Friday, June 17, 2005

Chapter 2

My story, as promised. This is really long, so get ready. “I’d always wondered where Gozaburo’s little assassin got to.” The tall, muscular man tossed the newspaper across the room to his wife who deftly caught it. She scanned the front page which extolled the world’s events, the more shocking or weird, the better. “And flowers appearing mysteriously on graves relate to that how?” “Read it through.” The blonde woman complied, and then gave a disgusted shudder. “Doesn’t seem like much of an assassin anymore.” “It’s not easy to put behind a lifetime of training. Perhaps with the right incentive…” he left the sentence hanging and grinned wickedly. She thought it over. “Possibly…but once we find this ‘assassin’, we’ll need a target…” Then she, too, grinned wickedly. “I’ve got the perfect man.” ------------------------ “Bye guys!” Yugi waved at his friends as they parted ways in front of the school building. Settling his bag more comfortably on his back, he then set out for home. One more day and school would let out for the summer. He couldn’t wait! He’d been counting down the days for the past month. Not as bad as Joey, who’d been counting down practically the whole year. He was so absorbed in his thoughts about the upcoming summer that he didn’t notice a person fall into step beside him. “Hello Yugi.” His head swung around and his amethyst eyes widened in surprise. “Nanashi!” He shouted, wrapping his arms around her enthusiastically. She stiffened, as if unsure how to react. Yugi backed off. “Sorry.” “No…” She reached out hesitantly and hugged him back. “I missed you.” “I missed you too.” After a few awkward moments he added, “You can let go now.” Her arms sprang away instantly. Yugi continued his walk home with Nanashi. “So, how ya been?” “Good. And you?” “Great!” He was beaming radiantly, so glad was he to have her back. He’d missed her so much, right up to the white hair that fell halfway down her back. She wasn’t an albino though, her eyes were proof of that. They were a watery blue-green, the kind that could change to either color depending on the colors around her. Now they were mostly blue. Nanashi didn’t smile a lot, but at that moment she was. “I’ve never seen you this happy before,” she commented. “That’s because I’m so happy to see you again! And you’ll never guess what’s all happened since you left! I’ll have to tell you all about it. And you’ll have to meet my friends too!” Suddenly Yugi felt a little selfish, talking all about himself. “What about you?” “Huh?” “How was your trip?” Her smile faded and she averted her eyes. “I accomplished what I set out to accomplish. I…don’t really want to talk about it…” “It’s okay. You can tell me when you’re ready.” He reached over and squeezed her hand. “…when I’m ready,” she repeated softly. Soon…she wanted to be ready soon. She wanted to tell him everything, but for some reason, could not bring herself too. But soon… They were at the Motou residence, and Yugi opened the door. “Grandpa, guess who’s back?” “Nanashi,” Solomon answered without hesitation. His eyes twinkled merrily. Yugi stared, shocked. “How’d you know?!” “She’s been here most of the day. I was the one who suggestion she walk home with you from school. Now, don’t be rude and stop standing in the doorway so she can step inside.” “Oh. Sorry.” Yugi stepped out of the way, and she walked inside. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.” “Now, I bet you two have a lot to catch up on,” Solomon said. “Why don’t you go in the living room and talk?” “Sounds good,” Yugi answered. “What do you think, Nanashi?” “Yes, it sounds good to me too.” She followed him into the living room, and Yugi stared again, this time at the nearly sparkling cleanness of the place. “You did this, didn’t you?” He rarely saw the living room this clean. It wasn’t like his grandpa and him didn’t clean the place, just that most of the time for cleaning was spent on the shop in front. “Yes.” “You know, you don’t have to do that.” “But I want to. It’s the least I can do to repay your kindness, and it’s not nearly enough.” “Well, I guess if you really want to. But just remember, we’re not requiring anything from you. Everything here is free for you, and your friendship is enough.” She nodded. “I know. Now, you said you had a lot to tell me.” She sat down on the couch, followed by Yugi. “Yep! And you’ll never believe it all!” Nanashi listened attentively as Yugi relayed the events of the past year. Completing the millennium puzzle, making some new friends, Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, the Orichacoas, and all the other events in between. He showed her his deck, including the three god cards. “These things have power…magic, correct?” She traced her finger around the outline of Slifer the Sky Dragon. Yugi nodded and she continued. “What is magic? I’ve read stuff concerning it, but never what it really is.” This forced Yugi to think. He stared at the cards as he tried to formulate an answer. Magic was… “I don’t really know. Maybe it’s just things that