Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Vampire Hunter D.
Thank you once again Aldedron for being such an awesome beta reader! Everyone, enjoy the next chapter.
Chapter Thirteen: Turn One
D paced one of the lower decks of a rather large fishing ship. He was not quite sure of what make or model it was, but he did not believe it was detrimental not to know. What worried him was that they were sitting ducks while they were hiding on the ship; neither Anzu nor he knew how to move the boat further out to sea without the possibility of damaging it. Their only hope was if there really was a possibility of a skirmish or an all out war with the city that no one came by and realized there were people on this particular craft. The chances were slim, but there was still a chance.
And Bakura didn't know where they were.
D raised a hand to his mouth and turned to make another round when he heard Anzu coming down the stairs; to her it must have been with restraint, but D could almost feel the panic in her as she made her way to the room he was supposed to be surveying. She held Etsu close to her chest, the child happily asleep as if nothing more disturbing than a loud noise had transpired. The boy wondered if sleep would not help the woman before him as well. She was pale and there seemed to be a fine sheen of sweat against her brow even though the night had become colder.
The boy tried to smile, a feat he had seen Bakura produce many a time, even if he was in a dire condition, but failed. His lips trembled in an attempt and he lifted his hand higher to cover it by biting on his thumbnail. However, Anzu managed the false gesture, and looked around as if she was interested.
"So all we really have to worry about is mildew?" she asked jokingly. D cocked his head, failing to understand.
"I guess…" he replied, hoping that was what she wanted. She just nodded and looked back to the doorway.
"You know, I never expected life to turn out like this," she said.
"Neither did I," the boy replied curtly, feeling as if blame was suddenly being laid on him.
"Oh?" Anzu remarked, "And what did you see yourself doing?"
"I know right now I'd still be holed up in some room with nothing but my books and…" he paused, and believing it best, refrained from mentioning his left hand, "and the occasional lab test. When I was older, I suppose my father would have wanted me to copulate with someone to see if I could create something better than myself that is if I was still the best he had managed to create."
Anzu stared at the boy. Her face showed nothing but shock at the way he had put the situation, and how he had worded it. D turned his face away, embarrassed by the attention. "Why would you say that?" the woman managed to ask.
D looked back at her with disdain. "You saw what happened back there. I was to be escorted back to my father, and you all were to be executed on sight, whether the words were spoken or not. Do you really not think that would be what I had to look forward to, if Bakura-sama hadn't come into my life like he did? If he hadn't rescued me before I even realized I really needed it? You can worry and tear up about your situation," he had noted that her eyes were getting bright with tears, and the child's mind within him told him to stab at this weakness, "but right now I'm more worried about the man who saved my life, and all of his friends that may pay for what I am."
"And what are you exactly?" Anzu asked her cheeks now wet with tears, "Why is this happening?"
"If I knew anything don't you think I would be doing more than this? I'm a child, but I'm not useless," D turned away, crossing his arms. He was uncomfortable; he hated talking this much, especially to someone who he felt was blaming him for the situation. He could hardly recall the happiness that he had felt from the group earlier that day, and his worry for Bakura and the others…
The others, which included Amami. She would not be excused just because she was a child and his friend. His father did not even know that last fact, nor would have cared otherwise. If D was not returned to them soon, there would be an attack. His father had waited a while, but as his son, he knew the former's impatience when he saw it. D now believed his father had allowed him to 'run off and play' for these past months, giving him the false hope of freedom, the false hope of happiness. Unless Bakura had something up his sleeve, or he could get Kaiba to relocate the city immediately, she was doomed, and it would be his fault.
"I'm just a kid…" he muttered, trying to remain stoic. He did not need to throw his problems on a woman who already seemed on the verge of a breaking point. He remembered his mother well enough to leave the woman behind him out of it. "I'm just a kid, and it's not fair," he glanced back at Anzu, who was clutching the sleeping child to her chest, "I didn't want this; I just wanted to be happy. I wanted to see something other than pictures in books. I wanted to feel wanted for no reason in particular, not because I am a cross-breed."
"But we were all just a little too stupid to realize that your father knew where you were the whole time," the parasite in his hand muttered, and this broke the child's composure. D turned his face away again and bit down on his lip hard enough to draw blood. He did not cry out, but bolted for the door that led into yet another room, leaving a bewildered and frightened Anzu behind. She made a move to follow the boy, feeling pity for the child, but somehow knowing she would only be making the situation worse, she instead sighed and turned to climb back up the short flight of stairs.
