Calm Your Mind

Cold. That was the first thing he felt when he finally drifted off to sleep. It was cold in here. A numb endless chill that rendered him unable to feel even his own body. So cold... He was drifting somewhere, anywhere, and it was so...

Cold...

Why was it so...

Katsuya opened his eyes, blinking a few times as he sat up with a groan. Where was this... Bed and blanket were in the same spot as always, but looking around that there was... Nothing. Nothing but an endless plain of darkness, the bed he sat on appearing almost like an island. "What the..." He swallowed, his voice echoing around the empty expanse as he stepped off the bed. Dark... Nothing but darkness as far as the eye could see, and 'lucky him' being in nothing but a t-shirt and boxers it was damn freezing here. Though he had the feeling that things wouldn't have been different if he had his jeans and jacket on. "Where the hell is this..?"

"You're asking that a lot lately," came a young voice from the side, the blond jumping in response. Who the- "Need a map, 'Mutt'?" Katsuya tensed, turning around to where he'd left the bed only to find nothing. The bed had vanished without a trace or a sound, and in the pitch black darkness he found himself frowning. 'Mutt'... That kid called him a-. His eyes narrowed as he continued to look around, before finally spotting a small child at the side.

Huh... He squinted, moving toward the kid with a confused frown. "Who..." Who was this..?

The girl crossed her arms, looking up at the blond with a glare as he approached. Well... He had thought it was a girl at least. Voice seemed like it until he saw the kid, but he was pretty sure little girls didn't have hair cuts this bad... "Hn! No one you need to know about..."

He raised an eyebrow, shaking his head. Alright... This was weird... What, was that soup really poisoned or something? The girl... Boy... Whatever... The kid was wearing a simple button up shirt with jeans, messy hair resembling little more than a bird's nest. Even so however, 'he' somehow managed to hold to 'himself' a bit of sophistication, staring at Katsuya with narrowed and stubborn eyes. "No one I need t' know," he repeated, shaking his head. The blond rolled his eyes, ignoring the still steady glare the kid was giving him. "Right..." He turned briefly, looking around the empty dark expanse before sighing. This... Had to be a dream. Absolutely had to... Nothing but darkness and some kid who reminded him of a mini-Seto-chan. The only thing tell him it wasn't some messed up 'mini-Seto' was the state of 'his' hair... No way Seto would live that down. "God my dreams are fucked up," he muttered, rubbing his face as the kid below him smirked.

"Hah! That's one way to put it," 'he' muttered, smirking darkly. Katsuya frowned, watching as the kid as well looked around the darkness for a moment. Looking closer the kid looked... Exhausted to say the least. The shirt looked damp with sweat, and though the position seemed that of someone just 'standing there', it was almost obvious that the kid had been running from... Something. "So Mutt," 'he' finally said, arms falling to 'his' sides as Katsuya growled. Again with the mutt... "Any ideas on how to get out of this mess?"

Katsuya stared at the kid, shaking his head. What the hell was with everyone calling him 'Mutt', honestly... Even so, he decided to humor the kid- obviously this was just a dream so... Didn't... Really matter, right? As for 'this mess'... He frowned, looking around the 'room' once again before sighing. He didn't even know what 'this mess' was, let alone how to get out of it. "Not a clue," he muttered eventually, taking a seat on the ground before staring off. "You?"

The 'boy' looked at Katsuya, before shrugging in response. "Nope..." 'He' as well looked around, before stretching slightly and folding 'his' arms behind 'his' head. "...When you can't find your way out of your own head though, that's generally a pretty bad sign... That or you have a mental issue."

Katsuya looked at the kid a moment, staring. ...Mental issue..? He snorted, shaking his head at the words. "Yea," he muttered, turning away from the 'boy' and rolling his eyes. "Because being told off by a figment of my imagination doesn't tell me that already..." He thought pretty clearly in his head... Weird.

-thunk!-

"OW!" The blond turned, scowling as the 'boy' beside him held a fist. "What the hell was that for..!" Damn... Kid had a pretty solid punch for someone who was probably ten... Maybe younger...

The 'boy' merely growled, crossing 'his' arms again. "Moron," 'he' muttered, wrinkling 'his' nose. "My point was that this isn't your head! What, you thought that you 'dreamed me up' or something?" As a matter of fact yes, yes he did. He continued to stare, and at the confused look he gave the 'boy', the kid continued. "You aren't supposed to be here," 'he' said bluntly, crossing his arms. "Personally, I can't even figure out how a moron like you did get in here!" Oh well thanks for the confidence there... "And knowing you," the 'boy' continued with evident distaste, "I'll be stuck with you in here forever!"

Now hey, what was that all about? "Tch- Whatdya mean 'knowing me', we jus' me-" He froze, turning back from the kid for a moment. Something shifted in the darkness... Looking into it however there was nothing but the same empty space he'd seen before. Rubbing his head, he turned to continue his glare at the kid before speaking. "Tch... Whatever... Look, you're th' one who said it was my head weren't yah?"

The 'boy' snorted, arms crossed as he shook his head. "I had said that it must have been really messed up if you couldn't figure things out!"

"Well what am I supposed t' think then?"

"I don't know MUTT, try using your brain!"

"You know what, maybe I wi-" He froze, cutting himself off with a sarcastic grin as he realized the 'hole' he'd just about dug himself. "Oh no no no no... You ain't getting me with that one," he said, grinning as the kid beside him growled. Looking the unimpressed frown he was still getting, he scratched his head again. "Sheesh... Worse than Seto-chan..." Same eyes too... Cause that wasn't cree-

The kid bristled, with those words, clenching 'his' fists and growling. "I told you... NOT to call me that, MUTT..."

Yea, 'him' and everyone- Wait what. Call 'me' that? Katsuya turned, staring at the kid with wide eyes before scrambling to his feet. "W...What did you say..?" No way... No way that was what the kid had said right?

Apparently it was what she (Defintily a 'she' if he was right on this) said. The girl merely scowled at the question, arms still crossed as they stood there in the darkness. "I said, don't call me that! It's all I ever hear from you, and it's the only thing I've been able to hear," she shouted with obvious annoyance. "That's not my name you know! Not by a long shot!"

The blond swallowed, slowly crouching down to the girl's level and grabbing her around the shoulders. "Se... Kaiba," he asked hesitantly, the girl frowning. "That... Are you Kaiba..?"

"What..." She frowned, as though thinking of something before shaking her head. Her eyes had lost the confidence from before, now simply wide with angered attempts to push back. "No... I... I didn't... Get off me," she shouted, pushing away the blond's arms with a scowl. As Katsuya stood back up again, he watched the small girl continued to seethe. "That... That's not what I said, I just said not to call me that, moron!"

Yea, she also just said her name wasn't Kaiba, what the hell did that even mean! The only person he'd ever called 'Seto-chan' was her! Again the darkness shifted, and the teen and the girl both gave a shiver as a cold chill passed over the room. "Well that's just great," he muttered, scratching his head as he passed off the shift as some sort of 'breeze'. "What the hell does that even mean, you either are or y' aren't, what am I supposed t' call you then..."

There was silence in response, and as Katsuya turned to look at the girl he sighed. It was weird... Like... Really weird, talking to a kid who was and wasn't Seto... The girl was staring at the darkness a moment, before turning back to look at her feet. "I..." Her frown deepened, eyes wide as they continued to fixate on the ground. In the end, she merely crossed her arms and turned away with a huff, agitation evident but unmentioned. "Tch..." Yea... That reaction... It was definitely 'Seto Kaiba'. Another shiver passed through the room, and the pair turned to look forward as an odd shape appeared in the distance. The girl beside him tensed up, and as Katsuya glanced at her again he found himself watching the 'blob' that was appearing.

"What th' hell..." The blond stared as it drew closer, shaking his head and squinting. "What is that..." A shadow was appearing... Something so dark that even the black space around them seemed more of a dull grey in comparison to the mass' empty black form. There was no answer to his words however, no 'smart-ass' remark, and as he turned to look at 'Seto' he found the chill in the room growing colder. "Hey... S... Kid?" That was so weird... Couldn't call her 'Seto-chan', or 'Seto' as expected, but he couldn't call her 'Kaiba' either... (What was wrong with his dreams..?) The girl didn't answer, merely staring off at the distant shadow forming. "Hey..." He shook the girl's shoulder, frown deepening with worry as he received still no response. "Hey! Wake up!"

