Chapter 1

Ripples of the Heart

Author's note: just to not get in trouble, I should remind everyone that I don't own anything that has to do with YuGiOh. I just own my characters and Dark Mage of the Sea owns hers. Here is the sister fanfiction of River; both stories will be written in chronological order according to the series. To all those who are just reading this fanfiction or are reading River at the same time, I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you, Dark Mage of the Sea, my coauthor and best friend.

Years and centuries pass and faces and souls get recycled and get scattered all over the world. But destiny has a way of making things work, using people, events, and feelings to influence the tide of fate. As Seth predicted centuries earlier, the journey of the Sennen Items was not done yet and it started again when a man from Japan came to Egypt in search of the ultimate game. With the beginning piece in play, the heavens decided that it was time to set the paths before certain humans, one part of the heavens focusing on making sure an old promise would continue in the present day…

It was a day like any other to the average person on the street. But, for the occupants of a black car, the day was far from normal. The car drove down the streets for a few minutes before stopping at a building that looked like a church. With the building held together by bricks and the old-fashioned design, it was a building that looked like it offered sanctuary to whomever needed it; the feeling of sanctuary was made innocent by the front lawn that had playground equipment, sandboxes, and trees with swing sets. The driver's door opened first and an older woman with short brown hair wearing a tan pant suit got out. Looking up at the orphanage, she smiled softly and nodded before going to the back door and opening it. "Come on, little ones. We're here."

She tried to make herself sound more cheerful than she actually was, which was a little difficult considering the children she was dropping off recently lost their parents in a car crash. As the social worker continued to smile, two girls stepped out of the car. The first had long reddish-brown hair and green eyes that reflected a bright mind. Dressed in a nice shirt with a musical note on it and nice pants, the seven-year-old looked up the building as another little girl stepped out of the car. Younger than the first girl, she was dressed in a blue dress and white stockings with black Mary-Janes. Playing with her long brown hair, she looked at the building with her scared blue eyes. Hiding behind her older sister, she whimpered, "R-Rose…?"

Rose looked at the smaller girl and took her hand. "Don't worry, Tiki…I'm here."

Tiki smiled and hugged her older sister. The social worker smiled and looked down at the children. "Ready, little ones?"

Tiki looked up at the social worker and whimpered a little. Even though she was too young to understand her parents' death, she knew that things were never going to be the same for her and her sister. Hearing the whimper, Rose hugged her sister close. "It's all right, Tiki…we'll always be together. I promise: no matter what, I will never leave you."

Tiki looked up at her older sister and smiled, feeling better. She then looked up at the sky. "Mommy and Daddy…watching us?"

The social worker did not answer since she was not a believer but Rose smiled and nodded, looking up as well. "Yes…"

Tiki giggled and waved up at the sky as if to say hello to her parents. After a moment, the social worker took them inside.

A month later, Rose and Tiki were sitting in a corner, coloring in coloring books. Having finished hers, the youngest girl showed her older sister. "See, Rose? Pwetty pwincess!"

Rose smiled and nodded. She then looked up, taking a break. She saw the other children were looking at her; she knew they thought she was a little odd. Over the last month, she had many offers from potential parents who wanted to adopt her. But Rose always refused them as she had a little sister she refused to abandon. Deep down, she did want a family again but she did not want to leave Tiki behind: she made a promise to her sister and she was going to keep it. As she went back to coloring, she soon heard a new voice say, "Hi!"

The two girls looked up and saw a boy, about the same age as Tiki with gentle brown eyes and shoulder-length white hair. Tiki could not help but stare as she had never seen someone as young as he with white hair; Rose smiled, assuming he was a new child in the orphanage. "Hi."

The boy smiled and asked, "Me play?"

Thinking nothing was odd about a boy wanting to color, Tiki reached over and grabbed another coloring book, giving it to him. Taking it, the boy sat down and started to color with them. After a few minutes, he looked up and smiled at Rose. "You pwetty."

Rose giggled. "Thank you."

Tiki giggled as well. "You pwetty too! You girl?"

Since she was so young, Tiki did not understand that sometimes boys were not always masculine looking. Rose, however, knew that and gave her little sister a look. "Tiki! That's not nice!"

Tiki blinked a little. "But…he too pwetty for boy."

Rose sighed a little and shook her head. "Tiki, it is not nice to point out that someone is different. We're all God's children and He loves and accepts all of us. Don't you think we should do the same?"

The little brunette nodded and went back to coloring. The boy looked at Rose and smiled. "Thanky…"

Rose smiled and went back to her coloring. Because she was so focused on her play, she did not notice that they were being approached by someone until the boy chirped, "Mommy!"

