A/N: This is my Swiftshipping (JoeyxIshizu) entry for Computerfreak101's YGO writing contest. I'm actually in the top three! ME! *is still slightly disbelieving* Anyway, this story is an AU. Sorry, but my lovely idea just didn't work in the existing universe so I tweaked it a bit! ^^ For one thing, the millennium necklace doesn't exist. Ishizu is just psychic. I hope you enjoy it!!!!
Disclaimer: I write about the characters, draw the characters, and even dream about the characters. OBVIOUSLY I don't own them!
The Hand of Fate
There always one rule. One law. One unspoken decree to which she must pledge her unyielding loyalty. One simple phrase. Barely even a sentence.
"Never interfere with the will of fate."
Sunday, Ishizu decided, was her new favorite day of the week. A dim morning light flittered in through her drawn, translucent curtains, rolling over her exposed neck and cheeks and painting her skin with warmth. She smiled slightly, listening to the cheerful chirping of the birds the flitted about just outside the window of her bedroom.
'Relaxation is a wonderful thing.' The woman thought with a contented sigh, shifted her head so that she could see the face of her alarm clock. The tiny device looked used and worn, though the thing was only a few months old. Its appearance was due to Ishizu's violent attacks on it every morning when the clock's shrill cry roused her from the realm of dreams far too soon for her liking. Thankfully for the clock, however, it was Sunday so its services had not been needed and it had been saved from Ishizu's fist. The little red numbers upon its face read ten o'clock.
Ishizu groaned with displeasure, loath the leave the warm comfort of her sheets but fully aware of the effects her continued dozing would inflict upon her already protesting stomach. Letting out a disappointed breath, the woman rose, snatching her bathrobe off a nearby chair and swathing herself in the fabric.
As she left her bedroom, the noises of scuffling reached her ears. She rolled her eyes, following the sounds to the kitchen whereupon she found her brother Malik rummaging through her cabinets. She leaned against the open doorway that separated living room and eating area and cocked a perfectly sculpted brow. "I thought I changed the locks." Ishizu stated to her sibling's back.
Malik turned around, a cracker hanging out of his mouth and a smile upon his engorged face. "Fifer!" the muffled greeting wove around the mound of food in Malik's maw, small chewed bits spewing outwards.
"Please swallow before you kill yourself." Ishizu gagged, averting her eyes from the nauseating sight. "And clean that up."
Malik struggled for several moments before succeeding in his endeavor, his face twisting into pained expression as he stretched his throat past its normal capacity. He grinned at her again once his airway was completely clear, leaning over to quickly mop up his "mouth spew" with a paper towel he ripped unevenly from the roll nearby.
"If I keep feeding you I'll end up starving to death." Ishizu muttered, skirting the area Malik was cleaning with a look of distaste. "I only buy for one you know."
"But you can't just let a poor, helpless college student starve to death!" Malik cried in passionate dismay, tossing the paper towels into the trash and placing a hand over his heart. "I'm studying to improve my future! If I don't get fed then I won't be able to concentrate! I'll fail all my exams and without a college education what kind of job could I get?! I'd end up living on the streets all because you didn't want to spare a few measly scraps of bread! Would you want that sister?" He was on his knees, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.
Ishizu fought the urge to point out that Malik was eating far more than "a few measly scraps of bread" but thought better of it, ruffling her brother's platinum blond locks with a dejected sigh. "I guess it's better to take care of you now then be stuck with a hobo mooching off me the rest of my life."
"Excellent!" Malik sprung upwards, hugging his sister around her thin waist before continuing his pilfering though her pantry.
"You could get a job and buy your own food instead of treating me like your own personal grocery store." She intoned as she pulled a gallon of milk out of the refrigerator and grabbed a box of cereal off the shelf. Not the healthiest breakfast, but Ishizu didn't feel much like cooking at the moment.
"And waist my time working when I could be studying?! I thought you cared about my education!" Malik's tone was incredulous, but a smirk painted his face.
Ishizu merely chuckled in response.
"Besides," he continued as he settled next to her at the table, his arms laden with what appeared to be the entire contents of her pantry. "You're much better than a grocery store. Everything I get here is free!"
Ishizu rolled her eyes, contemplating the ways she could possibly have Malik repay her while her brother opened a packet of what appeared to be coco powder and snatched the milk from Ishizu's other side.
"What are you...?" she asked as the boy emptied the packet's entire contents into his mouth, but she stopped when he brought the mouth of the milk jug to his lips and took a hardy swig.
