Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Warning: This is a rewrite of a story I posted years ago under a different screen name, so I'm not stealing it from another author if any of you recognize it! And also, I will not acknowledge any flames about how I've twisted the canon storyline for this story! If you don't like it, don't read!
*wipes sweat off brow* Okay, enough with that!
*beams and holds out chapter on a silver platter* I hope you enjoy this story!
Mitsuko's Story - Atem
Chapter 1: The Pharaoh Awakens
"Yugi! Mi! Anzu's here!"
A girl tied a blue ribbon in a bow around her other pigtail, her gold bangs hanging on either side of her face. She sighed and walked out of her room, knocking on her brother's as she passed, her black and pink hair bobbing as she did. "Come on, Yu-nii, we don't want to get scolded by the teacher."
A boy who looked almost exactly like her, save he had his hair in spikes, came out and tossed a gold box to her. "It's your turn, Mi-ne. I couldn't get any more of the pieces to fit."
She smiled as she slipped it into her backpack and murmured, "It'll get better soon, I know it. We haven't told Jii-chan, but it won't stay a secret if they keep bullying us."
He gave a tired smile and nodded. They walked down the stairs to the game shop their family owned and out the front door, where their grandpa, Sugoroku Mutou and their childhood friend, Anzu Mazaki, waited. The taller girl greeted, "Hey Yugi, hey Mitsu. We'd better get going if we're going to be on time."
The two violet-eyed fifteen-year-olds nodded in unison, before waving goodbye to their grandpa.
"I'll see you after school!"
"Bye, Jii-chan!"
"See you later, Jii-chan!"
When they were far enough away, Anzu sighed. "You two should get some guts, or at least tell your grandpa about what's happening at school. Those two shouldn't be able to get away with bullying you both, especially since hitting girls is cowardly."
Mitsuko grinned sheepishly and pushed up her large round glasses. "You know I'm a pacifist, Anzu. Yu-nii is too."
Yugi nodded. "I wouldn't raise my fists to another person, even if they asked me to."
As they passed the museum on their way, Mitsuko's eye caught a sign that proclaimed, "NEW EGYPTIAN EXHIBIT! THE MYSTERIOUS UNOPENED SARCOPHAGUS!"
She considered it before following her brother again. I wonder if it has anything to do with the Millennium Puzzle that Yu-nii and I have struggled to complete these last eight years... Maybe I'll ask if he wants to go after school.
During lunch, Mitsuko took out the box that held the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle and began to work on it. Yugi and Anzu watched, until the brown-haired girl stretched and patted both their shoulders. "I'm going to play some basketball with the guys. Are you sure you don't want to?"
Mitsuko snickered and Yugi reminded his friend, "Basketball's for tall people, Anzu."
She laughed and waved as she walked out of the classroom.
On cue, two older boys came into the room, who went by name: Katsuya Jonouchi and Hiroto Honda. Yugi tensed and tapped Mitsuko's shoulder. She turned and slammed the lid of the box in one movement, her magnified eyes fearful like a mouse that had just spotted a hawk's shadow on the ground.
"Hey there, you two. Whatcha lookin' at?" Jonouchi asked with a devious grin.
Mitsuko clutched the box to her chest and shook her head. "This is not yours to touch, Jonouchi-san, Honda-san! It's something precious our grandpa gave to us!"
"Oh, is that so, Mutou-chan?" Honda questioned in a sing-song voice, just as Jonouchi snatched it out of her hands like she wasn't even gripping it.
She gasped in surprise and horror as she jumped from her seat, her brother at her heels. "Please give it back Jonouchi-san! There's nothing inside that you could possibly want!"
"I get it, it's a treasure box. What's in it? Jewelry? Expensive makeup?"
"No, no, no!" she cried while shaking her head.
"Give it back to my sister, Jonouchi-kun!" Yugi shouted, his eyes wide and pleading.
"If you want it, go and get it."
He threw it out the window and the pieces flew everywhere until they dropped into the school's swimming pool. Mitsuko trembled so badly as she gazed at the water with terror in her eyes. "The Millennium Puzzle...Jii-chan's gonna kill me..."
She sprinted down to the pool and Yugi gasped. "Mi-ne, don't do it!"
