The sun was high and the sky was bright, that day in Domino City. The air was particularly pungent with the scents of asphalt and newly mowed grass, only offset by the litter gone ignored by passers-by on the ground. It was particularly prominent around the high school, currently in session, as proven with a sound memorized by the entire student body.

Riiing!

The sharp noise was enough to set off a new wave of chatter as students moved in a crowd to pour out from classrooms and into the hall, a sea of blue and pink school uniforms. It was, as far as almost everyone was concerned, merely another typical day at Domino High, another line of classroom sessions to slog through until the weekend.

The "almost" was a scrawny, spiky-haired boy in one classroom in particular. He had heard the bell quite clearly enough, but he was too fixated on rummaging through the schoolbag on his desk to notice his classmates lining up to leave, talking among themselves the whole way, at least until one glanced over his shoulder and called out to him teasingly.

"Hey, Yugi! Staying in alone again? How come you're not going to play basketball?" The boy's voice was enough to make him jump a little, looking up somewhat nervously with one hand still in his bag. The second his mind registered just what he'd done, he gave himself a mental kick. He really had to stop being startled when people talked to him, it made him look paranoid.

"Oh—it's fine," the boy named Yugi, Mutou Yugi in full, replied weakly with a small, apologetic smile. "I'm not really good at basketball anyway."

The speaker, someone he didn't know or normally talk to outside of class, seemed to take that as an acceptable response and merely gave a shrug, turning away to rejoin his friends. Yugi tried to push down the small pang he felt at that, watching everyone else depart to head out. It was certainly nice when people talked to him—and called him by his first name, no less—but he had to remind himself they weren't his friends. He was still just the quiet runt at the back, as much a part of the background as a desk or chair, like he was used to being.

At least he'd brought his games. If there was one thing he prided himself on, it was his skill with them—he'd finished and replayed them numerous times before, all except the one he was looking for now. He bit his lip slightly, brow slightly furrowed as he burrowed his fingers through the pack's contents—papers, books, pencils, boards, small contraptions—until they finally closed around a familiar cold surface.

Yes!

From the bag, Yugi withdrew a solid gold box the size of two fists pressed together and engraved with numerous markings, including a prominent eye symbol, handling it as carefully as if it were made of glass before placing it on his desk. Looking down at it, he couldn't repress the smile now forming on his face. The treasure inside it was one he'd prized for years, a puzzle he had been working to solve. If he was lucky—and, hopefully, there'd be an exception now, as he usually lacked in luck otherwise—it'd finally be finished today. Today would certainly be an important day, if only for him.

But he'd barely cracked the lid open when it was snatched out right from under his hands, whisked directly into the air. "H-hey!"

None other than Honda Hiroto stood there, box in hand and grinning menacingly. "What's this?" he asked, narrowing his eyes in mock contemplation at the object. "You want to sit in here alone, all dark and gloomy, just with this dumb box? Or...oh, I get it. This is your treasure!"

"Honda!" Yugi shoved himself out of his seat and onto his feet. He swiped an arm futilely forward through the air as the taller boy held the box above his head, waving it just out of reach. "Please! Give it back!"

Honda only laughed. "Jounouchi! Catch!"

The light streaming from the window struck the box's surface as it was flung through the air, flashing blindingly white into Yugi's eyes and making them instinctively blink as he jumped in a failed attempt to catch it and stumbled when he landed. The second he'd managed to get the light out of his eyes, he saw that the blond boy with Honda—known as Jounouchi Katsuya—had caught the thrown thing effortlessly in one hand and was now tossing it up and down, catching it in the air, as if it were nothing more than a cheap trinket.

"I'm—I'm serious! Give it back!" Yugi shouted, trying and failing to keep the panic out of his voice. He made another jump in an effort to grab it, this one slightly higher than the last, but no more effective. "Please! It's important to me!"

"Looks real important, since you're being such a little girl about it," Jounouchi sneered, making another toss with the box. "And stop with the jumping, will you? It's annoying!"

"But—"

"Hey, here's a deal." The lanky delinquent, who towered over Yugi by more than a good few inches, caught the box and held it resolutely up over his head. "Prove you really want this and be a man about it, and I'll give it back!"

"I—I'm not going to fight you over it!" Yugi burst out. "I don't do violence!"

"Don't do violence? Great, you're one of those." Jounouchi clapped one hand to his mouth, making an expression akin to someone sick as he glanced at Honda. "No spine at all. Ugh."

Yugi let out a long, dejected sigh, shoulders slumping. He knew he should have been used to this by now, but that didn't make it any less frustrating. "Okay—fine, that's true. But please...just give it back."

"No way!" Honda hooted, his smug grin even broader. "C'mon, we haven't even seen what's in it! Why not open it, Jounouchi?"

"Yeah, why not?" Jounouchi briefly rotated the thing in his hands to examine it from every angle, his expression rather scrunched together, as if wondering just what about it was great enough for a dweeb like Yugi Mutou to be willing to beg for. His fingers soon found the crack of the top, digging in to pry it open.

Yugi's throat suddenly dried, and at that moment, it seemed miraculous his already pounding heart didn't bolt out from his chest then and there. "W-wait! Don't—you can look at it, but don't lose it! It's—it's valuable!"

As if to illustrate his words, the blond popped the lid open just wide enough so that it wasn't completely off, yet it was enough for him to catch a glance of just what lay within. But the "treasure" he saw was, to a strange sense of disappointment, nothing he'd been expecting. He gave a loud scoff.

"That's your precious treasure?" he jeered derisively. Pausing only to shut the lid again and brush his fingers through the gap before it fully closed, he half-heartedly threw the object over his shoulder towards Honda. "You gotta be kidding me."

"You again!"

