Welcome back! Just a quick disclaimer: I'm taking some liberties with the timeline of Yu-Gi-Oh here. Nothing too major, it's just off by a couple years or so. We should be about 8 years in if my calculations are correct and we're entering the GX universe now.

Enjoy!

"Come on!" Malik whined on his knees, "Please!"

"No," Yugi denied before Yami could respond.

"It'll be fun!"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"I just -"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You just want an excuse for everyone to get drunk!"

"I need an excuse?" Bakura asked idly, turning a page in the newspaper he was reading, but he was ignored with the exception of an eye roll from Yami. The other Mages were only halfway paying attention. Yugi's answer hadn't changed in two days, and it was unlike today would be any different, but they could hope.

"I'll admit that is some first class comedy," Malik replied, "But come on! It's your birthday!"

"How is this birthday any different than the others?" Yugi challenged. The last time Malik had begged for a party like this was Yugi's twentieth birthday, claiming that he was now of legal age, forgetting that the legal age in Egypt was 21, not 20 like in Japan.

Yugi had finally relented, and before he really knew what he was getting himself into, Malik and Bakura had put together a party even a frat house would be jealous of. Even then, neither of the hikaris drank too much and were the only ones who were able to function in the morning.

Of course, that wasn't the last time any of them got drunk. The biggest incident since then was when they had covertly attended Joey's wedding a few years ago, mostly staying in the Shadows for the duration of the ceremony and the reception. Bakura had started a drinking game where anytime the bride and groom kissed, everybody took a shot. Unfortunately, both Joey and Mai had become a lot more open with their affection and nearly the entire Shadow Court were positively hammered. Ryou, somehow the most sober despite Bakura pressing drink after drink on him, had managed to prevent them from ruining Joey's wedding. Namely by stopping them from stepping out of the Shadows to personally congratulate the happy couple.

"Um...you only turn 25 once?" Malik tried hopefully.

"If we are using your logic, then we should have celebrated Ryou's too. Not to mention Seto's, Ishizu's, and your's."

"I took Ryou out," Bakura commented nonchalantly, turning the page of the paper, "He's absolutely useless as a drunk. Had to drag his ass back that night; he kept falling over, not to mention extremely clingy. Worse than useless the next day."

"Love you too, 'Kura," Ryou voice floated over dryly from the kitchen where he and Ishizu were preparing dinner, "How you got me to drink so much I'll never know. I didn't even drink that much on my eighteenth or twenty-first."

"Trade secrets, Hikari."

Ryou ignored him and continued, "You weren't in a fit state the next day either if I recall."

"Better than you."

"You've had more experience than me," Ryou retorted, "I'm not sure that's something to be proud of."

"I'm proud of a lot of things you don't approve of, Hikari."

"I am very aware of that.."

"Look! I'm begging! On my knees and everything! How often does that happen?" Malik tried.

"Last week? When Yami wouldn't make you breakfast because you wanted to sleep late?"

"Yugi, you might as well allow it," Seto interrupted, "It will do us all some good."

Malik jumped up victoriously. "The gods are on my side today!"

"I haven't said 'yes'!" Yugi protested.

"I think you're being outvoted," Yami chuckled.

"You can't be serious! The last time any of use drank in excess you nearly got us exposed!"

"You can't hold that against me. It was Joey's wedding and we all," he emphasized with a pointed look to Yugi, "had a few too many and got reckless."

"Clearly the next morning wasn't deterrent enough," Yugi muttered darkly.

"Nobody says you have to get drunk," Yami pointed out.

"Fine!" Yugi threw his hands up in surrender; he couldn't win this fight, not with his strongest ally against him, "But I'm not playing mother hen to any of you who decided to drink yourselves into oblivion."

"Yes you will," Bakura said dryly, "You're a hikari and won't stand to see us suffer."

Yugi shot the thief the best glare he could muster, but to no avail. His features might have become less round and panda-like over the past few years, more like Yami's, but they were still soft enough that the hard expression looked out of place and therefore ineffective against the people who knew him best. However, against those that didn't know him, the look was inexplicably unsettling and would usually work to some extent. The hikari stalked off, presumably to work off his frustrations in a more constructive way.

That Yugi had given in only after Seto had spoken up told Yami that Yugi really was only allowing this to give them a chance to let off some steam. Mokuba and Joey had opened a branch of Duel Academy in Europe, and Seto was anxious about how the school would run. Already Yami had had to stop Seto from even sneaking notes to Mokuba about how to make the school run better. Kaiba Corp was flourishing under the younger Kaiba's leadership, not to mention the four other schools they had opened, and there was no reason the new school wouldn't do the same.

