Chapter Two: Come, Dance With Me
"speaking" 'thinking' /hikari thoughts to yami/ //yami thoughts to hikari//
The fast beat of the music always attracted his attention. Fluidly moving his hips and the rest of his body with the music, he caught a few people's glances, but not much more than that.
He stopped dancing a moment, giving them a look that he hoped said, "Look, I'm here to have fun, and if you're going to gawk at me, I'd rather go elsewhere, but just because of how your stupid minds work, I'm not going to move! So ha!" Frowning, he turned around, and continued to dance near the spotlight.
The music changed again. Something slow. He stepped away from the floor, and sat on a chair nearby. If you didn't have a date, you got the hell off the floor until the music changed again. At least, that's what you normally did. Let the couples dance a slow passion and then the rest of them got on with their lives.
"Hey, cutie, you have a date?"
Looking up, he blinked emotionless eyes at the female. Plain brown hair, bright green eyes. Taller than he was. He shook his head and scanned the crowd for someone. He didn't really know why he looked for this one person.
Kaiba.
"No," he replied automatically. "but have you seen Seto Kaiba around here?"
She blinked. Why did this kid want to know Seto Kaiba's whereabouts? "Yeah, why?"
He blushed. In the dark light, the girl couldn't see it. Human eyes were so... blind. "No reason."
The girl pouted in the sparkling lights, showing off her light pink lipstick. "C'mon! Someone who wants to know where Kaiba is has GOT to have a reason!"
'I think I might have a crush on him...' He didn't answer. "No, not really. He's kinda the first friend I made around here."
"Nani? How can that be? He's a cruel, nearly heartless billionaire!"
"So?" 'I don't mind what you call him. I've seen the other side... sort of.'
Silence, then, "You're impossible, kid. Bye."
He stood up abruptly and reached out his hand to stop her. "Ano, matte!"
"What?" she asked, turning around.
"Where he?"
"Last I saw, outside." She closed her eyes. "Doshi-"
He was gone.
She opened them. "-te?" She sighed. "Weirdo."
********
'Where is he?' He panted and looked around the exterior of the building. The loud music droned in a volume about as half loud as it was inside. 'Where is Kaiba?' He gripped his chest as an odd sensation coursed through it. Eyeing his surroundings, he scanned for the boy.
Now that he thought about it, what in hell was he doing?
A flicker of gray and brown passed his gaze, and he followed it on silent feet. Peeking around the corner, he saw the boy leaning alongside a steel railing, gazing at the streets and lights below. It was a clear, cool night, with a little breeze.
Gently, it pulled at Kaiba's almost stiff looking strands of hair.
Before he knew what he was doing, he heard himself all but whisper, "Hey, Kaiba. Mind if I hang out around here?"
"Free country."
He felt himself hesitate, then leaned on the railing right next to him, his lopsided brown hair spikes brushed against Kaiba's left arm, which he shifted slightly, and turned his gaze a little to glare at the other boy.
The latter looked back, eyes all but alive. He looked away, and out at the streets below. 'Oh, man... Kaiba's right next to me, and he's making me feel very weird...'
"Well?"
The boy stiffened slightly and murmured, "'Well,' what?"
"I doubt you came out here just for kicks and giggles."
Kurohi hesitated before muttering, "Not necessarily that. But I didn't come out here on business, either."
"Oh? Enlighten me, do."
Silence.
"Well?"
Silence. Kaiba peeked closer at the other boy.
His eyes were glistening. He blinked and they faded away to nothing. He angled his eyes to face Kaiba. His lips parted slightly, but he quickly shut them again. He looked away.
The other male didn't like the suspense. "*Well*?"
'I think I may have a crush on you... but I'm afraid that you'll...' Instead, he uttered, "Nothing... it... it's nothing." '...maybe I should ask?' "But, ah..." A small, nervous smile tried to form, but he forced it away. "I haven't anyone to dance with... ... so I was wondering if you would?" He hastily added, "B-but none of the slow ones, I assure you if you don't want to! Just... come, dance with me? Onegai shimasu?"
He frowned slightly. "I guess it's better than being outside," he finally said, preparing to go into the building.
'H-he will?! What have I gotten myself into~?' "...Not inside, if that's okay?"
The boy paused. "On second thought, my thoughts exactly."
He nodded, stepped back, and extended one hand up in a small motion as if to say, "Care to dance?"
Hesitating, he took it, and they moved. At first as two, but gradually as one with the swift beat. Moving apart, moving together with grace, then apart again, and fully apart before rejoining.
The short boy found himself in a slight mental dilemma: Here he was, with the one person he ever found blossoming affections to, and he was now dealing with the strangest, urgent feeling in his lower pelvis. It felt like it had to be taken care of *now*, and Kaiba's presence was only making the feeling all the more imperative.