The girl swallowed, still saying nothing as she stared. The 'shadow' began to come closer, a long slit of 'gold' appearing in the center. What the hell... The slit began to open, and as Katsuya looked toward the shade with wide eyes he finally pulled his thoughts together. Running... 'Seto' had obviously been running from something, and he had a feeling he'd found what that was! Taking a nervous step back before finally grabbing the girl by the waist, he tossed her on one shoulder before belting in the opposite direction of the shadow. Damn it... Damn it, what the hell was wrong with these dreams! Giant shadow things, mini, child-size Seto-chan's... (Who were still just as jerky...) At least this one remembered him but...

Behind them the shadow was still growing. Larger and larger, encompassing the room and spreading across the sides and ceiling above him as he ran. Katsuya chanced a look behind him, blood growing cold as the slit on the shadow's form opened completely. Gold... An immense eye lined with gold stared toward them, the sclera a shade of black mimicking the 'not-so-dark' darkness around them. The iris itself however was a solid gold, gleaming wickedly in its own light. Lines of equal hue wrapped around the eye, encompassing it in a elongated ellipse that reminded him far too much of the thing he and the others found in their soup. "Shit," he muttered, picking up speed as his bare feet slapped across the ground. "SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!" Shadows continued to increase from behind, the stare of the eye sending a constant bout of shivers down his spine.

"Hnn... What..." Oh fuck, of all the times to wake u- Mutterings came from his shoulder, the blond looking back toward her and mentally groaning. "H-Hey!" The girl jerked, turning on Katsuya regardless of being carried off fire-fighter style from something that would probably be at home in Bakura's board games. "Put me down you stupid mutt!" She attempted to smack the blond's head, Katsuya gritting his teeth as childish demands continued to rip through his ears. "Put me down!"

God damn it god damn it god damn it... He continued running, making a sharp turn in a failed attempt to lose the shadow. "Now ain't the time kid!"

'Seto' tensed, gripping Katsuya's back with a growl. "D-Don't call me a kid!"

"I kinda ran out of name options a while ago, 'SETO-CHAN!'"

"DON'T CALL ME SETO-CHAN!"

"Well screw you too, 'Princess'!"

"AAAARRGGH!"

'Hnhnhnhnhnhn...' The two stopped their shouting abruptly, 'Seto' and Katsuya both turning their heads as the shadow behind them began to laugh. They stared, swallowing loudly as the eye behind them grew in size and detail both, ripples of gold bleeding into the sclera as they turned back. That sound... Katsuya shuddered as the girl in his grip grew dangerously silent, eyes wide as the laughter echoed around the room. That was way too familiar to certain other's laugh for his comfort...

"G-!" Abruptly the blond skidded to a stop, the shadows spreading full circle around him from the distance. There was still a good deal of space between himself and the shadows both, but now that they were surrounded it was easy for the 'enemy' to close in. He grimaced, both arms clutching 'Seto' protectively as the girl looked around in silence as well. "Awww shit!"

On his shoulder, 'Little Seto' as he was mentally calling her gave another shiver. Looking toward her with worried eyes, he mentally winced as he was faced with a standard 'Kaiba Glare' for his efforts. "Tch... Good job mutt," she said with a swallow, tone and expression betraying the mood she had wanted to convey. "You got us both cornered!"

Oh, so this was 'his' fault then? "I got us cornered? Are y' serious?" He looked at the girl incredulously, receiving nothing more than an intense glare in response. Yea, she would blame him, wouldn't she. Opening his mouth to speak again, he froze as the 'Eye' appeared before them to laugh yet again.

'Hnhnhnhnhnhn... Found you,' The shade said with a cold and echoing tone, coming closer and closer with a laugh. 'Time to go to sleep...' Again, 'Seto' gave a shudder, eyes wide as she looked from Katsuya's shoulder at the 'thing' before them. It was scary... Not just the shadow, but how quiet the girl was right now. What the hell... The blond bit his lip, looking back at the eye as any remaining blood he had drained from his face. What was going on here... 'Just come along now...'

He held the girl tight, 'Seto' not even making a noise in annoyance as they both stared at the shadow. Not letting go... He couldn't let go, but at the same time he had no clue what this thing could even do! Shit... Shit! "Who the hell are you," Katsuya bit out, the shadow momentarily halting in its advance. "What do you want with her?"

Silence was his answer for a few moments- the shadow's eye was tilting to the side, as though in thought. Finally, it turned back to its original level and narrowed slightly in apparent proud pleasure. 'There was a piece missing,' it said rather plainly, the 'gold' in its eye finally filling around the empty iris completely save a single black and empty 'slat'. 'Seto', who had slipped down from the shoulder to Katsuya's front winced again, pulling close regardless of previous actions. Briefly, he wished it was the 'real Seto'... The tall woman who had been dragged off by one of Pegasus' men... But this was just a dream wasn't it? And even so, he couldn't help but feel that if he whined about that kind of thing right now, he would end up losing completely. The shadow's 'eye' narrowed, empty 'space' in the gold sclera cut partially. 'Let me take it.' Scared...

This thing was damn frightening, not that he was saying that. He grit his teeth, drawing back from the shadow regardless of being surrounded. "Like hell I'll do that," he said shakily, the shadow merely 'staring' as the blond steeled himself. "Answer me," he roared, grip on the girl tightening as she continued to shake. "Who are you!"

More silence, and the shadows drew closer. There were only a few feet of space around them, and whatever was coming out of Seto's mouth at the moment wasn't coming out easily. "G-Ghh..." 'Seto' clutched his shirt tightly, as if fighting against the hold of something while she grit her teeth. "Nngh... Ngh..."

Across from him the eye narrowed in mirth yet again, 'shivering' with another wave of chuckles. 'Me..,' it asked, blinking slowly before continuing its stare. The shadows closed in, Katsuya tensing further as the voice that sounded eerily like Pegasus continued to float around the room and through his ears. 'I'm no one... I'm just a card. But why would you care,' it continued, narrowing again as it continued to draw closer. 'Why would you care what I do with this little soul piece? This isn't yours anyways...'

"Ghnn... Jonouchi," the girl on his shoulder hissed, Katsuya turning for a moment. Some sort of.. 'Hand'... Was making its way up the girl's ankle, others snaking around in an attempt to pull her out. "J... Jonouchi..!"

The blond grit his teeth, before staring the eye down and tightening his grip. He attempted to kick back the approaching shadows, eyes wide as his feet met with air. "Get away," he muttered, watching as the shadows merely continued to advance. Waves of cold continued to wash over him, and the blond began to shake. Damn it... "Get away..!"

The grip on his shirt tightened, and he turned his head toward Seto as she looked toward him. Her eyes were wide with fear, an expression far different from what he was used to from the little one's 'real' counterpart. He'd only seen the expression once before, in the final match of Death-T when... "J...Jonouchi," the girl repeated, voice barely more than a whisper. "Hide me..." What..? He stared as the words that were so unlike the girl were stated, watching as 'Seto' gave another shudder and tightened her grip even more. "Hide me... Get me away... Get me out of here," she screamed, the shadows beginning to wrap around her waist even in the blond's hold, Katsuya tensing as he fought against the pull. Seto's eyes were wide and no emotions were hidden in her expression as the girl continued to scream. Katsuya watched in horror as he realized that where the shadows had touched the body was gone. Legs were completely enveloped, and the shadows were making their way up... All she had was her chest, her arms... Her face... "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

No... No! "Damn it..." He grit his teeth, looking at the girl with equally wide eyes before continuing. "Hold on," he told her, before turning on the 'eye' with a glare. Just hold on..! This thing... He couldn't fight this thing, but if he just let it take 'little Seto' then what did that mean for the real one? 'Soul pieces', 'missing pieces'... The gold in the eye looked like a giant puzzle, complete with tiny lines running through the entire thing. What did this all mean... What did it mean..!