"Ewww Malik! That's sick." She moaned in disgust, her appetite suddenly leaving her as the boy swished the concoction around in his mouth for a moment before swallowing.
"No my dear sister, that is chocolate milk."
Ishizu fought the urge to vomit.
Another thing that Ishizu loved about Sunday mornings was that she didn't have to rush during her hygienic and cosmetic rituals. She enjoyed the fact that she actually had time in which to apply her makeup properly and actually look at what she was wearing rather than throw the closest thing on and sprint out the door. That, and take long, warm showers.
Ishizu sighed as she stepped in the spray, the water rolling pleasantly over her tanned skin in miniature streams. It was the perfect temperature, just hot enough so that goose bumps didn't rise over her skin and just cool enough so that the glass shower door didn't fog up. Flawless.
Letting out a happy breath, Ishizu squirted some shampoo into her hand and ran the substance through her ebony locks, lavishing in the jasmine aroma it emitted.
After she finished cleaning her hair and body, Ishizu lifted a razor for the shower shelf, intending to remove any unwanted stubble from her limbs. As the cold metal met her flesh however, the scene before her eyes swam, morphing into a completely different picture.
Ishizu let out a cry of pain, staggering from the shower stall as blood trickled down her leg, a long, thin cut in her upper thigh the source of the ceaseless bleed…
Ishizu's eyes snapped back open, fear now reflected in their depths. She knew what had just occurred, had been familiar with the sensation for as long as she could remember. Another vision.
"Never interfere with the will of fate."
Ishizu brought the blade back to her skin, dragging it up as she would in any other situation. The only difference this time was the fact that her hands were trembling with fear. She could take pain. She could not take the anticipation of pain.
"Never interfere with the will of fate."
Things like this happened for a reason. There was no avoiding them. Fate would always find a way to make them occur. One way or another it would happen, and Ishizu would rather it be by her own hand then by some random act of violence.
She brought the blade up again using light, even strokes.
But that didn't make it any less scary.
Just as Ishizu switched the blade to her other leg, her foot slipped on a bar of soap she'd accidentally left upon the ground. She fell backwards, her elbow ramming awkwardly into the shower wall at just the right angle for the hand wielding the blade to slip forward and slice across her upper thigh.
Ishizu let out a cry of pain dropping the razor in shock as her hands fell to her wound. Tears sparkled in her eyes as she stumbled blindly out of the shower, searching desperately for a towel to stem the flowing crimson river the rand the length of her leg.
"Never interfere with the will of fate."
She had seen it coming, but that didn't make the pain any less great.
Ishizu strode down the streets of downtown Domino, dragged along by an enthusiastic Malik who held a vice like grip upon her wrist. The woman winced as each step sent little shivers of pain up her left leg. She absentmindedly touched the bandaged appendage, the morning's vision flickering through her mind once more.
"Never interfere with the will of fate."
Fate it seemed, placed great importance in even the most minor of circumstances. Every event Ishizu saw within her mind's eye was preordained. Destined to occur no matter what she did to the contrary. And it was always better to just let fate run its intended course. So much could be affected by even the simplest of interferences. Ishizu could have saved herself from the pain and what would probably turn out to be a week long limp, but what adverse effect would that lead to? Ishizu didn't want to know. She stroked the bandaged leg gently.
Ishizu was almost glad that Malik did not know the pain she was in at present. He would have insisted that they stay home, and she really didn't want to ruin his day off by keeping him house bound when the boy had been so hell-bent on shopping today. Another strange facet of his flamboyant personality- Malik simply loved buying things.
She giggled as he immerged from the nearest store, arms laden with a formidable amount of paper bags all displaying the names to the store where he had purchased the merchandise they contained. She opted to sit outside, offering that she wasn't really interested in any of the store's products as an excuse to rest her aching leg.
"I'm just going to the one next door. Do you want to come with or are you just going to keep sitting there?" Malik asked a plea in his eyes for her companionship.
Ishizu laughed inwardly, pretending to give the store some serious contemplation before shaking her head and smiling up at Malik. "I think I'll be fine out here just waiting for you."
Malik let out a disappointed huff of rejection, dropping his bags in the empty space next to his sister. "Fine, but could you please watch my stuff for me."
She nodded, eying the large mass of shopping bags with wonder. "How exactly are you paying for this 'Mr. I-Can't-Even-Feed-Myself'." She questioned, raising her eyebrows.
