Disclaimer: "Please...don't take them!" I shout. They think that just because they don't belong to me, I can't love them... They will never know how much I care... "I'll get you back!" I shout at their backs. They won't get away with this...
Chapter 1: When Those You Love Threaten To Leave You
"Yugi…you saved me once, long ago, and still do so, to this day… What if…what if I'm unable to return the favor…?"
Yugi lie on the bed, silent and still; his normally bright and shining amethyst eyes were half-closed and blankly staring at the ceiling above them, with no sign of the warm light they had previously withheld. The welcoming smile that was always visible on his kind and loving face had disappeared; instead, his face was expressionless, showing no signs of life, even though he was staring directly at the faces which often brought him the most happiness. But they, too, had seemed to lose all thoughts and signs of happiness.
Yugi's three friends and closest companions had gathered themselves around his bed. Each of them looked down on their caring friend with deepest remorse, their eyes tracing the wires that ran around Yugi's body to the machines whirring by his bedside. They silently watched as the IV steadily pumped medicine into his limp and weakened form, while the heart monitor beeped occasionally, as if trying to remind everyone of its presence.
Yugi was wearing what he always did-- an ordinary school uniform. Tight blue pants, held by a black belt with a gold buckle accompanieda blue blazer, only half-zipped, with a black undershirt. His black shoes and socks had been removed, and were lying by Yugi's bed. Ordinarily, he wore a few pieces of jewelry, but today, his jewelry had been removed, and was lying on a table by his bed. They included thick black bracelets, a thick black leather choker he always wore around his neck, and a card-holder strap he kept around his waist. The only piece of jewelry that remained with Yugi was the Millennium Puzzle.
It was an ancient Egyptian artifact, the Millennium Puzzle, one that Yugi's grandfather had given to him many years ago. The Puzzle was golden, and in the shape of a pyramid, only, upside-down, with a large eye in the center of it. It was only a bit larger than Yugi's fists, and on the top was a loop, where Yugi had hooked a thick chain to it and wore it as a necklace. Although it seemed worthless, it was Yugi's most prized possession, and Yugi's three friends had fought the nurses so it could stay next to Yugi. They had prevailed, and it rested by Yugi's pillow, near his head.
Normally, Yugi was very well-kept. But, today was another story. His tight blue pants were burnt and torn at the ends, revealing his bare ankles, and the scratches and bruises underneath. Various rips were apparent all the way up both of Yugi's pant-legs, his belt was undone and hanging loosely through the belt loops, and his blue blazer was thrown open. His black undershirt was pulled up to his arms, revealing his bruises and his bare stomach. His blue blazer was also burnt around the edges, and even if it hasn't been thrown open, Yugi's stomach would still have been showing. The sleeves of Yugi's blazer were also burnt, all the way up to the elbows, where stray lengths of thread still hung down and lie lazily on the bed. His collar was ripped and burnt, and the skin underneath was bandaged and bleeding.
Yugi's friends, still keeping an eye on their hurt companion, ran their eyes over the various cuts and bruises that were visible all over Yugi's body There was a large gash across Yugi's chest, covered with a still damp (and now bright red) cloth ,where one of the harshest attacks had occurred. It still seemed to be bleeding freely. Bruises were apparent on Yugi's arms, having been pummeled very recently. His legs were cut, and in his last moments of consciousness, had been unable to support him. But…perhaps, the worst thing was the bruise just under the large gash. It covered most of Yugi's stomach, and stretched around to his sides. That one seemed to be the most painful.
"Maybe he wouldn't look this bad if I had been there for him…" Jounouchi thought.
