InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Luck of the Draw ❯ Second Chances ( Chapter 2 )

Kagome woke suddenly, a gasp caught in her throat as she lurched from her bed. Every instinct in her body came to life all at once, drawing her violently from sleep that had already been difficult to attain. For a brief moment, she was in the feudal era again, waking to yet another attack on their camp under the cover of darkness.

Eyes wide, a flicker of purification danced over her fingertips, dimly illuminating the room. It took another several seconds for her to remember where she was. The patter of her heart slowed as she came back to herself enough to give the room a proper once over.

There was nothing. The room was empty.

There was no one there. She was alone.

Kagome dragged her hand over her face with a groan. Her palm came back wet, slick with the cold sweat that coated her skin and she grimaced. A glance at the clock showed that it had only gone a little past midnight. While the late hour relieved her of any guilt in hogging the bathroom for a shower, her nerves still didn’t allow her to linger very long. Her hair was still damp when she padded out into the hallway, deciding that sleep was too elusive to chase in that instant and hoping a cup of tea might lure it back.

Souta’s door, adjacent to hers, creaked open. She froze and whirled to look at him with such a start that even he jumped a bit. “Sis?”

“It’s nothing,” Kagome replied, the instinct to disregard her own state of being lest she be a burden a habit yet broken. She bit her lip when Souta only stared, clearly not believing her, and straightened with a shake of her head. “Let’s go find the kitchen.”

Souta followed alongside her without argument. He was quiet, though she was keenly aware of the way his eyes lingered on her. The kitchen was mercifully –albeit unsurprisingly- empty when they slipped in. He dragged a chair over to a little table that was likely for paperwork or some form of prep work and looked at her knowingly. “Was it the dreams again?”

“No,” Kagome mumbled, “not that one, anyway.”

Souta pursed his lips and leaned forward, elbows on the table. She felt that little stirring of guilt again, realizing just how much he’d paid attention to her when she hadn’t even known what was going on in his life.

“I thought I sensed something,” she admitted. “Nothing was there when I woke up but, everything around here just feels…wrong.”

“You mean those creeps in the robes from before,” Souta grumbled, not really asking, “Mokuba said that one guy with the tattoos was their boss. Marik?”

Kagome remembered. Nothing about that introduction had sat right with her. The man that had claimed the identity had been tall, tan skin contrasted by a string of tattoos that lined the side of his face – imposing, certainly, but the look to his eyes hadn’t been one of cruelty. “Yeah, but-“

“Souta? Kagome?” Mokuba’s voice echoed from the hall just before he popped his head around the door. “What are you guys doing in here?”

Souta offered a wry grin and lifted his mug in answer. “Couldn’t sleep. I guess that’s why you’re here too?”

Mokuba’s grimace was answer enough.

“Why don’t you join us then? Here,” Kagome set the mug she’d intended to borrow in front of him instead. “I’ll make you some too.”

Mokuba blinked at the offer, looking between her and the mug before leaning back into his chair to watch her curiously. He looked so baffled that it made Kagome’s heart ache. Beneath the confusion, there was a glint of suspicion in his eyes, this boy no older than her brother, that made her wonder just what he’d lived through. She remembered those looks all too well, of a soul used to mistreatment and far too unaccustomed to consideration or affection. She’d seen it far too many times on the other side of the well, in Jinenji, in Shiori, in Inuyasha.

Just as she had with them, she wondered when he’d last gotten to actually be a kid in a manner other than his years, or if he ever had that chance at all. Then his expression gave way to a glint of mischief that pulled at an entirely different heartstring.

“Just so you know,” he drawled, “there’s marshmallows in the bottom cabinet.”

Kagome hid the pang of nostalgia tightened her throat with a grin as she knelt to rummage through the stock of coffee and teas for the less than subtle request. The kitchen door swung open just as she popped her head up over the counter, and an annoyed looking -not that he looked any different from before- Kaiba stalked in.

“Just what,” he ground out, “is going on in here? Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“Oh, hey Seto. Look,” Mokuba held up his mug with a grin. “We couldn’t sleep, so Kagome made us cocoa.”

