Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Daze of Paradise ❯ Flight of the Hikaris ( Chapter 3 )

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Warning: The usual. In this chapter: still more M/M antics. Other than that: nada.

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Chapter 3 - Flight of the Hikaris

"The only true wisdom is knowing that you know nothing."

- Socrates

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The next day, the gang met as planned at their usual table in the cafeteria for lunch - including Seto Kaiba.

Kala handed out the tickets and got down to business.

"So they told me when we get there, someone will be waiting to take us to the hotel. Pack whatever clothes you want but try not to be a clothes-horse." She eyed Joey, who gave her a wounded look in return.

"What? I'm not that bad! I like to be prepared!"

Yugi snickered. "Joey, do you remember how much luggage you brought along to Egypt? I swear you're worse than I am."

"And Yugi's pretty bad." Ryou and Malik agreed. Joey scowled and slouched in his seat.

"Gee, thanks, guys." He gave Malik a sneer. "At least I don't insist on wearing leather all the time."

"I wear it for Marik." Malik shrugged. "Besides, the heat doesn't bother me."

"Anyway…" Kala interrupted, rolling her eyes. "We get taken to the hotel and we have a week to do pretty much whatever we want, though they gave me all these pamphlets and suggestions of tours and stuff." She lay them out on the table and watched as the boys snatched them up to look at through them. Kaiba just shrugged.

"I'm just interested in relaxing - if for no other reason than to make Mokuba happy." He said.

Yugi glanced at him, then at Kala, since Kaiba was looking directly at her, and smiled to himself. Then he did something he'd learned from Yami.

{Seto, that's not the only reason you agreed to this, is it?} He sent, causing Kaiba to start violently, almost knocking over his chair as his head snapped around to stare at Yugi.

{Great Ra! Not you too!} Kaiba returned, glaring at him. {Honestly, Yami's bad enough for that.}

{Sorry. Want me to ring a bell or something next time?} Yugi asked, teasingly. Kaiba continued glaring, eyes narrowing. {Oh, suck it up, Seto. Would you rather we discussed this out loud?}

{I'd rather not discuss it at all, thank you very much. It's none of your business anyway.}

Yugi rolled his eyes. {And your point is? Look, I'm just looking out for Kala, that's all.} He paused, getting that infinite curious gleam in his violet eyes. {And because I'm just that snoopy.}

{So I noticed. Alright, I accepted her invitation because she intrigues me. I intend to get to know her better over this week in Hawaii.} He gave Yugi a mental scowl. {You're just as bad as Mokuba, you know that?}

Yugi smiled serenely. {It's just because we care, Seto, whether you like it or not. We just want you to be happy.}

{Yeah, yeah. I'm going to tell you what I told my interfering little brother, Yugi. I can get my own dates so stay out of it.} There was a clear warning involved and Yugi nodded.

{I'm not going to get in your way, Seto. But if you need me…}

Kaiba gave him a short nod of acknowledgement.

They hadn't noticed that the others were dead silent and watching them curiously until that point, when Malik stated, "That's just creepy."

Yugi blinked and Kaiba raised an eyebrow in question.

"I could tell you were having a conversation but it's just creepy because it was between you and Yugi." Malik explained.

"We're just not used to that." Ryou added.

Yugi sighed, suddenly feeling a bit tired. Kaiba glanced at him and gave him a sympathetic look.

"What's wrong, Yug?" Joey asked.

"I'm just tired, that's all. It still takes a lot of energy for me to talk like that." His eyes drooped and the Puzzle suddenly glowed softly.

Kala blinked in surprise because Yugi suddenly seemed different. He sat taller, his hair was a bit different, and his eyes…

Ryou grinned at Yugi - who wasn't actually Yugi anymore. "Hi Yami!"

"Hi Ryou." Yami smiled, his crimson eyes flicking around the table and taking in his surroundings. "Yugi needs a bit of time to recover." He explained at Kala's shocked expression.

"That's creepy." She finally said. "I don't think I'll ever get used to this. How do you do that anyway? Where does Yugi go?"

"He's still here, Kala." Malik replied. "That's still Yugi - only it's Yami too."

That didn't really clarify anything. "I don't get it."

Kaiba gave her a sympathetic arm squeeze. "I'm afraid it isn't something very explainable, Kala. Malik's got it right - in very simple, layman's terms."

Yami, who hadn't merged with his hikari this way for a very long time, was absently moving his arm around, trying to get used to Yugi's armband. "Not exactly, Kaiba. At the moment it's just me - in Yugi's body. Yugi's resting in his soul room."

"And where is that?"

Ryou smiled. "Somewhere inside the Puzzle. Each of us has a soul room inside our Items."

Malik nodded. "Yep. Although, Ryou, Ishizu and I can't merge with our yamis like Yugi and Yami can." He got a thoughtful expression. "Hey, Ryou? Wonder why that is?"

Yami eyed Yugi's lunch, debating whether or not to steal a cookie. "It's because your Items don't have the power to do that." He shrugged and took one, munching.

