Pieces of the Puzzle
He couldn't hear. He couldn't see. All he had was a vague feeling that he was standing. Waiting. In the darkness.
"Where am I," he tried to say. And yet his voice didn't make a sound. He frowned and tried again. "Hello?"
There was no voice and there was no answer. He didn't know how long he lingered in the darkness. Seconds stretched into minutes and minutes became hours. He shuffled his feet almost impatiently but dared not tred forward in fear of tripping over something. Longer he waited still.
Finally, a small flutter reached his ears. It was quick and light, almost like a butterfly. Then a soft blue glow breached the darkness and danced towards him. A small, soundless start left his lips. It was a butterfly.
'Only one of you is awake...'
His eyes widened as he heard the butterfly speak. Not in actual words or sounds but he could feel it's words inside his mind. The voice felt soft and gentle. Warm, even.
'A great evil awaits, aching to use the shadows to overthrow the world. If you are hearing my voice, then you still have a chance. Awaken the other and let light be your salvation.'
Hands slammed down on Yugi's desk. The teenager jolted violently, his amethyst eyes flying open as he recoiled backwards in his chair. For a brief moment, his mind was entirely blank as it tried to process the threat. It wouldn't have been the first time he had been bullied and it certainly wasn't going to be his last.
His gaze had instead caught sight of his English teacher, Chono. She was a beautiful teacher but also very cruel. Her favored name by the student populace was The Wicked Witch of Expulsion. Her title alone made it known what torment she favored in. Beauty often hid ugly things.
"Sleeping in class, you little twerp?"
Ms. Chono's blue-gray eyes were upturned as she gave him a sweet, closed-eyed smile that did little to match her next words. "Keep this up and I'll see about the principal expelling you."
Yugi's face heated up as he looked down at the desk in search of facing anywhere but her. "S-sorry, sensei..."
This was probably the only class he could get reprimanded in and not have any of the students laugh at him. It was a testament of how much they all loathed their teacher, for even Jonouchi and Honda, two bullies in Yugi's grade, were silent and glaring. Ms. Chono's sweet tone was given an extra layer of sugar as she leaned forward on the desk, to which Yugi couldn't help but pull away from.
"Please, do let it happen again."
Then the Wicked Witch was gone. She went striding back up to the chalk board and turned around with a sweep of her bright red hair. "Now, to catch Mutou up to speed, English has a few consonants that they use that we do not..."
Yugi found himself naturally tuning her out as he tried focusing on the dream he had before she had waken him up. Most of the details escaped him. All he could recall was darkness and... a butterfly? Something in his heart told him that the dream was really important.
A few classes later and school was over. Yugi took the chance to bolt towards the door before Jonouchi could catch him. He shrugged his backpack over his shoulders as he used his short height as an advantage to weave through the overcrowded hallways. Once he was out of the building, Yugi released a huge sigh of relief and slowed to his normal gait. He had been pretty good at avoiding his bullies as of late and even if he couldn't avoid them, Anzu being there usually made them back off. Then she would tell him to report them so the school would do something about it.
Yugi just couldn't. Honda and Jonouchi probably had a reason behind all of their nastiness, even if he doubted it at times. He didn't want either of them suspended or expelled but he also couldn't fight back or stand up for himself. Yugi was weak and he knew it... He wanted to change, truly, but he didn't have the courage to even try.
He pulled out of his thoughts when the Kame Game shop and home came into sight. Yugi hadn't realized how absorbed in his thoughts he was until then. He smiled softly to himself. At least his feet knew where to take him.
The bell chimed as he pushed the door open. Sugoroku, his grandfather, rose up from behind the desk with a game box in his hands
"Oh, Yugi." The elderly man smiled. "Welcome home."
"Hi, grandpa." Yugi adjusted his bag as he approached the counter. "Is mom home?"
"She went out to get some groceries. Are you going to go get started on the Millennium Puzzle?"
Yugi had bounded towards the stairs with purpose until Sugoroku asked. Then he paused to respond with a quick, "Yeah," already having an idea on what his grandpa might say.
"I'm telling you, that Puzzle is cursed Yugi. Who knows how many other people had died trying to solve it. And you must be really intelligent to try."
"I know, grandpa. You've already told me hundreds of times." Shaking his head, Yugi kept hurrying up the stairs as he felt Sugoroku's eyes follow him up.
He threw his bag on the bed, ignoring the wooden clunk as a couple of his games collided with each other. Nothing in his bag was breakable, which was way he bothered taking them to school. Instead, his purple gaze had drifted towards his study desk where a shiny, golden box sat proudly on it's surface. Hieroglyphics were decorated on all six sides while the front of the box had what Sugoroku called the Eye of Wadjet*.
