Everything
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or anything that has to do with the anime/manga.
Claimer: I fully own Ichidou Yachitose and her family, Mrs. Suteki Iyashii, Suteki's deceased father and mother, Ryougi, Karei, Sumizome, Komayaka, Ke-ki and her gang, and Miss Jishi. Please don't use them in any form without my permission.
To ArtemisObscure: I agree, Seto rocks! I keep wanting to picture him in my head as young while I write but that really doesn't work well considering he's nearly ninety in my story. defending herself So he looks good for his age in my head. laughs Just kidding.
Thanks for pointing out my whine/wine slip-up. Argh! I can't believe I did that.
The reason I put Yugi and Anzu together was because I supposed they kind of liked each other and I don't hate them, but they're not my favorite characters so I just put them together. (GO SETO! Complex evil-at-times bishies rule! ) Yugi isn't really going to be in the story so I figured I could bear the pairing. Does that make sense? I think I'm confusing myself. Anyway, thanks a bunch for reviewing!
To silver swan1: Yea, plots seem to be great rare items at times, no? I have trouble writing without one and making some of those brainless comedy fanfics. I guess I'll stick to my plots. Thank you for the compliments!
"Grandma?" called a small child adorned in a brown smock and cuddling a chocolate-colored kitten to her chest.
"Yes, Hathor?" replied an old woman with tan, wrinkled skin and piercing blue eyes. She was robed all in white with her long gray hair flowing over her shoulders. Her eyes were outlined in black, as were her granddaughter's, and she was wearing a golden circlet, several bangles, and a wide collar that covered half her neck and had a sparkling green gem in its center.
"What is that?" queried Hathor, pointing to a glittering necklace with an eye in its center that was draped around the neck of a bust of a goddess.
"That is the Millennium Necklace," replied her grandmother evenly. "When Yugi Mutou, the chosen possessor of the Millennium Items, died the Items returned to wherever they had been kept before the awakening of the Pharaoh. The Millennium Necklace came here; the Puzzle was kept in the hands of Seto Kaiba until only a few days ago, and the other Items (including the Millennium Rod, thank the Gods) went back to the tomb where Shadi and his descendents now watch over it."
"How do you know what happened to a Puzzle a few days ago?" asked Hathor.
Isis Ishtar smiled softly. "Admittedly, my darling, I did use the Necklace, but I promise I haven't used it for many years and not since the one time a few years ago. Now off to bed with you!" She pushed the girl gently out of the damp chamber, and Hathor rushed up a nearby staircase. "I'll make sure Grandpa, your parents, and Uncle Malik say goodnight to you, Hathor!" Isis added.
Hathor stopped for a moment, turning her head and grinning at her grandmother. She nodded and continued on, leaving Isis who took one last look at the Millennium Necklace on the statue and went to look for her brother outside.
Sure enough, leaning against the side of the stone structure was Hathor's Great-Uncle Malik. "'Kid's in bed?" he questioned, tipping his head of pale white tresses up at the night sky. Isis nodded, smiling tenderly at her younger brother. He had traveled the world, trying to forget his sins against the Pharaoh and his friends and what the spirit of the Millennium Rod had done to him. In the end he was weary and content to just stay put from now on, watching over his nephew and his family along with Isis and her husband.
"This came for you," said Malik, handing a pale blue envelope to his sister.
"Ahh, its from Anzu Mutou," Isis said, smiling softly. She opened the envelope and slid out a folded sheet of teal paper. Written in a shining gold penmanship, Isis read:
Dear Isis,
I thought I'd let you know that Seto has indeed handed the Millennium Puzzle reluctantly over to Ichidou Yachitose. He told me he doesn't particularly like the girl, but that's unsurprising, no?
Additionally, I must warn you of my granddaughter's prying. Suteki really is becoming a nuisance, and Seto isn't helping by telling her I know where the other Items are. Don't worry though. I won't be telling her in my lifetime. I hope you, Malik, and the rest of your family are well!
Your friend,
Malik, who had been reading the letter over his sister's shoulder, chuckled in a way not too unlike that of the spirit of the Millennium Rod. "That spoiled brat was bad enough when she was little, now she's a demon," he muttered.
"Suteki's husband's is partly to blame for that," replied Isis unperturbedly.
"Good point. She did marry that rich old relic. What was his name?" Malik agreed, grinning slightly at Isis.