He grinned at her, flashing a piece of plastic before her nose. "Odion's credit card." He crowed triumphantly, stroking the edges of the synthetic currency fondly. "I swear I asked for his permission before borrowing it!' he added defensively, throwing his hands up as he noticed the slightly angry glare Ishizu directed at him. "…the first time."
Before Ishizu could even respond Malik sprinted into the next store, disappearing in a crowd of shoppers. She glared at her injured leg, the ball and chain that kept her from chasing after the boy. Ishizu sighed, leaning back against the bench. She'd get him latter when he came back. After all, he had left her with all his stuff.
Her triumphant grin at that thought faltered as one of the people walking down the street caught her eye. The boy was decently tall, with sandy blond hair that hung slightly into his honey colored eyes. His clothing bespoke of a lower middle class citizen, however, the air around him seemed to shimmer with confidence and pride. But it was not the boy's physical appearance or mannerisms that caught the Egyptian woman's attention. The moment her eyes landed upon him, her vision flickered. The world before her swam as she was sucked into the vision materializing within her mind.
The blond stood on the corner of the street his hand stretched outwards in a vain attempt to hail one of the taxies. With a satisfied sigh he finally managed to snag the attention of one of the vehicles which pulled up in front of him. As he went to open the door to the car, however, another man pushed him aside, quickly entering the taxi and slamming the door closed. The indignant blond lifted himself on the ground, intent on reclaiming his stolen ride home. He pummeled the glass and chased after the taxi once it headed off down the street, shouting profanities as he went. He couldn't run fast enough to keep up with the car though. Muttering one last curse under his breath, the boy turned away only to be greeted by the speeding front of another car. The bumper met his midriff and he fell to the concrete.
And there was blood. So much blood…
The vision flickered and died, Ishizu returning to full awareness only to find her cheeks were wet with tears. She touched her face, her fingers trembling violently. She had foreseen death before. Since the beginning. And she had stood by and watched as death occurred.
"Never interfere with the will of fate."
Fate was always right. Destiny could not be turned from its chosen path. Everything happened for a reason.
And yet Ishizu found herself rising from her bench, her limbs acting without thought or command, guiding her towards the doomed boy who now stood upon the corner trying to hail a taxi.
It was just to make sure no one interfered. To make sure that the flow of fate was not disrupted.
He had finally succeeded in catching a cabby's attention.
She was performing her duty. Ensuring the will of destiny.
He was being pushed aside. His pride stung, he chased after the vehicle.
She was a vessel. A witness. One to see. Never to interfere. But then why was she running?
Ishizu's feet pounding the ground as she raced after the blond boy, ignoring the pain that jolted through her leg with each step, and the frantic beat of her heart, and ever part of her that was screaming that this was so very wrong.
The boy was faster than she. Ishizu would never be able to reach him. She didn't know why that thought injected her heart with ice cold fear or why her legs suddenly propelled her faster than she had ever run before.
Her hand fastened around his collar. The boy cried out in shock as Ishizu yanked him to her side road just as the car that would have been his demise, the car that was destined to be his demise, flew past them, the oblivious driver chatting away animatedly on his cell phone.
They stood there for a moment, panting, trying to regain equilibrium after the wild sprint. Then the boy turned, his gaze finding hers. His honeyed eyes were full of awe and wonder. Ishizu stopped breathing.
"Y-you…?" he stuttered, dumbfounded. "You just…how…?"
And Ishizu ran. She ran back down the street, her feet slamming madly into the concrete. Away from the beautiful boy with the honeyed colored eyes, away from the shame and the guilt and the fear, away from the vile act of disobedience she had just committed.
"Never interfere with the will of fate."
But she had and now who knew what would happen.
It was raining outside. The droplets splattered against her window, rattling the glass within its pane as the heavens screamed their lamentations to the earth below.
Ishizu pulled the blankets tighter around her quivering form, burying her face in the sheets in an attempt to find a sense of peace that was reluctant to come. The usually blessing hands of sleep refused her entry and she trembled, closing her eyes tightly in a vain attempt to slip away into the numb void of unconsciousness.
She just didn't want to feel anymore.
The unpredictable barrage of the storm outside mirrored the tormented thoughts that plagued her mind. She had failed. She had betrayed the laws of fate and gone against everything she believed in. And the worst part was she didn't even know why.
That boy, that beautiful boy…Ishizu didn't even know his name. What delirium had possessed her when she saved his life? 'No…' Ishizu thought, pulling the sheets closer to herself. 'I didn't save his life. I gave him the hope that he would not die young while dooming him to die another day.'
