Why Duke Has a Tear
I wrote like a week ago, but I couldn't put any stories on for a week and stuff for some stupid reasons, so this is all, from this point on, written last week:
This story originally started out like a comedy that makes no sense (as does the rest of my comedies) but turned into a tragic, supernatural, spiritual disaster. Enjoy the disaster! One chapter! Really long. That's all folks!
(By the way, this takes place when Duke was 15, before he knew Yugi…blah and the rest of them.)
Duke Devlin once had a special friend. She was a unique girl by the name of Kairu. Kairu was perfect, to him at least.
One day, after school Duke and Kairu were talking as they sat on the front steps of their school.
"Duke, can I borrow a die?"
"Uh…sure, why?"
"Can I just have it?"
"Sure. Here." He handed his favorite die to Kairu.
"Thanks." She threw it up in the air and caught it. "Duke…I have to leave soon…"
"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow."
"No, I mean…I have to leave. For-forever."
"Huh?" he said, confused. Is she moving?
"I'll never return."
"Kairu! Don't do that…you're scaring me."
"I'm sorry, but I wanted you to be the first to know."
"Where…w-why…w-w-…" he said, still confused. Is she going to…no. Stop thinking that.
"I don't belong here." She said, staring straight ahead. "I can't stay."
"Where are you going? Why do you have to leave?"
"I'll return to where I came from"
"But…when…" he said as she stood, and he followed. He was a few inches taller than her, but she was standing on a step so they were about the same height.
"Shhhhh…" she said, putting her index finger next to his lips. " I'll still be here tomorrow."
"But when are you leaving…for good?"
"The day after tomorrow. On Saturday, at 6:00 pm."
"You still didn't tell me why." She had started walking home, waving back at him.
"Bye, Duke. See ya tomorrow." She said as if nothing had happened. He didn't return the goodbye. He watched as her long black hair and her school uniform's skirt flapped in the wind. She turned the corner and disappeared from sight.
"…"
Later that night, Duke couldn't sleep. He sat in his room, tossing his second favorite die in the air while lying on his back in his bed.
"I can't take this. I have to ask why." He stood and snuck down the stairs to the outside of his house. He walked down the street. To Kairu's house.
He stood outside of her window, which was on the first floor. The curtains were drawn and he knocked on the window.
"Who the…" she said as she looked out the window. There were tearstains on her face coming from her black eyes. She gasped when she saw Duke.
"Duke, what the heck…" she said, opening the window.
"Come out and I'll tell you." She still had her uniform on. It was a red skirt and a white shirt.
"Why are you here?" she said, hiding her face from him.
"Come out." She disappeared for a few seconds. Then she came very quietly out the front door and walked around to the side.
"It's cold." She said, looking down.
"You're just trying to hide those tears." She looked shocked at this statement.
"You…Duke…you idiot…" she slapped him hard across the face. "Why do you even care?" she said turning her face away so she could let more tears drip down her face.
"Kairu…I just want to know…"
"I'll tell you on Saturday. I promise." She turned back to him. She was shivering.
"Here." He took off his school jacket and put it over her shoulders.
"Thank you." She said, holding it tight around her. "I should go…my parents will go nuts if they find me out here…"
"OK, bye." He walked off.
"Don't you want your…" but he kept walking without turning back. She crept back inside.
THE NEXT DAY
"The civil war of 1861…" blah blah blah went the history teacher. Kairu sat in her last class of the day. Duke was sitting three chairs to the side and one to the back. She looked at him to try to catch his attention.
"Duke…" she whispered. "Duke!" the teacher looked at her.
"Miss Kairu, what did I just say?" Her heart stopped. Never before had the teacher reprimanded her. "When was the Battle of Shiloh?"
"I…April 6th." She mumbled, tears welling in her eyes.
"OK," he said, giving her glance to show her she had gotten off easily. Luckily, she had read the chapter. When the teacher turned his back to write on the board, she took a quick glance at Duke.
"What" he mouthed.
"I'll tell you later" she mouthed back. She turned and paid attention the rest of the boring class.
Finally, it was over.
