Title/Author/Summary/Disclaimer:  These can be found in chapter one. Except let me add that I DO NOT OWN Yugi Moto OR the anime Yu-Gi-Oh!. (Nor do I really wish that I did…)

Other note: *        *        * if you didn't already guess, means meanwhile, *        *        *       * mean later. Alrighty then, here is chapter five…

Chapter Six:  Reactions

            Kumiko woke up at the sound of Midori screaming on the bed beside her spot on the floor. She was slightly aghast when the first thing she saw was Duo standing above her, trying to comfort her shaken comrade. And the sound of graceful footsteps running up the stairs told her that Trowa would be joining them soon.

            "It's okay Midori, calm down, Hun. No one's been shot… We'll get this mess fixed. Quatre will pay for it, so your parents will never know…" Duo tried with a comforting smile tugging at the corners of his lips, "That bullet wasn't even close to your… HOLY SHIT!?! That was kinda close to your head wasn't it? Wow! Kumiko look. Your friend sure is lucky, if her head was a centimeter over to the ri-…"

            "DUO!" Kumiko scolded, and by this time Midori had burst into sobs, and Kumiko added through gritted teeth, " I really don't think you're helping…"

            "I don't think so either." Trowa's voice came from the doorway, where he now stood, "May I?" he asked quietly as he advanced towards the bed.

            "Go right ahead," Duo replied as he stepped away from the crying girl and allowed Trowa to take his place. Trowa hugged the traumatized youth. He said nothing, but his presence seemed to calm her down. Kumiko tried to remember what it felt like to be that innocent and shielded from the world filled with death. How many people have died before her and by her gun?

            Before she really had time to ponder the idea, Duo interrupted her thoughts with his usual lopsided grin as he muttered happily, "Babe, aren't they the cutest sight you've ever seen?" Instead of answering him directly, her fingers laced his, and she silently led him out of the room.

*        *        *

            Yugi sat up in his sleeping bag, looking uglier that death, purple hair all over his face, and asked in a worrisome voice, "What was that?" However, his question went unnoticed as Gin began her explanation.

            "I-uh-It's…" She stuttered in a very unprofessional way, while racking her brain for an answer. Gin was known for her silver tongue, that spilled lies far more often than truths, but that practiced ability was forgotten when it came to lying to Nari. For some reason, her loudmouthed friend was the only person she was unable to tell the smallest fib. And when the rare occasion came where she could, Nari always saw right through her. Though she felt fate must have been playing on her side, because Heero responded to the pleading glance she had secretly sent him. Gin had been praying that he would come to her rescue.

            "It's hers." Heero said; voice filled with emptiness. Gin was so angry at that moment that she considered shooting off another bullet in his direction, particularly in the stomach area, however she did not let it show.

            Nari glared at him skeptically for a moment before asking her next question almost sarcastically, "Why do you have a gun?" It was as though she knew that he would answer for her.

            "For protection… Her mother makes her carry it, she's really paranoid…"

            "Like someone else I know…" Gin muttered under her breath, she was still seething. 'My mother?!? My mother my foot… I don't even remember her. There are reasons why I go to boarding school you twit… I can't believe I was worried about him… He doesn't even lie properly.' She thought wrathfully.

            Heero pretended as if he hadn't heard her comment, but they both knew he had. He continued with his lie anyway, "Mrs. Sachi watches too many TV movies. Gin mentioned it once and I was curious, so I asked her to show it to me. I have an interest in those sorts of things… That's why she had her gun out when you attacked her."

            Nari glared at him for a moment, he returned it, and when she saw no hope in winning that competition she turned to Gin. Gin was sure that she doubted that any part of Heero's story was factual, but wasn't going to mention it again. Heero alternatively was trying to count how many insane people he had met in the past twenty four hours, and how they were all linked to Gin, who he decided was a slightly suspicious character and probably the least mentally stable of them all…Though after a few more seconds of silence, it seemed as though Nari remembered her short purple haired friend as she stood up and rushed to his side.

            "Yugi you missed it!" Nari said excitedly then paused. Yugi just sat there quietly awaiting an explanation, "Quatre was making breakfast, and I never thought it was possible to burn that many pancakes at once. It was amazing. I'm sure he broke a record! And you should have seen all the oven mitts he burnt! I was going to wake you up, but I wanted to let you sleep…"

            "Is that all? It thought I heard a gun, and wasn't that Midori screaming?" Yugi asked with an eyebrow arched.

            "Oh, that. Gin just shot off her gun through the ceiling into Midori's room… Nothing big."

A/N: I know this is a short chapter, but the last one was so long… So you don't mind do you? Oh well, it's better than nothing. And I would like to think of this chapter as being slightly deeper than the other… You know with Kumiko's reflection and all… Thanks to all my reviewers. You guys rock. Especially Mist and Fyre-Faerie-Gyrl for being my betas… Remember to read the story I co-write with Fyre-Faerie-Gyrl, Kasei, Force of Flames. There's a link to it on my Bio.