What was inside the box was what Yugi had taken to as his treasure. He approached the desk and ran his fingers over the container's carvings with admiration. Eight years he have had this and yet he still couldn't help but marvel it's historic beauty. This box had survived 3,000 years, according to Sugoroku.
He gently pried the lid off of the box and stared at the inside. Golden pieces were littered within, sparkling mystically from the rays of sun that entered through Yugi's skylights. It was a puzzle and one Yugi had never solved ever since finding it in the basement eight years ago. It wasn't for lack of trying, as he had spent countless night trying to hook one piece up with another. And he didn't dare give up because this puzzle was his treasure and not because it seemed to be made entirely of gold.
In a way, it felt like it called to Yugi. It was an as though it were an itch he couldn't scratch and even if he tried pushing the puzzle from his mind, it always lingered in the back, waiting for him to return for it.
Concentration was aligned heavily on Yugi's face as he sat down and nimbly picked up the pieces. He will solve this puzzle some day. He will.
'Maybe if I turn it like th-? No, that won't work. What if I try...? That's no good either. How about... hm, no good...'
Yugi was entirely incognizant as the sun faded into dusk. It was teetering at the edge of nightfall when a yawn escaped past his lips and Yugi rested his head against the desk with his fingers curling around pieces of the puzzle in an almost protective hold. A faint knock sounded on his door as his mother peered her head in. "Yugi, there's din..."
She drifted off when she found her son sitting with his head resting on the desk. A sigh escaped her as she shut the door once more and shook her head. She had told him many times that he would hurt his neck sleeping like that and more than once, he had awoken in the morning rubbing his mentioned neck with a wince. And now he was missing dinner.
"I'll have to save some in the fridge for him," she muttered and went walking back to the dining room where Sugoroku was waiting.
Yugi blinked, having found himself in quite a strange place. He was in what looked to be a blue room, filled almost entirely with toys and games of the same color but with different hues. A glance around showed him that to his back was an equally strange door. Although blue like the rest of the room, it was shades darker and seemed to be made of stone with the Eye of Anubis* planted firmly on it's surface. Why was that here?
A low, rumbling chuckle filled the air and Yugi whipped around to find a balding man sitting at an office desk at the center of the room. The teenager blanched, wondering how he had overlooked such a person when he stuck out so much. The man's eyes were wide and bloodshot, staring at him from over a long, curved nose with a leering grin stretched over his face. He was wearing a black suit with his white gloved fingers knitted together.
And by his side stood a woman in a dark blue military coat, the buttons adorned in gold with a V embroidered on the high collar. Both her hands were in front of her as she held a book in them, her attire completed with black stockings, blue heel straps, and her silver hair held back by a headband with a singular butterfly on it as her bangs framed her face. Her sharp, golden eyes were focused on Yugi with a nearly scary intensity that made him feel sweat bead on his brow.
"Curious?" the man spoke. Yugi nearly jumped out of his skin at how deep and... not spooky the man's voice was. Contrary to his bizarre appearance, he seemed quite sane and civil. "I'm afraid that the door will be remaining closed for now."
For now, he had said. Yugi wasn't even sure he did want it to be opened, seeing how ominous it was.
"Who... who are you?" He glanced around the blue room once more. "Where am I?"
"Ah, of course. How rude of me. My name is Igor and by my side is Geneve. And you're in the Velvet Room."
"Velvet... Room?"
Geneve took a step forward as she spoke up. Listening to her was as though witnessing ice and fire clash with one another. Her tone was cold and harsh enough that it sent chills down Yugi's spine and yet her face had soften at his stricken expression, warming his heart at the thought that she might be doing it at his best interest. Whatever that was.
"Yes. Because you have signed a contract, you are able to visit the Velvet Room as a Guest. It is a space between consciousness and unconsciousness. Mind and matter. It takes the form of what best reflect your heart and as you can see, it has taken the image of your soul room."
"My soul room?"
"You will find that out at a later date." Igor leaned forward. "As of now, I am only able to give advice. You and another are the only ones who have the destiny to rid the darkness that threatens to destroy humanity. The toys and games in this room inform me of your kind innocence and intellect but I'm afraid you will need more than that to save the world."
"H-hold on! Save the world!? Me!?"
A familiar ringing sound made all three people within the room look up. Yugi's brows knitted together as he tried to find the source but to no avail.
"I see that's all the time we have for tonight. Igor sat back in his chair. "We will meet again soon."
"Wait! What did you mean by saving the world!?"
The room rippled around Yugi and then faded away as the ringing noise became ever louder.
Even without opening his eyelids, Yugi could feel the morning sunshine on his face. He squeezed his eyes shut even more in protest against the time before relenting. He slowly blinked his eyes open as his alarm clock rang from beside his bed.
