Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Haima ❯ Chapter 14: Stairs to Heaven ( Chapter 14 )

Title: Haima
Author: Nekocin
Anime: Yu-gi-oh
Genres: slight Drama, slight Angst, slight... Action?, slight Suspense
Warnings: OOC, slight disturbing torture?, possible cliché ~_~
Rated: R at the end, BEWARE!
Disclaimer: Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will. So bow down to the creator!
Author's notes: Okay, here's chapter 14. Chapter 15 might get a bit delayed since chapter 16 isn't quite done yet :sweatdrops:. I hope everyone's questions are answered at the end of this page. Believe me, the responses are long. I'd planned on revising the chapters from chapter 14 till the end, since these chapters were a bit off; not of my taste. But alas... I didn't succeed. :hangs head:

Chapter 14: Stairs to Heaven

12:00

Someone in a white coat stood in front of officer Ryuuji's bed. A report card in his arm, a pen between his fingers, a pair of glasses perched on his nose and a stethoscope round the back of his neck.

"How are you feeling, Ryuuji-san?" The name on his coat blinked: Dr. Ogata J.

Otogi looked up sleepily at the doctor. Was it already time for the check-up? The doctor poked on his injured leg and waited for some reaction.

"Oh, hi sensei. I'm quite fine, but at the moment a bit sleepy" Otogi explained as he rubbed his eyes a few times. He felt tired indeed and couldn't keep his eyes properly open.

The doctor's appearance in front of him was blurred and the room sort of swirled.

"I see..." A secretive smile appeared. "You've taken in your medicine quite properly, Ryuuji-san. It's to be expected..." the rest of the words trailed off, leaving a mysterious gap behind.

Ogata-sensei headed for the door and... locked it.

Click.

Otogi wasn't even thinking straight as he watched the wavy figure approaching him. "Is there something wrong?"

And then he blacked out.

12:20 PM

Agent Ishtar stood outside the hearing room and absently started to pace in front of the door. Yami hadn't had much luck talking to that guy even if they'd known each other in the past.

He took on himself to complete the job immediately before he loses his temper. that damn Mariku was getting under his skin already. He could faintly see his partner, agent Mutou and Jounouchi-san's sister watching him worriedly, while standing by the sides. Neither of them had approached him and asking what's wrong.

"I'm going in" he muttered firmly and stopped pacing. He had to get this over with.

"Are you sure, agent Ishtar?" Yugi asked worriedly as he took a step forward.

"I've to do this" Malik smiled faintly and looked at Yugi with an unreadable look on his face.

"Don't let him get you" Shizuka uttered warmly. Malik sent her an unreadable look too.

"Actually... he's already got me" And his lips twitched into an awkward smile.

Both Yugi and Shizuka looked confused. "Huh?"
Agent Ishtar stepped into the hearing room and closed the door behind him.

Mariku was sitting comfortably stretched out on a chair across the the agent's position. The bored-looking Mariku glanced up at whoever come in.

"Good morning" Agent Ishtar greeted darkly as his heart sped quicker in anticipation.

"Aa, it's you" Mariku closed his eyes for a moment and sat up straight. A grin appeared on his face and his eyes twinkled with mischief.
"What can I do for you, Malik?" he asked slyly and purposely used the agent's first name. It was definitely a sign of starting their game all over again.

"Just answer a few questions, Mariku. Cooperate with me and that will be all" The agent unconsciously took a deep breath just to say this steadily. He felt unsure about the other's intentions by harassing him constantly through mindless games.

Mariku's grin hadn't left his face yet as he hardened his eyes. Wouldn't these officers give up? They can't just get anything out of him just like that!

"Naw... I can't promise you that, my dear Malik" he said sweetly, which was in a way not sweet at all.

Malik sent him the Famous Ishtar glare™ and confidently strode towards the table. He slammed his hands on the table and leaned over to meet Mariku's face closely.

"If you won't cooperate then you must have to go to a one-sided trial! Who do you work for?"

Mariku smirked at the agent's efforts to get him to talk. It's no use telling him such things. Agent Ishtar's so weak in this field, the interrogating field.

Malik growled inwardly. The guy's still not believing me, he thought darkly and clenched his hands. SLAM!
Malik had pushed the table away in anger and fisted Mariku's collar.
"I can do this by force if I have to" Malik hissed into Mariku's face as his face redden in anger. You are known for your past crimes in the streets, so we might not let you free that easily.

Mariku's smirk was still steady when Malik had 'attacked' him indirectly. And indeed the officer got a temper!
This is going to be one long day, dear cute agent, Mariku thought playfully.

