Jaid: I'm back! Aren't you all happy?
Naga: No.
Jaid: *smacks him* I didn't ask you!
Naga: X__X
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was Thursday afternoon. Ryou and Rei were walking to her house after school. Suddenly, Rei laughed.
"What?" Ryou asked. Rei shook her dark head.
"Nothing. It's just that Tara set us up, hoping we'd get together, you know? And it hasn't happened. It just struck me as funny."
Ryou gave a weak smile. It didn't seem quite so funny to him, as he was beginning to realize he had deeper feelings for her, but he didn't say anything.
"Rei, there's something I should tell you." He said hesitantly. "I mean, you're probably going to find out anyway…"
"What?" Rei asked.
"It's sort of hard to believe."
"What do you mean?" Rei frowned as they both stopped walking. "Ryou, what's wrong?"
The boy swallowed, wondering if he really wanted to tell her. But she had to know.
"Ryou, I promised to listen, remember?" Rei reminded him softly. "Now out with it."
"I…I sort of have a problem." He began. "And it's rather unusual. Um, look." He reached underneath his sweater and pulled out the Ring.
"Wow." Rei bent over to look at it. "It looks Egyptian."
"That's because it is. It's sort of an artifact." Ryou said.
/What are you doing?/ he heard his Yami demand. Ryou ignored him and continued.
"I just…this is really tough." He bit his lip. Rei was looking at him blankly.
"What, you stole it or something?" she asked, humor quirking up her lips.
"No!" Ryou shook his head. "No, I –" he panicked slightly as he felt his yami getting ready to take over.
\Yami, don't!\
It was too late. The transformation took place and Yami Bakura opened up his narrow eyes to glare at Rei.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That afternoon, Seto had come back to the hospital. Serentiy was waiting and when he walked in, she called out, "Seto?"
"Hi." He said, dropping into the chair by her bed.
"Hi." She responded, sounding as if she were trying to be cheerful. "I'm going to be better by Sunday."
"Really?"
"Yeah! I'll have to stay for some more tests, but you can come visit me still…right?"
Seto smiled slightly. "If you want." He opened the book. "Do you remember where we were?"
Serenity shook her head. Seto paged through the book, when Serenity's hand touched his; a signal for him to stop and look at her.
"Yes?"
"I just…my brother…" she stopped.
"He doesn't want me to see you." Seto suggested. Serenity nodded, biting her lip. Seto looked down.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"I would like for you to stay, but…I don't want him to be angry with me. I…" Serenity stopped, breathing in and out rapidly, as if she were trying not to cry.
"I see." Seto closed the book. There was a long silence. Seto didn't really know what to say to her.
"If you want me to go, I will." He finally said. "But I would miss you."
"You would?"
Seto blinked. He'd said that out loud. He really was getting soft…
"Yeah." He admitted. "Look, I know you love your brother. I can understand that. I also know that if my brother were angry with me, I would do whatever I could to heal whatever came between us. If my going helps you to do that with Wheeler, then I'll go."
Serenity sniffed. "I just…I don't know what to do!"
Seto grimaced. 'Damn, she's crying.'
"Come on, stop that. It can't be good for your eyes right now." He said. Serenity sniffed again and tried to regain control.
"I want you to come and see me." She whispered. "You're really the only friend I've made on my own here. All the other kids are Joey's friends and they're nice but…please stay, Seto?"
There was a pause before he answered. "Okay." He said simply. Serenity smiled, a genuine one this time. Seto smiled slightly back and opened the book again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Um…Ryou?" Rei asked.
Yami Bakura didn't answer, but instead simply stared. 'Could it be…? No, that's not possible.' Shoving away his thoughts, he smirked.
Rei frowned. "You're not Ryou…are you?"
"How observant." Bakura commented sarcastically.
Rei's scowl deepened. That wasn't Ryou's voice. She then remembered the worried look Ryou sometimes had when he thought that no one was looking and how he had been nervous about showing her his artifact.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "Where's Ryou?"
"I am not about to tell you that and Ryou is safe." The other answered. "That is all that you need to know."
Rei swallowed. "Fine, if you can't tell me who you are, can you…can you bring back Ryou?"
Yami Bakura was quiet for a long time, staring hard at Rei. His expression was un-readable.
"Who are you?" he finally asked. Rei blinked.
"Well, if you won't tell me who you are, I most certainly not going to tell you who I am." She said, standing stiffly and looking rather angry. Yami Bakura gave a quiet exclamation in Egyptian, then lunged forward and grabbed her jaw tightly. He pulled it closer to his, and looked at her even harder than he had before.
'It is.' He thought in a stunned manner. Rei stared back at him, in too much of shock to ask what he thought he was doing. Her cheeks began to blaze red and her eyes darkened. This guy was too close for comfort.
