Mirror Image Turned Upside Down

by Higuchimon

Rebecca Hawkins has hated Yuugi for years. Then she actually met him.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.
Title: Mirror Image Turned Upside Down
Word Count: 8,411
Rated: PG-13
Romance: Yuugi x Rebecca
Notes: This is set in the manga-verse. Yuugi and Rebecca are both in their twenties. This was written for the second season of the Yu-Gi-Oh Pairings Challenge. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.
Summary: Rebecca Hawkins has hated Yuugi for years. Then she actually met him.

---

I'd always hated Yuugi Mutou since the first time I heard about him. I didn't ever want to let go of that. We didn't meet until we were in our twenties, but I hated him for years before that. I hated him more than anyone I'd ever met for that matter. Just the sound of his name set my blood to boiling. I did what I could to keep anyone from knowing, especially my grandfather. I really didn't want him knowing how I felt, though I was sure he did anyway. He'd never approve.

Grandpa doesn't think that hating anyone is worth it. I didn't agree. I still don't. I hated Yuugi, and that was all there was to it. That careless, useless, worthless boy should only be hated as far as I'm concerned. I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to like him. Grandpa thinks if you hate someone, it's because you don't know them well enough. I knew that people liked Yuugi because they didn't know him, the real him, the side of him that doesn't care about anything but his own reputation.

That reputation is very impressive, so it isn't that surprising that he cares about it. He's known far and wide as one of the champions of Duel Monsters, if not the champion. He's win streak is impressive, I'll grant that much. I know he's lost some duels, but he's won so many more. He doesn't cheat. He couldn't' have won so many times if he did, and the Duel Disks don't allow for cheating anyway. Kaiba programmed them perfectly.

But that doesn't mean he's a good person. If he has, he would have found a way to save my grandfather's best and favorite card from being destroyed.

Shortly after the game got started, which was when I was about five years old or so, my grandfather managed to get one of the rarest cards for the game that's ever been made: the Blue Eyes White Dragon. There were only four of them. There are only three now, which is the total root of why I hate Yuugi. Grandpa refused to use it in his deck because of how rare and powerful it was. He just kept it because he liked how it looked and to be able to say that he owned it. I vaguely remember people coming over to visit just to see it.

But then he gave it away. He gave it to Sugoroku Mutou about two years after he found it. It's something he hasn't ever talked to me about that much. All he ever told me was that he did it because they're friends. I'd think myself that it was because of the ante rule, but I don't even know if that existed back then.

At any rate, he shouldn't have handed it over to Sugoroku. If he'd kept it to himself, then it wouldn't have been destroyed by Kaiba. I hate him as much as I hate Yuugi, but at least Kaiba doesn't try to pretend he's a nice guy. He couldn't have destroyed it if Yuugi hadn't let him in the first place, after all.

I wanted to go to Japan as soon as I heard about it, but I couldn't. I was too young to go by myself, and Grandpa wouldn't go with me. I was only twelve at the time, and all I wanted to do was find Yuugi and duel him to avenge the loss of the Blue Eyes. A lot of people would have just let it go after all this time. It's been almost ten years, after all. But I couldn't. It hovered in the back of my mind. All that I had to do was see an image of the Blue Eyes, not even a card, and it all surged up in me again. Since I play Duel Monsters, it's all but impossible to avoid those images. All the hatred and frustration just kept on building, year after year. I had to finish high school and go to college just to keep myself from swimming to Japan and taking care of matters there myself.

But now I was going to meet him for the first time, and it was all because of my roommate. She's from Japan herself, from Domino City, the same place Yuugi is from. In fact, she knew Yuugi since they were kids. When I first met Anzu Mazaki, I had no idea that she was going to be the one who would bring Yuugi and me to meet one another. She doesn't look as if she knows some of the most famous and talented duelists ever, up to and including myself. She's a dancer, or training to be one, at least. She and I both go to the same college, but have different majors, of course. I'm into computer programming, and she's dancing, or whatever they call it. Even with her being my roommate, I was never interested enough to look into the details.

She never talked that much about Yuugi, but I've seen pictures of them together, and asked who the guy with the starfish on his head was. I knew what Yuugi looked like, of course. No one who is into dueling could not know. He's been in a lot of magazines and even on television. But I thought when I first saw it that it was just someone who pretended to look like him. A groupie or something.

I nearly swallowed my tongue she said his name. I didn't really believe that she knew him, after all. Just because they came from the same city didn't necessarily mean anything. I never let her know how much I hated him. She thought he was just the greatest. When I mentioned that I duel, she brought up the subject of the two of us dueling if he ever came to visit. I never said one way or the other if I would, but I think she expected it anyway.

