Neko: Welcome to the new and improved Chapter One of Life's Inheritance, formerly known as Demon Child! I decided to pull a Queer Eye for the Straight Guy—minus the Queer part, of course—and give this fic a complete make over.
Hitori: Erm… please tell me how something can be both new and improved at the same time? If it's new, then what was there to improve on?
Neko: You know, I often wondered that myself… Well, anyways, thank you all who reviewed for all of your patients and support. Authors practically thrive off of them. I know I do to an extent. I hope that what I have done will ultimately make the story better and flow more easily than it has been.
Hitori: We do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor do we own Fujimia-sensei, who is loosely based off of Ran/Aya Fujimia from the Weiss Kreuz Hall of Fame. We do, however, own Ari and Ayako, as well as some other characters that shall appear later on in the story.
Chapter One (revised!!!)
Yugi listened to his teacher drone dully on the variations in pronunciation for a single word. Personally, he didn't see how important it was. Sure, learning a new language was a good thing, but it wasn't like he was going to jump onto the next plane to the United States and stay there for the rest of his life.
Not to mention that his teacher is the kind of person that one can only be with for short amounts of time.
At last the blessed bell rang. Memorizing his homework assignment, Yugi dashed out the classroom and hurried off to Study Hall. 'I wonder if I can get anybody to duel me…' the short adolescent aimlessly wondered; it was likely that somebody—better known as his best friend Jounouchi—would be more than happy to challenge the little champion.
Aibou, how much longer till we go back to the shop?
Yugi smiled at the obvious boredom and impatience of his other, darker half./Just a couple more classes, Yami. Bored?/
Who wouldn't be.
The short teen giggle softly as he sat himself next to his circle of friends. Anzu raised a questioning brow, and was answered by Yugi pointing to his Millennium Puzzle. She 'ah'-ed and gave a small nod of understanding.
"Anything new and exciting happen between lunch and now," Yugi asked, expecting the answer to be the same ol' 'nothing' that has been happening all week.
"Actually," Jounouchi stated, "me an' Honda though we saw a new student walkin' around the hall earlier."
"Hmm. Well that's certainly not what I expected," Yugi mused as the tall blonde grinned.
"Really? What did she look like? Is it a she? Oh I hope it is!" Anzu squealed.
"For you information, it's a guy, and we barely got a glimpse of him through the crowd," Honda said pointedly.
"Aww... and here I was hoping for a friend that knew of the importance of make up and fashion sense."
Jounouchi pointed and laughed the brunette, exclaiming, "Yeah, too bad you're stuck with us, eh? Ow!!! What was that for?" Jou rubbed his head where Anzu playfully smacked him with her backpack, everyone else laughing at the blonde's misfortune.
Ryou just sat off to the side while watching his friends' antics with a smile that seemed to say, "I know something you don't know…"
"Alright, settle down class," their teacher ordered. It actually took a few minutes for the class to calm down enough before Fujimia-sensei could continue. "Now, starting today, we have a new student. I would like for you all to try and make him feel accepted in here."
Some students mumbled to themselves as an agreement, while others leaned forward, eager to meet this new person.
"Alright Ari, you may enter," he called out through the open class door.
Arietta breathed deep, not knowing what to expect from her new classmates. She slowly stepped through the doorway, tucking a lock of silver hair behind her left ear. Almost as soon as she removed her hand, though, it fell forward in front of a sapphire eye, slightly obscuring the girl's view. She sighed, and ignored it as the teacher began to introduce her.
"Ari moved here from the United States, so I'll expect that you'll help him adjust to our different school systems-"
"Um, excuse me sensei," the now blushing girl cut in.
Fujimia-sensei lifted an eyebrow, not used to being interrupted. "Yes?"
Arietta's cheeks grew warm. "Ari's just a nickname. My full name is Arietta. And I'm a…" she paused, apparently embarrassed.
"Go on," Fujimia prompted her, the class leaning forward slightly. It was not often that their teacher made a mistake, and they were eager to hear what it was.
Arietta looked down at the floor, so that her bangs shadowed her face. "I'm not a boy. I'm a girl."
The classroom gasped in unison; it sounded so comical that she couldn't help but smile. "But then why are you wearing the boys' uniform?" Fujimia questioned.
Ari lifted her gaze from the floor, giving the slightly confused teacher a crooked grin. "Because I didn't want to wear the girls' uniform," she stated bluntly with a shrug. "The principal was okay with it."
The students snickered at their teacher's plight. Fujimia-sensei silenced them with a frosty glare before returning his gaze to his newest student. "Well, if you would please take a seat behind Bakura," he gestured toward a white haired boy and busied himself with papers from his previous class.
"Hai." Arietta made her way to the back of the room, acutely aware of the inquiring eyes that followed her. She unconsciously straightened her back as she strode over to her desk as quickly as her short legs could manage without looking frantic. As soon as Ari seated herself with a slight 'plunk' the class returned to their previous conversations. All save five students. "Yeees???"
