Aria: First things first. A shout out to all my reviewers! Thanks for reading! And reviewing! Please tell your friends!
Kaiba: You're shameless. You know that.
Aria: Yeah...Anyway, a couple of things to clear up. I know I promised a Yami and Yugi story...
Yugi/Yami: *blushes*
Aria: ...and a Joey/Seto one...
Joey: *blushes*
Kaiba: *smiles*
Aria: BUT, we haven't quite gotten there yet. There has to be DENIAL, people! Otherwise, there's no story! Angst! Suffering! Jealousy!
Kaiba: Down, girl.
Aria: ...sorry. Um, so, just to clarify, it WILL happen. There just needs to be a catalyst. And don't even get me started on you two...*points to Joey and Kaiba*
Joey: *smiles sheepishly*
Aria: *sighs* Okay...so, patience, dear readers! And read on! And then review!
Jen: *materializes*
Aria: Aah! Jen, don't DO that!
Jen: Go on, tell them the OTHER reason.
Aria: *innocence* WHAT other reason?
Jen: *glares*
Aria: Fine, fine. I happen to think Yugi and Miki would be really cute together...and I needed to get Yami's attention ANYway, so...happy?
Jen: Yes. *dematerializes*
Aria: I wish she would stop that.
Joey: Hey, aren't you forgetting something?
Aria: *looks meaningfully at Kaiba*
Kaiba: What? Oh...well, fine. But you'd better make it worth my while.
Aria: *shrugs*
Kaiba: Okay, fine. Aria Marier, as much as she wishes, doesn't own either Yu-Gi-Oh! Or Utena, except for a couple of packets of cards and this story, and so on and so forth world without end amen. Now will you write?
Aria: Yes! And here we go...
SECRETS OF A ROSE
Chapter 4: The Cards
Piano music floated across the sweet spring-scented air and soaked into the green grass around him. Yugi lay in the shade of a tree in a quad of the campus listening to Miki practice, a small smile on his lips and a faraway look in his eyes. A shadow fell across his face, and he looked around.
"Chu?"
Inquisitive black-pebble eyes watched him from above. He sat up quickly, and in the process knocked over his visitor, who tumbled into the grass from his perch on Yugi's chest. It picked itself up and turned to face him with an aggrieved expression on its tiny face.
"Chu!"
Yugi stared at the creature as it put its...paws? hands? on its hips and looked at him with dignity, its small tie flapping in the breeze.
"Chu-chu!" A soft voice came from behind him and he looked back. A tall, slim girl in the school's uniform stood there, backed by bright yellow sunlight, with a fist on her hip, and shook a finger at the creature. "Don't bother people!"
The little animal, abashed, turned away, its ears drooping. She smiled and scooped him up. "I'm sorry about Chu-chu," she said. "He likes to play."
Yugi smiled and got up, dusting himself off. "It's alright," he said. He extended a finger towards the little creature. "I'm delighted to make your acquaintance," he said solemnly. Chu-chu looked seriously at his finger for a moment, and then grasped it tightly in both paws and shook it with dignity. He laughed.
"I'm Yugi," he told the girl, and she nodded and smiled back. Now that he had introduced himself and started paying attention to her, she seemed to lose interest. "What's your name?" he prompted.
"This is Himemiya Anthy," a voice behind him said. He turned and saw the pink-haired girl from the first day standing with a smile in the sun. She moved easily toward him.
"She's a little shy," she said, and grinned at the other girl. Anthy smiled and nodded.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"You went all that way, and fought those battles to save your grandfather?" Utena asked later. They were sitting together in the shade of the tree he'd been resting under earlier, and with a background of busy students and a giggling Anthy as she played with Chu-chu, he'd told her the whole story of Duelist Kingdom, about the duels, and about his friends. He nodded, and picked a thick blade of grass.
She whistled. "I'm impressed." She fell over onto her back and looked up at the translucent green veil over them.
"I had help," he shrugged, and looked at her curiously. What's your story?"
She chewed a blade of grass. "What do you mean?"
He shrugged. "I feel like you have one. Why do you wear a boy's uniform? There must be a story in that."
She was quiet for a moment, and rolled onto her side and lifted up onto an elbow, her left hand entwined in warms floods of silky pink hair. "You'll laugh," she said, smiling.
"I might," he said. "But try me."
