Konnichiwa, Sayonara----Hello, Goodbye
Kinakao: Here's the second chapter! In case you didn't read the last chapter, this is a Shojo Fanfic. Love, romantic things and possibly crying, possible death in later chapters. (What kind of shojo has death?) Anyways, I have my friend Tamora here to help me do the disclaimer.
Tamora: Kinakao does not own Yu-Gi-Oh, any of it's characters, and I own myself. She also does not own Burger World.
Chapter 2: Love With A Commotion?
Walking into the semi-large city, I exhaled. Without a way home, I forced myself to take Ryou's suggestion. My shoes, mere sandals that held up by a golden strap across my ankles, padded against the cement as I wandered aimlessly. I did not know where I should go; So many places I had seen in the Domino City episodes, but I could hardly remember how to get to them. All I had ever done with this city was view it in the background.
Having been there for almost an hour, and without any luck to find a familiar place or even a familiar face (Which, without knowing a single person there except for the Yu-Gi-Oh! group, would have been a bit difficult), my mind slowly wandered to the reason for the difficulty of navigating the city. For the characters that lived in this city, I was certain that finding the right path might be easier because the scenes switched on their own for them.
My thoughts wandered to the characters that occupied this city. Lingering on the thought of the lead character, Yuugi, my cheeks shifted to a shade darker. But honestly, it was not the spiky-haired youth that caused this reaction. His alter ego, Yami: The Ancient Pharaoh and Duelist Extraordinaire, caught my attention more. I based some of my bias on height; Yuugi standing an inch shorter than me; Yami at a stature of two inches taller, or so my internet sources informed me.
Too distracted by my thoughts of my impossible crush, I no longer paid attention to my surroundings or those around me. I found this to be unwise, suddenly crashing into another body, sending me to the ground with a wince as I landed on my rear. My impact did not soften any by a female voice stained with warning above me. "Hey, watch where you're going, please?"
Without looking up, I could tell who I crashed into. My chin lifted my face to stare straight into the ocean blue eyes of a tall brunette. Her hands curled on her hips as she sent attitude down towards my fallen form. Instead of standing up to her or apologizing, a goofy grin spread on my lips. I had no doubt; This girl was unmistakably Anzu Mazaki: childhood friend of Yuugi Mouto. My excitement exploded as I jumped up, exclaiming. "Anzu! It's so cool to meet you!" Many heads turned in my direction, then simply ignoring my outburst.
Anzu batted her bright eyes several times, dropping her arms to her sides in surprise. Obviously the young dancer had no experience in random people off the street recognizing her. Her look of amazement made me curious of my actions; I knew many fans of the show that would eagerly greet the characters with enthusiasm. Then I realized the difference. They had no idea about how well-known they were. Before I could make amends, my peripheral vision caught the form of a boy moving out from behind Anzu. His spiky, tri-colored hair gave away his person: The duelist Yuugi Mouto.
My eyes turned from elevated girl (Anzu's height when I stood straight let her tower over me) to the male youth, my eyes matching at his level. He stood taller than I anticipated; Perhaps the informants from my world may have misinterpreted the statures of the characters. Shock coated his facial features, which I did not understand. However, I took this as a chance to cover my moments of mental absence and excitement. My hand shot out from its tense position at my side to the hand of the boy. The soft skin of his hand pressed against mine as I gave a strong handshake. My voice raised with excitement again; This time had more control. "Oh! Yuugi Mouto! It's so awesome to meet the champion of Duelist Kingdom!" My greeting now grew to the point where I nearly shook his entire body. I neared a good clearing, but my mouth ran on without monitor. "I heard about you through my good friend, Mai."
My innards twisted into a knot. The phrase: 'open mouth, insert foot' rung in my head as I stared at the confused faces of the two friends. I had not come across Mai, or much less knew if they had met her either. If they had and asked her about me, all my false words would find themselves back in my face. My hand finally released Yuugi's, his eyes dropping to it; Watching it swing behind me to intertwine with my other as my form fell into a shy stance. His eyes shot back up to mine, the confusion more pronounced. "Duelist Kingdom?" He asked, the phrase foreign to him.
