AN: I decided to write an AU Cyberpunk fic for YGO, because Cyberpunk is such an under-appreciated genre.
Although I don't normally use their Japanese names, I did for this fic to give it more of a sense of realism. I also pulled some aspects from both the English and Japanese versions to help it flow more smoothly. You'll see this more later on.
Also, I'm pretty sure there aren't going to be any shippings in this.
If there are any mistakes, please feel free to message me about them and I will try to fix them right away! Enjoy!
Edit: I just found a spelling error in Jou's name. I apparently entered it into my computer wrong, and it began to auto-correct it to the wrong spelling. Sorry about that! It is now fixed.
Yuugi felt his heart begin to race as he leaned his face closer to the computer monitor. He just burst through another one of KaibaCorp's firewalls, and it wasn't proving to be an easy task. His skin had an eerie blue glow from the screen as he sat alone in the dark room, eagerly surfing through and evading various protection programs. His head flew back as he was hit by one, causing a surge of pain to run up and down his spine from the connection at the base of his neck, but he wouldn't let that pain stop him. His situation may have scared him to death, but it was the awesome surge of adrenaline that came along with it that kept him going strong. He quickly regained his old pace, diving deeper and deeper into the foreign mainframe systems. It was this old rush that he had almost forgotten, but it still remained a piece of him that sometimes nagged him in the back of his brain, longing for the intense sensations that it brought. Hacking had been a secret talent of his ever since he was taught by his father and grandfather as a small child. He became quite good at it, but was forced to retire his skill once the Kaiba Corporation outlawed it. Ever since the takeover, he had kept his skill a secret, hoping that no one could ever find out and take him away like he had heard happen too many times. Unfortunately for him, he had his secret unearthed against his will long before he planned to.
It wasn't long before he found himself being backed into a dark corner by two of his peers where no one could reach them. He could still remember that day well. Somehow, they had found out about his talent and decided to confront him about it. They were very violent at first, and shoved him into an ally that they were forbidden to venture to after school hours. He began to sweat at the thought of the corporation finding out about their location, and it made his knees weaker to even think that the two teenagers in front of him and holding him down could be working for the corporation. Nervous thoughts buzzed around his head, making him lightheaded. He just wanted to go home and do his schoolwork like a good citizen should. He wanted to follow the rules and do what was asked from him. He was terrified of the consequences if he did not. It was hard to recognize the boys at first, but once they spoke, he could tell who they were instantly.
"Jounouchi? Honda?" Yuugi whispered. He tried in vain to hide his fear, but he knew he was failing. One of them instantly shushed him, and Jounouchi lowered his head to Yuugi's level as Honda cautiously looked around.
"Do you want to get caught?" Jounouchi whispered angrily. Yuugi shook his head.
"That's what I thought," Jounouchi responded. "Now we need to make this quick." Honda turned back and nodded to his partner, letting him know that the coast was clear for now.
"Word on the street's that you're quite the hacker," Honda whispered. A shiver ran down Yuugi's spine. How could they possibly know? He never told anyone about it before.
"Who told you?" Yuugi asked in a hushed voice. It seemed as if his voice was fighting against him, and his words refused to come out as smoothly as he had hoped.
"That's not important now," Honda said. "Are you or are you not?"
"I... I used to be pretty good at it, but I haven't done it in a while," Yuugi said. "Why do you want to know?" The two boys looked at each other, and seemed to have a silent conversation through their eyes.
"Good enough," Honda whispered. Jounouchi tossed him aside and began to walk away. Honda leaned in one last time and said, "meet us here the same time tomorrow. And don't tell anybody, you got that?" Yuugi nodded, and Honda walked off with Jounouchi, leaving the small boy alone in the dark.
He originally questioned it, but finally decided to do what he was told and just hoped with every fiber in his body that he wasn't being set up for anything. Luckily for him, the boys showed up soon after he did, and gave him a tiny piece of paper. Yuugi looked at the small, ripped sheet in his hands; Japan hadn't used paper in years, and he barely remembered what it felt like. He looked at the messy writing on it, which was also something he wasn't used to seeing outside of History class. They told him quietly to keep a low profile, and to follow the directions they had written carefully, and to contact them when he was done. It was then when he felt a strange sensation of both fear and protection: a fear of the possible future, and an odd sense of safety from the fact that he didn't seem to be in any danger at the moment. Although they scared him, Jounouchi and Honda had a certain aspect to them that made him feel safe and almost guarded. He agreed and ran back home before the Drones could find him still out on the streets. He kept the piece of paper safely in his pocket.
He wasn't hacking for fun anymore. He wasn't hacking for the rush or the sweet wave of pride after a job well done. This time, he was hacking for answers, and this time, more than usual was at risk. The fear only seemed to motivate him more, and seemed to increase his already advanced skills. He was almost to the solution now; he could feel it getting closer. Just one more server and he was through. Suddenly, something stopped him, but this time, he didn't feel a surge of pain like the last time he was caught by a program. This time, he felt a strange feeling of warmth creeping up from the jack imbedded deep in his spine, radiating throughout the rest of his body like waves crashing over him. Stunned, he was unable to move, as if the warmth had paralyzed him. Suddenly he jerked back and gasped against his will, and he was able to move once again. However, he chose not to, as if something inside of him was trying to tell him something.
...While you still can, he felt something say. Back out now. They're coming. Shocked, Yuugi didn't know what to do. However, his instincts were telling him to do just as the feeling said. Quickly and without thinking too much first, he reached back behind him and yanked the plug from the jack embedded within him. A sharp pain attacked the area; he had not prepared the jack for a proper disconnection yet, and his body was punishing him for it. Trying to ignore the pains, he turned the monitor off and erased all evidence of what he did. He could still feel his heart rapidly pounding in his chest. He didn't get what he was looking for, but yet a strange sense of pride wash over him. He still had it in him.
