A/N: Many thanks for those who took the time to read, favorite, and follow A Manga to Reality! Support really motivates me to update on fanfics! Ah yes, some may notice from the 1st chapter and summary, I changed them up. I think that this new summary sounds a bit more compelling, not to mention that I realized 3rd person omniscent would be best for writing this story. 1st person multiple would be kinda confusing for readers to follow.
neryssaguest: Hey this is my first time around reading this story but I think it's great, it really gets my mind turning with endless possibilities.
Anyway I will try to read more of this when you post so don't you dare do anoter rewrite. Grr silly rewrites ruining my fun.
See yah and make sure you keep writing on this story.
Thank you for reviewing! Don't worry, I won't be doing a rewrite, cuz I'm pretty confident that my writing style improved enough to the point where I don't need to do another one. But hey, ya never know. Thank you for reviewing once again, and I hope you'll continue reading and reviewing future chapters.
~Chapter Two~
Wow, for the little brother of a supposedly great chess player, this little guy needs a lot of training and lessons in strategy planning. Dena thought, surveying the board. Mokuba stares impatiently at Dena. "C'mon Dena," He moans melodramatically, throwing himself halfway across the leather armchair he's sitting in. "You're taking five minutes to fan-freaking decide your next move!"
"Well," Dena says, grabbing her bishop, and moving it halfway across the board. "Sometimes taking your time, is the best valid option, especially when it comes to chess." She points at the bishop to his King. "Check."
"Eh...oh gee, that was the third time you checked me!" Dena patiently waits for Mokuba to register what has to take place on the board. His huge eyes go from irritance to disbelief pretty quickly. Dena allows herself to smirk. "W-woah! There's no way for me to move my King around…"
"...Which means that you have to move your queen to block my bishop's attack."
"...Which means you can get my queen with your knight in your turn!" Mokuba finishes, bug-eyed.
"That's right."
Red is flushing at either side of Mokuba's cheeks. "Ooh...that is so not cool!"
Dena shrugs. "What can ya do, Mokuba-kid?"
"T-There has to be another way! There has to be!" He exclaims, determination sparking in his wide, dark blue eyes, as they survey the chess board.
Dena lets herself sit there patiently, letting Mokuba trying to desperately find a way to avoid this predictament. There are a couple - but too small for Mokuba to actually see or figure out, due to his hastiness and impulsiveness. Once Dena takes his queen, Mokuba will be intimidated for sure. This is just one of the hundred chess strategies that Dena comes up with. Take the queen, the opponent gets intimidated, and from there, Dena slowly picks off the opponent's chess pieces. It's a pretty easy strategy to use on intermediate or beginner chess player like Mokuba.
She smiles to herself. She still has those skills.
At this point, Mokuba gave up on trying to worm his way out of the cornered situation, and reluctantly moves his queen to block the bishop's attack. A smile of contentment is on Dena's face, as she takes the queen with her knight. "Thank you very much."
"Grrrr…" Mokuba growls, clenching his small hands.
"Give up yet, Mokuba-kid?"
"Are you kidding me? Never!"
Dena chuckles. "Alright kiddo, I admire your spirit. It's your move."
She watches Mokuba as he glares at the chess board, trying to figure out a new strategy. Funny, to Dena, this Mokuba-kid reminds her so much of herself when she was younger, beginning chess. Around his age (estimating that he was around ten or eleven years old), she was already excelling at 8th grade algebra, no biggie for her - but when introduced to the game of chess being challenged by her father, she completely and utterly failed at the game.
Dena hates failing.
From that point forward, Dena resolved it upon herself to understand the game - and managed to beat her father in 5th grade, finally, who was the grandmaster of chess of five states in America. Good ol' times. No doubt that Mokuba-kid would probably be a good chess player - maybe not as good as me, but with more training and losses, he'll learn.
However, thinking about her father and those nostalgic memories - that familiar, tugging feeling returns to Dena. She wasn't used to such a feeling. I still have no idea where I am. What am I gonna do after I finish the game? She asked herself. Both are deeply absorbed into the game, hardly unaware of their surroundings. They hardly heard some footsteps entering the room.
"Mokuba, who is this?" A new voice asks.
