This is my second fanfiction; I hope you like it. n.n
Note: Chapters 1-10 have been revised and reconstructed from the originals, so now everyone except Bakura (except Bakura will be third-person sometimes) is third-person.
the pairings are:yami/mai, joey(jou)/tea(anzu), ryou/ishizu(isis)
Things you need to know:
-Disclaimer: I do not own yugioh; that would be Kazuki Takahashi.
-communication between host(hikari) and yami- /.../
-This means that the scene is changing(or that the chapter is either beginning or ending) : -. -. -. -. -. -. -. -. -. -. -. -. -. -.
-I'll use the american anime names for all the characters except I refer to 'Marik' as 'Malik'.
-The only person in this fic who ever uses first person POV is Ryou; the others characters will be written third person style.
-This fic is set right after Battle City.
-this is a non-yaoi fic.
Chapter 1: Stress and Nightmares
Ryou sighed deeply and rolled over in bed again. Morning could wait a little longer...
No, it better not, Ryou decided after a moment. He groaned and sat up, his gaze automatically falling on his window and the beautiful colors of hundreds of leaves signaling the autumn drifting gently toward the ground outside it.
He sighed. 'Well, maybe the day won't be a complete waste...'
He forced himself out of bed and trudged toward the bathroom for his ritual morning shower. He had considered more than once getting his hair cut for the convenience of not needing to dedicate three-quarters of an hour washing it.
With a fresh uniform on and his bed all made, he made his way to the kitchen to get some breakfast. Cooking may have been one of Ryou's favorite pastimes, but he didn't like to take the time(as he would have to get up earlier) to fix breakfast on school days. So, as usual, he just grabbed a couple slices of bread and stuck them in the toaster.
When he went to the sink to wash his hands he could not help but notice the expensively adorned knife sitting on the counter. ...It would probably be too much to hope for that he owned this knife legally.
/Of course I bought it, Ryou! What do you take me for? It was completely legal./
Ryou looked up at the ghostly image of the 'other Bakura' before looking back down at the foot-long dagger as he tried to suppress his incredulity.
/Right, I believe you,-/ he muttered after a moment, trying his level best not to be too curt with the five-thousand-year old tomb robber.
/No I did, Host,-/ he insisted. /Now, I can't say the same for the money I used to buy it with.../
Ryou started to roll his eyes, then paused as a thought occurred to him. /But thanks anyway,-/ said Ryou an odd sort of smile spreading across his face.
The yami frowned a little and his eyes narrowed. /What for?-/
/Well,-/ said Ryou slowly, trying to keep his voice even/for getting it for me, actually. It was really thoughtful for you. But one thing I'm interested in knowing; how did you know I needed a new pairing knife?-/
At first, the yami looked completely insulted, then he quickly rearranged his face into an almost tranquil expression. /Well, you know me, always looking for ways to help you out, Vessel.../
Ryou made a soft sound of disbelief. /Uh huh. That's up there on the list along with honest trade and making world peace a reality, right?-/
/Now you're catching on.../
Ryou sighed and shook his head and turned away from his yami. The spirit of his Millennium Ring could be really, ah, less inclined to be a law-abiding citizen than other people at times, but hey, at least he wasn't trying to take over the world anymore.
/I don't see why I even try with you,-/ Ryou told him, smiling a little and shaking his head as he turned back to face the yami.
/That makes two of us, then,-/ he said, smirking.
Before Ryou could reply, a light "Tksh!" from behind made him jump.
"Oh, I forgot about the toast," he mumbled.
/Talking to ourselves, are we?-/ the yami, still smirking, felt the need to ask.
/Yes, Yami, WE are talking to ourselves/ Ryou answered, grinning despite himself.
/Just eat your breakfast, Host,-/ the yami answered shortly.
/Thank you,-/ Ryou answered all too cheerfully.
/Just do it,-/ said the yami coldly, apparently annoyed with his host's attitude.