After a while, the music gradually wound down, and the two boys released each other's hands. (A/N: Make up your own dances. I can't describe them 'cause I don't know how to dance so well.)
The taller youth was surprised to find a small smile gracing the other boy's rounded face. "I had a good time." His voice was rather soft, slightly winded, from his attempts to *control* his impulses. "...More so than I ever had in years..." He paused again, holding back more of his urgency. "I thank you. So far, you're the nicest person I've met."
The male frowned, but said nothing. Was this kid lying or what?
Kurohi looked up at Kaiba with an oddly serene expression, then slowly made his way inside. Blinking at the other's actions a second, the billionaire, too, made his way inside.
'I'm never gonna understand that kid...'
***
Seeing an angry guy was one thing.
Seeing an angry guy shoving you into a locker lock was another.
Seeing an angry guy shoving you into a locker lock and beating you in the stomach for no good reason - and in the dark no less - went too far.
In his preoccupation, the bully had decided to take advantage of the smaller boy, who was still too shocked to deflect or even block any of the blows he was receiving. A hooking swipe to his face forced a small cry out of his throat, and was followed up by one after another, quickly drawing blood on his once perfect skin.
"This one's for trying to break my punching fist!" He felt a sharp blow to his shoulder, and hissed in pain, his head trying to curl in on it and protect it from further harm.
"This one's for insulting me!!" He felt the cutting blows to his stomach and then another one to his jaw. A loud crack was heard.
"AND THIS ONE'S FOR THROWING ME ACROSS THE SCHOOL!!!" He punched him one last time, sending the boy sprawling across the floor in one gory streak. As the smaller boy slowly sat up, cracking his jaw into its proper place as he did so, blood trickled slower and slower to the ground... until it suddenly stopped. A dark aura seemed to surround the boy as he slowly stood up in one graceful motion. His belt unbound itself and lashed left and right in one orange and black blur, quick as a katana. He bared his teeth in a silent snarl. The cuts from the blows to his face were gone except for pale scars across his once pure white, porcelain skin.
Kurohi knew not what he was doing. All he could feel was cold anger blossoming in his body. So uncontrollable, so horrible... so frightening. Inside, he was all but yelling harsh remarks, because inside, he was frightened.
Ushio had actually managed to harm him. No one used to be able to. No one was supposed to be able to faze him! NO ONE!!
But all Ushio saw was his shell. Pulling back a fist, Kurohi punched the air, sending sharp gusts of wind to send Ushio down the hall again. His aura gradually wound down. His tail wraps itself around his waist, and, like the way he came, he left the school grounds. After all, he still had to get home for sleep.
***
I wonder why I do nothing, just stand here behind the corner. I have never backed down from anything before in my life, but that kid, I see, needs to stand up for himself again.
It's Ushio again. But, I sense something wrong with the situation.
Ushio is no longer the victim.
Kurohi is.
I hear a sickening **crack** followed by a pop as the bully has punched the smaller boy in the jaw, following up by a punch to his neck.
The boy is dripping in blood. Popping his jaw into place, he stands up in one fluid motion, snarling at the bully in silence. The air begins to move as if there is a breeze, his eyes turn cold and dark, and he punches the air, and a split second later...
Ushio has made his mark in the wall... again.
Looking back at the boy, a dim blur moves from side to side, almost as if it were an extension of his own body. It slowly stops lashing, and rests like a yarn in the air for a split second before it wraps around his waist again.
Blinking once, as if in a daze, he slowly makes his way out of the school.
Who exactly is this boy that I aided that one day when he lost his Blue- Eyes White Dragon?
And... is he even human?
Making up my mind quickly, I decide to follow him.
After all, he's the first enigma I have ever considered to solve.
******
The air was cold, my leather doing nothing to shield me this time. It cut softly through my skin, trickling quickly to just about every appendage in my body. Vaguely, I consider of having had let my hair down instead of spiking it like I normally do.
Nah, I look too much like a girl as is.
"Ah, Black Fire! There you are! Come here!"
A shiver runs down my spine, and I quickly turn around to face my ex-boss. "What is it now? Remember, you fired me?"
"That's all in the past," he hisses, dark green eyes serpentine in the lack of light. "I see you've gotten fairly close to Seto Kaiba."
My trademark frown tugs my lips downward. "I don't work for you anymore. I don't have to listen to you anymore, Bandit."
"I am STILL your boss and you will continue to call me 'BOSS'!"
"No, Bandit."
"Are you sure? The guys an' I'll change your mind real quick."
Sensing other energy signals was my forte. I noted ten plus Bandit. But wait... someone else was here... I sniffed the air, and my insides churned so much I was glad I hadn't eaten in three hours.
Kaiba was here, too. I didn't want him to be here. He might get hurt in this mess... Did Bandit...
