Alverna: And here is chapter 7.
Ryou and Malik: Yea!
Bakura and Marik: BOO! We're not in it!
Atemu: It will get there eventually!
Seto: Alverna is very happy with the 22 reviews she got for the last chapter. Total reviews are currently at 102.
Joey: Chapter 7 is Yugioh! Manga Chapter/Duel 7 and Season 0 Ep. 10 based.
Yugi: Alverna does not own Yugioh! Enjoy the chapter, which is dedicated to SuperSpeed for being the 100th reviewer! Congrats!
yugioh4ever: No, Yami won't be saving Tea unless he absolutely has to. He may not remember his past life, but his instincts are telling him to stay away from her.
Killer-Fangirl: No not really.
Rainyrain: Tea will be pretty much out of the story after Battle City, in which she will have a minor role due to how she will behave at Duelist Kingdom. She will start being b*tchy after being officially introduced to Yami for the first time.
punkfluff: Seto will appear the English anime version, currently chapter 24 but can get pushed further up or back depending on my chapter length.
BabyNinetails: No, that's currently not scheduled until chapter 19.
Wordsorceress: LOL. You're reviews always seem to make my day. You squealed out loud? Really? I must be doing a good job then. And easy on the puzzleshipping demands, the kiss will get here before Duelist Kingdom. And thanks for the cookies.
psychicgirl32: Bakura and Marik aren't that bad, it's Bakura's twin brother Akefia we'll have to look out for. (See last chapter of 'How did it come to this?' for details.)
Yami my darkness: The best pointer I can give for writing is to just free hand it. Much of this stories prequel, "How did it come to this?", was spur of the moment ideas that actually worked out very well.
Chapter 7: The Face of Truth
Yugi let out a soft sigh as he exited the school building. Another day had come and gone, without any incidents, thankfully. He didn't have to work that day so he was glad.
But he also hadn't seen or heard from Yami yet either.
"Hey Yugi!" Joey called, making the 16 year old turn to his friend.
"Hey Joey." Yugi nodded. "Are we heading home?"
"Not quiet." Joey shook his head and flicked his eyes to Tristan, who was standing next to him.
Tristan glared at Yugi, who shrank a little under the stare.
'He always makes me carry his bags or buy him porn magazines.' Yugi sighed in his head. 'He may be Joey's friend, but I really don't like him that much.'
"In fact Yugi, we need your help." Joey kept going, not noticing the small exchange.
Yugi remained silent as he processed what Joey said. Tristan on the other hand became very vocal.
"Joey, you mean to say Yugi is the one you think can help?" Tristan asked.
"Yeah." Joey raised an eyebrow. "Problem?"
"You're kidding!" Tristan protested. "No way! Not from this guy!"
"Hey, hey…" Joey sighed. "You're the one who asked me for advice."
'Help?' Yugi wondered. 'What does Tristan need my help with?'
"Yugi, I need to talk to you." Tristan said firmly. "But everything I say is a total secret. Tell anyone and I'll beat you into a pulp regularly."
"Tristan!" Joey exclaimed as Yugi hid behind the blonde. "That won't be necessary with Yugi. I guarantee it! Yugi can keep a secret, just between the three of us…"
"Yeah, I won't tell anyone." Yugi agreed.
"You see Yugi," Joey smirked slightly, "Tristan is suffering from 'Love Sickness'."
"AUGH!" Tristan yelled in horror. "I knew we shouldn't have told Yugi!"
Yugi just blinked at the outburst. What had he done?
"And now you're going to start laughing." Tristan growled and began to shake Yugi by his jacket. "I should kill you."
"I'm not laughing!" Yugi protested as he wiggled out of Tristan's grasp and hid behind Joey again.
"It's the girl in our class, Miho Nosaka." Joey explained. "I think you know her Yugi, she's on the library committee. She's very quiet, but you can always tell it's her by the yellow ribbon she wears in her hair."
"I think her friends call her Ribbon Girl." Yugi admitted.
"Ah…" Tristan sighed. "Lovely and tidy, Ribbon Girl."
