Chapter 13: - A SHADOWy Arrival
“WINDY, WATERY trap FIREY!” Sakura bellowed to the two elemental cards she’d summoned moving to attack the one that was trying to burn down the park where Sakura and her friends spent so much time.
It had been just a few hours since they’d gone their separate ways after Sakura had sealed the SHIELD card and they’d had to rush out to Penguin Park when Sakura had seen the smoke rising from her favourite park and gotten here only to find that the third of the elemental Clow Cards was rampaging through the park.
Something creaked above her head as WINDY and WATERY worked together to form a whirlpool that trapped FIREY inside, “Sakura, look out!”
She looked up in time to see a burning tree branch fall onto shield of dark energy.
“Sakura, move!” Joey bellowed as Yami staggered, having trouble holding even this basic shield.
The Cardcaptor moved as the whirlpool died and the FIREY crashed to the ground. “Return to the guise you were meant to be!” Sakura demanded, raising her staff, as Yami collapsed against Joey, the shield fell and the branch hit the ground. “Clow Card!”
FIREY became a card, which floated into Sakura’s hand, and the flames disappeared, saving the trees that weren’t burnt and leaving the trees that had black and scorched, but the Cardcaptor was much more concerned about her friend, darting over to Joey’s side, to see if Yugi was hurt. “Is he ok?”
“I knew he shouldn’t have come out with me.” Joey sighed at her as he scooped his sleeping friend up, “But he didn’t want to worry his mum…” Joey trailed off as Kero glowed with a red light and grinned.
“What?” Sakura asked, as Kero waved his hand and a tiny flame appeared out of nowhere.
“The Clow cards come under one of two things, cards like FIREY and EARTHY look to the sun, while there are others who look to the moon.” Kero explained, “And as the Sun Guardian, FIREY and EARTHY boost my powers. Once you have EARTHY I’ll be able to take my true form.” Kero explained, looking around, “I’ll explain tomorrow.”
Kero darted into Sakura’s backpack as Toya appeared from between the trees and took in their sooty faces and clothes. “What are you doing here?” He asked, kneeling at Joey’s side and checking Yugi over as shouts came from the surrounding area.
“RAIN!” Sakura quickly called her Clow Card out, getting it to rain over the area to make it look like it was that that had put out the fires.
“Clow Card.” Joey explained, standing up and wondering how he was going to carry Yugi back to the house, “The FIREY. Sakura caught it.”
Toya nodded, frowning slightly as the voices got closer, taking Yugi from Joey and ushering the children out of the park to the back entrance where Tomoyo’s bodyguards were waiting.
Tomoyo instructed the guards to give them a lift home and they dropped Yugi and Joey off first. Toya carried Yugi inside and Kaiya followed them to Yugi’s room, stopping off in the bathroom to get some plasters, a bowl of water and a damp cloth, where she asked Toya what had happened.
“I’m not sure.” Toya looked at Joey, who looked rather uncomfortable. “Yugi was sleeping when I reached them. If you’ll excuse me, Sakura’s in the car and…”
“I understand.” Kaiya nodded, escorting him out. In less than five minutes she was back and washing the soot off of Yugi’s face, concern obvious. “What happened, Wheeler-Kun?”
“He’s not hurt.” Joey promised her, “Just exhausted. He hasn’t really had a chance to rest since Shadi showed up.”
“Since who showed up?” Yugi’s mother scowled at the blonde that she’d taken in. “Wheeler-Kun? Since who showed up?”
“Uhh.” Joey got a shifty look on his face, “No one?”
“Who is Shadi?” Kaiya demanded.
“He’s another Shadow Mage.” Joey admitted. “He and Yugi had a fight over the Millennium Puzzle. He left after Yugi passed a test of some kind on Sunday night.”
“You both lied to me.” Kaiya scowled.
“No, we did catch ARROW as well, it was a busy night. Yugi didn’t want to worry you by telling you about Shadi.” Joey shook his head, “And Yugi didn’t lie to you, I covered for him, there’s a difference.”
“The main one being the length of time you’re both grounded.”
“You can’t ground me!” Joey protested.
“My house, my rules.” Kaiya scowled at him, “Now go and clean yourself up.” She slipped Yugi out of his jacket as Joey left the room and tried to make her son more comfortable, finishing up by taking the Puzzle off and putting it on his bedside table, wondering, as she did so, if it was possible to ground the spirit of the Puzzle like she was grounding Yugi and Joey.
She then stepped out into the corridor to catch Joey before he slipped into the boys’ bedroom. “What has been going on, Wheeler-San? What else haven’t you two told me?”
“Well I suppose there’s Li…” Joey said slowly, saw the look on the face of Yugi’s mother and explained, “Well there’s a kid, a magic user like Yugi and Sakura, at school, Li Shaoran. He doesn’t like Shadow Mages like Yugi very much because his family was attacked by one.”
“The same one that fought Yugi?” Kaiya bit her lower lip, worried that she might have to start watching her back.
“No.” Joey shook his head, trying to sound reassuring, “It was a different one.”
The fact that there was more than one person out there with the same kind of magic as Yugi who didn’t object to attacking other people with magic didn’t reassure Kaiya in the slightest.
“Yugi told me he had a run in with Li at lunch time, when Li tried to steal the Puzzle but nothing came of it and Toya helped him out so...” Joey paused and considered the woman who had taken him in, “I’m not helping am I?”
Kaiya sighed. “It’s ok, Wheeler-Kun.” She replied, “I suppose I should be glad to know that Yugi managed to fight off an attacker on his own.” She went to shoo Joey into the bedroom, then paused, “Two days.”
“Mutou-San?” Joey asked, confused.
“You and Yugi are grounded for two days. Yours starts as of tomorrow and Yugi’s will start once he’s caught up on his sleep.”
“But…”
“I wouldn’t argue unless you want another couple of days added to the total.” Kaiya warned.
“Yes Mutou-San. Sorry Mutou-San.” Joey nodded quickly and darted into the bedroom to avoid aggravating her any further.
Slowly Mutou Kaiya headed downstairs, thinking about what she’d been told. So there were other Shadow Mages out there then just Yugi, as she had believed there would be, but it sounded like none of them were suitable as teachers for her son, as one had attacked Yugi, while the other had apparently attacked a family and only left a child standing.
She could still take the Puzzle from her son, there was still that option. Take it from Yugi, shatter it and hand it back to her father.
Except she wasn’t sure that Yugi would forgive her if she did, not when it had taken him four years to complete it the first time and no one knew what would happen to the spirit inside if the Puzzle shattered.
She looked at the clock and made up her mind what she was going to do.
She picked up the phone and dialled the number for a certain shop in Domino.
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“Where’s Yugi?” Tomoyo commented as she entered the classroom early the following morning to find Joey and Tea already there, but no Yugi.
“He’s not coming to school today.” Joey explained as he quickly scribbled something down on a piece of homework. “Mutou-San managed to get him to wake up long enough to go down for breakfast, but he nearly fell asleep in his cereal so…”
Tomoyo nodded her understanding, “Don’t tell me you forgot to do that last night...” She chuckled, having thought the piece of homework Joey was working on was easy.
