Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Rub Me the Right Way ❯ Remember Me ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I do not own any legal claim or rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! That belongs to the great Kazuki Takahashi. I own the figures, cards, DVDs, and video games associated with said fantastic anime.

 

The idea of Malik as a genie was from my dear friend Shadow of Light. Thank you for spawning my plot bunnies. :-D

 

Story Title: Rub Me the Right Way

Created By: Nomalaz

Pairing(s): Jou/Malik (Irateshipping baby!); Yami/Yugi; Bakura/Ryou; Honda/Otogi

Overall Rating(s): NC-17

Chapter: 1/??

Chapter Title: Remember Me

 

 

There are tales spoken of great magical beings called "genies." A genie is bound by the laws of the gods to heed the call of their temporary human master. One wish to countless wishes, the genies' powers varies.

For every genie, there is a djinn. Unlike a genie, a djinn is his own master and the genie is their counterpart. Many times the djinn will bind the genie to him for eternity and lease the genie to a human in return for something extremely valuable--especially magical artifacts.

There was one genie that had been leased to a human for a longer term than to any of his pervious human masters. He was special, for he had done the unimaginable.

And so, our tale begins…

 

Caspian Sea, Southern Russia -- 995 A.D.

 

The boat reached the shore none too soon, and the two occupants jumped out before the waves coaxed the small fishing boat to the sand. Splashing their way up the beach, the duo immediately ran from the water not caring of their cloaks or the rest of their clothing getting wet, slight fear in their hearts as both their minds thought of who was pursuing them.

The slightly taller yielded a quarterstaff in his right hand, and he glanced every other moment to his bronzed-skinned companion as they fled towards the grassy plains.

"He's coming," the bronze boy panted, "I can feel him."

"Don't think of him, Malik," the tall one said, casting his companion a concerned yet determined look. "We'll be there soon, and your ties to him shall be severed."

Hope filled Malik's heart at the words. "Yes, master."

You won't need to be calling me that ever again, love, the tall one thought.

Despite his words of encouragement, Kiryl knew that if their pursuer caught them it would be death for Kiryl and a far worse fate for Malik.

No, Kiryl thought, I will not let that happen! Malik will no longer be a genie. He will be free. And to the nine hells with that djinn!

The trees of the vast forest came into view. Despite the daylight slipping away, happiness mixed with relief washed through their bodies, giving them new energy as they continued their long sprint.

Suddenly, the grass before the trees lit up in flames. The duo skidded to a halt, eyes wide at the spontaneous combustion blocking their path.

"Nice try," a dark voice said behind them.

So close… Kiryl turned around and pushed back the hood of his cloak, the rays of the evening light hitting the honey-blonde hair. "What do you want, Marik?"

Marik narrowed his lavender eyes. "Obviously, you are the idiot I believed you to be," the djinn snapped. "I am here to retrieve Malik."

Malik's throat went dry and he painfully swallowed the lump that formed. He slowly turned around and removed his own hood, freeing the platinum hair into the approaching night. Malik and Marik were nearly identical in their height and looks--although Malik had a more gentle expression than Marik and his hair did not stick out as if he'd been struck by lightning.

The djinn was wearing his dark colored outfit--silk trousers, snug shoes, vest, knee-length cape, and golden armbands on both forearms and biceps. Malik had discarded his own similar outfit in favor of the one like what Kiryl wore: long-sleeved tunic, thick pants, fur-lined boots, and the hooded cloak. All that he had kept of his jewelry were the two cone-shaped earrings.

Kiryl shook his head causing the beads hanging from the three small braids dangling over his left shoulder to clink together. "You're wasting your time."

"He belongs to me!" Marik shouted.

"The sun has not set," Kiryl pointed his staff to the orb in the sky. "As with the setting sun on the day you leased him to me, so shall the setting sun end the pact."

"As you say," Marik snapped the clasp holding his cape and the material fell to the ground. "Then why don't we entertain ourselves to pass the time, Kiryl."

"What do you suggest?" Kiryl asked not trusting the djinn.

"A fight between you and me," Marik said, "one weapon each and no magic."

No magic? Kiryl narrowed his eyes. He's definitely up to something. I don't have much of a choice. This is my only chance to free Malik.

Kiryl dropped his satchel to the ground and removed his cloak.

"Master," Malik whispered, "please don't."

