11
"Rather than the strength it takes to not lose, it's the strength to stand back up after a loss that is sometimes more valuable." ― Kyo Shirodaira, Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning, Vol. 04
"I've brought some gifts," Naomi stated as she walked in with a large box that had two large I's on the side of it in red letters.
"Oho?" Sugoroku asked as he waved her forward. "Has it finally gotten popular?"
"Seems that way," she confirmed, "Pegasus wanted me to give these to my friends as a thanks for being friends with me."
"That's a little sad, Naomi-Chan," Sugoroku informed her, not even sparing her feelings.
"It is," she agreed with an amused huff, "still, I hope everyone finds something they like."
"Hey, how'd you get here before us?" Jounouchi asked, his brows disappearing under his fringe.
"I'm good like that," Naomi answered, shrugging.
He grasped onto her cheek and gentle tugged at it. Yugi chuckled at his friends behavior before he turned his gaze towards the box that Sugoroku was carefully opening. Inside were card packs and a playing field. A rule book came out and the elder Mutou started to eagerly read through it.
"What is this?" Anzu asked, picking up one of the packs.
"Duel Monsters, it's a game created by my older brother," Naomi stated, "it's pretty popular in America, and the makeup pallets based on it is pretty popular here."
"It has a small following," Yugi stated, and she nodded her confirmation of those words.
"The art work is really nice," Anzu complimented before making a slight face, "if not a little gross."
"It appeals more to males at the moment," Naomi stated, "brother says he's going to make some cuter cards once it gets more popular."
"I'll keep an eye out," Anzu said with a slight wink.
"How do you even play this game?" Jounouchi asked.
"It's a trading card game," Yugi informed him, "you play with two people, you each stake one card and the one who wins takes both."
"But you don't have to give up your cards most of the time," Naomi added, "it varies player to player."
"You can use both magic and traps to take life points away from your opponent," Yugi explained, growing excited about the game, "there's a lot of strong cards."
"My personal deck has a few like that," Naomi admitted, reaching into her book bag to bring out a dark purple deck box.
Yugi held out his hands and she handed them over so he could look at them. Naomi would be the first to admit that her brother gave her an unfair advantage when it came to duel monsters. He spoiled her where he could. Yugi's eyes widened in surprise at some of the cards as he shuffled through them.
"How can you collect them when there's already so many?" Jounouchi asked.
"There's a guy in America that sold his house to buy a single card," Naomi stated, "people'll do anything for their passions."
"I'm a big enough fan to have a card like that myself," Sugoroku admitted, "I suppose I'll let you see it, this card is my treasure."
Naomi watched as he pulled a nice box from under the game counter and lifted the lid. There it was. A card that Naomi knew would bring trouble to the Mutou family. The blue-eyes white dragon sat there innocently, as though it wasn't a bad omen. She contemplated that. The light attributed monster being such a thing should've been odd, but it wasn't.
"This card is the Blue-eyes white dragon," Sugoroku informed the group, "it's such a powerful card they stopped production over it, collectors would pay through the nose to get their hands on a card like this."
"When you put it that way, it sounds so serious," Anzu commented, looking at the card.
"I know someone who's obsessed with that card," Naomi stated, giving a soft sigh, "I don't doubt he'd be one of those people."
She wondered how Mokuba was doing, before her eyes widened a bit. Why should she care? He would be one of the aggressors towards her friends. Yet, she couldn't help but feel bad for him. He was just a kid, one that wanted his brother's approval. She couldn't fault him for that, but she could his actions. It had been taken too far.
"I need a few packs, Ji-Chan," Jounouchi stated, looking at the box.
"Go right ahead," Naomi said when she shared a look with the old man, "Pegasus said to give them out to you guys, so enjoy."
Jounouchi gave a wide grin before grabbing a pack and opening it. Naomi leaned against the counter as he looked through the cards he got. Anzu slowly joined in as well and tilted her head at the cards she got. They were a little ugly, but some of them had such beautiful art. A blue skinned elf was praying on one of the cards and she smiled slightly. That was a pretty card. The door slammed open and Naomi sent it a bored look before her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Kaiba-San," she greeted, her tone polite yet cold.
"Crawford-San," his own reluctant greeting made the group nervous.
"You would know a guy like that," Jounouchi muttered and she brought an arm back to elbow him in the side.
"So, your family owns this game store?" Seto asked, walking into the store.
"Ah, are you the Kaiba that's joining our class?" Yugi asked, his genuine smile made Naomi uncomfortable.
