Well, I know I made you wait WAY TOO LONG (sorry!) but here is the next chapter. It is now 10:30 on a school night and I should be in bed so there was not much time to proofread. Please excuse spelling errors, grammar errors or rushing...I wrote this between midterms. (ugh) I'm sure a lot of you feel my pain about those!!:-P But anyway, in this chapter there is a little more character development and some relationships between characters strengthen. *Not just Mai and Yami* ....Read, review, and enjoy!:-D
*****
"Come on, come on! The sooner we get home, the faster we can be at the mall...and you know what that means!!"
Yugi ran alongside Ryou (desite his difficulty at matching the other teen's long strides) as fast as he could. Afterall, who wouldnt when one of your best friend's Yamis had just promised to take both of you to the mall to buy the new set of booster packs (not avaliable in the gameshop)?
"I'm-trying....slow down!"
"We're almost home, don't worry." Ryou turned his head slightly to see Yugi a few paces behind and smiled. "I'll race you to the door!"
"I thought this *was* racing!!"
"Nope! This is just running. Now come on!"
With those last words, Ryou gathered his strength and in a burst of energy, shot far away from Yugi towards his house at the end of the street.
"I HAVE SMALL LEGS! IT'S NOT FAIR!" Yugi half-laughed, half-shouted, completely out of breath. [Of course, if Yami were here, Ryou would be eating our dust. Just a little switch and the leg-length problem is solved. Then again...Yami's *not* here so I'll just have to get faster.]
With that, Yugi felt his second wind coming on and followed Ryou as fast as his little legs would carry him.
***
"Shut up! You are *such* a liar!"
"I'm not lying! I swear. Look at this face, would I lie?" Yami smiled mischevously as Mai regarded him with a sly look from her seat at the scoring board.
"Fine, fine...so you got 10 pins down. That *still* doesn't mean that you win. I could catch up."
"Sure, if you bowl a strike every round."
"You're such a brat!" Mai retorted, laughing slightly. Yami had been taunting her all morning long.
"Well, you're a tease."
"Flirt!"
"Loser-at-bowling."
"Old granny!"
"Loser-at-poker."
"Liar!"
"Loser-at-minigolf."
"Errrrr...just bowl, you tricolored clutz."
"Clutz!? You must have forgotten who tripped over the power chord for the tv when we were watching that movie."
Mai drew in a breath, laid back in her chair, crossed her arms and bit her lip, accepting defeat.
"That's what I thought." Sticking his nose purposefully in the air, Yami turned around, drew back his arm and let the bowling ball fly right at the lined-up pins, scoring a perfect strike.
Under her breath, Mai muttered, "Showoff."
****
"Yami! Yami?"
"I'm upstairs!"
Ryou and Yugi had just entered the house and had completely scoured it for Bakura before they had finally gotten the sense to just yell out his name and hope that he answered.
The white-haired Hikari made his way for the stairs but stopped half-way up as Bakura started to walk down from the top floor, looking completely groggy, wearing nothing but a pair of green boxers. Yugi nearly laughed but held it in. [At least he's not in a towel. It seems like every time I come over he's half naked. And, I come over a lot.] Yugi loved visiting Ryou; the other teen just had an inviting quality about him that made him very easy to talk to. In fact, Ryou was quickly becoming Yugi's best friend and his house was becoming Yugi's second home.
"What do you *want?* I was sleeping!"
The half-dead Tomb Robber leisurly made his way down the stairs, roughly pushing Ryou aside and shuffling into the kitchen. Ryou followed like a puppy, practically jumping at his heels.
"You told me and Yugi that you were gonna take us out to the mall!"
"Yugi and *I.*"
Ryou frowned.
"Okay, well, you told Yugi and *I* that you were gonna take us to the mall!"
"Did I? Must have slipped my mind between the time I got wasted and passed out."
"You went *drinking!?* When!?" Ryou's brows knitted together in both anger and concern.
"Oh, calm down, I went last night when you were sleeping. Didn't you notice that I wasn't here in the morning? And I didn't really pass out. I just sorta fell down. And I was safe. There was a designated driver. Went with...what's-his-name, oh right...Malik."
"MALIK!?" shouted both Yugi and Ryou in unison, eyes wide in incomprehension and disbelief. "Well, his Yami, to be more precise."
"Where is he now?" asked Ryou, his chocolate eyes darting around the corners of the house.
