Ryou: *backs away apprehensivly* Why do I have a horrid feeling about this...?

WSJ: *grins wider* I'M SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!

Bakura: *snorts* About what?

WSJ: After the last chapter, the number of people who have me on their favorite authors list has reached over 100!!! 111 in fact!!! Whee, I'm so happy! I just want to say thank you to all you readers! You've been such a huge encouragment to me, even when I haven't been updating as often as I perhaps should. *huge hugs* I love you all!

Bakura: *yaws, very bored* Yeah yeah, let's go already!

WSJ: *makes a face* Okay, hold your horses! I can only type so fast!

^^ Anyway...

Disclaimer: I don't own YGO. Amoura, Lisa, and Yunet are Brood's. Gwen, Hiro, Scott, and Takeo are mine.

Oh yeah, Brood said to announce that she'll be gone a little while. Apparently her computer has a virus, and all her fics-in-progress got wiped. :,( Send her encouragement e-mails! We love you Brood! ^-^v *hugs*

Hm... I am right now going to add in a dictionary sort of thing, defining all the terms, abbreviations and acronyms I use in my authoress notes. *sweatdrop* Some people have been e-mailing me, confused. So here you go. ^^

Tales of the Child of Fate -- the title of the entire series, both the trilogy and the quartet, as well as YHiM and any other stories after.
TotCoF -- Tales of the Child of Fate

The Unseeing Hearts Trilogy -- the first three stories in TotCoF.
UHT -- The Unseeing Hearts Trilogy
VotH -- Visions of the Heart, the first story of the series & trilogy. Takes place one year after Duelist Kingdom/Battle City. {Completed}
ASN -- All Saints' Night, the second of both the series & the trilogy. Takes place one month after VotH. {Completed}
SoS -- Sacrifice of Shadows, 3rd of both the trilogy & the series. Takes place three months after VotH, two after ASN. {Completed}

The College Years -- stories 4-7 of TotCoF.
TCY -- The College Years
YoTU:F -- The Yamis of Tokyo U: Freshmen, the first of the quartet, fourth of the series. Takes place two years after VotH, three after the TV series. {In progress}
YoTU:S -- The Yamis of Tokyo U: Sophmore, the second of the quartet, fifth of the series. Takes place three years after VotH, four after the TV series. {Not started}
YoTU:Jr -- The Yamis of Tokyo U: Junior, the third of the quartet, sixth of the series. Takes place four years after VotH, five after the TV series. {Not Started}
YoTU:Sr -- The Yamis of Tokyo U: Senior, the fourth of the quartet, seventh of the series. Takes place five years after VotH, six after the TV series. {Not started.}

Your Heart is Mine -- eighth of the series. Takes place two years after YoTU:Sr, seven after VotH, and eight after the TV series. {Not Started}
YHiM -- Your Heart is Mine

Side stories:
Get Over Yourself! -- Somewhere between #4 (YoTU:F) & #7 (YoTU:Sr). Takes place during random time in TCY, most possibly the Freshman year. {Complete}

()()()()()

Yamis of Tokyo U: Freshmen

Chapter 5 -- The Pharoah, the Theif, and the Guardian

"Shaadi? You're the new teacher?"

Seto had, for the moment, shoved Mokuba into his soulroom and taken over, causing his brother's body to grow taller and leaner, and his eyes to turn blue and narrow. The sort-of yami was now eyeing the Guardian apprehensively. It took Shaadi a moment to realize who he was speaking to, and then he smiled. Or at least, as much as Shaadi ever smilied.

Two years before, after Serenity had been rescued from the Second Locking Rituals, Shaadi, the Kaibas, the Wheeler siblings, the Ishtar siblings, Tristan, Tea, Yugi, and Shen Bakura, Ryou's father, had all sat down for a talk that had lasted all night and well into the next day. Ryou had been, of course, upstairs bawling his eyes out over Bakura's death, not even aware of what was going on anywhere outside his room, and Ishtar and Yami had barracaded themselves in Bakura's room to mourn in their own way.

Shaadi and Serenity had first demanded an explanation of everything that had happened during Duelist Kingdom and what had been sensored from Battle City, a saga that helped clear a few of Shen's questions as well. Then the Kaibas' predicament had been explained at length, which was why Serenity knew of Seto being "Yami-Mokuba". After that, both sets of Locking Rituals had been gone over in detail, and the Shadow Realm had been explained to Serenity and Shen, and to Tea and Tristan, who had a much smaller grasp on it then the others did.

