Eye Gate Deep 02
"The pieces, the tiles, the shadows…"
By Elanor Pam
Hello, hello. Today is July 30, 2002. I started this chapter one day after posting the first one at Fanfiction.net. Let's use that to keep track of just how long it takes me to get satisfied with what I write. And still no Word, sob… I'm beginning this with WordPad, again, but let's hope my sister will get the Office tomorrow. I don't want to have to format everything all over again at Dreamweaver, I want a program able to save in html format.
To get some inspiration while writing this, I took a look at some Yu-Gi-Oh pics. Isn't Yuugi amazing? So kawaii… and when he transforms… so kakoi (drools)… and when Jounouchi is at the same pic, they look cool, definitely! I think they make a wonderful pair! (NOT couple, you crazy yaoi-lovers out there!! I'm talking about partnership!!) Anyway, I kinda lost track of what I was going to do here, so let me read the first chapter (although that was more like a prologue) all over again… (after reading) oh, well, I got the trail back. Let's begin before I forget the whole bloody thing again.
Hm… forgot to put it before:
~*~*~*~*~*~ beginning/end of the chapter
~~*~~*~~ change scene and main events (meaning it won't appear if the main event is the same)
~~+Flashback+~~ begin/end flashback
July 31, 2002: Yay, got Office back!!! (bouncing around bedroom) YAYAYAYAYAY!! Me so happy!! I missed those red and green underlines soooooooooo much!! (Yay, Word's underlining my "soooooooooo"!!) *after a minute* How annoying, these things. (cancels spellchecker and makes a lot of mistakes) Sigh, oh, well.
Just a note: This chapter will be confusing. It has a main event with some flashback placed at random. It'll make sense in the end (or maybe it won't, making sense only for me). Well, this chapter won't bring in any light for you guys, so sorry.
Disclaimer: That old boring stuff we all know and love. Yu-Gi-Oh is Japanese, I'm Brazilian; we're in opposite sides of the world. Don't worry, someday I will create my own manga, and you'll be sending disclaimers for me. (insert evil laughter)
~*~*~*~*~*~
~~+~~+~~+Flashback+~~+~~+~~
A golden piece fell slowly, bouncing on the floor and revolving on the air, falling and bouncing again on the gray tiles of… the classroom?
It shimmered; its engraved eye seemed to be alive. The three teenagers crouched on the floor, picking the fallen pieces quickly as the walls started to tremble at the sound of the running students, that hated going to school but ran up the stairs energetically, anyway.
Jounouchi looked under his sleeping friend's desk, finding the fallen piece. Handing his found ones to Honda, he reached a hand to it, and picked it. It shimmered and suddenly Jounouchi's eyes seemed glassy… and his grip weakened, the piece fell on the floor. On the same place. And disappeared in thin air.
The floor disappeared. The desks, Yuugi, Anzu and Honda disappeared. Jounouchi felt he was falling…
…and woke up at 3:00 a.m., sweaty and out of breath. He didn't remember picking any eye-carved puzzle piece under Yuugi's desk that day, now did he? It was just a dream… just a stupid silly dream… let's go back to sleep. Tomorrow (or today) is Saturday, extra classes, remember. And they were going to Yuugi's again that afternoon.
At school, during lunchtime, though, while the others were talking about Yuugi's condition since that other day (he looked like he had a serious disease; but the doctor found out he just had a strong anemia and lack of vitamins, and he also seemed to be hungrier than ever), his pen fell on the floor, just under Yuugi's empty desk. He crouched on the floor to pick it…
~~+~~+~~+End flashback+~~+~~+~~
~~*~~*~~
Yuugi would have to stay home and rest for sometime, as Sugoroku had shouted when he and Jou arrived on that fateful day, while the small boy whined and complained faintly at his companion's back. So Yuugi hadn't gone to school the entire week, although he probably half-hated it (some part of him would like a break from school - he's a normal guy after all), and would be bored to hell if he didn't have the puzzle with him - but even piecing the puzzle seemed a big effort to him; he would tire quickly and sleep with it still on his hands.
