Tabula Rasa
Aitwo: "Hello all! This is my second attempt at a fanfic, a few people reading this may have read my first fic, sadly that was removed by forces outside my control and will not be replaced. This is a brand new fic, as you can see I'm still moving in!" The place is covered in plastic and those little white foam things.
Bakura: It's about damn bloody time! I refuse to stay in that Sakura30's fic any longer! I had to share a room with her version of me! He kept blocking the bath with his hair!
Yami: You have the same hair, how do you know it's not yours?
Bakura: Because I don't block the bath!
Sakura looks at all the bubble wrap. "Can I play with the bubble wrap?"
A figure walks in, covered in shadow. "Isn't that childish?"
Sakura: --x I have university work, work work and I can't work on my fic. I want to tell my readers I am so sorry!
The figure hands over the bubble wrap because Sakura looks so sad "Here..."
Sakura: "Yay! Bubbles!" Extremely happy.
Aitwo: This fic was written with the help of two real cool people, two powerful authoresses Sakura30 (whom I call Sakura) and Crouching Tigress (CT), without those two people… no fic, simple as that! Please read my fic, and read theirs! Their fics are cool!
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Discovery
It all started one night, when someone was desperately running down a deserted lot…he was breathing hard, and he didn't seem to take much note of his surroundings.
As he was running, his leg banged into something he couldn't see, something rough and dented. When he stumbled, his hand caught the invisible object and his questioning fingers recognised the cold touch of steel, the circular shape and the regular indents in the metal. He breathed in relief, it was just a dustbin. He used it to help himself up and shuddered as his hand slipped, confirmed that it was definitely an ordinary everyday trash can, when it touched the best left unknown contents inside.
He drew his hand out as quickly as possible, and wiped it on his worn black trousers automatically. If only he could see…he lifted his newly wiped hand in front of him. He could see his hand, he tugged at the top of his white shirt until he could see the white collar in the corners of his vision, then his black jacket, and his trainers…he could see everything about himself, from his clothes to his pendant that was swinging slightly from its cord around his neck so clearly, except...for everything else.
He used the brief moment of visual inspection to breathe easy, it was hard to forget he was trying to escape, but he needed to rest. Absentmindedly he knelt down to what he hoped was the ground and carefully felt around, until he discovered by the feel, the same rough metal, a dustbin lid. After a few attempts, he successfully got one on top of the other, right after he did it, he wondered why. It was a stupid, trivial thing to do, but maybe it was one way his mind was coping with the feelings of panic and confusion.
He shook his head more for the look of the thing, than the fact it helped clear his head. He stood, wobbling as he did so, until the trembling faded from his legs. He started to walk again; he couldn't stay here, wherever it was…he almost jumped when a loud clanging sound reverberated through the area. He could see the sound moving through the air as greyish ripples, like that of a surface of a lake, when something is thrown inside, whatever had made the sound was close. He looked around wildly, had he been found? He twisted and turned, but he couldn't see anything…more importantly he couldn't hear anything, no footsteps, no low breathing or the small heart stopping mechanical click of weapons being aimed towards you, his heart rate started to drop to something more normal.
His legs were still shaking from the bang, when his foot nudged something; it made an innocent sounding clink upon contact with the tip of his shoe. He frowned, reached down and picked it up. In his hand all he could see was a strange whirling blur of grey and black, yet the cold metallic feeling was obvious, it was the dustbin lid. It had slipped off the bin, causing the noise. With his blurring vision, he must have misjudged where the bin was, and gravity had done the rest.
He looked around the flickering landscape, closely for the first time. Everything was in motion, colours moved around like water, sliding from one end of the horizon to the other. The walls (he assumed that was what the blocks of colour a few steps to either side of him were) around him, seemed to change their heights at complete random moments. The floor was solid to his feet, but his eyes could see the waves his slightest motion caused and with the lack of edges in his vision, he was unsure where to tread. It was like a surreal nightmare, he couldn't tell where he was, how far he had ran or even how he had got to this place. It made him dizzy to stare at things for too long.
