A/N: Saw a random Yugioh fic and remembered how much I used to love this show. Have this trash.
Yugi had a grandfather once.
He couldn't quite recall his name, only warm smiles, a strong grip, and a loud booming laugh that brought him traces of happiness as he laid on his bed. He smiles at the thought of having someone who cared about him, loved him, fed a love-starved orphan bot affection.
He unconsciously rubbed the etching and patterns on the box as he held it to his chest. The engravings felt a bit strange against his chest, but he still held it towards it.
Every night, like a ritual, he held it towards him, not wanting to let go of the memories and warmth it brought to him.
This was the only thing he brought to the orphanage with him and the only thing that reminaned of his grandfather, the only proof of his existence. The man who was there for the beginning of his life for a short period of his life.
The box was beautifully crafted, made out of what looked like solid gold (but it couldn't possibly be real), the symbols engraved in with a design of an eye popping out, staring at him as if looking through his soul.
Inside was a scattered assortment of pieces, all of them too looking as if they were gold. It was a puzzle, a game, something he loved and enjoyed to do. Something different from the accustomed days of life.
He vaugely remembers his grandfather saying his wish would be granted if he finished were to finish this puzzle. It was true to him.
He's also reminded of a game store, filled with cards and board games stocked in shelves. It smells of home and comfort, feels of warmth as he's laying on his chest on the floor, playing a random game of the week by his lonesome.
Sometimes, his grandfather would play a game with him, easing the loneliess, when there were no customers. Perhaps his love of games stemmed from there, memories of his grandfather teaching him the ways to win, the rules. He felt the coziness of a fire, fond memories that left behind a warm feeling in his heart.
Content with the memories of his grandfather, he snuggled into his bed farther into his sheets and the hand that was not gripping his tressured box pulled the covers closer to his face.
He felt the cold breeze hit his toes. Yugi had to bend his knees for the blanket to cover himself fully. It felt awkward and he was a little sore, but it wasn't something he had not been used to.
He brought his free hand to clasp the box like his other and yawned in sleepiness. He was exhaustingly tired and at this point, he was ready to fall into sleep. He adjusted himself ever so slightly for a more comfortable position and closed his eyes.
"Goodnight, grandpa."
He hugged the box closer and whispered to the box, words slurring from his sleepy daze. "Goodnight."
And perhaps it was his drowsiness or his own imagination, but he swore, he heard a whisper.
Yugi usually sat beneath the usual, familiar maple tree, attempting to solve the puzzle he had recieved. And as usual, the work bare no fruit everyday, as he was unable to solve the thing.
A difficult puzzle he just couldn't solve, nine year old Yugi had dubbed it in his mind, but a challenge, which caused his blood to pump and his enjoyment to reach a high.
Today, he had planned to work on it.
But unfortunately, there seemed to be a hitch in his plans as he found him someone had already beat him to the spot.
Underneath a maple tree, was a boy with shaggy dark blue hair in a stripped shirt, attempting to make out the words of a battered book. From what Yugi could make out, the pages were old and threatening to fall apart from its binding. The boy was carefully turning the pages as to not tear it or harm it.
He was unsure of what to do. On one hand, he didn't want to bother the boy from what seemed like an intense reading session, but on the other hand, he really liked the spot.
The shade was a nice block from the sun, the tree stump was smooth enough to lay his back against, unlike the other trees with harsh ridges, and was wide enough to accommodate his whole body.
Hesitantly, he walked within earshot of the boy, and he heard traces of mumbles coming from him.
"S-S... Sa," The boy was struggling with the words on his page and Yugi peered a look over at the text. He easily understood the words, with the exception of some particularly difficult text, but the boy clearly didn't. Maybe he could help out aomeone in trouble.
Yugi walked closer and sat next to him against the maple tree, leaning on the large stump, silently observing the text that Mokuba had his finger on, before gathering up the courage saying,
"The kanji is sakura."
The boy, who previously had not noticed him, turned his head abruptly and looked at him in shock at the sudden company.
"Who-?" He said, giving him a confused look.
