Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / X/1999 Fan Fiction / Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Then came an angel ❯ Battle City Begins ( Chapter 18 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Sapadu 
Wherein I set out to prove that Samantha is NOT a Mary-Sue.
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / X/1999 Fan Fiction / Fruits Basket Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Thriller / Romance / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 09.25.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 6.2K | Visits: 173 | Status: Work In Progress
Wherein I set out to prove that Samantha is NOT a Mary-Sue.
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / X/1999 Fan Fiction / Fruits Basket Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Thriller / Romance / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 09.25.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 6.2K | Visits: 173 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 15
So... I just finished my driver's ed classes, so things aren't so bad as before. Now, I think I know where I want to go with this... Issue number one- Sammy's past. Things are gonna get interesting. And Miss Sunken Ship Girl, or whoever you are (Lusitania), you'll see HOW un-Mary Sue-ish Sammy really IS.
Tea sighed, wondered why she was doing this, and then went over to the gates of Kaibara High. School had just let out- Domino's school had no school because of the Battle City tournament- and Tea quickly found the girl from her visit to Bakura's house with brown hair and green eyes.
"Um... Hello... I'm Tea... You're Tohru, right? I'm really bad with names..." Tea asked, walking up to her. Tohru blinked and smiled.
"Ah, hai! Honda Tohru desu, hajimashite, Tea-san!" She said, bowing. (A/N: Don't you love how Tohru's so polite?) Tea blinked for a minute before going through a few polite small talk questions- how's school, are you doing fine, etc.- before she found herself at an awkward silence with a girl who she really didn't know.
"So... um... Tohru... you're in the same class as Sammy, right?" Tea finally asked, figuring that she wouldn't want Tohru to beat around the bush. Tohru blinked and nodded, looking confused.
"Hai, but Sapadu-san isn't in school for a while because she has an assignment from her job, so she's kind of busy..." Tohru replied. 'Damn.' Tea thought.
"Oh... Because I was sort of looking for her... I had a question about..." Tea dug in her backpack and found the book Yuzuriha had shown her, "This." Tohru looked delighted in seeing it.
"AH! The Solar's Star! You've read that book too? I enjoyed it! I hope you did, too- the plot was just so wonderful and the characters were amazing- I'd be very happy if you enjoyed that story to, Tea-san!" Tohru gushed, in her usual manner. Tea blinked, again.
"Actually, I didn't read it- a friend of mine did. But... there was something that was bothering me about how the whole story is told from the perspective of a girl called 'Samantha Ann Phastine.' I mean, doesn't it kind of freak YOU out that Sammy is the main character?" Tea asked, skimming the pages and looking back up at a very confused Tohru. The other brunette girl had her 'EEEEEH?' expression on her face.
"D-D-D-D-DEMO... Sapadu-san isn't anything like... that girl..." Tohru muttered, looking like she was concentrating with all her might on this puzzle. Tea sweatdropped.
'She really IS dense...' Tea thought to herself, disbelievingly. After a pregnant pause, Tea finally asked where Samantha WAS on this job of hers.
"Ah, over in a place called Domino City. There's someone over there who's been stealing people's souls." Tohru explained, looking more confident until Tea completely and utterly freaked out.
"WELL, COME ON! WE'VE GOT TO GET OVER THERE: IF SAMMY RUNS INTO THAT CREEP, SHE'LL GET HER SOUL STOLEN AND WE'LL NEVER SEE HER AGAIN!" Tea shouted, grabbing Tohru's arm. Uo-chan and Hana-chan followed, as did Yuki and Kyou, all four afraid that this strange girl might be abducting their Tohru.
********************
"SHE HAD AN AUTOMATIC RIFLE FIVE FEET LONG AND ONE FOOT WIDE! AND SHE WAS POINTING IT AT MY HEAD!" Joey shouted, his arms flapping as he panicked. Everyone was silent for a long time before Hanajima spoke.
"Oh my." She said, rather mildly. Tohru, Uo, Tea, Yuki, and Kyou looked like they agreed with her, much to Joey's displeasure.
*********************
"BAKURA-SAN!" Kendalina stood by and watched as Samantha literally jumped on the hapless Ryou Bakura. Said English boy flailed his arms for a moment before recovering his balance. Today, instead of a uniform or a sweater, Bakura was wearing a blue and white striped T-shirt under an unbuttoned aqua shirt and jeans, which was about the closest to "sloppy" Kendalina had ever seen the kiddo.
"Samantha, don't do that: The Ring's been complaining that whenever he wants to use my body for something, he can't turn his head as well as before." Bakura asked, massaging his neck, while Samantha frowned.
"So-o-o-o... because Ring-san is complaining, or because your neck hurts?" Samantha asked, in a tone that seemed to say 'I'm not doing the Ring any favors.'
"More because the Ring won't leave me alone about it." Bakura admitted, in an identical tone that seemed to mean 'So keep jumping on me; The Ring can suck it up.' Sammy grinned and jumped on Bakura again, which made him go red in the cheeks. Kendalina chuckled. Momiji was right: Bakura DID have a crush, and Samantha WAS oblivious, as usual.
That's when Sammy remembered her promise to take Bakura out clubbing and the fact that she'd neglected it.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAH! BAKURA-SAN, I FORGOT! I PROMISED I'D TAKE YOU WITH ME ON MY NEXT DAY OFF AND I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT IT! GOMEN NASAI!" Sammy shouted, jumping on Bakura again and almost strangling the life out of him, as well as making his face go five times redder. Kendalina chuckled.
Bakura took a moment to realize that, yes, Samantha HAD promised to take him out. The actual way she'd worded it still made him blush, but he realized that the arranged date had been Friday, last week, and now, it was Tuesday. The realization clicked.
"Oh... well... it's okay... I sort of forgot myself..." Bakura replied, sheepishly as Samantha clung tighter to his neck and almost making him choke. Sammy whimpered, her eyes going big and watery.
"So... *sniff*... you're not mad at me?" She asked, tears flowing from her big purple eyes and scaring Bakura, quite immeasurably. He nodded and patted Samantha's head, praying to God that any passer-by people didn't think HE was the cause for her crying.
Samantha stopped crying in a millisecond and shouted with glee, jumping onto Bakura for the fourth time that day in a big hug.
"YAY! BAKURA-SAN STILL LOVES ME!" Which, in turn, made said Bakura go a rather unattractive shade of magenta. Kendalina walked over to the two and tapped Sammy on the head. The vampire turned her attention onto Kendalina, with a big smile.
"Sammy... GET! A! ROOM!" She shouted, cupping her mouth with one hand, as Bakura started to sputter and quiver under Samantha's weight, "Or get off Bakura-kun- I think he's gonna have a stroke with that much blood rushing to his head." Samantha blinked, oblivious, before she looked at Bakura's crimson face and released her grip on his neck. Bakura gasped for air and fell to his knees.
"Maa, Kura-kun, are you in this tournament thing, too?" Kendalina asked, leaning down to see on an eye-to-bandaged eye level with Bakura, and pointing at the Duel Disk on his arm. Bakura blinked, once his eyesight had returned, and looked back down at the Disk, as though he had just remembered it was there. Then, he saw the Disk that Kendalina wore.
"Y-Yes... Yes, I am." Bakura answered, getting shakily to his feet, "Why? Did you want to duel?" He asked, eying the massive deck resting in the duel disk, apprehensively. Kendalina laughed.
"No, no. Kura-kun, if I dueled against you and won, then you'd have to go home and the future would be all screwed up. If you dueled me and won, I wouldn't get into the finals and I need to be for this mission. Neither of us can lose- Fate won't permit it." Kendalina said, dismissively, and when Bakura looked confused, she continued, "But I would be honored if you would duel WITH me against a tag team over there." Kendalina pointed to two boys, both with disks on their arms who were looking for a team to challenge.
Bakura looked Kendalina evenly in the eye and smiled.
"The pleasure would be all mine." He agreed, bowing deeply. Kendalina smiled and they both turned to the challenge.
(A/N: I shall attempt, now, to write a duel. Duels are impossible to write. Forgive me if this sucks.)
"Oi, you two looking for a team to duel against?" Kendalina called, putting her hands in her pockets as the two boys approached her and Bakura. They blinked, before assuming a properly aggressive stance.
