I just promised to become more regular in my uploads... and then I got sick with covid...
I will stop making promises now, the next chapters will come whenever they come xD
The cold night breeze used to be a soothing agent, lulling her into a placid sleep with its cooling caress after a long day of working under the scorching sun. It usually rolled in from the open window smelling like dust and cattle, familiar things, but that night instead of manure it carried the stench of smoke and soon enough the screams of an entire town burning.
Tesem returned to the waking world with a jolt, her veins buzzing with adrenaline brought by what surely had been a rather unpleasant nightmare.
She felt disoriented and unable to recall exactly where she was until the remembrance of a hurried trip to the hospital and several nerve wracking hours of waiting around in all-white rooms came back prompted by the feeling of something warm between her fingers.
She looked down at the hand she had been holding for the past couple of hours and felt somewhat surprised that it hadn't slipped her grip while they both slept. Slender digits attached to a soft palm followed by a moderately fit arm. She leisurely took in the visage of that pale unblemished skin, not new to her but somehow still enthralling now that she was allowed a closer and more intimate inspection.
It was such a stark contrast to her own complexion, not only because of her darker shade but also due to the map of scars that coursed through her body like roads across the countryside. Utterly unforgiving in their lingering presence unlike Yugi's soothingly pristine visage. Just the thought of seeing him similarly marred by burn marks or other consequences of bodily harm was near unbearable. Today was too close...
The smoke must have really irritated her eyes because they suddenly stung and felt excessively moist at the corners.
"You are staring."
Startled, she blinked and straightened, shying away from the laying boy whose voice had come much deeper than expected.
His grip tightened around her wrist before she could properly pull back and unable to escape she found herself forced to acknowledge the accusation by meeting not amethysts but rubies with her own blue gaze.
For all the concern she had harbored for Yugi and the strong desire to remain by his side while he recovered she had neglected to address just how much she wanted to avoid encountering Yami so soon after the incident.
Looking into those red orbs a whirlwind of emotions stormed overbearing and without order inside her head. There was anger, shame, suspicion and buried beneath all else a faint sense of concern.
There had to be someone to blame for Yugi's predicament, someone responsible for his life being at risk in an abandoned warehouse when he as a young boy with a passion for games should have been at school, bored out of his mind, but safe.
Of course the real culprit was whoever had orchestrated the whole thing, planned the theft of the puzzle as well as the consequent duel to try and part the boy from his prized possession, but in the grand scheme of things it was the artefact's fault that such shady individuals were taking an interest in the young King of Games in the first place. Since being angry at an inanimate object (however mystical such an item may be) felt kinda stupid the spirit who inhabited it became the next best thing.
Something sharp and poisonous gathered beneath her tongue, ready for her to lash out with harmful intent. She would have been happy to earn some catharsis through his misery but an unexpected gesture from him gave her pause.
His hold became lax and his arm retreated, conceding her a few centimetres of empty space between them as if in surrender to her unspoken demand. It wasn't the sudden release but more the look in his eyes which froze her wrath and sealed her lips. It was soft and unwarded like she had never seen before, opening like crimson gates to reveal a world of sentiment that had rarely been allowed to see the light of day, if ever.
"Thank you." Words drove home the meaning she couldn't quite puzzle out from eye-contact alone and the fight simply fled from her as the weight of the day's happenings once more settled over her shoulders. She could be stubborn and oftentimes reckless with her words but despite all that she wasn't oblivious to the hurt she spied in his expression. Nearly losing Yugi must have also been eating him inside and Tesem although fashioning herself a pragmatic and highly self-centered individual wasn't impartial to the suffering of others, not even someone who up until then had tip-toed the line between friend and foe.
"No need, I did what you would have." A loaded truth, charged with negative and positive meaning but mercifully leaning toward the later. The dark spirit still flinched, faintly and somewhat concealed by the shift of his eyes which turned elsewhere to sever the connection. It had been the first time that he found himself unable to come to his vessel's aid in a time of need, his frustration was near palpable within the sterile room.