Yugi lightly blushed, slightly regretting his intrusion, but in spite of it, he answered, "Yugi Mutou. I usually sit here, I hope it's okay."
"No, it's okay. I'm Mokuba," The boy, now named Mokuba, answered. "Can you tell me what this kanji means?"
Mokuba shoved a block of text to his face as he excitedly pointed to one of the other kanji that had a smudge on it that Yugi could slightly make out.
And for once, Yugi spent his afternoon doing something other than trying to solve his puzzle.
Mokuba, he found, had a wide smile, an overexcited personality, and Yugi decided that he liked him very much. He was a few years younger than him, even though Yugi was about his height, but he was a good friend, kind, and he taught Yugi how to play chess, something he claimed to have learned from his brother.
Chess, he soon discovered, was a big source of entertainment from the otherwise tedious days at the orphanage.
When he wasn't solving his puzzle, he was playing chess with Mokuba or some of the other children until they got bored and went off to play tag.
Yugi tucked the chess mat and box of pieces underneath his arm, animatedly running outside towards Mokuba to the Maple tree, which ended up being their little base. Yugi couldn't find him in the dining room, so he definitely had to be there.
Playing chess outside wasn't a big deal to him, the weather was nice out, and he enjoyed the feeling of the outdoors. He ran, passing through an array of kids playing with their toys and among themselves, with determination and a ser goal in mind. He wove through a crowd of kids playing hopscotch near the fence, and ran up towards the hills.
The maple tree was in sight. He hurried along the path, and the closer he got, he was able to make out the figure of Mokuba. And he wasn't alone, by the looks of it.
Yugi curiously looked at them, wondering if they were friends of Mokuba or one of the kids that had previously played chess with them. As his run broke into a small jog and then a walk, he observed the scene.
And then one of the boys pushed him.
He felt himself freeze and the chess box and mat from his arms fell to the ground with a loud thump, but he didn't even notice. All he could see was the scene before him.
A beat later, he ran. He ran with no plan, no clue of what he was going to do, but he just squeezed his eyes shut and ran. The wind repelled against the sudden speed, but he kept running and running.
Running straight into one of the bullies.
He opened his eyes befote he noticed the pain. He had scraped himself on the ground, there was blood dripping from his knees, and he was laying on top of one of the other boys.
"Y-Yugi," Mokuba exclaimed, with wide eyes, still sitting on the ground.
Yugi looked across at Mokuba at his spot and before he could speak, the boy beneath him shouts.
"Hey! What the hell did you do that for," The boy Yugi laid on top of shouted hostily. He roughly pushed Yugi off as he got up. "You hurt me!"
"Mokuba's little friend?" One of the boys teased. He gave a little nudge to Mokuba on the ground with his foot. "Just as annoying as you, runt."
Yugi's heart pounded loudly against his ribcage, unable to do anything. Dirt and pieces of grass stuck to his arm, legs, and even his clothes. His heart pounded. He was scared. But he didn't want his friend to deal with this.
Gathering up his courage, he took a deep breath and said, "Moku-"
"What's going on here?" A loud authoritative voice shouts, interrupting him from his words. All heads turned to see a tall brunet boy with blue eyes. At the moment, his eyes were scrunched up into a menacing glare that left Yugi shivering in fear.
"Hands off him. Scram before I make you," The tall boy said. He hadn't even screamed, but the kids obeyed his words, scurrying away from him. Yuhi sighed in relief at the retreating figures of the bullies, glad that he and his friend were safe.
Then the boy's attention went on Yugi, blue sharp eyes giving the utmost attention to him. If they scared him before, they definitely left him a shivrring mess now.
"You? Who are you?" The taller boy asked, his brows scrunched up in confusion as his presence. He camr closer towards Yugi, his height making him far too heart attack inducing. "Were you bullying Mokuba too?"
Yugi was at a loss of what to do. He was intimidated by those sharp eyes, and he frantically waved his arms around as if he were conveying a message through them. He awkwardly shifted from his spot on the ground and started to say, "Well, I-I wasn't-"
"It's alright, brother. He's my friend," Mokuba interjected, practically glowing near his brother. He had gotten up now and was next to his brother, tugging at the edges of his shirt. "He's Yugi."