Mokuba and Dena turn their heads to the direction of the new voice. There, standing in the doorway, is a tall, brooding, and serious-faced character. Steely, cold, ice-blue eyes look piercingly at Dena through the neat tufts of brunette hair covering all of his forehead. The tall man wears a black trenchcoat, the coat tails flaring behind him, reminding Dena of a vampire or something. She couldn't help but jump a little at the blue stare - as if this tall stranger were staring into the depths of her soul and judging her. Yikes.
Mokuba looks guilty of charge in his face. "This? Uhm, just an acquaintance, Adena Kemp. She's playing chess with me." He turns to Dena, waving his arm over to the man with shocking blue eyes. "This," He begins proudly. "Is my older brother, Seto Kaiba."
Dena nods, smiling at the man. "Heya there, Seto. Your brother told me so much about you. The greatest chess player of Japan, eh?" She extends a hand, fully expecting for the other to take it.
Mokuba noticeably flinches when Dena refers to his older brother by his first name. The man, Seto Kaiba, raises an eyebrow at Dena's chummy friendliness. "Do not refer to me, by my first name, stranger." He says briskly, his blue eyes narrowing. He momentarily glances down at Dena's extending hand - and can you believe it, sneers at it! - and looks back to Mokuba. "Mokuba, how did she manage to get through security, twenty floors of KaibaCorp tower, and make it in here, to my very office?" He asks with that cold, deep voice.
Dena lets her hand drop, staring indignantly at Mokuba's older brother. Really, who does this dude think he is?! Dena thought with incredulity. She looks back and forth between the two Kaiba brothers, who are both having a small bickering with each other. The heck are these two related in anyway? Mokuba made out his older brother to seem like a saint - ain't no prince in any way! Childishly, she stuck her tongue out at Seto Kaiba.
"...C'mon Seto, she's not a freaking assassin sent to kill us! If she was, she would've done it a long time ago when you weren't here!" Mokuba argues.
"Mokuba, you can't get friendly with a complete stranger that somehow managed to get into my office!" Kaiba hisses back.
"Well," Mokuba crosses his arms, trying to be stubbourn. "We're playing chess. Can I at least finish the game with her?"
Kaiba momentarily eyes the chessboard. Raise of the eyebrow. Dena raises her own, seeing him observing their game. After getting to know Kaiba for a good minute, she notes that this was first form of expression she ever saw on this pompous stranger's face. "And you're losing." Kaiba says to Mokuba.
"Yeah, well, I'll figure something out!"
"Maybe I should make you take those private chess lessons again…"
"Noooo, Seto, I have a social life!"
"Having a social life is no excuse for you to not extend the horizons of your knowledge…"
Watching these two brothers, Dena can finally see the brotherly resemblance and relationship going on between them. And that this Seto Kaiba doesn't seem to be so much of a jerk when talking to his brother. To add on...she continues to watch the brothers talk with each other. It's almost like her and her sister, Brooke. Not so much with the bickering, cuz Dena does most of that - her older sister is too quiet and passive to actually ever scold Dena, but does have protectiveness and wiseness over her.
Thinking of her older sister sends feelings of...what...longing...and emptiness in her chest? It's so weird to think that my whole family is back in Los Angelos, doing their whole ordinary biz, while I'm here in Japan, this weird place. What are they doing right now? Do they realize I'm missing? Dena looks at the digital clock placed above the TV. 3:47. What is she going to do after this chess game is over…? No where to stay, no money, probably no identification papers...yeah, Dena has absolutely nothing.
"Fine." Kaiba's loud voice, snaps her out of her thoughts. She sees his strolling over to his desk, placing his briefcase upon it. "Just until four o'clock Mokuba, you can play your little chess game. But when it turns four, I'm sending up security to escort her out of here." He says with a stern, rigid voice.
Dena gulps, Mokuba glancing apologetically at her. "Okay, bro." He says, dejectedly but obediently. Looking back to Dena, "It's your move."
She nods. 13 minutes left for this game to finish? No prob. She has to speed up the process. Dena carefully places her bishop in the far corner of the board. Let's hope that Mokuba-kid's gonna forget about that.
