I feel weird having Mimi and her family come up now. I get hate messages about her, but I know when I get to /that/ point, she'll probably get even more. I hope I don't get any for Kusanagi ;-; I like him
Okay, since this keeps coming up: There are three spirits in the Puzzle. The King, the Danava, and ████████████████.
Chapter Summary
In idleness
Days and months I've spent:
I feel nothing for them.
A life spent blossom-viewing
In springtime is too short, indeed.
- Fujiwara no Okikaze
The Star Bridge
Yuugi felt himself dying and waking inside. It was just like before, that voice. It had aged, but it was still so warm and nice.
"H-How have you been, Iza-kun? Erm, I mean Kusanagi-"
「You can call me Iza if you want, Yuugi-kun.」 A chuckle accompanied the sentence, and Yuugi found himself laughing softly as well. He could hear people in the background, probably other students.「I've been well. Dealing with school, work, and my family. How have you been? My sister told me that she had met you and gave you my number.」
"Yeah," Yuugi replied. "I've been doing well. I'm in my first year at Domino High, and I've..."
He couldn't very well say now that he had friends, since Jonouchi and Anzu made it clear that they were not going to accept his other self. They surely would not accept the King.
"I've been well."
「...」 There was an uneasy silence from his friend that sent a chill down Yuugi's spine. He could hear the intercom - 'Is he on a train? A bus?' - signaling for passengers to sit down.「Wait. Let me sit - Excuse me, sir - down. Okay. Sorry, I gotta head over to Domino today, actually. I have a meeting with a potential customer. Yuugi-kun, why don't I feel that you're telling the truth?」
"Erm... That is..." Yuugi sighed. "I made some friends when I started school. Do you remember Anzu at all? I don't remember if I had told you about her or wrote about her."
「She's the ballerina, right? That one that gave you stuff on Valentine's Day once?」
Yuugi smiled. "Hip hop, now, actually. Well, anyway, something happened. Mimi-san knows about it, the Danava?"
「I know some about them, yes.」
"The Danava met my friends, defended them, saved all of us, and now they want me to throw the Danava and the King away, just because they're scared of him... of me." He rubbed furiously at his eyes. Why wouldn't he stop crying?! He couldn't keep crying just because he was having a fight with his friends. He was fine without friends before-
「Are you at home?」
"Huh?" Yuugi sat up, confused. "Yes. Why?"
「I'm on my way to Domino right now. I have that meeting, but I can skip that.」 Yuugi stammered as he heard Iza mumbling to himself. 「I'll call my secretary to reschedule that... Or Aniki can go. I'll call him in a little bit.」
"Wait. Why are you not going to the meeting?" Yuugi frowned, confused.
「You sound like you need someone right now, Yuugi-kun. I haven't seen you in years, haven't heard from you in years, and now that I have the chance to, I'm going to see you.」
'Why didn't you come before?' he thought, exasperated. He repeated the question in his thoughts and hardly noticed that he asked the same question out loud.
「I... was in the hospital for a while. After the accident - which is a story for another day - I didn't want to see anybody. I couldn't even leave my house. I ended up making lots of dumb decisions, but I won't call them mistakes. I'm taking responsibility for them... I didn't want you to get wrapped up in that. Can you believe that this is seventh time this year that I've left my house? It's almost autumn!」 There was an awkward laugh that accompanied the last word and Yuugi found himself smiling.「You... You have every right to be angry with me. I shouldn't have let it get to me, let it stop me from seeing you.」
"..."
「...」
"Iza-kun?"
「Yes?」 The question sounded eager but fearful, anxious for the words that would answer.
"Do you want to see a movie today, if you can?"
「... That would be great. I get off the train and I'll go home, get some things. I'll get to Domino in about... Two hours?」
"Okay. I'll go get the movie times. Um, can I still talk to you?"
A laugh responded to his question. 「About what? Better question, why do you need to ask that? Tell me everything, anything you want. Just know that I'm on a train and that there's a woman that keeps looking over here like I'm crazy.」
Yuugi found a giggle in his throat that soon became a full and healthy laugh. "Okay! I'm in high school now, and I still live with my grandpa."
