Hullo, guys! Sorry, I would have had these two chapters out earlier, but the site was down...

The Solution

Miriku POV

/Kimiru!

/I was listening.

/If you have any ideas as to how we can get them back, tell me pronto—I want to get searching for Yami as soon as possible!

/I don't know…

I sighed, banging my head lightly against the wall of my room. /Well, we need to figure it out—fast! If Yami gets out of town, we'll never find him! We'll have enough trouble finding him in town!

Kimiru phased out next to me, and touched my arm. "We will find him," she said quietly, "but not if you're so panicked you can't focus. Calm down. We can think this out."

"I hope so," I murmured, sitting down on the bed.

Sam POV

/C'mon, Derama, help me out here!

I could hear Derama's sniggers. /Why? What does it matter to me that the pharaoh abandoned his girlfriend?

I clenched my fists. /Are you always such a jerk?

/Yup. And there's nothing you can do about it, so don't try.

I groaned. /'Kay, so you don't care that Yami's gone. Any ideas as to how to get all the chara-guys back home?

/None whatsoever. And I wouldn't tell you if I knew.

/Oh, you're helpful.

/Thank you, I try.

I groaned again, lying back on my bed. As usual, Derama was being stubborn—I could only hope that Miriku and Terra were having more luck than me.

Terra POV

/…I might have one idea…

I immediately brightened. /What is it?

I sensed Kemisi shaking her head. /My sisters aren't going to like it much…

/Run it by me.

/Well… I think that if all three of us combine our powers, we can open a time-space warp portal and get them all back home. But we have to cooperate…and you've seen Kimiru and Derama. They hate each other.

/…Good point. I sighed. /Well, it's our only idea. We should tell Miriku and Sam.

Kemisi sighed. /And hope that Kimiru and Derama don't kill me for suggesting it…

/How are they going to kill you? You're a spirit!

/…

I grinned, heading out into the living room. I dialed Miriku's number first. "Hey! Miriku!"

"Yeah, Terra?" Miriku answered tiredly.

"We've got an idea to get them home!"

"Really?" Miriku immediately sounded brighter. "What is it? Tell me!"

My grin widened. "Kemisi thinks that if she and her sisters combine their powers, they'll be able to open a portal back to the anime world."

I could almost see Miriku pump her fist in the air. "That's great! I was about to look in the spell book—maybe it can help with your theory!"

"Awesome!" I clicked my nails against the receiver. "We'll have this case cracked in no time at all!"

"And then we can look for Yami."

I smiled a little. "Yeah. Then we can look for Yami. See ya?"

"See ya."

Click.

I stared at the phone for a minute, before hanging it up. "She's so single-minded," I muttered, still smiling.

Kaiba, who was just coming down the stairs, raised an eyebrow. "Is she still going on about the pharaoh?"

"Yup."

Kaiba sighed. "You'd think she couldn't live without him around."

I thought for a moment. "Hmm… Now that you mention it, she did seem a lot happier ever since they showed up…"

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Please."

"Well, you aren't much help!" I snapped, my good mood quickly going down the drain. "It's a good thing you're not the one who ended up staying with her, or she probably would have killed you by now!"

Kaiba raised his eyebrow again. "And you care…because?"

I blinked. "Uh…"

"Forget I asked."

"…Ookay…"

He smirked. "Well, I'm going back up to the computer."

"Whatever."

I watched him go, and flumped onto the couch with a sigh. Tough question—why did I care?

Miriku POV

I flipped through the spell book. There had to be something in there that I could use!

/…Isn't there a table of contents?

I blinked, before flipping back to the front. Sure enough, there was a listing of all the spells in the book.

/Told you.

/Oh, shut up.

I scanned the spells starting from the listing of page 245, which was where I had stopped. There were all kinds of spells, but nothing I could use.

Until—

Aha! A portal spell! Just what I needed!

I flipped through to the page I wanted and eagerly began to read the spell. It was perfect—as long as I had at least three outside power sources working in cooperation with the power of the book itself, I could open a portal to any dimension.

Including the anime realm.

I leapt to my feet and ran out the door. "Yuugi! Yuugi!"

Yuugi looked up. "What is it?"

I grinned, patting the spell book. "We've figured out how to get you guys home!"

Yuugi's eyes brightened. "Does that mean we can go look for Yami now?"

I grinned. "Bingo."

Kimiru phased out, tapping her foot. "Don't you think you should inform your friends first?"

I blinked. "Oh…uh…right…"

Sam POV

"WHAT?"

I winced. "Kemisi said you wouldn't like it…"

Derama glared at me, before returning to her restless prowling of the living room. "Damn straight, I don't like it! I am not going anywhere near Kimiru—or Kemisi! Cooperation, my tail!"

I groaned. "Can't you think of somethin' besides hate for once? I mean, if you three don't work together, none of the anime guys'll ever get back home!"

"Do I look like I care?" Derama spat. "I'm not working with my sisters, and that's final!"

I rolled my eyes. "Can't you at least think about it, Dera?"

