Jade: It’s fun to tease Seto.
As far as killing off the yamis, I do have some plans for them.
Lady Elfskye: Thanks for reading my new PWP. Aria’s gonna be
funny when she goes through puberty. Poor Bakura.
Shadow of Light: The kids haven’t told me how they are going
to handle it. I’m not even sure how I’m going to tell them yet. Gotta see.
Terra: Gotta love hide the torpedo.
jupitor Knight: Oh, the marines. I’m sorry about your friend.
Roxria: *hugs* You’re the best! The virus strikes.
Dragondreamer: Gotta love Marik, that’s for sure. I really
have no choice.
Valea: Seto’s never going to get used to Miranda.
Broken Time: The yami virus takes down two yamis of three.
This is the only way to kill a yami as far as I know. The boys haven’t told me
anything other than this yet.
thunderchaos: 2 of 3 yamis kick the bucket. But the kids are affected too since they are
half yami. They don’t die, though.
Maruken: Mako knows Ryou from
Kura Magician girl: Well, Yami was good, but turned bad since
he heard of the prophecy of
Two Little Sneaks
Umi and Robbie waited for Aria and Aten at the playground
gates. Aten ran up to Robbie and squealed happily. Umi hugged Aria and ran her to the
swings. From a distance, Panik watched
her. Now he knew where she went to school.
“Hi, Robbie! I missed you!”
Robbie giggled. “Aten, it’s only been an hour!”
“I know! Hey! The money bars are free! Let’s go play!”
Mr. Cullen ran to Ryou and Miranda. “Ryou! Mrs. Morgan!”
Cullen panted heavily. “The principal wishes to see you and
Mrs. Morgan in her office right now.”
Ryou and Miranda followed Cullen. “What’s this about, Mr.
Cullen?”
“It’s about Aten and Robbie.”
Ryou and Miranda exchanged glances. Ryou tried to think of reasons why he was
being called to the office because of his son and Robbie: they could have been
caught being “close,” they could be in trouble, it could be anything.
Cullen opened the door to the president’s office.
The woman looked up from her files and folded her hands.
”Come in, Mr. Itemri and Mrs. Morgan. I don’t want to take up any of your
valuable time. The school administered
tests to our students yesterday and we have the results for your respective
child.”
“Shouldn’t we be separated when you talk to us about this?”
“No, this concerns both of you. We have talked to Robbie and Aten already
separately about their test scores.”
“Robbie scored exceptionally high on both verbal and math
ability. Congradulations, Mrs. Morgan,
Robbie is a gifted child. He’s very
intelligent and he deserves better than where he is placed right now.”
“He’s with Aten. That is where he wants to be.”
“How did Aten score?” Ryou asked calmly.
The principal opened the file. “We already know Aten has a
learning disability. He scored far below average in math and reading ability.”
“But, you can’t compare him to other kids for this test. Aten has dyslexia. It impacts his reading and
his math abilities.”
The principal nodded.
“We are aware of Aten’s academic difficulties, Mr. Itemri. We believe it is in the boy’s best interest
if we move him to a more…remedial class.”
Miranda leaned forward. “But, that means that Robbie and Aten
won’t be in the same class.”
Principal Adams leaned forward and folded her arms. “Mrs.
Morgan, your son is gifted. Aten Bakari
Ishtar is in need of special services.”
Ryou nervously fingered the Millennium Ring around his
neck. Bakura had retreated into his
soulroom to stay with Ryou. The hikari could feel Bakura relax and fall asleep
for some much-needed rest.
“Principal Adams, I know my son needs academic help. Mr.
Cullen has been a big help.”
Cullen nodded. “Aten has improved since I started tutoring
him five years ago. I told this school and its board members that I could get
Aten to read perfectly by the time he left this school. I have done that.”
“Aten cannot do simple math, Mr. Cullen. He claimed that 9 +
3 equaled 17! He claimed that the “3”
was an “8”. He still cannot recognize
the number five.”
Ryou narrowed his eyes. “Okay! I know my child is not perfect! My child may have some cognitive problems,
but I’m doing all I can to help him. I’m
not going to give up on my child.”
