a/n: Okay, I think you will like this chapter, but you'll like the next one even better. It's a cliffhanger, just so you know. So, read and review and I'll post chapter fourteen.
(Disclaimer) I don't own toaster strudels. (But they really taste good! Bravo to whoever came up with them!)
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Katrina was in the bathroom, rubbing make up into her arm. She would need to buy some more soon. She used it often to hide the bruises her father gave her. She now had three visible ones and she was working on covering them. One way to conceal them was to wear a long sleeved shirt, which she planned on doing as well.
She looked at the cut her father had given her on her upper chest and touched it lightly. It stung and she took her hand away. She would be smartest to wear a turtle neck today.
Kitty had many more bruises and cuts on her stomach and back, but didn't bother concealing them. They would be hidden by her shirt.
When she was finally ready for school, she grabbed a toaster strudel and went to leave the house. Her mom had already left for work, not anxious to still be there when her father woke up. Kitty felt the same way, and many times she had had to dodge him to get to school on time. The first thing she would do when she got there would be to head for the bathroom and put on her make up.
On the door, Kitty found a post it note from her mom. Taking it off, she read it...
~ Kitty,
Take the bus.
~ Love,
~ Mom
Kitty sighed. She knew why her mother wanted her to take the bus, but she really didn't want to. Figuring Eliza would never know if she walked, she tossed the note in the trash and left.
After walking for a few minutes, she began to wish she /had/ taken the bus. The air was crisp and the trees were beautiful, but she was becoming very aware of the fact that she was alone and if she were to be attacked again, there would be no one here to help her. She found herself wishing she had someone to walk with. She supposed she'd take the bus home... if she made it that far.
- Stop thinking like that, Katrina. If you think like that, it will most likely happen, you know that, - she told herself.
To tear her thoughts away from the that subject, she thought about the night before. Yami had seemed somewhat tense when he had dinner with her. Had he been nervous? Kitty shook her head. No, she wouldn't get /that/ lucky.
But then, why? He always looked somewhat tense, but this was more than usual. Did he know? No, he couldn't. How could he know? It must have been her father acting so strange that got to him. Though, that was an odd way for a pharaoh to act.
She pushed that thought out of her head as she reached the school. Joey, Tristan, Tea, Bakura and Yugi were all waiting for her outside like usual.
She waved, forcing a smile onto her face.
"Kitty!" Yugi exclaimed, relieved to see her alive. The five friends rushed down to her and greeted her.
Yami noted the type of shirt she was wearing and wasn't comforted by it. He saw no marks on her face, but everything else was covered. There were a few marks on her left hand, but Yugi had told him about those before.
He had put together all the signs from the night before and concluded she was in danger, but if she played her cards right, it wouldn't be immediate. Her father seemed to have some control over what he did if he could pretend to actually be a father. It wasn't very good acting mind you, but it was there none the less. If Katrina could deal with it for only a little while longer and not do anything stupid, Yami could figure out a way to help her.
When her father had come home, Yugi had been absolutely petrified. Even after they had switched, he could feel Yugi's nervousness. All through dinner he had been warning Yami about being careful and not blowing their cover. Yami had been nervous about blowing their cover as well; he had taken a lot of chances. Afterwards, he had been relieved to get out of there, but he knew he would have to go back soon.
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"All right class," Mr. Origato said. "Today we will have free art. Draw whatever you want to. It could be anything. It will be graded on your creativity and talent."
Kitty pulled out her sketchbook and pencils. Yugi sat in the row to her left two seats ahead of her. She hoped he did well on his history test. Bakura sat to her right in the back of the row.
"Don't forget to put your name at the top of your paper. All right, start," Mr. Origato said, looking at his watch.
Kitty looked at her paper and thought about what to draw. She was fairly talented in this area, and art was her favorite class. She loved it when her teacher gave them free art. It just took her a while to figure out what to draw.
She looked over at Yugi, who was bent over his paper diligently. Then, an idea struck her. It would be sure to get her an 'A'. She bent down to her paper and began to draw.
