Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Left Behind ❯ Accused ( Chapter 2 )

Accuse \Ac*cuse"\, v. t. 1. To charge with, or declare to have committed, a crime or

offense; (Law) to charge with an offense, judicially or by

a public process; -- with of; as, to accuse one of a high

crime or misdemeanor.

Neither can they prove the things whereof they now

accuse me. --Acts xxiv.

13.

~

...Chapter three, Accused...

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Tutomu!"

He looked up. Sure enough, Keiji Yanaka was running over to him, hand outstretched in an `I'm over here!' gesture.

"You go on ahead," He told Toki, who was standing next to him in mid sentence.

"Oh, alright." She said, "I'll just...wait for you then? By the doors?"

Tutomu shrugged, not being able to think of a suitable answer as he watched Keiji push his way over to them, smile adorning his face as usual. Toki smiled at him before leaving, and Keiji started to talk immediately.

"Tutomu!" He said, slightly out of breath, "Dude, you HAVE to come with me!"

"Keiji, I already told you I can't." Tutomu interrupted.

"But Tutomu!" Keiji continued desperately as Tutomu started to walk away, "Trust me, this time it'll be worth your time, I swear to you!"

"Uh huh?" Tutomu said nonchalantly, "And what makes this time so special?"

Keiji's eye twinkled for a moment and he grinned slyly, "I heard your girlfriend is going to be there..."

Tutomu blinked, "Which one?"

Keiji was taken aback, "You mean there's more then one!? And you didn't tell me!?"

Tutomu rolled his eyes, "You know there isn't REALLY, but people just can't help spreading rumors."

"Oh," Keiji looked relieved, "Well, this one is your favorite."

"I have a favorite?"

"Darn it Tutomu would you stop that?! Of course you have a favorite, don't play dumb!"

"Oh yeah? Who."

The sly grin returned, "Amarante Ogata..."

Tutomu stopped walking and stared at him, "Are you serious? Amarante never goes to--"

"I heard it from some junior in sixth period, a very reliable source so far, trust me Tutomu, she'll be there. But if you're going to be going, we have to leave now. I'm already late, so are you going or not?"

Tutomu felt his face turn slightly red at the thought of actually being in talking distance with Amarante. He would have to bail his Akkido lessons, but it would be worth it. A grin swept across his face as he turned to tell Keiji that he would go, but he stopped as his gaze locked on a certain someone.

Toki was still standing there, waiting for him to walk her back. Instantly, he felt guilty, and he hadn't even done anything yet, but still...this was a once in a life time chance! Toki would understand, she was his friend after all.

"Alright, I'll go." Tutomu replied, with a little less enthusiasm then expected.

Keiji cocked a brow, "Is there a problem?"

Toki looked up and smiled at him from across the hall. He didn't smile back.

"No, let's go."

Toki waved to him, but he just gave her a last look, and turned away. She stopped, confused, and waited for him to walk over, but he didn't. He just started to walk away with his friend, without even telling her where they were going or if they were coming back or anything! Toki bit her lip.

"I guess...I'm going home alone then?" She said softly to herself, "I guess, he has to go to something important..."

If she would have known where he was going, it would have made her feel worse.

But thankfully, she didn't.

And never would.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tutomu Hisako entered the dark building directly behind his friend. Hard rock music played almost twice as loud as the relatively small club could take, and almost hundreds of people were dancing in the middle of the room. Keiji jerked his head over to the direction of the bar and sat him down.

"I'm glad you decided to come." He had to practically shout over the noise, "Trust me, it'll all be worth it."

Tutomu nodded and smiled, scanning the crowd for Amarante. After finding that she wasn't there, he felt that guilt coming back again.

"God, if she doesn't even come to this thing..." He swore quietly.

"Keiji!" A gruff looking man called, "Come on, you're up in five!"

"Well, this is it." Keiji said with a grin, "Wish me luck."

Tutomu gave him a thumbs up, and watched him disappear in the crowd of people. He didn't feel much like dancing, so he just sat and waited. Waited for Keiji to start, waited to his drink to come, and most importantly, waited for Amarante to show up. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long, at least not for Keiji. He came up shortly after with two of his band members, and they began their show.

"I'd like to thank everyone who came out here tonight!" Keiji announced, "We really appreciate it, truly, we do. It's a huge confidence builder!"

A few people snickered. Anyone who knew Keiji personally knew he definitely didn't need a confidence booster.

"I'm Keiji Yanaka!" He shouted, strumming a note on his guitar before pointing at the guy behind him, "This is drums. Sure he has a name, but lets just say drums is much easier to remember."

