The teacher smiled. "Thank you, Fyre, that was nicely said. You may sit-" she scanned the room. "Do you mind sitting alone? I'm sorry, usually I have new students sit with students who have been here, but our only empty seat is alone."

Fyre shrugged. "It's fine. I'd rather sit alone." She walked down the aisle to her new seat.

Yugi smiled at her as she passed. Fyre nodded, but didn't smile.

At lunch, the group all found each other again, taking the only table they ever sat at.

"Hey," Joey looked around. "Where's Kaiba?"

Tea shrugged. "Surrounded by hyper fan girls?"

Everyone laughed. "There he is," Bakura said, waving his hand towards the door.

"Hey, isn't he talking to Fyre?" Tristin asked.

"I think so," Yugi said. "That's odd."

"Why?' Tea asked.

"Earth to Tea!" Joey said, waving his hand in front of her face. "We are talking about someone who is not particularly social."

"Good point."

"I just hope he doesn't fall for her," Tristin said.

"Based on what she said, I think that would fall under the 'no comments on looks' category," Yugi pointed out.

"True," Joey agreed.

"Hey all," Kaiba said, walking over to them. "Do you guys mind if Fyre sits with us?"

"Sure," Yugi told him.

"Glad you found someone to sit with, " Yami commented.

Fyre glared. "Quiet you hyper Pharaoh."

"I'm sooooo confused. You know her?" Yugi asked Yami.

"Yes, I do," Yami said shortly.

"Anyway, so, how's everyone after what you people would call a fun-filled summer?" Kaiba asked, clearly trying to prevent Fyre and Yami from killing each other.

"GREAT!" everyone chorused.

"It was way to short," Bakura grumbled.

"Well, maybe for you," Kaiba retorted. "You were not stuck at a desk in an office surrounded by idiotic imbeciles."

"Not my fault," Joey said.

"Yeah, well, not really his either," Fyre spoke up.

"How'd you figure that?" Tristin asked.

'You don't pick what guardians or parent leave you," she said, and refused to say more on the topic.

"Say, Fyre, what do you like to do? In your spare time I mean," Tea asked her.

"What makes you think that I have spare time? Fyre asked.

"What, got a schedule worse than Kaiba here?" Yami asked.

Fyre didn't say anything.

"Silent treatment on him already?" asked a new voice.

"Hello, Marrik," Fyre said flatly without even glancing over her shoulder.

"Hello, and it's good to see you again," Marrik told her.

"Can't really say the same," Fyre told him coolly. "Not after what you did."

"Listen, Fyre, what's done is done. Please, let the past go. I'm sorry; I've said it a hundred times. I mean it. I do feel bad. I was really mad at you, and I deserve what I gave you right back. I'll never get that; it's not like you to do that. I don't even deserve to be alive today. You can say whatever you want, you can turn and walk out of my life, I don't care. As long as before you do whatever you're going to do you say that you can at least accept an apology. I know that you'll probably hate me forever, and I understand that. Please, don't take it out on my sister or brother. I'm the only one who deserves the pain."

Everyone was shocked. They had never heard such a heartfelt speech from Marrik. None of them realized that he even had such a heart.

"Fine," Fyre said quietly. "I'll accept your apology, but I'll never forget. And aren't I putting you through pain by just talking to you?"

"Yes, you are," Marrik admitted. "I don't think there will be a time when it won't hurt to talk to you."

"Get over it," Fyre snapped. She flipped languages, speaking in Egyptian. "Listen Marrik," she said flatly in a language native to both of them, "I'll never love you, so my only advice now is get over me as soon as you can. All you're doing is hurting, and I'm so cold and heartless that I don't notice. I only know that you're hurting because I can see is in your eyes. I have no way of even knowing what love is. It's impossible. My emotion is gone, locked away behind a cold, silent mask."

"What was all that?" Joey asked.

"Maybe it's best if we don't know," Kaiba said softly. "I get the feeling they may have been friends, at one point, and something happened, or Marrik did something, and now Fyre can't forgive or forget."

"I just can't forget," she said softly, switching back to English. "It's too painful, and it's not an easy thing to push out of your mind."

"So, may I sit with you people?" Marrik asked.

"Sure," Yugi moved over so Marrik could sit at the end of the bench.

"Thanks," Marrik said.

Lunch was over far too fast, and then suddenly, the day was over. The bell rang for last class, and students streamed out the doors. Yugi was standing on the steps, waiting for the rest of the gang. Joey, Tristin, Tea and Marrik met up with him first, followed by Bakura and Serenity. Kaiba showed up a minute later, followed by Duke.

"Let's get out of here!" Joey cried, racing down the stairs.

"What's wrong?" asked Tea, looking back at Kaiba who hadn't moved.

"I'm going to wait for a minute," he said, looking over at the building.

"Well, you know where to find us," Yugi told him.

"Yeah, I don't know if this is a good thing, but I do know," Kaiba said.

Fyre slipped out the back door as soon as class got out. She had to get to the skating rink. She had been tense all day, and didn't have dance until the winter break.

"Four months," she thoughts. "Four long, boring, busy-work filled months until my feet hit a stage or a proper studio floor. It's not fair. Why couldn't my sister or brother have come to school here? My life is with the Black Sapphire groups, not here."

She turned down a little side road, leading up to the main road of Uptown. Stopping at the gate, she gave her name and address to the guardsman, who let her pass. She continued up the walk to her house, an uneventful stroll. Sighing, she put her key in the lock and opened the door. Closing the door behind her, she kicked off her shoes, and slipped on her ballet shoes. Sighing, she put her coat on the coat hook, and dropped her bag books on the steps. She then realized that Kaiba had asked to see what kind of tech work she did.

"Oh well," she thought, "I'll tell him I forgot."

