Ok fans/people who don't know why the hell they're reading this, this is the last chapter. In other words, after this, go find some worthwhile fics to spend your time on.

**sigh** And what about the proclaimed romance? **grin**

I swear the theme for this fic is Inu Yasha's opening theme song... I mean it, it starts as "I want to change the world..."

And I now realize that Nuri-chan's name was Chou Ryuuen, Ryuuen being first name. I'm changing it from now on, so he shall by Mr. Chou or Ryuuen without the 'Mr.'

This would have been up Sunday the 20th, but nii-chan would NOT allow me on the computer to work on this fic throughout the weekend. And the choosing of the winner scene sucks! It's pretty obvious!

Chapter 8-

Drawing to a Close

Ryou tugged at his hair with the brush. "Ow! Ow, ow, ow..." He pulled at knots he had gained swimming. He had had to blow-dry his hair. "Be confident. Be cool, calm."

Annoyed, he pulled at his clothing. The dress was a sparkly silver, and it was the one he would wear for the remainder of the pageant.

"Come on Jenny, it's almost time for the last interviews!" Rachel played with the doorknob to make it rattle for emphasis.

"Coming! I'm coming!" He pulled on his wide-heel high heels and opened the door.

"Come on!" Rachel grabbed his arm and started dragging him along. They were almost to the stage area when the taller of the two stopped to prevent herself from running into a certain guy.

"S-Seto?" Ryou asked. He stared at his feet and flushed. The cool evening air made it seem all the more romantic a scene.

"Oh, Jenny, I'll see you later." She winked and scampered off- quite literally.

"Ryou." Seto grabbed his arm. "It's almost time. Do you remember the mission at all?"

"Oh, um..."

Seto sighed, but than smiled. "Yeah, I've been getting caught up in stuff as well, and I'm not even part of this. I'll send Yami, Yuugi, and Bakura to check around backstage. I'll stay and make sure no one tries doing anything from the crowd. Contact me if there's anything wrong, ok?"

"Ok, Seto."

Seto leaned over and kissed him lightly on the forehead.

Ryou blinked and realized the previous actions had just been a delusion.

"Are you ok?" Seto asked, noticing that he seemingly started drifting.

Ryou nodded, still flushing.

"You'll do well. You've gotten this far." With that, he turned and left.

Ryou sighed. "Damn it, I have to mess up all the time, don't I? Why can't I say anything?"

Had he been a 'guy' at the time, he'd have bashed his head against a wall and therefore forgotten any problems, but one might not find it right if a candidate for Miss United States was doing that.

New York's candidate finished her question and answer.

"Ok, Ember, why did you come to this pageant, and what did you learn here?"

Ember cleared her throat and spoke into the microphone. "Well, being from my particular family, we didn't have very much money growing up, so education was hard. I came so that I would have a chance for the scholarship money so I could help my family get back up on its feet again."

"Oh..." The four other girls sighed.

"As for what I've learned, people actually care about what happens. I've met wonderful friends whom I hope to keep in contact with for a long time."

There was a round of applause as Ember smiled.

"Mary, what about you? What have you learned and why did you come here?"

"I came to show that just because you're beautiful doesn't mean that you don't have any future besides being a fashion model. I hope to finish schooling at Harvard, so I came to get the chance to do so. While here, I too have met friends and people from other states who go through the same things I do. I've learned that... that I'm not alone in my struggle to get rid of the stereotypes."

Another round of applause.

"Jenny, what are your answers to the same questions?"

"Well," Ryou smiled nervously, "I want to change the world. That's why I came in the first place. And, now that I'm here, I do realize that these people... are wonderful people. I was one of those people that Mary commented on, not believing that beauty queens were as smart or as capable. And ever since the first day, and meeting my first friends, I realized that I was wrong. I've made wonderful friends and relationships have flourished beautifully. And I still hope to change the world."

Even Yami smiled at the answer. Yuugi sighed happily and commented while Bakura... he just shook his head and groaned at mushiness. They hadn't seen anyone trying to do anything funny, just maintenance.