I could hardly believe that I was actually going to meet him after all this time. I was finally going to meet the person responsible for the loss of my grandpa's Blue Eyes. I hoped I wouldn't jump up and start to strangle him. I had no idea of anything that I really wanted to do. I'd fantasized about that moment for so many years. I'd even dreamed about him breaking down into tears and begging me for forgiveness that I wouldn't give a few times. I'd done so much research on him, learning everything that I could, but I still had no idea of what I would do when we met.

I know that he's about Anzu's age, which made him about four years older than I am. That's not so bad, because I'm also a little taller than he is. He's got that weird hair that's of three different colors: black, crimson, and gold, and it really does look like a starfish attached to his head. He started dueling when he was about fifteen or sixteen, and he went to the top almost at once. He won Duelist Kingdom and Battle City and a couple others that I can't remember the names of right away. All he has to do to win a tournament is enter it, it seems.

I almost wondered if I did want to duel him, just to see how good he really was. You can learn a lot about someone by how they duel. Maybe I would know if I should have hated him that much if we dueled. I know he had beaten some of the best, including the creator of the game, but to duel him for myself would have been incredible.

Hating Yuugi had become such a part of me that I didn't know what I'd do if I didn't hate him. I didn't know if I'd still be Rebecca Hawkins, and that would be more than a little strange.

I hardly knew what I was thinking, even when I thought that. He was only going to be there for a week, and he would be there mostly to see Anzu. I didn't even have to talk to him if I didn't want to. I could make an excuse and be out when they were around.

But I didn't want to do that. That was too much like hiding, and a true duelist never hides. I didn't know if I could trust myself around him, with the attitude I was certain he had. Anzu had mentioned how nice he was, but she also said they've been friends since they were little kids. He might have been nice then, and I bet she wouldn't have noticed him changing when he got older.

But I knew that I would see him for what he really was. I was ready to deal with it, too. Maybe I wouldn't smack him upside the head or yell at him or poison him, but I considered telling him that I knew it was his fault about the card and let him know that I don't forgive, even if my grandpa did. Grandpa's always been too nice for his own good, and I'm not. At least not where Yuugi Mutou is concerned.

I'd be nice if I had to be. I hoped I wouldn't have to be, and if I did, it wouldn't be for very long. I expected that he and Anzu would spend most of their time together, and that was okay with me.

So, when the night finally came that he'd come over, after he'd recovered from his flight from Japan, I sat in the living room with Anzu and waited for the knock at the door. She'd been on edge most of the day, waiting for him, and now she all but flew to answer the knock. I followed, a little slower, and did my best not to look as angry as I began to feel as I really realized that Yuugi Mutou was there.

I heard his voice first, greeting Anzu in Japanese. I can speak it and understand it very well myself. Since Duel Monsters is so popular there and I fully intended to go there myself one day, either for a tournament, or other reasons, I made certain I did. Anzu helped me with my accent, too, and I helped her with her English in return. We confused a lot of people by having me speak in Japanese and she answered in English.

Then I saw Yuugi. He looked just like his picture, of course, but there was something more about him than what the picture had shown me. Sure, it had been taken when they were in high school, but I couldn't explain it. He wasn't better looking than I expected. He was a little odd, with that hair and those eyes, and he really was shorter than me. But it was the way he held himself, with such certainty and confidence, that just made him different.

I think I hated him even more just then. How dare he look like that when he had such sins in his past? Why couldn't he be horribly scarred by what he'd let happen? Why did he have to look so proud?

Anzu looked back and switched to English for me. "Yuugi, this is my roommate, Rebecca Hawkins. I've told you about her, remember?"

She had? I didn't know about that. But he smiled at me, and it was such a happy smile that I wanted to knock it off of his face. "Yes, I remember. It's a pleasure to meet you, Hawkins-san." He did have a touch of an accent, but for the most part, he spoke perfect English. I wondered who had helped him with it.

"You can call me Rebecca." I told him. I knew he'd only meant respect, or the illusion of it, but I said it anyway. I didn't want him to suspect anything odd about me, and most Americans would have asked that he call them by their first name.

He smiled again and something shivered inside of me. It had to be the part of me that hated him so much. I couldn't imagine it being anything else. "Then you can call me Yuugi."

Anzu motioned us all back to the living room. "Why don't we sit down? I can make us some tea."

