Yuki
By: Rogue Fox
Part Six. Foreboding
I don't remember very much about the ten minutes I spent drifting on the verge of death. I remember feeling Himeko dragging my soul up from the confused, raging waves that represented my inner turmoil and exhaustion. I remember her yelling at me to breathe. I remember feeling our body die around us. I remember feeling the strength of her soul next to mine beginning to slip as she faded away. After that, it all grew hazy. I remember the darkness best. I felt floaty and free, like my limbs weren't connected to my body. There was a tiny pinpoint of light piercing the darkness, I remember that. I knew there was something important about that light. I could vaguely hear voices calling to me, pleading with me, from it.
" Please, no." Himeko begged. She sounded far away.
" Yuki, come back!" Seto cried. Then I realized, I remember, that the light was my life, slowly becoming smaller and weaker as I drifted farther away. Driven by a strength I didn't know I possessed, I reached for the light. It got closer, brighter. I blinked confusedly, coughing and sputtering. Suddenly, I felt very weighed down. Something was pushing against my lips and I tried to shove it away. The thing pulled away, and Seto's blue eyes peered anxiously at me, his hair falling messily over them.
" Yuki?" he asked slowly, as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing. I coughed again. My lungs felt stale and weak. Suddenly, Seto grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me to him, all in one swift movement. Pressed against his chest, it was even harder to breathe, but something about the frantic beat of his heart against my own chest was soothing and calmed my nerves. He was breathing hard, and I could smell the salt of sweat on his clothes. I coughed and sputtered more, peering over his shoulder at Yugi's worried face, Anzu sobbing silently next to him, and Jounouchi gripping the chair he was standing by like he would fall without it.
" What's. wrong?" I managed to croak. With every breath, strength was flowing into my body. My breath was coming easier, and my mind clearer. Seto pulled away from me, held me at arm's length, and studied my face. My breath was normal now. " What's wrong?" I asked again, my voice almost completely normal.
" You just. just died!" Anzu cried, wiping her tear-filled eyes and smiling at the same time. She laughed suddenly and hugged Yugi, whose tense expression melted into one of joy. Jounouchi grinned and fell to the ground, laughing as well.
" I what?" I asked, suddenly remembering the waves, Himeko trying to save me, the darkness. Himeko! I cast about mentally for her, and she answered weakly.
I'm here. she thought. I felt tired just listening to her. That was a close call, huh, girl? she asked. I chuckled mentally.
Thank you, Himeko. I owe you. I thought.
You owe me nothing. I owed you. You saved my sorry soul when we were facing Pegasus, so I had to return the favor. Let's just hope neither one of us has to save the other ever again. she said. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sleep. And with that, she was gone, fast asleep, deep down inside me. I smiled up at Seto, who smiled back and hugged me again.
" God, you scared me. I thought I'd lost you." He said. I smiled wider into his shoulder.
" I'd never leave you and the boys. Never." I told him. And I meant it.
It was a few hours before Seto let me out of his sight. Even then, it was only to use the bathroom. I was exhausted, and after night fell over the Nile, I drifted to sleep in the girls' room, comforted by the knowledge that Seto was right next door, Mai and Anzu were hardly ten feet away, and Himeko was inside me, her strength slowly returning. I did dream, though. Several dreams. First, I dreamed that I was trapped in a complex maze. Every few minutes, my body was lacerated. As the dream went on, it became evident that the idea was to get through the maze as quickly as possible. In the dream, I was bloody, weak, and dying. When I woke, I decided that my near-death experience was giving me nightmares. Leave it to me to come up with something like that, I thought, and then went back to sleep. Next, I dreamed that I was walking down a dark corridor, all alone. Something was sneaking up behind me, and I tried to run away from it. I was scared pretty badly and screamed like a madwoman. Finally, the thing chasing me caught up to me, grabbed my arm and wheeled me around. I saw Seto's face, smiling evilly at me. He put his hands around my neck and started to choke me. I almost screamed when I woke up from that one. The last one was the worst. I was playing chess against someone, I couldn't see who. Someone was screaming at me in the background, but I couldn't make out the words or distinguish the voice. Now, chess is one of my favorite games. I love playing it, and I'm pretty good. The game started and I soon lost the first piece, a pawn. Someone else screamed the minute my opponent picked up the piece. I looked to my left and saw Yoshi, Yukio, and Mokuba. Yoshi had a bloody gash on his chest.
" For every piece you lose, your brothers will suffer one slash of a knife." My opponent said. Now I could see him clearly. It was Pegasus.
" You're a sick monster." I told him.
" Maybe. But I'm in control, so this sick monster gets to make all the rules." He said, laughing.
" I'll make you pay for every drop of blood you spill from the people I love. I'll make you pay dearly." I promised him. I lost another piece soon after, and Mokuba was cut on the cheek. Pegasus was true to his word. For every piece I lost, one of the boys was cut. I started to cry when I lost my bishop, and Yukio was cut on the back. The floor was red with blood. Then I woke up. I was crying, and my pillow was soaked with sweat and tears.
" Oh God." I mumbled to myself. I felt sick to my stomach. All the dreams had been so real! I had been able to smell the stench of blood, feel Seto's cold hand when he grabbed me, even taste the deadness of the air in all of the dreams. I rushed to wipe my eyes. " It's just a dream. Just a stupid dream." I told myself, even though I was thoroughly spooked. I wanted to sneak into the boys' room and curl up with Seto, but I didn't dare. I was well aware of what that would look like to the others. I seriously contemplated waking Mai or Anzu up, but I didn't want to be a nuisance. So, I sung myself a lullaby that my great-grandmother had sung to me as a child, and I soon drifted into a fitful sleep, haunted by echoes of nightmares (some of them might have been Himeko's) that I couldn't remember when I woke up.
*+*+*
It was hot. I mean, like heat-index-is-two-hundred-degrees hot. I suppose that's what we got for sitting on the guys' balcony in Egypt, but still, it was HOT. I was worrying silently about Yugi. He had been unusually quiet since I had talked to him the day before. I wondered if maybe I had said something that had upset him. Maybe he was trying to figure out how to break it to Yami that I had a crush on him. I hoped that wasn't the case. I didn't want Yami to know about my silly crush. It was just a crush, and I knew that. I knew that especially well after seeing his past. Yami already loved someone, dearly enough to take all her pain upon himself. I really doubted that Yami would ever love anyone ever again, and certainly not me. Even though I looked almost exactly like Mariah. I wasn't Mariah, though. I was Anzu, and it was as simple as that. I drew my attention back to my original train of thought. Yugi. Yugi, who I trusted more than any other person in the world.
" I just don't get you, Yuki. You live with the most powerful teenager in the world, and he's a total hunk, and you don't even think of him as anything more than a brother?" Mai asked Yuki. I tuned into their conversation, interested in Yuki's reply.
" Yes." She said simply. " Even if I did think of him as something more, and I do say if, I'm just not ready for any sort of romantic relationship right now." Yuki shrugged. Mai shook her head.
" He lavishes attention and affection on you. He's protective, almost overbearing. And you tell me you're positive he feels the same way you do? No romantic motivation at all?" Mai asked.
" Yes. Seto never had much of a family, so he doesn't really know how to be affectionate for anyone. The only adult that ever was affectionate with him was my mom, and I look a lot like her, so I think it has something to do with that." Yuki said. " As for protective, he likes knowing his assets are safe. He's the same with his family. He feels much more relaxed, knowing me and the boys are safe." I could understand how Yuki felt about Kaiba. I felt the same for Yugi. Affectionate, friendly, sometimes even a little flirtatious, but mostly I loved Yugi for being my friend. We weren't nearly as close as Kaiba and Yuki, and I was far too shy to just curl up against him, lay my head in his lap, or let him stroke my hair like Yuki did to Kaiba and act like it was nothing. But I felt the same way, and I was sure Yugi knew it.
