Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Eight Ringing Bells ❯ A Man With No Past ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Eight Ringing Bells
by Lord Hekon

Chapter 1
-A Man With No Past

-Seven years ago...

Rain was pouring down upon the streets of Domino City. Heavy breathing and stomping of shoes against the cold pavement could be heard as a person completely wrapped in a large green trenchcoat and a brown cowboy hat was clutching a small boy. The boy looked to be unconscious, and his head was bleeding, though the rain was washing it off. His somewhat lengthy powder blue hair was dyed red from the color of the blood. The rain was washing away some of the crimson liquid, however he did not move or speak. The person was nearing its destination, Domino Community Hospital.

The person ran like the fierce winds blowing around them, and was slowly coming up on the towering white building. The person rushed in and ran to the Receptionist, breathing heavily. The receptionist looked quite concerned.

"Um...sir? Are you okay?", the man lifted his hat so you could see his face, he had on a pair of black sunglasses, and emerald hair flowed behind him into the coat. Saying nothing, he placed the boy on the desk and solemnly said, "Assist this boy...his name is Alcauld..." He then calmly walked out of the hospital. The receptionist gasped as she saw the condition of the child then yelled back for the man, "Sir! Wait a se-", it was too late, he had left back into the storm. She reached for the phone.

"Get me a gurney down here! QUICKLY!", two men rushed through a pair of double doors, wheeling a gurney. They quickly placed the boy on the gurney and wheeled him off.

-One week later...

The small boy slowly stirred and sat up in his bed. His azure eyes looked around at his hospital bed, it was pretty bland, a white curtain was on his left, and to his right was a Television, a white stand, and a window. Slowly getting out of his bed, he walked over to the window and looked out at the gray sky and the city ahead. A nurse with short, light pink hair walked into the room and gazed at the boy.

"Hello. Are you feeling well?", the nurse asked, getting out a clipboard.

"I think so...my head kinda hurts though.", the boy said, rubbing his forehead.

The nurse walked up to the boy a kneeled in front of him so she was eye level to him, "Can you tell me your name?"

"....I can't remember.", he said looking at the ground.

"Do you know where you are?", she asked hopefully. The boy only shook his head and frowned, "I...can't remember anything...", the nurse nodded, "I'll be right back. Can you wait here until I get back?", the boy smiled sweetly, "Uh huh. I'll be right here." The nurse got up and left, scribbling down something on the clipboard. About five minutes later, a woman with long black hair and a deep red dress came in with the nurse.

"From what I can tell...", the nurse said whilst looking at the clipboard, "Your name is Alcauld...we can't seem to get anything else about you but your first name. We can't find any relatives, no home, no anything. Alcauld, you have amnesia. You may never get your memory back."

Alcauld was silent, "......I understand."

The nurse gestured to the woman, "This here is Atsuko Kuroda. She will be your caretaker until you are old enough to live on your own.", Atsuko nodded at Alcauld and smiled, "It's good to meet you Alcauld, I'm sure you'll like living with me."

Alcauld simply nodded.

The nurse handed Alcauld a white box, "Those are the things you had on you when you were brought in.", Alcauld opened it to find his clothes, a beautiful gothic style silver cross with a golden eye in the center and a Duel Monster Card, a Thousand-Eyes Restrict. The cross was about a foot long, and shimmered strangely. He gazed at the Thousand-Eyes Restrict, but it didn't ring a bell. She slowly took Atsuko's hand and they both walked out of the Hospital.

"Atsuko?", Alcauld said as they walked down the street.

"Yes, sweetie?" Atsuko said, concerned.

"I'm scared..."

-Seven years later...

Alcauld Kuroda slowly stirred out of a large, gray recliner he decided to make his bed. He was now eighteen, and he was still recalling that day seven years ago. That's when he met the person that he called his mother. He lived by himself in an apartment, which was littered with various books, and duel monster cards. The apartment was somewhat small, with gray carpet and off white walls with various posters hanging upon them. Two windows were letting light shine in, filling the dark room with natural light. The TV was turned on, and it currently showing static. Saying nothing, Alcauld slowly got up and trudged into the bedroom.

