Akio the Dragon Master- Aw, you KNOW you just want to huggle Otagawa! (…so you can pistol-whip him when he's off guard…)

DevilsPrincess- Thank you so much for your support and your help and suggestions:) I'm glad that you thought that I wrote the last chapter skillfully. I actually researched dangerous fish in UK waters so that I wouldn't mess up too badly. :)

It was early the next morning. Miho was shelving some books and trying to wake herself up. Even though her older brother had driven her to school, she still hadn't quite been able to get her bloodstream pumping, leaving her weary with lassitude.

The sound of a book dropping deterred her. Miho's head swiveled bleakly in the direction of the sound. She blinked. No; it couldn't be, all of this morning gunk in her eyes must be making her see a mirage…

She yawned, rubbed her eyes, blinked a few times, and looked again. No, he was still there…

"Kaiba-san?"

The brunette turned a light shade of pink. "Sorry," he apologized, "I didn't mean to knock the book off of the table."

"Oh… That's alright." Miho must have floated over to the table, because she didn't remember moving her feet and couldn't figure out how she would've anyway, she was so tired. Reaching over, she picked up the book. It was a rather thick copy of Robinson Crusoe, written by Daniel Defoe, with an ornate green cover depicting a lively scene. Yawning for the umpteenth time, she stretched as well.

"Here." Seto nudged something over her way. When she didn't move to take it, he grabbed her hands and placed them around something hot. "Drink this. It'll wake you up."

"Really?" Miho took a deep breath in, taking in the rich scent of the coffee. She drank it slowly, but not sparingly; she had downed half of the mug with one sip, it had just taken her awhile. "Th…Thank you." Miho smiled. "I guess you're really not as mean as they say you are."

Seto rolled his eyes. "Not really. I do have a heart, you know. It's just that I usually keep it in my other trench coats."

Miho smiled, her hands still around the warm cup of coffee. She took another hasty sip before adding, "Well thank you! What are you doing here so early?"

"Working," Seto said. At first she thought he meant on KaibaCorp, but then she distinguished the pre-cal worksheet they had been assigned yesterday.

"Oh… schoolwork." Miho smiled benignly. "Um… I think I just drank all of your coffee…"

"That's okay. That was my second one, anyway. I might've taken a sip out of it, though, I can't remember."

"Oh… Okay." Miho smiled vapidly and set it down before sauntering past the check-out counter and to a small hallway where the girl's restroom was. She went inside and splashed cold water on her face, totally disregarding the fact that it was school water, and therefore might not be clean.

She looked at herself. Her cheeks were red from where she had rubbed them with water in an attempt to sober herself up for the day, and her throat itched. She went outside—Seto was working on his pre-cal assiduously—retrieved a small kit from her backpack, and went back into the bathroom. She had stupidly wiped off all of her make-up when she'd splashed herself with water! Now she had to do her make-up rituals all over again…

When she was done, Miho blinked at herself in the mirror. A thought suddenly struck her:

What on Earth had just happened?

Bakura yawned as he entered the schoolyard. It was much too early for his liking, but he had to remember that in England it was four hours later. With any luck, Bakura would reach Ryou during his lunch time. He had a hunch that's what would happen.

Bakura dragged himself over to the pay phone. Taking out two wallets full of quarters, he proceeded to insert a whole bunch of money into the phone.

I wonder why our school pay phones are able to make long-distance phone calls, he mused. Maybe the school board is just paranoid? Or maybe we're going to phone famous politicians instead of writing to them. Huh…

The phone rang… each ring seemed to be five minutes apart as Bakura's mind broke it down into an antagonizing, slow sequence. Finally, somebody picked up.

"Ryou Bakura here."

"Ya… Yadonushi-sama?"

Bakura always called Ryou Yadonushi-sama. It meant "lord's property," with an honorific added at the end to mean "respected."

Bakura could hear a pause on the other end, and then some heated whispers followed by shuffling. He could hear the crunch of dead leaves underneath his other soul's sneakers.

"…Bakura?" Ryou said incredulously. "What on Earth are you calling me for in the middle of lunchtime?" (Bakura silently pumped his fist, grinning.) "Is everything all right?"

"Everything is alright, yadonushi-sama… Uhm… everyone is kind of wondering if you'll ever come back."

Ok, so that's a teensy lie…

"Oh. Well, I—AUGH!"

Bakura knew that Ryou's cell phone had dropped to the ground, its batteries flying out. He also knew that Ryou had been assailed by a flyaway soccer ball. Their bond, while on the phone, had been reopened for a short time.

So what if the line had gone dead? He would try again later.

He didn't know why this was eating at him so much. Perhaps he truly loved Ryou as a brother. Who would know?

But Bakura apparently had bigger problems, as he saw Marik walking slowly down the hallway towards him, wearing a big grin—

…and the school uniform.