Chapter 6: - Field Trip
To find Yugi was early for class wasn't a surprise. It had been his turn on the cleaning rosta after all, and he was anything but lazy.
Finding him leant over his desk, covering his head with his arms and with eyes closed tightly, was surprising though.
"Yugi?" Tea asked, putting a hand on his shoulder as she finally caught up with the boy, who had missed last night's capture of The FLOAT and hadn't been answering his phone this morning.
"Tea?" Yugi sat up a little too quickly, blinking at her, and he groaned and closed his eyes again.
"What's wrong?" Tea asked, concerned.
"Headache." Yugi tried not to complain, "Pretty much constant since last night."
"When we switched Yami and Kero back?"
"A couple of hours after that." Yugi nodded, "Its worse whenever we talk to each other mind to mind."
"You two can do that?" She asked, sitting on the chair of the desk in front of Yugi's.
"We can sense how each other are feeling too." Yugi smiled, though it was strained and made Tea worry, "It would be great if we didn't have this headache, and if Yami could sleep."
"What do you mean?"
Yugi paused as the door slid open, tensing up, until he realised that it was Sakura and Tomoyo, then relaxed again and sighed, "Yami was sleeping before CHANGE switched him with Kero, and now he's awake and can't get back to sleep." Yugi sighed, "I've only had the headaches since he's been awake, but he was waking up slowly on his… YAMI!" Yugi yelped, curling in on himself slightly, arms protecting his head. "Get out here if you want to talk to the girls, it hurts too much to pass messages on!"
There was a momentary pause and then it was pained ruby looking at them instead of pained amethyst. "I apologise for last night, we would have come out to help you, but Yugi's mother caught on that something was wrong, made us go to bed and proceeded to check on us every five minutes."
"It's okay." Sakura nodded, worried, "Have you been able to sleep at all since CHANGE kept you awake?"
"I've dozed." Yami frowned, "But nothing more. I don't want to hurt Yugi…"
"It's not your fault," Tomoyo reassured him hastily, "We'll just have to work out what's wrong."
"Shame we don't have The SLEEP." Kero, who had started coming to school with Sakura everyday, after The LIBRA had been captured here, "I bet that it could put you out like a light."
"Quite possibly." Yami nodded then switched quickly with Yugi, causing Kero to duck inside Sakura's bag as Yugi removed the Puzzle and their class mates filed in...
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"Sounds like fatigue to me. Clow used to get it all the time if he pushed himself too far." Kero said, leaning against Sakura's leg, "And if you weren't a spirit, I'd say to find a Doctor, because it sounds pretty severe to me."
Yami, who had temporarily taken over Yugi's body to talk with Kero, frowned and started on Yugi's desert, before asking, "What do you suggest?"
"SLEEP was created for when Clow needed to sleep but was 'too busy' to waste the time." Kero shrugged, "Other then that, I don't know."
Yami switched with Yugi, who seemed to follow something with his eyes before getting up. "Excuse me." He sighed, before walking over to the tree, where he couldn't be seen by the majority of pupils, to have a conversation with someone they couldn't see and which most certainly wasn't good for Yugi if the way he kept cringing was anything to go by.
"I can't believe that CHANGE made this much of a difference." Kero scowled, as Yugi got into a kind of row with what looked like fresh air to the others, but to Kero's vision looked like Yami, as a spirit, getting rather concerned and rather irritable, while Yugi tried to reason with him. "Yugi said he was waking up on his own…"
"No one likes being kept awake longer then twenty four hours." Tea pointed out, "It's not good for you."
"No one forced Yami to stay awake."
"I think CHANGE did something when he put Yami back." Kero said, thinking, "CHANGE was never meant to be used on possessed people, so he wouldn't have known how to handle the situation."
He watched as Yami faded away. Yugi threw his hands up in exasperation and rejoined them.
"Yugi, you're flaring again." Kero warned, sensing the Shadows roiling around the boy. Maybe flaring was the wrong word, but it certainly caught Yugi's attention, forcing the kid to take a deep breath and calm down.
"Sorry." Yugi directed as Kero and Sakura, one of whom shrugged and the other gave him a worried smile.
"Are you still coming to the Aquarium tomorrow on the field trip?" Tomoyo asked him as he slowly finished his lunch.
"Wouldn't miss it." Yugi grinned, "I've never been to one before so…"
"You've never…" Tomoyo looked shocked. "Well there's the…"
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"What exactly…?" Yugi asked, at the Aquarium on their field trip, Wednesday morning, looking at the invite he was holding as the fish swam past them in their huge, glass tank.
"My Mum's the CEO of a big electronics company and she's holding a big party and inviting over a bunch of business men." Tomoyo answered with a sigh, "I normally just invite Sakura and we hide upstairs, but I actually have to make an appearance this time for some reason, and I was kind of hoping, since you're my friend and the heir to a retail outlet…"
"It's one shop." Yugi pointed out.
"I know but please? These things are always really boring and…" Tomoyo pleaded, "Please, I promise you won't have to wear any costumes for a week! I'll even promise to behave during the tournament next weekend!"
"Fine, I'll come, if Tea's allowed to come too."
"Sure." Tomoyo nodded, giving Tea a pleading look.
"I can be Yugi's plus 1." Tea grinned, crushing Yugi's hopes that Tea wouldn't be interested and he could get out of it, "When is it?"
"Saturday Evening."
"I don't have anything to…"
"I have costumes that would be formal enough without looking too ornate."
"When did you…?"
Tomoyo giggled, "I didn't plan for this at all… nope."
The girls laughed, making Yugi sigh, especially considering he could sense Yami's amusement. "Fine, fine, I'll go."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Tomoyo grinned.
"How's…" Sakura looked at the Puzzle.
"Dozing, on and off." Yugi sighed, "It's why the headache's not so bad at the moment."
"You've got to do something about them, Yugi."
"I've got some paracetamol with me," Yugi replied, "But I had to hide that more carefully then I did the Puzzle."
"Well at least it's easier to carry." Sakura joked.
"Too true." Yugi laughed before looking over to the clock on the wall, "Aren't we going to be late to see the penguins?"
Sakura squeaked and grabbed Tomoyo's arm and pulled her through the crowds, causing the others to have to chase after them. Sakura had been going on about the penguin show all morning, so they'd been heading back towards the pool when Tomoyo had handed Yugi the invite.
They reached the pool, with its clear glass sides, in time to see the lady dive in to play with the penguins, watching entranced as they, in turn, played her games, with the hoops and the balls and all the other toys, and she was just climbing out when something happened.
It was Yugi that saw it first, the current that seemed determined to swirl around the woman's leg only, but Sakura spotted just a heartbeat later, when it started swirling around one of the penguins, trapping it in its embrace, and refusing to release it to the surface.
The woman, who was obviously a strong swimmer, managed to reach the surface, but that only increased the current's attempts to pull her under.
'Clow Card.' Yami realised faster then any of the others could, which would have been great had it not caused Yugi's headache to flare up so badly that he missed who dived into the water and somehow broke the hold that the current had on both the penguin and the woman.