`Drums' rolled his eyes, but waved to the crowd.

"And last, and sadly least," Keiji announced, "Nah I'm just joking. Last, but not least, we have Tonomi on keyboard!"

The guy shouted a muffled sort of, `YEAH!' to the crowd, and then they began playing.

And frankly, they weren't really that good.

In fact, they were pretty bad.

But no one in the building seemed to care, so Tutomu decided not to rise attention to the fact that they were off key, off tempo, and flat in most verses. He just smiled and pretended to be enjoying himself. And then, as if a bold of lighting hit him, he saw her.

Or at least, he thought it might be her.

He saw the door open, and a girl about Amarante's size with about Amarante's length hair came in slowly wearing a black dress. Tutomu rose out of his seat a little to see if he could get a glimpse of her face, but then his cell phone rang. He only glanced down at it for a split second, looked up, and she was gone.

Annoyed, Tutomu cursed and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Tutomu?"

Tutuom paused for a moment, "Toki? What's up? You sound flustered."

He heard her take a shuddered breath, and then say, "I need you to come down to the police station right away."

"What? Why?"

A long moment of hesitation.

"I've been accused of murder." She said softly.

Tutomu felt his eyes widen two times the size of his face before he was able to stutter out, "I don't understand..."

"Just come over, please. I need you to check something for them, and my parents are both still at work. You're the only person left that can help me."

There it went, all his dreams of meeting the one and only Amarante Ogata, flushed down the tubes in one phone call.

"Alright." He said firmly, "Stay there I'll be right over."

He hung up the phone and started to walk out the doors.

"Hey, Tutomu!" Keiji shouted, straight into the microphone, "Where are you going the party just started!"

The people in the room didn't even seem to notice Keiji's strange words, they just thought it was part of the song. That's how bad the lyricist was.

Sad isn't it?

"I've got to go to the police station for Toki!" Tutomu shouted, loud as he could for Keiji to hear, "Thanks for inviting me, but I really have to leave!"

"But Tutomu!" He protested.

Too late, Tutomu shut the door before he could finish his statement, and took off running.

"Well," He chuckled dryly to himself, "That was a complete waste of time."

There was a quiet sort of rumble, and Tutomu looked to the sky. Thick, dark clouds were rolling across the siloett of the moon. Tutomu cursed again, and braced him for the worse.

"I guess this is destiny's way at getting back at me for ditching my friend." Then he took a deep breath and yelled, "WELL YOU CAN SHOVE IT, DESTINY! HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT! I'M READY FOR YA!"

....this earned him more then at few strange looks, but most people just assumed he was a drunk, raving idiot.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"He is coming, right?"

Toki looked up from her desperate sort of staring into space, and nodded. Though truly, she was thinking the same thing herself. It had been almost an hour now, and he still hadn't shown up. Toki let her shoulders slump and she leaned back in the uncomfortable chair. Suddenly the door swung open in a flash, and dented the wall behind it. Toki smiled.

"Tutomu!" She said, trying not to sound too relieved.

He tried to smile back, but couldn't due to his lack of energy, and what came out was a strange crooked looking expression. His clothes were wet, and he looked incredibly cold in the sixty degree building.

"Sorry it took a while," He explained, proceeding to wring out his shirt, "Keiji took the car so I had to run here."

"You're all wet!" She said in a sort of motherly fashion.

Another attempt at a smile, "I think I upset Destiny today. It tried to kill me."

Toki blinked, and cocked her head to the side, "...Wha?"

"Mr. Hisako I presume?" The man behind the desk said loudly, purposely interrupting their little `reunion'

Tutomu nodded, "Yeah, Toki called saying I needed to do something...?"

"You've been Miss. Nakagawa's neighbor for thirteen years, correct?"

"Um, yeah, I guess its been that long." Tutomu said, feeling strangely uncomfortable. "Haven't really been counting..."

"Then tell me, Mr. Hisako," He said disapprovingly, "Have you ever seen Toki with this?"

He pointed at a strange looking golden...pendant? Toki was clutching it with both hands but looking down at it like it was some sort of mutated animal. Tutomu looked closer, blinking when he noticed the all too familiar eye on the golden item. Wasn't that the eye of Ra? Or Horus? Tutomu shrugged to himself, obviously that semester on Ancient Egypt wasn't quite enough for him...

"I've never seen that before." He said frankly, "Its very interesting though..."

"And he's been in my room a million times," Toki explained gently, with a hint of annoyance only Tutomu could detect, "I show him everything new I get and I've never gotten anything like this before."

