Amane did knock on the door this time. She even waited to be let in. But when five minutes had passed and nothing happened, she got bored and climbed in a window. The mansion was, she thought, much nicer in actual daylight. She trotted upstairs to Seto's room, figuring that was as good a starting place to search as any.

Seto was actually there this time. He had hesistated and procrastinated a lot; there was no way he actually wanted to see what Mokuba had done to his room. It was, in fact, decent. There wasn't actually anything much to complain about, which was surprising to him. And the day itself had gone smoothly, another thing that surprised him. The next thing that surprised him was turning around and finding Amane standing there, which made him jump with a start. "Holy shit! ...Oh...oh, it's just you, Amane...heh...whoops...sorry about that..."

She smiled, almost politely. "Hey, at least you didn't have anything hot or acidy in your hands. Uhm, d'you have a minute?"

"Heh, yeah, sure, I've got a minute. Or two. Or five." He cocked his head. "What do you need?"

She held up a gray suede drawstring bag. "Present time."

"...I guess it's as good a time as any, seeing as my birthday was a bit ago..." He looked at the bag a bit oddly. "Was there even going to be a party for me anyway?"

"Yes," Amane said, giving him a significantly affronted look. "But it's a surprise party." She sat down on his bed, tucking her feet up under her as she always did. "Come here, have a look."

"But...how can it be a surprise if--" He shook his head, smirking. "Oh, what the hell, nevermind." Sitting on the bed beside her, he awaited the gift. "You seemed really excited about it, so..."

She tilted the bag up and an apple blossom-white figuring tumbled out, perhaps the size of Seto's hand, but carved delicately in the form of a small dragon. Its eyes were like chips of marbelized smoke, and its claws were tipped with some stone darker and glassier than rubies. "Ok, first you have to tell me what you think, and then I'll tell you what it is."

"...Wow." He held it up and inspected it gently, carefully. "...Wow. I mean...holy fuck. That's amazing! Beautiful... I think it's absolutely gorgeous, that's what I think."

She let out a relieved chuckle. "Good! I was worried...I mean, you've got tons of nice stuff already." She tucked her hair behind her ears and said, "Uhm, it's...it was...a real demon."

It didn't drop out of his hand, but it was close. "Say wha?"

"When I was in hell, as children, we were expected to make pathways to get out. And there were demons--not these, different ones--that would come and destroy what we spent weeks building. They had these hot iron rods, and...well. Yeah, they were bad news. And when I was little, they seemed so big, and it was like nothing could stop them. Ryou kept me safer from them than the other kids were, because he was always writing to me, but they were still one of the worst things about being dead." She touched the ruby-sharp claws of Seto's demon. "But one day, a group of these demons came up out of the volcano, and at first I thought they were just more ash, but then they started tearing apart the iron demons. They fought each other for days, and when the rest of us came out of hiding, everything was quiet. Nothing was ever quiet down there. And everyone just stared, at the blood and the white demons. When these guys left again, the next morning, more iron demons came up out of the river and everything went back to...uhm, hell. But these dragon demons gave us the only peaceful day any of us ever had down there." She grinned up at him. "So when you told me about the Blue Eyes, I thought of these guys. And I thought you'd want one, like a guardian, or just because they remind me that no matter where you are, there's always hope for at least one day of peace."

"Oh...that's rather sweet, Amane..." He set it down on the bed with care. "Really. It's wonderful. And I'm rather glad I kinda reminded you of them in a way. Besides, you know I can't pass up anything with a dragon."

She smiled. "Just...don't stick it in the oven."

"Not that...I would." He blinked a few times. "Hell, I need to find a special place for this...hm..." He looked about the redesigned room. "Now, where to put it..."

"Well, it can go pretty much anywhere." She picked it up and stroked a finger along its back; it stretched out, slowly, almost imperceptibly, and she molded it into a circle. "So wherever's convenient."

Seto watched her in fascination. "Whoa...I've never seen anything quite like it..." He then realized how stupid that sounded. "Well, I mean, of course not, since I've never been in hell or anything..."

She smiled. "It's not so bad to go back down there, after you're all grown up."

"I wouldn't say all grown up." He bopped her atop the head teasingly. "I'd say you've still a bit of growing to do yet. Unless you like being short."

Amane laughed and tossed her hair back over her shoulder in a pseudo-vain manner. "What's not to like?"

"The view, perhaps? Can you see much from down there?" he joked, poking her again.

She squeaked, still laughing, and climbed to her feet--though she was still on Seto's bed. "...Hey, you're right." She looked down at Seto. "This is nice."

