Chapter 26: Trouble Always Finds You

Rya woke up, her head throbbing. Where am I? Last thing I remember, I was on that ledge and...Yami came after me. Yami! Rya jumped up in the bed she was now apparently in, only to wince and hold her head. She felt something strange on her forehead, and wondered what it was and how it got there. She slowly slipped out from under the blankets and walked wobbly over to the dresser to look in the mirror. She found that the strange feeling on her head was a bandage. Rya pulled it off to find a large gash, making her feel more dizzy. She started falling to the ground, when she felt two strong arms wrap around her to keep her from going down any further. Rya looked up to see Yami looking back down at her. "Y–Yami?" she gasped. Yami didn't say a word as he lifted her into his arms and carried her back over to the bed. After he laid her down, he just continued looking at her. Not happy, or sad, just upset. "Yami I–"

"You should probably eat something," he said bluntly, and left before she could say anything else. This was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

Why is he so cold to me? Perhaps he's finally realized how much of a burden I am to him. The only way I could've gotten back here was because of him. Rya thought as tears flowed down her face. She put her weak legs onto the floor and went into the bathroom. She collapsed onto the tile as soon as she stepped foot into the bathroom. She curled up tightly against the wall, bringing her knees to her chest as she cried into them. I'm sorry, Yami. I'm so sorry, she cried in her mind, only to hear Yami enter her room that moment, calling her name.

"Rya! Rya where are you?" he called out worriedly. Rya simply kept quiet, hoping he would leave to look for her somewhere else. However she heard his footsteps come closer, and heard his soles connect with the tile floor. "Rya," he called out softly, noting her sad and scared eyes looking back at him.

"Don't look at me!" she cried turning away from him and hugging herself. Yami saw her body shaking from the sobs escaping her lips.

"Rya," Yami said even softer as he slowly approached her. Rya didn't hear him kneel behind her. She only realized his presence when she felt him try to take her into his arms.

"No! I let you down! I don't deserve to be held by you!" she said as she weakly fought back. Yami would hear none of it and pulled her into his lap, while placing her head against his chest. "Yami..." she tried to say again, only to have Yami cut her off.

"Please Rya," he said surprisingly quiet. Rya looked into his eyes, to see him on the brink of tears himself. "Let me just hold you for a while." Rya felt his arms envelope her even tighter, as something wet fell onto her cheek. Yami's chest was shaking, as she heard quiet sobs escaping from Yami's lips. "I was so scared when I saw you on that ledge, I was scared of what you were trying to do. I won't let go of you until I know you won't do that ever again," he told her.

"But what about your promise to–" Rya started with tears still streaming from her eyes.

"To hell with that promise!" Yami exclaimed. Rya was a bit surprised by his slight outburst. "The only promise I intend to keep was the one to protect you from being hurt."

"Yami, I lost the match. I broke my promise to you to win. I don't deserve you to keep yours," she said quietly.

"Rya, you didn't lose the match," he told her. Before she could say anything, Yami went to explain the rules and how technically she never really lost. Rya's eyes were wide in surprise and happiness.

"You mean that...I can still see you?" Rya asked.

Yami smiled back and placed a few strands of her hair behind her ear. "Yes, and I can still be with you," he replied. Yami's hand traveled down to her chin, as he brought her face closer to his.

"Rya! Yami!" Joey called from the hallway. They both pulled apart, still with small smiles on their faces. Yami stood up, lifting Rya into his arms as he walked out of the bathroom and placed her back onto the bed.

"We're in here Joey!" Yami called out to Joey who had run past their door. Joey came back panting in the doorway, with a not-so-happy look on his face. "What is it?" Yami asked.

"Well...someone's here to see you," Joey said nervously.

"Who?" Rya asked.

"Well...you both know her and...you don't like her very much..." Joey replied. Both Yami and Rya's eyes widened. "Yeah, she brought and lawyer and stuff so Kaiba had to let her in. She's demanding that both of you guys come down, including you, Rya."

