Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Follow the Dragon ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

“Follow the Dragon”

Written and edited by: JoeysGal and F_D_C2003

Rating: NC17

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Hentai/Romance/Shounen

Type: Continuation

Credits to: Various websites and books on China, Hong Kong and Japan.

 

DISCLAIMER: Anything you read about in this fic, I DO NOT OWN! I merely use real-life things to make the fic more realistic and believable. I also make no money off of writing this… imagine the possibilities if I was…

 

**

 

JoeysGal: I know it's been ages and I keep saying that I'll put it up this week… and then a week goes by… followed by another week… and then another week… BUT NOW I HAVE DONE IT!! So… read… review… and enjoy… like the good little fan fiction readers you are!!

 

F_D_C2003: Yeah well, I kind of figured that there has to be SOME OOC-ness. And Bakura just seems like the type to snap if prodded enough. And Yami being a smartass is just funny. Reminds me of The Abridged Series a little bit XD

 

Dragonlady222: Thanks ^^ hope you like this one!

 

Reconvoy_the_Writer: Ooooh thank you for the review! Glad ya like it! Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint! ^_^

 

Etsuyo: I just don't like the way that some chapters seem like “fillers” before the actual events take place. I have yet to read the latest chapter of your story but I promise that will be done soon! So have a go at this one… and tell me what you think! ^_^

 

 

 

 

Chapter Seven

 

**

 

Malik, Otogi, Marik, Ryou and Yuugi were flicking their eyes back and forth in horror as the squabbling spirits turned back and forth, throwing fists, biting, scratching, slapping and kicking at each other. It was an absolute riot, and the boys didn't know whether to laugh themselves stupid or do the mature thing which, obviously, would be to interfere. However, none of them, it seemed, were too eager to risk losing an eye or having a finger bitten off in the process.

 

“Dude… someone's got to stop them.” Otogi mentioned.

 

“Before something bad happens.” Ryou added.

 

As if to magically jinx what Ryou had just purposed, the fighting fiends suddenly rolled into a small altar holding an ancient hand-painted terracotta urn that dated back to the Tang dynasty. Everybody in the room, bar Yami and Bakura, gasped and held their breath as the urn started to wobble from side to side, finally plunging to its doom and smashing to a million tiny pieces on the floor. The silence was excruciating as the students in the nearest vicinity gazed, bewildered, at Yami and Bakura.

 

“Oh… my God…” Ryou squeaked, ashen.

 

Yuugi, also drained of colour, looked down at Yami and Bakura, now gazing up at their hikaris with sheepish, innocent smiles. “We. Are. So… Dead!”

 

Malik and Marik immediately burst into violent laughter.

 

“I'm so glad I'm not in Ryou's shoes right now!” Marik managed to gasp out.

 

Malik creased an eyebrow, feeling sorry for Ryou almost instantaneously. This wasn't the first time Bakura had done something in which Ryou would subsequently take the blame for. Malik, of all people, should know - Marik had committed several offences that Malik had later taken the blame for. These included shoplifting, assault and even vandalism. Malik sweatdropped a little as he reminisced; what sort of consequences was Ryou likely to face after this catastrophe?!

 

The loud clapping of shoes on the tiled floor was heard in the not-so-far distance, along with frantic voices speaking in both Japanese and Cantonese. Yami took this as his cue to make himself scarce and disappeared into the Sennen Puzzle; Bakura - seemingly perplexed as to where his opponent suddenly vanished to - glanced up to Ryou glaring down at him. He almost recoiled at the utmost humiliation and anger that was evident on Ryou's face. Ultimately, he knew he was going to pay for this later. The Sennen Ring seemed almost welcoming compared to facing the wrath of his obviously-pissed-off hikari. With that in mind, said fiend made a hasty exit to his soul room.

 

“What on Earth happened here?” Matsuri-sensei looked just as horrified as everybody else.

 

“I… uh… um…!” Ryou looked desperate for an excuse.

