Summary, Warnings, and Disclaimer: Not much, but I would like to dedicate the first bit of obvious 1x2 to Hikaru.
/…/ Duo to Shin
/:...:/ Shin to Duo
[…] Ryou to Bakura
[:...:] Bakura to Ryou
{…} Yugi to Yami
{:...:} Yami to Yugi
::…:: flashback
Time to chill in the bar again
Never cease to amaze in minds
So I just sleep sleep sleep please don't
Wake me 'til the morning after…
-Linkin Park, "Morning After"
(the next morning)
Heero gently set the phone back in its cradle, frowning. He didn't entirely approve of Duo facing the strangers alone, out of the reach of backup… Of course, he could handle himself, and Shinigami would be there as well, but…
K'so. The Japanese soldier glared at the innocent phone, wondering why he was so nervous. He'd already broken all regulations by allowing civilians into their safehouse, so why the hell was he nervous about letting one back in? Shiraga seemed, if not trustworthy, at least unthreatening. And Duo liked him well enough… and why did that make him unhappy? It wasn't consistent, from one who'd always prided himself on consistency.
Not to mention it was confusing, and the Perfect Soldier despised confusion.
"Yuy." Heero glanced up to see Wufei waiting in the doorway. "The others are ready to go."
The boy from L1 nodded, indicating he would be back in a minute, and turned to walk upstairs. Pausing for just a moment in front of the American's door, he sighed imperceptibly, opening the door and noiselessly stepping in.
Inside, two identical figures sprawled on the bed, covers twisted haphazardly around them. Shin lay with a protective arm around his hikari, and Heero let his eyes trail across to where Duo slept peacefully, a serene smile on his face…
The pilot averted his gaze as the confusion again reared its head. What the fuck was wrong with him? It was like… like he couldn't control himself anymore, despite his training.
Shaken, he glanced back at the bed, only to be pinned by a single, crimson eye. Shin observed him silently, arms still wrapped around Duo. Under that watchful gaze, it was a second before Heero remembered why he'd come. "Shiraga called," he said quietly, not wanting to wake his wingmate. "He'll be here in an hour."
The yami nodded slightly in acknowledgement. His task complete, the soldier fled, both from his own thoughts and from the boy in the bed.
"Are you sure you want to do this alone?"
Bakura glanced over at Isis as they pulled out of the school parking lot. "Yeah. It'll be easier to explain all this if they're not tense because they're outnumbered."
She snorted. "I meant, are you sure it's safe for you to go alone. The yami did murder those men."
Arching a brow, the albino returned the snort. "I really have been getting soft, if you're worrying about that. Remember back in the beginning? Me, murdering and pillaging and stealing souls?" Isis frowned, and he sighed. "Seriously. I was evil. I know it, I can… smell it. Those two… they might not be the kind of people you want to bring home to mummy, but they're not evil."
The only female Itemholder sighed as well, stopping for a red light. "I suppose you're the closest to an expert we have, but… I don't know. They make me uneasy. And it's not just Duo and his yami, it's their friends, as well."
Bakura sat up. "What do you mean?"
"Didn't you notice? When we told them about the murders, they never even flinched. As though it had happened before."
The thief's mind raced. "Shit. You're right."
A minute of silence passed as they digested that thought.
"Do you still want to do this?"
Lips quirking, Bakura nodded. "Yeah. But I'm starting to think it was a good thing I brought my knives."
A few minutes later, they were pulling into the Itemholder's drive. Opening the door, Bakura stopped as he felt a tug on his shirt. He looked back into Isis's serious face. "Try to find out what you can, all right? But be discreet. Ryou prefers you in one piece."
The thief stepped out, smirking, and sent her an only half-mocking salute, before turning and walking to the front door. "I just hope they realize what they're getting into."
Shin hummed cheerfully, throwing together a pot of coffee. Behind him, Duo slumped at the kitchen table, dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt.
"Would you stop that?!" the hikari finally yelled, exasperated. "I know you like mornings. You don't have to fucking show it!"
The crimson-eyed teenager smirked, before molding his features into the perfect picture of innocence. "Why, Duo, whatever could ya mean?"
"The fucking humming," he growled, rubbing his hand over his eyes. "It's getting on my nerves. And I know you have to keep in practice, but could you do it by annoying someone else?"
Shin sighed in disappointment. "Oh, all right. I'll wait 'til Fei gets home. But you owe me!"
Duo blinked. "You know, it must be the lack of caffeine, but I didn't really follow that line of logic."
"I'll explain, if ya want."
The hikari shuddered. "No thanks. I shared minds with you long enough as it was. Yours is scary."
Shin laughed. The coffee maker dinged, and he turned to pour a couple cups as Duo perked up at the sound. "Ya know we're way too young to be addicted to this stuff, right?"
"Who cares?" Duo asked, reaching eagerly for the mug. He inhaled the heavenly aroma, melting into his seat with the first sip. "The only people who say that are scientists, and what the hell do they know?"