The once silent air was beginning to fill with noise; it started quiet, as if someone had muffled his ears before with cotton wool. He could hear this swish rush somewhere ahead of him; he shut his eyes for a minute…it sounded like… a car? He knew that he was outside. He must be near a road; he grasped this thought tight, a road, which meant people. People meant help; he would be able to beg for help. He took two more steps forward, his legs brushed against things; he was finding it harder to move now. More noise filtered through as he got closer, a quieter noise, but it was consistent. In his mind, it was the sound a bee would make if it was bigger.
His limbs seemed to be getting heavy as he moved towards the noises. Cool air hung inviting before him, as the swaying walls seemed to widen. He shielded his eyes from a floating orb of yellowish orange light in front of him that seemed to act as a borderline. On the other side beyond, dark cool shades of blue and black, the occasional streak of red and amber light flashed and vanished, with an after shock of wind.
His shoulder brushed a cool surface, as he swayed, it felt like brick. The cool air that had only just started to make its presence known only seemed to make things worse. He hadn't realised how hot he was, his shirt was already growing damp and sticky with sweat. The "buzzing noise" seemed to be growing louder; the orange light at first had seemed like a rescue beacon, now was beginning to blind him. The buzzing seemed to enter his head, making it spin; the colours also started to spin, as if using the buzzing as a song and his internal state as their dance steps.
The surrounding colours merged, splashed and jumped at him, he gripped his pendant's cord tightly, as if it could ward off the colours. He backed away from the buzzing orb; the colours from the "walls" and "floor" followed him, sloshing around his feet like a slow tide. He stumbled, falling over something else he couldn't see, his hands fell on something sharp and he hissed through his teeth.
He tried to sit up, but he couldn't, the best he could do was to push himself up with his elbow. He could feel sharp objects under his body, he tried not to move too much and he looked at his left hand. A few small cuts and a deep gash on his palm was just visible, but in his now blurring vision, he was sure little glints of green and brown could just be seen in the cut. His eyes were failing him now, he tried to get up as the colours grew murky, and the heat overwhelmed him.
Outside in the night other people were travelling as well, one such couple was travelling to the warmth of their homes.
Sarah looked at the dark street, and gripped her boyfriend's arm slightly tighter. The slight squeeze made him look down at her, and he smoothed her ginger hair down.
"Is something wrong?" Her boyfriend asked as he looked at her with warm eyes, and continued to stroke her hair, like her father had when she was small and afraid of monsters in the dark. She took his big warm hand, and gripped it with her own smaller one; his warm hands made her feel safer somehow.
Sarah shook her head, and tried to smile in a brave way. She tried to get closer to Alex, as a chilly wind blew, and a car drove by at the same moment, the extra noise and motion made her shiver harder than she meant to.
Alex wrapped an arm around Sarah, using the free hand to pull up the edge of her brown coat, so that the furred collar nestled her neck. It was a cold night, the lack of people made the place seem lifeless, giving the street a hollow empty look. He was also feeling the same vibe. Yet it was the fastest way back to Sarah's flat, even if the place was desolate, this late all the streets were probably the same and the only thing out there was shadows and the occasional feral cat hunting for scraps. He wouldn't want a girl to walk home alone.
Sarah flipped her long hair out of the fur collar, letting it catch in the yellow streetlamps, making it glow an unnatural cherry red. The cast of light made by the lamp made Sarah feel better, it knocked the night back a step. They were about to walk on, past a small alley when Alex frowned, and stopped for a minute.
Sarah almost bumped into him, and gripped his shoulder. "What's wrong?" She said, as she looked for the reason he'd stopped. "Did you see something?"
His sudden stillness stunted her growing feelings of safety, as fast as he had made them grow. He looked so serious, and the quiet night only made it worse.