Principal Adams pushed Aten’s file to Ryou. “Your child needs Special Education,
Ryou. Without it, he’s going to continue
to struggle through his academic career.”
Miranda took Ryou’s hand. “So, why am I here?”
“We took Robbie out of class on Friday and we told him that
he may be better in an accelerated class. He would get extra attention, be able
to pursue intellectual interests, and learn at an accelerated pace.”
Miranda looked at Ryou and Mr. Cullen. “We can’t separate the
boys. They’ve been together since the
beginning!”
“I appreciate the fact that the boys are close friends, but
both of your sons’ future is at stake.
Robert has a lot of potential.”
“So does my son!” Ryou interjected. “You said you talked to our sons? What did
they say?”
“What about my son?”
“When we suggested to Aten that he may feel better in a class
better able to help him, he started crying on me! It took me one full hour to calm him down.”
Ryou shook his head. “You know Aten is a very emotional
child! He doesn’t want to be separated
from Robbie.”
“We can’t separate the kids if they don’t want to be
separated.”
Miranda stood up. “You let me worry about my son and
challenging him. Your job is to teach my
son and not make decisions on what YOU think is best for my little boy!”
Ryou stood up. “Principal Adams, my boy will improve in his
work!”
Cullen stood by Ryou. “Aten will improve. He’s just learns at
a slower pace than the other children.”
Ryou straightened his shirt. “Aten was hospitalized for chest
pains, Principal Adams.”
“I heard. What was the diagnosis?”
Ryou sighed. “Aten has heart failure. The doctor
put him on some more medication.”
“How did my daughter, Aria Kanika Itemri, do in that test?”
“I’m not giving up on my son, Mrs. Adams. I love him and if he does not want to be
separated from Robbie, then he doesn’t get separated from Robbie. I’m not going to force my son to do something
he does not want to do. Have a good day, Mrs. Adams.”
Ryou left and Miranda stood up.
“Robbie is not separated from Aten. If you wish to push this
issue further, Daniel will be home and he will gladly speak to you.”
Miranda left and ran after Ryou. “Ryou! Wait up!”
Ryou stopped. “What is it?”
“You handled yourself well in there, Ryou. I’m proud of you.”
Ryou narrowed his eyes. “I’m not going to sit there and let
THAT woman tell me that my son is incompetent and that he has no potential just
because he has a learning disability!
Yes, Aten is a very slow learner!
Yes, I know that Aten cannot recognize certain numbers! Yes, I know Aten feels inadequate because he
cannot spell or speak as well as all the other kids! I accept that and I’m
doing all I can to help Aten learn to count and he tries! Miranda, he struggles
so much! He really tries!”
Miranda wrapped her arms around the hysterical boy. “We know he tries, Ryou. I know he tries.
Robbie helps him as much as he can.
Look, our boys are happy. Nothing
else matters, right? Don’t let
//Ryou….let’s drop Malik off at the pharaoh’s and go home.//
/Okay, yami./
“Miranda, I have to drop Malik off at Yugi’s Game Shop.”
Miranda and Ryou left the school. “Yeah, I better get home to
Daniel. I’m sure he’s missing
me….again.” Miranda snickered and shook
her head. “That man hasn’t quit since he came home. He keeps it up and I’ll have a limp like
Malik’s until the kids are in college.”
Ryou laughed. “Well,
have fun. I have to check on Yugi and take care of Bakura. He hasn’t been well
lately.”
“Aww…tell him I hope he feels better.”
//Thanks, Miranda.//
“He said ‘thanks.’ He’s in my Millennium Ring now getting his
rest.”
Miranda reached out and touched the ring gently with her
fingers.
A contented moan came from Bakura. //That feels good…do it again. Ask her to do
that again, Ryou.//
Ryou blushed. “Can you do that again, Miranda? He’s enjoying it. I can feel it’s making him
feel a little better.”
Miranda touched the Ring with both hands and ran her fingers
on the metal, caressing it. “There you go, Bakura. I hope that helps.”
A purr came from the soulroom. //So soft….must
go….to…sleep….now.//
Ryou started hearing snoring come from the soulroom. “Miranda?
You put him to sleep.”