Joey just grouched at her and finished writing the last answer down.
“Hey guys.” Sakura joined them, sitting at her desk and turning to look at Joey. “Has Yugi been meditating at all over the last couple of days?” She asked the blonde.
“I don’t think so. Yami was too tired Sunday night, and Yugi was barely awake long enough to come to school and help you yesterday so…”
“That might explain it then.” The Cardcaptor looked relieved.
“What’s wrong?”
“Shadows are blocking my ability to sense magic again, if it wasn’t Yugi causing it…”
The others got what she meant. If it wasn’t Yugi’s shadows on the loose, then there could be another shadow mage within Tomoeda’s limits.
“What’re you all doing after school?” Tea changed the topic of conversation, not wanting to think about what could happen if the guy who had attacked Li’s family came here.
“I’m grounded for two days.” Joey sulked. “As is Yugi when he wakes up.”
“Why? I thought Muto-San was alright with the pair of you going out to fight Clow Cards.”
“I might possibly have stuck my foot in my mouth and told her about Shadi.” Joey grumbled.
“You told her about…” Tea felt like face palming, “I bet that didn’t go down well.”
“Could have gone worse.” Joey shrugged.
“True.” Tomoyo acknowledged, “Two days is getting off lightly considering she grounded Yugi for a week when she first found out about the…” She trailed off when Li entered the room and didn’t pick up the thread of conversation because their classmates weren’t far behind him.
Terada-Sensei was last into the classroom and behind him trailed in a tall, thin boy with long white hair and brown eyes. “Class,” Terada-Sensei said, and the class settled at his voice, “We have a transfer student joining us.”
This new addition filled out the class numbers completely and the white haired boy looked rather nervous, scanning the classroom for an empty seat, the only ones of which were Yugi’s empty seat and the seat behind Joey.
“Hello,” The white haired boy nodded at the class, “My name is Bakura Ryou. Pleased to meet you all.”
Bakura’s accent was odd, foreign, but only Tomoyo was aware of what kind of accent it was as he took the seat behind Joey.
Terada-Sensei took the register, lingering for a moment over the fact Yugi was absent, motioning that Mutou-San hadn’t looked well yesterday and he hoped he got better soon, and then class started in earnest.
Lunch time came all too soon and Bakura was invited to join them underneath the cherry tree.
Tea caught Sakura’s arm on the way out as Joey led Ryou outside, “Are you alright? I saw you freeze when Bakura walked in.”
“The magic that’s blocking mine,” Sakura said hastily, “It’s Bakura’s.”
“What?” Tea hissed, looking around and pulling Sakura into an alcove, “You’re sure?”
“He’s the reason that I couldn’t sense FIREY until I was already in the fire. It’s his Shadows that are loose and Yugi’s lack of control right now isn’t helping.”
“You think he knows about his magic?” Tea bit her lower lip, thinking about how oblivious Yugi had been before he’d run into Kero.
“I don’t know.” Sakura looked as nervous as Tea felt. “I get the same feeling from him that I do from Yugi when he hasn’t meditated.”
“A Millennium Item?”
“Possibly.” Sakura nodded.
“And suddenly I’m glad Yugi’s out sick today.” Tea sighed. “Come on, we’d better join the others.”
When they caught up to the gang Joey and Tomoyo had already unpacked their lunches and were caught up in conversation about where Bakura was from and where he was living now. Sakura pulled her lunch out of her bag, whispering an apology to Kero who gave her an ill amused look and settled down to listen, introducing herself but not feeling very talkative, not when she could see Li hovering around.
He seemed a lot like Yugi, quiet, shy, into games, though unlike Yugi who had a preference for card games, Ryou preferred things like Monster World which was a table top RPG, an only child, and all in all he seemed likeable.
Sakura was just starting to relax slightly around the boy when the bell went for the end of lunch and Li decided that he needed to talk to the Cardcaptor immediately.
“Be careful.” Li scowled, glancing in the direction of the group who were heading inside.
“I know. Bakura’s a Shadow Mage like Yugi.” Sakura replied easily, trying to hide her own concern from the already paranoid Li. “I’m being careful.”
“Not careful enough. You don’t have any idea what these mages can do.” Li scowled at her, walking with her back to class. Sakura hugged her bag tightly, refusing to give Li a chance to steal her Clow Cards.
“You’re right, I don’t know everything that Yugi and those like him can do, but I’ve seen enough to know that they’re not to be messed with.” Sakura agreed.
“How can you put up with them?” Li hissed. “Surely being around one was bad enough, now you want another one hanging around?”
“Yugi is a good friend who’s risked his safety to help me many times.” Sakura hissed at him, “And Bakura needs friends. He’s starting a new school in a new city. Surely you know how that feels?”
Li just glowered at her. “I don’t like them.” He stated frustration obvious from his tone.
“Why?” Sakura couldn’t understand why Li blamed Yugi and now Bakura for what had happened to his family when it hadn’t been either of them who had attacked the Li family.
“Their magic… it’s dark, very dark, and there’s no one to train them except murderers and soul stealers. Once they can use their power properly they will turn on you and you won’t be able to defend yourself.”
“Yugi wouldn’t do that.” Sakura stated firmly, wishing she could be as sure about Bakura.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” Sakura disagreed. “Yugi would never turn on his friends.”
“What about Bakura?” Li scowled, seeing that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with her on the subject of the wielder of the Millennium Puzzle.
“I guess I’ll have to wait and see.”
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Being grounded wasn’t much fun, Joey decided as he finished his homework and turned to stare at the ceiling. It wouldn’t have been so bad had he been allowed to play games, but those had been ruled out as well, so while the girls walked Bakura home and then did whatever the girls did when the boys weren’t around (and Joey didn’t want to know about girly things) he was left staring at the artex on the ceiling and trying to envisage shapes out of the little dots.
It would have been more fun if Yugi had been awake as well, but according to Yugi’s mother if he woke Yugi up he’d get another day added to his punishment and, other than waking up for lunch to grab a sandwich, Yugi had slept through the entire day.
It was all Shadi’s fault of course. If he hadn’t gone after Yugi at the tournament then Yugi wouldn’t have ended up playing Shadi’s Shadow Games on Sunday evening and Yugi wouldn’t have been exhausted and he and Joey wouldn’t be grounded now because Joey wouldn’t have had anything to put his foot in his mouth about.
On the plus side Yugi now knew that he was grounded as well and Yugi would object to the no games rule more then Joey would.
“Wheeler-Kun.” Kaiya poked her head in the door, speaking softly in case she woke her son up, “Dinner’s ready.”
“Dinner?” Both Kaiya and Joey turned to look at the camp bed where Yugi was blinking at them and sitting up, looking much healthier then he had when Joey had had to shake him awake last night in order to get him up to help against FIREY, but still looking like he could use another couple of hours sleep.
“Feeling hungry, Yugi?” Kaiya went over to her son’s bed and checked his temperature.
Yugi’s stomach answered before his voice could, making his mother chuckle and Joey snort. Joey had thought he was bad for eating, he could swear Yugi was a garbage disposal unit the amount Yugi could get through in a meal. Not that it seemed to aid Yugi’s growth in any way; he ate the most but was most definitely the shortest of their group.
