Hey, Paw-Chan with an all new story! ^_^ I have had this idea for a while, and I think it's a good one! ^)^
Things to know before hand? There will be slight Shounen-ai themes. It's light, and I'm pretty sure that's how it's gonig to stay. I haven't really decided on pairings though, so anything's open.
Other warnings? This is AU, so the Yamis aren't Yamis, and they have their own bodies. And this uses Japanese names, so if American names are used, assume they are different characters.
And there will be eventual cross-dressing, but that will be explained in more detail later.
That's all for now. Enjoy the Prologue of White Lightning, Black Thunder.
Disclaimer: Only own the idea. Everything else belongs to their proper owners.
White Lightning, Black Thunder
Prologue: Street Race
Click. Clack. Click. Clack.
"Hey Ryou!" A male's voice echoed through a closed window. Stumbling out of bed, said albino made his way towards the window and threw it open, green eyes blearily looking down the two stories to the ground. There were two boys on the ground, and they were obviously trying to make themselves as quiet as possible. One had blonde hair and lavender eyes while the other had black hair and green eyes like Ryou.
"Malik? Ryuuji?" Ryou yelled down. "What are you two doing here?" The blonde groaned and smacked his head and while the other responded,
"The race, remember?" He called back. "You promised! And don't use the excuse of your brother! You know damn well he's out with Marik!" The blonde nodded a bit lopsidedly.
"Yeah!" The blonde tossed up as well. "I even made sure not to leave until after Marik had left so not to raise suspicion!" Ryou groaned, and called back down,
"I'm coming! Give me a sec!" The window is closed gently as to not wake the other non-existent members of the household, and Ryou changed from his pyjamas into loose pants and a light t-shirt.
Ryou snuck out of the house with the ease and grace of a trained thief. Stepping out into the warm spring night, Ryou took a deep breath, giving a small smile. Malik and Ryuuji bounced over to him, throwing an arm each over his shoulder.
"Ready?" Malik grinned, and Ryou sighed.
"As I'll ever be." He responded as they started off down the streets.
X.x.X.x.X
"Tonight's the biggest race of the month!" An MC shouted through a mike somewhere in the chaos. "Not only do we have The Pharaoh and Blue Eyes racing, but we have a little underdog with us! We have none other than White Lightning joining us tonight!"
Ryou took a shaky breath. Ryuuji merely slapped his back.
"You're gonna be fine Ryou," Ryuuji grinned, slapping his back. "Pharaoh and Blue Eyes aren't cut-throat like the other racers we've gone against."
"You mean me," Ryou quipped sourly under his breath. If Ryuuji heard, he didn't acknowledge Ryou.
"Besides," Malik cut in smoothly. "They'll be mostly concentrating on taking each other out, not you. So, you'll be safe, 'kay?" Ryou sighed and twisted his hands- his white gloved hands.
"Racers to the starting line!" The MC called, and quick as a flash there was a white helmet pressed in his hands.
"You'll be fine," Malik assured him, pressing a kiss to Ryou's cheek. "You've only done this circuit how many times?" Ryou gave a weak smile, tucking the helmet under his arm.
"Just go out and do your best, 'kay?" Ryuuji smiled, ruffling Ryou's ponytail. "We don't want to win; we just want to prove that we're just as good as Pharaoh and Blue Eyes." He patted Ryou on the cheek, but didn't kiss him like Malik had. Ryou nodded as he put the helmet on, and climbed into a nearby car- white like everything else of his where they were right then.
Ryou drove the car easily up to the starting line. He was at the right end, with Pharaoh in the middle and Blue Eyes at the left end. He knew on the outside he appeared nonchalant, but on the inside he was bursting with nervousness. Something was going to go wrong- he could feel it. But he couldn't back down now from the race. What would that do for White Lightning's racing image? That he was a wuss and couldn't compete with the big leagues- the big racers like Blue Eyes and Pharaoh.