The officer sighed deeply, and leaned back in his chair. He rubbed his temples and said to Toki, "I'm sorry about this, I really would like to let you go, but you're story just doesn't seem...logical."

"What doesn't seem logical about it!" She snapped, "I'm telling the truth! I swear it to you! Now let me go!"

The room fell silent, and even Toki said nothing. She blinked a few times, surprised by her own outburst, and then slumped back down in her chair, turning a soft pink.

"I'm sorry." She said, "I don't know why I shouted like that. It was uncalled for."

"It's...understandable." The officer said, though anyone could tell by his face that it wasn't, "Are you sure you didn't kill the men?"

Tutomu noticed Toki's left eye twitch slightly before she answered, "Yes. I'm not a killer, sir."

"And you haven't met these men before in your life?"

Toki's fists clenched, it was coming again. That frustration bubbling up dangerously inside of her, pushing hard to come out. And it almost did.

"Will you stop--!" She shouted.

"Listen bucko, Toki didn't do anything!" Tutomu yelled, overlapping her outburst, "I've know her all my life and she would never kill anyone, aren't you satisfied enough!?"

It was then that Toki noticed his hand gripping tightly to her shoulder. A forceful, but weirdly comforting gesture that made Toki calm down and lean back in her chair without another word. She was embarrassed again, but relieved that Tutomu had helped hide `it' from them. Tutomu slammed his other hand on the desk and leaned foreword threateningly in front of the officer.

"...and her parents are the Nakagawa's!" He continued, "The highest ranking scientist and doctor Japan has ever seen! And possibly the WORLD has ever seen! So if you have any common sense you better let this girl go, she's their only daughter for heaven's sake! In fact," He paused for effect, "I think you're damn lucky it was only me that came. You don't even WANT to imagine the hell her parent's woulda raised if they had gotten here first."

The officer was speechless, then Tutomu pulled back with an expression much more serious then Toki had ever seen him with before. After a few minutes of silence, the officer sighed, and picked up the phone. He didn't tell either of the teens who he was calling, or why, but after he had finished his conversation, he scribbled something down on a piece of paper and slipped it into his file. They waited for his news, and finally, he looked up at them.

"Listen, I'm going to let you two go for now." He explained, looking at each of them in turn, "We're going to do more investigation on the victims, and we'll let you know when we need you back."

"Alright, thank you." Toki said politely.

"Just don't leave town." The officer said, almost jokingly, but still a little shaken up from Tutomu's lecture.

Toki smiled, "Don't worry, I won't."

She got up and began to walk out the door with Tutomu when the officer stopped her.

"Wait!" He called, "One moment, miss, I'm going to need that pendant you have."

Toki stopped, and stared down at the golden item still clutched in her hands.

"Oh, you mean the puzzle?" She said quietly.

"The puzzle?"

"Don't you see?" Toki replied, "There are little grooves in it, like pieces to a puzzle when its all put together."

"Whatever, I just need to keep it as evidence." The officer said, reaching out a hand, "Let me take it, you probably don't want it anyway."

Toki's look instantly became deathly serious as she stared back at him blankly. The officer hesitated for a moment, noticing that she wasn't handing the puzzle over, but also knowing that he had to take it, no matter what. Just as his fingers were about to touch the golden pieces, one of the hands clutching the puzzle suddenly lashed out and grabbed his wrist.

"No." She said firmly.

"No?" The officer said, holding in a shout as her nails dug into his skin, "What do you mean, no?"

"You can't have it." She said again, her eyes narrowing, "It's mine."

Tutomu gaped at her, it was almost as if now, she had become a different person. The sudden outburst before was understandable, Toki was known to do things like that without reason. But this was entirely different. She almost...had a completely different aura to her, if that made any sense. In fact, if Tutomu didn't know any better, he could have sworn he saw her eyes change color for a split second.

"You said it didn't belong to you!" The officer shouted, "I need it for evidence!"

"Take a picture." She said stubbornly, "I'm keeping it."

If her gaze had softened for a brief moment after that, she might not have gotten away with it. But the look in her eye caught the man off guard. It was almost murderous, not the same as any other glare he had received as an officer. Which was a large amount, considering.

`Maybe this girl has mental issues.' He thought to himself, `I'd be better off just giving her what she wants then have some girl with multiple personalities go after me.'

"The man said it's mine." She told him, "Its destined to me. You can't have it."

"Fine." The officer spat.

