Author's notes: I think it's time to start turning up the heat, Marik and Yami have got some things to say to Kaiba. But first there is Kira...

Still don't own anyone but Kira and the girls...yet!

Chapter 7: Hello

She stood laughing at her twin brothers throwing a crimson ball. One was still taller than the other but only by an inch or two. Mafuyu had dark black hair but Itsuki's was as white as snow. They both wore soft blue kimonos. She could see that she was also wearing a Kimono, a stirring red one. She laughed at the two older boys and clapped her hands in a childish way. "Catch," cried Itsuki. She caught the ball though she couldn't see it very well. Bells tinkled as she did so. She was wearing bells. Kira looked up at her brother's soft, happy face and smiled back at him, "Clever girl Kara." Kira felt a twinge of doubt at the mention of a different name. Was it because she had become so used to being called another one. Her eyes trailed down his neck, drawn there by a strange power. As she stared, and to her horror, a strange red butterfly mark around his neck...she had a funny feeling that they were strangulation marks. It caused her to let out an involuntary scream and drop the ball. As it hit the floor darkness spread out across the floor covering the walls and climbing up to the ceiling slowly blocking out the light, choking it and her. As it climbed up she spun around trying desperately to keep her eyes on the light above her.

"Itsuki..." she screamed, "Mafuyu." There was nothing but eerie silence and a dull drip...drip...drip. As her eyes grew accustomed to the light she became aware of a small voice saying "Kill me...Don't kill me..." she tried to walk down towards it but her eye sight was so bad she could barely make out the path.

"I don't want to kill you." A voice answered the one before it. She eventually came to the mouth of a great cave lit with thousands of sacred candles that cast long, scary shadows across the room. There was a half circle of candles in the centre of the room and in the middle of these two crimson pillows. On the two pillows sat her twins...bound together with a crimson rope. They wore white, the colour of purity, goodness...and death. Mafuyu slowly raised his hands to Itsuki's neck and pressed.

Seconds later Kira uncovered her eyes from under her own blood red kimono seeing Mafuyu standing there staring at his hands, and Itsuki on the floor not moving. "Big brother..."she heard herself whisper, even though it didn't sound like she was saying it. From the darkness men with their eyes sewn up walked to the limp form and picked him up taking him away. "Give me back my brother!" she yelled. No one noticed her at all, as if she was never there. She fell onto her knees and cried, "ITSUKI!" she yelled. As she did so a small crimson butterfly fluttered past her view and then back into it, landing on her knee.

"Kara..." it whispered softly.

Kira woke when the alarm started to buzz. Annoyed she threw her pillow at it knocking it onto the lilac carpet. She hated that dream; fear tore at her insides...had that really happened? She hoped it wasn't true. "Itsuki..." she whispered and flung her legs out from under the silk sheets. "Oh what happened to you Itsuki?" She rubbed her eyes to try and keep the tears away from her eyes. Her throat was already sore and it appeared to her that she had been crying in her sleep.

"Kara..."a ghostly voice whispered behind her. She looked up at the mirror over the other side of the bed and in its reflection saw a shadowy figure. It was a fuzzy shadow but the more she looked at it the more structured it seemed to become. It was a person that she could just make out, his head bowed and black hair obscuring his face. Long bluish white kimonos hug limply over his slender form, about his waist was a slender red cord that had been severed and hug to his knee. A large red butterfly was tied tightly around his throat.

"Mafuyu!" she turned as fast as she could but no one was there. She clambered over the bed slowly and much likes a cat. When she got there a damp patch had formed and in its centre was the hair pin she had placed on the dresser yesterday. "What is this?" she whispered softly. She became aware of a presence behind her. She daren't move in case the thing attacked her so she stayed frozen. A ghostly white hand reached down to touch her shoulder and her breath quickened.

"Kara..." again the ghostly whispering, she couldn't take it any more and spun around to see who was there. Nothing...but the hair pin, gingerly she picked it up and stared at it. Another rose had been laced around it from the tip to the end of the other one. This rose was not blue like the last one but the same deep crimson of everything else she had seen in her dream. As she ran her fingers over the rose she had a sudden flash back.