Her voice remained quavering in the air, as she watched Alex take another step as he peered into the alley connected to the street; all Sarah could see were some huge garbage bags lying on the side. There were just vague lumps leaning on the side of the wall, only something like a naked woman would normally get this much of a guy's attention, and Sarah was sure that only trash was lying round here!
Alex looked at Sarah; his voice was a whisper, as he started to move one of the heavy bags that obstructed the floor. She had to lean in to hear him whisper. "I thought I saw something… something strange and it was shining near this trash."
Sarah looked at the rubbish littering the ground, with a sore look. "It was probably a bit of wrapper, can we go now?" She said in a low scolding tone, as the dark mood of the night made her keep her voice quiet.
The wind moaned as it went through, as if it too was scared of staying in this dank alley. Sarah started fiddling with her long hair, this was stupid, and searching in the trash for what was most likely a piece of sticky foil was even more stupid! Yet Alex worked at moving the trash like a man possessed, and even he wouldn't mess around with her this late and in the cold?
Alex huffing as he was still moving the contents of someone's late night trash. "It looked bigger than a piece of wrapper-"
Alex stopped speaking, when he could finally completely see what was behind the trash, and Sarah tried to look over his shoulder. He used his body and forced her back a step.
Sarah strained to see. "What is it?"
The glare of the lamp made it hard to see anything on the ground clearly, Sarah tried shielding her eyes, but all she could see was pockets of black shadows.
Alex leaned down in the trash, carefully wiping away glass from the general area. "I think we should call someone…"
Sarah tightened her coat, cuddling against one of the walls, in a hopeless attempt to fight off the cold. "Alex?" She stretched his name as she spoke it
Alex moved aside, glass crunching under his feet as he did so. Sarah took a few steps forward to stand where Alex had, she could see shards of broken bottle everywhere, the trash bag Alex moved must have been torn…
Alex had moved right behind her, she could feel his hand on her shoulder. She stared into the dark alley; all she could see were rotten leaves, garbage bags and two trash cans. She looked left and right, at the walls, but with no idea what to look at, her glances lacked focus. The light of the lamp made it harder to see, everything was… well very dark.
Sarah narrowed her eyes, desperate, to see what was so important. "I can't see anything…"
Alex placed his head on her shoulder and pointed to the edge of the alley. "There. Just there." Sarah followed Alex's finger, at first she couldn't see anything, until a glint caught her eye. A golden glint…then she saw it.
"The ambulance came 20 minutes after the call from the girl's mobile. The patient came in with a very high temperature; it was a lot higher than first suspected due to the patient's long exposure to the cold lowering the outer body temperature.
The patient had numerous cuts and a deep cut on their left hand, the cuts and gash were probably caused by the sharp objects that littering the ground. "
The doctor spoke slowly, as he walked towards the bed. As he finally reached the patient, he stroked his short beard, as he seemed to think about what to say next.
The nurse made a few notes in her mind. She carried the file under her arm
"Have we found any identification?"
The doctor shook his head.
"We are hoping that since he is recovering well, that he will soon be able to tell us himself."
The nurse looked at the newest patient. Delicate bangs hung loosely over the closed eyes; his skin still seemed pale from the cold, only seemed to make his hair even more striking.
She moved the bangs that covered his eyes, and looped them back behind his ear. His ears were icy to the touch, despite the warmth of the room. She sighed under her breath. "It's a shame, a cute boy like him."
Doctor continued reviewing the patient's injuries "There are signs that the patient may have been beaten or had previous accidents. There are old bruises on his arms, chest and legs." He looked at the patient and at his notes.
The nurse consulted her notes "The girl said 10 minutes before the ambulance came, the patient regain consciousness."
She read the girl's account to herself. It was a copy of a report that was to be given to the police, with a description of the patient. She could almost imagine the girl's voice saying the words as she read them.