"Big brother?" He heard Sakura gasp.
"Yugi?" Tomoyo had one of his arms, and was giving him an incredibly concerned look.
Yugi pulled his friends away from the crowd, looking around before hissing, "Yami thinks that current was a Clow Card."
"What?"
"I'll try and find out where it went, you call Kero." Yami switched with Yugi.
"Just don't try and fight it alone." Sakura nodded.
"Alright." Yami shot off.
Sakura shook her head, amused at the Pharaoh's mood, which didn't seem to be getting much better the longer he was awake. Then she and the others found somewhere quiet to head and rang Kero.
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"Muto!"
Yami paused, trying to remember what the name of Sakura's brother was…
"Toya." Yugi piped up helpfully, before they were introduced to another crippling headache.
Yami groaned, raising a hand to his head and curling in on himself slightly.
"Easy." Toya helped him to a bench, "You alright?"
Talking mind to mind hadn't been so painful before…it had to be something CHANGE had done when it had put Yami back...
Yami blinked, looking at the older teen; who seemed to be watching him carefully. "I'm fine, thank you Kinomoto."
"Is it because of this?" Toya pointed to the Millennium Puzzle.
Yami froze, "What do you mean?"
"I know you're not Muto Yugi." Toya warned, "I can see spirits. I saw you at lunch time yesterday, as a spirit, hanging around with Muto and my sister. Who are you? Why are you possessing Muto? And is it you that's been causing his headache?"
Yami hesitated. He could sense Yugi's concern, but didn't really want to escape without explaining, not to someone as important as Toya, since he was Sakura's older brother and seemed to know a lot more then he was letting on.
He sent a feeling of reassurance across to his partner and sighed, "I'm Yami, I was a Pharaoh back in Egypt, as far as we are aware, I seem to have become Yugi's guardian and no, I'm not causing the headaches. I'm of the opinion that a spell we ran into on Sunday is the cause for our current condition."
"Explain." There wasn't venom in Toya's voice, but there wasn't curiosity either. His voice was guarded and his body language screamed protectiveness. Yami understood. Toya was worried about Sakura.
"I've been asleep a very long time." Yami started, "But since Yugi completed the Puzzle, I've been slowly waking up. However a couple of days ago we ran into a spell that, for a lack of a better description, poured a bucket of ice water over me." Yami sighed, "I've been unable to do more then lightly doze since, while Yugi hasn't needed me of course, and it's while I'm dozing that the headaches fade."
Toya considered this, "Why were you in the Puzzle?"
"We don't know." Yami shook his head, "A lot of my memories have been lost since I was in Egypt and I know very little other then what Yugi has told me, and that I have to protect my hikari."
"Your light? That would be Muto Yugi, right?"
"That's correct."
"May I speak with him?"
Yami would have scowled, they had more important things to do, like finding out where WATERY had gotten to, but he nodded and Yugi, nervously, took control. "Yami's a good guy, and it was alright before."
"Before?"
"Before Yami was forced out of my body for a while. It woke him up, but everything's be so difficult since." Yugi frowned, "Me and Yami switched whenever we needed to before without any trouble, sure it felt a little odd being in the passenger seat but nothing like this."
"Muto, are you alright?"
"I was before the headaches started." Yugi sighed, "Sure, I was worried, but Yami's never done anything to hurt me or my friends, and he's protected us before, but I have the odd feeling that he's not supposed to be awake yet."
"How long was he sleeping for?"
"Five thousand years… possibly."
"And this spell forced him out of your body and woke him up?"
"That's right?"
"How aware was he before that?"
"I couldn't really sense him properly before, there was just this comforting darkness at the back of my mind, Yami says that I'm pure light, so I figure we've been brought together because he's darkness and I'm light, so we balance each other out." Yugi paused, his shoulders sinking, "I'm the only one the Puzzle will work for, and Yami couldn't talk to the girls without being in control or me passing on the message."
"What about the headaches?" Toya asked, considering the possibility of the pair being like the In-Yo, one representing nature, the earth and physicality, and the other the cosmos, heaven and spirituality, then discarded it, deciding that if Muto's theory was right, they were more like the Chinese yin and yang then anything.
"They're manageable as long as we don't talk mind to mind." Yugi looked towards the tanks, frowning as a group of fish were swept along by a water current, "Now it's playing with us…" Yami growled, having taken over when the current had done, what would be considered a back flip, if it had been a human, and was now passing back and forth in front of them.
"What is?"
"You remember that whirlpool in the penguin enclosure earlier?"
"That spell that was running around?"
"You know more then you're letting on, don't you?"
"When your kid sister sneaks out at night to meet up with her friends, you learn quickly."
"So you know about the Clow Cards?" Yami asked, smiling slightly, though Toya guessed that it was Yugi's amusement he was expressing.
"Of them, not about them."
"Well the spell that's on the loose is one, The WATERY, and we could really use a way of capturing it without endangering anyone else."
"I work late shifts here. You tell me what's going on, and I'll leave the back door open for you lot tonight."
Yami stared at him, "You're serious?"
"Sakura has to capture them, I know that much." Toya scowled at him. "But you have to promise to protect her."
"I promise." It was an easy promise to make, considering he'd promised Yugi much the same thing only two nights ago, "What do you want to know?"
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"So what do you think?" Yugi asked Kero as Yami, in spirit form, leant against the counter, watching the group make hot cakes as a snack while Toya was still at work and Mr Kinomoto was at the university he taught at, giving tutorials.
"It's got to be The WATERY." Kero frowned, "But if it is, we have a problem."
"Why?" Tomoyo asked, looking up from her camera, where she'd made the interesting discovery that Yami appeared on film, even if she couldn't see him with her own eyes, and he looked almost exactly like Yugi, bar around a head in height, some highlights and the eye colour.
"The Clow Cards have four element cards, who all belong to the top tier of the Clow Cards, which makes them very difficult to control." Kero explained, "WINDY, WATERY, EARTHY and FIREY."
"So WATERY is a lot more powerful then anything we've face so far?" Yugi guessed.
"Not only that, but WATERY is an offensive card, not a defensive one, so it has quite a temper." Kero nodded, "The cards we have now, don't match up to it."
"But WINDY is a top tier card too…" Tea frowned.
"But it's a defensive card, so it's too kind and gentle to fight with the sort of ferocity that we'd need against WATERY."
Yami went to say something, paused and took over before starting again, "Then we try something else."
"We can't. Your magic's not reliable at the moment and neither Tea or Tomoyo have another type of magic." Kero scowled at him.
"What about the chillers?" Yugi asked, taking control again.
"Huh?"
"Well, they have to keep the fish fresh somewhere, don't they?" Yugi asked, "There's bound to be freezers somewhere in the basement."
"Freezers?" Kero asked, sounding disgusted.
"No, it could work." Sakura shook her head as Yugi's shoulders sank. "We'd just have lure it down there."
"WATERY would give pursuit if you challenged it." Kero frowned, "But it would be dangerous."
"I think we should go back tonight." Yugi said, "Before it can hurt anyone else."
"Are you sure you're up to it?" Kero asked him, as the girls dished out the first few hot cakes.
