Chapter Summary:
Yielding to a love
that recognizes no bounds,
I will go by night—
for the world will not censure
one who treads the path of dreams.
- Ono no Komachi (c. 825 - c. 900)
For the child who raised me out of Hell, I give my care.
For the youth who raises me from Darkness, I give my attention.
For the man I know he will become, I give my life.
Yuugi placed the puzzle box at the bottom of his backpack, not wanting it out of his sight. His mother had already threatened to take his games away that morning and he would hate to see that the puzzle was gone when he got back from school. The box was never really heavy, which he found surprising for a golden artifact. It wasn't gilded; his grandfather's friend from America had informed him that it was not, from information that Sugoroku had given him when Yuugi had asked.
"Yuugi, you're going to be late for school!"
"Yes, Jii-chan!" The fifteen-year-old yelled down, smiling as he placed his books over his puzzle box, made sure his emergency medication was in the side pocket, and closed his backpack. He remembered that he still had a game at school in case his mother did take his other games anyway and smiled.
As he made his way out of his room and to the stairs, Yuugi spotted his mother at the top. She had on her coat to go out.
"Oka-san, you're going out?" Karuta turned to her son and nodded.
"Your father hasn't been home in so long, Yuugi." She looked down to her hands and Yuugi saw that she was holding a container. It was one that Yuugi was familiar with. A plastic container for food, his parents decided to use it to write letters to each other over long periods of time. He looked at it, wanting to know what his parents wrote about, private things he couldn't see. At the same time, he didn't want know how intimate they were in regards to what they wrote to each other.
"Do you know when he'll come home?"
The unspoken question was in the air.
Do you know if he'll come home?
"I don't know, Yuugi. He called me yesterday." Karuta smiled and Yuugi felt his heart soar. It was a smile he hadn't seen in such a long time. "He sent a plane ticket. Just one since you still have school, but-"
"It's all right, Mama." He came close and hugged her tightly. Her arms settled around him and he felt content. There was always a worry that his mother wasn't happy, and he never wanted to see her be lonely. "I'll wait to see Oto-san on the holidays or my birthday."
Karuta bent her head down to kiss his forehead. He made a face and smiled, waving to her as he headed down the stairs. He almost tripped at the bottom, the bottommost step having been lower on one side since Yuugi's father had dropped a heavy box on it when Yuugi and Karuta had moved into Sugoroku's house. Forever dented, the step was the bane of Yuugi's time of day when he was rushing out of the house.
Passing through the kitchen, he grabbed a granola bar and grabbed some of the toast that his grandfather had in the toaster. All he had to do was get to the door-
"Mutou Yuugi."
He cringed and turned to face his grandfather.
"Jii-chan?"
"You need to eat your breakfast, Yuugi." Sugoroku looked sternly at his grandson, deeply bothered by the fact that he would often skip breakfast.
Yuugi looked to the table. There was an omelette on his plate, along with some bacon. Jii-chan had decided to go for a Western breakfast, something Yuugi liked. He looked to the clock.
"Can I fit it on a sandwich, Jii-chan?"
Sugoroku stared at his grandson for a few moments before smiling and nodding.
"You will be late if I keep you longer." Yuugi handed over the two slices of toast that he had in his hand and his grandfather quickly made a sandwich of the omelette. With his breakfast in hand, Yuugi hurried towards the door.
"See ya, Jii-chan! Mama, have a good time with Tou-san!" With that, he left his house for school.
The morning passed as normal once Yuugi got off of the city bus and hurried to his classroom. He sat down at his desk and pulled out the books for his first lesson.
His name stood out to him as he listened to the teacher's voice drone on.
武藤遊戯
'Maybe today will be a fun day,' he thought.
Then recess came.
It had been eight years since he and his prison had been given to the child that he decided to serve, the child of purest light.
The spirit of the puzzle had been aware of every year that had passed since his captivity, but he did not know why he had been placed there. He knew he had a purpose, to protect, and that there was something else inside of his prison with him.
Maybe multiple things…
He felt very lonely, though.
Even if he didn't very well know what "lonely" meant.
"Recess! Time for basketball!"
"Let's let the girls play!"
The sound of teenagers flooding into the hallways as they had a break between lessons started softly but rose quickly as everyone rushed to see their friends, go outside, and enjoy the air.
Those who had a free period felt as though it had been extended, the rules changing from studying to being outside of the classroom. Studying was optional, of course, many students talking amongst themselves or playing desktop games.
On one desk, there was a pop-up pirate game.
"Hey, Yuugi! Don't you wanna play some basketball, instead of sitting here alone?"