"Alex had picked up the boy really carefully, due to all the broken glass. We were afraid that if we didn't move him that he could get more cuts. I took off my coat and wrapped it around the boy, because the clothes he wore were light and probably weren't keeping him warm.
Alex put him down under the street light; the light seemed to wake him up, because his eyes opened a little bit. I asked him where he came from; he looked at me as if he was lost and said "I don't know." His voice was really slow; I think it was hard for him to think properly. I asked him where his parents were, he looked at me again really confused. He said "Parents? I don't have any parents." I asked him what his name was, he said "My name… my name is…" After that he slipped back into unconsciousness. We tried to keep him warm, until the ambulance came."
She muttered to herself. "No parents, maybe he was running from something."
Doctor overheard her, and gave her a look "It's wrong to assume the worst." He reviewed the notes of the patient's discovery. "Our John Doe may have just got lost trying to get home."
In another place a similar discussion was going on…
Sunlight filtered through the six diamond shaped windows spread across the top of the room, dust spun in the sunbeams, and landed on the light cream carpet underneath it.
The owner of the room rubbed his finger on the circular table near his chair. It was a little master piece, the legs of the table were composed of a golden circle base the legs were from two opposing sides and were crafted in the pattern of weaving vines. A pair of golden leaves with grapes or cherries was at the top of each vine "leg". The glass was held in place with a rim of gold connected to legs. The light from the table refracted against the light red walls, which also held a similar pattern of gold leaf. It held the right atmosphere for the business he was conducting
He held up the glass of white wine he had on the table to the light. It was a beautiful light amber liquid. It would not do, if he spoke too soon and stopped his guest's torment. He smiled slightly as he sipped, watching his guest sweat in front of him.
He spoke in a low tone, making sure to keep his voice level and calm.
"You have something to tell me?" He smiled at the "boy", he still in many ways, looked like a young teen, especially with his baby face but there were physical signs that he was older than he appeared.
His guest nodded, he tried to keep his head low, but his gaze was always drawn back to the man in the chair. The man leant forth.
"Kozo? I'm growing bored of watching you just breathing."
Kozo pushed his long pale green pony tail back. He didn't like talking to this guy for many reasons. One of the main reasons right now, was that he was going to get burned no matter what he said. So he said it bluntly.
"I don't know how he got away, I don't know how he escaped the guard I placed with him or where he is right now. He could be anywhere."
There was little more that needed to be said. Details were pointless, it would just be whining. Kozo watched him sip some more wine, and for a moment he held the glass at such an angle that Kozo thought the man would throw it at him and he ducked in anticipation.
"Get off the floor, you look pathetic. I wouldn't want to ruin my carpet or waste such good wine."
Kozo placed his hand on his knee and pushed himself up; he dusted his black jacket and waited. The figure fingered the stem of his wine glass for a moment, before he looked at Kozo angrily.
"What are you standing around for? Go and find that… that Maverick!"
Kozo nodded, and left through the door behind him. The figure in the chair waited for the door to click shut, and then he counted to ten under his breath, running his free hand through his own shorter darker green hair.
"I know you followed Kozo in here. You heard everything?"
A figure was leaning against the doorframe, if you had looked at the room beforehand, you would have sworn no one was there. Yet there he was, large as life. His white hair made his dark eyes more piercing, as he nodded.
"Cut the dramatics Munin, come take a seat."
Munin pushed himself away from the door with a satisfied smile, and drew up another chair next to Hugin, his closest "friend", and Kozo's tormenter. He found these fancy chairs of velvet and metal clawed feet uncomfortable and pointless. He grimaced at the lion clawed feet of his chair before he sat. Hugin had obviously purchased the damn things, just so he would be forced to sit in one.
Hugin smiled at his friend's discomfort. "Wine?" Offering a glass and a bottle to Munin "White or red?"
Munin waved the proffered glass away.
"You know that I know you just drink, when your brother is around to show off. "
He ran his hand over the glass table in a similar way that Hugin had done.
