"Ate! Come on; get off your lazy butt and come!"
The familiar voice of Cal had screeched almost effortlessly across the house to upstairs where Atemu was packing the remainder of his clothes and items, they were suppose to be going to the middle of Victoria to see Seto Kaiba, and they were suppose to be doing it ten minutes ago!
Atemu was prone to neatness; it took him over two hours to plan his room in the first place, so you can guess how long it took to take everything down.
He was carefully organizing his clothes in his small green backpack that had a black strap onside of it.
When Atemu put things together, he didn't just slop shirts and pants mindlessly over each other like some slovenly man that would never think of putting his socks together in bunches.
He had a certain style, perhaps because this was drilled into him since birth in the royal palace, even though he didn't have to do it because of the slaves.
First he would put shirts on the east side of the backpack, as he was left handed and tended to reach there first.
Then he put his pants on the opposite side, with his socks and other unnecessary items in the middle to not provoke mix ups.
He had took everything but his poster of a Deafu, a character from a popular book series on the island, from his room and his desk, which was from the flee market at an insanely cheap price.
Though that was probably because it was dented and beaten up quite a bit.
Anyways, it wasn't like he was going and never returning, hopefully…
Atemu looked at his room; it looked like the moon he had seen the night before.
Incomplete.
There was something that was not there, perhaps it was just his clothes…but perhaps it could be his very own soul leaving the room.
He had not been away from his home for over a week since he had gotten settled in and he had never been in the same place for this long amount of time.
Which was a new thing for him to get accustomed to; Yugi liked traveling the world so Atemu never really ever had a home.
Perhaps it was because he was connected to this room like he was connected to his friends, only his friends would move with him, while this room would stay in one place.
Atemus' heart pained when he thought of ever splitting up with the perky, odd group.
It was like they were closer than siblings, even though Atemu had been there for only a little while, he had connected with them even faster than when he connected with were so similar, yet different.
Cal and Atemu quarrelled like siblings, no matter how much Atemu resisted it, he couldn't stop but have a quick "discussion" with her.
Most likely because Cal was a little sister he never had, though Atemu didn't know how having a sibling would feel so he did not think about this.
Shecka was like his twin, so similar, yet different.
Like a flute, they played the same notes, but different tunes when played.
But they still loved each other extremely and would never let the other get out of line too much before wringing them back in.
Then Angel, she was another sister to him.
She snooped through his things frequently (since she watched too many cold case episodes on TV in the television stores, a mystery show that Shecka liked and Angel watched whenever she could as well.), not caring if he was going to be annoyed by it.
But she still adored him and always liked hanging out with him.
They were similar in many ways, yet separate.
Like Atemus' relationship with Yugi, they were similar.
But Atemu was always annoyed that Yugi wouldn't stand up for himself.
Atemu was as tough as nails, while Yugi was merely like clay, weaker and he defended others.
But confidence starts within, that was a lesson Atemu had taught himself those many years ago when he was in Egypt, fending for himself.
He had everything, yet no one back then.
He could remember those tough nights in the Egyptian palace; the cold floor in his room was his only company as he cried about his life.
He cried about being alone, though he could never show this weakness to his father, so he had learnt to become strong from his pain.
That had made him into a harsher person that is until Yugi came and made him more compassionate for others.
Now he had people who were like family to him, and that's all he needed.
He didn't need money, he didn't even need a body, all he needed were people who cared for him like he did for them.
He took one more look at the dusty floor, if he had more time he would have cleaned the floor, Angel had asthma (an illness which brought less air into the lungs, which made Angel winded a lot quicker) and Shecka had made sure Atemu would keep the dust out of the house. (Which Angel was prone to, it didn't kill her to breathe it, but it didn't help it at all)
But there was no time for that, and anyways, there would just be more dust later when they came back so what was the worry?
Even though Atemu was a neat freak, he could see when something was at a loss cause (except for his backpack which had probably been mixed up as he got up.)
Shecka may get angry when they come back but what could he do about it? Hire a maid for the house.
Atemu didn't know of any maids that would do a house owned by four dropout kids from school. (Or at least three, Atemu was posing as a high school dropout so he wouldn't have to pay school dues, which saved him a bundle and a little more.)
Even if he could find a maid, they would have to pay her a lot more then what they could afford to keep the shack in shape.