It goes on like this for a few more turns. Dena quietly placing some pieces on the board, here and there, where she is sure that Mokuba won't notice, while diverting his attention to her queen, in which she is moving all over the board, taking out a few of his pawns. All the while, Kaiba sits holed up at the desk, typing loudly away at a computer on his desk, picking up phone calls (and yelling at whoever was talking to him at the other end time to time), and typing EVEN MORE.
This guy's the real deal business man. A bitter old business man. She snickers at this.
At this point, Mokuba looks pretty nervous, as he stares down at the board. "Oh gee...this wouldn't be happening if I had my queen!" He whispers, wide-eyed.
Dena laughs. "Mokuba-kid, you don't need your queen to win every chess game. Besides, it's not very smart to depend on one piece to help you around the board. You gotta learn how to have a plan A, B, C, and so on, if your queen is taken out." Although Dena is not paying attention to Kaiba, she can hear his fast, heavy typing, slowing down a bit as she is talking to Mokuba. "Just look at it this way - if you take out a variable in a math problem, it doesn't mean that the whole thing falls apart. You just gotta find another way to solve it, get around it. Know what I mean, Mokuba-kid?"
Mokuba is pouting slightly, but nods. "Yeah. I guess."
She sighs. "Lookit here." Every competitive instinct inside, is screaming at her to not help the opponent, but Dena told them to shut up. She points at a knight of Mokuba's, and then points it at her bishop. She knows that if she tells him this, then her carefully intricated plan she performed on the chessboard will fall apart. Whatever. "You can take out my bishop. See it hiding there?"
Mokuba's eyes pop out of their sockets. "W-wah? You gotta be kidding me - how did I not notice that?" He slaps his forehead.
A laugh escapes Dena. "Like I said, you can't be hasty."
At this point, Kaiba stops completely typing. "Don't go easy on Mokuba." He states. Dena whips her head to Kaiba - but when looking back, he resides back to typing. Weirdo. She thought, shaking her head, and turning back to Mokuba. Instead of following Dena's direction, he moves his rook forward.
"Eh? Why didn'tcha take my bishop?"
Mokuba shrugs, his eyes looking off to the direction of his brother. "I got my pride, Dena." He winks, raising a thumb. "I'ma try to find a way to beat you - my own way! But...thanks for the tip anyways. That's cool."
Dena stares at Mokuba, bewildered for a moment. A smile returns on her face. "Okay. Respect kid."
"Hmph." She could've sworn she heard Kaiba grumble off in his corner.
"H-hey! You don't need to carry that - it looks awfully heavy!"
"It's okay, it's okay - I'll be more than glad to help you unpack!" Brooke says to a worried Ryou, as she heaves the truthfully heavy box across from the small hallway to the center of the living room. Relief goes through her, when she finally settles in on the floor. She wipes her brow, patting the box. "What's in here?" She gives out a light laugh.
Ryou kneels across her, his expression hopeful. "I think my RPG figurines are in here...let me see, if you please…" He takes the box opener, neatly and carefully tearing the cardboard down the center. Brooke feels her hairs prickle on her neck. RPG figurines… It occurs to her. Those figurines that Ryou owns...objects that contain the souls of his former friends...Brooke feels the color drain from her face, thinking back to this fact.
Where could that Millennium Ring be? She thought, her eyes flitting around the room. Ryou wasn't wearing it when she came crashing into his apartment. So where is it? And what will Brooke do when Ryou finds it and puts it on…? Relax Brooke, relax, The reassuring, rationale side of her head tells her. You already know the Spirit's tricks. And you're not in the position of being a threat or close to Ryou… She feels herself relax a bit, remembering this.
She watches Ryou eagerly open the cardboard box up, revealing it to be a sea of foam peanuts. She helps him, digging through the white things, and feels her hand close around a cold, metallic thing. Brooke raises this mystery object out of the box - and it's no other than the Millenium Ring. It is surprisingly heavy - though Brooke figured that since it is made of pure gold (and to her disgust, the dead melted bodies of people), it would be pretty heavy. The spikes hang around the triangle shape of the Ring, clinging lightly against each other as they hang in the air. Staring at the eye, Brooke had to admit, it was mesmerising. At the same time, there is that creeping feeling of danger that her intuition is alerting her.
A loud gulp escapes Brooke. Just what she needed!