The smirk that played across her lips almost changed the deal, but the officer kept composed and only informed her that if they needed it for any reason, that they would come and get it. By force, if need be. The girl only nodded, and left the room with the teen boy. When the left, the officer picked up his cold cup of coffee and sighed.

"They don't pay me enough for this job..." He muttered, taking a sip. "Stupid psycho kids..."

.-.-.-.

"Is something wrong, Toki?"

No reply, she just continued to stare at her shoes. Tutomu waved a hand in front of her face.

"Hello? Earth to Toki?"

She blinked and turned to him, "Hm?"

"You haven't said anything for the past half hour." He said, "If I would have known this would be an `awkward silence' walk, I woulda called for a cab."

"Sorry," She said softly.

Tutomu waited, but the silence was back. He let out an exasperated sigh and looked back down at her.

"You see? There you go again! Speak woman!"

Toki blushed, "I'm just...thinking."

"About what?" Tutomu said moodily, "It must be something important if you've become mute for the past half hour."

"I just..." She stopped, and one of her hands reached up to caress the puzzle that was now hanging around her neck on a string she had found on the street, "Tutomu, do you think I'm...weird?"

Normally, Tutomu wouldn't have let Toki go about this one. She was stepping right into a trap, if Tutomu wanted her to be. But she seemed deadly serious this time, so he didn't feel like giving his usual `As weird as weird can be' answer. She used to ask him that question all the time in Elementary School, because she was made fun of so often, but then she just seemed to stop.

However, Tutomu noticed, that was also when she seemed to stop trying to make friends entirely.

"Why do you say that?" He asked her.

"Well, I just...I hate..." She was having a lot of trouble getting the right words out, and sighed before trying again, "I felt weird in the police station. Everyone seemed to...be afraid of me. Even you."

She glanced at him briefly before looking back down at the ground while she walked.

"Maybe that's why people don't like me..." She said quietly, "I'm always someone different. Its like I'm...three different people."

"Three?" Tutomu asked, "I thought it was only two?"

She looked up at him again, this time with a huge amount of hurt in her eyes, "So you noticed it?"

Tutomu cringed, knowing he had made a mistake, "Look, I guess I've just gotten used to it, you know? It doesn't make you weird, it just makes you interesting."

"But I hate having two people inside of me!" She cried suddenly, "I know that's why no one cares!"

Tutomu couldn't answer that. Sure, he cared. His family cared, but really, her own mother and father didn't care. He knew how hard it must be, for your mother to constantly tell you to fix yourself, and your father to constantly yell at you for no reason in particular. He understood her.

It was one of the reasons they had been friends so long.

Tutomu stopped speaking to her, nothing he could say would change her outlook on life. It was already too screwed up for him to do anything about it. So slowly, he reached out, and grabbed her hand. He felt it quiver for a moment before relaxing, and he smiled a little.

"Don't worry." He said gently, "You're getting better at controlling it. You know as well as I do you arent a nut job, you just...have strong emotions. That's all."

Toki looked away, not agreeing, but not disagreeing either.

"Your life won't always be this hard." Tutomu continued, "You'll see, thing will look up. I know they will."

She closed her eyes and took a shaky breath.

"In the meantime," Tutomu added, "You've still got me, right? I'm not all that bad. I may be reckless, selfish, and procrastinate, but I'm not that bad. Not to mention I make a really great lawyer, if I do say so myself."

He grinned at her and winked, and she felt the wave of emotions die down. Toki smiled, "Thanks, Tutomu."

"No problem." He replied, looking up, "And I see that this is your stop, see you tomorrow Toki-chan!"

"See you!" She shouted to him with a wave, running up the driveway and unlocking the front door.

Tutomu smiled as he watched her, feeling good that he had cheered her up. He to walk over to his own home, when his eye caught something in the road. Three somethings.

Or more, caught three someONEs.

A girl and two boys were standing out in front of a house across the street some, but they were definitely studying Toki's closely. He hadn't seen them in the neighborhood before, but thought against going over to say hello, and left instead. Something about them wasn't giving him a good feeling...

-.-.-.-

Toki stepped inside and shut the door behind her, looking up at the clock in the living room.

10:27

Had it really been that long?

"Why aren't mom and dad back yet?" She wondered aloud, dropping her backpack on the ground next to her and stepping inside. She turned on a light, placed the golden puzzle on the counter, and just stood there for a while.

The loneliness had returned.

Cold white walls and black leather furniture surrounded her. There wasn't any color in any place of the house. It had been like this for as long as she could remember.

"As long as I can remember..." She whispered, sinking in to a chair and leaning her head back.

