A/N: In advance, sorry, I didn't have a beta this tier so... I don't know if this makes any sense or not. As always, criticism will be greatly appreciated~

For YGO Fanfiction Contest tier 4. Rishid x Kawai Shizuka.

A sequel from Burning Bridges...

Blood Ties

Rishid put his hand to the exact point in which his heart beat, carrying traces of warm blood throughout his body. His left knee touched the ground and while kneeling, he was careful enough to direct his eyes toward the lowly shoes that he was allowed to use. All in harmony with the orders of his master, all in accordance with the rules imposed on him and the rest of the employees.

Marik Ishtar walked around the room, ignoring the man, though no less pleased to know that his orders were laws among those living in the lower neighborhoods of Dessedia. He needed to engineer a perfect plan to achieve his goal, he needed to anticipate his opponent's every move, every move absurd, risky but winner. Jonouchi Katsuya was known by that, precisely. He risked a lot in the gambling, winning even more. He didn't seem to care about the police, the authorities headed by a young man that looked like a child and no one could catch him, which angered Marik.

He had met Jonouchi three years ago, the rumors said his heart was splitted and left behind, that he was a efficient murderer, cold-blooded, ready for anything. He verified such gossip and with great satisfaction for at least a month, he made wonderful business with this man at his side, Jonouchi looked like a statue, but with unerring inmortality. It was a productive month, weeks in which he didn't even thought that it wouldn't last forever; the thief, the murderer, that soulless life still full of strength to wield a knife, left, sick of the boredom and tedium, taking almost everything that had won for him.

Marik had been tricked and that was something he couldn't even conceive. The money could be recovered, it was always possible to sell anything on the black market, and get others things of value to satisfy customers. But he couldn't recover his lost pride until the insult was paid with death. And Jonouchi Katsuya deserved to die for tricked him. So, forgetting the shipments of perfect minds —ripped-intelligence of another person, a beautiful gem the size of a diamond that could be implanted to those who will pay enough for it—, that arrived that day, he had called Rishid to his office with the thought of trust him the plan that would lead him to revenge.

"Find her", he said suddenly, spreading his arms toward the sky as if trying to embrace the air, his face was distorted by anger and nothing remained of the boy Rishid knew so well from their younger years, the kid who wanted to be the king of the world. "Find that bastard's sister and then we'll see if he hasn't no heart to rescue her."

Behind him was a table, in the black room full of boxes containing things both precious and stolen. A single photography lying over the polished surface, reflecting light from the chandelier, as dull as everything else. In this picture a teenager with brown hair was smiling, in her eyes he guessed a happy life and an even better future, an innocent woman who would be the perfect lure, the perfect victim.

"Kawai Shizuka, she's your target", the photography fell at his feet, but Rishid didn't took it, he wasn't allowed to raise up his head. The faded smile in the photography formed a knot in his throat. "Find her, bring her here. Alive. Well, if you prefer, you can play around with her before that."

Leaning on the table with a theatrical gesture, his white teeth flashed with an evil smirk, Marik told him to leave, thinking that Rishid would love his suggestion. The man rose from his site and bowed briefly out of respect, the photography tightly clutched in his right hand, as if afraid that the Shizuka of the photography could escape and with her... his future.

"The rest you can get it with the Rare Hunters. Address, location..."

Marik turned his back to Rishid to contemplate his distorted reflection in the wooden table, savoring revenge with every part of his body. He didn't bothered to listen to the reply of the other, he didn't care. Kawai Shizuka would die on that table, would suffer and pay for a crime she did not commit. Jonouchi would come, he surely would come —What were those stupid rumors that he had splitted his own heart? That was impossible— and then... Things would return to normal after a big fight, some shots and blood around. Blood in that very table! The beginning and end of the cycle of revenge! He laughed to the air, satisfied. Very soon...

Interestingly, Rishid also wanted things to get back to normal and with that in mind, hoping that everything would end once and for all, he shut the door of the warehouse that served them as a secret base, but not before muttering:

"At your service, brother."

Marik's laughter, of course, prevented him from hearing the latter.

.

Rishid wade through the streets of the city, overlooking, as he approached the shore, more and more poor lands. Houses built with pieces of old wood and sometimes even cardboard. The sun, the great sun which orbited Dessedia, reflected on the surfaces of metal its powerful beam. The floors immaculate white and almost forgotten wounded his sight by reflecting the sun's rays almost like a mirror as he was passing on, as if to stop him from achieving his goal. But he was there, after some weeks of research, he was on the right track.