Kaiba took a seat beside Mokuba with a grunt. “And feeding you sugar is meant to help the issue?”

“When the issue is morale,” Kagome mumbled, pretending not to realize that the statement had been meant for her in the first place.

“C’mon, Souta.” Mokuba stood with a grin and tilted his head towards the door. “We can hang out in my room.”

Souta looked surprised for a moment before a grin split his face. Kagome arched a brow, only getting a moment to wonder what mischief they could be up to before the pair bolted from the room. Kaiba stared after the two, looking just as bewildered before pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh. 

“Here,” she set a mug down in front of him, a tired smile tugging at her lips. “You look like you need it.”

He gave her a look, the expression an odd blend of suspicious, begrudgingly impressed, and insulted. She knew that look. After all, Inuyasha had given her plenty of those looks when she'd brought him food or invited him to eat with them in the beginning. This man wasn’t too different in that sense – all bravado and a callous display of disinterest. He was more restrained, tactical in a quieter way, but just as guarded.

After a stretch of silence, he finally took a slow sip. As Kagome puttered about the kitchen, cleaning up the remainder of the mess, she pretended not to notice the way he watched her. 

“You know we have staff for that, right?” he said eventually.

“Yeah, and this place was clean when they left it.” Kagome shrugged, leaning back against the counter to glance at him as she finished drying a mug. “I’m not going to give them more work when I’m perfectly capable of washing a few dishes.”

Kaiba leaned back in his chair, openly looking her over. “How did someone like you end up involved in my tournament?”

“It's not like I’m competing. Personally, I don’t really get the big deal about this whole card game, to be honest.” Kagome paused to set a spoon in the drainboard, expression softening a little. “But Souta enjoys it.”

Kaiba only offered a grunt of acknowledgement. He looked away from her when she turned to face him, dishes done, but something about him struck Kagome as a bit softer. She didn’t have to wonder very hard on where his mind had gone. She had a little brother too, after all. There was no question that he loved his brother and Mokuba clearly adored him. They clearly adored each other.

“We do what we have to, to keep them safe and happy, right?” She couldn’t help the way the corners of her lips tugged upward.

Kaiba glanced at her once before standing with a huff. “Get to bed, Higurashi. The first round of duels starts straight after breakfast.”

Her smile only widened. “Good night to you too, Kaiba-kun.” 

The door slammed shut. Kagome giggled.

The cup he left behind was empty.

---

Seto Kaiba was at a loss.

It was scarcely half after five in the morning. Sunrise was still some time away, never mind breakfast. The dining room was sizeable enough to make up for the lack of his usual office space. Typically, the early hour would have been the perfect time to attempt to get work done or finalize the layout of his deck before a duel. He should have had hours yet of peace and quiet before the rest of the world woke to bother him.

And what did he walk into instead? The increasingly odd pair of his brother and that Souta boy gushing like children over one Kagome Higurashi -who had clearly invaded his kitchen again- as the girl set out a spread of tea and western styled breakfast foods. Pancakes, judging by the excited chatter. 

As it turned out, there was nothing typical about the Higurashi siblings. And somehow, they were still the most mundanely normal of the crowd that had made it to the finals. Then again, perhaps he had grown too used to Yugi’s little group.

‘Did they even sleep at all?’ For a moment, he could not decide whether to demand an explanation or simply turn around and retreat to his room before they noticed him. Before he could finish chastising himself for the thought of fleeing on his own airship , Mokuba noticed his presence and made the decision for him, waving him in with the same excitement as he had the night before.

Thankfully, they had the sense to lower the volume when he settled in at the opposite end of the table to work.

Higurashi, to her credit, also had the sense not to intrude. He’d been prepared for it when she approached, ready to ward off the aggressive demands of friendship and comradery that he’d come to expect from Yugi or Mazaki, but the girl only flashed him a smile, a mumble of ‘morning’, and set down a cup of tea before leaving him to his devices. He gave her a wary glance, but she wasn’t even looking his way, too distracted with doting on the duo at the other end of the table.

