Gotta love how I work on this story yearly. Always during the summer as well, strange how that happens.
7
"Authentic psychic prediction reflects free will and personal power, not fate and fortune. It reveals only the next few steps, not the entire staircase."
― Anthon St. Maarten, The Sensible Psychic: A Leading-Edge Guide To True Psychic Perception
Naomi could smell the acrid scent of burning flesh. It was all that she could smell. A scream rang through her ears. It was her own. Naomi bolted up in bed, sweat going down her face as she tried to catch her breath. A shaky sound reached her own ears, and she brought a hand up to touch her cheek. She was crying. She swallowed, the tight feeling in her throat making her wince. It had been too long since she'd had a dream like that. Of one of her deaths, it had been one of the more gruesome ones as well. Being burned alive wasn't a fun way to go. Her alarm going off made her jump and she quickly turned to look at it. She needed to head to school. A small sigh escaped her. Apparently, she was now friends with Yugi and as such was welcomed to walk to school with him and Jounouchi. The tiniest of smiles appeared on her face.
"Oh, so you're actually joining us today?" Jounouchi's question almost made her call for Fred.
The chaotic god would've laughed at her before telling her to be more social. He still wouldn't tell her his true name, a part of him had to find it funny that he was a god named Fred. She brought a hand up and scratched the back of her head in annoyance. Jounouchi watched as Yugi gave him a slightly sad look and guiltily looked away. It wasn't his fault that she had been so cold to everyone.
"Yeah," Naomi's awkward answer surprised him, she then pointed at the plaster on his cheek. "What happened to your face?"
"Oh this?" He asked, bringing a hand up and touching the plaster. "I got into a fight with some punks the other day….my lucks' been awful lately."
"Seeing as you came out on top it might be good," She dryly pointed out and Yugi mentally agreed.
"True, I did get those other four guys good," Jounouchi's comment caused Yugi and Naomi to share a look of amused disbelief.
Yugi went to say something when a hand stopped him in his tracks. He looked over at Naomi and jumped when something crashed to the ground in front of them. Jounouchi yelped and looked at all the heavy metal that almost hit them. Naomi narrowed her eyes and looked up, seeing a worker panicking as he pushed his hard hat up. He was wrapped around the electric pole like a koala and had sweat going down his face in streams.
"Are you all right!?" The man called down.
"Congrats, Jounouchi," Naomi dryly stated. "You're cursed."
The blonde didn't refute that as they quickened their pace to get to school without any issues. Naomi took her seat as usual and picked the book out of her school bag. A Study in Scarlet was proudly shown on the spine of the book and she easily delved into the tale of Sherlock Holmes. She kept her eyes on the words as she listened to Yugi and Jounouchi talk to Anzu. It took one incident with a person being set on fire for the other teens to accept her with ease. Anzu had taken to leaning against her back, and the pale haired teenager tried to ignore her.
"Have you guys heard about Kokurano?" Anzu asked. "Apparently, he's been doing psychic readings and they've been pretty accurate…granted I don't believe in any of that kind of stuff."
"Viewing the world with logic is usually a good thing," Naomi stated, closing her book.
"I have to get my fortune told," Jounouchi said.
Anzu winced at the murderous expression on Naomi's face as she was dragged by the blonde. She quickly followed after to stop an altercation from happening. Yugi looked between the lighter haired teens and became worried. Naomi glanced at him and let out a huff, fine she would forgive Jounouchi for dragging her behind him.
"There's so many people," Yugi commented, glancing around the crowded classroom.
"I wonder about that," Naomi muttered, frowning in thought. "Psychics are known to be faulty, so to have a hundred percent record of fortunes is incredibly fishy."
"Do you actually believe in this kind of stuff, Naomi-San?" Anzu asked and Naomi blinked.
"Not fully, but there's been a few times where I've wondered," Naomi admitted with a wry smile.
