Hello Again!
Harvest Dragon: Welcome back! Thanks for all the positive feedback. I love my OCs, even though they don't really feel like OCs anymore. I hope to hear from you again!
knAngel18: Thanks! And yeah, I'm still planning on that. It will be subtle. You won't really see it until later on.
Sycoandcrazyinc: Are you mad at me for this delay? Haha. Hope you like the chapter!
TeresaShiho: I'm glad that I can make you happy! Yes, Red is back. And he is not happy, to put it nicely. And the chapter is much longer than the last. Or at least, it feels a lot longer. Enjoy!
Twilight PhoenixFyre: Everyone seems to like the dancing scene. Haha. I just like being mean to my lovely Seto. And you don't have to sign in. It's cool. I appreciate that you reviewed!
Stormygio: I did have a lot of this chapter done. Then I got lazy. This chapter just had so much going on that it was taking ages. Thanks for the butter beer! I'll take you up on that deal. I've updated. You can review.
Aqua-Princess: I just like beating Seto up. It may get worse here in about . . . five-thousand words. Maybe I can change your opinion of Kray. Haha. Or not. You'll see him more soonish! Here's the longer chapter!
Seto
"I'm not working with him," I said. I crossed my arms as I made the statement, hoping the more severe posture would help enforce my point.
"Mr. Kaiba, as you cannot carry all those clipboards on your own, this is a two person job. Mr. Wheeler here-"
"Joey," Wheeler interrupted.
"Joey here," the doctor corrected. "Is my only other available volunteer. So unless you can carry and sort these on your own, you two are my team."
"I am more than capable-" I began, but the doctor shook his head and walked by me and Wheeler.
I bit my tongue. It would do no good to start a fight while volunteering at a hospital. I had already been insulted enough by being given such a simple task. Creating a scene and getting thrown out would very seriously injure my pride.
There was a pile of clipboards on the table in the hallway. I knew that the doctor was right when he said I would be unable to carry them at once, but I was willing to make additional trips in order to avoid working with Wheeler.
"Come on, Kaib'. It won't be so bad. How about I carry half and you do the talkin'?"
Joey reached out to the pile. "No," I said.
"I had a good plan," Wheeler argued.
"Perhaps," I said, stepping up to the table. "But they should be organized before beginning."
"How do you suppose we do that? There's gotta be like a hundred of them."
I examined the stack. "There are thirty-two."
"Oh! Look at Mr. Smart Boy the speed counter!"
I flipped my eyes over to glare at Wheeler, but found that I couldn't even muster the energy to do so. "Thirty-two patients on the hall. The other volunteer took them out during his rounds. Thus, thirty-two clipboards."
"Why'd he do that?"
"People are idiots. Alphabetize," I said, pointing a finger at the stack.
"Man, Kaib', you're bossy even as a volunteer."
I ignored him, having spoken to Wheeler too much as it was. I went straight to searching through for the names at the first half of the alphabet.
"Have ya talked to Yami lately?" Wheeler asked. He too started with the clipboards.
"Monday."
"How's he? The Magician don't let me see him."
"Doesn't," I corrected.
"Huh?"
I stopped messing with the clipboards long enough that I could scratch at my nose. "The Magician doesn't let me see him," I explained.
"Uh, ya just said ya saw him Monday."
I turned to Wheeler in disbelief. Then I remembered who I was speaking to, so I went back to organizing. "I did," I said.
He threw his hands up, dropping the clipboards as he did so. "Now ya just talkin' circles."
I looked through the stack Wheeler had been holding. "F doesn't go near M."
"I know that! I was just, ya know, organizin'."
"Just get it done."
"You're a grouchy volunteer," Wheeler mumbled.
"So you have already established," I said.
Wheeler did return to sorting the clipboards. However, his mouth was not able to remain closed for more than a minute.
"How'd the meeting go? I couldn't make it."
"You didn't miss much."
"Those things are boring."
"Yes," I muttered under my breath. "Quite tiresome."
I finished with my half, then began to take the clipboards from Wheeler's hands. He didn't complain, but dropped them to allow me to do all the work. I would have said something if not for Wheeler's incompetence. It would be faster to do it alone.
"How's little Kaib's foot?" Wheeler leaned back against the table. He watched the nurses move along the hallway as I sorted.
"It's his ankle, and it's healing. Can you walk him to his doctor's appointment Friday?" I asked, though I knew the answer.
"Sure thing! Dragons still don't let ya out together?"
"Correct."
I put the last of the clipboards in place, then split the stack in two. I handed the second half to Wheeler. "This is N through Z."
Wheeler took the armful. "Who is first?" he asked. He leaned over to look at the name on my top clipboard.
"Not alphabetical. We will start at the end of the hall."
"Why?"
