A/N: So by the overwhelming flood of emails telling me that people actually liked this.. I'm going to go ahead and turn it into something a little more than a oneshot. Congrats.


"Tag! You're it!"

"Wait - what?"

Little Ryou ran past the thief in thef shadow of Diabound. Their loyal Ka concealed them amongst the guards as they trespassed towards a towering obelisk. Who knew that it would be so easy? Who knew that Ryou's millennium ring could give the Ka the power to hide in plain sight? On that note, it felt nice to not have to wear that burdening ring. He considered asking the thief where he got it, but there was no reason to ruin the moment.

"I said you're it! Come catch me - if you can!"

"Feh, just what do you think you're doin'? I told you to go home, already!"

"But I don't know where that is. Hahaha, you'll have to do better than that!" Ryou shouted back, laughing as the momentum of wind tickled his cheeks on this cool night.

"No! Diabound! I summon you to my side! Obey me!"

The monster hovered around the both of them, but more attentive to the young Ryou. Protective, yes, but more so attracted to his spirit; his own spirit, not some parasite.

The guards felt a soft chill brush past each of them - none so vocal about it until each of them started giving awkward glances of the uncertainty that haunted the air. "You feel that?" "Yeah." "Was that just me?"

The boy giggled aloud again, but was not heard because of the pet guardian. "Gotta keep up!" He ran so far ahead that Diabound's ability followed and left the thief behind. For a moment, the thief was exposed to the guard. "Ah!"

"Whoah! Is that the Thief King?"
"Yeah! Get him!"
"Where did he come from?"
"Who cares?"

"Diabound!" He cried out in terror, panic-stricken to find his Ka. Ryou turned to look back at his playmate, puzzled that he stopped. Before he knew it, Diabound flew back to conceal his master. "Eek!"

"Whoah! Is that the Thief King?"
"No way! Can he teleport?"
"Wasn't he over there just a minute ago?"
"His clothes.."

"Yikes!"

All he knew was gone. He was left alone once again. Abandoned by his friends and in more trouble than he could handle. He clenched his fists with his shoulders tightly raised in defense. Eyes closed, Ryou was ready to accept that his game was over.

But just before the guards could get to him, they stopped dead in their tracks.

"Not again!"
"Where'd he go this time?"

He peeked open one eye, then suddenly with both in shock. Standing tall and confident was the thief clad in red, a wicked grin stretched across his face. With Diabound surrounding them both and keeping an eye out for danger, the thief slowly leaned over. Ryou stood his ground and looked into his eyes. The thief leaned his head close to Ryou's face and then whispered softly into his ear.

"Tag. You're it."

He dashed off quickly, Diabound keeping pace; leaving little Ryou behind and slightly disturbed.

"Yo! There he is!"
"He keeps appearing out of no where!"
"Get him!"

"Ahhh!" He ran quickly after his newfound companions, slowly learning that it was still ok to treat this as a game.