It was a rainy Friday evening in Yugi's house, and the young boy himself was sat in his living room with his best friends; Joey, Teà, Tristan and Duke as they took turns on a new video game. Yugi had asked the Pharaoh if he wanted a turn, but the old spirit had simply said 'no,' and had returned to the confines of his Puzzle.
A while later though, Yami had emerged from his golden prison and watched his friends have their fun with a fond smile on his face. He was sat regally on the window sill with one leg dangling to the floor and the one closest to the window pane bent so that his elbow could rest on his knee. The translucent spirit was deep in thought, as he tended to be more and more these days. He kept feeling as though something would happen, and though it was rather morbid he felt that something would end; he knew what it was. His time here was coming to an end, the Pharaoh wasn't sure how he knew; he just did.
"No way! You cheated!" Joey shouted suddenly, jumping to his feet and pointing at Duke he was close to turning red in the face.
"I did not! You're just a sore looser!"
"Sore looser! Right, that's it, I'm gonna..."
"Joey, calm down," Yugi told his friend, with a nervous smile.
"Yugi's right, chill out man," Tristan laughed and pulled Joey back down onto the floor where they were all sat.
"Ah, you're just having a great time seein' me lose," Joey sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"You bet'cha," Tristan smiled.
"Wanna go again?" Duke smirked.
"Best two outta three, man," Joey nodded and took up the game controller once more with renewed enthusiasm.
Yami merely continued to haze out of the window at the rain falling against the pristine glass pane before him. For some reason it was strangely hypnotic; he remembered the first time he'd seen rain fall since the Puzzle had been pieced together, and he had been transfixed, like he'd never seen rain before. But living in a desert where rain fell once or twice a year he supposed it was a natural reaction; even if he didn't exactly remember said life in a desert.
As time passed, despite his unfocused attention, he heard and processed every word his friends spoke, and would probably be able to recite their entire conversation if asked; it was the curse of being a good multi-tasker, and it wasn't like he didn't have room in his mind for it. Room...hah...he had enough 'rooms' in his mind to store every piece of information every recorded by the human race. Even in 3,000 years of solitary, non stop exploration he still hadn't seen every one of them, and he supposed he never would.
"Hey, what'cha lookin' at, dude?" he heard Joey ask after some considerable time, and it took him a second to realise that it was him being spoken to; it just didn't seem dignified to answer to the term 'dude.'
"Hmm?" he hummed in a very un-kingly manner.
"Didn't think Pharaoh's could space out," Tristan smiled.
"I wouldn't know," the spirit replied gloomily as he watched a drop of water fall onto the glass and trickle down it.
He'd been so preoccupied in his thoughts he hadn't realised he'd made his presence known. It was a trick he'd learned a while ago, but it demanded constant effort and attention and it tended to drain him very quickly. Old senses seemed to kick in, telling him that it was foolish to expend so much vital energy for trivialities when one could be attacked at any moment. Though he couldn't remember where the saying came from, he heard a strong voice in his head that seemed to constantly remind him of it.
And yet, despite all this, it sometimes happened without his making a conscious effort to do so. It was rather illogical...but so was being a 3,000 year old spirit with a major case of amnesia.
The Pharaoh watched as Tristan and Joey ate from the packet of crisps and for some reason he felt a pang of jealousy; he hadn't actually eaten anything in 3,000 years.
Joey seemed to notice the Pharoah looking at the food and he suddenly seemed torn between the habit of asking if his freind wanted a one and not wanting to insult him because he couldn't eat them even if it was offered. The teenager suddenly had a new found sympathy for his friend; they'd never really thought about simple things and how much different it would be to not be able to do them. Being dead must really suck.
If it was any other friend looking so down, they could've just sat next to him and put an arm round them or something, but it wasn't just a normal friend in a funk. It was a 3,000 year old king in a funk...how exactly were they supposed to deal with that?
"So...what's wrong?" Yugi asked, clearly frustrated that the spirit hadn't told him anything. When it came to hiding things the Pharaoh was better at it than Yugi was, since the spirit had more knowledge of how the Puzzle worked he could conceal his thoughts ; Yugi couldn't so he was an open book to the Pharaoh.
