hi. one of the reason's i got this idea was because "Concrete Angel" is currently stuck in my brain. So... That is where this came from.
I decided to save this until after I finished all my other fics. Yes. so... I'm most likely typing this loooooong before I post it. Then I thot, hey, im almost done with I'm Still Dreaming, my BIGGEST fic, so…. Yea. This is juss goin up… dunno why^^
Suicide. The one hated word that kills. After his death, Jou's soul can't rest bcuz he senses his friend's pain, ignorance, disorganization, their solitude. An angel allows him to watch over them…. And he sees his friends in a way he never wanted to. Abuse, suicide, bullying, giving up.
RATED FOR: LANGUAGE, SUICIDE, AND.... ABUSE. HOPEFULLY MY ONLY R FIC.
DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN YGO.
When Angel's Fall
Prologue: Don't Blink
~Don't blink; you'll miss your chance....~
Has someone ever told you, that if you blink, you might miss your chance? The second it takes to blink is all that's needed to steal a life away.
Down by the pier, lights flashed brightly, reflecting off the water and the rails and everything else with a metallic surface. Police were everywhere, trying to stop the growing crowd.
"Come on, now, folks," one man said impatiently. "This is no place..." People pushed through to see, frustrated.
An officer was writing something down on a pad, looking up occasionally. A burly man was being arrested by three officers, one officer nearly as big as the man himself. He was obviously drunk, and ranting on about something. The three officers shoved him into the back of a truck, first to take to the hospital, then to jail where his trial would be held.
All that was left in the apartment was blood. Or so one officer thought.
As she was leaving, she turned and noticed something. Down the hall, where broken objects lined the bloody floor, fingertips could be seen. The man who had been in here was in a drunken rage, and he had beat upon someone.
The neighbors called because they heard three gunshots fired, then a fourth.
The officer shivered as she remembered the way that the people had described the fighting.
~Once you miss it, it's gone.~
A stern, angry, slightly slurred voice had been coming into the windows of the people in the apartment next-door.
"Where are you, you son of a bitch? You little fucking bastard, what did you do?" Stomping.
"I didn't do anything!" A younger voice, just as stern and angry, yelled back. A loud, hard sound of flesh meeting flesh could be heard throughout the hall.
Jonouchi stumbled onto the floor, his cheek turning red, then purple. His drunk father was standing before him, swinging an empty bottle.
"You fucking filth," he said, kicking Jonouchi hard in the ribs. Jonouchi rolled over, clutching his chest. His breathing was fast and hard. His father stomped forward. Jonouchi managed to stumble onto his feet. He tripped over the broken pieces of various objects on the floor.
"I...." Jonouchi panted. "You... Bastard..." His father laughed menacingly.
"You're calling me bastard.... That's funny, boy!" He said, pulling a long dagger out of a drawer. Jonouchi gulped, trying to keep a hard face. His ribs ached and his forehead was bleeding from where he was cut with flying bottle pieces.
The man lunged at Jonouchi, who managed to take off down the hallway. He slipped on the wet floor, banging into the end of the hallway before turning on an axis and tearing into his father's room. He locked the door, hearing his father stumble down the hallway.
"Where are you... You filthy son of a bitch.... Come on...." Jonouchi looked around the room. Aha! There it is! A glimmer of hope shined through.
He opened a normally locked drawer, to find it... empty.
"Shit!" Jonouchi yelled, and his father could hear him.
He busted down the door, a gun in his hands. It was a revolver; not a big one, but it could still kill... Jonouchi backed away as he saw the gun. The man smiled gleefully, stumbling as he made his way into the room, his fingers ready to pull the trigger.
"Looking for this?" his father said, pulling the trigger. A blast hit the wall right beside Jonouchi's head. Jonouchi ran for it, too scared to do anything else. His father shot at him two more times, then he dropped the gun.
"Dammit," he muttered, trying to bend over. Jonouchi, with the little strength and ingenuity he had left, kicked him in the back, knocking him over. However....
Now he was even angrier.
"Bitch!" he yelled. Jonouchi did the only thing he could; he was half in the doorway, so the gun was in his reach. He grabbed it off the carpet, which was now stained even worse then before. Their entire apartment was now blood and broken pieces.
Jonouchi stood up, standing no longer in the doorway. He was in the room, standing close to his father. His father was about to lunge for the gun, when he heard it go off. He dove to the floor to escape it.
Except it wasn't aimed at him. He looked up, to see Jonouchi stagger backwards, a look of shock on his face. His chest spurted blood, the thick liquid flowing down his chest and stomach. He stumbled, then lost his footing, falling onto his side. The gun fell from his hands to the floor, crashing and making a loud, hollow sound.