"We'll be fine," Yugi nodded, "After all, what could go wrong?"
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"I can't believe we're really doing this." Tea complained as they snuck in the back door of the aquarium, so as to avoid the guards.
"No one said you had to come." Tomoyo pointed out, videoing the two in front.
The chain on the Puzzle was silver tonight, to go with the black and blue outfits that Sakura and Yugi were wearing, and Yugi paused at the t-junction, switched with Yami and headed towards the tanks.
"Okay, so… question?" Tea asked as they settled around the tube of water that led down to the restaurant, "How are we going to get WATERY out of there?"
"That's easy, if a magician challenges it, it'll take the bait." Kero sighed, "But we don't have a card that can match it."
"We have a plan, remember Kero?" Sakura laughed, "Tomoyo, Tea?"
The two nodded and rushed off, leaving the pair to wait for a phone call.
"We're crazy, you know that right?" Sakura laughed quietly.
Yami just gave her an amused smile and a shrug, leaning over the tank. "The water's so still, are you sure WATERY is still here?"
"It's here." Kero growled, "I can sense it, can't you?"
"All I can sense is starlight, darkness and sunlight." Yami snorted, turning to look at them and indicating Sakura's staff and Kero, "The Clow Cards seem to slip below my radar entirely."
"Too close to your own magic I expect." Kero sighed, "We've had this conversation before, I just thought you might have sensed something now that you're fully awake."
"No such…" Yami wheeled around as he heard the water rushing upwards, "Sakura!"
The Cardcaptor rushed forward but the water revolved around them, and swept back into the tank as a tidal wave, sweeping all of them into the water.
Yami panicked as the water closed in overhead. He had no idea how to swim and they were getting deeper by the second.
"Yami, let me take over!" Yugi yelped, as the headache to flared up, taking over and trying to swim for the surface.
Something swam around his ankle, dragging him further down. Sakura was in much the same boat that he was, and Kero couldn't break the swirling vortex that seemed to have her trapped.
Yugi couldn't hold his breath much longer, he was holding his hand over his mouth and nose as it was…
Yami seized control again, being able to swim wasn't going to help them now… he cast something, Yugi wasn't sure what, and The WATERY let go of the pair.
Sakura gave him a frightened glance, before swimming upwards, towards the surface. Yami would have switched with Yugi and they would have joined her, but there was nothing they could do as WATERY swirled around their legs, angered at losing one of it's prey.
Yugi's body betrayed them, gasping for breath, taking water into their lungs.
The last thing Yami did was use all the magic that he could gather to cast a spell that was basically along the lines of 'get me out of here', unsure how it would work, but so desperate that he didn't care.
Then darkness claimed them.
The glass shattered, the water rushed out, taking over the entire ground and first floors of the underground restaurant, dragging Yugi down with it.
Sakura only just avoided being dragged down, though it was more luck then judgement, as Yami's spell, which had pushed on the glass until it had broken, had also pushed her out of the water.
"Sakura!" Sakura froze. "Sakura!"
She looked over her shoulder, "Big brother?" She gasped.
"Where's Muto?" Toya demanded.
Sakura didn't stop to answer, "Sorry big brother." Sakura activated FLY and swooped down the hole that had once led to the tube of water. "Yugi! Yugi!" She called desperately as she overflew the flooded restaurant.
She couldn't see him…
Before she knew what was happening, Toya had passed her, diving into the water.
Her phone rang and she picked it up, not sparing a moment to wonder how it was still working… "Tomoyo?"
"Found them. They're on basement floor one. Be careful…"
Sakura put the phone down. There was still no sign of Yugi, and now she couldn't see her brother either.
"Their best chance is if you lure The WATERY away." Kero growled to her.
"But…"
"Toya can handle himself." Kero said firmly, "He'll be fine."
"WATERY! It's me you want!" Sakura called, as Kero grabbed onto her costume, "Come and get me."
For a moment there was nothing, and then a girl who was comprised completely of water shot up and smirked at her.
WATERY… what had it done?
She flew upward and WATERY followed, shooting out of the hole in the ceiling and towards the stairs, passing Tea, who gave her a smile and pointed down a door, which Sakura swooped down, reaching the basement and reaching the freezers, working out why it was so cold down here when she saw that Tomoyo had already opened the freezer door for her.
"WINDY!" She cried, summoning the card and using it to keep WATERY going until it was inside the freezer before slamming the door shut.
"Well done Sakura!" Tomoyo grinned.
Tea reached them, looking around, "Did you catch it?"
"It's in the freezer now." Tomoyo nodded, as Sakura sent Kero back the way they'd come, worried.
Tea frowned. "What's wrong?"
It was Tomoyo who caught on first, "Sakura… where's Yugi?"
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He didn't know why that water spirit had left, or why it had been so determined to make sure that no one escaped, but Toya only surfaced long enough to gasp for breath, before diving again.
Reaching the side of the child, Toya would have growled had he not been so far underwater. Yugi was motionless and cold.
Sakura will never forgive herself if he dies…
He clutched the small boy and swam for the surface, pulling him up onto the balcony of the second floor, before checking his breath.
Nothing.
"Come on Muto…" Toya growled, trying to find a pulse.
It was there, but very weak…
He wrapped his arms around Yugi's chest, just below the rib cage and jerked upwards, once… twice… thrice…
Yugi convulsed, turning to his side as he expelled water from his lungs on his own. Toya backed off as Yugi gasped for breath, rubbing his back to help him expel more water.
Once Yugi was finally breathing clearly again, bleary, unfocused ruby eyes turned towards him. "Kinomoto-San?" Yami asked weakly, confused.
"Easy Yami." Toya murmured, supporting the kid, wondering just how Yami was managing to stay conscious, "You nearly drowned."
"Sa…Sakura?" Yami panted, not to be distracted.
Toya looked up the way Sakura had gone, chased by the water sprite. "She's fine." Toya reassured the spirit possessing Yugi, though he wasn't sure what was going on.
"Good." With that Yami blacked out.
Toya looked around and shook his head, wondering what, exactly he was going to do about all the water… were all the Clow Cards this destructive?
"Come on Muto." He picked Yugi up carefully, "Let's go find the others."
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The rain outside wasn't natural, it was the doing of The RAIN and The CLOUD, whose powers Sakura had utilised to drain most of the water from the restaurant at the aquarium.
Sakura was frightened.
They were in the A&E of Tomoeda Central Hospital, where Toya was talking to Yugi's mum.
Tomoyo's bodyguards had taken Tea and Tomoyo home in the car, which left her and her older brother to wait for any news.
Toya was covering for them, telling Yugi's mum that Yugi had lost something in the Aquarium and they'd gone back to find it. She doubted that Ms Muto would believe him though; she didn't seem to be the type to be taken in by lies…
She shivered, hugging Kero tightly. She was still in the wet costume, and hadn't had time to change it…
"Kinomoto?" Yugi's mum sat down in the chair next to her and offered Sakura her jacket, "Here."
"I'm sorry." Sakura murmured, not looking at her.
