NOTE: This series of one-shots is for the shipper challenge at a board I go to (those that go there will understand what I'm talking about). I do NOT support these pairings unless stated otherwise. So please no flaming or bashing just cause it's a strange pairing ;; I've gotten weirder/more disgusting pairings... =coughGozuKaicough= Enjoy! .................. One Moment

It's weird, the way life works. You could be laughing, hanging out with your family or friends, having fun. But in less then a second, all of that can turn around. Anger, loss, hurt, sorrow, depression can quickly replace the blithe happiness that once was in everybody's hearts. All in one moment, a life could be taken away.

Strange how that works—isn't it?

That's what happened to me. Who knew that letting her play catch with her best friend switched my life around? Who knew that one simple pebble could start an avalanche of events that lead up to grief and pain? That's one of the great questions of life: who knew?

I can still remember that day as if it were playing in front of me on an IMAX theater. The voices, the laughter, the crash, everything. I remember their voices, once chattering like normal 10 year olds, then bawling like new born babies. How twisted is that?

I walked slowly to her grave, my head looking towards the ground, away from the overcast sky. I gripped the flowers held in my hand, trying to keep back the tears that threatened to fall down. Splashes of brown and gray whizzed by me. I didn't have to pay attention to them. I already knew where to go.

I stropped at the pillar of the spirits, where it's placed upon the dead person's body. I couldn't help a few tears slip down my cheeks as I read the engraving.

"Bakura Amane

May 21, 1991- September 13, 2001

Beloved Daughter and Sister.

'May she always be a light in out hearts'"

I stared blankly at the tomb, feeling like an empty shell, a void. I placed the flowers, her favorite flowers, on the bare spot in front of the slate, over her body buried beneath the ground. I let the tears flow freely from my brown eyes, letting the salt mix in with the rain that sprinkled all over me.

"Ryou-Nii-chan?" a soft voice asked. I turned around sharply, about to tell the person to leave me alone. My eyes widened as I saw who it was.

Snow-white hair cascaded down her shoulders, a few strands stubbornly staying in her face, outlining a pale complexion. Crystal blue eyes had rings around them, as if they hadn't even blinked for years. She was about the same age as Katsuya Shizuka, but slightly taller and even more fragile looking. Flowers were held in her hand, but I wasn't paying attention to that. I kept staring at the girl, as if I had seen a ghost. The rain stopped.

"Kisara..." I whispered gravely.

Memories flooded through me as I looked upon the human standing before me.

"Kisara-chan!!!" a girl around 10 yelled, spiky-ish white hair flowing in the wind. Brown eyes glittered with excitement, shining in the bright afternoon sun. "Catch the ball!"

Kisara leaped up into the air nimbly, catching the ball with a smooth grace that was hardly found in girls her age. She landed with cat-like stance, standing up straight, giving the victory sign.

I looked up from my book, smiling in their direction. Amane noticed, turning around. "Onii-chan!!" she called out, smiling brightly.

I waved at her, a matching smile on my face. I looked towards Kisara, also waving at her. She looked down at the ground and blushed, diverting her eyes away from me.

Being the twelve-year old I was, I didn't really pay as much attention as I should have. And because of that, it lead to her death.

"Amane-chan, catch!" Kisara called out, throwing the ball with expertise towards her best friend. Unfortunately, the ball passed by her in a blur of blue and white. It headed to the street, where it bounced a few times before rolling into the middle of the highway.

"I'll go get it!" Amane told her friend before rushing out. I looked up from my book, before realizing what was happening.

It happened by so fast. Amane was running out into the street, a truck turned the corner. She looked up, before her body was slammed away by the impact. Her scream tore through the air, shredding it to millions of pieces.

And with that, it shredded my life.

Kisara watched in horror at the script that was playing out in front of her eyes. "AMANE-CHAN!!!!!!!" she screamed, rushing out to meet her other-half (as Bakura fondly put it). I raced over to Kisara, thankful for my long legs for once.

I pulled her back as the car swerved, nearly missing where she would have been. She struggled against me, fighting to reach her friend. "Amane-chan! AMANE-CHAN!" she kept crying out.

The Kisara that stood in front of me was not the playful, athletic, smart-aleck girl that Amane and I had accepted as family. She was nothing like that. This Kisara was a weak, fragile girl, who had lost her way a long time ago. The only thing that stayed the same was the emotion that stayed in her blue eyes.

"I..." she started, but stopped herself. "I shouldn't be here." She whispered, seeming to shrink in size. Her voice had changed drastically—there was no longer the confidence that once shown through like a beacon. Now there was a hollow space that didn't even have a flicker of light to it.

She whirled around, her hair flying everywhere, caught up in the momentum of the movement. Wind howled through the trees, making her hair fly even more. She glanced back, tears forming in her eyes.

"Wait!" I called out, the call dying in my throat the minute it came up. She turned back towards me, crystal eyes filled with confusion as she looked towards me.

I was about to continue, before my brown eyes got caught in her blue zirconium eyes. The words died in my throat as emotion welled up in my chest. Old lingering feelings rushed back, slamming into me as if I was thrown into the middle of a highway, being run over by a 20 ton truck.

An eternity seemed to pass in that moment our eyes connected. Blue and brown clashed, silent emotions running through them. Kisara looked away from me, a heat wave covering her pale cheeks.

