Double Meaning

gninaeM elbuoD

(( Mondai Senshi ))

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Another Japanese word shall be added here - 'Dono'. It is very much like 'chan' (( or 'san,' 'kun,' 'sama,' etc. )) except that this word means master, and was used in the days of the samurai. It's all-but lost now. But I think I like it.

Disclaimer: None of the characters in this fic belong to me, and no profit is being made in writing this story.

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Every day in class, Ryou took notes diligantly and did all of his work. But when he was put on the spot to answer a problem, he would mumble an apology that he had not been paying attention. This, alone, was unusual enough to cause a commotion in the class, and his constant excuses of having too much homework to hang out with his friends did not seem to fit his constant inability to produce the homework the next morning.

Yet Ryou's distraction was only a part of the change. The spirit of the puzzle had not caught trace of Bakura in several weeks, and, as it turned out, neither had Ryou. After all that had happened, Bakura seemed to feel either too angry or too uncomfortable to make himself seen. Ryou would constantly visit his soul room, but even when Bakura wasn't locked away he was very distant in disposition. Ryou found himself unable to gather the strength and courage to ask Bakura, and he certainly would not open up without some coaxing.

Still, Ryou hoped and waited for a better mood before he would attempt to ask anything. He had convinced himself that Bakura was not in the mood to entertain, and expecting any more of him was certain and instant doom.

Ryou sat quietly, studying the appearance and meanings of the hieroglyphs, trying to find a pattern. He sketched some of the drawings that scrawled across the walls in the background of the symbols. Bakura suddenly reached over his shoulder, pointing to the sketch that Ryou was working on, saying simply, "Your proportions are off."

Ryou jumped slightly when Bakura reached over his shoulder, then looked up at the spirit's face with a kind of bewilderment. Bakura stood and watched over Ryou's shoulder for a minute. Ryou quickly put the pencil back to the paper and attempted to finish the sketch, but he could think only of the fact that Bakura was watching him. He stood, then, as well, and thanked Bakura, then vanished again as he left his mind and returned to the tangible world he had known for years.

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That night Ryou let his mind wander while he sat on his bed, not tired enough to sleep. He pulled out his notepad and began to study the hieroglyphs again, chewing lightly on the eraser of his pencil. Whenever a thought occured to him, no matter how abstract or seemingly useless, he wrote it down quickly in case it may help him later. Then he began to draw, not being able to concentrate any more. Ryou closed his notepad again and placed it on the floor beside him, then lay back in his bed. After a few minutes he spoke. "Yami-chan?"

Bakura appeared, but hesitantly, seeming annoyed. "What is it?"

Ryou sighed. "What was it like in Egypt?"

Bakura seemed to be thinking over this for several minutes before he replied, "I could show you."

Ryou sat upright immediately, somewhat startling Bakura. "Can you really?"

Bakura grinned, the usual malicious twist to the otherwise kind face. "Of course. However, I can only show you while we are in my soul room."

"Yours? Why only yours?"

The grin was quickly replaced with irritation. "Because I don't like your soul room."

Ryou lowered his eyes and nodded lightly. Bakura again vanished into the air, and Ryou, too, let his mind wander to the room of his soul.

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Ryou's form took shape in Bakura's soul room, and he looked at Bakura with an eager and curious expression. Bakura frowned, but stood in front of him, calling upon the power of the Millenium Ring. While inside of the soul room, the artifact had an effect on both of the two at the same time. Ryou felt the ground dissapear beneath his feet as he and Bakura defied laws of time and space, and he soon was surrounded by ancient egyptian life. He looked around, taking in the surroundings. He turned to the shadow of an egyptian structure and, seeing somebody sitting there, stared in intense disbelief.

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Uh, yeah. X3 Sorry for the (quote-unquote) cliff-hanger, but I really wanted to update, and I hafta go, and whatnot, etc., I'm getting somewhere, now.