His three friends paid visits everyday, making his bed-days happier and leaving him utterly grateful for it. And he wouldn't get tired of showing that in any possible way, including getting out of bed (despite protests and even threats) to bring tea and cookies, although he'd end up eating great part of them without even noticing. But, despite his cheerfulness, his looks left the group more and more scared each day - he seemed paler than Jounouchi after watching Scream parts I, II, III, IV and so on at a dark and empty movie theater with 3D sound effects.
On that Saturday afternoon, the three teenagers entered the Game Shop, still commenting the doctor's diagnosis. The memory of him slumping twice on the desk and falling on the floor, like wet paper, was still fresh; and for the last week he had looked like a cadaver, eyes with purple rings and lips white, so it's understandable that they almost jumped on the shelves of the store when they saw the kind little boy looking fine, thanks, behind the counter, wearing a dark-gray coat, beaming at them…
"Hi!! I'm better!!"
…although they let whatever they had on their hands fall on the floor, including a newly-bought manga, an egg-cheese-burger soaked with ketchup and mustard (that fell on the manga) a McDonald ice-cream, a cup of lemonade and a thick book on yoga, that smashed (opened, to top it all) on everything.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I scared you!" Yuugi ran from behind the counter, picking the book while they looked at him as if he was a ghost. "Oh, Anzu's book is ruined - wait, wait, maybe I can clean it!! Could you wait here?"
He turned to take the book to the counter, but Anzu's hand was quicker, grabbing him by his oversized coat. "What on earth are you doing out of your BED?!?!?" she almost screamed, Yuugi's face looking like a child caught doing something naughty.
He turned, smiling sheepishly. "Oh, well…"
Jounouchi and Honda were picking the mess on the floor, their faces nonchalant. "We should've expected this, you know." said Jounouchi.
"I'm starting to think he's more like a stubborn brick wall than you." answered Honda, wisely, and Jounouchi smashed the ice-cream cone on his head.
Suddenly the shop's door opened, hitting the wall with all its might. They froze.
A shadowed figure was there, looking at Yuugi with eyes hard as steel. He held a briefcase in one of his hands, wearing an expensive tuxedo. His silhouette gleamed against the outside's light.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT OF BED?!?!" shouted Sugoroku Mutou.
Yuugi's lips started trembling, eyes filling with tears and shock. "…taking care of the store…" he muttered, almost inaudibly.
"Stop with the act, you're not fooling me!" Sugoroku turned the sign at the door to "Closed" and closed the door behind him, walking to the counter.
"Oh, dang!" Yuugi laughed, as if nothing had happened, and put the book on the counter, taking a handkerchief from a pocket and cleaning the book carefully. The boys looked at him from the floor, obviously impressed with Yuugi's acting skills, since they had completely believed Yuugi was crying and were ready to call Sugoroku a monster. Anzu, that was obviously also used to Yuugi's acting, didn't look any more impressed than the older man, and proceeded with the interrogation.
"So, why aren't you resting?" asked her, frowning.
"I'm taking care of the store, as I said" he answered calmly, looking down at the book he was cleaning, smiling lightly. His thick eyelashes, his peaceful look, suddenly something in him seemed to shine a soothing light; Anzu looked at him, in silence, while Sugoroku just smiled at his grandson, thinking what a present God had given him, and Jounouchi and Honda rubbed egg-cheese-burger at each other's faces. Then Yuugi was done, handing the book to Anzu, and the moment passed - he suddenly seemed to be no more than an undersized freaky weird boy with undetermined age. "Sorry, the stain didn't come off completely."
"There was no need to do that. It's old, and I wanted to buy a newer edition anyway. By the way, Mutou-san, why are you dressed like that?" she addressed Sugoroku.
"Business meeting" he said, taking the necktie off and throwing the briefcase at a corner.
"A very important one, I'm sure of it!!" Yuugi added, cheerfully, standing on the tips of his feet to place a toy at a high shelf behind the counter. He remembered very well his grandpa going to truly important business meetings with tennis, skull-stamped handkerchief on his forehead and so on, like a teenager; so he had some other hypothesis going around his head, confirmed by the old man's blush. The teenagers snickered, catching the idea in the air, and the old man snorted.
~~+~~+~~+Flashback+~~+~~+~~
Jounouchi couldn't hold a yelp as he saw a golden carved puzzle piece just where he had seen it on his dream. No illusion, he noticed as he touched it, that was a puzzle piece. From Yuugi's puzzle. He picked it, starring at the engraved eye.
