Sorry for the late update
A big thanks to OfBrokenLove for the advice they gave me and to fi13ns and The Last Fallen Angel for their kind reviews. I love you guys!
Enjoy!
Title: Love in the shadows
Chapter 4: Kuriboh?
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Pairing: Anzu x Ryou (slight pairing with other characters)
I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or any of its characters
Warning! This is rated M for a reason, do not read if you do not like swearing or sexual content. Though there may be none in this chapter, there may be in later chapters.
Sitting on the edge of her bed Anzu stared at the ground, her eyes void of any emotion but her mind blazing with fear. A shudder ran down her spine as she recalled the feeling of the icy shadows playing with her herself tightly Anzu used all her will power to stop herself from crying. She was scared. What girl wouldn't be after something like that? She had been so exposed, felt so vulnerable and weak. Worst of all she didn't know exactly what it was she was meant to fear.
Her fingers clenched tightly on the sleeves of her pale blue night dress, stopping her nails from piercing her palm in her fisted hands. Bringing her knees up onto the bed, revealing her pale slender legs, Anzu gently placed her head on top of them, her face buried in her arms. Dark strands of damp hair clung to her forehead as she took in another shaky breath, her whole body shuddering as she did.
Never in her life had Anzu known fear like this. Never had she felt so out of control of her emotions. Blinking, the brunet realised that she had felt like this before.
It wasn't exactly the same but the feeling of fear she was experiencing now was similar to how she felt six years ago, when she lost her parents.
This time Anzu didn't stop the tears as they slowly made their way down her rosy cheeks. Her parents, how she missed them, how she wished she could see them once more. To hear her mother's soft soothing voice as she told her everything would be alright or to feel her father's strong loving arms hug and hold her like she was the most precious thing in the world. A small smile crept its way across her lips as she blinked away the tears blurring her vision.
'Crying won't help' she thought sadly. Sighing, the tired confused teen lay back onto the bed, smoothing the ends of her dress back over her legs before completely stretching out her body, wincing at the stabbing pain she felt as she did. Her body ached all over and it was becoming more and more difficult to think as the urge to sleep was becoming very tempting. She felt drained, both mentally and physically.
" I guess running from perverted shadows takes a lot out of a girl" the teen smirked as she quietly chuckled at her joke. She was actually surprised at herself for how well she was taking this; then again she had never really been a normal girl.
" You're really not a normal girl are you Anzu?"
Another chill shook the brunet's body, Duke's words and the soft tone of his voice echoing in her mind. Then Anzu felt another thing she was experiencing a lot of today. Anger. Shutting her eyes Anzu tried to calm herself, feeling like she was about to strike at something in rage. But the strong emotion persisted, filling her mind. She clenched her hands into fists and in a weak attempt to calm herself, began mercilessly beating her pillow.
Letting out satisfied huffs of breath, the young girl finished her assault on the cotton filled victim, successfully subsiding her irritation she collapsed back down onto the wave of exhaustion hit her and she considered just falling asleep and forgetting everything that happened. 'Or maybe I fell asleep on the bus and all this is just some creepy dream I'm having because I haven't woken up yet...'
Letting out a long sigh, she knew she was only trying to fool herself and failing her eyes she slowly scanned her hated to admit it but the room was kind of nice.
The walls were covered with intricately designed dark green wall paper; each curve and line connected into a number of different leaf patterns, giving the sense of a forest scene. The dark polished wood floor helped this image, as did the matching bed covers and wooden foot locker beside the door.
Yes this room was beautiful.
Anzu shut her eyes once more and turned on to her side. She had only two choices; stay in this beautiful room, sleeping with one eye open out of fear and pray that nothing happens or...
" Interrogate Duke and find out what the hell's going on" sitting up the brunet pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear, debating her options in her mind. She was still scared but sitting in this beautiful room hiding in fear was hardly going to solve anythingShe sat there for what felt like an eternity, unable to decide on what to do. Her body seemed to decide for her as her stomach emitted a low growl, demanding sustenance.
Placing a hand on her stomach, she realised just how hungry she was. She hadn't eaten since before they left the camp and it had already gotten quite late. Picking up her bag she rummaged through its contents, hoping that she had some kind of food put away in one of its pockets. To her dismay there was nothing she could eat in the bag.
For a moment she wondered if cloth was edible but stopped when her stomach let out a much louder, almost angry sounding growl.
Reluctantly Anzu stood; her body shaking slightly as she steadied herself and opened the door. Sticking her head out, she glanced around for anyone or rather anything hiding in the hallway.
