Thank you to all who have reviewed and/or read my story. Be paitent for updates. I'll be able to heaps during my holidays but during the rest of the year, it'll take longer (Blame my parents).
What happened so far: Sass is now part of the Moto household, living under their roof and working in the shop part-time. She has now been living there for three months...
Early Morning Workouts
Sass pushed the large glass case out of the doorway into the right front corner, next to the latest import of Classic Monster Cards. A new line of classic monsters most people cherished in Duel Monsters given extra abilities and giving shiny golden titles. After making sure the unit was in perfect position, Sass grabbed the Ajax spray and the blue cloth which she had left on the nearby bench and began her normal cleaning ritual. Giving the glass cases a good cleaning, making sure they shine each morning before the customers come in, then grabbing the broom from out the back and giving the floorboards a good sweeping. If she had time, she might do the front of the shop as well, but Sass also had to start breakfast and choose the cards for the front display. Who knew working in a card shop was hard work?
Sass grinned to herself as she wiped the front of the bench, making the case shine. But she wasn't just an employee here. She lived here now. She was part of the household. As part of the household, Sass gladly took upon herself responsibilities around the house. She set her watch for 5am each morning so it would vibrate and wake her up without waking up Yugi or Gramps. She then got the shop ready, putting all the units in place before her cleaning ritual and choosing the card display. Sass then starts breakfast and sets the table for the three of them. Sass thought of whether she should do pancakes and waffles or eggs and bacon this morning while she finished shining up the three glass benches and the four glass cases which at position in each corner of the shop. Finally deciding on pancakes and waffles, Sass put the worn out cloth and the spray on her newly cleaned bench and grabbed the broom which she had positioned against the main bench. She then began to sweep rapidly, pushing the dust particles caught in the broom's wrath out through the front door, which was propped open with a fold-up chair. Sass was vicious with her sweeping. She always liked to make sure she did a good job and didn't miss an inch of the shop floor. The thought of Gramps' satisfied and grateful face always kept her going even when she sometimes thought of skipping the sweeping to focus on breakfast. Gramps and Yugi had taken her in from the goodness of their hearts and Sass felt that she had to repay them, whether it was getting the shop ready or preparing breakfast. She was eternally thankful for the kindness that they had shown to her and wasn't about to take it for granted.
Finally, the sweeping was finished. Carefully, Sass unfolded the propped up chair and gently closed the door, trying to not jingle it. Once done, Sass positioned the chair behind the front counter where it belonged and took the cleaning materials back with her into the kitchen. Putting the cloth in the bin and the Ajax back where it belonged, Sass left the broom in the corner and turned on the hot plates before grabbing the frozen waffles from the fridge and the pancake mix from the cupboard.
"I wonder if we still got some maple syrup?" Sass wondered aloud as she put the waffles in the toaster and pushed it down, "Oh, maybe they'll like some strawberries will be nice?"
"Sure does sound nice"
Sass turned around to see Gramps standing at the bottom of the staircase in his silk green pyjamas, stretching. Sass smiled, "Careful, Gramps, we can't have you putting out your back"
"Oh, I'll be fine" Gramps hobbled over and peeked through the beads, "Oh, Sass, once again a superb job. But you really shouldn't have to get up at 5 every morning to do that"
Sass shook her head, "Then it's all left to you and you shouldn't have to spend your whole day cleaning"
"It only takes an hour. You always finish by 6" Gramps replied, "That's when I get awoken by the smell of breakfast"
"What woke you this time?" Sass replied, raising an eyebrow, "I only just put the waffles in"
"My bladder" Gramps replied as he relieved Sass of the pancake mix in her hand, "I'll handle breakfast. You go get ready for your workout"
Sass nodded as Gramps pushed her away from the kitchen before returning to cook the rest of the breakfast. They go through this every morning but it still makes no difference to Sass. These guys took her in when no one else would. There had to be a way of paying them back. Sass ducked into the bathroom, where her workout clothes laid on the towel rack: a sports singlet, track suit pants, a black hairband, white sneakers and masking tape (to wrap around her knuckles). She was quick to get dressed. After three months of the same routine, it became almost second nature to her. When she was done, Sass walked out into the corridor where she heard the rapping on the ground below.
