Midnight Blue (Rei no Kaado)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Naoto's glared even further as Kaiba spoke about Kanji. For once, she let her emotions get ahead of her and said, "At least he doesn't solve all of his problems with children's trading card games."

Kanji flushed red as Naoto defended him and turned around, looking away from Naoto. She didn't have to put it like that, did she? He wasn't really sure how to feel about her defending him like that. She was obviously trying to defend a friend from a giant jerk like Kaiba. That was probably all it was.

[mugenginga]

"At least I don't solve all my problems with violence. Do you know what Kaiba Corporation specialized in before games? Weapons. Kaiba Gouzaburou singlehandedly provided the means for entire cities to be wiped from the face of the map. I would think you would prefer 'children's' card games," Kaiba smirked, "Although I have yet to see an adult defeat me in such a 'childish' game. Now, get out of my way."

Kaiba took maybe a quarter of a step forward, which was pretty much the entire amount of space their positions allowed. He had lowered his left arm before doing so, meaning running into Naoto would do it no harm. He didn't intend on shoving his way past her just yet, but if she didn't move he would be bumping into her.

----------

"After that, I think... Atem walked me back to the hotel?" Atem gave a nod, "I slept there and met with K1-kun again in the morning. We got another one of those Laplace Mails telling... about..."

"It said a boy would die in a fire at the destroyed hospital. We went there to stop it. I gave K1 the Puzzle and events lead to a gas tank exploding. The boy... he died, and the Puzzle was broken into pieces."

"Wait, wouldn't that mean... Uh... that Yuugi would have...?"

Atem looked away, "No. Whoever was dormant would be sealed into the Puzzle. You can't remember this in detail, but it was why Partner refused to let me surface during the fight where Malik used you as his puppet."

"Yuugi, are you okay...?"

Yuugi's hands were balled into fists and he had his eyes squeezed shut. He tensed up as Anzu asked her question, and wiped his eyes. It almost looked like he had just gotten something into them, but not quite. It was clear he was wiping away tears that had been forming. He looked up and forced a smile, shaking his head and causing the light to reflect even more off his moist eyes.

"I-I'm fine. We can go on."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Naoto glared even further as Kaiba explained that bit of history about his company. "Not until you stop being so rude toward my friends. Personally, I'm rather sick of the attitude you hold toward them, and I don't know if you've quite noticed, but your company has no influence here. There is absolutely no reason for you to be acting this way."

By this point, Naoto had surpassed ticked off mode. She looked toward Kaiba's injured arm (which she had figured out a while ago was injured just based on the way Kaiba was holding himself) and suddenly seized it. She had a firm grip and didn't seem to have any intentions of letting go.

"Apologize," Naoto stated. "You can go see Atem-san after I can tell that you'll act civil for once."

[mugenginga]

Kaiba saw the movement out of the corner of his eye, and tried to step to the side. The aim had been to turn sideways and allow Naoto to crash down the floor. However, she moved with far more agility and ability to shift directions than Kaiba had expected and managed to grab right on to where he had suspected she was aiming. Kaiba let out a hiss audible enough even Kanji would be deaf to miss it.

Kaiba then tried to jerk his arm free, but Naoto's grip only tightened as she spoke. There was a slight slip, however, and part of the bandage under the shirt came loose. Kaiba stopped, but the action wasn't quick enough to stop just a bit of the bandage from coming fully undone. Naoto's grip meant one finger tighetend over that area, pressing the fabric of Kaiba's shirt into the burns. Due to how they'd been treated, Naoto would more than feel a difference in her grip. The cream that had been applied allowed the shirt to stick, and any further movement from Kaiba would be more painful than entirely necessary.

Kaiba glared at Naoto and brought up his other arm. His intentions were to throw her back into the other opposite wall, and he had no intentions of being gentle about it. Honestly, he hoped it would hurt the boy enough to cause him to collapse. It was possible he'd then be rushed by the other teenager, but he broadcasted his moves more clearly and would be easier to dodge. And beyond that, he was not incapable of defending himself. It hadn't just been books he'd had all but beaten into him as a child, after all.

