Title: Because of Yujou

Series: Dragontamers

Author: Felicia Angel

Fandom: Yugioh

Synopsis: In which Katsuya Jounouchi was always a girl, Yugi is not instantly fine with losing hours of his life, and there is more mystery behind the Millennium Puzzle then originally stated…

Chapter 1: Yugi Muto

Jounouchi watched the class head out for the break, leaving only herself and the smallest kid in class left behind. While most of the people in the class knew each other since middle school, Jounouchi was new in the classroom and, thus, had been an oddity for the past few weeks. She wore a longer skirt then most of the other girls, though it was still in regulation, and while she did wear the pink jacket when required, it was often tied around her waist instead. Rumor had it that she'd been given permission to work at various times, but most of the others said it was a brother or cousin.

"It's ok," the small boy in class, Muto Yugi, said to the one who invited him to the game, "the team I'm on always loses anyway…"

With no more attempts to draw him out, the guys left, no one asking if Jounouchi was following or not. She had work to keep herself in the school, since originally she was supposed to go to Rintama High. Still, at least she wasn't being constantly bothered by Hirutani or any of the rest of his gang. It'd been bad enough right before they got into high school, so bad that Dad had made a deal with her about what high school to get into, and so far had kept the promise. It was enough to make Jounouchi feel a bit jittery, though.

She frowned and sat up as Yugi pulled out a strange, gold box of some sort with odd symbols on it. The kid seemed really interested in it and what was inside, though Jou could care less. It honestly looked like the cheap things that her mom bought to put jewelry in. Yugi's too engrossed in the box to notice Honda sneak into the classroom and take it, attempting to play 'keep away' with it as a bit of a jest.

Jounouchi sighed and caught the heavier-than-normal box when it was tossed, shaking her head. "See, its things like this that get you all mopey about not being class president and stuck as janitor."

"JOU!" Honda protested as Yugi attempted to get the box back. He was shorter than her and even most of the other girls, but considering that she was taller than most girls as well, a few centimeters short of Honda's own height, it was a bit understandable that Yugi appeared much smaller.

Ignoring her friend, Jounouchi instead looked over at Yugi. "Even I don't make such a fuss about jeweled boxes. What's so special about this that you can't be a man?" She shrugs, moving the box around and frowning. It was heavier than she'd originally thought because it appeared to me out of a very solid wood, with gold and what looked like ivory inlay to create strange symbols all around. Considering the craftsmanship, it had to be old.

Jou looked back at Yugi before saying, "I'll give it back if you hit Honda as hard as you can!"

Both Yugi and Honda looked a bit annoyed at the suggestion, but for very different reasons. Jou frowned at Honda, disliking her friend's cowardice. "It's not like I should advocate being a 'man' means being able to hit a girl like me."

Honda looked ready to say something when Yugi yelled, "NO! I HATE VIOLENCE AND FIGHTING!"

Jou winced at how high his voice had gotten, as well as how shrill. Kid needed to hit puberty and fast. Yugi sighed, deflating a bit in a way that Jou knew from others that Hiru had perpetually bullied back in the day. "Can I have the box back, please?"

"Not a chance!" Honda told him roughly as Jounouchi frowned, looking at the box.

"What's so special about it?" she asked, glancing at him, "Let me take a peek and it's yours."

Yugi swallowed, blushing deeply before saying, "o-okay, but just a peek! And please don't lose anything inside!"

Jou opened the top, frowning at the gold pieces, one on top being a puzzle-piece with a single, dark eye. She took it easily as the lid closed, and tossed it back to Yugi. When Honda attempted to grab it and see for himself, a new hand quickly caught it, announcing the arrival of Mazaki Anzu.

Jou didn't quite know what to make of Mazaki, beyond the fact that she was head-strong enough to actually act on threats of violence, and only made them to people who pissed her off. She was also shorter than Jounouchi, like most girls, and insisted on calling Jou by her first name, which Jou personally hated.

"You two stop bullying Yugi! Don't you have better things to do?"

Honda beat it out of there, Jou shrugging and leaving after him, not wanting to start a fight. The odd puzzle piece was warm in her hand, and she wondered why it bothered her so much.

