The one thing Saiou understood about the boy standing a few feet in front of him was that Manjyome wasn't fully in his control. There were times where Saiou felt him being distracted by delusions of his previous matches and despite being enlightened and converted in a duel the truth was Manjyome still retained some of his old cocky personality. It was awkward, really—his real soul should have been trapped in the Hanged Man card, yet there still seemed to be a part of him that was free.
Saiou switched over his gaze to the slim girl with blonde hair residing next to his second-in-command. It hadn't been like that for Asuka. She had fallen into a state of full and absolute submission after her conversion. With a simple snap of his fingers, she would bow her head and perform her duties without a single compliant—exactly like a white follower should behave.
Yet within all his musings, Saiou realized it really didn't matter. What was truly important now was that his followers retrieve his sister from the virtual realm and that Juudai and Edo were taken out before either of the two could further harm his beloved Kessha. He flicked a wave at the white-clad students.
"Goodbyes, Manjyome-san, Asuka-san. Do enjoy your second trip to Domino and don't worry, you have been excused out of all your classes. This is merely another school field trip. Now, I would greatly appreciate it if you somehow managed to get my sister out of that virtual realm."
Asuka curtsied respectfully. Manjyome draped an arm across his stomach and bowed.
"We will, Saiou-sama," they uttered simultaneously.
"Mizuchi-sama will be brought back," Manjyome stated.
"You can trust us to fulfill this duty," Asuka stressed.
Saiou smiled. He liked his followers to be obedient and passive, ready to carry out his orders without a second thought rather than questioning everywhere which way of their surroundings like nosy toddlers. He was the one who should be doing the thinking, not them. They merely needed to fulfill his instructions. After all, these were children he was dealing with. Wet behind the ears and still lost on how to survive in the world. Saiou simply couldn't let these ignorant fools do anything themselves—they were incapable of doing so. However, he also needed to let these two know that he 'trusted' them in order for them to function properly.
"Yes," Saiou finally replied and he feigned the most warm-hearted look he could muster up. "I put all my faith on both of your shoulders."
Oh, how I lie, he mused placidly.
His third vision suddenly struck in. Saiou distantly sensed two people walking towards them all the way up from the Academia. It seemed as if his psychic visualizations were correct because Asuka's poker-faced expression shuddered slightly as she was the first one to lay eyes upon the new arrivals.
"Well, while I can't say I'm exactly disappointed…"
"Thank you, de aru. I shall remember your loving words as I drown miserably when the cruise capsizes and I sink to the bottom of the ocean."
"Now don't think so pessimistically—"
"—that's quite hard not to do when realization dawns upon you that you're not wanted here, de aru."
"I meant nothing of the sort. You will be missed all right, na no nae!"
Saiou turned around to welcome the source of the two voices.
"Ah, Vice-Principal Napoleon, how nice of you to arrive on time for once. And Temporary Principal Chronos. You are doing well, I presume?"
It was quite obvious Chronos had no intention of liking Saiou. The man had literally taken over his dorm overnight without a single word beforehand and it was quite degrading to be called 'Temporary' Principal even if it was his current title.
"Yes, I'm…quite fine, Signor Takuma," the Italian man replied with a jerky expression.
Saiou's smile widened. Chronos' twitch grew. He avoided Saiou's sinister gaze and turned to face his students instead.
"Do take care, na no nae. Vice-Principal Napoleon will be accompanying you on this fieldtrip as your supervisor so do give him your full respect, na no nae!"
"We will," she replied stiffly and warily eyed the stubby man accompanying Chronos with obvious dislike. Asuka waited for a cynical remark to come from the boy next to her. None came. Curious at his lack of a response, she turned to where Manjyome was standing.
Or where he should have been standing.
There was an empty space of air where White Thunder was present mere moments ago. Asuka scouted around for her companion.
"Manjyome-kun…" she muttered darkly. Why did that boy always disappear on her?
What she didn't know was that Manjyome was already walking towards the cruise with a bucket of white paint in his hand.
The cruise was blue. He didn't like blue. (At least he didn't anymore.)