"Yes," Shaadi said, taking a seat on Serenity's other side. "Is there a problem with that?"

"No, of course not!" Serenity was quick to say. "We just didn't expect to see you here, so..."

"Casual?" Shaadi chuckled. "Yes, I suppose it is a bit of a shock." Suddenly he grew serious, and ran a hand over the Ankh in an absent-minded manner. "Something is going to happen. Soon. Close. At Tokyo U."

Serenity and Seto were startled into silence for a moment, and then Kaiba chuckled wryly. "It's always something..."

Serenity was a bit more alarmed. "Joey goes to Tokyo U!"

"I know." was Shaadi's reply. "But rest assured Serenity, I am mostly sure that the coming event does not pertain to him." Serenity breathed a sigh of releif, but Shaadi wasn't done yet. "However, it is possible that he could be caught up in it, especially if it's centered on one of his friends."

"Ryou again?" Seto asked, just the least bit annoyed. "Why is it always the white-haired 'pity-me-I'm-blind' kid? He's a psycic, can't he take care of himself?"

"No..." Shaadi said, shaking his head slowly. "I don't think it's Ryou. Not this time. I can't explain it. My two Millenium Items give me a feel for how energies flow to and frow in the Shadow Realm, just as Ryou's mental powers allow him to do in this world. When I feel a significant event before it happens, it usually feels something like..." he groped for an appropriete metaphor. "A tornado."

"A tornado?" Serenity and Seto asked, chiming in with Mokuba's own unspoken question.

"Yes, of a sort. I either feel the mouth of the tornado, pointed at the thing it will hit, as I have before. Or, I feel the narrow end, pointed at where the tornado is originating from. On rare occations, I know of both ends."

"In English please," Seto said. "Or Japanese, as the case may be."

"Twice before I have seen the mouth of the tornado. Once pointed at Yugi during the Duelist Kingdom, and once at the Pharoah Yami during Battle City. Once have I felt both ends, the mouth pointing toward Ryou and Bakura, and the narrow end toward Briar-Rose, during the Second Locking Rituals."

"So what you're saying is that the narrow end is the bad guy, what's causing the tornado, or disturbance, and the mouth is the good guy, who's about to be swallowed." Seto blinked at how much Serenity sounded like her brother, but Shaadi was nodding.

"Correct. This time, I feel the narrow end. The mouth extends too far up into the sky for me to see where it will hit, but I do not think it will be good. It's quite likely to ecclipse all of Tokyo U. Perhaps all of Tokyo. Which is why I am here. I must talk with Ryou and Isis and the yamis, see if they have felt anything at all."

"Woah, back up!" Serenity said. "You mean the bad guy's at Tokyo U? Who?"

Shaadi shook his head. "That's the problem," he said, unknowingly echoing Ryou's words from earlier that afternoon. "I don't know. Tomorrow is Friday, I was planning on taking the afternoon off and driving down to Tokyo."

"Wait," Mokuba said, switching places with Seto. "You can drive?"

There was silence for a moment, and Shaadi and Serenity sweatdropped, as Shaadi nodded. "Yes, I can drive..."

"Oh... Well, Seto and I are coming with you!"

"Me too." Serenity said firmly. "If it concerns Joey, it concerns me."

"Very well then." Shaadi said, looking back and forth between the two. "We will go to Tokyo U tomorrow. Together."

The next morning dawned clear and sunny, with Ryou feeling much refreshed and restored. Soon after Amoura's visit he'd fallen asleep, and had only woken once around nine-thirty when Hiro had come back from his dinner with Tea, Yugi, and Gwen. Bakura had stayed up reading, and had greeted Hiro on his return, so there had been no need for Ryou to say anything and he'd quickly fallen back asleep.

Now he sat up and stretched, chuckling at the two other men still sleeping across the room. It was a good thing that Ryou was a sound sleeper, because it sounded like both Bakura and Hiro snored. Ryou had already known Bakura snored, of course, but Hiro's snores filling in between the pauses in Bakura's came as a bit of a surprise.

The white-haired man stood up and made his way to the closet, where he retreived his gi and slid it on over his boxers and t-shirt. He pulled his thick mane of hair over his shoulder and began to braid it as he walked outside, pushing open doors telepathicly as he came to them. It was early enough that no one was up yet to notice.