"If we go in this order," I said, slightly lifting up my stack. "Then we will be constantly going up and down the hall."
"Why'd we sort them?"
'We,' I thought sardonically. "So when we get to the room, the proper papers will be easy to locate."
"I don't get it."
"Just follow me," I said. I then proceeded to move to the end of the hallway. It was a short distance since there were only eight rooms in total in the hall.
The first room we entered had four women in the four beds. Three of them talked excitedly to one another. The other one of them was asleep. I was impressed at how soundly she slept, with the other three woman talking over her.
"Good mornin'!" Wheeler greeted.
"Technically, it is afternoon," I said.
"Oh, hello gentlemen!" one of the women said.
"We're volunteers," I said, ignoring her comment. "The last volunteer took all your paperwork and we are returning it."
"See, Martha? I told you the man was making a mistake." The lady who spoke turned to talk to me and Wheeler. "I had told them when that no-good volunteer came through that he didn't know anything at all. He looked like a dog about to be eaten by all those monsters."
I waited until she had finished before saying, "If you give us your names, you can get back to your conversation."
"Dear, you two are welcome here however long you'd like."
"Unfortunately," I said, trying to maintain a polite tone when I was already sick of speaking with them. "We have other rooms to get to. What is your name?" I asked the first woman.
"It's Martha F. Pensburry. Don't let the middle initial fool you. I'm single."
"That's you, Wheeler."
"Right!" He said, then tried to flip through the clipboards to find the right one. While he searched, I moved to the next woman.
"And your name?" I asked.
Wheeler located Pennsbury's paperwork, but just held out.
"In the bin," I said as I pointed to the container at the foot of the bed.
"I'm Shelby Ferguson. That's F-E-R-"
I lifted my fingers up in a motion to make her stop. Then I ran my fingers over the top of each clipboard until I came across it.
"Ferguson." I dropped it in the container.
The next woman was the sleeping one. Her face was pale and glistened with sweat. I didn't want to wake her up since she actually seemed ill, unlike her roommates. So instead of waking her, I asked, "Her name?"
Pennsbury spoke up. "I'll trade her name for yours." After speaking, she gestured to both me and Wheeler.
"Kaiba," I stated.
My name had desired effect. The three awake women made quiet gasping sounds and glanced away from me.
Wheeler snorted. Apparently, he found the women's reaction amusing. I didn't blame him. Even I had to hold back smirk.
"And her name?" I asked again.
"It's Amelia Winder," the last lady said quickly.
"Great, and your name?" I asked, ready to be out of the room.
"Patricia Grant."
Wheeler and I found their papers. Once they were back in their proper locations, I nodded once to the women, then left.
Wheeler followed me out. "A bit harsh, eh Kaib'?"
"Not at all. Why shouldn't I take advantage of people's stupidity?"
"They weren't stupid," Wheeler argued.
"No? What reason do they have two be wary of me in this setting? Am I going to summon my dragons to attack anyone who dares to hit on me?"
"Ain't one of those dragons in love with ya?"
I stopped just outside the next room. "So she claims."
"Then maybe they do have a good reason to be afraid of ya."
I chose not to answer, but instead enter the next room. To my relief, the patients were all male.
The rest of the rooms proceeded smoothly. Aside from the first room, none of the other patients gave us any problems. Even Wheeler became more adept at sorting through the clipboards and his stack.
By the time we finished however, Wheeler was complaining.
"What kind of the dumb volunteer moved these freakin' papers? How did that seem like a smart plan?"
I took a moment to lean against the wall. I had been at the hospital for four hours, which was an hour longer than I planned to stay. Working with Wheeler made it feel like an eight-hour shift. I was ready to leave.
"Kaib'? Ya zonin' out?"
"No Wheeler, I'm not. I am about to leave, however."
"Why? There's more to do!"
"There always is. I'll be back next Wednesday."
Wheeler frowned and looked up and down the hallway. He folded his arms and scratch at an elbow. Then, he jumped me.
I was too late, and for the second time in a month, Wheeler locked me into a hug. "Man, Kaib'! Ya just never know when you'll see someone again in this crazy city!"
"Get off," I said forcefully. Luckily, Wheeler failed to trap my arms as he did the previous time. I shifted around to where my hands could work between us. In one solid push, I shoved him back.
I gave him no goodbye, having decided that the physical assault would suit. I just walked away, only stopping to sign out and return my badge.
The hospital was relatively close to the ruins of the Game Shop. It was only three blocks over, so my walk didn't take long. I stopped once on the way to watch two of the stations officers. They were speaking with a citizen, which was unusual. Most always, they simply stood on a street corner and observed. So them speaking caught my attention.
The three men were in my path, so I needed to pass by them to reach my destination. I didn't think too much of it until they saw me.