“Come downstairs then.” Kaiya stood up once she was convinced of her son’s wellbeing. “There’s plenty of food available and I want to hear what happened at the weekend from you.”
“I… Sorry…” Yugi apologised as he picked up the Puzzle, feeling guilty for getting Joey to cover for him.
Kaiya wasn’t sure whether to reassure him or scold him. Her son had a habit of apologising for the wrong things and she wasn’t certain if he was apologising for worrying her, apologising for getting Joey to cover for him or apologising for escaping from Shadi only to return and play his games the following evening.
The first didn’t really need an apology as it was a mother’s prerogative to worry about her son, the second did, but he should apologise to Joey as much as apologise to her and the last she wasn’t sure whether he needed to apologise or be commended for going to play Shadi’s dark games in order to protect his friends.
She just nodded, giving Yugi and understanding smile as he put the Puzzle on, before heading downstairs.
“Tea brought you a present home.” Joey advised him as Yugi pulled himself out of bed.
“A present?” Yugi looked confused, wondering what it was.
Joey pointed to the pile of paper next to his bed. “Homework assignment. Read a book and write a report on it. It’s due next week.”
Yugi’s groan made Joey chuckle, though he paused in saying anything when Yugi suddenly looked like he was listening to something only he could hear, only to chuckle again when Yugi’s attention returned to the real world and ask, “I take it Yami’s up then?”
“Actually I tried to talk to him and all I got was ‘give me five more minutes’.” Yugi smiled slightly, though the look was part amusement part frustration.
“Unless you want a stinking headache, I’d leave him.” Joey advised as the pair walked downstairs.
“Oh I will.” Yugi nodded, laughing lightly, “But I’m not getting up to talk to him if he wakes up in the middle of the night. No way.”
Joey paused, glanced towards the kitchen where Kaiya was dishing up and then turned back to Yugi, “If he wakes up before you go back to bed, could the pair of you stay up and talk for a while?”
“Why? What’s wrong?” Yugi asked, concerned.
“Well there’s this new kid at school…”
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Li had been stalking Bakura around town for a while, not trusting the boy not to cause trouble, but so far he hadn’t been spotted.
The Clow Cards were almost impossible to find while the Shadows were racing around like this, as they had been since the weekend when he had moved here, as it was almost impossible to sense anything through the mire of dark magic, leaving him frustrated as it meant that Li couldn’t capture them to use against the man who’d attacked his family and left him little to do other than stalk the item holders who lived in town.
It really hadn’t helped his mood that the girl who possessed the Key of Clow was so dismissive of his concerns and that she risked the safety of the Clow Cards by spending time in the company of the boy with the Puzzle and now the new kid who, even though he’d hidden it in school was wearing an odd golden pendant now.
An odd golden pendant with the same eye symbol as the Eye that the man had had and the Puzzle that Mutou wore.
“Hello.”
Li jumped a mile as someone tapped him on the shoulder, wheeling around to face his foe, avoiding summoning his sword only by great force of will, only to find the white haired boy he’d been trailing was now stood behind him looking like a cat who had gotten the cream.
“What do you want?” Li demanded, scowling at the kid, getting the feeling that he’d just walked into a trap without even realising it.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you the same thing?” Bakura asked, a smirk crossing his features, “After all you’re the one who has been trailing me across town.”
He knew... he knew and he’d let Li do it...
Cold trickled down Li’s spine as he realised that Bakura could have lost him at any moment and had chosen to lead him here.
“It’s rude to stalk people, you know.” Bakura commented as if he was commenting on the weather, circling Li, looking amused when the Chinese boy tried to watch his every movement, “So I suggest you tell me what you want before I get mad.”
“I’m not telling you anything.” Li snarled, calling his sword.
Big mistake.
The shadows around them deepened, the sky seemed to vanish entirely and Bakura gained an evil smirk, “Fine.” The boy said, “Let’s play a game.”
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Kaiya was of the sensible opinion that if Yugi had been tired enough to sleep for almost twenty four hours then he obviously wasn’t well enough to go to school on Wednesday either, however no one knew why Li Shaoran had gone out sick as well.
A couple of students were worried that whatever Yugi supposedly had was catching, but since magical exhaustion wasn’t contagious, Sakura and the others didn’t worry too much. Besides, if Yugi had actually been sick and other people could catch it, Joey, who shared the same room as him, would have caught it already.
On Thursday, when Yugi rejoined the class, fully recovered and raring to go again, but with a request for his friends to come over after school since he was convinced that there was something in his house that shouldn’t be and he wasn’t sure if it was a Clow Card or not, Li was still out sick and it had looked like Bakura was going to be out too, until he arrived mid morning with the excuse that he’d overslept, and could he make up any missed work?
Bakura was in the classroom, catching up with his missed morning work, at lunch time so Yugi didn’t get to finally meet him properly until school kicked out and the gang gathered at the shoe lockers, where Yugi was putting on the Puzzle, something he tended to do before putting his outdoor shoes back on, and the others were putting on their shoes.
“Hi Bakura.” Sakura smiled, noting the way the boy’s eyes had widened at the sight of Yugi’s Puzzle, “This is our friend, Mutou Yugi.” She indicated the Puzzle holder, who smiled and offered his hand to the other Shadow mage.
“Bakura Ryou.” The white haired boy shook it nervously. “Can I ask where you got your pendant?”
“My Puzzle?” Yugi’s hand went to it protectively as Yami, woken by Yugi’s short, seemingly unreasonable burst of fear, waited, ready to take over if Bakura challenged them, refusing to let Yugi game alone again after last time. “It was a present from my Grandfather. He got it in Egypt.”
“I was just curious.” Bakura replied, slightly defensively, “It has the same symbol on as my own pendant.” Bakura untucked a golden ring, with a golden triangle in the centre with the eye symbol on in the middle and five golden spikes hanging from it.
“What is that?” Tomoyo asked, glancing from Bakura’s pendant to Yugi’s Puzzle.
“My father bought it for me in Egypt.” Bakura explained, “It’s called the Millennium Ring.”
“Mine’s the Millennium Puzzle.” Yugi told him, thinking quickly and coming to a conclusion he wasn’t sure his friends would like. “Would you like to come over to my house?”
“You’re inviting me over?” Bakura looked surprised.
Yugi nodded. “I’d like to hear more about your…” Yugi squeaked as he took a step forward, tripped over the mat on the floor and nearly face planted, only prevented from doing so by Bakura’s quick reaction time.
The white haired boy’s hand brushed the Puzzle as Yugi got his footing and Bakura cringed as pain shot through him.
‘The Millennium Puzzle!’ A voice echoed within Bakura’s head.
“You alright, Bakura?” Sakura asked, concern obvious.
“I’m ok…”Bakura waved it off, suddenly scared, “I… Tomorrow? Maybe?” He asked Yugi.
The Pharaoh’s host nodded and Bakura darted out of the school.
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‘Hehehehe.’
