Welcome to the fourth chapter of the fic, thanks to everyone who has read it so far and everyone who will read it. My goal is to get 100 hits! Please help me with this goal, and give me lots of reviews!

Again, this fic would not be possible without the help of my friend Sakura (author of Baby Blues) who constantly looks it over before it comes to you readers and my friend and loyal reader CT. Thanks guys!

Tabula Rasa Chapter 4

Yami no Yuugi watched the landscape passing by through the car window. He tried to see as much of the strange place as he could. The car made everything seem like a series of pictures, a flickering ever changing slideshow. Every time Yami no Yuugi saw something, he wondered had he been there? Had he sat on that bench? Had he brought a can of soda from that shop, or leaned down to tie his shoes under that tree? He scanned each faces he could see, hoping to see the face of a person he knew. The smallest thing could hold the vital clue in needed to open what seemed like locked doors in his memories, so he took in all that he could. His eyes leapt from curb, to store, to every plant, person, street sign and store.

He also couldn't help but notice his own transparent reflection in the window glass. It was the first time he had seen "him", the "him" everyone else saw. Was it unnatural to think of your own appearance as "strange"? Can someone have black and gold hair naturally and that's not even considering the purple at the tips? Before he had lost his memory, had he dyed his hair every morning, did he think it made himself look cool?

If it was he had been on his own, the first thing he would have done was brush his hands through the tips to see if they felt real. He would have stared into his eyes, looking for some hint to who he was. As he looked at his face, he studied the curve of his cheek to the solemn half-smile. So this was him? This was "Yami no Yuugi", whoever that was… he had to admit he liked how he looked. It seemed mysterious, cool, although he had to wonder did he mix with dangerous elements. He had this uneasy mental image of riding on a motorcycle, knocking over things with some kind of crew, maybe he had been that kind of person? He could remember hearing that people with memory loss could act completely different from how they were before, it would be nice he thought with a touch of sarcasm, to remember where he had heard that.

Despite all that had happened so far to him, the part that shocked him most out of it all was meeting someone who seemed to have the same exact face and have this person find him first… of course they did seem to vary, but it gave him mental shivers never the less.

The clothes he wore he had thought at the beginning would hold some clues to who he was and where he had been. When they were handed to him, the first thing he had noticed about them was that they were all black (apart from the white collared shirt). They had no designer label on the outside or inside, no patterns of any kind. He looked through the pockets of the black jacket to find nothing. He had discovered a faint odour to them, but "Grandpa" (as he insisted he be called) had told him he had been found near garbage, so he dismissed that as a clue, although he did want to see where he had been found if he could.

His hand was still wrapped, cut up by glass as he had lain there, but he could not remember it happening, no doubt it would heal. His wounded hand tightened automatically at the thought around the bandage as he thought about it, and he winced as he felt a deep sharp sting in the palm of his hand. He rubbed the bandage with the thumb on his other hand as he continued to gaze outside.

He was sitting at the end of the row of car seats, the tall one called Tristan was closest to him, and while the blond one called Joey was at the opposite side of the car keeping his distance from him. It was a tight fit, and because of that the car was warm. Yami no Yuugi was becoming increasingly aware of this quiet self imposed feeling that had formed within the car. He also knew that he was the source of the disquiet, and knew he had to break it.

"So where do you live Yugi?"

Yugi turned his head slightly to look at Yami no Yuugi. "I have a feeling you'll like the place Yami no Yuugi. My Grandpa and I live in a Game shop."

"A Game shop…"

A shop? Yami no Yuugi thought as he went back to gazing outside with a thoughtful stare, a game shop that sounded familiar. He wondered what kind of games there were…

Tea watched Yami no Yuugi, he seemed to be staring off to the world outside, and his eyes flickered as the scenery changed but for the most part he did not seem to be completely there anymore. Tea nearly kicked herself for thinking that, of course he wasn't there, and he didn't even know who he was or why he had ended up in the hospital. She felt horribly guilty for thinking such a thing, even though she hadn't said it out loud, so she started to speak to get rid of the feeling.

"It's a shame we can't stay and help Yami no Yuugi get settled in at your place Yugi."

"It does seem a shame that you've had school on the Sunday and still have to go Monday." Grandpa added his view.

Joey and Tristan went into poses of people in mourning. "Sunday, we hardly knew ye!"

