DISCLAIMER: I own nothing! *runs and hides*
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"Yeah, see you!"

Little Yugi almost skipped up to his friend's dorm as he waved back to the ever-smiling Tea with an expression that plainly showed; "trademark ecstatic". All of his female classmates loved his nearly closed eyes, and wide smile with Tea as no exception. He knew this well, after being her friend for five years it was somewhat impossible not to notice her ridiculous obsession with everything "kawaii", as did the girl herself.

He was a queer sight for his age, oddly short but with such an acrobatic and energetic disposition that many who never knew him would second-guess his first impression of age. His hair was a wild porcupine of magenta, black and gold that seemed to defy gravity and all natural forces of Samia. The blue outfit in which he wore cautiously, was common around the campus in which he resided, only because it was a strict uniform that many other boys his age GREATLY disapproved of. Tea wore a little play on the style, a skirt and bow around her neck of the same cheery color, but a pink overcoat that automatically put an end to any doubts of ~her~ gender.

Where Yugi was cute, his best friend was rather plain in appearance. She had a typical brunette mane, cut almost embarrassingly short for a female of her position, but her wide and clear eyes seemed to make up for any informality. Though she was by no means ~beautiful~, Yugi had long since developed a small crush on her, but it was probably just a teen fantasy that would disappear tomorrow . . .

Or at least, that's what he had been telling himself for the past four years.

She rolled her eyes in fake disapproval at him playing at her weaknesses (but with a small smile still playing about her face), and he giggled.

"Oh wait! Yugi!" he turned automatically to see her dash easily to him "Do you think you can come to Dueling tonight? Madame Ara told me the arenas were going to be open after school."

"Really?" Even his wild hairdo seemed to peak up in interest.

"Same time, same place." She confirmed with a nod "Apparently, the Madame already cleaned up that mess from last month. We're really fortunate, with the mid-term exams next week and all."

"That's fantastic." He was relieved, and it showed plainly in his sighing tone. Yugi was the worst at taking practical exams, which was a shame because of natural talent he often showed when not under pressure. He supposed it wasn't too bad, not nearly as horrible as say

"Joey. I should probably tell him about open hall." Tea raised her eyebrows "He said he would come this time to study! He said he NEEDED it!" Yugi defended.

"I'll believe ~that~ when I see it. Oh well, invite away I suppose. I should probably stop by Tristan's place and inform him of the situation." She smiled, while moving slowly to make lax hints of leaving.

"Great. I'll tell Ryou too! We haven't practiced with a Windy in a while."

"Okay, see you there, Yugi Muto!"

"Bye . . . again." They giggled and Tea even added a good-natured wink as they finally split to their separate ways. Yugi was practically bouncing with excitement, as he happened to be one of the few (and the proud) who absolutely ~loved~ to duel. But it was hardly surprising, because he had grown up with the idea for so long.

And thanks to North Samia's Academy of Magic, he had the opportunity to learn to succeed in his dream.

It was the top magic school in the entire New World of Samia, located in lush surroundings of ancient conifer trees, and hidden springs. The school itself had been built many generations ago, therefore adopting very powerful-looking structures that even dominated the naturally overwhelming vegetation.

There were five wings to the campus; dormitories, cafeterias, quad, offices, and classrooms.

The dorms were the largest wing, housing over a thousand students all- together. They were split into the girls, and boys sections, to keep as little attention drawn from the students' studies. Yugi personally doubted that particular notion, because of the short skirts every girl was required to sport, but the true intention was only guessable, never certain, because the school was built so many years ago.

The few teachers that didn't choose to reside in the offices, were charged with precarious job of keeping the students in line . . . or at least fulfill the duty as well as possible. Young mages seemed to have particularly bold egos and daring, so it was more to keep them out of trouble. Since there were so few instructors that chose to help in that way, they each had their own work hall that were each deliberately built to house any sorts of magic.

Even on the ribbonned entrance letter, the Academy guaranteed a comfortable setting for any student. That reason alone justified the idea of giving the cafeteria its own wing, and the fact that most juveniles that attended were constantly bone-tired, plaguing their already always-empty stomachs.

The quad was normally a large empty place, supposedly reserved for special occasions. Kind of pointless, in Yugi's opinion, because all of the 'special occasions' Yugi had witnessed were held in the halls of willing instructors. But then again, the Academy was not terribly eager with parties.

And finally, the last wing was made of classrooms. Nothing really special here, just the places they ~really~ seemed to live at. They were magi- tecture ((think architecture people)) wonders in a supposed view, but somehow, students never recognized that wonder after working long and difficult hours inside of them regularly. Students often stayed as far away from the dark classrooms as much as they could.

But presently, Yugi was wandering about the dorms. The male dorms, to be exact. Comfortable, with a lazy sort of feeling to it, he was sure it was unnecessarily charmed for people to get side-tracked. He made sure his purpose of journey was on the top if his mind at all times, and he found the Brook House with relatively no trouble at all.

/Ryou wasn't in elemental study today . . . I wonder, is he sick?/ The little boy being the sweetheart he was, immediately volunteered to deliver lesson notes and homework to his quiet friend. It was strange how Ryou had such few friends, thought Yugi, he really was a nice person, if not a tad bit mysterious. Tristan had once mentioned that Ryou Bakura was just ~creepy~, but the joyful boy only shook his head. That was no reason to practically shun him!

Despite that none of his friends ~truly~ believed him in this opinion, they uncomfortably accepted Ryou into their little clique nonetheless, even with Ryou's obvious discomfort. Even if it was more of a precarious truce, that seemed to only balance delicately on a pin-head, rather than a true friendship.