Rya nodded and started getting out of the bed, when Yami put a hand on her shoulder. "Tell Lisa that Rya isn't well enough to attend, I'll come down."

"No Yami, I need to speak to her myself," Rya said and stood weakly. Yami kept an arm around her waist to have him support her as she walked down the hallway. Both Yami and Joey helped her down the steps. They walked into the dining room to see Kaiba, Mokuba, Yugi, Lisa and who seemed to be her lawyer all sitting at the table. Lisa sent an evil glare to Rya as soon as set foot in the room.

Rya sat down in the chair right across from her, glaring right back. Yami sat beside her, wondering what this whole thing was about.

The lawyer stood up, readjusting his tie and looking around the room. "Well, now that all of the parties are here, we can begin. Ms. Lisa has brought to my attention the breaking of a verbal contract made between her, and Ms. Rya. Now I decided to wait until I had gotten all of you in one place to discuss the matter. As far as I know, both women agreed to duel and if Ms. Lisa had won, Mr. Yami was to accompany Ms. Lisa on a date, and never see nor speak to Ms. Rya again. Is that correct?" Everyone agreed to his statement. "Good. And if Ms. Rya had won, Ms. Lisa could also never speak to nor see Mr. Yami again, correct?" again, everyone agreed. "All right then. Now it is also my understanding that there is somewhat a bit of confusion among the parties as to who actually won and if any part of that verbal contract had been broken. Ms. Lisa, would you care to share your side?"

"Of course. First off, I'd just like to say how much stress this has all put on me. All I ask is that everyone be mature and carry out their part of an agreement. Now then, the way someone wins a Duel Monsters match is when the opponent's life points reach zero. And Ms. Rya's life points reached zero before mine did, therefore, she is the loser and should not be able to see or speak to Yami," Lisa stated in a sweet voice that almost made them all vomit.

"I see. Ms. Rya, is this true?" the lawyer asked her.

"It's true that between Ms. Lisa and I, my life points reached zero first. However, our match was tag team match. Mr. Kaiba could fill you in better on that subject," Rya said sincerely.

"Mr. Kaiba?" the lawyer asked putting his attention on him.

"Ms. Lisa here declared the match a tag team match, where it would be two-on-two. I was Ms. Rya's partner while Yami was Lisa's. Once Ms. Rya had lost her life points, both Lisa and Yami had left their platforms and away from the match. According to the rules, if one member of the team still has life points, the duel is to continue. I was still able to duel, but both Yami and Lisa had left before it had actually ended. Therefore, if anyone had actually won, it was Ms. Rya," Kaiba told him.

"I see. Well, then I suppose there really is no winner or loser, so no one is breaking the verbal contract agreed upon earlier," the lawyer concluded and stood up to leave.

"No!" Lisa screamed as she pounded her fists against the table. "I will not have Yami taken away from me! That tramp doesn't deserve him!"

Rya stood up quicker than anyone anticipated. "Lisa, I've had enough of your screaming, your yelling, and your pathetic insults," Rya started in an eerily calm voice. "So I suggest we settle this once and for all tomorrow at 3 pm in the arena. It'll be one-on-one, you and me, the stakes still stand." Everyone in the room gasped, except for Lisa, who simply smirked.

"Sure. Looks like I'll have to teach you a lesson again about messing with me. This time, there won't be anyone to help you," Lisa said darkly.

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you," Rya said just as deeply. Lisa simply scoffed and walked with her lawyer outside of the mansion.

A/N: Yeah I know, who cares about all that legal stuff? It was the only thing I could think of for both Lisa and Rya to see each other and make the challenge. You have to admit, I made that lawyer sound official, lol. Anyways, I'm sorry it's been so long since the last update. With college, the holidays, and all that good stuff it's been pretty crazy. But let's out a little fun into this: In your reviews, I wanna know what your favorite part of the holidays was. Favorite present from x-mas, spending time with the family, etc. Thank you all for reviewing. I'm sure one specific reviewer is happy I updated. I told you I'd update today! lol. :)