A/N: Alright, I had way too much fun with this chapter. I love torturing Yuugi with Rebecca, she's just awesome. And originally I wasn't going to put in a scene about Malik quite yet, but I had a lot of questions about him, so I figured... why not? It should be pretty obvious what his problem (or at least one of them) is now. Sorry, there's no R/B yet, but that's coming up fairly soon. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

The sun was bright and the day was warm, with just a hint of a breeze. It would have been the perfect way to relax on the school roof during their lunch... except for one thing that he couldn't bring himself to forget about. "Ne, Ryou, do you guys want to come over to dinner tonight?" Yuugi asked with wide eyes. He sat down on the ground in the corner he and Ryou had claimed the day before, trying hard to ignore the fact that Tenno Atemu hadn't stopped staring at him since he'd walked onto the roof. It was extremely unnerving, but he didn't want to admit he even noticed the attention.

Ryou narrowed his brown eyes slightly. After years of friendship, he'd learned to recognize and be concerned when Yuugi was using his innocent voice. "Why?"

"No reason."

"Yuugi..."

Sighing, Yuugi gave in. "Rebecca-san is going to be there."

"What?" Ryou's shout was loud enough to garner the attention of several students around them, including that of the very group Yuugi had been trying to ignore. He blushed furiously at the stares and tried to lower his voice as he spoke. "Yuugi, are you crazy? Why are you letting that little menace back in your house?"

"I haven't got a choice." Yuugi pouted a little and shrugged off the blue coat of his uniform. Ryou took it from him and folded it before placing it on the ground. "Jii-chan invited them without asking me first. He's already said that I have to straight home after school. Please, Ryou, won't you come?"

"Sorry, but no way," said Ryou, lifting his hands to cover his soft white hair protectively. "Last time I was there, Rebecca-san tied me to your bed and tried to color my hair with purple dye. Do you know how difficult it is to get colored dye out of white hair? It was only by sheer luck that Hawkins-san walked in and stopped her."

Yuugi's mouth twitched. "Yeah, I remember. She hit Malik over the head with her teddy bear and almost knocked him out, and then tied me to my desk chair." He shuddered. Rebecca was an attractive girl, certainly, but he had no interest in making out with her, and she had serious problems when it came to taking "no" for an answer. Thank god Professor Hawkins had stumbled onto the scene when he had, though the man had been under the impression that they were playing some weird kind of game. Some game! "I swear, if she comes near me with rope this time, I'm jumping out the window."

Chuckling, Ryou shook his head and smiled apologetically. "You're on your own, Yuugi. If that menace is in town, I'm locking my doors."

"Gee, thanks." Sulking, Yuugi pulled his treasure box from his pocket and dipped his fingers into the golden pieces, knowing that it would make him feel better. He'd spent some time working on it that morning during the break, and as a result, the puzzle was nearly three quarters finished. He wasn't sure whether that fact made him happy or sad. "Jii-chan says I have to be there. He said that Rebecca-san is really looking forward to seeing me."

"You have my deepest sympathies."

"I'm sure." Yuugi leaned back against the wall with a sigh and idily plucked a single gold piece from the box. He began trying to fit it into the chunk he'd already completed, twisting it every which way to see if it would. "Are... they still looking?"

"Yes," Ryou said, taking a quick glance over his shoulder. "They are."

It hadn't been very difficult to get information on the people who looked so much like he and Yuugi. Ryou had asked one of the girls in homeroom that morning, and gotten a rather stalker-ish rundown on all of them. The one who looked like Yuugi was named Tenno Atemu, but everyone knew him as Yami. His own look-a-like went by the name of Takahashi Bakura, a fact which continued to disturb Ryou – how on earth could his last name be the same as that kid's first name? Malik's counterpart was Yamada Mariku. Finally, there was Kaiba Seto (a name that was impossible not to recognize) and his boyfriend, Jounouchi Katsuya, a boy that he and Yuugi had known in middle school but hadn't approached yet. Unfortunately, knowing their names hadn't really done anything, and none of the other students in the school seemed to know much more about them that would actually be useful, not unless they were interested in pure gossip. Neither Ryou nor Yuugi dared to approach the group, and Malik was stuck with one of their teachers, catching up on what he'd missed.