She stayed back in the classroom, taking her time to pile her notebook and textbook in a neat pile while everyone else exited the classroom.
"What was it that you needed, Kairu?" Duke said as they exited the classroom together.
"I don't know…just bored."
"Nice save on that question."
"You mean Shiloh? Oh, that was easy. Lemmee stop at my locker." She said as they stopped next to it. She put her books inside and took out her book bag.
"Can I walk you home?" she looked at him.
"Sure…" they walked to the end of the hallway and out the door.
"Are you doing anything right after school?"
"N-no…"
"Do…you want to go to the old playground?"
"Sure." The playground was where they went sometimes. Nobody went there, but they did a lot.
"Oh, Duke. I still have your die."
"Oh, thanks." He said, taking it and rolling it around in his hand for a while before returning it to his pocket. The walk to the playground was silent, unlike usually when they talked the whole way there. Then they got there. Kairu ran to her favorite swing, and Duke sat on his.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Soooo…are you…" he said, not wanting to bring up the subject of her leaving.
"If you're talking about me leaving, I told you I would tell you about it tomorrow."
"I just want to know if you told anybody else."
"No. I haven't."
"Will you?"
"No."
"Then they'll think…you died or something."
"Well…they wouldn't be exactly wrong to think that…" she whispered.
"What? You aren't going to…"
"I promise you. What is going to happen tomorrow has already been done." This comforted him to a certain extent, but he didn't exactly know what it meant.
"What does that mean?"
"How many times do I have to tell you I'm NOT GOING TO TELL YOU!" She said, tears once again forming in her eyes.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you…" he said, not knowing what to do. A girl was crying…what was he to do. He was panicking. "Kairu…"
"It's OK. I'm fine. I think I should go. My parents are going to worry."
"But…will I see you tomorrow?"
"Sure. Ummm…meet me at the Café on Fish Street tomorrow at 12, OK?"
"OK. See-see you." She walked away, wiping the tears that stung her eyes.
Is it too late to go back? Can I still change? She thought. No, you can't. Another voice said. She sighed. I'll miss you, Duke.
Later that night, it was Kairu who couldn't sleep. She tried and tried, but no sleep would come. Is it because of what happened? Is this an effect of it? Maybe I'm just sad. Again, tears flowed from her eyes. She cried into her pillow until she was no longer able to make tears.
Duke, meanwhile, was also thinking. Maybe she'll change her mind. But what if she doesn't? Well, I have to make tomorrow perfect. He went to his computer. He searched the Internet for something… There's got to be something I can do. Maybe If I'm nice, she'll change her mind. He stayed up all night, looking. He finally found something around 1:00 in the morning.
"Good." He said before falling asleep.
Kairu got dressed extra especially careful. She was going to be stuck in this outfit for who knew how long.
She put on a pair of black pants. She put on a red tank top and a et. (I'm thinking of one of Mai's outfits, the one she wore when Marik sent her to the shadow realm, only different color and with pants) Finally, she put a red glove on one hand and a black gauntlet on the other. She inspected herself in the mirror before letting her hair down from its usual tied back position. When let down, it went down to a bit above her knees. She got her deck and put it in a pouch that attached to her pants halfway down the leg.
"Ready." She said to herself.
Duke had just finished getting ready too. He made sure he had what he had gotten last night, his dice, and Duel Monsters cards.
"Ready." He said. They both walked out their front doors.
They both walked to the Café on Fish Street not too far away. Kairu arrived a bit before Duke. She sat at one of the outside tables, waiting for him.
Duke saw her sitting there. He ran over.
"Hey, Duke."
"Yo. Hey Kairu, were you planning on going anywhere specific today?"
"Not in particular, just around."
"Good. Look what I got." He said, taking something from his pocket. He held up two tickets.
"DUKE! Where did you get those?" they were tickets to he favorite band's concert, The Black Luster Soldiers. Before it was her favorite band, it was her favorite card and most powerful so she loved the band.
"Duke! How…"
"I got them off the internet last night." He said, shrugging but smiling.
"Duke! Oh, you're making…my last…. the best."
"Just doing a favor for a friend."