"Leave Kaiba out of this. If it's his money or anything else horribly of him you want, I can't let you near him." Whoa... I said a mouthful. But wait... I was protecting him?
Well, I just learned he's one hell of a gentle dancer and he certainly knows how to make my body react like it never did before.
"Tha's too bad, squirt. Well, you were once a great asset... Guys..." He paused, a small smirk curving his lips upward. "Kill him. Oh, and leave Kaiba-boy to me. I can smell him from this distance."
"I get some of his blood once you're done!"
"Yeah! Me too!"
Kaiba...!! "NOO!!" My tail unbound itself just as I set my hand, palm forward, at my boss. I felt energy collect into it, and I released it.
Bandit suddenly caught fire as the energy ball collided with his clothes, but it soon went out when it suddenly started to pour. My hair suddenly plastered itself against my neck and back, making me shiver. "Shit..."
"Yeah, you're right, 'shit'!"
Turning my head, I kept my eyes on who was talking, but also on who wasn't talking. I had to finish this fight quickly, or else Kaiba might...
"NO one makes Bandit-sama catch fire!"
"Bandit is our only family, and you wish to burn him?"
"You were once one of us, but Bandit has graciously given us the go- ahead..."
".to end your life as ruthlessly and as painfully as possible!"
I felt an insane smile curve my lips upward. "Bring on the reaper."
"Let's get 'im!"
They dashed forward, but they suddenly dashed the other way as roaring white flames surrounded their would-be victim. "Holy fire! Burn their spirits to dust!"
The fire spread, leaving shrill screams of agony as they went. Their bodies were unharmed, but I could smell something burning.
And I felt something burning on my very body. Ignoring it all as best I could, I set out to find Kaiba.
"Kaiba--! Kaiba, answer me!"
Sniffing the air, I smelled blood. I followed it, and once I reached the war zone, I did the unthinkable. I went into its core. The blood I had smelled was both Bandit's and Kaiba's blood. The smell of Bandit's blood filled me with growing satisfaction... however, the smell of Kaiba's blood made me want to hack up my insides.
Yes, I smelled a great difference. Bandit's blood, though smelling sweet, had a slight tang of metal.
Kaiba's was... otherworldly. Foreign. Intoxicating.
I never wanted to smell it again. That meant that he was injured. I guess having a very, very keen sense of smell has its downsides.
"Bandit!"
"What? How did you survive?! Where are my men?!"
I smirked, not acknowledging Kaiba's presence at the moment. "Simple. I, quite literally burned their souls. Outside, they're unharmed. Inside, they are dead."
"W-What?! How dare you!!"
I cocked my head to one side. "You tried to kill us both. Now, I'm going to return the favor."
"W-What?!!!"
Couldn't he speak more than one word? Suddenly, the burning sensation increased, and I fell to all fours, shaking. "Wha... what's happening... to my body...? No... what's going on...?" I felt a searing sensation and screamed when my body suddenly shifted and changed. My skin became hard and metallic pink. My face elongated into a blade, and I grew talons. I felt agonizing pain.
"Someone... make it stop!! Please!! Raaaaaghh?!!!" On my forearms, wings grew, and my tail merged with itself, divided, and became feathers. I cried out again, but I didn't recognize my own voice. I took to the air, and fired my flames from my beak.
Bandit took to shelter, but I pursued, firing again and again. Each time, he took to shelter. Finding him behind some rubble, I attacked with close range, tearing up his face. He countered with a knife to my chest, tacking several strikes, and I nearly burned him. I managed to corner him after a while. I murmured, "Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. You're a dead man, Bandit my boy... dead... Now DIE!" I launched another flame, but not before a series of bullets pierced my chest.
I felt myself falling.
And when I stopped falling, I rose and hovered in mid air.
What was up? What was down?
Where was I?
What was I?
The darkness consumed me.
**********
I sit beside my bed, arms folded across my chest. I look upon a pale, scarred face, but even the scars are fading quickly. His breathing is now slow and even instead of ragged and uneven, so I do not worry about his survival. He will pull through.
In the silence, I wonder why I even worried in the first place. After all, I am Seto Kaiba, one of the biggest wise-guys and jerks in the school. I'm not supposed to care, but...
Why does this boy think otherwise? Because I helped him?
I laugh, and my brother enters the room, a joyful expression on his little face. "Big Brother, is he going to be all right? I heard you laughing, so he's gonna make it?"
I nod. "Yes, Mokuba. He will." 'Which may or may not help me straighten things out.'
"Um, Seto?"
"Yeah?"
"I got tabs on Kurohi's Blue-Eyes. Yugi got it. He's gonna be happy, huh Big Brother?"
I nod again. "I am certain he will be."
"Certain... I will be... what?"
I look down sharply at the soft voice. He blinks at my hard expression, large eyes wide a second, before they narrow slightly. "Certain, that I will be what?"
"Yugi has your Blue-Eyes!"
