A/N: First and foremost, apologies for the lack of chapter yesterday. But this time, I really DO have a good reason, and it's this: Unfortunatly, I am still, at least partly, living in reality, and part of that reality invoves my parents. Now, theywent away on a walking holiday overnight, and yesterday we decided to clean the house for when they got back. Now, I decided to tackle the spare room, and while itsavedmy mom, whohas other things to do, a week's work, it DID take most of the day. So I didn't get the chapterdone. Oh well.My parents were pleased, and we can prettyassume it won't happen again... Except on maybe the 24th,when I am round at my friend's. So I shall try to get a chapter written, and wemight see a one-day return of Update Monkey!
Waffle's YoungerSister: (Glare) Why can't I have a proper name...?
Review Responses:
Willowwind: (Sniffle)I'm not evil... And I have about as much co-ordination as a de-magnatised compass. I can'trow. I used to eat sandwitches like that, but then wegot a different type of bread, and the crusts were manky, so I peel them off. Heh. Writing? Still no TSJOBTG...
Dragonlady222:... You know, I wasreally pleased when I got your review. Then I went and watched Alien, but that's neither here nor there. I think thatpeople saying they like your characeters is the best compliment ever, because it meansyou've succeded in making them 3D enough for people TO like. So thanks very much! Enjoy your holiday!
Disclaimer:010010010010000001101111011101110110111000100000011011100110111101110100011010000110100101101110011001110010111000100000010000110111001001100101011001000110100101110100001000000111010001101111001000000100101101100001011110100111010101101011011010010010000001010100011000010110101101100001011010000110000101110011011010010010000001100001011011100110010000101100001000000110000101110011001000000110000101101100011101110110000101111001011100110010110000100000001110010100010100101110001011100010111000100000
(Well, I DID say I'd do it in Binary...)
Note: Due to the fact that they are talking on an internet messenger program- CoughMSNcough- it will be a little like script format, worse luck. Don't ask me WHAT'S happened to Az's writing, because I know as much as you do. Anyways, here is a oh-so-helpful list of who's who:
Wings: Az, of course.
Juilliard2009: Téa. The reasoning? I think Juilliard is a school of dance. 2009? I have no idea. The year she's 18 and can go?
Trojan-Horse: Tristan. No idea why. Update Monkey's opinion was that it was a good idea, so it is.
DM: Yugi. What does it stand for?Duel Monsters? Dark Magician? Or a privatejoke...kee kee kee...
AngelAuthor: Guess. And, by the way, this would be Joey's secondarycontact. Otherwise, his friends would've realised ages ago, wouldn't they? So, this would be the onehe normally uses for the comic stuff, I guess.
And, now, Chapter 8! Seto's Worker Relation Techniques! A trail of breadcrumbs!Mokuba knows all! And a suicidal Plant!
Eight: Keeping it Legal
Still August
"Mokuba?" he called. No response, bar the pounding of what was, undoubtedly, another of Azreal's CDs. Curse that Stereo… giving up on ever being heard to knock on his brother's door again, Seto opened the door and walked in. Mokuba looked up from the website he was looking at in surprise, and smiled.
"Seto!" He said delightedly, pausing the music. "Are you done already?"
"I'm afraid not." The elder sighed. "But I've been interrupted. Apparently, something in the office needs my urgent attention." He scowled. He had finally 'rescued' Mokuba, and now he couldn't see him at all. The idea had been that that summer, Seto would work from home. Without the barrage of requests he usually got, he figured, he could get the day's work done by afternoon or early evening. Unless he got called back. Like now.
"Oh." Mokuba sighed, disappointed. "How long do you think it'll take you?"
"I don't know." Seto replied. "Needless to say, as fast as I can. I'll see you later, okay?"
"Alright." Mokuba sighed. "But take a look at this first."
"What?" Seto asked, walking over to the screen. To his horror, Mokuba had discovered Wheeler's website, and, more to the point…
"This looks exactly like the encoding on KaibaCorp's Public website!" Mokuba frowned. "I'm sure of it- this AngelAuthor guy is stealing it! But maybe you'd know better then anyone… Seto?" Mokuba looked up; his older brother wasn't saying anything.