"I'm telling you, Ryou, it was them," Yuugi insisted, absently clicking a piece of the puzzle into place. "I heard them refer to each other by name. There's no way it could be a coincidence. That's impossible."

"I believe you, it just freaks me out," the white-haired boy replied. He shivered, feeling a piercing set of reddish brown eyes on his back. Bakura had been openly watching him for the past fifteen minutes, and it was beginning to creep him out to the point where he would be glad when the bell rang to go back inside. "What do you think it means?

Yuugi grimaced and gave up on the puzzle for the time being as he gingerly rubbed the back of his head, where he'd hit the ground the night before. The pain in his temples hadn't entirely disappeared, and it was blossoming into a full headache as the day went on. "I have no idea, but hopefully, it doesn't mean anything. The last thing Malik needs is to get into any kind of trouble, and if someone starts threatening us, you know that's what will happen."

Ryou sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"Maybe..." he said quietly, "I should stop working on the puzzle."

"What? But you love the puzzle," Ryou protested, genuinely amazed.

"I know, but Tenno mentioned the puzzle last night and said that he thought he could sense it. I know that there's a possibility that he was talking about a different puzzle, but it just seems like too much of a coincidence, and if this puzzle going to cause trouble for us, maybe it's best that I stop." Unconsciously, he cluthed the golden artifact to his chest. The puzzle had been a source of comfort for years, and even talking about giving it up was difficult.

"You can't. No matter what, you have to keep working on that puzzle," Ryou said firmly. "I just have this feeling that you'll be sorry if you stop. You've put your heart and soul into solving that puzzle, so no matter what happens, I think you should keep going. I know that if my father had given me something like that, well... I wouldn't stop until it was complete." He ended his speech on a quiet note and looked down at the ground, knowing that the chances of Osamu ever giving him a gift like the puzzle were slim to none. His father tended to send gifts that were handy, and even though sometimes they were expensive, the lack of thought put into them generally meant they were useless to a boy like Ryou.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Yuugi said with a tiny smile. He gazed down at the puzzle and stroked the gold surface gently. "I just can't wait to see what will happen when I finish putting it together."

GMA

School, Malik had come to realize, was one of those few things about the surface world that completely sucked. When he'd lived underground with his sister and father, there had been no need for school; his father had taught them what little information that they needed to know. It was exasperating to understand just how much he and Ishizu had never had the chance to learn, and he often struggled in school because he lacked the basics. How his sister got by in the world with an actual job, he'd never know. He clenched his fists lightly behind his back and held in a sigh, trying to listen as Miyamoto set yet another book down in front of him. That was like the third textbook in ten minutes. Was she crazy?

"I hope that we are not going to have a problem with you this year, Ishtar-san," she said sternly, looking him square in the eyes. "Missing the first day of school is not a good sign of things to come. I would certainly hate to see your chance for a new beginning at this school be squandered because of laziness."

Malik nearly laughed in her face. A new beginning? Yeah, right. The first and last time he'd believed that was just after his father had done something to get them kicked out of the tomb keepers cult. Even now, years later, the man still refused to admit to what he'd done, and asking (something he hadn't dared do for a while) only provoked him into a rage that generally ended with Ishizu in tears and Malik in a hell of a lot of pain. At first, he had been young and naive enough to believe that living on the surface would be different. It wasn't.

"Yes, sensei," he mumbled finally, unconsciously rubbing at his aching shoulder – the result of getting in between his father and Ishizu after the man'd had one too many drinks the night before last. He'd been slammed against the wall so hard that it had been several hours before he could move his fingers, much less his whole arm. Seeing the vivid bruising and swelling, Ishizu had insisted that he take the day off, and given that he hadn't wanted to worry his friends or upset her any more, he'd agreed. If he'd known that his teacher was going to corner him and insist he stay in during lunch, he might have come anyway.

"Yesterday's homework was the first page in your workbook. I'd like you to complete it now so that you won't be behind this afternoon. You may eat while you work. I'm going to be stepping out for a minute." Miyamoto narrowed her eyes, like she was expecting him to be dancing on the desks when she got back. Malik just stared back in a stony silence until she'd left the room and he couldn't hear the sound of her heels on the tile floor anymore.