'Oh... that's where that noise had come from...'
He sat back in his chair and have dimly realized that he had fallen asleep at his desk before his thoughts fell back to his dream. No, was that even a dream? It felt too vivid. Too real.
'Destiny... Darkness...'
Yugi sighed while he rubbed his eyes. He didn't understand any of it.
"Yugi! Yugi, wake up!"
He jumped in his seat as the door flew open. A sharp cry left him as he found himself on the floor staring at the face of his mother.
"I was already awake..." he chuckled weakly.
"If you're awake then turn off your alarm." She slammed her hand on the small clock on his nightstand, effectively silencing the machine and walked off. The teenager picked himself up off the floor and got dressed in an outfit similar to the one he had on the day before. As he pulled games from the backpack that had been discarded yesterday, he searched around the room for something else to take with him. His eyes settled on his Egyptian box.
"Eh... why not?" he asked aloud, striding over to the desk to place the golden pieces back into the container and gingerly placed it in his backpack. Then he shoved a small barrel, plastic swords, and a small wooden pirate into his bag shortly after. Bluebeard's Attack* would be a great way to spend some time today.
He slung the bag over his shoulder and hurried into the hall. Yugi's stomach was gnawing at his insides, making him mentally curse at himself for falling asleep before dinner the night before. He dropped his bag at the table in order to rifle through the fridge for leftovers and stuck a portion of it in the microwave. There was enough for him to even take to school as well.
He quickly scarfed down what he could and packed his lunch then was leaving through the door with a quick "bye!" to Sugoroku, who was barely unlocking the store.
The walk to school was relatively peaceful. The birds were being exceptionally chatty today. The dream he had was currently dismissed in favor making sure that he didn't make it to school too early. His bullies might have arrived a little bit earlier since he managed to give them the slip yesterday. If Yugi timed everything right, he could make it to his seat and Kimiwaru, the homeroom teacher's, presence would be enough to keep them at bay.
'Until lunch,' he thought somberly. After all, Yugi knew that it was only a moment of time until Jonouchi and Honda caught up to him. His luck will run out.
Kimiwaru wasn't necessarily a bad teacher. He was just creepy looking with those features that seemed to small for his face. It was truly a shame because students were too unsettled to have a study session with him one-on-one. The poor history teacher was a good man.
Not that Yugi would volunteer for a study session either. He knew that he would end up impolitely staring at Kimiwaru's too small face and wished to avoid such an offensive situation.
His morning classes slipped by with Yugi's eyes glazing over as his thoughts fell to the Bluebeard's Attack that he could be playing right now. Classes were so boring and he was itching to play a game. Fusoku, the science teacher, had gently reprimanded him for daydreaming in the midst of class. Because of Yugi's usually sweet nature, the teacher was much more kinder at bringing his attention back to class than those like Chono.
His last morning class had nothing to do so it was essentially a free period. Yugi took full advantage of it and pulled out his game. It was all wasted on him poking plastic swords into the slot, making Bluebird shoot out of the barrel, take out the swords and return the wooden figure to its container, and repeat. His fingers itched for his Millennium Puzzle but he didn't dare take it out while surrounded by other students. Yugi was kind but it didn't mean that he was an idiot.
And then finally, longer than it seemed necessary, the bell had rung and the students were eager to escape the confines of their class. The boys agreed to let the girls play basketball for once and soon the room was nearly entirely cleared out.
"Hey Yugi." Takashi lingered in the doorway with the basketball in hand. The mentioned person still hadn't moved from his desk. "Don't you want to join us instead of sitting in here alone?"
Pop! Bluebird went flying as Yugi turned his attention to his fellow classmate after pushing the next sword in. "Ah, I'm fine..." His eyes drifted to the desk table. "Every team I join ends up losing..." But that wasn't his only reason.
"Alright." Takashi gave Yugi a nod of acknowledgement. Then he was gone, leaving Yugi alone.
Finally.
A smile cross his lips as Yugi shoved the game back into his bag and pulled his treasure out instead. He never did understand the riddle on the box. "It can be seen but you haven't seen it." He speculated very much that it was the puzzle itself.
A giddy feeling entered his heart as he went to pull open the lid. He'll solve it one day.
"Ha!" The box was swiped almost immediately from Yugi's grasp. A sharp gasp left his lips as he wheeled around to see Honda leering at him with the box held precariously in his hand and Jonouchi by his side. "Heheh, what are you doing alone, Yugi?"
He knew that his luck was going to run out. And he was so eager to work on the puzzle that he completely forgot about Jonouchi and Honda.
The brunette observed the box with a devious grin as he held the box up. "Huh, this must be your treasure."
