Prompt: Perfection
noun
a person or thing perceived as the embodiment of perfection.
Fandom: (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
Characters: Mrs. Muto (Miyu)
Other: Akiniko (Yugi), Sugoroku/Solomon Muto, Mr. Muto (OC, Kazuki)
AN: This story follows the train of thought that Yugi has a different actual first name (Akiniko: bright prince) and that "Yugi" is a nickname that was given to him and used so often until it was eventually all he answers to.
He was perfect. His tiny nose, itty bitty fingers and toes. Tuft of black hair. There was nothing she wouldn't do for her son.
After speaking with her father-in-law, who was gracious enough to let them live with him after her husband- his son- died, they could still live with him if they chose so she had help with her son. And they were still his family, so he wasn't going to turn his back on them.
Her husband, he died unexpectedly from a severe allergic reaction to a simple flu shot, to the new doctor's shock and horror.
Long story short on that end, he was fired and Mrs. Muto was given a monetary settlement for her loss, the hospital paying for his funeral. All because the stupid doctor hadn't read the chart.
Almost all of the money she had gotten went to her son before his birth, setting up everything that he would need in his room as well as some money set aside for when he got older.
But for now, Miyu was more than comfortable holding him safely in her arms. Akihio was what she named him, after the doctor who assisted in his birth.
Sugoroku Muto had waited outside of the room, as he had been instructed to. He couldn't imagine how horrified Miyu was, by herself during one of the most important- if not the most important- trials of being a wife: becoming a mother. He was worried for her, but also for his grandson.
He wondered if he would be small like himself and his son, or be Miyu's height. But, after being told it was okay for him to come in, he found himself smiling at the sight of his grandson.
A soft conversation was exchanged between himself and Miyu, it was something involving teaching him to be a gambler or being a part time gamer, before his daughter-in-law fell asleep, leaving him with the baby.
"Hmm. You're awfully small, aren't you?" He asked him, trying to avoid from letting himself fall asleep in his old age. Of course, there was no response from the sleeping boy. "Your father, he wasn't as small as you. Maybe a little bigger, but you'll grow. You'll grow in time." He chuckled, seeing him open his eyes. "Huh, you have your mother's eyes." He did look perfect.
After an hour, he left the mother and son to sleep with a note saying he'd be back tomorrow.
As the years went on, Akiniko was growing into a smart boy who loved to play games. He loved them so much that his grandfather nicknamed him "Yugi", meaning game, as well as friendship.
Miyu didn't really approve, but the nickname, regrettable, stuck. At the age of seven, it was all he would answer to. Sure, he wrote his birth name on papers for school, but vocally Yugi was all he would respond to.
Even after this, Miyu loved him anyway. He was her little boy. Her little boy whose hazel eyes like hers became bright purple like his fathers were, whose black hair gained patches of red and blonde. The blonde and red were natural, on both sides, actually, so it was no surprise he gained them as well.
For such a happy boy, he was painfully shy. So when Akiniko- Yugi, she reminded herself- came home after school one day with a little girl named Tea Gardener, Miyu was smiling from ear to ear. He had made his first friend! Sadly, it was due to him being picked on for being as small as he was. She knew, that as painfully small as he was now, he would grow.
In his later primary school years, he had made many more friends: Jounouchi Katsuya, Hiroto Honda, Shizuka Kawai, Ryo Bakura, Ryuji Otogi, to name a few. There were more, but Miyu had yet to meet them.
It looked like his nickname was paing off, in a litteral sense. With all of the tounaments he had won, Yugi offered to use it to pay of the debts to the shop and pay to fix some things around the house.
After some talking with him, it was agreed that they could use it, just this once and then they would never use Yugi's earnnings like that again.
He said it was fine, he could always enter another tournament if more money was needed, and he genuinely didn't mind.
He certainly was a kind boy. Never hesitating to help anyone in need.
When he and the others came back from their trip to Egypt to visit one of their friends, they all seemed sad.
And she knew it wasn't just a simple goodbye.
She comforted her son as best as she could, which made the pain lessen.
The year before his graduation, he had cut his hair, to a fine buzz cut. This was soon a growth spurt phase of complaining of pain and begging for it to stop. This lasted for weeks and that bled into months. Soon Yugi was taller than his grandfather and almost taller than her.
Miyu was so surprised that morning when Yugi woke up, tall and not fussing over it sans the ice bag on his head and a scowl on his face from whatever had happened earlier that morning before she woke up, that she spilled tea onto the floor.
His hair had grown back, tamer this time as he hadn't let it grow so much. It was mostly red this time, with black and blonde clashing in his bangs. His eyes were turning hazel like hers once more, and he only played in tournaments, preferring to focus on his future. He was so close to being the top of his class, after all.
Suroroku's death came as a surprise and shock to everyone. He had died. No one even knew he was sick. Yugi was hit hardest. One of his role models was gone!
He cried that day, the day after, hearing the eulogy given by Dr. Arthur Hawkins, and for weeks after the funeral.
Miyu was able to hold and comfort him again, letting him know that everything was going to be alright. That his grandfather wouldn't have wanted him to mourn him forever, but to more forward with his life. It was alright to look back, to remember, as long as he moved forwards with his life.
Graduation day came and went, he and his friends spending the night at the Muto household.
The night was full of fun and happiness. And then the question from Honda came up.
"What's your real name? We've only ever heard you being called "Yugi"." He asked.
Yugi laughed. "I've been meaning to talk to you guys about that." He stretched, popping his back before sending an apologetic look to his mother because she hated it when he did that.
He turned back to his friends. "My name is actually Akiniko, and "Yugi" is just a nickname."
"That explains why I never saw "Yugi" written on any papers at school." Jounouchi said.
Akiniko. It had been so long since he had said his name outloud. So many years. He had to admit, it did sound more mature than "Yugi".
"Guys, I.. I don't want to be called Yugi anymore." He said, looking at his friends. "Yugi is the name for a child. I think I'll start going by my real name, it fits me a lot more than it used to. And, a wise man once said, I'd grow into it."
As Miyu saw her son smile, she realized something.
Despite her hardships, she had one thing that would never change:
a son who was perfect in every way to her. And she wouldn't have it any other way.