The sisters looked up and saw a middle-aged woman with brown hair wearing a modest blue dress crouching in front of them. The boy stood up and hugged her, making the woman smile. "Hi, sweetie. You having fun?" Off his excited nod, the woman asked, "Ryou, do you want to introduce us?"

The boy Ryou was about to answer when he realized that he only knew the young one's name. Seeing him pause, Rose giggled and looked up at the woman; while she was prepared to turn down the woman, she wanted to be polite. "I'm Rose. She's my little sister, Tiki."

Tiki looked up at the woman and smiled with her blue, curious eyes. "Hi!"

Hearing that the two were related, the woman started to feel guilty. She and her husband, the blue-haired man talking to the head nun, had seen their son interact with the girls. After Ryou's sister died, the boy did not respond to most children and, when Rose stood up for him when Tiki made her innocent statement, they saw how Ryou smiled. They made the decision to adopt the red-haired girl but they could only support two children. Her heart was set on Rose and the revelation that Rose had a little sister made things a little more difficult. Seeing her hesitate, the head nun went over and touched the woman's shoulder. "Mrs. Bakura, would you like some help?"

Mrs. Bakura looked up and smiled softly. "Thank you, Reverend Mother. That would be really appreciated."

The Reverend Mother nodded and looked at the sisters. "Rose, honey…I need to listen carefully. You too, Tiki." Seeing that she had the sisters' attention, the head nun told Rose, "Rose…Mrs. Bakura has told me that she wants to adopt you." Rose and Tiki lit up at the news. But Rose's spirits dampened when the Reverend Mother explained, "Unfortunately, my child…she can only afford you and Ryou, not your sister."

Tiki looked at her older sister as the red-haired girl immediately shook her head. "No…no! My sister needs me!"

Mrs. Bakura sighed, upset that she and her husband could not afford to take Rose's sister too. Ryou was upset as well but more so over the fact that he might not get a sister since he liked Rose. But the little brunette surprised everyone by saying, "Go, sissy."

Rose looked down at her little sister in shock. "Tiki…but…"

Tiki smiled. While she remembered the promise Rose made that they would always be together, the younger girl saw the happy look in Rose's eyes at the possibility of being adopted by the Bakuras. Wanting her sister to be happy, Tiki said happily, "It okay, sissy. She like you and Ryou nice."

The Reverend Mother felt her heart soar with Tiki's selflessness. Rose, however, was not that willing to abandon her sister so quickly. "But our promise…"

Tiki thought for a moment. She did not want Rose to break the promise since that was wrong in the little girl's mind. Remembering what the nuns said about God's teachings of self-sacrifice, the brunette got an idea and said, "Make new pwomise!"

Rose stared at Tiki in surprise. Her little sister was willing to let her go, to be adopted by a new family, and they would in turn make a new promise to share between them. Mrs. Bakura was also touched by the little one's willingness to let her sister go. Tears forming in her eyes, Rose pulled her sister into a tight hug. "I'll…I'll write you a song! Your song! That way, we can find each other one day!"

Tiki giggled with delight and hugged Rose back. "Yay! My song!"

Pulling back, Rose wiped her eyes and looked at Mrs. Bakura. "Okay…Mommy."

Ryou squealed with delight: he now had a big sister! His mother helped Rose to her feet and the Reverend Mother took the Bakuras and Rose to the office to fill out the adoption papers. Having watched what happened, another nun came over to Tiki and touched the child's head. "Tiki…that was a very selfless act you just did. God will repay you for your kind heart."

Tiki's eyes shone, making her look even cuter to the nun. "He will?"

The nun nodded. "Of course, my dear. He always does but you must have patience: He gives you your reward when He deems it to be right."

Tiki giggled and went back to coloring. She could not wait for her reward that God would give her. Just then, an alarm went off, an alarm that sounded suspicious like an alarm clock…

Moaning a little, Tiki opened her eyes and winced at the sunlight that came pouring into her room. She then rolled her eyes and reached over to shut off her alarm clock. Sitting up, she looked at her vanity mirror on her desk and grimaced at the girl who looked back. While the fourteen-year-old was beautiful and retained a childlike innocence, she was half-asleep with bed head. Sitting up, she stretched her arms out and thought about the dream she just had. She remembered the day she let her sister go with the Bakuras; even to this day, she knew that, if given the chance to do it over, she would not change a thing. After everything her sister did for her, it was what the little girl could do to repay her sister and it allowed Tiki to be adopted into the wonderful family she now had. As she smiled, she heard her adoptive mother knock on the door and say, "Breakfast is ready!"