'This isn't your head,' she had shouted in annoyance. 'You should know how to get out of your own mind!' Well that was all just fine, but if this wasn't his head then whose was it! The shadows were coming closer, the child-version of Seto still clinging to his shirt in fear. Katsuya found himself with little more than a few centimetres of space around his feet, the blond staring at the 'eye' with rage filled eyes. Damn it... Damn it... He closed his eyes, adjusting his hold and curling over in an attempt to shield the girl from the approaching shadows. If he could wake up... If he could just wake up... "Get away," he shouted, the room suddenly beginning to quake as the mantra ran through his mind. Wake up, wake up... He needed to wake up..! Cracks began to appear in the darkness, places of the 'walls' peeling away as the 'eye' before them froze. Katsuya didn't pay it any mind, eyes still squeezed shut as he continued to shout. Wake up... Wake up... "I SAID GET AWAY GOD DAMN IT!"

The sound of collapse echoed around the room, cracks in the 'sky' beginning to widen. He opened his eyes, staring at the shadow with rage as its darkness began to steadily be pushed back by the original 'dark grey' room. 'Rocks' of darkness fell to the ground, a thundering boom echoing about with each collapse. The 'eye' before them tensed as the shadows were forced back, looking around in horror. 'What... What are you doing...' The darkness continued to recede, only centimetres away from coming within the boundaries of the eye itself. 'What...'

Katsuya looked forward, breathing heavily as he stared the eye down. If this wasn't his head, then he would have to get out of it... And if this thing wasn't from this head either, then obviously it had a way out... And in that case... "HAAAAAAAHHHH!" The blond charged the eye with a roar, 'little Seto' remaining still silent as he rushed. "HANG ON," he shouted to her, the girl growing limp in his arms. "This time... I ain't stopping!" The eye before him widened, and with a leap the blond took aim. The only way out... Don't hit the gold, hit the-

He dove through the pupil of the eye, the single hole that led to nothingness. Katsuya's eyes squeezed shut, his grip tight as he held 'Seto' ... In the distance he could hear an enraged roar, the sounds of continued collapse... And then silence. Silence... And a little girl's voice. "..W...What..."

The blond slowly opened his eyes, blearily wincing as a bright lamp light hit him in the face. Agggh... Not the best thing to jump into after the darkness from- His eyes widened, Katsuya sitting up in shock. This was... "This hall..." He'd been here before... The night before when he'd been running down the halls, past vase after vase of flower after flower... He blinked, turning to where 'Seto' was standing up with a red face. Hair was still in tatters... Did Seto ever really have hair like that? The blond tensed slightly as his eyes moved to where the girls legs should have been, frowning. No feet... Her body faded out to nothingness from the shirt down...

Whether or not this was why she was so nervous he didn't know, but he wouldn't blame her if it was. "Gh... Y-You..." Seto took a breath, appearing to try and calm herself down with little success. "What did you do..?"

Well, that was some 'thank-you'... He stared, frowning slightly as he thought back to the 'other dream'. The giant eye he'd jumped through on a whim... What did he do..? He didn't know... He'd just... Gone with it. "I... ...I don't..." He steeled himself, before smirking. Well... It didn't really matter much now, now did it? "Heh... You said 'get me outta here' didn't yah?" At the silence he got in response, he turned to stare down the hall, shaking his head. This was the 'half way point' it looked like. Least they hadn't popped up on the other end. "Sheesh... From one dream to th' next, how does that even work..." He yawned, taking a seat and leaning against the wall. Damn he was tired... How did that work, he was asleep but still exhausted..? "For someone who ain't Seto-ch... Kaiba," he corrected, ignoring the sound of disgruntlement from the 'little one', "You're sure a pain in th' ass..."

The girl snorted, arms crossed as her expression quickly became that of the 'standard' glare once more. "Tch! Then why did you bother doing anything at all, Mutt?" She was turned away, scowling as she stared at one of the hall's many vases.

Why..? "...B'cause I..." Why did he... This wasn't the 'real' Seto, it was just a weird looking, 'kid version' but... He paused, before smirking. "Cause I don' want you t' leave," he finally said, giving a shrug. Why'd he do it? Because he wanted to he supposed... And maybe... "I'd say more," the blond continued, leaning against the wall, "But y'd probably tell me you weren't that person!" The smirk grew into a grin, and the blond laughed as 'Seto' merely gave him a confused glare. "Well..." He yawned, slumping slightly against the hall. "Should be safe here... 'S my dream after all..." God he needed a break... Too much weird in his head. The grin softened to a smile, and he closed his eyes. "Jus' don' go down any secret passages, th' dream went... R..Really weird after that..."

"H...Hey..." Seto frowned, floating over from across the hall as the blond's vision began to blur. Sleep oughta fix all this right... Hwaaah...

"Night Seto-chan..."

"HEY!"

"HEY," a voice called out, Katsuya jerking awake at the sound. Angered shouts faded somewhat into the air, and he looked around the dark bedroom with a frown. What the... He shook his head, rubbing his face slightly as he tried to get over his dream. Shouts were still going... Must be a weird echo memory or whatever... God... Weirdest dream ever...

"What are you doing in front of Jonouchi-kun's room," he heard someone shout, drowsy brain quickly identifying it as Yugi. What... Who was... Someone was in front of his door?

"FUCK!," came another familiar sound, the blond quickly hopping out of his bed and scrambling for the door at the sound. Not that voice... Shit not that voice... "Just shut up," Keith continued to shout, the sound of something hitting a wall coming from outside the door. "And go back to sleep!"

Katsuya opened his door, running out into the hall with narrowed eyes. Keith was picking Yugi off the ground, muttering something under his breath as he leaned over the boy with a snarl. Sunglasses had clattered to the ground, and in the dim moonlight he could see a scrape on Yugi's cheek. Keith pulled a fist back as Katsuya came near, preparing a punch... The hell that was happening! He stalked over in an instant, roughly grabbing the man's wrist and pulling the arm back behind with a growl. The man snarled in response, a sick 'pop' noise coming through the air as the shoulder was dislocated and the American himself pushed off to the side.

Tch... He fixed a glare to the man, watching as his target slowly stood to his feet. "Bastard," he muttered, hands still held limply at his sides as Keith stood to rub his shoulder. The American took a solid grip of the injured area in question, and with a loud crack had pushed the shoulder back into place. Ignoring the sound as Yugi winced from the side, his eyes narrowed further. "Think you can get away with hitting my friends?"

Keith merely snorted, saying nothing as he grabbed his sunglasses from the ground and charged. As Katsuya dodged to make a strike however, so did Keith, the American ducking below the punch before getting caught in the face by the teen's own brow. "Ack-!" Keith stumbled slightly, cursing under his breath before being thrown back further by a knee to the gut. "NGH..Ghhgg..." The man fell to the ground, slowly picking himself up and holding his nose. It was hard to tell in the dark, but the sound of someone trying not to sniff made it fairly evident that the slight dark blotches on Keith's face were splashes of blood from the strike before. There was more cursing, Keith slowly moving his hand back from his face to fix a glare at the blond before him. "You...

Hn! Bastard... Couldn't even fight. "You might be good at cards Keith," the blond muttered with a glare, hands still held to the side as he spoke, "But yer fighting is worse than a five year old's... Consider yerself lucky," he growled, watching as Keith wiped the blood from his face with a glare. "I'm saving these hands t' draw cards against you t'morrow!" As Keith continued to curse, Katsuya's own stare narrowed as well. "Don' think I won't use my feet though," he added, moving to help Yugi. With those words Keith had tensed slightly, as though reconsidering (for once) his next few actions."Now beat it!"

"Hah!" The American smirked, turning and disappearing down the hall no questions asked. Left without another word... Weird. ...God, he thought to himself, shaking his head.

What an asshole... He knelt down beside Yugi, glare becoming more of a worried look as he looked over the boy's face. It was definitely going to bruise... Would be one hell of a shiner, that was for sure. "Hey Yugi," he whispered, deciding against waking anyone else up. "You alright man?"

The boy nodded, rubbing his cheek as he answered. There was a little bit of blood there as well... How Keith's punch managed to scrape Yugi's cheek open was a good question, but nonetheless. "Y..Yea," he said quietly, before the sound of a door opening came from behind. "Hn..."

They turned, blinking as Anzu walked out with a yawn. Idly, Katsuya noted she was wearing a nightgown... Where the hell had she gotten that? "Yugi," she asked, as she opened the door more, frowning slightly. "Jonouchi..? ...What's going on out here," she continued, stepping out of the room and squinting into the darkness. "I heard shouts..."

