Aneko: And so I've finally made a fanfiction for the wonderful world of Yu-Gi-Oh! I've loved this show for many years, but I was too young at the time to know that A, there are fanfictions for such things, and B, that it was a Japanese anime. Yes, I watched it in English, and I liked it. Please don't hate me. I probably would have watched it in Japanese had it been introduced to me at a later point. But it wasn't, and now the English version is engrained in my mind. Personally like the English voice acting. It's a lot better than some of the other animes I've seen…
Disclaimer: I am not Japanese, nor do I claim to be. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!...Or Yami's smexyness.
Trust
He had never questioned himself. Everything he did, he did with confidence and utter certainty. After all, he dealt in the shadow games, and one falter could send his own mind plummeting into the Shadow Realm.
At that time, he had not known his own identity, had, in fact, barely known that he was sharing a body with a host. But that didn't matter at all. All that mattered was not losing, because losing would mean a fate worse than death. Even if he couldn't remember for sure, it was his deepest instinct, one that he didn't even think about questioning.
So when Kaiba threatened to kill himself if he lost the duel, his brief horror quickly gave way to a deadly calm. He would defeat Kaiba, even if it meant that Kaiba fell off of the castle wall, because to proceed, he must win. Grandpa needed him, and nothing would get in the way of that. Even though the loss of a rival like Kaiba would be regrettable, he did not hesitate to attack him. He couldn't, not with so much at stake.
Until his host cried out for him to stop. Aloud, the boy said only one word, the command for the Celtic Guardian to halt his attack, and fell to his knees. But inside his soul, the cry continued on in an endless echo, filled with anguish, pain and fear.
For the first time, he realized that he was not Yugi Muto. He was someone else entirely, a spirit borrowing another's body for refuge. It felt unnatural, and yet there was something about the boy's spirit that was comforting, a presence that he couldn't explain.
And for the first time, he questioned his own resolve. He had never heard someone react towards his judgment the way this boy did. Even hours later, his cry still lingered within their two souls, the plea of the innocent, terrified of the idea of hurting someone.
He had done something unthinkable. He had trespassed into the soul of his host, and made a decision that had not been his to make. He realized he could not think and do things by himself, because he wasn't truly alone anymore.
The soul of his young host amazed him. It was filled with an incredibly pure innocence that he found unfathomable. Like the most delicate of flowers, so easily crushed or injured. He hadn't known that he was crossing the line when he made his decision, and now…
In the corridor between their two rooms, he looked at the difference between their doors—Yugi's eternally open, and his eternally closed. Yugi seemed born of the light, while he was of the darkness. How, he wondered, had he ended up residing with a soul so opposite of his own?
He knew next to nothing about the boy named Yugi Muto, but as the boy's tears continued to flow, he felt the sadness almost as acutely as if it were his own, and he checked to see if there were tears on his own face as well. The feeling made the back of his throat ache. What if he did something like this again, hurt him again? Even the corridor between them now seemed like sacred ground, somewhere precious, and so he ran.
He retreated back into his room, into his maze of doors and traps, afraid for once of his own power, and what he had done. He didn't know Yugi that well, but already, Yugi was the one person he didn't want hating him. It would be worse than being hated by a best friend, or the closest of brothers. He hoped Yugi could feel that he was sorry, and that he would not do something like that ever again.
Yugi's door stayed open, but he dared not enter the room, trespassing again and trampling on anything else important. He stayed in his own room, still hoping that somehow, Yugi would know that he was sorry. All he had wanted was to protect what was important. Instead, he had been mistaken in his judgment, and Yugi was the one who was feeling the effects.
He called to him from inside the depths of the puzzle, and got no answer. Yugi was blocking him out, refusing to listen to him at all. If he only stepped out into the corridor, Yugi would hear him for sure, but he didn't dare. Yugi might still be afraid, and close him off completely.
But his door remained open, and he did not take the millennium puzzle from around his neck.
Please, he whispered again, Please let me explain.
But there was no response. He was almost as alone as when he had spent all those countless, endless years in the broken puzzle, before it had fallen into Yugi's hands. Except now, there was another room across from his own. A brighter, happier one.
A few times, as he heard Yugi's friends trying to encourage him, he too, wanted to venture out, to try to encourage the boy who was usually so bright and happy. But then he would remember the mistake he had made, and he stayed in his room, trying in vain to reach Yugi from behind the thick stone walls.
It wasn't until Yugi's duel with Mai Valentine that he could finally reach him, as she tried her best to rile him up.
"You know what? Too bad. You're just going to have to man up and face your fears," she called to Yugi from across the field, her hands on her hips.
He heard her too, from within his soul room, and he knew that it was time to step out.
With one deep breath, he opened his door once more and walked out into the corridor, where he knew Yugi would hear him.
And he did.
Between their two souls, Yugi appeared to confront him at last. His purple eyes were still filled with doubt, worry, and just a little fear. He could hear the boy's thoughts as though he said them aloud: What if I lose control? What if you seriously hurt someone? What if Kaiba had really died?
There was only so much he could say, only a certain amount of begging for Yugi's trust that he could do, and then, everything would be up to Yugi himself to decide.
He opened his own mind, trying to let the boy see and understand and trust in him. It was hard. Every corner of his heart cried out at how wrong it felt, taking a candle and illuminating every shadow, so that his privacy vanished in the light. But he knew that if there was ever to be any trust between them, he had to be as willing to open up as Yugi was, leaving his door open even when he would not speak to him.
Without any certainty, he asked if they could work together as partners.
He was granted permission with a smile.
Aneko: There it is. Hope you enjoyed it. Please review. Unless you hated it beyond all reason...then I suggest you review something better...
Why is it that whenever Yugi and Kaiba duel, it seems to devolve into a match to see who can scream the loudest and throw cards around the most flamboyantly?