(As this story is a part 3 to a series, it probably wouldn't be well understood on it's own. The first two parts are old, and although I'm not proud of everything in them, I still recommend you read them before this, as it's the only way it'll really all make sense)

Author's Note:

The first part of this has been sitting on my hard drive for a very long time. It was always my intention for "Is This a Game?" to be a 7 part story, with 7 goals before the end. I had the first 3 or 4 planned, and then life happened and I completed the first two, and this, the beginning of the third arc, has been sitting here unpublished, for longer than I even want to remember.

I was reading back through the reviews to my original story, and it made me realize that I'm not done with that universe. Oh, no, I'm just getting started.

So, after over a year, I present to you, the first chapter of the third arc of my YuGiOh game world.

Enjoy~


When Yugi woke up, it took him a second to remember what happened the day before.

Feeling Yami's soul next to his instantly jogged his memory.

"Good mornin' Yami~"

He wasn't quite used to this voice again, yet. It was the voice his character had. His original character. The one who's memories he used to have. He still felt a bit of guilt, for forgetting all of it...

The memories he had left were strange.

He remembered meeting Ryou's character for the first time, but he also remembered crying, at the time. He'd been so sad... but why? Because he was forgetting, right? It didn't seem that sad now. Of course, he supposed that the information he forgot is what made it sad.

He barely had time to yawn and throw a clean T-shirt on before he heard a knock on the door.

Now he had to play his character.

The game piece he'd inhabited only the night before was gone. He didn't know how, but didn't really have the energy to question it.

This game was crazy. Crap like that happened.

When he finally made it to the door, he was shocked at what he saw.

Ryou.

Back in his original "game piece", just like Yugi was.

Bruised and battered and beaten.

And then he remembered why. Of course.

Ryou looked awful. It didn't seem like he'd been able to get all of the blood out of his hair, probably because of his black eye, and the swelling bruises on his face. He looked weak and sore.

"Ryou, I..."

"It's alright, Yugi..." he said, sounding exhausted. "I'm sure you can guess what I'm here for...?"

"The third goal..."

he whispered under his breath.

He knew Yami was watching now. Closely. He could feel his guilt almost strong enough for it to be his own.

"Yeah... it's... you... well...ah, I'll let him explain..."

He glanced at Yugi, a silent warning, 'I'm going to let him take over now and so I won't be offended if you take a few steps back'.

Yugi did take a step back, but only one.

The first thing Yami Bakura did to make himself known was giggle.

"Oh, you're going to love this, Pharaoh."

This can't have been good... why was he so... happy? He lost the last goal...

"Did you like beating my host unconscious? Because you're probably going to enjoy it even more, doing it to your own!"

"Wh-what..?"

Yami would never hurt him. Never. Even in his murderous rage yesterday, he hadn't hurt him.

Bakura laughed. His laugh never sounded... sane.

"Oh, little Yugi, this is by far my favorite goal in this entire game~"

Oh no... this really can't have been good...

"Aibou, can I talk to him?"

-Only if you promise you won't hurt him...-

"I promise."

-No matter what he says...?-

"No matter what he says, I promise. You can trust me, Yugi."

-Alright...-

And suddenly everything shifted and Yugi was feeling his own soul, instead of the still unfamiliar body/game piece that didn't belong to him.

"Just tell us the goal, Bakura."

"Here to apologize, Pharaoh? Look at what poor Ryou has had to endure since yesterday. It's only going to get worse before it gets better, too." He said, gesturing to the clear injuries on his face.

"I'm sorry, Ryou."

He said, purposefully apologizing to Ryou and not the evil spirit residing in his body.

"I didn't expect as much out of you! Well then, I guess I'd better tell you what we'll be doing for the next little while then, hm?"

"Yes please."

Yami was being uncharacteristically polite, for Ryou's sake, and for Yugi's. Only a little bit of it was sarcasm. Just a tiny bit.

Bakura laughed again.

"As you know, we've been playing characters. Or at least, our hosts have. The first goal was theirs, and the second counted on both players. The third... well, it's just for us. Exciting, isn't it? We'll be playing characters this time too, dear Pharaoh."