/Do you always have to have the last word?-/ Ryou asked, shaking his head again.
/Yes,-/ the yami answered smugly as he faded back into the Ring.
Smiling and shaking his head, Ryou turned his attention back to his toast.
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"Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep."
A woman with long, black hair moaned and rolled over.
"Beep beep. Beep beep. Beep beep. Beep beep."
'Oh Ra, it can't be morning already, can it?' she thought.
"BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP--" Her hand fumbled around for the snooze button, but she hit the "off" button by accident.
Blast. Now she had the choice of either getting up now, or getting to work a little late- to use the word "little" loosely.
She gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to use one of the less polite words in her brother's vocabulary. She took a second to silently pray that Ra wouldn't smite her for her disrespect before she groggily stumbled out of bed. She'd better go get her coffee started... Ishizu Ishtar hadn't always been a coffee person, but if you had to get up at five in the morning, you'd need something to keep you awake, too.
Ishizu got a glass of water to drink in hopes that it would wake her up long enough to actually prepare the coffee. She shook her head several times and stumbled over to the coffee machine.
"G' morning, Ishizu," a voice from behind her said, sounding sluggish.
Too tired to be startled, she simply looked over her shoulder at her younger brother instead. 'Since when does he get up so early?' she wondered. Feeling a bit too tired to ask, she said curtly, "Go back to bed, Malik."
"Shouldn't you be at the museum, already? What time is it?" he asked, already sounding a little less sleepy. Lucky him.
"It's five o'clock; go back to bed," Ishizu said again, now trying not to sound as irritated as she felt.
"Five o'clock... in the morning?" Malik asked.
"Yes, now go back to sleep." Her already thin patience was wearing thinner. If he didn't do what she said, and go back to bed, right now...
"Sleep... with who?" he asked.
Ishizu turned around gave him what she hoped was a good enough glare to show she was serious.
Instead of taking the hint, Malik just grinned at her.
"Bed, Malik. Now," Ishizu said, taking on her authoritative voice- well, her five o'clock in the morning, I-haven't-had-my-coffee-yet version of her authoritative voice.
"Okay, okay..." Malik muttered, finally getting the drift, and wandered back into his room.
Ishizu sighed and rubbed her temples. He wasn't awake enough to look at the clock himself, but he was still capable of making dirty jokes?
"You really shouldn't get up this early, Miss Ishizu; it puts you in a foul mood the rest of the day."
"Good morning, Odion," she answered. "And I know it makes me ill-tempered. In fact, I think we established that by at least the third time you told me."
"That's what I mean..." Odion mumbled under his breath. It was so early in the morning, that she apparently wouldn't listen to reason either. "Just so you understand," he added out loud. "I don't want you to stress, Ishizu." Odion allowed a hint of forcefulness in his voice.
Ishizu sighed. "I know. I'm fine, Odion, really." She tried to give him a reassuring smile.
Odion raised an eyebrow in a gesture that showed he didn't believer her.
"You shouldn't be up this early either, Odion," Ishizu pointed out, turning the tables, but Odion just sighed and shook his head, apparently still not convinced.
"Anyway," she said, changing the subject, "would you do me a favor, Odion? Watch my coffee for me while I take a quick shower, would you?"
"Yes, Ishizu. It will have to be a very quick shower if you want it to be hot still when you get out, though," he informed her.
"Thank you, Odion. I'll try to hurry." Ishizu said as she headed toward the bathroom. She felt a little more awake now... Maybe she wouldn't need that cup of coffee anyway.
Ishizu sighed as she thought. Odion was always so considerate... she could more than understand Odion not wanting her to stress, but he should also understand that if she didn't, then they wouldn't have enough money to keep their small apartment. Not to say she particularly liked having about five different jobs to do and absolutely no free time anymore.
