You're Only Deceived Once
By SariaSubi-kun
SariaSubi: I'm now in a Yu-Gi-Oh mood. Yes, a very good Yu-Gi-Oh mood. Matsu on the rampage! Now I need these reviews from all of you…even on my other fics, okay? Thank you! You readers is what makes me a writer.
Navi: And SariaSubi's money is what gets me here.
SariaSubi: Wait…..I pay you?
Navi: Whoops….sorry Marianshi
SariaSubi: Marianshi? What does she have to do with this?
Navi: Ur….
Zzy: SariaSubi! I have the answer—!
::Zzy is shot by a random bullet::
GG: ::slaps her head:: And she was just going to tell us the answer to 18 across.
SariaSubi: You mean the Osbourne's dog?
GG: ::nods::
SariaSubi: Damnit! And that New York Times has the HARDEST crossword puzzle
::Marianshi cowers in the corner::
Chapter 7
So, she thought, Ishizu-sama must have thought that she might as well reveal to Seto and Yami their pasts. I just don't see Yami-sama. I wonder if maybe she already showed him? Ah, she slapped her head, so confusing. I might as well go home. There's only a few days until my rent is up and I have to move again.
Before Matsu left, she faintly heard. "If you hold this tournament—"
"The rare hunters won't resist the opportunity."
"Yes. I thank you, Seto Kaiba."
She heard him grunt. "Don't think I did this for you. You may believe in all your hocus pocus, but I don't. I'm leaving now."
Matsu didn't know how loud her boots caused a sound or the swish of her jeans, but she tried to run as quietly as she could up the stairs and out of the museum before Seto saw her.
As she ran outside, the Kaiba Corporation driver looked at her strangely. "Yo!" she waved, and ran in the opposite direction of her apartment.
//-//-//-//-//-//-//-//
"First it giveth then taketh away," the note read. Yugi ran his hand through his multi-colored hair as he read the note he had found in his bedroom just a few moments ago. The window had been opened and the curtains were blowing in the wind. As he had walked into his room, he had heard the loud pounding of steps running away, but he didn't reach the window in time to call out to whoever left him that note, because, obviously, no one was there.
"What does it all mean?" he questioned.
Yami appeared beside him. "Maybe it's a sign. I think we should see what's attached to the note."
Yugi blinked. He hadn't noticed the small card attached by tape to the larger letter. "Oh, yeah." He detached it and read it.
It was a business card to the Domino Museum.
//-//-//-//-//-//-//-//
Matsu kicked the can into the tree. "Damnit!" she screamed, "of all the shit that happens, now this."
It seemed her rent was up on the apartment. And with no current job, no legal residence in New York, and no friends, she had two suitcases, a sling bag, and a wallet with a picture of her boyfriend, Jack Squat.
She sighed, a large sweatdrop forming on the side of her head. "This sucks. I hope Kaiba left the museum because I'm going to make Ishizu-sama my new best friend."
//-//-//-//-//-//-//-//
A strange glow formed in only one area of the room. Out of the darkness, old hands circled themselves around the unique bracelet. It was golden and had a golden chain connecting to a golden ring. It was quite a beauty and would sell for the highest price imaginable. But the old master didn't plan to sell it. Oh no.
He cracked an ugly smile, his yellow chipped teeth bearing a crooked grin. With a throaty laugh, he said, "Oh, my pretty bracelet. You are sooo pretty." The gleam in his eyes wasn't right; like the man was insane. All sanity was beyond him at that point as he continued to worship the piece of gold.
"Pretty bracelet. Do your pretty things. Shine for me, pretty bracelet."
But the things that the pretty bracelet did were not pretty.
//-//-//-//-//-//-//-//
Today was Saturday morning. A morning free of school, little work, and…
Matsu's bad day. She had been walking around with her duffle bag of stuff all night since she lost her apartment. She never remembered how to get her way around Domino, so again, she was lost.
"I hate the world," she muttered, her hair constantly falling in her face.
Not too far away, Yugi stretched his arms out over his head.
"Ya not get enough sleep, Yug'?" Joey looked down at his friend.
