Birdhouse in Your Soul

Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul

-=-

When you're stuck in a tomb, expect nothing but darkness. The smell of death and iron from blood itself will overwhelm your sense of smell and taste buds. There lay decayed bodies of those who have trespassed the tombs of the previous kings. The only source of light was the flame that burned bright on the torch moving about. There the bringer of light places the flame onto the oil. The room is lit and reveals the souls of the great ancestors. She hears the voices grow strong and tries to hide away. Scared of demons coming about to eat her because she was left behind in this cold cell.

"I have committed an unforgivable sin..."

The same voice that appears in her dreams had spoken.

"This thousand year sin... No!" He roared and she flinched, "Please put the blame on the creation of seven millennium items on me!"

She couldn't understand his words. They sounded so desperate and loud. She was frightened. Lowering her head down to the ground, she prayed it will all go away.

"I beg you! Gods of Egypt!" He proclaimed, "I pray that my son does not inherit my sins!" He began to broke down, "Let me take all of the suffering." There below the man, the ground began to collect the salty tears.

"Great evil is still upon us and I won't be here for long... Please!" He begged, "Leave my son out of this and protect him!"

That was when a loud clash of lightning made her cry and ran out of her hiding spot in fear. There she ran not knowing where she was going. The last thing she remembered were the amethyst eyes of a dying soul.

-=-

One known fact for Natalie is that ever since she had begun to socialize with Yugi and his friends here at Domino is that there is never a dull moment. Sure there are strange and creepy things that happened but in the end it's worth it when you and your friends don't die that day. A grim smile broke out of Natalie's face. She needed to find Yume. Her time is running out and she needs to find all of the millennium items. Since she had unlocked two items, she needs to find the rest. The puzzle is not included but since Yugi has it, she is not so worried. If she remembered correctly, there is four still out there.

Natalie hummed as she rested her chin on top of her hand.

Anzu appeared before her looking a little nervous. This is what Natalie thought of about her life becoming random. Of course, there wasn't much to talk about with Anzu. Ever since she had known the girl, Anzu was somewhat of a closet geek. She wanted to like the things Jounouchi and Yugi likes but at the same time she was a little self-conscious. Then Natalie learned about her hidden interest and that was dancing. Anzu almost reminded her of Yume. That was one thing Anzu and Natalie had a common interest. Natalie was able to provide her suggestions of American dance music. This was before the Yugi accident, now Anzu just became a bit cautious around Natalie. This was starting to annoy her.

"Hey, Natalie?" Anzu called, "I was wondering if you could do me favor."

Natalie awaited curiously and she didn't expect Anzu to bring out a box filled with duel monsters.

"You want me to do what?" Natalie had arched an eyebrow in confusion.

Anzu repeated not trying to capture anyone else's attention, "I want you to teach me duel monsters."

"Um, ok... Why?"

Natalie saw her blush a little bit, "Because I want to play with Yugi as well."

This was another thing Natalie found annoying. Anzu had feelings for Yugi. Natalie didn't know why it bothered her so much. If Anzu learned duel monsters, then Yugi would most likely give her all the attention. Natalie closed her eyes trying to rid of those thoughts. There was no point in it anyways. Besides the two had been best friends before she came into the picture. Why would she be any more special than Anzu? Anzu would never hurt Yugi like she did. He deserved someone better.

Natalie crossed her arms trying not to sound annoying, "Then why not ask Yugi for help?"

"You see, Idol, I don't want to look stupid in front of him." Anzu averted her eyes away from those golden ones, "I just thought you could teach me the basics and help me assemble a deck."

Natalie frowned. There is no point in holding a grudge. She'll do this for Yugi's happiness. Yugi likes Anzu anyways...

"Ok." Was all she said.

Anzu turned to stare at her wide-eyed, "You will?"

Natalie extended her hands, "Yeah, let me see what you carry. I'll see what I can do from there."

Anzu then smiled brightly and had tackled Natalie, who was surprised by the action. From then on, Natalie had given her tips and advice on what cards to have and how to balance out certain things to make any strategy work. Anzu was slowly catching on as Natalie's patience began to deteriorate.

"You look unhappy." A low baritone voice had broke her out of her thoughts.

Yugi stood there before her as the spirit of the millennium puzzle. Natalie gave him a look and then turned back to the arcade machine in front of her.

"I've had better days."

She still wore the same sad face as the night he had walked her home. He hated it. What else can he do to make her smile again? He would think that hanging out with Yugi will make her smile. Just as the days as the two used to hang out and play amongst each other. Now that he thought about it, Yugi hadn't invited her over to the game shop lately. At least not as much as he used to. Then it hit him... Maybe a game with him can cheer her up!

"How about we play a game?" He offered and this brought her attention.

"Are you talking about a shadow game?" She had asked, her eyes going wide. Her expression had made him, not chuckle, but actually laugh. "Don't be ridiculous, Natalie!" She gave him an annoyed look and pulled a strand of his blonde hair, "IT AIN'T FUNNY MUTOU!"

"NAZZIEEEEEEEEEE!" A voice had called out and Natalie felt a force hit her from behind. This made her tumble and the other Yugi went out to catch her. Though, the sudden weight made him loose his balance. Which resulted in Natalie falling on top of him. Luckily for the spirit of the millennium puzzle, he had retreated and Yugi felt both confused and pain as to why Natalie had fallen on top of him. Then he thought again... Natalie was on top of him.

