Chapter Five: Deadby Shadou-sama
Ryou 'danced' with Kiana to the fast beat of a J-Pop hit. It wasn't so much dancing as it was swaying awkwardly to the beat. He could not dance.
He looked to see where the others had gone. Yarou and Menoda were chatting at the bar. Jake and Kido were dancing with a couple of cute girls. Kiana was in front of him and Shadra was… hey, where was she?
His eyes scanned over the dance floor, then up to the second floor balcony. A creepy young man glared down at Ryou. And he knew no more, for Bakura took over.
He wordlessly abandoned his dance partner, and headed upstairs.
"What do you want?" Bakura demanded.
"The money," Tala replied, leaning sideways on the railing.
"Sorry, fresh out."
Tala scowled. "You don't want to mess with me, kid."
"'Kid', that's funny." Bakura chuckled. "If only you knew…"
"What are you, vampire, demon?" Tala asked. Then he cocked his head. "Kind of skinny for one. And weak."
Bakura growled at the comment.
"Guess not, because then you'd wouldn't try to f with me."
"So you believe in fairy tales," Bakura said, crossing his arms and shutting his eyes. He smirked. "Would you like to live one?"
But Tala didn't take the bait. "Fairy tales, reality, what's the difference?" He looked at Bakura. "But you wouldn't know that."
"And why wouldn't I?" His curiosity was getting the better of him.
"You're not special." Tala took a step forward. Bakura stood stock still, holding his ground. "You're not chosen." He took another step forward, and Bakura still refused to move. "You're not… elite." Tala took another step forward so that their noses nearly touched.
Bakura smirked at the weak intimidation technique and the comment about not being chosen. He was a five thousand-year-old spirit, a king of thieves from Egypt's great days. He controlled Shadow Magic, could summon monsters beyond this mortal's imagination, and have them eagerly jumping around at his feet like an all too willing to please puppy. He could rip the soul out of this boy's body and send it into unimaginable torture. He was chosen.
"I want the money by dawn," Tala said, no trace of the smugness left on his face. One hundred percent seriousness. "In the back alley. I'll be waiting."
The redhead swept away.
Kiana danced alone after annoyingly losing her dance partner. He had been a good one, full of energy -- almost double the amount of a normal person -- even if he was a tense dancer. Who next? She surveyed the crowd.
She felt a scream of terror slice through her heart. No, two screams, coming from outside the club. She grinned. No arrogant teenage boys to suck up to. Now she had a real, easy meal.
She walked quickly outside. She turned her head right and left, searching for the victim. She couldn't tell the direction from the fear, it was too thick in the alley. After scanning the alley, she spotted an obviously drunk man holding a gun out and a figure hunched over in the shadows.
Gleeful, she hurried over, ready to 'help.' As she drew closer, the hunched-over figure became clearer. Oh my god, it was Shadra! Blood pooled at her feet, dripping out of her abdomen, which she clutched at with her hand. The flame flickered.
"Dead… not meant to be… go to hell bitch!" the drunk man shot again, but the gun jerked out of a killing shot to merely send a bullet whizzing by Shadra.
"Hey, leave my friend alone!" Kiana yelled.
The man turned on her, the gun clutched in his grip. "Demons. Demons!" The gun shook as he trembled.
Kiana cursed. This guy was going to serious injure her self if she didn't act fast. But Shadra… Her eyes were squeezed shut in pain, she wouldn't see.
Using all of her speed, she got behind the man. Kiana jerked his gun hand up, making it useless in the fight. Her other hand dug its claws into the soft tissue of his neck.
"Night, night," she whispered.
Suddenly, Menoda was alone. Yarou had vanished, lickity-split, just a moment ago. Kido and Jake had left the dance floor. He saw their partners dancing with other men. Kiana and Shadra were no longer around, and Bakura… who cared about Bakura? Yes, he was still sore.
"They ditched me," he growled. They dragged him all the way out here, then ran away.
He narrowed away before stalking out of the club.
