Inari: Hello everyone! This is my first fic! (cheers) I think that this chapter turned out better than I expected. I wouldn't say it's the next great epic, but at least it's not trash. I like it best out of all my fanfictions, so this is the one I'm posting first. Hopefully I'll post more soon, but for now it's just this. To start with: This is rated K+. I will try to maintain that rating, but I may change it depending on how 'scary' it gets. So anyway, here are the symbols and character names I will be using:
"words here" -Hikari to Yami and vice-versa.
Ryou Bakura will be Ryou. Dark Bakura will be Bakura. Mutou Yuugi and Dark Yuugi will be spelled Yugi Mutou and Atemu. Everyone else will be using their Japanese names. And Yugi's mom does appear in the manga occasionally.
Atemu: Wait... why do I have to be Atemu? Couldn't I be 'Atem', or 'The At-man', or heck, how about plain old 'Yami'!
Inari: (sighs) Yugi, you do the disclaimer, and say something funny!
Yugi: But I can't think of anything funny! (shrugs) Tavi does not own Yugioh. If she did, she would be rich and famous.
Inari: And not writing on a fanfiction site.
Yugi: That too. So here's the fic.
Inari: Enjoy!
Prologue
We are only children.
I realize that now. We shouldn't be in this position. We were in over our heads from the start.
Now I am hanging for my life, gripping the cliff ledge for all I've got, trying my best to hold on. But I am nearing my limit. My strength is about to give out.
And then I will die.
What will happen to the others when I'm gone? I can see them just a few feet above me. They are yelling something. Only two left, though. Kata and Matsu were captured. It was all my fault. They will all be better off without me. After all, I was the one who got us here in the first place. Leading a bunch of kids into danger. You see, I wanted a real victory. I wanted justice, wanted to stop innocent people from dying. I wanted to believe that I could save the world.
I was foolish.
And now the innocent people dying will be us.
Ryou is up there. And now I'm recalling the conversation we had. The conversation about mother. How much we had loved her when she was alive. How terrible it was to see her die. How it never should have happened. How he wished he could have done something. It was all because of our items. We thought we could use them to save the world.
We tried. Oh, we tried. But how were we to know that there was a traitor among us? He was there the whole time, and we never realized that he was working for more than one goal. He tried to put us off the track, fool us into believing that her sudden disappearance was an accident. And we were fooled, briefly.
I should have left it where it ended, but I didn't. Something didn't feel right.
It never does.
My vision is swimming now. Their faces are blurred and swaying. Colors are blending together. My arms are trembling with the strain. And I realize it was all pointless. All for nothing.
My life is flashing before my eyes. Not my whole life. I'm grateful for that. Just the important pieces. I wish that I could say that by my sacrifice the world would be safe.
Maybe someone else will rise up to protect the planet, or maybe not. I pray for the former.
But now my life is over.
I am falling.
Chapter One
"Ryou, hurry up!"
"I'll hurry up if you slow down. Stop going so fast!"
It was Friday. The last day of school before a weekend of fun. Yugi Mutou was on his way home from school, with Ryou Bakura in tow. The two boys were headed for the Kame Game Shop to do their homework.
With the recent disappearances in the neighborhood, Yugi thought that it would be safer to have Ryou stay at his place after school. His grandfather and Ryou had agreed, and now Ryou was officially spending the night. Yugi, in an attempt to get home before it started pouring, was running as fast as his short little legs could take him.
Realizing that Ryou was not with him, Yugi stopped and turned around, his spiky red hair waving in the wind. Panting, Ryou slowly caught up to him.
"Don't you... ever... ever... do that... again." he wheezed.
"Sorry, I was just trying to beat the rain," said Yugi.
"Come on Yugi, look at the sky. I don't see a single cloud. It is not going to rain."
Yugi sighed. "But the weatherman said... oh, never mind. Let's get going. My Grampa's probably waiting for us."
"Okay. One second." Ryou mumbled.
Yugi stopped in mid-step. "What's wrong Ryou? Are you sick or something?"
"No. I was just thinking... Amane used to do that. She was always worried about our parents. Today's the day she died."
"Oh!" Yugi's eyes widened. "I'm so sorry."