Even though this man was abusing his son terribly, kicking him and hurting him, the boy was still his son, and he felt a tiny, unnoticeable twang of pain in his hollow heart. He blinked, then stood, looking over the body of his son.
Jonouchi was still breathing, and blood was still spurting from the hole in his chest. His lungs sounded as if they were heaving as hard as they could, his breaths short and gasping. The man could hear Jonouchi's loud breathing, and it was driving him mad.
That's when the door was busted down. But it didn't matter. They were too late.
~No one is truly evil; we just have different ideas of what's good.~
The boy was lying on his side, his arm outstretched towards the doorway. Blood trickled out of his mouth, and his body was mostly covered in blood. His eyes were half open, empty and lifeless, two deep, brown orbs with no light. The officer jumped a little at the sight, but then she knelt down next to Jonouchi's body. His skin was nearly white, and when she touched his hand, it was freezing. It felt waxy, almost plastic, for the blood had drained out of his hand. The lights from the police cars and the ambulance were shining through the windows.
The officer sighed.
"Aiji!" she called, poking her head out of the room. A male officer was taking pictures of the front room, where broken pieces of bottles littered the floor, and blood and who knows what else decorated the walls.
"Yes, Rietta?" he called back. Rietta closed her eyes and said in a painful voice
"This boy.... The victim... he's still here." Aiji nodded.
"Umm, yeah. Uhhh... I'll go tell them to get a stretcher." Aiji dropped the camera, which was around his neck, and left the room, stepping over the pieces of the door that were on the floor.
Rietta looked mournfully down at the boy. She stroked his cheek gently. She's done that many times before, in cases where children or teenagers die. She crossed her arms and looked out the doorway, waiting for Aiji to come back.
"Here we go," Aiji said, pointing down the hall. Two men carrying a stretcher propped it up, and went over to where Rietta was kneeling.
"This him?" one asked. Rietta nodded sadly. As they took the body away, Rietta stood, brushing off her sleeve.
This is why I hate this job sometimes, she thought to herself.
*
Jonouchi's eyes opened warily. Everything in his vision was blurry. A blurred mass of color.... Mostly green, brown and black. He blinked a couple of times, feeling the hard, stone ground behind his back.
Wait a minute....
He was sitting upright. He turned around slowly to see a vast statue behind him. It was very large and very tall; it was of an angel, bowed on her knees, praying to God. On the rusted, ancient plaque, it said the statue (given to the cemetery in 1967) was dedicated to all the people's who remains were buried here.
Jonouchi turned, slightly confused. He wasn't even in Domino; he was in Takajuri. He stood up, his vision clear now. He stared down the hill at the many plates in the ground, marking where ashes lie. Only the really old graves had actual bodies buried beneath the ground.
Jonouchi put his hands on his hips, looking around. He couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why he was here.
"Why...." he said, his eyes traveling all over the darkened area. "Why am I here.... Oh my God..." His eyes had stopped on one area, way down the hill. A small group of people were standing around a new plaque in the ground, all staring down sullenly. Jonouchi turned to the gates of the cemetery, seeing a sea of color. Flowers poured over the gate and the fences, their petals falling to the ground. A new death.
Jonouchi stood up, staring down at the bottom of a large, large hill. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Down at the bottom of the hill stood the group of people. A young girl was on her knees, her hair falling over her shoulders and partially covering her face. She seemed to be crying. Jonouchi stretched his neck, trying to figure out where he'd seen her before... His breath caught in his throat.
It was Shizuka. His little sister. She was kneeling on the ground, her black skirt flowing out around her knees, her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking.
What the..... He thought, moving forwards. He was standing at the top of the hill, staring down on them. He recognized Anzu, Yugi, Honda, Otogi.... He even saw Kaiba Mokuba standing down there. He cocked his head, slightly confused.
Oh.... Did I say 'slightly'? I meant extremely.
"What the hell is going on here?" he asked no one. He cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed at the top of his lungs.
"HEY! HEY, YOU GUYS! UP HERE! I'M UP HEEEEEERE!" They didn't pay attention. Jonouchi crossed his arms angry.
"I never thought I'd be here...." a voice said behind him. Jonouchi spun around to see a long limousine behind him. It was out on the side of the road, right up against the wooden fence surrounding the cemetery.
Kaiba Seto was standing against the fence, leaning against it, the back door of the limo open. Jonouchi became angry. Kaiba seemed to have some type of smirk on his face....
"Hmpf," Jonouchi said. "No respect for the dead...." But Kaiba's face changed. It softened, and he leaned on one arm, then both elbows, staring down at the cemetery. He was staring right at Jonouchi. Jonouchi stiffened, ready with a snide remark for how he was staring at him.