"It's okay." Muto Kaiya replied, draping her jacket around Sakura's shoulders, "I know you didn't expect Yugi to get hurt. He's fine though, the Doctors said they just want to keep him in for observation for a few days."
"But he…"
"Yugi wasn't very happy before we moved here." Kaiya said, looking at Sakura, "he was picked on a lot and didn't have many friends. I'm glad he's found some that are willing to help him. Your brother saved his life…" Ms Muto paused, "You will stay friends with Yugi, won't you?"
"Of course… if he still wants to be…"
"He will." Kaiya promised, "Yugi isn't likely to give up his friends because of an accident."
"Sakura, we have to go, if Dad finds out you snuck out…"
Sakura went to hand the jacket back. Yugi's Mum shook her head, "Take it with you, it suits you better then it suits me."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Sakura…"
"Good night Mrs Muto."
"Goodnight Kinomoto."
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They were halfway home before Toya spoke.
"That was incredibly dangerous." Toya sounded angrier then she'd heard him in a long time, "If I hadn't been there Yugi would have died."
"Big brother."
"Don't big brother me, how long?"
"Since the start of April."
"And you've been fighting these Clow Cards with Yugi's help the whole time?"
"Yes."
"Is it just the five of you?" Toya asked, "Four children and a ghost?"
"And Kero."
"The stuffed toy."
"I'm no stuffed toy!" Kero protested quietly, "I'm the guardian of the Clow Cards."
"Which are currently on the loose." Toya reminded him.
I know." Kero's wings sank.
"Just… tell me when you're going after a Clow Card. I won't always be around to protect you." Toya sighed, "Please?"
"I promise."
"Now, what cards have you captured so far?"
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Yugi opened his eyes.
A white ceiling… tiled…
He sat up slowly, trying to ignore the pain just below his ribs, and looked around. The sun was streaming through the window, and in the beds around him, people were already awake and talking to their guests.
Yugi had never felt so tired in his life, but he stretched and tried to figure out what had happened.
It looked like a hospital…WATERY!
No Puzzle… no Yami either… that made sense, but who was looking after it for him?
"Muto Yugi, you're awake?" A nurse, who was helping a boy half his age, two beds down, asked, "Oh good, your mother will be pleased."
Yugi blanched and led back, wondering what Sakura had told his mother.
"How are you feeling?" The nurse asked, coming to his bed side.
"Really tired." Yugi admitted.
"How about your chest? Does it hurt at all?" The nurse asked.
"Here." Yugi indicated just below his ribs.
"Anywhere else at all?"
Yugi shook his head.
"You'll be fine." The nurse smiled at him, "I'll be back in a minute with some painkillers."
"Thank you." Yugi nodded. "Did I come in with a gold looking pyramid thing?"
"Your girlfriend brought it in this morning."
"I don't have a…"
The nurse laughed, "I'm only teasing you. Short brown hair, green eyes…"
"Sakura!" Yugi yelped, "Is she okay?"
"None the worse for your little late night adventure." The nurse smiled at his immediate interest. "She said she'd be in later, with her older brother. Apparently she has something to show you."
Yugi just nodded, wanting to do nothing more but go back to sleep.
"If you're tired, Muto-Kun, you should sleep. Your body went through a lot." The nurse looked concerned, "I'll wake you when I get back."
"Thank you."
"No problem."
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It was Friday afternoon before Yugi was allowed out of the hospital, so it was the first day that the group really got to talk without anyone being able to overhear.
Of course Toya insisted on escorting his sister to the Muto household, and Kaiya was hovering around, checking and double checking that they had everything they needed, but once they were settled in, Sakura gazed at Yugi and bit her lip.
"I'm okay, Sakura, honestly." Yugi smiled, a little tired but feeling much better then he had on Thursday morning.
"It's my fault…"
"No it's not!" Yugi protested, "You didn't ask me to come."
"But…"
"How's Yami?" Kero asked, before there was another argument about this. Sakura had been trying to pull away from her friends since the incident and none of them were having any of it, sticking closer then ever.
"Asleep." Yugi shook his head, "At last."
"Probably used a lot of magic breaking that tube. He'll probably wake up on his own when he's ready." Toya said, speaking up from where he was sat in the corner. "How's the headache?"
"Gone."
"And is Yami sleeping as deeply as before?"
"No, Yami's responded, using emotions, to my queries, but I haven't poked him too much, I don't want to wake him up."
"So you're both really alright?" Sakura asked quietly.
"I'm ok, Yami's ok. We're both okay, thanks to you, Kinomoto." Yugi nodded to Toya, who waved him off.
Unsurprising considering that Yugi's mum had been thanking Toya enough for the both of them, there was now an open invitation to all of the Kinomotos to their house and Muto Kaiya had started referring to Toya as Toya-Kun. "I'm fine…" Yugi paused, "And Mum says I can still go to your party tomorrow." He said with a teasing groan that made Tomoyo smile.
"I am still invited, aren't I?" Tea asked, well aware that it was Yugi who had invited her to Tomoyo's party.
"Of course." Tomoyo nodded. "I brought over your costume, Yugi." She said, getting it out of the bag, blacks and golds, with a gold chain for the Puzzle, which Yugi swapped over quickly and easily, having done the change many times over the last month.
As irritating as the costumes could be sometimes, Tomoyo did have good taste in them… that reminded Yugi… "I'm sorry about the costume for WATERY." He apologised, "It got wreaked in the ambulance."
"I got the jacket back." Tomoyo shrugged concern in her body language but not in her voice. "I was more worried about you."
"I'll be running marathons again in no time."
"You never ran a marathon!" Tea protested.
"Nooo!" Yugi moaned, "My secret revealed, how will I ever get over it?"
"Behave, Yugi-Kun." Kaiya scolded her son as she entered the room, laden with bags and completely without warning, "Anyone for cakes?" She asked, "I just picked some up from the…" She paused as she saw the flying bear.
"This will be so much easier when we have The ERASE." Kero moaned.
"Do you like my new toy?" Sakura asked Ms Muto quickly, who was still staring at the bear, who was now landing on Sakura's bag. "It's called Kero."
"It was flying." Kaiya pointed out. "And talking."
"It's something my mother's company is testing." Tomoyo said quickly.
"Oh…" Kaiya frowned, remembering that the Daidoji family owned a huge electronics company. She wasn't quite sure how that tied into flying teddy bears, but she wasn't really sure she wanted to know. She had an odd feeling it was to do with why Yugi had been unable to wait until daylight to pick up his bag from the aquarium though. "How does it work?" She asked, putting the bags down and coming over to look, interested.
"Batteries." Sakura said hastily, causing Kero to give her a dodgy look.
"I see." Kaiya nodded, "May I?" She asked, indicating Kero.
Sakura looked hopefully at her brother, who just shrugged. "Sure?"
They watched with bated breath as Yugi's Mum examined the bear, poking and prodding until finally Kero was unable to take it any longer and squirmed out of her grip, "That hurts you know?" He scolded.
"I knew something wasn't right." Kaiya scowled, "Muto Yugi, what aren't you telling me?"