Shadra looked up, the pain easing away. The drunk laid unconscious several yards to her side. Cautiously, she stood up, the last little bits of her purple-black Magick sealing the bullet wound. That was close. Too close for comfort.
"Demon," a voice snarled.
Eh? Did the drunk speak? No, he hadn't moved. Then who—
Atop the club stood a figure. She couldn't tell which gender it was for it's voluminous black hooded cloak concealed any revealing curves. She could see no telling features in the face either, for it was covered with a white mask. The eyes were outlined in black, Egyptian-like. Its lower lip was painted black. And coincidentally, he was blocking out the Halloween moon.
"You shall die, like all your filthy brethren."
"I'm not a demon!" Shadra yelled up to the figure.
"You stole the breath from that poor man and stalled off death with your wicked Magick."
That voice… it sounded familiar. Yet, pointlessly poetic.
"I—but—I didn't!"
"You shall be judged, and I will be the one to send you to that holy court!"
All of Shadra's self-preservation told her to run. She had no weapons to fight with, nor did she know what kind of weapons it had. So she did.
She was amazingly fast for a human. Well… mortal. Humans didn't wake up in their graves, now did they?
She stopped a half a dozen blocks over, breathing hard. The masked figure wouldn't have been able to keep up, if it was human like she had guessed. But much to her surprise and dismay, it had appeared half a block in front of her, steadily walking towards her.
Okay, that decided it. This thing was definitely not human.
She scrambled through the red Torii (gate) of a temple. If this masked figure was as holy and pure to pass judgment (even if it was a demon), it would not even try to hurt her on such sacred ground. But she really didn't want to wait to find out.
Dodging around the main buildings, she sprinted to take cover in the graveyard. Hiding behind between a pair of thick bronze gravestones, she tried to quiet her breathing.
Complete silence, except the rustle of the great trees and the grass. Shadra relaxed.
"Boo."
Chiaka sifted through some papers on her desk. A late night again, she thought to herself as she glanced at her clock. Nearly one o'clock in the morning.
She sighed. She barely got any leisure time anymore. Well, if you can count doing laundry, eating and washing herself at the local bathhouse as leisure time. But this weekend was different. Just as soon as she finished up some paperwork, she was done until 8:30 AM Monday morning.
Chiaka pulled out Shadra's file. She readily admitted that she just didn't get her.
Except for some minor offenses this semester, Shadra's behavior was perfect. She completed her homework on time, she did well on all her assignments, and she didn't threaten any teachers or students. Even her little technology faults weren't too major after that first day.
Chiaka, or anyone she asked, had never seen her go out at night. Yet her teachers reported that she was often tired and distracted. When asked, Shadra parroted some excuse about how she had been visiting her mother or studying late into the night. A couple had even said that she turned up with cuts and bruises on the flesh the uniform revealed. And what about under the uniform?
She was going to have a very serious chat with her. And if Shadra wasn't willing to reveal her secrets, then Chiaka wasn't above using some underhanded tricks.
If that wasn't enough to worry about, Kiana was back. With her earlier absence, she had hoped the girl had quit school. The gods just weren't on her side.
Kiana was draining to be around. Teachers complained about how tired they were just from trying to keep up with the energetic girl. She was also rude, tardy, loud, obnoxious and with a complete disregard for personal space. Kiana had nearly been expelled four times for touching a teacher.
Oh whatever, she was tired of thinking about school. She felt like she was one of the boarding students. Actually, the students spent less time at school than she did! And they lived there!
She pushed all the papers to the side, and stood up. Monday was a whole new day, a far away day, and perfect for finishing up her work. She grabbed and pulled on her coat.
While she was grabbing for her keys, the phone rang. Sighing, she picket it up.
"Moshimoshi?" Chiaka said. "Tokujin Boarding School, Guidance Counselor Misonimi speaking. How may I help you?"
"Moshimoshi," the voice said. "This is Dr. Dorugon of Saint Heart Hospital. I have a message for Shadra Bellona."
A long blade swished over Shadra's head as she scrambled away, on her hands and feet like an animal. Laughter. That thing> was laughing at her!
