Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Yami no Yume ❯ Hoy ( Chapter 3 )

A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews! *^^* `yuugiou' means `game king,' `kaitou' means `phantom thief,' `yume' means `dream,' `yami' means `darkness,' `middonaito' means `midnight' in English with Japanese romanization, and `tsuuriki' means `mysterious power.' Here's a list, in case you get confused:

STAGE NAMES

Ryou = Yume

Malik = Yamii ((the extra `i' is incorrect, but to keep away from confusion as to whether Hayashiba-chan is referring to Yami no Yuugi or Malik…))

Yuugi = Middonaito

Bakura = Kaitou

Mariku = Tsuuriki

Yami = Yuugiou

Doumo arigatou gozaimasu dano tanoshimimasu! ^_^ An extra-long chapter for anybody willing to waste their time reading it.

~*~

"Yami no Yume"

3/20

~*~

- Third Person POV -

Ryou and Malik's plane was delayed. Stupid plane. Then the next flight they were supposed to catch was delayed, then cancelled, and they ended up grabbing a taxi and heading off that way. Kujaku was screaming at them over a cell the whole time, too, which did not improve Our Heroes' moods.

All in all, they arrived a full day late; and entered Mazaki's and Kawai's "workshop" at five-forty-five PM.

Kujaku was waiting for them.

"You two just HAD to get the DELAYED and CANCELLED flights, didn't you!" she promptly screamed.

"Um, excuse me, but YOU were the one who got the plane tickets! Dumbass!" Malik countered smartly. He had a headache, a fever, and he was sore all over, not to mention the fact that he knew, very shortly, he was going to have to empty his stomach's contents anyway. Kujaku also knew this; one of the reasons she had screamed at the boys their entire trip to the make-up artists' studio.

"Kujaku, Malik, please." Ryou sighed, massaging his temple. "Where are our new members, what songs are we singing, and when can we leave?"

Kujaku growled. "Your new members---are receiving etiquette lessons, in their respective hotel rooms. They've spent the entire day training to fit Yamino Yume's image, and Kawai and Mazaki have worked miracles on them. You six will be singing a couple of songs that aren't quite finished next week, and then you'll have at a month's preparation before going on tour." She paused. "Their stagenames are Middonaito, Yuugiou, Kaitou, and Tsuuriki. You'll meet them tomorrow afternoon for lunch at the friggin' most EXPENSIVE restaurant this city has to offer!"

"Screw that." Malik snarled.

"Screw YOU." Kujaku snarled back.

Ryou sighed as Kawai and Mazaki came jogging up.

"Ohh, Ryou-kun, Malik-kun, you two look awful… especially Malik-kun…" Mazaki said, frowning slightly.

"Malik has a fever," Ryou explained.

"Oh," Kawai bit her lip. "That complicates things…"

"Sleep it off!" Kujaku barked. "We can NOT afford any losses At. This. Time!"

"Kujaku, really… I do believe that you're being too hard on them…" Mazaki began, but was ignored.

"Kujaku… at least let Malik-sama and Ryou-sama sleep in tomorrow. We'll come pick them up in separate limos and do their clothes and make-up on the way to the restaurant. Look," Kawai raised her voice so that she had everybody's attention. "There's nothing really big planned for tomorrow morning, other than more practice with the four newbies. Then lunch in the private conference room in Ejiputo Diner---that IS where Kaiba and Jounouchi decided, right?---and then more training. Plus they need to get to know each other. And the tour is in Japan, only. Not to mention, if Malik-sama is contagious…"

Kujaku swore colorfully in return, and then continued to argue loudly with Malik. Ryou, Kawai, and Mazaki jumped in, and the five screamed themselves hoarse for hours before coming to any sort of a decision.

"Fine. But Malik had BETTER have slept it off by lunch tomorrow or I swear you'll regret it! and Ryou, I want you in a different room and bed for once! I'm beginning to think you two are gay, and that's just wrong---plus you can't get sick! Fine! Now, all of you, go do---whatever!" Kujaku threw her hands up almost violently and stomped off. Kawai and Mazaki both sighed.