「I remember him. Does he still play poker?」
Soon, it was like they had never been separated at all.
Within two hours, Yuugi had rearranged his room several times, changed twice, and he had also looked through all of the movie listings that he could to find a movie that the two of them could enjoy.
But who was this person that he was going to meet? What did he enjoy? They had changed so much in these three years of no communication. Mimi had probably told Iza about how he had changed, but now Yuugi knew nothing of Iza. A young father, he knew about the older boy being. He was in University, and he was part of the company that his family had run and created. Mikoto Corporation did not only medical, he found out while online. There was also music, collection of visual art, technology, and there was also a section of the company dedicated culinary arts as well.
What part did Iza manage? Did he like what he did for his job? Why was he still in University otherwise? What were his children like? Did they like games like Iza did? He remembered playing Ladybug and so many games that Iza had told him about through the letters. Did he teach his children of those?
The call from his grandfather of a guest sent shocks down his spine, his stomach now feeling queasy. He stood up from the desk of his father's study, shutting off the monitor of the computer. He rubbed the dryness of his eyes from staring at the screen for so long.
"Shit..." His muttering filled the quiet study.
As he left the room, Yuugi smoothed down his shirt and took a long deep breath.
'Oh, God. Not even the King made me this nervous!' He set his path down the steps, his heart beating at twice the speed of his steps. His breathing was shallow and he was growing dizzy.
"Yuugi-kun?"
Yuugi looked up - he must have been looking down at the steps so he didn't damn well trip - and saw green eyes looking into his.
'The same green as the Faceless One.'
"Iza-kun... Kusanagi."
The young man nodded. Yuugi found a strange passion in those eyes that drew him in. They were full of a longing that he understood, one that his heart echoed back. He felt his body propelling him forward, crashing into the other, slightly taller body and trying to find that same embrace that was the signal of separation from them so many years ago. He felt those same arms - longer, a bit thicker with muscle but still warm - holding him with the same ferocity as nine years ago. He didn't know where the sound came from, a choking sound that barely seemed louder than the ticking of a clock, but it broke the tension for Yuugi and he let himself cry, just a little bit.
"I missed you."
The arms around him squeezed him more so.
"Very much, I missed you as well, Yuugi-kun."
There was the distant sound of rain, and he heard his grandfather in the kitchen mentioning that he could make some drinks for them both.
"Did you want something to drink, Iza-kun?" Yuugi pulled away and tried to wipe his eyes in a hurry. Green eyes looked back at him.
"... Would hot chocolate be okay?"
"Sure!"
"So you're way over Anzu now, huh?" Iza-kun kept swirling his spoon in his mug as he and Yuugi spoke. It was strange, trying to catch up on about three years of information lost, but it wasn't too terrible.
"Yeah..." Yuugi sipped at his drink, lost in his thooughts terribly so the taste was lost to him. "She never really noticed. I think, if she did, she never wanted things to be awkward between us. I'm not going to be chasing after something hopeless. After what happened with... Aileen, I can't anymore."
He set his head down on his folded arms. The Shadows had never hurt him, but he had seen them. He had seen them lurking outside his door of the Soul Room. The fear in his friends' eyes had surely been from that same sensation that he felt when the Shadows searched for nourishment.
They hadn't felt the King's power, though. They had never felt protected by Shadow nor Darkness, and he had experienced both.
He had felt cared for, and he had felt loved.
"I apologize for what Aileen did." Yuugi looked up to Iza-kun, who finally took the spoon out of his mug. "I... I know that she held affection for me, and my sister, but we thought so much of the strangest legend we'd ever heard of. We thought of the Danava, and then when my sister met you, we only got more obsessed..."
Yuugi hummed softly. He let his head turn to the side, focusing on his friend. Iza-kun was biting his lip, and he almost looked guilty, if conflicted. He let out the one question that was now on his mind now that they kept talking about his other self.
"Is that the only reason you came to see me? Because of the Danava?"
He closed his eyes for a moment. There was no answer, and Yuugi knew that he had just ruined the only friendship that he had left. He heard the chair legs squeak across the floor.
