Originally Written for Encourageshipping (DM Spiritshipping) Week 2016
NOTE: I have expanded/continued this fic under the name Triple Game! Unfortunately I can't respond to anonymous reviews so I hope this reaches those who have reviewed - if you are interested in seeing more of this fic, please go to that story, as I will be leaving this as is and continuing the story over there.
"Let me look at that, Yuugi," Anzu said as she rifled through the first aid kit. "It looks pretty bad."
"I'm fine, Anzu. It's not that bad – I'm sure it looks worse than it really is," Yuugi said. Anzu ignored his protests and examined the bruises. She frowned. She could still feel pain where Ushio had struck her, shoving her away as she tried to come to Yuugi's aid. And she knew that Ushio had hit Yuugi much more as well as harder. He certainly wasn't "fine". She bit her lip. She didn't want to berate Yuugi after all that, but…
"Why did you defend those two, anyway? Jounouchi and Honda have never done you a bit of good; they've always teased you and taken your things." If you hadn't thrown yourself between them and Ushio, you wouldn't be in this mess now.
"They weren't that bad, Anzu! They didn't deserve to get beaten up for it."
"Neither did you! And that asshole has the nerve to demand you pay him for it…but I don't see any way out of it. Do you have enough money to pay him?" Anzu asked. Yuugi looked down at his feet uncomfortably.
"I don't think so…but don't worry about it, Anzu," he said.
"Alright. I'll give you the money then."
"No! I couldn't ask you to do that! You're saving your money for something important!"
"I'm not going to just stand by and let you get hurt more, Yuugi. I saw that knife!" Anzu said, shuddering at the memory. "You can always pay me back later."
"I still wouldn't feel right accepting that," Yuugi said, fidgeting. It was clear that the whole matter was upsetting him. "I'll figure something out." He reached into his bag, removing a gold box. He set it on the desk and started pulling pieces out. "Let's work on the Puzzle a bit, Anzu."
Anzu joined him at the desk, and began helping him with the pieces. The Puzzle was one of their favorite things to do together. While Yuugi loved to play games of all sorts, Anzu often tired of it when she constantly lost to him. She liked it when they could play something side by side. Puzzles were good in this regard, but this Puzzle was far different. For one thing, the pieces seemed to be made out of solid gold. But far more relevant, it was incredibly difficult. With simpler puzzles, Yuugi often solved the whole thing without much input from Anzu, so she enjoyed helping Yuugi with this one much more, since she felt that she could actually contribute.
They had been working on the Puzzle for eight years, sometimes taking turns with it, sometimes working together. They had been working on it at school earlier that day, before Jounouchi and Honda had grabbed it from Yuugi while Anzu was in the bathroom. She still couldn't understand why Yuugi defended those guys, but Yuugi really did have a tendency to be too nice for his own good. That was why he kept getting bullied, sometimes physically, despite Anzu's best efforts to protect him.
"It's really starting to come together today," Yuugi said, as Anzu matched her piece with his. She realized with a slight shock that he was right. The Puzzle looked more complete than it had ever been, and it almost felt easy, now. She slid another piece into place. Yuugi placed another. She placed the next. He put another in. Their hands worked in harmony, pushing and sliding and twisting the pieces into place, rapidly closing the gaps.
"Amazing," Anzu said, "We're finally completing it!"
"There's only one piece left!" Yuugi said, his voice laced with barely contained excitement. He reached into the box that held the pieces, and his expression changed suddenly.
"It's not there! The final piece…! It's gone!"
"We'll find it, don't worry," Anzu reassured him. She helped him search his room for the missing piece, to no avail.
"It's gone…we'll never complete the Puzzle…" Yuugi said, sounding as though he was trying not to cry.
"Maybe it fell out at school when Jounouchi and Honda were tossing it around?" Anzu suggested. She hoped the piece wasn't lost forever. This Puzzle meant too much to her and Yuugi for it to remain unfinished. "We can look tomorrow."
A knock came at Yuugi's door, startling the pair. Yuugi's grandfather entered the room, and spotted the nearly completed Puzzle.
"You two have finished that Puzzle? Well done!" he said.
"No…a piece is missing. We'll never finish it," Yuugi said sadly.
