Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Family Bonds ❯ Chapter 18: Spring Break ( Chapter 20 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Sailor Mini Venus 
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.13.2006 | Pages: 7 | Words: 7.3K | Visits: 260 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.13.2006 | Pages: 7 | Words: 7.3K | Visits: 260 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: Saying I own Yugioh is like saying the world ended on June 6, 2006. It hasn't happened and it's not gonna happen. (Obviously, as it's way past that date)
-F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A-M -I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S-
“Yugi, where do you keep the puzzles?” Tama asks.
Yugi looks up from some papers he’s going through that make up the shop’s inventory. “Top shelf of the storage room near the yo-yo’s and ping pong balls.”
Tama raises an eyebrow at the last item and then shakes her head muttering, “I don’t want to know.” Then she makes her way to the storage room.
While she does that, Yugi gives up on trying to decipher his grandpa’s handwriting and decides to go to the kitchen to make a snack and get something to drink. “Tama, I’m going to get a snack! Do you want anything?”
“Cookie please!” Comes Tama’s half-muffled reply before she shrieks and the sound of something falling is heard.
Yugi sweat drops and wonders if it wasn’t the best idea to send his clumsy cousin into the hazardous cluttered storage room. Deciding that the storage room will most likely stay intact and that Tama won’t accidentally kill herself by knocking over a shelf, Yugi walks into the kitchen and begins fixing his snack.
“Aibou,” Yami appears beside Yugi in his more solid form. It’s a new technique he recently learned so he can talk to the others and Yugi without having to switch with Yugi or relay messages through him.
Yugi jumps, not yet used to his darker half’s random appearances. “M-mou hitori no boku! Is something wrong?”
Yami leans against the counter for a minute, trying to gain balance. Keeping an almost solid form can be taxing. “No, I just wanted to talk to you. I haven’t been able to all day.”
“Yeah, I had forgotten that Tama was coming over to help me with the shop. I’m sorry.” Yugi apologizes. “And it won’t be a good idea to stay out too long. She’ll be coming back here any minute.” He says, trying to open his bottle of soda. “Mou-”
“Hey Yugi, where’s that cookie at?” Tama cheerfully asks, coming into the kitchen.
In a split second, Yami disappears back into Yugi’s mind but it’s not fast enough for Yumeri, who is already fed up with Bakura and Mariku’s random take-overs.
“PHARAOH!” Yumeri roars, forcefully taking over with no warning what-so-ever.
Yugi squeaks and jumps nearly a foot into the air in surprise. “Tama? What-?” His question dies on his tongue once he gets a good look at his “cousin”. “You’re not Tama.”
“Tell the pharaoh to get out here.” Yumeri growls. “Or you can pass on this message to him; he had better not dare come out when my omote is around or there will be hell to pay! She will not know of my existence until I want her to know. And I will know if you try to drop hints, light of the pharaoh.” She glares at him for a moment and then retreats back into her soul room.
Tama looks at Yugi hopefully. “Cookie?”
0-0-0-0-0-0
March 10, 2007
“Rise and shiiiine!” Nixx sings, horribly off-key. “Wake up with a bright cheerful smiiiile! The biiirds are chirping! The suuuun is shining! All is joyful and briii--”
-WHAMPH!-
“Shut up, Nixxuss.” Roman growls, before tugging his blankets up over his head. “I don’t care whether we’re leaving in an hour or in the next five minutes; I. Am. Sleeping. In.”
Nixx just grins in an evil manner. “Okay, then I guess Ashling will just have to wait for you to get up. I’d better go tell her…”
In a matter of seconds Roman is out of his bed and rushing about the room getting dressed. Seconds after that he’s out the bedroom door and running down the stairs, his raven black hair a complete mess.
Nixx whistles a happy tune and makes his way to Alexandrian’s room to wake up his brown haired brother.
“NIXXUSS!!!” Roman roars. “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”
Nixx just laughs and runs into Alexandrian’s room onto to run headlong into his second older brother.
“What did you do this time? Pour ice water on his head or set loose that gerbil of yours in his bed again?” Alexandrian asks.
“Neither.” Nixx replies. “I just told him that Ashling is here. Call it revenge for him telling me Damian was here with a rose that one morning.”
The door to Alexandrian’s room slams the rest of the way open and Nixx squeaks and hides behind Alex. Roman stands in the doorway breathing heavily.
“Move, Alex! I’m going to kill the blue-haired runt!” Roman yells.
Nixx immediately protests that his hair is turquoise and not blue, not even noticing that Alexandrian has stepped to the side and has told Roman, “Have at him.”. Nixx does notice when Roman tackles him to the ground. It’s doubtful that anyone would not notice that.
When the wrestling doesn’t stop after five minutes, Alexandrian kicks them both out of his room so that he can get dressed and brush his hair. When he walks out into the hallway the two of them are still wrestling. Alexandrian just rolls his eyes and heads downstairs to eat breakfast.
Fifteen minutes later the doorbell rings; Ashling, Liam, and Damian have arrived.
“Nixx! Roman! Ashling, Liam, and Damian are here!” Mr. Lexus yells up the stairs.
Nixx and Roman sit up abruptly and hit heads, making themselves fall over backwards. They sit there in a daze for a minute and then scramble for the stairs.
Nixx reaches the bottom first, but only because he fell halfway down the stairs. Roman leaps over his little brother, nearly landing on Nixx’s hair, and makes a beeline for Ashling and hugs her tightly when he reaches her. Then Nixx manages to get up and runs across the room and glomps Damian.
Liam looks back and forth between Damian and Ashling. “Well don’t I fell loved.”
“I am not hugging you.” Alexandrian states.
Liam pales at the very idea of him and Alexandrian hugging. “Thank you for not hugging me. I’d probably have a heart attack.”
“GET OFF OF ME!” Damian roars.
0-0-0-0-0-0
A hour later Nixx, Roman, Alexandrian, Damian, Ashling, and Liam are on a plane and are heading over to California where they’ll meet up with Riley and then fly the rest of the way to Domino City.
This whole trip began with Damian and his brilliant plan for spring break. Knowing that they all somehow have the same week off for spring break, Damian began convincing the others to take a trip to see his old home. It took a while, but eventually he even managed to talk Riley into going.
So now they’re on the plane and going to California and Nixx is making airplane jokes. Ashling, who is sitting next to him, is not happy.
“Nixx, shut up about the Arabic airlines joke!” Ashling hisses. “It’s not funny!”
“Okay, okay.” Nixx says. “But wait, is that--”
Roman hits Nixx in the head, keeping him from finishing the sentence and inevitably getting killed by Ashling.
Several hours, two barf bags, and one unconscious Nixx later they arrive at the airport in California and go find a spot to sit at while they wait for Riley to arrive
While they’re waiting, Nixx rolls off of the bench they’re on and wakes up. Apparently he fell asleep while he was unconscious.
“Ashling! Liam!”
The Phoenix twins look up and over in the direction the yell comes from and they both wave when they see that it’s Riley lugging a yellow suitcase behind her.
Damian is on his feet and rushing over to help her in less than five seconds with a cheerful smile on his face. Nixx glares at Riley, feelings of jealously welling up inside of him.
Ashling looks at Nixx in concern and lays a hand on his shoulder. “Nixx, are you okay?”
Nixx shrugs off Ashling’s hand and mutters, “I have to go to the bathroom.”
Ashling watches in worry as Nixx walks away from them and through the crowd to the bathroom. ‘Oh Nixx… one of these days you’ll find someone. I’m sure of it.’
0-0-0-0-0-0
/“This, my friends, is Domino City!”/ Damian exclaims happily, spinning around in a circle once. /“This isn’t the area I lived, but it’s pretty close! I can’t wait to see what’s changed and what hasn’t. Come! To the Kame Game Shop!”/
Ashling, Nixx, Roman, and Liam follow their purple-haired companion without any hesitancy, while Alexandrian and Riley hold back a minute.
/ “Is he sane?”/ Riley asks.
/ “I’ve known him for about ten years and I still haven’t figured that out.”/ Alexandrian replies. / “And I don’t think I ever will. Lets go catch up before we worry Ashling.”/
The two catch up to their friends and together they walk around in search of the shop Damian mentioned. It becomes obvious after a half hour that they are hopelessly lost. And Nixx is hungry.
/ “Of we’re not going to stop and ask directions, then lets at least stop and eat.”/ Riley says. / “I would ask, but since I can’t even speak Japanese it’d be pointless for me to even try.”/
Damian stops walking and looks around. “Hmm… I could have sworn that--”
/ “Dami-kun,”/ Nixx whines, attaching himself to Damian’s arm. / “I’m hungry. Feed me.”/
“I’m hungry too.” Ashling chimes in, attaching herself to Damian’s other arm.
