PLEASE READ! So, several of you were confused by the last chapter. To repeat, it happened in a timeskip. Now, we go back to the natural flow! Wheeee(wibblywobblytimeywhimey what?)
Thanks to blahblah, zero25, HermioneSakuraGardner07, Numinous-Alqua, and Aya El maghrabi for your reviews! I so appreciate your taking the time to drop a comment; it always makes me smile!
I do not own YuGiOh.
Yami had been pleasantly surprised to see Tea back in the Gameshop. He had been unpleasantly surprised to learn why.
Tristan and Joey hadn't yet left to make their rounds, and as soon as they their friends approaching, they ran out to meet them. Then Joey saw the bruises on the girl's neck, and they both snapped into hyper-overprotective mode. Tea was pretty much lifted and carried indoors to the sofa while they blathered into her bemused face, a nonstop stream of concern and offers of revenge and did she need water they would get her water did she need a pillow they would get her a pillow.
Ryou squeaked as he was given much the same treatment, Joey ushering him onto the couch beside Tea.
"What is going on?" Yami asked, his brow raising at seeing Joey and Tristan more or less manhandle Ryou and Tea into the house. Then he caught sight of the necklace of fingerprints on Tea's neck, and a rage flared to life within him.
"Who did that?" he demanded, walking over to her and brushing gentle fingers along the markings, withdrawing quickly as she winced.
"I went back with Ryou to his apartment," she explained, blinking up at him with those unreal blue eyes. "But Bakura was there."
Tristan gasped, and Yami rocked backwards, his teeth gnashing together as he realized just how she had gotten her injuries.
"That bastard," Joey snarled, eyes blazing golden with indignation.
"Do you need to go to the hospital?" Tristan asked, practically hyperventilating. "I have my motorcycle; I can take you to the hospital!"
"No, I don't," Tea smiled calmingly, a bit overwhelmed in the face of their loud emotions. "Ah," she added, nudging Ryou with her shoulder. "But Bakura might."
"Wha-?" Joey asked, confusion unwinding his building rage. Ryou snickered, and it was such a weird thing to do in the situation, and then both of them were laughing, Tea clinging to Ryou's shoulder for support as they dissolved into gales of partly hysterical mirth.
"Are they cursed?" Joey asked dubiously.
"That or crazy," Tristan decided. "Hey guys. Heeeeey guuuys. Still waiting on an explanation over here."
And then the story came out, bleach and lamps and magic and fire, and really, how much weirdness could fit into one single morning?
Yami was horrified. Joey and Tristan were ecstatic.
"You threw it in his eyes?" crowed Joey, thumping Tea on the back.
"You smashed it on his head?" echoed Tristan, catching Ryou in a friendly head lock. The boys looked at each other and nodded.
"This calls-" Joey started.
"For a celebration!" Tristan finished. They high fived and dashed for the kitchen to fetch a 'victory feast', jostling each other all the way.
"They are very….exuberant, aren't they?" Ryou questioned, trying vainly to smooth his hair back down.
"That's one way to put it sure!" Tea giggled, eyes watering a bit from where Joey had hit her.
Yami felt a bit uncomfortable with the entire process. While he was more than happy that his friends were alright, he couldn't help but focus on the negative aspects of the whole affair. Which, honestly, there were many of. The Pharaoh brooded, sinking down into a chair as well.
Bakura had obviously grown in power from being returned to physical form. Being able to call upon such an extent of shadow power while not dueling took control and great magical energy. He sighed, rubbing a hand across his forehead. This was going to be even more difficult than he had previously conjectured. Beyond that, it appeared the Thief King was set upon regaining control of Ryou, for what purpose he had no clue beyond that it must be sinister.
He was also showing his hand much sooner than Yami had expected, which either meant he had a plan and was enacting it or was simply acting on whims. Which was worse, Yami didn't know. Bakura's plans were crafty and heinous, and his whims were cruel and monstrous.
And now Tea, whom he had desired to protect from this mess, wounded as she was, innocent to this as she was, had been further embroiled. Bakura had held a grudge for thousands of years; he was not the sort to let the girl go unpunished for standing up to him.
