Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Concrete Angel ❯ Concrete Angel ( One-Shot )

She walks to school with the lunch she packed,
Nobody knows what she's holdin' back,
Wearin' the same dress she wore yesterday,
She hides the bruises with linen and lace.

Groggily, an emerald-haired teen stumbled into the bathroom. Glancing at the mirror, she winced at the bluish-black bruises and scabbed over cuts on her face and neck. Pealing off her carrot-patterned blue pajamas, she gave them a once over. Apparently, I'd been bleeding during the night, she thought, inspecting the rust red stains on her night clothes. Heaving a sigh and wincing as pain shot through her chest, she tosses her clothes in the hamper and turned on a hot shower.

Once she'd washed off, the teen began to towel-dry her hair, preparing it for the one-time dye, and search for her colored contacts.

"Neesan!" a small voice cried out. "You're going to be late for school!"

"I'm on my way, Moku!"

Emerging from the bathroom, dressed in the long sleeved white turtle neck shirt, blue dress-pants and high-collared blue jacket uniform of their school, Seto Kaiba blinked rapidly to make sure the contacts that made her normally vivid yellow eyes an icy blue. On the bruises and some of the miner cuts, she'd placed on some make up that was the pale color of her skin to hide them. Bolting down the stairs, she grabbed the pre-made lunch, gave Mokuba a small kiss on the temple and ran out the door with a quick "aishiteru".

Hurrying to her bus stop, she gave a frustrated noise that was somewhere between a hiss, a growl, and a scream as she realized the bus had already passed and was turning the far corner to pick up more students. Too angry to think rationally, the mad teen hurried off in hopes of getting to school on time, ignoring the desperate cries of her body for rest.

The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask,
It's hard to see the pain behind the mask,
Bearing the burden of a secret storm,
Sometimes she wishes she was never born.

Winded and feeling like her chest was on fire, Seto managed to stumble into the classroom in the middle of the lesson. Wheezing a half-hearted excuse, she made her way to her char. Halfway to her desk, she tripped over someone's foot and managed to catch herself before she smacked her face into the floor and broke her nose. Managing to scramble to her desk, she clambered into her chair and kept her head down, not wanting to give the laughing class the satisfaction of seeing her face burn.

--

The teacher muttered under her breath and spoke sharply to the class, reminding them to get to work. Once the students had settled down enough, she went back to grading papers, but she couldn't get her mind off Kaiba's face. She'd seen a few large scabs and even a bruise that had been covered up poorly. Stealing a glance at the child, she noticed he was looking at something in his hand, icy blue eyes completely emotionless. Suddenly, he clenched his hand into a fist and returned to the assigned work.

--

Seto blinked as something smacked her in the temple. Blinking in confusion, she glanced at the floor and saw that it was a crumpled up piece of paper. With a quick look towards the teacher and finding her completely absorbed in the papers she was grading, Seto snatched up the paper and uncrumpled it.

You'd better watch yourself today, makeinu. We might not let you off as easily today as we did yesterday.

Seto continued to stare at the note in her hand for a few moments before making a fist, crumpling the paper once more. With her eyes and face still emotionless as always, she flicked that paper from her hand and returned to her work.

Damn them, she thought. Damn them all. Gods, I wish I'd never been born. No, scratch that, I wish my parents had never been born, therefore I wouldn't even have had a chance…

Through the wind and the rain,
She stands hard as a stone,
In a world that she can't rise above,
But her dreams give her wings,
And she flies to a place where she's loved,
Concrete angel.

The period had changed and now Seto was in her favorite class of all. Language. The reason she loved it so much, was because the teacher considered all the work they were supposed to be doing to be for grade shcoolers. Of course, the student did take tests, but everything was so easy that there was no daily work and barely any homework, so therefore the class had an off period where most students caught up on sleep, played games, or read.

Seto's eyes flickered across the pages of her favorite book. True the cover had nothing on it and the writing inside was very small, but it kept her entertained. Pausing for a second at a cheer from the group to her left, she peered out of the corner of her eyes and noted that two student were playing a game of Duel Monsters.

Yugi Motou and Joey Wheeler.

Seto rolled her eyes and returned to her book. Didn't those two ever stop playing? Not that she was against the game, but did it have to be so loud. After all, this was the only time she had to read her book. All the rest of her time was devoted to the company, schoolwork or Mokuba. Giving her head a small shake, she glanced at the next paragraph.

The Queen's argument was, that if something wasn't done about it in less than no time she'd have everybody executed all round.

Softly, she giggled, nervously glancing around to make sure no one heard her. Gently sighing, she wondered what it would be like to leave Japan. Just leave. Maybe then she'd find someone who'd actually give a damn about her. Closing her eyes, she imagined herself in the caring arms of another. Still with closed eyes, she thought about what this person would look like.

He would be tall… sweet… blond… have the most amazing chocolate brown eyes… In fact, he would be --

Seto shook her head furiously. No way. Not a chance in Hell, she thought.

Besides, she continued bitterly, he doesn't even know I'm a girl…

Somebody cries in the middle of the night,
The neighbors hear, but they turn out the lights,
A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate,
When morning comes it'll be too late.

Seto bit her lip to keep from screaming. It was late afternoon and she'd been jumped by a gang from school. Apparently, walking down the street they were on was an insult to them and she was now paying the price for it. After dragging her, literally kicking and screaming, to the darker part of an alley, the gang had started their "punishment".

Someone punched her in the gut.

She threw back her head and cried out, hoping that someone would go for her throat next, knocking her out or killing her or something that would release her from this pain. She felt someone kick her hard in the side and heard a loud crack. It was the fourth rib broken in less than three days. Whimpering pitifully, she clenched her eyes tightly together.

Why did no one help her? Could they not hear her pain filled screaming.

