Princess Strawberry: Hi! It's me again with another brilliant flash of imagination for a new story. And thank you to Fallen Hikari, compugeek, Neo Qwerty, Pheonix Pandora, randomasdf, Seventh Sage, Burning-Yami-Rain, and Raven for putting me on their "Favourite Authors" List!

Yami Strawberry: My aibou doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor its characters. So don't sue her, or I will be locked in the Millennium Watch again

~*~ "Speaking"

'Thinking'

_stress of word_

/Yugi speaking to Yami telepathically/

//Yami speaking to Yugi telepathicaly//

\Ryou speaking to Bakura telepathically\

\\ Bakura speaking to Ryou telepathically\\

=Malik speaking to Marik telepathically=

==Marik speaking to Malik telepathically==

((Us interrupting you readers for a few seconds))

Princess Strawberry: Well, enough of that. May I introduce you to

Feeling Sporty?

"Hey, Bakura!" a cheerful voice yelled excitedly as he ran towards the subject.

"Hi, Yugi," Bakura replied wearily, with Ryou beside him smiling and waving.

Yugi smiled back, rushing up to them with Yami in tow. He gave both of them a big hug. Surprisingly Bakura didn't retort or anything as Yugi hugged him. Hmm...strange. "Where are the others?" the holder of the Millennium Puzzle asked curiously.

"Ah, talk of the devil," Ryou observed as Joey ran up. Tristan and Serenity walked at a more leisurely pace behind Joey, talking lowly to each other. Every now and then Serenity would dissolve into giggles and cause Tristan to smile. Mai and Duke were bringing up the rear with a hyper Mokuba, who was pratically pushing and pulling his big brother, Seto Kaiba, to come join the group.

"And where's - AHHH!!" Ryou screamed, unable to finish his sentence. "MALIK!"

"What?" Malik blinked, trying to look innocent - which, by the way, had failed horribly.

"Why did you poke me? You knew I was sensitive!" Ryou growled and pouted.

"Because of that weakness, Ryou, that's why we did it. Oh, and long time no see, Bakura." A bright flash emitted from somewhere around Malik's waist. There stood Marik, smirking, as everyone stared at him. The tanned Egyptian spirit of the Millennium Rod had his arm around Malik's waist in a casual manner.

"We left you two for a year and this is the result?" Yami exclaimed, looking ready to faint.

They both nodded.

"So what really motivated you to come back to Domino?" Yugi inquired.

"Well, you see - "

"HI, EVERYBODY!" an annoying voice shouted, coming nearer and nearer towards them to reveal...

Téa.

You know, the self-centered, always ranting idiotic girl? Yeah, that's the one.

"Er...hi!" Téa didn't seem to notice the reluctance in their voices, so she continued to gossip. Soon she had the whole group asleep, the spirit of summer vacation dampened.

"Oh, for the love of Ra, Téa, SHUT UP and DON'T SPOIL OUR SUMMER SPIRITS!!" Yami exploded, finally losing it.

"Okay, Yami-kun!" Téa obeyed readily, drifting off into la-la-land. Yami recoiled slightly as he received an adored look from Téa.

"Right...going on. You still haven't answered Yugi's question," Tristan reminded the whole group.

"Oh, that. Well, you see - " Marik began.

"Yes, we heard that part. Go on," Mai prompted.

"If nobody interrupts me or him," Marik pointed to his hikari. "Then maybe we can move on. Do I make myself clear?" He suddenly sounded like a war leader.

"Yes, sir!"

"Good," he took in a deep breath. "Malik and I decided to come back because it's summer, school was hectic, Isis was going ballistic over his grades - "

"Yes, I would have passed if _someone_ hadn't distracted me while I was doing my homework and writing my tests!" Malik glared at his yami.

A huffing noise was heard. "Whatever. Picking up from where I left off...Ah ha! We missed our friends - "

"You have friends?" Yami raised an eyebrow.

/That's mean, Yami./ Yugi scolded the spirit of the Puzzle mentally.

//Anything to annoy them, aibou. Anything to annoy them.// And imagine that, he was correct.

