[Yu-Gi-Oh! AU] Don't Think Twice before You Listen To Your Heart; Follow the Trace for a New Start

[motherlypeace]

[This was supposed to be an exciting class trip.

The spring semester was about to come to a close, and Inko Hakuba's first few months in high school were supposed to end with a fun trip for everyone before the summer vacation began.

Said fun trip?

Going to Egypt.

Truth be told, she'd been looking forward to this trip for weeks; it was meant to be a trip for the senior students, but after a particular incident that was not disclosed to the public, the funds and tickets were given to the first years for free (so long as the student had a usable passport) as punishment for the students in question in lieu of barring their chances at graduation.

So Inko and her class were shuttled onto a bus, put on a plane, and were sent to Egypt as a cultural studies trip.

Her very first trip, her very first trip without her parents, and to a foreign country, no less! She was being taken to a land of adventure, full of beautiful golden sands, priceless artifacts, and ancient magic and wonder.

(Of course, it was not actually like that; but nobody had the heart to tell the poor girl that when she excitedly got on the plane. She was only fifteen, less than one month off from her sixteenth birthday, and she was clearly very excited!)

Their first stop was an outdoor market near Cairo, which was clearly trying to appeal to tourists like Inko who bought into the idea of the country rather than the reality. An old woman with graying hair reached out to Inko as she passed a stall, and stopped her as she was about to walk past.

Her classmates didn't notice that they left her behind.

"Yes...?" She asked in clumsy Arabic.

"You...I've seen you before."

The woman spoke in perfect Japanese, but it was clear that she was not a native speaker. Her mouth moved in a strange way, and they didn't seem to match her words, but Inko understood her perfectly.

"I...Excuse me?" Inko blinked.

The woman fished under the counter, pulling something out and holding it to Inko.

It looked like some kind of stone, almost the size of her fist. The image of what looked to be a tiger was carved on it, and the stone...looked old.

Quite old.

"For you. Don't worry about paying."

Inko took it in her hand and held it to her chest, and it felt warm in her hand. She didn't understand what was going on, but she nodded.

"I...if you're...thank you."

She bowed quickly, hurrying to catch up to the other students that were milling around nearby at another stall.

She dreamt of a voice that night, speaking to her. It was faint and muffled, and she couldn't understand it.

It wasn't until the next day, when they went to visit the Cairo museum, that she understood the words:

"Find me."

When she and her classmates went to the museum, she found herself stopping at a stone tablet on the wall with the same tiger etched into it; it looked like he was staring right at her...but that couldn't be right! That was a carving!

And yet...

She felt the stone in her hand growing warm, almost burning to the touch as she felt it...

Phase inside her body.

And something opened up under her, swallowing her whole as she fell into an abyss to the horrified screaming of her classmates nearby.

...

And there she was, lying in her Domino High school uniform inside what looked to be an open sarcophagus, the mummy long since removed. She was in the fetal position, short hair in disarray as she hugged herself.

She was unconscious...

And she wasn't in the museum anymore.]

Comments

[thefinalsacrifice]

If you're wishing to be the Bandit Queen then yes, I'll need to teach you all the tricks of the trade.

[He lounges back, holding his arms behind his head.]

Thankfully you'll be taught... so you won't need to learn the hard way and marr yourself like I have.

[motherlypeace]

[Mar herself...

He means his scars. She leans forward, but doesn't touch him. She knows that his scars are...a subject that she doesn't breach. It's one of those things that she knows is a hard barrier: he'll tell her in good time.

If he's ever ready.

A sadness crosses her eyes for a moment, but she tries to dispel it with a little joke.]

Oh...? Does the Bandit King prefer his queen to be unmarked by the unworthy?

[A redirection. An attempt to switch the conversation to not discuss those scars.]

[thefinalsacrifice]

[Thankfully they both seem to be on the same page and Bakura's lips curl into a cheeky grin as he brushes a hand past the crook of her neck.]