It was unnervingly domestic, all things considered. The homey sight seemed decidedly out of place given the nature of the tournament he’d set out for them, more so with the participants of it.

Whether he believed in Yugi’s nonsense about the heart of the cards or not, he’d seen firsthand what sorcery those Millennium artifacts were capable of. He’d seen it long before Yugi ever came into his life to upend it. He’d known from the moment he’d first been introduced to Maximillian Pegasus. His gaze drifted to Mokuba with a sudden need to see the life in him as he recalled the soulless eyes that had stared through him back at Duelist Kingdom.

With a grunt, Kaiba returned his attention to his laptop, eager for something to focus on. Duelist Kingdom was a long time ago. It was over. He had a tournament here and now to worry about.

It wasn’t until they’d spread out a collection of Duel Monster cards that he paid them any mind again. The boy seemed competent at least -his invitation to the tournament at all was proof enough of that- but the girl was almost hilariously clueless. He supposed she’d admitted as much, but even Mazaki knew how the game worked. Their chatter of strategy and monster types droned quietly in the background, an almost comforting white noise. Then he stepped out for only a minute to retrieve a printout and by the time he’d gotten back they had gotten onto the topic of what their favorites were. That would have been fine, just more chatter blended into the background, if the pair hadn’t decided that the girl needed to have one too.

Kaiba barely spared a second to glance over the edge of the report he’d been skimming. “Does she even know how to play?”

“Not a clue!” Higurashi chirped, not even bothering to look up from the tea pot she’d likely stolen from the kitchen. “The monsters are kind of cool, but I don’t really know the difference between them." 

“Come on, Sis,” Souta groaned, “you got to pick something. ”

“Ok, fine,” she leaned over, barely giving the cards strewn across the table a cursory glance. “Then I like this one!” 
 
Finally looking up from his paper to glance at her choice, Kaiba arched a brow. “Do you even know what type that is?”

“You know I don’t,” she replied, far too cheerful of her ignorance. “Who cares? It’s pretty!”

“Pretty,” he echoed, uncertain whether to be flabbergasted or offended. After a moment, he leaned back into his chair to look down his nose at her as he crossed his arms. “You really don’t have a clue.” 

“Well, okay then Mr. Expert,” she waved a hand at the table, still covered with the cards their siblings had been going over. “You’re supposed to be the best, right? Then you must be good enough to teach me the basics since it means that much to you.”

Kaiba arched a brow. “And why would I waste my time-“

“Ohh, so you’re not really an expert,” she interrupted, eyes twinkling with a mischief that he should have been used to from Mokuba. 

He clenched his fist beneath the table. “That is hardly what I-“

“It’s okay,” she continued with a grin, “I won’t tell anyone.”

With a scowl, Kaiba snapped his laptop shut. “Alright, Higurashi.” 

She looked a little surprised at that, her grin fading away with a blink as he strode around the table to stand beside her. His hand swept over the cards laid out in front of her, seamlessly shuffling them into a stack more resembling an actual deck.

“You want to learn Duel Monsters?” he leaned over her shoulder, spreading the cards back out properly. “Study closely.”

Higurashi wasn’t a terrible student, all things considered, if a very disinterested one. She was sharp enough and caught on fairly quickly for a crash course, but very obviously not nearly as invested as the circles he’d grown accustomed to. Not for the first time, he paused to scowl at her. “Are you even paying attention?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m listening,” she mumbled unconvincingly, “but this all sounds seriously overcomplicated for a card game. You make it look so easy.”

“That’s hardly a surprise,” Kaiba scoffed. He was the best, after all, despite Yugi’s fluke win that had set in motion his biggest corporate headache to date. That was all about to come to an end though. He stood with a grunt, eager to be done with this most unusual waste of his time when he had a tournament to oversee. But he never had been able to refuse Mokuba.

Kaiba looked back at her only to see her still leaning over the table, looking over the cards thoughtfully, but no less lost than before. He exhaled through his nose, wondering once more what the point of this whim of Mokuba’s was as he reached for his coat. “Do you at least understand enough to pick a card for those two now?”

“I don’t know. I still kind of like the fairy but-“ her breath hitched suddenly.