"Oh, the boy you told me about. The one who always wins at chess," The boy says bemusedly before turning his attention of Yugi again. "Thank you for taking care of my brother."
"Your brother? You're Kaiba?" Yugi said in an alarmed voice. So this was the brother he's never seen, but always heard about. Mokuba always called him with such reverence and respect.
He remembered sharp eyes and a cold voice from before, especially when it had been directed at him. It was hard to believe those sharp eyes were related to Mokuba's warm ones, but at the moment, his face had morphed into a gentler one and everso slightly, put Yugi at a little ease.
"Yes. It's nice to meet you. My name is Seto," He says, sticking out a hand.
Yugu stands up from the ground, wipes the dirt off his hands with his jeans, takes it without a second thought, his previous fear lost on him. "I've heard a lot about you from Mokuda."
"Same to you. Undefeated chess player, huh," Seto casually remarks, letting go of the grip on the handshake and they both retract their hands. "Care to ever play with me?"
"With you?" Yugi asked, with wide eyes. Mokuda may have claimed him to be an undefeated chess player, butYugi had heard all the praise from Mokuba how smart his brother was. Yugi inwardly smiled. Games were fun, but they were even better with a challenge. Exuberantly, Yugi nodded.
"Sure!"
"I'll challenge you one of these days then," Seto said, giving him a warm smile. Yugi smiled back at him, happy at the prospect of a new friend to play chess with him. "Now, are any of you two hurt?"
"Nope, think they'll just be bruises," Mokuba chirps, seemingly having not been affected by the bullies as he looked cheerful as ever. The prescense of his brother had something to do with it, Yugi figured.
"I'm fine too," Yugi replies as well after Mokuba, wiping away the dirt from his clothes.
"Oh, that's good, then- Yugi, you're bleeding."
Confused, Yugi looked down at his body and noticed the scraped knee and torn jean. He had forgotten about it. He looked down in surprised at it, just now registering the pain that came in a needle-like feeling.
"Come. I'll put a bandaid on it," Seto said, grasping his wrist and pulling Mokuba towards him with his free arm.
"Thank you," Yugi quietly mumbled underneath his breath at the boy. Too quiet that the other didn't catch it, but his sentiment was all the same.
It's a nice feeling, he decided, having friends.
"Rook to c6."
"Bishop to f1." Seto tapped the table in a frenzied way, his pokerface shattered at this point.
"Bishop to f3. It's checkmate, Seto."
Seto's features crumpled up. "Checkmate again?" Nevertheless, his expression soon turned into a small smile as Seto graciously accepted the thirty-sixth loss.
He sighed as he got up from his seat and started to pack up the chess pieces into the box. "How'd you do it? You just beat me easily."
Yugi laughed in return. "Easily? It's not like that. You're one of the more harder opponents to go up against. You're really good."
"Not good enough though, it seems," Seto says, lopsided smile. He packed up everything and picked up the box with one hand. He set it in one of the shelves beside the table before straightening himself up.
"Don't say that. If you hadn't moved knight to d4, I would've been in some real trouble. You'll beat me someday, for sure," Yugi said, as he too got up, the chair scraping against the floor loudly. He smiled, "Let's play again sometime."
"Of course. I'll beat you the next time we do," Seto replied. "It's about time to get going to go to bed now, good night Yugi. You should start sleeping soon as well." He started walking off, towards the hallway, his stacatoo footsteps chasing after him.
"Yeah, I'll get to it. Good night, Seto," Yugi yelled towards the disappearing back. Seto gave him a small wave in acknowledgement, his back still turned into Yugi.
There were no one there anymore, but Yugi. Sighing in exhaustion, Yugi sat down back at his seat. He rubbed his tired eyes as they wandered towards the puzzle box that sat besides him.
Four years and he still hadn't managed to solve it. He had just turned eleven and the birthday candies from the kids had long vanished. The part that he shared a bulk of them with others had something to do with the wuickly diminishing stash, of course.