"It's not like you to give up, Yuugi," Sugoroku chastised, then revealed the Puzzle piece in his palm. Anzu let out a small gasp, and Yuugi leapt at his grandfather with a hug.
"You found it! Thank you!" Yuugi said, taking the piece from his grandfather. Sugoroku shook his head.
"Not me…a blond boy came by and said to return it to you."
A blond boy…? Anzu thought, and looked over at Yuugi. He didn't appear to have listened. Jounouchi? She could hardly believe it. Perhaps she was wrong about him…
Sugoroku left the room, and Anzu approached Yuugi.
"Anzu…Anzu, we can finally complete the Puzzle!" Yuugi said excitedly. "Let's put the final piece in together!"
"Yeah!" Anzu said, unable to contain her own excitement. The two of them hunched over the Puzzle. Yuugi lightly placed the piece over the remaining spot, and placed his thumb over half of the piece. Anzu placed hers on the other half.
"I always thought that whoever solved this Puzzle would be granted a wish," Yuugi said. "Since we both solved it, we should both get a wish."
Anzu thought of her wish. It had always been her dream to go to New York to become a dancer.
"Ready?" asked Yuugi.
Anzu hesitated. If she got her lifetime dream answered by a wish, rather than effort, would she really be happy with that? Would that really be fulfilling? She decided that it would not – even if the Puzzle did nothing, she didn't want to risk that. She looked over at Yuugi, her eyes focusing on his bruised face, and thought of a new wish. I wish I could stop people from hurting you.
"Yeah, I'm ready" whispered Anzu, and together they pressed the piece into place.
He was very confused.
A moment ago, he had not known who he was. He had been encased in nothingness, a dead, empty existence that stretched on forever, without even his own thoughts to keep him occupied. Or had he? Now it seemed unreal, a rapidly fading dream. Now he knew who he was.
Maybe. His memories, which strangely seemed both new and as though they had always been there, conflicted. These were not the memories of one person, but of two. There were two names that felt like they were his but not quite his. But how could he be two people? That seemed impossible to him, even if he had two bodies that he could move.
He was certain of a few things. He was in pain, in both bodies, and a person called Ushio had hurt him. This made him angry – the desire for vengeance, to bring Ushio to justice for what he had done, burned through him. By focusing on this, he could put aside his confusion for now. He would punish Ushio, make him suffer for his greed. But he needed a few things first. Money, and a way to better keep hold of the Puzzle.
Clumsily, he moved his two bodies. He clasped one hand from each body around the Puzzle. He turned his heads, trying to make sense of the two different images – he was unaccustomed to dealing with two bodies at once, nothing in his memories guided him here. Gradually, he adjusted, moving his bodies with more ease. He found a small length of rope, and attached it to the Puzzle, his many fingers stumbling as he tied the knot. The rope was not long enough to put the Puzzle around both of his necks, so he simply held it between his two bodies.
He moved towards the door, then spotted something sticking out of his bag sitting by the desk. He bent one of the bodies down, and picked it up with his free hand, seeing that it was money. He guessed that his grandfather must have put it there. Jounouchi must have told him about Ushio. He pocketed the money.
He exited the room with some difficulty, as he was walking his bodies side by side in order to hold the Puzzle between them. He walked sideways down the stairs, and walked over to the phone. He reached a free hand to the phone, while using his other free hand to flip through the phone book. Finding Ushio's number, he dialed.
"Who's calling at this time of night?" Ushio's voice crackled over the phone.
"I have your money. Let's meet at the school at midnight." He spoke with two voices, but Ushio only heard the one that was in front of the receiver.
"Mutou? This better not be a prank – if you're not there with my money, you'll regret it."
"Understood. I will be there." He hung up, and a wide smile appeared on both his faces. He placed the phone back, then turned and quietly walked out the front door. He walked to the school, still holding the Puzzle between his two bodies, and waited for Ushio to arrive.
He watched as Ushio came onto the school grounds and started looking around for him. He approached from behind, and greeted him.
"Hello, Ushio. I'm glad that you came." Ushio jumped slightly, then his eyes narrowed as he saw who had just spoken.
"Mazaki, I thought I told you to stay out of this, or else. Mutou, where's my money?"