Munin nodded towards the door as he started to talk. "What are you going to do about him?" Hugin knew immediately who Munin was referring to; he remained silent as his fellow partner kept going. "You know you can't let Kozo handle something like this. You should report him, so that such a blunder will never happen again."
Hugin placed his glass down, and looked at Munin.
"I could do that, but this could turn out to be useful. I think this case should be dealt with…personally."
His friend smiled, finally a chance to return to their old ways…out of this plush and lazy lifestyle and walk outside in the world again and hunt down this fool that thought he could escape.
Munin: I think I'll go tell our third partner the news.
Hugin smiled at his friend's eagerness, and saluted his friend with his semi-empty wine glass. The white-haired male smiled as well, as he shut the door behind him. The chase was going to begin as soon as they were ready.
Meanwhile, at about the same time Yugi had just left the Game Shop. Its early afternoon, a clear day, and that's the one of the very reasons everyone had decided to meet outside in the fresh air. The park waited
"Man, look at all the cool duel monster cards I got!"
The blond youth was sitting on a park bench, hugging a bunch of new cards to his chest. He pulled them away, to gaze at them with an extremely goofy grin.
"Hehe… Yugi you're the best!"
The smaller boy, who sat next to him on the bench, smiled at his friend's child-like delight.
"No problem Joey. I knew you'd find those cards useful." The cards had been his, but he knew that they would be better suited to his friend's deck.
Joey grinned even more as he tucked the cards into his deck. They were waiting for Tristan, Tea, and Ryou.
"I sure will." The teen nodded. "I bet with cards this good, I could beat Kaiba!"
Yugi's face turned into a nervous grin at his friend's overwhelming conviction.
"Let's not get carried away Joey."
Yugi leaned back on the bench, normally Joey would be bartering for new cards with his Grandpa right now in the shop, but today Grandpa had closed the shop. His Grandpa's reasons being that he had some important errands to run, Yugi had offered to run the shop for him, but Grandpa had declined saying that he should spend the beautiful Saturday out with his friends.
Grandpa hadn't mentioned what the errands were to the group and they (Tea, Tristan, Joey and Ryou) assumed it must be important to close the shop down. However, his Grandpa had seemed cheerful, when he mentioned it, and Yugi wasn't acting too worried, so everyone was sure that his Grandpa was having just as much fun as they would…
When the gang had discovered they couldn't trade cards inside like they originally planned, it had been Ryou's idea to come to the park, "The sunshine will do us some good" was his reasoning.
Everyone agreed when they arrived that this was a great place to relax and hang out. Surprisingly there had been quite a lot of young duellists trading as well; Yugi had got quite a few offers for his God cards and even a few challenges…
It had started the moment Yugi had drawn out his deck and had pulled out the God cards to keep them safe, but the moment the sun fell on the red, blue and gold edges of the cards. Yugi found a small group had gathered around him, like metal to a magnet.
"Are those really the famous God cards?"
"Oh wow, oh wow, I want to see them too."
Yugi and Joey were getting squeezed as more kids appeared, pushing the children in front of them to get a look at the cards. But soon the voices turned from mere requests to see, but requests to duel for them.
"Who cares about just seeing them? I want them! Yugi, I challenge you to duel! Your God cards for my whole deck!"
Yugi sweatdropped, as other offers and challenges were issued. He had refused them, as much as he could, but the group got moodier and moodier that more he declined, until Joey used his own body to make a space that they could escape through.
Joey looked at Yugi, who had quickly placed the cards back in his deck pouch, to keep them safe from wandering hands. "Why did you have to bring those cards?"
"I can't leave them at home, someone's bound to try and steal them." The group of duelists chased them… "I guess that I don't have to worry about that anymore."
Joey looked at the mob. "Yeah, you're probably going to get mugged."
"Here, Yugi!" It was about two hours later. The group had chased Joey and Yugi for all that time. Tea, Tristan and Ryou and seen the predicament (how could they not?) and helped them escape… distracting with fake "God cards", coloured cardboard. Eventually they had found a quiet spot to rest.
