Aria: Hey, guess what? I have readers! And they like it so far!
Kaiba: Yeah, yeah, sure. *pats her on the head*
Aria: No! I do! And it's great! Thanks, everyone who's read and reviewed! And if you're just reading, please review! *bounces* Hum...*looks at notes* Some things to clear up: This story is set sometime after Duelist Kingdom (well after it) in the Yu-Gi-Oh! time-frame (not sure when, exactly, I'm not as clear on their timeline as I am on Utena), and takes place just before Utena's first duel with Touga, and should go to just past her second duel with him. And thanks to Mofalle for bringing it up. I really like your idea for the Black Rose Duelists and Kaiba...I won't put it in this story, but maybe in another one...*grins* All right! On with the story! Yay!
Kaiba: I think you should put down the Snapple and back away from the computer...slowly.
Aria: Oh, Kaiba, you're so paranoid. Honestly, it's like you think I'll...*giggle* I'll...*giggles harder*. Well, you're probably right. But so what! Ai-ya, the things I have to deal with.
Jen: Stop trying to be Asian!
Aria: But Jen...
Jen: No!
Aria: Aww....
Jen: And just for the record, I think Yami is hotter than Touga.
Yami: *pleased* Really?
Jen: *blushes*
Aria: That is so sweet. Can you go away now?
Jen: You promised.
Aria: *sighs* Fine, fine. Man, getting bossed around in my own story! Ai-
Jen: *glares*
Aria: --never mind. Um, so, for your reading pleasure, I bring to you Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.
Darcy: *confused...in a gentleman-like manner* Good evening. Er...what am I doing here?
Aria: Making my roomie very happy. And reading this.
Darcy: *reads* Aria Marier doesn't own either Yu-Gi-Oh! or Revolutionary Girl Utena. She does own the plot to this story, and a magic 8-ball that sees all and knows all...what?
Aria: Just read.
Darcy: Nor does she own Snapple...although she drinks enough of it...*shakes his head*. And she doesn't own me either, thank God; I'm the product of Jane Austen's imagination.
Aria: And the world is a better place for it. Thanks!
Darcy: *bows*
Jen/Aria: *sigh*
Joey: Hey! What about us?
Aria: Huh? Oh, right. The fic. Um...*consults notes* this chapter is mainly Yami, and a few of the Ohtori Academy types, although there should be some...um...exposition...near the end. *grins evilly*
Yami: Oh, dear.
Aria: And now! Onwards and upwards! And et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Bring on the Snapple, and let's get started!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
SECRETS OF A ROSE
Chapter 5: Swords
Yami couldn't sleep.
He lay on his back in the warm dark, staring at the ceiling, his hands behind his head. He'd tossed and turned when he first realized he wouldn't be sleeping, but he'd heard Yugi stir in the next room over, and stopped so he wouldn't wake the other boy with his restlessness.
So he had turned onto his back and opened his eyes into the darkness, and wondered why he couldn't sleep. He came up with no good answer-restless, exhausted thinking has a tendency to go in circles, especially when you need a conclusion in order to attain the cool relief of sleep-so he stopped trying and thought about the recent days that had passed.
He liked the Academy-the crisp greenness of it, the underlying throb of pride and competition. So alive...so different from the world of bronzy-blue skies, swirling sands he had known, and the millennia of dark solitude between that time and this. That afternoon, he'd watched with admiration the girl Utena that Yugi was teaching Duel Monsters, had appreciated the plan that Wakaba had initiated for Joey's help. He saw a certain resemblance to the ancient beings, a certain resonance of the feudal past in the boy Touga-even some in Tea's artist cousin, Miki. Yugi had tried to teach him, too, but the lesson had fallen apart in laughter and promises to be more attentive the next day.
Yami frowned. He couldn't remember having seen Yugi laugh in that way in a while; hadn't seen the younger boy's eyes glow like that in even longer.
He turned over. After the lesson, Yugi had stayed talking with Miki, sitting easily with him under stretching limbs of a newly-budding tree, his pale violet eyes looking up into the artist's crystalline blue ones. Then, he had left for another walk after dinner, and not returned again for hours. When asked where he was, he merely smiled innocently up at Yami and laughed at him for being worried.
Yami turned to his other side, his mind seething. He tried to make sense of it. He wasn't worried, exactly. Of course, he tried to protect his hikari whenever possible-it was the nature of his bond. Surely he didn't mind that Yugi had another friend? His stomach twisted sickly.
Friend, he thought savagely, trying to clear his head of sudden disturbing suspicions.
He supposed what was really bothering him was the careful way Yugi was not letting him into his mind or feelings. What was he afraid of? Yami would keep every secret as if it were his own, sympathize with every thought, every flash of emotion...the way he used to.