Manjyome felt his bad headache increase every moment longer he stayed on this demented ship. He pressed the tips of his fingers to his temples. Godforsaken idiots. The Obelisk Whites should have been quiet and refined but nooo, apparently if Saiou-sama wasn't around to watch them they acted as fanatical as they pleased.
"Is Asuka-tan here? I want to see Asuka-taaan!"
"How come nobody can see my gorgeous frog princes? They exist—I swear they do!"
"My theory of relativity can really do with some tweaking…"
"Does anybody want to blow something up with the satellite cannon?"
"I shall never let Saiou-sama down again after I discovered how humiliating my defeat was!"
The black-haired boy shook his head. What in the world was wrong with these people?
Manjyome wordlessly placed the paint bucket down and evaluated the current state of affairs. Every where he turned, he saw old familiar faces of the previous opponents Juudai and his little gang had defeated—which led him to believe a simple conclusion: this was a cruise filled with nimrods. He mentally noted that everybody in his current range of vision had to die.
I hate life. A lot.
Kanda, the bespectacled Asuka stalker suddenly noticed Manjyome's presence on the ship's deck and bounded towards him, leaving Princess Rose to blink and look after him speechlessly. Kanda almost knocked over the paint can as he halted into a screeching stop a few inches away from the irritated White Thunder.
"Manjyome-san, you know Asuka-tan really well, right?" he asked breathlessly, his cheeks flushed a bright shade of red. "Can you tell me where she is? Can you, can you, can you, ca—"
He grabbed Kanda by the collar and tossed him over the railing. There was a deafening wail before the satisfying sound of a body hitting the water was heard.
"…"
The rest of the Obelisk Whites stopped whatever activities they were doing and gawked at their student superior. Manjyome jerked his thumb in a 'no nonsense' manner and pointed at the paint can at his feet.
"All of you shut up and get painting."
Two hours later, the now white cruise had left the Duel academia island port and was heading towards Domino city at a considerably rapid speed. The ship was growing lighter and lighter as time passed due to the fact Manjyome continued to fling the white members overboard for the sole reason that they were being annoying. However, even after half a dozen students were swimming aimlessly in the ocean, Manjyome still felt his headache throb painfully.
"Yomigaeru! Ikikaeru! Des Frog!"
"Well, the reference frames should be in uniform motion relative to one another…"
"Lying with you plebeians makes the prince quite dull indeed."
"I want Saiou-sama to bear my babies!"
"…I can bear your babies if you want, hehe…"
Manjyome jolted from his foldout seat and stared at the creepy man who called himself the 'undefined number' who was currently looming over some of the female white members. He didn't remember X being invited onto the cruise. Come to think of it, he didn't remember seeing X at all since his last defeat.
"Why are you here, X?" he demanded. "If memory servers correctly, you're not a member of the Kessha."
X shrugged nonchalantly at his accusation. "Saiou asked me to come, so I came."
"Saiou-sama most certainly did not, otherwise he would have contacted me about it beforehand," Manjyome retorted back.
"Yeah, Saiou-sama wouldn't want the likes of you on this purified ship," Rose chimed in, emphasizing 'purified' with a hint of pride seeing as she was one of the unfortunate members who had slaved through the painting process before they set sail for Domino.
"That's what you think." X flashed her a perverted smile. "I mean no harm to any of you."
"Don't give us that, you third estate slum," Orgene shot back. "Didn't you molest Edo Phoenix at one time?"
X looked mildly offended. "I did nothing of the sort" —both Rose and Orgene opened their mouth— "and you can ask Edo himself. He and I are just fellow pro-league acquaintances," he finished off smugly.
"Hmph."
"Trash."
Rose stuck her tongue out before crossing her arms and turning her head away. Orgene muttered something under his breath about rebellious serfs. X walked somewhere else to harass people at the swimming pool and Manjyome sat down again in his previous seat next to Asuka. Speaking of which, the blonde hadn't spoken a word to him nor anybody else since she stepped foot on the cruise.
Manjyome glanced at his companion. She had a pair of silver needles in her hands with each one a foot long in length, and two balls of white and lavender yarn at her feet. He felt his frustration die away as he observed Asuka fiddle around with the needles. It was relaxing and tranquil to watch her slender hands skillfully move up and down and soon, the yarn began to resemble the shape of a large square.
