Title: Sunrise
Author: Moonlight Reflection
Rating: The same.
Notes: Since this chapter is entirely flashbacks, I decided to give myself a break and not use italics. There is a flashback for most of the characters, and they try to follow a chronological order with the second to last flashback, which actually takes place in the original series. The last flashback is the most recent, taking place in the course of this story.
This story, which is 14 pages long, is already 14 pages longer than it should be. And my self-esteem is perfectly fine, thank you very much.
Many thanks to Nalan-san for her proofreading. :)
One morning, the sun did not rise.
That was how Honda Hiroto remembered the end of the world.
That day… called hinode [10] by Yami no Malik in a fit of a need for an ironic twist… occurred exactly three weeks after Yami no Yuugi had been defeated. Honda didn't know why it had taken that long for it to happen, but perhaps Yami no Malik had to gather his wits before it could all commence.
Or perhaps he had simply wanted to cause a false sense of security to pervade through the people that knew of his coming before he struck.
Kaiba had been preparing for the strike for quite a while, so it wasn't of any surprise that he had shown up at Honda's door approximately an hour after the sun should have risen. Without a word of explanation, Kaiba had told Honda to come with him to a facility he had created to prepare for the coming darkness. And Honda had come, to see that the others were already there.
It was awkward, really, to be with the group and have no Yuugi. Yuugi was the one who had brought them together, but he was not there. He no longer even existed, for only Yami no Yuugi remained and he too was absent.
Somehow, Kaiba had used his technology and millions to send the message out that there was something coming. And he had somehow done it in a way that made people believe him, which really was no easy task. For how many people would believe that because one person had died and another had lost his will, an evil force was allowed to take over the world by releasing dark magic?
Those who had not listened were the first to go… go to death or go to the Egyptian's side, at least. Yami no Malik struck quick and hard, and often in such an erratic way that nobody knew who was next or even why.
Honda did not understand how it all worked… he probably never would. But he knew the potential the darkness had. He had figured it out when Bakura had died. He had seen it with what happened to Mai.
And he knew that the world was coming to an end when the sun did not rise that morning so many years ago….
~@*
Fate had given him an odd place in life, to say the least.
Commonly thought of as an enigma, an abnormality, a stranger to humans that did not belong in the natural order of things, he continued doing what he did without ever understanding exactly what that was. His mind was a jumbled mess of memories and past events that he neither remembered ever experiencing nor managed to make sense out of. Some seemed to be from the beginning of time while others seemed to come from a birth that occurred only recently. Nothing fit; everything was disjointed. He didn't understand and he didn't know of anyone who could explain to him the mystery that was his life.
Nobody knew much about him, and sometimes Shaadii believed that he knew about as much as everyone else. It wasn't a pleasant concept, nor a welcome one, but it was something that he had come to terms with over and over again. Granted, he would give anything to be normal, but normal wasn't an option so he didn't bother to try for it.
He knew things that nobody else knew, things that were to have great impact on future events. He knew how to change them, how to prevent them. It seemed he was the human personification of fate, but was there such a thing?
Sometimes he wondered about that.
He had been surprised when he learned that the pharaoh had lost the duel to the Egyptian's other personality. He hadn't been expecting that, but he probably should have. He had seen a world dark and corrupted by an evil force, but he hadn't bothered to look into it. One of the problems with having so many memories and so many visions of the future was that he sometimes couldn't discern one from the other.
His Sennen Items reacted strongly to the surge of yami no chikara [11], and he immediately had known what happened. He didn't even know how he knew, but there just seemed to be a little voice in his head telling him.
Perhaps it was the suppressed power of fortune-telling that he sometimes wondered if he had.
Immediately, he had known that Yami no Malik would be coming after him, not only because he owned two Sennen Items but because Yami no Malik had never liked him in the first place. A personal grudge that could result in rather messy corpse on the ground.
His, to be exact.
Somehow, he managed to distract Yami no Malik with the Sennen Bakari. He didn't even know how he managed to do it, but he no longer bothered to question what the fates had given him. Or was he fate? He hated not knowing who he was, and he wondered if he would find out who he was meant to be after he had completed his role.
