Summary, Warnings, and Disclaimer: Um… /looks around/ Okay, nothing here. And there, more nothing. And over there… even more nothing. What a surprise.
/…/ Duo to Shin
/:…:/ Shin to Duo
[…] Ryou to Bakura
[:…:] Bakura to Ryou
{…} Yugi to Yami
{:…:} Yami to Yugi
:…: flashback
"No human being ever learns to live until he has awakened to the dormant powers within him."
-William James
"Now!" he cried, and the waiting Bakura severed Duo's connection to the Shadow Realm.
As the Shadows dispersed, Shin gently caught the limp and unconscious form of his hikari.
With a soundless pop, the dampening sea of Shadow Magic vanished from Yugi's senses, and for the first time in almost twenty minutes the hikari relaxed. Smiling mentally, he sent a thought through the mindlink. {Yami? Are you alright?}
The reply was almost instantaneous. {:I'm fine, aibou. And you? That magic was… impressive.:}
Yugi winced. {You could say that again.}
Yami's mindvoice turned concerned. {:Yugi? What happened?:}
{Ano, well… maybe my shields were kind of… down?} Yugi said, squirming in his seat. {And maybe I'm a little flash blinded…}
Yami groaned. {:Aibou…:}
{I know, I know! 'Never let your guard down.' But we were trying to find out what was going on with Bakura's lesson! We just weren't expecting… that.}
{:We? Ryou generally has better sense than that…:}
Scowling ruefully, and looking more than a little odd doing so, Yugi glanced up at the clock just as the bell rang to end the period. He smiled at his fellow hikari, mouthing the words 'We survived!', and gathered his books. {Where are you headed next?} he asked in a quick change of subject.
{:Study hall. Yet another class to sleep through.:}
Together, Yugi and Ryou rose and started for the door. {Calculus, for me.} Yugi said, grimacing. {The teacher's okay, but the material-} He was interrupted as a hand grabbed him by the arm, and for the third time that day an Itemholder stared into guarded cobalt eyes.
"What is going on?" Heero demanded, glaring at the two hikaris. Wide-eyed, Yugi shared a glance with Ryou, leaning as far away as he could from the obviously pissed child.
Normally, Yugi would have laughed at the thought of a kid threatening someone of his age, but… Something told him, as he looked into those eyes, that if he laughed, it would be the last thing he ever regretted doing.
"Um…" Not knowing the answer to that question either, he glanced helplessly at Ryou, and was surprised to see a rather uncomfortable look pass over his face.
Instantly Heero transferred his glare to the albino.
Looking back and forth between them, Ryou grimaced. "Look, this isn't the best place for that, all right?"
"What are you hiding?" the Japanese boy asked accusingly. "What's happened to Duo?"
Yugi felt a pang of anxiety run through him as once again Ryou avoided the question, leaning in towards the boy. "It's over, and they're all alive. Do you really wish to continue this conversation where someone might overhear?" he asked, gesturing about them at the horde of students.
Heero simply looked at him, face expressionless. "No," he said quietly. "But 'they're alive' isn't good enough. There are worse things than dying."
Perturbed, Yugi watched the young man walk away, pulling a cell phone out of his pocket as he merged with the student mainstream.
Stepping out of the classroom, Wufei jumped as the cell phone in his pocket buzzed. He moved to the side, pulling it out.
Numbers and letters scrolled across the screen, a procession of what would have been gibberish to anyone else. Wufei frowned in consternation as 01 ordered him to maintain position while the other pilot returned to base. Why in the world would Yuy-…
His eyes widened as the Chinese boy remembered the thud of a body hitting the floor, and he turned just in time to see a multi-hued shock of hair vanish into the crowd.
Carefully, Shin set his other half down on the couch, kneeling down to check his pulse. It wasn't as strong as he would have liked, but the double-beat was at least calm and steady. A call through the mindlink garnered no reply, but the yami could sense Duo on the other side.
Satisfied for the moment that his hikari was okay, Shin sat down on the couch himself, lifting Duo's head until it was nestled, protected, in his lap. "All right," he said quietly, glancing up through blondish bangs as Bakura settled into a seat, "What happened?"
The albino ran a hand over his eyes. "The magic was a lot stronger than it was supposed to be. And because I hadn't taught either of you how to shield yet, he didn't have anything beyond natural defenses to fight back with."
"And what's wrong with him now?"
"Nothing but exhaustion," Bakura said with some relief. "He wasn't inside long enough for anything else to happen."
"And so we come ta the million-dollar question." For the first time, Shin looked directly at their new teacher, spitting him with blood-red eyes. "What exactly could've happened?"
Inexplicably apprehensive, the tombrobber hesitated a moment to put together his words. "…Shadow Magic is mostly offensive magic, like I said before. But only half of that is attacking physically. The other half is related to the soul." He grimaced in memory. "The pharaoh's favorite attack used to be 'Mind Crush', as an example. Yugi's managed to mellow him out a little, thank Ra."
"That from personal experience?" Shin asked, an unexpected smirk quirking his lips.
