Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while; I've been kinda busy and my dad's computer was being weird. Goodness I hate Imacs… Anyway, I'm going to try a suggestion from Stephanie to help the italics show up. Let's hope it works!!

Chapter 9~

Kinou was back in the dueling arena with Yugi, the many pokemon cards in her hands. She looked across the battlefield and saw the Dark Magician with all of his monsters, miniature-sized, on his shoulders. He said that they needed to give him the Millennium Puzzle before he threw his scepter at them. Yugi gave a heavy sigh and started taking off his puzzle. "Wait a minute!" she shouted, holding Yugi's hands. Suddenly, he turned into Yami Marik, who, in turn, grabbed her hands and picked her up and hung her over the side of the dueling arena, which had a Dark Hole card played in the middle of it. Kinou was yelling and crying out for help, but all had gone dark and she could only see Yami Marik, laughing as he watched her scream, knowing that he was the only thing keeping her from falling into eternal blackness. He let one of her hands go and she screamed and grabbed his other hand with both of hers. He shouted something, but he was drowned out by a louder voice: "Kinou! Kinou! Are you all right?" Yami Marik glanced upwards, then smiled cruelly at Kinou and said, "Enjoy your time with him, foolish girl, for I will be back to reclaim you soon enough!"

                Kinou awoke suddenly, covered in sweat and shaking. Yami Marik's laughter was echoing through her mind when she realised the person was still yelling and pounding on her door.

                "Kinou! Answer me! Are you all right?!" came Kaiba's voice.

                "I----I'm fine!" she gasped. Getting uneasily to her feet, she went and unlocked her door.

Kaiba looked relieved to see her standing. "Are you all right?" he asked, more calmly. "You were making a huge racket."

                "Yeah," said Kinou, running her hand through her hair. "I had a nightmare. I was—"

                "I don't want to hear about it," he said, suddenly stern. "I was making sure you weren't being attacked or kidnapped; I didn't leave my work just to hear some gibberish about the Boogie Man."

                "Work?" asked Kinou, and she noticed he was still wearing his overcoat. She looked up at him, sneering. "Do you ever sleep?"

                "Only when I need to and when there are no important projects going on," he replied, not laughing. "As it so happens, neither of these circumstances are fulfilled, so if you'll excuse me, I'm in the middle of something right now."

                "Fine," said Kinou, and he turned abruptly and left. She stood in her doorway for a few moments before walking back into her room, closing her door behind her. Sitting down on her bed, she reflected on her dream. What had scared her so much? Her memory was fading quickly and all she could remember was that Yami Marik had been there. She struggled to hold onto any images she had left; yet every time she thought she had a good hold on one, it slipped away. She closed her eyes. Damnit, I don't mind when I forget a stupid dream that makes no sense, but I remember this one being important; why forget now? WHY? She clenched her fist and punched her pillow with all of her might.

                "Oh, sorry; am I interrupting anything?" came a small voice from her door.

Kinou opened her eyes to see Mokuba, the younger Kaiba brother, with a tray of food. He shifted uneasily when she didn't say anything, but she shook her head.

                "No, I'm sorry, Mokuba. I'm just--frustrated."

                "I can sorta understand," he replied, coming forward with the tray and putting it delicately on the end table. "I thought you might like some food, since you've been through a lot and you looked exhausted when you first got here."

                On the tray there was a big bowl of rice and some egg rolls, along with some orange juice and a full pitcher of water next to it. She looked back up at Mokuba, who was timidly watching her, as though waiting for her opinion.

                "Thanks a lot, Mokuba," she said, smiling gratefully at him, and he sighed, easing his shoulders down to their proper height. Kinou looked around the tray and found a pair of chopsticks. Thankful that she actually knew how to use them, she began to shovel the food into her mouth, suddenly aware of how hungry she was. She completely forgot that Mokuba was still sitting on her bed until he sighed heavily. She looked at him over her bowl.  "Is something wrong?" she asked with a mouthful of rice.

                "Well.... I'm really not supposed to..." he replied uneasily, twisting his hands slowly. He didn't continue, so Kinou swallowed her food and put the bowl and chopsticks down.

                "If you're not allowed to say it, then don't tell me, but if you are, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to," she said coaxingly.

                He remained silent for a few moments, took in a breath--- and let it out.

Kinou blinked. "Are you allowed to tell me what you want to say?"

                Mokuba nodded slightly. "I'm just not quite sure how to say it without saying something I'm not supposed to say." When he saw the confused look on Kinou's face, he elaborated: "I mean, I want to talk to you about something, but I don't think I'm allowed to say it."

                "Ah," said Kinou. "Well, again, if you can tell me, tell me. If you do let something slip, let me know what it is so that I don't go accidentally blabbing about it. You can trust me." She put her hand over his reassuringly.

                He glanced up at her and spoke slowly, obviously picking his words carefully.

"Well……..you aren't exactly……..the first—"

                He suddenly stopped, glancing towards her door, which was still open. A guard had just walked by and had stopped at the sight of Mokuba.

                Mokuba stood up. "Well, there's your food, let one of the guards know if you need anything else," he said hastily, and he walked out of her room; the guard shut the door behind him.

                That's just great, thought Kinou bitterly. Right when I might have gotten some good information. Come to think of it, Seto never got the chance to explain to me exactly what was going on; I still don't know what my power is, how to use it, or why he wanted me here in the first place. Man I am so in the dark… She looked over at Emily.

                "I'm sure you're just about as clueless as I am, Emily. What say we go exploring a little more to get our minds off it?" Putting Emily into her pocket and slipping her shoes on, she listened intently for any noise in the hallway that might suggest another guard coming by. When she heard nothing but silence, she crept to her door, opened it and closed it quietly, and walked out into the hallway. She already knew where she was going: the hallway with the dragons carved in stone.

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Yay! It worked! Thanks a bunch Steph!