"You bet we are. And we challenge you to a duel." One of the boys said, with a black crew cut that stuck up an inch from his head. The other one was short with green hair and an ASK shirt.
(A/N: My God, I'm writing the same corny lines you hear on the show...)
"Then we accept." Bakura answered, taking a step forward and balling his hands into fists. It almost made Samantha giggle to see the meek and timid Bakura so determined and assertive, were it not for the fact that she was glad to see him take decisive action.
All four duelists held up their arms as their duel disks slid into formation and the holographic sensors set themselves up.
"Let's duel!" The three boys said, but Kendalina was examining her nails. Bakura nudged her in the side with his elbow and the Jedi Princess raised her eyebrow.
"WHAT? YOU MEAN IT'S, LIKE, A RULE THAT YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT?" She asked, looking horrified. Bakura hid a smile as the other two made faces.
"Well, it's more of dueling courtesy- like when you play a card, you have to announce that you're playing a card face down or a monster in defense mode or something like that-it's just polite to do. Saying 'Let's Duel' signifies that you're ready with preparing your deck and so forth." Bakura explained, trying not to laugh the way Samantha was, rolling around on the ground and chuckling madly.
"Oh. Okay then, let's do this." Kendalina agreed, bringing her duel disk up to level so she could draw. The other players resumed their stance and did the same.
The black haired boy pulled a card from his hand.
"I'll start things off with this," He announced, putting a monster down on the field, and a rather disfigured, roly-poly clown appeared, in attack mode, "Ryu-Kishin Clown!" Kendalina made a face and Samantha laughed on the sidelines.
(Ryu-Kishin Clown: Atk/ 800 Def/ 500 Special Effect: When card is summoned, select one face up monster on the field and change its battle position.)
"Naa, Baka-kun, you should've played that when Kenda or Bakura-san had a monster on the field." Sammy called, which made the duelist snarl and shout back.
"LOOK, I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING, SO JUST SHUT UP!"
Samantha laughed even harder. Bakura and Kendalina sweatdropped.
"Well, if that's the end of your turn, I'll go." Bakura said, drawing a card from his deck, glancing at it, then placing it face down, "First, I'll play a card face-down. Then, I'll put Kotodama and Ceremonial Bell on the field, in defense mode." The hologram of an ugly green fairy and a huge, golden bell tower appeared on the field, "And because of Ceremonial Bell's special ability, you and I must both show each other our hands."
The other boy scowled, but walked toward Bakura and showed him the cards in his hand, as Bakura did the same.
(Kotodama: Atk/ 0 Def/ 1600 Special Effect: When face-up, monsters of the same name cannot exist on the field at the same time. If card is summoned, it is destroyed. If two are summoned at the same time, both are destroyed.)
(Ceremonial Bell: Atk/ 0 Def/ 1850 Special Effect: When face-up, opponent and player must show each other their hands to each other.)
After the two returned to their places, the other boy took his turn.
"I play Twin Long Rods #2 and Ojama Green, then sacrifice them both to summon Flame Champion!" He declared, placing a card on his duel disk, "Then, I play Fireyarou in attack mode." On the field, a girl with a flaming shield appeared, and next to her, a bandy legged impish creature with spiky red hair.
(Flame Champion: Atk/ 1900 Def/ 1300. Fireyarou: Atk/ 1300 Def/ 1000)
"And with my Flame Champion, I'll attack your Ceremonial Bell." The boy declared, pointing at Bakura's monster. The Flame Champion charged at the bell tower, but then Bakura flipped up his face-down card.
"Nice try, but I play Castle Walls!" Bakura declared, and Ceremonial Bell's defense points increased by 500, up to 2350, "And since your monster's attack points are now less than the defense points of my monster, you lose 450 life points." Bakura concluded, as the boy's life points lowered.
'Do these dopes even know how to play?' Kendalina thought in disgust as she watched the boy's stricken face. It was now her turn.
Kenda drew one card and found herself staring, in shock, at a Dark Magician.
'Where the fuck did Sammy get one of THESE?' She wondered, looking around, only to see her counterpart had disappeared. Kendalina frowned and swore to beat an answer out of Samantha when she found her, but for now, she stared at the other cards in her hand. It was pretty pathetic, to be honest. A Flame Manipulator, Ancient Elf, Jellyfish, Just Desserts, and Reinforcements.
Kendalina herself didn't know very well how to play this game, but she was excellent at poker, and even better at bluffing. She grinned, just in case her opponents were watching her face, and smugly placed her two trap cards face down, announcing this and playing Flame Manipulator and Jellyfish, face-up, in defense mode. The other two players made faces, except Bakura, who looked like he was refraining from dropping to his knees and begging God for mercy.
(Flame Manipulator: Atk/ 900 Def/ 1000. Jellyfish: Atk/ 1200 Def/ 1500.)
"Now, I'll sacrifice the Flame Manipulator to play Ancient Elf in his place."
(Ancient Elf: Atk/ 1450 Def/ 1200.)
"Then, I'll have Jellyfish attack the Ryu-Kishin Clown." Kenda pointed to the other boy's monster, who recoiled in utter horror as his monster was squished by a Jellyfish, "And now, I'll boost my Ancient Elf's power by 500 with a trap called Reinforcements, and attack the Fireyarou." Both duelist's life points decreased as their monsters were destroyed, leaving one with 3600 points and the other with 2900.
At this point, the other two boys panicked and tried to summon as many monsters as they could to stop themselves from a direct attack. Kendalina activated her Just Desserts and took 1500 life points from the first boy and 2000 from the other. Bakura then played Ookazi and the Man-Eater Bug, which quickly ended the duel.
(A/N: Yes, I deliberately made them stupid and horrible. Then again, that's the way most of the bad guys in the short stories of the manga are, with the exception of Evil!Bakura and Bastard!Kaiba. So... Yeah...)
Kendalina saw Samantha running back up to them. She'd changed into a pair of black stretch pants and a baggy, cream colored sweater that dropped to her knees, and her purse was swinging from her shoulder.
"KEN-DA-A-A! BAKU-RA-SA-A-A-AN!" She called, in a sing-song voice. Kendalina thwapped her upside the head as she came into range.
"SAMMY, DON'T YOU EVER RUN OFF LIKE THAT AGAIN! I'LL THINK YOUR DAD KIDNAPPED YOU AGAIN OR SOMETHING!" Kendalina shouted, half pissed off that Sammy had disappeared, but half relieved that it WASN'T the problem in question. Bakura's eyes went wide.
"WHAT?" He asked, looking panicked. Samantha took a breath in.
"Long story, little time, don't wanna explain." Was the brief summarization she gave, which reminded Kendalina of the Dark Magician. Quickly, she pulled it out and held it up to Sammy's nose.
"You never told me your sister had a Dark Magician in her deck!" Kendalina accused. Sammy blinked at her for a minute before replying.
"You never asked." Kendalina made a face, but Samantha interrupted, "And here I went to all the trouble of finding a decent pastry shop around here, and THIS is the thanks you give me? I even found a place for us all to eat, got my wallet so I could buy all of us pastries, and THEN, of all things, YOU go and SHOUT at me and wound my delicate feelings! Kendalina, how COULD you?" Samantha shouted back, putting a palm over her heart and her knuckles to her forehead, leaning back in a swooning type motion, to show how hurt, and insincere, she was.
"Sammy, if that's all it took to wound you, you wouldn't have made it through third grade." Kendalina said, unimpressed. Samantha ignored her counterpart and grabbed Bakura's elbow.
"Come on! The pastry shop I found has cream puffs and crepes!" She squealed in delight, dragging the British boy after her as she went off to find the said pastry shop. Kendalina chased after Samantha, swearing she would one day find a way to stop Sammy from manipulating her like that.
Having found the pastry shop and Samantha buying crepes for herself and Kendalina, and cream puffs for Bakura, they settled onto a bench to eat, because "They needed to keep their strength up" as Samantha had put it. When someone had attempted to steal their food, Samantha pulled out a rather nasty looking handgun and fired off about three rounds, scaring them away.