"Yes," Seto confirmed and Naomi was a little surprised by the fact he even answered, "do you play duel monsters?"
"You as well?" Jounouchi asked with a hopeful smile. "That's perfect! We were going to play at school tomorrow! You can join our group."
"Join your group?" Seto muttered to himself for a few seconds before scoffing. "Give me a break, as if you're in my league. Let me see your cards."
"Your sportsmanship leaves much to be desired, Kaiba-san," Naomi stated when he tossed the card into the air.
She crouched to help Jounouchi pick up his cards. He was surprised by that, but accepted the help. She did agree with Seto's opinion on the cards. These wouldn't make that good of a deck. Well, Jounouchi was going to grow as a duelist. He'd show them all one day.
"A beginner like you could never be a match for me," Seto bluntly informed Jounouchi, "I'm good enough to compete at the national competition! You could never win against my deck. It'd be pointless to play against you, try again when you've collected at least ten thousand cards."
"I'll play against you then," Naomi stated, straightening Jounouchi's deck before handing it to him, "or are you worried that I might just win?"
"I'm not worried," Seto snapped, a break in his persona.
"What a prick," Jounouchi hissed at him.
"Do you have any good cards here?" Seto asked as Naomi moved to close the box full of freebies for her friends.
"Yes, of course," Sugoroku confirmed, motioning towards the small box he had on the counter that was full of packs.
Seto looked towards the box and caught sight of the blue-eyes white dragon card. He moved to touch it, but felt. A hand grasp onto his wrist. He followed the small hand and saw the royal purple sleeve. So, she finally grew a spine. Violet eyes were narrowed at him, and he narrowed his own. There was no possible way that she knew that he was seeking out all copies of that card.
"W-Where did you get that card?" Seto asked, startling Sugoroku by the sudden change in attitude.
"It was given to me by a friend," Sugoroku answered.
"No wonder it's so precious to you," Naomi softly said, and he nodded.
"Old man, if you give me that card, I'll trade you all of these!" Seto's exclamation startled Naomi.
"It's a case full of cards," Jounouchi stated as the teens looked at the card inside.
"I'm sorry but no," Sugoroku stated.
"The declination was amazing!" Jounouchi exclaimed and Naomi sent him a look.
"He's not going to sell it to you either," Naomi sighed when Seto thought for a few seconds, "do you have nothing you wouldn't sell for any price?"
"Hoho, it seems one of your generation understands the sentimentality of gifts from friends," Sugoroku chuckled, Seto glared at the two of them, "if you really treasure something, it grows a heart of its own. Just like this card! You should never trade anything for that heart, so take good care of each and every card in this trunk, Kaiba and you'll find the true strength of this game."
Seto closed his eyes in disbelief and slammed the trunk lid. Sugoroku watched as Naomi tugged on a few strands of her hair in thought. Seto was going to make a move, and she wasn't too sure which one it would be. He grasped onto the handle of the trunk before spinning on his heel and leaving the store. They shared a glance at one another, his eyes had grown incredibly cold. He'd always been annoying overconfident, but this coldness was newer. It had intensified since they'd last been around one another. The door closed with a shut and she let out a soft breath.
"That was a great speech, Ji-chan," Jounouchi complimented Sugoroku, getting a laugh out of the old man.
"Ji-chan's never lost a game, even without using a rare card," Yugi stated, grinning a bit.
"I'll walk you through the game," Naomi sighed when Jounouchi turned towards her, "be warned, the game is still evolving, we don't have a complete rule system in place."
"It's okay," Jounouchi stated, his bright expression not wavering the slightest.
That was how Naomi found herself being walked home by the blonde. He had one of his hands in his pockets and the other carrying their bags. She was looking towards her emails on her phone. Mokube had sent her one asking if she'd noticed anything off about his older brother. She read it further and she felt her stomach drop. He asked because she'd give an honest answer. She reluctantly sent back an email, saying she had noticed that he seemed colder than usual.
"Is he always like that?" Jounouchi asked and she blinked for a few seconds.
"Kaiba-san has always been a little aloof and overconfident," she admitted, "but it has never been like this, even his little brother is starting to worry."
"That jerk has a little brother?" Jounouchi's exclaimed question made her rub her ear with a wince.
"Yeah, he's a brat too," Naomi grumbled, "still, he's got some good qualities, one of which is his worry for his brother."
"Tch, that pisses me off for some reason," Jounouchi groused before looking up towards the sky, "you aren't what I thought you'd be like."
"Thank you?" She stated, her confusion evident.