Before I even had a chance to protest, we were seated on the couch and Anzu was in the kitchen. I'd always thought if I were anywhere near him for more than a few minutes, I'd start yelling and screaming about my grandpa's card. Instead, I just tried to find something to say. Anything at all to say.

"Are you enjoying your visit?" For a genius, that had to be one of the dumber things I'd ever said. But it was something, at least. I was convinced if I got to know him, I'd at least know if he was worth my time to hate. I kind of hoped he was. After all these years, to find out that he wasn't would have been a great let down.

"It's different from Domino City," Yuugi said. He was obviously choosing his words very carefully. "I've never been here before. Anzu always talked about coming, but this is my first visit. But I think I like it so far."

"I could show you around." I heard myself say it, but I still didn't believe I had. I certainly didn't understand why. I guessed that my subconscious wanted to spend more time around him in an attempt to support my hate. I decided to get my subconscious some ice cream to thank it later.

Yuugi just smiled politely at me and nodded his head in what appeared to be a slight bow. "That would be very nice of you." He probably expected to charm me like he had everyone else. Little did he know that I was on to him. But he would find out. Of that, I was certain.

---

Before Yuugi went back to his hotel room, we'd agreed to go wandering about the city the next day. Anzu didn't seem to mind, and I knew her well enough to know that if she had, she would have said something. The three of us spent a good evening together, so she had plenty of chances to speak up. We watched a couple of movies, or at least they were playing on the DVD player. We spent more time talking to each other. Or they talked to each other, mentioning a lot of places and people I didn't know and they did. I wanted to feel left out by it, but oddly enough, I didn't. I just let it all sink into me, as if I should know them and wanted to. I felt like I knew both Yuugi and Anzu better with every word, and as much as it annoyed me, I liked what I heard.

I spent most of that night once I went to bed staring up into the darkness of my own room and trying to find out his angle. Maybe I'd heard wrong and he wasn't responsible for what happened to the Blue Eyes? What I'd heard didn't match up with who I met that night. I didn't think anyone could fool me for too long, and certainly not for all the hours that we'd talked that night. Maybe he was better at it than most of the people I'd met? It just didn't fit.

I wanted to know what was up. Where was the truth? Maybe hanging out with him while he was here would help me figure it out.

Trying to make up my mind ate into my sleep that night. I was just lucky that I didn't have any classes that day, so I could sleep in. I still felt a little groggy when Yuugi got there, and he noticed.

"If you're not feeling up to it, we can look around some other time, Rebecca," he told me. He almost seemed to stutter over my name some. I figured it was because he's not used to calling people he just met by their first names. I didn't think it was anything to blush about, but I could have sworn he looked a little red, too. Maybe he was just shy? Anzu had mentioned something like that when she told me about him, but hadn't she said that he'd grown out of that?

"No, I'm fine. I'll perk up with some coffee or a soda or two." The fresh air wouldn't hurt me either. "Come on, let's go."

Anzu waved to us both as we started out. "I'll catch up with you tonight, Yuugi. Have fun!" I wondered what was going through her mind. I knew that they e-mailed each other a lot and talked on the phone too but I thought that they would spend more time with each other. Sure, he was mainly there to see her big debut at the end of the week, but it was still strange.

"Are you sure that you don't want to come?" I asked, stifling a yawn as quickly as I could. If things turned out wrong somehow and I lost my temper, having her around might help me. Or help Yuugi, one or the other. The more time I spent around Yuugi, the less I found that I wanted to hate him and yet I still felt like Rebecca. I hadn't lost myself the way that I'd been sure I would. That was weird enough in and of itself. I wasn't used to being wrong about anything. It used to drive my teachers crazy. It wasn't my fault that they made mistakes in their lectures.

"Oh, I've got a quick rehearsal I need to get to. But I'll be home for dinner. Pizza okay? I can get it on the way back."

Yuugi all but pouted. It looked amazingly cute on him, and sent a large spike of hatred surging right into my heart. That was the first official sign I'd had that I was right all along. He was a manipulative bastard. "Can't we have hamburgers?"

"Yuugi, you'd turn into a hamburger if you got the chance, wouldn't you?" Anzu just shook her head ruefully and Yuugi blushed. I was certain he did this time. It was unmistakable.

"We can get some hamburgers while we're out," I said. I couldn't see why not. It wouldn't cost hardly anything, after all. I understood that burgers were a little expensive in Japan, but I was sure that I could spare it here. It was yet another way to see what Yuugi was really like.

Yuugi turned to me and beamed. "Thanks! That would be awesome, Rebecca!"

