Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or the fourth opening song from Inuyasha "Grip!"

A/N: Slight AU, but very, very little of it, from this chappy onwards. No more new characters are going to be added to make it easier cause lol, everyone's just everywhere with their guesses. From this chapter on or after this chapter, I'm not going to say. For those who know this song, I'm only pulling out snippets of the lyrics, not the whole thing. English included, please read and review.

Entry 6

"Ohaya!"

Excuse me?

"Doushito no?"

Pardon me?

"Daijoubu desu ka?"

What?
They were like The Odd Couple, except the fact that they weren't a couple. Water and dust, heavy and light, gentle and rough, etcetera, etcetera. Or a comparison a little bit closer to home, well home for the past few minutes anyways, Yin and Yang. Message across, point taken.

Grey and stout, his forehead was lined with folded wrinkles beneath flimsy strands of aged tresses. For one of a seasoned soldier appearance, his stance is stern, determined decisive; almost intimidating had it not been to the obvious weariness in his composure. A pair of dark eyes filled with volumes worth of history, knowledge and experience scan up and down every aspect of the youth before him. A few grunts escape his throat. Some nods here and there.

Somewhat like a canine breeder inspecting the newest puppy in the litter.

Every so often, the right corner of his faded lips would tug upwards in a gesture of approval or pulled down (with a 'click' of the tongue) in a negative response. The rest just followed the ensemble naturally. Arms folded neatly with the elbows pointing to 3 and 9. Feet slightly parted level to the shoulders. Back straight, though with a slightly rounded posture. And dignity clearly radiating from the man's overall.......presence.

Then again, you can't judge someone by his looks; you need his words for confirmation. "You must be the shonen we have been expecting." "Come in." "Your bedroom is up the stairs, the third door on the right after the first turn." "The other rooms aside the obvious are forbidden." "I shall call you down for dinner when it is time." "You may address me as sofu, or "Pops" if you wish."

First impression confirmed. And his attire? Well.....

One may think he has acres worth of agricultural land in his backyard. I'm saying that of course with no real insult intended. Courtesy is a key issue in this country; I learned that the hard way.

A bright, sincere smile on a pair of rose, pink lips grace a gentle, delicately refined countenance. Two happy, sparkling orbs with a miniscule tinge of worry match her looks perfectly. Thick strands of her hair surround her head and fall just above her shoulders in straight, short, layered locks. She carried the same straight posture and confident demeanour as the man but had more of a softened, feminine stance and a considerable height advantage to him.

Silky hands grab my own in a welcoming handshake as she slowly leads me into her home. Light and cheery remarks to match: "My, such an amai person you are, do come in dear." "Make yourself at home; no need to be shy." "If you need anything, feel free to motomeru, oh sorry, I mean ask, okay?" "Well, let's see now......why don't you call me /giggles softly/ omaasan, I really don't like formalities."

Meh, 'omaasan' must be her name or something if she didn't like formalities.

The house was not quite what I'm used to seeing but I guess the differences lie in the fact that this is Japan, a place practically (maybe a little bit on the exaggerating side) half way around the world from where I grew up. When it all boils down, this place is primarily not too different from average homes I've seen. It's clean with a few bouquets of flowers sitting vases and pictures hanging on the walls. There's a kitchen, living room, bedrooms, bathroom, the works. The T.V. was turned on showing, what I'm guessing, is a Japanese animation show. And of course, furniture galore. Well, now, I'm better off than I thought.

At least this time.

There was nothing much to see so I headed for my bedroom right away. Passing by the living room, I couldn't help but catch the show in on T.V. with the teensy bit of interest. Okay fine, it was weird, that's why it caught my attention. But hey, who isn't captivated by the 'abnormal' or 'out of the ordinary'? Some white haired dog-uh-guy was swinging around a giant sword and fighting all these bizarre-looking creatures. I didn't really understand the theme song because well, DUH! But the music was catchy.

Nigedasu koto mo dekizu ni yume ni sugaritsu Itkasama na habi nado ni wa mou makenai (Unable to escape from it, we cling to our dreams; we won't lose anymore to the everyday trickery)

"Ahem, cough, cough"

Whoa, since when has he been standing there? He must not like me or something. 'Sofu' or 'pops' or whatever is giving me strange looks already. Is it because I'm watching his T.V. when I'm not supposed to or is it something else? It's sort of unnerving having that old man stand there by the door just...glaring at me. Better go up to my room.

The music is so loud that I could still hear it as I walk quietly to my room, trying my best to avoid any eye contact. How stupid of me to make a first impression like that. Especially in front of a person like that. Funny how his glance dropped straight to my treasure when I walked by, but of course how could I have known that when I wasn't making eye contact right? Yeah right. This family's hating me already.