"See? It's good to be tall. Except when you're famous and really tall where it's easier for people to recognize and/or spot you, but whatever." He grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her over after setting aside the gift. "Being tall is only for special people; it's a privilage, you see," he grinned.

"You just need a decoy," she answered, following where he led her and setting a hand on his shoulder to steady herself. "Is it really creepy having a group of people always trying to hunt you down and make you sign your own picture?"

"It is for a while, and then you get used to it. Which might be creepier than those people, unfortunately."

Amane's expression became mischievous. "How's your leg doing?"

He quirked a brow and adjusted the position of his leg. "...Fiiine, for the moment... I know that look. I don't know what you're planning, but you're planning something."

She examined his leg and met Seto's gaze again, eyes still sparkling. "Is it fine enough to jump on the bed, or do I have to wait a few more weeks?"

"You can most certainly do so. Why would I do something like that? Heh, are you sure my head wouldn't end up making a hole in the ceiling anyway?"

She looked up dubiously. "That's a good point. ...Oh! But there's a place we can go instead!"

"Like...where?" he inquired, intrigued.

"Like, the furniture store," she said, laughing. "Or there's this one place I've been meaning to go, they have a room where the floor is just one huge mattress-thing."

"Ha ha, um, no, how 'bout not." He shifted himself so that he was sitting cross-legged on the bed instead of with his legs dangling. "But you know what I do want to try? This!" He grabbed a hold of her ankles and pulled her feet out from under her so she fell over, landing on the bed and bouncing a few times while doing so.

She yelped, nearly breathless with laughter now, as one of the pillows bounced up with her and flopped halfway over her face. She snatched it up and used it to whap Seto's uninjured shoulder.

"Hey, what was that for? You were just asking for that one..." He snatched up another pillow and gave her a thwack. "I couldn't resist. You were just like a biiig old target."

"Oh yeah? I'll big target you," she said, and tackled him--sort of. It was a little hard, getting up and moving her feet and then throwing herself onto him.

He was knocked over anyway. "Hey, I just got out of the hospital, and this is how I'm treated? Nice 'welcome home, glad you're not dead' gift!"

"Damn right, buster! Shoulda hid the pillows cause now your ass is mine!" She grabbed for said pillow, but found to her dismay it was too far and she had to let go of Seto to scramble for it.

"Oh no you don't..." He wrapped his arms around her waist and hoisted her up. "Not when I've got you, hm?"

Amane laughed out a "Hey!" and then smiled wickedly at him. "You sure you want me closer to you?"

"Better than you hitting me will pillows, isn't it?" He held her tighter. "Not taking that chance."

"Even if I do this?" She nipped his shoulder.

"Ow! What the fuck was that?" He jumped and let go. "I'd rather be bombarded by pillows. Or, you know, just do this." He reached over and grabbed a pillow himself and hit her a few times with it. "I almost feel sorry that we're using brand new pillows for this. Almost."

"That was a vicious rabid pillow fight bite," she said matter-of-factly, before he hit her back. "Hey!" She snatched up another one to defend herself. "Mokuba is so going to kill you for this!"

"Before or after we kill each other?"

"Oh, definitely after." She was holding her pillow up like a shield. "Truce?"

"Hell no," he said with a smirk and smacked her with his again. "You'd probably turn right around and get me anyway."

"Hah! Then you'll get no mercy!" She smacked him, ducking her head against any blows he decided to deliver.

"Hey! Hey, c'mon, no fair, I didn't hit you that much, you gotta let me hit you a few times! Eh, I guess there's an advantage to being small afterall..."

She raised her chin triumphantly. "Gotta be mean, Chief!"

"What, like a well-aimed hit on that chin of yours like this?" Which he did, smiling triumphantly.

Amane was knocked off balance by it--a hit to the chin was hard to stay up after, even by a pillow--and almost ended up falling off the side of the bed--she grabbed the quilt and kept herself up, though. "Ok, that was nice!"

"C'mere." He took a hold of her arm and heaved, bringing her back up onto the bed fully. "I can accept a truce now, if you want..."

She sat close to him, brown eyes thoughtful. "...Ok. You win, we'll have a truce."

"Good. Because, obviously, I would've ended up winning in the end anyway, so..."

She raised an eyebrow eloquently. "Oh really? I say we have a re-match at RC Willey to settle that."

"At what now?" He blinked.

"The big new furniture store down the street. Or, up the street, depending on which way you want to go."

"I'd still end up winning, obviously."

"I'll take that bet," Amane answered, teasingly smug.

"Oh, there's betting going on now?"

She nodded. "Yep. And I'll raise you two 'No you won'ts' while I'm at it."

