Chapter 4: 

Scars of the Past

"Hey! Watch it buddy!" Téa felt herself being shoved right into Bakura as a shopper rushed by with tons of packages in his hands. She felt herself stiffen when a firm hand caught her arm and steadied her. She glanced up and saw Bakura looking straight ahead with unblinking eyes. "Thanks…" She mumbled as she wrenched her arm free of his grasp. She tightened the grip on her purse strap as she regained her composure. "This is worse the Christmas rush, eh, Yugi?" She called out to her friend who was further up ahead of them.

Yugi turned and nodded. "No kidding! It seems like something big is going down right now. I wonder what it could be?"

Téa sighed and began to fiddle with her purse strap. In a mall this packed, her purse wasn't safe at all. Not to mention, she had tons of cash her mother had given her, so she could pick up some groceries on the way home that night. "Well, if we're going to get the clothing now, we should take the escalator up to the second floor." She pointed to the moving stairs coming into view in front of them.

Yugi led them up the small escalator and as the rode up; he noticed a familiar face at the top, sitting on a bench with his head resting on his hands. "Hey, Joey!" Yugi waved as he ran toward his friend. "What's up?"

Joey looked up at the tri-coloured haired boy and then down toward the floor. He sighed heavily. "Hey, Yug…"

"Whoa…what's got you so down?" Yugi asked, placing his hand on Joey's shoulder.

Joey pointed to a tall figure at a women's clothing shop. She was arguing with a cashier. Her long ash blonde hair and violet eyes were a dead give away to who she was. "Mai wanted me to go shopping with her. Kind of an 'I owe you' for her helping me with my drivers license last week. I'm doomed, man!"

Yugi laughed. If there was one thing he knew about Mai Valentine, was that she was a one hundred percent shopaholic.

Joey noticed Yami and Bakura and frowned. "So what brings you guys here?"

Yugi sweat-dropped and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Um, just shopping for new clothing for them." He jerked his head to the side, pointing toward the former spirits.

Joey laughed. "Good luck. And if I survive her first round of shopping, I might join you guys later. That is … if there is a later …" His eyes widened in horror as Mai came out of the shop with boxes higher then her head resting in her tiny arms.

"Oh, Joseph? Could you carry these for me?"

Joey's jaw dropped.

Yugi started to laugh until Joey gave him a death glare.

"Yes, Mai. I'd be happy too." He forced a fake smile. "Ever since she returned from America, that girl has been shopping till I drop!" He groaned and pulled himself off of the bench, reaching for the items. He winced as the items were placed in his arms. "Did you … buy enough?"

Mai laughed. "You are so funny, Joey! Of course not! I still have six more stores. We'll just dump these off in my car and then head off to the lingerie store next!" She started to head toward the escalator.

Joey groaned and felt his face go bright red. "Yug! Help me man!"

Yugi shook his head while holding back laughing. "Sorry, Joey. But I have my own problems to deal with!"

Joey mumbled something about 'real friends' as he followed Mai to the escalator. "I'll get you for this Yug! I swear! Abandoning a man in is hour of need! I –

"Joey, look out!" Téa cried, covering her eyes with her hands.

"WHOA!!!"

The group watched on as Joey missed his first step and tumbled down the escalator, Mai's packages flying everywhere. He kept rolling down, knocking everyone off their feet as if they were blowing pins. Unfortunately it seems like he rolled a strike, because once he got to the bottom, there wasn't a signal person left on the moving steps. Bodies were everywhere. People were hanging from the trees and some ended up head first in the fountain.

Joey sat up rubbing is head. "Ow…that wasn't good…" He gulped as he looked up and saw all the people he had knocked over surrounding him. "Uh, hey guys …"

Mai smacked her head. "Oh, Joseph, you can't do anything right!" She walked over to him and lifted him up by his collar. "Come one, let's get this mess cleaned up before the manager kicks us out!"

Joey complied, moaning and groaning as he picked up all of Mai's scattered clothing.

Yugi fell onto the floor in a fit of giggles. Ryou stood their speechless. Yami kept shaking his head, but a large smirk was forming on his usually serious face. Bakura was laughing and holding his sides. Téa was still covering her eyes and shaking her head, much like Yami.

The group moved on after the incident at the escalator, finally arriving at the store they were looking for.

Téa smiled. "Well, let's select some clothing to try on. It's a big store, so stay close by!" She led the way into the store.

Yami and Bakura both frowned at the blaring music that was offending their ears.

"What is this?" Yami shouted as he plugged his ears with his fingers.

Téa giggled. "It's Likin' Park! And it's my favourite song too!  Crawling!" She walked over to a particularly large rack with tons of guys' shirts hanging on it. "Bakura, you're with me! Come on now!"

