Of Pain and Tears v2.0
Rating: T; will go up in later chapters
Genre: Drama/Angst
Disclaimer: I don't own, so don't sue me. XP
Summary: Ryou befriends a girl named Kina who is down on her luck and needs a place to stay. But the more time Ryou spends with her, the more he realizes that something about her isn't right. Is there more to this mysterious girl than meets the eye?
A/N: Hello again people. -ducks flying objects- I'm SO sorry I didn't update sooner but I'm banned from the computer so it's kinda hard to type up stuff. Sorry. Yes, this is the new, revised version of OPaT. I hope it doesn't suck nearly as much as the first one. I have it all written out in my head. The whole thing. I just have to get it down on paper. I plan to do a sequel to this story as well, but let's just focus on getting this one done first. And awaaaaaaayyyyyyy we go!
A/N 2: Okay here's the basic guidelines for this story. This is very much an AU story, set in Amaron, New Jersey. (note: not a real place) Also, I have to mention that all the yamis and hikaris have separate bodies and such. Ages: Everyone is 14 with the exception of Duke, who is 16, and Serenity, who is 12. Some characters are completely OOC just because I want them to be. But I'll try to keep the rest of them as in character as possible. One last thing, none of these people are Japanese. They were all born in America, with the exception of Ryou, who was born in England. I won't say anymore or it will ruin the story. (And if you've read the first version of this story please just forget the whole, crappy thing. This is going to be totally different.)
"blah" speech
blah thoughts
'blah' and 'blah' mind link speech
Of Pain and Tears v2.0 Chapter 1: The Beginning
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Ryou pulled his jacket tighter around his body as the wind blew, chilling his already numb skin. He walked down the cracked sidewalk towards his home. After school he had met Joey for a tutoring session at the library. The blonde desperately needed help in his math class or he wouldn't pass the math test on Monday. Ryou, like most students, was so glad it was finally Friday and he could have the weekend all to himself before having to return to that dreadful place called school on Monday, becoming its slave for another week.
As he walked down the sidewalk, he noticed a group of a few people gathered around the street corner. Ryou wandered closer and saw a young girl in the middle of the group, performing magic tricks. She stood not even five feet tall, wearing a worn pair of jeans and a white racer back tank top tinged gray from the dirt. He watched as she held a plastic bingo chip in her left hand and then proceeded to place her right hand over a plastic cup. Amazed, Ryou stepped closer to watch as she opened her left hand to reveal that the chip was no longer in her hand, but inside the cup instead. The small audience clapped and some even dropped a few coins in the tin next to her.
She must be homeless. Performing magic tricks is probably her only way to get money. She must have been doing it for a while to be this good at it.
Ryou may have been enticed by her ability in magic but what really peaked his curiosity was her white hair that flowed all the way down her back until it met the hem of her shirt. He had never seen anyone else with white hair before, with the exception of Bakura and his father. As the small crowd dispersed, Ryou stepped forward and watched her as she put her props away and begin shuffling a deck of cards.
She didn't seem to notice him until he sat down in front of her. She looked up at him and stared for a moment before giving him a small smile.
"Pick a card," she said confidently as she held out the deck to him.
"Umm, okay," Ryou replied as he pulled out card from the middle of the deck.
He inspected the ace of spades for a moment, noticing the worn edges.
She must have had this deck for a long time if the cards look the way they do. I wonder how long she's been out on the street.
"Okay, now put it back wherever you want," she exclaimed, closing her eyes.
Ryou slipped the card back into the deck and stared at her curiously. She looked as excited as a child opening her presents on Christmas as she opened her eyes and began shuffling the deck furiously. After she shuffled the deck quite a few times, she selected a three of clubs from the middle and held it up triumphantly.
"Is this your card?" she asked with a smile.
"Um, no."
She pouted playfully and put it back in the deck. Shuffling again, she held up a six of hearts.
"What about this one?" she asked.
"Sorry, it's not that one either," Ryou said shyly.
Maybe I overestimated her talents in magic.
Flipping through the deck quickly, she frowned and looked up at Ryou.
"It seems that your card isn't in here."
"What? But I put it back in."
"Check for yourself," she said, handing him the deck.
Ryou looked through the deck once, twice, three times. He was sure he had put his card back in, hadn't he? The girl suddenly snapped her fingers and shouted 'Ah-ha!'
"I know where your card went," she said as she reached over and pulled the ace of spades out of Ryou's fluffy hair. She sat there smiling at Ryou, holding up the playing card. "You picked my favorite card."
"Wow. That was amazing," Ryou told her," How did you do it?"