"Calm down, you little twerp, he never even came home with me. We just went drinking, to catch up on *old* times. Now leave me alone so I can get something healthy in my stomach."
Rummaging noisily through the cabinet, Bakura drew out a bag of chips and sat down at the kitchen table to eat.
"Well, are we still going to the mall?" Ryou stood stubbornly by, hands on hips. Of course, he wasn't as confident* inside* as he looked outside. There would always be that underlying fear of his powerful Yami, no matter how close they got. But lately, Bakura had grown a lot more lenient and didn't get as mad when Ryou talked back. Perhaps, it was because of Yugi.
"Yeah, yeah get ready."
"Yes!!!" With that, both hikaris completely forgot that Bakura had ever gone drinking and went kareening upstairs to change out of their school clothes.
***
Bowling didn't last after Yami won his third consecutive game and soon the couple had migrated to the center of town where a guest band was playing in the square. Mai and Yami had been out all day, Yami spending dollar after dollar since 10 in the morning when he had met up with Mai at a small restaurant for brunch. Soon they had departed to the park to take a walk around and buy a quick lunch of rice and seafood and after that it was all bowling. Now, at the nearing of dusk, they sat together on the rough benches in the center of Domino.
"Good music, huh?" Mai spoke without moving, her head gently rested on his shoulder.
"Mmmhmm." The Game King was quite content to stay where he was as well.
"Thanks for taking me out, Yami. I haven't been this busy in...I don't even know how long."
"Well I'll take you out as often as you like. As long as I have the money, or as long as I'm aquainted with a rich CEO." He smiled warmly, kissing the back of her hand.
Mai smiled as well, her eyelids drooping. [Wow, I never knew I could be this tired from just walking. Then again, I had to keep up with his little comments all day and think of good insults...]
The steady and quiet beat of the percussion in the band added to the peacefulness of the sunset and Mai felt her eyes close, the warmth of the oncoming night settling over her. The Pharaoh also felt the night but his eyes were open and his arm was wrapped around the small frame next to him in a protective manner.
"Should we go home?" his voice jarred her out of sleep and she yawned slightly, turning her face up to him.
"If you insist."
"I don't insist, I'll only go if you want to."
"Well I'll go. Can't be falling asleep in the middle of the city...anything could happen."
"Oh yeah, Domino is *so* dangerous. Some deranged hobo might attack at any minute."
Mai laughed and cuddled a little closer to the Pharaoh's side.
"Oh be quiet. Domino isn't all that safe and you know it. Look at everything that has happened here...in such a short time!"
"I suppose."
Suddenly, a thought donned on Mai that had been in the back of her mind for sometime but hadn't surfaced until now.
"Yami, where's Yugi? You didn't leave him home alone, did you?"
"No, no...he goes to Ryou's after school now."
"Is he going to sleep over? It's getting late."
"Sometimes he does. I'm not sure. If he can't, he usually just let's himself into the house when I'm not there."
"Aren't you worried?"
"What could happen?" He spoke reassuringly, kissing her hand again. Standing up sluggishly, he stretched and then helped his lover to her feet.
"Plus, he's with Bakura. As much as I hate to admit it, he's nearly as powerful as me and could always protect Yugi."
[That's unlike him. He's never trusted Yugi with anyone before...] Mai hesitated for a second, debating whether or not to question this new development, before deciding to just tease him instead.
"Wow, I never thought I'd hear *that* come out of you."
Yami scratched the back of his head. "Neither did I..."
"Maybe you're becoming friends." Mai smiled keenly and watched the Pharaoh's expression turn from a smile into one of pure horror.
"Friends?! Never. If we were friends I wouldn't be able to argue with him or send him to the shadow realm."
The blonde laughed and took his hand.
"Alright…let's go home."
**
"This one....no, this one...*this* one will have the holofoil in it." Ryou's hand had been hovering over the box of boosters for five minutes before he finally drew a pack that he liked. Yugi had already picked out three and was waiting for Ryou to buy his so he could open them. In a vain attempt to take his mind off the cards he went looking around the rest of the store, gazing hungrily at the rare cards behind glass that were worth more then his entire life savings. Finally, the white-haired teen came running over with his packs and they both left the store, only to find Bakura arrogantly leaning against the banister which overlooked the bottom floor.
"Finally."
"Sorry Yami, there were so many to choose from!"