12:20 PM

Shizuka's accompanying Yugi down the halls with piles of paper works to put away in the Station's Administration room.

"Do you think agent Ishtar will be okay, Yugi-san?" Shizuka interrupted their comfortable silence as they entered the Administration room.

"To tell you the truth, Shizuka-chan, I'm not sure. But I hope agent Ishtar will succeed" Yugi smiled brightly at the younger Jounouchi.

"Ne, Shizuka-chan. Why did you start hanging around with me and not with Jounouchi-kun, your brother?"
He ducked his face in shame when he asked that unexpectedly.

It was true. A few days ago Shizuka had been following her brother around, obediently. But later on, she started hanging around with him a lot. Maybe she's in love with-

"Onii-chan needs some space. I'm the only one who seem to have some sort of strangling effect on him. It's just whenever I stay around you, Yugi-san, then onii-chan wouldn't have to worry about me all the time" Shizuka explained as she followed Yugi along the rows of paperworks.

"Is that okay with you, Yugi-san? I mean... staying with you, Yugi-san?" she added quickly hopefully.

"I'm fine with it" So that's why, Yugi noted understandingly and let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you" Shizuka smiled gratefully and suddenly remembered something she'd almost forgotten to ask. "Are you going to 'Stairs to Heaven' for the Autumn Festival?"

Yugi stopped walking, abruptly and went off to the left. "Uhm... no. I think I've other plans in mind"
He looked up at the stored paper work, trying to find the right current year on a big box.

"Like work?" Shizuka cut in and shook her head disapprovingly. Yugi's starting to sound like a workaholic.

"What will you do if I told you that maybe Yami-san is going to be there?" A sly grin appeared out of nowhere on Shizuka's face as Yugi stopped near one of the boxes at the very end of the corner.

"That's an understatement. Yami-san doesn't really like festivals and holidays. He said they're too 'happy' for him"

13:00 PM

"Are you sure about this, Jounouchi-san?" Yami sent Katsuya a skeptic look. He watched the other step pit of the car.

The look on the rookie's face had made Yami wonder what the rookie was up to as soon as Jounouchi had told him to drop him off near the hospital. It wasn't very hard for Yami to put things together which hospital the rookie had meant.

Of course, the rookie wanted to check on both the inspector and agent Ryuuji. But somehow Yami wondered where the sour look had come from. Was it really because of the hard police work that made the rookie run for cover? Or is it...?

"Yes... I'm quite sure" Jounouchi answered casually and clenched his fist.
"You go have your fun with Yugi-san" The rookie suddenly added playfully and ran off into the general direction of the hospital.

The agent stared at the retreating back for awhile and faintly smirked.

"No wonder he's interesting" Yami mumbled to himself. His smirk broadened.

If Jounouchi-san ever going to get a chance like -this-, Yami wouldn't be surprised how much time it's worth to 'torture' a certain workaholic named Kaiba. From experience Yami had known the inspector didn't like surprises at all.

"Good luck" He mumbled softly to no one in particular and turned his attention to the traffic.

XXX

Katsuya's brown eyes darted around the halls, nervously. He could feel his heart beating against his chest painfully.

Why was he scared?

Was it the guilt?

Suddenly his courage for facing the inspector had seeped out of his body. It felt horrible being like this. So cowardly...

Room 510.

Why was he making such a fuzz anyways?

Jounouchi took a deep breath, knocked on the door and reached for the doorknob. It wasn't like him being so scared. As if expecting something horrible behind the door, the rookie carefully peered into the darkened room.

The curtains had not been drawn by the morning nurse, leaving the room in its peaceful and yet comfortable semi-darkness state. The occupant in room 510 seemed to be asleep.

Without being noticed by any passersby, the rookie slipped into the room. After all, no visitors were allowed whenever the patient was resting [except when the patient is obviously in either a coma or hadn't woken up yet]

The patient's steady breathing filled the silent room. But as soon as the rookie had turned around, his ragged breathing and hammering of his heart dominated the patient's soft snoring.

"This is ridiculous" Katsuya chuckled bitterly and slowly approached the bed. The inspector was neatly tucked under those white sheets.

He even wore a frown in his sleep, Katsuya thought ironically. At the back of the rookie's mind, he wondered why he visited the inspector first instead of Ryuuji. Jounouchi suddenly got the urge to fill the silence in the room with inspector Kaiba as his conscious or unconscious listener. He needed to pour his guilt out even if Kaiba's asleep.