The familiar voice was enough to make the three of them all freeze on the spot, leaving a hand to promptly reach out and grab the box in mid-throw, mere inches from Honda's own fingertips. The source herself, Mazaki Anzu, stood just near the door with a glare hard enough to melt steel and said item in her grip. It was then that Yugi never felt more grateful to her, his only friend for years, than he had at that moment.

"What did I tell you two last time?" she snapped, cerulean eyes blazing. "Leave him alone! You're cowards, picking on people smaller than you! Now if you know what's good for you, beat it!"

Jounouchi and Honda needed no further persuasion. They bolted from the room as fast as their legs could carry them, practically kicking up dust as they went. "Don't think this is finished!" Jounouchi yelled from over his shoulder, just before they rounded the corner and disappeared down the hall.

As the sound of their retreating footsteps faded, Yugi exhaled. "Thanks, Anzu. I really owe you one."

"It's no problem, Yugi." The pretty brunette moved to put the box back down on the center of his desk, almost as gently as he had handled it. "They're just jerks, don't let them get to you. Though..." She paused, gazing curiously at the item. "...you still haven't completed the puzzle, have you?"

Yugi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he sank into his seat. In turn, his friend pulled up a chair so that when she sat down, his desk was between them. "Well, no, not yet," he admitted, gaze downcast. He perked up almost immediately, however, as he took the container's lid off to reveal what was inside. "But I just have a feeling that today'll be the day I finish it!"

Inside were numerous gold pieces piled together in varying sizes, with jagged edges and crooked shapes. Roughly a third of them were connected as their part of the puzzle, but the rest were too haphazardly scattered among each other for there to be much of a discernible shape. They gleamed in the sunlight, shimmering starkly white with a pure surface on each one of them, as if they had never before been touched by human fingertips. This was particularly outstanding, given who their owner was.

"Wow..." Anzu breathed, mesmerized by the sight. She reached to pick up a few of the fragments still left separate, rolling one over between her fingers in fascination at how it glittered. "You've definitely made some progress. What shape do you think it'll be?"

"I'm still not sure," Yugi admitted. "I mean, it is a 'thing that can be seen, but you haven't seen it', like the riddle here on the box says. It's too early to tell, but it's the farthest I've gotten with it in eight years. Grandpa's ecstatic."

"I'll bet he is," Anzu murmured to no one in particular. She cleared her throat. "Speaking of your grandpa, do you think he'd mind if I drop by the day after tomorrow? I've been having trouble with that essay for Mr. Nakamura, we could look over each other's work, just to see what we have."

"Oh, no, it's fine!" It wasn't often that Anzu came over, and the times she did were valued by Yugi rather highly. "I haven't worked on it too much myself, though..." he added awkwardly. "I'm not really good with writing."

Anzu laughed. "Don't worry about it. Neither am I." She paused and winked. "Hey, you said that the box's markings say the solver of the puzzle will be granted a wish. Maybe that could be yours—to be a better writer!"

At that, Yugi couldn't stop his own laugh. "Yeah, that could. But I do know what I'll wish for, and that isn't it."

"Really?" Anzu grinned. "What is it, then?"

"Sorry, can't tell you." Yugi gave a wink of his own. "It's a secret."

"Shit." Jounouchi bit out the word, hands shoved in his pockets. Storming down the hall with Honda while recess was still in progress outdoors, his expression was enough for one to be glad that looks couldn't kill. He swore again and stopped only to slam his foot into a nearby locker door, practically denting the metal with the sheer force of his frustration-fueled kick. He didn't even register the pain shooting up his leg from the impact, too busy glaring at the locker to care. "That nosy bitch. Who does she think she is, acting like she's the boss with that little geek?"

"Oh, shut up," Honda snapped, face set into a scowl that was equally as foul as his friend's. "Just let it go. Why should we care about her? Not our fault she can't take a joke."

"That Mutou nerd is enough of a joke," Jounouchi spat, pushing his foot off of the door. "And so is she, if you ask me. 'Picking on people smaller than you'...ha!"

"Who's been picking on people smaller than you?" a steely voice asked quietly from behind.

The effect was instantaneous. The two all but jumped several feet into the air, scrambling backwards and nearly tripping over their own feet in an attempt to get back. All color drained from both of their faces when they turned and saw just who was standing in the middle of the hallway and glaring down at them as if they were pond scum.

The person in question happened to be Ushio, the hall monitor and self-proclaimed top enforcer of Domino High's rules. The older boy held a reputation for his methods of weeding out rule-breakers and bullies, which included more than enough physical violence needed. But he was fair—so as long as he got the money for the fees required for his "service". Not a word was spoken of those who failed in paying them.

For a second, both Honda and Jounouchi only gaped soundlessly at the glowering brute who towered over even them, mouths hanging almost comically open. Swallowing, Jounouchi managed to stutter out, "I—I—uh—I meant—"

"Nothing!" Honda burst out, clamping a hand over the blond's mouth and nose. Said blond nearly choked on his own words, now struggling to breathe from having almost the entire lower half of his face so abruptly blocked from air. Honda ignored him, giving Ushio a wide and very clearly nervous, though not very convincing, smile. "He didn't—we didn't mean anything, we were just talking! Right, Jou?"

"Mmph!" was the most that Jounouchi was able to say audibly.

Ushio continued to glare, his bushy eyebrows drawn tightly together in a way that shot chills down the spine. "I hope you both are aware that any kind of bullying in Domino High will not be tolerated," he said, slowly and deliberately, his voice dripping with venom. "Especially not by me."

"Yes, yes, we know, we completely—completely agree," Honda stammered, nodding frantically and pressing his hand more firmly over Jounouchi's mouth while he continued to splutter. "You couldn't be more—more right, you know!"

