A/N: I've decided to dabble in the writing of Anime fics, and step out of my cartoon comfort zone. First ever fanfic for the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom, but I know enough about it to write a decent, coherent fic. This particular one happens to be a series of drabbles (some could get hot, some could be cute, some could be depressing) based off of songs. It's a type of challenge for myself, and I've done it before with the Teen Titans fandom; but I decided to revise the rules, in case anyone else wants to try it and also to allow for myself to write a longer drabble. The rules are as follows: go to either a music library or specified playlist (which is what I'm using today), then hit shuffle. Originally, you would write a short fic for the duration of the song, but that is extremely difficult to master; so now you can listen to the song once without writing (in order to capture the emotion or message within it and figure out what you want to write). Then, you have to begin writing. While you're writing, you may pause the song if needed, but you cannot rewind it. The maximum amount of times you can repeat the song during your writing is three times. I will be including a quote from my songs in each drabble. That's not mandatory.
Normally, I wouldn't be this chatty in an Author's Note, being that I can let my writing speak for me; but seeing as I'm moving into uncharted territory, I'd like for my readers to have a little knowledge. Enough to prompt them to click on my profile. With that being said, let your eyes enter Nirvana.
Shuffle
It Will Rain – Bruno Mars (Yami Centered) "There'll be no sunlight, if I lose you."
It had been agonizingly lonely for Yami inside of the Puzzle; almost the same level of loneliness that he had in the years before Yuugi managed to solve the golden artifact that imprisoned him. And again, just like it was 5,000 years ago, it was his own fault; only this time, he didn't imprison himself to save the world. This time, he was inadvertently imprisoned by his aibou. According to Yuugi, the spirit was too overbearing. Too close.
Yami had tried to explain to his other half that they were close because they shared a body and mind on occasion, but he was unsuccessful. His aibou explained to him that he was aware of the fact that they did inhabit the same body and what not, but he also expressed to his mou hitori no boku that it was possible for them to give each other space. "Breathing room," as Yuugi had put it. This led to Yami asking if the other felt smothered by his presence. His aibou's answer nearly shattered him.
"Well…kinda…yes, you are."
He didn't consider his presence to be too much to bear at all. After all, Yuugi did solve the puzzle. And Yami did have to protect him.
But, he cared greatly for his other self, and he decided to respect his wishes of backing off. He made sure to keep his mental communication with Yuugi to a minimum, only speaking if the need arised (as of late, he hasn't needed to intervene in anything). He agreed to stay in his soul room more and let his aibou control his own body in the real world.
This new deal had seemed to work out. Soon an hour had gone by. Then a day. Then a few days. Then a week.
By the time two weeks had gone by without any communication with his aibou, Yami began to worry. His other half hadn't even ventured into his own soul room. Since they had their agreement, Yuugi had yet to venture into the puzzle. And this pushed the former pharaoh even closer to breaking. The familiar feeling of loneliness in the shadows of the puzzle began to creep up on him, reintroducing themselves. Trying to convince him that his other half didn't need him. That his aibou was happier with his silence from inside the artifact. They attempted to persuade him that Yuugi no longer cared for him. They pushed Yami to within a breath of insanity.
And the worst part was that he couldn't go to his other half for help. He'd promised him that he would only speak to him if Yuugi wanted to; and from what Yami was seeing, he didn't want to talk.
The only thing keeping the spirit from losing his mind amidst the loneliness and shadows that surrounded him was the fact that his aibou still wore the puzzle. He knew that if that ceased to happed, he would snap and be pulled back into what haunted him for five millennia.
Don't Wanna Fall In Love – KYLE (Yuugi Centered) "You see love is a game and I still wanna play, I'm just too scared to lose and I know you are too."
It was frigid in his mou hitori no boku's soul room: a sign that Yami was definitely unhappy. Yuugi took a brief moment to wonder if he should go back to the real world and at least put his jacket on, but shook it away. It would only upset Yami even more if his aibou walked into his room and then turned to leave. Besides, taking a bad step inside of that room could result in him falling into a trap. It was best to move forward and find his soul partner so that he could figure out what was bothering him. He didn't like when Yami got into his feelings.
"Yami? You wanted to talk?" He called, shivering as he took a cautious step forward in the freezing room.
No response was given to him.
"Yami?"
Sill no response.
"C'mon, mou hitori no boku, it's cold in here."
Once again, his statement had no response.
He took a second to scan his surroundings and see if he could spot his other half, an action that proved useless, as he caught no sight of him. With a slightly irritated sigh and a miniscule roll of his eyes, Yuugi turned to leave…
…Only to walk right into the person he was looking for.
The sudden contact had startled the smaller male, and he jumped back, gazing up into crimson eyes that alive with multiple emotions. "Yami? Were you behind me this entire time?"
"No. I had just walked up when you turned around. We need to talk."
"I know, that's what you called me in here for." Yuugi rubbed the goosebumps that had formed on his arms. "Can we talk someplace warmer?"