"You shop at the Daiso too, right?" He asked, scratching at his cheek in thought. "I was there a couple days ago and saw you buying bento boxes and sponges there, I thought you'd shop at the higher end supermarket."
"If the cheaper option works just as well as the expensive, why would I spend more money on it?" She asked in surprise. "I think the only thing I ever splurge on are clothes, and art supplies."
"You draw?" He was surprised by that.
"I was the one behind the Black Magician Girl," she admitted, "Pegasus created the Black Magician, I had drawn her years ago and he decided to make a card out of her."
That was true, and she had forgotten she'd drawn Mana back then. She heard Mahad make a sound of surprise and she knew he was going to have her try to wake her card up. She was going to be exhausted when they were through. Jounouchi gave her, her bag back when they reached their home and she gave a thankful nod before hurrying inside.
"Welcome back," Fred stated, coming out of the kitchen, "take some of this up with you, you don't eat enough."
She blinked at the chamchijeon on the small plate and gave a gentle smile. Mahad studied them as she carefully made her way up the stairs. It looked unhealthy. Yet, he wanted to try some. She placed the plate down on her desk and set his card there as well, he shifted to his portraits and stretched a bit.
"I don't know how to awaken a card," she admitted right off the bat before picking up her chopsticks and cutting into one of the chamchijeon, "but I'm willing to learn."
"Are you able to paint like your brother?" He asked and she paused before nodding.
"It might take a while for me to paint her, are you willing to wait that long?" She asked and he gave a curt nod. "I'll get my homework done before starting on it."
She did so, all while eating her food. Mahad watched over her progress with a thoughtful gaze. The mathematics she was doing was little different from the kind he did around her age. It seemed that as far as humans progressed in technology, the same things remained. He smiled a bit when she checked her work before putting it away so it wouldn't be left behind. She picked up a mini-easel and looked at his portrait, mentally measuring it. She walked into her closet and moved some canvases around before dragging one out and double checking. They would have the same sized portrait. She grabbed her artist's smock, one that had Pomupomupurin on it, and tied it.
"It's quite interesting how art changes over the years," Mahad commented and she chuckled a little, "you have a favorite period of art?"
"My favorite is Monet and the impressionists," she stated, "I think you'll see it more in the background than you will her figure…I don't think it would work if her face was blurred."
"You have an art book?" He asked, wanting to see what she meant by that.
She tucked a pencil behind her ear before looking through her bookshelf and pulling out the book that Yugi had picked out. She set it up to where he could see it, and he tested the reach of his magic. The introduction page changed to the picture of water lilies and his eyes brightened at the sight. No wonder she enjoyed the style.
Fred walked in the next morning to see Naomi still working on the portrait for Mana. Mahad had fallen asleep in his, and was sleeping peacefully. He sighed and ran a hand through his carefully fixed hair. Leave it to his charge to end up staying up all night to paint.
"She looks great, but you need to get to school," Fred informed her, watching as she gave him a lethargic blink before nodding.
She shooed him from the room as she grabbed some clean clothes to go through her morning routine. Mahad had woken up by the time she was exiting the bathroom while tying the bow around her neck. She grabbed onto his card and pulled it over her head before pulling the back of her hair through the string. The pale strands were still a bit wet, but would dry on the drive to school.
"Eat," Fred warned as she grabbed a can of coffee from the fridge.
She accepted the kimchi-bokkeum-bap and quickly ate it, noting that he put a boiled egg on it instead of a fried egg. She appreciated the thought behind it. She heard him sigh before grabbing her empty plate and taking care of it. Her eyes narrowed a bit, wondering why he was starting to look after her. Just what was his angle? She couldn't figure it out. She contemplated it the entire drive as well, the metal being played did nothing to dissuade her that he wasn't plotting someone.
"Oh, you guys really like duel monsters," Naomi commented as she headed up to the classroom.
Yugi's bright smile her way got a small one out of her in response. His grew brighter and she looked to the side. He was too happy about getting a small smile out of her. It felt bad that, that was all it took. Anzu gave her a wave in greeting and she gave one in return before moving to stand next to her. She studied the game in a quick manner before sighing quietly. Jounouchi was going to lose.
"Is he losing?" Anzu asked, figuring out that sigh.
"Yeah, I don't know their hands, but the field informs me that he's got one or two moves before he loses," Naomi stated.
