Yugi suddenly awoke and blinked. He thought he had heard a sharp rapping on the door downstairs...he glanced at the clock; it was nearly three in the morning. It had to have been a dream...
Suddenly the noise happened again and Yugi jumped. He climbed out of bed and peered out in time to see his grandfather, wearing an old maroon robe, walking down the stairs. Yugi followed, the stars on his pajamas glowing an eerie green in the darkness.
When he entered the shop, Grandpa was hurriedly unbolting the door. Outside stood Ryou and Yugi gasped.
The boy's clothes were torn and dirty; his hair was mussed and looked as if he had been running through trees. A cut on his left cheek was still bleeding and his right eye was swelling up in a bruise. Grandpa threw open the door and Ryou stumbled in and slumped to his knees, shaking and breathing heavily.
"Ryou, what happened?!" Yugi asked, running forward and kneeling in front of his friend. The boy struggled to regain his breath.
"He can tell us later." Grandpa stepped in as Akiko appeared in the doorway.
"Dad, what's going..." the woman's voice faded away and she turned. "I think we have a first aid kit in the bathroom." she said. Yugi heard her going back up the stairs. He and his Grandpa helped Ryou to his feet, and the boy gave a gasp of pain.
"What is it?" Yugi asked worriedly.
"My hand...please don't grab it again..." Ryou weakly mumbled.
"Sorry." Yugi apologized.
Getting up the stairs was a feat; as Ryou was considerably taller than both Grandpa and Yugi. Also, the cramped staircase allowed really only one person at a time, so Grandpa walked behind Ryou, who stumbled up wards, holding the railing as if it were a lifeline.
Akiko had turned on the lights in the kitchen and placed the first aid kit on the table. She had also put a kettle on and stood in her powder blue robe and pink slippers as the three appeared. Ryou wavered and nearly fell, but Akiko caught his shoulder and guided him to a chair. "I think you could use a hospital." she said crisply and looked at his left wrist. It was bruised and swollen. She picked it up and Ryou yelped.
"This is broken." Akiko rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Dad, why don't you make some coffee real quick? Yugi call a cab; I'm going to get dressed and take Ryou to the hospital."
Morning in the office was tense. Li sat at his computer and sighed. Sai and Yoko were not talking to each other. As much as he liked them both...they could be a real pain in the ass sometimes. The usually easy going Sai hated it when Yoko was reckless - which she was quite a bit and the miko was always hot tempered. Plus, she hated being told she was wrong.
Kimiko cried out as she spilled a file. The tenseness was not helping her. The cute, pink haired girl was terminally clumsy and this argument was making it worse. She bent down and began picking things up in a hurry. Li sighed, pushed his chair away and bent down to help her.
It was four hours later and Yugi sat beside Ryou's hospital bed. The white haired boy was asleep; exhausted. Most of his injuries weren't serious; mostly bruises and abrasions, but his wrist had been badly broken and several ribs cracked. Yugi wondered who - or what - had attacked him and why.
"Yugi" Akiko put her hand on her son's shoulder. "You need to get to school now. I'll stay with Ryou, okay?"
Yugi nodded and picked up his backpack. He threw Ryou one more glance over his shoulder and then left.
Rei sat in the class as the math teacher wrote equations on the board. She glanced over near the front at Tara, who looked unusually somber. Rei wondered why; the cheerleader was usually a bright presence. Suddenly, a note was pressed into her hand by the boy next to her. She stared at him questioningly and he nodded towards Tara. Rei picked up her math book and held it up while unfolding the note as quietly as she could with one hand.
Rei -
Yugi asked me to tell you that Ryou was in the hospital. Nothing serious; a broken wrist and some cracked ribs. But Yugi thinks he might have been attacked. What's going on? It's not the dude who attacked us in Egypt do you think?
Tara
Rei bit her lip. She had no idea. turning the note over, she quickly scribbled a message.
Tara -
I have no idea. Only, that guy didn't use physical attacks, remember? Look, let's not worry about this until after Ryou tells us what happened; it was probably some gang members or something. You know they pick on him a lot.
Rei
She handed it to the boy and noted that it got to Tara. She looked back at the teacher, who had turned to face the class again. But it was going to be awful hard to concentrate...
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Ai said into her cell phone. She and the girls were walking back to the hotel after an interview with some of the janitor's co-workers. "I don't know what to do."
"Just keep trying, I guess." Yoko stated, then sighed. Ai frowned.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing. Look, um, you might have to do some night patrols I guess. But for heaven's sake be careful."
Ai barely refrained from rolling her green eyes. "Yes, I know."
"Okay. Let me know what happens."
"Will do." Ai hung up and put her cell into her bag. Fumbling with the clasp, she ran into a stranger. "Oh, sorry..." the words died on her lips.
Ahead, Nami and Kiya turned. Nami's purple eyes widened. "Ai!" she shouted, springing into a run. The woman was on her hands and knees, breathing heavily.
"Ai, what's wrong?" Nami asked, putting her hand on the slender woman's shoulder. Ai blinked and looked around, her chestnut curls bouncing.
"That man..." she said breathlessly. "Where did he go?"
"What man?" Kiya asked, looking around as well
"He was cloaked and..." Ai paused. "Never mind." the woman stood.
"Did you get a vision?" Nami asked somberly as Ai dusted of her tan jacket.
"Back to the hotel." the woman answered crisply.
Tea glanced at Yugi. The short boy was asleep on his desk, lunch forgotten. Tea stood and walked over, gently shaking him. "Yugi?"
"Huh?" Yugi's violet eyes opened and he looked up at her. "Huh?"
Tea smiled and knelt next to him. "You fell asleep; are you okay?"