Their conversation died. They cast their eyes down to watch their feet.
"Good afternoon," I said in passing. I didn't stop. It was obvious they didn't want me around.
"Mr. Kaiba," one of the officers said. His greeting came across as a mumble.
Once I had passed, they still had not picked up their discussion, at least, not that I heard. I wondered if they assumed I was simply ignorant, or if they really believed that I couldn't tell what they were talking about.
Yami and I likely didn't have until the end of the year.
The Game Shop had no resemblance to a shop. The walls had caved in, covered by the remains of the roof. I stepped up to the sign which sat on the ground, scattered in pieces. I spotted the occasional box that had faded colors. I guessed those had once been the product on the shelves. Then I saw the shelves, also mixed in the pile.
Yami had mentioned there being a basement area where Yugi kept the Items. Getting to anything at the bottom would be time-consuming. It would also be difficult, requiring more than just two people. Whatever we did would draw attention.
I kicked some of the rubble around. There wouldn't be much I could do today. I didn't want to uncover anything of importance because I couldn't take the chance of it falling into the wrong hands. Since I planned on going to Yami's house next, I couldn't carry anything with me.
The most I could do was walk the perimeter of the ruins. The roof and walls had everything well-covered. It made me feel a bit better about the Items still being buried. Nothing seemed to to have been moved.
I didn't stay long. After walking around once, I had seen all that I needed to.
Then I made my way to Yami's. I checked my watch as I went. I had just over an hour until I told Krin I would be back. Speaking to Yami would only take about two minutes, so I had plenty of time.
Usually when they gave me a return time, I had no problem meeting it. I would rather hang out with Mokuba then be out running errands. It was very rare that I even came close to being late.
I knocked upon reaching the door. Then, as is my habit, I stepped back to put distance between myself and whomever open the door.
A few seconds later, it was opened. Red stood on the other side and glared.
"What?" he asked harshly.
"I need to speak to Yami."
"So speak," Red said. I watched his chest rise and fall with a heavy breath.
I tilted my head to the side and saw Yami. He was on the floor with the Magician. Both knelt on hands and knees, playing Twister.
I couldn't hold back the smirk. Yami hadn't moved from his right-hand red position, but was staring at me with what I took as embarrassment.
"Busy?" I asked.
"No-" Yami began, and I could tell that he was about to push himself up, but the Magician quickly said, "you move, you lose!"
Yami stayed where he was. "Did you go by?" he asked.
The Magician reached over to spin the pointer, then put his hand back on the green dot. "Right foot blue," he announced.
"I did," I answered. They had yet to invite me in, so I spoke over Red. He hadn't moved since the last time he spoke, but just stood with his eyes locked on me taking the same deep breaths over and over.
"And?" Yami moved his right foot to the blue spot.
"We'll need more than just us."
"I'll ask them. Sunday?"
"Sure, Sunday." With nothing else to say, at least not in front of the two monsters, I decided to leave. I added an, "enjoy your game," before walking away.
"I'm leaving," Red stated. He spoke loudly enough that I heard it several yards off. My pace quickened in response. It was more subconscious than anything. Red made me uneasy.
"Dragon-boy!" Red called out. He tone hadn't lost the severity it bore inside the Magician's house.
I didn't want to stop walking. However, I had no interest in further upsetting the dragon.
When I stopped, he was immediately beside me. I hadn't been this close to him, at least, not without a blindfold, so I had never noticed the eerie glow of his eyes. They were a deep red, but somehow, still bright. He leaned in closer, and I was certain that I felt heat emerging from them.
"Where is he?" Red asked.
"Where is who?" I deflected, taking a step back.
"The boy." Red closed the distance.
I cast a glance to either side, searching for an exit. The streets were abandoned as far as I could see. I used to prefer the emptiness, but now I felt trapped, with no one to call to should I need help.
"I don't know who you are referring to."
I looked back over my shoulder. Right behind me was a crafting store. The door and the windows were shattered. Even so, it was still small enough of an opening that Red would only be able to follow in human form. It wasn't really much of an advantage.
"I can smell him on you," Red pressed. He moved even closer, until the heat from his eyes actually stung my cheeks.
My thoughts drifted to Wheeler forcing me into a hug. Aside from realizing who Red meant, I became overwhelmingly disgusted that I had Wheeler's smell on me. I must have physically reacted, because Red said, "There. I can see it. You know who I want."
"No, I don't," I said. I had backed up as much as I could. Any further and he might realize what I was doing, then stop me.
His eyes narrowed. "I know that you are incapable of understanding this, but I have to know where he is."
Red stopped to smile, an expression clearly foreign on his face. "You will tell me, dragon-boy."
His hand erupted into flames.
