Marik said nothing to her and his eyes remained closed, the dark lashes brushing against his flesh. After examining him quickly, Ishizu scooped him into her arms and held him close to her heart, fear gripping at her very soul. His heartbeat was normal, though his breath was a bit slowed. But what had happened to him! Why had he been laying unconscious at the bottom of the staircase!
"He is injured," Rishid said, looking up at her from where he had gently touched Marik's right temple. "There is a bruise here under his hair." Fear was in Rishid's golden eyes as well, but Ishizu also saw a calmness. He knew Marik was alive as well. Ishizu rejoiced because of this, but still she worried.
The teenager moved now, his body struggling briefly to be free before settling down and going still again. Ishizu cradled him gently, whispering sweet, comforting words to her younger brother. Had he fallen? Was it an accident that he was hurt? Or . . . had someone pushed or hit him?
Rishid had the same thoughts. He glanced around the darkened room suspiciously before turning on as many lights as he could. It was foolish to leave places for an intruder to conceal himself. And where there is light, physical or mental, the dark has no place to go.
Ishizu continued to kneel on the floor with Marik. She knew he was too heavy for her to stand up holding, and so she waited until Rishid came back over and carefully lifted Marik onto the soft couch.
"What could he have gotten into?" she wondered in concern as she went into the kitchen to fetch a damp cloth. "Oh Rishid . . . it seems as though he will always be tormented by someone!" And she didn't find it fair at all.
Rishid closed his eyes tightly. He didn't either. Why did Marik have to endure so much? Hadn't their precious brother suffered enough already? Couldn't he simply be allowed to enjoy the good things in life now? "Perhaps it was just an accident," he said aloud as he covered Marik with a down quilt. He would prefer it to be an accident as opposed to someone actually hurting the poor boy again.
Ishizu came back into the room and dabbed the cloth over Marik's forehead and closed eyes. "Perhaps," she agreed softly, pondering over their enemies. "The Rare Hunters are in prison . . . so it was not they." She doubted that Del Vinci would be taking an interest in Marik. He was only concentrating on the Kaibas.
But . . . had they ever found out for certain who had thrown the dart that had nearly killed Rishid? The Rare Hunters—in prison for being involved in a drug ring and for attempted murders—had all denied it, though they admitted to conspiring to have Marik killed during a drug payoff. Was there perhaps a new enemy lurking in the shadows, as Marik had feared?
Marik moved now, giving a start as the coldness of the cloth touched his flesh. He winced, moaning in pain, and then reached up to rub the bruise Rishid had found earlier. Ishizu smiled in relief that he was finally beginning to revive.
"Brother?" she whispered, continuing to dab the cloth on Marik's flesh. "Brother, awaken."
Marik went still again, seeming to be gathering his strength. His eyes opened when Rishid gently brushed his bangs to the side. The boy looked utterly confused for what seemed an endless eternity and then finally he gave a slight smile. "I think," he said carefully after a short moment, "that I'm allergic to gravity."
Ishizu couldn't stop herself from laughing out loud. Well, Marik certainly seemed to be his normal self. And that was something to be immensely thankful for.
"Are you well, brother?" Rishid asked after chuckling a bit himself.
Marik pretended to think it over. He was extremely irritated that this had happened to him, but for his siblings' sakes he was being humourous about it. "Mentally, I'm angry," he said with a half-smile. "And physically . . . I'm very sore." He raised himself up partially, decided he didn't want to get up just yet, and fell back into the soft cushions.
"But how did this happen to you, Marik?" Ishizu wanted to know, leaning over the back of the couch and looking down at him. She knew her brother wasn't a clumsy sort of person. It was hard for her to imagine that he simply would have slipped and fallen. Marik had never been like that. Even so, she did know that even those with the best equilibrium could sometimes wind up losing their balance.
Marik blinked up at her, as if he was either having trouble processing the question or having trouble finding the answer.
"Do you know, Marik?" Rishid asked him now, watching his brother's confused expression. He knew Marik didn't like to appear confused even if he was. Marik was the type who sometimes liked to think he could fix any problem—because he wished he could.
Marik closed his eyes tightly and shook his head. He was completely baffled by it all. He remembered falling down the stairs . . . he remembered crying out in pain when he hit the floor. But he wasn't certain how it had happened.
"I . . . I think I tripped," he said finally. That was all he could come up with.
Ishizu looked at him with concern. She could see that he really didn't know. But what she wasn't sure of was whether Marik honestly didn't know and never had . . . or if he didn't remember. Carefully she sat down and studied his eyes, praying that her brother didn't have a concussion. Both pupils were normal, however, and the woman leaned back, stroking Marik's hand.
