Whew, ok! This chapter is kind of filler, I suppose, but it's useful. Very, very useful. Things to keep in mind:
I love how Jou talks. I really do. But I find that whenever authors try to write out his accent, it always ends up either butchered or perfect. I wasn't about to try and butcher it on accident, so please just imagine that he has his accent.
I am quite aware that some of the characters are OOC. I'll try to keep them more in character, but well, this is a FANfiction. I'll do the best I can.
Also, I have a few ideas about a YGO/HP fic. Do you all think I should post it up??
Their friends worried. None of them had said a word to any of them when they came back from Spiritheart on Saturday, the day before. And now they were acting like a robot, a ghost, and a...what could a person who rode non- stop on his motorcycle be called?
Shizuka knocked on the dorm-room the three shared for the umpteenth time, sighing when she heard nothing. "Ryou, I know you're in there. Please come out," she pleaded.
Silence.
"Nondanga-sensei just posted something up on the bulletin board, don't you want to see?" she coaxed.
Silence.
Sighing again, Shizuka turned away from the door and walked back to the one she shared with her brother. His head snapped up as she walked in.
"Anything?" he asked hopefully.
"No," she replied, worried amber eyes meeting his identical pair. "What do you think happened?"
"I d'no... hey what did the sign on the B-board say, anyways? Nondanga-sensei said I had to get my lazy ass up and see for myself, stupid piece of shit..."
"Jou!" Shizuka cried, tone admonishing.
His face colored. "S'ry..."
Unable to be angry with him for long, Shizuka smiled. "I know you are. Well apparently, we have a few new students transferring here tomorrow. They were originally home-schooled, and are transferring for 'family reasons'. They'll be here tomorrow."
"Names?"
Shizuka fidgeted, unhappy that she couldn't satisfy her brother's question. "I... I didn't see any, but I can go check if you want me to."
"S'ok, sis," Jou told her, keeping exasperation from his voice. He hated it when she blamed herself for things she couldn't control. "No one expects you to be perfect."
She still looked uncomfortable. "Are you sure? I could go downstairs and look again, it's no problem, really..."
Jou looked at her sternly, though his eyes danced with amusement. "Katsuya Shizuka, as your elder and most honored and respected brother," he began, his voice falsely pompous as she began to giggle, "I command you to see how perfect and wonderful you already are." His tone gentled as he added, "If it didn't say their names, it wasn't your fault. And I'm so lucky to have a sister like you, Shizuka."
The named person blushed at that, slipping her arms around her brother's neck in a light hug. "I'm the one who's lucky, Jou," she whispered to him. She turned her head slightly so that she could kiss his cheek. "I love you."
Jou's mouth twitched into a grin. "Yeah, same here," he said softly.
Neither noticed the small ghost who had caught the last part of this touching scene. He slipped away noiselessly, pearly white teeth shining in a smile for the first time in a day.
Malik drove, and drove, and drove. He didn't know where he was; frankly, he didn't give a flying fuck. He had worked his mind into a complete blank, lavender eyes losing their shine. He wore no helmet.
Unlike the day before, it was sunny. Out of the blurs of color around him, Malik could hear happy shouts and laughter. His knuckles whitened as he clutched tighter at the handlebars.
He knew that the others were anxious. Kaiba Seto hadn't even dissed him as Malik passed him in the hall, and that action, or lack of action, was a miracle in itself. Instead of calling him the usual endearments as she called everyone, Valentine Mai had called him by name. Oh yes, they were worried sick.
However, only a small fraction of Malik's mind realized this. The rest of his brain was numb, and knew only one thing: drive... drive... faster...
All of a sudden, the motorcycle slowed. Glancing down, Malik swore. He was out of gas. Muttering darkly in Arabic under his breath, he got off and walked it to the side of the road. Looking around, he realized her really had no idea where he was. Surrounding the road on both sides was a dark forest. Malik inhaled the scent of the earth gratefully, letting it settle his ruffled nerves.
He laid his motorcycle gently on its side, and sat down next to it, leaning his back on the prickly bark of a tree, its soothing ancient presence comforting him.
He smiled wryly as an unbidden memory sprang into his mind. When he had first gotten the motorcycle, he had promised to take care of it. And look where I am now, he thought bitterly. Another promise broken.
