Eye Gate Deep 04
"Hard as Steel"
By Elanor PamEh, began this at August 27, 2002, same day I finished chapter 3. You see, I need to sleep, so I'll write just some lines so I won't lose track of the plot…
August 30, 2002: Who is the one that put me in his/her fave author's list? I wanna know!! I wannawannawanna… You seen, I haven't even chosen a good part of mine, I must have put some 6 or 7… the ones I could remember at the moment… and I've received great reviews!! You guys are making me proud of myself!! I'll put super effort in this fic. That can mean slower pace, but I'll make it worth the time!!
And I'm thinking about building a whole A/U, organized with chained fics, like I've seen with some DBZ fics (or the Souls & Swords YGO A/U, from SoulBound). Just imagine it… I just have to think of a name to call it, since "Yu-Gi-Oh Alternate Universe" doesn't really strike me as the perfect title…
Disclaimer: YES, I OWN!! I OWN YU-GI-OH MANGA FRENCH VERSION VOL 6!! HYAHAHAHAHA!! I'M EVIL, EVIL, BEWARE!!
*yada yada* – ghost talking inside people's heads (a.k.a. telepathy)
'yada yada' – thoughts
~*~*~*~*~*~
The silhouette flickered, like a badly syntonized TV, it's face showing a little smile; then it disappeared.
The teens' feet were glued to the ground.
It was a while till they could feel something other than coldness, Anzu being the first one to actually manage a reaction. "Did you… did you see that…?" she choked, breathless. Her whole body trembled.
"Y-y-ye-e-ess…" stuttered Honda, sweat dripping through his face as if he had caught a sudden fever. He managed to lift a shaking hand to wipe his face, and he still couldn't catch his breath.
They both saw a white and golden blur fall, from the corner of their eyes. Anzu quickly turned, trying to move her weak legs; Honda already knew what was it, though.
Just as he though, Jounouchi was on the grass, eyes hazy and wide open, lips white as the death. And he wasn't breathing.
"JOUNOUCHI!!" Anzu knelt on the grass and shouted, shaking him. "SNAP OUT OF IT, WAKE UP!!"
"…that…"
Both teens held their breaths, listening intently to what he had to say.
"…I saw… like that…" he suddenly started coughing, and Anzu helped him sit. He breathed hard. "I saw… something… like that… on Monday… that's what I was going to say."
Anzu and Honda sat on the ground, in front of Jounouchi, without another word; they were ready to listen. The boy smiled inwardly, although he was still shaken; if that… thing… hadn't shown up, he wouldn't be taken seriously like that.
"That moment, after class, when Yuugi started falling… I saw something hovering above him… like that thing we all saw just now. It was for less than a second… but it was there, and I saw it clearly. That had been bugging me since then… because it seemed I was the only one to see it, so I wasn't sure if it was real or if I was hallucinating something…"
He sighed, and glanced at Honda. "Honda, you know… the place Yuugi was standing when… it was the place where that guy had…"
Honda looked at him, clueless, for a moment, and suddenly his face lighted with understanding – just as much as it darkened with something that could almost be described as fear.
Fear and understanding.
They turned to Anzu, that was, indeed, clueless.
"Hey, Masaki…" began Honda, his face paling, his eyes looking around at each shadow. "You know about that robber that was disguised as school cleaner, and… and would beat students up, don't you?"
She nodded, wondering what it had to do with the present issue.
"And you… you know that he was the one who beat Yuugi up, don't you?" the dark-haired boy continued.
She nodded again, feeling that they were arriving somewhere she didn't knew.
"You also know" Jounouchi began "that he used to hang around the 3rd floor, and beat up anyone that happened to cross the corridor to the classrooms, don't you?"
Anzu nodded once more.
"A-and you know" Honda wouldn't stop looking around discretely, shaking "that a student taped him once… and that was how he was sent to prison, don't you?"
