*MD's room, still cluttered with suitcases*
MD: Ryou, Malik I'm… I passed 100 reviews! *does the happy kuribo dance* W00T! *passes out plushies and Oreos*
Malik: I do. NOT. Believe this.
MD: It means people like my story, Malik-chan!
Malik: That's what I don't believe.
MD: I'm so unloved. T__T
Q&A:
Lady Sliver Dragon:
MD: *sighs* I'll have at least one reviewer at my next fic then. I've narrowed it down to the koneko fic (guess my victim *evil laugh*), YGO/LOTR (I've noticed all the other ones are humor fics, T__T) or the time travel fic. (Ryou-chan in ancient Egypt, fun!)
*whacks her for insulting the sacred anime of DBZ* Lord, another Trunks fan girl. Mirai Trunks may be a kick-ass fighter with that sword of his, but he's also kinda a sissy pretty-boy if you ask me. Of course, he's related to Vegita, so all is not lost. And Chibi Trunks wasn't so bad. *eyes widen* You have no Oreos! *gasps* Life is not complete unless you can eat Oreos while reading GMR. *hands her emergency Oreos*
Akiko Koishii:
MD: I understand. I can't stand Anzu, yet Kazuki Takahashi-sama seems determined to make Anzu/Yugi a couple. *sighs*
Shadows Girl12:
MD: All is forgiven, from me anyways…
CYD: *is throwing daggers rather accurately at Natina*
MD: Oh my…
Jou:
Malik: You just gave her an excuse to rant…
MD: Well, for one thing, you can almost always be sure if someone was 'sent to the Shadow Realm' in the dub, the died. I.e When Mai lost her shadow game to Marik-sama, she had 24 hours until she forgot everything, including how to breathe and beat her heart. And Marik-sama did NOT send Malik-chan's father to the Shadow realm, he stabbed him with the blade concealed in the Millennium Rod, (which was edited out.) I've never seen an actual episode, just screenshots and stuff…but as soon as I get the money I'll buy the boxed set of Battle City (only $24!) from dicountanimedvd.com. ^__^
Chattypandagurl:
MD: *throws confetti and Marik plushies* You're the 100th reviewer! ^__^ I know, but I like it spelled Atemu better.
MD: *glances at faves list* Wow, a lot of these people have never reviewed my stories….weird.
Next chapter! It's a little longer than usual as an apology for being gone.
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Premonitions of Darkness
After eating approximately six dozen Oreos between the two of them and a gallon and a half of milk, Ryou and Malik finally surrendered the remaining Oreos to Seto (whoa, school must have taken a SERIOUS effect on the mind of our beloved bishounen,) and Yugi, who promptly began munching on them, stopping occasionally to hand some to the chibi Pharaoh and High Priest. Bad idea. Oreos might have a soothing effect on high school students, but on six-year-olds, well…
"WHY?" This was the question proposed by Ryou several hours later, approximately nine p.m. And the high school students were finding it harder than usual to put two certain chibies to bed. Well, three, actually. All the hyper activity around Marik seemed to give him enough buzz to start bouncing off the walls. And I do mean bouncing off the walls. Literally. They never did figure out how he managed it. Always the odd chibi out, Bakura was watching silently from the doorway. More like observing, really. His brown-red eyes seemed to take in every detail of the room. Marik was also different. He was playing a catch-me-if-you-can game with Seto and Malik, agilely dodging their attempts to grab him and making it look simple in the process. Ryou's eyes widened slightly as Marik executed a perfect back flip onto the couch. Okay, he definitely did NOT learn that from anyone here. He turned his eyes back to the show in time to see Malik collapse on the couch, partly in exhaustion, partly in frustration. Concerned, Marik stopped bouncing with a final artful flip off of the wall. He poked Malik cautiously. "Hikari-pretty?" (A/N: I swear that's what he calls him! Plus, now that he's older, I believe he's moved beyond his one-word nickname. Too bad for Malik. ^__~)
Malik seized the opportunity to grab hold of his bouncy yami, putting an end to his late-night acrobatics. Marik put up a small struggle before giving up, and snuggling against Malik's t-shirt. Malik stared blankly at the sleeping chibi leaning against him, turning a soft shade of pink. "Umm….I guess I'd better put him to bed then." He said hurriedly before rushing out of the room.
Yugi blinked. "What just happened?"
Seto chuckled and mussed Yugi's hair slightly. "Just another weird moment in the life of Malik Ishitar."
----
Malik sighed as he set Marik on the futon next to the bed. Or tried to, anyway. Marik had a death grip on his shirt. (A/N: Prepare your buckets, ladies!) So, Malik slipped of his shirt and let Marik have it. He could always get it back in the morning. Marik hugged it closer and rolled over, sighing happily. A piece of his gravity-defying hair flopped in front of his face, creating a somewhat comic effect, like a leaf in the wind. Malik sighed before retiring to bed himself. He couldn't exactly go back out now that Marik had possession of his shirt, now could he? He spent his last waking minutes watching the piece of Marik's hair flutter up and down, as his rhythmic breathing lulled him to sleep.
----
Judging from the heavy breathing/snoring, it is safe to go in now. Ryou cautiously pushed the door open, his yami following behind him like always. It was a bad idea to go into the room before Malik was asleep. Ryou had learned this a few days prior. We won't go into detail there. Let's just say Malik has VERY strange before bed habits… (A/N: Keep your minds out of the gutters, people!) Luckily for Ryou, Malik was by now snoring, the sheets wrapped around him from rolling over constantly. And, like usual, he was talking in his sleep. This night's rendition included killer Ra plushies and the return of the dancing cupcakes. Ryou sweat dropped, before moving to his futon on the other side of the room. Bakura was stumbling by this time, having been up for a good 18-20 hours to try and prevent the nightmares. It was the same one every night. His empty village, the sand drenched in blood and the tops of homes burning, the Pharaoh's army hacking down the last survivors. How he hated the Pharaoh… Soon his small body gave into exhaustion, and his brain shut down for the night. Then came the nightmares….