"…It's not a problem." Seto coughed out eventually.
"But…"
"It's not a problem!" Seto repeated firmly. "I'll see you later, Mokuba."
"Bye…" Mokuba turned back to the screen.
Thief or not, this comic was pretty good.
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It was a good job that Mokuba didn't turn that CD back on, because not twenty minutes after Seto had left did the bell go. Mokuba didn't go and answer it. It would take him ten minutes to get to the door. If it was someone important, they would phone through.
The bell didn't go again, and neither did the telephone, so Mokuba kept on reading his way through the comic's achieves. Almost fifteen minutes later, he heard a voice in the hall.
"Hello? Help me, Yo! Is any one alive, or can I steal all your stuff now?"
Mokuba knew that voice. Jumping up, he went to the door, and stuck his head out to see Azreal, holding a book and looking around in confusion.
"Anna?" He asked. She turned around, smiling.
"Mokuba! Oh, thank goodness… I was beginning to think that I was the only one alive in this place…That dude on the door said Seto was around, but if he didn't even hear the bell…"
"How did you even get in?" Mokuba asked. She gave a grin but didn't explain.
"I'm lucky to have found you." She sighed. "This place is huge! I was beginning to think I'd be lost forever…I've never been in this part before."
Mokuba laughed. "Really? This is where I sleep."
"Ah, deep within the bowels of the Mansion, the younger brother lurks…" Azreal joked in a dramatic voice, looking around his bedroom door to have a nose.
"Hey!" Mokuba said suddenly, beckoning her over to his PC. "Take a look at this webpage. Does it look familiar?"
"Of course it does." Azreal replied in bewilderment. "It's Joey's web comic."
"Joey's!" Mokuba echoed indcredously. "This is Joey's webcomic? But it's exactly the same layout as KC's website!"
"Well, I guess it figures that Seto would use the same format…" Azreal frowned in confusion, deepening when she saw Mokuba's face. "What?"
"Do you mean to tell me that this is Joey's comic and Seto builds it!" Mokuba demanded.
And then Azreal remembered that neither she nor Seto had mentioned that little detail.
Oops.
"Okay, listen up." She sighed. "Seto obviously didn't want you to know, because he hasn't told you, but as I've put me foot in it again, I might as well go the whole way. I was sent to inspire Joey to continue his webcomic, and the reason Seto was chosen was because he was the webmaster. But Seto didn't realise it was Joey's comic when he started, and then he had to carry on because it would look suspicious if he stopped. But now Seto knows it's Joey's comic, but he doesn't know that Joey knows that he's the webmaster, and Joey knows that Seto is the webmaster but doesn't know that Seto knows it's his comic, and now you know that Joey writes it and Seto keeps the site running, but Seto doesn't, so don't let on that you know!"
"Uh…" Mokuba blinked. "Okay."
"What's bothering you?" She asked suddenly. "You haven't been yourself since you got home."
Mokuba was shocked. He had tried so hard not to let it show… Not even Seto had noticed… "Well…" He said, mouth suddenly dry. "You know, I was really little when mom and dad died, and I don't remember much about them, or about the orphanage we were in. Really, I don't really remember much before we lived with Gozaburo. So I was expecting the Home to be really bad, you know, like Seto always says it was. But it wasn't. I mean, it wasn't as good as a real home, and some of their ruled were patronising, but they didn't treat the kids badly- and I think they loved them individually to." He paused. "And I can't help thinking that maybe it was… good that I ended up there, because it made me realise that maybe these places aren't all bad. Maybe they really are out to help kids. And I almost wish Seto could find that out, so he didn't hate the Care workers so much… But when I think that, it feels like I'm…" He searched for the words.
"Betraying Seto, and your home, and even your parents?" Azreal guessed.
Mokuba nodded miserably.
