It was a dark and cloudy night as Yugi made his way along the cracked stone path, carefully watching Jonouchi's footsteps in front of him. Them and Honda had decided to snoop around the abandoned house at the end of the road, as curiosity had gotten the better of them. They had just walked through the gate and were currently making their way towards the front door, dodging overgrown bushes as they went. It was eerily silent as they shuffled along, with Honda in the lead guiding them with his torch. The reason they had chosen to scope out the building was because of the various rumors they had heard from the kids in the neighborhood. Apparently people had seen things lurking in the shadows, claimed that there was something living here. Though Yugi hadn't been so keen on the idea of waltzing into the 'haunted house' as such, his two friends had jumped at the chance. So here they were, tip toeing through the front garden along a cracked stone path, silently listening for any movement inside the house.
They finally reached the front door, and just as Honda hesitated, Jou shoved past to kick the door open with his foot. The loud thud echoed through the empty halls, and the three teens poked their heads inside. After sensing no movement, Jou bounded forwards into the house, encouraging his friends to follow as he swiped the torch from Honda's grasp. Yugi followed hesitantly, his only motivation forwards being he didn't want to be left alone.
A few steps inside and Yugi already felt uneasy. The shadows were darker than anything he'd ever seen before, and the light from Jou's torch was becoming dimmer as the two friends moved ahead at a faster pace than the boy. Yugi moved to catch up with his friends, but he stopped when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Something was moving in the shadows. For a moment he couldn't bring himself to move. He wanted to catch up to Jou and Honda, but he also didn't want to take his eyes off of the shadows. Suddenly there was more movement on either side of him, and he slowly started stepping backwards, ready to turn and run back over to his friends.
When he took a fast glance over his shoulder though, he had no idea which way they had gone. The light of the torch was no longer glowing nearby.
Yugi could feel his heartbeat speed up as the shadows grew bigger, surrounding him with grotesque figures, though he still couldn't see what these beings were.
Then, they appeared.
Scores of monster spirits, snarling and bearing their teeth at the boy, who was staring wide eyed in horror. They began to advance, cornering Yugi as he slowly moved away, until his back hit the wall and he had nowhere else to go. This must be what's haunting the house! He thought as the spirits continued to advance, and Yugi pressed himself against the wall, wishing for them to go away.
Then, a bright light appeared. Yugi looked down in shock to discover that it was his puzzle, and soon enough another spirit appeared before him.
"Shadow creatures, be gone!" The voice bellowed. "Return to the realm from whence you came!"
Yugi stared up at the spirit with wide eyes. He knew who this person was, but he'd never quite seen the spirit before. With a chorus of shrieks and complaints, the monsters soon disappeared, leaving behind a peaceful silence once more. The shadows of the house no longer looked sinister and dark, and Yugi let out a breath of relief.
He then looked back up at the spirit before him. "It's you," he breathed. "The other me."
The spirit turned to regard him carefully, ignoring what the boy had referred to him as. "They shall not harm you anymore," he said. "You should go find your friends." Just as the spirit began to fade however, Yugi lurched forwards towards him, his arm reached out in panic.
"Wait! Please don't go," he reasoned. The spirit paused. "I-um," Despite the fact that Yugi knew he was safe now, he tried to think of a reason for him to stay. "I mean, I don't even know anything about you."
The spirit's gaze softened on the boy, "Nor do I know much about myself."
Yugi raised his eyebrows, as he fiddled with the sleeve of his jacket, "You...don't?"
A shake of the head. The spirit turned to regard the shadows about them, though sure that the monsters were gone. "All I know is that I'm here to protect you." Suddenly memories passed through Yugi's mind of the past few weeks, of moments before he knew of this spirit when he had lapses in his memory. Ushio, the TV reporter, Sozoji... all of them were times when Yugi was in trouble and then his memory went blank. He'd recently discovered this was because of the spirit before him, so he must have stepped in all of those times for Yugi.
The boy looked up at the spirit once more, a grateful smile on his face, "Thank you."
A simple nod came from the spirit, before a sound caught their ears. It seemed that Jou and Honda were looking for Yugi, and their voices were echoing down the halls. Yugi turned and saw the light of a torch dimly light the wall beside him as they grew closer.
The spirit nodded his head in their direction, "You should get back to your friends," he said.
Yugi nodded, and moved to go toward the sound of Jou's voice, but he paused. Turning back to the spirit once more, he asked, "Will you still be here? With me, I mean?"
The hint of a smile. "I'll be right behind you." The man's image then began to fade, until Yugi saw the empty room once more.
As the boy turned and called out to Jou, he knew that the spirit wasn't going to completely disappear this time. He could feel it, even though he could not see him anymore, he knew the spirit was still with him, watching over the boy. He no longer felt quite as alone.