My eyes batted quickly, confused. They haven't gone to Duelist Kingdom? Maybe events happen differently here than in the show. I rationalized, unwilling to give in and take the label of a psychotic freak on the street. I thought of other events that might have occurred to make the boy famous and a reason for my thrill to see him. I hope this works, I prayed silently.
My lips parted as a brought my shoulders up to brace myself for the lie. "I mean, it's awesome that you beat Seto Kaiba." I spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. I fought against the shiver in my spine. Many Seto fans would kill to have the chance I did of tracking the elusive Seto and meeting him; I personally thought of him as a creep. I rejoiced when Yami beat him repeatedly.
Yuugi gave a broad, yet humble smile as he nodded with recognition. "Thanks, but Seto is a great opponent." He complemented the teen millionaire. I resisted rolling my eyes. I focused them on Yuugi's soft violet eyes as his peered back into mine. His smile softened as he spoke again. "Well, you know our names." He began, raising his hand up to gesture to me. "Why not tell us yours?"
His friendly voice encouraged me to focus on my story, still writing itself in my head. I made sure to not mar my chance at a good start. "My name is Rhea; I'm new in town. Mind showing me around?" I would not let myself get lost again. I aimed my request to both of them, but my result varied: Yuugi's cheeks turned to a pretty shade of red as he nodded, while Anzu found a lamppost more interesting than my plea; Grudgingly accepting along with him.
"…And this is Burger World. They make the best burgers ever; Plus Anzu works here, so she can use the discount when we all go there." Yuugi informed me, the mentioned waitress having calmed down and nodding a little. We had wandered across the city and I insisted they show the places they knew best.
My eyes scanned the building a little, finding it to be smaller than I had imagined; Proportions in this world differed more than I cared for. We stood outside to only pass it by. "They don't know she's underage, right?" I meant to say it as a question, but it came out as a fact. Every place we went that I remembered from the episodes, my questions were well-known facts.
However, Yuugi went without notice; Or just ignored it. With a happy smile, he cheered, "That's right." His enthusiasm had me speechless. "You can sure guess a lot about us." He commented almost with pride. I let a small chuckle escape my lips as I shrugged gently. "I'm just lucky, I guess." I raised my hand up to my cheek and gently rubbed it with the tip of my finger. It helps that I watch you all the time, Yuugi. I silently confessed.
Finally reaching her limit, Anzu tugged Yuugi's arm to pull him over to the side. I bit my lip a little in worry; I did not know if Anzu caught on. I allowed myself to admire the animation of Burger World while they talked. The tall teen craned over Yuugi and spoke hastily in a hushed tone. "Yuugi, she has so obviously spied on us! She could have stalked us, or worse, she could be a maniac like Marik!" Her hands stretched out to further her argument, but telling Yuugi was like talking to a wall. His lips parted to rise in my defense, when we heard a loud racket from inside the restaurant.
The sound of crashing plates and tables echoed through the burger shop, pooling even outside. "What do you mean, 'We don't have veggie burgers?!'" A female voice shrieked in outrage. I jumped in surprise; Both from the crashing sounds and the familiar voice. Except, the voice did not belong to anyone of this world. Normally, I would have walked away and get far from the chaos; but my curiosity got the best of me. Without realizing what I did, my feet carried me inside the war zone. I think Yuugi called for me to stop, but my determination pressed me forward. I had to make sure I was right.
One foot on a table, the other on the cushion of a booth seat, there she stood. Short (Even shorter than Anzu's) brown hair flew wildly around her lower cheeks; Her blazing blue eyes held a hint of green around the pupils. Her left hand wielded a long metal pole while her right wore brass knuckles; Violence emitted from her body. I had been right. She was no Yu-Gi-Oh character, but familiar all the same. "Tamora?" I called, my voice simple, yet strong enough to call over the rest of the noise.
Her response glare accompanied her defiant, "Who wants to know?" Anyone else would have turned coward and ran. A smile broke out on my face; I could have cried from joy. This made her features tighten further, until I spoke. "Tamora! It's me, Mari!" I watched as her features melted into shock. It seemed like I received that expression from too many people today.
