"Who…?" started Honda, and then they all saw the neat, flowing signature at the very bottom.

Isis Ishtar

Yuugi's hands were suddenly shaking. His eyes seemed barely to see the words as he read the brief letter.

"Well?" asked Anzu, who had at least enough manners not to read Yuugi's mail over his shoulder.

"She…she says she might be coming back-"

"That's wonderful! Then, Malik-"

"In ten years."

"Oh."

Yuugi scanned the rest. "She wants me to write back! I'll be able to tell her about Malik, then!"

"Wha' 'bou' me?" came a muffled voice from the back of the store.

They looked up to see the youngster walk in with a cookie in his mouth, two in his right hand and the whole jar in his left.

"Hey!" shouted Jounouchi. "No fair! I want cookies too!"

"Mine," stated Malik. At that, the cookie in his mouth nearly tumbled to the floor; he talked no more for a while.

"Please?"

Malik glared and chewed at the same time.

"Malik," ordered Yuugi, "put those back this instant. You'll ruin your dinner."

The child saluted sharply with two cookies still in his hand and marched out of the room. They watched him go, and then everyone except Yuugi burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"You…" Anzu took a deep breath to calm herself, "you sound just like a dad, Yuugi. I think having a little kid around is doing you good."

"Naw," said Jounouchi. "He sounds like a mom!"

"Hey!"

/Nice going, Aibou!/ came a voice from within.

\You stay out of this!\ snapped Yuugi inwardly.

"So what were we talking about?" asked Honda.

Jounouchi pointed to the letter.

"That's right. Um…return address. There has to be one on here if she requested I write back." He looked at the envelope. Aside from the stamp and his address, there was no other mark. He looked at both sides of the letter paper and the inside of the envelope. "No…no…I don't believe this…" He slid to his knees with a sigh of despair.

"What is it?"

"She…she forgot to put a return address… I must have been an awful brat when I was little to deserve this."

"You mean, when you were littler," put in Jounouchi with a teasing grin.

"Hey!" protested Yuugi. "I hit 4'6" last month."

"I rest my case."

Soft footsteps entering the room made everyone look up. Stepping furtively past the older kids, Malik attempted to sneak the cookie jar into the room he shared with Yuugi. He stopped abruptly as all eyes came to rest on him. He stood frozen for a moment, and then suddenly turned he back to them. "I can't see you; you can't see me. I can't see you; you can't see me," he murmured softly like a chanted charm.

Joey and Honda stifled their laughter, and Anzu rolled her eyes. Yuugi, however, transformed quickly into Yami. "The pharaoh sees all, Malik," he said sternly, though his eyes laughed. "Now put those back before you spoil your appetite."

"Aww…" But Malik obeyed.

\I must be rubbing off on you, Yami.\

/What? Did I…augh, I did tell him not to ruin his dinner. You'll be the death of my royal dignity, Aibou/

\It'll do you good.\

A little later, Malik walked out of the kitchen. "You know what else we learned today?"

"No," said Yuugi putting the letter in his pocket. "What did you learn?"

"We learned a new game."

"Okay…"

"It's called hide and seek."

"I loved that game in kindergarten," mused Jounouchi. "It came in handy when I was in trouble."

"You know how to play?" asked Malik delightedly. "Then you can't be that bad after all."

"Thanks, kid."

"Do you know how to play, Uncle Honda?"

"Uncle…Honda…?"

"Yeah! Do you?"

"Um…yeah…"

"Good! Let's try! Who wants to be the looker?"

"Yuugi!" volunteered Jounouchi.

"Me?"

"Kay! Count to six million three hundred ninety-two thousand seven hundred and eleven!"

"N…nani?"

"Or twenty if you really don't want to count that high."

"Okay."

"Good. Are you playing too, Auntie Anzu?"

"Um…if everyone else is, I guess…"

"Yay! Start counting, Uncle Yuugi!"

Yuugi obliged, wondering the whole time how he had allowed himself to be talked into this. By the time he finished, the house was silent except for his own voice counting quietly. As soon as he finished, he began to search, trying for the likeliest places first. He found Jounouchi first, lying contentedly in the space between the couch and the floor. He was reading an old duel monsters magazine that Yuugi had forgotten a long time ago.

"Wow, this is old, Yuugi! It's talking about some young guy named Seto Kaiba who looks like he has promise at dueling."

Yuugi laughed. "Really? I should clean under there more often."

"No kidding," Jounouchi said, giving a small sneeze. "We can vacuum later."

Anzu was next, sitting on a windowsill with the drapes pulled shut in front of her. Then they found Honda crouched in a space between a bookshelf and the wall. "I don't believe the things we do for this kid," he muttered, stretching himself out. "I'll get rheumatism before my time we have to play much more of this."

"No kidding," said Anzu.

"We still have to find Malik."

They spent the next ten minutes in fruitless searching. "That little guy is good!" exclaimed Jounouchi after combing the house for the third time.

"No kidding!" said Anzu. "He is the smallest of us all, you know."

"Not by much," grinned Honda, looking pointedly at Yuugi.

Yuugi ignored the comment and sat thinking. "Where would he be hiding?"

Sudden footsteps answered their questions. Malik ran into the room and rushed over to Yuugi. He threw his arms around the older boy and clung there, trembling. "What's the matter?" asked Anzu.

Malik's eyes were wide. "The cupboard I was hiding in is on fire."