R Amythest: Okay, first off, if you have not read 'The True Heart of the
Dice,' it's. . . *dun, dun, DUUUUUN!* okay! If you're good at using clues
to guess what happened, it'll go along well enough. But to have the
smoothest flow and know what's going on, go and read it if you wish. For
all you people waiting for this. . . Change of Heart Ryou has a message.
COH Ryou: *clears throat and organizes notecards* I apologize for the extreme tardiness and stupidity of this piece of work, and hereby apologize all you cooperative readers who have sat by and droned through the whole thing. I apologize even more to the people who have devoted their time to reading the story before this and stuck through the whole thing just to read this.
R Amythest: Hey! Who writes the notecards?!
COH Ryou: *flips card and reads off* However, I must say that I thank all of you who have reviewed for 'The True Heart of the Dice' and even more thankful for those who have read all my hikari's work. Huh? Hikari?!
All Muses and Authoress: *eyes slowly turn to Yami Amythest*
Yami Amythest: ^^;;; hikari told me ta write the stuff!
R Amythest: You're not supposed to insult me or scare away reviewers with potential! Anyway, on with the fic. . . .
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|KEY|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
All you need to know right now is that *~*~* is a change of scene and/or passage of time.
*~*~*
It was Tea's senior year in high school. That meant that Ryouji was in college, along with Seto. But Tea's friends, Yugi, Joey, Tristen, Ryou, and Malik, were all with her, in the same grade. That also meant that it was a year since the Shadow Realm opened up, and true love was found within darkness. Ryouji's game shop had gotten even larger, and he was practically as rich as Kaiba. Not quite, though.
A few months ago, Ryouji had proposed marriage. Tea had delayed it, since she thought it would be best to continue her education first, or at least get out of high school. But they have dated quite a lot now, and they were having quite a good time. And now, she was casually skipping down the sidewalk, visiting/dating the second-richest guy in Japan. Most ladies would drool over the thought, but for Tea, it had become a casual thing. She just went and had fun. Of course, that didn't mean she took it for granted. She knew how hard it was to find time to get together, especially with the approaching finals. Ryouji went to Tokyo College, and was only available on weekends. Also, her parents had been having. . . trouble.
She stopped now, in front of the crowded game shop. Visitors were crowding the front door, and a lady was busy passing out pamphlets. Fortunately, the couple had seen this day come and go before, and had planned ahead.
What was the day? The anniversary of the first professional Dungeon Dice Monsters game, between the inventor and the Game King, AKA the day Yugi beat Ryouji badly at his own game in front of hundreds, maybe even thousands, on a big-screen TV. And many had heard of the rematch, and how Ryouji had won. So they were considered equal. In their hearts, they both knew that Yugi would win the next challenge, now that his Yami was here. Unless the Millennium Puzzle would break again. Tea smiled slightly at the memory, and headed out back.
There was a rickety warehouse right behind the game shop. More like a game department now, actually. It was several stories higher than it had last been, and that's saying a lot. They had stock of almost everything, at reasonable prices. But Ryouji had been nice, and decided not to specialize on Duel Monsters. Yugi's grandpa was thankful for that.
The warehouse was also quite tall. Tea heard rumors that it was once the most successful game shop in Japan. But not anymore. Some tourists said that 'the gift of the store' gave Ryouji his success, but she believed it all came from his hard work. She climbed up the stairs of the abandoned store now, and onto the balcony. There, she was greeted by another staircase up all the way to the top story porch of Ryouji's Game Shop. And that porch had a door connected to the office in the corner- Ryouji's office.
Tea climbed the final flight of stairs and knocked on the door, smiling as to look her best. Her crush opened the door, and invited her. "My employees won't let me easy when I tell them to devote their hours to work, and I'm up here having a date. . ."
She giggled, and relaxed into a soft couch. She loved the tranquil days up there with Ryouji. He plopped down next to her on the couch and slung his arm around Tea's shoulders. She sighed softly and snuggled into his chest, happy just to lie there. She could hear his heart beating softly, almost slowly. It was like time was suspended just for them. "Hey Tea. . .?" he started quietly.
"Yes?" Tea questioned, looking up at him with large, chibi-like eyes, snuggling closer to him.
"You know the thing about marriage I told you about earlier?" he asked, stroking her hair.
"You want to, after I'm done with college and such?" she asked back, allowing her eyes to close and his gentle hands run across her auburn hair. She was enjoying it when he stopped.
"That's the problem," he said quietly. "I discovered some papers yesterday. . . legal papers that prevent marriage. It turns out my dad had something against my mom. . . he was complaining about how my mom died and left him with debts and always became hysterical about it. He was quite a crazy guy. . . So to 'help my future and protect me from poverty,' he placed in his will that I cannot marry anyone! It's completely illogical!"