"Do you know who—" She started, warranting herself the return of a gaze made darker by determination and a touch of murderous intent. That look alone could have made someone of weaker will falter.
"No, but I will find out." No 'ifs' about it, he spoke those words as a statement, as final as a death sentence. That part of her that seemed dangerously fond of violence reared up at the prospect of retribution and her lips curled up with sharp approval.
The gesture died just a moment later when the glint of the puzzle caught her eyes, reminding her of matters more pressing than revenge. "How is Yugi?" The doctors had briefed friends and family on the boy's condition after their initial assessment but after he fell prey to exhaustion brought by the adrenaline high Tesem had yearned for direct confirmation of his welfare. Not all ailments were of the kind a nurse could identify and treat.
A tired sigh —sounding a bit like resignation— rushed out of him as he sat up, sluggish but all-in-all looking unscathed. "Good, no serious burns and the doctors said that he didn't inhale enough smoke for any lasting effects. Besides that… I think he could use someone to talk to. He is just waking up."
Without more warning than that his eyes closed and when they opened again they were purple and bright, belonging to a completely different person.
A disoriented and shy look given her way was enough invitation for Tesem to close the gap that had appeared between them due to her wariness of his other persona. Her hands once more settled over one of his own, warm and protective in their encasement of his. If her heart still felt quizzed by the unexpected interaction with the sennen item's ward her smile didn't show it.
"Hi." She greeted, letting her expression say what she couldn't put to words just yet. Relief, concern and sentiment mingling in the soft crease of her brow and the blue shine of her eyes. .
His answer was kind, a tender squeeze back as he tangled his fingers with hers, his meek "hello" sounding very much like music in her ears.
For a couple of minutes the silence embraced them in a cozy blanket, allowing her especially to bask in the knowledge that he was alive, well within reach where she could stand between him and danger.
Eventually the bubble had to pop and very much an enthusiast of self-punishment she was the one to do it. There were underlying issues that hadn't been solved with just their survival and although fresh and painful the events from earlier that day had to be brought up once more for the sake of their future.
"How are you feeling?" She needn't specify for him to know that she didn't mean physically, that had been the subject since they arrived at the hospital and he knew her well enough to know that she wasn't the type to ask the same thing multiple times like a concerned mother.
"I— I don't know. I want to feel happy that no-one was seriously hurt but I just can't get over how close it was this time" He tried to conceal a shiver by shrugging but she still felt it through their conjoined grasp. She understood what was troubling him. Even if she hadn't been there they both knew that this wasn't the first time that his life or his friends' were at risk. When the crew gathered to re-tell those stories from even before Duellist Kingdom the narrative was one of adventure and victory but there was just so much someone that young could deal with before things stopped being funny and started to become scary.
Bashful he looked down at their hands, uncertain of pouring out the contents of his heart like he certainly wished to. Their friendship was still young and the reach of their mutual trust remained yet unmapped. She sought his gaze and offered a small encouraging smile. "It is okay. I am here for you if you want to talk about it"
"It's just— I was alone, truly alone for the first time in a very long while and I felt scared. I was useless when someone close to me was in danger and I am so angry at myself for being this weak..." Insecurities and hurt flowed freely, uncontainable like a river after a dam crumbled under the pressure. She listened in silence, unwilling to interrupt him in any way for fear it would make him close his heart once more.
"...To think what could have happened if you guys hadn't come to my rescue, or even then, if you all weren't able to make it out in time."
The fondness and near desperation with which he gripped the sennen item then was like a cold stab in the centre of her chest. She too looked down to hide such selfish feelings. It wasn't the moment for jealousy, she had no right to feel that way when he was clearly hurting.
"You aren't weak." She assured with confidence, hoping her tone alone would convince him of her sincerity. When he turned up and opened his mouth to protest she pressed on, silencing him with a gentle squeeze to his hand which she brought up still encased her own grip to examine it as if it were a precious thing. "You may not possess magical powers like Yami or the physical strength to fight if someone crosses you like Honda and Jonouchi but what you have is the will to always be there to support your friends and step up in times of need no matter the odds. That inspires us to do the same for you... you are the bravest person I know, Yugi and that is worth something."