Bakura raised an eyebrow and looked over at Ryou.

Ryou laughed. "She means you. I'm Ryou; remember? Just be careful. Women can be dangerous when it comes to shopping."

"I heard that!" Téa shouted over the music as she began searching the rack.

Bakura was about to question her on why she wasn't afraid of him like earlier, but thought better of it. She had a slightly glazed over look in her eyes. Shopping seems to do that, so she probably forgot he was even a former crazed spirit. He walked over to where she was, mumbling something about god punishing him for his previous crimes.

Yugi grabbed Yami by the wrist and dragged him over toward a small shelf with tons of shirts folded neatly on it. "Come on, let's give them some time alone. If we want Ryou's plan to succeed, they have to be alone for it."

Yami frowned. "That's exactly what I'm worried about. I don't like this at all."

"Don't worry, Ryou's watching over them."

Ryou stayed closer by Téa then Yugi, because he knew how dangerous it was for her to be almost entirely alone with Bakura.

"What's your favourite colour?" Téa asked absentmindedly as she rummaged through the racks.

Bakura wanted to roll his eyes at her absurd question. "Black."

Téa blushed. "Oh, right." She laughed uneasily as she selected a black t-shirt with a red trimming on the sleeves and collar. "How about this?" She held it up against him, placing her hand on his chest without even realizing it. "It suits you in my opinion. Brings out your eyes."

Bakura growled at the closeness of the girl and tried to move away. "It's fine I guess." He reached for the shirt and clutched it in a claw like grip in his hand.

Téa winced slightly. "Well, we'll select about three more and then we'll find you some pants. And you could help by searching with me." She gestured toward a rack near the one she was looking at. She gasped when she felt a pair of warm hands cover her eyes.

"Guess who?" Came a soft voice, their breath tickling her ear.

Téa knew that voice well. That Egyptian accent was all too familiar. She smirked. "Hello, Marik."

Marik smirked and removed his hands. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Téa returned to glancing through the racks of clothing. "Just shopping. You?"

Marik shrugged. "Well, I'm just window shopping. My sister arrived earlier this morning and I haven't seen her since she went into that lingerie store." He pointed to a store with manikins dressed in clothing that even a hooker would envy. He shuddered at the thought of his sister buying something like that. It made him almost lose his appetite.

Bakura narrowed his eyes at his former enemy. Even though everything was settled between them, he still had a loathing toward the fair-haired teen. "Hopefully you were just dropping by?" He sneered.

Marik looked over at him and frowned. "I see he hasn't changed much. Poor Ryou…"

Téa sighed. "I know. But, a person just can't change over night." She tried to whisper, but Bakura could hear everything.

Bakura's eyes closed as he tried to block out their voices. So, they don't want to accept him. They just want him to change and become a goodie-goodie like his pervious host. Well if they think they can change me, they have another thing coming to them. Bakura walked over to another rack, trying to get away from Ryou's so called 'friends' He felt a hand on his back and spun around to attack the person who dared touch him. He stopped himself when he saw a startled Téa looking up at him with wide eyes. "Where's Marik?"

Téa pointed to where Ryou was. "Just saying hi to, Ryou." She noticed Bakura's quietness and grew concerned. "Are you alright?"

Bakura turned away from the girls piercing blue eyes. "Shut up." He growled.

"Excuse me?" Téa asked, her hand still on his back.

"I said shut up. You're all the same, just pretending to be nice, but deep inside you just want everyone to be like you! And those who aren't are not even given a second glance!" He removed her hand from his back. "And don't touch me!"

Yugi looked up at the commotion while selecting a pair of jeans.

Téa backed away, eyes still wide. She realized that Bakura had overheard her conversation with Marik. "I'm … I'm sorry." She bowed her head and sniffled. "Bakura, we don't want you to change into someone your not. We just … we just want you to be happy."

Bakura narrowed his eyes and glared at her. "Happy? There is nothing to be happy about. Against my wishes I am now stuck on this planet, in a body that's scarred and I'm with my worst enemies! How can this make me HAPPY?"

Yami was now watching the event unfold, his hands clenched tightly into fists. If he hurt Téa, he would pay.

Téa felt her anger boiling over. "You JERK! Is that all you care about? You past? Well I have news for you, Bakura; this is your present now! So get OVER your damn past and move on!"

Ryou and Marik stopped their conversation and took noticed of the two as well.

"GET OVER IT?" He shouted right into her face. "You have no idea! So shut your damn mouth and stop budding into other people's business you annoying girl! No one cares what you think! I know I don't! There is one thing I do know though!

"And what's that?" Téa asked; her arms crossed.

"I HATE YOU!"

Téa gasped. "Well I have news for you buddy, I HATE YOU TOO!" She reached up to slap him but he caught her arm. "Let me go!"