"Yeah, Yugi," Tea leaned over, "you've been yawning all morning."
"Oh, it's nothing," he rubbed his eye, "I was just woken up by something last night, and I didn't go to sleep afterwards until much later."
"Really? What was it?"
"Well, Tristan, it was—hey, it's that girl!" he pointed wildly in Matsu's direction.
"Yeep!" she jumped.
"It's you!" Yugi ran over to her, the others quickly behind him, "You're that girl who came to Grandpa's shop and never showed up for school."
"Eh…" she sweatdropped, her hand behind her head. But that was also the bag holding the duffel bag. The weight became too much and she fell over backwards.
"Hey, you alright?" Tristan leaned over her.
Her eyes were spinning. There were too many heads in her face right now. "Need…room…eh…"
"Oh, sorry." Matsu got up quickly and dusted herself off, but Yugi didn't stop his interrogation. "Why didn't you come to school?"
"More importantly," Joey butted in, "who tha heck are ya?"
Oh, please. Someone our age using the word 'heck'? Oh well, this is a rinky-dink town named Domino for crying out loud. "My name is Matsu, okay? Didn't catch that? It's Matsu."
Man, Yugi thought, she doesn't have to be so mean about it. She seemed pretty nice at Grandpa's place.
Matsu noticed the effect of her actions. "Sorry, guys, it's just I haven't slept all night because I got kicked out of my apartment."
"Oh, no. Why?" Tea asked with concern.
Matsu blinked at the sudden action, but shook it off. "I don't have enough money to pay the rent."
"So you're not from around here?" they started walking.
"Nope. I come from Nevada. All my cash is there. I didn't expect to stay in New York for long, but because of family business, I gotta."
"Do you have any family that lives around here?" Yugi spoke up.
"Yeah, kinda. More like a family friend. But I have to find her place. She lives by the Domino Museum, but since I'm new here, I have no idea where that is."
"You kidding me?" Joey's eyes widened, "that place is the easiest building to find in the whole city. It's like not being able to find Kaiba Corporation!"
Matsu shot a glare at him through her emerald eyes, and Joey quickly shut up. She gave him the wow-that's-it-go-rub-it-in-my-face look, but she shook it off. "Can you guys lead me there? I really need some sleep. I promise next time I won't be as cranky." Next time? Did she just say that? Matsu couldn't believe herself. Of all the things she didn't expect to do, besides losing the apartment of course, was make friends, and with these people, of all the yutzes in Domino.
They all smiled warmly. "Of course we will, Matsu." Jeez, she thought, they are so kind I wanna throw a pie at them. But…I like it. No one's ever been this nice to me before. Of course Ishizu-sama has, but this is…different. Strangely, she found herself feeling the heat coming to her cheeks, and she crossed her eyes shyly. This is too strange.
"So…what are your names again? I've met Yugi, but I—"
"Oh, come on, you don't have to be embarrassed about it," Tea reassured her, "my name's Tea. Tea Gardener."
"And I'm Joey," Joey put his hands on his hips and pushed his chest out like Superman, "Joey Wheela's the name."
"More like Joey Weirder," Tristan mumbled. Then he turned to Matsu and smiled. "I'm Tristan."
"Hey, you makin' fun'a me, clown face?" Joey yelled at Tristan.
"I'm not the one who looks funny. And speaks funny too." Joey grabbed Tristan's shirt and growled. It was all comically of course. The two would never get into a real dangerous fight like that.
Matsu couldn't help it. She tried to hide it, but little by little, giggles came out. Tristan and Joey stopped fighting and looked at her. She removed her hand from her face and started openly laughing, she couldn't contain herself. Tea joined her soon, and Yugi just smiled.
After that, they walked her a few blocks to the museum. Matsu looked up and blinked.
"Well," Yugi told her, "this is it."
Matsu blinked dumbly. Then her eyes widened and they threw her arms out and waved them around. "Of course this is it! I was just here yesterday!" Everyone fell down. She sweatdropped and rubbed the back of her head. "Eheheh….musta slipped my mind there, eh?"
