Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Lost & Found ❯ School Days ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: Sadly, christianqueen doesn't own Yu-gi-oh, but she does own the OC's that are unrecognizable :)

Italics- thoughts or telepathy

/-things Ryou says to Bakura

//-things Bakura says to Ryou

Yugi says to Yami

things Yami says to Yugi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryou Stevens got off the bus and looked around at his school.

Kids were all around, talking about spring break, walking and trying to get inside before the bell rang.

/Well, here goes another day!/ he thought.

He shifted his backpack and picked up his guitar case.

Ryou had started off very well after he had taken the little girl home.

At first he didn’t know where to go, and he was taken in by a Christian Irish couple living in Chicago, not far off where the little girl lived.

Rick O’Brian was a Private Investigator who had a knack for finding people on the run.

When Ryou had told him about his family and his situation, Mr. O’Brian had been more than willing to help.

That was before Ryou’s father found him. At first, Daniel was going to take his son back to England but he changed his mind, and decided to move to Michigan instead.

When Ryou was 16, he had run away again, and this time, to Montana.

Being 16 had its advantages, since Ryou was tall for his age at 5’6 and looked older than he was.

He had gotten himself a livable apartment, working part time at a grocery store.

It seemed everywhere Ryou went, God was with him, because he found Christians everywhere.

But where there were Godly people, there were worldly people too.

So Ryou found out at work one day when a girl about his height, with long black hair and an English accent walked in the store with unknown intentions.

Flashback

Ryou at front cleaning up near cash register. A good looking girl walks up to him

Girl: Hi. What’s your name?

Ryou looks up.

Ryou: Hm? Oh, Hi. My name’s Ryou…. Is there anything I can help you with miss?

Girl: Well, you could call me

She hands him a slip of paper with ten numbers on it. Obviously her phone number.

Ryou (blushing a little): Okay then what should I call you?

Girl: Cocky… I like that in a guy, also good looks

She smiles flirtatiously. Ryou blushing as red as the tomatoes, not far away.

Girl: You can call me Isabella

She leans over the counter eye to eye with Ryou.

Ryou (feeling overheated): Ah, my boss doesn’t allow employee romances

The girl laughs

Isabella: Well, You could quit

Ryou shakes his head, his shaggy un kept hair shaking with him.

Ryou: No, I like it here, I don’t want to get fired

Isabella leans over to where she is too close for comfort

Isabella: Who said anything about getting fired?

Suddenly Jack Martin, Ryou’s boss appears behind Isabella and clears his throat.

Jack: Is there anything I can help you with Ms. Holman?

Isabella: No thanks, Jack. I’m just having a look around

She grins at Ryou. His current blush could shame the roses in the back

Jack: Well, I’m sure my employee has told you about our standard with employee romances

Ryou nods, pretending to cut his neck with the tips of his fingers and points to his ear, communicating that she wouldn’t listen. Jack nods.

Jack: Well, if there’s not anything we can do for you, there is the door.

Isabella: Are you kicking me out?

Jack: If you want to put it that way, yes. Now if you would excuse us, we both have work to do.

Isabella looks angry for a second, but then calms down, walking to the door, she then turns around.

Isabella: I’ll be back later, Jack. Ryou? You have my number.

She smiles and leaves. Ryou breaths, thanking Jesus for Jack’s intervention.

Ryou: Thanks Jack

Jack: Don’t mention it Ryou… I just want you to be aware and careful about girls like that. They’ll try to come onto you, especially at your age. It’s hard to find a good Christian girl nowadays.

Ryou nods. Somewhere in his memory he is thinking of a little girl with big brown eyes and long red hair…

End of flashback

*

It had been three years since that conversation.

During those three years, Jack had offered Ryou a spare room in his house.

His wife his died a long time ago, and his son, recently in a car accident.

“He was about your age” Jack said smiling.

“Always loved to read, and ride on horseback. He especially loved his guitar.”

Ryou had cocked his head. “Acoustic or electric?” he had asked.

“Acoustic” Jack had replied. “Lord knows, I would have gone deaf if he had had an electric one.”

