Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Yami no Yume ❯ Mañana ( Chapter 2 )

A/N: ehm… thank you? -_-; this fic is supposed to be totally angst, but Hayashiba-chan read over this chapter and found herself thinking `what the hell?!' so…

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"Yami no Yume"

02/20

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- Third Person POV -

Ryou woke up a bit earlier than usual. Next to him, Malik was still out, the downers not yet losing their effect.

Lucky Malik.

Ryou grumbled and got up, ignored the pain in the back of his head as he stumbled to the bathroom, and collapsed in front of the toilet. Once he was finished ridding his body of all its contents, he grumbled some more, brushed his teeth, and practically fell into the shower. He just sat there under the scalding hot water until it had turned ice-cold, and, once more complaining to himself, stumbled back out.

Only to stumble back in, where he remembered there was indeed a bottle of Ibuprofen. Then he went back out, dried off, and got dressed. Malik began to mumble, and rolled out of bed. Ryou watched him half-heartedly as he did wonderful imitations of Ryou's earlier actions, swearing loudly at the lack of hot water.

By one they were both packed and checked out, waiting at a bus stop.

"Do we get a say in who these newbies are?" Ryou wondered aloud, knowing the answer.

"No. You know Kujaku. Once she sees there's no increase in profit she'll let us break off again. The new kids can either go on being a band or rot in hell."

Ryou sighed. The bus came, and by three-thirty they were seated on the plane, on their way to Domino City.

-

"…And this is Kujaku Mai. She'll be your manager!"

Yuugi was pulled into a large, elaborate room. It was actually a rather magnificent dining hall, belonging to Domino's finest hotel… it was where Yuugi would spend his first week as a star before heading off to wherever stars go. Now that Jiichan was gone, there was nothing to hold him to Domino City any more.

In front of him, a woman with an exceptionally large bust and longish, curly blond hair was holding out her hand to shake.

"Kujaku Mai desu. Yoroshiku," she said by greeting, smiling. Yuugi smiled back.

"Yoroshiku, Kujaku-san. Mutou Yuugi desu. I'm very happy to be working with you."

Yuugi was trying very, very hard not to notice how incredibly short her skirt was.

"Mutou-kun," Kujaku smiled happily at him. "Congratulations on making the audition. Our winners from the other cities are already here, and the final two members of your guys' band are on their way right now. they should be here by tomorrow." Kujaku lead him around to a table where five others were already sitting. She introduced them in clockwise order, pointing to each one. Yuugi got a `yoroshiku' or `hi' from each of them.

"This is Jounouchi Katsuya. He's the director of the auditioning, and keeps up all our ties with those major recording industries." She waved to a tall, blond boy with golden-flecked eyes. Then she nodded to another boy around the same age if not older, with ice-blue eyes and short, brown hair. "That one, there, is Kaiba Seto. He's the CEO of Kaiba Corp., the biggest music company in Japan. And here we have Ou Yami," this time she was talking to a boy maybe one, two heads taller than Yuugi. He was a golden-tan, as though from Egypt, and had blond, spiked bangs, raven-colored hair defying gravity, tipped with crimson (the same color as his heavy-set eyes).

Yuugi felt himself blush slightly, and pushed his shoulder-length black hair behind his ears.

"That one, there, is Yagami Bakura."

A boy about Yami's same height (a bit taller) nodded lightly. He had light purplish-bluish hair that could almost be considered white. It was almost down to his waist and held back in a tight rubber band, somehow sticking up everywhere anyway. He, too, was golden-skinned, and Yuugi suddenly realized that, compared to the other band members, he himself must seem extremely pale.

"And, finally, Ishitaaru Mariku."

Mariku was even darker-skinned than Yami and Bakura (who were simply heavily tanned). His eyes were a narrowed violet color, and his dark blond hair was perhaps the same length as Yuugi's (about an inch down his shoulders) only sticking out EVERYWHERE. Unlike Bakura, he hadn't bothered to tie it back or anything.

"Yoroshiku. Mutou Yuugi desu. I look forward to working with you." Yuugi said, bowing lightly, but low enough for his ebony bangs to whisper against his eyes.

"Have a seat," Katsuya invited.

"Arigatou gozaimasu."

When Kujaku joined them, all of the seats were filled up.

"So," Kujaku said, signaling a waiter over, "welcome to the band Yami no Yume. Our last two members should arrive tomorrow night---most likely they will be late, as everybody in Domino City has already figured out their flight number. Either way. First thing's first. do you know about Yami no Yume's image?"

"An equal balance between black and white," Seto said for them when a blank silence ensued. "She's going to tell you that three of you have to dress in black leather, and the other three will be in white."

"Also, your stage make-up will consist of the markings of an Ancient Egyptian," Katsuya put in smoothly.

Kujaku glared at both men before going on, "That's it. Also, you four have already thought up stage names?"

"Yuugiou," Yami said, smiling.

"Kaitou," Bakura muttered, leaning back slightly as their food was delivered.

"Tsuuriki." Mariku stated flatly when everybody looked at him. Now all eyes were on Yuugi, who flushed.