He took a breath and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Silently he found a shirt and pulled it over his head, retied the drawstring on his gray pants, laced up his boots and stood in the dark. He looked toward the door to Yugi's room, and told himself firmly to leave him alone, then immediately disregarded his warning and moved silently along their link until he was standing just outside Yugi's mind.
He hesitated slightly, and then went in.
The first thing that happened was music. Pure, clean clear music and the dream was saturated with the sweet sadness of it. He recognized the emotion, and was startled at the realization; he'd seen it in every one of Yugi's smiles and in the glances that had been sent his way. He wondered what it meant-perhaps it was why, or because, Yugi no longer trusted him with his thoughts.
The next thing he knew was blue-an overwhelming, crystalline blue and then a young puzzled voice said.
"Yami?"
He jumped and turned to face him. His mouth worked, but no sound came out. Yugi stepped forward, stretching out a hand, but before he could speak or make a move, Yami fled out of his mind and found himself panting on the floor of his room. Behind the solid door between them, he could hear Yugi struggling to wake up, and knew the door would open and he would stand there with sleep, and not accusation, in his eyes.
He couldn't take it. He rose and walked out into the night.
* * *
Pacing through the clear clean silent darkness, his thoughts twisted and entwined and ripped apart again, leading him in spirals of frustrated inconclusion. The cool air boiled in his wake, flowing out in waves of blue and green; rose-scented and humid. Restless energy flooded him; he walked blindly through the polished buildings, denting dew-dropped manicured lawns with his light boots.
He didn't understand what was happening to his composure. The prospect of one night of insomnia shouldn't have these effects; shouldn't have sent him out onto the night with no destination and no escape. He stopped.
He was standing under the tree he'd leaned against, watching Yugi and Utena laughing in the sunlight, content in his hikari's contentment. Giggles had sounded to his left, on the other side of the tree, and he had looked around cautiously. His eyebrows rose.
"Joey?"
The blonde boy looked up at him through heavy bangs, putting a conspiratorial finger to his lips as the girl next to him smiled, her eyes glowing. Yami stared.
"I...sorry, Joey...I didn't think-" he stammered, but Joey shook his head and beckoned him around to their side.
"Don't look so freaked out, man," he laughed as Yami sat down in front of them. "Trust me, this isn't nearly as bad as it looks."
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to interrupt anything," Yami said apologetically.
"Actually," Wakaba said, "I think you could probably help us out."
Silence.
They pulled him back down, a terrified look on his face, and laughed at him. "Here's the situation," Joey said, by way of explanation, but stopped there, his cheeks growing warm. He looked to Wakaba for help.
"No sooner had I seen this cute kid here," she said, "than I wanted to get to know him. So, I jumped him yesterday," Yami had a short, sudden vision of Wakaba clinging to Joey's back, yelling "Joey-samaaaaaaaaaaa!" and shook his head clear as she continued, "And got his attention."
"And pulled a couple of muscles," Joey added, contorting with a grimace. She smacked him affectionately and continued.
"However, I soon found out that, much to my disappointment, this specific blondie is already spoken for."
Yami nodded. He'd seen the glances Joey clearly thought were so secretive, and he'd been pained by their lack of response. Wakaba sighed in mock sorrow and continued.
"So, after hearing his sob story, I thought I'd help him out a bit."
"Yeah, she's been great!" Joey enthused. "When I told her about Seto," he blushed, hesitated, and continued when no barrier came up, "she came up with a plan right away. If she can make him jealous by pretending to be all over me, that might swing things my way. But, since we don't know if he, in fact, swings my way, I win anyway, because I finally have closure, plus a seriously cute girl who is clearly falling in love with me." She looked up at him, and he smiled at her with real affection.
Yami nodded. "It's a good plan," he'd admitted. "It might just work to reveal Kaiba's true feelings, Joey. I hope, for your sake, it works. Although," he smiled at Wakaba, "I'd hate to see this little princess be disappointed."
"Don't worry about me," she said brightly. "I'll have every chance to win him over fair and square. But I understand what's at risk for him." She snuggled up to Joey, clasping his arm in hers.
Yami smiled and nodded again. "Did you say I could help?" he asked.
She sat up and grinned. "Yes, you can," she said. "Just wander over that direction, looking shell-shocked, and imply that you saw us doing something unmentionable out of view." Joey went red.
He laughed. "I can do that." And he had. Walked over and flopped down on the grass between Yugi and Kaiba, who was working on some new program and scowling at his computer, and groaned loudly, passing a hand over
his eyes.
"Yami? What's wrong?"
He'd rolled over and looked up at Yugi, keeping an expression of slight pain on his face. "I made the mistake of going over there," he said, and pointed toward the tree where a blue-jean clad leg could be seen stretching out from behind the trunk.
