Chapter 3
"You little punk!!" the bully howled, hopping around on one foot. His broad, ugly face was crinkled in pain and rage, but mostly the latter.
Yami stared at Yugi's tormentor impassively, with the merest shadow of a smirk on his lips. "I warned you," he reprimanded, raising a finger, as if the subject was too delicate to talk about casually. "Now you have to play..." Yami's expression went from stony to an almost wicked delight, "a Penalty Game!!"
Yami jabbed his finger towards the bully and prepared for another mind seige.
Somewhere, birds were tweeting.
Dogs would be barking.
Children would be playing.
And, in a world where things are always consistent, where things always make sense, Yami would be blowing this evil doer's mind straight back to where it belonged- into the unfathomable recesses of the Shadow Realm.
Unfortunately, that world wasn't this one.
If Yami hadn't been staring at his hands in shock, he might have been prepared for the bully's attack, when it came. As it was, he was very surprised, despite Yugi's mental warning that came a few seconds too late.
"What do'ya thing yer playin' at, you &^$*ing little twerp??!!" the bully roared, towering over Yami, who was now on his hands and knees on the dusty ground behind the school. Yami didn't say anything, so the bully decided to kick him in the ribs.
Yami let out a very tiny, very faint "haah...", but nothing more. He kept his shoulders hunched and he slowly pulled himself to a sitting position, resting on his knees.
The bully reared back to begin administering a series of rather painful blows, but Yugi quickly mind-shuffled and managed to block the first kick with his forearm, which immediantly began to hurt.
"No! Yugi! I am supposed to do this!!" Yami mentally shouted.
And then, even as he said it, he knew that it wasn't true anymore.
I am... free?
This was the unquestioned verdict.
Yami, numb, watched from the inside as the bully stalked off in search of other prey, leaving Yugi sprawled in the center of the court. Yugi coughed.
"Hey... I'm sorry I didn't warn you sooner," Yugi said softly, in his Soul Room. Yami noticed that he could no longer feel the bruises and cuts the bully had inflicted on his former host's body. He couldn't even feel Yugi's thoughts anymore. It made him feel a bit lonely.
"...Yami?" Yugi asked concernedly, as his physical self picked up its bag and began trudging homewards. Yami turned to face him, unsure of how to begin explaining what had just happened. He wasn't even sure if he had understood it himself.
"Yugi..." he began, and stopped. Yugi was alarmed at the hesitation in Yami's voice. "What's wrong? What happened to your powers?" Yugi asked. He could sense that something was wrong. A connection had been broken. He could see it in Yami's eyes. They weren't partners anymore.
"I have to go," Yami said.
In the Real World, the chain around Yugi's neck, the chain that had kept them bound together for all this time, slowly, link by link, began to fall apart.
"You little punk!!" the bully howled, hopping around on one foot. His broad, ugly face was crinkled in pain and rage, but mostly the latter.
Yami stared at Yugi's tormentor impassively, with the merest shadow of a smirk on his lips. "I warned you," he reprimanded, raising a finger, as if the subject was too delicate to talk about casually. "Now you have to play..." Yami's expression went from stony to an almost wicked delight, "a Penalty Game!!"
Yami jabbed his finger towards the bully and prepared for another mind seige.
Somewhere, birds were tweeting.
Dogs would be barking.
Children would be playing.
And, in a world where things are always consistent, where things always make sense, Yami would be blowing this evil doer's mind straight back to where it belonged- into the unfathomable recesses of the Shadow Realm.
Unfortunately, that world wasn't this one.
If Yami hadn't been staring at his hands in shock, he might have been prepared for the bully's attack, when it came. As it was, he was very surprised, despite Yugi's mental warning that came a few seconds too late.
"What do'ya thing yer playin' at, you &^$*ing little twerp??!!" the bully roared, towering over Yami, who was now on his hands and knees on the dusty ground behind the school. Yami didn't say anything, so the bully decided to kick him in the ribs.
Yami let out a very tiny, very faint "haah...", but nothing more. He kept his shoulders hunched and he slowly pulled himself to a sitting position, resting on his knees.
The bully reared back to begin administering a series of rather painful blows, but Yugi quickly mind-shuffled and managed to block the first kick with his forearm, which immediantly began to hurt.
"No! Yugi! I am supposed to do this!!" Yami mentally shouted.
And then, even as he said it, he knew that it wasn't true anymore.
I am... free?
This was the unquestioned verdict.
Yami, numb, watched from the inside as the bully stalked off in search of other prey, leaving Yugi sprawled in the center of the court. Yugi coughed.
"Hey... I'm sorry I didn't warn you sooner," Yugi said softly, in his Soul Room. Yami noticed that he could no longer feel the bruises and cuts the bully had inflicted on his former host's body. He couldn't even feel Yugi's thoughts anymore. It made him feel a bit lonely.
"...Yami?" Yugi asked concernedly, as his physical self picked up its bag and began trudging homewards. Yami turned to face him, unsure of how to begin explaining what had just happened. He wasn't even sure if he had understood it himself.
"Yugi..." he began, and stopped. Yugi was alarmed at the hesitation in Yami's voice. "What's wrong? What happened to your powers?" Yugi asked. He could sense that something was wrong. A connection had been broken. He could see it in Yami's eyes. They weren't partners anymore.
"I have to go," Yami said.
In the Real World, the chain around Yugi's neck, the chain that had kept them bound together for all this time, slowly, link by link, began to fall apart.