Derama whirled to face me. Her eyes were on fire. "DON'T—YOU—EVER—CALL—ME—THAT—AGAIN!"

I winced. "Okay, okay! I won't!"

Derama glared at me for another moment or so, before disappearing.

I sighed, massaging my temples. This'll never work…how are we gonna get Derama and Kimiru to work with each other when they hate each other's guts?

Miriku POV

"How in the seven hells are we going to get them to work together when they hate each other's guts?"

I shrugged—and then remembered that I was on the phone. "I'm supposed to know? Look, it's the only idea we have, and in case you've forgotten, we're on a tight schedule."

I could just see Bakura rolling his eyes. "Fine, fine, I'll tell John."

"And then get your butts over here so we can start searching."

"Whatever."

Click.

I hung up the phone. "Well, that's everyone…"

Yuugi looked up from where he was sitting on the couch, staring off into space. "So we can look for Yami now?" he asked hopefully.

I sighed. "We have to wait for our search party to show up first."

Yuugi flopped back against the couch, sighing. "We have to find him soon…I'm so worried… What if…?"

I shook my head, sitting down next to him. "Don't think like that, Yuugi. We'll find him. I know we'll find him. And he'll be just fine when we do. You just wait and see."

The confidence in my voice belied my worry. What if we didn't find Yami? Or, what if we did, and…

/Stop it, Miriku.

/I can't help it! It's my fault he's gone—and if something happens to him—

/He's the pharaoh. He'll manage on his own. He's done so before.

Yuugi put a hand on my shoulder. "Miriku-aneki. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. It's not going to get him back any faster."

I grinned ruefully. "You're right…I really need to focus…"

"And once you've focused, we can get out there and get looking."

I jumped, and looked behind me. Everyone was there—they had walked in without us noticing.

Sonja smiled. It was her that had been talking. "Well? You two ready to look?"

Yuugi rose to his feet, smiling back. "Hai. We're ready."

Dustil began to jump up and down. "Then let's go!"

Damien grabbed his shoulders. "Calm down, midget! We're getting there!"

Dustil made a face. "I'm not a midget!"

Bakura smirked. "Oh, aren't you? You're not even taller than the runt over there!" He jerked his thumb at Yuugi.

Yuugi crossed his arms. "I'm not a runt!"

Malik sniggered. "Right. You just keep telling yourself that, Yuugi."

Marik poked him. "Be nice."

"Why?"

Marik stuck her tongue out at him.

Bakura stared at them for a moment. Marik was clinging to Malik's arm, but the gravekeeper didn't even seem to notice. "Uh, what's with you not running away from her?"

Malik shrugged. "I've gotten used to her." He smiled a little at Marik, who batted her eyelashes.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Mushy stuff. Gag me."

John sniggered. "Then why do you have your arm around Sam's shoulders?"

Bakura blinked, and whipped his arm away, grumbling something under his breath. Sam blushed scarlet, edging away.

I laughed. "Well, what do you guys say about getting started?"

"I say that's a good idea," Mikey said firmly.

Jonouchi grinned. "Then what're we waitin' for? Let's get goin'!"

With a groan, I collapsed back onto the couch. We had been all over every part of town, and we still hadn't found him.

With a groan, I collapsed back onto the couch. We had been all over every part of town, and we hadn't found him.

Yami…

Yuugi, who had followed me at a slightly slower pace, looked at me with sad eyes. "He's gone…"

I bowed my head. "I know…and I know it's my fault…"

I could barely keep myself from collapsing into tears. We didn't find him then; we never would.

"We can't stop preparing for you guys to go home," I said softly, rubbing my eyes. "If we don't get it done, we never will. And if Yami's really gone…"

"He can't be…" Yuugi sounded like he was about to cry. "He's out there…somewhere…"

Suddenly, I looked up. Hope rose in my chest. "Of course! Why didn't I think about it before! Yuugi, use your mind link! Call to him!"

"I've already tried. All I get is a static sound…" He closed his eyes. "He must really be mad at you…"

My heart sank. "Or…"

Yuugi's eyes snapped open. "No!" he hollered, clenching his fists. "I'm not going to think like that! He's not dead, I just know it!"

"If he were still here," I said softly, "he'd have gone to one of the others for shelter, and they would have told me something."

Yuugi gripped my shoulder. "So you're giving up." The tears were in his voice again. "Just because all your ideas have been used, you're giving up on him."

Slowly, I shook my head. "I just don't know what to do…"

Yuugi's grip tightened. "Whatever it is, we won't give up."

I smiled a little. "Right…never give up…"

I yawned, and looked at the clock. "It's getting late…we need to get to bed." I stood up and headed for my room. "G'night…"

Yuugi smiled a little. "Good night, Miriku-aneki."

I shut the door, and collapsed onto my bed, letting the barely contained tears stream onto my pillow. I knew that, even if he was still here, he wouldn't come back. I had chased him away for good…

o.O;;...

I got peanut butter cookies! Review, please!