Jaid: Eep! Sorry this is so late! But I've been so homesick that I haven't been haven't had much inspiration…
"I'm home!" Yugi tugged off his sneakers and ran up the stairs. Once inside his room, he curled up on his bed, still disturbed by the news he had that morning. A slightly cold, but still friendly presence was suddenly beside him.
"Yugi?" Yami's deep voice was full of concern. His crimson eyes filled with worry as Yugi did not respond. The ghost placed his hand on Yugi's shoulder as the young boy began to quietly sob, slender shoulders shaking.
Yami sat down on the bed next to his soul partner. Though he had gone through much, Yugi had never faced the death of someone he knew closely before. It was a hard thing for anyone and Yami knew it would not be the last time for his young friend. Death was an inevitable part of life. One mourned it, but one also had to move on.
However, the former pharaoh said nothing. The only comfort Yugi needed was his presence and that, the spirit could give.
Serenity was looking over rolls of tissue streamers, comparing the prices of two brands when a soft clearing of a throat caused her to look up. The girl's green eyes lit up. "Ryou!"
The white haired boy smiled pleasantly. "Hello Serenity. I saw you and thought I would come over to say hello."
"Well, hello!" she grinned. "What are you doing in the craft store?"
Ryou held up his basket. "Costume material. You?"
In answer, Serenity held up hers. "Party decorations and such. Good thing I like to shop!"
Ryou laughed pleasantly. "Well, I'll see you later."
"Yeah, bye!" Serenity waved as the boy walked away.
The subway doors opened and Nami stepped out with Ai right behind her. The blue-haired girl looked around in interest as Ai spoke on her cell to Yoko.
"Nami! Ai!" a tiny, chocolate skinned girl with waist length lavender hair ran up, waving. "You're finally here!"
Nami laughed and hugged her friend. "It's so good to see you Kiya! I wish I could go on the field with you more!"
Ai smiled as she put away her phone. "So, we'll check into our hotel and meet over lunch. Then it's all business, understand?"
Nami and Kiya nodded quickly. Ai suggested they get the luggage and the three set off.
Ryou made a face as he and Rei struggled with costume patterns. Rei's grandmother was bent over a length of deep red material that was to go with Rei's ninja girl costume. Ryou was dressing as a white cloaked mage from one of his favorite video games.
Mrs. Yustube, Rei's maternal grandmother, looked up. "Try smoothing it out more." she directed. "Rei."
Rei smiled and nodded. "Yes, grandmother." she said obediently. Ryou stuck a pricked finger in his mouth and the brown eyed girl gave him an amused glance. Ryou shrugged.
An hour later, the pieces for Rei's costume were cut out and Ryou's pattern pieces had been pinned to his chosen material. The teens sat down to dinner with Rei's grandparents. The living room and dining room was really one long area and Mr. and Mrs. Yustube usually watched the news during the evening meal.
"Reports of a strange killing last night have been reported." the dark haired newscaster stated. "One was here, at Domino High where janitor Basho Kurou was found dead by a receptionist. The other occurred-"
The channel suddenly changed. Mrs. Yustube frowned. "Murder isn't a very nice dinner topic." she said. Rei met Ryou's eyes. There had been another killing?
Ai studied the marks on the man's neck and frowned beneath her mask. Blood still stained the man's neck; so he hadn't been completely drained. That in itself was a given, considering that the man hadn't turned into a ghoul.
She sighed and brought the sheet up again to cover the man's face. Three others had been killed in similar fashions, but not completely drained. It was almost as if the vampire were deliberately announcing his or her presence; daring them to try and catch the culprit.
Removing her gloves and mask, Ai walked out of the building, nodding to the policeman who had the unfortunate job of guarding the police morgue.
Outside the building, Kiya and Nami sat on the stairs, talking quietly. Ai smiled and said, "Time to go girls", in a cheerful tone.
"What did you find out?" Nami immediately asked as she jumped to her feet. Ai paused, then told them.