The sound of his quickened breaths was all he could hear as Yuugi crouched as silently as he could in his dark basement. He then began to hear the horrible sound of his mother sobbing loudly from upstairs and the voice of his grandfather trying to comfort her. He tightly shut his eyes, subconsciously hoping that his loss of sight would somehow drown out the sound. After what seemed like an eternity, he peaked out from behind the staircase and stood hunched over in an attempt to stretch out his short legs. Gathering the courage, he straightened out a little more. He couldn't hear the Drones anymore. He quietly walked over to the small window in the basement wall and peered out. They seemed to be gone, at least for now. He sat down on a box and folded his arms on his lap. Even if the Drones were gone, he still wasn't safe. The Kaiba Corporation was onto them now, and he couldn't help but feel that it was his fault. They had tracked him down after all. He wasn't sure what happened, but he was unable to feel relieved that they never got him, because it was all weighed down by an overwhelming sense of guilt. He could only think of bad thoughts as every single worst case scenario ran through his head. Why did he ever agree to do this? He knew that only bad could ever come of it, and he hated himself for ever thinking otherwise. Something terrible happened up there, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out what it was.
It was hard to tell how much time had passed after that, but after what felt like an eternity, he heard the heavy creak of the old basement steps. He looked over and saw his grandpa.
"They got him," he said. Yuugi felt his heart drop inside of him. He couldn't mean... Tears began to flow from the small boy's eyes, and he put his head down to hide his face. His father was gone, and it was his fault.
He only wished he had the confidence to get him back.
That night, Yuugi sat on the edge of his bed, thinking of all the terrible things that had happened since the takeover in Japan. He closed his eyes and ran his hand over his face, slightly pressing his fingers against his temple. He had to make this right again. He wasn't sure how, but ever since he began to hack again, and ever since that warm feeling he felt, he wasn't able to shake the feeling that he had the power to do something for once, as if there was now some sort of greatness living inside of him. He never felt that way before, and no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, the feeling just came back, sometimes even stronger than before. He stood up. There was only one thing to do at this point, and that was to take the first step. He had missed it before, but now it was as if everything was so much clearer. Silently, he approached the screen that he tried to ignore since the last time he entered it's evil grasp. It was a strange feeling; it was almost as if he wasn't even in control of his body anymore, as if his overwhelming feeling had finally taken him over completely. He reached for the cord and cringed as he plugged the device in, painfully feeling himself become one with the mechanism once again. He pulled out the crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and began to finish the job that he never did.
Suddenly, every false move he made before became completely obvious. He began to wonder how he had ever made those mistakes before, and after a while, he started to wonder why he had such trouble the first time. He surfed through the systems and broke through protection programs with great ease, giving him a newfound sense of bliss. He felt one with the machine, and it felt wonderful. Soon, in much better time than before, he had broken through. He quickly scribbled the answers he was looking for down on the piece of paper and disconnected himself before he could be caught again. A sense of pride in a job well done washed over him, and he leaned back in his chair after safely removing the plug from his jack. he would have to share his information with the boys the next day.
Yuugi stood at the entrance of the school with his arms open so the school staff could check him for any unauthorized materials. Like every other day, he was cleared almost instantly, allowing him to move into the main lobby of the school and causing the line behind him to bump up to the kid behind him. The school system hadn't checked for paper in years. Without hesitation, he headed straight to class. He walked into the small room and took his seat with a few others that were already in the room. The room was silent. The teacher sat in his desk perfectly still, facing all of the students. With a cold, emotionless stare, he looked at the teenagers constantly, analyzing each one carefully for any thread of misbehavior. Yuugi sat uncomfortably, feeling the paper up in his pocket. He wasn't completely in the clear, but his record remained clean, and most of the staff would pay less attention to the students who did not cause trouble. After a few more of his classmates entered the room, he saw Jounouchi enter as well with his hands shoved in his pockets. He admired him for his constant strong, cool composure. Like the others, Jounouchi stared straight ahead.
When the time came for lunch, the students got up in an orderly fashion and left the room in a straight line. Jounouchi slowly packed his things and stood in front Yuugi in line. Quietly, they walked to the lunchroom and stood in the line to buy their lunches.
"So... how'd you do on the homework last night?" Jounouchi whispered, slightly looking over in Yuugi's direction. Yuugi nodded his head and replied at the same hushed volume, "pretty well. I did much better than I thought I would." Jounouchi smiled.
"I knew you would," he said. Yuugi reached into his pocket and stealthily slipped him the paper. Jounouchi quickly grabbed it and shoved it in his pocket before anyone could see. He never looked back in Yuugi's direction as they both got their lunches, paid, and sat down at their respectable tables. Yuugi sat alone.
From another part of the cafeteria, Anzu sat with a group of her friends, quietly chatting with one another. A nearby monitor, hired by KaibaCorp to keep the school in order, stood still and scanned the room, keeping the girls at a low whisper. She paused slightly and looked over to see Yuugi sitting by himself. She always felt so badly for the boy, and she recently found out that the corporation came to his house just the other day. She never knew what it was like to be in his position, and deep down she was glad she didn't, no matter how much she hated to admit it. She looked back over to her friends, who were still busily talking amongst themselves, and then looked back up at the monitor. She couldn't move; he would surely see her and force her to sit back down again. She would have to find a way to talk to Yuugi another time.