“Feed us.” Nixx and Ashling say in unison.
Roman smirks, Alexandrian and Liam roll their eyes, Riley looks confused, and Damian exhales softly.
“Alright, lets go get food.” Damian says.
While Nixx and Ashling cheer and let go of his arms to do a spontaneous victory dance, Damian repeats what he just said, only this time in English, so Roman, Alexandrian, and Riley can understand.
After asking directions for the nearest place to eat, they set off once again. This time they’re looking for a place called, “Burger World”.
0-0-0-0-0-0
Burger World- table 12
“Hey! Hands off my food!” Katsuya yells, smacking Honda’s hands away from his fries. “You’ve got your own so don’t eat mine!”
Tama slides into the space at the booth beside Katsuya with a chocolate milkshake in hand. With a grin she snags one of the fries and takes a bite. “Mmm… good fry.”
“Tama!”
Honda, Shizuka, and Yugi laugh at the look on Katsuya’s face and then each of them steal one of the blonde’s French fries.
“Alright, this means war! Nobody steals Katsuya Jounouchi’s fries and gets away with it!” Katsuya declares. “I challenge you to a spork fight!”
The others sweat drop.
“Katsuya, we don’t have any sporks.” Shizuka says. “And only Honda would be any challenge for you.”
“Yeah, I suck at spork fights.” Tama says. “I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve lost to Mokuba. Now fry fighting on the other hand…”
The others look amused at the thought of fighting using French fries and then Honda, Shizuka, Yugi, and Tama each steal another of Katsuya’s fries.
“Guuuuuys!”
The other four just laugh, but they stop taking the blonde’s fries so that he won’t have to go get more. Then they begin discussing what they want to do while they’re on spring break for the next eight or nine days.
While they’re talking about spring break activities, Honda notices a rather odd group of people coming through the door.
“Check it out, that guy has purple hair.” Honda says, pointing. “And there’s a girl with blue hair.”
Yugi and Shizuka look up and over in the direction that Honda’s pointing while Katsuya and Tama turn around to look.
“Tama, doesn’t that boy look familiar?” Yugi asks.
Tama looks at the purple-haired boy for a minute and then her eyes widen as she recognizes him. “I don’t believe it…” Slipping out of her seat, she makes her way over to the group of teens who are talking in English. /“Damian Cerberus Mizu!”/ She exclaims in a rather angry tone to confuse her old friend.
Damian jumps and spins around, a look of astonishment on his face as he wonders who it is he’s managed to piss off without even doing anything. He grins when he sees that it’s Tama. /“Well if it isn’t my original munchkin! Damn, have you shrunk or is it just me?”/ He pats Tama on the head.
Tama swats his hand away, but is unable to keep from smiling. “What are you doing here? And who are they?”
“They’re my American buddies!” Damian says. “Introducing the Phoenix twins Liam and Ashling, the Lexus twins Roman and Alexandrian and their younger brother Nixxuss, and that’s Riley Poplar. She’s more Ashling and Liam’s friend, but I think she’s getting used to the rest of us.”
Nixx glares at Riley when Damian smiles and winks at the blonde-haired girl.
/“Guys, this is my old pal Tamashira Muto.”/ Damian says, switching back to English for Alexandrian, Roman, and Riley. /“And she has kindly volunteered herself as our Domino City guide!”/
Ashling and Liam snort and Tama rolls her eyes.
/“Dami’-kun, what have I told you about volunteering me for things before I even agree?”/ Tama sweetly asks, reaching up and grabbing his ear.
Damian yelps in pain. “I won’t do it again!”
“Good boy.” Tama says, pleased by Damian’s words. Then she lets go of his ear.
/“Can you stop switching between Japanese and English?”/ Roman loudly asks. /“Some of us aren’t gifted enough to understand what the hell you two are saying.”/
/ “Damian told his friend our names and then introduced us to her and then Muto-san told Damian off for volunteering her without her permission.”/ Ashling tells Roman, Alexandrian, and Riley.
/ “Please call me Tama. There’s too many of us Muto’s around here to use my last name.”/ Tama says. / “Now come sit down over with me and a couple of my friends. You can order there.”/
The U.S. group agrees, since they were going to find a place to sit and order anyway, and they follow Tama over to table twelve. Since there’s not enough room for them all to sit in the round booth, they shove a different table over and grab a few chairs to make it bigger. While they’re doing that, introductions are being made again.
Once they’re all seated they give more in-depth introductions and start telling stories about how they met one another. Tama and Damian serve as the translators, because Katsuya, Honda, and Shizuka aren’t the best at English; Roman and Alexandrian understand very little Japanese; and Riley doesn’t know any Japanese at all.
“Liam and I met Damian one summer when we went down to visit our grandparents at their new lake house. That was back when we lived in New York.” Ashling says. “Our grandmother had signed me, Liam, our little sister, and our younger cousin up for swimming lessons at the YMCA. Damian was also taking lessons and we just really hit it off. That was back before he started getting piercing and dying his hair crazy colors.”
“She still holds my hair dying days over my head.” Damian says, letting Liam translate what he’s said.
“You forgot Damian’s tatoo, Ash.” Nixx says helpfully, only to shrink back when Damian glares at him. “I’m guessing… you didn’t tell anyone. Oops.”
/“What’s going on?”/ Roman whispers.
/“Damian’s about to tell us about his tatoo that Nixx spilled the beans about.”/ Liam says.
/“You mean the one around his belly button? I already knew about that. He didn’t get another one, did he?”/ Roman asks.
“YOU TOLD ROMAN!” Damian explodes, standing up.
Liam and Alexandrian promptly jerk the purple-haired boy down so he’s sitting once again. People in the restaurant stare for a moment longer and then look away.
/“Buggering hell, Damian.”/ Tama says. /“Calm down. It’s not that big of a deal. Now,”/ She grins. /“You know you have to show it to us.”/
Damian grumbles something as he stands up and then begins pulling up his purple t-shirt.
“Woo-hoo! Take it off, baby!” Nixx yells.
Damian shoots Nixx a ‘shut-up-or-die’ look and lifts up his shirt until it shows his stomach. Tattooed around his belly button is a red, black, and white dragon.
“Cool!” Comes the resounding exclamation in both languages.
“Damian, is that a belly button ring?” Yugi asks.
Damian turns red and jerks his shirt down hastily before sitting down. “I reserve the right to remain silent.”
The ones who know Damian laugh at that statement, while Katsuya, Shizuka, Riley, and Honda just have amused smiles on their faces. Riley looks a little confused, but Roman and Alexandrian don’t as they’re heard that statement in Japanese before and have come to recognize it.
After a while longer of talking, eating, and French fry fights they leave Burger World so Tama can give the U.S. group a tour with the help of Honda, Katsuya, Yugi, and Shizuka.
From Burger World they head to Downtown City where all the shops and expensive restaurants are and from there they head to the game shop, passing by the park along the way.
When they get to the game shop, they find the rest of the Domingo group, with the exception of Malik and Mokuba, already there waiting for them. And so introductions are made for the third time that day.
They talk and get to know one another for a while and then Anzu asks a rather important question. One that makes an argument commence for the U.S. group.
“So where are you guys staying while you’re here for spring break?”
Alexandrian, Roman, Nixx, Riley, Liam, and Ashling turn to look at Damian, assuming he’s made arrangements for a place for them to stay.
Damian gulps and looks away. “It appears I’ve overlooked a uh… detail.” He says sheepishly.
“Major detail! Major detail!” Ashling exclaims.
“Don’t yell at my Damian” Nixx yells. “You were suppose to remind him!”
Ashling blanches while Damian yells, “I am not yours, Lexus!”
While Ashling, Damian, and Nixx get into a small argument over where they’re going to stay and whose fault it is, Tama looks pleadingly at Seto.
“No, Tama.” Seto says before his sister has a chance to say anything. “There’s barely enough room for us in the house. And somehow I get the feeling that it would be a very bad idea to let Nixx sleep in the same room as Damian.”
Understanding ‘bad idea’, ‘Nixx’, ’sleep’, ‘same room’, and ‘Damian’, Roman says: /“It would. Especially since Nixx would deem Damian molestable- again- and Damian wouldn’t like that.”/ He smirks when Damian and Nixx both glare at him.
“Lets at least help them find a place to stay.” Tama says. “Like the Holiday Inn out there past the park.”
/“Or a hotel with a swimming pool!”/ Nixx exclaims.