"'It can be seen but you haven't seen it'," Jonouchi read. Yugi found himself getting out of his chair.
"Honda-kun, please give it back."
"I'm not sure that I want to," the bully teased.
"Honda-kun!" Yugi tried reaching the box but to no avail. Honda, seeming to want to further antagonise the teenager, tossing it into the air.
"And he passes to Jonouchi!"
Panic filled Yugi's being. They were throwing his treasure! "W-wait, that's valuable to me!"
Jonouchi lazily raised his hand and caught it with ease. Yugi relaxed at least a little but he still wasn't sure how to feel about the situation. On one hand, he was relieved that Jonouchi caught it. On another, they were still going to taunt him with it.
"It must be pretty valuable if you're acting like such a girl about it," Jonouchi admitted as he lightly tossed it up. His brown eyes lit up when Yugi's expression became even more desperate. "But before I even think about giving this back..." A troublesome grin spread across his features. "I'll teach you how to act like a man."
"How to... what?"
"I'll give you back the box if you try with all your might to get it." Jonouchi patted his own chest. "Hit me right here."
Yugi stared at Jonouchi incredulously. Surely he didn't actually want Yugi to hit him. He definitely didn't want to.
"Well?"
"I-I can't..."
"Come on, just a little hit."
"No! I HATE FIGHTING AND VIOLENCE!"
Jonouchi covered his ears when Yugi shouted. "Jeez, so loud... but there are no guts behind it to back it up."
"Look..." Yugi held out his hand wearily. He was use to Jonouchi's antics but certainly not with his treasure in the bully's hand. "Give me back my box."
Honda and Jonouchi glanced at each other. Then a sneer formed on the former's face. "Not a chance!" Jonouchi eyed the box with at least some real curiosity.
"So what's in the box anyway?" Then, as if answering his own question, "There's only one way to find out."
The panic that Yugi had felt earlier returned in full force. He was terrified of what Jonouchi might do to his treasure. It was bad enough they were playing Keep Away with it; he feared that they might actually lose one of those precious pieces. Anything but that!
"Y-you can look but please don't lose it!" Yugi's voice became higher at the bundle of stress and worry that was filling him. "It's incredibly valuable!"
"Hah! Right," he snorted as he pulled open the lid. He blinked at the contents that were inside of it. "Huh, that's dumb." He closed it back up and tossed it towards his friend. "Here, Honda."
He was prepared to catch it before a hand deftly snatched it from him.
"If it's so dumb then give it back to Yugi," the newest person, a girl, snapped at the two bullies.
"Anzu!" Yugi had called out gratefully. She had been a friend of his since elementary.
"Picking on weaker people! You guys are the dumb ones!" Anzu's glare seemed to intensify. "Now beat it!"
"Damn you, nosy woman." Honda and Jonouchi made a break for the door. "We'll remember this!"
Yugi was never sure what made those two always flee at the sight of Anzu. It could be her hardheaded personality or the fact that she's always so confident in herself. Either way, she had what Yugi didn't and once again, she came to the rescue.
"Well here it is..." She set the golden box back down on the desk. "Your precious item."
"Thank you, Anzu!" His gaze drifted to the door as he took a seat in his chair. "But wow, that was great! One word from you and they ran!"
She pulled a chair up and sat across from him with a soft smile. "Don't flatter me, I just saw a nice guy being taken advantage of." She jerked a thumb over to the door behind her. "I didn't want them tossing you or your treasure around."
'Yeah, but you also think I'm weak...' he thought melancholically. It's not like she was entirely wrong though.
"All the guys in class are just like those two," Anzu huffed. "When the boys invited the girls to play basketball, I thought that it was weird. Basketball isn't meant for looking up girls' skirts."
A start escaped Yugi and soon after, a crimson spread rapidly over his cheeks. He actually found it a little clever on the boys' part.
"Hey, what are you imagining...?"
Crap, Anzu was giving him a dark look. He practically stammered his answer as his heart beat rapidly against his chest. "B-basketball!"
She sighed and shook her head but relented on the subject, much to Yugi's relief. Instead, she focused on the Egyptian box. "Yugi, what's in this thing anyways?"
He was really glad that she asked as opposed to just opening it. A smile rose on his face.
"Well I guess I can let you see... but you have to promise to keep it a secret."
"Yeah, yeah."
He pulled off the lid of the box and his smile grew when he watched how Anzu's face lit up at the small, precious pieces. She even picked one up to get a closer look.
"Wow, they're so pretty! And they glitter like gold... What are they parts of? They're disconnected."
"It's a puzzle!" Yugi held up pieces of his own as he was equally, if not more so, excited about his items. "I never finished it so I don't know what shape it would be. In other words, it's a thing that 'can be seen but you haven't seen it'!" 'I think,' he didn't add.