He didn't believe in Jonouchi's story until he heard it from the mouth of the neighbors: indeed, he had splitted his heart and had escaped to lead the life he knew perfectly, leaving his family behind. For Shizuka, who lived with his mother, was impossible to find him, as the days passed to became weeks and then months, which turned out to be years, the hope to recover him back were reduced and with it the joy of the girl. Whenever she heard of the crimes committed by him, the few and futile attempts to catch him by the police and detectives, she started to lose the sense of reality. And it was only a fateful day in which she saw the bodies on TV when she decided that it was enough.

Shizuka, like his brother, accomplished a feat that not even Marik, who liked to trade and sell all kinds of qualities of body, could have dreamed. She pulled off her view. She deprived her brown eyes of the ability to see and with the form of a million tears —those that she needed to mourn, said the neighbors—, she soon stopped seeing the world around her. However, not content with that, too, she had escaped from her home, her well-off and peaceful life, leaving her mother hysterical.

No one knew where she was or so they said, the only thing they found it had been her tears that looked like silver gems, pieces of her ability to look at the world in which she lived. The last he heard of her was that she was living apart from the world and no one else, except her mother, was interested enough to find her; also he heard rumors that she had become as ruthless as his brother. Rishid doubted that this were true, how could someone blind be ruthless? How could she even fend for herself?

The man kept walking, dodging a labyrinth of streets that seemed endless under that terrible sun. He still wasn't sure of the value of the last track he had achieved after paying a large sum of money to a suspicion man in a tavern, but it was the last thing he had left. The man had come to him in the shadows, muttering that he knew where the girl was, that beauty too stubborn.

"At the limits of the city", the man had said, stinking and with glassy eyes, "Beneath the bridge to Emerald City, there is a white house made of wood. The little fugitive has lived there almost for a year."

Then the man had asked for more shots until everything he said became meaningless, worthy of a drunken babbling. Rishid had to wait until the next morning to follow the track he had been given and it wasn't until several days later, after moving from the city to the edge of it on foot, when he felt a faint hope.

Hope that increased when the structure mentioned by that man appeared in his field of vision, so poor and so small that again made him question whether Shizuka could survive in that strange and polluted environment. Well, he would find out and then everything would be reduced to following orders... to fulfill the
orders of his brother.

.

The sound of crashing pots and dishes being washed was all that filled the otherwise empty space in the only room that was Shizuka's home. The walls were moldy and had holes here and there that from time to time couldn't stand a good downpour. She had decided to leave her home in a moment of madness; and when she found herself alone, hungry and helpless, that was the only place she found. She didn't wanted to return to her home hungry and afraid, she didn't wanted to return to the safety of a nice life when his brother lived in the blood of his victims and dirty business, she didn't consider it fair. Shizuka thought that if somehow she also suffered from deprivation, she could understand him, understand why he committed such heinous acts... Forgive him, because nobody in society would do it, except Yuugi-san, perhaps.

So her days had become blurred in the same routine: get money, get food and protect her makeshift home. Now that she couldn't see, her hands and ears alerted her from all the dangers they could, but occasionally they couldn't save her in a street fight for control of that humble home but needed by many. The last week she had to fight against another woman and even with fear surfacing in her chest, Shizuka managed to win with some luck and with a cut on her left cheek, done with a broken glass bottle that from time to time tormented her as she hoped it not to be infected. Next time, if it was a man and not a woman, if he was armed and didn't care to kill... Shizuka was fully aware of it.

Shizuka would have to find another place soon, she would have to sell the rest of the tears that she had carried for so many months that were so valuable and expensive... the remains of her lost vision, which gave her sustenance to live without too many worries... She would have to...

A noise alerted her, footsteps on the gravel ringing in her ears, with such power that even the clatter of dishes being washed was overshadowed by them. Would it be a man? Yes, she was sure by the cadence of the steps that it was. Would he want a fight? A shudder ran through her body with the strenght of lightning, but she didn't let this stop her, a fierce expression surfaced on her face and before taking her stuff, very small but still significant, she had already decided to face the stranger.

She wouldn't die without fight. She wouldn't lose without fighting. Her brother had taught her about that and it was the last thing she wanted to do as a last tribute to a man who didn't care that she existed.