"What are you doing, Tenjoin-kun?" he finally asked when silence no longer suited him. "Is that a quilt?"
"Mh-hmm. The tight knits symbolize the unity of the Kessha."
Pfft. That's some unity we've got going on here, he thought dryly, but decided to keep his sardonic opinion to himself. Manjyome closed his eyes and leaned his head back onto the head cushion. All was relatively calm for the next couple of minutes until an aristocratic screech pierced the eardrums of everybody on the deck and in the rooms as well.
"WHO TOOK MY COLONGE, DE ARU?"
However, Napoleon's distressful howl was drowned out when another discovery was made.
"Eh…are my old eyes deceiving me? Look, youngsters, I see land—there! THERE!"
Dr. Zweinstein placed a foot onto the railing and pointed to the skyscrapers that were faintly visible in front of the ship. Murmurs of unrepressed anticipation rose from the members upon hearing this news.
A soft sigh was emitted next to Manjyome. He turned around just in time to see Asuka stand up and walk towards the stairs leading up to the balcony where everybody could visibly perceive her. Once she was on the second level, all heads obediently swerved in her direction. Her arms shot into the air.
"Members of the Hikari no Kessha," she announced in a loud, firm voice. "Brace yourself—we have finally arrived at Domino city!"
3:34.
That's what the clock read as.
Saiou was rather stressed. Mountains of paperwork still remained piled up on both sides of his desk despite the fact he had been working like a dog all morning and even into his lunch hours. He formed a cradle with his knuckles and rested his chin into it, staring at the various trinkets on his desk that had been presented to him as gifts from his followers.
The door suddenly creaked open a few inches. Saiou removed his face from the cradle of his knuckles and looked up in interest. A fuzz of brown hair peeked through the crack and Saiou felt his attention wane. He dropped his cheeks back into his hand. It was Juudai, the last person he wanted to see on the planet.
What was he trying to do anyway? Spy on him?
What a crude attempt at stealth…the boy obviously knows nothing about true secrecy…
Juudai snuck his way into his room in what he must have thought was a sneaky manner. Upon noticing that Saiou was staring at him openly and quite boredly, he stood up and his face lit up in a goofy smile.
"…what the hell are you doing here?" Saiou asked irritably before Juudai could utter a word. The brown-eyed boy looked around innocently.
"Nothing, carpman."
Saiou frowned in displeasure. Obviously the Osiris picked that up from Fubuki.
"I am not a carp," he growled.
"No, you're a trout."
"…I'm not a trout either."
"Fine, then you is a carp."
Saiou rose magnificently from his seat and opened his mouth to declare that he was no type of freshwater fish when Juudai interrupted with another silly comment.
"I named my Koiking after you," he sing-sung.
Saiou closed his mouth; words failed him. He just didn't possess the ability to handle being told that he had a Pocket Monster named after him. He covered his eyes and sighed.
"Listen, I don't want to listen to your disturbing adventures on whatever handheld system you own…"
"A Gameboy Advance," Juudai corrected.
"Yes. Whatever."
Saiou removed his hand from his eyes and managed to stir up a courteous smile.
"And I'll put this in the nicest way I can…" he began politely. He paused, mulling over what to say and coming up with nothing. Saiou shook his head and glared at Juudai. "…oh, what am I saying? Submit to destiny or die under a rock," he snapped. "That's your two options."
Juudai placed his hands on his hips and looked defiantly at him. "I'm not dying until you release your evil clutches from Manjyome!" he shouted in a childish, yet eerily demanding voice.
"What about Tenjoin-san?" Saiou pointed out.
The brunette's firm-standing visage came off and he placed a finger on his lips, looking thoughtfully at the ground.
"Well…Asuka said she wanted to be here," he said uncertainly.
"So did he!"
"Yeah, but…he's Manjyome," Juudai reasoned, as if Manjyome being Manjyome was a good enough explanation on its own. "You can never believe what he says to your face. Everything Manjyome says, he means the opposite of!"
Saiou stared at him for the longest of moments.
"He's not a woman, Yuuki-san," he stated irritably. "Now, I don't have the time or patience to deal with your foolish antics, so please find your way out and try not to get loss in the process."