Excitement glints across Ryou's eyes, when seeing the beautiful, golden Egyptian artifact. "My Ring!" Wordlessly, Brooke hands it to Ryou, with pursed lips. The glint that the golden object gives off, flashes across Ryou's pale face. Brooke desperately wanted to smack it out of his hands and yell at him to not put it on, but says nothing out of the fear of not offending him. He puts the cursed Ring around his neck, and smiles down at it proudly.
"Bakura…" Brooke says, trailing off. "Uhm, that...thing...looks so beautiful."
"It is, isn't it?" His eyes seem to glow as he stares down at the Ring. "It's called the Millennium Ring. It's an Egyptian artifact - pretty neat, right Brooke?"
"Y-yes, I guess. Where did you get it?" She asks, her voice shaky. Though, Ryou doesn't seem to notice, as he rummages through the cardboard box. He pulls out a couple of RPG figurines and foam peanuts. Ryou smiles fondly at them, brushing off the peanuts, and placing them carefully on the floor. Brooke joins in on helping, trying to ignore the shivering going down her spine, from the fact that some of these figurines held human souls a.k.a, lives, within them…
"Well, my father gave it to me." He says. "A year ago."
"Oh. How could he get such a thing?" Brooke asks as casually as possible, putting aside a beautifully detailed warrior figurine, on the floor with the other growing number of toy figurines.
"He's an archaeologist. He happened to be on his travels in Egypt, and he discovered the Ring - he sent it to me as by birthday present."
"Okay, that's cool." Brooke takes a moment to stare at a figurine in her hands. It was no taller than her middle finger, carved out of wood and painted with detail. It was a magician figurine, a small wand in its hand. Unlike all of the other figurines she has seen so far, this one didn't have a generic expression - it had bright, orange eyes, along with an angry expression. It seemed to be looking straight at her, angry - or at least someone else. Behind those bright, fiery orange eyes - Brooke knows that there is an intelligence behind it. This must be a figurine containing a soul. Brooke shivers, and resists the urge to fling it across the room out of panic. She places it, this time, face down on the floor.
"Where's your dad now?" She asks. When in her world, Brooke always wondered where Bakura's parents was - especially his father. The Japanese always seem to leave their kids alone on their own. She thought with a frown. But I can sympathize. It isn't so different from my parents…
This time, Ryou doesn't seem to look at Brooke, as he busies himself, counting the RPG figurines.
"Somewhere in the deserts of Africa. I don't know."
That's my cue to stop asking about his personal life. Brooke sees the flashing warning signs at Ryou's sudden indifference coming to the subject of his father.
"What about your parents, Brooke?" Ryou asks suddenly. "Your life in America? How's it like there? I mean, even if you do come from another dimension or something, America's the same like in this world, right?"
Brooke nods and shrugs. "Yeah, pretty much. America's nothing special, really. I guess, more free priviliges, you can say. Pretty warm in the city of Los Angelos. Not overcrowded like New York. It was okay back there. My parents were both engineers, so my family and I lived in a pretty big house."
"Engineers?" Ryou raises his eyebrows, obviously impressed. "They must be pretty smart."
"Yeah. They are." Unfortunately. "What's the interest with America?"
Ryou gives a lopsided smile. "Well, I want to go there for college, if I happen to finish highschool here. I think I want to become a video game designer when I grow up, or something. I love games."
I nod at the dozens of groups of RPG figurines lying scattered at the floor next to us. "Hehe. That's apparent."
His cheeks turn a bit pink. "Yeah, it is, isn't it? Ever heard of Monster World?"
"Yeah. RPG, isn't it?"
"It is! Ever played it?"
We're trekking dangerous waters here. Her gaze turns to the Ring, hanging ever-so-innocently around his neck. It glints in the sunlight creeping through the windows, as if winking tauntingly at Brooke. The eye in the center seems to stare up at her, glinting mercilessly. Brooke secretly wondered if Yami Bakura was listening to every word that Ryou is engaging in the conversation with her. Does he watch Ryou all the time? She shudders at this possibility. "No. Not really. It's not popular back in America. Besides, I'm more into the card game, Duel Monsters."
Ryou's eyes lighten up once more, a wide smile appearing on his face. "Really?! I like that card game as well - it came out a many years back in Japan, and right now, it's starting to get popular. People are just starting to realize its existence - do you have a deck?"