"I think I'll just raise you, period." Again, he wrapped arms about her and stood up on the bed, lifting her up. "And then lower you." Letting go and dropping her back onto the bed. "How about that?"

She giggled. "Ok, that was fun." She bounced once on the bed, experimentally. "Did he get you a new bed, too?"

"Yep. I think he changed just about everything." He laid down on it, hands behind his head. "But it's nice. At least it's not gaudy like I feared it would be."

Amane nodded in agreement and plopped down next to him, though on her stomach. "Yeah, I had all kinds of blue frilly images in my head when he said he was going to fix your room. How's the wardrobe?"

"Thankfully, he kept all of my leather and trenchcoats like I asked. And then he added some of his own stuff, which, of course, I'm going to end up burning most of, since some of that IS gaudy."

She snickered. "What's the worst? Tell me he didn't give you any t-shirts with logos like 'Bite Me' or 'Yuck Fou'." She blinked. "Hey, you have leather?"

"No, it's his own stuff, and that's bad enough. He's got a rather...slutty mind for clothing." He shrugged. "Yeah, I've got leather. What kind of pants did you think I wore most of the time?"

"Well, yeah, shiny pants, but I mean are they leather-leather, or pleather-leather?"

"Leather as in yes, animal lovers would probably hate me."

"Bah, they act like the animals would be less dead if we didn't use them." She smirked. "Just another thing I never really got to do...I wanted to be one of those kick-ass biker bitches. You know, run around in a gang for a while."

"Gangs? Hn. Wouldn't know about them. I'd talk to the mutt if you wanted to know about gangs," he scoffed.

"Does your arm hurt?" She motioned to the one Shadow had shot.

"Yeah, a bit still, of course."

She grimaced. "Do you think he's--" she broke off, though, deciding she didn't care that much. Seto had lived, that was good enough for her. "If you could play any instrument, what would it be?"

"No, no, go back." Cutting off sentences and then changing the subject was something he always did whenever he was about to bring something uncomfortable up. "Ask what you were going to ask."

She frowned at his shoulder wound. "What do you think he's after?"

"Money. Goods. Infamy." He shrugged. "What any crook really wants. And the chance to kick a few people while they're down."

"I guess." She shrugged a shoulder. "And maybe that explains why he went after you and Siegfried, but...how'd he know where your bedroom was? And Siegfried's?"

"My guess? Just stumbled across 'em while looting."

"Both bedrooms?"

"Sure, I suppose."

She made a 'hrm' face and rolled over so she was laying her head on his chest. "See, now, you could go all imaginative and say 'he's a mind reader', or something."

"Or that he's been watching us for a while and knows just where to go, but that's a very creepy thought and a path I'd rather not go down."

"It's one more check in the 'Reasons Seto Needs a Decoy' column."

"Are you applying for the job?"

"Sure! You don't think people will notice when I'm a little see-through, do you?"

"And female. And shorter. And bouncier." He chuckled. "Yeah, something tells me they'd notice."

"I dunno, maybe with a pair of stilts..." She lifted her foot as if measuring it. "Hey, what's one thing you wouldn't eat, not even if you were starving?"

"Pickles," he answered after a moment of thought. "I can't stand those things, ick." His fingers started playing in her hair. "Hey, when you're dead, does everyone go through the same thing? Like you said you were building that path or whatever as a kid--does everyone do that when they die?"

She closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of fingers combing through her hair. "...I think the path is just something they make kids do...I think adults have other things they have to do. And, maybe, if there is a good enough person, they don't have to do any of that stuff..."

"Well, what about people like you who found a way back here?"

"Sometimes, I wonder if there are other people like me. I got out, because Ryou never stopped thinking about me. So it protected parts of my path...I don't know why, but there were stones I set down that the demons couldn't touch. When they tried, Ryou's name was on them. I just...don't think that other people think about dead children that much. If Ryou hadn't been so lonely, he would've forgotten about me, and I'd still be down there."

"...Think that'd work for your parents?"

"I hope so. I think about them all the time, and...maybe it won't help them, but I'll never forget them."

"That's good to know, anyway." He rested his hand on her waist. "And the thought that it might actually help, it's a good one to hang on to."

She twined the fingers of one hand with his, casually. "What do you think will happen after you die?"

"Well, I dunno now... I used to think absolutely nothing. Then I thought, just maybe, be reincarnated or something. But now...I dunno, all this stuff with hell and an actual afterlife..." He closed his eyes. "Do you stay a ghost forever? That'd rather suck, to be stuck like that."

"I think I am, stuck like this I mean. When I first got here, there was always this door behind me, that I could have stepped through and gone into...well I don't know where it would've gone. But after I took this body, it disappeared. I mean, it got harder to see after I started learning how to be a poltergeist, but now, no matter how hard I focus on it it doesn't come back."

