Shadow Rising

Hmm…. I wonder if anyone’s even still reading this. Sorry, anyway. I’m a bad author.



******



“Yugi?” Yami frowned as he glanced into their bedroom, not finding his hikari. Immediately, he reached out to try and feel him.



“Yami?” The teen answered curiously to the touch, appearing on the stairs, having gone down to the kitchen for a snack. Yami sighed in relief.



:Aren’t you being a little paranoid?: Yugi asked with a smile that faded as he turned to look as his grandpa, half asleep, came out of his room and headed for the bathroom. The teen frowned slightly. The old man had been sleeping a lot more than usual lately. Yugi had tried talking him into going to see someone about it, but Sugoroku had refused, insisting he was as healthy as ever, and then proving it by beating Yugi at Duel Monsters.



:I’m sure he’s fine.: The Pharaoh said suddenly, having been following his hikari’s train of thought. “At least he doesn’t have to worry about mysterious pharaohs trying to kidnap him.”



“Hush.” Yugi warned. That was the last thing his grandpa needed to be worrying about. He went into the room, closing the door behind him automatically. Yami blinked and stepped back, rubbing his nose and huffing.



:Oops, sorry… Habit…:



:Really.: Yami answered, shifting to spirit and phasing through the door, giving Yugi, who was now settled on his bed with his snack and a book, a half-irritated look. “If I were someone else, or you were, I might think that you had done it on purpose.” Yugi gave him a wide-eyed look and Yami felt his annoyance fading away. Gods, but the boy could be so cute at times.



“On purpose? Me?” Yami smirked and moved to lie down beside him, tilting his head to see what he was reading. It was an article on Dungeon Dice Monsters, with a small interview with Otogi.



“A new tournament?” Yami mused. “Interesting.” He debated on signing up for it, but then decided not to. He reigned over Duel Monsters already; might as well let someone else rule the other game.



“I don’t think a tournament now would be a good idea anyway. Unless it would be another of those win or the Earth is destroyed ones.” He didn’t like those any more than Yami did. After all, he was usually the one who ended up suffering. He was careful to keep that last thought secret. He knew it wasn’t Yami’s fault… usually… but it might have been taken the wrong way anyway.



Yami only nodded, rolling onto his back and closing his eyes, obviously musing over something.



“What are you thinking about?” Yugi asked curiously, then frowned as the doorbell downstairs rang. It was awfully late for someone to be here. But then it could be one of his friends, he supposed. Or maybe Ryou or Malik had escaped and were looking for help.



“I’ll get it.” Yami said, moving towards the door before Yugi had even had a chance to get off the bed. “Stay here.”



The spirit was tensed up, the same way he always was lately when the doorbell rang, or someone came in when Yugi was minding the store. And, as usual, one hand rested lightly on the puzzle, as if touching it would give him more power if he needed it. Yugi sighed and moved to follow him, getting ready to prevent him from mindcrushing some poor delivery boy again.



******



Yami stared out the door, frowning absently. There had been no one there when he had come down. Wondering if this was one of these pranks Jounouchi sometimes spoke of he took a few steps out to look around more. He caught the sound, a twig cracking under someone’s foot a moment too late, as a heavy object crashed down on his head. The Pharaoh tumbled in a heap, senseless.



******



“Yami!” Yugi called, stepping down the stairs. Something was wrong. He had felt Yami’s shock, and the way it had cut off abruptly, but now there was nothing.



The small duelist hesitated, unsure whether to flee back upstairs or to go and see what had happened. He probably wouldn’t have been much of a help in a fight, but then Yami could be seriously hurt, too. Finally, taking a deep breath, he stepped towards the door.



“Hey!” He yelled, spotting Yami and a heavy form standing over him. The man turned to look and Yugi noted that his gaze looked kind.



“Someone hit him and ran off.” The stranger explained. “Is he your brother?”



“Uh, I guess you could say that.” Yugi answered, relaxing and stepping closer. Suddenly, though, a cloth, soaked in something, was clamped over his mouth and nose. A shocked gasp was all he could manage before he too was rendered unconscious.



