Gathering (Rei no Kaado)

[mugenginga]

Honda and Asim had been exchanging glares for three blocks. It was clear they would have been exchanging choice words had they shared a language. It had been Asim who had broken the dominance fight. After Honda had been forced to look away due to a stumble, Asim hadn’t deigned to return the frequent glances the Japanese teenager was giving him.

Yuugi had been walking very close to Atem, giving the former Pharaoh almost nothing in the way of personal space. Atem had closed his eyes at several extended points to avoid his Partner’s worried glances. His mind was racing, and no conclusion seemed it would settle him. Atem knew the tales. As Pharaoh, he was a god on earth, superior to the pantheon. In life, he served as an aspect both of and above Horus. In death, he would serve that position to Osiris.

The problem lay in that he had never believed that. Even his faith in the gods had been for show. The future he had wanted was that of his Partner’s world. A greater equality than the Egypt of old could offer. Now he was being informed those tales were true? He was the head of a pantheon that should be long extinct? It wasn’t what he had hoped for. What he wanted, more than anything, was to be a normal teenager. He didn’t want to rule a religion... For the first time, Atem realized he really wanted that normal life his Partner had mentioned.

< “Pha-Atem, is this not the Apartments?” >

Asim had paused to look up at the rows of tall buildings. Honda had fixed yet another stare on him. Yuugi had wondered if Atem had even heard the words when the former Pharaoh gave a surprised start and looked up.

< “You will leave after Malik is dropped off.” > Atem ordered.

< “...Understood.” >

Atem seemed surprised at what Asim had said. He couldn’t believe it had been dropped so simply. Once more, neither Honda nor Yuugi knew what had been said, but both Egyptians seemed to have a fairly flat expression. Atem’s faded first to one of tiredness as he turned to Honda.

“Honda-kun, could you open the doors for Asim?”

“Are you sure?”

Atem nodded. Honda gave a glare to Asim before trotting forward. His distrust radiated even after he stepped to the side of the now open door. Atem gave a silent sigh and walked towards the apartments.

----------

“I’m saying it could help you keep your mind occupied.”

Jounouchi and Anzu were about three blocks from the Apartments. Anzu had something held to her chest. It appeared to be a large black plastic bag with a logo on the front. Her arms were concealing what it said, though. She gave no response to Jounouchi’s attempts at encouragement. The blonde rubbed the back of his head. Man, it had been obvious she liked at least one fo the Yuugis, but she was sure taking it hard. A thought dawned on him and he gave her a mischevious grin.

“Besides, I’m looking forward to seeing you there. I think that skirt is shorter than the one you had at Burger W-”

* “Pardon I...” *

“Anzu, watch out!”

Anzu walked right into the heavily tanned foreigner who had stepped out in front of them. Her head popped up and the bag she had been carrying fell tot he ground. The white and lace-like “Angel Mort” logo could be clearly seen now, and a bit of black fabric with white lace had fallen out. Anzu quickly bowed in apology, but Jounouchi was more surprised that the man had crouched down and put the bag back in order. He stood up and held it out to Anzu.

* “It quite alright. No needed apologies.” *

Anzu looked puzzled as the man held out the bag. Was he speaking English? Jounouchi looked to be counting something on his fingers. His face was scrunched up in confusion. That alone was confirmation the man wasn’t speaking Japanese. English it was, then.

* “N-no, my fault! I was not watch where I was going! * Anzu replied back in English as well. Well, she had planned on going to America when she graduated, so knowing some English made sense. Jounouchi looked more confused than before.

* “If you demand,” * the man said with a relaxed smile. He held the bag closer. Anzu blinked and grabbed it with an apologetic smile. The man looked around for a moment, * “No means being rude, but I am looking for someone....” *

“Anzu...?” Jounouchi said. He’d finally identified the language, but school had never really been his strong suit. It was probably a good thing Anzu could understand him.

* “I’m sorry, I’m here newly... I can try to give help. Who are you trying to look for?” *

The man looked relieved, * “Two peoples. One is friend, one I need meet. First one has blue hair, very tall. Answering to Asim. He is Egyptian, like I.” *

Anzu blinked. Egyptian? Jounouchi looked a bit startled as he said that as well. Egypt was called as such when he or his friend mentioned it, so he was able to recognize it despite the different pronunciation. He looked towards Anzu. Why would the guy be mentioning Egypt? Giving previous experiences with Egyptians, he was now worried about the situation.