When the teacher called for them to stop, Kitty had just finished putting her name at the top of her paper. Mr. Origato came around and collected the drawings. Kitty was one of the last ones to have her picture taken away, so she was able to study it for a second. She was very proud of it and smiled at her teacher when he took it.
Mr. Origato flipped through the papers as he sat down at his desk. Kitty watched his face as she counted down to her picture. She saw a slight flicker of surprise and she beamed. She bent down to pick up her backpack and left the classroom with Yugi. Bakura was still putting his sketchbook back in his pack.
"So what did you draw? I tried to do the Millennium Puzzle," he said, touching it. "I'm really bad at art."
Katrina thought fast. "A cat," she signed. Well, it had a remote connection to the truth... sorta'.
"Cool. Are you a good artist?" he asked as they headed toward the cafeteria.
"I'll show you guys some of the stuff I've done at lunch," she signed.
"Okay, great!"
Tea, Tristan and Joey greeted them as the two sat down.
"How did you do in art, Yugi?" Tea asked.
"I won't know until tomorrow. We had free art. I tried to draw the Millennium Puzzle and Kitty drew a cat," he replied.
"Oh, how perfect!" Tea said. It took Kitty a second to catch on, then realized the connection to her name.
Katrina smiled and nodded, playing along. In truth, she had had no idea about the link when she told Yugi.
Bakura just then came up and sat down. The friends greeted each other before Yugi turned to Kitty.
"Let's see some of your other stuff," he said.
She nodded and pulled out her sketchbook. She opened it and set it in the middle of the table so they all could see. The five friends crowded around it to see. Yami looked through Yugi's eyes and was very impressed.
It was a drawing of a sunset. It almost looked real. She had even used vivid colors of red and orange to add to the effect. Joey flipped the page to reveal a water fountain in the middle of a garden. Every flower was perfectly detailed, as was the fountain.
"Wow, this is really good!" Tea exclaimed.
"I would be acing art if I could draw like that!" Yugi said.
Kitty beamed as Tristan turned the page. It was a mountain range. Each mountain had snow on top that was mostly covered by white clouds.
"How do you do that?" Joey asked as the page was turned once again.
It revealed the simplest of all the pictures she had drawn, but somehow, the gang seemed to that one best. It was simply an Egyptian pyramid.
- Do you see this, Yami? - Yugi thought.
- Yes, it's very impressive, - his counter-part replied.
"That one was easy," she signed. "It's also the last one I did."
"Wow! That's amazing!" Bakura said.
"Yeah! When you get your cat back, can we see?" Tristan asked.
After a split second hesitation, she nodded. She would have to draw one and forge a grade on it tonight.
"She's going to get an 'A+' for sure!" Joey said and she beamed.
The bell rang and they said good-bye, each heading for different classes.
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Kitty stood outside the school looking at the bus. She was debating whether or not to take it. She was tired of people staring at her like she was from space, but she was also nervous about walking alone.
Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Yami.
"Hi," she signed.
"Do you want me to walk you home?" he asked, removing his hand.
Kitty stared at him. She could understand if Yugi wanted to walk with her, but a pharaoh? And there was always the possibility that her father had hit her one too many times in the head...
"Would you really?" she signed and he nodded. "Thanks."
They waved good-bye to their friends and started to Kitty's house.
- Well, they could see him, so I guess he's real, - she thought. On one hand she was relieved that she wasn't going nuts, but on the other, it seemed almost science fiction for it to be true! Pushing that out of her mind, she realized Yami was trying to catch her attention.
"You are a very talented artist," he said and she felt herself go slightly red.
"Thanks," she signed. "But I suppose we'll find out just how good my art is when I get my grade back."
"I'm sure it will be high," Yami said. "You walked to school today?"
Kitty nodded, slightly confused.
"You should take the bus. If you get attacked again you may not be so lucky," he said.
She sighed. "I hate the bus," she signed.
"It is better than getting yourself killed," he replied. "If you want, take the bus in the morning and I'll walk with you after school."
