Ok, I finally finished this chapter! I'll try really hard to update every week, but I'm not promising too much :p. Enjoy!
The next morning, Kiseki rose up when the sky was a bright grey, the sun lighting up the carpet of clouds still there after the downpour, the loud chirping of birds incessant and overriding the sounds of the few cars on the road. She lifted up her wrist to squint at her watch and saw that it was only about 8:30 in the morning, but she got up anyway. Quietly sliding open the door to the hallway of the apartment, she saw that one of the bedrooms was open and empty, meaning one of her parents had gotten up in the middle of the night to join the other with an apology. She only wondered for a moment as to who had decided to sacrifice their dignity before going into the bathroom to survey herself. Her hair wasn't too bad, though it took her a few minutes to dislodge her headband from the mess and comb her hair back into its natural state. Once the headband was securely back in place, she lightly smacked her lips and practically grimaced at the awful taste in her mouth. Immediately she rummaged in her overnight bag for her toothbrush and toothpaste and shoved it into her mouth and started fervently scrubbing her tongue to rid herself of the morning flavour.
Once her tongue had been thoroughly cleaned, she calmly went to her teeth and spent a few minutes brushing them before rinsing out her mouth and drying her lips off with a hand towel from her bag. Teaches me not to go to bed without brushing my teeth, she thought, making a weird face in the mirror.
Thinking that her clothes weren't in too bad a shape from sleeping in them to wear again, she merely flattened out her ruffled skirt a little bit and retied her blue tie about her neck. She stepped outside on the porch, inhaling the morning air. This was the why she loved the rain so much; it made the earth smell sweet and wonderful. A light mist was obscuring the trees of the park, brightening her mood even more, for that was one of her favourite types of weather. Once again letting her eyes roam she saw the KC building, magnificently standing out against the wall of bland colour. She sighed, gazing at it for a few moments before returning inside, deciding that it would be a good idea to bring a sweater for the morning. She reached into her bag and pulled out a dark blue hoodie and pulled it on, ruffling her hair with some static electricity. Smoothing her hair down, she quickly wrote a note to her parents telling them that she'd be back by noon, grabbed her purse, and headed out with her copy of the house key.
Kiseki practically skipped along the street towards the park, something that caused her to slip a little bit on the wet pavement; she stopped and straightened up, looking around to see that no one had seen her. When she heard no sounds of laughter, she started walking normally, occasionally lightly kicking at the puddles. When she reached the park, she reversed the directions she had in her head to find her way back to the shop, so she made a left. Everything looked extremely colourful compared to what she had memorised in the darkness of the night before, though most of the stores were still closed because of how early it was. After about ten minutes of walking she saw the little shop on the corner and smiled at it, nearly running from her excitement at finding her first recognised point in the city.
When she came to a skidding halt at the door, she looked happily up at it and espied the sign at the top, still brightly lit but now from the cloud light from the sky. It was then that she realised that it wasn't called the Turbie Game shop, but the Turtle Game Shop. Laughing at her ability to read signs in the pouring rain, she shifted her gaze back onto the door of the store and noticed with disappointment that it wasn't open yet either. It took her a few moments before she could find the paper with the posted open hours, but when she did, she discovered that it opened regularly at 9 on Sundays; she looked back at her watch and saw that it was 8:50. "Close enough," she murmured to herself before rapping on the door.
Almost instantaneously she heard someone yelp and then some pounding footsteps as whoever it was came bolting down the stairs. She jumped slightly as a loud thump reached her ears and the person grunted before scurrying to the door and unlocking it. As the door swung open, it took her a moment before she realised that the person was extremely short and she had to look down to actually see him, especially since he was bent over and wheezing for breath.
"Wel-welcome to—" he coughed and straightened up and beamed a happy smile at her. "Welcome to the Turtle Game Shop, your local, friendly, dependable..." As he continued the list of adjectives, she couldn't help but smile at him. His grey hair was in complete disarray around his bright purple eyes and he was still in his pajamas, which were a light green with dark green stripes running along them. What an adorable little old man, she thought, as he finished talking and stood aside to let her in. "So sorry about the delay, my dear, I overslept today! Please come in!"
"Thank you," she said, grateful that she had studied Japanese in America before she had arrived.
"Not at all, not at all!" said the old man, ushering her inside and shutting the door, the little bells attached to the top of the door ringing merrily. "Oh and where are my manners? My name is Mr. Motou," he said, holding his hand out to her. "But most people around here call me Grandpa, so don't bother with the formal one." She took his hand and shook it, returning the bright smile he had had plastered on his face ever since she had set foot in his store.
"My name is Akai Kiseki," she said also giving him a small bow once he had released her hand.
"Well Kiseki-chan, feel free to explore the store while I get ready to actually receive customers! I'll send my grandson down to help while I'm getting changed," he said jovially, turning to bound up the stairs.
