Out of the Blue     by: Alena S. Anigor (Sanela)

Chapter III - Those Twisted Feelings

It was very dark, and a strange, howling sound could be heard from not so far away. That sound made Tea Gardner shiver in fright, and she started to run. Watching the horrible scenery around her, she realized that she was running across some old and creepy looking cemetery. She stopped, blinking a few times, wondering how she had ended up walking across a cemetery in the first place.

“What is this? What is going on?” she asked out loud, turning her head to the left, and observing a couple of old and cracked tombstones. She embraced herself tightly, starting to feel lost and terrified.

The howling sound was heard again, and this time it seemed as if it was coming from a very short distance. Tea turned around swiftly, searching for any signs of a possible threat, but it was dark, too dark to see anything clearly.

“Who’s there?” She asked, her voice barely above whisper, wavering slightly. She was really becoming scared now, and she wanted to get away from it. A cold wind blew suddenly, blowing her hair in all directions, and she closed her eyes, specks of dust falling all around her. The wind stopped blowing suddenly, just as it had come, and Tea dared to open her eyes, looking around her for the first time.

Then, she heard a wicked laughter in front of her, and she quickly shot her gaze forward. The sight caught her breath, her blood running cold. One of the Duel Monsters she hadn’t ever seen before was standing in front of her, shadowed in a cloak, holding a strange weapon in its hands. It reminded her of the typical image of Death itself, and she let out a gasp, realizing that it was Death, in the form of a Duel Monster.

A loud shriek escaped her lips, and she turned around to start running, but she couldn’t move her feet. She felt a chilling sensation around her neck, and she wanted to scream, but she couldn’t even do that; Death was holding her throat in a steady, murderous grip.

“Help! Please!” she was screaming in her mind, trying to wiggle out of its grasp, but every limb in her body was numb, and she could only hope for someone to come and save her.

“Yugi, Joey, Yami! Somebody, please, help me!” A desperate call for help coursed through her mind one more time, and she could see Death, raising the sharp blade, preparing itself to swing it and end her life.

She braced herself for an impact, for pain and death, but nothing came. Being able to breathe again she opened her eyes and almost gasped at the sight: Death was on the ground, lying numbly, and the person who was standing above it, smirking at it, an almost wicked and satisfied grin on his face, was no one other than Yami Bakura.

Tea wasn’t quite sure if he was laughing, the blood still ringing in her ears, her pulse beating wildly. Then he averted his gaze from the crumbled figure on the ground and looked at her, his smirk disappearing, and his laughter dying. The expression on his face was neutral, but then it suddenly changed drastically.

Tea’s eyes widened when she looked a bit closer; his face, his whole body and expression, were cut in half. He looked exactly like the card Ryou stated was his favorite one – the change of heart.

Tea couldn’t think, or act, or even speak; she was simply staring at him, or at the two of them.

As if on cue, the person in front of her moved, and she backed away a bit when the person stretched his hand to her. She was staring in disbelief at him, then at his hand, before deciding to take his offer to help her to stand up. His face was looking somewhat soft and kind, but then it switched suddenly, and that same person who was holding her hand, suddenly jerked his hand away, and Tea fell back to the ground, cringing when she hit the cold earth. She looked in shock at him, and realized that it was Yami Bakura who pulled his hand back and pushed her away. Then, looking grimly and darkly at her, he mouthed a sentence Tea never expected to hear from him in such situation.

“Get it yourself, mortal...”

 

“Whaaa-!!”

A high pitched yell echoed through the room. The moon was casting its shadows through the window, revealing a wide eyed, and very petrified, girl, gasping for air, sitting in her bed and clutching the blanket tightly.

After a moment of realization, that she was still in her room and not in the middle of some creepy cemetery, Tea sighed, shaking her head vigorously, trying to calm down.

“Wha-what was that?” She managed to choke out, holding her chest, still breathing rapidly. She looked at her hands, and then stroked her hair behind her ears, exhaling deeply to steady her breathing. Her heart was still racing, and she swallowed a lump in her throat.

It happened again.

‘Why?’ she thought bitterly, holding her head in her hands for a while, staring at the blanket, still in a sitting position. Why was she having dreams about creepy cemeteries, weird Duel Monsters cards, and on top of it all – Yami Bakura? She just didn’t understand. Why now? Why not before? Did it have something to do with that incident at the park?