We girls were on our own, with the exception of Kaiba, who was typing away at his laptop in the room behind us, and Jounouchi, who was sleeping in the girls' room. Honda and Yugi had gone out to get something to eat. Nothing on the room service menu sounded particularly good, and these people didn't seem to know what a Big Mac was.
" You know what I want? A double bacon cheeseburger. That sounds absolutely divine right now." Mai said suddenly, as though she had heard my thoughts.
" I'd kill for an American Almond Joy right now." Yuki admitted. " Japan's great, but you people need to work on your candy bars." She told us. I laughed.
" I want a Big Mac. Bad." I confessed.
" I also wouldn't mind a bathing suit right now. I could work on my tan and get a head start on the girls back home." Mai added.
" That would be nice." I agreed. Yuki chuckled. Her skin was naturally a dark olive, so she didn't need to tan.
" I'm bored. I want to do something." Mai whined. Yuki nodded her agreement.
" I wish I had a book to read." She said. I brightened as an idea struck me.
" Hey, maybe we can go buy some bathing suits and go swimming in that pool downstairs." I suggested. Mai cooed approvingly, but Yuki bit her lip.
" What about Pegasus?" she asked. That rained on our parade really fast. " Sorry." Yuki added quickly upon seeing our disheartened faces.
" Well, what about Pegasus?" Mai said bravely. " The guys went out to get food, so why can't we go on a quick shopping spree to get suits? Heck, why can't they come with us? We can't spend the rest of our lives cowering in this hotel and just sit quietly like good little girls with our hands folded in our laps. A girl's gotta have some fun every now and then, and I think we're owed a good deal of fun." Mai reasoned.
" That's all well and good, but how are you going to get past the watchdog, Ms. Courageous?" I asked, pointing through the sliding glass door to Kaiba.
" That would be a problem." She admitted. " He won't listen to a word I say."
" He's never listened to me when I really wanted him to before, and I don't think he's going to start now." I said. Mai and I looked at each other and then at Yuki, grinning.
" What?" Yuki asked, bewilderment and even a little bit of fear on her face. Only Yuki would have not figured out what we wanted by now.
" You can talk him into letting us go!" I cried. Yuki looked around herself and then pointed to her chest.
" Me?" she asked.
" Yes, you." I replied, exasperated. That girl could be so naïve!
" I don't think-" Yuki started, but Mai cut her off.
" He always listens to you. Just smile, like this-" Mai paused to show Yuki what she meant, smiling flirtatiously. " And flip your hair, like this-" Again Mai paused to give Yuki an example, flipping her hair seductively and looking over her shoulder, still smiling. I giggled. " And men will do whatever you want." Yuki stared for a moment.
" I really don't think that will work on Seto." She said finally. Mai sighed.
" Why won't it? He's a guy, right?" she asked. Mai was totally unaware of the fact that there might be a guy out there who was immune to her charm, or that of any other girl she considered worthy.
" Well, yeah, but-" Yuki began, only to be cut off again.
" You're gorgeous, girl! You'll knock him dead!" Mai encouraged. Yuki bit her lip again, a habit she had when she was nervous, anxious, upset, stressed, or aware that she was about to say something someone wouldn't like. She had been biting her lip often the last few days.
" Do I have to do all that stuff?" she asked. Mai cocked an eyebrow.
" You got a better way?" she asked incredulously.
" For Seto, yes. I can get my way with him if I really want to." Yuki offered.
" Now this, I've gotta see." Mai said, stepping aside and letting Yuki pass her. Yuki opened the sliding glass door and slipped into the room, shutting it behind her.
" That girl is something else." I said.
" Have you ever met anyone as utterly unaware that the entire world could be on a platter in front of her if she wanted it? That she could have anything she wanted?" Mai asked, awed.
" And as totally capable of handling anything that comes her way, despite that naivete? No, I haven't. She's in a class all her own." I answered.
" I think Kaiba agrees with that statement." Mai observed as Yuki grabbed Kaiba around the neck and said something to him. The look on Kaiba's face and the fact that Mai had a ton of experience in that area convinced me she was right.
" Yep." I giggled. Yuki smiled suddenly and waved at us, signaling to come in. I followed Mai in.
" What's up?" Mai asked innocently. The theater lost a great actress when Mai decided she wanted to be a fashion designer.
" The guys are back with dinner, and after that, we're all going to go shopping for bathing suits and stuff." Yuki said triumphantly.
" You girls were scheming behind my back, weren't you?" Kaiba accused.
" Well, you were turned away from us." Yuki said. Mai and I cracked up, but the bewildered look on Yuki's face told me she had been serious. I turned away from the scene to pounce Yugi affectionately.
" Whadja get, whadja get?" I asked excitedly.
" Hamburgers." Yugi said, still in that quiet, subdued manner that had been worrying me. " They taste funny, though." He added. I leapt past him. Honda and Jou, the pigs, had already snagged their share. Apparently, the aroma of food had woken Jou. I pulled out a hamburger as Yuki came rushing up.
" Fast food!" she cried, yanking out a burger for herself. " Please taste like home, please taste like home." she pleaded as she unwrapped it and took a bite. A disgusted look crossed her soft features, but she managed to swallow. She looked a little green to me. " Yeah, that's home, but not the part I wanted."
" What do you mean?" Honda asked around a mouthful of burger. The taste didn't seem to bother him or Jou at all.
" I wanted something like McDonald's. What'd I get? The school cafeteria's cardboard burgers." Yuki explained. " Yuck." She added.
" Blegh!" Mai cried, nearly spitting her burger out. " Ugh, where'd you get these things? Off the street?" she asked.
" The best burger place in this whole God-forsaken area." Yugi said, grimacing as he tried a bite of mine.
" Cardboard is a good description." Mai said, shaking her head.
" You know, I'm really not that hungry." I said. " Trying to keep a good figure, you know?" I added, handing my burger to Yugi, who immediately shoved it back.
" And what makes you think I want it?" he asked.
" I'm with Anzu. That room service chicken salad doesn't sound so bad. We girls have to watch our weight, you know." Mai said.
" Um, yeah. I had plenty cardboard burgers at school back in America. Let's leave these things where they belong."
" The Dumpster?" Mai said hopefully.
" I think I can wait till breakfast." Kaiba said, setting his burger on the small table where the bags the nasty things had come in had been set. Jou and Honda were more than willing to eat our shares. After the pigs were done stuffing their faces, Mai, Yuki, and I dragged the lot of them down the stairs of the hotel, out the door, and into the shopping district. Yuki had somehow managed to get Kaiba to fund the little expedition, so Mai had every intention of going all out and making Yuki and I do it too. Yuki, however, is naturally inclined to lean toward simplicity and thus less expensive than Mai's attachment to designer labels. As for me, I was glad that I wasn't paying for it, but too shy to want to buy anything I thought was too expensive. The guys couldn't have cared one way or the other, although Yugi did go off by himself to find his own bathing suit, which I think had a lot to do with the fact that he had to go to the little kids' section. Guys are easy enough to please in the area of swim suits, but if you're a girl. It's a delicate art that can't be taken lightly. Even Yuki agreed with that philosophy.
" There's no way I'm wearing that. No offense, but that looks like something my grandma wore once, and only once." Yuki proclaimed, gesturing to a one piece I had pointed out. I looked at it closely.
" You're right." I agreed. Mai sauntered out of the dressing room, done up in a bright red bikini Yuki and I would have never dared to even touch. Yugi would have rather eaten dirt than let me out of the store with something like that, and Kaiba probably would have thrown a ring-tailed fit if Yuki had even shown an interest in it, but Mai had no such restrictions. Honda and Jou gaped at her, mouths wide open.
" What do you think?" Mai asked nonchalantly.
