Author Note: Okay, I've got two chapters of each fiction up on my website. If you have questions, ask them because I am no longer bounded by the sinster fanfiction.net's rules anymore... (God--the joy of being free) How do you submit a review? Well, just use fanfiction.net's review system and I will post your comments at the bottom. And... that's pretty much it...
Before R.A. Project
~By Imperfect Paradise~
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-Chapter II-
Mind Baffling Elements
The door opened up in the small apartment, and Anzu quickly invited herself inside. She slipped off her shoes, dropped her backpack to the floor, brought her other hand out behind her and closed the door. Feeling free from the stress of her abnormally heavy backpack, she then let out a long, extended sigh from habit before she began to make her way over towards the bathroom of her home.
She entered the room and flipped on the light, looking out into the room before her. It was a pretty standard, basic design for a bathroom—the walls were painted yellow with a few pictures hanging on the walls above the tall racks, while the carpet was a faded sky/grass teal color. The small room was complete with a tub, water, sink and toilet—everything you would expect to see in a room such as this one. She then turned towards the sink, switched the faucet on, and proceeded to splash water on all the corners of her face. As she blinked away some of the water, fresh droplets fell of her long lashes, and landed onto her already soaked hands. After doing so, leant over again and splashed some more on her rosy colored cheeks. After which, she blindly reached over and grabbed a hand towel, taking it within both hands and bringing up to her face. She dried her features, while rustling her bangs in the process.
After throwing the small cloth over her shoulders, she made her way over towards the kitchen and began to fix herself something to eat. Hmmm… Ramen sounded good that afternoon. As she entered the small kitchenette, she began to get out the utensils and necessary ingredients for her dinner, However, it was around the time when she reached for the hot water, when something from earlier that day popped into her mind.
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(flashback)
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“What’s your name?”
Anzu answered, in what she hoped seemed like a natural speed and tone of voice (she didn’t want to seem strange in front of him), “Anzu…”
The young man nodded as he heard this, as if acknowledging her words. Then afterwards, he closed his eyes fondly and commented in somewhat of a faraway voice, “What a lovely name—If I am not mistaken, it means Apricot in Japanese, doesn’t it?”
Anzu nodded, “Yes, it does…”
He chuckled and then opened up his metallic silver eyes up again, Anzu inwardly gasping.
Man, you never saw eyes that looked like those these days. Only Kaiba Seto had eyes like those. The deep, cold, passionate color with the sharp, intelligent and quick witted light that danced within them. They were simply gorgeous… Divine, even.
But…
Anzu then took a closer look at them, and it was at that time, when she noticed something that seemed rather array.
Although they were beautiful in their own light, there was something—“strange” about them. Now, she couldn’t be one hundred percent positive—but they were giving off an emotion she couldn’t quite identify. An emotion that looked almost like—hunger; a desire of some kind—one that she couldn’t exactly put her finger on.
However, just as quickly as it had happened, the young man broke the connection, reached out, and took her hand in his own, Anzu’s heart-beat beginning to speed up in its pace. As he held her hand, he said, in a charmingly dashing tone, “By the way… My name is Tenma Yakou…”
Anzu thought, ‘Tenma Yakou… Heavenly Horse Traveling By Night.’ She smiled mentally, ‘What a lovely name…’ Anzu withdrew her hand and bowed, while answering, “Nice to meet you… Tenma-san…”
Tenma bowed back and responded, “Pleasure’s all mine.” Anzu smiled weakly in response.
He then stepped forward, and casually brushed past her, proceeding to walk towards his intended destination. Anzu spun around, and watched as he walked away, not saying anything. He continued to walk for a few moments, before he stopped in his tracks. He cocked his head back over towards Anzu and spoke, “Perhaps we’ll meet again… Anzu.”
Anzu stared at him, not knowing what to say. With that, he turned a corner, completely disappearing from view.