Yeah, one of those times had been in a past life. The one where she learned just what happened when one took their life during a punishment. Fred never could apologise for that. Her hands went into her uniform pockets and she watched as several groups of girls tittered. Her expression blanked for a few seconds and she sighed.
"I can't believe you dragged me here, Anzu," Jounouchi's statement made her look over at him in disbelief as Anzu glared at him. "We'll get your fortune told."
"Who dragged who here?" Anzu growled, her glare deepening. "You dragged Naomi-San here!"
"Be quiet over there!" A tall girl ordered and Naomi snorted.
"Why?" Naomi's question was monotonous and Jounouchi couldn't help but flinch at it.
"Because Kokurano-sama needs his concentration!" The girl snapped in response and Jounouchi's hackles raised at the fox-like smirk on Naomi's face.
She had her prey in her line of sight. He knew it wasn't going to be pretty. Last he knew Z-TV had been bought out by Industrial Illusions and was now a gaming station that had news in the morning and late in the afternoon before night time cartoons. He had found that from a newspaper that had been thrown out. He scratched his cheek as Yugi tilted his head in thought. Anzu was ready for Naomi to tear into them, she didn't like any of this either.
"Oho? I'm just saying that this entire thing is so fishy you could almost mistake this room for a fish market," Naomi stated, her voice almost sickly with how sweet it was. "A psychic can be wrong, and most of the time they are with some facts thrown in, but a psychic that's right a hundred percent of the time? Call me skeptical."
"You-" the girl was cut off by the room shaking.
Yugi stumbled a bit and Naomi grabbed onto the back of his uniform to steady him. He looked back and noted that she was staring ahead. He followed the direction she was gazing and noted that Kokurano was watching her as well. He puffed up a bit and she raised a brow. She straightened when the earthquake was over.
"You there," Kokurano motioned towards Jounouchi, "you came here to have your fortune told, correct? That you knew I have the power of premonition! The ability to see the future!"
"Y-Yeah," Jounouchi confirmed as Naomi narrowed her eyes at the teen that was claiming to have psychic powers.
"What a load," Naomi groused, looking to the side in annoyance.
"It is not!" Kokurano snapped at her, getting an uncaring look in return. "I wrote down the prediction that my powers gave me this morning, you there, read it!"
"Earthquake today," Jounouchi read the slip of paper.
The crowd cheered for Kokurano and Naomi felt as though everyone around her was an idiot. It was such an easy scam to pull as well. Yugi heard shuffling and glanced at his quiet friend. She was rubbing the back of her neck in thought. Her violet eyes calculating.
"You don't believe in this, do you?" Yugi asked, and she blinked a little.
"I don't believe in Kokurano."
Her admittance to that made him blink. She trusted him enough to say such things? His bright smile had her looking away in embarrassment. Her arms crossed across her chest as Anzu was swayed by the false prediction. She was hoping that wouldn't happen.
"Maybe I should get my fortune told after all," Anzu said.
"Your hand then," Kokurano stated, holding out his hands to take her's.
Yugi glared at the other teen as he felt up her hand. That was his friend's hand! And he was fondling it as though he knew her closely! Jounouchi felt an elbow hit his side and he shot Naomi a glare before noticing her motioning towards Yugi. He couldn't help but be shocked by the glare on the shorter teens face. Huh, all it took for Yugi to get mad was someone harassing Anzu. He would call what Kokurano was doing as assault for how long he was doing it.
"I see! I SEE!" The sudden shout made Jounouchi flinch and he shot the psychic teen a look. "I see a wonderful man appear before your eyes! He's someone close to you already! You will fall so deeply in love that you will swoon before him."
Anzu blushed at that and stepped back. Jounouchi took his chance and was told something he already knew. He had bad luck. Naomi wondered that, her eyes narrowed in thought. Jounouchi had the oddest past, and yet was doing relatively well in life. He was luckier than he thought.
"You don't want your fortune told?" Kokurano's question to Yugi pulled her from her thoughts.
"I hate to be rude but…I get the feeling that most psychics are fake," Yugi admitted.
