Hello again all you lovely Earth beings! Hopefully you're having a fantastic summer! I've been spending my time babysitting my little nieces while my half-sister's up visiting mama and I, and subsequently I've heard the words "Barbie", "Fairy", "Doll" etc. a thousand times more than the healthy level. It is loud. It is crazy. It is a typical house full of women.
I've also had the joy of dealing with swarms of tourists invading the thrift store I work at. It's wonderful, especially because so many of them think that the price tag's just a suggestion, and that we're actually some kind of bazaar that barters. As an added bonus, most of them only speak French. I do not know French, except for the extremely appropriate "le grrrrr". I can also say cheese, but that's not as appropriate.
Hope you have fun reading the next chapter of Kiss Me, Make Me Better! -Mismatch
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, Dr. Dre, or the Mystery Machine. Although that would be flipping sweet if I did, and I would all let you ride in it. Don't worry, I'm not sketchy, eating the laced Scooby Snacks would be optional.
I swiveled the cold knobs of the faucet as I finished washing my hands, flicking little droplets of water into the sink and drying them carelessly on my sundress. My choice of clothing was now beginning to look out-of-place. The last time I glanced outside it was beginning to cloud over: not optimal weather for such attire, but that really doesn't matter anyway when you're in a mall bathroom. What does matter, however, is getting away from the omnipresent stench as quickly as possible, especially when there's a little toddler stumbling around who looks ready to puke on the next thing she sees.
Avoiding the puking toddler, I walked out of the community germ house and looked around. To my surprise my brothers had left.
When we had first arrived at the mall I had joked that this place was almost as big as our house, but in fact this was much worse. It was huge, and I didn't have a clue where anything was. Fortunately there were maps scattered intermittently throughout the building, so if the apocalypse came in the next five minutes I could probably find my way out. The bad news, however, was that I had no idea where my brothers were, and unless a sign magically became the Marauder's Map, I was shit out of luck.
I vaguely remembered a voice in a wilderness survival class instructing "stay put if you're lost so that people can find you", buuuut that sounded really boring, so I didn't.
"Hey, Sara!"
I looked over my shoulder to see a smiling someone waving at me. It was another one of the strange hair people! Man, they must be on a mission or something, they're all over the place! He was dressed in jeans and T-shirt, partially obscured by a hoodie, with his white hair flowing over his shoulders. He looked relatively normal alongside the King of the crazy hair people, who was decked out in lots of black collars, some tight capris, and a dark shirt, accentuating the crazy mess of highlighted hair that stood on his head as if it had been struck by lightning.
Gandalf the White got up off his stool and started walking in my direction, the King in tow. Something that piqued my interest was their strangely similar necklaces. I hadn't noticed them yesterday, but as they came closer I had a better look. They both seemed to be made of solid gold, and each had an eerie-looking eye plastered on the side. You don't see something like that everyday. Men and their bling...
The pair stopped when they were right in front of me.
"Mokuba's off with the others looking for Kaiba. We promised him we'd take care of you until they got back." Gandalf the White explained.
"Oh, well thank you. So, uhh...what do we do now?" I thought out-loud, very awkwardly I might add. It's not that I didn't want to spend time with these probably very lovely people, it's just that this 'Kaiba family bonding day' was going to shit.
"We can walk around until someone calls us." The King suggested, but it sounded more like a command, so we did just that.
Our trio strayed away from the food court, traversing along the long channels of the mall filled with kiosks, carts, and the occasional merry-go-round, each attended by a desperate shop-keeper searching for business. One was particularly hell-bent on selling me a black pony-tail extension, refusing to notice the obvious fact that I'm a ginger.
"So how are you liking Japan?" Gandalf tried to break the ice. I smiled.
"It's great, I really missed being at home with my brothers. I'm not a big fan of our house, though, if you can really call it a house..."
"Why? Doesn't suit your fancy?" He frowned, his sweet chocolate eyes glittering with concern.
"I keep getting lost in it...and we may or may not have a dungeon."
"A dungeon? Wow, didn't know that one. I've heard you guys have a state-of-the-art dueling ring, but then again lots of rumors get spread about rich people..." Gandalf scratched the back of his head nervously, the white ruffles of hair engulfing his hand.
"A what?"
"Duel monsters, there's no way you haven't heard about it." The stoic King finally entered the conversation.
"I've kind of been living under a rock ever since I was shipped out of the country."
"It's this incredible card game. Kaiba's one of the world champs, but I'm better than him." He bragged. I stopped walking as we happened to arrive at what seemed to be a card shop. Large posters of creatures and machines adorned the entrance.