"It's alright," the honey-blonde stepped towards the djinn.

But you have given me so much, Malik thought as he stepped back a few yards. I don't want to lose you.

Kiryl held up his staff, waiting for Marik to choose his weapon. The djinn did not take up anything and charged right at the pale-skinned youth.

Why didn't he take a weapon? Malik couldn't help thinking as he watched them fight. He sucked in a sharp breath as Marik disarmed Kiryl and sent him across the ground and stopped near his satchel.

Before Kiryl could recover from the attack, Marik loomed over him with a short sword in his hand. The djinn plunged the blade into Kiryl's stomach. Blood spurted from the mortal's mouth and his eyes shot wide open.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Malik screamed. He fell to his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks as he clutched at his hair.

Marik laughed, pulling the blade from Kiryl's abdomen. "Fool," the djinn smirked, "did you honestly believe that you could take him from me? Malik is mine for eternity to do with whatever I please."

"As the sun rises and sets," Kiryl gasped out, "your hold on him will end. I will see to it no matter what!"

Marik snorted. Pathetic mortal. He turned and looked at Malik, taking in sadistic glee at the sight of his genie wailing.

"And now for you, Malik," the djinn walked towards him. "I can think of so many ways to punish you for your betrayal."

"I betrayed no one!" Malik shouted at him. "You betrayed me! Selling me like a whore! Kiryl was the only one who ever showed me compassion--something you know nothing about!"

Infuriated by the way Malik spoke Marik backhanded him, sending the genie sprawling backwards. "That is nothing compared to what I will do to you."

"And nothing…is what you will do, Marik!" Kiryl shouted. He started to chant and Malik began to turn into a purple colored mist.

"What is this?" Marik demanded.

"Kiryl!" Malik's fading voice was shocked.

The mist flew to Kiryl and went inside a small oil lamp that he had managed to pull from his sack. Kiryl held the lamp up into the final rays of the sun. The lamp glowed and in a quick flash disappeared.

"No!" Marik raced over to Kiryl and grabbed the front of the bloodstained tunic. "What have you done!"

"I have saved him…" Kiryl panted, "From you…"

"How could you possibly know how to cast magic?"

"I am…a…shaman…"

"Shaman?" Marik couldn't believe it. Kiryl was only seventeen! There had never been a shaman under the age of twenty-five!

Kiryl smiled weakly. "How else…would you explain…how I got…that…dragon's tear? You will not…find him…Marik…" Kiryl shut his eyes. "Only I…will…"

His last breath escaped and his head lopped back.

Marik sneered and released his hold. Growling in rage, he set fire to Kiryl's body and belongings, watching everything burn. The dancing flames reflected in his eyes, matching his anger within.

"I don't care how long it takes!" Marik hissed. "I will find Malik. And you, Kiryl!" the djinn looked up at the night sky. "I will also find you! Hear me, shaman, and carry it with you no matter how many times you are reborn! I will make you pay for this treachery!"

-------

Darkness. That was all Malik could see when he opened his eyes. He pulled himself to his knees.

"Where am I?" Malik whispered and his voiced echoed.

"Malik."

"Kiryl?" the genie looked around. "Where are you?"

A small ball of light appeared in front of him. It took shape and a translucent Kiryl knelt across from Malik.

"Kiryl…" Malik choked.

"No, love, no tears," the spirit reached out and tried to brush them away from the genie's face but it was futile. The tears continued downward yet both could feel the touch of the other.

"He killed you," Malik wiped his face. "But what happened? Where am I?"

"Inside the lamp."

"What lamp?"

Kiryl smiled. "The lamp that burned during the night you and I first made love. I put you inside and I sent it away to save you from Marik."

Relief swept through Malik's body, and then was replaced by fear. "How am I going to get out?"

"That's the part of the spell I have to tell you," Kiryl said softly. "You will stay in here. This is your world now--create what you wish as you said you would if you were free."

To a point, I guess I am, Malik thought. But the one thing I wish I could do that I can't.

"When the lamp is within my hands again then you will be free," Kiryl went on. "I won't remember in my next life, Malik. You have to help me remember."

Malik closed his eyes, fighting the tears, but he nodded. Kiryl took the genie's face in his hands and they kissed. Slowly they pulled apart; lavender and amber eyes gazing into each other.

"I will wait," Malik said. "I love you, Kiryl."