"Chuuko Iyashii," stated Isis. "He died over twenty years ago, which was around the time Suteki's grandfather did as well."
"So he did, and now Suteki's one wealthy young widow," Malik mumbled.
Isis frowned slightly at her brother, but privately agreed with him. Suteki's fortune couldn't rival a certain CEO of Kaiba Corp, but she still was one of the richest people on the planet.
"UNCLE MALIK! Grandma promised me you'd say goodnight to me!" came the shrill cry of a child as Hathor walked out the door, her bare feet touching the cool night sand of the desert.
Malik sighed and turned to his great-niece. "All right, all right. I'm coming," he said, nodding to his sister meaningfully and following Hathor down the steps.
Isis watched them go before turning to the night sky, recalling the final images she had seen from the Millennium Necklace.
A girl of around seven or eight with coffee-colored tresses and adorned in a nightgown, sobbing near a lifeless body of a man. A teenage girl taking the Millennium Puzzle carefully out of Seto Kaiba's grasp. The same schoolgirl meeting the Pharaoh.
Somehow, even though she had never met Ichidou herself, the Millennium Necklace had convinced her that the girl could be trusted with the Puzzle.
"Ichi, you're gonna be late to work if you don't get down here now!" called Kyouko from the bottom of the staircase.
"Coming, 'Kaasan!" yelled Ichidou. She was trying to decide whether to leave the Millennium Puzzle home or not. Finally she decided to go with the latter and slipped the chain over her neck. She made sure to keep it hidden as she said good-bye to her okaasan and slipped outside.
She strolled down the street in the direction of her workplace, holding the Puzzle in her hands. "It doesn't look too special," she whispered.
"Yo, Yachitose! You know talking to yourself is a sign of insanity!" shouted a gruff female voice.
Ichidou looked up dully to make eye contact with Ke-ki Minkan. She was adorned in a white spaghetti strap top and tight jean shorts and was leaning against a fence, her short rainbow hair framing her face. Around her was her fan club of which the girls all had similar tresses and clothing, while the guys all were in jeans and leather with spiky hair of various colors. 'Can you say 'leather fetish?' Ichidou asked herself.
"Oh hi, Ke-ki," said Ichidou, nervously biting her lip. "Nice day, huh?"
"Nice day for a repeat performance of last time, Yachitose," snapped Ke-ki.
"Oh!" gulped Ichidou. "I was just joking about the whole 'couldn't decide which color dye to use' thing, honest!"
"I'm not dumb, Yachitose," Ke-ki retorted.
"I was just kidding, really!" Ichidou cried out, backing away from the gang. 'Just great!' Ichidou thought. 'The only way I was able to get away last time was because that squad car happened to go by!' She examined the competition and realized, 'I'm doomed! It's eleven healthy seniors versus one lowly sophomore! Instant massacre! Ahhh!!!'
Ke-ki sauntered forward menacingly and that was when the Millennium Puzzle began to glow. Golden light sprang from the eye in its center, and Ichidou cried out, while the gangsters gasped. Ichidou felt a bolt of adrenaline run through her, and in the next instant, she felt her lips move against her accord.
"Not dumb?" she asked in a voice a bit deeper than her usual one. Her brown tresses now had a few strands of gold mixed in and stood slightly on end. "Why don't we play a game to find out how smart you are, hmm?"
"A game?" asked Ke-ki. "You've cracked, Yachitose." Her bunch of hooligans all snickered and jeered at Ichidou.
"Perhaps I have, either way if I win the game I leave unharmed, if you win you can do whatever you want with me," said the possessed Ichidou.
'No! Stop!' yelled Ichidou inside her soul room looking out a hole in its wall at Ke-ki and her gang as they taunted her.
Yami casually appeared at her side, his hands in his pockets. Ichidou jumped and shrieked, "I should've known it was you who was making me do this! You're gonna get me killed, you moron!"
"Stay calm. We won't lose," the Pharaoh said in a tone that said quite clearly he would never be beaten at a game. It made Ichidou want to strangle him.
"What do you care? You don't have a body! I can handle this by myself! " she screamed.
Yami, the great spirit of the Millennium Puzzle and former Pharaoh, winced at the girl's screeches. "Very well," he whispered frigidly.
And suddenly Ichidou had full control of her body. Of course, being an all-powerful ti-n'e-ja she twisted around and ran down the sidewalk.
"AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
"Ooi!"
"Get her!"