There was a small meadow/feild between the guys' dorm building and the girls', which had a thick green lawn that felt great under his bare feet and was perfect for his usual early morning kata. He tied the end of his braid off with a small strip of leather just as he stepped onto the lawn. Easily Ryou fell into a fighting stance and began to move through his warm-ups with practiced grace.

It wasn't more then twenty minutes later when he became aware that he had an audience. Most of the windows of both dorms faced the feild, and several early risers like himself were watching through their windows. Mai and Isis were in the upper storie of the girls' dorm, and Tristan's roommate, Takeo, was too, from his own room. The others he didn't know.

Suddenly he choked, almost missing a step in the kata. That steel blue aura! The other telepath was close! But again, before Ryou had a chance to pin-point him, he hid himself under layers of mental sheilding that Ryou couldn't crack. This frustrated him, and he threw himself into his work out all the more, moving into tougher and tougher areas. He wished, fleetingly, that someone would come out and spar with him.

He didn't notice that Takeo had moved away from the window, something on his mind and a slight frown on his face.

Ryou finished up his kata with a round-house kick, and became aware of someone clapping from the side of the guys' dorm where he was leaning against the brickwork. Ryou smiled as he felt the familiar presence. "Good morning Yugi."

Yugi handed him a towel as he came over to mop at his sweaty face, neck and chest. "You're really getting good Ryou. I should get you to teach me."

Ryou chuckled and shook his head. "I don't think I've acheived sensei status quite yet Yugi. Why up so early? I thought you didn't have classes until after lunch on Fridays."

"I don't." Yugi said matter-of-factly. "But neither do you. In fact, we both have all the same classes Friday. Psycology, zoology, and advanced chemestry."

"Point taken." Ryou said, chuckling. "But I'm always up this early to get my morning work-out, even if I don't have classes. So what're you doing up?"

"Malik and I were wondering if you'd like to go out for breakfast with us. I was talking to Isis last night, and she suggested this great little coffee shop just off-campus, near the kareoke bar we went to last night."

Ryou's eyes widened in mock surprise. "Okay, that tears it! Malik's up early. Hell has frozen over!"

Yugi laughed, leaning against the brick wall of the dorm for support. "Rex woke him up. Apparently, he's got an early class, and was running around franticly. From the way Malik described it, I'm surprised Ishtar slept through it."

"Ishtar's asleep?" Ryou asked, surprised. "He shouldn't need to."

"He doesn't." Yugi said. "But he and Yami are spending more and more time out of their soulrooms lately. Ishtar kinda should, since Rex doesn't know about the yamis, but when I asked Yami about it, he just muttered something about living this life to the fullest."

"Well, whatever floats their boats." Ryou shrugged, toying with his braid. "Okay Yugi. Give me fifteen minutes to take a shower and get dressed, then we'll go. I'll meet you right back here."

"'Kay." was Yugi's chipper reply.

Ryou trotted back to his room, where he paused to prod Bakura awake, since he had a class to get to, and then headed for the bathroom. He stripped off his gi and pajamas, which he still had on underneith, and then turned on the hot water full blast. He got himself scalded, yelped, assured Bakura he was okay, and then turned on the cold.

"Stupid taps..." he muttered. "Even with telepathic powers I can't tell the &^%# hot from the @*$(^# cold..."

He took his shower, then dressed in a pair of black jean cut-offs and a red t-shirt that he'd always thought made him look girly. Ah well, Yugi and Malik wouldn't care. He tied his wet hair back into a braid, aware it would dry wavy, but not caring in the least. He slipped on some sandels, bid farewell to Bakura, and headed outside to meet his friends.

Malik and Yugi were waiting right where Yugi had said they would be. And, to do Malik credit, he was yawning. Just as Ryou reached them, the door slammed open and Rex shot out at top speed, yelling about how late he was. He didn't even notice the trio as he sped off toward the sciences building.

"Hey," Yugi said as the trio headed for Isis's car. (Malik had only rode his motorcycle, and Ryou's car was two lots down. Besides, Malik had keys.) "I haven't gotten a chance to ask you guys yet what you're majoring in."

"Journalism." Malik said, surprising the other two. He laughed at their stunned faces. "What, didn't expect that? Hm... Well, Isis is already majoring in archiology, and, frankly, with ancient Egypt literally sleeping across the room and down the hall from me, I don't think I could stand any more ancient cultures. Nah, I've always loved to write."