Yugi beamed in rememberance at the gift Seto and Mokuba had given him. It wasn't the usual candies and wishes of happy birthdays the other kids had given him, but a chess set of his own, not one of the orphanage's.
It was cheap and something they brought from the thrift store, but Yugi had accepted with starry eyes and treated it as if it were the world on a fragile plate.
He tapped the box with a fond grin, contented. Yugi lifted open the lid and looked at the puzzle before him. Not a single piece started despite the many years of work he pooled into this.
Everyday, without fail, he always worked on his puzzle, but he hadn't made any progress with it. He was stuck with broken up pieces of frustration and disappointment, but he was determined to solve it. Steadyfast determination for years.
In spite of said determination though, it probably wasn't likely he'd manage to solve the puzzle today, but he'll sure as hell damn try to solve it. He took everything out of the box as always, spread them out as always, fiddled around with it as always, and then two piece clicked together-
Not as always.
Surprised and completely in a state of shock, Yugi gaped in disbelief at the two connected gold-like pieces, together as they had meant to be. All these years of no progress, not making a single dent on this difficult puzzle, and he just managed to get something in his pajamas as twelve-thirty at night.
Quickly, he reached for other pieces, attempting to keep up this pace of his, and amazingly, he managed to get a third piece in.
Excitment flooded his veins and the possibility of completing this puzzle didn't seem so farfetched anymore. Speedily grabbing another piece, he went to work. He managed to drop a few puzzles due to his nerves as he couldn't quite calm his beating heart. Fitting puzzle after puzzle, happily hearing the clicks of the puzzle all coming together. Soon, he was down to only one puzzle.
He was slightly out of breath despite doing no physical activity whatsoever. The sheer elation made it difficult to breathe.
Grandfather, I'm doing it, He thought to himself, exhilirated as he grabbed the last and final piece.
An eye. The eye was staring back at him. He grinned widely as he brought it away from his face and towards the puzzle, that was now resembling a triangle. Of course.
A triangle prism. He slotted the final piece in and looked at his finished work. Amazingly, it looked as if it glowed slightly with its final piece settled in, but he chalked it up to his sleep deprived and feverish happiness talking.
Jolly at seeing the completed puzzle, he couldn't help but hug it and give it a little kiss in his stupor, ignoring the fact that he touched his lips with a puzzle of all things. He tucked it close to his check, hugging it tightly, ignoring the sharp pokes the edges gave and hurried off to his bed. He had been unable to go to sleep though, the excitment not allowing him to do so. He tossed and turned, spent long hours staring at his puzzle in fascination and complete utter disbelief.
His lack of sleep showed the next morning though, with the dark circles underneath his eyes and his slightly less enthusiastic self. Nevertheless, he was still quite cheerful as the prospect of completing the puzzle.
He looped a string and tied it around his neck, walking to the dining hall for breakfsst, eyes never taking it's gaze off the puzzle, fixated on it. The very existence of this thing was practically unbelieveable as he toucged it dor whst seemed like the fortieth time today.
Seto took one look at his bags and hunched figure and did a little sigh. Seto's eyes drifted downwards towards the puzzle that hung around Yugi's neck with some interest.
"Completed it, did you?" Seto asked, with raised brows, as his eyes still rested on the puzzle.
Yugi nodded in excitment and pulled the prism upwards towards their faces. "It's beautiful, right?" He looked fondly at it and didn't seem to want to look away.
Seto made a hum of acknowledgement as he observed the puzzle more until his eyes lifted away from it, finally losing interest. He wasn't quite interested in puzzles like Yugi. "Mokuba's waiting for us, but sibce you took your time, I think he might'vs eaten your share."
"He wouldn't!"
"If he didn't, I will." And with that, Seto dashed through the hallways towards the dining room.
"Ah, wait- Don't touch my serving," Yugi yelled after him, smile creeping up on his despite himself.
Peaceful days like these were the things Yugi enjoyed the most, and he would give everything to spend his days forever like these.
Unfortunately, they came to a short end.