AN: I don't own Yu Gi Oh! So tired, but anyway...this is a follow up to "Introduction"- once again b/c ppl asked for one...there will probably be two more following this one as well. So yeah I hope you guys enjoy this follow up and I want to thank you all again for reading and reviewing and for all the faves and such. I really appreciate them and it really does encourage the writing thing, boost of confidence and all.

Thanks for reading guys, you're all awesome and I hope you enjoy and I appreciate your feedback!

42. Mystery (follow up to "Introduction" Pt. 2)

Today, of all days, Yami was quite happy about Tokyo's crammed railway system. So far he'd been pushed, shoved, had his foot trampled, hit, and fallen into, but still, all-in-all he was happy. Very happy actually.

Though that probably had something to do with the young man whose hands seemed to be glued to his hips and whom he had his hand pressed rather intimately to the small of his back. This wonderful stranger didn't seem to realize that he was crushing Yami's foot or that a bruise shaped in the outline of a book bag handle was forming in his side, but a few bruises and mangled toes were sacrifices Yami was willing to make, especially when it meant saving this adorably bashful creature from bumping into less kind passengers.

"Maybe you should just stick to this train, and I'll make sure to look out for you. My name is Yami." He kept his voice low in the young man's ear and smirked when he felt the hitch in the stranger's breath.

"I-I'm Yuugi." Spoken barely loud enough for Yami to hear, but such a sweet name from such an innocently alluring voice. Normally he believed in forging one's own fate, but this lucky coincidence had to be some inkling of destiny.

Unfortunately for Yami his brush with divinity didn't seem to find the circumstances nearly as opportunistic. "I think-," the young man shifted in Yami's hold and the smirk turned to a frown. Maybe he had been too forward, this young man was obviously a shy kind of guy and, despite what he might have protested, naïve to more than just Tokyo public transit.

Maybe, he decided, he should apologize before he scared him away entirely. He opened his mouth and tried to figure out how to slip his hand into an less awkward position in the small space allowed when Yuugi spoke in an entirely different voice.

"I think I just missed my stop."

Yami raised his head away from Yuugi's ear just in time to watch as the train car began to pass the edge of the station platform. "Damn it, I'm gonna be so late." Yami's hand retreated to his former firm hold on Yuugi's back, where his thumb absentmindedly rubbed in a soothing motion. Once again he bent his head to speak directly into Yuugi's ear, who shivered when his breath tickled the fine hair below his temple.

"Hey, don't worry Yuugi. Get off at my stop with me, I can give you a ride to your school." He spoke comfortingly and sweetly authoritatively. "Which university do you go to?"

"N-no, r-really, I couldn't. I'll just get off at the next stop and-"

"Will you even know where you're going? I promise I can get you wherever you need to be in thirty minutes at most." Half of his words were drowned out by the train as it slowed to a stop and the doors opened wide, the station noise pouring into the small space.

"No, really," Yuugi was detaching himself, his hands already off Yami's sides as he began to slip from his grip.

Yami wasn't prepared to lose him so easily. He grabbed onto the edge of Yuugi's bag as he stepped back. "Wait, Yuugi-"

Someone from the other side bumped into Yuugi, pushing him forward and out the door with the other passengers, all the while with him looking back with utter horror until the doors slid shut and the train was off again. "Yuugi!" Yami called, but it was too late. 'His' little Yuugi was already long gone.

Well, mostly. When Yami looked down he knew quite well the reason for Yuugi's dismal expression as he was shoved from the train; still in Yami's hand was Yuugi's book bag, clutched in his firm grip. Now there was only one option.

When the train stopped at the next station Yami gracefully pushed his way through the burgeoning stampede and coolly exited to the street. While he walked toward a quieter place where he could sit down for a minute he pulled his cellphone from his pants' pocket and pressed the first button on his speed dial list.

"Mokuba, I'm going to be late...What should you tell Seto?" He paused momentarily. "Tell Kaiba Rhodopis lost his slipper."

"What? Yami, what are you-" Yami ended the call with a tap of his finger and slid the phone back into his pocket.

As he reached a tiny, quiet park, just a little inlet beside the bustling sidewalk, Yami found an empty bench and sat down. Gently he placed the book bag on his lap, unbuckled the fastened buckles, flipped open the protective flap, and smoothly unzipped the closed top.

"Now, my mysterious little Rhodopis," he muttered as his fingers tenderly skimmed the edges of binders and textbooks, "will you give me a clue to find you?"

FYI- Rhodopis is the name of 'Cinderella' in what appears to be the original version of the Cinderella story (it comes from ancient Egypt and involves a Greek slave losing her beautiful slipper as a hawk (the sign of Horus) carries it off and drops it in front of Pharaoh, who takes it as a sign and finds the owner and then makes her his queen).

Thanks for reading and see you soon!