"Krin?" I called out, looking past Red and across the street. In response, the fire on Red's hand disappeared, and he turned his head to look.
I took off running, knowing that I would only have about two seconds of a head-start. If the craft store had no back exit, then I would be in far worse shape than before. But I didn't waver as I ran through the doors. I didn't look back.
I could hear Red's angry shouts as he ran behind me. I had flashbacks of running through KaibaCorp to escape the dragons. This was much more difficult. The Blue-Eyes had no intentions of killing me, but I didn't think that was the case for Red.
I ran through a narrow aisle in the hopes that Red would run a different way. The only fairly reassuring thought was that Red wanted something from me. I had some time to stall if he caught me.
I barely had time to slam the back office door closed before Red came to the other side. I held the knob tightly and leaned against the door as I reached with my other hand to lock it.
The knob rose in temperature quickly, before I had the chance to let go. My immediate reaction would have been to release my grip, but since doing so would cause far worse pain than the burns already on my hand, I held on and flipped the lock into place. I shook it as if to shake away the burn. Stepping away from the door, I turned to examine the room I had run in to.
It was just an office, no second door. However, there was a window that opened to the other row of buildings. There was a small space between that had a width so limited that it couldn't even be considered an alley.
Because the space was so small, no monsters had come through to break the window. That was left to me.
I saw smoke spreading out around my feet. I glanced back to the door and noted that the bottom half was on fire.
I grabbed a paper weight off the desk and threw it at the window. It cracked out in several directions, but didn't fully break. I didn't have time to waste.
I ran the short distance to the window and closed my eyes. I winced even before I slammed my fist into the glass. Exhaling sharply, I peeked my eyes open. My fist had gone through the glass. Though I had to run, the door had nearly burned down. I froze to stare at the mess my hand had become. Small pieces of glass were buried inside, and it looked as though several larger pieces had torn through.
I kicked the rest of the glass out so I could fit through. By the time I had enough cleared away, I could hear Red trying to force the door down. He was too close.
I jumped out the window and began running down the narrow space. I had to move with my body sideways, and I held my hurt hand against my chest. I couldn't think about the pain.
By the time I reached the street, I knew that Red had gotten through. I heard a large explosion, then felt heat stinging at my cheek. Since I was out of the space, I spared a moment to see Red's progress. Instead, I saw flames coming out the window.
I didn't wait to see Red follow.
Being on an open street had a great disadvantage. As soon as Red got out of the store, he would be able to transform. If I was within sight then, it would be nearly impossible to break away.
So I had to choose between distance and cover. The balancing of the two would be key. I spent about three seconds debating before I came to a decision.
I ran across the street to an electronics store. I could see the door was not completely closed, so I would have no problems getting in. But since the door wasn't broken, I would be able to close it behind me.
I double checked to make sure that Red hadn't come out before I hid. When I saw that he hadn't, I entered the store, then locked the door behind me.
There were large window displays that I could sit behind. It would likely be safer to hide in the back, but I wanted to see. I would be more anxious if I was blind to my surroundings.
I chose to sit in the corner, pressed against the wall and concealed behind a large display of laptops. Only seconds later, Red slid out from between the buildings.
He glanced in every direction. Any time his gaze neared me, my breathing stopped. My hands pushed against the floor with such force that my knuckles burned and the flow of blood increased. Red had to see me. He was looking too close not to see.
But he kept moving. I waited until Red was far out of sight. Even then, I stayed frozen. I knew better than to leave once I lost sight of the dragon. I had seen enough of Mokuba's horror movies to know that was always when someone got killed. My best option would be to wait here until I was certain that he was truly gone.
One glance at my watch and I knew that wasn't a possibility. I was down to thirty minutes until my curfew. I had to make it back to the house before then.
I crawled forward on hands and knees to peer out the window in the direction that I couldn't see. I wanted to check both ends of the road before making any attempt to leave my hiding place. I moved as close to the window as I could manage before tilting my head to look to my left.
I immediately rocked backwards. Red was leaning against the wall right next to the window. I closed my eyes while trying to visualize how he could have looped around without my seeing him. Red must have decided, like me, that this was a good location for watching the road.
I backed away slowly. My only hope was that I could find a back exit. If Red stayed where he was long enough, I might have a chance to escape.
I felt the crash before it happened. My initial reaction was to freeze as my face distorted into a wince. The shelf behind me had completely vanished from my thoughts, which was the reason that I was seconds away from being discovered. I cursed my stupidity.
The items on the shelf clattered against the floor, almost all of them hitting at the same time. It might as well have been gun fire for the noise it made.
Once everything had fallen silent, I looked at the window. Red stood facing me, staring down with a smirk.