As soon as he was out of sight, the smile disappeared on Kiseki's face. Another child? I hope he doesn't try to talk to me too much..... She busied herself with walking around the various stands and picking up a few magazines, flipping idly through their pages. A few minutes later, a very short boy with tri-coloured hair came walking down the stairs. She glanced up at him for a moment before looking back into the magazine at an article on a new Egyptian exhibit going on downtown.
"Hi there!" said the boy happily once he had come down. He had bright purple eyes like his grandfather's, and was wearing a sleeveless black shirt with blue pants. Though his odd combination of gold, black, and reddish-purple hair was something she had never seen before, the thing about his neck was far more interesting to her. A bright golden pyramid-shaped puzzle was slung about his neck by a thin brown cord, and glinted at her as he came forward eagerly. "Can I help you with anything?"
Keeping her eyes fixed upon the page, she shook her head slightly, not responding to him.
An awkward hush fell about them when she did not speak, and it remained for a while as he stood and watched her. He was a little taken aback by her, though what amazed him more was that she did not even bother to speak to him to tell him that she was just browsing or.....anything. He tried again. "Are you new in town? I don't think I've seen you anywhere before."
Again keeping her mouth shut, she nodded, turning a page in the magazine to gaze at the pictures of some artifacts in the exhibit.
"Well then, I guess you'll be going to my school! I'm Yugi, by the way," he said happily, extending his hand to her. She did not take it. He was getting a little flustered, but he kept trying. "What's your name?"
With a slight hint of a sigh, she placed the magazine back in its place, having recorded in her mind where the museum was, planning to go and visit it later. "Akai Kiseki," she replied.
Yugi smiled, happy that he made some progress and decided to try to talk about something that would interest her. "It's very nice to meet you, Kiseki. Do you like stuff from ancient Egypt?"
"Yes." She hardly felt like speaking to someone her age, but he kept nagging her and didn't look like he was going to let up, so she decided to try to speak to make him leave her alone.
Good, I'm getting her to talk, thought Yugi happily. "Well have you ever heard of a game called Duel Monsters?" he asked, moving over to the counter and drawing out a number of packs, showing them to her.
She tried to make herself appear interested and put her hands behind her back, having to lean over to see them. "I have not."
"Legend has it that this game originated in ancient Egypt; nowadays it's only played for fun and tournaments, but back then it was for the fate of the world and its people," he said dramatically.
As much as she hated to admit it, the small one had caught her attention. "Really?" she asked.
"Yep! Want to have a pack?" he asked, holding one out to her.
She nodded and started taking out her purse, but he shook his head. "You don't have to pay; this one's on me, ok?"
Drawing out her purse, she shook her head. "I do not take anything for free," she said. "How much is it?"
He closed his mouth, again surprised at the girl. "450 yen," he muttered after a moment.
Carefully counting out the amount from her purse, she handed him the money and delicately took a pack out of the few he had in his hands, putting that into her purse as well.
"Don't you want to see what cards you got?" he asked, moving behind the register to start putting the money into it.
"I will look at them when I go home," she said, now settling back into the feeling that she wanted him to stop talking.
"Ah come on, I love seeing people's beginning cards. I can tell you what they are and explain the game to you if you want," he pressed.
Pausing, she looked back at him and saw how eager his face looked; it was so full of expectation that she just wanted to smack it off him. She instead drew out the pack again, knowing that he would leave her alone once he found out whatever she had gotten. "If I want any information, I will ask you for it; otherwise I would like it if you just saw the cards and then let me leave."
Yugi nodded, wanting to keep up the impression that he made on everyone: that he respected what people wanted. She calmly walked over to the counter and leaned back on it, tearing open the top of the package and sliding the cards out. Pulling out the small stack, she flipped though them, pausing every now and then on a card, though none really caught her interest. She was on the verge of just leaving them on the counter, for none of them looked like they had come from ancient Egypt, when one came in front of her eyes and made her pause to stare at it in wonder.
It was a dragon, a beautiful one, yet fierce-looking at the same time. Its wings were spread magnificently behind it and its sleek body stood out against the holographic background of the card. The top of the card read "Kodoku Doragon". Dragon of Loneliness.... Not caring about the other cards, she put this one on top of the stack and then slipped it into the package again, then putting it back in her bag. She started on her way out, intending to go home and paint the magnificent beast on a canvas that she had been saving for something very important.
As she left, Yugi remained frozen where he was, for he had also seen the card, and it had shocked him. The bells at the top of the door jingled once more as the door swung shut behind her, and they rang into nothingness as a stunned silence settled upon the empty shop, the young boy perched at the edge of the counter with his mouth slightly open and his eyes wide, for he had just seen a legend.
Bum bum bum! Ok, so I have a picture of Kiseki drawn out, unfortunately, I still do not know why has such a problem with me posting a web address in here, so email me if you would like to see it.
I also am working on a picture of the Kodoku Doragon, which will take more time, as I am planning to take the sketch I have and colour it, hopefully making it look somewhat like a card using a photo shop thingy on my computer.