Tea nodded. "I agree. . ."
"Furthermore, he had something against sister-in-laws. Meaning, as long as your mom's with ya, I can't." Ryouji 'humphed' and quickly got off the couch, startling Tea. "This whole grudge's ruining our hard-earned relationship!" Tea sighed and pulled him back on the couch.
"Your dad's not alive to change the will, right?" she asked, holding his arm and snuggling into a warm and comfy position again.
"No. But there was a little gap in his 'no-marriage' rule. If I can prove that I can handle the streets in event of poverty, I can marry. Really," he growled, "this is totally unfair!"
"But you're plenty rich!" Tea protested.
"That's what I told the authorities. They won't take it," Ryouji grumbled. "What do they want me to do, climb a mountain?!"
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Tea went to her usual hiding place- the closet behind the stock of Dungeon Dice Monsters. It wasn't actually as small as you would imagine. It was about the size of a small room, and held several shelves of games. She had looked around before and found a small tower of monopoly. There was also some basic Duel Monsters stuff. Once, when she looked in the far corner, there was a supply of 'Candy Land' and 'Life' games. Ryouji had told her that customers still ask occasionally for them. Now, she went to the back of the closet to the shelf full of Dungeon Dice Monsters accessories. She hid in the most comfortable position she found a few months back. She squeezed behind the extra dice and the advanced DDM duel disks and she sat down on a chair prepared for her. She was now between two gigantic towers of boards- the old-fashioned way to play. She sighed deeply, hoping the boredom wouldn't be long.
*~*~*
Ryouji opened the door, and a man stood there. He was dressed in the usual Domino police uniform- a black suit with badges and pins. He turned his steely gray eyes on him. "Mr. Otogi, I am here to discuss the recent death of your guardian. . ."
*~*~*
The man, Police Taka, gathered his papers and straightened them out on the desk. "I'll be leaving now. I assume you are busy. I'll agree with your musing that this is a rather farfetched will, but the rules are the rules." He turned the doorknob and looked back. "And technically. . . marriage is illegal for you, so don't try to hide lovebirds."
Ryouji crossed his fingers behind his back and swallowed. "No sir."
"Ja ne." He left. Ryouji sighed in relief and pulled the closet door open. "It's safe, Tea." She inched through the stacks of stuff and went to embrace him.
"What did he want?" she asked softly. Ryouji ran a hand through her hair.
"Just discussing the wills of my father. Everything gets more and more inconvenient. . ." he sighed, running a hand through her hair. They were silent for a few seconds before Ryouji finally spoke. "I think it's about time for you to go." Tea nodded and slowly pulled away from the embrace, reaching for the porch door.
"Sayonara, Ryouji. Ja ne. . ." she whispered behind her.
Ryouji sighed after she left. "She has the heart of a songbird. . ."
*~*~*
Crickets: *chirp* *chirp*
R Amythest: cuuuuuute! CRICKETS!
Muses: *sweatdrop*
Maya Kaiba: I thought MY fics were bad. . .
R Amythest: urusei! (shut up!) Anyway, I admit it, the beginnings are usually crappy. . .
Yami Amythest: and the plots are worse. . .
R Amythest: !! YAMI!! No, actually, my plots are quite original, usually. I admit I'm not the next Spyder or White Angel or Wingleader Sora Jade or something, and then I might not even be good as Kaehimi, but I'm not dumb!!!!! Compare me to. . . say. . .
Yami Amythest: Farla, and then finally let me make fun of you?
(in case you don't know, Farla is practically the best writer in the Pokemon section and has HUGE chapters. . . lotsa reviews, too)
R Amythest: !! NO!!!!! Yami, why don't you go play with Yami in your. . . say. . . bed!
Ryouji: *snickers*
Harp (a WingWeaver from 'The Heart With the Cards.' I use muses from that story a lot.): *sweatdrop*
Shimmer (a Shining Friendship from 'The Heart With the Cards'): *giggle* *squeak*
Yami Yugi: *eye twitches and edges away*
Yami Amythest: Ha ha. Why don't you and 'kirei tenshi Ryou' make out?! (kirei tenshi: beautiful angel)
R Amythest: ^^ RYYYYYYOOOOUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All: *sweatdrop*
COH Ryou: please, someone save her sanity. . . help!
Maya Kaiba: last time she was hyper. . . meep! (A/N: yeah, she says 'meep!' a lot. . . I think it's influence of meercas in neopets, but it's only a guess. Hey look! It's an A/N in an A/N!)
Ryou (yeah, I keep both the Change of Heart one and the regular one here!): Maya Kaiba. . . can you do a favor and sic your Yami on her?