She looked back, and the figure she saw drained her of any color and chilled her very bones. Death.
She ran, breathing hard and dodging the grave markers. Death had finally caught up to her. It wanted every soul it harvested to stay in hell. No exceptions even if you were what supported the world from its destruction.
Death walked after her clumsy form. It did not need to go any faster. It would keep on coming and coming, with its scythe clutched in its bony hand.
It closed in on her, its weapon raised for a killing slash. Out of mere instinct, she kicked him with both feet, balancing on her hands.
It tumbled backwards. Death… tumbled… backwards. Death couldn't be hurt by any physical blow. What was going on?
As much as she'd like to muse over the situation, there was one instinct she couldn't ignore. Fighting now, philosophy later.
She stood up, stepping back into proper form. She didn't say anything, not even a pun. There wasn't any need, even if she couldn't have of one.
Bakura stalked through the streets. Idiot kid. What right did he have to demand money from him? What special power did he have that made him think he could overcome Bakura?
Friends. Big burly friends. Ones that Bakura could probably manage but if they cornered Ryou… It wasn't going to be in the Hikari's favour.
But like hell was he going to give into that little brat's demands! There must be something… He smirked. Why didn't he think of it before?
Tala was going to live out his little fairy tales.
Shadra stood proudly against the masked figure. Sure, she had defence gashes covering her arms and probably more bruises than she could count, but 'Death' had its own share of wounds.
She jumped up onto a tombstone, standing proudly. "Had enough?"
The masked figure, panting a few yards away, scowled. Or that's what Shadra imagined the expression to be. One couldn't really tell because of the mask. "You have no respect for the deceased," it spat out.
"What do they care?" Shadra responded. She put her hands on her tilted hips. "They're dead."
The masked figure muttered and cursed at her. Shadra just smirked.
"Do they really care if we wash their tombstones, groom their graves and leave fruit to rot away?" She jumped down from the stone. "They have no pain, no suffering, no worry. They lay their arms down, drop their shields, and they rest at last. The cries around them, of fear and pain, they don't hear at all. They don't care."
"And you shall join them!" It lunged at her; its scythe slicing at her. Shadra merely ducked out of the way, not even bothering to put any effort into it.
"I wish I could," Shadra whispered, her back to the masked figure. She could hear its heavy breathing; the rustle of grass as it moved its feet and cloak. She turned as it lunged again at her. It froze, the blade a mere two inches above her head. "But I'm already dead and still walking around."
She shoved her hands out, her key shining in the darkness, and hurricane-strength wind swept around her, rushing to her prey. The masked figure flew backwards with the power, hitting and breaking the stone grave markers as he went. He struck the temple's stone wall, giant cracks forming from the epicentre, and crumpled over.
Shadra laughed. Why should she be afraid of Death? She left through the red Torii.
Bakura waited in the alley. He checked his watch to find it was close to dawn. He growled. That bloody Tala better show up before the sun rose. The show would be so much more effective in the night's darkness.
It was quiet, the club having shut down several hours before, which he was thankful for. He would hear anyone coming.
Crunch, crunch. Speak of the devil.
Bakura turned to face the redhead, and a few of his gimp-faced friends. More of them came up behind him, trapping him, or so they thought. But the white-haired spirit wasn't worried. Soon enough, they'd all be running back, crying, to their mommies.
Tala looked mildly surprised that Bakura was already there. But like any criminal worth their salt, he shook it off quickly. "You have the money?"
Bakura grinned. "I'm not going to pay you."
"You have a death wish?"
Bakura laughed. It didn't sound at all pleasant. "I've faced death before, but I'm still around."
"Is that so…" Tala trailed off. "Well, now I'm really curious to see what'll happen." He gestured at his thugs. They started advancing.
Bakura, unconcerned, drew a card from his pocket. Holding it up, so Tala couldn't see what its face told, he said, "This card decides your fate. If it's in your favour, I'll let you go. But if it's in my favour…"
Tala scoffed, obviously not believing that he could be defeated. Too bad for him.