"Coward" Katsuya started softly, breaking the silence. It's more a statement directed to himself than the patient. "I'm a coward, all right. I can't even face you directly when you're awake. Though I really wonder why..." he shifted uncomfortably from one side to the other as he felt his heart bleeding selflessness. As if expecting to get some response from his small audience, Jounouchi looked at the patient.

Seeing no change on the inspector's face, Katsuya sighed.

"You know, I never got to thank you for saving my life back there... thank you! I'm grateful" the young officer bowed immediately, not wanting to look at the sleeping figure.
It felt awkward to be this thankful, he noted silently.

"... I've never done this before... but... I mean, no one had ever done this before... saving my life, I mean. I grew up alone in the streets, you know? I never got the chance to really prove myself, being vulnerable since all I'd ever done was fighting my way out of street gangs. It's just... I'm not used to thanking anyone for saving me. It's weird and a bit too personal. And... and I'm sorry you've to be in bed because of me. I shouldn't have acted so rash, thinking to myself that I could pin the killer..." Words suddenly stumble out of his mouth.

His nervousness wasn't making the situation any better. Katsuya babbled on, explaining his rough childhood to no one in particular... he might even been aware what he was actually doing. If he was still in his right mind, he would've noticed he talked more than he usually did to the inspector, whom he didn't share anything deep.

"Don't mention it" Someone interrupted, cutting Katsuya halfway.

...

The voice sounded familiar...

...

The interruption had startled the rookie, making him jump backwards in defense and squeak out in surprise. Katsuya cursed silently for tuning his instincts out as soon as he'd entered room 510. His alarmed eyes went no further than on the patient himself.

The inspector pushed off the sheets and climbed down from the bed. The way he'd smoothly moved, betrayed his wakefulness.

What the...

Katsuya gaped at the inspector, his brown eyes frowning. The guy had been awake this whole time?

"You have been awake this whole time?!" he squeaked out incredulously. The hollow feeling in his stomach that had settled as soon as he'd entered the hospital immediately disappeared. Anger came in as its replacement.

"Isn't it obvious?" the inspector responded indifferently and fumbled with the hospital gown he was currently wearing.

"Why couldn't you receive me properly instead of playing Sleeping Beauty? And why the fuck are you getting out of bed?! You should be resting!" Katsuya raised his voice by each notch in anger and shook a fist threateningly at the damn inspector.

"I can't rest" Kaiba mumbled and undressed himself.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Jounouchi almost screamed out in embarrassment and turned around quickly to give the other his privacy. He was breathing fast as his eyes darted around, frantically. Dammit! His temper flared noticeably as he grumbled something incoherently about stupid inspectors and their spooky nature under his breath.

The guy had been awake!, Katsuya groaned silently. He'd made a fool out of himself, confessing he's a real coward. Katsuya felt the humiliation weighing on his guilty side.

Damn inspector!, he flushed embarrassedly as he recalled having told most stuff about his past to the inspector he'd never told anyone before [not even Shizuka]. He hadn't really expected the other to hear -everything-.

"What are you standing there for? Let's go!" Kaiba snapped Jounouchi out of his little mental rant.

Katsuya looked up owlishly at the now fully business-dressed inspector. "To where?"

The inspector rolled his eyes exasperatedly. The rookie must have used up all his energy to talk about his past, unnoticeably of course. Because Jounouchi was acting like an air head.
Without much vocal response, the inspector grabbed the rookie by the arm and pulled him along. At least, the rookie was following him obediently.

Katsuya frowned in confusion during the whole way down the corridors. "What's going on? Where are you taking me? Why do you want me to follow you?"

"Does solving a case ring a bell?" Kaiba responded with a question instead. It was so obvious... why couldn't the rookie figure it out? There's not much time to explain anyways. Bringing the rookie along might have a good excuse to watch over him while he followed the clues. The question was: were all those answers to the poem enough just to get the killer behind bars?

Noticing the intense look on the inspector's face, Katsuya figured he wouldn't get any answers out of Kaiba any time soon. Especially when the guy was obviously hiding something from him.

Damn superiors! Can't even tell me important stuff concerning me in front of my face, Katsuya glowered inwardly.

13:30 PM

~Tell me dear...~

Agent Otogi laid crumpled in an old white bath tub. His hospital gown covered his body like a guilt. Noting from his peaceful look, he'd no idea that he had been removed from the hospital bed.

Someone circled the old tub carefully.

~if roses are red~

"Tell me dear, Otogi. If roses are red..." he murmured like a chant. Red blossoms trailed down like snowflakes from the sky around the sleeping agent.
Ryuuji stirred restlessly.