I looked down at the flowers in Kisara's hand. White roses. Amane's favorite flower. A sign of purity, which is why Amane loved those flowers so much. Amane also loved them because she said it reminded her of me and Kisara (most likely the hair). She didn't know that they also meant death. How twisted is it that her favorite flower is the flowers normally put on graves?

Kisara approached me slowly, each step seeming like it would never reach the ground. She slowly came in front of me, looking up at me with innocent blue eyes.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered. I looked at her in surprise, taken aback by the question.

"For what?" I asked, wondering what she was sorry for.

"You think it's my fault that Amane-chan died..." she hung her head, her voice barely a audible. It died off at the end, as if she were going to say something more, but the wind carried away the words.

What? Her fault...? Why...?

"Why would I think that?"

"Because I threw the ball and I didn't stop Amane-chan going out there..." Kisara choked on her words, barely able to get the next sentence out. "Why can't you just admit it that it's my fault for Amane-chan's death?"

My heart was literally breaking as I heard her say that. Where was the Kisara that was always so confident in others? Where was the Kisara the took no crap from anybody?

...Where was the Kisara I once liked...?

"Kisara..." I couldn't help but reach out to her. My hand went towards her face, but stopped, as if it couldn't go farther without breaking her. The rain that had stopped for a few minutes started up again, pouring down with no mercy for any thing—living or dead—in it's path.

We just stood there, not saying anything, not doing anything. The rain continued to beat down us mercilessly, seeming to wash away all the emotions. My hand didn't leave the spot it was at. She was so close, yet so far away.

I suddenly wrapped my arms around her, bringing her close to me. I buried my face into her hair, trying to hold back the tears that were resurfacing. "It's not you're fault, Kisara!" I whispered in her ear, my breathing becoming shallow as I held her. "It's not your fault..."

Kisara buried her head in my shoulder, muffling the sobs that were threatening to surface. I put a hand on the back of her head, combing my fingers through white silk.

"Yes it is!" Kisara sobbed, tears mixing with the merciless rain. She wrapped her arm's around my waist, holding me tightly.

I pulled away from her a little bit, cupping my hand under her chin. "Listen to me, Kisara! It is not you're fault that Amane-chan died! If anyone should be blamed, it should be me for not paying attention!"

"But--!" she started, but I never let her finish.

I moved my head forward, meeting my lips with hers. My breath mingled with hers, mixing together as I kissed her. I pulled away, my nose barely touching hers.

I stared into the crystalline depths of her eyes. They say that eyes are the windows of the soul. Now, I'm not one to believe stuff like that normally, but I definitely believed it now.

"Ryou...?" she whispered. Her arms left my waist, and instead snaked their way up to my neck. "W...would Amane-chan be angry at us?"

"Why would she be angry?" I asked her, feeling her hot and shallow breath on my lips. I could feel her fingers going through my hair, twisting and turning it around gently.

"I mean..." she blushed. "Do you like me, first of all?"

My cheeks grew hot as I averted my eyes. "Umm...Kinda..."

"How long?" she prodded gently. Her fingers kept combing through my hair...damn, that feels good...

"Since we met..." I told her, resisting the urge to get away from her. She frowned.

"I was five and you were seven..." she protested. "You haven't liked me that long, have you?"

"Yes..."

Onii-chan...Kisara-chan...

A voice echoed in my head. I untangled myself from Kisara, looking towards Amane's grave where the voice came from. Kisara must've heard the voice too, cause she went and stood next to me, also in confusion.

Our eyes widened in shock at the faded image in front of us. Slightly spiky white hair spilled over shoulders, reaching her waist. Chocolate eyes glittered at us, lighting up in recognition.

"Amane-chan..." Kisara's voice trembled, her body starting to tremble. I put an arm around her to make sure she wouldn't collapse on the ground.

Kisara-chan, don't blame yourself. It's not your fault that I got hit by the truck. It was the way fate was supposed to go. And Onii-chan, don't worry about liking Kisara. I knew ever since we met that you liked her. The image giggled, a ghost of the voice that they heard everyday four years ago. Go ahead and kiss and do what you like to do. I don't mind. Actually, death isn't so bad. I miss you guys, but I have moved on and so should you. The image flickered in and out, fading out even more then it already was. I got to go now. It's nice seeing you again! Since I didn't get to say it before, I'll say it now. Sayonara!

I stared at the spot where the image disappeared. I felt a hand press against my cheek. "Ryou-kun? You're crying,"

I looked down at my angel, smiling slightly at her. "You are too..." I mumbled, wrapping my arms around her waist again. "Do you still think it's your fault?"

She shook her head, white hair flying everywhere. "No, unless that was some sick joke someone was playing,"

"It wasn't," I replied, nuzzling her neck. That earned a protest of "Ryou-kun!". "I knew that it was her, don't ask how, I just knew." I talked into her neck, my lips trailing words across it.

"Ryou-kun..." she groaned. She grabbed my head, made me face her, and kissed me.

In one moment, I met an old friend and person I liked. In one moment, we had cried and confessed. In once moment, a ghost of her came and told us to move on. In life, all it takes is one moment.

..................

First challenge completed! Placateshipping is actually pretty cute if you look at it in a certain way...Hehe. Was fun to write! I actually don't mind this one so much. Hope you all liked it!