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(end of flashback)
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That… boy… Tenma…
As Anzu poured the hot-water into the styrofoam cup, she bit her lip, remembering that strange and unusual moment. It was so… ‘unnerving,’ and for some reason, it really worried her. She didn’t know why, but it did.
No, scratch that. She knew why. It was nearly everything ‘about’ him. It was the way he appeared… The way he addressed her… The way he looked at her… Stared at her. Gazed at her. How his eyes seemed to be locked directly on her, reeking with that unknown feeling. They scared her in some way—made her shiver, why, just remembering the way they looked at her caused her blood to run cold. Man, they were really like Kaiba’s weren’t they? Yes, they were beautiful—heh! Hell! The boy himself was beautiful—any girl would kill to be acquainted with him—but there was something, well... ‘amiss’ about him, and heck! As if that wasn’t odd enough, there was more to him. Lot’s more!
Although he seemed extremely benvevolent, intelligent, polite and well-natured, that was just it. How could anyone at Rintama ‘ever’ behave like that? She had met kids from Rintama in the past before—and not one of the memories were good. Out of all the schools in Domino, it was the absolute worst! Most of the students were either flunkies, thugs, bullies and the girls were the biggest sluts she had ever laid eyes on. In addition, as if that wasn’t bad enough (as hard as it was to believe, but it even got worse from there) a majority of the students were mostly involved in gangs, parties or drug groups. Such people included Jounouchi’s old friend, Hirutani. Man, that boy was the worst person in ‘Japan’ let alone Rintama. That jerk had nearly killed both Yuugi and Jounouchi in the name of his sick game of cat and mouse. That was his motive right there. Hirutani had always desired to have Jounouchi in his gang (second in command, as he called it) but their golden haired friend declined, again and again, saying he would never join as long as he drew breath. But Hirutani wouldn’t stand for that. He was as persistent as he was dangerous, and kept coming back at him, finding new ways to convince Jounouchi to join—more deadly and dangerous ways. Man, it wasn’t until Jou knocked that bastard off the roof of a warehouse when he finally made his point. Hirutani would never have him—and that was that.
The main point? That place was rotten to the core—and it was literally impossible for them to house or produce anyone who came even close to the personality of that boy, and no person who was even ‘relatively’ sane on this whole planet would ever transfer into that school on their own free will.
A small ringing sound made itself clear, indicating that her soup was ready, but she was completely deaf to it. She continued to think about her day, about her walk and about that boy…
That was the other thing that got to her.
She looked out the window and narrowed her eyes, realizing something more that was completely and utterly array.
What was he doing all the way out here? In this part of Domino? Rintama was in the district all the way across town—next to the harbor area across from the park. It would be nearly exhausting to come all the way out here from there. Why heck, the only person who had ever come out the way was Hirutani and—
Her eyes widened, registering this new piece of information. She looked out the window and stared at the sunset, deaf to everything around her.
Was that it? Could it really as simple as that? Was it at all possible, that that kid possibly someone working under Hirutani? A spy, maybe? Another member of that bastard's terrible, frightening gang?
Realizing this, she narrowed her eyes. Did Hirutani still want to get Jounouchi into his circle? Man... Couldn’t that son of a bitch take a hint already?
Still, she needed to be absolutely sure before she jumped to conclusions. Moreover—and she needed that information now! Reaching over for the phone (which hung on the wall beside the entrance to the kitchen) and taking it into her hand, she quickly dialed memory three (Jounouchi’s number) and called the one guy who may know more than she could ever hope to. She brought it up to her ear and waited patiently for an answer on the other end of the line. Two identical buzzes were heard, before—
—git da phone already yah little brat!