"Maa... Sammy... I thought you hated guns..." Kendalina said, eying the rather large shoulder-held missile launcher Samantha had butted up against her arm, "Ever since you got shot, you've hated firearms with a passion. So... why do you own such a large inventory of guns, now?" Kendalina asked. Samantha blinked, finished chewing on her crepe, and swallowed. Bakura looked between the two of them, sandwiched in the middle on the bench, but finding it safest not to react.
"Oh, these aren't mine. All the big guns, I'm borrowing from Mister K at N-G. A favor from one American to another." Sammy said, licking up some over flowing cream from the middle of her crepe. Kendalina blinked, thought it over for a second, and when she decided that made sense, turned back to the purple-eyed girl.
"And the handgun?" She questioned. Sammy chuckled, evilly, for a second.
"It's Hisoka's. I stole it from his desk at work." She replied, holding up and clicking the hammer, menacingly.
**********************
Meanwhile, back at JuOhChou...
"WHERE IS IT?!" Shouted an angry Kurosaki Hisoka, tearing apart his and Tsuzuki's office in search of his beloved handgun. Tsuzuki had run away to hide in Watari's lab, but even the hapless Kansai scientist had barricaded his door against the raging tsunami of Hisoka!wrath.
"I PUT IT IN MY DESK- SOMEONE MUST HAVE TAKEN IT, NOW WHO AND WHERE IS IT?!"
(As Matsushita-sensei would say "Hisoka's tired and crabby ^_^")
*********************
"He's gonna have your head for that, when we get back, you know..." Kendalina reminded Samantha, who looked like she honestly didn't give a damn. Sammy just grinned and popped her head clean off her shoulders.
"He can have it- I'm dead, anyway." Samantha's head said as her other hand looked for a link between the neck and the shoulders, guiding the hand holding Samantha's head back to her body.
"His name is 'Marik'? Let me think..." Up ahead, Bakura saw Yugi, Joey, and Mai holding conference with a boy... or was it a girl?... with blue hair, wearing a coral, knit skirt down to their ankles, a yellow, sleeveless, button-up silk shirt, and a pair of white gloves.
Then, Bakura spotted the half dome-shaped silvery crystal dangling from a chain around their neck. It was Ken.
"Ken-chan! You dyed your hair!" Samantha called, waving, and dragging Bakura over. Kendalina didn't need to be dragged, seeing her son with blue hair.
Ken's head whipped around, as though on a string, before he bowed, deeply.
"Bakura-senpai! Good afternoon!" Ken spoke in faltering Japanese, which made Samantha giggle. Kendalina was smirking down at her son.
"Aw... and you're wearing that outfit Saya and Yuma so lovingly designed for you... I wish I had a camera." Kendalina muttered, clasping her hands together and leaning her cheek against them. Ken stuck his tongue out at his mother.
"What were you saying about this Marik guy? Ya know 'im?" Joey butted in. Ken blinked at the blond once before shaking his head.
"No, but I was thinking if either my mom or Miss Ann were here, he'd be 'Maa-kun'." Ken explained. Joey made a face and Kendalina put her hand to her chin, as though deep in thought.
"Yeah... If his name is Marik, he WOULD be Maa-kun. Good thinking, Ken!" She finally said, grinning. Ken beamed under his mother's rare praise.
"Naa, Ken-chan, why are you out here, anyway?" Samantha asked, cocking her head to the side. Ken pulled out a piece of paper that looked like a fax.
"Job. The president of some company around here thinks someone might have put a curse on the building and wants an omnyouji to investigate." Ken explained as Kendalina bent to examine the fax. Sammy giggled.
"And why is your hair blue?" She added, covering her mouth with a snicker as Ken glared.
"Because someone put blue dye into my shampoo, THAT'S why!" He snapped, looking very ill tempered. Samantha faked a shocked expression and covered her mouth.
"Oh dear, who could have done THAT?" She wondered, and everyone could see that Samantha obviously knew WHO had done it.
"Sammy..." Kendalina started, in a tone that was more of a parent who was watching their child pretend their teddy bear was Winnie the Pooh. Samantha smiled, innocently.
"Meanwhile, Luke is wandering around the house waiting for the pink dye to wash out of HIS hair." Ken added in an accusing tone, to which Sammy paled and looked rather shocked.
"Oops... I guess Megami-chan and I got the shampoos mixed up..." She said, in a confused voice. Ken's face went red.
"Don't worry- They've been like this all day." Bakura whispered, as though to reassure his fellow English speaker. Ken offered his condolences as Tea rushed up, dragging along Tohru, Uo, Hana, and the two Sohmas. Seeing the whole crowd made Yugi sweatdrop, especially the way Kyou and Yuki were almost following Tohru around like bodyguards.
"Sapadu-san! Sapadu-san!" Tohru called, waving, as though she thought Samantha couldn't see her. Sammy waved back, but was actually reading over Kendalina's shoulder at what Ken's assignment was.
"Ooooh! Ken-chan, good luck!" Sammy said, looking highly amused at what she was reading. Ken raised an eyebrow at her and when everyone else looked at Samantha, she smiled, showing her fangs, and explained.
"N-G Production Studios, right? Last time I checked, Seguchi Tohma was president. Careful, Ken-chan: Seguchi-kacho can be an evil little bastard when he wants to be!" Samantha said, still smiling. Kendalina bopped Sammy on the head so that she fell off of Kendalina's shoulder and onto the ground, before she handed the fax back to a rather pale and ill-colored Ken.
"I'm... just... going to go... now..." Ken muttered, backing away and finally running.
"Thanks a lot, Sammy." Kendalina muttered, glaring at Samantha. Sammy didn't respond, but instead, just snickered, quite evilly. Everyone except Bakura, Kendalina, Tohru, Uo, and Hana backed up a step as they saw an evil glint appear in her eye.
"I've got to go see K-san tomorrow anyway and return the rifle. I doubt Kai-kun will be very willing to let us into the finals with a firearm like that. And I need to borrow a sniper rifle- it'll be better for threatening people with and not get caught." Samantha explained, getting to her feet. Tohru's hair stood on end as she let out a very panicked 'EEEEEEEHH?!" while everyone else paled, visibly.
"WAIT! YOU MEAN YOU'RE IN THIS TOURNAMENT THING, TOO?" Joey shouted, flailing his limbs and pointing at the two of them. Kendalina stretched her arms over her head and blinked, looking terribly like Kyoko-san, in Uo's opinion.
"Yeah. But it's official JuOhChou business- some guy's been stealing people's souls 'round here and we've gotta catch him and make him stop." She explained, in a tone as though this should have been obvious. Yugi gasped and his purple eyes went wide.
"You mean Marik?" He asked, shocked. Kendalina blinked at him, then turned to Sammy.
"Oi, Sammy- we've got a lead." She called. Samantha had her finger stuck in her ear, as though cleaning it out, and then stared at Kendalina.
...
"You mean you weren't aware of this before?" She asked, looking shocked as Kendalina's jaw dropped and she started to snarl at her current partner.
"YOU KNEW?! YOU KNEW THE WHOLE TIME WHO WAS DOING THIS?!" She shouted. Tohru held her hands up and tried to play peacemaker between the two, but Yuki stuck his arm out in front of her.
"Honda-san, it would be best if you don't get in Kendalina-san's way- She might just tear an arm off." He advised, as Kyou mimicked the gesture, too worried about Tohru to want to bicker with Yuki.
"I could have SWORN I'd told you... maybe it was Konoe-kachou, or maybe Tatsumi-san... I know I told SOMEBODY about it... But why did you think I said we couldn't beat any of the Ishtars up for their locater cards? Maa-kun is an Ishtar, one of the finalists, and if he wasn't in the finals, we wouldn't need to get there, would we?" Samantha looked puzzled for a moment, but continued explaining, still looking like she was concentrating on figuring out WHO she'd told. Everyone else looked like they'd just gotten off a vertigo-inducing whirl-a-gig ride. Yuki's head was wobbling, Joey's eyebrows were twitching, the teeth of Tohru, Kyou, and Tea could be heard chattering, Yugi's jaw was hanging open, and Bakura was looking distinctly green.
