TRC is back!! Some influences of reading manga and finishing my college application for MCLA have put the Writing Gene in my head back in business. This story was on my old account – Yami no Yosei – but it's been revived under this new one (which is my LiveJournal name, too).

Anywho, for those of you who ARE reading this: I hope you enjoy this small peek into my crazy mind!! So, here's the beginning of an old idea brought to life again!!

(Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this chapter. Except for myself and Mae. We are ourselves – real people.)

".........Wait a minute – let me get this straight here. Your mom and dad went out to visit their friends in Massachusetts, your brother's staying at his friend's house until they get back, and you're at the house for the summer ALL ALONE?!?"

A pulse mark appeared at the girl's forehead as she gripped the phone in her hand tightly. "Hai, Mae-chan," she replied harshly for the seventeenth time that afternoon. "But that does NOT mean I am having a party. I've got too much to do."

"But, Mia-chan........." Mae moaned on the opposite end of the phone line. "You're always busy. Give yourself a break and relax a little!! I command you to-!"

"NO, Mae."

"But-!!"

"Do I have to march over there and destroy your websites?"

"Do you have a death wish?"

Mia grinned at her friend's harsh tone of voice. It was the kind that told you to back off or die – a constant joke between the two. "You know there are fifty people in town that have death wishes on me, so how could I have one on myself?" she retorted humorously.

"Whatever," Mae sighed in defeat. "Anyways, what're ya doin' now?"

Mia rolled her eyes. She had been on the phone with her friend for twenty minutes straight, which had forced her to talk while using precious time to surf the Web. "I am trying to find a site that will tell me where I can buy Rurouni Kenshin and YugiOh plushies, of course," she said as she continued to search Google for her goal.

Mae giggled. "That's impossible, you know. No one wants to give any up. Either that, or no one's made any yet."

"Tell them to hurry up," Mia whined as she fingered the end of her dark ponytail. "I want a Kenshin plushie, and I want one NOW."

"You're too obsessed with my annoying brother, ne?"

"Call him that, and I will have to kill you."

"You and what army?"

"Me and Yugi's Noodle Brigade!!"

Both girls burst out laughing at this comment. It was a joke between the two of them to pretend that the YugiOh world – or any other Anime world - was a part of their own, one that they took into consideration.

"'Noodle Brigade'?" Mae questioned as she forced her giggles to subside. "When'd you come up with that one?"

"Just now," Mia said, her fingers working quickly over the keys as she typed. "I've got nothing better to do anyways."

"Yeah........."

"Mae-chan?"

".........What?"

Mia frowned as she paused for a moment. "I was asking you what was wrong, Mae," she repeated dully. "Which of your many bishounen were you daydreaming about THIS time?"

"Guess."

Mia grinned as she thought of her friend's many Anime crushes that she had. "I'm going to take a long-shot and say Miroku," she said finally.

"........."

"Well? Was I right?"

"I.........despise.........you........."

Mia giggled. "What now?! A psycho teenager daydreaming about her favorite perverted monk sounds perfectly normal to me!!"

"BAKA!!"

"BIZNATCH!!"

"........."

"Mae-chan?"

"Jeez, you'd give Tasuki a run for his money with all the swearing you do........."

"Arigatou!!"

A silence overtook the two girls as they sank deep into thought. Mia continued to type, not really noticing anything around her. Jeez, it's awesome when I can joke with my friends, she thought, but.........Jeez, why does the summer have to be THIS way?!? So freakin' BORING!!

"Mia-chan?"

"Nani?"

"I was just thinking........."

"Uh-oh," Mia mumbled. As soon as the words left her mouth, she jerked the phone away from her ear as a stream of yells and threats emitted from the earpiece. I shouldn't have said that, she thought and she winced from the loud shouts aimed at her. She peered at the phone as Mae calmed down, brought it back to her ear, and said, "Gomen, Mae-chan. What were you thinking about?"

"Well," Mae began in a strangely thoughtful tone, "we've been talking about different Anime characters for a while now, ne?"

"Yeah," Mia said slowly, not knowing the point her friend was getting at.

"I mean, we've mentioned Rurouni Kenshin, YugiOh, Inu Yasha, and Fushigi Yuugi during this one phone call, right?"

"Your point with all this, Mae-chan?"

