For those of you still following along so far with this story I'd like to thank you for that. Reviews are gratefully appreciated I'd like to know what areas need touching up if any. When I get on a roll with this story I tend to miss some things. Enjoy this next chapter!

Disclaimer: If I owned it you'd know it but alas I do not own it.

Chapter 4

False Trails

Yami Bakura woke up to Aaron's alarm going off. Growling, Yami Bakura pulled out his phone from under his pillow. Hitting the display button he read 04:00 AM in neon green numbers. His eye twitched angrily as he shoved the device back under the pillow. Yami Bakura heard Aaron groan before the alarm was silenced. Hoping to catch another hour of sleep Yami Bakura turned over and shut his eyes. Fate wasn't on his side this morning. White lights blazed overhead as they came on. It took a lot of effort for Yami Bakura to not strangle the boy he shared a room with.

"Wakey, wakey my dear roommate! Early bird gets the worm and by this I mean breakfast. They start serving at 5:30 sharp, so if you want one of the good seats for breakfast you better get up now!" Aaron said chipperly and then vanished into the bathroom.

The evil spirit let out a loud snarl into his pillow. Rooming with Joey would have been better than this. At least that fool slept in until the last minute possible. He had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

Meanwhile, next door, Serenity was tossing and turning in her sleep. One of the blankets had already fallen off the bed into a heap the other barely clinging to her body. Her dreams had taken her back to Battle City and the first duel on top of the blimp. The only difference was, she was in Yugi's place in the duel against Yami Bakura. A glance at her life points showed that she was losing horribly.

"Now Dark Necrofear attack her directly and wipe out the rest of her life points! Send her soul to the shadow realm!" Yami Bakura cackled as the blue fiend female monster rushed at her. Serenity screamed as she threw her hands up in self-defense.

"Serenity!" A voice shouted shattering the image of the monster. The sleeping girl eyes snapped open breathing heavily. "Thank God. You were having a nightmare and shouting in your sleep."

"That was so horrible." Serenity whispered as a pair of feminine arms wrapped around her shoulders. Tears streamed down her face as she buried her face in Clarissa's shoulder. A knock on the door interrupted the comforting hug as Clarissa broke away to answer.

"Who the hell could that be at this hour?" Clarissa asked opening the door having been complete ready for the last ten minutes. Serenity wasn't able to see from where she sat but the name she heard escape from her roommate had her frozen in place. "Ryou! What brings you here?"

"My roommate has been in the shower for the past half hour. Do you mind if I use yours? I don't feel like taking a cold shower. I'll stay in the bathroom until you give me the all clear signal or whatever. Hell you can just kick me back to my room if you need to." Yami Bakura's gruff annoyed yet tired voice floated in from the door way.

"Yeah sure. Hey Serenity, Ryou's coming in to use our shower. If you need to use the bathroom I'd do it now." Clarissa stated as she stepped aside to let the male in. He had on a pair of shorts and a tank top and in his hands was a set of jeans, a black t-shirt, and a pair of white socks.

Serenity stood up quickly and all but rushed into the bathroom not daring to look at the male. The door closed quickly and water could be heard hitting the sink. Yami Bakura looked at the closed wooden door curiously before looking at Clarissa for an explanation.

"She had a bad dream, she's still a little shaken up over it. She'll be fine she's a big girl Ryou. Anyways, I feel bad for you. Is it true that he sleeps with the lights on and a doll?" Clarissa asked an amused expression on her face.

"Yes. He also thinks he has a chance with Serenity when all he wants to do is date her to get close to her brother and Yugi." Yami Bakura responded. His answer was met with a choking sound in the bathroom as Serenity nearly swallowed her toothpaste at hearing this.

"He said what? The nerve of some men and they wonder why I call them assholes!" Serenity's voice shouted from the smaller room. Clarissa and Yami Bakura shared a look before laughing. A moment later Serenity stepped out looking down right pissed. "Bathroom is all yours."

"Thanks." Yami Bakura responded trying to keep the laughter out of his voice as he did so.

Once the door had fully closed and the water began to run Serenity changed quickly out of her nightwear. Tugging on a pair of black jeans, a blue and black horizontal stripped shirt, and her hiking boots. Tying her sweatshirt around her waist she sat on the bed.