Once she was outside again, she looked up at the stars. These were the same stars that saw her through her first semester at Julliard, and her return home for a birthday party, requested by the young man that was now her husband for all intents and purposes. They were same stars that saw her through the past three years. They were probably even the same stars that shone the night they all had sailed for Duelist Kingdom, to be swept into strange fate and stranger adventures. If she ever wanted something consistent in her life, she just needed to look up into their bright light. They would be there tomorrow, next month, next year; they would be there as she lay dying. She pondered this as she looked at them. If that boy was indeed a vampire, or a half-vampire, and this was not some crazy dream, would he be there too? Would he be there a hundred years later, looking up at these same twinkling lights, unable to be loved by either side? For as he said, only one being wanted him, and that was as an experiment…and she knew even though she had denied it previously, the thought of that boy being anything like those monsters frightened her to the very core. It was unfair of her, and she would fight the fear, but she knew others wouldn't. She and her friends would have to keep his secret.
Etsu made a soft noise in her sleep, and Anzu looked down at her lovingly. She couldn't imagine a world without her child now, and she was sure it was vice versa. This brought her thoughts back to D and she put her free hand to her lips in understanding. She hurried off (as quickly as one could with a sleeping child in their arms) to find the boy. What she did not realize was that D was no longer on the ship, and that he had slipped into the chill waters without a sound.
Silence also held the office that sat precariously on edge atop the Kaiba Corp. tower. Yugi fidgeted with his hands behind his back, trying to keep composure. Bakura stood rigid, alert, but also unstable. Jounochi held his head in his hands, feeling as if any god were to strike him dead at that moment it would be for the best. Kaiba was looking at them with alarm, disgust, and disbelief. Ruin was on the lips of fate that day.
"An attack on the city…" Kaiba repeated slowly, lacing his fingers as he rested his elbows on the table before him, "by vampires." He sighed and shook his head. "What kind of idiot do you take me for?"
"We don't think you're an idiot at all!" Yugi exclaimed, taking a step forward. Kaiba set his gaze on the shorter man who then took two steps backward. "But we can't explain it any other way," 'We just tried to five times', he thought bitterly while adding, "…someone's out to attack our city and they have the means to do it. Bakura had to deal with them before, and that's why we called them vampires."
"So this was your idea?" Kaiba seethed, his attention now on the pale young man to Yugi's left.
"Not my idea," Bakura responded, holding his ground although his heart had begun to pound with a new ferocity, "It's the truth. These people are crazy; they locked me and a bunch of other people up for three years and did horrible things to us! If you were thought to have not been affected by radiation you were used as a food source. They drank my BLOOD, goddamnit!"
"That doesn't mean they are vampires," the other man scoffed, "It just means you got stuck with some freaks. I'm curious though, as to why you did not mention the fact that you were being held by anyone before this. It seems too convenient to me."
"I," Bakura started, his cheeks beginning to burn with nervous embarrassment, "I didn't want anyone to think I was a danger to them because I didn't think I was."
"But according to you, these people are now after our city because of you?"
"No, not because of me…"
Jounochi growled, finally incensed enough to respond with something. "What does it matter?" he yelled, surprising his friends but not the man in front of him, "Whether it was him or something he did or coincidence, it's going to happen and we don't have time for this shit!" He turned to Bakura, whose eyes were now bright with unshed tears of guilt. "I'm sorry man, I'm sorry for ever giving you trouble about this out there. I shoulda known that you were on our side from the beginning, whatever happened." He turned back to Kaiba, glaring. "Yugi's head of security, and he was there and knows that what we are saying is true. Forget about the 'vampire' part if you want, but we need to get these people to safety if we want our city to still be here tomorrow morning! This guy and his servant or whatever had a working military vehicle and from what I can guess from the way they talked there are more people on their side than ours!"
Kaiba watched this display in silence. When Jounochi was doing no more than breathing hard and trying to look as intimidating as he could, the blue eyed man unlocked his fingers and stood, placing well cared for fingers against his temple. The others watched as he turned to look outside, the window that once showed a bustling city below now only showing a dark mass of destruction and attempted reconstruction. He sighed deeply, now rubbing his temple counterclockwise.
"Do you have any idea," he began, still not facing them, "what it took to make this city do what simple tasks it is doing now? How many people that have to be dealt with each day in order to keep it running smoothly?" His head turned slightly and his oddly colored eye glared at Bakura. "You wouldn't. Jounochi, maybe, even for his everlasting foolishness, Yugi, yes. He was the greatest ally one could have during this situation, as much as we had been rivals prior."