Brooke shakes her head. "No. I haven't prepared one, in truth. I probably should." She takes out the last of an RPG figurine. "Is that all of them?"
A sheepish smile is given as an answer. "Uhm...I think there's three more boxes of my RPG figurines needed to be opened." He confesses.
"Three?! Oh gosh!" Brooke laughs lightly, looking at the boxes taking up half of the living room.
"Guilty as charged, I suppose."
"That's okay, it's no problem. But you don't mind…"
"Yes? What it it?"
"Do you think we can eat something…?" Brooke admits her hunger, embarrassed. For the past half hour, the hunger has been gnawing at her stomach. "I'm just starving...haha…"
"Of course! But, uhm...I hope you don't mind eating cup ramen," Ryou offers meekly, looking ashamed that he couldn't offer more decent food to his house guest.
"No, no!" Brooke jumps in, immediately noticing Ryou's shame. "It's no trouble! Honestly, anything is fine."
A smile of relief appears. "Ah. Okay, I'll get right down to it." He gets off, walking to the small kitchen in the corner of the apartment. Brooke lets out a small sigh, staring up at the ceiling. She wonder, still, where did she fall from? She still couldn't wrap the impossible idea, the now present reality for her - that she's in the Yu-Gi-Oh verse. Every YGO fans' dreams.
Should this be count as a blessing? Or curse? She gazes at Ryou as he reads the instructions of the ramen on the cup. She stretches her legs, resting her chin on her hands. No matter. I'm just going to make the best out of this new adventure - a vacation, an escape from reality if you will. Despite the fact that Brooke is away from her family, her home, her world if you want to be more specific, she will enjoy this. And she'll be so disappointed if this whole thing turns out to be a dream - reality's greatest joke.
Remembering that her purse is still slung over her shoulder, Brooke opens the flap. She sees her typical belongings - her ice cream sandwich designed shaped wallet, phone, a small manga book (she's always sure to carry a manga book around), chapstick...wait, what's this? An envelope? I don't remember this being in here. Brooke frowns, taking it out of her purse. She reads the back of the envelope. What she reads sends confusion through her.
'To: Brooke Kemp
From: Brooke Kemp (10 Years From the Future)'
Brooke rereads this, to be sure. A letter from me? From the future? Brooke examines the envelope for a stamp, postage, an address, anything - but only those black ink written words are all that is there. Come to think of it, the handwriting looks too similar to Brooke's handwriting - neat, a bit swirly, and a curve at the 'p's.
Is this some sort of prank? Brooke thought to herself, as she opens up the letter, curiosity getting the best of her.
Dena picks off Mokuba's other knight. Her bishops, one knight, queen, and rooks perfectly surround Mokuba's king at either direction. "Checkmate." She states. With just two minutes to spare. She thought, glancing momentarily at the clock. 3: 57. Boom baby.
Mokuba's jaw drops open, sitting back. "Woah. You just put that - and then that was there - and then you took that away - !" He babbles, looking starstruck as he gawks at the board.
She shrugs and smiles cockily. "Like I said Mokuba-kid - I'm damn good at chess and I damn well know it." She turns to Kaiba, who is sitting back in his chair, looking both at them with mild interest.
"Ugh...sorry Seto, I lost."
"That cuts it, you need more chess tutoring." He says curtly, going back to typing.
"Noooo…" Mokuba groans burying his face into a nearby pillow. "You're so cruel Seto."
Kaiba heartlessly types on, blue eyes glued to the screen. Weird how he isn't calling up security. It's already a minute past 4 o' clock. At that moment, Dena realizes this was her chance. If this hot-shot Kaiba guy was such a rich person - that means he must have a huge hell of a mansion or something. It doesn't hurt if I crash their place, right? They must live in a huge place. Dena thought, trying to suppress her guilt at even thinking this. But what options do I have! Dena yells at her guilty side.
It's not like I can hang out in the streets - I'm in some other freaking country, in a city I didn't even know exist! It ain't so appealing to wander around the streets in the dead of night in a city I don't even know. Dena helps Mokuba set up the chess board while carefully thinking this through. She momentarily glances back to Kaiba. UGH, I'm actually turning to the option where I might have to stay over with THAT guy. She thought rolling her eyes, so hard, that Dena thought for a moment that they'll fall out of her head. A sigh escapes her. Yet like I said, my options are limited. But…
She looks back at him again. He does not seem like the type to give out charity. Pretty stuck up… An idea clicks in her mind, when she looks back at the chess board, now returned to its original state. She jumps to her feet, turning sharply to Seto Kaiba, and points straight at him. "I challenge you to a chess game!"