Bakura frowned. "I don't think so. If you're going to get violent I suggest you find someone else to help me, because you sure aren't helping much!"

Téa broke free of his grasp. "RYOU!!!"

Ryou winced as he heard her shriek out his name. He gave Marik an apologetic look and ran over to where their girl was shaking with anger. "Are you guys alright? The whole store can hear you! What happened?"

Téa felt tears brimming in her eyes. "I'm sorry I can't help you anymore, Ryou. I tried. It's up to you now!" She ran off sobbing, her hands covering her reddening face.

"Bakura … what happened?" Ryou asked while watching Téa walking over to Yugi and Yami with Marik consoling her.

"That bitch just decided to stick her nose into my business and got what was coming to her."

"Bakura …"

After a few more minutes of shopping, Yami and Bakura had finished their shopping and now had two bags with new clothes in them. Yugi had helped Yami, while Ryou helped Bakura. Marik had bought Téa a soda in order to cheer her up.

Everyone walked over to the food court and found a table with six seats. Yugi went to order the food after everyone had told him what they wanted. Except for Bakura. He refused to eat at all.

"Yes, can I help you?"

Yugi smiled. "Yes, I'd like 5 hamburgers, 5 fries and 3 cokes and 2 sprites."

"Would you like fries with that?"

"I … huh? I already said that!"

"Oh, so you wanted 3 burgers, 2 hotdogs and 5 cokes?"

"No, I want 5 burgers, 5 fries and 3 cokes and 2 sprites.

"Would you like fries with that?"

Yugi face-faulted. "But I …"

"Ok, so you wanted 5 burgers and 3 cokes and 2 sprites then?"

Yugi smacked his head on the counter. "I wanted 5 fries as well …"

"I already asked you that and you didn't give me an answer."

Yugi griped the counted tightly, his nails digging into the marble finish. I want 5 burgers, 5 fries and 5 COKES!"

The woman stared at him oddly.

"I MEAN … 3 cokes and 2 sprites." He laughed, embarrassedly.

"And I take it, you'd like a kids meal, boy?"

"ARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

That did it. Yugi jumped up and tried to rip the women's hairnet off. Marik, Yami and Ryou rushed over to hold him down.

"He's lost it!" Marik grunted, trying to avoid being kicked.

"Yugi! Chill out!" Ryou shouted, pinning his arms behind his back.

"Let me at her! She's doing this on purpose! It's a conspiracy against short people! I'll sue! I'll –

The women sweat-dropped as the boys carried the screaming Yugi back to his table. "Did he say he wanted fries with that?"

Téa and Bakura sweat-dropped.

"I warned him…" Téa muttered, resting her head on her hand and sighing. "McDonald's has the worst service ever …"

Bakura nodded silently.

The group left the food court after their meal and decided to go to some more stores. Once again they ran into Joey and Mai.

"Joey, hurry up! This is only the third trip we've made and it's almost two." She huffed as she picked up her pace and started down a flight of stairs.

Joey couldn't even see the ceiling anymore. The boxes he was carrying were higher then the trees.

Yugi covered his eyes. "Joey! Didn't you learn from last time! Don't take the stairs!" He shouted.

"It's too late!" Téa cried.

"NOT AGAAAAAIN!!!" Joey cried as he missed his footing and went right over the rail and into the kiddie park. He landed on the Ferris wheel, his shirt catching onto the end of one of the seats. "YuGi HeLp Me!" He cried as the Ferris wheel kept going around and around making his voice fade in and out.

After they pulled Joey out of the kiddie park everyone took a break and sat on the bench.

"Joey … you have GOT to stop doing that!"

Joey stood up and flailed his arms about. "It's not my fault! I owed her! I didn't think she'd try to kill me!" He kicked a soda can that was near his feet. "At least we got all of her stuff back."

"Yeah, after you bribed that kid with a fiver because he wanted to keep her bra." Téa said less then enthusiastic.

"Kids learn quickly nowadays." Joey laughed, rubbing his neck. His froze when he heard familiar footsteps coming up from behind him. He felt a hand grab his ear and started to drag him away. "Ow! Hey! Mai! I'm going! I'm going!"

"We have tons of shopping to do still! You just don't have time to chat with your friends today. You promised me this day!" Mai shouted, causing the whole mall to watch them.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow…" Joey moaned as Mai dragged him around a corner.

Yami laughed. He looked up and noticed an arcade. "Hey, I haven't been there since the last time we went, Téa! Would you like to go?"

Téa glanced over at the arcade and her eyes lit up. "Sure! And this time, you're all going to do DDR!" She winked, grinning evilly.

"WHAT?" All of the boys shouted.

To be continued…