 

“It was my fault, sensei.” Yuugi stepped forward, his head hanging. “I wasn't looking where I was going and I accidentally bumped into this altar here…”

 

Ryou's mouth opened and closed silently like a fish before blurting out: “No! Yuugi, it was my fault! I'm to blame for this, not you!”

 

Matsuri-sensei set her hands on her hips. “Would one of you like to come clean, please?”

 

Yuugi glanced back to Ryou and set a hand on the white haired boy's shoulder. “Like I said, sensei, it was my fault. Gomen.”

 

Ryou fish-mouthed a moment longer, then turned bright red, then took sudden interest in the tiled floor.

 

“Come with me please, Mutou-san.” Matsuri-sensei looked less than impressed.

 

Ryou - still imitating an extremely stunned mullet - gaped at Yuugi as he followed their sensei off. Finding his voice, he managed to stutter, “Oh-oh… my God… Why did he do that?”

 

“He totally saved your behind, Ryou-san.” Marik pointed out.

 

Ryou deadpanned. “How observant of you, Marik.”

 

“It's okay, Ryou.” Malik stepped forward, placing a comforting hand on Ryou's back. “It wasn't either of your faults.”

 

“I know… But now that Yuugi took the blame, he's the one going to get into trouble. How am I supposed to compensate for that? That urn was priceless!”

 

Ryou began to get teary-eyed - not because of the fact that he was, undoubtedly, in trouble, but, because of the shock of it all. All the worst-case scenarios were playing over in his mind - Yuugi being sent home, Yuugi having to pay the damages, Yuugi being fined, Yuugi having to appoint a lawyer, Yuugi going to jail… Suddenly it all became too much for him.

 

“Oh, Malik! What am I going to do?! We've only been here one day and Yuugi's probably going to have to go home already! And it wasn't even his fault!” and the tears flowed forth - all over Malik's shoulder.

 

Malik took this as a chance to comfort the boy and wrapped his tanned arms around Ryou. “Don't be silly; it will all work out, you'll see.” Malik glanced over at his yami, who was staring a little stoically, his eye twitching somewhat.

 

The platinum-haired hikari smirked and tightened his hold on the sobbing boy.

 

/Malik - one. Marik - zero./

 

//Son of a $#%@!//

 

**

 

“Hey! Stupid mother&*$%ing door!” Jounouchi yanked at the door handle, finding, in dismay that it would not falter under his strength. “Damn it!”

 

Jounouchi, being impulsive and irrational by nature, wasn't the type to stop and think about his situation. All he knew is that he was in a small, dark enclosed space, and that nobody knew he was in there. What made it all worse is that he was in a foreign country, and this particular part of the country, i.e. Hong Kong, did not speak the language he had studied for 4 years, a.k.a Mandarin - they spoke Cantonese instead. He also knew no words in English that might tip the scales of fate to let him out of the apparently locked closet.

 

How the hell am I going to get out of here? No one even knows I'm in here; in fact, I don't think anyone has even got to this part of the museum yet! Jou mused. Hey, wait! My cell phone! It's… in my bag… in the coach. Damn.

 

Jou, whose eyes had now adjusted to the obscurity, turned a bucket upside down and sat upon it. It was only a matter of time until someone realised he was missing, and notified everyone else. He couldn't be stuck in here all day; that would be ridiculous.

 

Two minutes passed.

 

“DAMN IT!! SOMEONE LET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!”

 

**

 

A grey-haired man, tall and slight in stature, was wandering around the museum, however casually. He soon spied a student with his back to him, a pen in his right hand scratching against a pad of paper in his left. The head of brunet hair along with the height of the student gave a clear indication of who it was. Yamanaga-sensei smiled a little and approached him.

 

“How are you going there, Kaiba-san? Almost finished?”

 

Seto looked up, stirred from his reverie. “Hai, I have one section to go, Yamanaga-sensei.”

 

“Very good, very good. Where is your partner, though?”

 

Ice-blue eyes narrowed. “He went off to try and do it by himself. Was I supposed to stop him, sensei?” He cocked his head to the side, giving off a somewhat innocent expression.

