Riiiiiiing!
"Ugh...."
Riiing! Riiiiing!
Slowly the small boy rolled out of bed and reached for the phone. His hand hit clothes, books and various writing utensils...but no phone.
"Where is it?" he grumbled, angry at the intrusion of his sleep.
//By your desk.// a sleepy voice said.
Riiiiiiing!
/Thanks Yami./
"Hello?" he asked blearily as he pulled the phone to him.
"Yugi? Get out of bed!" It was Tristan and he sounded very loud and very awake.
"Why? It's Saturday. I want to-"
"Yugi!" Tristan shouted into the phone. The smaller boy held the phone a few feet away from his ear. "Joey never went home last night!"
The Keeper of the Millenium Puzzle snapped the phone back to his ear quickly. "What?"
//Yugi? What is is?//
/Hold on./
"He's not here, he's not at Téa's, he's not at his house and by the sound of your voice, he's obviously not there!"
"Then where is he?"
"I don't know!" Tristan sighed frusterated. "But we have to find him."
"Right. I'll be over in a sec, okay?"
"No," Tristan began to pace, pressing the phone tightly to his ear. "Téa's going to check Mai's. I'm going to get in touch with Bakura. You go to the hospital alright? He might have visited Kaiba."
Yugi began to pull a pair of pants on. "Right. The hospital. I'll call you later." Quickly he hung up the phone and pulled a black shirt on.
//What's wrong?//
/Joey's missing!/
***
"Mai?" Téa pounded on the door loudly. Finally, after a few minutes, the door swung open to reveal a dishevled looking Mai. Her blonde hair was knotted and her bath robe was hanging off of one shoulder.
"Téa?" the girl groaned. "What are you doing here? What time is it? What day is it?"
"Mai," the brown haired girl said hurridly, "Did you see Joey yesterday?"
"Joey? No...why-"
But Téa was already racing down the stairs of the apartment building. "Thanks Mai! Everyone says 'hi'!"
Blinking slowly the blonde woman turned slowly and walked back into her apartment scratching the back of her head in confusion.
***
"Hey Ryou!" he called pounding on the door for the third time.
The door opened to reveal the timid Keeper of the Millenium Ring. He smiled though when he saw Tristan. "Hello," he said softly. "Sorry, I thought you were Marik. Would you like to come in?"
The brown haired boy peered in to see Bakura laying passed out on the couch, a can of beer laying spilled on the table. Another body was passed out on the floor, one that Tristan didn't recognize.
"Oh," Ryou blushed. "Bakura and Rashid had a party last night. They didn't come out on the better end of it, so to speak." Ryou chuckled softly.
"I'll stay out here," he replied as Bakura groaned and rolled over. "But I was wondering if you had seen Joey lately."
"Well, yes," the soft spoken boy murmured. "Last night, at the hosptal. He seemed really upset by something. He wouldn't say what though....why?"
"He's missing," Tristan said.
"Oh no..." Ryou's brown eyes turned troubled. "Well...I'll come help in about an hour, alright? I need to get Rashid off of my rug and out of my door, but I'll meet you at the hospital as soon as I can, alright?"
Tristan nodded. "Thank, Ryou. I'll see you in an hour."
Ryou sighed and closed the door. Bakura cracked and eye open as his hikari walked by. "What did the dork want?" he asked using his nickname for Tristan. Téa was 'the fiend', Joey was 'the punk', Yugi was 'the Pharoh's pet' and Yami was 'the bakayaro'.
Ryou turned and studied his darker half for a moment. He was sprawled across the couch, his skinny legs propped up on the arm of the couch. His dark brown eyes were staring up at Ryou. The Yami shifted uncomfortablely under his hikari's scrutinizing gaze causing a bit of his stomach to show. The lighter boy shivered slightly.
"Nothing..." he whispered. "Nothing at all..."
***
"Kaiba?" Yugi poked his head quietly in the door to see the older duelist curled up with his little brother. As soon as the door opened though, Kaiba's eyes were open and on the smaller boy.
"Hello Yugi," Kaiba said.
"Kaiba," Yugi replied urgently. "Have you seen Joey today?"
Confusion washed over the Champion's face. "No. No not since last night." /I think..../ "Why?"
"Well..." Yugi looked down at the floor. "We can't find him."
"Can't find him?"
"He's gone."
Kaiba looked down at his sheets. "Yugi?" he asked softly. "Before...when Joey said 'for you'...what did he mean? Why did he say that?"
"You really don't remember?" Yugi asked. "Well...I'm sorry Kaiba but that is for Joey to tell you. It's not my place." He turned and began to walk away, trying to think of where else Joey could possibly be. He was stopped, although by Kaiba's deep voice, speaking softly as to not wake his brother.
"Yugi...find him."
***
"Tristan!"
"Hey Ryou!"
"Any luck?"
"No...none at all..."
The two boys sat down on a bench and waited for Yuig and Téa to show up. Tristan counted the ceiling tiles while Ryou stared at the ground desperately wanting to be anywhere but there.
"Hey Ryou! Tristan!" The two turned and stood to see Yugi and Téa running towards them. "Did you find anything?"
"He's not at the club," Ryou said.
"Kaiba hasn't seen him," Yugi supplied.
"He's not at Mai's," Téa offered.
"And he's not anywhere in this hospital," Tristan granted.
"And..." Téa paused. "Serenity hasn't heard from him."
"What does that leave us with?"
Tristan sat down on the bench and pushed his face into his hands in order to hide his teary eyes from the others. "Nothing. That leaves us absolutely nothing..."
"We have to keep looking!" Téa cried desperately.
"It's hopeless.." Tristan muttered glancing at the clock. It was about 7:20 am and he was tired. "There's no where else..."
"Wait!" Yugi's eyes lit up with excitement. "Maybe there is!"
***
A/N: Hey you guys, hope you are enjoying this so far. Again I send out the plea for knowledge: Does anyone know how the High Priest Seto of Egypt died?