—I have it already you bastard, so why don’t you shut your—
—Ehh?!! Wha was dat? Why yie outta’— Remin’ me ta give ya a woop’n when you’re done, boy! (A/N 1)
Anzu flinched, hearing the sound of Jounouchi’s father’s voice. She had meant him once before—and their meeting didn’t last for anymore than a few seconds. Anymore and she could have died. As she continued to listen to the highly un-civilized bickering between her friend and his father, she looked down at the ground, a very sick feeling now entering her stomach. She hoped she didn’t start anything by calling Jounouchi (judging from the scheme of things, she was beginning to wonder if she should have called Honda), but then felt relieved when she heard Jounouchi’s voice.
—Just drink your trash and shut up, already! I've got things to do... Hello, Jou speaking.
Anzu spoke, as politely as she could, “Hey—it’s Anzu…”
Huh? Anzu? What’s a girl like you calling a guy like me for?
Anzu let out a sigh, not believing what had just come from her friend’s mouth (Why would Jounouchi say something like that? They were friends, weren’t they?) before she began to explain her case. “I needed to ask you something—“
Oh?
Anzu reached the cord of the phone and began to twist it between her fingers, as one does out of nervousness or anxiety. She then said as politely as she could, “Well, uh… First off, I want to apologize for—“
Huh—what? Oh… Heh, that? Look, don’t worry about me and my old man, Anzu. He can barely throw a punch when he’s wasted like this—I can block and evade them easily, and now’s as good as time as any. Now, I believe you wanted to ask me somethin’?
Anzu’s eyes widened to a critical degree, for it was incredibly hard to believe that what Jounouchi had just said was every-day-life in their household (family members shouldn’t do that, right?) yet decided to set it aside. She cleared her throat before asking, “Who was a part of Hirutani’s gang? Can you, um… Name a few members?”
The sound of a phone shifting (Jounouchi must have fumbled the device in his hands) followed before Jounouchi continued, Ehh? Hirutani? Why would you want to know more about that lousy- son of a—
Anzu pleaded, “Please, Jounouchi-kun—this is important! I need to know—”
A pause followed on the other end of a line, indicating that Jounouchi had taken Anzu’s question into consideration. This pause lasted for a few more moments, before Jounouchi finally continued. Well… There was Hirutani—of course… Man I hate that asshole. Worst son of a bitch in the world. Anyway, then there was Nezumi—though, he was more of a scout—not really a real gang member, I wouldn’t worry too much about him. Then I believe there was—
Anzu (knowing very well that Jounouchi could take ages with this) decided to cut right to the case. She interrupted Jounouchi in his words, sasking, “Is there a guy named Tenma in his gang?”
Who?
“Yeah! Tenma Yakou. Have you ever heard of him?”
There was another pause on the other end of the line. Jounouchi hesitated before he explained, …No. Not that I am aware of, anyway… You know, I’ve never even heard of that guy before… Why do you ask?
Anzu sighed, letting out her relief with one long exhale. Man, all of this for nothing. It wasn’t like her to be so worried for something so menial. How dare her! After recovering from her sigh, she stood up straight again, regaining her posture, before she spoke, “It’s nothing… I… I’m sorry for bothering you like this. See yah, Jounouchi…”
See yah soo—
Anzu hung up the phone, and took it in both hands for a moment, cradling it within them. After letting out yet another sigh, she turned around ninety degrees and stared out of the window, continuing to think. ‘What’s happening,’ she thought. ‘Why is everything suddenly different?’
With those thoughts in mind, the sun finally set bellow the horizon, leaving the world in darkness.
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“You- imbeciles! You got me into the wrong school! How could you be so god- damn- brainless! Tell me now!”
The trained body guard, clad in a black suit, bowed his head and answered, apologetically and desperately, “Many apologies, Tenma-sama. We should have researched more!”
Tenma’s silver eyes blazed furiously, before he clenched his hand in a fist, slamming it against the seat of the limo. “You’re damn right you should have!” He leaned back in his seat and continued, his right eye twitching madly. “Thanks to you fools, I am now stuck in a shit-hole academy while my intended target attends another one from all the way across the city! You idiots! Hang your heads in shame!”