Anzu shook her head, * “I do not know Asim. Who else you looking for? I might help there...”

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato had headed upstairs earlier, and was actually asleep on the bed in his apartment. He was very sore from his sprint earlier, and knew he was still going to be feeling that in the morning. Probably still going to be feeling that over the next few days, too. In any case, he was pretty well asleep, and someone would have to wake him up if anything major happened.

[mugenginga]

(OOC: CATCH THE P3P REFERENCE. =D)

Asim adjusted Malik on his back. The teenager was heavier than he looked, and Asim could feel it was all muscle. He wasn't quite sure why the Pharaoh hadn't had him carried to the hospital. From the looks of things, his right hand was all but destroyed. When he'd tackled him he'd felt at least one rib crack, and the impact had indicated a few were broken. He was just as unsure what the teenager had gone up against, but he doubted it had been a pushover. Once Honda had opened the door, he walked forward after Atem. The basic layout put Honda in last, directly after Asim had gone through.

The silence continued with the four of them as they went up the stairs. Atem looked absolutely exhausted, although Yuugi could tell he was trying to hide it. Well, could one blame him? Atem had never believed that the Pharaoh was a god... was it possible he'd been wrong? Yuugi glanced back at Asim with a worried expression. No, he didn't think Atem was wrong. Not entirely. Somehow he had a feeling this development was yet another one that could be connected to Atem's choice to stay alive. If Atem had thought of that, it was more than enough to explain the former Pharaoh's expression. Atem opened the door the the apartment himself, causing Asim to stop in the hallway.

< "Go inside and place him on the bed in the bedroom. Carefully, I don't want him hurt any further," > Atem stated.

Asim nodded and walked into the apartment. Normally he wouldn't have gone in before the Pharaoh, but this one was proving himself stubborn. He really seemed to not believe what was directly in front of his face. Asim wasn't one to argue the orders of his superiors though. It was possible Haytham could convince the Pharaoh far better than it was his place to. Ra was the head of their trio, after all, even though he had yet to meet Osiris in this incarnation. Asim placed Malik on the bed as Yuugi and Honda walked into the apartments.

"Atem, shouldn't we take Malik to the hospital?"

Atem looked over at Yuugi and shook his head, "I don't want to take him there on the chance that Dark Malik will be the active one when he wakes up."

The former Pharaoh looked over to the bedroom. They'd need to restrain him as well, and soon. It was possible Dark Malik would be too stubborn to stay out for long, even with his condition. He didn't want to say that with Asim here. His Partner was likely to object. If only the'd faced Anpu... Atem looked down at the Millenium Ring around his neck. Bakura was still trapped there.

< "Pharaoh." >

Atem looked up. He gave an unkind look to Asim, but shook his head and stepped to the side. He pointed out the door, < "Leave." >

Asim stepped, left foot forward. Atem noted that Asim had made a point of it this time, and he glared but said nothing. Even if he wasn't objecting to Atem's decision, Asim was going through all the proper motions. Left foot first before the Pharaoh to show deference. Yuugi noted it this time as well and looked towards Atem. Things had gotten a lot more complicated...

-----

Ryoji was sitting on a chair next to the bed, his only outfit a pair of Minato's boxers. He'd gone into the shower after Minato had gotten back. Now he was sore, but also a bit stiff. Somehow he was more relaxed than he would have been without the hot shower. He was watching Minato sleep, having walked in after the blue haired teenager had fallen asleep. With all his memories, the parallel was not lost on him. Pharos may have been in Minato's mind, but he'd been aware of Aigis' presence. She'd die someday too, and he'd bet money she'd been falling in love with Minato. He had to give Minato credit for that one. Making a robot fall in love with him?

He finally decided something he'd been thinking about. It wasn't like they weren't intimate. Ryoji did still try to prevent from disturbing his lover as he climbed into bed. He pulled up close enough that their skin would touch befoer closing his eyes. Providing he hadn't woken Minato and caused a reaction from the other teenager, he'd be asleep quickly as well. There was a feeling of security in Minato he could honestly say he'd never really had... even as Pharos, but definently as Ryoji. Minato was the only person he had ever really loved.

-----

Haytham nodded. He knew these two would very likely know where the Pharaoh and his host was. The attempts of that other part of his spirit to get back to its rightful owner had allowed itself to be used by the one named Malik Ishtar. It had allowed the corrupted part of that boy's psyche to almost kill the blond... Katsuya Jounouchi. His expression hadn't shifted, but Jounouchi suddenly looked like he'd swallowed a bug as a chill ran down his spine.