"YUGI! GET UP!" Grandpa's voice bellowed from the kitchen
"ALRIGHT, I'M UP!" Yugi shouted back, stumbling out of their bedroom in a tired fashion, "Oh, morning, Sass"
"Morning, Yugi" Sass grinned at him, "You're early. Usually takes you a good ten minutes to get up after Grandpa shouts. What's the occasion?"
"The smell of the waffles" Yugi shuffled over to her, scratching his head, "You going for your workout first?"
"Nah. No point working out then going and eating what you just worked off" Sass reasoned while she headed downstairs with Yugi.
They appeared at the kitchen to see Gramps setting the dining table, waffles and pancakes at the ready with a large gravy boat full of maple syrup. Sass was pressed for time in her head and the aroma and taste of the breakfast made it all the easier to scoff down 3 waffles and 4 pancakes all soaked in maple syrup. Yugi smirked at the sight of Sass polishing off her plate.
"Sass, I know that you are a professional gorger, but seriously, calm down before you hurt yourself" Yugi laughed
"Sorry, but I'm pressed for time" Sass replied, "Gotta get my workout over and done with so I can get to school quicker. We're studying the Civil Rights Movement in Modern History and Mr. Baker ain't gonna be pleased if I turn up late to his class for the fifth time in a row"
Without further explanation, Sass pushed herself out of the chair and slipped out the back door. Yugi and Gramps shrugged and continued to savour their feast. Sass, however, headed down the back to the worn out red punching bag she had positioned at the corner of the house. Sass glanced at the Bracelet on her arm, glistening in the light of the rising sun. The workouts weren't just to help Sass stay in shape. Sass knew there was something, a presence, living inside her Bracelet. That increase in strength and power, the feeling of grace and confidence that flowed through her- Sass knew that it just wasn't her. She knew she was a confident person, but the levels that had flowed through her then were ridiculous. Sass wanted to know who or what was in the Bracelet, but everytime she tried to activate it, it was still mentally her. For the past three months, Sass had been trying to devise a way to 'separate' the presence from her and discovered that a feeling of disconnection seemed to appear when Sass became stressed or frustrated.
Sass positioned herself in front of the punching bag, clenching her hands into fists so tight her knuckles could be seen clearly under the masking tape. She shut her eyes and mentally became to compose her list of the five things in her life which have caused her the most frustration.
'5. I cannot see Bakura'
The punches came naturally to Sass. She lashed out at the punching bag with incredible force before round house kicking it into a spin. When the first wave was over, the next thought popped into her head.
'4. I still cannot open my locket'
The next wave was a little harder and more furious. It consisted of more kicks than punches. Her locket bounced against her collarbone as she beat against the bag, letting her frustration take over. A wave of disconnection seemed to overwhelm her, radiating from her Bracelet. As if encouraging her, the next thought appeared.
'3. I have only recovered one memory'
Sass' punches got more rapid with each blow. The image of the hidden boy reading to her momentarily slipped into her mind but she quickly pushed it away. The feeling of separation seemed to increase as her anger did.
'2. I am no closer to finding my family'
The ferocity of her kicks and punches began to build. Sass felt tears of anger building up in her eyes, but she continued to push them back. The Bracelet's emotion was now stronger than ever. Sass got angrier then, out of the fear that she will fail again like she had all the other times.
'1. I will fail at this attempt'
Sass inadvertently let out a shout of rage and punched the bag with such force, it came off the hook and rolled down the yard. Sass remained frozen as the bag rolled away. A icy cold feeling had overwhelmed her. The feeling of separation was mixture of pleasure and pain, all of it happening all at once. Sass clutched at her head, the feeling threatening to overwhelm her mind. But as suddenly as the pain happened, it stopped. Sass remained frozen, unsure of what this meant. What was going to happen? What did just happen?
"Hello? You can open your eyes, Saskura"
The voice was gentle and commanding. That wasn't the thing that worried Sass. The voice had sounded scarily similar to her own. It was a little deeper, a little older, but it sounded awfully similar. Sass carefully inched open her eyes, removing her hands from her head, and stared at the sight which she now beheld. At first, Sass thought she was looking in a mirror- literally. But Sass then noticed that she was transparent, not completely whole. Sass then found other differences: she was taller than her by about an inch or two and her features were gentle, like they had been kindly moulded there. She was dressed in the exact same attire as her and, unlike Sass, she seemed to make it look graceful. Sass remained intrigued, however, by her eyes. Large deep blue eyes exactly like hers except these were much older, claiming to have seen more than her youthful appearance would have allowed.