Katsuya Jounouchi, one of the three youths that had accompanied Yugi to the hospital, stared into the bruised and cut face of his friend, his eyes pink and damp. Jounouchi always tried to be a tough guy, and he had tried to keep his composure, even though knew it was in vain. He had tried to be strong, and tried not to show any signs weakness, especially cry, but…this was just too much. He kept replaying the scenes in his mind, watching Yugi fall over and over again. Each time he closed his eyes, he saw Yugi, telling Jounouchi that he didn't need any help, just before he was attacked. His guilt overpowered him, made it hard to focus on anything, to even think clearly. He bit his knuckle to try to dull his heartache, to try to dull his memory, to try to dull his guilt…he bit it until it bled, but it did no good. The only thing it brought was more pain, if that was even possible. He lifted his fist to punch the wall, but found that he just didn't have the strength. He didn't think he would have the strength to do much of anything anymore.
"It's all my fault…" came a strong baritone voice. Jounouchi turned his head, his attention grasped, and stared at the empty space to the right of him. He didn't see anything really, it was just…a feeling. No, Jounouchi thought, correcting himself. It was more like… a sense. Still…it seemed so familiar… Jounouchi wanted to think a bit more, to try to figure out what had happened. But…he just couldn't concentrate. He lowered his head again, and continued to stare at Yugi, the mysterious strangers voice never returning to his mind. Soon, his hand found his way to his mouth again, and he found himself biting into it again. Willingly, he began to draw blood from the wound, slowly at first, painfully extracting his blood as if it was a poison, feeling the addictive essence on his lips, slowly allowing it to slide down his throat. He found that he couldn't stop. When he felt the pain, his mind stopped, erased all of his memories, allowed him to forget that it was his fault Yugi was like this. He closed his eyes, enjoying the pleasure of pain, when suddenly-
"Jounouchi…please don't do that. It's only making things worse and…and Aibou wouldn't like it."
It's that voice again…! Jounouchi turned his head, fully expecting to see someone standing right next to him. Instead, he saw only the empty space yet again. He looked at his hand, and saw that the cut on his hand had begun to bleed freely, slowly overtaking the rest of his fingers. What was I doing…? he wondered. Well…I'm glad I stopped, I guess. I can't forget about it…Yugi needs me. I need to remember…for his sake. He lowered his head, new tears forming at the edges of his light hazel eyes. No…I've go to be strong…! He couldn't help it, and soon his cheeks were stained with tears. Still, desperately, Jounouchi tried to deny the truth that was staring him in the face-- Yugi Mutou was dying.
Beside him, Hiroto Honda, another one of Yugi's friends, was trying to do the same thing. He was standing, leaning against the wall, tears running freely down his cheeks. Please don't leave us, Yugi… We've all had suchgood timeswith you, even though we nearly got ourselves killed in the process. But we now have so many great memories… Thank you, Yugi.
"I remember when you first found me, Aibou…"
Honda quickly turned his head to both sides, quizzically staring at Jounouchi and Anzu. That didn't sound like either of them, thought Honda. Still, that voice…it seemed…familiar, somehow. I just can't put my finger on it… He shook his head, forcing the voice out of his mind. His head hurt when he thought too much, had to keep it simple. He looked down at Yugi, reminiscing about him (the deep voice having triggered a string of memories in Honda's mind), remembering all the times Yugi had rescued him, had rescued all of them….he wished he could go back to those times.
I didn't like Yugi at first, he remembered. Looking back on it, he felt guilty about treating Yugi so badly. But Yugi had never acted the same towards him, and had always treated Honda as a friend. In time, Honda began to accept Yugi…how could he not? Yugi was this innocent little kid…everyone picked on him and pushed him around, and he didn't do anything about it. He would go out of his way to help someone, even someone who would never think about doing the same for him.
Maybe this is your fault, Yugi." Honda thought. Maybe if you weren't so nice… Maybe if you, for once in your life, thought about what was best for you, thought about what you needed and what you had to do for yourself… You'd still be here… Please, Yugi… You can't leave us now…
Anzu Mazaki hesitantly turned her attention from Yugi to Honda, thinking she had heard Honda mumble something about Yugi and…the accident.