"You better have picked good ones, because if I see one more common card, or a farie, I'm not letting you buy anymore."
"Well then you can pick the boosters next time!!"
"I will. Maybe I can find some way to use my powers and scan what's inside."
"That would be the day," Yugi mumbled, taking his packs out of the plastic bag. Opening the first one, he was thrilled to find a brand new super rare card. The second pack contained a rare and the last pack contained an ultra rare.
"Hah! I knew I picked good ones. What did you get, Ryou?"
Ryou's smile had turned into a frown and he looked sheepishly at his Yami. The look clearly stated, "please don't hurt me."
"Eh, two rares and one super rare."
"What's the super rare?" asked Bakura, dangerously.
"The Celestial One."
With a lethal glare, Bakura snatched up the card and then handed it back with a snort.
"A farie. I am *definately* picking the packs next time."
The three of them then continued on down the mall, passing multiple clothes stores which were purposefully avoided. According to Bakura, clothes shopping was more of a 'women's hobby,' and scolded Ryou for admiring a black turtleneck sweater in one of the shop windows.
Finally, one of the shops interested Bakura and he stopped power-walking to get a closer look. It was a hunting accessories store covered from wall to wall in long hunting knives with gleaming edges and many types of traps and poisons. The tomb robber's eyes lit up immediately.
"Okay, we're splitting up. Go look at whatever you want, but I'm going to stay here for now." With that, he walked into the store, shoving past two burly men on the way and leaving the hikaris behind.
"How did I know he was going to stop in there?" asked Ryou, as he watched his yami inspect a long, engraved knife. Then he turned to Yugi. "Do you mind if I go check out the price on that sweater that we passed?"
Yugi laughed. "Not at all. I'll just go look around somewhere else."
Ryou smiled and disappeared around the corner. That left Yugi standing by himself, free to go where he pleased. He started to walk in no particular direction past the hunting store, following many twists and turns until he came to the food court. With no money left, it was pointless to stay there, so he turned back around, only to come face to face with someone who was very unwelcome.
Kenka looked down at him menacingly, the hands at his sides instantly balling into fists.
"What a surprise to see you here, Little Yugi."
Yugi swallowed hard and glared back up at him.
"Kenka."
This teen was not the stereotypical bully. He did not have overly large arms, low intelliagence or a caveman demeanor. In fact, he was quite the opposite. Kenka was of middle height and rather lanky; electric blue streaks adorned a spiked head (not nearly as tall as Yugi's) and his face reflected nothing but sheer ambition, spite and steely cold. He always knew just what to say to make Yugi want to run and had a powerful body to back up his words if they didn't work. In the hikari's eyes, his personality was quite like the old Seto Kaiba.
"It really is a surprise to see you here of all places. Why would the mall interest such a smart, young man like yourself? Shouldn't you be home studying…or playing games? It seems that's all you ever do."
Sniggering broke out from behind Kenka, and Yugi noticed two of the instigator's friends standing nearby. They were more of the stereotypical bully, with bigger frames and smaller minds than their ringleader.
"I just came here to look around. What do you want, anyway?"
"Want?" Kenka asked with a slight lilt in his voice. "Nothing, Yugi, just the pleasure of your company."
The small hikari frowned and took a step back. He just needed to endure their sneering comments for a little longer and then he could go. In school they usually just insulted him and roughed him up a little before they got tired of it and left, so hopefully it would be the same way here.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked Kenka, his eyes shining like the sun on the back of a serpant's scales. These eyes slowly drifted towards Yugi's Millenium Puzzle, which was the main cause of his tormenting. "I'm not done with you yet."
Kenka was drawn to the puzzle and had always been planning to steal it away from Yugi when he had the chance. It must have been worth a fortune, for it seemed to be made of solid gold. He had no idea how Yugi could have come across it, but he wanted it all the same. In school there was never the right opportunity and it was too risky…but here he was free to do as he pleased.
"Well I'm leaving. Leave me alone." Yugi turned on his heel and started to walk away and out of the food court, but Kenka and his men followed.
"It's not that easy, Yugi." With this, Kenka sped forward and took Yugi up by the back of his jacket, pulling him forcefully into a narrow hallway of the court which was practically out of sight. It was the back entrance to the mall which was only used in case of firedrills. Therefore, it was usually empty.
"Let go of me! What are you doing?!" shouted Yugi, struggling against the iron grip of his captor.
"You have something I want."