"Nah, it's okay. I'm fine."
They walked the rest of the way, chatting about weathermen. True to what Yugi had said, it had indeed begun to rain. Raindrops splashed on their heads as they ran, harder and harder, until they were completely soaked.
It got to the point where it was raining so hard that they couldn't stand it, and Ryou suggested that they stop to wait out the storm in a doorway. "Not going to rain, eh?" Yugi said.
Ryou gave in. "Okay, fine. You were right."
"Um... Ryou..." Yugi started. "About your sister... maybe you should be with your dad today."
Ryou raised an eyebrow.
"So... if you don't want to spend the weekend with me and the guys... you don't have to. They'll understand."
"Yugi, I'm okay. Really. It was only a car crash, there's no point dwelling on the past. Don't worry about me." Ryou gave a sad smile. "After all, worse things have happened to people."
They sat down in silence.
Not two blocks away, a figure was moving slowly down the road. Anyone looking out their window would think upon first glance he was just walking home. Just a little kid. Granted he was hooded, dressed in black, and his shoes were nearly worn through. But so what, you might think. Fashions change, and it is raining. And yet he seemed oblivious to the rain. Some would stop looking then and go make some hot chocolate, thinking how nice it was to be inside. The few that were more interested, however, would see that his behavior was rather odd. Lost in thought, he would walk down the street, but instead of continuing on he would pause for a minute, turn, and walk the other way. After one turn it looked like he was simply going the wrong way. But after five turns, he started to look very odd indeed.
Inside a small brown house on the left side of the street a toddler was thinking just that. "Mommy, he's doing it again," he whimpered after the seventh turn.
"Now Keitaro, I'm sure he has a perfectly good reason to be here," said his mother, although frankly she couldn't decide what that reason was. "There's no reason to be scared."
"Fine." muttered Keitaro as the boy reached the end of the street.
Then suddenly he was gone.
"See? Nothing to worry about." His mother smiled, but the smile was forced. She walked towards the kitchen. "I'm just going to call someone, you wait right here."
And Keitaro was left puzzling over the boy and his sudden disappearance.
Outside the rain had gotten worse. Yugi and Ryou were huddling together, soaked, carefully preserving the little body heat they had left. Sheets of rain poured down around them, sloshing at their feet.
"Yugi, I think this was a really bad idea!" yelled Ryou. "We should get inside, it's dangerous to be outside in this weather!"
Yugi tried fruitlessly to keep rain water off the millennium puzzle. "Good idea! I don't think the puzzle can take much more of this, and neither can I!" He looked around for anyone that could help, but everyone else had gotten inside long before. "The only thing I can think of is to try the door and hope that the residents are friendly." Yugi reached towards the handle and tugged as hard as he could, but to no avail.
"It's locked, " he moaned. "What are we supposed to do now?"
Ryou pounded on the door. "Hello? Is anyone home? We're too far away to get home, we need help! Please!" He collapsed onto the ground shaking. "Please..."
"I doubt you'll receive help here." Yugi and Ryou wheeled around. Standing behind them was a boy who couldn't be more than eleven. He was dressed in black, and his pale hair was clinging to his face.
"Who are you?" said Yugi.
The boy ignored the question and proceeded to take something from his pocket.
"What are you do-" Ryou reached out a hand and stopped. The boy had put something in it. Opening his outstretched hand he saw something shining.
It was a key. Ryou looked up.
"Put it in the door," suggested the boy.
"You... how did you... what did you..." Yugi sputtered. Suddenly the door clicked open. Ryou walked through. "Yugi, the key worked."
Yugi turned to thank the boy, but he was gone. "That's odd."
"Get inside!" Ryou called from the hallway.
Yugi did so with no hesitation. The warmth came as a relief, and he could feel it spreading through his body. "We should probably call Grampa now, he'll be worried."
"Yeah, after all we are an hour late."
"What? We were out there for a whole hour?" Yugi glanced over at a wall clock in panic, as his own watch had stopped due to water damage. Sure enough, it read four-thirty. "Man, I must have lost track of time. Grampa's probably had a heart attack, he'll think that we've been the next murder victims!" He looked around for a phone. "I'm going to call him right now." He started to walk towards the kitchen, then stopped. He had just thought of something that puzzled him.