"Alright then," she said. "Once upon a time." He grinned. "Years and years ago, there was a little princess, and she was very sad, because her parents had both died. Through her tears, she saw a prince before her, riding on a white horse. He had a regal bearing and smiled at her kindly. He wrapped her in a rose-scented embrace and kissed away her tears."
Yugi looked down at her, and saw the faraway look in her clear blue eyes. He felt a sudden surge of sympathy for this girl who had been left all alone, and listened, enthralled, as she continued.
"The prince told her, 'Little one who bears up alone in such deep sorrow, never lose that strength or nobility even when you grow up.'" She sighed a little and closed her eyes, as if she could feel his kiss on her eyelids. "He slipped a ring on her finger and said, 'I give you this to remember this day. We will meet again. This ring will lead you to me.'"
Yugi looked at the hand she held out, and saw a gilded rose seal glitter on her slim finger.
"Was the ring an engagement ring? She thought it must be. But," she said, and flopped, grinning onto her back, with her hands behind her head, "so impressed was she by him, that she vowed that one day she would a be a noble prince as well." She quirked an eyebrow and looked at Yugi.
"But was that really such a good idea?"
He laughed. "It seems to have worked so far," he said. "Is that really true?"
She nodded. "Ever since that day, I've tried to be as noble a prince as he was." She laughed and looked over at Anthy. "I even have a princess to save." The dark girl looked at, her eyes crinkled in a smile.
"Did you ever see him again?" Yugi asked.
She hesitated. "No," she said finally. "I don't even know who he was. All I know is that this school has something to do with him. His...mark seems to be on it." Yugi nodded. She smiled again. "What am I thinking?" she said, knocking her forehead with the palm of her hand. "I actually have a favor to ask of you, Yugi."
"Sure, anything," he said. "What's up?"
"I'd thought of it before, when I first met you and your friends," she said, "but your story seems so interesting. I was wondering, if you wouldn't mind, if you could teach me to duel the way you do? With those cards, I mean."
He grinned.
"There are three main kinds of cards," he said, taking out his deck and shuffling through it. "Monster cards, like this Winged Dragon, Magic cards like this one, Swords of Revealing Light, and Trap cards, like this Castle Walls." He laid the three cards face up on the grass.
"Monster, Magic, and Trap. Okay," she said. "What do they all do?"
"Well, your basic attack force is your monster card," Yugi said. "See these numbers, here? These are the attack and defense points, they tell you how strong your monster is for attacking, and how well it can defend itself. For example, the Winged Dragon has an attack rate of 1400, and defense of 1200. So, if I play him in attack mode, he can destroy any monster with attack or defense points lower than 1400, depending on how my opponent has played the monster the dragon is attacking, and if there are any trap or magic cards there. See?" She nodded, and he pointed to the next card.
"Magic cards work in a very different way. Instead of summoning a monster, they can add to a monster already played, create a new situation, and even change control of different monsters."
Utena whistled softly.
"Magic cards can be extremely powerful when used the right way," Yugi explained. "It's all about understanding the cards and the game, and trusting in not only strategy or fire power, but in the heart of the cards."
"Alright," she said. "Monster cards summon monsters who do battle, magic cards create new circumstances for the battles. What about this last one?"
"The name says it all," said Yugi. "Trap cards are mainly used when you're being attacked, and often a single trap used effectively shifts the play of the entire duel."
"What's this? You got a challenger, Yug?"
Yugi turned around and looked up. "Hey Joey," he said. "I was just explaining the basic rules." He turned back to Utena. "Understand?"
"Yeah!" she said. "Could I try playing?"
Yugi looked at his deck. There weren't enough cards for two people, and he turned to ask Joey if they could use his when a sleek brown briefcase plopped onto the grass next to him.
"She can use mine," a rough voice said. Yugi opened the case and looked at all the cards that were neatly piled inside.
"Thanks, Kaiba!" he said, and meant it. Kaiba's collection was immense, almost every card created was in that case. He wondered at this unexpected show of generosity, but quickly forgot about it as he gleefully went through the stacked cards.
Joey sat down with his back against the tree and watched Yugi and Utena shuffling through the cards, leaning his head against the rough bark as the smaller boy tried to explain the effects of different cards, and smiled. The past few days had been good-really good for the first time in weeks. He hadn't felt so easy since Serenity had come through her operation with a whole new life ahead of her, able to see through those beautiful blue eyes of hers. This place was so-he groped idly for a word and then let it fall flat. He didn't really care, he decided. It was just a good place to be. Besides, it was kinda nice to see someone with more presence than Kaiba. He felt a smirk coming on, but it was interrupted by the entry of two huge brown eyes into his reverie.
