R Amythest: yes, I know we all hate Ryouji's dad's will. . .
Ryouji: *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* #$^%#^&#^&^*$^#%@$%^&^$#^&*&*%&$^#%^%&^*&*%&$^#%$^&*%!!!!!
Audience: *silent*
Person 1: isn't this PG13? Profanity is allowed. . .
Person 2: what if it requires R, or NC-17?
Person 1: . . .
R Amythest: um. . . anyway, I hope Tea'll forgive me, (and you reviewers for such a late chapter,) but uh. . . read!
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|KEY|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
*~*~* lapse of time or change of scene
'thoughts'
Yugi to Yami
Yami to Yugi
[Ryou to Bakura]
]Bakura to Ryou[
{Malik to Ishtar}
}Ishtar to Malik{
Bold shows emphasis during dream, flashback, phone calls, a voice in head, or read print
~Duel Monster speech through telepathy. Probably won't use it for a while, though.~
*~*~*
Sapphire eyes lazily rolled and looked across the room, looking with jealousy at the pictures of Yugi and Yami, Tea and Ryouji, Ryou and Malik, Bakura and Ishtar, and Joey and Mai. But he was in none of the pictures. And what were the pictures of? The young promised couples, who he thought had never experienced the venom of the world. Of all people, he thought he would be the only survivor- harsh and unforgiving, he thought it was a quality of those who had survived. But he was wrong, and in missing out the rapture of life, he had missed the chance to love. He had been taught that life was a test, and only the fittest would pass. But he now realized he was wrong- maybe only the toughest would survive, but only the most open would find happiness.
Seto looked back to the computer, 0's and 1's flashing before his fatigued eyes. "Hey, Serenity loves you," he told himself. Then he sighed and leaned back in the chair. "April fool. . . admit it, me! No one loves me except Mokuba!" He slouched out of his chair and grumbled. "And now I'm talking to myself. . . gods, I must be insane. . ." He headed towards the kitchen to get a drink.
*~*~*
Tea curled up on her bed as there was a loud crash downstairs, followed by quarrelling. There was the sound of the screeching of the table skidding across the room below. She sighed and looked at the card between her fingers, the Shining Friendship. The card after it was the Happy Lover. "Why couldn't these cards act their powers out here? They're so much needed. . ." she whispered. She tucked her deck, with the cards on top, under her pillow. Sighing and looking out the window absent-mindedly, she leaned back on the head of the bed. There was another crash, and a thud that vibrated through the walls. "I wish he were here. Though now I know. . . he never will be."
She slid down, rested her head on top of the part of the pillow over the cards, and pulled the blanket up, not bothering to change or wash, as she usually did. "Most people would say one wish would be spent on peace. But for me, it'd be love. Mom and dad would get back together, and Ryouji's dad's grudge wouldn't exist." She sighed again. "All the world really needs is love. . ."
*~*~* (just a note, in case you were wondering, the cards did NOT glow or perform magic or something! Um. . . that night, at least. . . ^^;;)
It was nearly midnight, and car's headlights cast a slight shadow by the lone figure standing on the edge of a cliff. Behind him, there were teen girls giggling and laughing and gossiping about who they thought was hot or gross. 'Even if they have hearts in their eyes when they look at my picture,' Seto thought bitterly, 'they only idolize me. Not love me.' Aloud, he thought, "If I jumped, would anyone care?" He said it softly so that the teen girls and the drivers of the cards wouldn't hear, but he could himself. "Mokuba would. But now he's 13, and he can make a wise decision for a guardian[1]. . . unlike me. I haven't been all great to him myself. . ."
'Just one round of Trivial Pursuit, please?'
'Mokuba, it's spring, the tournaments are all starting, and consequently, I believe that more people will want Duel Monster products- so I want to take advantage of this rush and gain a huge profit!'
'Profit, Duel Monsters, and tournaments! That's all you ever think about now!'
'Be reasonable. . . I still love you. Some day I'll sit down and just wear the day away playing with you, but not now.'
'Work, work, work! You're too mature for your age!'
'Too mature? Maybe its YOU that's not mature!'
'. . .'
'Please, you're making me forget binary code!'
'Fine, be a rich, insane, and selfish snob!'
'A rich, insane, and selfish snob. . .' the words echoed in his head. Some were the same ones Yugi and the puppy dog had chosen. 'He's right, I was too mature for my age. . . I think I forgot how to have fun. . .' "Nobody would care if I jumped off. . ." he concluded, "nobody."
"I would."
He turned around so quickly that he almost fell off the cliff. Serenity seemed startled by his sudden action. Behind her, Joey was shouting, "Sis! Get back hea'! You were goin' ta see da new movie, rememba'?! Not t' save Seto Kaiba from suicide or somethin'!" Seto stiffened slightly at how close the guess was.
"Actually, I AM here to save Seto Kaiba from suicide 'or something!'" she called back, slipping her hand in Seto's. He was startled from this new emotion, no one ever did this before. . . except that one time he lost a bet and had to dance with Mai. And even then, her nails were digging in his flesh. This was totally different. A gentle, yet supportive, hold.
*~*~*
It was midnight. The telltale ring of a phone rung through the house. Ryou groaned and turned over, stuffing his head under the pillow. The phone rang again. Unfortunately, there was a phone in his room, and the pillow didn't help block out the sound. Annoyed, he picked up the phone and pressed the 'on' button, which was glow-in-the-dark.
"Hello Mr. Ryouji, we now have information that you can surpass the will by going to the Cave of Origin and bringing the hieroglyphic panel and. . ."