" Um, don't you think that's a bit showy, Mai?" I asked. Yuki and I were actually a little concerned for Mai, what with the image she was projecting in that little number.
" This thing?" Mai asked, indicating to her scanty outfit. " Nah, this is just right. I think I'll buy it."
" Okay." Yuki said uncertainly.
" Hurry up and get dressed. I'm next in the dressing room." I said, holding up a more conservative tankini I had snatched.
" Well, on second thought." Mai said, suddenly uncertain, looking down at her exquisite figure. Our male audience, sitting off a little ways and staying very quiet, continued to gape. " Are you guys sure it doesn't make me look fat?" Mai asked, looking back up at Yuki and I. I had a hard time imaging Mai looking fat in anything, but it was good to know that she had the same self-conscious worries as I did.
" Absolutely not." I said solidly. " You look great. You might as well have put 'em under hypnosis." I said, indicating to the guys. Yugi and Kaiba were both tactfully inspecting everything but Mai, and Jou and Honda just sat there, still gaping. Mai smiled at my statement, flashing the guys a despairing glance.
" It doesn't take much, does it?" she asked. " Alright then. Look out, pool, cause here I come!" she cried, turning on her heel and moving back into the dressing room to change. Yugi literally breathed a sigh of relief.
" Okay, it only took half an hour for her to decide. How long will it take you, Anzu?" Kaiba asked, glancing at his watch. Yuki smiled at him, but I stuck my tongue out.
" Fifteen minutes, at most. I've already got it narrowed down to three." I said showing him my three choices, the previously mentioned pink tankini with white Hawaiian-print flowers, a forest green one piece, and a dark blue back-less one piece. Yuki also held up her two choices, a black one piece that could be unzipped a little in the front, and a blue bikini with a tube top that had small, white spaghetti straps and shorts for a bottom. I think Yuki was already favoring the latter.
It took me ten minutes to decide, with Mai and Yuki's help, on the pink suit, while Yuki took a quick five minutes and only one trip out of the dressing room to decide on her own bikini. By that time, the guys were pretty insistent.
" It's hot, I wanna swim now!" Jou complained. Honda seconded that motion. We finally bought all our bathing suits and headed back to the hotel. Kaiba had even bought all three of us girls silk wraps that matched our bathing suits. Naturally, he was rewarded for his trouble. Mai's idea of rewarding him was by actually acknowledging his presence as a human being, my idea was a simple thank you and a smile. Yuki gave him a hug, to which he blushed. Directly after that, we all trouped back to the hotel, changed, and hit the pool. Quite literally.
" Cannon ball!" Jou cried, taking a running leap at the pool. He made a pretty big splash, but the pool was really big. We were actually getting in on the indoor part, but the pool went under a glass window to outside, where it was even bigger.
" Aw, come on!" Honda yelled. " I can do better than that!" that said, Honda ran and jumped. I laughed.
" That was pathetic, Honda! Anyone could beat that little splash!" I called. Honda spit some water out of his mouth and grinned.
" Then let's see you do it!" he called back.
" Cannon ball contest!" Yugi yelled, grinning like I hadn't seen him do in a long time. " First up, Jou!" he added. Jou climbed back out of the pool. Yuki and I sat down at the edge of the pool, and Mai jogged over to join us. Jou walked up to us and gave the three of us a clumsy bow.
" Would you lovely ladies be the judge panel?" he asked. Mai giggled.
" Sure." Yuki agreed. Jou took his jump a moment later, giving all of us a good spray.
" I give that an eight out of ten." I said. " Judging by the height and width of the splash." I added.
" I'd give it a nine." Mai said.
" And that's a totally unbiased opinion?" I asked her. Yuki cocked an eyebrow and looked at Mai expectantly.
" Totally." Mai agreed, not even flinching.
" I give it an eight-point-five." Yuki said, nodding.
" Hah! Beat that, you wusses!" Jou yelled to the remaining guys. Yugi grinned again.
" Next, we have Honda the Horrible." He cracked, earning a chorus of shrieking giggles on our part.
" That was not funny." Honda said, giving Yugi a serious look. Yugi just grinned at him. Honda made his jump, to which Kaiba and Yugi promptly booed.
" That was like, a two!" Mai yelled.
" Definitely a two!" I agreed.
" I'll be nice and give it a three." Yuki said, flashing Honda a sympathetic smile.
" At least someone's nice here!" Honda called.
" And third, we have Seto Kaiba. Let's see if the third time really is a charm." Yugi said, putting on an announcer voice.
" Who needs a charm?" Kaiba asked, just before he took his running leap.
" Hmm. I give it an eight-point-five." I said after Kaiba resurfaced, brushing his wet hair out of his face.
" Nine." Mai said decisively.
" Oh, decisions, decisions." Yuki said, shaking her head. " Oh, to heck with it. A ten."
" Hah! Beat that!" Kaiba cried triumphantly.
" Talk about unbiased opinions." Mai said
" You know, I think this judge panel is rigged." Honda said.
" Oh, you're just whining 'cause you got a bad score." Jou said, pushing Honda under the water.
" A good splash is a good splash, and Kaiba made a good splash." I said, shrugging. " You're up next, Yugi!" I called. Yugi positioned himself and took his running leap.
" Geranamo!" he cried before hitting the water. The splash was tremendous.
" Whoa!" I cried.
" Ah! My hair's soaked!" Mai cried. I laughed as Yugi came up, sputtering and trying to get his bangs out of his eyes.
" Well, how was that?" he asked.
" Ten!" Mai, Yuki, and I all said in unison.
" I declare Yugi Motou the winner!" I cried.
" I don't believe it! We got beaten by a squirt!" Jou cried. Kaiba seemed to forget to tread water, because his head suddenly slipped under. Yuki stood and I followed her.
" That's Mr. Squirt to you, buddy." Yugi said, smirking in a fashion so much like Yami's it was scary.
" Watch out, boys! Here we come!" I yelled. Yuki giggled as the two of us ran and jumped him, causing a rather large splash. We came up laughing and coughing from all the water we breathed in while we were laughing. Jou swam up to Mai, who was still sitting on the edge of the pool, as I tried to dunk Honda, to no avail.
" Come on, Mai, get in." Jou pleaded, pulling on Mai's arm.
" No." Mai said stubbornly. I saw Yuki sneaking out of the water and behind Mai. She put a finger to her lips and signaled to me to be quiet. She pushed Mai in from behind, who sputtered and yelled protests about her hair. After that, we swam outside, under the glass, to the shallower water and played a game that Yuki knew called chicken. The first round found me perched on Honda's shoulders and Mai on Jou's. The idea was for Mai and I to try and knock the other down. The first girl to hit the water was the loser. Yuki was planning to play the winner with Kaiba. Yugi sat on the edge and watched us, laughing at my struggles to stay on Honda's shoulder. Finally, I escaped from the game to a small, secluded part of the pool that one had to swim under a quaint little bridge to get to from inside the pool. Yugi followed me around the edge. My stomach scraped the bottom and I sat up.
" It's only a foot or so deep." I said to Yugi, who stepped into the water.
" Feels good." He said. I smiled at him.
" Wow, look at that." I said, pointing over his shoulder. He followed my gaze to a beautiful tree that had blossomed in the spring months, with delicate pink blossoms floating on the gentle breeze off the tree to float in the water.
" Wow." He agreed, scooting through the water to sit next to me.
" It's like something from a dream." I said, sniffing the breeze. The sweet aroma of blossoms teased my nose, underlined by the tart scent of alcohol from the poolside bar. I laid back in the water, propping my head up with my arms. Yugi followed my example. " It's so perfect." I said, rolling my head to look at Yugi. He was smiling softly, probably more happily than I had seen him in a long time. I wondered what went on in that head of his, what sort of turmoil he faced with another person living in his head. I wondered what he thought about my silly crush on Yami. Yugi turned his head suddenly to see me staring at him.