She moved from that spot and looked at Yugi's hand. He blinked in surprise before showing her his cards. Her eyes widened when he did that before studying it. He had a blackland fire dragon. He was a rare card that could easily take Jounouchi out of the game with a few good attacks. Jounouchi should be glad there weren't many players using direct attacks yet. Right, she would have to cross a bridge with Seto to create those rules for battle city, she'd have plenty of time once her friends dropped her because of Pegasus. She shook those thoughts and looked at Jounouchi's hand.
"Do you need help crafting a deck?" Naomi quietly asked and he blanched. "It's always an offer if you want it."
"I won!" Yugi cheered when Jounouchi couldn't defend with a stronger card.
"Damn it, what's wrong with the deck?" Jounouchi asked as he turned towards Naomi.
She snorted and started to shift the monsters in his deck. He needed to add some traps and spells to it. She opened her bag up and pulled out a bigger deck box that had her spares inside it. His mouth opened in surprise as she put a couple spells and traps inside. She double checked his deck and gave a small nod before handing it back.
"I had a few multiples of some traps and spell cards that would work better in your deck than mine," she stated as he shuffled through the deck with a surprised look, "just don't trade them in the future, okay?"
"Of course not, you gave them to me," Jounouchi said, making her know that he would treasure any card from her or Yugi.
"The elementary schoolers at the nationals had better decks," Seto's voice was right behind her and she jumped a bit before feeling him brushed up against her to head towards Yugi, "it's fun to watch you play."
"Lower the hackles," Jounouchi quietly warned Naomi as Yugi gave a smile at the compliment, "I don't like the bastard either."
"It's the fact that he's lying that's bothering me," she admitted before giving a quiet yawn.
"Did you even get any sleep?" He asked.
"No, I was up all night doing someone a favor," she stated, "I'm not even halfway done with a painting."
They fell silent when Seto switched the blue-eyes card. Even Yugi had noticed. Jounouchi looked towards a glaring Naomi and felt a shiver go down his spine. Yeah, she could easily handle the bastard for what he's trying to pull. She knew that world a bit better than he did. She stepped up to Seto and he looked down on her, Yugi sent her a worried glance.
"Either give back the card, or you face a permanent ban from every tournament," she warned Seto, "you have till the end of school if you don't give it back I'll rain hell on you."
Seto scoffed at her words before noticing her eyes. The dark violet he was used to had lightened a bit. Those eyes were the one thing that he thought were nice about her. She turned towards her friends and watched as Jounouchi pulled Yugi into another match. He wanted to distract his friend from the fact that he had just been stolen from. They had a few hours to go until they could do anything. Naomi was changing her shoes after school before she was going to stop Seto.
"Did you say something to Kaiba-kun?" Yugi asked her when she pulled on her last shoe.
"I informed him of a permanent ban if he didn't return the card," she admitted, "that's the most I can do in a public manner, but now he's going to have to deal with me going off on him."
"Can I try something?" Yugi asked, looking down at the ground with a frown. "He might listen to me."
Naomi doubted that, but gave a slow nod. They stood by the school gate and he looked towards his friend. She was playing with a card around her neck. He saw the black magician card and she dropped it after a few seconds to bring out the rubik's cube. He could hear the puzzle shifting as he watched their classmates leave the school.
"Kaiba-kun," Yugi called, causing the taller teen to stop walking.
"A-Are you on your way home?" Seto asked, trying to keep the act of a kind classmate up.
"Kaiba-Kun, please give that card back," Yugi requested and Naomi closed her eyes for a few seconds before putting the game away, "I didn't say anything about you switching cards because everyone was watching."
"So you think I stole your card? I gave it back to you," Seto stated.
"What kind of idiot do you take him for?" Naomi asked, crossing her arms across her chest. "Or me for that matter."
"I can tell the difference between a copy and the real thing," Yugi agreed, "please give it back."
"I don't know what you two are talking about," Seto denied.
"You have to know how important that card is to my ji-chan!" Yugi exclaimed. "If I don't keep my promise and give that card back, I'll break his heart, I can't do that to him, he's my ji-chan. I can't betray him!"
"What about my feelings," Seto stated, scoffing at Yugi's words, "I really don't know about your card. Before you complain about your Ji-chan, why don't you try believing your friend?"
"But-"
Yugi was cut off by a briefcase to the face. Seto was somewhat surprised when his face stung and his head moved to the side. Naomi stood there with a cold expression on her face and her hand still raised. Yugi's eyes were watching in shock as his friend stood to protect him from being harmed further. A hand grasped onto Naomi's writ and she didn't even react when he put force into it. Seto was trying to intimidate her, but he seemed to forget that he still had kneecaps. Mahad was stunned in the card. This was his fellow priest's reincarnation? This horrible teen?