"What! What do I have?! Can't you just leave me alone?!"
"No I'm afraid I can't." Kenka pushed Yugi away from him, sending him sprawling onto the floor. The Hikari tried to get up but Kenka placed a foot on his side, pinning him down.
"Give me the puzzle."
"What?"
"The puzzle! That's what it is, isn't it? The gold pieces around your neck."
Yugi turned his head to look up, seeing Kenka staring down and the goons behind him laughing.
"I'm not giving it to you."
"Yes, you are. Unless you want the beating of a lifetime."
The bully pushed his boot harder into the hikari's ribs and Yugi felt panic rise up in his throat. Kenka had never behaved like this before. There were threats, but he had never actually hurt Yugi.
"I'm still not giving it to you."
"Fine. Then I'll take it by force."
Kenka took his foot off of Yugi and hoisted him up by his shirt collar, pulling a fist back to hit him in the face. Yugi closed his eyes and braced himself but the blow never came. Suddenly, there were yells of surprise and he was viciously dropped to the ground as Kenka was ripped off of him by an invisible force which sent him flying backwards to hit the opposite wall with a grunt. His lackies scattered out of the hallway, yelling. Yugi turned around to see Bakura glaring down with narrowed eyes at the fallen Kenka.
"I say that he keeps it, and YOU get the beating of a lifetime."
The bully had had the wind knocked out of him so all he could do was gasp on the ground.
"Bakura!" shouted Yugi with relief, running towards him.
"What'd he do to you?" asked the tomb robber, never taking his eyes away from Kenka.
"He tried to take the puzzle but you got here in time."
"That's a lucky thing for him. If he had hurt you, I wouldn't of hesitated to kick the shit out of him."
Kenka gritted his teeth and looked up darkly from the ground.
"Who the hell are you, his bodyguard?"
"Shut up. You don't deserve to talk. All you need to know, is that if you touch Yugi
again, you'll regret it." Bakura kicked Kenka once more and then turned to go, Yugi following behind.
*
Mai watched the sleeping Yami intently, her fingers stroking his cheek while being excruciatingly careful not to wake him up. They had just finished a movie (which Yami had fallen asleep to) and were positioned on the couch rather comfortably; Mai sitting normally against the pillows on the couch and Yami with his head in her lap. Mai didn't have the faintest clue as to what the movie was about, for the whole time her amythest eyes were locked on her lover's face. Occasionally he turned his face up to look at her and smiled silently, before turning back to the movie. After thirty minutes the Pharaoh was fast asleep and the blonde had taken to playing with his hair and noticing all the little things about him which she loved so much. A new mantra had started to play itself like a broken record in her head; [Man I'm whipped.]
In fact, the blonde was in her own little dreamworld when the car containing Bakura, Ryou and Yugi pulled up to the house. The slam of the car door pulled Mai from her half-slumber and her eyes snapped fully open as she turned slightly to look out the window. Yami awoke immediately as well, for he was a painfully light sleeper and was on his feet before two seconds had passed.
There was a knock on the door and Mai went to open it, revealing two hikaris and a yami. Bakura had a scowl plastered on his face, Yugi seemed nervous and upset and Ryou was silent and worried.
Yami, quickly sensing that something had happened, cast Bakura a glance which clearly stated 'kitchen, now.' The tomb robber understood and lead the way into the other room, while Mai went about asking questions to the hikaris.
As soon as they were in the kitchen, Bakura's expression turned from a scowl to a look of disgust.
"Look at you! Content at home while your Hikari is attacked."
"Attacked?!" Yami's eyes widened and darted towards the other room, where Yugi sat with Mai.
"Yes, attacked. It seems a bully has been picking on him. And this bully was at the mall."
"Well, where were you?! Is he alright?"
"He's fine, thanks to me. I let him go where he pleased and he managed to run into some wannabe-Malik. The kid tried to take the puzzle."
Yami's brows knitted together and he gritted his teeth. "How dare he."
"Don't worry, I don't think he'll be bothering Yugi for a while now but he did scare him a bit. I doubt Yugi will ever want to go back to school again."
"Well, I'll talk to him tonight."
"For a change."
Yami narrowed his eyes. "What did you say?"
"Nothing. I'm leaving."
"Fine, and thankyou for-"
"Whatever."
Bakura didn't bother to say goodbye. Walking out of the kitchen, he took Ryou by his shirt sleeve and practically dragged him from the house. Yugi watched them drive away.