Ryou had laughed. “You remind me a lot of him.” Jack said.

“Anyway, about the room, no rent payment as long as you show up for work.”

Ryou nodded. “We also need to get you to finish your education.” he said.

Ryou looked down at his shoes. He’d cut school before running away.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that” he started. “Nonsense” Jack said.

“A growing young man like you needs to get his education down. What do you want to do, by the way?”

Ryou smiled. “I want to be a medical doctor”

Jack smiled and nodded. “Same as Connor… Always wanted to help people in need, whether it be physically or spiritually.” Jack shook his head sadly.

The memory had gotten stronger in Ryou’s mind. He had talked to Jack about it.

“Could she be a girl from your childhood, maybe a playmate?” Ryou nodded.

“Maybe, I don’t know. Whoever she is, I want to find her” Jack nodded and smiled.

“Why don’t you pray about it, and see. She could be in the school you’re going to.” Ryou nodded.

He couldn’t stop thinking about her, but he’d have to for the time being. He had a whole lot ahead of him.

*

Ryou shook his head, his long white hair shaking with him as he thought of what Jack had said.

He had been right.

Opportunities were opening left and right for the young Englishman. Now Ryou was 19 and on his last year of high school.

All thought of the little girl had vanished from his mind, but not his memory.

Ryou had recently gotten his black belt in karate a year before. He was pretty good,

/I figure I could beat Daniel if I have to/ he thought.

//Oh really?// said a familiar voice.

/Oh Norin, not now, I’ve got to get to class!/

The spirit shrugged and disappeared.

Once inside, Ryou went to homeroom.

There he saw his friends Joey Wheeler, Tea Gardner, Yugi Mouto, and Tristan Taylor, unpacking their backpacks.

Tea was the first to see him. “Hi Ryou” she said with a smile. He looked at her and smiled back.

/She looks familiar!/ he thought. He heard a whistle.

Ryou groaned when he saw Norin sitting on Tea’s desk admiring her.

//Well, and I thought the women back home were beautiful!// the spirit said with a grin.

Despite Ryou’s mental demanding protests, Norin touched Tea’s cheek. //She’s as smooth as the desert sand!// Norin smiled dreamily.

/Get back here!/ Ryou said. /NOW!/ Norin gave him a puppy eyed look.

Ryou shook his head. /NO!/

Norin sulked and disappeared. //Fine! But next time you want something from me, you can forget it!//

Ryou rolled his eyes. He went to his desk and unpacked his backpack.

Putting everything away neatly, he put his guitar near the door. Jack had given it to him for his 17th birthday.

“I give you my word I will take care of it.” he’d promised.

Jack had smiled. “Conner would be happy knowing it’s in good hands.”

Ryou shook his head again and looked around for Norin, who was standing next to a young pretty girl with long red hair.

Ryou went over to them. Norin disappeared, leaving the two alone.

“Hello” Ryou said. The girl looked up. She had big brown eyes that were sad, and a little confused at the moment.

“Hi” she said quietly. “What’s your name?” Ryou asked gently, aware of her behavior. She looked up at him. “I’m Serenity” she said. “Serenity Wheeler.”

Ryou looked surprised. “So, you must be Joey’s little sister”

The girl nodded, smiling a little. “Yup. What’s your name?”

Ryou smiled back. “I’m Ryou” he put out his hand. “Ryou Stevens”

the girl took his hand and shook it gently. Her hands are really soft! he thought.

Ryou was startled out of his reverie by someone clearing their throat behind him.

He turned around to see a tall guy with short chocolate hair and blue eyes glaring down at him.

“Who the heck are you?” he asked. “I’m Ryou” Ryou said calmly.

“Humph” the guy said. He looks familiar! Ryou thought.

/He should,/ Norin said. /You’ve dealt with him before, when you were both children/.

Ryou was confused. He shook the thought from his head and watched as the guy walked over to Serenity.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m looking for my locket” she said. “It’s gone.”

The guy folded his arms. “Did you look everywhere?”

Serenity nodded.