The girl knew that, of course. The whole school knew the story till that point – but she didn't nod. Her lips slowly parted, while she stared at the two boys, openmouthed; and she blinked, once, twice…
Honda looked around openly, completely paranoid; Jounouchi only smiled stiffly, his lips still pale.
'…no… way. No-way. NO WAY.'
Her mind could only scream that.
"The guy's gang is still on the run" explained Jounouchi "and if they know we…" he paused, since Anzu knew it already "…they will…" he pointed to his neck and made a cutting motion.
She nodded, slowly. This time she did have something to say – she just couldn't find her voice.
"B-but, Jou…" Honda began, frightened "what does it have to do with now?"
"Yeah…" Anzu had to try twice to make a sound.
Jounouchi smiled – he had arrived at the big part. "You know, Anzu, the place where Yuugi almost fell on Monday was the same place he was beaten up… Honda and I had noticed that. But, yesterday, after class, when we were at the corridor, I noticed something at that same point…"
They looked at him intently.
"On a certain tile… there's still blood. Blood lines."
~~*~~*~~
She smiled inwardly at the looks she received; but outside, her face was innocent and angelic, as if she wasn't aware that she was walking around with a dirty apron, slippers and old clothes, black hair on a topknot. Some people just thought she was an absent-minded young woman that went for a stroll after making lunch; others thought she was a country girl or something…
That was her fun, in fact; walking around noticed and, at the same time, unnoticed. She wasn't a normal woman in many ways… she looked around, her face really looking like that of a curious country girl; far ahead, she recognized the roof of her main worries's house.
The Kame Game Shop, some three or four blocks away.
No, she wouldn't go there. She knew the old man well enough to know he'd see through her easily. On the other side, she was worried… she couldn't help…
She had sworn to herself she wouldn't get attached to the child. Damn, on that, she had failed miserably. And she hated failing. Since she was a kid, she'd put extra effort on anything to prevent failure… didn't she put extra effort to keep her distance from him, to drive him away? Even if it brought problems to him later on? But, little by little, his magic had charmed her; some time ago she decided to give it a chance – but still kept her distance, because she had noticed it.
He knew.
He knew about her… the little secret hidden from him. He should be the last one in the whole world to know… so why, why, why…
She just couldn't bear it. Not the fact that he knew, and still kept it to himself. Or the fact that he never faced her about it.
She couldn't bear the fact that he had forgiven her.
He knew he had been deceived and wronged in every possible way; he knew he had been misled his whole life; but still… still… he had the nerve to go and forgive her, without a single question, without even tears!!!
That was when she decided to give up and recognize her failure.
She was very good at acting. So she just acted as if she hadn't noticed it. Kept on going as if he was nothing to her, a perfect stranger. He was fooled, believed she didn't know, and she was sure of that; a life of analyzing people's reactions had taught her to read the child as if he were a book. They kept on their lives as if they knew no secrets about each other – and the old man looked at him and believed…
But she had long fallen victim of the boy's charm, without him noticing; and he'd never notice. That was her very last work – after that, she'd have nothing more to worry about, not even him.
Oh, how she wished, how she wished he knew just how much he looked like his mother…
…and like that… that… she stopped. She didn't want to spoil her good memories.
His mother… his mother as she had known her had been an angel, the sweetest creature on the world; always so forgiving, so calm, so… so much like he was. She always smiled and kept on, always so frail and, at the same time, so strong… always smiling, even when she should be crying… just like him. Always hiding her pain and worries… just like him!!
On the beginning she had thought she hated him for that, but, after some time, she understood that, whatever was it that she felt, it wasn't hate. She was just afraid of the pain she felt… because she missed her. It had been a long time since the two had looked at each other… since they hugged each other… and there were two possibilities: that they'd do so again soon or never would, till the end of the times.
She wished they'd meet again; she had a lot to talk about. But maybe… maybe she had done something wrong, and the worst would come to be… but, whatever happened after her work, he'd be ok. He would be neither harmed, nor involved… she was risking her life for that opportunity and wouldn't let it go.
