Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. Never will. Never can. Unless Takahashi-san puts me in his will or something.
He knew that smell… bleach, mold, and dried blood. He had hoped to never smell it again.
He sat up on his dirty white bed. The walls, once a beige color, were stained brown and green. The floor had reddish-brown stains on it. There was a single barred window to his left, allowing the moonlight to illuminate the soiled room.
"Where am I?" He thought blearily. His mind felt fuzzy, his thoughts were confused. Unpleasant images swirled in front of him. He looked at his hands… and then at his wrists. They were bandaged and blood-stained.
A creak signified the opening of the cell door.
"It's time for your medicine, Yugi."
"Yugi? Yugi!" Atem shouted, trying to get Yugi's attention.
"What?" Yugi asked, shaken from his thoughts.
"I asked if you wanted pancakes or waffles." Atem asked, peering at him.
"Umm… waffles, please." Yugi mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
Atem examined him. "Are you alright?" he asked, sounding concerned.
Yugi looked down. "Why was I thinking about that again?" he thought, somewhat annoyed at himself for bringing those unpleasant memories up again.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Yugi said.
"I don't want to worry him. He'll just act weird if he knows." he thought, assuring himself.
Atem looked like he didn't believe at first, but nodded and started making breakfast.
"That cell… I wish I could just forget it. There's nothing about my time there that I want to remember."
"Hey, Yugi." Said Tea's voice over the phone.
"Hi, Tea…" Yugi said. He sounded depressed.
"What's up? Is something wrong?"
"How long have we been friends, Tea?"
"Oh, umm," Tea stopped to calculate. "About six years or so. Why?"
"I was just… thinking about the past, that's all." Yugi said quietly.
"The past, huh? You don't talk about the past much, do you?"
Yugi chuckled. "No, not really."
There was a pause.
"Do you remember when we first met, Tea?" Yugi asked.
Tea laughed. "Yeah, I do. You were really weird back then."
"Yeah, I remember…"
"Hey, who's that kid over there?" a ten-year-old Tea asked her friends, Isabelle and Cathy.
Isabelle shrugged. "I don't know. New kid. He's kind of strange, though…"
"Well, I'm gonna go say hi." Tea said indignantly. "Strange or not."
Tea walked up to Yugi, who was crouching in the sandbox. He didn't move or notice she was there, he just continued to stare unwaveringly at the ground.
"Hi!" Tea said cheerfully, extending her hand. "I'm Tea Gardner." Yugi looked up at her, but didn't shake her hand. "Umm…" Tea said, feeling uncomfortable and lowering her hand. "What's your name?"
Yugi stood up and cocked his head at her. "My name is Yugi." he said, with a distinct Japanese accent(1).
Tea smiled brightly. "Cool name!" She said, and he smiled faintly. She leaned close to his face, and he leaned backwards, almost to the point of falling over. "Do you wanna be friends, Yugi?" Tea asked.
Yugi looked her up and down, appearing to be carefully considering the question. "What do I have to do?" he asked finally.
Tea was taken aback. He really WAS strange. "Friends support each other!" she after she had thought about it. "They're always there when the other person needs them, and they keep each other company, too!"(2)
Yugi nodded and said, "I can do that… friend."
"I don't think I'd ever met a ten-year-old who didn't know what a friend was." Tea said, laughing.
"Yeah…" Yugi said. "Well, I gotta go, Tea. Bye."
"Bye."
Yugi hung up the phone. "Friends support each other…" he thought. "Sometimes too much, though." Then he changed into his soft cotton pajamas, said goodnight to Atem, and went to bed.
He knew that smell… bleach, whitewash, and cotton. Where had he smelled it before?
He sat up on his clean, soft bed. The walls were a beige color, trimmed with a pine molding. The floor was linoleum, a checker pattern of black and white. There were two pane windows to his left, letting in warm, shining sunlight.
"Where am I?" he thought blearily. His mind felt pleasant fuzzy, his thoughts floating about in his head. Soft, bright images swirled in front of him. He looked at his hands… and then at his wrists. There was a paper bracelet around the right one, inscribed with the name "Yugi Mutou".
A creak signified the opening of the cell door.
"It's time for your medicine, sweetie." said a forcefully cheery and impossibly familiar voice.
"Momma?"
(1) Since Yugi seems to be the only one (besides the Kaibas) with a Japanese name, I thought it would be fun if he was from Japan and moved to America.
(2) Tea's first friendship speech ever!