"Here it is." He removed the money from his pocket, and displayed it to Ushio. "And I seem to have accidently brought along twice what I owe you." He saw the gleam in Ushio's eye. "But it wouldn't be any fun if I just handed to you, would it?"
"What the hell are you two on about? Cut out that creepy talking in unison thing. It doesn't scare me. Just give me the money already, Mutou."
"How about…we have a game?"
Yuugi groggily awoke. He couldn't remember when he had gone to bed – the last thing he remembered was placing the final piece in the Puzzle alongside Anzu. His clothes felt strange. He opened his eyes, and realized that he was still in his school uniform, rather than his pajamas. Odd. He felt something in his hand, and turned to see that it was a rope, attached to the Puzzle. Anzu had her hand clasped around the other side of it.
Yuugi froze as he processed this information, jolting him to sudden alertness. Anzu was in his bed. Anzu. Was. In. His. Bed. Now, waking up to find your longtime crush in your bed wasn't necessarily a terrible thing, except that Yuugi had no recollection of how she had gotten there, and was suddenly terrified that he had done something stupid.
Calm down, he told himself, you're both still dressed, so nothing like that happened.
He slid out of bed, careful not to wake Anzu. He looked around the room. Why couldn't he remember anything after solving the Puzzle?
Anzu stirred, and Yuugi looked back at her.
"Ah…good morning, Anzu."
"Huh…" she sat up in the bed, blinking her eyes. "Did I fall asleep at your house?"
"Yeah…I don't really remember, but I guess I must have let you have my bed for the night."
"I don't remember anything after solving the Puzzle," Anzu said. "I hope I didn't make you sleep on the floor."
"It's okay," Yuugi said quickly. "But we should get going for school. What are we going to do with the Puzzle? There's a rope around it, but we can't both wear it at once."
"Let's take turns wearing it. You can have it today, I'll take it tomorrow." Anzu stood up. "I should call my parents, let them know I stayed over at your house." She left the room to make the call. Yuugi picked up the Puzzle from the bed, and pulled it over his neck.
All throughout breakfast and the walk to school, Yuugi continued worrying over his blanked out memory. Anzu said she couldn't remember either. Had they both fallen asleep immediately after solving the Puzzle? It seemed unlikely, but the Puzzle must have had something to do with it, he reasoned.
Anzu seemed to be more concerned with other things. "What are you going to do about Ushio?" she asked. Yuugi shrugged, which made Anzu look worried. He felt bad, but what could he do? He didn't have the money.
As they approached the school, it became clear that he didn't have to worry about it. A crowd was gathered around Ushio, who was rolling in the leaves.
"What's going on?" asked Anzu. "What…what is he doing?"
"He thinks the leaves are money! He's gone completely nuts," said one student. Others were laughing at Ushio.
Yuugi and Anzu were not laughing. Anzu looked even more worried, even though it was clear Ushio was no longer a threat. Yuugi was perturbed as well. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had something to do with Ushio's sudden madness. The feeling persisted until Jounouchi came to Yuugi promising his friendship, which made Yuugi incredibly happy and pushed all thoughts of Ushio and the gap in his memories to the side.
"I'm surprised she didn't tell you about this, at least. You've been friends forever, haven't you?" Jounouchi said, leaning casually against the back of the Burger World booth they were sitting in.
"Yeah," Yuugi said, not really listening. He was too busy thinking about how cute Anzu looked in her waitress uniform.
"Of course, she could get in a lot of trouble if the school found out about this, so maybe that's why she didn't."
Screams rang out across the restaurant, cutting their conversation short. Both Yuugi and Jounouchi jumped to their feet, looking for the source of the commotion. Yuugi's blood ran cold as he saw Anzu muffled and held at gun point. She was struggling against her captor.
"Do as I say, or the girl dies!" the man shouted. "You, shrimp, bring me some booze and cigarettes," he said, indicating Yuugi. He then put a blindfold over Anzu, and dragged her over to a booth.
