A/N: Hello, everyone! I'll try to make this note quick.

I was watching Yu-gi-oh, and getting increasingly frustrated at the lack of common sense displayed in the characters (namely, Yugi). So, I changed him slightly to make him more realistic, in my point of view. This story will fit neatly into the plotline of season three; I won't affect events beyond the Battle City finals.

Enjoy the story!

Common Sense and Vulgarity

Episode 67 – Mime Control

(After Yugi's duel with Marik's mind slave)

Mokuba looked on as the creepy-looking guy issued threats to Yugi like a machine gun – fast and deadly. Though slightly confused by the whole thing (especially when the guy collapsed), the angry and fearful look on Yugi's face was enough to quell his questions. I wonder what he's thinking right now…

That son of a bitch, Yami thought furiously when Marik finished speaking. Yugi, though a bit shocked at his partner's coarse language, agreed wholeheartedly with the sentiment. With no further ado, he turned his back on Kaiba and Mokuba and ran off to find his friends.

"Hey, get back here right now!" Kaiba exclaimed.

Yugi made to stop and answer him, but at that moment, Yami seized complete control of his body, not willing to waste any more time on Kaiba. Instead of stopping to talk, he kept running, sticking a fist behind his back where Kaiba could see it. From that fist emerged a single finger.

Yami! exclaimed Yugi. What are you doing?

The Pharaoh didn't reply, but only hoped that Kaiba got the message that his friends were much more important than a card game with a megalomaniac.

As Yugi ran away flashing an obscene gesture at Seto, Mokuba looked over at his big brother. His fists were clenched so hard his knuckles were white; his eyes bulged out, then narrowed into angry slits as he furrowed his brow. Mokuba took a wary step away from him.

"Right back at you, Moto," Seto hissed through his teeth. After that, Mokuba heard only curses and oaths pouring from his mouth. He could have sworn the temperature rose several degrees from the force of his big brother's fury.

Episode 81 – Let the Finals Begin

(Seto confronts Yugi on the blimp)

"Yugi, I have some words of advice for you."

Without Yami's height, Yugi felt a little intimidated as Kaiba's towering form approached him. But, as he had done many times before, Yami wordlessly reassured Yugi by gently brushing their minds together. It was not enough for Yami's appearance to surface, but the contact quickly negated Yugi's fright and gave him a sense of security.

"I'm aware that you haven't played your Egyptian God card since you won it," Kaiba said, sneering, "but it's time for that to end right here and now. So it had better be in your deck during the finals because I intend to win it. This is my tournament, Yugi. Got it?"

Yugi listened quietly and impassively as Kaiba spoke. He was not interested in fueling his fury or mistreating him when he had helped save Yugi's friends. Yami, however, did not seem to feel as forgiving. His angry snarls made him sound like a caged beast, but for the interspersed vulgarities that were most definitely human.

"And then, when the Battle City finals are all over, I'll be the world's greatest duelist, and the owner of all three Egyptian God cards, making my deck unbeatable." Raw ambition and greed shone in Kaiba's eyes. "So it's time to say your goodbyes to Slifer the Sky Dragon, and to any hopes you had of winning. Listen to me closely: Duelist Kingdom is far away, and as long as you're up here with me, you're playing my game by my rules. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a tournament to run." With that, Kaiba turned his back and began to walk away.

"Man, this balloon is fulla hot air!" Joey said angrily. Before he could start a full-blown rant, one of Kaiba's employees announced that they should report to their rooms on the airship. They all began to walk down the hallway, but Yugi stopped when he heard Kaiba address him again.

"By the way, Yugi," Kaiba said, using a dangerously soft tone, "I haven't forgotten about the little bird you flipped me, and I'm not going to anytime soon. So you had better watch your back, because – "

Yugi couldn't even hear the rest of Kaiba's threat over the sound of Yami's angry voice in his head, yelling obscenities that couldn't reach Kaiba's ears. He tried to calm the Pharaoh. Yami, save your rage for when we fight him in a duel! When his words had no effect, Yugi knew he had to find a way out of this predicament – and fast. He flicked his gaze towards his friends, who had just turned around, realizing Yugi had stayed back. He took a couple steps toward them, still deaf to all sounds but the Pharaoh's enraged ranting.

Suddenly, just when Yugi felt he had the situation under control, Yami's self-restraint shattered. He shoved Yugi into the proverbial backseat and took over his body. Yugi immediately tried to combine his mind with the Pharaoh's, so that he wouldn't get too out of hand. When it didn't work, he became more frantic, but his attempt was futile. So he could only watch inside his own body, unable to control the fury of his other half.