He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he never was going to complete his role. Perhaps he was to be caretaker of the world until the goddamn end of time.
Shaadii had left Egypt immediately after he had confirmed the news, journeying to Japan to find the others. There he had found a wasteland. Most of the people were already in hiding, but it didn't take him very long to find the people who mattered. Kaiba Seto had set up a small underground organization, but it wasn't easy to hide from him.
Not that they would if they knew the things that he did. He knew how to end all of this, how to turn back the destruction. But in order to do that, he needed Kaiba's small guerilla group to carry out his words.
Fate slipped past the guards and entered the sanctuary, darkness grasping at his clothes in a final attempt to keep him there before he destroyed it forever.
~@*
They say that you never forget the situation you were in when you first heard of bad news.
Jyounouchi Katsuya wasn't sure how to answer to that statement, but he couldn't help but see a bit of truth in it.
"Jyounouchi."
Nobody quite knew how it had happened, but Otogi Ryuuji had somehow managed to become the harbinger of bad news. Every time somebody had died, Otogi was the one who told the victim's relatives. It had gotten to the point where most of the newer recruits ran away when they saw him coming, fearing the worst. In fact, Kaiba was the only one who didn't flinch when Otogi approached him… although that was probably because he didn't have anybody else to lose since Mokuba had been one of the first to go.
Currently, Otogi was playing with a die. Jyounouchi hoped that it wasn't one of the explosive dice that Kaiba had made. Even though everyone knew that Otogi was graceful and sure of hand, it didn't mean that he wasn't liable to make mistakes and blow the two of them up.
"What?"
The idea that people fought to preserve the future was somewhat true, but in Jyounouchi's experience, people fought to protect something precious to them. The future was such a distant thing and offered no comfort, so they were forced to cling to something else in order to preserve their sanities. Sometimes it was memories, sometimes it was morals… but usually people fought to protect somebody that they loved.
That's what Jyounouchi had been doing. Many of the people who hadn't been killed by the darkness in the first wave had fled to underground refugee camps, while those who chose to fight had organized in Japan.
She had wanted to fight.
He wouldn't let her.
Although Jyounouchi Shizuka had capitulated to his demands, she had fought in her own way by working as a leader in the refugee camps. She wasn't in as much danger as her older brother was, but she was still an important part of the fight by raising morale and keeping people from defecting to the other side. She encouraged those who wanted to fight if they were able, and convinced those who would not last to stay. Simply put, she was the mother who took care of her children as best as she could.
He knew what Otogi was going to say before he said it. It was a gut instinct which made him want to puke as soon as the realization made itself known to him.
Otogi seemed to know too, his usually hard green eyes softening ever so slightly. It wasn't much, but it was as close to sympathy as he could get.
"I'm sorry."
There was no fanfare. There was no parade for a heroine now lost. There wasn't anything. She was gone and only those who were affected by her cared. She had done her best to keep this war from consuming everything that she cared about and instead, it had taken her.
He had fought to protect her, to make sure that one day she would be able to see the future and not be buried in the embrace of darkness. That was his goal, his… his motivation.
There was only so long he could use revenge as his motivation. There was only so long he could fight to redeem the memory of his dead sister. It just didn't work the same way. How to fight for somebody who was dead? How to go through each day realizing slowly that the fight was never going to be over, but you didn't care as much as you used to because the person you were fighting there wouldn't be there to see the end result?
He hated all of this so much. If it was his decision, he would just leave to go to those camps and be done with it. He didn't need this… none of them did, really. Mai was already gone. Kaiba no longer had his brother. Anzu no longer had Yuugi. Honda no longer had Bakura.
What were they fighting for?
He honestly didn't know anymore.
"How did it happen?" he finally managed to get out without choking.
"Traitor."
"Who?"
"Dunno. They never found him."
Silence.
And the only thing that was running through his head was—this was what he was fighting for?
