The Magicians' Realm Chapter 35: Ideas on the Books, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter 35, everyone! In which Yami visits a library and Kineil and company question the wisdom of letting certain people get around….Erm….Well, it's the sort of thing we discuss at home when the news presents some of our…less illustrious…things….You know what? Just ignore me. :|

Angiembabe, thanks for the review! Yes, they do! Good question….Yes, at least it wasn't Yami. And eh…he sort of deserved it, but he didn't deserve that much…but Kineil needed the exercise (and terribly enough, this probably wasn't the first time Yami's ever sicced Kineil on someone).

FicReader, thanks for the review! I know, right? But Maxwell does tend to have that effect….She most definitely has—so Yami's happy-go-lucky personality grates on her because she's expecting him to have an angle. Oh did you? Was it in my DeviantArt gallery? (Should probably be mentioning in the author's notes that this story does have illustrations there—oops ^^;).

Thanks for the review, guest-who-sounds-like-Fromtheashtrees! Yes—I tend to be exceptionally quiet in real life because I've had a few of those moments myself. ^^; Ah…ours acts as tinder and things-for-birds-to-chew-on after we pull the staples out (they're very much like the magazines on the airplane—cool stuff that serves no real purpose). Ah, I've never mentioned? She's a hairdresser—runs her own salon (I have my own personal stylist!). :) Yeah…I think those chapters were Takahashi maybe trying to get away from Duel Monsters for a while, but obviously that failed. Same here—the duels were cool when they first aired (and I was a very easily entertained preteen, I suppose), but it got kind of ridiculous after a while (although it would have been hilarious to see the anime people try to animate a different game—dramatic Uno, anyone?). heheheh—oh wait, it's stuck in mine too. :| Yes…lately I check to see if the latest animated movie from Disney or Pixar has John Lasseter attached to it—it generally guarantees an above-average movie, and Pixar has always been good for generating good movies (mostly because they take so long on hashing out the story—I think I read that Inside Out went through at least a dozen rewrites). And now we get Finding Dory—here's hoping it's good. Definitely—and that is where my response to your review ends because AOL Mail truncated it and I can't see it yet on FanFiction. Darn you, technology! D:

References:

Flowers in the Attic © 1979 V.C. Andrews (if this story references an attic, it's guaranteed there'll be a reference to Flowers in the Attic—absolutely weird series, by the way)

Original characters + setting © Kineil D. Wicks (myself, not the girl in the story)

Yami strode for the Delvaire Public Library, feeling a bit better for walking off most of his aggravation at the day's events.

Now if only things would improve.

On the positive side, he did have something good to look forward to.

"Hello?" he called upon entering the library. Surprisingly, his voice didn't echo—it barely carried—but someone who reminded him very much of a big snowy owl obliged him with the standard shush.

"Sorry," Yami said, adopting a stage whisper. "Is Anzu here?"

The big snowy owl puffed up. "And who wants to know?" it—she asked.

"Uh…me, I suppose?"

"Do you have a library card?"

Yami patted his pockets. "Ah…no….Wait—it's back home. Give me a minute."

He doffed Horus, stuck his arm in—

And before he did, opened up a miniature portal that ended just above his desk in his room. Feel around—gotcha!

"Here you go," he said, handing the card over.

She accepted it and read it; Yami noted the fox fur. "This says 'Yuki Montgau.'"

"Oops," he said, snatching it back quickly. "That's my little brother's—I told him to keep his stuff off my desk—"

"I take it you're the elder Montgau son?"

"Yes?"

She nodded, smiling. "For future reference, dear, just tell me you're her boyfriend Yami and you'd like to see her. She's in the back."

"Oh…all right, thanks," Yami said, feeling distinctly confused as he put Horus back on and headed further into the library.

Within a few moments, he found Anzu, stamping the backs of library books.

"That looks tedious," Yami observed, startling her into stamping the inkblotter.

"Yami!" she squawked, before remembering where she was. "What are you doing here?"

"What, you can drop in on me but I can't drop in on you?"

She gestured, a little helplessly. "Well, I see your point, but…I'm at work."

"I know—I think I ran into your supervisor."

"Miss Binder?"

"Is she the one that looks like an owl?"

"Yes."

"Then yes, I ran into her."

"I'm not sure what to make of that. So am I the only reason you're here?"

"Let me guess: you've heard the news."

"I tried to call you, but the lines were all busy."

"That would be the gossip grapevine, apparently."

"You're headline news, it seems."

"Excuse me," a nasally voice said. Yami turned to see a short stack with green hair and ridiculously large glasses behind him. "But if you're quite done, I'd like to check this book out."

"Go ahead," Yami said, gesturing. The short boy put the book on the desk for Anzu's perusal. "Say, aren't you that Weevil kid? At Hallowed Fields?"

"Who wants to know?"

"My brother says you've been turning buttons into beetles."

Short Stack puffed up at that. "Yes—quite impressive, don't you think?"

In response, Yami doffed Horus and tossed him up into the air. He came back down, landed on a stack of books, and sorted a few feathers out.

"Oh yes," Yami said blandly. "Very impressive."

Short Stack left, dejected, a few moments later.

"I think you took the wind out of his sails," Anzu observed.

