Yori oi Hitotsu no Nazo ... More Pieces of the Puzzle
A/N: Finally, I get the stupid chapter up! Yippy skip. Well, this is certainly getting interesting!
Read and review!
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Kioku ignored the raucous howls of the men in the room. Yami ducked back inside as well, a crimson flush highlighting his tanned cheeks. Kioku smiled a secretive little half smile when some of the men began congratulating 'Yugi'.
"Way to go, Yug'! Joey Wheeler called. Yami shot him a death glare but the blonde youth just laughed.
Seto Kaiba, only once the entire class looking up from the papers in his briefcase, allowed his eyes to briefly roam over her body before meeting her eyes, flushing, and looking away.
Kioku took her seat in the back of the room, and only then did she notice Bakura next to her. She tensed, waiting for the white-haired youth to leer at her like he did before, but he only smiled shyly.
"Er, my name's Ryou," he offered in a sweet English accent, sounding nothing like the evil-eyed man she'd thought he was. Must have been a different person, she thought, smiling and taking the proffered hand.
"I am Kioku," she answered, and suddenly felt as shy as he looked. What was this new feeling? It was nothing like she'd thought she felt towards that Sennen spirit, Yami.
The teacher was talking again, but neither cared the slightest bit. Ryou couldn't tear his eyes away from this stony eyed newcomer. He felt drawn to her, somehow, but before he could speak the spirit took over.
His eyes widened in horror and he started, nearly falling out of his desk. His neatly buttoned coat became open, with the white shirt underneath undone as well to reveal a pale, muscular chest. With narrower eyes and longer hair, the spirit reasserted himself in the desk. Kioku, having seen one then the other, could now tell them apart. Staring straight ahead, she spoke.
"Give the boy control of his body before I take control of it for you."
The white-maned spirit shot her a calculating look before departing, and Ryou sighed in relief. He turned to Kioku.
"Thank you. Oh, and sorry about the other day, as you can see I don't have much control."
Kioku's eyes were slightly narrowed in anger. She simply nodded, the bell's loud ring preventing her from saying more.
Yami wandered the halls of the school, lost in his own deep thoughts. He wasn't sure that he knew how to handle the situation, not after being introduced to a whole new array of emotions when Kioku's lips touched his. He knew that he couldn't make her love him, and he also knew that the kiss had not been out of love but out of warning. But he also knew that he hadn't felt like this since... for a long time.
There had been slaves, during his time as Pharaoh, who were raised to be a his disposal. For serving and... other things. But he'd used them, not really caring about what he did. And he certainly never loved them!
But there had been one woman he'd found a small space in his heart for. He'd never learned her name. She was an exotic dancer in his court, and when she danced, her eyes seemed to gaze into his very soul. He had longed for the day when he could have those eyes all to himself.
However, every time he'd tried to get her alone, every time he'd sent for her, there was something else more pressing that needed doing. Something that kept him from her. So he'd come to realize that it wasn't meant to be.
She'd disappeared about a year before the battle during which his spirit had been imprisoned in the Millennium puzzle. And he'd remembered her for those five long millennia.
He stopped at a water fountain and succeeded only in getting wet. He saw something of that dancer in this card sprite, as she called herself. And while Yugi thought the words 'card sprite' had sparked a sense of recognition in Yami, the truth had it that the Pharaoh had no idea what one of those was. The recognition had spawned from the sad smile on Kioku's face; it mirrored that of the dancer Yami had never forgotten.
But if it is her, Yami mused, then how did she become a spirit, like me?
Ryou walked home that day, seeing the beautiful weather and deciding to enjoy it instead of riding the bus. One such disgusting vehicle passed him, and stopped at the next crossroads. It screeched to a halt quite erratically, as though a giant hand took hold of it and held it still while it thrashed. The doors whooshed open as Ryou passed, and Kioku joined him.
Neither spoke. They passed a movie theater, a park with children screaming in delight and dogs barking after sticks, a toy shop with dolls and planes in the windows. Kioku's gaze remained straight ahead as she walked coolly past, but Ryou couldn't stop looking around. He suddenly found everything exquisite in its own design, and gazed about with a slightly nostalgic smile on his face. Kioku caught a thought from his open mind; before the demon... all this was commonplace. But now...
"He beats you?" Kioku remarked; she could have been asking about the weather. Ryou flushed, crimson accenting alabaster. He nodded silently, and Kioku stopped.
"Why do you withstand such torture?" She asked fervently, her mahogany eyes shining. Not how, Ryou noticed with conflicting emotions. She must think she knows I'm strong enough to take it. He didn't bother telling her that he usually broke down into helpless tears and didn't bother to block his assailant's fists.
Ryou studied her shoes, sandals of Egyptian design. "I don't."
Her tanned fingers rested beneath his chin, lifting his eyes to hers. "But you do," she said, softly. "You are withstanding it even now."
The demon took control then, grabbing and twisting her arm to throw her to the pavement. "He withstands nothing," Bakura growled. "He lets me do whatever I wish to his pathetic form, and cries before I've even begun."
Kioku's stony eyes again regarded his very soul. "And yet— you think he's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen."
Bakura's eyes widened. "I've seen a lot of beautiful things in my life..."
Ryou snatched control briefly. His wide brown eyes called out to her in a way that his beautifully accented voice never could. Run!
Bakura made a grab for her, but she was already down the street. She swiped angrily at tears she didn't want to fall, and, not looking or caring where she was going, she tripped. She cried out and fell—
Straight into the arms of a certain love struck Pharaoh.
Kioku wasn't sure whether or not she'd hit her head. This feels like a dream; haven't I seen him somewhere before? And I don't mean the school, or the little youth's mind— I mean somewhere exotic, long ago...
She breathed in deeply to try and clear her head, and the faint Egyptian spice which haunted Yami's person brought with it an even fainter memory. A powerful young ruler, gazing at her like no one ever had before: not with lust, but with genuine...
Love?
Yami cleared his throat a bit nervously; she realized she'd been laying in his arms, gazing into his amethyst eyes. Those eyes were now clouded in concern.
"Are you all right?"
The memory, what snatches of it she had, had brought even more mystery and doubt into her mind then before. Her eyes troubled, she shook her head a little and tore herself from his embrace.
Yami tried to grab her hand, but when their fingers touched a golden flash burst in the back of his mind. He let her go and staggered, his mind reeling. A single memory was burned into him that day: a powerful young ruler, gazing at a lone dancer as though he could never look away...
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Talk about plot twists! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon but with school staring back up next week it'll be harder for me to find time to write.
Oh, yeh. Readers: If there were a Master of card sprites, who would you want it to be and why? Must be a character from the series and you gotta have a good reason. I know I already said Shadi, but a question came up and I might change that. So read, review, and let me know!
Oh, yeh. Flames will be used to burn icky ol' Bandit Keith, cause he's nasssssty.