"You mean you've always loved to hound people for all the juicey details of their stories." Yugi said wryly.

"That too." Malik conceeded, grinning as they piled into his sister's convertable. "What about you Ryou?" He started up the car, then sat still and held up a hand. "Hold that thought. Anyone have a rubber band?"

Ryou laughed and dug an elastic out of his pocket. "Here. I always carry a spare."

Yugi looked downright puzzled, until Malik reached over and ruffled his short spikes, then grinned and tugged his own long hair into a pony-tail. Yugi laughed in realization, and within seconds they were out of the parking lot.

"I'm majoring in child psycology," Ryou said, letting the wind blow against his face. "I want to run an orphanage or something after college."

"That's great." Yugi said. "I'm majoring in business, with a minor in accounting, so I can take over the Game Shop after Grampa. Yami wants to be a game designer. A video game designer no less!"

There was a half-stunned, half-amused silence in the car, until Ryou said; "Gosh... That'd be frustrating..."

"You mean trying to learn about computers and video games when you used to be an ancient Egyptian pharoah?" Malik asked.

Ryou looked startled. "No, I mean trying to beat a game designed by the King of Games."

All three in the car sweatdropped at the thought, and Yugi snickered. "Maybe he and Bakura can do a colaberation or something."

"What would they call it?" Malik asked, although he already knew what the answer was going to be.

"Tomb Robber." all three said in unison, and then broke out laughing as Malik pulled into the parking lot of the coffee shop, which was called Ryuji's. They were still laughing as they went in and found a table near to the big glass window in front. Yugi muttered something about the bathroom and trotted off. Malik and Ryou took seats across from each other at the round table, still snickering slightly.

"Hey, how about Kaiba and Yami working together?" Malik suggested.

Ryou shook his head, a bemused smile on his face. "It'd never work. They'd end up with a supirior dueling game, and no technology advanced enough to run it."

Malik chuckled, then glanced around for a waitress. It was unusual to have waitresses in coffee shops, but this one was very swanky and he was sure he'd seen a couple waitresses as they came in. One walked by, and Malik raised a hand to signal her. "Miss! Erm, waitress!"

The woman, who was wearing a starched white shirt, black slacks and a red vest with a black apron over top, turned to them with a raised eyebrow. "You mean me?"

"Yes," Malik said, "I'll have a-"

"DANGEDIT!" the waitress yelled, her face turning red in anger. "I'm not a woman!!! WHY does everyone always mistake me for a waitress!?!?!?!?!"

"It could be your hair." Another of the waitresses commented dryly as she passed by. "Now shut up and take their orders."

Indeed, it could have been his hair, although Malik and Ryou weren't really ones to talk. The 'waitress's hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, and was jet black. A few strands had fallen out of the 'tail, and were held out of his green eyes by a black and red headband that went with his uniform. He had an earring in one ear, which was, strange enough, a small six-sided die.

He turned to face the two hikaris, and suddenly his face lit up into a smile. "Ladies!" he said in a charming manner, sweeping over, suddenly the very picture of gentlemanlyness. "What will you have today?"

(Does he think we're women???) Ryou asked telepathicly, his face slightly alarmed.

'Does this clown remind you of someone we know...?' was Malik's answer. Suddenly they both got it at the same time.

(Duke Devlin!)

Malik and Ryou hadn't had much to do with Duke during Battle City, and had never "officially" met him, thus the reason that the dice-master didn't recognise them. He had, mostly, been dealing with their yamis. They sure recognised him though, the loud-mouthed, self-proclaimed 'King of Dice', who was always trying to hit on one girl or another.

A slow smile began to form on Ryou's face as a devious idea entered his usually-gentle mind. He set his pleading, cloudy eyes on Malik, who swore softly enough that Duke didn't hear. "I'll kill you later Ryou..." he whispered, then smiled as well. "Although... This could be fun."

Both men turned back to Duke, offering him their most flirtatious and coy smiles. Ryou began to fiddle with his braid, and Malik giggled. Duke looked surprised, and rather pleased. "Well now, have you lovely ladies been in here before? Your gorgeous faces seem familiar to me."

"I don't think so," Ryou said in a high-pitched, and rather convincing, voice. "I'm sure we'd remember such a gentleman as you!"

"Do you have a name, or should we just call you babe?" Malik asked in an equally high voice. He and Ryou were on the verge of collapsing into laughter.

