Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the Yu-Gi-Oh! characters portrayed in this story. I do, however, own Alaina and the storyline of this fan fiction.
Chapter One: Daily Life
Hidden in emotion;
hidden in the pain.
Hoping for so many things,
but it's all in vain.
"Who can explain the incident of Pearl Harbor to the class?"
A girl in her late teens sighed and drew meaningless symbols around the short poem she had written during the lesson. History was one of her best subjects, yet she had no desire to express her knowledge of the topic during that particular class.
Occasionally, her thoughts dwelled to her unrequited emotions and it brought her spirits crashing down. Those moods happened once every few weeks and she despised those occasions. Not only could her best friend recognize when such a mood claimed her, but she refused to tell him the truth about why she felt that way. More often than not, she blamed monthly issues he wouldn't want details of.
Leaning back in her chair, the girl twisted a strand of long black hair, adorned with natural blonde tips, around her index finger and cast a glance around the room. Her violet-colored eyes met brown and a forced smile appeared on her lips.
"Alaina, are you alright?" Ryou mouthed in her direction, worry flicking across his expression. His observation skills were both what fascinated her and annoyed her at times. Whenever something bothered her, Ryou picked up on it in no time flat. Only Ryou's brother's skills surpassed his.
"Yeah," Alaina stated silently with a nod. "I'm fine."
Though Ryou frowned at her answer, he turned back to the front of the class as the teacher resumed his explanations and began taking notes. She knew Ryou was aware she had lied, but she couldn't burden him with her petty problems. Friends or not, it just wasn't worth it.
"Miss Muto, are you paying attention?"
A slight flush crept up from her neck to her cheeks upon being caught lost in thought, but she forced it down as she looked at the teacher. "Yes, sir," she told him. "I am."
He stared at Alaina for a moment with a stern, contemplative gaze. "Very well. Then I'm sure you'll be able to summarize what I was just explaining?"
Her discussion with the teacher drew the attention of other students, including her brothers and their friends, not to mention others who were not fond of her. Alaina knew some students hoped she would flunk and get scolded by the teacher, or detention. Those who knew her well knew otherwise, but it never stopped people from hoping she'd lose her know-it-all status.
"…Of course," she said, silently thanking the fact that she had read about it in her text book before. "You were explaining how the Pearl Harbor incident was in 1941 on… December 7th I believe, during the Second World War. The military base Pearl Harbor was located in Hawaii and our own Japanese navy fleet attacked it and managed to sink many American battleships and other ship types."
Alaina took a soft breath and picked her pencil up off her desk, meeting her teacher's gaze. Out of the corner of her eyes, Alaina spotted Ryou looking at her with a smile on his face; it suited him much better than the frown he wore earlier. That sight caused a sincere smile of her own to appear and she twirled the thin pencil between her fingers.
"Very good," the man in front of the class complimented. The surprised glint in his eyes showed he hadn't expected her to know the information. He turned his attention away from her and regarded the entire class. "Well, since the bell will ring in not too long… You may leave now, but don't forget to finish your assignments for next Wednesday!"
"Yes," Joey yelled and clapped his hands together. "Early weekend!"
She spotted her brother Yugi as he laughed and packed his things into his bag. "I guess we can go to the arcade early."
"Yeah," Tristan agreed with a grin. "I'm going to beat Joey at that shooting game!"
"Nu-Uh!"
Shaking her head, Alaina shut her book and notebook and slid the two objects into her bag, followed by her pencil case. As Alaina stood up and slung her backpack over her right shoulder, also grabbing a small extra bag, she spotted her friend standing next to her desk.
"Coming?" Ryou asked with a smile. "We need to work on that assignment."
"Yeah. Your house, right?"
Ryou nodded, "Let's go."
With that said, Alaina followed Ryou out the classroom and through the not-yet-busy hallways. If they hadn't been allowed to leave early, the halls would have bustled with life as students rushed to grab things from their lockers and leave. Now, they didn't need to maneuver between other students who rushed to go home or do weekend activities. Exiting the school together, they stepped into the sunny spring weather.