"Well, why don't we just beat him up before he gets to the finals? We could drag him to the ministry and question him there?" Kendalina suggested, as though Samantha had missed this obvious solution. Sammy shook her head.
"Can't. He isn't in town- all the souls, he's got a way of stealing them from a distance, so Maa-kun doesn't HAVE to be in Domino to steal them. He won't be showing up until the last minute. We won't have time." Sammy explained. Kendalina smacked her knee.
"Damn." She cursed, gritting her teeth. Uo snickered.
"I like her more and more every time I see her." She muttered, while Tohru stammered, her hair on end and her eyes wide. Joey was still looking confused.
"Wait... so you ARE or AREN'T in the Battle City tournament... I got lost..." He asked, making a face. Kendalina looked at him, her eyes half-lidded and her lower lip sticking out, slightly.
"Yes. BUT, I ain't fighting against you- According to Triclops, neither of us would be allowed to lose, or else we'd throw off the Future. I'm not superstitious by any means, but when Triclops has a dream that tells of the future, I like to mess with it as little as possible, or else, he gets headaches from all the different visions he has, and then I end up with NO idea of how the future might turn out." Kendalina explained, at which point a figurative light went on over Joey's head. Tea looked relieved that at last there was someone here who didn't buy into all this Fate crap.
"Besides," Kenda added, poking Joey's nose and sneering, "I don't wanna listen to you whine when I beat your sorry ass into the ground." Joey gave an indignant 'HEY!' as Mai burst out laughing.
"I LIKE the way you think..." She said, giggling and extending a hand. Kendalina smiled back.
"Kendalina Magami."
"Mai Valentine." The two women shook hands, quite amiably, and reminding Sammy of Megami-chan meeting Hokuto-chan.
"Kendalina-san's made a friend." Tohru said, in an observant tone. Yuki and Kyou looked disgusted at how damn CHEERFUL Tohru could be about a woman as morbid as Kendalina. Joey bent and whispered to Yugi,
"Yug, those aren't tattoos on her arm- they're burns." He whispered. Yugi looked sick for a moment, before Kendalina grinned, apparently having heard them.
"I did 'em myself, too! Makes you proud, don't it?" She said, proudly brandishing her arm.
"Kenda, you're special." Sammy praised, applauding and smiling the same way Tohru was. Everyone else looked a little frightened at this prospect.
"Strange..." Commented Hanajima, quietly. Kyou turned to her, a vein popping on his head.
"This from YOU..." The cat muttered.
**********************
"She'll like you." Kusanagi smiled down at the little keychain of a plush kitten in his hand. He'd stopped by a toy store on his way to the ice cream parlor he was at, waiting for her. She'd been so upset over Inuki dying, he figured that maybe she would be a bit happier now. He hadn't seen her in a few weeks since then.
(A/N: For the sake of timeline, this is after Yuzuriha gets her puppy Inuki in volume 15, but before Subaru goes in to see Hinoto, because Sei-chan isn't dead, godammitall.)
'I hope she's okay...' He thought to himself, thinking of how hurt she was when he'd found her, how much she cried when she woke up, how sad she seemed to go, and how much her face had lit up when he'd said he didn't mind if she saw him again.
Kusanagi hadn't been able to think of much except her since then. It had been hard to breathe when she might not be alive anymore, difficult to eat his meals, impossible to forget being able to participate in morning drills.
Maybe part of his anxiety was because she was so young. What, how young could she be? 14? 15? As compared to his 23... Kusanagi felt so guilty for liking her, let alone loving her, let ALONE her loving him back. And if she got hurt... the least he wanted to be able to do was make sure she lived to a healthier age. There was no reason for her to die in this whole mess- she was still just a kid.
So... if only because he was an adult, compared to her, he wanted to protect her.
"Kusanagi-san!" Kusanagi turned to look- there she was, 100% up to par, and with a little puppy in her arms. Kusanagi smiled. Hmm... where had he seen THAT puppy before?
"Heya, Missy. How're you doing?" He asked, smiling at her. She smiled back, looking absolutely overjoyed to see him, before she threw her arms around his waist and squeezed.
"I'm fine. I'm just so happy to see you're alright, Kusanagi-san..." She replied, almost crying into his shirt. Kusanagi put a hand on her back and the other on her head: Strange how she had been worried about him too...
Kusanagi was almost humiliated to admit that he didn't even know her name.
"And this pup you've got with you?" He asked, pulling away and bending, putting his hands on his knees to see the puppy eye to eye. The dog yipped and licked his face as she giggled.
"His name is Inuki." She said, absolutely glowing with a smile. Kusanagi couldn't help but keep smiling back. He'd thought so.
"Just like the first one... He's just as cute. And I'll bet he's every bit as special, too." He agreed, silently adding 'Just like you.' She seemed to hear it, anyway, because she beamed even brighter.
"So, shall we? Today's flavor is Strawberry Cheesecake." Kusanagi pointed to the sign overhead and put a hand on her shoulder- he felt like a pervert for even touching her at all, but considering how many contacts SHE'D initiated, he supposed a hand on the shoulder shouldn't be something to be ashamed of. She smiled and bounced toward the counter.
The two found themselves outside on a bench with waffle cones of the flavor of the day, but she'd opted to get sprinkles on hers, whereas Kusanagi had his plain. It wasn't the ice cream, though. He really couldn't have cared if he was hungry or not- She was leaning against him, one hand stroking the Inuki puppy's head, and her eyes following the birds that were flying to the ground where someone had dropped crumbs.
That's all that mattered. That's all that ever mattered.
*******************
A/N: Wow! I actually gave Kusanagi a *le gasp* personality!
*******************
"Ano, Sapadu-san..." Tohru had been following Samantha the whole day after that. Uo and Hana decided to go home when Kyou had wanted to pick a fight with the Yankee, but the two Sohma boys stayed dutifully at Tohru's side. Samantha was leading everyone to a place nearby that she knew made good pizza before she and Kendalina retired to the inn Tatsumi had booked for them.
"Mmm?" Sammy called over her shoulder, looking at something in a directory. Tohru rummaged in her bag for something before pulling out her copy of "The Solar's Star."
"I was... um... Tea-san asked me, today... about... this book... and it sort of made me curious..." Tohru strode to catch up with Sammy, who glanced back, saw the cover, and her face lit up.
"OOOOH! So you liked it, then?" She asked, before turning away and putting her eyes back on the directory, "Good! I'll tell her- She'll be happy to hear her work is enjoyed." Samantha didn't give details, though Kendalina knew far too well. The Jedi Princess didn't say anything, though, but lit up a cigarette and started smoking it.
"She? You mean the author? You know her?" Yuki asked, looking honestly curious, as opposed to just surprised. Samantha didn't turn, but she did answer.
"Mizumi Sapadu. Yep!" She said, smiling, though no one saw it. Bakura raised an eyebrow at her.
"'Sapadu'? Is that where your nickname comes from?" He asked, looking amazed. Samantha let out a very Ayame-ish laugh, which made Yuki and Kyou cringe.
"Oh, no no no! It's just that 'Sapadu' was the closest Japanese sounding equivalent to 'Samantha' I could think of so the '-chan's, '-san's, and '-kun's wouldn't sound ridiculous." Sammy explained, waving her hands. Yuki's jaw dropped open.
'That SOUNDS like something Nii-san would say...' He thought, getting ready to grab Tohru and run if he felt it necessary.
"Good ol' American grammar sense kicking in, hah, Sammy?" Kendalina asked, chewing on the butt of her cigarette before dropping it to the ground and stamping it out with her heel. Samantha laughed her Ayame laugh again.
"If it don't sound right, then it ain't! HA HA HA HA HA!" Sammy explained, raising a fist. Both Yuki and Kyou grabbed Tohru's arms, and started to pull her away.
"A-A-Ano... Sapadu-san... That is... Tea-san was wondering... She'd said that Yuzuriha-san had told her that Kamui-san had been curious... If maybe... the girl in this book..." Tohru stammered, and Samantha froze in her steps, "If maybe... you knew her... because your name is the same... and you look like the pictures..." Samantha didn't reply, but stiffened, "Maybe... did your parents name you after the character, or if it was an accident, or..." Tohru continued, almost in a panicky tone. Nobody saw the expression on Samantha's face as she answered.