Mae huffed annoyingly but continued, "Well, I was going to ask you if you've ever thought about what it would be like if our favorite characters from each Anime we liked were here with us?"

There was a long pause, broken only by the sound of Mia's fingers on the keyboard. After a while, she replied, "Well, yeah – I have thought about it at times. When I'm really bored or upset or something like that. Why?"

Mae just laughed a little. "Just wondering if your brain was as screwed up as mine, Mia-chan!!" she said simply.

Mia shook her head as she replied, "Yeah, yeah, Mae. I believe you."

"HEY!! You're being sarcastic!!"

"How can you tell? You're on the other end of the phone miles away from my house!"

"I just CAN!!"

"Oye," Mia stated, giving up the argument with Mae. She let her eyes drift lazily back to the computer screen, which had her screensaver on and running. "Damn it," she swore as she moved the mouse to get her computer back online. The familiar X/1999 background appeared, and each icon began to pop up one by one.

Then, she saw a familiar-looking icon at the bottom of her screen. It was an envelope wrapped in a blue arrow, telling her that.........

"Hey! I've got mail!!" Mia said excitedly as she opened up Outlook Express on her computer.

"Same here," Mae said, and her friend could have sworn there was a bit of puzzlement in her words.

Oh well, Mia thought as the program finally opened and displayed the beginning of the email. Her eyebrows rose in confusion as she read the heading and clicked on the email. "Mae," she said uneasily, "did you send me something by a different email address?"

"Nopah," Mae said. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Why? Did you get an email from a 'Ruler of the Little People'?"

"........."

"Mae-chan?"

"How'd you guess?"

Mia gulped a little, noticing how the saliva had just built up in her throat. Okay, THAT'S a little freaky,she thought. "Okay, I got the same thing. Does the heading say 'You Two'?" she asked her friend.

"Mia, does it say that on YOUR email, too?"

"Jeez, this is getting too weird," Mia stated as she shifted uncomfortably in her desk seat. "I mean, I love supernatural stuff and everything, but this goes over the top."

"Maybe it's something from FanFiction about our accounts. Or from Kay in Florida. Or from Christine. Or Ben. Or Dan. Or-!" Mae said in a rushed voice.

"Mae, take fifty deep breaths and relax," Mia said calmly, as if Mae was a five-year-old child that needed to be comforted. "Besides, I have all their emails stored away in my computer."

"Well, it could be one you have listed yet."

This time, Mia was the one who huffed loudly. "Well, fine then," she said sarcastically. "Maybe it's from one of them. NOW, should we open it?"

"Mia-chan, now YOU have to relax."

"Whatever.........Well?"

"Well what?"

"Should we open it?"

"Guess so. Cross your fingers, and pray for dear life, girl!"

Mia sighed and set the phone down on the desk. Guiding the mouse to click on the email highlighted, she could hear Mae humming a tune from her Good Charlotte CD. She gave a lopsided smile at the phone at her friend's antics before turning to the screen to read the email.

"........."

"Mia-chan? You okay?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Mia slowly picked up the phone but never took her eyes off of the email she had opened. When the mouthpiece was within range, she whispered, "Oh boy........."

"It's a six-line email, ne?"

".........Yeah."

"Well, how about this? I'll read the first line, you read the second one, and so forth. Okay?"

"Sure," Mia replied unsteadily.

"'Two of you that believe.........'" Mae read.

"'In those that are forgotten.........'" Mia continued, following the pattern set by Mae.

"'A chance to find ultimate happiness.........'"

"'Or a sentence to utter hell.........'"

"'Help them find a place to belong.........'"

"........."

"Mia-chan! You have to read the last line."

Mia sighed but read it slowly, trying to comprehend their true meaning:

"'Let the game begin at noon.'"

Another silence fell as Mia continued to stare at the message.

"Mia?"

"Nani, Mae-chan?"

"What does that mean: 'Let the game begin at noon'?"

Mia shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe we're players of some kind of tournament."

"Or a DDR event at the mall?"

"In your dreams, Mae-chan. Listen, I gotta go. It's five minutes to twelve, and I feel like making some rice. I'll call you later, ne?"

"Hai. I'm getting hungry, too. Ja ne!"

"Ja!!" Mia said as she hung up the phone. Setting down on her computer speakers, she let out a long sigh and moved the email to the trash bin, where she promptly deleted it. "Probably some joke mail," she mumbled to herself. "Nothing to worry about."

