So, now rating will go up up up. Not that much -up up up. That's better, I think. Well, I don't have much more to say :)
Disclaimer: I don't own YGO more than in my dreams.
Warnings: Minor violence and ... um... hope I've not missed anything important.
There you go, R&R! Love your reviews so far :)
Chapter 10
Normal POV
Mana ran and couldn't care less when people shouted at her after she'd bumped into them. She was blinded in tears and didn't know where to go now, she was exposed now… she had told Atemu that she loved him, and for a moment the thought of that he did the same had crossed her mind.
"How could I, a Pharaoh doesn't like an apprentice! He wants someone that looks good and with long golden hair." The woman tried to wipe the tears away and suddenly saw where she was. With a sigh she laid a hand on the same tree there she had sat when the Pharaoh came and saved her. Mana looked up at it and thought: "That time he didn't reach of for a fruit, he reached out for me instead."
She took a hold of a branch so that she didn't fall to the ground. Why did she feel so empty now, after all those beautiful days she had experienced?
"Master Mahado, I need you, more than ever", Mana sobbed quietly, because her attempts to keep the tears in didn't succeed very well. She carefully climbed up in the tree, as high as she could and then stared down on the streets, looking for Atemu.
"What am I doing, looking for someone that … surely will laugh at me." She sighed heavily. "No, I'm fine… I must be fine."
She suddenly saw how a man with tri-coloured hair ran by, but she didn't react, just stared stubbornly at him until he disappeared.
As the darkness fell, Mana realised that she was shaking; it was cold to sit there in the tree when the wind was blowing heavily. Saddened she jumped down and grimaced when she felt the pain in her cold feet when they hit the ground.
"Where should I go? By Ra, Anubis, Seshat and all the other gods and goddesses, please, tell me what to do!" She thought constantly as she tried to remember if there was somewhere she could go; but the only one she came to think of was finding Seto Kaiba, but he wasn't like the Seto Mana knew from Egypt, so that didn't appeal to her.
"Maybe I should find the way home to the Pharaoh…", she mumbled there she went in the lights but then shook her head violently. "No! I don't need him to protect me!"
"To protect who?" Suddenly a shadow was covering hers and she spun around and looked up in a man's face. He was wall, pretty skinny, still with muscles and had black eyes and grinned slightly. "Such a young lady like you shouldn't walk all alone on a Saturday night."
"Why not?" Mana tried to summon every bit of courage she had, but in the darkness, it was hard.
"Well, because there are funny people outdoors", he took a grip of her arm. "Let me follow you home."
"But that isn't the way to my home…" She tried to brake free, but the grip became harder which made her grimacing.
"No, but it's the way to my place." He laughed a bit, and that made the young woman more afraid.
"Let go of me!" Mana tried to kick him, but the tight jeans were in the way. "Don't you hear what I say?"
"Are you criticising my hearing?" The man rumbled darkly and stared at her.
"If you don't let me go, then yes!" She replied angrily, but in the next second she whished that she hadn't done that, because she found herself pushed into a wall and could smell the stinking breath from the man that was next to her.
"Small girls like you should know their place… but it seems like I have to remind you." He lifted a hand to slap her, but Mana was to fast for him and pulled out her wand from nowhere.
"Don't touch me, I'll turn you into a toad and in the same way take away your bad breath too!" She seemed to be pretty confident, but the eyes glistened in fear, and those weren't the only reason to that the man laughed hard and long.
"Toad did you say? Well, try!" In one movement he took her staff her threw it away, and then her. Mana landed on the hard ground and tried to hide, but there wasn't anywhere to go.
"Stop!" She shouted as she protected her head for the hits that was about to come. "Let me go!"
"Why should I care?" His hand dived into her thick, brown hair and pulled her head up. "Now, back to teach you a lesson…"
Mana closed her green eyes, not that she could see much because of the tears, but somehow the pain took her somewhere else, away from the abusing man, if she only saw the darkness. When had she become this weak? Normally, she would have fought back, maybe being a little scared, but now… she was just empty.
But the hit that was meant for her didn't come; instead she tried to hear… to understand what the familiar voice that rumbled around on the streets said.
"How dare you treat her like that!" Mana bit her lip when she heard Atemu. Why did he always have to save her? Why couldn't she, just for once, be able to take care of herself… and why by Ra was he always willing, and without question, there to protect her from anything and anyone?