Yugi and the others stood up. He gave her one of his big friendship smiles. "Well, we're happy to have helped you Matsu. We'll see you around."
"Yeah, sure Yug—" Her eyes widened and she stopped dead. Her heart missed five beats as her emerald eyes traveled down Yugi's shirt and saw something that she hated herself for never noticing before.
Oh dear Selket, the shivers consumed her as she started to shake, he is…Yugi is…he has…
The Millennium Puzzle!
"Ph….phar…pharo…." she quivered. Matsu shook so much, she could barely finish the sentence. Crap. Does she…does Ishizu-sama know about this?!
Yugi and the others were worried about her. They had all rights to be. Matsu had just stopped dead like a mummy had licked her or something. But at that point, all thoughts of them to her stopped. Not caring how freaked out they were about her behavior, Matsu wrenched away from them and darted up the Domino Museum stairs.
And never answered no matter how many times they called her name.
//-//-//-//-//-//-//-//
The burst through the door was like a thunderclap; the piece of wood nearly fell off its hinges.
"Matsu!" Ishizu looked up from her desk with urgent firmness, "please calm down."
"Yugi is the god-forsaken pharaoh for crying out loud. No! Let's all sit down on pillows and play Ceega* over this!"
Ishizu held her forehead in her hands and sighed solemnly. "Matsu, please. You have to calm down. Just take a deep breath for a minute, please?" Matsu's fiery eyes were still locked on Ishizu, but she did what the woman asked of her, and she slowed her breathing.
A drop of perspiration fell down the side of her cheek. She had been running too hard and barely breathed. Good idea. Thanks Ishizu-sama. Matsu shook her head. "Still. Did you know about this or not? Please answer me."
"My necklace tells me he will come here. I've advertised my exhibit left and right. Yami should come."
"Yeah," Matsu walked over to Ishizu's desk and sat in one of the leather chairs, lounging back and putting her feet up on the corner of the desk. The woman didn't seem to notice. "Yugi was on the surface today."
"So you met again."
"And his 'let's all sit and talk about friendship!' dorks of friends."
"Matsu!"
"It's true. Not that I have anything really against them," she yawned, "but that stuff puts me to sleep. See? I'm falling out just thinking about it."
Ishizu hummed a "umm-hmm" and continued shuffling papers. Matsu poked open one eye and her gaze followed the stacks of papers that she was shuffling. "Ya looking for something or what?"
"Just nerves. You know how I start to sort things when I'm nervous."
Matsu let out a short laugh. "You nervous? About what?"
"I know you were here last night." Both of Matsu's eyes opened as she leaned forward and sat upright. "Huh?" she whispered softly.
"I heard your footsteps when Seto Kaiba was here, but I kept on talking so he wouldn't hear. I know you had just defeated him, so I had the feeling he would be upset if he saw you, especially if he knew you were associated with me."
"Not the friendly guy, is he?"
"I noticed, yes," she nodded. "He agreed to do the tournament I asked him to do."
"Really?" the young teenager looked forward with interest, her glasses falling down her nose.
"Yes. I have a feeling you should participate in it. You might see Mekhi."
Matsu's eyes lit up. "Mekhi? Really? Amazing!" she jumped up.
Ishizu sighed heavily, and Matsu sat back down. There was more. "But it's invitation only."
"Aw, shit."
"No, no, no," Ishizu looked at her, "I have a feeling he will invite you."
"Really?" Matsu leaned back in the chair again, "what makes ya think?"
"Because," she stated simply, "do you think Seto Kaiba would let you defeat him and let you get away with it." A small smirk danced its way on both their faces. "Especially since he has Obelisk now."
The smile faded. Matsu shot up and pounded her hands on the desk. "What?! You gave it to him?!"
"Matsu, please, calm down."
"Don't 'calm down' me! I wanted that card!"
"With all the cards you have Matsu," Ishizu stood up and yelled herself, "you could probably defeat Marik! So stop it with your foolish selfishness and be quiet!" Matsu stepped back, speechless. Ishizu had never yelled at her before.