******



“Yugi. What on Earth are you doing out here.” Yami groaned as someone bent to shake his shoulder, looking up to Sugoroku confusedly.



“Oh. Yami… Sorry. Where’s Yugi?” Yami blinked, sitting up suddenly and looking around, remembering the events of the night before.



“Yugi! He’s not in his room?” He reached, but, as he had dreaded, there was nothing there. Absolutely nothing, as if he had never had a mindlink. And, he suddenly noted, the weight of the millennium puzzle was gone as well. Cursing, he stumbled to his feet, and ran inside to phone the others.



******



“We have to do something.” Yami snarled, glaring out the window, not really seeing anything. He had told Yugi to stay in his room. He should have been more careful himself, should have known better… A nervous gardener hurriedly decided to tend to something else, out of sight of the spirit’s gaze.



“I’m sure he’s fine.” Yami turned his wannabe-deadly gaze on the speaker, and, as could have been expected, Jounouchi didn’t back down at all. After all, how scared could you be of a guy who you had already semi-beat up, and who looked nearly exactly like another guy you had routinely picked on for years.



“Don’t know why you’re so surprised, anyway.” Bakura said grumpily. He hadn’t been sleeping well at all lately, and his attitude showed it. “Stupid twerp shoulda been the first.”



Yami turned with a growl, stretching out a hand as he called on his power to banish the thief. He had forgotten he didn’t have the puzzle anymore, though, and although he was powerful on his own, Bakura’s ring gave him the upper hand. Not only was the Pharaoh’s spell easily fought off, but the other Egyptian’s counter landed Yami in the very same place he had intended on sending Bakura too.



Irritably he stared around, wondering how Bakura always managed to get out.



******



“Bring him back, now, before I use that ring to strangle you.” Jounouchi snapped, Honda right behind him.



“We’ll kick your ass from here to the other end of the city.” The brunet agreed.



“You and what army?” Bakura answered, the ring starting to glow again.



“What the hell is going on?” Kaiba growled, standing at the top of the stairs. The three completely ignored him, under a powerful push knocked all three backwards.



“That is quite enough of that.” Set said, appearing on the other side of the stairs with the rod. Kaiba glared at him a moment, opened his mouth as if to say something, shut it again, and just turned and stalked back to his bedroom. Set gave them another irritated look and headed after Kaiba. Bakura just stood and stalked out, cursing in Egyptian.



“Drat. I have to go to work, Jou. Sorry. Tell Yami when he gets back that if I hear anything I’ll call right away.” Jounouchi waved as Honda ran out the door, then sighed, looking around. Noticing a maid taking some food upstairs, he decided to follow. Who know, maybe he’d get something to eat out of this whole thing. And maybe he could talk Set into helping Yami get back.



******



So it was that the blond found himself sitting at a small table between the two brunets, holding a cup of tea. And he didn’t even like tea. Of course, it was worth it to watch the way the two were glaring at each other with identical ‘I’m going to murder you slowly and painfully’ expressions. Absolutely hilarious. He’d be laughing if he wasn’t quite sure that the sound would break the spell and draw both their attention. And he was sure that Set would probably like being laughed at about as much as Kaiba.



They must have been mindspeaking, he assumed, since neither had said a word since the identical hn’s when he had invited himself to their little tea party. Neither were they eating, though both had forks half-raised. He wondered what they were fighting about, though, knowing Kaiba, it could have been anything.



Finally, after about ten minutes more, Kaiba stood with a growl and stalked off. Set turned to look at Jounouchi, the anger fading as the Priest noted the amused expression. The teen quickly wiped the smirk off.



“I don’t suppose you know how to bring people back from the Shadow Realm? Bakura kind of trapped Yami there when they were fighting earlier…” Set sighed and concentrated, frowning slightly. After a moment, Yami appeared along with a kuribou. The monster was clinging to his back and proceeded to look around, cooing confusedly.



“It’s about time. When I get my hands on that thief, I’m going to mind crush him so badly he won’t even be able to remember how to stand.”