"N-n-natalie, w-what are you doing?" Yugi stammered feeling her weight on something it shouldn't.

"Crying." She moaned as she picked herself up and rubbed her sternum, "Why can't the millennium puzzle be something... Oh, I don't know, something soft!"

"Am I interrupting something?" Yume had knelt down next to them as she wriggled her eyebrows, "I didn't think you two had passed the holding hands stage." Yume teased, "You kids and your hormones!"

Natalie scowled, "You're the one who pushed me!" Then she met Yugi's eye, who was just as embarrassed, "Um... Will you please get off?"

Natalie froze and her face became beet red. Yugi was no longer Yami Yugi. It was Yugi. Like a bullet, she had shot upward and away from him, "I am so sorry!"

Yume had laughed so hard that she had fallen on her back. Yugi had already sat up and crossed his legs, "It's fine, Natalie, I know you didn't mean it." He was still wondering how he had been with her in the first place. It was another memory lapse he just had. Can it be that his other self had taken over? And if he did, does Natalie know about him? This made Yugi pale even more. He had hoped his other self hadn't hurt her in any way. This was starting to annoy him. Why can't he remember a thing?

"Anyways! I came to stop by and take Natalie away from your Scooby gang!" Yume had informed him.

"And what makes you think that I'm going with you!" Natalie retorted and all Yume did was give her that one glare Natalie knows to submit to. She rolled her eyes and groaned to her long 'best friend', "Alright, alright!" Natalie then looked over to Yugi, "Well, I'm turning in for the night."

Yugi nodded, "Don't worry, Miho and Honda are probably going to do the same." And if Natalie leaves then his other self won't come out to harm her. Yugi smiled sadly to himself as he watched Yume dragged Natalie away. He wasn't going to lie, he had missed spending time with her but he can't let those nights unfold again. He can't let his other self say anymore hurtful things to her.

The spirit of the millennium puzzle blinked as he watched Natalie walk away and he had listened in on Yugi's thoughts. If he could, he would drag his soul out just to talk to Yugi. He had let out a frustrated sigh. He had never felt so much disappointment.

Natalie, on the other hand, followed Yume around like a disgruntled toddler who was about to throw another tantrum.

"Yume, I was about to challenge Yugi to space galaxy." Natalie grumbled.

Yume scoffed, "Oh, stop it! You're with him all the time and I need your assistance with something."

"Don't tell me it's another gang problem."

"Nope!" Yume smirked at her, "Even better.. It has something to do with a millennium item."

Natalie had stopped walking, "Millennium item?"

"Yeah that thing you keep talking about." Yume waved her off, "I've seen it and everything."

The younger girl gasped, "What do you mean you've seen it?"

"Yeah," Yume shrugged, "It has that same eye symbol as the one that your boy has."

Natalie had begun to feel uncomfortable by those statements. She knew it never bothered her but now that she was starting to have very little feelings for the boy, those kind of statements were just lies to her. Wait... Did she just think that?

"He's not my boy, Yume, and he has a name."

"Yes, yes, Yugi Mutou. The boy with the millennium puzzle." Yume rolled her eyes, "Focus on the prize, Nazz! If these items are worth a lot, then we must hunt them."

"I thought we were over the rare hunting thing?" Natalie asked.

"If you're over it, Natalie, then why are you still searching for the items?" Yume questioned her as she crossed her arms, "Why do you still hang around that boy?"

Natalie didn't say anything else but just scowled. Yume knew she had won, "Don't say you're hanging around just to uncover who this Sachmis is." She chuckled, "Come on, Nazz, admit it! You miss hunting. You crave it."

There was something absurdly off about her best friend. Sure Yume had helped her escape but that type of nature in them had never left them. They were conditioned to have an eye for rarity. Look for variants and what not. They were like modern day pirates. You couldn't just fall out of that lifestyle. Though, Natalie had her eye on something much more importance. Money can't buy them either. That was the ancient knowledge hidden within the items.

Even though, Yume didn't believe any of the shit that Natalie had told her there was something that surrounded her emerald eyes that just looked greedy. It looked familiar to that of the curator and anybody else who have seen any of the millennium items or been around the items for a while to get lured by this darkness. That must mean that Yume had actually been around a millennium item. Natalie matched her smirk, "Perhaps you are right, Yume."

"Excellent."

Now to catch that item before Yume gets it.

Apparently the person they are looking for is a teenage male who just recently moved here. There wasn't much provided as to how he looked, only his name, but Yume mentioned that he moves around a lot with a millennium item that had been a gift from an antique shop Natalie and Yume were quite familiar with back in Egypt. According to Yume, the item was a recent trade-in.

"Yume, I don't know how you do it but you're awesome." Natalie complimented, "I wish I still had available contacts but that's what you get when you don't want the whole world to know you're alive."

Yume shrugged, "Well, you know me, I have always been the one to grab information for the rare hunters."

"You're right."

Natalie took note on how dark it got and they had been walking surprisingly not very long. She noticed they were around the area near Yugi's game shop/house. Perhaps she could go visit him after store hours. Yume had stopped walking and Natalie paused to see where they were. They stood before an open field, in which there was an old park undergoing some reconstruction. There was a hole that had been dugged up and a caution tape around it. Though there was something else that she didn't think she would witness something like this.

