Everyday Moments (Bakura/Closed)

[Nuri Massri]

Strange how simple pleasures could completely cause a person to lose track of time, consumed in the thought of fulfilling that one desire. So the morning had passed, shadows rotating as the world turned around that ever glowing sun overhead, and all thoughts of far more important matters were tucked away into that messy box in the back of the girl's mind. She was too busy enjoying herself that day, running around aimlessly beneath a calm blue sky, puffy white clouds drifting lazily against such purity. Despite the sunshine, it was freezing out. At least it was to her. For no matter how long Nuri lived in Domino City, the desert heat was still dwelling in her bones, and any degree lower than that of Egypt was uncomfortable. Cold. Even so, she was too stubborn (or perhaps lazy) to return home and put on a warmer outfit.

She’s already done it once, changing out of her school uniform after having run all the way back to her flat after remembering that it was not a school day. But, being Nuri, she had changed into an equally awkward skirt and blouse, wrapping a scarf around her head before leaving again. A gift from her mother, meaning she had to wear it eventually. And there was no better time like the present.

Her mind had become occupied as soon as she set foot outside, colorful fluttering wings catching her eye as they soared through the air. Her gaze was locked on the beautiful creature, hypnotized by it entirely. Perfect curves flitting against the background which was the world, intricate yet simple designs attracting her attention. They were delicate creatures, always fascinating to Nuri, and she couldn’t help but wonder why no one else on that crowded street was awed by it.

Ah, but it was the world, after all. Concentrating only on themselves, people walked through their days ignoring the wonders around them. Beauty mattered little in society anymore, for everything continued to advance in technology. True simple things were of no importance as humanity strove to get the latest and greatest – the newest and best – living only to buy more and show it off to those who lacked such complicated things. Ugly things. They forgot what was supposed to be important. Family. Love. Beauty. Humans worked to live and lived to work, always looking forward to that paycheck that will put them on step closer to that new car, big screen TV, condo in the Bahamas.

How they did it, Nuri didn’t know. The first five years of her life had been spent living in a tent, playing in the dirt, and owning a rag doll. She had always thought that she was the luckiest person in the world, having a family so close to her. Growing up had not been difficult, she and Sherite walked to and from school every day, did their chores, helped with the dig, and ended the evening learning to wrestle from the men helping their father. It had been fun. Wonderful. A life without complications, for they didn’t need anything but the necessities. How horrified she had been when she traveled across the ocean to find a completely different place. Heartless. Cold. Unfeeling. She felt out of place in her simple clothing, having brought little with her but her favorite figurines, the rag doll, and only a few outfits. She kept her place simple, having peered through the windows of numerous houses to see what sort of furniture was used in such a large place. In the end, she kept nothing but a low coffee table, a cot, and many pillows. It was all she needed, wanted.

But thinking of the negative side of society wasn’t her intention. It brought her down. Instead, she returned her thoughts to the insect that had flown quite a ways ahead of her. If only that damned butterfly would stay still long enough for her to catch it...

Alas, it was not to be. She followed the bug, which was rather difficult keeping an eye on it and weaving through the crowd without bumping into anyone. People tended to be more moody here when they were disturbed or accidentally touched by a stranger. She couldn’t imagine why. It was almost like an insult, offensive to make a mistake. It was almost frightening in a way, knowing that one misstep could put you in the path of disaster. So while she focused on keeping out of everyone else’s way, the butterfly was soon out of her sight, much to her disappointment.

She breathed out a low sigh, hanging her head in what might have passed for despair. Taking her personality into consideration, it was probably the closest she ever felt to it. Almost. She wouldn’t think about it. There were better things to reflect on.

And without even realizing it, Nuri found herself sitting on a park bench, leaning back to stare at the passing clouds. She listened to the laughter of the children playing off in the background, a shrill cry of a mother grabbing what might have been a worm from her baby’s mouth, a dog barking at its owner to throw the stick, the owner distracted by trying to get the number of the girl he was talking to.

Life at its greatest simple moments. Nuri couldn’t suppress the smile that tugged at her lips.

[Ryou [+Yami] Bakura]

What had he been thinking when he had reasoned that, on a sunny day like this one, he might as well study in the park?

