Hey, guys! How have you been lately? (Smiles blithely) I hope all of you have fun at school! (But I'm not because of the homeworks and upcoming exams! T.T)
A very big thanks to a very kind Singaporean and US reader faved my story and I'm really happy when I found out about this! Thank you very much, Lumrosa-Chan and Malakia for brighten up my spirit!
I hope I get more hits and faves this time so without wasting your valuable time, let's go straight to the story but first…
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Beta: Sumire Mayonaka
Keys:
"Talks"
'Thoughts'
~Flashbacks~
Chapter 5: Conversation
Dark clouds scattered round the night blue sky with small tiny crickets singing joyfully like musicians, producing dulcet melodies that echoed throughout the dismal quiet forest. The pearl-like moon sent its luminous light to a specific place where four tents were found resting near the entrance.
It seemed that everyone was having a nice peaceful slumber except one who was laying on a king sized bed with thoughtful eyes staring at the opened window that caused the moonlight to enter his dull room.
His lavender orbs took a long gaze at the trees that stood nearby his tent and in that instant, the incident that happened earlier this morning abruptly played in his mind like an old movie.
~Flashback~
"Where the heck is he?" Malik thought aloud while surveying the woods in hope to find his target.
He was desperately searching for his older identical look-alike but there was no sign of a pineapple-head boy hiding around this area.
After what seemed like 2 hours of hide-and-seek, Malik finally gave up and climbed on a huge tree to take a rest.
"It should be easy to find him with his big muscular body and his strange, crazy spiked-up hair!" He muttered with a frown.
"Oh well, I guess I'll have to find him later, now I need a nap." Malik lay on the tree branch with his legs crossed.
Just as he was about to close his sleepy eyes, he felt hot breaths blowing gently near his sensitive ears. The mauve-eyed teen then sprang his head round and he was instantly met with a similar but narrower lavender eyes.
Their noses touched and their lips were almost an inch apart from each other. The duo stared at one another with a dumb-founded expression on the younger adolescent while the older youth had lust glint in his mauve irises.
The time seemed to freeze in a minute but the sound of two sparrows chirping noisily to each other startled the 'twins'.
The younger stripling managed to regain his consciousness and without thinking, kicked Marik's chest so hard that he dropped to the ground with a loud thud.
"Ha! I finally found you, now I can have my revenge!" Malik laughed nervously while trying to wipe away the blush that appeared on his cheeks a few seconds ago.
Before Marik had a chance to reply, the youth jumped and immediately pinned his look-alike onto the ground.
"Got cha!" Malik's grin grew so wide that it covered almost half of his face but that smile did not last long as Marik tackled him and later on managed to escape from his trap.
"Catch me if you can." The adolescent spoke in a singsong tone while beaming in triumph.
In a split second, he was lost in sight, leaving a very furious Malik alone on the spot.
~Flashback ended~
"Stop thinking about that jerk, Malik!" He mumbled to himself while at the same time, grabbing a soft white pillow and pressed his face into it as hard as he could.
"Just go to sleep." Were his last words before he forced himself to shut his eyes and eventually drifted into a deep sleep.
-The next morning-
While the four college students were having breakfast in Ryou's tent, a sweet melody disturbed their chat and Yugi looked at his sky-blue digital watch to find out that he received a call from his friend.
"It's Tea." Yugi spoke audibly and that caught the threesome's attention.
"Tea?" Joey asked with a surprised expression written on his face, his mouth opened so wide that you could see spaghetti and some chili sauce in it.
The star-shaped haired boy took off his watch and placed it on the middle of the table. Soon, a big transparent screen popped out from the watch's small round mirror and that's when an image of a teenage girl began to emerge.
"Hi everyone, it's been a while, hasn't it? How are you?" Tea spoke cheerily with a huge charming smile gracing on her rosy lips.
Before anyone had a chance to reply, another brunet appeared out of nowhere and simply grabbed her shoulders.
"Hey guys, what's up?" He greeted with a huge grin.
"Yo, Tristan, how are ya, man?" Joey exclaimed blithely, seeing his childhood friend enlightened his spirit.
A few seconds later, an emerald-eyed teen stood by their side followed by a beautiful young woman who stared at the screen with her usual sexy look.
"Hey honey, how have you been these days?" The woman with long, silky blonde hair spoke in the sweetest tone possible.
The girl with short brown hair and large ocean blue eyes was named Tea Gardner.
The man that stood beside her who had short, straight dark brown hair that shot like a pointy blade towards the front with narrow brown eyes was known as Tristan Taylor.
Duke Devlin had long straight black hair that tied up in a ponytail style with a red headband wrapped around his head. He also had narrow green eyes and wore two earrings with a tiny dice at each end for decorations.
Mai Valentine was the woman who had long, silky blonde hair that ran down her waist with zigzag bangs in front of her face. Her attractive narrow violet orbs sparkled in the sunlight.
"Everything's fine here, I'm glad that you call us, we all miss you." Yugi said with a smile.
The brunette chuckled while others laughed like chiming bells.
"Yugi, it's only been 3 days."
