Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN any of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! characters, alas. Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Welcome Back

"What the" he thought as they came closer and closer. Rya was still out of it as Yami tried to swim away back into the cave, only to see everything go dark, and hear the clanking of metal. "Let us out!" Yami demanded angrily, thinking only of Rya's safety.

"Yami?" a weak voice asked. Yami looked down to see Rya's eyes opening. "What's happening?"

"I'm not sure. But I don't know if I like it," Yami replied, holding Rya closer to him as she clutched to his chest.

"Yami? Yami can you hear me?"

"That sounds like...Yugi!" Yami thought. "Yugi? Yugi where are you?" Yami called out.

"I'm talking to you through a speaker in the tank you're in," Yugi explained.

"Tank?" Yami wondered.

"We got some help from Kaiba and Mokuba. They let us borrow a sub to come down and get you," Yugi told him happily.

Then Kaiba cut in. "First off, I only agreed to this nonsense to be shown an actual mermaid. Now if you made me bring this sub all the way down here for nothing, I swear I'll"

"Oh come on bro, did you really want Yami to be stuck down there forever?" Mokuba asked his brother. Kaiba just growled and ordered for the tank to be brought into the sub itself.

"Wait Yugi! Rya is in here with me!" Yami called out.

"We've got a water collection tank inside. Don't worry Yami, your friend will be safe," Mokuba stated.

"Thank you, everyone," Yami smiled and looked down at Rya. "Don't worry Rya. My friends won't hurt you."

Rya smiled weakly up at Yami and continued to clutch to his chest. They felt the tank rising up and tossing them all over the place, until they felt it emptying beneath them. They both fell into more water as Yami swam up for air. There he found every one of his friends cheering for him.

"Hey everyone," he chuckled. Yami looked behind him to see Rya staying more toward the back of the tank, away from everyone. "Rya?"

She looked up at him shaking and frightened. "One of your friends doesn't sound so friendly," she told him.

Yami simply laughed. "You must mean, Kaiba. Don't worry about him. He just talks tough," Yami explained. They were interrupted by laughter.

"Oh come on!" Kaiba exclaimed, walking up to the tank. "You expect me to believe that girl is actually a mermaid? That's probably just a costume. This scrawny little nobody couldn't possibly be the real thing. I told you mermaids was just utter nonsense," he laughed. Kaiba's laughing ceased when Rya jumped up high in the water and brought her fin down hard, causing a little wave to land right on Kaiba. He stood there soaked and shocked. "Why you little"

"Watch it, Kaiba," Yami warned and jumped down from the tank. Joey brought him a towel to dry off with.

"Nice shot 'dere Rya," Joey laughed with his thumb up. Rya just blushed and shrunk back into the tank. "Hey don' worry. We ain't gonna hurt ya," Joey explained. "Da name's Joey Wheeler by da way."

"I'm Tea," she said smiling. "And that's Tristan, Serenity, Mai, Duke and Jenny," she introduced everyone by pointing them out as they said hello.

"Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you," Rya smiled as she waved to them.

"How exactly did you get this sub anyway?" Yami asked.

Everyone sweat dropped while Kaiba just growled. "Well, it's kind of a long story," Yugi started:

Everyone drove in their cars to the Kaiba mansion, hoping to get a submarine from Mokuba to go down and get Yami. They knocked on the door, to be greeted by Mokuba himself. "Oh, hey guys! What's up?" he greeted them. They all looked at each other, wondering who was going to tell him. They all looked at Yugi, who just blushed. "Uh, everything okay?" Mokuba asked.

"Well you see Mokuba, we kinda have a problem and we need your help," Yugi chuckled nervously as he scratched his head.

"Well what is it?" Yugi told Mokuba everything about Yami being trapped underwater with Rya. "Are you serious? My brother would kill me if he found out!" Mokuba exclaimed.

"Found out what?" a gruff voice stated behind him.

"Oh, hehe, hey bro!" Mokuba chuckled. Kaiba's scowl got deeper as he looked at all the nervous faces of his visitors.

"Spill it," Kaiba told them sternly.

"They were just wondering if they could borrow something that's all," Mokuba chuckled.

"What was it?" Kaiba kept glaring at them.

"A cough submarine cough" Mokuba stated, trying to hide it behind coughing.

"WHAT!" Kaiba yelled outraged. "Just what in the hell would you need one of my submarines for!"

"Well you see Kaiba," and Yugi had to explain for the third time that day the predicament Yami was currently in.

"You've can't be serious," Kaiba stated. "You mean to tell me that if I lend you one of my subs, I'll see a mermaid?" he asked skeptically.

"Well, yeah!" Yugi replied.

"Mokuba, get submarine #1 ready to go," Kaiba stated and started walking off towards the loading docks beneath the mansion. "If you morons are coming then let's go. I haven't got all day. But remember, you owe me," he smirked and continued walking.

"And that's basically how we got the sub," Yugi chuckled.

"So what exactly did you have in mind as a payment for your 'favor'?" Yami asked with a brow raised.

"I want this mermaid to come back to the mansion for testing," Kaiba replied. Rya shrank back into the tank even further.

"What! Kaiba–" Yami yelled.

"Relax. No one but us will know, and none of the tests will hurt your little friend," Kaiba stated uncaring of Rya's frightened state. Yami's face showed nothing but fury. "Unless of course you'd rather be dumped back into the water with no way to get back to the surface," Kaiba smirked.

"Fine! I'd rather be down here rather than put Rya in any harm!" Yami screamed.

"No!" Rya cried out. "I'll do it. Besides, he said it wouldn't hurt. He maybe mean, but I don't think he'd lie. I don't want you to be trapped down there again Yami. Think of it this way, we'll still be able to see each other," Rya smiled, hiding her fear.

"Rya . . . " Yami whispered.

"It's settled then. We'll head back to the mansion now," Kaiba stated and drove the sub back underneath the mansion where everyone got off, except Rya and Yami. Rya was moved into a different and bigger tank, where she had more room to swim around and jump in and out of the water.

"Kaiba, at least let me stay here with her," Yami asked. Rya looked a bit shocked at Yami's concern for her.

"I don't care. Just don't get in the way of the testing," Kaiba scoffed and walked off.

Yami looked back at the tank with Rya swimming around happily, or so he thought. "Rya," he called out and placed his hand on the glass. Rya appeared a moment later and put her hand against his. "I'm so sorry about this," Yami yelled pounding the glass.

"Don't be sorry Yami. It isn't so bad. At least we get to see each other anytime we want. Don't be sad Yami. Go get some rest, you look so tired," Rya suggested.

"I'm all right," Yami yawned. Rya gave him a cute little glare. "Oh all right, you win," Yami chuckled. "I'll see you later," he smiled. Rya smiled back and watched as he watched her while walking away.

"See you later," Rya thought. Her smile disappeared as she began swimming around again, wondering what kind of 'tests' the one named Kaiba would to on her. And why Yami tried so hard to defend her, and why her heart pounded while Yami was holding her to him. "Oh no! I–I'm in love with him!" she thought to herself, and tried swimming some more to take her mind off the thought. Even though no matter what she tried, she couldn't.

A/N: Uh-oh! Someone's in LOOOOVE! Okay, I hope this chapter wasn't confusing. And I apologize to all Kaiba fans reading this. I had to make the sexy Seto Kaiba somewhat of a jerk in this chapter. It had to be done. IM SOOOORRY! lol. Anyways, thanks for the reveiws everyone! I'm glad you liked the hyper mermaid chapter lol. :)