Chapter 5

The gang is still calling Ryou "Bakura" as in the show they call both of them that, and in Japan it is quite rude to call one another by your first name, though Kim and Anzu are an exception since they're girls.

"Hurry, run!" Jounouchi cried! Kim, Yugi, Anzu, and Honda were all running as fast as possible with the scruffy blonde, to avoid missing the final bell. They saw the gates and started to really book it.

"You're late! Do you want to get detention?" Karita shouted at the five

"Darn that Karita." Jounouchi grumbled, "Doesn't he know who saved him?"

"Yeah, he wasn't even a good villager." Honda grumbled.

"Good morning." a soft voice said beside the group and they all turned to see their new friend. Bakura.

"Oh hey, good morning." Kim greeted him happily. He had missed the past few days of school. He admitted to Kim over the phone that his hand was bothering him and he also just needed a couple days of rest before returning.

Ryou smiled at her, a little shyly but still appreciating her greeting.

"You still wearing that bandage?" Jounouchi asked. The whitenette merely shrugged off the comment

"I have something to show you guys." he said and held up a covered box that was in his hands,

"Something to show us?" Yugi repeated. Ryou nodded and lifted the sheet to show a glass display with some Monster World pieces, and all of their figurines gathered around. Bakura must've also made one for the other Yugi, as he stood above them all with a pair of dice.

"I made it as a memento for our friendship." he explained smiling at the group.

"It's wonderful." Kim assured him, noting that he seemed a little nervous about showing him something that he created.

"We can go again, sometime." Ryou said and the rest of the group nodded excitedly.

The bell rang and they all hurried to sit in their seats before the teacher could come in and give them a detention or lecture about not being ready on time.

(-+-+-+-+)

"Hey, Bakura." Kim stood from her seat. The bell had just rang, signaling the end of class, and all around them, students were eagerly putting their things away and shuffling outside the classroom. Jounouchi and Yugi had already skipped off to Yugi's game shop, Anzu had dance lessons, and Honda had to babysit his nephew.
All throughout class, Kim had chewed on her pencil nervously as she kept thinking about what she was just about to do.

Ryou turned his head to look at her, "Yes?" he answered as he began to put his books away.

"I um..." Kim felt herself blushing a little bit and she began to play with a lock of her hair "I...really like your skill in role playing." she admitted. Ryou blinked, both confused and a little embarrassed

"T-that wasn't really me..." he began to mumble.

"Well no, but, you must've started it all." she said hurriedly "And your collection is really...it's just incredible really."

"y-you think so?" Ryou asked. For the first time in for a very long time, he felt something swell in his chest. Pride? Hope? He didn't quite know, but here, a girl was complimenting him on his games. And he was still just a new student technically.

"Y-yeah. So um...d-do you mind if maybe I...well, join you on your adventures?" she asked and Ryou noted that Kim blushed easily. It was a harmless and innocent question, yet she seemed quite embarrassed about asking. And yet he felt warmth spread across his cheeks as well.

"I-I'd really like that." he said nodding to her. She smiled as she felt a little relieved.

"W-well great." she now began to play with her hands
He nodded, now a little unsure as to what to say. Both teenagers stayed in their positions, each a little shy about asking the next question.

"Do you-" they both started to say

"Sorry, go on." Ryou told her, Kim hesitated, wanting to urge him to say what he was going to say first, but nervously she began to speak.

"I was going to ask, but, do you...maybe want to come to Burger World with me? Or do you have plans already?"

"no, I don't have plans." Ryou smiled at her reassuringly "And I'd love to go there with you, I keep hearing a lot about it."

"oh it's good." she promised. Ryou stood and grabbed his briefcase, and Kim slung her bag over her shoulder. "I hope you like burgers."

"I do." he said nodding as he walked beside her through the hallways. "I haven't really had a burger in a long time though."

"Really?" Kim asked, and he nodded

"Yeah, I make everything myself."

"you can cook?" the burnette blinked in surprise. no guy would ever admit that he could cook.

"Well, I have to." he smiled sheepishly. "I live alone."

"Ah, right, sorry I didn't mean to-" she paused and sighed "Sorry."

"It's ok. maybe sometime you'll let me cook for you." Ryou blushed as he blurted the words out, and Kim felt the heat spread from her cheeks to her collar.

"I'd really like that actually." she said.

The two new friends kept their walking, now silent as they were unsure what to say next. But even with this silence, it wasn't awkward, Kim noted. It was just the two of them enjoying a walk through town.
"Something about this almost feels natural" Kim thought to herself. "It's odd, but I almost feel like I've been with him before. Even though this is the second time we've technically hung out."

"Well, here we are." Kim announced as they came into sight of the restaurant. Ryou didn't really need Kim to announce that they were there. The logo was draped around the front of the restaurant, with the top of the roof having a giant burger with a silly expression and hands gesturing them welcome. The smaller girl led him inside and they were seated by a hostess.
As Kim looked over the familiar menu, Ryou looked around the restaurant. it was a friendly place, he decided. The booths were comfortably spaced, the staff seemed nice, and the smells coming from the kitchen were making his stomach rumble.

"I think I'm going to get this bacon double cheeseburger meal." Kim decided, Ryou looked over to her and realized that their waitress was already taking their order. Hastily picked up his menu and saw the picture of the burger.

"Um...are you going to eat it all?" he asked, it seemed like a pretty big burger. Kim just shrugged

"Yeah." she said simply. Ryou gazed down at the menu and decided to just go with a regular double cheeseburger meal, with fries and a soft drink.