"I gave him something to shoot for," Yami countered.

"I suppose now you have something to shoot for too, right?"

"Cheers, thanks for reminding me. You don't happen to have any spellbooks, do you?"

"You wouldn't want them," she said. "The ones we have are mostly basic stuff that everyday people use. We have some stronger ones, but they're in the Restricted Section."

"What is it with every library having a restricted section?"

"Ours is due to having books that really need to see a book doctor."

"Ouch."

"Yeah—it's starting to get crowded." She finished up her stack and set the books aside. With uncanny timing, Miss Binder came up and deposited a fresh stack.

"Dear, why don't you take your lunch break a little early?" Miss Binder asked. "You can have your discussions at normal decibel levels that way."

"Thank you, Miss Binder—I think I will."

"She seems nice," Yami observed as they walked out.

"She's like that to everybody. I think she'd figure out a way to hug a porcupine."

"That is talent," Yami said as Horus flew over his head and morphed back to hat form. Yami paused so he'd drop perfectly on his head.

"Showoff," Anzu said.

"I can't help my talents."

"I'm sure," she observed as they hit the steps. "So how are you handling things?"

"Everyone keeps asking me that."

"Have you been giving honest answers?"

"Not even to my own father." Wow, that sounded bitter, Yami realized.

Anzu must have thought so too, by the look of that smile she was giving him. "Do you think it'd help?"

"Eh…no…not really."

"Try it."

"Okay, you want the truth? It sucks. It sucks that I was basically told that I'm going too fast and need to be progressing at the level that everyone else is. But I'm not everyone else, and if I sit on my hands and do nothing for a year, I'll go crazy."

He took a deep breath upon finishing.

"And?" Anzu asked.

"And what?"

"Now how do you feel?"

He thought about it. "A little better. Not a vast improvement, but a little better."

"Good."

And with that, Anzu leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"You'll do fine," she comforted. "You'll see: a year isn't all that long. In the meantime, I'm sure I can cook up some things to keep us busy."

Yami felt his eyebrows ratchet up at that insinuation. "What sort of things?"

She blushed slightly, as though realizing what she said.

"Let's see: dates, movies, dinners, bird-watching, getting-to-know-each-other stuff," she said, ticking them off on her fingers. "We could research your family tree—I've always found genealogy to be especially diverting."

Yami nodded, not fully paying attention, until her last statement.

The lights went on.

"Anzu, you're a genius."

She nodded, unsure. "True….Why am I a genius?"

He straightened up. "There's one place I haven't looked for new spellbooks: my own house."

"Wouldn't you have already gone through them all?"

"Anzu," he noised, winking. "One thing you've got to know about Magicians is that their attics are always a mess—we could have four kids up there and never know it."

"What?"

"It's a joke my Mom says—although come to think of it, that gives a nice way to get rid of my brother…."

"Yami."

"All right, fine. But if we don't have spellbooks in our attic, then that's it, I'm done. My goose is cooked."

"And on that happy note," she said, taking his hand and heading down the steps. "Let's go eat lunch."

*\*/*

Kineil watched Teana go from her spot behind Yami. Once the room recovered from the door slam, she said her piece.

"I recall saying that Maxwell shouldn't be let out into polite society."

"That sounds a lot like what you said about me," BJ said from behind her.

"It's a fact. Which reminds me, Yami—have you given any thought to that proposal I and your nerd friends approached you with? About there being an IQ test before reproduction?"

Yami wasn't listening to her. He was too busy glaring at Maxwell, fuming and looking like he was a few shades away from physically strangling the man. Wonder of wonders, Yami was actually furious.

"I—you," he snarled. "You're lucky there's witnesses—gah!" he spat finally, giving a dismissive motion with his hands as he ran after Teana.

Kineil waited until Yami slammed the door shut before addressing Maxwell. "So?" she asked. "Did your life flash before your eyes?"

"It did," Maxwell admitted. "On the positive side, I know where a lot of lost items are now."

"Good for you. New bet!" she yelled. "Yami kills Max."

"Side bet!" Maxwell added. "Yami sends her to do it," he said, pointing at Kineil.

Kineil grinned at him, showing her teeth—a Chaos Grin, it was called, as the erstwhile beings had a habit of showing their teeth like that before tearing into an opponent or victim. Years after they ruled the earth, and the expression still had a fear-inducing quality.

Her Hawk's-Eyes probably didn't help.

"About that reproduction thing," BJ noised, poking her shoulder as Atlas ran over to the Board and wiped it clean before scribbling on it, unmindful of his suit. "I wasn't part of the reason you want it going, is it?"

"I think we could agree that you'd be rubbish at it," Kineil told him.

"Nonsense! I'd be great at raising the little brats."

"Beej, the idea of you reproducing strikes terror into the hearts of the populace."

"One of you is bad enough," Maxwell agreed.

"You have very little room to talk."

"On the contrary, I already know I couldn't stand the little monsters. I think you're the same way."

"A little monster?"

"Disgusted by the idea."

She couldn't argue with that.

"All right!" Atlas called. "Bets on Maxwell's demise and its cause are now open! And bets on Yami and Teana's status have been officially reopened! Place your bets!"