She smiled a bit, still keeping her innocent look. The old man was completely ignorant of what she had been doing all those years. Of course, he was smart – but she was smarter. She knew exactly what she was doing… if the old man knew, he'd never forgive her… because she was going to do something very reckless…
Hadn't he done so? Hadn't he given the child the Pyramid of Thousand Years? Of course the old man had some hopes and expectations around the thing, but he knew nothing about its true possibilities. She didn't know either, but she had researched on it.
Yeah, the "hopes" and "expectations" had been confirmed. That was when she decided to do that.
She loved the child as much as she loved his mother. And, with him safe (and unable to know her actions), she wasn't afraid of doing anything. Anything at all.
She looked to the sky, where the clouds were starting to open, pale blue sky showing itself shyly behind them. 'I'll put extra effort on this work, and I WON'T ADMIT FAILURE!'
All of a sudden, she swiftly hid behind a post, disappearing from people's eyes in a blink. She could stay completely unnoticeable when she wanted…
Three of the other teenagers she had been spying on these months were walking right by the post, looking ahead. She was shocked when she noticed their expressions – they were so serious…
*They have a mission, dear sister…*
'This voice… this voice…'
She turned around, feeling her heart in her throat. Behind her, a feminine ghost floated, invisible to the passersby; the woman's mouth opened slightly, her hands trembling.
'You… you…'
*How about stopping overprotecting the boy? He's a lot more than you'd be able to bit.*
She blinked, holding back a shiver. 'What do you mean? Why would he be? He's… he's just a helpless boy! You can't…'
*He's smarter than you think; don't underestimate him. He can be stubborn and dangerous… just as much as his mother…* the feminine ghost seemed to smile naughtily.
The woman didn't know what to think.
*He can be a nuisance to your plan, dear. Don't doubt he's going to appear and "give a hand". You know him… he's such a good boy. So, you'd better count on his presence, right?*
The woman was completely taken aback. If she knew her sister well, and she was sure she knew, than that meant… her eyes seemed glassy as she looked up to her sister, utterly shocked, and forgot to talk in her mind for a while. "So… so… you want…"
*Oh, sweet smart sister… so you've noticed! Of course, if you have your plans, I've got plans of my own!* the silhouette blinked at her, sweetly. *And Yuugi-chan is a key piece of this puzzle I'm piecing… you'd better help me with it… because I want him in a single and unscathed piece. Got it?*
"You… you can't be thinking I'd…" she answered, trembling, but stopped herself. No, she couldn't, she couldn't deny anything to her sister. She couldn't… but what about Yuugi? Why Yuugi? Her sister couldn't be planning such a thing unless… no, that was impossible.
She made a decision. "Ok, fine! You won!"
The silhouette disappeared without another word, leaving her panting, leaning against the post. 'Oh, gods… oh gods… how can I… how will I… what are you doing, sister, can't you understand he could…'
Again, she stopped herself. 'Unless I'm right… unless it's not impossible! In this case, 1/3 of my plans would've been useless… but still, if she's wrong… anyway, I still have my reasons to go on! And I have to keep an eye at him… it's the least I can do if I have to go on with sis' plans!'
She looked again to the three teenagers, to see they were walking towards her main worries's house.
She just couldn't help it. Couldn't help a big, big grin.
'Placing your pieces already, are you, my dear sister? I'll do whatever you want… when I know exactly what's going into that cute head of yours!'
She turned to go to her temporary house. Some research, some rituals to call for magic… argh, it sucked to be a beginner at that.
~~*~~*~~
The grass was a healthy, strong green; it waved against the wind, his bare feet caressed softly by the leaves. The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was a wonderful, deep blue; clouds floated lazily, carried by the winds that shook the grass leaves and the tree branches. His light clothes flapped against the wind, white from head to toes; the whiteness of the silky material covering his tanned skin just added to the purity and cleanliness of the scenario. There was just a small thing that seemed out of place… better saying, four not so small things.