" What?" he asked me, breaking me from my reverie.
" Nothing." I said quickly. " This place. It's so enchanting, isn't it?" I asked him, trying to change the subject.
" You mean the spot in particular or Egypt as a whole?" Yugi asked.
" Both, I guess." I said after a moment's thought.
" Yes, on both counts. It's like a spider's web. You get all caught up in it and tangled and then you can't get out. Like a lot of other things." Yugi said. I looked at him curiously.
" What other things?" I asked.
" I don't know." Yugi said, looking away from me.
" What other things?" I insisted, noticing the faint color of a blush on Yugi's cheeks.
" Like. Like love, I guess." He said finally, turning his face almost completely away from me.
" Love?" I asked, unsure as to what he meant.
" Love." Yugi confirmed. " It's like a spider's trap. You're just walking along, minding your own business, and the next thing you know, you're all tangled up and you can't get away. And you're not even sure if you want to." I stared at him. Was that bitterness I detected in his voice?
" Hey, Yugi! Let's go check out that café and see if they've got anything to eat! I'm starved!" Jou called. Yugi stood up, and I watched him.
" You just ate all those burgers!" Yugi protested, wading through the water to the side of the pool.
" So? What's your point?" Jou asked.
" Oh my God. What are you, an endless pit?" Kaiba asked.
" It'd take an entire large nation of food to feed those two for a week." Mai said. I guessed she was referring to Honda too. I watched Yugi approach the other guys, smiling and laughing, but I couldn't get what he had said out of my mind. ".and you can't get away. And you're not even sure if you want to." He had said. What had he meant? Why did he sound so angry and bitter when he said it? Who broke your heart, Yugi? I wondered to myself. I swear, if I ever find out who did it, I'll make her pay. You're so sweet and nice and wonderful, what kind of girl could ever make you hurt and not feel terrible?
It was a few hours later before we had freed ourselves from our appetites.
" That was good." Kaiba said finally. We had all eaten like pigs, but swimming makes you hungry.
" These wraps you got us are really useful. I don't think they would have let us in the place without them." Yuki said. We girls had fashioned our wraps into dresses so we could get into the café. The guys had all simply thrown on some shirts.
" Let's get out of here. It's cold." Mai complained.
" I guess I'll pick up the check." Kaiba said, reaching for his wallet, which he had thankfully remembered to bring.
" I swear I'll pay you back, but I don't have any money on me." Yugi said, looking helpless.
" Of course you don't. You're still soaking wet." Kaiba said tolerantly. I don't think he really minded paying for our meal. Besides, it wasn't like he particularly needed the money. We left the café after Kaiba had paid and started wandering aimlessly around, peeking into gift shops the hotel had in it and just messing around, being teenagers. But I still couldn't forget what Yugi had said. I wanted to ask him about it, but not around the others. Yuki was naïve enough to not question that conversation, if it happened at all, but the others were more inquisitive. Mai in particular was probably dying for a bit of juicy gossip to chew on.
We saw the men in suits for the first time that night at about eight o'clock. We tried to head in another direction, all of us beginning to feel anxious, but there were more. We soon figured out we were surrounded, trapped in a circle that was slowly shrinking as the men were getting closer. There was nobody around. I wondered how all the other people had suddenly disappeared.
" Well, we're pretty damn-well screwed." Jou said. I knew Jou only started to cuss when he got really stressed or frightened. Yuki was biting her lip, so hard I thought it might start bleeding soon.
" No duh, Sherlock." Honda said tersely. I jumped and squealed as one of the goons grabbed my arm.
" Ah! Let me go!" I shrieked. Honda was closest and decked the guy. I noted that Yugi also kicked him in the shin. However, while we were busy with that guy, another grabbed Mai around the waist.
" Hey, get your filthy hands off me!" Mai cried, kicking and flailing ferociously.
" Get away from her!" Jou shouted, but another goon grabbed him.
" Um, uh-oh?" Yuki asked pathetically. She and Kaiba had managed to get themselves surrounded by about six goons. Yuki suddenly lashed out with a kick I thought only a black belt could pull. Unfortunately, wherever Yuki had learned to kick like that, the goon she kicked at had learned how to block it. He grabbed her foot and tossed her to the ground. After that, she was up and running like a madwoman, and with good reason. At least five thugs were chasing her.
" Help! Put me down!" I screamed as a goon picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder like a rag doll. Yugi made a dash to my rescue, but was scooped up by yet another goon. Still another black-suit had put Honda, who had been fighting ferociously, in a full nelson and was pushing him along out of the hotel grounds. Kaiba was knocked out and carried along. I guess they figured he was too much of a hassle to keep awake. Mai looked at me from her position, her back against a particularly large guy who had her arms pinned to her sides by wrapping his tree trunk-thick ones around her.
" I suppose we really should just get used to this." She said. " But that doesn't necessarily mean we have to take it." She added. And with that, she immediately began struggling, to know avail. I flailed my fists, but the guy over whose shoulder I was tossed didn't even seem to notice. Yuki cocked a very annoyed eyebrow at me. She had finally been caught from her frantic running and attempts to thwart her pursuers. It had been almost funny. She had resorted to picking up flowerpots and throwing them at the goons. Now, she was walking almost calmly in front of yet another goon, her right arm twisted fully around her back.
" You girls okay?" Yugi called. I couldn't see him, his captor was in front of mine.
" Sure. Why wouldn't we be?" I asked sarcastically.
" I'm only in the arms of a guy I'd rather kill." Mai cracked.
" Don't talk to me. I'm trying to avoid getting my arm broken." Yuki snapped. I had never heard her so aggressive. Of course, her last encounter with these goons had left her on the verge of death, so I couldn't really blame her.
" Yep, they sound just fine to me." Honda said. I couldn't see him, but he sounded okay.
" Jou? Where are you?" Mai called. I could almost hear a tinge of fear in her voice. Mai, afraid? Now I was really worried.
" Up here. Nothing to worry about, Mai. We'll just whip Pegasus's ass one more time, and that'll be that." He called back. Mai, who I actually could see, looked a little more reassured.
" Hey, question for the big guys in black suits!" I called. The one carrying me grunted. I took that for a " What?" " Exactly where are we going?" I asked.
" To the Boss." The one twisting Yuki's arm said.
" I might have guessed that." I snapped. " What does he want with us?" I asked.
" To play a game." The one carrying the still unconscious Kaiba responded. Yuki gave him a death glare, as though she thought his very existence was an insult to her. I thought that might have a lot to do with his hurting Kaiba.
" Great. Somehow, I'm not excited." Yugi said.
" Pegasus's idea of a game always involves pain for everybody but him." Jou complained. Mai scowled and I gave her a sympathetic look. Suddenly, I felt something on my rear. I gasped.
" Hey, if you must hold me like this, keep your hands where they belong, buddy!" I cried. There was the sound of a scuffle up ahead.
" Get your dirty hands off Anzu!" I heard Yugi yell.
" I'm fine, Yugi!" I called to him.
" Like hell you're fine!" Yugi called. I started. I had never heard Yugi curse before. I had never heard him say anything worse than "crap." Kaiba moaned, but stayed in his unconscious haven. Yuki tried an experimental tug that left her wincing.
" Right, that's not going to work." She muttered. I kicked my legs, which were swung over the goon's front, trying to cause my captor some pain. I laughed triumphantly when I my foot connected with his gut and I heard him groan as the air rushed out of his lungs. I was not going to make this job easy for him.
" Okay, guys, this officially sucks." Honda said.
" It's just now official?" Mai asked, annoyed.
" Keep yourselves together, guys!" Yugi called. Honda was right, though. This really did totally suck. And it was getting worse with each step the goons took.