However, Juudai continued pouting. "No. I stand next to what I said before! I'm not leaving until you leave Manjyome alone! And Asuka too! And Kenzan!"
Saiou narrowed his eyes. What did this Osiris take him for? A fool? He was not a man who could be bossed around by some pipsqueak even if Juudai did somehow manage to hold a piece of destiny in his hands. He was Saiou Takuma—the strongest psychic alive!
His amethyst eyes began to glow a bright white and the mirror behind Juudai began issuing cracks after a few seconds. The cracks turned into larger fissures which turned into huge fractures until the mirror shattered into a tiny billion pieces and those tiny pieces rained on the floor.
Juudai gasped and leapt back from the phenomenon. The mirror had splintered without anybody even touching it. Saiou's eyes then returned to its normal state and he gazed at the brunette, smirking sinisterly. That seemed to have shaken Juudai up a bit—the exact effect he wanted.
Perhaps now this foolish boy will start to comprehend what I am truly capable of and begin to fear me like the others…
"Awesome!"
Saiou blinked.
Juudai stared down at the mirror's shattered reflection.
"Now it looks like one of those fun-house mirrors at the carnival!" he shouted excitedly. He swerved his head to look at the stunned Saiou and flashed a huge grin. "Clownman!"
:D
Saiou slammed his hand on his desk and shot a finger at the door.
"GET. OUT."
"Huh. This ain't good," Gin piped up once all forty-one of them were on solid land. It took a glance at his watch. "It's already 6:30…"
"Well seeing as we left the island midday because a certain quiz freak broke the anchor, then it took eight hours to arrive at Domino by the cruise, I'm not really surprised," Manjyome stated loudly. "We're never going to locate Mizuchi-sama at this rate!"
"Actually, we've got it covered."
X emerged from the multitude of white as the only man in a dark-colored suit. Boy, did he stand out from the rest of the crowd like a sore thumb. A few feet behind him merged a disgruntled Prince Orgene from his right side and a glum Princess Rose from his left side. X straightened his tie and cleared his throat before telling his story.
"You see, dear children…I hacked into the Kaibaland's mainframe while still on that boat. With my superb computer skills with the help of Prince Celery Orgasm" —Orgene growled— "and Princess Toadstool" —Rose sniffled— "we eventually we contacted Mizuchi." X glanced at his nails with disinterest. "But sadly to say, she doesn't want to leave."
Asuka narrowed her eyes. What?
"Say that again with a straight face," Manjyome barked.
X looked at the two white-clad teenagers standing in front of him and made a face of annoyance. Why was he taking orders from these babies again? He sighed heavily.
"She says she was too busy having tea parties and entertaining herself by flicking through Kaiba's personal folders. There was one entitled 'Keep out, Mokuba' and she found interesting pictures of Jude Law stripping in his bathtub."
"…"
"…"
"She also wants us to deliver her message to Saiou that he needs to see a psychiatrist. Multiple personality disorders are sooo MPD-Psychoco manga. There's a very large chance Kadokawa Shoten might sue him for invalid reproductions of similar scripts."
"…"
"…"
Manjyome was the first one to recover from the impact of being hit with the unpredictably shocking information. He gathered whatever dignity he had left and towered menacingly over X.
"You want us to tell Saiou-sama that his beloved younger sister prefers the company of an internet café and cheap porn over her brother while at the same time our savior, our Saiou-sama is missing a few bolts from his head?"
The pro-league duelist shrugged nonchalantly. "That's the basic gist of it."
"…"
"…"
Manjyome looked at Asuka.
"What do we do now?"
Asuka turned to face the cluster of members all clad in white with hints of soft lavender standing together in the entrance of the hotel.
"Alright, people, here's how it's going to be," she stated loudly. "Due to a turn of unfortunate events, we will have to remain in this hotel overnight."
Napoleon yawned widely and noticeably. His room was already arranged—why did he care? Without a glance at either of the two white officers, he waded into an elevator and disappeared out of sight. Asuka ignored him.
"There are twenty of you here so everybody splits into pairs. Boys rooming with boys and girls rooming with girls are preferred but Manjyome-kun and I am going to be sharing a suite together. If you need us…"
"…go to the receptionist," Manjyome muttered under his breath.
