Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or the songs that I use in my fiction. I am simply borrowing them from their owners to express my creative thoughts, and give full credit to them 100%
Authors note: As you have undoubtedly seen, there is music involved with this story. And I'm hopeful that you have seen I am making a back story for Akila which shows the importance of music to her. So being as music is important to the story there will be times where song lyrics magically find their way into the story as you saw in chapter one with "Running Up That Hill". Remember this is not a song fic. But I do find it appropriate to have titles about the songs that might find their way into the chapter or merely be based off it. 'Tis my rant, please enjoy.
I have to give a shout out to tavia454 for inspiring me to write again. Your work is amazing, keep it up.
Why You So Obsessed With Me?
'Humming, that's all they have been for the last few nights since I've started school' Akila thought to herself as she looked in the mirror at herself. The first night of just humming didn't bother her; it was when the humming became a reoccurring theme in her dreams that she started thinking about them more. She had even found herself humming the tune out of no where. She found it odd that only one person seemed to notice her when she was doing it. In the middle of class, or lunch, or where ever she would be doing it at, she would get the feeling of being watched, and when she looked over there he was, staring at her with his exotic crimson eyes. Yes, exotic even to her. She had never seen eyes like his ever in her life. Akila had become interested in her superstar's cousin as of late, and she had notice that he was curious about her as well. She had caught him many times doing the same thing she was doing to him, trying to read into her like there was some secret that he was hiding. Of course it didn't help that he was looking at her the exact same way and it was unnerving. After that first day and seemingly warm welcome, that whole group seemed to treat her like there was something wrong with her, like they were guarding themselves from her.
She splashed her face with cold water to wash away all the rambling in her head and the uneasy feelings she had bubbling in her stomach. Today was the day the group was supposed to meet her for a DDR match. That Tea girl seemed to be trying to prove her dominance when it came to females in the group.
The idea had been tossed around for them to just go to Akila's house for this match, an idea Tea wasn't too thrilled by originally, probably because she couldn't show off in front of a big crowd. However, the promise of movies and pizza afterwards was thrown into the mix seemed to seal the deal. It was even a bonus that her parents were not going to be around either; they had some sort of job to work on over the weekend that would keep them away. That morning, Akila had found a note on the refrigerator with a fifty dollar bill attached.
'Akila, Have fun with your friends this weekend. Love Mom and Dad' it made her chuckle lightly as she ran her mothers handwriting. They were obviously relieved that she wouldn't be alone during the weekend. So now she was standing in her bathroom putting on make up for once and thinking about what to wear. Today was like the first time she would be meeting them as herself. When they first met, she was hiding behind her books and reading glasses and school uniform, but now it was time for them to really meet her. She wouldn't have to worry about her hair much; it was naturally wavy and nice looking. It was very rare that it would rebel on her and curl in the wrong way and she'd have to bust out her thick curling iron to make it obey he, but that wasn't the case today. She walked back into her bedroom and turned on her stereo to calm her nerves. She waited until the music started before she got back to work, bouncing around her room enjoying the fun fast beat of the music as her movement seemed to bounce her stress away. In the end she ended up wearing a yellow top with off the shoulder sleeves and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and ran outside with her guitar that she loved so much, forgetting or not caring to turn off her stereo. After all she was the only one in the house today and she loved music, so what better way to enter her house when she was done with more up beat sounds.
Once she shut her front door, it hit her; she had lost herself in the music once again. She stepped outside in the foreign sounds of Domino city and sighed. This wasn't helping much; it was just a reminder of the impending arrival of her friends that made her feel like a suspect in a police investigation then the new kid on the block. They were interested in her, but it didn't seem in the way she wanted them to be.
She walked to the end of her yard, and perched herself on top of the low wall bordering between her yard and the sidewalk on the other side of it, pulling her guitar onto her lap, tuning it a little. This was something she liked to do to make herself feel better. She loved singing, and playing her own music. It was therapeutic in a way. She figured out a while ago that musicians have this uncanny ability to express her feelings better then she could. So she learned how to play songs on her guitar and the family piano to get away from it all. It was an easy way to keep her parents from asking too many questions too. After all, they weren't her songs that she would sing loud enough that everyone could hear, they belonged to people like Sheryl Crow, or Taylor Swift, or whoever sparked her interest at the time.