It would take hours of work to make the house look decent, and to make it look 'nice' it would take forever and a day.
Though the house was better than the streets, it was very rough though inside.
Pieces of wood stuck out of the walls, while the smell of rotting animal was clearly in the house.
But they had gotten a new flooring (which was installed by Cal, who had been fixing things on all her life.), which was a good start.
Though there still was a long way to go, and if Shecka didn't get a new acting job, there would be a long wait as well.
Though Shecka refused to go anywhere but the house to live, she didn't want her little sister to live on the streets.
Atemu sighed and picked up his bag (which was a good few pounds because it carried everything he owned.) and took once good last glance of his room, seeing the grey in the corner before sighing again.
"ATE-TEM GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE OR WE'LL JUST LEAVE YOU HERE AND YOU CAN TAKE CARE OF THE SNAKES OUTSIDE!"
Cal was yelling up the stairs at full blast, anger was clearly in her voice, though she still did this effortlessly, being angry was one of Cals' talents.
Atemu sighed and closed the door, revealing there was dust in between the door as it flew down, landing onto the ground, like a fragmented mind.
He knew that Cal would leave him if he didn't go down soon.
This had happened to him before with her, when Cal says she's going, she's going.
Atemu sneezed as some of the dust got in his nose; it was annoying to be in a house with one to many dust bunnies.
"ATEMU WERE LEAVING"
Cal was screaming still, Atemu turned around to see the end of the stairs where an impatient Cal was waiting, well not waiting, more like walking.
She was probably almost at the door by now, so Atemu thought best to hurry up and not let the road runner leave without him.
"I'm coming!"
He said back to his friend as he ran down the stairs, though there weren't many stairs left on it, and the only ones left had nails sticking out of them (something Atemu had learned from running downstairs without shoes on, a incident that lead him into a scar on his foot.)
They were saving up to buy a nice staircase, but since they had put a lot of money on Atemus' extra living costs and the couch they were just barely making enough payments on.
Shecka was taping her foot on the ground, she wasn't as mad as Cal, but she as in a hurry.
With bus fair and food alone it was going to cost a lot of money, and being late meant that they would be on a later bus, which would mean they would be hungry.
This would mean they would have to spend more money.
Or at least that is what Sheckas' logic said to them, even though the money from her acting had given those months worth of money and bus fair, she was still dangerously careful with her money.
Atemu was also quite sparingly with his money, but he did not freak out over spending a little money, like with his computer, he bought it because he was going to school soon so he could need one anyways.
Atemu looked at the odd items that his friends were wearing.
Angel was in a cosplay item, it looked like a mew café uniform in pink and cream white with her hair done in western styled braids that made her look like a mix between a anime character and woody from toy story.
Though this didn't shock Atemu in the least, it actually shocked him that he wasn't shocked by the very odd behaviour.
Angel was prone to wear cosplay items, since Shecka bought a lot of cosplay items for her acting gigs and she got to keep the outfits, Angel wore the ones that didn't fit Shecka anymore, or that Shecka didn't like anymore.
This made Angel more than happy to wear
Cal was in baggy jeans and an oversized basketball shirt with a jacket two sizes to small.
On her head was a black cap and her eyes were hidden with dark sunglasses with green rims that were obviously just to give her a cool look.
Cal hated being in tight clothes, so she usually tried to feel as baggy as possible and not tight with her clothing.
Shecka was in ice blue Japanese top over shadowed with black lines.
She was wearing ordinary blue jeans with a chibi on its belt.
She was wearing her half gloves on her hand; they showed her fingers but not her hands.
Her hair was in a tight ponytail that went over her head that looked just as tall as Yugis' hair.
That was normal for Shecka to wear, no matter what she always seemed to like putting her hair up in a tight ponytail, Atemu thought that Shecka thought that was cool.
Though Atemu didn't really know himself.
Atemu was in black jeans and a Oilers hockey jersey that he had gotten off Cal (she was a Oilers fan, so it made sense that she had a lot of jerseys of them, no matter how much Shecka complained about how much each one cost, a argument that Cal would usually complain about the cost of the cosplay items she got for acting jobs.) awhile ago.
His had was black with the words "Black ink" on it in, of course, black.