"That was that?!" The tall girl screeched and Naomi simply sighed. "Are you saying that you don't believe in Kokurano-Sama's power? You just saw him predict the earthquake just now!"
"You're doubting my power?" Kokurano asked, and Naomi picked up on the slight nervous timber of his voice.
"No, but I have seen a trick like that on TV before," Yugi explained, "just for example, if you wrote 'earthquake today' and other predictions on note cards and hid them in your clothes, it wouldn't be a real prediction."
Kokurano watched as Naomi nodded her agreement. To have someone agree with a naysayer so easily. It really pissed him off. He got to his feet, his hands reaching towards the sky, sweat pouring down his face.
"I can see it!" He exclaimed. "I can see the countless words falling upon you and bringing your foreordination!"
"Enough of this," Naomi stated, grasping onto Yugi and Jounouchi by their uniform jackets, "we need to get back to class."
Jounouchi blinked when she began to drag them behind her. Anzu quickly followed behind them, her mind still on her fortune. Could it possibly be that someone was watching her? She just couldn't trust Kokurano, something about him didn't sit right with her. Within minutes they entered the classroom and took their places around Yugi's desk.
"Don't let that guy get to you," Jounouchi informed Yugi.
"Yeah, but have you heard the rumor on how Kokurano's power became famous?" Anzu asked and they all looked towards her in surprise. "Apparently, he predicted a fire at a student from class A's house, three days before it happened. Luckily the student survived, but he's still in the hospital."
"Well, I don't believe his prediction," Yugi stated.
"That's a relief," Naomi admitted, looking towards her bag when it made a strange sound, "sorry, I have to take that."
"Is it your brother?" Jounouchi asked, having read up on the Crawfords.
"Most likely," she cryptically answered.
Naomi made her escape out of the classroom and hurried towards the roof. She stared at her brother's name on the small screen and sighed. What was it that he could possibly want? She tugged on the gems hanging from her phone in thought. It wouldn't do to not answer him.
"Pegasus? Are you all right?" She asked, and she could hear him choking on something.
"Why would you answer the phone like that?" He hoarsely asked.
"It's almost ten at night there," she pointed out, "sorry for worrying about you."
"My darling sister, it would be Mr. Crocketts calling you," he pointed out and she made a sound of understanding, "I was calling you to inform you that I have started building on a little island, and want to know if your room should be purple."
"Purple is good…can I get some reds mixed in as well?" She asked, thinking back to the pharaoh's eyes.
"I will see what Anita can do," Pegasus stated and Naomi was suddenly nervous.
"No frills…anything but that," she pleaded.
Naomi had enough of frills from work, she didn't want to be surrounded by them at home. She paused at that thought as her brother laughed on the other end at her plea. She didn't have her Umma, but she had a wonderful older brother that loved her. Her eyes widened for a few seconds before a soft smile appeared on her face. She adored her brother as well, she just refused to acknowledge it. It was nice to hear him laugh.
"I will make sure she won't add any frills to your room," he chuckled and she gave one of her own, "my, that's a sound I haven't heard in a while."
"Yeah, sorry, Pegasus," she apologized to him, "I hadn't been feeling the best."
Understatement of the century there. He hummed in response before someone said something in the background. Her mouth fell open a bit before she quickly closed it. Her brother was busy with creating the Duelist Kingdom. She felt her blood run cold. Duelist Kingdom would be where she lost everything. Her friends, their trust, and her brother. She could save one of those things, and she would choose her brother.
She went back to class, her emotions a torrent of despair. Sure, her friends were nice people and believed heavily in one another, but she was the outlier. She didn't really believe in anyone, if she was to be honest. She had been let down and betrayed so many times that she couldn't anymore. She would be seen as an accomplice during Duelist Kingdom, and there wasn't anything she could do about it.
She let out a quiet sigh and rested her cheek on the heel of her palm to stare outside as the teacher droned on about something. She couldn't really focus. Her world came crashing down again.