"No."
"Ehhhhh?! Shot down?!" Dena feels her left eye twitch. She tries regaining her composure, pushing her heavy red glasses up her nose. "Please. Are you turning down a fight?"
"No. I don't want to waste my time playing games with a complete stranger."
"Urgh…!" Dena can hear Mokuba laughing behind her, at his brother's incompetent attitude. I swear…!
"C'mon, Seto," Mokuba chirps up, much to Dean's surprise. "She's pretty good. She won eleven chess tournamnets. One more than you!" He giggles, clearly trying to test his older brother's reaction.
Kaiba does not so much glance up from his computer. "Mokuba, she's a complete stranger. For all you know, she could be lying."
"Yeah, but she won against me!"
"...That was expected."
"HEY!"
"C'mon Mister Kaiba!" Dena says, putting her hands on her hips.
Due to the fact that Dena called him 'Mister Kaiba,' somehow catches his attention. He glances up, raising an eyebrow. " 'Mister Kaiba'?" He questions, deadpan.
"What? You were all touchy-touchy when I called you by your first name."
"That was because it was disrespectful to someone like me. For someone that is almost the same age as me, calling me that makes me feel...old."
"Like you?" Dena repeats, tauntingly repeating his gravelly voice. "Okay, what should I call you?"
"Plain ol' Kaiba. Duh." Mokuba calls out.
Another eye twitch. "O-kay...so Kaiba. Give a chance. Let's play a game. Are you just too chicken to play against me?"
"Chicken? Really?" Kaiba deadpans once more. "Of all clever insults and wit you can come up with, Kemp,"
Seriously, he just called me 'Kemp?' What is he, a British villain or something? Dena, appalled.
"You call me a chicken. How more childish can you be?"
"Grrr…" Mokuba must've sense Dena's retaliation, and grabs her hand, holding her back from jumping Kaiba. "Lemme at him, lemme at him Mokuba-kid!" She hollers.
"Tch." He sneers at her, cocky. "God, you are so childish." Kaiba surveys Dena with his cold blue eyes. A cold smile is curled onto his lips. "Your short size doesn't help that much either."
"GRRRRR!" Dena swore, if lasers can shoot out of her eyes, she would shoot them at Seto Kaiba, straight through that fat head of his. However, she regains composure, and stops fighting against Mokuba's grips. She lets out a loud breath. "Does it hurt to play one game?" She demands. "The chess game will be as long as fifteen minutes, no more, no less." Dena states. A gasp comes from Mokuba.
"Fifteen minutes?!" She hears the little boy repeat.
Kaiba raises an eyebrow, some of his indifference breaking away. "Are you that reckless to put such high stakes for a chess game?"
"Are you that confident to think that you'll actually win with these high stakes?!" Dena shoots back.
Kaiba crosses his arms. "Hmph." His eyes scan over the computer screen, then back at her. "Very well. Fifteen minutes."
Dena feels temporary triumph. She got that stubborn heck of guy to play a game with her. "Wait a moment there - here's the deal!" She says to Kaiba, and points straight at him. "If I win - I get to stay at your place for a week!" Until I can figure things out, and get my parents to come the heck over here and bring me back to America! She thought with determination. Kaiba stops in his tracks, shooting a deadly look at Dena.
"Are you crazy?!" Mokuba whisper-screams to Dena, looking wide-eyed at her.
"Why should I make such a bet?" Kaiba questions, his stare looking through her.
"Uhm...well…"
"Pfft. Ahahhaha." A short, hysterical laugh escapes Kaiba. "How funny. She thinks she can win." He says to Mokuba. "Whatever. Humor me, Kemp." He rises, quickly striding over to Dena and Mokuba. He sits down on a leather chair, taking the black pieces side. "I'll go along with this child's play. Beat me in 15 minutes." Kaiba sets his digital watch. "If the time is up before either of us win, you'll get kicked out of here. If you lose, Kemp, then I'll report you to police for breaking and entering my office."