The waitress promised to have that out soon, and left the two alone.
"So Bakura...you didn't really specify, but, where are you from?" Kim asked,

"Oh, I lived in London for a while. But, my father and I have been traveling for his work lately." Ryou looked down at his hands, which were now playing with a napkin. He kept his brown eyes directed at his slender fingers messing with the cloth. "Like I said, I was home schooled during our travels, but eventually my father decided that I needed to be in school."

"Why didn't you go back to London?" Kim asked tilting her head "That sounds like an amazing place to live!"

Ryou was silent for a moment as he tried to come up with a satisfying answer
"Um, I just wanted a change of scenery I guess." He finally said after a long moment. "And to start all over. with what happened with, you know...Him."

Kim nodded, knowing what Ryou was referring to. The rumors in his native country must've prompted him to try again in a new country. It was fair that Ryou wanted to give the remainder of his high school life a new chance.

"What about you? Have you lived her all of your life? You seem to know the area so well."

"I guess. I've been here since I was four." Kim said. "I used to live in America actually."

"America?" Ryou asked "Why did you come here then?"

"My grandmother was sick, and my mom was sad that she couldn't care for her. So my dad managed to find work here so that way my mom could be with grandma for the rest of her days. and after she passed, well, it was home to us, so we stayed."

"Wow, that's...that was nice of your dad." Ryou said, and Kim shrugged

"yeah," she agreed.

"do you have family in America?"

"Oh yeah, tons. My dad was adopted into a really big family, he has fourteen brothers and sisters." she smiled. "And lots of distant relatives too. My family and I travel there once a year to go camping."

"That's nice." Ryou said honestly, feeling a slight ache in his heart. "how many siblings do you have?"

"ugh, too many. four brothers and four sisters." she rolled her eyes. "Although to be fair, we adopted a couple. My dad is a big softie when it comes to children, and since he was adopted, well...you know." she trailed off "How about you then? any brothers or sisters?"

"um...no." Ryou said after a long moment. "No, I'm an only child."

"I envy you, want to adopt a few kids?"
Ryou blushed and then laughed

"No, I don't think I'd be able to care for them."

"pity."

the two were back into silence, but it didn't last long as the waitress came back with their food. Ryou looked at Kim's meal and realized that the pictures really didn't do much justice. her food was actually bigger than what he anticipated. "She's so tiny, how is she going to eat that all?" Kim picked up her burger and began to eat, and he did as well.
"wow, this is really good."

Kim swallowed her mouthful of burger "I told you." she said with a grin and he managed to grin back at her.
Again, they fell into silence, each savoring their food.
Although, much to Ryou's surprise, Kim did finish the entire burger, as well as her fries and even asked a refill on her drink.

"Do you want to share a dessert?" Kim asked once he managed to polish off his meal.

"I don't think so, thank you though." a smile on his face "I feel like I might burst."

"Alright then." she agreed, it was probably better if she didn't get dessert, her mom was probably going to make something delicious for dinner anyway.

"So...what kind of role playing do you typically do?" Ryou asked.

"Well, I'm more of into you know, fantasy and maybe science fiction. I used to go to a forum page and did some with online friends, but eventually they lost interest or I just didn't like how they role played, so I stopped. Now I just write out stories and make characters if I'm bored enough."

"I see." Ryou nodded. "well, if you want, we can make our characters and do an online forum thing, just the two of us. and maybe we can bring others into it."

"That would be a lot of fun Ryou." Kim stopped as she realized that she called him by his first name. "Um, sorry, I didn't mean..."

"It's ok. I'm not used to addressing others by last names. I almost prefer if you called me by my first, if you don't mind." Ryou said quietly. Kim paused for a long moment, before she nodded.

"Ok," she agreed. after a long moment she said "so...I assume you like fantasy as well?"

(+_+_+_+)

"Well, that was a lot of fun." Ryou said as Kim headed out of his apartment. "Thank you for coming over!"

"No, thank you for letting me come." Kim grinned ear to ear. the two had just spent the entire evening coming up with stories, ideas, characters, and the settings and then made their own website. Kim missed dinner with her family, but Ryou cooked an excellent meal of spaghetti for her.

"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you home?"

"I'm only a few blocks away from you," she said, "besides, I don't know how my family will react to find out a boy has walked me home." she blushed slightly and Ryou rubbed the back of his head sheepishly

"ok, well...see you in school tomorrow."

"See you."

With that, Kim turned and left Ryou standing in his apartment. alone.

The young Brit rubbed his white hair a little and retreated back into the now quiet apartment. He had enjoyed having Kim over. He liked her sense of humor, the way she laughed at his own pathetic jokes, and her imagination. plus she had a tendency to throw in a lot of dark twists to characters or the story.

Ryou smiled to himself, he had a friend! He had assumed he'd live the rest of his high school days avoiding people. He figured it would just be him and his games for a very long time. But no, he had quickly befriended a group, one who had directly approached him and who had the same interests as himself.

the young boy sat on his couch, smiling up at his ceiling. for once, everything was going well. He had a stable roof over his head, a good school and a good friend. And this time, she wasn't in danger of a dark malevolent spirit.

"That's what you think" a dark voice whispered in his mind.

Well there you go. Another chapter, and this time I wasn't gone for nine months. haha.

but yeah, a new chapter.

I've been thinking about drawing Little Star into a doujinshi on my deviantart. As well as continue on here. but yeah, if you like this story and don't already, I would recommend going and checking out my DA. because there's so much more info on Kim and her story there. The link is on my profile. or you can message me asking what it is and I can send it to you.

Thanks for reading!

DSSM