"That's all right. I'll be fine," she signed quickly. "You don't have to."
"I know I don't."
Kitty gave him a quizzical look and studied his face, but it was expressionless. "But the game shop is in the opposite direction," she signed.
"I'm aware of that."
She stared at him. "No, you really shouldn't..."
Yami interrupted. "I don't want to see you get hurt again."
"I can take the bus, it's not that big of a deal," she signed quickly. She didn't know why she was trying to deter him. She would prefer to have someone to walk with, just she couldn't imagine that a pharaoh would offer to walk her home on his own. Yugi must have had some input in this.
"I understand why you don't want to take it. You don't like it when people stare at you and whisper," he said and Kitty's jaw almost dropped. How did he know?
"Did Yugi put you up to this?" she signed.
Yami shook his head. "No."
"Then... why?"
"I want to be sure you're safe."
"You sound like mom," she signed with a small laugh.
Yami could hear Yugi laugh in his mind. - You do have a certain motherly aspect about you, Yami, - he joked. He himself had said the same thing to his counter-part a few days ago.
Ignoring Yugi, Yami spoke. "It's not the first time I've heard that."
This time Kitty laughed. "Well, I guess it's okay. But only if you want to. I don't want you to feel like you have to do this because I'm too stupid to keep myself out of trouble."
"The ally wasn't your fault," Yami assured her.
"I know. It was those creeps," she signed, shuddering at the memory.
They reached her door a few seconds later and Kitty turned to the pharaoh. "Thanks," she signed.
Yami nodded and looked directly into her eyes. "Be careful," he said.
Kitty had a sinking feeling in her stomach as Yami turned and started down the driveway. Did he know?
Forcing that out of her mind, she entered her house. Her father wasn't home yet, but he would be soon...
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a/n: You'll find out what her grade is next chapter... and what her picture is really. Anyways, review! (I know you all already know what she drew, I just like cliffhangers)
When I was writing the fact that Kitty had drawn a cat, I didn't even realize the connection until I reread it! I decided I had to put some mention of that in there... that was to funny to pass up!
(Disclaimer) I don't own toaster strudels. (But they really taste good! Bravo to whoever came up with them!)
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Katrina was in the bathroom, rubbing make up into her arm. She would need to buy some more soon. She used it often to hide the bruises her father gave her. She now had three visible ones and she was working on covering them. One way to conceal them was to wear a long sleeved shirt, which she planned on doing as well.
She looked at the cut her father had given her on her upper chest and touched it lightly. It stung and she took her hand away. She would be smartest to wear a turtle neck today.
Kitty had many more bruises and cuts on her stomach and back, but didn't bother concealing them. They would be hidden by her shirt.
When she was finally ready for school, she grabbed a toaster strudel and went to leave the house. Her mom had already left for work, not anxious to still be there when her father woke up. Kitty felt the same way, and many times she had had to dodge him to get to school on time. The first thing she would do when she got there would be to head for the bathroom and put on her make up.
On the door, Kitty found a post it note from her mom. Taking it off, she read it...
~ Kitty,
Take the bus.
~ Love,
~ Mom
Kitty sighed. She knew why her mother wanted her to take the bus, but she really didn't want to. Figuring Eliza would never know if she walked, she tossed the note in the trash and left.
After walking for a few minutes, she began to wish she /had/ taken the bus. The air was crisp and the trees were beautiful, but she was becoming very aware of the fact that she was alone and if she were to be attacked again, there would be no one here to help her. She found herself wishing she had someone to walk with. She supposed she'd take the bus home... if she made it that far.
- Stop thinking like that, Katrina. If you think like that, it will most likely happen, you know that, - she told herself.
To tear her thoughts away from the that subject, she thought about the night before. Yami had seemed somewhat tense when he had dinner with her. Had he been nervous? Kitty shook her head. No, she wouldn't get /that/ lucky.
But then, why? He always looked somewhat tense, but this was more than usual. Did he know? No, he couldn't. How could he know? It must have been her father acting so strange that got to him. Though, that was an odd way for a pharaoh to act.