Three pyramids stood up, pointing defiantly to the sun above; and the sun, amused and, yet, amazed by their stubbornness, was happily adding to their fierce beauty, sending its rays to shine against their white marble walls. It was an amazing sight.
And the fourth out-of-place "thing"… it was standing tall, directly ahead of him. The Sphinx. Looking ahead with its might eyes, sitting on the grass as if it was a cat on a cushion. It was completely new, polished… Gods, it looked alive! Er, how many gods were there? He wasn't that religious to call on gods…
And what called most of his attention was that it still had a nose. Well, it looked almost newly built, why wouldn't the nose be there, ne? It definitely looked better with it. Looked right.
He breathed in the sweet, green scent of the air, wondering vaguely what the Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza were doing in such a… green place. For all he knew, Egypt was a big hot sandbox. Well, that was a dream; nobody was asking it to make sense or to be geographically accurate. In fact, the scenario - Sphinx, Pyramids and all the green – didn't look half bad.
Better saying, it was very nice.
Or else, it was beautiful.
He always thought the Pyramids were made of a pile of naked stones a bit worn by the wind. They looked very beautiful covered in marble, completely smooth, nothing like the stairs they were in real life.
Well, real life looks very wrong indeed. He liked the place.
He inhaled deeply again, smiling brightly, and started running on the grass, enjoying that fantasy freedom. There was no place like that in real life – unless he called the Lord of the Rings's "Shire" movie sets as such, and he doubted he'd ever take a step there –, so he'd better enjoy. It was fun. Felt almost real.
Then he felt a shadow above him, and his foot stepped in a cooler place. Blinking, he looked up.
He had run directly towards the Sphinx, without even noticing. It cast a shadow on the ground, making the grass look a dark shade of bluish green. It was fresh there, but, for some reason, he felt a bit uncomfortable. As if he shouldn't be so near it.
He heard a crack. "Wha…"
A small stone fell near him.
He looked up to see more of it falling – falling from the Sphinx's face, shoulders, as if a layer of skin was detaching itself from its— oh, Gods…
The Sphinx's mighty head shook, as it shoved the rest of the stone layer away, the small pieces falling on the ground around him; he could only stare, openmouthed, as it proceeded to stand up, breaking the layer covering the rest of its body. It finally got free, standing up in its complete glory; it took two steps backwards, and then, to his complete surprise, it crouched down to his level.
"YOU SEEK FOR IT. YOU DRINK FROM IT. BUT, STILL, YOU HIDE FROM IT."
"Uh… uh… what?…" his thoughts were a bit scrambled; comprehensible, since he wasn't very used to see giant stone statues gaining life. "Er… what is it? Is this a riddle?"
"IT'S THE TRUTH…" said it, gravely. "YOU SHOULDN'T RUN FROM THE TRUTH. YOU SHOULDN'T HIDE FROM THE TRUTH. BECAUSE IT'LL KEEP ON BEING TRUTH, WHATEVER YOU DO… WHEREVER YOU HIDE… IT'LL CHASE YOU FOREVER…"
"W, why are you telling me this?" he stepped backwards, confused and afraid. "I, I don't think I run from the truth… it would catch up on me, as everything does, even turtles…"
"REMEMBER… THE TRUTH CAN'T BE HIDDEN FOR LONG…"
"A-are you… are you… is this about what I'm thinking…?"
The Sphinx's eyes were harder than steel. "YOU DARE TO THINK I WOULD TROUBLE MYSELF TO COME TO YOU FOR SUCH A REASON?"
"N-n-no… of course not… hehe…" he sweat dropped. "Er… then… so why are you here?"
It stood up, towering above his small, scared form; it looked down on him with a crushing glare, and the boy felt dread gripping at his heart. Finally yanking his eyes from it, he noticed that the small stones fallen from the statue seemed to be… puzzle pieces?
The pieces suddenly started hovering, flying to their places on its skin. As they slowly covered it again, the Sphinx finally spoke, proudly.