By: Rogue Fox
Part Six. Foreboding
I don't remember very much about the ten minutes I spent drifting on the verge of death. I remember feeling Himeko dragging my soul up from the confused, raging waves that represented my inner turmoil and exhaustion. I remember her yelling at me to breathe. I remember feeling our body die around us. I remember feeling the strength of her soul next to mine beginning to slip as she faded away. After that, it all grew hazy. I remember the darkness best. I felt floaty and free, like my limbs weren't connected to my body. There was a tiny pinpoint of light piercing the darkness, I remember that. I knew there was something important about that light. I could vaguely hear voices calling to me, pleading with me, from it.
" Please, no." Himeko begged. She sounded far away.
" Yuki, come back!" Seto cried. Then I realized, I remember, that the light was my life, slowly becoming smaller and weaker as I drifted farther away. Driven by a strength I didn't know I possessed, I reached for the light. It got closer, brighter. I blinked confusedly, coughing and sputtering. Suddenly, I felt very weighed down. Something was pushing against my lips and I tried to shove it away. The thing pulled away, and Seto's blue eyes peered anxiously at me, his hair falling messily over them.
" Yuki?" he asked slowly, as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing. I coughed again. My lungs felt stale and weak. Suddenly, Seto grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me to him, all in one swift movement. Pressed against his chest, it was even harder to breathe, but something about the frantic beat of his heart against my own chest was soothing and calmed my nerves. He was breathing hard, and I could smell the salt of sweat on his clothes. I coughed and sputtered more, peering over his shoulder at Yugi's worried face, Anzu sobbing silently next to him, and Jounouchi gripping the chair he was standing by like he would fall without it.
" What's. wrong?" I managed to croak. With every breath, strength was flowing into my body. My breath was coming easier, and my mind clearer. Seto pulled away from me, held me at arm's length, and studied my face. My breath was normal now. " What's wrong?" I asked again, my voice almost completely normal.
" You just. just died!" Anzu cried, wiping her tear-filled eyes and smiling at the same time. She laughed suddenly and hugged Yugi, whose tense expression melted into one of joy. Jounouchi grinned and fell to the ground, laughing as well.
" I what?" I asked, suddenly remembering the waves, Himeko trying to save me, the darkness. Himeko! I cast about mentally for her, and she answered weakly.
I'm here. she thought. I felt tired just listening to her. That was a close call, huh, girl? she asked. I chuckled mentally.
Thank you, Himeko. I owe you. I thought.
You owe me nothing. I owed you. You saved my sorry soul when we were facing Pegasus, so I had to return the favor. Let's just hope neither one of us has to save the other ever again. she said. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sleep. And with that, she was gone, fast asleep, deep down inside me. I smiled up at Seto, who smiled back and hugged me again.
" God, you scared me. I thought I'd lost you." He said. I smiled wider into his shoulder.
" I'd never leave you and the boys. Never." I told him. And I meant it.
It was a few hours before Seto let me out of his sight. Even then, it was only to use the bathroom. I was exhausted, and after night fell over the Nile, I drifted to sleep in the girls' room, comforted by the knowledge that Seto was right next door, Mai and Anzu were hardly ten feet away, and Himeko was inside me, her strength slowly returning. I did dream, though. Several dreams. First, I dreamed that I was trapped in a complex maze. Every few minutes, my body was lacerated. As the dream went on, it became evident that the idea was to get through the maze as quickly as possible. In the dream, I was bloody, weak, and dying. When I woke, I decided that my near-death experience was giving me nightmares. Leave it to me to come up with something like that, I thought, and then went back to sleep. Next, I dreamed that I was walking down a dark corridor, all alone. Something was sneaking up behind me, and I tried to run away from it. I was scared pretty badly and screamed like a madwoman. Finally, the thing chasing me caught up to me, grabbed my arm and wheeled me around. I saw Seto's face, smiling evilly at me. He put his hands around my neck and started to choke me. I almost screamed when I woke up from that one. The last one was the worst. I was playing chess against someone, I couldn't see who. Someone was screaming at me in the background, but I couldn't make out the words or distinguish the voice. Now, chess is one of my favorite games. I love playing it, and I'm pretty good. The game started and I soon lost the first piece, a pawn. Someone else screamed the minute my opponent picked up the piece. I looked to my left and saw Yoshi, Yukio, and Mokuba. Yoshi had a bloody gash on his chest.
" For every piece you lose, your brothers will suffer one slash of a knife." My opponent said. Now I could see him clearly. It was Pegasus.
" You're a sick monster." I told him.
" Maybe. But I'm in control, so this sick monster gets to make all the rules." He said, laughing.
" I'll make you pay for every drop of blood you spill from the people I love. I'll make you pay dearly." I promised him. I lost another piece soon after, and Mokuba was cut on the cheek. Pegasus was true to his word. For every piece I lost, one of the boys was cut. I started to cry when I lost my bishop, and Yukio was cut on the back. The floor was red with blood. Then I woke up. I was crying, and my pillow was soaked with sweat and tears.
" Oh God." I mumbled to myself. I felt sick to my stomach. All the dreams had been so real! I had been able to smell the stench of blood, feel Seto's cold hand when he grabbed me, even taste the deadness of the air in all of the dreams. I rushed to wipe my eyes. " It's just a dream. Just a stupid dream." I told myself, even though I was thoroughly spooked. I wanted to sneak into the boys' room and curl up with Seto, but I didn't dare. I was well aware of what that would look like to the others. I seriously contemplated waking Mai or Anzu up, but I didn't want to be a nuisance. So, I sung myself a lullaby that my great-grandmother had sung to me as a child, and I soon drifted into a fitful sleep, haunted by echoes of nightmares (some of them might have been Himeko's) that I couldn't remember when I woke up.
*+*+*
It was hot. I mean, like heat-index-is-two-hundred-degrees hot. I suppose that's what we got for sitting on the guys' balcony in Egypt, but still, it was HOT. I was worrying silently about Yugi. He had been unusually quiet since I had talked to him the day before. I wondered if maybe I had said something that had upset him. Maybe he was trying to figure out how to break it to Yami that I had a crush on him. I hoped that wasn't the case. I didn't want Yami to know about my silly crush. It was just a crush, and I knew that. I knew that especially well after seeing his past. Yami already loved someone, dearly enough to take all her pain upon himself. I really doubted that Yami would ever love anyone ever again, and certainly not me. Even though I looked almost exactly like Mariah. I wasn't Mariah, though. I was Anzu, and it was as simple as that. I drew my attention back to my original train of thought. Yugi. Yugi, who I trusted more than any other person in the world.
" I just don't get you, Yuki. You live with the most powerful teenager in the world, and he's a total hunk, and you don't even think of him as anything more than a brother?" Mai asked Yuki. I tuned into their conversation, interested in Yuki's reply.
" Yes." She said simply. " Even if I did think of him as something more, and I do say if, I'm just not ready for any sort of romantic relationship right now." Yuki shrugged. Mai shook her head.
" He lavishes attention and affection on you. He's protective, almost overbearing. And you tell me you're positive he feels the same way you do? No romantic motivation at all?" Mai asked.
" Yes. Seto never had much of a family, so he doesn't really know how to be affectionate for anyone. The only adult that ever was affectionate with him was my mom, and I look a lot like her, so I think it has something to do with that." Yuki said. " As for protective, he likes knowing his assets are safe. He's the same with his family. He feels much more relaxed, knowing me and the boys are safe." I could understand how Yuki felt about Kaiba. I felt the same for Yugi. Affectionate, friendly, sometimes even a little flirtatious, but mostly I loved Yugi for being my friend. We weren't nearly as close as Kaiba and Yuki, and I was far too shy to just curl up against him, lay my head in his lap, or let him stroke my hair like Yuki did to Kaiba and act like it was nothing. But I felt the same way, and I was sure Yugi knew it.