"Sore wa..."
For a moment, it seemed like she was thinking over her answer, before she turned, smiling and winking.
"HIMITSU DA!"
Everyone except Kendalina fell over.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Bwa-ha-ha-ha! I'm not telling you guys when the book was published! So *sticks tongue out* nyah!
So... I just finished my driver's ed classes, so things aren't so bad as before. Now, I think I know where I want to go with this... Issue number one- Sammy's past. Things are gonna get interesting. And Miss Sunken Ship Girl, or whoever you are (Lusitania), you'll see HOW un-Mary Sue-ish Sammy really IS.
Tea sighed, wondered why she was doing this, and then went over to the gates of Kaibara High. School had just let out- Domino's school had no school because of the Battle City tournament- and Tea quickly found the girl from her visit to Bakura's house with brown hair and green eyes.
"Um... Hello... I'm Tea... You're Tohru, right? I'm really bad with names..." Tea asked, walking up to her. Tohru blinked and smiled.
"Ah, hai! Honda Tohru desu, hajimashite, Tea-san!" She said, bowing. (A/N: Don't you love how Tohru's so polite?) Tea blinked for a minute before going through a few polite small talk questions- how's school, are you doing fine, etc.- before she found herself at an awkward silence with a girl who she really didn't know.
"So... um... Tohru... you're in the same class as Sammy, right?" Tea finally asked, figuring that she wouldn't want Tohru to beat around the bush. Tohru blinked and nodded, looking confused.
"Hai, but Sapadu-san isn't in school for a while because she has an assignment from her job, so she's kind of busy..." Tohru replied. 'Damn.' Tea thought.
"Oh... Because I was sort of looking for her... I had a question about..." Tea dug in her backpack and found the book Yuzuriha had shown her, "This." Tohru looked delighted in seeing it.
"AH! The Solar's Star! You've read that book too? I enjoyed it! I hope you did, too- the plot was just so wonderful and the characters were amazing- I'd be very happy if you enjoyed that story to, Tea-san!" Tohru gushed, in her usual manner. Tea blinked, again.
"Actually, I didn't read it- a friend of mine did. But... there was something that was bothering me about how the whole story is told from the perspective of a girl called 'Samantha Ann Phastine.' I mean, doesn't it kind of freak YOU out that Sammy is the main character?" Tea asked, skimming the pages and looking back up at a very confused Tohru. The other brunette girl had her 'EEEEEH?' expression on her face.
"D-D-D-D-DEMO... Sapadu-san isn't anything like... that girl..." Tohru muttered, looking like she was concentrating with all her might on this puzzle. Tea sweatdropped.
'She really IS dense...' Tea thought to herself, disbelievingly. After a pregnant pause, Tea finally asked where Samantha WAS on this job of hers.
"Ah, over in a place called Domino City. There's someone over there who's been stealing people's souls." Tohru explained, looking more confident until Tea completely and utterly freaked out.
"WELL, COME ON! WE'VE GOT TO GET OVER THERE: IF SAMMY RUNS INTO THAT CREEP, SHE'LL GET HER SOUL STOLEN AND WE'LL NEVER SEE HER AGAIN!" Tea shouted, grabbing Tohru's arm. Uo-chan and Hana-chan followed, as did Yuki and Kyou, all four afraid that this strange girl might be abducting their Tohru.
********************
"SHE HAD AN AUTOMATIC RIFLE FIVE FEET LONG AND ONE FOOT WIDE! AND SHE WAS POINTING IT AT MY HEAD!" Joey shouted, his arms flapping as he panicked. Everyone was silent for a long time before Hanajima spoke.
"Oh my." She said, rather mildly. Tohru, Uo, Tea, Yuki, and Kyou looked like they agreed with her, much to Joey's displeasure.
*********************
"BAKURA-SAN!" Kendalina stood by and watched as Samantha literally jumped on the hapless Ryou Bakura. Said English boy flailed his arms for a moment before recovering his balance. Today, instead of a uniform or a sweater, Bakura was wearing a blue and white striped T-shirt under an unbuttoned aqua shirt and jeans, which was about the closest to "sloppy" Kendalina had ever seen the kiddo.
"Samantha, don't do that: The Ring's been complaining that whenever he wants to use my body for something, he can't turn his head as well as before." Bakura asked, massaging his neck, while Samantha frowned.
"So-o-o-o... because Ring-san is complaining, or because your neck hurts?" Samantha asked, in a tone that seemed to say 'I'm not doing the Ring any favors.'
"More because the Ring won't leave me alone about it." Bakura admitted, in an identical tone that seemed to mean 'So keep jumping on me; The Ring can suck it up.' Sammy grinned and jumped on Bakura again, which made him go red in the cheeks. Kendalina chuckled. Momiji was right: Bakura DID have a crush, and Samantha WAS oblivious, as usual.
That's when Sammy remembered her promise to take Bakura out clubbing and the fact that she'd neglected it.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAH! BAKURA-SAN, I FORGOT! I PROMISED I'D TAKE YOU WITH ME ON MY NEXT DAY OFF AND I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT IT! GOMEN NASAI!" Sammy shouted, jumping on Bakura again and almost strangling the life out of him, as well as making his face go five times redder. Kendalina chuckled.
Bakura took a moment to realize that, yes, Samantha HAD promised to take him out. The actual way she'd worded it still made him blush, but he realized that the arranged date had been Friday, last week, and now, it was Tuesday. The realization clicked.
"Oh... well... it's okay... I sort of forgot myself..." Bakura replied, sheepishly as Samantha clung tighter to his neck and almost making him choke. Sammy whimpered, her eyes going big and watery.
"So... *sniff*... you're not mad at me?" She asked, tears flowing from her big purple eyes and scaring Bakura, quite immeasurably. He nodded and patted Samantha's head, praying to God that any passer-by people didn't think HE was the cause for her crying.
Samantha stopped crying in a millisecond and shouted with glee, jumping onto Bakura for the fourth time that day in a big hug.
"YAY! BAKURA-SAN STILL LOVES ME!" Which, in turn, made said Bakura go a rather unattractive shade of magenta. Kendalina walked over to the two and tapped Sammy on the head. The vampire turned her attention onto Kendalina, with a big smile.
"Sammy... GET! A! ROOM!" She shouted, cupping her mouth with one hand, as Bakura started to sputter and quiver under Samantha's weight, "Or get off Bakura-kun- I think he's gonna have a stroke with that much blood rushing to his head." Samantha blinked, oblivious, before she looked at Bakura's crimson face and released her grip on his neck. Bakura gasped for air and fell to his knees.
"Maa, Kura-kun, are you in this tournament thing, too?" Kendalina asked, leaning down to see on an eye-to-bandaged eye level with Bakura, and pointing at the Duel Disk on his arm. Bakura blinked, once his eyesight had returned, and looked back down at the Disk, as though he had just remembered it was there. Then, he saw the Disk that Kendalina wore.
"Y-Yes... Yes, I am." Bakura answered, getting shakily to his feet, "Why? Did you want to duel?" He asked, eying the massive deck resting in the duel disk, apprehensively. Kendalina laughed.
"No, no. Kura-kun, if I dueled against you and won, then you'd have to go home and the future would be all screwed up. If you dueled me and won, I wouldn't get into the finals and I need to be for this mission. Neither of us can lose- Fate won't permit it." Kendalina said, dismissively, and when Bakura looked confused, she continued, "But I would be honored if you would duel WITH me against a tag team over there." Kendalina pointed to two boys, both with disks on their arms who were looking for a team to challenge.
Bakura looked Kendalina evenly in the eye and smiled.
"The pleasure would be all mine." He agreed, bowing deeply. Kendalina smiled and they both turned to the challenge.
(A/N: I shall attempt, now, to write a duel. Duels are impossible to write. Forgive me if this sucks.)
"Oi, you two looking for a team to duel against?" Kendalina called, putting her hands in her pockets as the two boys approached her and Bakura. They blinked, before assuming a properly aggressive stance.
"You bet we are. And we challenge you to a duel." One of the boys said, with a black crew cut that stuck up an inch from his head. The other one was short with green hair and an ASK shirt.
(A/N: My God, I'm writing the same corny lines you hear on the show...)