Kaiba sighed. He'd been waiting for twenty minutes, then shrugged. He'd talk to her tomorrow. He turned and headed off to the park to meet everyone.

"Hey, you finally showed up," Serenity greeted him.

"Sorry, I went to the library, for homework." He explained.

"Done with is all already?" Tristin questioned.

"What do you think?"

"Yes," Joey stated.

"Good, you learned something," Kaiba told him.

"Hey, we should invite Fyre to join us after school sometime," Tea suggested.

"We should," agreed Yugi. "She seems like she's kind of out of the loop, and like everyone's falling for her, but they don't even know her."

"What do you mean, falling for her?" Tristin and Duke asked at the same time.

"All the guys in our chemistry class are in love with her," Kaiba said dryly.

"No way. She's been here for like a day. That's nuts. They should have heard what she said when she came into homeroom today," Duke said.

"Yeah, she's trapping herself," Bakura said softly. "I mean she said that she doesn't like comments on her looks, and she did say that she'll ignore people who comment on her looks."

"She is trapping herself," Duke said.

"Anyone know where she lives?" Tea asked.

"Uptown somewhere I think," Yugi said.

Fyre looked around her huge room. Her room was a library. Bookshelves lined the whole room, every wall, save the spot wall where her desk and bed were placed. A barre for her dance work covered one of the shelves. The floor was polished wood, but beneath the wood polish were dents, usually small hand-made rugs covered the worst. However the rugs did nothing to hide the scratches made by wooden shoes on a wood floor. She pushed her rugs back, under the bed, slipped out of her school clothes, and into loose black pants, and a slightly tight, light green shirt, with a pale blue leotard underneath. Slipping on her headphones, she walked to the barre and started her barre exercises. She seemed to go into a trance, she did the steps, took in the music, made the corrections she needed to make, all without thinking. Finishing her barre, she placed her foot on the barre where her hand had been, and slid into the splits, holding it. She then switched legs, then slipped gracefully into the splits on the floor, sitting flat, comfortably. Rising, she then did her center exercises after switching CD's. After center work, she slipped off her soft shoes, and put her pointe shoes on. The phone rang as she finished her pointe.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hi, is this Fyre?" asked a voice.

"Yes."

"Fyre, it's Yugi," said a voice on the other end.

"Oh, hi Yugi. Listen, I hope that what you have to tell me is short. Not trying to be mean or anything, but I really have to finish what I'm doing."

"no, it'll take like five minutes."

"Oh, well in that case go ahead," Fyre said.

"Well, my group of friends and I were wondering if you would like to come to the school carnival with us. It's next Friday, and we're meeting at the front doors of the school at 6 o' clock."

"Well, I, it's nice of you to invite me, but I really can't. I have tons of things going on. Sorry," Fyre told him.

"If this has anything to do with Yami, he's given up trying to be annoying."

"well, that's good," Fyre said dryly. "but no, that's not the issue."

"well, I'll tell them that you can't go," Yugi said, almost sad.

"sorry," Fyre told him.

"it's ok. See you at school."

"bye,' Fyre said.

She went back to her dance.

Yugi hung up the phone and turned to his friends who had been waiting in the living room.

"Well?" Joey asked.

Yugi shook his head. "she's, and no killing me over this," he looked at Kaiba, "but she's a lot like you used to be."

"Implying.?" Bakura asked.

"She's quiet, reserved, not really aloof, but she kind of locks herself away, " Tea agreed.

"Let's go over to the park and see if the rest of us can get some homework done," Serenity suggested.

"Sounds good," everyone else agreed.

They stole their favorite places among the trees surrounding a little clearing. Joey and Tea on the ground, Tristin on a stump, Yugi and Serenity climbed the trees like monkeys. Bakura stole the only log in the space. Footsteps caused everyone to look up.

"Hey there," Mokuba said cheerfully as he and Kaiba walked into the clearing.

"It's you two. What a pity it is," Yugi teased from the tree.

"Death will come," Kaiba told him.

"No killing people, big brother," Mokuba scolded his brother.

"He is no fun," grumbled Joey.

"He saved your life a good few times back when the two of us weren't on good terms. You owe him some thanks," Kaiba said.

"Well, thanks," Joey told the younger boy.

"Hey," a new voice.

The group turned to face three boys, Tim, Cam, and Jimmy.

"Do you folks know who that new girl is?" Tim asked.

"Why do you care?" Kaiba asked.

"What, is she your girlfriend or something?" Jimmy asked.

"No, but she is my class partner for a good few classes," Kaiba told him.

"Hey, we were just wondering, no need to freak," Cam said.

"Yeah, all you three want is to have someone to fight over," Tristin snapped.

"Oh, really?" Cam asked.

"Maybe we love her. How would you know what we know about her?" Tim agreed.

"You just contradicted yourselves," Bakura commented from his tree perch.

"Yeah, you asked us who she was, then you tell us that we don't know her and you guys do," Tea said.

"Whatever. Just tell what you know," Cam snapped.

"We don't really know anything," Serenity protested.

"Yeah, how much do you think we can know about a girl who barely talks, and just got into town a week ago at most, and that we just met today?" Kaiba asked.

"Well, you seem to know her," Tim pointed out.

"Yeah, because I have to work with her in almost all my classes," Kaiba said.

"So, do any of you people know where she lives?" asked Jimmy.

"Would we tell you if we did?" Yugi retorted.

"Yes, you will, because otherwise you will get hurt."

"What exactly are you going to try on us?" Bakura asked, slipping out of the tree.

"Yeah, we could take you guys on," Joey agreed.

"Why waste energy?" Marrik's voice asked. "It's just as easy.."

"To send them to the Shadow Realm?" Mokuba asked.

"Well, I was going to say walk away, but the Shadow Realm works just as well," Marrik said.