The two guards looked at each other, each with different kinds of anxiety, (worried about what may and was probably to happen to them) appalled with the words of the young master. After doing so, one of them turned back towards the silver haired boy and explained as calmly as he could, “But sir, it was hard enough to get you into even that school! We had to create several falsified documents regarding the subject of your age, terms at other schools, detentions, student records and—“
Placing his arms around his chest and closing his eyes (although one of his eyebrows was still tensing slightly) Tenma added irritably, “—In addition, the more you squeal and squirm, the more I feel obliged to fire you, and trust me—“ He then opened his eyes, and smirked, a devious smile spreading across his face—“I would be more than happy to see you writhe in pain without even as much as twitching.”
As these words escaped from his lips, the guards tensed up again, fearing the wrath of their master. One of them shivered and gulped, while the other fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. He then looked up at him, before he looked back at Tenma and stated, “W-We understand sir… We’ll make the transfer plans as soon as we can.”
Tenma sighed and leaned back into his seat. He reached over for a can of diet coke (which sat in a holder beside his seat) and brought it up to his lips. He said, just before taking a sip, his long locks of moonlight colored hair falling away from his face, “No… That won’t be necessary.” As he savored the bitter-sweet taste of the bubbling drink, his two body guards regarded him, oddly, not quite understanding where the boy was going with this. Tenma set the drink down again, before he looked back up at both of them and smirked, his eyes glinting with a hidden idea. He said, quietly, after letting out a small sigh, “Perhaps… It ‘would’ be better for me to witness him from afar, anyway…”
After this statement had been set loose, Tenma was instantly met up with opposition towards his words. One of the guards protested, “—but Rintama is nearly twenty blocks away from Domino City High School. Such a thing shouldn’t be possible for anyone… I mean, heck! How will you be able to watch them from all the way over there? It can’t be done!”
Tenma reached over for his coke can again, and took yet another sip from it. After pulling it away from his face, he then opened his mouth for a brief moment, before he said, “Then I’ll just have to get information on him by some other means, or rather… By the hands of someone else…”
The second guard, instantly catching on (he wasn’t completely stupid), asked with some form of excitement, “You mean like… a double agent?”
Tenma answered the question by letting out a small heh, which hereby ended the discussion there. The first guard nodded, acknowledging the will of his young master, before he spoke, “Alright, then… If that’s what you wish, we’ll set the plan in motion. We’ll go through a few candidates and pick the best man for the—“
Tenma closed his eyes and muttered, “Don’t even bother.”
The guards looked up at him and asked in unison, “What?”
Tenma smirked and while setting his coke can down back into the cup holder, explained, “You people may not have noticed this, but I have already selected a candidate…” The guards looked back up at him and stared, obviously confused.
What did their young master mean by that? Was he serious? Who could he have possibly chosen? The second guard looked at him and asked, “Well… who is it then?”
Tenma suddenly shot a glare out towards the both of them—the second guard flinching in response. The silver haired late teen then narrowed his eyes and growled, “Well… That’s none of your damn business, now is it?”
The guards heard the harshness of Tenma’s words and winced, instantly silencing themselves. Tenma’s mouth twitched, as if attempting another smirk, but failed in his effort.
He then looked back out the window and stared up into the sky. As he watched as the stars wielded overhead, his eyes narrowed in a smug manner.
‘Mazaki Anzu…’ he thought, his eyes twinkling dangerously in the ever dominating darkness, ‘You and I should get to know each other a little more…’
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Deep brown eyes stared at their reflection in the bathroom mirror, blinking solemnly and lifeless from underneath Ryou’s wet, platinum blonde bangs.
The timid young man then reached for the towel, which rested on his bare shoulders and ran it through his long unusually pale strands, drying it off as quickly as he could.
He then took the towel and folded it in hand, placing it neatly upon the towel rack, making it look as though it hadn’t been touched in the first place.