However, Ushio's gaze never wavered. If anything, he looked even more menacing, as if he was seriously considering whether or not it'd be easier to just punch the two of them out then and there. However, he merely settled for a "hmph" and turned away, stalking back down the hall.

The moment that he disappeared around the corner, Honda finally released Jounouchi, who promptly started massaging his neck as he gasped desperately for air. "Asshole," he wheezed, rubbing his collar bone. "That hurt!"

"Don't make me do it again, then!" Honda retorted. "You know who he is, you shouldn't be shooting your mouth off around him if you've got a brain!"

"I don't care who he is!" Jounouchi turned to shout down the hall, fist raised. "USHIO! YOU BETTER WATCH YOUR BACK, BECAUSE SOMEDAY I'LL BE KICKING IT! YOU—"

"Shhh!" Honda hissed. Thankfully, he didn't put his hand over his friend's mouth again, instead opting to roughly grab his arm and yank it down. "He'll hear you!"

"Just my luck if he does," Jounouchi snapped, but there was no real anger left in his voice. For almost a full minute, the two of them only stood there, the silence sinking in now that the frightening upperclassman was gone.

"Now what?" Honda finally broke the silence. He let go of Jounouchi's arm to jam his hands back into his pockets. "Anything left to do before class starts again?"

"Well," Jounouchi began slowly, "how about this?" He slipped a hand back into his pocket, as well, but took it out just as quickly to uncurl his fingers and reveal, on his palm, a single golden piece marked with an eye symbol. Honda's eyes widened.

"How—?" he asked.

Jounouchi's smirk was enough to split his face as he closed his fingers tightly around the fragment, balling them into a fist again. "While I closed that Yugi Mutou's treasure box, I took out this little piece just before I shut the lid! The idiot didn't even notice! Now without this, that stupid puzzle will never be finished."

"Wow." Honda let out a long, low whistle. "Damn, Jounouchi, that's just slick."

"Tell me about it. Now..." Jounouchi paused to lift his arm, taking aim. "Nice knowing you!" With that, accompanied by a laugh, he flung the piece out the open window, letting it tumble through the air and land with a splash into the school swimming pool below.

Being so far up and in another building, neither Jounouchi nor Honda could see, as they walked off in laughter, the faint glowing of the puzzle shard as it slowly sank down through the water and to the bottom.

"See you tomorrow!"

"Let's get going!"

"Come on, hurry up!"

The usual end-of-school-day chatter filled the air as students streamed out into the schoolyard, moving in a crowd that gradually broke off into groups. Being jostled left and right by stray elbows and shoulders, as well as nearly being tripped multiple times by other feet, Yugi was only too glad when he was finally able to break free to head towards the gates.

He kept his pace hurried and brisk, not quite a run but not slow enough to be called a walk. But he was a bit too short—more than he would've liked—for it to be easy to tell. The fact that his multicolored, spiky hair made up almost a third of his height and his eyes, purple in color, were still large in a way that resembled a younger child's didn't help.

"Today's definitely the day," Yugi said to himself, gaining a skip in his step. "Today's the day, and then I can make the wish. Today's the day, and—oof!"

He abruptly collided, face-first, into a thrown out hand and stumbled back, blinking stars out of his eyes. When he looked up, he continued to blink, as if not really comprehending the sight.

"Yugi." The word was clipped and gruff, as Ushio retracted his hand and folded his arms across his chest. As he leaned against one of the gates to the schoolyard entrance, his mouth curved into a smile, but it didn't reach his dark eyes. "That's your name, right?"

Yugi only stared, more than a little perplexed. "Um, yes. Yugi Mutou."

"I thought so." If anything, the older boy's smile seemed to widen, which did nothing to put Yugi at ease. "I'm Ushio, hall monitor from the morals committee. I just want to ask you a few questions, if that's okay with you."

"Uh..." Yugi fidgeted with his sleeve, eyes darting anxiously out the gates and back to Ushio. "Sure, go ahead."

"Has anyone in your class been picking on you?" The question was startlingly direct, enough to make Yugi involuntarily wince. He gulped, gaze now flicking to the ground.

"Eh—no," he mumbled. "I mean, no one has, no."

Ushio chuckled. "Really?" He leaned forward, clapping a heavy hand on Yugi's shoulder, and it took a lot of self-restraint for Yugi not to buckle right then and there from the force of the weight. "No need to look so scared! I'm only going to be doing a little investigation, for the sake of the school. From now on, you can call me your personal bodyguard!"

"Wait, w-what?" Yugi jerked back, and Ushio's hand fell away, much to his silent relief. "Um, uh, sorry—thank you, but I don't...I don't really need that. Sorry..."

He trailed off hesitantly at the blank look on Ushio's face, not sure if that was a good thing or not, and swallowed again. "Uh...but thanks anyway. Bye," he added hastily, and turned away, his pace a little faster than before as he made his way out the gates.

What was that about? he couldn't help but wonder.

Behind his retreating back, however, Ushio only cracked a menacing grin. It was just as he'd thought: he'd found the ideal client.

Or rather, target.

The bell attached to the top of the shop's door made its signature ring as Yugi entered. "Grandpa! I'm home!" he called. After a day in class that seemed endless, plus the encounter with Ushio, the familiar sight of the colorful games and knickknacks lining the shelves was more reassuring than he could admit.

Behind the front counter, his grandfather—otherwise known as Sugoroku Mutou—looked up and smiled over a pile of boxes. "Welcome back! How was school?"

"Oh, it was okay," Yugi replied neutrally, pushing the door closed behind him. Well, he wasn't lying, but then, he'd had worse days—none that his grandpa needed to know about, anyway. "Did the new board games come in today?"

