Harmony: v_v; Don't mind her, she's spent all morning feasting on Nerds, Hersey Kisses and over-sweet iced tea, so she's on a major sugar-high....

WSJ: :p Of course! That's what Easter candy's for! And an even bigger hooray!! Brood got 1st in her division of forensics (competetive acting) tourney, and she's going to state too!! *spins around on her desk chair* Wheeeeeee!! *falls over and giggles hysterically*

Harmony: *super sweatdrop* Okay... No more sugar for you...

WSJ: Au contrare, my little musie! *holds up bucket of candy* I've still got lots more!!!

Harmony: Oo; .....Musie?

WSJ: ^^ *nods happily, then shakes mystery box from katia* Hmmmm.... ?? He-ke?

Harmony: Oo; What?

WSJ: ^^ He-ke? It's Hamtaro-talk.

Harmony: *twitches*

WSJ: :p I know I'm inconsistant, okay? When there's a dispiute, take whatever the most recent writing is. But about Ryou's birthday; I recently found out it really is September 2nd. Isn't that cool? ^^ Mine's September 16. ^^v

Disclaimer: We don't own YGO. We own Takeo, Hiro, Gwen, and Scott. Yes, we do precious... *hisses and strokes bucket of candy*

Harmony: OO;; Brood owns Amoura, Lisa, and Yunet. And I'm out of here! *runs from WSJ's immence sugar-highness, CP and Bakura at her heels. WSJ is left alone, giggling and devouring candy*

()()()()()

Yamis of Tokyo U: Freshmen

Chapter 9: Reasons Why and a Really Good Cry

The first rehersal was two days later, on Monday. Scripts were handed out, some proceedures were discussed, but that was about all. As the cast immerged from the Drama Center, Ryou was waiting, and he caught Bakura by the arm. "Mou hitori no boku, I have to talk to you."

Bakura blinked, his eyebrows raised into his hairline. Ryou almost never called him "my other half" anymore, just as Bakura, for one reason or another, almost never called him aibou. It just complicated matters, and besides, they didn't have to say anything. They already knew they were partners and friends, even though they no longer shared a body or the powers of the Ring, which Ryou still wore.

Ryou drew him around the corner of the building, where they were afforded a little privacy, and yet it didn't look strange or suspicious for them to be there talking. "What is it Ryou?"

Ryou was quiet, trying to gather his thoughts into words. His decision to tell Bakura about Takeo had been impetuous, but he needed some help with what he was planning to do. "There's something that bothers me about Tristan's roommate."

"Takeo?" Bakura turned and looked over his shoulder at the man in question, who was just coming out of the building with his cousin Rhiannon, or just Rhian, the little girl who was playing Gretl. She was on his shoulders, and he was talking urgently to her in a voice too low for Ryou and Bakura to hear.

"What about him?"

Ryou frowned. "Bakura, you trust me, right? And you'd stand by me, no matter what?"

Bakura nodded. "Of course I would, you know that."

Ryou was quiet for another minute or so. Then he said, finally, "Something about Takeo isn't right. I can't sense his aura at all. It's like he's not even there. And yet, I can sense Rhian, but it's like she's floating five feet in the air; sitting on nothing!"

"Are you sure?" Bakura's jaw was somewhere around ground level. "We've got to tell Yami about this right away."

"No!" Ryou pleaded. "You can't! Do you really think he'd believe me?"

Bakura looked at him sternly. "Aibou. You doubt yourself too much. Of course he would believe you. But for now, I suppose I shall have to humor you." He crossed his arms and leaned back against the brick wall of the Drama Center. "So what do you propose we do?"

"I want to find out who he is; what he is. What he's doing here, where he came from. Do you notice he doesn't quite look Japanese?"

Bakura nodded. "Hai, I have noticed. He doesn't really look like anything. Gwen and Amoura, at least, look their nationalities. Takeo looks like nothing. And his Japanese is too perfect, not even an accent. Where does he say he came from?"

"I don't know," Ryou said. "But I'll ask Tristan."

"Good," Bakura said, nodding. "I'm going to be swamped with play stuff from now on, I'll probably get back to the dorm long after you've gone to bed. How 'bout we meet right back here a week from today?" He held out his hand.

Ryou clasped it firmly, smiling for the first time. "Deal."

~*~

Mai was so intent on her own thoughts as she headed back from the Drama Center that at first she didn't even notice when he dropped in behind her. Finally he gave up and put his hands over her eyes, snickering slightly. She gasped and spun around, then let out a long breath.

"Scott! Don't scare me like that!"

"What'cha thinking about?" he teased, walking beside her.

