Chapter 5: How to Save a Life

Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit, fan-based fictional work. moimoi819 does not own Inuyasha, Yu-Gi-Oh!, or any of the titles therein. Please and thank you for not suing.

Moi-Moi: How many Little Kuriboh fans do we have here? If you do not know who I am talking about, Google is now your best friend. I just wanted to know. ^.^ Thanks for reviewing: jessiemaebay, inuluvskags1, nier (x6. once again lol. You're the best fan I've ever had. You're SERIOUSLY devoted), TsukiyoTenshi, Suzume Batchii Taichi, Vanilla Twilight5896, Dragon'sSounding, dark-driex-07, GXLover9x20, priestess dragon, and Cherry-Blossom-Love (I swear to God that when I saw your review I thought it was a flame based on its length. Nice reviews are usually two lines at the most. Yet when people hate it, they write two paragraphs -_-).

It's time to duel! Get your game on! Let's rev it up! See what I did there?

~:~

"Have you made lots of friends at your new school?" Nakoda questioned her daughter over the phone. Kagome smiled at her mother's concern.

"Yes, Mama. Things are getting along great. I'll really like Domino," Kagome says and toys with a loose thread on her futon. She laid on her stomach while she held the Mazaki home phone to her ear. Kagome contemplated getting a cell phone. Now that she would be permanently staying within service range, it would be a smart investment.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, Kagome. What are your friends like?" Nakoda asks with a curious tone. Kagome thought about her answer.

"Anzu-chan is really smart, sweet, and kind. It's really easy to get along with her. Jounouchi-san is a little loud and bold, but once you get used to him you wouldn't want him any other way. Honda-san is very kind and really cares for his friends. He and Jounouchi-san are partners in crime, but even Honda-san knows when to calm down. Yugi-san is very nice, sweet, kind, and… Mama, he's so pure. Usually, everyone has some sort of darkness to them, but not him. He seems truly untainted, Mama," Kagome says. She lets out a happy sigh. She had conveniently left out the fact that Yugi had a darker alter ego who was an ancient spirit whose soul was sealed away in a puzzle.

"That's good. I'm happy for you. I have to go now. We'll talk soon dear," Nakoda says. Kagome says her farewells before ending the call. She placed the phone down onto her futon and rested her head on her folded arms. She was happy that she hadn't purified the spirit. He was starting to grow on her.

"Kagome-chan?"

Kagome looked up to see Anzu standing in her doorway, dressed for school. Kagome sat up before grabbing her backpack and heading to the door. "I'm ready. Let's get going," she answers Anzu's unasked question.

The two leave the Mazaki residence and walk down the sidewalk while chatting idly. It wasn't long until the green turtle above the Kame Game shop came into sight as well as Moto Sugoroku sweeping in front of it. He smiled pleasantly at them before turning to the shop to shout up at his grandson. He momentarily stopped in his sweeping to bid the girls a good morning.

"Good morning, Sugoroku-san. Is business going good?" Kagome says. Sugoroku nods once with a wrinkled smile.

"Yes. Even with that new game shop, everything seemed to be going fine," Sugoroku says. Kagome nods with a smile.

"That's good. I'm happy to hear that," Kagome says. Just then, Yugi exited the building before closing the door behind him. Sugoroku looks to his grandson with a thoughtful look.

"My grandson is making good friends. I'm happy to see that he surrounds himself with such pretty young women," Sugoroku says while smiling at his grandson. Yugi turns beet red in the face and remains speechless. Anzu sweat drops while Kagome laughs nervously.

"Well, we should be leaving now," Anzu says before grabbing Yugi and Kagome by the wrists and pulling them away. Sugoroku waves after them before continuing on with his sweeping. "Yugi-kun, is that a new chain?"

"This? Yeah. My Millennium Puzzle's extra safe now," he says with a proud look.

"Any specific reason for the chain, Yugi-san?" Kagome asks.

