Title: Porcelain Pairs
Rating: T
Pairings: Eventual Ryou\Kaiba
Summary: 'Come see what whimsical items hold the key to your destiny', the sign for Pegasus reads. In Bakura Ryou's case, destiny comes in the form of a porcelain pair of Kaiba brothers.
Warnings: VERY AU! Shounen ai and unintentional occ-ness
Spoilers: None
Notes: All rights and characters belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I wasn't going to write anymore YuGiOh but this idea just stuck. Hopefully it will also develop into something readable. If so, expect multi-chapters and please refer to my bio for future update information!
For the past month, it had been an adventure for anyone to cross the joining streets of Laven and Del Avenue in downtown Domino City. Not because of the many commuters, or any traffic accidents or stoplight glitches. There hadn't been any huge store sales or any visiting celebrities to rush and goggle at. No major crimes had been committed in the area.
So what could have caused such an adventure for everyone?
It could pretty much be summed up with just one word. A word that just about all of the people inside Domino could tell you with either excitement or annoyance, depending on their personalities or the mood they were in after trying to cross those streets.
Pegasus.
The bright pink words rested atop a two-storied, carousal-shaped building made of glass and cream-colored marble. Gold lights and painted jewels decorated the trimming and the windows. Ovular cut mirrors hung above colored wooden horses that were cemented into the ground around the front double doors and down the sides of the building. The likeness of it to the actual carnival ride was so amazing that some passerby remarked that they sometimes expected it to start turning.
As beautiful as it was, though, it was still considered under construction. A walkway from the sidewalk to the doors had yet to be built, so mounds of dirt sat in uneven piles separated from the sidewalk with orange caution tape. And from what people could see through the windows and glass doors, there wasn't any sign of displays or merchandise anywhere. There also hadn't been any sign of the owner or workers yet strangely, the lights had remained on throughout the day until late at night.
The place had stirred up Domino like an emotional stew. Children were mesmerized and couldn't wait for it to open, most adults resented it for the jams of die-hard mystery fans it caused on the streets and sidewalks, and the teenagers seemed divided between the two.
Bakura Ryou couldn't decide.
He could, however, admit that it had caused him a lot of problems on his way to and home from school. Who liked having to squeeze through a huge crowd of lookie-loo's who might inadvertently push you into oncoming traffic? Plus, Ryou wasn't the type of boy to just shove people out of his way, so it took time for him to get past the throngs of people in order to cross Del Avenue and continue on to school.
Of course, logic told him that if he didn't appreciate the crowds he could always catch the bus instead of walking the mile or so route to Domino High. But that would mean giving up meeting his friends Mazaki Anzu and Honda Hiroto before school at their favorite breakfast stand and Ryou didn't want that. The three of them had been meeting there since Ryou had moved to Domino and no mob of people was going to make him give that up.
Not even the one that had greeted him in front of Pegasus's that morning.
It was just as crowded as usual as Ryou tried to edge himself along the orange tape. "Excuse me, excuse me," he said over and over as he passed, keeping his note bag tucked under his arm so as not to lose or hit someone with it. Many people were nice enough to move aside, but there were just as many who ignored him or gave him a hard time.
No matter. Another eight feet or so and he would be at the stoplight waiting to cross.
"Ten days!"
The happy cry startled Ryou, and he nearly bumped into a small girl wearing a white school dress and red pigtails. She had her arms over the tape and was pointing at a large white sign stuck in the dirt.
"Ten days!" she said again, bouncing up and down. "It says so right there! 'The Grand Opening of Pegasus November First! Come and see what whim-whim…"
"Whimsical," Ryou helped.
She grinned her thanks at him and went back to the sign. "'Whimsical items hold the key to your destiny'. Wow, that sounds so cool! I can't wait!"
Cute, Ryou thought as he watched her smile and bounce. Not wanting to obstruct her view, he slid behind her in order to get by and then hurried back next to the tape. He had discovered a while ago that it was easier to navigate this way instead of trying to go through the middle.
He should have been more careful. Or maybe he should have paid more attention to what the sign had said about destiny. Whatever the reason, he hadn't moved two feet before Pigtails yelled, "I see somebody! There's someone inside!"
It was as if she had shot off a starting gun. EVERYONE rushed forward to get a look and Ryou was pressed against the tape.
"Hey!" he said, only to be drowned out by the chatter that had started.
"I can't see anything!" A voice shouted from the crowd. "Move up!"
To Ryou's dismay, several people obeyed and a whole new set of pushes made their way up to him. Without looking, he tried to nudge back the person directly in front of him. "Stop!"
"Don't push me, pretty boy!" was the snarled response. Ryou jerked his head up and met the angry face of a boy at least three years older than him, and about thirty pounds heavier.
Before Ryou could apologize, the boy grabbed the collar of Ryou's blue uniform jacket, spun him around and then hurled him forward.
The tape snapped as Ryou flew through it and landed face down on a mound of dirt. All the air he owned whooshed from his mouth and was instantly replaced with dirt. He spat it out and coughed.
A mixture of laughs and inquires came from the crowd. Ryou ignored them and rolled over on his back. Dirt smudged his pale face and long white hair as he fumbled with the buttons on his jacket. A minute later, it was pulled open and the hidden golden pendent was brought up to his eyes for inspection.
It hadn't been damaged. The triangle was still very much attached in the middle of the circular frame, and the dangling cylinders still dangled around the edges. Ryou ran a finger along the black-gold eye in the center, and then hugged the whole thing in relief as he sat back up.
The crowd had become silent and now stared with mixed expressions at something behind Ryou. Confused, he turned around.
The first thing he saw was a pair of salmon-colored slacks. From there, Ryou's surprised gaze traveled up past a matching coat and a white ruffled shirt to meet a strong, angular face with one amber eye covered by a mane of silver hair. The other eye greeted Ryou with a wink before the strange man held out a hand.
Ryou stared for a second before he took it and allowed the man to help him up. "Thank you."
No reply. Instead, that one visible eye roamed over Ryou's appearance in such a way that it made him uncomfortable. He tried to remove his hand.
The man let go only to reach out and grip Ryou's chin.
Large brown eyes widened in shock as the man moved Ryou's head from side to side and inspected the pale face. He rubbed the dirt from the boy's cheeks and smiled and murmured things to himself that Ryou couldn't hear.
What the…what's going on?
Ryou finally pulled away and stumbled back a few steps. The man caught his arm to stop him from falling back into the dirt...and a golden eye identical to the one on Ryou's pendent peeked through the mass of silvery hair.
Ryou blinked in disbelief as the man helped him find his balance again. Then he retrieved Ryou's note bag from the ground, handed it to him and with another wink, turned and headed back to Pegasus.
Before Ryou could react, the silence finally broke from the crowd and barrage of questions were flung at the man's retreating back. Too numb from his experience to hear the gist of them, Ryou touched his face and then started through the people once again.
That was really strange. And now I'm going to be late. Honda and Anzu probably aren't-
"I will see you again, Bakura Ryou."
He halted and then spun around, amazed to hear the unfamiliar voice so clearly despite the noise of the crowd. No one seemed to be looking at him. Who had spoken?
Ryou glanced back at Pegasus and then hurried for the stoplight.