"Not yet, but we did get some other deliveries." Sugoroku stooped to tuck another flat package into a bottom shelf as he spoke, the top of his bandanna-adorned head being the only visible part of him from over the counter. "Is Anzu coming over? I haven't seen her in a while."

"Yep!" Yugi practically bounced his way through the shop, sneakers squeaking across the newly mopped floor as he headed for the stairs. "She'd said she'd be here the day after tomorrow, but didn't say what time. I think she meant around dinner."

"That's good. I hope she likes sukiyaki," Sugoroku commented absently, shifting through the pile.

"And I think today could be the day I finish the puzzle!" Yugi went on, his voice gaining a much more enthusiastic note. "I've got some of it completed already, there's only some more pieces to go."

"Really?" He heard a shifting movement, then a loud thud followed by a muffled "ouch!", before his grandpa finally straightened up, rubbing the back of his head and looking slightly pained. It did nothing to diminish the smile on his face, however. "Wonderful! How far have you gotten?"

"About..." Yugi trailed off mid-sentence to sling his backpack off of his shoulder and onto the counter, shuffling through it before coming up with the box. Sugoroku looked on as he pulled the lid off to reveal the puzzle seemingly in its entirety, roughly a third of it pieced together. "...this far! See?"

At the sight, Sugoroku could only beam in admiration. "Truly a feat," he answered. "But, I shouldn't be surprised! It does take a true intellectual to put together the Millennium Puzzle."

Yugi raised an eyebrow, though he was smiling. "Are you saying those archaeologists you said took this weren't intellectual enough?" he asked, though his tone was slightly teasing. His grandfather laughed.

"Of course you'd remember that," Sugoroku managed, as his chuckles ceased. "I'm not sure why I told you about that—the Puzzle, found in the early twentieth century, taken by an English archaeologist team from a Pharaoh's burial tomb! And everyone in that team mysteriously dying afterwards..."

"I'm pretty sure you just wanted to scare me back then, Grandpa," Yugi replied, tone a little dry. He'd only been eight at the time, when his grandfather had first shown him the gold box on his desk and told him the ominous tale. It didn't affect him much now, but back then, he'd been nothing short of both fascinated and terrified. The nearly finished puzzle was proof now of which emotion had won out in the end. "Didn't you say the last one was...screaming? Something about a game?"

"Oh, yes, the Shadow Game." Now Sugoroku's voice took on a mock-sinister tone, as if he was telling a campfire horror story. All that was needed to complete the image was a flashlight shining into his face. "Some say he was wandering around a village for days when he was found, shouting about it, to beware its power. Only the one who solves the puzzle can wield it—as that says."

He pointed one gnarled finger to the side of the gold box, which was inscribed with several lines of hieroglyphs. Yugi studied them for a moment, tracing a finger through the silhouette of one shaped like a bird. He never took much notice of them before, but he knew what they said, thanks to his grandfather, and he read them aloud. "To the one who controls me..."

"...I shall give the wisdom and strength of the shadows," Sugoroku finished for him.

Yugi examined the puzzle box's markings, violet eyes shining with curiosity. "...Do you really believe that, Grandpa?" he finally asked, breaking off his gaze to meet his grandfather's. "This means my wish would really come true, wouldn't it?"

"I'm sure whatever wish you make wouldn't be too much for it to grant," Sugoroku said warmly. He stole a glance at the clock on the shop wall. "Say...shouldn't you be getting started on your homework right now? And maybe your puzzle, too, for later?" he asked, a teasing note to his voice.

"Oh, Grandpa," Yugi groused, though there was no true annoyance to his tone. He shut the lid back on over the box, holding it in one hand while he picked up his schoolbag with the other. "You know me, I'm a responsible student!"

"I'm not saying you aren't," Sugoroku answered, grinning. "But I don't think your mother would be too happy if she came home from work right now and saw you talking about your puzzle with me after school instead of working on your grades, you know."

"Yeah, yeah." Yugi waved one hand with the box still grasped in it airily, brushing off the small pang at the reminder of his mother with a smile as he began to make his way up the stairs to his room. "I still passed my tests last year, though, so she can't say I'm a bad student!" he called from over his shoulder.

Sugoroku only smiled to himself, shaking his head affectionately as he returned to the shelves. If he were still the gambling type, he'd bet his grandson would spend more time with one thing in his hand over the other, and it wasn't the books in the backpack.

The clock slowly ticked on its way to midnight, the only light in the darkness coming from the lamp illuminating the plain bedroom. At the desk before the room's window sat Yugi, clad in faded blue pajamas, oblivious to everything around him except the jagged shards of shining gold slowly being pieced together, bit by bit, in his fingers. A steady click-click hung in the air throughout, a rhythm to the movements of his hands as they twisted and turned the numerous fragments, trying to find angles where they would fit together and make a whole.

Sometimes, he succeeded, and every now and then he heard the satisfying snap of a piece sliding into place. Most of the time, however, there was only that clicking that filled his ears and filtered through his head like a never-ending hum, as he tried futilely to put certain remnants in certain places and figure out where they did fit, if not in that one spot.

He supposed he should have been glad he had made any more progress at all, as he'd now completed another third and there was only one portion more until it would be complete. He thought he could make out more of what shape it would take: there were now two angular sides with a point on each end, arranged together to resemble some kind of unfinished pyramid.