"Plus, it's just a one-month summer holiday." Duke answered casually as always.
"Yeah, I guess…"
"Anyways, how have you been these days?" Joey asked curiously.
"Well as you can see, we're in the park that's located near my apartment so that we can do some research about the plants." Tristan replied.
In the screen, you could see enchanted flowers and trees encircled the park with young urchins playing in the playground while their parents sat on the benches, chatting happily with each other. Tea and Mai were each sitting on the swing; the other two boys were sitting on a long wooden seesaw while staring at the screen in the opposite direction.
"How about you guys? And mind if I ask, where is your camping place?" Tristan enquired but it was his second question that surprised the foursome.
They obviously knew that Yugi and the others were in a tent judging from the look of the surroundings and now, they had to think of a quick but reasonable answer before their friends get suspicious.
However, Joey was the first person who answered his question.
"We're in the forest…" Joey blurted aloud but when he realized what he just said, his eyes goggled and his skin slowly turned to as pale as a white sheet of paper.
The three adolescents smacked their faces mentally due to Joey's stupidity.
"Forest?" Duke raised an eyebrow at hearing that remark.
"There's no forest in Japan."
Due to the fact that the population in Japan was increasing rapidly every year, the government had to plan deforestation in order to build more houses and industries.
"Are you hiding something from us?" Tea interrogated while at the same time, glaring at the nervous teens ambiguously.
Joey gulped fretfully before saying,
"Actually…"
"Actually!" Malik quickly interrupted his speech.
"We're now in Brasilia's forest reserve that is famously known in Brazil."
As expected, their four friends gasped in shock.
"Brasilia? You mean the one we usually see on TV?" Tristan spoke in an astonished tone.
"The only forest that was awarded a World Heritage Site for nature?" Mai exclaimed; feeling stunned as well.
"I once read the newspaper about it, most of the flora and fauna that's going to extinct in this world can only be found in that forest." Duke said before cogitating, causing the three enthusiastic compeers that stood beside him awestruck.
"Yep, the one and only!" Malik pretended to beam with that smug look on his tan face while his three companions sighed in relief.
"But why didn't you tell us anything about this earlier?" Tea inquired again, making the foursome went back at their wit's end.
"And how did you get through the barrier?" Mai asked curiously.
" If I'm not mistaken, the government doesn't allow citizens to travel throughout the country other than Japan itself unless it's for business or something crucial." Duke's remark made their expression turned back to suspicion.
Fortunately, Yugi managed to answer that question thanks to his perspicacity.
"My dad won a lucky draw from his company and got four free tickets to Brasilia's forest reserve for 5 days and 4 nights two days ago. However, the expiry date for those tickets is within this week so my father told me about this and then asked me to invite my friends as soon as possible."
He paused for a moment to see his friends were listening intently to everything he said on the screen, so he continued his explanation without further delay.
"I was petrified because this happened so suddenly but in the end, Joey, Malik, Ryou and I went straight to the airport and landed here safely yesterday evening."
"We are actually planning to tell you later this afternoon but we didn't expect you to call us now." Ryou quickly added in case they feel doubtful again.
"Hmm…that's plausible." Duke nodded with his hand placed on his chin.
"Aren't your parents worried about you? I mean going to spend the night in the forest alone without any adults beside you?" Tea questioned them like the FBI.
'She is starting to get on my nerves.' Yugi thought silently but little did he know that his three comrades were all having the same thought.
"Don't worry." Yugi assured her.
"My parents are staying with us, they just need to buy another ticket for themselves."
The brunette sighed in relief before giving him her usual bright smile.
"That's a relief."
Before anyone had the chance to speak, the sound of a doorbell echoed around the room. Yugi gave a quick glance at his three mates, who swiftly nodded in response. They knew exactly who's behind that door.
"Are those your parents?" Mai questioned, earning a nod from the tricolor-haired teen.
"So…I guess we'll talk to you later." Tristan said and that one simple sentence instantly brightened up their spirits. They couldn't bear to tell their friends any more lies, not when they were out of contrivance.
"I hope you have fun there." Duke said before grinning.
"I'm so jealous that you guys get to visit that place while we have to stay here doing our project!" Tea squealed in excitement, yet her genuine ocean blue eyes shown a glint of sadness.
Just then, the doorbell rang again and Ryou scrambled to get the door opened.
"Bye guys, see ya!" Joey exclaimed while the foursome waved in unison.
"Bye!" was their last word before the screen disappeared in a flash.
Tea switched her watch back to its original look before coiling it around her wrist.
"I bet they have fun there, not many people get the chance of staying outside Japan." Tristan said before straightening himself.
"I can't believe they get to visit that place in this summer holiday!" Tea uttered a cry of jealously.
"But I thought visitors aren't allowed to enter a forest reserve because they fear that some people might steal valuable plants from it or hunt down wildlife for their own benefit." Duke whispered more to himself than his compeers but they heard him clear enough.
"Maybe Brasilia's forest reserve is an exception to this, you think too much, Duke." Tristan grinned before wrapping his arm round Duke's shoulder.