"Sounds rather depressing..."

"Only when I think that Ryou won't be...like this, with me, anymore. But then every time I talk to him, I'm glad that he won't stay with me...and then I go home and I miss him again." She laughed, emptily. "Maybe that's what family really is, when you get older. A lot of confusion."

"Even with only a few members, I suppose that's true." He sighed. "I mean, imagine how confusing it might be with the whole family." He tried making it sound funny, but he wasn't sure that did the trick at all.

"Yeah," Amane said, her voice trembling weakly. "I mean, can you picture a big family dinner, with your crazy old grandma...trying to give you candy that's been sitting in a jar for forty years.... Who wants that?"

"Hey, if sealed the right way, some of that stuff can last practically forever." His mind began to wander, trying to imagine a big get-together, like a Thanksgiving dinner. "There'd be the aunt and uncle who are in the middle of marriage counseling, and then the cousins of all ages--some small and underfoot, some even older than you. There'd probably at least one alcoholic and one utterly fanatical Christian. Heh. I'm sure THAT would be fun when paired up with the couple of guys that drink beer all day, curse, and watch t.v. the whole time. Yeah...really crazy."

Amane, eyes still closed, imagined the mix of people that her family might have been--some pale haired, like her mother and Ryou, some with dark eyes and black hair like herself and her father; some of them loud and boystrous, other smiling politely and trying not to be embarrassed when everyone was just as clumsy as everyone else. "And the babies. There'd be baby cousins, screaming all night long and throwing rattles." She wondered then what Kaiba's family might have been like; were they rich, or was he adopted into that? Would they all have sharp, blue eyes like Seto, or would some of them have the darker, almost-lost arrogance of Mokuba?

"Yeah, I suppose that...too..." He shrugged as best he could in his position, giving Amane's hand a bit of a squeeze. "Yeah, um, yeah, just really confusing and crazy. Maybe it's better with less people. Besides, not so many people to cook for and all, right?"

She nodded and curled up closer to him. "Yeah." She sighed, in through her nose, out through her mouth. "And besides, people like us...we get to choose who we cook for."

"Exactly. See, I probably wouldn't give anything to the rude, obnoxious ones. Hm, I guess that'd include Mokuba, wouldn't it?" His eyes opened slightly to observe Amane who he then pulled closer, pulling her into a hug. "...I miss them, mom and dad," he whispered. "Far too much, I fear."

Amane held him tight, the way she had with his younger self. "I know," she murmured back. "...I know."

"I guess this wasn't the best topic of conversation, huh..."

"Have you thought anymore, about what I said before?"

"Actually, yeah, I have, a bit." A shake of the head. "Perhaps later."

She stroked his hair and nodded. "Like I said, I've got plenty of time."

This was nice. This was comfortable. He was beginning to wonder why Amane felt more like a sister at times than Mokuba did a brother before shoving that thought out of his head. "Got a question for you. Do you think I'm crazy?"

She blinked, and then grinned broadly. "Call in the champagne, I think I've got you doing random topics. Check you out!" She snickered. "But crazy? ...No. I think maybe you're confused sometimes and react in ways to make things make sense to you, but not crazy."

BEWD CEO: (Let's all go out and get drunk, woo!)
Koshari Chef: [[*snicker* Soon, these two are going to make no sense to anyone but each other. Their conversations will jump from Point A to Point R and then back to Point C again.]]
BEWD CEO: (Sounds rather like a NaNo novel!)
Koshari Chef: [[Going Crazy...Together!]]

"Good, so nobody around actually thinks I'm a loon." He chuckled a bit. "I didn't think it was that random, really..."

"What's your favorite bird?" She grinned. "That didn't seem random to me."

"Okay, fine, so maybe it's not so random in our heads, but it depends on the mind, now, doesn't it?" He resorted to poking her atop the head again, sitting up. "You, my friend, might be a genuine nutter. But a fun nutter."

She grinned. "I would've disagreed with you a week ago, but...yeah. I think I'm not with the sane party anymore."

"Yeah, well, I DID tell you that about a week ago or something, I think."

"Ok, but...now that I know, I'll listen to you when you tell me stuff like that."

"Good, because we all know that most times, I am right about whatever I'm talking about."

"Most times," Amane agreed. "But the other 90% of the time, you should listen to me."

"Or to someone else who knows better."

"Who knows better than me?" Amane fairly squeaked, indignant.

"It depends on the topiiiic. Like death? You know. Something like, say, dueling? Well, not you."

"Not yet; you still have to teach me," she answered, poking him lightly.