"Fuck," he muttered, looking back down at the book. His should continued to throb, but he tried to ignore it as he flipped through the workbook, grimacing at the sight of the complicated formulas and equations. If Ryou had been there, his friend would have gladly explained (and probably done) the work for him. As it was, there was just no way Malik was going to spend his lunch working. Fuck that. He shoved the books away and laid his head down, pillowed on top of his arms, and closed his eyes.

Nearly silent footsteps easing into the room prevented him from falling asleep entirely. He tensed, fully prepared for the sound of Miyamoto scolding him for not working, but not for the feeling of arms winding around his body. Shocked, Malik lashed out immediately, punching the person in the jaw, and tried to use the time to wriggle out of the strong grip. His foot knocked against the desk and sent most of his textbooks to the floor with a loud crash. Low laughter rang in his ear as the person stood up, heedless of the way that Malik was kicking him, and bringing their bodies into full contact.

"Hello, pretty hikari," that voice purred into his ear.

"What the..." Malik twisted and saw that he was being held by the same man who had nearly come after he and his friends that morning. Up close, the differences between he and Malik were more noticeable. Hair a shade or two darker than Malik's stuck up in crazed spikes over the man's head. He smiled broadly, revealing teeth that actually looked kind of pointed, and took Malik's chin in hand so that the younger boy couldn't look away from the wild eyes, which were so dark a purple that they looked black in the light. Swallowing hard, Malik tried to punch him a second time, and was alarmed when his chin was freed and his hand was easily grabbed. "What the fuck are you doing? Let go of me!"

"So pretty..." the man sighed, kissing Malik's cheek. The kisses trailed lower, down his neck, and Malik squirmed in an effort to get free. "Such a spitfire... and you feel so nice... No wonder Yami was so anxious about his hikari. If I'd known this was what you felt like, I'd have approached you much sooner!"

"Bastard, get the fuck off!" Malik shouted, wrenching his hand free. Pain shot through his shoulder and he gasped, freezing in place. Abruptly, the man let go, nearly sending Malik to the floor as the sound of running footsteps neared the room. He balanced himself against the desk and grabbed his shoulder, biting his lip so hard that he tasted blood. Tears threatened to sting at his eyes, but he fought them back. Only once he was certain that he was under control did he look up, intending to confront the man. But the room was empty save for him, and Malik stared in astonishment. "What the... where did he go?"

"Ishtar-san!" Miyamoto appeared in the doorway, her face red with anger. "What is the meaning of all of this shouting? And what... what are you doing with your textbooks? Why are they on the floor?"

Malik stared at her dumbly as she strode across the room towards him, then looked past her to the door, completely ignoring the way that she launched into a full scale lecture about the importance of treating one's schoolbooks with care. Where the hell had that bastard gone? Why had he backed off so suddenly? Gingerly, he rubbed his shoulder, which continued to ache with sharp little pulses of pain that ran down his arm. He gritted his teeth. Whoever he was, the next time he came around, he was getting a knife to the ribs.

GMA

That afternoon, Yuugi slowly walked home from school by himself. Ryou refused to come anywhere near the place where "that nightmare" was going to be, and Malik had just teased him mercilessly about Rebecca before, after glancing around the schoolyard rather nervously, heading home with Ryou. Every step that brought him closer to the Kame Game Shop made his stomach sink lower, particularly when he finally rounded the corner to his street and saw the familiar black car already parked at the side of the shop. Why did his grandfather have to be such good friends with Arthur Hawkins, of all people?

As quietly as possible, he pushed the back door of the shop open and slipped inside. He could hear voices coming from the front, where Sugoroku and Arthur were no doubt deel into discussion while minding the shop at the same time. Even though the polite thing to do would have been to greet the two of them, Yuugi chose to sneak up the stairs to the third floor, hoping that he could get to his bedroom before Rebecca realized he was home. His wish came true... sort of.

"Rebecca-san, what are you doing on my bed?" he yelped.

