Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Children of Shadow ❯ Conversation... and Damnation ( Chapter 17 )

Me: Konnnnnnnnichiwa! Watashi wa Nihongo wo naraimasu! *glomps FairyMage for telling me how to say it right*

 

Marik: … freaking POSER!

 

Me: Hai… *sigh* It's true, I actually didn't know how to say "I'm learning Japanese" in Japanese until the ever-so- 4w3x0m3 FairyMage told me how to say it right... but that still doesn't mean I know how to actually speak Japanese.

 

Isis: -_-0 You're a disgrace to the language.

 

Me: TT_TT I KNOW! I'M SO ASHAMED! *sob sob* Do you see the tears? Do you see them, Mr. French? Do you? These are REAL TEARS! That takes talent, Frenchy! O_O NO! Don't shut the play down! People just need to work harder! It's not me! I know my lines! I know them, Mr. French! I KNOW THEM!

 

Marik, Isis, and Kaiba: (O_O)

 

Marik: Now… you're beginning to… SCARE ME! *hides under the couch*

 

Me: *blink blink* Oh… was I still in 'play practice' mood?

 

Isis: I would assume so…

 

Me: Ohhhh. Gomen ne! ^^0

 

Kaiba: o.o She doesn't own Yugioh… *scoot scoot scoot*

 

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The door was locked. Understandable. Ryou was responsible. He wouldn't leave his front door unlocked, even to go to the hospital. Fortunately Cassie had a key- somewhere in her pocket. There was so much other stuff in there- loose nickels, a snapped pencil (for whatever reason), her deck (why was it still in there?)- finally she dug her key out.

 

Exhausted as she was, Cassie closed and locked the door firmly behind her before wandering up to her room, where she bolted that door too. She wasn't so tired that she'd just collapse on the couch… she couldn't face Ryou when he came home, as he undoubtedly would. He cared about her. He loved her.

 

My parents loved me too, Cassie thought, leaning against her door with her hands in her jacket pocket, fingering a coin just to have something to do. Look what I did to them. Would she end up hurting Ryou too, eventually? Maybe that was her fate- she was cursed to hurt anyone who got close to her. Her powers were dangerous. Her temper was dangerous. She was dangerous. Maybe she was better off alone.

 

Hell, Cassie thought, it's elementary school all over again. And after she told herself she couldn't be weak. She couldn't back down. She couldn't run. Here she was, locked away in her room. Alone. After running from her cousin.

 

Maybe this was best. She had run from the hospital… could she continue to run? Could she do it? Cassie gazed around her room, half-serious. Her blue suitcase lay discarded in the corner, attracting spiders no doubt. It was right there. She could pack. She could leave. It was conceivable.

 

But where could she go? A hole in her newborn plan. Cassie slumped discouragedly against the door. She couldn't go anywhere. She didn't know anyone well enough- anyone who wouldn't turn her back over to Ryou, at least. Or who wasn't afraid of her after the scene at the hospital. She had to stay.

 

Maybe that was the weak choice… to run would mean she had acknowledged the fact that she was hazardous, that she was doing something about it. That she was actually protecting others… and possibly herself. To stay would mean she couldn't rely on herself… that she needed Ryou to take care of her… was that what it meant? Was that really the situation? Was running the right choice, if not the safe one? Was there a difference? Did it matter?

 

Her brain was beginning to hurt. Stop thinking so damned much about this, Cassie said firmly to herself. She was staying. End of story. Nowhere else to go.

 

Sighing, Cassie glanced down and realized something. She hadn't changed clothes in… a while. How long had it been since she stopped going to school?

 

Cassie suddenly felt dirty. Very dirty. She could still see a faint soda stain on her shirt. Gross. Pulling off her jacket, Cassie walked over to her dresser. She suspected that she had spent more time in a skirt during the past week than she had in the entire rest of her life. Undressing quickly, Cassie wished she could take a shower, but Ryou would probably be home any second. She didn't want to see him… or have him see her. Especially not in a towel. From her dresser, she pulled out a pair of navy blue sweatpants and a baggy black T-shirt with a ripped collar.