"Lots of it, unfortunately." Bakura studied him, frowning slightly. "You're… taking this a lot better than I thought you would."
The yami shrugged, smoothing the bangs back from Duo's face. "It's true ya should have explained things a bit more, but ya said it yourself- it shouldn't have been possible. And you know better now." At this last, he cocked his head with a treacherously mild query, and Bakura nodded, dry-mouthed.
"Good! Now, ya want to go over shielding a bit? That way we'll be better prepared, and I can fill Duo in when he wakes up. Deal?" Shin asked, grinning amiably.
Bakura nodded again, slowly. "Sure."
Heero stalked up the driveway, pulling his keys out of his pocket with one hand, and his gun from the waistband of the school uniform with the other. The ride from the high school back to the safehouse on a stolen motorcycle had left his hair wind-blown, blocking his vision, and he shook it out of his face with the same impatience he'd shown the trip itself.
But despite his anxiety, the lock was nearly silent, and the trained terrorist was through the door with even less sound. Inside, the entrance hall was empty. He slipped past the kitchen, checking it over with a quick, but thorough glance, before dismissing it in favor of the living room ahead, from which he could hear voices.
Heero peeked through the doorway, the Walther held ready at his side. The albino sat with his back to the door, an oversight that had the soldier in him muttering insults under his breath. Across the room, Shin was sitting on a couch, with Duo lying motionless, but still breathing, across his lap.
Shin looked up as he appeared, giving him the slightest of nods. Relieved, Heero slipped the pistol back into concealment and walked in.
The Itemholder's start of surprise made both of them smirk, though Heero's quickly faded. "What happened?" he asked, ignoring the small voice in his head that commented on how often he was asking that question lately.
Shin's smirk lingered a bit longer. "Well, it seems our Duo's a tad stronger than they expected. Silly kid overloaded himself. He'll be fine when he wakes up." Despite the confidence in his voice, though, Heero noticed one hand was clenched protectively around the hikari's long braid.
Duo always has to stand out, he thought with a mental sigh. The soldier had often wondered how someone as… flamboyant as the American could, as an example, sneak into a high-security base without breaking a sweat. At the time, he'd even considered the possibility of multiple personalities, but he had ended up dismissing the theory as untestable.
Who would have thought he'd been right?
Nodding vaguely, Heero sat on the last empty couch, trying to follow that line of thought a bit further. That day the two pilots came back to find out their wing mate had a twin, Duo said that the person they knew was an amalgamation of their two selves, and that they were really more familiar with the yami of the duo.
And certainly, if the loud voice and colorful gestures belonged to Shinigami, then that would leave Duo as the one who had accompanied the pilot on missions. The one who could slip through the shadows without even the darkness realizing he'd passed…
Puzzled at the rather odd turn his thoughts had taken, Heero redirected his attention back to the other boys in the room. Shiraga and Shinigami were embroiled in a fierce discussion over whether magic was better to use in an ambush situation than a physical weapon.
Which came perilously close to breaking their cover, but the 'Perfect Soldier' couldn't help but find himself interested.
"-look, I'm not saying magic ain't useful in combat, but when someone drops in on you without bein' polite an' knocking first, it's a hell of a lot easier to pull a knife than it is to do the whole Yoda thing with your senses," Shin argued, gesturing almost violently in the air. "Now, if you're the one settin' the ambush, then it's the ace in the hole, since you can get it ready before hand."
"That's just a matter of reactions. If you're used to magic, then it comes automatically. You don't have to think about, it's just there. And what happens if whatever's attacking you isn't even annoyed by a knife? There's a lot of stuff out there that can't be killed with a blade, or even a gun," the albino retaliated, the grin on his face showing just how much fun he was having.
"Well, considerin' we never ran into any of that stuff before we met you people, I'll take my knives and leave the magicking to Duo. He's got the better mind set for it, anyway." Abruptly Shin dropped his gaze to his lap, where the hikari was beginning to stir. After a moment, he opened disoriented amethyst eyes.
"Did someone say my name?"
The world was dark, but he could hear voices drifting through the blackness. They seemed to float all around him, occasionally brushing against his ears, only to bounce away as they didn't truly register.
If he hadn't felt so utterly limp and exhausted, he would have frowned mustily. That wasn't right. He didn't want to be in the darkness, it was so cold without the light…
But it wasn't cold. He felt warm, safe, even.
"-leave the magicking to Duo. He's got the better-"
At last he felt a stir of recognition. That was the other's voice, the one who comforted him when the night was too long, who would never, ever leave him. Unbidden, muscles he hadn't even realized were tense- hell, he hadn't even remembered he had muscles yet-, relaxed.
With an enormous effort, Duo forced his eyes open and took in the three boys- scratch that, two boys and 5,000-year-old spirit masked as a boy- sitting around the room, the most immediate of which being the one who had called him, staring down at the hikari with worried crimson eyes. "Did someone say my name?" Duo asked, wanting that worry to go away and almost cursing at how weak his voice sounded.