"Oh come on, she's showing more guts than you by going after it Yugi," Honda pointed out with an amused smile on his face.
"MI-NE CAN'T SWIM!" the boy screamed before he dashed after his twin.
The two older boys looked at each other with an "oh crap" expression between both. They ran after Yugi, knowing that this prank had gone too far if the female Mutou was willing to risk losing her life for it.
Mitsuko didn't even bother taking off her shoes or glasses before she jumped in, only at the last second did she realize she'd never learned how to swim. She struggled to propel herself downwards towards the pieces of the Puzzle, but then ran out of air and tried to get to the surface, only for her clothes to weigh her down. Am I going to die before I get my wish?
She closed her eyes, only to feel a hand close around hers and pull her upwards. She gasped as her head broke the surface, but was confused to see she was floating even though she wasn't treading water. She looked to see who was holding her up, but saw no one.
"Mitsuko!" Yugi called, eyes relieved.
"Yugi!" she called back as she was brought back to the edge. "I got one piece!"
Honda and Jonouchi nodded to each other and jumped in, just as Yugi pulled her out. She coughed out water as bent over, her glasses falling to the floor, and her brother placed his hands on her shoulders. "Mi-ne..."
She held out her hand to show him she got the piece with the udjat on it. To think it was this piece of all the pieces... Am I protected somehow by the Puzzle?
A large hand rested on her shoulder and she looked up to see the blurry form Tetsu Ushio, the top hall monitor, looming over her. He asked in a gentle voice, "Did those boys cause all this?"
Mitsuko shook her head and pushed her glasses back on. "My box just fell and they're helping retrieve it, Ushio-san!"
Yugi nodded as he caught on to her lie right away. "That's right, Ushio-kun! You don't have to step in!"
Ushio frowned and gave them a stern look that made them shiver. "I'm sorry, but I saw the whole thing. They've been bullying you and I'm taking care of it personally."
The twins froze in fear as Jonouchi and Honda surfaced, each having one half of the pieces and the box. They set them on the edge of the pool and hauled themselves out, then stopped when they saw Ushio. He came up to them and grinned sadistically.
"So you've been picking on the Mutou twins, have you? Well, I'm going to take care of you for them."
Mitsuko jumped in front of the large man and held out her arms. "Don't touch them! They're our friends!"
Yugi joined her in a heartbeat and protested, "They just helped us, so don't beat them up!"
"If you don't want me to beat them, then I guess I'll have to take it out of your hides."
Jonouchi and Honda watched the first few minutes before they popped and tried to defend the miniature teenagers, but got beaten up as well for interfering. They all lay on the ground after that, and Ushio pointed at the siblings. "For that, you owe me two hundred thousand yen...each."
"But that's four hundred thousand yen!" Mitsuko cried.
"You've got a problem with that? You pay me by tomorrow," He drew a knife and licked it, "or I'll take your lives."
He smirked triumphantly as he walked off.
Mitsuko grimaced as she pushed herself onto her hands and looked over at Jonouchi when he said, "You really got guts, Mutou-chan. Sticking up for us when all we've done is bully you... Thanks."
Honda grinned, even if his eyes betrayed his pain. "Me too, Mutou-chan. You and Yugi could've just walked away and let him beat us up, but you defended us when we almost got you drowned." He held out his half of the Puzzle pieces he'd retrieved. "Here, so you don't have to risk your life again."
Yugi received the other half via Jonouchi. "Thanks, Jonouchi-kun. You too, Honda-kun. You tried to fight for us when we were down, I saw you. I'd be proud to call you my friends, if you'd let me."
Jonouchi patted their heads. "Sure, if that's okay with you. Honda and I aren't the best guys around, but we can help you in a tight spot."
Yugi poured the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle back into the box that Mitsuko held and placed the lid on. "We'd better get going, the lunch bell just rang again."
"No way you're going back to class when you look like that!" Honda insisted. "You two are going with us to get patched up! I wouldn't trust going to the school nurse with Ushio-teme around."
They left school and at a park the two ex-bullies patched up the twins, before taking some for themselves. They sat on a bench and Mitsuko asked her brother, "What're we gonna do, Yu-nii? We don't have four hundred thousand between the two of us."
