Invisible Me

Author’s Note – I can only apologize for the length of time that it has taken me to get this update out. I have been beset with a multitude of problems lately. I think my motherboard on my computer is about to give out on me as my power supply burned itself out not too long ago. We think it may have fried the motherboard, which is causing my system to be incredibly unsteady. From the looks of things, I think I may be saving up for a new computer soon and hope this one makes it until I can afford a more stable system. As it is, I have had to reinstall Windows too many times and am on the verge of dropping this machine off of the tallest building I can find. The other problem was Hurricane Rita. Unfortunately, my area, though on the dry side, took a lot of wind damage and even after several weeks have passed, many families are without power. As a result, my husband and I had to relocate. Fortunately, the area we moved to has some of his family here and we’re steadily getting back on track. I’m just glad I didn’t lose anything in the wake of the storm and hope that everyone remembers to include the victims of both Rita and Katrina in their thoughts! Love and thanks goes out to all of you – you guys have been so patient with me. Thanks and hugs also go to DracOnyx, ladywolf_terri, and SilverShadowFire. And another huge thank you to Silver for beta reading this chapter for me!

Disclaimer – I do not own any of these characters, except for Sachi, because they belong to someone else. I wonder if he would be willing to trade my computer for them? Nah, probably not.

Chapter Six – Baseball and Raccoons

Yugi stood at the plate, hands gripping the baseball bat tightly. Of all the sports that he’d been forced to learn and play during his time at school, this was one that he really enjoyed playing. This was probably the only sport where his small height and build didn’t leave him at a disadvantage.

He could hear Téa cheer for him to do his best, which brought a small smile to his face. The smile disappeared as he saw the pitcher begin his wind-up, alerting the duelist to be ready to swing. An instant later, the bat whistled in the air as it was swung with every ounce of strength the amethyst-eyed teenager could muster at that moment. Feeling his arms shake with the intensity of the hit, Yugi immediately dropped the bat and began running, not stopping until he reached second base.

Bakura noticed the grin that had appeared on Yugi’s face when the hikari realized that he’d enabled the two runners to make it to home. That smile made the thief feel good, knowing that it wasn’t seen very often anymore. Judging from the happy feeling from his partner, he could tell that Ryou had noticed the smile as well and was extremely pleased to see it.

The smile disappeared as Yami stepped up to the plate, and an intense expression settled on the small duelist’s face. He waited to see what his soul partner would do, knowing he would need to be ready to move as quickly as possible if his yami managed to hit the ball.

Yami hit a single, putting him on first base, which brought Marik to the plate. He tapped his bat against his shoe, mimicking the professional baseball players as his violet eyes caught sight of Sachi, who was still running her laps. A gleam appeared in the yami’s eyes for a moment and there was a loud crack as the bat connected with the quickly approaching ball.

The white object hurtled past the outfielders and before anyone could utter a word of warning, it slammed right into Sachi’s face. The blond haired girl dropped to the ground, bringing the teachers to her side.

That pretty much ended the game, and Bakura tossed his fellow yami a thumbs up as they jogged back to the locker room to change. There was a loud discussion amongst the classmates as they talked about Marik’s grand slam homerun that had literally slammed into the girl.

Téa, Ryou, and Malik had queried the blond repeatedly, and violet eyes looked almost too innocent as he denied having planned the ‘accident’ that had befallen their most despised classmate.

The next period, Yugi’s eyes widened and he bit down onto his lip to stop the laughter that threatened to be heard. As he was sitting close to his yami, laughing at the sight that had just entered the classroom wouldn’t have been a very polite thing to do but it was awfully difficult as the door opened to reveal the late arrival.

Sachi entered the room, glaring at the class as if to dare them to laugh at how she looked. Téa’s head hit her desk with a soft thunk as she struggled to contain herself at the comment muttered by the hikari sitting behind her.

“Hey look, it’s Raccoon Girl.”

Bakura, Malik, and Marik didn’t even bother to stop the laughter that Ryou’s comment had sparked. The hikari had been accurate in the name he’d dubbed the blond haired dancer, who now had two black eyes, making her look like the animal Ryou had named.

Yami, who had heard Ryou’s comment as well, knew he should be angry at it but couldn’t find it in himself to even get upset. The nickname was extremely accurate, and it was all the former pharaoh could do not to laugh as he watched his girlfriend take a seat.

And judging from the look on her face, it was a good thing he had too. Sachi’s bad day had only put her in an extremely bad mood, and the last thing Yami wanted was to be on the receiving end of her temper.

And her day only seemed to get worse.