Utena looked quizzical. "What's over there?"
He'd thrown himself back down and closed his eyes to slits, watching Kaiba. "Joey and Wakaba."
Was it his imagination, or had the typing hesitated for a second? Had the blue eyes flicked up under the brown bangs? He couldn't be sure, but a feeling of triumph spread through him in warm layers.
Yugi made a face and turned back to the game, where Utena was poring over her cards with intense concentration. Yami felt a surge of something like amused pity for her, but it was immediately followed by respect. Anyone who dueled Yugi voluntarily ten minutes after learning the rules demanded it, and he watched in amusement as she selected two cards to play-one, a monster to defend her life points against Yugi's Celtic Guardian, and another face down. He frowned. She'd put Silver Fang into attack mode, the wolf snarling with raised hackles at the solemn Celtic Guardian. He shook his head as the Guardian charged-with two hundred more attack points than the wolf it was attacking, Utena's life points would shatter just like her defender. The Guardian brought up his sword in the killing blow, and the wolf leapt to meet it, white teeth flashing. He caught Utena's smile as she flipped over her other card, revealing the trap Reinforcements, and pointed towards the leaping wolf. His teeth came together and the Celtic Guardian, looking surprised, shattered into thousands of glittering pieces.
Yugi looked shocked, than laughed. "Good move, Utena," he said. "Reinforcements adds 500 attack points to your monster, and you didn't even have to summon a stronger one. Great!" She smiled.
"It worked that time," she admitted, "but not even a Rose Prince can defeat a King of Games."
"And the king would be nothing without his Pharaoh," Yugi had laughed. Yami stiffened in the dark, feeling again the sudden twisting of his heart. He had smiled and almost joined in the teasing when Yugi went red. His heart beat faster...no, not his heart. Yugi's. He looked in the direction his hikari was avoiding so studiously, but saw nothing more than Tea's cousin, Miki, done with his practicing and come to join them outside.
Yami frowned in the dark, and slid against the tree trunk, ending seated on the ground as he went back over the afternoon. Yugi laughing, Yugi blushing, teaching Miki the rules he had taught Utena. When the other boy had grasped the basic idea of the game, he'd sifted through the cards with Utena, their eyes glowing. He'd asked them what they were looking for.
"Yugi and Joey and Kaiba all have cards they identify with," Utena explained. "I've been looking for mine in these two games with Yugi, but I haven't found it yet." Yami had smiled.
"It'll take time to find the card that fits you most," he said. "But if you continue, eventually you'll find one that means as much to you as the Dark Magician does to Yugi."
"What's yours?" she had asked, her blue eyes questioning. Yami had stammered, and smiled to hide his confusion.
"I...don't have one."
She'd looked at him quizzically, but was interrupted by Yugi asking if she and Miki would like to duel.
They had looked at each other quickly, and then Miki had turned away with a blush of confusion, explaining that he wasn't ready to duel anyone at all, and Utena had relaxed into her usual easy going nature, but Yami had seen the flash of panic on the face of one, and the pain on the other.
Yami shook his head, and got up, stalking through the warm night. Before him was a large building, a few lighted windows and an opened door invited him in. He walked along simple corridors, past wooden doors and finally found himself before opened double doors, beyond which a hardwood floor glistened in the pale light of a few electric lamps. He stepped inside the gym and looked around, too late to see the wooden sword swinging his way. It caught him in the stomach, and he reeled backwards, gasping. Immediately the sword clattered to the floor, and a slim pale hand stretched out to support him.
"Are you all right? I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."
"I'm all right," he grunted, his pride flaming up as he straightened up and saw his assailant clearly. She looked at him solemnly through disinterested blue eyes. Now that he was up and recovering, her hand slipped from his shoulder, and she bent to pick up her practice sword from the floor, checking it over as deep golden hair slid out from its holder. He looked at her.
"Have we...met before?"
She swung the sword a few times and he felt the moving air brushing against his sleep-deprived state like water. "I saw you when you first got here...when Touga and Miki were showing you around the campus." She held the sword easily in one hand and held the other out to him. "Arisugawa Jury," she said. He shook the proffered hand.
"My name is Yami." Her eyebrow twitched, but she said nothing, and crossed the room to put the practice sword up on its pegs, taking down a slim steel foil and testing the weight, balancing it lightly with a loose wrist.
"And do you not sleep, Yami?"
"Not tonight," he said. "And neither, apparently, do you."
She whipped the blade through the air before her a few times. "Not tonight," she said, and shot him a small grin.
"You certainly know your way around swords," he said, gesturing to the walls filled with wooden practice swords, gleaming foils and slim rapiers.
