Well! Here's something to fill in for not posting anything since I'll be gone all weekend (at a leadership camp for marching band =]) I'll post a lot next weekend! For now, here is a scene that I wrote a really long time ago for this story, as I had considered it going in a completely random direction. Here's how this fit in originally: the first time Kinou meets Kaiba, he doesn't save her hanging off of his helicopter, in fact, the "dream" Kinou had about being raped by Yami Marik really happens at first and this scene came after, when Kinou was lying in her room in Marik's house after it happened. So yeah… had I used this part, the story would have turned out very different, but I scrapped it after coming up with a lot of other ideas. Enjoy!

Kinou lay awake for nearly an hour, not moving, completely paralyzed. She could not think, nor did she want to at all. She kept her mind blank to keep the feeling of being unclean at bay. She tried to sleep, for she was exhausted, but she also feared to fall asleep, in case Yami Marik decided to come back. She was so absorbed in trying to remain out of focus that it took her a few minutes to realize there were voices drifting up from below her window. Adrenaline rushed through her body, giving her the strength she would need in case they were Rare Hunters coming to take her in the night.

The talking ceased, and she could hear grunting as whomever it was started to climb up. Her windows were open and she couldn't get to them to shut them in time, so she picked up the lamp on the small table beside her and crawled off the bed, holding the lamp high above her head, ready to strike.

Someone peeked their head into her room, and then took it back out and said something to whoever was standing on the ground below him. He climbed through the window; his jacket caught on something and he fell hard onto the floor with a loud "Umph!" He stood up cautiously, looking around; Kinou couldn't see his expression, it was so dark, nor could she see what he looked like, only that he, like everyone else she had met, was taller than her.

Kinou took a deep breath, took a big step towards him, and swung the lamp at his head with all of her might. He fell to the ground, though he was not unconscious: she could hear him muttering curses under his breath from the floor. She was about to go over and pin him down, to ask him questions, when suddenly the lamp was knocked out of her hands: the second person had followed the first and he tripped her and twisted her arm painfully behind her back and held her to the floor.

"Hey, Joey, you all right, man?" he asked, addressing the first person.

"Joey?" asked Kinou blankly; the man holding her down was far too strong for her and she couldn't get up, so she spoke from the floor. "Joey Wheeler?"

Joey grunted. "Ughhh..." he said, standing up and rubbing his head. He teetered dangerously and he fell to his knees. "Wha.... wha the hell happn'd?" he managed to slur out.

"You were hit with a lamp, buddy," he replied, lifting Kinou up. "by this girl."

Joey seemed to come to his senses and he stood up again. He still swayed, but he put his hand on the wall to steady himself. "Who?"

"Me," said Kinou, trying to squirm to make the person let go of her, but he only tightened his grip and brought her other arm behind her painfully. "You're Joey Wheeler?" she asked again.

"Yeah," said Joey, "and who do you think you are, hittin' me with that lamp?"

"I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else," she said defensively.

"And why do you think that we should trust you?" asked the person behind her, and she finally recognized his voice.

"Because I want to get out of here, Tristan," she said.

She felt Tristan's grip on her tighten.

"Okay, here's a question for ya," said Joey, "how is it that you know both our names, yet we have no idea who you are?"

"I watch Yu-Gi-Oh every day, how could I not recognize your guys' voices?" she asked as though this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"We still don't know who you are," said Tristan.

"My name is Kinou, if that's any help at all."

Joey took his hand off the wall. "No way! Tristan, we guessed right on the first try!" he yelled, punching the air.

"Keep your voices down!" Kinou whispered harshly. "There are way too many people who could hear you if you shout like that. So, wait a minute... you came here for me? Why?"

"Well, think about it: Marik's after Yug's puzzle, right?" said Joey matter-of-factly.

"Right," said Kinou. "Umm, Tristan?" she asked, shifting: Tristan still had her arms twisted behind her.

"What? Oh, sorry," he said, letting go of her.

Joey laughed. "Tristan, you blockhead."

"Hey, shut up, Joey, you would have forgotten too!" Tristan retaliated.

"No I wouldn't," said Joey, and he continued: "So, since we got word that Marik had brought ya here, we thought it'd be a good idea to come and get ya to show ya that we're the good guys before he turned ya against us." Joey stood up tall, as though it was all his idea.

"Great! Let's go!" Kinou said, walking towards the window.

"Wow, just like that? Awesome! And you said this was gonna be hard, Tristan!" said Joey, following her.

"That was Tea who said that, stop showing off!" said Tristan, his voice rising.