"A magician never reveals her secrets," she said laughingly as she put the deck of cards away in her bag.
Ryou stared at her for a moment before asking her name.
"My name's Kina," she said proudly, "What's yours?"
"Oh, my name is Ryou."
"Wow, that's a cool name," she said, smiling. Ryou frowned a bit and was about to ask her another question but the wind cut him off, blowing fiercely. When he looked up at Kina, she was gathering up her stuff and pulling her hair back loosely with a rubber band, trying to get it in some sort of order after the wind had blown it everywhere.
"Sorry Ryou, but I have to go get something to eat. Maybe I'll see you later?" She said, counting out the loose change she had earned that day.
Ryou stood up and stared at her for a moment before making a suggestion.
Is that all she got today? She barely has enough to buy a decent meal.
"Um, actually, why don't I take you out to eat? I mean, you look like you haven't had a decent meal in a while and maybe we could talk some more," he said hurriedly.
She smiled up at him and agreed. Ryou led her down the street towards a small café by the park, talking animatedly on the way there.
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"So where did you learn how to do magic?" Ryou asked Kina as she took a sip of her tea. They were sitting at a table near the window of the café. Ryou had ordered a turkey sandwich and a cup of coffee and Kina got a salad and a cup of green tea, seeing as how she was a vegetarian.
"My daddy used to do magic tricks for me when I was little. He taught me how to do some of the ones I know, but I learned a bunch on my own too."
"So you used to live with your dad?"
"Yeah, at first my mom and my dad both took care of me but my mom's parents made her move really far away with them so my dad had to take care of me by himself. He was too young to take care of me so I had to go to a foster home, but the people there were really mean to me, so I ran away. That's how I ended up here," she explained to him quietly.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," Ryou told her, noticing the sad look on her face.
"No, it's okay. I don't really mind talking about it that much. I'm quite used to people asking me about my life."
They sat in silence, eating their food for a few minutes, each with their separate thoughts.
Wow, and I thought being home alone was bad. At least I get to see me dad when he comes home on vacation. I bet she hasn't seen her parents in years.
Kina was the first to break the silence as she picked up their trays and emptied them into the trash can nearby. She walked back to the table and stood next to Ryou.
"You should probably get home before it gets too dark out Ryou," she said with a sad smile.
Ryou looked up at her, breaking him from his thoughts. "Uh, yeah, I guess it is getting pretty late. But where are you going?"
"I have to go look for a place to sleep since it's getting cold out. The weather person said it might rain too so unless I want to get soaked, I have to find somewhere with at least some sort of roof over it," she told him.
I would feel bad if I just left her out here. She might catch pneumonia or maybe even get kidnapped. This isn't exactly the safest place in town.
"Would you like to come home with me, at least for tonight? Like you said, it's going to rain and you need a roof over your head. Plus, I don't have to go the school tomorrow and we could go out for lunch again," Ryou said, hoping she would agree.
Kina thought for a moment, wondering just how much she could trust this person she just met. He seemed nice enough, but was he really?
"Okay, I'll stay with you tonight if you don't mind. But what do I have to give you?"
Ryou looked at her curiously and asked, "Give me?"
"I have to repay you for giving me food and a place to stay."
She doesn't have to give me anything. I'm just trying to be nice. But if she really insists…
"You can show me some more of those cool magic tricks you do so well," Ryou said with a smile.
"Really?"
"Really."
Ryou paid for their meal and helped Kina carry her bag then started walking towards his house, Kina following closely behind. She seemed genuinely happy that she had a place to stay for the night and Ryou wondered how many nights she had slept out in the cold or the rain. She obviously hadn't eaten much lately from the way her clothes seemed to be barely clinging to her body. The more he thought about what she had been through the more he wished he could help her.
Dad sends enough money to cover all the bills, and there's always a little bit left over at the end of the month. I bet I could stretch it just enough to take care of the both of us. I might even be able to get a part-time job to help pay for everything.
Ryou contemplated the situation and how he might be able to help. He was so caught up in his thought, he almost walked past his own house. He smiled as he let Kina in the front door and saw her face light up. He was going to figure out a way to help her out, no matter what.
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TBC
Okay people, how did I do? Was it better than the original? (I hope so.) I changed a whole bunch of stuff as you can tell, and I probably didn't detail it as well as I could have, but I wanted to post something. You guys have waited long enough. Which reminds me. I probably have no reviewers left because I took forever. Wah.
Well, if you liked it, leave a review pretty please. If you hated it, don't leave a review. I'm tired of being flamed All flames will be used to burn my evil step-mum's pathetic excuse for curtains.
I promise to post chap 2 as soon as I can. See ya!
BT&WT