Hitting the Mall, Part I:
Malls and Mikey

"But why?" he asked quietly. "Why do I have to go?"

"You have to get back home," I replied, exasperated. "There's not much time left—you have to get into the portal before it runs out, or you'll be trapped here forever!"

His expression was pensive. "But I don't want to…" He took a step forward. "I don't want to leave this place; we've had so many good times…"

I didn't realize how close he was until I felt his breath on my face. "I don't want to leave you, Miriku-ko…"

CRASSSH!

"YEEOWCH!"

I sat bolt upright, snapping out of the dream. Something wasn't right here; it was eight o'clock in the morning. Who was making all that noise?

Lots of cursing echoed in through my door, and it was all in Japanese. I suddenly remembered what had happened the day before. Yuugi and Yami were spending their time in the reality world in my apartment—and I'd forgotten that they were morning people.

I stood up, roughly shoving my glasses onto my face. Those two are gonna have to learn a few rules.

Yuugi POV

Trying to pull the frying pan off of one of the shelves, Yami had brought the whole stack crashing down on top of him. He sat there on the floor, swearing colorfully, gingerly rubbing his head.

"Tsutanai yami (unlucky darkness)," I sighed, starting to pick up the pans.

At that second, Miriku stormed in. Her eyes were flashing dangerously—and she had a bad case of bed-head, which made her look even more pissed off. Yami "meep"ed, edging backwards slightly.

"What the hell are you two doing in here!" she exploded. "It's eight o'clock in the damn morning, and I'm trying to sleep! Haven't you ever heard of sleeping in late!" She took a deep breath, glaring at us. "If you can't keep it down in here," she snarled, "then go back to bed!"

With that, she turned on her heel and marched out. Yami sat there on the ground, staring after her, slightly slack-jawed.

"Yuugi…"

"Hai?"

Yami's voice was strangely hushed. "Let's not piss her off again, neh?"

I nodded, and shivered. "Let's not—that scared me."

"Me too."

Suddenly, the phone rang. I sprang at it, picking it up before it could bother Miriku.

"Hello?" I asked, trying to keep my voice low.

"Ah—I'm guessing this is Yuugi." It was John.

"Hai, it's me. Why are you calling?"

"Just to warn you, before something bad happens—Miriku really isn't a morning person."

"It's a little late for that," Yami muttered over my shoulder into the phone.

I heard Bakura in the background, roaring with laughter. "What happened?" John asked, smothering a snigger.

"Yami dropped the stack of frying pans in the kitchen, and it woke her up."

John sighed. "Well, remember for next time; rule number one in Miriku's apartment is that you don't wake Miriku up before at least nine o'clock."

"Sure," Yami muttered. "I'll remember that for the next time I get sucked out of my world through some obsessive girl's TV screen!"

On the other end, I could hear Bakura and John laughing their heads off. I sighed, hanging up the phone.

"Yami…why don't we finish making breakfast? If we're lucky, Miriku will be in a better mood when she wakes up on her own time."

"Since when are we lucky?" Yami muttered savagely, but he began to pick up the pans without any other comment.

Miriku POV

When I woke up again, it was nine fifteen. Loud singing echoed in from the kitchen, and I smelled pancakes. I slid out of bed, dressed quickly, put on my glasses, and crept out of my room to check it out.

They were making breakfast. Yuugi mixed pancake batter, while Yami was making them over the stove. Everything they did was in perfect rhythm with the song they were singing. They didn't seem to notice me there—which gave me the perfect opportunity to play a practical joke.

When they finally finished the song, I stepped into the kitchen, clapping. "Bravo!"

Yuugi and Yami started. Yuugi fell off the chair he was standing on, hitting the ground with a thump. The now-empty bowl of pancake batter followed, landing upside-down on his head.

Yami wasn't so lucky. He flipped the pancake wrong, causing it to land on his head—and seeing as how it was still gooey, wet batter dripped into his eyes.

I collapsed into laughter. "You guys should see your faces!"

Yuugi pulled the bowl off his head. "Yohodo hyoukin (very funny)," he said dryly.

Yami rolled his eyes, working the batter out of his hair. "Do you have a shower in this place?"

I nodded. "Go ahead and use it; I'll finish making the pancakes."

Yami stalked off down the hall, still grumbling to himself.

After about three minutes, Yuugi cast a sidelong glance at me. "Are you still mad at us?"

"No idea what you're talking about," I answered absently, pulling a bottle of maple syrup out of one of the cupboards.

"You know…earlier this morning. When Yami dropped the pans, and you woke up."

I paused for a moment. "Uh… Oh yeah—that." I grinned sheepishly at him. "I'm really not a morning person. Sorry if I scared you guys."

