A/N: For everyone who was disappointed about the lack of Yuugi in the last chapter, here you go!


Their arrival in Egypt was surprisingly subdued, although to be honest Yuugi wasn't really sure what he had been expecting. Bandit Keith took him off of the plane and he was immediately bundled straight into a car, which took off on a long drive to what appeared to be a safehouse of some kind. The only other occupants were a young woman and man who were apparently acting as the caretakers in Vivian's absence. He hadn't gotten the chance to speak to either one of them and frankly he had no idea if it would even help. From what he could tell, Vivian had deep pockets and she was willing to put out a good deal of money for anyone who would help her.

He stared out the window of what had become "his bedroom", considering the fact that he had been shut in for two long, boring days. The only thing he could see was what appeared to be office buildings bordered by a thin strip of sand. He had tried calling for help with no luck, and finally he had been forced to conclude that either no one could hear him or no one cared. It was hard to say which would be worse, but he was inclined to think it was the former since he hadn't seen a single other person since he had arrived.

"This place would be enough to drive a saint crazy," he said out loud. The sound of his voice was almost startling after two steady days of silence. He sighed and banged his head gently against the wall, craving human contact with anyone who didn't want to do him harm. He missed the game shop and his grandfather. He missed his friends. He missed Atemu. God, what he wouldn't have given to have seen the prince walk through the door at that moment.

Almost as if in response to that thought he heard footsteps out in the hall, but the sound only proved to bring him dread. The steps were much too heavy to belong to Atemu or his friends, and sure enough when the door swung open it was Bandit Keith. He was holding a gun (and did he ever want to see Vivian, if only to ask her what the hell she had been thinking by giving Bandit Keith, of all people, a weapon) and wearing a cocky smirk. He ambled into the room and looked around importantly, searching for any signs that Yuugi had been trying to escape, though of course there were none. Yuugi wasn't stupid enough to leave behind that sort of evidence.

"I heard weird sounds and thought I should come check it out," he said with a sneer, kicking the door shut behind him. "You weren't trying to leave, were you?"

"No," Yuugi said honestly, staying exactly where he was. He didn't know much about guns but he did know that it was probably an extremely idiotic move to be waving it around so casually. He did not want to be close to Bandit Keith if that thing accidentally discharged.

"That's good, because there's no way out," Bandit Keith said, though he looked a little disappointed that Yuugi was actually obeying the rules. Probably he had been hoping for the opportunity to dish out a little discipline. Yuugi shuddered at the thought, eyeing him warily and wishing that the room were large enough for him to get further away.

"I know that," he replied, wanting to add something pointed like 'so obviously there's no reason for you to be in here'. Instead, he turned back to look out the window again, even though his stomach tightened at the thought of turning his back to Bandit Keith. "I am bored, though. Is Vivian planning to make her move any time soon or is her ultimate plan to get me out of the way by leaving me locked up here?" He was trying to make it sound like a joke, but he realized that he could not keep the faint undercurrent of concern out of the ears of someone who was listening for it. Fortunately Bandit Keith was about as sensitive as a block of wood.

"I haven't got a clue, and even if I did know I sure as fuck wouldn't tell you about it. You're not here as a guest, remember, but for your sake you better hope that Vivian never loses interest in having you around. I got a lot of humiliation to pay you back for."

At that, Yuugi couldn't resist looking over his shoulder. Bandit Keith smirked, licked his lips, and backed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The silence settled thickly, broken only by the sound of retreating footsteps, and Yuugi had to bite down on his lip to hold back the rising tears that threatened to break free. Bandit Keith had been making threats like that every couple of hours since they'd gotten to the house. He wasn't sure what exactly the man had in mind but he knew he did not want to find out.

With renewed determination, he looked back down at the window. It had been painted shut but he'd slowly been chipping away at the paint with his nails. His progress was slow and he'd already broken a couple of his nails in the process. He didn't know if he was going to be able to escape before Vivian came back from wherever she'd gone, but he was going to do his best. He crouched down to put himself on level with the sill and began scraping again. He was so focused that he didn't even hear the door opening until it was too late, and the hand that fell on his shoulder startled him badly.

"Ow!" he cried out, wincing as a splinter was driven deeply into the flesh of his thumb. He whirled around and tried to stand up at the same time and nearly toppled over as a result.