Marik's eyebrow was twitching so much it looked like it had disappeared into his hairline. "Pharaoh, I'm warning you...one more word and - " he made a slicing motion across his neck to demonstrate the consequence.

"Fine," the word was mouthed.

"So," Joey spoke up hastily, changing the topic. "How was everyone? We've been apart for so long I've lost count."

"It's only been a year, big brother," Serenity replied softly, but everyone else heard it nonetheless.

"I knew that!"

"Betcha didn't, mutt." One guess at the speaker.

"Watch it!" Joey warned the millionnaire.

"Whatever," Seto shrugged.

\Those two will make a really nice couple. Like the way they argue? They're like husband and wife.\

A snort resounded in Ryou's mind, making him wince. \\ You've got a point there.\\

\Of course, don't I always?\ Grin.

"Hello, earth to Ryou!" Duke waved a hand in front of the white-haired boy.

Ryou blinked. "Err...I guess I would start off then. School was the same, and yeah, the usual."

"The usual?" Everyone was confused.

Ryou blushed. "Err...well..."

"To put it simply, I admitted to him that I love him," Bakura informed them bluntly, wrapping his arms around his hikari's slim waist to prove that he wasn't kidding.

Everyone's jaws dropped open in surprise. They were happy for the both of them. Except for a certain somebody (namely Téa) just had to comment rudely on it.

"EWWWWW!!"

The rest glared at her. Ryou was still blushing like a tomato and Bakura's cheeks were tainted pink. A very rare sight for the others; but not to Ryou.

"Well, Yami had been looking after the Turtle Game Shop since Grandpa left for another Egyptian dig and I've been attending school just like always," Yugi took up. "But since Grandpa's back, and it's summer, he let us out and have some fun."

"More people has been coming to my shop, buying new games, and some wanted me to teach them Dungeon Dice Monsters," Duke said, recounting those beautiful memories.

"I've finally accomplished my greatest dream: being a model." Mai flipped her hair, looking proud of herself.

"That's great, Mai!" Yugi applauded along with the others.

"Seto's been busy all year, managing the company and going to school, and I, well, let's just say that I've been attending school as well," Mokuba grinned at his goofy answer.

"Serenity got her sight back, you all know that. And you know me, always pigging out..."

"Yeah, and Serenity's promised to go out with me!" Tristan cried excitedly.

"Congratulations, Tristan!" Ryou said.

Nobody even bothered to ask Téa about what she's done over the year; but she had decided to make herself known.

"Ahem."

The others turned around and saw her put her hands on her hips, looking slightly angry. "Yes?"

"You've forgotten about me." She pointed to herself, thinking that she looked really important.

"So?" Was the group's simple response.

Téa grew frustrated. "How dense are you people!? You're all so stupid!" And how she regretted those words once it slipped out of her mouth.

Tristan, Joey, Yami, Bakura, Malik, and Marik tackled her as she continued to insult the group. Shouts like "Yeah, go get her, Yami!" and "Beat her up!" came from the cheering group. When they were done, Téa looked like someone who was trampled hurriedly over repeatedly; like when you make a mad dash towards the exit in a movie theater to find the doors locked and you can't get out.

The fighters high-fived each other, congratulating themselves for beating up the annoying girl. However, the two hikaris had different ideas on how to spend their first day of their holiday.

"Yami!" they both scolded their counterparts. "That wasn't very nice. Especially on the first day of summer vacation. Did you have to do that?"

"Ah, come on! You know Téa deserved it, right, fellas?" Bakura consulted his fellow companions.

"For once I have to agree with the Tomb Robber," Yami added.

Yugi and Ryou decided to stop any violence that might start again. "How about badminton?"

"What about badmintion?"

"I mean, that we spend our vacation based on sports! First stop, the badminton court!"

~ To be Continued ~

Authoress' Notes:

Princess Strawberry: Pretty short, ne? Yes, all my default chapters are short so you shouldn't blame me. Well, not much to say, except to say that I'm starting history (music theory) and I won't be able to update as quickly....not that I update quickly now....^^;;

Yami Strawberry: That's right. So you know how the saying goes: More reviews, more stories/chapters!