The pirate popped out of the main game system and Yuugi shook his head, ignoring the fallen toy for now.
"I'm fine." Yuugi looked over at Haaga shyly, the taller boy holding a basketball in his hand. "The team I join would just lose anyway..."
As his classmate left and the room emptied, Yuugi sighed as the door slid shut.
"I'd like to go play with everyone, but I keep plenty of games in my bag." He stood up and walked over to where the pirate piece fell. With that in hand, he sat back in his seat, putting it into his backpack. Having opened it, he smiled at the glint of gold at the bottom. "Yes! Today is the day I complete it!
"The treasure I always carry!" He set the puzzle box on the desk and smiled as the sunlight coming in from the window made it shine. It held an air of power about itself, a feeling that Yuugi couldn't shake, that it was more than gold. It was warm in the sunlight.
It was like a riddle, so he made up one of his own to describe the object inside. He smiled, excitement stirring inside of him as he moved to lift the lid-
"Heh heh… Yuugi," the boy heard, as he felt the box be snatched from his grasp. Yuugi turned and saw Honda Hiroto, one of his classmates, with the golden box in his hands. "What're you doing in here alone?! It's way too dark and gloomy!"
"'It can be seen, but you haven't seen it'?!" Honda pulled the box closer, trying to bait Yuugi. Noticing the gold, he smiled. "Hey, this must be your treasure."
"Honda-kun, give that back!" Yuugi went after him, not able to catch the pass Honda made to his classmate.
"And he passes to Jonouchi!" Honda laughed, as Yuugi jumped for his box, too short even with the admittedly good jump he had.
Jonouchi Katsuya caught the box easily and sighed.
"Since you're acting like a girl about it, this must be pretty valuable to you." He tossed it up and caught it again. "All your jumping around is getting irritating; knock it off, Yuugi.
"I'll teach you how to act like a man!" He raised the box high above his head and slapped himself on the chest. "Look! I'll give you back the box if you try with all your might to get it!"
Yuugi looked up at the taller classmate of his and felt a sick feeling in his throat.
"But I hate fighting and violence!"
Jonouchi winced at the volume of Yuugi's voice.
"Ugh… No guts behind a loud voice…"
"Please, give me back the box!" Yuugi held out his hand, feeling tired already. Perhaps he should eat…
"Not a chance!" Honda sneered down at his classmate. Yuugi backed away from him, seeing Jonouchi lift the lid of the box. His heart started to race, beating against his ribs.
"Y-You can look, but don't lose it!"
He saw Jonouchi peek into the box and, contrary to what Yuugi thought of the contents, he frowned and tossed it to Honda, with an uninterested comment of how dumb it was.
"If it's so dumb, then give it back to Yuugi!" Yuugi smiled as a young girl walked into the room. She held the golden box in her hands, fingers keeping a tight hold of the lid.
"Anzu!" Yuugi smiled, happy to see his friend. Basketball must have upset her.
"Mazaki!" Jonouchi and Honda backed away from her.
Yuugi smiled at their reactions. Mazaki Anzu had been his friend since elementary school. She was quite tough for a girl but very gentle and wonderful to be around.
"Picking on weaker people, you guys are idiots. Just beat it!" She scowled at Honda and Jonouchi as they left the classroom.
She set the box on Yuugi's desk and sat down in front of it, watching as Yuugi stared at the door.
"Thank you, Anzu," he said. "That was great! One word from you, and they ran!"
She scoffed, placing her chin on her hand. "Don't flatter me. I saw a nice guy being taken advantage of and I didn't want them tossing you or your treasure around!"
He shouldn't have felt a bit of jealousy as the priyAlu spoke to the child, his ward.
But he did, and it curled inside of him, like a flame.
However, he did not know what 'flame' was.
'Jealousy' should have been a part of existence that he was not aware of.
But he was, and it hurt.
And the Shadows were starving.
Yuugi had never been bothered by Jonouchi-kun too badly. There were times when others were more cruel and Yuugi would come home with bruises and things that needed some attention from the first aid kit.
Mutou is such a wuss.
His scores are absolutely horrible.
I bet his mom still packs his lunch.
No wonder nobody hangs out with him.
Jonouchi was the only one who seemed to be trying to communicate something.
How is it that you like yourself?
In his room, Yuugi sat down at his desk. Anzu had come to visit him after school and the two had played one of the video games that they had played when they were in elementary school.
Now he sat down to work on the golden puzzle that his grandfather had been joking about selling.
He had a vague recollection about when he first saw the puzzle. He remembered that a child had gotten lost in the rain, and his grandfather had brought him inside to get warm with hot chocolate.