/“NO!”/ Ashling, Damian, Roman, Alexandrian, and Liam yell. If there’s one thing they’ve learned it’s that Nixx plus swimming pools equals trouble. Last time they went to the public pool they got kicked out because of inappropriate behavior. Of course, part of that was all Roman’s fault.
Nixx pouts. /“You guys are no fun. Just because me and Roman got us kicked out that one time doesn’t mean it’d happen again.”/
/ “Yes you would.”/ Liam and Ashling say in unison.
Over with the Domino group, they’ve begun they’re own conversation while the others try to figure out where they’re going to stay.
“Am I the only one who is horribly confused by all of this?” Anzu asks Yugi, Ryou, Katsuya, Shizuka, and Honda.
“I’m confused.” Katsuya says.
Shizuka and Honda agree with the blonde and Yugi says that he’s a little confused.
“What about you, Bakura? Do you know what’s going on?” Yugi asks.
“From what I can gather… Damian forgot to make arrangements for them to stay in a hotel and now they’re trying to figure out what to do.” Ryou says.
“Yugi!” Damian calls to his old friend. “Can I use your phone? I need to see if the Holiday Inn will have room for us and what the cost will be.”
Yugi nods. “Of course. Here, let me show you where it is.”
Damian follows Yugi into the Game Shop, hoping to be able to easily fix the mess he’s made. The others stay outside to talk a bit, although the language difference proves to be a bit of a problem.
The girls soon form a group off to the side and begin talking and laughing. The girls getting along serves as a bit of an ice breaker for the guys, who really don’t know what to say until Nixx, hating the silence, yells out something random that gets the others to look at him oddly.
“What?” Nixx asks. “You all weren’t talking and I had to say something. And it’s not like I shouted out ‘I love Damian’ or anything.” He defends, letting Liam repeat what he said in English for Roman and Alex.
Katsuya shrugs. “That’s true. Hey, is your hair natural or did you dye it?”
Nixx blinks. “My hair? It’s natural. My family is known for it’s rainbow hair! I’ve got a cousin with green hair and a great-aunt or something who has bright red hair. I’m the first to have turquoise!” He puffs up proudly. “My bangs are dyed though. So are the ends of my hair.”
“Weird, with your hair and eye color you would think you’d look a lot like that bastard Kaiba.” Katsuya says. “But you don’t look a thing like him and you’re much nicer. And louder.”
“Thank you!”
/“And not normal.”/ Romans says after Liam translates.
/“And more girly.”/ Alexandrian adds.
Nixx turns around to glare at his brothers, who both just put innocent expressions on their faces. Nixx rolls his eyes and says, /“Yeah, that’s really going to fool me.”/
“Are they always like this?” Honda asks when the three brothers begin arguing with and teasing one another.
“They can get worse.” Liam responds. “And then you want to get away from them. Far, far away. You never want to get caught in the middle of a Lexus family war. It’s not pretty.”
/ “Itai! Don’t pull my hair, Roman!”/
Fifteen minutes later Damian and Yugi come out of the house and Damian informs his group that they’ll be staying at the Holiday Inn and that they’re going to have to share rooms because he only has enough money to pay for three rooms for a week. It’s quickly decided that Ashling and Riley will share one room, Damian and Liam will share one room, and Roman, Nixx, and Alexandrian will share the third room.
Tama and Seto volunteer to show them the way to the hotel so that Damian doesn’t get them lost. The U.S. group agrees, even Damian who usually refuses to admit that he gets lost.
Everyone says their goodbyes and then split up to go home, or in Tama and Seto’s case take Damian and the others to the Holiday Inn.
0-0-0-0-0-0
The next day around ten o’clock, Tama goes to the hotel with Mokuba to pick up their new friends and take them to the arcade where they’ll meet up without everyone. Tama retrieves Damian, Liam, and the girls while Mokuba is given the task of getting the Lexus brothers.
And who should answer the door to their room but a sleepy Nixx clad in a pink t-shirt and a pair of boxers with hearts on them. “‘lo?” He sleepily asks, before raising his eyes to get a good look at who is at the door. “You’re cute. I wanna hug you…”
Mokuba squeaks when Nixx suddenly hugs him.
“T-Tama! Help!” He yells.
Riley’s the first to come out into the hall and see what’s going on. She raises an eyebrow and then says, /“Tama, it appears that Nixx is hugging your young friend.”/
“Hold on little buddy! I’m coming!” Tama cries, running out of Damian and Liam’s room. She stops short at the sight of Nixx draped over Mokuba. / “Damn, I didn’t think you were actually serious. I so wish I had a camera right now.”/
As luck would have it Ashling and Liam have both brought camera’s along with them and they both bring them into the hallway to take a picture or two.
“Can someone please get him off of me?” Mokuba asks pleadingly. “He’s not heavy or anything, but this is kind of uncomfortable.”
Roman finally drags himself over to the door and grabs the back of Nixx’s t-shirt and pulls him off of Mokuba. /“Get in here and get dressed, baka. You’ll scare the children. Not that I care about the stupid children...”/
/“Huh?”/
Roman shoves Nixx into their room and shuts the door, knowing that Nixx won’t. By this time Damian has joined them in the hallway dressed in a dark blue t-shirt and a pair of old blue jeans.
“What’d Nixx do? He had to have done something.” Damian says knowingly. “And since Tama was helping me get Liam up then that must mean that Mokuba was sent to wake up Roman, Alex, and Nixx.” He gives Mokuba a small smile. “Nice to see you again, Mokuba. Hey!” His eyes light up and he looks from Mokuba and then to Tama. “You’re taller than Tama now!”
Tama glares at him. “Keep it up purple-boy and I’ll make sure you get so lost you can’t tell up from down!”
Damian merely grins, knowing that she doesn’t really mean it. “But Ashy’s my new munchkin because she’s even shorter than you are!”
“Dying a horrible, painful death.” Ashling growls.
“Several times over; I know.” Damian says. “So, are we going to the arcade or what? I need to show Roman who’s the master of air hockey!”
The door to Roman, Alexandrian, and Nixx’s room opens and the three brothers exit one at a time.
“I’m sorry for whatever I said or did while I was half asleep.” Nixx says automatically. “It’s too early to thiiin…” He trails off when he actually gets a good look at Mokuba. “You- you’re so cute!”
Everyone else sweat drops and Mokuba looks distinctly uncomfortable.
“Lets roll out!”
0-0-0-0-0-0
At the arcade things start off smoothly. Anzu challenges Tama to DDR and Damian, Nixx, Mokuba, and Riley follow to watch; Roman and Ashling challenge one another to a race game and Alexandrian and Liam cheer on their respective twin; Katsuya and Honda are battling it out on the air hockey table and Shizuka is watching; Yugi is talking to Seto while playing packman; and Ryou and Malik have yet to arrive.
Later they all gather near the DDR game to watch Katsuya and Honda try to dance without tripping over their own two feet and Ashling is reminded of her very first vision as she looks around at all of the people she’s met so far.
//An older Ashling sits outside under the sun dressed in a simple pale blue shirt and a pair of jeans. Her blonde hair is pulled up on the top of her head in a messy ponytail and then pinned up by a clip. An older Liam sits beside her, dressed in similar attire.
Soon an older Malik comes into the yard with an older Isis and a short-haired Tama. Malik takes a seat on the other side of Ashling and kisses her on the cheek. Tama and Isis sit down as well. Then and older Seto, Mokuba, and Kiba come out of the house talking excitably about something.
For a few minutes it’s just them sitting out there talking.
Then an older Damian and Riley walk out into the yard, loudly discussing something. Max trails after them, putting in his two cents when he can. Behind them are Honda, Katsuya, Miho, and a long-haired Anzu who are all older as well.
And older Yami and Yugi are after them, shortly followed by an older Bakura, Yumeri, Mariku, and a girl with reddish-brown hair named Holly. Ryou is after them, looking rather annoyed with the four.
Next to arrive are Noa, Nixx, Roman, and Alexandrian. Noa and Nixx appear to be having an argument over something and Roman and Alexandrian aren’t helping matters as usual.
The last to walk out into the yard are Otogi and Shizuka, both older, who walk over to the ground hand-in-hand.
After ten minutes or so of talking, Damian gets everyone to be quiet so he can show them something.
“Alright, I’ve been working on this for nearly a year now and I’ve finally gotten it finished and can show you.” Damian says, lifting up a large, covered, rectangular-shaped object. “I give you my grand masterpiece!”
Everyone gasps after he lifts off the cover and they see what it is. The main things that stick out in the painting are the two dragons flying in the sky, the silver wolf on the edge of the woods with a snow leopard, the cougar and golden retriever laying out in the sun, and two phoenix flying overhead with the dragons. Other animals are hidden within the picture.//
Ashling opens her eyes in time to see Katsuya trip over his feet and inevitably lose the game. Honda laughs and does a little victory dance to rub in the fact he won.