~bathed in fear~

The person paused as he bent over to push a few strands of hair from Ryuuji's face.

"My dear Otogi... bathed in fear"

Now how should he finish this one off?

Suddenly the phone rang, surprising him out of his musings. He glared over his shoulder, but made no move to answer the phone. It must be one of THOSE people again. He really needed to hurry up.

Oh well, better start with ~bathed in fear~

The unidentified killer pulled out a dagger, carefully, out of a small sheath. He headed towards the kitchen, then threw a few blank papers in the wastebasket and lit a match. The yellow, orange lames quickly consumed the litter hungrily.

He watched the flames dance in the littler basket and went on his haunches. The dagger was placed above the hungry flames. The cold metal got heated.

~and covered in sweat~

Who says he'd other intentions to make that sentence come true?

"... and covered in sweat" he murmured lowly. Slowly, a smirk reached his lips as he watched the flames engulf the metal of his dagger.

Now he had to come up with an idea to lure the other one to him, unexpectedly of course. With no ingenious inspector and tough agent around to save him. Maybe not even the rookie's girlfriend.

It's up to the rookie...

~and covered in sweat~

End chapter 14

End notes:

- "sensei" [in this case] is referred to those who have advanced jobs or some sort :sweatdrops: Doctors get these sorts of suffixes too even if they're not really teachers.
- Some scenes will have references to the side stories either in "Aventurien" or "Turamali" [will be on the way once I'm done with "Haima"] or "Fluere". I'm not very sure when the latter two will come up since I'm a bit stuck with "Haima" and "Aventurien"
- I think Jounouchi Katsuya is pretty much someone who has a very low-esteem about himself unless someone else important sort of fuel him up that he's not so bad like he thinks he seems. At least that's my impression... wonder if there's anyone who has other impression. :looks around:
- And I believe Katsuya had went under a major character change here O_o. Sorry for that.

Misura: I'm sorry for being away for so long. I've wanted to revise the next few chapters after chapter 12. -.- Sadly, it didn't work out, because my whole scheme is thrown into a mad pace of how to go on when this happens and this and that. Argh! I guess writer's block had fuzzed all my ideas :cries:.
Thank you. Heheheh, that idea had just came out of nowhere because I thought it's very cliché to see them fight for Shizuka. So I put Mokuba in between too. :twiddles: Aa, I hope I didn't do too bad with Otogi :cries:. :blushes: Thank you. I thought I've described him as a little boy again. ^.^ And the last comment in their conversation had been quite my intention. :V-sign: I think I'll put that one in "Aventurien" if the story just come around already. Thank you for reading up till now.

Spider Azrail: Gil Thief-chan: :blushes: I'm quite flattered with your comments. Aniki IS spelled like that :sweatdrops: I think I've been messing around with too much brother and sister references. Now I'm completely confused. @.@ In "Tennis no Oujisama" the younger brother calls his big brother "Aniki"... in "Card Captor Sakura" the younger sister calls her big brother "Onii-chan". See what I mean? Lots of confusion ^.^ Don't worry about it, I'm also partially a perfectionist. Oh yes, "Aventurien" is already up. But I'm stumped with all three side fics at the moment. :sweatdrops: Thank you for reading up till now.

DirtyD Momma Cat: I'm sorry for giving you that idea. This story already has chapters up till 15, chapter 16 is a bit... hard for me to write. But I appreciate it that you're still hanging around here. [is such a dork that she couldn't update sooner] I'm sorry. I'll try to keep the chapters coming as soon as I can. :chuckles: It's more a quadruple [?] :P
Are you satisfied both of them did in this chapter? Mariku is still coming around. I think I'll reserve that question to "Turamali" the side-fic. Sorry for confusing you even more with half scenes. Thank you for reading this story up till now.

Beysie: :sweatdrops: I'm sorry if it's a really long story with not much interaction between Kaiba and Jounouchi. 2 hours? So it's non-stop? I feel quite flattered to hear that. Hehehe, I'll try to write the end quickly so that you can get the rest of the story. :blushes: Aa... well, I'm not sure if lemon can come in here. A side fic or just a side scene in one of the side-fics might have some hints here and there, but at the moment I'm more focused on trying to end the story, catching the killer and continue to explore the relationship... if there's any :sweatdrops:, I hope there is. Thank you for reading up till now.

Shadowy Fluffball: Thank you for being around up till now ^_^.

By the way, sorry for the long ending notes.

:smiley face: cin