She pushed that thought out of her head as she reached the school. Joey, Tristan, Tea, Bakura and Yugi were all waiting for her outside like usual.
She waved, forcing a smile onto her face.
"Kitty!" Yugi exclaimed, relieved to see her alive. The five friends rushed down to her and greeted her.
Yami noted the type of shirt she was wearing and wasn't comforted by it. He saw no marks on her face, but everything else was covered. There were a few marks on her left hand, but Yugi had told him about those before.
He had put together all the signs from the night before and concluded she was in danger, but if she played her cards right, it wouldn't be immediate. Her father seemed to have some control over what he did if he could pretend to actually be a father. It wasn't very good acting mind you, but it was there none the less. If Katrina could deal with it for only a little while longer and not do anything stupid, Yami could figure out a way to help her.
When her father had come home, Yugi had been absolutely petrified. Even after they had switched, he could feel Yugi's nervousness. All through dinner he had been warning Yami about being careful and not blowing their cover. Yami had been nervous about blowing their cover as well; he had taken a lot of chances. Afterwards, he had been relieved to get out of there, but he knew he would have to go back soon.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"All right class," Mr. Origato said. "Today we will have free art. Draw whatever you want to. It could be anything. It will be graded on your creativity and talent."
Kitty pulled out her sketchbook and pencils. Yugi sat in the row to her left two seats ahead of her. She hoped he did well on his history test. Bakura sat to her right in the back of the row.
"Don't forget to put your name at the top of your paper. All right, start," Mr. Origato said, looking at his watch.
Kitty looked at her paper and thought about what to draw. She was fairly talented in this area, and art was her favorite class. She loved it when her teacher gave them free art. It just took her a while to figure out what to draw.
She looked over at Yugi, who was bent over his paper diligently. Then, an idea struck her. It would be sure to get her an 'A'. She bent down to her paper and began to draw.
When the teacher called for them to stop, Kitty had just finished putting her name at the top of her paper. Mr. Origato came around and collected the drawings. Kitty was one of the last ones to have her picture taken away, so she was able to study it for a second. She was very proud of it and smiled at her teacher when he took it.
Mr. Origato flipped through the papers as he sat down at his desk. Kitty watched his face as she counted down to her picture. She saw a slight flicker of surprise and she beamed. She bent down to pick up her backpack and left the classroom with Yugi. Bakura was still putting his sketchbook back in his pack.
"So what did you draw? I tried to do the Millennium Puzzle," he said, touching it. "I'm really bad at art."
Katrina thought fast. "A cat," she signed. Well, it had a remote connection to the truth... sorta'.
"Cool. Are you a good artist?" he asked as they headed toward the cafeteria.
"I'll show you guys some of the stuff I've done at lunch," she signed.
"Okay, great!"
Tea, Tristan and Joey greeted them as the two sat down.
"How did you do in art, Yugi?" Tea asked.
"I won't know until tomorrow. We had free art. I tried to draw the Millennium Puzzle and Kitty drew a cat," he replied.
"Oh, how perfect!" Tea said. It took Kitty a second to catch on, then realized the connection to her name.
Katrina smiled and nodded, playing along. In truth, she had had no idea about the link when she told Yugi.
Bakura just then came up and sat down. The friends greeted each other before Yugi turned to Kitty.
"Let's see some of your other stuff," he said.
She nodded and pulled out her sketchbook. She opened it and set it in the middle of the table so they all could see. The five friends crowded around it to see. Yami looked through Yugi's eyes and was very impressed.
It was a drawing of a sunset. It almost looked real. She had even used vivid colors of red and orange to add to the effect. Joey flipped the page to reveal a water fountain in the middle of a garden. Every flower was perfectly detailed, as was the fountain.
"Wow, this is really good!" Tea exclaimed.
"I would be acing art if I could draw like that!" Yugi said.
Kitty beamed as Tristan turned the page. It was a mountain range. Each mountain had snow on top that was mostly covered by white clouds.