Because he's a guy. He's a guy who likes puzzles and things you can't have. What type of tough-girl knows the stuff that went into a box's design anyway? And how is that gonna help you out? Not like you can sell all your pretty little items to make up for Daddy's problems.

"I can't believe you put me up to get hit."

"You wanted me to say he had to hit me instead?" Jou asked, once more stopping Honda's line of thought as he muttered about Mazaki. "We weren't picking on any-."

Both were stopped short by a wall of muscle, pulling back as Honda let out his own little sound, like a girl had just spotted a spider.

From the looks of this guy, it was a big spider. "What do you mean, 'picking on'?" the guy asked, his glare dark and pissing Jounouchi off. The hell was it to him?

"I might've meant y-." She started right as Honda wrapped an arm around her and put a hand over her mouth.

"Nothing at all! Of course not. I can't lose my janitorial job over that, now can I?"

"Bullying is wrong!" was the last thing that the guy said before walking back the way he came, Honda frantically telling Jounouchi, "Idiot, that's Ushio! He's a demon of rules, even the teachers are afraid of him. Pick your fights!"

Jou let out a breath when Honda released her and punched his shoulder for it. "I'm not picking fights, in case you haven't noticed. You're the one who took the box, and you're the one who's all pissy 'cause you got bored." Jou crossed her arms and glared at him. "I came here to get away from picking on people, and all I've seen so far is either kids that get picked on, or kids that don't care, or individuals who attempt to be as badass as gangs. I don't get it, Hiroto."

Honda glared at her - only his sister called him by his first name - and said, "Yeah, well, you're not acting like you wanted to stop fighting. At least here we'd be a team."

"I got better things to do then entertain your stupid ass," Jou pointed out, opening up her hand to look at the warm puzzle piece in her hand. It wasn't quite gold, she didn't think, but it was something. It could be, but without the other pieces, it was probably worthless.

As worthless as his puzzle, now, Jou thought as she looked out. Dad had said he'd quit drinking if she stopped fighting. To some degree, she had, but that didn't give her a good outlet. There was too much bubbling under the surface, and nothing for her to push that energy on. Schoolwork didn't always help, and she was never one to pick up vices like gambling or drinking, not after she'd had to work odd-jobs to pay off Dad's debts.

Not to mention you're worthless as a girl. What's that kid talking about, 'treasure' and 'something you can show that isn't seen'? Bull, all of it. The sooner he learns his lessons and gets used to disappointment, the better. Then again, it's not like that kid's worth anything as a man. The worthless girl is better than a useless man, but only-

"What's that you got there?" Honda asked, breaking her thoughts.

"That box had a puzzle in it," she said, shrugging, "so now he can't finish it. Well…" another look outside was all she needed before she shifted and threw the piece. It flew in an arc before landing with a small splash in the pool nearby.

Honda snickered. "Perfect."

Jou shrugged again before noting the time and letting out a breath. Of course, she didn't feel better, but at the same time, that wasn't her fault.

That stupid kid only needed to hit Honda. Hell, didn't need to be hard either. What type of a guy can't even protect himself?

Jounouchi got that Honda was worried. He'd never quite been good with fighting or anything, even in middle school. He was much better so long as you gave him an air gun or something to shoot with. Jou had tried to use that to their advantage in a few fights, but since Honda simply didn't want to start fights, and most of the ones Jou was in were never started by her, but by Hiru or someone else, it made sense that Honda would want to avoid Ushio.

Avoid was the key term. Getting stalked by and beat up behind the school was nowhere near that.

Ushio went 'easy on her', so Jounouchi was still more aware than Honda was when Ushio brought his 'client' over. Of course it was Yugi. Who else would it be?

"Move," Ushio muttered, smirking in a way that Jou was getting use to, after she'd started to develop a girlish figure. "I'm not done teaching this girl a lesson."

"Stop it!" Yugi moved in front of them, arms out. He was still too small to make a difference between them, but it caused Ushio to chuckle, wondering what type of a weirdo Yugi was to protect his bullies.

"They're not bullies, they're my friends! I can't hurt my friends!"

I hate violence and fighting! Yugi's voice from yesterday rang in her ears.