Akila closed her eyes and took a quick breath as she ran through her mind's playlist of good guitar songs for her feelings of frustration.
"I've been long, a long way from here. Put on a poncho, played for mosquitoes, and drank till I was thirsty again. We went searching through thrift store jungles, found Geronimo's rifle, Marilyn's shampoo, and Benny Goodman's corset and pen. Well, o.k. I made this up. I promised you I'd never give up. If it makes you happy…"
There it was again, that feeling of being watched, observed. She held her breath for a moment before opening her eyes to find those oh so familiar crimson ones staring back at her with interest. She quick exhaled and rolled her eyes.
"You're early, where are the others?" She asked, irritated that her moment with her and her guitar were ruined. Though, she was surprised to find him alone. She was even more surprised that Yugi wasn't standing beside him. Atem just shrugged his shoulders and leaned on the wall beside her.
"They are at the store down the street from the Game Shop to get a few snacks and then they are going to the movie store to rent some movies or something. It took me a little longer to get out of bed this morning, so they left without me so I figured I'd head up here early to hang out." It was a daring move on Atem's part, and he knew Yugi would kill him when he finally realized what Atem was trying to pull, but he just wanted to get to know Akila for some reason. The group had been trying so hard over the week to guard him, and succeeding that it was a little irritating. He could sense things about people, and he didn't sense anything evil or malicious about her and found no reason to not trust her if only a little bit. "So I knew you like to sing, but I didn't realize you liked to play as well." He said. He had enjoyed the short lived song she had started singing before his burning stare broke her concentration. She had a nice voice, almost hypnotic to listen to.
As if reading his mind, or just wanting to ignore him, Akila started to play her guitar again from where she left off. "If it makes you happy it can't be that bad. If it makes you happy then why the hell are you so sad?" Once Akila was finished, she sat there playing a tune on her guitar, nothing in particular, just whatever sounded nice to her while thinking about what to say to this boy who had his eyes on her all week long now that they were alone.
"So, why didn't you just catch up with your girlfriend?" She asked her idle playing turning into the tune that had been stuck in her head for the last few days, without her realizing it. Atem quickly noticed the change and then looked up at her, noting that Akila didn't notice what was going on.
"Tea and I aren't going out."
"Huh, she keeps talking about how you two are going to homecoming together…" She said, smiling at him a bit. "Yugi asked me to go with him, didn't really seem to into the idea. I figure it was more of a pity thing. I'm the new girl in school, why would I want to go to homecoming, right?" Atem chuckled. Yugi's acting wasn't that good, or Akila was really perceptive when it came to peoples feelings.
"Are you going with him?" Atem asked, surprised that Yugi didn't mentioned anything to him about it.
"I told him to ask Tea. He seems to really want to go with her instead of me." Atem was a little startled about how Akila figured out Yugi's feelings. He was sure the he was the only one who knew about it. Akila looked at Atem and took his expression completely differently.
"Don't tell me he doesn't like her…." She said, stopping her playing, feeling like the worst person in the world. Yugi had asked her out and she just made an assumption. This was just great, her first week here and she royally messed up.
"No, no it's not that. He does like her. I'm just surprised he told you." Akila shook her head, confused.
"I figured everyone knew. It's kind of obvious. He looks sad whenever she flirts with you." Atem sighed. He hated how Yugi hurt because of him. He really didn't like Tea in that way, and the girl wouldn't take a hint. He figured it was partially because he knew of Yugi's feelings towards her, or the fact that she was really pushy. He admired her for her strong will, but some times it was unappealing how she just fell all over him without considering his feelings, or Yugi's
"Why would you tell Yugi to ask Tea to homecoming when you thought we were going as a couple?" He asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. Was she trying to start something within the group? Akila looked at him and sighed. There were those judging eyes she saw whenever she happened to say or do something just slightly wrong. She shook her head.