"My name is Duke," Duke said, standing up a bit straiter. "Creator of the smash-hit game Dungeon Dice Monsters. Maybe you ladies have heard of it?"

"Oh yes!" Malik said, pretending to be delighted. "I just love that game! Perhaps you could give us some tips, Dukey-chan?"

Ryou snorted back laughter. Dukey-chan??? He composed himself and continued to play his part in messing with the young game-master. "But Dukey-babe, if you're the creator of such a smash-hit game, what are you doing working here?"

Duke looked a little sheepish and sweatdropped slightly. "It's a family thing. My parents own the place."

"Oh!" Malik giggled. "In that case, can we get free drinks?"

"No," said one of the other waitresses as she walked past. "Duke, stop flirting with the customers!"

"But sis!" he whined, before pouting slightly and then turning back to the guys with a slick smile. "Where were we?"

"Duke Devlin?"

Duke turned around, as did Malik, and the Egyptian almost lost his composure completly. Ryou was already red in the face from trying to hold back his own laughter. Standing nearby and looking thoughroughly muddled was Yugi. Why was Duke flirting with Malik and Ryou?

(Play along!) the comment suddenly inserted itself into his mind. (This is funner then it looks!)

Yugi looked at Ryou with a doubtful look on his face, but Malik winked at him. 'Trust us.' the Egyptian mouthed. Yugi shrugged, and decided that this was already too wacky to comprehend anyway.

"Ah, Yugi Moto." Duke said, all smiles, though they were rather forced now. "Are these ladies with you?"

Yugi choked. Ladies??? He looked at Ryou and Malik, and again Malik winked. He sighed, then gave in to the fun of tormenting another person. "Oh no Duke," he said, pretending to be shocked. "They're just friends of mine. Ryoko," he motioned to Ryou, who waved, "And Mahala." he pointed to Malik, who was suddenly trying to glare a hole through Yugi.

(What does that mean?) Ryou asked.

'Mahala? It's an Arabic name that means fat.' Yugi chuckled.

Ryou cleared his throat loudly to cover up his snickers. "Won't you join us though Yugi?"

Duke looked indignant, but Yugi smiled graciously. "Of course." He took a seat between Ryou and Malik, and they giggled, pretending to like him more then Duke. Duke took their orders grudgingly, and then stomped off to have them filled. Once he was out of sight, the trio all but collapsed on the table in laughter.

"Oh that was so great," Malik said, wiping away a tear. "That was awesome!"

Ryou snickered slightly. "Has he always been like this Yugi?"

"Hai," Yugi said. "When he dueled Joey and Yami, he actually had a pack of cheer-leaders following him around. I have never seen anyone more full of themself then Duke Devlin."

They calmed down and Malik and Ryou put back on their giggly airs as Duke came back with their breakfasts. "So what are you doing in Tokyo Yugi? Awful long way from Domino, isn't it?"

Yugi nodded. "I'm going to college at Tokyo U. So are Mal-er, Mahala and Ryoko."

They nodded at Duke, and he smiled. "Well well, I too am going to Tokyo U. I don't live on campus though."

The four exchanged idle chit-chat for a couple more minutes before Duke's sister chased him back to work. Malik, Ryou, and Yugi finished their breakfast and then left. The moment they were safely outside, they burst into laughter again. "Priceless!" Yugi raved. "Just wait until I tell Yami! He'll have a fit!" They drove back to Tokyo U amidst giggles, and Malik parked near the dorms.

"I have a class to get too. See you two later?" Malik asked. Yugi and Ryou nodded, and they seperated, Malik heading for his class and Ryou and Yugi back to their dorms. They were not prepared for the sight that met their eyes.

In the front hallway of the dorm building, a pack of about ten or fifteen girls, including Miho, were yelling at Mako Tsunami and another man about something. Mako and the other man both looked about ready to run, when Mako spotted Yugi and Ryou.

"Ah! Yugi Moto!" He said, running over, the other man just behind him. "Do you know anything about a panty raid last night?" the marine duelist looked extremely nervous, and kept glancing over his shoulder at the girls. "They want to search the guys dorms."

Yugi gulped, frozen. Yami had told him about his late-night adventure with Ishtar. Ryou just cocked his head innocently. "Let them. It seems like a fair way to catch the culprits."

Mako turned to him in surprise. "And you are...?"

"Boku wa Ryou Bakura, sempai. [I am Ryou Bakura, sempai] [sempai = upper-classman]" Ryou said, bowing to the older man. "I'm a good friend of Yugi's."