“Not good enough!” the guy snickered.

Ryou watched as Serenity’s face fell. One tear slid down her cheek.

“That locket is very important to me” she whispered. “I got it for my birthday, and now it’s gone!”

Two more tears slid down her pretty face. Ryou felt sorry for her.

“Well get over it, and get a new one!” the guy was starting to get annoyed.

Serenity looked up defiantly. “No! I want my locket! My friend Josie gave it to me for my 10th birthday, and I’ve had it ever since.”

The guy rolled his eyes. “Get over it, forget it, it’s gone!” Serenity started to cry softly.

Ryou looked at her with concern. He turned around to see that Joey was gone.

He must have gone to the restroom. he thought.

He turned back around at hearing a yelp. Serenity’s right cheek was red and she was still crying.

“Fix your face and get it together. That’s why Josie must have left you, he must have seen that you’re nothing but a wimpy little crybaby.”

Ryou’s blood started to boil. /Who does this jerk think he is? How dare he insult such a sweet innocent angel!/

//Steady lad// Norin said. //Watch your temper! You don’t want to scare the girl!// Ryou nodded and calmed down.

“What did you do that for?” he asked, trying not to get pissed off.

“What’s it to you, geek?” the guy turned to him.

“Seto, that wasn’t nice” Serenity said.

Seto turned back to her. “Shut up. I wasn’t talking to you.”

Joey had come out of the bathroom just then and had apparently heard that. “Hey Kaiba!”

Seto turned to him. “What do you want, Wheeler?”

Joey walked up to him, & now they were eye to eye. “If you eva talk to my sista like dat again, not only will I kick your sorry butt, but I bet Tea would love to show you whad happens to people where her mom’s from!”

Ryou saw Tea nod. “Got that right!”

Ryou nodded in agreement. “Look,” he told Kaiba.

“I know you don’t know me from a can of paint, but if you harm that girl, one more time, I’ll make your life a living nightmare!”

Kaiba smirked, folding his arms. “Oh yeah? Prove it!”

Ryou nodded. “Playground. 3:00. Be there!”

He walked away, back to the desk with the whole gang staring after him.

//Bravo!// Norin grinned. //Way to win an angel’s heart!// Ryou smiled.

//Will you need my help?// the spirit asked.

Ryou shook his head. /I’m sorry but your assistance is not needed. I’m a black belt, remember?/

Norin gave him an evil grin.

Ryou perked up at hearing the bell ring, and the teacher come into the room.

*

At 2:40, Ryou finished up the last of his subjects and placed everything neatly in his desk.

He looked around the classroom.

Seto Kaiba was gone. Must have wanted to make an early entrance. he thought.

Norin scoffed. Ryou got up to use the restroom.

When he was finished and ready, he put his books in his backpack.

Suddenly, something shiny caught his eye.

He bent to pick it up. It was a gold 14kt diamond heart shaped locket!

Curious, he opened it up. Inside there was two pictures.

On the left was a little boy who looked like Joey.

On the right, there was a picture of another little boy, strangely resembling himself!

Ryou looked closely at the picture. Same color hair, eyes and the same nose!

Ryou didn’t understand. How did his picture end up in Serenity Wheeler’s locket?

Ryou pondered that question as several memories came to him. One, he really didn’t want to think about at the moment.

He looked in his back pack for that small dark blue velvet box that had held his cufflinks.

Ah! Here it is! he looked at his watch. 2:45 Better hurry! he thought.

He took the locket and placed the ends in the loops. Making sure it was straight, he closed the box and put it in his pocket.

Now, since it’s March, and it’s a hot day, I’ll just have to take off my jacket. He took it off and hung it up, unbuttoning a couple of buttons on his shirt.

Remembering to keep his id, Ryou went outside and to the playground. Several kids were on the bleachers.

Serenity and Tea were among them, Serenity crossing her fingers.

“Glad you finally showed up!” Kaiba snickered. “Let’s just get this over with!” Ryou muttered.

Kaiba grinned arrogantly. “Tell ya what, Stevens, right?” Ryou nodded.