"On your mark!" Ryou heard faintly in the distance, as he clutched the steering wheel tightly. He forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down. Over reacting would do nothing good for him right now.
"Get Set!" The engines of all three vehicles were revving, ready for the race.
"Go!" And they were all gone in a flash. Ryou forced himself to calm as he went. This was a relatively easy circuit. One he had done a million times before, whether practicing or in races.
He could do this.
Ryou kept up with Blue Eyes as best he could. Pharaoh had already pushed forward for a good first-place lead, but Blue Eyes was close enough that Ryou could usurp second if he tried hard enough.
The swiveling turns of the circuit were hard enough with good control, but Ryou managed easily, and managed to get dead even with Blue Eyes. The best part about the circuit was the fact that it was a short one, so it wouldn't take much longer.
The last curve of the race was a particularly nasty one before a straightaway to the finish. It was practically a ninety-degree angle, and a tight fit. It was spacious enough for one car, but the thought of two? One of them was going to have to slow down or there was going to be a wreck- a nasty, ugly, wreck.
Ryou pressed down on the gas pedal and urged the car forward. Even the smallest of leads on Blue Eyes would force the latter back and give him the chance for second. And it was just that urging that shot him forward.
Ryou shot in front of Blue Eyes, taking the corner with ease. In fact, it seemed too easy… He exited the turn, and before he knew it, something had blown. The car was spinning out of control, and Ryou was having a hell of a time keeping the vehicle straight.
Braking was useless; it did nothing, and Ryou attempted changing the direction of the steering wheel. Again it did nothing, and Ryou fumbled around for the emergency brake as he spun past the finish line, second in his spinning craze.
He yanked the emergency brake, but it was futile as in just that moment the car slammed into a brick wall. The last thing he knew was heat and darkness, then all was lost…
X.x.X.x.X
Ryou ended up spending two weeks in the hospital, lucky to be alive. While Malik and Ryuuji told the hospital administration he had been jumped and then the building he had been in set on fire, Bakura sniffed out the true story. He always did.
"You were racing again." Ryou merely looked away from his older brother, eyes downcast.
"Dammit Ryou! I thought I told you not to! I told you it was dangerous! And look what happened!" Bakura raved. "You're in the hospital! You nearly died, dammit!" Ryou flinched, and all that he had to say was,
"I got second." It was meek, but Bakura blinked before launching off again.
"You nearly die and all you care is that you got second in stupid race?!" Bakura seethed, "I knew letting you hang out with Otogi and Ishtal was a bad idea…" Ryou shot up, glaring at his brother.
"Me hanging out with Malik is a bad idea?!" Ryou snarled, his good hand clenching the sheets of the hospital bed tightly. "You hang out with his brother all the time! If anything, this was your fault! You're the one who told me to do something 'constructive' with my time!"
"Are you two alright in there?" A nurse popped her curly head into the room. The brothers looked at each other before Bakura responded.
"Yes," He said, and the nurse nodded.
"You have more visitors," She smiled, directing the comment to Ryou. She left, and in came Ryuuji, Malik, and Marik.
"Ryou!" Malik crowed, as this was his first opportunity to see his wayward friend in two weeks. "That was a kickass race! I still can't believe you managed to beat…" But he trailed off seeing Bakura's disapproving face. "Uh… I mean…" Malik floundered while Marik merely laughed at his brother's idiocy.
"We're sorry Ryou." Ryuuji said at last, watching Malik flounder a bit more. Ryou blinked uncomprehendingly at his friend.
"Sorry for what?" Ryou asked, ignoring Bakura's glare. They both knew where this was going.
"For the car malfunction." Ryuuji admitted, keeping his voice low so the nurses wouldn't overhear. "I should've checked the car better." Ryou looked aghast while Bakura smirked.
"It's not your fault!" Ryou argued, ignoring Bakura's scowl. He wanted to blame Ryuuji and Malik and be rid of them. "If anything, it's mine!"
