Exasperation
Ryu was sitting under a tree in Ryou's back yard, meditating. It annoyed the hell out of him that he couldn't remember how to use his youki. Now that Shadi had forbidden them all from using their Millennium Items for awhile, in the hopes that the energies would stabilize enough for Yugi to regain the Pharaoh's memories, he needed some reliable way to defend himself. True, he had Toukijin to rely on in case of attack, but still. He strained his mind, trying to remember how he used to manipulate his youki. He growled in annoyance. How was he supposed to fight like this? He didn't even have claws! Wait, claws. The thought sparked a faint memory, which vanished almost immediately, to his great annoyance. Calming himself, Ryu took a deep breath and cleared his mind again, allowing the word to trickle through his consciousness. Abruptly, his eyes shot open and he glared at his fingertips in concentration, which had small gold lights flickering at their tips. Concentrating, he reached into the well of energy at the center of his being, trying to give the claws form. After fifteen minutes of minimal success, he flopped onto his back. At least he had managed something, not that that thought consoled him much. He hated failing! His earlier calm forgotten, he called out to Ryou, splitting off to his ethereal form. "Okay, Hikari," he snapped. "Now you're going to start learning how to use your youki."
"My what?" Ryou asked tiredly.
"You know, your youki. Your demon energy. Don't be stupid."
"Ah," Ryou said. For some reason, he had never thought of himself as having youki. He actually didn't really think of himself as a demon, yet.
A while later, Ryu was standing with crossed arms, watching as his hikari attempted to connect to his youki. It helped his bruised ego a little, to watch his hikari fail just as miserably at it as he had.
For Ryou, it was a strange experience. He himself had never tried using magic before, though if Malik could because of his Millennium Item, theoretically he could as well. He could feel the energy inside of him, but it was chaotic, untrained. It would take plenty of practice until he could use it properly.
- - -
In the living room of the dog youkai known as Alex, Kagome sat chatting with Susan. The two demons were first cousins, and Kagome after had made contact with the bearer of Tenseiga, the two had set to meet. For Susan, it was fascinating to talk to someone who had actually known the great Sesshoumaru, and lived through the whole Naraku episode. For Kagome, it was an opportunity to learn more about the situation of youkai nowadays. There were many changes in the world, that she hadn't noticed before she had moved permanently (or so she thought) into the past. The existence of youkai had influenced the world in many ways, incorporating legends, even changing the way the human race looked. In the past, humans had strictly human hair- and eye colors, but over the years the intermingling with youkai had caused many strange colorings to pop up, such as the purple eyes that were rather common now.
Looking at Susan brought Kagome a pang of pain, reminding her of all the people she had once known, and would never see again. Meeting her son again was practically a miracle, though not a completely happy one. She couldn't help but notice how much he had changed since she had known him, and she wasn't quite happy with some of the changes. The problem was that he was getting too old for her to scold anymore, and he wouldn't be inclined to listen to her after all the growing up he had done on his own. The best she could hope for was to be friends, and maybe over the years they could recapture their old closeness.
"So what's it like to be a youkai nowadays?" Kagome asked.
"Actually," Susan said, "it's not that different from being human, just more difficult. We live pretty much all over the world, but very few humans know of our existence. There are simple spells that we use for disguise, that are kept on talismans and things. Youkai have to move around every so often, to prevent people from noticing the lack of ageing."
"What about intermarriage?"
"It doesn't happen that often, for the simple reason that if we dilute the youkai blood down too much, we'll die out. Already several of the rarer types of high-level demons have become extinct, such as the squirrel youkai." She smiled at Kagome's expression. "On the other hand, there's not nearly so much stigma against half-youkai, though quarter youkai are fairly rare."
"I see that you carry Tenseiga. Can you really use it?" Kagome hoped the other wouldn't be offended by the question.
Susan shrugged. "I can, but it's pretty hard. I considered becoming a doctor, so I could utilize the healing abilities, but it would attract too much attention."
"What about the other power?"
"What other power?" Confusion was apparent on her face. "Tenseiga heals, that's all."
Kagome was nervous. Hadn't Sesshoumaru told his children how to use the sword? On the other hand, it would be extremely like him to leave it to them to figure it out for themselves. "Tenseiga…can bring people back to life."
Silence echoed through the room, as Susan absorbed that remark. In all her wildest dreams she had never thought of having the power to bring people to life! Disappointment hit her hard, as she knew she wouldn't be able to make good use of that ability. Simple healing with the sword took a lot of energy out of her; she didn't want to think what kind of energy reviving someone completely would demand! Over the years youkai had weakened. The obsession with fighting had vanished, taking with it many of the old schools of techniques, resulting in their loss. Even the powerful demons of modern time would probably be only as powerful as the medium-powered demons of old.
- - -
Yugi sat bolt upright in bed, a strange feeling sending tingles up his spine. He reached quickly for the ward that Kagome had written for him, watching the light purple mist rising from the floor suspiciously. His yami was awake in his mind, in case he would need any help, though Yugi was prepared to fry whatever demon dared bother him. Malik was also learning how to write wards, but thus far all the ones he made tended to make the youkai explode rather violently and send blackish-purple lightning in all directions. Yugi watched the floor intently, only to gasp in surprise as the mist turned into the familiar turban-wearing form of Shadi.