SMACK! The sound of her open palm connecting with his cheek echoed noisily though the quiet neighborhood they were in. Yami Bakura's head and body almost turned with the blow and he lost his grip. Rei was breathing hard, face red and looking out-raged.
"Keep your hands to yourself, who ever you are." She said coldly, then turned and ran, her heart pounding inside. Yami Bakura just stood there, hand over his cheek, more surprised than he had been in over a millennia. His brown eyes stayed on her fleeing figure and he didn't move for a long time, even after she had faded from view.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Isis was busy looking through some things in the tiny office she had at the museum. Her mind really wasn't on the work though. She was wondering about Shadi and slowly, the paper she had been holding dropped to the desk.
They'd been so close last night. Isis rested her chin in her hand. 'I can't seem to get anywhere.' she thought. 'I wish…' her thought trailed off and she realized with a bit of perturbed surprise that she didn't know what she wished. Had she wanted him to go through with it and kiss her? She wasn't sure. She wasn't sure of anything anymore.
In frustration, she threw her pen on the desk and slumped back in her chair. She was totally losing it. Isis usually had everything together; she had had to be that way. For Malik's sake. There were times when he frightened her, though more recently, his antics had more exasperated than worried her. She supposed she was getting used to them.
And she was responsible not only for the Pharaoh's memories, but also for the position her family held. That responsibility was a rather heavy one sometimes and it was a lonely one as well.
'Shadi's a guardian too. I wonder if he ever feels this way.' she smiled a little. 'Weary? Maybe sometimes. Lonely? Not a chance with Ankh and Scales.'
Looking up at the clock, she saw it was five thirty. Not time to close up, but she could get away with closing early.
The young woman was soon on her way home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"He is." Ankh grinned.
"Is what?" Scales asked irritably.
"Shadi's in love!" Ankh practically danced around the room. Scales stared at him blankly, then muttered, "Idiot."
"No, really!" Ankh said. "Otherwise he wouldn't be so agitated."
"Being agitated is proof of love?" Scales asked skeptically.
"Yes!" Ankh exclaimed, then paused. "I think."
"You think? You wanna know what I think?" Scales asked. "I think you're-"
"Scales, Ankh?" Isis knocked on the door.
"Go away!" Scales shouted at the same time Ankh shouted, "Yes?"
"Can I come in?"
"Yes." Ankh said, over Scales' shout of, "No!"
The Egyptian girl poked her head in. "I just wanted to know if either of you knew where Shadi was?"
"He's not in the apartment?" Ankh asked.
"No."
"Oh." Ankh looked at his friend. "I don't know where he is."
"Don't look at me." Scales crossed his arms. Isis sighed and nodded.
"Okay. Thanks anyway."
"Hmm. I wonder where he could be?" Ankh wondered.
"Forget it. That son of a camel should be able to handle himself." Scales said, though he was privately irked at not being notified that Shadi had left. He was rather sick of being in the Ishtar apartment and would have welcomed a chance to get out.
"I guess you're right." Ankh agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That night, Ryou sat alone in his living room. He had tried to talk to his Yami, but the spirit refused to communicate with him. Gingerly, the boy brought up his hand to his cheek which was now bruised. Rei had hit him hard and Ryou worried about what his Yami had done to her.
There was a knock on the door and Ryou opened it, to find Yugi.
"Hi!" the boy said cheerfully, holding up a bag. "I brought you some cookies my mom and I made."
Ryou smiled and invited Yugi in, since the shorter boy looked cold.
"What happened?" Yugi asked, once he was seated in the living room. Ryou looked at him. Concern was in Yugi's huge eyes and his mouth had a serious twist to it that meant he was going to stay until Ryou told him how he had gotten the bruise.
"A girl hit me." He said. "Actually, she hit my Yami."
"Oh."
There was a pause.
"I don't know what to do." Ryou whispered. Yugi cocked his head. Ryou glanced at him.
"I…there's a girl at school. Her name is Rei Yukimona."
"I know her!" Yugi said.
"You do?"
"Yeah, she comes into the Game Shop every so often and sometimes I see her going into Duke's too."
There was a silence.
"She's the one that hit you…uh, your Yami?" Yugi asked. Ryou nodded.
"Why?"
"I don't know." Ryou said. "I suppose I should find out."
"That might be good."
Ryou stared at his friend in some surprise and a slight smile came to his lips. "I think your Yami's sarcasm is getting to you."
Yugi shrugged. "What are you going to do?"
Ryou sighed. "I don't know. I don't know anything." He rested his head in his hands.
Yugi nodded, then bit the inside of his cheek. He felt a little helpless. Ryou obviously wanted advice, but he couldn't think of anything to say.