"Hmm, Sennen Item....."

I'm going to ignore that.

The bedroom was...wow! I mean this is too good to be true. Details? What can I say? There's just too much to say. This is something I just can't say. Is there a point to anything I say? Then there's really nothing to say. I'm flabergastered. There, I just said it. Perhaps something a bit more understandable. Well this could be compared to eating plain bread all your life and suddenly being introduced to a variety of different cakes. The place seemed to have be made for my arrival. A medium-sized bed in the centre with a nightstand to its left. Small shelves holding figurines of various sizes. A bookshelf filled with books (in Japanese). And a closet to hold clothes and other miscellaneous items. This may not seem like much but it's too much for me.

All this is wonderful. Too wonderful even. But, the joy from learning of what you have in your hand or what you are to gain lasts for that instant moment and then you are back to where you started. What do I do with all this? Stare at it? Then when I'm done, stare at it some more? So what do I do after that? This room is, in reality, very empty. It's been empty the moment I arrived here and will remain empty until I really find something that'll last me. The word 'find' is very accurate, actually. I know what I need, all I have to do is find it. My search has been all too long and the emptiness is growing very familiar. Six, this being the seventh, different places, with six different families, with six different environments, with six different expectations and I'm still searching.

Mezameyou kono shunkan wo; yagate bokura wo torimaku dearou; musekaeru you na riaru na nichijou; taisetsu na mono wa...nanda'?! (Wake up right now; soon we seem to be surrounded; by the REAL world choking us; your important person...is who?)

Just relax and calm down now. The bed sheets feel cool and crisp under my fingers as I tiredly flop down on the mattress, sinking into its softness. The music from downstairs filtering into my ears is something that'll keep my mind from wandering. Either that or, it would promote deeper wandering, though the language is foreign to me. The T.V. sure is loud.

Zeitaku na sekai no naka ni miekakure suru eien no kakera; sawatte tsukanade bokura no ima wo kicchiri aruitekou (In the luxury world, shards of eternity are appearing and disappearing; touch and seize it, now let's precisely walk this way)

I don't want to believe it, but its reality. I give it six months, a year at best before Julie receives The Call. The call to get me out of here as quickly as possible. The call to relocate me to a place far away, out of these people's hair. The call that would mean disappointing her AGAIN, and that, for me, there's still more searching to do. All well, best to look up and not think about that. Take it one day at a time, because after all, what do I know? With time, the unknown will become the known, that's what my sister always taught me. There goes the wondering.

"Koukai wa shinai" to, saki e susunda; warau ka, naku ka? Kou ka, fukou ka? Kekkyoku ima mo wakaranai kedo; kawarihajimeta mirai ni hirumo koto wa nai ("Without regret" we advanced to our destination; will we laugh? Will we cry? Will we be happy? Will we be unhappy? Afterall now, yet I still don't understand; in the future you start to change, don't falter)

Thinking negatively brings negative thoughts. Negative thoughts bring negative realities. Where did I hear that from? Negative realities, come and go as they wish. You don't necessarily need to think about them. And I am being positive. Why not? Up, up, there's not way but up from here. Positive, positive, positive. The word is starting to lose meaning already.

Sore ga jinsei no daigomi to iu mono deshou (That's life's essence)

A knock on the door

"May I come in?"

"Yes"

A head pokes in through the creaked-open door. Oh, it's him. Pops opens the door all the way and quietly lets himself in. The music raises a notch in volume as the door opens but drowns out again as he shuts it. I could still hear it. Very loud indeed.

Sitting himself down on the edge of the bed, he picks up a small figurine off the nightstand and fiddles around with it. He's just sitting there, silently staring at the little figure in his wrinkly hands, not saying a word. He must be deeply absorbed. This isn't the reason why he came here. Whatever he means to say must be difficult.

"I feel this is an appropriate time to talk since you will be with us from now on."

His voice is a soothing whisper, nothing like the way he spoke to me before.

"I apologize for my unwelcoming attitude towards you earlier."

"Uh, that's alright, I didn't notice."

"The truth is, we are very pleased to have you here with us, I just had a terrible headache before so I wasn't in the best of moods."

"Oh, okay."

"If you don't mind my asking of your history, may I ask what forced to go through so many different homes?'

Reikoku na sekai no naka de tsubusaresou na aijou no mebuki; sawatte tsukande bokura no ima ni shikkari kizamakomou (In this cruel world, love's bud will probably be smashed; touch and seize it, now we engrave it firmly)

"She said I wasn't compatible with them."