"Well, Tristan is as bright as a box of hair." Joey continued. "He can't think of anything and needs help. Think maybe you could help him get a girls attention… maybe with something from the Game Shop?"
"Maybe." Yugi nodded slowly.
"A game shop?" Tristan mumbled. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Let's go than!" Joey grinned and dragged Tristan out the school gates.
'A present from Tristan.' Yugi mused as he followed the two and thought of the items in the shop. 'What would make a good present? Maybe Grandpa will know.'
"We're here!" Joey's voice brought Yugi out of his musings.
"This is a waste of time Joey." Tristan sighed.
"Don't give up hope yet." Yugi said as he opened the door. "Grandpa, I'm home!"
"Hello Yugi." Solomon greeted. "Joey. Who's your friend?"
"This is Tristan." Joey said as he clapped a hand on the teens shoulder. "We need your help gramps."
"Oh?" Solomon raised an eyebrow.
"Tristan wants to tell a girl he has a crush on her but doesn't know how." Yugi clarified.
"I see." Solomon nodded. "A present full of the feelings of the opposite sex. I have just the thing for you."
"Really Grandpa?" Yugi asked with a grin.
"I told you this is how I got your grandmother." Solomon replied as he turned and began to rummage in some boxes that had yet to be organized. "If I recall, it's in this box."
As he moved items, dust kicked up and made the elderly man cough.
"Is this really a good idea?" Tristan asked.
"It'll be okay Tristan." Joey replied with a grin.
"Here it is!" Solomon exclaimed as he pulled out a box and blew the dust off of it and into the faces of Yugi, Joey, and Tristan, making them cough before he lifted the lid off. "Here."
"Is it a jigsaw puzzle?" Joey asked as he looked at the blank surface that could be broken into many pieces. "There's nothing on it, it's blank."
"Yes." Solomon nodded. "You write down your feelings and then give it to the girl all broken up. She will put the pieces together one by one, and your feelings will be revealed to her. It's very romantic."
"That's not something Tristan would do." Joey practically fell over laughing while Yugi watched un-amused. "It's not his style!"
"No, it's perfect!" Tristan said as he picked up the puzzle and placed some money on the counter. "This is just what I need, something romantic. I'll take it!"
"Glad you like it, come again." Solomon grinned. 'Works every time.'
"Wait a sec…" Tristan paused. "What do I write? I can't write a love letter. What to do? Yugi, you write it."
"What?" Yugi dropped his backpack in shock.
"My chest if filled with burning thoughts!" Tristan exclaimed. "I can't put words to it."
"I still don't get it." Yugi admitted.
"I will give this to Miho on Monday." Tristan resolved. "But I need help sorting my feelings and words."
"I don't know if I can." Yugi muttered.
"Even if I had 200 years I'd never be able to express my feelings properly." Tristan sighed in distress.
"And tomorrow's Saturday." Joey said. "You have all weekend."
"All I can do is try." Yugi said as he put his backpack down and put on an apron so he could help in the game shop with the afternoon rush. "You two may want to leave before it gets crowed in here."
"He's right." Joey nodded as he recalled getting trapped in the shop one time when it had gotten busy. "It's a madhouse between 3 and 5."
"Okay." Tristan nodded and the two left.
"Hey Grandpa." Yugi looked over to the elderly man. "Do you have another one of those puzzles by any chance?"
"Yes I do." Solomon nodded. "Got someone on your mind."
"I told you about Yami, the guy who saved me." Yugi asked, and Solomon nodded as he recalled the young man Yugi had told him about. "I want to talk to him, but I get so tongue tied. I think maybe writing things down on the jigsaw puzzle will help."
"That is a good idea." Solomon nodded. "I'll give you one once the rush dies down."
"Thanks Grandpa." Yugi smiled.
After the store closed, Yugi raced up the stairs with Tristan's 50 piece puzzle, his blank 500 piece puzzle, and ran into his room, locking the door.
