Beastly King (Yu-Gi-Oh fanfic Puzzleshipping/Blindshipping)

The Castle (2)

I don't own Beastly or Yu-Gi-Oh

    Aknamkanon was quick. The tutor showed up a week later.
    "Atem.” I noticed Mai had stopped calling me Atem-sama after I had screamed at her. This made her very slightly less annoying. “This is Ryou Saraqa. He is your new sensei.”
    The guy with her was tall, late twenties, and major geeky. He had a dog with him, a yellow Lab, and he had on worn jeans, too baggy to be fitted but not big enough to be cool, and a blue button-down shirt. Obviously public school, and not even cool public school. He stepped forward. “Ohayo, Atem-kun.”
    He didn’t run screaming at the sight of me. That was a point in his favor. On the down side, he didn’t look at me. He sort of looked to the side of me.
    “Over here!” I waved. “This isn’t going to work if you can’t even look at me.”
    The dog let out a low growl.
    The guy—Ryou—laughed. “That might be a bit difficult.”
    “Why’s that?” I demanded.
    “Because I’m blind.”

Oh.

    “Sit, Pilot!” Ryou said. But Pilot was pacing, refusing to sit.
    This was so totally alternative universe. Aknamkanon had gone out and found—or, most likely, got his secretary to find—a blind tutor, so he wouldn’t be able to see how ugly I was.
   “Oh, wow, Gomen ne. Is this…this is your dog? Will it be living here? Will you?” I’d never met a blind person before, though I’d seen them on the subways.
    “Hai.” Ryou gestured to the dog. “This is Pilot. We shall both be living here. Your Tou-san drives a hard bargain.” I just noticed that he has an accent in his japanese, what is it, American or European? Or maybe it's British?
    “I’ll bet. What’d he tell you about me? Gomen ne. Do you want to sit down?” I took his arm.
    He jerked it away. “Please don’t do that.”
    “Gomen. I was just trying to help.”
    “Don’t grab people. Would you like it if I grabbed you? If you’d like to offer assistance, ask if the person needs it.”
    “Okay, okay, gomen.” This was getting off to a great start. But I needed to get along with this guy. “Do you?”
    “Arigato, no. I can manage.”
    Using a cane I also hadn’t noticed, he made his way around the sofa and sat. The dog kept glaring at me, like he thought I was some animal that might attack his master. He let out another low growl.
    “Does he tell you where to go?” I asked. I wasn’t scared. I knew if the dog bit me, I’d just heal. I leaned down and stared right into the dog’s eyes. It’s okay, I thought. The dog sat, then lay down. He stared at me, but he stopped growling.
    “Not really. I find my own way, but if I’m about to walk down a flight of stairs, he stops walking.”
    “I never had a dog,” I said, thinking how dumb it sounded after I said it. Poor little deprived Domino kid.
    “You won’t have this one either. He’s mine.”
    “I understand.” Strike two. “Chill.” I sat on the chair opposite Ryou. The dog kept looking at me, but the look was different, like he was trying to work out whether I was an animal or a man. “What did Aknamk- I mean Tou-san tell you about me?”
    “He said you were an invalid who needed home teaching to keep up with your studies. You’re a very serious student, I gather.”
    I laughed. “Invalid, huh?” Invalid was right. As in invalid. Not valid. “Did he mention what disease I have?”
    Ryou shifted in his seat. “Actually, no. Was it something you wanted to discuss?”
    I shook my head before realizing he couldn’t see me. “Something you might want to know. See, the thing is, I’m perfectly healthy. I’m just a freak.”
    Ryou’s eyebrows went up at the word freak, but he didn’t say anything.
    “No, really. First off, I have hair all over my body. Thick hair like a dog’s. I also have fangs, and claws. Those are my bad points. The good point is I seem to be made of Teflon. Cut me, and I heal. I could be a superhero except that if I ever tried to save someone from a burning building, they’d take one look at my face and run screaming into the flames.”
    I stopped. Ryou still didn’t answer, just stared at me almost like he could see me better than other people, like he could see what I used to look like.
    Finally, he said, “Are you quite finished?”
    Quite finished? Who talked like that? “What do you mean?”
    “I’m blind, not stupid. You won’t be able to put stuff over on me. I was under the impression…your Tou-sansaid you wanted a tutor. If that isn’t the case…” He stood.
    “No! You don’t get it. I’m not trying to yank your chain. What I’m saying is true.” I looked at the dog. “Pilot knows it. Can’t you tell how freaked out he’s been acting?” I reached out my arm to Ryou. The dog let out another growl, but I looked into his eyes, and he stopped. “Here. Touch my arm.”
    I rolled up my shirtsleeve, and Ryou touched my arm. He recoiled. “That’s your…it’s not a coat you’re wearing or something?”
    “Feel it. No seams.” I turned my arm, so he could feel underneath. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell you.”
    “He did have some rather odd…conditions for my employment.”
    “Like what?”
    “He offered an enormous salary and use of a credit card for all expenses—I can’t say I argued with that. He required me to live here. The salary was paid through a corporation, and I was never to ask who he was or why he’d hired me. I was required to sign a three-year contract, terminable at his will. If I stayed three years, he’d pay off my student loans and send me to a doctoral program. Finally, I had to agree not to tell my story to the media or write a book. I rather assumed you were a movie star.”
     I laughed at that one. “Did he tell you who he was?”
    “A businessman, he said.”
    And he didn’t think I’d tell you? And I thought I was the stupid one for angering a witch.
    “We’ll talk,” I said. “That is, assuming…do you still want to work here, now that you know I’m not a movie star, that I’m just a freak?”
    “Do you wish me to work here?”
    “Yes. You’re the first person I’ve spoken to in three months besides doctors and the housekeeper.”
    Ryou nodded. “Then I want to work here. I was actually kind of put off when I thought you were a movie star, but I needed the money.” He put his hand out. I took his. “I’m happy to work with you, Atem-kun.”
    “Atem Sennen, son of Aknamkanon Sennen.” I shook his hand, enjoying his shocked expression. “Did you say my Tou-san gave you a credit card?”

And Ryou makes an entrance! Yes Ryou will be blind in this book. Got to love these characters ❤

Ja Ne

Sagario