"At least he wouldn't have any regret. At least he would have tried. At least he wouldn't be playing the 'what if' game with himself. Personally I hope she tells him yes. It seems to be really bothering him that she doesn't see him in that kind of way" She said shrugging before jumping off the wall and looking at her crimsoned eyed guest, leaning her guitar against the wall. "We should go to homecoming together…" Atem went wide eyed at the comment before Akila started laughing. "I'm joking. I don't even know if I am going to homecoming anyway." She grabbed her guitar and smiled. "Come on, lets go inside while we wait for the others. You can help me set up the DDR stuff before the show up." She smiled nicely and it eased Atem's mind a bit. He couldn't sense anything evil coming from her, but he did sense a familiar warmth from her that seemed to comfort him even when he should have been on his guard.
"Do you ever write your own songs?" Atem asked making Akila smile back at him as she waited to see if he was going to see if he was going to come inside instead of acting like a vampire who had to be invited in.
"I did once, but then I keep hearing these songs on the radio and they are so fun to play and to sing I just kind of got writers block from it." She said as she opened the front door, the music she left on still booming from the inside. "Come on, I wont bite." She said before she disappeared into the house. Atem was cautious as he stepped into the unfamiliar house. It was a lot different from the Game Shop, bigger. "Over here!" Akila's voice called from the other side of the entrance way. He saw a set of stairs with Akila mid way up them. "All the stuff for the game is in my room" Atem followed her into her bed room. He was a little stand offish considering it was usually considered improper to be in a girl's room alone, but Akila didn't seem to care at all. She was to busy unhooking her game system from her TV to notice his discomfort. Waiting for instructions from her, Atem decided to look around. Her room wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It was a big room, a small entertainment center for her games and TV with a shelving area to the side that seemed to hold some DVDs. She had a nice sized bed with a white comforter that had flowers scattered across. She had a desk and an electric keyboard. She also had a guitar holder next to that that held the guitar she was playing on a few minutes ago.
"Do you mind turning off my stereo?" She yelled, noticing that the music was a little to loud for company over. She had it so loud to start with to kind of blast away her uneasy thoughts before. Atem nodded before heading towards the source of the music. On her dresser she had a nice sized stereo that she obviously had on full blast considering the crackling sound it made once you got up close to it. He was nice enough to lower the volume before he clicked the power button off so when she started it up again she wouldn't get blasted, forgetting how loud it was the last time she used it. There was something else on the dresser that caught his eyes, a photo in a frame. The picture was obviously taken in Egypt considering the giant statue in the back ground, the Sphinx. However, in the foreground, there was a family of three. The mother and father, the women tall and slender with long hair that looked very similar to Akila's and a slightly shorter man that had the same sticking golden eyes that Atem noticed on her first day of school, Akila had. In front of them was a small girl that looked like a perfect mixture of the two of them.
"Are these your parents?" Atem asked with a slight smile. Akila turned to look at him and then the picture; a slightly startled expression crossed her face for a moment before she recovered before Atem noticed. She nodded before collecting wires and the game system.
"Hey do you mind grabbing the pads over here?" She asked, kind of pointing at the folded up pads in the bottom of her entertainment center. You wouldn't be able to tell what they were unless you were told. Atem nodded, putting the picture down and helping her with the task she assigned him. "I'll just set this up in the entertainment room and we can wait until the others get here." She said as she started the simple task of setting up the game console. Once she was finished and she and Atem set up the two dance pads, Akila sat down on the sofa next to Atem and handed him the remote. "You're my guest, you get dibs on what we watch" She smiled, finally glad to get to talk to this guy who seemed to be always watching her. Atem grabbed the remote and turned to the channel that Yugi seemed to watch all the time, Cartoon Network, considering he really didn't know any better. "So is there any reason you guys all seem guarded around me? You guys say I'm your friend, as much of a friend as the new girl in town can be at least, but you guys always seem, I don't know, afraid or something." Atem looked at her for a moment, noticing the slightly saddened look on her face. They weren't doing a very good job of hiding their suspicions about her. He sighed before smiling at her.
"Yugi is a big star now, you know. We just want to make sure that no one intends to hurt him or anything" He lied, not really liking the idea of it, but how was he supposed to explain the whole situation to start with. That was the last thing he really needed, to drag in another innocent person into his problems. Akila could sense there was something she wasn't being told, but didn't feel like she should press the issue too much.