When she didn’t continue, he turned to look at her and blinked. She had been annoyingly cheerful and unbothered all morning, but now her expression had shifted entirely. She looked as if she had seen a ghost. The color had all but drained from her face and her eyes were open wide, staring down at something in the midst of the cards scattered in front of her.

Seeing nothing unusual, Kaiba furrowed his brow. “What’s your-“

“This one,” she finally breathed out, her fingers trembling as she reached for a card. She swallowed thickly, clearly straining not to cry -for which he was actually quite grateful- judging by the little tears that welled in the corners of her eyes. “This one is my favorite.”

She closed her eyes and held it close for a moment before setting it down just as gingerly as she’d picked it up. Then she promptly stood from her chair, mumbled a quiet ‘excuse me’, and hastily retreated from the room. Kaiba stared after her, baffled. After a moment, he looked back down at the table, curious to see which card was responsible for the strange reaction.

When he saw which one sat atop the pile, he blinked. ‘Fox Fire?’  

---

Souta Higurashi was the first to be eliminated. It was nothing if not expected. The boy had the misfortune of drawing Yugi for his first match of the quarterfinals. Of course he’d never stood a chance, but he’d played better than Kaiba had expected. Higurashi stood on the sidelines beside him and Mokuba the whole time, watching a bit more attentively than he’d seen her do during previous duels.

He didn’t miss the looks from Yugi’s little group, however, nor the way they whispered between themselves while not so subtly pointing at the girl. Higurashi didn’t notice, too focused on cheering for her brother’s doomed match. She seemed particularly stunned when the boy’s rare card had come into play with the declaration that this was also his particular favorite – The High Priestess of Prophecy.

It was almost a shame. That boy had at least earned his place in the tournament, certainly much more than Jonouchi - whoever had allowed that to happen would certainly be looking for a new job once this was over. The kid could probably have made it to the finals if his first opponent had been anyone else, aside from himself, of course. The boy took the loss graciously and Yugi -the soft touch that he was- was pleased enough with the duel that he refused to claim the boy’s rare card.

Kaiba idly wondered if this was the only game Yugi had played in which his life hadn’t been on the line since their first match so long ago. If the research he’d done after that miserable event was to be believed, it had likely been even longer and Yugi’s hit count was nearly as high as his own.

When Souta came down from the platform, he expected Higurashi to join them when the boy ran off with Mokuba. When he returned from opening the next duel between Jonouchi and the man who’d called himself ‘Marik’, he was surprised to find her waiting for him. This time, she looked oddly unsettled.

It turned out, Higurashi was more perceptive than he gave her credit for.

The duel that followed, in a stark contrast to the almost wholesome match between Yugi and Souta, was a disaster. Jonouchi never should have been involved in the first place, but his luck held out, right up to the point that the Winged Dragon of Ra was brought to the field. Higurashi stiffened beside him and he chanced a glance down at her.

She didn’t look frightened per se, but she did look visibly stunned.

Then she scowled and he watched her expression harden. Kaiba blinked, the change to her so sudden that it startled him. He didn’t think this girl knew how to make such a face. She looked suddenly alert, on guard and analytical in a way that he wouldn’t have expected from the cheerful disinterest she’d worn just that morning. The God monster screeched, a flash of light blinded their view of the platform, and Kaiba almost flinched when Higurashi shrieked.

When he looked up again, Jonouchi and the imposter had fallen.

“Higurashi!” Kaiba swore as she bolted and he only narrowly caught her around the waist before she could climb onto the platform. “Don’t interfere!”

She turned to glare at him, her hands trembling even as her fingers curled into fists, ready to fight him. “But-!”

Yugi’s group rushed over then, insisting he end the match. He was loathe to give the mutt any more unearned chances to advance in this tournament, but he offered the win to whichever of them stood first, if only to hush the incessant whining. For all intents and purposes, he should have disqualified the imposter on the falsification of his identity alone. Higurashi stomped away from him to cross her arms with a huff, clearly displeased.

Well, he was used to that. Seto Kaiba wasn’t in the business of going out of his way to make everyone happy.