The younger girl giggled and bounced off of the bed, landing neatly on the floor. "I've been waiting for you, Yuugi-chan," she said with an impish grin, winding a strand of her light blonde hair around her finger. She was dressed in a white tank top, a deep blue jacket, and a turquoise skirt that had blue sparkles woven through it. "Aren't you happy to see me, Darling?"

"Er... well... yes... of course..." Yuugi said, inching backwards. "I just wasn't expecting to see you... in my room... on my bed... wearing my jacket," he added, suddenly recognizing the blue jacket she wore.

"Oh, I found it in your closet," Rebecca said, tossing her hair over her shoulder and cuddling into the jacket. "It fits me perfectly. It's just another sign that we're made for each other!"

"Yeah, sure," muttered Yuugi, suddenly relieved that Malik and Ryou hadn't come after all. His friends would have pissed themselves laughing by that point. "Rebecca-san, could you... get out? I'd like to get changed."

"You can change in front of me, Yuugi-chan. There doesn't need to be any secrets between us."

Yuugi looked at her like she'd lost her mind. As gently as possible, he took her by the arm and forcibly guided her out of the room. Rebecca pouted as the door was firmly closed behind her. She just couldn't understand why Yuugi kept trying to fight fate. Didn't he realize that the two of them were made for each other? He hadn't even commented on her haircut, or on the brand new skirt she was wearing! Boys were dense, but she'd never realized how bad it could get. Maybe if she helped him get undressed...

"Yuugi-chan – "

"No!" Yuugi shouted from the other side, desperately wishing that his door had a lock. He changed out of his school uniform as quickly as he could, keeping one eye on the handle, because he wouldn't have put it past Rebecca to try sneaking back into the room. Once he was wearing his jeans and a regular shirt, he folded his uniform and put it back into his closet with much more care than he normally would in an effort to delay the inevitable. Sooner or later, Sugoroku would catch on to the fact that he was trying to hide and make him come downstairs. Was it better to wait for that to happen, or accept defeat?

"Darling, I'm waiting for you!" Rebecca's voice sang.

Hanging his head in defeat, he opened the door and allowed her to glomp onto his arm. The two of them made their way down the stairs awkwardly, as she flat out refused to let go. Sugoroku was just putting a platter of roasted chicken down on the table when he saw his grandson and Rebecca, and he had to duck his head to hide his grin. Even though Arthur had long hoped that Yuugi might eventually come around to dating Rebecca, Sugoroku was well aware of his grandson's feelings towards the girl. It was nothing short of amusing to see Yuugi, who was normally so cheerful, try to deal with the clingy girl.

"Sit down, you two. Dinner is ready," he said.

Sugoroku sat down at the head of the table with Arthur across from him, leaving Yuugi and Rebecca to sit on either side, and began to dish out the food. At first, Yuugi was happy, relieved that he wasn't sitting beside Rebecca, because last time she had tried to hand feed him. Until he felt the foot "innocently" sliding up his leg, anyway – then all of his relief went flying out the window. He stiffened, his violet eyes widening slightly when Rebecca's sandal-clad foot stretched and began nudging his crotch. Above the table, Rebecca was thanking Sugoroku for the mashed potatoes, but she tilted her head and shot Yuugi a little wink.

"Oh my god," Yuugi muttered, quickly scooting his chair back a few inches. Her foot fell from his lap and Rebecca sulked, poking at her chicken. She couldn't move any closer to the table and her foot wouldn't reach no matter how far she stretched.

"Yuugi-kun, isn't that uncomfortable?" Arthur asked, looking at him in surprise.

"It's the latest... er... fad," he lied hastily. His position made it rather difficult to eat his food, as he had to scoop the food up with his fork and lever it to his mouth while keeping his lower half away from the table. His grandfather looked far too amused to bother scolding him for his poor table manners. Yuugi shot the man a desperate look and said quickly, "So tell me, Hawkins-san, is it true that you've had a new discovery on the dig?"

Arthur's eyes lit up. "Why yes, it's the most fascinating thing. You see..."

