Kaori & Ellie prt. 13

Micky was in his pajama bottoms when he heard someone beating down the door. Someone was calling Ellie's name. Micky looked over at Yugi who still slumbered next to him on the palette in the livingroom floor. Wasn't it the middle of the night? Who could it be?

He got up and let the noisy person in. It was no one he'd ever met before. Micky pushed his bangs back and took a good look at the hair beast.

"Ellie doesn't live here, anymore." Micky found himself speaking English. What a rotten way to start the year. He'd vowed to only speak his native language, just one more reason he needed Yugi around.

"What?" The foreigner winced, but there he was already in the living space, a few steps away from the stove.

Yugi went to turn on the kettle.

"She lives over the ramen shop now." Micky filled him in, while his roommate got the cups ready.

"Oh." He sounded as if she'd lied to him, perhaps.

"When her roommate got married and moved to the country..she..she just decided to stay with Nico." Micky told him later, over hot tea and some leftover Christmas cookies his mom sent him.

"Nico?" The foreigner winced even harder, as if he found the whole story so horrible.

"Who are you? Anyway?" Yugi finally asked the burning question, on both their minds.

"I'm..I'm Milo." He looked at them as if he knew who they were, but why didn't they know about him.

"Milo." Yugi cracked up, at his silly name. Micky glared back at Yugi. This was no time to be joking.

"Well..can you take me there?" Milo wanted to know. He said he'd been traveling forever, to find her. Of course, it had only been a 14 hour flight. However, he'd spent another 8 hours in the outskirts of Seoul to figure out where she lived. He did look in a sad way.

It was the dead of night.

"I don't think it would be a good idea. I mean, Ellie's a teacher now, and..you know, she needs her sleep. How about first thing in the morning?" Micky went to set his alarm. He didn't have to be down at the cell phone place until 10 a.m. and Yugi didn't go to work at the hospital until noon for his janitor job. "We'll make sure to get you to her, in the morning."

Milo kept straight lipped, as if there was nothing he could do about it.