Maya Kaiba: nope. Only if she got her hands on Seto. Bye, have fun with the crazy authoress!
R Amythest: ^____________________________________^ *glomps COH Ryou and Ryou* REVIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEW!
COH Ryou: *clears throat and organizes notecards* I apologize for the extreme tardiness and stupidity of this piece of work, and hereby apologize all you cooperative readers who have sat by and droned through the whole thing. I apologize even more to the people who have devoted their time to reading the story before this and stuck through the whole thing just to read this.
R Amythest: Hey! Who writes the notecards?!
COH Ryou: *flips card and reads off* However, I must say that I thank all of you who have reviewed for 'The True Heart of the Dice' and even more thankful for those who have read all my hikari's work. Huh? Hikari?!
All Muses and Authoress: *eyes slowly turn to Yami Amythest*
Yami Amythest: ^^;;; hikari told me ta write the stuff!
R Amythest: You're not supposed to insult me or scare away reviewers with potential! Anyway, on with the fic. . . .
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|KEY|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
All you need to know right now is that *~*~* is a change of scene and/or passage of time.
*~*~*
It was Tea's senior year in high school. That meant that Ryouji was in college, along with Seto. But Tea's friends, Yugi, Joey, Tristen, Ryou, and Malik, were all with her, in the same grade. That also meant that it was a year since the Shadow Realm opened up, and true love was found within darkness. Ryouji's game shop had gotten even larger, and he was practically as rich as Kaiba. Not quite, though.
A few months ago, Ryouji had proposed marriage. Tea had delayed it, since she thought it would be best to continue her education first, or at least get out of high school. But they have dated quite a lot now, and they were having quite a good time. And now, she was casually skipping down the sidewalk, visiting/dating the second-richest guy in Japan. Most ladies would drool over the thought, but for Tea, it had become a casual thing. She just went and had fun. Of course, that didn't mean she took it for granted. She knew how hard it was to find time to get together, especially with the approaching finals. Ryouji went to Tokyo College, and was only available on weekends. Also, her parents had been having. . . trouble.
She stopped now, in front of the crowded game shop. Visitors were crowding the front door, and a lady was busy passing out pamphlets. Fortunately, the couple had seen this day come and go before, and had planned ahead.
What was the day? The anniversary of the first professional Dungeon Dice Monsters game, between the inventor and the Game King, AKA the day Yugi beat Ryouji badly at his own game in front of hundreds, maybe even thousands, on a big-screen TV. And many had heard of the rematch, and how Ryouji had won. So they were considered equal. In their hearts, they both knew that Yugi would win the next challenge, now that his Yami was here. Unless the Millennium Puzzle would break again. Tea smiled slightly at the memory, and headed out back.
There was a rickety warehouse right behind the game shop. More like a game department now, actually. It was several stories higher than it had last been, and that's saying a lot. They had stock of almost everything, at reasonable prices. But Ryouji had been nice, and decided not to specialize on Duel Monsters. Yugi's grandpa was thankful for that.
The warehouse was also quite tall. Tea heard rumors that it was once the most successful game shop in Japan. But not anymore. Some tourists said that 'the gift of the store' gave Ryouji his success, but she believed it all came from his hard work. She climbed up the stairs of the abandoned store now, and onto the balcony. There, she was greeted by another staircase up all the way to the top story porch of Ryouji's Game Shop. And that porch had a door connected to the office in the corner- Ryouji's office.
Tea climbed the final flight of stairs and knocked on the door, smiling as to look her best. Her crush opened the door, and invited her. "My employees won't let me easy when I tell them to devote their hours to work, and I'm up here having a date. . ."
She giggled, and relaxed into a soft couch. She loved the tranquil days up there with Ryouji. He plopped down next to her on the couch and slung his arm around Tea's shoulders. She sighed softly and snuggled into his chest, happy just to lie there. She could hear his heart beating softly, almost slowly. It was like time was suspended just for them. "Hey Tea. . .?" he started quietly.
"Yes?" Tea questioned, looking up at him with large, chibi-like eyes, snuggling closer to him.
"You know the thing about marriage I told you about earlier?" he asked, stroking her hair.
"You want to, after I'm done with college and such?" she asked back, allowing her eyes to close and his gentle hands run across her auburn hair. She was enjoying it when he stopped.
"That's the problem," he said quietly. "I discovered some papers yesterday. . . legal papers that prevent marriage. It turns out my dad had something against my mom. . . he was complaining about how my mom died and left him with debts and always became hysterical about it. He was quite a crazy guy. . . So to 'help my future and protect me from poverty,' he placed in his will that I cannot marry anyone! It's completely illogical!"
Tea nodded. "I agree. . ."