"Yeah, but I suppose that'll wait until later, then?"

She nodded. "I'm way too comfortable to get all worked up over a game now."

"What, am I a big pillow now?"

A nod. "But isn't that better than being a blanket?"

BEWD CEO: (...Wow, did you know about that conversation between Seth and Seto about being blankets and pillows, or was that some weird coincidence? XD)
Koshari Chef: [[o.o I had no idea. *Twilight Zone Music* Amane: *rips off mask* That's because...I am Seth!]]

"Oh, I dunno, I rather like being a blanket, too...but I think I'd crush you."

She grinned. "Well, sometimes it wouldn't matter. Like, if I don't have this kind of useless body to worry about. And that way I'd actually get warm, which is on the side of Good Things."

"Oh, hm, right...you wouldn't be much of a pillow, though, seeing as I'd go right though you."

She looked thoughtful. "Well, maybe not, though...I can move stuff if I concentrate, so maybe I could make myself sort of solid."

"Sort of solid? Okay...that's...I dunno how that'd work, but whatever."

"Or, really solid? I could try really solid."

"Would you even need your body, then?"

"Yeah, there are things I can't do without one. Like, get a driver's license. Or drink, or eat, and those are kind of nice to do."

"Well, yeah, I guess there's all that..."

Amane wondered idly about the last time she'd seen him without her body, and then she wondered if he remembered that, or if it was just in his subconscious like dreams he would forget. But it would have meant ruining the peace to ask, so she didn't. "Are you even a little excited for your party?"

"I suppose I am a bit. I mean, excitement is rather contagious..." He shrugged. "Eh, I guess mildly."

"Good! I was worried."

"Worried that I wasn't going to be at all?"

"Yeah. You didn't seem all that excited when me and Pegasus started putting it together. Actually, you seemed kind of pissed."

"It's because I was. I guess the idea grew on me."

"So how do I know when you're really pissed, and when you're pissed but will get over it?"

"Hell, I don't even know."

Well that wasn't good. "I'll just take a stab at getting my way and see how it goes, then."

"That's what everyone else does."

"Yeah, but you like me, and you won't stab me back, right?"

"Nope." He grinned.

Amane chuckled. "Well, I was worried about that, too. Say, how do you deal with stress?"

"Um...in a bunch of ways, I guess...why?"

"I guess 'cause I have no idea how to do it. To, deal with it and not get the ulcers."

"Oh, I'm really not one you should be talking to, then." He shook his head. "Nope, not me, I'm no master of dealing with stress. Quite the opposite."

"Maybe we should find the most laid-back person in the world and try to copy them for a week. Like a vacation or something. And who knows, maybe we'd stress them out so they were more normal, and then we'd all be normal."

"...I...don't think it works that way."

"But don't you wish it did? Don't you wish you could take your stress, and put it in a box, and wrap it up and give it to your worst enemy?" She illustrated with her hands.

"Well, duh, of course I would. That'd be great. But it still doesn't work out that way." He glanced at the clock. "How long were you planning on staying, anyway? It seems like your visits get longer every time."

"Oh! Heh. Time." She motioned at the clock. "Yeah, I'm still re-learning how to use a watch..." she pushed herself up. "I guess I can go now, since you're probably busy and stuff."

"Well...not exactly busy, but..." He shrugged again. "I probably have a bunch of things that I'm procrastinating on. Like my cane. And finding where Nyx got herself to. And making absolutely sure nothing's wrong with this room. And checking up on Mokuba. And looking for hospital conspiracies. And--yay procrastination."

"Nyx. I'd check for her in the room furthest from me," Amane said, sounding faintly dejected about it. "...Hey wait, hospital conspiracies?"

He waved it off. "Better not to ask about it."

"Ok, but you definitely need to stay away from the hospital. Or find proof to make everyone else stay away."

"That's pretty much what I'm trying to do."

She stretched a little. That bed was really nice, she had to give Mokuba that. "Hey...what's your favorite song?"

"Random again, Amane," he warned.

"But...but still a good question?"

"Yeah, but random."

She smiled sheepishly. "Does that mean you're not going to answer?"

"That's exactly what it means."

"...Hm. Will you tell me why?"

"Because you're leaving because I'm busy trying not to procrastinate on things?"

"But if you don't tell me, I'm going to go through that crazy phase that brought me to your hospital room in the first place, and then I'll have all kinds of weird songs to give you. And my laptop's heavy."

"I don't even know where to begin to chose a favorite song."

Amane jumped up. "But now that I say that...you need more music." She waved once. "Uhm...say hi to your other self for me." That just sounded weird, but...maybe he'd know what she was talking about.