"Thank you! I could hug you! But I'll pass…"
"Whatever." She slapped him the other day, and now she wanted to hug him Weird, he thought.
The concert was a theater not too far away, so they walked there. They talked the whole time, as though nothing was going to happen. Even Kairu forgot the tragic ending to her day. When they finally got there, Duke presented the tickets and they entered.
Inside they entered the swarming mass of fans. There was a mosh pit (I think I spelled that right) forming and people were waiting for the concert to start. (Um, I've never been to a live rock concert, so I'm working with what I know. Don't yell at me!)
After a bit the concert started. Kairu and Duke made their way towards the front, finding a good spot to stand.
"Whoo!" Kairu cheered so hard her throat hurt. She had never seen her favorite band live and now she was.
Some teenagers a bit older than them were pushing each other around. One of them bumped into Kairu.
"Watch it idiot! Move!" the boy said, pushing Kairu. She in turn bumped into Duke, who caught her from falling.
"What are you doing?" Duke said, stepping up to the boy. "Why'd you push her?"
"She was in my way. Do you have a problem with that?" the guy said, rolling up his sleeves.
"Yeah, I do. You are the one who bumped into her, you should apologize."
"And who's going to make me? You're mommy? Ha ha!"
"You're going to do it out of your own fear for your mental stability." He said, twirling his hair around his finger.
"Oooh, the little momma's boy is saying big words! Let's all cheer!" all his thug friends started to clap mockingly. Duke stepped closer.
"Apologize."
"Duke…it's OK, really. I'm fine…" Kairu pleaded from the background.
"Since your little girl won't stay out of our business, you're going to have to pay for her!" the oversized teenager swung his arm towards Duke in an attempted punch. But Duke easily blocked the blow mid-punch, and twisted the wrist of the boy, barely moving the whole time.
"DUKE!" Kairu screamed. "CAREFUL!" the other boys were looking at Duke as though they were going to take him on, but the first boy ran away and the others followed.
"HE'S NOT HUMAN!" they yelled, parting their way through the crowd.
"Duke? Are you OK?"
"Are you OK?"
"I asked you first."
"I asked you second."
"Just answer."
"Yes,
I'm fine. Are YOU OK?"
" I'm good."
"Good." After that, they just enjoyed the rest of the concert. Kairu sang along with some of the words, but she was singing so loud that her voice got hoarse so she stopped.
"OK, I can't sing anymore," she said.
"That's OK." After a few hours, the concert was over. They exited the building.
"Wow, that was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for me. Thank you Duke, I really enjoyed it."
"No problem. Now, what do you want to do?"
"I don't care." They walked around the town for a while, stopping to get ice cream at the café on Fish Street. (Yes, the café has ice cream.)
"Pistachio, please." Kairu asked the person.
"Cookie dough." Duke ordered. They sat down at the outside tables in the warm afternoon.
"It's warm for October." Kairu observed.
"Yeah."
"So, Duke. How's Dungeon Dice Monsters working out lately?"
"I'm still fine-tuning the rules and game board, but it's pretty close to being done. I want it to be perfect when I send it to Mr. Pegasus. Then maybe I'll have a chance."
"I think he'll like it."
"Yeah. Hopefully."
"Speaking of Mr. Pegasus…I have an idea! Why don't we duel?"
"OK." They set their cards up on the table. (Remember, this is before the duel disk etc.) They each drew their cards.
"You can go first." Kairu said to Duke.
"No, you."
"No, you."
"No, you."
"Fine." Kairu said. She placed a card face down and summoned a card in defensive mode.
"Your move." Duke looked at the face down cards skeptically.
"What ever." He twirled his hair around his finger. He also put a card face down and then summoned Ferral Imp (I'm just making up cards for his deck) in attack mode. Kairu drew a card and smiled.
"Your move." She said again. He drew a card and didn't do anything either. Kairu drew yet another card. She put Sonic Bird in attack mode and used its special ability.
"I can take a Ritual spell card from my deck with the help of Sonic Bird's special ability." She searched her deck for the one card she needed to carry out her killer strategy.
