Did Ryou suffer too much in the previous chapter? What do you think? I pity him, I really do. His parents dead, so is his little sister, he isn't allowed to go home, someone wants him dead. . That's a lot to deal with. I feel sorry for Isis too. . . what made her stay calm when she was captured? And why did she look at Yami like she was concerned about him? Why do Yami and Bakura know each other that much, and how many partners had had Bakura before? How many relatives, friends, and lovers of his did Yami kill? Way too many questions. . .

To Afevis: Yeah, Yami's mean because he's the bad guy in this fic ^-^ Or isn't he? We'll see.

To Fluffylittledragon: Hey, now we're both ill, aren't we? I hope you feel better soon.

To Pocketfirefairy: There you are again ^-^ Uhm, you see, I guess I don't like Yami very much. . . Oh don't get me wrong, I would never hate him or stuff. It's just a kind of dislike at the moment ^-^" Let's just say I like Bakura better.

Malik: And me. . . ?

Voice: You know I love you ^-^ On with the reviews.

To Molly-chan: Hey, I dreamed of reviews last night. Yours was there, too ^- ^ Uh, and Yami, you will see Yuugi in the next chapter, I promise!

To Kanberry: Now I'm confused. . . but thanks, anyway ^-^"

To Rikki-the-fox: *flinches* I do, I do!!

Malik: Now you scared the authoress. -_-

To little-kat-girl: *hugs back* Uhm, are you threatening me right now? *hides behind Malik* Well, I like my life, so I'll continue I guess. . .

Malik: Wow, now she's terrified.

Voice: I'm not! *gives her reviewers a hug* See? Well, that were maaany reviews ^-^ Luv you all! But please, PLEASE don't kill me for this chapter. . . I really feel bad for ever writing it -.- Enjoy.

**

I awoke from the sound the helicopter made. Sleepily I blinked and found my head resting on a lap. Though it felt quite comfortable, I still felt being treated like a child. As my eyes were used to the semi-darkness I could tell the lap was leather clothed. So it couldn't be Isis. . . but why should she put my head onto her lap? Well, at least it could be Anzu. But, wait. . . Anzu didn't have white hair.

. . .

. . .

AH!! I was resting on Bakura's lap? What happened? Did the world go under? Did the apocalypse arrive?? Hm. Bakura were sitting -resting- on the last row of seats, in front of us there were the three girls. Isis was in the middle, her head resting on Shizuka's, which laid on her shoulder, as was Anzu's on the other side. They seemed to be asleep.

I stared up at Bakura's face. He sat perfectly straight; just his head was bowed a little. One of his hands was resting on his thigh where my head ended, the other one laid on my chest, soft as a feather. Though his face looked like a perfect mask, it didn't look asleep.

Right I was. I still stared up at him when he opened his eyes and dropped his gaze at me. I gulped. . . maybe it was my fault he was injured again? There were red marks on his throat as if someone had choked him. Did he think I was weak because I fainted? That I was pathetic?

"You okay, kid?", he whispered as if he was trying not to wake up the girls. I nodded slowly. "You did a quite good job, you know."

My eyes widened. Me? A good job? Why? When??

"Tell me, how many tries did you need to open the door?" Ah. That was it. I decided to ask him later about his duel.

"Uhm. . . three." He smirked, barely even visible. "But I guess you could have been faster than me.", I added, unsure if I really did a good job or if he was sarcastic. "Well, I don't know. . ", he drifted off. I stared wide-eyed. But if he was in a good mood already, I could try and ask him.

"Who was this guy challenging you? And what did you play?"

His orbs seemed to darken a bit, and he watched me a while. I didn't know if he was thinking about it, but finally, he answered.

"That's none of your business, kid. We're almost there, so try and relax." I slowly nodded again - I was disappointed, but I guess I could be happy that he didn't kill me. The helicopter lost height, and I quickly got up from his lap. Soon we landed in front of the mansion, and climbed out of the helicopter.

I looked at Isis, who was wearing a chaste dress of beige linen and some kind of cloak made of the same material, and who was standing next to me. Her cool eyes narrowed a bit as she watched the mansion, but brightened as two persons appeared; one of them running, the other one walking calmly.

"ISIS!", someone yelled, and the next second Malik dashed into Isis' outstretched arms. Her eyes brightened, and the first time I saw her smiling. "Malik.", she responded calmly, cuddling her younger brother lovingly. "So you're back. You really did take your time.", Mariku's deep voice said, and he stepped into light, his arms crossed over his chest. Isis gave him a smile.