It was week-end, so there were no classes today, and the weather was indeed very nice, despite the fact that the wind was stronger here, dropping the air's temperature by a few degrees. It was due to the lack of buildings, which would have kept the stronger and colder currents away, redirecting them upwards or just blocking them completely. Otherwise, the sun was up in the sky, just beginning to head lower as time passed and afternoon progressed, and its rays bathed everything they could find. Which, in the park's case, was almost everything, since the only shadows came from trees and other smaller things, such as benches, swings, or people. That heat almost compensated for the chill, the wind's presence only apparent in the movement of leaves and grass.

Here he was, in the middle of all that, seated on a bench he had found most withdrawn, out of those that had been unoccupied when he arrived about an hour ago. His relative isolation was not enough, however, to block out all the noise around him, all the sounds that people made when they interacted. And out of all the possible groups, the noisiest of them all gathered in the park: children, and more so, their mothers or caretakers with them, nagging continually. There was no way Bakura Ryou could focus on reading his book and taking notes from it right now, even though he had the comfort of a stone table, usually destined to outdoor games of chess.

He stared aimlessly at the alternative squares, or what he could see of them on the surface below his scattered papers. Just listening to everything was all he could do, with his attention invariably drawn back to that even if he would try to focus on studying instead. He had already tried to close his mind to exterior factors a few time, but it only worked for five minutes at most. Something louder than the generic sounds, or sudden enough to tear his attention from the notes would ensue sooner or later anyway. So he had given up, and was now just pondering his leave. The only reluctance came from the fact that it was quite pleasant to be here on a warm enough day, doing nothing in particular.

But he did have a project to work on for class, so he couldn't waste too much time around either. He had the summer break ahead of him for that. Eventually.

Reminding himself of his work seemed to mobilize Ryou, for he finally stood up and began to gather all the sheets, some of them blank, and others carrying random scribbling. One of them even had just a bunch of senseless lines drawn on it, from when he had been absently tracing the tip of his pen around it, without even noticing what he was doing. He didn't pay much attention to it now, either, and just tossed it in with the rest of the files, pressing their lower edges against the table's plane surface in order to even the stack. His fingers helped, tracing the sides and adding the final touch. Finally, he stuck everything back into the folder he'd been carrying around, and took that with him as he began to depart.

He looked back just for a small second, taking in the perfect square of black and white patches, always eight in number on any row, column or diagonal, and the eroded edges of the table. Maybe he could come back here some other time, when he didn't actually have something important to do. But for now, he would remember that his theory about the park being a quiet place was wrong. Even now, as he turned fully away and walked to the nearest alley, which he would follow to an exit, the background of his thoughts was filled with noise. There were many voices, some louder and, as such, clearer than others, but most merged together in a choir of trivial, daily matters. So many people…

Upon reaching the alley, Bakura realized there was someone seated on the bench right at the cross, where there had been nobody a few minutes earlier, when his gaze had abated in that direction last. He didn't take any particular interest in the person, but noticing the presence, he had to at least note that it was a female, and dressed a little strangely. Also, her build was small, child-like, so she had to be pretty young, likely younger than him. She wasn't wearing many things, no, that wasn't the type of excess in her outfit. He couldn't quite class what the problem was… maybe that she wore a scarf on a sunny day like that one.

Bakura wasn't really the person to care about something being odd, though, not in the way most people did. It was often intriguing, if not appealing at most, until he found a solution.

Come to think of it, her appearance likely explained the object's presence. She was tan, and darker than the people here in general, as apparent in the natural color of her hair and her eyes. And her features were rounded. Ryou could recall reading that people often had trouble adapting to climate that was too different from their own. Or maybe it was just the clothing style of wherever she had come from, which, if he could guess from her looks at all, would have to be something Middle-Eastern or around that area. He wasn't from Domino City either, originally, but he could only imagine that she had a lot more trouble getting used to this place than he did, seeing as to how she must have come from somewhere a lot less alike to here than his home was.

So, that was the key to the whole mystery, probably.

Realizing that his study had caused him to slow his pace, and he had actually stared for a little bit, Ryou brought his attention back to the present. There was really no expression on his face, and that didn't change with the redirection of his gaze to what was ahead. Clutching his folder, which, with his weakening grip, had almost been slipping from his hand, he sped back up and moved past the bench she sat on. There should be an exit from the park that way, if he recalled. He could use it and then walk home from there; it wasn't very far.