Seeing nothing suspicious, Anzu stepped out of the bedroom, gently closing the door behind her. The door shut with a gentle click. Still nothing strange happened.A little bit relived, a slightly more confident Anzu made her way to the stair case. Stopping she carefully peeked at the roof in the main room. 'They're gone again'
The shadow figures were nowhere to be seen. Grateful for this little miracle, Anzu quickly descended the stairs into the main room, stumbling slightly. The dancer briefly worried that her legs would give out on her. The last thing she needed was to collapse from exhaustion and give the shadows an opening to get her again. Shuddering she wrapped her arms around herself protectively. No, she definitely didn't want that.
The room was eerily quiet; the only sound to be heard was her own breathing and the small gurgling of her empty stomach.
'Where is everyone?' Anzu's thoughts were answered by the faint sound of laughing coming from the hall on the right side of the room. The laughing was female and there was a lot of it.
Remembering Duke telling them that the hall led to the kitchen, Anzu wondered if the others were just as famished as she was. Once more her stomach decided her actions as she made her way towards the laughter.
The hallway was long and decorated similar to the main room. Bookcases that stretched to the roof lined the wall on either side; each self packed tightly with various coloured and sized books. Each book case was equally spaced out from each other. More long couches sat between each bookcase, sometimes with a small table in front of them or a strange painting hanging above them.
Anzu stopped to briefly admire one of the paintings.
The painting depicted a purple cloaked figure holding a long staff in front of him. The end of the staff was covered by a small sphere of darkness; it was a mixture of black, different purples and small sparks of white surrounding the orb. The back round of the painting was painted in similar colours, making the figure hard to see. Anzu read the name plate below the painting.
'The Dark Magician.'
Continuing down the hall way, she noticed all the paintings depicted some kind of monster or mystical creature, all with the same dark purplish back round. 'The Celtic Guardian, The Flame Swordsman, Harpy Lady, Insect Queen, Kuriboh? What the heck is a Kuriboh?'
She stared intently at the painting.
The creature was a small brown hairball with two big eyes and two tiny light green clawed hands and feet. A small smile tugged on Anzu's lips 'It's kind of cute'. Getting closer to the picture she stared at the Kuriboh curiously. Staring into its big eyes Anzu felt something tingle in the back of her mind. Ignoring it she carefully stared at it until the picture blinked.
Anzu's heart stopped. She blinked her wide eyes at the painting and the Kuriboh blinked back.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?" Anzu screamed out in shock
Stumbling backwards Anzu's legs finally gave out making her trip and fall on to her butt, eyes wide and heart racing. The Kuriboh's eyes followed her, watching her curiously as she sat wide eyed with her mouth open on the floor beneath it. The Kuriboh blinked again before closing its eyes in a happy sort of way and letting out a happy squeal that sounded like a high pitched kyu.
Anzu stared at the creature dumbstruck. 'Did it just, smile at me? That's cute. Wait. No! Paintings don't smile or look cute! Okay maybe they can. But only if they're painted like that!'
"Mazaki?" Hearing her name Anzu snapped her gaze away from the painting towards the voice of her dance instructor.
" Was that you screaming just now?"
Anzu flushed heavily as she realised just how loud she had screamed. Her instructor approached her with a concerned look on his face.
" Are you alright? Did something happen?" She blinked at him, unsure of her answer
" T, The painting..." turning her eyes back to the Kuriboh, she was shocked to see the little fur ball looking exactly the same as it did when she first looked at it. Her instructor followed her gaze to the painting and after a moment turned back to look at her, an amused smile on his face.
" I would have never thought that you were afraid of monsters Mazaki. Especially not some little thing like this" he laughed as he indicated the painting with his thumb.
Anzu's blush grew even deeper; of course she wasn't afraid of a painting! The fact that it smiled at her did creep the hell out of her but there were much worse things in this house to fear. Much, much worse things. Her instructor offered her a hand up which she gratefully took.
Pushing her embarrassment down, she carefully stood up, wobbling slightly. Her body was still exhausted and her little bit of excitement seemed to have increase her hunger. Remembering why she had dared to leave the safety of her beautiful room, she turned to face her instructor.
" I um, heard voices coming from the kitchen earlier. Is there anything to eat?" A bit of embarrassment resurfaced as she asked her question, leaving her cheeks a light shade of pink. Her instructor noticed this and gave her a small but warm smile.