All three of them had forgotten to tell Shadi, Isis, and their cousins Denirah's message. So far, only Malik had noticed. And maybe Ryou, he frowned thoughtfully. He growled angrily. I can't do fucking anything right.
"Who are you?" A whispery voice asked. Malik jerked upright.
"You first," he said, glancing around warily.
"The tree spirit is I, and I am it," the voice answered. Malik rolled his eyes. Tree spirits always liked to speak in riddles. "Your emotions are hurting me, young geomancer."
Startled, Malik looked at the tree he had been leaning on. It was the middle of spring, but the tree's leaves had turned a deadened, ugly brown.
Mortified, Malik gasped. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean – I didn't know – I didn't –"
The tree spirit seemed to laugh. "It's all right, as long as you fix the damage. What is troubling you, young geomancer?"
Malik's magic seeped through the tree, restoring it to its rightful state, as he answered. "My mom... well, kind of... anyways, she's dead." He hated his voice for sounding so matter-of-fact, even a little nonchalant. Where had his vocal emotions run off to, when he was bleeding inside?
"Oh?" Sounding genuinely interested, one of the tree's branches twined around the geomancer and sat him amidst the tree's high, leafy boughs. "Tell me."
Ryou was five and a half chapters ahead of the rest of the class in Magickal Theory. If this kept up, he might even surpass Kaiba Seto. At this thought, he paused; no wait, that was impossible.
Shizuka seemed to have given up. She hadn't come by in 45 minutes, while it was usually every 15. Picking up his pen again, Ryou frowned at the textbook. He had lost his concentration.
Yawning, he threw the pen back down and stood up, stretching his arms above his head. The clock on his desk read 4:51:36. He had been working for almost 11 full hours.
As he flopped down onto his bed, he idly wondered where Yugi and Malik had gone. He hadn't seen them all day. Same thoughts as yesterday, he thought resentfully, a drastic change from his usual quiet and serene self.
Yugi couldn't be at the library; Denirah had loved libraries, and Yugi would probably boycott it for at least a week if a miracle didn't happen. But Malik could very well be motorcycling again. The day was sunny, after all.
Ryou felt cold, numb, and empty. No matter how many layers of clothing he put on, no matter how much he sweated, he still felt icy. He could almost swear there was a black hole somewhere in his heart, threatening to suck out his remaining feelings and emotions. He felt, to put it quite honestly, dead. Or perhaps undead, seeing as he was still breathing.
He needed something to do. No more schoolwork, though, and no one at Elemenia had chores. His eyes fell on the bookcase in the corner.
A few minutes later, he found himself back on his bed with a number of photo albums. But he was too scared to open one. Finally, summoning all of his inner strength, he reached out and flipped a cover aside.
There he was, age 4, standing with Yugi, Malik, and Denirah. Ryou held on to her hand, while Yugi clutched at her skirt. Denirah's other hand ruffled Malik's sandy locks while the boy beamed.
The next picture: The boys were now about 7, Sogoroku teaching them how to meditate. Yugi had fallen asleep, Malik had his eyes open and was staring blankly at the ceiling, clearly bored, and Ryou had one eye closed and the other open, squinting at the camera.
As Ryou flipped through the albums, the weight he had felt on his heart grew lighter. I can't dwell on the past, he realized. She'd want me to live for the future.
And then he realized that the day before, when Bakura had told him not to blame himself... he had been right. He realized how stupid his reasons had sounded as his own voice rang through his mind distantly: "I could have died instead..."
Shaking himself from his thoughts once more, he lay down amidst the albums and sighed as a wave of relief so strong that it could have knocked him over washed through him. Thank you Ra, for helping me understand...
Yugi hurried back to his, Malik, and Ryou's room, anxious to tell one of them of his revelation. Watching Shizuka and Jou, he had realized that even though they had no parents, their love for each other was enough.
Likewise, Yugi felt ashamed that he had never really realized how Ryou and Malik were always there for him. They always tried to give him the best, and took the worse for themselves. He had taken them for granted. But that, Yugi decided, was going to change. When Denirah had died, he had felt that his source of comfort was gone. But now, he found that Ryou and Malik had been there all along. He had to go thank them. Very, very much.
After Malik's tale was told, the tree was quiet for a while. "Ah," it said finally. "I see."
"But you know what?" Malik asked suddenly. "It's not that I don't miss her, tree, but I feel so much better now."