"Listen to me." Azreal said firmly. "That is not a betraying thought. In fact, that is a very mature thought- more then I could do, anyway. Mokuba, you and Seto went through a very tough time when you were kids. I don't understand that, and I never will, not totally, because I grew up with a family. But… look, you ended up in a bad place. Just because you realise that they're not all like that, but Seto doesn't, doesn't make you a bad person. It just means that maybe you can handle your past a little better or faster, then Seto can. So don't worry." Suddenly, Mokuba was hugging her like she had saved his life. Surprised, Azreal put her book down and hugged him back.
"This is so odd…" She laughed. "Back in April, you hated me."
"I didn't hate you." Mokuba replied, letting go. "I just didn't know you, and you didn't know me."
"What about now?"
Mokuba shrugged. "Sometimes, it seems like you're the first person since Seto who's seen me as a person rather then his little brother."
"…Anyway," Azreal began again. "I'd love to hang around and chat, but I'm supposed to be taking James out this afternoon. I just wanted to ask Seto a favour… He's working from home, right?"
"Not any more." Mokuba said glumly. "He's had to go to the Office, sorry."
"Oh." Azreal looked put out. "Oh well…"
"I can ask him when he gets back, if you like." Mokuba offered.
"No, it's okay." Azreal shook her head. "I need to ask him myself… but some nagging on your part later on might help." She winked.
"Okay." Mokuba nodded, slightly intrigued as to what she wanted Seto to do.
"Thanks. Now…" Azreal stepped out into the hallway again, and looked around. "Where's the door?"
Mokuba laughed. "Come on," he said, taking pity on her. "I'll show you."
"Thanks. I should have left a trail of breadcrumbs or something… though I don't think the maids would have liked that…"
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Azreal was walking home. Unfortunately, this route took her right past the KC building.
Which gave her an idea.
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"With respect, Sir, that can't be it because-"
"If I valued your opinion, you would have been promoted by now. Do it."
"But sir…!"
"Do you like your job?"
"Well, yes…"
"Then I suggest you follow my instructions."
The worker hesitated. "But, if we…"
"Do as I say." Seto spat, getting steadily more and more annoyed. These people must have noticed his better mood over the last few weeks- and were thinking they could get away with more because of it.
"Nice to see you're keeping the whole worker relationships going, Seto." Someone giggled in his ear.
Seto resisted the urge to turn around. He knew she was there, but no-one else did. And he couldn't show any signs of relenting.
"I'll be back in five minutes." Seto said. "Do as I say and nothing else, and do it by the time I get back." He stomped out into the corridor, shutting the door behind him.
"You." He hissed at Azreal, who was still in hysterics. "In my office. Providing you can still walk."
She followed him through the labyrinth that was Kaiba Corp's HQ, eventually sliding into a rather posh looking lift. A moment later, she reverted to her human form, leaning against the walls, sighing. She rubbed her forehead, and straightened up a little, but did not leave the wall's support.
Neither she nor Seto said anything, but both noted her apparent weariness. Eventually, the lift glided to a halt- not that you could tell; it moved so smoothly that she hadn't been sure they'd moved at all- and the doors opened onto Seto's office, the nerve centre of one the world's biggest electronics companies.
The office was not as elaborate as Azreal had expected, but it was a world apart from the one back at the Mansion. In that one, it seemed more relaxed, with the soft lighting from the corners, and pale walls. Apart from the computer, desk, and filing cabinets, it could have been any room in the house.
This office could not have been anything but.
The walls were white, the desk tall, the chair black. It was like something from a James Bond movie. It was obviously designed to intimidate, and Azreal certainly couldn't see how Seto could stand to spend all day in such a stark room. The only relief for the eyes were the (tinted) floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the Domino skyline, and what had to be the best view in the city; and a malnourished looking plant in the corner. Azreal wandered over to it, couching down to see the soil below its paling leaves. This was the only thing the same as the office at the Mansion. Maybe Seto particularly liked this plant- although it looked very ordinary to Azreal.