"Anzu..." The blond shuffled slightly as he moved to check over Yugi's face, biting his lip before turning back to the woman. Right... Shiner or no shiner, this would have to get cleaned, that was for sure. "Hey, you have th' first aid kit from Mai's bag," he asked with a frown, the woman blinking in response. "Need a bandage f'r Yugi's face..."

The woman stared, before nodding and disappearing into the room. Turning back to Yugi, Katsuya watched as the boy looked at him with a frown. "...Jonouchi-kun," he finally said, sitting up with a slight wince.

"O-Oi," he muttered, frowning. "Don't move jus' yet, weren't you thrown against th' wall..?" There definitely wasn't anything else that would have made that sound... And besides, he knew a thing or two about injuries given all the fights he'd gotten in.

Yugi laughed slightly, giving the blond a wry smile. "I've had worse," he said, Katsuya wincing in response. Course... There was also that... "But in any case... Jonouchi-kun," Yugi asked again, frown growing slightly. "What was Keith doing in front of your room..?"

In front of his room..? Keith was standing by his door! He frowned, turning to look down the hall. Damn... That couldn't be good... "I dunno," he muttered, door opening behind them again as Anzu came over. "'S late though," he continued, taking the first aid kit from the woman beside him and pulling out a bit of gauze and wipes. "Maybe he went t' the wrong room... Wouldn' put it past him," the blond added with a snort, handing the kit back to Anzu. "Place is like a maze..." Not to mention that the guy smelled like beer. And if his dad had issues with finding the bathroom in an apartment drunk... "Anyways," he continued, holding the things in one hand and helping Yugi up. "C'mon, we need a light f'r this an' I'm not looking around f'r th' hall light when we got a room right here..." Probably should have asked if they could use the room now that he thought about it... Oh well.

His friend nodded, rubbing his shoulder from where he the wall and going slightly red as they went back into Anzu's room. It was the same size as his own room really... All of them were, it was almost like a hotel- Even had a bathroom attached... The blond walked in slowly, and as Yugi took a seat on the bed, Anzu grabbed the rest of the first aid equipment from Katsuya. "O-Oi.."

At the woman's raised eyebrow he stopped, hands in front of him in 'submission' as Anzu turned back to face Yugi. Ok... If... If she wanted to deal with it that bad then he was ok with that... Katsuya leaned against the door, watching as Anzu took a seat on the bed beside Yugi. "Alright," she said, the boy going slightly more red as she moved closer. "Lets get this cleaned up, turn this way..."

"I-It's fine Anzu," the boy was muttering, shuffling back slightly. Katsuya crossed his arms, smirking as Anzu continued trying to get at his face with the wipe. Hahaha... The dreaded sting of cleaning alcohol...

Anzu merely smiled wryly, crossing her arms for a moment. "You say that now, but who knows where Keith's hands have been? Come on," she continued, Yugi scowling but nonetheless staying put as the woman moved dab his face with the wipes. "There we go..."

The wipe was drawn across the slightly bloodied cheek, Yugi hissing as the alcohol on the wipe bit at his skin. "Ack!"

The woman smiled, raising an eyebrow as she leaned back. "Oh come on, it can't hurt that much," she said, reaching forward with the wipe again. "Hold still, you're a guy aren't you? I barely even touched you!"

Hahahaha... Well, that was enough for him... Katsuya shook his head, laughing slightly before turning to leave the room. "Well," he decided, opening the door and turning back to the others with a grin. "I can see I'm not needed here..." As the two turned his way to blink, the blond gave a small wave and shrugged. "I'm headin' back t' bed! See you in th' morning guys!"

"Okay," Yugi said from behind, Anzu adding in a 'Good night!' before the door shut. Whew...

That was weird... He walked back to his room giving a yawn as he walked back inside and shut the door behind him. Between messed up dreams and that crap with Keith... Man. He glanced at the clock, shaking his head. God... Three AM too...

The blond collapsed on his bed, staring at the ceiling with a groan. Three AM and he'd spent most of the night in a weird ass dream... Speaking of that dream, he thought with a frown, hands behind his head as he continued to stare. Why was it that it was so important that it wasn't his head? And where the hell did he get that idea from anyways, dreams were supposed to be weird memories on shuffle right?

Then again, there was the one he had before Kaiba showed up the night before, with the dragon and the insults... And he was pretty sure he'd never seen nor worn a dog kigurumi, particularly outside of his toddler years. (...Not... That he'd worn anything like that as a kid...) And the Pegasus dream was just... Weird. Golden eye staring at him and Mokuba's card-

"Hihhhh..." The blond shuddered, pushing the dream out of his mind. Couldn't think of that... He couldn't think of that, not when he only had one shot at fixing it as it was. "God... I gotta get some sleep," he muttered, rolling over in the bed. Just... Close his eyes, hopefully not have any more weird dreams...

Curling up in the blanket in silence, Katsuya gave one last final yawn before closing his eyes. Just sleep... He'd need as much rest as possible in the morning after all... So he needed sleep... Sleep...

Drifting off, he didn't realize he was being watched...

-Bzzzzz-

"Hnn..."

-Bzzzzzzzzzzz-

"Hnnnggg..!"

-BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ-

"AAAGH DAMN IT!" Katsuya jerked up from the bed with a roar, slamming a hand on the clock beside him. "Shut UP! ...Eh..." The blond blinked, looking around the room with wide eyes. No one was there... So where had the sounds- He turned, looking at the clock and sheepishly rubbing his head with a laugh. Ooh... Hahaha... Right. He'd set the clock for eight so he couldn't sleep through the tournament... He scratched his head, stretching as he headed over to a door at the side of the room. Right... Well, he decided with a yawn, cracking his neck as he walked into the bathroom, mind as well shower now that he had the chance... Hell, might be his last...

...Don't think of that... Running the water in the shower he gave another stretch, waiting for it to heat up. Man... Sitting at the side and holding his hand under the water as he waited he frowned, staring at the wall. Ended up with a dreamless sleep after he went back to bed the night before... A great change really, saving that he'd gotten a paranoid feeling the entire damn time, regardless of it being 'dreamless'... Maybe he just wasn't really asleep, who the hell knew...

The shower heated up, and taking his things off he got in and attempted to calm down. Alright... Shower time! Lets see... He frowned as he looked at the shelf on the side of the shower, before poking his head past the curtain to look at the counter. Please have shampoo, please have sh- Nothing was on the counter. Damn it. He knocked his head against the wall, groaning. "Man... Not even a soap bar..." Sure there was a towel on the side but... Sheesh, he'd have thought a guy like Pegasus would leave those in the bathrooms... Well... Probably should have checked before getting in he supposed...

"Agghhh damn it..." Man... Not much else point in standing there really. The shower was clicked off, and he shook his head in a slight attempt to dry off. Eh... Rinse was better than nothing he guessed. Better than having blood on his head from the night before. "...Eugh..." Don't think about having Keith on his face. That was... Yea. Beating the snot out of people was one thing but... Keith blood. On his face. Eggggghhh...

He grabbed his clothes, getting dressed and packing up within a few minutes. Anyway... Today was the day... Time to get going! Stay positive, win the duels, and by the end of the day he'd be trading insults with Seto-chan while Mokuba laughed at the side! Yea... He nodded to himself, the image of the currently non-existent event banishing the remainders of his negative mood. Maybe it was just him but... Something felt different that day. Opening the door wide, he went across to rap on Honda's door with a grin. Really different... Who knew, maybe the others would be optimistic about things as well! "Oiiii Honda..!" There was no answer for a few minutes, and the blond shrugged. Well, his own fault if he was doing something weird then... He pushed the door open, walking in with the grin still in place. "Hope yer awake, cause I'm gonna find a bucket 'f water if y' ain-"

Silence was his answer, that and an untouched bed and a trench coat on the floor next to a headband. "...Eh..." The blond stared, frowning as he looked around the door. Hn. Where the hell was he..? He walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him and thinking back to the night before. 'I'll get their bodies first chance I get tonight,' he'd said. 'You and Yugi deal with Pegasus.' So then Honda was probably still wandering around the castle... Shit. Better not have gotten caught by any of the guards... He moved next door, knocking on the side as he put a smile back on his face. "Ah well..." Honda could take care of himself; and there was no way Pegasus would be snatching his soul, that was for sure! He'd pay dearly if he did... "Bakura," he called, pausing in wait of a response. Now Honda was one thing, but there was no way that Bakura had- ...There wasn't an answer... "...Oi... Bakura?" Another knock, and still no answer.

