Oh, (sniff) your reviews are probably the only thing that got me through this day (sniff) Thank you sooo much. I really didn't plan on updating until a couple days but, I have my reasons.
[1] Life's a bitch.
[2] The world is a very, very ugly place.
[3] I am currently looking for something very, very tall to jump off of...
But all angst set aside, your reviews have made me sooo much better feeling. So here I am to update! But first, let's thank the people who make it all worth while...
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Dark-Angel302: Thank you for reviewing I don't understand why more people don't watch those shows. They're so awesome, especially Bob the builder. He had Elton John on his show! How much cooler could you get...
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andromeda90: Thank you for your well wishes and the reviews! I don't care if I have the time to write or not! I'm going to do it anyways...in your face school...OMG Thank you soooooooooo much for putting me on your fav list. I feel so special. Like a movie star-no even better: a movie director! I feel loved (self hug)...(glomp)You are so awesome!
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treana: You reviewed! OMG you reviewed! treana reviewed on my thing (dies)! You are so, so, so,so awesome! I'm sooooo glad that you can tolerate it, non the less say you like it! Woop! I'm living the life now...
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KageAmira: DIE SCHOOL! Yeah anyways...thank you for the review. And don't worry, school shall not stand in my way! Mwa ha ha...
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Nobodycares: I am pleased that you like it. Yah for more S/R fans! We so need more...
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Ai Baka-san Austra: (sniff) I'm really sensitive too...Thankies for liking the chapter...I don't know how you people do it... Yugi-tachi...they...umm..we'll get to them later (mentally cursing) I haven't really gotten that far. I've barely gotten into the admitting of the feelings or the kissing of the boys...uh, oops? I PROMISE I will get there...DAMN YOU SCHOOL! DAMN YOU TO HELL!
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LadyBloodShedRed: I LOVE BLUE'S CLUE'S TOO! Not too much for Stanley though...He's too smart...Anyways, here's the update!
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The Chaotic Ones: OMG I am soooo sorry. I tried my hardest not to give too much away in the movie, I really did, but it was hard (cries) I hope you can forgive me... Thank you for reviewing. You guys are always sooo nice. Makes me want to actually get out of bed... Thanks so much...(whispers) I'm sooo sorry about the movie thing. I feel so bad because that's an awesome movie that EVERYONE should see. I ruined it for you (goes off to sulk in a corner)
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a song for jeffrey: I don't think you've reviewed (I'm sorry if you have), but thank you so totally much for adding me to your fav list. It was really the one thing that kept me going through school (huggles) You saved me! You are so cool! And I read your bio...We seem sooo alike: the Elijah, the dislike for DBZ (shudders), music,....except I LIKE Seto and Mokuba pairings... Oh well . Thank you soo much!
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Uhh, I think that's it...Truly sorry if I missed out on anyone, but is a pain (as usual) . Speaking of which, I know that I should label this as Chapter Three as I've been doing, But it confuses me too much, so I'll list it as chapter four, okay? Sorry for any confusion. BTW, I've got a prize for who can tell me what movie inspired the whole "sneezing love thing" I'll give you muffins! No, cookies...No, Spaghetti-O's! Yum...Spaghetti-o's...
Cain: ragdoll doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any other movie/book/song that may appear or inspired this fic. They all belong to some rich person...
Cain: oh yeah, there's shonen-ai (lovey-dovey boys 2-gether), some rude words, some light angst, and a sick Ryou...
Chapter err, four, I think... 'Counting Crows'
Ryou's POV
I woke up to the usual, persistent sound of an alarm going off somewhere near my head. I slung my arm up, blindly searching for a switch, any switch. As long as it stopped that God forsaken beeping...It took a couple tries, but I finally managed to turn off the screaming contraption. I reluctantly rolled over and slung my legs off the bed. I tried to stand up, but my room started to spin. Or maybe I was just dizzy...Groaning, I tried another time and managed to stand fully on my feet. After balancing myself, I slowly walked down the hall into my bathroom. I groped for the light switch with one hand while I brushed my hair out of my eyes with the other. Once the light was fully on, I risked a glance at the mirror, already knowing what the results would be. I looked up to see a dead, pale face. Okay, so maybe that wasn't what I expected...I leaned as close to my reflection as my vision would allow me without causing me to go blind. I poked at my face a couple times before grabbing a tissue to blow my nose in. I couldn't be sick, please tell me I wasn't sick already...It's barely even cold season, but trust me to be the first to get it. Great...and Seto would be here in a few minutes to come and pick me up for school. Great...