The woman's eyes widened. She cast them down. "I'm sorry," Ishizu apologized softly, "but I have a feeling I must give it to him. It was—"
"Fate?" Matsu cocked an eyebrow. She shook her head and smiled lightly. "Listen, Ishizu-sama, I'm sorry, okay? I mean it. You're the one with the Millennium Necklace, not me."
Ishizu returned the smile. She giggled a little. "You know Matsu, that's a different look for you."
Matsu crossed her eyes dumbly. "Huh?"
"The way you have your hair. It's always either up with your glasses or down without them," she pointed. "Now it's down with the glasses. Were you like that all day?"
The navy-head objected. "Nope. I guess my hair tie fell out when I burst through the door." She craned her body and raised her eyebrows. "Yep. I even see it." Matsu stood up and reached down, retrieving it. She was about to put it in when Ishizu spoke up. "Why are you putting it back it. This looks nice."
"Maybe at home, which by the way is your house now," Matsu told her. Ishizu slapped her head and groaned, but then laughed.
"I knew this would happen."
"Yeah, ha ha, real funny," Matsu crossed her arms and mumbled.
//-//-//-//-//-//-//-//
Night had soon come. After a long day at work, Seto was tired. No one was in the mansion lingering except for him. Mokuba was in bed and his servants all went home for the night. It was only him now.
He still wore his green shirt and pants and navy blue jacket, but this would probably be the last time he wore it. He was starting to like it less and less; Seto liked his new outfit better now. Besides, this one reminded him too much of Duelist Kingdom, and that was a thing of the past.
Seto slipped off his jacket, which seemed like a foreign gesture; he always was so covered and closed around people, by the way he dressed and the way he acted. He looked tiredly out the window, his fingers undoing the buttons on his shirt.
His blue eyes, like always, were cold and like glass. They were like that so much they reflected the whole scene out the window; the moon, the stars, everything. He didn't care about them all; they were just astronomical figures, nothing of real importance. Not to him anyways.
When his whole shirt was unbuttoned, he realized his bedroom door was still open. Stupid of him. He didn't want anyone seeing him. Especially with his shirt open.
On his way back to his bed, he caught himself looking in the mirror. Seto never really cared for the way he looked; it was always brown hair, blue eyes, mean look, and ta-da. But he stared at himself in the mirror. And for a split second, he wondered what people thought when they saw him.
Seto shook his head. This is stupid. I'm not going to get any sleep. He slid under the covers and closed his eyes, resting his hand on his chest. A small exhalation escaped his lips, and he fell asleep.
He opened his eyes. The window was open and the curtains were blowing furiously from the wind. Damn window, he thought, and he went up to shut it.
But there was a noise. He turned around, but no one was there. Seto got up from bed and looked around his room, but the door was closed.
"Who's there?" he growled, angered that someone would disturb him. They would get fired the next morning.
But the tip-toeing of feet scratched the surface of the carpet. A hand slid across the small table in front of his mirror. Seto veered around to see his intruder.
She was only a shadow, yet she seemed so familiar.
"Who are you?" he roared at the shadow.
Through her mask of darkness, a white grin etched its way on the stranger's face. She laughed softly.
She was familiar! He stood behind her. "Matsu?"
The girl laughed again. He could clearly see the outline of her body, the way her hair was done, everything. But there was no color to her; just gray. And he couldn't see her eyes.
"Are you so sure?" she taunted, singing the words like her favorite song.
"Get out!" He threw his arm out to punch her, but it went right through her head. Seto's fist smashed into the mirror, the pieces shattering everywhere, his fist bleeding badly. He grunted in pain, but even more in dissatisfaction. Matsu the Shadow was gone. The cold laugh rang in his ears again from behind him and—
He shot out of bed, sweat soaking his body badly, his pants and covers sticking to him. Seto breathed heavily, his chest heaving.
He put his head in his hands and groaned. "It was all a dream! Damnit!"
No, he raised his cold eyes, damn her.
*Ceega: and Egyptian form of checkers. To see a picture and possibly buy it, copy and paste