"Well, all our marks are slipping we need to take the extra classes to keep up with everyone else. "Saving the world" every week is affecting our grades, so you have to sacrifice a Sunday or two. You can't exactly put it on a college application." Joey and Tristan rolled their eyes. Both felt since they had helped save the world from the threats of evil magic, they were entitled to have their Sundays.

Yami no Yuugi blinked at that comment. "Saving the world?"

The whole group in the car sweatdropped, as Yami no Yuugi looked at the group, with a curious light in his eyes. It was Tea who tried to wave it away. "It's a just little joke." Her face was frozen into a smile as she realised her mistake, he may look like Yugi; I doubt he'll believe in magic.

"Oh…I see."

"So where is Yami no Yuugi going to sleep?" Tea hoped her changing the subject would go unnoticed.

Yugi smiled. "Don't worry Tea; Grandpa has a guest room, which should be fine."

"Yug, you shouldn't be so trusting all the time. You can tell he's up to no good!"

Tea frowned as she looked at Joey. "Joey, he's sitting right there."

Tristan also leaned forward, to look at his pal in a low whisper. "And what do you expect him to do anyway?"

Joey seemed to go into his own daydream, as he pictured this fake "Yugi" tying up his friend and his grandpa up and putting them in the basement, and taking over his life. He didn't notice Tristan waving a hand in front of his face.

"Er…Joey? Hey! JOEEEY!" He snapped his fingers to bring him back. "Earth to Joey! Come in Joey!"

"What Tristan? I was thinking?" Joey swatted away the fingers hovering in front of his face. His friend smirked and countered with a "Did that hurt? We're back at the shop Einstein."

Joey stepped out with the others. He could see the fake Yugi staring at the Game shop. Tea and Tristan were saying their goodbyes to Yugi and the fake one, Joey followed their example but he did cast glances back as he watched Yugi's grandpa invite Yami no Yuugi into the shop.

Yami no Yuugi looked at the shelves, games of every shape, size and colour stared back of him. His fingers itched, when he noticed a jumbled up rubix cube, a version he somehow knew was called the "Professor Cube", since it was bigger with more squares than the well-known one. Before he even realised what he was doing, he had picked up one of the huge cubes. His fingers spread out along one side, feeling the cool smoothness and the indents for each individual coloured squares. He twisted part of the cube, enjoying the way it moved in a fluid motion with a click. He continued to twist and turn making bizarre patterns like a kaleidoscope. He felt a deep satisfaction when he completed it showing each side was one block of the same colour.

He then noticed something else and the completed cube was left forgotten on the side with the other jumbled ones. He discovered yoyos, a small amount of tape kept the string inside the circular part. He undid the tape and placed a finger through the looped end. He flicked his wrist and watched the yoyo spin at the end of the string. He pulled it back and then released it again to his side so it spun again, swung the yoyo so it went all the way to his other shoulder, before making it return to his hand. He knew he was in a small space and performing tricks was risky, unless he wanted to end up breaking a bunch of games before he could even look at them, but he had enjoyed the familiar feel of the yoyo in his hand.

Yami no Yuugi didn't notice the surprised faces of Grandpa and Yugi as he continued to survey the store. He picked up the small puzzles, as if they were gems, solving a few before seeing something new. He looked at jigsaw puzzle boxes, at other traditional games, like monopoly, cluedo and risk. He could see the strange types of dice, in dozens of shapes and colours; he took a scoop of them. He shook them in his hand; again he got the sense of the familiar again.

He looked at boxes containing chess sets, and a large novel version displayed to show the product. The pieces were already positioned to look like a mock game.

He could see tradable cards near the glass countered, some were in their own stands, the shine off the plastic made them seem all the more important. He didn't know what they were for but they were impressive and some looked familiar to him. For a second, he had an image of himself, holding cards…just like them. He went over to the cases, grasping at the image, and looking at the card seeking for the spark that had brought up such certainty. He noted the bright foil, and was about to pick it up… it was a damaged card with a picture of a white dragon, when he heard a voice.

"Yami no Yuugi, please don't touch that card, it's special to Grandpa!"

He turned to see Yugi smiling (with a sweatdrop above his head) at him; obviously his actions must have shown his interest in everything around him, perhaps he had overstepped his bounds?

"Sorry…I didn't know."