She looked up and saw his eyes widen in surprise at the compliment. A silence heavy with emotional uncertainty and the desire for closeness ensued. They were so close that just by leaning forward a few centimetres their lips would meet, something she became painfully aware of as their eyes remained locked for what felt like an eternity.
"Yami huh?" A very deliberate change of subject but she conceded it to him, they both could use the distraction to regain some level of composure after letting their defenses fall too low.
"Yeah. I just didn't feel like 'other Yugi' was a good name. To me you are different people." The distance between them slowly expanded, easing them back into known and familiar grounds that although comfortable still left her feeling cold and unfulfilled.
"That is fair, it doesn't sound bad... although in a way I just can't stop thinking of him as a part of me, mou hitori no boku."
Her eyebrows went up and then back down into a scowl. Even if she didn't particularly like the idea it brought her back to a certain conversation she had had with her own head-mate that even if full of speculation some of it had rung too close to the truth. Two boys of very different character sharing what was most intimate, their mind and body. That level of closeness was something she was just starting to comprehend and it birthed in her the probably ridiculous and definitively selfish fear of never being able to compete with such a bond.
Her eyes once more drifted down to their linked hands which had apparently become a safe spot between them when emotions ran too high. She hoped that she looked more pensive rather than troubled as she was.
"So how did you find me?"
Even if she appreciated the effort to keep their conversation going this new direction they took wasn't any easier. She had to take a moment to steel herself to finally say what she had been gathering the courage to disclose for a long time now.
"I am not really sure how to say it but I guess I somehow felt you, well not me really..." She inhaled deeply through her nose and finally recoiled from his touch, severing the comforting connection they had been sharing since he woke up to instead hug herself so tightly it made her breaths come in shallow. Nothing would make sense if she didn't explain but was she ready to do so?
His hand lingered where it had been for just a second before he let it join the other over the smooth surface of the puzzle. His eyebrow was quirked up quizzically.
An unvoiced question lingered cautious and uncertain in the silence between them. He wouldn't say it out loud for fear of triggering her defensive nature again but she knew the intrigue must be eating him inside.
It wasn't just that she felt like she owed him the truth but a part of her genuinely wanted him to know and understand her plight.
Her instincts told her to backpedal and evade the subject, to shut her mouth and let that part of her —which a woman with a psychology degree had told her wasn't normal— remain in obscurity. She almost wished that her inner voice would intervene and veer her away from releasing the truth to the world but that corner of her mind remained strangely silent. Without an excuse and touched by the boy's excessive patience she finally caved.
"I hear someone in my head, I have for as long as I can remember… just like you." One last pause to see if the world would grant her an easy escape before she eased into the story with a resigned sigh. "You know that Arthur and I met during his expedition to the Valley of the I don't remember my past, seemingly have no living relatives and for that he was ultimately appointed as my legal guardian. What you don't know is how he found me."
To relive such traumatic events by putting the memories down to words bordered on physically painful but it was also necessary. She soldiered through every syllable, from that stasis like state from which she awoke prompted by the words of the unseen entity to the strangeness and impossibility of a sealed tomb being her first awake memory, then the excruciating pain she suffered before being rescued by Arthur's team sparing no detail on the brutality of it. Then came her doubts provoked by the incompetence of the police force tasked with the investigations about her case and the well-intended but ultimately conflicting recommendations of her appointed therapist which often contradicted everything her own head-mate said she should do.
"I was made to believe that what happened to me was not possible so it had to be my fault or a massive hoax. Whatever the case. Dr. Hegazy urged me to move on with my life and start anew. To let go of the past in a way… and I tried, the voice left me alone for the most part and I occupied myself with learning languages and history and everything I somehow didn't know before... That all stopped when I came to Japan and met all the answers felt within reach and that voice became loud again."
Letting it all out despite the emotional strain was surprisingly liberating and little by little her frame relaxed and deflated, tired in spite of her recent nap. She found support on the edge of the bed, crossing her arms over the thin sheets and resting her chin on top. Her eyes continuously dodged his searching gaze.