"Well, once Ryou gets out of the shower we can all go grab breakfast. That'll be starting up in the next fifteen minutes. How about it?" Clarissa asked sitting down at the desk to apply her makeup.

"Alright, sounds good. We may want to sit at a bigger table. I just know my brother and his friends are going to want to sit with us after last night." Serenity stated looking towards her feet.

"Lemme guess, because you didn't room with Tea and you didn't check in after you got your room?" Clarissa looked at Serenity in the mirror she was holding. "Tell him to screw off. You're what fifteen? You're old enough to do things on your own now."

"Try telling him that." Serenity muttered with a smirk.

"I shall." Clarissa grinned before turning back to applying green eyeshadow to her eyelids.

"Hey, is it all clear out there?" Yami Bakura shouted from the bathroom.

"Yes!" Serenity responded back standing up as Clarissa stood up as well. Yami Bakura exited the bathroom fully clothed holding his earlier clothes in his hands. "We're going to go grab breakfast care to join?"

"It's not like I got anything better to do. I'll throw these in my room real quick and we can head down." The trio exited the room, the girls grabbing their backpacks on the way out, and stopped at the room to their left. Yami Bakura vanished inside and came out shortly later eye twitching carrying his bag over his shoulder. "He's still in the shower."

"Good lord! Are you sure he isn't a female?" Clarissa asked as they walked towards the elevators.

"I don't feel like walking into the bathroom to find out." Yami Bakura quipped back. Serenity's face went pink as the other two sniggered.

The elevator ride was short and silent unlike the previous times. As the three sat down at a table in the dining room off to the right they made sure to get a booth near the back. Clarissa had seen to the fact that Yami Bakura and Serenity sat next to each other a mischievous glint in her eyes. The youngest of the three was slowly turning various shades of pink and looked down at her lap.

"We still have ten minutes before they start serving." Clarissa stated looking down at her watch. "So what do you think we're going to do on this hike?"

Before either of the two could respond several voices were heard entering the room. All three looked up to see Yugi, Tea, Joey, Tristan and Duke entering the room. The last three were complaining about being woken up early and that if the food wasn't out soon they'd die of starvation.

"You will not die of starvation. Quit exaggerating. You three gorged yourselves on snacks all last night so there should be no reason you should be starving. Geez you three have endless pits for stomachs." Tea snapped at them. Joey was the first to notice the other three occupants.

"Hey sis! Hey Ryou! Didn't expect to see ya down here so early!" Joey rushed over to the table momentarily forgetting his hunger. The other four followed glad to see two familiar faces. "Mind if we sit with you?"

"Yes, we do mind Wheeler." Clarissa snipped back making her presence known to the others.

"Who are you?" Joey questioned looking at her as if she had just appeared out of thin air.

"Clarissa Martin. Your sister's roommate." Clarissa responded blandly.

"How come you didn't room with Tea?" Joey turned his attention back to his sister. "Eh, you can answer that later. So, we allowed to sit with ya sis?"

"Uhm..." Serenity began to answer but was cut off as her brother dragged over a nearby table.

"I'll take that as a yes." Joey responded with a smile. The others dragged over another table and a few extra chairs and sat down. "Hey Ryou, mind shifting seats so I can sit next to Serenity?"

"No. I'm comfortable where I am and so is your sister. Seeing as we got here earlier than you neither of us will be moving. If this upsets you get up and move." Yami Bakura angrily growled with a dark look to go along with it.

"Yeesh, woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" Joey said sitting in the chair next to Ryou. "So, Ren, why didn't ya room with Tea?"

"I didn't get to ask her in time." Serenity lied with a sweet smile on her face. The other two people in the booth didn't dare look at her in case someone caught on. "Why is something wrong?"

"Well no. Not really. I just wished you were roomed with someone I knew. That's all. So you have someone to talk to and to look out for you."

"Are you saying that I'm a nobody, that she cannot talk to me, and that I am unfit to look out for her?" Clarissa barked angrily at Joey. The blonde haired teen made an odd sound as he looked into a pair of dark green eyes.