.

Rishid was surprised when his footsteps on the gravel and filth that protected Shizuka's house were overshadowed by the sound of others which, of course, didn't belonged to him, he could tell by its melodic sound. He didn't expect that she was warned in some way and prepared to face him, but if so, the better. The fight —should— end with his victory, the mission complete.

The silhouette became visible as he approached, before naturally hidden by her dirty clothes, getting camouflage with the environment. Shizuka hadn't lost the air of teenager of the photography that was in his hands and was done many years ago, the only difference lied in her features that seemed to have hardened, no doubt for all the pains she had to endure in her life, the burden of a sin and pain of someone else.

"Who's there?", they were now just five feet away of each other when it was she who first broke the silence. Which had once been her fragile hands were suspended protecting her face, as if she wanted to attack, though he knew she hadn't a single chance. He almost felt sorry for her, almost wanted to give her a pat on the head (as he did with Marik when he was a child), but he stopped, his hand gently stroking the dagger that was strongly tied to the belt on his pants. Weighed his chances, he estimated —as well as in the past when he had to protect his house—, what move would give him the advantage. "Who's there? I warn you that I can be blind, but I have other methods to know when someone's around my house and I know you're there. What do you want? Who are you...?" Her voice broke on a single sob and tears, that she thought would never fell again, washed her face smeared with dirt and mud.

Rishid realized that she harbored the vain hope that it would be Jonouchi Katsuya, with the help of a miracle and visibly repentant, who was at the door of her house to save her of her own mistakes. Shizuka even had made the mistake of lowering her guard, at which time he took the opportunity to get closer without being noticed. Soon, and thanks to a clever combination of speed and intelligence, he was behind her, holding her from behind, her once white female fists on her back.

That fired alerts in her mind that told Shizuka that this wasn't his brother, but of course it was too late. What fate would she face? What now? "I have not fought brother". She said with a mixture of sadness and anger, recomposing her features in a gesture of resignation. "I couldn't fight, because I'm still naive, I still believe that you will return and that the evil in the world doesn't exist."

"Now you'll come with me", the voice that spoke in her ear was powerful, by hearing it she imagined a tall, imposing man, but somehow not bad at all.

She was forced to move. Shizuka was moving at an average speed away from her house, perhaps away from her life and definitely away from her absurd hope of finding the lost brother she knew so well. She was moving away and all she cared to know was where, what kind of future would be imposed on her. Would it be bad?

"Where are we going? Where are you taking me?", when he didn't answer, she began to struggle but in vain. The man's hands were closed as handcuffs around her wrists and although it didn't hurt her, got their goal of not allowing any shrewd move from her part. "Why? I don't understand. Do you want that house? Is yours!"

The question made him stop. He struggled with her while trying to get the dagger in his pants and, as he find the courage to follow the orders given by Marik, even though he disliked it.

"That's none of your bussiness. Don't make me..." Rishid had finally released the knife from his belt and he wielded it close to her cheeks, where the sun broke in rays of light due to its edge. "Do you know the Blood Ties? Do you know that I can force you through them to do what I want?"

No one in Dessedia ignored the Blood Ties, they were the most unique and powerful spell on the planet, but still she didn't understand how they could threaten her. These bonds were granted at birth and linked people sharing the same blood forever, people liked to call it "family" as a friendly term, but that couldn't disguise the powerful magic that lay beneath the surface of this inexplicable phenomena. To put it simply, she and Katsuya shared a blood tie, however, it was weakened because Katsuya splitted his heart. They also shared ties with their parents... And everyone in Dessedia, grandparents and grandchildren, uncles and nephews... shared them as well. She knew and everybody knew as much as her, these ties weren't harmful, just kept the harmony between people of the same family, they made sure they wouldn't be separated long time and that was all.

She also had disposed of those ties. Perhaps her heart had remained intact, the sensitive memory, her illogical heart, beating in every one of her veins and each one of her breaths, but when she limited her ability to see, dropped her happy feelings for her former family and life, and escaped from home, she had limited hers, her own blood ties... Leaving her as a rag doll adrift in a river, with nothing to cling to. And then, what was said by this stranger? How could hurt her such a thing...?

"That's a lie", the woman replied with composure, as if she were in a crowded classroom, arguing against a classmate on a hypothesis that seemed to her crazy. "I'm not stupid, I know what they are and what they do. It's impossible."