'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just... I don't want to be cared for as something I'm not.'
Yuugi felt a hand on his shoulder. He lifted his head, his eyes still closed.
"Iza-kun, I-"
Arms wrapped around him, and Yuugi was held tightly. He was whispered things that his heart needed to hear. Self-worth, mostly, was affected, but Iza-kun kept holding him and told him of everything that he had written about his those letters so many years ago.
He was reminded of each birthday that they had missed together; there were so many episodes of different anime that they missed, especially Dragon Ball Z; and every year, Iza-kun sent another tape of music to Yuugi. There were even the things that he had forgotten, like the music that they had shown each other, the stories they wrote to each other, and there were so many days that they had missed together. Yuugi missed the stories of Iza-kun's birthdays, everything that he learnt and the stories that he would write.
The older boy was almost shivering with the sincerity of his speech, and like every letter, Iza-kun had eagerly waited for a reply-
"Yuugi... I came for you. You've always been kind and selfless. You're the reason that I'm here right now. How can anyone not want you?"
- as he seemed to now.
Yuugi lifted his arms and wrapped Iza-kun in the same ferocious hug, shivering in kind.
"I really... I really missed you, Iza-kun! I'm sorry!"
"It's okay-"
"I'm so scared! I don't want to be hurt anymore, and we've been apart for years, but you've always been so important to me!" Yuugi had his eyes closed and his face buried in the other's shoulder. He was hiding, he knew, but his heart was bare.
He trusted Kusanagi with it, though. A hand that wandered to pet his head almost made Yuugi feel vulnerable, but it still felt safe.
It felt warm, and the feeling of strength made itself apparent against Yuugi's mind. It wasn't the King's, though; it was his own.
"Yuugi..?"
"Yeah."
"What should we do now?"
"We can still go to the movie, if that's okay. I think I need some popcorn right now." Yuugi pushed himself from his friend, laughing softly. "Is that okay?"
Iza-kun smiled and nodded. "What movie is it?"
"This movie? I read the book."
"Um, do you like it? We could see another one."
"It doesn't look like we have a lot of choices anyway." Iza turned to Yuugi and smiled. "If you wanna sit through a war drama, I'm game."
Yuugi laughed. "Sure," he replied. Turning to the woman at the counter, he held up two fingers. "Two for 「Chichi to Kuraseba」, please."
The woman stared at them in confusion before stating the price, which Iza paid for - "Trust me. This is nothing." - and handing over the tickets. "It will be in theater 4."
They bought their concessions - Yuugi paid for the drinks and popcorn this time - and made their way to the theater, sitting the farthest they could from the exit; for the immersion, Yuugi said.
"What is the story about?" he whispered. "I didn't get to read a lot on the movie when I looked it up."
"It's about a girl and her father who survived the bombing of Hiroshima, and the girl trying to establish her own life." Iza-kun took a sip of the mix of Coca-Cola and lemon soda that he had made in his cup. "It's also a love story."
The film began, and as the young woman on screen began sort the books on the shelves of the library, Yuugi looked over to Kusanagi. Was it so strange to invite a friend to a romantic-war drama? He looked to the popcorn and grabbed some kernels, stuffing them gently into his mouth.
Yuugi felt amusement, sincerity, and affection from the King. He smiled at the feeling.
This was okay, seeing a movie with a friend; this friend had no strong expectation from him to act a certain way. He just wanted to get to know Yuugi again.
He enjoyed the movie.
Notes:
The Face of Jizo (父と暮せば Chichi to Kuraseba) is a 2004 Japanese war drama film directed by Kazuo Kuroki and is based on the play of the same name by Hisashi Inoue. It was filmed as the 3rd and concluding volume of Kazuo Kuroki's "Trilogy works for War Requiem". The story follows a young woman, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and her attempts to forge a relationship with a young man while mourning the death of her father in the atomic bombing.
- To let people know, this story is being told in somewhat real-time. It is currently August 2004.
*This chapter was so hard to write. It's been forever since I've worked on it, due to school and work. I'm also having some personal issues to work through, ones similar to what some characters are trying to work through. Ugh...