The sun has gone down and the stars are out as Yugi, Yami, Tristan, Joy, Tea, and Alyssa walk down the street. "Did you see that move?" Joey shouts. Hopping up on a park bench, he quotes a line from the movie." On guard, you filthy dog!" He continues with a wide sweep of his arm, imitating the swordplay. "Sounds like something Kaiba would say to you." Tristan says. "Grr...I'm gonna get you for that!" Joey says, jumping off the bench and tackling a laughing Tristan to the ground. Yugi and Tea shake their heads while they debate whether or not to wait for the end of the playful fight. "Gaaah! No biting!" They hear Joey yell, subsequently followed by Tristan yelling "HEY! I thought you just said no biting!"
Yami shakes his head at the pair, though the gesture going unseen. He looks back, finding Alyssa walking slowly behind them a few feet back. She looks intent on her thoughts, and is staring at the ground. Yami sighs. "Where have I seen you before?" He asks himself, falling into step beside her. "If I have ever seen you before." He adds. Alyssa looks up, as if hearing something. She turns and looks straight at the pharaoh, startling him. Shrugging, she sighs and says she must be tired and imagining things.
"Ah!" Yugi says, as Alyssa bumps into him. "Oh! I'm sorry, Yugi." She says. "I wasn't paying attention. Are you okay?" "Nah, it's okay. I'm fine." Yugi says to her. "What about you?" he says. "Hmm?" She asks, looking at him. "You look like you've got a lot on your mind." He says. "Oh…no. Not really. I'm just… thinking." She says, looking off into the distance again.
"Hey you two. That's enough. You can kill each other later. Let's et going!" Tea shouts to the two boys still attacking each other, though a lot less furiously. Yugi laughs. "They'll be okay." Yugi says. "What makes you say that?" Tea asks, smiling at him. "Because, we'll use psychology on them." He says. "Okay guys! We're leaving you behind!" Yugi shouts to them. He begins walking off, Tea and Alyssa following behind him, the pharaoh as well. "What? Hey! Wait for us!" They yell, running to catch up. "See? I told you it would work." Yugi says to tea. "So simple a trick for so simple a mind." Tea says, laughing. Yugi laughs as well, while Tristan and Joey try to make sense out of what they heard.
At last they come to Yugi's house. "You guys want to come in?" Yugi asks. "Just open the door." Joey says smiling. Yugi laughs and they all walk in. Taking off their shoes by the door, they notice someone is missing. "Hey- where'd Alyssa go?" Joey says.
'I told you I was going to do them." Alyssa says in the dining room to Mr. Mutou, who is sitting, a cup of coffee in his hand, reading a book. "It was no trouble." Mr. Mutou says. "You shouldn't worry so much." He tells her. "But-" "I left some money to pay for the breakfast as well." he says, nonchalantly as he sips more of his coffee. "Ninety eight dollars and forty four cents is far too much to spend for breakfast." He says. "What? How did you find out about that?" She says, hurrying into the kitchen, looking for the receipt. "I found it when I was putting away a few things I found left on the stove." He says, holding out the receipt from the store to her. She takes it and sighs, an arm against the counter to support her. "I don't want your money." She mumbles. "How would you feel if someone spent that much on you?" he asks her. "I'd…I'd want to pay them back." She says. "Se?" he tells her. "That's different though." She says. "Oh? And how so?" Mr. Mutou says, crossing his arms. "Because that would be me, not you. I'll be right back with it." She finishes.
"I'm not going to take it!" Mr. Mutou calls. "Then I'll leave it on the ground and whoever wants it can have it!" She calls over her shoulder. He chuckles. "She's very headstrong and stubborn." He says to the others, "But this is not one battle she is going to win."
Half an hour later, a very worn out looking Alyssa is sitting down at the table, Mr. Mutou on the other side. Her head is down, resting on her arms. "I don't want your money." She mumbles again. "I don't want it either." Mr. Mutou says. "I'm just going to spend it on something else." She says. "Like yourself?" He asks, cocking an eyebrow. "No. Like…cleaning supplies, or something else like that." She says, her head still down. "In the long run, it's only going to come back to you. So just take it, will you?" She says, sliding an arm out with the bills in her hand. Mr. Mutou thinks for a moment. "Nope." He says, smiling. "I don't want it." "And neither do I!" She says. Mr. Mutou gets up, and comes over, placing his hands on her shoulders. "There's nothing wrong with a little help." He says gently. "But-" "I'm not taking it, and that's final." He says. "Just face it. You aren't going to make me change my mind."