We girls were on our own, with the exception of Kaiba, who was typing away at his laptop in the room behind us, and Jounouchi, who was sleeping in the girls' room. Honda and Yugi had gone out to get something to eat. Nothing on the room service menu sounded particularly good, and these people didn't seem to know what a Big Mac was.
" You know what I want? A double bacon cheeseburger. That sounds absolutely divine right now." Mai said suddenly, as though she had heard my thoughts.
" I'd kill for an American Almond Joy right now." Yuki admitted. " Japan's great, but you people need to work on your candy bars." She told us. I laughed.
" I want a Big Mac. Bad." I confessed.
" I also wouldn't mind a bathing suit right now. I could work on my tan and get a head start on the girls back home." Mai added.
" That would be nice." I agreed. Yuki chuckled. Her skin was naturally a dark olive, so she didn't need to tan.
" I'm bored. I want to do something." Mai whined. Yuki nodded her agreement.
" I wish I had a book to read." She said. I brightened as an idea struck me.
" Hey, maybe we can go buy some bathing suits and go swimming in that pool downstairs." I suggested. Mai cooed approvingly, but Yuki bit her lip.
" What about Pegasus?" she asked. That rained on our parade really fast. " Sorry." Yuki added quickly upon seeing our disheartened faces.
" Well, what about Pegasus?" Mai said bravely. " The guys went out to get food, so why can't we go on a quick shopping spree to get suits? Heck, why can't they come with us? We can't spend the rest of our lives cowering in this hotel and just sit quietly like good little girls with our hands folded in our laps. A girl's gotta have some fun every now and then, and I think we're owed a good deal of fun." Mai reasoned.
" That's all well and good, but how are you going to get past the watchdog, Ms. Courageous?" I asked, pointing through the sliding glass door to Kaiba.
" That would be a problem." She admitted. " He won't listen to a word I say."
" He's never listened to me when I really wanted him to before, and I don't think he's going to start now." I said. Mai and I looked at each other and then at Yuki, grinning.
" What?" Yuki asked, bewilderment and even a little bit of fear on her face. Only Yuki would have not figured out what we wanted by now.
" You can talk him into letting us go!" I cried. Yuki looked around herself and then pointed to her chest.
" Me?" she asked.
" Yes, you." I replied, exasperated. That girl could be so naïve!
" I don't think-" Yuki started, but Mai cut her off.
" He always listens to you. Just smile, like this-" Mai paused to show Yuki what she meant, smiling flirtatiously. " And flip your hair, like this-" Again Mai paused to give Yuki an example, flipping her hair seductively and looking over her shoulder, still smiling. I giggled. " And men will do whatever you want." Yuki stared for a moment.
" I really don't think that will work on Seto." She said finally. Mai sighed.
" Why won't it? He's a guy, right?" she asked. Mai was totally unaware of the fact that there might be a guy out there who was immune to her charm, or that of any other girl she considered worthy.
" Well, yeah, but-" Yuki began, only to be cut off again.
" You're gorgeous, girl! You'll knock him dead!" Mai encouraged. Yuki bit her lip again, a habit she had when she was nervous, anxious, upset, stressed, or aware that she was about to say something someone wouldn't like. She had been biting her lip often the last few days.
" Do I have to do all that stuff?" she asked. Mai cocked an eyebrow.
" You got a better way?" she asked incredulously.
" For Seto, yes. I can get my way with him if I really want to." Yuki offered.
" Now this, I've gotta see." Mai said, stepping aside and letting Yuki pass her. Yuki opened the sliding glass door and slipped into the room, shutting it behind her.
" That girl is something else." I said.
" Have you ever met anyone as utterly unaware that the entire world could be on a platter in front of her if she wanted it? That she could have anything she wanted?" Mai asked, awed.
" And as totally capable of handling anything that comes her way, despite that naivete? No, I haven't. She's in a class all her own." I answered.
" I think Kaiba agrees with that statement." Mai observed as Yuki grabbed Kaiba around the neck and said something to him. The look on Kaiba's face and the fact that Mai had a ton of experience in that area convinced me she was right.
" Yep." I giggled. Yuki smiled suddenly and waved at us, signaling to come in. I followed Mai in.
" What's up?" Mai asked innocently. The theater lost a great actress when Mai decided she wanted to be a fashion designer.
" The guys are back with dinner, and after that, we're all going to go shopping for bathing suits and stuff." Yuki said triumphantly.
" You girls were scheming behind my back, weren't you?" Kaiba accused.
" Well, you were turned away from us." Yuki said. Mai and I cracked up, but the bewildered look on Yuki's face told me she had been serious. I turned away from the scene to pounce Yugi affectionately.
" Whadja get, whadja get?" I asked excitedly.
" Hamburgers." Yugi said, still in that quiet, subdued manner that had been worrying me. " They taste funny, though." He added. I leapt past him. Honda and Jou, the pigs, had already snagged their share. Apparently, the aroma of food had woken Jou. I pulled out a hamburger as Yuki came rushing up.
" Fast food!" she cried, yanking out a burger for herself. " Please taste like home, please taste like home." she pleaded as she unwrapped it and took a bite. A disgusted look crossed her soft features, but she managed to swallow. She looked a little green to me. " Yeah, that's home, but not the part I wanted."
" What do you mean?" Honda asked around a mouthful of burger. The taste didn't seem to bother him or Jou at all.
" I wanted something like McDonald's. What'd I get? The school cafeteria's cardboard burgers." Yuki explained. " Yuck." She added.
" Blegh!" Mai cried, nearly spitting her burger out. " Ugh, where'd you get these things? Off the street?" she asked.
" The best burger place in this whole God-forsaken area." Yugi said, grimacing as he tried a bite of mine.
" Cardboard is a good description." Mai said, shaking her head.
" You know, I'm really not that hungry." I said. " Trying to keep a good figure, you know?" I added, handing my burger to Yugi, who immediately shoved it back.
" And what makes you think I want it?" he asked.
" I'm with Anzu. That room service chicken salad doesn't sound so bad. We girls have to watch our weight, you know." Mai said.
" Um, yeah. I had plenty cardboard burgers at school back in America. Let's leave these things where they belong."
" The Dumpster?" Mai said hopefully.
" I think I can wait till breakfast." Kaiba said, setting his burger on the small table where the bags the nasty things had come in had been set. Jou and Honda were more than willing to eat our shares. After the pigs were done stuffing their faces, Mai, Yuki, and I dragged the lot of them down the stairs of the hotel, out the door, and into the shopping district. Yuki had somehow managed to get Kaiba to fund the little expedition, so Mai had every intention of going all out and making Yuki and I do it too. Yuki, however, is naturally inclined to lean toward simplicity and thus less expensive than Mai's attachment to designer labels. As for me, I was glad that I wasn't paying for it, but too shy to want to buy anything I thought was too expensive. The guys couldn't have cared one way or the other, although Yugi did go off by himself to find his own bathing suit, which I think had a lot to do with the fact that he had to go to the little kids' section. Guys are easy enough to please in the area of swim suits, but if you're a girl. It's a delicate art that can't be taken lightly. Even Yuki agreed with that philosophy.
" There's no way I'm wearing that. No offense, but that looks like something my grandma wore once, and only once." Yuki proclaimed, gesturing to a one piece I had pointed out. I looked at it closely.
" You're right." I agreed. Mai sauntered out of the dressing room, done up in a bright red bikini Yuki and I would have never dared to even touch. Yugi would have rather eaten dirt than let me out of the store with something like that, and Kaiba probably would have thrown a ring-tailed fit if Yuki had even shown an interest in it, but Mai had no such restrictions. Honda and Jou gaped at her, mouths wide open.
" What do you think?" Mai asked nonchalantly.
