The Spirit of the Puzzle
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! If I did I wouldn't be here right now. Anyway, enjoy!
It had been done. The great monster was pierced by light and roared as his body fell. His soul came apart little by little, vanishing into the air in the process. The body narrowly missed those that had gathered to witness its destruction, with several people dashing out of the way to avoid certain death. The head of the beast was mere inches from crushing its opponent, but it did send him flying across the land. His fall was caught by sand, some of which went into his mouth and slid down his throat. He wasted no time coughing it out. And when he arose, he quickly resumed chanting a spell, extending his tanned arms adorned with golden jewelry towards his fallen foe. Soon enough, he felt something begin to claw at him, slowly tearing his soul from his body. He hadn't much time left to instill a code to ensure that they never escaped from their chosen prison. He knew exactly what to choose.
"Stop!" Someone screamed, the sound growing louder and closer by the second. He knew that voice better than anyone: it was his cousin, desperate to halt the proceedings.
"It is too late, dear cousin. I must leave you now, to protect us all. But, I must have you do one last thing for me." Even in his agony, he was calm and collected.
"Anything. Name it and it shall be done." The cousin pleaded, falling to his knees. The crack in his voice tugged at the other's slowing heartstrings. He wanted to stay, he really did, but this was the only way.
"Erase my name. Obliterate it from all of your records. Do this for me, dearest cousin, and may you prosper." He turned his extended hand towards his cousin, who could not reach it in time before the last cord binding soul and body was cut. His spirit was yanked from its mortal vessel and fell into darkness, entering a state of slumber.
I. The Puzzle
-Kame Game Store-
"Grandpa, I'm leaving for school!" A young man hollered to the floor below, making a dash for the stairs. Instead of walking on them, though, he grabbed onto the railing. Lifting his feet off the ground, he let gravity do the rest. Gravity was mainly what he had forgotten about, and he stumbled upon his feet hitting the ground. The only thing that caught his fall was the glass display counter closest to the stairs.
"Careful, Yugi, I can't have you breaking any bones on me!" His grandfather called out upon hearing the commotion he was causing. The old man turned to glance at his grandson, who responded with a nervous smile while using the counter to straighten himself out. He sure did seem to be in a hurry today. And he couldn't recall him mentioning anything special happening today, so what's the rush? Unless he's forgetting something, which sometimes happens. He's getting old, y'know? Shit happens.
"I'm not that clumsy!" He huffed, dusting off his school uniform. "Anyway, I'll be home at the usual time. Do you need me to take over when I get home?" Yugi figured that he might end up running that shop one day, so might as well get work experience now. And technically it's a family business, so it's more like chores than actual work. So, it's not against school rules. Originally he was against it when he found this out, but his grandpa sure knew how to convince him. And when he thought about it, he was actually right. They can't do a thing about it. Checkmate, Domino High.
"Before you go, though, do you have everything?" Surely if he was in this much of a hurry he would be forgetting something!
"Yes, Grandpa. I triple checked my bag and everything's there! You've got nothing to fear." Yugi might not be the top student but he's quite good at having his stuff together!
"Even that puzzle of yours?" The much older man's gaze went to the bag. "You've had it for eight years, my boy, yet it's hardly put together. Are you sure you can still do it?" Yugi gasped in offense, clutching the bag to his chest.
"Don't be ridiculous! Of course I can! You're the one who told me that if you put your mind to it, you can do anything! Not to- nevermind, I'm gonna be late! I'll see you when I get home!" With that, he slung the bag over his shoulder and dashed out the door, leaving his grandfather to stand and watch him go.
- School Day: Break-
"Yugi! Dontcha wanna play basketball with us? It's gotta be lonely playing by yourself like that." The person in question looked up solely to answer.
"You're better off playing without me. After all, you primarily win when I'm not on the team! Don't worry about me, go outside and shoot some hoops!" His eyes were drawn back to the golden box for only mere seconds before the offer grabbed his attention once again.
"But we're playing with the girls!" Girls? They're playing with the girls? Well now it sounded tempting. If he was lucky he'd get to see up some of their skirts as they jumped to sink the b- What's wrong with you! That's not nice and you'd get slapped no doubt! His conscience sure did like to interrupt his hormonal teenage boy thoughts. But, it's right. Getting slapped isn't worth the potential upskirt looks, even if he was short enough to get away with it for longer than his normal height classmates. The moral side of him brought him back to Earth and he merely shook his head.
"My response is final, I'm really sorry!" His classmate merely shrugged and walked out of the room.