He then walked into his room (a pretty ordinary looking room, which included a twin bed with platinum blue sheets and a black comforter, a desk propped up beside the window, a wooden dress cabinet, as well as a table with unusual figurines and toys covering it from corner to corner) and flipped on the light, letting out a sigh as one does when he’s depressed.
Alone. He was always alone. Sure, there was Yuugi… Jounouchi… Honda… Anzu… but there were even times when they weren’t enough. Though they were kind and good to him (heck, he was more than honored when they had saved his soul from the beyond during the Monster World ordeal) he felt as if he was missing something. He shook his head and then reached for his drawer, pulling it all the way open.
It was around the time when he was putting on his night shirt that beautiful chocolate colored eyes entered his mind again. He smiled slightly, remembering the beautiful twinkle in his friend’s sister’s eyes. Man, they were good enough to eat. They looked as if they were chocolate covered caramels, created and molded to absolute perfection, that no one could miss in a hundred miles.
He remembered, that when he was in his weakened condition on the battleship during Kaiba’s tournament, in the midst of the utmost agony and pain, originating from the crook of his left arm, it was when he had first felt their presence. He could hear the sound of his friends’ voices, sounding out from all the corners of the room, his room, but there was one, soft, unfamiliar voice, that abruptly caught his attention. He had never heard it before, ever, (A/N 2) at least not to his knowledge, but upon hearing its sweet melody, he slowly opened up his eyes for a brief moment, just before he completely lost consciousness.
He saw them… Those beautiful eyes… And while gazing into them, he sensed a tender warmth that he hadn’t had the privilege of feeling for many long years. They were beautiful… divine… and they were looking at him—with concern, fear and sorrow. Feelings and emotions that he had been denied for so long had come back to him all at once. Then, the darkness overcame him again, causing him to fall back into the black abyss, but the image of those eyes remained with him.
Then and now.
As he slipped on this pajama pants, pulling them up over his ankles and up to his waist, he turned around to face the mirror, though he did not see his own reflection. For his mind was aloof—thinking of her again—the ‘angel’ that had given light to him—and it was the light he couldn’t afford to set aside.
Shizuka… Kawai Shizuka… The name itself meant so many things, even on its own… Silence… Serenity… Peace and quiet… It all suited her too. How could it not? She was in possession of gentle disposition, she was well natured and surprisingly calm, like a small, slow creek hidden in the willow, and she lacked the traits of selfishness and vanity. That was it. She was, without a doubt, the ‘perfect’ human being—(A/N 3)
Yes… You two are quite different, now are you…
Ryou flinched, hearing the voice of his other entity echo through the corners of his mind and soul. Oh no… Not him again… Not him.
Ryou hissed into the room, while grabbing the sides of his head, “Leave me alone! Just go away!”
A small, amused laugh was heard, before Ryou’s evil duplicate appeared in the reflection of the mirror before him, grinning manically in his direction. Ryou watched in horror as his malevolent replica stared out at him, with a smug look on his otherwise divine features, his arms crossed comfortably against the front of his chest. The look on his face was defined and complacent, but his eyes were steely and twinkling with clandestine evil that caused a shiver of anxiety to flow through Ryou’s weakening body.
Yami no Bakura chuckled and then drawled, Now, now, now… Why would you want me to do something like that? You shouldn’t speak to me so harshly, Aibou… I thought we were friends—
Ryou opened his eyes and glared, hissing at his counterpart, “I am no friend of yours and I am certainly not your partner!”
Yami no Bakura then sneered, his eyes flashing violently, All too true, but you cannot deny that you are indeed very, very different from that girl…
Ryou stared at him, confused. He asked, hesitantly, “W-What do you mean?”
