A/N: As I was reading the manga, this really stuck out and bothered me, especially in a manga that puts such a high value on friendship and promises. I chose to "vent" this frustration late at night, so it may be rather odd. Comments and concrit are appreciated.
A Friend You Can Count On
A meek-eyed boy sat at his desk. He was slender and weak and small for his age—so small, in fact, that he could easily be taken for a grade-schooler, rather than the sophomore he was. The others had all gone outside for lunch, leaving him behind, alone in the classroom. He didn't mind not playing their games. He was no good at basketball, or dodgeball, or any of the other sports that his peers considered fun He didn't mind being away from the bullies that took his money and left him crying in humiliation, bruises on his face. What he minded was being alone.
He fumbled in his bookbag for the things he had stashed there, the old familiar amusements that he occupied himself with. He felt the old familiar hunger, the wish that somebody, anybody, would come and share them with him. I wish…I wish I had friends. Friends I could count on, and that could count on me. He sighed, and his head drooped. He well knew how futile that wish was. Nobody would ever count on him, and for good reason. He was weak; he was puny and powerless. He couldn't even help himself, let alone anyone else. Nobody could count on him and, bitter experience had taught him all too well, he couldn't count on anyone else, either. He pulled out a well-read comic book and began to read.
Yuugi Mutou stood silently by the door. His hand clutched the jacket he had come back to retrieve, but his eyes were fixed on the solitary figure hunched over a desk. He couldn't help but wonder what his life would have been if destiny hadn't chosen him, if the puzzle had never been his. Would he still be sitting there by himself, longing for a strength and power he would never posses? Would he still stare after happy, smiling faces, wishing just one of them would smile at him? Would he still be waiting for a friend?
In the quiet classroom, a faint burst of laughter could be heard from outside. The boy looked up from his comic book and Yuugi caught a glimpse of a familiar hunger. He looked down at the floor, and remembered the things he had promised that night, almost a year ago now.
We'll always be his friends, no matter what.
In the sounds and shouts that drifted in from outdoors, Yuugi could dimly detect his own name. It wouldn't be long before his friends came in to look for him, wondering what was keeping him. As he quietly left the room, he glanced back a final time at the mild-eyed boy. If things had been different, that could have been him sitting there in need of company. But thanks to fate, Yuugi knew what it was to have friends that he could count on and that could count on him. He had tasted true friendship; he knew what it was. And this was not it.
A stone seemed to settle in his stomach as he swallowed. I'm sorry, Hanasaki.