There below them were a bunch of individuals wearing strange garb. Natalie had confirmed that they were all dressed up as assassins from assorted eras. Why assassin? No matter what they wore, they all had either a hood or some sort of facial mask to hide their appearances. Some of them didn't even try to look the part. They wore jeans and a plain black shirt. If there weren't any street lights present, she wouldn't have seen them but hear their clattered footing.

"What are they doing?" Natalie asked as she continued to stare at them weirdly, "Do not tell me one of them has the item?"

"Well the description did say he loved playing role-playing games." Yume shrugged before walking towards them, "Let's go check it out!"

Natalie pulled her back, "Um, no. I am not dealing with live action role players."

"Come on, Nazz!" Yume persisted, "Besides we are just going to go over, talk to the guy, bargain with him, and if he refuses, then we'll just take it anyway!"

Natalie looked back at the group and one of them caught their attention. One sneakily went up to a random stranger who looked to be a man in his late forties just walking home from work. The boy had lit up a fuse to what appeared to be a firecracker and placed the bottom part in the man's pocket. The little bomb that had been implanted had set off, scaring the ever living piss out of the man, who ran off trying to extinguish the fire on his pants. The group of "assassins" laughed and praised the boy who had done a job well done.

"Excellent job, Sota!"

"You've completed the challenge of the day!"

Natalie gritted her teeth at the fact that they most likely did this prank more than once today. She had let go of Yume and marched towards them without even thinking, "Hey! That ain't nice! Someone could have gone hurt!"

"Who asked you, woman?" One of them retorted, who seemed to be the leader of the group, "You can't stop our fun! Now leave our territory, tramp!"

Sota, the boy who just did the prank, pulled the leader back, "Ryo, look, she's an American!" Sota was then shoved back, "I don't care if she's a foreigner, she has no right to talk to me that way!"

"And you have no right to call me a tramp either!" Natalie barked and Yume had begun to hold her back, "Dude, I said bargain not threat!"

The leader looked at them in confusion, "Bargain?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. Great with a lack of description, how the hell was she going to do this? Yume, though, had stepped up to the plate.

"You require something of ours!" She claimed and pointed to the leader, "Especially you, Ryo!"

The black-haired leader scoffed, "You don't call my name that way! Only my crew gets to do that! To you wenches, it's Ryota!"

Natalie's eyebrow began to twitch, "If he calls me a prostitute one more time, Yume, I will personally deliver his soul to the underworld."

Yume hushed her before continuing, "We will bargain something of much more value in exchange for the item you carry."

The boy instinctively placed a hand over his chest, "This item is not a bargaining tool. Now get lost!"

"Then you leave us no choice but to challenge you for it!" Yume shouted determinedly and Natalie looked at her in confusion, "Yume, we don't even know if he has it."

"I do." Yume smirked, "And you're going to win it over for us."

Ryota wore the same smirk, "You dare to challenge me!"

Yume continued to taunt him while reaching behind her blouse for possibly a weapon. Natalie had taken note of that. She kinda wished she was wearing something appropriately but casual it was. She brushed her honey-blonde hair back to tie it up so that it won't get in the way. Natalie didn't even have anything on her. It was more of the reason because she didn't expect any of this to happen in the first place. She was going up against weirdos with mini bombs. Natalie placed a hand on Yume's shoulders, "If you think, this lunatic has what we are looking for then we do this my way."

Yume looked up at Natalie curiously. Natalie walked over to the group who stared at her as if she were mentally challenged. Yume began to smirk as this was exactly what she had wanted all this time. She needed to know before turning Natalie over. She needed to know how far Natalie had gone with the actual millennium items.

Natalie stared down at Ryota as he scoffed at her, "What do you think you're planning?"

"That prank you did earlier and the stupid garb you all are wearing." Natalie stated in which she earned several curses, "Let's play a game that you all are probably familiar with."

"Go on." Ryota urged her to continue.

"We will play the assassin game, sudden death match."

The group had gasped at the mention of the game and Ryota smirked, "Stupid girl, didn't you know I invented that game?"

She had arched an eyebrow and stared at him mockingly, "Did you now?" She chuckled, "This game dates back five millennia ago."

Ryota pointed at the main street lamp, "It's almost curfew time and that lamp will shut down making this whole area covered in darkness." Natalie nodded, glad she wasn't wearing anything light, "We will have to hunt each other down and eliminate one another with these bombs."

One of the group members had given Natalie a set of three.

"We have three chances to strike each other out. If any of them fail, you are automatically knocked out. If you strike even once, then you automatically win." Ryota explained with a grin that gives off hidden intentions, "And there shall be absolutely no interference from anyone. Those who interfere will be blown away."

Natalie nodded as Yume kept on watching at how Natalie's attitude had change. Yume narrowed her eyes at the amount of aura Natalie had been giving off. This was not the little girl she was used to all those years ago. Can it be that they are already too late? Had Sachmis retrieved all of her memories?

Natalie had looked over to Yume, who had silently gasped. Day by day ever since Yume had came back, her gold eyes were becoming more feral. They both stood on the opposite side away from the group of role-players.