Both frowned.
"Well, at least we know the vampire isn't building a personal army." Kiya stated, trying to be optimistic.
"True." Ai nodded, but it worried her. Four people were dead; how many more corpses would the vampire tease them with?
Serenity hummed as she cut cards out of black construction paper. In the kitchen, she heard her mother moving about, making dinner and listening to the evening news. Serenity paused and wondered if she should make orange pumpkins or white skeletons for the front of the cards.
The phone rang and Mrs. Wheeler answered it in the kitchen. "Serenity, it's for you!"
The red-headed girl sprang to her feet and retrieved the phone from her mother. Holding it up to her ear, she said, "Hello?"
"Hi." Seto's low voice greeted her. Serenity's eyes lit up.
"Seto!" she smiled. "I'm so glad you called. I have a problem."
"Oh?" there was an undertone of worry in Seto's voice; barely detectable. "What is it?"
"Do I put pumpkins or skeletons on our invitations?"
There was a pause.
"Um..."
Serenity held back a giggle. She knew she shouldn't throw him off like that, but it was so much fun!
The sound of a humming sewing machine was in the background as Ryou helped Rei with the dinner dishes. Both had stayed silent as Ryou rinsed the dishes and Rei put them in the dishwashing machine.
"I should probably call Yugi." Ryou finally broke the silence. "Just to see how he is doing. Kurou-san's death...well, it hit him pretty hard."
"Oh." Rei nodded. "Yeah, then maybe you should."
More silence. Ryou inwardly sighed. Times like this were becoming more and more frequent; pauses where neither seemed to know what to say. Sometimes the silence was comfortable; at others, it was slightly tense, both of them waiting for the other to break it. This was one of those latter times.
Ryou suddenly reached over and turned off the water. He had had to lean closer to Rei to do so and the girl jumped slightly. Ryou, hand still on the handle, stared at her with surprise.
"Just startled me a little." She explained. "I forgot the water was on."
"Oh."
The two of them stared at each other for a long time. Ryou had kissed her once in a situation like this...and he felt his head lower again, almost as if he weren't really in control. To his surprise, Rei didn't move.
"Rei! Come try this on!" Mrs. Yutsube's call cut through the silence, shattering it like a china plate on a stone floor. The two teens jumped.
"Coming!" Rei called and left the room quickly. Ryou leaned against the sink, his face red.
"Nothing then." Yoko asked. Ai sighed into the phone, leaning against the oak head board of her hotel bed.
"No. Not really. I'm confused though. Why wouldn't the vampire drain the bodies completely?"
"I don't know." Yoko admitted. "I've got Li researching vampires right now; they're not really my forte. I've got to report to Jean soon though. He's going to want to know what's going on."
"Right." Ai looked at the sleeping bodies of Nami and Kiya in the next bed.
"Ai?"
"Yeah?"
"Be careful." Yoko said softly. Ai smiled. Yoko had been her trainer when she had joined the organization at the young age of fifteen.
"I will." she murmured. "Don't worry, Yoko. After all, you're the one inclined to get into trouble."
"Go to sleep." Yoko said in her old, irritable tone. Ai giggled.
"Good night."
"'night." Yoko answered. Ai hung up and sighed.
The next day was a Saturday and so, found Joey, Tristan, Yugi, Tea, Katya and Tara meeting at the park. Tara and Tea were going over some more difficult moves for their cheerleading squad while Katya suggested helpful hints. The boys mainly goofed off.
It was a pleasant day; one of the last days that would be cool, but not too cold and the sun would shine as the brightly colored leaves fell. Yugi sat on the swing set, staring up, moving back and forth slowly. In the background, Joey and Tristan were wrestling.
'It's so peaceful...'
Shouts of a cheer as Tea and Tara practiced floated on the air. Yugi closed his eyes.
'I wish it could always be like this...'
Katya laughed as Tea tripped and nearly ended up face first on the ground. Her giggle over-rode Tara's chuckles.