"Goodness, Seto!" She exclaimed, feeling the dry, crumbling soil beneath it. "When was the last time you watered this? The poor thing…"
Seto laughed. "Don't worry. It's getting old. This plant is unique in it's species, in that, only when it dies does it release seeds. It's old and bedraggled now, but unless I let it die, a new one won't grow. They're very hard to take care of- they need a lot to survive. Which makes them one of the most common plants on Earth."
"Great." Azreal replied, standing up. "You keep a suicidal plant in your office."
Seto laughed. "I've never looked at it like that… I've always more thought of it as… Indestructible."
"You would."
"So," Seto said, getting back to the point. "Not that I'm complaining, but to what do I owe this visit? And, more to the point, how did you manage to get in?"
"I wanted to ask you a favour." Azreal replied. "As for your security, well, I kept quiet. I don't think they were trained for invisible people."
"A serious oversight." Seto said wryly.
Azreal snorted. "Although, if I'd known you had attack dogs, I might have reconsidered."
Seto looked at her sharply. "You were attacked?"
"No, I was licked." She replied. "It would seem that dogs like Muses. It would seem we smell nice. Although, when they all started jumping on me, the guard got suspicious…"
Seto sat down on the edge of his desk, a habit he usually despised, but he didn't want to sit in the chair and make it seem like an interview.
"I see." He said eventually. "So you're telling me that you broke through my highly trained, ex-SAS security, faced my Attack Dogs, trained, however annoyingly, to attack any unknown scent, including inanimate objects, but escaped with no injury bar a sudden bath of dog saliva, and generally snuck around my building in the hopes that you might get lucky, and out of all the rooms in the city's biggest building, would find the one I was in… and you did it all to ask me a favour."
Azreal gaped, then frowned. "Well, of course it sounds dumb when you put it like that." She pouted. Seto smirked at her.
"At any rate, what is this 'favour' that you are so desperate for?"
She was lucky. People who generally came to this room asking for favours were usually booted out straight away. He even fired some, if it was obvious that they were just trying to take advantage of his 'good heart'.
She filled him in.
"And, just why, should I do that?" Seto asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because it was me that asked you?" Azreal tried, sweetly.
Seto said nothing, but his face said it all. That wasn't going to cut it.
"Okay…" Azreal sighed. "How about, if you don't, I'll follow you around all afternoon in my muse form, nagging you until you agree?" Although, judging by how tired she had felt just from the time she had spent getting in and finding Seto, she wouldn't manage it. "Also," She continued. "If you still don't agree, I'll just get Mokuba to do it."
Seto didn't have time to argue. He had said five minutes, and it wouldn't do his reputation if he was late. Like he could argue with that, anyway.
"Fine, fine." He sighed. "Now, get out of my office."
Azreal laughed, returning to her Muse shape.
"Thanks Seto. It'll mean a lot to him." He felt her slightly ghostly lips brush across his cheek, cold and warm all at once. She had never touched him as a Muse before. Certainly, a new experience.
And, she was gone.
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Hurriedly, Azreal booted up the computer, waiting impatiently for it to connect. She signed in to the Instant Messenger as soon as she could, and was immediately added to the conversation.
Wings: I ' m h e r e , I ' m h e r e !
Juilliard2009: It's about time, Azreal.
DM: Yeah, what happened?
AngelAuthor:We've been waiting for you. Some of us still want to know what this is all about…
Wings: L o o k , I ' m s o r r y , o k a y ! I t t o o k l o n g e r t h e n I e x p e c t e d t o f i n d S e t o , a n d t h e n I h a d p r o m i s e d t o t a k e J a m e s o u t . . .
Juilliard2009: Look, never mind that now. What did he say?
Wings: I . . . c o n v i n c e d h i m . . .
AngelAuthor: Wait. Are you telling me Kaiba's involved!
Wings: D e a l w i t h i t , J o e y. H e ' s h e l p i n g u s o u t . O r w i l l b e, a n y w a y. W h e n h e c o m e s o n l i n e.
Trojan-Horse: Just agree, Joey, and maybe they'll explain what they're up to.
