Daily
by Lethe Seraph
Entry Twelve: Cantrip
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12.7.04
This chapter is my latest effort to write something that doesn't even hint at Jou/Seto. At all. Did you know that Bakura – the vessel, not the spirit – is my favorite character? Chances are you did. Anyway, this one will feature him. Check out the word and you'll know why.
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cantrip (n.) 1 chiefly Brit a witch's trick spell 2 chiefly Brit a mischievous or whimsically eccentric act
-Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, p. 161
--
He was insane.
The boy had known that, of course, ever since that fateful day when his other had shown himself. Not his significant other, mind you – just his other. His Other. The presence that had continually whispered at the back of his mind, demanding attention.
Demanding obedience.
The spirit was insane.
You know that you want to, he had hissed into Bakura's ear one sunny morning as quiet breezes sifted through papers and over desks and made students wish that they could be outside, running, doing anything but sitting and listening to an endless, dull teacher's drone. Yugi is sitting but a few arms' lengths from you.
Just because I have the ability doesn't mean that I want to.
Ryou shifted weight, propping his chin in his other hand and trying to appear as though he were paying attention. He wasn't, certainly – but he thought that the teacher deserved to at least feel respected by one member of the class. His eyes drifted from the blackboard after a time; first to Yugi, who had taken to alternately glancing out of the window and down at his Puzzle, accursed object (Mine, the spirit whispered); then to Jonouchi and Honda, who obviously weren't paying attention and hardly ever did (fools, the both of them); and then to Seto Kaiba, instigator of the whole mess at Duelist Kingdom in Ryou's opinion (I snatched the Eye, and soon I'll have the rest).
After all, it had been Yugi's duel with the famed CEO that had drawn the interest of one Pegasus J. Crawford, had it not? What would have happened had that duel never occurred? Perhaps the spirit, long slumbering within the Millennium Ring, would never have awakened – or, at least, would not have come out as soon, or as forcefully.
Perhaps. Ryou doubted it, though. Fate was a tricky thing.
Something that is on my side. Now do it.
I will not. It wouldn't serve your purpose anyway. What's the point?
I want, said the spirit frankly, to piss him off.
Ryou would have giggled. Instead, he lifted his chin and moved it to the other hand. It would be of no good to him to suddenly become giddy during class. Yugi and his friends considered him quite odd already, he knew.
No, I won't. You can annoy Yugi's spirit on your own time – but right now, I'm in school, and I've missed enough days already, thank you very much.
I shall mark your words, vessel.
You do that.
Yugi glanced in Ryou's direction. Sometimes, Ryou wondered whether the spirit within Yugi's Millennium Puzzle could sense the restless murmurs of Ryou's own parasite. It was possible, he supposed, though somewhat unlikely. Even if he had the facility, what were the chances that he actually remembered how to use it?
Ryou gave Yugi a small smile and a half-wave. The boy was appeased, and grinned back. He then returned to gazing longingly out of the window.
Once Yugi had looked away, the voice in his mind became more insistent. It would be fun. Even you would enjoy it, you know.
Would I, now?
It wouldn't be harmful, said the spirit in its most persuasive voice. It sounded sleek and dangerous. Sometimes, when it spoke, Ryou tried to visualize his own face saying those words – what did he look like, when he became the Other? – and never quite managed to succeed. It wouldn't be harmful at all. After we've had our fun, we can put everything back to rights.
You say that as though you actually would.
Of course I would, it said soothingly. This class is deader than the tombs. Provide me with entertainment, little vessel.
Pay attention to the teacher. You might learn something.
You aren't.
Ryou could feel his resolve weakening. Surely it wouldn't hurt just to give in-
No. He had thought that way far too many times before. This time, he wouldn't give in, even to such a simple matter.
Just for a little while.
No.
Please.
Ryou startled; his chin slipped from his hand just the slightest amount, and he blinked rapidly. The spirit had just asked him for permission. Something was wrong.
Or, perhaps, it was truly that desperate to gain a little bit of amusement.
He could feel the spirit smirking, realizing that it had affected Ryou. Please, it repeated, its sleek voice promising that everything would be all right, that it might even be fun.