The woman standing in front of him giggled softly. She was a petite thing, barely taller than Yuugi, with lavender-colored hair bound up by a huge yellow ribbon. Her uniform consisted of a starched black dress and a white apron that didn't look very comfortable, considering the heat. She was smiling, though, and her dark grey eyes were kind. Much to his surprise, when she spoke, it was in flawless Japanese. "Hello. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. I should have said something sooner, but I didn't want to risk drawing the attention of that awful man downstairs."

"It's okay," Yuugi said awkwardly.

Her eyes fell on his hand and she frowned. "Oh, you've hurt yourself. Here, let me." And she took him gently by the wrist and led him into the bathroom. There was a small first aid kit hidden behind the bathroom mirror, she revealed, and she took it down and then knelt to get a better look at his finger. "I've been meaning to come up and see you for a while now, but Honda - that's my husband - kept telling me that it was none of my business. He says I'm a terrible snoop and that I shouldn't do anything the Wong family wouldn't want me to do. I say there's nothing fun in that." Her smile was quick and mischievous as she gently grasped the end of the splinter with a pair of tweezers and pulled it out.

"It's nice to meet you," Yuugi said lamely, biting his lip. The removal of the splinter didn't hurt, but it felt like it had been ages since anyone had touched him in a kind way. It was almost overwhelming. "My name is Mutou Yuugi."

"Lovely to meet you, Yuugi, my name is Miho." She sat back on her heels and set the tweezers aside. "Do I dare ask how you've upset Miss Wong to the point where she had you locked up?"

"Stupidity," Yuugi replied, because honestly that was the bare bones of the matter. He knew it had been a mistake to leave the blanket where the others were. As much as he didn't want to admit it to himself, he'd done it on purpose, hoping to get Vivian to challenge him away from the others, hoping that somehow she might be able to escape whatever Bakura and Mariku had planned for her. And now this was where he had ended up in exchange for his kindness. He wouldn't be making the same mistake a second time.

Miho's expression softened. "I'm sure that's not the case," she said kindly. "Are you in trouble, Yuugi? Do you need help?"

He thought about it. Miho was a stranger to him, but she was also the first person who had treated him as more than an object since he had ended up here. She might have even been a spy for Vivian. But what did he have to lose by trusting her? It wasn't like Vivian could really do all that much worse than what she already had. "Yes, I am. I don't know how loyal you are to Vivian, but she's gone crazy. She kidnapped me from Japan and said that she was going to force me to help her become the Queen of Egypt!" Suddenly desperate, he gripped Miho's hands, imploring her to understand the seriousness of the situation. "I'm not sure what her plans are, but I know they don't bode well. Please, you have to help me."

"Alright, shh, calm down before you catch someone's attention," she cautioned, glancing over her shoulder at the door. When she looked back, her lips were pressed into a thin line. "I thought it might be something like this, but Honda told me I was being silly. I've always wondered about the Wong family. Well, I mean you hear rumors, but you never stop to think that there might be any truth to them. But Miss Wong was involved in that dreadful scandal…" She sighed.

"Scandal? You mean the one where Atemu refused to marry her?" Yuugi asked.

"Well yes, but there have been other ones, too. Worse ones," said Miho. "Oh, but I shouldn't gossip." She didn't sound very convinced, though, and with a little urging Yuugi was able to get her to continue. "There was a young man back in China," she confided in a low voice as she began wrapping a little bandage around Yuugi's finger. "He was so handsome and quite well off, too. He was set to become a lawyer, and for what it's worth I think that Miss Wong was actually interested in him. She might have married him, too, if it hadn't been for that business associate of her father's."

"A business associate?" he repeated, flexing his finger. The sting had faded under the application of some gel and now it felt a lot better. Yuugi felt better just because he'd had some company that was not looking to be violent towards him in any way.

"That's right. Master Wong is a very important man over there, you see, and he's got a lot of important contacts. Older men who would quite enjoy having a younger woman on their arms and Miss Wong, well, she's quite attractive isn't she? She got a taste of that life and I think she would have stayed there comfortably, but she didn't get the chance. That man's wife, and I'll not give you any names, she found out about Miss Wong and put a stop to that right away. She told the young man about what Miss Wong had been up to. Before you could blink Miss Wong found herself alone and without any suitors at all, just loads of rumors.

"Now she's got relatives here in Egypt, and that's why she came here in there first place, hoping to get away from her old reputation. None of us were expecting that she would set her sights as high as she did, but…" Miho's shoulders rose and fell as she sighed.

"So you are working for Vivian's family, then," Yuugi said.