Getting up from her desk, she winced as pain shot up through her left leg. "Goddamned leg," she cursed as she walked out of her room, closing the door behind her. "Why'd I have to strain it at that karate picnic yesterday?"

Walking down the stairs carefully, Mia made her way to the kitchen, where she began to gather the ingredients for rice. She filled a pot with an inch of water in the sink and put it on the stove, mumbling under her breath the entire time.

"I wonder what that email was really about," Mia murmured as she poured the rice into the pot and put the lid on it. She turned down the heat and leaned against the counter to wait, continuing to talk to herself about the email. "Wonder who that 'Ruler of the Little People' be anyone – from a Wizard of Oz fan to a midget. Still, I can't help but think about-!"

BBBOOONNNGGG!!! BBBOOONNNGGG!!! BBBOOONNNGGG!!!

The clock began announcing the hour as Mia jumped in surprise and clutched her T-shirt in an attempt to slow her heartbeat down. "Goddamned clock!!" she said loudly as she checked the rice. Nothing had really happened, so she set the timer for fifteen minutes and headed back up to her room.

"Jeez, why does my life have to be so screwed up?" Mia said under her breath as she climbed the steps to the second floor. She stopped talking, however, when she heard scuffling sounds coming from her room.

Mia paused at the top of the steps, her heart beating wildly in panic. Okay, calm down, girl, she told herself. It's probably one of the cats that snuck in. Yeah, that has to be it.........I hope.

Looking around her, she spotted her blue karate staff standing in a corner. Picking it up, she proceeded towards her door. The scuffling had stopped, but that silence only added to her uneasiness. Holding her staff in one hand, she pushed open the door to her room. The creak of the hinges sent a chill up and down her spine. Weird, she thought. I usually never get scared about stuff like this. Then again, I haven't been the same since I watched The Ring.........

Mia peeked around the corner, her hazel eyes wary as they scanned the room. Everything seemed to be all right – her computer with the starry screensaver, her desk, her dresser, her bed, her bulletin board, and her bookcase. She eyed her four Anime wall scrolls that adorned her walls. Immediately on her left, a YugiOh wall scroll picturing the bearers of the three Egyptian God Cards (and the Monsters themselves) hung. She looked over at her far wall, where another scroll featuring Yami, Marik, and Kaiba was in place. Next to it on a complimentary wall, Yami and his three well-known Duel Monsters (Slypher, the Dark Magician, and the Dark Magician Girl) could be seen on the third wall scroll.

Letting out a little sigh of relief that nothing was wrong, Mia took a look at her fourth wall scroll. It hung between her two windows, making everything seem in order and neat. He bed had been pushed into a far corner, so that the headboard was against the wall and below the window. The scroll was positioned over the end of her bed, fluttering from a slight breeze. It stood out from the other three, since Tasuki from Fushigi Yuugi was on it. His fanged grin highlighted his flaming hair and raised arm, his iron fan spit out flames at the viewer.

"Okay, everything seems to be all right. Ne, Tasuki?" Mia said to her wall scroll happily as she walked into her room and set her staff in a corner. "I thought something was up here before, but I guess it was a branch against the window or something."

Walking to her computer on her desk, she moved the mouse again and checked her email. "Nothing again," she muttered. "I wonder when Mae is sending over that notice-thingy about her party." She blinked twice at her computer. "And WHY in the world am I talking to myself? Jeez, I'm too weird for even ME to handle.........Does that make any sense to-AAAUUUGGGHHHH!!! I'm doing it again!!"

Mia continued to rant and rave about her insanity for a few more minutes until some unseen force made her shiver. "What was that?" she asked aloud as she checked her windows. They were both locked tightly, and Mia could see gray clouds beginning to form in the sky.

"Oh, well," Mia said reassuringly. Smiling to herself, she turned towards the computer again, took two steps back, and peered at it. As she pulled her ponytail to the side of her face and began toying with the ends of her hair, she stated, "Now, the REAL question is: what do I do now?"

Then, Mia felt something hard and cold press against her skin. She caught her breath as a familiar voice behind her said:

"Yeah, what do ya do now?"

O.o Well, THAT was weird.........

Reviews are welcomed warmly with one thousand origami cranes, courtesy of the Fushigi Yuugi cast!! (You know this is a joke.)