"Nazz, how are you planning on winning if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm not gonna blow them up if that is your concern." Natalie replied which made Yume looked at her weirdly, "You told me that he carries a millennium item, well then I'll just sense its presence and take it from him without him even knowing it."

Yume gasped, "You can do that?"

"I've done it before," Natalie shrugged as she didn't see anything wrong with it. Yume then cursed under her breath and thought to herself, "Then this game is over to begin with. None of them have the millennium item!"

Little did they know, Yugi had been walking home. He had stopped by Natalie's place to give her the extra burger he had ordered but she wasn't home. It didn't take him too long to find out where she was. He watched curiously as to what was going on. He was nearby the weird individuals in dark, stealthy like clothing. Natalie and Yume had been on the other side of the field from where he was at. The group of boys had spouted something that made Yugi glare at them.

"How are you going to blow her up?"

"I won't." Ryota chuckled, "You guys are going to do it before I even go near her. She won't even see us coming!"

Yugi took a few steps back, "How could she play such a dangerous game?" And she called him a danger magnet. He had to warn Natalie before it's too late.

Natalie had begun to close her eyes and concentrated on locating the millennium item. It didn't take long for her to find it. Smirking, she was automatically ready for the lights to go out, "I found it, Yume."

Yume looked at her weirdly, "Um, okay." Maybe Sachmis wasn't present?

"Natalie, stop!"

They both froze at the sound of Yugi's voice. Then it all clicked for Yume but at the same time she questioned as why the boy was here in the first place! Natalie had detected a millennium item and it was this boy!

"Those boys are going to ambush you!" Yugi shouted as the group of role-players ganged up on them.

"Didn't we say no interference!" Ryota shouted as he set of a fuse, "Your spy friend here will receive punishment!"

Natalie's eyes widened, "No! He's not part of this!"

Ryota didn't bother listening as he threw a bomb towards Yugi's direction. Yume cursed under her breath as she took off in Yugi's direction. "I can't let Natalie get involved with him at this moment! Damn this kid!"

It all happened so fast. Yugi felt a hard push due to Yume and the explosion that was set off. Yume's body then skidded off to the side, scraping her thigh and elbow in the process. The other Yugi had woken up and didn't feel any pain on his body. Looking over to Yume, who had appeared to be knocked out, he saw that she was now bleeding from the minor wounds.

"Yume!" Natalie shrieked in horror and ran over to her, "Yume! Wake up!"

Ryota scoffed, "Serves them right."

The other Yugi scowled as he stood up, "Ryota, was it?"

"Yeah, that's my name!" The leader boasted, "Hey, girly! Those lights are about to go off! We're still doing this remember!"

Natalie heard the other Yugi growl a bit, "She doesn't have to do anythi-" He paused as he felt her hand on his chest. She was glaring harshly at the role-players, "This is my game, Yugi."

Ryota chuckled, "What a stupid girl."

"And not just any game... A shadow game." Natalie proclaimed as the eye of Ra appeared on her forehead. The spirit of the millennium puzzle stood back, "What the hell is this? She has no millennium item!" Then the pendant around his neck had pulsed. He stared down on it and gasped. He knew this had happened before, back when he was being lynched, but how is she getting access to it without his consent? What is she? Who is she?

And then the lights went off...

The other Yugi hadn't kept his eyes off from her. He was still able to see her since she was right next to him. She had sent him a smirk, "This won't take long."

All they could hear was bombs going off from all corners and shouts coming from each individual, "You see, even though Yugi had warned me about the ambush, you go on ahead and cheat your way through anyways." She had stated. What had happened is that she made each of them think that they were targeting her but instead they were too blind to see that they had planted bombs amongst each other.

"How disappointing." Natalie mumbled, "And I actually wanted to play a game." Just then the emergency lighting came on and the group of boys were knocked out unconscious before them. Natalie walked towards Ryota and searched him. All he had was a talisman that hung around his neck. She glared, "How ironic." Standing up with a perplexed expression she had watched as the other Yugi approached her, obviously wondering what had happened that led to this event. Then her eyes landed on his puzzle. How could she be so stupid! Then why did Yume assume this boy had a millennium item? Natalie went to process the information she was given again. She found this to be a perfect time to explain to Yugi what went on here.

"What do you mean by she tricked you?" The spirit asked.

Natalie ran her fingers through her hair out of frustration, "Yume had told me that this teenage boy had recently moved to Domino City. Before that he was constantly moving."

"Oh?"

"But this doesn't make sense seeing that these individuals had more than likely known each other for years and more than likely do this sort of thing on a daily basis!" Natalie explained as she pointed to Ryota, "He's their leader for that matter! A leader takes time to assemble a group."

The spirit seemed to ponder, "You are correct. Perhaps you should talk to Yume."

Natalie grumbled, "If she wasn't injured, I would've crushed her!" She turned back to get Yume but her best friend had been long gone from the scene. Natalie looked around and called her name. The other Yugi had helped but there was no reply or any trace that Yume had been with them. Natalie frowned at Yume's disappearance, "Curious." Was all she had said before following Yugi back to his place.

Yume had limped back to the place she was staying at but stopped to see sirens straight ahead. There someone's house had been set on fire, "So, much misfortune." She had mumbled then looked up to the sky, "I wonder if you are displeased by what had happened today." With that she had continued limping away from the scene.

-=-

The next day...

