Sunrise
Sunrise
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Title:
Author: Moonlight Reflection
Summary: AU,
Seto*Ryuuji; what if Yami no Yuugi had lost to Yami no Malik in their duel?
Now, several years later, the group must convince the former pharaoh to help
them defeat Yami no Malik after losing one of their own to save him.
Rating: R for violence, language,
shounen-ai, non-graphic NCS, character death
Couplings: Seto*Ryuuji, as well as
mentionings of Jyounouchi*Mai, Honda*Ryou, and Yuugi*Anzu
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;tab-stops:.25in'>Information Source: Manga
The one-and-only disclaimer:
Yu-gi-oh is the property of Takahashi Kazuki and Shounen Jump. Additionally,
prior permission has been obtained from Pikachumaniac for the use of one of her
creations, which I do not claim.
*Scenes written in
Everything
had been going as planned until some bumbling idiot had accidentally set off
the alarm.
Personally,
Kaiba Seto’s suspicions placed the blame of Jyounouchi Katsuya, who in his mind
fitted that description perfectly. Who else could it be anyway? The group had
not taken any new recruits, who just would have gotten in the way and gotten
them all killed before they could even make it to und underground complex. And
out of the five people that had come, only Jyounouchi was clumsy enough to do
something stupid.
It
couldn’t have been Mazaki Anzu. She was much too careful tosomesomething like
that, although she had technically killed them all in a training session.
Luckily for all parties involved, that had merely been a training session
rather than real life. No, she would not make the same mistake again. Honda
Hiroto? Perhaps, if he hadn’t been standing right next to the brunette when the
alarms had gone off, so he knew that it couldn’t have been him. And certainly
not his boyfriend… he didn’t even bother listing off the reasons for that.
However,
there was one flaw in his reasoning. Jyounouchi, unless he had stepped on
something--which simply wasn’t possible since both Anzu and Otogi were with
him—had been given the duty of holding what they had risked their necks for.
Yet
the alarm was still going on.
Finally,
he decided that he didn’t give a damn about who had set off the alarm off,
especially since it could have just been one of those poor bastards that Otogi
had hit with dice. Otogi Ryuuji—dragon son—had some fascination with dice that
he simply couldn’t figure out, nor did he care at the moment. They were still
quite far from the escape point, and sooner or later these cavernous halls were
going to be swarming with guards, shadow monsters, or possibly both if the
shadow monsters didn’t eat the guards first.
They
had a rather nasty habit of doing that.
He
could hear the shout of guards behind them, echoing through the walls and
sounding much too close for comfort. For a moment, he almost considered telling
Jyounouchi to drop his burden, but that would have just been, for lack of a
better word, stupid. They’d nearly gotten killed to get this far, and he’d be
damned if the dog just dropped him.
Although
the thought was damn tempting.
Yes,
him. A useless him, at that, but Shaadii had told them in that enigmatic way of
his that it was necessary. He hadn’t bothered to explain even when Kaiba had
threatened disembowelment and other inventive ways of torture, instead
repeating—albeit less patiently than the first time—that the former pharaoh was
crucial to what was to come.
Humph.
One would think that the Egyptian had the Sennen Tauk, which they all knew for
a fact that he didn’t. Yami no Malik was now in possession of that item, the
item with the ability to see into the future. Perhaps he had forseen this
event? No, that couldn’t be. The only person who could use the Tauk was dead,
one of the first victims of a mad rampage of bloodshed.
They
had found the former pharaoh locked in a room stripped of furnishings. The
pharaoh too had nothing on except those silver chains which clinked so gently,
so musically… and the Sennen Puzzle.
Irony upon ironies. Yami no Malik had never seen need to deprive the spirit of
the Puzzle, and Seto was beginning to think that he had a point. Yami no Yuugi
had done nothing when they had
entered the room thanks to Honda’s lock-picking skills, something he had picked
up from Bakura Ryou during a brief romance that ended with the white-haired
teen’s death. Or to be more specific, his new job as the main appetizer for a
shadow monster.
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;tab-stops:.25in'> Perhaps
to say he had done nothing was a bit
of an exaggeration, for Yami no Yuugi had cringed when they entered. Not that
they had not done the same, for none of them had seen the once proud spirit in
such a state of disarray (to put it lightly). There was an abundance of bruises
on the once flawless skin, and his thighs had been covered in dry blood. Silver
chains that seemed to gleam in the dim light contrasted heavily with the dull
eyes—the color of fresh blood, not dry—that stared at them blankly and without
any recognition of his former friends… and one rival.
As
Honda had put his lock-picking skills to use on those silver chains which
continued to chime with such beauty that the group had wanted to rip their ears
out, Anzu had tried to speak to Yami no Yuugi, who only stared at her with a
hint of confusion. Kaiba couldn’t help but doubt that he even knew who the
small group was.
Since
then, the pharaoh had been nothing more than dead-weight. He hadn’t struggled,
at least, but he hadn’t exactly helped, something that the brunette found
extraordinarily annoying.