She turned her head to look at the alarm clock that was once again on her night table, looking whole and useable.

“Great, it’s 3 am, and I can’t sleep... What is going on with me?” She whispered, dropping back down onto the pillow, trying to sort her thoughts.

It was Saturday already, and instead of having a good night sleep, and a good day of not going to school, she was having nightmares about that arrogant tomb robber.

“This just can’t be happening...”

 

A couple of hours later, Tea was sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee, since she figured that it was the only things that could keep her awake...and sane.

She was poking through her breakfast, sighing every now and then, thinking about the dream she had. Why was she dreaming about him? Was there a reason?

Then she let the fork drop to the plate, a sudden idea popping in her mind.

What if Bakura was playing with her dreams, trying to use her to get to the Millennium Puzzle?

“Oh, no...that can’t be...” she mumbled, staring at her plate in disbelief. In that case, she was playing a role of marionette, him holding the strings. She covered her mouth with her hand. It could be true; after all, it wouldn’t be the first time for Bakura to try using sly tricks to get to Yugi and his Millennium item.

“Oh, my God”, she choked out, “I have to...I have to do something!” she finished her sentence, rising up from the chair, but then sat back down onto it a second later.

But how could she tell Yugi and Yami about it? They’d know that she had been lying to them before, and then...would they trust her again? The ringing of the telephone made her jump slightly, and she got up, still a bit too startled to even think properly. She picked up the phone, twirling the cord nervously.

“Yes?” she asked, hoping that it wasn’t Yugi on the phone again. The voice on the other side surprised her and her eyes widened slightly.

“Hallo Tea, how are you?”

Tea stared at the kitchen floor, not knowing how to react to the voice of Ryou Bakura.

“Uhm...h-hey Ryou, I’m, uh, fine, great!” she sputtered, sounding stupid even to herself.

Ryou looked at the telephone, confused by her strange stuttering.

“Uhm, well, I was wondering if you could help me with something?” he asked, hoping that she could. Tea gulped.

‘What does he want from me now?’ she wondered before hesitantly asking what it was about. Ryou eyed the Chemistry book on his table and smiled sheepishly.

“Well, I have some trouble writing my Chemistry homework, and since you’re so good at it, I was wondering if you could help me a bit with it?” The hopeful tone in his voice was evident, and Tea sighed inwardly. She had thought Bakura had forced him to do something unpleasant. She smiled, and nodded, relieved.

“Sure, come over and I’ll see what I can do.” She replied, shifting her balance on the other foot.

“Actually...” Ryou spoke, taking the book in his hand, and observing the tomb robber in the next room, watching TV with a bored expression, “Could you come here? Bakura will yell at me if I go somewhere” he added, lowering his voice to a whisper, “and I know he hates to be alone in the house.” He finished, and Tea raised her eyebrows. That she didn’t expect to hear. Bakura being afraid to stay alone in the house? Maybe Ryou was just exaggerating... But what was she supposed to do now? If she went there, Bakura would be there, and those dreams would haunt her, and then she’d feel uncomfortable and –

“Tea, are you still there?” Ryou’s whisper was heard and Tea snapped out of her ramblings.

“Uh, yeah, yeah, I am. Uhm...well, I don’t know, really, I, uhm...” she was babbling, trying to figure out an excuse for not being able to come, but Ryou interrupted her.

“Please, Tea? I know you don’t like Bakura a lot, but he’s not so bad, really. And I really need your help with my homework.” He pleaded, and Tea sighed. How could she say no to Ryou? He was pure goodness, especially compared to his other half, the notorious tomb robber, who was anything but nice, unlike Ryou was.

“Well...”, she started, thinking about it while Ryou waited anxiously for an answer, “Okay, but just for an hour, then I’m gone.” She added, causing Ryou to smile.

“Thank you so much, Tea.” He said, and Tea smiled back.

“No problem. I’ll see you...”, she looked at her watch, counting time until she’d be ready,” in twenty minutes, okay?”

Ryou nodded, saying that it was okay, and that he’d be waiting for her with a Chemistry book, and his poor knowledge. The line broke, and Tea sighed again, putting the phone down, looking at it for a couple of minutes.

Great, what did she get herself into now?

 

“Who were you talking to?” Ryou was just about to go and get some snacks, when Bakura stopped him with his question. Ryou’s face went blank for a moment, but he managed to mutter something about a friend coming to help him with his homework. Bakura looked at him for a moment, observing his pale face, and then snorted.