"Uh… Mum, this is Kero, Kero meet Muto Kaiya, my mother."
Finding him leant over his desk, covering his head with his arms and with eyes closed tightly, was surprising though.
"Yugi?" Tea asked, putting a hand on his shoulder as she finally caught up with the boy, who had missed last night's capture of The FLOAT and hadn't been answering his phone this morning.
"Tea?" Yugi sat up a little too quickly, blinking at her, and he groaned and closed his eyes again.
"What's wrong?" Tea asked, concerned.
"Headache." Yugi tried not to complain, "Pretty much constant since last night."
"When we switched Yami and Kero back?"
"A couple of hours after that." Yugi nodded, "Its worse whenever we talk to each other mind to mind."
"You two can do that?" She asked, sitting on the chair of the desk in front of Yugi's.
"We can sense how each other are feeling too." Yugi smiled, though it was strained and made Tea worry, "It would be great if we didn't have this headache, and if Yami could sleep."
"What do you mean?"
Yugi paused as the door slid open, tensing up, until he realised that it was Sakura and Tomoyo, then relaxed again and sighed, "Yami was sleeping before CHANGE switched him with Kero, and now he's awake and can't get back to sleep." Yugi sighed, "I've only had the headaches since he's been awake, but he was waking up slowly on his… YAMI!" Yugi yelped, curling in on himself slightly, arms protecting his head. "Get out here if you want to talk to the girls, it hurts too much to pass messages on!"
There was a momentary pause and then it was pained ruby looking at them instead of pained amethyst. "I apologise for last night, we would have come out to help you, but Yugi's mother caught on that something was wrong, made us go to bed and proceeded to check on us every five minutes."
"It's okay." Sakura nodded, worried, "Have you been able to sleep at all since CHANGE kept you awake?"
"I've dozed." Yami frowned, "But nothing more. I don't want to hurt Yugi…"
"It's not your fault," Tomoyo reassured him hastily, "We'll just have to work out what's wrong."
"Shame we don't have The SLEEP." Kero, who had started coming to school with Sakura everyday, after The LIBRA had been captured here, "I bet that it could put you out like a light."
"Quite possibly." Yami nodded then switched quickly with Yugi, causing Kero to duck inside Sakura's bag as Yugi removed the Puzzle and their class mates filed in...
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"Sounds like fatigue to me. Clow used to get it all the time if he pushed himself too far." Kero said, leaning against Sakura's leg, "And if you weren't a spirit, I'd say to find a Doctor, because it sounds pretty severe to me."
Yami, who had temporarily taken over Yugi's body to talk with Kero, frowned and started on Yugi's desert, before asking, "What do you suggest?"
"SLEEP was created for when Clow needed to sleep but was 'too busy' to waste the time." Kero shrugged, "Other then that, I don't know."
Yami switched with Yugi, who seemed to follow something with his eyes before getting up. "Excuse me." He sighed, before walking over to the tree, where he couldn't be seen by the majority of pupils, to have a conversation with someone they couldn't see and which most certainly wasn't good for Yugi if the way he kept cringing was anything to go by.
"I can't believe that CHANGE made this much of a difference." Kero scowled, as Yugi got into a kind of row with what looked like fresh air to the others, but to Kero's vision looked like Yami, as a spirit, getting rather concerned and rather irritable, while Yugi tried to reason with him. "Yugi said he was waking up on his own…"
"No one likes being kept awake longer then twenty four hours." Tea pointed out, "It's not good for you."
"No one forced Yami to stay awake."
"I think CHANGE did something when he put Yami back." Kero said, thinking, "CHANGE was never meant to be used on possessed people, so he wouldn't have known how to handle the situation."
He watched as Yami faded away. Yugi threw his hands up in exasperation and rejoined them.
"Yugi, you're flaring again." Kero warned, sensing the Shadows roiling around the boy. Maybe flaring was the wrong word, but it certainly caught Yugi's attention, forcing the kid to take a deep breath and calm down.
"Sorry." Yugi directed as Kero and Sakura, one of whom shrugged and the other gave him a worried smile.
"Are you still coming to the Aquarium tomorrow on the field trip?" Tomoyo asked him as he slowly finished his lunch.
"Wouldn't miss it." Yugi grinned, "I've never been to one before so…"
"You've never…" Tomoyo looked shocked. "Well there's the…"
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"What exactly…?" Yugi asked, at the Aquarium on their field trip, Wednesday morning, looking at the invite he was holding as the fish swam past them in their huge, glass tank.
"My Mum's the CEO of a big electronics company and she's holding a big party and inviting over a bunch of business men." Tomoyo answered with a sigh, "I normally just invite Sakura and we hide upstairs, but I actually have to make an appearance this time for some reason, and I was kind of hoping, since you're my friend and the heir to a retail outlet…"
"It's one shop." Yugi pointed out.
"I know but please? These things are always really boring and…" Tomoyo pleaded, "Please, I promise you won't have to wear any costumes for a week! I'll even promise to behave during the tournament next weekend!"
"Fine, I'll come, if Tea's allowed to come too."
"Sure." Tomoyo nodded, giving Tea a pleading look.
"I can be Yugi's plus 1." Tea grinned, crushing Yugi's hopes that Tea wouldn't be interested and he could get out of it, "When is it?"
"Saturday Evening."
"I don't have anything to…"
"I have costumes that would be formal enough without looking too ornate."
"When did you…?"
Tomoyo giggled, "I didn't plan for this at all… nope."
The girls laughed, making Yugi sigh, especially considering he could sense Yami's amusement. "Fine, fine, I'll go."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Tomoyo grinned.
"How's…" Sakura looked at the Puzzle.
"Dozing, on and off." Yugi sighed, "It's why the headache's not so bad at the moment."
"You've got to do something about them, Yugi."
"I've got some paracetamol with me," Yugi replied, "But I had to hide that more carefully then I did the Puzzle."
"Well at least it's easier to carry." Sakura joked.
"Too true." Yugi laughed before looking over to the clock on the wall, "Aren't we going to be late to see the penguins?"
Sakura squeaked and grabbed Tomoyo's arm and pulled her through the crowds, causing the others to have to chase after them. Sakura had been going on about the penguin show all morning, so they'd been heading back towards the pool when Tomoyo had handed Yugi the invite.
They reached the pool, with its clear glass sides, in time to see the lady dive in to play with the penguins, watching entranced as they, in turn, played her games, with the hoops and the balls and all the other toys, and she was just climbing out when something happened.
It was Yugi that saw it first, the current that seemed determined to swirl around the woman's leg only, but Sakura spotted just a heartbeat later, when it started swirling around one of the penguins, trapping it in its embrace, and refusing to release it to the surface.
The woman, who was obviously a strong swimmer, managed to reach the surface, but that only increased the current's attempts to pull her under.
'Clow Card.' Yami realised faster then any of the others could, which would have been great had it not caused Yugi's headache to flare up so badly that he missed who dived into the water and somehow broke the hold that the current had on both the penguin and the woman.
"Big brother?" He heard Sakura gasp.