"So, you're from Egypt too?" She asked, liking the fact that she had something in common with him and that she would have someone to related to if only a little. He nodded kind of killing the conversation she was trying to make. She sighed before she tucked her knees into her chest, deciding to watch the television in the very uncomfortable, awkward silence that was really starting to bug her. Unfortunately, her mind couldn't help but wonder. 'Why does it seem like he's always watching me? Why does he seem to ask me so many stupid questions but doesn't say anything about himself? Why do I even care so freaking much?' she kept asking herself, grinding her teeth in her frustration. She wasn't that much of a freak that she could be treated like a fish in an aquarium.
"Are you uncomfortable around me?" Atem asked, causing Akila to jump, not realizing how deep in thought she really was. She shook her head, still focused on the television. "I can tell when someone isn't being honest with me." She said, making Akila sigh. He smirked knowing she would give into his question.
"Why are you always watching me?" She asked simply, looking at him with saddened eyes, catching Atem completely off guard himself. "I mean, you're fascinating to me, but I don't always watching you. I can feel your eyes on me during class or when I walk into class or whenever you notice me around. I feel like an ant under a microscope. If there is something you want to know, just ask me, and please stop watching me." She said finally bursting at the seams from her frustrations.
"I'm sorry, I just feel like I know you from somewhere, but I can't place my finger on where and it's frustrating. I tend to focus so much on something I can't figure out that I don't realize exactly what I'm doing. I apologize if I make you uneasy. I can go outside and wait with the others if you wish." He offered, and it made Akila smile. It wasn't very often now-a-days that someone was this polite.
"Sometimes, you act older then you are, wiser." She said, not really meaning to say that out loud, and blushing when she realized what exactly she said. Atem looked at her with a smile. It was true, he felt something very familiar and comforting about her. He had no doubt in his mind that she had something to do with his past. Though, the only issue would be, if she happened to be a reincarnation of this person in his past, she would have no memory of him. It was a saddening thought, someone connected with his past, which could understand him or help him understand himself, would have no idea how significant they are. Atem placed his hand on her cheek, rubbing gently around the blush that was now growing around her face. Akila gasped in surprised, but she couldn't move away from him and it scared her more. For some reason she was frozen in place. Something in her didn't want her to move. She looked up at Atem, who seemed lost in his thoughts to realize what was going on. "Atem, what's on your mind?" she asked softly, placing her hand on his, griping it in hopes of moving it off her. It was only then that she noticed a familiar sent that came from him. She didn't know why she was taking such an interest in how he smelt, but she wondered if it had something to do with the reason she couldn't move as well. 'It's adrenalin.' She reasoned with herself, after all what else could it be? The two of them just sat there in some kind of daze, one lost in his thoughts, trying to place this familiar girl in his life, and the other one dizzy by the strangely familiar scent that came from the other and the confusion about his behavior. After another moment or two, Atem seemed to come out of his haze and stared at the confused looking girl in front of him who seemed to have a hold on his hand.
"I'm sorry." He muttered lightly as he looked into her eyes, seeing how confused she was. He noticed the bright red blush that tinted her bronze skin and she slightly parted lips, hearing her heavy breathing. This was a mistake, he shouldn't be alone with her, something was going on and he wasn't sure what it was. He went to pull his hand off her cheek when he felt her hand give a slight squeeze as if not really wanting him to let go, but logic kicked in and made her release him.
"What's happening to me?" She asked, slightly scared by the things going on as of late and now this. The dreams, the song, the need to sing more then she had before, the need to know this guy in front of her. "Who are you?" Atem stared startled at the question. So he wasn't the only one who felt that. That was it; he was going to have to go to see Ishizu, the only person who seemed to know everything about him
Author's Note: Ok, so its not the best chapter, I know. So Sheryl Crow's "If It Makes You Happy" made an appearance in this chapter, awesome song. Akila's past is starting to make an appearance each time she and Atem hang out. Lets just hope that the groups attempt to protect Atem doesn't back fire on them.