"DECIPHER ME, OR I'LL DEVOUR YOU." Suddenly, everything blacked out.
Yuugi sat on his bed, panting.
"WAAAAAAH!" Jounouchi fell from his chair on the floor, his hair standing. "Yuugi! Give a guy a warning, geez!"
"So-sorry…" he panted, allowing himself a small smile. Then he blinked. "What time is it?"
"3:27 p.m." answered Anzu, calmly sat on another chair. Honda was leaning against the wall beside her. He was at his bed, the sky was still somewhat clouded, there was no Pyramid near, no Sphinx visible and the only green thing his eyes could pick was Jounouchi's infamous jacket.
He looked at the – now clean – floor, and felt something like an ice block slide down his throat. "Er… was there anything on the floor when you arrived?"
"Oh, yes" Anzu seemed about to begin a sermon. "There was a bunch of toys littered around, and we decided to clean the mess up a bit before you woke up."
Honda and Jounouchi's expressions showed they had been forced to decide that.
"And… was there any… paper?" he asked, fearing the answer.
"Yes, you left your homework under a pile of toy cars" Honda snickered.
"Only that?" Yuugi hoped so.
"Yeah" Jounouchi finally stood up, dusting off his pants.
Yuugi sighed, relieved, allowing himself a brighter, more sincere smile this time. "Oh, well… thank you very much. You shouldn't have troubled yourselves with that."
"I'm the one who should thank you!" Jounouchi grinned, earning some strange looks from the other two. "I didn't know heck about that Industrial Revolution thingy, and you had it all answered!"
The room filled with laughter, as Sugoroku approached the bedroom's door; the old man stopped mid-way, and couldn't help but shed a tear. That was the first time the house had echoed with such happiness since…
He hesitated, his hand on the doorknob. He didn't want to interrupt their fun, but he wanted to check up on his grandson…
The doorknob suddenly turned under his hand, and Anzu's face showed in the opening. "What are you doing there? Spying on us?" She blinked, smiling playfully. "That's naughty, naughty! Bad boy!!"
She opened the door fully, showing her friends's stupefied faces, as Sugoroku entered, ignoring the fact that he had made no noise; she closed the door, sitting again.
They kept on looking at her, stunned. Between them, Yuugi seemed to be the only one that was more amused than amazed, although also mildly impressed; Sugoroku had decided not to think too hard about it.
"What's with that look?" asked her, annoyed. "I just opened the door for him!"
"Er, well, how did you know there was someone behind the door, in the first place?" asked Honda, pointing at her faintly, as Jounouchi nodded.
Yuugi laughed, in his sweet innocent way. "You'll get used to that in no time, don't worry. Anzu was always like that…"
"Yes, I know…" Sugoroku sighed, his mustache trembling. The two boys blinked, thinking that too many weird things were happening at the same time.
"Oh, Grandpa…" began Yuugi, reaching a hand in his direction to call attention. "Mom called this morning."
Jounouchi didn't pick it, but Honda caught a disturbed glance between Yuugi and Anzu, as if one of the two was calling for desperate help or reassurance. Anyway, Sugoroku seemed not to notice. "Really? It was about time! Did she say when she's coming back?"
"No, but… she said she's working on something… and that, if things went right, we'd have nothing to worry for a looooooong time. The rest was only… random chat."
"…contact phone?" Sugoroku asked, as if he had an idea what was coming next.
"She said there was none she could give."
"I thought so…" the old man sighed. He sat on the bed. "Now that you gave me the message, can we get into more important matters? Like, how are you feeling, are you ok, what more happened this morning, why were you sprawled on the bed when I arrived…"
Yuugi laughed softly again. "Well, I'm feeling ok, yes I am, only mom called this morning and I don't remember."
"You don't" Sugoroku looked at the boy as if he could see the wall behind him.
"Yes, I don't" Yuugi answered, a bit disturbed by the look.