"How do you do that?" Joey asked as the page was turned once again.
It revealed the simplest of all the pictures she had drawn, but somehow, the gang seemed to that one best. It was simply an Egyptian pyramid.
- Do you see this, Yami? - Yugi thought.
- Yes, it's very impressive, - his counter-part replied.
"That one was easy," she signed. "It's also the last one I did."
"Wow! That's amazing!" Bakura said.
"Yeah! When you get your cat back, can we see?" Tristan asked.
After a split second hesitation, she nodded. She would have to draw one and forge a grade on it tonight.
"She's going to get an 'A+' for sure!" Joey said and she beamed.
The bell rang and they said good-bye, each heading for different classes.
*******************************************************************************************************************
Kitty stood outside the school looking at the bus. She was debating whether or not to take it. She was tired of people staring at her like she was from space, but she was also nervous about walking alone.
Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Yami.
"Hi," she signed.
"Do you want me to walk you home?" he asked, removing his hand.
Kitty stared at him. She could understand if Yugi wanted to walk with her, but a pharaoh? And there was always the possibility that her father had hit her one too many times in the head...
"Would you really?" she signed and he nodded. "Thanks."
They waved good-bye to their friends and started to Kitty's house.
- Well, they could see him, so I guess he's real, - she thought. On one hand she was relieved that she wasn't going nuts, but on the other, it seemed almost science fiction for it to be true! Pushing that out of her mind, she realized Yami was trying to catch her attention.
"You are a very talented artist," he said and she felt herself go slightly red.
"Thanks," she signed. "But I suppose we'll find out just how good my art is when I get my grade back."
"I'm sure it will be high," Yami said. "You walked to school today?"
Kitty nodded, slightly confused.
"You should take the bus. If you get attacked again you may not be so lucky," he said.
She sighed. "I hate the bus," she signed.
"It is better than getting yourself killed," he replied. "If you want, take the bus in the morning and I'll walk with you after school."
"That's all right. I'll be fine," she signed quickly. "You don't have to."
"I know I don't."
Kitty gave him a quizzical look and studied his face, but it was expressionless. "But the game shop is in the opposite direction," she signed.
"I'm aware of that."
She stared at him. "No, you really shouldn't..."
Yami interrupted. "I don't want to see you get hurt again."
"I can take the bus, it's not that big of a deal," she signed quickly. She didn't know why she was trying to deter him. She would prefer to have someone to walk with, just she couldn't imagine that a pharaoh would offer to walk her home on his own. Yugi must have had some input in this.
"I understand why you don't want to take it. You don't like it when people stare at you and whisper," he said and Kitty's jaw almost dropped. How did he know?
"Did Yugi put you up to this?" she signed.
Yami shook his head. "No."
"Then... why?"
"I want to be sure you're safe."
"You sound like mom," she signed with a small laugh.
Yami could hear Yugi laugh in his mind. - You do have a certain motherly aspect about you, Yami, - he joked. He himself had said the same thing to his counter-part a few days ago.
Ignoring Yugi, Yami spoke. "It's not the first time I've heard that."
This time Kitty laughed. "Well, I guess it's okay. But only if you want to. I don't want you to feel like you have to do this because I'm too stupid to keep myself out of trouble."
"The ally wasn't your fault," Yami assured her.
"I know. It was those creeps," she signed, shuddering at the memory.
They reached her door a few seconds later and Kitty turned to the pharaoh. "Thanks," she signed.
Yami nodded and looked directly into her eyes. "Be careful," he said.
Kitty had a sinking feeling in her stomach as Yami turned and started down the driveway. Did he know?
Forcing that out of her mind, she entered her house. Her father wasn't home yet, but he would be soon...
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a/n: You'll find out what her grade is next chapter... and what her picture is really. Anyways, review! (I know you all already know what she drew, I just like cliffhangers)
When I was writing the fact that Kitty had drawn a cat, I didn't even realize the connection until I reread it! I decided I had to put some mention of that in there... that was to funny to pass up!