"That's okay Yami no Yuugi." Grandpa said, as he placed the dragon away. "Not just anyone can touch that card."

"I had a feeling that you liked games." Yugi said as he nodded at all the games Yami no Yuugi had touched, acting like a kid in a candy shop.

"My grandson and I love games, you obviously have Motou blood."

Yami no Yuugi felt strangely uncomfortable at those words, although he felt comfortable around them, they were still strangers. According to them they were related, but that didn't change the fact he knew nothing about them. The two seemed to sense his uneasiness, and Yugi's grandfather spoke.

"Yugi, how about you show Yami no Yuugi the guest room? You can show him around the shop in the morning."

"Sure." Yugi nodded his head. "Follow me Yami no Yuugi." Yami no Yuugi nodded and followed his strange but familiar living reflection. Yugi noticed that Yami no Yuugi's child-like excitement seemed to have zapped him of all his energy. He seemed a bit withdrawn. He almost felt like taking Yami no Yuugi's hand to guide him, but Yugi felt awkward about doing so.

As Yugi walked up the stairs, Yami began to speak. / He has my "name"… /

/ I know, do you think he's a spirit like you and has magical powers/

/ Yugi, if he was a spirit… you could pass your hand right through him. It is possible that he is residing within a body like I do with you, but… /

/ It's completely weird, isn't it? And this is coming from us. /

/ Yes. It is. He looks like us, shares both of our names, and a Puzzle. /

"Are you okay Yugi? You're staring into space."

Yugi blinked and looked at Yami no Yuugi as he stood waiting patiently in his black clothes; he looked like a Goth or someone waiting for a funeral. "I'm sorry, um...here." He couldn't help sweatdropping a little as he walked over to the door to the guest room and opened it for Yami no Yuugi to see inside. "This is your room."

He watched Yami no Yuugi step inside as he seemed to mentally appraise the room. It was simple and small. There was merely a bed, wardrobe and a side table with a lamp.

"Is it really okay for me to sleep here? This room is just for me?"

Yugi was surprised to hear the tone, Yami no Yuugi sounded as if he had been given a royal suite. "Sure it is." He decided to explain where things were on the landing to help avoid confusion. "That's grandpa's room." He then nodded to other doors. "That's the bathroom and the room at the bottom is mine. If you get lost, don't be afraid to ask."

Yami no Yuugi nodded. He then turned to Yugi. "Would it be okay, if I rested for a little while?"

"Oh sure. Sleep well."

Yami no Yuugi thanked him and he sat on the edge of the bed as if testing it. Yugi shut the door and yawned. Weariness seemed contagious; he went down and told his grandpa he was going to bed early. He was as mentally exhausted as he imagined his guest was, he changed and went to bed.

For some unknown reason Yugi woke up quite early in the night; his room seemed to have been painted in every shade of blue with the lack of light. He blinked, and took a look at the blinking LED lights of his alarm clock and groaned. It was way too early to be up especially with school in the morning.

He decided to get something to drink and then go right back to bed and claim as much remaining sleep as he could. He walked down the hall, and down the stairs, when he saw a bright light coming from the living room, and heard soft noises. He wondered if there was a burglar, but would one use the house lights?

He slowly opened the door; the bright electrical light blinded him for a moment, as he pushed it open.

"Please don't push the door open any more, it will wreck it."

Yugi blinked as he tried to understand the words, while half-asleep and blind. Wreck it? Wreck what? He stopped the door and slowly moved in, shutting it as he entered, he could see Yami no Yuugi in his white collared shirt and black trousers. He was crouching on the floor a small set of boxes on the side next to his bent legs, one was open. He seemed to be examining something near the carpet…

Yuugi seemed to finally wake up when he saw that all the furniture was against the walls to make a big space, the only thing left in place was the carpet. He was speechless, what was Yami no Yuugi thinking? What was he doing?

He moved to the sofa and sat on it, from this position he could see something designed along the floor. He stood up on the sofa cushions to see it better; the outer shape was made of a line of black and looked like a triangle. He couldn't make out what the rest of the design was.

He watched Yami no Yuugi, his face set in a mask of concentration as his hand reached into a box and pulled out a tiny black rectangle. It was only as he watched Yami no Yuugi stack it, that it all clicked. He was setting up dominoes; he had seen the huge competitions on TV sometimes. He knew the projects they had made had been much bigger and taken days to set up to form the eventual pictures when the chain reaction started. He wondered what the picture was of and how long Yami no Yuugi had been doing this?