"Yugi?" Tomoyo had one of his arms, and was giving him an incredibly concerned look.
Yugi pulled his friends away from the crowd, looking around before hissing, "Yami thinks that current was a Clow Card."
"What?"
"I'll try and find out where it went, you call Kero." Yami switched with Yugi.
"Just don't try and fight it alone." Sakura nodded.
"Alright." Yami shot off.
Sakura shook her head, amused at the Pharaoh's mood, which didn't seem to be getting much better the longer he was awake. Then she and the others found somewhere quiet to head and rang Kero.
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"Muto!"
Yami paused, trying to remember what the name of Sakura's brother was…
"Toya." Yugi piped up helpfully, before they were introduced to another crippling headache.
Yami groaned, raising a hand to his head and curling in on himself slightly.
"Easy." Toya helped him to a bench, "You alright?"
Talking mind to mind hadn't been so painful before…it had to be something CHANGE had done when it had put Yami back...
Yami blinked, looking at the older teen; who seemed to be watching him carefully. "I'm fine, thank you Kinomoto."
"Is it because of this?" Toya pointed to the Millennium Puzzle.
Yami froze, "What do you mean?"
"I know you're not Muto Yugi." Toya warned, "I can see spirits. I saw you at lunch time yesterday, as a spirit, hanging around with Muto and my sister. Who are you? Why are you possessing Muto? And is it you that's been causing his headache?"
Yami hesitated. He could sense Yugi's concern, but didn't really want to escape without explaining, not to someone as important as Toya, since he was Sakura's older brother and seemed to know a lot more then he was letting on.
He sent a feeling of reassurance across to his partner and sighed, "I'm Yami, I was a Pharaoh back in Egypt, as far as we are aware, I seem to have become Yugi's guardian and no, I'm not causing the headaches. I'm of the opinion that a spell we ran into on Sunday is the cause for our current condition."
"Explain." There wasn't venom in Toya's voice, but there wasn't curiosity either. His voice was guarded and his body language screamed protectiveness. Yami understood. Toya was worried about Sakura.
"I've been asleep a very long time." Yami started, "But since Yugi completed the Puzzle, I've been slowly waking up. However a couple of days ago we ran into a spell that, for a lack of a better description, poured a bucket of ice water over me." Yami sighed, "I've been unable to do more then lightly doze since, while Yugi hasn't needed me of course, and it's while I'm dozing that the headaches fade."
Toya considered this, "Why were you in the Puzzle?"
"We don't know." Yami shook his head, "A lot of my memories have been lost since I was in Egypt and I know very little other then what Yugi has told me, and that I have to protect my hikari."
"Your light? That would be Muto Yugi, right?"
"That's correct."
"May I speak with him?"
Yami would have scowled, they had more important things to do, like finding out where WATERY had gotten to, but he nodded and Yugi, nervously, took control. "Yami's a good guy, and it was alright before."
"Before?"
"Before Yami was forced out of my body for a while. It woke him up, but everything's be so difficult since." Yugi frowned, "Me and Yami switched whenever we needed to before without any trouble, sure it felt a little odd being in the passenger seat but nothing like this."
"Muto, are you alright?"
"I was before the headaches started." Yugi sighed, "Sure, I was worried, but Yami's never done anything to hurt me or my friends, and he's protected us before, but I have the odd feeling that he's not supposed to be awake yet."
"How long was he sleeping for?"
"Five thousand years… possibly."
"And this spell forced him out of your body and woke him up?"
"That's right?"
"How aware was he before that?"
"I couldn't really sense him properly before, there was just this comforting darkness at the back of my mind, Yami says that I'm pure light, so I figure we've been brought together because he's darkness and I'm light, so we balance each other out." Yugi paused, his shoulders sinking, "I'm the only one the Puzzle will work for, and Yami couldn't talk to the girls without being in control or me passing on the message."
"What about the headaches?" Toya asked, considering the possibility of the pair being like the In-Yo, one representing nature, the earth and physicality, and the other the cosmos, heaven and spirituality, then discarded it, deciding that if Muto's theory was right, they were more like the Chinese yin and yang then anything.
"They're manageable as long as we don't talk mind to mind." Yugi looked towards the tanks, frowning as a group of fish were swept along by a water current, "Now it's playing with us…" Yami growled, having taken over when the current had done, what would be considered a back flip, if it had been a human, and was now passing back and forth in front of them.
"What is?"
"You remember that whirlpool in the penguin enclosure earlier?"
"That spell that was running around?"
"You know more then you're letting on, don't you?"
"When your kid sister sneaks out at night to meet up with her friends, you learn quickly."
"So you know about the Clow Cards?" Yami asked, smiling slightly, though Toya guessed that it was Yugi's amusement he was expressing.
"Of them, not about them."
"Well the spell that's on the loose is one, The WATERY, and we could really use a way of capturing it without endangering anyone else."
"I work late shifts here. You tell me what's going on, and I'll leave the back door open for you lot tonight."
Yami stared at him, "You're serious?"
"Sakura has to capture them, I know that much." Toya scowled at him. "But you have to promise to protect her."
"I promise." It was an easy promise to make, considering he'd promised Yugi much the same thing only two nights ago, "What do you want to know?"
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"So what do you think?" Yugi asked Kero as Yami, in spirit form, leant against the counter, watching the group make hot cakes as a snack while Toya was still at work and Mr Kinomoto was at the university he taught at, giving tutorials.
"It's got to be The WATERY." Kero frowned, "But if it is, we have a problem."
"Why?" Tomoyo asked, looking up from her camera, where she'd made the interesting discovery that Yami appeared on film, even if she couldn't see him with her own eyes, and he looked almost exactly like Yugi, bar around a head in height, some highlights and the eye colour.
"The Clow Cards have four element cards, who all belong to the top tier of the Clow Cards, which makes them very difficult to control." Kero explained, "WINDY, WATERY, EARTHY and FIREY."
"So WATERY is a lot more powerful then anything we've face so far?" Yugi guessed.
"Not only that, but WATERY is an offensive card, not a defensive one, so it has quite a temper." Kero nodded, "The cards we have now, don't match up to it."
"But WINDY is a top tier card too…" Tea frowned.
"But it's a defensive card, so it's too kind and gentle to fight with the sort of ferocity that we'd need against WATERY."
Yami went to say something, paused and took over before starting again, "Then we try something else."
"We can't. Your magic's not reliable at the moment and neither Tea or Tomoyo have another type of magic." Kero scowled at him.
"What about the chillers?" Yugi asked, taking control again.
"Huh?"
"Well, they have to keep the fish fresh somewhere, don't they?" Yugi asked, "There's bound to be freezers somewhere in the basement."
"Freezers?" Kero asked, sounding disgusted.
"No, it could work." Sakura shook her head as Yugi's shoulders sank. "We'd just have lure it down there."
"WATERY would give pursuit if you challenged it." Kero frowned, "But it would be dangerous."
"I think we should go back tonight." Yugi said, "Before it can hurt anyone else."
"Are you sure you're up to it?" Kero asked him, as the girls dished out the first few hot cakes.