Indeed. Only the Bandit King is allowed to mark his Queen...

[Fingertips glance against a little bruise he left on Inko's from the previous night: a hickey.]

[motherlypeace]

[Inko shivers, leaning into his touch with a little sigh.]

Mmmmn...and I love it when you mark me...

[She moves forward, almost crawling into his lap; her breasts hang low and brush against her King's skin.]

It reminds me who I belong to...

[thefinalsacrifice]

[Bakura purrs at the sensation of her on top of him and her breasts brushing against him.]

Mmm... Does it...?

[motherlypeace]

It does...

[She is now fully in his lap, straddling his waist with her arms around his neck.

He's so much bigger than her.

Stronger.

But he's not scary at all...in fact, it makes her feel so safe...]

It reminds me that I belong to you, and no one else.

[And she means that. Look in her eyes: she is completely and utterly devoted to him.]

I'm yours.

[thefinalsacrifice]

[Bakura welcomes her into his lap but as he reaches his arms around to pull her closer, he looks a bit distant for a moment.

She's his. She belongs to him.

... That doesn't sound right. Why doesn't it?]

I...

[Gods, this is awkward.]

You are still your own woman though. Never forget that.

[motherlypeace]

[Inko's eyes soften, and there's something warm in her gaze. Something tender.]

I know.

[A little bit of pink blooms on her cheeks. Goodness, this was meant to be flirty, and yet...

He just made her heart feel fuzzy and her cheeks grow hot.]

That's...why I'm okay with saying things like that to you. Because you see me as myself. You see me as a person capable of making my own choices.

[A pause.]

And if I say that I'm yours...I say that of my own volition.

[thefinalsacrifice]

[That seems to ease his concerns -- or whatever they were. Bakura visibly relaxes and he presses a kiss to her forehead.

Diabound will just slither to another spot since the two are cuddling now. Tsk.

But the thief smiles at Inko.]

Very well then... My queen.

[motherlypeace]

[Inko's eyes widen slightly and her face reddens even more.

Honestly, with that smile and those words...

Her stomach swoops and her heart soars; goodness, was it possible to to feel even more in love with this man? Was it possible to fall harder?

She looks in his eyes like he is the sun itself.]

Thank you...

[She kisses him on the cheek.]

My King.

[Naturia moves, too. He's a bit too close to these two for his liking when they're like this.]

[thefinalsacrifice]

[The thief lets out a quiet content sigh at the kiss and gently rubs his lover's back.]

Inko...

[He might not fully understand how he feels towards her in full but... his tone says that he's slowly starting to.]

[motherlypeace]

[That tone is everything.

She dares not think too deeply on what it means, or to try to analyze it (no matter how much she wants to) -- she knows that Bakura is the sort of person who uses action over words, and takes his time to open up.

But...

Gods.

Her soft heart feels light.]

Bakura...

[She wraps her arms around his waist and rests her head against his chest, lying against him to hold him close.

He feels so perfect against her.

Her dear friend.

Her teacher.

Her lover.

Her King.]

Can we...stay like this for a while?

[She whispers, low and intimate against his skin.]

[thefinalsacrifice]

[Bakura holds her gently, chest beating softly in his chest as she lays against him. He lazily runs his fingers through her hair, eyes closed, and his chest rising and falling gently as he breathes.]

For however long you want...

[motherlypeace]

Mmmm... thank you...

[This is bliss. This is safety.

...

This is what happiness is: Her arms around her lover, his fingers in her hair and his breath on her skin.

His soft voice.

His quiet affections.

She presses little kisses against his skin, affectionate and gentle.]

So warm...

[thefinalsacrifice]

Mmhmm...

[Another soft chuckle as he drapes the blanket over them.]

Comfortable...?

[motherlypeace]

Mmhmmmm...

[There's a soft little nuzzle against his skin between her kisses.]

I definitely...feel like a queen like this. You feel...amazing.

[A dreamy little sigh.]

You feel...like home.