"I am sorry that you have had to deal with so much." Devoid of pity, Yugi's concern was frighteningly touching. The experience of having someone give a shit about your welfare was such an addictive and scary thing, she couldn't help but fear that his caring nature would eventually become something she couldn't live without.
You think you are weak but the power you possess is more dangerous than any dark magic or weapon out there. She would like to say, but telling him that she believed his kindness to be a threat to others may either make him laugh or become deeply concerned for her mental health.
"It is alright, I am the resilient type." Her dismissal lacked any edge, perhaps by choice or simply as a result of her exhaustion. Because of this he felt welcome enough to extend his emotional support through physical contact by running the tips of his digits along her arm, from elbow to wrist, a motion that left her skin tingling and her stomach tied up into knots.
"And has this voice told you what it is or where it came from?"
Tesem eyed the motion of his caressing hand distractedly as she answered. "No, and it doesn't sound like it will any time soon. It often mentions 'a truth not yet ready to be disclosed'-" Her imitation of that distant and ominous tone was on-point, not at all exaggerated. "-whatever that is supposed to mean. Honestly it sometimes drives me crazy with how cryptic it is."
"Yeah, I can relate…" The spirit from the Sennen puzzle had been awfully shady at the beginning, interfering with Yugi's life without asking for consent or even making himself known to the boy. Their relationship had certainly come a long way but there were still quite a few uncertainties their present conversation had effectively managed to unbury. Preoccupied with a dear one's state of mind Yugi chose not to dwell on them just yet. The time for a serious conversation with his other self would come later.
"Do you think that there is a connection between- ?" He finished the idea with a gesture, pointing between the golden piece hanging from his neck and her choker, items that from the start he had noticed were eerily similar in design.
"I think so, when we met I thought something about you felt familiar and more so when I met Yami, but now I know that the feeling didn't come from me-" Before her acceptance of that separate presence in her life their communication had mainly consisted of shared feelings although Tesem hadn't been aware of it at the time. "-and today when you were in danger it alerted me. It must have known somehow."
So many unanswered questions and too much thought fodder for a day that so far had been filled with unwanted thrills. Her eyelids felt heavy as did her heart and the soft friction against her arm started casting a soothing spell that had her feeling drowsy within minutes.
Eventually Yugi's mom came back after going through the tedious task of handling her son's medical discharge. She was surprised to find both teens awake but submerged in such an intimate silence it almost felt wrong to disrupt it, almost, it was late and it was high time everyone got some proper rest in a cozier place. "Hurry up kids, I'd like everyone to get home today"
With their bubble burst and a healthy blush on both their faces they finally stood and promptly readied their belongings to leave the impossibly white room that now contained one of the deepest moments of bonding they had shared ever since they first met each other.
Suddenly hospitals didn't feel like such awful places anymore.
.oOoOoOo.
It was still early in the day when she arrived ready for a busy day of arranging shelves, cleaning and assisting customers to the best of her ability.
About half an hour before opening the doors to customers Mrs. Mutou came by with the tantalizing offer of some juice and a quick bite which Tesem accepted if only to be polite, no hidden desire of having late breakfast with Yugi or anything like that...
They hadn't really spoken since the fire, the next day of school came with a considerable downpour which forced everyone to rush home without giving them a chance to hang out. Now she hoped to take the chance to explore the new world of possibilities their honesty had opened for them while they worked at the shop and maybe afterwards if he agreed to go out together. It would be the first Saturday they went out just on their own and the thought of that possibility had her stomach doing flip flops due to the excitement.
Unfortunately it didn't seem like the boy had yet left his room. According to his mother he was going out later in the day and had taken an exceptionally long time getting ready for whatever that was. Her hopes for the day crumbled like an age-old monument but she forced herself to focus on the sweet tartness of her glass of juice and the busy day ahead. There was always Sunday.
Apprehension soured the taste of orange in her mouth but she forced herself to drink it down and smile. Jealousy was such an irrational emotion, brought forth by insecurities she hadn't known resided in her heart. Letting it show would surely offer an ugly visage and thus she swallowed it back, feeling it lodge deep in her throat like an especially large pill.