Wings: T h a n k y o u ! I w i l l !
Wings: B w r t s g t s k f s j f h e j s a ! £ a c g p H e l o a s f s ! Q
DM: … Ummm…
Finally prying James away from the keyboard, where he seemed to delight in hitting random keys, Azreal returned to the conversation and explained, both her apparent insanity and her idea. And they all liked it. And could understand why it would be useful for Seto to be there, however grudgingly.
Speaking of whom, just then, a little message popped up, telling her he had just signed in.
Wings: G l a d y o u c o u l d m a k e i t .
Kaiba: Let's just get this over with…
Wings: T h a n k s , S e t o . . .
By the time she had added him to the conversation, T éa was posting again.
Juilliard2009: Right! So, is everyone clear on what we're doing?
DM: Yup!
AngelAuthor: Ready when you are!
Trojan-Horse: I haven't got anything better to do…
Wings: I w a s w a i t i n g f o r y o u g u y s !
Kaiba: Yes. Although I still have no idea why I agreed to this.
Wings: B e c a u s e I a s k e d y o u , a n d y o u l o v e m e ?
Wings:
Kaiba: Hmm, or maybe because you didn't give me much choice?
AngelAuthor: Can you guys please keep your domestics private! And if you're complaining, Kaiba, then why don't you leave and do us all a favour?
Kaiba: Since you've never had a girl friend long enough to know, Wheeler, I'll tell you:
Kaiba: That isn't a domestic. That isn't even an argument.
AngelAuthor: Yeah, like you're an expert!
Wings: G u y s . . .
Kaiba: More experience then you, and let's face it, you're not all that smart either.
Kaiba: Even if you are more in touch with your feminine side, 'Angel'…
AngelAuthor: Yeah, well look at your screen name sometime, Mr Imaginative!
Juilliard2009: That's enough, you two!
Wings: C a n ' t y o u t w o b e c i v i l j u s t t h i s o n c e ! P l e a s e?
Kaiba: They're right.
Kaiba: I wouldn't recommend trying to argue with me, Wheeler. I type- and think- faster, and can therefore get in far more shots then you.
AngelAuthor: You think so?
Kaiba: I just said. Can't you read either?
DM: … I'm just going to sit here and watch Joey get slaughtered…
Trojan-Horse: Me to… and eat cereal.
AngelAuthor: Hey! You're supposed to support me!
Kaiba: They're your friends, Wheeler, not deluded.
DM: You're eating cereal? At this time of day?
AngelAuthor: At least I have friends…
Trojan-Horse: I missed Breakfast.
DM: Yeah, but that would've been hours ago…
Juilliard2009: Can we focus here, people! Anna? What do you want us all to do?
Wings: W e l l , I f i g u r e d t h a t t h e r e w e r e a f e w w a y s t o d o t h is.
Wings: T h e f i r s t o n e I t h o u g h t o f w a s t o g o t h r o u g h t h e s c h o o l r e c o r d s . I m e a n , t h e y m u s t k n o w w h e r e h i s l a s t o n e w a s , f o r r e f e r e n c e s a n d s t u f f , r i g h t ? A n d t h e n w e c a n a s k a r o u n d , a n d k e e p g o i n g b a c k u n t i l w e f i n d s o m e o n e.
Wings: W h i c h i s w h e r e y o u c o m e i n , S e t o.
Kaiba: Let me guess. I'm to access the records.
Wings: Y u p !
Juilliard2009: Just keep it legal, if possible…
Kaiba: Fine.
Kaiba: If possible.
Wings: J o e y , y o u ' r e l i k e a q u a s i – I n t e r n e t c e l e b r i t y , r i g h t ? S o c a n y o u g o o n a l l t h e C h a t r o o m s a n d F o r u m s a n d s t u f f a n d s e e i f y o u c a n f i n d a n y t h i n g o u t ? Y o u c a n u s e t h e B a b e l F i s h i f t h e p a g e s a r e i n E n g l i s h…
AngelAuthor: I'm on it!
