Ryou's POV

The bell had rung; school is officially over. Time to head home!

As I was walking off of the school grounds, I heard a voice behind me. It was quiet at first, and I didn't think it was directed to me, but as I kept walking, the voice grew louder. "Bakura…! Bakura..! Bakura!"

The voice was calling my name. I turned around and saw the nice girl we met earlier today. I turned around and I saw Lucy.

"Hey, Bakura!" she said as she approached me, panting from the running she had to do to catch up with me.

"Hi, Lucy, what's up?"

"Do you know the museum on Mammoth Road?"

"Do you mean the one that just got new Egyptian artifacts? Yeah, I've heard of it, and I've wanted to go check it out for a while."

"That's great!" She said, sounding a little over-excited, "Uh, I mean, what a coincidence," she corrected herself, trying to calm down, "I'm going there this weekend with some friends and was wondering if you wanted to come along with me?"

What am I supposed to say? I can't say no. She's so nice, and I pitied her since it's her first day, and she is trying to make new friends…just like I was. Just like I still am. "Sure! I can't think of a better way to spend my…?"

"Saturday. This Saturday," she filled in for me, smiling as she said it.

"Well, in that case, I can't think of a better way to spend my Saturday." I felt my smile grow from ear to ear.

"That's great!" she said, departing to her own route home. I watched her walk away, a little surprised by the abrupt invitation. I'm never invited anywhere.

Suddenly she stopped about twenty feet away and turned to look at me, "Oh, by the way, Yugi and Téa are going with us! It's not like it's a double-date or anything, we're just friends!" and with that she left.

Oh no…with Yugi and Téa? What will Yami think…? What'll he do? "I can't have him hurting anybody."

"What makes you think I'm going to hurt anybody?" a dark voice in my head said.

Oh crap. "I didn't think you would hear that," I peered over my shoulder to see his ghostly figure standing there.

"How could I not?" he asked, crossing his arms and scowling at me.

"Does this mean we're not going to the museum?" Without hearing an answer, I felt disheartened.

"I never said that we're not," he replied. This sentence confused me. Yami never lets me do anything Iwant to. "We're going to go, and we are going to keep an eye on the Pharaoh. We're also going to look at that new artifact that was just brought over from Egypt."

"So we are going, right?" I asked, wanting to confirm that we were going.

"Yes, Ryou, we're going." He replied roughly and with a scowl still on his face.

"Great! I better find something nice to wear for Lucy –"

"Lucy? Why do you care for her?"

"Well it's just she's nice and she's new and she's…she's different. Different from any other girl I've met before. I like her."

"You can't like her! You must not have any distractions, any weaknesses, or any reason that may make you lose sight of what's important!" He said this like he was trying to shield something from me. That's not like him.

I wanted to fight back, and I thought I would try to, "…I can like her. You can't control every bit of me, I'm my own person!" I have a feeling this won't end well.

"You may think that, Ryou, but you cannot – do you hear me? – cannot like her! And that is the end of this discussion!"

"I meant as a friend, Yami. She won't be any distraction to me, I promise! And think: she's a strong, smart and independent girl. Don't you agree she would be much better on our side than on the Pharaoh's? Think about it! We could use her! And you would be wise to see my point of things for a change." I thought that would do him in, and I think I'm right. He didn't answer me right away, but he sat in thought for a moment. I don't really mean all that, I really do want Lucy for a friend. But I figure this is the only way Yami would let me be with her.

"Alright, I see your point. As long as she doesn't get too involved with us, at least not at first…trust takes time, and time is of the essence. She interests me too, you know."

I can't believe I just heard that. Is that really what he just said? "She interests you? How? What do you mean?" I asked, intrigued that a person, a girl, in fact, was able to turn Yami's head.

"The way she stood up to me…the way she acted and talked to me…it was…familiar. Like I know somebody like her, or rather I knew somebody like her…once."

"That was why you let her go, isn't it?" I asked, wide-eyed at this situation.

He started to walk away, "Let's go. You have to get home and explain to your parents why you missed class again."

I sighed heavily. I hate when he does this to me. "My parents are really starting to hate me because of you, you know?"

He stopped, turned to me, and just shrugged. Then he kept walking. I had no choice but to follow, seeing as I did have to get home anyway.

Lucy's POV

I criticized myself as I was walking home.