----------

Anzu frowned, her eyebrows angled and giving her a very concerned look, but she nodded. Jounouchi was actually keeping quiet as well. He wanted to say something, but it was clear Yuugi had a lot to get off his chest. Better to let him continue. Yuugi took a deep breath.

"After that, we ran into Eriol-san again. He was the living doll Atem mentioned before. We helped him.. find the key that... started the fire from breaking. It turned into a huge fight and Atem summoned Osiris, and-"

"Wait, that god card!?"

"Y-yeah."

"It was a lot more effective than I had suspected. Apparently the doll is afraid of dragons and draconic creatures. I didn't have to attack as a result. K1 showed up before much else happened. I informed him of the god cards, which unsettled him. We'd find out exactly why later."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Kaiba gave the response Naoto expected as he tried to pull his arm free. In his struggles, some of the bandage Naoto was feeling under the sleeve slipped, causing Kaiba's shirt to stick to the wound. Based on the fact that she could feel some sort of cream from where the bandage had slipped, it seemed to be a burn of some sorts.

Kanji caught Kaiba's arm raising before Naoto did, and before Kaiba could retaliate, Kanji ran up the stairs, aiming his fist right at the back of Kaiba's head. He was intending to knock Kaiba out, and he was moving rather quickly. Plus with how Naoto was holding Kaiba, it would be difficult for the taller teenager to dodge.

[mugenginga]

Kaiba saw the other teenager running at him from the corner of his eye, realizing immediately it would have been far smarter to handle him first. It wasn't like him to make such tactical mistakes, at least not without some form of backup. His head turned out of pure reflex as the fist came towards him, and Kanji hit half a second before Naoto would have.

Due to the turn, this meant Kaiba pretty much got boxed in his ear. His legs buckled and his eyes rolled into the back of his head before closing altogether. The knees hit on the stair rather hard, and his weight fell sideways, likely ramming into Kanji. Actually, if it didn't and no one bothered to catch him, he'd roll down the stairs. A bit of blood was also trickling from the ear Kanji had hit, a pretty solid indication the bleach blond had maybe hit just a bit too well.

----------

"After that, we ran into K1-kun again, and one of his friends, Midori-chan. That was when I first really learned K1-kun's world has the anime and manga featuring us. Midori-chan was more a fan of mahou shoujo and sentai, but she was familiar with our world too. We all went to have dinner and K1-kun accidentally caused a fight by bringing up someone Midori-chan had liked. He... got killed back in K1-kun's home world."

"The following day involved us meeting up with Minato-kun again. Both Partner and I didn't want to put any further strain on Minato-kun's wallet, as we'd already stayed in the hotel longer than we should have. He was willing to put us up for a month until we got better settled, although it would end up being two. After some chaos, we made it to Minato-kun's apartment. That's when an e-mail that is still effecting us arrived."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Kanji's eyes widened as the attack had the intended effect, as well as the unintended effect of ramming into him. The result ended up being that Kaiba's unconscious body knocked Kanji down the stairs as well, and the two of them rolled down the stairs. Naoto winced as Kanji slammed into the floor. Thankfully Kaiba landed clear of him.

"...Kanji, are you alright?" Naoto asked. Kanji winced and sat up.

"Yeah, just fine," Kanji said. Naoto walked down the stairs and over to Kaiba.

"I think you hit him a bit too hard," Naoto said. "His ear's bleeding."

"...He had it comin'," Kanji stated.

[mugenginga]

"The COMPs received a Laplace Mail. K1 seemed disturbed by this, as they often didn't come late at night. Minato-kun panicked when he read it. The Dark Hour was set to begin at the instant the calender day turned over."