"W-what?!" She exclaims, slamming her fists down the table.
Mokuba looks wide-eyed at his brother. "Big brother, isn't that too drastic? She didn't break in!"
"It's alright, Mokuba." He looks at Dena with that smug smirk of his. "Right now, before we play, she has a chance to back out." Kaiba looks dead straight into Dena's eyes. "I'm giving you a chance, foolish little girl. You can back out of this game - that you're sure to lose," He adds on with another sickly, confident smile. "And I'll promptly call up security to escort you out of Kaiba Corp tower, and we'll act like this never happened. Or, if you're that crazy and bull-headed, then the conditions are still on. What do you say?"
Dena stares down at the board. Then at Kaiba. Then at the worried face of Mokuba. She grinds her teeth. She grabs her knight and sets it forward on the board. "Your move, Seto!" She spits out as pridefully and abruptly as possible.
His eyes widen, clearly surprised. Afterall, any person with common sense would've backed out on these conditions - especially if they have to play a game against the Seto Kaiba. Luckily, Dena Kemp has no idea as to who the teenage billionaire was, and is confident in her skills and wit. She plops down on the seat across from him, looking him dead in the eye the entire time. Kaiba's expression falls slack, a deadly competitive glint shining in his eyes.
"Truly foolish." He presses the start button on his watch. "Challenge accepted."
Brooke stares at the mixture of noodles and soggy looking vegetables, floating around in the golden liquid mixture inside her cup. All of her appetite was lost ever since she opened that accursed letter. Should I believe it? Is it true? Is it some type of prank? She thought, in a daze, as she stirs around her wooden chopsticks inside the styrofoam cup. Another voice tells her, What the heck type of prank would guess the situation you're in right now?! Somehow, against all odds, it has to be true!
She sighs shakingly, putting down her cup, gripping both of her arms. "Are you okay?" Ryou asks through a mouthful of ramen. He's already on his third cup - Brooke hardly ate a spoonful. "You haven't eaten at all."
"Y-yeah." Brooke rises to her feet. "If you can excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom."
Ryou nods, pointing to a door next to his bedroom. Brooke smiles weakly, and walks straight into it. Once locking the door, she plops on the closed toilet seat, and whips out the envelope, ripping the contents of it out. The letter was thick - maybe thirty pages long! That's just like you. Always so detailed in your notes.
Brooke holds her breath, her eyes scouring over the first page of the letter, to make sure that they were real.
Dearest Me 10 Years Ago,
This is you, Brooke Kemp. I know, this is very hard to believe - but please hear me out. I am writing this, the future you, 10 years into the future. The matters of my life right now is of no concern at the moment - all I just know is that my life, right now, is full of regrets. Too full for me to actually move forward.
It all starts today, September 23, where you enter the Yu-Gi-Oh verse.
Brooke stops reading at this part, squeezing her eyes shut. This was the part where she stopped reading before Ryou comes back with their lunch. For their entire meal, her mind was completely obssessing over the letter. She can somehow accept the impossible possibility and reality that she is now in the Yu-Gi-Oh world - but the idea that her future self knows of this event, was mind boggling.
This was no prank, was it?
Brooke takes a deep breath, knowing that she must continue reading forward, if she wants to find answers.
I'm sure that you have many questions as to how I sent this letter to you, how I know this information, and why you must have this letter. Those are many questions I will answer and some I can't answer. But for now, you have two objectives: Please erase all of the regrets I have caused in the Yu-Gi-Oh World.
Regrets? Brooke leans her head on the tile wall of the bathroom. What does her older self mean? Regrets? Not to mention, regrets that she has caused? What could have Brooke possibly done in the Yu-Gi-Oh world to make her future self to regret so much and send a letter to her? Brooke reads the next condition that the letter asks of her - and nearly drops the pages of the letter from her hands.
Pounding. Her heart is pounding. Her head. Her breathing speeding up. What she read next...it's not possible. It can't be.
Scared, Brooke forces her eyes to re-read that last line on the paper. Her eyes confirm this.
Most of all, please save Ryou Bakura from suicide.
A/N: Yeah...a lotta drama here folks. Review please! They are very much appreciated! And I will see you next chapter!