"I don't know what to do either." He finally admitted. Ryou nodded.
"I'll just try to talk to her I guess." The white haired boy said with a slight tremble in his voice. "If he did hurt her, I can't let that happen again."
Yugi looked at him with sympathy; he knew that Ryou obviously cared for this girl.
"You're going to drive her away?" Yugi asked softly.
"I don't know what else to do."
Yugi looked down. /Yami, what can I tell him?/
\I think he's giving up to easily.\ Yami said.
/…That doesn't exactly help me out./
Yami sighed. \I know about as much you two do.\
Yugi sighed audibly.
"What did he say?" Ryou asked softly.
"He knows about as much as we do, but thinks you shouldn't give up so easily." Yugi looked up. "Maybe he's right, Ryou. How well do you know Rei?"
"Not very well, I guess. But…" Ryou was silent then spoke again. "Have you ever met somebody and just…clicked with them? Like you almost understand them, but you don't because you don't know them that well. It's more like you feel comfortable…wait that's not right. You do feel comfortable, in the sense that you feel they understand you and…Your minds almost run the same way. Do you understand?"
"I know exactly." Yugi smiled wryly. "But, what was your first impression of her?"
"She's strong. Very strong." Ryou said quietly.
"Okay. Then don't you think you're selling her a little short?"
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe Rei would rather not be protected." Yugi said slowly. "I know that Tea wouldn't want to be. Tea's stuck by me no matter what, even before Tristan and Joey came along. Even if life got dangerous, which is seems to be recently, she wouldn't want me to leave her behind, even if I was concerned about her. If Rei's strong too, she might be the sort of person who prefers to fight back." Yugi made a face and scratched his head. "Did that make sense?"
"No, not really."
Yugi sighed again and Ryou let out a small laugh.
"I think I get what you are saying though." Ryou admitted. "And I guess you might be right. Thanks."
Yugi smiled, a little weakly. "Hey, what are friends for?"
Ryou smiled back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Beat you again." Duke grinned. Joey glared at him.
"Best out of five."
"Joey." Mai rolled her eyes and smacked his arm. "Come on, let's go."
"Fine." Joey said. Duke's grin got wider.
"She sure has you trained." He muttered to the blonde. Joey glared.
"If you weren't helping me out…" he didn't finish his sentence. Duke just looked smug and unfazed.
A few minutes later, Joey and Mai were out, walking among the snow. Joey was quiet, looking down at the snow covered ground. Mai slipped her arm through his.
"What's up?"
"Hm?" Joey looked at her.
"What's wrong?" Mai asked. "You haven't said a word since we left Duke's. Losing to him can't be that bad."
"That wasn't it." Joey said.
"Oh?"
Joey stopped and looked at her for a long time.
"What?" Mai said. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"It's…your so beautiful."
"I know." Mai winked at him and he laughed.
"I thought you'd say that." He admitted, then his face got softer.
"You know I love you, right?"
"Never doubted it." Mai said quietly, then a mischievous light came into her eyes. "I have doubted your sanity sometimes."
Joey snorted while she laughed. They began to walk again, arm in arm, Mai chatting. Joey smiled to himself. Life couldn't get better than it was at this moment, he decided. With Mai beside him like this, he felt as if nothing would ever bother him again. Then his mind flashed to Serenity in the hospital room. A guilty feeling swept over him. He shouldn't have stormed out on her like that.
"Joey?"
"Hm?"
"Thinking about me again?" Mai teased lightly.
"Yes and no. I was thinking about my sister." He admitted. "I…we had an argument. I should probably go apologize to her tomorrow."
Mai was silent. She didn't have siblings and didn't have much experience in reconciliation. Instead she just squeezed his hand slightly to show him that she understood. Joey sighed.
"Okay, I guess I should get ya home, Ms. Valentine." His brown eyes sparkled merrily. "If you'll let me accompany you."
"It would be a pleasure." Mai smiled, the merry light mirrored in her own eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yugi stared shyly at Tea's house. /Remind me why we are here again./ he said to Yami.
\I thought we were talking to Tea.\ the spirit said.
/About what?/
\Whatever it is that you two talk about.\ Yami stated. \How should I know? You know her.\
/Maybe, but…/ Yugi squirmed a little.
\You could tell her you love her.\ suggested Yami. Yugi went red.
/Isn't it a little soon for that?/
\I don't know. But you do and you know it.\ The spirit said. Yugi sighed.
/It's not that sim-/
\Say it again and I'll…\
/You'll what?/ Yugi grinned.
\I'll think of something that isn't too damaging.\ Yami finished.
/…/
\What?\
/…You have the weirdest threats./
\Thank you.\ Yami said, then did a double take. \Was that sincere?\
"Yugi?"