"Ah," Mako said, his face breaking into a smile as he bowed back. "Ore wa Mako Tsunami [I am Mako Tsunami]. This is Scott Anius, and we're the resident advisors." He scratched the back of his head and sighed. "Why do these things always happen to me?"

Scott, the other RA, chuckled and shook his head. "Well, it gives us expeirience, I guess... Maybe we should talk with the girls' RAs?"

"No good," Yugi piped up, his tongue finally thawed again. "Isis and Mai are both in class."

Scott and Mako gave him long looks, obviously wondering how he knew the girls' RAs, but then shrugged it off.

"How about this," Ryou suggested, "Go down the hall and knock on people's doors. If they're in, then search the dorm. If no one's there, then just pass it up for later."

The girls liked this idea, and the first door they came to happened to be Ryou, Hiro, and Bakura's. Bakura was in, having just gotten back from his class, and he and Ryou let the girls check over their room. Saticifed, they then withdrew, and Bakura went back to studying while Ryou wandered along with Yugi, Mako and Scott, behind the girls. They checked several more rooms before they came to Yugi, Yami, and Joey's.

Yugi pulled his key out of his pocket and opened the door so they could get inside. A moment later there was a startled yell and Joey poked his head into the hall. "Hey Yug'," he asked, annoyed. "What're all these girls doin' in our room?"

Yugi laughed. "There was a panty raid last night, and they want their, ahem, clothes back. They're searching all the rooms."

"Oh..." Joey said, now stepping fully out into the hallway. His eyes fell on Mako, and he grinned. "Hiya Mako. What're you doin' here?"

"I'm your RA Joey." Mako said. "And this is-"

"Scottie!" Joey said suddenly, looking at the other RA.

"Er, yes..."

"Hey Joey," Scott said, grinning. "Long time no see."

"Not since last Christmas." Joey agreed. "Good to see you cuz'."

"Woah, back up," Yugi said, blinking. "Scott's your cousin, Joey?"

"Yup," it was Scott who answered. Now that Yugi and Mako were looking, they could see the semblence in the two. Both had the same dirty blond hair and narrow eyes, though Scott's were green while Joey's were brown. Both were tall and slightly built, and they were even wearing similar styles of clothes. What was obvious, though, was that Scott was at least two, maybe three, years older then Joey.

There was suddenly a shreik from several doors down. The girls had moved on without their noticing, and had apparently found the pervert. The five guys whirled, and Yugi nearly smacked himself on the forehead when he saw which door was open. As they got closer, they heard a deep voice saying franticly "It wasn't me, I swear! I didn't do it!"

Miho and her friend Heather came out then, followed by the rest of the girls. Dragged between Miho and Heather was none other then Rex Raptor, who was also just back from his class. His eyes were paniked. "I didn't do it!"

"Sure," Miho said. "And that's why you had a bag of our things under your bed."

"No! I mean, yes! I mean, I'm innocent! It must have been Malik! Or his brother Ishtar! I didn't do it!!!!!"

Ryou frowned and nudged Yugi in the side. "Rex is telling the truth," he said quietly. "He didn't do it."

"I know," Yugi said miserably. "It was Ishtar. I don't know what to do."

Ryou blinked as he felt a familiar lavendar aura walk in the door, then freeze. "Speak of the devil..."

Rex had seen him too. "Ishtar! Ishtar ol' buddy ol' pal! Tell 'em it wasn't me! I didn't do it!"

Ishtar stood frozen where he was, his eyes widened as he witnessed the angry faces of the girls, the pleading gaze of Rex, the rather amused faces of Joey, Mako, and Scott, and the wary expressions that Ryou and Yugi wore. He said cautiously "Did what?"

"There was a raid in the women's dorm last night," Scott said. "And the, erm, offencive garments were found in your room, under Rex's bed."

Ishtar thought fast, sent a silent prayer to Osirus, and schooled his face to look shocked. "Rex, how could you do such a thing!"

Rex, Ryou, and Yugi choked. Miho looked saticfied. "Come on girls," she said, dragging Rex kicking and screaming toward the door. She grinned evilly, and Joey, Yugi, Ishtar, Mako, and Scott involentarily shuddered. "Let's go play dress-up." Rex's screaming redoubled. You'd think he was being sentenced to twenty lashes and prison for life.