 

Putting the clothes on, Cassie felt a tiny bit more like herself. Black and blue- bruise colored clothes. They seemed to send a subtle message- mess with me and you get hurt. Except now Cassie was certain- there were other ways she could hurt people. Riskier ways. More effective ways. Permanent ways.

 

Standing in front of the mirror, Cassie gazed at her reflection. Her eyes were red beyond belief. She resisted the urge to rub, knowing the action would only irritate them further. Her face was slightly flushed, slightly blotchy. Cassie stepped closer to the glass and peered closely at herself. She could see small bumps that had popped up around her hairline and growled softly. Acne. Did puberty suck, or what?

 

Something glimmered in the mirror. Cassie's eyes were immediately drawn to whatever had caused the flicker of light. It was her necklace, still fastened around her neck, its gleaming jewels looking out-of-place next to the tattered black collar of her shirt. Suddenly, somewhere inside, Cassie registered what the bird in the middle of the gems stood for. Isis. A woman with a bird's head.

 

Cassie wanted to rip the jewelry off and fling it across the room, to see that bird shatter into a hundred tiny pieces. She forced her hand to reach calmly behind her head and undo the clasp- at least, she intended to. The clasp still refused to unfasten, like someone had Superglued it shut. Cassie growled for the second time in as many minutes and tugged at the necklace in frustration.

 

"Stubborn son of a-" She sighed, raising her hand and running her fingers through her hair distractedly. It was full of tangles. Cassie turned away from the glass, crossing her room to sit on her bed, pulling her fingers slowly through her hair. Her comb was in the bathroom. She wondered vaguely what had happened to Jep- hadn't he said something about his essence being split between the two necklaces? Probably he was still out and about somewhere- that might have been why she couldn't take the necklace off.

 

Well, get back in there, flyboy, because this fucking thing is coming off my neck if I have to bite through it, Cassie thought irritably, jerking at a tangle. She froze when she heard the front door open and close from downstairs. Ryou was back.

 

Cassie sat motionless on her bed, staring blankly at the wall. She could hear footsteps coming up the hall… stopping… then came a knock on the door.

 

"Cassie?" The doorknob rattled. It's locked, Cassie wanted to say, but her tongue seemed to have swelled up in her mouth, threatening to choke her. She swallowed. "Cassie, please unlock the door." Ryou's voice was trembling, it sounded cracked. Hot tears began to well up in Cassie's eyes, but she squeezed them shut, forcing the droplets back. How could he still want to see her? Was he an idiot? Didn't he realize what was going on here?!

 

"Cassie… please… I need…" Ryou's voice trailed off. Cassie could picture him, standing there in the hall, his eyes as red as hers, his face full of hurt. She felt a stab of pain somewhere in her chest.

 

"Go away…" Cassie whispered, her throat and mouth dry. She could barely hear herself, so she certainly didn't expect Ryou to hear her choked voice. But she could hear more footsteps- leaving- walking down the hall- then the slam of a door. Cassie's eyes slowly opened. The house was quiet. Her room was empty. She felt like screaming. Instead she took a trembling, steadying breath, and continued to comb her fingers through her hair. Her finger caught a tangle. She yanked, expecting to wince. She didn't even feel the force.

 

Ryou…

 

A single tear dropped silently from Cassie's eye. She felt her face softly with her free hand, tracing the damp path it made to her jawline. Her finger felt cold against her cheek. She hurriedly wiped the tear away.

 

And then something, quite suddenly and without warning, materialized through her bedroom door.

 

It was Bakura. Cassie stared at him blankly for a moment, her brain taking a few seconds to register the fact that he had actually walked through the very solid wood. Her hand hung limply in her hair.

 

Bakura stared back at her. His glaring brown eyes were darker and colder than usual, and his mouth was set in a tight, hard line. He finally spoke. "What are you doing?"

 

"Combing my hair," Cassie immediately replied. She was surprised to hear that her voice sounded almost normal, if slightly shaky. Bakura raised an eyebrow in a clearly sarcastic way.