I did my usual morning routine, going as fast as my stuffed up head would allow, before I heard the familiar doorbell. I ran into my room to grab the rest of my things before opening the door to see Seto standing coolly with his hands in his pockets. He began to say something with a smile on his face until he got a good look at my face and stopped abruptly. Oh, gods, do I look that bad...
"Ryou, do you feel okay? Maybe you should stay home. You don't look so well," he said, taking my face into his hands and directing my gaze up to him. I suddenly got a peculiar fluttering in my stomach. Maybe I had more than just a cold...
"Gee, thanks," I replied sarcastically, "No, I'm fine. Besides, I have a test today. I'll be fine."
He looked down at me unsure, before nodding slightly and leading me to the limo. He opened the door for me as he usually did and slid in right behind me. During the ride, I kept notice him giving me worried glances from the corner of my eye. In hopes of taking the attention away from me for a while, I decided to start a conversation.
"So did you get a partner for that project?" I asked calmly.
He grinned down at me, obviously getting the joke. "Yeah, I got stuck with this little paranoid kid. He's really shy too. And never talks around people. It makes me think he's planning everyone's demise."
I suppressed a giggle from his description of me before replying. "Yeah? Sounds like you've got it easy. I got stuck with this total jerk. He never has anything nice to say and is a total control freak. Plus, not to mention, he practically lives to make my friends' lives a living hell."
I looked up at him to see mock pain masked over his handsome features. "Am I really -that- bad?" he asked with a frown on his face.
"Of course not," I replied with a small blush on my face. He flashed me one of his rare smiles which I just know made my blush grow.
He smoothly grabbed his suitcase and my bag before stepping out of the limo. He stood just outside the door while I clumsily climbed out in a not-so-elegant manner. Needless to say, I still wasn't used to getting out of that thing. He handed me my bag kindly before turning around to meet face to face with Devlin himself.
"How are you, Kaiba my boy? And good morning Bakura. So...what were you doing in the limo, huh?" He said rather confidently raising a suggestive eyebrow. I looked him over with a slight blush burning my cheeks-WAIT, WHAT DID HE JUST SAY!?
And surely enough, you can't have one of them without having all of them come tumbling behind. All of Yugi-tachi came up right behind Devlin, casting both Seto and me curious glances.
"What's going on, Dice-Boy?" Joey asked in a loud, not to mention annoying, voice.
Deciding to to ignore the nickname for now, Devlin replied in a confident voice, "I was just asking Kaiba here what those two were doing in the limo, that's all. Then Bakura here started blushing like mad and Kaiba, being the great guy that he is, was just about to supply us with an answer." Oh that smirk...Some day that smirk will be the death of Devlin. If not by me, then by Seto, 'cause he's not looking exactly pleasant right now... I'd rather not look...I'd rather just block it all out. It's not like I don't care for Yugi-tachi. It's just that I feel more comfortable with Seto. He understands me. And for some reason, I feel much more close to Seto, even if I haven't known him as long. And I'd rather just not have to see my supposed 'friends' get murdered, even if they do deserve it...
I glanced around in search of something, anything to take my mind away from the scene that was in front of me. Ooh, look a tree. That's a really nice tree...Okay, that isn't working. Oh, crows...How did that rhyme go..."One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for girls, Four for boys, Five silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret never to be told." It had been forever since I had actually counted crows[1]. I hadn't done it since the necklace came into my life. But my yami said things like that were worthless and stupid. And before long, I had completely forgotten about it... until now, that is. I looked the crows over before realizing that there were two pecking around the grass. Two...two's for joy. I risked a glance back at the scene to see a very red Devlin and a fuming Joey and Tristan. At least Seto was still his old self...Then I felt a string of coughing sneak up on me. I certainly wasn't feeling any joy right now...