"Maybe he was wrong."

Seto and Ryuuen watched from the crowds.

"I've done it." Ryuuen said, smiling. "Jenny used to be Ryou Bakura, a guy from the FBI. Now he is Jenny Smith, one of the women in the top five of the Miss United States pageant."

"You're acting like he really turned into a girl." Seto mumbled, shaking his head.

"How would you like it if he had?" Ryuuen asked cryptically.

"Huh?"

"How will you act if he wins?"

"Well, we didn't come to this for him to win it, just to stop a possible bombing." Seto wondered at his questions.

"Seto Kaiba, if someone you knew told you that they loved you, and you were not sure how to react, how would you react and what would you think of it later?"

"Depends on who it is." They exchanged significant glances.

"I will win this bet." Ryuuen mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Rachel, same question."

She breathed in deeply. "Well, I came here for a chance to go to a good college and make friends. I'm sure my story sounds like everyone else's, getting called an airhead, a ditz, people expecting you to do nothing more with your life than becoming.... a Victoria's Secret model or something. But I guess each and every one of us came here to prove them wrong. To show them we have the power to be who we want.

"As for what I've learned, I too learned that there were others like me, who fought for the same thing. I made friends whom I depend on, whom I love dearly and hope to keep contact with."

A round of applause and cheering.

"And there was the final interviews. Come back later tonight at nine for the final judging and find out who is this year's Miss United States!"

There was a loud round of applause. Didn't these people's hands ever start hurting?

"G'job y'all." Ember commented, sounding eerily Texan.

"Ember?"

"Yes...?"

"What's with the accent?"

"Oh, I'm just imitating a Texan accent. Trying to piss someone off."

Ryou knew that meant him and his eyebrow twitched slightly.

"Hey girls, why don't we get something to eat like yesterday?"

Ryou was about to answer when a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Ryou, we need you to help our investigation."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I have other things planned. My... my boyfriend already asked me to go with him." Ignore the laughs in your ear, ignore them, ignore them, ignore them... Kill them, kill them, find gun and kill them. For some reason the second bout of thoughts stuck easier.

"Oh. Well, how about the rest of you?"

"Sure."

"You don't know what you're missing Jenny."

"But yeah, spend time with Seto." Rachel smirked.

Ryou felt a slightly implied meaning and flushed wildly.

He was wearing pants, and very glad of that fact.

"Hey, wait up." He followed behind his other half as they climbed the ladder to the catwalk over the stage. Seto, Yami, and Yuugi were down there, checking out other stuff. Ryou was stuck following Bakura up this thin, creaky, long ladder.

"I've seen you climb faster than that." Bakura muttered.

"Well, back then I hadn't been pampered as a girl for days!" He almost cried happily as he reached the top.

"Grumpy cause you're not staring up at Kaiba's ass..." Bakura muttered that part, before asking loudly, "Ok, now where did you see those people rigging stuff last time?"

"Up there. Behind the Lady Liberty." Ryou pointed to the other side of the walk and up- what do you know- another ladder. What was up with ladders?

This time Bakura went up there only. "There's nothing up here!"

"Well, I saw people rigging something up!"

"Damn, they must have known you saw them and moved it."

"But where...?" Ryou used his position to search. There wasn't any specific place he could think of that hadn't been checked. Heck, Yuugi had even used his height advantage to check under the stage. Yami and Seto were combing the seats with dogs.

"Nothing here." Bakura climbed down and started herding Ryou to the ladder that led down. Ryou swore to himself he'd never climb another ladder after this.

"Anything?" Yuugi asked, coming from his search behind stage. With him was a dog that was nearly his height. Luckily well-trained though.

Ryuuen sat in a seat in the front row. "It's now seven o'clock. I suggest we get something to eat before nine."

"Yeah, that would help."

But unbeknownst to their eyes, that as they left, two people slinked in carrying some electronics of sorts. They made their way to the Lady Liberty and set to work.

They had found pizza. The girls had found pizza when Ryou wasn't around. They had found a nice, clean Pizza Hut, just a little further down from the Bennigan's.