Natalie had asked Anzu for the day off of teaching duel monsters as she felt a headache coming in. This is what she got when playing a shadow game with an item that didn't belong to her. She didn't know what came over her, it just had happened. She was angry at what happened to Yume and Yugi. Now she was anxious. She wondered if the spirit of the millennium puzzle will now be more suspicious of her. Groaning to herself as she had to endure everything today. People's voices were a pain. This felt like a hangover that she couldn't cure.

"Kokurano-sama is passing by!" A girl shouted, "Open the way!"

Natalie flinched but she kept watching the army of girls passing through the hallway, guarding some boy with them. Luckily, she wasn't the only person confused. Jounouchi was obviously the first person to question the scene, "What is this?"

"You don't know?" Anzu asked as Miho stepped in, "It's the recently-famous boy with supernatural powers."

"He can see into the future and apparently he is very accurate." Anzu informed as Miho pointed at the army (of skanks), "You know how the girls are gone during lunch? They all go to him to get their fortunes told."

Anzu then added, "He was also right about the recent fire at a student's home from class A. He became famous just for that."

Natalie had burst out in laughter but saw that Miho and Anzu weren't laughing, "Oh, sorry, did not realize that had actually happened." She waved the fact that he could not have predicted it anyways. Kokurano had overheard her as he passed the group by. Jounouchi was excited to get his fortune told. Natalie could not help but smile at his enthusiasm as Honda began to argue with him about how as a member of a beautification's role was to look over these fortunes and not an excuse to get their fortune told. The two of them began to drag an unwilling Yugi with them, who began to throw a tantrum about being manhandled.

Anzu looked over at Miho, "Are you going?"

"Miho isn't interested." She chirped, "Miho's future is to obviously marry a prince with a big inheritance."

"Of course it is." Natalie chuckled as Anzu had asked about her views on the fortune telling, "Pfft, Anzu, I've seen real stuff on women's magazines in America." She followed Yugi and the two knuckleheads anyways.

What she didn't expect at the amount of girls in one room. There Kokurano had sat in his own makeshift booth. Jounouchi began to frown as he took note at ratio between men and women in the room. He felt so embarrassed. He had to think of a quick cover up. As he saw Natalie and Anzu enter the room, he took this as a perfect opportunity to say, "I give up, Anzu! Let's get your fortune told!"

"What!?" Anzu's eye twitched, "You're the one who wanted to come here in the first place!"

Natalie watched them in amusement, "You two should get married."

"How could you say that, Idol!?" Anzu questioned as she grown red in the face already. They were then shushed by one of Kokurano's cult member and began to get lectured as to how the fortune teller's concentration is very delicate. Kokurano had held his hand to calm everyone else down and quietly he asked, "Who's the next customer?"

"Kokurano-sama!" A random girl had gone up, "I'm at the dawn of my beauty; will it last long?"

The boy took less than a minute to answer her question, "I see it." He twirled his hand about, "You will remain beautiful till you die!"

The girl squealed in delight at her fortune and Natalie began to laugh, "Oh, man, what a conceited asshole." Unfortunately not many girls in the room agreed to her as they all were too excited at Kokurano's psychic power. Suddenly, the room began to shake and rumble about. Natalie had placed her hands on Yugi's shoulders, which he didn't mind. He was too concerned about the sudden earthquake. And just how it came, it had stopped so suddenly.

"What was that?"

"An earthquake." Jounouchi had answered Natalie, "And it was a pretty big one as well."

One of the cult members went up to the fortune teller, "Kokurano-sama, are you okay?" His only response was a grin and he looked over to the group of misfits and pointed at Jounouchi, "Hey you!" He called out, "A while ago, you thought, 'I want to get my fortune told,' right?"

Jounouchi just stared at him questionably as Kokurano continued, "However, I am no ordinary 'fortune-teller'!" He looked over at Natalie and Yugi as well, "You all must be thinking of the typical fortune-telling methods like palm-reading, study of patterns, Chinese and western astrology," that was emphasized for Natalie, "Feng Shui, and such! But in the past, these were only effective because they relied on statistics... I see clear and true visions of the future, using my psychic ability!"

Natalie narrowed her eyes, "Statistics? You mean pseudoscience."

"Exactly my point." Kokurano answered, "My abilities don't follow that. They are based on real visions. Though, my words cannot truly convey this truth..." He reached into his cloak to pull out a piece of paper, "This will prove it," He gave the paper to Jounouchi and Natalie had to tip-toe to see over his shoulder, "This morning, I wrote out one of my visions on this slip of paper. Go on, read it for everyone to hear."

Jounouchi then read, "Today, an earthquake will come."

Natalie rolled her eyes, "What a load of-" Though, her sentence didn't make it as it was drowned out by the sound of clapping and cheering from the other girls in the room. All Natalie could do was pout as she crossed her arms and stood back from the crowd, "There is no point in arguing with ignorance."

Yugi had heard her comment and he couldn't have agree. Just as he was about to join her and walk away, Anzu's voice had caught his attention, "Weeeell," She drawled out, "I guess I'll give it a try..."