Rishid was also concerned, and he did still wonder if this hadn't been an accident. But when he asked Marik if he thought someone had purposely tripped him, the boy could only reply that he didn't know. All he recalled was taking Taylor to his home and then going across the street to his own. He had headed up the stairs to go to his room when he had tripped and fallen. The story was plausible, but all admitted that something seemed off. They just couldn't figure out what could have happened instead, or, if someone had been in the house, who it would have been.
Seto was heading home in his limo when he saw Joey's rickety trap of a car pull up beside him at a red light. When he heard the Rusty Chevrolet song being played on the blonde boy's car radio, he couldn't help but be amused.
Seto couldn't resist rolling down the window and smirking at Joey. "So, Wheeler, I suppose that's your car the man's talking about." Never could he forget the times he had been forced to ride in Joey's broken-down jalopy, cramped in with five other people. Those had been complete horror rides, and not at all dignified for the president of KaibaCorp to be seen in.
Joey glared over at him murderously. "HEY! Watch what you say, Kaiba!" he yelled, shaking his fist. "My car runs just fine! It's not like the piece of junk they're talking about in that song!" The last thing he needed today was for Seto to be his usual irritating self. Already he was feeling angry about Duke's and Tristan's latest attempts to woo Serenity. Both boys had gone over to the house after school and buttered up Mrs. Wheeler before asking to take Serenity Christmas shopping. Mrs. Wheeler, who knew both boys quite well by now, had agreed, and Joey had come home only recently and heard of it. Now he was desperately trying to get to the mall to spy on them.
"Oh, it isn't?" Seto replied smoothly, crossing his arms. He needed something to take his mind off this whole Del Vinci problem. Until he got back to Mokuba, teasing Joey would be a way to relieve some of his stress. "Well, it certainly makes enough noise. Wasn't that the muffler I heard trailing on the ground just now? And it's definitely cold enough inside to put one in minds of the Arctic."
"Man, I'm warnin' you, Kaiba," Joey growled, clenching the steering wheel with all his might. "You don't wanna push me too far!"
As the chorus played again, Seto remained dead calm. This was too amusing. He knew he had gotten Joey's goat, and now he was only proving what a short-tempered fool the Brooklyn boy was. People from the surrounding cars were all staring by now.
"I could've sworn I saw you losing a tire on the road the other day," Seto sneered as the light finally turned green again. "It seems the radio really is about the only thing working." With that he was gone in a burst of speed, leaving a fuming Joey behind.
But Joey wasn't about to give up. He slammed on the accelerator and charged forward until he had pulled up alongside Seto's spacious limo at the next red light. "It's not like everyone has the money to have one of those things!" the brown-eyed boy yelled, pointing his forefinger at the sleek black automobile. "You think you're so darn great just 'cause you have all that money and the fancy cars! Well, maybe I'm not some rich guy like you, but at least I'm not a stuck-up snob!" He slammed his hand down on the top of the door and the sideview mirror teetered and fell to the ground.
Both boys immediately reverted their gaze downward to stare at the fallen object. Then Seto opened his door, reached down calmly to pick it up, and then handed it to Joey. "You dropped this," he said smoothly before driving off.
Joey could only sit there and let his rage boil over.
Joey turned the radio off in rage and threw the mirror onto the seat next to him. What right did that Seto Kaiba have to always be trying to get a rise out of him? Ever since they'd first met it had been like that. Joey was often convinced that Seto was just looking down on him because they came from different walks of life.
Of course there had been times when Seto had actually rescued Joey. In spite of all his cold, calculating, and callous behavior, Seto had risked his own life several times for the blonde-haired boy. In a way, perhaps it was more like the two were friends deep down but outwardly loved to hate each other.
Right now, Joey definitely seemed to be hating him. And he also hated Tristan and Duke for always going after his sister. That reminded him . . . he had to get to the mall. Furiously he started the car's engine and puttered off, ignoring the sound of the muffler trailing behind him.
Téa was helping Burt Thorton put new stock on his shelves. Being that it was only a week to Christmas, the man was having his store stay open until midnight. And as usual, the man was feeling highly distressed.
"A new store opened just on the other side of the mall!" he declared, pointing out the door at all the bustling shoppers and the stores. "Everything always is working against me! I'm probably going to lose business now!" Mr. Thorton was already stressed enough about Del Vinci having been blackmailing him. And with the mob boss still at large, the poor man was afraid it would happen again. Or worse—that Del Vinci would make good on the threats to hurt Thorton's sister.