"She's a bit stressed. So are Jounouchi and Kaiba, but really… cut her some slack, you two?" Kawai suggested. Malik informed her of Kujaku's uncanny resemblance to a cow. Kawai sighed again.

"Never mind. You guys. It's late. I'll take care of Malik's fever, no sweat… it's probably nothing. Thanks, you two. See you around…?" Ryou trailed off slightly.

"We'll wake you two around eight, so you can shower and whatnot." She paused, looking after Malik as he abruptly jogged off to an adjoining bathroom. The two women and Ryou listened to Malik rid himself of lunch, then Kawai continued, "We'll, ah…bring some drugs. The authorities have been after our usual, um, "sellers" lately, and several have been arrested. Our sources are pretty low, but I think we can get something by morning…" she yawned.

Mazaki put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Hey, you. Let me handle it. Go to bed." She and Ryou watched as Kawai nodded and wandered off to the back of the studio, where Mazaki, Kawai, and the ten or so "artists" were sleeping. Then Mazaki turned to the snowy-haired teen.

"Don't get sick. You and Malik both. That would be too much of a setback," she paused. "I'll call up a taxi and get your guys' belongings to…"

"My room," Ryou said. "And I'll sleep in Malik's room."

"Right, then. And no need to call attention to yourselves yet---all those fans waiting at the airport were horrified when they heard your guys' flight had been cancelled." She laughed lightly, going to a small desk and the phone on it.

Ryou attempted a tiny smile at her back, then turned a little when Malik came back, nose wrinkled.

"I think it was breakfast…" he muttered. "That's the last time *I* ever eat plane food."

Ryou hugged Malik in response, placing a short, chaste kiss on his lips.

Then he also wrinkled his nose.

"I agree. Yuck."

-

Ryou spent the night either comforting Malik as he broke into increasingly violent coughing fits and sleeping fitfully in the land of nightmares. Malik had been to be expected; the fact that the nightmares were actually memories and had managed to put Ryou in tears (as they always did) was bothersome, though.

Even so, both were fast asleep when Kujaku pounded on their door the next morning.

"RYOU! MALIK! I SAID I WANTED YOU TWO IN SEPARATE ROOMS!" she screamed through the door when both boys refused to get up. "IT'S SEVEN FORTY-FIVE ALL READY! KAWAI AND MAZAKI ARE GOING TO BE HERE SOON, AND YOUR PARTNERS ARE ALL IN THE STUDIO AWAKE AND READY! GET UP! UP! GET. THE. FUCK. UP!!!"

Malik continued sleeping while Ryou came to the conclusion that Kujaku was suffering withdrawal symptoms of some type. Or she had gotten up on the wrong side of bed. Or maybe they really WERE out of uppers and Kujaku was simply tired.

Either way.

"We're awake!" he called, voice hoarse. "And we know Kawai and Mazaki are coming! Go tend to your newbies!"

"RYOU-"

"GO. AWAY. KUJAKU."

Then followed several curses and threats before a deafening silence fell over the room.

"…Look. Ryou. Malik. I'm sorry. Jounouchi and I just got a call from one of our contractors, and it… wasn't good news. Stocks are falling, and Kaiba's attention is being shredded. We're out of both uppers AND downers, and our regulars have all been arrested. I'm sorry, you two." Another pause. "Don't be late for lunch." And Kujaku's heels could be heard clopping against the hallway floor as she went down the hall and to the elevator.

Ryou sighed into his pillow, head pounding. So they didn't have any uppers or downers---fine. But what about pain killers? Maybe a laxative or two---Malik sure as heck hadn't slept off the fever. It had, in fact, gotten worse. Ryou leaned over slightly and felt the Egyptian's cheek and forehead.

Yeah. Definitely worse.

Kawai and Mazaki knocked a short while later, and Ryou let them in.