***
Next chapter...disaster strikes!!! Yami and Mai face their biggest challenge yet and Joey returns to the picture. Btw...Kenka means fight:-P Ja!
*****
"Come on, come on! The sooner we get home, the faster we can be at the mall...and you know what that means!!"
Yugi ran alongside Ryou (desite his difficulty at matching the other teen's long strides) as fast as he could. Afterall, who wouldnt when one of your best friend's Yamis had just promised to take both of you to the mall to buy the new set of booster packs (not avaliable in the gameshop)?
"I'm-trying....slow down!"
"We're almost home, don't worry." Ryou turned his head slightly to see Yugi a few paces behind and smiled. "I'll race you to the door!"
"I thought this *was* racing!!"
"Nope! This is just running. Now come on!"
With those last words, Ryou gathered his strength and in a burst of energy, shot far away from Yugi towards his house at the end of the street.
"I HAVE SMALL LEGS! IT'S NOT FAIR!" Yugi half-laughed, half-shouted, completely out of breath. [Of course, if Yami were here, Ryou would be eating our dust. Just a little switch and the leg-length problem is solved. Then again...Yami's *not* here so I'll just have to get faster.]
With that, Yugi felt his second wind coming on and followed Ryou as fast as his little legs would carry him.
***
"Shut up! You are *such* a liar!"
"I'm not lying! I swear. Look at this face, would I lie?" Yami smiled mischevously as Mai regarded him with a sly look from her seat at the scoring board.
"Fine, fine...so you got 10 pins down. That *still* doesn't mean that you win. I could catch up."
"Sure, if you bowl a strike every round."
"You're such a brat!" Mai retorted, laughing slightly. Yami had been taunting her all morning long.
"Well, you're a tease."
"Flirt!"
"Loser-at-bowling."
"Old granny!"
"Loser-at-poker."
"Liar!"
"Loser-at-minigolf."
"Errrrr...just bowl, you tricolored clutz."
"Clutz!? You must have forgotten who tripped over the power chord for the tv when we were watching that movie."
Mai drew in a breath, laid back in her chair, crossed her arms and bit her lip, accepting defeat.
"That's what I thought." Sticking his nose purposefully in the air, Yami turned around, drew back his arm and let the bowling ball fly right at the lined-up pins, scoring a perfect strike.
Under her breath, Mai muttered, "Showoff."
****
"Yami! Yami?"
"I'm upstairs!"
Ryou and Yugi had just entered the house and had completely scoured it for Bakura before they had finally gotten the sense to just yell out his name and hope that he answered.
The white-haired Hikari made his way for the stairs but stopped half-way up as Bakura started to walk down from the top floor, looking completely groggy, wearing nothing but a pair of green boxers. Yugi nearly laughed but held it in. [At least he's not in a towel. It seems like every time I come over he's half naked. And, I come over a lot.] Yugi loved visiting Ryou; the other teen just had an inviting quality about him that made him very easy to talk to. In fact, Ryou was quickly becoming Yugi's best friend and his house was becoming Yugi's second home.
"What do you *want?* I was sleeping!"
The half-dead Tomb Robber leisurly made his way down the stairs, roughly pushing Ryou aside and shuffling into the kitchen. Ryou followed like a puppy, practically jumping at his heels.
"You told me and Yugi that you were gonna take us out to the mall!"
"Yugi and *I.*"
Ryou frowned.
"Okay, well, you told Yugi and *I* that you were gonna take us to the mall!"
"Did I? Must have slipped my mind between the time I got wasted and passed out."
"You went *drinking!?* When!?" Ryou's brows knitted together in both anger and concern.
"Oh, calm down, I went last night when you were sleeping. Didn't you notice that I wasn't here in the morning? And I didn't really pass out. I just sorta fell down. And I was safe. There was a designated driver. Went with...what's-his-name, oh right...Malik."
"MALIK!?" shouted both Yugi and Ryou in unison, eyes wide in incomprehension and disbelief. "Well, his Yami, to be more precise."
"Where is he now?" asked Ryou, his chocolate eyes darting around the corners of the house.
"Calm down, you little twerp, he never even came home with me. We just went drinking, to catch up on *old* times. Now leave me alone so I can get something healthy in my stomach."
Rummaging noisily through the cabinet, Bakura drew out a bag of chips and sat down at the kitchen table to eat.
