"Happy Birthday YUGI!" Was screamed when I walked into the kitchen. My mom always threw a morning party for me. It consisted of confetti pancakes, presents, and some ice cream before I head to school. Except this birthday, I wasn't going to school. I just graduated last year and had decided to take a year off to just relax. My teen years have been nothing but hectic. School, friends, saving the world, you know, the usual. "I can't believe my baby is now eighteen!" My mom cried a little, she is a pretty emotional girl. I think that's where I get it from.
"No I can't believe it! That makes me older then old!" Grandpa laughed. My grandpa and my mom raised me after my dad, grandpa's son, left. No one really told me why, other than he didn't really want kids. I didn't really care, I had these two amazing people in my lives who love me.
"Wow! Thank you so much! I smelled the pancakes from the shower." I walked over to the table and sat down. On the table was my pancakes, yum! A glass of milk and two presents. One from Grandpa and one from mom. I reached for the one from mom, she always got me the best gifts. I opened it to reveal a new deck belt! "No way!" If you can't tell, I'm excited! "Mom I been needing one!" I smiled at her.
"I know silly! Now you can throw away that old one that you don't even use anymore." She smiled at me, those words hurt, though I didn't let her know. You see, I didn't pick out that belt, the Pharaoh did, I mean Atem. He thought it was cool looking and so I bought it, he was so excited to see that I got it. He lived inside that puzzle for thousands of years, I felt bad for him, so whenever I got the chance, I allowed him to pick out things to have. Even though in the end, they stayed with me, while he didn't.
Grandpa must have seen the sad eyes I had. "Now now! What Yugi does with his stuff is none of our business. At least he keeps the shop and his room clean. We should appreciate that." He smiled and handed me the gift from him. My mother nodded and walked away to check on another batch of pancakes as I opened it. When I opened the box it was in, my heart broke and tears came to my eyes. It was a picture of the Phar, I mean Atem. Sorry I do that a lot. I looked up at Grandpa and he smiled. "I knew you would like this. It was the best one I could find on that darn internet you kids play on all the time."
"Grandpa!" I hugged him. He was the only one who knew how much the Pharaoh meant to me. Afterall, he was the one who gave me the puzzle. He was the one who would come to my room late at night and told us both to go to bed. He was the one I cried to when we got home from Egypt over two years ago. I told him that I actually loved Atem, that I didn't know why or how, but that I had fallen in love with him. Not in a sexual way, but in a way that left me so empty. I can't explain the feelings, no one can. "Where was this taken?" I pulled out of our embrace and wiped my eyes.
"Kaiba's tornament in America. The one I was in." He smiled and winked. "There were so many cameras, one of them got this picture of him." He pointed to the picture. I remembered it now. Atem was standing up on the stage after he won his duel against Leon. There he was standing there, smiling at one of the cameras. He normally didn't let the paparazzi capture him, but there were so many people at the grand opening of Kaiba Land USA, that it ended up happening. Of course that one person captured his smile perfectly. He loved dueling, even more then he loved any other game back in Egypt. He told me that how Pegasus captured Duel Monsters from his time was way better. The smile he had was the pride, the passion, the fighting spirit, of well, his spirit.
"Thank you grandpa." I hugged the picture just as my mom walked back with the remaining pancakes.
"Did gramps finally out do me with the presents?" She asked as she placed the pancakes on the table.
"No way mom! You always out do yourself." I lied, she actually was beat for once. "I can't wait to build a new deck and put it in this!" I said as I picked up the belt. I ate my pancakes and enjoyed small chit chat with my mom and grandpa. It was then I realized the time. "Oh no!" I bolted up and grabbed my jacket from off the chair. "I am going to be so late! Sorry mom, sorry gramps, but I have an appointment and need to get there asap." I bolted out the door and down the street. I can't be late for this.
I finally arrived, though a couple minutes late. I looked up at the sign and smiled. I was at Inking Dragon, it was a tattoo parlor. I had been waiting for this day for two years. I was finally going to get a tattoo. I walked inside and was greeted by a tall man, way taller than me. I would say about six foot two, and of course I am barely five foot three so that's a big difference. "Hi there, how may I help ya?" He asked me with a scraggly voice. He must smoke, not only because of his voice but because he also smelled heavily of smoke.