" Um, don't you think that's a bit showy, Mai?" I asked. Yuki and I were actually a little concerned for Mai, what with the image she was projecting in that little number.
" This thing?" Mai asked, indicating to her scanty outfit. " Nah, this is just right. I think I'll buy it."
" Okay." Yuki said uncertainly.
" Hurry up and get dressed. I'm next in the dressing room." I said, holding up a more conservative tankini I had snatched.
" Well, on second thought." Mai said, suddenly uncertain, looking down at her exquisite figure. Our male audience, sitting off a little ways and staying very quiet, continued to gape. " Are you guys sure it doesn't make me look fat?" Mai asked, looking back up at Yuki and I. I had a hard time imaging Mai looking fat in anything, but it was good to know that she had the same self-conscious worries as I did.
" Absolutely not." I said solidly. " You look great. You might as well have put 'em under hypnosis." I said, indicating to the guys. Yugi and Kaiba were both tactfully inspecting everything but Mai, and Jou and Honda just sat there, still gaping. Mai smiled at my statement, flashing the guys a despairing glance.
" It doesn't take much, does it?" she asked. " Alright then. Look out, pool, cause here I come!" she cried, turning on her heel and moving back into the dressing room to change. Yugi literally breathed a sigh of relief.
" Okay, it only took half an hour for her to decide. How long will it take you, Anzu?" Kaiba asked, glancing at his watch. Yuki smiled at him, but I stuck my tongue out.
" Fifteen minutes, at most. I've already got it narrowed down to three." I said showing him my three choices, the previously mentioned pink tankini with white Hawaiian-print flowers, a forest green one piece, and a dark blue back-less one piece. Yuki also held up her two choices, a black one piece that could be unzipped a little in the front, and a blue bikini with a tube top that had small, white spaghetti straps and shorts for a bottom. I think Yuki was already favoring the latter.
It took me ten minutes to decide, with Mai and Yuki's help, on the pink suit, while Yuki took a quick five minutes and only one trip out of the dressing room to decide on her own bikini. By that time, the guys were pretty insistent.
" It's hot, I wanna swim now!" Jou complained. Honda seconded that motion. We finally bought all our bathing suits and headed back to the hotel. Kaiba had even bought all three of us girls silk wraps that matched our bathing suits. Naturally, he was rewarded for his trouble. Mai's idea of rewarding him was by actually acknowledging his presence as a human being, my idea was a simple thank you and a smile. Yuki gave him a hug, to which he blushed. Directly after that, we all trouped back to the hotel, changed, and hit the pool. Quite literally.
" Cannon ball!" Jou cried, taking a running leap at the pool. He made a pretty big splash, but the pool was really big. We were actually getting in on the indoor part, but the pool went under a glass window to outside, where it was even bigger.
" Aw, come on!" Honda yelled. " I can do better than that!" that said, Honda ran and jumped. I laughed.
" That was pathetic, Honda! Anyone could beat that little splash!" I called. Honda spit some water out of his mouth and grinned.
" Then let's see you do it!" he called back.
" Cannon ball contest!" Yugi yelled, grinning like I hadn't seen him do in a long time. " First up, Jou!" he added. Jou climbed back out of the pool. Yuki and I sat down at the edge of the pool, and Mai jogged over to join us. Jou walked up to us and gave the three of us a clumsy bow.
" Would you lovely ladies be the judge panel?" he asked. Mai giggled.
" Sure." Yuki agreed. Jou took his jump a moment later, giving all of us a good spray.
" I give that an eight out of ten." I said. " Judging by the height and width of the splash." I added.
" I'd give it a nine." Mai said.
" And that's a totally unbiased opinion?" I asked her. Yuki cocked an eyebrow and looked at Mai expectantly.
" Totally." Mai agreed, not even flinching.
" I give it an eight-point-five." Yuki said, nodding.
" Hah! Beat that, you wusses!" Jou yelled to the remaining guys. Yugi grinned again.
" Next, we have Honda the Horrible." He cracked, earning a chorus of shrieking giggles on our part.
" That was not funny." Honda said, giving Yugi a serious look. Yugi just grinned at him. Honda made his jump, to which Kaiba and Yugi promptly booed.
" That was like, a two!" Mai yelled.
" Definitely a two!" I agreed.
" I'll be nice and give it a three." Yuki said, flashing Honda a sympathetic smile.
" At least someone's nice here!" Honda called.
" And third, we have Seto Kaiba. Let's see if the third time really is a charm." Yugi said, putting on an announcer voice.
" Who needs a charm?" Kaiba asked, just before he took his running leap.
" Hmm. I give it an eight-point-five." I said after Kaiba resurfaced, brushing his wet hair out of his face.
" Nine." Mai said decisively.
" Oh, decisions, decisions." Yuki said, shaking her head. " Oh, to heck with it. A ten."
" Hah! Beat that!" Kaiba cried triumphantly.
" Talk about unbiased opinions." Mai said
" You know, I think this judge panel is rigged." Honda said.
" Oh, you're just whining 'cause you got a bad score." Jou said, pushing Honda under the water.
" A good splash is a good splash, and Kaiba made a good splash." I said, shrugging. " You're up next, Yugi!" I called. Yugi positioned himself and took his running leap.
" Geranamo!" he cried before hitting the water. The splash was tremendous.
" Whoa!" I cried.
" Ah! My hair's soaked!" Mai cried. I laughed as Yugi came up, sputtering and trying to get his bangs out of his eyes.
" Well, how was that?" he asked.
" Ten!" Mai, Yuki, and I all said in unison.
" I declare Yugi Motou the winner!" I cried.
" I don't believe it! We got beaten by a squirt!" Jou cried. Kaiba seemed to forget to tread water, because his head suddenly slipped under. Yuki stood and I followed her.
" That's Mr. Squirt to you, buddy." Yugi said, smirking in a fashion so much like Yami's it was scary.
" Watch out, boys! Here we come!" I yelled. Yuki giggled as the two of us ran and jumped him, causing a rather large splash. We came up laughing and coughing from all the water we breathed in while we were laughing. Jou swam up to Mai, who was still sitting on the edge of the pool, as I tried to dunk Honda, to no avail.
" Come on, Mai, get in." Jou pleaded, pulling on Mai's arm.
" No." Mai said stubbornly. I saw Yuki sneaking out of the water and behind Mai. She put a finger to her lips and signaled to me to be quiet. She pushed Mai in from behind, who sputtered and yelled protests about her hair. After that, we swam outside, under the glass, to the shallower water and played a game that Yuki knew called chicken. The first round found me perched on Honda's shoulders and Mai on Jou's. The idea was for Mai and I to try and knock the other down. The first girl to hit the water was the loser. Yuki was planning to play the winner with Kaiba. Yugi sat on the edge and watched us, laughing at my struggles to stay on Honda's shoulder. Finally, I escaped from the game to a small, secluded part of the pool that one had to swim under a quaint little bridge to get to from inside the pool. Yugi followed me around the edge. My stomach scraped the bottom and I sat up.
" It's only a foot or so deep." I said to Yugi, who stepped into the water.
" Feels good." He said. I smiled at him.
" Wow, look at that." I said, pointing over his shoulder. He followed my gaze to a beautiful tree that had blossomed in the spring months, with delicate pink blossoms floating on the gentle breeze off the tree to float in the water.
" Wow." He agreed, scooting through the water to sit next to me.
" It's like something from a dream." I said, sniffing the breeze. The sweet aroma of blossoms teased my nose, underlined by the tart scent of alcohol from the poolside bar. I laid back in the water, propping my head up with my arms. Yugi followed my example. " It's so perfect." I said, rolling my head to look at Yugi. He was smiling softly, probably more happily than I had seen him in a long time. I wondered what went on in that head of his, what sort of turmoil he faced with another person living in his head. I wondered what he thought about my silly crush on Yami. Yugi turned his head suddenly to see me staring at him.