-Flash back-

She was in a small room with hanging dolls in the centre and a long workshop table beneath them. At the table sat Itsuki, the light gently reflecting off his hair. Kira was surprised that she could remember him so well; Mafuyu had only been able to show her pictures of him when they had gone to Egypt. And that was not long before Mafuyu had died. Still Itsuki sat there, his blue kimono emphasizing the paleness of his hair. He was working hard at the pin and smiling as he did so.

As she watched him the door behind her opened but she felt no need to turn and look. Somehow she knew who it was. Mafuyu placed his hand gently on her shoulder and watched Itsuki with her. Both of them sat down and he elder pulled her onto his lap. Itsuki winked at her every now and again. She finally realised that she was only a young child of about four, and still wearing a red kimono. When he had finished Itsuki held up the hair pin in triumph and smiled at her. "Do you like it little Kara?" she clapped her hands and the bell went off as she moved. "I thought you would." She reached up to take it but he pulled his hand back from her. "You can have it when you are older," he smiled at her pout, "Mafuyu can give it to you on your wedding day...to wear as a gift from the both of us."

"But I want you to give it to me Itsuki." She cried, "Why won't you give it to me? Won't you be there?"

"I might be." He smiled and handed the delicate piece of jewellery to his brother. Mafuyu was deadly serious but managed to force a smile.

-End flash back-

Kira coughed sharply at the forced vision and felt her throat tighten more than ever. It felt like someone was pushing down on her neck trying to strangle her to death. Crying out against whatever it was and the pain that was in her heart she jumped off the bed. Leaning against her vanity chest she looked up into the mirror. Abruptly the pain stopped and she stared at her reflection. Her skin was paper white, lips as blue as ice and her eyes slightly glazed over with tears tracks running down her cheeks. Her jet black hair fell around her in uncontrollable waves, partially covering her left eye. Her baby blue pyjamas were stuck to her from the sweat...but still her attention was drawn to her neck. Even as she watched a red butterfly mark folded its wings out across her throat. "No..." she turned her head, "Leave her alone..." this voice was female and very distressed. Towards the other end of her corridor, Kira could see a pale shape coming towards her.

"Stop it, please stop this!" she covered her ears and screamed. When she opened her eyes the figure was gone, quickly she turned back to the mirror and rubbed the place were the butterfly had been. She was back to normal; no longer did she look like she had just died of strangulation she was healthy and sane...she hoped.

A knock at her front door startled her into her fully awake mode. She rushed through the corridor and bounced off the door before desperately grabbing the keys, soon after there was another more urgent bang on the door. "Ok I'm coming can't you wait?" she pulled open the door to see Kaiba looking rather concerned. "Hello?"

"Are you all right Kira? I could hear you screaming from out here."

"Nothing...I just had a bad dream." She placed her hand on her temple and rubbed, "Do you want to come in?" he nodded and she smiled, "I hope you don't mind I'll have to get dressed." He nodded and she opened the door just enough for him to come in. She quickly directed him to the drinks in the kitchen and apologised for being unable to help at the moment.

"Don't worry about it Kira...you have more important things to worry about." Kaiba indicated her night ware and she blushed and muttered 'Sorry' at him. This made him laugh, "Go get ready I can take care of myself."

It wasn't long before she was out of the shower and in her bedroom trying to choose something to wear. She settled on a pair of dark blue jeans that flared out at the bottom, a studded belt to hang at an angle and a red top with a yin yang symbol at its centre. On her am she wore a leather bracer, just because it looked good. She grabbed her brush and pulled it threw her long ebony hair and then secured it in a bun that left some of her hair down, this she quickly curled leaving two bangs to hang around her face. If he doesn't like this stuff him. She thought as she walked into the kitchen and smiled at him. "Sorry about that." He nodded but remained seated at her wooden table. He was wearing the same outfit he had worn to Duellist Kingdom, or so he told her last night.

"I'm sure you didn't mean to do that," he smirked at her, "Of course it is early in the morning."