Bakura, who was trying to do his homework, froze at the sound of the voice. “Who… who’s there?” He demanded, moving away from the desk.
‘So, you can hear my voice!’
“Who are you?”
‘Stop shouting, I can hear you just fine. I am, after all, in your head.’
“What?”
‘I guess from now on I’ll be able to speak with my host. Truly a day to remember!’ The voice gloated, ‘And not only that, I’ve finally find him! The Pharaoh’s reincarnation! The holder of the Puzzle! After five thousand years!’
“Yugi!” Bakura’s eyes widened, concern for the other boy coursing through him. He tried to take the Ring off, only to find that the points had dug into his chest.
‘You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.’ The voice crowed, ‘Thanks to you I found him. I’m keeping you and you should be grateful. I’ve been granting your wishes after all.’
“What do you mean?” Bakura asked shakily.
‘I wish I could play with my friends forever.’ The voice said, mimicking Bakura’s as he did so, before reverting back to its own, ‘I granted that wish for you!’
“Wh… what are you talking about? You can’t mean those…”
‘If you haven’t figured it out yet, you soon will.’ The voice sniggered. ‘In any case, this is the perfect chance for me to get my hands on the Puzzle. If I miss this chance I have no idea how long I’ll have to wait for another.’
Bakura didn’t know what to say, but it appeared the spirit within the Ring was willing to carry on speaking. The Millennium Items are relics from the past which house ancient spirits, like memorial stones or portable tombs. I have no idea how many survived the long wait, but as long as there is even one guardian of the tombs, there’ll always be a thief to rob them. Now, since I’m feeling nice tonight, let me pay my rent.’
“What are you going to…”
‘Sleep, Bakura Ryou, sleep.’ The voice urged. Bakura tried to fight the exhaustion that suddenly swept over him, but all it did was make him more tired and before he could warn any of his new friends, or do anything to stop it, he’d fallen asleep, allowing the Thief King Bakura to slip into control of his body.
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“So what do you think it is?” Sakura asked Yugi, glancing around the kitchen, half afraid that the thing causing trouble was a ghost of some kind.
“I don’t know.” Yugi replied, glancing around the kitchen, “But something’s been moving things around the house and I think…”
“You were right to tell us.” Kero interrupted, glowing with a red aura, “It’s defiantly a Clow Card.”
“Do you know which one?” Tomoyo asked, recording the scene, noting the fact that Tea and Joey were scanning the room nervously and Yami, who was visible on the camcorder screen, was leaning against the counter, watching Kero carefully.
“Not off hand.” Kero shook his head, “But there aren’t many left who could move objects around without being obvious, so it’s either MOVE, who I don’t see hanging around such a heavily magically charged place, or SHADOW, which considering your magic…” He looked at Yami, who snorted and switched with Yugi.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was SHADOW considering everything.” The Pharaoh nodded, understanding.
“So how do we stop it?” Joey asked, looking between the pair.
“SHADOW hates light. We can drive it out into the open, or trap it by turning on every light and lighting up every dark corner available.”
“I don’t think we have that many lights.” Joey said, thinking, trying to remember how many lamps he’d seen around the house.
“I have an idea.” Kero considered Yugi, who’d gotten Yami to show him how to take spirit form the previous day since Yugi had slept himself out by then and had had nothing to do, since the book report he had been supposed to be getting on with had been going nowhere fast.
Yugi, who had taken spirit form in order to listen to the conversation for himself, was finding it slightly disconcerting that only Kero and Yami could see him, making him wonder if this was how Yami felt the majority of the time. He tilted his head slightly and gave Kero a curious look.
“We need light,” Kero explained, “And I can show you how to spread your aura out…”
“How dangerous is this going to be to my Aibou?” Yami asked.
“Aibou?” Kero asked, surprised, having never heard Yami refer to Yugi like that before.
“Just answer the question.” Yami snapped. He didn’t feel comfortable calling Yugi ‘Yugi’, but at the same time had already worked out that calling him ‘my hikari’ made both of them feel awkward. Since Yugi had offered him a partnership back when CHANGE had swapped Kero and the Pharaoh over, he had eventually decided that ‘aibou’ fit well enough.
“SHADOW is hates light but can’t harm it. SHADOW will try, but, if anything, Yugi’s probably going to be the safest one out the lot of us. Besides, if anything happens, he has you.”
“Fine.” Yami nodded, scowling slightly, not liking the idea of his aibou being the bait, but catching the thoughts that were going through Yugi’s mind, even if the boy didn’t mean for them to be heard. Yugi wanted to do this, if only to help Sakura and get rid of the card before his Mother came home.
He switched out with Yugi who looked at Kero, “How do I…?”
“It’s pretty simple…” Kero quickly showed Yugi who, aided by Yami who had quickly realised that it wasn’t that different from him sending his shadows out, picked it up pretty quickly and proceeded to send his light out, chasing away the darkness, hoping to catch the Card before his mother got home.
They heard an angry screech from the living room and Sakura called on her staff and darted into the room, where a black robe was floating in the middle of the room, it’s ‘hood’ looking around before it’s ‘gaze’ rested on her.
Then it tried to flee.
Sakura wasn’t having any of it. She called on WINDY who attempted to trap SHADOW, only for the Clow Card to attempt to dart past Sakura into the kitchen. Joey got between Yugi and the floating cloak.
“Return to the guise you were meant to be!” Sakura attacked from behind, “Clow Card!”
SHADOW screeched again and reverted to his card form. WINDY reverted almost instantly afterwards and Yugi drew back in his aura, before raiding the fridge for something sweet and sugary and passing a donut to Sakura before offering them around and eating one himself.
“I can’t believe that SHADOW’s been living under our nose the whole time.” Joey groused.
“I can.” Kero chuckled, more than appeased with Yugi’s offering. “Sensing anything in this house is really hard. If I hadn’t had the boost from FIREY and known I was supposed to be looking for anything, I wouldn’t have known it was here.”
Joey just snorted and accepted Kero’s explanation.
“Yugi-Kun, Wheeler-Kun, I’m home.”
“In here, Okaasan.” Yugi called.
Kaiya entered the room and sighed, “Have you been hunting Clow Cards again?” She asked her son.
“Only one.” Kero spoke up, “And it was hiding here.”
“Here?” Kaiya looked surprised. When Kero nodded, she sighed. “Is it gone?” Again Kero nodded. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but if the Clow Card’s gone, you girls need to leave. Yugi’s currently grounded.”
Yugi, who had hoped his mother had forgotten that he was technically grounded until school started tomorrow, gave the others an apologetic look. The girls laughed and waved it off, taking their donuts and heading out.
“Now, what do you want for dinner?”
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Tea was walking home alone, humming a song that she was supposed to be practising to, and was so distracted that when someone tapped her on the shoulder she jumped a mile, wheeling around to find the white haired boy that had joined their group at the start of the week giving her an amused look.
“Bakura-Kun?” She asked, her heart beating at a rate of knots as she tried to calm herself down.
“Sorry, Gardener-Chan.” Bakura apologised, “I was wondering if you could help me with something…”
“Sure, what do you need?”