"Nothing," the Pharaoh answered simply.
"You're lying," Yugi said.
"Leave it be, Yugi," the spirit warned in a deep tone.
"Ah, come on, man, you can tell us anything," Joey smiled, despite the chill that ran down his spine after hearing the commanding baritone. "You're just in one of those moods, aren't you? We all get like that," he finished happily and the Pharaoh raised an elegant eyebrow. Yugi pursed his lip at that because he still couldn't master that look; it was a stare that commanded attention and at the same time conveyed humour and disbelief. It was a very complicated stare and Yugi could never get it right; the Pharaoh would often laugh at his attempts to do so.
"Really," the king said in deep sarcasm.
"Yup," Joey nodded enthusiastically.
"I don't believe that many other people have the same problem," the Pharaoh said mostly to himself.
"Try me," Joey replied with confidence.
"Yeah, you can pretty much bet we've heard it before," Tristan supported his friend, "I mean, we've seen some really word weird, y'know?"
"Too true," Duke nodded, "I'm looking at something weird right now. It's not like everyone gets to talk to a dea...OWCH!" he yelled before he could finish.
Teà had stamped painfully on his foot and he hopped around clutching his toes with a glare on his face. "What was that for?!" he demanded.
"I tripped," Teà deadpanned and Joey, Tristan and Yugi couldn't help but laugh a little.
"Oh, ha hah, very funny, guys," Duke rolled his eyes once he stopped hopping about the room.
"It's actually very unnerving, being...dead," the Pharaoh said quietly and simply but in a tone that clearly implied that no one else could speak or even move until he was finished, and even then you did so with respect. It wasn't one that they usually heard from their friend anymore so they were surprised to hear it now. Perhaps what was more surprising was the total and utter silence it prompted from that single statement.
"Wow, you really are in a cheery mood tonight," Tristan whispered as he picked up an open packet of crisps left on a coffee table. "And what're you talking about anyway, I mean you're not exactly...I mean...I..." he added but stopped once he realised how ridiculous that line of thought was. Fortunately, the spirit only smiled ruefully, and Tristan breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn't angered his friend.
The Pharaoh actually chuckled deeply and darkly for a split second, "I suppose it is easy to forget sometimes, isn't it?"
"What brought this on?" Yugi asked with concern.
"Just a feeling," the Pharaoh shrugged as much as he could without being uncouth.
"What kinda feelin'?" Joey asked tentatively, "A bad feelin', a good feelin', what, work with me here."
"Not a 'something really bad is coming' kind of feeling, is it?" Teà guessed but the spirit said nothing, "It is, isn't it?"
"Oh man," Joey sighed, "Somethin' always happens when you say that."
"It's like a sixth sense," Duke chuckled and the Pharaoh raised a curious eyebrow at the expression.
"Well, dude's got a third eye sometimes, why not a sixth sense," Joey said and laughed at the spirits' frown, "What? You do...it glows...it's weird and it...OWCH..." he broke off and jumped away from Tristan. "What was that for?!"
"I...tripped?" Tristan coughed nervously.
"Oh yeah, real smooth," Duke muttered, using his hand to cover his mouth.
"You'd know, dice boy, Joey scowled.
"Cool it, man," Duke frowned and snatched the bag of crisps from Tristan's hand then handed it forcefully to Joey.
"Only you would describe old, powerful magic as 'weird'," Teà shook her head abysmally.
"Yeah, about that," Joey began, now with a mouth full of food, "If you don't remember anything, how'd you know how to do...YOWCH! Will you stop doin' that?!"
"Will you learn to be sensitive?" Teà hissed back as Joey rubbed the arm she'd thumped.
"Hey, I'm mr. Sensitivity," Joey mumbled.
"Sure," she replied in disbelief as he turned back to the despondent spirit. She couldn't remember seeing him like this since they'd lost Yugi to the Orichalcos and she didn't like it one bit.