"Is this Duel Monsters?" I stared like an idiot at the enormous pictures.
"Yeah, let's check it out!" Both the King and Gandalf stepped inside eagerly. Me...not so much.
Rows upon rows of wooden stands were set up throughout the store, each holding a vast number of cards in labeled columns. I didn't know what any of it meant, but obviously my temporary escorts did. Gandalf wandered off to an isolated corner of the shop that wasn't well kept, while the King remained at my side. His nimble fingers flipped through the cards like it was his job. A group of kids some yards away huddled together as one of them pointed towards us. Maybe this guy did have some skills.
"I love games, especially Duel Monsters. It reminds me of Yugi. Hey, Swords of Revealing Light, he loves this card!" With vigorous enthusiasm he pulled one out of the little box. To my vast knowledge, I deduced that it was green, and that was about it.
"Are you and Yugi close?" I asked, running my hand down the stacks absentmindedly. He nodded.
"Yeah, or at least we used to be. Now he likes Tea more, though." He answered vaguely.
"What, do you have a crush on him?"
"No no no, nothing like that, just..." He pursed his lips, as if trying to think of the right word. "We used to have a really special connection, rather one-of-a-kind, but he gave it up so that he could make room in his life for a girlfriend."
"Aw man, I'm sorry. It sucks to lose a best friend." I smiled sympathetically at him.
"It's worse than losing a best friend, it's like losing a part of who you are!" His nostrils flared as he glared at me. A moment later he let out a sigh, regained his composure and refocused his attention to the stiff, colored chunks of paper on display.
"Wow, you guys had a bond like that? That's deep. What did he do? Just start ignoring you or something?"
"Well, if you're gonna be hanging around us you'll probably find out soon enough anyway, we're a pretty weird bunch...You see this?" He held up his geometric jewelry. "This used to belong to Yugi. And because of that, we used to share the same body."
There was a pause.
"...Are you making fun of me?"
"Never mind, I knew you wouldn't take me seriously, no one ever does." He turned to leave but I grabbed his rolled-up shirt sleeve. He looked over his shoulder at my hand.
"No wait, I want to know, I just thought you were messing with me. I apologize. Okay, so you and Yugi used to live together-"
"We had two minds, two souls, in one body, thanks to this. We were always together, partners through everything, but then he started crushing on Tea. She was always rather oblivious, though, since she was much more attracted to me."
A part of me was surprised by his openness, that he would talk so freely to an almost-stranger, but I guess that's what happens when you care about something, including a someone. You just can't help it.
"Maybe she likes your modesty." I joked.
"Well, it's not my fault I'm the sexiest thing since Jesus Christ himself." He spoke seriously, making a grand, sweeping gesture over himself, conveniently flexing his arm muscles as if it was just by chance.
"Frankly, I think that cardboard cutout is hotter." I laughed, pointing to a scantily-clad, life-size girl on the far wall.
"Oh, come on, everyone thinks the Dark Magician Girl's a babe...wait, are you into chicks?" He finally bothered to direct his attention towards me as he scrutinized my face.
"I'm pansexual." I answered.
"Oh, of course you are, I'm spatula-sexual myself. What the hell does that mean?"
"It means I love everybody. I care more about what's up here, not down there." I motioned to my head. His expression softened for a second, and I saw something in his eyes change, almost like he was...smiling. For the first time since meeting him I didn't feel threatened by his presence.
"Yugi used to say something like that..."
"Hmm?"
"Oh, nothing!" He waved the air carelessly, grinning. "Well that's very noble of you. I'm basically the same way...except that I don't date anybody who has a penis." He attempted to joke. I was finally starting to feel comfortable around him.
"Straight as a pin, huh?"
"Yup, give me a vagina and I'm happy. That didn't come out right..." He averted his gaze out of embarrassment.
"Man, I could have sworn you liked guys! Not that that's a bad thing, of course."
"Why?" His gaze flicked up from the cards in his hand to my face.
"...Have you seen your hair?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"It's like a pseudo-rainbow pot leaf. Not many straight guys dye their hair, unfortunately..." I frowned.
"I like my pseudo-rainbow pot leaf. And besides, it's natural anyway." He spoke nonchalantly.
"WHAT? How?"
"I'm magical." He smirked, motioning an imaginary hair flip.
"Wait seriously? Because of your special bling-bling?" My mouth hung agape.
"Oh yeah, I'm the god of being really, really ridiculously good-looking."
"...this time I know you're screwing with me." I grinned.
"Yeah that was a complete lie, my bed-head's just fucking fantastic."