Hot tears breached their barriers and spilled down Ishizu's cheeks. What was wrong with her? Nothing before had ever caused her to go against her duties. Not even the knowledge that she or another loved one was going to be hurt. And yet that boy, the boy with the honey colored eyes, he made her forgo everything she had ever believed in.
Why?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the beeping of her answering machine. She half listened as the irate voice of her boss sounded through the device, screaming at for already missing a day and demanding that she come to work or risk loosing her job. Ishizu shivered once more, turning away from the phone and burrowing deeper into the comfort of her pillow. She couldn't deal with work right now. She couldn't really deal with anything except the twisting torrent of her thoughts and the beautiful face of a nameless boy.
"Ishizu?" Malik's voice was muffled by the closed door but she knew it was him all the same.
She mustered up what little energy she had left and said softly, in voice straining against tears. "Yes?"
"I was just wondering if my friend and I could do our school work here." His voice was soft, placating. He knew his sister was in pain, though he didn't ask what had upset her so. "The storm blew out the power in our dorm building and this was the first place I thought of coming."
"Fine." Ishizu croaked in response, not really caring who Malik's friend was.
She hid her face in the folds of her comforter, breathing in the fresh scent of the linens. And suddenly, for some odd reason, sleep finally welcomed her with open arms, smothering her with its embrace. And Ishizu slept her dreams filled with warm honey eyes.
It was a few hours later that Ishizu woke to the indignant vibrations of her stomach. She hadn't eaten anything all day, and she was beginning to feel the repercussions of such an act. Groaning slightly, she rolled over into a sitting position. Her entire body was stiff, but thankfully, miraculously, her heart was not as leaden as it had been before she slipped into unconsciousness. The guilt and the pain were still there, she could feel them stabbing at her insides with ever breath she took, but they were duller now, more subdued, as if another force held them at bay.
Ishizu rose from her bed, intent on gathering some form of sustenance from her kitchen. The storm still howled outside, lightening forking down and casting her silhouette against the wall every few steps.
As her hand fisted around the doorknob, however, Ishizu's heart stopped. There were voices issuing from the other side of her door. One she recognized as her brother. The other made the blood freeze within her veins and yet set her heart pounding rapidly within her breast. 'It couldn't be…'
"Are you sure you'll be alright driving home in this whether Jounouchi? I'm sure my sister wouldn't mind if you spent the night here. It's safer that way." Malik's voice held concern. Ishizu could perfectly picture the imploring expression upon his face within her mind's eye.
"I would dude, but I got to get home. I promised my sister I'd stop by her place today before heading back to the dorms and I just can't say no to that girl."
That voice. Ishizu knew that voice. She remembered it stuttering at her from between smooth lips as a pair of honey colored eyes gazed at her in amazement. It was him. The boy. The nameless boy. 'No.' Ishizu's mind corrected her. 'Jounouchi'
The sound of his voice, the knowledge that he was only feet from her, that the cause of all sorrow made Ishizu want to flee from the spot or fling the door open and simply gaze upon him.
She did none of these things, however, remaining routed to the spot, her ear pressed against the wood of the door.
Jounouchi spoke once more and Ishizu clung to his every word as though it was gold. "Shizuka says she wants to see me before going into surgery tomorrow. She's going blind and they're going to try one last thing to save her vision."
The way he spoke about the girl, with such warm tenderness, melted Ishizu's heart. A small smile tugged at her lips and she pressed herself closer to hear better when all of the sudden the door before her swam, the room around her dissolving as she slipped into her mind.
Jounouchi stood at the door of his car, shifting through his pockets desperately as he looked for his keys and cursing the dim lighting that obstructed his view. Letting out a sudden cry of triumph, the blond pulled the desired object from his pocket and held it in the air, only to swear loudly once more as the wet metal slipped out from between his fingers and fell to the ground. The boy fell to his hands and knees forgoing the cleanliness of his clothing for the sake of finding the key in the half light. As his honey eyes roamed the ground, the rain gutter of Ishizu's house began to creak ominously, it rusted bolts breaking and causing the metal pipe to swing forward like a giant club. Jounouchi's form straitened, the key held aloft, and the rain gutter met the soft flesh of the back of his neck.
And the blood and rain washed down the street.
"Bye Malik."
Ishizu's eyes snapped open just as Jounouchi closed the door to her house.
"Never interfere with the will of fate."
This was her chance, her chance to redeem herself in the eyes of fate. All she had to do was stay put and let destiny run its course.
But Ishizu couldn't stay still. She was running.