“Tell you what Stevens. Winner takes the girl on the upcoming trip to Duelist Kingdom, while loser sits home dejected!”

Ryou rolled his eyes.

“Not a chance! That’s really lame, Kaiba! I’ll tell you what! If I win, you have to give your word that you won’t harm Serenity Wheeler again! Not only that, but stop picking on Joey and the others too. If you win, I’ll go back to England where I belong! Sound fair?”

Serenity gasped. She remembered Josie saying something like his dad was from England, could this guy… No that’s impossible! she thought. Or is it?

She looked on, anticipation on her pretty features.

“I wish my brother were here to see this” Tea said.

“I didn’t know you had a brother” Serenity looked at her friend, surprised. Tea nodded.

“Unfortunate family misunderstanding” she said, a growl in her voice.

“But anyway, Josiah loved stuff like this! He was very quiet, but deep down, he was a real fighter.” Tea looked sad.

Serenity felt sorry for her. “What happened?” she asked.

“We were living in Pennsylvania and he was kidnapped by his father” Tea clenched her fist.

Serenity shoved out the thought in her mind. It can’t be, can it? She looked on.

“Serenity, get ready to go, I’m taking you out after I get finished with this geek.”

Serenity blushed, her eyes beginning to turn yellow. Yugi and Tea held both her hands.

Ryou fought the memory coming to him. When I get older I’m gonna find you and take you on a date!

Ryou growled, and shook his head furiously.

“What’s the matter? Jealous of me and my girl?”

Ryou looked straight into Seto Kaiba’s eyes and glared at him. “No! Now let’s get this over with!”

They started out pretty good in the first half hour.

“Tell you what,” Ryou said, panting a little. “Since I have my black belt, I’ll go easy on you”

Seto was panting, hard. “No,” he said. “Give it all you’ve got!” he stood up.

“Alrighty then” Ryou muttered.

He ran over to the exercise bars jumping up to the tallest one.

All the kids watched in amazement as he flipped one, two, three, times in a row, arching his foot and kicked Kaiba in the jaw.

Kaiba fell on his back. He glared up at Ryou, blood streaming down his lip.

When Ryou got up, Seto scissor locked his legs, and tripped him up.

Ryou fell. Serenity looked on helplessly. Kaiba grinned at her. She glared at him. “I’d never go on a date with you even if my life depended on it!” Kaiba smiled as he got up, blood still streaming down his mouth. He wiped it away on his sleeve.

“Sure, sweetheart you say that now, but you’ll think differently when I ki…” he didn’t get to finish his sentence.

Ryou had turned around and gave him a crab kick in the forbidden zone with his sneaker. Kaiba fell to the ground and Joey rushed over, counting to 3.

When Kaiba didn’t get up, Joey declared Ryou the winner. All the kids applauded and whooped.

The rest of the gang came down from the bleachers. “Nice job” Yugi grinned.

“Way to go!” Tea laughed.

“Where’d you learn to fight like that, man?” Tristan asked.

“I was in karate and I got my black belt last year.” Ryou told them.

Tea looked at him astonished. “Turns out the simplest of kicks was his downfall” they laughed.

Ryou smiled and looked over at Serenity. “Thank you” she said. “You’re very welcome”
Ryou replied.

There was something so familiar about her… something he just couldn’t shake off.

“I believe this belongs to you” Ryou said, as he took out the box and opened it.

“My locket!” Serenity cried. “Where’d you find it?”

Ryou smiled. “By the backpacks. It must have come off when you put your backpack away.”

She smiled. “Thank you, Ryou, thank you so much!” he smiled as she took it and placed it on her neck.

She beamed up at him. “My friend Josie would have been so happy to meet you” she said, smiling sadly.

Ryou nodded, still having that sense of familiarity around this beautiful young girl.

He looked over at Kaiba, who glared at him as he walked away.

“You haven’t heard the last of me Stevens” he growled as he walked away.

“Look at ‘im, runnin’ wid his tail between ‘is legs!” Joey laughed.

Ryou rolled his eyes and shook his head as he and the others made their way inside to go home.