She closed her eyes briefly, trying to go back to the past. When everything was carefree, and she was loved by her parents. How long ago had it been since she had heard any of them say anything good about her? How long had it been since she had really, truly smiled when her parents spoke to her.

Never.

It had never happened.

Toki sat up, finding no carefree loving memories to draw on. No time before her parents hadn't fought, or yelled at her, or tried to `fix' her, or even...touched her.

"Why?" She asked the shadows, "Why not?"

A click from the kitchen made her jump, and her thoughts seemed to vanish away on habit. She wasn't allowed to be sad around her mother and father. She wasn't allowed to be angry. She wasn't allowed to cry.

"Is there anyone there?" She called out.

Nothing.

"It must have been the refrigerator..." She told herself, "Stop being so paranoid."

A strange jolt of heat ran through her veins, and Toki froze.

Something was in the house.

She waited for a sound, but there was none. Then she heard a voice in the back of her head that seemed to whisper,

`The puzzle. Check the puzzle.'

It was strange, but she didn't want to check. It was almost like she knew what she'd see wouldn't help, but she looked anyway.

It was gone.

Immediately Toki jumped to her feet and grabbed the nearest heavy object to protect herself. Had someone followed her in? Did she have burglars in the house? She started to walk to the door. After all, it was the only way out. Her pace was quick at first, wanting to catch them in the act even though she knew she could do nothing to defend herself if they attacked. But she wanted her puzzle back.

She NEEDED her puzzle back.

She didn't know why, but she felt incomplete without it, and needed it back.

"Hello?" She called out timidly, "I-I know you're here..."

Her pace slowed. It was as if she could sense she was getting closer to them. Part of her wanted to go farther, part of her wanted to go back, so in compromise, she stopped.

"Get out of my house." She ordered, trying to sound threatening, "Or else. I have...a gun."

A bluff.

If the trespasser had cared enough to listen, they wouldn't have believed her.

"I'm warning you...." She said, taking a shaky step past the door of her parents room, and then a step back.

It was in there.

Whatever it was, was in her parent's room.

"Now I've got you." She whispered, unintentionally.

She walked inside cautiously, scanning the room for any movement or things that were out of place. The floor creaked and Toki jumped four feet in the air. She looked around frantically, then took a deep breath and placed her weapon on the bed. She finally came to the conclusion that there wasn't anything in the house, and that she must have just misplaced it.

"I'm a strange person." She said, trying to make herself smile, and doing so, but pathetically.

"Are you him then?"

Toki felt her heart stop as her foot froze half a step out the door.

There was most definitely something there.

And he was right behind her.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Retaw- Well, there you have it. I know, its kind of short, but I felt like that was a suitable enough cliffhanger for the story. ^-^ Please review, I would really appreciate it. And go ahead and criticize me, constructively of course. I'm thankful when people point out my flaws, it helps me get better.

Ok, weird question, but I would like an opinion from anyone who's willing to answer. Is the character Toki annoying to anyone? I know when I read stories with main female characters, and it seems like they always have a tragic past, and I found it slightly annoying. But when I pictured Toki, I pictured her family this way. I don't know why, but if it annoys people, I want to know. Otherwise, I'll just be one of those annoying writers again. ^^;>

Ok, so I didn't introduce any new characters yet like I hoped. Sorry. I'll fit them in next time...I hope.

- Authors Notes To All Yee Who Care -

Backpack: The backpack Toki put on the ground is sort of like a childhood friend. I know it sounds weird, but its like something familiar that she brought to High School even though she didn't need to. Just felt like bringing that up.

Three Personas: I like the Toki character because she has three different sides to her. Because she has to hold everything inside, sometimes her emotions come out in random explosions. Like in the police station, Toki got mad at the man and yelled at him because she had been holding in all her frustration and fear, so it had to come out somehow. Like a balloon filled with too much air. She doesn't like showing that side, and when the third side comes, it really screws her personality up. ^^;> More on that later.

Tutomu: Just in case you forgot, Tutomu is three years older then Toki is. So he didn't invite Toki to go see Keiji's band play because she wouldn't be able to get into the club. She's too young. He's really not that entirely inconsiderate. Believe me, if he could take her, he would have, and he felt guilty about it.

Holding Hands: Sorry fluff lovers, but this was more of a brotherly sisterly gesture then anything else. The fluff is yet to come...at least for some characters. I'm not telling who, it'll spoil it. ^-^ I just thought it was a cute little thing I wanted to put in there. I'm going to draw a picture of it some day, that would be so kawaii!