Ishizu flung her bedroom door open and dashed madly down the hall, ignoring the questions Malik hollered to her back, ignoring the part of her conscience that knew she was wrong, ignoring the piece of her heart that died as she abandoned everything she was and everything she had ever been.
She threw open the front door and ran to the spot were Jounouchi stood, key held aloft, a triumphant gleam in his beautiful honey colored eyes. The storm howled around her, Ishizu's feet slipping and sliding on the lubricated ground. But she didn't care. She couldn't see anything but the boy before her. "Jounouchi!" she screamed, flinging herself at him.
Jounouchi let out a cry of shock as her form collided with his, knocking the breath from his lungs. The pair fell to ground right as the rain gutter made its ark across the space their heads had occupied a split second before. The air the metal pipe disrupted as it past rippled over the surface of Jounouchi's face, making the miniscule hairs that dotted every inch of his skin stand on end.
Jounouchi's back collided with the wet earth sending a cascade of water into the air. He peered up at the woman lying on top of him, pure shock written across his features.
Her ebony locks hung wet and limp around her flushed face, her dark eyes filled with some wild emotion Jounouchi couldn't quite place. She was beautiful, even though she was soaking wet and shivering in her lank clothing. "You're Malik's sister." It was meant to be a question, but somehow sounded like a statement of fact. As though he had known all along. "You're Ishizu."
She nodded her brilliant head, a flush painting her cheeks as she realized the position they were in. She quickly rolled off of him, leaning against the wall of her house as her breath came in and out in deep, desperate gulps.
Jounouchi sat up, gasping heavily as he gazed at her. "You saved my life." It was an obvious thing, but he felt the need to say it out loud, as though it would confirm something within him.
To his surprise Ishizu's eyes began to sparkle with tears, her breathing becoming more shallow and urgent. "I wasn't supposed to…" she whispered so softly he could barely catch her words over the roar of the storm around them. "I wasn't supposed to…"
He barely knew her and what little he did know was whatever stories Malik felt up to sharing with him. And yet in that moment he reached out and clasped her hand, wanting-no- needing to be closer to her. Her fingers locked around his without hesitation, as though it was a natural as breathing.
"I wasn't supposed to…" she murmured again, not meeting his gaze. "You were supposed to die…I…fate has said that you are to die. Destiny has tried to kill you…twice…but I…" She didn't care that she must sound like a raving lunatic. She didn't care that she was spilling her deepest secret to a boy she didn't even know. Her fixed upon the hand holding her and the tears finally spilled over "…I stopped it…"
Jounouchi knew what he was hearing was insane. Maybe it was the adrenaline or that fact that he had nearly died twice in the past two days. Maybe it was simply the influence of his hormones or the strange hypnotic effects of the billowing storm. But he believed her.
Jounouchi placed his hand upon Ishizu's wet cheeck, turning her head so that she was forced to look into his eyes. "I don't know if I believe in fate." He whispered slowly, his thumb wiping the trailing tears from Ishizu's face. "Or destiny or the idea that everything has already be arranged by some other being out there." He pulled her closer, his honey colored eyes burning with passion. "But if it was destiny's idea that I should die…if it was decided by fate that I would never meet you," he brought his own face closer until their noses brushed against each other and their breaths mingles in the space before their mouths.
"Then destiny can go fuck itself."
And Jounouchi kissed her.
There always one rule. One law. One unspoken decree to which she must pledge her unyielding loyalty. One simple phrase. Barely even a sentence.
"Never interfere with the will of fate."
But that night, in the mist of a howling storm, held close in the arms of a beautiful boy, Ishizu decided that destiny might not always be right.
A/N: What do you think? I really liked my idea for this story but the finished product…...Anyway, can you believe I originally planned this out to be humor? Weird how it turned out. I blame my fickle muse. But what I really wanted to ask was if you agree with Ishizu and believe that destiny isn't always right. Think about it. Ishizu hurt her leg because of destiny which caused her to wait outside the shop for Malik which led to her having the vision about Jounouchi which led to the lovely two scenes where she saves his life. (run-on) So was their love really a defiance of destiny or was it fate's will all along? *shrug* You decide.
Also, the angst scene with Ishizu is how I think she would react to going against everything she was before. In Yugioh, Ishizu always clutches to destiny and how it's always right and bla, bla, bla so I portrayed her as one who had just scraped her entire belief system. Kind of like when you learn Santa isn't real. It hurts and the whole "Everything I know is a lie" comes into play. Anyway, I hope you liked this! Please review!