"Jeez, I'm right here," Jounochi muttered and was ignored.
"Even before it went to ruin, I had put my life into this city. I owned many of the buildings that are now nothing but rubble, and it was my money that kept dinners on tables. Now it's my word and my knowledge of how things should be run that keeps us better off than the half coordinated halfwits of North Domino and South Domino. The point I'm trying to make here is this: I take everything into consideration as I want this city to recover. I may not like everyone in it, but that does not mean I want everyone to die. If they've survived this far, then they must have some reason for living if not just to take care of their children. However, if I were to take what you said seriously, ignoring the 'vampire part' as Jounochi put, rather brightly for once, I would have to take into consideration the likelihood of it happening as you say it will, the precautions of evacuating the entire city to a new location that would not be obvious, the availability of security, not to mention the fact that for every fifty people we have one security guard and it would be impossible to evacuate anyone in the time frame you've given unless we caused major panic which would cause riots and more death. I will do none of these things."
"What?" Yugi said, surprised, "but why? Why if you know we have no reason to lie?"
"Because I don't know, Yugi," he responded coolly, "I can believe that you must have met someone that caused alarm, I can believe that you care about this city as much as I do, but the fact that you came in here, unannounced, raving about vampires and a total annihilation of Domino City makes me very cautious indeed." He placed a hand against the structure that had once held a portion of a window pane and sighed again. "I've always known you all to be a suspicious bunch; to put any faith into a threat made by two people who are now supposedly dead is laughable. If there is any real animosity between our city and their establishment, it probably is due to you, isn't it?" He turned and focused his attention solely on Bakura. "I should have been more curious as to why you appeared three years after the incident and as a legal guardian to a boy with no real name. I'm going to assume that these people are who you stole the boy from in what could have been a fit of insanity on your part. If that is the case, this is an easy fix. I will send one of our sentries out in the direction you say the attack is going to come from with the boy and return him. Then I'm going to lock you away in a prison cell, Bakura, because we have no need for mentally unstable kidnappers."
"But!" Bakura cried in disbelief.
"But nothing," Kaiba replied, "Yugi, Jounochi, take him to the functional holding cell; I will ignore your parts in this nonsense as he was once your friend, but know that this foolishness will not be tolerated again."
Both Yugi and Jounochi looked at one another, uncertain, and then back at Bakura. Their eyes were pained but set firmly on him. Suddenly the young man felt the bonds of friendship slip out of his grasp and did not struggle as the other two men grabbed him just below the shoulder on either side; but for as much as he did not struggle physically, he struggled verbally.
"This is crazy!" Bakura exclaimed, now being dragged back. "You're going to get us all killed!"
"No, Bakura, what you don't seem to realize is that you are going to get us all killed," Kaiba snapped, "This place is where those who need protection find it. They can live their lives in peace knowing that no one is going to attack us, because we are the biggest thing out there now. We are safe, we are free! Our laws are there only to make sure we do not kill ourselves. There has been no crime thus far from within, if we don't count you. I've treated life as my personal game, and it is still a game, a game of survival, and those in the seats of power must do what they can to protect those they govern, to give them liberty and the ability to give back to those that care for them in the most effective ways. This is how we survive, and I'm not going to allow you to screw it up.
Now if you will excuse me, I have an appointment in two minutes that I cannot miss."
"Huh?" The two pulling Bakura stopped. The young man never thought to run, he was just as intrigued.
"Yes, it was a late appointment, but it was from a man who believed we could be allies of sorts in a world such as this. We have the technology at our fingertips, but not the manpower to bring it all back online. He was willing to give us men for this work as well as more protection if we shared our tech with him. After we discussed it further, we agreed that we were to bring it up to the seceded pieces of Domino and in the end re-create the city as a central hub for humanity. But of course until we all came to agreements in how our city should be run we would still function under our governments as of now."
"Where did this man come from?" Bakura interrupted, now worried, "and how can you trust him?"
Kaiba walked over to him, staring down, and smiled. "I believe that is no longer any of your business, traitor. Kidnapping is still a crime, and the fact that you may have caused an unnecessary discrepancy is worse. Take him away." He shooed them away as he walked back to his seat, one hand in his pocket. Even as the world lay in disarray, Kaiba still gave off a sense of order and cleanliness to an obsessive degree. Bakura had been in the office plenty of times, but now as he was being dragged away by his "friends" he saw how perfect everything in the office was. How the man who now sat in the middle of the room, as high and mighty as a king on his throne, still clung to his immaculate clothing. He was living in the past, pretending it was the future. He did not see that humans were no longer the ones in charge, and that it may take years for it ever to become what it used to be, if it ever returned to that.