"You intend to separate us again?"

He asked, keeping his voice flat.

"Oh no. Nothing of the sort. You and little Yugi are going to be as close as possible for the next goal." He grinned evilly, "In this goal you and I will be playing:"

He actually paused for dramatic effect, and Yami couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Each other."

The whole world stopped.

"What?"

"You heard me! You'll be playing me, and I'll be playing you!"

"What does that mean? I have to be hateful and vengeful and... awful?"

Bakura glared at him. "The hate, specifically."

"And how do you think you're going to play me? Do you realize how well you'd have to treat Ryou?"

"Oh yes, that's why I have help. This goal has help. You couldn't play me either, without help. This is about a lesson in... how does it go? Walking in each other's shoes."

"And... how are you going to do that?"

"This game will let us borrow a couple of... essential personality traits. I'm not all that excited about mine, but I'm certain it won't get to me. Not like yours will."

"Borrow traits...? What do you mean...?"

His grin was downright scary. Especially on his injured face.

"You see, this game has many abilities. It can play with memories and more importantly at the moment, emotions. I'm just going to switch a couple around. You see, I'm going to get one of yours, and you're going to get one of mine."

"Which ones...?"

It wasn't quite hitting the spirit yet, what this would mean. Yugi was watching, also uncertain. Yami would have to "play" Bakura? What did that mean? How would he do it? What was the purpose? "Walking in each other's shoes"?

"Oh this is the best part. I will be receiving your compassion. Stealing it from you, if you will. And in return, you'll be receiving my hatred. I have enough for several people, anyway."

"I'll have... your hatred...?"

"Oh yes. You'll scream at your host, and you'll hit him, and you'll possess him harshly against his will, and I am saddened that I won't be here to see it. It'll be quite the show."

"I...This has to be done, doesn't it."

"It does." he laughed again. He sounded like quite the maniac, today. "You have... hmm... lets see... about an hour."

"...Go. Prepare yourself. You won't feel like letting Ryou feel that," he pointed at his face, "in an hour."

"I'm on my way out~ You underestimate the strength of my hatred. I'll still make him feel it."

And he closed the door behind him, leaving the soon to be changed spirit alone with his "host".

"Yugi, take off the-"

he stopped...

"That won't work... it's not here, the Puzzle isn't here, we're in this stupid game, and I'm tied directly to this game piece..."

He was all out panicking, be it quietly.

He shut the bedroom door and started pacing. Yugi let him, knowing he needed the space.

"What are we going to do...? Yugi, what'll we do...?"

-Calm down, Yami! It's not that big of a deal. You just have to play Bakrua, that's all. You won't do anything bad though. I know you better than that.-

He continued pacing.

"No, Yugi, you don't understand, I... I'm... I'll hurt you... I don't want to hurt you..."

Yugi appeared in spirit form beside him, attempting to comfort him.

"Yami, you're not going to hurt me... I know you better than that. You know better than that, and I trust you."

Yugi hadn't noticed until he heard the shaky breath. Yami was crying.

"Yami... don't cry...it'll be ok..."

"I'll hurt you...I know I will... I … I can't handle his hatred...Oh Yugi, there's no predicting what I'm going to do to you... and I can't run... you can't just take the puzzle off, this time... you can't escape... you won't... y-you won't be able to escape..."

Yugi put his hand on Yami's shoulder. He looked up at him, his eyes glossy with tears, and some already falling down his face.

"Y-Yugi... switch with me... all I can do now is try my best to protect you from myself..."

His head hung low in shame, he let himself enjoy Yugi's presence for the last few seconds.

Yugi nodded, and closed his eyes as he took control again.

He wiped the tears out of his eyes with his sleeve, determined not to let emotion overcome him, as well.

"We only have around half an hour, now... I don't know how long it'll last, but I want you to do your best to keep safe, alright...? If that means fighting me, do it. I wish I was sealed to an item right now, instead of this game piece... don't let me hurt you, Aibou... don't let me hurt you... Physically, OR mentally..."