She shrugged indifferently. "I dunno, the play I guess."

"What, mad that I'm your "fiance", and not my cousin?"

Mai blushed as she tried to swat at him with her purse. "Scott! What made you think that I'd want Joey as my fiance, even for a play?"

"Oh, I dunno," Scott said, dodging her purse with a grin. "Just Joey himself."

Mai froze. "J-Joey?"

"Yeah, he told me himself. He said that he wished he 'was playing the Captain so I could have Mai as my fiancee', end quote."

"Oh dear..." Mai was so busy blushing and staring at her shoes and trying to overcome her anger all at once that she didn't notice Scott's grin, or the sly glances he kept throwing at a nearby bush. Finally Mai excused herself and hurried off, not in the direction of the dorms, but toward her car. She needed to drive around and air her thoughts.

Once she was out of sight, Gwen and Yugi climbed out of the bushes and joined Scott on the sidewalk. Gwen laughed as she shook leaves out of her clothes. "Not one of our more inspired hiding places, for sure."

Yugi nodded as he pulled a collection of twigs out of his hair. "For sure. How'd it go Scott? We couldn't hear back there because somebody couldn't stop giggling."

Gwen made a face at him, and Scott chuckled. "About as well as to be expected. She blushed a lot, then ran off. I think she really likes him."

"Hello!" Gwen said. "Where have you been, Mars? Doesn't Joey ever tell you anything?"

Scott frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Joey and Mai were dating for awhile a couple years ago." Yugi said, yanking the last of the small sticks out of his hair. "But they had a huge fight and broke it off. They've been fighting constantly ever since. We know that they like each other, we just have to get them together again."

"Which is the point of this whole match-making thing." Gwen said, rubbing her palms together. "We're so glad you agreed to help! You're perfect!"

Scott blinked. "Perfect? For what?"

"Matchmaking!" Gwen said, slightly exhasperated. "You're Joey's cousin, and you're staring opposite Mai in the play! You're perfect to help us get to both of them, like you did Mai today."

"You and Isis and Serenity are our key people." Yugi told him. "You three are the ones closest to them."

Scott rubbed his jaw, where a bit of beard was beginning to grow. "Close to them? I wouldn't know about that... But," he shrugged. "If you say so."

"We say so." Gwen assured him. "Now come on, we've got planning to do!"

~*~

Mai's car was roaring down the road so fast that if she had been calm enough to think of it, she would have wondered why she didn't get stopped for speeding.

"Baka..." she muttered darkly to herself. "Bakayaro! Want me for a fiance, hmph. I should blast him into orbit." She snorted, and then suddenly found that she was arguing against herself.

You like him! You know you do. Stop denying.

"I'm not denying." she said aloud. "Scott's pretty cute, I'll admit that. But Joey? Puh-leaz."

Suit yourself. You'll see...

Mai turned on the radio with a snap, hoping to shut herself up. But, as often happens, Fate (who is a pretty avid matchmaker herself) stepped in and made sure the song on the radio was just the one Mai needed to hear. And if Mai saw a black- or white-feathered wing out of the corner of her eyes, or heard a giggle, she atributed it to her imagination.

"So gimme:
Speed,
How fast will it go?
Can it get me, over her quickly,
Zero to sixty, can it outrun her memories?
Yeah, what I really need
Is an open road...
An' a whole lotta speed..."

(WSJ: That song is "Speed", by Montgomery Gentry. It's one of my favorites! *giggles* Actually, if you listen to the whole thing, it reminds me a lot of Pegasus...)

She frowned and bit her lip as a long-surpressed memory floated to the surface. It had been almost seven months now, seven months since she'd left Domino City for God-knows-where...

"Hey, Mai,"

Mai looked up from loading her car to see Joey leaning casually against the hood. "What do you want Wheeler?"

Joey shrugged, a cocky grin on his face. "Oh, I dunno, thought I'd see you off, I guess."

"But I didn't even know I was going anywhere Joey. So why are you here?"

Joey didn't answer as he leaned toward her over the hood of her car. "Why didn't it ever work out for us Mai?" She didn't answer, unable to turn her eyes away from him. Finally he sighed and stepped back, opening the driver's side door for her. She stared at him dumbly a moment, and he grinned at her. "Well, go on, where ever it is you're going. Just don't forget to come back, okay?"

Mai nodded as she got in and pulled the door out of Joey's hands, shutting it behind her. She stuck the key in the ignition and almost missed Joey's final words.

"What are you running away from this time, Mai?"

The only answer she gave him was a cloud of dust.