'I wish we could be happy for always...'
Tristan dug his knee into Joey's back. The blonde boy hollered in protest.
'Days like this...'
Katya clapped as the other girls finished the cheer with almost no mistakes.
'I wish...'
Joey grabbed Tristan in a headlock while Tea yelled for them to stop being childish.
'I wish it could last forever...'
"And so another awakens." the man's cruel smile grew wider. "Is it not so, Natalya?"
The woman, dressed in a scarlet gown turned and narrowed golden eyes. "So," she spat. "It is you? What poor fool released you from the bowls of the Underworld?"
The man, his pale white locks hanging in his red eyes grinned, baring a fang. "That is my secret." He slid off the window sill he was on and walked toward the woman. To her credit, she did not step backwards, but glared at him defiantly.
"And you still refuse to accept what you are?" he asked quietly.
"I am what you made me." she ground out, then began to mist away until she completely disappeared. The man went back to the window as a black raven flew under the light of full moon.
A haunting laughed echoed into the street below.
Ai snapped awake, her eyes wide and heart thumping. That dream...
She glanced over at the other bed as Nami turned in her sleep. Ai slipped out from the covers and put on a bathrobe. She walked to the window and brushed aside the thick curtain.
A full moon tonight. Her mouth twisted in worry.
She hoped there weren't any werewolves out.
"Stop laughing; it hurts you ass hole!" Yoko shouted, fuming. Kimiko, startled, gasped and dropped the first aid kit. Li grinned at her unapologetically. Sai frowned and pushed the taller man out of the way.
"I will finish this, Li-san. Why don't you help Miss Kimiko with that first aid kit?" He suggested, sounding a little strained. Li went over and started helping the flustered girl. Sai took Yoko's wounded leg and carefully began cutting away her jeans. Yoko was silent, watching his hard expression.
"Sai..." she murmured.
"Don't." his voice was hard as his face. Kimiko brought over the kit and Li some warm water and a rag. The hacker took Kimiko's arm. "We're going to go clean up. C'mon, Kim."
There was an uncomfortable silence. Sai began to wash the long tear in her muscle and Yoko jumped.
"Sorry." the man said quietly.
"It's okay." Yoko swallowed. "Just...just please stop it. I hate it when you do this."
"Do what?" Sai looked up at her. Yoko sighed.
"Do this; shut down, get harsh when I get into danger. On this job, it's gonna happen. When I first met you we both were in a lot of danger, remember?"
Sai's clenched looked came back and he took out some disinfectant. "You nearly got bit; you're lucky it was just his claws. How do you think I would feel, seeing the woman I love turn into a..." he stopped talking for a moment.
"It's part of the job." Yoko reminded him, her voice uncharacteristically gentle.
"You just seem to attract more danger than normal." Sai took out the bandages. "It seems sometimes..."
"Seems like what?" Yoko asked.
"That you don't think; you're so reckless-"
"I'm reckless?" Yoko looked a little angry. "I'm reckless?"
Sai scowled harder. "Well, yes, now that you mention it, you are!"
Yoko clenched her fists. "I was just trying to get the job done!"
"Well, you sure as hell don't do that by jumping in front of the werewolf!" Sai's violet eyes flashed.
"I did not jump!" Yoko shouted.
Li winced and shut the door. Kimiko looked at him, green eyes wide. "Li..."
The handsome Chinaman forced a smile. "Go on to bed, Kim. They're both just tired; I'm sure it will blow over in the morning." He said reassuringly. Kimiko got up and left the room, but it didn't look as if she entirely believed him.
Dr. Vorlon: bows Thank you so much for your words! Hope you enjoy the chapter.
Iris - ROFL!! Most Loyal Minion! That's great! I luv you; you know that right? Jean maybe will turn up later; possibly Leila as well. I'm not too sure about Edward and Kaori. I'm glad you liked this chapter.
Animegoil - lol, don't worry about that; I'm a huge Ryou fan girl. grin