"Dear God…" Kawai murmured, leaning over Malik's lanky frame and brushing the back of her hand across his forehead. "Oh, this is bad…"

"Pain killers will do for now," Ryou said. "If you guys have any…I've got a terrible headache…"

"Yes, yes," Mazaki said, first closing the room door and then digging around her large bag. Eventually she pulled out a plastic baggy half-filled with brown or white pills. "White are illegal and our supply is dwindling fast. Brown are very light and can be found at any pharmacy, but you'd need a prescription." She offered the bag to Ryou, who took it and opened it. "Take two white for now. If you're still antisocial when lunch rolls around, I have a bit of Meth. Just a bit, though, so don't rely on it."

Ryou nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem, really. Go get in a hot bath, now, and let Shizuka or I wash your hair."

"Hai, hai…" Ryou wandered over to the bathroom and clicked on the light. After rhythmically swallowing two white pills and brushing his teeth, he turned on the hot tap.

Meanwhile, Kawai began digging through her and Mazaki's bags and Mazaki bent over Malik as he jerked awake, coughing.

"Just like that?" she sighed, making it into a question. "Yamii-sama. How do you feel?"

Apparently Malik was in dire need of some pain killers and an upper. Mazaki allowed him two white pills, like Ryou, and regretfully said that they were out of type of uppers Malik and Ryou needed.

"We have some Nembutal and Chloral Hydrates, for tonight," she said. "But that's it. All of our team members are out restocking as best they can. Domino City is, apparently, quite against drugs."

Malik grumbled, then lurched to join Ryou in the tub. After maybe five minutes, Kawai and Mazaki joined them, to begin "the beautification process," as Kujaku called it.

And by eleven-thirty, Malik and Ryou were dressed and quite "happy," on their way to meet Mazaki, Katsuya, Seto, and the others for lunch. Malik wasn't very hungry, but otherwise, Kawai and Mazaki had come up with a few choice things, and now he and Ryou were pain-and-problem-free except for the occasional misstep or slur. Ryou found himself gaily reflecting on how much more difficult life would be without drugs.

-

"On time for once," Kujaku said, checking her watch when Malik and Ryou walked in to the private room in the back of the restaurant. "Sit, and no, we haven't ordered yet. You two," she smiled as Ryou and Malik beamed back, both taking their seats. Identifying the drugs they'd taken almost immediately, Kujaku continued in a slightly firmer voice (so that they got the picture through their highs).

"That is Kaiba Seto and Jounouchi Katsuya. You've already met, I believe? No? Ah, I'd thought… oh well, it's been busy! Either way! Kaiba-san is the Chief Executive Officer of the biggest music company in Japan, and is our major backing and contractor here. Jounouchi-san was the one who handled most of the auditions, and---oh, what am I saying? You three have already met!" she paused when a few waiters knocked and came in to take their orders. Then she went on with the introductions.

"Yamii, Yume, these four are your new bendmembers." She stood and motioned to each boy as she said his name.

"There is Yuugiou. Real name Ou Yami. He'll be our bass with Tsuuriki, and will be playing demon to Middonaito, there," a boy with tri-colored hair and deeply tanned skin nodded slightly, and a boy that could have been his twin, complete with the same hairstyle, only much smaller and peach skinned also smiled.

"Middonaito, real name Mutou Yuugi, is Yuugiou's light side in our image, and will be an acoustic with Yume. There is Tsuuriki, real name Ishitaaru Mariku, the second bass, and Yami's demon side. Yamii, you're going to be Tsuuriki's light side." Malik grinned in a very glazed sort-of-way at the boy across from him. Mariku had been dyed, painted, and pampered into Malik's almost perfect opposite, his dark side if her were to ever have one.

"And finally, there's Kaitou, real name Yagami Bakura. He's your guys' percussionist and demon side to Yume." Bakura did indeed look like Ryou's darker side. He frowned at the tiny giggle that escaped Ryou's lips, and rolled his eyes at the Heavens.