"You must be a nice guy," Ushio said after commenting on how weird Yugi was for not wanting to hit them, "calling punks like these your friends."

Yugi muttered something about them not being bullies, Ushio chuckling before saying, "Well, then I need to collect my fee for this...200,000 yen!"

Jou suddenly really wished she was at her middle school. At least there it was just the alpha-male bull that got people to fight, not just randomly picking a kid who's being bullied and charging them for beating up said bullies.

"Well? Maybe you're not satisfied with the job I did so far? Want me to beat them up some more?"

Yugi's voice went loud again, his posture reminding Jounouchi of a small animal, taking on a larger, more deadly one. "DON'T HURT THEM! IF ANYONE'S GONNA GET HURT, IT'S ME!"

Ushio snorted, apparently amused by how much he was messing with Yugi, and reached down to pick him up by his jacket. "Well, since you went with that, I guess I should leave a reminder for payment. This isn't 'bullying'...it's a 'warning'!"

He socked Yugi, dropping him only to bring up his knee and keep Yugi around the same area he'd been lifted by sheer force. Jou didn't get it, not really. Why was Yugi protecting them, when Honda had been such an ass to him and she hadn't been much better? Why say they were friends?

Are you that alone?

The beating, luckily, didn't last that long, Ushio drawing out a knife as the threat for the next day. Yugi lay curled up for a second before Jou managed to stand, helping Honda up and offering a hand to Yugi. He looked miserable, but took it, the three limping back to the nurse's office as Honda shifted, obviously a bit unhappy that Jou was taking care of them. Jou often had to take care of some of the guys in her life – her Dad had needed her help when he was very drunk or angry at losing, Honda had needed help a few times, and so had a few others that she knew or had been in a gang with. Yugi wasn't special in this point, but at the same time, he was the first one to really take a beating for her when she'd never done anything good to him.

The nurse, luckily, didn't ask any questions, instead examining them and proclaiming them not too beat to finish the last hour of class, but that they had to head home right after. Yugi seemed to still be thinking about the fee that Ushio had demanded, and Jou really did wish she could help him. She'd seen enough of the guys sent after Dad if he didn't have the money to know them and what they threatened, as well as how bad things could get if they didn't get what they asked for. She wasn't sure how to help.

Honda was good for getting home, but Jou wasn't as sure about Yugi. He seemed a bit down still…

And Jou needed to know where Yugi lived, if what she planned was going to work.

He didn't live far from school, at least, in a small Game Shop, Yugi looking up at her with somewhat wide, sad eyes. "Thank you, Jounouchi."

She smiled back, hoping for at least a glimmer of a smile. Despite his loneliness, at least he was trying. "I should thank you. I…well, it hasn't happened before. So…thanks."

The High School was easy enough to break into, and the pool was even easier. She managed to slip off her skirt and, after a quick check around for any perverts before diving in, quickly swimming to the bottom of the pool and grabbing the strange piece, the eye appearing almost confused at her return before she kicked off the bottom and back up, putting her skirt back on and heading back to the game shop. Outside, an older man with similar bangs to Yugi's sweeping out front and frowning when he saw her.

She held out the puzzle piece. "Yugi might need this…and some money…"

Sansone Jounouchi sighed as he got in from work. Construction had always helped him focus, and luckily he'd gotten a decent job from someone willing to help him out. While he had been raised mostly in Japan, with a brief (and very hard) time in Brooklyn with his father's family after…well, after…he'd only ever found joy in working construction or being in charge of it. The drinking and gambling had been a problem to deal with.

He frowned as he noticed that Katsuya hadn't started dinner, which was odd for her. She'd wanted to catch up on homework, as well as possibly do some new pieces to sell later, so she normally had dinner started or ready when he got home.

Sansone looked around before spotting his daughter curled up on the couch, her school blouse and hair wet and a few bruises on her face. Since her knuckles weren't bloody or anything, she hadn't gotten into a fight, or hadn't had the time to fight back.

Katsuya stirred and blinked sleepily at him as he kissed her hand, smiling at her for reassurance. "Hey. What happened?"

"Some jerk at school decided to jump me," she told him as he moved to pick her up, "'m ok."