"Your turn again." Duke put Mystic clown in attack mode. He attacked her sonic Bird. Her life points went down to 1900. Then she drew her card and smiled again. "I'll end my turn." She said happily. Duke became more skeptical.
"This wouldn't be that new 'killer strategy' you've been telling me about, is it?"
"Possibly." They continued to play like this for a while, until Kairu's life points were down to 900 and Duke's were 1000.
"Time for me to rock this duel!" Kairu said. "You know what I'm summoning!"
"Not the-"
"That's right! The all-powerful BLACK LUSTER SOLDIER!" She slapped the card and her ritual card on the table, and then sent her face down card and Warrior Dai Grepher to the graveyard. Duke had a Summoned Skull on the field. "But that's not all!" Duke looked scared. It WAS the new strategy that she had bragged about, but hadn't actually told him exactly about. (Pay attention people. This is my REAL killer strategy; so if you ever face me in a tournament, watch out!)
"I attach Axe of Despair! Giving it 1000 more attack points for a total of 4000!" Duke was shocked. "Don't look so surprised now Duke…" she said mysteriously.
"OK, I'll change Summoned skull to Defensive mode. And put this face down."
"What ever." She said. She drew her card. "Now it's time for the third part of Kairu's Killer Strategy! I also attach Malevolent Nuzzler to Black Luster Soldier, giving him a whopping 4700 attack points! My soldier, attack that weak Skull!" She did, but duke lost no life points.
"OK." Duke breathed. He put Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts in defensive mode.
"Nope! I won't allow that! Trap hole!" she played her facedown card.
"NO!" Duke said. He had no defense, except a face down card.
"My turn." She said menacingly. "Blacky…attack!"
"I activate Dark Hole!"
"Then I activate Mystical Space Typhoon! Blacky, continue your attack!" She wiped his life points out without a problem. "Sorry Duke. You lost. I won."
"DARN!" he said, but smiling. At least he made her happy. She was smiling while putting her deck back into its case. But she stopped midway through the process. She stopped smiling. Her hair slid over her face, covering it.
"Kairu, what's the matter?" he said, forgetting for a moment.
"D-d-Duke, w-w-what time is it?" He paused. She looked at him. He took out his cell phone. He lied. It said 5:04, but he told her it was 4:04.
"Duke," she said, looking into his eyes very solemnly. She stepped closer. "Don't lie to me. I know you're lying." She said softly.
"But…how did you know?"
"I know. Your eyes dart to one side very quickly when you lie. When is it?"
"It's 5:04 but I thought that if I didn't tell you the correct time you wouldn't leave and you would-"
"Duke." She said, once again silencing him by putting her finger over his lips. "I can't change it. It will only be more violent if I'm not ready in the right spot. Besides, we have a half hour before we have to go to that place, so don't make a big deal."
"OK." He went to pay for the ice cream.
"No, Duke. I'll pay. I have nothing else to spend my money on."
"No."
"NO!"
"NOO!" the people looked at them. They smiled. Kairu gave them the money before Duke could protest. They walked out. Duke thought about arguing with her about the money but didn't.
"Soo…" he started, not knowing what to do. He wanted to comfort her somehow, but was completely helpless. Kairu kept walking, staring ahead.
"I don't know what we should do, Duke. I'm as helpless to the fact a you." She walked next to him. "I guess…maybe I should explain what is going to happen."
"You don't have to if you don't want to, you know."
"But I know it would bug you the rest of your life if you don't hear it. Let us just go to where I have to go first. Follow me." She grabbed his hand and ran fast. Fast, Duke ran, still held on to. She ran past the street she lived on, past his street, which was right next to hers, past the theater, past everything until Duke thought he would collapse. But then she stopped by the water. The ocean was beautiful. She stared at it for a couple of minutes, wasting their time. She still held onto his hand. He stood, breathing heavily next to her. But she seemed to be not breathing at all. She stood, watching the blue waves crash into the shoreline. The white sea-foam stayed on the sand for a second before becoming absorbed by it. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes again, but she refused to let them fall. She would tell him without crying, she decided, and then do anything she needed to do afterwards.
"Duke…" she started. "Duke…I…don't know how to start."
