Tsuriai: This chapter has been so annoying! I first typed it up months ago (sorry for not posting) but it was on a word processor and the file wouldn't work on the computer. To top it all off I was behind with all of my work, had to catch up, and then went to my dad's for two weeks (no comp).
Ryou: Sorry about that. Really horrible luck.
Yugi: Yeah that does stink.
Tsuriai: Thanks you two. (Looks at them both in a misty-eyed way, then snaps back to attention) Right. So, here's the disclaimer: just as my dad doesn't own a computer, I don't own yugioh.
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Chapter 4: Making Friends
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Ryou answered the door, hoping it was Yugi and not another puppy-bearing postal worker (another story in process). When he saw who it was he sighed inwardly. "Hi Yugi," he said. "Come in."
"Are you ready to go to the arcade? I'm sorry I couldn't call you, the phone lines were out." Yugi explained.
"Heh, yeah. I noticed that." Ryou said with a sweatdrop forming at the back of his head. Willow could see it perfectly: Ryou's back was toward her. She couldn't see Yugi yet, though.
"Actually, I can't come with you, Yugi." Ryou said, moving out of Yugi's way so he could come in. "I've got to stay here today."
Willow quickly shut her one open eye, trying to look like she was asleep. Yugi saw her on the couch and asked Ryou, "who's that?"
"I don't know. I found her on the road last night and she was unconscious, so I brought her inside so a car wouldn't hit her. She's been awake since then; she made me breakfast. But I wasn't awake then, so I couldn't ask her what happened. She looked like she was running and had slipped. The road was really wet."
Yugi listened in interest and when Ryou was finished they both looked at her. "Should we wake her up?" Yugi asked.
Just then Willow got a cramp in the arm that was holding her up, and she shifted to get more comfortable. The boys both thought that the movement was her waking up.
"Looks like we don't have to." Ryou started, as the two of them leaned closer. When she showed no further signs of awakening, they collapsed, classic examples of anime falls. (Do the Japanese really fall like that in similar situations? Ryou: not really. It's an acting thing. Tsuriai: Oh.) When they landed on the ground she bolted upright on the couch, as if they had frightened her into the realms of the waking.
"Hey look! She is awake after all!" Yugi pointed out, ever the observant one.
"Baka. It's only because we woke her up." Ryou turned to Willow, "I'm sorry that my friend and I woke you up. Are you feeling well?"
"My head hurts, but I think I'll live" she said fluently in Japanese, to her surprise, with a touch of humour in her voice.
"Well that's good. Do you remember how you fell, in the middle of the road like that?" Ryou asked.
"Yes, actually" she had formulated a story in her mind: "I just got here, to Domino, and I had just stepped off of the bus with all of my stuff when this guy stole all of it. I tried chasing him, but he was too fast, even though he was carrying all of that stuff. I guess I slipped or something; I was really tired. And that is all I know. Then I woke up here and figured you had brought me in from the rain, so I made you breakfast to show my gratitude...thank you."
"I should be thanking you: it was a wonderful meal. Every time I try to make bacon I burn it to a crisp!" Ryou laughed, thinking of a past experience.
"So, what's your name? I'm Yugi Mutou. This is Ryou Bakura."
"My name is Willow Palmer." Instead of pronouncing her name the Japanese way, (it would have been hard to pronounce) she said it the English way.
"That sounds English. Are you from America, or maybe Europe?" Ryou asked.
"Yes. Heh. I'm from America. Oregon to be exact. (Wow! Oregon can be said easily in Japanese!) But I took a Japanese course up at the nearby college because I like the way it sounds." (LIES....)
"So, you're a college student?" Yugi asked.
"No. I just went there after school. I'm still in high school." Willow answered.
"Are you enrolled here yet?" Asked Ryou.
"No, I'm not--" she started, but cut herself off when Yugi stood up abruptly (he and Ryou had been sitting on the floor).
Yugi grabbed her wrist and started pulling her to the door, explaining himself cheerfully all the way: "Come on, you can register at our school, and meet our friends!"
"Yugi, are you sure that's such a good idea? I'm sure there are much safer schools to choose from (less perverted ones as well)" Ryou advised, following them and pulling his shoes on when they got to the door.
Yugi paused, thinking. "If anything bad happens, we'll be able to take care of her."
Ryou and Willow both knew to what Yugi was referring: the spirits of the millenium puzzle and ring. But Yugi and Ryou didn't know that Willow knew. And they couldn't know, either.
Willow would have to pretend that she didn't know.
"So," asked Willow, "where is this school of yours?"
"It's a ways away. We'll have to walk; do you mind?" Yugi asked.
"No, I don't. Do I have to buy a uniform?" she asked, knowing the answer.
"You have to wear one, but I think the office supplies some for free that you have to return at the end of the year." That was Ryou.
The three of them were walking down the sidewalk and were just about to turn a corner when someone called out to them.
"Yugi! Ryou! Hi!" It was Anzu, followed by Honda and Jonouchi. "We were waiting for you at the arcade, but you didn't show up, so we came looking for you! Who's this?"
"This is Willow. Ryou found her in the road last night and we're taking her to the school to register there." Yugi turned to Willow, "Willow, these are our friends Anzu Mazaki, Hiroto Honda, and Katsuya Jonouchi."