 

"No, really? It looked to me like you were baking cookies." His voice was bitter, almost angry. Cassie blinked at him unfazedly.

 

"Well, I don't know. Last time I checked, I was combing my hair, but hey, you never know, right?" She shrugged, tugging her hand through her jet-black hair once again.

 

Bakura glared at her. "You know, maybe if you stopped being such a wiseass for two seconds, you'd realize that Ryou's actually worried about you."

 

Since when do you care if Ryou's worried or not? Cassie mused. Aloud, she said, "I know he is."

 

Bakura folded his arms, looking down at her. "So what are you going to do about it?"

 

"I don't know," Cassie mumbled, dropping her hand to her lap. What was she going to do? Bakura waited a few seconds, then groaned in frustration.

 

"Look, kid," he said seriously. He sounded almost civil, but there was still a harsh edge to his voice. "You're feeling messed up now, right? Hell, who wouldn't be, after something like that. But what are you going to do, sit in your room your whole pathetic life feeling sorry for yourself?"

 

"So you're telling me to move on? Think of the future?" Cassie suggested. Bakura looked at her. It was a 'what do you think?' kind of look. Cassie felt a flicker of anger, but somehow couldn't find the energy to really get mad at him. That was a first. "I need to get over it, all right?" She sighed. "It wasn't that long ago."

 

They were that way for a while- one standing, arms folded, one sitting, eyes lowered- both silent. Then Bakura spoke again.

 

"Still, what are you going to do?"

 

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be sitting here, would I?" Cassie replied dully.

 

"So decide on something."

 

Cassie looked up at him incredulously. Was he really that stupid? "So I'm supposed to think, 'Hmm, well, let's see, I've got this power that can kill people, it's already screwed up my life enough by making me an orphan, and now some floating spirit messanger or whatever the hell he is tells me I've got to use those powers that I never asked for to win a huge dramatic battle that I never asked for, so now what do I do?' And I'm supposed to come up with an answer to that in the next five minutes, is that it?" So much for her being too depressed to get mad.

 

"Whoever said you had to decide in the next five minutes?" Bakura retorted. Cassie rolled her eyes.

 

"What the hell ever! Still, I'm just supposed to decide just like that?"

 

"Is there something more important that you need to do?" Bakura asked rhetorically. "Is feeling sorry for yourself more important than deciding?"

 

"I'm not allowed to feel sorry for myself after my whole freaking life got ruined?!" Cassie shot at him. She could practically feel her blood pressure increasing.

 

"Feeling sorry for yourself never gets you anywhere," Bakura said simply. "Do you accomplish anything by feeling sorry for yourself? No. All you do is sit on your butt, mope, whine, and expect everyone to leave you alone because you think you're some tragic little heroine. Grow up, and grow a thicker skin while you're at it."

 

If Cassie was going to hit him, it would have been then. She felt like exploding and screaming her lungs out at him. This asshole had no clue, none. Tragic little heroine? That was Chrissy, not her. Cassie had the right to feel sorry for herself, after all the shit she had been through, and nobody had the right to tell her she wasn't allowed to miss her parents. Especially not Bakura.

 

But of course, Bakura was transparent, and her fist would go right through him. So she just glared up at him, her entire body shaking with fury. "Get out of my room." Her voice was freezing cold. Bakura just smirked at her, which made her even madder at him. So she stood up and repeated herself.

 

"I said, get the fuck out of my room, you bastard." She spat the words into his face. Why had he even come in here in the first place?

 

Bakura spread his arms in an innocent gesture. "So prove me wrong," he challenged. "Prove that you're not going to sit in here whining the rest of your life. Go on, prove it."

 

Cassie just stared at him, then sat back down. He wasn't even angry. He wasn't even pretending to be angry. He was baiting her. He had been goading her, and she had taken the bait. She felt herself slowly deflate, the anger hissing out of her like hot air in a balloon. Bakura's smirk softened about a fraction of a hundredth of an inch.