From the kitchen, Joey's loud voice could be heard, relating the story to Mai over the telephone.
Bangs brushing his cheeks, Yami stared at his fingers and tried to tell himself that he could do this. He could defeat Bakura. He could defeat Marik. He could keep his friends safe.
Except he hadn't already. Yugi still hadn't woken up, and Tea had scars from a thief and bruises from the Thief King, and he hadn't been there when either of them needed him.
And now Tea was laughing about the danger she had faced, laughing when the girl he remembered would have been upset, and there was too much that had changed. Too much, and his body was too big and too new(he had to sleep again, had to eat and sleep and dream) and he couldn't hear Yugi in his head anymore(the silence was eating him) and Tea should not be laughing(because he needed something to stay the same, something to rely on).
"You should stop being involved with this," he decided. "Bakura will be angry with you, but if you cease contact with the rest of us, then he will no longer be interested in harming you."
Tea's laughter died away, and she stared at him as though she had never seen him before. Though they didn't know it, they paralleled each other in that moment-both desperate, scared, determined to do their best, and filled with a protective love for their friends.
It is an unfortunate quality of parallels that they never meet.
"No," Tea replied, testing the word out on her tongue. "No. I am a part of this, and I know that you are worried, but I am already part of this, and you will not leave me behind again."
Yami stood, pushing back from the chair, fear turning into anger. "You are a liability," he snapped. "You have no powers; you cannot duel-"
"I have nails," Tea replied, because damnit, she was not weak; she was not helpless(she was never going to lie bleeding and broken and useless in an alley again). "And I will scratch out his eyes."
The tall boy (taller than her now, and it confused both of them, this change in height, their eyes skipping involuntarily down and up as their brains tried to adjust) took a step back, and then two steps forward.
"You are being selfish," he ground out, red eyes glaring and desperate. "This is it. This is as far as you come into this mess!" His anger reacted with his power; the overhead light popped out with a sizzle, and Yami snarled at the reminder of his own ineptitude(he really wasn't going to be able to save anyone, not like this). "Go home," he ground out in the half light of the living room, uncaring that Tristan and Joey were staring at him from the kitchen and Ryou from the couch.
And Tea smiled at him, puzzled and furious and so painfully unfamiliar and familiar all at once. "You know what, fine," she laughed again, and the bruises on her neck stood out like warning signs. "You can kick me out of this; I get that you call the shots on this. But you don't call the shots on how I live my life, Yami. I don't know why you're acting like this, but when you figure it out and stop being so stupid," and here her voice cracked, revealing the hurt she kept bottled inside, cap screwed on tight. "Then come talk to me, okay?"
She stood as well, and angry as she obviously was with him, she still walked over to him and hugged him, rising on tiptoes to wrap her thin arms around his shoulders. She pulled away before he could hug her back, walking over to snatch a bag of chips from the flabbergasted Joey.
"See you guys around," she waved at Joey and Tristan, who both waved back with extremely nervous expressions. "Coming, Ryou?"
"Of course," the british boy answered smoothly, joining her. "Nice seeing you all."
"Wait, why's he going with you?" Tristan asked anxiously, still unwilling to leave the safe confines of the kitchen.
Tea beamed at him. "We're getting an apartment together!" she sang out, and with that, she linked arms with Ryou and they fairly skipped out.
There was an awkward silence as the light bulb gave one more sputter. "What," Joey said at last, eyes looking distinctly confused.
"Oh man," Tristan sighed, and Yami felt his world slip a little further out from under his feet.
"I don't understand," the Pharaoh admitted at length. "I don't know what to do."
Joey went back into the kitchen, retrieved another bag of chips, and tossed it at his head. "Start by eatin' that," he advised, and it didn't solve anything, but it made Yami smile and Tristan chuckle, so it was a start.
AN: Thanks for reading! I got pretty sick this week, so it wasn't as long as I had planned…..blurgh. Oh well!
Stay tuned next time for the first appearance of Marik(who I absolutely adore-poor little dude never actually got a chance…)