"You selfish, ungrateful bastard!" Yami exclaimed, grabbing Kaiba's collar with both hands and slamming him against the wall. Kaiba seemed quite taken aback, not only by the action, but by the fact that the person he took to be Yugi had just gained a deep, mature voice and over half a foot in height – instantaneously. Yami continued his tirade, giving Kaiba no chance for retaliation. "How dare you speak to me that way? After all the help I've offered, after all the times I've saved your sorry ass! Yugi still has patience for you, so I have tolerated you thus far… but no longer!"

Yugi panicked when he felt the Pharaoh begin to tap into the power of the Millenium Puzzle. He wants to hurt Kaiba! Memories flashed across Yugi's mind, memories of almost losing control, almost slipping under the might of Yami's will, almost hurting someone because of his weakness… I can't let that happen, not then, and not now either!

Gathering all the energy he could spare, Yugi forced Yami out of his body and back into the Millenium Puzzle. His body went limp for a second while he wrestled Yami's soul into submission, screaming words of betrayal at the furious Pharaoh. Finally regaining control of his body, Yugi was dismayed to find himself sprawled on the ground with a throbbing pain just below his right eye. A myriad of voices flooded his ears.

"Yugi! You little piece of – "

"Stay away from him Kaiba! Is he okay?"

"Say something, Yugi!"

"What's wrong with him?"

He opened his eyes to see Téa kneeling by his side and Joey standing beside her, but everyone else kept their distance, including Kaiba, who stayed near the wall. Wincing, Yugi struggled to sit up, feeling a bit dizzy from the effort. He looked up into Kaiba's livid face warily.

"K-Kaiba, I'm sorry," he began. "I didn't mean – "

"Sorry?" Kaiba interrupted, laughing nonhumorously. "You're not sorry. But you will be soon, I assure you. Once your Egyptian God card is mine, I will have no further use for you, and then you'll know what sorry is."

Yugi didn't have the energy to retaliate. It took all his skill and concentation to contain the still-fuming Pharaoh, and furthermore, he was numb from shock. His senses slowly faded until he could barely hear, see, or feel the outside world. He was vaguely aware that someone helped him up, shouted, and led him into a room and onto a bed. After that, he sank into the depths of his mind and released the Pharaoh from the Puzzle.

At first, Yami's anger remained unbridled. Yugi found himself scared – not only of what Yami would do to others, but for the first time, he was scared of what Yami would do to him.

Yami was ready to berate Yugi for preventing the destruction of that menace. He was ready to give him a verbal thrashing to rival Kaiba's. But as he emerged from the shadows of his mind room and entered Yugi's, his anger immediately abated to shame.

Yugi was kneeling in the center of the messy room, amidst the toys and games strewn about. His eyes, fixed on the ground, were blank, so that even when Yugi looked up, it seemed like he was staring right through Yami. It was a sorry and blood-chilling sight.

"How could you?" Yugi said, quiet and sad. "How could you break your promise to me?"

"Yugi," he said, letting his voice and his eyes convey all the authenticity of his words, "I am sorry. I allowed my anger to take control of me, and I – "

"That wasn't just anger," Yugi interrupted. "Last time I checked, you and I both agreed that wanting to destroy someone out of frustration is called evil."

Yami was completely taken aback. He shook his head. "No. I am not evil. If I was, you would be like Bakura once was: enslaved, and essentially nonexistant."

"So it's just a funny coincidence, then, that I felt that way when you took over my body against my will?" Yugi said, his voice bitter, but his eyes still utterly, terribly blank. "If that wasn't enslavement, then what was it?"

"You misunderstand. Kaiba is selfish, and unreliable as an ally. He is not grateful for any help we offer him. I did this for both of us," Yami said firmly. "I am not like the spirit of the Millenium Ring, who puts himself first. I am looking out for you as well, aibou, and for our friends."

"But that doesn't change the fact that what you wanted to do was wrong," Yugi said. "If I had let you send him to the Shadow Realm, we would become no better than our enemies. Our restraint is what distinguishes us from them… and you no longer seem to have any restraint."

Yami's eyes widened at what Yugi was implying, but could not find the words to respond. Yugi's eyes suddenly regained life as a few tears ran down his face. He stood up and spoke with unquestionable certainty:

"It's a good thing I tested my strength against Marik earlier, because it looks like I'll have to be strong by myself for awhile."

"Yugi, no. You can trust me, you have to trust me – " Yami was cut off as Yugi jerked their minds back to reality.

"No, I can't trust you!" he yelled out loud. He seized the Millenium Puzzle and took it off his neck, hurling it across the room with a strength Yami never knew he had. The last thing he felt was the loss of of his connection to Yugi before the Puzzle hit the wall and broke, each golden piece containing a fragment of Yami's soul.

A/N: Yes, yes, I'm aware that the whole "Yami's anger getting out of control" plot is used in season four... but I wrote this before I saw season four.

Thank you for reading! I would love to have some feedback. I have part of the next chapter written already, but I could use encouragement (cough)REVIEWS(cough).