"And do you know why, young geomancer?" the tree asked. "Because you told me how you felt inside. You are so used to being the strong one that you keep your feelings fully hidden. Why?"
Malik opened his mouth to answer, but no sound emerged. "I don't know," he finally admitted.
"Do you think your 'brothers' would laugh? Is that it?"
"No!" Malik cried, immediately defensive. "They would never –"
"Then speak, young geomancer."
Malik grew silent again, pondering, turning thoughts over in his head. At last, he spoke hesitantly, "Like you said, I'm used to being the 'strong' one, and it... feels nice to be depended on, to be needed, you know? And-and it I let them know my feelings, they would get worried, and I don't want that."
"Wouldn't they worry more if they knew you were doing this? Would they not love for you to depend on them for once? Would they not love to help you? Are you scared to depend on someone other than yourself? You are destroying yourself, young geomancer, if you take all the burden for yourself and never share it."
Malik wished the tree hadn't raised all these points that he had no arguments against. He groaned as a thought hit him. "I've got to get back to Elemenia," he grumbled. He started to climb out of the tree's branches, then paused. "Thanks," he said quietly. "Thanks a lot."
"I will always be here, young geomancer."
Malik pulled his motorcycle upright, and reached out magically until he could feel the sun-bright collection of magic that was his school.
As he walked away, the tree spirit's last sentence echoed in his mind: "I will always be here, young geomancer."
"Crap!" he shouted to the sky, lavender eyes narrowing. "I forgot to answer its first question! I forgot to tell it my name!"
But all he could do was shake his head angrily and keep walking if he wanted to be back at Elemenia by dark.
Yugi ran into the trio's room, stopping at Ryou's bed where the other boy was sprawled amidst photo albums, a happy smile on his tear-stained face. He looked up as Yugi came in, and immediately noticed Yugi's grin as well.
"You know," Ryou began.
"Somehow," Yugi beamed, understanding.
"I feel so much better!" Malik finished from the door, not knowing he was finishing anything at all. The other two burst out laughing.
Laughter bubbled up in each of them. Denirah's death would never be completely gotten over, but they had each reached their own states of understanding and acceptance.
"So what happened to you?" Yugi asked, wrinkling his nose at Malik's mud, bark, and leaf stained clothes.
Malik gently sat himself cross-legged on the floor, as Ryou peered over the edge of the bed at him. Yugi plopped down on the bed next to him, and both looked curiously at Malik, expectancy for a good story shining in their eyes. Malik was a master storyteller.
"Well," Malik grinned, "There was this tree..."
"Yami, where's my shirt?" Mariku demanded, storming into his room. "You borrowed it last week and I never got it back!"
Yami glanced up from where he was carefully packing up his collection of half-completed puzzles. An eyebrow arched as he asked, "Was it black, with red and orange flames on it?"
"Yes!" Mariku roared agitatedly. "Where is it?!"
Yami returned calmly to packing. "Go away."
"What?!"
"What kind of shit do you have in place of a brain, Mariku?" Yami demanded.
"What exactly do you mean by that, my dear dear brother?" Poison dripped from Mariku's words.
Yami got up and pushed Mariku out the door.
"You're wearing it," he informed him, before slamming the door in his face.
Mariku turned and walked dazedly down the hall. "Whoops..." he muttered.
"ISIS!" Bakura's shout shook Mariku out of his stupor as he ran past. "ISIS! You took my favorite dagger yesterday! Give it back!"
An answering shriek came from the other end of the house. "I took it with good reason! If you want it back, you'll swear not to kill anyone at Elemenia!"
"Ok!" Bakura yelled back at once. Mariku saw him grin sadistically and shook his head.
"Isis, you idiot," he muttered. "Now he's only going to mortally wound them, not give them a quick, painless death."
10:46:27 saw three cloaked figures standing at Elemenia School of Magick's Silver Gates.
"We're here," said one, with hair that matched the Gates.
"Mm," the one on the right agreed, blonde hair ruffling in the breeze.
"Think they'll be surprised?" the middle on asked, meaning the school as a whole. If the school thought that they would be getting nice, obedient new students, then they sure as hell would be. If anyone had looked closely, it might have seemed that 2 ruby eyes were floating in the black depths of the hood.
"Oh, definitely," the other two agreed, the smirks on their faces reflected in their voices. "Shall we?"
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. It means a lot!