"I'm sure there'll be enough customers to go around," Téa tried to reassure him. While she knew Mr. Thorton's nervous personality often annoyed others, she tried to be patient around him. She knew how worried he was about his sister.
"That's not the main problem," Mr. Thorton replied, squeezing some rubber jacks in his hand. "I'm afraid Del Vinci's spies have opened it just so they can keep watch on me!" He set the jacks down and accidentally started an electric train.
Téa watched as the train started making its way around the track in the display window. "I'm sure that's not true," she said firmly. "Del Vinci has bigger things to worry about."
"But I know his secret identity!" Mr. Thorton insisted. "Of course he'd worry about me! He wants to make me shut up by hurting my sister!"
Téa idly glanced over at the other toy shop. The thought of Mafia dons shelving and selling toys was highly amusing to her, though she knew Mr. Thorton was completely serious. And she did know he probably actually had something to worry about.
Was it her imagination, or had she just seen someone in a business suit and sunglasses going into that store?
Joey narrowed his eyes as he watched from behind a potted palm tree as Tristan and Duke escorted Serenity along, each one trying to find something that she would like the best. The nerve of those two!
"What do you think of these genuine Native American bracelets?" Duke asked, holding one up.
Serenity rushed over for a better look. "They're absolutely gorgeous!" she gushed, trying one on and delighting in the many colored stones and feathers.
Tristan glared at Duke. "Hey, Serenity! I just saw some cool plush animals over there!" he called, pointing ahead to another kiosk. He knew how much she adored that sort of thing.
"Really!" Serenity exclaimed, going to look.
Tristan smiled triumphantly. "See?" he grinned. "She likes my idea better." He watched as Serenity cuddled a plush elephant.
Duke wasn't ready to give up. "She likes my idea the best!" he retorted. "She's still wearing the bracelet!" He pointed to it on Serenity's wrist.
The two boys glared at each other.
Joey was just preparing to step out from behind the tree and confront them all when he suddenly realized that his foot had gotten tangled up in an electrical cord. Narrowing his eyes, he struggled to unwind the cord before some disaster happened. But in that he proved unsuccessful. Instead he wound up pulling the cord out of its socket and turning off half the Christmas lights in the building.
All around the mall came cries of, "What the heck?" and "How'd that happen!" Tristan and Duke, intent on their glaring/staring match, didn't even look up as Joey continued to work at freeing himself.
Serenity did, however. "Joey!" she exclaimed, setting the plush down and running over. "What on earth are you doing here!" She had a sneaking suspicion, but she wouldn't voice it aloud yet. Her brother's overprotective nature wasn't lost to her, and though she appreciated his concern and loved Joey more than anything, she did wish he would give her some space. She felt that she was old enough to be with Tristan and Duke without Joey flipping out about it. After all, both of them were very honorable and decent people.
Joey looked up at her sheepishly. "Oh, uh, hey sis!" he grinned, finally getting the coils of cord off from around his shoes. "I was, uh, just passin' through. Fancy seein' you here!" He knew that Serenity would be irritated with him for spying, and he didn't especially want to have a confrontation with her right in the mall. It was Tristan and Duke he wanted to yell at.
Serenity gave a heavy sigh and plugged the Christmas lights back in. "You knew I was coming here, didn't you, Joey?" she said softly.
Joey scratched his head. "Well . . . hey, I just wanted to make sure everything was goin' the way it should!" he said defensively, straightening up and dumping the cords behind the palm tree.
"Well, it's fine, Joey," Serenity assured him, laying her hands on his shoulders. "So you don't need to worry." What she really wished was that they could all have a nice, peaceful time shopping and not have to worry about criminals or boys being forward. She knew Tristan and Duke wouldn't ever try anything inappropriate. But still Joey worried.
"Of course I have to worry!" the boy cried.
Serenity just sighed again.
Bakura perked up as he heard a graphic thump against the porch. "Oh my!" the sweet boy exclaimed, leaping to his feet and disturbing Oreo. "What on earth was that!"
"Frances?" Mr. Ryou said hopefully, going over.
Yami Bakura went to the door as well. "Foolish mortal!" he scolded. If there was one person on earth he didn't understand, it was Mr. Ryou. But if anyone tried to tell Yami Bakura that that was because he had never been in love, they would be mistaken. The thief had been in love once, ages before. But he never spoke of it now and didn't intend to ever again. The past was past.
Angrily he yanked open the door and looked down, preparing for the appearance of some grotesque creature. Instead he froze in shock and disbelief.