The Shadows deepened around them and Tea let out a panicked yelp, recognising the darkness around them from Yugi’s rare Shadow Games.
“Play a game with me…”
It had been just a few hours since they’d gone their separate ways after Sakura had sealed the SHIELD card and they’d had to rush out to Penguin Park when Sakura had seen the smoke rising from her favourite park and gotten here only to find that the third of the elemental Clow Cards was rampaging through the park.
Something creaked above her head as WINDY and WATERY worked together to form a whirlpool that trapped FIREY inside, “Sakura, look out!”
She looked up in time to see a burning tree branch fall onto shield of dark energy.
“Sakura, move!” Joey bellowed as Yami staggered, having trouble holding even this basic shield.
The Cardcaptor moved as the whirlpool died and the FIREY crashed to the ground. “Return to the guise you were meant to be!” Sakura demanded, raising her staff, as Yami collapsed against Joey, the shield fell and the branch hit the ground. “Clow Card!”
FIREY became a card, which floated into Sakura’s hand, and the flames disappeared, saving the trees that weren’t burnt and leaving the trees that had black and scorched, but the Cardcaptor was much more concerned about her friend, darting over to Joey’s side, to see if Yugi was hurt. “Is he ok?”
“I knew he shouldn’t have come out with me.” Joey sighed at her as he scooped his sleeping friend up, “But he didn’t want to worry his mum…” Joey trailed off as Kero glowed with a red light and grinned.
“What?” Sakura asked, as Kero waved his hand and a tiny flame appeared out of nowhere.
“The Clow cards come under one of two things, cards like FIREY and EARTHY look to the sun, while there are others who look to the moon.” Kero explained, “And as the Sun Guardian, FIREY and EARTHY boost my powers. Once you have EARTHY I’ll be able to take my true form.” Kero explained, looking around, “I’ll explain tomorrow.”
Kero darted into Sakura’s backpack as Toya appeared from between the trees and took in their sooty faces and clothes. “What are you doing here?” He asked, kneeling at Joey’s side and checking Yugi over as shouts came from the surrounding area.
“RAIN!” Sakura quickly called her Clow Card out, getting it to rain over the area to make it look like it was that that had put out the fires.
“Clow Card.” Joey explained, standing up and wondering how he was going to carry Yugi back to the house, “The FIREY. Sakura caught it.”
Toya nodded, frowning slightly as the voices got closer, taking Yugi from Joey and ushering the children out of the park to the back entrance where Tomoyo’s bodyguards were waiting.
Tomoyo instructed the guards to give them a lift home and they dropped Yugi and Joey off first. Toya carried Yugi inside and Kaiya followed them to Yugi’s room, stopping off in the bathroom to get some plasters, a bowl of water and a damp cloth, where she asked Toya what had happened.
“I’m not sure.” Toya looked at Joey, who looked rather uncomfortable. “Yugi was sleeping when I reached them. If you’ll excuse me, Sakura’s in the car and…”
“I understand.” Kaiya nodded, escorting him out. In less than five minutes she was back and washing the soot off of Yugi’s face, concern obvious. “What happened, Wheeler-Kun?”
“He’s not hurt.” Joey promised her, “Just exhausted. He hasn’t really had a chance to rest since Shadi showed up.”
“Since who showed up?” Yugi’s mother scowled at the blonde that she’d taken in. “Wheeler-Kun? Since who showed up?”
“Uhh.” Joey got a shifty look on his face, “No one?”
“Who is Shadi?” Kaiya demanded.
“He’s another Shadow Mage.” Joey admitted. “He and Yugi had a fight over the Millennium Puzzle. He left after Yugi passed a test of some kind on Sunday night.”
“You both lied to me.” Kaiya scowled.
“No, we did catch ARROW as well, it was a busy night. Yugi didn’t want to worry you by telling you about Shadi.” Joey shook his head, “And Yugi didn’t lie to you, I covered for him, there’s a difference.”
“The main one being the length of time you’re both grounded.”
“You can’t ground me!” Joey protested.
“My house, my rules.” Kaiya scowled at him, “Now go and clean yourself up.” She slipped Yugi out of his jacket as Joey left the room and tried to make her son more comfortable, finishing up by taking the Puzzle off and putting it on his bedside table, wondering, as she did so, if it was possible to ground the spirit of the Puzzle like she was grounding Yugi and Joey.
She then stepped out into the corridor to catch Joey before he slipped into the boys’ bedroom. “What has been going on, Wheeler-San? What else haven’t you two told me?”
“Well I suppose there’s Li…” Joey said slowly, saw the look on the face of Yugi’s mother and explained, “Well there’s a kid, a magic user like Yugi and Sakura, at school, Li Shaoran. He doesn’t like Shadow Mages like Yugi very much because his family was attacked by one.”
“The same one that fought Yugi?” Kaiya bit her lower lip, worried that she might have to start watching her back.
“No.” Joey shook his head, trying to sound reassuring, “It was a different one.”
The fact that there was more than one person out there with the same kind of magic as Yugi who didn’t object to attacking other people with magic didn’t reassure Kaiya in the slightest.
“Yugi told me he had a run in with Li at lunch time, when Li tried to steal the Puzzle but nothing came of it and Toya helped him out so...” Joey paused and considered the woman who had taken him in, “I’m not helping am I?”
Kaiya sighed. “It’s ok, Wheeler-Kun.” She replied, “I suppose I should be glad to know that Yugi managed to fight off an attacker on his own.” She went to shoo Joey into the bedroom, then paused, “Two days.”
“Mutou-San?” Joey asked, confused.
“You and Yugi are grounded for two days. Yours starts as of tomorrow and Yugi’s will start once he’s caught up on his sleep.”
“But…”
“I wouldn’t argue unless you want another couple of days added to the total.” Kaiya warned.
“Yes Mutou-San. Sorry Mutou-San.” Joey nodded quickly and darted into the bedroom to avoid aggravating her any further.
Slowly Mutou Kaiya headed downstairs, thinking about what she’d been told. So there were other Shadow Mages out there then just Yugi, as she had believed there would be, but it sounded like none of them were suitable as teachers for her son, as one had attacked Yugi, while the other had apparently attacked a family and only left a child standing.
She could still take the Puzzle from her son, there was still that option. Take it from Yugi, shatter it and hand it back to her father.
Except she wasn’t sure that Yugi would forgive her if she did, not when it had taken him four years to complete it the first time and no one knew what would happen to the spirit inside if the Puzzle shattered.
She looked at the clock and made up her mind what she was going to do.
She picked up the phone and dialled the number for a certain shop in Domino.
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“Where’s Yugi?” Tomoyo commented as she entered the classroom early the following morning to find Joey and Tea already there, but no Yugi.
“He’s not coming to school today.” Joey explained as he quickly scribbled something down on a piece of homework. “Mutou-San managed to get him to wake up long enough to go down for breakfast, but he nearly fell asleep in his cereal so…”
Tomoyo nodded her understanding, “Don’t tell me you forgot to do that last night...” She chuckled, having thought the piece of homework Joey was working on was easy.
Joey just grouched at her and finished writing the last answer down.