Anzu tilted her head slightly as she too regarded the puzzle pieces curiously.
"I live in a game shop so there's all sorts of rare and unusual and exotic games for sale there. This was sitting in the basement gathering dust and I found it. Now I think of this puzzle as a keepsake from my grandpa."
"K-keepsake!?" Anzu's expression faltered for a moment, not that Yugi was actually paying attention as he had closed the lid and was still fixated on his treasure.
"This puzzle was found in Egyptian ruins!"
"Egypt...?"
"Look, see these strange symbols!" He held the box up to her. "They're hieroglyphics. And with an educated guess, I think I know what they mean too." A dreamy expression came over his face. "The person who solves this puzzle will have their wish granted! I know it! But... maybe that's too fantastic though..."
His voice drifted off when he noticed Anzu staring at him. "Why are you looking at me like that? Don't tell anyone Anzu. It's just between us... It's a secret..."
She gave an easy laugh. "I know that Yugi. Trust me."
"Yeah..." He sighed and rested his chin on the desk. Anzu blinked at the sudden change of mood. "But the puzzle is very difficult... I've been trying for eight years and still haven't completed it. Sometimes it gets me down..."
"Keep at it, Yugi." Anzu winked at him. "You'll get that wish."
He lifted his head up to stare at his childhood friend for a moment. Then a grin passed over his face. "Yeah, I'll keep at it!"
She tilted her head slightly as she regarded Yugi. "Um, what is it anyways? You're wish?"
To have friends...
He couldn't very well say that. Anzu's feeling might get hurt and even though they were friends, she was always busy so they haven't hung out in so long...
"Can't tell you," he responded, giving Anzu a wink himself so his face didn't betray his thoughts. "It's an absolutely confidential secret! Sealed forever in an ultra-tight vacuum pack!"
She chuckled at his response.
"Crap, what a nerd..." Jonouchi had his hands shoved in his pockets as he and Honda walked down the hallway. He was venting out his frustration. "And that nosy woman! Who's picking on weaker people!?"
"Jonouchi..." Honda huffed. "That would be us."
Neither of them noticed the imposing figure standing in their way until they actually walked into it. Both of the boys took a step back, Honda becoming more uneasy than his partner. They had ran into the hall monitor Tetsu Ushio, a man larger and more powerful than them. He wasn't even sure that Jonouchi could beat him in a fight.
"What do you mean, 'picking on'?" Ushio demanded, glowering down at the two of them.
Jonouchi grit his teeth. First Mazaki and now this guy!? "I might've meant you," he growled. "Move it-"
Honda clamped a hand around Jonouchi's mouth as he grinned at the obelisk standing before them. Now he had to save their skins. "We didn't mean anything!"
"Hmph, bullying is wrong," Ushio stated, ignoring the strings of "mmph!" Jonouchi was releasing.
"Yeah, that's true! That's very, very true!"
The imposing figure turned and went walking back from wence it came. When he was out of earshot, Honda released Jonouchi and sighed in relief. "He's gone... He's gone..."
Jonouchi gasped for air and glared at the very person who was depriving him from it. "You jerk, that hurt!"
"Heh... that was scary."
Jonouchi whipped away from Hinda to shake his fist and the hall monitor's retreating back. "Ushioooo! Someday, I'll fight you!"
Honda sighed at his best friend. "Well, now there's nothing to do..."
"Oh yeah," Jonouchi smiled. "I have something."
"Oh? What is it?"
He held out a golden piece from Yugi's box. An eye of some sort. "While I was looking at Yugi's treasure, I secretly took this. I don't think he'll notice that it's gone but that puzzle is useless without this!" He curled his fingers around the eye with a mean smirk. "Now his riddle will become 'it is a treasure but a treasure that is lost'."
"Wow, Jonouchi-kun! That's slick!" Honda laughed.
"And as for this thing..." He hurled it out the window of the school. "Take that!" Jonouchi watched as the puzzle piece went sailing through the air only to fall with a satisfying splash into the school pool. "Bahahaha! That felt good!"
'Tch, this "treasure" stuff...' Jonouchi thought as he watched where the puzzle had gone. 'It's more like a rotten jerk! That's the sort of stuff that makes me sick.'
He turned away from the window and shoved his hands back into his pockets. "C'mon, let's go."
The school bell toiled, informing the school body that it was time to go home. Yugi didn't need to worry about Jonouchi and Honda because they probably got their fill of him for today. Besides, he wanted to go home and try finishing his puzzle again. He barely made it past the school gates when a voice made him stop.
"You're Yugi-kun, right?"
