Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Family Bonds ❯ Chapter 11: September Troubles ( Chapter 11 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: Saying I own Yugioh is like saying the world ended on June 6, 2006. It hasn't happened and it's not gonna happen. (Obviously, as it's way past that date)

Things to know: Katsuya Jounouchi- Joey Wheeler; Shizuka Jounouchi- Serenity Wheeler; Hiroto Honda- Tristan Taylor

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September 11, 2001- Virginia

“Li’, give me the tissue box.” Ashling says, trying to reach the box of tissues that are laying by the couch her twin brother is on.

“Get your bown.” Liam replies, his voice affected by his stuffed up nose. “Dese are by dissues.”

“Don’t care.” Ashling replies. “I need one.”

“Bine. But dus’ one.” Liam replies. Trying not to move very much, he reaches down and grabs a tissue and throws it in Ashling’s face. “Dere.”

“Thanks.” Ashling says. Then she noisily blows her nose.

Liam rolls his eyes and then turns his attention to the TV to see the channel flicker and change to something else showing a large, smoking skyscraper. He frowns. “Ash, durn it up.”

Ashling complies just in time to watch a plane strike the second twin tower. “What in the world…?”

The twins watch as the footage of the first plane hitting the tower replays and then as the two buildings collapse. Neither of them move.

After fifteen minutes of sitting there in shock, Ashling numbly turns off the TV. Neither of them want to see any more of it.

Shakily, Ashling gets off the small couch and joins her brother on the larger couch while Damian blows his nose. “Oh gods…” She sniffs. “Li’, tell me this isn’t really happening. Please tell me it isn’t happening.”

Liam sighs. “I wish I could.”

Ashling suddenly gasps. “Damian! Liam, Damian was flying to New York this morning! What if he was on one of those planes? Oh gods…”

“Calm down, Ash.” Liam says. “I’m sure Damian is safe. Any minute now he’ll be calling to let us all know that he’s alright. Just watch. Any minute now.”

Minutes pass. A half hour comes and goes without any word. Ashling breaks down and begins crying while Liam just wraps one arm around his twin in comfort. Another half hour passes. Ashling’s crying turns to heavy sobbing and Liam begins crying.

The phone rings and the two freeze. Upstairs, Mrs. Phoenix answers the phone. Moments later she comes down the stairs and hands the phone to Liam.

Liam wipes away his tears. “Hello?”

“Liam? Hey.” Damian says softly.

“Damian! You’re alright!” Liam exclaims. “What’s going on? Where are you? You’re not hurt, are you?”

“I just arrived in New York City and the entire airport is in complete chaos. I just saw the news not too long ago.” Damian replies in a subdued tone. “How’s Ash doing?”

“She’s been crying for the past half hour or so.” Liam replies. “Here, tell her you’re still among the world of the living.” He hands the phone to his twin.

“D-Damian?” Ashling chokes out.

“Hey, koneko. You okay?”

Ashling resumes crying. “Damian, I was s-so worried!”

“Sorry about that. I just got here not too long ago. And I’ve got to cut this short since I’m on a pay phone and it’ll go out soon. I’ll see you tomorrow evening, I promise. Stay safe and give my love to Li’-dearest.” He finishes teasingly. “Ja ne.”

“See you…”

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September 11, 2004

Liam carefully refolds a shirt before laying it neatly in his bright green suitcase.

“Liam?” Ashling quietly asks from the bedroom doorway.

Liam looks up from his packing. “Hey, Ash. Did you have fun hanging out with Damian and Holly?”

Ashling nods. “Yeah…”

Liam frowns. “What’s wrong, Ashling? You sound upset. And don’t say that it’s nothing, because you don’t block your feelings from me for ‘nothing’.”

“I had another vision when I was at Damian’s house…” Ashling says hesitantly, tears forming in her eyes. “It was horrible. Worse than the vision of the nine-eleven attack--”

“You never told me you had a vision of that!” Liam exclaims. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was scared.” Ashling tells him. “And I didn’t understand it.” Getting the feeling that Liam is upset by her not telling him, she walks across the room and hugs him. “I’m sorry for not telling you, ‘nii-chan.”

“It’s alright.” Liam says. “Now, sit down and tell me about this vision of yours that has you so upset.”

Ashling trembles as she sits down on Liam’s bed with Liam. “It was horrible. It seemed so real that I woke up screaming. Damian freaked out when I told him.” She takes a deep breath and lets her eyes go unfocused. “You and your friends were coming back from the airport and this drunk driver hit’s the car you’re in. You-…” The emotionless voice Ashling started out with at the start of recounting her vision cracks and she begins to cry. The barrier holding back her emotions shatter, letting Liam feel some of what his twin feels.