"More like terrified us," Yami called from the hall. "I'm finished—now what am I supposed to wear?"

I clapped a hand to my forehead. "I totally forgot about that! Just put on your dirty clothes again. This calls for an emergency meeting."

All my friends showed up within ten minutes. I'd wondered how staying at my friends' houses would affect the characters—and not all of it was what I'd expected!

Bakura and John were cracking jokes every two seconds. We heard Merekai and Ryou coming—they were chattering to each other that loudly. Malik was laughing to himself as he listened to Dustil talk at super-sonic speed.

But what surprised me most was Kaiba. He had ditched the business suit in favor of a T-shirt and jeans, although he still wore his trench coat. He kept shooting furtive glances at Terra, as if she were a wild animal about to jump him at any moment.

"What's his problem?" I asked her in a whisper.

"Nothing," Terra replied smugly. "I've only creeped him out to the point where he'll do just about anything I say, as long as I don't start going on about how UFOs are real and showing him proof of it!"

I sniggered. "You're as bad as John! Gimme five, girl!"

Dean was the last to show up. He had finally accepted that the characters weren't hallucinations, and was actually pretty OK with it. He was talking to them now, in fact.

"All right," I announced. "We have a big problem. What are these guys supposed to wear?"

Dustil held up his hand, and opened his mouth to speak. He stopped, thought a moment, and put his hand down. "I have no idea."

I nodded. "Exactly. I can't believe I'm saying this, but—we need to go shopping."

All the 'real' people stared at me.

I held up my arms. "I know what you're thinking—have I gone insane? No, I haven't. Just because I have an aversion to mall trips doesn't mean I won't take one when necessary. And I think this is necessary."

Dean nodded. "She's got a point. We don't want you guys running around nude."

Bakura sniggered. John elbowed him.

"I've got to brush my hair really quick," I told them, "and then we can leave."

I ran to the bathroom, brushed my hair, tied it back in a sky-blue bandana (okay, so I felt like being different today, so what?), and went back to the living room.

"Dissimulo!" The illusion spell flickered on, and I nodded. "Let's go. And Kaiba—ditch the coat. That thing's a dead giveaway."

It took us ten minutes on foot to reach the mall. As we walked, we pointed out buildings of interest to the characters. Kaiba got bored within the first few minutes, but didn't do anything other than grumble to himself.

We entered the mall. "Okay, people," I announced. "Let's split up—we'll move faster that way." I looked at my watch. It was ten o'clock. "Take your characters and go—meet up at the food court at around noon. Got it?"

"Got it!" everyone responded.

John looked at Terra. "And try not to max out your credit card this time, all right?"

Terra rolled her eyes and walked off, Kaiba in her wake. John and Bakura high-fived, and ran off in another direction. Dustil and Malik wandered away next, along with Merekai, Ryou, and Dean. This left me, Yuugi, and Yami standing alone by the entrance.

"This place is huge," Yuugi whispered, looking awe-struck.

I shrugged. "I've seen bigger. There's a mall up in Georgia that's almost five times this size—length-wise and height-wise. Now, let's go—we need to get you two some clothes!"

Two hours later, everyone had everything they needed. We met up at the food court, and went to buy some lunch. We found a table big enough to seat all of us near the back of the food court, and began to eat.

Suddenly, Ryou poked my arm. "Hey, Miriku…that girl looks just like you!" Everyone looked at where he was pointing—over by the McDonald's.

A girl sat next to the counter, head down, arms folded around her knees. She wore jeans and a black shirt. Her hair looked exactly like mine, but for the fact that it had less gold in it. It was tied up in the same style as mine, with a black bandanna instead of a blue one. She also wore glasses—but they appeared to have amber frames, not black. She also looked about my height.

A man walked up to her from behind the counter. He appeared to be telling her something. She shook her head, not even bothering to look up. The man crossed his arms, tapping his foot. When the girl didn't move, he pointed towards the mall's exit. She slowly rose to her feet and began to walk. The man nodded, and went back behind the counter.

"Who's that?" Ryou asked curiously.

Everyone shrugged.

Ryou stood up. "Well, you guys wait here. I'm going to find out."

Ryou POV

I don't know why I did it. Maybe I felt sorry for her. Maybe I was just being me. But whatever the reason, I hurried over to the girl who looked like Miriku.

I heard her murmuring to herself as I approached; "…sit wherever I like, thank you, be it by the counter or at the table. He doesn't have to kick me out of the food court. Hmph. I'll be fine, though…I have to be fine. I always figure out how to be fine. I gotta, on my own."