Mai pulled into a random parking lot and put her arms on the steering wheel. Leaning forward so that her forehead was rested against her arms, she stared down at her lap, refusing to let herself cry.

"Miz Mai?"

Mai's head jerked up, and she turned to see Amoura peering at her through the window, a glass of something in each hand. Mai rolled down the window, attempting to smile. "Hiya Amoura, what are you doing here?"

Amoura smiled at her. "Getting zupper," she gestured with an elbow at the McDonalds that Mai had unwittingly pulled into. "I zaw you an' you looked down. Vant a zhake?"

Mai blinked as Amoura offered her one of the cups, trying to puzzle through the French girl's accent. "What? Oh, a shake! Gee, I really could use one..." She hit the electronic unlocker and patted the passenger seat next to her. "Come on in."

The French duelist circled around to the other side of the car and handed Mai her shake before settling herself down next to the older girl, sipping her own creamy ice creame by-product. "Zo vhat iz wrong Miz Mai?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.

Mai chuckled half-heartedly. "Mai. Just Mai, Amoura. Did any of them ever tell you about my little run-away last summer? And of course by 'them' I mean Yugi and co."

Amoura shook her head. "No. Tea might 'ave said something about you being gone, but she never explained it to Gven (she pronouned it very cutely, like 'geh-ven') or I."

Mai was quiet, fiddling with the lid of her cup. Finally she said with a sort of half-choked voice; "Have you ever been drunk Amoura? No? What about high on cocaine? You never want to be, believe me." She sniffled and rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Joey and I were just fightng so much, and I couldn't handle it. It reminded me of when my parents fought, way back when when I was a little girl. I didn't want to hurt Joey the way my dad had hurt my mom, so I just left. It didn't occur to me until later that that was exactly what my dad had done to mom and I; just up and left.

"But by then my pride wouldn't let me go back to Domino. So I did a lot of wandering, and ended up in Kyoto. I found some 'friends' there who offered me booze, crack, and any number of other unsavory things, and I took them. I don't to this day know why, but I took them." Mai was still crying, but the tears were slower now. "One morning I woke up with my hair chopped and dyed and a Harpie tattoo with no memory of where I'd gotten them, and I decided that enough was enough. So I went back. That was just last Augest. I didn't do enough drugs to get addicted, but boy did I come close...

"And that's why I can't let Joey love me. Don't you see Amoura? I've done so many things... And he, he is a tenshi, you would say an angel. My family has a history of broken families. I won't hurt him. I won't. Not like I hurt-" She stopped herself and shook her head. "I'm sorry Amoura. I shouldn't be piling all this on you." She sniffled once more and wiped her eyes.

"Mi- I mean, Mai. You cannot let vone miztake change your 'ole live. You love 'im, no?" Amoura said. She held up her hand, not letting Mai answer one way or another. "Jus' because your dad valked out on you and your mom doez not mean you are doomed to do the zame. Give 'im a chance to love you. You might be zurprized."

And then the French girl was gone, heading across the parking lot to her own car. Mai sat stunned, and then thoughtful, for several hours, contemplating what Amoura had said, and what about last summer Mai hadn't told her. In the gathering gloom of the night, one more tear, alone in its trek, rolled down Mai's cheek.

"What now Kale? What do I do now?"

~*~

The week appointed passed rather quickly, and Bakura and Ryou were once again meeting by the corner of the Drama Center, Ryou frowning in thought. "This is getting stranger and stranger Bakura. Supposedly, Takeo's from Osaka, but that just doesn't ring true. Mako's from Osaka, and when I asked him, he said he could find out if there were any Tomia's anywhere. And they're aren't."

Bakura shrugged. "So the guy's an orphan, so what?"

"No," Ryou said, shaking his head slowly. "I don't think so. Dangit Bakura, stop thinking like a mortal for a minute and start thinking like a, a yami!"

Bakura chuckled slightly at this odd statement. "Whatever you say. How do we start?"

()()()()()

WSJ: Sorry all, but tha 'half-naked nuns' thing will have to be put on hold a few chapters. :p It will still happen though.

Chapter 10: It's Christmas time, and after struggling their way through finals, everyone gets out of Tokyo U for three full weeks! Amoura and Gwen wreak a little holiday havoc at the Kaiba mansion, with Hiro along for the ride. Malik and Ishtar conspire to get Shaadi and Isis under the mistletoe. The Valentines and the Motos are getting ready for their respective holiday parties. Bakura sips a bit too much eggnog. And through it all, on Christmas Eve Ryou has the strangest vision that he has in a long time...

God bless minna-san! ^^v