Miranda held the Ring in her hands. “This is an amazing item,
Ryou. It’s still hard to believe that
Bakura is in there.”
Ryou shrugged. “It took me a while to get used to the idea,
too. I had better get him home so he can
rest. My house is a mess, too.”
“I should go home, too. Daniel is waiting for me.” Miranda hugged Ryou and she left. Ryou got
into the car and Malik drove to Yugi’s.
*************************
Yugi showed Malik how to run the cash register and how to calculate
the price for the discounted items for that day.
“I really appreciate this, Malik! I’m really worried about Yami. I lost grandpa…I can’t lose my other half,
too.”
Ryou hugged Yugi tightly, knowing how it felt to lose his
other half before. Steven had tossed the
Millennium Ring into the forest. It was just by luck that they had retrieved it
from the annoyingly painful Anzu.
“Can I see Yami, Yugi?”
Yugi’s purple eyes were filled with worry. He looked at the
Millennium Ring. “Alright, but Bakura has to behave himself and not harass
Yami.”
“Bakura is asleep.
He’s been coughing and this morning I caught him unable to breathe.”
Yugi’s jaw dropped. “Bakura is sick? Malik, how is Marik?”
“From last night’s activities, he didn’t seem sick to me.”
Yugi and Ryou shivered and they responded in unison, “We
won’t ask.”
Yugi took Ryou upstairs to see Yami. Yami was laying on his
back in grandpa’s old bed. Yugi and Yami
had made grandpa’s old room into what resembled a pharaoh’s chamber. The curtains were made of white, sheer
material. On the bureau was a statue of
the god Ra. Tiny statues of pyramids
covered the cedar furniture. Two candles
were at Yami’s bedside. One black candle
was half covered in Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Ryou looked at the candle and saw that Yami was painting spells on the
black candle. Beside the black candle was a lit white pillar candle.
Ryou stood by the bed. “Yami?”
Yugi sat by Yami’s bedside and took Yami’s hand. “Yami? Ryou is here to see you.”
Yami opened up his eye and looked up at the white-haired
hikari. “Where is the tomb robber?”
“Bakura is in my Ring, Yami. He’s not feeling well neither.”
Yami looked down. “You didn’t bring your demon seed with
you?”
Ryou narrowed his eyes. “Aria and Aten are at school.”
Yami snickered and sighed. “So, the tomb robber is ill….What
about the other one?”
“Marik isn’t ill yet.
Yami, when did you come down with this?”
Yugi rubbed Yami’s hand as Yami began shaking a little. “He
came down with it yesterday. I thought
it was just a little cold or maybe something else. I thought it would just be a
one day kind of illness. But, he got
really bad today.”
“I never saw Bakura so sick since he had that Soulroom
Sickness five years ago. I thought he’d be strong enough to fight something
like this.”
Yami opened his eye. “Soulroom Sickness never fades. Being forced into your soulroom weakens you
even after you have been released. A
yami’s powers are weakened after suffering from the Soulroom Sickness.”
Ryou stroked the metal of the Ring. “How long does the
weakness last?”
“It could last one year. It could last one hundred years.”
Yugi looked up at Ryou. “When Aria smashed the Puzzle, he
forced Yami back into his soulroom. So, he had Soulroom Sickness until I could
solve the Puzzle again.”
“And Bakura had Soulroom Sickness when Yami forced him back
into the Ring. That’s why Yami and
Bakura came down with this first! The
Soulroom Sickness weakened them.”
Yugi raised an eyebrow. “You know what is wrong with
Yami? What? What is it? What’s wrong
with him? Tell me!”
Ryou crossed his arms. “Yami and Bakura may have the Yami
Virus.”
Yugi jumped off the bed and clung to Ryou. “The ‘Yami Virus?’
What’s that?”
“Remember five years ago?
My father said that whoever ripped up his card would release the Yami Virus.”
“Who ripped it up?”
Ryou gripped the Ring. “Bakura ripped up my father’s duel
monster’s card.”
Yami growled. “I knew Bakura would be the death of me sooner
or later!”
“Bakura isn’t convinced that this is the Yami Virus. He says
there’s no way to kill a yami.”