"Well, lately the spirit's been worried. He keeps talking about "fate" and what the future has in store. I guess you can say that I got a bit worried and decided to take some precautions, Yugi says and lifts the chain up for their inspection. Kagome nods once in understanding. The spirit was worried? Did the future truly worry him?

"Hello there young man. Would you like to have your future told?"

The three turned to see a man in a robed cloak sitting at a table with a crystal ball on the table in front of him. Kagome narrowed her eyes at the man. Something seemed to truly be "off" with the man. She rested a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "Let's go, Yugi-san. I doubt he can really predict the future," she says.

"I can and will. I only need to hold a personal item of yours. Your necklace should do," the man says and offers his hand.

"If you need a personal item, can't you just use his bracelet or something?" Kagome asks skeptically and folds her arms.

"I don't like this, Yugi-kun. Let's just go," Anzu says. Yugi looks to the two girls.

"Think about it guys. This could be my chance to learn about the future. The worst thing that could happen is he predicts the wrong thing," Yugi says optimistically. "Couldn't I give you my bracelet instead?"

"I'm afraid it must be your puzzle. Unless you do not wish to have your fortune told," the man says. Yugi looks down at his puzzle in uncertainty. Kagome watches the man with a hard look.

"Yugi-kun," Anzu warns. Yugi slowly lifted the puzzle from his neck before offering it slowly to the man. Everything moved in slow motion. The man reached for it slowly before suddenly kicking up the table onto them. As soon as it happened, Kagome stepped back and searched the sidewalk for the man. She could see his tan jeans and boots under his robe as he ran away.

"Give me back my puzzle!" Yugi yells and follows after him.

"Yugi-kun! Where are you going!?" Anzu yells.

"I'm going to chase him down! Go around the corner to cut him off!" Yugi yells back. Kagome nods and turns to Anzu.

"You take that side," Kagome says before fixing her bag onto her bag and taking off onto the alley of the nearby building. Anzu watched her go before heading towards the left. Kagome ran down the alley to see that it was blocked off by a fence. Cursing silently, she backtracked and decided to follow Yugi down the alley. "You've got to be kidding me."

She came into an open space with several alleys to choose from. Letting out a frustrated breath, Kagome closed her eyes. She would try to detect the dark energy from the millennium Puzzle. 'There!' It was so far away, she could barely sense it. Taking off into a run, she hoped Anzu was there to help Yugi retrieve his puzzle.

~:~

Once she got to the building, Kagome barely spared it a second glance before dashing inside the warehouse. The entrance she took led her up a flight of stairs and into the building. She looked around to see a large dueling arena. What would a dueling arena be doing in a run-down warehouse?

A loud smash caught her attention. She looked below to see Yugi standing at the area with the cloaked man. The man was crying out and holding his head in pain. "Get out of my head!" he was yelling. Was someone controlling him? Focusing her energy, Kagome tried to purify the man of any dark energy corrupting him and erect a barrier around the man. As soon as she had done it, he fell backwards off the area. With a gasp, Kagome ran down some rickety stairs to the floor below. "Yugi-san!" she called out.

"Kagome-chan!" Yugi replied. He got down off the arena and approached her. He looked down at the many puzzle pieces on the floor. "My Millennium Puzzle."

"It's alright. We'll gather the pieces and you can put it back together again," Kagome says and begins to pick up the pieces. Even in its shattered form, the pieces still radiated their own dark energy.

"Thank you, Kagome-chan," Yugi says and begins to reassemble the puzzle. Kagome goes about picking up the remaining pieces while Yugi places them into place. As Kagome handed him the last piece, a loud bang and yell sounded. They turned to see a man with an American flag on his head smash some control panels, causing them to short circuit and spark wildly. "Bandit Keith! No!"

"Yugi-san, we need to get out of here! The wires are causing a fire!" Kagome yells and turns to him.

"I can't leave without the puzzle," Yugi replies. Kagome turns to see the puzzle nailed into the arena by its own chain. She furrowed her brows. Why did Yugi have to choose today to put it on a chain? "It's missing a piece."