"I should," she said. "I'm the captain of the fencing team here. Miki and I often come here to practice for duels."
"Duels?"
She smiled grimly. "It's a long story," she said. He wondered what it meant, this aversion, or rather, obsession, with duels at this place.
He sat down with his back against a wall. "I've got plenty of time," he said, and rested his forearms across his knees, his fingers interlacing. She stopped moving into positions and looked at him.
"Why do you look so much like Yugi? Are you brothers? What about that puzzle he wears around his neck?"
He smiled. "Point taken. Shall we exchange stories, then?"
She thought for a second and turned around. He shrugged, and was about to say something when she turned towards him with a smirk on her face and tossed a sheathed blade into his lap.
"If you can last five minutes against me, then yes."
He stood slowly up, hefting the blade in his hands, and feeling the cool weight of it. How many millennia since he had held a sword...? He drew it out, the shivering sound of steel on the smooth sheath sending coppery vibrations through his hand. "It's been a while since I've used one of these," he remarked, looking at the slim blade, a rapier, unlike her lighter foil. She quirked an eyebrow and shrugged. He grinned.
* * *
Clash of steel on steel, they pushed against each other, gasping for breath. She was strong-slim and athletic-and a far finer swordsman than he'd ever been. It took all his agility and strength just to counter her first blow; she'd surprised him with her speed. She was a vicious duelist, her eyes growing hard and bright with each swing of the swords and each metallic shiver as they came together. His arms were aching, his legs protesting. The duel had been defensive for him from the beginning, and now he kept going, blocking her movements as best he could out a sudden stubbornness, a demand to hear the story of these hard and charming students, the Council, the duels that must take place here.
His arm gave out; he sank to a knee on the polished floor as the point of his blade fell and clicked against the hardwood. Jury stood before him and let her foil down easily, wiping sweat from her forehead with one white sleeve.
"Could use Miki and his stopwatch now," she said, and went to her pile of belongings. "That was definitely five minutes, though," she said, and tossed him a bottle of water. He drank gladly and tossed it back to her. "Congratulations, not many people last that long against me."
"Your story," he said.
She sat across from him and leaned back against a post with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Yami," she admitted. "I can't tell you the whole story...I don't know it myself. All I know is that those of us who wear the rose seal," she flashed the ring on her left hand, "are impelled to duel for the privilege of the Rose Bride, and revolution."
He sat quietly, absorbing this strange information. She took another drink of water.
"Whoever wins the duel is engaged to the Rose Bride, and comes that much closer to bringing the world revolution." She looked over at him, and grinned at the bemused look on his face. "You've met her, I think. Himemeya Anthy, the strangest and probably the most powerful of us all."
"Himemeya?" he said doubtfully. He'd seen her in the shade, playing with an odd animal and giggling.
Jury nodded. "There's something about her no one can explain," she said. "It seems to me that she represents whatever we...most desire. A person, a thing, an idea. Miki used to love her, she was his shining thing. Saionji-well, you never met Saionji. He was suspended for what he did to her-because of her."
"What was she to you?" Yami asked. His heart thumped painfully. Miki used to love her? Shining thing?
She was quiet, and her eyes hardened. Yami realized her short burst of opening up was over. "She was nothing to me," she said, harshly. "Merely a duty." Her fingers crept toward her neck and played idly with a narrow gold chain that glinted against her skin. She looked up with a smirk. "And you? Where did you come from?"
If she wasn't going to tell everything, he wouldn't either. "I don't know," he admitted. "Much of my past had been erased from my memory. The only clues I have are in Yugi and his friends."
Her eyes narrowed.
He relented. "I come from...a very long time ago," he said. "There is a particularly strong connection between myself and Yugi-it has a lot to do with the puzzle he wears around his neck. Yugi found me," he said, and remembered the first time he'd awoken-not in the scratching heat of the desert or in the clammy cold of a forgotten tomb, but surrounded by warmth, purple light, and an innocent mind questioning his own. He smiled at the memory. "Yugi is like my own personal miracle," he said, and looked up at his companion.
She stood. Stiffly, she turned away and gathered her things. Turning around, she hefted her backpack over one shoulder and looked at him coldly.
"There are no such things as miracles," she said, and walked out into the dark hallway, leaving Yami with only more confused thoughts than ever.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Aria: Wow. That was really long...by the way, I wrote this while fighting with insomnia myself-albeit for vastly different reasons! Because I'm not in love with Yugi...or Yami...or Miki...*shifty eyes*
Joey: Yah, sure.