“What’s with the furball?” Jounouchi asked, taking a sip of the tea and making a face.



“He’s worried about Yugi.” Yami answered shortly, not paying any attention to the Kuribou. The creature didn’t seem to mind too much, seemingly content to cuddle up against his master.



“Why exactly are you two here anyway?” Set asked, drinking his own tea. Yami sighed.



“I don’t know. It just felt… wrong, to stay at the shop with him missing. And Kaiba did manage to help last time…”



Jounouchi tilted his chair back on its back legs and stretched.



“Well, I could be at home, putting up with my drunk of a father, wandering around the streets looking for a fight, or amusing myself here. I chose here.”



“The whole group of you might as well just move in.” The Priest muttered.



“I wouldn’t mind.” The blond answered, and Yami actually chuckled. I’m sure I could manage to avoid moneybags when I didn’t feel like putting up with him.”



“Screw the rules. I have money.” Kaiba exclaimed into his cellphone as he passed the door, casting irritated glares at the three. “Bribe them or blackmail them or something. I want that company under my thumb by the end of the week.” He shut the cellphone and scowled.



“Don’t you have somewhere else to be? This isn’t a soup kitchen.”



“No.” Jounouchi answered. “The food’s better here. Trust me.”



“GET! OUT!” And with those words, the irritated CEO stalked off towards his office.



“Ya think he meant it?” Jounouchi wondered aloud.



“He’s just annoyed.” Set answered with a sigh and went to try to calm him down. Jounouchi shrugged and returned to his tea.



“I’m going to see if I can get the Millennium Necklace to work. Maybe it will show me something.”



Let me know if it does.” Jounouchi said, deciding to go looking again himself after he was done eating. When it came to the magic stuff, if that was what it was, he was usually not all that helpful. But after they managed to find Yugi and the others… Well, he’d happily kick the ass of anyone who had hurt them.



******



Not much in this chapter, I suppose. I’m just getting back into the swing of things, I guess. Sorry again about the long disappearance.

For those who noticed the quote, sorry, I just couldn’t resist. And those who didn’t, go here.

http://www.yugiohtheabridgedseries.com

Trust me. You won’t regret it.

And, another kinda steal… The little tea party in the last chapter came from a lovely desktop screenshot I spotted on DA. I would have downloaded it, if all the stupid icons and stuff weren’t in the way. (*Doesn’t see the point of desktop screenshots and believes people should just put up the backgrounds.*)

Anyway, it can be found here.

http://illusionevenstar.deviantart.com/art/My-SetoxJoeyxSeth-Wallie-78957259

by the by, if anyone else knows where to get the background feel free to share, too.



Ayachan – It was that one about Seto leaving Set at school and then breaking down over it. Though, I didn’t quite do the same thing…

I don’t think Nui’s all that much worried about the virgin aspect, actually. If you’re willing to go after children, after all, as he obviously is, they’re actually pretty common, and, technically, he has one now, even if he doesn’t know it yet.



ASotA – Yeah, I’m predictable. *Shrugs.* Oh well. And the next chapter, which I promise to have out in a reasonable time space, will switch over to the hikari’s side of things, so then you’ll know. ^^





Kiyomi – Thanks. And don’t I know it. A lot of the ones I’ve come across have been so OOC, or just plain strange. Not that I go looking for them all that often, but I don’t avoid them either. But then, the same can be said for most SetoxJoey stories too. I hate the ones where they’re both suddenly all sappy and cuddly. Seto’s a bastard, and Joey’s a rebel and I don’t see them changing any time soon.

As for Yugi, you’ll just have to wait and see. I’ll just say, as goes a quote in one of my favourite movies; ‘…things aren't always what they seem in this place.’ And cookies for whoever can place it.



Selena – Thank you. I don’t think it’s going to work out that way anyway, really, at least not in this one. It was mostly just a passing thought. As I said above, most of the time I’m not fond of the SetoxJou pairing either. But then again, they’re not as weird as some pairings I’ve seen…