Yami shook his head. “No. There is one way. There is a scroll
on it at the
“There has to be a way to stop it!”
Yami shook his head. “I don’t know how to stop it, Ryou. If I
did, I would stop my deterioration.”
Ryou sighed. “What about Bakura?”
“The sooner that thief is out of my afterlife, the
better. If Bakura must meet a second
death, so be it!”
Ryou narrowed his eyes. His teeth clenched and his fists
tightened. “Yugi, I have to go.”
“Yami, don’t talk that way about Bakura. Ryou came to visit
you and see how you were doing! He was concerned about you.”
Yami looked at Ryou. “Bakura is going to die. Painfully.
I hope….he suffers.”
Ryou’s eye twitched in fury.
“I’m leaving, Yugi. Goodbye!”
Ryou descended the steps and kissed Malik. Yugi ran down the
steps.
”Ryou! Wait!”
Ryou turned around, tears in his eyes.
Yugi took Ryou’s hand. “Yami doesn’t speak for me, Ryou. I
really hope Bakura gets better.”
Ryou wiped the tears from his eyes and his voice cracked,
trying not to cry. “I don’t want my
husband to die, Yugi. I can’t live
without Bakura. Without him, I’m
incomplete.”
Yugi nodded. “I know.
I know Yami can be a real ass sometimes, but, he is my other half. I do love him.”
Ryou shook his head.
“You deserve better than him, Yugi.
That is all I’m going to say.”
“Ryou, wait! Please!”
Ryou closed his eyes. “Yugi, I must leave before I say
something about Yami that I am going to regret.”
Ryou pulled his hand away and left sadly.
***************************
Aten and Robbie sat at their desks listening to Umi and Eric
recite their report on dolphins. Aria
had been ordered to go to the principal’s office for using a bad word to
describe Eric that had been taught to her by her Daddy Marik.
“Dolphins speak to me
and my daddy when we are sailing on the majestic sea! They swim by our boat and
they are mammals!”
“Yeah, and they taste good in tuna fish!”
Umi turned to Eric. “Eric!
You can’t say stuff like that!”
“Why not? I can say whatever I want! It’s my report, too!”
“But we’re graded as a pair!”
Eric shrugged. “So?
Big deal.”
“But, if I don’t get a good mark, I won’t be able to go sail
my toy boat on the water this weekend!”
“Eric? Umi? Continue,” Mrs. Jennings said.
“Dolphins are very smart,” Umi continued. “They can be
trained to do tricks. I have a dolphin
that follows my boat around and speaks to me. I call him Flippy! My daddy named him!”
“Your daddy is flippy….and floppy! Kinda like Aten Ishtar.”
Aten narrowed his eyes. “I am not!”
“Eric Barnes, stop it or you get detention!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Aten is an elephant! And ugly like a baboon!”
Tears welled in Aten’s eyes. “I am not!”
“Eric, you will have detention after school!”
“Aten’s fat and ugly and smelly!” Eric laughed, pointing at
Aten in the front seat, ignoring the teacher.
Robbie narrowed his eyes. “Aten is not fat and ugly!”
Eric laughed. “Yes, he is!
What a fat, ugly elephant! Who
could love such a fat thing like you?!”
“And he smells like pee!” Rhonda added to the taunting.
The class started to laugh and point at Aten, except Robbie
and Hayden.
Aten whimpered. “Stop it! I do not!”
Robbie narrowed his eyes. “He does not!”
Eric reached out and grabbed Aten’s white and blond hair.
“LOOK AT THE FREAK!”
Aten let out a shriek of fear.
Mrs. Jennings stood up. “Eric! Keep your hands to
yourself! Go stand in the corner and
face the wall!”
Aten wrapped his arms around himself and sniffled in the
chair. Robbie stood up and started to
limp to Aten’s chair.
“Robert Morgan, while you are out of your seat, maybe you and
Mr. Kaiba would like to do your report.”
“But Aten--.”
“You don’t want detention, do you?”
Robbie returned to his desk and grabbed his project. When he
arrived at the front of the room, he was watching Aten’s body shudder in the
desk.
