Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ My Father's Murderer ❯ Homecoming ( Chapter 1 )

&nbspThe flight went by fast. It wasn't as nearly as long as she hoped it would be. Aboard her father's private jet, she stared out the window and lost herself in her own little world. Just recently she had become the poster girl for her father's company.

&nbspOut the window she could see her father's island grow into perspective. She was excited to be coming home. Her tutor took her to study abroad two months ago and she was eager to see her father again.

&nbspIn the seat next to her was her bodyguard. Unlike most of her father's guards and what such who wore suits, her bodyguard wore black jeans and a long sleeved black shirt. His black hair was very long; it went halfway down his back and was tied tightly into a ponytail. His hair was just about as long as hers was! She wasn't vain at all, but she enjoyed the way people complimented and envied her long silver hair. It was completely natural; an inheritance from her father. Her guard always wore a pair of sunglasses. Why? She had no idea. His bangs were long and hung low over his forehead and draped over his sunglasses. She couldn't see how he could possibly stand that; she always wore her bangs short so they wouldn't get down into her eyes. The one thing she found particularly odd (and equally fascinating) was the color of his complexion. With is pale white skin he was a walking contrast of colors. He hated direct sunlight and spent his time in the shade. Hence the sunglasses, maybe?

&nbspThe jet jerked as it touched down on the island. When the jet came to a complete stop she stood and straightened her skirt. Her bodyguard stood and stepped into the aisle to allow her out.

&nbspShe smiled at him. "Come Raven."

&nbspShouldering her carry on bag, she stepped out onto the steps and blinked into the sunlight. It was bright. She carefully made her way down the five steps to the recently paved tarmac. A somewhat elderly man bowed to her and nodded to Raven.

"Lady Yui," he said. "The castle has seemed so empty since you were last here."

&nbspShe smiled. "I thank you for the welcome, Croquet. If I may, where is my father?"

"He is currently alone in his office. Since you came home early, you are unexpected."

"I wish to see him. Is he busy?"

"I do not think so, my Lady. May I see to your luggage?"

"Yes. Thank you, Croquet."

"It is my pleasure, my Lady."

&nbspA strong breeze buffeted her hair and skirt about as she made her way from the small tarmac to the back entrance to the castle. She smiled as she glanced up at the castle and its towers. Her father always joked about being a king. It always seemed quite childish. Then again, with his never-dying obsession of cartoons, her father was experiencing a very early second childhood.

Well then, she thought. If dad's a king, then that makes me a princess!

&nbspA man in a suit held the back entrance door open for her. The man nodded at Raven. The foyer right inside was not lit and the darkness made her feel uneasy. Disregarding Raven, she took off running down the corridor and she made a sudden left and she ran up a flight of stairs. Down the hall from the staircase was a pair of large wooden doors.

&nbspShe didn't bother to knock; she just burst in. Instead of finding her father slaving away on paperwork and whatnot, she found...her father poised above a massive house of cards, his hands holding two cards in a triangle at the top of the structure. His lips were still pursed from concentration but surprise was evident.

"Yui...?" he asked. Apparently he breathed wrong and the whole thing collapsed and shot cards in every direction. Most stayed on the desk but one landed on the floor next to her foot.

&nbspYui bent down and picked up the card. This was so typical of her father; she couldn't help but giggle. "Bored daddy?"

&nbspHe plopped down in his chair and gave her a look that resembled a look a three-year-old would have when he had his playtime disturbed. Yui suddenly wished she had a camera.

"You really should take better care of your Duel Monsters cards, daddy."

&nbspHer father humphed and crossed his arms; obviously embarrassed he had been walked in on. "They're all useless extras. They're not good enough to grace my deck."

&nbspYui disregarded his arrogance. That flaw has been in his character for as long as she could remember. That and his perpetual second childhoodness. She shook her head and walked to the desk. "I wonder what everyone would think if," she tossed the card onto the desk, "they saw the great Maximillian Pegasus building a house of cards? It's fitting, really."

&nbspHe couldn't help but grin. He stood, walked around the desk and hugged Yui. "You're home early."

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Got done early. And I wanted to come home."

&nbspPeople who don't know them wouldn't know they were father and daughter just by looking. Sure, Yui had her father's hair and eye colors, but that was where the similarities ended. Pegasus towered well over six feet in height but Yui wasn't even five feet.