The boy, two years older than him, had been called Iza (伊ざ). He was very kind, and he had been the one to find the puzzle in the first place. The next day when the boy had already gone home, back to The Slopes (坂 ), Yuugi had asked for the puzzle again.
Now, after eight years, he had gotten about halfway done.
He wondered now, as another piece managed to slide into place, how Iza was, and why had Iza stopped writing letters back to him.
When Yuugi arrived at school the next day, he was called by the school's hall monitor Ushio-san to see something that was "sure to please" him.
The scene was horrific to him. Yuugi didn't know why, but it made him think of a nightmare that he would occasionally have; he always woke up just before the victim in his dream - before he would be beaten more forcefully. Jonouchi had bruises on his face, as did Honda, from where Ushio had decided to target with his fists, akin to the ones that Yuugi would have in this dream. Somehow, Yuugi knew that this was mild to what Ushio could do, large fists powerful and his position of power in the school could give him enough leverage to cover him should they try to get him into trouble.
When he approached Jonouchi, he was aghast at the thought of Jonouchi's suspicion of him, that he wanted this. It was never cruel to be kind, yet it seemed that someone had taught Jonouchi-kun the opposite at one point.
When Ushio came at his classmates again, Yuugi rushed forward, standing in front of Jonouchi and Honda.
"I won't let you hurt my friends anymore!"
He received wounds of his own, but he felt quite brave for standing up to Ushio. After the older boy left, Yuugi sat against the wall of the school, wondering just what was going to unfold because of these events.
He didn't notice as Jonouchi helped Honda up. As the blond boy walked away, he muttered a "thank you" to Yuugi, but Yuugi was sunken in thought, feeling more lonely than before, and never heard the words.
200,000 yen.
There was no way that he could get that much money in one night. Even if he was somehow able to convince Ushio to let him pay the 1656 yen that he had in his savings, Yuugi suspected that Ushio would probably filet him with that knife that he had brandished.
His hands wandered to his golden puzzle, fingers deftly placing the pieces into their appropriate spots.
The spirit inside of the Golden Puzzle could hear its master's wish.
'Friends who wouldn't betray me! Friends whom I would never betray!'
A humble wish.
The spirit inside smiled.
'So it has been ordered.'
No more threats to his child.
He would defend this child with every fiber of this existence.
Jonouchi Katsuya ran out of the apartment, his home, with only a thought driving him forward. He didn't know if he'd be able to find the puzzle with the sun close to setting, but he needed to try.
"You worthless kid," his father had told him after the divorce. "You'll be lucky to even like yourself one day, but I doubt it."
He didn't like himself afterwards.
His life had been fists, yelling, and booze; today, there was someone who had been cruel towards, defending him as though their history had been those horribly cheesy Disney films that his parents took him to go see when he was in kindergarten, where there were defenders of the weak and happy endings weren't just promises but reality.
As Jonouchi climbed down into the water, he recalled the one person in his life that had been so kind as Yuugi was. He remembered her chestnut hair, her sweet smile, and how she said that he was her only friend, for spending time with her
Was that what Yuugi thought? Jonouchi held his breath as he dove under the water and pondered over that thought. He had never seen Yuugi play with anyone. He couldn't remember if he had seen Yuugi in middle school or if he had even seen him in the city when they weren't in school. He knew that Yuugi lived with his grandfather in the small game shop that was on the edge of town, but that was all he knew about the kid's personal life.
Yuugi never bothered anyone. Never asked to be bothered.
'Why did he defend us? After all that bullying that we did to him?'
He saw the glint of gold and in his excitement, Jonouchi had to come up for air. He hurriedly went back under and reached for the golden puzzle piece. As he held it in his hand, Jonouchi could have sworn that the light coming from it was not sunlight but from the gold itself. The excitement he felt would be nothing to what Yuugi would feel, if that kid truly treasured his puzzle.
For the first time in a long time, Jonouchi liked himself a bit.
A small part of his consciousness was aware of the other child, the one that had thrown a piece of his prison into the water. This soul was strong, and the Shadows were tempted to devour it.
He asked the Shadows to spare this "knight inside the castle" and he thanked the bright soul that held the majority of his prison, his child that he swore to protect.
He didn't know how to feel when the Shadows conceded.
When he was awake, finally awake, his mind was flooded with memories. A child who had a friend that seemed to come over when it suited her, a doting but submissive mother, a father that was constantly away, and a grandfather who was the closest friend that he ever had; this would be his master. He wished to meet him, to make sure he would never be lonely again!