“Do I even want to know?” Malik asks upon joining the rest of the group. He and Ryou have arrived just in time to watch Katsuya trip and fall.
“Hey Malik.” Yugi greets. “Honda challenged Jounouchi and won because Jounouchi tripped and fell.”
Malik laughs. “Same sillyness then.” He says before glancing at Ashling and then looking at Yugi questioningly.
“Oh! Malik, this is one of Damian’s friends. She’s Ashling Phoenix. Ashling, this is Tama, Seto, and Mokuba’s cousin, Malik Ishtar.” Yugi introduces.
Ashling puts a smile on her face, shoving the memory of the Vision to the back of her mind, and turns to say hello to Malik. Her greeting dies before it even has a chance to leave her mouth when she sees Malik. Her mind brings up the Vision for a second time.
Despite the effects of the Vision, Ashling reacts on one word that her mind and instincts are screaming; she bolts.
“Ash!” Liam yells after her. He curses when she doesn’t even slow down. ‘Not again, damn it.’ He breathes deeply
Subconsciously he tries to pick up on Ashling who, being his twin, he should be able to pick up on. ‘The last time she fled like this she headed straight for the woods and the river. And it seems like she’s heading… to the park!’
While Liam is lost in his thoughts, the others have begun putting together a search party.
“I’ll take the park.” Malik volunteers.
“Alright.” Seto says with a nod. “Who will go with him?”
Liam looks around and when nobody speaks up right away he volunteers. “I’ll go.”
“So that settles it.” Seto says. “Katsuya, Honda, Tama, and Roman are checking downtown; Mokuba, Alex, Nixx, and I are going to the uptown area; Yugi, Shizuka, and Anzu are going back to the Game Shop area; Bakura, Damian, and Riley are going to go check the hotel and wait there; and Malik and Liam are going to search the park.” Seto pauses for a moment to make sure there’s no objections. “We’ll meet up in one hour outside the Holiday Inn. It’ll be around one o’clock then.” He glances at the group that’s going downtown. “Be careful.”
Riley, Roman, and Alexandrian look puzzled for a moment before Ryou, Tama, and Nixx translate for them.
Once everyone know the plan, they split up into their groups and head to their assigned spots.
0-0-0-0-0-0
One o’clock comes and goes with no sign of Ashling. Liam and Malik are also missing, which makes Damian, Anzu, and Mokuba worried. Or more accurately, Anzu and Mokuba are worried and Damian is well passed being just worried and is starting to panic.
“Something horrible could have happened to them and we’re just sitting here doing nothing! What if they’ve been kidnapped? Or fallen in a hole!” Damian gasps in fear. “Oh gods, what will I tell their parents? Mr. Phoenix is gonna kill me!”
/“Chill, Damian. We’re alive.”/
Damian, along with everyone else, turns around to see that Malik, Ashling, and Liam are alive and well.
“Liam! Ashling! Thank the- why’s Malik carrying Ash? Did something happen?” Damian fretfully asks.
Roman narrows his eyes at the blonde boy. ‘Why isn’t Liam carrying her? She’d never let a practical stranger carry her or even touch her except to shake her hand.’
“She fainted is all.” Malik says.
“I think she had a bit of a panic attack and then got overheated. Toss in her stress over her… Sight and things get worse.” Liam elaborates. “She’ll be fine though. She just needs to rest a bit and drink some water. You all can go hang out and see the sights while I head up to our rooms and stay with Ash.” He says.
“That’s not very fair.” Anzu argues. “Shizuka and I could stay here with her. Being in female company may do her some good.”
Shizuka nods in agreement.
“I’ll stay too.” Tama volunteers.
There’s a moments pause as Mokuba translates for Riley, Roman, and Alex.
/“And if they’re staying, then I’m staying.”/ Riley says. /“And I want to talk to Ashling about something without the risk of the guys overhearing anyway.”/
Nixx grins. /“Can I-”/
/“No, Nixx.”/ Roman, Alexandrian, Liam, and Damian say in unison.
Nixx pouts cutely and then glances over at Mokuba.
Liam notices where he’s looking. “On second thought, go hang out with the girls and stop hitting on poor Mokuba.”
Mokuba turns bright red and Nixx looks away from the raven-haired boy protesting, “I do not!”
Damian stops the argument that’s sure to come and then the guys and girls split up. Once the girls are inside with Ash, the guys split up even further. Ryou and Yugi go back to their homes; Katsuya, Honda, Damian, and Roman go back to the arcade, having not been able to do everything they wanted; and Alexandrian, Nixx, Liam, Malik, Seto, and Mokuba just walk around aimlessly and go into random shops along the way.
Things remain this way until after dinner when everyone goes home or, in the U.S. group’s case, the place they’re staying.
0-0-0-0-0-0
The next day they split up into groups again, finding it easier to go places and find things to do in smaller groups. This time they split into different groups.
Seto and Tama take Ashling, Riley, and Nixx to the mall since they’re the only ones who have expressed interest in going. Anzu, Shizuka, Honda, Katsuya, and Damian decide to go downtown to check out odd shops there. Everyone else- Roman, Yugi, Malik, Alexandrian, Liam, and Mokuba- decide on walking around Domino City to see what they can find to do.
At lunchtime they all meet in the park and then go out to eat lunch at a restaurant that Malik and Nixx, being vegetarians, won’t mind eating at.
After pushing several tables together and ordering their food and drinks, the conversation takes off.
To Damian’s relief, the seating arrangements are mixed between the two group and nobody seems too uncomfortable. Even Riley is joking around with Anzu, Shizuka, and Tama. (With Tama being the translator)
‘Everyone’s getting along great!’ Damian happily thinks, but quickly amends this thought when Roman throws a glare at Malik. ‘Okay, maybe not everyone. But why’s Roman mad at Malik? He’s just sitting there next to Ash.’ He pauses on that thought. ‘Oh… Roman likes Ash and she hasn’t paid him much attention. I’m surprised she’s sitting next to Malik though, what with that weird Vision and all.’
“…mian! Damian!” Seto bops the purple-haired boy upside the head after trying and failing to get his attention for the fifth time.
Damian reaches a hand up and rubs the spot on his head that Seto hit. “That hurt. What do you want?”
“You never told us how long you’re staying here.” Seto says. “And how did you get enough money to do this?”
“We’re leaving on the morning of the 18th.” Damian tells the tall brunette. “And I’ve been saving money from mowing lawns, weeding gardens, babysitting, and from selling apples, pumpkins, flowers, and some of my paintings. I also got a job as soon as I turned fifteen. This trip used up just about all of my money.” He sighs heavily. “But it was worth it.”
/“Since when have Malik and Ash been so close?”/ Alexandrian suddenly whispers so that Roman (who’s slowly shredding lettuce while glaring at Malik) doesn’t hear him. /“I think she’s actually flirting with him!”/
Damian curiously looks over at Ashling and Malik and raises an eyebrow when he sees the two bickering about something. Judging by the gesturing to one another’s plate, the argument is over their food preferences. /“Alex, if you call that flirting then you’re more hopeless than I thought.”/
Alexandrian shrugs. /“Maybe.”/
0-0-0-0-0-0
The rest of the week speeds by, with new friendships growing stronger than they could have imagined at the beginning. Malik and Ashling are rarely seen without the other; Roman spends most of his time with Katsuya and Honda; Nixx has taken to trailing after Mokuba like a lost puppy; Riley spends almost all her time with Anzu, Shizuka, and Tama; and Liam’s formed a good friendship with Anzu, Yugi, Ryou, and Malik.
When the day comes that the U.S. group has to depart, nobody is too thrilled. They delay leaving for as long as possible, and nearly leave Nixx behind when he clings to a startled Mokuba at the airport, but eventually they get on the plane and head back home.
Spring break has officially come to an end.
-F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A-M- I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S-
Shiro: I spent a remarkable amount of time on this chapter. I am so happy to have finally gotten it typed up. Urg... it seems I've begun slowing down when it comes to getting these things written and typed up. I need to start actually setting aside time to do it. Yes, that would be smart...
Bast: Please excuse her, it was late when she typed this up.
Shiro: Oh, hush.
(a crashing noise is heard)
Shiro: ANGUIS! Damn that dragon!
Bast: It's your fault for starting the muse adoption agency.
Shiro: It's not my fault that the pipes exploded, flooding the building they were housed in! Now all those muses are stuck here in my head!
Bast: It's a wonder you're not overwhelmed by ideas.
Shiro: Ha ha.
