Don't Forget Me

Hello Mother

WINNER

YUGI MOTUO

He watched as the virtual field around him and his opponent dissolved into a stream of pixels as the crowd cheered. Another day. Another victory. While on the outside Yugi was smiling and graciously accepted the praise , inside the puzzle the spirit was not. After being forcefully expelled from the room, the door had once again disappeared. Now the spirit was searching fruitlessly for the door. That last memory...

The spirit shook his head as he turned another corner, his thoughts racing. He needed to find that door. Another dead end. He ran his left hand through his hair, letting out a small grunt of discomfort when the ring snagged some of the gravity defying bangs. He removed his hand and looked at the ring , the sapphires and diamonds giving off faint gleams of light in the darkened hallway. The ring was the biggest mystery. Of all the things in the room, only the ring stayed with him and he couldn't get it off. And the inscription...

Don't Forget Me

They seemed to mock him. Chastise him.

Plead with him...

He desperately wished he could remember. This ring was the only solid link to the disappearing room and the memories stored there. He felt as if he were grasping at straws. So many pieces laid out but he couldn't get a clear picture. 

His thoughts were interrupted by a pull calling him. The spirit left the puzzle without making the turn around the corner, completely missing the well...

---------

Kagome walked through the tournament at a leisurely pace , her bodyguards making sure anyone who could pose to be a danger to her at arm's length. Her new guard, Grant Walker, was a cheery blonde who was good friends with the new maid Dez, a somewhat tall girl with mischievous nature the reminded Kagome of Shippo. Dez liked to walk around the mansion wearing a pair of neko, in hopes of eliciting a smile from her. Just that morning after Kagome was introduced to Grant, Dez jumped out of a tree and landed on the new guys back, putting a pair of ears on him. Kagome snorted silently to herself. The two were odd.

Kagome was brought out of her musings by a small giggle by to her left. The ghostly figure of Shippo walked beside, a huge grin on his face before hopping on Kagome's shoulder. She reached up to gently grasped his clawed hand, seemingly rubbing a kink out of her shoulder to onlookers.

Kahome's phone began to ring. As she fumbled through her purse, her new ringtone blasted through the speakers.

I was broken from a young age
Taking my sulking to the masses
Writing my poems for the few
That look at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me
Singing from heartache from the pain
Taking my message from the veins
Speaking my lesson from the brain
Seeing the beauty through the...

Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain!
You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer
Pain!
Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from...
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a b-

Kagome finally grabbed her phone and answered.

" Moshi Moshi."

Kagome's grip on her device slackened.

"M-mom?"

--------

Kaiba stood behind Mokuba seated at the command centers controls. Half of the screen was covering the actions of one Yugi Motuo and the other a list of all the competitors. The list shrank and reorganized itself according to daily and overall rankings. Yugi Motuo was at the top of the list, with Kaiba right behind him.

"Don't worry Yugi. You may be ahead at the moment but that'll only make it that much sweeter when I take back my rightful place at the top."

Mokuba tugged at his sleeve to redirect his attention to the screen with Yugi and his loser squad as Wheeler moved towards a familiar head of blue tinted black hair.

"What's the mutt doing?"

------

Joey sneezed as his arm draped across Kagome's shoulders but he thought nothing of it.

"Sup, shortstack. Your Kagome right. I'm Joey Wheeler. We met briefly yesterday before moneybags showed up, remember ?"

Kagome looked up the much taller male, thankful that she had the foresight to ask her "nannies" to not attack anyone unless they attacked first. The Shiloh Miko tilted her head to the side and smiled gently.

" Sure I remember you. Sorry about my brother. He's just overprotective. You said your name was Joey Wheeler right? As in the runner up in Battle City. I saw part of your duel on the internet. It was really impressive."

By this time, the rest of the gang had caught up to Joey and were just amazed at how nice Kagome was. She was nothing like Kaiba. At all. While he was tall, frigid and cocky , Kagome was small , warm and mild.

Kagome's guards watched silently a few feet away. The young miss was fine and was in no danger. They would intervene if needed.

Tristan walked up to Kagome's other side and draped his arm across her shoulder along with Joey.

"Hi there. I'm Tristan, Joey's best friend. So, if you don't mind me asking, how come no one's heard of you before."

The two slowly led her to one of the many snack huts in Kaiba Land. It was nearing lunch and that's where they were headed before Joey spotted the female Kaiba sibling. Tea took a seat a large table outside and waited for the trio to sit. Yugi had left to call his grandfather. As Kagome sat, the gang ( Minus Yugi ) noticed one of Kagome's guards take a seat in a table behind her while the other seemed to do a perimeter check. A few minutes later the table was filled with food and everyone was chatting like old friends.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something?"

" Ah, there you are Yug. We thought you ditched us. You remember Kagome, right?" Joey said. 

Yugi turned to the girl and held out his hand for her shake.

"Nice to meet you again Kagome." He greeted, a small smile on his face.  {AN: Nosebleed. " Must resist. Must resist fangirling over uke. " looks again. " I can't!" faints from bloodloss}

She seemed to hesitate before grasping his hand firmly and shaking it.

" Nice to meet you again, too.

At that same moment the spirit left the puzzle to stand beside Yugi to figure out what had called him. Yami felt the ring grow warm and felt the urge to stroke Kagome's long hair.

"Miss Kagome. It's time to go. Master Mokuba is looking for you."

Kagome nodded.

" Bye you guys. I hope we can speak again soon."

With that she left with her guards. The gang watched as she walked off. Still amazed by the stark contrast between the elder Kaibas. The silence was cut by Tristan.

"You think she'll go on a date with?"

Smack

------

Kaiba walked up the steps of the Higurashi shrine at a sedate pace. Once at the top, he briefly looked around before knocking on the door of the main house. The door was opened by a short woman resembling Kagome.

"Ah, Seto. You're early. How are you dear?"

Seto let his mask drop to grace the woman with a smile normally reserved for his siblings.

"I'm fine, mother.  May I come in?"