"Is that a necessity? There must be another reason."

"There isn't."

"/chuckles/ be honest now boy."

"They didn't like me and I never cared for them either."

His eyes widened a bit at the sheer bluntness of my comment. Ack, tone it down, tone it down, remember the courtesy.

"I'm so sorry."

"No need, you were being truthful. Tell me, do you like it here?"

"Yes, thank you so much for you hospitality, it's more than I deserve."

"You're too formal, you don't need to be so, excuse me, 'uptight' in this household, this is Japan after all."

".....OO......"

"And don't put yourself down either, you're a unique individual, or else why would you have received a Sennen Item."

"What'd you say?"

"Just, nothing. Old man's drabble is all."

"So you know about this golden...thing? Can you tell me about it?"

"No"

"But I – "

"I was just...mindlessly thinking out loud, I don't know anything."

'I thought- "

"I don't know anything about it, just keep it safe so no, no robbers would try to break into my house and steal it."

"But sir!"

"I don't want the peace in my home disturbed because you brought a hunk of eye-catching gold into it."

"But you just called it the Sennen Item"

"I said no such thing."

"But I – "

"I said NO SUCH THING!

"It's just that – "

"My, you are a cheeky one aren't you? Learn to speak to your elders properly."

"I-I must have....m-misheard you."

"Yes you did. I will be preparing dinner downstairs, wash up or skip it, your choice."

And with that, he stands up and is out the door within three seconds. First day and I manage to screw it up already. How long am I going to last in this place if I have to live with that everyday? One minute he's cranky and mean, the next he's all "don't be so uptight, this is Japan", then he yells at me and storms out of the room, and for no good reason either. He did, have a weird eye for my treasure; maybe he plans to take it. He did mention someone 'stealing' it. No doubt he's hinting at something there. I must be careful, obviously I can't trust anyone here, I guess it's time to find another hiding place.

If Julie was here right now, she would have tisked at me for my sudden suspicion. "So you started off on the wrong foot," she would say. "so you've caused a small upset with a family member, and so it seems like they dislike you, but that doesn't mean they hate you or that you've messed up, with time, you can gain their trust and they'll see you for the person you really are." That Julie, always saw the good in everyone. She's never given up on anything and has always found a loophole in any tough situation. She's really one to look up to. And she's right; I can make up for this, even if it's going to be hard. Courteous, respectful, politeness, courteous, respectful, politeness. That's the way.

Saigo ni, warau tame bokura no ima wo kicchiri aruitekou (In order to smile in the end, we now walk precisely this way)

End Entry

In case anyone was wondering:

Ohaya = good morning

Doushito no = what's wrong?

Daijoubu desu ka = are you okay?

Amai = sweet

Replies:

Molly-chan the Anime/Game fan: Actually, AU makes it a lot easier for me to write cause it would be too obvious if I didn't. It was already kinda AU anyways, so no need to worry about it. I'm not adding anymore characters to make up for that AU thingy, though, that's something right? Anyways, thanks for the review.

yla/all4him: A lot of people seem to like that stuff though. The more twisted they get the more people they bring in. It's hard to imagine where all that came from because I don't think you see too much of it in anime, specifically Yu-Gi-Oh. So, you still think its Ryou huh? Okay, lol, thanks for reviewing.

Fushicho Hime: Hey, thanks for liking this. Uh...for me, this is just plain strange. And I can't help but make it strange because of the trying-to-hide- hikari's-identity thing and the fact that it's written in first person so I'm trying to make everything observed as realistic and possible. You have a good point about Ryou's eyes, they're very warm and gentle aren't they? Thanks for the review!

Dark Magician Girl / Hikaru: Well, it is just one of them. My descriptions have been hopping around a lot so it's confusing. I'm trying to make the next chapters more exciting but technically the hikari hasn't met any of the characters yet so nothing much can happen then and it's in first person so he writes what he sees/feels. Thanks for the review!

Yugi and Mai: You're right, Ryou and Malik are both from different countries so it only makes sense that they're the only possibilities right? Well, this has a teensy bit of AU in it so Yugi could be from anywhere as well. The hikari never really mentioned where he was from so, well, who knows. Thanks for the review and yeah, the Marik duel is much better than the Pegasus one.

inuyasha0001: sigh you don't know how lucky you are. Guess I should've been happy that they only repeated the episodes because now they took it off the air. Poof, gone, hopefully not forever. I put this song in as sort of a special little thing for Inuyasha going off the air, but I think they're just spending time dubbing the newer episodes. Thanks for reviewing!