AN: Woohoo!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!.. all I own are some issues of Shonen Jump.

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Ryou had been pondering his dream. It had been quite a while since he'd 'woken up', and he couldn't help but think about the being from his dream. 'Hmmm..I never did find out his name...or what was wrong with him. He looked so hurt. Oh, but he told me not to think about him, just to keep this pendant; it's odd looking, I wonder what it could be for.' He examined the ring and suddenly felt as though an energy was inside the ring; something he couldn't really explain. 'My friends probably know exactly what it's for. Where are those friends of mine anyway? I wonder what they're like.'

As if on cue, a large bunch of teens filed into the room at that very moment. Ryou was rather taken aback, since he was shy and what, six people? had just walked in. He certainly knew why his angel had told him they would stand out. They certainly looked like an unusual bunch. He did note that they looked very upset and this unsettled him as well. The two boys who looked very alike, almost like twins except for a height difference, looked especially upset. A girl with long brown-red hair was sobbing, and one with short brown hair had red watery eyes too. In addition a blond and a pointy-brown-haired boy looked as though they were trying not to look too affected.

"Hello," the oldest of the two look-alike boys said. "How are you feeling, Ryou?"

Ryou gulped involuntarily; he was very nervous meeting--no, re-meeting these people. "Umm..hi. I'm feeling ok, I suppose. M--my g--guardian angel told me that you guys would help me remember everything. I suppose that sounds silly, but I saw him..."

"Guardian angel?" Anzu spoke up.

"Yup, he looked just like me, and I saw him in a dream." This statement recommenced their tears, as they remembered the lie they had to tell; the secret they now had to keep from their friend...to think that the secret was about him too...

"Oh." Anzu said, trying to conjure a small smile.

"Well, enough about this," Jono this time, "we have to re-introduce ourselves to our little bud here. I'm Jonouchi Katsuya, at your service." He shot Ryou a wink and grin. "And this is my little sister, Shizuka."

"Hi." Shizuka said, taking her big brother's lead, drying up her still falling tears, and attempting to compose herself.

"And this doofus here is Honda Hiroto, but you don't need to pay him much attention." Jono continued. At this, Honda said a quick "hi" before proceeding to strangle Jonouchi, temporarily alarming Ryou, but then, seeing everyone else's exhausted expressions, he assumed that that was just how the two got along.

"I'm Anzu Mazaki. I hope you begin to feel comfortable with us. It must be hard with everything you must be going through. But you should know that we're your friends, and as you friends, we'll always be there for you."

"Next comes the more complicated part, but, for now we have to take you home, where we'll have more time to explain. For now, I'm Yami and this is Yugi."

"Alright, but what exactly do you mean, 'more complicated'?" Yugi answered this time,

"Like Yami said, we'll explain that to you as soon as we get to your house."

"Ok." Ryou began to gather all the things on a sort of bedside table that he assumed were his belongings, before gently tugging on the leather strap that held the Millennium Ring securely on his neck, as if making sure to comply with what his dream had told him.

"Got everything?" Yami asked.

"I think so." On the trip home, the group had a fun time pointing things out to Ryou about where he lived and nice places in Domino, and the like. It was as though Ryou was new in town and they were showing him around. As they stopped walking in front of Ryou's house, Yami turned,

"This is your house, do you remember it?" Ryou thought for a moment.

"Nope. I'm sorry, I feel so useless, so...weak."

"Don't say that!" Yugi explains, "You'll remember all of it in good time."

"Hai, I suppose so." They all approached and let Ryou opened the door, it was after all, his house. As Ryou put his hand on the doorknob what seemed like a flash of his memory flashed before his eyes. But what he saw surprised him. He was in this exact position and place, but bruised all over, and full of fear. He felt one of the now less painful bruises. He could almost taste the fear...or was it blood? Startled, Ryou took a step backwards, crashing into Yugi, and nearly knocking the whole group over in a domino effect. Jonouchi, at the end of the line, actually fell back, but regained his footing before falling completely.

"You ok Ryou?"

"Hai-hai. I'm fine, I just thought I remembered something, but it was nothing." He wasn't sure if this memory was real, and he'd been alone in it so even if it was real, it was likely that none of his friends knew of that moment. After all, it may not have been that important, so why worry his friends over it? But in the back of his mind, Ryou somehow knew that it was important.

Stepping inside the house, the group gave Ryou a tour of his own house, as most of them had been there at least once. Ryou couldn't help but feel chills in certain areas of his home, but oftentimes, he couldn't quite place why. There was something fishy going on; something they weren't telling him, but with what right could he accuse them? They were the ones helping him through everything, why should he question them?

Arriving at the living room, the same living room that just hours before he'd been in with so much fear, Yami asked Ryou to have a seat. It was one am.

"Now, Ryou," Yami began, "our explanation."

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AN: This is kinda a short chapter, isn't it? I haven't really thought about pairings. I got one request for RxB, but I'd really like to hear everyone's opinion first and for now I may just hint at different pairings just for fun. Please request pairings if you have any! Please continue to read, and thank you very much for reading. R&R