"Kaiba, you-" he started, but stopped when he noticed the look in his eyes. Sadness. Jonouchi walked over, growing even more confused them before.
"He~ey.... Calling Kaiba! Kaiba Seto! Hey, are you in there?" he waved his hand in front of Kaiba's face. No reaction. He didn't seem to be able to see Jonouchi. Jonouchi put his hand on his shoulder.
His hand went right through Kaiba's shoulder. Jonouchi jumped, scared. Kaiba's face changed. He looked around, rubbing his shoulder. He looked right at Jonouchi, then turned back.
"What the hell....." he said, then straightened up. "Mokuba was right. He doesn't.... He didn't...." He didn't finish his sentence.
"Holy shit!" Jonouchi cried, looking at his arms, his hands. He could see the trees in front of him right through them. Jonouchi turned to look at Kaiba, watching him shake his head.
"He didn't.... Deserve death. Not like this." Jonouchi shook his head as the truth sank into him. He jumped the fence and ran down the hill, leaving Kaiba at the top. He skidded and slid, bumping into trees and old headstones that lay on the hill's steep side. He slid in the mud, his feet passing right through the moist soil instead of splashing everything in sight. He stopped short when he hit the bottom of the hill, and ran to where his friends and his sister were standing. Or kneeling.
He fell to his knees on the other side of the plaque, trying to get their attention.
"Minna-san! Hey, everyone!" he said, but they didn't react. Like Kaiba, they looked around a little, then turned to each other. Shizuka peered through her fingers, shivering a little. Jonouchi couldn't stand seeing her like this.
He leaned forward, and gasped, horrified, as he read the name on the plaque.
*Jonouchi Katsuya*
~Some things are not what they appear to be.~
~It's the same with people.~
~Stultum est timere quod viater non potes.~ [1]
Jonouchi stared down at the plaque, unable to tear his eyes away. His breathing quickened; his heart pounded. How could..... How could his name be embedded into a piece of stone like this? Set into the ground, his friends and family all around, tears silently hitting the ground. Another day went by with no notice to the death of one of the earth's citizens.
Because people die every single day.
That's all.
Shizuka was kneeling in the soft ground, her body trembling, her tears slipping down her cheeks and staining her legs. Her grey blue eyes closed slowly and softly as she bowed her head, her shoulders heaving.
Yugi was next to her, staring down at the ground, a blank, far-away look to his eyes. Jonouchi had never seen eyes as lifeless and empty as his. He seemed beyond tears, although his face suggested otherwise. He could almost see the deep sadness within him, and Jonouchi wanted to punch himself for turning his best friend into such a lifeless vessel.
Honda was biting his lower lip, his eyes wide and scared, as if he couldn't believe he were actually here, now, staring down at the name in the cold soil, his shoulders shaking. He shook his head gently, so no one seemed to notice. But he was definitely in denial; not only with Jonouchi's death, but with his own life as well.
Anzu wasn't looking at the plaque; her head was turned away from it, her eyes squeezed shut, her face white, one of her gloved hands over her mouth. She was breathing hard, as if she had just run for her life. She crossed one of her arms over her stomach, squatting down onto the ground, tears that greatly resembled ice falling. She put her head in her arms, soft sobs protruding from her.
Otogi's reaction seemed to be similar to Yugi's; he just looked lifeless, only he was half-turned to the plaque, as if he weren't sure if he was supposed to stand there. He pocketed his hands, his eyes softening, life once again returning to his face. He just stood there, looking down at the plaque with what looked like.... Happiness.
Kaiba Mokuba was also kneeling on the ground, also looking at it sideways. His hands were on his thighs, and he was curling them into tight fists, his arms shaking. He looked more made then sorrowful; he looked ready to fight someone.
Jonouchi couldn't believe it.
He didn't want to believe it.
"No no no no no...." he whispered, backing up, falling over as he did so. He backed up far enough so he hit a tree, not that he felt it. He leaned against it, closing his tired eyes, hoping, wishing, that it was all a dream.... A fantasy....
"This is real life, Jonouchi-kun," a soft voice said from behind him. He opened his eyes and turned around.
Did that tree just... Talk?
"I'm right here," the voice said again, and Jonouchi stood up, walking around the thick oak. A teenage girl of maybe nineteen was standing with her back against the tree. Her long, mahogony hair was curled onto her shoulder. She was wearing a white school uniform, a long, frilled, white skirt reaching her ankles, a short shirt with a gold scarf tied around her shoulders. Jonouchi stared at the beauty in awe.
"Ohhh.... You... I....." he stammered, unable to force the words through his lips. The girl stood up straight, her eyes still closed. She turned to him, opening her eyes slowly. Jonouchi gasped at her enticing, transformative eyes.