“Hey guys.” Sakura joined them, sitting at her desk and turning to look at Joey. “Has Yugi been meditating at all over the last couple of days?” She asked the blonde.
“I don’t think so. Yami was too tired Sunday night, and Yugi was barely awake long enough to come to school and help you yesterday so…”
“That might explain it then.” The Cardcaptor looked relieved.
“What’s wrong?”
“Shadows are blocking my ability to sense magic again, if it wasn’t Yugi causing it…”
The others got what she meant. If it wasn’t Yugi’s shadows on the loose, then there could be another shadow mage within Tomoeda’s limits.
“What’re you all doing after school?” Tea changed the topic of conversation, not wanting to think about what could happen if the guy who had attacked Li’s family came here.
“I’m grounded for two days.” Joey sulked. “As is Yugi when he wakes up.”
“Why? I thought Muto-San was alright with the pair of you going out to fight Clow Cards.”
“I might possibly have stuck my foot in my mouth and told her about Shadi.” Joey grumbled.
“You told her about…” Tea felt like face palming, “I bet that didn’t go down well.”
“Could have gone worse.” Joey shrugged.
“True.” Tomoyo acknowledged, “Two days is getting off lightly considering she grounded Yugi for a week when she first found out about the…” She trailed off when Li entered the room and didn’t pick up the thread of conversation because their classmates weren’t far behind him.
Terada-Sensei was last into the classroom and behind him trailed in a tall, thin boy with long white hair and brown eyes. “Class,” Terada-Sensei said, and the class settled at his voice, “We have a transfer student joining us.”
This new addition filled out the class numbers completely and the white haired boy looked rather nervous, scanning the classroom for an empty seat, the only ones of which were Yugi’s empty seat and the seat behind Joey.
“Hello,” The white haired boy nodded at the class, “My name is Bakura Ryou. Pleased to meet you all.”
Bakura’s accent was odd, foreign, but only Tomoyo was aware of what kind of accent it was as he took the seat behind Joey.
Terada-Sensei took the register, lingering for a moment over the fact Yugi was absent, motioning that Mutou-San hadn’t looked well yesterday and he hoped he got better soon, and then class started in earnest.
Lunch time came all too soon and Bakura was invited to join them underneath the cherry tree.
Tea caught Sakura’s arm on the way out as Joey led Ryou outside, “Are you alright? I saw you freeze when Bakura walked in.”
“The magic that’s blocking mine,” Sakura said hastily, “It’s Bakura’s.”
“What?” Tea hissed, looking around and pulling Sakura into an alcove, “You’re sure?”
“He’s the reason that I couldn’t sense FIREY until I was already in the fire. It’s his Shadows that are loose and Yugi’s lack of control right now isn’t helping.”
“You think he knows about his magic?” Tea bit her lower lip, thinking about how oblivious Yugi had been before he’d run into Kero.
“I don’t know.” Sakura looked as nervous as Tea felt. “I get the same feeling from him that I do from Yugi when he hasn’t meditated.”
“A Millennium Item?”
“Possibly.” Sakura nodded.
“And suddenly I’m glad Yugi’s out sick today.” Tea sighed. “Come on, we’d better join the others.”
When they caught up to the gang Joey and Tomoyo had already unpacked their lunches and were caught up in conversation about where Bakura was from and where he was living now. Sakura pulled her lunch out of her bag, whispering an apology to Kero who gave her an ill amused look and settled down to listen, introducing herself but not feeling very talkative, not when she could see Li hovering around.
He seemed a lot like Yugi, quiet, shy, into games, though unlike Yugi who had a preference for card games, Ryou preferred things like Monster World which was a table top RPG, an only child, and all in all he seemed likeable.
Sakura was just starting to relax slightly around the boy when the bell went for the end of lunch and Li decided that he needed to talk to the Cardcaptor immediately.
“Be careful.” Li scowled, glancing in the direction of the group who were heading inside.
“I know. Bakura’s a Shadow Mage like Yugi.” Sakura replied easily, trying to hide her own concern from the already paranoid Li. “I’m being careful.”
“Not careful enough. You don’t have any idea what these mages can do.” Li scowled at her, walking with her back to class. Sakura hugged her bag tightly, refusing to give Li a chance to steal her Clow Cards.
“You’re right, I don’t know everything that Yugi and those like him can do, but I’ve seen enough to know that they’re not to be messed with.” Sakura agreed.
“How can you put up with them?” Li hissed. “Surely being around one was bad enough, now you want another one hanging around?”
“Yugi is a good friend who’s risked his safety to help me many times.” Sakura hissed at him, “And Bakura needs friends. He’s starting a new school in a new city. Surely you know how that feels?”
Li just glowered at her. “I don’t like them.” He stated frustration obvious from his tone.
“Why?” Sakura couldn’t understand why Li blamed Yugi and now Bakura for what had happened to his family when it hadn’t been either of them who had attacked the Li family.
“Their magic… it’s dark, very dark, and there’s no one to train them except murderers and soul stealers. Once they can use their power properly they will turn on you and you won’t be able to defend yourself.”
“Yugi wouldn’t do that.” Sakura stated firmly, wishing she could be as sure about Bakura.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” Sakura disagreed. “Yugi would never turn on his friends.”
“What about Bakura?” Li scowled, seeing that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with her on the subject of the wielder of the Millennium Puzzle.
“I guess I’ll have to wait and see.”
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Being grounded wasn’t much fun, Joey decided as he finished his homework and turned to stare at the ceiling. It wouldn’t have been so bad had he been allowed to play games, but those had been ruled out as well, so while the girls walked Bakura home and then did whatever the girls did when the boys weren’t around (and Joey didn’t want to know about girly things) he was left staring at the artex on the ceiling and trying to envisage shapes out of the little dots.
It would have been more fun if Yugi had been awake as well, but according to Yugi’s mother if he woke Yugi up he’d get another day added to his punishment and, other than waking up for lunch to grab a sandwich, Yugi had slept through the entire day.
It was all Shadi’s fault of course. If he hadn’t gone after Yugi at the tournament then Yugi wouldn’t have ended up playing Shadi’s Shadow Games on Sunday evening and Yugi wouldn’t have been exhausted and he and Joey wouldn’t be grounded now because Joey wouldn’t have had anything to put his foot in his mouth about.
On the plus side Yugi now knew that he was grounded as well and Yugi would object to the no games rule more then Joey would.
“Wheeler-Kun.” Kaiya poked her head in the door, speaking softly in case she woke her son up, “Dinner’s ready.”
“Dinner?” Both Kaiya and Joey turned to look at the camp bed where Yugi was blinking at them and sitting up, looking much healthier then he had when Joey had had to shake him awake last night in order to get him up to help against FIREY, but still looking like he could use another couple of hours sleep.
“Feeling hungry, Yugi?” Kaiya went over to her son’s bed and checked his temperature.
Yugi’s stomach answered before his voice could, making his mother chuckle and Joey snort. Joey had thought he was bad for eating, he could swear Yugi was a garbage disposal unit the amount Yugi could get through in a meal. Not that it seemed to aid Yugi’s growth in any way; he ate the most but was most definitely the shortest of their group.