Just for a little while.
Ryou glanced at the clock. There were ten minutes until the bell. Was that enough time?
It's more than enough time. The spirit knew that it had won out, and began to stir to activeness.
Ryou's vision dimmed to faraway gray.
-
What did he have in his pocket?
The spirit reached into the vessel's pants discreetly, careful not to draw the attention of his teacher, and pulled out his prizes.
Three rubber bands, one blue, one red, and one yellow – what did he keep these for? – as well as a small coin and a rock shining with silver specks.
Perfect.
You can do this without messing up, right? murmured the vessel's quiet voice within his head. He nodded.
Allow me to concentrate, thank you.
Anzu's eyes were the first to shutter and slip closed. Honda's and Jou's followed soon after, and finally Yugi's. The spirit managed to keep their bodies upright while focusing on the task at hand – channeling the souls.
He could feel the warm pulse of that girl, gliding easily into the small, smooth coin; the rambunctious energy of Jou stumbling almost eagerly into the yellow band; Honda's more cool and logical energy following and then shifting to the silver-studded rock; the businessman, striding without emotion into the blue band; and Yugi's bright light, wandering softly into the red band.
The spirit concentrated, careful to keep his expression as neutral as his vessel's ever was, and then thrust the energies away from him in a burst of shadow. But he wouldn't allow them to return to their rightful homes – no, he had something much more fun planned.
He reached out to them, calling out tendrils of the Eye and Ring to aid him, and directed them elsewhere.
All of it took about three seconds.
-
Yami noticed that there was something wrong almost immediately. He had been sleeping, when a familiar dark flare had invaded his thoughts and wrought worry upon his heart. This could only be one – the persistent spirit of the Millennium Ring.
Yugi! he called, jumping to his feet – he had been resting – and bursting out into the corridor that separated their souls.
He got there just in time to watch Yugi's door disappear in a twinkling of light, and be replaced just as quickly with another.
What the …?! He approached it tentatively, fingering the peeling painted wood as though it might burn him. Whose door is this?
After a moment, he resolved to open the door and find out. He reached for the handle, and—
--it burst open.
He was standing face-to-face with one Katsuya Jonouchi.
-
In all, Yami's experience was the most odd; the others merely woke up to find that they weren't in their own bodies, but managed to stifle extreme reaction due to the presence of the teacher and other students. Each of the five had experienced many odd things in their lifetimes, and figured it to be a Millennium Item – or, in the case of Seto Kaiba, a very bizarre dream.
Anzu's hand slowly put down the pen it had been carefully scrawling notes with, and came to finger her blouse with a sort of curious trepidation. Her lips parted slightly, and she sat up a little bit straighter.
Honda looked around, a slight panicked edge to his movement, and brought his hand to the top of his head. He ran his hand over his hair, eyes becoming just a bit wider.
Seto Kaiba twitched, shifted in his seat, and turned to stare at Yugi Mutou.
Jou just blinked and ran his hand through his own hair with a small grin.
The spirit in Ryou's mind laughed and laughed.
-
Class ended, and the gang assembled – joined also by Seto Kaiba.
They looked at each other.
Anzu was the first to speak. She glared at Kaiba. "Who are you, and why are you in my body?" she demanded.
Yugi burst into laughter. It wasn't Yugi's normal laugh, though – a more raucous laugh, which made everyone in the circle turn to stare at him. "You're Kaiba?" he giggled, short frame quivering with good humor. "Man, that's great."
"Let me guess," said Anzu dryly. "Jonouchi."
"One and the same," said Yugi, taking a small bow.
"How does it feel to be that tall, Jou? I always wondered," said Jonouchi's body, grinning, as Honda's hit him.
Honda frowned. "Kaiba, please treat my body well."
Anzu sighed. "Of course I will. I'm currently residing within it, after all."
"Wait, so let me get this straight …" said Yugi's body. "Anzu, you're in Honda's body."
"Unfortunately."
"But Kaiba is in your body."
Anzu's body growled quietly.
"Who's in Kaiba's body? And mine?"
"I'm Yugi," said Kaiba's body sheepishly.
"Oh no," said Yugi's body.
"Oh yes," said Jou's body.