Even though Yugi was tired and knew he had school in the morning, he found himself compelled to stay and watch as his guest continued to stack the dominoes. It took only a minute before Yami no Yuugi stood and moved the boxes that must have contained more dominoes out of the way.

"Finished" Yami no Yuugi's face seemed excited, yet at the same time it was also so serious waiting for the moment when he could see if all his hard worked had paid off. He moved up to the left hand corner of the room and gently pushed over one domino.

There was this fast "rata rata" noise as hundreds of dominoes began to fall in fast succession. Yugi tried to follow the motion as they changed from upright to fallen, but eventually gave up as they crisscrossed paths. When it was finished Yugi was surprised to see a bigger than life image of the Puzzle, even down to the Eye in the centre. He stared in silence as did Yami no Yuugi both admiring his handiwork, before Yugi decided to speak.

"Yami no Yuugi that was amazing but why did you do it at this time of night? And where did you find all those dominoes?"

Yami no Yuugi was already placing the dominoes back into their boxes, he checked that each one had complete sets as he spoke. "For some reason, I couldn't sleep, I thought playing a game would help make me sleepy so I came downstairs. I opened the one of the drawers and found the sets of dominoes." He waved his hand in the direction of the drawers which he had placed near the TV for his project. "I suddenly got the urge to stack them… it was just a row at first, but then I wanted to make it more challenging and I started to make more room..."

"I get the picture. Do you need some help cleaning up?"

Yami no Yuugi smiled. "I made the mess, I should clean it up. Please go back to bed, I'll put everything back to where it was I promise."

Yugi was reluctant to leaving his guest to tidy up, but Yami no Yuugi was so insistent that he relented and he returned to bed. Yami was waiting for him "sitting" on the edge of the bed. He enquired if he was okay and Yugi told the spirit what he had seen downstairs as he got back in bed.

/ I would like to see Yami no Yuugi's skills for myself. /

Yugi nodded, already half asleep and muttered "In the morning" before he fell back into a comfortable sleep.

Yugi woke up due to the familiar beeping of his alarm, if not for that he would have continued sleeping. He was in the bathroom, washing his face and trying to brush his unruly spikes, when he recalled the crazy events of the night that led him to be so tired. He stopped brushing and immediately went downstairs to look at the living room, not a chair or cushion out of place. He scratched the side of his head and wondered if what he had seen was just some crazy dream.

The shop seemed quiet, so he carefully walked back upstairs as if to balance out the noise he must have made on the way down. It wouldn't be right to wake up their guest….maybe he should ask Yami no Yuugi if he had built an image out of dominoes in the middle of the night? He mentally sweatdropped now he sounded crazy. He dressed quickly, slinging the Puzzle around his neck and mentally said "good morning" to the spirit who seemed more wake than he did when he replied in kind.

Yugi realised that time was passing and rushed downstairs to the kitchen to find Grandpa and Yami no Yuugi sitting opposite each other, both lost in deep mental concentration. He noticed a plate piled high with buttered toast waiting for him and he helped himself, before taking in more details of what the other two occupants were doing.

The two had a chess board on the table between them; Yugi could also see their own plates of toast which as soon as the game had started had been left forgotten. They were by the looks of things just starting a game. Yami no Yuugi was white, while his Grandpa was black.

Yami no Yuugi had already moved his pawn two spaces into the centre of the board, Yugi could see that allowed him the opportunity to move one of his bishop pieces or the most powerful pieces of chess, his queen.

Yugi could hear the Spirit of the Puzzle giving him a play by play of why it was such a good move to begin with because it aided Yami no Yuugi in gaining control of the centre which was as far as Yugi could tell was crucial to help win the game.

As Yugi and Yami thought about the logical choice of the moves, Yami no Yuugi was mentally surveying his territory. His opponent was wise, crafty and for all he knew had far more experience in this kind of battle than him, but he would not surrender right at the start!