The brightest soul that he had seen in his years of captivity, so bright it pained him, and he would use the mortal body of his Master to defend him. All would know his achievements were his Master's. For now, he let his Master rest, the young human mind not yet able to handle the Shadows that would obey him.
When he opened his Master's eyes, he found that his mind, with the memories provided, could name the items there.
The light! It was strange, not painful, to his eyes, as his master's light had been. The clothes were soft and warm on his skin, and the chair upon which he sat was firm, hard. The light wanted to burn his eyes, the textures slough off his skin!
This body was hypersensitive while he was in control, he understood, and everything was overwhelming. Every texture was torturous to him; why?
He could hear the Shadows laughing.
When you are happy, bad things happen.
Then... He would carry out his task, and he'd deny himself what he allowed himself to crave.
The spirit hated himself for it, but he would keep his master asleep, even if he would mature soon. The Shadows, volatile, would consume a brilliant soul like his.
At least the Soul Room of his Master was bright.
'For now.'
The Shadows demanded nourishment.
The spirit frowned and looked to the obedient ones, the Shadows that licked his master's palms in excitement and curiosity at the world around them. He would need to feed them.
'Give us the darkness of the soul.'
He remembered the boy, the cruel one that harmed his Master, the knight, and another.
"Yes," he said to the Shadows, and he could hear his raspy version of this voice. "Ushio-san will make a good meal."
Sugoroku could hear movement in Yuugi's room, and he was shocked to see the time.
11:30 PM
He stood from his bed, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Words were also audible, some of them curses.
"Yuugi?" he called, walking to his door. As he opened it, he saw his grandson in his school uniform. "Yuugi, why are you awake... and in your uniform?"
Yuugi turned to him, a strange sort of smile on his face.
"Jii-chan," the boy said, with an air that sent him on edge. This was not his boy.
"Who are you?"
The boy, not his Yuugi, faltered for a moment before saying, "I (俺) am many (我ら), and our task is to your progeny, the owner of this body who must be your God and Watcher of Warriors, for he is so kind as to not fight even when the moment presents itself. My current task is to defend him, as he currently forced to submit to Cruelty's devices."
Sugoroku was awestruck, shaken by the power that filled the air, the anger that laced it when this... spirit, mentioned cruelty.
"Do you mean that bully at the school that is demanding 200,000 yen from him?"
The boy-spirit focused on him at those words.
"My master did not tell you these things."
"The boy that gave me the last piece of the puzzle..." Sugoroku trailed off as he watched the spirit possessing his son, eyes landing on the now complete puzzle that hung from his grandson's neck.
"Jonouchi-kun did?" The spirit smiled at that.
The old man nodded, his chest suddenly light from the moment the spirit smiled.
"What are you going to do?" He didn't want the bully to suffer from the power the ancient spirit obviously displayed - the shadows seemed to move at his whim! - but he did not want him to go unpunished for the barbaric things that he did to Yuugi and to that Jonouchi boy.
The spirit smiled.
"My Shadows are hungry, master's Jii-chan, and that boy's cruelty shall be their first meal. Not his life, as I am a mother at heart, but he shall be punished and he shall learn if he values living. Now, I suggest you head back to bed and cease pondering this. You will give yourself a headache."
Sugoroku allowed himself to be lead back to his room and helped back to bed. His dreams were nonexistent that night, but his sleep was still poor.
When the Shadows fed, they curled around the spirit's ankles, many of them complacent. They pleaded their obedience to this mother figure and he let them feed on the darkness that lived in the school.
The older Shadows continued to feed on the darkness that he found in the boy out of spite.
As he walked his master's body home, the spirit took time to gaze at the moon, the stars, the ankhs that had placed themselves on the sleeves of his master's school uniform.
No. Whatever God they symbolized, he did not care for. The beauty in the night sky, he owed his sightseeing to his Master.
He wouldn't wear them when he could control it..
My child, the youth and man, I shall leave a game for you.
Please help me; it is all I ask of you.
What is my name?
Bishamonten is the god of fortunate warriors and guards, as well as the punisher of criminals. Said to live halfway down the side of Mount Sumeru, the small pagoda he carries symbolizes the divine treasure house that he both guards and gives away its contents.
In 1996, the year of the first Yu-Gi-Oh! release, 200000 yen was about $1838.76.
Ore: 俺 a more prideful, masculine word for "I"; the spirit uses this to refer to himself while Yuugi uses the more humble version (boku)
Warera: 我ら an archaic, gender-neutral form of "we"/"us"
(The ankh thing, my stab at the disappearance of the ankhs from the character design after chapter 2 of the manga)