Kaiba made a noise of agreement. "Only the Puzzle needed that particular ability."

"Well, I still don't quite understand, but I guess I'll eventually get it." Kala shrugged.

Joey sipped his cola before asking, "So how did you guys convince your yamis to agree to make the trip in their soul rooms? Other than you, of course, Yami."

Ryou giggled. "I gave Bakura my puppy-dog look. He can't resist that."

Yami snickered. "You know, Ryou, you could have just pointed out hat he's not likely to get airsick in there - like he did when we went to Egypt."

Kaiba looked pained. "I must have missed that. Damn!"

Ryou scowled. "Come on, guys. It's not funny."

"Sure it is." Malik grinned.

"What about you, Malik? Or do we even want to know?" Joey raised an eyebrow at him.

Malik's grin widened. "Well, I begged. Marik frowned. I begged some more." He made a face. "The jerk tricked me into screwing each other senseless! When we were done he said he'd do it - and would have whether or not I made the deal with him in the first place!"

There were collective groans and eye rolling.

Ryou glanced at his watch. "Hey guys. We'd better get going. Class starts in fifteen minutes."

Yami sighed. "Great. I hope I'm not going to be bored out of my tree." He cleaned up Yugi's lunch and picked up his hikari's book bag and jacket.

"Sorry, Yami. We all are." Joey told him. "We've got a class on hieroglyphs and hieratic scriptures."

Yami snorted. "That could be interesting - to see how much they got wrong, I mean."

Kaiba thought that was hilarious. "Which is why I stayed away from all those Egyptology courses." He chuckled.

Kala shook her head. "I'll see you guys later." She turned and started walking away. The others watched with vast amusement as Kaiba hurried after her with a short nod to them in farewell.

"Mind if I walk with you a bit?" He asked, slowing his stride to keep pace with Kala.

"Uh, no. I suppose not." She glanced at him as she walked. "Can I ask you something, Kaiba?"

"You can ask. I can't guarantee I'll answer."

She nodded. "I figured that. Ok, I was just wondering something."

"What's that?"

"Why are you all of a sudden so…" She hesitated, thinking 'nice' but said, "Sociable? Not just with me, but with the others too?"

He had to think about that a bit, since he wasn't really sure about that himself. "I guess those…ah…they're beginning to grow on me." He amended quickly. He almost called them 'geeks' as he usually did.

Kala caught the change and snorted. "Really? Somehow I doubt that."

He shrugged. "I said they're growing on me not that I liked them a lot. Ok, let me amend that. Yami, Yugi, and I get along quite well - now. And despite…everything. Ryou's a nice enough guy and Malik and Marik are amusing as hell. I don't trust Bakura as far as I can throw him but I like his attitude."

"What about Tristan? Duke? Joey? Mai?"

Kaiba sighed. "I honestly dislike Tristan with a passion. Something about him puts me way off. I get along with Duke Devlin alright, I suppose. I don't know Mai very well but I respect her duelling skills and her attitude." He stopped there, frowning.

"And Joey?" Kala stopped walking and tilted her head at him in question.

"I guess I'm still holding off judgment on him." He smiled ruefully. "Something in Egypt occurred to make me re-evaluate my opinion of him somewhat. I just haven't made up my mind yet." Kaiba looked at the classroom door they stood outside of. "This your class?"

"Yeah. You know, I don't think I've ever heard you talk as openly as you just did, Kaiba."

He smiled at her. "I have nothing to loose by being honest. At least, not on that subject."

"I see. Well, I'd better get in there and you'd better go. You don't want to be late."

"I'm just going back to Kaiba Corp. No more classes for me today. But I'll let you go." He shifted his weight and looked like he wanted to say something more but didn't.

"Well, I'll see you next week at the airport."

"Yeah. Have a good day, Kala." He studied her for a moment, then walked off with his usual confident stride.

Kala watched him go, with one question still reverberating in her mind.

What's he up to?

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Monday morning came quickly and the airport was crowded and busy with spring travellers.

Yugi and Yami stood with Ryou, Bakura, and Kaiba waiting for the Kala and company and Malik and Marik.

"Ryou, are you really sure you want to go on this trip?" Bakura whined. He'd made his hikari show him where Hawaii was on the map and hadn't been too thrilled about spending a week on an island in the middle of the ocean - a small island.

Ryou rolled his eyes. "'Kura! How many times do I have to say it? Yes!"

Yami and Kaiba gave Bakura twin looks of amusement.

"You're not worried about getting airsick, are you Bakura?" Yugi asked. "I don't think it's a problem for one inside the Millennium Items."

"Thank Ra! No, it's not that." Bakura shuddered. "I come from a desert. I don't belong on some small little island surrounded by nothing but water for miles and miles."

Ryou sweatdropped and sighed, hugging Bakura tightly. "It won't be that bad, 'Kura. You'll see."

Kaiba, taking advantage of any excuse to needle the Ring spirit, drawled, "Maybe if we're lucky one of the active volcanoes will erupt. That'd be an interesting show to see."