* "I looking for short teenager. I have something to him belongs. He very easy to be recognizing," * Haytham lifted his hands up to his head and held them out a solid inch in either direction, * "Three color hair. Black, purple, bangs are blond. Should ha-" *

"Wait, is he talking about Yuugi!?"

Anzu had come to the conclusion even before Jounouchi had. With the gestures the man had made followed by the line about three hair colors. She may have been willing to pass it off as coincidence had the man not been so clearly Egyptian. The bag slipped down a bit, and she almost dropped it again out of the surprise.

"Be quiet so I can talk, Jounouchi-kun!" Anzu ordered. She turned to the Egyptian, * "Sounds like friend of mine. Named Mut... Yuugi Mutou. How you know Yuugi?" *

Haytham gave a knowing smile, one that Anzu found herself mildly uncomfortable with, * "Since long ago, know very well. Likely he be expecting me." *

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato didn't react much when Ryoji climbed into bed next to him. He rolled over in his sleep and put an arm around Ryoji and continuing to snore on. In other circumstances, the feel of Ryoji's skin would have been enough to wake him up, but he was just so exhausted that even the building collapsing wouldn't have woken him up.

-----------------------

Kanji and Naoto were on their way back to the apartments. Their date had actually gone very well, making them the only group out of all of them to really have a successful date (Minato and Ryoji's not counting due to both of their slipups and Minato's inability to recognize hints). It hadn't even really had to be said that they liked each other. Neither of them had to approach the other about it, it had just been a sort of unspoken agreement. All for the better, really. Kanji tended to get redfaced and stuttery whenever things related to that came up.

In truth, the reason they'd headed back was because Naoto had heard people talking about some sort of disturbance at the apartments. Any attempts to contact the group hadn't gone well; Souji and Minato both weren't answering their phones, and Naoto's phone was having a hard time connecting to Yuugi's COMP. Kanji had complained about it, but they'd ended up heading back to the apartments.

The two of them spotted Anzu and Jounouchi talking to someone and headed their direction. Naoto recognized that Anzu and the other person were speaking in broken English, and managed to get a pretty good feel for what they were talking about. This man seemed to be looking for Yuugi.

"Good afternoon, Anzu-chan," Naoto said. She looked toward Jounouchi. "And Jounouchi-kun."

Kanji grumbled and didn't say anything. He didn't really like Jounouchi much. Something about that guy just annoyed him.

[mugenginga]

Jounouchi all but jumped out of his skin as Naoto spoke. He looked like a ghost to anyone that hadn't seen what he looked like when he thought he'd seen an actual ghost. He looked annoyed at himself and gave a muted "yo" as he lifted a hand in greeting before turning back to Haytham. Anzu had jerked a bit as well, but managed to keep a hold of the bag and still conceal the logo at the words. She gave a small quick bow to be polite and turned towards Haytham again.

* "You sure you look for Yuugi Mutou? I know Yuugi since elementary. Never met you... Am sorry if suspicious too much..." *

* "It alright very much. Can see with you, perhaps?" * Haytham turned towards Naoto and Kanji. He looked confused at their words. He shook his head, * "Do English know? Japanese speak not." *

* "Oh, that Naoto-san and Kanji-san. Friends mine." *

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Naoto noted that Anzu seemed nervous about the bag, but she didn't pry. She looked toward Haytham as he asked her if she knew any English.

* "Know a little," * Naoto said. * "You are looking for Yuugi?" *

"Hey, don't look at me. I don't know any English," Kanji admitted. "What's this guy here for?"

"He's looking for Yuugi-kun," Naoto explained.

[mugenginga]

“Atem-kun, what’s going on?” Honda stated, after pulling his glare from where Asim had left from.

Atem didn’t say anything for a moment. He looked at Yuugi and seemed to get his thoughts in order. He looked at Honda.

“By not going on to the afterlife like I was supposed to, I think things have been creating a snowball chain effect. Asim is just another link in it. Dark Malik probably came back because of his anger at how I’ve disregarded the suffering his family has gone through.”

“Atem...”

Atem shook his head, “For now, we have to do something about Malik. I want to take care of his hand but none of us know enough about first aid to set it right. Even with Diarahan, if it heals wrong he could be deformed. I don’t want him in a hospital without knowing what is going to happen when he wakes up, either.”