Yugi turned around curiously to see who had called his name. A person he didn't recognize was standing there, the behemoth practically towering over Yugi. He knew he was short for his age and probably would barely even make it close to average height when he grew but he never felt so small next to a person before. The look in the person's dark eyes seemed to look at him as though he were nothing more than something to squash. Remembering that the person had asked a question, he slowly tried to relax. "Yes..."
"I'm Ushio, from the morals committee. I'd like to ask you some questions... Like, have you been picked on by anyone in your class?"
Yugi blinked in surprise as his thoughts flickered to Honda and Jonouchi. Yugi may be small and weak though but he certainly wasn't a snitch.
"Eh... no, I haven't..." He tried keeping his voice even but it faltered and became meek underneath the intense gaze of Ushio.
"For the good of the school, you should tell the truth. I am going to investigate this."
"Huh?"
"Heheh, relax Yugi." Ushio leaned down and rested his too large hands on the boy's shoulders. The smile that rose on the giant's face might have been a try at being comforting but all it did was cause a bad feeling to stir in Yugi's gut. "From now on, consider me your paid bodyguard."
"Eh, um..." he took a step back and Ushio, catching this, removed his hands from a nervous Yugi's shoulders. "I-I don't really need that... Thanks anyways... Um, bye..."
Even as Yugi turned and walked off, he could feel Ushio's intense, scary eyes trailing after him.
"What's up with him..." he muttered to himself. Then he shrugged it from his mind. It's probably nothing.
When Yugi reached the store/home, he was surprised to find Anzu waiting for him.
"It's been a while since I came over to play," she laughed. Yugi, being the polite gentleman, opened the door and waited for her to go in first. He followed after and as soon as the door shut-
"Welcome!" Sugoroku shouted.
"Gyaaaah!" Anzu had practically jumped a foot in the air.
"Ah, it's Anzu-chan!" Sugoroku greeted. "That's cruel, seeing my face and screaming..."
"Just a second," she hissed at Yugi. Then she directed her words towards his grandfather. "H-hello... A while ago, Yugi had said that you had given him a keepsake..."
The mentioned teenager blinked as he regarded Anzu's words. A small bubble of laughter escaped him at how his friend had taken his words. "I meant that someday it will be a keepsake."
"You're killing me!?" Sugoroku shrieked.
"N-no, grandpa. Nothing like that."
Sugoroku hmphed and crossed his arms, as though his didn't believe his grandson. He then pushed it aside to look over at Anzu. "Anyways, it's been a while since I saw you here. You've grown, especially in your chest. And you keep getting bigger!"
A nervous chuckle escaped Anzu as she regarded Sugoroku uncertainly.
"Anzu, I'll be taking the puzzle up to my room," he informed her as he headed towards the stairs. "Grandpa, can you make tea?"
"Just a second Yugi." Sugoroku followed him to the stairs. "Why don't you give up on that puzzle?"
Yugi, having been more than halfway up, paused to give his grandfather an exasperated look. He could sense where this was going. "Why do you say that..?"
"It has to take a very intellectual person to put the Millennium Puzzle together. You don't stand a chance."
'Thanks for the vote of confidence...'
"And we're not even talking about it's varied history."
Yugi was about to brush him off but Anzu didn't know of his grandfather's attempts to throw off his determination of finishing the puzzle. So he wasn't that surprised when she asked about it's history.
"The Millennium Puzzle was found in the early 1900's," Sugoroku went, more than happy to entertain her. "An English archeological team took it from the burial tomb of a Pharaoh! And after that, everyone involved began to die in mysterious ways... And they say that the last one was screaming something about a 'Shadow Game'."
"Yugi..." Anzu glanced over at her friend. "That puzzle sounds dangerous..."
But he was not to be deterred. After all, Yugi loved games. "What's a 'Shadow Game'? Now I'm curious!"
"The symbols engraved on this box..." Sugoroku pointed at the hieroglyphics. "'To the one who controls me, I will give dark wisdom and strength'."
"I knew it!" Delight filled Yugi as his thoughts about the hieroglyphics meanings were confirmed. "My wish will come true! I'm so excited; I will definitely complete the puzzle!"
"Hey, give that back!" Sugoroku ran up the stairs after his grandson. It prompted Yugi to run for the safety of his room. "It'll sell for a lot!"
"Grandpa, no! I'm not letting you sell it!"
Yugi went into the room and slammed the door shut in his grandfather's face. Sugoroku tried turning the handle. "Give it back!"
"No!" He twisted the lock on the knob and rested his back against the door as he held the box protectively against his chest, as if Sugoroku was actually going to break down the door. "This is my keepsake of you!"
"I knew it! You are going to kill me!"
"..." Anzu wasn't quite sure what to do about the situation.