Gandalf, the King, and I were really hitting it off since bonding at the card shop. I still didn't know their names, but after spending an exorbitant amount of time talking about Duel Monsters, and pretending we were half our age in a candy shop, and taking morphed pictures of ourselves in a photo-booth, and eagerly barging into a store with a 'Grand Opening' banner outside where you could sample all the different types of exquisite mattresses, I felt like I could truly call them my friends. It was upon one of these beds that the King and I currently occupied.
"How about you watch me play sometime? I kick ass and take names on a regular basis."
"Uhh, okay, I guess. Is it that big of a deal?" I wondered.
"Oh yeah, it's huge, Kaiba's making a whole fucking amusement park based around it. I'm surprised he hasn't bitched to you about me yet, I beat his ass like it's my job."
Just as I was about to defend my brother, a cell phone rang to the tune of Still D.R.E. I couldn't help but try to hide my giggle at his song choice. We finally got the call informing us that the mission was complete. It seems that the gang had found Seto along with Serenity, who no one bothered to mention to me was missing until just now. No wonder it took everyone and their extended family to form a search party...not.
"Alright, we'll be there soon, man." The King shut his phone and lifted his hips from the bed in order to shove the device into his back pocket.
"I haven't heard that song in years." I chuckled.
"Yeah, I have to pay my homage to Joey. He was my first weed dealer." He grinned. Not knowing how to reply I stayed silent, and after lying still for a few moments he began to laugh. "Speaking of which, I can't believe I'm still so fucked up."
My attention snapped to him in a millisecond. "What? Right now? In the middle of the day?"
"Yeah, I didn't think it'd last this long, but I had nothing to do this morning except the pills next to my bed...and the joint on the other side...and the six pack underneath it..."
"Holy shit, are you alright? You sure you should be out in public?"
"Pfft, please, when am I not high in public? Relax, I do this all the time. People like me more when I'm not myself."
The silence that ensued was heartbreaking. After hearing him open up so much today, I only assumed it was because we were becoming friends. I guess I was just fooling myself.
On one hand, I really enjoyed being around him. Even if he was out of his mind, I couldn't just ignore all the fun we had with his crazy antics. On the other hand it pained me to think of his reasoning.
'People like me more when I'm not myself.'
I slipped my hand into his for comfort. He appeared mildly surprised as he glanced at where our fingers touched.
"Please don't ever get so down on yourself. You're a great person, why would you think of doing this?"
"After Yugi left, things were hard...the drugs helped." He answered briefly.
"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation...from the other side of the store." Gandalf appeared suddenly. It was true, he had just left a particularly decadent bed several yards away, since the three of us all couldn't pretend to be looking for one mattress together. We probably would have garnered some very strange expressions if we had feigned such polygamy. "Should we go meet up with the others?"
"Yeah, they found Kaiba with Serenity, whatever that means." The King answered as he got up off the bed.
"Why do you guys all call him by our last name? It's really confusing..." I followed suit as we exited the haven of comfort and began our trek to find the others.
"I hear you there! My first name's Ryou, but everyone calls me Bakura."
Bakura! That was it! Or Ryou? One of the two...
"When Ishizu first separated our bodies no one knew what to call me, since I was always just 'the other Yugi', but I like my name now. Yami's definitely more my style."
"Yami, that was it!" After realizing that I had accidentally spoken this revelation out-loud, I immediately clamped my lips shut and hoped no one heard. Unfortunately Lady Luck wasn't on my side today.
"...Did you really not know my name this entire time?" He narrowed his eyes down at me.
"I'm not good with names, and there were a lot to remember from yesterday." Was my lame excuse.
"Oh come on, my brain's having to deal with more illegal chemicals than you can count, but at least I can remember your name. Once a Kaiba always a Kaiba, I guess. And to think, I thought you were like Yugi." He appeared rather pissed off as he picked up the pace, stamping towards the group of familiar teenagers standing next to the glass exit doors, leaving me and Bakura in the dust.
"What's up with him?"
"Well, we're a pretty cheery bunch, but your brother doesn't exactly treat us very well. I think Yami had his reservations about you, since you two were related, but I don't know how he could possibly think you're just 'a Kaiba' after all the great times we've had today." Bakura explained as we got closer and closer to the gang. I noticed that only half of its usual members were present.
"Does he really have a big reputation around here?"
"Oh yeah, I'm sure lots of people at school are going to try to get on your good side. Some might do just the opposite, though, since your brother's not the nicest guy in the world, but who cares what they think? Their loss to miss out on a friend as great as you."