 

“You know the rules, Kaiba-san; you must do the task sheet together. That's one of the main aspects of this trip, as Matsuri-sensei told you. Go and find him now, please, and return to me when you do.”

 

Kaiba's look turned flat. “Hai, sensei.” That said, he stalked off.

 

That mutt. How dare he get me in trouble for his own actions? I will make sure he pays for this…

 

The last section Kaiba had to finish was natural history, and seeing as he hadn't seen Jounouchi in any other parts of the museum on his way, he figured he'd have to be there somewhere. There weren't many signs indicating where that section in particular was, so Kaiba used his initiative and decided it was probably on the second floor. He started to head toward the elevator, when something caught his attention.

 

An almost aberrant sound was emitting from somewhere. One would expect a museum to be a normally quiet place - not unlike a library - so this banging and knocking sound was, in essence, odd. Curiosity roused, Kaiba Seto followed the source. Upon investigation, the blue-eyed boy came to a door in a dark and gloomy corner of the museum. Plainly stated upon said door was a sign saying “CLEANER”.

 

“Hey! Is anyone out there yet?!”

 

Kaiba jumped back, stunned for a moment. He hadn't heard any voices beforehand. Only the weird banging sounds. Then, almost annoyed that he had jumped out of fright, he realised it had to be Jounouchi. How…? Why? What is that idiot doing in the cleaner's storage cupboard?! He decided on not trying to figure it out. He didn't particularly want to know.

 

Seto placed his hand on the door handle and pulled it down. Immediately Jounouchi came crashing through, and somehow Kaiba instinctively knew this would happen. The CEO sidestepped the thrashing, hysterical blonde youth, who promptly descended to the ground. Obviously he didn't know the door was about to be opened right at that exact moment.

 

“Hey! You could have told me you were about to do that!” Jou muttered as he got up, brushing himself down.

 

Kaiba looked less than amused. “Don't be grateful or anything. You could have been stuck in there for hours.”

 

“How'd you find me?”

 

“Yamanaga-sensei made me look for you.”

 

“Oh… ehh…” Jou realised that that particular teacher wasn't one of the nicer ones. They would more than likely be in for some form of punishment later. “I didn't see the sign on the door…”

 

“I don't want to hear your excuses, koinu. Come on; we have to get this done before we get grilled by Yamanaga.”

 

**

 

//Aibou… that was very kind of you.//

 

/Yami… I don't… really feel like talking right now./

 

//I'm sorry, Yuugi. I promise I will make this up to you. Somehow.//

 

Yuugi sighed. He knew what Ryou was like - he knew that if he didn't take the brunt of this situation then Ryou would freak out and become hysterical about it. But now, reflecting, it probably wasn't the best idea. Ryou was more than likely racked with guilt over the issue and would be apologizing profusely to the point where he would probably drive Yuugi insane.

 

Matsuri-sensei was currently talking to one of the museum staff about the predicament. Yuugi overheard the staff member ranting and raving that the urn was priceless and no amount of money could compensate.

 

“It's irreplaceable! We will never find something like this again; not for a very long time anyway! That urn was so old and so valuable.”

 

“I know, and again I am so very sorry. You must realise, though, that it was an accident. Yuugi would never do something like this on purpose.”

 

“Does the student have travel insurance?”

 

“Yes,”

 

“Then he will have to fill out some forms.”

 

//What are they talking about, aibou?//

 

/It sounds like I'll have to make a claim on my travel insurance with this. Otherwise… who knows how much I'll have to pay?/

 

//Are you going to be in trouble?//

 

/I already am!/

 

//No, what I meant was… your teacher won't send you back home or anything like that, will she?//

 

/I hope not, Yami./

 

Matsuri-sensei came back with some forms in one hand. She looked down the bridge of her nose at Yuugi and sighed. “Do you want the good news or the bad news first, Yuugi?”

 

Yuugi shrugged. “It doesn't matter to me, sensei.”