The next day and Yugi was trying so hard to stay awake in class. After killing time with Anzu, he had stayed up most of the night working on his puzzle. He actually made some progress this time but whether or not he had put the pieces in the right place was the bigger question.
He had also learned his lesson and wasn't going to bring the puzzle to school any more. At least, not while it was unfinished.
When lunch rolled around, he was dimly aware of the fact that neither Jonouchi nor Honda had even bothered messing with him today. It was certainly a strange occurrence but not one he minded so he brushed the thought away. He would rather use the time to sleep...
"Yugi-kun!"
Yugi pried his eyes open with some difficulty to find Ushio standing in the doorframe. "Mm?"
"Would you come with me for a moment? I want to show you something."
Yugi furrowed his brows but complied anyways, getting out of his seat and following Ushio out into the hallway. The tall man led him outside and around to the side of the school where not many people visited. The entire time, Ushio hadn't said one word.
"Ushio-san..." he was getting a bad feeling about this. What did you want to show me...?"
"Heh..." The tall man had a rather smug tone. "Just keep following... I'm sure you'll like this."
They kept going a little further despite every instinct in Yugi's body screamed no. Then Ushio came to a stop. "Here, check it out, Yugi-kun."
Curious, Yugi peered around Ushio's form that was blocking whatever he wanted to show off from sight. To his horror, Jonouchi and Hinda were laying against the walls, covered entirely in bruises and bleeding from where the skin had been broken.
"Jonouchi-kun! Honda-kun!" Yugi knelt in front of them. "Who did this!?"
"Yugi-kun, I told you... Consider me your paid bodyguard! It's my duty to punish these guys. They're just bullies."
"B-but Ushio-san! This is too cruel!" He faced his bullies. "Are you alright, Jonouchi-kun? Honda-kun?"
"Yugi, you brat..." Jonouchi grunted. "I knew you were behind this..."
"What? No, I'm not! I would never ask for this-!"
"Move, Yugi!" Ushio grabbed him and tossed him to the side as though he weighed next to nothing. "I'm not done punishing them." He kicked Jonouchi hard in the chest. Yugi wasn't even sure when he got up but he stood between Ushio and his bullies, determined to protect them from their attacker. As he had said before, he didn't like violence. And Jonouchi and Honda might have picked on Yugi but they never hit him. "Stop it!"
"Why are you protecting these jerks, Yugi? You're a weird guy... This is your chance to get revenge! Hit them, kick them! I'll make sure no one interrupts."
"I CAN'T DO THAT TO MY FRIENDS!"
"Really? Most people hate those that bully them. You're a pretty nice guy, calling these punks your friends... Masochist..."
"Th-they weren't bullying me... This punishment is no good..."
"Well, alright. By the way..." A scary smirk that surpassed even Jonouchi's mean ones grew on his face. "I'll take my payment now. My bodyguard fee is two-hundred thousand yen*!"
"What!?"
"Heheh, for two-hundred thousand yen, you can hit them as much as you'd like. You won't be distracted either but I never said it would be cheap."
But... Yugi had never agreed to a bodyguard in the first place...
"Well?" Yugi flinched. He must have hesitated for too long. "Maybe you're unsatisfied because I didn't hit them enough."
Shock filled Yugi's system at the mere thought of them sustaining any more damage. They were injured pretty badly. "You've done more than enough! If anyone's going to beat them up any more, it's going to be me!"
"And now you decided to beat them up. Fine, have it your way." Yugi gasped sharply when Ushio grabbed him by the front of his jacket and held his small body off the floor. "I'll leave a bodily reminder to pay me. It's in my nature to hate bullying but what I'm about to do isn't bullying. It's a warning."
Ushio's fist met Yugi's face. A cry escaped him as his vision faltered and pain lit up. Then he felt himself falling to the ground and priefly caught sight of Ushio's knee rushing to meet him. More pain lit up but this time where his chest was. And the hits kept raining down but he didn't dare make another sound. Not to give Ushio any more satisfaction. All he could do was endure. Endure for Jonouchi and Honda. Because... of his wish.
He had wished for friends. Friends that wouldn't betray him and that he would never betray as well. No matter what. It was a wish... and a promise.
Ushio gave one last kick to Yugi's gut. The teenager coughed as he held his abdomen, barely even able to register Ushio's words as he spoke.
"I guess that's enough. Until tomorrow when you give me my money. Remember Yugi, two-hundred thousand yen." He took a step back to admire his work. Yugi had thought that he had felt small yesterday but compared to then, he felt microscopic. "Believe me, this pain is nothing. I can teach you the true meaning of pain... with this." He pulled out a knife as he allowed Yugi to see, the dark look in his eyes growing even more. Then he walked off laughing.
Ushio looked more evil by the second...