I pushed myself up. Before I had the chance to turn and look for a second exit, Red had slammed his hand through the window. On reflex, my arm shot up to cover my eyes as the glass fragments flew through the air.
When I moved my arm down, Red stood in front of me.
"Where is he?" he demanded.
"I don't know-" I paused to take a deep breath. "-who you are referring to."
"You're lying."
Red jumped forward. I barely had a second to dive to the side, but I managed to evade him. I sprinted through the shop to the front entrance, keeping my head down in case Red decided to use his flames again.
Something hit my back and I went falling through the door and to the street. I tried to catch myself, but my hands had already taken too much damage. I held back a cry of pain when they hit the pavement.
Red grabbed a fistful of my hair and threw me back. My head smacked the ground and I saw a bright flash of light. It burned my eyes. I couldn't focus on anything.
I vaguely made out Red kneeling down next to me. But I felt his knee rest down on my stomach to pin me down. "Tell me, dragon-boy. I have to know."
I blinked several times to try to clear my vision. Wheeler would never be able to pay me back for this.
I tried to shake my head, but the pavement scratched against the back of it. I answered instead. "Who are you talking about?"
He reached out a hand, and it seemed like he was about to claw at my face. But just inches away, he stopped and curled his fingers into a fist. I watched his hand instead of his face.
"You don't understand," Red said. "You can never understand." A sense of urgency and desperation grew in his voice. "You don't know how lucky you humans are. You don't have this-" his fist moved to his chest. "-this pain. I need him."
"I can't help you," I said.
"You will," Red said. He brought the flames back. I watched as he brought them closer to my face. Maybe protecting Wheeler wasn't worth the trouble.
"This is unfortunate."
The fire next to my face disappeared. Red turned his head at the unexpected voice. Even I angled my head to see who had spoken.
Kray stood in the middle of the street, rubbing a hand on the side of his neck. When Red recognized him, he moved the hand that had previously been in flames to press against my throat. His knee still dug into my stomach.
"The problem is, I can't pretend I didn't see this. If I did, and Kisara found out, well, she would never come with me."
"This doesn't involve you!" Red shouted. He pushed down harder as he spoke. I choked under the added pressure.
Kray's sigh was audible, even with the large space between us. "Yeah, it does. The boy leaves with me," Kray said.
Red looked down at me and met my eyes. "You can have him when I'm finished." His other hand sparked into fire. I tried to get away from the heat, but the grip on my throat grew so strong that I couldn't breathe.
"I can't let you hurt him," Kray said. He sounded bothered by having to become engaged in the situation.
"If he would cooperate, I wouldn't have to."
The fire moved too close and it began to sting my skin. But then it moved even closer. The flames lapped out, finding their target on my skin. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth to combat the pain.
Then it stopped. Red was thrown halfway across the street. I tried to push myself up, but found that I couldn't. Coughs took over as I worked to regain the ability to breathe.
I rolled onto my side to see Kray standing between me and Red. His hands were raised to eye level, both glowing with energy.
"Leave," he ordered.
"Not without my answer," Red said. He jumped forward and transformed in mid-air.
Kray wasted no time in doing the same. They collided in an explosion of lightning and fire, sending waves of each in all directions. Both resulted in flames when they hit, and I had to quickly pat out a small fire on my sleeve. After doing so, my already-injured hands were red and blistered, but I still pushed myself up.
Red was distracted in his fight, which would provide me a chance to slip away.
But the moment that I had taken a step, Red sent out a tunnel of fire directly in front of me. The impact knocked me back several steps, and my feet bumped into the store's outer wall. I looked up to see Red fighting Kray while keeping his eyes on me.
I knew what the outcome of the fight would be. A Blue-Eyes was more powerful than a Red-Eyes. Though Red had a strong motivation, that wouldn't give him enough of an advantage to overtake the other dragon.
Watching the dragons fight was far different than I ever could have imagined. I had designed holograms to visualize exactly what I was witnessing, but none of them held in comparison. The fight was so real. It wasn't settled in one deciding blow like how it would have happened in the game. They were actually fighting to injure, if not kill the opponent.
Just because Kray was stronger didn't mean that he escape uninjured. That was the most unrealistic aspect of Duel Monsters. The stronger monster never took damage from a weaker one. But here, both dragons cried out with every hit they took. Whenever Kray roared in what I assumed was pain, he instantly sent out a streak of lightning from his throat.
They spent a great amount of time locked in each others' grips. They rolled through the sky, wings pounding heavily to keep them elevated. As they tumbled above me, I had a clear view of how much they relied on their claws to attack. One of Kray's hands had torn into Red's shoulder. His claws were completely buried inside Red to hold him in place while another scratched at his face.