He blinks incredulously at little Mokuba. "What?! Yugi... has my Blue- Eyes?? Thanks for the info, Mokuba." He graces him with a small smile, then turns to me. "Kaiba, are you all right? I didn't mean to get you into such a mess..."
"Why do you care?"
He begins to sit up, but decides against it and remains where he is. "Because my ex-boss almost killed you. I smelled a good deal of your blood all over the place. You could have died in there, had I fought my other battles any longer. You should have taken a different route home..."
'He doesn't know I followed him.'
"Ano, Kaiba?" he asks after Mokuba leaves to continue monitoring the duels.
"What?"
"S'might sound strange, but... my chest hurts."
"You were bloodied up around there. Several gunshot wounds and a few knife cuts."
"I know that. I still remember it."
"No one can ever just forget something like that." 'Not even me... Definitely not when I saw your near dead body laying there in that dirty puddle of both blood and water... The water ruthlessly spraying your face and your blood slipping just as fast as your candle's flame of a life...'
He looks at his hands, sighs, and shifts in the bed so that he is looking right at me without much trouble. He opens his mouth to speak, but snaps it shut and instead snuggles further into the blankets.
I smile a little. He looks kinda cute like that.
No, no! *Kaiba* does *not* say "cute"! Never mind a Kaiba *brother*!
"Never knew your smiles were so beautiful..."
I snap my gaze at the half-asleep boy. "What?" he asks. "'Snot like I lie to people I consider, at minimum, friend."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
He frowns, sits up, and clutches his all but naked chest, right over the wound. I had to remove his attire to get to the wounds and bandage them up. They were stained red, but now they weren't getting any redder. "Yes, I do... I think," he groans because of the wound.
"Ha! You don't know!"
His gaze falters a little. "I sure as hell don't know quite why I'm still here. And I don't know why the hell you brought me here," The grip on his chest relaxes a little as the pain slowly ebbs, it seems. "but I do know one thing: I always find answers to the things I don't understand. So, talk."
"YOU are not in the position to be interrogating."
"What," he asks sarcastically. "are you gonna be my mother?!"
"Don't back-talk to me, little man! For YOUR information, I brought you here, nearly dead, to my mansion!"
The boy paused, angry gaze faltering. It quickly slipped, revealing the weakened and tired façade of a boy who had almost nothing. The question he then asked, was a quiet, empty one. "Why...? Why did you save me, then?"
I was silent. I had no reason. I didn't need a real reason this time. "I guess, because you're a second rival to me besides Yugi."
He frowns, and I realize I have said the wrong thing. "Just because I'm a near rival, huh?" he asks dully. "Suit yourself."
"Okay, then, why did you try to get in the middle of mine and your ex- boss's fight?" I clip.
His face seems conflicted for a long moment, and before I can snap a comment at him, at how his mind was so slow-witted, he says softly, "I couldn't let you die. You mean too much to me..."
I feigned wanting to throw up. "Damn, that's just too sweet for my stomach. See ya 'round." I start to stand up, but stop when his hand grasps mine. I look down at the darkest pair of blue eyes I have ever seen.
They're nearly ivory black. I can almost see at how just several kills in one night can scar someone for life.
I saw fear. I saw his fear of how his humanity might be lost further. First he has a tail, next he becomes some shining monster that looks exactly like the Seiyaryu card, and lastly, he just killed several people.
His hand squeezes mine, showing through contact how shaky he is about the situation. His eyes are watery with tears held back. A second later, I find myself holding him like a second brother, but the way he's sending sensations through me, unlike a brotherly embrace from Mokuba, tells me another story entirely.
I can hear his pounding heart, and I can feel it against my stomach. It's thudding hard and fast. He has almost completely submitted to fear or something like that.
He's still shaking, and I tighten my embrace. I realize I have closed my eyes; no need for sight right now.
My hearing heightened a little, I hear his breaths coming out in soft pants. My heart speeds up a little to match it. My instincts want to make his pain go away, but my ego does not wish to do anything further than this.
"Kurohi?"
The panting suddenly stops. "Mmm?"
"Nothing."
"Don't try to hide it. My hearing is very acute..."
"What are you talking about?" I ask, eyes opening.
He touches me *down there,* but just on the joint between pelvis and leg. My heart speeds up faster than his is going.
"Your heart just sped up."
"Damn."
"Scared of me?" he asks innocently enough.
"No. I haven't let go of you, have I?"
He hesitates. "No, you haven't."
I make to go away, so he lets me this time. I leave the room without a word. Now, I'm afraid I might have fallen into a web I'll never be able to escape.
That Kurohi fellow sure has a lot of problems; I'm not sure I can help him solve them all.
Why did he think I was afraid of him? Doesn't he know what arousal is?
Damn, I'm getting aroused just thinking about that brat!
...
...