Wordlessly, Liam holds Ashling close and begins crying as well, knowing what she was about to say.

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Two weeks later, Liam’s friends are returning from their trip when they’re hit by a drunk driver. Nobody got hurt badly, but the side Liam was to sit on was hit the hardest. If he had been sitting there in the car, he wouldn’t have survived.

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September 28, 2004- Domino City

“Big brother!”

Fourteen-year-old Katsuya Jounouchi looks up to see his younger sister, Shizuka Jounouchi (1), running up to him. Right behind her is Hiroto Honda, a close friend of Katsuya’s.

“Honda, what did you do this time? I swear if you’ve gotten Shizuka in trouble I’ll--” Katsuya is cut off by his sister grabbing his arm.

“Run, Katsuya! There’s people after us!” Shizuka yells.

“Move it, Jounouchi!” Honda yells angrily. “I’m not in the mood to be pounded by a bunch of high school bullies today!”

“I can handle them.” Katsuya retorts.

“At the risk of hurting your sister?” (2) Honda shoots back, grabbing the blonde’s other arm. “Lets get out of here before they catch up!”

Between Honda and Shizuka, the three of them get out of the alley and to the Jounouchi family’s apartment room before any of the high school kids catch up to them.

“That was a close one.” Honda comments. “I don’t think I’ve ever run that fast before.”

“Well now you have.” Katsuya pants. “Now get out of here before our dad comes home. He doesn’t like it when I have guests over. Particularly guy guests.” He glances at Shizuka, who’s already straightening up the living room. “I think he’s afraid of what could happen to Shizuka. He’s been trying to clean himself up since she came to live with us.”

“That’s good.” Honda says. “I’ll see you two tomorrow at school. Stay safe, alright?”

“You too, Honda.” Katsuya says. “And thanks for watching out for Shizuka.”

“Hey, you’d do the same for me.” Honda says. “And as I’ve said before, it’s no problem.” He says before leaving.

Katsuya sighs heavily when the door closes behind his friend and then looks around the small apartment room. “Hey Shizuka, I’m going to start on dinner. Any requests?”

Shizuka looks up and shakes her head ‘no’. “Anything you cook is fine, big brother.” She says with a smile. “You should get your own restaurant when you grow up. You could be the head chef!” She giggles at the thought of her brothering wearing an apron and a chef’s hat.

“That’d be cool. A dream come true, really.” Katsuya admits. “But it ain’t going to happen, sis. Where would I get the money to go to a school to learn how to cook really well and then find the money to even open my own restaurant?” He shakes his head. “I’ll just have to keep cooking for you, dad, and Honda. As long as there’s somebody who enjoys my cooking I’ll be happy.”

Shizuka looks sadly at her brother as he begins checking the cabinets and refrigerator for edible food. ‘Big brother, I’m going to try my hardest to make your dream come true, so you’d better do the best you can and take the chances when they come to you.’ Shizuka thinks. ‘You’ll be the greatest cook in the world. Just you wait.’ The image of her brother hosting his own cooking show pops in her head and she giggles. ‘Without the cheesy cooking shows.’

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(1) This is partially explained further down... in the show, Shizuka's actual last name is 'Kawai' but in this lovely AU she's been living with her dad and brother for about a year and never changed her last name.

(2) What Honda meant was 'Do you want to accidentally get Shizuka hurt by your fighting', 'cause Katsuya-kun would kick himself before hurting Shizuka.

And on Katsuya's name; I hope it won't confuse people if I use his first name. The rest of the group still calls him 'Jounouchi' though (with the exception of Shizuka), but I call him Katsuya in the non-speaking/thinking parts.

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Shiro: Interesting chapter... I hope I didn't make Ashling too emotional. I mean, it's kind of rational, right? She's having strange dreams that keep coming true and she dreamt that her twin died.

Bast: It's fine, Shiro. Don't worry so much about it.

Kitsune: Is it just me, or does the plot seem to twist away from the original show's plot more and more?

Shiro: ...

Bast: ...

Kaze: (reading)

Keitaro: (humming)

Damian: ...

Kyle: (in the kitchen with Katsuya/Joey)

Shiro: I have no comment. I'm too busy trying not to laugh and keeping a straight face. Is it working?

Bast: (sees the amused look on Shiro's face) Not very well.

Shiro: Well, darn. (snaps fingers) Anyway, I suppose I should say something about the name I've used for our favorite blonde duelist. Simply put, I like the name Katsuya. ^.^ But if any one gets too confused about it... I don't know what to tell you, 'cause it's staying that way! Bwahahaha!

Bast: Now that hikari-dearest has been acting like an idiot, it's time to end this. Get her, boys!

Damian and Keitaro: (tackle Shiro)

NEXT CHAPTER: Moving, uniforms, and a plan