"But you had pizza!" Ryou mumbled.

"You could have come with us." Ember reminded.

"What did you have anyway?"

"Salad."

"You're keeping your figure." Mary pointed out.

Ryou tugged at his dress and eyed his chest. Damn he hated those fake things.

"Let's go everyone!"

"Good luck."

"Jenny, wait." Rachel stopped Ryou.

"Yes?"

"No matter what happens, we're still friends, right? I mean, the odds of me winning are less than 20% in my opinion. As I said before, you're one of those people who can be trusted easily."

"Are you telling me that the thing's rigged?"

"No!" Rachel laughed. "It's just that... I feel you have a much better chance of winning than I do. And I wish you good luck."

"Come here." They hugged, Ryou not caring what was revealed.

"Well, let's go."

The five women- four women and one man- stood there, in the bright light, stared at by a multitude of eyes and even more unseen faces beyond TVs.

Seto and the others were backstage, watching for anything suspicious. This was the people's last chance to kill them, so they had to be on their guard.

"Hello and welcome back! So, shall we get to see who our winner of the Miss United States pageant is?"

Loud roars erupted.

"Ok now, the 4th runner up is... New York!"

There was a pause to allow clapping as the said woman moved forward.

"3rd runner up is... Louisiana!"

Ember smiled and walked forward, almost tripping, but not quite!

"2nd runner up is California!"

Mary smiled, not having expected to get even this far and very grateful despite that she was so close but not quite.

Ryou and Rachel stared at each other. It was one of them. Which one would it be?

"And, the 1st runner up, to take the winner's place if she is unable to fulfill her duties is..."

The tension built. Seto hardly noticed the person behind him until he saw the movement from the side of his eye. He turned, seeing the male maintenance worker holding a detonator.

Seto's eyes widened.

"The 1st runner up is Texas, meaning that Miss United States is Florida's Rachel Cooper!"

Ryou grabbed Rachel into a hug. She was crying happily.

"Watch out. Be careful!"

"I can't hear you! Jenny, I'll see you later!" Rachel was pulled towards the previous queen, who was holding a crown on a padded pillow in her hands.

Seto dived at the maintenance worker, tackling him. Yami and Bakura joined in, prying the detonator from his hands. Yuugi and Ryuuen were very calmly holding back the woman, who was hardly resisting, mostly in shock of her partner getting beaten up by two men.

"The detonator!" The man dived after it, knocking it.

The clapping got louder as Rachel was awarded the crown. Ryou was staring around, unable to do anything about it.

Someone kicked the detonator. It slid until...

BOOM!

Fireworks went off from behind Lady Liberty.

Yami, Seto, and Bakura stopped, standing slowly.

"THAT'S WHAT IT DID?!"

"What about the bomb?"

"What bomb?" The female asked.

"But we got a bomb threat..."

"Who are you?"

"We're with the FBI. We got a bomb threat here." Yami flashed his badge.

"We were just setting up the fireworks."

The girls cleared off stage.

"Guys?" Ryou asked, bewildered. He looked over at the beat up maintenance worker.

"Oh, Jenny..." Seto grabbed his arm and led him to the side. "There is no bomb."

"What?"

"There is no bomb!"

"Wait, wait-wait-wait... No bomb. Then what was that about?"

Bakura's cell rang. "Hello? Yes sir. Yes, uh-huh. What? What do you mean-! Oh my god- we went through all of this- shit! No! This is not happening!" He slammed his cell shut.

"What?" Yuugi asked.

"It was a fake letter. That letter was a practical joke from some drunk probably. They caught him and he confessed."

"Wait," Ryou held up his hands, "I am up here- in a dress, no less- and there was no reason?"

"That seems like it." Yami sighed.

"ARGH!"

"Jenny?" Rachel walked up. "Who are these people?"

"We're with the FBI." Yami flashed his badge.

Bakura hit his arm. "Do you need to show everyone that?"

"What-what happened? Why are the FBI here? Jenny, are you one of them?" Her eyes were wide and full of confusion.