...I'm screwed.
"speaking" 'thinking' /hikari thoughts to yami/ //yami thoughts to hikari//
The fast beat of the music always attracted his attention. Fluidly moving his hips and the rest of his body with the music, he caught a few people's glances, but not much more than that.
He stopped dancing a moment, giving them a look that he hoped said, "Look, I'm here to have fun, and if you're going to gawk at me, I'd rather go elsewhere, but just because of how your stupid minds work, I'm not going to move! So ha!" Frowning, he turned around, and continued to dance near the spotlight.
The music changed again. Something slow. He stepped away from the floor, and sat on a chair nearby. If you didn't have a date, you got the hell off the floor until the music changed again. At least, that's what you normally did. Let the couples dance a slow passion and then the rest of them got on with their lives.
"Hey, cutie, you have a date?"
Looking up, he blinked emotionless eyes at the female. Plain brown hair, bright green eyes. Taller than he was. He shook his head and scanned the crowd for someone. He didn't really know why he looked for this one person.
Kaiba.
"No," he replied automatically. "but have you seen Seto Kaiba around here?"
She blinked. Why did this kid want to know Seto Kaiba's whereabouts? "Yeah, why?"
He blushed. In the dark light, the girl couldn't see it. Human eyes were so... blind. "No reason."
The girl pouted in the sparkling lights, showing off her light pink lipstick. "C'mon! Someone who wants to know where Kaiba is has GOT to have a reason!"
'I think I might have a crush on him...' He didn't answer. "No, not really. He's kinda the first friend I made around here."
"Nani? How can that be? He's a cruel, nearly heartless billionaire!"
"So?" 'I don't mind what you call him. I've seen the other side... sort of.'
Silence, then, "You're impossible, kid. Bye."
He stood up abruptly and reached out his hand to stop her. "Ano, matte!"
"What?" she asked, turning around.
"Where he?"
"Last I saw, outside." She closed her eyes. "Doshi-"
He was gone.
She opened them. "-te?" She sighed. "Weirdo."
********
'Where is he?' He panted and looked around the exterior of the building. The loud music droned in a volume about as half loud as it was inside. 'Where is Kaiba?' He gripped his chest as an odd sensation coursed through it. Eyeing his surroundings, he scanned for the boy.
Now that he thought about it, what in hell was he doing?
A flicker of gray and brown passed his gaze, and he followed it on silent feet. Peeking around the corner, he saw the boy leaning alongside a steel railing, gazing at the streets and lights below. It was a clear, cool night, with a little breeze.
Gently, it pulled at Kaiba's almost stiff looking strands of hair.
Before he knew what he was doing, he heard himself all but whisper, "Hey, Kaiba. Mind if I hang out around here?"
"Free country."
He felt himself hesitate, then leaned on the railing right next to him, his lopsided brown hair spikes brushed against Kaiba's left arm, which he shifted slightly, and turned his gaze a little to glare at the other boy.
The latter looked back, eyes all but alive. He looked away, and out at the streets below. 'Oh, man... Kaiba's right next to me, and he's making me feel very weird...'
"Well?"
The boy stiffened slightly and murmured, "'Well,' what?"
"I doubt you came out here just for kicks and giggles."
Kurohi hesitated before muttering, "Not necessarily that. But I didn't come out here on business, either."
"Oh? Enlighten me, do."
Silence.
"Well?"
Silence. Kaiba peeked closer at the other boy.
His eyes were glistening. He blinked and they faded away to nothing. He angled his eyes to face Kaiba. His lips parted slightly, but he quickly shut them again. He looked away.
The other male didn't like the suspense. "*Well*?"
'I think I may have a crush on you... but I'm afraid that you'll...' Instead, he uttered, "Nothing... it... it's nothing." '...maybe I should ask?' "But, ah..." A small, nervous smile tried to form, but he forced it away. "I haven't anyone to dance with... ... so I was wondering if you would?" He hastily added, "B-but none of the slow ones, I assure you if you don't want to! Just... come, dance with me? Onegai shimasu?"
He frowned slightly. "I guess it's better than being outside," he finally said, preparing to go into the building.
'H-he will?! What have I gotten myself into~?' "...Not inside, if that's okay?"
The boy paused. "On second thought, my thoughts exactly."
He nodded, stepped back, and extended one hand up in a small motion as if to say, "Care to dance?"
Hesitating, he took it, and they moved. At first as two, but gradually as one with the swift beat. Moving apart, moving together with grace, then apart again, and fully apart before rejoining.
The short boy found himself in a slight mental dilemma: Here he was, with the one person he ever found blossoming affections to, and he was now dealing with the strangest, urgent feeling in his lower pelvis. It felt like it had to be taken care of *now*, and Kaiba's presence was only making the feeling all the more imperative.