"Ryou, if that boy if that boy had a key to the house, then why didn't he use it?"
His friend shrugged. "Maybe he stole it and wanted us to take the blame."
Yugi sighed, knowing that that was probably the most probable explanation either of them would think of. "I guess... but why would he steal it and then just throw it away? It doesn't make sense. And how did he know that there was no one home if he came from the street? Somehow I think that there's more going on here than first meets the eye."
The teen went and picked up the phone, dialing his home number. "Hello?"
"Yugi, is that you? You had us worried! Your mother is in tears. Is Ryou with you? Are you okay? Where are you?"
"It's okay Grampa, Ryou's here with me. We couldn't get home, we went inside an empty house for shelter."
"What? Who's house are you in?"
"I don't know, we just came to this house and the door was open," Yugi said. It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't exactly a lie either. "I'm using their phone."
"Okay Yugi... but when the storm stops I want you to come right home. And if the house's owner gets back, you should leave, alright?"
"Alright Grampa. See you later."
"Goodbye Yugi. Be careful coming home." With a click he hung up. Yugi replaced the phone on it's hook and relayed the message to Ryou. The pair, not wanting to get the house too wet, dried their footprints with Yugi's lunch napkin and sat by the door.
Yugi took this time to study the house. It was, he thought, nice in a dull sort of way. Like photos from a furniture catalogue, it was a little too clean. It almost didn't look lived in. All the walls were painted either pale beige or red. The chairs in what Yugi supposed was the living room still looked fresh from the box, without a stain or crease on them. The throw pillows on a large black sofa perched almost impertinently, as if they were saying 'This sofa wasn't made for sitting, it was made for pillows, and we dare you to move us!' There were no photographs anywhere along the walls, only obscure landscape paintings that didn't seem to be pictures of anywhere in particular. A large glass coffee table was spotlessly clean, without even the comfort of a bowl of mints. The pitter patter of rain was momentarily replaced a ripple of thunder which echoed off marble tiled floors, echoing ominously around the house. In short, Yugi concluded, not the kind of place that one would want to live.
"What if the kid was a spirit? Like Atemu, only more helpful?" suggested Ryou.
"A good theory, but highly improbable." said the spirit in question.
"Gah! Atemu, I thought you were asleep!" said Yugi through their mind link.
"I don't sleep. I was thinking." replied Atemu.
"Ryou had a real point there, you're no help at all."
"I wouldn't say that to the guy who saved your sorry little butt... let's see, how many times?"
"Well, oh helpful one, I didn't see you coming to our aid outside."
"What did you expect me to do, pick the lock? That's Bakura's work. Take it out on him
Yugi sighed. "Whatever. Sorry for getting mad Atemu. I'm just kind of ticked that I can't figure this one out. How do you think he got the key?"
"Maybe he lives here. Did you think of that?"
Suddenly they were interrupted by a girl walking through the door. Or trying, anyway. The wind was pulling her umbrella backwards. When she finally yanked it through, she slammed the door and placed the umbrella inside a sliding door closet that neither of them had seen. The girl pulled dark wet hair back into a ponytail and turned around, kicking off her rain boots. Glancing up, she noticed her guests for the first time. "Nasty weather outside, isn't it?" The girl turned a melting smile on them, showing off perfect white teeth and wide brown eyes.
Strike that theory. They sure don't look alike, Yugi thought, out loud saying "I'm sorry we're intruding, but we kind of had to get out of the rain, and... um, well..." Yugi trailed off, blushing. "I'm Yugi Mutou, and this is Ryou Bakura." Ryou smiled shyly. "We were kind of hoping to wait out the storm..."
"No prob. I'm Emiko Kata, nice to meet you," the girl said. "Well now, don't be strangers, come on in!"
Yugi and Ryou followed her into the living room. Emiko gestured to three of the wooden chairs around the room, and they sat.
"So, you go to Domino?" asked Yugi.
"I do now. We used to live in Tokyo. I went to a private school there. We only moved a few months ago. Too bad, it was a nice place. No offense."
"None taken. Why did you move if it was so great?"