Willow bowed to each of them in turn. "It's a pleasure to meet you all." She turned back to Ryou and Yugi as they all started making their way to the school. Jonouchi was muttering to Honda.
"Isn't it strange how we can never make friends with tall people?"
"Like Kaiba?" Honda asked.
"Yeah. And here we're now friends with another shorter person."
Willow heard their conversation—Jonouchi was right behind her—and whipped around, stopping right in front of him. "I'm not THAT short!"
"Well, you're not as short as Yugi; I doubt if anyone is ("Hey!"), but you're at least an inch shorter than Ryou, and he's no giant."
It was true. Willow laughed when she saw that she was indeed shorter than Ryou, who was shorter than Jou and Honda. By then they were nearly at the school. Willow started walking backwards.
"So, who's this Kaiba guy?" she asked, acting.
"Do they not give Japanese news in America?" Yugi asked, interrupting Jonouchi's 'WHAT!?! You don't know who Seto Kaiba is!?!'
"I'm pretty sure they do, but I rarely watch the news, except for weather." Willow said. "So, who is he?"
Ryou responded the quickest: "He's the CEO of Kaiba Corporation. They used to make weapons, but he took control from his stepfather and started making gaming equipment."
"Have you heard of the game, Duel Monsters?" Yugi asked, gaining a nod from Willow. "Well, Jonouchi, Ryou and I compete in tournaments with him and he's sort of our rival. He can seem really coldhearted, but I don't think he is. He'll do anything for his little brother, Mokuba. Hey! You'll probably get to meet him. He goes to this school."
Yugi stopped and blinked. They were at the school. "That was fast." He said.
Willow turned around. "Wow! It's so much bigger than—" she was going to say 'it looks on TV' but changed it at the last moment, remembering her situation "—I thought it would be!" she hoped no one noticed the pause.
Yugi did. But he didn't comment. Instead he said, "I hope someone is here. It is a Sunday after all."
"Don't worry, they're here." Ryou started. "They're here on Sundays, so I know somebody's here."
"Why were you here on the weekend, Ryou?" Jonouchi asked.
"That was when I registered here." He answered. "How much do you know about Japanese History?"
"What?" 'That was random,' Willow thought.
"There's an entrance exam you have to take and....there is....some history....on it. Are you alright?" Ryou turned to look at Willow and everyone else followed suit.
Willow was staring at her hand, shaking slightly 'I could've sworn I was fading a moment ago....' She blinked and looked up. Ryou, Yugi and Anzu had concerned looks on their faces and Honda and Jonouchi were a few steps closer to the school, looking back and wondering why they had stopped.
"I-I'm fine." Willow forced a smile. "Don't worry about me."
This seemed to relieve Anzu, but Yugi and Ryou still had their doubts. They exchanged a look that Willow barely caught that said 'should we ask later?' and then Willow answered Ryou's question from earlier.
"I don't know much history, but I'm sure I could wing it. It can't be that hard, can it?"
"If you know your stuff." Willow turned to Yugi, who continued. "Only a small bit of it is history, the rest is math and science and stuff, but it is all really basic. Middle school level questions."
The group fell silent and then Jou asked, "Are we going to get a new student or what?" and they made their way to the building's main office.
Willow was thinking about the test. 'I hope it isn't too hard....I wish I knew more about Japan.'
Personal Data
Name:
Date of Birth:
Mo. / Day / Year
Address:
Telephone:
Parent/Guardian Name:
Willow sat outside the office with the form in front of her, wondering what she should write. 'Okay. These first two I'll just answer truthfully.' She thought. Willow filled them in and paused over the address line, the others looking on.
"Ano...." Ryou cleared his throat and gained the attention he wanted. He smiled nervously and continued. "I'll put in my home number and street number. Unless you'd prefer to live on your own?"
"Are you sure?" Willow was uneasy.
"Mm-hm" he nodded. "You cook really well."
She blinked. "It was just eggs" Willow mumbled, handing the clipboard over and blushing.
"Yeah," Bakura said, taking over but keeping his voice very similar to Ryou's "just eggs. And biscuits, and sausage. Am I forgetting anything?"
"Yes, actually" Willow said. Bakura hadn't completely masked his voice. "Where you got that sore throat." She smirked, knowing that she just put the tomb robber on the spot. "Well?"
Bakura panicked, and switched back with Ryou, subtly. A little too subtly, really. Ryou didn't know quite what happened and was a little lost. "What?"
"Heh. Nothing." Willow smiled. "You must have had a frog in your throat or something."
"Oh. Well, here's the form back." Ryou handed it to her, making a mental note to yell at his Yami later.
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An hour later Willow emerged from the office triumphantly to join her new classmates in the hallway. "Heh." she said. "Victory" Willow made the ever-so-popular peace sign and sat down in the chair right outside the door. "The lady graded it then and there and said I only got ten of the questions wrong."
"Hey! That's really good!" Yugi exclaimed.
"Yeah, well. They were all history and geography questions" Willow grinned. "Told you I wasn't good at history."
"You still passed though." Anzu said. It was hard to tell whether it was a question or not.
"Yup." Willow held up the 'v' again. "And I'm even gonna be in your homeroom."
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I'm going to leave it at that for now. I hoped you liked it! Please R&R! Thanks a bunch! I'll try to update faster next time. Ciao. -tsuriai-