"Whassup, Jou? What's this face?" asked Honda, leaning to look at what he held. He, too, dropped his pen. "…oh."
Anzu did the same, opening her mouth. "How come nobody has seen it until today?! Are the cleaners so lazy that they don't sweep under the desks?"
Jounouchi slid a finger under Yuugi's desk. "It looks like it was swept just this morning" he held his finger up, showing just a bit of dust. "And the piece, too, is perfectly clean…"
Honda frowned. "Weird…" he picked the piece cautiously, staring at the eye as if it had done something wrong. "This-thing-is-creepy, I'll tell you that. How does Yuugi manage to look at this almost every single day? If it was Jounouchi, he'd have long jumped from a bridge just from fearing it…"
Jounouchi frowned; he sure as hell hated Honda's pseudo-wisecracks, he always rubbed salt in a wound without even noticing. But, still, he decided to keep the bridge thing to himself. "Nya-ha-ha, how funny." the blond boy's face was completely serious. "Gimme this thing; I found it, I'll give it back to him."
Without waiting for an answer, he picked it from his dark-haired pal and suppressed a chill - uselessly, as both companions noticed.
"HYAHAHA! Jounouchi's afraid of a puzzle piece!!" laughed Honda, then making a mystical tone. "Beware, it's a cursed puzzle piece!! At night it'll come bouncing right into your mouth… and choke you while you SLEEP!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!" he started laughing like a demented witch.
Anzu couldn't help laughing a little at the idea, but argued on Jou's behalf anyway. "C'mon, stop that already. He can't help it, it would be the same if you were him. STOP LAUGHING ALREADY!!!!" she lost her temper (took her long enough) and threw her backpack at him.
"Oh, uh… thank you, Masaki" Jounouchi said, with some doubts, as Honda tripped and turned three desks over the floor before finally losing his feet and falling, turning over another one. He looked at the carved piece again. An eye like that would creep him out normally, but he just thought it was a scary-looking carved eye and nothing bigger. That chill came for nothing, as he hadn't felt anything like fear on that moment.
Suddenly the eye seemed to fill all his eyesight - and then gone, everything was nice, Honda trying to get up and Anzu fed up with him. It hadn't lasted half a second. It simply had grown like a ghost and blocked his sight, and then…
Now he was crept out of his mind, and now he was really chilling. Trying for goodness sake to forget the thing, he pocketed it and proceeded to hide his face, or at least his lips, behind some binder or book, or they would notice he was paler than Yuugi had been that week. Touching his pocket lightly, he asked himself just what was happening, because having two "visions" like that in less than a week could only mean two things: or there was something strange around or he was going nuts.
Probably the second option, he thought sarcastically. Just my luck.
After some minutes of class, his head was so full he forgot about that.
~~+~~+~~+End flashback+~~+~~+~~
"Now, I thought I left a note telling you to rest and leave the store closed for today", Sugoroku changed topics quickly, his voice gruff.
"Did you?" Yuugi sounded innocent, fiddling around on the shelves, moving toys from place to place and leaving them in a more organized way.
"Don't try to be smart, boy, I left three, one at the fridge's door, other on the milk box inside the fridge and the third inside the cookie can."
"Oh, well, I just thought it was ok, because I was feeling fine…" he shrugged, turning to his grandfather. Sugoroku eyed him, and the boy got more serious, turning and standing at the tips of his feet again, organizing another shelf. "I know you don't really believe, but I woke up after 1:00 p.m., and I couldn't sleep more than that!! And I was feeling perfectly he--- Ah!" he leaned to the side, quickly, holding on a lower shelf not to fall.
"Are you ok?!" the old man shouted, alarmed. The boys stopped their little food fight on the floor and got up in a jump, and Anzu looked ready to jump over the counter, forgetting there was a little door just by her side.
He turned, a bit scared at their over-reaction, holding up a little doll for all to see. "…it was falling, so I just held it…"
They all sighed, slumping at whatever was there to hold onto.
Yuugi looked at them, wide-eyed, still holding the doll, as if frozen by their reaction; he breathed slowly, looking down, seeming thoughtful. He blinked once. Then he looked up again, with a little smile, but his eyes were sad.