It was alright, she would ignore it and eventually get over it as the day progressed or this she thought until Yugi finally made an appearance. Then she was choking on it.
Leather and cloth were wrapped so tightly about the boy's body it was almost sinful. Then there was the notable addition of several pieces of silver and gold jewelry which caught her eye as if she were a freaking magpie. To put it plainly the boy looked good, really good. The word 'edible' sneaked into her mind, nearly making her giggle at her own dirty thoughts.
Oh screw subtlety, she openly stared as he came over to the kitchen to say goodbye before taking off. He paused briefly upon noticing her. It looked as if he had forgotten for a second her arrangement with his grandfather. His usual shyness made an appearance but this time it was accentuated by some poorly concealed fidgeting. It appeared that he wasn't at all aware of how nice he looked. If only they were alone she would be glad to give him an earful about it.
"Do you want to grab a bite before you go?" A much needed distraction gave them an excuse to avert their eyes and while Yugi answered his mom Tesem pretended that the bottom of her empty glass was the most intriguing thing in the whole world.
"No thanks, I'll be having lunch with Anzu."
Oh. That makes sense but why is he dressed as if they are going on a date- No! Stop it. Such a line of thought was too toxic to allow it to take root. She looked up, beamed her best smile at Yugi and wished him a good day before he took off.
Focus on your job and don't think about it. She mentally told herself but as it were that plan was also bound to fail.
The day was rather hectic with few visitors and a minimal workload. Not nearly enough to keep her focus off her thoughts. The building worry that came from the prevailing silence in the back of her mind accompanied by a childish brand of adolescent angst were too loud.
Once or twice she reached out into that dark subspace that didn't quite belong to her, her own words bouncing back at her in the empty space. She wasn't entirely alone with her thoughts, she could tell the same way you know there is someone home when you arrive even if you don't speak or see each other, but that other persona had shut itself off somewhere where Tesem just couldn't reach. She didn't know why and that troubled her greatly.
It didn't take long for her absentmindedness to be noticed and with a hearty laugh and a pat on the back Sugoroku dismissed her for the day saying something about her being too young to spend the weekend cooped up in an empty store. Gods bless him for being as perceptive and kind as his grandson.
She gladly took the chance to seek a proper distraction elsewhere but just outside she faced a massive problem. Where could she go?
Going back home to stew in her distress until Arthur came back from work didn't sound the least bit appealing but with two of her friends occupied and having no way to contact the other two due to her lack of a cell phone left her with very few options.
She didn't know Domino city well enough to be aware of places where a teenager could go to pass the time when needing to disconnect for a little while. The burger joint where Anzu worked and the arcade with lights too bright and devices too unfamiliar were the only spots that came to mind and neither struck her fancy without having Yugi or Jonouchi there to entertain her with their company.
In the end going home did seem like her only feasible choice but when her feet started moving it was in the opposite direction. It wasn't her more adventurous side calling the shots nor silly optimism telling her it was too pretty a day to waste indoors. She just needed to move, anywhere where she could eventually escape her own mind.
Walking was almost distracting enough but those tranquil streets were too empty one could almost traverse them without looking. Downtown was much busier, a constant coming and going of passerby and vehicles just what she needed to force her attention to remain on her surroundings rather than in an endless treadmill of anxious musings.
Curious and colorful shops caught her eye in the wide avenues prompting her to window shop for a good while until the exaggerated characters and flashing screens lost the appeal of novelty. Modern Japanese culture was something else, curious and unapologetically obnoxious in a strangely endearing way. Tesem couldn't say it was really her cup of tea, she much preferred the still flamboyant but much more mystical and in some ways more serious aesthetic of her homeland that in some parts appeared to be untouched by the modern world but still there was an undeniable charm to the juxtaposition of old and new that she could appreciate in Domino city.