 

"You're more yourself when you're angry, you know," he said matter-of-factly. Cassie continued staring at him.

 

"I hate you," she replied. It was all she could think of to say. Even so, there was no real venom behind her words. Not like there had been ten seconds ago.

 

To her surprise, Bakura's expression softened a tiny fraction more. "I know," he said simply.

 

Neither of them spoke for a while after that. Cassie finally broke the silence.

 

"What happened after I left?" she asked. She didn't even know why she was trying to make civil conversation with this jackass, but she didn't know why a lot of things had happened recently. She didn't know why Bakura was in her room in the first place. She didn't know if Ryou knew that Bakura was in her room. She didn't know why her necklace still wouldn't come off. She didn't know what anyone or anything else was doing right now. This conversation was just one more thing to add to her list.

 

"Well, not much. You pretty much killed the atmosphere," Bakura reminded her. "Oh, but the imp pointed out some similarities between you and Little Miss USA. It is hard to believe, but it looks like you two are actually related, sort of."

 

Little Miss USA? That was a name she hadn't thought of yet. Maybe Bakura hated Chrissy as much as she did, Cassie thought. She kept talking, to have something to do. "What similarities? Because I sure as hell can't think of any. Enlighten me, Oh Wise One, since you apparently know so much."

 

Bakura shrugged and gazed at Cassie nonchalantly. Cassie twitched under his eyes. "What?" she asked. It really wasn't all that comfortable to have a boy staring at you like that, especially if that boy was Bakura. Something about his eyes was just… unnerving.

 

"Your hair," Bakura said mildly, still gazing at her.

 

"Oh yeah, that explains everything," Cassie replied irritably. If she felt like biting his head off, why was she talking with him? "My hair looks like crap, what's your point?"

 

"No, no," Bakura said, still in that mild tone of voice that sounded so odd coming from him. "Although I agree, it does look like crap." Cassie scowled at him.

 

"Well then why don't you get to whatever the hell you're talking about before-"

 

"Don't have a heart attack, now, I don't want to get blamed because you've got problems," Bakura interrupted her. "Your hair is kind of silky, don't you agree? And it's black. Very dark black."

 

"So?" Cassie snapped. Ra, he was so aggravating.

 

"What do you think it would look like if you grew it out?" Bakura suggested.

 

"Like long, silky, dark black-" Cassie stopped in the middle of her sentence, finally realizing what he was doing. The smirk returned to Bakura's face, his brown eyes filled with malicious humor.

 

"Exactly. Long, silky, dark black hair. Now, who do we know who has long, silky-"

 

"I get it," Cassie said loudly. Bakura's smirk widened. "So we have the same hair. Lah-dee-freaking-dah."

 

"Not just the same hair," Bakura remarked. "Your nicknames- Cassie... Chrissy. That's too much of a coincidence. And your last names, too."

 

"Isn't her last name Lancaster?" Cassie pointed out snidely. "How does that fit with 'Bakura'? Or did I miss something?"

 

"Yes, you missed something. You missed the fact that her new last name is Lancaster," Bakura informed her. "Her original last name- before her mother apparently remarried- was Baker."

 

Cassie was silent. Cassie. Chrissy. Bakura. Baker. There was a strong- almost scary- resemblance. Bakura kept on going. "And don't forget, that duel you two had? It was Chrissy's first time, right? And she beat you."

 

"Barely," Cassie retorted, still sore about the whole incident. She still couldn't believe she had lost to "Little Miss USA", but now that she thought about it- dueling came naturally to her, didn't it? If the same was true for Chrissy-

 

"Exactly," Bakura said. "Barely. So wouldn't that mean that your strength is practically equal?"

 

Cassie glanced up at him. "If our strength is 'practically' equal, shouldn't I have beaten her? It makes sense, if you consider that I'd been dueling half my life and she'd been dueling for what, two days?"

 

"Maybe you're just being a sore loser," Bakura said, still smirking. Cassie wondered if his face was permenently froze in that expression. Maybe she had just imagined it softening before.