"Then we accept." Bakura answered, taking a step forward and balling his hands into fists. It almost made Samantha giggle to see the meek and timid Bakura so determined and assertive, were it not for the fact that she was glad to see him take decisive action.
All four duelists held up their arms as their duel disks slid into formation and the holographic sensors set themselves up.
"Let's duel!" The three boys said, but Kendalina was examining her nails. Bakura nudged her in the side with his elbow and the Jedi Princess raised her eyebrow.
"WHAT? YOU MEAN IT'S, LIKE, A RULE THAT YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT?" She asked, looking horrified. Bakura hid a smile as the other two made faces.
"Well, it's more of dueling courtesy- like when you play a card, you have to announce that you're playing a card face down or a monster in defense mode or something like that-it's just polite to do. Saying 'Let's Duel' signifies that you're ready with preparing your deck and so forth." Bakura explained, trying not to laugh the way Samantha was, rolling around on the ground and chuckling madly.
"Oh. Okay then, let's do this." Kendalina agreed, bringing her duel disk up to level so she could draw. The other players resumed their stance and did the same.
The black haired boy pulled a card from his hand.
"I'll start things off with this," He announced, putting a monster down on the field, and a rather disfigured, roly-poly clown appeared, in attack mode, "Ryu-Kishin Clown!" Kendalina made a face and Samantha laughed on the sidelines.
(Ryu-Kishin Clown: Atk/ 800 Def/ 500 Special Effect: When card is summoned, select one face up monster on the field and change its battle position.)
"Naa, Baka-kun, you should've played that when Kenda or Bakura-san had a monster on the field." Sammy called, which made the duelist snarl and shout back.
"LOOK, I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING, SO JUST SHUT UP!"
Samantha laughed even harder. Bakura and Kendalina sweatdropped.
"Well, if that's the end of your turn, I'll go." Bakura said, drawing a card from his deck, glancing at it, then placing it face down, "First, I'll play a card face-down. Then, I'll put Kotodama and Ceremonial Bell on the field, in defense mode." The hologram of an ugly green fairy and a huge, golden bell tower appeared on the field, "And because of Ceremonial Bell's special ability, you and I must both show each other our hands."
The other boy scowled, but walked toward Bakura and showed him the cards in his hand, as Bakura did the same.
(Kotodama: Atk/ 0 Def/ 1600 Special Effect: When face-up, monsters of the same name cannot exist on the field at the same time. If card is summoned, it is destroyed. If two are summoned at the same time, both are destroyed.)
(Ceremonial Bell: Atk/ 0 Def/ 1850 Special Effect: When face-up, opponent and player must show each other their hands to each other.)
After the two returned to their places, the other boy took his turn.
"I play Twin Long Rods #2 and Ojama Green, then sacrifice them both to summon Flame Champion!" He declared, placing a card on his duel disk, "Then, I play Fireyarou in attack mode." On the field, a girl with a flaming shield appeared, and next to her, a bandy legged impish creature with spiky red hair.
(Flame Champion: Atk/ 1900 Def/ 1300. Fireyarou: Atk/ 1300 Def/ 1000)
"And with my Flame Champion, I'll attack your Ceremonial Bell." The boy declared, pointing at Bakura's monster. The Flame Champion charged at the bell tower, but then Bakura flipped up his face-down card.
"Nice try, but I play Castle Walls!" Bakura declared, and Ceremonial Bell's defense points increased by 500, up to 2350, "And since your monster's attack points are now less than the defense points of my monster, you lose 450 life points." Bakura concluded, as the boy's life points lowered.
'Do these dopes even know how to play?' Kendalina thought in disgust as she watched the boy's stricken face. It was now her turn.
Kenda drew one card and found herself staring, in shock, at a Dark Magician.
'Where the fuck did Sammy get one of THESE?' She wondered, looking around, only to see her counterpart had disappeared. Kendalina frowned and swore to beat an answer out of Samantha when she found her, but for now, she stared at the other cards in her hand. It was pretty pathetic, to be honest. A Flame Manipulator, Ancient Elf, Jellyfish, Just Desserts, and Reinforcements.
Kendalina herself didn't know very well how to play this game, but she was excellent at poker, and even better at bluffing. She grinned, just in case her opponents were watching her face, and smugly placed her two trap cards face down, announcing this and playing Flame Manipulator and Jellyfish, face-up, in defense mode. The other two players made faces, except Bakura, who looked like he was refraining from dropping to his knees and begging God for mercy.
(Flame Manipulator: Atk/ 900 Def/ 1000. Jellyfish: Atk/ 1200 Def/ 1500.)
"Now, I'll sacrifice the Flame Manipulator to play Ancient Elf in his place."
(Ancient Elf: Atk/ 1450 Def/ 1200.)
"Then, I'll have Jellyfish attack the Ryu-Kishin Clown." Kenda pointed to the other boy's monster, who recoiled in utter horror as his monster was squished by a Jellyfish, "And now, I'll boost my Ancient Elf's power by 500 with a trap called Reinforcements, and attack the Fireyarou." Both duelist's life points decreased as their monsters were destroyed, leaving one with 3600 points and the other with 2900.
At this point, the other two boys panicked and tried to summon as many monsters as they could to stop themselves from a direct attack. Kendalina activated her Just Desserts and took 1500 life points from the first boy and 2000 from the other. Bakura then played Ookazi and the Man-Eater Bug, which quickly ended the duel.
(A/N: Yes, I deliberately made them stupid and horrible. Then again, that's the way most of the bad guys in the short stories of the manga are, with the exception of Evil!Bakura and Bastard!Kaiba. So... Yeah...)
Kendalina saw Samantha running back up to them. She'd changed into a pair of black stretch pants and a baggy, cream colored sweater that dropped to her knees, and her purse was swinging from her shoulder.
"KEN-DA-A-A! BAKU-RA-SA-A-A-AN!" She called, in a sing-song voice. Kendalina thwapped her upside the head as she came into range.
"SAMMY, DON'T YOU EVER RUN OFF LIKE THAT AGAIN! I'LL THINK YOUR DAD KIDNAPPED YOU AGAIN OR SOMETHING!" Kendalina shouted, half pissed off that Sammy had disappeared, but half relieved that it WASN'T the problem in question. Bakura's eyes went wide.
"WHAT?" He asked, looking panicked. Samantha took a breath in.
"Long story, little time, don't wanna explain." Was the brief summarization she gave, which reminded Kendalina of the Dark Magician. Quickly, she pulled it out and held it up to Sammy's nose.
"You never told me your sister had a Dark Magician in her deck!" Kendalina accused. Sammy blinked at her for a minute before replying.
"You never asked." Kendalina made a face, but Samantha interrupted, "And here I went to all the trouble of finding a decent pastry shop around here, and THIS is the thanks you give me? I even found a place for us all to eat, got my wallet so I could buy all of us pastries, and THEN, of all things, YOU go and SHOUT at me and wound my delicate feelings! Kendalina, how COULD you?" Samantha shouted back, putting a palm over her heart and her knuckles to her forehead, leaning back in a swooning type motion, to show how hurt, and insincere, she was.
"Sammy, if that's all it took to wound you, you wouldn't have made it through third grade." Kendalina said, unimpressed. Samantha ignored her counterpart and grabbed Bakura's elbow.
"Come on! The pastry shop I found has cream puffs and crepes!" She squealed in delight, dragging the British boy after her as she went off to find the said pastry shop. Kendalina chased after Samantha, swearing she would one day find a way to stop Sammy from manipulating her like that.
Having found the pastry shop and Samantha buying crepes for herself and Kendalina, and cream puffs for Bakura, they settled onto a bench to eat, because "They needed to keep their strength up" as Samantha had put it. When someone had attempted to steal their food, Samantha pulled out a rather nasty looking handgun and fired off about three rounds, scaring them away.
"Maa... Sammy... I thought you hated guns..." Kendalina said, eying the rather large shoulder-held missile launcher Samantha had butted up against her arm, "Ever since you got shot, you've hated firearms with a passion. So... why do you own such a large inventory of guns, now?" Kendalina asked. Samantha blinked, finished chewing on her crepe, and swallowed. Bakura looked between the two of them, sandwiched in the middle on the bench, but finding it safest not to react.