"Please, do so." Kokurano held his hands out for Anzu. He had rubbed her hands in a creepy fashion that made Natalie groan out, "Didn't he just say that he doesn't do that palm-reading crap?" Then it hit her as she taken note at the amount of girls who are drawn to Kokurano. He wasn't an attractive boy so he must be using this stupid stuff that women will most likely read on magazines to his advantage of being close to women. Natalie let out a disgusted expression. Yugi on the other hand felt a bit uncomfortable as he watched Kokurano rub his hands around Anzu's.

The spirit of the millennium puzzle did not understand Yugi at all. Though, he supposed it be better if they didn't see Natalie in that situation. He had used the little shadow he could muster out of Yugi just to appear near Natalie.

"You don't seem to be having a good time."

His voice had startled her in which he chuckled at her actions. She hissed at him, "Would you quit that?"

"I apologize, I only want to keep you company." He replied with a half-smile and her shoulders relaxed, "I don't suppose you're going to take over and challenge this boy to a game?"

The spirit rolled his eyes, "I don't have the tolerance to do so. I'll let Yugi handle it from here."

Suddenly, Kokurano's outburst startled them both. The spirit had retreated, leaving Natalie in a daze as to what had happened.

"Hark! Soon, a wonderful man will reveal himself to you!" Kokurano stared at Anzu longingly, "You will surrender your body and soul to him!"

Natalie had begun to get grossed out and she didn't know what made her feel worse. The fact that Kokurano is full of it or that Anzu actually believes him. Poor girl.. It's like Anzu had already an idea who this prince in shining armor is. As Anzu had walked away from the boy with the supposed supernatural powers, Jounouchi went up to him with an exciting look on his face. Kokurano was of course disappointed that there wasn't a female in front of him so he just said, "Hmm... You are cursed."

Jounouchi frowned, "Yes, I already know that."

Kokurano sighed, "Okay, I did have some sort of vision that revolved around you... Be wary of light coming at you."

Jounouchi didn't know how to take that so he continued to press on but Kokurano was getting impatient and called for his next customer. Right then and there his eyes locked with Natalie, "Ah, Idol-chan, would you like to get your fortune told?"

"Eh..." Her eyebrow twitched a bit glad he hadn't said her actual name, "No, thank you."

Yugi didn't know what came over him but he knew he didn't want Natalie to go through that same awful treatment. He stepped in front of her and called Kokurano out, "I think this is a scam." He stated while surprising Natalie in the process, "I mean you might have psychic powers..." He began to fall back to his timid self, "but I guess I'm just skeptical..."

The cult member with long hair marched over to Yugi and basically towered over him, "What are you saying? You doubt Kokurano-sama's power?"

Kokurano smirked, "Are you saying that my power is faulty, Yugi?"

Natalie was getting a bit ticked off as she watched them push Yugi around but she trusted the spirit of the millennium puzzle. Yugi swallowed and stepped up again, "That's exactly what I'm saying. I've seen similar tricks before."

"Oh?"

"For example, you might have several predictions written down and hidden under your clothes, and you when the earthquake hit, you just chose the right one!" Yugi explained and that made Natalie smile to herself and nod in approval, "Heh, got 'em."

Kokurano then began to convulse, "Ohhhhhh!!!" He stopped to scowl and point at Yugi, "I see it now!" He shouted dramatically, "I see your future, Mutou! Countless words from heaven will pour down on you! I see calamity and destruction for you!"

Natalie gritted her teeth and pushed Yugi out of the way, "Hey you don't have to be a dick about it!" Kokurano just stared at her, he had not expected her to react this way, "Besides that sounds more like a threat than a fortune!"

"Eh? Would it make you feel better if you hear yours?" He motioned for her to come closer and Natalie kept her hands to herself, "Um, no."

"But I've seen your fortune since the day had started. I had kept it with me till I saw your pretty face." Before Natalie can retort to that, Kokurano held his hand for her to pause and reached for another note, "In places you don't know, from the shadows, there is a man watching over you."

Natalie scoffed as she crossed her arms, "Creepy and tell me about it." She looked down at Yugi's shadow. Yugi had caught her eye and she looked away from him while feeling a little heat rise up within her.

"I predict that you will come to me for more details." Kokurano purred at her and Natalie shook her head at him, "Today, at six in the science lab, your man will be there."

Natalie then realized that Kokurano would most likely be there and so she smirked. Better to get rid of the infestation while nobody is watching, "Okay, Kokurano-sama, I agree with your prediction."

"Oh?" He had not expect that.

"I'll be there." Natalie promised.

Yugi just stared at her in shock with her change in attitude. Wasn't she against Kokurano like five minutes ago? Why would she agree with this? Yugi looked down in disappointment. Then he shook his head. No, it just had to be a fraud. He had to stop Natalie from going through with this. There couldn't be a guy there waiting for her. Ridiculous.

He had stopped walking as he realized at the amount of anger he had been holding. Why does he suddenly feel this way? When he saw Anzu being touched by Kokurano, it wasn't much. Sure he felt a bit weirded out but if it had been Natalie... His mind had imagined her in that same spot and it had made him grow angrier. "What is this feeling?" He thought to himself. He didn't realize the day had gone by and he was now with Jounouchi and Honda in their Judo clothes. The more he thought about a man watching over Natalie, the more tension he felt. Was he jealous?

That question went out the window as Jounouchi landed on him. The air he had within him had gone away. It was almost as bad as when Natalie had punched him, "Jounouchi, I can't breathe!"

"I am invincible!" Honda had flexed right above them.

