Kaiba walked down a crowded sidewalk, looking around frantically for two other shadow angels. 'They're crazy,' He thought in a sharp rush. 'No, beyond crazy. I can't believe they threw me off their course. What will the king say?" He shuddered. Atem was going to murder him and eat his insides for dinner. It was his job to keep Bakura and Marik in line, and what did he do? He let them slip by and get into the human world.

A man in a blue suit knocked shoulders with Kaiba in his rush, and Kaiba stepped aside quickly, not wanting anyone to be able to feel his wings tucked securely under his shirt. He was going to choke Bakura and Marik to death when he found them. He could feel his muscles tightening with stress. At the sound of wings, Kaiba looked up and saw a pigeon sitting on the top of a building. He let out a frustrated sigh. Of course it was a bird. Not even Bakura and Marik would walk around here with their wings out…right? Right?

…Oh, god. He had to find them quickly.

"Are you here for a drink or something?" A voice asked in a slight southern drawl, and Kaiba looked down to see a girl looking back.

"I…what?"

"Well, you were looking at our sign all focused like, so I thought maybe you wanted to come inside?" She raised an eyebrow, and Kaiba looked around, noticing that he was standing right in front of a small café. She suddenly smiled and pulled on his arm. "C'mon. You look like you need a break."

"Wai—" His protest was ignored ad he was pulled inside. The girl sat him down at a table by the window and regarded him seriously.

"Look, sir, you don't have to order anything, but you look real troubled. So please just…sit here and relax, okay?" She smiled again. "I mean, you look so wound up and tight that I could shove a lump of coal up your ass and in two weeks it'd be a diamond!" She dropped a menu in front of him, gave one last smile, and left.

Kaiba dropped his head in his hands, unable to believe the series of events currently happening to him. He stared at the white table below him, trying to figure out where Bakura and Marik could possibly be. The sound of a bell rang out, and Kaiba looked over at the counter where a blonde was placing someone's money in the register.

He was tall, but Kaiba could tell that he was about sixteen to eighteen years old. Probably a high scholar saving up as much money as he could. Feeling Kaiba's stare, the blonde looked up, and amber-brown eyes met his blue ones. They held a certain eagerness and pride in them. 'Like a dog...' Kaiba joked. Something about the kid interested and pissed him off at the same time. The blonde looked away, but after another few moments, he looked back, his expression now annoyed. He walked around the counter, and to Kaiba's surprise, he stopped at his table.

"You want to order anythin', or are you hear to stare at me?" He asked, frowning and folding his arms.

Kaiba was surprised by his bravery, and he decided to have some fun.
"What, do you like it when I stare at you?"

The other's eyes narrowed.
"What are you tryin' to say?"

"I think my question was perfectly clear," Kaiba smirked, and he set his head on top of his clasped hands. After a slight pause, he added, "…Mutt." There was a loud bang as the boy slammed his hands down on the table, causing everything to jump. Kaiba raised one eyebrow at him, just waiting.

"Do I need to shove my foot up you're arrogant a—"

"Jou!" A red head was suddenly beside him with a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Man, don't let the boss hear you talking like that. You're in deep water already." The red head then looked at Kaiba. "Sir, if you keep doing...whatever it is you're doing to make him mad, you'll have to leave." He grabbed Jou and started to haul him away, Jou whining something about, "C'mon. Just one punch won't hurt…"

Kaiba chuckled to himself, but then suddenly realized what he was doing. He didn't have time for this. He had to go get Bakura and Marik.

Marik grinned as the church burned to the ground below him. The smell of smoke filled the air he was flying on, and the heat from the flames warmed his body. This was so much fun. He would've never been able to do stuff like this back home. Atem would've stopped him. But here…God, here he was free. With a laugh, Marik shot off through the sky, only stopping when he was far from the scene of the crime. He landed in an alley and tucked in his wings before pulling on his black shirt. Then he stepped out onto the sidewalk, joining the bustling crowd.

Something suddenly smacked into him. Marik let out a small growl as the boy stumbled back and rubbed his head.
"Okay, ow. That hurt. What are you made of—bricks?" He snapped irritably, then he stopped himself. "No, sorry. I'm the one who ran into you. Sorry, sir."