“Do
you have anymore of those dice?” he demanded to his raven-haired lover,
referring to the small, portable barriers and gas bombs that he had made. After
all, Otogi did love throwing his dice, and he had developed extremely good aim
over the past couple of years. Kaiba had finally created technology small
enough to be the shape and size of a normal die, and everyone had been amused
when he had presented them to his koi [1]. They had, however, stopped being
amused when Otogi had used one against the first batch of guards and watched it
work like a charm.
“Don’t
you think I would have used them if I had any left?” Otogi snapped, stress
levels already high and at breaking point. As if he needed a scolding too.
“Did
you check?”
Emerald
green eyes glared at him, “Yes. Do you want to check too?” As he asked, he
gestured at his tight-fitting clothes with an extremely seductive smile.
“Save
the flirting for some other time, will you?” Jyounouchi interrupted acidly,
starting to feel the strain of his load despite the deceptive lightness when he
had first picked up the pharaoh, “How far are we from the exit?”
“Far
enough to be a total pain in the ass.”
~@*
what he was witnessing. Nobody could, to be truthful, and for one moment, the
entire world seemed to be suspended in time and spinning far away from reality.
Reality… in reality, Yami no Yuugi had won, hadn’t he? He was the game king,
was he not? He couldn’t lose this game, not here, not now
involved, it just couldn’t be happening.
The numbers plummeted,
reaching zero. Mutou Yuugi was screaming, high-pitched and brutal on the ears
as he disappeared, erased from life as quickly as the life points had been
lost. Malik too disappeared, although he was still alive. At least, he thought
he was alive…
The screams still echoed.
There was an empty gap in the air, an empty gap that blood-red eyes had fixated
upon, still in disbelief of what he had just seen.
It couldn’t have happened.
A hand reached out
timidly, reaching out for a person that was no longer there as his legs
collapsed and sent him down to his knees, eyes still wide and staring at that
gap in the air.
Lter.ter. There was
laughter. Yami no Malik laughed as the darkness fell away, but still it was
black as night. Muffled sobs from the staring group were drowned out by the
laughter, although most were staring silently and in a state of shock.
Rishid and Ishtal Isis
stood there as well, unsure of what to say, what to do. What comfort could they
add? Both knew that soon, their lives would be extinguished by the madman
standing before them, laughing as the darkness wrapped around him.
They were gone, Kaiba
realized. Yuugi… that woman—Kujyaku Mai was her name, wasn’t it? The victim of
a batsu game [2],she would be dead as
soon as her 24 hours were up. Bakura Ryou… the first course for the shadow
monster. [3]
Kaiba wondered if it was
the same monster as the one that had just devoured Yuugi.
Then, suddenly, the
laughter stopped. There were footsteps instead, footsteps that seemed to shake
the tower they stood upon as he stepped closer and closer towards the fallen
pharaoh, who still stared at that empty gap in the air.
A tanned hand grabbed the
thin wrist, pulling Yami no Yuugi up. When the spirit didn’t look at him, Yami
no Malik’s strong fingers squeezed Yami no Yuugi’s chin, jerking his face
towards him.
He laughed.
Yami no Malik began to
laugh again as he held his prize, who didn’t struggle against him. Didn’t do
anything except when his eyes tried to wander to that gap in the air.
It was then that Kaiba
decided that he hated the pharaoh.
~@*
I watch as the daylight crawls
Past the shadows hanging on the wall
It’s been a long time since I’ve felt the stain
Of yesterday getting in my way.
The
words washed over him, lyrical and whimsical. It was hard to imagine that the
human voice could be more beautiful than the twinkle of those chains, but
perhaps anything that wasn’t cold was beautiful to him right now.
Yami
no Yuugi stared at Anzu as the scenery rushed by. The small group had taken to
running, but the brown-haired woman wasn’t ready to leave him alone yet.
She
was singing to him.
The
world was going absolutely insane.
The
others didn’t say anything, too caught up in a plan which was quickly falling
to pieces. The song was specifically for him, an American song with English
lyrics that he could barely understand. Her English had always been much better
than theirs.
He
didn’t know if he wanted it.
I’m alive but tell me am I free?
I got eyes but tell me can I see?
The sky is falling and no one knows
It’s not that hard to believe
I got air it shouldn’t be this hard to breathe
The sky is falling and no one knows
Was
there some significance behind these words? He had always found Anzu to be a
bit of a symbol-obsessed person. Like that happy face she had drawn on their
hands before he had fought Kaiba.
Kaiba.
Why was he here anyway?
Jyounouchi
had noticed the song, and he stared at Anzu as if she was insane. She ignored
his look, and he didn’t take it any further than . Th. There was really no
reason to, and at least Yami no Yuugi wasn’t so damn stiff anymore.
She
had a nice singing voice. It sounded nice especially above the screeching of
the alarms. The lyrics though… he thought they were kinda weird.
Which
was precisely why they fitted the figure he held in his arms so well.
You leave me hanging on
Only to catch my breath
I got you and I got nothing left
Don’t leave me all alone down here
With myself and all of my fear style='font-style:normal'>[4]
“Shit,”
somebody elegantly spat out.
