Chapter 13
I made it to the alley before Bakura, which confused me. I had assumed he wanted to meet me as soon as possible, but maybe not. Deciding he probably just had a few things to take care of first, I sat against the wall and thumbed through my Duel Monsters cards. I always found myself doing that when I had nothing else to do. I was too scared to pull out my journal without Bakura around, especially if Yugi could sense it. I still wasn't completely sure it he could, but it was better safe than sorry.
I waited for what felt like hours, just sitting in the dark alley all alone. Soon enough, the sky began to turn a bright pink and orange, and I knew that I had to go back to Tea's house sooner or later.
I carefully put my cards back in my pocket, hoping they weren't noticeable. I ran back to Tea's house and knocked on the door, hoping I hadn't been gone for as long as it seemed.
She answered the door and seemed to sigh in relief. "There you are! We've been searching everywhere for you. Are you alright? You've been gone an awfully long time."
"I have?" I asked, trying to play dumb. I searched what was visible of the inside of the house for a clock. "What time is it?"
"Almost 8. Where have you been?"
"I was at the library, remember?"
"It took you four hours to find what you were looking for?"
I hesitated for a quick moment, trying to think of some sort of excuse, when her words from a moment ago hit me. "'We?' Who exactly has been searching for me?"
"Well, Yugi, Tristan, Joey and I were all searching for you. I waited here and searched nearby in case you came back, and the others searched the city."
"Wait, Yugi was searching, too?" I asked, surprised.
"Well, yeah. He's your friend. We all are. We were worried when you weren't back in a couple of hours and we searched. That's what friends do, isn't it?"
I wasn't shocked about the fact that he was searching for me. He would have done that if he'd learned I'd been out of Tea's sight for five minutes, let alone a couple of hours. What I was surprised to find out was that he hadn't come to the alley. He knew about it. It was where he had first seen me with Bakura, even if Bakura had been able to play it off like nothing bad was happening.
What scared me more was that Yugi had seen me in the alley, sitting on the cold ground, waiting for Bakura to train me.
Instead of saying all this to Tea, though, I came up with a simple little lie.
"I didn't realize you all cared that much about me. I'm sorry for being gone for so long. Honestly, I went to the library to check on what I needed, then I went to a card shop across town to try to prepare for the tournament. I'm just really nervous, and I want my deck to be as strong as possible."
"But I took your Duel Disk. Weren't your cards in there?"
I shook my head and pulled the cards from my pocket. "I always keep them with me. Giving up my Duel Disk isn't going to take that from me. Besides, I can't Duel without the Duel Disk, so you won't have to worry about me." I smiled at her. It was the best one I could manage, and she seemed to buy it. She smiled back, shaking her head.
"You and Yugi have more in common than I realized."
"What do you mean?"
"You've both got heart. You care about your monsters and do whatever you can to win. You put up a front that makes you sound like Kaiba, Aria, but I know you care about the game more than just winning."
I looked at the ground, considering her words. Heart? The cards aren't about heart. I keep my cards with me because they are my prized possessions, not because of the monsters. Right?
I shook my head to clear it. This was getting too complicated. I wasn't ready for a deep conversation about Duel Monsters with a girl I could barely stand the sight of. Plus, I was still standing in the threshold of the house, my back to the outside world, which was growing darker by the minute. I felt defenseless not able to see what was happening around me.
"Yeah, cool. So can I come inside now? And you can call off your search parties?"
Tea seemed frozen for a second, then suddenly burst back to reality. "Oh, yeah! Come on in. I can make some hot chocolate or something if you'd like."
"No, thanks. I'm just going to head to bed."
"Do you want some dinner first?"
"No, I stopped at a restaurant," I lied, then ran to my room and closed the door, hoping to keep her out of the rest of my day.
I sat on the bed and spread out my cards like I was going through them and trying to think of combos, just in case Tea came in for something. I then pulled my purse up from it's perch on the floor and removed from it my notebook. I placed it on the bed beside my cards, hoping to be able to keep an eye on it.
I just sat there staring at my cards for about an hour, actually trying to come up with new strategies. But I could only think of the basics that I'd been using my entire life. I gave up on the cards and leaned back against the pillows.
I began thinking. Was Bakura waiting for me in the alley? I should've realized he would want to meet at night. Now, thanks to my idiocy, Yugi and his friends were going to be watching me like a hawk. There was no escape.
I stood and made my way to the kitchen, glancing around for a snack. Unfortunately, Tea was in the next room, and somehow heard my almost silent footsteps.
"Need something?" she asked, seeming genuinely curious instead of suspicious.
Maybe she wasn't expecting me to try to sneak out. "I was just looking for a quick snack before bed. That burger place did a terrible job at keeping me full for the night."
Tea gave a suspicious smile. "There's some fruit in the refrigerator. Or there's some cereal in the cabinet."
I nodded. "And Tea?"
"Yeah?"
I faced her. It was worth a shot. "I really am sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to scare everyone. I promise, I've learned my lesson." The tournament started tomorrow. I had to get Tea and the others off my back, or I'd never be able to meet up with Bakura.
She smiled, but didn't seem to believe me. "Aria, we all saw Bakura's darker spirit at Duelist Kingdom. He's evil. We just don't want you to get involved with him."
"What darker spirit?" I asked, feigning confusion. "Tea, I have no idea what you're talking about. Bakura only wants to help protect me from whoever was after me, and he wants to train me for the tournament. And so far, all you people have done is take me from the one person I knew I could trust."
Tea frowned, seeming heartbroken. I didn't care if she was. This was her fault.
"You just don't understand. You weren't in Duelist Kingdom with the rest of us. You didn't see what we saw in him."
"Which gives me all the more reason to think of you and your friends as liars trying to keep me from something they can't prove is real."
Tea sighed. "I don't care if you don't believe me. It's the truth, and I am supposed to watch over you. So grab your snack and go to bed."
I lowered my head. So that was it. I wasn't going to break out of here tonight. "I'm not hungry," I muttered, then quickly made my way to my room. At this rate, I was never going to see Bakura again.
I buried my head in my pillow, and held back the tears until I finally fell asleep.
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