Yugi was equally concerned, he hadn't had any indication that the Pharaoh was in a poor mood until he'd seen the spirit; whereas the Pharaoh could literally sense his own moods from the deep, confines of the Puzzle, doing the same was, especially more recently, a mystery to the young boy. He didn't know whether the Pharaoh was purposely hiding his feelings and thoughts or if it was somehow unintentional, but he wanted to know.
"Why can't I hear your thoughts right now?" Yugi asked aloud.
"I think you know why," the Pharaoh said simply.
"You're hiding them from me, how long have you been able to do that?" the young duelist asked.
"Almost from the beginning, I chose not to."
"Why are you doing it now then?"
"Everyone is entitled to a degree of privacy, even if they share a mind - perhaps, even especially because of that," the spirit replied nonchalantly.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't mind having a voice in my head..." Yugi shrugged.
"Y'know, they lock people up for saying stuff like that, Yug," Joey smirked.
"...I've forgot what it's like without one," Yugi added.
"Perhaps you should give the idea some thought," the Pharaoh said.
"What? Being locked up?" Yugi asked.
"No," said the spirit with a raised eyebrow, "Having your mind to yourself again; I won't be here forever after all."
"Ah, relax pal, you're not goin' anywhere yet...are you?" Joey asked but the Pharaoh didn't answer and for a while there was an uncomfortable silence in the room.
"...Alright, erm...who's turn is it?" Teà asked suddenly after a minute as she walked over to pick up the game controller.
"Mine!" Tristan yelled and jumped for the controller.
"No, it's mine, you jackass!" Duke shouted back.
"Are you nuts..." Joey began.
"Keep it down, kids!" they heard Yugi's grandfather yell from upstairs, and they went red in embarrassment.
"Sorry, gramps," Joey replied as he reluctantly looked back to his translucent friend.
It was strange, but he was suddenly struck by the fact that one of his friends was dead - had been dead for 3,000 years and it was difficult to wrap the mind around that fact. Joey could see Yugi's nervous anxiety despite the kid trying to hide it and he couldn't say he blamed him. The Pharaoh was a part of their group, and when your friend was down you cheered them up...but how did you do that for someone like Yami? At least they'd made him laugh a little by acting...well...by acting like themselves. Maybe it would be best no to dwell on it, after all, Yami was the deep-thinking type and if he was brooding on something, chances were it was an important something.
"Alright, this time, you're goin' down," Joey announced as he took up one of the two controllers. He hoped that by acting normally then Yami would think himself out; after all, how much thinking could one guy do?
"Keep dreaming, underdog," Tristan giggled.
"Oh that's it, you're definitely goin' down!" Joey replied eagerly.
"Big words, little man," his friend smirked and Joey fumed.
Yugi smiled as he watched his friends continue to bicker and batter over the game, but he went to lean against the wall beside the Pharaoh. "So... you thinking about leaving?" he asked.
"Not specifically," the king answered.
"But you have thought about it?"
"You knew this was never going to be permanent," Yami replied after a minute.
"I know...I just thought..."
"I'm here now; you should focus on that," the spirit cut Yugi off before he could continue and the young duelist smiled.
"And what're you going to focus on?" Yugi asked.
"Right now?" Yami leaned forwards, "How about...who's going to win their game?" he added and glanced over at their friends huddled around the TV and games console.
"You do realise that I know you're trying to change the subject?" Yugi said confidently but the old king just smiled indulgently so Yugi continued,"Well, alright then, you're off the hook for now, but I say Joey'll win."
A.N. I wrote this because personally the Pharaoh has always been, and will always be my favourite character in the show. But I can't imagine him being 100% okay with being an amnesiac ghost for 24 hours of every damn day, so I guess this is him on a rare off day. And about his thoughts being concealed, I think that since he's the inhabitant of the Puzzle, and he can use its power, he should be able to hide his thoughts, whereas Yugi can't because its not him using the magic.
P.S I unfortunately don't own any bragging rights to Yu-Gi-Oh :)