The walk home was filled with boisterous sounds of laughter and chatter, a variety of topics discussed as the boys hopped from one to the next, Terry chiming in with ease on matters she knew she could keep up with. The continuous flow of conversation made the walk home feel like nothing, the three standing at the crossroads where Atem would head towards his neighborhood. With a simple wave, his usual signal of splitting from the group, they started to head their own ways. He glanced at the path he usually took and turned back to the trio, watching them for a moment when Terry turned. He is a little surprised when she turned, unsure of what to say or do and even more at the smile she gave him.
"Don't forget, you invited me tomorrow!" She carefully mouthed to him, not wanting to embarrass him in case he was not comfortable with others knowing.
"Tch," he clicked his tongue and shook his head as a smile took over the scowl he wanted to show at her words. "That's my line," he mouthed back and stuck his tongue out at her before turning his back to her to hide the laugh. Her looking surprised was far too goofy and cute to not laugh. Walking towards his house with a slight spring in his step, he realized he was actually excited to have someone to come over.
Terry watched him for a moment longer, thrown for a loop by his uncharacteristic face but she liked seeing the new side to him. It was a boyish innocence she was grateful he still had in him.
"Oi, Ter! Hurry up!" She heard Jonouchi shout and she quickly sprinted the distance between her and the two waiting for her.
"Sorry, sorry! I got lost in my thoughts again." She sheepishly grinned, Marik and Jonouchi looking to one another with zero surprise at this answer and gave identical sighs.
"Quit getting lost in there and keep up. You'll get yourself in some kind of trouble and I ran enough today." Jonouchi wrinkled his nose at the thought of running again.
"I dunno man, she'll find a way to make us run. I bet she learned to run before crawling." Marik laughed, patting Jonouchi on the shoulder.
"Oh, I wholeheartedly agree to that! It's like trouble finds her just so she has an excuse to run!" He laughed, happy to know he has someone who understands his pains.
"I don't run that much!" She huffed at the two of the, pushing her way between the two to separate them but ends up smooshed between them as they walk. They laugh as they playfully jostle one another before turning the corner and head up the steps to her house. They are greeted by Rishid and Ishizu, Terry introducing Jonouchi to them and vice versa before they delve into the details of Marik's first day of school. Terry constantly made silly looks at Marik whenever he brought up Rei's name, Jonouchi easily joining in as they teased him while he spoke to his siblings.
"Oh yes, they seem to be fast friends alright!" Jonouchi snickered. "You'd think they've known one another forever almost!" He added, throwing his arm around Marik's shoulders and pulls him into a headlock when he tried to break free.
"We are not like that at all! Quit giving them ideas!" He huffed, his cheeks a little red at the teasing.
"Is that a blush I see on your face Marik?!" Terry gasped as she leaned in towards his face to get a better look. He turned his head every which way to avoid her seeing and Terry quickly bobbed and weaved as she tried to get a better look at him. Ishizu and Rishid watch the scene in silence at first, not sure if they should laugh at the predicament their brother was in or help him. However, the more he squirmed the more the other two persisted and soon enough it was too much for even them to hold back anymore and the two laughed at the spectacle.
"This isn't something to be laughing about, help me!" Marik scolded his siblings who only laughed harder as Jonouchi grabbed him back into a hold when he just managed to escape.
"My, my, what's with all the laughter?" Aslan spoke up loudly as he entered the house.
"Uncle, help me! They're all ganging up on me!" Marik cried out for help, reaching out for Aslan who blinked at the sight before chuckling and giving his usual warm smile.
"It's great to see you all get along so well. Don't spend too much time roughhousing now, I'm going to get dinner started." He waved to the, Marik gaping at the fact he was abandoned by Aslan as well.
"But, but, Uncle!" He shouted as Ishizu quickly stood from her seat.
"Oh, there's no need. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of cooking tonight." She said.
"You did? You didn't have to, and please don't feel obligated to ask for permission here. Our home is your home, just as much as your home was ours in Egypt." He lightly patted her on the head, treating her much like he treated Terry. "Thank you for cooking though, I'm sure it will be delicious. You boys better finish up and get changed, you don't want her food to go to waste, right?" Marik and Jonouchi glanced at one another before scrambling apart and bolting to their respective rooms to beat the other to the bathroom. Rishid chuckled as they sped passed Terry, helping her keep balance as she quickly avoided being ran over by them.
"Well now, I know to never get in front of them and food." She laughed, thanking Rishid with a smile as she got back on her feet before giving her father a hug. "I better go get changed too, oh! Before I go though, tomorrow…my friend Atem invited me to his house for dinner. His younger brother really wants to see me again and his mother is pretty curious about me as well, can I go?"
"Atem? The boy who came here a few times? Sure, I don't see why not. He doesn't live too far from here too. Just don't stay out too late ok? Tell him to stop by again whenever he can. It's always a pleasure having him." Aslan smiled, ruffling her hair lightly. "Alright, off to getting washed and dressed like those two. We don't want to keep everyone waiting." He lightly pushed his daughter to the stairs. She grinned from ear to ear and gave her father one more hug in thanks before grabbing her bag and running up the steps. She pulled out her phone to text Atem, but only just realized she never exchanged contact information with him.
Huh…I'm as terrible as he said I was with technology. She laughed at her realization, lightly tossing her phone on to her bed and placing her things away before getting ready for dinner and joining the others. The table is alive with warmth and conversation much like the walk home, laughter and chatter filling the house until they all retire to their rooms for the night.