"That's not. Uhm. See what I meant was." Joey struggled to find an answer as the girl his sister was roomed with glowered at him.

"You and your friends can move Mr. Wheeler. None of you were invited to this table." Clarissa snarled standing and putting her hands on the table in front of her. Joey stood as well glaring back at the female.

"I'm sorry to say that you are wrong. My sister invited us over. Didn't ya 'Ren?" Joey looked toward his sister for conformation.

"Erm, actually Joey I didn't. You didn't let me finish my answer. I was going to say no." Serenity replied feeling like she was about to shrink under her brother's and his friends' gazes. Yami Bakura's hand slid across the seat unnoticed by everyone else and laid it on top of hers. Serenity found strength rush back into her body as she sat up straighter.

"Well that's too bad now. I don't trust your roommate with her hot headed attitude." Joey stated matter-of-factly as he sat back down. He would've died on the spot if looks could kill the way Clarissa's eyes were narrowed dangerously.

The tension cleared as several waitresses and waiters came out pushing carts of various breakfast items. Everyone at the tables stood up and walked over to the carts and began piling food onto the plates they were given. After everyone had sat back down Tea decided to break the silence.

"It seems we all got off on a bad note today. We're all a little irritated from having to wake up so early and maybe a few of us didn't sleep well. So, let's all try to be nice and be friends to make this meal at least semi-enjoyable. Joey and Clarissa that means you two need to stop glaring at each other." Tea pointed at the too of them with a fork full of pancakes. This entailed the two subjects of the fork pointing to glare at her.

"So, what did you guys do last night?" Yugi asked trying to change the subject. He was sitting next to Clarissa in a chair since no one else would.

"We went swimming." Clarissa responded simply before shoving a forkful of scrambled eggs into her mouth.

"All three of you went swimming in the pool?" Tristan asked with a dumbfounded expression.

"No Tristan, we went swimming in the lake a mile away from here. Of course it was the pool." Yami Bakura replied sarcastically rolling his eyes. This elected a giggle from the two girls who quickly shoveled food in their mouths to hide it.

"There's a lake nearby too?" Tristan asked clearly not catching onto the joke.

"This is where I give up." Yami Bakura muttered before downing his glass of orange juice. Serenity and Clarissa snorted amusedly much to Yami Bakura's pleasure.

"What type of bathing suit did you wear Serenity?" Duke voiced his thoughts before he could stop himself.

"What kind of question is that?" Tea shrieked as she hit him on the head leaning across the table to do so. Clarissa stared at the raven haired boy with an expression that reflected Tea's question.

"You don't need to know the answer to that question." Serenity replied snottily taking a bite of toast. "So, to change the subject, before anymore violence breaks out and we all get sent home, what did you all do? From what I heard some of you got fat off snacks."

"Well, we had a few mock duels between each other. Then we sat and talked for awhile about what we'd be doing on the hike. We ate dinner around eight and then we all went to bed. Pretty much uneventful. Had we known you were going to the pool we would've joined you." Yugi replied clearing off the last bit of syrup from the plate with a small piece of his waffle.

"The pool was a last minute decision. The girls planned on going down, I went with after my roommate pissed me off." Yami Bakura replied trying to sound as much like Ryou as possible.

"Who's your roommate?" Tristan asked with a mouthful of food. Several members at the table looked at him in disgust.

"Aaron Eskut. Speak of the devil." Yami Bakura said as he looked up at who'd just walked in with several other students.

"See, early bird does get the worm! You managed to get the first helpings of food Ryou. I applaud the fact that you got up as early as you did." Aaron walked over with a large grin on his face. The outfit he was wearing had several people at the table looking at him weirdly while the rest tried to divert their eyes from the painful sight by returning to eating.

"Uhm, Aaron, what the hell are you wearing?" Duke's eye twitched uncomfortably at the amount of orange the boy was wearing.

"Oh, I'm wearing these white and orange jeans and this orange and white shirt so that if I get lost I can easily be spotted. Can't lose someone wearing bright vivid colors in the woods! Now, you three," Aaron made a gesture to the three sitting in the booth "Might blend in and no one would really notice you."

