Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Her Promise, My Sorrow ❯ Don't Leave Me ( Chapter 2 )

"Blah" =Speech 'Blah' =Thoughts (Blah) =Me Interrupting ~~~~~ =Scene and/or Time Change

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In the night, a frantic yell was heard reverberating through the soulless halls of the island castle, though not many heard it since the castle walls muffled the sound. In one of the rooms, ice blue eyes snapped open as the figure jumped into a fighting stance from their bed. Another muffled yell echoed out.

Kei's eyes shifted to the dark corners of the room until she realized where she was. Her stance eased. Then one word shot through her sleep-deprived mind, clearing it in a second. 'Pegasus'. She threw on a robe and she raced through the empty corridors of her new home up to her new employer's doors. They were already open and she stepped over the threshold to see several of her friend's bodyguards trying to hold him down as he tried to jump out of his bed in a fit of delirium. The man known to her as Croquet stepped into her line of vision. "Takamura-san, what are you doing up at this hour?" Kei answered as she tried to pass by him. "I heard someone yell and I was curious to see who it was." "You need not worry yourself, please return to your room." That's when Croquet made the mistake of touching Kei. In an act uncommon superhuman strength, she easily threw clear across the large room. This caught the attention of the others. The woman standing before them looked at them with the promise of death on her face. "Move". With that, she sent everyone in the room, besides herself and her dear Aniki, scrambling for the door. She rushed to the side of her poor friend.

She held him in her arms, trying to limit his movement in a way that wasn't too obvious. "Aniki, calm down." She whispered comforting words in his ear. He calmed a bit and seemingly came back to his senses. "Kei-chan?" Pegasus grasped her head and brought it to his chest as he had the day before. He stroked her hair and murmured words that she couldn't quite understand. He lay down on his bed and held her close to him. He brought her chin up so her eyes would meet his own. He started to whisper to her. "I dreamt you left me again. You told me you hated me." Kei brought her hand to his face and smoothed back his hair. "I could never leave or hate you. I promised I would stay and you're very dear to me, you know that, right?" The room was silent for a long moment, then Pegasus responded. "How can I believe you?" His face held no emotion. It was near impossible to tell what he was thinking. Kei placed her hands over his still larger ones. "I don't know. You just have to trust me."

Pegasus moved his hands away form her. The room was silent again. The air was absolutely still, as if the night had just taken a deep breath and was waiting for the right moment to release it. Pegasus' gaunt face remained as stone, showing no emotion to reveal what he was thinking. Suddenly, his arm started to move upwards, towards her face. His arm moved agonizingly slow. Slowly, but surely, his hand inched ever closer to Kei's face, and when it was close enough to touch her, Pegasus' hand hesitated. Instead, his hand dropped, and then both his arms moved towards her. The seemingly frail arms enclosed around her torso in an iron grip. "Stay," said Pegasus quietly. "Stay with me tonight."

Kei lay down with Pegasus in his depression-ridden bed and pulled the sheets around the both of them. As Kei lay in Pegasus arms asleep, the silver-hared man himself lay awake, his thin hand stroking her hair with a remarkably gentle steadiness.

"Stay with me forever."

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The morning sun crept warily upon Duelist Kingdom. The spell of sleep upon Kei lifted a few hours after that. She realized that there was someone in bed with her. She looked up to see gold and orange staring back at her with a steady gaze. That's when she recalled what had happened.

She didn't say anything, not wishing to ruin the moment, but to her surprise, it was her beloved Aniki who spoke first.

"Ohayo, Kei-chan." The corners of his lips lifted just ever so slightly. He looked younger. "Ohayo, Aniki." It remained silent for a while, when Kei finally spoke up. "I think you should eat something." Kei just couldn't ignore how incredibly thin Pegasus was. "Don't worry," Pegasus replied. "Someone always brings breakfast up to my room, even if I don't often eat it." His voice sounded a bit weak, and it cracked every now and again from the lack of use. Sure enough, a knock on the door was heard, signaling that breakfast had arrived. Kei reluctantly left her Aniki's embrace to answer the knock. Pegasus even more reluctantly let go.