"Uh yes. My name is Yugi Muto, I have an appointment." I answered as I walked over to the counter.
"Ah yes! Your getting two correct?" I nodded. "Normally we don't do that, but the boss said that you are getting two small ones and both are in different parts of the body." He looked me over up and down, I guess trying to figure out what a kid like me was doing in here. I didn't look eighteen. "Do you have an I.D?" I saw that coming. I handed it over to him and he took it. "Happy Birthday Yugi." He smiled and nodded to the back. I followed him and sat down in the chair he pointed to. "So what and where do you want these tats?"
"Well the first one is custom made, I drew it a while back. I want it on my upper arm." I took my jacket off and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him. "I also want one on my back that has the dates April fourth two thousand to September thirteith two thousand and four. With the words forever remembered. Nothing fancy."
"Nice drawing, kid. I can do this." He smiled and was prepping it all. "Get your shirt off, the back will be the fastest. Also sorry for your loss." He looked at me with sad eyes. "Too young to go." He nodded and continued to finish prepping the ink. He has a point, I am putting down just four years. That's one reason why I am getting that on my back. I figured people would assume that and give me sympothy or worse questions. Those were the dates that we spent from beginning to end. I solved the puzzle in April and he left in September, over four years later. Those dates and everything in between mean a lot to me, I want him to be remembered by us all. The other one, well, that is something that I think even Atem would disagree with. "Alright you ready, kid?" I nodded and pulled my shirt off. "This is going to hurt. But don't worry, you look to be tough."
It hurt so bad, my shoulder blade was on fire it felt. I was crying a little bit and it was just a small tattoo. Oh and let me tell you about the arm. Though it didn't hurt as much, I had to be completely still and that is not easy! I hate not moving around. It took almost 2 hours to do both, but once it was all done, I fell in love. "It's perfect!" I said looking at my arm. "It's my picture on my arm." I smiled big. He even captured the font right! "Thank you so much! Uhm..." I didn't know his name! "I never caught your name."
"No problem, kid! It's what I do." He held his hand out. "The name is Hiroshi. But you can call me Hiro." I took his hand and shook it. "Now you take good care of those and make sure you put this cream on it daily." He handed me a tube, some directions for cleaning, and a receipt. I had paid last week when I made the phone call so that way it would be done and over with.
"Thank you again, Hiro." I bowed and left the parlor. Pulling out my phone to take it off silent I saw a ton of texts from Joey. "Oh NO! I totally forgot we were suppose to do lunch and hang at his place for the day." He wanted to play games. Great! Now he is going to see my tattoos. Oh well, guess I can't hide them forever. I dialed his number and waited for him to answer.
"Hello!" Joey spoke on the other end. "Yugi where are ya man?"
"Hey Joey, sorry about all that. I was busy and had my phone on silent." I apoligized, I really didn't mean to over book myself. I rarely do that.
"It's cool, it's your birthday. You do what you want."
"Well Joey I am free now, do you want to meet somewhere and eat and then head to your place?" I asked him hoping he still wanted to hang out. I wouldn't want to after being ignored most of the day.
"Yeah! But how 'bout you come to my place and we just play. I got pizza ordered and am all by myself. I need some human interaction." Joey responded. He sounded tired. Joey worked the night shift as a security guard, he was good at it too. But it wore him out, he only saw two other people four days a week the rest of the time he was sleeping, eating, or cleaning. Sometimes dueling. He enjoyed his job, but it got pretty lonely he has told me a few times.
"Well Joey, I am on my way!" I smiled. I really missed seeing him daily. "I will be there in about fifteen minutes."
"Awesome! See ya soon, Yug'!" He and I hung up at the same time. I started walking faster to Joey's place. We haven't had any time to hang out or anything for over a month. He worked a lot of and I had just finished a duel tornament. It was just him and I in Domino now, so anytime we got to see each other, I took. Tea went to America last year after she graduated to study dance in New York. I hear from her every once in a while but being a day behind us and having a lot of studying to do on top of practicing, she was super busy. Tristan moved to Tokyo with Serenity, he got out from under his dad and his local business and was able to get a job as a motorcyle mechanic. He got really excited when he heard that they were considering making a duel disk in the form of a motorcycle. He said he would take up Duel Monsters when that happens.