He chuckled a bit at that, "I'm sure. I'm still worried."

She let out a breath, and shifted a bit as he put her to bed, moving a towel and some dry clothing nearby for her so she didn't fall asleep in the wet ones. "someone else was hurt, but I hope they'll be ok. I don't want them hurt again."

"I know you don't. Make sure to change before you fall asleep again." He turned to leave and give her some privacy.

"Da?" He looked back as she muttered, "this didn't break the promise…did it?"

He shook his head. "No, dear. It doesn't at all."

I wish for friends who won't betray me, and that I won't betray either. Friends who won't betray me…

He'd been trapped for a long while, but the child had been focused on him, despite everything. It was odd, and a bit strange for him to become attached to anyone that touched the puzzle. He assumed it was simply that the longevity and general goodness of the child had caused him to leave it alone.

But he agreed with the girl and some of the others that taunted the boy – he had no spine, was hardly even a man. To not fight when even your friends and family were in danger was not something that showed strength but allowed others to take advantage of the person.

So to wish for friends that would never betray this child…that was a heavy wish.

Still, the spirit found that the boy's determination to have friends, as well as protect them despite the pain, to be worth his time in the end. He knew that the girl who'd taken a piece of himself was in need of a focus – the boy was a good one, and his ability to understand their goodness, despite the taunts, was a sign that she would, at least, fit the criteria. She was bound to him, and wouldn't betray the boy.

The final piece clicked into place, allowing the tentative connection from before, over the long hours of touching and moving the puzzle to find a way to put the pieces back together, to finally solidify enough for him to travel over, his soul room from the puzzle pushing the main room aside and easily taking up the needed space.

It's hardly a problem, getting the needed language and information from him. Eight years has allowed him to easily make a map of the child's mind, and just as easily to bring up the Shadows and create the personal items needed for what he planned.

So that delinquent thinks he can cause trouble? He calls himself just? I suppose I must weigh his intentions, then…

It was easy enough to send a message to Ushio, using the knowledge that the child (Yugi) had, and just as easy to create more of the paper money for that purpose.

He saw the other boy's greed easy enough, and was glad he'd chosen such a game to deal with this one. His greed and power had meant he would abuse it – a moral person, a leader, did not abuse their power such. It simply didn't do.

"I have the money here…400,000 yen really…and it'd be a shame to just pay you all of it. So, Ushio, shall we play a game? Well," he chuckled, glad to see Ushio's surprised reaction, "not just any game. It's called a Shadow Game." This part was important. The ones who took part in the Shadow Game either had to do so willingly, or give something to become part of it and be judged. That didn't mean he couldn't…entice…the chosen evil into it, but that was still the rule thus far.

"How about it?" the spirit asked, "If you win, that's 200,000 more yen."

"Interesting," Ushio said, showing his obvious interest and calling the Shadows to the front even more, but not enough for a good game…

"We only need one object," the spirit said, pointing to Ushio, "that knife you're hiding."

Ushio gave it over willingly, and the Shadows encircled them fully. Perfect.

The game itself was easy – controlling your strength and greed to gain money. However, if neither were controlled, you would end up stabbing yourself in the hand, thus 'losing' the game. "Oh, and if you break a rule, you'll be cursed by a 'penalty game'."

That Ushio didn't ask what that was only served to lower the spirit's opinion of him. The boy deserved everything that happened to him, if he was so confident that he wouldn't dare to ask for any clarification. The robbers attempting to find his tomb had more self-preservation.

The game didn't go on long, which was the point of it. It was easy enough to push and pull out about ten bills with the strength that the child's body had – he would have to work on that, and the height, later as he became more in-tuned with the body and weaker mind within. It wouldn't do to have such a small, weak body for someone sent to pass judgment on the wicked.

It soon became clear that Ushio wouldn't be able to control his greed, and the knife trembled in his hand as he realized the implication of what the spirit had warned him about. The bully quickly realized that he couldn't win, not with his greed gaining the upper hand, and instead attacked the spirit.

That was the moment he'd been waiting for, smiling as the Shadows pinned Ushio in place to deal with his punishment.