Tamora's face softened into a smile as she jumped down from her throne of destruction, lowering her weapons as she neared me. "Mari? My God; What the hell happened to you?" She searched my face, looking for some familiar sign of her friend from her world. Her eyes widened as she realized she could have answers. "Where the hell are we?" Her most important question. She never watched Yu-Gi-Oh; I took a few minutes to explain the short details. I needed more time for the larger facts of this new world.
After a few moments of explanation, I patted her on the back. "You need a new name. Mine's Rhea. What name do you want?" I asked, letting everything soak in, but remembering the short amount of time that we had before Yuugi and Anzu rushed in to save the day. She thought for a short second before responding, "Joan. I'll respond to it too." She gave a thumbs-up with her brass-covered fingers. I nodded, recalling the strong card that she knew nothing of.
Our only punishment for the mess contained but a few words: Never come back to the establishment again. We gracefully left and I felt better that we had not involved Yuugi or Anzu; Especially the latter. The aforementioned duo waited outside for my return; I mentally affirming this when Yuugi rushed up to me without notice of Tamora and took my hand worriedly. "Are you alright, Rhea?" He asked, his voice streaked with more worry than his face contained. I could not help but feel a surge of blood fill my cheeks thanks to his touch. "What happened?" He pressed against my silence.
My free hand rose, my fingers and thumb curling into a fist except for my index finger, which aimed directly at Tamora. "This is Joan, my friend from my old town." I spoke honestly. My words came as a shock to me instead of the lax lying feeling I expected. I had started using tenses that made it seem as if I planned on staying in this foreign land. I can't stay here forever, I told myself sternly. However, my moral weakened slowly. Can I?
Tamora, now proclaimed Joan, let a pesky grin creep onto her thin animated lips. Although obvious to all who surrounded us, Yuugi and I had no idea how we looked together. She nudged me, breaking my thoughts into a million pieces. "Hey." She started, leaning over and covering the side of her mouth, yet spoke loud enough where even Anzu, who stood many feet away, could hear her. "I think that boy likes you, Mari." She giggled, but it ceased when my eyes shot to her with daggers. She quickly gained on her mistake. "I mean, Rhea." She chuckled a little.
From Joan's words, I could see red from both Anzu and Yuugi; Yuugi's cheeks blasted with a cherry red from embarrassment and Anzu seemed to see red, fuming as she glared at both my friend and the innocent butt of the joke, me. However, the previous two both asked in unison, although different tones (Anzu's between clenched teeth and Yuugi with pure curiosity towards me), "Mari?"
An urge to smack Joan made my right hand tense with anticipation; I had two reasons: For saying that Yuugi liked me and for my real name. I recalled going over not using my name several times with her while still inside, but it apparently did no good. I felt that covering made my plate too heavy. "Yeah, Mari's my middle name." I explained simply, shaking Yuugi's hand off of mine before shrugging. "But, I really don't like it, so she won't ever do it again, right?" My eyes flicked back to Joan with a piercing gaze. Her response consisted of a laidback shrug.
Anzu moved her way up warily, extending her hand out to Joan. She stared at it for a moment before rising her own and gripping Anzu's hand strongly. I gave a mental thanks to Ra that Anzu received the hand without the brass knuckles or metal pole. My eyes shot back to Yuugi to gage his reaction. However, it was now my turn to flush a bright red.
I can never be sure as to the true cause of it; Possibly of Joan's fearsome look, or just the fact he had grown tired of standing around us, but Yuugi transformed into Yami right before my eyes. His height also varied from my expected account: He rose above me by good three or four inches. His sleek eyes fell in contact with mine, and I hardly remember what happened right after; I zoned out and may have been drooling. The next thing I knew, Joan shook me and shouted in my ear, "Yo! Rhea, wake up, girl." Thankfully, it managed to snap me out of my trance, and immediately latched onto Yami's arm.
To my surprise, Yami did not mind my sudden closeness unlike Anzu. However, she did not seem to fume as badly as expected; I did not notice too much of her though. My focus remained on the guy next to me. "Say," I began, smiling up to him. "Why don't you take me to the game shop?" I asked, remembering Yuugi mention it earlier along with his grandfather. "I'd love to see it." I resisted added more to that sentence, already beyond any help. Yami returned the smile, melting me away. He affirmed with a cool nod, and we were off to our next stop.
Kinakao: Okay! That was chapter two. Please comment!