After a while, the music gradually wound down, and the two boys released each other's hands. (A/N: Make up your own dances. I can't describe them 'cause I don't know how to dance so well.)
The taller youth was surprised to find a small smile gracing the other boy's rounded face. "I had a good time." His voice was rather soft, slightly winded, from his attempts to *control* his impulses. "...More so than I ever had in years..." He paused again, holding back more of his urgency. "I thank you. So far, you're the nicest person I've met."
The male frowned, but said nothing. Was this kid lying or what?
Kurohi looked up at Kaiba with an oddly serene expression, then slowly made his way inside. Blinking at the other's actions a second, the billionaire, too, made his way inside.
'I'm never gonna understand that kid...'
***
Seeing an angry guy was one thing.
Seeing an angry guy shoving you into a locker lock was another.
Seeing an angry guy shoving you into a locker lock and beating you in the stomach for no good reason - and in the dark no less - went too far.
In his preoccupation, the bully had decided to take advantage of the smaller boy, who was still too shocked to deflect or even block any of the blows he was receiving. A hooking swipe to his face forced a small cry out of his throat, and was followed up by one after another, quickly drawing blood on his once perfect skin.
"This one's for trying to break my punching fist!" He felt a sharp blow to his shoulder, and hissed in pain, his head trying to curl in on it and protect it from further harm.
"This one's for insulting me!!" He felt the cutting blows to his stomach and then another one to his jaw. A loud crack was heard.
"AND THIS ONE'S FOR THROWING ME ACROSS THE SCHOOL!!!" He punched him one last time, sending the boy sprawling across the floor in one gory streak. As the smaller boy slowly sat up, cracking his jaw into its proper place as he did so, blood trickled slower and slower to the ground... until it suddenly stopped. A dark aura seemed to surround the boy as he slowly stood up in one graceful motion. His belt unbound itself and lashed left and right in one orange and black blur, quick as a katana. He bared his teeth in a silent snarl. The cuts from the blows to his face were gone except for pale scars across his once pure white, porcelain skin.
Kurohi knew not what he was doing. All he could feel was cold anger blossoming in his body. So uncontrollable, so horrible... so frightening. Inside, he was all but yelling harsh remarks, because inside, he was frightened.
Ushio had actually managed to harm him. No one used to be able to. No one was supposed to be able to faze him! NO ONE!!
But all Ushio saw was his shell. Pulling back a fist, Kurohi punched the air, sending sharp gusts of wind to send Ushio down the hall again. His aura gradually wound down. His tail wraps itself around his waist, and, like the way he came, he left the school grounds. After all, he still had to get home for sleep.
***
I wonder why I do nothing, just stand here behind the corner. I have never backed down from anything before in my life, but that kid, I see, needs to stand up for himself again.
It's Ushio again. But, I sense something wrong with the situation.
Ushio is no longer the victim.
Kurohi is.
I hear a sickening **crack** followed by a pop as the bully has punched the smaller boy in the jaw, following up by a punch to his neck.
The boy is dripping in blood. Popping his jaw into place, he stands up in one fluid motion, snarling at the bully in silence. The air begins to move as if there is a breeze, his eyes turn cold and dark, and he punches the air, and a split second later...
Ushio has made his mark in the wall... again.
Looking back at the boy, a dim blur moves from side to side, almost as if it were an extension of his own body. It slowly stops lashing, and rests like a yarn in the air for a split second before it wraps around his waist again.
Blinking once, as if in a daze, he slowly makes his way out of the school.
Who exactly is this boy that I aided that one day when he lost his Blue- Eyes White Dragon?
And... is he even human?
Making up my mind quickly, I decide to follow him.
After all, he's the first enigma I have ever considered to solve.
******
The air was cold, my leather doing nothing to shield me this time. It cut softly through my skin, trickling quickly to just about every appendage in my body. Vaguely, I consider of having had let my hair down instead of spiking it like I normally do.
Nah, I look too much like a girl as is.
"Ah, Black Fire! There you are! Come here!"
A shiver runs down my spine, and I quickly turn around to face my ex-boss. "What is it now? Remember, you fired me?"
"That's all in the past," he hisses, dark green eyes serpentine in the lack of light. "I see you've gotten fairly close to Seto Kaiba."
My trademark frown tugs my lips downward. "I don't work for you anymore. I don't have to listen to you anymore, Bandit."
"I am STILL your boss and you will continue to call me 'BOSS'!"
"No, Bandit."
"Are you sure? The guys an' I'll change your mind real quick."
Sensing other energy signals was my forte. I noted ten plus Bandit. But wait... someone else was here... I sniffed the air, and my insides churned so much I was glad I hadn't eaten in three hours.
Kaiba was here, too. I didn't want him to be here. He might get hurt in this mess... Did Bandit...
"Leave Kaiba out of this. If it's his money or anything else horribly of him you want, I can't let you near him." Whoa... I said a mouthful. But wait... I was protecting him?