Natalie had skipped out on gym, every chance she got. Not that she hated athleticism. For her, it was a necessity to keep her health up and going. That and the fact she needed to stay in shape in case she had to ever run into trouble again. And that is everyday. Natalie had been shadow boxing on the rooftop in her gym clothes. She had paused to see someone lurking about on the same rooftop, "Speaking of trouble." She muttered as she followed the boy who had entered the door that led to the lighting maintenance. She watched from afar as this random student toyed with the light above the judo class.

"Strange, only administrative should do that. Is this some sort of thing that the Japanese do?" Natalie questioned herself and then shook her head, "If so, he can't be doing that when there's a class going on-"

Suddenly, the student had dropped one of the lights that was right above...

"Jounouchi!" She cried out from the rails. Luckily, he had heard her just to move out of the way in time. Though, some glass shards had hit his skin but nothing too serious. Natalie growled at the boy who had made a run for it. She sprinted off to just to catch him by the other exit to the rooftop. She had elbowed his chest and pinned him to the wall, "What was that?" She questioned, "You almost hurt someone!"

"I-I-I was paid to d-d-o it." He stuttered, "Please, don't tell on me."

Natalie only stared in confusion and pressed her elbow, "Who paid you and I won't say a word."

"K-kokurano-sama!"

The girl had let go of his elbow and he sprinted to get away from the school grounds. She looked back at the maintenance door and scampered off to the opposite direction. Natalie had to recall the many predictions that Kokurano had said earlier that may cause another accident to happen. Anzu's prediction was that some guy will reveal himself to her, which could mean that Kokurano would probably do some sick perverted thing. Though, he hadn't done that yet, Natalie had assumed judging by the dreamlike look Anzu had been portraying all day. She had wondered what kind of man Anzu had been waiting for? Was it Yugi?

Natalie had sat back on the seat bench that she was sharing with Jounouchi. Since Jounouchi had been excused to go home after the freak accident, Natalie had decided to keep him company till the bus arrives. Although Jounouchi had told her that he'd be fine by himself, she hadn't made a move to leave. She didn't want to be alone. At least not at the moment anyways. She knew that Yugi would most likely be with Anzu at this time so she spared herself the time and enjoyed Jounouchi's ramblings about the stupid prediction. Wait.. Prediction. She checked the time as it was close to five forty five in the afternoon. Natalie had jumped out of the seat and Jounouchi gave her a weird look, "Sorry, I gotta go!"

"Um, okay." Was all he could say.

Yugi had been walking the halls after class. Anzu had invited him to go window shopping since she had a day off at work today. He should be happy but at the moment he wanted to check up on Natalie. He stopped walking and frowned at the floor below him. It shouldn't be none of his business anyways... If Natalie falls for someone else, then shouldn't he be happy?

"I exposed Kokurano's trick because I was jealous... I broke the game's rule." He began to walk away from the hall that led to the science lab, "I hate myself." Then in the midst of his self-loathing, he spotted a book planted on the ground. He picked it up wondering what it was doing laying about on the floor. Nonetheless, he went about to put it back in the book room.

Anzu had frowned, "Yugi is running late, what's taking him?" Then she spotted Natalie running about, "Idol? Have you seen Yugi?"

"He's probably at the game shop! I don't know! I gotta go!"

Anzu frowned at her back, "What's with her?"

Natalie had barged into the designated room with a mindset of most American action heroes she used to watch as a child. The room appeared empty, though. She huffed, "Where can he be?" She walked around looking around, the sun was close to setting. Countless words.

"Natalie is your actual name." Kokurano's voice filled the room, "Who are you waiting for?"

She had glared at him as he continued to approach her, "What have you done to Yugi?" She questioned him. Kokurano smirked, "What ever do you mean?"

"You paid a student to drop that light and I assume you did something to Yugi as well." Natalie growled as she grabbed his collar, "Tell me what you've done to him!"

Kokurano began to chuckle, "I can't ever get around a smart girl like you." He grabbed her wrists, "Which is why I prepared for his moment ahead of time." He pushed her hands away with one hand and with the other he had shoved a soaked cloth right in her face, covering the nose and mouth.

"What the fu-?" Natalie held whatever breath she had in her, which isn't much, and tried to move her head away. Though, he had a hold on her face and the chloroform began to irritate her skin. Her hands tried to pry his off but it wasn't working as he began to pin her down. The next possible thing to do to get this cloth away from her is to play dead. She stopped resisting and applied her body weight towards the ground.

Kokurano had let go of her and sat up a bit. His lower half was still above her and he began to laugh, "No woman can resist my power!" He looked down to stare everywhere else aside from her face hungrily, "As long as I have super psychic powers, everything will go as I desire!" He didn't know where to begin but his hands began to trail up her sides, "Natalie, you will love me forever!"

"Don't count on it." The other Yugi had enough watching. He glared down at Kokurano intimidatingly, "Get your hands off of her before I rip them apart."

Kokurano had froze in his spot, "Yugi! How are you still alive!?"

Natalie's fists clenched and she growled, "He means get off of me now, numbnuts!" She began to pound on him, "Seriously! Get off now!"

"Unfortunately, your prediction has failed, Kokurano!" The spirit had walked further into the room, "All this just so you can take advantage of girls."

