Ties of Hatred

By: Ashurii-chan and Kaasuten-chan.

Summary: When Yuugi finishes the Puzzle, he has no idea what he's opened. There's a spirit living in that Puzzle, and he can't stand having to deal with that intrusion on his life. The spirit doesn't take kindly to having to share another's body, but also knows that keeping said body safe should be a priority. The other inhabitant however…

Pairings: None. (Anti-Puzzleshipping)

Warnings: Language, violence, and a jump from canon.

Continuity: Manga, volumes 1 – 7

Notes: We don't hate Puzzleshipping. It's just, we've both seen so many fuzzing Puzzleshipping stories that it seems like it's clogging the airways. Besides, the concept of them hating – well not hating … strongly disliking – each other was too good to pass up.

So, without further ado, we present the prologue.

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Yuugi woke to bittersweet warmth. As his eyes cracked open, he was shocked to see that he had no idea where he was. The room was foreign to his weary orbs, but familiar at the same time. The walls were a pale, creamy white, and there was a huge beanbag bigger than him resting in one corner and tons of toys and games littering the floor. Though, the toys and games seemed less inviting as they should have. In fact, the whole room seemed to hold an ominous feel despite its optimistic overtone.

He was sprawled across the floor with one arm covering his forehead and the other resting on his stomach clutching at something that wasn't there. His hair was drenched in sweat and he ached like bruises were forming as he laid there.

Slowly he stood to his feet, weary of the room and testing if anything hid in the distant corners. Once he was fully vertical, he twisted his head around and caught sight of each section of wall, floor, and corner in one swift motion. The beanbag looked the most inviting, considering his pains, but one of the puzzles – resembling his favorite monster in Duel Monsters – called to him and he started toward it.

"Good of you to come, Ushio-san…"

Yuugi was stopped by a deep voice that swept through the room, his foot still half way in the air. The exploration of the room dropped to the bottom of his priority list as his mind kicked into overdrive of the hidden malice in the tone.

The voice was very similar to his own, but with much more menace enlaced then he would ever dare. But, the name the voice spoke of struck an even deeper chord with the small boy.

Ushio-san…?

"- so… We're going to play a game!"

Yuugi started at the simple sounding statement. A game? What will a game do? Ushio-san was almost four times his own size, and ten times as scary. A game would only serve to distract him for a few minutes.

Wait… Maybe that's what the voice wanted… What if the voice wanted to stall for time until help could arrive?

It didn't strike to him as odd that he was questioning the words instead of the voice. He had no idea where this presence came from and he had no idea what had brought it on. What had he been doing before this moment in time?

The last thing he remembered was being ecstatic after receiving the puzzle piece from Jii-chan after someone had been kind enough to bring it to him. Though, how that person had known where he lived was still a mystery to Yuugi.

"But this isn't just any game… It's a 'Yami no Game'."

Shadow game? What was that about? He had never heard of such a game. His grandfather sold many a trinket, from boards to cards to dice, but he had never, in his life, heard the words 'Yami no Game' used in that particular order.

Something about the way the words were uttered, with such care and emotion, gave Yuugi chills. They weren't good chills.

The voice seemed to have evil intent towards Ushio-san, and sounded as if it would enjoy whatever punishment came to either of them.

"To play this game, we only need one tool… The knife you're holding, Ushio-san."

KNIFE?!?!?!?!

Yuugi's eyes bugged out of his head as he took in the statement. What was the voice thinking…? Ushio-san would never give up his knife!

"These are the rules! The players take turn placing the money on top of their hand and then stabbing the money with the knife! All the money on the knife goes to that player and their opponent takes their turn with the remainder!"

What kind of ridiculous idea for a game was that?! It didn't make any sense… It seemed like the players were attempting to hurt each other! Weren't games for fun and competition, not for personal gain?

"Sounds fun, eh?"

FUN?! Apparently, the voice didn't know the definition of the word fun… Who was this voice…? Did it belong to a psychopath? And where was it coming from?!

"One more thing…If you break a rule, you'll be cursed with a 'Penalty Game'!"

What was this voice rambling about? He didn't make any sense… Shadow Games, defacing currency with a knife, and now Penalty Games?! He was so confused.

"Alright, I'm first!"

Yuugi started again, this time at the uncertainness of the tone. Was the voice scared? Of his own game?!

There was a pause, and the only thing Yuugi heard was the beating of his heart, a bit faster than he thought it would be. He was actually perfectly calm; it was the voice that had the problem.

"Hm… Less than ten bills… I tried to use a lot of strength, but not many stuck."

The voice was condescending this time, as if he had total confidence in himself. Yuugi was slightly shocked at the strange way the voice fluctuated as if it were uncertain of what it was doing. It was cocky, yet scared at the same time.

The rest of the game went by quickly for Yuugi, with a strange sense of dread growing in the pit of his belly for each passing minute. It seemed as if the voice were winning, but at what cost? At one point during the fight – where the voice had seemed to go into an internal monologue and didn't seem to be paying attention to anything other than itself – he had scouted out the rest of the room, and had discovered a door. The portal was white like the walls, and the wood was smooth and bump free.

"Just as I thought! You couldn't follow the rules!"

The glee and pure sense of victory in the tone had Yuugi pounding on the door. A cold feeling of dread swooped through his belly as a dark sense of… magic had him reeling and feeling the need to stop whatever this was.

The room he was in was suddenly plunged into darkness and all of Yuugi's senses left him as he passed out.

"Forget, little insignificant one…"

When he woke, he was back in his bedroom, not that he knew he had ever left.

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