Mentally... Yugi knew he could do some real damage if he wanted to. He could make it hurt when he took over. It WAS possession, after all. He could lock him in his soul room. He could potentially do a lot of harm... but he wouldn't. Yugi knew he wouldn't.

"Don't worry, Yami. I'll be fine. Just... fight it, ok? You've dealt with hatred before. It's not going to feel alien to you. You know how to work through it. Just don't let yourself get too worked up, that's all."

"Hikari, it's hardly going to be me anymore..."

Yami was already being careful. Yugi could feel it. Everything he did, even his words were careful.

"I trust you, Yami."

"Don't. Not anymore. Not even for a minute. You need to treat me as if I'm Bakura for the next little while."

"Mou hitori no boku..."

"For now, I'm going to do what I can to protect you."

And Yugi felt him drifting back into his soul room.

"But Yami, I... I just got you back... I just got you back, don't go..."

/I have to. It's to keep you safe./

Came his answer from a deeper place in his mind than usual.

-But Yami I...-

/No, Yugi... I have to...to...I can't get away from you, but I have to try to get as far away as I can.../

Yugi was slightly hurt. He knew Yami didn't want to leave him, though. Over the next few minutes, he could feel that over their link.

He could feel the deep sadness and utter fear...

And then... nothing. Yami cut him off entirely. He was buried somewhere extremely deep in Yugi's heart and soul. It felt like he was asleep...

To Yugi, it felt like back in the beginning. When he wouldn't wake up except for to punish people he thought deserved it.

For the first time in a long time, he felt... lonely.

He occupied himself with a journal or some cards, for the next little while.

He felt it when the magic hit.

He felt Yami shift, and then panic and try to bury himself even deeper into his un-sleep in Yugi's mind.

Yugi even gently tried to coax him out.

-Yami? Can you hear me? You can come see me, you know... we're safe here...-

He got no reply.

Yugi wasn't as concerned about the hatred as Yami was. He knew he could handle it. No, it was something else that was bothering Yugi.

Bakura said he'd be taking his compassion. Stealing it. Didn't that mean Yami wouldn't have any left? He knew Yami could handle a little bit of hatred, but it was seeing him without compassion that had him nervous...

He had low amounts of compassion when they first met, but he still had it. He'd spared people or given them punishments that could even help, in the longrun.

So, this would be a new version of him. One Yugi had never seen before. One who couldn't care about him the same way. He tried to prepare himself emotionally, for that.

His Yami would be different now, and he might seem to care less. That would hurt.

And then, all within a few seconds, Yami came out from his hiding place, and Yugi found himself floating a couple of feet beside where he knew he was standing.

He hadn't asked permission, or even warned him of what he was going to do.

-Mou hitori no boku...?-

"I'm going to give Bakura a piece of my mind. And maybe my fist."

-No, Yami, calm down...-

Could it be this bad, already?

"You think you can tell me what to do?"

It could...

-N-No... I just... I felt how scared you were, a minute ago... I wanted to help...-

Fear flickered in his eyes again. He was scared. But the lack of compassion was really canceling out the fear.

"I don't care."

-Yami, please... slow down... talk to me...-

"I don't think I feel like talking."

And with a harder shove than he was used to, Yugi found himself staring at the walls of his soul room.

It wasn't like his darker half to shove him in here like this, let alone with no explanation.

"Yami, please! I know you can hear me!"

A pause. Dead silent air, the quiet stillness just as unreal, existing only in his mind, as this room was.

/If you're going to be ungrateful, then you can sleep./

And in the same instant, Yugi's vision started going dark around the edges, and he could already feel sleep approaching, completely against his will.

"Wait, I-!"

But sleep only pulled him in faster.

His Yami had only done this in the very beginning, but it wasn't for the same reasons, then. He was afraid. Even if he knew that Yami could feel his fear and that if this was as bad as it looked, he might be punished for it, for his last few seconds of coherent thought before sleep, he was afraid.

Finally, as he was pulled completely into his unwanted coma, a false sense of peace settled over him as he slept.