"My name is Marik, stupid." Marik said, annoyed.

The kid raised his eyebrow at Marik's tone, but didn't say anything about it. "Well, I'm Malik." The boy suddenly laughed, slightly confusing Marik with the sudden mood shift. "This is really weird but...are you my twin or something?" He asked, taking in their similarities. But where his hair lay straight to his shoulders, Marik's stood on end.

"I most certainly am not!" Marik retorted. God, just the thought of being related to a human was enough to make him gag.

"Oh." An unsettled silence fell between them. "Hey, I was just joking anyway. I only have a sister."

"How unfortunate."

"I guess so…?" Malik looked confused. "She's a good sister though—a good person actually. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You have any siblings?"

"No."

"Friends?"

Marik thought about Bakura, Kaiba, and Atem.
"Perhaps." He shrugged. "Not really.

"Well, then," Malik suddenly linked arms with Marik, who just stared at him, appalled. "I guess I'll have to be your friend then. It's the least I can do for running into you like that."

Marik couldn't believe a human had just grabbed hold of him without flinching away. Marik couldn't believe that he didn't really mind. Being around the humans was messing up his mind.

"Come on. I was going to meet Ryou at the library." Malik started leading Marik, who was still so shocked that he followed without a fight, down the sidewalk. "He's one of my best friends."

'What would everyone say if they saw me now?' He wondered. But then a smirk slowly made its way to his face. 'Looks like I found my human play thing.'

"That moron!" Bakura grumbled angrily. "How the hell did he slip away?" He looked around him for Marik, but seeing that the said man wasn't around anymore, he started walking forward with a frustrated sigh. 'I need an Advil...' He thought darkly. 'I hope Marik hasn't done anything stupid.'

When he looked up, he saw that he was standing in front of a rather large library. One boy with white hair stood close to the entrance, looking around expectantly. A wicked idea formed in Bakura's head, and he walked around so he could sneak up on the boy. Slowly, carefully, he leaned over and whispered into his ear.

"And what are you waiting for?"

The boy let out a loud scream, dropped his bag, and whirled around. His brown eyes were wide with fear. "Bloody hell!" He managed, placing a hand over his heart. "Why would you do that? You just scared me!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Bakura said, but he was bent over with laughter on the inside. He bent down and picked up the bag and offered it to the other, surprising himself and the boy. Why did he just help this kid? "I'm Bakura." Why did he just give this kid his name?

The boy looked at the bag, then at Bakura. With a small smile, he took the bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Um, thanks. My name is Ryou."

Bakura kicked his foot at the ground, deciding that he didn't like the silence now drifting between them. "Are you waiting for something?"

"Yes. My friend Malik is meeting me here soon." Ryou looked at his watch. "But he's late."

"I see." Bakura paused. "Well, I'm looking for someone named Marik. He's got crazy hair—like something exploded. You heard of him?"

Ryou's look was blank. "No. I don't think I have." If Ryou hadn't heard about him, Marik must've not killed anybody. Yet. Bakura let out a long breath, not sure if he should be happy or pissed about this information.

"Ryou!" Somebody yelled out loudly, and Bakura looked behind him and what he saw made him roar with laughter. Marik was being pulled along behind a boy. He placed a hand on the libraries outside wall to hold himself up.

"Found a friend, Marik?" He asked when his laughs subsided. Marik only growled and shot him a look.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Marik replied. "It looks like you are the one who has found a little human friend." His grin was triumphant, but he knew he hadn't won—yet.

"Excuse me?" Bakura stopped laughing immediately. "You really need to stop sniffing those sharpies. I'm worried that they're killing what brain cells you have."

"Um, so you know each other?" Ryou asked timidly. Bakura and Marik shot a glance at him, but then went back to snarling at each other.

"Oh! Is he one of your friends?" Malik asked.

"Hell no!" Both men yelled, momentarily forgetting their little tiff.

"No need to get loud," Malik pouted. He shot a look to Bakura. "Stupid furby."

"What?" Bakura snapped. What the hell was a furby? He didn't know, but the way the boy had used it made it sound like an insult. Bakura didn't like being insulted, especially by something so insignificant as a human.