The spirit chuckled, before he turned towards him, and explained, You say she worries about everyone other than herself, and that is very, very true… The spirit laughed for a bit, while Ryou glared at him. Yami no Bakura then paused in his well-known-amusement, and continued, Then there is you. You worry about your pathetic existence everyday—and I don’t blame you. You say that you worry about unleashing me, and that is true in a sense, but you never tell exactly why you are afraid of it, now do you? You say that you worry for the wellbeing of your friends while you are incapable of claiming dominance over you own body—but the fact remains, little Bakura—that you are worried about yourself, and ‘only’ yourself. You couldn’t care less about the pathetic mongrel race that makes of the group of your so-called ‘friends…’
Ryou looked away and said nothing. Yami no Bakura stared at him, looking somewhat interested.
The look on Ryou Bakura’s face was one of pain, mental agony and self-doubt. Was that true? Could it be, that in the midst of his worries and fearful anticipation, that he was really worried about his own welfare, and what could happen to him and his life once the spirit had finished with him?
As Rou continued to go over the doubts that Yami no Bakura had firmly sown into his mind and soul, Yami no Bakura licked his upper lip, and added, With that in mind… How could that cute little princess of yours ‘ever’ fall for someone of the likes of you? She’s out of your league—not that she isn’t already, ‘cause I can see as plain as day that the arrogant prince and the idiotic swordsman are wading on her hand and foot. She’ll never notice you, or your feelings for her. You don’t have a chance—with her… with them… or with anyone…
Ryou screamed at the reflection, cringing as he yelled, “Don’t you dare say that, damnit! You have no right to judge me like that! Also, what I think, imagine and want is none of your own damn business!”
The reflection stared at him for a moment, as if taking in his little host’s outburst. He then smirked, and disappeared from the mirror, leaving Ryou alone in the room. Ryou stared at the mirror, not knowing what to say.
Did he finally tell that devil off? Was he finally claiming supremacy over the monster that had possessed him countless times and had wielded his body and mind to his own desire? Was that it? No… No, that couldn’t have been it.
There was no way in hell that it would have been that simple. This wasn’t like his other self. Not at all. Normally, he would taunt Ryou and taunt him till he was left with his worst thoughts imaginable, and that was usually the time when the spirit would take his leave. That was the other Bakura for you. He always wanted to end their discussion on a high note—so if Ryou wasn’t crying, or sobbing or whimpering—the conversation wasn’t over yet.
So naturally, this behavior was shocking. In addition, it didn’t make any sense as to what in the world was going on in the other Bakura’s—
It was at that moment, when Ryou suddenly screamed. He felt something burn from the inside of his body, enflaming it with enriched and amplified pain and tremendous, unearthly heat. He grabbed for his gut and held it firmly, feeling as if something long and sharp had pierced the inside of his breast and was had emblazed it with white-hot flames. The pain lasted for several moment, Bakura doing everything he could to fight the tears. After a moment of this, the pain finally began to die down and as he whimpered in the company of only himself, he suddenly heard the sound of his entity speak again.
Idiot boy… Don’t think that someone of the likes of you can beat me in any form of combat—whether it is verbal or physical. It’s not just stupid, it’s pathetic—and you know just as well as I do that it is not that simple to overcome my persuasiveness and power…
Ryou nodded once, while whimpering, tears finally falling from his eyes.
Heh, heh, heh… Good boy… Now, seeing that you have learned your lesson, I’ll leave you with what’s left of your pain—good bye…
As the voice of the ominous spirit finally disappeared, the burning sensation reached its highest peek, and lasted for five whole seconds, causing Bakura to scream about again. Then, the pain disappeared completely, as if it never happened. At that, Bakura finally fell to his hands and knees, trembling there for a moment. He then cried in the middle of the room, as a infant does when he or she is alone. (A/N 4)
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- TO BE CONTINUED -
Author Note 1: I trust most of you know that Jounouchi’s father is an abusive drunk. In the second issue of the Japanese comics, Anzu, Honda and Yuugi are looking for Jounouchi (he wasn’t at school, read the manga if you want to know more)—and when they went to visit Jounouchi’s apartment—the first thing they meet eyes with is a beer bottle which hits the door before them as they open it, and Jounouchi’s father roars, “Hey yah little brat—where have yah been the past two days?”
