A/N: YAY! I made it to round two of Compy's contest (well, my story had to go through a tiebreaker, but still). This one is for Revolutionshipping, which is thankfully not Yaoi, but is somewhat harder than Psychoshipping for some strange reason.
Warning: Some canon-bending here, and also an OOC Yuugi. Also, if you don't know what a tower of Hanoi is, look it up on Google.
Read and please review!
Desperate, I will crawl
Waiting for so long
No love, there is no love
Die for anyone
Look what I've become.
~The Diary of Jane, Breaking Benjamin
Scars
There was a story behind each one of the numerous scars on the walls of Yuugi's soul room. He remembered every one vividly, though he would rather let the memories drain from his mind. As it were, they had already sown the seeds of self-destruction in him, and Yuugi knew it was only a matter of time before he lost himself. But how long did he have? He didn't know how much more suffering he could take.
With a sigh, he sat on the carpet (once thick and soft, now threadbare) and dragged a colorful puzzle box towards himself. The pieces inside it rattled as the box skidded over the floor. Yuugi opened it and dumped the contents out. As he methodically assembled the pieces, he tried to let it absorb his interest, but the puzzle was too rudimentary to him. His attention wandered almost immediately refocusing on everything he wanted to forget.
"I have nothing," Yami said bitterly, his eyes downcast. His hands, resting on the café table, clenched into fists. "My own mind is locking my memories away from me… I have nothing."
Anzu gazed at him with sad cerulean eyes and spoke softly, "You have me. And Yuugi. And all our other friends. We all care about you."
Yami's hand unclenched. "I know. But – "
"And," Anzu interrupted, "you still have a human heart and a human soul. Isn't that what's really important?" She tentatively reached out and touched his fingers with hers. "It doesn't matter who you used to be. I care about the person you are now."
Yami looked up at her and held her gaze for a moment. "Thanks you, Anzu," he murmured. Then he pulled his hand away gently and looked out the window. "But it matters to me."
Anzu also pulled her hand back to herself and then took a quick sip of her drink as she thought. Setting the styrofoam cup back on the table, she said, "Then I'll be by your side. I'll help you do whatever it takes to remember." Yami said nothing, but a hint of a smile could be seen on his face…
…And his roiling emotions were crystal clear inside his mind. Surprise, gratitude… love… Yuugi felt them as though they were his own emotions. And through Yami, he could see similar affection dancing behind Anzu's eyes… Anzu's beautiful blue eyes…
Somewhere deep inside Yuugi, a drowsing monster awakened and growled. He slammed the door of his soul room with an anger he never knew he had within him. It built up inside, his heart pounding faster and faster, each breath burning the back of his throat. He picked up the nearest toy on the floor and flung it at the blank wall before him with all his might.
Flustered, he stomped over to the bed in the corner and fell onto it. As he calmed down, his breathing and heart slowed. When he sat up, he saw three circular dents in the wall, and a broken tower of Hanoi beneath on the floor, wooden rings scattered around it. He laid back down and closed his eyes.
They were close, so close that he could hear the whisper of her breath as it passed through her parted lips. Yami realized how glad he was that he wasn't as short as Yuugi; he was about Anzu's height – suddenly all thought died in his head as she took another step forward. By some unbidden instinct, he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her towards him until their lips met.
At that exact moment, Yuugi's anger awoke again, but he was used to it now. He had even named his monster: Jealousy. Experienced as he was, he retained enough control at that moment to sit still… But he realized later that it was a mistake to continue eavesdropping on Yami and Anzu.
When the kiss ended, he stared at her, their faces still close, and he murmured, "I love you, Anzu."
Her eyes widened, but she didn't look away or stutter when she replied, "I love you too." She smiled and enjoyed his embrace.
Yuugi and his monster nearly destroyed the entire wall that night.
There came a day when Yuugi realized something did not feel right. He felt incomplete; not any more upset or unhappy than usual, just incomplete. He peered outside of his soul room, and instead of seeing Yami's door, he saw only endless space. He stared for a moment, then quickly exited his subconsciousness and entered his body. When he opened his eyes, he saw he was in a hospital bed. The doctors soon saw he was awake, and within minutes, Jounouchi, Honda, and Grandpa were by his side.
Yuugi's first question was, "Where's Anzu?"
"Er… well, last time I checked, she was holed up in her room, sobbing her eyes out," Jounouchi replied. "After the Pharaoh left, she pretty much went to pieces."
Jounouchi, Honda, and Grandpa proceeded to explain Yami's absence, but Yuugi paid no attention. A small light of hope had awakened. Yami was gone! (He was far past feeling bad for his mean thoughts, desperate as he was.) If he could wait just a little longer, and act as a comforting friend for Anzu… His monster purred.
One failed conversation with a heartbroken girl later found Yuugi lying on his bed at home. From the outside, he seemed to be sleeping, but he was really back inside his soul room, working on a child's puzzle and failing to ignore his pain.
He placed the last few pieces into the puzzle and gazed at the completed picture. Anzu. Her beautiful blue eyes and soft hair and bright smile… His eyes burned with sadness and his lungs burned with anger. With a harsh cry, he crushed the puzzle between his hands and flung it at the wall. The pieces fell to the ground, where they joined the other broken toys and games, and also the pieces of Yuugi's heart.
He never woke up.
