Stuck with Thoughts

By: Sakura

Trapped. Ensnared. Immobile. Halted. Still. Stationary. Caught. Stopped. Confined. Immovable.

With nothing else to do, I spent my time trying to think of synonyms to describe my current situation. But it all just means one thing: I'm stuck.

Stuck here with nothing to do but to twiddle my thumbs, fidget, and wonder when and where the next block will be falling from. How fun. And I'm obviously being sarcastic about it.

Hi! My name is Honda Hiroto, surname first, given name second. But everyone calls me by my surname, except my older sister. She keeps calling me "Hii-kun", as if I were some ten-year-old kid. But I'm really not ten. I'm sixteen-years-old and in my first year of high school, girlfriend-less, but not friend-less.

So why am I stuck with nothing to do but watch blocks fall and try to crush me? I got trapped in one of the levels of Kaiba's Death-T theme park. Isn't that wonderful? Sarcasm again, of course.

Why am I alone, you ask? Where are my friends? They have all moved to the next round in the Death-T games. There was no way I could make it in time. Oh, and did I mention that my coat was stuck between two blocks so that I can't move? With the entrance we came through locked and with the exit closed off by one of the giant blocks, I'm trapped in this little room, in more ways than one, and more blocks dropping every minute.

I can still remember Jounouchi yelling at me through the blocked exit.

"No, I don't believe that! Honda can't possibly die!"

A sweatdrop rolls down the back of my head. Dummy, I'm not going to die here. Well, I might get crushed by gigantic blocks, but that's about it, really.

Yet he still continued.

"That fool…don't die so easily…"

An irritation mark pops up on my forehead. Fool? And just who's trying to die easily here?!

But he still continued.

"Honda!! Do you hear that?"

Hai, hai, I bet the whole world can hear you.

"We'll go ahead first! You have to use your strength to get through this! You have to wait for us! Can you hear me?!"

I couldn't help it. "Baka! Where do you think I can go? I'm stuck, remember?!" But he didn't hear me. It's not like he could, anyway, for I could hear their footsteps propelling them forward, toward whatever awaited them next.

Silence ensued again. This was getting boring. Who would want to stand here stuck to a block, anyway? A sound of a distant falling block landing on another reached my ears. I tried to stifle a yawn. Another one dropped not too far away. I checked my watch. A third fell…right on the block behind where I stood! Ack! When did it get so close to me??

I chanced to look up this time…and swore under my breath. A block was hanging from the ceiling, threatening to fall…right where I was standing. Did I say it was getting boring? No! I'd welcome the boredom! It's so much less dangerous!

The block was released, falling, falling. I was there, struggling, struggling. At the last moment, I managed to pull free and nearly fell off the now tall mountain of blocks. I watched as my jacket was squashed by the weight. Great, now I'll have to go buy another one. But I was immensely glad when I realized only my jacket was caught and not my shirt, too. Lucky… A sigh of relief escaped my lips. However, it was short-lived.

I quickly made my way down the blocks; they formed a set of stairs, ones with oddly huge steps. As I went down, the blocks seemed to keep chasing me. This is absolutely getting ridiculous! I don't want to die here! The door!

The door suddenly came into view, the entrance we used to enter this room. Finally…but it was locked… Of course it was…what else did I expect? Oh, well, do what a crazy man's gotta do.

"Help!" I called, slamming into the door at the same time. Ouch. That hurt. That's one strong door. I kept beating it with my fists. "Let me out of this damn place!"

Suddenly, I landed flat on my face. My eyes closed. I feel really dizzy. I could still hear blocks dropping and landing, but they sounded kind of far away. What's going on?

Someone had opened the door for me. I hadn't realized it and fallen through when it happened. Sitting up, I tried to blink the dizziness away. Where am I again?

A short little kid stood before me. He had long messy, a weird robe, and his hands on his waist, his back to me. "Are you the one that let me out?" I found myself asking. The kid didn't say anything for a while, but finally, he nodded. "Thanks." He still said nothing.

With my head and mind cleared again, I stood up. My friends! I had to find them! My eyes shifted to the little kid, his back still facing me. Would he know where they were…?

"Hey, would you know where I can find Yuugi-tachi?" I asked him. What the heck. You never know, right? This kid might know something. But the kid said nothing. Either he was deep in thought, or he was deliberately trying to slow me down for one reason or another. The boy mumbled something, something I couldn't hear. "What was that?" I queried.

"What are they to you!?" he shouted, whirling around. I blinked in surprise at the question. I never expected something like that. But a smile came to my face when I answered. I knew what they were to me, and how much they meant to me.

"They're my friends," I answered clearly. "Friends I'd do anything for and they'd do anything for me. They-" He cut me off, when he held up his hand.

"I'll take you to them," he said quietly. I looked at the kid rather dubiously. Just who was he? One of Kaiba's lackeys? However, there was something in his tone, something that made me know I could trust him. Besides, he looked harmless enough. He led me down the corridor and into an elevator.

"Thanks for your help," I told him. "But what is your name, anyway?"

The kid turned away. "It's Mokuba."

The name seemed familiar somehow. Didn't Yuugi mention him once? I can't remember right now.

The elevator stopped. "This way," Mokuba said, pointing out the direction to me. I could hear cheers from where I stood. Loud, deafening ones. I followed the sound.

As I emerged out of the tunnel, I instantly spotted them. My friends. There was Jounouchi and Anzu, though, two weird guys were standing behind them (were those guns?). And Yuugi, sitting in the center of the arena, opposite of…Kaiba! So he had made it to the last round, after all! He seemed rather different than usual, as if I was seeing a Yuugi I have never seen before. My friends were standing before me, only a few steps away…

Though I always know how much my friends mean to me, it always seems I understand more and more when I see them. They're all my best friends, Jounouchi, Anzu…Yuugi… We've been through so much together…and have only gotten through them because we were together… I'd never want to lose a friendship like that and I know I never will. No matter what happens, even if I'm stuck every now and then, I can still help my friends out, just as they've always helped me.

~*Owari*~

Author's Note: Well, um…that was kind of a weird fic. ^_^* I don't know what possessed me to write a fic from Hiroto's point of view (Tristan, in the dub), but I think it was different. =) I haven't seen many fics where Hiroto has a main role in them. Okay, I haven't really seen any. To be honest, I love all Yuugiou characters, but Hiroto was never one of my favourites. However, when I was scanslating the first chapter in the fifth manga tankoubon, this idea just came to me. I was always wondering what Hiroto would be thinking when Katsuya was yelling at him through the wall, so that's how this story came about. I hope you liked it. ^_^

*Sakura
~The Animé Archives Team