Tiki smiled. "Okay, Mom."

As she left, the mother said, "Get your brother up if you can."

Tiki giggled, knowing that her brother was always difficult to get up in the morning. Putting on her robe, she left her room and made the short trek to her brother's room. She peeked in and giggled, seeing her brother still sleeping in his bed. Getting an idea, she tiptoed up to the bed and jumped onto her brother. "Wake up!"

Her brother was jolted awake by the wind getting knocked out of him. Glaring at Tiki, he sleepily said, "Why did you do that?"

Tiki grinned and sat on top of him. "Come on, Yugi. If Mom says you need to wake up, you need to wake up."

Rubbing his eyes, her brother Yugi glared at her. "You better not keep this up when we start high school tomorrow."

Tiki got off the bed to let Yugi get up. She then thought of something: "I'm going to the store later today for some last-minute school supplies. You need anything?"

Running his hands over his hair to make it spikier instead of bed-head looking, Yugi shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

As she turned to head to the kitchen, Tiki's foot stepped on something hard, making her yelp. Yugi looked at what she stepped on and sheepishly said, "…Heads up."

Tiki looked down and groaned a little. She stepped on a piece of the puzzle she and Yugi found as children, now called the Millennium Puzzle thanks to their grandfather remembering what it was called. Rubbing her foot, she teased, "I see you haven't given up on finishing it."

Yugi teased back, "Says the girl who wears the Queen's Necklace 24/7." Tiki blushed and looked down at the golden necklace with a diamond held by golden wings she very rarely took off. Remembering what was happening the next day, Yugi said, "I don't think they'll let you wear that while at school."

Tiki hid the necklace behind her robe and nightgown and grinned at her brother. "You were saying?"

Yugi was about to argue but, knowing that Tiki had him beat, he just stuck his tongue at her, making her smile. "Come on, you know you love your sister." As she left for breakfast, she saw the smile on his face, confirming his love for his adoptive sister.

That afternoon, Tiki was walking back home, having just left the store. Pausing, she looked in the bag and smirked: she bought Yugi an alarm clock that had a cartoonish face and two hands that hit the bell when the alarm went off. "Since he doesn't want me jumping on him again, this better do the trick."

She was about to continue on when she noticed what she was standing in front of: a game shop. She wanted to go inside and see what was there but she wondered how Solomon would react if he found out. Her front of her family's house was a game shop that her grandfather ran and Solomon always felt betrayed when either she or Yugi went to another game shop. She was about to turn away when she noticed that this particular game shop had games that recently came into the market that her family's game shop did not carry yet. Getting curious, she went in. As soon as she walked in, though, her attention was drawn to the booths that held Duel Monsters cards, a card game that growing in popularity. She ran up to them and, like a kid in a candy store, began jumping back and forth between the booths. While she was trying to decide what to buy, she started talking to herself. "Ooh! Which one, which one? So many to choose! Well, of course I have to get some packs for Yugi: he's the duelist of the two of us. Oh, but I must figure out a way to bring them home without Grandpa knowing."

Ignoring the people staring at her, Tiki finally decided on two packs for herself and five packs for Yugi and proceeded to the check-out register. As she pulled out her wallet to pay, she was unaware of the tall, young man who just walked into the store. Dressed in a very nice gray business suit with a blue tie and briefcase in his hand, he seemed to portray a sense of perfection about him, shown by his brown hair that was perfectly styled without a single strand out of place and piercing blue eyes that was focused on what he was there to do. His eyes pinpointed the game shop owner, who was giving Tiki her card packs. As the young man approached, Tiki turned around, looking through her card packs and figuring out which one to open first. As she started to open one, however, she crashed into the young man, knocking herself on her behind, scattering the cards from the open pack everywhere, and making him growl, "Watch where you're going!"

Tiki looked up sheepishly at the young man, who stared back at her with unemotional eyes. Blushing deeply with embarrassment, she started to gather up her cards. "I am so sorry, sir!"

The young man sneered a little but said nothing. As his eyes followed her movements, he noticed that one of the cards was on his shoe and, his eyebrow twitching, picked it up. Looking at it, he noted that it was a recently released card called Celestia, Lightsworn Angel. As Tiki stood up with her cards, the young man tensely held out the card. "Here."