"Well, are we still going to the mall?" Ryou stood stubbornly by, hands on hips. Of course, he wasn't as confident* inside* as he looked outside. There would always be that underlying fear of his powerful Yami, no matter how close they got. But lately, Bakura had grown a lot more lenient and didn't get as mad when Ryou talked back. Perhaps, it was because of Yugi.
"Yeah, yeah get ready."
"Yes!!!" With that, both hikaris completely forgot that Bakura had ever gone drinking and went kareening upstairs to change out of their school clothes.
***
Bowling didn't last after Yami won his third consecutive game and soon the couple had migrated to the center of town where a guest band was playing in the square. Mai and Yami had been out all day, Yami spending dollar after dollar since 10 in the morning when he had met up with Mai at a small restaurant for brunch. Soon they had departed to the park to take a walk around and buy a quick lunch of rice and seafood and after that it was all bowling. Now, at the nearing of dusk, they sat together on the rough benches in the center of Domino.
"Good music, huh?" Mai spoke without moving, her head gently rested on his shoulder.
"Mmmhmm." The Game King was quite content to stay where he was as well.
"Thanks for taking me out, Yami. I haven't been this busy in...I don't even know how long."
"Well I'll take you out as often as you like. As long as I have the money, or as long as I'm aquainted with a rich CEO." He smiled warmly, kissing the back of her hand.
Mai smiled as well, her eyelids drooping. [Wow, I never knew I could be this tired from just walking. Then again, I had to keep up with his little comments all day and think of good insults...]
The steady and quiet beat of the percussion in the band added to the peacefulness of the sunset and Mai felt her eyes close, the warmth of the oncoming night settling over her. The Pharaoh also felt the night but his eyes were open and his arm was wrapped around the small frame next to him in a protective manner.
"Should we go home?" his voice jarred her out of sleep and she yawned slightly, turning her face up to him.
"If you insist."
"I don't insist, I'll only go if you want to."
"Well I'll go. Can't be falling asleep in the middle of the city...anything could happen."
"Oh yeah, Domino is *so* dangerous. Some deranged hobo might attack at any minute."
Mai laughed and cuddled a little closer to the Pharaoh's side.
"Oh be quiet. Domino isn't all that safe and you know it. Look at everything that has happened here...in such a short time!"
"I suppose."
Suddenly, a thought donned on Mai that had been in the back of her mind for sometime but hadn't surfaced until now.
"Yami, where's Yugi? You didn't leave him home alone, did you?"
"No, no...he goes to Ryou's after school now."
"Is he going to sleep over? It's getting late."
"Sometimes he does. I'm not sure. If he can't, he usually just let's himself into the house when I'm not there."
"Aren't you worried?"
"What could happen?" He spoke reassuringly, kissing her hand again. Standing up sluggishly, he stretched and then helped his lover to her feet.
"Plus, he's with Bakura. As much as I hate to admit it, he's nearly as powerful as me and could always protect Yugi."
[That's unlike him. He's never trusted Yugi with anyone before...] Mai hesitated for a second, debating whether or not to question this new development, before deciding to just tease him instead.
"Wow, I never thought I'd hear *that* come out of you."
Yami scratched the back of his head. "Neither did I..."
"Maybe you're becoming friends." Mai smiled keenly and watched the Pharaoh's expression turn from a smile into one of pure horror.
"Friends?! Never. If we were friends I wouldn't be able to argue with him or send him to the shadow realm."
The blonde laughed and took his hand.
"Alright…let's go home."
**
"This one....no, this one...*this* one will have the holofoil in it." Ryou's hand had been hovering over the box of boosters for five minutes before he finally drew a pack that he liked. Yugi had already picked out three and was waiting for Ryou to buy his so he could open them. In a vain attempt to take his mind off the cards he went looking around the rest of the store, gazing hungrily at the rare cards behind glass that were worth more then his entire life savings. Finally, the white-haired teen came running over with his packs and they both left the store, only to find Bakura arrogantly leaning against the banister which overlooked the bottom floor.
"Finally."
"Sorry Yami, there were so many to choose from!"
"You better have picked good ones, because if I see one more common card, or a farie, I'm not letting you buy anymore."
"Well then you can pick the boosters next time!!"
"I will. Maybe I can find some way to use my powers and scan what's inside."