"I guess."
"So…" Mai decided to change the topic. "Anyone wants pizza?"
The three teens grinned in thought as they walked towards the restaurant that's located on the other side of the street. However, none of them noticed a lone slim figure that hid itself behind a tree with piercing eyes gazing at them like a hunting predator. Its smile slowly turned into a cruel smirk before the figure disappeared as quickly as the gusting wind.
"Phew, that was close." Joey sprawled himself in a dining chair while Yugi placed his watch back to his thin wrist.
Just as he was about to relax, the lavender-eyed youth grabbed his shirt collar and yelled in the ear almost immediately.
"Joey, you idiot! Do you realize what you've just done?"
The honey-brown eyed stripling yelped in fright but quickly recovered from his bemusement before he receive a wake-up punch from his friend.
"I know, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to do that, it just slipped out and…eep!" Malik pulled the contact between them closer until their noses touched.
"If it wasn't for Yugi's astuteness and my quick-thinking skills, they would have known the truth thanks to you and then, it's over! You and I as well as the others will get into trouble when we get back to the city because they will tell our parents about it and when they found out the truth, we'll be grounded forever!"
Malik took a few deep breaths after releasing his anger on a very shocked Joey, that's when Yugi stood in front of them before patting Malik's shoulder.
"Um, Malik."
"What?"
"Can you let Joey go? The others are staring at us."
The Egyptian unconsciously released his grasp on Joey as soon as he saw five teens standing in front of the kitchen door with perplexed expressions written all over their features.
Yami was the first to recover from his bemusement so he cleared his throat before saying,
"Uhh…did we interrupt you?"
"Oh no, not at all! We've just finished our discussion, right guys?" Yugi giggled nervously while the other two uneasy youths nodded repeatedly with broad smiles on their faces.
"I apologize for my sudden outburst." Malik bowed shamefully, he could feel heat burning on his cheeks.
"It's alright. No worries." Yami said calmly while his cousins surveyed the kitchen in interest.
After long hours of discussion in the meeting that was held two days ago, Seto and the others have decided to stick close to their 'new' friends to find out more about them but careful not to reveal their true identity. They feared that the government sent those four teens here to capture them back to the city and punished them for the disaster they had caused years ago but that was just their assumption.
"So what brings you here?" Yugi asked politely before helping Ryou cleaning the dishes.
"Nothing. We just want to pay you a visit, you don't mind right?" Yami inquired, careful not to reveal their true purpose of coming here.
"Of course, you are always welcomed here. Besides, we're friends aren't we?" Yugi replied while smiling in thought.
"No, we're not." Malik and Joey mumbled sulkily in unison and next, they rewarded themselves each a smack-on-the-head from their albino friend.
"Be polite!" Ryou whispered to them before smiling at the group with an apologetic expression.
"Sorry for their rudeness."
"It's fine." Seto said sternly and when his cold eyes met with Joey's fury ones, let's just say a fierce 'glaring' battle was about to begin real soon.
"Hey, I was thinking…" Yami started to say, breaking the sudden silent dreary atmosphere.
"Maybe we should take a walk outside instead of sitting here and do nothing."
"That's a great idea!" Yugi exclaimed in exhilaration while Ryou's eyes sparkled in excitement.
"Alright then, shall we go now?" Yami straightened himself before stretching his left arm in front of his look-alike.
Yugi chuckled lightly before taking Yami's outstretched hand.
"Sure." Yugi said blithely, and together they walked towards the wooden door, leaving their friends behind.
"Let's go." Bakura said in an emotionless tone before walking towards the door followed by his younger 'twin'.
There were now four teens left in the kitchen.
Marik pretended to glance around the room but ended up receiving a glare from Malik. He then whistled innocently, sneaked towards the door in a stealthy step but when he saw Malik slowly getting up from his chair, he flitted in an incredible lightning speed and at the same time, received an angry shout from his Egyptian 'twin' who began to chase him once again.
"Get back here, you coward baka!"
The only two teens left were still glaring at each other with similar expressions displayed on their faces. Silence engulfed them and no one dared to move their bodies even an inch, until one of them blinked his eyes.
"Ah! I give up!" Joey cried breathlessly while releasing the tension on his body.
Kaiba hooted with laughter before giving his opponent his very own victory smirk.
"Ha, I knew you couldn't beat me, there's no way an amateur like you can beat this game."
Joey pouted in defeat. "Not fair."
"Whatever. You lose and that's that." The brunet concluded before he walked towards the entrance as Joey leaped up angrily, tempted to follow him.
"I want a rematch!"
"Accept your fate, loser. You are destined to be defeated."
That remark instantly made Joey's blood boiled in anger.
"I don't care! I'll definitely beat you one day."
"Get over yourself. You irritating, annoying feather-brained mutt."
"What's that you call me?"
"Mutt."
"What?!"
To Be Continued…
That's it! The end of Chapter 5 has arrived! Thank you very much for those who read this chapter, I hope you enjoy the story so far! (Smiles brightly)
So, stay tune for Chapter 6: Troubles!
Finally, review anyone?