The bedroom was sparsely furnished, having only a small bed, a nightstand and a wooden dresser. Slowly opening it, he got out a gray hoodie with a strange symbol on the back that resembled a sword. Getting out a pair of baggy dark blue jeans adorned with iron chains, he quickly donned the clothes and stepped out of the bedroom.

Looking around the apartment, he sighed as he left the place in a mess. Magazines and books were scattered about, and the entire floor was littered with piles of Duel Monster cards. The completed deck which took him hours to create, sat on top of a black desk, which also housed his computer. Next to the mouse sat his cross, as well as his keys, and his black chain wallet. As he was brushing off his clothes, a white desk phone rang on the counter of the kitchen. He dashed over and picked it up, almost tripping over a pile of Warrior-type cards.

"Hello?", he said, checking over the state of the room again.

"Hello!" The voice belonged to his cheery surrogate mother, Atsuko. She was currently walking down the street, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a powder blue shirt. On her wrist was a golden charm bracelet, Tenderness, Happy Lover, Petit Angel, and Shining Friendship were dangling off of it, swaying lightly in the soft spring breeze. "How are you holding up in your new apartment?"

"Oh, not really that bad, mother.", Alcauld said whilst digging in the fridge for something that could substitute for breakfast. In the back, he found a pack of frozen Pop Tarts, which he quickly started to devour.

Atsuko sighed, "All right, so what are you doing today?"

Alcauld grinned as he looked at his black binder, filled with various cards, "I was thinking of going to do business at school today."

Atsuko laughed, "Still selling cards? Doesn't that get boring?"

"It does get me a nice little income at school and such, speaking of which I have to let you go right now mother."

"All right Alcauld, you have fun."

"Yes mother, goodbye!", Alcuald hung up the phone a grabbed a black messenger bag, his wallet, keys and his extremely large cross, which was a foot long. He put the cross around his neck, and picked up his large binder, which bore the same symbol on his hoodie. Looking through it, a smile crept on Alcauld's lips, and he walked out to school.


* * * * *

Alcauld quickly ran out of the apartment building and sprinted down the street like a gust of wind towards the school. He was rather excited, it was his first day of being transferred to Domino High. His bag was barely keeping up with him as he darted this way and that, heading towards the school that was creeping up on him. He was about halfway to the school when a hand reached out and grabbed one of the chains attached to his pants.

Alcauld hit the ground with a resounding thud. Looking up at the sky, he saw a woman with long burgundy hair looking down at him. She was dressed in a pair of blue jeans, and was wearing a white T-Shirt with a manga style cat on it. She smiled sweetly, Alcauld groaned, he knew who this was.

"VALERIA!!! How many times have I told you NOT to grab those!?", Alcauld yelled in frustration whilst rubbing his behind. Valeria only laughed, "Oh cheer up Alcauld! Do you wanna walk with me? It's my first day too, ya know." Valeria was one of Alcauld's friends who lived near Atsuko's home, she was a very sweet girl, but sometimes could do things you don't really expect women to do.

Alcauld nodded, "Uh...sure! Why not?" so he and Valeria walked down the busy street. After about twenty minutes, they finally came up on the high school. Valeria looked over at Alcauld, who was thumbing through his deck, muttering about it's pros and cons.

Valeria decided to break Alcauld from his trance, "Hey, is that your deck?" Alcauld looked up, "Hmm? Oh, yeah it is."

"So what kind did you make this time around? Fire types? Earth types? Gung ho warriors?", she then made a stance as if she was holding a sword, making a war cry. Alcauld only laughed, as he smiled at her, "Well...it's not really based on anything. Just a warrior here, a fiend there. Actually it has a lot of fiends. Plus my good luck card.", Valeria looked at him strangely.

"Good...luck card?", Valeria asked. Alcauld showed her the card, the Thousand-Eyes Restrict. Valeria's eyes widened, "Wow! I've never even seen this card before? Is it unique or something?" Alcauld took the card, "That...I'm not really certain, all I know is that I've had it since as far back as I could remember."

"That's pretty cool. You know, I bet you that card must be pretty valuable to you."

"Yeah, it is. I mean, ever since I lost my memory, this card and my cross have been the only ties to who I was. Heh, besides, you always see that card and you say the same thing about it, I would expect Gear to do that.", Alcauld said.