"That would be the day," Yugi mumbled, taking his packs out of the plastic bag. Opening the first one, he was thrilled to find a brand new super rare card. The second pack contained a rare and the last pack contained an ultra rare.
"Hah! I knew I picked good ones. What did you get, Ryou?"
Ryou's smile had turned into a frown and he looked sheepishly at his Yami. The look clearly stated, "please don't hurt me."
"Eh, two rares and one super rare."
"What's the super rare?" asked Bakura, dangerously.
"The Celestial One."
With a lethal glare, Bakura snatched up the card and then handed it back with a snort.
"A farie. I am *definately* picking the packs next time."
The three of them then continued on down the mall, passing multiple clothes stores which were purposefully avoided. According to Bakura, clothes shopping was more of a 'women's hobby,' and scolded Ryou for admiring a black turtleneck sweater in one of the shop windows.
Finally, one of the shops interested Bakura and he stopped power-walking to get a closer look. It was a hunting accessories store covered from wall to wall in long hunting knives with gleaming edges and many types of traps and poisons. The tomb robber's eyes lit up immediately.
"Okay, we're splitting up. Go look at whatever you want, but I'm going to stay here for now." With that, he walked into the store, shoving past two burly men on the way and leaving the hikaris behind.
"How did I know he was going to stop in there?" asked Ryou, as he watched his yami inspect a long, engraved knife. Then he turned to Yugi. "Do you mind if I go check out the price on that sweater that we passed?"
Yugi laughed. "Not at all. I'll just go look around somewhere else."
Ryou smiled and disappeared around the corner. That left Yugi standing by himself, free to go where he pleased. He started to walk in no particular direction past the hunting store, following many twists and turns until he came to the food court. With no money left, it was pointless to stay there, so he turned back around, only to come face to face with someone who was very unwelcome.
Kenka looked down at him menacingly, the hands at his sides instantly balling into fists.
"What a surprise to see you here, Little Yugi."
Yugi swallowed hard and glared back up at him.
"Kenka."
This teen was not the stereotypical bully. He did not have overly large arms, low intelliagence or a caveman demeanor. In fact, he was quite the opposite. Kenka was of middle height and rather lanky; electric blue streaks adorned a spiked head (not nearly as tall as Yugi's) and his face reflected nothing but sheer ambition, spite and steely cold. He always knew just what to say to make Yugi want to run and had a powerful body to back up his words if they didn't work. In the hikari's eyes, his personality was quite like the old Seto Kaiba.
"It really is a surprise to see you here of all places. Why would the mall interest such a smart, young man like yourself? Shouldn't you be home studying…or playing games? It seems that's all you ever do."
Sniggering broke out from behind Kenka, and Yugi noticed two of the instigator's friends standing nearby. They were more of the stereotypical bully, with bigger frames and smaller minds than their ringleader.
"I just came here to look around. What do you want, anyway?"
"Want?" Kenka asked with a slight lilt in his voice. "Nothing, Yugi, just the pleasure of your company."
The small hikari frowned and took a step back. He just needed to endure their sneering comments for a little longer and then he could go. In school they usually just insulted him and roughed him up a little before they got tired of it and left, so hopefully it would be the same way here.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked Kenka, his eyes shining like the sun on the back of a serpant's scales. These eyes slowly drifted towards Yugi's Millenium Puzzle, which was the main cause of his tormenting. "I'm not done with you yet."
Kenka was drawn to the puzzle and had always been planning to steal it away from Yugi when he had the chance. It must have been worth a fortune, for it seemed to be made of solid gold. He had no idea how Yugi could have come across it, but he wanted it all the same. In school there was never the right opportunity and it was too risky…but here he was free to do as he pleased.
"Well I'm leaving. Leave me alone." Yugi turned on his heel and started to walk away and out of the food court, but Kenka and his men followed.
"It's not that easy, Yugi." With this, Kenka sped forward and took Yugi up by the back of his jacket, pulling him forcefully into a narrow hallway of the court which was practically out of sight. It was the back entrance to the mall which was only used in case of firedrills. Therefore, it was usually empty.
"Let go of me! What are you doing?!" shouted Yugi, struggling against the iron grip of his captor.
"You have something I want."
"What! What do I have?! Can't you just leave me alone?!"
"No I'm afraid I can't." Kenka pushed Yugi away from him, sending him sprawling onto the floor. The Hikari tried to get up but Kenka placed a foot on his side, pinning him down.
