Anytime
This little fic takes place at the very beginning of the series, just a week or two after Yuugi first solves the puzzle. Its following the original manga in terms of plot development, and using the original Japanese names (Jonouchi = Joey. Honda = Tristan.).
Words with are through the mind link. Ex: /ha, ha, ha! /
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or anything even resembling it.
Anytime
Yuugi slouched at his desk and glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time. Still about 45 minutes of class left. Ugh. He sighed dejectedly, going back to staring at the board.
It wasn't that he didn't like history. He just didn't like the way Mr. Kurage taught it. Really, Ancient Egypt was a fascinating subject, one of which Yuugi had always felt drawn to for as long as he could remember. It may have had much to do with his Grandpa being an archaeologist and all, one who specialized in Ancient Egypt no less, but Yuugi had always wanted to know more about it and was more than happy to listen to his Grandpa describe it.
It was understandable then, that he took it somewhat personally that Mr. Kurage would get to teach a whole unit on the civilization and had made it as dull and dry as he possibly could. It deserved to be taught with enthusiasm! Which was basically the opposite of what Mr. Kurage was doing. This wasn't teaching, as far as Yuugi was concerned. This was just taking advantage of the fact that everyone in the room had to listen to whatever he said for an hour and 15 minutes everyday. And it so happened that Mr. Kurage liked to read out of the stuffiest textbook known to humankind and assign worksheets based off of trivial facts.
That's just the problem, Yuugi mused. No one cared what points of the subject matter was taught, or how, just that it was studied and tested on, condemning the class to a daily heap of hellish torture. Even Yuugi's initial enthusiasm for the subject hadn't been enough to make this interesting! For the rest of their lives, everyone would associate Ancient Egypt and History in general with the feeling of deep loathing and being board to tears.
This was one of the billions of things that made school a living hell. If they just hired a few teachers who were actually interested in the subject and who actually wanted to share their interest instead of inflict facts on the class it would be so much easier to deal with. Anything would be better then Mr. Kurage droning on, and on, and on, and on, and-
"Mutou, would you care to answer that question?"
Yuugi's heart skipped a beat as Mr. Kurage's voice cut off his inner monologue/rant on why school was not so fun. His head shot up as he tried to get his bearings.
"Ah…um, s-sorry," he started, clearing his throat awkwardly. "C-could you please repeat the question?"
Mr. Kurage was glaring at him from the front of the classroom, big thick binder in one hand, the other drumming impatiently on his desk.
"If you had been paying the lest bit of attention, you would have known what my question was," he stated. One of Mr. Kurage's favorite pastimes, besides boring the class to death and listening to himself talk, was tormenting his students by randomly calling on them to answer questions. Especially those who were shy or hated being put on the spot. Namely Yuugi, seeing as he would always freeze up when required to speak in front of the other students. And he had this tendency to stutter when nervous which did not help things at all.
A few of his class mates looked up, pulled out of their daze by the break in the usual lull. Jonouchi, having snapped back to awareness at the mention of Yuugi's name sent him an sympathetic look, before turning to openly glare at their professor in a show of solidarity.
"I-I, um, s-sorry. I d-didn't really…" Yuugi trailed off, heat rushing to his face. Oh, he disliked this teacher, but he could never hold on to any kind of anger or resentment enough to break through his nerves and speak as clearly as he'd like. And it was so hard to think clearly with everyone looking at him and his heart racing and his hands shaking. He envied Jonouchi in this, his ability to simply decide not to care about a thing and have it stay like that. Yuugi was never strong like that.
Mr. Kurage raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "I see." He glanced down at his binder, filled with useless little tidbits of random information on Ancient Egypt. "Well then, for your sake, let's hope you know the answer to my question. Or else we'll be seeing a lot more of each other after school." For once, Mr. Kurage had captured the attention of everyone in the room.
Yuugi swallowed dryly and awaited his doom, hoping that the question would be answerable. He really couldn't take these detentions. It had happened a few times before and they were just awful. Even though Yuugi knew it wasn't his fault for not knowing something they hadn't covered, or not remembering one small fact mentioned a week ago, he couldn't help but feel that it somehow was. He didn't know how Jonouchi and Honda took it, just calling the professor names behind his back, badmouthing the crap out of the guy, he never once feeling guilty (even when they had done something). Yuugi on the other hand was left with a deep feeling of guilt and shame, and for the next few days couldn't meet anyone's gaze without feeling somehow below them. No, if he was condemned to another detention, he might as well jump off the nearest cliff. Or building, in the case of Domino city. Preferably a tall one.
Mr. Kurage cleared his throat. "What, was the name used for the worker figures often found buried in tombs?"
Yuugi's breath caught in his throat. He knew this! But what were they called? He knew their purpose. They were small little figures that were supposed to do all your work for you in the afterlife. The more worker figures you had the less work you had to do. But what were they called?! Damn it! He knew this! But what was it? What were they called?!
"You've got 10 seconds." Smirked Mr. Kurage.
"9"
Come on, THINK!
"8"
Come on! I KNOW this!
"7"
Think, Think, THINK! WHAT IS IT!
"5"
PLEASE!
"4"
It's …Shab…something…?!
"3"
Shab…shabat?... shabet?!
"2"
/Shabti?/ Subjected a voice.
THAT'S IT!
"1"
"Shabti!" Yuugi blurted out. Mr. Kurage blinked in surprise, not actually expecting him to answer.
"Shabti, t-they're called Shabti," Yuugi answered breathlessly, heart pounding. Mr. Kurage looked down at his notes, double checking to make sure he had heard it correctly.
"Uh, yeah. Shebti, er, Shabti." He quickly wiped the look of shock from his face and glowered at Yuugi, no doubt angry that he had actually manged to answer. "It looks like you were lucky this time, Mutou. But if I catch you daydreaming again, I'm calling home."
"Y-yes sir," Yuugi accepted quietly, ducking his head.
The teacher cleared his throat. "Now then, where was I…"
'Nice one!' Jonouchi mouthed at Yuugi, giving him a thumbs up. The smaller boy smiled weakly, sinking back into his chair and resisting the urge to lay his head on his deask. He felt so relived!
/Thank you! / Yuugi thought gratefully. There was no way he could have remembered in time on his own.
/Anytime./ came the reply.
Yuugi let out a sigh of relief-then abruptly froze in pure shock. The realization of what had just happened passed through him like a thunderbolt. His mind had just answered him!
It was not supposed to do that.
Now, Yuugi was prone to talking to himself, true. But typically when he did so there was no other voice that would contribute to his one-sided conversations. It was just Yuugi, just his own voice. This was decidedly not his voice. It was as if something (or someone) had actually responded to him-to his thoughts. From inside his head. Or so he assumed it was from inside his head. Mr. Kurage would have definitely told anyone off for giving him the answer, that was for sure.
That voice... It was so familiar, but he knew he had never heard it before. That deep voice, somewhat similar to his own echoed throughout his thoughts, reverberating off the walls of his mind.
/Anytime/