Sugoroku sighed, his mustache trembling, and put a hand on Yuugi's head. "Sleep a bit more, will you? You surely look way better than the last week, but better safe than sorry."
"Yes, I think I'll rest more so I can get better earlier" it must have been the innocent way Yuugi said that, but Sugoroku's eyes filled with tears, that he quickly hid. He stood up.
"Hm… boys… could you help me with some boxes downstairs? You can spend the afternoon here, so, if Yuugi wakes up early you can talk a bit more."
They agreed, and Anzu stood up, ruffling Yuugi's hair. "Rest for now. We'll be right downstairs."
Jounouchi and Honda shook Yuugi's hand, with a very serious face, what amused him a little; although he (finally) agreed that, feeling better or not, he should rest, he wished they'd be there. But, if they did, then he'd never sleep, so…
The boy waved to them, trying not to look sad, and lay down after they closed the door. Suddenly he wondered… were boxes delivered on Sundays?
~~*~~*~~
"He seems to be getting better," stated Jounouchi, while they walked down the stairs. "Maybe by Wednesday he'll be back to normal life. It looks like staying in bed is really annoying for him…"
"Yes, since we were little…" Anzu laughed a little, but seemed saddened by some kind of memory. "It has to do with a time when he got really depressed, and couldn't even stand up if his life depended on it. He was six at the time… a little before his seven-year-old birthday." Anzu's face darkened a little, and she looked at the floor. "He was terribly depressed… he'd just lay there, looking at nothing, and, if we insisted on talking to him, he'd just start crying."
Sugoroku sat on a couch, tiredly, the teens sitting on the sofa. "I remember that time" he said, a layer of tears covering his eyes, the living room's light casting a shaking reflection on them. "For more than a week, he'd eat nothing, drink nothing, and say nothing… his birthday passed and there was no reaction. Then, when I was on the phone canceling a meeting, so I could take care of him…" he breathed deeply "I can't forget that moment…" his voice started getting husky, shaking "…when he appeared, holding the doorframe there" he motioned to the stairs "and looking at me with those eyes… just like his… his…"
He stopped himself, wiping his eyes, as if he had touched a painful topic. "Anyway, he was so… weak, frail… and so thin, I was afraid he would fall on the floor and break, but… he just looked at me and smiled and said 'You wanted to go on that meeting so much, I'll be sad if you don't go because of me'…"
The old man sobbed, the three teenagers standing up clumsily to try and comfort him. He kept on. "After that, he got better quickly, and was soon back to school and all, but… something changed in him. As if he had grown up…" he sighed. "I have the feeling that something like that is going to happen soon – that something is happening that is going to change everything we know, all our lives, and there's nothing we can do about it."
They kept silence for some seconds.
Sugoroku suddenly spoke again. "Then you come and tell me about Yuugi being beaten and weird things and spirits at school, confirming my fears… something involving Yuugi is going to happen, and all we can do for now is wait until we're sure about everything."
"No way!" Jounouchi's outburst surprised them. "There is something we can do, and Yuugi doesn't even need to know about it. We can go to school and check up on that tile I told you guys about."
"That one with the blood?" asked Honda, his voice quivering. Anzu shuddered.
Jounouchi nodded. "It seemed they were scratched lines, in which the blood was stuck after being wiped; or it or something like that. It was probably Yuugi's blood or mine…" his eyebrow twitched with suppressed anger. "They seemed to form a drawing, but I couldn't see it very well. But the beatings were more than two weeks ago, that blood should be at least dried by now… but it was still red, as if it were fresh…"
They all gulped.
"Also…" Jounouchi gulped again "When Yuugi's puzzle fell on the floor and such, we forgot one of the pieces, remember? And we found it at Saturday on the same place…"
"Yeah, yeah, that was weird," said Honda "But what does it have to do with the issue?"
"Well…" Jounouchi sighed, and sat on the couch's arm, beside Sugoroku. "I had a weird dream the night before, about finding it. That it was under Yuugi's desk and, when I picked it, everything went black…" he looked at nowhere for a moment, thinking. "And, when I picked it from Honda, I had a strange feeling…"
"Was that why you shuddered like that?" Honda sat on the couch, beside the old man.
