Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

AN: It's been a while. Things have been so busy I haven't even had time to talk to my friends over e-mail. I probably should contact them, but I need to finish this before I get bored and start with something else. So here it goes…

Chapter Three: Secrets

The next few days were the most trying for the three Hikaris and even Kaiba noticed the change in their attitude.

"Jumpy aren't we?" he asked in amusement when he walked in on the three having a whispered conversation in an empty classroom. They smiled at him weakly and hurried off, leaving him to frown at their strange behaviour.

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"Finally! School's over!" crowed Malik, stretching his arms to the sky. "I'm gonna burn all of my schoolbooks. It's not like I'll be needing them anymore," he confided to the other two.

Neither of them was listening. Yugi was gazing at the school with large, melancholy eyes and Ryou was staring in the opposite direction, looking decidedly sick. He pointed and Malik and Yugi turned to see the three Yamis talking with Odion, Yugi's grandfather and Ryou's father, who'd just returned from an archeological dig in Peru.

"Oh fudge!" Yugi murmured, searching desperately for an escape route. Just then, Solomon Moto looked up and saw them standing there.

"Boys, we need to talk to you. NOW!" he called. Reluctantly, the Hikaris trudged towards the group, rapidly fading hands shoved deep into their pockets.

"What's this about going away for the holidays with Ishizu?" Ryou's father asked, frowning. "When were you planning on telling us?"

"W…well, you see, the thing is…we," Ryou began, stuttering slightly and going red. They hadn't planned on saying anything. The letters were going to cover everything for them. They knew it was the cowardly escape, but they couldn't bring themselves to tell their families what was happening face to face.

Malik glared at the Yamis.

"Why'd you have to bring them into this?" he growled, inclining his head at the three adults.

"They had every right! You should try taking a leaf out of their books once in a while," Odion scowled. "You've been so sulky these days, not talking to anyone or helping around the house. Your boss called this morning to day that you haven't been pitching up for work!"

"And now we find out that you've been lying to us!" Grandpa Moto interjected angrily. "I don't know what your problem is, but you three better get your attitudes straightened out."

The three adults stalked off, leaving the Yamis with a teary Yugi and Ryou and a livid Malik.

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"How dare you!" Malik yelled, shaking with fury. The Yamis blinked in shock.

"We only had your best interests at heart. Something's wrong and we don't think that this trip is the best thing…"

Marik was cut off by an inarticulate cry of rage fro Malik. Ryou had gone even paler and Yugi surprised them all by starting to laugh bitterly.

"Our best interests at heart! Did you two hear that? They only had our best interests at heart!" he exclaimed, still laughing. By this time, Tea, Joey, Tristan and Duke had gathered to see what all the yelling was about. Atemu was staring at Yugi in concern, confusion evident on his face.

"I can't believe you actually had the nerve to say that!" Ryou snarled, causing Bakura and Marik to recoil slightly. Yugi stopped laughing abruptly and Malik took a step back as everyone else stared at the usually gentle boy. With an indignant snort, Ryou turned on his heel and strode off.

"I hope you're happy!" Yugi snapped, before running off after the taller boy.

Malik stepped forward. "Do us a favour, and don't do us any more favours," he hissed venomously. The rest of the gang could do nothing but stare in shock as he walked away, refusing to look at any of them.

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AN: I'm so mean! And it's only going to get worse from here. Oh well, let's see what happens next…