He looked over at Rhonda Taylor, Aten’s other bully. She was laughing in her seat, her hand
covering her mouth.
Robbie looked at Aten in the chair as tears streamed down his
face. “I’m sorry, Aten,” Robbie whispered to him.
Even though Hayden was two years older than the other
children, Hayden was left back in Aten and Robbie’s grade. His Uncle Charlie never let him go to school
and Seto thought it best to leave him back.
Hayden was a good reader and was permitted to go to a more advanced
grade for reading.
Robbie supported himself on the teacher’s desk. His twisted foot was beginning to become sore
as he stood on it. He leaned against the
teacher’s desk as Hayden held the pictures of whales.
“Whales are mammals, which means they carry their babies in
their bellies. They live to be up to 90
years or more! Killer Whales belong to
the dolphin family and they are the biggest dolphin alive! When they eat, they
open their mouths up really wide to eat. They eat sea life such as fish,
sharks, and even seagulls! Whales can hold their breath for a really long time
under water.”
Robbie pointed at the pictures of the whales. “Whales come in
different types. There are Sperm Whales.”
Rhonda and Eric started laughing.
“There are Humpback Whales.”
Rhonda and Eric collapsed on the floor laughing hysterically.
“Rhonda Taylor, get back to your seat! Eric, stand up!”
Rhonda ignored her. “Limpy would know about Sperm Whales!”
Eric’s face turned red from laughter. “Yeah! He would know about Humpback Whales! Maybe Ishtar helped him with that one!”
Rhonda shrieked with laughter as Aten shrunk down in his
seat. The entire class started laughing
at Aten again.
“Rhonda Taylor, you have detention as well! Eric, stand up!”
Eric struggled to his feet. Robbie watched Aten’s lip tremble
in his seat, his face down and his eyes glazed over.
Robbie’s heart sank as he saw his friend in the chair, the
object of the ridicule. Object. To the class, Aten was an object. They thought Aten had no feelings…that Aten
could brush off the bullying.
Robbie narrowed his eyes and stood in front of Aten’s desk.
“Make fun of me, you cowards! I can take it! You are nothing but a bunch of
bullies! I’ll take you all on! Nobody hurts my friend and gets away with
it!”
“Aww…Limpy wants to help the freak! FREAK!”
Aten shuddered. Mrs.
Jennings stepped in front of the class.
“Stop this! Eric, turn around! You have detention for the
next month! Rhonda Taylor, you have
detention for a month! The rest of the
class will stay after school!”
The class gave a series of disappointed groans.
Eric and Rhonda growled at Aten.
‘That freak isn’t going to get away with this,’ Eric thought.
****************************
The lunch bell rang and the Grades 1-3 filed into the
cafeteria. Robbie and Aten stood in the
lunch line not far from Rhonda and Eric.
Aria had to remain in the principal’s office for her
behavior. Aria was allowed to have lunch
in the principal’s office.
Aten wrapped his arms around himself tightly. “I’m not
fat…I’m not smelly. I’m not ugly. Am I, Robbie?”
“Aten, don’t pay any attention to them jerks!”
“Dotor Zira weighed me in the hospital and I only weighed
thirty pounds.”
Robbie put a hand on Aten’s side. “Aten, you’re nothing but
skin and bone! How can you be fat?”
Aten looked down sadly. “Please don’t yell at me, Robbie. I
don’t want you to be angry at me.” Aten’s bottom lip trembled.
“Aten, I’m not mad at you.
I’m mad at them. Look, I don’t
care what you look like! You’re my friend.
I’d still like you!”
Eric and Rhonda snickered when they saw Robbie’s hand pull
Aten close to him and hug him.
Rhonda brushed her hair back. “That Aten kid made us have one
month of detention!”
Eric narrowed his eyes. “We have to get him back for this!”
“You want revenge? I have the perfect way,” a voice said
behind Eric.
Eric and Rhonda turned around and saw a kid tall for his age
with hazel eyes and black hair. “What is
it?”
The third grader grinned. “I have dirt on everyone in the
school. You want to get that kid back? I
know he has a bad heart. I also know he is allergic to pickles. I heard him
talking to that lame kid the other day.