Yugi rubbed his eyes and sat up. "Yeah. I just...got up early today."
Tea frowned. "What do you mean? You were fifteen minutes late to class..." her blue eyes widened. "What happened?"
Yugi sighed, then quietly told her the whole story. Tea was silent, the look in her blue eyes uneasy. Yugi put his hand on hers. "I'm sure it's fine....I mean, well...Ryou gets bullied still at times like I do-"
"I know what you're saying." Tea interrupted quietly. "And you might be right." she hesitated and swallowed. "It's just that...ever since summer vacation, I've been on edge. It was enough having to worry about you during that whole Pegasus thing; now I have to worry about all of us. All right, so I don't have to." she quickly added as Yugi opened his mouth. "But I still do."
Yugi nodded. "Sorry." he said softly. Tea frowned.
"What for?"
The pointy haired boy shifted in his seat a little. "For...well...I mean, if you weren't so close to me, then you wouldn't-"
Tea laughed and cut him off with a hug. "Don't be silly. There's no way I could've not gotten close to you after we met." She pulled away. "And this isn't your fault, so none of that either." She suddenly turned and glared. "Don't you guys have anything better to do?"
Tristan, Joey and Duke suddenly found their desks very interesting.
"Rei?"
The brown haired girl looked up from tying her sneakers as Ichiro, the track captain, jogged over. "Yeah?" she asked.
"Hey, look, if you want to cut on practice today, then I can smooth it over with Coach." the boy offered, his green eyes filled with concern. Rei looked back down at her sneakers.
"Why would I want to do that?" she asked, finishing one shoe and starting the other.
"Because of what happened." Ichiro said quietly. "To Ryou."
Rei's lips pursed as she straddled the bench. She put her hands on it and looked up at Ichiro again. "News travels fast."
Ichiro shrugged. "I know you two are close and I thought you'd rather be with him instead of here." He put a hand on her shoulder. "I'd understand. If it were you or another one of my friends, I'd want to be with them too."
Rei blew out a breath. "Thanks, but I'll be fine." she looked up at him. "We have a match next week and we both know that I'm the best runner on the team. I need to practice. Ryou would understand."
"If you're sure-"
"I am."
Ichiro smiled. "Okay."
"Four mysterious deaths, one cloaked man and two strange visions that seem to have no meaning." Ai sighed to herself and chewed the end of her pen. She was tired; Nami and Kiya were already on patrol, equipped with radios as well as other things needed to fight vampires. Ai rubbed her temples and thought about the last vision; the one she had after running into the cloaked man.
It was hazy still, and had been more of a string of emotions rather than concrete scenes. Ai was aware of blood and lots of it; also a small boy with odd hair. She frowned, then jumped as the phone rang. Scooping up the sleek silver cell, Ai answered. "Hello?"
"Hi." a man's voice answered. Ai's features relaxed.
"Hi, Akira." she greeted her husband softly. "Back already?"
Yugi rubbed his eyes as he walked home; he'd stopped by the hospital to talk to Ryou but the nurse told him that the boy was asleep and she didn't want to disturb him. Yugi had managed to get a train ride, but even so it was late and he knew that his mother would not be happy with him.
Biting back another yawn, Yugi shivered as a cold breeze tickled at his neck. He needed to start wearing a heavier coat; winter was coming after all. Still...the sudden chill felt familiar...
/Yugi...!/ Yami's mental warning was almost too late, but Yugi had seen the glint of a weapon out of the corner of his eye. Stumbling backwards, he grabbed his arm where it had been cut. From out of the side street, a tall, black clothed figure walked out.
Yugi didn't stay or speak; he simply turned and ran. Behind him, he could hear footsteps and the only thing he was aware of was a steadily growing fear - the type of fear that takes over logic; the type that makes you just want to get away no matter what.
Inside, Yami felt the chill as well, but something else was wrong. He felt trapped; as if he could not get out of his soul room. He couldn't reach Yugi's mind. The spirit gritted his teeth and tried to force the door open. Nothing...
A startled gasp made Shadi turn. He was seated in a stall that sold curios to tourists; he and Isis had set it up not long ago. His wife was seated near the back of the tent, holding her temples. Shadi stood and walked over. "Are you all right?" he asked seriously.
"I don't' know..." Isis answered, opening her dark blue eyes. "But something is very wrong. All I got was a flash of something; it could hardly be called a vision...But Shadi, I think Yugi is in trouble; serious trouble."
Shadi paused a moment, then nodded. "Only one thing to do then." he stated, pulling out the Ankh.
Oh great, here we go...Scales muttered to no one in particular.
Ryou opened his dark brown eyes to see Rei smiling at him.
"Hey." she said softly. He smiled.
"Hi." He looked around the hospital room with a dazed look. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Pretty much all day; that's what they told me." Rei took his uninjured hand. "Ryou, what happened?"
"I'm not sure." the boy spoke slowly, his brown eyes darkening. "I remember being afraid; more afraid than I have ever been in my life. There was something after me, but I didn't know what; all I knew was I had to get away." His grip on her hand tightened and she put her other hand on his shoulder.
"Ryou?"
"I don't even remember how long or how far I ran." he continued. "I was so scared..."
Rei looked at him; he seemed so vulnerable - literally on the edge of tears. Without thinking, she pulled him into her arms and stroked his hair as he cried, the sobs shaking his slender body. Rei closed her eyes and leaned her cheek against the top of his head.
"Its okay, Ryou." she murmured.
"But it's not." He whispered and pulled away to look at her. "They'll keep coming after me. I don't know how I know, but I do...they're after me and..." his brown eyes widened. "Rei, where's Yugi? We have to find him!"