The class watched in amusement as everything that could go wrong did for the blond haired dancer. Homework disappeared; supplies suddenly seemed to vanish without her even realizing it until she needed it.

Yami could only wonder at how bad her day had gone; he hadn’t really paying attention to his girlfriend, fellow yamis or their supporters. His mind was occupied most of the time on other things, and he never snapped to the fact that his friends were causing all of the unfortunate events that had taken place today.

After school, the conspirators decided to head to Ryou and Bakura’s house to draw up plans for tomorrow. They weren’t sure how to top Marik’s little ‘accident’ during the baseball game, but they were determined to do their best.

“Téa! Ryou!”

Turning, the group spotted Duke and Tristan moving towards them. Curious as to what the two lovers would want, they waited patiently for them to catch up.

“What’s going on, guys?”

Tristan and Duke shared a look before the ebon haired teenager answered Téa.

“We need to talk.”

There was a long look between the conspirators before Bakura answered Duke in a low growl.

“If you absolutely have to, then come on.”

The now larger group headed to the white haired yami and hikari’s home and after entering, made themselves comfortable in the cozy living room. Malik was the first to break the silence that had fallen.

“All right, what’s going on?”

Duke leaned against Tristan and listened quietly as his lover spoke about the things the two of them had noticed.

“That’s what we’d like to do. Except for that extraordinarily lucky hit, everything else that happened to Sachi today had to have been planned.”

Ryou answered him with a note of combined anger and defensiveness in his voice.

“Yeah? It’s not like she didn’t deserve it or have you two failed to notice how she’s been treating Yugi?”

There was a strong note of anger in Duke’s voice as he responded to the chocolate eyed hikari.

“Yes, we’ve noticed how the bitch is treating Yugi and that’s why we’re here. We’re pissed off at all of you.”

Marik leaned forward, his violet eyes sparking with curiosity as he questioned the dice master’s comment.

“Why is that?”

The response took all of them by surprise, and it showed on each of their faces when they heard the answer spoken in unison by the two lovers.

“Because you didn’t invite us to join in and help!”

The stunned silence was interrupted by laughter coming from Bakura and Marik. The blond haired yami managed to calm down enough to speak, though he had to talk louder than normal to be heard over the still laughing thief.

“Well then, welcome to the group!”

Tristan and Duke shared a grin and listened in silence as Ryou and Téa explained their goals. They completely agreed with the idea of supporting Yugi to go after Yami in such a way that would make the former pharaoh forget about his philandering ways and focus on his true soulmate.

There were identical mischievous expressions on their faces as they began adding ideas as to what could be done to Sachi and any other lover Yami might take. There was only a small pause as Ryou ordered pizza for the group, and the discussion began again.

Later that night, as the two lovers prepared for bed, Ryou turned to face his yami, who could see the questioning expression in the warm chocolate gaze he loved so much.

-“What’s wrong, hikari?”-

Ryou sighed and answered through the bond the two shared.

-“I just hope that this will continue to work, Kura.”-

-“It should. I had no idea Duke and Tristan could be so devious. The rest of this week should prove to be highly interesting.”-

Ryou snickered for a moment before responding to his lover.

-“Yeah, no kidding. If Raccoon Girl thinks she’s had a bad day today, she’s going to have an even worse one tomorrow. I wish we could get Joey involved in this.”-

-“He hasn’t really been around much to see the problem. I think we need to find a way for him to see what’s going on with Yugi. Maybe we can convince him and Seto to spend some time with the group this weekend.”-

-“Seto hasn’t been around much either since those two hooked up. Knowing him, if he does spend some time with us, he’ll notice what’s going on.”-

His yami’s mental voice was warm, bringing a gentle smile to the hikari’s face.

-“I’m counting on it. C’mon, Ryou, time for bed. Busy day tomorrow.”-

The couple soon went to sleep, their minds focused on the various things they had to do for tomorrow. Ryou admitted to himself as he dozed off that today had been fun, and he couldn’t wait to see how Raccoon Girl would react to tomorrow’s pranks.

Author’s End Note – More people to conspire to get Yugi and Yami together and to cause problems for Sachi and any other person that tries to get Yami’s attention. This is getting fun! I wonder what Yami’s thinking about that he hasn’t paid much attention to what’s going on with Sachi? I can’t wait for the next chapter to come out. Oh and in answer to the question of a certain phrase Duke used last chapter, it’s Gaelic for my heart. Please review and let me know what you think so far. Any suggestions are also welcome, as I try to take what my readers have to say and apply it when I can. Hugs to all! See you soon!