Aria: *brightly* Well, I certainly can't wait to get started on YOU, Joey. *waggles eyebrows*
Joey: *pales*
Aria: Anyway, please read and review! I need all the encouragement and ideas I can get! *tools off to write the sixth chapter, giggling maniacally*
Kaiba: Yeah, yeah, sure. *pats her on the head*
Aria: No! I do! And it's great! Thanks, everyone who's read and reviewed! And if you're just reading, please review! *bounces* Hum...*looks at notes* Some things to clear up: This story is set sometime after Duelist Kingdom (well after it) in the Yu-Gi-Oh! time-frame (not sure when, exactly, I'm not as clear on their timeline as I am on Utena), and takes place just before Utena's first duel with Touga, and should go to just past her second duel with him. And thanks to Mofalle for bringing it up. I really like your idea for the Black Rose Duelists and Kaiba...I won't put it in this story, but maybe in another one...*grins* All right! On with the story! Yay!
Kaiba: I think you should put down the Snapple and back away from the computer...slowly.
Aria: Oh, Kaiba, you're so paranoid. Honestly, it's like you think I'll...*giggle* I'll...*giggles harder*. Well, you're probably right. But so what! Ai-ya, the things I have to deal with.
Jen: Stop trying to be Asian!
Aria: But Jen...
Jen: No!
Aria: Aww....
Jen: And just for the record, I think Yami is hotter than Touga.
Yami: *pleased* Really?
Jen: *blushes*
Aria: That is so sweet. Can you go away now?
Jen: You promised.
Aria: *sighs* Fine, fine. Man, getting bossed around in my own story! Ai-
Jen: *glares*
Aria: --never mind. Um, so, for your reading pleasure, I bring to you Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.
Darcy: *confused...in a gentleman-like manner* Good evening. Er...what am I doing here?
Aria: Making my roomie very happy. And reading this.
Darcy: *reads* Aria Marier doesn't own either Yu-Gi-Oh! or Revolutionary Girl Utena. She does own the plot to this story, and a magic 8-ball that sees all and knows all...what?
Aria: Just read.
Darcy: Nor does she own Snapple...although she drinks enough of it...*shakes his head*. And she doesn't own me either, thank God; I'm the product of Jane Austen's imagination.
Aria: And the world is a better place for it. Thanks!
Darcy: *bows*
Jen/Aria: *sigh*
Joey: Hey! What about us?
Aria: Huh? Oh, right. The fic. Um...*consults notes* this chapter is mainly Yami, and a few of the Ohtori Academy types, although there should be some...um...exposition...near the end. *grins evilly*
Yami: Oh, dear.
Aria: And now! Onwards and upwards! And et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Bring on the Snapple, and let's get started!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
SECRETS OF A ROSE
Chapter 5: Swords
Yami couldn't sleep.
He lay on his back in the warm dark, staring at the ceiling, his hands behind his head. He'd tossed and turned when he first realized he wouldn't be sleeping, but he'd heard Yugi stir in the next room over, and stopped so he wouldn't wake the other boy with his restlessness.
So he had turned onto his back and opened his eyes into the darkness, and wondered why he couldn't sleep. He came up with no good answer-restless, exhausted thinking has a tendency to go in circles, especially when you need a conclusion in order to attain the cool relief of sleep-so he stopped trying and thought about the recent days that had passed.
He liked the Academy-the crisp greenness of it, the underlying throb of pride and competition. So alive...so different from the world of bronzy-blue skies, swirling sands he had known, and the millennia of dark solitude between that time and this. That afternoon, he'd watched with admiration the girl Utena that Yugi was teaching Duel Monsters, had appreciated the plan that Wakaba had initiated for Joey's help. He saw a certain resemblance to the ancient beings, a certain resonance of the feudal past in the boy Touga-even some in Tea's artist cousin, Miki. Yugi had tried to teach him, too, but the lesson had fallen apart in laughter and promises to be more attentive the next day.
Yami frowned. He couldn't remember having seen Yugi laugh in that way in a while; hadn't seen the younger boy's eyes glow like that in even longer.
He turned over. After the lesson, Yugi had stayed talking with Miki, sitting easily with him under stretching limbs of a newly-budding tree, his pale violet eyes looking up into the artist's crystalline blue ones. Then, he had left for another walk after dinner, and not returned again for hours. When asked where he was, he merely smiled innocently up at Yami and laughed at him for being worried.
Yami turned to his other side, his mind seething. He tried to make sense of it. He wasn't worried, exactly. Of course, he tried to protect his hikari whenever possible-it was the nature of his bond. Surely he didn't mind that Yugi had another friend? His stomach twisted sickly.
Friend, he thought savagely, trying to clear his head of sudden disturbing suspicions.
He supposed what was really bothering him was the careful way Yugi was not letting him into his mind or feelings. What was he afraid of? Yami would keep every secret as if it were his own, sympathize with every thought, every flash of emotion...the way he used to.