Alyssa groans. "Then what am I going to do with it?" She says. "spend it on yourself. Save it for your trip. Whatever you want. But do something for you. We have all we need." He says, and, patting her shoulder, goes away. The pharaoh, who had been watching the entire proceedings of this, watches her get up after a few minutes and leave. He appears in front of Yugi, who is preparing for sleep. "Can I…?" He asks. "But of course." He says, and Yami takes over. Heading downstairs quietly, so that he might not disturb grandpa who could already be heard snoring in his bed, he goes outside.
Outside he is met with the site of Alyssa, sitting on a log. Her back is to our pharaoh. Her hair cascades down her back, shining in the moonlight. In her hands she holds a shell; she is playing a song on it. There are holes where her fingers touch, the head of the shell able to spin. One long branch sticks out where the air is blown into, coming out through uncovered holes and through a small slit at the end. She is still playing, not knowing that he is there.
"That's a lovely song" the Pharaoh says, coming up behind her. "You play it well." Her notes have stopped, now aware she has an audience. "Why, thank you." She says. Turning to face him, preparing to bow. "I thought I told you I didn't want you to do that anymore." The Pharaoh smiles. "Sorry." She says, a wan smile on her face. "Old habits die hard."
"No big deal" He says, dismissing this with a wave of his hand. He sits down beside her on the log. "This is a rather strange instrument. I haven't seen it before, much less heard it played." He tells her, examining it in his hands. "That's because I am the only one I know of that can play it." She replies. "Really?" the Pharaoh says, interested. "Where did you get this?" He asks, turning it around in his fingers. "I didn't" she says. "You didn't?" he questions. "Then how did you get it?"
She hesitates and looks at her hands.. "I saw it in a dream." She tells him. "I saw what I needed to do to make it. I found what I needed and created it myself. That is why no one else has one or can play." "Surely if you taught someone they could. Do you mind if I try?"
"Of course, my Lord." she says, her head still down. The pharaoh picks it up, looking at it, trying to get his fingers to look as hers did. Figuring he had it close enough, he tried to imitate the way she'd moved it. All that came out were a few squeaks, a meep, and a squawk.
Alyssa begins to laugh a little at this. "Well, no one does it right on the first try." The pharaoh says, slightly embarrassed. At this she stops. "I'm so sorry- I- I didn't mean to insult you. Of course no one gets it right on the first try-I- I was being silly. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-""You know you don't have to worry. I'm not mad." The pharaoh says, looking at her, as she begins to rush into another apology.
Breathing a sigh of relief she replies "Thank you." Taking back the shell, she says "I could try to teach you, if you wanted to learn. I just…haven't had much luck in that area." She says. "No, I'm alright, thank you." He says. "It's nice to hear you play." "Thank you." She repeats, this time blushing. She sighs and looks up towards the sky, at the stars. "What else are you doing out here." The pharaoh asks, looking up himself. "I figured I would rest a bit before I started reading." she says, glancing at her tent. Noticing the books, Yami remarks " I don't think I've seen you with those before." "Oh." She laughs. " I only checked them out today. You must not have noticed." "You checked them out? From the library?" he says. "Yeah." She says. "I have a library card. They don't enforce the address rule to much, so long as you always bring the books back on time. I'd just put one down. I made sure that they weren't late, so I've never had to worry about anyone asking me any questions." "It seems you think of everything." Yami remarks. "I try." She says, laughing, looking at her shell, spinning it's head.
"Isn't it a little dark to read?" he asks her. "Nah. Not really" She replies. "The moonlight helps, and I have a flashlight." She says. "I'm good." "You know, you can always just come inside and read." The Pharaoh tells her. "Really. We don't mind." "Nah, I'm okay." She repeats. The Pharaoh yawns, his eyes drooping slightly. She laughs. "Perhaps it is best that you retire to your room and rest, my Lord." She says. "You do not want to be tired all of tomorrow." "Perhaps you are right." He says. His head seemed to hurt for some odd reason, and he couldn't help but get a feeling that he had done this before. "Don't stay up to late." He tells her. "Don't worry, I won't." she says.
The pharaoh walks to the door, but pauses as he hears her begin her song once more. It seemed to tell the tale of the sun's journey before day and night, and he couldn't help but feeling that odd sense of familiarity. His head hurt even more with the feeling, something that had begun to happen much more frequently, and usually when she was around.
As the song reached its climax at the end, he could even swear he saw her sitting on a bench, her hair glowing in the torchlight, wearing a simple white dress.