"Yup. Honda and I are originally from Japan, like you," she said with a smile. "I had a job working at a hotel and that's how I met Mrs Wong, Vivian's aunt. She's a lovely woman and when she offered us a job here, keeping the house up while she and her husband were travelling, I couldn't say no. Of course, it's not been quite as much as fun since Miss Wong arrived." She made a face.

"You said she set her sights high. You mean Atemu."

"The poor thing didn't know what was coming. For a while there I thought that Miss Wong might remain faithful to him, she wanted it that much, but I guess her true nature couldn't be denied. Now I'm not from Egypt but I still had half a mind to go up there to the palace and warn him. I didn't because Honda told me not to meddle, and fortunately someone else found out about her and told the prince the truth before the two of them were married." This time her grin was quick and satisfied with a peculiar gleam that made Yuugi wonder if she'd had more of a hand in bringing the truth to light than she was letting on.

"After they broke up, Atemu told her to leave," he said slowly. "But she's come back now and she's really angry."

"Yes, that doesn't surprise me. Miss Wong does not take kindly to having her plans disrupted. Takes after her father in that respect, according to what Master Wong told me." Miho put the kit back together and stood up to wash her hands. "Anyway, Yuugi, the point of me telling you this is to let you know that if you need help, I'm willing to try. I like my job and I'd like to keep working here, but I can't stand by and let them keep you in here like you're an animal. It's wrong."

"Thank you," Yuugi breathed as a rush of relief so heady that it made him feel dizzy flooded through him. "Can you get me out of here?" If he could just find a way out, he knew that he would be able to get into contact with his friends. Someone would be able to guide him to the airport and surely Seto or Atemu could pull some strings so that he could get home, even without a passport?

"I'll try, but I'm afraid you're going to have to sit tight a little while longer," she said, though not without sympathy. "I won't do anything without Honda's agreement. Tonight, after everyone else has gone to bed, I will talk to him. If he agrees then we'll think of something, okay?"

Yuugi nodded, even though the thought of staying where he was for even another minute was horrifying. But he knew that he was exceedingly fortunate that Miho was even willing to help, considering that she could have just ignored his plight. He wouldn't have blamed her if she had. "Be careful," he said. "There are a lot of dangerous people in this house. I know that they probably wouldn't hesitate to hurt you if they found out that you were trying to help me."

For a moment he thought that Miho would treat his warning like it was a joke, but she didn't. Her expression was very serious when she squeezed his hand. "I will be careful," she promised him. "At the very least... can I contact your friends for you?"

Yuugi's heart tightened painfully. "Oh god, yes please," he said quickly. He knew that Ryou, Malik and Jou had to be going crazy by that point, and Atemu probably wasn't much better off. He really wanted Miho to be able to contact them, but that didn't sound like a safe idea. What if the charges showed up on a bill? Or someone heard her talking to them? It was likely that Vivian already knew Yuugi would be trying to escape. Would she suspect the servants to help Yuugi? Or would she think that they were unfailingly loyal to her?

Miho must have known what was going through his mind. "It's alright. Every Saturday Honda and I go into town to do the shopping. We'll be able to talk to your friends freely," she explained. She rummaged around in the pockets of her dress until she produced a pen, which she handed to Yuugi. "Go ahead, write down the phone number. I won't call unless I'm absolutely certain that I'm able to do it without being heard."

He needed no more prompting. He took the pen and wrote Atemu's phone number down on her outstretched palm, making the numbers as clear as he possibly could. Miho gave him another smile and took her pen back as she stood up. She bowed slightly and then walked out, and Yuugi felt like his last hopes were going with her. He waited, frozen in place, until he heard the sound of the door being shut and the lock slipped back into place before he let his head sink into his hands. What had he been thinking? He'd just been offered a prime opportunity to escape. Miho didn't look very strong for all that she was taller than him; Yuugi was fairly certain that he would've been able to take her without too much of a problem. He could've easily knocked her down or out and been out the door before she woke up. No one would have noticed for a few hours, most likely.

But he hadn't. The reminder of Miho's kindness, something she had offered freely and not because she had to, was too fresh. He felt a lump rise in his throat as he gazed down at the bandage that had been so carefully placed upon his hand. No matter how desperate he was to escape, he wasn't going to hurt anyone else in the process. Miho didn't deserve that, not when she was an innocent bystander who would probably take the blame if he did manage to get away. God knew what Vivian would decide to punish her with. Yuugi wasn't willing to take that chance. He would just have to wait and hope that Miho was successful... and in the meantime, he'd have to go back to chipping away at the window just in case she wasn't. Grimly, he stood up, tidied the kit away and went back to work.


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