Kay... He knew that Bakura was a light sleeper so... There was no way he was ignoring that right? "I'm comin' in Bakura," he shouted, pushing the door open and walking in. "Better not be doin' anything w...eird..." He trailed off, frowning as he looked around the room. Bed was slightly mussed, but otherwise nothing but some clothes on the ground (He'd been smart enough to pack pajamas at least...), backpack at the side... "What the hell..!" The teen grabbed his head, before throwing his hands in the air and walking back out with a scoff. "Sheesh, this better not be a trend..."

"What's a trend," came Anzu's voice on the side, Katsuya turning as the woman closed her room door. Oh... Not a trend any more, that was for sure. "Is Bakura awake yet?"

He shrugged, shaking his head at the question. "Hah, if he ain't, he's gonna be uncomfortable when he does..." If he'd fallen asleep in the hall, he didn't envy him one bit. He moved over to Yugi's door, opening it without a knock as Anzu merely followed with a raised eyebrow. Not like Yugi would be doing anything weird... ...Not with his grandpa in the camera after all.

Not like last time he walked in on Honda... (God that was scary.) "Hey Yugi," he called, leaning against the door frame as the boy turned around from where he was picking up his puzzle. Oh hey, he was all set! "Well, looks like I don' have t' wake you up," he said with a grin, putting his hands in his pockets. "Lookin' good man!" Leather leather and... More leather. Big change from the kid who wore his school uniform on the weekend, that was for sure!

Yugi grinned, nodding in response. "Hah, yep! Good-morning guys!"

Beside him, Anzu moved into the room as well, giving the boys both a nervous smile. "Well," she said, turning to Yugi for the moment before the smile widened. "Today's the big day right?" Yeeep!

Katsuya nodded, smiling. "Got that right... Yug', you ready? We didn' exactly get a map of this place, an' I wanna find th' arena b'fore we're late y'know?" Normally late wouldn't be an issue but... Well. Soul stealing and such aside, they'd probably end up missing the tournament if that happened. And he wasn't really planning on that.

His friend gave a nod, throwing the puzzle over his neck and grabbing his school jacket in one swift motion. A wave of energy passed through the room... For a brief instant, the same 'earthquake noises' he'd heard before had echoed around, before stopping. Turning toward them, the 'Other Yugi' gave them his usual narrowed eye smirk before nodding yet again. "Alright," he said, grabbing the rest of his things from the table as he hung the jacket around his shoulders. Which led him to 'School uniform on the weekend? Really?'... "Let's go!"

Eh, overused jackets aside... He couldn't say it any better himself! "Alright! Let's move then!" They walked out of the room, Anzu turning to the blond with a cough as the door was shut behind them.

"So," she asked, arms crossed behind her back. "You were saying about Bakura..?" The woman looked around as she said this, as though to ask about the other missing from the group.

The blond blinked, before frowning. "Ah.. Right... Yea, Bakura an' Honda, they ain't in their rooms..." He shrugged awkwardly, turning away. "Er... Who knows where they went really..." Still in the castle probably...

Anzu raised an eyebrow, but nonetheless took the words as truth. The three fell silent for a moment, turning the corner to find the same bandaged suit from before standing by a pair of double doors. "Ah," he began, bowing his head. "Duelists of the Championship Tournament... We've been waiting for you," the man continued, stepping to the side and gesturing to the door. "Please, enter the duel room!"

The boys nodded, pushing the doors open and walking in to stand on the floor of 'arena room's bottom. Behind them, Anzu followed, moving to the side where there was a bench of sorts to sit. Aside from the bench however, the room was fairly empty, and there was only one real noticeable difference between the room at the moment and the room from before- Namelt that the 'arena' itself had been lowered into the floor, table and chairs already flipped out and waiting. Of course, there was also the fact that there were actually people there... Leaning against opposite walls were Mai and Keith, the boys both turning toward the former as she smiled and gave a wave.

"Hnhnhnhn... Morning boys," she said with a wink, arms crossed as she held her deck. "Looks like the time to decide the strongest on the island has come, hasn't it?"

As Yugi nodded at the statement, a rough chuckle came from the side, cutting off what would have been a response to the woman. "Hahaha... Hey, 'Joey'," Keith called from the side, the blond in question turning with narrowed eyes. Stop getting his name wrong... "If you can make it to the duel table, I'm gonna make you pay for last night... Hahahahaha..." 'If'? What was he on about..? And like he'd be able to land a single punch right! "Hope you're ready, yellow-fuck!"

He rolled his eyes, snorting. Again with the insults he didn't know about... (Though given who he was talking to, it was probably not a good one... Oh well.) "Whatever Keith," he said with a glare, hands still in their pockets. "You can put your cards where yer mouth is, cause championship titles or not you're goin' down!" Preferably in two ways, rather than one. At those words Keith merely chuckled darkly, Katsuya's frown deepening in response.

Was he confident or just... Nuts..? (He wouldn't doubt the last one...) The sound of slamming doors came from above, to cut his thoughts, those in the room turning toward the source of the sound in an instant. Looking up at the small balcony seat at the end of the room, they watched as the so called 'ruler' of the Duelist Kingdom walked out before them. Two guards flanked his sides, and standing before his chair in the center Pegasus moved to address the people below him. "Welcome proud duelists," he cried, arms crossed as he shouted. "Welcome to this holy place, this place sanctified by our duels!"

...What... He stared, frowning in confusion as Yugi seethed beside him. Well it was great that he was focused but... Seriously... 'Holy'..? Far from it... More like the castle from hell...

Pegasus continued to stare down, hands moving to the side in an 'open' gesture. "The Tournament Finals begin now," he called out, Keith and Mai coming in from the sides to stand with the other two on the arena. "The one who survives these finals will be given the prize of champions," the man continued with a grin, one of the guards from the side moving back to grab something. "Allow me to give you a preview!" An elaborate chest was hauled forward by the guards as the second went back to help, the men placing it on the railing before opening the lid. Though difficult to see from above, it was clear that it was filled to the brim with gold and jewels, the chest itself just as elaborately decorated. "A prize of two hundred thousand dollars!"

"T-TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND..!" He stared, before counting numbers on his fingers in an attempt to convert it. "Holy shit... How much is that in yen..!" Get Seto-chan, get Mokuba, get Sugoroku-jii, maybe get enough money for Shizuka... (How much was this..?)

Beside him, Mai was absolutely beaming, expression akin to Mokuba's when he'd been in Osaka. "Oh my god..!" She shook, as though fighting not to jump for joy in that instant. "That's over sixteen million yen, I'm going to be rich!" Sixteen mi- That really would be enough for...

Before he or Yugi could say anything on that bit outloud(Sorry Mai, but they wouldn't be losing...), the guards up top shouted down and moved the chest back. "Hold on," the left one stated, frowning as he leaned over the side. "You won't just get the prize by beating the other three finalists!"

"That's right," stated the second guard, albeit apparently more lax in his mood. "You have to beat Pegasus-sama, the 'King of the Duelist Kingdom' first!" Tch. 'King' indeed...

As the men stepped back to put the chest away, Pegasus chuckled. He was now sitting down rather calmly, legs crossed as he shook his head and 'sighed'. "I wonder," he said loudly, not looking at the crowd for the moment. "Just who is it that will defeat me? Hnhnhnhnhn!" He grinned as he looked back down, a small but evident form of maliciousness visible in the expression. "I'm looking forward to it..!"

Tch... Pegasus wasn't about to separate from that much cash at all, Katsuya thought with a scowl, Mai's expression having fallen as well with the mention of beating Pegasus. They'd all seen the match between he and Kaiba... And while it was obvious that Keith wasn't affected, they all knew the risks. If they lost... Then the chances of leaving with their lives let alone that much money was slim to none...

He clenched his jaw, eyes narrowing. That was if though! They wouldn't lose... He wouldn't lose! Everyone was riding on himself and Yugi, and no matter what at least one of them would have the satisfaction of making the man's game blow up in his face! Guarantee it...