"No, we cannot. You are the reason why it is cold in here, aibou."
"Me?" The younger rose a brow in confusion. "How? What did I do?"
"What did you do? Nothing, other than spend the last two weeks immensely confusing your other half." Yami's eyes suddenly darkened, showing a mix of anger and hurt.
If Yuugi was confused before, he was absolutely baffled now. "Huh?"
The spirit's irritation grew. "I'm aware of the saying 'Ignorance is Bliss' aibou, but now is not the time for you to play dumb."
"I'm not…I really am confused."
Patience is a virtue. Yami was glad he had plenty of it. "Maybe this will refresh your memory."
And with that statement, the former pharaoh took ahold of his other half's chin and kissed him.
The kiss was brief, but effective in jarring the smaller male's memory and giving him a clue as to what the older was talking about. "Oh, you're upset because I stopped showing you affection."
A simple nod was his response.
"Mou hitori no boku, I'm sorry. I didn't intend on causing you any pain or confusion, I just…was afraid. I care about you, but I see what happens to people that care about each other. Something bad drives them apart and they resort to never speaking to each other again. I…don't want that to happen to us," Yuugi explained, his voice decorated with all sorts of regret and sorrow. He really hadn't meant to hurt or upset his soul partner.
"Aibou, do you not realize that with all the things that have transpired between us over the last two years – such as all the attempts of people to take the puzzle from you – that what you fear is not likely to happen?"
The younger one was silent, cursing himself for not seeing this sooner. Yami had waited five millennia for someone like him. It would have to take a lot to drive them apart.
Autumn Leaves – Chris Brown (Yami Centered) "I hold on like leaves in fall to what is left."
Fear. Fear of solitude. Fear of loss. Fear of torture.
Yami shuddered. 5,000 years of torture was plenty; he did not need anymore.
Although, Yuugi being upset with him was torture in its own way. But Yuugi wasn't upset with Yami, in specific. He was upset with the puzzle.
The former pharaoh knew that his aibou's life was rough before acquiring the millennium puzzle, for he had told him about it, but it was nowhere near what he was going through now. Since he'd successfully assembled the artifact, his life took a sharp turn to the left and sped towards every danger that it could find. Being bullied constantly because of his height was bad, but it was nothing compared to having the ones that he loved taken away from him because their oppressor wanted the enticing golden object dangling from his neck. And of course, there were those everyday people that wanted to just steal the puzzle because they saw it to be a nice piece of jewelry. "Ice" was what they called it, which lead Yami to believe that people of this time period were very strange.
The spirit had overheard his aibou talking to his grandfather one day about the puzzle, and what came out of his other half's mouth awakened a dormant terror in him. A terror that used those very words to cause Yami discomfort. 'Sometimes I think getting beaten up daily is better than constantly having to worry about which of my friends is going to be held for ransom'
Those words. The power behind those words. The weight behind those words. They put Yami on eggshells. He had to be extremely careful now whenever he attempted to talk to his aibou, for if he used their mind link at the wrong moment, Yuugi would either ignore him or answer with such a distasteful tone that Yami would end their conversation (even though his fear diminished whenever Yuugi did answer him. It gave him a sliver of hope. Hope that Yuugi would realize that as long as Yami was within the puzzle, he would overcome every challenge presented to him).
The spirit clung to whatever hope he could find that convinced him that his other half would eventually get out of this phase and return to where he was grateful to even have such an artifact around his neck.
See You Again – Wiz Khalifa (Yuugi Centered) "Let the light guide your way, hold every memory as you go, and every road you take will always lead you home."
The puzzle was gone, which also meant that he was gone. He was in a better place. The afterlife, where all of his friends and family resided for an eternity was a much better place than a prison filled with shadows that liked to torment him every chance they got. He deserved to reside in paradise. He spent 5,000 years in endless torment, just to get rid of a threat to the world.
He definitely deserved to be somewhere in paradise.
But as much as Yuugi knew this, he still hated it. He hated the empty feeling that he had knowing that his mou hitori no boku was gone. He hated the ache in his heart and how it didn't seem to beat the same since he left. He hated that he no longer had someone to share his thoughts with.
It seemed like it was just yesterday when he helped him duel Kaiba to avenge his grandfather and his Blue Eyes White Dragon. Now he was gone.
There were days where Yuugi would sigh and smile at a nice memory and days where he would curl his petite form into a small ball and lie on his bed, his eyes leaking because he lost someone that he truly loved. There were days where he would stare at the box that the puzzle was in, the only tangible thing that reminded him of his spirit partner, and think about the wish he had made once he finally put the puzzle together. It came true. He did get a friend. But all good things must come to an end.
He just wished that this was an exception.
A/N: If you scroll down slightly, there should be a link that says for you to review this story. Do that. I appreciate it. Hopefully you guys are smarter than some of the other fandoms on here and know how to constructively criticize. Oh, and I appreciate you taking time to read this. Thanks.