He shook his head. "I don't know."
She dropped her head in her hands. "We're dead."
Jonouchi and Honda exchanged a glance while the twins mourned for their doomed fate. They'd help in any way they could, even if they were really low on money too.
Once school was over, the friends parted ways and while Yugi and Mitsuko walked home, the girl twin pointed to the museum. "Why don't we go see that new exhibit? It might cheer us up a bit."
"Shouldn't we go home?"
"Come on! We hardly ever go out, since we're hardcore gamers! Besides, I'd bet Jii-chan would want us in better spirits when we get back."
"If you put it that way, let's go!"
They raced into the museum and looked up the directory for the "Mysterious Unopened Sarcophagus".
"It's on the second floor, in the back," Yugi said as he found the location.
"Oh good, where most of the people won't be. I really don't like crowds."
"It is a new exhibit, so we might be in for a surprise."
They traveled upstairs and towards the back, where a tour was being finished. They leeched onto the back of the small group and the guide stopped in front of the brand-new display, which, oddly enough, didn't have any glass around it.
"This is our newest exhibit: the sarcophagus that has never been opened, due to a complex lock that not even pouring a mold into it could unlock it. If you would come closer, you can see that the keyhole is oddly shaped, unlike the keyholes we have today. The archaeologists have never found the key, even with a thorough search of this pharaoh's tomb. The reason why we have this display not behind glass is because of the sheer weight of the piece, which took..."
Mitsuko took out the piece of the Millennium Puzzle that had the udjat on it and nudged Yugi, then nodded to the keyhole. He nodded back and both knew they had to try it out when everyone else was gone. They pretended to listen to the tour guide and when the group moved on, they approached the pharaoh's sarcophagus and she placed the piece in, only for a bright light to come from the spot, causing Yugi and Mitsuko to cover their eyes.
"You who hold the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle, will be able to awaken the pharaoh's spirit within... Take him from this imprisonment and grant him his only wish..."
The light faded just enough that Mitsuko could see the heavy lid open and a heartbeat sounded in her ears. She walked over to it and saw within the depths was a body, asleep inside. "Yu-nii, come help me out."
He came over and lifted the body out with her aid. They ended up with the head resting on her shoulder as she held the torso while Yugi held the feet. The sarcophagus closed again and locked, the piece of the Millennium Puzzle floating back into the box which was in her backpack. The light faded, and right away security officers came running in.
"There was a blinding light on the cameras! Are you two alright?!"
Mitsuko nodded in unison with her brother and answered, "We're alright, but our cousin swooned at the light. We're bringing him home to rest."
"Is he a big fan of Egyptology? Those clothes..."
"Oh yes," Yugi answered without missing a beat. "A huge fan."
"Move along, then. We have to check to see if the sarcophagus' been damaged in any way."
"Yes sir," the twins chorused as they carried the body out of the museum.
Through much effort they got home and got the body upstairs to Mitsuko's room, where they got to have a closer look. "Wow, he must be a pharaoh, if he has this much gold on him, and these clothes are well made from what I can see," Mitsuko commented as she looked him over. "He looks like a long-lost Egyptian cousin, but an attractive one."
"We don't even know if we can wake him up, Mi-ne! We have different problems already, what with Ushio-kun demanding four hundred thousand yen after he beat us up! Do you want him to kill us?!"
She held a finger to her lips. "Shhh! Do you want Jii-chan to find us like this?!"
He squirmed before the bell that indicated that there was someone entering the shop. He groaned and pointed at her. "Wait here while I go see who it is. Don't do anything."
She shrugged and sighed, the impending doom she and her brother was about to face making her depressed. On instinct, she took out the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle and began putting them together. There's no way Yu-nii and I can gather four hundred thousand yen before tomorrow, so we should tell Jii-chan, but then things would get ugly if Ushio-san lied and said there was no such threat on our lives. I feel so bad that I don't know what could save us. She felt traitor tears leak from her eyes as she dropped her head, her nose level with the front of the nearly completed Millennium Puzzle. Please, help us, anyone!
A flash of gold light answered her as she pushed in the last piece. Her eyes flew open and she gasped in surprise as the udjat filled her vision.