"If you could now clear the arena stage," the man from before stated, waving the four from the area. Katsuya moved off to the side with a nod, taking a seat next to Anzu and leaning back. "We will begin the first match; Mutou Yugi and Kujaku Mai," he continued as Keith as well moved to stand on a separate area of the room. "Please prove your right to duel, and reveal your 'Honor' cards!"

In the center of the arena, Mai and Yugi both pulled out their respective cards, the 'announcer' bowing his head and stepping aside. Alright... Round one, time to go! "Go for it Yugi," he shouted, grinning as the two took their seats. Nothing against Mai but...

He would really rather not go through another series of 'harpie lady bondage' again. Really. Besides, this was Yugi really... And while Mai was great and all, he and Yugi kinda had something more than perfume riding on this. Speaking of Yugi... The blond stared, watching his friend with a frown. Huh. He was... Really not looking at Mai. Katsuya blinked, watching as Mai frowned in response; she'd obviously noted the kind of stare Yugi was fixing at her. Namely a blank one that wasn't quite looking at all... If anything he was constantly flicking his eyes toward P-

Toward Pegasus. God damn it... He rubbed his head as the duel began officially, shaking his head. Well, he was definitely focused on the guy... But he'd better put just as much into the duel now! Katsuya stared at the board as Mai summoned her Harpy Lady, watching the bird-woman preen itself before giving a threatening screech toward the woman's opponent. Yea... That was a little new. Not the monster of course but... That was weird. (At least they weren't life sized...) "Harpy Lady again," he muttered, raising his eyebrow. "Sheesh, if I beat that then Yugi's gonna fly through this..." That or it would be really awkward by the end of the day.

As if to answer to that, the harpy on the table turned to send a rather piercing glare and screech at him, the blond tensing in response. Nh- for fuck's sake, how the hell did it hear that! He was three meters away damn it... "I don't know Jonouchi," Anzu said from beside him, drawing his attention back. The woman was staring at the board, frowning. "Mai has a trap set too..."

Hn? He blinked, looking at the board briefly as Yugi summoned Gaia before turning back to Anzu. "Yea," he said, "But what kinda trap could cause serious damage in that deck..? Not like Yugi's going t' jus' run in and attack!"

Before Anzu could answer, a shout came from the table, along with a fairly stunned whinny from Gaia's horse- "He attacked his own reflection!" Reflection..?

What? Anzu pointed to the table with raised eyebrows, before crossing her arms. Back on the table, Gaia had managed to get his lance stuck in a wall of ice... And the Harpy Lady was looking all too pleased about that fact, giving a rather mischievous chuckle at the sight. "Apparently he just did..."

He frowned at the sight, blinking. "E-Eh..." That was weird... Wasn't like Yugi to just charge into a trap, though thinking back he'd done it before... He shifted uncomfortable as the Harpy Lady began teasing Gaia from the ice, the knight as well looking rather put off by the bird's actions. Oh great... The Harpy Lady had... Bondage on it. Here came Mai's ten hit combo... He shook his head, turning away as Yugi's knight was scratched to pieces, opting to not watch the bloody mess if he didn't have to. (It was still rather upsetting to hear the knight screaming under the attack though... "Well... Least th' trap is gone right?" Silver lining... Silver lining!

The woman shook her head, arms crossed. "Nope." Wh-What? Again, Anzu pointed at the board, and he facepalmed as yet another monster stood stuck in the wall of ice.

"Agggh..." Continuous spell... Mai was chuckling from across the field as her opponent's Skull Demon electrocuted itself against the 'Mirror Wall' in an attempt to free itself. The demon roared in annoyance, but nonetheless his tactics worked, and he returned to his side of the field to tend to its wounds. Harpy Lady, of course, was considerably amused by this.

He should probably stop looking at the bird though, because it was starting to give him weird looks... When not preening itself in the mirror wall at least. "Man," he muttered, rubbing his head. What was that? Falling for the same trap twice? "Oi, Yugi," he shouted, gaining no response. Ignoring that, he continued, cupping his hands for added volume. "What's going on! This ain't like you!" And... Still... Nothing. Instead, Yugi was just seething on the board, glaring at his opponent as though the woman were an ant. "Shit," he said as he crossed his arms, shaking his head. "He ain't thinking at all, s'not like him t' fall for the same trap twice..." Not that he hadn't said it enough of course but... Seriously.

Anzu nodded, frowning. "He's too impatient," she stated, shaking her head. "Attacking without thinking... He's distracted," the woman added, turning to Jonouchi briefly. "I doubt we're the only ones who noticed too..."

Back at the arena, Mai was muttering something under her breath, a light frown on her face. She wasn't using her 'aromatactics', that was for sure... But Yugi didn't look to pleased about what she was saying either. If anything, he looked a little put off, though to be frank both competitors looked fairly ticked. The volume raised, and Katsuya caught the tail end of her words. "You're thinking about Pegasus, aren't you," she asked angrily, eyes narrowed. As Yugi's eyes widened in response the woman snorted, shaking her head. That would be a 'yes'... "So I'm not even worth your full attention," she asked, Katsuya groaning from the side. Oh boy... Nice one. Just go ahead and tick off the lady with the bondage deck... Yea... Great move. Now she'd be making innuendos left right and center...

Damn it, he was going to need so much brain bleach after this... Was that harpy posing for the Skull Demon? (Well, it passed the standby phase time he supposed...)

"Really," Mai continued to mutter, arms crossed as she tapped her cards to the table. Her lady instantly snapped to attention, turning upward as she waited for the woman's play. "You're no better than most of my other opponents! An arrogant little boy!" As Mai's voice lowered out of audible range yet again, both Katsuya and Anzu watched as their friend grew steadily tenser. From above, Pegasus almost appeared to stare at the competitors, eye narrowed in evident interest...

Did... Was someone whispering, he thought he heard something...

Yugi snapped, eyes narrowed as he gripped his cards. "Say that after you win Mai," he spat, face growing read. "Let's get on with the duel!"

At this his opponent merely rolled her eyes, arms still crossed. "And now you're trying to intimidate me," she said with a snort, the Harpy Lady below also looking to Yugi with an annoyed shake of the head. Even the Skull Demon was looking up, though his 'look' (It didn't have eyeballs, seriously how...) was more of a 'Are you seriously taking this?' "Hah... Aggressive men are weak," she muttered frown deepening. "Anger and Machismo, it's all just a bluff to hide their weakness..." The woman narrowed her eyes, looking back to Yugi before continuing. "I'd say I have your current mood dead on, right?"

The boy merely growled, clenching his fists. "You shut your-"

"Hahaha! And that," Mai said loudly, cutting Yugi off as he spoke, giving a slight chuckle, "Is exactly why you fell into my trap, just as planned!"

Ahhh damn it... Katsuya groaned, standing up to shout again. "Hey Yugi," he called, the boy still not turning. Damn it, just listen already and get into the duel instead of thinking about Pegasus! They'd get him when the time came! "She's just provoking you! Don't listen to her!" But at the same time, please please please stop ignoring her, because the Harpy was doing some weird shit... And she didn't even have her whip yet... "Come on man, pull yourself t'gether!"

At the board Yugi continued to glare, though something had changed in the look he was giving. His eyes had snapped back into focus with an added energy, the boy now looking at his opponent with a more severe edge. Mai merely smiled in response, nodding to herself. Well, obviously whatever she was trying to do had worked... Hell if he knew what that was though. "Hnnn..." Katsuya turned, watching as Anzu brought a hand to her chin in thought. "I wonder..."

Wonder what? From the arena came a few shouts; 'The real fight starts now,' Mai was shouting, Yugi giving an equally loud call of 'Bring it on!' in response. The duel continued, Mai clearing off Yugi's trap card with a spell of her own and forcing the boy into defense. A second equipment card was placed on the Harpy Lady, Katsuya biting his lip and staring at the ceiling as the now bondage clad, whip wielding Harpy Lady proceeded to lash at the Feral Imp on the board with a wicked smirk. Er... 'Punish'... Rather... Those screams didn't sound nearly as tortured as the screech from last duel, that was for sure... (Auuuuggghh his head...) Harpy Lady sure sounded like she was enjoying it..! "Hnhahahahaha~!"