But it was apparently enough, as Shin's face split into a wide grin. "Hey, kiddo. We were wonderin' if you really were dead to the world for a bit."
Duo winced at the barely hidden relief in his yami's voice. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.
Across the room Bakura shook his head. "Don't, it was my fault," he stated. "I wasn't thinking. I should have started the lesson differently."
"Would ya stop tryin' to blame yourself already? It's startin' ta get annoying," Shin growled, glaring at the tombrobber, whose lips couldn't help but quirk up.
Ignoring the byplay between the two yamis, Duo looked curiously at Heero. "Um, either I slept a lot longer than I feel like I did, or you're skipping class."
The pilot bent his head in the slightest of half-nods. "The other Itemholders reacted to… whatever happened. I came to investigate," he said tonelessly.
Or, almost tonelessly. There was something there… but it was gone before the hikari could place it, and left him feeling oddly uncomfortable. "Oh…" Duo dropped his eyes, embarrassed. "Thank you."
With his eyes as far towards the ground as he could manage with his head still in Shin's lap, the American didn't see the not quite startled expression in cobalt-blue eyes.
But then all conversation ceased as the four heard the sound of a car pulling into the drive.
Relena hummed happily to herself as her chauffeur pulled up next to the nice two-story house where her detectives promised her true love waited. With a brilliant smile, she kissed dear old Thomas on the cheek, and stepped out of the limo.
ano- 'um', basically. Simple, right?
A/N: /evil laughter fills the air/ Yes! The EVIL CLIFFHANGER OF DOOM!!!
/smacks her/ Enough! This is the last time I try to make you write on low blood sugar. Go get something to eat before you faint, I'll finish the author's note.
Oh, all right… /walks off/
/sighs/ Okay, here are the various announcements: First, Hoshi says she's pretty much settled on Shin getting together with Bakura, since that's the way her writing seems to be slanted lately.
Next, /grins/ yes, you read the chapter right, the Relena torture is about to commence. (muttering) 'Bout bloody time, if you ask me…
Now, what was the third one again…? Oh, right. The anniversary for this thing is coming up in a little over two weeks. Hoshi isn't sure she can finish another chapter in that length of time, since she really needs to work on some of her other stories too, so in absence of further notice, you should consider this the anniversary posting.
Review Responses:
Our thanks to: Amber, IMPROVED Uber Rei Model 06, and Kaori.
AlterEthereal: /blinks/ Well, why else would we write fanfics, if not to make our bishies do silly things? …Oh, right, all the reviews we get. Silly me, I forgot.
Yeah, I don't really like those stories where the main character learns about something new and almost instantly picks it up. Yeah, sure, make 'em insanely powerful with it, (makes life interesting), but don't make it easy on 'em.
Cat323: Yes, they'll find out eventually, and… /grins/ That little plot twist is already in the works.
gatogirl1: /grins/ Hopefully, you'll have another such opportunity to read this chapter…
The next few chapters will be focusing a bit more on the GW world. I know it seems like a lot has happened in the story so far, but it's only been… about three days, story-wise. The G-boys need at least that much time to get established and to avoid suspicion when they have to up and vanish.
As for what "crawled up Heero's spandex"… (/grimaces/ Damn innuendoes!) That, is my rather pathetic attempt at initiating a change of heart for the Perfect Soldier. Does that help any?
Mithros: /scowls/ Yeah, sure, rub it in, why doncha?
NaiPants: /smiles/ Thank you. That means a lot to me.
seer-cassandra: According to a friend of mine who knows much more about Yu-Gi-Oh! than I do, Malik was killed in Battle City. Which really… annoyed me, since he's my favorite character, but it worked for this plot. /shrugs/
As for why the others are still alive… I'm not sure whether to explain it here, or in a future chapter. Maybe just a little bit.
Alright, the dilemma is that Isis and Shadi are still alive, despite neither having a yami/hikari. Both have an Item related to the soul, however (the Tauk and the Ankh. Really, the Scales are too, but not quite the same way). And… I don't think I can go any further without sitting down and explaining the entire thing. Sorry. I will be putting it in a chapter, eventually.
Shino Ryu: /scowls/…
Skeren Dreamera: /smiles in delight/ Really? Good luck!
Triste Nanashi: /sighs in relief/
Nah, I think part of Hell is that you wouldn't be allowed to torture them… maybe if you went to Heaven, that would be your reward?
Ultra Rodimus: /snickers/ Ain't that the truth…
Side note to AlterEthereal and Mithros. Thanks, I'll be dropping both of you annoying e-mails in the future. Well, as soon as I get around to planning the story out, at least. For the moment, however, there are a few questions I need to ask… /takes a deep breath/ What's considered a powerful card? (attack- and defense-wise) What are the various terrains that affect the cards? What's considered normal for a special ability? Are there various types of cards? (darkness, light, fire, healing, whatever) And… that's it for now, I think. /turns on the puppy eyes/ Help?
And thus, we come to the end of another chapter. Only… okay, there are at least fifteen more to go…
/groans/ I can feel the writer's block already…
6 September 2004