"Okay, let me think." Yugi mumbled as he picked up a pencil and paper, not intent on writing anything but his final message on the puzzle. "Dear Yami, Thank you for saving me. I have a crush on you and… No."
Five hours later Yugi still hadn't had anything. For him or Tristan. He didn't even know how to ask a guy out, much less a girl. Not that he had tried.
"This is hopeless." Yugi sighed sadly.
He tossed another worn piece of paper into his small recycling bin.
"How can I tell Yami I want to get to know him without sounding like an absolute dork?" Yugi mumbled sadly.
Yugi felt helpless, but recalled that sometimes you just should be blunt, something that wasn't his strong suit.
"Maybe I should just be foreword." Yugi sighed as he picked up another piece of paper. "Yami, I would like to get to know you better. Would you meet up with me sometime? Yugi."
Feeling somewhat satisfied with his note, Yugi wrote it one the puzzle, broke the pieces apart and placed them in a box. He would give it to Yami the next time he saw him.
At school on Monday, Yugi and Joey met up with Tristan before the bell rang.
"Did you finish?" Tristan asked quietly.
"Yes." Yugi nodded. "I worked on it all weekend."
"What's it say?" Joey asked.
"You're not going to stop bugging me if I say 'no', are you?" Yugi asked.
"Nope." Tristan shook his head. "One of Joey's more annoying points."
"But that's what makes me so loveable!" Joey protested.
"Okay." Yugi sighed. "I wrote, 'My dear lovely Ribbon Girl, Your yellow ribbon is perfect. I love you more than anything in the universe. Signed, Tristan Taylor'."
"That's nice." Tristan nodded his consent.
Yugi blushed and let his mind wandered to the puzzle box he had in his bag, hoping he would see Yami and be able to give it to him.
"So what do we do now?" Tristan asked.
"The way I see it there are three options." Yugi said. "1. Tristan gives it to Miho directly, 2. We mail it to her house, or 3. Leave it in Miho's desk for her to find."
"Leave it in her desk." Joey said immediately. "We all know Tristan doesn't have the guts to ask Miho directly, and mailing it would make Tristan seem like a stalker."
"That does sound best." Tristan agreed as he started at the gift in his hands.
"Give." Joey said as he took the box from Tristan and slid it in to Miho's desk. "It's in."
"Yea!" Yugi cheered.
"I need a burger." Tristan sighed.
Walking down the hallway was a tale, pale, female teacher with red hair and grey eyes walked down the hallway in green dress suit.
"That's Ms. Chono." a student said. "She teaches 10th grade. And she's really pretty."
"Yeah." his friend agreed. "She's wearing a lot of make-up though."
"But she expels students all the time." the first guy said. "In the last six months she's expelled 15 people."
"You're kidding." the second one gasped.
"Nope." the first student replied. "And because of that habit, she has another name."
"The Expelling Witch." the second one realized.
"Good morning Vice Principal." Ms. Chono greeted.
"Good morning Ms. Chono." Vice Principal Shakro greeted. "How did your marriage interview go yesterday?"
"He really didn't deserve me, but it's alright." Ms. Chono chuckled. "Excuse me, I've got to get to class."
"Your perfume is so strong." Vice Principal Shakro muttered to himself with a small blush. "Ms. Chono, I'd like a marriage interview with you."
Back in the classroom, Yugi and Joey had a hard time covering their snickers.
"It looks like Miho hasn't found the present yet." Joey whispered to Yugi.
"Yeah." Yugi nodded while stuffing his hand in his mouth to cover his giggles.
"Tristan is all fidgety." Joey smirked. "His face is bright red!"
"What a riot." Yugi replied. 'Everything will work out fine Tristan. Just wait and see.'
"I can't believe that man, asking about my private business!" Ms. Chono snarled as she punched the mirror in the girl's bathroom, making it shatter. "I get mad just thinking about it."
Flashback
Ms. Chono was dressed in a pretty dark pink kimono, and was standing next to a man in a tuxedo. The man's name was Yoshio Maso.