He was fighting to save the future of humanity. No longer did he have anything but the memory of Shizuka. He was fighting to save humans from the darkness that threatened to swallow them whole, but more often than not, it seemed an impossible goal.
Especially when the darkness came from within themselves.
~@*
"Kaiba, are you listening?" Otogi's voice sounded very annoyed, and the question was accompanied by an impatient tapping of the foot, "You've been staring at me for twenty minutes and you haven't spoken once. Have you finally lost it?"
Kaiba Seto didn't bother to grace the question with an answer. In fact, he hadn't even heard the question, as he was too busy staring at the green-eyed wraith standing before him, a slender finger twisting at a lock of raven black hair.
Out of the small band of leaders, it seemed that Otogi Ryuuji was the luckiest. Luckiest in that the only person he had lost was somebody he could very well do without. Still cocky, still showy, Otogi was the only one who seemed unaware that he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
It was intoxicating.
There was a physical attraction, certainly. Who wouldn't be attracted to those fascinating green eyes, which seemed so cat-like and matched the young man's feline grace? He could sneak up behind somebody without the person ever knowing better, his steps so silent and careful. It was a quality that had many a time almost shocked the ice man (as he was called by everybody else), but Kaiba knew how to keep his emotions in check and never gave anymore than a quirked eyebrow when he was the victim of one of Otogi's sneak attacks.
He didn't know why, but Otogi captivated him in a way that nobody else ever had. Whether it was because of looks or attitude, Kaiba didn't care anymore. To him, Otogi was perfection molded into a human form, and he was unable to resist its charms.
"Kaiba…" Otogi rolled his eyes as he continued to tap his foot. Tap, tap, tap. No response except the stare.
Ryuuji. Dragon son. Perhaps it was ironic that the master of the dragons should be so beguiled by the dragon's son, but he hoped that he would be able to tame the dragon son. Not be trained by it.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Otogi was obviously starting to lose his temper, his eyebrow twitching as he abruptly slammed his hands on the desk, "Kaiba! What is wrong with you?! I've been talking for god knows how long and you're on a different planet! Do you think you could pay attention?!"
Kaiba didn't respond.
Growling, Otogi turned to walk away when a cold hand suddenly wrapped around his thin wrist.
He felt rather bony, Kaiba mused to himself as green eyes filled with shock stared into his eyes, which he hoped were emotionless. It was interesting to see shock in those eyes, and Kaiba couldn't help but be a bit pleased that he was the one who had caused the burst of emotion.
"Kaiba?" was the confused question.
Before he could stop himself, not that he actually wanted to, Kaiba ignored common sense and leaned forward to gently press his lips against Ryuuji's into a searing kiss that was soft yet passionate at the same time. He didn't know how long it lasted, but he would be the first to admit that it felt very nice and he was mildly upset when it ended.
Ryuuji barely noticed that Seto was no longer holding his wrist, instead entranced by those blue eyes which… were they pleading with him?
"Did you like that?" Seto found himself asking.
Ryuuji found himself nodding.
Then, slowly, tentatively, Ryuuji ran a finger down the edge of Seto's face before pulling him close to initiate a kiss of his own. A kiss of pent-up frustrations and a need for somebody in the eternal night that they had been forced into.
It's not the same as Mokuba being alive again, Seto mused to himself as he started laying small kisses down Ryuuji's neck, But it's a damn good replacement [12].
~@*
"Daga…… Ore no kioku ga modoranakute mo kamawanai……"
The tears started to drip from his large violet-red eyes. Yami no Yuugi was hard-pressed not to let the shock register on his face as he once again comprehended exactly how much his omote cared for him.
He was still searching for something to say when Yuugi's words interrupted his thoughts.
"Boku mo… boku mo… zutto…"
Hands clenched the Sennen Puzzle.
"Boku no…… Boku no kioku wo zenbu ageru kara………"
Yami no Yuugi didn't know how to respond to that… that gentle yet powerful vow of love and friendship. So instead, he distracted himself by calling Yuugi's attention to the scene below them.
"Miru yo! Aibou!"