"As I thought, you couldn't control your greed and broke the rules," he felt the power of the Wadjet eye ignite on him, as his power came up to full force, pushing the other soul further into itself and leaving only him and the Shadows in charge. "The eye sees what's in your heart, what your true intentions are…" The spirit snorted in disgust. "You're not worth their time. Penalty Game!" The shadows broke off, one freeing itself and wrapping around Ushio and burying itself into him, to leave a scar should he ever manage to shake it off.

"…eh…hehehe…money…money everywhere…I'm surrounded by it!" Ushio's face took on a manic look and the spirit smiled, heading back and glad for a job done. He only left a suggestion within Yugi, a way to remain connected by having him wear the completed Puzzle, before taking them back and going to bed. After all, there wasn't a reason for him to hang around, if there weren't others to punish.

Jounouchi was waiting for Yugi when he got to school, tired and confused. He didn't remember anything beyond completing the Puzzle and waking up the next day, wanting to wear it and show it off.

"How're you feeling?" Jounouchi asked, getting Yugi to shuffle to each side before saying, "Fine. You?"

"I've had worse," she said, shrugging off the bandage on her cheek and then saying, "Hey, I have a treasure too…wanna see it?"

"Um…yes," he said, happy at the change.

"Well, you can't. It's 'present but can't be seen'. You have to figure out the riddle."

Yugi blinked, considering for a long moment before she pointed to him, smiling happily and making her light-brown eyes shine. "Silly, it's right here. Yu," she pointed at him, "jou," then herself and smiled even more. "We're here, but our friendship can't be seen. Get it?"

Yugi couldn't breathe for a moment, and tried to tell himself to not cry, before he finally said, "Y-yeah!"

"Don't cry on me," she said, pulling him into a hug as they headed to class, "you big baby."

"S-sorry."

She chuckled. "You're too cute sometimes, Yugi. Come on, we don't want to be late for class."

Yugi wasn't sure what to do with the knowledge, and so it was harder to focus in class than normal. In fact, it took him a bit, until break, before Jounouchi came to sit next to him and see how he was doing.

"Um…well…I just…only Anzu…"

Jounouchi rolled her eyes at the mention of Anzu, "I got that, I guess. And to be fair, I'm not sure what we have to be friends about…well, besides the fact that Ushio got carted off to the asylum earlier."

Yugi frowned at that, feeling like he should remember something…

"What is that, by the way?" Jounouchi asked, pointing to one of the games that Yugi had brought for these times.

"OH! It's a game that my grandpa just got in for the game shop. Here, lemme show you how it works."

Which was how it started, really, with Yugi showing Jounouchi a game while Anzu was out somewhere or Honda was doing other things. At the same time, she seemed to like talking to him, and really liked the different games. What surprised him was that she seemed to look at most of them with a strangely critical eye.

It wasn't until a week later, as they were walking back, that he learned she sometimes made crafts when she was younger.

"Really?"

"It was something to do," she said with a shrug, "and sometimes it's inexpensive. My dad works construction, and sometimes he'll get some scrap stuff for me to use. I…wasn't really inspired, during middle school."

He frowned, considering. "Is that why you looked at the box the way you did?"

"Yeah. It's a really heavy type of wood, and pretty expensive. Same with the puzzle, but I'm not sure what type of metal it's made of. It's heavy enough to be gold, but it's not soft enough either…" She stopped and shifted, looking annoyed. "I mean, it's just-."

"That's amazing!"

Jou stopped for a second, Yugi looking back at her. "What?"

"You really think so?"

"Yeah," Yugi said, blinking in confusion before Jou smiled at him. "What?"

"Nothing," Jou said, putting an arm around him and changing the subject as they headed to school, then frowning when they saw a van parked out front, the logo for ZTV on the side.

"I wonder what that's about…"

To be fair, she didn't care about the cameras. In fact, threatening the guy who'd hit Yugi had managed to get some of the steam off that Yugi's games hadn't.

If she'd known that learning how to play games or figuring out new ones was so fun, she would've done that instead. But the fact that she knew how to fight was a plus for Yugi.

Well, also that, considering how he seemed to always cheer up when she was around, in a way that Mazaki couldn't get out of him, and treated her like a person and not a girl or some glorified wank object…yeah, she wasn't about to let anyone pick on him if she had the chance.