He took a breath and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Silently he found a shirt and pulled it over his head, retied the drawstring on his gray pants, laced up his boots and stood in the dark. He looked toward the door to Yugi's room, and told himself firmly to leave him alone, then immediately disregarded his warning and moved silently along their link until he was standing just outside Yugi's mind.
He hesitated slightly, and then went in.
The first thing that happened was music. Pure, clean clear music and the dream was saturated with the sweet sadness of it. He recognized the emotion, and was startled at the realization; he'd seen it in every one of Yugi's smiles and in the glances that had been sent his way. He wondered what it meant-perhaps it was why, or because, Yugi no longer trusted him with his thoughts.
The next thing he knew was blue-an overwhelming, crystalline blue and then a young puzzled voice said.
"Yami?"
He jumped and turned to face him. His mouth worked, but no sound came out. Yugi stepped forward, stretching out a hand, but before he could speak or make a move, Yami fled out of his mind and found himself panting on the floor of his room. Behind the solid door between them, he could hear Yugi struggling to wake up, and knew the door would open and he would stand there with sleep, and not accusation, in his eyes.
He couldn't take it. He rose and walked out into the night.
* * *
Pacing through the clear clean silent darkness, his thoughts twisted and entwined and ripped apart again, leading him in spirals of frustrated inconclusion. The cool air boiled in his wake, flowing out in waves of blue and green; rose-scented and humid. Restless energy flooded him; he walked blindly through the polished buildings, denting dew-dropped manicured lawns with his light boots.
He didn't understand what was happening to his composure. The prospect of one night of insomnia shouldn't have these effects; shouldn't have sent him out onto the night with no destination and no escape. He stopped.
He was standing under the tree he'd leaned against, watching Yugi and Utena laughing in the sunlight, content in his hikari's contentment. Giggles had sounded to his left, on the other side of the tree, and he had looked around cautiously. His eyebrows rose.
"Joey?"
The blonde boy looked up at him through heavy bangs, putting a conspiratorial finger to his lips as the girl next to him smiled, her eyes glowing. Yami stared.
"I...sorry, Joey...I didn't think-" he stammered, but Joey shook his head and beckoned him around to their side.
"Don't look so freaked out, man," he laughed as Yami sat down in front of them. "Trust me, this isn't nearly as bad as it looks."
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to interrupt anything," Yami said apologetically.
"Actually," Wakaba said, "I think you could probably help us out."
Silence.
They pulled him back down, a terrified look on his face, and laughed at him. "Here's the situation," Joey said, by way of explanation, but stopped there, his cheeks growing warm. He looked to Wakaba for help.
"No sooner had I seen this cute kid here," she said, "than I wanted to get to know him. So, I jumped him yesterday," Yami had a short, sudden vision of Wakaba clinging to Joey's back, yelling "Joey-samaaaaaaaaaaa!" and shook his head clear as she continued, "And got his attention."
"And pulled a couple of muscles," Joey added, contorting with a grimace. She smacked him affectionately and continued.
"However, I soon found out that, much to my disappointment, this specific blondie is already spoken for."
Yami nodded. He'd seen the glances Joey clearly thought were so secretive, and he'd been pained by their lack of response. Wakaba sighed in mock sorrow and continued.
"So, after hearing his sob story, I thought I'd help him out a bit."
"Yeah, she's been great!" Joey enthused. "When I told her about Seto," he blushed, hesitated, and continued when no barrier came up, "she came up with a plan right away. If she can make him jealous by pretending to be all over me, that might swing things my way. But, since we don't know if he, in fact, swings my way, I win anyway, because I finally have closure, plus a seriously cute girl who is clearly falling in love with me." She looked up at him, and he smiled at her with real affection.
Yami nodded. "It's a good plan," he'd admitted. "It might just work to reveal Kaiba's true feelings, Joey. I hope, for your sake, it works. Although," he smiled at Wakaba, "I'd hate to see this little princess be disappointed."
"Don't worry about me," she said brightly. "I'll have every chance to win him over fair and square. But I understand what's at risk for him." She snuggled up to Joey, clasping his arm in hers.
Yami smiled and nodded again. "Did you say I could help?" he asked.
She sat up and grinned. "Yes, you can," she said. "Just wander over that direction, looking shell-shocked, and imply that you saw us doing something unmentionable out of view." Joey went red.
He laughed. "I can do that." And he had. Walked over and flopped down on the grass between Yugi and Kaiba, who was working on some new program and scowling at his computer, and groaned loudly, passing a hand over
his eyes.
"Yami? What's wrong?"
He'd rolled over and looked up at Yugi, keeping an expression of slight pain on his face. "I made the mistake of going over there," he said, and pointed toward the tree where a blue-jean clad leg could be seen stretching out from behind the trunk.