" Don't worry; the other girls were thinking the same thing so Duke said it was alright to use anything in the kitchen. There's some fruit and few things for sandwiches"
Anzu's stomach released a low grumble; just hearing that there was food had her almost drooling. Nodding she followed her instructor down the corridor, keeping her eyes downcast`. She didn't want to look at another picture and have it look back again 'I need sleep. Badly' she thought wearily as they entered the kitchen.
Once more Anzu was awestruck by the sheer size of the room. The floor and walls were covered with black tiles, the counter tops were shining black marble and the cupboards were pure white. A large counter top stood in the centre covered with fruit bowls, drinks and various snacks. The sound of laughter could be heard from one end of the room where two large wooden doors separated what Anzu assumed was a dining room. However at the moment she was much more interested in the food sitting on the counter than the squeals of joy coming from behind the doors.
"We're all in here if you need anything okay?" Anzu gave a smile and a nod to her instructor. Content with her reply he left through the double doors, leaving her alone in the kitchen.
Feeling like she was about to collapse from hunger, the young dancer quickly made her way to the counter and scanned the various food laid out. There was plenty to choose from but just to stay on the safe side she picked up an apple from one of the bowls. The apple was a deep crimson red and made a strong crunching sound as she bit into it. It was sweet and her stomach all but purred as she swallowed her first bite. Taking a second bite Anzu gently closed her eyes as she savoured the flavour of the fruit, it's sweet juices swirling around her tongue as she chewed. As she brought the fruit to her mouth for another bite she was startled to hear a crunching sound before she bit down.
Snapping her eyes open she stared at the apple and saw only two pieces were bitten off. Puzzled she glanced around the kitchen. She was still the only one there. Casting a cautious eye toward the ceiling she was relieved to see there were no shadows either. Another crunch sound brought her attention back to the apple in her hand. Still there were only two bite marks. The sounds were close so it wasn't coming from the other room but nothing in the kitchen looked out of place. Still puzzled she carefully studied her apple, turning it in her hand.
Anzu's eyes widened in shock and fear. Releasing her grip on the fruit it fell from her hand and slowly rolled on the tiled floor.
'No... No way' trying to convince herself what she saw was a mistake; she slowly looked down at the apple. On one side of the apple were two small bite marks, on the opposite side were two larger bite marks. 'But I was holding it...there's just no way.' Shaking she slowly kneeled down and picked it up, examining the larger bite marks. Swallowing a lump in her throat she saw that they were most definitely real.
Slowly, very slowly terrified sapphire eyes scanned the room for any other presence, but found none. Standing, she placed the apple onto the counter and took a step back, her eyes never leaving the fruit. Slowly she backed away from the counter towards the door leading to the hall, wanting nothing more than to run back to that beautiful room and hide under her bed covers like a child afraid of the dark.
Unfortunately her stomach wouldn't allow it, emitting a low angry growl of disapproval at the thought of leaving without eating a proper meal. 'Oh come on!' Anzu exclaimed in her mind, angry at how foolish her body was being but her stomach refused to listen. Reluctantly Anzu tore her eyes from the apple and headed for the nearest fruit bowl.
Quickly grabbing two new apples from the bowl she froze when she heard not only another crunch but long, slow chewing sounds.
Anzu trembled as the sound continued followed by swallowing and another crunch. Forcing herself to turn her head towards the sound, she nearly fainted as she saw a figure sitting on the counter eating the nearly finished apple.
Her heart began beating rapidly as she looked at the figure. He was handsome, terrifyingly so; with pale skin, sharp features and dark crimson eyes shadowed by long angular white bangs. His hair spiked out strangely and was pure white, which contrasted greatly with the black cloak he was wearing. As he took another bite of the apple she noted his long white canines as they dug into the apple.
Heat slowly raised in Anzu's cheeks as she stared at him. Yes he was terrifying but he was also ridiculously attractive. His dark mysterious eyes; which had been concentrating on the apple in his hand suddenly locked with hers, sending shivers down her spine. He stared at her for a moment, as though he was searching her eyes for something before giving her a small seductive smirk that caused her blush to deepen.
"Hello" his voice was low, dark, seductive and above all else, dangerous
"I'm Bakura"
Yay! Another chapter completed! Again I'm sorry for the late update but I had a lot of tests on and so I was busy with study and stuff. Also, Hurray! Bakura makes his appearance! I decided to change the format after getting some very kind advice from OfBrokenLove so let me know if you like it ^^.
Please R&R