She felt how a pair of strong arms shook her carefully, but she hadn't the power to even raise a finger.
"You will PAY FOR THIS!" Atemu rose up, staring at the smirking man.
"You shouldn't have let this sweetie go all alone on the streets! And besides, what are you, little tiny, gonna do about it!" The man laughed hard again, but the former Pharaoh didn't fear him.
"Hmpf, if you think that I'm afraid of men who likes to abuse young women, then you're sadly mistaken", he replied in a cold, death raw voice. And that was enough to trigger the man who went to attack.
"Take this you little…"
"You little what? Please, tell me." Atemu simply stepped aside and saw how the taller one ran right into the wall behind.
"Oh, now I'm just pissed off…" On unsteady legs the man started to prepare himself to punch the short thing that smirked towards him. "Come here you…"
But Atemu swung around when he came flying, and once again tricked the man to fall down into a heap. With disgust he stared down on him.
"You don't deserve living in this world, especially not after hurting Mana like that…" Atemu saw how the man started raising from the ground and looked up on him, and said man got big eyes when Atemu continued: "So I hope you find yourself comfortable… IN OBLIVION!"
The eyes of the man rolled around before he once again was found in a heap because of the power of the Pharaoh.
"Mana", Atemu turned around, ran and fell on his knees beside her. Carefully he took her into his arms and held her there. "How could he… how could anyone. Mana, I love you so much, no one must ever take you away from me!"
The young woman slowly opened her eyes when she felt something wet on her chin.
"Pharaoh…", she begun saying with a dry voice. "…you're crying. But you never cry."
"Silly little Mana, I wouldn't be human if I didn't cry…" Atemu smiled faintly and lifted her up, and started carrying her. "Let's go home."
-
"Atemu, did you find…?" Yugi had come running out from the Kame game shop but silenced when he saw his yami with the exhausted Mana in his arms. "What happened to her!
"It's… a long story, aibou." Atemu walked past him and continued upstairs to his room there he slowly laid Mana in his bed. Yugi sneaked up from behind.
"But she has bruises on her arm and face!" he felt very upset when he observed the sleeping form. "I'll get some water and bandage!"
The other couldn't do anything other than nod there he sat beside Mana and gently stroke her face while avoiding a big black-blue bruise on her chin. When Yugi came back, Atemu took the deep plate with lukewarm water, the piece of cotton and started to bathe her wounds, which made her quiver in her sleep.
"It's alright", Atemu hushed her with a voice Yugi not often heard; it was soft as silk. But his eyes, they seemed to be praying when they observed Mana. Why did he seem so dishonoured?
"Atemu, why did Mana run away in the first place?" He said quietly.
"A misunderstanding… one big misunderstanding", his yami replied emotionless and put the water away and instead started bandaging Mana's left arm.
"But she's lucky that you found her!"
"If I hadn't found her that man would have… would have" Atemu stopped and said between his teeth: "But if I just had stopped her from the beginning or found her earlier, she wouldn't have a mess in the first place!"
"Stop blaming yourself!" Yugi hurried to his side and squeezed his shoulder comforting.
"Hikari…" Atemu looked up in his face and smiled warily. "Thank you."
"I'll go to the living room so you can be alone." The shorter man returned the smile and carefully opened and closed the door, leaving the sleeping woman and her protector in the darkness.
Atemu turned back to Mana and stroke some brown tests from her face and then took her hand in his, massaging it softly.
"Pharaoh…" He snapped up his head when he heard that weak voice. "I shouldn't have run away."
"You don't need to call me 'Pharaoh' all the time", he smiled faintly. "I do have a name."
"But I've always called you by title." Mana looked up in his dark, violet eyes.
"You should rest."
"Did you pick up my wand?"
"Yes, now sleep." Atemu still found it amazing how she always could be so stubborn, but that was part of the charm with her. Sometimes she really reminded him about Jounouchi. "I guess that we all need a Katsuya, and Mana is mine."
"What are you grinning about?" Mana said with a dry voice, but still smiled a bit.
"About how I will tickle you to sleep if you don't do as I say." He said in a demanding voice and raised an eyebrow, but who could stay that way towards a little disaster like the girl in front of him.
"As you wish Pharaoh… Atemu." Calmly she closed her eyes as she squeezed his hand one more time before falling into the land of the dreams.
Aww, hope I'm not being to fluffy... and that my fluff isn't crap. Well, that's up for you to decide. Have it great and I'll try to update soon.
