Chapter 8- Dilemmas
Yami, Joey, Atemu, Tristan, Tea, Kyla, and Ryou were sitting in their first period class.
"What are we going to do? It's been two weeks, and Yugi still hasn't talked to us. We've apologized, so why won't he talk to us?" Joey asked.
"We can't just expect him to let it go. We caused him a lot of pain." Kyla said.
"He's still lying to us, though. He tells us that the only reason he moved in was because of that, but there is another reason." Yami said.
"That's his choice, and he's not directly lying to us. In truth, Yugi hasn't said that there isn't another reason." Atemu said.
"Still, we're his friends. He should be honest with us." Tea argued.
"We didn't act like his friends when it mattered." Ryou pointed out.
The teacher walked in and said, "Class, take your seats."
Everyone sat down and faced the front.
"Class, we have a new transfer student. Please make him feel welcome." the teacher said.
It was then that Malik walked into the room.
"Please introduce yourself." the teacher said.
"My name is Malik Ishtar." Malik said.
To say Yami, Atemu, and the others were shocked was an understatement. They didn't think that they would ever see Malik again, much less in their own class.
"You may sit anywhere you like." the teacher said.
Malik nodded and sat down near the back.
"Now, let's get started." the teacher said.
Yugi walked across the schoolyard and let out a sigh.
Sayora had tried to talk to him in class, and she didn't understand that he wanted to be left alone for a little while.
"Hey, Yugi!"
Yugi stopped and turned right before he found himself in a bone crushing hug from Malik.
"Malik." Yugi squeaked.
"Hey there, Yugi. Glad to see you again." Malik said.
"What are you doing here, Malik?" Yugi asked.
"Well, Ishizu was offered a job here at the Domino Museum, and she accepted it. There were a few Egyptian exhibits she brought here, too, so she and Odion are bus getting them in order." Malik said.
"I'm glad to see you again. Marik came, right?" Yugi asked.
Malik nodded. "There is not a chance in hell that I would be able to get him to go to school, but Ishizu didn't give me a choice. More than likely, she's roped him into helping her and Odion if for no other reason than to make sure that he doesn't cause any kind of trouble." Malik said.
"Ryou doesn't have that kind of luck. Bakura causes all kinds of mischief, which is usually done in murder-ville." Yugi said.
"Murder-ville? What's that?" Malik asked.
"It's the bad area of town. All the criminals are around there, so Bakura can go there, cause any kind of trouble he wants, and no one is really going to care." Yugi said.
"Remind me never to let Marik know about that place." Malik said.
"If he meets up with Bakura, he'll find out." Yugi said.
Malik groaned as they sat down under a tree.
"Why aren't you with the others?" Malik asked.
"A lot of tension and bad feelings on my part. For the few weeks before I moved in with Seto, they had been ignoring me. Then, suddenly they're angry at me because I moved in with Seto. I had to blatantly tell Atemu what they did, and he told the others. They think just be apologizing that it will make everything go away, and I can't live with them caring one moment and not the next." Yugi said.
"You also want to stay away from Yami." Malik said.
Yugi looked over at Malik. "Would you want to have to live with the man you love and never be able to be with him?" Yugi asked.
"I did at one point, and I know what you're going through, and if I had had the option, I probably would have done what you did." Malik said.
"Plus, I can't set myself up to be hurt again. I just want them to give me time and space." Yugi said.
Malik nodded. 'I just wish he realized that his life is in danger.' Malik thought.
Yami and the others watched shocked at how easily Malik was talking to Yugi.
"Okay. Why the hell is Yugi talking to him?" Joey demanded.
"I don't know, but this is really getting ridiculous now." Tristan said.
"You do realize that there is a simple explanation to this." Ryou said.
"Like what?" Tea asked.
"Malik was in Egypt when we were ignoring him, so Yugi had no real reason to be angry at him." Ryou said.
"I guess that does make sense." Atemu said.
"Why is Malik here though?" Kyla asked.
"An excellent question." Yami said.
"I don't think that Malik has a problem with us. We could just ask him." Tristan said.
Yami was fighting against the rising jealousy he felt at the fact that Malik was able to talk to Yugi so easily when he could not.
"Uh, Yami. You okay?" Atemu asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Yami replied.
Ishizu, Odion, and Marik had set up the Egyptian exhibits in the Egyptian section of the museum.
"When should we bring the dimwitted pharaoh here to see if he'll get a clue?" Marik asked.
"Marik, have a little more respect!" Ishizu snapped.
"He makes a good point, though. We do need to get the Pharaoh to see what is going on before both he and Yugi die from their own stubbornness." Odion said.
Ishizu sighed. "I'm just not sure that it is that easy." Ishizu said.
"Why wouldn't it be?" Marik asked.
"It will take more than showing him this to get him to do the right thing." Ishizu said.
"Ishizu, if the Pharaoh hears that Yugi cold die, he's going to do whatever it takes to save him." Marik said.
"I wish I could believe that." Ishizu said.