"Ok, take your time."
"But I don't have that much time."
"OK, then just tell me." She turned and looked in his bright green eyes. His hair was in the ponytail that he always wore it in.
"Duke…I need to go. Now."
"But I thought you didn't have to right now."
"Yeah, in a few minutes I mean. Duke…have you ever seen my parents?" He thought about this for a second. Then it suddenly hit him. His face looked shocked.
"No, I guess not."
"That's because they don't live around here. They live in New York."
"But…what about your house…and all the times…you talked about your parents being worried…"
"I live by myself. That's where my parents used to live. I stayed." Tears were forming in her eyes. But she blinked them away. Duke could tell that this was painful to tell him.
"Kairu…if it hurts too much…it's OK."
"No. I'm fine." She breathed deep. "It was too painful for THEM to stay here. They had to leave me."
"But why would they leave you?"
"Duke, don't you get it? You're blind! Nobody knows! Duke, did you ever see me ONCE before school started? NO!"
"I…still don't …get it." She breathed again.
"I wouldn't expect you to. I'm sorry, I'm expecting too much out of people like you. Duke…"
"Yeah?"
"Duke…duke…I'm…I…died."
"What?" Duke was confused. "But you're still standing here!" Kairu broke down crying. She fell on her knees.
"I thought I could stay. I wanted to. But I can't. I can't. I can't…" she buried her head in her hands. Duke kneeled down and put his hand on her shoulder.
"It's OK, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's my fault. I should have left like I was supposed to. Exactly one month ago, I was hit by a car and killed. I remember…" she started shaking from the memories. She remembered…
She crossed the street…she saw the lights…she tried to move…she wasn't fast enough…she screamed…
"Kairu! Kairu! What's the matter?" he said, feeling her shake. She stopped when pulled out of her reverie by Duke's voice.
"I…stayed because I couldn't leave…I thought I would miss it too much. But, I didn't know that there was a time limit. Ra told me…"
"Wait, Ra? Where'd He come from?"
"SHE, Duke. Ra is a girl. Ra is an Egyptian god. She let me stay, but I forgot it was only for another month."
"So…let me get this straight. You got hit by a car," Kairu shook. "Sorry. Then you died, and then you asked RA? To stay for a while longer. And now you don't want to leave. Ok, I thank I get it."
"I know it's confusing."
"But…do you want to leave? Can't you stay?"
"No, I can't. I already messed up time by staying. Of course, I want to stay, though. I want to stay with my friends." Duke was suddenly realizing. This was serious. He shook the grief away.
"You can't go!"
"I have to." Duke was seriously upset. He thought it took all of his energy not to cry.
"Duke, no matter where I go," she said, standing. "Don't forget me. Everyone else will, I assure you. I'm a thing of the past. Just, don't you forget me? Promise."
"I…I promise…" he said, choking on his tears.
"Good. Now, Duke. I feel I have to go. Don't forget me." She stepped in front of him. She traced her finger down his left eye, where a tear had just sneaked down his face. A black mark followed her finger. "Now I know you won't forget me." He touched his face where she had just made the mark. "I gotta go. I won't forget you. You were the best friend I ever had. Good bye, Duke. Keep working on Dungeon Dice Monsters. NEVER give up. Trust in your friends."
She leaned forward, but hesitated, and then blew him a kiss.
"Bye. I won't forget you." She walked forward, after each step became more and more transparent until he could no longer see her.
"Duke! Wake up! You're going to be late for the first day of school!" Duke's mother called from the doorway of his bedroom. He found himself asleep in his bed, well, now he was awake.
"Alright, mom." Wait a second, first day of school? What the heck?
"Time reset itself."A voice, a soft voice, whispered in his head.
And then he remembered. He got dressed quickly. He ran to his computer. He opened the program for Dungeon Dice Monsters. He opened the file for the scoring system. Then he changed the Triangle points to heart points.
Before he ran out the door, he looked in the mirror. The mark was still there.
"I won't forget you, Kairu."
Wow, that was long. It took me awhile, but I did it! It's 13 pages on Microsoft Word! Wow!
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