"What—"
She suddenly was falling, a gold aura surrounding her as she was brought into what looked like a dark tomb. She floated just inches from the stone floor, and the confused girl looked around, only for a voice to ask, /Who are you?\\
Her violet eyes snapped to the direction the voice was coming from, only to see the pharaoh, his eyes just as confused as she felt. She parted her lips to answer, but he spoke again, coming closer as he did so.
/No, I must ask this first. Are you a goddess come to guide my spirit home? Your raiment is not what I am familiar with.\\
He thinks I'm a goddess?! With this gold glow, I'm sure I look otherworldly, but a goddess? She shook her head and answered honestly, /No, I'm not. I'm just a normal teenager from Domino, Japan. My name is Mutou Mitsuko.\
He blinked, his confusion almost tangible. /I'm afraid I don't understand.\\
/Um...well...\ She scratched the back of her head to try and find an explanation he would understand. /I'm fifteen years old, and I'm from the merchant class. Domino is the city I live in, and Japan is the country. Mutou is my family name, and Mitsuko is my given name.\
He looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded. /I see. You are not of noble birth, yet you hold yourself like royalty.\\
/Most girls in my country are taught to have perfect stature. It's part of the customs we practice.\
/If you aren't a goddess come to guide me to the afterlife, then I must still be sealed in the Millennium Puzzle. Are you the one who completed it, since you are here?\\
She nodded. /I guess I was brought here to bring you out into your body.\
/My body was preserved? It must've been buried until the fated day I was to be released...\\
/May I ask you a question, my pharaoh?\
/Yes, if I am able to answer it.\\
/What's your name?\
A smile came to his lips then enveloped his features, which relaxed them and made her breath catch in her throat. /I am Pharaoh Atem, son of Pharaoh Aknamkanon.\\
/Well Atem-san, here.\ She held out her hand. /I'll take you from this place to the outside, where your body is.\
/Atem..."san"?\\
/I'll explain later, I promise.\
He took her hand and she flew upwards and out of the depths of the Millennium Puzzle, only to find she was being shaken like a rag doll by a frightened Yugi.
"MITSUKO! MITSUKO!"
She sat up and winced. "Ow...I must've passed out and my forehead hit an edge of the Millennium Puzzle..."
"Don't scare me like that! I thought you were dead!"
"I'm not dead, Yu-nii."
Their attention was turned to the occupant of the bed as Atem sat up, his eyes traveling about the room with interest and puzzlement. He saw Mitsuko and rose from the bed, his violet eyes locked on hers as he came over and got on one knee. "Mitsuko, you have saved me from an eternity in the dark depths of the Millennium Puzzle. For such a selfless act, I will bestow the highest honor I can to you: you will be my queen."
Her eyes widened in complete shock. I can understand him, even if he's speaking Ancient Egyptian?! We must be connected somehow if I can, so he'll probably be able to understand me too, but let's not be distracted here! QUEEN?! He wants me to marry him?! I'm only fifteen! Well, if you consider that most girls got married as soon as they started their period back then, but...queen? Why would he want to marry a complete stranger anyways?! He only talked to me for about five minutes before I brought—
"Mitsuko, what did he say?" Yugi asked as he shook her shoulder. "I didn't understand a word of it."
"He told me that in gratitude for bringing him out of the depths of the Millennium Puzzle, he's going to make me his queen," she explained with a quiet, uncertain voice.
Atem looked at her with expectant eyes. "Do you not accept my gift, Mitsuko?"
A shiver went down her spine as his deep voice reached her ears. That must be a sin to have a voice like that! It's a wonder that he didn't take a queen before this. Any woman would've fallen at his feet to just hear a single word from him. For him to have such a deep, sexy voice at his age, he must have a voice like melted chocolate when he's actually an adult! "May I have time to think on it, Atem-san?"
He nodded and stood, before asking, "Who is this lad who stands next to you? A relative?"
"He's my twin brother, Yugi."
Yugi frowned and demanded, "What'd he say?"
"He asked who you were, so I answered."
"How can you understand him when I can't?"
"It must be the bond we now share, since I completed the Millennium Puzzle."
"You did?! Let me see what it looks like!"
She held it up and he laughed, excited to see the completed work. "It's cool, isn't it?"