Now his attention could be returned to his most prized possession, found in the back of the shop covered with dust. He felt drawn to it, like he was destined to be its owner. It wasn't selling so his grandfather let him have it. The item in question was a small golden box, embellished with an eye symbol (after reading some books on Ancient Egypt he's come to the conclusion that it's most likely the Eye of Horus) and hieroglyphics. Since he's not an egyptologist and can't quite read hieroglyphics, he hardly understands what they say. But he does remember bits and pieces of what his grandfather told him it meant. 'The one who solves the puzzle shall be granted one wish.' or something like that. Inside of this precious box were bits and pieces of something, jagged and as golden as its container. So it's wise to conclude that these must be the puzzle in question. What really interested him is that it came with a rope. So is this something to be worn? It would seem so. He's never had a wearable puzzle before, so it'd be something that he would be glad to put on display. This is, after all, his greatest treasure.
"The hell's this?" A hand was quick to snatch the box, quickly grabbing Yugi's attention. "'Granted one wish?' 'Greatest treasure?' Sounds like a lot of b.s. to me." Oh, great. Standing at his desk was a face he's become quite familiar with at this point. He'd know that blond hair and smirk anywhere. It was none other than Katsuya Jonouchi, haphazardly turning the box in his hands and staring at it with a quizzical look.
"Please give that back!" His tri color hair bobbed down with his sudden rise from his seat and swayed with his every attempt to take it from the taller's hands, none of which were fruitful. "It's very important to me!" Jonouchi simply tossed it to his tagalong, Hiroto Honda, who came along primarily because they're friends. Now there's two people he has to worry about. "Be careful with that box! The pieces could fall out!"
"Watching you with that stupid box is grating." He sneered, casting a disgusted glance at the item in Honda's hands. "It's just a stupid fucking box. Why should you care? It looks like a jewelry box or something only girls would care for. It pisses me off." Removing his glance from the box, it now returned to his tormentee. "If you want it, you gotta fight me for it! You need to learn to be a man!" He gestured to Honda, who held the box high above his head, far out of the smaller boy's reach. Yugi's response to his demands was not as either of his bullies expected.
"I HATE FIGHTING!" He shouted, closing his eyes and curling his hands into fists. Why didn't they just leave him alone and let him work in peace!
"Damn, Yugi, you don't have to shout." He muttered, turning his glance away and holding out his hands to cue Honda to toss it over.
"Just please give it back, it means a lot." His tone shifted from desperate to a mixture of defeat and hints of annoyance. It wasn't really worth trying to win with them; nothing he did really worked. As Honda tossed the box back, another hand reached out and caught it. Renewed energy shot though Yugi when he realized who it was, and his posture straightened itself out in an instant. The one to come to his rescue was none other than childhood friend Anzu Mazaki.
"Do either of you have anything better to do than bully little kids? Leave him alone and go harass someone else!" That was enough to get both of them to hurry off, muttering curses on their way out. "Now are you okay, Yugi?" He can't begin to describe how grateful he is every time Anzu steps in and drives those two off.
"I'm great, thank you!" He returned to his desk and took a seat, with Anzu following behind and pulling up a chair to sit across from him.
"I was outside playing basketball, but turns out they were peeking up our skirts when we were making shots! So I came back inside and found this. They should really find better things to do." The last part was muttered with slight anger, brown eyes turning from Yugi to his box. Yugi, on the other hand, was busy imagining an upskirt shot of Anzu, and hardly registered anything she said. "Yugi, what's in the box?" This is what grabbed his attention. Oh, right! The box! He wasted no time opening the lid and taking out two random components.
"See these? This is part of a puzzle it came with! I can't really read hieroglyphics, but it says something about being granted a wish! It was in the back of the shop so Grandpa let me have it! Neat isn't it?" The puzzle gave him joy, it really did. He's slaved away at it ever since he got his hands on it, yet he's hardly had any luck with it. It was just mocking him, challenging him to complete it. He'll be damned if he doesn't do it!
"Really? What's your wish then?" The only response Anzu got was some laughter.
"If I tell you then it's not a secret anymore! And that's how I want to keep it."
-School Day: Break in the Hallway-
"Damn that bitch! Who's she calling a bully?" Jonouchi would've kicked something if there was anything in his path.
"Um, Jonouchi, I hate to break it to you like this but that would be us." Honda replied, shrugging his shoulders. Jonouchi opened his mouth to respond but ran into something before he could. Honda rammed into the same thing, since he was looking at his friend the whole time. When he turned to see what it was, his face voided all color. Jonouchi didn't seem to grasp this person's importance, as a look of anger took hold.
"What're you saying about bullies?" The wall of a man asked, looking down upon the two. Honda quickly looked at his friend, who he knew better than anyone was going to open his mouth and try and pick a fight.
"Why the-" Honda's hand clasped over his mouth, preventing the rest of that sentence from being heard.
"Absolutely nothing! We just heard about a bullying incident and were talking about it! You know how people can be, with their bullying ways and all that."
"It's terrible to pick on people." was all he said before continuing on his way.
"It sure is!" Honda called after him, waiting for his back to disappear from view before releasing his loud-mouthed companion.