“Come downstairs then.” Kaiya stood up once she was convinced of her son’s wellbeing. “There’s plenty of food available and I want to hear what happened at the weekend from you.”
“I… Sorry…” Yugi apologised as he picked up the Puzzle, feeling guilty for getting Joey to cover for him.
Kaiya wasn’t sure whether to reassure him or scold him. Her son had a habit of apologising for the wrong things and she wasn’t certain if he was apologising for worrying her, apologising for getting Joey to cover for him or apologising for escaping from Shadi only to return and play his games the following evening.
The first didn’t really need an apology as it was a mother’s prerogative to worry about her son, the second did, but he should apologise to Joey as much as apologise to her and the last she wasn’t sure whether he needed to apologise or be commended for going to play Shadi’s dark games in order to protect his friends.
She just nodded, giving Yugi and understanding smile as he put the Puzzle on, before heading downstairs.
“Tea brought you a present home.” Joey advised him as Yugi pulled himself out of bed.
“A present?” Yugi looked confused, wondering what it was.
Joey pointed to the pile of paper next to his bed. “Homework assignment. Read a book and write a report on it. It’s due next week.”
Yugi’s groan made Joey chuckle, though he paused in saying anything when Yugi suddenly looked like he was listening to something only he could hear, only to chuckle again when Yugi’s attention returned to the real world and ask, “I take it Yami’s up then?”
“Actually I tried to talk to him and all I got was ‘give me five more minutes’.” Yugi smiled slightly, though the look was part amusement part frustration.
“Unless you want a stinking headache, I’d leave him.” Joey advised as the pair walked downstairs.
“Oh I will.” Yugi nodded, laughing lightly, “But I’m not getting up to talk to him if he wakes up in the middle of the night. No way.”
Joey paused, glanced towards the kitchen where Kaiya was dishing up and then turned back to Yugi, “If he wakes up before you go back to bed, could the pair of you stay up and talk for a while?”
“Why? What’s wrong?” Yugi asked, concerned.
“Well there’s this new kid at school…”
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Li had been stalking Bakura around town for a while, not trusting the boy not to cause trouble, but so far he hadn’t been spotted.
The Clow Cards were almost impossible to find while the Shadows were racing around like this, as they had been since the weekend when he had moved here, as it was almost impossible to sense anything through the mire of dark magic, leaving him frustrated as it meant that Li couldn’t capture them to use against the man who’d attacked his family and left him little to do other than stalk the item holders who lived in town.
It really hadn’t helped his mood that the girl who possessed the Key of Clow was so dismissive of his concerns and that she risked the safety of the Clow Cards by spending time in the company of the boy with the Puzzle and now the new kid who, even though he’d hidden it in school was wearing an odd golden pendant now.
An odd golden pendant with the same eye symbol as the Eye that the man had had and the Puzzle that Mutou wore.
“Hello.”
Li jumped a mile as someone tapped him on the shoulder, wheeling around to face his foe, avoiding summoning his sword only by great force of will, only to find the white haired boy he’d been trailing was now stood behind him looking like a cat who had gotten the cream.
“What do you want?” Li demanded, scowling at the kid, getting the feeling that he’d just walked into a trap without even realising it.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you the same thing?” Bakura asked, a smirk crossing his features, “After all you’re the one who has been trailing me across town.”
He knew... he knew and he’d let Li do it...
Cold trickled down Li’s spine as he realised that Bakura could have lost him at any moment and had chosen to lead him here.
“It’s rude to stalk people, you know.” Bakura commented as if he was commenting on the weather, circling Li, looking amused when the Chinese boy tried to watch his every movement, “So I suggest you tell me what you want before I get mad.”
“I’m not telling you anything.” Li snarled, calling his sword.
Big mistake.
The shadows around them deepened, the sky seemed to vanish entirely and Bakura gained an evil smirk, “Fine.” The boy said, “Let’s play a game.”
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Kaiya was of the sensible opinion that if Yugi had been tired enough to sleep for almost twenty four hours then he obviously wasn’t well enough to go to school on Wednesday either, however no one knew why Li Shaoran had gone out sick as well.
A couple of students were worried that whatever Yugi supposedly had was catching, but since magical exhaustion wasn’t contagious, Sakura and the others didn’t worry too much. Besides, if Yugi had actually been sick and other people could catch it, Joey, who shared the same room as him, would have caught it already.
On Thursday, when Yugi rejoined the class, fully recovered and raring to go again, but with a request for his friends to come over after school since he was convinced that there was something in his house that shouldn’t be and he wasn’t sure if it was a Clow Card or not, Li was still out sick and it had looked like Bakura was going to be out too, until he arrived mid morning with the excuse that he’d overslept, and could he make up any missed work?
Bakura was in the classroom, catching up with his missed morning work, at lunch time so Yugi didn’t get to finally meet him properly until school kicked out and the gang gathered at the shoe lockers, where Yugi was putting on the Puzzle, something he tended to do before putting his outdoor shoes back on, and the others were putting on their shoes.
“Hi Bakura.” Sakura smiled, noting the way the boy’s eyes had widened at the sight of Yugi’s Puzzle, “This is our friend, Mutou Yugi.” She indicated the Puzzle holder, who smiled and offered his hand to the other Shadow mage.
“Bakura Ryou.” The white haired boy shook it nervously. “Can I ask where you got your pendant?”
“My Puzzle?” Yugi’s hand went to it protectively as Yami, woken by Yugi’s short, seemingly unreasonable burst of fear, waited, ready to take over if Bakura challenged them, refusing to let Yugi game alone again after last time. “It was a present from my Grandfather. He got it in Egypt.”
“I was just curious.” Bakura replied, slightly defensively, “It has the same symbol on as my own pendant.” Bakura untucked a golden ring, with a golden triangle in the centre with the eye symbol on in the middle and five golden spikes hanging from it.
“What is that?” Tomoyo asked, glancing from Bakura’s pendant to Yugi’s Puzzle.
“My father bought it for me in Egypt.” Bakura explained, “It’s called the Millennium Ring.”
“Mine’s the Millennium Puzzle.” Yugi told him, thinking quickly and coming to a conclusion he wasn’t sure his friends would like. “Would you like to come over to my house?”
“You’re inviting me over?” Bakura looked surprised.
Yugi nodded. “I’d like to hear more about your…” Yugi squeaked as he took a step forward, tripped over the mat on the floor and nearly face planted, only prevented from doing so by Bakura’s quick reaction time.
The white haired boy’s hand brushed the Puzzle as Yugi got his footing and Bakura cringed as pain shot through him.
‘The Millennium Puzzle!’ A voice echoed within Bakura’s head.
“You alright, Bakura?” Sakura asked, concern obvious.
“I’m ok…”Bakura waved it off, suddenly scared, “I… Tomorrow? Maybe?” He asked Yugi.
The Pharaoh’s host nodded and Bakura darted out of the school.
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‘Hehehehe.’
Bakura, who was trying to do his homework, froze at the sound of the voice. “Who… who’s there?” He demanded, moving away from the desk.
‘So, you can hear my voice!’