"Furthermore, he had something against sister-in-laws. Meaning, as long as your mom's with ya, I can't." Ryouji 'humphed' and quickly got off the couch, startling Tea. "This whole grudge's ruining our hard-earned relationship!" Tea sighed and pulled him back on the couch.
"Your dad's not alive to change the will, right?" she asked, holding his arm and snuggling into a warm and comfy position again.
"No. But there was a little gap in his 'no-marriage' rule. If I can prove that I can handle the streets in event of poverty, I can marry. Really," he growled, "this is totally unfair!"
"But you're plenty rich!" Tea protested.
"That's what I told the authorities. They won't take it," Ryouji grumbled. "What do they want me to do, climb a mountain?!"
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Tea went to her usual hiding place- the closet behind the stock of Dungeon Dice Monsters. It wasn't actually as small as you would imagine. It was about the size of a small room, and held several shelves of games. She had looked around before and found a small tower of monopoly. There was also some basic Duel Monsters stuff. Once, when she looked in the far corner, there was a supply of 'Candy Land' and 'Life' games. Ryouji had told her that customers still ask occasionally for them. Now, she went to the back of the closet to the shelf full of Dungeon Dice Monsters accessories. She hid in the most comfortable position she found a few months back. She squeezed behind the extra dice and the advanced DDM duel disks and she sat down on a chair prepared for her. She was now between two gigantic towers of boards- the old-fashioned way to play. She sighed deeply, hoping the boredom wouldn't be long.
*~*~*
Ryouji opened the door, and a man stood there. He was dressed in the usual Domino police uniform- a black suit with badges and pins. He turned his steely gray eyes on him. "Mr. Otogi, I am here to discuss the recent death of your guardian. . ."
*~*~*
The man, Police Taka, gathered his papers and straightened them out on the desk. "I'll be leaving now. I assume you are busy. I'll agree with your musing that this is a rather farfetched will, but the rules are the rules." He turned the doorknob and looked back. "And technically. . . marriage is illegal for you, so don't try to hide lovebirds."
Ryouji crossed his fingers behind his back and swallowed. "No sir."
"Ja ne." He left. Ryouji sighed in relief and pulled the closet door open. "It's safe, Tea." She inched through the stacks of stuff and went to embrace him.
"What did he want?" she asked softly. Ryouji ran a hand through her hair.
"Just discussing the wills of my father. Everything gets more and more inconvenient. . ." he sighed, running a hand through her hair. They were silent for a few seconds before Ryouji finally spoke. "I think it's about time for you to go." Tea nodded and slowly pulled away from the embrace, reaching for the porch door.
"Sayonara, Ryouji. Ja ne. . ." she whispered behind her.
Ryouji sighed after she left. "She has the heart of a songbird. . ."
*~*~*
Crickets: *chirp* *chirp*
R Amythest: cuuuuuute! CRICKETS!
Muses: *sweatdrop*
Maya Kaiba: I thought MY fics were bad. . .
R Amythest: urusei! (shut up!) Anyway, I admit it, the beginnings are usually crappy. . .
Yami Amythest: and the plots are worse. . .
R Amythest: !! YAMI!! No, actually, my plots are quite original, usually. I admit I'm not the next Spyder or White Angel or Wingleader Sora Jade or something, and then I might not even be good as Kaehimi, but I'm not dumb!!!!! Compare me to. . . say. . .
Yami Amythest: Farla, and then finally let me make fun of you?
(in case you don't know, Farla is practically the best writer in the Pokemon section and has HUGE chapters. . . lotsa reviews, too)
R Amythest: !! NO!!!!! Yami, why don't you go play with Yami in your. . . say. . . bed!
Ryouji: *snickers*
Harp (a WingWeaver from 'The Heart With the Cards.' I use muses from that story a lot.): *sweatdrop*
Shimmer (a Shining Friendship from 'The Heart With the Cards'): *giggle* *squeak*
Yami Yugi: *eye twitches and edges away*
Yami Amythest: Ha ha. Why don't you and 'kirei tenshi Ryou' make out?! (kirei tenshi: beautiful angel)
R Amythest: ^^ RYYYYYYOOOOUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All: *sweatdrop*
COH Ryou: please, someone save her sanity. . . help!
Maya Kaiba: last time she was hyper. . . meep! (A/N: yeah, she says 'meep!' a lot. . . I think it's influence of meercas in neopets, but it's only a guess. Hey look! It's an A/N in an A/N!)
Ryou (yeah, I keep both the Change of Heart one and the regular one here!): Maya Kaiba. . . can you do a favor and sic your Yami on her?
Maya Kaiba: nope. Only if she got her hands on Seto. Bye, have fun with the crazy authoress!
R Amythest: ^____________________________________^ *glomps COH Ryou and Ryou* REVIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEW!