The Ghost

Chapter 3

She finishes the letter with flourish. The last "e" in the last sentence looks almost like a checkmark and the name "Amane" is once again drawn in a different type of calligraphy than the last letter she sent. There was a time that she hated writing anything at all. Talking was much faster and she had felt that she could better express her true thoughts. The fact that Amane had loved calligraphy, some stuffy way of writing that only old people tried, had made this favor unbearable at first. Of course, that was before she had learned that this type of writing was so colorful and beautiful and could help accent the intended meanings of her words so much better. Now, she absolutely loved writing.

The girl sighs and stretches her hands above her head. One glance at the clock tells her that she finished soon enough for the ink to dry before she delivered it to Ryo's apartment today. She cannot wait to see his face brighten. It always makes him so happy to see a letter sent by his "sister." His happiness often makes her feel warm inside. At least, when she does not dwell too much on the fact that she is writing the letters of a dead girl.

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Yugi is the first one up the stairs to Bakura's apartment. Even though the stairwell is dark, the puzzle hanging from his neck appears as if under a bright light. The others trail behind him in silence. None of the times that they have visited Bakura have been so similar to the events of Monster World as now.

"He is probably just sick, like the person on the phone said." Tea blurts out when the tense silence becomes too much.

"Like the evil spirit on the phone said."

"Tristan, shut it." Joey's voice is sharp, but it has a hint of a tremble to it that the rest of the gang pretend not to notice. The concept, let alone the real deal, of dark magic and evil spirits have never really sat well with Joey.

"Who else could have been on the phone?" Miho's voice is subdued for once. "A few days ago, Bakura said that his father was still on his trip and would not be home for months."

Joey stops at Miho's words and turns towards her. Tristan nearly slams into him from behind.

"He probably has other family. Cousins, uncles, a grandpa, you know, someone who was not sent to oblivion by the Other Yugi."

"I need a name."

Yugi stops at his Other Self's unrelated comment.

"You're not worried that the Ring Spirit is back?" Yugi's furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

"No, the Ring Spirit would not have announced his presence like this. He knows that the moment I thought he had returned, a confrontation would be inevitable and would be hard to win while facing all of us again." Other Yugi hesitates before speaking again.

"If I was him, I would target us at a time when we are normally separated. For example, Joey still does delivery runs on Wednesdays, one of the same days that Tea has dance lessons. He would have went after Joey first and then Tea, who has parents who might notice her missing in time for us to be aware of his presence before he attacks again. Tristan and Miho are too risky of targets to go after before us. They might be conversing on the phone with each other, a situation that would allow the one he did not go after to alert... Sorry, you probably do not want to hear this."

Yugi blinks out of his horror-filled trance only after Joey's voice echoes through it.

" Hey, Yugi, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Other Me was just explaining that it is unlikely that the Ring Spirit has returned." While Yugi looks back at his friends, the group visibly relaxes at this statement.