"More like totally awesome! I never thought you would be the one to complete it!"
Atem grew tired of not being able to understand Yugi, so he asked, "Mitsuko, you promised to explain to me what you meant by putting that strange word after my name."
"Oh, sorry! Here in Japan it's similar to the titles that are amongst nobility and royalty, except we use them for everyone, depending on how well you know a person. I've just met you, so I use the suffix 'san' after your name, unless, since you're the pharaoh, I should put 'sama' or even 'dono'..."
Yugi snorted. "No one uses 'dono' anymore, Mi-ne."
"I know, but it would be as close...no wait. I know! I'll call you Atem-ou!"
"Atem-ou? What does 'ou' mean?"
"It means 'king' in my language."
"That is acceptable. If you are to be my queen, which of these titles should I use for you when addressing you?"
"Well, I don't know, even if 'san' is the general one for everyone, but if you want a higher one, I guess you could call me 'Mitsuko-sama'."
"You're gonna let him use 'sama' on you?"
"If I accept to be his wife in the future, then yes, I think it would be appropriate."
Just then, Sugoroku entered the room. "What's all this fuss about?" He paused as he took in the scene, before getting on one knee with a little trouble. "Pharaoh, it seems that you've been resurrected at last. Welcome back to the world of the living."
Atem looked surprised, as did Yugi and Mitsuko, that the old man could speak the pharaoh's language fluently. "Siamun? Is that you?"
Sugoroku shook his head. "I am not your former advisor, my pharaoh, but a reincarnation, as Yugi is yours. My name right now is Mutou Sugoroku."
"Of what relation are you to Mitsuko-sama?"
"I see you've picked up honorifics already from her. I'm her and Yugi's grandfather, so you may call me that as well once you get to know me, but for now, if you'd like, you can call me Sugoroku-san."
"Everything is so strange here."
"It would be, you are three thousand years in the future, and very, very far away from your homeland of Egypt."
"Three thousand years?!"
"Yes. I might be one of the only people left who knows your mother tongue so well."
"Yet I understand your granddaughter as well as you."
"It must be the power of the Millennium Puzzle. When she completed it, it must've bound your souls together so that you can understand her, and she can do the same with you, yet you nor she can understand another person speaking the other's native language."
"So she cannot understand you?"
"No, that's why she's looking somewhat lost, while Yugi has no idea what we're saying at all."
"You did not teach them my language?"
"I had no clue when you would come back to life, but I knew you would with the completion of the Millennium Puzzle. Yet one thing has surprised me: that Mi was the one to do it, instead of Yugi. It must be because she's his twin and shares his genes closely, so she's a female reincarnation of you."
"I see. I have much to learn about this time and place, if I'm to reside here."
"Of course, my pharaoh. Yugi, would you go start dinner? I can see you're getting frustrated with not understanding the pharaoh."
Yugi nodded and walked out, eager for an escape. Mitsuko asked, "Jii-chan, should we get Atem-ou some new clothes? I doubt people will believe for long that he's just in a costume because he's a huge fan of Egyptology."
"Of course, we'll do it tomorrow, because it's a Sunday."
She suddenly turned pale after Sugoroku left. Atem noticed and queried, "Is there something that grieves you, Mitsuko-sama?"
She began to shake and fell off the chair to her knees. "After all this, I almost forgot about the deadline for us."
He looked confused, so she evaluated. "Someone's trying to extort a lot of money from Yugi and me and we have to pay it by tomorrow or he'll kill us. It's impossible for us to even get close to paying it back, so we're doomed."
His eyes narrowed and an udjat appeared on his forehead. "No one threatens my future queen or her family. Tell me everything, and I'll aid you in getting rid of this scum."
She sighed and nodded. I hope he doesn't do anything extreme, but he's the pharaoh, he doesn't know that he's under any rules save his own, and I'm not explaining that to him.
After dinner, which was quite the learning experience for Atem, everyone went to bed (Atem got a sleeping bag and a pair of Yugi's pajamas).