are beyond our understanding. Things that we don’t know, can’t know, why. But that also means we can’t know exactly what magic is, does it? We can’t understand, so we say magic is something we don’t understand, but that’s not really what magic is…argh! I’m confusing myself!” he exclaimed, frusterated. “No. I understand perfectly what you mean. Please, continue,” she told him. Yugi went on, launching back into Battle City. But when he began talking about the Virtual Reality World, all expression faded from her face. He peered at her uncertainly, but she didn’t even seem to realize he was staring at her. “Are you okay?” She seemed to snap back, but only a little. “No.” Her voice was impersonal, toneless. “But please, keep talking. It’s only a memory.” He did as she asked, and hurried on to the rest of the Battle City finals. Once there, she appeared to recover. He finished talking about the past year, but his mind wasn’t focused on that anymore. That stony look she had he’d seen before, it meant she was hiding some emotion from him, or maybe even herself, and usually was connected with her unspoken past. Yugi desperately wanted to know what could have happened to make her act like that, but out of respect and kindness tried not to push her. But he couldn’t resist one question. “Do you know the Kaiba brothers?” Nanashi was taken by surprise, and contemplated a moment before answering. “Know?” She shook her head. “No. But I have encountered Seto once.” “Oh, okay. I was just thinking that I was talking about them when you…well, you know, and then I thought maybe it was one of them that triggered your memory, and…” Her direct stare caused him to stop. “You’re closer than you could ever know. I…” For a few tense moments, she looked like she was finally going to tell him. But then her gaze softened and dropped. “I’m sorry. But I promise, I’ll tell you everything soon.” Yugi smiled reassuringly. “I’ll admit it, I am curious. But I think it’s one of those things that takes time. And I’m willing to stem my curiosity until then.” He stood up, and stretched stiff muscles, suddenly realizing how long he’d been sitting in one place. “And speaking of time, it’s getting kinda late. I don’t want to be late for my last day of school. I’ll go get some sheets and a pillow for you. You sure you don’t mind sleeping on the couch?” “I’ve slept in worse places.” “Okay.” He turned around and nearly collided with his grandfather. “I’m one step ahead of you, Yugi,” Solomon said, his voice muffled by the mound of sheets, blankets and pillows he carried. “In that case, ‘night Nanashi, ‘night Grandpa.” “Goodnight, Yugi.” “There you are.” Solomon deposited his pile as Yugi scurried off. She quickly began making herself a bed. Her movements were deft and efficient, and Solomon marveled at her for a little bit. “Amazing.” She glanced at him, confused. “What?” “You. I know of professional athletes who’d give their right arms to move like you do.” “Give their right arms?” she repeated uncertainly. Solomon chuckled. “It’s an expression. Well, good night, Nanashi. Glad to have you back.” “Good night.” Nanashi tried for an hour to find the even pattern of sleep, but could not. Her mind was roiling with the events of the day, and the past year. That year had been spent living in a past she desperately wanted to forget, and now she was having trouble reburying it. And Yugi had, however unwittingly, succeeded in unearthing it even more. She didn’t blame him, the only person she ever blamed was herself, but no amount of logical reasoning could alleviate her tempest tossed mind. She rolled over and craned her neck to see out the window. A few stray cars zoomed by, their headlights casting a ghastly glow on the living room furniture. She used one of these moments to burn the locations of every object into her mind. She slipped out of bed, using the remembered locations to avoid tripping on anything, and soundlessly snuck outside and into the cool night air. She inhaled deeply and set a brisk pace. She was hardly aware of the fact that she instinctively kept to the dark pools of shadow as opposed to the harsh glow of the streetlamps. The physical exercise helped to her focus on one thing, and that was Yugi. He’d changed. He’d grown, matured, and she was glad for him. He had other friends now, and was more outgoing and happier with himself. And Yami…Nanashi wondered how such a thing was possible. She stopped, all her senses strung taut, alert to every vibration. Everything, even Yugi, cleared from her mind and now she was focused solely on the nighttime world about her. She moved forward a few more steps, and paused again. She could feel it, and soon confirmed it. Someone was following her. Her first instinct was to evade. And that is what she first moved to do. But then she stopped herself. If someone was following her, she needed to know why. “What do you want?” she demanded quietly, walking into full view underneath a streetlamp. “Ah, Nanashi.” A tall, light-haired man also stepped into view. “It’s nice to finally meet you."

Comments (1)