"I think we were just insulted by a walking traffic cone," Yami Bakura joked to Clarissa and Serenity who shared a snicker.

"Erm, it's great that you thought about that Aaron but uh, aren't you worried what others will say or think? You may scare off some of the wildlife." Tea said sweetly having finished off her breakfast.

"Some animals are attracted to bright colors and I don't care what others think of me. Personal opinions do not affect me what so ever." Aaron grinned putting his hands on his hips. "Well I'm going to go grab some food. I will see you all at muster!"

"I would hate to be that guy's hiking buddy." Tristan stated watching as the orange and white clad teen got in line. Everyone nodded in agreement saying silent prayers for that poor person.

"Well," Clarissa stood up "I'm about to head outside. Ryou, Serenity, care to join me?"

"Yea, it'll be nice to relax for a while outside before it gets crowded down here." Serenity stood as Yami Bakura scooted out from behind the table and held out his hand to her. Taking the offer she placed her smaller one in his and stood up easily.

"Hey, we'll all join you!" Joey said trying to speed up the clearing of his plate.

"No!" The three said together before they turned and walked out. The rest looked at each other stunned.

"What's wrong with them?" Tristan asked turning back around after watching them turn the corner.

"I think that Clarissa girl had to much of an impact on Serenity." Joey growled. "Tea would you be willing to ask the teachers later if Serenity and your roommate could swap?"

"Sure Joey. I'll see what I can do." Tea smiled silently agreeing with him that Clarissa may have gotten into Serenity's head. The five friends turned to other subjects as they finished their meal including making plans for after the field trip.

Yami Bakura, Clarissa, and Serenity were laying out on benches staring up at the lightening sky. The earth was wet from morning dew and birds zoomed in and out of sight in search of worms. A squirrel or two chattered somewhere amongst all the trees and a woodpecker was hard at work somewhere in the distance. Not a cloud could be seen for miles and the last few stars were slowly disappearing with the sun's rising.

"It smells so clean and fresh here." Serenity stated as she followed a blue-jay flutter about with her burgundy colored eyes. "I love this place. Fresh dew, pine trees, wet earth, and a nice crisp cool breeze. We'll all be wishing for that later on."

Yami Bakura nodded silently as he stared up at the cloudless sky. His thoughts were elsewhere. Recalling last night's dinner conversation between the red head and himself he began to wonder what his next move should be. The girl had changed since the last he had seen of her in Battle City. What exactly had changed her he hadn't find out yet. His curiosity was piqued and was begging to be satisfied.

"You know what I just thought of?" Clarissa thought out loud watching two squirrels race up and down a nearby tree. "The amount of homework we're going to have when we get back."

Yami Bakura and Serenity both groaned in annoyance. While they were on the field trip for their science class the rest of the teachers were setting aside the assignments they would be missing for the next two weeks. This meant 40 some odd students would be scrambling to place catch up with their homework. They had all gotten lucky that semester finals were done and over with.

About an hour later the entire school group was huddled around the three teachers who had just finished role call. Satisfied that everyone was present Mr. Parsy had everyone line up with their partners. Clarissa had gotten stuck in the middle of the line with her partner, who turned out to be one of the school's soccer players. Yugi and Tea were near the front with the Joey, Tristan, and Duke behind them. Serenity and Yami Bakura were last in the line with Mrs. June bringing up the rear.

"Now, these woods have been known to have several false trails that the rangers around here are still unaware of. I have a map that is clearly marked of where we are going so you do nothing to fear about getting lost. Also, amongst these woods are private cabins used for those who want a home away from home and not in a hotel. If we pass by please keep your voices low so we do not disturb the residents. Not all of them are occupied at this time but it is just best that we assume that they are. So, who's ready to start this hike?" Mr. Parsy's question was met with a loud roar of cheers. Serenity was grinning from ear to ear in excitement.

The group slowly moved along the trail talking amongst themselves as the resort disappeared from view. Some were rubbing their arms trying to ward off the cold having forgotten their sweatshirts. Several girls were complaining how they were going to have to buy new shoes since the ones they were wearing were getting caked in mud. Clarissa had told them to stop being prissy little bitches which resulted in sniggers from several people and glares from the girls she was talking to.