"Yes, I am, Rachel. You will probably hear the whole story by tomorrow's six o' clock news. Now excuse me, I need to go suffocate myself." Ryou walked off to the room.

The next afternoon, after closing ceremonies, Ryou and Rachel met out front.

"Hey, if you want to contact me, here's my email and phone number and stuff." She handed him a piece of paper with the information on it.

"Here, um..." Ryou took a pen and wrote on the bottom half of the sheet, tearing it off and handing it to her. "Look me up if you're ever in DC."

"Yeah." She looked it over. "Ryou? Isn't that Japanese?"

"It is." Ryou nodded.

"Well, Ryou, Jenny, whatever your name is, I'll be seeing you hopefully, but I gotta go. Bye."

Ryou hugged her. "Bye."

With that, Rachel started walking to her car.

Ryou felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hm? Hi Seto." He turned towards him.

"Good job, Ryou. You did that well, and made it to the 2nd place slot."

"Thanks." Ryou flushed, diverting eye contact.

"Well, it just proves that you look like a woman."

"What?" Ryou faced him, but stopped. Seto was looking down at him, smiling in a different fashion than his normal smirk.

"Ryou, I'm proud of you. You did better than I had hoped."

Yuugi-tachi and Ryuuen watched from afar, not wanting to disturb them.

"You've lost." Yuugi whispered to Yami.

"No, we just have to shove them in a closet and let nature take its course." Bakura growled.

"Anyways, um, I guess it's about time we get going, huh?" He started to turn.

"Seto, wait." He grabbed his arm

"Hm?" Seto turned back around to face him.

"Seto, I-I... oh screw it." Ryou jumped up and latched his arms around Seto's neck, pressing their lips together in the process.

What they didn't see was Ryuuen's camera flash.

Slowly separating, Ryou slid off of Seto and flushed. Neither had anything to say.

"It's about time!" Yuugi yelled.

"You-you guys...?"

"We won the bet!" Yuugi and Ryuuen yelled, flashing chibi-fied victory signs.

"What? What bet? I'm going to kill you!" And with that, the four were promptly chased by Seto around the parking lot with Ryou sweat dropping.

A week later brought an interesting occurrence.

"Why do I have to wear this?" Yami complained.

He sported a leather mini-skirt and a small t-shirt.

"Well Yami, it looks good on you!" Yuugi smiled.

Bakura laughed. "I've got blackmail on you, Pharaoh."

"Tomb robber! Get back here!" Yami attempted to catch him in the said miniskirt and high heels.

In another room it was much quieter.

"Ryou, you're getting heavy." Seto sighed, resting his back against the headboard of the bed.

"No, it's just the laptop. Don't you know? Beauty queens never gain a pound." Ryou snuggled deeper into Seto's chest, sitting in his lap. He himself had a laptop sitting in his lap. "I'm almost done anyway."

"Well, hurry up." Seto's breath hit Ryou's cheek, causing him to redden and shudder.

Dear Rachel,

Hi! It's Jenny, or Ryou, whichever! Remember how I was so secretive at the pageant? Have I got some things to tell you!

OWARI!

Ryou: Yatta! It's over! **happy chibi**

Yami: Can I get out of this?

Wildwolf: No, go pose for Ka-chan's fic now!

Bakura: Can I keep the camera?

Wildwolf: No! It's my camera!

Yuugi: Can I go make sure my Yami doesn't take it off?

Wildwolf: Sure! Here's a leash for him! **kinky ideas...**

Seto: Will you excuse Ryou and me?

Wildwolf: Sure! **overly cheery voice** Go on ahead! **shoves them into a closet- but not a small one- Seto's really tall and they need room... self slap**

Nuriko (Ryuuen): May I say the closing comments?

Wildwolf: Ok! I'm going to hunt down Shadii. He's hiding from me again! Shadii-kun! Come Quatre-sama!

Quatre: -_- **follows**

Nuriko: Thanks for reading her fic, and thanks all who recognized me! That was cool!

So, go read some fics that actually have a plot or some logic involved! Bye bye!