yDisclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, it's characters, cards, places, or anything else. I do, however, own Keiko, so no stealing! Do it, I'll give you to my bandersnatch as a birthday present.
Chapter One: Reunion
((Keiko's POV))
It wasn't happening; it couldn't be. At least, that's what I tried to believe, but it was hard when in an airport on another continent. I'd never thought of running away before, had never considered abandoning a problem, but this time was different. Very different. This time, I didn't have control.
Another glance at my cell phone told me I'd been waiting for only ten minutes, but it felt more like years. 'Where is he?' I shouldn't have expected him to drop everything because of me, but in the back of my mind, I knew he would. Ryou was my brother, after all; he'd do anything for me.
"Keiko?" Slipping around the edge or a small crowd was a boy with long white hair and a slight build. He seemed cheerful enough, but his smile didn't seem to quite reach his eyes. I almost felt guilty about it. I knew he was worried, especially since I'd called him about an hour before the jet I'd "borrowed" was going to land. The message was vague, telling him where I'd be and when, never asking him to come - that part was assumed by both of us.
Whatever he was going to say next was cut off as I jumped up and hugged him, telling myself that the extra hard squeeze was from missing him and not wanting to make sure he was real. He was - it all was, which meant that I couldn't wake to another reality and call it a dream.
"Thank you," I whispered. He was silent, and I thought at first it was from surprise; I was, by nature, not one for affection.
"Can't...breathe..." I laughed sheepishly and lessened my grip as he returned the hug, pulling away after a moment to look at him. Five years should have done more to him, I realized. He hadn't changed all that much since we were kids, maybe grown an inch or two along the way; I could still break him with one hand if I wanted to.
"Sorry about that...and this. I--"
"Don't worry about it," he dismissed with a wave of his hand. "I'm just glad you still remember me after all this time, though an earlier warning would have been nice." He studied me for a moment before losing some of his gentleness.
"What's wrong?"
"Wrong? Why would anything be wrong? Can't I come and see my brother every great once in a while?" Well, that was true, anyway. Still, the innocent act had never worked before, and now was no exception. His expectant look made me feel like a child trying to fool their parent, and I felt just as awkward.
"Will you stop already? I just wanted to get away from home for a while, that's all." I looked around the reception, making sure no one was listening to us. Thankfully, none were, but that didn't make what I was about to ask any easier.
((Ryou's POV))
"Can I come home?" The question caught me off guard, to say the least. Keiko had never asked for anything. She wouldn't even look at me as she spoke, opting to pick out some spot just above my shoulder. Something was obviously bothering her, but my sister's always been a little hard to pin down, so I didn't bother asking. Well, out loud, anyway.
"I don't see why not." It hurt that she had to ask, but I smiled again for her sake and nodded, picking up one of her duffle bags before leading the way through the clusters of people, mostly tourists. She smiled slightly in return and we talked absently for a few minutes, but the tension was still there. I, however, was having another, rather heated conversation, if a conversation means fighting off a very curious dark side that rebelled at the thought of having to share our apartment with someone else, especially a seemingly weak girl; wasn't it bad enough we shared the same body? Thankfully, he was in a lazy mood and didn't seem too intent on seeing for himself.
I could see why he thought she was weak, and that worried me. When I first saw her, I thought maybe it was the wrong person, then maybe my seeing things. Keiko had always been slender, but now she was thin, as though she hadn't been eating enough lately. That was unlikely, seeing as how she ate like a fish needs water. Something was off, but I couldn't place my finger on what. She looked fine otherwise, her thick raven hair pulled back halfway, hanging just past her shoulders as wayward strands framed intelligent gold eyes. I'd say beautiful but anyone else would argue exotic. Too bad she was never interested in anything like that.
"Left here, right?"
"You remember?" She snorted and shook her head before turning, leaving me to follow silently. Well, physically silent, anyway. My yami seemed to have realized that I was serious about her staying and was letting me know exactly how he felt about it; his enthusiasm was enough to make me blush.
"Give me less than five minutes and she'll be on the next plane back home." It went on like that for a while before he decided he'd spent enough energy protesting her stay and seemed to retreat to some hidden corner in my mind. I figured it wouldn't be long until he decided to take matters into his own hands...my hands.
Home, as it was, was an apartment I shared with my father, though I was the only one living in it; he was always off at an archeological dig or something, so I was usually alone. It was rather large, with a room that at one point had been Keiko's. I still didn't understand why she called it that, but her reasons were her own.
