A Light In The Darkness...
6
By the morning light, the ship was arriving to port.
"Check out the size of that island..." Shizuka said softly gazing upon the mass of land graduallu approaching them.
"That's the duelist Kingdom." said Bakura.
"It's so big..." Shizuka said nervously, "Finding our way around isn't going to be easy."
"Well...we've got to start somewhere, right?" said Bakura, "Come on...we should get ready to deboard."
"Right..."
The suits were scattered about all over the place...
Which didn't bode well on Shizuka's nerves.
"That sure is a lot of guard dogs..." she whimpered softly.
"What's the matter, Shizuka?" Bakura asked curiously, "You're not nervous, are you?"
"Well yeah a little." she said softly. "I mean what if they find out I'm not ACTUALLY an offical contestant?" she asked, "Maybe I oughta just play it safe and swim back home..."
"Nonsesense, you'd never make it!" said Bakura, "And besides, if you give up here, how else are you going to have any shot at money for Tobi's medical care?" he questioned.
That silenced her for a moment.
That's right...
The Cash prize in this tournament was 3 million. more than enough to help get her out of this jam..and with any luck, maybe even allow Tobi to be able to finally come back home...
"Just play it normal." he said softly, "As long as you don't make a scene, everything should be just fine..."
"Right..." she made due with that and followed close to Bakura.
Normal...play normal-
"Hey, You!"
Shizuka jumped.
Oh no- it sounds like someone else just got busted-
She gulped.
If they were able to catch him- who's to say I won't be next!?
"Don't look so nervous...you're our guests here!"
"Phew..."
Shizuka sighed in relief.
"See, Ms. Shizuka? We're guests." Bakura said softly with a gentle nudge to her arm.
Strange...it was oddly comforting to have him here with her...
Suppose that's what it's like to have a friend...
"Welcome all Duelists!" said a proctor projecting out toward the crowd," Please, follow the stairs to meet your host."
"I guess that castle must be why they call this place Duelist Kingdom, huh?" Shizuka asked curiously.
"Yes, I would say so..." Bakura said softly, "I believe that castle belongs to Pegasus himself." he explained, "The inventor of this very game."
"No way- I didn't know that."
"Haha, really?" Bakura chuckled.
"Well yeah, I only learned the rules to play with Tobi...not the hostory of the game."
"So I see." he hummed softly.
"Say...Bakura-kun?"
"Hm? Yes, what is it?" he responded to her softly.
"I know that you now know why I wanted to try to get in on this tournament..." said Shizuka, "But...i don't think you said anything about the reason why you joined." she blinked, "Is there a paricular reason? Or maybe you were just curious when you got the invite?"
"Hmm..." Bakura said softly, "To be honest, I'm not really much of the competitive type." he chuckled, "Card tournaments like this aren't really my kind of game." he stated, "I know I said I've played and fared well in a few small tournaments, but It's not like I won or really placed or anything...so even I was surprised on why I got an invitation in the first place...I didn't really think much about joining in at all...not at first."
"Oh...really?" she said softly, "So then...why did you?"
He paused for a moment and pondered.
"Well...I guess what I said isn't completely true." he corrected, "I suppose there maybe one personal reason I decided to join but..." he paused a while before shifting his gaze to her, "But really I mostly just wanted to try for you." he stated, "After seeing you with your little brother...I thought maybe I could try to win the prize money...and help you out." he sighed sadly, "A boy that young...doesn't deserve to see the world from a hospital bed..." he sighed.
Shizuka's eyes narrowed sadly. The look on his face seemed...all too familiar to her. There was definitely a deeper reason he had decided to help her after finding out about Tobi...
Deeper than just simply being kind...
"Bakura-kun..." she said softly, "...You're a big brother, too...aren't you?"
He paused...an awkward chuckle leaving his lips.
"...You caught me." he said softly, "...I actually have a younger sister back home...her name is Amane."
"Amane..." Shizuka blinked, "Such a pretty name."
"That's kind of you to say..." he chuckled.
"...Is she in poor health too?"
"Well...yes and no...it'a a bit difficult..." he stopped softly with a sigh, "But I was transferred here without my family for...well...reasons, I suppose." he explained, "She's far away...with my family...and there's not really any given point of time that I may even be allowed to see her again."
"I see.." Shizuka said softly, "That's awful...I'm so sorry..."
She wanted to ask why...but thought that it might have been too invasive...
"It's quite all right." he said to her, "Not your fault by any means but...the point is, I know what it's like to care about a younger sibling...to wonder if you may get to see them or not so...I wanted to help you...so that you could see Tobi more regularly. Every day...at home. Where he should be." he smiled warmly at her, "Maybe it's a bit out of place for me but-"
Two arms wrapped around him warmly. Holding him tight and close. It was the last thing he expected. Especially from Shizuka...who wasn't really someone hed known to be so willingly close to people like this...
Not that he didn't understand why now-
"Bakura-kun..." she said his name softly, "Thank you." she stated, "You don't know how much this means to me...and how much better I feel, having you here with me."
" ..." there was a long pause of silence between wasn't awkward silence- Actually- it was warm. And though he was a bit hesitant at first, he appreciated the embrace...and returned it to her- though it was short lived-
As the crowd started moving and bumping into them shoving their way through.
"Jeez." Shizuka huffed.
"I guess some people are eager to get the ball rolling." said Bakura, "Come on then, let's try to find a way out of this crowd!"
he said taking her hand and leading her out and away, more towards the woods where less people were going...
He had probably hoped to take this detour as a way to cut through the people and make their way to ascend the stairs...
Though, then again-
They didn't exactly wind up where they needed to be after all...
"Huh? What's that?" Asked Tea, as she stopped when she noticed some motion in the woods below the stairs they were going up.
"What do you see Tea?" asked Yugi.
"It looked like...Bakura." she said pointing, "And Shizuka too, I think."
"What? Bakura? From school?" said Yugi.
"Again with this Bakura stuff?" questioned Tristan.
"And Shizuka? Huh...I didn't know she played Duel Monsters..." said Joey, "Where are they, Tea?"
They all looked over the stair way...though whatever Tea was seeing was gone now...
"That's two times that I've seen them now..." said Tea, "But they're not there anymore...maybe it's all in my head." she said with a tilt of her head as though to push the point.
"Come on, we're on a rescue mission, remember?" said Tristan.
Though it really wasn't in her head. As Bakura did peek around the tree once more and watched the friends, Ascend.
"I think we missed the stairway..." said Shizuka, snapping him back to the present.
"Right it would appear so." he said softly chuckling, "Come on then...let's make our way back the way we came...perhaps the crowd died some and we'll actually be able to move."
"Right behind you." Shizuka smiled.
To Be Contined...