Again that odd surge that was so warm and had to be hatred, only it felt so much better than I'd ever thought hatred could feel. Maybe if I'd studied psychology instead of computers, I'd know why I felt like that.

"Go on, shoo!" Anzu flapped her arms at us as if she were herding chickens. I really wanted a couple of good strong cups of coffee anyway, preferably hooked up into my bloodstream if I could manage it. So we went.

Luckily, Yuugi didn't object to stopping at the first decent coffee shop that we saw, and ordered himself a large cup as well. He mixed his with cream and sugar, while I wanted mine as black and strong as I could stand it.

"Anzu said that you duel." Yuugi mentioned after he'd reached the halfway point of his cup. "And that you're really good."

I shrugged. Those were, for the most part, the old days. "I was the U.S. Champion for a few years, until I went to college. I haven't done anything professionally in a couple of years, though."

"Maybe before this week's over, we could duel?" The question was raised gently, and I didn't have to give it that much thought. After all, I'd considered it a few times already.

"Sounds like a good idea to me!" I declared with as much energy as a quarter cup of coffee could deliver into me. "Do you still duel professionally?"

"I'm the Japanese champion." Yuugi replied, and not without a shred of the smugness or pride that I'd expected. There was pride, but not the way I'd thought it would be. "But it's not the only thing I do these days. I do have a 'real job'." He smiled, a sort of rueful expression. "After all, I can't keep doing this forever."

I nodded, recalling what I'd read in some of the more recent gaming magazines. I don't know why I'd even asked that question, since I already knew the answer. Yuugi worked for the research and development branch of Industrial Illusions' Asian division: the company that had begun Duel Monsters all those long years ago. Pegasus Crawford was many years in his grave, but the Tenma brothers were doing just fine running it, and the company was actually doing even better business these days.

Once again, rage stirred in my heart at the mere thought of Duel Monsters and Yuugi at the same time, but the feeling was still different. I couldn't even say how, just that the difference was there, and completely unmistakable. I considered talking to someone who was in the psychology department. I really wanted to know why so much that I'd been certain I felt had turned upside down in the last day.

I finished that first cup of coffee and started on the second, taking it even more slowly than I had the first one. I wanted to think a little while, but about what, I wasn't sure yet.

"You're going to graduate this year, aren't you?"

I nodded at Yuugi. That was a definite advantage in being a genius. By the time most of the other people my age were just starting to think about where to get their first real adult job, I'd already have a plush one laid down. I'd been in school for years, and I had enjoyed it. But I wanted the real world, too, and I think it wanted me.

"I've had some good job offers already. I've thought about taking the one from KaibaCorp's American branch. They've made some amazing strides in technology lately."

Yuugi quite literally rolled his eyes. "I know." Now that was yet again the tone I'd expected from him all along. "Kaiba's mentioned it every chance he gets whenever we run into each other."

As much as I could think about working for the local branch of the largest gaming company in the world, the thought of being able to casually meet and talk to the owner and CEO still boggled me. That Yuugi could do it especially after...

"How can you like him?" The words just came out of my mouth, without asking permission of my brain. That normally didn't happen more than once or twice a year. It had suddenly grown more frequent: ever since the previous night.

Yuugi looked quite confused by what I'd asked. "What do you mean?"

I had to scramble for some answers that made sense. Luckily, Anzu had dropped enough hints about other things that had happened when they were younger so I could. "Anzu said so much about what a jerk he is, or was when you were all in school. I just don't see how you can talk to him like he was your friend. Or talk about talking to him."

My words trailed off at the thoughtful look on Yuugi's face. "I don't know if I like him, actually." That wasn't what I'd expected to hear. Yuugi was in the habit of surprising me, whether he knew it or not. "I respect him. I try to understand him, because there aren't many who do. He isn't the most polite person I know, and he never will be." He looked even more thoughtful, as if he were remembering something from years ago. Maybe not years. Maybe centuries, or even longer, if possible. "We understand each other, and we worked hard for that. As weird as it sounds, I've learned a lot from him. We both did."

"What could he learn from you?" I hoped that the venom in my voice wasn't noticeable. If it was, he didn't pay any attention it, and I was glad. I really wanted to understand how all of this happened.

"I've wondered the same thing myself," Yuugi said, a grin on his lips. "But he's mentioned that he has, so I guess he found something."

I decided then and there that I didn't want to know what he'd learned from Kaiba anymore. Understanding could wait. We had a few days, after all. I also didn't feel like talking about it anymore, so I finished my coffee quickly. "I think I feel a little more awake. I know a couple of places that you'll love to see."

