Iori tossed and turned on the couch, deep within his usual nightmares. Blood splattered everywhere. A large snake bared its fangs. Corpses piled around him. An overwhelming fear stirred in the pit of his stomach. He coughed. His hands stained red. The snake lunged towards him.
The impact of rolling off the couch and onto the floor woke him. Muttering swears under his breath, he blinked his grogginess away. He patted around the top of the coffee table, searching for his alarm clock. He grabbed it and turned its face towards him. Just a little past midnight. Iori groaned; he barely got two hours' worth of sleep. He rose from the floor and shuffled towards the bathroom. He doesn't need a mirror to know he's a mess right now, but god damn, a few splashes of cool water on his face would help at least a little bit. On his way to the bathroom, he passed by his bedroom and noticed the door was cracked open. The light was still on, and he could hear Kiki's voice.
"Hey, Kai, it's me," he heard her say. "Yeah, things are going great! It's morning where you guys are at, right? … Okay, good, I got my time zones right, then."Curious, Iori leaned against the wall just outside the doorway as he listened. A phone call?
"So, I didn't find Kyo but guess who I found instead?" She paused, waiting for a response. "No, it's not anyone on the Japan team. … It was Iori! Iori Yagami!"
He frowned. She was way too excited about meeting him. She came for Kyo, didn't she? He couldn't understand why meeting him would be any better. As he pondered more over the logic going through Kiki's head, Iori realized he knew absolutely nothing about this girl. Although he wasn't the type of person to eavesdrop, he had to know more about her. She was going to live with him now, after all. Just what kind of person was she, willingly letting herself get involved with a guy like him? He peeked through the crack and saw Kiki sitting on the bed, holding a mobile phone to her ear.
She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck, "I know, I know. It's pretty crazy." A long pause. "What? He's not gonna-Kai…! Oh, come on, I'm not gonna get hurt!"
Iori couldn't help but smirk. At least the person on the other end of the line seemed to have some sense in them. If the person she was talking to knew how dangerous he was, perhaps they were the friend Kiki mentioned at dinnertime?
Kiki groaned and pouted. "Don't worry, okay? He's actually really nice. … I'm serious!"
He frowned. How delusional. She didn't understand a thing.
"Anyway," she continued, "I was wondering if you could relay your notes over the phone? Mr. Yagami mentioned that it would be useful to know stuff about who I might be facing off against in the future."
Iori perked up. Well, he didn't say that exactly, but damn, she actually paid attention to his lecture.
She leaned over the edge of the bed, unzipped her backpack, and pulled out her notebook and pen. "Yes, I called him 'Mr. Yagami' just now. Shut up." She opened the notebook to a new page and began writing something in it. "Anyway, I want notes on everyone. … Yup, everyone. … Yes, even the American Sports Team. They've gotta make a comeback at some point. Maybe this year will be their year!"
Iori stood by the doorway, listening to Kiki discuss her friend's notes over the phone. After hearing things like "Just gotta keep my distance from guys like Clark and Daimon. Got it", "How exactly can Choi just zip through the air?", and "Bro, how do you expect me to get close to Billy when he's got that long-ass staff?!", Iori decided that he heard enough. He walked to the bathroom and washed his face. Just as Iori was heading back to the living room, Kiki peeked her head out of the bedroom doorway.
"Did I wake you up?" she asked. "Sorry-"
Iori turned back around and lightly pinched her cheek. "What did I say about apologizing?" he grumbled as Kiki whined. He let her go, and she rubbed her cheek. "Don't stay up too late. You'd better apply what you learn tonight tomorrow afternoon."
Kiki cocked her head at him, and her eyes widened in the realization of what he was referring to. "Okay!" she replied. "Good night, Mr. Yagami!"
Without a word, Iori proceeded to the living room with a small smile on his face.
A/N:So this one came in pretty quick because I was writing this one in conjunction with chapters 4 and 5. I like skipping around with writing stuff if my original one-shots are of any indication. Speaking of the original one-shots, a re-write of one of them will be the next chapter so uh stay tuned i guess lol
