Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, therefore, you have no right to sue me since I stated it so clearly now...^_^
Out of the blue
Chapter III- Those twisted feelings
-by Alena S. Anigor
It was very dark, and a strange, howling sound could be heard from not so far away. That sound made Tea Gardner shiver in fright, and she started to run. Watching the horrible scenery around her, she realized that she was running across some old and creepy looking cemetery. She stopped, blinking a few times, wondering how did she end up walking across cemetery in the first place.
"What is this? What is going on?" she asked out loud, turning her head to the left, and observing a couple of old and cracked tombstones. She embraced herself tightly, starting to feel lost and terrified.
The howling sound was heard again, and this time it seemed as if it was coming from a very short distance. Tea turned around swiftly, searching for any signs of a possible threat, but it was dark, too dark to see anything clearly.
Who's there?" She asked, her voice barely above whisper, wavering slightly. She was really becoming scared now, and she wanted to get away from it. A cold wind blew suddenly, blowing her hair in all directions, and she closed her eyes, specks of dust falling all around her. The wind stopped blowing, suddenly just as it came, and Tea dared to open her eyes, looking around her, first.
Then, she heard a wicked laughter in front of her, and she quickly averted her gaze forward. The sight caught her breath, her blood running cold. One of the Duel Monsters she hadn't quite seen before was standing in front of her, shadowed in a cloak, holding a strange weapon in its hands. It reminded her of the typical image of Death itself, and she let out a gasp, realizing that it was Death, in the form of a Duel Monster.
A loud shriek escaped her lips, and she turned around to start running, but she couldn't move her feet. She felt a chilling sensation around her neck, and she wanted to scream, but she couldn't even do that; the Death holding her throat in a steady, murderous grip.
"Help! Please!" she was screaming in her mind, trying to wiggle out of its grasp, but every limb in her body was numb, and she could only hope for someone to come and save her.
"Yuugi, Joey, Yami! Somebody, please, help me!" A desperate call for help coursed trough her mind one more time, and she could see the Death, raising the sharp blade, preparing itself to swing it and end her life.
She braced herself for an impact, for pain and death, but nothing came. Being able to breathe again, she opened her eyes and almost gasped at the sight: the Death was on the ground, lying numbly, and the person who was standing above it, smirking at it, an almost wicked and satisfied grin on his face, was no one else than Yami Bakura.
Tea wasn't quite sure if he was laughing, the blood still ringing in her ear, her pulse beating wildly. Then, he averted his gaze from the crumbled figure on the ground and looked at her, his smirk disappearing, and his laughter dying. The expression on his face was neutral, but then it suddenly changed drastically.
Tea's eyes widened when she looked a bit closer; his face, his whole body and expression were cut in half. He looked exactly like the card Ryou stated was his favorite one – The change of heart.
Tea couldn't think, or act, or even speak; she was simply staring at him, or at the two of them.
As if on cue, the person in front of her moved, and she backed away a bit, when the person stretched his hand to her. She was staring in disbelief at him, then at his hand, before deciding to take his offer to help her to stand up. His face was looking somewhat soft and kind, but then it switched suddenly, and that same person who was holding her hand, suddenly jerked his hand away, and Tea fell back to the ground, cringing when she hit the cold earth. She looked in shock at him, and realized that it was Yami Bakura who pulled his hand back and pushed her away. Then, looking grimly and darkly at her, he mouthed a sentence, Tea never expected to hear from him in such situation.
"Get it yourself, mortal..."
"Whaaa-!!"
A high pitched yell echoed trough the room. Moon was casting its shadows trough the window, revealing a wide eyed, and a very petrified girl, gasping for air, sitting in her bed, and clutching the blanket tightly.
After a moment of realization, that she was still in her room, and not in the middle of some creepy cemetery, Tea sighed, shaking her head vigorously, trying to calm down.
"Wha-what was that?" She managed to choke out, holding her chest, still breathing rapidly. She looked at her hands, and then stroked her hair behind her ears, exhaling deeply to steady her breathing. Her heart was still racing, and she swallowed a lump in her throat.
It happened again.
'Why?' she thought bitterly, holding her head in her hands for a while, staring at the blanket, still in a sitting position. Why was she having dreams about creepy cemeteries, weird Duel Monsters cards, and on top of it all – Yami Bakura? She just didn't understand. Why now? Why not before? Did it have to do something with that incident at the park?
She turned her head to look at the alarm clock that was once again on her night table, looking whole and useable.