But Grandpa had moved his opposing black pawn to block any further advances of that singular pawn while at the same time gave the same opportunities Yami no Yuugi had. Neither one could remove the opposing pawn without moving other pieces. Yugi placed the toast in his mouth as he ran upstairs to retrieve his bag for school and came back to see Yami no Yuugi move one of his knights so it was behind his pawn, but was able to attack his Grandpa's black pawn. Yugi had heard this move was called the "King's Knight Opening". He blinked; did that mean Yami no Yuugi had played chess before? Or was it just a random choice of a beginner?

Yami no Yuugi watched Grandpa's eyes, who didn't reveal anything about his long term plan. If Grandpa was so keen on guarding, he would attack first. He would not allow a stalemate. He was already thinking of his own counters to the old man's defences.

Yugi watched Grandpa move another black pawn into a position, in order to defend his first one, but immediately Yami no Yuugi moved in with his knight taking the first pawn that blocked his own. Yugi couldn't help but watch his Grandpa's returning move using the second black pawn to capture the knight and seemingly returning the board to how it had been before.

Yugi could feel the battle of wills over the board; the two were watching each other for any weaknesses or tell tale signs of their future strategy. Yami no Yuugi's face held a faint confidant smile, while Grandpa's face remained completely calm as he chose his moves with precision.

Yugi decided to talk, since during the choices he had finished his breakfast and needed to be off. "Grandpa, Yami no Yuugi, I'm going to school."

The two seemed to snap out of their personal battle over the white and black squares. Grandpa smiled. "Have a good day at school Yugi."

Yami no Yuugi also added the same well-wishing and asked for him to tell his friends he said hi. Yugi said that he would and asked Yami no Yuugi what he intended to do, Grandpa replied for him.

"After this old man shows this youngster how to play chess. I thought he could help me around the shop, cleaning, dusting, stocking up." He gave Yugi a wink. "I'll teach this boy a few things about games."

Yami no Yuugi smiled. "It will be a great experience."

Yugi returned a smile and said goodbye as he left the shop and made his way to school.

The hospital reception's routine had been relatively normal, although just like in all care professions a true routine was practically impossible, until some strange people arrived. The woman who was at the station couldn't place what was "strange" about the two men and the woman as they approached. It was probably the way they walked, it seemed almost military in the case of the men, like not a single motion could be wasted.

They stopped by reception and silently rang the bell, once and waited. The receptionist approached and asked how she could help.

"We're looking for someone, a colleague of ours, he was very ill and we're checking the hospitals to see if you might have him in one of your beds, so we can take him home."

The receptionist looked at the young man with short green hair who had spoken, he was wearing a white collared shirt, and one arm had a simple black band near the wrist, and dark trousers. He sounded concerned but his voice was also very calm, the receptionist found this mixture of emotions unusual, if the person was so ill, shouldn't a friend be frantic, not this calm? Even though it was a small thing, she couldn't help noticing it.

"What's your friend's name?"

The second man, very young with long white hair that seemed to spread out wildly, he spoke in voice that seemed naturally angry. "We believed that if he was as sick as we thought he would still be unconscious, so telling you his name wouldn't help."

The green haired man spoke again in a quiet tone as if trying to smooth things out between his companion. "He has quite an unusual appearance, blond hair near the forehead, but the rest is mostly black and magenta around the outside-" He noticed the woman's eyes recognise the description. "Is he here?"

She shook her head, she remembered what had happened because the boy had looked so mysterious and she had been interested. "He recovered and was discharged."

The three looked at her as if she was mad. "He discharged himself?"

She shook her head again. "No."

The angrier man placed his hands down on the desk. "Who did?" His brown eyes seemed to try and bore a hole right through her body with just his gaze alone.

Her voice trembled when she replied. "I believe it was a relative…"

She continued to stare into the brown eyes, until the other pulled his friend away by the crook of his arm. "Thank you for your assistance." The three then left the hospital and after that nerve-wracking experience the receptionist nurse couldn't wait to get off her shift.

Outside the three strangers walked away from the building quietly, until they were in a quiet area and the woman spoke for the first time. "A relative? Do you think that maybe they were talking about the one who lives here?"

The white haired one nodded, as he folded his arms, gloved hands visible for a second. "I agree. You know the one we are looking for has no family, except those we have custody of."

The final member sighed as he tugged at his short haired fringe. "We have to follow every lead, if this lead is the one we've been looking for and he has been taken in by civilians; then this has become a critical situation. We'll just have to make sure we get him before he starts remembering anything."