"Aah!" he screeched, startled, but his surprise was quickly replaced by embarrassment as Wakaba looked at him oddly.
"Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to startle you...where you thinking?"
A snort from the patch of grass where Kaiba was sitting, typing quickly on his laptop. Joey felt his cheeks grow redder, then smiled easily at her.
"Nah," he said. "Just waitin' for a beautiful girl like you to come and keep me company, is all."
She blushed, and opened her mouth to speak when a shout came from Utena.
"I can't believe it! You just crushed my crow!" Utena sat back down and sighed with mock depression. "Three turns is all it took. Oh, well. I was never much good with cards, anyway. Did I tell you about the 'Go, Fish' fiasco?"
Yugi laughed, and Joey got up to join them. "Hey, what's goin' on?"
"We just finished our first duel," Yugi said, and went slightly red. "It was going really well, but-" he held out his last card. Joey looked at it and laughed, shaking his head.
"No wonder," he said. "Don't worry, Utena," he said, as he showed her the card. "No one can beat our Yugi when he's drawn the Dark Magician."
"It crunched my crow like it wasn't even there," she said mournfully. "That's a great card, Yugi."
"I know," he said. "The Dark Magician is my favorite card. He's changed a lot of duels in my favor."
"What's your favorite card, Joey?" Wakaba asked, pulling on his shirt sleeve.
"Huh? Oh, that's easy," he said, pulling out his deck. "Flame Swordsman, far and away. He's not my most powerful monster, but there's somethin' about him that I really respect."
"The card you most identify with tells a lot about your own identity," Yugi explained. "For example, I have an affinity with the Dark Magician most duelists lack," he blushed slightly and looked down at his Millennium Puzzle, and hastily continued. "Flame Swordsman is a brave and fairly...un-subtle monster, not unlike Joey here."
"Yeah, yeah, sure." Joey said, going red as Wakaba looked up at him. "And Kaiba, over there, his favorite is the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, one of the most powerful and rare monsters in the whole game."
"I'll thank you to leave me out of this conversation," came the reply, but Joey thought it sounded amused rather than full the usual bored indifference. He looked down at Wakaba, who had somehow wrapped her arms around his waist while he wasn't looking.
"I-uh..."
"Let's go for a walk!" She smiled up at him beguilingly. He nodded.
"See ya later, Yug..."
Kaiba watched them walk away and scowled at his computer screen, impatiently tapping the keys, wondering what had gotten into him. Lending his cards to Yugi? To teach this girl to duel, and allowing her to misuse them-he winced, and curled his fingers protectively around the deck in his pocket. At least they couldn't wreck his Blue-Eyes. He felt the cool shadow of Joey and the girl flick over him-the girl said something and Joey laughed, his arm around her waist-his scowl deepened. The stupid program wasn't working at all.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Aria: Aah! Cuteness!
Kaiba: *scowls*
Aria: Be good. You'll win out, in the end.
Kaiba: I don't know what you're talking about. *crosses his arms and sulks*
Yugi: That was fun! What's next?
Aria: It's a secret.
Yami: *scowls* Well, you're certainly taking your time with it. I don't like this place one bit.
Aria: Yes! He's jealous.
Yami: I'm not!
Aria: You are! And it's so cute!
Yami: *scowls*
Aria: Besides, I had to get some information for the rest of this story before I could finish this chapter. Anyway, let's hope people read! And review! So that I don't get discouraged and never finish it...don't you want to know what happens with Yugi and Miki?
Yugi: *blushes*
Yami: No. I don't.
Aria: Or what's going on with Joey and Wakaba?
Joey: *smirks*
Kaiba: *scowls*
Aria: I'm open to suggestions! But *as Yami and Kaiba open their mouths* not from YOU two.
Miki: Are you going to bring us back in? *gestures to Touga, Juri, and himself*
Aria: *suddenly dry-mouthed* Uh, yes. Anything for you, Touga. I mean, Miki. I mean-whatever. Yes, you'll all be back and just as sexy-uh, as cool as ever. Yeah.
Kaiba: *snort*
Aria: Keep that up and I'll make a few important changes in a certain sub-plot...
Kaiba: Fine. *mutters under his breath*
Aria: Also, I wanted to say that the story Utena tells is almost word for word the one from the show, but I wanted to make sure I got it right. Hope no one minds! Okay? Good! Now, time to get started on the next chapter! Yami, hope you're ready!!