 

The brown-haired woman sat down next to the boy. “The good news is that your travel insurance will compensate for the damages; you just need to fill out these forms here.” She handed them to Yuugi, who gawked at the amount of clauses and fine print he would have to read through. “The bad news is, however, I will need to phone your guardian back home and notify them of the incident.”

 

Yuugi cringed at the thought of what might be said between his teacher and his Grandpa. There was no doubt in the young man's mind that Sugoroko would hit the roof once he found out about this. He would obviously be stewing the rest of the time that Yuugi was away and thinking of various forms of evil punishment for him once he got home. Yuugi couldn't think of ever being in this much trouble before. He hadn't had to face his grandfather's wrath any time previously, so how was he to know what to expect? This thought set him more on edge than he was already.

 

“You may go back to finish your task with Bakura-san now, Yuugi. I will phone your grandfather when we get back to the hotel this afternoon. Try not to worry, okay? I know this wasn't your fault. It's just an unfortunate start to the vacation, that's all.” Matsuri-sensei tended to be a good comforter. Being the mother of four, however, came second-nature to do the same with her students.

 

Even this didn't ease Yuugi's mind, however. “Arigatou, sensei. And… gomen.”

 

Matsuri-sensei simply nodded. “Go on, now.”

 

**

 

As the day progressed, Ryou had started to calm down. This was due mainly to Malik's words of comfort and rationality. Things had returned almost to their usual state of affairs - or what could be classed as usual, given the circumstances. By this point Ryou had been convinced that Yuugi was most likely not going to go to jail, get deported back to Japan or be in debt for the rest of his life, due to one simple but vital fact - he had travel insurance. He should know well enough - having travelled between Japan and England that many times - that travel insurance compensated for most things while travelling abroad. He just needed to be reminded by Malik, who had travelled between Japan and Egypt frequently, that this was so.

 

After a rather monotonous tour of the special exhibit - which was entitled “Major Archaeological Discoveries of China in Recent Years” - the students were able to depart the museum and break for lunch. A certain grey-haired man, however, had not forgotten of Kaiba's carelessness in letting his partner wander off and - to the best of his knowledge - become entrapped in a janitor's storeroom. This type of behaviour - no matter how seemingly ludicrous it appeared - was not acceptable. It could have been much worse, after all. Yamanaga-sensei would see to it that it wouldn't happen again.

 

“Class, I have a small announcement to make,” Matsuri-sensei made herself heard as the students were all seated upon their coach once again. “We are now heading to Sham Shui Po for lunch. Sham Shui Po is a district famous for all of it's' `dai pai dong' food stalls. All kinds of foods are served there, so you will really be spoilt for choice!”

 

Jounouchi, sitting next to Kaiba, could tell that he wasn't overly impressed. He wasn't too sure what about, however.

 

“What's the matter, moneybags? Why the long face?”

 

“Shut your trap, make inu.”

 

“Are you still pissed at me for getting locked in a closet?”

 

“No.”

 

“Then, what?”

 

“I received an email advising me that the stock exchange in Japan has dropped considerably since I have been away, and that does not sit well with me for my corporation.”

 

Jou stared blankly, realizing he hadn't understood one word that had come out of Kaiba's mouth just then. “Oh.”

 

“Come this way class; keep an eye on your buddy. I don't want anyone straying, now. Also, look out for hawkers* - do not buy anything off of them! Just ignore them.” Matsuri-sensei ushered everyone off of the coach and onto the street, with Yamanaga-sensei and another teacher bringing up the rear.

 

The district was bustling with hundreds of people. It was lunch time, so obviously workers had come out from their tiny office cubicles inside giant glass towers, to find a cheap and easy lunch before going back to their daily grind again, and not leaving until well after dark. It was no doubt that Hong Kong was one of the most resourceful places on Earth when it came to cuisine. The variety of food was always fresh, healthy, tasty, and easily found. On just about every corner in certain suburbs there were dim sum stands, tea houses and even Western fast-food chains such as KFC or McDonalds. Jounouchi subconsciously wondered how long he'd be able to go on Chinese food before he started craving sushi once again.