"Hey! Don't compare me to him, he's a nutball!", Valeria said jokingly.

"Yeah, but he's pretty cool for a complete nutball.", Alcauld said.

Looking up from his deck, he saw that they reached the School Ground. It was much different than his other school that was on the other side of the city. Looking around he saw various people doing their normal tasks. Putting his deck in a dark blue deck box, he looked at Valeria.

"So...umm...where's class again?", Alcuald said while scratching the back of his forehead and laughing.

A small sweatdrop appeared on Valeria's head, "You don't remember...? Oh, for cryin' out loud Alcauld..."

"I think my schedule was lost under a pile of cards..."

"Well, just thank whatever force that's up there that you're in all my classes then."

"Oh, really? Well, that's convenient! All right then!", Alcauld hefted up his bag, "Let's get going!" He then dashed off into the high school. Valeria ran in after him, "Wait! You don't even know where you're going!!!"

* * * *

After about five minutes, Alcauld and Valeria finally made it to class. Sitting in the back row, Alcauld decided to look through his folder a bit. Valeria, on the other hand, was busy talking with some of the girls in the room. The class didn't start yet, so he was thumbing through a few pages here and there. After awhile, a voice shocked him out of his reading.

"Hey, is that a Megamorph?"

Alcauld looked to his left to see a boy with extremely spiky Violet and golden hair looking at the card with deep indigo eyes. He was rather short statured, and was wearing a blue school uniform. However, the oddest thing that caught his eyes was the strange ornament around his neck. It looked like an upside down pyramid, yet it had the same eye symbol that was on his cross. Alcauld dismissed this odd coincidence for now. Instead he smiled at the boy.

"Well, yeah. It's a really good card, depending on how you use it, it can either double or halve the attack of a monster. I don't really have a use for it though.", Alcauld said as he got the card out of the binder he handed it to him, "Here. You can have it."

The boy took the card slowly and smiled, "Wow, thanks a lot!"

"Yeah, no problem. Don't worry about the pay either, my cards haven't been selling too well as of late anyway."

"Really? Can I look at them?"

"Sure, don't see any harm in it.", Alcauld handed the humongous portfolio to the boy who hefted it onto a desk and began reading it with much interest. After awhile, the boy looked at him, "So you're new here?"

"Yeah, moved from the other side of the city.", Alcauld reached in his bag and pulled out his blue deck box, the deck box was quite worn, and it was covered with markings of crosses and runes.

"What's your name?"

"Alcauld. Alcauld Kuroda. You're Yugi Mutou right? The one who won Battle City and beat Pegasus Crawford?"

Yugi smiled, "Yeah, that's me alright.", he saw the box, "So you duel?"

"Yeah, here and there, but I'm probably nowhere as good as you are."

"Well that's not true, just because I won a few things doesn't mean I'm the best. Hey, after school why don't we duel over at Kaiba Land?", Yugi looked at Alcuald hopefully, ever since he won both Duelist Kingdom and Battle City, everyone just wouldn't duel him anymore. It got quite boring, to say the least.

"Yeah, why the hell not?"

Yugi smiled brightly, "Cool! How about after school? We could meet up and go there."

Alcuald grinned, "Alright. I like dueling in those three dimensional arenas anyway." Yugi laughed, "Alright! Thanks!" As Yugi ran to his seat in a good mood, Valeria walked up to Alcuald and took a seat next to him.

"What was that all about?", Valeria said as she placed her bag on the desk.

"Oh, nothing. Yugi just challenged me to a duel."

"Oh th-", Valeria's eyes widened as she glanced at Alcauld, "Yugi Mutou!?"

"Yeah.", Alcauld pointed at Yugi, "He's the kid with the really spiky hair and th-"

"I know who he is Alcauld! He actually challenged you?"

"Actually, it was more like a I'm bored, you're bored, let's do something sort of thing.", Alcuald said as he picked up the large portfolio Yugi left on the desk. At that moment the bell for the first class rang.

"Won't be long till the teacher gets here.", Alcauld said while looking around, "Where's Gear?"

"You mean Rui? He's in different classes than us, really advanced ones.", Valeria than looked ahead as class began. Alcauld than put his cards away, perhaps dueling the King of Games will give him a much needed warm up exercise.