Pyramid. That sounded oddly fitting, given where this thing came from. Ruins in ancient Egypt, the tomb of a Pharaoh. His mind vaguely wondered at that last part, his imagination running away into visions of imagery from old Hollywood movies he'd watched with his grandfather and Anzu several times—pyramids labored on by workers beneath a scorching desert sun, Pharaohs with elaborate headdresses and curled false beards, Queens with kohl-painted eyes and sheer white gowns flashing with jewels, bandage-wrapped mummies climbing out of unlocked tombs to wreck vengeance and curses from the undead. Yugi shook the images off, however, pulling his attention back to focus. He couldn't afford to be distracted, not now when he was closer to finishing this puzzle than he had in eight years. The completion was so close he could almost taste it.

"Where does this one go?" he asked himself, squinting slightly at one piece in particular. It was shaped like an English L letter, with more pointed edges, and no matter where he put it, it simply refused to join with any parts. Stubborn thing. He let out an enormous yawn, his eyelids drooping, and it took a bit more effort than normal to force his eyes open once his mouth had closed.

But it wasn't long before his eyes closed yet again while he was studying two other pieces in his hands, and this time, he didn't feel quite as much of an inclination as before to open them. He slumped forward, the shards falling away to roll across the surface, as his head hit the desk and he fell into a dreamless sleep.

The morning after had not been a very clear one, Yugi knew that much. When he'd come to, he'd found himself hunched over his desk, the puzzle still sitting unsolved at his hands, and the clock on the wall only ten minutes away from striking the time school would start. His mind had gone completely into overdrive and, with a speed he hadn't known he was capable of, he'd thrown the puzzle and the pieces he'd dropped back into its box before slamming it shut and throwing it into his schoolbag, closing up said schoolbag, and ripping off his pajamas to yank on his school uniform. He hadn't even stopped to brush his teeth or get breakfast, too busy hurrying down the stairs with a hasty goodbye to his surprised grandfather as he'd flung himself out the shop door and into the street to school. All of that came in a blur to him now, as if more from a dream than reality.

He let out another enormous yawn as he slid into his classroom seat, pressing his hand over his mouth as he did. "I should really go to bed more early," he mumbled to himself. "Staying up so late working on the puzzle...that has to be the fourth time this week."

Blinking sluggishly, he didn't take notice of approaching footsteps outside the classroom until a voice rudely interrupted his thoughts. "Hey! Yugi!"

He jumped, nearly tumbling out of his chair and swiveling his head wildly around until he saw who it was, standing by the door. He stared in surprise.

Ushio. What was he doing here? Had he really been serious when he'd said he'd be Yugi's bodyguard? Now he looked oddly smug with himself, mouth drawn into a wide smirk that did nothing to quell the sudden chill racing up Yugi's spine. Something about that expression didn't seem right to him, as if it was happiness for all the wrong reasons.

But he didn't look threatening, not really. He appeared almost friendly, his posture clearly much more relaxed than it had been yesterday, with his hands now in his pockets instead of tucked in over his arms tightly across his chest. Yugi found the change a little unnerving.

"Could you come with me for a minute?" he asked. "I need to show you something."

Yugi wasn't sure how long they'd been walking, but he knew it definitely had to have been more than a minute. The bell hadn't rung, yet the crowds of students in the halls and schoolyard had noticeably thinned out, as more people began heading into their classrooms rather than stopping to linger outside. He felt a little anxious, half-running to catch up with Ushio's long stride as they reached the back of the school building.

"Um, Ushio," he started tentatively. "Where are we going? What do you need to show me?"

He couldn't see the upperclassman's expression, given that his back was to him, but he could imagine the smirk on his face himself when Ushio spoke. "Just something I think you'd like to see," he replied, a snicker in his voice that only increased Yugi's growing sense of unease. "Nothing much."

The rest of the walk lapsed into an awkward silence, during which Yugi tried to come up with something to say, if only to ease it. But what would he say? He knew nothing about Ushio other than his infamy as a hunter of rule-breakers, and hadn't spoken a word to him prior to the day before. In fact, he wondered, what did Ushio even want with him? Yugi Mutou was nothing special, neither a perfect student nor a resident troublemaker. He was simply there, just another student who kept his head low and avoided the spotlight of things when he could help it. And he was fine with that, really. He'd always depended on Anzu as the outgoing one of them, and he didn't see how or why that would change.

He considered just stopping and politely telling Ushio that whatever he wanted to show him, he could show him after school, because he really had to get to class right now. However, he shoved the thought away before it was even fully formed. How would he say that? The mere idea of telling that to someone with such a fearsome reputation and an aura that didn't do much to put Yugi at ease made his knees feel weak from fear.

But whether or not he'd have said it, he wouldn't know. Because it was then that they turned a corner, and the sight that lay there was enough to freeze over the blood in Yugi's veins and send his heart plummeting.

For several long, agonizing moments, he could only stare, his mouth parting in disbelief. He heard Ushio's smug voice, proclaiming "Hey, look!" as he gestured to it, but he registered the words as if they were coming from above underwater. All he could really hear was the blood roaring in his ears as shock kept him paralyzed to the spot and his feet stuck to the ground.

Jounouchi and Honda were collapsed against the wall, slumped over as if they could no longer even support their own weight, like marionettes with their strings cut. Both of them bore the unmistakable signs of a severe beating: numerous cuts and huge bruises marred their faces, a particularly ugly one staining Jounouchi's cheek and extending to his jaw, while Honda's nose was dripping blood onto his shirt. Several of their arms and legs were sprawled out at odd angles, as if they had been twisted to the point of nearly being broken. Although Jounouchi looked adamant, as if trying to stifle the pain down in favor of looking completely stoic, Honda was faintly groaning in pain, mouth hanging slightly open. "Ughh..."

Somehow, that sound alone was enough as a trigger to snap Yugi back into the present. His voice came out almost an octave higher with panic, squeaking on several notes. "Jounouchi! Honda!" he gasped. "What—what happened? Who did this?!"