"Some kids in my class disappeared. My parents thought that it was a trash school, so they took me out. The same thing's happened here though. It must be going on all over Japan." she shrugged. "By the way, how did you get in?"
"Oh..." Yugi mumbled. He had been worried about this. He decided to tell the truth. "A kid gave us a key."
Ryou took the key out and showed Emiko. "This is it." For a second her face clouded over, then returned to normal. "Oh, that's my spare." She said. "I've been looking for it. Hey look, the rain's stopped. You two better get going. Bye."
Ryou handed her the key on the way out. As he looked back at Emiko in her brown pants and white jacket, he couldn't help but think he had seen her somewhere. As the door closed the boys splashed down the street, one puzzled, the other determined to figure out what was going on.
"Some day. Dead sister, huge thunderstorm. You don't think there could be a connection, do you Ryou?"
"Maybe. We better get to your house though."
Yugi grinned. "Whatever you say, Ryou. Just go quickly. I'm not waiting up for you this time!"
Yugi lived in the Kame Game shop with his mother, father, and Grampa. His father was generally away on business, and his mother was one of those people who always had to be working; so it was usually just him and his Grampa. His mother at least stayed in the house and at least would always see him off to school, but she always did shopping around the time usually came home. Yugi was at first surprised to see his mother and grampa talking in the shop, but then remembered the time.
"Grandpa, Mom, I'm home!" Yugi said as he stepped through the door.
"Oh, good. I made tea. You boys come into the kitchen and dry off!"
Mrs. Mutou tossed them towels, and Yugi and Ryou dried off red and white hair, respectively. The pair walked through the store and into the kitchen that was part of the building. Each boy picked up his cup of tea and sat down at the table. Yugi had never really taken his cluttered kitchen for granted, but after spending an afternoon in Emiko's creepy house, he was feeling particularly grateful towards it. Ryou was obviously feeling the same way, Yugi could see that by the relief showing on his face.
"So?" His grandfather asked. "You going to tell us what happened?" he leaned forward expectantly. "Who owned the house? Did you meet them? Were they famous?"
Mrs. Mutou rolled her eyes. "Suguroku, give them some time to speak."
"It's fine mom." Yugi said. "And to answer your questions grampa-" he took a deep breath- "We were coming home and Ryou said that it wasn't going to rain and we had plenty of time and I should stop running, but it did, start raining I mean, and we were stuck outside for an hour and then the owner of the house came in while we were there and she's this kid named Emiko Kata, she goes to Domino high and we're kind of friends I guess, except she was kind of upset when we left, and got all touchy and so we went home and now we're here." (A/N: If you're reading this out loud you can breathe now.) Yugi paused to see their reactions.
"Wow Yugi, I didn't know you could talk so fast," said Ryou.
Everyone sweatdropped.
"Kata, eh?" said Grampa. "Did she mention who her father was?"
Yugi shrugged. "No."
"Well, that's unfortunate."
"Why, is that, Mr. Mutou?"
"I used to work with a man named Kata. He had a daughter. Twins, actually. I can't remember either of the children's names. But he left the archaeological scene a few years before I did. Said the work didn't pay enough. I don't think he ever really understood that we weren't in it for the money. Never seen him since."
"Sorry Grampa, but I didn't see another girl with Emiko. I don't think it could be your friend."
"Friend? Oh no, we were never friends. He didn't agree with me and Professor Hawkins in our theories about duel monsters. He never thought much of magic or rituals, in fact he was inclined against them." Grampa sighed. "Pity, he was quite promising."
Yugi heard Atemu mumble something about how he'd 'sure believe in magic when I'm through with him' and stifled a laugh.
"Anyway," said Mrs. Mutou, "you two should get to bed. You've had a hard day. Ryou, I set up an airbed in Yugi's room. That's where you can sleep."
"Thanks, Mrs. Mutou."
"You're lucky. I'm surprised neither of you caught-"
"ACHOO!"
"-cold."
"Sorry mom," sniffed Yugi.
Well, that settles it. Bed. Now."
Yugi climbed the stairs sluggishly. He was feeling drowsy and sick, and couldn't agree with his mother more. Upon reaching his room he collapsed on his bed and closed his eyes. I hadn't realized I was so tired, he thought.
