Of Friendship & Shadow Games

The sky was darkened by gray clouds, concealing the streets of Domino City from the warm rays of the morning sun. Despite being a usually active city at this time of day, the gloomy weather and the eerie layer of fog that had clung to the ground seemed to have sapped Domino City of all energy.

At the outskirts of the city, a young boy stood calmly, alone amongst several mounds of stone. Rain had begun to pour down, soaking the boy through his coat. He paid it no mind, merely standing there silently. After what seemed like hours, at least his eyes changed as the soft brown orbs settled on the stone right in front of him.

“I’m afraid that I won’t be able to visit you two for quite some time.” He said to seemingly noone, in a soft voice that nearly went unheard through the pouring rain. It mattered not, for he knew that they would always hear him and listen.

"I was supposed to enroll right here in the city, at Domino High. I was honestly thrilled to be back here as it would allow us to talk more often." He continued on, his eyes still intently locked on the stone. "But, father informed me of a new arrangement. Rather suddenly, I might add. You know how he can be..." Now the boy trailed off, going silent as if expecting someone to answer.

"I will be going to America, far away at the other side of the world, and study there." His voice now took on air of melancholy, matching the current weather. A small smile came across his pale face as a memory surfaced in his mind. "Remember when we would talk about traveling there? All four of us together?" The smile fell. "Well... I suppose I will just have to experience it for all of us. Perhaps I'll even make some friends."

The boy let out a shaky sigh, but not because of the rain. At last he moved from his stiff stance and bent down to one knee and layed a hand on the smooth granite stone in front of him.

"Goodbye, Amane. Goodbye, mother." The words were just above the barest of whispers, and his voice broke through the sentence. Despite being soaked and the rain pouring onto his face he could still feel the warm tears falling down his cheeks. Yet, a sense of comfort was there, for he knew that even if he was about to be further away from home than he had ever been, his sister and mother would always be there to listen when he needed to talk to someone.

Smiling slightly at this, the boy rose and adressed the stone once more. "I'll write as often as I can. And I've arranged with Santei-san, so you'll always get new flowers every week... I'll visit you both as soon as I can."

Giving the grave one last smile, he then departed the graveyard and headed back towards the roads. Standing at the sidewalk, suitcases packed and ready at his sides, he brushed a sudden white bang out of his eyes before signaling for a cab. Luckily for him, one quickly pulled over. Not wanting to be a bother, he swiftly brought himself and his luggage into the vehicle.

"Where can I take ya?" Asked the driver cheerfully, very thankful to have an actual customer during the otherwise lifeless morning. The boy, gazing through the window and looking wistully at the cemetery, knowing that he wouldn't be able to visit again for quite some time, still replied softly and politely.

"Haneda airport, please."

The cab owner wasted no time in obliging his request and sped off. Luckily, as there were little to no people out, there was also little to no traffic and the cab drove smoothly and quickly. The boy merely continued to look out the window as the surroundings sped past his view.

Then seemingly out of nowhere, he winced slightly as he felt a tiny sting by chest. Confused, he brought a hand underneath his shirt and felt to his relief that his valuable pendant still hung around his neck. If he had forgotten it back in his old appartment he didn't know what he would do.

His brief pain was quickly forgotten, however. As his phone was almost out of batteries and he had nothing better to do. He decided to look up some more general information about the city where he would be staying.

"Canterlot City..." He mumbled softly to himself whilst looking through some small maps of the place. From the images and from what his father had told him it seemed like a nice enough city with a good school. There was a mall, a pier, and apparently a local apple farm made some of the best apple-related products in all of America, so at least he had that to look forward to.

For whilst he felt nervous about how he would adapt and fit in, like all the other times he had switched schools, there was a small part of him that felt relieved and hopeful that he would leave Japan. It meant that he could hopefully leave most of his past behind and start anew. Hopefully whatever curse was on him wouldn't follow him there.

Yet, for all his hopes, there was a constant nagging feeling in the back of his head that, for better of for worse, he was about to enter a time of big change.

The pendant around his neck for a brief moment almost seemed to hum against his chest, as if agreeing with its wearer. But that was impossible. Though it was certainly special and valuable to him, his pendant was simply that, a pendant...

Lightning suddenly struck outside, and the boy felt a shiver go down his spine as something that he could have sworn sounded just like a soft cackle echoed in the back of his mind.

Except for the sound of frantically scribbling pencils and the occasional moan of confusion and/or despair, a tense silence reigned in Mr. Cranky Doodle's classroom as his class undertook one of the most challenging tasks known to man... a high school algebra test!

Well, challenging for all except a certain Twilight Sparkle, a rather new student transferred from Crystal Prep High. Math had always come easy to her, and this test was no different. She had gone through all the equations and problems like a pro and was currently filling in her answer for the final problem.

"Hmm..." The sound escaped her, her tounge stuck just outside her mouth in concentration. "Let's see, if y equals 13 then x equals 27,5, carry the one aaand done!" She cheered quietly to herself, enjoying the familiar thrill of finishing a test. And from the looks of it, she was once again the first one to finish. After taking the time to look through her answers one final time, she swiftly gathered her papers in a neat pile and stood up from her seat.

As she walked up to the teacher's desk, Twilight decided to take a look at how her friends were doing. They seemed to be getting through the test to various degrees, though she noted with some amusement that poor Rainbow Dash had almost chewed through her pencil as the rainbow haired athlete appeared to be stuck on the 17th problem.

Handing her test over to her teacher who accepted it with a nod and a "Mm.", Twilight walked out of the classroom, ready to enjoy some of the extra time to catch up on her reading. However, this was not to be as mere moments after she had stepped outside, she was intercepted by her principal.

"Ah, Twilight! Just the student I wanted to see!" Greeted principal Celestia in her normal warm and smiling fashion. It was a stark contrast to the cold and strict air of Abacus Cinch, and it was one Twilight appreciated greatly.

"Oh, principal Celestia!" Twilight greeted her happily, yet it quickly turned into slight tredipation. "I'm not in any trouble, I hope."

The kind principal merely let out a small chuckle at this. "You're not in any sort of trouble, Twilight. At least as far as I know. No, I wanted to see you because there is something I believe you could help me with."

This piqued the bespectacled girl's interest. "What did you have in mind?"

"You see, Twilight, within the next few days we will have a new wondercolt joining us here at Canterlot High. I'm told that he's coming here all the way from Japan. Since you're relatively new to this school as well, I was wondering if you could be so kind as to show him around the school, since you understand the feeling of being new here, and help him adjust. If it's not too much to ask."

Though a bit surprised at the request, Twilight gave Celestia smile. "Well, I've really enjoyed my time here and made some wonderful friends. If I can help someone else understand how great this school is then I'd be more than happy to show him around and help him adjust."

Clapping her hands together in delight, Celestia said, "Wonderful! I knew I could count on you, Twilight. Well then, I won't stall you any longer. Enjoy your free period."

"You too, principal Celestia." Twilight replied, begining to turn to make her way to the library, but a sudden thought made her freeze in her tracks and turn around. "Wait!" Celestia turned around and looked at Twilight questioningly. The violet haired girl asked, "What's his name?"

"I believe his name is Ryou Bakura."