He heard Ushio's deep chuckle before he'd even finished talking. "Don't you remember what I told you, Yugi?" he questioned. "Like I said! You can call me your personal bodyguard. And as your bodyguard, it's my job to punish these two. They're only bullying trash."

Yugi gaped at him. "But—but—!" he choked out. "No! This isn't—this isn't right! It's cruel, Ushio, too cruel!"

Without giving a second thought to what he was doing, he rushed over, dropping to his knees next to Jounouchi. It took more than a bit of self-restraint for him not to gasp again. If the wounds looked bad at first sight, they only looked even worse up close, severe enough to demand at least a foot's worth of bandages. For that second, seeing his tormentors in such a state, he couldn't feel anything near satisfaction at their pain, only pity. No one, no matter what they'd done to him, deserved this. "J-Jounouchi," he stuttered. "Are...are you okay?"

He realized that was a stupid question the moment it escaped his mouth, and he was overcome by the urge to mentally slap himself. Of course Jounouchi wasn't okay, the cuts and bruises on his face were proof of that! But Jounouchi, looking up at him with slightly glazed-over eyes, didn't seem to have registered anything from him, let alone his question. "So it was you behind this, huh?" he muttered, spitting out blood as he spoke, and Yugi instinctively recoiled. "Should've known..."

"I—what?" Yugi stared at him, his expression blank in both shock and horror. "No, I never—! I didn't ask for this!" His voice shook. "Why would I—why would I ever ask this to happen? I-I'd never—"

"Move it, Yugi!" Ushio snapped, and Yugi involuntarily squeaked as he was abruptly shoved aside, landing hard onto the asphalt as the taller boy took several menacing steps towards the two. "I have to finish. They're not done learning their lesson yet!"

To punctuate his words, his foot swung and slammed squarely into Jounouchi's chest, the impact enough to crush him back against the wall. With a groan, Jounouchi doubled over, slumping sideways before the hall monitor kicked out again, this time landing several hits against his lower back.

Although still disoriented with the wind knocked out of him from the fall, Yugi didn't pause to catch his breath when he saw what was going on. He'd seen enough. "Stop!" he shouted. In one fluid movement, he sprang and threw himself in front of the two, arms spread. He stumbled slightly, struggling to catch his breath, but his voice was loud and clear, his eyes wide and pleading. "Please—please, just stop it! Leave them alone!"

Ushio's thick eyebrows narrowed together. "So you're standing up for them now?" he growled. "I'm surprised, Yugi. They bully you, but you're protecting them. Why don't you just get your revenge?"

"Friends don't do that to each other!" Yugi burst out. He panted, chest starting to heave and legs trembling, but he stared at Ushio defiantly. Unbeknownst to him, behind his back, Jounouchi's eyes had widened at his words before slowly starting to soften, just a little. Shock seemed to be giving more way to gratitude, something that surprised even Jounouchi himself.

For a second, Ushio only stared, his expression unreadable. Then he let out a loud guffaw. "Your friends? It's too bad I didn't know that earlier," he sneered, sarcasm dripping off of his voice. "But no matter. I'll take my payment now anyway! The fee for my service is 200,000 yen. No more, and no less!"

The sound of the price alone was enough to stun Yugi to the spot, gaping in horror and disbelief. He was only vaguely aware of the thin line of cold sweat trickling down the side of his face as his voice came out hoarsely, almost cracking in the middle. "What? 200,000 yen?! I can't—that's—that's too much!"

"Oh, is it?" Ushio's voice now reached a lower pitch, verging on one that screamed of danger. "Sorry, Yugi. But that's just the way it is."

His arm shot out, grabbing the other boy's collar and yanking him forward so violently that Yugi's head snapped forward, leaving him dazed and cowering under the weight of Ushio's glare. His throat felt constricted, almost strangled, by the sheer force of the hall monitor's grip that left him hanging in the air with his feet dangling. "I'll be nice, though," Ushio continued in a snarl, practically spitting in disgust. Yugi had just enough strength in his grasp to turn his face away to avoid the small spray from his mouth. "I'll just give you a reminder about what'll happen if you don't get me my payment tomorrow. Only a little warning."

To illustrate his words, he flung his fist back and rammed it squarely into Yugi's jaw, sending him to the ground. He'd barely landed, skidding clumsily across the asphalt, when Ushio followed it up with a knee to his stomach, flattening him onto his back. Yugi only had time to gasp and grunt, biting down on his lip to keep from whimpering or, heaven forbid, crying as the upperclassman relentlessly began kicking at any part of him he could reach, again and again, the pointed toe of his booted foot relentlessly digging into his skin through his shirt every time. By the time the beating had ceased, which seemed to have lasted for more than an eternity, Yugí's chest and stomach felt so numb that he couldn't even groan out anymore.

He could only lay there, shaking and coughing hard, having just enough energy to massage the area over his aching ribs with one slightly scraped hand while Ushio regarded him from above with a broad sneer. "That's only for now," he said coolly. "There'll be more of it unless you pay up tomorrow."

As if for further emphasis, he snatched hold of Yugi's collar to drag him forward so that they were face-to-face again, with Yugi only half-hanging off the ground on his knees. Ushio took out a knife, thick-handled with a frightfully sharp and curved blade, and held it up under the younger teen's chin, enough so that Yugi could feel the tip graze threateningly against his skin. His voice was a growl. "Remember, Yugi. 200,000 yen. Don't forget if you like your face the way it is."

With that, he let go, and Yugi dropped completely onto the asphalt, crumpling into a dazed heap. Ushio's laughter echoed through his ears as his departing footsteps slowly faded away, leaving behind room in his clouded mind for only one helpless thought:

What am I going to do?

1,652...1,653...1,654...