Unconsciously, he held the doll against his chest, and tilted his head lightly to the side. His eyes shimmered, and once again he looked like a not-well-disguised angel between mortals.
"…I'll go rest."
Carefully, he put the doll on its place, walking to the stairs behind the counter. The place was in silence.
"Wait!" Jounouchi ran to the counter, lifting the door, and put a hand in his pocket. "I found it today, fallen just under your desk." He brought something golden out of his pocket, and Yuugi opened his mouth, speechless. "I think we missed it that day when you slept on it and half the pieces fell on the floor…" he laughed a bit. "Lucky no one found it before, not even the cleaners."
Jounouchi smiled and picked Yuugi's limp arm, putting it into his hand. The boy stayed in that position, as if hit by a lightning, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Finally, he managed to say something.
"Oh my…" his voice was barely audible. "Oh my… I could've lost it…" he leaned on the wall behind him with an arm, almost as if he was going to fall if he didn't. His voice trembled. "I could have lost it, I was so careless! I played with the puzzle the whole week and didn't even notice…" He looked again at the piece, just into the scary-looking eye. "And to think this piece should be the first I would notice gone! It's the only one with an engraving!! How careless…"
Breathing heavily, he walked over to Jounouchi and bowed. "Thank you…" his voice was shaking. He continued bowing. "Thank you very much…"
"Ok, ok, you're welcome, now go rest as you said you would" said the blond boy, quickly, looking away with embarrassment. Yuugi laughed a bit, still looking dazed, and walked up the stairs slowly, leaning on the wall. Four pairs of eyes followed him in silence until he disappeared.
"He definitely hyperventilated when he saw the piece" Honda muttered. "And what's with that coat? The weather is getting cold, but not so much yet."
"He's gotten a lot thinner" said Anzu, suddenly. "I noticed when I pulled him from behind. That thing was just to hide it. Why do you think it was so baggy, smart one?"
"Thinner, you say thinner than he was before?" Honda pointed to the stairs openmouthed, although Yuugi was long gone from there. "How come he's still visible?"
"That's serious, Honda" Jounouchi frowned. "Can you get worried or is it hard?"
Sugoroku smiled. "Yuugi must be sick and tired of always bringing worry… he's been like this since he was a child. Do you remember, Anzu, when he broke his leg? When he finally told me, it had been three days already and he just couldn't walk anymore…"
"How wouldn't I? He almost lost his leg because of it…"
"Yes. Sometimes I wonder…" the old man sat down at the counter, looking tired. "…when did he change? He used to be such a crybaby when he was a child, and, suddenly, at seven years old, he became so stoic it was scary, and even dangerous to his health…"
"Doing things like looking at bigger guys into their eyes without blinking once?" asked Jou, snickering. The elder looked at the teen, and laughed with him, until he kept on "It was a song he heard. Just it."
Sugoroku's smile faded slowly, and he looked to the floor, thoughtful. His face showed some comprehension had dawned on him…
"How do you know that?" asked Honda.
"He told me about it someday I was feeling down…" Jounouchi thought it was wiser to skip the 'and almost jumped from a bridge' part. "It seems he thinks about this song when he is feeling defeated, then he can keep on. He is surely a figure, isn't he?" He kept on, closing his eyes and smiling. "Sure helped me a lot…"
Upstairs, unheard and unnoticed, a hand hang limp from the bed of its owner, dropping a golden box and spilling semi-pieced puzzle pieces in a circle, on the carpeted floor. Its bluish blood vessels could be easily seen through the hand's thin skin.
Yuugi's thin face looked alarmingly pale and drained. Breathing labouredly, if he were conscious he'd probably be thankful for suddenly losing all his strength THERE, and not in front of the others. But he was out cold, mind wandering in nothingness.
If Jounouchi were there, he'd have a better opportunity to look at the "silhouette", as it swiftly and softly formed in the air, above the boy, and leaned until they were very close. It stayed in that position for some minutes, until suddenly melting away, leaving a sad feeling lingering on the air.
Sugoroku smiled, as the teenagers waved good-bye and went back to their houses. He'd have an unpleasant surprise when he went upstairs to check on his grandson.