Bast: (smiles)
Shiro: (sighs) If anyone wants to know what we're talking about, then go to my profile and click on the 'homepage' link there. It'll take you a little freewebs website I made with the help of a friend of mine.
NEXT CHAPTER: summer, secrets, and traveling
-F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A-M -I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S-
Chapter 18
March 2007- Kame Game Shop“Yugi, where do you keep the puzzles?” Tama asks.
Yugi looks up from some papers he’s going through that make up the shop’s inventory. “Top shelf of the storage room near the yo-yo’s and ping pong balls.”
Tama raises an eyebrow at the last item and then shakes her head muttering, “I don’t want to know.” Then she makes her way to the storage room.
While she does that, Yugi gives up on trying to decipher his grandpa’s handwriting and decides to go to the kitchen to make a snack and get something to drink. “Tama, I’m going to get a snack! Do you want anything?”
“Cookie please!” Comes Tama’s half-muffled reply before she shrieks and the sound of something falling is heard.
Yugi sweat drops and wonders if it wasn’t the best idea to send his clumsy cousin into the hazardous cluttered storage room. Deciding that the storage room will most likely stay intact and that Tama won’t accidentally kill herself by knocking over a shelf, Yugi walks into the kitchen and begins fixing his snack.
“Aibou,” Yami appears beside Yugi in his more solid form. It’s a new technique he recently learned so he can talk to the others and Yugi without having to switch with Yugi or relay messages through him.
Yugi jumps, not yet used to his darker half’s random appearances. “M-mou hitori no boku! Is something wrong?”
Yami leans against the counter for a minute, trying to gain balance. Keeping an almost solid form can be taxing. “No, I just wanted to talk to you. I haven’t been able to all day.”
“Yeah, I had forgotten that Tama was coming over to help me with the shop. I’m sorry.” Yugi apologizes. “And it won’t be a good idea to stay out too long. She’ll be coming back here any minute.” He says, trying to open his bottle of soda. “Mou-”
“Hey Yugi, where’s that cookie at?” Tama cheerfully asks, coming into the kitchen.
In a split second, Yami disappears back into Yugi’s mind but it’s not fast enough for Yumeri, who is already fed up with Bakura and Mariku’s random take-overs.
“PHARAOH!” Yumeri roars, forcefully taking over with no warning what-so-ever.
Yugi squeaks and jumps nearly a foot into the air in surprise. “Tama? What-?” His question dies on his tongue once he gets a good look at his “cousin”. “You’re not Tama.”
“Tell the pharaoh to get out here.” Yumeri growls. “Or you can pass on this message to him; he had better not dare come out when my omote is around or there will be hell to pay! She will not know of my existence until I want her to know. And I will know if you try to drop hints, light of the pharaoh.” She glares at him for a moment and then retreats back into her soul room.
Tama looks at Yugi hopefully. “Cookie?”
0-0-0-0-0-0
March 10, 2007
“Rise and shiiiine!” Nixx sings, horribly off-key. “Wake up with a bright cheerful smiiiile! The biiirds are chirping! The suuuun is shining! All is joyful and briii--”
-WHAMPH!-
“Shut up, Nixxuss.” Roman growls, before tugging his blankets up over his head. “I don’t care whether we’re leaving in an hour or in the next five minutes; I. Am. Sleeping. In.”
Nixx just grins in an evil manner. “Okay, then I guess Ashling will just have to wait for you to get up. I’d better go tell her…”
In a matter of seconds Roman is out of his bed and rushing about the room getting dressed. Seconds after that he’s out the bedroom door and running down the stairs, his raven black hair a complete mess.
Nixx whistles a happy tune and makes his way to Alexandrian’s room to wake up his brown haired brother.
“NIXXUSS!!!” Roman roars. “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”
Nixx just laughs and runs into Alexandrian’s room onto to run headlong into his second older brother.
“What did you do this time? Pour ice water on his head or set loose that gerbil of yours in his bed again?” Alexandrian asks.
“Neither.” Nixx replies. “I just told him that Ashling is here. Call it revenge for him telling me Damian was here with a rose that one morning.”
The door to Alexandrian’s room slams the rest of the way open and Nixx squeaks and hides behind Alex. Roman stands in the doorway breathing heavily.
“Move, Alex! I’m going to kill the blue-haired runt!” Roman yells.
Nixx immediately protests that his hair is turquoise and not blue, not even noticing that Alexandrian has stepped to the side and has told Roman, “Have at him.”. Nixx does notice when Roman tackles him to the ground. It’s doubtful that anyone would not notice that.
When the wrestling doesn’t stop after five minutes, Alexandrian kicks them both out of his room so that he can get dressed and brush his hair. When he walks out into the hallway the two of them are still wrestling. Alexandrian just rolls his eyes and heads downstairs to eat breakfast.
Fifteen minutes later the doorbell rings; Ashling, Liam, and Damian have arrived.
“Nixx! Roman! Ashling, Liam, and Damian are here!” Mr. Lexus yells up the stairs.
Nixx and Roman sit up abruptly and hit heads, making themselves fall over backwards. They sit there in a daze for a minute and then scramble for the stairs.
Nixx reaches the bottom first, but only because he fell halfway down the stairs. Roman leaps over his little brother, nearly landing on Nixx’s hair, and makes a beeline for Ashling and hugs her tightly when he reaches her. Then Nixx manages to get up and runs across the room and glomps Damian.
Liam looks back and forth between Damian and Ashling. “Well don’t I fell loved.”
“I am not hugging you.” Alexandrian states.
Liam pales at the very idea of him and Alexandrian hugging. “Thank you for not hugging me. I’d probably have a heart attack.”
“GET OFF OF ME!” Damian roars.
0-0-0-0-0-0
A hour later Nixx, Roman, Alexandrian, Damian, Ashling, and Liam are on a plane and are heading over to California where they’ll meet up with Riley and then fly the rest of the way to Domino City.
This whole trip began with Damian and his brilliant plan for spring break. Knowing that they all somehow have the same week off for spring break, Damian began convincing the others to take a trip to see his old home. It took a while, but eventually he even managed to talk Riley into going.
So now they’re on the plane and going to California and Nixx is making airplane jokes. Ashling, who is sitting next to him, is not happy.
“Nixx, shut up about the Arabic airlines joke!” Ashling hisses. “It’s not funny!”
“Okay, okay.” Nixx says. “But wait, is that--”
Roman hits Nixx in the head, keeping him from finishing the sentence and inevitably getting killed by Ashling.
Several hours, two barf bags, and one unconscious Nixx later they arrive at the airport in California and go find a spot to sit at while they wait for Riley to arrive
While they’re waiting, Nixx rolls off of the bench they’re on and wakes up. Apparently he fell asleep while he was unconscious.
“Ashling! Liam!”
The Phoenix twins look up and over in the direction the yell comes from and they both wave when they see that it’s Riley lugging a yellow suitcase behind her.
Damian is on his feet and rushing over to help her in less than five seconds with a cheerful smile on his face. Nixx glares at Riley, feelings of jealously welling up inside of him.
Ashling looks at Nixx in concern and lays a hand on his shoulder. “Nixx, are you okay?”
Nixx shrugs off Ashling’s hand and mutters, “I have to go to the bathroom.”
Ashling watches in worry as Nixx walks away from them and through the crowd to the bathroom. ‘Oh Nixx… one of these days you’ll find someone. I’m sure of it.’
0-0-0-0-0-0
/“This, my friends, is Domino City!”/ Damian exclaims happily, spinning around in a circle once. /“This isn’t the area I lived, but it’s pretty close! I can’t wait to see what’s changed and what hasn’t. Come! To the Kame Game Shop!”/
Ashling, Nixx, Roman, and Liam follow their purple-haired companion without any hesitancy, while Alexandrian and Riley hold back a minute.
/ “Is he sane?”/ Riley asks.
/ “I’ve known him for about ten years and I still haven’t figured that out.”/ Alexandrian replies. / “And I don’t think I ever will. Lets go catch up before we worry Ashling.”/
The two catch up to their friends and together they walk around in search of the shop Damian mentioned. It becomes obvious after a half hour that they are hopelessly lost. And Nixx is hungry.
/ “Of we’re not going to stop and ask directions, then lets at least stop and eat.”/ Riley says. / “I would ask, but since I can’t even speak Japanese it’d be pointless for me to even try.”/
Damian stops walking and looks around. “Hmm… I could have sworn that--”
/ “Dami-kun,”/ Nixx whines, attaching himself to Damian’s arm. / “I’m hungry. Feed me.”/
“I’m hungry too.” Ashling chimes in, attaching herself to Damian’s other arm.
“Feed us.” Nixx and Ashling say in unison.