Red, having no use of the arm Kray immobilized, attacked more with his teeth. He snapped around Kray's head, looking for an opportunity to clamp down on his opponent's neck. Fire spilled out of his free hand, but Red didn't use the flames. They fell to the ground, some falling dangerously close to me.
Because of the nature of their fight, the entire street had been set on fire. It had effectively pinned me against the building where I stood, leaving me no option but to wait out the fight.
I followed their every move, so I saw before Red did that Kray's tail was tensing for a strike. I caught myself holding my breath as I waited.
Kray made two moves simultaneously. The claws in Red's shoulder came out with force, breaking the rhythm of Red's wings, and right as Red began to drop, Kray's tail came around and hit Red directly on his chest. The result had him falling rapidly backwards to slam down onto a rooftop.
Red was back on his feet within seconds. His head moved back while his neck remained straight, then he spread his jaws to release a fire blast.
Kray tried to dodge it, but Red shot out a continual stream that followed Kray's movements. The blast caught up to Kray and set to one of his arms.
Kray howled with the pain, but the damage didn't slow him down. He flew up higher, out of Red's range, and positioned himself right above the roof Red was on. He then dove down, straight down, as though to land on Red.
Red took to the air to meet him. Their impact sounded of thunder, echoing between the buildings until it rang louder.
I glanced away to check on the state of the flames that surrounded me. They were growing closer by the minute, but the only place for me to run was back inside the store. I didn't want to risk getting trapped inside the building. That would have to be a last resort. Whoever won the fight, which I very strongly believed would be Kray, had to get me out. I needed to stay where he could see me.
Both dragons growled and roared while they attacked. From their physical state, I guessed the fight might continue for another minute. There was too much blood between the two of them. With that amount of blood, the injuries had to be piling up. The next powerful move could decide the winner.
Red broke away from Kray to fly back a few buildings' lengths. Since Red's body was black, it was difficult to see the extent of his injuries, but large drops of blood fell down from his wings as they pulsed.
Across from him, Kray too appeared to have several serious wounds. One of his front legs hung limply in the air, its surface a deep red. Blood covered the rest of his body, aside from his wings, in splotches.
It was quiet for a while. As best as I could tell, they were gathering energy for the last attack. My eyes darted between them, wanting to see who would make the first move.
It was Kray. On a downward beat of Red's wings, Kray opened his mouth and released a white lightning attack. Red countered with his own fire blast a second later.
The two attacks hit, created a louder noise than the dragons' bodies had with the collision. The mixture of lightning and fire was nearly as bright as when one of the Blue-Eyes shifted forms, so I had to squint in order to continue watching. In the middle, where the fire met energy, it was hard to distinguish between the two.
For about half a minute, the center didn't move. Both dragons kept up their attack at full strength. But then slowly, the center began edging towards Red. The closer it got, the faster it began to move. Red was losing strength while Kray managed to maintain his energy.
Right when the lightning was about to reach Red, the fire disappeared and Red stopped moving his wings so that he fell out of the way of the attack. Kray's mouth snapped closed, ending the lightning, but he hovered in the air where he had been.
Red picked back up his flight and stared down at me for several long moments. But an intimidating growl came from Kray, met with a similar one from Red, and then Red turned and flew away.
Kray collapsed onto the nearest rooftop. As soon as his feet touched down, his head fell so that he could rest. I understood that he had to be exhausted, but the fire had moved close enough to me that the occasional flame would singe my clothing. If I backed into the store now, Kray wouldn't be able to get me out without going through the flames himself.
"Kray!" I shouted, hoping that he could hear me from the distance.
He heard. His head first twisted to look at me, then he noticed my predicament. With one jump, he reentered the air and flew above me.
He descended to where his tail was within my reach. He couldn't get enough of it down to where it could grab me at the waist, so I had to lift up my arms and hook my fingers around one of the ridges on his tail. I used both hands to help ease the pain that dangling from my mutilated hands caused. It barely helped.
Kray ascended and I groaned as my hands supported my weight. Kray must have known that I wouldn't be able to hold on for long, because he flew just high enough that he could move to the side without dragging me through the fire. Once we were clear of it, he lowered me to the street.
He didn't lower me gently, so I ended up stumbling backwards. When I hit a wall, I just slid down it to sit on the sidewalk. My heart was racing from what all had just happened. I pulled my knees up and laid my head on top of them while Kray transformed.
He walked up. "How hurt are you?" he asked. He didn't actually sound concerned.
I lifted up my palms. "This is the worst of it." Then I raised my head back up.
Kray was far more hurt than I was. His hair now had red running through it to accompany the black streaks. The blood dripped down his face, where it met with the blood from more cuts. He sported several burns on all the skin I could see, but the majority of injures were on his right arm, which was burned from shoulder to fingertips.
"It is getting dark. We should get off the street."
I flipped my hand over to look at my watch. I was late.