"This isn't enough!" Yugi groaned, raking his fingers through his hair in frustration. He must have spent at least two hours counting out all the bills and coins he'd been able to scrounge from places such as his monthly allowance, the earnings he'd never gotten around to using from that one job he'd taken with Anzu last summer, a birthday gift from his father on one of his rare visits home, and a spot under his bed that'd been gathering dust. But even with those put altogether, he wouldn't be able to pay Ushio his requested fee tomorrow. And if he couldn't pay...

Yugi fought back a cold shudder, wincing as the dull throbbing from his bruises returned. Thankfully, he'd been able to cover up the one on his face from Ushio's punch with a bandage and the rest under his clothes, so it'd only taken the excuse of having fallen down some stairs to convince Anzu and his grandfather when they'd asked him about it. He doubted either of them had fully bought into it, though—neither of them were stupid, and Yugi wasn't a very good liar, mostly due to his dislike of lying to anyone, especially them.

But then, that probably only applied to the verbal part, at least. He was much better at pretending than flat-out lying.

He exhaled, pushing back the assorted yen on his desk. Without really paying attention to what he was doing, his mind lost on the speculations of just where he could get any kind of money before tomorrow, his fingers reached instinctively for the puzzle, lying on one side out of the box, and began to fumble with the pieces. It was only when the familiar snap of fragments clicking together into place sounded out that Yugi realized exactly what he was doing.

"Ah!" He made a noise in the back of his throat, immediately putting the thing back down and shoving it away, wrinkling up a bill into a wad as he did. "What am I doing? I don't have time to work on this right now!"

But even as he spoke, he knew he was lying to himself. He always had time to work on the puzzle, eight years of trying to solve it having grown into a habit for him as usual as breathing, whether it was at school or at home or otherwise. And as if they had a mind of their own, far beyond his, his fingers came back to grasp the shining cold pieces, rotating them and moving them with each other repeatedly in a memorized rhythm. Click, click. Snap, snap.

Click, click. Snap, snap. Somehow, the noise was soothing to Yugi's ears now, a welcome distraction from his stressful predicament. But strangely, if anything, it was easier now to find the places where the pieces fit when they'd alluded him before. He knew that if he half-rotated this particular fragment, it would make a perfect shape with this one, and if he put that one there, and this one here, and oh, that one there, too...

"Yes!" Yugi whispered, the word escaping him unthinkingly as the top point snapped into place. He gazed at it reverently, running his hand over the smooth, cool surface, until he moved back slightly to admire the puzzle in full and, with an abrupt chill, realized something.

He'd done it. The puzzle was a pyramid, complete except for the one hole in the center, shaped exactly like the piece with the eye.

"I..." Yugi licked his lips, his mouth now dry as sand. He could only stare at it as if spellbound, trapped in fascination and amazement by the mere sight. "I...I did it."

The words rolled around his head, reverberating in his mind until they sank in at last. Slowly, a smile grew to light up his face. "I did it! I did it!" he repeated, louder now, his voice rising with joy. "Just one more piece and it'll be finished!"

He reached eagerly into the box, heart practically singing. Solving the puzzle today—now that truly made up for how badly the day had gone. But his fingers, roaming through the interior in expectancy of coming into contact with icy gold as usual, found nothing but air. Yugi frowned, looking inside.

Yugi then swore that his heart nearly stopped. The box was, for the first time as long as he'd remembered, was completely empty.

"No..." he choked out numbly. Then his voice rose, reaching an almost hysterical pitch. "No! It isn't here! The last piece—it's gone! Gone! How—!?"

Immediately, he moved to crawl over the desk's surface, tossing books and papers over his shoulder in search of spots he could have dropped it. When nothing came up, he went to the floor, searching frantically on hands and knees. He threw open all dresser drawers, dug through the back of his closet, shoved his way under his bed and rummaged through numerous forgotten fuzzy slippers and dust balls. But no matter where he looked, he found nothing except what was already there.

"It isn't here," he repeated brokenly as he finally slumped down to sit back in his chair, cradling the puzzle in his hands. He stared down at it, that sense of sweet elation now feeling only like a joke with that empty space in its middle. It seemed to mock him, empty and unfilled. Inexplicably, tears stung at the corners of his eyes, continuing even after he reached up and halfheartedly wiped at them.

"Now it'll never be finished," he whispered to himself. He felt so crushed, so devastated he couldn't think properly. Eight years, eight years of working to solve this one puzzle, and all that hard work, wasted because he'd lost one measly piece when he'd come so close to completing it at last. Just one piece, but it had to be the most important one, the one linking all the others together with its eye.

It'd never be finished, and his wish would never come true.

His wish. Yugi bit his lip as he placed the puzzle on the desk, pushing it away. Had it been stupid of him to really hope, deep in his heart, that this puzzle would truly grant him his wish? The secret he'd harbored, even from his grandfather, even Anzu. His wish for friends. Friends who would be by his side, who would never betray him, and he would never betray them. That was all he truly wanted. Surely it wouldn't have been too much to ask of the puzzle.

But it was now, with its most integral part gone.

He was so numb, so lost in his own internal sea of misery and frustration with himself as he stared at his desk's surface without really seeing it, that he didn't hear the sound of the door opening and footsteps behind him until his grandfather's voice reached his ears. But then, Yugi felt too listless to jump from surprise. "Ah...so I see you've finished the puzzle!" Sugoroku picked it up, turning it over in his hands as a grin split his face.

Yugi winced, but didn't look up. He couldn't bring himself to. "No..." he mumbled, eyes still fixed on his desk. "No, I couldn't. I'm sorry, Grandpa, but...I failed...I couldn't finish it, after all."