&nbspA few months ago, Pegasus had decided to start a monthly Industrial Illusions magazine that dealt mainly with Duel Monsters. Titled I-Squared it included information about tournaments, promotional events and new cards. It also included premier duelists from all over the world. The first issue featured Yui on the cover. She was posed as if she were dueling; she held four cards in one hand and her favorite card, the Magician of Black Chaos, was held out facing the camera. I-Squared became a hit.

&nbspYui smiled up at her father when he suggested dinner.

&nbspAfter dinner Yui went straight up to her bedroom. She collapsed onto her bed on her stomach. She pulled her face out of her pillow she rolled onto her side. Her eyes fell upon a framed picture on her nightstand. She sighed.

&nbspThe picture was of her late mother.

"Mom... I miss you..."

&nbspHer mother died when she was seven. Born in Japan, just like her mother, Yui spoke fluent Japanese and hardly any English. Her parents never married and her father didn't know she existed until she was six.

&nbspIn fact, Yui's mother was taking her to see her father for the first time the night of her seventh birthday. They were to meet him at some fancy restaurant. They never made it there. They were mugged en route to the restaurant...and her mother was shot and killed. Yui witnessed it all...at the age of seven.

&nbspYui buried her face in her pillow. She was fairly smart when she was seven, but she hadn't grasped the concept of human death. She understood that animals died if you handled them wrong, but this was her mother. Why didn't she wake up? Yui understood it all now, but...the whole incident scarred her for a long time. She had nightmares for the longest time after, how long, she didn't know. She would wake up screaming and she remembered her father running into her room and he held her until she fell asleep again. She remembered how he would cry with her. What had happened to that man? He seemed to have changed as she matured. Yui missed him.

&nbspAfter the funeral came the custody hearing. Yui didn't understand why people were arguing over her. Custody had been awarded, to the surprise of her mother's family, to her father, a foreigner. Her grandparents didn't contest the ruling...maybe they figured he'd provide better for her.

&nbspConsidering how she didn't speak much English as a child, her father hired her a tutor to teach her English and all other school subjects. Yui could barely remember public school life. And it was there she wanted to go. She wanted so much to be a normal teenager.

&nbspYui rolled onto her back; she rested her wrist on her forehead and stared up at the ceiling. People thought that since her father was well off everything was just peachy for her. No one gave a second thought if she was lonely. All the "friends" she had were merely acquaintances from the "rich people" social class. The girls stuck their noses up at her and ignored her for the most part. And the boys...well, considering teenage boys...all they wanted to do was get into her pants. Her father was very protective of her and kept her away from boys. He said that the only thing boys wanted was sex. In a way it was true. She knew her father would be the stubborn type; he still didn't want her to grow up. She was a daddy's girl, no doubt about it. She loved her father dearly, but there were times when they had fierce disagreements, like the one during dinner that had ended with Yui storming off to her bedroom. Her father had learned to leave her be when she was like this.

&nbspYui sighed. No matter how loving and understanding her father was, he couldn't replace her mother. He couldn't replace...a friend.

&nbspA scream rang out and the bed rocked. It was the dead of night and all that could be heard was trembling, labored breathing. Yui sat up in bed clinging to the sheet. Subconsciously she waited for the sound of thundering footsteps and for the door to fly open. She waited for her father to hold her in his arms and soothe her back to sleep. But it didn't happen. She sat, crying, by herself in the darkness. She raised her head to look about the room. Standing next to her bed stood a dark man. Despite herself Yui shrieked and jumped a bit, causing the bed to rock more.

"Raven!" Her voice quavered. The shock hadn't worn of yet.

&nbspEven in the darkness she could read his face. He gave her a look that said, "You screamed."

&nbspA teardrop fell onto the back of her hand. She hadn't realized she had been crying. She turned her face away from his burning stare. "I'm fine! You can leave!"

&nbspRaven didn't leave. He turned and walked over and stood by the door. When he didn't move for ten minutes, Yui gave up and lay back down. She lay still for a long time; how long she didn't know. Tears ran freely down her cheeks and onto her pillow.

&nbspRed. So much red. There was so much red! Why? A piercing sound. What was that? A...gunshot? Her mother. She was on the ground. Unmoving. A dead stare. A man with no face. Thundering footsteps on the pavement. A closed casket. A tombstone. Tears.

&nbspThese were the images that plagued a seven-year-old who witnessed the murder of her mother. Even when a decade had past. There was no time limit on pain.