"Huh?" she asked peering around the cupboard door that she had just opened.

"It is only half past seven Kira." She blinked at him in disbelief.

"You have got to be kidding Me." She kept staring at him until she thought it was rude, "What are you doing up and around at this time, and on a Saturday as well?"

"I do run a company." She smiled and nodded before reaching in to grab her cereal bar from a box.

"Do you want one?" she offered him the box, he held his hand up but shook his head. She could see that her hand was shaking more than usual and realised she was still a little shaken by that incident earlier. Or maybe it was the fact that Kaiba was here and she still wasn't that comfortable about what happened yesterday between them. She sighed and placed her hands on the table to try and calm down. Seto seemed to notice this and leaned over to her.

Marik knocked on the card shop door. Yugi's grandpa opened it and when the two were safely inside Grandpa went out. "I wonder what's wrong with him." Isis remarked as they walked through the shop to the back. There was the sound of things being thrown about above them and Marik could understand why the older man had wanted to leave. Yugi was having one of his temper tantrums upstairs, one in which no one could talk to him. Still he had more important things to worry about than some upstart in a bad mood. Angrily he banged on Yugi's door barley paying attention to his surroundings.

"Yugi open this door, we have to talk."

"Marik is that you?" the voice sounded much older than Yugi's so it had to be the Pharaoh's. Nothing happened and so Marik presumed it was safe to go in. When he entered a vase flew at the wall and narrowly missed his head. Right then he decided he'd had enough of this tantrum and of getting hurt, so he leapt at Yami and pinned him to the ground. Fists flew for a couple of minutes before Isis gained enough courage to intervene and grab the Pharaoh's arms. They managed to pull him into a sitting position before he tore Marik's clothing to pieces and calm him down enough to talk.

"What the hells gotten into you Yami?" Isis asked with concern in her voice.

"Kaiba is with Kira at this very moment." He growled through gritted teeth.

"And that affects you how?" Marik asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"You don't get it do you Marik? You really don't."

"Meaning..."

"Put two and two together." Yami blinked up at him.

"She's not like that Yami, she won't betray me." He glanced out of the window in annoyance.

"And I doubt Kaiba would do that to me either." Isis spoke softly, "Especially not with her."

"Anyway, if that annoys you so much why don't you go around there and sort him out? Oh that's it she doesn't know that you like her does she?" Yami went to jump at Marik when Isis sharply cut in.

"Marik the pharaoh has better things on his mind than that."

"Like the fact that she's getting visits, I can't find out any more than that but that is how it goes."

"We had better go and see if she's alright then."

Outside there was an odd feeling of anger in the air. Marik sensed it the moment he got out of the door. He could smell fear and hatred as well, if you could smell that sort of thing. He frowned and bent to Yami's level. "Can you sense that?" The smaller nodded and slowed his pace.

"What could it be Marik?" he asked concern in his voice.

"Isis drop back a bit please." Marik commanded, "I have a funny feeling we are about to meet our welcome committee." Even as he said those words he became aware of three robed men standing a head of them. They looked almost the same as his rare hunters apart from the fact that their cloaks were red and had no eye symbol on them. The three started to approach them and became clearer as they did so. The cloaks were shorter than a rare hunter and you could see their black boots. There hands were visible as well as their long nails. All of them laughed at the approaching trio. As they watched the nails on the men's hands grew and became like knives.

Kira stood and cleaned up after herself, putting the cups into the sink and clearing away the tea stuff. She smiled at Kaiba as he stood and stretched. "You still haven't told me about why you were agitated."

"I had a scare this morning that's all, I'm fine now." She smiled at him again and pushed one of her bangs out of her eyes.

"You may say that but you don't look it." She turned to him still keeping her hand under the water as she ran it.

"And that means?" She placed one hand on her hip. Kaiba walked over to her and smiled gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You were very, very pale when I came in. Not that you are now but." He shrugged at her and then smiled, placing his hands around her waist and resting his head on her shoulder. "I think..." he moved one hand to her chin and tilted it towards him.

Author's notes: I hope you like it so far. Next chapter will have a lot of confrontation I am sure.