What was I thinking?! 'It's not a double-date or anything…'?! God, what an idiot…! It's not like he thought it was a date…did he? No, no, that was just me being stupid!

I'm almost home, and thank goodness. I have a lot of work to do today. I think I'll like this school, at least much more than the last ones. My first day and already I have friends and weekend plans! I don't think I've ever been this happy before!

But I spoke too soon.

From behind me these two boys shouted, "Hey! New Kid!" I told myself not to turn around, but I did. Oh, how stupid I am…

"Who the hell do you think you are?" one of them asked. He wore a red hat and had brown hair with a purple streak – gee, how manly… – and he was accompanied by a boy with round glasses who just so happened to share the same smirk as his companion.

"Excuse me?" I asked, "Are you talking to me?" I said this both sarcastically and seriously, because I wasn't sure what exactly I did to attract their attention.

"Shut up, New Kid—"

"My name is Lucy. You might get more respect from people if you call them by their names instead of idiotic nicknames that are obvious to the average human."

They didn't respond at first. They looked at each other and then back at me, "I'm Rex," the boy with the purple hairstreak said, "and this is Weevil."

"Good for you, you have names. Join the club."

He growled, "You better treat us with some respect, Lucy. Or else we'll have to teach you how to talk."

"I think I know my way around a dictionary. Thanks, but no thanks. See ya." I started to walk away when I heard footsteps behind me. The sounds became louder and more rapid. I turned around just in time to see a hand and feel it cross my face with a hard slap. The shock and force of the blow knocked me to the ground. It stung, and made my eyesight blurry. He hit me right across the face.

"We said show some respect. Now that we have your attention and we know you won't talk back, shut up and listen, you little bitch. We're going to be hungry for lunch tomorrow, so you're gonna bring us something special—"

"Like hell I am!" I yelled at him. I spat in his face, got up and ran for it.

"You little bitch!" I heard Weevil yell at me. His voice sounded like the kind you do not want to hear when alone in your room in the dark…!

They ran after me; I could hear their footsteps behind me. "Get back here!" I heard them yelling after me.

I still don't know my way around the city, and they do. That's my disadvantage. But I can run, and I'm good at it and have enough endurance to probably circle this city and lose them. And so I ran around buildings and across streets; I ran until I was out of breath and looked for a place to hide.

I ran down an alley, hoping I could lose them and come out the other side.

But it was a dead end.

I looked for a way out. The only way out was to climb over this fence that was about ten feet tall. I started to climb. My heart was beating like a drummer had lost control and couldn't stop banging. Bum-bum-bum-bum-bum. It just kept beating faster and faster as I was climbing higher and higher.

"She's over here!" one of them said.

"Well then get her!" the other responded.

I was almost over the fence. I was going to make it. They couldn't get me fast enough if I got over the fence. Just a few more steps up…

As soon as I felt free, something stopped me. My right foot was caught in the fence. I wiggled it and I pulled it, but it didn't budge an inch.

Suddenly I felt a grasp around my shoulders "Got you! You fucking little bitch!" and he pushed me down. I could feel the sensation of falling. I felt the wind rush past my face and blow my hair. Now I felt the sensation of hitting the ground. Hard.

"Now she's ours," Weevil said.

Rex jumped down and said, "No, let's leave her there. That'll teach her a lesson." They both shared each other's laughter, while I was in more agony than I had ever felt in my life.

Just then they stopped laughing and Rex said, "What do you want—AAHH!" I heard a fist colliding with a body. I heard grunts and hits being blown.

"I'll teach you to—" Weevil started to say before I heard another grunt and a body fall onto the ground. Someone was giving them the beating, but I couldn't see who. I was too busy trying to get up.

Then there was silence. Not a sound was made, except for my heavy breathing that was composed of panic, fear, agony and frustration. I got up, but the only thing I could see where the bodies of the two boys who were harassing me. There they lay on the ground in front of my feet.

Someone had to have done this. Someone had to have just saved me. Now, all I want to know is who.

"Hello?" I called out, hoping for an answer. I thought I should wait a moment before continuing my call. "Is anybody there? Hello?"

No answer came. I looked around, and I could have sworn I saw a body turn a corner of a building. All I saw was a flash of a purple cape, a whiff of sandy blonde hair, and a glimmer of a golden rod.