Yami: What?!? What are you going to-
Kaiba: You're shameless. You know that.
Aria: Yeah...Anyway, a couple of things to clear up. I know I promised a Yami and Yugi story...
Yugi/Yami: *blushes*
Aria: ...and a Joey/Seto one...
Joey: *blushes*
Kaiba: *smiles*
Aria: BUT, we haven't quite gotten there yet. There has to be DENIAL, people! Otherwise, there's no story! Angst! Suffering! Jealousy!
Kaiba: Down, girl.
Aria: ...sorry. Um, so, just to clarify, it WILL happen. There just needs to be a catalyst. And don't even get me started on you two...*points to Joey and Kaiba*
Joey: *smiles sheepishly*
Aria: *sighs* Okay...so, patience, dear readers! And read on! And then review!
Jen: *materializes*
Aria: Aah! Jen, don't DO that!
Jen: Go on, tell them the OTHER reason.
Aria: *innocence* WHAT other reason?
Jen: *glares*
Aria: Fine, fine. I happen to think Yugi and Miki would be really cute together...and I needed to get Yami's attention ANYway, so...happy?
Jen: Yes. *dematerializes*
Aria: I wish she would stop that.
Joey: Hey, aren't you forgetting something?
Aria: *looks meaningfully at Kaiba*
Kaiba: What? Oh...well, fine. But you'd better make it worth my while.
Aria: *shrugs*
Kaiba: Okay, fine. Aria Marier, as much as she wishes, doesn't own either Yu-Gi-Oh! Or Utena, except for a couple of packets of cards and this story, and so on and so forth world without end amen. Now will you write?
Aria: Yes! And here we go...
SECRETS OF A ROSE
Chapter 4: The Cards
Piano music floated across the sweet spring-scented air and soaked into the green grass around him. Yugi lay in the shade of a tree in a quad of the campus listening to Miki practice, a small smile on his lips and a faraway look in his eyes. A shadow fell across his face, and he looked around.
"Chu?"
Inquisitive black-pebble eyes watched him from above. He sat up quickly, and in the process knocked over his visitor, who tumbled into the grass from his perch on Yugi's chest. It picked itself up and turned to face him with an aggrieved expression on its tiny face.
"Chu!"
Yugi stared at the creature as it put its...paws? hands? on its hips and looked at him with dignity, its small tie flapping in the breeze.
"Chu-chu!" A soft voice came from behind him and he looked back. A tall, slim girl in the school's uniform stood there, backed by bright yellow sunlight, with a fist on her hip, and shook a finger at the creature. "Don't bother people!"
The little animal, abashed, turned away, its ears drooping. She smiled and scooped him up. "I'm sorry about Chu-chu," she said. "He likes to play."
Yugi smiled and got up, dusting himself off. "It's alright," he said. He extended a finger towards the little creature. "I'm delighted to make your acquaintance," he said solemnly. Chu-chu looked seriously at his finger for a moment, and then grasped it tightly in both paws and shook it with dignity. He laughed.
"I'm Yugi," he told the girl, and she nodded and smiled back. Now that he had introduced himself and started paying attention to her, she seemed to lose interest. "What's your name?" he prompted.
"This is Himemiya Anthy," a voice behind him said. He turned and saw the pink-haired girl from the first day standing with a smile in the sun. She moved easily toward him.
"She's a little shy," she said, and grinned at the other girl. Anthy smiled and nodded.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"You went all that way, and fought those battles to save your grandfather?" Utena asked later. They were sitting together in the shade of the tree he'd been resting under earlier, and with a background of busy students and a giggling Anthy as she played with Chu-chu, he'd told her the whole story of Duelist Kingdom, about the duels, and about his friends. He nodded, and picked a thick blade of grass.
She whistled. "I'm impressed." She fell over onto her back and looked up at the translucent green veil over them.
"I had help," he shrugged, and looked at her curiously. What's your story?"
She chewed a blade of grass. "What do you mean?"
He shrugged. "I feel like you have one. Why do you wear a boy's uniform? There must be a story in that."
She was quiet for a moment, and rolled onto her side and lifted up onto an elbow, her left hand entwined in warms floods of silky pink hair. "You'll laugh," she said, smiling.
"I might," he said. "But try me."
"Alright then," she said. "Once upon a time." He grinned. "Years and years ago, there was a little princess, and she was very sad, because her parents had both died. Through her tears, she saw a prince before her, riding on a white horse. He had a regal bearing and smiled at her kindly. He wrapped her in a rose-scented embrace and kissed away her tears."