-Later during lunch-
I search the school court for any sign of a human being that actually knew that I existed. Seto was off at one of his countless lunch meetings and Yugi-tachi was scattered among the school doing different things. Whether it be a dance line meeting (Tea) or detention for releasing all the dissection frogs in the science room (Joey) [2], they were off doing their own thing...except me. Plus, not to mention that I still had a brutal cold and a runny nose to make things even better. I walked alone for a little while before coming up to the same tree from this morning. And underneath it was what suspiciously looked like the same two crows, still eating away at the dirt. The only thing I didn't expect to see was the person sitting underneath the tree, glumly throwing the birds pieces of a left over sandwich: Tristan. I allowed a small smile to spread across my lips before slowly advancing towards the tree. I came up beside him and sat down to his left. He barely looked up at me while muttering some sort of 'hello'. This was certainly not normal Tristan behavior. Maybe he was just down since everyone else was off doing their thing. Speaking of which...
"What are you doing out here? I'm more than certain that you would have had -something- to do with the science-lab-frog scene. You and Joey do have the same class together, after all," I said suspiciously. Maybe he didn't actually release the frogs, but I'm sure he at least put the idea in Joey's head. I always assumed he was the brains between the two...
"Actually, no, I didn't. I had...other things on my mind..." he answered softly. Wow, maybe Joey wasn't as dense as I thought...on to more important matters, this is most certainly NOT Tristan-like. By now, he would have at least mentioned how much of an idiot Joey is or something. I gave him a wary look, trying to figure out just what to say, before he started to speak again.
"Ryou, we used to be close, right?" I nodded in agreement. It was true. I had been closest to him all through Duelist's Kingdom. Even after wards, he was the person I was closest to in Yugi-tachi. That was until Seto came along... " Well," he continued, "I really need someone to talk to right now, but I really don't have anyone. Joey's great for a good laugh or something, but he's just not someone you would go to for...emotional support. That's what I always had you for. But then we began to drift apart...and you started to be around Kaiba more and more... It just seems there's no one left for me, y'know? Maybe I'm being selfish, but I want someone to care for me like Kaiba obviously cares for you," Okay, what's that suppose to mean? "and the one person I love more than anything else in the world thinks I'm the biggest jerk in the world..." he trailed off with tears now slowly making their way down his face.
What did he mean? Was he saying that I didn't pay attention to him... Yeah, I guess he was. And I hate to say it, but I think he's right. I haven' t really talked to any of Yugi-tachi since that afternoon with Joey's "brilliant" plan and Devlin making a mockery of me. I Iooked up at him to see he was now picking apart a piece of grass, obviously trying to stop the tears from falling, but doing a horrible job at it. What had got him, Tristan Taylor, the strongest among us, so upset that he couldn't even look up?
I moved my hand out from behind my back to stop him from murdering the countless pieces of grass that now lied torn among his knees. He looked up at me once I layed my hand on his, confusion written in his eyes.
"What is it that's got you this upset?" I questioned softly, as if any loud noise might shatter everything around us.
"I-I can't say..."
"Is it that you don't know, or you don't want to say?" I replied after a few seconds of thought. It remained silent for a few minutes. I didn't dare say anything in fear of interrupting any internal battle he appeared to be having. It took a few more minutes before he spoke again, in a hushed tone.
"Do...do you know what it's like to want to hold one person and one person only? Even if it means that you have to face death itself, you want that one person to be happy? Like nothing else matters, as long as you know they're okay? Do you know how much it hurts to know that the same person wants nothing to do with you? That the same person that you would so willingly give your life for, thinks you're nothing but a jerk? It-it hurts. And I can't make it stop..." he placed his gaze back at the crows who were now searching for any remains of food.