"Give me the puzzle."
"What?"
"The puzzle! That's what it is, isn't it? The gold pieces around your neck."
Yugi turned his head to look up, seeing Kenka staring down and the goons behind him laughing.
"I'm not giving it to you."
"Yes, you are. Unless you want the beating of a lifetime."
The bully pushed his boot harder into the hikari's ribs and Yugi felt panic rise up in his throat. Kenka had never behaved like this before. There were threats, but he had never actually hurt Yugi.
"I'm still not giving it to you."
"Fine. Then I'll take it by force."
Kenka took his foot off of Yugi and hoisted him up by his shirt collar, pulling a fist back to hit him in the face. Yugi closed his eyes and braced himself but the blow never came. Suddenly, there were yells of surprise and he was viciously dropped to the ground as Kenka was ripped off of him by an invisible force which sent him flying backwards to hit the opposite wall with a grunt. His lackies scattered out of the hallway, yelling. Yugi turned around to see Bakura glaring down with narrowed eyes at the fallen Kenka.
"I say that he keeps it, and YOU get the beating of a lifetime."
The bully had had the wind knocked out of him so all he could do was gasp on the ground.
"Bakura!" shouted Yugi with relief, running towards him.
"What'd he do to you?" asked the tomb robber, never taking his eyes away from Kenka.
"He tried to take the puzzle but you got here in time."
"That's a lucky thing for him. If he had hurt you, I wouldn't of hesitated to kick the shit out of him."
Kenka gritted his teeth and looked up darkly from the ground.
"Who the hell are you, his bodyguard?"
"Shut up. You don't deserve to talk. All you need to know, is that if you touch Yugi
again, you'll regret it." Bakura kicked Kenka once more and then turned to go, Yugi following behind.
*
Mai watched the sleeping Yami intently, her fingers stroking his cheek while being excruciatingly careful not to wake him up. They had just finished a movie (which Yami had fallen asleep to) and were positioned on the couch rather comfortably; Mai sitting normally against the pillows on the couch and Yami with his head in her lap. Mai didn't have the faintest clue as to what the movie was about, for the whole time her amythest eyes were locked on her lover's face. Occasionally he turned his face up to look at her and smiled silently, before turning back to the movie. After thirty minutes the Pharaoh was fast asleep and the blonde had taken to playing with his hair and noticing all the little things about him which she loved so much. A new mantra had started to play itself like a broken record in her head; [Man I'm whipped.]
In fact, the blonde was in her own little dreamworld when the car containing Bakura, Ryou and Yugi pulled up to the house. The slam of the car door pulled Mai from her half-slumber and her eyes snapped fully open as she turned slightly to look out the window. Yami awoke immediately as well, for he was a painfully light sleeper and was on his feet before two seconds had passed.
There was a knock on the door and Mai went to open it, revealing two hikaris and a yami. Bakura had a scowl plastered on his face, Yugi seemed nervous and upset and Ryou was silent and worried.
Yami, quickly sensing that something had happened, cast Bakura a glance which clearly stated 'kitchen, now.' The tomb robber understood and lead the way into the other room, while Mai went about asking questions to the hikaris.
As soon as they were in the kitchen, Bakura's expression turned from a scowl to a look of disgust.
"Look at you! Content at home while your Hikari is attacked."
"Attacked?!" Yami's eyes widened and darted towards the other room, where Yugi sat with Mai.
"Yes, attacked. It seems a bully has been picking on him. And this bully was at the mall."
"Well, where were you?! Is he alright?"
"He's fine, thanks to me. I let him go where he pleased and he managed to run into some wannabe-Malik. The kid tried to take the puzzle."
Yami's brows knitted together and he gritted his teeth. "How dare he."
"Don't worry, I don't think he'll be bothering Yugi for a while now but he did scare him a bit. I doubt Yugi will ever want to go back to school again."
"Well, I'll talk to him tonight."
"For a change."
Yami narrowed his eyes. "What did you say?"
"Nothing. I'm leaving."
"Fine, and thankyou for-"
"Whatever."
Bakura didn't bother to say goodbye. Walking out of the kitchen, he took Ryou by his shirt sleeve and practically dragged him from the house. Yugi watched them drive away.
***
Next chapter...disaster strikes!!! Yami and Mai face their biggest challenge yet and Joey returns to the picture. Btw...Kenka means fight:-P Ja!