"Great, it's 3 am, and I can't sleep... What is going on with me?" She whispered, dropping back down onto the pillow, trying to sort her thoughts.
It was Saturday already, and instead of having a good night sleep, and a good day of not going to school, she was having nightmares about that arrogant tomb robber.
"This just can't be happening..."
A couple of hours later, Tea was sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee, since she figured that it was the only things that could keep her awake...and sane.
She was poking trough her breakfast, sighing every now and then, thinking about the dream she had. Why was she dreaming about him? Was there a reason?
Then, she let the fork drop to the plate, a sudden idea popping in her mind.
What if Bakura was playing with her dreams, trying to use her to get to the Millennium Puzzle?
"Oh, no...that can't be..." she mumbled, staring at her plate in disbelief. In that case, she was playing a role of marionette, him holding the strings. She covered her mouth with her hand. It could be true; after all, it wouldn't be the first time for Bakura to try using sly tricks to get to Yuugi and his Millennium item.
"Oh, my God", she chocked out, "I have to...I have to do something!" she finished her sentence, rising up from the chair, but then sitting back down onto it a second later.
But, how could she tell Yuugi and Yami about it? They'd know that she was lying to them before, and then...would they trust her again? A ringing sound of a telephone made her jump slightly, and she got up, still a bit startled to even think properly. She picked up the phone, twirling the cord nervously.
"Yes?" she asked, hoping that it wasn't Yuugi on the phone again. The voice on the other side surprised her, and her eyes widened slightly.
"Hallo Tea, how are you?"
Tea stared at the kitchen floor, not knowing hot to react to the voice of Ryou Bakura.
"Uhm...h-hey Ryou, I'm, uh, fine, great!" she spluttered, sounding stupid even to herself.
Ryou looked at the telephone, confused about her strange stuttering.
"Uhm, well, I was wondering if you could help me with something?" he asked, hoping that she could. Tea gulped.
'What does he want from me now?' she wondered, before hesitantly asking what was it about. Ryou eyed the Chemistry book on his table, and smiled sheepishly.
"Well, I have some trouble writing my Chemistry homework, and since you're so good at it, I was wondering if you could help me a bit with it?" The hopeful tone in his voice was evident, and Tea sighed inwardly. She already thought Bakura had forced him to do something unpleasant. She smiled, and nodded, relieved.
"Sure, come over and I'll see what I can do." She replied, shifting her balance on the other foot.
"Actually...", Ryou spoke, taking the book in his hand, and observing the tomb robber in the next room, watching TV with a bored expression, "Could you come here? Bakura will yell at me if I go somewhere", he added, lowering his voice to a whisper, "and I know he hates to be alone in the house." He finished, and Tea raised her eyebrows. That she didn't expect to hear. Bakura being afraid to stay alone in the house? Maybe Ryou was just exaggerating... But what was she supposed to do now? If she goes there, Bakura will be there, and those dreams will haunt her, and then she'll feel uncomfortable and –"
"Tea, are you still there?" Ryou's whisper was heard, and Tea snapped out of her ramblings.
"Uh, yeah, yeah, I am. Uhm...well, I don't know, really, I, uhm..." she was babbling, trying to figure out an excuse for not being able to come, but Ryou interrupted her.
"Please, Tea? I know you don't like Bakura a lot, but he's not so bad, really. And I really need your help with my homework." He pleaded, and Tea sighed. How could she say no to Ryou? He was a pure goodness, comparing to his other half, the notorious tomb robber, who was anything but nice, like Ryou was.
"Well...", she started, thinking about it, while Ryou was waiting anxiously for an answer, "Okay, but just for an hour, then I'm gone." She added, and Ryou smiled.
"Thank you so much, Tea." He said, and Tea smiled back.
"No problem. I'll see youu...", she looked at her watch, counting time until she'd be ready," in twenty minutes, okay?"
Ryou nodded, saying that it was okay, and that he'll be waiting for her with a Chemistry book, and his poor knowledge. The line broke, and Tea sighed again, putting the phone down, looking at it for a couple of minutes.
Great, what did she get herself into now?
"Who were you talking to?" Ryou was just about to go and get some snacks, when Bakura stopped him with his question. Ryou's face went blank for a moment, but he managed to mutter something about a friend coming to help him with his homework. Bakura was looking at him for a moment, observing his pale face, and then snorted.
"Just leave me alone." He said, and Ryou nodded, glad that he didn't ask more questions. He knew how he'd react if he had told him that a friend of Pharaoh's was coming over.
Tea ringed on the doorbell, clutching the book in her hand, hoping that Bakura won't throw her out of the house.