Yugi looked at the ice-cream cone with a napkin wrapped around the cone. Tea's hands held two, one for him and one for Joey. He took it gratefully, gave Tea a smile and thanked her. It was just what they needed on a nice day like this. He watched everyone else enjoy their ice-cream too.
They were all just glad to have some time to relax; the whole group had had a small friendly tournament just for fun (with nothing on the line for once). Ryou had acted as official score-keeper, so that the Spirit of the Ring Bakura wouldn't be tempted to cause any mischief. It seemed to work; maybe even evil spirits found it too nice a day to ruin? Whatever the reason Bakura had remained silent and their little tournament had gone without a single hitch. Yugi and Joey had been the main winners overall, but Tea had come extremely close to beating Joey after defeating Tristan (who to be fair had the least experience), but Yugi had been the overall champion. The excitement of the duels had made everyone warm so Tea and Ryou had volunteered to get ice-creams.
"So Yugi," Tea said as she licked her ice-cream as she sat on the nearby park bench in her yellow top and her matching skirt. "What was the errand your Grandpa went on?"
"He's just gone to the hospital." Yugi noticed the looks of worry and immediately waved his hands in a dismissively manner as if to wave their concern away. "No, no, don't worry guys Grandpa's just fine, he's not sick."
There were many looks of relief. "Thank goodness for that." Ryou said in his polite voice. "After everything your Grandpa has been through, I was worried…"
Yugi laughed. "Grandpa's fitter than ever, Ryou."
His friends looked at him with much confusion.
"If Gramps is so healthy, then why has he gone to the hospital Yug?" Joey enquired; the others stared at Yugi, their stares said no fake answers would do. Yugi started to sweat, but tried to keep a calm face. It was a huge secret and he had promised Grandpa that he wouldn't tell anybody because it would embarrass him.
"Spit it out Yug." And Joey's huge arm wrapped around Yugi's head in a relaxed headlock. "You know it's no good keeping secrets from your friends-"
"-because we'll just find out anyway!" The group spoke in unison.
Yugi sighed, it was no use. He could tell by the grins and curious expressions that his friends were going to badger him for the whole day until they knew the truth…
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you." Yugi said in the midst of Joey's headlock. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone." Joey let him go from the lock.
Each of his friends swore to keep it a secret. Yugi smiled, he knew he could trust them really, after all they knew about Yami, and this secret wasn't as strange as that by a long shot. Yugi sat down on the grass next to the grass; it was warm and dry in the heat of the sun and licked his quickly melting ice-cream, before he began.
"This the time of the year, where my Grandpa cleans out all of the unsold stock from the Game shop, you know all the games, the puzzles and even the occasionally toy that are overlooked."
He stopped to lick a lick a little more, while his friends eagerly waited the "big" secret, although none of them could guess what the hospital had to do with the Game shop.
"Well, Grandpa doesn't like the idea of just throwing games away. He loves games and it makes him happy knowing that they are-" Yugi emphasised the word. "Somewhere where they will be used…"
Most of his friends nodded in understanding, but soon after Joey nodded and he blinked. Yugi could see he hadn't made the link yet.
"Hmm Yug, I don't see wha-" Tristan lightly knocked his blond friend on the side of his head. He spoke as Joey rubbed his head while muttering something, like "What was that for?"
"Don't you see Joey? Yugi's grandfather takes all those things to the hospital, right Yugi?"
Yugi, nodded. "Right."
"Like a modern day Chris Crinkle", Ryou pointed out. Joey shook his head up and down furiously so they knew he got it, and then he stopped.
"But that's just like your Gramps to be thinking of others, why did you need to keep it a secret?"
Tea butted in with "Your Grandpa is so kind, Yugi."
Yugi couldn't help sweatdropping; this was the exact reaction he'd been expecting from them.