Yuugi got the hint that that part of the conversation was over and we headed out the door. It was one of those lovely spring days where it was all but a crime to stay indoors for more than a few minutes as long as the sun shone, and sometimes even after that. Walking with Yuugi, even in a crowded and dirty city, felt as if it were the most natural event in the world to be happening. I even forgot that I hated him for a while. It was too good just talking to him about everything and anything that came to mind. I even laughed a few times, something I had never thought could happen while being with him.

Walking in the park, hitting an arcade, eating those hamburgers which he utterly raved about..,I wondered a few times if Anzu were trying to set us up. She couldn't be, though. I hated Yuugi. So therefore, we weren't being set up together.

I kept telling myself that all day long, and for the most part, I believed it. But somewhere deep inside, I still had a flicker of wonder. If she had, then why?

More to the point, why was I beginning to think that I didn't care if she had?

---

Three days of spending what free time I had with Yuugi or Yuugi and Anzu had worn away my nerves. Even once I'd gotten some sleep and couldn't write off my odd feelings as a product of exhaustion or even simple tiredness, I still found that I liked spending time with Yuugi. I didn't know if I wanted Anzu to have set us up or not. I was still too confused by what I felt to even think about that for more than five minutes yet.

Duel Monsters came up only a few times here and there as the days rolled by. It was to be expected, perhaps, since we were both duelists, but we actually avoided it for the most part. I couldn't figure out if he didn't talk about it on purpose or if it just didn't occur to him to talk about it. I know that I wasn't talking about it for a reason. I still wanted to hate him, which meant I couldn't mention the Blue Eyes. Not yet, anyway.

At least I was reasonably certain that I wanted to hate him. Sometimes I wondered, just a little. But the point was, I didn't talk about the game incessantly and neither did Yuugi.

Then the day came when he did. It was inevitable, since the one time we really had spoken of it, we'd decided to duel. Yuugi asked if I felt like it that day.

It only took a moment, again, for the answer to come to me. This was what I'd wanted, after all. This would settle once and for all if I should or even could hate him for what he'd let happen. So I said yes.

"Great. Did you want to use Duel Disks?" He had no idea of what I hoped for from this duel. The strangeness that I'd first felt when he'd arrived at the door was only increased now. This had to be his duelist's fighting spirit. I'd only really felt it from a few other people, and none of them were as powerful as his. The thought of surrendering on the spot crossed my mind for a few seconds before I drove it away with a burning mental image of the Blue Eyes and my grandpa.

"Sure. Let me get mine." I headed for my room to get it and my deck. I hadn't played in a long time, but I was still determined to give Yuugi the best fight I possibly could. I could only hope that my fighting spirit affected him the way his had mine.

I was on the way back when I heard them talking, and I came to a halt, listening without shame.

"Are you sure you're right about her, Anzu? I haven't really noticed anything..." Yuugi sounded strange and unsure, not like the killer duelist I wanted to be facing.

"Sure I'm sure. She gets flustered whenever I bring you up, and never wants to say anything about why. She has all of those clippings of you, too. I think she's even went to some of your fansites!" Anzu sounded very sure of herself, in stark contrast to Yuugi. "Rebecca has a crush on you."

I stifled something that was the bastard offspring of a choke and a laugh. Me? With a crush on Yuugi? Even hearing her reasons, and hearing it confirmed that she had been trying to set us up, made me wonder what had given her that idea. Even as I wondered, I understood, though. I'd never said how I really felt about him, so with what she knew, it was only logical that she'd think of it in a romantic sense.

Did I want to correct her? Hating someone for ten years or so did get awfully tiring. Maybe I could have liked the last few days better if I'd let the hate go or purged it or whatever Grandpa had suggested when I was younger. Given how much I had liked those days, even with the way some of it had grated on my nerves, maybe Anzu would have been right.

I didn't want to hear anything else. I just wanted all of this to be over, and I wanted it with the same passion that I'd hated Yuugi all of this time. I stalked into the room and gave him my best duelist's glare.

"We can hit that little park about three blocks away. That'll give us room." I didn't wait for a yes or a no. I just headed out of the door and they followed, surely giving each other confused looks. From the tingling of my shoulders, I was certain that some of those looks were also heading my way.

"Rebecca? What's wrong?" Anzu asked as we reached the park. There weren't too many other duelists there, so I was certain we would have an audience soon. Good. I wanted that. The more of one, the better. I didn't give her any answers. I just took my place and started to shuffle my deck, waiting for Yuugi to do the same. He was confused, but after a few seconds, started to shuffle as well. Since Anzu wasn't getting any answers from me, she stood and watched, and I wondered if she regretted whatever impulse had made her tell Yuugi of my 'crush'.