And damn it, she still had more upgrades in store, didn't she? "Careful Yugi," he shouted across the room, thinking back to his own match. Bondage, whip... Next stage was... Right! Kaleidoscope! "She's gonna play that card t' get multiple harpies!"

Yugi winced with those words, drawing his card. Warning or no warning, now that he thought about it he couldn't really attack with that wall there could he... "I play Saiga," he called, the small wingless dragon appearing beside the Skull Demon. The dragon crouched down with a light 'Rggrn', sound, staring across at the Harpy Lady with a frown. "Defense mode!"

"Shit," Katsuya muttered, leaning back against the wall. "If he doesn't get rid of that trap soon he's screwed..."

Beside him Anzu nodded, eyes narrowed yet again. Again, it looked like she would say something. Giving an odd glance to him every now and then... (Please say something already...) "I told Mai about Mokuba," she finally said, crossing her arms as Mai summoned 'Harpies Pet Dragon'. The red-pink dragon appeared in a flurry of wind, long chain leash gripped tightly by the one Harpy Lady on the field. Huh... Weird drago- Wait what? Katsuya turned to the woman, frowning as Anzu continued. She told Mai about... "She came to my room last night, to give me a few things from her bag... While we were talking, she asked about what happened during... During the duel." Her tone softened, and briefly the pair were distracted by Mai's move on the board.

It likely wasn't as vicious in Anzu's eyes, but at Mai's command the 'Pet Dragon' had fired an immense blast of fire toward the 'Skull Demon', the bones cracking and turning to dust in an instant. Standing at the side the Harpy Lady laughed, slashing her whip across the ground in wait of the next turn. Damn... At least it was defense mode...

What was Anzu saying again? He turned back, the woman continuing. "Listen," she said quietly, turning back from the table herself. "I know that... Those sorts of things are private but... I just didn't want her thinking you were some nutcase or something... I mean, you were actually kind of scary back at the duel..."

Scary? Him? Briefly he thought back to the 'aftermath' of Seto's duel, the blond staring at the ground. "It's fine," he muttered, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets. Told Mai about Mokuba... What did that mean..? "...What exactly did y' say..?"

Anzu blinked, nodding slowly as she answered. "Just 'basics' really... Mokuba is Kaiba's brother, and that you've been staying at their house..." She paused, frowning slightly. "She wanted to know about what happened really, with Pegasus' soul stealing... During the duel, we'd explained about his mind reading, but she didn't seem to believe us at the time." As Katsuya continued to stare, the woman gave a small shrug. "I don't know if she believed me even later but... I think she got it after that. Why you shouted I mean..."

He nodded, turning to the board once more. "Right..." When he thought about it, Honda did have to drag him off... "Well," he decided, attempting at a smile, "'least she knows what Pegasus'll do righ'?" There was no response, and he found himself watching as on the board there was a shout of 'SAINT FIRE GIGA!' A blast of flames engulfed Saiga, the tiny dragon screeching as it vanished into ashes. No more defense monsters... "...'S better that way," he finally said, giving Anzu a sad smile and receiving one from the woman in response. '

'Your friend Jonouchi asked me a riddle during our last duel,' Mai was saying, Yugi tensing as the woman continued. Katsuya as well tensed slightly, frowning. The riddle? Why was she bringing up that now? 'Now I'm asking you Yugi,' the woman continued with a frown. 'What can you show, that you can't see? If you can't answer it... Then you won't be able to win!'

"Wh-What! Oi," Katsuya shouted, Mai turning with raised eyebrows. Hang on, what the hell did that riddle even have to do with this! "Do you even know the answer yourself?" Seriously, would she be asking if she did? Answer had nothing to do with this...

Nonetheless, the woman nodded, giving him a confident smile. "As a matter of fact Jonouchi, I do! I came up with my own answer." Her own answer?

While Mai crossed her arms, Katsuya snorted. So it wasn't the 'real' one then... Unless she'd figured it out... And was just being weird about it. Who knew what went through the mind of a woman... He sure as hell didn't know what Seto was thinking most of the time. ...Don't think about..."

Tch! In that case," he shouted, shaking the thoughts from mind, "Lemme tell you th' answer in Yugi's place! 'Friendship'! The bond between friends! That sound anything like your answer?"

Mai shook her head, still smiling. "Afraid not... Not even close! Try again!" Try a- IT WAS THE RIGHT ANSWER!

He growled, crossing his arms. Not even close, what the... "Damn it," he growled, bristling as the woman laughed. "Then what is it?"

The question remained unanswered, Mai merely turning back to the table with a slightly more depressed smile than before. "You should know," she said as she resumed the duel, settling back into her fight. "Your move, Yugi," the woman told him, Kastuya left scratching his head with a scowl.

'Something you can show, but can't see'... Friendship, the perfume, and (If Time Wizard even counted), time. But the look on Mai's face was different... Instead of seething like he'd thought he would, he ended up just watching the board with a dull frown in silence. 'Something you can show, but can't see'...

What else could it possibly be then..?

AN: YOU ALL SHIP SUMMONED SKULL X HARPY LADY NOW. That or Harpy Lady x Every Monster. AHAHAHA.

Annnnd hello again! Surprise surprise, but when I finished updating last I realized that I had already gotten about 2/3s through the next chapter... And given that I had a day of car-drive ahead of me, that meant I was able to edit it just in time for you. But at the same time, I didn't want to end up unable to answer anything to the last chapter before that happened... Which led to me putting off the update until I had the next chapter ready for update! BAWWWWW.

In any case, the chapter might seem short, (And spaztic) particularly after the last one, (It's still spaztic) but don't be fooled!

It's all Mini-Seto's fault. ALL OF IT. The scene between herself and Jonouchi is made up of a lot of bickering, which means a lot of 'one liners', which means less word count due to the lack of a need for description. Phew, fun!

On a side note, I found out how Japan's age system works; if you're born in April over there, you're likely oldest of your class. This not only means that Jonouchi is younger than Kaiba, but, given that everyone was apparently in grade ten, that I'm gonna have to pull a break from the prologue; despite Kaiba apparently being '16', she will have only hit that marker during her coma... Which means Jonouchi is actually still 15. It also means that he's the only one who isn't 16... Not to mention it makes he and Kaiba the youngest of the 'group' so to speak. Honda is the oldest, being born just shortly after the start date of school in April, followed by Yugi in June (during which Jonouchi was in Osaka for the fanfic), Anzu in August, Bakura in September... And then Kaiba was born in October.

This actually works in favour of a few things too... It means that when Jonouchi and the others enter Grade Eleven, it'll still match up with the manga time line (Their class is '2-B' during Battle City, meaning that they're in their second year of Highschool. Or... Grade eleven.). Also, it works in favour of the Ryuzaki x Shizuka plan; I specifically labelled her as fourteen (Course... I think I labelled the main cast as 16 as well, which puts me in a hole), but with the time change, this makes Ryuzaki 14 as well; his birthday isn't until December 29th, and as he's a year younger than the main cast... (An interesting point, but Haga is two years younger than them... So at the moment, he's also 14.) Anyways. Shizuka doesn't have a listed birthday though; any suggestions?

Poll results! And...

They're all still the same. More people need to send in their opinions! Go go go you guys!

Crossdressing, Female Set - 9 (Two Anonymous Polls)

Obviously Female Set - 5 (Two Anonymous Polls.)

Male Set – 2

Anyways! Time to respond to some anonymous reviews! ... ...

...There are none...

Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner

The section that's so teary after the last chapter, that it's crying even now! And it's just a block of text!

And the dreams return... Lots and lots of foreshadowing, symbolism, and MINDSCREW in this one. So nothing new really. (If you hadn't guessed.) Mostly because, even the somewhat prophethetic dreams are like that. One part obvious, Three hidden meaning, and 6 parts WTF to make it a little more dreamy.

Or is it. That's the thing about dreams eh! You can never tell... Maybe it wasn't even a dream...

First person to correctly identify all the 'players' in that 'dream' so to speak wins a hallucinatory review cookie by the way... Not to mention a heightened chance of me taking a request sketch from them.

Some help on the dream business, but the 'sclera' is the white of the eye. For a clear idea of what the 'Eye' in the first scene looked like to start, look up 'Hollow Ichigo' from 'Bleach'; his eye is pretty close to it.