Gradually, they all had jobs to do… except Azreal.
She had forgotten to think of enough ways to do this so she could try to.
Oops.
Suddenly, a little message appeared in the bottom corner of the screen, informing her Ryou was now online to. And if no-one was talking to him, he'd figure they were all busy… but then why would they be signed in, unless they were up to something…
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Ryou had been signed in for all of five seconds when Azreal started talking to him. And, she was asking him how, how, how, cricket worked.
Being the kind person that he was, Ryou started explaining. But the second he minimised the bar or went to talk to someone else, she was saying something else. It would seem that she just couldn't get her head around the sport. Eventually, Ryou gave up, and signed out of the messenger.
At least now he could surf the net in peace.
Back at her house, Azreal made the small movement indicating 'Score', grinning. It would have been certain disaster if he had talked to Joey or someone. A disaster that had been averted.
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Juilliard2009: Just keep it legal, if possible…
Kaiba: Fine.
Kaiba: If possible.
Seto leaned back in the chair, wondering exactly how he was going to do this. There was no doubt that he could, but it was a matter of deciding which method to use…
He heard Mokuba approaching the room, and quickly minimised the conversation window. Sure enough, a second later, his little brother bounded in.
"Hey, Seto!" He said. "You busy?"
"Not really…" Seto replied vaguely. "I just have a few more things to look at, and I'll be with you. Give me another hour or so…"
"No, it's just I found this in my room." Mokuba replied, waving some sort of book, with Western characters, around. "Is it yours? Actually… Now that I think about it, it might be Anna's. I think she had a book…"
"Let me see." Seto replied, taking the book from him. Yes, he had seen her getting it from Ryou a few days ago, when the group of them were in the park…
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Seto watched. Azreal had been right, they were splitting up right about now to go home. He didn't know what he was doing here, standing in the sunlight by the Park Gates. But he didn't want to wait for her at her house, he knew that. She said her goodbyes, realising that she'd have to hurry home if she wasn't going to be late to meet him.
"Hey!" Ryou called after her, catching up. "I forgot…" He muttered, embarrassed. He dug around in the insanely deep pockets of his coat, and pulled out a small book. "You wanted to borrow this, right? I, Robot?"
"Yeah, thanks!" she said, giving one of her oh-so-charismatic smiles. Seto slapped himself mentally. He was not going to be jealous. He was not that pathetic. She took the book off Ryou carefully. "Hey, this looks pretty old…"
"It is." Ryou nodded. "I won it years and years ago now- though goodness knows what for. It might say in the front…"
"I'll return it in a day or two." She promised. "Thanks, Ryou! Later, guys!" She raised a hand in farewell and ran, just for the fun of it, towards the gates which he stood beside. And almost right past him.
"Wait." Seto told her, grabbing her arm. She turned in surprise, but wasn't mad at him for changing where they met. In fact, she seemed rather pleased to see him, as the surprise faded and she gave him that smile, the one that none of her others had a patch on, and he knew that there was nowhere he'd rather be.
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"Seto…" Mokuba called. "Hey, Seto, is it hers or not?"
Seto blinked, back to reality. "Uh… yes. No. It's Ryou's. She must have been returning it."
Mokuba rolled his eyes. "Geez, Seto, you really do like her, don't you?"
Seto said nothing, and was hit by a sudden flash of inspiration. He flipped the front cover of the book open, and, sure enough, it did say in the front. Or, it had a sticker in it, anyway. Not that Seto could read it. Quickly, he accessed a instant translator.
"Mokuba." He said. "Hand me that keyboard."
"This one…?" Mokuba said in wonder, pulling the house's one and only Western Qwerty keyboard, covered in dust. Seto nodded, and hastily switched it for his regular one. And, more by matching the letters to the keys then actual comprehension, he inputted the small writing at the bottom of the sticker into the translator.
"What are you doing?" Mokuba asked, by now completely befuddled.
"Mokuba, normally I wouldn't ask you to do this, but…" He said, gaining resolve as he spoke. "I want you to get out of here."