Looking at the group, Atemu was shocked that they looked so different, yet they were the best of friends.
Angel was in a café uniform, Cal was a basket ball player mixed with street walker, and Shecka was Japanese mixed with ninja while Atemu was in a hockey outfit.
I suppose you could call this an odd group, though Atemu called it unique, so I suppose that's what you should call it as well.
"Yay Ate! You're finally down Ki!"
Angel greeted happily, she liked going to different places and the wait was worth it to her, but that was exactly the opposite of what Cal was thinking of.
Atemu smiled at Angel and replied warmly.
"Hi Angel"
Cal on the other hand was already outside, treading through the grass in a rapid pace, leaving her footprints visible with the grasses imprints.
Shecka turned around and started to run to Cal in a rapid rush, obviously trying to keep her from running to New York and back in rage.
She didn't like to run after snake girls for hours on end, which would happen if they didn't follow Cal right after she left.
But before she went along with Cal she turned to get her backpack (which was in a dark blue with the words; corner gas in green on it) and said in an annoyed tone to Atemu.
"Come on beauty queen, lights, camera, and action! Let's go"
Ah yes, that classic Shecka sarcasm was all in those words.
Shecka was already running, trying to catch up with the more-than-impatient Cal.
Cal was in a tight sprint as she ran, never stopping for breaks, she was prone to running.
She was a gazelle more than a human, and more of a snake then a human!
It was almost like she was supposed to be an animal.
Atemu ignored the classic Shecka sarcasm and started a sprint to try to keep up to his overly fast friends, which were already half way to there destination by the mere few seconds treading.
Angel was quickly trying to keep up, panting with the weight of her suitcase and the asthma kicking in.
Angel liked sports, but she ran of breath quickly so it was hard for her to do laps around a field or play soccer.
Still she sprinted on, taking short breaks to catch her breath, then continued at full speed for another forty seconds before stopping again.
Her sprit was stronger than her asthma, another thing that Atemu liked about her.
Atemu and Angel caught up to Cal and Shecka, who weren't affected by the running in any way.
Shecka was used to running from place to place since she was street born and she had to run around a lot when acting on sets.
Cal, on the other hand, was very speedy naturally and with her boxing built body, she was very quick and sly.
Atemu took those long runs in the morning, so he was used to running, but his lungs were still out of breath after the jog.
But that was natural since he tended not be running to people when he was doing those jogs.
Angel on the other hand was clasping her knee caps for support as she bended over in a hopeless attempt for air.
Her asthma had kicked in quite seriously; she was going to be ok, of course.
Her asthma was not as serious as most cases, so there were very little odds that she could be put in a hospital after a run, if that was so, she would be there everyday.
Angel grabbed her water and drank deeply from it; a little trickle of water came from the side of her mouth, though she just mindlessly wiped the liquid from her mouth and neck.
Still panting, Angel said in a happy tone.
"Let's…go…Ki!"
Shecka smiled at her little sister warmly as she messed up her little sisters' hair by tussling it around carelessly.
Angel smiled at her older sister and she wiped her face from the sweat that came from her glands, though she still smiled happily, like running made her happier than anything in the world.
Cal tapped her foot impatiently as she glared at Atemu's' tardiness.
She was annoyed and spoke to Atemu in an angered and annoyed tone that reflected her feelings quite clearly.
"Atemu, why didn't you come on time? This was all your idea in the first place!"
Atemu jolted up, Cals' eye contact was right on his brown eyes.
She took a rapid step, as if trying to one up his muscular body structure, which she succeeded in.
She was definitely frustrated at Atemu, though you can guess why.
She was hissing in anger as she stomped firmly on the ground, and then picked up her foot, leaving an imprint of her shoe in the ground, which was gravel.
Atemu sighed and tried to reason with her snake-like friend, though this is as a lot of people say, a lost cause.
"Chill Cal, I was just trying to pack everything I'd need"
Cal on the other hand grumbled and obviously didn't take Atemus' words in the right way; her fists were clamped together like glue.
A low hissing noise was heard while Angel quivered behind her big sister in fear.
A fight between a snake girl and Atemu was not what you call family programming.
Usually it ended with a few bruises (manly from Cal to Atemu, Atemu wasn't the best fighter on the block, even though he looked like he was with his body.) and possibility a black eye.