The girl crossed her arms, half-grinning at her, "I think the word you're looking for is 'Hello'"
Sass immediately fell out of her trance and crossed her arms. Whenever anyone made a smart ass remark to Sass, she immediately started feeling a little more comfortable, "Yeah, but usually I don't meet a ghost who has been living in my jewellery. Maybe I'll find the ghost of Davy Crockett when I open my locket"
The girl sniggered, uncrossing her arms, "Not unless it has the Millennium symbol on it"
"Millennium symbol?" Sass looked down at her Bracelet, "You mean the eye thing?"
The girl nodded. Sass shook her head and took a step back, "OK, I'm getting kinda wierded out here. I mean, you're, what, a ghost?"
"Spirit" The girl corrected her, "I didn't offically 'die'. I was trapped"
"Trapped? How?" Sass was curious. The half grin then slowly faded from the girl's face and she looked down, as if she was... ashamed?
"I do not really know" the girl sighed sadly, "My memories are clouded. I sometimes get glimpses and shadows. But most of it is black"
The empathy in Sass' heart rose, "You cannot remember... anything?"
"Well, that's not entirely true. I do know my name" The girl replied, looking up at her, "My name's Kira"
Sass uncrossed her arms, putting them to her sides, "Well, I see you already know my name. But, please, call me Sass"
"Will do" Kira nodded
"Just a little question. How did you know my name?" Sass inquired
"I am sort of, half of you" Kira shrugged, "It's tricky to explain. I'm part of you, Sass. What you knew when we bonded, I know. What you learnt since then, I learnt. You and I were like the one person but since it's your body, you had more dominance. All I was before today was a little conscience, a tiny voice nagging you and attempting to guide you. You are still in control, it is your body, but I now have some liberties"
"But now we are separated, you know can express yourself and not be just a conscience" Sass nodded, "But now that we are disconnected... are you still part of me? Part of my mind?"
"Of course" Kira replied, "The Bracelet has been connected to you for so long, if we separated completely, it would feel like we had lost a part of ourselves"
Sass glanced at the Bracelet, which shone again in the morning sun. She then looked back at Kira, "Can you remember much else?"
"Like I said, glimpses and shadows" Kira looked away, sighing, "There is one thing that intrigues me the most is the spirit connected to Yugi"
Sass did a double take, "So there is a presence within Yugi?"
Kira nodded, "You are smart and open-minded, you found a way to bring me out. However, Yugi is still completely unaware about the power of the Millennium Puzzle and it is up to him to find out"
"So I cannot tell him about any of this?" Sass crossed her arms again, "Well, if he don't believe me, he'd have me committed. Ah, well, won't be so bad. I can learn to master the Millennium Bracelet before he masters his Puzzle"
"Saskura!"
Sass turned to see Gramps poking his head out of the back door, "C'mon, you gotta go get changed now. Yugi's leaving in 20 minutes"
"Coming, Gramps!" Sass waited for Gramps to go back inside before turning to Kira, "He didn't see you"
"Only people connected in my mind can see me" Kira replied, "I think that's how it works anyway"
Sass snorted, "For a spirit, you not really all that 'all-knowing'"
"For a girl, you're not really all that 'girly'" Kira retorted
Sass rolled her eyes, "I gotta go. Maybe we can talk later"
"See you soon, Sass" Sass watched as Kira just faded from her eyes. The Millennium symbol flashed as Sass looked around her, not seeing Kira anywhere. Slowly, Sass retreated inside and slowly headed upstairs to the bedroom. She was completely aware of Kira watching after her in the dining room, leaning against the wall next to the staircase. This girl was vital to her mission, whatever it was, otherwise Kira would still be locked inside the Bracelet. Kira closed her eyes and became deep in thought. Now that she was 'freed', maybe she could focus on remembering the spiky-haired spirit which has been haunting her thoughts. What secrets did those crimson eyes conceal?
Thanks for reading. Rate, review or do whatever you wanna do. Anywayz, now that you've met Kira, we can quickly move on with the story.
Next Chapter: The Exchange Student