Utena looked quizzical. "What's over there?"
He'd thrown himself back down and closed his eyes to slits, watching Kaiba. "Joey and Wakaba."
Was it his imagination, or had the typing hesitated for a second? Had the blue eyes flicked up under the brown bangs? He couldn't be sure, but a feeling of triumph spread through him in warm layers.
Yugi made a face and turned back to the game, where Utena was poring over her cards with intense concentration. Yami felt a surge of something like amused pity for her, but it was immediately followed by respect. Anyone who dueled Yugi voluntarily ten minutes after learning the rules demanded it, and he watched in amusement as she selected two cards to play-one, a monster to defend her life points against Yugi's Celtic Guardian, and another face down. He frowned. She'd put Silver Fang into attack mode, the wolf snarling with raised hackles at the solemn Celtic Guardian. He shook his head as the Guardian charged-with two hundred more attack points than the wolf it was attacking, Utena's life points would shatter just like her defender. The Guardian brought up his sword in the killing blow, and the wolf leapt to meet it, white teeth flashing. He caught Utena's smile as she flipped over her other card, revealing the trap Reinforcements, and pointed towards the leaping wolf. His teeth came together and the Celtic Guardian, looking surprised, shattered into thousands of glittering pieces.
Yugi looked shocked, than laughed. "Good move, Utena," he said. "Reinforcements adds 500 attack points to your monster, and you didn't even have to summon a stronger one. Great!" She smiled.
"It worked that time," she admitted, "but not even a Rose Prince can defeat a King of Games."
"And the king would be nothing without his Pharaoh," Yugi had laughed. Yami stiffened in the dark, feeling again the sudden twisting of his heart. He had smiled and almost joined in the teasing when Yugi went red. His heart beat faster...no, not his heart. Yugi's. He looked in the direction his hikari was avoiding so studiously, but saw nothing more than Tea's cousin, Miki, done with his practicing and come to join them outside.
Yami frowned in the dark, and slid against the tree trunk, ending seated on the ground as he went back over the afternoon. Yugi laughing, Yugi blushing, teaching Miki the rules he had taught Utena. When the other boy had grasped the basic idea of the game, he'd sifted through the cards with Utena, their eyes glowing. He'd asked them what they were looking for.
"Yugi and Joey and Kaiba all have cards they identify with," Utena explained. "I've been looking for mine in these two games with Yugi, but I haven't found it yet." Yami had smiled.
"It'll take time to find the card that fits you most," he said. "But if you continue, eventually you'll find one that means as much to you as the Dark Magician does to Yugi."
"What's yours?" she had asked, her blue eyes questioning. Yami had stammered, and smiled to hide his confusion.
"I...don't have one."
She'd looked at him quizzically, but was interrupted by Yugi asking if she and Miki would like to duel.
They had looked at each other quickly, and then Miki had turned away with a blush of confusion, explaining that he wasn't ready to duel anyone at all, and Utena had relaxed into her usual easy going nature, but Yami had seen the flash of panic on the face of one, and the pain on the other.
Yami shook his head, and got up, stalking through the warm night. Before him was a large building, a few lighted windows and an opened door invited him in. He walked along simple corridors, past wooden doors and finally found himself before opened double doors, beyond which a hardwood floor glistened in the pale light of a few electric lamps. He stepped inside the gym and looked around, too late to see the wooden sword swinging his way. It caught him in the stomach, and he reeled backwards, gasping. Immediately the sword clattered to the floor, and a slim pale hand stretched out to support him.
"Are you all right? I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."
"I'm all right," he grunted, his pride flaming up as he straightened up and saw his assailant clearly. She looked at him solemnly through disinterested blue eyes. Now that he was up and recovering, her hand slipped from his shoulder, and she bent to pick up her practice sword from the floor, checking it over as deep golden hair slid out from its holder. He looked at her.
"Have we...met before?"
She swung the sword a few times and he felt the moving air brushing against his sleep-deprived state like water. "I saw you when you first got here...when Touga and Miki were showing you around the campus." She held the sword easily in one hand and held the other out to him. "Arisugawa Jury," she said. He shook the proffered hand.
"My name is Yami." Her eyebrow twitched, but she said nothing, and crossed the room to put the practice sword up on its pegs, taking down a slim steel foil and testing the weight, balancing it lightly with a loose wrist.
"And do you not sleep, Yami?"
"Not tonight," he said. "And neither, apparently, do you."
She whipped the blade through the air before her a few times. "Not tonight," she said, and shot him a small grin.
"You certainly know your way around swords," he said, gesturing to the walls filled with wooden practice swords, gleaming foils and slim rapiers.
"I should," she said. "I'm the captain of the fencing team here. Miki and I often come here to practice for duels."