So despite the dress and the director being a huge pervert, saying he'd only keep filming if Jou 'made it interesting', Jou was still able to throw a good punch to his face before holding him up by the shirt. She wasn't going to take this from a director, especially not one that set up a friend to be hurt for his own sadistic pleasure.

"Don't you pull that bullshit," she growled, "you can edit something however you want and make him look like an asshole or a sap. Who the hell gave you permission to film at the school, anyway?" The look the director gave her was answer enough. Of course the teachers and officials weren't paying attention. "I should report you."

"Oh really? You think that'll work? You can't stop the press! I could turn you into scum with just a bit of editing." He chuckled as the director finally brought a knee up to Jounouchi's middle, catching her off-guard and sending her to the ground. "In fact, I could even make you the bully. Yankee girl like you…everyone knows that's all you do and all you're good for."

The camera crew left, Yugi moving over to touch Jounouchi's shoulder as she shrugged him off. She wasn't in the mood for any sort of condolences or anything else. "I'm fine. That guy didn't hit you too hard, did he?"

She glanced over at him, frowning as she noticed slight physical changes in him. His eyes appeared darker, his hair now having strange spots of yellow in it, and he had a look about him that worried her. Something about it made her look at the puzzle that Yugi completed, frowning in confusion.

"Yugi?"

"I'm fine," he said, his voice sounding odd and only making her more worried. "He didn't hit me too hard, luckily."

"…ok. Do you want to go to the nurse's office?"

"No. I'll be fine."

Not convinced, Jounouchi watched Yugi throughout the day, noting that most of his movements seemed…off. It was like someone was going through the motions of Yugi's day, not even bothering to really hide that they weren't Yugi. She knew Mazaki was a bit put off by it, but Mazaki was still fuming because Jounouchi hadn't instantly let her call her 'Katsuya' either. How hard was it to understand she liked her last name and that they weren't friends like that?

Unluckily, Yugi took a different bus then Jounouchi did after school, and she lost him in the crowd. Cursing her luck, Jounouchi hoped that Yugi would be alright.

The spirit was unhappy at the director, for various reasons. What was most surprising was his anger at them for insulting the girl (Jounouchi) and saying they'd make her the villain. He wasn't sure, but he'd seen how badly the comments had hurt her, and skimming through the mind of the child had shown that it might be because of her blond-ish hair and light eyes.

It was enough to make him shake his head as he waited for the director, in the parking lot of ZTV studio. Ma'at demanded he deal with one who wronged others, and so he was going to deal with it. At the same time, he was well aware of how easily the Shadows appeared, ready to devour anyone at the studio.

Too much imbalance, he thought, annoyed. Still, entertainers did have their own hierarchy and laws, so he saw no reason to interfere with that unless it went into the territory of his heart and mind.

This one did. The director had created a lie and passed it off as truth – that demanded punishment. He'd also hurt a person and claimed that he was above the law.

The spirit smirked as the director let out a scream upon seeing him. "I've been waiting for you, director."

The Shadows easily surrounded him, only speaking more of his man's guilt. He would not get an easy end, not like Ushio. If anything, he thinks he'll play with this one a bit longer.

He notes the Shadows shifting in agreement, but also notes his body's need for rest. Using the shared body with the boy meant that he had to be careful about how long he used it. If the boy was too tired, he'd be noticed.

Because there wasn't much to pay attention for the Game the Shadows had picked for the director, the spirit could consider the fact that Jounouchi had noticed him. If anything, the girl had seemed to keep an eye on him all day. It was likely she had some idea that he was different from Yugi, meaning he'd have to be more careful.

As expected, the director attempted to attack him, prompting the spirit to split the die with the Puzzle and let the Shadows take him. He smirked as the director started screaming about the mosaic, then begin to claw at his eyes as if to make them work.

They wouldn't. The spirit saw the Shadow that took to that man was particularly hungry, and seemed to enjoy the torment of the man pulling at his eyes while still only seeing the pixilated world he'd been put into. It also served as a good first warning.

When I have full control of the body, then I can focus on punishing others. Until then, these few will work. I can easily deal with them as I see fit.