Two crows. It's so odd...by themselves, in solitude, the crow stands for sorrow. But by simply adding one more to the solitary bird, you get the complete opposite. You get joy. Does companionship really mean that much? Can it actually make the difference between joy and sorrow? I looked back at Tristan from the corner of my eye to see silent tears still making their way down his face. I guess it could be considered true...look at Tristan. I was the same way...until I met Seto. But this is different. Tristan loves this person. I don't love Seto, not that way...Sure I would do anything to make that smile stay on his face forever, but that's different, right? There's a definite difference there. Besides, I know better than to expect something like that. That sort of thing doesn't happen to me. Even I'm not that delirious to believe in those sort of things any more. This world isn't some happy bubble where everyone's dreams come true, where two stupid crows mean that you'll be happy. This world is ugly, cold and cruel. Love is something that blesses the very rare and fortunate and damns the rest of us, like Tristan and myself, to a life of solitude and pain. Just like the one crow, to live life alone, as a murder of one[3].
I suddenly found my voice and was able to ask the one question that had been eating away at my brain, "Who is it?"
Tristan looked up at me through the tears, obviously not expecting what I had said. He gazed at me apprehensively before dropping his head and muttering "Duke". It was so low that I had strain to hear, but surely I heard wrong. There was no way that Tristan Taylor said that he loved Duke Devlin. It's just...not right. There's certain rules the galaxy should always follow in order to delay the inevitable doom that should come upon it and I'm -pretty- sure that Devlin and Tristan together would be breaking at least three of those rules. He obviously caught the startled appearance on my face as his blush darkened and new tears came close to spilling onto his cheeks.
"I-I know that it's...wierd, but there's just something about him... and I know he's a another guy, but I thought, I hoped you would understand and-"
"Tristan, you don't have to apologize for who you love. I'm sure it can't be helped. But I'm not going to lie. It is weird that you like-"
"Love," he interrupted me.
"...-Love- Devlin. It's just, how do you know that he's the one? How do you know that you want to be with him and only him?" It was honestly a question that had been on my mind for a while now. After all, Tristan and I, we are each the solitary crow...we are meant to be alone. Maybe I'm being selfish, but I don't to be the only one left waiting for someday...
Tristan seemed to frown at my question, as if it was something he himself had been trying to figure out. He held eye-contact with me with his red, tear-stained eyes before answering in a slow voice, "He knows I exist...whether it be good or bad, he acknowledges me. Whether he's putting me down or starting an argument, he makes me want to be me, because I'm the person that he chooses to argue with, no one else. And that makes me feel good, simply because he knows my name. And even though I know he'll never feel the same way for me, I don't care, as long as he knows my name..."
I looked at Tristan for a bit longer before deciding what to say.
"Maybe you should tell him. After all, there are two crows over there..."
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[1] Counting Crows is an old English tradition thing that if you counted the crows that you see, they would tell you what would happen to you. I couldn't find the book I have that says exactly how the rhyme goes, so I just used the words from the Counting Crows song "A Murder of One" That band is AMAZING. Especially "Colorblind" it reminds me of Yuki so much...Anyways, the song isn't mine...
[2] Inspired by the fact that I have to dissect a pig for Biology. I REALLY don't want to... I actually LIKE pigs, which is rare for me to even be able stand an animal...
[3] a murder is a name for a group of crows.
(sighs) This was definitely boring...and short...and angst-ish. But it's all that damned school's fault. I hate that place...I hate it bad...Yeah, anyways, I hadn't planned on this chapter to be like this at all, but it just kinda came out, so I was like, whatever. I never really planned on any Tristan/Devlin, but it helps things out and it happens to be one of my best-est friend's fav pairings, so that was for you treana! Sorry for the lack of S/R, but I had to get some stuff out of the way. On the other hand, I plan on writing some more this weekend, probably another chapter...and it'll have S/R stuff in it...I hope... but reviews do a depressed authoress wonders, I sware to you! After you review, maybe you can come up with some diabolical plan to save all the piggies that my evil Biology teacher plans on slaughtering... Evil, evil woman...
Cain: I really didn't get to say much...
I was too busy complaining...maybe you can tell them to review!
Cain: .... Okay, I guess... PLEASE REVIEW!
Good boy Cain...good boy... (OMG that reminds me of 'Babe!' "That'll do pig. That'll do..." I don't want to kill a pig! You can't make me, you can't make me, YOU. CAN'T. MAKE. ME.)