"Grandpa didn't want you to know, because he doesn't want all the attention. It's something he just loves to do; knowing the games will be played makes him happy.
Grandpa also knows that it stops kids getting bored and he gives them Duel Monster cards so even in the hospital and they can make friends playing the game."
Tristan and Joey had their arms covering their eyes. "That's so beautiful!" Tea and Ryou looked at the pair; Tea shook her head, while Ryou just shrugged.
Ryou looked at Yugi, "Why didn't you go with him?"
Yugi just replied, "Grandpa said that I should enjoy myself, besides" He gave them all a nervous smile. "I would like to help my Grandpa… but all that attention he gets, I don't think I could handle it the way he does."
Yugi and his friends finished their ice-creams quietly. As they decided to leave the park for some time in the arcade, Yugi asked them not to make a big deal about it in front of his Grandpa (Yugi's grandpa had suspected that Yugi would get the third degree and since he knew his grandson didn't like to lie to his friends, had told Yugi he could tell them if they asked, as long as it wouldn't spread from there.). Everyone agreed to keep it quiet and with that they headed off trying to avoid the gangs of card "sharks".
"So what game are you going to play Joey?" Yugi asked.
The tall blond grinned and replied. "I was hoping to have a re-match with a buddy of mine. Win back some dignity."
"Now then Joey," Ryou intersected "Do you mean the dignity you lost at fighting games with Yugi, the dance machine game with Tea, the shooting games with Tristan or the table hockey with me?"
There was an uncomfortable pause as Joey's upbeat confidence hit a small obstacle…reality. "Come on Ryou… I'm not that bad."
Sadly Joey was too tempting a target. Tristan, like his hair, had to make a point. "The only game you have any hope in is Duel Monsters…and you had no clue how to play that at all, until Yugi and his Grandpa helped you."
Joey looked at Yugi, who immediately started a conversation with Tea about challenging her to a game of table hockey. Yet Yugi felt the look, so eventually answered, "Joey was good to begin with, he just needed a little bit of help. Besides, Joey could enter up beating all of us."
"Yeah! You guys better beware Wheeler is on the loose!" He punched the air with his fist.
Tea sweatdrops at the sight of the new rising confidence coming from the youth, making him act daft. "Oh, we're aware all right."
At the same time, Yugi's Grandpa had finished sorting through his entire leftover inventory and had made it to the hospital, specifically this was for the children wards, he also gave games to older teens, and there was no age restriction for games (he was living proof of that).
He carried it all in a non-descriptive box, which made his bones ache a little, none of the toys were wrapped and all of them were cleared of their price tags. Most of the games were those small kinds, like cards, puzzles (which included mazes, brain puzzles), kendamas, things that didn't involve too much physical exertion. He was well aware that this was still a hospital and people had been hurt.
He went through the sliding glass doors, which opened as he approached. He smiled at the nurse at the front desk, who recognised him immediately, and she smiled back at him. He had done this quite a few times, it was starting to become routine among the long-term staff.
The receptionist smiled warmly as she spoke, "Good morning, Mr Motou. That looks like a heavy box."
He replied, "It is."
She answered reassuringly, "I'm sure we'll be able to find lots of children who will just love the items you brought."
Grandpa winked. "Ho ho, I sure hope so. I'll go place the box in the children's ward, so they can pick the games themselves."
She nodded back, "Okay, thanks again, Mr Motou."
Grandpa walked down the corridor, keeping to the side, as doctors, nurses, and visitors for the patients filtered pass him. He made it to the children's ward, to the rows of identical beds, most of the curtains were pulled back… most of the cases were relatively small compared to some of the things that could happen, and many of the children liked to chat to each other, so the curtains were kept back so they could speak freely. Of course the chatter was small; because they had been told by nurses that some of the occupants would need to rest, but they were children after all… even in a hospital you couldn't keep them quiet for long.