"Jounouchi-kun, Anzu, you aren't aware for it so please just take this on faith. At exactly Midnight, every night since that night, there is a 'hidden' hour. It seems kind of similar to the concept of the Western witching hour. All appliances cease to function, the light levels change, the water turns to blood, and the air is still as death. Oh, and most people turn into these crystal coffin things, which is why most of the world doesn't know about it."

Jounouchi had paled, "I-I'd like to not believe you..."

Anzu sighed at Jounouchi, "Don't worry, Yuugi. We trust you. Please go on."

"I know you trust us, but please don't panic. The reason this Hour happens is one of the most important things we have to tell you."

"Atem's right. The world is-"

"Partner, we can cover it at the end. That part will have the most explaning."

Yuugi frowned, but nodded. He turned back towards Jounouchi and Anzu, "A-anyhow, K1-kun ran out the door to check on Midori-chan, who had shown up outside the apartments. Atem ran forward to help K1-kun, who got cut off by a really large Shadow. Anzu, you know what those are."

"According to Seta-san-tachi, they're these monsters that are basically formed from suppressed emotions... E-everyone apparently has one, and they're the specific reason Bakura-kun's in so much danger."

Jounouchi ran both his hands through his hair, "I totally don't get it! But go ahead, I want to get to this thing Atem insists on keeping until the end!"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Naoto groaned. "While I can't deny that, because of this we have an unconscious man here that we'll have to deal with now."

Kanji stood up and shrugged. "Just leave 'im here, someone will call the cops eventually."

Naoto ignored Kanji and bent down next to Kaiba. She rolled his left sleeve up, fully exposing the bandage underneath and the bit of flesh where it had slipped. Slowly, so as not to agitate the wound underneath, she unwrapped a bit more of the bandage so she could get a closer look.

"It seems to be a chemical burn of some sort, though what he would have been doing that would have caused this is beyond even me," Naoto said. Kanji gave a low whistle as he got a look at the burn underneath the bandage before Naoto began rewrapping it around Kaiba's arm.

[mugenginga]

"The memories are a bit patchy, but as far as I can recall from retellings, Souji-kun saved K1, and from there I summoned a Persona for the first time," Atem noted Anzu's confused look.

It was Yuugi that explained it, "Minato-kun and Souji-kun come from the same world! I think they're a few years apart, though. And when Minato-kun-tachi were using their Persona, they didn't face them. They forced them out with things called Evokers. They were basically... well, guns that they shot at their head."

"What the hell!? Wait, hold on! Atem, are you trying to tell me you just randomly shot yourself in the head!?"

Atem shook his head, "I can't explain quite what was going through my head either, I don't remember it well enough. A symptom of one's first Dark Hour is patchy memories, if any exist at all. If I had to guess, I would say I did it because Minato had explained the process before and there was no other option."

"You. Shot yourself. In the head."

"Jounouchi-kun, settle down! It's really not a problem! It's in the past, and Atem can summon his Persona the same way Souji-kun-tachi can! By summoning a card," Yuugi held out his hand and in a flash of blue flame a card appeared, "And crushing it. Its really more spirit based than anything else!"

"If you would let us continue..."

"Go ahead, please! Jounouchi-kun, I'm sure if you'll just be quiet everything will be clear by the end!"

"Fine fine, go ahead...._{But I still think that's insane.}"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Now that Naoto had taken a look at Kaiba's condition, the issue of what they were going to do with him had come up. After a bit, Naoto managed to convince Kanji that leaving Kaiba unconscious here would be a bad idea, but they still had to put him somewhere.

"Well, I ain't taking him to Yuugi's," Kanji stated.

"Agreed. There's no need for him to wake up and cause more trouble than he already has with Yuugi," Naoto said. "I'd rather not unload him on anyone else, either."

"Well, I don't wanna put him in our apartment!"

"We could just put him on the couch for now. It's not like you sleep there anymore."

"...."

"Kanji-kun..."

"Alright, alright... but just tonight. And we're kickin' him out first thing tomorrow mornin'! I don't want him hangin' around when we go help rescue that Bakura kid," Kanji growled.