You want revenge? Put pickles on his sandwich and salt. He told the kid
that salt makes his heart worse.”
Eric grinned. “Who are you?”
“My name is Andrew Diabalis.”
Eric grinned. “Remind me to bring in a piece of candy for you
tomorrow, Andrew.”
Eric turned to Rhonda. “I’ll put the pickles on his sandwich.
You pour on the salt.”
Andrew leaned into Eric’s left ear. “I can distract the kid
while you do that. It will cost you
another piece of candy.”
“Done!”
Robbie grabbed a ham and cheese sandwich with a container of
chocolate milk. Aten stood in front of
the woman, who handed him his special lunch of fresh tuna. Aten grabbed a container of skim milk. The
cafeteria staff recognized Aten on sight and thought the boy looked exotic with
his two different colored eyes and hair.
Aten sat down at the table beside Robbie. He looked at sandwich sighing.
Robbie bit into his lunch hungrily. “Aten, don’t think about
it. You have to eat.”
Andrew sat beside Aten. “Hello, Aten. I heard from the other kids what they did to
you in class today.”
“Who are you?” Robbie asked, narrowing his eyes.
”I’m from the third grade. I have friends in the second grade. My name is
Andrew.”
Robbie growled low in his throat as Andrew put his arm around
Aten’s shoulder.
“It wasn’t nice what they did to you today, was it, Aten?”
Robbie felt his fury rise, his attention fixed on Andrew.
“No, it wasn’t.”
“They aren’t your friends, Aten.”
Aten nodded. “I know that.
They hate me.”
Rhonda and Eric snickered as they disappeared under the table
with a handful of salt packages and two pickles.
They crawled underneath Aten’s chair and snickered.
Andrew shook his head. “What a shame, Aten! How could someone make fun of another human
being?! Especially one with such nice
hair.”
Robbie’s face turned red with fury. “That’s it!” Robbie stood
up and moved behind Andrew. He poked him angrily. “I don’t know who you think
you are, but get your hand off of Aten!”
Andrew turned around and stuck his tongue out at Robbie.
“Aten, your friend here is so…..angry.
That’s a real shame.”
Aten looked back at Robbie. “Robbie is my friend.”
Eric snickered and slipped the pickles under the top slice of
Aten’s sandwich. Rhonda opened the two
salt packages and poured the salt under the first slice of bread. They chuckled and returned to their seats.
Andrew saw them and removed his arm from Aten. He stood up
and poked Robbie in the chest.
“I’ve got my eye on you…Lame-o!”
Robbie glared angrily as the boy returned to the end of the
table. He returned to his seat. “Don’t listen to him, Aten.”
“Why not?”
Robbie turned his head. “Aten, don’t tell me you believed in
what he said! He put his arm around
you.”
“So? You touch me.”
“He didn’t sound sincere.”
Aten cocked his head to the side. “What’s that mean?”
“I don’t trust him.”
Aten looked at his sandwich and grabbed it. “I do trust you,
Robbie.”
Robbie smiled. “I’m glad you do, Aten. It’s you and me
forever.”
Aten bit into his sandwich and swallowed. “This sandwich
tastes funny.” Aten bit into it again
and tasted something bitter.
Aten dropped the sandwich as his face started to turn beet
red.
Robbie turned to Aten. “Aten, are you okay?”
Aten gripped his chest and his stomach with both of his
hands.
A moan of pain came from him and he stood up on his trembling
legs. He staggered to the trash can and threw up.
The kids in the cafeteria turned to Aten and a collective
“EWWW!!!” came from the crowd of chibis.
Robbie went to Aten.
“Aten! Oh no! You okay?”
Aten grabbed his stomach. “Potty…must use potty!”
Robbie helped Aten to the boys’ room. One of the lunch moderators went into the
bathroom and heard Aten in one of the stalls.
“Aten Ishtar?”
Robbie came from Aten’s stall shaking and sobbing. “His skin
is turning color and he’s throwing up and his skin is breaking out into patches
of red and….and….and he’s throwing up….and…and….HELP ATEN!!”
Aten dropped to his knees in the stall and the moderator
could hear the child’s desperate panting for breath.