 

"Maybe I don't care what you have to say," Cassie retorted.

 

"Then why'd you ask me a question?" Bakura said, snickering. Cassie opened her mouth, then shut it. How could he get on her nerves so effectively?

 

"I hate you," she said again, but strangely enough, she felt like smiling. What was wrong with her? Was she starting to like being insulted? Or was it just being insulted by him? What made him special?

 

"We've established that, thanks," Bakura replied. Cassie looked at him and snorted. "What?"

 

"Nothing," she responded, waving a careless hand. "Just- I don't know. Nothing."

 

"What?" he repeated. Cassie sighed.

 

"I don't know. You're weird."

 

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Thank you?"

 

"I don't know! I'm not mad anymore, that's what's weird. And it must be your fault, so it means that you're weird."

 

The other eyebrow went up. "Whatever. I'm leaving." Bakura turned and began to walk towards the door. Cassie got up and followed him. "Are you a stalker now?"

 

Cassie shrugged. "I don't know."

 

"A stalker and a parrot. Do you even know how to say anything besides that?"

 

"Sure. Eat shit and go to hell, bitch," Cassie replied primly. Bakura chose to stare.

 

"Yeah, you're real funny."

 

"I try," Cassie said. Bakura squinted at her. "What?"

 

"I thought I told you that you were more yourself when you're angry," he pointed out. "Don't act normal, it's just freaky."

 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cassie asked, pretending to punch his arm. Actually, she did punch his arm. Obviously, her fist passed right through it, giving her the feeling that she had just passed it through a cloud of dust. Bakura snorted.

 

"Oh, sure. Ouch. I'm in an unbelievable amount of pain right now. How will I ever survive?"

 

Cassie blew him a sarcstic kiss. Bakura narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, but the sound of a door slamming from downstairs cut off whatever snide comment he had been about to make.

 

"Ryou! Ryou!"

 

Cassie recognized the voice as Honda's. Apparently Bakura did too. His face turned suddenly hard again, shifting from the sarcastic smirk it had been in. They heard Honda's footsteps pounding up the stairs, and at the same time heard Ryou's door open and his softer footsteps hurry down the hall. Both sets of steps stopped at the same time. "Honda? What is it?" Ryou asked.

 

Honda's panting was audible even from inside the locked room. Cassie was listening at the door. Bakura stood behind her, to her right. They heard Honda speak, gasping.

 

"It's- Chrissy-" The panic was obvious in his voice. Cassie's heart jolted in spite of herself. She undid the lock and flung the door open, stepping into the hall. Ryou turned immediately to look at her. His eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. Cassie felt that same stab of pain in her chest and quickly focused on Honda. His face was flushed- had he run all the way from the hospital for something?

 

Ryou turned back to face the other boy. "What about Chrissy?" Even in his hoarse voice, Cassie could hear a tone of concern. Honda opened his mouth to speak, but the person who spoke next wasn't Honda.

 

"She's been kidnapped."

 

Cassie's eyes shot upwards. Jep was floating there, looking grim. His eyes were dark and troubled. Cassie felt rooted to the spot. Chrissy- kidnapped?!

 

"It's time," Jep said slowly, looking directly at Cassie. No one spoke in the hallway. Honda was gaping at the floating boy. Bakura was staring darkly at him, and Ryou looked bewildered. Cassie felt an icy hand grip her heart. What did he mean?

 

"It's her," Jep said. "The descendant of Bastet. I knew she was here, I just didn't know that she would strike so quickly- I had no idea-" He faltered for a moment, then shook his head. "It can't be helped. It's now or never. The Protectors have to fight."

 

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Me: There ya go! Holy crap, was this a long chapter! Whee! ^^ 16 pages! Be happy! I sure am!

 

Marik: -_-

 

Kaiba: …….. whatever. *cough* Review- so she'll keep being happy…

 

Me: ??? Kaiba?!

 

Kaiba: The happier you are, the more you leave us alone…

 

Me: Hontou? (Really?) Then maybe you should be nicer more often! *skips off*

 

Marik: … baka.