Yuugi was terrified, but if he didn't do what the man said, Anzu could get hurt. So he went to the back of the restaurant, looking for what the gunman demanded. He searched quickly, hoping that Anzu would be alright. He touched the Puzzle that was hanging from his neck lightly, wishing that it had been Anzu's day to wear it, thinking that it might have protected her somehow. Yuugi tried to steady his hands as he placed the vodka, cigarettes, and a lighter on a tray. Gripping the tray tightly, he carefully made his way back out to where the man was sitting.
He was silently relieved to see that Anzu was still okay, but as he approached, Anzu suddenly stood up.
"No, Yuugi, stay away!"
The gunman slapped her and forced her back into her seat. The last thing Yuugi was aware of was an intense sensation of rage as he called out Anzu's name.
He was furious.
Though he had come to the conclusion that he wasn't the two people whose memories and bodies he shared, he still felt every bit as angry as if he had been struck himself. And perhaps more – the anger of one at seeing the other hurt amplified his desire for revenge. And he felt indebted to the pair – he knew, somehow, that they were the reason he could exist. They had saved him from nothingness. And so he would punish anyone who dared harm either of them.
He found with some relief that he did not have to be in control of both bodies at the same time. It was easier to move a single body, and more reliable – he couldn't always guarantee that they both had contact with the Puzzle. And in this situation, it was impossible to get Anzu safely in contact with the Puzzle.
The only disadvantage was that the Puzzle's power was split between them – he could not make full use of it when only controlling one body. But, he decided, he didn't need to use the Puzzle to punish this man – he had everything he needed on that tray.
He slid himself into the seat across from the gunman, who did not react well.
"Did I say you could sit down, brat? Just leave the items and piss off!"
"I thought you might like to play a game with me."
"A game? What sort of game?" The gunman asked, putting a cigarette in his mouth.
"A simple game. We each pick one finger, and once the game starts, we can only move that finger. We can do anything we like besides."
"Interesting," the gunman said, pouring the vodka into his glass. "I'll pick my trigger finger, and blow your brains out."
"I will choose this thumb." He held up the thumb in question. "Game start."
The gunman started to press on the trigger, but stopped as he saw the lit lighter held out to him. "Fine, I'll let you light my cig before I kill you…what?" The cigarette lit, the lighter landed on top of his hand that held the gun.
"Fire that gun and that lighter will land in the vodka, and you'll go up in flames," he warned, then smirked. The game was over and won now. He stood up and grabbed Anzu's hand, pulling her away from the table as the cigarette fell from the gunman's mouth into the liquid. They got away just as the table went up in flames.
Anzu pulled off her blindfold uncertainly, expecting to see the person who had saved her. Instead, she just saw Yuugi's concerned face.
"Anzu, are you alright? Are you hurt?" he asked, clearly worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine…but…who saved me? Did you see?" she asked. The voice had been so familiar – it was almost like Yuugi's, but Yuugi didn't talk like her rescuer had. It couldn't have been Yuugi.
"No, I didn't. I'm glad you're okay, Anzu!" Anzu was disappointed. She really wanted to know who saved her, to thank him, to see what he looked like. But if Yuugi hadn't seen him, than no one else (living) could have. She looked around, and saw no sign of anyone who could have saved her. She saw police enter through the front of the restaurant.
"Looks like the police finally got here. I should probably go talk to them," Anzu said. She hoped that someday she could meet the one that saved her.
"Send for the nurse! Hurry!" Anzu shouted at some nearby students, who scrambled off to get the nurse. No...everyone had worked so hard on this…and now Yuugi… She bent over the unconscious Yuugi, taking care that the Puzzle hanging from her neck didn't bump into him. Unable to wake him, she looked up and glared at the older students who were tearing apart the carnival, who had rammed their grill into Yuugi. The anger that had welled up threatened to pull her into unconsciousness, but she resisted. She didn't know what happened when she blacked out, and she couldn't risk leaving Yuugi alone in this state.
The nurse arrived with a stretcher, and Anzu helped her lift Yuugi onto it. She then followed behind as the nurse wheeled it through the school to the infirmary. Yuugi…please be okay…
"He's lucky," said the nurse after examining him. "No broken ribs. He'll be badly bruised, and he's probably concussed. If he doesn't wake up soon we'll need to take him to a hospital. If he does wake up, he'll need constant supervision for the next day or so to monitor him for signs of concussion. I'm going to go call his family and let them know what happened. You may stay here with him until they arrive if you wish."