“Who are you?”
‘Stop shouting, I can hear you just fine. I am, after all, in your head.’
“What?”
‘I guess from now on I’ll be able to speak with my host. Truly a day to remember!’ The voice gloated, ‘And not only that, I’ve finally find him! The Pharaoh’s reincarnation! The holder of the Puzzle! After five thousand years!’
“Yugi!” Bakura’s eyes widened, concern for the other boy coursing through him. He tried to take the Ring off, only to find that the points had dug into his chest.
‘You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.’ The voice crowed, ‘Thanks to you I found him. I’m keeping you and you should be grateful. I’ve been granting your wishes after all.’
“What do you mean?” Bakura asked shakily.
‘I wish I could play with my friends forever.’ The voice said, mimicking Bakura’s as he did so, before reverting back to its own, ‘I granted that wish for you!’
“Wh… what are you talking about? You can’t mean those…”
‘If you haven’t figured it out yet, you soon will.’ The voice sniggered. ‘In any case, this is the perfect chance for me to get my hands on the Puzzle. If I miss this chance I have no idea how long I’ll have to wait for another.’
Bakura didn’t know what to say, but it appeared the spirit within the Ring was willing to carry on speaking. The Millennium Items are relics from the past which house ancient spirits, like memorial stones or portable tombs. I have no idea how many survived the long wait, but as long as there is even one guardian of the tombs, there’ll always be a thief to rob them. Now, since I’m feeling nice tonight, let me pay my rent.’
“What are you going to…”
‘Sleep, Bakura Ryou, sleep.’ The voice urged. Bakura tried to fight the exhaustion that suddenly swept over him, but all it did was make him more tired and before he could warn any of his new friends, or do anything to stop it, he’d fallen asleep, allowing the Thief King Bakura to slip into control of his body.
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“So what do you think it is?” Sakura asked Yugi, glancing around the kitchen, half afraid that the thing causing trouble was a ghost of some kind.
“I don’t know.” Yugi replied, glancing around the kitchen, “But something’s been moving things around the house and I think…”
“You were right to tell us.” Kero interrupted, glowing with a red aura, “It’s defiantly a Clow Card.”
“Do you know which one?” Tomoyo asked, recording the scene, noting the fact that Tea and Joey were scanning the room nervously and Yami, who was visible on the camcorder screen, was leaning against the counter, watching Kero carefully.
“Not off hand.” Kero shook his head, “But there aren’t many left who could move objects around without being obvious, so it’s either MOVE, who I don’t see hanging around such a heavily magically charged place, or SHADOW, which considering your magic…” He looked at Yami, who snorted and switched with Yugi.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was SHADOW considering everything.” The Pharaoh nodded, understanding.
“So how do we stop it?” Joey asked, looking between the pair.
“SHADOW hates light. We can drive it out into the open, or trap it by turning on every light and lighting up every dark corner available.”
“I don’t think we have that many lights.” Joey said, thinking, trying to remember how many lamps he’d seen around the house.
“I have an idea.” Kero considered Yugi, who’d gotten Yami to show him how to take spirit form the previous day since Yugi had slept himself out by then and had had nothing to do, since the book report he had been supposed to be getting on with had been going nowhere fast.
Yugi, who had taken spirit form in order to listen to the conversation for himself, was finding it slightly disconcerting that only Kero and Yami could see him, making him wonder if this was how Yami felt the majority of the time. He tilted his head slightly and gave Kero a curious look.
“We need light,” Kero explained, “And I can show you how to spread your aura out…”
“How dangerous is this going to be to my Aibou?” Yami asked.
“Aibou?” Kero asked, surprised, having never heard Yami refer to Yugi like that before.
“Just answer the question.” Yami snapped. He didn’t feel comfortable calling Yugi ‘Yugi’, but at the same time had already worked out that calling him ‘my hikari’ made both of them feel awkward. Since Yugi had offered him a partnership back when CHANGE had swapped Kero and the Pharaoh over, he had eventually decided that ‘aibou’ fit well enough.
“SHADOW is hates light but can’t harm it. SHADOW will try, but, if anything, Yugi’s probably going to be the safest one out the lot of us. Besides, if anything happens, he has you.”
“Fine.” Yami nodded, scowling slightly, not liking the idea of his aibou being the bait, but catching the thoughts that were going through Yugi’s mind, even if the boy didn’t mean for them to be heard. Yugi wanted to do this, if only to help Sakura and get rid of the card before his Mother came home.
He switched out with Yugi who looked at Kero, “How do I…?”
“It’s pretty simple…” Kero quickly showed Yugi who, aided by Yami who had quickly realised that it wasn’t that different from him sending his shadows out, picked it up pretty quickly and proceeded to send his light out, chasing away the darkness, hoping to catch the Card before his mother got home.
They heard an angry screech from the living room and Sakura called on her staff and darted into the room, where a black robe was floating in the middle of the room, it’s ‘hood’ looking around before it’s ‘gaze’ rested on her.
Then it tried to flee.
Sakura wasn’t having any of it. She called on WINDY who attempted to trap SHADOW, only for the Clow Card to attempt to dart past Sakura into the kitchen. Joey got between Yugi and the floating cloak.
“Return to the guise you were meant to be!” Sakura attacked from behind, “Clow Card!”
SHADOW screeched again and reverted to his card form. WINDY reverted almost instantly afterwards and Yugi drew back in his aura, before raiding the fridge for something sweet and sugary and passing a donut to Sakura before offering them around and eating one himself.
“I can’t believe that SHADOW’s been living under our nose the whole time.” Joey groused.
“I can.” Kero chuckled, more than appeased with Yugi’s offering. “Sensing anything in this house is really hard. If I hadn’t had the boost from FIREY and known I was supposed to be looking for anything, I wouldn’t have known it was here.”
Joey just snorted and accepted Kero’s explanation.
“Yugi-Kun, Wheeler-Kun, I’m home.”
“In here, Okaasan.” Yugi called.
Kaiya entered the room and sighed, “Have you been hunting Clow Cards again?” She asked her son.
“Only one.” Kero spoke up, “And it was hiding here.”
“Here?” Kaiya looked surprised. When Kero nodded, she sighed. “Is it gone?” Again Kero nodded. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but if the Clow Card’s gone, you girls need to leave. Yugi’s currently grounded.”
Yugi, who had hoped his mother had forgotten that he was technically grounded until school started tomorrow, gave the others an apologetic look. The girls laughed and waved it off, taking their donuts and heading out.
“Now, what do you want for dinner?”
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Tea was walking home alone, humming a song that she was supposed to be practising to, and was so distracted that when someone tapped her on the shoulder she jumped a mile, wheeling around to find the white haired boy that had joined their group at the start of the week giving her an amused look.
“Bakura-Kun?” She asked, her heart beating at a rate of knots as she tried to calm herself down.
“Sorry, Gardener-Chan.” Bakura apologised, “I was wondering if you could help me with something…”
“Sure, what do you need?”
The Shadows deepened around them and Tea let out a panicked yelp, recognising the darkness around them from Yugi’s rare Shadow Games.
“Play a game with me…”