They were a deep, deep brown, with flecks of gold and a red tint. They were big, and slightly curved around the edges, almost like Bakura Ryou's, only more feminine. She looked at him with a powerful gaze, making him intake breath sharply. He froze as she approached him, standing taller then himself. She pushed his hair out of his face, staring into his eyes. Jonouchi was speechless.
"Jonouchi," she said in the same manner. "This is no dream. This is no fantasy. This is real; this is true." Jonouchi finally found his voice, and took a step back.
"No... How-" the girl silenced him with her finger. In a whisper, she said
"Your soul has awakened here. Finally. I've been waiting." Jonouchi stared at her in awe.
"What do you mean?" The girl waved his question away.
"This happened a few days ago, Jonouchi," she explained, folding her arms across her stomach. "I've shown you this so you know about your friends' reactions to your death."
"You did?"
"Yes." She closed her eyes. The scene swirled around them both, making Jonouchi jump, surprised. His school uniform, which he was currently wearing, was rising up, as if a strong wind was blowing around them.
"What the-"
"You may call me Caro."
"Caro?"
"That is my nickname... In life." The whizzing colors started to slow down, slow enough for Jonouchi to see they were in a small, dark room. Jonouchi looked at his surroundings, feeling that they were strangely familiar to him.
"Where..." He said slowly. Caro's eyes opened.
"In a place you know all too well," she said softly. She stared right at Jonouchi, making him turn slightly, temporarily stunned again.
"Why..."
"I want you to watch over your friends," she said, more commanding then asking. "They need you now. Their feelings, their lives, they are all out of order." Jonouchi took a breath, nodding slowly. Caro nodded to the wall behind Jonouchi. He turned slowly, to see a desk in a darkened room. It was against a wall, underneath a slanted ceiling, two big skylights in the ceiling. A stack of books were messily tossed onto the desk, along with a couple notebooks and a pen holder. But Jonouchi wasn't paying attention to the contents of the desk.
He was more interested in the wall it was against.
What looked like ten, twenty, maybe evern thirty photos were tacked to the wall. Jonouchi's eyes were settled on one that featured himself.
It was him and Yugi, arm in arm, both laughing and pink-cheeked, dressed in their winter school uniforms, snow falling around them. They were both giving the 'V' for victory sign, their dueling decks in their gloved hands. Jonouchi leaned against the desk, staring at the photo, his eyes welling with tears.
"Oh my God..." he whispered. His lower lip was trembling. He reached out the touch the photo, but found he couldn't even feel it's glossy surface, which made him close his eyes as his tears fell.
"W-why are you showing me this?" He asked, his voice choked with tears.
"Because your friends need you," she said, and with that, she was gone. Jonouchi looked up, seeing the dark room around him. He looked over to where Yugi's bed would be, and saw him lying in it, on his stomach, his face half buried in his pillow. His cheeks were glistening in the light from outside. His cheeks were damp. Jonouchi wanted to reach out and touch him, maybe tap his shoulder or see how damp his cheek was.
But he couldn't. He just sat down in Yugi's desk chair, his head in his hand, staring at his friend. He watched as Yugi turned over onto his back, his arm above his head, his breathing slow. Jonouchi wished he could say something to his friend, but it wasn't possible.
"Yugi-kun," he said softly. He leaned forward, so he could see his friend more clearly. His eyes widened in fear and hatred as he saw a mark on his friend's cheek.
It was a gash. A small one, but a gash all the same. It had been made that day, or the day before, an ugly blade splitting his skin, forcing him to bleed. Jonouchi fell to his knees, staring at him, wondering who could have done this to him.
"She was right," Jonouchi whispered, the sun peeking over the horizon. "They do need me."
[]~[]~[]~[]~[]
~*Footnotes*~
[1] Stultum est timere quod viater non potes: Latin phrase said by Publilius Syrus. Translates to: "It is foolish to fear that which you cannot avoid." (i take latin^_^)
~*that was all the footnotes i had....*~
so... how was that beginning chappy? long? yea, I know.... it was the prolouge... so...should i continue? or completely ditch the story bcuz it's stupid? i dunno.... ack.... erm.... well...
yall decide. i might juss continue with it randomly...^_^
Shibby-One^_^
Joey stomped
his foot.
"This is the last time I take directions from Kaiba!"
"Umm, that wasn't Kaiba, Joey."
"I'm right here." Joey turned in his seat, seeing that he was truly
there.
Hey! How long have you been on this trip?
"Since chapter one, Joey. It's now chapter
15."~Joey,
Yugi and Kaiba from Are We There Yet?
by betta_n_u14xxx