He was seven. Though he'd only been in the thieving business for three years or so, he'd made quite a name for himself, fueled by his hatred for the Pharaoh and everything he stood for, managing to elude the guards every time. He'd long since forgotten his real name. They called him the White Ghost…
They'd finally caught up with him this time, despite his best maneuvers. Panting for breath, his back to the soldiers he picked up a spear. There was no choice now. He turned, his eyes full of rage, all the pent up hatred coming out in one moment. Slash. Screams pierced the air. Slash. The sand became red. He stopped then, reminded of the bloody sand in his village. It was only then that his mind cleared, and he noticed the bodies lying around him. He'd killed them all. He held up shaking hands, dropping the spear. They were red, steeped with blood….the blood of his victims…he'd killed them…and he'd liked it.
"Bakura!"
Was that his name? He couldn't remember. Did he even have a name? He had no identity. He was just the White Ghost, who's only purpose was to make the Pharaoh as miserable as possible before he killed him. But the voice sounded so soft and comforting. Maybe he should listen to it.
"Bakura!"
Ryou was shaking his yami frantically. The boy had started shaking, his eyes had polled up in his eyes, and frankly, Ryou was terrified. But most terrifying of all was the appearance of Bakura's tell-tale scar, one line going down and two lines going across that. Suddenly Bakura's frame slumped and became still, soaked through with sweat. His eyelids drooped, then snapped open, the pupils thankfully visible. Unlike the other times his nightmares had occurred, he was not crying, but his eyes were empty and haunted, although he allowed Ryou to gather him up into his arms all the same. "Was it nightmares?" Ryou asked softly. Bakura nodded, and seeing Ryou was going to ask nothing more he relaxed slightly, burying his nose into his hikari's shirt just as Marik had, inhaling Ryou's comforting smell deeply. Sighing, Ryou leaned against the wall with practiced ease. How often had he had to sleep like that because of Bakura's nightmares? Resting his chin on Bakura's head, Ryou fell asleep, still concerned about the mysterious appearance of Bakura's scar.
---
Two rooms over, another chibi was having a nightmare. This one belonged to the High Priest, although his was more what you'd call a premonition. And unlike the tomb robber, Seito was merely an observer.
Seito opened his eyes to find himself hovering over the throne room. He'd only been there a few times in his life. Usually he was kept to his studies and accompanying Yami, the Pharaoh. There were two people standing in the depression in the middle of the room. They were playing with large stone tablets of some sort too. Seito leaned forward in excitement. A shadow game! He'd always wanted to play one, though he wasn't permitted to learn until he was older. His eyes widened as the players stepped out of the shadows into his line of view. He gasped, though no one seemed notice. That looked like him! And that looked like Yami! But why were they playing a shadow game against each other? Shadow games were notorious for the deadly consequences to the losers. He watched curiously as his look-alike ordered the stone tablet of a beautiful dragon to attack the Yami look-alike's monster. Seito's eyes widened. That monster. That looked like Mahaado*! There were so many questions unanswered. But already the scene was dissolving into darkness.
"SETO!" Seito woke in a sweat, disturbed by the scene that had played out before him. And his hikari was the most comforting pillar he could cling to at the moment.
"Mmm?" Apparently not even Seto could create a snappy comeback when woken at two in the morning. Even more surprising was that Yugi and Yami had slept through it entirely. Apparently hating mornings and sleeping like logs go hand in hand.
"Seto!" Seito's voice was not as loud now, but still urgent in tone. Seto rolled out of the bed and over to Seito, yawning and brushing his shaggy bangs out of his eyes.
"Wha- you do know that it's two o-clock in the morning, right?" He wasn't really mad though. How could he be? Seito was the other half of his soul after all. "So, what is it?"
Seito sniffed before regaining his composure as best he could in true Kaiba fashion and recounting the dream. After he had finished, Seto was silent. Usually harsh and blunt though he usually was, Seto didn't have the heart to tell Seito he betrayed the person who was at this point the closest thing to a best friend. So he simply did his best to comfort Seito and put him back to bed, switching beds with him as a rare act of thoughtfulness. Floors aren't that comfortable after a nightmare, y'know. Seto sighed, covering himself with Seito's blanket before falling back to sleep, his ever stubborn bangs falling back over his eyes. He didn't notice the two now wakeful pairs of violet eyes watching him from the other side of the room. Yugi yawned. "Seto's really changed, huh Yami?"
Yami nodded mutely, more concerned about what had made his friend so upset. Probably nothing. He scolded himself silently. Nightmares often meant nothing at all. Didn't they?
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*Mahaado is one of the seven priests who served the Pharaoh. He was also the original owner of the Millennium Ring before Bakura killed him and took it. He sacrificed his soul so he could serve the Pharaoh for eternity as the Black Magician
Bakura: *twitch*
Ryou: Yami, you're normal!
MD: Mmm hmm, I felt nice. So what's the problem Kura-sama?
Bakura: *points* What is HE doing here?!
MD: *shields Yami* It's Sky's fault! But you CAN'T dismember him!
Bakura: XD Traitor.
MD: Anywho, review!