"I…I didn't think…" he muttered.

"Daijobu, daijobu," Kujaku said dismissively. "Best think of one now."

"How about `shrimp,'" Bakura suggested smugly. Tami shot him a nasty look, and one could already tell that they wouldn't be getting along.

"Think of something you like to do," Yami suggested.

"Or somebody you really admire," Katsuya added.

"Or your favorite thing." Kujaku added thoughtfully. "Yami and Yume, your other members' stage names, were thought up by how they looked against each other."

"Anou…"

"Come on, cutie," Kujaku urged, poking Yuugi on the side, "you need one by tomorrow! Okay, try this. What's your favorite color?"

"Anou… blue."

"Ao. No, I guess `Ao' doesn't suit you very well…" Katsuya shook his head, laughing a little.

"It's a band," Seto put in helpfully, "think music…sound…heaven… ten, ne, on, oto… amane?" he shook his head and laughed lightly. "No, that doesn't suit you either."

"Well," Kujaku sighed, "maybe Yami and Yume will help you think of something. You can talk about it tonight with Yuugiou, Kaitou, and Tsuuriki. But, moving back to the image. How you dress and act on stage and in your songs---but mostly on stage---is one of the most important things." She smiled at a waiter as he cleared her crab away and placed some sort of jell-o in front of her instead.

"When you four were chosen, your looks were graded heavily. So here's what you're going to do, in angel and demon tense. Yuugi, you'll be playing angel with Yume and Yami. Yuugiou, Kaitou, and Tsuuriki are going to be our demons. You three will dress in black leather and act all bad-ass, easy, right? And Yuugi---you know, I just thought of a good stage name for you! Middonaito!---with Yami and Yume, will be in white leather and spandex, blah, blah, blah, you catch my drift…ne?"

Yuugi smiled a little. "I like Middonaito…"

"Then Middonaito it is!"

"Right. Anyway, you're also supposed to represent each others' darksides. Another reason choosing winners for the auditions was so hard. But, Shizuka and Anzu---Mazaki and Kawai, there are make-up team directors so to speak, and were unable to make it tonight---have it all figured out." Katsuya smiled lightly.

Kujaku went on for him, "That is, your portrayals are going to be of three people split in two halves; good and bad. So Kaitou and Yume are going to dress alike---this includes everything from eye color to hair length---only be black and white. Tsuuriki and Yami are going to do the same. Then, Yuugiou and Middonaito were a bit difficult, but you two are going to be `opposites' as well."

"Understand?"

"…not really." Yuugi admitted. Everybody else laughed.

"Tomorrow morning," Kujaku nodded firmly, "Kawai and Mazaki are going to work all day on you four. If you don't figure it out by then, your name will change from Middonaito to Baka."

"I still like `shrimp,'" Bakura mumbled. Mariku smirked at him. Yami narrowed his eyes at them both, and Yuugi flushed. Katsuya and Seto both looked to Kujaku, who was ignoring the band members' antics, too busy with her jell-o.

-

The next morning, Yuugi, Yami, Bakura, and Mariku were all woken up at the exact same time; three a.m..

Bakura and Mariku were positively violent about it, whereas Yami sort of shrugged it off, as though he'd expected this, and Yuugi stumbled around in circles, still half-asleep. They were dressed and dragged out of their hotel rooms and all the way to some place Yuugi had never been before. But there were a lot of costumes and mirrors and make-up and all sorts of things.

"Since we're going to be in Domino City for a while," Kujaku explained to them, "Kawai and Mazaki decided they'd set up a studio here. That's why they couldn't come yesterday. All of these people are their team---Anzu and Shizuka are the directors, however, so I can't make them do anything."

"And Yami no Yume owns all of this?" Yuugi asked, somewhat awed.

"Yeah. Don't forget, you four are part of Yami no Yume now, so you own it, too. Ah! Mazaki, Kawai! Ohayo!"

two other woman jogged over. The first was shorter than Mariku (who was the tallest so far, just barely level with Seto's forehead) and had longish red hair. The second had short brown hair, and a bust to rival Kujaku's.

"Is this them, then? Ahh, yes, I remember from watching their auditioning videos. Welcome, Yami no Yume!" the brown-haired girl, Mazaki, said.

"No time, no time," the long-haired girl cut in. "We need these three ready, like, NOW! Oh, Kujaku, you didn't give them any uppers? Poor guys…"

"I thought you two would have some," Kujaku said lamely, "since you know how hard it is to get a hold of uppers and downers these days. And I gave my last to Malik and Ryou. You know?"

Mazaki sighed. "Yeah, we all know how that is. I'll get Katsuya to send in another order in the black market."

"Right, then. I think we do have some…OI! TAKANA! GET US SOME LIGHT UPPERS, WILL YA? yeah, okay," Kawai nodded, "let's get started, boys!"

"See you four later!" Kujaku waved, smiling. Then she left.

Anzu's and Shizuka's lips curled into little cat-like smiles. "Yes… they're perfect…" Kawai purred.

"I can't wait to get started…" Mazaki agreed, licking her lips.

The four newest members of Yami no Yume gulped.