"I have to go home. They are expecting me."
Kray shook his head. "We can't be outside when the sun sets."
"You don't have to come with me. I'll go on my own," I said.
"No. You won't. I did not go through all of that to have you e-" he hesitated, then changed his mind about whatever he had been intending on saying. "It is too dangerous for you to be out after dark. I won't save you again." His jaw clenched and unclenched as his eyes burned down at me.
I pushed myself up, relying heavily on my back and feet, and keeping my hands against my chest. "And I can't risk what they will do if I'm not back home tonight," I said, thinking of Mokuba. He must be aware of the time. He had to be worried.
"It is too far. I am hurt. You can't go on your own," Kray said, listing off his facts with no emotion behind the words.
No matter what he had just done for me, I could not risk Mokuba being killed over this. "They will kill my brother," I said. I knew he cared about Kisara, so I hoped to play to that emotion. "I was supposed to be at the house six minutes ago."
It didn't faze him. "They won't do anything. Not tonight anyways." He glanced away to check the sun. "We have to get inside."
"You don't know that."
"I do. I'll get you back to my baby brother and sisters at daylight."
"They will-" I began, but Kray interrupted.
"No. I'm not arguing this with you. We maybe have ten minutes to get hidden before things out here get messy. I live a street down. We are going there."
I tried to argue again, but he grabbed onto my arm with his good hand. "Now."
Mokuba
Krin walked passed my room for the third time. As he did so, he paused just long enough to look at me and shake his head before continuing on into the living room. I could see the anxiety written on his face, just as clearly as if he had taken a Sharpie to his forehead to write, "I'm worried because Seto is late."
I tried not to worry. Seto must have had a good reason for breaking his curfew. It had never happened before since he was so wary of it. I knew that he wouldn't do anything that might result in the dragons following through on their end of the agreement. My brother wouldn't let them hurt me.
But every time that Krin walked by, I felt my resolve fade slightly. No matter what I wanted to believe, Seto was late, and I didn't know why.
Kuriboh too was nervous. He sat on the bed next to me, one of his claws scratching the comforter. He had been scratching the same spot for about an hour now, so he had torn a whole through the comforter, sheets, and was now working on the mattress. I couldn't complain. If I didn't have a broken ankle, I would be pacing the room.
Instead, I had to stare at the clock.
Seto was half an hour late. Being one or two minutes late wouldn't have been such a terribly big deal, but this was excessive. Something must have happened. But I didn't know what. There was nothing in his schedule that should have held him this late.
If something had happened at the hospital, it wouldn't be Seto's responsibility to deal with it. Even if someone was dying in one of the rooms, I knew Seto would leave that person alone to get back to me in time. Nothing at the hospital would keep him.
The dragons didn't know it, but Seto was going to Yami's house after the hospital. I could see that holding him back a little. After all, the Magician had kidnapped him before.
I corrected that thought. The Slaver kidnapped him. The Magician just used him as a hostage.
But even so, the Magician had the type of personality to force Seto to stay late, just to get him in trouble.
Seto would know better. If at all possible, he wouldn't go inside.
I closed my eyes, hoping that would prevent anymore "Seto would" or "Seto wouldn't" thoughts. They were only managing to cause me stress.
I ran my fingers through Kuriboh's hair, trying to find an outlet for my nervous energy. Kuriboh must have been caught up in his own head, because he didn't react.
Krin walked by again. I met his eyes, which kept him standing in the doorway a moment longer. Since he delayed, I asked, "He's still not here?"
"No," he said, then walked away.
I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling. My good foot pumped on some silent rhythm. I tasted blood inside my mouth, then realized that I had been chewing on my lip for a while. I switched the chew on the other side.
Then Kisara came to stand at the door. Her eyes were red. I had heard her crying earlier, so it was no surprise.
"May I sit with you?" she asked. I remembered Seto telling her to sit with me if ever she worried about him not coming back.
"Of course," I said, trying not to let my concern leak into my voice. If I sounded confident, maybe they wouldn't take any drastic action.
She walked to the bed and sat down. My crutches were leaning against the bed where she climbed on, so she pushed them aside. Then a few seconds later, she scooted back so that she rested against the wall with me.
"He's never been late," she said. I couldn't tell if she was talking to herself, or if I was actually supposed to answer. Since I was trying to be confident, I chose to respond.
"He'll be here. Maybe the battery in his watch died."
She shook her head. "I don't know what that means."
I gave her as honest of a smile as I could. "It's how he knows the time. If it got messed up, he could just not know he is late."
She looked at me. "It is sunset, Mokuba. He knows."
I wanted to remain optimistic, but I knew she had a valid point. Wherever Seto was, he knew that he had missed curfew.