I did what I should have done years ago: I took the first move. I laid out a defensive monster, something with a nasty little special effect for whenever he attacked it, and placed a trap card face down. From what I'd learned of his dueling style, I knew he'd attack sooner or later, and when he did, I wanted to be ready for it. He'd regret it when he did.

"Rebecca, are you mad at us? At me?" Anzu asked after the first few rounds. I'd eaten into Yuugi's life points, even though he'd managed to avoid the trap I'd set for him, and he'd bitten some of mine off as well. There was only a twenty-five life point difference between us right now. I still hadn't said a word to either of them that wasn't about the duel, and I knew it had to be getting to them both.

But I also wanted it clear who I was angry with. "No, not you, Anzu." Then I shut my mouth like a steel trap.

Yuugi saw exactly what I meant by it. Hate or no hate, he wasn't stupid, and I recognized that fact. "Why are you mad at…" Then I could see the light going on behind his eyes. "Hawkins. Your grandfather's name is Arthur, isn't he? And he duels too, or did."

I hadn't meant to say anything else, but I did anyway. "Yes." I bit the word out, hearing it edged in ice and iron.

Yuugi closed his eyes and sighed. "I thought I recognized the name, but I wasn't sure. When you didn't say anything, I thought I was just mistaken. I'm sorry, Rebecca. I don't think you can imagine how sorry I am. I think Kaiba would be too. Now." Yes. He knew. The hate knotted up harder inside my heart, and my hand trembled over my deck when it was my turn to draw. It was an impressive monster, too, one that would probably take a large bit of Yuugi's life points once I was able to attack with it.

Anzu looked from one of us to the other, even more confused. Yuugi glanced over at her and a faint hint of a rueful smile appeared. "Death-T, Anzu. You weren't there for what happened before we got inside the first game." I wasn't entirely sure just who was more confused then, me or her. I knew what he had to be referring to, but the words themselves weren't familiar.

He looked over at me now. "So that's why you wondered why I could be his friend." I nodded sharply and sacrificed two of my monsters to bring out the new one I'd just pulled. I decided to wait to attack, since I didn't like the look of one of his face-down cards. If it were something like Mirror Force, which I knew he loved to use, or even worse, Magic Cylinder, it could be over, and in the wrong way. It was his turn now, and if he wanted to wander off into history, I could wait a little. "He had a reason, Rebecca. I don't think it was a good reason, and I wonder if he thinks that anymore. But it was a reason, anyway."

"What reason could he have had for destroying a card that rare? He didn't have to do it. If he'd just taken it, that would have been enough…and it was because of you that he was able to get to it anyway!" I all but shouted the words. We had the audience I wanted, and they were all staring at us. Let them. Let them know the truth.

"Because of what had happened in a game a few months before that," Yuugi said. "It was when I was first learning about Duel Monsters. Grandpa was showing me and some of the others his cards when Kaiba came into the shop and saw the Blue Eyes. The first moment he saw it, he wanted it. I've never seen anyone want something so much in my entire life. But Grandpa wouldn't give it to him, no matter what he offered. The next day, he stole it from me while we were at school, and replaced it with a copy he'd made so I wouldn't know. But I did anyway, and I tried to get him to give it back to me. When he wouldn't, we…I…challenged him to a duel. It was a very close game, right up until he decided to cheat. He had hidden the card in his sleeve, and pretended to draw it when it was his turn. But the dragon wouldn't attack me. It was too closely linked to my grandpa, and Kaiba hadn't yet…he couldn't…" He hesitated again, obviously trying to pick his words correctly. "He wasn't ready for the Blue Eyes yet. Not just anyone can use it, you know."

I nodded; it was true. Duel Monsters was for the most part just a normal collectible card game. But there were cards that were just different, that sometimes had odd effects that had nothing to do with what was written on them. I sometimes wished that I were one of those duelists who could dismiss such things with a mocking toss of my head, but I wasn't. I'd never met Pegasus Crawford, but I knew my grandpa, and I knew some of the history of the game, and how it was linked to Egypt. Not to mention, no one could look into Yuugi's eyes just then and not know that he spoke the truth. It was as obvious and plain as his duelist fighting spirit.

"The Blue Eyes suicided, sent itself to the graveyard, rather than attack me. When Death-T, his revenge on me for his defeat there, happened, he destroyed the card after he beat my grandpa. He didn't do it to keep anyone else from having it, though."