And all because she couldn't think ahead.
The rest of the day passed by quietly and soon she was getting into the back of the waiting car. Fred sat behind the wheel and spared her a glance. He winced at the defeated look in her eyes, so she had finally come to the one realization she needed to. He reached up and ruffled his dark hair before sighing.
"That lot would forgive you," he informed her, watching her flinch a bit, "it would be hard for them, but they would."
"So, you know what brother is planning then?" Naomi's question was more of a statement, her frown didn't help the exhaustion she was starting to show.
"Duelist Kingdom is a fun watch for gods," Fred shrugged, glancing into the side mirror before changing lanes, "what you do will have an effect on their perception of you."
"Giving advice," she observed, crossing her arms across her chest, "that's not like you at all."
He didn't respond to those words and she sighed before looking outside the window, contemplating his advice. Fred was done tormenting her. He would rather cultivate a powerful light mage than let that light burn out completely. She had gone through enough trials by his hand. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, and reached into his pocket.
"The dice is yours," he informed her, tossing it back to her, "it's more or less useless to me now."
A lie, and a very believable one at that. She gave him a distrustful look. She couldn't trust him. That dice had brought enough trouble in her life. Honestly, she would rather be rid of it. Still, she put it into her school bag and pushed it from her mind. It was best to ignore it anyway.
The drive was less than thirty minutes and she headed up to her room the second she got inside the house. Fred didn't blame her. Naomi spared a sleeping Bast a glance as she closed her door behind her and sat against it, bringing her phone out. She didn't have any new emails, and she didn't have her friends' numbers.
"Why are you moping?"
Her head snapped up and she looked towards the portrait of the black magician. He was leaning against the frame of the painting and had a frown on his face. She didn't show what she was thinking on her face. Naomi wondered if she could trust the priest turned monster. His frown deepened and she let out a quiet sigh.
"I got caught up with your pharaoh," she grumbled, before her expression became a little sad, "and one of his trials comes from my big brother, a holder of a millennium item."
"How bad?" Black Magician asked and she let out a soft snort.
"Oh, he only steals the soul of his host's grandfather and creates a tournament to trap the two of them," she answered, a wry smile on her face, "all for the damn puzzle so he could bring back…"
She trailed off, and he watched as she picked at something on her slacks. Her head tilted to the side and that pale hair followed. It was long, longer than his own. Her violet eyes slowly moved to the side as well, looking towards the strange device in her hands.
"You're an idiot."
Naomi narrowed her eyes at the priest. Let it be said that he wasn't one to mince words, she supposed. Had he talked to the pharaoh like that? Knowing how loyal he was to him, most likely not. She heard his snort and she wondered what kind of expression she was making, it had to be humorous.
"Wow, I almost miss it when you didn't talk," she grumbled before seeing the slight hurt on his face, "don't even try to make me feel guilty, it won't work."
"You…" He trailed off, not knowing how to even approach the subject of her personality.
She was pretty, but ugly on the inside. The magic in his portrait started to fade again, and he mentally cursed. She slowly got to her feet as he started to revert back to his pose. It was as it was almost over that he caught sight of it. The guilt in her eyes at how harsh her words had been to him. Ah, so she was pushing everyone away and keeping them at arm's length so she wouldn't be hurt.
She truly was an idiot.
Naomi waited for a couple minutes before grabbing her sneakers from under her bed and moving to sit on the bay window bench. The shoes were quickly pulled on and she opened the window. The lattice was easy to climb down and she slowly made her way to downtown domino. She wanted to walk around like a normal girl, even if it were for a few seconds. Not as Naomi Crawford, but as Naomi Jeong.
Naomi pushed her hands into the pockets of her slacks and studied people as she walked. The faces blended together and became a sea of colours without any details. Ah, so she was hitting a level of tiredness she never had before. How interesting. The sea of people grew when she finally hit the downtown area. She was looking at something in the window of a manga shop and frowned. She didn't want to go in. For once she didn't even want to look at a book. Something hit the edge of her senses and she narrowed her eyes for a split second.