The meal was eaten in relative peace after that, though Rebecca's gleaming turquoise eyes never left Yuugi, who felt like a rabbit being stalked by a lion. She kept dipping her fingers in the potatoes and licking them off slowly in a way that was extremely disturbing when he remembered that she was only twelve years old. It didn't help that Arthur and Sugoroku seemed to be utterly unaware of her little game, as the two of them were completely occupied by the new discovery. Yuugi managed to shovel down half of his food before he leapt up, giving many apologies and claiming tons of homework as his excuse. As he escaped into the kitchen, he was glad to hear Arthur scolding Rebecca for trying to follow him when he was clearly busy with schoolwork. Quickly, he scraped the remainder of his food into the garbage and fled up the stairs.

Gratefully, he closed the door of his bedroom and sat down at his desk chair with a deep sigh. The dinner hadn't been too bad once he'd gotten out of Rebecca's reach, but it was what would happen now that he was really concerned about. He would have to make sure that he stayed downstairs around chaperones once dessert was served, since Malik and Ryou weren't around to help him fend Rebecca off. But in the meantime... with a pleased smile, he got up and rummaged around in the pocket of his school uniform until he found the golden box that held his puzzle. Sitting back down at his desk, he lifted off the top of the box and took the completed chunk out. There was only a handful of pieces left to be fitted together.

"After all this time, I'm nearly done," he whispered, turning the puzzle around in his hands. Now that he was nearly finished, he could see that it would take the shape of an upside pyramid, with a hoop on the top where it could be strung on a cord. Eagerly, he scooped up another piece and, within seconds, had fastened it into place. His fingers reached for a second one.

The distant voices of his grandfather and their two guests were the only sounds he could hear, and eventually, even those faded away into the background as he gave himself over to the puzzle and came ever closer to the end. It was easier to make the pieces fit when he allowed his mind to go blank. Finally, there were two pieces left, and then, only one. Yuugi turned the puzzle so that the gap where the last piece, the one with a peculiar eye-shaped symbol, would fit was facing him. He was beaming with excitement as he grabbed the last piece and gently slotted it into place.

Immediately, the symbo of the eye began to glow with a golden light, which formed into a beam that struck Yuugi in the in the middle of his forehead. He sat there in frozen shock, too stunned to do anything but stare as the light expanded, surrounding him in a column, and intensified in brightness to the point where he had to close his eyes or be blinded. Warmth tingled along his skin, and the puzzle grew hot, burning the skin of his hands. His mouth dropped open in a wordless whimper of pain, and he instinctively tried to let go but found that he couldn't; his hands were trapped around the puzzle. Yuugi forced his eyes open and was just barely able to make out the dark, shadowed figure standing a couple of feet away from him.

Then suddenly, the light vanished and left him feeling completely drained of energy, even more so than the time he and his friends had stayed up for three days straight. The puzzle slipped from his aching fingers and landed on the floor as he began to slide from his chair, too exhausted to even hold himself up or walk over to his bed. He closed his eyes again and tensed, ready for the impact with the floor, when his body stopped, having fallen against something – or someone. Someone who was taller than his grandfather but shorter than Arthur Hawkins, someone who held him gently. That left one person, and if he'd had the strength, he would have groaned.

"R... Rebecca... san..." he mumbled, eyes fluttering shut. "G-go... go... 'way..."

"Shh, Little One. Go to sleep."

The deep, unfamiliar voice had him on instant alert. Yuugi's eyes snapped open and he blinked, craning his neck to look up. Violet eyes widened. Tenno Atemu – "Yami" – was looking down at him, arms wrapped loosely around Yuugi's shoulders to stop him from falling. The symbol of the puzzle was glowing on his tanned forehead in gold, just above two rather captivating crimson eyes. Tenno smiled, as though sensing Yuugi's thoughts, and tenderly scooped up the smaller boy. He easily carried Yuugi over to his bed and set him down on top of the blankets.

"Go to sleep," he repeated, lightly stroking his fingers against Yuugi's cheek. "It takes a lot of energy for the puzzle to forge a bond between us. You'll feel better once you've slept the night through. We will speak tomorrow, my little hikari."

"Who..." Yuugi tried. "What..." There were so many questions he wanted to ask, like how the hell Tenno had gotten into his bedrrom, but even forcing those scant words out had taken what little energy he had left. Against his will, his eyes closed again, and sleep took him over almost instantly.

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