One of their group -the transfer student from England, if he recalled- broke off from the others to approach Higurashi, but Kaiba’s attention remained firmly on the pair of duelists yet to rise. He heard the boy say something to her, likely asking after her health just like any of Yugi’s little group, and he was sure that would be the end of whatever attachment she had with him. A girl like Higurashi was much more suited for Yugi’s little geek squad and their lectures of friendship.

The fake Marik stumbled to one knee. The mutt followed, a bit more unsteadily.

Higurashi dove into his side, distracting him from the spectacle. He turned a scowl on her, ready to shake her away when he felt the way her hands trembled. Kaiba blinked. Now she looked frightened. He glanced over to see the transfer student -Ryou Bakura, he finally remembered- looking just as dumbfounded. With an exasperated sigh and a roll of the eyes, Kaiba removed her from his arm and shoved her to his other side just as Jonouchi staggered to his feet and the imposter collapsed.

The commotion that followed was not unexpected.  

Judging by the shouts of anger and betrayal their little friend ‘Namu’ had met them so conveniently, he was surprised they hadn’t figured it out sooner. Even Higurashi had seemed skeptical at the introductions. Now she stood, shoulders squared, practically staring death at the real ‘Marik’ as if she hadn’t just dived into him of all people for protection. Laughably, she held an arm in front of him as Marik strode past, close enough that Kaiba felt the way she tensed when the man paused to look at her. 

“Interesting new toy you’ve got there, Kaiba,” Marik chuckled, a grin playing at his lips.

Kaiba narrowed his eyes, but it was Higurashi who straightened, ready to fight. With a scowl, she took a step forward and practically hissed at the man. “Back off, demon.”

Marik looked surprised before his grin returned, eyes wild as he turned to leave, manic laughter echoing in his wake.

Kaiba waited until the sound faded inside before announcing they would break for lunch. Then, before Yugi and his group could swarm them, he grabbed Higurashi by the arm and practically hauled her in. “What the hell was that, Higurashi?”

“Demons,” she wrenched from his grip with a hiss to throw her hands in the air. “I thought this place felt off, but demons?!”

“Higurashi,” Kaiba nearly dragged a hand over his face in frustration, but opted to scowl at her. “Did you hit your head trying to scale that platform?!” 

“You knew, didn't you? How couldn’t you know?” she spun on him, pointing up at him accusingly. “This is your tournament, isn’t it?!” 

“That’s right, Higurashi,” he replied, narrowing his eyes at her in warning. “This is my tournament.” 

“Well, you’ve done a real good job keeping people safe during it, haven’t you?!” she threw her hands to her sides with a shriek of anger that he wasn’t entirely expecting. Then she spun on her heel and stalked away from him, muttering what sounded like ‘should have brought the damn bow’ and something about a well. 

Finally alone, Kaiba dragged a hand over his face with a sound of frustration. When the quiet mutters of what was surely Yugi’s little group threatened his solitude, he stalked off in the opposite direction to take refuge in his room. Lunch came and went, with Mokuba nervously reporting that none of them had really eaten, the medical situation with the imposter -apparently Rishid Istar, family that Isis Istar had conveniently left out- was tentative at best and nobody was really ready to continue yet, save for Marik. 

He didn’t see Higurashi again until that evening. 

He was already in a foul mood when she showed up at his door. They were already well behind schedule, with the next quarterfinal matches having been pushed back to this point, now past dinnertime. He’d nearly ripped the door off the hinges at the first knock, ready to tear into whoever had brought him yet another distraction. When he saw it was her, he’d paused, offering a scowl instead. “What is it now, Higurashi?” 

“Hey, Kaiba-kun,” she rasped and took an unsteady step through his door.  

He frowned but the demand for her to get out hesitated in his throat as she turned to look at him, her eyes just as glazed as her gait was uneven. For a moment, he wondered if she’d been drinking. Then he saw the growing patch of red where she clutched at her midsection. 

The corners of her lips tugged upwards in a weary, halfhearted grin. “Your security still sucks.”

His eyes barely had the time to widen before she crumpled to the floor.