So... tired...
He woke up three hours later, still feeling stuffy, but much less than he had been earlier. There was a scratching noise from the corner of his room, and he turned to see Atemu doodling in the sketchbook Yugi had given him. Yugi had done it last week, after Atemu had complained of boredom, just to give him something to do. As it turned out, the spirit had quite a knack for art. It had originally surprised Yugi that he could actually move the pencil, but later he realized that this wasn't so amazing, seeing as the spirit could indeed sit on his bed without falling through.¹
Yugi got up and went over to take a look at the drawing. His friend looked up briefly, but otherwise didn't acknowledge his presence. Assuming that Atemu didn't mind his being there, Yugi took a look at his artwork.
The picture was done in black ink. It appeared to be a park or garden, which, Yugi wasn't sure. Dark trees acted as a border for a path down the middle, and almost appeared to be pointing at the scene down the path. The object they were pointing at appeared to be a bench, surrounded by grass and wild flowers. There was only one person in the sketch, and that was a girl sitting on the bench. She was not looking straight at him, but Yugi was sure that she was the focus of the picture. The girl was wearing a dress and holding flowers. Her long dark hair framed a pointed head, but her face hadn't been filled in yet, so was impossible to tell what she was thinking. It had apparently been raining, for there were puddles on the ground and the girl's dress was wet. The whole view was gloomy and disturbing, and Yugi's heart went out to the girl. An angry growl brought him back to reality.
"Gah!"
"What's wrong, Atemu?"
"I can't do it. Stupid thing."
"Can't do what?"
"Finish the girl's face. I knew what I wanted her to look like, had her pictured in my mind, and then I just lost it."
"Maybe you can finish it tomorrow. Figure it out during the night."
"I don't think that that's going to happen. I better just put it away and forget about it. Every other picture in this book has been like that. Full of faceless people."
"Ah well. Can I at least show your picture to Ryou before you trash it?"
"Fine," replied a depressed Atemu. "It won't help anyway."
Yugi shrugged and walked down the hall, sketchbook in hand. He found Ryou brushing his teeth.
"Yoo-ee," he gargled. "arn' oo shupporsa be n' brd?"
"Umm... what did you say?"
The white haired boy spat out the foam in his mouth. "I said, 'Yugi, aren't you supposed to be in bed?'"
"I guess. I woke up, actually, and Atemu did this picture he doesn't want." Yugi showed Ryou the sketch. "See? Hey, are you okay?"
His friend had suddenly gone very pale. Suddenly Ryou grabbed the sketchbook and ran into Yugi's room, staring at the page as he sat on his airbed.
"Ryou?" Yugi said warily from the door.
"Yugi, this picture... that's... no, I recognize this place! Hang on..." the boy flipped the pages of the notebook, getting paler as he looked at each. "I've been here. All of these places. This is my house. That's the city I used to live in. There's the beach I went to with my family." he paused and pointed. "Oh no..."
Yugi bent down to see what he was looking at. Following Ryou's finger, he saw what he was looking at. A girl, with what he now saw was brown hair, was sitting on the coast. Taking the book back, Yugi flipped a few pages. The girl was in each one, her head in the window of a sketch with children playing ball outside a school, walking down the street, looking at an old statue. Yugi put the book down carefully. He felt no need to keep looking. He had seen enough. He knew.
"Ryou, that's Amane, isn't it?"
1) In any scene involving Yugi in his room, chances are you will see Atemu either standing so that the curtains show through his transparent body, or sitting on Yugi's bed. How he does this I don't know, but it's very cool.
Inari: I'm starting to get really annoyed with this Quick Edit thing. I've had to write my author's note at least three times, since I accidently cut it out of my original document. Hardly a cliff hanger ending, but you still want to read more, right? (cricket chirps) ...Right?
Yugi: (in sick voice) You are ebil. Gibbig me a code was bery mead. (sneezes)
Atemu: ...or Attie, or At-At, or 'Mu, but why Atemu?
Inari: (laughs evilly) So read and review please! Well... you've probably already read to get to this point. Oh well, just review please.