"Hasn't changed," she murmured, dropping her bag on the sofa. "Good."
"I don't get the urge to redecorate the place every other day," I reminded her, enjoying her smile. It was a rare sight, one that I wished I could see more often. She reminded me of someone when she didn't, looking lost or even apathetic, though it was hard to believe. Everyone back then always contrasted us. I was the moon - pale, quiet one who kept to himself - and she was the sun, due to her vivid eyes and energy.
"It wasn't every other day." She followed her pack onto the sofa with a careless flop and leaned her head back to look at me upside-down. "It was more like, oh, twice a week."
"Close enough." Shutting the door, I took care to make sure nothing would break before I set down her bag and sank in the cushion next to her. "I'm still not taking you to any paint or fabric stores; I rather like knowing what home's going to look like when I come back." There was that word again - home.
"Yes, 'Kura." I flushed slightly at the old nickname; she was taunting me, trying to see if I would take the bait. It was a tempting idea, but I opted to turn on the television instead and distract all three of us. She didn't want to talk, not really, and I knew if I started, I'd get to the core questions. If Keiko wasn't ready, things would get ugly quickly, so any escape was a good one.
"Chicken," she muttered, stretching out on the couch so that her head rested on my lap.
"I don't see you complaining."
"Blame it on jet lag. Five straight hours of flight does that." As though to prove her point, she stretched again and yawned before turning her head to the flashing screen. "I've seen this one before; it's an old American horror. Pretty good, actually, with actual horror, not just blood and guts."
"Care to refresh your Japanese?" She chuckled and made herself comfortable, grabbing the comforter off the back of the couch. She obviously believed whatever had forced her to Japan would stay away.
Somewhere within the first hour, she proved her jetlag theory and fell asleep, curled up under the comforter and sleeping peacefully. I could remember the days, however, when she had done anything but.
Keiko had been seven years old when we'd taken her in; seven lost, lonely, and frightened years. We'd been warned about what they had called her 'insomnia' and assumed we would be able to handle it. We were a bunch of night-owls, so we wouldn't mind having to ease her to sleep. We had assumed that she was going to be restless, or even stoic, but silent. What we got was anything but. She absolutely refused to go to sleep, screaming in a way that would make your blood run cold at the thought. She trashed her room and absolutely refused to let anyone anywhere near her, biting and kicking and yelling intelligibly. Though she didn't seem to like my father on the whole, it was always the worst at night. It had gone on like that for over a week, and it was decided that she would go back the next day; nobody could handle the stress of trying calm her. It was like expecting a mother tiger to not protect her cubs - it just didn't happen.
I honestly don't know what drove me to see her that night, but I did. I slipped inside and left the door open just a crack so I could see where everything was; the lamp had been one of the first things to go. Somehow, she ended up crying herself to sleep that night, and I stayed with her. It didn't solve the problem, but it did make it easier.
The movie turned out to be rather interesting, though it was definitely set more to my sister's taste than mine. Yawning, I stretched and grumbled about sleep being contagious before glancing down at my sister as she slept. We'd decided to let her stay after that, but I'd pretty much been a therapy tool for a long time; after she stopped screaming and destroying everything, she just didn't sleep. It took forever to get her to even try.
"What brought you here? What chased you halfway across the world?" A muffled buzzing interrupted my thoughts, and it took me a few moments to realize that she'd set her phone to vibrate.
"Keiko," I said gently, shaking her shoulder. "Wake up."
((Keiko's POV))
"…ko, wake up." Soft words with a familiar, sweet accent penetrated the darkest corners of my mind, pulling me away from the sweet oblivion sleep offered. "Wake up - you're phone's ringing." Grumbling, I curled further into the covers and tried to ignore the insistent voice. A soft jabbing on my temple finally convinced me to wake up, though it took a few minutes to realize what was being said. Still half asleep, I searched my back pocket before finding the nearly dead phone and flipping it on.
"Hello?" I stifled a yawn and started to sit up, then changed my mind.
Not only was the voice on the other side of the line cool and elegant, it was self-confident and slightly conniving. It was a voice I would never be able to forget, and I fully woke at the sound of it, sitting up so abruptly that my forehead smacked Ryou under the chin.
"Hello, Keiko." It was my father. "I hope your flight was all right."
Suddenly, Japan wasn't far enough.
A/N: This is my first fic, so please review! Also, a great big thanks to Kaydera, who read this first and gave me the confidence I needed to post this fic.