I was suddenly colder than if I'd been drenched in ice water. "Because it died before it would do as it was told." Everything dimmed around me, and I wondered if I were about to faint. I hoped not.

Yuugi shook his head just a little. "No. Not entirely. I brought it back from the graveyard in that first duel with Monster Reborn, and it struck the killing blow on Kaiba. He couldn't stand the betrayal. He destroyed it for revenge. Since then, he's come to understand how empty hate and anger like that can make you. He's still not the best person, but he's grown up some. He's learned better."

I wasn't certain if he'd intended what I heard under those words, but the meaning was there regardless. I clenched my fists, hearing them echo over and over in my mind, like the beat of madness, and I was certain of only one thing: what I would do when it was my turn again. "Make your move, Yuugi."

He looked at me, and I knew that he could see the tears hovering in my eyes. I'd been wrong. So very wrong, and for so many years. Hating Yuugi or Kaiba wouldn't bring back my grandfather's Blue Eyes, and he'd known it all along. That's why he hadn't bothered with hate or revenge. It was just a tragedy. The friendship that card had symbolized between himself and Sugoroku still existed, and I remembered what I'd blocked out before: years of phone calls between them, letters, and packages exchanged. Many stories my grandpa had told me had involved Sugoroku, and he'd always promised that one day I would be able to go to Japan and meet him. The promises had tapered off after we'd learned about the Blue Eyes, and I had sworn to hate everyone who was a Mutou, but especially Yuugi. Now I knew why.

All that hatred had done was empty my heart. What had I lost, letting it consume me like this for all of those years? What was I losing now?

Yuugi made his move, and I lost one of my monsters, and a chunk of my life points. I knew I could still make a powerful strike with the other one, though. If I wanted to. I knew the duel was over. It shouldn't have been played, not like this. I should have just talked to him, called him or written to him years ago, learned all of this and lived a life without the chains of hatred tying me down so thoroughly. It was amazing how a few simple words could turn my life around. Maybe it was because of Yuugi himself. If he could forgive and learn from Kaiba, then he could forgive me: and I wanted that forgiveness. I would have laughed at the thought a week earlier.

But it wasn't a week earlier, and it was my move. I reached for my deck and laid my hand over it quietly, long enough for him to realize that I wasn't drawing: I was surrendering.

"Rebecca?"

"I'm sorry, Yuugi." I choked up and didn't care. Words and breath were both failing me. I didn't know if I'd ever be able to speak again. "I hope you enjoy your stay." I swept my cards off the disk and closed it up. I didn't say that I didn't intend to be around to see the rest of his visit. I could hear Anzu's apologies for her mistakes ringing in my ears as I walked away. I nodded just enough so that she would know I had heard, but I kept on walking. I wanted to be alone, more so than I ever had before. They didn't follow me. I wondered if Yuugi had ever had to deal with something like this before and what he'd done if he had. I wished I'd listened more to what Anzu had had to say about him. Maybe I'd know then.

I walked for what had to be hours. I only stopped at the apartment long enough to drop off my disk and deck. I didn't take any of my clothes. I intended to stay there, at least at night. I wasn't going to run away. I just wanted to stay out of sight until Yuugi was gone. I had classes, after all, and there were other places I could stay when I wasn't there. I could shower and change clothes while they were out. I could manage.

That was what I did for two more days. I walked all of the black poison of hatred out of myself. I supposed I'd have to apologize to Anzu afterwards, and maybe to Yuugi, too, but I could do that with a phone call or e-mail. Seeing him would just make it too hard, since I liked him.

Liked him. Yes. I admitted it, to myself at least. When all of that thick layer of venom and fury was striped away by the light of knowledge and truth, I liked Yuugi. Maybe it wasn't the crush that Anzu had thought it was, but it was something that filled me with a deep sense of peace, when I bothered to think about it. I thought about it quite a bit as the days passed.

As much as I didn't feel like seeing him face to face again, it appeared that Yuugi wasn't going to let me just hide in the cracks until he was gone. I was in the library, pretending to do research for a report I'd finished before he'd even come here, when someone sat down beside me. I looked up to see Yuugi there, and started to stand right away. He shook his head.

"Please, don't go. I want to talk."

I wanted to ignore him, but I didn't. Couldn't. Felt like I shouldn't. I just sat back down. Something in the back of my head said hiding was silly anyway. Hadn't I already decided that days ago, before all of this? I still had some duelist's pride, after all. "What about?" I kept my attention on the books in front of me. I had some pride, but I was still ashamed of how dumb I'd been. So much for being a genius.