Kinou shushed them again and chivvied them towards the window. Tristan climbed out first, and then Joey went after him. As Joey climbed onto the drainpipe, Kinou heard the smallest of creaks coming from on of the bolts securing it to the side of the house and warned Joey to be quiet. He slowed his climbing down and no more noise emitted from the pipe. Kinou took one last look at her room, shut the window behind her and began to climb down the pipe. The bolts creaked again and she stopped sliding down until they stopped, then dropped cat-like onto the ground.

"Where did you guys come from?" she whispered.

"I think it was over here..." answered Joey, moving towards the left and into the forest.

"No way, man, it was over there," said Tristan, grabbing Joey by the arm and pointing to the right.

"Nah, I have a photographic memory and it's tellin' me that we came from---over---there," said Joey, attempting to wrench his arm free.

"Yeah, a photographic memory for good places to eat!" said Tristan skeptically. "C'mon Joey, trust me on this one!"

Joey turned around to face Tristan. "How do you know you're not wrong? It's so dark that no one could really tell where they're go—" He was cut off by a loud groan of metal coming from the house. "Kinou, watch it!" he yelled, pointing behind her.

Kinou turned around just in time to see the drainpipe come free of its bindings and fall, cracking her on the head and knocking her out cold.

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"Yug, you still there?" "C'mon man you haven't left her side in hours, you should get some rest." "I can't guys, what if she's really hurt? She hasn't woken up or anything since you brought her here."

The words were slowly filtering into Kinou's mind, making her head hurt badly. She could barely sense her body, as though the link between it and her head had been severed. She couldn't recognize any of the voices and wondered who "Yug" was.

"Well, then why don't we take her to a hospital?" "No, guys. You barely made it back here without five Rare Hunters hot on your trail; if we take her outside, they'll find her one way or another easily." "Yeah, not to mention you seem to be doin' a pretty good job by yourself, Yug." "Thanks, I do my best. Which reminds me..."

Something Kinou had not noticed before was lifted off her forehead; it left behind some moisture that evaporated quickly, making her shiver.

"Hey, Yug! She moved!" "What?" "Yeah, right when you took off the washcloth thing; it looked like she was cold." "Hang on I'll go get a blanket!"

Kinou heard footsteps fading away, but she could hear them clearly; her head seemed to be clearing up.

"Hey Joey, maybe we should put the washcloth back on..." "Yeah, good idea, but maybe we should let it soak in some hot water first, like Yug was doin' before."

She heard a small splash of water and then a hot towel was pressed onto her forehead. Too hot! She thought, and she tried to move her head to show she didn't like it. She managed a small shake. I hope that was enough to catch... someone's...... Joey's or Tristan's! That's who's there beside me! Whew, took me a while, I thought I had amnesia.

"Yug!" called Joey. "She moved again!"

"I'm coming!" came Yugi's voice from a distance.

Kinou was uncomfortable under the cloth and she became angry that they couldn't figure out what she was trying to say. Maybe I should try talking.... wait... why don't I just open my eyes? I should have done that a while ago! Maybe my head's not as clear as I thought...

Her eyelids seemed to weigh a ton each, but she managed to open them a small crack; light flooded in and she shut them quickly again, a bright strip of light now flashing across her eyelids.

"....oo.....bri......" she blurbed out.

"Wha? Kinou? You awake? C'mon girl say somethin' else!" said Joey urgently, sitting her up.

She tried to open her eyes again, but the bright light was still there. She had gotten some feeling back in her arms and lifted one of them to shield her eyes.

"Tristan! Turn that lamp off!"

She heard a click, and slowly opened her eyes to see a blonde-haired, brown-eyed Joey about three inches from her face. She yelled out and Joey yelled too, falling back on the floor

"S--sorry Joey... You scared m--me." She was finding it extremely difficult to talk. "W--where.....am I?"

"Yug's house, where else?" said Joey, getting up and rubbing his butt. "Why doesn't Yug have some sort of a rug or carpeting in here? That floor really hurt."

Kinou took the cloth off of her forehead and ran her hand over her face. She could feel a large lump on the front of her forehead and it was extremely painful. "What happened?" she asked.

At that moment, Yugi came in holding a big blanket. He was a lot smaller than Kinou had imagined him; he was at least 7 inches shorter than Joey.

"Oh, good!" he said, sounding immensely relieved. He put the blanket on her and handed her an ice pack that he had brought with him. "You'd better put this on to keep the swelling down."

"Thanks," she said, putting it gingerly on the lump.

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Heh, and that's all I had. It was going to go on to her meeting Tea and Bakura (Bakura was originally the one who was watching her from across the street when she was running from the Rare Hunters), and then Yami Yugi was going to be the one who worked with her on her powers, meditating with her and such to clear her mind. And, that's all the planning I did for this thread off =]. I'll post on Kiseki and Darker Shades Than Black next weekend, and I might even post the second chapter of The Darkness Within Me. See you all next weekend!