Well a jolly good ol' Hello to anyone out there in readerland who's still sticking with this fic. I really hope you few are enjoying this, because it's getting to be a pain to update and receive no input at all. Please, I beg you, tell me how you like my fic. It's my first really kinda saga-ish thing, and I want to know how I'm doing. Once again, the more reviews, the more reliable updates. So R&R!

WARNING: starting this chapter, the drama starts taking over. There is pain in this part of my story. At this point, it's still rather mild, but if you don't want to read it, I understand. You may stop here. But if you go on to ignore this warning and try to flame me, you will be ridiculed beyond imagination.

Tea was walking home by herself from the Game Shop. Since Ryou had been taken captive, the gang tried as hard as they could not to be alone, but no one else lived near Tea, and they all had to get home too.
To make up for it, Tea tried to be suspicious, keeping a low profile and looking all around her, so as not to be caught off-guard. But it wasn't her nature to be suspicious of anyone, unfortunately for her.
She could hear the sad, soft, strained howling from the sidewalk. She looked into the alley where it came from to see a beagle puppy, just barely able to walk. It looked hungry and cold. Tea reminded herself that the demon Fukamito had gotten Ryou by being a kitten, and tried to walk away.
But she couldn't leave the dog alone.
To her credit, it took a long time, but she went into the alley eventually to soothe the puppy.
"There there little one, it's okay now." She reached a hand out to pat the dog on the head. It gently nuzzled against her palm, and she picked it up.
The puppy began to wriggle in her arms after a little while, and she put it on the ground. Suddenly, it ran faster than she expected into the park nearby. Tea ran after the dog, but she couldn't find it anywhere in the direction it had gone. She paused to catch her breath under the shade of a tree, not thinking to look up, where a bat hung over her head, eyes gleaming with malicious delight.
"Here doggie, come here boy! Where are you?" Tea looked around. A dark mist began to form around her head, particles of black dust beginning to clog her throat. The girl coughed and fought for breath, but the mist was too much for her. She fell unconscious on the ground.
Fukamito the bat flew out of the tree, flapping his wings to clear the air of his poisonous gas, one of the few demon powers he had. He then became a much bigger dog. He picked Tea up gently, finding a way to carry her on his back. He hid her and himself behind a clump of bushes, until his master could come and take her away without being suspicious.

Tea woke up groggily a little while later. She sat up immediately as she remembered what had happened, looking around to try and see where she was. She could tell that she was being imprisoned just by reasoning, although the room she was in was furnished and accommodating.
Tea found herself in a good-sized bed in a dark blue room. She got up to inspect her surroundings better. One normal-sized doorway and a small window were the only exits. Tea was smarter than to assume the door was a good way out. More likely than not, it was guarded constantly, she guessed. The window would be her only means of escape, then. She walked over. The window was open, allowing a light breeze and sunlight to come through and play through the light curtains. Feeling a little bit calmer just to see the sun, Tea stuck her head through the window, quickly pulling it back inside once she saw the drop. She was on the top story of a rather tall building. No escape from the window.
Just then, the door started to open. Tea ran over the thick, dark blue carpet, jumping back onto the bed and pulling the covers over herself as Korimo walked into the room.
"No use trying to pretend you're still asleep. It's late morning already, and Fukamito's spell should have worn off a long time ago." Tea heard Korimo's voice and her heart pounded.
"What do you want?" Tea asked, trying her best to sound confrontational while still under the covers.
"Well it's more a matter of what you want. I've got food if you want to eat, but if you'd rather stay there, that's fine with me."
Tea grudgingly sat up, her stomach grumbling as she realized that she hadn't eaten since lunch the day before at Yugi's house. "This doesn't mean I trust you," she said to the wall.
"That makes you a smart girl. Here," Korimo shoved a bowl of something warm and sweet-smelling into Tea's hands. The younger girl looked at the bowl hungrily, but didn't eat.
"What did you do to it?"
"Tea, you're smart, but apparently not smart enough to know the basics of hostage taking." Korimo smirked. "I'm not stupid. If you get hurt, I have nothing to bargain with, and then where am I?"
"Nowhere, I guess," Tea admitted. She put the bowl down on a little table next to the bed.
A little black cat poked its head into the room, trotting to Korimo's feet and begging softly for attention. Korimo absently reached down to scratch it.
"That's that thing of yours, isn't it?" Tea asked, more out of curiosity than suspicion.
"Hm? No, just a cat." Korimo stood up again quickly. Yume looked up at her pleadingly, but she ignored her pet.
Tea put out a hand and called softly, "Here kitty, c'mere." Yume walked to her, jumping up onto the bed. Tea began stroking his soft fur.
"What, you don't trust me but you trust my cat?" Korimo asked, one eyebrow raised in amusement.
"Well it's not the cat's fault his owner is a psycho," Tea countered.