Breakfast was as busy as dinner, time flying without anyone noticing until Rishid pointed out if they would be late. The three students gaped at the time before stuffing their faces with the last of their food, grabbing their bags and lunches, scrambling as they pulled on their shoes, and dashed out the door.
"I blame you Terry! If you hadn't started that discussion about Duel Monsters we'd left on time!" Jonouchi shouted at the tops of his lungs as they ran to the train, the organs burning as they pushed themselves to grab the train.
"Less shouting, more running!" Marik shouted, gaining a few steps on Jonouchi who quickly buttoned his lips and focused on propelling himself.
"Follow me, I know a shortcut!" Terry shouted and suddenly veered right, the boys skidding to a halt, confused but were running behind her in a split second. Vaulting over the park fence, she led them through the grassy fields, narrowly dodging people on their morning jog and other crowds as they head into a busy shopping district only to duck into an alley and climb a fence.
"How the hell is this a shortcut?!" Jonouchi huffed as he hopped down from the fence.
"Seriously, this is like a secret training for an obstacle race or something?" Marik agreed with Jonouchi.
"Just follow me, you'll see! It's just ahead!"
"You've been saying that!" They answered in unison when they finally saw the top of the station come into view. The building never looked more beautiful to them and they pushed harder as they fumbled through the gates, Jonouchi crashing into Terry as she screeched to a halt to avoid crashing into it but all three were knocked to the floor as Marik smacked into Jonouchi which toppled him onto her. Once untangled they managed to get through and dove into the train car just as the doors began to shut.
"Made it!" They all three shouted with relief as they came through the doors but unable to stop their moment like before, one smacks into the other and Terry is sent falling to the ground again. Or so she was about to meet the floor again, her hands thrown out to catch herself, but someone had grabbed ahold of her.
"Why am I not surprised you're running?" A familiar voice sighed, shaking his head at the three. "And you two, you trying to send her flying out the window? I swear, I can't keep my eyes off you for even a second!" Terry quickly looked up to see none other than Atem.
"Oh, hi, morning, thanks for the save." She laughed a little breathlessly and Atem felt a migraine coming on already. He glanced to the boys who gave him grateful looks, but they were stuck where they were with how packed the car was now that they got up.
"That's all you can think to say right now? Really? I swear," he rolled his eyes at her as he helped her stand properly but kept her pressed against him since the train was pretty packed. He had quickly made way to catch her. She was headed straight into some else and that was bound to be more trouble. That, or she would have fallen on the floor and ended up stepped on in some way. His body had reacted before his mind could calculate any of that though, the sight of her possibly in danger triggered a knee-jerk reaction and now here he was with her. He looked down at her to see her pouting at him and he smirked a little as he held on to the bar near them. "Hey, I saved you…least you can do is give me that idiotic grin of yours you know. You look best that way." He mumbled the last words as he held her closer as the train rocked and the passengers jerked around a bit.
"It's not idiotic…jerk!" She grumbled in response, about to argue with him when his voice dropped, and he leaned into her ear to add the last sentence. Her heart jumped with the train, her face heating up in addition to her already warmed body from running. He smiled as he saw her cheeks turn a little redder, satisfied with the reaction as she gave a small 'oh'. She looked at him fearlessly like always, but he saw the confusion and the slight timid nature in her always honest eyes.
"My father said it's ok, you know, to come over for dinner tonight." She finally spoke up, her voice a little hushed from how close they were to each other. "He also said you should stop by again, he enjoys your company."
"That's good," he answered simply but his smile only grew sly at her words. "Oh, just him?" He asked casually, able to see the flicker of recognition in her eyes and a slight panic rise in them.
"N-no, not just him! Joey clearly likes it when you visit too!"
"So just them?" He forced a frown to hide his chuckle.
"Of course, I like when you visit too! I mean, that's a given! I get really happy when you visit, I love spending time with you!" She quickly added, her impassioned speech making him bite at his lower lip. The sudden use of the word sent a thrill of warmth through him, but he knew that was not what she meant at all.
You really can be so cruel…but that's ok, it just means I have every right to tease you. "Oh? You love it? Well now, I didn't expect someone like me to get a confession like that so early in the morning…it's so sudden."
"Huh? Confession…? What are you-what?! No, no, no that's not what I meant!"
"You didn't? So, you don't love my company?" He asked, unable to hold back his chuckle as she blushed and battled with words to try and fix the misunderstanding that was not there. The moment she saw him laugh her face was red for a whole different reason as she scowled and whacked him on the chest and grumbled angry scolding words at him for being so mean. "What, you said you'd take full responsibility remember?" He grinned as she found herself stuck and sighed at the reminder.
"I did, didn't I?" She frowned a little. He was not pleased with this reaction of her and quickly got to correcting it as he leaned down as if to whisper something to her but surprised her with a playful bite of her nose and a peck on her cheek. She looked at him bewildered for a moment but soon was smiling once again as she laughed at his odd antics. "What was that for?"
"To get you to smile of course," he simply replied. "And there it is, that foolish grin of yours that makes everything better." He hummed, resting his head on hers to hide the slight blush on his cheeks from her and efficiently ending the conversation there. She made no attempt to resume it though, her heart jumping once again with the train. The silence was welcomed by both.