It's nice to be updating again! I'm on-time, not uploading at late hours, and I'm even slightly ahead! XD I mean, I'm still behind schedule... I wanted 5 prewritten drabbles... Not one and a half after I upload this... But I guess I can catch up with that in a minute! XD
I like how this one turned out. I hope you guys do, too! x3
#38 - Ignore
Words - 1000
Setting - Post-Canon
Shipping/s - Puzzle/Blindshipping
Warning/s - None
Disclaimer - Yu-Gi-Oh doesn't belong to me, but to Kazuki Takahashi.
They say ignorance is bliss, and if I'm honest, I'm not sure. My life sure hasn't been.
As a child, I was bullied, hurt. But kids would be kids, and we were all immature back then. I ignored the pain and hurt I felt from their words; after all, if I didn't, it would only get worse.
I became friends with Anzu, and finally, I had someone to turn to at school. She ignored my crush on her.
At eight, I was given a beautiful golden box. Full of glittering golden pieces forming a seemingly impossible puzzle. I ignored my surroundings for several years as I put my full concentration into trying to beat the impossible game.
The bullies became worse as we all grew up. Wanting to assert their power, be seen as stronger. I didn't want to show weakness. I ignored the physical pain inflicted upon me.
Jounouchi and Honda came along when I started high school, and they hated me. But they were victimized, beat up, and I was told to pay up for their beating. I ignored what they had done in the past and stuck up for them.
They became my friends, and ignored their former hatred.
But then things became both better and worse.
I solved the puzzle. I ignored all the strange occurrences around me.
The good thing was, I was no longer bullied. It took time, but if anyone so much as hit me once, the next day, they'd just be... Gone. Ushio was diagnosed as insane and sent to an asylum. The same happened to Souzouji, The Director, Chounou-Sensei... Although she was only fired from the school for being mentally unstable. Countless others had been injured. But worst of all, several people who had crossed me before wound up dead. Inogashira, who had destroyed our carnival game. The escaped criminal who'd attacked Anzu in Burger World. Both had been burned alive, and that was what had terrified me.
I ignored the fact that every single one of these people had done one thing... Hurt me or someone close to me. And I ignored my blackouts.
However, as time progressed, I learned new things. I found out that I had another self.
I found out about you, Mou Hitori No Boku.
You ignored my confusion. You continued to silently protect me and my friends. Kaiba unveiled Kaibaland, and threw us into his dangerous game, Death-T, in order for us to rescue my grandpa. Again, you protected me. My blackouts vanished, and I was no longer ignorant of your presence, and for that, I was grateful. My life was beginning to make sense again... Sort of.
I wasn't the only one seeming less ignorant over time. Anzu finally began to notice me. I ignored the hurt I felt when my Lovely-Two didn't bleep when me and Anzu tried the love-testing game. It was stolen from me, and you were the one to get it back. You borrowed Anzu's, trying it for yourself and pressing the button. It bleeped in reaction to my own.
We ignored this, we ignored what it meant. Anzu acted ecstatic, seeming to forget that it was my game you'd found. Now, I realize that she, too, was only trying to ignore it. She wasn't the only one who figured it out.
I'm glad I got the chance to meet you when we fought against Bakura's other self on that tabletop RPG. You saved me and my friends - no, our friends, again and again. You provided the help I needed.
Over time, it was more and more difficult to ignore. You, once again, stepped in to help me rescue my grandpa, supporting our friends in duels, and finally coming to terms with the fact that not everyone deserved a violent, painful death. For me, you stopped the killing.
But it was during the duel with Pegasus that I began to realize you felt rather differently about me, you were beginning to see me the way I saw Anzu, despite our former lack of communication. That was the day we discovered how to talk to each other. That was the day you desperately held me in your arms, begging for me to stay alive, to stay strong, to live... For you.
That was the day you started calling me 'Aibou'.
And I continued to ignore it.
The fire at the Black Crown game shop left me confused. Until then, I'd never noticed that my feelings for Anzu were slowly ebbing away. Until I found out that you could be about to die, I had never realized that I was beginning to fall for you, too.
But I was too scared to act when I knew I'd lose the most important person in my life. You were the first to confess how you felt; it was a thinly veiled confession, but I understand what you were trying to do, and I, in turn, confessed I felt the same... Sort of. It's not like we acted on it, but it was nice to know... Then again, I think we always knew.
Both of us knew 'forever' was a lie. We pretended it wasn't, and we ignored it.
Throughout Duelist Kingdom, we ignored it. When we found ourselves in another one of the other Bakura's tabletop RPGs in search of your memories, we ignored it.
When I beat you in the duel that would allow you to leave this world, we ignored it.
It's funny, it sort of reminds me of how all my ignorance began. To avoid greater pain. If we acknowledged each other's feelings, we'd be setting ourselves up for even more heartbreak.
Things are different, now. Now you're gone, I've woken up. I'm no longer ignorant; I know you wouldn't want that. My whole life has been based on ignorance and lies, and with your departure, you were helping to free me from that fate. I never deserved someone as considerate as you. I understand why you had to go, and I promise you, if you're somehow reading this, I'm going to move on with my life.
I love you, Atem... And thank you for setting me free.
I really hope you all liked it, feedback is appreciated.
I also want to ask... What happened to the guest reviewers? Is it just bad timing, or are you still there? Because I've missed your feedback!
Nevertheless, thanks to all those who reviewed last chapter. I'll stop saying how many reviews per chapter now; I have no idea if it was getting annoying, and I know it definitely takes a lot of time. Anyway, thanks to 4Pharaoh9Snivy7, ASAP Rocky, Scaehime, samaurai, TheParasiticComplex, Invader-Techno, Echoheart and Guest!
Also, to those who gave me corrections, I went back and fixed some of the last chapter. I only just now remembered Echoheart's suggestion for a sentence change so I haven't got around to that yet, but I fixed the typo and added a warning for language; I realized after uploading that I'd forgotten one. I also added a warning for potential strong language in the summary of the whole story; I thought I already had, but it IS rated T for a reason.
Anyway, again, thanks to everyone, and as always, I appreciate feedback! Let me know if I've made any mistakes, or just generally tell me what you thought! XD
Nest drabble - #39 - Colors