Yuugi blinked back the tears as he looked down to see his friends looking up at him. And for a moment, he forgot everything that he was originally going to say. [13]
~@*
Otogi blinked, emerald eyes hazy and sightless. Violet eyes stared back as a rough hand brushed away a strand of damp, raven black hair.
They really were a nice shade of violet, his disjointed thought process finally decided on… light and similar to orchids. A secret admirer had once left orchids for him, and they were almost the same color. He never did find out who that secret admirer was… chances were likely that she or he were already dead, but it didn't really matter, did it?
No. He didn't think so.
"Did you like that?" The question was hauntingly ironic. Otogi couldn't help but wonder if Yami no Malik did that on purpose. It was very possible, yet highly unlikely.
It's really one or the other, Otogi realized. He just didn't know which one it was, but he didn't really want to figure it out either.
Yami no Malik smiled, white fangs glistening and making him look like a deranged vampire. Although considering how much Yami no Malik enjoyed the taste of blood, perhaps the title was not too far off.
Otogi found it amazing that he had been broken so easily. Well, perhaps not broken, but something along those lines. Not to say that he wasn't expecting it, but reality never does quite sink in until it's staring at one in the face.
Did you like that?
Funny. Those were the first words Kaiba had said to him after the kiss. And now they were the first words Yami no Malik had said to him after the assault. How could it be that he would one day be having fantasies and nightmares spurred by the same exact words?
They really weren't very strong. Nobody was. One could create barriers and walls in an attempt to keep others out, but find the weak point and everything would crumble. Perhaps that is what had happened to him?
He had to force himself to breath in and breath out. Since when was breathing a task? Well, since when was the world under the thumb of a malicious dictator? Since when did the world become so enshrouded in its own darkness, a darkness that had always existed but needed to be tapped?
Since when did the sun refuse to rise?
Since when, indeed. So many questions, and the only thing he could think about was the pain. How pitifully self-absorbent that was… but perhaps the individual who had those type of thoughts should try and go through what he had just gone through and then we'll see where those thoughts went.
Somewhere in the foggy depths of his mind, he finally noticed that Yami no Malik was grinning at him. For one reason or another.
Why, why, why? The world was swimming in questions and he knew no answers. It was likely that nobody did, but did that mean that these questions were meant to exist only to confuse? What was the point in that then?
Distantly, he could hear Yami no Malik speaking. But he couldn't understand the words. It was as if something was muffling all his senses, preventing him from understanding what was happening around him.
Nails dug painfully into his skin and hands touched him where he did not want to be touched, causing him to jerk in… it wasn't surprise, but something different and intangible.
He realized, somehow, that he couldn't deal with this anymore. His senses were becoming more and more blurred, and everything was starting to get unbearably fuzzy.
His mind was starting to shut down from the stress, and he quite honestly did not mind.
And as Yami no Malik leaned closer to force him into another of those unwanted kisses, his mind quietly let go of reality and allowed him to experience the comfort of dark nothingness as he finally passed out.
~ tsuzuku ~
Commentary (pt 4):
[10] Hinode. Sunrise.
[11] Yami = Dark. No = possessive particle. Chikara = power. Dark power.
[12] No incest is implied. Really.
[13] Scene comes from volume 17. Tentative translations:
Yami no Yuugi: However…… I do not mind if my memories do not come back……
Yuugi: I… I… I'll give you all of my memories.
Yami no Yuugi: Look! Aibou! (partner)
Omote. Surface, front. How Japanese fans refer to Yuugi, Ryou, and Malik.
The context of this section is that Yami no Yuugi and Yuugi are speaking about Yami no Yuugi's desire to find his memories. However, he also realizes that he is liable to have to leave Yuugi if he does so, so he tells Yuugi that he doesn't mind if his memories don't come back as long as he can stay with him. Yuugi is saddened by Yami no Yuugi's sacrifice and offers to give him all his memories. The anime episode this was in was in the episode where Kaiba Seto visited Isis Ishtal at the museum and saw the tablets. I do not know what they did in the dub.