"Just give it back, Kaiba-san," she stated, her voice unwavering.
"I don't know anything," Seto denied once again, he tossed her hand back, "I don't care about the stupid cards, tell the old man that isn't how you play the game. It's whether you win or lose!"
"What an ass," she hissed, feeling the shadows brushed against her cheeks as the pharaoh switched places with Yugi.
"Then I challenge you to a duel," he stated and Seto stopped in his tracks, a brow raised.
"Fine," Seto agreed.
They made their way to the classroom and the pharaoh glanced towards Naomi. She seemed exhausted, and was absentmindedly rubbing at the forming bruises from Seto's grip. He looked towards the taller teen and saw a bruise forming on his cheek from her slap. A slight smirk appeared on his face. That was his girl. He discreetly reached forward and brought her hand away from her wrist. His own hand encircled her wrist, a cooling sensation coming from it.
"As a part of Industrial Illusions I will be acting as referee to make sure there is no cheating taking place," Naomi stated as the two boys sat down at a desk, "you will both start with two thousand life points each, understood?"
"Just start the duel," Seto stated as they cut their decks.
The pharaoh looked her way and she nodded her understanding. She brought a hand up and motioned for them to start. The shadows engulfed her and Mahad could tell his student tensed. The small cracks in her soul from the constant rebirths would make the shadows more prone to trying to engulf her.
"The rules are going to differ just the slightest," the pharaoh explained, "you'll see once we start."
"Sounds like fun," Seto stated, and Naomi found him unnerving.
"Duel, start," Naomi announced, turning her attention towards the game with sharp eyes.
"I'll go first," Seto stated, drawing a card, "its the five stars Ryu-Kishin gargoyle."
His panic as the card began to smoke was understandable to Naomi. She stood up straight as the monster came to life. It had drool dripping to the table top and growled at her. Mahad glared at its from his card and the monster stood down a bit. His new student was under his protection, and she was there to add support to their pharaoh.
"I told you the game was different," the pharaoh stated, drawing his own card, "now, the card I choose to stand against your gargoyle's attack is this one, the blackland fire dragon."
Naomi held up a hand to protect her face when the dragon breathed out fire. She could feel her hands trembling and clenched her jaw. The pharaoh wouldn't let her catch on fire. At least, she hoped so. Seto looked at his monster as it turned into smoke. The card itself ended up destroyed. Ah, so that was a punishment within the shadow game.
"The monsters from the card become real and a penalty game awaits the loser," the pharaoh informed Seto, "those are the rules in the shadow game version of duel monsters."
"Kaiba Seto's life points go down from two thousand to fifteen hundred," Naomi stated, ignoring the shadows around her, "Mutou Yugi is still at two thousand life points."
"The punishment for this game will be the knowledge of death," the pharaoh stated.
Mahad looked at his pharaoh in shock before looking down. The darkness hadn't been kind to his friend. He felt his crash shift and looked to see Naomi's hands clenched together as she carefully watched the game. She wasn't one for shadow magic. He felt a fondness for his student and turned his attention towards his friend and the teenager that was his friend reborn. Seto was laughing, not believing the penalty was real.
"This is the extreme game I've been looking for," Seto stated before turning towards Naomi, "we at Kaiba Corp have been thinking about such a technology for the game, wouldn't it be better?"
"While I admit it would be more interesting, please focus on the game at hand," she stated, and he was surprised by that and narrowed his eyes.
"It's your turn," the pharaoh informed him.
"I play battle Ox, it's one of the strongest beat warriors," Seto exclaimed as the monster took form, "the battle ox beats your dragon in both attack and Defense, you can't defeat it no matter what you do!"
Naomi clenched her jaw as the battle ox sliced the dragon in half. She could see herself in the dragon as it slid to the tabletop. The battle ox went one step further and cut its head off. Mahad knew his student was being affected by the sight. Her magic was reacting to it, and was clashing with the shadows.
"Muto Yugi's life points go down from two thousand to eighteen hundred," Naomi stated, looking towards the Pharaoh, "Kaiba Seto is still fifteen hundred."
"It's not going to be easy with my battle ox on the field," Seto taunted the pharaoh.
Naomi glared at Sero as the pharaoh put down the holy elf. The two thousand Defense points would stave off the taller teen for a while. She ran a hand through her hair in thought and watched as the holy elf opened her eyes for a few seconds before looking around. She looked at her, and gave her a gentle smile before bowing. Right, it was a light attributed monster that was also a spell caster. It made sense that there would be a form of respect between the two of them.