"Ties works through blood, people who share the same blood shares special links, still unexplored, but powerful. If I cut you and cut my skin as well, if I mix our bloods, even in the slightest, what do you think would happen? Wouldn't that be a blood tie? Wouldn't that tie us together in harmony, so you would have to obey me?"

So she could understood that he was serious about his threat, although it wasn't true, the dagger was pressed gently on Shizuka's skin, making a clean cut that she didn't felt until the blood flowed from it, rolling down her cheek as if it was a tear.

"Who are you? Why?"

None of that made sense, that threat, the arrival of the stranger... Wasn't that a fight for her house? Would she face a worse fate than left without a roof to sleep under? For the second time she tried to escape from his grip, but with the same results... useless.

"I can't tell you, but I can show you."

For some moments nothing happened, which made Shizuka doubt if her captor was only teasing her, but then a burning in her left arm, which went straight to her brain, made her forget everything. Rishid had pierced one of his fingers almost gently and blood flowed for several seconds by his hand, which he placed on Shizuka's skin, so a drop of that blood, hot liquid, came in contact with her body. That wasn't a tie, but if Marik had done his research properly wanting something new to trade in the black market, blood would sing enough to tell her everything. Absolutely everything.

The little drop appeared to be absorbed through the white skin and it followed the path of her nerve endings, reaching her brain to tell a story, same that faded under her eyelids like a movie, though she always firmly believed that she would never see anything in her life anymore. The images move at their own pace, occasionally slow, occasionally jumping. Scenes from a past in which two children were playing in the sand, a sick woman who later died after telling him —she saw through his eyes and Shizuka now knew he's name was Rishid— to take care of Marik. The disastrous years of adolescence, Rishid's unconditional support to his brother... The wrong path he —Marik— had taken and then... After so many nights where Rishid apologized to his mother in dreams, his brother's appearance. Katsuya, described as the rumors, perhaps even worse. Katsuya and the debt he had left and that will be paid with her death, the reason she was taken away from her current home...

"He won't come", Shizuka said with a quiet voice, when memories were completed and returned her eyes into the darkness. "My brother, if indeed he is bad... He won't come. They can kill me if they are going to kill me, but he will not attend, I know. Now that I've seen, even if it is through these memories... How dumb can that Marik be to not realize? And how much more stupid can I be telling you this? Perhaps after all if I've lost my mind. Now do what you must do."

Shizuka's face twisted in a million of different gestures as memories ran under her eyelids, passing from surprise to sorrow, from pity to some hint of mockery. Rishid didn't need anyone to tell him, because he knew that his relationship with Marik was pathetic and his tie was already broken, but only came to confirm the awful truth after seeing it behind the blind eyes of someone looking for a brother who doesn't wanted or needed her — like he and Marik—, a true mirror of his despair in her brown eyes.

"No", he said. "I won't do this anymore", his hand released hers, giving Shizuka the freedom as much as himself. He back several steps and was about to leave when she spoke, seemed heartbroken.

"'Then stay here", he wasn't a strange anymore, he was Rishid, the man who even now loved his brother, who reminded her her pathetic and useless fight. "Rishid."

With her hand Shizuka wiped her grimy cheek, feeling the oppression and fear in her chest declined against all reason. Then she offered Rishid her hand with a few drops of her blood... She had grown to guess where the memories came from by its intensity. And he wanted to respond to these feelings.

The man shook his head, although she couldn't see, then seconded the action with a brief whisper to refuse the offer. He already knew enough.

"Stay here", repeated Shizuka, with a tearful smile as she offered her hand to the man.

Rishid sighed and closed his eyes, holding the dagger with all his remaining forces, the rays of the dying sun on the horizon still reverberating beneath his closed eyelids. Then, he wielded it and made a clean cut —with a little pain— in his right hand from which blood began to flow with overwhelming speed.

The youngest Jonouchi withdrew her hand against her chest and waited, feeling the smell of oxide in the space between them. She didn't know what to expect and jumped when the man took her hand, almost as if he asked for her permission, which she gave him with a small nod.

Minutes later, Rishid's hand, which was bleeding profusely, lay on her wound cheek and both bloods began to beat at the same time within two different hearts, although mixed by that simple act.

Shizuka smiled. A Blood Tie.

The explanations, of course, would come later.

THE END.