Roman smirks, Alexandrian and Liam roll their eyes, Riley looks confused, and Damian exhales softly.
“Alright, lets go get food.” Damian says.
While Nixx and Ashling cheer and let go of his arms to do a spontaneous victory dance, Damian repeats what he just said, only this time in English, so Roman, Alexandrian, and Riley can understand.
After asking directions for the nearest place to eat, they set off once again. This time they’re looking for a place called, “Burger World”.
0-0-0-0-0-0
Burger World- table 12
“Hey! Hands off my food!” Katsuya yells, smacking Honda’s hands away from his fries. “You’ve got your own so don’t eat mine!”
Tama slides into the space at the booth beside Katsuya with a chocolate milkshake in hand. With a grin she snags one of the fries and takes a bite. “Mmm… good fry.”
“Tama!”
Honda, Shizuka, and Yugi laugh at the look on Katsuya’s face and then each of them steal one of the blonde’s French fries.
“Alright, this means war! Nobody steals Katsuya Jounouchi’s fries and gets away with it!” Katsuya declares. “I challenge you to a spork fight!”
The others sweat drop.
“Katsuya, we don’t have any sporks.” Shizuka says. “And only Honda would be any challenge for you.”
“Yeah, I suck at spork fights.” Tama says. “I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve lost to Mokuba. Now fry fighting on the other hand…”
The others look amused at the thought of fighting using French fries and then Honda, Shizuka, Yugi, and Tama each steal another of Katsuya’s fries.
“Guuuuuys!”
The other four just laugh, but they stop taking the blonde’s fries so that he won’t have to go get more. Then they begin discussing what they want to do while they’re on spring break for the next eight or nine days.
While they’re talking about spring break activities, Honda notices a rather odd group of people coming through the door.
“Check it out, that guy has purple hair.” Honda says, pointing. “And there’s a girl with blue hair.”
Yugi and Shizuka look up and over in the direction that Honda’s pointing while Katsuya and Tama turn around to look.
“Tama, doesn’t that boy look familiar?” Yugi asks.
Tama looks at the purple-haired boy for a minute and then her eyes widen as she recognizes him. “I don’t believe it…” Slipping out of her seat, she makes her way over to the group of teens who are talking in English. /“Damian Cerberus Mizu!”/ She exclaims in a rather angry tone to confuse her old friend.
Damian jumps and spins around, a look of astonishment on his face as he wonders who it is he’s managed to piss off without even doing anything. He grins when he sees that it’s Tama. /“Well if it isn’t my original munchkin! Damn, have you shrunk or is it just me?”/ He pats Tama on the head.
Tama swats his hand away, but is unable to keep from smiling. “What are you doing here? And who are they?”
“They’re my American buddies!” Damian says. “Introducing the Phoenix twins Liam and Ashling, the Lexus twins Roman and Alexandrian and their younger brother Nixxuss, and that’s Riley Poplar. She’s more Ashling and Liam’s friend, but I think she’s getting used to the rest of us.”
Nixx glares at Riley when Damian smiles and winks at the blonde-haired girl.
/“Guys, this is my old pal Tamashira Muto.”/ Damian says, switching back to English for Alexandrian, Roman, and Riley. /“And she has kindly volunteered herself as our Domino City guide!”/
Ashling and Liam snort and Tama rolls her eyes.
/“Dami’-kun, what have I told you about volunteering me for things before I even agree?”/ Tama sweetly asks, reaching up and grabbing his ear.
Damian yelps in pain. “I won’t do it again!”
“Good boy.” Tama says, pleased by Damian’s words. Then she lets go of his ear.
/“Can you stop switching between Japanese and English?”/ Roman loudly asks. /“Some of us aren’t gifted enough to understand what the hell you two are saying.”/
/ “Damian told his friend our names and then introduced us to her and then Muto-san told Damian off for volunteering her without her permission.”/ Ashling tells Roman, Alexandrian, and Riley.
/ “Please call me Tama. There’s too many of us Muto’s around here to use my last name.”/ Tama says. / “Now come sit down over with me and a couple of my friends. You can order there.”/
The U.S. group agrees, since they were going to find a place to sit and order anyway, and they follow Tama over to table twelve. Since there’s not enough room for them all to sit in the round booth, they shove a different table over and grab a few chairs to make it bigger. While they’re doing that, introductions are being made again.
Once they’re all seated they give more in-depth introductions and start telling stories about how they met one another. Tama and Damian serve as the translators, because Katsuya, Honda, and Shizuka aren’t the best at English; Roman and Alexandrian understand very little Japanese; and Riley doesn’t know any Japanese at all.
“Liam and I met Damian one summer when we went down to visit our grandparents at their new lake house. That was back when we lived in New York.” Ashling says. “Our grandmother had signed me, Liam, our little sister, and our younger cousin up for swimming lessons at the YMCA. Damian was also taking lessons and we just really hit it off. That was back before he started getting piercing and dying his hair crazy colors.”
“She still holds my hair dying days over my head.” Damian says, letting Liam translate what he’s said.
“You forgot Damian’s tatoo, Ash.” Nixx says helpfully, only to shrink back when Damian glares at him. “I’m guessing… you didn’t tell anyone. Oops.”
/“What’s going on?”/ Roman whispers.
/“Damian’s about to tell us about his tatoo that Nixx spilled the beans about.”/ Liam says.
/“You mean the one around his belly button? I already knew about that. He didn’t get another one, did he?”/ Roman asks.
“YOU TOLD ROMAN!” Damian explodes, standing up.
Liam and Alexandrian promptly jerk the purple-haired boy down so he’s sitting once again. People in the restaurant stare for a moment longer and then look away.
/“Buggering hell, Damian.”/ Tama says. /“Calm down. It’s not that big of a deal. Now,”/ She grins. /“You know you have to show it to us.”/
Damian grumbles something as he stands up and then begins pulling up his purple t-shirt.
“Woo-hoo! Take it off, baby!” Nixx yells.
Damian shoots Nixx a ‘shut-up-or-die’ look and lifts up his shirt until it shows his stomach. Tattooed around his belly button is a red, black, and white dragon.
“Cool!” Comes the resounding exclamation in both languages.
“Damian, is that a belly button ring?” Yugi asks.
Damian turns red and jerks his shirt down hastily before sitting down. “I reserve the right to remain silent.”
The ones who know Damian laugh at that statement, while Katsuya, Shizuka, Riley, and Honda just have amused smiles on their faces. Riley looks a little confused, but Roman and Alexandrian don’t as they’re heard that statement in Japanese before and have come to recognize it.
After a while longer of talking, eating, and French fry fights they leave Burger World so Tama can give the U.S. group a tour with the help of Honda, Katsuya, Yugi, and Shizuka.
From Burger World they head to Downtown City where all the shops and expensive restaurants are and from there they head to the game shop, passing by the park along the way.
When they get to the game shop, they find the rest of the Domingo group, with the exception of Malik and Mokuba, already there waiting for them. And so introductions are made for the third time that day.
They talk and get to know one another for a while and then Anzu asks a rather important question. One that makes an argument commence for the U.S. group.
“So where are you guys staying while you’re here for spring break?”
Alexandrian, Roman, Nixx, Riley, Liam, and Ashling turn to look at Damian, assuming he’s made arrangements for a place for them to stay.
Damian gulps and looks away. “It appears I’ve overlooked a uh… detail.” He says sheepishly.
“Major detail! Major detail!” Ashling exclaims.
“Don’t yell at my Damian” Nixx yells. “You were suppose to remind him!”
Ashling blanches while Damian yells, “I am not yours, Lexus!”
While Ashling, Damian, and Nixx get into a small argument over where they’re going to stay and whose fault it is, Tama looks pleadingly at Seto.
“No, Tama.” Seto says before his sister has a chance to say anything. “There’s barely enough room for us in the house. And somehow I get the feeling that it would be a very bad idea to let Nixx sleep in the same room as Damian.”
Understanding ‘bad idea’, ‘Nixx’, ’sleep’, ‘same room’, and ‘Damian’, Roman says: /“It would. Especially since Nixx would deem Damian molestable- again- and Damian wouldn’t like that.”/ He smirks when Damian and Nixx both glare at him.
“Lets at least help them find a place to stay.” Tama says. “Like the Holiday Inn out there past the park.”
/“Or a hotel with a swimming pool!”/ Nixx exclaims.
/“NO!”/ Ashling, Damian, Roman, Alexandrian, and Liam yell. If there’s one thing they’ve learned it’s that Nixx plus swimming pools equals trouble. Last time they went to the public pool they got kicked out because of inappropriate behavior. Of course, part of that was all Roman’s fault.