"You don't think-" she stopped to hold back her tears. But when she started to speak again, her voice was weak. "What if something happened?"
"He was working at the hospital. What could have happened?"
She clutched at her hair, twisting the strands around her fingers. "If nothing happened, why isn't he here? He swore. He swore that he wouldn't run away."
I twisted the top half of my body around to face her. "Kisara, he didn't run away. He wouldn't do that. He has a reason for not being here yet."
"Oh? Then where is he?"
Kara leaned against the door frame. She was completely motionless, with the exception of her foot which tapped back against the frame. Kara didn't look at me, but down at her crossed arms.
Even Krin returned to stand just outside my room. My breath caught when I realized that they were all hovering around me. They too must have Seto's promise in mind.
"Well, he didn't just go to the hospital," I answered. It might have been a bad idea, but I couldn't let them think that Seto had run away. It was better for them to assume the Magician had done something to prevent Seto from getting back in time.
"What do you mean?" Kisara asked. All three dragons stared at me. I felt Kuriboh tense next to me.
"He was going to the Magician's house."
Krin's eyes widened. His head turned in the direction of the living room, but he didn't speak.
"Why?" Kisara asked.
"To talk to Yami about something. I don't know what." I was so glad that Seto didn't tell me why he needed to go. He could explain it when he got back. 'When he got back,' I silently repeated.
Kisara jumped off the bed. "We have to go get him," she said.
"We don't know he is still there," Kara said. "He could have run."
"We can't take the chance. He's late, and he is out there," Kisara said. When her siblings didn't respond, she added. "With them."
I didn't understand her inflection. The Magician and the Blue-Eyes were on relatively fair terms. Kisara shouldn't be worried about the Magician doing anything to Seto. Of course, to save my life, I was banking on them panicking, but I still couldn't make sense of it.
"But we can't go out either. There are too many," Kara argued.
"But we can't just do nothing!" Kisara shouted. She ran to Krin and clutched his arm.
"Krin, please. Seto could be hurt."
"He isn't. We would know."
"Then-" Kisara began. She looked back at me. I had to turn my head away. Her expression was so obvious that I could almost read her thoughts. "How long do we give him?"
My eyes started to burn. I couldn't help it. Why wasn't Seto back yet?
Krin didn't respond, but gestured with his chin for his sisters to follow him into the next room. When they walked out of sight, I closed my eyes. When I did, tears that I didn't realize had built up fell. I rubbed them away quickly.
Kuriboh shifted closer. I looked over at him and saw the concern on his face too. I hadn't thought about it before, but he should be almost as anxious as me. I guess that I just didn't take him as seriously as the other monsters because he was unable to speak. But Kuriboh had come with the dragons to find Seto and me. He locked Seto out to keep me alone, and he agreed to the compromise just like the rest of them.
"It'll be okay," I whispered. "He will come back."
Then Krin walked back in. He stormed forward and stood at the edge of the bed.
"Do you really believe that he will return?" Krin asked.
"Of course. Seto won't let anything happen to me."
Krin waited long enough to take a deep breath before saying, "We'll see."
He took a step back and his eyes fell down. I followed his gaze to where they landed on my crutches. I had kept them within reach, for when I needed to get up. Krin reached out and grabbed them. He put his arm through the holes and sat them on his shoulder.
I couldn't get a read on his expression. From the set of his mouth, he seemed angry. His knuckles were white in their grip on the crutch. But his eyebrows were slightly raised. They were two conflicting emotions represented.
He left, crutches in tow. Krin closed my door as he walked out.
Then it happened. I burst into tears and lost control of my breathing at the same time. I tried to keep quiet to prevent the dragons from knowing how terrified I was, but it was hard. They were going to kill me.
Kuriboh moved even closer, almost into my lap. If Kuriboh wanted to comfort me, I would accept it. I took the opportunity to grab fistfuls of his hair, and I buried my face into it.
Where was Seto?
Hello All. I hope this chapter has somewhat made up for the fact that I delayed like, forever in updating. Thanks to all of you who reviewed during that time, because those reviews definitely motivated me to write. I've been waiting for this next chapter for a while, which is good and bad. It is good because it is going to be so important for the rest of the plot. Like, everything happens in it. And it is bad, because I'm going to make sure I write it correctly. So, it will be a good chapter (hopefully), but it might take me a while to get it out.
Let's hope that "a while" doesn't mean three months.
Don't forget: You can keep up with my writing by watching my blog (which I will do better to update now that fanfiction has the link working again) or my following me on Twitter. I use those solely for writing. If you want to know how my chapters are coming along, just keep an eye on one of those. Or both. You can also send me a private message.
PREVIEW: Seto learns some interesting facts about Kray and the rest of the monsters. He returns home to see how the dragons have handled his absence.