"Why are you here?" She drawledf, looking towards Yugi. "Shouldn't you be at home, Mutou-kun?"
"You stand out," he shrugged and she sent him a look, "your hair."
"Like Mutou-kun stands out with his?" She asked, turning it around on him with ease.
"True," he agreed and she faltered slightly, "why are you here, Naomi-san?"
"I got bored," she shrugged, bringing a hand out of her pocket and pushing her hair back, "sometimes I just want some normalcy."
Yugi blinked before looking to the side. Right, she worked as a model and helped her brother with his company. She was the furthest thing from normal. The last time he saw her in a normal setting, she had been taken hostage by a criminal. She looked at the books again and let out a soft sigh.
"Let's go in," Yugi suggested and her eyes widened in surprise, "we can look around together, you wanted normal, right?"
"All right, Mutou-kun," Naomi agreed.
Yugi beamed at her before grabbing onto her wrist and dragging her into the store. He watched as she quietly looked at different books before her shoulders slumped. There weren't any new releases, or old ones! She wanted to find something that she could enjoy. Yugi tilted his head to the side. She could draw, he was certain she designed things. So maybe…
Ah! A light went off in his head and he delved further into the store. Naomi blinked as her short…friend hurried through the book cases. He came back with a book in his hands. It was an art book for Monet. She accepted it with a curious expression. The softening of her face at the sight of water lilies.
"Thank you, how'd you know that Monet was my favourite artist?" She asked, moving towards the register to pay for the book.
"I didn't," Yugi admitted, "but I know you enjoy drawing."
Yugi was smarter than people gave him credit for. Drawing was one of the few things she did enjoy, it connected her to her brother. It also allowed her to show others how she saw the world. She rubbed the back of her head in thought. Maybe that was a bit much? It certainly made her sound a little pretentious at the very least. She held onto her shopping with her free hand and turned towards Yugi. He was holding a few books of his own, mostly on games and the history of games. She gave an inner chuckle at that.
He certainly was something.
"Ne, why didn't you believe Kokurano-san?" Yugi asked as they walked around the small shopping area together.
"I've only met one person that I would call a psychic," she answered before looking at someone passing them by, "she was never always correct, she had moments where her predictions were wrong, or someone had decided on a different path then they would've…that's why when someone can't admit they are wrong I tend to not believe in them."
"Are you including yourself?" Yugi questioned, tilting his head in curiosity.
Naomi let out what he could only describe as a giggle of all things. She was shooting him a look before shaking her head. There was a glint in her eyes that he was unsure of. As though she was waiting for something horrible to happen. She brought out her other hand from her pockets and covered her mouth to hide her amusement.
"I have to hold myself to the same standard I hold everyone else to, right?" She asked, regaining her composure. "It would make me a hypocrite if I didn't."
"Right," Yugi agreed, "is something bothering you, Naomi-San?"
"It's nothing, don't worry about it," she waved off his concern.
That glint in her eyes deepened before she looked up at a nearby building that had a commercial playing on its display. Ah, right she had forgotten about the new launch of the duel monsters pallets she had designed. Yugi looked at the commercial with wide eyes. The price was decent and he had been saving up for it.
"Did you design them?" Yugi asked as he made sure they went inside.
"The cosmetics side of Industrial Illusions is mine," she quietly admitted, "all products released are designed by me, and I make sure to test them before they are released for public consumption."
No wonder they were high quality. Yugi wondered if her background was why she didn't say anything about him buying one. She didn't seem to care who bought the makeup as long as they enjoyed it. She had lived long enough that she knew it didn't matter what someone did, as long as they were a decent person. She had met people that acted as though they were above the laws and squashed those that tried to rise, and she'd seen those same good people that had been squashed down turn to bad deeds out of desperation. She let out a quiet huff. It was the same thing, over and over. Perhaps her issues weren't with people, but humanity as a whole. Or, she was just in another depressive state and looking for someone to blame for it.