Someone stepped forward.

Cracking one eyes open, she barely had time to recognize the figure before something crashed into her temple, hard, rendering her unconscious.

Through the wind and the rain,
She stands hard as a stone,
In a world that she can't rise above,
But her dreams give her wings,
And she flies to a place where she's loved,
Concrete angel.

Joey Wheeler frowned, deep in thought. Something had been seriously wrong with Seto that day. He couldn't quite figure out what it was though. The American transfer student sighed and was about to cross the street when a loud screaming caught his ear. Quickly he turned in the direction of the screaming and took off, heedless of the danger.

As he turned into an alley, he was roughly shoved to the ground by one of the school's resident gangs.

"Watch it mutt, or else somethin' bad might just happen to ya," one of them sneered. Joey growled under his breath before scrambling deeper into the alley, ignoring the gang. Plunging deeper into the pathway, he noticed a coppery tang in the air that smelled very familiar.

Nearing where the smell and taste was strongest, Joey gasped and paled at the sight. Seto Kaiba was laying on the ground, bleeding from just about every part of his body and almost nowhere could be seen a patch of unbruised skin. Quickly, he kneeled by Seto and gently pulled him onto his back, wincing at the sight of all the blood on his body. After checking for a pulse and finding an extremely weak one, he fumbled in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a cell phone. Hurriedly, he called for an ambulance and gave where he was. After being assured that someone was on their way, Joey put away the phone and took Seto's hand in his own.

"C'mon, Kaiba, don't die on me. Don' you dare die."

Suddenly, he felt Seto's hand grasp his in a death grip and then his eyes snapped open. His mouth began to move rapidly, soft words escaping his lips. Joey leaned forward, concerned.

"Nani?! What are you saying?"

"T-ta….. ba…..!

"Nani? Onegaishimasu, tell me!"

"Ta-ake care…. kuba!"

"Do what?"

"T-ta-ake c-care of-f M-m-okuba…"

"A-ari-iga-ga-tou…"

"No problem."

Seto's grip relaxed slightly but quickly tightened again. "J-joey!"

"Nani?! Doushita?!"

"A-a…Aish… Aish-shi…" Seto fell limp.

The ambulance arrived one minute too late.

A statue stands in a shaded place,
An angel girl with an upturned face,
A name is written on a polished rock,
A broken heart that the world forgot.

Mokuba buried his face in Joey's sleeve, sobbing quietly. Two week after Seto's funeral had passed by and Joey was keeping true to his promise and making sure Mokuba was alright every day.

The blond sighed softly and gathered Mokuba in his arms, gently rocking him and letting him cry. Glancing first at the sky, he turned his eyes to Seto's grave and was very slightly amazed at how plain it looked. Just a headstone with her (Seto's real gender had been revealed at the funeral) name inscribed upon it, two fresh bouquets laying on the grave and a beautiful angel statue whose hands were clasped in a praying position while she looked towards the heavens.

Glancing back to the small child in his arms, he gave Mokuba a small hug. Gently the shijo pulled away and wiped his eyes.

"Are you ready?" Joey asked.

Mokuba nodded quietly, fiddling with the back bandana around his neck. After seeing Mokuba with that on for the first time, Joey knew the color would never change. Turing to the grave, he said softly, "Bai, Neesan. We'll be back tomorrow."

"Bai, Seto-chan," Joey murmured softly. "Aishiteru…"

Through the wind and the rain,
She stands hard as a stone,
In a world that she can't rise above,
But her dreams give her wings,
And she flies to a place where she's loved,
Concrete angel.

Seto smiled softly. Wrapped up in the arms of her blond koi, she felt the pain of being away from her jakutei a little more bearable.

Gently, her koi nuzzled her neck. "Aishiteru, Seto-chan."

"Aishiteru, Joey-kun."

*twitch* It's three am… I need sugar… *twitch*

Yami: Why did you start this so late at night?!

Angel: I thought it would only take about ten minutes when I started it at midnight…

Bakura (actually, is Yami `Kura, But I'm lezzy!): Actually, you started it at Eleven pm.

Angel: O________o …. No wonder I'm so tired… ~__~ Just vant to go to shleeeepp… zzz

Bakura: *growls; grabs the nearest blunt object and smack Angel over the head with it* WAKE UP!

Angel: *reflexively backhands Bakura when he smacks her*

Yami: *laughs*

Bakura (screw it - he's now Kura - I'm that lazy): *growls and clenches his fists*

Angel: *innocently* Hai…?

Kura: Just do those accursed translations and disclaimer already!

Angel: *sigh* Fine - translation time:

Neesan = Elder Sister

Aishiteru = I love you

Makeinu = underdog; loser

Nani = What

Onegaishimasu = please

Doushita = What's the matter?; What's wrong?

Shijo = child

Bai = Bye

Jakutei = young brother

-chan = sign of friendship

Angel: Happy?

Kura: Never! *gets thwapped*

Angel: Well, if that's the case, then you get to do the disclaimer! ^o~

Kura: What about that Pharaoh!

Angel: *glomps Yami* What about `im?

Kura: *grumble, grumble* Angel owns nothing mentioned. Well, she sorta owns femmy-Kaiba, but that's about it…

Angel: Yes… I am pathetic… But, on a note that doesn't make fun of me, if anyone can tell me where the paragraph that Seto reads is from (The Queen's argument was...) You'll get a cookie!

Kura and Yami: Cookie?

Angel: You two aren't eligible.

Kura and Yami: *whimper*

Angel: Kwaa.. *hands Yami a cookie* Here ya go. ^^

Kura: Wha' about me…?

Angel: Hmm… *rips off Kura's shirt ; stares for a bit, drooling; hands him a cookie* Dare ya go. ^^