Ch. 6 The Advantages of Listening

The next day, Zeke told her she was fine to go back home. She had been thinking the same thing. Lillith thanked him for his help, and gave a good-bye hug. She left for home, and Zeke collapsed onto the couch. He was hungry, and their wasn't much else to do. An hour later, he put on his jacket, and found some dark-tinted sunglasses to hide his mangled eye. Their was a nice local restaurant that he liked to go to every now and then. It served a lot of good sushi, and was a killer place to get sake if he would be able to pass himself as a person of age. After a few minutes of a short walk, he got himself a table, and looked over the menu. As he was deciding what to eat, Something stuck out in his vision that almost made him drop his mug of coffee. A long-silvery haired boy walked past him, hearing him grunt and complain.

Without turning his head, Zeke watched Bakura sit down across from a very business-like man in a three piece suit, his hair sleeked back with heaps of gel, with a thin pair of spectacles resting across the bridge of his nose. A large bottle of red wine sat in a chiller as he sipped from a fancy wine-glass. Bakura slumped into the seat facing him. Zeke felt his bracelet glow warmly against his wrist as he increased his hearing.

"I hope you know your ten minutes late," the man said, carefully placing his glass down. His voice carried a tone of someone as calm as they ever could be.

"I was delayed," Bakura replied in that low-growling voice. "I have other things to deal with then just two teenagers who seemed to have disappeared out of Japan. Both of us screwed up…"

"It's because of your lack of effort that foiled me from taking that spirit. That impudent boy has some sort of protection around her that I cannot explain. He's probably another of Ishizu's little agents."

"Why can't you let me go after the source? Who is this Ishizu?"

"Because, like I've told you before. She is harder to track then the girl."

"Well, if you haven't noticed, she's disappeared out of nowhere. The boy too…"

"Not true. The girl was seen going home in the arms of her younger brother. The boy is still yet to be found."

Bakura chuckled, sending a chill on Zeke's neck. "You watch the girl I'm sure he'll show up somewhere."

"No. My investors are not happy. Until we completely know what were dealing with this boy, and why Ishizu is so desperate to stop us. We're taking a year to plan..."

"A year? I'm not going to wait around a year doing nothing…"

"We believe a year is sufficient enough. You will still be paid a regular salary into your bank account. Please, think of it as a paid vacation."

Bakura sighed, shaking his head. "Ok. When shall we meet again?"

"One year exactly. Same place, Same time." The man stood up, placing money on the table, and walked out. Bakura sat for a few seconds, tapping his finger against the table before he left. Zeke stayed to have some lunch before he went home. He sat down, trying think of what he just heard. Bakura was being hired to do something, and this other guy is trying to steal Rose away from Lillith. That didn't make any sense. What the hell would they want with Rose?

KNOCK!KNOCK! Someone was at his door. He opened it to find Lillith, shivering and crying.

"Zeke… help me…" She collapsed forward, and Zeke caught her once again. He could feel her shivering against him as he helped her onto the couch. He fetched a white blanket and covered her. He sat down next to her, hearing her crying and she started to cough.

"Calm down, what wrong?"

"Yugi hates me," she answered, shaking her head. Zeke pressed his left hand against her warm cheek. He started to say a sleeping spell in his head, activating his bracelet.

"Sshh… just sleep Lillith." The spell worked as she slumped to her side, falling into a slumber on the couch.

He put on his jacket, and locked the door behind him. Walking into the night, he went over in his mind, the way to the gameshop. In less then ten minutes, he had teleported his way into Yugi's room, which was empty at the moment because Yugi was in the bathroom, brushing his teeth. Zeke saw this as a perfect moment to set up his spells so he could talk to Yugi without others hearing him He flashed a beam of blue light from his braclet at the door. The light stretched out, filling the entire frame of the door. Yugi walked in a few minutes later in his pajama's, and finding a strange boy in his room leaning against a wall, tossing a knife in the air, and catching it as it flew back down. Zeke had kept his sunglasses on so Yugi wouldn't freak out.

"Hello Yugi. We need to talk," Zeke told him, still watching the knife as it flew into the air once again. "I'm not here to hurt you, but you can't be heard beyond that magical sound-barrrier their," he said, pointing at Yugi's door.

"So, what do you want?" Yugi asked.

"What happened," Zeke replied bluntly. The knife did a double flip in the air.

"Huh?"

What happened between you and your sister? She's at my place right now, and she just cried her eyes out in front of me. Said something about you so what happened?"

"Well it was more like a a fight between Rose and Yami…"

Zeke caught the knife, but this time didn't toss it back up. Instead, he stood up straight, and stared at Yugi.

"Yami, I'm calling you out. Get out here," he said to the triangular puzzle attached to a necklace on Yugi. The puzzle flashed, and Yugi switched places with Yami. The old pharaoh looked up into Zeke's eyes through his sunglasses.

"What do you want?" he asked. Zeke walked a little closer towards Yami.

"I want you to tell me what happened between you and Rose."

Yami took a deep breath before he answered, " I criticized her for not being able to protect Lillith. Silver fang almost attacked me, and Rose disappeared. Lillith ran out after that."

"You're a real dumbass, you know that? Rose hates you, she would of killed you. Just because you don't understand…"

"Tell me what I don't understand!" Yami said indignantly. "What happened?"

"She went to Bakura's house, and apparently got surprise attacked by the evil spirit inside that ring. I rescued her, and let her heal at my place, where she is now."

"No matter. Rose should have protected her. Why didn't you stop Bakura?"

Zeke shook his head. This guy was as stubborn and hard-headed as Rose. "Because I didn't know that she was seeing Bakura."

"You should of sensed something. She might have been killed, and it would be your…"

THWOCK! Zeke's knife appeared in the wall next to Yami's head, a piece of Yugi's hair stuck to the point. Zeke had been pushed past his temper.

"I hate people who assume they know everything about something they don't understand," Zeke growled. Yami stared at him, wide-eyed and appalled at the fact that he had almost been hit with a knife. Zeke walked over to remove the knife from the wall.

"Don't test my patience like that," he told Yami as he pulled it out. "Next time I won't miss…" Zeke slipped it into his scabbard, and Yami watched him disappear. Zeke returned home, finding Lillith out cold. He walked around the couch, wondering if he should warn her about what he had heard from her boyfriend, or if he should keep it a secret and use it to his advantage…

His cell rang on his belt clip, and he went to grab it. Who would be calling this late at night?

"Zeke?" It was Ishizu. "Stay low. Stay out of trouble. Protect Lillith." The line went dead. That was the most confusing message Ishizu ever left him. Her voice had an odd tone of worry, which he had never heard come from her voice.

He fell asleep, watching over Lillith until they both woke up at nine-o'clock the next morning. Zeke made something small, and offered a plate to Lillith.

"How do you feel?" he asked her as he came back.

"Cold. Confused," was her mumbled reply.

"That's expected," he told her, setting down a plate in front of her. Lillith shook her head, obviously not hungry.