Bicker bicker bicker! 'Little Seto' (HAH names..), at least up there, is obviously a childish depiction of Kaiba... Who quite clearly remembers Jonouchi. In any case, what with her being around 10 or eleven, she's acting as such. Hence why she's doing a number of very UN-Kaiba like things. Such as screaming for help... Or pulling close to Jonouchi in fear.

A kid is still a kid after all... Not to mention, you may have guessed, but Jonouchi's suspicious are correct in that 'Mini-Kaiba' doesn't even know she's Kaiba- Well that's interesting...

That last shout of 'I SAID GET AWAY' (god damn it)? That's what Keith hears when he's rooting in Jonouchi's jacket pockets in the middle of the night. In the manga, this is followed by a grin on the sleeping blond's face, along with a 'hehehe'... Keith of course muttering about morons as he bolts out of the room with the card.

When Jonouchi compares legless 'Little Seto' to a ghost, he's referring to the stereotypical Japanese depiction of them. 'Yuurei' (Literally 'Faint Spirit', 'Yuu' being 'Faint' or 'Dim' and 'Rei' being 'Soul' or 'Spirit') are depicted as having no legs to speak of, hence the comparison... To be more specific on 'Little Seto's condition, the body slowly fades from the chest down, until it's completely gone around the shins and ankles.

Other traits of 'Yuurei' are black hair, white clothes, and limp wrists... Hence the 'hanging sleeves' that often come with stereotypical art of these ghosts. (Not to mention the white kimono) They're also accompanied by 'hitodama', the Japanese equivalent of a 'Will o' the Wisp'.

Some of you might be wondering what's with the flowery hall of Jonouchi's dreams... There's actually more to it than just a hall way, and if you can figure it out than good on you! ...I'll tell you this now, it is not a soul room, that would be ridiculous. Not to mention horrendously inaccurate. Flowers? BAH.

And this is why there's actually a challenge here for you to figure out its point.

Heeeeyy fun fact you guys! And I know this one from partial experience... But a dislocated shoulder need only be popped back into place and it's all good; often times, pro swimmers who deal with the issue of dislocated their shoulders against the wall or another person's arm will just pop it back into place and shrug it off. It's a bit disconcerting for me, the lifeguard, when the person just holds you off and says 'No trust me, I'm fine.'... But it's the truth, as many a first aid and lifeguarding instructor has told me.

Apparently Keith knows how to fix it too... (I don't want him to save me.)

It's kinda weird how Anzu had a nightgown on her when they clearly never packed for more than a day to start with... I personally wonder if maybe it's another case of something she borrowed from Mai. And since I had Mai show up again...

During the chapter 'Stealth in the Night' (The one where we see all those sneaking around at 2 AM sneaking around... At 2 AM.), Bakura ends up wandering the halls after being left around somewhere by his 'other'. When he runs into the pair of guards at Mokuba's dungeon (Rather the staircase to it) in the manga, he claims to have been looking for the washroom. The guards then tell him to 'use the one in his room', which would imply that there was a bathroom for each bedroom, hence the shower.

Really Pegasus, put some soap in there or you'll have diseases all over your house!

Anyways! For the short bit that you see Yugi in the next morning, the bandage that Anzu put on his face is gone. Clearly Yugi didn't feel that bandage made him look too good. Or manly. OHOHO. In any case, you can still see the bruise/cuts on his cheek obviously... And of course, the moment Yami Yugi switches out with him, the injury is ten times more hidden... It's the YAMI EFFECT. Also that he was just drawn that way in the panels for a while.

Another point on Yugi, but the 'switch' happens as he puts the puzzle on that morning. I was kinda sitting there going 'Hoh... Does this mean that holding it half way would give Yugi angry eyes?' And then I had to smack myself for thinking such things. Anyways.

In the manga, Jonouchi tells Yugi and Anzu that Honda and Bakura both weren't in their rooms... But if he'd checked after getting the other two, the other two would have known! ...I guess he saved Yugi for last in terms of wake up calls...

Why was Jonouchi knocking on Bakura's door and not Yugi's? It's actually an unconscious action due to increasing paranoia about that ring... He feels like something's up, but until he's sure... Well, he doesn't want to walk in on anything evil you know. (Ohohoho~)

To clarify on the arena room... The arena itself is situated on a rising pillar. It was raised during Pegasus and Kaiba's battle, so that not only would those on the balcony see, but so that the big five, who are effectively on the third floor as opposed to the second, could see. (Pegasus' private balcony is exactly level with the arena at its raised point by the way.)

For the semi finals however, the arena is lowered to the ground, while Pegasus sits on his 'private balcony' and watches like the king he wants to be. Laaaa~ (It's raised again when Yugi and Pegasus fight.)

Yea. Pegasus calls his castle holy. What's more amusing (When going strictly by that page and that page only), is that directly after Pegasus says this, Yugi instantly starts seething and thinking 'PEGASUS YOU FIEEEEEND.' Yesss, because how dare he claim such things about that castle!

Pbbbbbt... Anyways, serious note, the manga (And likely the anime) state that the prize is 200,000 dollars... Which is around 16.5 million yen, at this moment. That's... A lot of money.

And all of it will be used for Shizuka's eyes; by the way, the amount that Shizuka and her mom had before they found out they'd be screwed was about half that... Pity.

ALSO on the note of prizes... Found out what the average prize for a real tournament concerning the card game is; cards. Specifically, tournament only cards, which would obviously sell for a fair amount, along with another assortment depending on your placing. Basically, if you make money of this, it's through selling the cards...

Using this, I would estimate that the 'average' prize amount for the major tournaments in the manga itself would be around 1,000 dollars, maximum likely being around 2,000, given that Ryuzaki when offering up his own tournament prize of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon labels it as being worth around a hundred thousand yen; in other words, a thousand five hundred dollars (Technically 1,200 point something something something...). Keep in mind, this is the AMERICAN dollar, I'm not converting to Canadian here... And also that this is using the strength of the current dollar on the market.

You might have noticed that Anzu is getting a little more than just 'YUGI!' in terms of cheering this time around. See... You have to remember, before the duelist kingdom started, Anzu was completely trashing Jonouchi in this game. In fact, on the page that we see this, Jonouchi mutters about how that's been happening constantly.

Let's face it guys. Anzu is no newbie to Duel Monsters, and could probably kick a fair amount of ass if she wanted to. (Remember, she's going into dance, not cards.)

Yami had another line of amazing here; in his monologue thoughts, he literally says, right after 'But I can't lose either!' ... 'WE WILL WIN THE GLORY!'

YAMI. YAMI I DON'T THINK GLORY IS QUITE WHAT THE JONOUCHI AND KAIBA WERE GETTING AT.

Bit of a line change, mostly because Jonouchi's partially distracted by the board specific events (Oh mah, Harpy Lady what are you... AAAAAAH! ), but also because he's more into the serious than the lul-standard. In the manga though, I swear he has the best line... 'HOWL IF YOU'RE A MAN!'

...As he looks around with a fairly nervous and unsure stare.

Anzu and Jonouchi's conversation is based on the words Mai gives the blond later on; 'Anzu told me about your sister'. Obviously in this case it'd be about Mokuba rather than his sister... But I was also wondering when that actually happened. Maybe in the tent? Who knows. In any case, you can probably guess that Mai's getting a little close to figuring things out...

It's all that woman's intuition. Hehehe.

While those two are talking, Mai's putting Yugi in his own little mind-game, by turning his own riddle on him; 'There's something you've lost sight of,' she tells him, 'Something you can show, but you can't see'.

This of course scares/bugs the crap out of Yugi, as he just sort of goes 'WHAT.' Also bugs Jonouchi. A LOT.

Doesn't help that Pegasus can apparently use telepathy with that eye, and is doing some weird 'SHE'S RIGHT YUGI, YOU SUCK~' from inside the guy's head... HIHHHHH.

Well, that's all now! Don't expect updates to be as fast as this (This was kinda... Done a while ago, just had to do file transfers and such since it wasn't my laptop...), though they shouldn't take more than a week and a bit of time. If they do... Well, I did just move guys, so you should probably expect a little bit. Not to mention it's not the best transition into 'real life'. OH WELL.

See you next time!