Shin grinned in agreement, and cocked his head as the sound of a car pulling into the drive came to his ears. "Sounds like Bakura's here." He started to walk out of the kitchen, smirking in amusement as his hikari's last words reached him.
"Wonder if he realizes what he's gotten himself into?"
Bakura blinked as the door was opened, his fist less than an inch from the wood. On the other side, Duo's yami smirked at him. "Er, good morning."
Shin nodded. "Mornin'. Word of advice, though- don't say 'good' and 'morning' in the same sentence in Duo's hearing."
"Not exactly an early bird, then?" the tombrobber asked, smirking.
The American grinned, waving him inside. "Ya could say that. Like ya could say L2's crowded, or Egypt's hot."
Bakura walked in, a flash of alarm going through his mind. "You've been to Egypt, then?" he asked as casually as he could.
"For a bit," Shin said, guiding him through the hallways. "The five- I guess six, now- anyway, the six of us travel a lot."
"Really? Where to?"
He laughed. "Just about everywhere. Europe, America… didn't really like Russia, though. Too damn cold."
"Even to the space colonies?" Bakura asked, as they walked into what must be the kitchen, where Duo sat bonelessly at a table.
"We grew up on L2, actually. Went to a couple of the others, but there wasn't much difference we tell between 'em, 'cept they were richer," Shin said, snorting.
"It was Earth we always wanted to see," Duo said quietly, listening to the conversation. "We grew up listening to stories about oceans, and sunsets, and free water falling from the sky. We never really believed them, thought they were just fairy tales, like the ghost ship they say you can floating around L2. At least, not until we came here."
Bakura smiled slightly as he sat down, remembering his own reaction to Japan's frequent rains. "Was it everything you thought it'd be?"
Yami and hikari looked at each other, before smiling at their guest. "And more," they said in perfect unison.
Shin let the sentimental mood hang on for a few more seconds before snorting. "We sound like a buncha old men, talking 'bout the old days."
The tombrobber barely held in a bark of laughter, mentally comparing his age to theirs. "I'd always planned on going to one of the colonies, but I never got around to it."
Duo stared at him in disbelief. "You're… what, five and a half millennia old? The colonies have been around for almost two centuries, and you haven't gone up?"
Bakura blushed slightly. "I've just… been busy. And you're in the same boat now, too," he said in a quick change of subject.
They took the bait, sitting up in their seats. "Waddaya mean?" the yami asked suspiciously.
The thief rubbed his temple, wondering how he was going to explain this and wishing he'd chosen a different diversion. Finally, he looked up at his audience. "Look, when you two split… bloody hell." He frowned and started over. "To split into separate bodies, you had to draw power from the Rod. With me so far?"
They nodded, and he frowned again. "You had to do that because it simply isn't possible for the human body to contain enough energy to support two bodies. Well, except for pregnancies, but then the baby doesn't need as much… Fuck, but I'm bad at this," he said, shaking his head. "And if you want the technical terms, you'll have to talk to Isis, but I guess I can tell you the basics.
"Anyway, to make two bodies, you had to draw from the Rod. But all yamis and hikaris share a mental bond. Energy flows along that bond, so when you," he pointed at Shinigami, "pulled enough energy to you to make a body, you were pulling from both the Rod and from Duo."
Shin started to speak, looking at his hikari in concern, but Bakura held up a hand. "Let me finish. The draining created an… imbalance in Duo, so he automatically pulled power from the Rod, too, to even himself out."
Duo nodded thoughtfully. "Okay, that sort of makes sense, but I really don't see where this is going."
The albino grinned. "You should be glad I'm just telling you all this. It took us over a decade to figure the damn thing out."
The lone hikari raised an eyebrow. "'The damn thing'. What 'damn thing'?"
"Why the hell we weren't aging."
Duo studied the Itemholder's face, trying to figure out if he was serious. Finally satisfied, he nodded. "Okay, I'll bite. How's it connected?"
Bakura rubbed his temples again. "Well, this is where we start getting into the more complicated stuff. When you both drew power from the Rod, it created a permanent pathway. Even now, you're living off its energy."
/:Oh, wonderful. And what happens if the fucking thing decides to pull the plug?:/
Worried, Duo repeated his yami's question out loud. "And what if the energy stops?"
"You'd probably die, but none of us have to worry about that; it isn't really possible."
"That's what most people say about magic," Shin said dryly, and Bakura laughed.
"True, but it's not possible because the supply of energy is pretty much infinite. It might run out some day, but our own universe'll end before it does. You see, the Items themselves aren't the power source- they're a link to it. The power comes from a separate reality, one that's made entirely from energy."
"And that means…?" Shin trailed off questioningly.
Bakura grinned in anticipation. "That means, that unless you're idiotic enough to get yourselves killed, for all intents and purposes…" He paused for dramatic effect.
"You're immortal."
No offence to Russia. It's just that it's a cold place, and my personal opinion of the cold isn't exactly fit to be published. /shudders/
A/N: Umm… /looks at chapter/ I was supposed to get farther than that… getting too long, I guess.