"I'll look for it. You try to get it off that wall," Kagome says. The center piece that contained the Eye of Horus was the only piece missing. She began to search the floor while a racking cough escaped her. The flames were growing too quickly. Kagome blinked her eyes to clear them off the smoke before taking off her jacket to cover her nose. The fabric reeked of smoke however. "I found it!" Kagome yelled just before a tremor shook the building.

She quickly made her way back to Yugi while trying to avoid the debris. She found Yugi barley hanging onto his puzzle while seeming to be unconscious. She quickly slipped the puzzle piece into place before sending her miko energy into it. 'I need you spirit.'

"Kagome, we have to get this out," the spirit spoke in a level tone. He held one hand to the puzzle while the other shielded his nose. Kagome tried to pull the hook from the wall, only to burn her hand. The spirit looked around for anything they could use. "There. Use the pole. Slip it into the hook and we'll pull."

Kagome grabbed the pole before slipping it through the hole. Both she and the spirit began to pull on the opposite ends of the pole. The pole was hot to the touch, burning their hands. Kagome let out another cough before ceasing in her pulling. "Kagome, do not give up. Please. I need you now," the spirit said and placed a hand on her upper arm. She watched him give her a look that burned with such a determined intensity. She gave him an exhausted look before nodding. She grabbed the pole again before putting all she had into one last pull. Her vision blurred as she barely recognized the hook escaping the wall. "Kagome!"

~:~

"Geez Kagome. I never knew you had it in you. You're a hero. Even if you did pass out," Jounouchi says to the young girl. Kagome smiled and rolled her eyes playfully at the blonde.

She and Yugi had both recovered quite nicely from their injuries. Once she had woken up, she was tackled by her worried mother, grandfather, and brother. Souta was happy to see her awake, but he was more impressed that she had saved his newest idol. Apparently, Anzu, Jounouchi, and Honda had been there with firefighters to see Yugi carry her out of the burning building.

"Hey. It doesn't matter if I passed out. I still saved someone," Kagome says with a smile. Yugi and Anzu both laughed then while Honda shot Jounouchi a smug look. Jounouchi waved her off with a "whatever".

"Alright folks. It's time to let the patients get some rest. You'll see them tomorrow," the doctor said once he reentered the room with a clipboard in hand.

"Alright, doc. See you guys later," Jounouchi says and offers a salute to Kagome and Yugi. Honda follows after him while Anzu smiles at the two before leaving. The doctor followed them out, closing the door behind him.

"I owe you my life, Kagome-chan. I can never thank you enough," Yugi says with a sheepish smile. Kagome offers one of her own dazzling smiles in return.

"Don't mention it Yugi-kun. I saved your life and the spirit saved mine. If anything, I'd say we owed him," Kagome said. She watched Yugi blush before smiling widely at her. After what they had gone through, Kagome truly felt a bit closer to the boy. She wasn't expecting the spirit to appear then. He gave her a smirk as Yugi took a transparent form on the bed next to him. The spirit sat up and looked to Kagome.

"Really? And what are you going to do to make it up to me?" the spirit asked. Kagome put a finger to her chin in thought.

"I suppose I can buy you a milkshake. How does that sound?" Kagome asked with a smile. The spirit gave her a dull look. "No? Well, you decide what you want. I'll see what I can do."

"Don't worry. I will," the spirit said and gave her an actual smile. Kagome would have smiled back were it not for the mischievous glint in his eyes. Something told her that she had just made a great mistake.

Yugi smiled at the sight of the spirit smiling. He was happy to see his friend enjoying himself. Yugi only wished he wasn't so down most of the time. He needed something to get his mind off all that was bothering him. But what?

~:~

Moi-Moi: Kagome: The Hero! She swoops in and always saves the day! Hooray! On a completely irrelevant note, I just finished a sketch of Winnie the Pooh (A.K.A my childhood obsession). Every time I look at it, I squeal happily and do a happy dance.

Edited: 1/25/13