"Aww, Ryou, thank you! You're the best." I couldn't help but beam at the compliment. His cheeks reddened a little, and he looked pleasantly surprised to hear his name.
"Oh, well thank you, Sara. I don't think I deserve such kind words, but I appreciate it all the same."
"Hey, Ryou?"
"Hmm?"
"Yami told me that because of his necklace he used to share a body with Yugi. Does yours do that too?" I inquired. Any lingering red quickly retreated from his face.
"You don't want to meet him, but if you ever do...I'm sorry."
"What do you-"
"There you are! What took you so long?" Seto crossed his arms over his chest. I looked around to see Tristan, Duke, Joey, and Serenity talking in a huddle, and it pleased me to realize I was getting better at remembering their names. No more Eyeliner and Rhino Horn!
I couldn't exactly tell my brother that we were delayed due to the discussion of Yami's recreational drug use, so I avoided his gaze to think of an answer.
"Well, we were trying out mattresses at that new store that just opened up, and they were just...really comfy."
"You always did get so amused with the most mundane of things, Sara." Seto chuckled. I looked over at Yami to see him even more agitated, refusing to engage in the conversation the others were having. I kept trying to steal a glance at Serenity, who was being reprimanded by Joey, but she never looked back at me. Her gaze seemed to be occupied by someone else.
"Hey, where's Mokuba?" I asked Seto.
"He's with some of the geek squad. Apparently he was worried and tried to find me or something stupid like that." He answered.
"I don't think that's stupid. You kind of just ditched us without telling anybody. I ended up spending our 'Kaiba family bonding day' with Yami and Ryou."
"Yeah, sorry about that, I just wanted to see Serenity. I hadn't really seen her since she got back from that seminar." He answered. I thought about our meeting with her this morning, smiling at the memory of how adorable she was, but then I became puzzled.
"Wait, how'd you know about that? She told us before you got there."
He raised his eyebrow at me. "Of course I know about it, I fucking paid for the thing."
"But she said she got a sponsorship-" I paused. "Oh, I get it now..."
"You don't even know the half of it." He humphed. In the distance I could make out Mokuba's wild hair, bouncing his way along in a rush to greet us. Yugi was with that girl named after a drink, and I peered at Yami to see him visibly cringe before turning away. It broke my heart to watch the anguish glisten in his amethyst eyes. On the bright side, Yugi looked very cheerful and animated talking to whatsername- coffee, soda, something like that.
"Come on, Mokuba, let's go." Seto turned and pushed open the door, and before I had the chance to talk to anyone else (or catch Serenity's attention) I was being ushered to leave. Once Mokuba scurried through the door, babbling something like "Can we play a game when we get home?", I glanced outside at the rain and then down at my sundress.
It was white.
I looked up to say my goodbyes, preparing to run in the rain as fast as I could to Seto's sports car, only to see Bakura holding out his hoodie for me. I blinked.
"Take it."
"Ryou, are you sure?"
"Of course, it gives me an excuse to see you again." He smiled. I gladly obliged.
"Thank you so much, Ryou, you're so sweet. See ya later everybody!" I tried to make a special wave for Serenity, but it probably turned out much worse than I had envisioned. She's just so adorable! You can't help but act like an idiot around her, or at least I can't.
I clutched Bakura's jacket around me and pulled the hood up to shield myself, wishing that girls' jackets were as functional as boys'. The little drops of water that showered down were not unlike those that I had been letting drip into the sink just mere hours before, before I had made two very good friends, angered one, and made the other blush. Before I finally learned the names of Gandalf and the King, and before our 'Kaiba family bonding day' was a complete failure.
"I got to see Yugi flirt shamelessly with Tea. It was almost funny, except for the fact that I was right there." Mokuba spoke as we shut the doors to the car. Tea! Man, I'm getting SO good at this name stuff, I knew it was a beverage! I smiled at my inner-triumph.
"You know, this was just like an episode of Scooby-Doo. Freddie would always team up with Daphne, since he always had a mad crush on her, and in this case that's Yugi and Tea. Serenity's admirers were so worried about her that it left them to pull a Velma and solve the mystery. I guess my group was just the comic relief or something..."
"Got any Scooby Snacks?" Mokuba laughed, adding on to my lame comparison. "But seriously, can we actually go do something fun now? I just spent that whole time trying to block out Yugi's awkwardly suggestive comments about Tea."
"Yeah, and I want to hear more about Serenity! Do you happen to know if she likes girls?"
"You wish. She's mine, and not even her idiot of a brother's gonna change that."