"Has the Millennium Necklace shown you something?" Odion asked.
"No. I just have an ominous feeling that something is going to go wrong, and I fear that it may be something that no one can prevent." Ishizu said.
"Like what? Another evil from the pharaohs past?" Marik asked.
"No. It's not that. Something human. Something natural. Something that no force can stop." Ishizu said.
Seto met up with Yugi after school.
"Seto, I thought that you were working." Yugi said, surprised to see his friend.
Seto rolled his eyes. "I don't live for my company. I'm ahead of schedule, so I thought that I would take the afternoon off." Seto said as Yugi climbed into the limo.
"Sorry if I offended you. It's just no like you." Yugi said.
"I get it. Did the "Golden" group do anything?" Seto asked.
Seto had taken to calling Yami and the others the Golden Group because they thought that they had done no wrong and never did.
"I didn't talk to them at all. Malik's going to the school now." Yugi said.
"Malik? Really?" Seto asked.
Yugi looked at him suspiciously. "Did you know that they were moving here?" Yugi asked.
"No. Why would you say that?" Seto asked.
"You did know!" Yugi exclaimed.
Seto sighed. "Yes, I knew. When I talked to Ishizu that day at the museum, she mentioned that she was thinking of moving them to Domino, but she wasn't sure, so I didn't say anything." Seto said.
"Oh. That makes sense, but they are here." Yugi said.
Seto nodded as they arrived at Mokuba's school.
Mokuba climbed in and his eyes lighted up at seeing his brother. "Big brother!" Mokuba exclaimed, jumping into his arms.
"Why is everyone shocked at the fact that I'm here?" Seto asked.
"Because you're normally at work." Mokuba replied.
Seto sighed. "Let's go home." Seto said.
Malik walked into his home to find Marik on the couch eating a sandwich and drinking a soda. "Malik, how's school?" Marik asked.
"Fine. I saw and talked to Yugi. And now I'm ready to kill Yami and all the others." Malik said, throwing his school bag down.
"What did they do this time?" Marik asked.
"For the few weeks before Yugi moved in with Seto, they had been ignoring him, and then when he moved in, they acted like it was a shock." Malik said, flopping onto the couch.
"That's it. I'm going to kill that dumb Pharaoh!" Marik shouted.
"Did you get those exhibits set up?" Malik asked.
"Yeah. She doesn't know that it'll do any good to show them to Yami." Marik said.
Malik sighed. "Someone as sweet and kind as Yugi did not deserve to be treated like this." Malik said.
"Give me the okay, and I will send them all to the Shadow realm for about a week." Marik said.
"No, Marik. We need to let this play out." Malik replied.
Yugi sat in the living room with Seto and Mokuba, who were playing Duel Monsters. Yugi was helping Mokuba out a little when needed.
Yugi's cell phone rang, and he picked it up. He let out a frustrated sigh and dropped the phone back on the table.
"Are you going to answer that, Yugi?" Mokuba asked.
"No. It's Yami, and I really don't want to talk to him." Yugi said.
"Shouldn't you at least give them a chance?" Mokuba asked.
"No, he shouldn't. Those people barely acknowledge that they did anything wrong. As far as the Golden group is concerned, they did no wrong, and Yugi did everything wrong." Seto said.
"How can they not admit that they were the ones who screwed up?" Mokuba asked.
"They have, admitted that they were wrong, but they think that just because they apologized that everything would be okay again. They don't realize how much it hurt me to be left alone for so long. At least until you started dragging me over here to play, Mokuba." Yugi said playfully.
Mokuba grinned. "Well, Seto was too buys to play with me, and I thought that since you liked games so much, you would like to play with me." Mokuba said.
Yugi's phone rang again.
Once more, Yugi picked it up and looked at it. He smiled and answered it. "Hi, Heba." Yugi said, getting up and walking out to talk to his brother.
"How's everything going?" Heba asked.
"Fine. Malik and his family have moved here. I saw Malik at school today." Yugi said.
"I talked to him last week, and he told me that they were moving." Heba said.
"It was great to see him again. I'm glad to finally have someone around that I can talk to since Seto's busy a lot, and Mokuba's too young to really understand." Yugi said.
"The Kaibas have certainly done a lot for you. How's that hormone treatment going?" Heba asked.
"It's fine. Dr. Conrad says that everything is going fine, and that the treatments are working rather well." Yugi replied.
"That's good. At least everything is under control." Heba said.
"Any idea when you're flying out?" Yugi asked.
"No. I know Zepher and Mensi have been talking to Seto a lot, but nothing definite has been set although I figure that it should be soon. I can't wait to see you again." Heba said.
"It's only been a few weeks since the last time that we saw each other." Yugi said.
"I know, but it was really great to see you again. I hope that you get to come out and visit again." Heba said.
"So do I. I'll be glad to get you reacquainted with Domino." Yugi said.
"By the way, is Grandpa back?" Heba asked.
"Yes. He got back Monday. I told him that you'll be coming for Christmas, and he got really excited at the thought of seeing you again. He can't wait." Yugi said.