When Kei opened the door, there was no one there to greet her but what looked like a serving cart. She brought it into the dark room. It had some warm porridge with cinnamon sprinkled on top, a glass of milk and juice, and slice of toasted bread, and something else. It was a bowl of beautiful, juicy, ripe blackberries swimming in thick cream. It looked delicious.

Kei brought the tray on the serving cart over to Pegasus and urged him to eat some, which he did. He ate a few of the berries and some juice as well as a bite or two of the porridge. He refused to eat one bite more and instead urged Kei to eat the rest, which she did somewhat unhappily.

As Kei was about to leave the room to get into proper clothing, Pegasus stopped her. "Don't leave." Kei's face fell. "But I need to go change my clothes." Pegasus' face became more desperate. "Can't you do that in here? You..." his voice became soft. "I don't want to be left alone." Kei kneeled down next to the bed where Pegasus was now sitting up. "Alright. I'll send someone for my clothes and I'll wash up in here. " Her tone of voice became uncertain. "You must realize, Aniki, that we should be trying to get your company back on track." Pegasus looked away. "Yes. I'll get to that today."

Kei did send someone for her clothes and stepped into the bathroom to change and wash up. Pegasus just stared at the bathroom door. That woman was really his darling Kei-chan? How could she have changed so much? She was beautiful, breathtaking, and inhuman all at once. Her movements were fluid and graceful. Her eyes were all knowing. But her skin was still as fine as a china doll's and her lips were still red as if from youth. Her body had grown into that of a woman. Would she still sit there and listen to him, or would she grow weary of him, time and age thinning her patience? Her presence warmed him, as Megumi had never done. It had always been that way. Even when Kei was a small child, Pegasus had preferred her presence to that of the womanly Megumi.

Kei was a comfort to him when his father had beaten him. She was a mother his real mother couldn't be. She had been the companion Megumi hadn't been. The thought of seeing her again one day kept him going when his heart had failed him. He couldn't let her leave here; not after all he had been through just to see her again. But Pegasus knew that no matter how hard he tried that if Kei wanted to leave, he would let her. She could destroy the world for all he cared. She would still be Kei, his dear, dear, Kei-chan. He would do anything for her, because she had cared for him, and listened to him, and comforted him. All that ranting about Megumi, and now he hardly felt anything for the poor girl.

Kei stepped out of the bathroom in a pair of jeans and a tee shirt, very different from what she had worn yesterday. The two of them went almost immediately to work. Kei did most of the heavy work since her dear Aniki was still extremely weak. They worked hours until it was late in the evening, or more accurately, early in the morning.

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Pegasus gazed at the exhausted figure of his companion as she worked on the computer. Her eyes had dark circles under them as she had been trying all day to put things back into proper order. He himself had been reviewing files and signing things. His hand was badly cramped.

"Well," started Kei. "It's a good thing that you seem to have some smart advisors. They kept the company from most of the damage that could have happened in your absence. In a few months, maybe even in a few weeks, Industrial Illusions will be back in top working order." She stretched back, cracking her neck.

"For now, It's time for you to go to sleep." Pegasus was indeed tired, and one could tell. But to tell the truth, he looked healthier the last few days Kei had been there than he had in the last few months. Kei stood up from the chair she'd had her buttocks planted in for most of the day and stretched out her legs while she let out a sort of groan. "But what about you?" Kei simply walked over to her companion, sat down next to him and took his hands in her own. "I still have some papers to work on and some files to work out, but I'll be finished with it soon." Pegasus looked at her curiously. "How do you know my computer systems so well?" Kei sweat-dropped and gave him a sort of sheepish grin. "Um, I'll explain that to you tomorrow. For now, you need to get some rest."

"Will you be here tomorrow when I wake up?" Kei seemed to freeze, then she relaxed. "Aniki, I'm not going to be around all the time, you know." Pegasus looked down at their entwined hands. He was aware that there was a faint scar running down his beloved's palm, mirroring the one on his own hand. "I know" responded Pegasus quietly. Kei leaned forward and placed a lingering kiss on his forehead, then smoothed back Pegasus' hair and looked into his mismatched eyes. "Sleep" she said, and the silver hared man obeyed, his dreams recalling the first time those soft red lips had graced his face.

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That's all for now. READ AND REVIEW! Why won't you review? You're all so evil!

Next Chapter: Flashback to when Kei and Pegasus first met.