Malik just ignored Bakura and hugged Ryou. "Sorry to keep you waiting!" He apologized as he pulled away. "On my way I ran into this guy. Meet Marik."

"Yeah..." Marik muttered, rubbing his chest. "He literally ran into me."

"What the hell is a furb—" Bakura's yell was cut off as Ryou tapped his shoulder. He looked at him expectantly.

"You really shouldn't yell out in public," Ryou said, turning pink. "It's not nice."

Marik broke into such laughter at Bakura getting reprimanded; he had to lean against Malik in order to keep himself standing.

Kaiba studied Jou from across the café. He didn't know why, but he never brought himself to stand up and leave, though he said he would. After another ten minutes, he was becoming frustrated. But even more towards the front of his mind was the realization that Jou looked tense and bothered by something.

Jou suddenly dropped his tray on the counter and stalked over to Kaiba. His hand tightened around his water bottle as he stopped in front of him. "Look, if you're not goin' ta order anything, just leave." He snapped, his accent becoming more pronounced the more annoyed he got. "I have work ta do, and I don' feel like bein' stared at all damn day."

"Ouch." Kaiba said, placing a hand against his chest and feinting a hurt look. But he then pushed away from the table a bit and sighed. "All right, all right. I need to find Bakura and Marik anyway. I shouldn't have even stayed this long."

"You don't have to leave…" Jou said, folding his arms. "Just stop staring at me. And if you call me 'mutt' again, I will gladly kill you, even if I do lose my job for it."

"Hm." Kaiba grunted, then gave a careful nod. "You look like something's bothering you." He said before he could stop himself.

Jou blinked at him, and shrugged. "Yeah. There is." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "But it's not anythin' you need to worry about." He eyed Kaiba's face. "Besides, you look like something's botherin' you, too."

"I do?" Kaiba asked, surprised. "Huh. The girl said that, too—earlier when she dragged me in here."

"If you keep frowning like that, you'll get permanent lines." Jou said, pressing his index finger on the skin between Kaiba's eyebrows. A moment passed by them, and Kaiba couldn't remove his eyes from Jou's. Everything was quiet, and he wondered if the other staff was on lunch break or something. Then Jou removed his finger and it was over, leaving Kaiba to wonder exactly what had even happened.

"Aren't we the pair." Kaiba muttered, then he sighed. He suddenly kicked the chair across of him out and nodded at it. Jou got the hint and sat down, setting his water bottle on the table and watching Kaiba cautiously. "Well...my problem is something that's not really happening to me, but something I was dragged into. All because of Atem."

Jou's eyebrows shot up. "Atem?" He leaned forward. "Does this Atem you're talkin' about have crazy, tri-colored hair, tan skin, and ruby-like eyes?" Jou questioned.

Kaiba's eyebrows also shot up. "How did you know?"

"Oh, man." Jou chuckled and leaned back, shaking his head. "Let me guess. You're bothered because he's getting close to a boy named Yugi, right?"

"You know Yugi?"

"He's my best friend." Jou said. "Actually, Yug's the reason I'm bothered, too. I recently learned something about him that's pretty disturbing…something that made me want to kill."

"About his father?"

"Oh, good. You already know." Jou's voice was hardened in a way that Kaiba had never heard before. In that moment he knew that he had only annoyed Jou, because Jou hated Saguaro. He hated Saguaro's guts. Kaiba could tell by his tone. And Kaiba had to admit; he hated Yugi's father as well.

"Sick, isn't it?" Kaiba asked. "I'm not really worried about how close they are. I am happy for Atem. I'm just...I don't know."

"'The course of true love never did run smooth'." Jou quoted.

Kaiba gave him a brief smile, but it was taken over by his normal frown.
"But the problem is, are they really in love?"

Jou took a sip of his water and thought for a short moment.
"Well, I think that's something for them to find out on their own, not us."

"Marik, this isn't good." Bakura said under his breath as they followed behind the two younger men. "We can't be doing this. They're human." He paused. "I wasn't actually going to take a human back home. Atem would kill us. I just wanted to give Kaiba a hard time."

"I know. But think of it this way: we're breaking the law without Atem knowing." Marik suggested.

"That's always fun," Bakura admitted.

"Then let the fun begin," Marik smirked.