“I can look it up!” Yuugi stated. Atem looked at him in confusion as Yuugi pulled out his COMP, “Internet. The Island seems to have restrictions on it, but something like first aid should be accessible.”

“You’re the one with the healing abilities, Partner,” Atem walked over and took the COMP from Yuugi. Honda noted Yuugi seemed to pull back a bit much. Yuugi had never had problems with touching before?

“Is that healing thing card related?” Honda asked?

Yuugi shook his head, “It’s... more complicated.”
-----

Mokuba was more in shape than a lot of people gave him credit for. He wasn’t really an athlete, but he could go for longer than a lot of people realized. He wasn’t feeling the cold anymore as he ran towards the apartments, but he wasn’t out of breath either. He’d had to stop once to get clear directions, though. He was grateful he knew fluent English thanks to his brother. If he had things guessed right, the next exit would put him within view of the Apartments.
-----

Haytham gave a nod to Naoto to confirm her question. He seemed rather composed overall. Jounouchi looked like he had a headache. He actually seemed a bit relieved at Kanji's words. At least he wasn't the only one that had almost no idea what was going on. He'd only figured out the Yuugi thing cause of the hair reference, and it had been more an educated leap than anything else. The fact that an Egyptian was looking for Yuugi bothered him quite a bit. Egyptians never meant good things in regards to Yuugi.

* "Need much speak to him. As told Anzu, likely he expecting me." *

Anzu looked uncomfortable at that. The fact was that she couldn't figure out why Yuugi would be expecting this man. He didn't look like any archeologist she'd ever seen, he was older then everyone in their group, and she'd never seen him before. She was pretty sure he wasn't related to Malik, from what she'd understood of him his only family was Ishizu and Rishid. She bit her lip as she tried to come up with a response.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Naoto noted the reactions of Jounouchi and Anzu. Anzu seemed nervous around this man, and her expression told Naoto that Anzu was as confused as she was.

* "Why would Yuugi be expecting you? He has never mentioned anyone like yourself," * Naoto stated. * "While he does live in the apartments here, I do not think it would be right to show you there until we have direct confirmation of your purpose here." *

She was on the defensive. Things had been too chaotic around here lately. A Egyptian man who couldn't even speak Japanese who was looking for Yuugi counted as very suspicious in Naoto's opinion.

[mugenginga]

Haytham looked at Naoto as she attempted to corner him. While something seemed to be confusing Anzu, this person seemed to be more on top of the situation. He didn’t have a desire to tell the friends of the Pharaoh and his host/reincarnation who he really was. In particular, he didn’t see Jounouchi taking it well. His expression was neutral, but his eyes revealed he was going over his options. He wouldn’t have a chance to decide on one because at that instant Mokuba ran out of the alley and managed to crash into him.

The fact that Haytham fell despite the extreme height difference was testament to how much he’d been focused on the four teenagers in his presence. He managed to swing his arms around to avoid hurting himself much as he fell, but he was in the middle of muttering something that only context would translate to words about pain. It was in Arabic, after all. However, he cut himself off and jerked his head up. What the boy had dropped....

<* “Millenium Torque!?” *>

It was unlikely anyone in the group would have understood him. Due to the surprise, Haytham was speaking in Arabic, the language native to this incarnation. He was, however, staring right at the necklace and his eyes were wide. His usual demeanor had dropped in the surprise of it all.

“Mokuba-kun!?” Anzu had run forward as soon as Mokuba had hit the ground. Jounouchi had caught the glint of gold and was staring at it with wide eyes, “Mokuba-kun, what are you doing here!? How did you get here!?”

Mokuba rubbed his bottom, noting with disgust that he was now wet from the light blanket of snow on the ground. He looked up and seemed completely startled at Anzu of all people being there. He was wiping his hands on his shirt when he realized that he’d dropped the Torque. He happened to notice Haytham as he was looking for it and his reaction was rather less polite than the others had been. It was unfortunately a reaction to his race more than anything else.

“Who the hell are you!?”

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Naoto could tell she'd managed to work the Egyptian into a bit of a corner. But before the man could reply, a long haired boy slammed into the man. Naoto looked down at the boy and her eyes widened as she saw the golden object. As it was, she'd seen enough of those items to recognize one when she saw one.

"H-Hey, are you okay?" Kanji ran over to where Mokuba had fallen. It looked like Anzu and Jounouchi knew him, though Jounouchi seemed focused on the golden object that had fallen from Mokuba's pocket. He looked over toward Haytham again as Mokuba yelled at him.