"…feel free to knock at any time," Asuka finished stiffly, pretending she didn't hear his words. "Line up. I'll be handing out the keys."
While the blonde was distributing keys to the various members, Manjyome stood by and crossed his arms, sulking.
Why is the entire Kessha deranged beyond measures? he mused dully. Why is X here anyway? I better let Saiou-sama know he's the one who 'forced' Mizuchi to stay…maybe Saiou-sama will kick X out …
"So why do you two get a suite and we don't?" Gin complained as Asuka handed him the key to his room.
"Because I don't like you," Manjyome snapped, uncrossing his arms.
Gin looked as if he was about to shout how he didn't like him either but he was never given the chance to say anything because Manjyome shoved him into one of the elevators and onto a creepy-looking man with oily black hair.
X grinned. A yelp was heard from Gin as the door closed on their indignant faces.
Manjyome and Asuka exchanged smirks as the elevator door slid open. They walked out together into the hallway and marched only a few feet before being greeted with a white door. Room 314, read the brass number.
Asuka inserted the key into the keyhole and twisted the knob. She pushed the door open, revealing a lush red carpet and a few decorative ornaments set on a table in front of them. A satin-adorned divan was visible on the side and a large king-sized bed resided in the middle of the room.
However, Manjyome frowned.
"…I hate this room."
"—frankly, my concern does not reach that far! All I want now is some decent sleep, de aru!"
"You leave me with a stack of paperwork to stamp while you have a nice tour of Domino city on a relaxing day, na no n—"
Gnashing his teeth, Napoleon slammed the phone into the receptor. Honestly, the nerve of that Italian man! It wasn't all fun and games like Chronos had thought—he was having enough trouble as it was! Napoleon frowned and began to pace up and down the velvet carpet in an attempt to strut out his stress.
A second later, his bedroom phone rang again. He snarled and picked it up.
"What? WHAT do you want now, you crazy old kook?"
"Vice-principal Napoleon…?" came the unusually hesitant voice of Jun Manjyome.
He blinked. "Oh, err, my apologizes, Manjyome-san." He lowered his voice to a customary level. "What is it?"
"Well, Tenjoin-kun and I have some complaints about the room we're sharing."
Napoleon covered the mouthpiece with his palm and sighed heavily. Shouldn't have they all been asleep already? This just proved the sacred deities in the heavens hated his guts. He removed his hand from the mouthpiece and despite knowing it was completely futile, he asked in a somnolent tone, "Can't you just handle whatever troubles you have by yourselves?"
"Well…no. I mean, I…I'm confused about how some of the things work and seeing as you're an intelligent and capable adult…I thought, I mean, if it wasn't too much trouble…that maybe you could explain some of these things to me…"
Well, Manjyome had a point there. He was rather intelligent. And quite handsome as well.
"Alright. What's wrong with your room, de aru?"
"…well. First of all, the remote doesn't work to the TV and it's stuck on some really creepy channel."
"Oh really."
"Yeah. It's some drama about burglars running into a bank and telling the woman at the counter that he wants to make an 'illegal withdrawal' or something. Then all the actors take their clothes off and go into weird poses."
His beady eyes bulged out of his head. "…ex-excuse ME?"
"Also, Tenjoin-kun found this really odd-looking hair curler in the bathroom. It doesn't have a clip and it vibrates when she turns it on instead of growing hot."
He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehand. "I…uh…see…"
"And the bed…honestly, the bed is insane. It's really slippery and all the leather straps and stuff don't do a thing!"
He tugged uncomfortably his collar. "…leather straps?"
"Well, I guess the straps are to fasten yourself in so you don't glide off the bed and knock your head on the ground. What else can a bed have leather straps for?"
"…"
"And the policemen also left some of their equipment in the bedside drawers. You should contact the receptionist and tell them to put it in the lost-and-found or something."
"…p-policeman?"
"Well, who else would have handcuffs lying around? Anyway, my last complaint is that the previous residents in this room left a lot of their smelly toiletries around. They smell worse than the stuff Tenjoin-kun wears—ow, ow, I didn't mean that!"