He
didn’t bother to ask.
~@*
The
first guard received a shot in the head. And not one of those vaccinations, but
a gun shot, courtesy of Honda.
The
blood pooled around his body. There was a time when one of them might have been
disgusted by the calmness Hohad had used when he shot the guard. There was a
time when they actually would have cared that a human life was lost.
That
was before they were capable of doing the same exact things.
“We’re
almost there.” There was no telling what the point of those words were, whether
to reassure them, keep them going, or instill a false sense of hope that would
be shattered as soon asy diy discovered they were trapped.
Dead
weight. They were risking their lives for dead weight.
Kaiba
was going to kill Shaadii as soon as they got back.
The
second got a die in the eye. A normal die, but it must have hurt like hell.
Otogi had a small smirk on his face, congratulating himself on his good aim no
doubt, but he didn’t slow down so Kaiba didn’t say anything. Although he did
file away the information to tease Otogi with the next time they were in bed
and didn’t have to worry about dying in an hour.
He
wondered what it would like to be normal.
Had
he ever been normal?
trapped in an underground base of a sadistic madman—who had used ancient powers
of darkness in order to slowly destroy the world—in a desperate and absolutely insane
the intelligence of an amoebae at the moment. The dog is carrying the
before-mentioned former pharaoh. Anzu was singing to him. Honda is going into psycho mode. And my boyfriend is throwing
dice at people.
The
last part was the only one that didn’t sound really weird.
Especially
when a die took the opportunity to hit him in the head right there and he found
himself glaring into his koi’s green eyes, “Any longer and we’re all going to
be the main course for the same monster that ate the others.”
The
unspoken message: stop your self-pitying before I find some way to shove it
down your throat.
He
got the message.
~@*
The
exit portal was another one of those stylish inventions that Kaiba had created
between figuring out how to save the world and how not to die some painfully
horrid death for doing so. They could be opened only in certain places and
there was quite a bit of chemistry behind it that half the time he wondered if
something to do with the dark power, which Kaiba definitely didn’t understand
although Shaadii did.
Yeah.
Whatever.
There
was one flaw with the portals though… anybody could get in and out. Which meant
that not only did they have to get in the damn thing before it shut, but they
also had to make sure that none of Yami no Malik’s cronies got in either. Or if
they did, by some rather likely chance, get in, then they would expire
appropriately quickly as soon as they did so.
The
dog first, then Anzu. Honda next, then Otogi, and finally himself. Simple
enough, as long as Anzu and Honda covered their asses on the other end when
they were heading in. Which wasn’t that difficult, right?
Jyounouchi
was taking too long with his burden. Damn it. He should have just told the dog
to throw Yami no Yuugi into the
portal, never mind any injuries he might sustain from such an action. Shaadii
was on the other end, anyhow, and he would take care of things. Hopefully….
With
surprising strength, Anzu helped shove him in before heading in herself in one
graceful motion that Kaiba couldn’t help but be somewhat impressed. Although it
wasn’t nearly as elegant as his own koi, although he might be biased on that
point.
But
not by much.
Honda
went next, and Kaiba realized that although he loved Otogi very much, he was
stuck with a person who used dice as his main wea Som Something which he found
rather disconcerting, thank you very much.
Otogi
must have been thinking the same thing because he smirked, pulled out a small
handgun from somewhere in those
clothes, and with deadly accuracy shot two of the guards.
Very
sexy.
Rather
than voice his thoughts though, Kaiba opened his mouth to tell the raven-haired
man to get his ass through that portal. He ruderudely interrupted in the middle
of his flirtatious words when he suddenly felt ice crawling down his spine and
his mouth refused to work on its own accord.
Very,
very, very screwed, he thought to himself as he quickly recognized the effects
of the Sennen Rod. Yami no Malik’s favorite weapon.
Otogi
recognized it too, which was good because he didn’t want to open up the
obituaries one day and read that his koi had been shot by himself because of plain
stupidity and failure to recognize that he was being controlled by the Sennen
Rod.
Ducking
a punch, Otogi slammed his body rather painfully against Kaiba, causing the
taller man to stumble and more or less fall back into the portal. Which
definitely wasn’t an easy task, as Kaiba was 7 centimeters taller [5]… although
he was only one kilogram heavier. Another teasing point that had earned him a
rather painful kick in the groin.
The
force of the shove immediately caused the already frail grip of the Sennen
Rod’s power to completely release him, and the last thing he saw before the
portal shut was a sticky red substance shimmering slightly against the dull
light, clinging tenaciously to the black strands of hair before its owner fell
to the ground, still on the wrong side of the portal.
Then
everything went black. To be cliché.
~ tsuzuku ~
Commentary (pt 1):
[1] Koi. Short for ‘koibito’ which
means ‘lover’.
[2] Batsu. Japanese for
punishment.
[3] Kujyaku Mai punishment game –
volume 26. Involved bugs, not sand. Bakura Ryou punishment game – volume 27.
[4] Lifehouse’s “Sky is Falling”.
[5] 7 centimeters = approximately
4 and 3/4 inches