"Yeah, who the hell are you?!" Kanji yelled, still ignorant to the fact that Haytham knew no Japanese.

[mugenginga]

Haytham looked towards the angry shout of the bleach blond. He had no idea what the teenager had said, but he could guess. The words had sounded rather similar to what the boy had said. Anzu was looking between Mokuba and Haytham as the latter pushed himself to his feet. He brushed off his pants, whose color was allowing the dirt from the ground and snow to show rather well.

Mokuba looked towards where Haytham was still focused and batted away Anzu's hand. He scrambled over to the Torque and yanked it up of the ground before Haytham had a chance to lean over to grab it. Jounouchi was glaring at Haytham. The guy knew Yuugi, and he was pretty sure the man had been going towards the Torque. Haytham let out a sigh as everyone was now glaring at him. Perhaps it would be better to reveal himself to the friends of the Pharaoh after all. At worst, he could find him and his host himself.

* "I known as Haytham Sultan. Not only name. Also known as Ra." *

Jounouchi was having too much trouble following the words to pick out that the "Ra" part had been a name. He'd gotten the name, although he had no idea if the surname was first or second. Mokuba, however, seemed to have no such trouble. His eyes looked ready to bug out of his head.

"What the hell, as in the god card!?"

"What!?" Jounouchi jerked his head towards Mokuba. Ra... Wait, Ra!?

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Naoto raised an eyebrow as Haytham spoke again. Maybe the comment about the man being Ra should have surprised her more, but after the hell with Souji, Izanami and Ryoji, she was more inclined to believe claims of godship than ever.

* "Ra? So you are an avatar?" * Naoto asked.

"Wait a minute, did you just say god card? What, you mean like those cards Yuugi and Atem summon those monsters from?" Kanji was still rather confused about things, and his inability to understand anything this guy was saying meant the only information he was getting was from a similarly confused Mokuba.

[mugenginga]

"Anzu, did he say Ra? As in Ra?"

Anzu turned to Jounouchi and shook her head in confusion. That had been what the man who had called himself Haytham first had said. Mokuba didn't seem to be able to decide to be pissed or panicked, but he managed to scramble to his feet. He was holding the torque tightly.

* "Correct term I am believing. You be taking well... experience with things such as this?" *

"B-but..." Anzu shook her head, * "Why Yuugi be expecting you? Yuugi know nothing of card of god avatars!" *

Mokuba looked down at the Torque. Either Haytham didn't know Japanese or was speaking broken English for some other reason. Well, he was more than able to compensate for that. He wasn't letting some false language barrier screw with his arguments.

* "I don't care what you are, I'm not letting you have the Torque!" * He was speaking in the most fluent language heard in the situation yet.

Haytham turned to him, * "You understanding me? I carry more confusion at why Torque not harming you." *

"Mokuba can speak English...?" Jounouchi said, now more confused than before.

"Of course I can, you idiot! Niisama's the head of an international company!" Mokuba turned back towards Haytham, * "Hell if I know why the Torque isn't harming me! I've never seen the Items harm anyone before! My big brother made the Rod react, so maybe it's relate to that!" *

* "Your big brother being...?" *

* "Kaiba Seto of Kaiba Corportation!" *

* "Set... o?" * Haytham seemed to be considering something. It seemed an odd twist of fate he'd share such a similar name, but he couldn't think of any other reason the Rod would have accepted him. Haytham shook his head, * "Explains not the Torque." *

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Naoto nodded as Haytham asked if she had prior experience with these kind of things. Souji's hell and Ryoji's similar hell were prior knowledge enough. She looked toward Mokuba as he continued to speak. So his brother was the Kaiba they had already met? Well, that certainly explained the attitude...

"Waitaminute, did you just say something about that Kaiba guy?" Kanji asked, managing to at least pick out Seto's name in the flood of English. It really sucked to not know any English at times.

[mugenginga]

Mokuba was ready to rip into Haytham again when Kanji spoke. The shocked look on his face revealed that despite his attitude, he really was still the youngest one there. He looked at Kanji with a surprised expression.

"You've seen Niisama!? Do you know where he is staying?"

* "It being possible to meet Yuugi now? It much likely Asim... Obelisk, that is, already having met. It why he should be expecting me." *

"....I didn't just hear Obelisk, did I?" Jounouchi looked like he really needed to sit down.