“Just leave me alone.” He said, and Ryou nodded, glad that he didn’t ask more questions. He knew how he’d react if he had told him that a friend of Pharaoh’s was coming over.

Tea rung the doorbell, clutching the book in her hand, hoping that Bakura wouldn’t throw her out of the house.

‘I wouldn’t be surprised, though...’

Ryou was still upstairs, so it was on Bakura to open the door. He growled, putting on a perfect mask of irritation and anger. That friend of Ryou’s had better behave, or else he’d send him to the Shadow realm.

The doors swung open, and Tea was about to smile and say hi, when her face froze, and the book she was holding almost slipped out of her hand. She was staring at a pair of dark, menacing eyes belonging to none other than Yami Bakura.

He froze too, standing in front of her, holding the handle with a painful grip, staring back at her. What was she doing here? She wasn’t the friend Ryou was talking about, was she?

Tea gulped, and tried to stay composed, keeping the book from falling, and trying to look unimpressed by his glare and the threatening gleam in his eyes.

“Bakura.” She said, as if she was identifying him, and then turned aside to look at Ryou who was coming down the stairs, looking at them uneasily.

“Hey, Ryou!” she said, totally ignoring Bakura’s presence and stepping into the house. She passed by him, and left him standing there. He turned around a bit, sending death glares in Ryou’s direction. Ryou managed to crack a smile, hoping that he wouldn’t end up in another dimension afterwards.

Tea felt shivers traveling up and down her spine, not being able to shake those glaring eyes out of her mind. The doors closed with a bang, and Bakura left back to the living room, disappearing behind the wall. Tea sat down on the chair Ryou offered her, and smiled politely at him.

“I’m sorry about that.” He mumbled apologetically, and she nodded understandingly.

“It’s okay.” She replied, and put the book down on the table. Ryou opened his notebook, and showed her the problems he couldn’t solve and things he didn’t understand. Tea smiled warmly, leaning down to explain to him how things worked, forgetting for a while that Bakura was even there.

Bakura was flipping the channels, feeling strangely nervous and confused suddenly. What was it? What was that girl doing to him? Since that time he saw her in the park, things had changed drastically.

What was going on?

He didn’t know why himself, but the presence of that girl was...disturbing. He growled in irritation silently, and turned the TV off. He threw the remote on the sofa, and leaned back into the cushions. He heard them, heard his hikari asking questions about some elements, and heard her soft voice, explaining it all to him.

He let out a snort, not comprehending what mortals of today were forced to know. Stupid things that they probably wouldn’t even need in their lives. All they needed to know was how to survive...That spineless hikari of his should’ve asked him about life, and he would have told him how to survive, how to live, what to know and what to understand. Instead of that, he was stuffing his brain with totally unnecessary facts...

He sighed, irritation becoming almost unbearable. It became silent, the voices died down, and he couldn’t hear anything anymore. What was going on, now? A strange pang of something he didn’t understand ran through his chest, and, acting on an impulse, he got up and silently approached the wall that separated living room from the kitchen. He peeked behind the wall, and his eyes narrowed. The girl was close to Ryou, leaning down to watch what he was scribbling on the piece of paper. She nodded silently, and he raised his head, smiling, satisfied with himself. The girl smiled back, and Bakura’s eyes narrowed again, a frown filling his expression.

What were they doing? That odd pang in his chest appeared again, and he lowered his eyes, shaking his head, and telling himself that it wasn’t worth his attention anyway.

He sat back on the sofa, turning the TV on again, getting ready to flip channels. The girl’s laughter was heard from the kitchen, and soon Ryou laughed as well. A strange feeling surged through Bakura, ending in the pit of his stomach, and his eyes widened, when he realized what that feeling was.

It was the same feeling he felt when he saw the Pharaoh, when he saw other people having more money, having more luck, living a better life than he was living. The same feeling that made him steal, that had turned him into what he was. But, somehow, that feeling was different back then – it was a hunger, a hunger to achieve more, to possess more, but this feeling, however, was different.

Bakura cursed the damn girl, when he realized that he was able to feel again, that she had managed to do something that woke up those well locked emotions, that she managed to crack his walls somehow, and that now he was starting to feel one certain emotion that was related to the feeling he swore he’d never feel again.

He was jealous.