Odion had relocated to a war-torn region and started efforts to build shelters and hide-a-ways for citizens and refugees using his knowledge of building and living in underground places. Malik and Ishizu were practically glued to Seto's monitors anytime news from that area came out and spent much of their time watching from the Shadows.

Ryou's father had come to Egypt only a couple months ago, almost ten years late in an effort to seek out his lost son. It took everything Ryou had to stop Bakura from Gaming him when they heard the news. That didn't stop the thief from doing anything against the man who basically abandoned his hikari. Nobody was quite sure everything Bakura did beyond steal some family heirlooms for Ryou, but Ryou's father left Egypt rather abruptly after only a few days and no leads. Bakura certainly wasn't offering any insight and Yami was content on keeping it that way.

All in all, it had been a rather stressful time for all of them in some form or another, so was it really any wonder Malik begged so hard?

"Will he really be upset if we throw him a party?" Ishizu looked worried. The Necklace refused to show her anything about the party or Yugi's reaction and it was making her uneasy, no matter how much she agreed with her brother.

"He'll come around," Yami answered, eyes brimming with amusement.

"But-"

"Trust me," Yami assured. This was not something that should add to her anxieties. "He's just torn between wanting to make everybody happy and not wanting to be the center of attention. We all know which will win out in the end."

In the end, both Yugi and Yami were right. Yugi good-naturedly allowed the others to throw the party, and just as he promised, refused to help any of them who drank into oblivion the next day. Namely Bakura and Yami who had somehow started a drinking contest. Yugi suspected it was Bakura's fault.

"Good morning!" Yugi said brightly as Yami stumbled into the common area. Yami flinched violently at the assault of both the sudden noise and the bright lights. Yugi apparently thought that it was too dark and had turned on every light.

"Shut up," Yami muttered, staggering over to the couch, "You won't be so happy when you start to feel this too."

"Feel your hangover?" Yugi asked, not paying the slightest big of attention to the fact that Yami was groaning with his head in his hands, "My side of the bond is closed until you get over it. Ryou's probably doing the same to Bakura."

"Dear Ra, keep it down," Seto groaned as he joined them, "And get me a cup of coffee, black."

"Get it yourself," Yugi countered, "I told you I wasn't going to take care of you guys today. You did this to yourself. Maybe this will teach you moderation."

Seto shot Yugi a dirty look as he did just that. Yami, on the other hand, buried his face into the pillows, muttering something about evil hikaris.

"That's a contradiction of terms and you know it," Yugi chided, "Now be good."

Yami lifted his face from the pillows just enough to see that Yugi was zipping up a jacket. Clearly he intended to go out, though where and for what was a mystery.

"Where are you going?" Seto asked.

"Today is exam day for the Duel Academy. Ryou and I are going to watch the duels."

Yami looked at his hikari. That didn't seem right, even with his pounding headache.

"Okay, I know I'm hungover and I can't think straight and I'm still having a little trouble seeing straight and definitely can't make rational judgment right now, but that sounds like a terrible idea."

"Spectators are allowed to watch," Yugi said matter-of-factly. "We will be sitting in the crowd in the back. No one will see us. We might not be back until dinner though, it depends on how exciting the duels are."

Ryou chose then to join the small crowd in the living area, dressed the same as Yugi with the Ring around his neck. Clearly they had planned this last night. Yami buried his face in the pillows again, all the thinking and the lights were hurting his head. Why neither he nor Seto hadn't at least dimmed the lights yet was a mystery.

"Wow, you're evil," he commented to Yugi, looking at all of the lights he had turned on.

"Maybe a little," Yugi chuckled.

"Oh sure," Yami complained, voice muffled, "He can call you evil and get away with it."

"I never disagreed with you," Yugi stated, "Just stated a fact. Now hurry up and get rid of your hangover. You're no fun to banter with when you can't think."

"Where's Bakura?" Yami asked, still not lifting his head, "He needs to share in my misery."

"He decided to stay in bed," Ryou answered, "I assume Ishizu and Malik are doing the same. Why you two decided to actually get up is beyond me."

"I assumed Yugi would have something ready to help," Seto admitted. The coffee seemed to be helping his brain function as he shuffled over to the light switch and turned off half of the lights Yugi had turned on.

"Thank you," Yami grunted.

"Shut up."

The two Mages sat at the back of the arena, enjoying the duels so far. Yugi had managed to wrangle his hair enough to capture most of it in a hair tie so it was easier to hide the unique shape it held. Ryou had done the same, though it was much easier with his hair. They hoped that their facial features had changed enough over the years that nobody would look at them too closely, but they kept their hoods up and kept their voices low, just in case.

The entrance exams were full of bright-eyed, eager young duelists all hoping to prove themselves worthy enough to attend Duel Academy. One duelist though caught Yugi's eye.