The six men stood staring after them, and Joey whistled softly. "I never though I'd say this, but poor Rex..."

"That was a horrible thing to do Ishtar," Ryou said, giving the yami a Look. Ishtar just shrugged and headed for his room, shutting the door behind him. Once inside he frowned and said softly "Seems I'll have to plan my next outtings a bit better..."

For the next couple hours, Yugi, Ryou, and Mako sat around in Mako and Scott's room, telling each other stories about Duelist Kingdom or Battle City. Of course, the two hikaris left out any mention of the shadow games or their yamis. Scott and Joey lounged around Joey, Yugi, and Yami's dorm, catching up on family.

After lunch, Yugi and Ryou bid farewell to Mako and headed off to their psycology class. And it was there that they got the surprise of their lives.

The professor was sitting behind his desk as the two of them took seats up front. He glanced up at them and smiled, then went back to reading over his lecture. Over the next few minutes, more of the students filed in. One of them was older then the others, obviously at least twenty-two, and he walked forward to talk quietly with the professor.

Yugi frowned and nudged Ryou in the side. "Does he look familiar to you?"

Ryou raised an eyebrow at what was either a slip of the tounge or a bad pun. Then he said "Hm, yes. Seems to me I've felt this aura before. It's a sort of light yellow..."

The man in question had blond hair about shoulder length, and blue-green eyes that were as narrow as a yami's. He was wearing jeans and a red and white shirt, and had a ring through one ear and heavy gold armbands, almost like Malik's, on each arm.

"Class," the professor said, standing up. "I am Professor Hinotama, and this is my aid, Keith Howard."

Ryou and Yugi's jaws dropped. "Bandit Keith???"

Keith looked startled, and looked over at them. Then he smirked and gave a jaunty wave. "Hiya twerps. Never thought I'd see you again. Is your little dog friend with you?"

"It's none of your business where Joey is." Ryou said, at the same time Yugi asked "What are you doing here Keith?"

"Working on my psycology degree." he said, flicking his fingers at them in a bored gesture. "Doesn't matter."

"Keith? A psycology degree?" Ryou whispered. "That is so bizarre."

"I know," Yugi whispered back, grinning. "Wait until Malik hears about this."

That sent both of them to the floor in laughter.

"By Ra!" Ryou growled later that afternoon as he stomped into the dorm's lounge room. "That must have been the longest class in the history of school!" Yami, Malik, and Ishtar were the only ones in the lounge, and Ryou groaned as he lopped down ungracefully into a chair. Yugi followed him into the room, laughing slightly. Ryou sent him a scowl that for a moment reminded both Yami and Yugi of Bakura, but it passed and Ryou too laughed. "Well? It was!"

"I won't argue there," Yugi said, sitting down next to his yami on one of the couches. He groaned slightly as well. "Boy, this'll be a looooong year..."

"How so aibou?" Yami asked, concerned. "Is something wrong?"

Yugi let out a short laugh. "No Yami, nothing's wrong..."

"Nothing except for the fact that Bandit Keith is our professor's aid..." Ryou said.

"No way!" Malik said. "I though I drove him insane!" His smile betrayed the fact that he'd enjoyed this, to a certain extent.

"Well, he wasn't exactly sane today..." Yugi admitted. "But a psycology degree?"

Before more could be said, Ryou sat up and turned toward the door, smiling in surprise at the familiar auras as they approached the door. Ishtar, Malik, Yami, and Yugi turned as well, just as the door opened and Joey ushered in several very unexpected guests.

"...Probably in here," he was saying, half-turned to talk to the man who walked in directly behind him.

Ryou knew who it was, of course. The royal purple aura hadn't changed at all. But it took the others a moment to recognise Shaadi. He was dressed casually today too, in jeans and a t-shirt, with his glossy black hair in a pony-tail. He really looked more like an American Indian then anyone Egyptian, save his eyes, which were strange for any culture.

"Guardian Shaadi!" Yami said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"There are some things I must discuss with you and the other yamis, my pharoah." he said, inclining his head slightly to the ex-king. "And Isis too, if possible." Shaadi took a step nearer, so that he was between Ishtar and Yami, and said low enough for only the two of them to hear; "Something is going to go very wrong. Soon, I fear." The two yamis shuddered slightly, afraid of what this might mean.