In the early morning, Atem got up and put on Yugi's school uniform, then called through the mental link he shared with Mitsuko, /Mitsuko-sama, wake, for I need your help with avenging you and your brother.\\
Mitsuko blearily looked at the clock on her nightstand once she'd put on her glasses. /Do you have any idea what time it is?\
/Now is the perfect time to strike.\\
/Fine.\
She got up and dressed, putting the Millennium Puzzle around her neck. /I don't know why we have to do it so early.\
/There's no rest for the wicked.\\
/That is so corny.\
/"Corny"?\\
/Never mind.\
They sneaked out of the game shop and reached the school grounds. Ushio waited there and grinned at their appearance.
"Well if it isn't the two pipsqueaks. Ready to cough it up or die?"
Mitsuko spoke up first, since it would show she was going to translate for Atem (who'd added gold ankhs that were attached to his jacket sleeves with black leather bracelets, which she thought looked cool). "My friend would like to play a game with you, for not only four hundred thousand yen, but eight hundred thousand."
Ushio's interest was piqued at the mention of double the money. "A game? What does it entail?"
/Do I gotta explain it? It's so dangerous and scary.\
/He won't understand me, go on.\\
"Each of you will place the stack of bills on the back of your hand and using your knife, will stab through the stack. You can take no less than ten bills at once, although there's no limit to how much you can take. Whoever ends up with the most money wins, but if you break the rules, a penalty game awaits you."
"Is your runt brother mute tonight?"
"Laryngitis."
"Whatever, just start this up."
The pair played, getting closer and closer to their hands with the point of the knife, until Ushio began to struggle against his own greed, which was embodied by his hand. He tried to stab Atem instead, but the pharaoh leaped away, an udjat appearing on his forehead.
"Since you broke the rules, which he knew you would, a penalty game awaits you."
"Wha-what's with that strange eye on his forehead?!"
Atem spoke for the first time. "It is an eye only my opponents see before I pass judgment on them! Penalty Game! Illusion of Avarice!"
"You're not—MONEY! MONEY EVERYWHERE!"
Atem placed an arm around Mitsuko and led her away. "Let's leave him to his fate."
Mitsuko was terrified of the pharaoh's power, but she covered it up by complaining, "You ruined most of these bills, Atem-ou."
"I'm sure Siamon won't be troubled by it."
"He did fork over eight hundred thousand yen. Do you know how much we could've bought with this?"
"He's an understanding person, more than you know at this time."
"Well, he is the reincarnation of your advisor, so he's gotta be more than a weird old man."
"He is very wise and will help us through many trials."
On Monday, Anzu was furious with Yugi and Mitsuko. "You two never told me that Ushio-san had chosen you as a target!"
"Who told you that?" Yugi asked, concerned that it was a rumor spread throughout school by now.
"Jonouchi and Honda did! They told me the whole thing and—Mitsu! Wow! You completed the Millennium Puzzle!"
The short girl nodded. "Yeah, I did. Pretty cool, huh?"
She recalled what Atem had told her the night before when she told him she was going to school the next day.
"Keep the Millennium Puzzle on you at all times, for if you're in trouble, I'll be able to feel it."
"I seem to be a magnet for it."
"A 'magnet'?"
"It comes to me, whether I like it or not."
"Then I'll have to protect you often."
"You'd better not follow me everywhere, Jii-chan needs your help around the house and the game shop."
"I've never aided anyone in physical labor."
"Jii-chan'll help you learn now. If you just sit around, you'll get fat."
"That is true, even if I don't appreciate that statement."
She smiled and Anzu waved her hand in front of her friend's face. "Hello... Earth to Mitsu..."
"Oh, I'm sorry Anzu-chan! I just got distracted by an errant thought."
"It's okay, but if you get that way in class, the teacher'll get mad."
"Yeah."
"Did you guys hear? Ushio-san's been put in a nut house. Apparently he thinks everything is money now."
Mitsuko winced while Yugi was confused. I can't tell them what happened! Atem-ou would be banished from our house for sure!
When I posted this story last time, people accused me of not reading/watching the series because I deviated too far from the main storyline, so you can see here that I've obviously included elements from the first chapter of the manga. No doubts now!
Notes:
"talking" speaking in Ancient Egyptian
/talking\ Mitsuko speaking mentally to Atem
/talking\\ Atem speaking mentally to Mitsuko
I think that's it for now!
I hope everyone enjoyed this and...
Please review!