He was a young man who used a "HERO" deck. This in and of itself was not was piqued Yugi's interest, nor was it the fact that he had arrived late and was given special permission to take the exam. No, what drew his attention was the connection the boy had with his cards. Duelists were expected to understand their cards and trust them, but it seemed like in this case, the trust went both ways. The cards could understand him and would respond willingly. It took "heart of the cards" to a new level.

There was something else there too, but Yugi couldn't quite put his finger on it. Something the Shadows were trying to tell him, but without the Puzzle, their information danced just out of grasp.

"You sense it too?" Ryou whispered, careful not to be overheard, even when speaking a different language.

"Barely," Yugi replied, "What is the Ring telling you?"

"That boy can see duel spirits."

"Duel spirits?"

Ryou nodded, "The Shadows tell me the barrier between the monster world and this world has weak spots, mostly around duelists who have had encounters with their world before. Those duelists may have the ability to hear or see the monsters, so long as that monster resides in their deck."

Yugi frowned. With their magic and connections to the origins of the game, this shouldn't be big news, but none of them had heard of anything like this before. In fact, the last time monsters could cross into this world, a much more ancient magic was at work. The Shadows surged strong enough that Yugi could clearly feel them, though he still couldn't make out the message.

"You can't see the spirits because of your link with the Millennium Puzzle," Ryou interpreted, "The Shadows say we should be able to do much more than just see a spirit. With enough training, we should be able to actually summon the monster from their realm into ours and communicate with them more efficiently that these 'spirit duelists'."

"Well, I guess I know what we'll be working on tomorrow."

"Yami will also want us to see if we can find any more of these duelists. The Shadows seem to like them."

The duel ended with the spirit duelist victorious and Yugi and Ryou clapped politely with the rest of the audience. He was approached by the chancellor of the school, as had other victors, but he was also approached by a familiar figure.

"What the hell is Pegasus doing here?" Yugi hissed. Of the few people left in the world that Yugi was sure could recognize him, Pegasus was near the top of the list.

"Nevermind Pegasus," Ryou hissed back, pointing to another person walking out on the arena, "Why is Joey here?"

Yugi followed Ryou's finger and sure enough, Joey had walked out. Several expletives ran through Yugi's mind. It shouldn't have been surprising that Joey had shown up as he had helped to found the school, but he never considered that he would show up to the entrance exams! Especially with how busy he was nowadays.

Ryou's hand wrapped around Yugi's wrist. As the one with the ability to initiate Shadow travel right now, he decided if Joey even so much as glanced in their direction, he would pull them into the Shadows before he could do a double-take.

"Let's just go now, before either one of them looks up here," Yugi said as Joey took center stage, ready to give a welcome speech, "At least we can bring back some news to Yami rather than how close we came to exposure."

"We aren't close to exposure," Ryou argued, but conceded Yugi's first point, "But you're right, we would be if either of them looked over here."

The Shadows melded over them and Ryou led their way back to Egypt.

Yami had taken great interest in the news of the Spirit Duelist and had ordered a Shadow Tag be put on him so they could check in and track his progress as a Duelist. So far, they had yet to be impressed.

The boy didn't seem to take his studies seriously, which was odd considering how hard he pushed to be accepted by the school. He did have a knack for making friends, however. Whether it was the outcast, overshadowed, the pompous, really anyone who came across his path.

When the Mages weren't keeping an eye on the Spirit Duelist, whose name they had since learned was Jaden, they focused on their own training. They weren't getting very far. Hours of meditation and listening to the Shadows, trying to focus their power towards summoning wasn't working too well, and with no guidance, they were left with the process of trial and error.

Yami lay awake one night, thinking of their dilema. He would love to be able to actually communicate with the Dark Magician. There was an inexplicable familiarity with that particular monster, maybe there was something from his past the Dark Magician would be able to tell him.

He closed his eyes in frustration. If only summoning were as easy as it was in the card game.

Yami's eyes shot back open.

Why couldn't summoning be that easy? Why had they decided that they had to start by doing something so hard as to summon outside of the Shadows without the help of a Duel Disk? If they could start by summoning a real monster in the Shadows using a familiar method, they should be able to build from there.

'It's a great idea, Yami,' Yugi's tired voice suddenly invaded his thoughts, 'I'm surprised we didn't think of it sooner, but can we leave it until morning?'

'Sorry. I didn't realize I was disturbing you,' Yami apologized, hiding away his more active thoughts, 'You really think it'll work?'

'Yami, I cannot begin to tell you how much sense your idea makes, but please go to sleep. We can work out the details in the morning.'

'Of course,' Yami agreed, 'Good night.'

Not to worry, this won't get too centered on GX. Just enough to progress the plot while staying as true as possible to the in-universe events.

Please review!