Even Tristan had tried to include the boy in their everyday, and oftentimes pointless, conversations, but he seemed unnaturally disinclined to talk. Yugi often felt a suspicion tug at his heart; that Ryou knew quite well the rest didn't like him very much, and didn't want to disturb even the most ~insignificant~ slice of reality that could affect friendship . . . of others.

The spiky-haired boy felt the feeling every single time Ryou glanced at him dubiously, and ridiculously enough; apologetic. Yugi really tried though. He really tried. And he hadn't given up yet!

A few lounging boys waved just for the sake of waving, as Yugi climbed up the creaky steps to room 218. Why were steps so tall?! He took each step slowly and deliberately, so as not to trip or fall onto the weather-worn steps. That would not be good.

/All-MOST . . . there . . . /

He sighed as he reached the top; a covered outdoor corridor that twisted unpredictably. The golden numbers flashed ominously by, one by one with about every five steps. It was one of those hallways that gave off the illusion that you were walking much faster than you really were, and Yugi giggled despite the obvious gloom that hung thick around the place. That little observation was more than enough to place ~him~ in cheery spirits.

Finally, he stopped at the dead end, and turned to the one door that was the darkest, the one door that no one would have wanted to enter, judging by the appearance; the door marked neatly as '218'.

Yugi knocked on the wooden surface three times.

It took a more delayed time than was practical, but eventually a response was heard.

"Who's there?" it wasn't demanding at all, but quiet and gentle. He had to strain his ears just to make out those two words.

"Ryou?" Yugi asked, craning his neck forward to hear a resposnse.

"Yugi."

The shadows that were reflected onto the surface of the door trembled, and then shifted just a hair as the door opened to the fullest extent the safety chain allowed. The boy outside thrust his hand into his pocket, and tightened the grip around the papers he held in the other as he captured a glimpse of tidy, overcast-sky shade of thick hair. It was enough for him to be certain that this was indeed Ryou; that kind of hair was hard to imitate.

"Why are you here, Yugi?" it was the barest jest of a whisper, but Yugi supposed it was appropriate for someone who was sick enough to miss classes.

"I brought your homework!" he flashed the papers quickly in the other's sight, as well as a sincere smile "Everybody was worried. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He replied, just a bit too quickly but recovered himself with a proving cough "Just sick, that's all. Thank you for delivering my schoolwork, it was very kind of you."

"Hey, no problem!" Yugi bounced happily "Say . . . the guys say that Ara's hall is open tonight, wanna come?"

At the hesitation in reply, he added "Come on! It'll be great!"

"We'll see." Ryou smiled, despite his unknown discomfort "If I feel better, then sure." He seemed inclined to add.

"Awesome!"

Yugi handed the papers to him cheerfully, tripping over his thoughts for a split second when he felt a foreboding draft that immediately made him shiver. The thin hand that twisted out for a moment could have belonged to a corpse, it was so pale. But Ryou was always pale.

"You should stoke the fire or something. It's freezing in there! No wonder you're sick!"

"I'll be sure to keep an eye on it. See you later." He began to slowly close the door with a distinct creak.

"See you ~tonight~, right? Think positively!"

The door closed, but somehow Yugi knew Ryou was smiling behind it.
Quite the contrary.
He was relieved to see that Yugi had no intentions of hanging around, for there was a secret that was already constricting his life . . .

"Why didn't you just tell him the truth?" an icy voice asked from the shadows. It was oddly rich and commanding, a nice voice to listen to if it wasn't so weighed down with an arrogant tone.

"I couldn't," Ryou's throat seemed to swell painfully as he tried to avoid eye contact with the other. "He shouldn't get mixed up in all of this--"

"He already has." The voice rudely interrupted, as the thing twisted a fork in his fingers "As have you, but you would be even more foolish than I gave you credit for if you didn't know ~that~. You probably would have been doing him a favor if you had brought the situation to his attention."

"Well what was I supposed to say?!" the normally calm boy was losing it, and he knew it "That I happen to be hiding a ~necromancer~ in my dorm?!"

He winced as the fork flashed by him and stuck into the bit of bare wall to the right of his face.

"Don't whine," it hissed "I've heard enough whining already, boy!"

Ryou began to tremble at the seemingly infinite silence, but he knew not if the source of the voice was still lurking in front of him, for he couldn't stand to raise his pale face. His dead-eyes remained stationary.

Needless to say, he waited there for a very long time.

The bony and nearly surreally twisted fingers of his eventually found themselves brushing the golden collar around his neck that most certainly hadn't been there for long. A very curious design was all that sparkled upon it's smooth surface (which was also devoid of any locks or hinges); a strange eye surrounded by a perfect circle.

This was a collar of binding and restraint, and nothing of it's nature had been seen in a VERY long time. Perhaps the last time something like it had been spotted, was in the Old World of Samia; so long ago, no one remembered.

/Please Yugi,/ Ryou thought desperately /~don't~ come back./
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. . . Kinda weird, isn't it? I was inspired by a few other YGO fanfics, and "Arrows of the Queen" by Mercedes Lackey, but I can assure you of adding other quirks in the text to make it VERY giggleplex. I'm sorry faithful readers about not getting up another chapter of "The Sanctuary", and I dearly hope you will accept this as a humble apology.

*bows to wonderful reviewers*

Now if it's not TOO much trouble, you don't know how gratified I will be if you (yes YOU) review. It doesn't even have to be a PLEASANT review, just as long as a specific point is valid. Constructive criticism makes my day, I can assure you ^^

Of course that doesn't mean that nice reviews are bad either ^_~

I'm terribly sorry about some really bizarre grammar that's enclosed within this chappie as well; another casualty of staying up late to write (kids, don't try that at home). I really need to get into a better habit regarding my fanfiction . . .

'Till next time, my pretties! *cackles*

giggleplex
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I think you guys get the idea . . . yes, I could be considered obsessed. ^^