[Nuri Massri]

With a sudden start, she realized that her eyes were closed and for a moment she had been walking the path to dreamland. A long road, hazy in the distance. And it was that mist that lured her towards the land beyond her vision; she had to know what lay beyond it. Wanted to feel the moisture of it against her skin. Curiosity was a dangerous thing, she would admit. But there could be no harm in traveling towards that unknown destination for only a minute. Actually there could. Nuri just never thought about it in that way. It was a dangerous world, after all, despite how a person tried to sugarcoat reality. But more important that being dangerous…it was embarrassing falling asleep in public. A person was far more vulnerable when they slept, twitching and saying things unconsciously. She would avoid that at all costs.

So it was a good thing she was only out of it a few seconds.

There was a breeze rustling in the trees, grazing the leaves in a scratching manner. It was almost annoying, Nuri thought, it being a soft whisper among the clamors of the current setting. And yet she heard it clearly above everything, the sound tickling her ears in obnoxious brushes. Truly annoying. At certain times she might have found it relaxing, just listening to world around her, taking in her surroundings with an inquisitive nature. She was that sort of person, snooping into the lives of others through what she observed. And with the variety of sights and sounds, there was never a dull moment, so her attention was always caught by one thing or another. Eyes wide and darting back and forth to take in absolutely everything, not wanting to miss a single ordinary moment of life as it was. Life that she was not living.

Hers was a very ordinary existence. Wake up, eat, maintain good hygiene, go to school, come home, finish homework, do chores for that day, and sleep. Her days were never planned out, but they always managed to be the same no matter how she tried to vary her tasks. She couldn’t bring herself to skip school, forget homework, put off her chores; abandon the way her world turned. She hated the order, the usualness of it. Would much rather watch the mundane lives of the people in her building.

Even the life of her building was unchanging. Listen to the husband and wife of over thirty years scream at each other at exactly 11:14 pm every night. Three minutes and forty-six seconds later someone would pound on the wall and yell at them to “shut the fuck up.” Every Tuesday the newlyweds next door would get into one of their play fights at 4:45 pm, and they would make up around midnight. Loudly. Then there was the elderly couple that went for their morning walks through the halls, always looking cheerful despite their ailments. Nuri made sure to smile at them as they passed. But they ignored her, for she was still a newcomer in their planned out little world.

Indeed, it was such a wonderful life. Wonderful…in a twisted sense of the word.

Her eyes strayed from the clouds overhead in time to see a figure pass by. Slowly enough for her to notice, but quickly enough for her not to have had her mind taken over by interest in the person. Instead what attracted her attention was a green blur in her peripheral vision. Nothing more than a small movement of a waxy looking, fresh leaf which scooted down the sidewalk, escorted by the breeze. She stared at it for the longest time, half contemplating whether or not to follow after it. There would be no point if she did. Then again, she had no reason not to. She wouldn’t lose anything by walking along side the leaf and hope that it would take her somewhere. Spice up the dull life that for some reason she couldn’t help but not hate.

So deciding that she would, in fact, chase the leaf, she rose from her sitting position and took off following it its path. Rather difficult, for it moved slowly and sometimes not at all. The going was slow, keeping her eyes on the simple boring object with an intense stare. Her expression was serious, though what was so important about that leaf…a spectator could only guess. It was, Nuri realized, quite boring.

Once again her attention was diverted as a brighter flash of color went past her face. It was her butterfly. Well, obviously it wasn’t the same one, but with a grin and a childish giggle, she took off running after it, pretending to herself that it was the one she had seen earlier and that it had come to take her far away to a place with chocolate sprinkles and cookies. Or somewhere along those lines. Anywhere with food (she was obviously hungry but too distracted to realize it).

Instead, not paying attention (at all), she ran directly into the back of someone who she had not seen upon her approach. A cry of horror escaped her grasp as she stumbled backwards, a slight tremor in her voice. Her eyes lowered, casting her gaze to the ground while she tried to say an apology. But in her flustered state the words came out in Arabic, adding even more to her embarrassment. She’d been doing so well about not bumping into people.

At least until then.

She couldn’t even bring herself to look at the person.