A distant, chiding "Manjyome-kun!" was heard from the other line but Napoleon was far too busy gawking to absorb this. Was this a prank call? A joke? What kind of hotel did they run here?
There was a pause before Manjyome decided to go for the whole enchilada.
"Hey, Vice-principal Napoleon…what's strawberry-flavored lube used for?"
The phone clattered to the ground. Napoleon's swung his door open and dashed out, a trail of dust billowing in his wake.
"MANJYOME-SANNN!"
"Pillitteri white wine…hmm…"
Feeling accomplished this fine night, Saiou had shoved his work aside for the time being and was currently celebrating with a glass of white wine imported straight from Canada. What did he accomplish? Well, let's just say he managed to stamp out some rumors concerning whether or not he was related to certain species of marine animals—specifically a carp. Or a clown for that matter.
He toyed with the neck of the crystal wineglass between his slender fingers so that the clear liquid inside swirled around the chalice. It was quite late now. At least nine 'o clock. Perhaps ten even. The silver quarter-moon gleamed dimly high in the night sky. He was about to take another sip when the phone unexpectedly rang. Frowning, he put down his wineglass and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Do forgive me beforehand for defying you…"
Napoleon inhaled deeply from the other line. Instinctively, Saiou held the receiver a few inches away from his head to prevent deafness from the yelling he saw forthcoming.
"HOW COULD you have done such a thing? I understand that you are the organizer and founder of the Hikari no Kessha and that two-thirds of the academia looks up to you as divinity but really…there is something called pushing your limits, de aru!"
Saiou glanced down at his fingernails with mild interest. He debated over hanging up the phone on the spot, and then decided he might chip a nail by doing so. Napoleon took another breath. Saiou held the phone farther away from his ear.
"I mean, purposely sending 1/3rd of your white students to Domino yet again and then ordering a sexually-rigged up bedroom…if you really wanted Manjyome-san and Asuka-san to mate, then you could have just told them too instead of inventing a horrible excuse for another school field trip, de aru! And to think! I've been defending you against all those rumors about you being a necrophilic gigolo to that Mizuchi woman you've been so obsessed with bringing back from the dead!"
The abrupt pause from the other end signified that the Vice-principal was done fanaticizing and that it was safe to return to the earpiece once more. Saiou brought his phone back to his ear.
"…the who in the what now?" Saiou replied blandly. "Firstly, Mizuchi is my younger sister, dear Napoleon. Secondly, she's not dead—her mind's trapped in a virtual realm. Do I look like a Pegasus to you?"
Saiou vaguely wondered if it was truly Napoleon speaking and not some deranged student posing as him. There was always a chance this was doings of that mentally-depraved sadist, Fubuki Tenjoin, hacking into his private phone line and using a voice-altering device to cause trouble for him and the Hikari no Kessha. No, but the blonde was too stupid for that, Saiou decided. He brought his lips to the mouthpiece.
"Thirdly, if you don't stop your senseless blathering I'll be forced to cut off your tongue when you return."
This seemed to bring the man on the other line to his senses. Apologetic stammering arose from the earpiece and now that Saiou was certain it was Napoleon, he carelessly dropped the phone into its cradle. He returned to his white wine accompanied by world domination fantasies, though slightly disconcerted now. Saiou took a delicate sip of his wine and gazed out the window.
"…what is this world coming to?"
Manjyome rolled over in his new shared bed and smiled contently at the sheer softness of the mattress. It was like resting on a cloud. He propped himself up on an elbow and gently touched the sleeping beauty next to him.
"Hey, Tenjoin-kun?"
The beauty that was apparently not sleeping twitched a little, before shrugging off his fingers with a moan.
"Tenjoin-kun," he repeated, shaking her gently this time.
This time, Asuka could no longer ignore him. Eyelids still closed and obscurity still filling her vision, she yawned.
"Mm…what is? Don't tell me you don't like this room either…"
"No, it's not that." He paused. "I just wanted to tell you that I snuck some of that strawberry-flavored lube from the other room."
At this, both of her eyes fluttered open. Manjyome's husky scent loomed in the darkness and Asuka felt his body hover over her.
"You want to try it out?" he whispered.