Opticshipping (Pegasus x Shizuka)


The ground sparkled. Shizuka reveled in the glimmer, not quite like diamonds, but more like the grass had turned into tinsel that sparkled with hints of silver and gold. The sight was oh, so beautiful. She barely felt how cold she was, so delighted was she with the sight. Shizuka drew in a deep breath of the cold air tinged with faint woodsmoke. She could hardly believe her luck – this place was gorgeous. And what was more, she could see it so clearly. The operation had been a huge success. And now, here she was in America – she never could have dreamed she'd get to see this place with her own eyes! It was very, very nice of Mr. Pegasus to invite Yugi and the others here. And it was lucky for Shizuka that Jonouchi was allowed to bring her along.

She sighed and snuggled deeper into her scarf, the fog of her breath escaping in wisps through the wool. She was pretty sure she was the only one awake already. Seeing the frost outside had made her so excited she had gone right outside. The room that she and Anzu were sharing opened out into the garden, and she couldn't resist going out. The glimmer of the frost seemed to turn everything into deep, gem-like tones. The trees of half orange and green looked like emeralds and topaz. Shizuka felt like she would never be full of looking at everything.

"Oh my, is someone awake already? It's barely seven!"

The English voice startled her, and the sight of Pegasus J. Crawford coming up the walk toward her startled her even further. She almost bolted back to her room, but managed to remind herself that she was not a squirrel, and remained where she was.

"O-oh, g-good morning Mr. Crawford," Shizuka said, stumbling over her English.

"Ah, please forgive me," Pegasus said, switching to Japanese. "I forget my good manners as a host. Good morning, Miss Jonouchi, isn't it?"

"K-Kawai, actually," Shizuka mumbled. "Shizuka Kawai. U-um, my mother switched back to her maiden name, and I live with her, and..."

She clamped her mouth shut to stop herself from rambling. Pegasus didn't seem to notice.

"Right, right, I do believe I he mentioned something like that," Pegasus said. "Ah, where are my manners? We haven't been formally introduced yet. I'm Pegasus Crawford."

He extended his hand.

"I know," Shizuka said, and blushed as she said it. "Uh, Shizuka Kawai. I – I said that already though..."

Pegasus smiled broadly. Shizuka took his hand shyly and shook very limply before taking her hand away. Handshaking – what a peculiar form of greeting.

"Are you enjoying your stay, Miss Kawai?"

"O-oh, yes, of course. Thank you very much for having us."

"No trouble, none at all, my dear girl."

He glanced out across the garden covered with a thin coat of frost.

"Cold morning, isn't it?" he said.

"But it's very pretty," Shizuka said.

She blushed again when Pegasus looked at her.

"Really? You like the frost, then?"

"Oh, uh, well, it is very cold," Shizuka said. "B-but, it makes everything shine so brightly. And you know, it should only look white or silver, but the sunlight makes it look like there's bits of gold...like the ground is tinsel."

She only realized that she was rambling too late. She closed her mouth quickly, convinced that she had embarrassed herself.

But Pegasus was smiling. It wasn't the cheerful, host smile of before. It was a real, gentle, kind smile, like the smile on her brother's face when he was happy to see her after a long time apart.

"I'm sorry," Shizuka mumbled. "That sounded kind of silly."

"Not at all," Pegasus said. "You know...it rather reminded me of someone. She used to say things like that."

He considered her for a moment.

"Tell me, Miss Kawai," he said. "I know Yugi-boy gave the prize money from Duelist Kingdom to Mr. Jonouchi. Can you tell me what he used it for?"

Shizuka ducked her head for a moment. Then she looked back out at the sparkling frost. It was all so beautiful. She consumed the sight hungrily, as though starving. To think that she might not have been able to see it at all.

"I was going blind," Shizuka said. "My mother couldn't afford the optic surgery."

She glanced up at Pegasus. That smile was still there.

"I had a feeling," he said.

He paused.

"You know, you remind me...never mind."

Shizuka was curious, but she was too tongue-tied to ask him what he was going to say. He smiled again. And then he nodded to her, and walked away. Leaving Shizuka alone in the sparkling, gem-like world.

She couldn't possibly know that an hour from now, Pegasus would retreat to his room and pull a dusty box from under his bed. She couldn't know that he would open the box and look at the unused paintbrushes inside. And she would never, ever see the small painting of a frost covered world, with a red-headed girl staring at the beauty around her in wonder.


A/N: I think Shizuka would remind Pegasus of Cyndia, personally. I think I like Shizuka too much. Anyway, we had our first frost. Everything was so gorgeous. I took my dog for a walk in the morning, and when I looked back towards the sun, the grass seemed to sparkle silver and gold. It really did look like tinsel grass. Next is Oliveshipping (Priest Karim x Rishid).