"I can't believe I'm having a marriage interview with such a beautiful woman." Mr. Maso said as he rubbed his head nervously. "I'm honored."
"Oh, no way." Ms. Chono said as she turned away flirtily. 'Now praise my beauty more.'
"You're a high school teacher right?" Mr. Maso said as Ms. Chono turned back to him. "I bet you're famous for being a beautiful teacher!"
"No such thing." Ms. Chono giggled as she turned away again. 'Of course I am. Now come up with some better compliments.'
As Ms. Chono turned back to Mr. Maso, a young boy came hoping along the stone path, singing to himself. He didn't see the couple until he had bumped into Ms. Chono. Her reaction was less than pleasant.
"Hey!" Ms. Chono snapped as she used her leg to push the boy off her. "Be careful! You'll get my kimono dirty! Damn brats these days."
The boy stood up and ran away crying.
"It really is a problem when children are not brought up well." Ms. Chono said as she slid back into the nice lady role.
"Seems you're very different from what I imagined." Mr. Maso said slowly as Ms. Chono turned back to him with a twitch going on her eyebrow. "This is… too bad."
The trash can was the angry teacher's next victim. One kick later, it was on the other side of the room with its contents all over the floor and a dent in the side.
"That man, I was planning to refuse him." Ms. Chono seethed. "The marriage interviews are my hobby. I do them to denounce and make fun of the men! I have money and beauty, but he wounded my pride."
Taking deep breaths to calm down, Ms. Chono caught a glimpse of her rubbed eye shadow in the mirror.
"Oh no!" Ms. Chono gasped as she dug her make-up refresher kit out of her purse. "It's all okay. What a nice face. Even thinking about what happened will ruin my skin. I need to relieve this stress."
With a plan in mind, Ms. Chono walked down the hallway and opened the door. Any chatter ceased immediately as she entered the room. The class stood, greeted their teacher with a bow, and sat back down.
"Well everyone, before we open our text books," Ms. Chono smiled evilly, "I'd like you to empty your bags and desk onto your desktops! This is an inspection!"
"Huh?" Joey gasped.
"What?" Yugi whispered, his mind jumping to the puzzle his bag, as well as the one in Miho's desk.
Yugi put his belongings on his desk, his hand resting on Yami's puzzle. With so many pieces, Ms. Chono would never be able to put it together in a timely manner.
Besides, Yugi had permission from the school to test games and puzzles from the game shop during break. It made it easier for his grandfather to gauge how interested students would be if he put it on the shelves before selling them to the public.
Out of the corner of his eye, Yugi watched Miho and Tristan's reactions to when she pulled the gift out of her desk. Miho was surprised and confused. Tristan was, well, sulking at the bad timing of their teacher's inspection.
'I feel better already.' Ms. Chono inwardly smirked. 'At the sound of my voice, all the students looked terrified. Every one of them looks like a guilty criminal.'
"Come on." Ms. Chono encouraged lightly. "Bring them out."
'I'll single out the disgusting little brats and expel them!' Ms. Chono thought with glee. 'Bring everything out. Cigarettes, lipstick, condoms! Heh, heh.'
Walking down the row of desk, Ms. Chono could only raise her eyebrows at the puzzle box and cards on Yugi's desk, unable to confiscate them because of his special permission from the school and his grandfather.
As she got the other side of the room, she spotted the wrapped gift on Miho's desk.
"What's this Miho?" Ms. Chono asked as she picked up the box, much to the horror of Tristan, Joey, and Yugi.
"I don't know ma'am." Miho answered quietly. "I found it in my desk."
"Really?" Ms. Chono asked as she walked back up to her desk and ripped the wrapping off before taking the lid off the box. "Ooh… it's a jigsaw puzzle."
"That teacher." Joey growled softly.
"Interesting." Ms. Chono said as she began to put it together. "I think the pieces spell out something. How exciting. 'My dear lovely Ribbon Girl, Your yellow ribbon…' How childish."
The class laughed, all accept for Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Miho, who was now extremely embarrassed at what was happening.