"Oh, these aren't mine. All the big guns, I'm borrowing from Mister K at N-G. A favor from one American to another." Sammy said, licking up some over flowing cream from the middle of her crepe. Kendalina blinked, thought it over for a second, and when she decided that made sense, turned back to the purple-eyed girl.
"And the handgun?" She questioned. Sammy chuckled, evilly, for a second.
"It's Hisoka's. I stole it from his desk at work." She replied, holding up and clicking the hammer, menacingly.
**********************
Meanwhile, back at JuOhChou...
"WHERE IS IT?!" Shouted an angry Kurosaki Hisoka, tearing apart his and Tsuzuki's office in search of his beloved handgun. Tsuzuki had run away to hide in Watari's lab, but even the hapless Kansai scientist had barricaded his door against the raging tsunami of Hisoka!wrath.
"I PUT IT IN MY DESK- SOMEONE MUST HAVE TAKEN IT, NOW WHO AND WHERE IS IT?!"
(As Matsushita-sensei would say "Hisoka's tired and crabby ^_^")
*********************
"He's gonna have your head for that, when we get back, you know..." Kendalina reminded Samantha, who looked like she honestly didn't give a damn. Sammy just grinned and popped her head clean off her shoulders.
"He can have it- I'm dead, anyway." Samantha's head said as her other hand looked for a link between the neck and the shoulders, guiding the hand holding Samantha's head back to her body.
"His name is 'Marik'? Let me think..." Up ahead, Bakura saw Yugi, Joey, and Mai holding conference with a boy... or was it a girl?... with blue hair, wearing a coral, knit skirt down to their ankles, a yellow, sleeveless, button-up silk shirt, and a pair of white gloves.
Then, Bakura spotted the half dome-shaped silvery crystal dangling from a chain around their neck. It was Ken.
"Ken-chan! You dyed your hair!" Samantha called, waving, and dragging Bakura over. Kendalina didn't need to be dragged, seeing her son with blue hair.
Ken's head whipped around, as though on a string, before he bowed, deeply.
"Bakura-senpai! Good afternoon!" Ken spoke in faltering Japanese, which made Samantha giggle. Kendalina was smirking down at her son.
"Aw... and you're wearing that outfit Saya and Yuma so lovingly designed for you... I wish I had a camera." Kendalina muttered, clasping her hands together and leaning her cheek against them. Ken stuck his tongue out at his mother.
"What were you saying about this Marik guy? Ya know 'im?" Joey butted in. Ken blinked at the blond once before shaking his head.
"No, but I was thinking if either my mom or Miss Ann were here, he'd be 'Maa-kun'." Ken explained. Joey made a face and Kendalina put her hand to her chin, as though deep in thought.
"Yeah... If his name is Marik, he WOULD be Maa-kun. Good thinking, Ken!" She finally said, grinning. Ken beamed under his mother's rare praise.
"Naa, Ken-chan, why are you out here, anyway?" Samantha asked, cocking her head to the side. Ken pulled out a piece of paper that looked like a fax.
"Job. The president of some company around here thinks someone might have put a curse on the building and wants an omnyouji to investigate." Ken explained as Kendalina bent to examine the fax. Sammy giggled.
"And why is your hair blue?" She added, covering her mouth with a snicker as Ken glared.
"Because someone put blue dye into my shampoo, THAT'S why!" He snapped, looking very ill tempered. Samantha faked a shocked expression and covered her mouth.
"Oh dear, who could have done THAT?" She wondered, and everyone could see that Samantha obviously knew WHO had done it.
"Sammy..." Kendalina started, in a tone that was more of a parent who was watching their child pretend their teddy bear was Winnie the Pooh. Samantha smiled, innocently.
"Meanwhile, Luke is wandering around the house waiting for the pink dye to wash out of HIS hair." Ken added in an accusing tone, to which Sammy paled and looked rather shocked.
"Oops... I guess Megami-chan and I got the shampoos mixed up..." She said, in a confused voice. Ken's face went red.
"Don't worry- They've been like this all day." Bakura whispered, as though to reassure his fellow English speaker. Ken offered his condolences as Tea rushed up, dragging along Tohru, Uo, Hana, and the two Sohmas. Seeing the whole crowd made Yugi sweatdrop, especially the way Kyou and Yuki were almost following Tohru around like bodyguards.
"Sapadu-san! Sapadu-san!" Tohru called, waving, as though she thought Samantha couldn't see her. Sammy waved back, but was actually reading over Kendalina's shoulder at what Ken's assignment was.
"Ooooh! Ken-chan, good luck!" Sammy said, looking highly amused at what she was reading. Ken raised an eyebrow at her and when everyone else looked at Samantha, she smiled, showing her fangs, and explained.
"N-G Production Studios, right? Last time I checked, Seguchi Tohma was president. Careful, Ken-chan: Seguchi-kacho can be an evil little bastard when he wants to be!" Samantha said, still smiling. Kendalina bopped Sammy on the head so that she fell off of Kendalina's shoulder and onto the ground, before she handed the fax back to a rather pale and ill-colored Ken.
"I'm... just... going to go... now..." Ken muttered, backing away and finally running.
"Thanks a lot, Sammy." Kendalina muttered, glaring at Samantha. Sammy didn't respond, but instead, just snickered, quite evilly. Everyone except Bakura, Kendalina, Tohru, Uo, and Hana backed up a step as they saw an evil glint appear in her eye.
"I've got to go see K-san tomorrow anyway and return the rifle. I doubt Kai-kun will be very willing to let us into the finals with a firearm like that. And I need to borrow a sniper rifle- it'll be better for threatening people with and not get caught." Samantha explained, getting to her feet. Tohru's hair stood on end as she let out a very panicked 'EEEEEEEHH?!" while everyone else paled, visibly.
"WAIT! YOU MEAN YOU'RE IN THIS TOURNAMENT THING, TOO?" Joey shouted, flailing his limbs and pointing at the two of them. Kendalina stretched her arms over her head and blinked, looking terribly like Kyoko-san, in Uo's opinion.
"Yeah. But it's official JuOhChou business- some guy's been stealing people's souls 'round here and we've gotta catch him and make him stop." She explained, in a tone as though this should have been obvious. Yugi gasped and his purple eyes went wide.
"You mean Marik?" He asked, shocked. Kendalina blinked at him, then turned to Sammy.
"Oi, Sammy- we've got a lead." She called. Samantha had her finger stuck in her ear, as though cleaning it out, and then stared at Kendalina.
...
"You mean you weren't aware of this before?" She asked, looking shocked as Kendalina's jaw dropped and she started to snarl at her current partner.
"YOU KNEW?! YOU KNEW THE WHOLE TIME WHO WAS DOING THIS?!" She shouted. Tohru held her hands up and tried to play peacemaker between the two, but Yuki stuck his arm out in front of her.
"Honda-san, it would be best if you don't get in Kendalina-san's way- She might just tear an arm off." He advised, as Kyou mimicked the gesture, too worried about Tohru to want to bicker with Yuki.
"I could have SWORN I'd told you... maybe it was Konoe-kachou, or maybe Tatsumi-san... I know I told SOMEBODY about it... But why did you think I said we couldn't beat any of the Ishtars up for their locater cards? Maa-kun is an Ishtar, one of the finalists, and if he wasn't in the finals, we wouldn't need to get there, would we?" Samantha looked puzzled for a moment, but continued explaining, still looking like she was concentrating on figuring out WHO she'd told. Everyone else looked like they'd just gotten off a vertigo-inducing whirl-a-gig ride. Yuki's head was wobbling, Joey's eyebrows were twitching, the teeth of Tohru, Kyou, and Tea could be heard chattering, Yugi's jaw was hanging open, and Bakura was looking distinctly green.
"Well, why don't we just beat him up before he gets to the finals? We could drag him to the ministry and question him there?" Kendalina suggested, as though Samantha had missed this obvious solution. Sammy shook her head.
"Can't. He isn't in town- all the souls, he's got a way of stealing them from a distance, so Maa-kun doesn't HAVE to be in Domino to steal them. He won't be showing up until the last minute. We won't have time." Sammy explained. Kendalina smacked her knee.
