Chapter 2
Emma made sure she was the first to exit the elevator so that she could escape the panpipe music which played in there. The rest of the gang were close behind her, all accept Mokuba who had stayed up on the top floor outside his brother's office waiting for him to calm down.
"I don't know why he denied it." said Joey not letting the subject of Kaiba's laptop drop. "It's perfectly normal for us guys to watch it." He said referring to all teenage boys in general.
"Maybe for you, you perv" Tea replied with disgust. She turned to Yugi. "But you've never watched any have you?"
"Er…" Yugi hesitated with his answer.
"You're on your own on this one." Emma heard Yami tell Yugi.
"Of course not." Replied Yugi with a great big forced smile on his face, which made Joey grit his teeth at the lie told, but Tea was pleased with the answer she had gotten.
The seven of them made their way down the steps outside of the Kaiba Corp building where Emma said her goodbyes to them for the day and arranged to meet up with them tomorrow. As she walked away she was surprised to be stopped by Bakura who looked rather shy about what he was asking.
"I was wondering if…er…" He stuttered and began to turn slightly pink in the cheeks. "What I mean is that there is a new film that I wouldn't mind seeing……and…….er"
"Are you asking me out on a date?" asked Emma in surprise as Bakura had always been so quiet and shy around her. She then saw him turn bright red as the rest of the gang watched, waiting for an answer. Ideally she would have liked to have said no as she wasn't interested in him that way, but she wasn't about to let him be embarrassed even more in front of his friends. "I'm not doing anything else tonight so I don't see why not."
Bakura seemed to relax a little, and the colour drained from his cheeks, but Emma thought he still looked quite sad. She had said yes to his request, so why was he still so sad?
The others were amazed at what they had just seen and were speechless for a moment before Duke said; "I don't have time for things like that right now."
"Me neither." agreed Joey.
"And what about Mai" teased Tea as she loved to wind him up over her and see the reaction that she was now getting from him. He stared at her as though daring her to suggest that they were an item.
"Oh come on Tea," Tristan butted in almost defending his best friend. "We all know that Joey's saving himself for Kaiba."
Laughter filled the air as the five of them watched Tristan run for his life as Joey closely followed him waving his fists about and shouting curse words at his friend's comment.
The film had finished and Emma and Bakura walked back in to the city along the river side. It was quiet by the riverside as not a lot of people seemed to go there. It was the perfect place to go for thinking over any problems that were troubling you at the time, as the peace and quiet let you think straight and the sound of the river was calming.
"So that was a good film." said Emma as she attempted to break the silence that had fallen upon them as they walked, but she didn't get any kind of response from Bakura. She tried again; "Not sure I'd want to see it again though."
Still there was no reply from him. He just continued to stare in to the space in front of him. She tried to get his attention one last time as she pointed across his view and shouted; "Oh look, flying elephants!" but even that didn't work. She shoved him gently. "Are you okay?"
Finally Bakura broke free from his trance. "What? Erm…yeah I'm okay." He closed his eyes. "It's just that. Never mind, I have to go now. I'm sorry." He ran in front of her.
"Bakura wait!" Emma shouted before she started running after him. She wondered if it was something she had, or hadn't, done to upset him.
It wasn't long before she caught up with him where he stopped under one of the small bridges that crossed the river. "Hey." she said as she stopped to catch her breath but suddenly felt herself thrown against the wall of the bridge support. She cried out in pain as her face met the concrete.
Bakura's voice had turned cold and threatening as he spoke in to her ear. "Give me what I desire and you won't get hurt."
Kaiba sat along side the river and stared out across the water's surface. He sat in his favourite spot to do some thinking since he felt more relaxed here than what he would have in his office. All was peaceful until he heard a cry come from nearby. He got up and went to investigate where it had come from.
As he neared one of the many small bridges that crossed the river he saw a girl being pinned to the pillar wall by a boy. He knew both of them, as they were two of Yugi's friends, Bakura and Emma. Despite how he felt about Yugi's gang he couldn't let the boy continue with what he was about to do.
"Oh no you don't." said Kaiba as he grabbed Bakura's arm. He tried to pull him away from Emma but was surprised at just how strong the shy quiet boy actually was as he didn't move at all.
"This matter doesn't concern you." hissed Bakura as he threw Kaiba off his arm and on to the ground. His attacker hit his head hard and lay motionless in the dirt. He returned his attention back to Emma who had managed to turn round with her struggling. He grabbed her round the throat and slammed her against the wall once more.
Emma pulled at Bakura's arms to try and loosen his grip on her but it didn't help. She couldn't believe what was going on as he had always been so shy. "I won't make this easy for you." She gasped with what little breath she had.
"Please!" snorted Bakura. "Don't flatter yourself, it's your millennium item I want not you." He relaxed his grip only slightly as he removed one of his hands to pull at the chain around Emma's neck.
Still with one hand trying to break the grip that Bakura had on her throat Emma made the other hand into a fist and tried to hit him across the head with it. She would have succeeded too if he hadn't been aware of her attempt and caught it with his free hand not far from his face.
"I don't think you want to do that." He sneered as Emma struggled to break her hand free. "Any harm you cause me, you cause to poor innocent Bakura."
Emma froze with horror as she realised that it was the spirit of the millennium ring that was controlling Bakura. She'd never actually witnessed the change before as Bakura had lost his millennium item a long time ago, or so she had been told. Over his shoulder she could see Kaiba lying on the ground, who was now beginning to slowly push himself up. She seized the chance she had and extended her fingers from her clenched hand so that they poked into Bakura's eyes.
The grip on her throat and wrist were loosened instantly and she headed as fast as she could towards Kaiba as she shouted for him, before she felt herself thrown back against the wall once more. This time she was unable to focus her vision as she felt Bakura reach down her top to grab the millennium key, and then everything went white.
Back on his feet, Kaiba reached out for Bakura and spun him around so that they faced each other and punched him hard in the face, causing his nose to break which sent blood flying all over the place. He punched him again and Bakura fell to his knees crying in pain.
Seeing what was happening Emma tackled Kaiba and was surprised to find that she ended up on top of him on the ground. She quickly scrambled to her feet. "That's enough!" she told Kaiba who just glared at her. "You got it all wrong, we were just larking about."
Kaiba got back on to his feet once more and glared down towards Bakura who nursed his broken nose. "That's not what it looked like to me."
"Well it was." she stated one last time as her voice began to shake. "Now go before I help him to sue you for assault."
Kaiba looked quite shocked and angry. "I help you out and this is the thanks that I get!" He stared at Emma but she didn't reply. "Fine! Don't expect it anymore." He turned to leave and kicked dirt at Bakura as he did so.
Emma watched him go and then approached Bakura who still sat on the ground nursing his nose. She looked down at him with sad eyes that met his terrified stare. "It's okay." She told him as she crouched down and pulled a handkerchief from his jeans pocket. "It's me."