"We'll be fine," Yugi nodded, "After all, what could go wrong?"
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"I can't believe we're really doing this." Tea complained as they snuck in the back door of the aquarium, so as to avoid the guards.
"No one said you had to come." Tomoyo pointed out, videoing the two in front.
The chain on the Puzzle was silver tonight, to go with the black and blue outfits that Sakura and Yugi were wearing, and Yugi paused at the t-junction, switched with Yami and headed towards the tanks.
"Okay, so… question?" Tea asked as they settled around the tube of water that led down to the restaurant, "How are we going to get WATERY out of there?"
"That's easy, if a magician challenges it, it'll take the bait." Kero sighed, "But we don't have a card that can match it."
"We have a plan, remember Kero?" Sakura laughed, "Tomoyo, Tea?"
The two nodded and rushed off, leaving the pair to wait for a phone call.
"We're crazy, you know that right?" Sakura laughed quietly.
Yami just gave her an amused smile and a shrug, leaning over the tank. "The water's so still, are you sure WATERY is still here?"
"It's here." Kero growled, "I can sense it, can't you?"
"All I can sense is starlight, darkness and sunlight." Yami snorted, turning to look at them and indicating Sakura's staff and Kero, "The Clow Cards seem to slip below my radar entirely."
"Too close to your own magic I expect." Kero sighed, "We've had this conversation before, I just thought you might have sensed something now that you're fully awake."
"No such…" Yami wheeled around as he heard the water rushing upwards, "Sakura!"
The Cardcaptor rushed forward but the water revolved around them, and swept back into the tank as a tidal wave, sweeping all of them into the water.
Yami panicked as the water closed in overhead. He had no idea how to swim and they were getting deeper by the second.
"Yami, let me take over!" Yugi yelped, as the headache to flared up, taking over and trying to swim for the surface.
Something swam around his ankle, dragging him further down. Sakura was in much the same boat that he was, and Kero couldn't break the swirling vortex that seemed to have her trapped.
Yugi couldn't hold his breath much longer, he was holding his hand over his mouth and nose as it was…
Yami seized control again, being able to swim wasn't going to help them now… he cast something, Yugi wasn't sure what, and The WATERY let go of the pair.
Sakura gave him a frightened glance, before swimming upwards, towards the surface. Yami would have switched with Yugi and they would have joined her, but there was nothing they could do as WATERY swirled around their legs, angered at losing one of it's prey.
Yugi's body betrayed them, gasping for breath, taking water into their lungs.
The last thing Yami did was use all the magic that he could gather to cast a spell that was basically along the lines of 'get me out of here', unsure how it would work, but so desperate that he didn't care.
Then darkness claimed them.
The glass shattered, the water rushed out, taking over the entire ground and first floors of the underground restaurant, dragging Yugi down with it.
Sakura only just avoided being dragged down, though it was more luck then judgement, as Yami's spell, which had pushed on the glass until it had broken, had also pushed her out of the water.
"Sakura!" Sakura froze. "Sakura!"
She looked over her shoulder, "Big brother?" She gasped.
"Where's Muto?" Toya demanded.
Sakura didn't stop to answer, "Sorry big brother." Sakura activated FLY and swooped down the hole that had once led to the tube of water. "Yugi! Yugi!" She called desperately as she overflew the flooded restaurant.
She couldn't see him…
Before she knew what was happening, Toya had passed her, diving into the water.
Her phone rang and she picked it up, not sparing a moment to wonder how it was still working… "Tomoyo?"
"Found them. They're on basement floor one. Be careful…"
Sakura put the phone down. There was still no sign of Yugi, and now she couldn't see her brother either.
"Their best chance is if you lure The WATERY away." Kero growled to her.
"But…"
"Toya can handle himself." Kero said firmly, "He'll be fine."
"WATERY! It's me you want!" Sakura called, as Kero grabbed onto her costume, "Come and get me."
For a moment there was nothing, and then a girl who was comprised completely of water shot up and smirked at her.
WATERY… what had it done?
She flew upward and WATERY followed, shooting out of the hole in the ceiling and towards the stairs, passing Tea, who gave her a smile and pointed down a door, which Sakura swooped down, reaching the basement and reaching the freezers, working out why it was so cold down here when she saw that Tomoyo had already opened the freezer door for her.
"WINDY!" She cried, summoning the card and using it to keep WATERY going until it was inside the freezer before slamming the door shut.
"Well done Sakura!" Tomoyo grinned.
Tea reached them, looking around, "Did you catch it?"
"It's in the freezer now." Tomoyo nodded, as Sakura sent Kero back the way they'd come, worried.
Tea frowned. "What's wrong?"
It was Tomoyo who caught on first, "Sakura… where's Yugi?"
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He didn't know why that water spirit had left, or why it had been so determined to make sure that no one escaped, but Toya only surfaced long enough to gasp for breath, before diving again.
Reaching the side of the child, Toya would have growled had he not been so far underwater. Yugi was motionless and cold.
Sakura will never forgive herself if he dies…
He clutched the small boy and swam for the surface, pulling him up onto the balcony of the second floor, before checking his breath.
Nothing.
"Come on Muto…" Toya growled, trying to find a pulse.
It was there, but very weak…
He wrapped his arms around Yugi's chest, just below the rib cage and jerked upwards, once… twice… thrice…
Yugi convulsed, turning to his side as he expelled water from his lungs on his own. Toya backed off as Yugi gasped for breath, rubbing his back to help him expel more water.
Once Yugi was finally breathing clearly again, bleary, unfocused ruby eyes turned towards him. "Kinomoto-San?" Yami asked weakly, confused.
"Easy Yami." Toya murmured, supporting the kid, wondering just how Yami was managing to stay conscious, "You nearly drowned."
"Sa…Sakura?" Yami panted, not to be distracted.
Toya looked up the way Sakura had gone, chased by the water sprite. "She's fine." Toya reassured the spirit possessing Yugi, though he wasn't sure what was going on.
"Good." With that Yami blacked out.
Toya looked around and shook his head, wondering what, exactly he was going to do about all the water… were all the Clow Cards this destructive?
"Come on Muto." He picked Yugi up carefully, "Let's go find the others."
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The rain outside wasn't natural, it was the doing of The RAIN and The CLOUD, whose powers Sakura had utilised to drain most of the water from the restaurant at the aquarium.
Sakura was frightened.
They were in the A&E of Tomoeda Central Hospital, where Toya was talking to Yugi's mum.
Tomoyo's bodyguards had taken Tea and Tomoyo home in the car, which left her and her older brother to wait for any news.
Toya was covering for them, telling Yugi's mum that Yugi had lost something in the Aquarium and they'd gone back to find it. She doubted that Ms Muto would believe him though; she didn't seem to be the type to be taken in by lies…
She shivered, hugging Kero tightly. She was still in the wet costume, and hadn't had time to change it…
"Kinomoto?" Yugi's mum sat down in the chair next to her and offered Sakura her jacket, "Here."
"I'm sorry." Sakura murmured, not looking at her.