~~+~~+~~+Flashback+~~+~~+~~
The bell rang, and the students came out of their classrooms in a sudden flood, each one of them eager to go back to their houses, put on other clothes and enjoy themselves.
Only three of them were eager to go somewhere else, and before heading home if possible.
Anzu and Honda were still arguing about the backpack throwing case, but Jounouchi was worried, although he didn't really know why. Walking along the corridor in the middle of the crowd of students, he felt detached from the world, his mind registering faintly the noises around. Again, the teens stopped in front of the point where Yuugi had been beaten on, and again Anzu had no idea what they were looking at.
For the boys, that spot had a special meaning; both Yuugi and Jounouchi had stained that place with their blood. Also, Honda had taped that point, witnessing his friend's torture to uncover the criminal. Anzu knew nothing of that, and probably never would; the criminal had companions, so the boys' part had remained a secret only the Headmaster and Yuugi knew about. But that wasn't what was in Jounouchi's mind, although Honda's was replaying the taped scenes on and on, to the boy's despair.
In front of Jounouchi's eyes, Yuugi stepped on that place, on that specific place, and his knee gave up, his small body falling forwards; he tried to take some more steps to equilibrate himself…
…and a shadow flickered over his body for no more than a second, as he seemed to gain some control of the fall and landed on his knees, breathless. After that, he was completely drained out of energy. As if falling had taken all his strength away.
He had suddenly fallen ill after that.
No way, no way, his imagination was just overworking. It was just a coincidence…
It had to be just a coincidence.
He took a step forward, and he felt his stomach grow heavy, his blood flow cold, his eyes cover in darkness… for a second. Just a second. Why more than a second, if only one was enough to make the blond boy's skin crawl and his hair stand on an end? Did the "silhouette", as he called it in his mind, want to scare him? It didn't seem to want to touch Yuugi, though.
Not looming… it was not looming… in my mind, it wasn't… What in hell was it?! What was that thing? There's only one thing I'm sure…
It WASN'T looming.
This is SO dumb. I have no way to be sure…
"What's up with you two?" Anzu's voice tore him from his thoughts.
"Ah? What?" he came back to the real world, startled, and looked around. "Sorry, I spaced out…" he laughed, nervously, putting a hand behind his head. By his side, Honda had made the same movement, also laughing.
"You didn't answer me…" the girl's voice sounded quite… threatening. They paled.
"Ah!" a voice exclaimed, and they looked to see just the same cleaner they had met earlier that week. "Oh, the boys! So we meet again… but where's the little one?"
"Well, he…"
She didn't wait for Anzu to go on. "Oh, I wish he comes back to his feet soon. The school has been looking sadder these days… maybe it misses him."
"The school?" Anzu was puzzled, but the cleaner had already disappeared again, leaving the teens looking at nothing. They stayed there for sometime.
"Don't you also have the feeling something's going on?" said Honda, without changing his face.
"I'm quite sure of it" Jounouchi said, looking determined. He looked at the spot under his feet.
And noticed something.
~~+~~+~~+End flashback+~~+~~+~~
~~*~~*~~
Normally Jounouchi would be going to his workplace at that time, even because it was almost evening. He didn't need to work on Saturdays, but he did, anyway, since money is always welcome and it gave him some more time away from his father.
But today, at 5:49 p.m., sun setting, late autumn, he was heading towards another place. The sky was tinted a strong red, that spread around like a flamed fog. His face and clothes, his hair and eyes reflected the blood that seemed to swallow the birds and stain the clouds.
He seemed bathed on fire.
The school clock hit 5:50 p.m. making a loud tic. The main gate was closed.
No prob.
There was no one around; the whole street looked empty, something strange at that time on the day.
Great.
He jumped the gate with the easiness that comes with long practice, and crossed the front yard of the school directly to the building's gate-door, casually.
No one around. Lucky day.
He was tall, but thin; passing between the top of the door and the ceiling was easy. He fell on the floor stealthily and agilely, and started walking towards the stairs.
It was completely silent; Jounouchi really hated that. His hair was starting to stand, and his hands were quivering from anxiousness. He had had set-up fights behind the school at much later times, but never actually tried to enter the empty building. There wasn't anything to do there back then…
But right now, yes, there was; and Yuugi was right.