"Yeah…" Jounouchi was somewhat distant. "And, after that, I looked at the eye on the piece and… and suddenly I saw something like a big eye looking at me. Out of thin air… just like that…" he shuddered again. "I had thought that it was just imagination, like the silhouette and all, but… after seeing that ghost, I'm not sure anymore about what the heck is happening. I'm not…"
He put his head into his hands, without knowing that was what all of them whished to do that moment. Suddenly, the little boy sleeping upstairs had become a treasure to protect. Why?
…because something was looming over him… or was it?
They didn't want whatever it was to harm him. Or to get a mile near him, for that matter. Anzu bit her lip, remembering something very, very painful…
…something about Yuugi that even Sugoroku didn't know…
Honda lifted his head, looking intently at them. "Are we going?"
"To investigate?" asked Jounouchi. "Count on me."
"I'm going too" declared Anzu. "And nothing you say is going to stop me from going."
The boys looked at her silently. As if any of them would dare…
Sugoroku laughed at them. 'So bold and young…' he though, smiling. "I'm going with you boys."
"WHAT?!" they turned to him at once. "Grandpa, that would be dangerous!!"
"You're old, you shouldn't…"
"What about Yuugi? Someone should be here…"
"If the rest of the robbers…?"
"ENOUGH!!!" Sugoroku stood up abruptly, knocking Jounouchi off the arm of the couch. "He is my grandson, I'm the one responsible for him here!!" He motioned angrily, pointing to the floor at each word, making the teens flinch. "And whatever, I say WHATEVER threatens him also concerns me! Nothing, NOTHING is going to prevent me from doing what is right!!"
Not even Anzu dared to question him. Speaking about Anzu, she sighed, noticing something…
"Nice!" said Honda, standing up too, in an attempt to break the uncomfortable silence. "Now that it's all decided, when are we going?"
"Maybe tomorrow?"
To say that all of them had jumped out of their skins would be an understatement. The only one who didn't look all that surprised was Anzu…
As one, they turned towards the stairs, to see Yuugi smiling innocently, as if he hadn't just been listening a secret conversation. Holding the doorframe, looking so weak, frail and thin…
But something was different. Something in him seemed to be carved in steel, a kind and delicate strength of will that could disintegrate rocks and burst walls; the strength of will that showed in his shining eyes, saying 'wherever you go, you won't go alone'.
They just knew they'd never convince him to stay.
~*~*~*~*~*~
September 9, 2002: Hey, finished quickly, eh? ^___^ I like this chapter. Things are starting to move, finally. And can somebody at least spot the clues? I wanted to write something that would be fun to read twice or more times. You know, after you understand the plot, you could always go back to see what you overlooked. Not even the flashbacks are there for nothing… ^___^ I'll revise the chapter and post it as soon as I can, but I'm happy. Things start to heat up next chapter (Yay!! About time!! At least I hope so!!), so I need to be extra careful… I don't want to rush things up, this has to go smoothly… Please tell me whatever you want!! Even flames are welcome!! But I want a lot of reviews, alottalottalottalotta!! Also thankyathankya for the kind souls that reviewed, and that went to read the new chapter even after I bugged them with emails!!
And have you noticed how many ghosts are appearing out there? Ghosts are fun. I'd like to see one of them one day. ^____^ Maybe I'd be scared as hell, but I'd be very happy after the shock (or the other way around; who knows my reactions). Do you think things are interesting? Is it too boring? Is my humor sense getting even lamer? Review!! ^___^
Elan-chan
P.S.: If it takes me too much to upload another chapter, be sure I'm studying. Yeah, that's sad. University Entrance Exams are looming, I have to train a lot to face this threat if I want a chance to study Japanese at a University. I need to live a life, as much as I hate the idea. Then, bye for today!! ^___^