Author Note 2: I know what you guys are thinking: Duh, stupid! Of course Bakura has heard it before! He met Shizuka right when he approached the battleship. You’re such a stupid author! My response? Heh-heh… WRONG! You idiots (referring only to the people who actually thought what I had just written), he was under the control of Yami no Bakura and Malik’s Sen-Nen Rod during that time—it’s impossible for him to remember anything while under that level of possession. (That was the case in the manga—and he looked very scary during that scene too) My point being? He couldn’t for the life of him remember Shizuka’s voice during that time. (raspberry)
Author Note 3: Hey! I said there would be Ryou x Shizuka (Softshipping) in this story, and I stand by that! In addition, I know some of you Anzu fans are hating me for this (giving Shizuka a big role and all), but guess what? Because of that prejudice, you have earned yourself a rant. First off, if there is one thing I ‘like’ in a fiction, it’s the fact that the characters are and remain (for the most) IC (in character). So, naturally, when I read about fictions with Shizuka as a slut and with Anzu as the angel (or perhaps the ‘other’ way around) I get ‘pissed’ and ‘annoyed.’ First off, the character would never do something like that and second of all—if one of them ‘had’ a boy friend that the other one happened to have liked, (like Atem or Kaiba or whatever) I am sure as hell that Anzu/Shizuka would be happy for the other and would not try to kill off their competition (let the “Sue’s” do that for goodness sake…). God damn…
Author Note 4: This isn’t yaoi/shonen-ai/slash ladies and gentlemen. However, if there ‘is’ a yaoi fan in the house (which I doubt), you ‘can’ think like that if you want to, but I can assure you—that your hope for a couple between these two characters in ‘this’ fiction will probably give you just as much results as it does in the actual show. You have been warned.
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Cerulean San: Hey, I agree with your third authors note, X_x... I can't believe I used to be a Shizuka basher, then again, I can't believe I used to bash Kikyou, Kagome, and Risa either D:...But anyhoo, great chapter, xD. Softship is just too cute n.n! And, w00t for YakouAnzu-ness :D! Any-hoo, xD looking forward to most chapters.
Lone Gothic: *grin* Of course, there was a way for a child genius like Yakou to end up in a deadend school. Just blame the guards, yes, the guards. xD I wonder how badly they screwed up. ... And why Yakou hasn't killed them yet. Anyway, those spoilers on your Xanga page were most definaely interesting (nice Ayashi no Ceres background as well) and well... is the candidate Gekkou, because-a-candidate-to-look-like-the-person-itself-is-the-best-thing-ever. :D Poor Ryou having to deal with utter crap from Bakura because of unrequited love. XP (What's Unrequited Love anyway? O_o;;) I'm not really sure how Ryou met Shizuka but somehow love-at-first-voice seems sweet. ^^ (... And like Anzu to Yami no Yuugi. Strangely. o_o;;) ... Update? :D
Anime Fantasy Fan: Wow, great chapter! Your portrayal of the characters is spectacular, I love how you've kept them so IC! Your stories are some of the best I've ever seen - you've done such an amazing job!! I thought the scene with Ryou and Yami no Bakura was very... interesting. I'm not usually one for "abuse" situations, but this was well written and made sense. It is sweet that Ryou has a crush on Shizuka- that's really a cute coupling! Woot!! I also liked how you kept Anzu so level-headed. She seems to be the first one to notice things (most of the time), and I love how you've written her character!
One final thing: As much as I love reading your stories, I also love to read your author notes! I think they are both funny and informative. It's great that you are so opinionated, and it is fun to read your opinions on characters and bashing (along with the rants!)! Preach it, girl!!
~Until the next installment! Woot!! ^_^~