"Damn." She cursed, gritting her teeth. Uo snickered.
"I like her more and more every time I see her." She muttered, while Tohru stammered, her hair on end and her eyes wide. Joey was still looking confused.
"Wait... so you ARE or AREN'T in the Battle City tournament... I got lost..." He asked, making a face. Kendalina looked at him, her eyes half-lidded and her lower lip sticking out, slightly.
"Yes. BUT, I ain't fighting against you- According to Triclops, neither of us would be allowed to lose, or else we'd throw off the Future. I'm not superstitious by any means, but when Triclops has a dream that tells of the future, I like to mess with it as little as possible, or else, he gets headaches from all the different visions he has, and then I end up with NO idea of how the future might turn out." Kendalina explained, at which point a figurative light went on over Joey's head. Tea looked relieved that at last there was someone here who didn't buy into all this Fate crap.
"Besides," Kenda added, poking Joey's nose and sneering, "I don't wanna listen to you whine when I beat your sorry ass into the ground." Joey gave an indignant 'HEY!' as Mai burst out laughing.
"I LIKE the way you think..." She said, giggling and extending a hand. Kendalina smiled back.
"Kendalina Magami."
"Mai Valentine." The two women shook hands, quite amiably, and reminding Sammy of Megami-chan meeting Hokuto-chan.
"Kendalina-san's made a friend." Tohru said, in an observant tone. Yuki and Kyou looked disgusted at how damn CHEERFUL Tohru could be about a woman as morbid as Kendalina. Joey bent and whispered to Yugi,
"Yug, those aren't tattoos on her arm- they're burns." He whispered. Yugi looked sick for a moment, before Kendalina grinned, apparently having heard them.
"I did 'em myself, too! Makes you proud, don't it?" She said, proudly brandishing her arm.
"Kenda, you're special." Sammy praised, applauding and smiling the same way Tohru was. Everyone else looked a little frightened at this prospect.
"Strange..." Commented Hanajima, quietly. Kyou turned to her, a vein popping on his head.
"This from YOU..." The cat muttered.
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"She'll like you." Kusanagi smiled down at the little keychain of a plush kitten in his hand. He'd stopped by a toy store on his way to the ice cream parlor he was at, waiting for her. She'd been so upset over Inuki dying, he figured that maybe she would be a bit happier now. He hadn't seen her in a few weeks since then.
(A/N: For the sake of timeline, this is after Yuzuriha gets her puppy Inuki in volume 15, but before Subaru goes in to see Hinoto, because Sei-chan isn't dead, godammitall.)
'I hope she's okay...' He thought to himself, thinking of how hurt she was when he'd found her, how much she cried when she woke up, how sad she seemed to go, and how much her face had lit up when he'd said he didn't mind if she saw him again.
Kusanagi hadn't been able to think of much except her since then. It had been hard to breathe when she might not be alive anymore, difficult to eat his meals, impossible to forget being able to participate in morning drills.
Maybe part of his anxiety was because she was so young. What, how young could she be? 14? 15? As compared to his 23... Kusanagi felt so guilty for liking her, let alone loving her, let ALONE her loving him back. And if she got hurt... the least he wanted to be able to do was make sure she lived to a healthier age. There was no reason for her to die in this whole mess- she was still just a kid.
So... if only because he was an adult, compared to her, he wanted to protect her.
"Kusanagi-san!" Kusanagi turned to look- there she was, 100% up to par, and with a little puppy in her arms. Kusanagi smiled. Hmm... where had he seen THAT puppy before?
"Heya, Missy. How're you doing?" He asked, smiling at her. She smiled back, looking absolutely overjoyed to see him, before she threw her arms around his waist and squeezed.
"I'm fine. I'm just so happy to see you're alright, Kusanagi-san..." She replied, almost crying into his shirt. Kusanagi put a hand on her back and the other on her head: Strange how she had been worried about him too...
Kusanagi was almost humiliated to admit that he didn't even know her name.
"And this pup you've got with you?" He asked, pulling away and bending, putting his hands on his knees to see the puppy eye to eye. The dog yipped and licked his face as she giggled.
"His name is Inuki." She said, absolutely glowing with a smile. Kusanagi couldn't help but keep smiling back. He'd thought so.
"Just like the first one... He's just as cute. And I'll bet he's every bit as special, too." He agreed, silently adding 'Just like you.' She seemed to hear it, anyway, because she beamed even brighter.
"So, shall we? Today's flavor is Strawberry Cheesecake." Kusanagi pointed to the sign overhead and put a hand on her shoulder- he felt like a pervert for even touching her at all, but considering how many contacts SHE'D initiated, he supposed a hand on the shoulder shouldn't be something to be ashamed of. She smiled and bounced toward the counter.
The two found themselves outside on a bench with waffle cones of the flavor of the day, but she'd opted to get sprinkles on hers, whereas Kusanagi had his plain. It wasn't the ice cream, though. He really couldn't have cared if he was hungry or not- She was leaning against him, one hand stroking the Inuki puppy's head, and her eyes following the birds that were flying to the ground where someone had dropped crumbs.
That's all that mattered. That's all that ever mattered.
*******************
A/N: Wow! I actually gave Kusanagi a *le gasp* personality!
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"Ano, Sapadu-san..." Tohru had been following Samantha the whole day after that. Uo and Hana decided to go home when Kyou had wanted to pick a fight with the Yankee, but the two Sohma boys stayed dutifully at Tohru's side. Samantha was leading everyone to a place nearby that she knew made good pizza before she and Kendalina retired to the inn Tatsumi had booked for them.
"Mmm?" Sammy called over her shoulder, looking at something in a directory. Tohru rummaged in her bag for something before pulling out her copy of "The Solar's Star."
"I was... um... Tea-san asked me, today... about... this book... and it sort of made me curious..." Tohru strode to catch up with Sammy, who glanced back, saw the cover, and her face lit up.
"OOOOH! So you liked it, then?" She asked, before turning away and putting her eyes back on the directory, "Good! I'll tell her- She'll be happy to hear her work is enjoyed." Samantha didn't give details, though Kendalina knew far too well. The Jedi Princess didn't say anything, though, but lit up a cigarette and started smoking it.
"She? You mean the author? You know her?" Yuki asked, looking honestly curious, as opposed to just surprised. Samantha didn't turn, but she did answer.
"Mizumi Sapadu. Yep!" She said, smiling, though no one saw it. Bakura raised an eyebrow at her.
"'Sapadu'? Is that where your nickname comes from?" He asked, looking amazed. Samantha let out a very Ayame-ish laugh, which made Yuki and Kyou cringe.
"Oh, no no no! It's just that 'Sapadu' was the closest Japanese sounding equivalent to 'Samantha' I could think of so the '-chan's, '-san's, and '-kun's wouldn't sound ridiculous." Sammy explained, waving her hands. Yuki's jaw dropped open.
'That SOUNDS like something Nii-san would say...' He thought, getting ready to grab Tohru and run if he felt it necessary.
"Good ol' American grammar sense kicking in, hah, Sammy?" Kendalina asked, chewing on the butt of her cigarette before dropping it to the ground and stamping it out with her heel. Samantha laughed her Ayame laugh again.
"If it don't sound right, then it ain't! HA HA HA HA HA!" Sammy explained, raising a fist. Both Yuki and Kyou grabbed Tohru's arms, and started to pull her away.
"A-A-Ano... Sapadu-san... That is... Tea-san was wondering... She'd said that Yuzuriha-san had told her that Kamui-san had been curious... If maybe... the girl in this book..." Tohru stammered, and Samantha froze in her steps, "If maybe... you knew her... because your name is the same... and you look like the pictures..." Samantha didn't reply, but stiffened, "Maybe... did your parents name you after the character, or if it was an accident, or..." Tohru continued, almost in a panicky tone. Nobody saw the expression on Samantha's face as she answered.
"Sore wa..."
For a moment, it seemed like she was thinking over her answer, before she turned, smiling and winking.
"HIMITSU DA!"
Everyone except Kendalina fell over.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Bwa-ha-ha-ha! I'm not telling you guys when the book was published! So *sticks tongue out* nyah!