Yugi stepped inside the wooden, two-story house. It was a small house by the standards of the neighborhood but still became too big for him when his father
died 2 years ago. He had been furious, back then. Why did his father had to have a child at such an old age. Couldn't he have done it a few years earlier? If he
had he would have been around until his son was a proper adult. Sure, kids were given legal independence at a minimum age of 14 if they asked for it, but that
didn't mean they were really grown-ups. And there was no one else he could turn too. His father had no living relatives, and as Muto Sugoroku had 'solo-parented',
he had no other donors to contact. Yugi never had any real friends, either. Until he met Jonouchi a year ago, the best he had were 'classroom friends' who
dropped relations when they moved on next year. So when his father died Yugi had been left totally alone.
He carefully arranged his shoes at the entrance hall so that the noses pointed to the door, then picked up the small package he had found at the gates. He
seldom got mail, and since the sender seemed to be some company he didn't know, it was probably just one of those product samples that were distributed to
collect opinions. The package was small, hardly wider than his hand. When Yugi opened it, he found what looked like a small memory chip. He frowned as he
picked the chip up. Why would somebody send him a memory chip over the post instead of just emailing him? It was suspicious. In all probability it was something
that shouldn't or couldn't be sent over the net, like a computer virus.
For a few minutes he stood there having an internal argument, then sighed and went upstairs, curiosity getting the better of him. If his computer crashed
because of the virus, at least it would make the day memorable. His life was boring, after all.
There were 2 rooms upstairs, and he went into the smaller one, his so-called 'study'. It used to be his bedroom, until the day he just went and threw all his
dead father's belongings out, no longer able to stand being reminded of his father at every turn. He regretted it now, although the disposal had helped him \
get over his father's death, and he had moved his bed and wardrobe to his father's old bedroom, in an attempt to resist the loneliness. In the 'study', only
the computer desk remained, which he now approached. The screen flipped up and he slid the chip into one of the channels.
There were 2 files. He clicked on the first-a video file. An unfamiliar logo slid across the screen, then was replaced by the image of man with long, silver-grey
hair. He wore an unusually styled suit, something from the 19th century maybe.
"Greetings, Yugi. I am Maximilian J. Crawford, head of the M&W, and creator of the game Duel of Mages. This is an invitation for you to participate in the
upcoming DM tournament that I will be hosting in 4 months. I am quite aware that you have little experience in the game, but this tournament is rather
something of an irregular, and even people that have yet to prove themselves to be powerful duelists will be participating. Hopefully the card I sent along
will aid you in your battles."
The man paused. He leaned forward a little, a strange smile forming upon his lips.
"I would strongly recommend participating, Yugi. It is a rather valuable card, and I am willing to allow you permanent possession. Just entering the
tournament would entitle you to its possession. And if you make it to the finals you will have the opportunity to meet me personally….to ask me what I know
about the necklace you are so fond of wearing."
The video ended. Yugi stared at the screen for a full minute before he clicked on the other filed. The image of a card appeared, several lines of data in the
window on the side, the same format he'd seen countless times on Katzya's computer. It was a man. Black headdress flowing out from golden circlet with blue
center stone. Black and gold attire-something like a cross between an armor and a robe. Clear sapphire eyes looked back at him, and the little amount of hair
he could see was also of the same color. The letters at the top announced: Chaos Mage.
Suddenly he felt it again; the sensation of a door opening at the back of his head. The air that flowed out from behind it was heavy, almost agonizing, and old.
Shadowy fingers slowly reached out to the card. For seconds, the hand lingered, slowly brushing against it. Then equally slowly, they withdrew, dissipating into
nothing. A moment later the door closed once more.
Yugi let out the breath he had been holding. With trembling fingers, he lifted the pendant from his chest and stroked it. It was the only one of his father's things
that he hadn't thrown away. His father had handed it to him some time before dying, oddly insistent that Yugi kept it safe, no matter what.
He wondered if his father knew, that he wouldn't be the one keeping the other safe.
NOTE:
1. About solo parenting and donors. I'm going to elaborate on the subject later. For now just keep in mind that this is taking place in the 2060s.
2. I had to change the name of Yugi's ace card. It's important for my canon.
3. I should tell you that in Japan, high school students don't move from room to room for their classes, they stay in the same homeroom and the teachers
come to them. So kids usually stick with their classmates, and while there are clubs for students to join, they're not divided into 'factions' like the high school
students in the States. That was what I meant by 'classroom friends'.