Well, I just learned he's one hell of a gentle dancer and he certainly knows how to make my body react like it never did before.
"Tha's too bad, squirt. Well, you were once a great asset... Guys..." He paused, a small smirk curving his lips upward. "Kill him. Oh, and leave Kaiba-boy to me. I can smell him from this distance."
"I get some of his blood once you're done!"
"Yeah! Me too!"
Kaiba...!! "NOO!!" My tail unbound itself just as I set my hand, palm forward, at my boss. I felt energy collect into it, and I released it.
Bandit suddenly caught fire as the energy ball collided with his clothes, but it soon went out when it suddenly started to pour. My hair suddenly plastered itself against my neck and back, making me shiver. "Shit..."
"Yeah, you're right, 'shit'!"
Turning my head, I kept my eyes on who was talking, but also on who wasn't talking. I had to finish this fight quickly, or else Kaiba might...
"NO one makes Bandit-sama catch fire!"
"Bandit is our only family, and you wish to burn him?"
"You were once one of us, but Bandit has graciously given us the go- ahead..."
".to end your life as ruthlessly and as painfully as possible!"
I felt an insane smile curve my lips upward. "Bring on the reaper."
"Let's get 'im!"
They dashed forward, but they suddenly dashed the other way as roaring white flames surrounded their would-be victim. "Holy fire! Burn their spirits to dust!"
The fire spread, leaving shrill screams of agony as they went. Their bodies were unharmed, but I could smell something burning.
And I felt something burning on my very body. Ignoring it all as best I could, I set out to find Kaiba.
"Kaiba--! Kaiba, answer me!"
Sniffing the air, I smelled blood. I followed it, and once I reached the war zone, I did the unthinkable. I went into its core. The blood I had smelled was both Bandit's and Kaiba's blood. The smell of Bandit's blood filled me with growing satisfaction... however, the smell of Kaiba's blood made me want to hack up my insides.
Yes, I smelled a great difference. Bandit's blood, though smelling sweet, had a slight tang of metal.
Kaiba's was... otherworldly. Foreign. Intoxicating.
I never wanted to smell it again. That meant that he was injured. I guess having a very, very keen sense of smell has its downsides.
"Bandit!"
"What? How did you survive?! Where are my men?!"
I smirked, not acknowledging Kaiba's presence at the moment. "Simple. I, quite literally burned their souls. Outside, they're unharmed. Inside, they are dead."
"W-What?! How dare you!!"
I cocked my head to one side. "You tried to kill us both. Now, I'm going to return the favor."
"W-What?!!!"
Couldn't he speak more than one word? Suddenly, the burning sensation increased, and I fell to all fours, shaking. "Wha... what's happening... to my body...? No... what's going on...?" I felt a searing sensation and screamed when my body suddenly shifted and changed. My skin became hard and metallic pink. My face elongated into a blade, and I grew talons. I felt agonizing pain.
"Someone... make it stop!! Please!! Raaaaaghh?!!!" On my forearms, wings grew, and my tail merged with itself, divided, and became feathers. I cried out again, but I didn't recognize my own voice. I took to the air, and fired my flames from my beak.
Bandit took to shelter, but I pursued, firing again and again. Each time, he took to shelter. Finding him behind some rubble, I attacked with close range, tearing up his face. He countered with a knife to my chest, tacking several strikes, and I nearly burned him. I managed to corner him after a while. I murmured, "Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. You're a dead man, Bandit my boy... dead... Now DIE!" I launched another flame, but not before a series of bullets pierced my chest.
I felt myself falling.
And when I stopped falling, I rose and hovered in mid air.
What was up? What was down?
Where was I?
What was I?
The darkness consumed me.
**********
I sit beside my bed, arms folded across my chest. I look upon a pale, scarred face, but even the scars are fading quickly. His breathing is now slow and even instead of ragged and uneven, so I do not worry about his survival. He will pull through.
In the silence, I wonder why I even worried in the first place. After all, I am Seto Kaiba, one of the biggest wise-guys and jerks in the school. I'm not supposed to care, but...
Why does this boy think otherwise? Because I helped him?
I laugh, and my brother enters the room, a joyful expression on his little face. "Big Brother, is he going to be all right? I heard you laughing, so he's gonna make it?"
I nod. "Yes, Mokuba. He will." 'Which may or may not help me straighten things out.'
"Um, Seto?"
"Yeah?"
"I got tabs on Kurohi's Blue-Eyes. Yugi got it. He's gonna be happy, huh Big Brother?"
I nod again. "I am certain he will be."
"Certain... I will be... what?"
I look down sharply at the soft voice. He blinks at my hard expression, large eyes wide a second, before they narrow slightly. "Certain, that I will be what?"
"Yugi has your Blue-Eyes!"