When I arrived at Joey's I knocked on his door. I heard some rustling, a couple volgure words, and then he opened the door. "Yugi!" Joey grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. "Man it's been forever!"
"Yeah, I know!" He squeezed me tighter which put pressure on my left arm. "Oh Joey!" It was really starting to hurt.
"Oh sorry, Yug'" He put me down and noticed I was rubbing my upper arm. "Are you ok?" He asked worried.
"Yeah, I just sorta," I stopped. Should I tell him that I got a tattoo or should I wait. What would Joey think of me if he saw the one on my arm. But I don't like keeping secrets from my friends, so I guess, I should tell him. "I got a tattoo." I said quickly.
"What?" Joey looked taken back. "A tattoo?" I nodded, too ashamed to look up at him. "What kind of tattoo did you get?" I heard him relax, maybe he would be ok with it.
"Actually, two tattoos." I looked up at him and saw that he still looked surprise but not like I thought he would. "They are my birthday presents to me, I been wanting them for two years."
Joey looked down at me a smiled. "Something to do with Atem I take it." He winked and walked down to his living room. "Follow me Yugi, I wanna see them in better light." I followed him and saw that his living room had two boxes of pizzas, one was empty, the other only half. Joey was a pig! His house was clean though so at least he had that. He sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to him. "Come on! I gotta see these." He smiled.
I walked over to the couch and took off my jacket, not revealing my left arm, that I wanted to save for last. "Don't look at my arm, that one is special. Let me show you my back first." Joey nodded and waited till I told him to look as I took off my shirt. "Okay you can look." I didn't see his expression but I heard his gasp, his breathing was different too. I felt him touch it and tried not to flinch. I may not have seen his face, but I know he was mesmorized. When I didn't feel his hand on my back anymore, I put my shirt back on. "Well what do you think?" I faced him and saw that he was crying!
"Yugi." He wiped the tears from his eyes. "That is perfect! I didn't know you knew the dates." He smiled at me.
Nodding I responded. "Yeah, how could I not remember the day my wish came true and the day it was taken from me." I tried to hold back tears.
"I think that's perfect! I mean, it's simple and sweet."
"Thank you Joey. I was afraid you would be mad at me for doing this." I lowered my head once again, ashamed of what he may really think.
"No! You're a grown man now! You can do whatever you want! Besides, it's a perfect tribute to him! I know he would love it!" Joey put his hand on my shoulder and smiled.
"I am not so sure he would like the other one." I looked at him. "Remember what he told me when he left?"
"Uhmm." Joey thought hard and long then finally shook his head.
"He said, that he was no longer Mou Hitori no Boku. For there is no other Yugi but me." I sighed. "However, to me, he will always be the other me. Not because he is another Yugi," I held back the tears. "But because he was a part of me, a part of me I needed. I still need sometimes." I showed him my left arm and revealed my tattoo. It was the words "Mou Hitori" on top, the Millenium Puzzle was underneath it, I was able to draw the front of it based off of pictures of me wearing it. Underneath the puzzle was the words "No Boku". For you see, that puzzle, those words, forever are with me.
"Dude!" He held my arm and looked long and hard at it. "This is just amazing! Did you make this yourself?" I nodded. "Wow, Yugi. This is perfect." He started to laugh. I looked at him and gave him a funny look.
"Why are you laughing?" I asked harsher than I meant to.
"Your right, Atem would hate it!" Joey said in between laughs. I couldn't help but start to laugh with him. After a few minutes we were leaning against each other, back to back, red in the face. "Really though Yugi. He would love it." Joey said, I could hear a smile on his face.
"You think so?" I asked, I felt him nod. "I miss him, Joey." I stood up and looked at him. "I miss him so much!" I started to cry and Joey came over and hugged him.
"I know you do, I know."