After school, Yugi made it back home. His mother had caught sight of the marks on his face and panicked but he tried to ease her worries by telling her that he had fallen down the stairs. Then she went on a lecture about him being more careful because those stairs could have killed him. Sugoroku didn't seem very convinced but Yugi was happy that he let it slide. It was bad enough telling a lie, he didn't want to have to put in any more effort than he had to to make it believable.
He sat in his room afterwards and looked to see how much many he had.
"One-thousand, six-hundred fifty-six*..."
1,656 out of 200,000. He had nowhere near enough. "Where would I even get that kind of money..."
His fingers fiddled with the puzzle as he thought about the issue. If he didn't pay up tomorrow, he would just get beaten again. And the knife Ushio had actually worried him.
The clicking from the puzzle as the pieces connected drew him out of his thoughts. He dropped it back on his desk with a frown. "Why am I working on the puzzle? It's no time for that..."
Then he blinked as he stared at the golden object that was beginning to take form. He was just putting the pieces together. In their rightful spots! He picked up the puzzle again and started working on it. Maybe this time...
"So if I half-rotate this part..." Click. "I see, now this piece would fit." Click. "And then this one..." Click.
It was truly a miracle that he was easily getting through the puzzle despite the fact that today had been pretty bad. It's almost as though his treasure agreed and wanted more than anything to help get his mind off of the situation. One Yugi was much too happy to oblige.
And then, finally, the puzzle was nearly finished. It had taken the shape of a golden upside-down pyramid that hung from a rope. All he had to do now was insert the last piece!
Yugi's fingers reached into the box for the last one. He blinked when he couldn't find another one to grab. Turning his amethyst eyes over to the box, he stared. It was completely empty.
"It's not here." Disbelief colored his voice as he stood up abruptly from his seat. "The last piece is gone!"
No, he had to of dropped it somewhere, right? Yugi searched on his desk, under his desk, under his bed, inside his drawers, and yet couldn't find anything. "No, no, no, no. It can't be. It... It's not here!"
If it wasn't here then his wish... It will never come true.
Yugi sat at his desk in front of the puzzle for a long time. He heard his bedroom door open but didn't look to check. He had an idea on who it was anyways.
"Hoho, amazing!" Sure enough, Sugoroku had spoken as he walked to the side of the desk. "The puzzle is finished!"
"No, grandpa... In the end, I couldn't finish the puzzle..."
"Hoho, I wonder..." Sugoroku's gaze drifted to his grandson as he held the nearly complete puzzle in his hands. "Yugi, you've worked on this Millennium Puzzle for eight years, putting your hopes and dreams into it. You should have more faith!"
"..."
"If you do, then your wish would definitely come true." He held out a fist and then uncurled his fingers to show that the last piece of the puzzle was resting in his palm.
"G-grandpa!" Yugi launched himself at Sugoroku and hugged him. "Thank you so much! You found it!"
"Yugi, I'm not the one who found it."
"Eh...?"
He unlatched himself from his frandfather as Sugoroku explained. "A while ago, one of your friends arrived at the shop. He asked me to give that to you! His clothes were wet, maybe from being out in the rain..."
'I wonder who it was...' Yugi looked down at the puzzle piece after Sugoroku handed both that and the incomplete Millennium Puzzle back. 'Whoever you are, thank you...'
He heard his grandfather moving about his room before he pulled the door open. "Goodnight, Yugi."
"Thanks, grandpa!" Yugi peered back to smile at him. "Goodnight!"
The door had closed, leaving Yugi alone with his puzzle. His heart thrummed in his chest. Finally, after eight years, the Millennium Puzzle will be completed. He held the piece up and, thinking very hard about his wish, inserted the last part into the Millennium Puzzle. There was a flash of gold and then...
Darkness.
* The Eye of Wadjet is an Ancient Egyptian symbol that belongs to the Snake Goddess Wadjet. She was originally a local goddess of the city of Dep. It was said that she was the protector of Lower Egypt then, upon unification with Upper Egypt, joint protector and patron of all Egyptian goddesses of Upper Egypt. She is the protector of kings and women in childbirth, having been a nurse to Horus and protected him with Isis from Set when they took refuge in the Nile Delta. She is also closely associated with the Eye of Ra.
* The Eye of Anubis isn't an real symbol. It's an incomplete Wadjet symbol that's on the remaining Millennium Items save for the Puzzle. Anubis is often mistaken as the God of the Dead when that is in fact, untrue (that belongs to Osiris). He is the God of Embalming, Protector of Tombs, Guider of Souls, and Guardian of the Scales.
*Bluebeard's Attack is based off of the real game, Pop-up Pirate.
*¥200,000 is equal to $1,842.19 or €1627.74.
*1,656 is equal to $15.26 or €13.48.
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