"I'm not really sure," he admitted with a small smile. "I've just missed you while you were gone. After the other day, though, I thought you wanted to be alone for a while."

I nodded, and still kept on staring at the books without actually seeing them. "I did." I fiddled with a page. "I hated you for years because of what happened to my grandpa's card. That's why I never wanted to talk about you to Anzu, once I found out that she really knew you. I collected the clippings because of that, too. I wanted to know what I could about you, as long as it wasn't good. It all just made me hate you more, no matter what I found out." I thought that I had purged the hate, but now I could actually feel the rawness healing as I confessed to things I hadn't in years. "That's part of why I wanted to duel you. So I could know if I could keep on hating you or not." I told him of how those days spent with him had eaten at the hatred and made me question it. It hadn't been really as thick or deep or eternal as I'd thought it had been. Just a few days had changed my life forever.

Yuugi listened to all of it calmly, letting me talk myself out. When I was done, he just smiled at me. "I'm glad you don't hate me anymore." That was all he said. But it was enough.

"So am I." I smiled back at him. He was really so much of a better person than I was. I had held onto a childish hatred for so little reason, letting it build and fester inside of me. He forgave me as naturally as he breathed. He was the kind of person I hoped I would be, or that I hoped could be my friend.

Or more. If I dared to dream that high. Maybe someone like Yuugi, but it couldn't be Yuugi. Not after everything that had happened. I grew more and more certain with each breath that I look that I wanted it to be otherwise. I also wished that I'd held onto some of the spontaneity I'd had at thirteen. To cling to Yuugi and call him something cute like 'sweetie' or 'darling'…well, that was a nice dream, but that was all it would ever be.

"Rebecca, Anzu's performance is tomorrow night. Are you going to go?" I nodded when he asked. Even after all of this I wanted to go, even if I didn't let her know that I was there. I wanted to see her at her debut. She was just about the best friend I'd ever had. I knew some people who would have thrown me out after everything that had happened. "Would you like to go with me?"

I stared at him in disbelief. "Are you asking me out on a date?" There was that blush again. It as amazing how well it fit his face, as if he were used to doing it many times. But he also nodded. I was too surprised to even say how surprised I was. Yuugi didn't lie or joke, not like that, so I also didn't bother asking if he was. I swallowed a couple of times, adrift on a sea of confusion.

"See, even if you hated me, you still acted nice, and Anzu's told me a lot about you. The non-hating stuff. I wanted to get to know you better. That was one reason I came. I still want to get to know you better, Rebecca." His blush deepened, and I could feel his hand slowly stealing around mine. I didn't pull away. He was so warm. "I hope you don't mind."

Mind? How could I mind? Who in their right mind would mind? I was fairly sure that I wasn't crazy. Not that crazy, anyway.

"No, I don't." I brought up another little smile of my own. I wanted to know me better, too. And him. Especially him. "I'd love to go there with you, Yuugi." I hesitated before I asked the next question on my mind, but I asked it anyway. "Want to go get some burgers and coffee now? My treat."

I hoped and prayed that he understood the peace offering I meant by that. From the way he smiled, I knew he did. "I'd love that."

He helped me put away the books I'd been hiding behind, and we started outside. Another question I'd had in the back of my mind came bubbling out just then. It was probably an odd time for it, but I asked anyway. "Whatever happened to the Millennium Puzzle? I know that you used to wear it all the time. But no one's seen you with it in years." None of the magazines I'd read had ever had a proper answer for that. Yuugi had never said anything about it.

He only smiled again now, and it was a different kind, sad and hopeful at the same time. "That's a very long story. About three thousand years long, actually."

"I'd love to hear it." I meant it. It had to be important to him, and I burned to know anything that was important to him. It would help me to see more of the real Yuugi, the one that smeared mustard on his nose when he ate his hamburgers and who had stared at the prices on the board at the fast food place as if he couldn't believe how low they were. "Maybe over some drinks tonight?" I made the offer as cautiously as I had the one for the burgers.

His answer was just the same as it had been for that question, too. Inside of half an hour, we had three meetings that would be the precursor to dates set up. My entire life had been turned upside down and inside out. It was as if I'd walked through a mirror to a world where everything was the opposite of what I was used to.

No, not everything. Just one little thing, one tiny emotion flipped head over heels. But it was enough.

After we'd left the library, our hands strayed back to one another. They fit together, just like two pieces of a puzzle. Looking back, I was almost glad that I had hated him. I wouldn't have appreciated this new feeling as much as I did if I hadn't.

And this was a feeling that I really would never let go of, no matter what.

The End