Yugi looked down at her, and saw the faraway look in her clear blue eyes. He felt a sudden surge of sympathy for this girl who had been left all alone, and listened, enthralled, as she continued.
"The prince told her, 'Little one who bears up alone in such deep sorrow, never lose that strength or nobility even when you grow up.'" She sighed a little and closed her eyes, as if she could feel his kiss on her eyelids. "He slipped a ring on her finger and said, 'I give you this to remember this day. We will meet again. This ring will lead you to me.'"
Yugi looked at the hand she held out, and saw a gilded rose seal glitter on her slim finger.
"Was the ring an engagement ring? She thought it must be. But," she said, and flopped, grinning onto her back, with her hands behind her head, "so impressed was she by him, that she vowed that one day she would a be a noble prince as well." She quirked an eyebrow and looked at Yugi.
"But was that really such a good idea?"
He laughed. "It seems to have worked so far," he said. "Is that really true?"
She nodded. "Ever since that day, I've tried to be as noble a prince as he was." She laughed and looked over at Anthy. "I even have a princess to save." The dark girl looked at, her eyes crinkled in a smile.
"Did you ever see him again?" Yugi asked.
She hesitated. "No," she said finally. "I don't even know who he was. All I know is that this school has something to do with him. His...mark seems to be on it." Yugi nodded. She smiled again. "What am I thinking?" she said, knocking her forehead with the palm of her hand. "I actually have a favor to ask of you, Yugi."
"Sure, anything," he said. "What's up?"
"I'd thought of it before, when I first met you and your friends," she said, "but your story seems so interesting. I was wondering, if you wouldn't mind, if you could teach me to duel the way you do? With those cards, I mean."
He grinned.
"There are three main kinds of cards," he said, taking out his deck and shuffling through it. "Monster cards, like this Winged Dragon, Magic cards like this one, Swords of Revealing Light, and Trap cards, like this Castle Walls." He laid the three cards face up on the grass.
"Monster, Magic, and Trap. Okay," she said. "What do they all do?"
"Well, your basic attack force is your monster card," Yugi said. "See these numbers, here? These are the attack and defense points, they tell you how strong your monster is for attacking, and how well it can defend itself. For example, the Winged Dragon has an attack rate of 1400, and defense of 1200. So, if I play him in attack mode, he can destroy any monster with attack or defense points lower than 1400, depending on how my opponent has played the monster the dragon is attacking, and if there are any trap or magic cards there. See?" She nodded, and he pointed to the next card.
"Magic cards work in a very different way. Instead of summoning a monster, they can add to a monster already played, create a new situation, and even change control of different monsters."
Utena whistled softly.
"Magic cards can be extremely powerful when used the right way," Yugi explained. "It's all about understanding the cards and the game, and trusting in not only strategy or fire power, but in the heart of the cards."
"Alright," she said. "Monster cards summon monsters who do battle, magic cards create new circumstances for the battles. What about this last one?"
"The name says it all," said Yugi. "Trap cards are mainly used when you're being attacked, and often a single trap used effectively shifts the play of the entire duel."
"What's this? You got a challenger, Yug?"
Yugi turned around and looked up. "Hey Joey," he said. "I was just explaining the basic rules." He turned back to Utena. "Understand?"
"Yeah!" she said. "Could I try playing?"
Yugi looked at his deck. There weren't enough cards for two people, and he turned to ask Joey if they could use his when a sleek brown briefcase plopped onto the grass next to him.
"She can use mine," a rough voice said. Yugi opened the case and looked at all the cards that were neatly piled inside.
"Thanks, Kaiba!" he said, and meant it. Kaiba's collection was immense, almost every card created was in that case. He wondered at this unexpected show of generosity, but quickly forgot about it as he gleefully went through the stacked cards.
Joey sat down with his back against the tree and watched Yugi and Utena shuffling through the cards, leaning his head against the rough bark as the smaller boy tried to explain the effects of different cards, and smiled. The past few days had been good-really good for the first time in weeks. He hadn't felt so easy since Serenity had come through her operation with a whole new life ahead of her, able to see through those beautiful blue eyes of hers. This place was so-he groped idly for a word and then let it fall flat. He didn't really care, he decided. It was just a good place to be. Besides, it was kinda nice to see someone with more presence than Kaiba. He felt a smirk coming on, but it was interrupted by the entry of two huge brown eyes into his reverie.