Another moan of pain came from him as he kneeled down. A long, piercing wail came from the boy as he
fell forwards, his head touching the ground.
The moderator called the nurse. “Food Allergy,” Nurse Atkins
said when she saw Aten weeping on the bathroom floor.
The man went to Aten’s lunch and found pickles on the
sandwich as well as a pile of salt.
Umi went to the moderator. “Eric and Rhonda did it! I saw
them disappear from their seats! Before I could tell Aten, he started eating!”
Eric and Rhonda growled. “We did not!”
The moderator looked by Rhonda’s chair where he saw an empty
package of salt.
The nurse rushed to her office and grabbed some medication
for Aten’s heart and some medication for Aten’s diarrhea. She called Aten’s
mother and told him to come pick up Aten from the nurse’s office.
Eric and Rhonda were taken to the principal’s office. Robbie refused to leave Aten’s side as the
moderators helped him up the steps to the nurse’s office.
Robbie was sent back to the lunch room and he left
reluctantly.
Ryou arrived as quickly as he could. He found Aten in the
Nurse’s Office holding a bucket.
His skin was broke out in hives and was burning hot to the
touch.
“He has a high fever, Ryou.
I just gave him some children’s Tylenol for the fever and I gave him his
heart medication.”
Ryou brought Aten into his arms. “What happened?”
“Two children put pickles and salt on your son’s lunch.”
Ryou cradled Aten’s head against him as much as his skin
burned his hand. “My poor baby,” Ryou
said, stroking his hair.
He left Atkins’ office and found Aria sitting in the
principal’s office. “What’s she doing here?” Ryou asked the secretary.
Aria looked up and gasped. “Aten!”
“She said a very bad word to one of her classmates.”
Ryou looked down at Aria. “What did you say?”
Aria looked down to avoid her mother’s eyes.
“Aria Kanika Itemri, what did you say?”
Aria’s spiky hair fell slightly. “I called…Eric…an…asshole.”
“Aria, that isn’t a word you should be saying.”
Aria looked up. “But, he was being mean to Aten!”
Ryou heard a woman’s yelling come from inside the principal’s
office.
“My son is just a scapegoat! Look at that darling face! He’s innocent, Mrs. Adams! How dare you accuse my son of bullying!”
Aten turned his head. “Mommy?”
“Yes, Aten?”
“Buttet, please.”
Ryou gave Aten the bucket and the boy wretched.
Ryou narrowed his eyes and burst into the room. Mrs. Barnes
turned around quickly and growled. “Your boy is a liar! My son would never think of doing something
like trying to make your boy sick!”
Ryou growled. “Your boy is a bully! It’s your reason my son is sick!”
A long moan came from Aten as he gripped Ryou’s shirt
tightly. “Hurts…”
Tristan and Otogi entered the office and groaned. “Rhonda,
what did you do now?”
Rhonda folded her arms. “I do nothing wrong, Uncle
Tristan! I’m a princess!”
Tristan growled. “Yeah, you’re a Royal Pain in My Ass, too.”
Rhonda pouted and brushed her hair back. “Aten is a liar! I
never would hurt him!”
Otogi went to Ryou and brushed the chibi’s white and blond
hair. He went to stroke Aten’s face and
he pulled his hand back quickly.
“His skin is burning hot!”
Aten reached out a red arm to Otogi. “Unkie Togi…..hug.”
Otogi held Aten in his arms as Tristan rubbed the boy’s back.
“What happened, little man?”
“
Tristan grabbed Rhonda’s hand. “Look, little missy, you keep
your hands off of Aten!”
Otogi shook his head. “This is going to be a long week, Ryou.
Tristan’s brother and his wife are out of town and we have to watch the brat
for a whole week!”
“I didn’t touch him and you can’t prove I did anything!”
Aten reached for the bucket and he threw up on Otogi’s
shoulder. Otogi’s eyes widened in horror
as he felt some liquid slide down his arm.
Otogi closed his eyes and said, “Please don’t tell me he….”
Tristan nodded. “Yup…he threw up on you…..again.”
Otogi groaned. “This is a new shirt, Aten!”