"Looks like we're in a stalemate, so we'll take turns building our hands until I draw a card that'll defeat you," Seto stated, drawing a spell card and setting it.
Naomi closed her eyes as he played it his next turn after the pharaoh placed the skull servant down. Giant's might raised Battle Ox's attack points by twenty percent. She heard the elf scream as she was beheaded and she wondered if this was just a problem with shadow games in general. She felt a blade against her own throat and tried to ignore the feeling. Of shadows brushing against her magic and making it react.
"Muto Yugi's life points are at five hundred, Kaiba Seto's are at fifteen hundred," Naomi spat out, and the pharaoh looked at his cards in slight worry.
He reached forward and pulled a card that would help him for a while. Summoned skull, one of the stronger cards that were put out into the world. Rare as well, it made sense that Yugi or Sugoroku would find it in a booster pack. Her shoulders relaxed as Battle Ox was taken out by a bolt of lightning. It was cooked from the inside.
"Kaiba Seto's life points are now at eight hundred, Muto Yugi's are still five hundred," Naomi informed them.
"You're pretty good, Yugi," Seto stated as he reached into his pocket and Naomi's eyes narrowed dangerously, "but this is as far as it goes, I've got a special card I've been saving for this eventuality, the blue-eyes white dragon."
"You dirty cheat," Naomi hissed at Seto as the dragon slowly materialized.
Mahad agreed with her sentiment and jolted as the dragon let out a roar, she was angry. More so than his student. The pharaoh clenched his jaw, and eyed the dragon. He didn't have any cards to defeat that, and it would be an exact five hundred hit to his life points. Seto cackled and Naomi shook her head.
"This is my very own card that I just happened to get from someone," Seth claimed, "next turn you'll be finished! Blue-eyes, attack Yugi!"
The dragon refused to attack and Naomi fully relaxed, a soft sigh coming from her. Mahad could feel the shadows moving away from her, and slithering towards Seto. The game came to an end. Seto watched the dragon in disbelief.
"Why don't you attack," he asked it.
"You still don't understand the true meaning of this game, that card won't attack me," the pharaoh stated, "because your soul isn't in that blue-eyes white dragon. I can see the soul of my Ji-chan behind it, that card is more than that to my Ji-chan it was a bridge between two friends that created an unbreakable bond."
"The only way it could end its conflict is to destroy itself," Naomi stated and Seto glared at her, his hands flexing into fists on the table top.
"It's a card, it can't think!" Seto snapped at her.
"Now it's my turn, as you can see I've been keeping this spell card face down, I choose to use it this turn," the pharaoh stated.
When had he put that down? No one was certain of when he had done so. Not even Mahad was aware of when the card had been set. The shadows had been a more pressing matter. Monster reborn was activated and brought back the blue-eyes. It was a direct attack. The white stream of light caused a strong wind to go through the room. Long pale hair went into Naomi's eyes and she tucked the long strands behind her ears.
"Now, your penalty game," the pharaoh informed him, "maybe he'll end up learning about the heart of the cards."
"It's an illusion, right?" Naomi asked, picking up the card that had Seto on it.
"Yes," he confirmed, grabbing the blue-eyes and putting in Yugi's school bag, "your wrist."
"I'll be fine," Naomi stated when he gave it a closer look.
He didn't look like he agreed. He was able to wrap his hands around the bruises. His hands were colder than a normal persons, and Naomi gave a soft sigh. He grabbed onto her school bag and she blinked in confusion. He was going to walk her home?
"You seemed a little proud of me earlier, why?" She couldn't help but ask, noting that the tips of his ears turned a light pink.
"You slapped Kaiba, it was a good hit," he complimented, watching her cheeks turn pink.
"I'm glad one of us is proud of my inclination towards violence," she teased and he let out a low chuckle, "you aren't as awkward anymore, it's nice."
He gave a small nod of understanding before tugging her behind him. He needed to get her home, she didn't look too good. Her face was pale and there looked like there was a bruise around her neck. The walk home was slow for her, and the pharaoh rang the bell as she finally started to lean against him for support.
"Don't sleep for so long again," he requested.
"Do you miss me when I'm gone?" She asked, genuinely curious.
He didn't get to answer when Fred opened the door and pulled her inside. She gave the pharaoh a gentle smile before the door closed. He stood there for a few seconds as he felt her light move up the stairs. She was going to get some rest.
Good, she looked like she needed it.