The boy jumped and turned. Tea stood there, a dress bag looped over an arm and another bag in her hand.
"Hi." He said softly. She smiled.
"Hi. What are you doing here so late?"
"Um…I don't know actually." Yugi admitted. "Yami….never mind."
"Right." Tea started walking. "You want to come in?"
"Sure!"
"I bought my dress today. Gosh, I forgot how hard it is to shop for something." Tea said. She continued to chat with Yugi and he with her as they entered. And somewhere between his smiles, nods and replies, something occurred to the tiny duelist.
/Hey Yami, I just realized something./
\What is it, aibou?\
/She knows./
Yami blinked. \Pardon?\
Yugi smiled. /She knows./
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
"I wish you didn't have to go." Serenity said softly. Seto pulled on his trench coat.
"My brother needs me at home." He said, then stopped and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll be here tomorrow."
"I know." Serenity lifted her face up, even though she couldn't see him, and smiled. "You're the high light of my day recently. Thank you."
Seto nodded, not trusting his voice. Hesitantly, he bent down and gave her a light kiss on the cheek.
"Tomorrow then." He whispered, then left quickly before anything else could be said. Serenity smiled and lifted her hand to her cheek, her face becoming pink.
"Tommorrow." She said softly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Isis was seated on the floor, teaching Ankh and Scales how to play Monopoly. Shadi was watching them from his seat on the couch. He was supposed to be reading, but found his eyes straying more than once to Isis' slender frame.
Feeling as if his cheeks were burning, Shadi snatched his eyes back to his book. It was a good thing that Isis' back was to him; otherwise she surely would have seen his glances. He couldn't help himself; her posture, so graceful even when seated, captivated him.
'Stop it.' He sternly ordered his mind. 'You are becoming as bad as a youth with his first crush.'
Ankh glanced over at their master and noted the determined way Shadi glared at the pages. The spirit smiled to himself. Shadi hadn't turned a page for a long while. Ankh watched with concealed hopefulness and glee as he noted Shadi's gaze settling on Isis again, as she was explaining to Scales why she had to be the 'banker.'
"Ankh, pick out a piece." Isis' cool voice brought him back and he hastily rummaged through some metal figures. Shadi abruptly got up and left the room. Isis watched him go, and something like disappointment flashed through her blue eyes.
'Something has to be done.' Ankh thought determinedly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi everyone! Um…I guess I'm kinda sorry about the Rei/Ryou focus lately. I really will focus more on the others! I just wanted to set them up for something later. But you guys got a looong chapter! (Does anybody mind my OC's btw? Plz tell me!)
Indigo – Glad you liked it! I always look forward to your reviews! Lol, yeah, the apartment burning down would have been a problem…
Dr. Vorlon – Thanx! Yep, I am going to continue this. ^__^
ShadowDragon – Cool! My first threat!! I tried, I really did! More to come, I promise.
SilverShadow – I'm honored by your response. Here *hands SilverShadow a tissue* I'd give you Shadi, but I don't own him. Sorry. (Thanks for the cool pic, btw.)
Amberliz – Glad you like! Hee, hee, glad you like the Tristan pics too. (I was looking at the one pic and you're right; he looks really good toting a gun. I should find a pic of when he's dressed as the cyber commando; I think you'd like it. ^__^)
DDW – Great! Okies, thanx for the encouragement. Um, no, Katya, Tara and Rei are not real people. Their creators are me and my dear friends, Iris Omega and Amberliz. Iris is on this site, but not Amberliz. Tara and Katya, however, somehow managed to resemble them both closely, which is a little scary. Tara is blonde, friendly and a coffee-adict like Iris and Katya is hyper, slightly ditzy and energetic like Amber. O.O Rei….she's not a thing like me…I think…*shrugs*
Anonymous – Thanx! No, the ad blocker is free.
Anime*Angel*Fox – You're welcome. I loved your style; it was so funny! Here are some more: bakayaro (really nasty name), gaki (brat), and I think gaiju might be monster. I can't remember…X__X Oooh, thanx! I like to keep all the charas pretty much IC, but sometimes it's a little difficult…
BBHH/Helen Hsu – Eh…sorry about that. Like I said before, I'm trying to set them up for something later. Yami Bakura is going to be an active character from now on. And we will be seeing a lot more of the other characters.
Jellybob15 – Really? I'll have to check 'em out. Hope you like the chapter!
Yami Nikki – LOL!! Are those some of your friends? Or do you just have needs-to-be-punished-a-LOT muses like me? Aww, I hope you feel better soon! Sore throats are no fun at all! Umm, Weevil looking cute…O.O sorry, can't see it…Haven't seen the other two yet.