Natalie had backed away trying to rub off any access chloroform that lingered on her skin. She expected everything else but chloroform... To think if she had actually breathed most of it in and if Yugi hadn't shown up. She shivered. Disgusted.

"All your predictions are fake, Kokurano, the fire and the light in the gym." The other Yugi sneered, "Just to pretend to have super powers."

Kokurano glared, "I don't know what you're talking about."

The spirit began to loose his patience. No. It had been long gone before any of this had started happening. He was pissed, "If you want to play dumb, fine, but just so you know... It's game time."

"To challenge someone who has supernatural powers like me...? You have guts!"

"If you defeat me, then I shall acknowledge you as a psychic." The spirit looked over to Natalie and reached for her face. She stopped him from touching it, "Not yet, it still burns." She informed him and she pointed to the bottle on the floor, "Watch out for that."

He smirked at her, "It shall be my tool." He went over to pick the bottle up, "I assume this is yours?" He looked over to Kokurano, "We shall use this object of your prediction in our game."

The next thing the other Yugi did was place some papers on top of a desk and the bottle on top of those. As he explained the rules, Natalie had gave them some space and went to treat the burn on her face. She realized her nose had been bleeding, "Must have been another result from the irritation..?" Then she began to cough silently.

The spirit of the millennium puzzle grabbed the top sheet of paper and swiftly pulled it away. The bottle of chloroform had wobbled around and stood close to the edge of the table. "That was close." the other Yugi had thought as he waited for Kokurano perform his turn.

"Hmm..." Kokurano pretended to meditate, "I don't see falling in the bottle's immediate future." He claimed as he grabbed onto the next sheet and pulled. The bottle wobbled again, getting closer to the edge, "Aha! Another example of my power!"

"You've put me in a tight spot." The spirit proclaimed but he couldn't stop now. He had to finish this so that he can help Natalie. He walked towards the table and grabbed the paper to pull, "Game on!" The bottle tipped and unsteadily moved right on the edge of the table. The bottom half of the bottle wasn't on the table anymore. Kokurano began to shake.

The other Yugi began to chuckle, "What will you do now? It's impossible to pull the paper and not lose!" He enjoyed this bit as Kokurano's face began to fill with anxiety, "There is only one more sheet under this one... If you are really a psychic," The spirit pressed on, "You should be able to lift up the bottle up off the paper with your mind."

Something clicked within Kokurano as Natalie watched curiously, "Y-you're right! I see it now! I shall use my power!" Kokurano stepped closer to the bottle and stared it down with determination. Natalie was pretty sure whatever is going on in Kokurano's head is much different as to what is happening in front of them. She could laugh but this was even more pathetic. She walked by Yugi and place her hand in his, already knowing that he had won.

Kokurano began to laugh hysterically, "Behold!" He stared at them with a manic grin, "My power! It is making it float in the air!"

"That is only a delusion," The spirit informed as the bottle was still on the table, "But if you truly believe, then by all means..."

"Hahaha... You're a fool, Yugi!" Kokurano began to boast, "I am a psychic and everything shall belong to me!" With that he removed the paper and the chloroform bottle landed right below him, spraying the evaporated gas right up his nose and burning his eyes.

"Within his delusions, he could be anyone, so he became a psychic... It takes courage to know your own bounds. You never had that courage right until the end." The spirit mumbled as he watched Natalie poke Kokurano's sleeping body.

"What a pitiful soul." Natalie muttered, "All the predictions under his cloak, by the time the morning comes everyone will know." Natalie had stood up and the other Yugi caught the sight of what was dripping out of her nose.

"Natalie!" He walked towards her to clean it off, "Why are you bleeding?"

She felt a little embarrassed as she backed off, "My nose is probably still irritated and now what did he do to you?"

"What do you mean?" He stared at her in confusion.

"Countless words?"

"Oh..." He stared down at the back of his hand, "It's nothing."

Natalie began to laugh despite the situation. The spirit watched her in amusement, "What could possibly be funny?"

"Oh, this..." She motioned to their injuries and to Kokurano, "As sick as this sounds, I am starting to enjoy these type of occasions with you." She looked to the blend of crimson and amethyst set of eyes and finally her lips broke out into an actual, legitimate smile, "This has become a norm for me and I don't know... I just like being around you."

The other Yugi smiled as well as he traced her jawline, "I feel the same way, Nat." She began to blush at the use of her name, "I wish to be with you as whatever you want me to be. As Yugi. As the spirit of the millennium puzzle. Whatever you wish."

Her eyes widened as she felt her heart pound within her chest... She was so confused. Throughout the time she had known him, she had grown to care for the boy she looked after. Yugi had been her friend and if she wanted to, perhaps she would want more but it didn't make sense.. None of it. She knew the man in front of her is not Yugi but only wanting to be just for the sake of existing. Is it fair for the boy she truly cares about? So, what's the deal? Why does she feel this way? Can it be that she had been falling for the spirit of the millennium puzzle this whole time?

"Um..." She tried to speak, "We should treat our wounds."

The spirit blinked as he looked at the back of his bruised hand, "Okay." He then walked alongside her as they made their way out of the school building. He then felt like if he forgot something...

"Hey, Nat."

She looked to him.

"We haven't played our game."

She stopped walking and turned to the moon that lit the sky above them.

"I think... We are already playing one."