Still embarrassed, Tiki took the card, making their fingers touch and causing a static shock. But it was a good shock, one that seemed more like a connection. Both pulled back in surprise, Tiki giving a cute yelp to it. The young man did not react that much, even though he found the shock strange. As she shook her fingers to get sensation back, Tiki smiled and said, "Again, I am so sorry for bumping into you." Her attitude suddenly brightened when she looked at the card he handed her. "Oooh, Celestia, Lightsworn Angel! I never thought I'd get a special card like this!"

The young man remained stone-faced as he observed this girl for a moment. While he could not put his finger on it, there was something about her that was…the only word he could think of was "different." Mentally shaking his head, he looked at the store owner, who nodded and called his assistant manager to take over as cashier. Focusing on her new card, Tiki remained oblivious to the men until the young man turned and paused to tell her, "That is a new card so it has potential…use it wisely."

Tiki looked up as the young man started to walk away. Did he give her some Duel Monsters advice? That meant he was a duelist as well. Smiling, she called out to him, "Thank you! I will!"

She then bowed and left. The young man stopped and nodded before getting on with business.

That night, Tiki was sitting at Yugi's desk, watching him go through the card packs she gave him. As he did, he listened to his sister tell about her encounter with the young man. After she commented about how emotionless he was, Yugi stated, "He sounds scary."

Tiki waved it off, not wanting to write someone off so quickly. "I don't think so. He wouldn't have given me the advice if he was."

Yugi nodded in agreement, knowing Tiki had a point. He then asked, "Did you get his name?"

Tiki opened her mouth but paused. "I didn't ask…ohh, that was rude of me!"

Yugi grinned. "That doesn't surprise me. You can be a ditz sometimes."

Puffing up her cheeks like a child, Tiki tackled her brother and lightly punched him repeatedly while demanding that he "take it back!", Yugi all the while laughing. Their fun was interrupted by Solomon summoning them to dinner, their mother having made their favorites because of them starting high school the next day.

The next morning, Yugi and Tiki came out of their rooms and looked at the uniforms the other was wearing. Yugi's male school uniform consisted of a white shirt and blue jacket and pants. Tiki's uniform was a pink long-sleeved jacket with a blue bow at the neck and a blue skirt; she wore white stockings and a blue ribbon pin in her hair to make her look more unique. Tiki teased, "Isn't the jacket supposed to be buttoned?"

Yugi blushed with embarrassment. "It looks too baggy that way."

Tiki giggled, remembering that Yugi always had trouble with clothes because of his small stature. She then asked, "You ready?"

Yugi nodded. "Are you?"

Tiki just nodded. Both of them taking deep breaths, they gathered up their school supplies and toast and left. Down the road, they ran into their good friend Tea. Upon seeing the taller girl with shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes, Yugi blushed, making Tiki roll her eyes. The siblings had known Tea for many years and Yugi had been crushing on her almost as long, something Tea was oblivious to since Yugi was too shy to confess his feelings. Looking up, Tea smiled. "Morning, Yugi! Morning, Tiki!

Trying to ignore the blush on his face, Yugi said good morning back. Tiki smirked and whispered, "When will you tell her?"

Yugi glared at his sister as the three friends continued to walk to school. Along the way, they saw more and more students wearing the same uniform, making the siblings nervous. While going from preschool to elementary and then elementary to junior high were nerve-wrecking, this was high school and a lot could happen in those three years. Tea looked at her friends and asked, "You ready for this?"

Yugi and Tiki just nodded.

When they arrived at Domino High School, they found the bulletin board. In the middle of it, there was a piece of paper that had all the students' names and which homeroom they were going to be in. Arriving when every other student was crowding the bulletin board, Tea stretched her neck a little, barely able to make out the words from the distance. She turned to ask if the siblings could see but almost laughed when she saw Yugi and Tiki jumping up and down, unable to see at all being the smallest among the students. Calming herself down, Tea offered, "Hang on, I'll check for us."

Yugi and Tiki stopped jumping and waited as Tea pushed her way through. Looking around to pass the time, Tiki's eyes widened in surprise: the young man who gave her Duel Monsters advice was among the crowd of students! Looking once again like perfection incarnate with his uniform jacket buttoned and holding the same briefcase as yesterday, he stared at the paper on the board, as if he could read it clearly from a distance. Surprised, Tiki grabbed Yugi's arm, making him yelp. "What?"

Tiki pointed and said, "That's him! That's the guy I told you about!"

Yugi looked up in time to see the young man nod and leave, supposedly going to his homeroom. To his surprise, Yugi commented, "He looks familiar…"

Tiki looked at Yugi and asked him who the young man was. Yugi tried to think but he was having trouble; while he knew the face, he could not remember the name. Before he could admit he was drawing a blank, Tea came back and stated, "Good news! We're all in the same classroom! What luck!"