Ryou took Aten in his arms. “Sorry, Otogi.”
Otogi looked over and brushed his hair back. “I’m never going
to get these stains out! Oh…poop! I’ll be scrubbing this shirt for a week!”
Mrs. Barnes took Eric’s hand. “I’m taking my son and leaving,
Mrs. Adams! Good day!” Barnes stopped in
front of Ryou and scowled at him. “Good day, fruit-cake!”
Ryou growled as she passed. He turned to
“Please take Aria Kanika with you. We have no place in this
school for potty-mouths!”
Ryou left the office followed by Tristan and Otogi. “Aria, you’re coming home with me, honey.”
Tristan pulled Rhonda along with him. “Ryou, we are very
sorry about all this. We’ll sit down and talk to the little brat tonight.”
“I’m not a brat! I’m a princess!”
“And I’m the Queen of England.”
Rhonda pouted. “Daddy tells me you are a queen! Especially
your little boyfriend!”
Tristan turned abruptly. “And you are grounded, missy!”
Otogi pulled his hair to the opposite side of his shoulders.
“Oh, man! It’s in my hair! Now I have to
go home and wash it! Oh, poop.”
Tristan raised an eyebrow. “After living with me for six
years, you don’t know how to curse properly?”
Rhonda smiled. “I can
curse, too…shithead!”
Tristan gripped Rhonda’s hand tightly and she winced. “You
are going to bed without supper!”
Tristan threw her into the car. “Ryou, I’m really sorry about
Rhonda.”
Aten started to breathe heavily like Bakura. “Mommy….Ra….help…dizzy.”
“No problem, Tristan.
I have to get these two home.”
************************
Ryou took Aten home and he ran to the bathroom upstairs. Ryou
held back the chibi’s hair as the boy threw up.
Aria stood at the door with a worried look on her face. Aten
collapsed on his knees in front of the toilet, panting.
“What’s wrong with my brother?”
“Eric and Rhonda put things in his lunch that he is not
allowed to eat and it made him sick.”
Aria narrowed her eyes and her hair twitched angrily.
“Aria, baby, can you get a pair of clean boxers for your
brother?”
Aria ran into Aten’s bedroom and opened his underwear
drawer. She picked up a pair of blue
boxers and saw a piece of paper underneath.
Aria picked up the piece of paper and looked at it.
Her eyes grew wide as she looked at the picture.
Aten had drawn a picture of Robbie and himself laying on a
bed. White sheets covered Robbie’s private area while Aten remained completely
exposed. Aten was cuddled closely
against Robbie with a big smile on both of their faces. Above the bed, loomed evil looking eyes.
Giant claws decorated with barbed wire surrounded the bed. Below was the caption in hieroglyphs:
Grandfather Never Leaves.
“Aria! Baby girl, I need those boxers!”
Aria replaced the picture in the underwear drawer and ran to
the bathroom.
“Here, mommy.”
“Honey, can you get your brother a washcloth?”
Aria ran to the closet and got him a washcloth.
“Here, mommy.”
“Aten, honey, wash yourself well.”
Ryou stepped outside the bathroom as Aten cleaned himself
free of dirt. Aten had become very
insisstant that he cleaned himself alone.
“Mommy, is Aten going to be okay?”
“Yes, honey. He’s just very sick.”
Ryou covered his mouth and shook his head as he heard Aten
throw up again.
He entered the room and held back Aten’s hair again. When he was done, Ryou gave Aten the boxers
and caught Aten as he almost fainted.
He took Aten’s bucket and Aten into the boy’s bedroom. He
tucked Aten into bed and gave him the bucket.
“I’ll be right back with a glass of water, baby.”
Ryou left and Aria sat by Aten. She held his hand and saw him
laying on his back, his body shaking and his body covered in sweat.
“Aten? Say something.”
Aten took a sharp breath. “I love you….sister.”
Aria smiled and put her hand over his heart. She could feel
it struggling to keep beating.
“I love you, too, brother.”
Aria sneezed and gave a little cough. “I hope I’m not getting daddy’s cold.”
Updates: Tomorrow
Note: Tuesday, my wife and I are going to the States for my
graduation and to