Anzu agreed, and the nurse left the room. Yuugi began to stir.
"Yuugi, are you okay?" asked Anzu.
"Anzu…the carnival…"
"There's nothing we can do," Anzu said sadly. "There's nothing…" she started to cry.
"Anzu…!" Yuugi tried to get up quickly to comfort her, but winced in pain and fell back on the bed.
Anzu's hands curled into fists, her anger becoming overwhelming. Yuugi didn't deserve this. She could no longer resist, and fell into unconsciousness.
"Anzu…?" Yuugi said uncertainly. Anzu had turned away from him and was walking quickly and purposefully towards the door. Something was off about her, and she didn't answer Yuugi.
"Anzu, wait…" Yuugi said, and struggled to his feet. Everything hurt, but he had to follow Anzu, figure out what was wrong. She was acting very strange. With difficulty, he followed her out of the school. He tried calling out to her again, but his voice didn't reach.
He fell behind, and lost Anzu in the darkness. Where had she gone? Every step he took pained him, but he couldn't give up. If something was wrong, he had to find out. He had to help…
He nearly stumbled and fell, but managed to catch himself. Why had Anzu left suddenly without saying anything? They had been talking about the carnival…had Anzu gone there to try to take back the spot all by herself? Alarmed by the thought, Yuugi quickened his pace despite the pain. He made his way over to where the carnival games had been. He saw Anzu, but she was not alone. She and Inogashira stood across the grill from one another.
"…the winner will take this space, and the loser…will get blown up." Yuugi's hair stood on end. He had seen Anzu speak, but that couldn't have been her. The voice was too strange, too menacing, too…gleeful…to be Anzu's. The speech patterns were off, too. Anzu didn't talk like that. Anzu wouldn't set up a dangerous game like that.
Yuugi tried to move towards them, to stop whatever dangerous game they were about to play, but sharp pain caused him to collapse. He could only watch as Inogashira and not-Anzu batted a piece of ice across the grill. He tried to get to his feet again as he saw that Inogashira was dominating the match, hitting the ice harder and harder, but was unable to.
He was suddenly blinded as Inogashira's side of the grill exploded into flames. He shielded his eyes, then heard not-Anzu speak again, saying that their class would take back their space. He managed to stand, but dizziness overcame him, the scene swimming and blurring before his eyes. He was confused, and no longer certain if he was standing or not, or where Anzu was, or anything. He was certain, though, that Anzu wouldn't kill, especially not like this. It certainly couldn't have been Anzu that did this. But the person looked like Anzu, and he had followed her out here…
"You shouldn't be out here. You're hurt. You need to rest, Yuugi." The voice was gentle, but was still not Anzu. This only confused Yuugi more. Why would the person who had just killed or at least seriously injured an older student speak so kindly to him? He closed his eyes; he was finding it hard to think, he was so dizzy and nauseous…
"Here, I'll carry you back. You're in no state to walk." Yuugi felt himself being lifted. He didn't offer any protest as he was carried back to the school. The voice continued softly as they walked. "I won't let anyone hurt you any longer – not you or Anzu. I will forever be grateful to the two of you. You don't approve of my methods, I can sense that…but I must bring justice. They deserve to suffer for what they've done to you."
"No…I don't want anyone to get hurt…"
"I know. You are an exceptionally kind person, Yuugi. But I will not allow the guilty to go unpunished."
Yuugi felt himself being lowered onto a bed. He wanted to continue the conversation, to tell the person that there was no need to hurt people, especially not for his sake; but he found himself unable to stay awake.
When he awoke, he found himself in a hospital bed.
"You're awake, that's good," said a doctor. "You've had a pretty bad concussion, but it looks like you're going to be alright. I'd still like to run a few tests to make sure, but I'll let your family in to see you first."
"A concussion…? Oh, from when they knocked me to the ground…" Yuugi said. It also explained his throbbing head. He wondered if what he'd seen had even been real – A person with Anzu's face but wasn't Anzu that had exploded Inogashira…it had seemed so real, but now he was unsure.
His head hurt. He'd puzzle it over some other time.