Yugi nodded and Tiki, though still curious about the student she bumped into yesterday, nodded. "Let's go!"

With that, the three headed up to their homeroom. Once there, Tiki got another surprise: the young man was sitting in the back of the homeroom! Her eyes brightened at the luck she was having: not only was she in the same classroom as her brother and good friend, she was in the same classroom as the mysterious young man! She almost ran up to him but the teacher came in and got everyone to sit down so he could take attendance. Tiki ended up sitting next to her brother, which she was fine with, but she still wanted to at least thank the young man for the advice yesterday. She did not get a chance to even speak to him until after the opening ceremony: she was at her desk and noticed that he was about to pass her. Seeing this, she took a chance and said, "Excuse me…thanks for the advice yesterday."

The young man paused and looked at her with a face as cold as stone before going back to his desk and pulling out a book to pass the time. All the while, Tiki watched him, surprised by his lack of emotions. But what interested her the most was what she saw in his eyes: they seemed cold and distant, as if he was detached from the world. As he continued to read, Tiki wondered, 'I wonder why his eyes seem so—'

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door slid open and the teacher stepped in. Everyone stopping what they were doing, they stood up and bowed before sitting back down. Getting out her notebook and pencil, Tiki made a mental note, 'I guess I'll have to find out later.'

At the end of the day, everyone gathered their stuff and began leaving. As the two were walking, Yugi looked at Tiki, who seemed lost in thought. Having kept an eye on her all day, he noticed that his sister seemed fascinated with the classmate she ran into yesterday. Yugi himself had studied the young man as well and felt something as well, albeit different from what Tiki felt. Taking a deep breath, he stated, "You should be careful around that guy…" Woken up from her thoughts, Tiki looked at Yugi, who explained further, "Call it a feeling but something is telling me that guy is nothing but trouble."

Tiki giggled and waved it off. "Oh, Yugi! Don't be so paranoid!"

Yugi gave her a look of concern, making Tiki smile. She knew that he was just worried about her and did not want to see her get hurt. "I appreciate your concern."

Yugi smiled. "Of course! I have to look out for my sister."

Tiki smiled and hugged Yugi.

Later that night, Tiki and Yugi were relaxing in front of the TV, passing the time before they had to go to bed. With their homework done, Tiki was drinking from a juice box and flipping through the channels while Yugi worked on his Duel Monsters deck, trying to find a way to incorporate his new cards he got from the card packets Tiki got him. Though he was not paying attention to the channels, he suddenly looked up and said, "Stop here for a moment."

Tiki looked up and saw it was a news segment about a new technology KaibaCorp, the largest and most successful gaming company in the world, was unveiling, a technology that would make playing Duel Monsters even more fun. Yugi's eyes were glued on the screen while Tiki barely paid attention, content with her role as observer instead of duelist. But her attention was grabbed when the newscaster revealed that the technology was created by the current Duel Monsters champion and CEO of KaibaCorp, Seto Kaiba, and a picture of the CEO appeared on the screen, causing Tiki to do a spit take on Yugi's head. His hair now wet and sticky, Yugi missed the announcement of what the technology was and glared at Tiki. "Really? Really? I just washed my hair yesterday!"

Tiki was too stunned with wide eyes and her mouth open to respond. She finally found her voice and said, "That's him! That's him! That's the guy from our class, the one I ran into!"

Still annoyed by the juice being spat on him, Yugi looked back at the screen and saw that Tiki was telling the truth: the CEO of KaibaCorp Seto Kaiba was the young man! Now Yugi remembered why the young man's face seemed so familiar: anyone who was involved in games, especially Duel Monsters, knew who Seto Kaiba was. Turning around to tell Tiki that she at least knew his name now, he saw the look on her face. She was fascinated by this man and, now that she knew who he was, he seemed out of reach because of how rich and powerful he was. Even though he still had misgivings about Kaiba, Yugi did not want Tiki to feel bad so he said, "I'm sure you'll get to talk to him one day."

Tiki smiled and hugged her brother, only to recoil. "Ew, you're sticky!"

Yugi playfully argued, "This is your fault!"

He then got up to get a shower, plugging his ears to keep from hearing Tiki's teases. When he entered the bathroom, Tiki looked at the news segment as it came to an end. Remembering how distant his eyes were today, she whispered to herself, "Seto Kaiba…what mysteries surround you…?"