Korimo laughed merrily. "It's a shame we're on different sides, Tea. I could have grown to like you."
"Well it's not mutual," Tea replied coldly. Korimo chuckled again, and left Yume in the room with Tea.

Fukamito went to meet his master in his cat form in the middle room, where all the screens were.
"Is everything ready?" Korimo asked, sitting down and adjusting a few things.
"Yes, Milady. Though it does seem a bit too convenient that such an elaborate building exists in the woods so close to the city."
Korimo smirked. "Perfect. Eerie convenience is nothing more than luck, though so many people will read too much into it. Now, get the message to Yugi and we'll meet him there." Korimo once again handed her servant a piece of folded paper. Fukamito bowed, and left the room as the scruffy stray dog.

Tristan burst into the game shop, slamming the door behind him and running to where Yugi sat frozen on the sofa, surrounded by Joey, Serenity, and Ryou.
"What happened?" he asked. "Bakura called me and told me to come but..." he trailed off, seeing the expressions on everyone's face. Serenity looked like she was about to cry, and Joey had his arm around her. Yugi was just staring at the ground. Even Joey looked serious. Ryou picked a note up off the table, handing it to Tristan.
"Tea is with me. Don't worry, she's safe; but how long she stays that way is up to you. If you'd like to rescue your damsel in distress, come to the edge of the woods just off the north side of the city at 8 pm sharp. Come prepared; you may not leave for a while. Do NOT be late, if you value her safety." Again, the note had no signature. There was no one else it could possibly have been from.
"Man..." Tristan muttered. Serenity finally burst into tears.
"Don't cry, sis," Joey said, hugging Serenity tightly. "Nothing's gonna happen to Tea. There's no way that freak is gonna get away with this!"
Bakura nodded. "We'll make sure to get Tea back safely, but we have to keep from getting too emotional. If we can't think straight, we won't be able to do anything."
Serenity wiped her hand over her eyes, pulling herself away from her brother's embrace. "R-right," she said. "Right, we gotta be strong. R-right Yugi?"
Silence.
"Yuge? You okay?" Joey asked.
No response. Yugi wasn't there. He was hiding inside his mind, trying to escape the reality of his situation.

"You can't stay in here forever, Yugi," The boy's dark side chided his light. "If we want to help Tea, we'll have to go."
Yami was standing outside of Yugi's soul room, where the latter had locked himself upon hearing that Tea had been kidnapped. Yugi sat on the stone floor of his room, ignoring everything else as he played on his game boy.
"Yugi, you can't just hide from this." A couple of years experience had taught Yami what to expect from his lighter side. Yugi was a good kid, he had learned, but in serious situations, he sometimes didn't know what to do, and tried to remove himself from the scenario unless he was sure of a way to solve his problem.
Yugi still tried to ignore what was happening, but he couldn't. While he tried to block out thoughts of Tea, those thoughts multiplied tenfold, and became worse. He sat on the cold floor, ignoring the voice of his wiser half outside the room, only able to think of her alone, scared and in pain.

"What if...what if she's hurt?" he mumbled.
"We won't let Tea get hurt, I promise." Yami tried to comfort Yugi. "We know that she's been captured, but that means that she's safe, at least for now."
Nothing happened for a moment, then Yugi cracked the door open. "What do you mean, Yami?"
Yami privately breathed a sigh of relief. Now, Yugi would listen to reason. "Korimo is smart. She knows that we care about Tea, and she knows that we won't do anything to put Tea in danger. If anything happens to her, Korimo has nothing to barter with. It's very basic."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. Yugi, do you want me to handle this? Maybe I can help think of something she wouldn't expect."
Yugi thought for a second. "Okay."
"Don't worry Yugi, I'll make sure Tea gets back safely."

A bright flash from the Millennium Puzzle, and Yami sat on the sofa in Yugi's place.
"Yugi?" Serenity had been calling his name for reassurance for a little while. Yami picked his head up to look at her, by now accustomed to answering to Yugi's name. "Everything is gonna be fine, right Yugi?" Serenity's tears were welling up again.
"Of course, Serenity. We just have to think." Yami picked up the note and read it over. "She said not to be late. Let's see what happens if we're early."
"That's not a bad idea," Ryou said. "We might catch her unprepared."
"Okay! We got a game plan!" Joey pumped a fist into the air, keeping his sister close to his side with the other hand.
"Alright, if Korimo said 8 o'clock, we'll be there at seven." Yami stood up. "We should get ourselves ready. Go get what you think you may need, and meet back here at 6:30."
"Thanks Yugi, I just know we'll be fine now!" Serenity said happily. She sniffed back her old tears and smiled, enveloped by the feeling that everything would be all right.