by tati
Disclaimer: I do not and will never, under any circumstances, own Yu-Gi-Oh and its characters. However, Yvonne and her lifestory were created solely by ME. (this disclaimer stands for all chapters)
Summary: What if a new partner came into the lives of Yugi and Yami Yugi? She's out of their world. Literally. Will they accept her as she becomes herself for the first time in years? Will she learn to accept herself?
Chapter 1Yvonne walked into the school building. Nodding to the smiling office lady (she had a talent for acquaintances with people of authority), she made her way to the busy hallway and opened her locker. After resorting her books and loading her backpack, she mouthed a quick 'hi' to Jake, who smiled from three lockers down, and made her way to homeroom.
She sat down and organized herself. A quickly ended conversation with the girl next to her made her sigh quietly. 'And no one cares enough to talk to me. Again. Well what did I expect? Nobody should even think of talking to me. Selfish brat. People have better things to do than talk to YOU!' she berated herself mentally. Just then, three familiar figures sauntered into the room. She winced and quickly pulled out a science fiction book that she had been industriously reading since last night. It was a little over half done. She relaxed slightly into her fantasy world, where she would definitely rather be. Unfortunately, she wasn't entirely absent from reality.
"Stop making fun of *her*, Joe!" came Andrew's mocking voice, "It isn't nice. You'll hurt *her* feelings. I can't believe you're making fun of her. She might cry. Yvonne, did Joe hurt your feelings? Are you gonna *cry*?" She ignored him determinedly. He smirked and turned back to Joe. "I wouldn't recommend getting on her bad side, Joe. She might blow up and try to kill you, like she did in class last year. You don't want her to slip a bomb into school, do you?" He and Chris laughed as Joe looked on in bemused indignity. Yvonne's expression remained carefully neutral as she stared stoically at her book. She wouldn't cry. Not that he knew that. She wouldn't cry because she'd promised herself not to. She was too weak without tears, let alone with. She bit down on her tongue enough to make it burn. 'Why does Andrew decide to mock me *now*? Even before it would have been bad, but just when I start to go into decline? What kind of timing is this?! He's stayed away from me all year, would it kill him to find some new entertainment? And they have to keep bringing up last year. That thing wasn't even my fault – Yes it was!' she interrupted the nicer side of her mind. 'It was all your fault because EVERYTHING is your fault, and you know it! It will be your fault if you fail school; it will be your fault if everyone leaves you; hell, the end of the world will probably somehow manage to be your fault too.' She tugged absently at her gold bangs. That was another problem. Why did everyone think her hair was weird? She didn't even dye it like Susana did. It was naturally tri-colored. Personally she loved it. It gave her a feeling of connection with one of her favorite hobbies. Yu-Gi-Oh. She even wore the same type of clothes as the characters when out of uniform, and the neck buckle was reassuring in its familiarity and gentle weight. She had used it to replace a lost bracelet that she had treasured highly, and this was something that wouldn't be lost. 'Ok, enough wandering thoughts – the hair?' Oh yeah, tri-colored. Her hair was magenta and red, with gold bangs. It was entirely natural, and it made her look just like a female version of Yugi and Yami. 'Just a lot uglier,' she scowled. She was trying to lose weight; honest! She didn't eat breakfast or lunch, and tried to eat less at dinner. She had already lost six pounds, and she was going to start working out again this summer. And study for SATs. And play with her brother and her dog. And………there was so much she was required to do! Life sucked sometimes.
Andrew was starting up again. Hurt welled up in her chest at another cruel jibe, and she suppressed it fiercely. It quickly changed to anger. Now *that* she could deal with.