Shecka didn't know much first aid, so usually Atemu would heal his own wounds with a cleaning ointment he had learnt when he was a young child.(ever since Atemu was a child in Egypt, he had to learn his letters and various things in temples.
Though Atemu didn't really like it.)
Though Atemu had unknowingly had already flinched at the thought of another fight with Cal, Shecka had stopped the fight with a quick cut in between the two, she was impatient with there pointless fights and was too busy to deal with them now.
"Come on you guys, we have to go to the buses now!"
Atemu sighed in relief, now he wouldn't have a nice new tattoo on his face, he had just cured from the last time Cal had "decorated" his face and he didn't want another fashion lesson from her.
Angel smiled in relief as well; she didn't like people fighting, especially when it was her friends.
Cal grumbled some snake language and hissed yet again, but louder and more like pounding then being angry.
Shecka started to run, which meant that they were going. (Even though Atemu liked being a leader more than a follower, it was a relief not to be in charge of everything, plus it was new for him.)
Cal was already catching up with her quickly without effort, which meant that Atemu and Angel were the only ones left.
Usually Shecka would have stayed with her little sister if it was anyone else but Atemu, but Shecka trusted Atemu enough to let him watch her for a few moments, which was big for Shecka since she prized her little sister over anything else.
Angel had taken a liking to Atemu as a big brother she never had, and Atemu had no problem since his family wasn't what you call "close" in his time.
To be honest, he didn't even know if he had any siblings, or a mother.
He had been raised by the slaves as a child while his father was planning for the after life, so you could see why Atemu didn't really know how to act to Angel.
But he had got enough instruction from watching Shecka to see how he should act to Angel.
Angel had already taken a hold of Atemus' hand and started running, which made Atemu jolt out of fascinating and back into the real world.
They were running headfirst through the crowds, it was the noon rush of the day. (Which meant losing someone was very easy.)
Atemu looked around; he couldn't see Cal or Shecka!
He quickly and effortlessly pulled Angel back to stop her from running around in circles.
Angel panted and turned around, her eyes direct into Atemus' as she asked.
"What's wrong Ate' Ki?"
Atemu answered calmly in almost an adult's way of speaking. (Which he could do, but it was always more childish then he wanted it to be)
"I think we lost you sister and Cal."
Angel was only slightly in shock, she had known that the city was a big place and it was easy for people to get lost, she just was shock that there group got split up.
I mean, Shecka and Cal didn't mean to lose them, and then just were naturally in a hurry, right?
Of course they were, thought Atemu, trying to keep the worse situation out of his head by smiling to Angel.
Even if he couldn't keep those bad thoughts out, he could still try to keep them out of Angels' head.
Atemu dragged Angel over to a bench, she was starting to pant from tiredness and Atemu wasn't in the mood to run with her panting.
Angel asked Atemu in a serious tone with her eyes direct into his.
"What are we going to do?"
Atemu sighed and tried to keep himself together, Angel was still a kid and he didn't want her to get the wrong message that she was never going to see her big sister again.
Though Angel was smart enough to know what was going on, and she somewhat trusted Atemu that he would find her big sister and all would be well.
Well only, somewhat, she had still only known Atemu for six months and even though she was trusting of strangers, she didn't know what Atemu would do in a situation like this, mainly because he had never dealt with her in this situation.
Though Atemu had dealt with more stress than Angel knew. If she only knew how hard it was back in his time.
Even when he was with Yugi, just because he was the pharaoh, he was supposed to be the leader, the cool one.
The one to tell everyone what to do.
But to tell you the truth, Atemu hated being a leader, even though he was used to it.
He liked being in the group not just because the people but he liked that Shecka was the self appointed leader.
He didn't have to think on the hard decisions, Shecka was a born leader and Atemu liked her leading more than his own.
Maybe that was why Atemu was more relaxed then before; he was a follower, not a leader.
Though Atemu felt all that stress coming back when he lost track of Cal and Shecka, though he could deal with this stress.
He just didn't like to deal with it, but it looked like he had to.
Atemu sighed and looked at Angel, but before he looked at Angel he saw someone else that was leaving the museum.
That someone had spiky hair and a missing necklace on him.
That someone was Yugi motto and his purple eyes were looking straight into Atemus'!