"So tell me dear Serenity, what happened after Battle City that made you change so quickly?" Yami Bakura asked after Mrs. June passed by leaving them to be the ones trailing behind.

"Everything." Serenity whispered trying to find a way to speak her thoughts. She stopped to look down at her muddy shoes. "From the time Yugi dueled my brother at the docks until the final duel."

"Care to be more specific my dear or do I need to ask questions to narrow it down." Yami Bakura paused to look back at her. The rest of the class was slowly disappearing from sight around a bend.

"I suppose questions wouldn't hurt. I'm just- It's all so complicated to explain." Serenity's eyes began to fill with tears as she held her head. "I keep reliving nightmares from that tournament every week. I can't tell Joey or he'll freak out and shelter me even more. Maybe that's why I changed, so I could break free from the cage he put me in."

"Name one thing that upset you about the tournament that caused you pain." Yami Bakura asked turning around to find the class was no longer in sight. He made his way forward with Serenity following close behind.

"You." Serenity stated emotionless. Yami Bakura nearly froze in his place but thought better of it as he continued down the path.

"What about me?"

"When you took over Ryou to protect him from Slifer and ended up needing medical attention. The others practically forgot about you the entire time. They didn't set a watch over you like they did with Mai or Joey. I wasn't allowed to wander around the blimp on my own so I had no way of visiting you. I heard them talking about you. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring. They thought I was asleep but I was wide awake."

"I'm curious to what you heard about me."

"They said you were evil and sent people to the Shadow Realm for your own amusement."

Yami Bakura chuckled shaking his head in amazement. They hadn't spared any details about his attentions around the girl. While it was true he did send people for his amusement he mostly sent them there for getting in the way of his plans. Yugi and his posse most have forgotten to mention that he released some of his victims after a certain period of time when he saw fit.

"Well my dear, how do you feel knowing that you are alone at the moment with someone evil?" Yami Bakura asked turning his head to look at the girl behind him.

"A mixture of terrified and excitement." Serenity replied honestly. "So, what was your purpose behind showing up during this school outing. Aren't there better things for you to do besides hiking with people you dislike."

"My dear, that is a question I will not grace you with an answer at this point in time." Yami Bakura grinned darkly when Serenity wasn't looking.

"Why not? I gave you the answers to the questions you asked me." Serenity snapped furiously. "I think after I gave you the truth you should at least be honest with me in return."

"Foolish girl," Yami Bakura spun around anger now evident on his face. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe giving answers to your enemy isn't always the wisest idea? I owe you nothing. What you chose to tell me was of your own free will. I did not force you into telling me anything therefore you will stop any further claims of me having to tell you what my plans are."

Serenity stood still a mix of fear and rage coursing through her veins. Deciding to act upon the adrenaline from her anger she shoved passed Yami Bakura and made her way down a trail. The evil spirit followed amused at the girl's bravery. At least the hike wasn't going to be too boring.

It was three silent hours later, the two had put in their own headphones to keep themselves occupied, when Yami Bakura realized something was wrong. Stopping he held out an arm to motion to the girl following him to stop walking. Serenity pulled out her headphones looking at him quizzically.

"Something's amiss. We should've caught up to the rest of the class by now." Yami Bakura said looking around in a circle. He looked at Serenity who was fighting back the look of panic on her face. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything, he thought to himself.

"What are we going to do?" Serenity asked unable to keep fear from entering her words.

"I have no idea. If we're on a false trail then I dare not take it back in case we get on another one. Maybe we can find one of the cabins Mr. Parsy mentioned earlier. It may have a map or a phone to call back to the resort. Let's follow this path a little while longer. If we don't find anything soon we're going to have to find some sort of shelter afterwards. I don't know about you but I'd rather have a roof over my head then sitting out in the wilderness."

Serenity collapsed to her knees on the now dry dirt path. Tears streamed down her cheeks unable to be kept back any longer. She didn't care if the Spirit of the Millennium Ring saw them or not. It didn't matter anymore, they were lost and this was a perfectly good reason to cry. Worst of all, she was lost with one of the two men who constantly plagued her nightmares.