Mokuba looked like he wanted to argue, but he didn't. "Fine…" He sighed, heading towards the door. "You did a good job on Joey's website, by the way…"
Seto looked round in surprise.
"How do you know-"
But Mokuba was gone.
Seto made a mental note to demand explanations later, and hit translate. It was just as he expected. Thanks to Azreal's forgetfulness, he now had a name, and address, of a school that Ryou had once attended.
A quick keyboard switch later, and he was back in business.
Kaiba: I have an address. The school's called River Bed High, in the Trent Valley.
Kaiba: Which would suggest somewhere around the River Trent.
Juilliard2009: That was quick!
Kaiba: And completely above-board, before you ask.
Juilliard2009: Heh. Well, I've checked all the people search websites I know, but no-one's looking for him.
AngelAuthor: I've just done my last forum. A lot of my fans are in Europe, so they've promised to keep an eye out…
AngelAuthor: This really is getting huge! I just hope it works out…
Juilliard2009: It will, I just know it!
DM: Hey! I just found someone in a Duel Monsters forum who duelled Ryou a few times in the Stoke Tournaments…
DM: But he doesn't remember ever seeing him with anyone except his sister and mom.
Trojan-Horse: Well, I've got absolutely nowhere.
Wings: A n d I ' v e j u s t l e a r n t h o w t o p l a y c r i c k e t !
Wings: ….
Wings: W h a t ?
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September
Things were changing at Domino High. Today, it was much harder to tell the difference between boys and girls purely from their clothes.
Azreal's petition came into force today.
The girls now wore the same blue blazers as the guys, and a white shirt or blouse. Many wore the black trousers, and the rest had a black skirt.
But by far more surprising was that not only had Azreal made it to school more then thirty seconds before the bell, keeping her head down to avoid the glares that were being sent her way from one or two of the students, but that she had made it at the arranged time. Pigs (Or sheep) had flown.
"Man," Azreal yawned, having slept in late the last 6 weeks and not used to the early start. "Poor Ryou. I mean, having your birthday on the first day back… How much does that stink?"
"Speaking of whom, here he comes." Yugi added, nodding towards the school gates, where the sun was glinting on some insanely white hair. It must have been so hard to keep clean… Téa dug in her satchel to find it, having been chosen as the least likely to lose/forget it.
"Azreal…" She said, handing it to her. "I think you should give it to him. It was your idea, after all…" The others echoed agreement. Azreal nodded. A moment later, Ryou joined them.
"Good morning." He yawned, before his ears were assaulted by a variety of loud birthday greetings.
"Thanks…" He said, wondering how they even knew. He didn't think he'd mentioned it before…
"Hey, Ryou." Anna said. He turned to face her.
"We got you a present, all of us together." She said, holding an envelope out to him. "It didn't cost much, but our present this year is time, effort, and a whole lot of goodwill. Hope ya like it."
Ryou took it from her, intrigued. He opened the envelope to reveal an ordinary birthday card, with five different messages in. And, on the other side…
He looked at the quizzically. No way this could be what he thought it was.
"E-mail addresses." Téa said, smiling. "We managed to find two people who were very anxious to get in touch again."
Ryou opened his mouth to say something, but no words would come.
"It took us a long time to get those!" Joey said, grinning "So ya better use them!"
"We just thought that if we couldn't give you a proper 'Happy Birthday'," Yugi added. "Maybe your old friends could."
"And we knew you'd never get in touch with them yourself, so we figured we'd do it." Tristan concluded.
"…No-one's ever given me anything like this before." Ryou admitted quietly. They watched him anxiously for some kind of reaction. He looked- and felt- a little overwhelmed. "… You guys rock!"
"Nah…" Azreal shrugged. "It just means we can guilt you into helping us out in the future. 'Hey, Ryou, remember how we got you back in touch with your old friends…?'" She laughed, and he laughed to, nervous at the prospect of talking to these people again, but also…
Excited.
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A/N: What a crummy ending. Oiy. Anyways, I'll beback soon!