"It's okay." Muto Kaiya replied, draping her jacket around Sakura's shoulders, "I know you didn't expect Yugi to get hurt. He's fine though, the Doctors said they just want to keep him in for observation for a few days."
"But he…"
"Yugi wasn't very happy before we moved here." Kaiya said, looking at Sakura, "he was picked on a lot and didn't have many friends. I'm glad he's found some that are willing to help him. Your brother saved his life…" Ms Muto paused, "You will stay friends with Yugi, won't you?"
"Of course… if he still wants to be…"
"He will." Kaiya promised, "Yugi isn't likely to give up his friends because of an accident."
"Sakura, we have to go, if Dad finds out you snuck out…"
Sakura went to hand the jacket back. Yugi's Mum shook her head, "Take it with you, it suits you better then it suits me."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Sakura…"
"Good night Mrs Muto."
"Goodnight Kinomoto."
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They were halfway home before Toya spoke.
"That was incredibly dangerous." Toya sounded angrier then she'd heard him in a long time, "If I hadn't been there Yugi would have died."
"Big brother."
"Don't big brother me, how long?"
"Since the start of April."
"And you've been fighting these Clow Cards with Yugi's help the whole time?"
"Yes."
"Is it just the five of you?" Toya asked, "Four children and a ghost?"
"And Kero."
"The stuffed toy."
"I'm no stuffed toy!" Kero protested quietly, "I'm the guardian of the Clow Cards."
"Which are currently on the loose." Toya reminded him.
I know." Kero's wings sank.
"Just… tell me when you're going after a Clow Card. I won't always be around to protect you." Toya sighed, "Please?"
"I promise."
"Now, what cards have you captured so far?"
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Yugi opened his eyes.
A white ceiling… tiled…
He sat up slowly, trying to ignore the pain just below his ribs, and looked around. The sun was streaming through the window, and in the beds around him, people were already awake and talking to their guests.
Yugi had never felt so tired in his life, but he stretched and tried to figure out what had happened.
It looked like a hospital…WATERY!
No Puzzle… no Yami either… that made sense, but who was looking after it for him?
"Muto Yugi, you're awake?" A nurse, who was helping a boy half his age, two beds down, asked, "Oh good, your mother will be pleased."
Yugi blanched and led back, wondering what Sakura had told his mother.
"How are you feeling?" The nurse asked, coming to his bed side.
"Really tired." Yugi admitted.
"How about your chest? Does it hurt at all?" The nurse asked.
"Here." Yugi indicated just below his ribs.
"Anywhere else at all?"
Yugi shook his head.
"You'll be fine." The nurse smiled at him, "I'll be back in a minute with some painkillers."
"Thank you." Yugi nodded. "Did I come in with a gold looking pyramid thing?"
"Your girlfriend brought it in this morning."
"I don't have a…"
The nurse laughed, "I'm only teasing you. Short brown hair, green eyes…"
"Sakura!" Yugi yelped, "Is she okay?"
"None the worse for your little late night adventure." The nurse smiled at his immediate interest. "She said she'd be in later, with her older brother. Apparently she has something to show you."
Yugi just nodded, wanting to do nothing more but go back to sleep.
"If you're tired, Muto-Kun, you should sleep. Your body went through a lot." The nurse looked concerned, "I'll wake you when I get back."
"Thank you."
"No problem."
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It was Friday afternoon before Yugi was allowed out of the hospital, so it was the first day that the group really got to talk without anyone being able to overhear.
Of course Toya insisted on escorting his sister to the Muto household, and Kaiya was hovering around, checking and double checking that they had everything they needed, but once they were settled in, Sakura gazed at Yugi and bit her lip.
"I'm okay, Sakura, honestly." Yugi smiled, a little tired but feeling much better then he had on Thursday morning.
"It's my fault…"
"No it's not!" Yugi protested, "You didn't ask me to come."
"But…"
"How's Yami?" Kero asked, before there was another argument about this. Sakura had been trying to pull away from her friends since the incident and none of them were having any of it, sticking closer then ever.
"Asleep." Yugi shook his head, "At last."
"Probably used a lot of magic breaking that tube. He'll probably wake up on his own when he's ready." Toya said, speaking up from where he was sat in the corner. "How's the headache?"
"Gone."
"And is Yami sleeping as deeply as before?"
"No, Yami's responded, using emotions, to my queries, but I haven't poked him too much, I don't want to wake him up."
"So you're both really alright?" Sakura asked quietly.
"I'm ok, Yami's ok. We're both okay, thanks to you, Kinomoto." Yugi nodded to Toya, who waved him off.
Unsurprising considering that Yugi's mum had been thanking Toya enough for the both of them, there was now an open invitation to all of the Kinomotos to their house and Muto Kaiya had started referring to Toya as Toya-Kun. "I'm fine…" Yugi paused, "And Mum says I can still go to your party tomorrow." He said with a teasing groan that made Tomoyo smile.
"I am still invited, aren't I?" Tea asked, well aware that it was Yugi who had invited her to Tomoyo's party.
"Of course." Tomoyo nodded. "I brought over your costume, Yugi." She said, getting it out of the bag, blacks and golds, with a gold chain for the Puzzle, which Yugi swapped over quickly and easily, having done the change many times over the last month.
As irritating as the costumes could be sometimes, Tomoyo did have good taste in them… that reminded Yugi… "I'm sorry about the costume for WATERY." He apologised, "It got wreaked in the ambulance."
"I got the jacket back." Tomoyo shrugged concern in her body language but not in her voice. "I was more worried about you."
"I'll be running marathons again in no time."
"You never ran a marathon!" Tea protested.
"Nooo!" Yugi moaned, "My secret revealed, how will I ever get over it?"
"Behave, Yugi-Kun." Kaiya scolded her son as she entered the room, laden with bags and completely without warning, "Anyone for cakes?" She asked, "I just picked some up from the…" She paused as she saw the flying bear.
"This will be so much easier when we have The ERASE." Kero moaned.
"Do you like my new toy?" Sakura asked Ms Muto quickly, who was still staring at the bear, who was now landing on Sakura's bag. "It's called Kero."
"It was flying." Kaiya pointed out. "And talking."
"It's something my mother's company is testing." Tomoyo said quickly.
"Oh…" Kaiya frowned, remembering that the Daidoji family owned a huge electronics company. She wasn't quite sure how that tied into flying teddy bears, but she wasn't really sure she wanted to know. She had an odd feeling it was to do with why Yugi had been unable to wait until daylight to pick up his bag from the aquarium though. "How does it work?" She asked, putting the bags down and coming over to look, interested.
"Batteries." Sakura said hastily, causing Kero to give her a dodgy look.
"I see." Kaiya nodded, "May I?" She asked, indicating Kero.
Sakura looked hopefully at her brother, who just shrugged. "Sure?"
They watched with bated breath as Yugi's Mum examined the bear, poking and prodding until finally Kero was unable to take it any longer and squirmed out of her grip, "That hurts you know?" He scolded.
"I knew something wasn't right." Kaiya scowled, "Muto Yugi, what aren't you telling me?"
"Uh… Mum, this is Kero, Kero meet Muto Kaiya, my mother."