The Job
Jounouchi dozed lightly, his body bent over on the hard plastic desk chair. He was supposed to be watching over Yuugi, the smaller boy had been sleeping restlessly for a few hours now, but when he'd calmed down Jounouchi had found the warm dark room a little too cosy…
Honda was also sleeping, though he was downstairs in front of the television. The sound was turned down so as not to disturb Yuugi. Had he been awake he'd have seen the reason why Yuugi's sleep was no longer restless.
Yuugi, as if in a trance, unlocked the front door and stepped out into the icy night's air. The summer had been a cool one, and the dreary day's weather had continued into the night, and chilling winds whipped at his exposed skin. Yuugi barely noticed, instead he began to make his way to a destination unknown even to him.
Even if he had been coherent Yuugi wouldn't have worried. A warm presence in the back of his mind was guiding him and knew fully well where they were going and what to expect. And no harm would come to his aibou so long as the spirit remained standing.
-
Jounouchi rolled over gently, his sleep-fogged mind quite willing to go back to sleep. Unfortunately he wasn't in a bed, so his rolling landed him on the floor in an undignified heap amongst a few dirty plates and clothes.
Rubbing his eyes Jounouchi glanced at his digital watch and decided that despite the time he was hungry. It was nearly midnight so would constitute as an early midnight snack. He grabbed onto the bed to pull himself up when he noticed a distinct lack of…anything. His still sleepy mind quickly woke up and started to panic. The bed was empty, and Yuugi was gone.
He ran to the bathroom, thinking maybe he was over reacting, but found the bathroom empty and remembered that Yuugi had been too tired and weak to stay awake earlier so was probably in no condition to be walking around on his own.
Jounouchi skidded across the wooden floored hallway and stumbled down the stairs so loudly that Honda woke up a long time before the screams started.
"Honda wake up Yuugi's missing and I don't know where he's gone and it's all my fault!" Honda blinked a few times, and registered the message trying to pick apart the words that had jumbled together. Being slightly calmer and more logical than Jounouchi he decided that running around wasn't the best option.
"Jounouchi-kun, the front door's wide open so I think it's safe to assume he's not here anymore." He glanced quizzically to the blonde who had been frantically searching through a biscuit tin for the missing Yuugi. "I know he's small but I doubt he'd fit there anyway. Grab your jacket and let's go."
Jounouchi nodded and took out a biscuit for comfort. A few minutes later they had locked up and were roaming the streets for their missing friend.
-
Yuugi found himself outside a large apartment complex, not really sure what to do now. The spirit had known where to go but how to get in was another task entirely. The doors were shut firmly with an automatic lock. Yuugi stood still for a while and was about to unleash some shadow magic when the door opened on its own. Smirking he assumed it had simply obeyed his wishes, but a tall silvery figure towered before him, a smirk on his own lips.
"Well, well, what would you be doing here?" Yuugi looked up, and the taller boy's smirk dropped. "You're not Yuugi." His eyes narrowed sceptically, and fell on the golden puzzle strapped around his neck.
"How very observant, and I in turn will assume your host is no longer in control. Shall we take this somewhere else or would you like these walls to be stained with your blood?" The figure gave a hollow laugh and pushed past 'Yuugi'.
"Follow me, Ryou wouldn't be happy to find a murder had been committed by his home; and to find it was his only friend may shock him more than I would like."
-
"Yuugi!"
Jounouchi called in vain down a dark alley to a rather startled cat. Honda sighed and glanced around, they'd been searching for half an hour and there was no way of telling how long Yuugi had already been gone. The boy could be half way across Domino city by now.
"H-Honda…" The brunette turned to Jounouchi who had become unnaturally quite. He followed his friends gaze to the skyline just beside the tall tower of Kaiba Corporation. A thin blue beam or light had shot towards the starts tearing through the night's sky.
"Whoa…what is that thing?"
"I don't know, but something's telling me we that's where we'll find Yuugi." Honda nodded, not really knowing why Yuugi would be there just knowing that he would. He felt the need to voice the concern that was on both their minds.
"I just hope we get there in time."
-
"Well pharaoh, it's been a while hasn't it? Five thousand years is a long time to wait pharaoh, and my patience has worn thin. Your puzzle is still desirable but I think I want more from you now. It is, after all, your fault for my imprisonment inside of this, thing." He indicated the Sennen Ring with disgust. "Five thousand years is a long time to think things over pharaoh, and I've been dreaming of this moment for a long time. You've become domesticated, too. Running after that little Hikari of yours…you've even been given a name, Yami."
"You think I just sat content in the puzzle? Thief you can try to take my puzzle if you wish, but my hatred for you has only grown. A hikari is not a weakness, and yours will have influenced you too, Bakura. If you think you can win, go ahead. " Yami smirked, the golden artificial light of a street lamp reflecting off the sharp edges of the Sennen Puzzle.
Bakura's ring glowed slightly and emitted a beam of blue light.
"I don't want any interruptions from my Hikari, now do I? A few hours locked in his soul room should do the trick; I hope to have you finished by then." He slipped a pale hand into his pocket and retrieved a golden dagger; ornate Egyptian patterns covered the handle.
"Like it, pharaoh? It was stolen from your tomb, after all. I've just added a little surprise." He smirked and flung the metal slither towards Yami who couldn't dodge in time, the metal slicing through his arm. The wound stung, and Yami fell to the ground wincing.
"Hurt's, doesn't it? It should do more than hurt, I laced the blade with a special poison, also stolen from you, I believe. Since this isn't your body, though, I fail to why you're making such a fuss. Get up and fight me, pharaoh. I've waited a long time for this meeting and I want you at your best."
Yami fought to keep his eyes open, and stood shakily trying to see clearly even though the alley was melting around him. The knife had cut deeply, and his arm was going numb. Warm crimson blood was gliding freely over his skin, there was so much blood. His last conscious vision was of a frowning Bakura who seemed somewhat disappointed in him.
"Just why did you come here, pharaoh? Do you want my ring, is that it?" Yami frowned and attempted to sit up.
"I sensed your power, and I'm going to stop you before you hurt Yuugi." Bakura rolled his eyes and turned his back on the bleeding form.
"You are beyond hope, pharaoh, and while you still care for that Hikari of yours you will always be weaker than I. Learn to disregard his well being; it's your body now. When you're ready for a rematch you know where to find me."
With that the silver-haired yami stalked down the alley, he was vaguely aware of two pairs of running footsteps and a cry of anguish. Yami would live for now, and had tasted one of his poisons. He still had five more to go.
"Till we meet again…Atemu."
To be Continued
Please review.
Ooh, plot. It's always nice to be on the eighth chapter and finally see the weavings of a plotline, isn't it? I made it to over a hundred reviews! YAY! -Hugs everyone- Thank you so much, it really does mean a lot to me.
Big hugs to my wonderful reviewers: Snow Angel, Yana5, Green Phantom Queen, Luthien-Defender, YumeTakato, Miguels-Lover, sadistic-darkbitch (cool name, by the way!), Opia-fire, Yamishadowcat22, lifelesschild, Serena the Hikari of Love, cute-little-Yugi, Kiki-sama, Rikainiel, Dreamer Wolf, PINKIE 2, Hikari Kaiya, darkmistressofyaoi, Seigyoku Kiryou and I love athrun (Thank you for reviewing all the chapters, it really made my day!)
-Completed: 27th July 2005
-Dagger