"Sorry, you have the wrong number," Ryou cut off, slightly dazed by the overload of information and the fast speaker.
"Isn't this Ryouji Otogi?!"
"Sorry, you have Ryou Bakura not RyouJI Otogi," he responded.
"Oh." There was a pause, and a mutter of, "he's unlisted?! Damn it!" "Do you know his number?"
"Uh. . . no. . ."
"Sayonara."
There was a click as the phone hung up. "Uh. . . cheerio?" Grumbling, he hung up the phone and buried his head in his pillow. There was another ring. He rolled over and took the phone again.
"Hello, this is RYOU BAKURA speaking. . ."
"Bakura, you're evidently not a night person. . ."
"Oh, it's you Tea. . ." He stopped. Tea? That call was something about Ryouji's will. . . he knew he should've redirected the call to her. . . "I received a call from someone who mistook me for Ryouji. . . something about a will. . ."
"A WILL?! Ryou, you just HAVE to remember it!"
He sighed and focused. "I. . .don't know. . ."
"YOU'RE AN 'A' STUDENT! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE GOOD MEMORY!"
He held the phone farther. "Sorry! I really can't remember stuff at night! Sometimes my Yami would tell me secrets and by daylight, I'd forget!"
". . . fine. What do you remember?!"
"Uh. . . something about a will and some cave. . . and hieroglyphics. . . he was speaking really fast. . ."
"WHY DIDN'T YOU MAKE HIM CALL ME?!"
"I didn't know Ryouji's number, and I forg-" he paused. 'That isn't exactly the most pleasant thing a friend would say. . . especially since she's evidently sensitive about this. . .' "I mean, I. . ." he was horrible at lies, "he hung. . . no. . ." he didn't want to lay the blame either.
"Bakura, quit that. If you're going to lie, make it believable. . . I know you probably forgot about my connection to him. . . you really aren't a night person. . ."
He yawned. "What did you call me for in the first place?"
"I was GOING to ask about info on Ryouji's will. . . but you can forget it now. . .knowing you, you probably have already. . ."
"No, Tea, I'm going to try to help. . ."
]TRY being the key word.[
[Yami, you're going to help.]
"Ah. . . sleep well, finals are in a day. You don't want to repeat what happened last year, do you?" Last year, Ryou had tripped down the stairs and had to go to the hospital for a week, that week also being the week the final exam was in. What he tripped on, only his yami knew. And evidently, it was Yami Bakura's object. That was a pretty big influence, and he crammed all the extra credit in he could, and still got stuck with B's. Yugi called him lucky, but it wasn't all that good in Ryou's point of view.
"Uh. . . no. . ." he yawned again, "okay, bye. . ."
"Bye. . . And don't you DARE forget to forward Ryouji's calls to me!"
"I'll try to remember. . ."
"Okay. See you tomorrow." She hung up.
He placed the phone on the stand and tiredly got off his bed to disconnect the phone. 'Now, I'll get some sleep. . .'
]No you won't. You promised to meet Malik and Ishtar (Yami Bakura: ^______^!) in a few minutes![ He looked up at the clock, which read 12:28.
[. . .! Two minutes to run four miles?!]
*~*~*
[1] Seto played a game of chess with Gozaburo Kaiba to be adopted. He won, but Gozaburo was hell. . . In the Japanese version, Seto killed Gozaburo by pushing him out the window. . . in English, he had a heart attack because of the THREAT of pushing him out the window. As usual, the dubs screw the good parts up.
*~*~*
R Amythest: . . . I found a pattern in my writing. I always make Tea shout at Ryou. Maybe it has to do with her getting annoying every now and then, and then I have a reason to hate her. . . ^^;; as for the slight hint of humor. . . that's only for now. It'll get angsty later.
Yami Amythest: not at the rate this is going. *flips through The True Heart of the Dice* in this, every chapter has plenty of humor. . .
R Amythest: . . . *glares* THIS IS DIFFERENT!
Ryouji: whatever. I JUST WANT MY FLUFF SCENE WITH TEA!
Yami Amythest: *hands him a cup of herbal tea and chocolate hugs and kisses, dumps the chocolate into the tea, and stirs* there, you have your fluff scene with tea.
Ryouji: *glares daggers at Yami Amythest, spilling the tea over her* THE PERSON, !#@$%^#^&%$^%#^&%$#^& *CENSORED* *CENSORED*!!!!!
R Amythest: . . . tell me, do you search the dictionary for words labeled 'obscene' and 'vulgar slang'?
Ryouji: how'd you know?!
R Amythest: ^^;; I just guessed. . .
Malik: and I thought I was the evil guy around here.
R Amythest: *BEEP!* STEREOTYPE WARNING!
All: *sweatdrop*
R Amythest: anyway, I'm going to torture you LOTS in the next chapter to 'It Came With the Rising Sun,' so I'm going to give it to you easy right now. *pushes a sofa, table, and booster packs of YuGiOh! Cards in front of Malik, and hands him hot cocoa with marshmallows. . . and of course, pixie sticks* Get comfy!
Malik: O.O. . . ^_^ I guess I should be happy. *leans back deeply and sighs, sipping*
Fangirls: KAWAII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
R Amythest: *glares* BACK OFF! It's his relaxation time. . . . . . . . . . . . *yacketty, yacketty, etc.*
Malik: y'know, having an authoress protecting me might be good. . . ^^
R Amythest: . . . there, so shoo!
Fangirls: *groan and leave*
R Amythest: ^^ that's better. REVIEW!