He blinks incredulously at little Mokuba. "What?! Yugi... has my Blue- Eyes?? Thanks for the info, Mokuba." He graces him with a small smile, then turns to me. "Kaiba, are you all right? I didn't mean to get you into such a mess..."
"Why do you care?"
He begins to sit up, but decides against it and remains where he is. "Because my ex-boss almost killed you. I smelled a good deal of your blood all over the place. You could have died in there, had I fought my other battles any longer. You should have taken a different route home..."
'He doesn't know I followed him.'
"Ano, Kaiba?" he asks after Mokuba leaves to continue monitoring the duels.
"What?"
"S'might sound strange, but... my chest hurts."
"You were bloodied up around there. Several gunshot wounds and a few knife cuts."
"I know that. I still remember it."
"No one can ever just forget something like that." 'Not even me... Definitely not when I saw your near dead body laying there in that dirty puddle of both blood and water... The water ruthlessly spraying your face and your blood slipping just as fast as your candle's flame of a life...'
He looks at his hands, sighs, and shifts in the bed so that he is looking right at me without much trouble. He opens his mouth to speak, but snaps it shut and instead snuggles further into the blankets.
I smile a little. He looks kinda cute like that.
No, no! *Kaiba* does *not* say "cute"! Never mind a Kaiba *brother*!
"Never knew your smiles were so beautiful..."
I snap my gaze at the half-asleep boy. "What?" he asks. "'Snot like I lie to people I consider, at minimum, friend."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
He frowns, sits up, and clutches his all but naked chest, right over the wound. I had to remove his attire to get to the wounds and bandage them up. They were stained red, but now they weren't getting any redder. "Yes, I do... I think," he groans because of the wound.
"Ha! You don't know!"
His gaze falters a little. "I sure as hell don't know quite why I'm still here. And I don't know why the hell you brought me here," The grip on his chest relaxes a little as the pain slowly ebbs, it seems. "but I do know one thing: I always find answers to the things I don't understand. So, talk."
"YOU are not in the position to be interrogating."
"What," he asks sarcastically. "are you gonna be my mother?!"
"Don't back-talk to me, little man! For YOUR information, I brought you here, nearly dead, to my mansion!"
The boy paused, angry gaze faltering. It quickly slipped, revealing the weakened and tired façade of a boy who had almost nothing. The question he then asked, was a quiet, empty one. "Why...? Why did you save me, then?"
I was silent. I had no reason. I didn't need a real reason this time. "I guess, because you're a second rival to me besides Yugi."
He frowns, and I realize I have said the wrong thing. "Just because I'm a near rival, huh?" he asks dully. "Suit yourself."
"Okay, then, why did you try to get in the middle of mine and your ex- boss's fight?" I clip.
His face seems conflicted for a long moment, and before I can snap a comment at him, at how his mind was so slow-witted, he says softly, "I couldn't let you die. You mean too much to me..."
I feigned wanting to throw up. "Damn, that's just too sweet for my stomach. See ya 'round." I start to stand up, but stop when his hand grasps mine. I look down at the darkest pair of blue eyes I have ever seen.
They're nearly ivory black. I can almost see at how just several kills in one night can scar someone for life.
I saw fear. I saw his fear of how his humanity might be lost further. First he has a tail, next he becomes some shining monster that looks exactly like the Seiyaryu card, and lastly, he just killed several people.
His hand squeezes mine, showing through contact how shaky he is about the situation. His eyes are watery with tears held back. A second later, I find myself holding him like a second brother, but the way he's sending sensations through me, unlike a brotherly embrace from Mokuba, tells me another story entirely.
I can hear his pounding heart, and I can feel it against my stomach. It's thudding hard and fast. He has almost completely submitted to fear or something like that.
He's still shaking, and I tighten my embrace. I realize I have closed my eyes; no need for sight right now.
My hearing heightened a little, I hear his breaths coming out in soft pants. My heart speeds up a little to match it. My instincts want to make his pain go away, but my ego does not wish to do anything further than this.
"Kurohi?"
The panting suddenly stops. "Mmm?"
"Nothing."
"Don't try to hide it. My hearing is very acute..."
"What are you talking about?" I ask, eyes opening.
He touches me *down there,* but just on the joint between pelvis and leg. My heart speeds up faster than his is going.
"Your heart just sped up."
"Damn."
"Scared of me?" he asks innocently enough.
"No. I haven't let go of you, have I?"
He hesitates. "No, you haven't."
I make to go away, so he lets me this time. I leave the room without a word. Now, I'm afraid I might have fallen into a web I'll never be able to escape.
That Kurohi fellow sure has a lot of problems; I'm not sure I can help him solve them all.
Why did he think I was afraid of him? Doesn't he know what arousal is?
Damn, I'm getting aroused just thinking about that brat!
...
...
...I'm screwed.