[A pause.]

You...are home.

[thefinalsacrifice]

[A grunt. Bakura struggling with words again.

... What does home feel like? It's been so long since he had a home and family himself.

He doesn't say anything, instead just continuing to stroke Inko's hair, holding her close.]

[motherlypeace]

I...never quite felt right in my own home.

[She sighs. Those empty walls, the quiet, the gaping hole inside her felt so far away. Those moments when she'd wake up in the middle of the night, screaming out an open window into thunderstorms that drowned out her voice.

Just for an attempt to find something.

To fill that hole.]

Mother was...always cold to me. Father was always gone. My friends always protected me.

[A pause.]

I never felt...whole. But after coming here, I feel like...I'm complete. I feel like I came back to somewhere I've been before. It doesn't...make much sense, I suppose. Speaking Hieratic with you feels more natural to me than speaking my native tongue these days, and learning alongside you feels like what I should have done all along.

It's like my life before coming here was a long, distant dream...

And coming here was like I finally woke up.

...

Is that...strange?

[thefinalsacrifice]

[Again, silence as he listens, thinking out his answer with care. Not that he really needs to think about it. She only asked a simple question.

So he answers truthfully as he always does:]

No, it's not strange.

[The Gods work in mysterious ways. Perhaps... she really was meant to come back to this time, for them to meet...

It's hard to say still but... he always rolls with the punches.]

[motherlypeace]

[She presses a few kisses against his chest.]

I just...

I...

[Her arms tremble, just a little.]

I'm not going back.

[It's funny: in literature, when the character had this kind of revelation, this was part of a larger story arc where they eventually learn that they're using this experience to run away from their own problems, and they were living in a fantasy.

What fantasy?

This was a harder life than she'd ever had. She was pampered in her time in comparison, expected to study hard and eventually become the wife of a man she didn't even know.

The Inko Hakuba of now would never accept being the wife of a man she doesn't know: she'll be disowned before that happens.

She's traveled through open desert by herself, dashed through towns and found her wings. She wasn't the same person anymore...]

There is nothing...waiting for me there.

[thefinalsacrifice]

[Bakura blinks, looking down at her.

... She's happy without her modern conveniences? Dealing with the hardships of this day and age?

He strokes her hair, brushing some of it from out of her face.]

Truly? Not even your family?

[motherlypeace]

[She laughs, but it's almost...sad.]

My family and I are not...close. My father is always away for work and barely speaks to me, and my mother...

[She shakes her head.]

She is...cold. She cares more for her own social standing than anything else. She does not want me to grow, but be the catalyst for her own growth.

[A pause.]

I overheard her in...talks before I left for Egypt. She was planning on arranging a husband for me.

[There's disgust in her voice; true frustration for her situation and the life that waited for her.]

Likely one of her older friends; it is not unheard of for a much older man to have a young bride if the mother approves. I will not do it. I am not a thing for her to give away. I will sooner never return and keep my freedom than live in convenience and have my wings torn off my back.

[thefinalsacrifice]

[As always, Bakura listens to everything she says, taking her words into consideration.]

Mn. So marriage doesn't change much in your time...

I can't say I blame you for wanting to keep your freedom. You've done well for yourself here. A pity they can't see that.

[motherlypeace]

Actually...marriage is not often like this in my time.

Most families don't do this, but it's not exactly frowned upon to do it, either.

[She laughs.]

I think my family would lose their minds if they saw me now. They would hardly imagine me with longer hair--

[Her short bobcut has grown into a more natural shoulder-length fringe; and it keeps growing by the day.]

Much less making my own way without their supervision!

[She smiles. Really, really smiles.]

I am...happy here.

[A pause.]

I am happy here...with you.

[thefinalsacrifice]

[He chuckles softly.]

You look good with longer hair.

[To which he strokes as she smiles at him -- and he smiles in turn.]

I must admit... I've enjoyed myself since you dropped into my lap. It took some adjusting to but... I rather like having you around.