Nixx pouts. /“You guys are no fun. Just because me and Roman got us kicked out that one time doesn’t mean it’d happen again.”/
/ “Yes you would.”/ Liam and Ashling say in unison.
Over with the Domino group, they’ve begun they’re own conversation while the others try to figure out where they’re going to stay.
“Am I the only one who is horribly confused by all of this?” Anzu asks Yugi, Ryou, Katsuya, Shizuka, and Honda.
“I’m confused.” Katsuya says.
Shizuka and Honda agree with the blonde and Yugi says that he’s a little confused.
“What about you, Bakura? Do you know what’s going on?” Yugi asks.
“From what I can gather… Damian forgot to make arrangements for them to stay in a hotel and now they’re trying to figure out what to do.” Ryou says.
“Yugi!” Damian calls to his old friend. “Can I use your phone? I need to see if the Holiday Inn will have room for us and what the cost will be.”
Yugi nods. “Of course. Here, let me show you where it is.”
Damian follows Yugi into the Game Shop, hoping to be able to easily fix the mess he’s made. The others stay outside to talk a bit, although the language difference proves to be a bit of a problem.
The girls soon form a group off to the side and begin talking and laughing. The girls getting along serves as a bit of an ice breaker for the guys, who really don’t know what to say until Nixx, hating the silence, yells out something random that gets the others to look at him oddly.
“What?” Nixx asks. “You all weren’t talking and I had to say something. And it’s not like I shouted out ‘I love Damian’ or anything.” He defends, letting Liam repeat what he said in English for Roman and Alex.
Katsuya shrugs. “That’s true. Hey, is your hair natural or did you dye it?”
Nixx blinks. “My hair? It’s natural. My family is known for it’s rainbow hair! I’ve got a cousin with green hair and a great-aunt or something who has bright red hair. I’m the first to have turquoise!” He puffs up proudly. “My bangs are dyed though. So are the ends of my hair.”
“Weird, with your hair and eye color you would think you’d look a lot like that bastard Kaiba.” Katsuya says. “But you don’t look a thing like him and you’re much nicer. And louder.”
“Thank you!”
/“And not normal.”/ Romans says after Liam translates.
/“And more girly.”/ Alexandrian adds.
Nixx turns around to glare at his brothers, who both just put innocent expressions on their faces. Nixx rolls his eyes and says, /“Yeah, that’s really going to fool me.”/
“Are they always like this?” Honda asks when the three brothers begin arguing with and teasing one another.
“They can get worse.” Liam responds. “And then you want to get away from them. Far, far away. You never want to get caught in the middle of a Lexus family war. It’s not pretty.”
/ “Itai! Don’t pull my hair, Roman!”/
Fifteen minutes later Damian and Yugi come out of the house and Damian informs his group that they’ll be staying at the Holiday Inn and that they’re going to have to share rooms because he only has enough money to pay for three rooms for a week. It’s quickly decided that Ashling and Riley will share one room, Damian and Liam will share one room, and Roman, Nixx, and Alexandrian will share the third room.
Tama and Seto volunteer to show them the way to the hotel so that Damian doesn’t get them lost. The U.S. group agrees, even Damian who usually refuses to admit that he gets lost.
Everyone says their goodbyes and then split up to go home, or in Tama and Seto’s case take Damian and the others to the Holiday Inn.
0-0-0-0-0-0
The next day around ten o’clock, Tama goes to the hotel with Mokuba to pick up their new friends and take them to the arcade where they’ll meet up without everyone. Tama retrieves Damian, Liam, and the girls while Mokuba is given the task of getting the Lexus brothers.
And who should answer the door to their room but a sleepy Nixx clad in a pink t-shirt and a pair of boxers with hearts on them. “‘lo?” He sleepily asks, before raising his eyes to get a good look at who is at the door. “You’re cute. I wanna hug you…”
Mokuba squeaks when Nixx suddenly hugs him.
“T-Tama! Help!” He yells.
Riley’s the first to come out into the hall and see what’s going on. She raises an eyebrow and then says, /“Tama, it appears that Nixx is hugging your young friend.”/
“Hold on little buddy! I’m coming!” Tama cries, running out of Damian and Liam’s room. She stops short at the sight of Nixx draped over Mokuba. / “Damn, I didn’t think you were actually serious. I so wish I had a camera right now.”/
As luck would have it Ashling and Liam have both brought camera’s along with them and they both bring them into the hallway to take a picture or two.
“Can someone please get him off of me?” Mokuba asks pleadingly. “He’s not heavy or anything, but this is kind of uncomfortable.”
Roman finally drags himself over to the door and grabs the back of Nixx’s t-shirt and pulls him off of Mokuba. /“Get in here and get dressed, baka. You’ll scare the children. Not that I care about the stupid children...”/
/“Huh?”/
Roman shoves Nixx into their room and shuts the door, knowing that Nixx won’t. By this time Damian has joined them in the hallway dressed in a dark blue t-shirt and a pair of old blue jeans.
“What’d Nixx do? He had to have done something.” Damian says knowingly. “And since Tama was helping me get Liam up then that must mean that Mokuba was sent to wake up Roman, Alex, and Nixx.” He gives Mokuba a small smile. “Nice to see you again, Mokuba. Hey!” His eyes light up and he looks from Mokuba and then to Tama. “You’re taller than Tama now!”
Tama glares at him. “Keep it up purple-boy and I’ll make sure you get so lost you can’t tell up from down!”
Damian merely grins, knowing that she doesn’t really mean it. “But Ashy’s my new munchkin because she’s even shorter than you are!”
“Dying a horrible, painful death.” Ashling growls.
“Several times over; I know.” Damian says. “So, are we going to the arcade or what? I need to show Roman who’s the master of air hockey!”
The door to Roman, Alexandrian, and Nixx’s room opens and the three brothers exit one at a time.
“I’m sorry for whatever I said or did while I was half asleep.” Nixx says automatically. “It’s too early to thiiin…” He trails off when he actually gets a good look at Mokuba. “You- you’re so cute!”
Everyone else sweat drops and Mokuba looks distinctly uncomfortable.
“Lets roll out!”
0-0-0-0-0-0
At the arcade things start off smoothly. Anzu challenges Tama to DDR and Damian, Nixx, Mokuba, and Riley follow to watch; Roman and Ashling challenge one another to a race game and Alexandrian and Liam cheer on their respective twin; Katsuya and Honda are battling it out on the air hockey table and Shizuka is watching; Yugi is talking to Seto while playing packman; and Ryou and Malik have yet to arrive.
Later they all gather near the DDR game to watch Katsuya and Honda try to dance without tripping over their own two feet and Ashling is reminded of her very first vision as she looks around at all of the people she’s met so far.
//An older Ashling sits outside under the sun dressed in a simple pale blue shirt and a pair of jeans. Her blonde hair is pulled up on the top of her head in a messy ponytail and then pinned up by a clip. An older Liam sits beside her, dressed in similar attire.
Soon an older Malik comes into the yard with an older Isis and a short-haired Tama. Malik takes a seat on the other side of Ashling and kisses her on the cheek. Tama and Isis sit down as well. Then and older Seto, Mokuba, and Kiba come out of the house talking excitably about something.
For a few minutes it’s just them sitting out there talking.
Then an older Damian and Riley walk out into the yard, loudly discussing something. Max trails after them, putting in his two cents when he can. Behind them are Honda, Katsuya, Miho, and a long-haired Anzu who are all older as well.
And older Yami and Yugi are after them, shortly followed by an older Bakura, Yumeri, Mariku, and a girl with reddish-brown hair named Holly. Ryou is after them, looking rather annoyed with the four.
Next to arrive are Noa, Nixx, Roman, and Alexandrian. Noa and Nixx appear to be having an argument over something and Roman and Alexandrian aren’t helping matters as usual.
The last to walk out into the yard are Otogi and Shizuka, both older, who walk over to the ground hand-in-hand.
After ten minutes or so of talking, Damian gets everyone to be quiet so he can show them something.
“Alright, I’ve been working on this for nearly a year now and I’ve finally gotten it finished and can show you.” Damian says, lifting up a large, covered, rectangular-shaped object. “I give you my grand masterpiece!”
Everyone gasps after he lifts off the cover and they see what it is. The main things that stick out in the painting are the two dragons flying in the sky, the silver wolf on the edge of the woods with a snow leopard, the cougar and golden retriever laying out in the sun, and two phoenix flying overhead with the dragons. Other animals are hidden within the picture.//
Ashling opens her eyes in time to see Katsuya trip over his feet and inevitably lose the game. Honda laughs and does a little victory dance to rub in the fact he won.
“Do I even want to know?” Malik asks upon joining the rest of the group. He and Ryou have arrived just in time to watch Katsuya trip and fall.
