duel Monsters was showing as he flipped through his deck and took out some cards. He laid those cards on the table and put the others away. Kisara saw three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards, plus the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon and Polymerization. She frowned.

"Polymerization unites the three Dragons to create the Ultimate Dragon, right?" she asked. Seto smiled and nodded, pleased that she knew.

"Every card in this game has a special meaning," he explained. "At least that's what professional players believe." Kisara noticed that he emphasized the word 'professionals' is a way that made very clear that he considered himself a professional (which, let's face it, he was) and that he despised those who were not.

"This special meaning," Seto went on, "depends a lot on the owner of the card. For example, there's this guy called Yugi Mutou, not a bad player, I admit, and it's very clear that his Dark Magician is of great importance to him." Seto shrugged.

"But of course, it goes without saying that just one card isn't enough to win. A duelist has to know his deck, preferably better than he knows himself. A true duelist knows what his cards symbolize to him."

Kisara wanted to laugh at the superior tone in Seto's voice, but she loved him too much for that (although she noticed Mika sniggering (okay, so maybe she was paying attention)).

"What makes these cards so special to you?" Kisara asked Seto, pointing at the cards in front of them. He blushed a little.

"Basically," he said, "they represent us. You and me." Kisara couldn't help her jaw dropping. That was about the last answer she'd expected.

"How so?" she asked, very proud of herself that her voice didn't fail her. Seto picked up the three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards.

"The three Dragons," he told her, "symbolize my mind, my heart, and my soul. This I've always known. But…" He hesitated, bit his lip, and continued then.

"There had always been something missing," he said, "Something that didn't allow me to become the Ultimate Dragon, the most powerful of all. A complete being. But I didn't feel complete."

Seto picked up said Dragon and kept looking at it for a while. Then he laid the four cards on the table, turned to face Kisara and showed her Polymerization.

"I've always kept my heart from interfering with my mind and vice versa. The three Dragons have never been together to change into the Ultimate Dragon, since there was never anything to unite them," Seto explained. "Until I met you… you make me whole… what I missed… what made me incomplete… was love…"

Kisara smiled a very sweet smile, and he smiled back. They kissed.

}:{

The noise in the corridor was deafening as countless bullets were fired and bodies dropped to the ground. Mokuba was sure he'd get hit, but for some reason, that didn't happen. When the shooting stopped, he slowly opened his eyes (he'd closed them when the shooting had started) and looked up at the sound of someone walking towards him. Somehow, he knew those footsteps.

"Well, look who we have here," she man said amused. "Mokuba, my boy, you never fail to surprise me."

"Pegasus!" Mokuba said dumbly. The other man laughed softly.

"Yes, I know, it's quite a surprise. But then again, life is full of surprises."

"How did you know?" Nori asked, just as surprised as Mokuba. Pegasus looked at him as if the answer was obvious. Which it wasn't. Obviously.

"Why, I was planning the exact same thing as Mokuba-boy and his charming companion," he explained. "Yisuba-san was pretty much desperate on the phone, and who am I to just sit still and watch?"

"Yisuba called you?" Mokuba asked, understanding it less and less. Pegasus nodded.

"Yes, but I'll explain that later. I happen to own a modest residence not too far from the city. I'll take you there, and then my doctor will take a look at the young miss Raiku. I don't think Fujiwaka's goons have much knowledge in the medical department."

As Pegasus, his bodyguards (who'd "taken care of" Fujiwaka's men and saved the day), Nori and the three teens turned around to leave, one of Fujiwaka's men, who was still conscious, grabbed his gun, aimed, and fired. Mokuba fell to the ground.

And we end with a monstrous cliffhanger. And don't say that I would never let Mokuba die, 'cause I'm the kind of bitch who actually WOULD let him. Gna-gna.

Poll status
Still open, as it will be for the next three months.

YET TO HAPPEN IN "STARCROSSED"
Pegasus calls this MODEST?
We see Fujiwaka again. Whoo-hoo... *sarcasm, sarcasm!*
Emiko finds out what happened to Mokuba.
Speaking of Mokuba, Seto is wondering why his little brother never picks up the phone.
Pool. Enough said.
My first boy/girl lemon. I'm kind of scared...
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Too bad the paparazzi don't know that.

I'll stop now, before I get carried away too much.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is, once again, more than welcome.

See you next chapter!

~Lenneko-chan