Is this a bit better, update-time-wise? I just typed most of it in a four-hour marathon.
Kou: Is that a word?
Shut up. Oh, and that's Kou, if you want the full introduction go read the author's note in the fourth chapter of Strains of Melody. And no, he's not a yami. For that to be true, I'd have to be a hikari. And sweetness and light just ain't my thing.
Though you wouldn't know it, looking at that sentimental little scene in the kitchen. Which was completely unplanned, by the way. I think I like it, though. There needed to be sappiness somewhere in this thing.
Kou: And the fact you were watching the President's funeral at the same time had nothing to do with it, right?
/smiles sadly/ Yeah, that too. Sorry, it's just that the music gets to me.
I've made a decision. From now on, whenever I finish a chapter I'm going to post it, no matter what story it's for. That includes first chapters for new stories. If you're wondering why, it's because I had a scare rather like what happened to poor Shi-koi. I almost lost all my work when the palm pilot I write on broke, and it was pure luck it turned out I could still read memos, even if I couldn't write them. So I've been typing up stuff during every free moment, as well as writing it down in a notebook.
I just finished pulling off everything to do with fanfics, and now I'm working on the song lyrics I'd collected over the past three years. There are over four hundred, and I've only typed up ninety so far. And that comes to 112 pages, with over 22,000 words.
(drolly) My fingers hurt…
Kou: /snorts/ S'what you get, not keeping hard records.
/whimpers/
Oh, and I'm starting another poll, not to decide anything, just to test the waters. Which is better, Shin and Bakura or Shin and Wufei? I'm leaning towards the former because of this chapter, but my mind's a bit like a pendulum on this one, since either'd work.
Review Responses:
Our thanks to: Amy14, CrazyBlueKitty, and Kitty the Black Ice Cat.
AlterEthereal: Thx! I think I've kind of run away from the show a bit, though.
And I'm still in shock I've managed 14 chapters without anyone, in-story or reviewing, has mentioned Duel Monsters. Hell, there's only even been one bit with the Shadow Realm, though that'll change soon.
Ami of Destiny: Heero and Ryou… that's actually a very interesting suggestion… Sadly, a little too late for this particular plot. Someone should write it sometime, though.
atalante: Thx. I've noticed that, too, and I can't really figure out why. I mean, there are so many crossover possibilities, but everyone always writes the same ones.
Crysania Fay: Nah, there are some fics that I will not give up on, just because I've put too much effort into 'em, like this one.
Oh, there'll be drama… Relena-oban will be showing up soon. /smirks evilly/
Ennui-Pants: Um. You might want to run. After we finished shooting this chapter he took off with Fei-kun's katana. Though the bunny might delay him a bit as it's torn to shreds.
Faith-Kitty and Jollie-Rancher: That's actually the 'revelation' I've been looking forward to writing the most.
Hekigan Shiroi Ryuu: /beams/ Thank you!
/blinks/ You know, I can actually picture that happening…
Hikaru: Uh-huh. Like that's happening.
This better? And I hope you liked the bit I put in.
Kaori: You know, I tell myself that all the time… unfortunately, though, it doesn't always work. About the singing, I mean… I'll shut up about that now.
I-mmensely… I know what you mean, though. There are some days when I can't spell anything right, usually when spellcheck isn't available.
/laughs/
Luki Dimension: /laughs/ Thx!!!
Mithros: You're timing was perfect, then, since you hate cliffhangers. That one had absolutely no affect on you… damn. You foiled my evil scheme.
Nightwings: Yeah, sorry about that. I'm still trying to get back in the swing of writing and posting, but it's hard with as many changes as my schedule's had lately.
Thanks for understanding, and the compliment!
Shi-koi: I actually got a lot closer to the mark than I thought I would.
Yeah, I was kinda suffering from mild writer's block at those points, and finally just wrote whatever to get through them.
Not really. What took courage was reading them .
Shinimegami-Rin: /looks sympathetic/ And so they rule our lives… for now, anyway. Just wait 'til they're on welfare and we have to support them.
You're not the only one to compliment me on that, and I can't figure out why. It wasn't that funny, was it?
Skeren Dreamera: /beams/ Thx!
Why would that be a bad thing? If you want to write one, go ahead. I'd love to see a few more out there.
/sighs/ DuoxBakura and ShinxHeero was actually my favorite out of the little vote thing I did, but DuoxHeero won. /sighs again/ Hey, if you do end up writing one, could you do that?
spellhorn: /sticks out tongue/ Nyah!
Oh, and thanks, too.
stormyronin: Eventually they will, but it won't be for a few chapters.
Triste Nanashi: Yeah, I always thought about that too, but decided not to ever try it, since I'd and up as either the yami or hikari. I care about people just a little too much to be a yami, and Malik-sensei's really the only hikari I like.
/looks at the chapter/ 2,940 words. Damn. /faints/