Bakura turned the card, his Millennium Ring glowing. "Earl of Demise!"
The blue skinned humanoid monster appeared before him, whipping out its rapier. The thugs, too busy with the sudden appearance, didn't notice the alley growing even more shadows. They cowered away from the monster.
"Are you men?" Tala spat out, obviously disgusted with his troupes. "Attack it!"
The 'men' growled like dogs and leaped at it, even the ones from behind the spirit. Bakura dodged their thundering approach, and leaned against the side of the building. He smirked. No instructions were necessary.
The Earl, grinning it's sadistic grin, slashed the approaching thugs straight through the torso. The first few shrieked in surprise before falling to dust. The others, trying to learn from their predecessors' mistakes, pulled out daggers in an attempt to block the rapier. But the Earl was a master swordsman in life, and invincible in death. With two thousand life points, the poor bastards didn't have a chance.
Bakura frowned at the dust. That had never happened before. But then again, he never used the Earl of Demise before on humans. It must be a special ability. Well whatever it was, it meant less body removal, which meant less work. That was something he could be happy about.
Bakura glanced around the dustier alley as the Earl and the Shadow Realm faded and the morning sun fell upon the up most fringe of the alley. He could handle Tala himself. Where was he? He snarled. The coward had run away while he was busy with his little servants.
Then he smirked. Next time, Tala wouldn't be so ready to try to boss him around.
Shadra met up with Kiana a block from the school. She noticed with annoyance that while she was limping from exhaustion, Kiana was still able to walk with a bounce in her step.
"So what have you been up to?" Kiana asked, her voice too peppy for Shadra's liking.
Shadra looked at her, and sighed. Like she would even believe her.
Yarou and Kido met up with them a few seconds later. She felt a bit more cheerful, since they looked as exhausted as she felt. When Kiana asked them about their night, Yarou glared at her and Kido looked very happy. Shadra noticed that his shirt was inside out.
The group drudged along, picking up Jake. He moaned and rubbed his head, complaining of a hangover. Yarou sent him a look promising a stern lecture in ten hours time, while Kiana immediately scolded him for drinking.
As they were about to cross the street to Tokujin's block, they meet up with a rather disoriented Ryou. Figuring he had done drugs or got drunk, Kiana turned her scolding towards him (Kido didn't notice). Yarou glared at the white-haired boy, shuddering at the thought of all the work he'd have to do. Talking and scolding, possibly filing a report with the Guidance Counsellor. Exhausting.
They had to climb over the front gate, seeing as how all students should be inside. Normally, Shadra could scale the fence in one good jump. Unfortunately, she couldn't do that in front of other students (even if she could try to pass it off as hallucinations) and she was too tired to make it anyway. But, together, they all managed to climb over the stone fence that ran around the school.
"Hey, are we allowed to be out this late?" Shadra asked, as the light of day fell lower and lower to the ground. She hadn't read the rules in the agenda, nor could her brain properly function enough to remember them even if she had.
"YOU ARE CERTAINLY NOT!"
Chiaka the Guidance Counsellor, in her infinite fury, stomped up to them. Menoda walked briskly at her heel.
"Kiana, Shadra, I should have known you'd do this! Curfew is at midnight! You should know better, Kiana! And you." She turned upon Shadra, who was startled out of her sleepy dazed state. "After all the trouble you've caused at your old school, I would think you'd try not to get expelled! But here I find you, coming in at dawn after spending the night doing God knows what!"
"Uh…" Shadra grunted, taken aback.
"I work sixteen hours a day! I just wanted a free weekend, but no, you have to be out partying so I have to wait up all night to tell you your mother's dead! Learn some consideration! Learn some responsibility!"
"My mother's… dead?"
This small question effectively stopped Chiaka in her tracks. All eyes were on the black-haired girl, who suddenly seemed weak and fragile. Her eyes were cast downward, her shoulders slumped. She shivered as a swift morning breeze swept around them.
Shadra fell unconscious, the night taking its toll.
To be continued...