“Hey Malik.” Yugi greets. “Honda challenged Jounouchi and won because Jounouchi tripped and fell.”
Malik laughs. “Same sillyness then.” He says before glancing at Ashling and then looking at Yugi questioningly.
“Oh! Malik, this is one of Damian’s friends. She’s Ashling Phoenix. Ashling, this is Tama, Seto, and Mokuba’s cousin, Malik Ishtar.” Yugi introduces.
Ashling puts a smile on her face, shoving the memory of the Vision to the back of her mind, and turns to say hello to Malik. Her greeting dies before it even has a chance to leave her mouth when she sees Malik. Her mind brings up the Vision for a second time.
Despite the effects of the Vision, Ashling reacts on one word that her mind and instincts are screaming; she bolts.
“Ash!” Liam yells after her. He curses when she doesn’t even slow down. ‘Not again, damn it.’ He breathes deeply
Subconsciously he tries to pick up on Ashling who, being his twin, he should be able to pick up on. ‘The last time she fled like this she headed straight for the woods and the river. And it seems like she’s heading… to the park!’
While Liam is lost in his thoughts, the others have begun putting together a search party.
“I’ll take the park.” Malik volunteers.
“Alright.” Seto says with a nod. “Who will go with him?”
Liam looks around and when nobody speaks up right away he volunteers. “I’ll go.”
“So that settles it.” Seto says. “Katsuya, Honda, Tama, and Roman are checking downtown; Mokuba, Alex, Nixx, and I are going to the uptown area; Yugi, Shizuka, and Anzu are going back to the Game Shop area; Bakura, Damian, and Riley are going to go check the hotel and wait there; and Malik and Liam are going to search the park.” Seto pauses for a moment to make sure there’s no objections. “We’ll meet up in one hour outside the Holiday Inn. It’ll be around one o’clock then.” He glances at the group that’s going downtown. “Be careful.”
Riley, Roman, and Alexandrian look puzzled for a moment before Ryou, Tama, and Nixx translate for them.
Once everyone know the plan, they split up into their groups and head to their assigned spots.
0-0-0-0-0-0
One o’clock comes and goes with no sign of Ashling. Liam and Malik are also missing, which makes Damian, Anzu, and Mokuba worried. Or more accurately, Anzu and Mokuba are worried and Damian is well passed being just worried and is starting to panic.
“Something horrible could have happened to them and we’re just sitting here doing nothing! What if they’ve been kidnapped? Or fallen in a hole!” Damian gasps in fear. “Oh gods, what will I tell their parents? Mr. Phoenix is gonna kill me!”
/“Chill, Damian. We’re alive.”/
Damian, along with everyone else, turns around to see that Malik, Ashling, and Liam are alive and well.
“Liam! Ashling! Thank the- why’s Malik carrying Ash? Did something happen?” Damian fretfully asks.
Roman narrows his eyes at the blonde boy. ‘Why isn’t Liam carrying her? She’d never let a practical stranger carry her or even touch her except to shake her hand.’
“She fainted is all.” Malik says.
“I think she had a bit of a panic attack and then got overheated. Toss in her stress over her… Sight and things get worse.” Liam elaborates. “She’ll be fine though. She just needs to rest a bit and drink some water. You all can go hang out and see the sights while I head up to our rooms and stay with Ash.” He says.
“That’s not very fair.” Anzu argues. “Shizuka and I could stay here with her. Being in female company may do her some good.”
Shizuka nods in agreement.
“I’ll stay too.” Tama volunteers.
There’s a moments pause as Mokuba translates for Riley, Roman, and Alex.
/“And if they’re staying, then I’m staying.”/ Riley says. /“And I want to talk to Ashling about something without the risk of the guys overhearing anyway.”/
Nixx grins. /“Can I-”/
/“No, Nixx.”/ Roman, Alexandrian, Liam, and Damian say in unison.
Nixx pouts cutely and then glances over at Mokuba.
Liam notices where he’s looking. “On second thought, go hang out with the girls and stop hitting on poor Mokuba.”
Mokuba turns bright red and Nixx looks away from the raven-haired boy protesting, “I do not!”
Damian stops the argument that’s sure to come and then the guys and girls split up. Once the girls are inside with Ash, the guys split up even further. Ryou and Yugi go back to their homes; Katsuya, Honda, Damian, and Roman go back to the arcade, having not been able to do everything they wanted; and Alexandrian, Nixx, Liam, Malik, Seto, and Mokuba just walk around aimlessly and go into random shops along the way.
Things remain this way until after dinner when everyone goes home or, in the U.S. group’s case, the place they’re staying.
0-0-0-0-0-0
The next day they split up into groups again, finding it easier to go places and find things to do in smaller groups. This time they split into different groups.
Seto and Tama take Ashling, Riley, and Nixx to the mall since they’re the only ones who have expressed interest in going. Anzu, Shizuka, Honda, Katsuya, and Damian decide to go downtown to check out odd shops there. Everyone else- Roman, Yugi, Malik, Alexandrian, Liam, and Mokuba- decide on walking around Domino City to see what they can find to do.
At lunchtime they all meet in the park and then go out to eat lunch at a restaurant that Malik and Nixx, being vegetarians, won’t mind eating at.
After pushing several tables together and ordering their food and drinks, the conversation takes off.
To Damian’s relief, the seating arrangements are mixed between the two group and nobody seems too uncomfortable. Even Riley is joking around with Anzu, Shizuka, and Tama. (With Tama being the translator)
‘Everyone’s getting along great!’ Damian happily thinks, but quickly amends this thought when Roman throws a glare at Malik. ‘Okay, maybe not everyone. But why’s Roman mad at Malik? He’s just sitting there next to Ash.’ He pauses on that thought. ‘Oh… Roman likes Ash and she hasn’t paid him much attention. I’m surprised she’s sitting next to Malik though, what with that weird Vision and all.’
“…mian! Damian!” Seto bops the purple-haired boy upside the head after trying and failing to get his attention for the fifth time.
Damian reaches a hand up and rubs the spot on his head that Seto hit. “That hurt. What do you want?”
“You never told us how long you’re staying here.” Seto says. “And how did you get enough money to do this?”
“We’re leaving on the morning of the 18th.” Damian tells the tall brunette. “And I’ve been saving money from mowing lawns, weeding gardens, babysitting, and from selling apples, pumpkins, flowers, and some of my paintings. I also got a job as soon as I turned fifteen. This trip used up just about all of my money.” He sighs heavily. “But it was worth it.”
/“Since when have Malik and Ash been so close?”/ Alexandrian suddenly whispers so that Roman (who’s slowly shredding lettuce while glaring at Malik) doesn’t hear him. /“I think she’s actually flirting with him!”/
Damian curiously looks over at Ashling and Malik and raises an eyebrow when he sees the two bickering about something. Judging by the gesturing to one another’s plate, the argument is over their food preferences. /“Alex, if you call that flirting then you’re more hopeless than I thought.”/
Alexandrian shrugs. /“Maybe.”/
0-0-0-0-0-0
The rest of the week speeds by, with new friendships growing stronger than they could have imagined at the beginning. Malik and Ashling are rarely seen without the other; Roman spends most of his time with Katsuya and Honda; Nixx has taken to trailing after Mokuba like a lost puppy; Riley spends almost all her time with Anzu, Shizuka, and Tama; and Liam’s formed a good friendship with Anzu, Yugi, Ryou, and Malik.
When the day comes that the U.S. group has to depart, nobody is too thrilled. They delay leaving for as long as possible, and nearly leave Nixx behind when he clings to a startled Mokuba at the airport, but eventually they get on the plane and head back home.
Spring break has officially come to an end.
-F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A-M- I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S-
Shiro: I spent a remarkable amount of time on this chapter. I am so happy to have finally gotten it typed up. Urg... it seems I've begun slowing down when it comes to getting these things written and typed up. I need to start actually setting aside time to do it. Yes, that would be smart...
Bast: Please excuse her, it was late when she typed this up.
Shiro: Oh, hush.
(a crashing noise is heard)
Shiro: ANGUIS! Damn that dragon!
Bast: It's your fault for starting the muse adoption agency.
Shiro: It's not my fault that the pipes exploded, flooding the building they were housed in! Now all those muses are stuck here in my head!
Bast: It's a wonder you're not overwhelmed by ideas.
Shiro: Ha ha.
Bast: (smiles)
Shiro: (sighs) If anyone wants to know what we're talking about, then go to my profile and click on the 'homepage' link there. It'll take you a little freewebs website I made with the help of a friend of mine.
NEXT CHAPTER: summer, secrets, and traveling