"Aah!" he screeched, startled, but his surprise was quickly replaced by embarrassment as Wakaba looked at him oddly.
"Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to startle you...where you thinking?"
A snort from the patch of grass where Kaiba was sitting, typing quickly on his laptop. Joey felt his cheeks grow redder, then smiled easily at her.
"Nah," he said. "Just waitin' for a beautiful girl like you to come and keep me company, is all."
She blushed, and opened her mouth to speak when a shout came from Utena.
"I can't believe it! You just crushed my crow!" Utena sat back down and sighed with mock depression. "Three turns is all it took. Oh, well. I was never much good with cards, anyway. Did I tell you about the 'Go, Fish' fiasco?"
Yugi laughed, and Joey got up to join them. "Hey, what's goin' on?"
"We just finished our first duel," Yugi said, and went slightly red. "It was going really well, but-" he held out his last card. Joey looked at it and laughed, shaking his head.
"No wonder," he said. "Don't worry, Utena," he said, as he showed her the card. "No one can beat our Yugi when he's drawn the Dark Magician."
"It crunched my crow like it wasn't even there," she said mournfully. "That's a great card, Yugi."
"I know," he said. "The Dark Magician is my favorite card. He's changed a lot of duels in my favor."
"What's your favorite card, Joey?" Wakaba asked, pulling on his shirt sleeve.
"Huh? Oh, that's easy," he said, pulling out his deck. "Flame Swordsman, far and away. He's not my most powerful monster, but there's somethin' about him that I really respect."
"The card you most identify with tells a lot about your own identity," Yugi explained. "For example, I have an affinity with the Dark Magician most duelists lack," he blushed slightly and looked down at his Millennium Puzzle, and hastily continued. "Flame Swordsman is a brave and fairly...un-subtle monster, not unlike Joey here."
"Yeah, yeah, sure." Joey said, going red as Wakaba looked up at him. "And Kaiba, over there, his favorite is the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, one of the most powerful and rare monsters in the whole game."
"I'll thank you to leave me out of this conversation," came the reply, but Joey thought it sounded amused rather than full the usual bored indifference. He looked down at Wakaba, who had somehow wrapped her arms around his waist while he wasn't looking.
"I-uh..."
"Let's go for a walk!" She smiled up at him beguilingly. He nodded.
"See ya later, Yug..."
Kaiba watched them walk away and scowled at his computer screen, impatiently tapping the keys, wondering what had gotten into him. Lending his cards to Yugi? To teach this girl to duel, and allowing her to misuse them-he winced, and curled his fingers protectively around the deck in his pocket. At least they couldn't wreck his Blue-Eyes. He felt the cool shadow of Joey and the girl flick over him-the girl said something and Joey laughed, his arm around her waist-his scowl deepened. The stupid program wasn't working at all.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Aria: Aah! Cuteness!
Kaiba: *scowls*
Aria: Be good. You'll win out, in the end.
Kaiba: I don't know what you're talking about. *crosses his arms and sulks*
Yugi: That was fun! What's next?
Aria: It's a secret.
Yami: *scowls* Well, you're certainly taking your time with it. I don't like this place one bit.
Aria: Yes! He's jealous.
Yami: I'm not!
Aria: You are! And it's so cute!
Yami: *scowls*
Aria: Besides, I had to get some information for the rest of this story before I could finish this chapter. Anyway, let's hope people read! And review! So that I don't get discouraged and never finish it...don't you want to know what happens with Yugi and Miki?
Yugi: *blushes*
Yami: No. I don't.
Aria: Or what's going on with Joey and Wakaba?
Joey: *smirks*
Kaiba: *scowls*
Aria: I'm open to suggestions! But *as Yami and Kaiba open their mouths* not from YOU two.
Miki: Are you going to bring us back in? *gestures to Touga, Juri, and himself*
Aria: *suddenly dry-mouthed* Uh, yes. Anything for you, Touga. I mean, Miki. I mean-whatever. Yes, you'll all be back and just as sexy-uh, as cool as ever. Yeah.
Kaiba: *snort*
Aria: Keep that up and I'll make a few important changes in a certain sub-plot...
Kaiba: Fine. *mutters under his breath*
Aria: Also, I wanted to say that the story Utena tells is almost word for word the one from the show, but I wanted to make sure I got it right. Hope no one minds! Okay? Good! Now, time to get started on the next chapter! Yami, hope you're ready!!
Yami: What?!? What are you going to-