"C'mon, guys!"
Inside Ichidou's soul room, Yami asked emotionlessly, "This is how you handle this by yourself?"
"Oh," gasped Ichidou. Pant. "Shut." Grunt. "Up!" She dived into her destination, the greengrocer's on the corner of the street. She hurried into the main office where her boss, Komayaka Mada-Tafunesu, looked up at her coolly and went to the doorway. Outside Ke-ki and her gang hurried up, and all but the former cringed at the sight of the middle-aged woman.
"Ah, if it isn't Miss Minkan… Get out!" Komayaka snarled.
"Who's gonna make me?" retorted Ke-ki.
"I am, now git goin' " the grocery manager snapped.
Ichidou watched in triumphant amazement as the hooligans left.
Komayaka turned around, fixing one of her auburn curls behind her ear. "C'mon, Ichidou. You can stick up to those 'fraidy cats," she said.
"I wish I could, but they could pummel me into the ground a hundred times before I could make a mark on them," muttered Ichidou.
"I didn't say anything about beating 'em up," snapped the manager. "You saw how I scared 'em away. Just be intimidating. I've seen you boss around the newbies at work. Don't deny it."
"You're just saying that," Ichidou mumbled.
"Nay, I know ya can."
Ichidou just smiled and shook her head sadly. 'No,' she thought. 'I'll just have to keep an eye out and stay far away from them.'
She straightened her uniform – a long, light blue shirt with wavy sleeves and a pair of navy pants – and combed a hand through her hair. She pinned on her nametag and went towards her cash register booth. Her face was all business now. There was no time for mystic spirits and their control of other bodies, right? Or so she thought.
Abruptly, she was scanning a box of cereal in the grocery store and standing across from Yami in her soul room at the same time. It was a disconcerting feeling and one that she didn't appreciate while she was working. "What is it?" she asked Yami, trying hard to keep her "real" lips from forming the words.
The effort made her jumpy and when a customer queried, "Miss?" she nearly jumped out of her skin.
Her two environments were overlaid and it was hard to discern the two. In one, Yami was strikingly visible against the blues of the soul room and in the other she was perfunctorily printing a receipt for a shopper.
When Ichidou had given up in wondering if Yami was going to reply or not, he did. "Why did you refuse my help but accept another's?" he questioned in a deep impassive voice Ichidou had become accustomed to.
"I-well-I didn't really want anyone's help. I was just going to work," said Ichidou with difficultly. "You see, I was hoping I could just lose them but that plan didn't work well, and I didn't really like yours. It was too dangerous." It was becoming easier to speak as she went along.
"Hmm," mumbled Yami, nodding vaguely.
And as suddenly as it had occurred, the double layers of sight vanished, and Ichidou had to finish work to her chagrin. Numerous thoughts swirled around in her head, but the Pharaoh remained silent. He had returned to his own soul room and was leaning against one of the stone walls, his eyes shut as he considered his aibou.
A/N: So there you have it. Ichidou's a bit too independent for her own good. I loved writing the little banter between her and Yami. Expect more of that!
A/N 2: Here are the name translations for this chapter:
Chuuko=used, second-hand, old
Ke-ki=cake
Minkan=private, civilian, civil, popular, folk
Komayaka=friendly
Mada=yet, still, more, besides
Tafunesu=tough
Choccy: (grins) Komayaka's name means "friendly yet tough." (laughs) As always if I made a mistake in translating please let me know.
Cineris: (cheep)
Iyami: 'Forgetting something? (dry look)
Choccy: Oh yea. Hehe. I almost forgot. This is Cineris, my baby phoenix and muse.
Iyami: Heyyyyyy…
Choccy: Hehe. Oh and this is my yami Iyami. (It means disagreeableness, gaudiness, or sarcasm, which is exactly what she's like.)
Cineris: (trills)
Choccy: (cuddles Cineris) Don't forget to review!
Cineris: (peep)
Iyami: (grunt)
Claimer 2: I own Cineris and Iyami so don't touch them! (grabs her muse and yami and nearly strangles them by hugging them too tight)
Iyami: Xx Grrrr… Baka…
Cineris: (dazed)
Choccy: (nervous laugh) I guess I'll end this before my yami kills me… Bye!(tries to sneak away)
Iyami: Argh! Choccy! (chases Choccy)
Choccy: (gulp) AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! (runs away)
Cineris: (peep?)