This reminded Grandpa of the very day that had inspired the "tradition". Yugi had been a young bright-eyed child and he had just taken an interest in the Puzzle, which in those days had been previously sitting on a shelf collecting dust. He had walked down the same corridor, into the same children ward, just to see a little red face smile at him… Yugi had come down with a very bad fever, and Grandpa had decided that he should spend one night in hospital just to be safe. He had gone back to the Shop, to get some puzzles and games so Yugi wouldn't feel so bad or get bored.
Of course, Yugi had dived right into a puzzle…Grandpa had stayed for the whole time, watching him figure it out, but this time, Yugi seemed to have problems with this particular puzzle (A slip all the connecting pieces off and then reconstruct it puzzle.) Grandpa couldn't remember exactly which piece or what it had looked like, but he could still remember those eyes staring at the piece of twisted metal, questioning it to change, the way the little fingers had held the metal from every angle. The old man could still picture the youthful disappointment of not being able to solve the problem right away to this day.
Yugi may have given up on that puzzle for another one, if another little child; a small girl had been watching from her own bed, and said. "Why don't you twist that round bit?" She made a loop with two of her fingers. Yugi had looked at the loop, twisted and voila it fell off.
That bright smile and the small girl's laugh at seeing his little grandson bouncing up and down in his bed in excitement, even with his fever had made Grandpa laugh as he tried to restraint his victorious grandson before he came to regret it. Finally he calmed down, and quickly restored it to its former connected state.
Grandpa pulled out another, a picture puzzle, when Yugi tugged at his grandfather's sleeve and said. "Can she have it?" He pointed at the small girl that had helped him out. "She looks bored." Grandpa smiled, and handed the toy to the girl…between the two, they worked through the games, laughing and joking.
The next morning, Yugi was well enough to leave, and they said goodbye to his new friend. Yugi gave her one of the small puzzles to play with, as a gift… That is when Grandpa realised that other children might benefit from these games and the next year, after he sorted all his excess games, he went to the hospital, and the tradition was born.
He smiled as he returned to today; a few of the children were in the middle of a Duel Monsters game, the ones that were able, were sitting in chairs around one person's bed. He quietly put the box down in the corner he normally did, the attending nurse noticed it, and recognised it. He smiled and was about to leave, when a bed caught his eye.
Most of the children were wide awake, and even those who were sleeping, normally had someone with them, friends or family. This one was empty, there wasn't even a "Get Well" card or a single balloon to decorate it, but that wasn't the thing that drew his eye. It was the young boy sleeping silently on the pillow; their arms were bare and had been positioned on top of the covers. Mr Motou could see that they were covered in small flesh-coloured bandages. The child's skin seemed pale, especially against the dark coloured hair that was spread out on the soft padding of the hospital pillow.
One hand of the boy was gripping a familiar item that lay on his stomach… it was a dangerous thing to keep on the bed of a sleeping patient, it could be stolen or injure them as they turned in their sleep, but for some reason the nurses had decided against removing it from him… perhaps in the depths of his sleep, they could not remove it from him without causing more harm than they dare.
That item and the boy's appearance… it frightened him, but he had just seen him this morning, this was impossible, and yet…
He went up to the nurse, as she scolded the children for getting loud in the middle of one of the turns. "Excuse me, nurse."
The attending nurse turned to him, "Yes, sir?"
"When was that boy brought in?" He nodded to the bed. She looked at him.
"He was brought in last night, we hadn't found any family as of yet, do you know him?"
He mentally shook his head; the time of arrival had been too late for it to be him.
He looked at the young boy… he had to tell his grandson. This could involve him and his friends, this was… strange. Lying in a hospital bed was someone who looked exactly like his grandson, and what was stranger was that he also had an identical replica of the Puzzle.
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I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please tell me what you think.
Yugi: The more positive reviews the more encouraged Aitwo will be to keep writing the story!
Aitwo: Constructive criticism welcome to, but say it nicely please.