"I love you, too," Kiryl faded away. "Always remember."

Then he was gone, and Malik was alone.

-------

 

Domino City, Japan -- 1995 A.D.

 

April showers bring May flowers. Well, the flowers can kiss my butt!

Jounouchi Katsuya--known as Jou to his friends--ran through the streets as the rain fell. No, more like someone turned the ocean upside-down on the entire city. Finally stopping under an overhang, Jou shook his head, sending droplets of water from his hair. It was good thing that Kaiba wasn't around or he'd be hearing the dog comments. Fortunately, the multi-millionaire was doing business in America and could easily do whatever assignments and projects via internet.

Jou leaned against the building and sighed. Shizuka's birthday was on the fifteenth. Today was the eighth, which meant that Jou had a week to find his baby sister a present. Shizuka was turning fourteen. It was amazing how time had flown.

Jou frowned a little. Too much time had past after their parents had divorced and Shizuka had moved away with their mother, leaving Jou with their father.

The blonde shudder and not just from the chilly weather. He forced back the memories of his father drunk 99.9% of the time and smacking Jou around. Fate had stepped in thanks to one of the neighbors, which now had Jou living in a community sponsored apartment far from where he had been living, and Jou's father in rehab.

Even if he does sober up, he thought, there is no way in hell I am moving back with him.

Jou looked around. There were a couple small shops along this strip. One in particular caught his attention--an antique shop across the street a little bit to the right. Checking to see if any cars were coming, Jou then made a quick dash across and stopped underneath the overhang of the antique shop.

The smell of vanilla incense and the jingling of bells greeted Jou when he pushed the door open. He looked around the shop, finding the place neatly arranged despite all the artifacts--mirrors, books, tables, silverware, pots, statuettes, and so many other things. Two pale couches faced each other in the middle of the room with a small crate between them.

"Oh, you poor thing."

Jou quickly turned his head to the left and saw a woman with short grey hair wearing a long dark blue dress looking at him.

"Caught in the rain were you?" she asked and Jou nodded sheepishly. "Stay put and I'll be right back." The woman pushed back a red curtain that was behind her and walked into another room. A few moments later, she returned with a tea tray in her hands and a large towel draped over her left arm.

"Have a seat," she said, placing the tray on the crate. "Don't worry about the couch--it's not an antique. I bought them a little over a year ago at a department store sale."

"Okay…" Jou said and walked over to the couch. He took the towel from the lady and began to dry his hair as he sat down.

"Now then, my name is Aonuma Haruko. And this is my shop. Welcome."

"Jounouchi Katsuya."

"And what brings you here?" Haruko asked as she poured the tea.

"I'm looking for a present for my sister," Jou explained. "Her birthday's next Saturday."

She handed him a cup. "Do you have something in mind of what she would like?"

"Not really," the blonde confessed and sipped the tea. It was strawberry flavored. "We haven't seen each other in a long while."

"I see. Well, feel free to look around and if you need help, let me know. I'll be right here."

"Thank you." Jou stood up, leaving the towel on the couch.

"My late husband and I loved to travel when we were first married," Haruko said as Jou went about the shop. "We bought so many things from the places we traveled to."

"How come you're selling them?" Jou couldn't help asking. After all, shouldn't one's lifetime of work be passed on to the family?

"My children want nothing to do with them. They think that it's ridiculous holding onto to things that are older than five minutes." Haruko chuckled.

Jou gave a rueful smile. He was like that himself a few months ago before his life took a new twist, and for the better.

His eyes landed on a statuette roughly eight inches tall of a woman wearing a pink Victorian fancy dress with blue trim. Her mouse-brown hair was short and she had both hands on the hooked handle of a blue parasol, which was pointing down.

Kinda looks like Anzu, Jou thought as he picked it up. I wonder how she's adjusting in the States…

Due to Anzu's father's job promotion, he had been transferred to America--Boston, Massachusetts to be precise. The Mizaki family had moved before the school year began. After a small going away party and goodbyes at the airport, Anzu and her parents left Japan. She still kept in touch via--mainly with Yugi as the two had been friends since elementary school.

I'll have to ask Yugi for her email when I get a halfway decent connection. Jou picked up the statuette, deciding that this would be a good present for Shizuka. "I'm all set."