Ever since the Ishtars had moved back to Japan, money had been rather tight, even with Ishizu working practically twenty-four seven, but she still didn't regret moving here. Malik hadn't gotten along well with other students in Egypt when she'd tried to send him to school, so she'd hoped that if they moved to Domino, Malik could be among people who understood his troubled past, namely Yugi and his friends. He was still a troublemaker at school, only now he was a happy troublemaker instead of a depressed one.
Of course the money situation wasn't much improved by the fact that Joey's sister was staying with them while she visited Joey (she couldn't stay with Joey because of their dad), but Ishizu would never complain; Serenity was such a sweet girl.
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"I order you to put that down!" the old man shouted furiously.
"And if I don't?" The boy's words were meant to taunt, but his irises were shrunk in fury, showing that he was in no joking mood. He clenched the golden, staff-like object a little tighter..
"Malik, drop it," the old man repeated, although this time, a note of fear had wormed its way into his commanding, arrogant tone.
In reply, the boy held up the gold staff- the staff the man had been talking about- and it began to emit a blinding light.
"Malik, no!" the voice of a young girl somewhere beyond the boy's range of vision begged.
Malik ignored the voice as he felt a dark power surge through his system that threw the old man back against the wall.
"M-My son..." the old man mumbled, unable to fight the power of the Millennium Item.
Malik walked toward the now helpless form and unsheathed the "staff," revealing it for what it truly was.
Malik smirked broadly, a sadistic excitement shown by the pulsating veins on his face. "Time to send you... to the dreaded Shadow Realm."
-.
Malik jerked suddenly, and his eyes snapped open.
'Where...? Oh, that's right: my room.'
He wiped sweat from his forehead and tried to slow his hammering heart back to a less anaerobic rate.
'It was just a nightmare, Malik,' he told himself. 'Just a nightmare.'
To tell the truth, it hadn't been much different from the ones he'd been having ever since the end of Battle City, but for some reason they never got any less frightening or horrible. They always managed to make him feel guilty, even if it hadn't really been him who'd done that- or any of the other terrible things he dreamed about. Because he knew, deep down, that it'd been he, himself who'd created that demon in the first place... Malik couldn't directly remember everything that fiend had done, but the dreams told him a lot. More than he really wanted to know, actually...
Stupid dreams.
'I guess I'll get up now,' he thought, sitting up. It wasn't like he'd get any more sleep anyway.
When he walked into the kitchen, he was a little surprised to see Ishizu, still in her pajamas.
"G' morning, Ishizu," he said, trying to act like he was still tired. If he got up this early and seemed to be totally awake, Ishizu would know something was wrong.
"Go back to bed, Malik," she answered in a less-than-endearing sort of way.
"Shouldn't you be at the museum right now? What time is it?" he asked, forgetting to act tired in his confusion. Just how early was it? Ishizu was usually gone way before he even got up...
"It's five o'clock; go back to bed," she said tersely, not even bothering to look around at him.
Wow, that was early considering that Malik usually got up about five minutes before the first warning bell at school rang.
"Five o'clock... in the morning?" he asked, trying not to grin, as he knew perfectly well that it wouldn't be dark outside if it was five in the afternoon. It was obvious that Ishizu was in an even worse mood than usual and he intended to make the most of it.
"Yes, now go back to sleep," she grumbled.
This time, Malik could not suppress it and allowed him a small grin. "Sleep... with who?"
Ishizu turned around and gave him a cold stare that would have sent any normal person running for cover.
Malik smiled as innocently as he could manage.
"Bed, Malik. Now."
"Okay, okay..." he mumbled and headed back to his room to maybe look at his Duel Monster cards or something. After all, there was only so far he could press his luck.
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And that's it. Please r & r. Constructive criticism and flames are welcome.
This is the THIRD rewritten/revised/reconstructed(is that redundant?) version of Chapter 1. Just because I just felt the need... AGAIN. XDD I don't think I'll be revising the other ones too much, though. I read over them and found some typos, but I don't think the require the major rewriting that this one did... yet. :O XD