Bakura went chalk white and Ryou glared at Kaiba.

Yami sighed and Yugi tried to keep a straight face. "You just had to mention the volcanoes, Seto?"

"Hikari, why didn't you mention the volcanoes?" Bakura asked Ryou, plaintively.

"They don't erupt very often, 'Kura. People have lived there for centuries. It's perfectly safe."

"What's safe?" Joey inquired. He, Kala, Serenity, and Mai came up to join their friends. Yugi noted they'd already gone through the baggage check since they only had their carry-on bags with them.

"Hawaii." Yugi answered. "You know…the volcanoes."

"Oh right. Those."

Kala looked around, avoiding Kaiba's steady gaze for the moment. "Where are Malik and Marik? They should be here by now."

"Here they come!" Serenity pointed as two familiar, ultra-blonde heads weaved in and out of the airport traffic.

"Hi guys! Sorry we're late!" Malik greeted them, waving as he and Marik ran up.

"Where were you two?" Ryou asked, curiously. Bakura was still clutching his hikari and was still pale.

Malik blushed and Marik ginned wickedly. "We got held up."

"Uh huh." Everyone groaned and there was a collective eye-roll.

Kala shook her head. "Well, everyone's here now, so let's get going! Hawaii, here we come!"

Yami bent and kissed Yugi lightly. "I'll see you in a while, aibou." And with that, blinked out of sight.

"Um…'Kura? It's time to go." Ryou tried to wriggle out of his yami's grasp but Bakura was too strong. "Come on, 'Kura!"

Marik raised his head from Malik's, whom he'd been tongue wrestling with, and smirked at Bakura. "Now what's the Tombrobber freaking out over?"

The Ring spirit stiffened and glared, abruptly releasing Ryou. "I'm not afraid of anything." He growled. Then he vanished in an annoyed puff of smoke.

Ryou sighed, since he could hear his yami's voice grumbling and muttering in his mind.

Kaiba leaned down to whisper in Yugi's ear, "Are they always like that?"

Yugi grinned. "Pretty much. They haven't challenged each other since Mokuba's birthday though."

Marik, who'd gone back to kissing his and groping his hikari, suddenly disappeared, leaving Malik standing there dazed and annoyed.

"I hate it when he does that."

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The flight wasn't a long one, but since they were travelling over the International Date Line, time seemed to shift backwards.

They arrived at the airport and went through customs and the baggage claim fairly quickly.

Kala led the group to the Arrival's Lounge, where a young man with a sign that had her name written across it, was waiting for them. The man nodded in greeting as Kala stopped in front of him.

"Are you Kala?" He asked.

"Yes. Are you our ride to the hotel?"

"Yes, ma'am. If you're all ready, just follow me and we'll get you to the hotel in no time." He smiled at the group and shook Kala's hand. "My name is Josh, by the way."

"It's nice to meet you, Josh." The gang followed along behind him as they made their way out to the pick-up lane outside the Arrival's Terminal. A black stretch limo was waiting for them.

"I'm sure all your luggage will fit in the trunk." Josh unlocked it and began stowing away their stuff. "So you're the winner of the radio-contest, huh? Lucky you. I have to work over spring break."

Kala gave him a sympathetic smile - which had Kaiba silently grinding his teeth. He scowled and gracefully climbed into the limo. Yugi smothered a giggle and followed.

Once they'd all climbed in, Josh took the driver's seat and set off.

Kala sat closest to the front so she could speak to him through the divider. "What's the hotel like where we're staying, Josh?"

"As long as it's got a bed, I don't care." Malik yawned.

Ryou leaned sleepily against Yugi. "It's worse than the trip to Egypt."

Mai studied nails. "You boys need to travel more. You get used to it after a while. Right Kaiba?"

Kaiba shrugged. "I guess. It's never really bothered me."

"Well, your friends and yourself, Kala, aren't actually staying in the hotel proper. You'll be in two of our exclusive cabins on the beach."

Joey grinned. "Cool! Ahhhh…can't wait! Sun, sand, and surf here we come!"

Serenity giggled. "Come on, Joey! You don't know how to surf."

"I know. I meant 'surf' as in 'water'. For swimming."

Kala smiled. "What about you three?" She asked the hikaris.

"I'm all for relaxing." Malik stretched lazily. "And sand isn't something that bothers me."

They all laughed. Yugi slipped out of his jean jacket, since it had gotten rather warm. The Winged Dragon of Ra glinted a little as he moved.

Kaiba tilted his head, studying it. "I have to admit, Yugi, that your darker-half had a good idea when he came up with the design for that."

Yugi glanced down at it with a smile. "It's beautiful. But Yami said he didn't have much to do with its design." He gave Kaiba a pointed look.

Kaiba flushed slightly. "Yeah, well, it's not as if I made it myself."

"Well, everyone, we're here!" Josh interrupted, cheerfully. He pulled up to the steps that led into the main lobby of the hotel.

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Authoress' Notes: I live to throw in a sudden tension, just to keep things spirited. R/R!