As it happened food and candies were akin to a gateway drug in the way they truly got her invested in the discovery of new things. From the artisanal to the extremely commercial they were all like nothing she had ever seen or tasted before. Strawberry flavored gummies that didn't even look edible as they were shaped as pudgy —extremely detailed— characters surprisingly tasted like the actual fruit. It messed with her brain to see how accurately the makers had captured the natural flavour of something to infuse it into something that looked entirely different. The same went for other flavours such as rice pudding, green tea, red bean paste and coffee, her favorite.
Then there was the artistry from one particular stand where an aged man sculpted clear caramel into intricate depictions of animals and flowers, so delicate they looked like glass. It was really tempting to purchase one of those precious little figurines to make sure they were actually made of sugar and edible but after splurging on a hundred grams of coffee flavored milk gummies she didn't really feel like spending any more of Arthur's allowance on sweets. Not like he would really mind but still she would feel guilty about it.
Having run out of shops to raid for free samples and mindful of a particular owner's stern glare she moved further down the street where a striking array of posters depicting epic scenes of battle in space, medieval times and other imaginative scenarios lured her into a small plaza that appeared to be a gathering of shops covering all hobbies under the sun.
She found video games, manga, board games and more… and more importantly there were no ill-tempered owners hovering over her shoulder pressing to see if she was going to buy something. They were all enthusiasts seemingly glad to let their would-be customers browse to their heart's content, so she did just that.
Tesem fluttered about the shelfs like a moth with a particularly bad attention span as she picked and browsed through countless books without really committing to any story, simply marvelling at the seemingly endless universes birthed by the creativity and imagination of people.
Beyond storytelling the artistic aspect of the illustrations was also something worthy of notice. Some of the mangas if she was to be perfectly honest lacked a premise that really appealed to her but the artwork depicted was so beautiful and polished that she couldn't help but keep on reading a while longer if only to appreciate the aesthetic for a while.
When she finally got tired of sampling stories and looking at neat figurines the day had already transformed into afternoon. With only sugar in her stomach and the somewhat acid aftertaste of coffee flavouring coating her tongue she found herself craving a snack or a proper meal if possible.
The unimpressive amount of yen in her wallet limited her options considerably and she was left to aimlessly wander as she tried to remember just where Jonouchi had taken them when they had those hella cheap and hella tasty takoyaki that one time after going to the arcade.
It had to be around there, somewhere between downtown and their school, past a shady looking alleyway... perhaps next to an electronics shop? No, it was further down the road in front of the— Someone is following us.
The sudden break in her inward silence nearly brought her staggering to a halt but she managed to stabilize herself in time and continued walking until she found a quieter corner to collect her thoughts.
"What?" She demanded out loud, a whispered scream if such a thing existed. There was no answer in words but a sudden awareness washed over her, of eyes on her body and steps trailing too close, too deliberately hushed.
Her hands closed into tight fists and her frame tensed strung tight like a spring about to jump into action.
How many? Her feet started moving again as her eyes darted around seeking the answer that was denied not out of malice but rather lack of knowledge. She couldn't tell yet, she must pay attention and keep moving.
Her senses felt like they were on overdrive as they zeroed in on this possible threat, tuning out all else. Three people, sounding larger and heavier than herself, likely all grown men. She most certainly couldn't take them in a fight which made the situation seem bleak but was violence their intent or not? Within her a minuscule hope awoke that it in fact was, and she instantly shunned the notion before it took root.
What the hell is wrong with you?
Her already aimless pace turned more erratic as she abandoned the big avenues and delved deeper into the tangled alleys and corridors behind the smaller businesses. It was indeed counterproductive to stray away from the more public areas if she wished to find refuge from whoever was tailing her but truth be told she was hoping for the opposite. Call it intuition or just a whiff of magic in the air but something told her that truth was well within reach, like never before.
Perhaps she was just delusional and about to offer a gang of thieves (or worse) the opportunity to assault her on a silver platter. Either way she was about to find out.
When she reached a spot mostly devoid of prying eyes Tesem finally turned around ready to face whoever these strangers were.
Her eyes militaristic uniforms and stern looks told her nothing but a familiar air and dark skin tones just like her own were enough to make the connection.
"Miss, we were asked to escort you to our boss. She wishes to speak with you."