"That piece of shit! Who does he think he is!" He hollered, shaking his fist at the empty space. Honda strode over to his friend and put his hand on his shoulder, squeezing rather tightly for Jonouchi's taste.
"You idiot! That was Ushio, the hall monitor! Nobody messes with him." Honda dared not to raise his voice, fearful that he could somehow still hear him.
"Whatever! I still hate him and one day I'll beat his ass so hard into the ground, all you have to do is throw some dirt on him and bam, six feet under!" It only earned him an eyeroll from Honda, who wouldn't want to partake in that event if it ever came to pass. "Besides, you'll never guess what I got." Now he had his friend's attention again, and their eyes met for only a minute before the stolen puzzle piece blocked his view. "Ya like it? Stole it outta Yugi's box. By the looks of it, it might be a puzzle piece or somethin'. Eh, doesn't matter. He can't be fond of a puzzle he can't finish!"
"Jonouchi you piece of shit!" Honda laughed, surprised and almost happy at the sight of that piece of metal in his hands. "Now toss it!" To make it easier for him, he opened the nearest window. His friend took full opportunity and threw it, allowing it to fall until it hit the water of the nearby small lake, settling into the bottom. Both boys peeked their heads out the window and laughed at their handiwork. Although Honda's thoughts were of other things, Jonouchi's were squarely on Yugi. Bitterness swept him whenever he saw that boy. He definitely looked masculine, but had a feminine way about him. He was different. Different from him, from Honda, from most of his peers. He was different, and that's what pissed him off.
-School Day: End-
With everything in his backpack, Yugi began the walk home just like every other day. Nothing out of the ordinary until an unfamiliar hand stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Oh? Who could this be? Turning around, he was greeted with the gaze of that legendary hall monitor, Ushio. What could he want?
"I heard you've been getting bullied lately." His voice was filled with kindness, and he even topped it off with a small smile.
"Me? Bullied? Nonsense! Nothing's happening to me, but I appreciate the concern." A light shrug of the shoulders followed.
"So Katsuya Jonouchi and Hiroto Honda are nothing? You're the one talking nonsense! Victims defend their attackers, and I've been doing some investigation. I'll be your bodyguard from now on! You've nothing to fear, Yugi, for I have your back!" Maybe he put a little too enthusiasm in it, since Yugi looked more put off than he hoped.
"You don't have to, really. I gotta get home now. I'll see you!" And with that, he walked home a lot faster than usual. With Yugi's back receding, his gentle glance began to falter. He's found himself a new target.
-Kame Game Store-
He pushed the front door open rather forcefully, calling out a "Grandpa, I'm home!" and noticing nothing different until two voices chimed in to greet him with a hello. To his surprise, standing right in front of him when he turned was Anzu. She hasn't been over in years!
"Anzu! What a surprise! I can't believe you remembered where I live." Apparently she thought it was funny, as a burst of laughter followed suit. "Yugi, you've got practically the only game store around here. It's not that hard to forget."
"Well, I guess you're right! I picked this spot for a reason!" Anzu nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard that, as she hadn't seen his grandfather when she entered herself. He emerged from the side storage area of the store, looking her up and down. "You've grown so much, Anzu! 35" bust yet? It sure looks it!"
Anzu pretended not to hear him say that. It was better that way.
"Anyway, Anzu, how do you feel about puzzles? I've got a ton in my room! And tea for us please, Grandpa! Let's go!" But his grandfather had other ideas and halted his grandson with a hand in front of him.
"What about that puzzle you have, child? Made any progress?"
"Well, no-"
"Eight years, Yugi. Eight years you've worked on the Millenium Puzzle. Maybe it's time to consider surrender. And don't you know about its origins? Came from a tomb in Egypt! Everyone who was on it and found it mysteriously died, with the last one muttering 'Shadow Games' as his final breath..."
"Do you have to mention that part every time it gets asked about?" Yugi groaned, motioning to his shocked friend. His grandfather, however, had a counter.
"And how many people ask about it when I'm around, huh? You've asked about it what, a total of three times? Four, maybe? Six? Doesn't matter, all of it was you!" He had a point. Grandpa - 1, Yugi - 0. "As I was saying before my know-it-all grandson interrupted me, the hieroglyphs on the box are rumored to say 'The one who solves me shall gain the powers and knowledge of darkness-' But before he could finish, his grandson had an outburst.
"So it does grant wishes! I have to finish it, I just have to! I know I can!" His grandfather, however, had other ideas.
"But Yugi! Imagine the cost of it!"
"You just want to sell it!"
Anzu couldn't have cared less about their petty argument.
After Anzu had left, and they had their dinner and apologized to each other for earlier, Yugi retired to his room and resumed working on his puzzle. The hours passed, yet he kept working. He just about reached the halfway point when his body couldn't stand to be awake anymore and he fell into unconsciousness.