Welcome to Book 2 of the Kamiyonanayo series, Claiming: The Sword.

The theme is banned literature, film, and the like for this story, as the previous theme was mythology and genesis stories. Keep in mind: these were banned for a reason. Do not search for these unless fully prepared for the controversial content.

Enjoy!

Prologue: Justine

"Life is only an uninterrupted series of sorrows and pleasures."
- Marquis de Sade

Hello, Danna-sama.

I did find something new today. Perhaps you will read it when you are older, but most likely not. It is a book that uses violence and cruelty to promote the idea that people can do whatever they wish, as long as they are pleased with the action and the product. It's an interesting philosophy, but it's not one we'd find ourselves following someday unless it would be for your good.

I hope that you and the King will have fun today with Bakura Ryou-san.

Hello, my Other Self.

That sounds like a weird book, but I hope you enjoy it. That doesn't sound like something I would ever believe in either. I wouldn't want anyone to be hurt or for you to be hurt for my sake. Philosophy is interesting though, especially when it comes to the different ways that people think and believe in things. Have you ever heard of the Ghost in the Shell story? It's a movie and a manga. I think you might like it.

It had been six months since the King had gotten his body and since Bakura Ryou became their friend and confidant. Yuugi had invited Ryou to their home to play today, and the King was delighted to have their friend to see and meet. It was a new mind that he could interact with, not just Yuugi's. As they sat down in the living room now, the three were playing Sims on the Game Cube. A new file had given them all a strange little house - why two bathrooms? - and now Ryou's character had set the stove on fire. Ryou was laughing and Yuugi found himself leaning into his King's side, the older boy humming as his character ran towards the stove with a fire extinguisher. Somehow, the stove didn't survive but the scrambled eggs did.

The Sims were "speaking" about a baseball, the fire, and something that Yuugi had no means of identifying - bubble gum, maybe? - and hurriedly, the three characters settled back into a calm life of speaking nonsense and playing in the pool that they had just gotten.

A curious feeling swept over him, the shortest wave of interest, and Yuugi knew that his Other Self was watching their game. He reached out as quickly as he could, but there was no purchase, no sign of acknowledgement from his Other Self, his Danava, that he was even noticed.

How many more times would this happen? How much longer would he be oblivious to this spirit and its intentions? It wasn't as though he did not trust the Danava - he had helped them too many times for Yuugi to not be grateful for all of his actions - but they had never spoken. He had only felt him while in the Monster World, a protective shield around them all so that the Other Bakura could not hurt them or abuse the rules of the game. He could feel them every once in a while, a small curl of interest against his mind and a small bit of concern.

He wondered what else his Other Self would get when they went again to the library. The Other spirit would read books and would write in the notebook that they shared. They were strange books, and often his Danava told him not to read them, that he was still too young for such things.

The Danava sat in the middle of the King's Soul Room, watching them all play their game. He smiled as he saw his Masters and their friend laughed at the strange antics of their small toys and figures on the television screen. There was a sense of ease in this Soul Room, the others, and the Puzzle, and he found himself relaxing.

'Let's sleep...' the Faceless One, his own consciousness, whispered. The Danava nodded; they would have fallen asleep if not for the sense of dread that filled them. The fear of falling asleep overwhelmed them often, and so for the last three thousand years, they had not slept. They curled on their side, humming some long forgotten song that was slowly coming back.

The memories were slow coming, but everything made more sense as each puzzle piece slipped into place. The Others were starting to awaken and aim towards their communal goal, even if they were oblivious to it. The Danava would have to be on guard to make sure that his masters were safe, but...

'They could grow, from this. Imagine how pretty it would be.'

The Danava sat in the middle of the King's Soul Room, watching as children played a game.

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