" What?" he asked me, breaking me from my reverie.
" Nothing." I said quickly. " This place. It's so enchanting, isn't it?" I asked him, trying to change the subject.
" You mean the spot in particular or Egypt as a whole?" Yugi asked.
" Both, I guess." I said after a moment's thought.
" Yes, on both counts. It's like a spider's web. You get all caught up in it and tangled and then you can't get out. Like a lot of other things." Yugi said. I looked at him curiously.
" What other things?" I asked.
" I don't know." Yugi said, looking away from me.
" What other things?" I insisted, noticing the faint color of a blush on Yugi's cheeks.
" Like. Like love, I guess." He said finally, turning his face almost completely away from me.
" Love?" I asked, unsure as to what he meant.
" Love." Yugi confirmed. " It's like a spider's trap. You're just walking along, minding your own business, and the next thing you know, you're all tangled up and you can't get away. And you're not even sure if you want to." I stared at him. Was that bitterness I detected in his voice?
" Hey, Yugi! Let's go check out that café and see if they've got anything to eat! I'm starved!" Jou called. Yugi stood up, and I watched him.
" You just ate all those burgers!" Yugi protested, wading through the water to the side of the pool.
" So? What's your point?" Jou asked.
" Oh my God. What are you, an endless pit?" Kaiba asked.
" It'd take an entire large nation of food to feed those two for a week." Mai said. I guessed she was referring to Honda too. I watched Yugi approach the other guys, smiling and laughing, but I couldn't get what he had said out of my mind. ".and you can't get away. And you're not even sure if you want to." He had said. What had he meant? Why did he sound so angry and bitter when he said it? Who broke your heart, Yugi? I wondered to myself. I swear, if I ever find out who did it, I'll make her pay. You're so sweet and nice and wonderful, what kind of girl could ever make you hurt and not feel terrible?
It was a few hours later before we had freed ourselves from our appetites.
" That was good." Kaiba said finally. We had all eaten like pigs, but swimming makes you hungry.
" These wraps you got us are really useful. I don't think they would have let us in the place without them." Yuki said. We girls had fashioned our wraps into dresses so we could get into the café. The guys had all simply thrown on some shirts.
" Let's get out of here. It's cold." Mai complained.
" I guess I'll pick up the check." Kaiba said, reaching for his wallet, which he had thankfully remembered to bring.
" I swear I'll pay you back, but I don't have any money on me." Yugi said, looking helpless.
" Of course you don't. You're still soaking wet." Kaiba said tolerantly. I don't think he really minded paying for our meal. Besides, it wasn't like he particularly needed the money. We left the café after Kaiba had paid and started wandering aimlessly around, peeking into gift shops the hotel had in it and just messing around, being teenagers. But I still couldn't forget what Yugi had said. I wanted to ask him about it, but not around the others. Yuki was naïve enough to not question that conversation, if it happened at all, but the others were more inquisitive. Mai in particular was probably dying for a bit of juicy gossip to chew on.
We saw the men in suits for the first time that night at about eight o'clock. We tried to head in another direction, all of us beginning to feel anxious, but there were more. We soon figured out we were surrounded, trapped in a circle that was slowly shrinking as the men were getting closer. There was nobody around. I wondered how all the other people had suddenly disappeared.
" Well, we're pretty damn-well screwed." Jou said. I knew Jou only started to cuss when he got really stressed or frightened. Yuki was biting her lip, so hard I thought it might start bleeding soon.
" No duh, Sherlock." Honda said tersely. I jumped and squealed as one of the goons grabbed my arm.
" Ah! Let me go!" I shrieked. Honda was closest and decked the guy. I noted that Yugi also kicked him in the shin. However, while we were busy with that guy, another grabbed Mai around the waist.
" Hey, get your filthy hands off me!" Mai cried, kicking and flailing ferociously.
" Get away from her!" Jou shouted, but another goon grabbed him.
" Um, uh-oh?" Yuki asked pathetically. She and Kaiba had managed to get themselves surrounded by about six goons. Yuki suddenly lashed out with a kick I thought only a black belt could pull. Unfortunately, wherever Yuki had learned to kick like that, the goon she kicked at had learned how to block it. He grabbed her foot and tossed her to the ground. After that, she was up and running like a madwoman, and with good reason. At least five thugs were chasing her.
" Help! Put me down!" I screamed as a goon picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder like a rag doll. Yugi made a dash to my rescue, but was scooped up by yet another goon. Still another black-suit had put Honda, who had been fighting ferociously, in a full nelson and was pushing him along out of the hotel grounds. Kaiba was knocked out and carried along. I guess they figured he was too much of a hassle to keep awake. Mai looked at me from her position, her back against a particularly large guy who had her arms pinned to her sides by wrapping his tree trunk-thick ones around her.
" I suppose we really should just get used to this." She said. " But that doesn't necessarily mean we have to take it." She added. And with that, she immediately began struggling, to know avail. I flailed my fists, but the guy over whose shoulder I was tossed didn't even seem to notice. Yuki cocked a very annoyed eyebrow at me. She had finally been caught from her frantic running and attempts to thwart her pursuers. It had been almost funny. She had resorted to picking up flowerpots and throwing them at the goons. Now, she was walking almost calmly in front of yet another goon, her right arm twisted fully around her back.
" You girls okay?" Yugi called. I couldn't see him, his captor was in front of mine.
" Sure. Why wouldn't we be?" I asked sarcastically.
" I'm only in the arms of a guy I'd rather kill." Mai cracked.
" Don't talk to me. I'm trying to avoid getting my arm broken." Yuki snapped. I had never heard her so aggressive. Of course, her last encounter with these goons had left her on the verge of death, so I couldn't really blame her.
" Yep, they sound just fine to me." Honda said. I couldn't see him, but he sounded okay.
" Jou? Where are you?" Mai called. I could almost hear a tinge of fear in her voice. Mai, afraid? Now I was really worried.
" Up here. Nothing to worry about, Mai. We'll just whip Pegasus's ass one more time, and that'll be that." He called back. Mai, who I actually could see, looked a little more reassured.
" Hey, question for the big guys in black suits!" I called. The one carrying me grunted. I took that for a " What?" " Exactly where are we going?" I asked.
" To the Boss." The one twisting Yuki's arm said.
" I might have guessed that." I snapped. " What does he want with us?" I asked.
" To play a game." The one carrying the still unconscious Kaiba responded. Yuki gave him a death glare, as though she thought his very existence was an insult to her. I thought that might have a lot to do with his hurting Kaiba.
" Great. Somehow, I'm not excited." Yugi said.
" Pegasus's idea of a game always involves pain for everybody but him." Jou complained. Mai scowled and I gave her a sympathetic look. Suddenly, I felt something on my rear. I gasped.
" Hey, if you must hold me like this, keep your hands where they belong, buddy!" I cried. There was the sound of a scuffle up ahead.
" Get your dirty hands off Anzu!" I heard Yugi yell.
" I'm fine, Yugi!" I called to him.
" Like hell you're fine!" Yugi called. I started. I had never heard Yugi curse before. I had never heard him say anything worse than "crap." Kaiba moaned, but stayed in his unconscious haven. Yuki tried an experimental tug that left her wincing.
" Right, that's not going to work." She muttered. I kicked my legs, which were swung over the goon's front, trying to cause my captor some pain. I laughed triumphantly when I my foot connected with his gut and I heard him groan as the air rushed out of his lungs. I was not going to make this job easy for him.
" Okay, guys, this officially sucks." Honda said.
" It's just now official?" Mai asked, annoyed.
" Keep yourselves together, guys!" Yugi called. Honda was right, though. This really did totally suck. And it was getting worse with each step the goons took.