Haruko rose from the couch and walked behind the counter. "Ah, you're taking Isabelle," she smiled. "Very pretty, isn't she?"

Jou nodded. A fly or some kind of bug buzzed by his ear and he reflectively swung his left hand, hitting the wooden shelving unit next to him. The vibrations from the contact caused one of the items on the higher shelves to fall to the rug, landing with a muffled metallic clang.

"Sorry!" Jou apologize and quickly moved to pick it up. The object was an Arabian oil lamp. Jou had seen pictures similar to it from childhood story books featuring Aladdin and other middle-eastern tales.

But why did it feel familiar…

"Do you like it?" Haruko asked.

"…It's different," Jou admitted.

"Then take it."

"But I only have enough for-"

"You many have it."

Jou's blinked at her. "I couldn't."

"It's not everyday that someone comes in here and chats over tea," Haruko smiled. "Besides, your sister might like it."

Wouldn't hurt, Jou thought and nodded. "Alright, I'll take it."

Haruko wrapped both statuette and lamp in tissue paper and placed them inside a box, and then into a bag. After paying and saying thank you and goodbye, Jou left the shop. Luck seemed to be with him that afternoon--he found his sister's present, the rain had let up to a drizzle, and the bus he needed to catch just pulled up to the stop at the corner.

When the bus dropped Jou off near his apartment, the rain had stopped. This made the blonde smile a bit. He ran up the steps to the main door and punched his code to open the door. He went inside and took the elevator up to the third floor. The hallways were carpeted with an off blue-white color and the walls were painted a light coffee cream. Jou walked down to the door marked 3K--his apartment.

Unlocking the door, Jou stepped inside and kicked the door shut behind him before leaning against it with a sigh.

It was a nice one bedroom apartment. The living room was straight ahead that had a TV set on the right wall, and the couch (which was a fold-out bed used when the guys slept over) on the opposite wall. The kitchen/dining area was to his immediate left, and across from that was a small hallway leading to the bedroom, bathroom, and a small walk-in closet.

Compared to his last residence, this was the Ritz.

Jou walked over to the dining table he saved and put the bag on the chair. He walked into his bedroom and changed out of his damp school uniform into a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He pulled the box from the bag and removed the statuette and lamp.

"Hmm, this could use a little touchup," Jou summed at the tarnished metal surface. He went into the small kitchen and took the tarnish remover from the cabinet under the sink, which had been left behind from the previous occupant.

Jou grabbed the dishtowel next to the sink and sat at the table. He poured some of the liquid onto the towel and then rubbed it against the lamp.

It moved.

The blonde jumped back a bit and stared at it. Did that just…

Brushing it aside, he took hold of the lamp again and rubbed the towel against.

The lamp moved again.

Jou shot up from the chair, knocking it over in the process. Slowly he circled around the table keeping his eye on the lamp. Cautiously he reached out and lifted the lid; nothing inside and so he put the lid back.

"Okay…" Jou said quietly. Then he grabbed the lamp and held it down to the tabletop and started to rub the towel against it ferociously.

This time the lamp shot out from under Jou's hand and started bouncing in the air around the room. As Jou watched the possessed metal object go bonkers, part of his mind decided that this was the reason Haruko gave him the lamp for nothing.

The lamp finally stopped in midair for a moment then started to spin. A purple mist started to billow out from the spout and settle in the space between the TV and the couch. The mist began to take shape, turning into a person. It was a young man around Jou's age wearing khaki colored baggy pants, brown sandals, a purple vest with two small gold chains holding it together, golden bands on his forearms and cone-shaped earrings. His skin was a coppery-bronze and his hair was much lighter colored than Jou's.

What the hell…? Jou could only stare at the being that just appeared.

The young man slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times before looking around. His lavender eyes finally landed on Jou. As for Jou, the moment those eyes looked into his own, Jou's heart suddenly filled with an overwhelming sense of relief and joy.

The other boy's face suddenly broke out into a smile.

"Master!" he cried out and tackled Jou.

 

 

--January 25, 2006--

 

Well, here ends the first chapter. Like it? Love it? Hate it? Please review.

 

I have no idea when Shizuka's birthday is. I haven't found a site with that info.

 

And no, writing this fic doesn't mean that my Jou/Malik challenge is over. I decided to try my hand at it but I would still love to see as many Irateshipping as possible (that and I have a thing for hot blonde men).

 

Later!