After I stopped crying Joey and I played some video games and ate pizza. It started to get late and I had gotten a text from my mom, saying to get home soon. So once we finished our last round, we separated for the night. "Good night Yugi! Also happy birthday!" I heard Joey call down the road as I walked home.
Once I arrived home, I got into some pjs, and laid down. It had been a long day and I was tired. I had placed the photo of the Pharaoh on my desk, facing towards me. His smile stared at me. On my desk, in that exact spot, he would sit or lean on, and watch me sleep. I don't know if he knew I knew he was watching me sleep, but I did. "Good night Pharaoh. I hope you had a good day." I rolled over and closed my eyes, allowing one last tear to fall. It was in fact a good day for me, even though he wasn't there.
As I slipped into my dreams, a flash of light overcame me, and I was all of a sudden in a white room. It was so bright, but I could see something in front of me form. Before I knew it, there he was, "Pharaoh!" I ran towards him and lept into his arms. Embracing him before he could even process it. "It's you!" I cried into his neck. I felt him put his arms around me and pull me tighter into a hug.
"Aibou." I heard his voice speak, it was the same, never once did it change. He was the same, his smell, his warmth, his voice. It was all the same. I only got to experience it all once, just before he left, but I remembered it so well.
Though I didn't want to end the hug, I pulled back and looked him in the eyes. He was still smiling at me. "It's you." I repeated. He was dressed in my old school uniform, the navy jacket, the black shirt underneath it, and the black pants. He looked just the same as when I last saw him. He even didn't have the dark skin color. I wasn't going to question any of it. He was right here in front of me!
He nodded. "Yes, it's me. Who else would it be?" He chuckled.
"Am I dreaming?" I asked.
"No. This is real. We are inside your mind, once again." Atem placed his hands on my shoulders. "I wanted to see you, before the day was over."
"Why?"
He chuckled again. His deep voice carried a chuckle like no other. "Because it's your birthday!" He smiled. "This birthday is special because it means your a man."
I just stood there, having so much to say, and yet couldn't say a single word. "Pharaoh, I mean, Atem." He put his fingers on my lips.
"You can call me whatever you want, it doesn't matter to me."
"Mou Hitori no Boku." I smiled.
"I saw the tattoos." I was waiting for that. "And though I don't like you getting them, I am honored that you wanted to remember me like that. I never fully realized what those words meant, till I heard you tell Joey today." He sighed.
"I can't stop thinking of you, daily. It still hurts, after two years." I allowed the tears to come, for the first time since our duel, I cried willingly. I didn't fight it. I felt him embrace me again and he leaned my head into his chest. I cried, what seemed like hours. I couldn't stop crying.
"I know. I miss you too. This isn't what I thought would happen. I never knew finding my memories would mean leaving you." He said as he held me. "But I am so thankful that you allowed me to find them and that you shared your memories with me as well." He pulled me away once the tears had slowed down and looked me in the eyes. "Though I am not with you, physically. I am still with you." He wiped the tears off my face and from under my eyes. "I never will leave you nor have I left you. I am right here," he pointed to my heart. "in your heart. You can't forget about me." He smiled.
"I can't, it's impossible. How can two people share a body, a mind, a connection like us? And forget about the other?" I asked him.
"They can't. Though my life and memories of the past are great to have, and I cherish them. I do!" He made a point of that, I could tell by the tone of his voice. "My memories of you, are what come to me often. I don't stop thinking of you." He looked away from me.
"Mou Hitori no Boku?" I looked at him, worried that our time was being cut short.
"Aibou. The tattoos are perfect, Joey was wrong, I don't hate them. I am glad that I can be with you, in another form. I am also glad to have known you, to have you in my heart and mind forever." He sighed. I knew it. "It is time, morning is coming and you have a new day ahead of you." He looked back at me. "Happy Birthday, Yugi." He smiled and started to disappear. For the first time in over two years, I didn't cry when he left, when I thought of him leaving. Because his words still played in my head. "In your heart." That was where he was, even though I didn't see him, I felt him. Now even with my tattoo that I could see daily, I was reminded of him. He was there with me.
"Thank you, Mou Hitori no Boku. You are on my heart forever, just like, a tattoo."