"Um…did you say something Honda…?" she asked timidly. Honda didn't answer her, didn't even acknowledge her existence. He continued to stare into the face of Yugi, and Anzu, deciding that now was not the time to be asking questions, returned her attention to Yugi as well. She was sitting in a chair by Yugi's bedside, arm outstretched, hand wrapped around little Yugi's wrist tightly, as if afraid that if she let go, he would leave her. Her shoulders shook slightly, and when she spoke, her voice was shaky, the voice of one who wished to scream their sorrows to the world, the voice of one who wanted to cry out for it's fallen friend. Instead, she sat holding Yugi's wrist, eyes tired and red, throat sore from sobbing. She waited for the tears to stop, waited for the pain to leave her and for the horrible dream to end. But…she knew it was no dream. Her shoulders began to rise faster, and her breaths became shorter. Suddenly, she couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Yugi…!" She desperately cried. "Yugi…please don't die, Yugi! I'm not ready for you to leave yet…! None of us are!" She broke down, sliding off the chair, never once letting go of Yugi's wrist. She carefully rested her head on Yugi's chest and whispered, "Please don't leave us, Yugi… I'm not ready for you to go…"
Jounouchi and Honda, startled by Anzu's outburst, quickly rushed to her aid.
"Hey, don't worry, Anzu," Honda said, using his sleeve as a tissue and wiping the tears from his eyes, while struggling to steady his shaking voice. "Yugi will pull through this…he always does." Jounouchi merely nodded his head and briefly put his hand on Anzu shoulder, still to broken to use his voice.
"Now, why don't you loosen your grip on his wrist, Anzu? He has enough injuries as it is…!" Honda had meant for it to be a joke, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. Immediately, Anzu began to tear up again, while Jounouchi turned his head and looked away, a stifled choke escaping from him.
"Wait…" Honda said. "I'm sorry, guys. I'm just…I'm trying to say something to make me feel better…to make all of us feel better…" Jounouchi turned and nodded at Honda, while Anzu looked up, and silently agreed.
"You're right, Honda…I'm just…I don't want him to leave us…"She quietly ended. Still, she released Yugi from her grip, and carefully placed his hand beside him. "But…he'll be okay if I let go."
She began to rise from her knees,when suddenly, Yugi's arm began to move.
"Yugi!"
"He's awake!"
Yugi began to shake and convulse, slowly at first, then violently, heaving up and down on the hospital bed. A choking noise escaped from his lips, and he began to softly cough. Still convulsing, the coughs quickly grew louder and rougher, straining the young boys throat. Yugi's bright unseeing eyes shot open, and a trickle of blood began to run from his mouth, adding more to the cloth that protected his chest. Slowly, he began to regain consciousness, flashes of memories flooding back into his mind as he recalled the vicious attack that he had endured just hours earlier. His vision returned, and he briefly saw his friends standing around him, looks of shock upon their grief-filled faces…then came the pain.
Suddenly, Yugi could feel all the pain that his unconscious mind had allowed him to forget. The various cuts and bruises on Yugi's body began to ache with pain as he struggled to withstand the force of it all. His eyes widened as the pain begin to overtake him, and in the mist of all of his coughing and sputtering, Yugi screamed with all his might. Soon, the pain made it hard for Yugi to see, to think, to even breathe. He couldn't remember who or where he was, and as the brief glimpses he got of his friends disappeared, he grew fearful that he was in a room full of strangers. But, the aching proved to be too much for the young boy, and soon after awakening, he began to slip back into the shadows, his body still convulsing violently. His vision blurred, and all of his senses began to give out. Vaguely, he heard the strangers shouting something… Are they shouting at me…? he thought vaguely. He didn't have time to dwell on his question though, and he drifted off again, retreating back into the unconscious nightmares.
Notes: Okay, this is my first fanfic here, so be nice! Read and review, please. Comments and complaints are welcomed. Heck, I'll even take flames. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! If not, tell me what you didn't like, and I'll work on fixing it. I can't please everyone, though, so just try to live with it. Oh, and when it's in italics, it's because it's what the charater is thinking to him/herself. Also, the title doesn't make sense now, but in later chapters you'll understand.