"Hi, I'm Motou Yugi," stated a short teen with the tri-colored hair. "That's Jounouchi, but we usually call him Jou, that's Honda, this is Ryou, and that is Anzu," he said while pointing to a blonde, some guy with a strange buzz cut, the boy previously referred to as Bakura, and the only girl within that small group.
"Hey, how's it goin'," Jou greeted brightly.
"Alright, I guess," Arietta replied. "Hey, Ryou," she turned to the white haired boy, "what do you think of the music the director picked out for us?"
Ryou smiled as he replied. "We've done harder."
"Heh. Same here."
"Really? Well I must say, you nearly gave everyone a heart attack when-"
"Uh, what are you guys talking about?" Honda interrupted.
"Yeah!" Jou added. "How come you guys are actin' like you already know each other?"
Ryou blinked, and then answered, "Oh, we already met in choir earlier today."
Anzu then brought up another question. "How come you never mentioned knowing Ari earlier."
"It must've slipped my mind," Ryou admitted, laughing softly at his own folly.
Ari giggled as well, pulling out a composition book and a pen from her backpack. "Yeah, I almost didn't recognize you until I sat down," she stated as she opened up the notebook, searching for where she left off.
Normally, most people would realize that when a person turned their attention to writing it meant that they were through with their part of the conversation and no longer wanted to be included. Of course, some people never were skilled at picking up subtle hints. "Hey Ari, we were gonna go by Yugi's game shop after school. Wanna join us?" Jou offered, never mind that the girl was no longer paying attention.
"Oh, uh, I already made plans," Ari muttered. Then, without waiting for a reply, she turned back to her notebook and continued writing.
The small group of friends raised their eyebrows. Yugi then shook his head and looked over to Jounouchi. "Care for a duel, Jou?" he asked almost innocently, a competitive, ruby colored gleam entering his violet eyes.
"You're on!" The match began, and nobody noticed as a pair of azure eyes watched closely, taking in all the details of both the duel and the duelists.
The old bodyguard was sitting in his soul room silently when he felt it: another presence that was practically calling him. It was so powerful, so achingly near, and yet he couldn't do anything!
All because the child that liberated him and the Millennium Eye from the grasp of Pegasus kept the item in his pocket.
The bodyguard poured all of his will power and concentration all toward moving the eye out of that cavern of fabric and to that source of power.
So near, yet so far...
Arietta heaved a huge sigh as the final bell rang, ending the school day. The day definitely had been trying; all she wanted to do was head home and take a nap. The draining effects of jet lag have not yet disappeared, and the couch waiting for her in the living room was growing more and more tempting with each passing minute. Stepping into the harsh sunlight, Arietta blinked rapidly, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the brightness of the outdoors.
'Might as well go to where I told Ayako to pick me up,' Ari thought to herself. Just as she turned down the sidewalk, something small and hard whacked her in the back of the head.
"Hey!!!" The girl yelped, turning to see who could have launched that attack. Whoever had done the deed was going to have to deal with an irritated female, and everybody knows how dangerous those are. The short teen looked down in search of something to retaliate with. Her eyes caught onto a glitter of gold.
"Oh wow..." Arietta breathed, bump on the head forgotten. It was a solid gold orb, and on it was the shape of an eye. The design appeared to be ancient Egyptian. Whatever it was, it was beautiful, and after a moment of thought, Ari stooped to pick it up.
Pocketing the item, Ari turned and sped around the corner and stopped in front of a small, black limousine. A tall woman with shoulder-length, auburn hair stepped out of the limo and smiled at the short sixteen year old.
"Hello, Mistress. How was your day, and might I ask why you are wearing the boys uniform?"
"Hey, Ayako. It's been okay, and funny you should ask," Ari replied, brushing her waist long hair out of her eyes for the umpteenth time that day.
"Please explain," Ayako pressed, peering at the blue jacket and pants through her sunglasses.
Arietta climbed into the limo as her bodyguard and head of security held the door open for her. As soon as the red head sat in the driver's seat, Ari began explaining her attire. "First of all, have you seen the uniforms they had for the girls?!"
Ayako chuckled silently to herself and let Ari continue ranting.
"I mean, what kind of person puts pink in a uniform! Pink!!! And those skirts! They're so short they wouldn't have been allowed back in Katy!!! At least, I think they wouldn't have… Anyways, when the principal tried to get me to try on some of those monstrosities, I was just like, 'No freaking way!' Then he started getting mad, but then I reminded him who I was, and so he said to go ahead and wear the boys' uniform, just so long as I let people know that I'm a girl. I told him it worked for me."
"And I bet your principal wasn't expecting you to agree, neh?"
"Hai!!!"
"Mistress, you are one of a kind."
"Heh. Oh! I also found out that the famed Motou Yugi goes here."
"Really now?"
"Yep!"
They drove on in silence, passing curious drivers and pedestrians. After a few moments, an idea popped into Arietta's head. She wasn't sure what created it; it was almost as if someone was telling her what to do.
"Ayako-sama?"
"Yes, mistress?"
"I think it's time I've taken up what my father left to me."
"You mean?"
"Hai."
TBC
Neko: I hope you liked it. Please be kind and leave a review!