"Honda?!"
"Yup!"
"I am so confused," muttered Anzu. "Why did we all switch bodies?"
"Gee, let me think about it," said Yugi's body dryly.
"It's a delusion," snapped Anzu's body.
"Magic exists, Kaiba!" roared Yugi's body, which appeared to have changed somewhat over the past few seconds. "You can't go on denying the past forever!"
"There is no past. We exist for the future. Move on, 'pharaoh'," hissed Anzu's body.
Jou's body doubled over into giggles. "Man, this is so weird …"
"Yami?" said Kaiba's own body timidly. "You're still in my body?"
"It would appear so," said Yugi. "It was very odd to find his soul room attached to our corridor."
Kaiba nodded fervently. His eyes had taken on a bit of Yugi – they didn't seem nearly as narrow, or menacing. It was rather like watching Kaiba try to impersonate a puppy dog.
Jou was snickering.
Honda's body sighed. "Shouldn't we all get to class?"
They all stiffened.
"Nuh-uh. No way," said Jou.
"I'd rather not, while I'm in this body," said Yugi sheepishly.
"I'd rather you not as well," said Kaiba.
"Well, I guess we could all skip," said Anzu, running her hand over Honda's hair. "I'm sure that Kaiba could give us all an excuse."
"Excuse me?" said Kaiba.
"Oh, that's right. I'm sure that Yugi could." She smiled sweetly.
Or, rather, Honda's face smiled sweetly.
And it was creepy.
-
They had opted to go to Burger World, Kaiba tagging along reluctantly. It wouldn't do for the group to have his body without his supervision, he rationalized. God only knew what Yugi – and Jou – would do to it in his absence.
"All right, so what could have happened?" said Honda, getting straight to the point.
Jou tried to take a large bite of his burger, but was stopped by the considerable difference between the size of his mouth and Yugi's. He sighed and nibbled at the burger sadly. "Well, it could be some Millennium dealie. The Millennium Remote Control or something. Universal! Works on all TVs!"
Yugi shivered at the mention of both Milllennium magic and television. "I just hope Grandpa won't be too weirded out when I come home tonight."
"Wait," said Kaiba. "You're not going back to the Game Shop."
"Why not?"
"You're in my body," said Kaiba.
"Oh! How about this," said Jou. "Since I'm in Yugi's body, I'll go to the Game Shop. But I'll also "invite" you guys over. That way, we can stay together until we fix this mess."
"Wonderful," said Kaiba dryly. "You don't think that the old man will mind a woman sleeping over? Or, for that matter, the duelist who sent him into respiratory distress?"
"I'm sure that Grandpa wouldn't mind having you over, Kaiba," said Yugi. "He always believed that you had a good heart. You have a point about Anzu, though."
"Looks like it's just us, then," said Honda wickedly.
"No. I'm not going anywhere without my body," said Kaiba firmly.
"Same here," said Anzu, glaring at Kaiba through Honda's eyes. "Kaiba's a hormone-driven teenage male just like the rest of you. I'm not leaving my body to him."
"Ew," Yugi, Jou, and Honda moaned. They all looked at Anzu's body, as though seeing it in a new light.
"I'm not like that," protested Kaiba.
"Sure," said Jou. He smirked.
"Mutt."
"Woman."
Kaiba's eye twitched. It was like watching Anzu on one of her 'days'. "When I get my body back…"
"Oh, oh," said Jou, jabbing at his chest and standing. "You want a piece of this? You want a piece of this?"
Honda and Anzu burst into laughter. "Don't ever do that while you're in Yugi's body," hooted Honda. "Please, Jou. Oh my G—aw, man—oh, this is great."
--
Ryou sat at a nearby table, listening. You said that you would put them to rights.
Yes, I did.
You said that it would only be for a little while.
Hmm. You're right. I recall that, vaguely.
He sighed, adjusting his sunglasses. Put them back, spirit.
This is fun.
You've had your fun.
Just a few more days.
Days?!
I am a dead thief, said the spirit, voice tainted with a smirk. I have been dead for several millennia. I said "a little while".
Oh dear.
Besides, you know that you're enjoying this.
Oh dear…