'I wouldn't be surprised, though...'
Ryou was still upstairs, so it was on Bakura to open the door. He growled, putting on a perfect mask of irritation and anger. That friend of his should better behave, or else he'll send him to Shadow realm.
The doors swung open, and Tea was about to say smile and say hi, when her face froze, and the book she was holding almost slipped out of her hand. She was staring at a pair of dark, menacing eyes, who belonged to no one else than Yami Bakura.
He froze, too, standing in front of her, holding the handle with a painful grip, staring back at her. What was she doing here? She wasn't the friend Ryou was talking about, was she?
Tea gulped, and tried to stay composed, keeping the book from falling, and trying to look unimpressed by his glare and the threatening gleam in his eyes.
"Bakura." She said, as if she was identifying him, and then turned aside to look at Ryou was coming down the stairs, looking at them uneasily.
"Hey, Ryou!" she said, totally ignoring Bakura's presence and stepping into the house. She passed by him, and left him standing there. He turned around a bit, sending death glares in Ryou's direction. He managed to crack a smile, hoping that he won't end up in another dimension afterwards.
Tea felt shivers traveling up and down her spine, not being able to shake those glaring eyes out of her mind. The doors closed with a bang, and Bakura left back to the living room, disappearing behind the wall. Tea sat down on the chair Ryou offered her, and smiled politely at him.
"I'm sorry about that." He mumbled apologetically, and she nodded understandingly.
"It's okay." She replied, and put the book down on the table. Ryou opened his notebook, and showed her the problems he couldn't solve and things he didn't understand. Tea smiled warmly, leaning down to explain him how things worked, forgetting for a while that Bakura was even there.
He was flipping the channels, feeling strangely nervous and confused suddenly. What was it? What was that girl doing to him? Since that time he saw her in the park, things changed drastically.
What was going on?
He didn't know it himself, but the presence of that girl was...disturbing. He growled in irritation silently, and turned the TV off. He threw the remote on the sofa, and leaned back into the cushions. He heard them, heard his hikari asking questions about some elements, and heard her soft voice, explaining it all to him.
He let out a snort, not comprehending what mortals of today were forced to know. Stupid things, that they probably won't even need in their life. All they have to know is how to survive...That spineless hikari of his should've asked him about life, and he would tell him how to survive, how to live, what to know and what to understand. Instead of that, he was stuffing his brain with totally unnecessarily facts...
He sighed, irritation becoming almost unbearable. It became silent, the voices died down, and he couldn't hear anything anymore. What was going on, now? A strange pang of something he didn't understand, ran trough his chest, and acting on an impulse, he got up, and silently approached the wall that separated living room from the kitchen. He peeked behind the wall, and his eyes narrowed. The girl was close to him, leaning down to watch what he was scribbling on the piece of paper. She nodded silently, and he raised his head, and smiled, satisfied with himself. The girl smiled back, and Bakura's eyes narrowed again, frown filling his expression.
What were they doing? That odd pang in his chest appeared again, and he lowered his eyes, shaking his head, and telling himself that it wasn't worth his attention anyway.
He sat back on the sofa, turning the TV on again, getting ready to flip channels. The girl's laughter was heard from the kitchen, and soon, Ryou laughed as well. A strange feeling surged trough Bakura, ending in the pit of his stomach, and his eyes widened, when he realized what that feeling was.
It was the same feeling he felt when he saw Pharaoh, when he saw other people having more money, having more luck, living a better life than he was living. The same feeling that made him steal, that turned him into what he was. But, somehow, that feeling was different back then – it was a hunger, a hunger to achieve more, to possess more, but this feeling was, however, different.
Bakura cursed the damn girl, when he realized that he was able to feel again, that she managed to do something that woke up those well - locked emotions, that she managed to crack his walls somehow, and that now, he was starting to feel one certain emotion, that was related to the feeling he swore he'd never feel again.
He was jealous.
AN:
*sigh*
Done with this chapter. Took me a while to write it, and I used that little break I had to finish it, so there it is. Now, I really have to get down to studying; but since you people encouraged me to write more so much, I decided to write another chapter for the weekend.
Uhm, dustbunny690- I know that you want more fluff, but I'll get to that in later chapters. Right now, I'm trying to crack Bakura's walls, because Bakura is...well, Bakura! ^_^;
But don't worry, there will be fluff, and things like that, but you'll just have to wait a bit... *smiles*
Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and don't forget to send me a review.
Okay, now I reaaally have to go!
Bye now!
A.S.A