The intercom by the man buzzed, alerting him to his appointment's arrival. The trio had just reached the door as it opened, and Bakura dragged his gaze away from the floor and its clean carpet to see who it was. His eyes widened and he suddenly had the urge to urinate. The young man's mouth became dry and swallowing did nothing to soothe the painful sticking.
The stranger emerged from the shadows of the door and into the false light that poured from the lamps across the room. He was massive in height, but not girth, his slender but obviously muscular form hidden by his formal attire. He had his dark hair slicked back, showing off his prominent brow and pale complexion. For a moment their eyes locked and the man's eyes flashed with recognition. His lips curved to form a small but sinister smile and Bakura was reminded of a day so long ago that he had seen those eyes for the first time. Fighting back an urge to spit at the man and almost losing the battle, Bakura allowed himself to be dragged out of the room, actually aiding their departure.
Once the door closed behind them, he yanked free from loosening hands. He spun and glared at the two men for a moment, until he realized what they had done. Bakura's eyes once again flooded, but he did not allow the tears to fall. There was no time.
"That was him," he said abruptly.
"The appointment?" Jounochi stated more than asked, "Yeah, I don't trust the look of him."
"No, I mean that's the guy who locked me up for three years as his personal guinea pig, D-kun's father," he dropped his voice in hope's no one on the other side of the door could hear him, "Now's not the time or place to speak of this though. This city is doomed if Kaiba is working with the likes of him. We need to get out of here."
"But what about everyone else?" Yugi asked as they hurried down the steps. Since no one knew of Kaiba's most recent decree on the pale haired boy, they were not questioned.
"Kaiba was right about one thing. We can't go door to door, and if we alert everyone at the same time, there'll be mass panic."
"Yeah, but I know I'd rather die trying to get away than die as some freak experiment. Wouldn't you?" Jounochi added, and Bakura could only nod.
"Then how are we going to do this?"
"The TVs," Yugi said as they reached the bottom, "Just like when Kaiba-sama got us all to come to the center after the bombs came, but…I have to get my mom and…"
"And I need to get Shizuka-chan and Honda," Jounochi added in, as if just realizing the situation.
Bakura nodded. "You two go get your families, just direct me to where I can access the power and alert the others."
"But it would be too dangerous if you went by yourself, Bakura-kun!"
"Yugi-kun, of course it's going to be too dangerous!" he cried exasperatedly, "But we don't have the time or enough people on our side to be thinking about that! Now direct me to the power and broadcast stations; you were closest to Kaiba, so you'd know the exact locations he put them."
Yugi nodded and did as he was bid. The trio hurried along together for a few moments longer, forming a more plausible plan for escape, as well as the information Bakura was supposed to relay to the rest of the city. They stopped at a deserted intersection as the first of the lights began to shut down.
"Now remember," Yugi said, "Jounochi, you're to lead your group through the back alleys, picking up anyone if they are willing enough to believe you. I'm going to be taking the main streets. I'll try persuading the guards to help, I'm the main one in charge so it shouldn't be too hard, I'm more personable than Kaiba-sama anyway," he chuckled without any humor, "Bakura-kun you just say what you have to say and get the hell out of here. We'll meet again by the docks, find Anzu-chan and the others and get out of here. I'm no sailor, and I know none of you are. Kaiba-sama would have been our best bet if we were to take it the way we originally planned. So we are just going to have to follow the others, and hope."
"Right," Jounochi said and was about to leave until Bakura placed a hand on his shoulder. Both Jounochi and Yugi looked at the young man with a curious glance.
"I have a favor to ask," Bakura started, placing a finger on Jounochi's lips when he tried to speak, "If, and only if, either of you know where Wanatabe Amami and her family lives, please get them to come with you." He looked at the both of them beseechingly as the second set of lights clicked off and left their block in total darkness.
"Sure," Jounochi said, and placed a hand on Bakura's shoulder, "I know 'em. I'll swing by that way and grab them on my way out."
"Thank you," Bakura said, nodding his head in thanks, "sorry that I interrupted your interruption, but I had no intention of saying 'if I don't make it, blah blah blah'." The three laughed a little at this, "I know I can trust you with his life."
"Of course," Yugi said, tears now threatening in his eyes, "But just the same, be careful, the both of you."
"You, too," the other two chimed in.
So the three turned their backs to one another and went their separate ways, knowing of the danger and the price that would be paid. However, knowing was not the same as understanding. Lessons like those always come far too late.