"Yours?" Everybody in the room echoed disbelievingly. In an instant Malik had launched himself at Ryou and attached himself to his side.
"Don't say that Ryou!" He cried in an almost theatrical way. "It's not your fault!" Ryou grimaced as he pushed his friend gently away.
"Of course it is!" Ryou protested. "I should have just chickened out of the race. Not done it." Tears were starting to slip down his cheeks. "Then maybe everybody wouldn't be so mad at me." Bakura flinched.
"Ryou, we're not mad at-" Malik started, but Ryou shook his head.
"Of course you are!" Ryou cried out. "You're mad at me for crashing, for racing, for ruining the car, for… for…" Ryou hiccupped, wiping tears furiously out of his eyes.
"Bakura, why don't we go have a talk?" Marik suggested, "Give the drama queens some time to work out their differences?" Marik didn't give Bakura a chance to protest- he just took his arm around Bakura's shoulder and practically dragged Bakura out of the room.
"Look Bakura," Marik started after the door to Ryou's room was shut. "Maybe you and Ryou should go away for a while." Bakura raised an eyebrow, garnet eyes meeting dark lavender.
"Away for a while?" He repeated. "Why?"
"A year or so," Marik clarified, looking at Bakura, slouching with a hand shoved haphazardly into his pocket. "Just so those three-" He jerked his head towards Ryou's room. "- can get over this racing obsession of theirs." Bakura nodded, a small smile on his face.
"Alright." He agreed. "I'll talk to my dad and get it set up." Marik nodded approvingly.
"Go to Domino," Marik suggested. "It may not be that far from Kyoto, but there are a lot of things that Ryou can get caught up in- things other than racing. And Isis runs the Domino Museum, so you can talk to her if you have problems or any of that shit." Bakura glanced towards Ryou's room, looking at Ryuuji and Malik before looking back at Marik.
"Will do." He responded, just as Ryuuji and Malik came out.
"Ryou fell asleep." Was all Ryuuji supplied, before he turned to leave. No one stopped him as he left.
"Are you two alright?" Malik finally asked, looking between his brother and Bakura.
"Fine Malik," Marik responded. "Let's get going. I didn't tell Rishid where we were going so we should probably get back before Isis does." Malik glared at his brother, but all Marik did was wave it off.
"Go and wait outside before I decide I'll just leave you." Malik scoffed.
"As if." But he left all the same. Marik hesitated in his departure.
"So, I suppose this is good bye?" He said finally. Bakura nodded.
"For now." Bakura answered needlessly, and Marik gave a small jerk of his head before leaving. Bakura waited a second before pulling out a cell phone. He hit a number on it, waited a few seconds before saying,
"Hullo," In a pleasant voice. "May you patch me through to Bakura Yaten?" There was a pause, and then Bakura started speaking again.
"Hey dad, it's Akefia." Bakura informed him. "Ryou was jumped the other day…" Bakura paused, listening to his dad. "He's fine, but I was wondering. Do you think we could move? Ya know, some place a little safer? So Ryou won't be the normal danger magnet he is?" He paused once again, and nodded slightly to himself.
"Yeah, I have a place in mind." Bakura told his father. "It's Domino City." Bakura paused again, grimace on his face as his father cut in. "Yeah, Marik told me that it would be good too. That we could go to his sister- Isis, remember?- if we had any trouble." There was another pause, and by the end of it, he was grinning a grin that the Cheshire Cat would have been proud of.
"Glad you think so to." And the phone was hung up.
X.x.X.x.X
So, how was the prologue? Was it alright? Were any of you surprised that it was Ryou doing the racing instead of Bakura? ^_^ I figured that it would be a nice change of pace. XP Over protective Bakura is still here, so no qualms about that! ^_^
And, can anyone guess who Pharaoh and Blue Eyes are? You have three guesses each and the first two don't count! ^_^
Please read and review and tell me what you think!!!!
~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~