"You'll all alternate between lead singing---there isn't really a *single* Lead Singer among you. it's good for the image. Now," Kujaku now sat down, and once again paused as their food arrived. "Now, instruments. Yami and Yume usually didn't on-stage play instruments, but instead recorded the songs beforehand. However, now you six will be playing as well as singing onstage. So, Yuugiou has Bass guitar. Tsuuriki has bass also, but may switch to something else if needed. Kaitou has percussion. Middonaito has keyboard. Yami has electric guitar. And Yume will take whatever else you may need, like Tsuuriki. This has already been planned out, so I trust nobody has a problem with these arrangements?"

There was a small chorus of "fine" and "yes."

"Excellent. Jounouchi, Kaiba, if you will."

And Katsuya and Seto set in to explaining their debut songs and their tour, Kujaku assuring a few scared faces that in a week, they'd have the songs memorized, when uncertainty was expressed at the news of having to sing so soon.

"You will record the songs in a week, so it's okay if they aren't TOTALLY memorized. You can have the sheet music in front of you. Then your debut on stage will be in two weeks, so it'll take a lot of hard work and practice. Then you'll have a month to get to know each other, start writing some songs, and we'll clean up any contracts and such…" Kujaku smiled as the desserts arrived. "…And then you'll begin your short little tour on the other side of Domino, with different songs."

"But what if we don't have any other songs by then?" Yuugi asked abruptly from his place next to Ryou and Katsuya and across from Yami, face worried.

"That's what I'm for," Katsuya put in, grinning. "I'm a composer, and I already have several songs ready to be revised. Kaiba, also, can compose, plus your studio has several persons who are good with lyrics and music. So if you don't have your own songs written and ready by next month, which you won't, everything will still be covered."

"Bit uptight if you ask me." Bakura snorted.

"Stupid." Mariku agreed.

"EITHER WAY," Kujaku interjected, seeing the two tanned men smirk at Yami, who glared back, "this next week is going to be blood, sweat and tears, as will the week after that, and then the month after THAT. The tour will start on the other side of Domino City, and shouldn't last more than another month. After that, you six will be able to fully move into your new home in Kyoto, relax a bit, start writing some songs…"

"It seems like a bit much, especially for a bunch of beginners," Yami interjected.

"Are you complaining?" Kujaku asked.

"No, but that IS a bit much, Kujaku, and they're recognizing the fact." Seto cut in sharply, before an argument could be started.

"They'll live. We WOULD have more time, but there've been a lot of setbacks, and it was difficult keeping the auditions and plans for `Yami no Yume' from Yume and Yamii." Kujaku scoffed, leaning back in her chair.

"You-wait a second," Mariku snapped abruptly, jerking himself around to look at Ryou and Malik. Malik was gazing at his plate, which hadn't been touched, and pressing his lips together. Next to him, Ryou was smiling happily at absolutely nothing, not noticing Malik's slowly worsening state.

"You mean to say the original members of Yami no Yume had no idea four new members would be added?"

"Nope!" Kujaku said happily. "But look, they're quite glad at the thought of all the increased profit and fun you guys'll bring!"

Indeed, Ryou DID look happy at the thought. In fact, he looked happy at everything. He didn't look to be paying attention, though. And Malik was quite the contrary; he seemed to have sobered and was struggling to keep his form and face straight.

"They look high to me." Bakura said shortly.

"Bakura!" Yami snapped as Yuugi looked appalled and Mariku laughed.

"What? It's true. The white-haired boy looks like he's higher than the treetops, and the blond looks… the blond looks sick."

Mariku attempted in vain to hide his laughter as Bakura continued to smirk and Yuugi began to look extremely worried and scared and Yami began to get extremely pissed off. Ryou went on smiling at the ceiling. Malik smothered his face in a napkin as he coughed. Yami and Bakura began shouting at each other.

Then Mariku joined in on the shouting, Yuugi began to cry, Ryou continued to smile, Malik's coughing grew to be violent and blood ran in small rivulets where the cloth napkin did not catch it, and Seto and Katsuya smacked their foreheads. Kujaku silently imitated Ryou's smile, thinking, `This type of rivalry only proves their love for each other!'

"God help them…" Seto whispered.

"This is going to end in disaster…" Katsuya agreed, just as quietly.

And the noise escalated.

Thus, the six-membered band dubbed `Yami no Yume' began.