"Duels?"
She smiled grimly. "It's a long story," she said. He wondered what it meant, this aversion, or rather, obsession, with duels at this place.
He sat down with his back against a wall. "I've got plenty of time," he said, and rested his forearms across his knees, his fingers interlacing. She stopped moving into positions and looked at him.
"Why do you look so much like Yugi? Are you brothers? What about that puzzle he wears around his neck?"
He smiled. "Point taken. Shall we exchange stories, then?"
She thought for a second and turned around. He shrugged, and was about to say something when she turned towards him with a smirk on her face and tossed a sheathed blade into his lap.
"If you can last five minutes against me, then yes."
He stood slowly up, hefting the blade in his hands, and feeling the cool weight of it. How many millennia since he had held a sword...? He drew it out, the shivering sound of steel on the smooth sheath sending coppery vibrations through his hand. "It's been a while since I've used one of these," he remarked, looking at the slim blade, a rapier, unlike her lighter foil. She quirked an eyebrow and shrugged. He grinned.
* * *
Clash of steel on steel, they pushed against each other, gasping for breath. She was strong-slim and athletic-and a far finer swordsman than he'd ever been. It took all his agility and strength just to counter her first blow; she'd surprised him with her speed. She was a vicious duelist, her eyes growing hard and bright with each swing of the swords and each metallic shiver as they came together. His arms were aching, his legs protesting. The duel had been defensive for him from the beginning, and now he kept going, blocking her movements as best he could out a sudden stubbornness, a demand to hear the story of these hard and charming students, the Council, the duels that must take place here.
His arm gave out; he sank to a knee on the polished floor as the point of his blade fell and clicked against the hardwood. Jury stood before him and let her foil down easily, wiping sweat from her forehead with one white sleeve.
"Could use Miki and his stopwatch now," she said, and went to her pile of belongings. "That was definitely five minutes, though," she said, and tossed him a bottle of water. He drank gladly and tossed it back to her. "Congratulations, not many people last that long against me."
"Your story," he said.
She sat across from him and leaned back against a post with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Yami," she admitted. "I can't tell you the whole story...I don't know it myself. All I know is that those of us who wear the rose seal," she flashed the ring on her left hand, "are impelled to duel for the privilege of the Rose Bride, and revolution."
He sat quietly, absorbing this strange information. She took another drink of water.
"Whoever wins the duel is engaged to the Rose Bride, and comes that much closer to bringing the world revolution." She looked over at him, and grinned at the bemused look on his face. "You've met her, I think. Himemeya Anthy, the strangest and probably the most powerful of us all."
"Himemeya?" he said doubtfully. He'd seen her in the shade, playing with an odd animal and giggling.
Jury nodded. "There's something about her no one can explain," she said. "It seems to me that she represents whatever we...most desire. A person, a thing, an idea. Miki used to love her, she was his shining thing. Saionji-well, you never met Saionji. He was suspended for what he did to her-because of her."
"What was she to you?" Yami asked. His heart thumped painfully. Miki used to love her? Shining thing?
She was quiet, and her eyes hardened. Yami realized her short burst of opening up was over. "She was nothing to me," she said, harshly. "Merely a duty." Her fingers crept toward her neck and played idly with a narrow gold chain that glinted against her skin. She looked up with a smirk. "And you? Where did you come from?"
If she wasn't going to tell everything, he wouldn't either. "I don't know," he admitted. "Much of my past had been erased from my memory. The only clues I have are in Yugi and his friends."
Her eyes narrowed.
He relented. "I come from...a very long time ago," he said. "There is a particularly strong connection between myself and Yugi-it has a lot to do with the puzzle he wears around his neck. Yugi found me," he said, and remembered the first time he'd awoken-not in the scratching heat of the desert or in the clammy cold of a forgotten tomb, but surrounded by warmth, purple light, and an innocent mind questioning his own. He smiled at the memory. "Yugi is like my own personal miracle," he said, and looked up at his companion.
She stood. Stiffly, she turned away and gathered her things. Turning around, she hefted her backpack over one shoulder and looked at him coldly.
"There are no such things as miracles," she said, and walked out into the dark hallway, leaving Yami with only more confused thoughts than ever.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Aria: Wow. That was really long...by the way, I wrote this while fighting with insomnia myself-albeit for vastly different reasons! Because I'm not in love with Yugi...or Yami...or Miki...*shifty eyes*
Joey: Yah, sure.
Aria: *brightly* Well, I certainly can't wait to get started on YOU, Joey. *waggles eyebrows*
Joey: *pales*
Aria: Anyway, please read and review! I need all the encouragement and ideas I can get! *tools off to write the sixth chapter, giggling maniacally*