I was startled. She was someone else who talked to themselves for comfort. Although later, I had found out that myself was really Bakura—but that's beside the point.

"Hello?"

She jumped, and looked at me. Her eyes were like Miriku's, too—but they were unlike. Miriku's eyes held joy and satisfaction; this girl's eyes held so much pain…

Her face looked different from Miriku's, too. Her features were more angular, her cheekbones higher. And her glasses weren't crooked, either.

"Your voice sounds…familiar," she said quietly, breaking my train of thought. "Do I know you?"

I smiled at her. "I doubt it—I'm new in America. I just saw that you were all alone, and wondered if you would like to come and sit with us."

The girl was quiet for a moment. "They don't let me in here any more unless I come to buy something. And I didn't bring any money today."

I grinned. Merekai had lent me some money to buy my lunch, and I still had some left over. "I can buy you lunch, if you'd like."

A slight smile crossed her face. "Thanks. My name's Mikey, by the way—short for Mikayla. Mikayla Labrador."

I nodded, and was about to tell her my real name. But then, I remembered that this wasn't my world. I couldn't tell her my real name—that wouldn't be good. I had to think fast.

"Riku Ohkawa," I replied. "Now, let's get you some lunch, neh?"

Miriku POV

I guess I underestimated Ryou's "cute and charming" powers—here he came, with the strange girl in tow!

She seemed to shy away from us as the two of them approached, but I didn't see why. Ryou grinned over his shoulder at her. "Don't worry—they don't bite."

Terra sniggered, and gestured at John and Bakura. "Except for these two, anyway."

"Hey!"

That got a small smile from the girl. "Riku said he wanted me to meet you guys…"

I stood up. "Well, here we are. My name's Miriku Hernandez. This is John Benton, Terra Cooper, Dean Santorelli, Dustil Morrison, and Merekai Schulman." The five of them waved.

Bakura grinned, tipping an invisible hat in her direction. "Koran. Pleased ta meet ya."

The girl looked between him and Ryou. "Are you two twins?"

"Yeah," they replied at the same time.

She smiled slightly again. "Riku and Koran Ohkawa. Got it."

Yami nodded. "Ahkama Maroko." He put a hand on Yuugi's shoulder. "This is my brother, Taio." Yuugi grinned at her, peace-signing.

Malik inclined his head. "Takio Isihara."

Kaiba remained silent, arms crossed. Malik elbowed him, but he didn't respond.

"That's Sorien Miasawa," Malik said to the girl. "He's more the quiet type."

Kaiba glared at him, and sniffed. "Hardly."

Bakura brought his hand up to his mouth in mock surprise. "Omigosh—he talked! It's a miracle!"

The girl smiled. "Hi, all. My name's Mikayla—Mikey. Mikey Labrador."

Merekai choked on her soda. John and Dean's jaws dropped. Dustil stopped in mid-sentence, eyes wide. Terra froze in the act of reaching for a fry. I just stood there, stunned.

"Who?" the five of us asked at once.

Mikey looked around at us, and suddenly burst into tears. She sprinted away, sobbing.

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "What's her problem?"

Terra remained frozen, staring at where Mikey had stood. "I…I can't believe that was actually her…"

"Her who?" Malik demanded. He was ignored, though.

"What was she doing here?" Dean asked out loud to himself. "She might have lost a lot of money, but hasn't she got more than enough left to visit the most expensive places in Miami? Why'd she choose this mall?"

John gave his head a little shake. "Whoa. Rewind a sec. Are we sure it's…?"

Dustil nodded firmly. "Definitely."

"Sorry to interrupt," Bakura said loudly, drumming his fingers on the table, "but who, exactly, are you talking about?"

I turned to them. "That…was the Mikayla Labrador, fourteen-year-old CEO of Labrador Incorporated, which is—well, was—a high-rated gaming company."

That made Kaiba sit up straighter. "What do you mean, was?" he asked tensely.

"It fell apart after the accident," Terra replied quietly.

"It was all over the news," John explained. For once, he was completely serious. "There was an accident on the MetroRail a year or so ago—twenty people died. Included in those twenty were thirty-five-year-old Jacob Labrador, thirty-four-year-old Sonya Labrador, and six-year-old Marissa Labrador. Mikayla was left completely alone with her father's business and no way to run it. It collapsed around her ears."

"Now she lives alone," Merekai continued. "She has this big two-story house, and lives completely by herself in it. She's got a lot of money left—but it's nowhere near enough for everything."

Ryou stood up. "I'm gonna go find her."

Yuugi nodded. "We're right behind you."

I looked at Kaiba. "Well?"

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine, I'll come."

I nodded. "Well, that's settled, then! Let's go find her!"