Test of Friendship Chapter Nine, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

A/N: Hello loyal readers, BDB here. Updates have been a pain in the ass lately as I've been job hunting and doing other things recently. But a promise is a promise, and I'll try to update everything by Saturday night at the latest. Enough about that, here's my response to your reviews:

LadyPhoenix99: Thanks for the compliments. I think it's a little too easy sometimes to have all the characters act as their normal selves, so I may go out of my way sometimes to have you see them in a different light, for better or worse. Oh, and the Yugi/Serenity pairing, I don't know too many fans of it myself. Maybe because it's one of the pairings where the two are just too darn much alike in some ways, or maybe it's because about 70/100 fics on this site are either yaoi or Seto/Serenity. Sorry for the ramble, thanks for reading!

Moses-the-little-gurl: I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I'm a guy. And yes, the story is in tha house! Er…thanks for reading.

Anime Ruthless: Indeed the story is getting crazier by the second. I was thinking that if I don't get a shot at working in radio or journalism that maybe I should try writing soap opera scripts. Just a thought…thanks for reading. (And the info about ellipses).

Linkin-Phoenix: YAY! I can take that body armor off! It's pretty damn heavy. Anyway, thanks for the review and the info about ellipses. Oh…and I hope that whole thing with the pizza got cleared up. Sounds painful.

Fighting Comet: NEW READER! Hey, thanks for checking out the story, and more craziness to come, I promise.

Sanguine Dreams: NEW READER! Yo, thanks for reading and I hope you can continue to check it out as we proceed.

SpaceyChic468: NEW READER! Thanks for reading. Mai was the one about to call the police, sorry ifI confused you. Oh...and about Tea hitting someone, I think if she was EXTREMELY angry she would. Otherwise, as you pointed out, it's way out of character for her.

Stoopidphuk: NEW READER! I get that alot about my stories. Don't worry, I'll try to update more and make them longer. Thanks for reading!

Well, that's everybody. On with the fic!

Test of Friendship

Chapter Nine

"I want more than that." Serenity gently pulled him closer, and pressed her lips against his. "So much more..."

Yugi was stunned as Serenity kissed him forcefully on the lips. He had to admit he liked the feel of her lips against his and made no sudden move of protest to stop her. She tried to pull him closer when Yugi realized that something didn't feel right. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something urged him to resist Serenity's advances. He pulled himself away from her and stood there in tense silence.

"Serenity...what was that about?"

Serenity frowned as she paused for a moment, trying to find the words to explain how she felt.

Tea and Joey sat down in the restaruant, eating silently. Their friends used to come with them, and they would all eat, drink, laugh and talk together. That seemed like an eternity ago. Ever since Seto Kaiba made it his buisness to expose what had happened between them, they had become outcasts in their own circle of friends.

"I ran into Mai today..." Tea said reluctantly as she stirred her fork through the half-eaten salad she had ordered.

"Yeah?" Joey had ordered a double cheeseburger which up to now had gone virtually untouched.

"Yeah...we got into a little scuffle."

Joey frowned at this news. "She didn't hurt you any, did she?"

Tea muffled a bit of a giggle. "The only things that were hurt in that fight were her jaw and her massive ego."

Joey laughed as Tea's giggle turned into a hearty laugh of her own. If their friends had indeed chosen to turn their backs on them, at least they still had each other's company.

Hey freaks and geeks, it's me again. Sorry, but next Tuesday I won't be doing my regular broadcast. Why? Because I'll be doing my broadcast live from the Millenium Stadium damn near as live as I can do it to bring you coverage of the much-anticipated duel between Seto Kaiba and Mason Knight! I haven't been this excited in my whole life!

Malik, Ryou, Tristan and Duke sat alone in the pool hall listening as the radio DJ droned on about the upcomming duel between Kaiba and his American challenger.

"I hope that moron Kaiba gets what he deserves, sooner rather than later." Tristan knocked in another ball as he spoke, then prepared for his next shot.

"Easy, Pencil-head. I'm kinda rooting for Kaiba on this one." Duke said as he watched his opponent line up for another shot.

"Why?"

"Because that rap song that came out is about the only thing more annoying than Seto Kaiba."

The two friends/rivals laughed as Tristan sank another shot.

"Malik...you're unusually quiet tonight. Something the matter?" Ryou looked over at his friend, his eyes filled with disgust.

"I feel like crap, to be honest. You want to know why? Because we turned our backs on them, Ryou."

Ryou blushed slightly. "That's not true. They just needed some space.."

"That's a lie and you know it!" Malik slammed his fist on the table, which caused Tristan, Duke to look over to his direction. "They are our friends, and this is how we treat them? We turn our backs on them when times get bad? We let them walk alone? I'm not sure if that's a shining example of friendship."

"Ryou's right. They need their space. What happened between those two is their business and it would probably be for the best if they sorted this out on their own." Duke's words were surprisingly harsh in tone despite his efforts to control his temper. "When they've decided what they should do, we'll go to them."

Malik folded his arms across his chest, disgust written across his face. Even though he disagreed, he knew it was probably for the best at that time.

Yugi walked the streets near the cafe where he and his former friends would hang out together. Ever since that day when Kaiba, Joey and Tea dealt him so much pain little Yugi had never been the same. His grades were dropping. He couldn't eat. On some nights he couldn't sleep. Tristan and the others had tried to get through to him to no avail. His grandfather was worried sick. Even his Yami could not get through to speak to him. Whenever he would try to speak to him, Yugi would just shut off all communication. On that day, they killed the light inside of him. All that was left now was the darkness...and the pain.

Is Serenity's love the solution?

Mai sped down the highway, doubts and thoughts running through her mind. A small bruise was forming under her cheek where Tea had struck her earlier. It was their conversation from earlier in the day that was worrying her, however.

Joey loves you, you know that!

Why did she decide to become Kaiba's girlfriend? Was it really for love? She kept running these questions over and over again.

Kaiba doesn't love you...

The blonde mashed her foot down on the accelerator, speeding towards her destination. She knew the answer to all the questions that she had. She knew now why she had turn away from her friends and all but destroyed their wonderful friendships.

He just bought himself a trophy girlfriend!

She knew now that what she had with Kaiba was merely lust.

Twelve-year-old Mokuba Kaiba ran through the halls of the house he and his big brother shared. He was about to ask his brother if they could go see the new Shaman King movie that had just come out when he heard some disturbing comments from his brother's office.

"I told you it would work...of course I'm right you little fool! Don't worry, you'll get the rest of your money when I'm sure she's mine. I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR DAMN FEELINGS ABOUT IT! YOU HAVE A JOB TO DO AND YOU WILL DO IT. Why? Because doing what I want is a lot better than disobeying me and feeling my wrath!"

Mokuba was worried as he heard his brother continue speaking. He had noticed that Mai Valentine had been coming around the house lately. Even though he liked her and thought she was fun to be around, he was still worried that something wasn't completely right with his big brother and her. It was as if Seto was trying to hide something. Not only from him but from everyone else in the city.

I know, I know, still a little short. It's getting there people, soon the chapters will be at least 2,000 words long. Maybe more. Anyways, check out my profile (please?) as now I'll have a 'Coming Soon' Section in it with some ideas for new fics I'll be cooking up over the summer and fall. Not until I'm done with this of course! Take care.

BDB...out