"Geez, Shadi, don't sneak up on me like that! I thought you were a youkai!" Yugi cried in relief.
Shadi remained unruffled by the outburst. Yugi abruptly wondered if Shadi could possibly be a demon; he was definitely weird enough.
"I have been monitoring the balance of energy in the Millennium Items, and I believe the balance has been restored enough to attempt to access the Pharaoh's memory."
Yugi was immediately awake. "That's great!"
Finally, his yami said eagerly.
"We can go there tomorrow!" Yugi said enthusiastically.
-Wouldn't it take a bit more than just a day to get to Egypt?
-What?
-Isis took the tablet back to the museum in Egypt, she said she couldn't keep it in the DominoMuseum any longer.
-Oh. That definitely put a damper on their plans. On one hand, he had promised the spirit that he would help him regain his memory, but he would be in big trouble if he took time off school now to go to Egypt. His whole life could be messed up by that, because if he didn't have good grades….
Yami Yugi sighed in frustration. It seemed that somebody up there was conspiring against him getting his memories back, and he was getting quite tired of it. However, he felt guilty because of all the trouble he had caused his other half, and he certainly didn't want to mess up his hikari's life. He himself would hopefully finally pass on to the next world, but Yugi would still be here to deal with whatever messes were left.
-I am willing to wait until your school is out of the way to get my memories, he informed his hikari, slightly reluctantly.
-But, you've been waiting so long! And-
-No, he said firmly. -I don't want you to suffer in school because of me. I will wait.
"He says that he's going to wait until the school year is over, because it's really difficult for me to get to Egypt right now." Yugi said.
"If you wait, the balance it took so long to reach might be lost." Do we detect a note of exasperation here?
"I'm sure we'll manage, we'll just not use the Millennium Items until after school's out."
"Whatever," Shadi said. "But I am not going to be the one running after the Item holders telling them not to use them. I'll leave that to you, O person with the patience to deal with a bunch of stubborn people." He promptly sank through the floor.
"Wow," Yugi said. "I had no idea Shadi could be sarcastic."
- - -
In the end, it actually turned out for the better that the trip to Egypt was postponed. The teachers were gleefully utilizing the month until the end of the year to dump as many tests as possible on the students. That, coupled with the Regent's exams, turned the end of the year into a living hell (well, maybe not quite that bad, considering all the other bad things happening). The students had even discovered a new weapon against youkai-Biology books. Yami Yugi did what he could to help his hikari study, but Ryu thought the whole thing was a waste of time and did nothing to hide his opinions.
- - -
Ryou was dreaming again. He was stalking a demon through a dense forest. He could smell it easily, and knew he would catch up to the creature soon. His every sense was alert, attuned to the tiniest change in the environment that would warn him of an attack. A rustle in the bushes up ahead alerted him, and he held his hands ready to strike out at the demon. It exploded from the bush with an inhuman shriek, its four blood-red eyes focused furiously on him, its long claws poised to slash. It opened its mouth, revealing enormous fangs, and cried "How much is cos(30)?"
Ryou shot up in bed, panting. "Square root of two-no, three! Square root of three over two!" he gasped.
-YOU, are pathetic, was his yami's disgusted comment. -The way you all agonize over school is really sad. You refuse to go out, and Malik's locked himself in his room with his books! I can't even duel with the stupid Pharaoh!
"These exams are really important! If we fail, it could seriously mess up the rest of out lives! We won't get accepted to university! We won't get a job! We-"
Ryu rolled his eyes. -You seriously need to take things easier.
"Don't be annoyed, we'll get to Egypt as soon as possible so you can get the rest of your memories back," Ryou said placatingly. "That's what's really bothering you, isn't it?"
Ryu sighed. -Since when do you know me so well?
"Since you've been living inside my head 24/7," he yawned. "Now, it's the middle of the night, and I'm going back to sleep. G'night."
- - -
In between the world of the living and the world of the dead, there are cracks. Sometimes people find these cracks and try to use them, but ultimately, it only leads to problems. Inside these cracks is chaos, the darkness that lurks on the edges of the universe, which hopes to reclaim it someday. It hardly seems possible for anything to exist in this realm of darkness, but something does. It isn't alive, it merely exists. Unlike all the others locked here, who lose themselves to the chaos quickly, he held himself together. Hatred burned inside him, hatred and anger at those who had dared to lock him here, and contempt for those who thought that he would placidly remain here. There was no sense of time in this place of darkness, and he didn't care. Ultimately, he would break out of these pathetic bonds that held him, and then, oh yes, they would pay dearly for what they had tried to do.
A/N: Yesh li hayom bagrut, v'ani mamash lechutsa me'ze, v'ein li koach lichtov kan mashehu amok ki ani b'panika. Atem lo mevinim, nachon? Achshav atem yod'im eich ani margisha kshe'kulam kotvim shtuyot b'yapanit bekol chor. Techtevu b'anglit, anashim! Tafsiku lehitlahev me'ze she'atem yod'im safot muzarot.