The youngest son of the Moto family sat on the living room floor, counting as his older brother ran to hide.
His parents watched the two boys play the game of Hide and Seek Tag, warm smiles on their faces.
Neither one of them could have been any happier.
" Yugi! " Their eldest son called out to his brother. " You'll never find me here! "
Yugi chuckled but continued counting.
Yugi peeked through his hands to look at his parents, his parents would always give him hints as to where his older brother was hiding. He frowned, they weren't paying attention!
Well, it looks like I'm going to have to find him on my own this time.
" Ready or not, here I come! " Yugi called to his older brother.
He looked over at his parents once more, awaiting their hints.
His father smiled at Yugi and winked, gesturing towards the kitchen with his head.
" He's that direction. " He mouthed.
Yugi's eyes brightened and he nodded, running off to find his brother making sure to open and close doors and cabinets to make it sound like he was looking for his brother even though he thought he knew exactly where he was. Why else would a shoelace be seen dangling, caught in between the cabinet door underneath the sink?
Yugi saw his parents hugging and kissing one another from the corner of his eye. He pretended to choke himself in disgust. He hated when they did mushy stuff like that.
They saw this and laughed.
Yugi smiled, loving the sound of their happiness.
He spotted the gold necklace that his father always wore around his neck shine in the light of the fire they had lit in their fireplace and wondered why he chose to wear it all the time, it looked extremely heavy to young Yugi.
He shrugged and returned his focus to the game he was playing with his older brother. He threw open the sink doors to see his brother cowering in the back, holding his breath to try and keep his brother from finding him.
His brother's eyes widened.
" How'd you find me? " He asked, then he remembered that they were playing Hide and Seek Tag and shot out from underneath the sink.
" Come on Yugi! Now you have to catch me! " His brother cried.
Yugi chased him around the house for a while before his brother decided to run around outside for more room.
Yugi ran out after him, laughing.
His brother ran, laughing too.
Yugi finally managed to catch up to him when his brother stopped to catch his breath.
Yugi put his hand on his brother's arm.
" You're it now. " He grinned. He started to take off at a run for his brother to try and catch him but his brother didn't move.
He frowned, what was his big brother staring at? Why wasn't he playing Hide and Seek Tag anymore?
Suddenly his brother pivoted on his feet to face his brother, fear in his eyes.
That's when Yugi saw the smoke and the red-orange flames through the windows of their house.
His eyes widened, he was old enough to know what that meant. The house was on fire. His parents were inside.
His brother looked around franticly. Suddenly he grabbed Yugi's wrist and dragged him over to their mother's gardening shed, where he hid Yugi underneath their old table that had broken years ago.
" Yugi, listen to me. You need to stay here, where it's safe. I'm going to go help Mom and Dad. Don't cry Yug'…it's going to be okay. " His brother flashed him a grin and patted him on the shoulder.
His brother ran out the door before Yugi could even speak.
Yugi waited for what felt like eternity, alone and scared. He wanted his brother and parents.
He wanted to cry, to run out of the shed to see what was going on, to see his family but he reminded himself that his brother had told him to stay where he was.
He wasn't going to disobey his brother.
" Marik! I should have known…" Came is father's voice from outside the shed.
Marik? Who was that?
He heard someone chuckle darkly.
" You remembered. You should already know why I'm here and … what I want from you, Moto. "
" You're not getting the Millennium Ring, Marik. "
" I didn't expect you to just hand it over…that's why I'm going to duel you for it. "
" Duel me? Fine. Let us end this, once and for all. "
" I knew you wouldn't refuse, Moto. There is only one exception. "
" What would that be? "
" The loser gets sent to the Shadow Realm. "
" John – " Yugi heard his mother sob.
" Hush, love…I won't let him beat me…" Yugi's father hushed her gently.
" But – "
" It's going to be alright…trust me. "
" So? What's the answer? " The man named Marik, asked impatiently.
" I'll duel you. Prepare to be sent to the Shadow Realm Marik! "
Marik chuckled darkly.
" I don't think so. "
Yugi found a crack between the wood planks in the greenhouse and peered out with fearful eyes.
" Dad -! " Exclaimed Yugi's brother, taking a step foreword and reaching for his father.
But before he could reach them, their dad and the man called Marik disappeared from sight, surrounded by a purple smoke.
Yugi gasped quietly.
Where had they gone?
It seemed like hours since Yugi watched his father and the mysterious man disappeared in a cloud of purple.
His mother and brother were whispering to one another, Yugi only caught a couple words though.
" Where's your brother? " His mother asked Yugi's older brother.
" Safe…don't worry. He's in the greenhouse. " His brother whispered back.
Yugi shivered in the greenhouse from the cold air flowing in. He wished this never happened.
He wanted to run out to his mom and brother, for them to tell him everything would be all right.
But something told him not to move, to stay there and wait until his dad came back.
He had nearly fallen asleep against the table, his eyes still glued to the slit in the wood, his only connection to the world outside the greenhouse, when he heard his mother and older brother gasp.
He jolted awake and peered out the slot, trying to see what was going on.
Unfortunately his visibility was limited, so he couldn't see everything but what he saw chilled him to the bone.
The smoke went away, and in its place stood Marik and his father. A dragon stood on the playing field, his father's Blue Eyes White Dragon, Yugi recalled, and a large blue monster playing on Marik's side of the duel field.
Duel Monsters…that's what they were talking about.
Yugi remembered when he played Duel Monsters with his brother this last summer. But he had never seen anything like this.
" Obelisk The Tormentor! Exterminate! " Marik screamed.
Obelisk roared a challenge and opened its mouth, a gold ball of fire appearing in its mouth.
It aimed at his father's Blue Eyes and released the ball of fire towards it.
" No! " Yugi, his mother, brother and his father screamed, all of them knowing that this duel was over and his father would loose much more than just a duel…he'd loose his life.
The fire hit the Blue Eyes with extreme force. Blue Eyes screeched before being shattered into tiny pieces.
Yugi watched his father's life points descend rapidly until it hit 0.
" No…" He sobbed, feeling the tears run down his young cheeks.
His father screamed and he collapsed to the ground.
Yugi's mother and brother cried out and ran to his side.
" You monster…" His mother sobbed, glaring at Marik in contempt.
Marik laughed insanely.
" Do you want to join him in the Shadow Realm? " He cackled, pointing an object that looked a lot like the Millennium Ring his father wore around his neck all the time, at his mother and brother.
" Why don't you introduce yourselves to the Millennium Rod? " Marik laughed.
The rod shone brightly and his mother and brother didn't even have the time to cry out when they collapsed next to Yugi's dad.
Yugi wanted to cry, run to his family, but knew he shouldn't because then Marik would kill him too.
He didn't move a muscle, hardly dared to breath, as he watched Marik kneel down next to his father and rip the Millennium Ring from his neck.
Marik held the Ring up in the air in triumph, laughing.
Yugi sobbed quietly, cowering in the corner of the greenhouse, mourning the deaths of his parents. '
" Hey, Yug'! Wake up man! It's your move! " Cried an impatient Joey Wheeler.
Yugi started in shock, snapping out of his horrible memory.
He noticed that all his friends were staring at him in concern.
" Are you alright Yugi? You look a little pale…" Tea asked.
" Y-yeah I…I'm fine…sorry to worry you guys. I was just thinking about something. "
" Thinking about how you're going to loose? " Joey smirked, mentioning their game of duel monsters.
Yugi smiled.
" No, trying to think of a cool way to beat you! " He grinned, placing the Dark Magician on the field in attack mode.
Joey paled as the Dark Magician wiped out his baby dragon.
" Aw man! "