Heba laughed. "Glad to hear it. I can't wait to see him." Heba said.
"Believe me. I know. I showed him the pictures we took, and he was really happy. He was also glad that you showed me the pyramids." Yugi said.
"He probably would have chewed me out if I hadn't. Any new with Yami and the others?" Heba asked.
"No. They keep trying to get me to talk to them, but I'm not ready. They have to understand that I need a little time." Yugi said.
"Take as long as you need, but don't wait so long that the chance of rebuilding the friendships is lost for good. They have all been too good of friends to you for you to lose them for good." Heba told him.
"I know, Heba. I know." Yugi said.
"I'm glad you got Yugi over here during those few weeks, Mokuba. He really needed it." Seto said.
"Um, Seto. The truth is that I got Yugi over here to play with me because I saw that they were ignoring him, and I saw how lonely he was, and I thought that maybe he wouldn't feel so alone of he played with me. I think it did do some good." Mokuba said.
"It did. It helped ease some of the loneliness that he was feeling, and it helped me to see that something was wrong. I'm just glad that I could do something to help. By the way, you lose." Seto said, placing his Blue Eyes White Dragon in attack mode and destroying Mokuba's Ogre Guardian.
"Ah, man!" Mokuba exclaimed.
"What happened?" Yugi asked, coming in to sit back down.
"Yeah. I won." Seto said.
"Mokuba, I thought that you knew you would lose." Yugi said.
"I did, but I still hate it." Mokuba said.
"What did Heba call for?" Seto asked.
"Just to see hoe I was doing. When are you going to send your jet to get him?" Yugi asked.
"The jet's there. It's just a matter of working out the details with Zepher and Mensi." Seto replied.
"He was wondering." Yugi said.
"We get out for Christmas break tomorrow. You should get him out here for the while break." Mokuba said.
"I'll get him here, Mokuba. You don't have to worry about that." Seto said.
"Grandpa's excited about seeing him. He was ecstatic over those pictures I brought back from the trip. Heba's excited abut seeing grandpa, too. That's going to be one reunion I'll like seeing." Yugi said.
"I'm glad that your family can be together for Christmas." Mokuba said.
"Well, Christmas is the time for family." Seto said.
"Yeah, and I've got you to thank for that." Yugi said.
Seto shrugged. "Consider it an early Christmas present from me and Mokuba." Seto said.
"That's true, but I'm glad that we'll be together. It'll be the first time in almost six years." Yugi said.
Yami sat in the living room watching TV with Leo and Yuesei.
"You need to stop letting yourself get depressed like this, Yami." Leo said.
"I can't help it. Yugi and I have never been this distant." Yami said.
"Yami, we all hurt him. He needs to time to work out his feelings toward us. We shouldn't pressure hi into anything. He needs to be willing to come to us. Any pressure will push him even more away." Yuesei said.
"It just feels like Seto is trying to rip us apart." Yami said.
"Yami, you did start it, but I do agree that Seto is helping to keep us from Yugi. I'm trying to figure out why he's doing it." Leo said.
"You think he's doing something to him?" Yami asked, instantly alarmed.
"No, Yami. I think that Yugi is safe there, and he's there willingly. I just wonder why Seto has taken to what I can only call protecting him." Leo said.
"Seto's never seemed to care much before." Yami said.
"It could be that it was Mokuba who convinced me to do it. You know that his brother can convince him to do anything." Yuesei said.
"Whatever he's doing, I think that we need to have a talk with Seto." Leo said.
Atemu walked up the steps at the Domino Museum to find Ishizu waiting for him.
"My Pharaoh." Ishizu said.
"Please, Ishizu. Just called me Atemu. I'm not the Pharaoh anymore. Why did you want to see me?" Atemu asked.
"Please follow me." Ishizu said.
Atemu nodded and followed her inside.
"I asked you to come here because I am concerned for Yugi and Yami." Ishizu said.
"Yugi and Yami? Why?" Atemu asked.
"I learned while Yugi was in Egypt that you all were ignoring him and that led to his moving in with Seto, correct?" Ishizu said.
"Yes, and we regret it." Atemu said.
"Atemu, Yugi and Yami are in serious danger." Ishizu said.
"What do you mean they're in danger? What kind?" Atemu asked.
"Mortal danger." Ishizu said.
"Why?" Atemu asked.
"See for yourself." Ishizu said, pointing to a stone tablet behind glass.
Atemu looked and his eyes widened in horror. He took a few steps closer, never taking his eyes form the tablet.
"You know what this says, do you not?" Ishizu asked.
"Yes, it does. You understand the seriousness of the situation." Ishizu said.
"Yes, much better than I did a moment ago." Atemu said.
"I need your help to prevent the worst. Help me save them both. Before its too late." Ishizu said.
Atemu nodded. "I'll help. I don't know how, but I will." Atemu said.
Sorry if this wasn't the greatest chapter.
The next chapter will have an argument involving Seto and disaster strikes.
R&R.