"Hm?" In response, Sugoroku flipped the puzzle onto one side onto his palm, exposing the hole at the center to full view. He furrowed his brow slightly, frowning. So that was it. "Ah..."

He turned back to his despondent grandson, who was now avoiding his gaze as if afraid to see disappointment in his eyes. However, there was only understanding, as Sugoroku knew that expression of dejection all too well from personal experience. He'd lived too many years of ups and downs not to, after all. He placed one weathered finger on Yugi's shoulder, shaking his head slightly. Startled, Yugi looked up.

In that second, Yugi faltered, struggling for what to say. But his grandfather, thankfully, did it for him. "Yugi, this isn't just any puzzle," he said gently. "It's the Millennium Puzzle! The one you've worked so hard on for eight years, putting in all your love and hope and your dreams. You never gave up on it before...so why should just one missing piece get you down now?"

Yugi opened his mouth to protest, but Sugoroku cut him off. "It's true, and you know it," he continued firmly, removing his finger from Yugi's shoulder to curl back into a fist. "You need to have more faith in yourself about this! Trust me when I say that if you don't give up now, if you keep moving forward, then your wish will still come true."

At that, Yugi managed a small smile, but the effect was marred somewhat by the tears he was fighting back. "Thanks, Grandpa," he replied shakily. "I appreciate it. But...how can you be so sure?"

Sugoroku's responding grin was wide enough to split his wrinkled face, the corners of his eyes crinkling up. "Because this is here," he answered cheerfully. And he uncurled his fist, revealing the centerpiece with the eye on his palm.

Time, at first, seemed to be frozen, with Yugi only able to gawk at the sight. A strangled noise worked its way out of his throat, turning into one single, disbelieving word. "Grandpa...how...?"

But before Sugoroku could say anything in return, the tears Yugi had been holding back came out and he hurled himself forward, throwing his arms around his grandfather's neck and crashing against his chest. Sugoroku stumbled back, nearly tripping over his own feet in surprise, but Yugi hardly took notice, too busy half-sobbing, half-laughing hysterically into his neck. "Oh, thank you!" he choked out. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! You found it! You found it! You're the best, Grandpa, you're the—the—"

And then he dissolved into incomprehensible blubbering again, too overwhelmed by relief and gratitude to properly speak.

"Whoa, whoa there!" Once he'd gotten over the shock of having been barreled into, Sugoroku could only chuckle lightly as he reached down to pat his grandson's back. "Easy. You're welcome, Yugi. But to tell you the truth, it wasn't me who found it."

"—Huh?" Yugi stopped in the middle of his babbling to glance up, confused. He wiped his eyes dry with the back of his hand, now a little embarrassed at his crying. "What do you mean?"

Sugoroku smiled down at him. "Just a few hours ago, someone came by the shop with this," he replied, holding out the piece again. Yugi took it, handling it almost reverently. "He said he was a friend of yours, and asked me to give it to you. He looked a little funny—soaked all over, probably from the rain."

"Oh..." Yugi breathed, though he was really only half-listening, and thus didn't hear the small shifting noise as his grandfather discreetly slid something into his backpack—an envelope of yen to pay the bully he'd been told about from the piece's giver, knowing the school board would turn a blind eye to it as always if reported. His eyes were fixed almost entirely on the precious final part of the Puzzle now in his hands, gleaming with that eye symbol at its heart. He wondered, briefly, who it could have been, but immediately discarded the thought as soon as it had formed. It didn't matter, not now. What mattered was that the last piece wasn't gone, after all. Whoever you are, though...thank you.

"Well," Sugoroku began, breaking Yugi out of his temporary reverie. He looked back and forth between him and the clock on the wall, scratching the back of his head. "I think it's about time we both head off to bed. Good night, Yugi."

"Good night, Grandpa," Yugi responded, returning his smile as he left, the door closing behind him. "Thanks again!"

As he pulled the door shut quietly behind him, Sugoroku allowed himself a small smile as he padded off to his own room, hands folded behind his back. Just as he'd thought, his grandson really was a clever one, enough to be able to do what so many others had failed in. Perhaps he really would be the heir of the Shadow Games, to pass judgement over evil as predicted on the box. He knew from personal experience that such games weren't mere myths, after all.

Without any further prompting, he turned back to the Puzzle once more and held up the centerpiece over it, now steeling himself for the moment he'd awaited so long. He gulped, fingers starting to shake as he slowly rotated the little centerpiece in the light from his lamp, just inches above its gap in the Puzzle. It flashed a brilliant white.

"This is it," Yugi whispered to himself. He brought the piece closer, closer to the hole until it was hovering above it by just half an inch. His hand was trembling so badly it was a miracle he didn't drop it then. "The Millennium Puzzle...it'll finally be completed."

He let the last word hang in the air, as the world and time itself seemed to freeze around him. It felt, now, as if there was nothing that mattered left except him and this one part for this one Puzzle. Breath held in his throat, heart pulsing far more wildly than it should have, he slowly slid the piece into the puzzle's center.

Click.

That one noise was small and light, and for one agonizingly long moment, nothing happened.

But he only had time to register the mental question why, this time, it had been a click and not a snap as it had been with the rest, before the eye on the piece lit up with a glow, bursting into blinding light that seemed to be coming from the heart of the puzzle itself. The light then just as quickly gave way to darkness, plunging everything into it until Yugi Mutou, sixteen-year-old Domino High School student, knew no more.

Author's Notes:

So this is my first attempt at a gender-change/Rule 63 fic. In this case, Yami is the one gender-changed. The plot will mostly follow the canon storyline, starting from the beginning of the manga, to explore the differences that would've come into effect had Yami been female (and only Yami).

Feedback on this idea and how well I'm doing with it is greatly appreciated, so please drop a review and let me know if you want to see more or not.