Alaina glanced up at the sky as golden rays caressed her skin and enjoyed the light breeze that brought life to her hair. Her hair lifted before settling back to her mid-back. Save for the stray white clouds spread throughout the heavens, the sky shone a stunning shade of aquamarine.
A heavy sigh left Alaina's lips as she and Ryou crossed the pavement and headed to his home; Ryou glanced at her, worry covering his expression after hearing her sigh. Alaina ignored that look, hoping he would leave the matter.
To her relief, Ryou lived near Domino High so the walk didn't take much time. The two friends walked in silence for the most part, neither speaking with the other; Alaina hated the tense atmosphere that settled over them. Ryou's house came into view only minutes later and after twisting the key in the lock, Ryou led her into the building.
"Are you certain you're alright?" Ryou questioned her with a frown, breaking the stillness.
"Yes, Ryou," she assured him, though his question helped remind her of the mood she found herself in. "I'm fine."
Ryou watched her for a moment longer before conceding with a sigh. "Alright, let's work on our assignment."
"The sooner we finish, the better," Alaina said with a small smile. "I'll be right there; I need to change, you know?"
A soft laugh escaped him and he shook his head. "I'll be in the family room, preparing our things." To further accentuate his point, Ryou left her behind as he entered said-room; she assumed to get his laptop booted up.
Casting a glance at her school uniform, Alaina scowled. She dealt with it during class, but afterwards she always changed out of the horrid outfit, first thing. Since Alaina had known she'd go to Ryou's house after class, she had brought a set of clothes with her; anything to get rid of the uniform.
Alaina ascended the staircase and entered Ryou's bedroom, shutting the door behind her with a soft click. For added certainty, she twisted the key to lock it; she didn't need Ryou, or worse, Bakura walking in on her unannounced.
Relieved to be rid of the awful colors, Alaina stripped herself of the clothes Domino High required girls to wear and pulled her own garments from the extra bag. Moments later, Alaina stood fully dressed in her own attire – a pair of dark blue jeans and a turquoise tank top.
Gripping the black chain that hung around her neck, Alaina tugged the ornament that hung off of it out from beneath her top so it rested above it. The ornament was a silver Ankh with hieroglyphs carved into it; a gift she'd gotten from both Yugi and Yami on her seventeenth birthday. She could hardly believe that almost a year had passed since then. Last but not least, Alaina removed several thin silver bracelets from her bag and slid them onto her right wrist.
Alaina shook her arm, enjoying the cool sensation of the bracelets on her skin and then remembered she and Ryou had an assignment to do. After leaving the room, Alaina descended the stairs and entered the family room. Surprise reflected in her eyes upon seeing two sets of white hair, rather than one. Alaina hadn't expected to see Bakura there so soon; as far as she knew, he usually did other things after class.
Why did he have to come home early?
Not allowing her heartbeat to speed up at the sight of him, Alaina coaxed herself mentally into forcing herself to stay calm as she sat down next to Ryou. Silently, Alaina cursed her slight interest in the elder, darker twin. All reasoning screamed at her to hate him, yet the opposite reigned true; it didn't matter that he and her brothers hated each other, a deep-seated hatred that went back millennia. No, her emotions chose to betray what should have been and caused a much different thing: A crush.
"Got everything ready?" From the look of Ryou's laptop, everything had worked out.
He nodded, "Yes. It looks like we got further with the assignment last time than we thought."
"Good," she stated, feeling slightly unnerved by Bakura's presence. "Then we'll be able to finish it sooner than we thought."
"Definitely. And I don't believe we have other homework, do we?"
She heard the television turn on and assumed Bakura was the one to start it; it hardly surprised her that he wasn't the least bit interested in listening to Ryou and her work on their homework. Bakura rarely seemed interested in anything besides dueling, plotting, and antagonizing others. Who, when and how depended on his mood.
"We don't," she confirmed and let out a laugh. "So let's get this over with so we can start our weekend!" In an attempt to ignore Bakura, Alaina decided to focus her attention on the work and get it finished as soon as possible.
Anything to get away from him.
The first chapter of my new story. It focuses on Yami Bakura and an Original Character, Alaina. There is much drama to come in future chapters, starting in chapter two.