Pulling out a paper clip, she placed it against her forearm and pushed down, dragging it across her skin. Up and down, new line. Up and down, new line………over and over until it hurt too much to continue. She smiled at the lines, and the happiness banished some of the anger. Some. 'Too weak to even make them bleed,' her mental voice taunted. 'Too weak to ever get anything right. Can't even take a little harmless criticism. You deserve it anyway. You don't appreciate everything you've got, and you throw it away like it means nothing. You need to be taught a lesson. Consider that your punishment!' She smiled gently at the marks; again noting absently that no one had even noticed her injury session. She pinched herself and glared. She was bad. Bad! No one should notice, because if they did, they might make her stop. Or even worse: they might just look the other way and let her continue. But sometimes she just wished someone………
"Worthless little freak," she muttered to herself. No one heard her as she began the ordinary school day. Always ordinary. Go to class, get a few things right, learn, punishment if something was done wrong (self-inflicted), nasty remarks, friends who didn't notice if things bothered her, a happy session with teachers, reading whenever it could be gotten away with, laughing………everything. She had everything life could offer: a loving family, friends, smarts, a good education – everything. But for some reason there was still something wrong with her and she couldn't understand. She might have a case of mild depression, but it could never be bad, right? Because nothing good ever happened to her. The last time she had tried to get psychological help, it was too late; it was treated as a case of mild depression, no one helped her, and her parents soon ignored it. Well, this time she would make sure to give herself a problem! She *would* be recognized!
"I'd rather be anything but ordinary please………" she hummed as she left school with a wide grin.
*
Later that afternoon, Yvonne was reading Yu-Gi-Oh! Fanfiction contentedly. There'd be hell to pay if mom caught her, but she sort of hoped for it. Maybe, if mom yelled enough, she'd finally realize something was off with her 'wonder girl'. If not………well then, there was nothing wrong with her, she was overreacting – again – and it was her own fault if her life was screwed up because she had become so insignificant that not even her parents would notice her quiet recession from normal life. She looked longingly at the words onscreen and glanced down at the Yu-Gi-Oh! deck clenched gently in her hands. Her cousin played the game with her sometimes, and now she always won, but the two only saw each other a few times a year, and half of that time was spent with his sister, who she considered her closest confidant. Which was odd, now that she thought of it, but there was something about the younger girl………
Very few of the kids at school would consider playing the game with her. For some reason, boys could like Anime and playing foolishly, but girls just talked and admired the boys. 'Airheads,' she thought resentfully, 'I've never been like other kids my age. Some of my friends come close, but I've always been more childish in some ways and more mature in others.' For example, she was only fourteen, but she was a sophomore and everyone around her was sixteen. At the same time, she believed with all her heart in worlds different from her own; different timelines; and magic. It was real; it had to be. Any of the worlds she had read about or watched would do for her; she just wanted to be anywhere but here!
The screen exploded into light, and she jerked backwards as something began to emerge from the screen. Unconsciously, she held out her hands and the item dropped gently onto her deck of cards. Another blinding flash and Yvonne blacked out. Slowly the room returned to normal. With one distinct difference: No one was there.
*
Yugi jerked, and crashed violently to the floor.
"Yugi?! What's wrong buddy?" asked Jounouchi; assisting him to sit up. Yugi's eyes flickered wildly and his face suddenly changed to the more defined one of his Yami's.
"I don't know, Jou, but another presence………we must find it!" He leapt to his feet and ran out of the arcade. Yugi's friends stood in shock for a moment before giving chase.
'Another presence?! Oh no, this can't be good!' thought Tea worriedly as she ran to catch up.
*
Yvonne sat up groggily, rubbing her head with a hand that trembled. She opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by trees. The place wasn't in cartoon form, but she would have known it anywhere. It was the park from the Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime show. Her jaw dropped in disbelief, and she looked down at her other hand. Her deck was still there, but on top of it was an exact replica of the Millennium Puzzle. Her breathing grew ragged, and she had to hold both deck and Puzzle in both hands lest she drop them. Was this some sort of freaky joke? If so, it wasn't funny at all.
*
Yami skidded into the park, panting heavily. Yugi was panicking quietly in his soul room, and demanded for Yami to give his body back.
//I can run and you can be transparent. How about it?//
/Not a chance, Aibou. We don't know anything about this new presence. Why has it chosen our minds to invade?/
//But Yami-!// Yami glowered down their mental link and Yugi subsided sadly. //I just don't want you to get hurt Yami// he said quietly. Yami sent reassurance as he raced into the trees.
/Don't worry, Hikari, I'll be fine./
He turned a corner and felt a glow of connection upon sighting the person shivering in the middle of the clearing. He frowned; why was the connection welcoming? This was the invasion? It was just a young girl who looked very nervous. He stepped on a twig and it snapped. Startled, the girl jumped up and whirled around. Yami lost control of Yugi's body in shock.
She looked just like him.
~
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