"You got a problem with that?" Mariku smirked. "No.", he just said, grabbed Bakura's arm, and dragged him off, back into the shadows. I kept watching Malik and his sister. She didn't only act like a mother, she was treated alike. I saw tears streaming down Malik's cheeks as he looked up into Isis' smiling face, watched her wiping them away softly. I remembered Malik's words he had told me on my first day.

"She took care of Mariku, Bakura and me since we were children."

I nodded quietly to myself, and suddenly I had to think of my own sister. Innocent, sweet little Amane. I remembered how I swore revenge the day the message arrived me; I really wanted to grab some weapon, run off and shoot everyone suspect to me. And then I wanted to die. But that was a long time ago, and I had learned to deal with my life all alone.

Now, I had to learn how to deal with this life.

I noticed Anzu and Shizuka walking towards the mansion, and quickly followed them, because I didn't want to stay awkwardly next to Isis and Malik. I reached them as the opened the door.

"Ryou-chan. How do you feel?", Shizuka asked me, smiling kindly. I returned the smile, and nodded. "I'm fine." Anzu grinned. "So what do you think of flying?" "With these wing-thingys? It's fun!", I stated, though I wasn't quite sure about it; I would never, never ever control them alone. Never!!

"Didn't. . . Bakura told you to leave?" Both girls grinned at my question, looking at each other quickly, and returned their gaze to me. "Sure he did.", Shizuka said. "We never do what he tells us.", Anzu added, leading me into one of the living rooms. I sat down on a couch, so did Anzu. "I'm gonna make hot chocolate!", Shizuka stated and ran off. This two really were into that stuff. . .

"Anzu-san?" She looked at me. "Hmm?" "Did Bakura. . . know this boy?" "Yami?" I nodded. I wasn't sure if I would receive the same reaction Bakura showed. I didn't, because Anzu smiled. "Yeah, he does know him." "Does he know him well?" She nodded shortly. "An why were they duelling?" Now she looked at me with some concern.

"You really shouldn't. . . " "But I want to know!" She sighed. "Well then, let me tell you a story." I nodded, smiling.

"You know, Egypt was destroyed a long time ago. Nearly a millennium ago. There's just sand left by now, sand and ruins and tombs. Still, there lived people." She smiled at my doubting expression. "Hey, trust me. They were called grave keepers in ancient times, but the graves became unimportant when they were blocked and disappeared from the world. This few people, a clan if you want to call them like that, are disappeared now, too. You know, Isis originally is from there, so are Mariku and Malik, her younger brothers, and Bakura, who lived with the clan." I interrupted her. "How old's Isis, anyway?" "She's twenty-one. Malik's seventeen, Mariku and Bakura nineteen. Their parents were killed on Malik's seventh birthday." I was shocked. If that was true, Isis had been eleven. An eleven year old girl had to raise three younger boys. Anzu nodded as if she had read my thoughts.

"Finally, Seto picked them up and brought them here. Well. . . and that's when Bakura and Yami met. I can tell they disliked each other from the first moment on, though they didn't hate each other." "And when did they start it?" Anzu sighed quietly.

"Since. . . since Bakura's once-girlfriend started liking Yami.", she murmured. "And Yami joined this other group, which are kind of our enemies, you know. That's something he can't forgive."

I nodded; that sounded rather acceptable. "Of course, because Yami killed some people Bakura liked, too.", Anzu added. I stared at her. "He did??" "Yeah. He killed Kristin, too."

"I liked Kristin. . . ", Shizuka said. She was returning with cups of hot chocolate and passed me one before sitting down next to me. "She was very nice. And really beautiful." Anzu nodded. "That's why I can't imagine she fell in love with Bakura", she grinned. "You shouldn't talk like that." "I know. . . It was a terrible fault she fell in love with Yami then. Ryou, there's a picture of her.", Anzu said, pointing on a wall. Actually, there were pictures from all of them.

The one girl I hadn't seen yet had to be this Kristin. Shizuka was right; she was very beautiful. She had pale blue hair and turquoise coloured eyes, pale skin, and a genuine smile. I immediately felt sorry; for her, because this beauty had to die that early, and for Bakura, who had lost so many people. Maybe that was the reason for his cold attitude.

"And. . . what kind of duel did they do tonight?" Shizuka flinched at this question; Anzu lowered her eyes. "That was a so-called Shadow Game. Usually, Bakura's the best, but when it comes to Yami. . . ", she trailed off, sighing. "Why? What's the matter with Yami?"

"He's called the King of Games on purpose. It's quite impossible to beat him."

King of Games? What a dumb title was that?! It had to be possible to beat him. . . I would train to take revenge on both Bakura and Kristin. **

Uh, that was sad again. . . poor Bakura. . . I feel so bad -.- *apologizes to Yami and gives him flames* Please don't kill me. . . ?