*…Still, I wonder why he would always hang around this floor after classes…*
*…always near our classroom, sweeping the same place over and over…*
Nobody paid attention to what he had said then. But oh damn there was something just too fishy about that. If the guy wanted to study the surroundings to rob the school, he should have done so somewhere near the Headmaster's room, or the main counter, or some other important place… not a completely normal corridor full of completely normal classrooms with completely normal students… well, not so normal.
…completely normal corridor full of completely normal classrooms…
…or maybe not so normal classrooms…
…or maybe not so normal corridor…
…geez, my brain's getting at weird places…
Something.
A sound, somewhere near.
He quickly crouched on the stairs, leaning against the wall and ready to take impulse to run. Someone was walking nearby.
Jounouchi's heartbeat pounded inside his ears.
A voice echoed on the walls, so suddenly that the boy almost fell the whole way down the stairs.
"Welcome to the Hotel California…
Such a lovely place…
Such a lovely face…"
Jounouchi almost fell again, but because of his relief. Just some cleaner sweeping around or something… wait, wait… that voice… what was the name again?
"Haruno Takasugi."
He glued himself against the wall. Now it was a male voice, probably someone coming from upstairs.
"Yes, mister?"
"Any luck with the closet door?"
"Oh, no, not yet, mister; but don't worry, I'll find the key and you won't need to break the lock."
"I trust you." The voice sounded like its owner was smiling. "You're far better than that one that was here before… hitting students around, how gross…"
"Poor man, probably had a terrible childhood… maybe he should see a psychiatrist?"
"He's in jail now."
"Oh, poor man!! It must be so terrible… nobody deserves such a thing…" her voice trembled.
"You're too sweet for your own good. Aren't you done for today? What are you doing here so late?"
"Oh, I'm not done yet… I need to finish something up. It won't take long. And about you?"
"Uh, upstairs. Somehow the children manage to mess all the desks and leave them like there was an earthquake…"
"If you need any help, mister, call me."
"Sure. Make things easier for me!"
They laughed, and Jou heard steps going away. He breathed in relief.
And a broom hit him lightly on his head.
"Go home, it's late!!" whispered her. "You'll find nothing here today. Go away before they find you!!"
Jounouchi couldn't do anything aside from staring at her wide-eyed. Haruno Takasugi, was that? How did she… how could she… she was too weird…
"GO AWAY!!" she whispered, looking nervous. "IT'S DANGEROUS!! YOU-CAN'T-COME-ALONE!!"
He got some sense back on his body and nodded, running down the stairs as silently as he could with trembling legs. He couldn't check up on what he had noticed earlier that day… but he was quite sure of what he had seen. But… maybe she was right. That wasn't something he could poke into on his own. He needed some backup… but the only person he could talk about shadows and all without hearing snickers on his back was Yuugi… and he was in no condition to help. Who else would take him seriously?
Maybe he should try his luck…
Damn, if only I didn't have such a bad luck.
~*~*~*~*~*~
So, I officially finished this chapter at August 3, 2002!! How was it? Did you like it? I thought it would take longer, but I liked writing this chapter (although sis bugged me a little. Oh well). Funny thing is, when I had the flashback idea I was already writing the part Jounouchi hands Yuugi the eye piece. That's why we always should re-read what we're writing, guys. I though there was a plot hole so I thought how I should fill it in, and then I ended up giving Jou a hell of a big part on the plot! Yeah, he was only meant to notice the shadow, what would drag everybody in and such. I changed almost the whole thing, but fear not, Honda and Anzu aren't just for display either!! I just have to think a way to fit them in, as I already have some things in store for them.
Now, I also want a way to fit Yuugi's mom in the story – not as a main character, as I don't plan on having her know about the puzzle anytime soon… I kind of imagine this woman as that kind that knows nothing of what's happening; she thinks Yuugi's school life is happy and he has no worry at all, a lot of friends, all these, you know… but I really want to shove her in, because I have a great revelation in store!! Any idea, guys? Please review!!
Also big thanks to Lily22 that has send such kind words. Thank you!! And don't expect the next chapter to come out so quickly, but, with me, who knows? I might be working on my web page, suffering from writer's block, having a temperamental computer, grounded or just being lazy. So enjoy while you can, and send comments, please!!