Meanwhile, Joey, Serenity, and Kaiba were still standing near the door of the lounge. Ryou would never get used to the way Kaiba "felt". It was like two auras, one peach and the other tan, orbiting closely around one another. Serenity's aura, a beautiful silver-white like he'd never seen in anyone else, was standing close to her big brother's bright yellow, looking shyly around the room.

Ryou smiled at her and took a step forward. "Konnichiwa [good afternoon] Serenity. What brings you here?"

She shrugged one shoulder, a bit more at ease. She knew Ryou quite well. "I dunno. Along for the ride I guess. And to visit Joey." she laughed. "I know, I know, he's been gone less then a week, but I still miss him." Joey grinned as his sister socked him affectionately on the arm.

"Have you eaten yet?" Ryou asked. "What time is it?"

Joey glanced at his watch. "About four twenty-five."

Ryou looked startled. "Yipes! Yugi! We've got class in five minutes!"

"Aarg!" Yugi quickly disengaged from his conversation with Malik and Kaiba, heading for Ryou and the door. "Off to zoology I guess."

"May I come?"

Both men looked in surprise at Serenity, who smiled. "Could I? Would they let me?"

"Probably." Ryou said, a smile lighting his face. He held out his elbow, and giggling, Serenity hooked her arm through his. They started down the hall, Yugi trailing behind. Joey stood staring after them with a slightly dumbfounded look on his face, his mouth slightly ajar, which only Mokuba noticed.

~~**~~

The room was darkly shadowed, only a single candle, lit upon the corner of the desk, cast some feeble light. But even the flame seemed to shrink away from the shadows, as if it senced that the darkness was more then just the lack of light.

Set halfway inside the circle of light cast by the candle was a high-backed wooden chair, finely made and upholstered in dark green velvet and black leather. The armrests curled forward and ended in swirls of dark wood, as if reaching out to ensnare any who passed by. The legs, slender and fragile-looking, ended in the same sort of swirls, these tipped by feirce lion's claws.

Sitting in the chair, face cast in shadow, was a man. He sat easily, as one accustomed to the finer things. His legs were crossed one over the other, as were his arms over his chest. In his hands he held the crook and flail of the ancient pharoahs, one possitioned in front of each of his shoulders. Over his close-cropped brown hair rested the double-crown of Upper and Lower Kemet, or Egypt. He was dressed finely, and yet in the clothes of modern times, in contrast to the crook and flail and headdress. The candle light glinted off his glasses as he turned to face the woman standing before him.

"You come with news, I would hope, Jalila. For your own sake." he told her in a deep voice, extending the flail toward her as a sign of peace, that she may speak.

"I do, m'lord." she assured him, curling her right hand, stragely long-fingered, over her left breast and bowing low before him. He again extended the flail to her, and she rose, keeping her eyes cast toward his feet. "The one who has escaped us thrice before, Ryou Bakura, has been found again. This time he will not get away."

"He'd better not." the pharoah-apparent told his flame-haired servent. "Or your blood will spill in place of his. Do not fail me Jalila, or you will join Firas and Briar-Rose."

Jalila could not keep away the shudder that ran through her, but she bowed again as she faded into the shadows. "Yes m'lord."

For a time after she was gone, the man sat still, staring into the candle flame as he pondered his earlier defeats, wondering what it was that had gone wrong. Then the candle went out, just as the door to the room opened and his roommate entered, as oblivious as ever.

Gone was the darkness and shadows, the crook and flail and crown of Egypt, the elaborite wooden throne. Just Takeo, sitting innocently on his bed reading, as Tristan went about his business, unaware of what had just transpired.

()()()()()

WSJ: *grins evilly* Oh joy...

Ryou: *groans* Oh Ra...

Serenity: *eyes the chapter* Oh dear...

Joey: *growls* Oh no!

WSJ: *grins even more* Oh yes!

Bakura: *sighs* Reviews please.

WSJ: As usual, I don't know when the next update will be. Firstly because of play practice, and secondly because I just started a new Gundam Wing story that I'm really loving right now! It's Meiran/Wufei/Sally, AU, called What Could Have Never Been, if anyone's intrested in reviewing it. *gives puppy-dog eyes*

Chapter 6: Bakura, Ishtar, Yami, Shaadi, and Isis hold a conference, trying to figure out what to do. Meanwhile, Ryou's showing Serenity around the campus. They end up at the kareoke bar from last chapter. Mai sees them there, and later has a talk with Serenity... The "pharoah" plans his first strike, and desides to go after the one that Ryou loves the most.

God bless minna-san.