Either was possible really.
They exited the store and Yugi began to tell her about a new game his grandfather was trying to get in. Capsule monster wasn't as popular among the older gamers, but the kids loved it. She would donate a capsule machine to the Mutou's but they would most likely see it as charity. It wouldn't be appreciated, and she understood that fairly well.
"There you are!" Startled the two of them.
Naomi let out a sigh and gave a lazy wave towards Fred. The god looked harried, his usually clean appearance destroyed by the sweat going down his face and his hair sticking up in different directions. She hid her amusement immediately and turned towards Yugi. He was hiding his amusement horribly, the thin line he had his lips in did nothing to make the pink hue on his cheeks go away.
"You are a horrible child," Fred informed her before letting out a small chuckle of his own, "if you wanted to go out, at least let me know. As long as you try not to run into trouble I won't say anything to your brother."
Naomi was surprised by that before narrowing her eyes a little. Just what kind of game was Fred playing? She decided it didn't matter, she could piece it together as time went on. She had that now, time. From a promise that it would be the last time in the cycle for her. One she didn't really believe.
"Still, you need to get home, he's going to call soon," Fred warned and she nodded before turning towards Yugi.
"Thanks for keeping me company, Mutou-kun," she thanked, waving a little before falling in step with Fred.
"Just call me Yugi!" Yugi called as she started to blend into the crowd. "Yugi!"
"It's rude to laugh at him," Fred reminded Naomi as she chuckled a little, "what are you going to do?"
"The magic in the portrait is still active, it just weakens after a while," Naomi informed Fred, "I think I'll try and get the black magician's help, he knows the pharaoh the best…no offense, Fred."
"None taken, the only thing I could possibly do is train you to use your magic a bit better," Fred shrugged, "that's why the dice will listen to you, what you own is out of your reach for now."
"What I own?" Naomi asked and his mouth twitched up in a smile.
"Right, you never saw the sequel movie to the original series," he lightly commented, "this is where things will get different for you, so just hang on and enjoy the ride."
"Okay," she reluctantly agreed, "then I need to revise the schedule to include magic training, my work, homework, and school."
"Don't forget time with your friends," he added, "also shadow games, you need to make an effort to be present for some of them."
She wanted to ask why, but gathered he wouldn't tell her. The prick. His eyes narrowed at her and she stared ahead. There was no way in hell that he would know she had thought that. The walk home was filled with the same faceless, detail-less people. She began to grow unnerved, this wasn't normal when she was like this. What the hell was going on?
"Ah, so you've noticed," Fred's light tone held that burriko twinge to it, "that's the dice's doing, that and your object trying to get your attention…hold off on it for a while and don't try to grasp it. You won't make it."
That was relatively daunting. Just what kind of object did she have? She couldn't think of anything that had belonged to her before, at least nothing of this nature. It worried her a little. Fred quickly ushered her home, watching as she entered through the front door like a normal person, not through the window like a weirdo. She headed back to her room and he narrowed his eyes. No, he didn't have to worry about her leaving again. She still had a sense of honor after all.
Meanwhile, Naomi was sitting at her desk with a pencil in her hand. She thoughtfully gazed at the list before her and frowned in thought. To join a shadow game again would bother her. The shadows were opposite her own magical nature, they could easily take her out of a fight. She rubbed at her temples for a few seconds before sitting back and taking the dice out. It carried shadow magic, could it help her? She wondered if it would allow her to start a shadow game, but did she want to? If she lost then the price to pay would be on her, and she couldn't afford that. Not with this newfound freedom.
Things were too complicated for her.
Bast woke up and she shot her cat a small smile before getting up from her chair and placing the papers she had written on in her desk drawer with the pocket knife. She gathered her clothes for a bath and decided that Fred might be right. She should play it by ear and do her best to come out on top.
The difficulty of that remains to be seen.