 

“Come on Jou, what are you waiting for?! Let's eat!” Anzu's shrill voice came from the other side of the queue, and soon the blond was promptly pulled through it as she reached out to grab him.

 

“Hey! Easy does it, girl!” Jou shouted as he was dragged behind the impatient brunette followed by Honda.

 

“Dude, aren't you like, hungry yet? Look how much food there is to choose from!” Honda mentioned.

 

Jounouchi looked back to try and find Kaiba, who had disappeared from sight. It appeared that the seemingly thousands of rabid (and hungry) Hong Kong fans had swamped him once again. Gee, he really must get tired of that. Jou thought. Oh well. He shrugged, and continued along with his friends.

 

“Would you like to buy Gucci bag? Authentic! So genuine! Only fifty dollar!” A short Asian man speaking in broken English - almost as short as Yuugi - prompted Jou to stop and look at his wares.

 

“Err, sorry… I can't understand you.” Jou pulled a commonly-used Mandarin phrase from somewhere in his mental filing cabinet.

 

The man looked back at him, perplexed for a second, and then spoke again, this time in Mandarin. “Ah! You speak Chinese! Would you like to buy Gucci? Fifty dollars for a genuine Gucci bag!”

 

“Jounou, he's just a damn hawker. Come on, he'll rip you off.” Anzu observed.

 

Jou turned back to the man. “No thanks, I have to go now.”

 

“Oh no!” The man pulled on Jou's arm as the he tried to make an escape. “Don't like Gucci? What about Louis Vuitton? Chanel? I have all the good labels! All only fifty dollars!”

 

Jou turned around, ripping his arm from the man's hold. “What part of “no” and “thank you” don't you understand, ya little Chinese freak?!”

 

Just then, Otogi and Malik sauntered over to see what the situation was about. One look and Otogi knew that the short Asian man was obviously a schemer. “Why don't I do you a favour, Jou?” The emerald-eyed boy suggested in Japanese. “I'll buy something off of the guy just so shut him up. Fifty dollars in Hong Kong isn't a lot anyway.”

 

“Easy for you to say.” Jou muttered.

 

Addressing the man, Otogi said, “I'll take… that one,”

 

The man, now flustered that he actually had a customer, dug around inside his bag of goodies and pulled out the change-purse that Otogi had pointed to. He snatched the fifty dollar note out of Otogi's hand, handed the change-purse over, and then… “Ha-ha! Silly tourist!”

 

He was gone before anyone knew it. So many heads of black hair bustling around the dumpling stalls and bubble-tea booths made it impossible to tell where he had gone or which way.

 

“That son of a bitch!” Otogi hollered. “He stole my wallet! MY wallet! Not this cheap-ass rip-off of a Louis Vuitton change-purse!”

 

“What's all the fuss about you guys?!” Yuugi and Ryou ran up to the scene, hearing all the commotion.

 

“A hawker took off with Otogi's wallet!” Honda said.

 

“What a bloody wanker!” Ryou gasped. “Are you going to go after him?”

 

“What's the point? He could be anywhere by now. Everyone looks the same around here!” Otogi vented.

 

Bakura, with the Sennen Ring around his neck, materialized next to his hikari. “Not if I have anything to do with it.” The Sennen Ring's tips pointed in an easterly direction. “This won't take long.”

 

The rest of the group stood, gawking at the spirit stalking off through the crowd, his white hair shocking in contrast against the black.

 

“I can't believe he actually gives that much of a damn.” Otogi reflected.

 

“Do you think he'll get it back?” Anzu asked the question that was circling in everyone's heads.

 

“Of course he will!” Marik - who had seemingly appeared from nowhere - piped up. “After all, nobody outdoes the Thief King!”

 

**

 

JoeysGal: O_o;; I seriously wasn't expecting to put this last part in… something in my brain just made me do it… damn muses!! *shakes fist at Nyoko*

 

Nyoko: o_O leave me outa this!

 

JoeysGal: For those of you who don't know who Nyoko is… she is my number one muse… If you're going to blame anyone for the randomness, blame her!