'Damn that teacher.' Tristan thought. 'She's hurting Miho.'
"The question is… who gave it to her." Ms. Chono said to the class. "We have rules about students involved in relationships, and they will be punished. This puzzle was obviously meant to start a relationship. Now, will the person who wrote this puzzle please show himself? If you do so now, I'll be tolerant."
'Yeah right.' Yugi thought sadly.
'I've subjected Miho to this humiliation long enough.' Tristan thought as he slowly stood up. 'The only way I can stop all of this is to claim the present. I have to reveal the secret. Farewell Miho.'
"I wrote it!" Yugi said as he shot out of his seat, inducing more laughter from the class.
'Yugi!' Tristan almost gasped out loud at the sudden declaration.
"Nope!" Joey stood up. "I'm the one who put it in her desk."
Both Joey and Yugi were thinking the same thing. They didn't care if they got laughed at or if Miho hated them, they would make sure that Tristan got his chance.
Tristan was touched by his friend's actions. A year ago, no one would have done that for him. Heck, a month ago it wouldn't have happened.
"Thanks, but no thanks guys." Tristan spoke up from the back of the class. "Those are my feeling written on the puzzle."
"This couldn't be the work of three people." Ms. Chono frowned. "The offender has to be one person. Someone here is lying!"
"Ma'am…" Joey said with as much respect he could muster for the woman, and it wasn't much. "None of us are lying."
"Then you won't mind if I complete the puzzle." Ms. Chono chuckled gleefully. "When the last four pieces are added, I'm sure the senders name will be revealed. When I know the name, that student will be expelled!"
"That's cruel!" Yugi burst out. "Reading other people's private thoughts is rude! It's as bad as if I took your mail from your mailbox and read it before you did."
"Are you confessing to doing that?" Ms. Chono asked with an evil look.
"No." Yugi mumbled. "It was just an example."
"That may be, but as a teacher I must know who brought this to school." Ms. Chono replied. "Personal items are not allowed. You're allowed because of your grandfather's surveys with new games."
"No you don't." Joey growled, making the teacher stop her progress.
"Watch yourself Mr. Wheeler." Ms. Chono snapped. "You're getting close to being expelled. I'll see you alone after the bell."
"That's not fair!" Yugi gasped. "What did Joey do?"
"Silence Mr. Mouto." Ms. Chono glared at the teen, who shrank if fright. "I'll be seeing you as well."
At that exact moment, the bell rang. Everyone left the room for break, Tristan being the last one to leave.
"You two seem quiet insistent on breaking the peace in my class." Ms. Chono 'mused'. "You're distracting everyone and that is against school rules."
"Ma'am, what is a 'distraction'?" Joey asked. "A rule like that would be too strict. A page turning in a math book could be a distraction, so is it against the school rules?"
"Of course not." Ms. Chono shook her head. "You need your school books to learn."
"Then why are you so against us bringing a game that will challenge our minds from home?" Joey smirked softly, reeling the teacher in.
"I need to think about that." Ms. Chono said as she realized she may have been cornered. "You may leave now Mr. Wheeler."
Joey left the room slowly, glancing back at Yugi and gave an encouraging smile and a thumbs up. Yugi smiled back weakly as the door closed.
"Do you have anything to add?" Ms. Chono smiled wickedly at Yugi.
"You didn't answer Joey's question." Yugi replied softly. "And I agree. For example, banning part time jobs are ignoring the student's needs to prepare themselves for after high school. College is expensive and you can't make it by flipping burgers all day long."
"Insolent boy!" Ms. Chono hissed as struck Yugi across the face, knocking him to the ground. "I am your teacher and you will do what I say! Now, I have a puzzle I need to finish."
Yugi whimpered as he held his cheek, knowing it would bruise.
-Rest Little One.-
Yugi gasped. That was Yami's voice, but where was he?
-In due time, but now, rest.-
Yugi suddenly felt tired and blacked out.
YU-GI-OH!
Yami stood, in control of Yugi's body and glared at the teacher.
"It's game time." Yami smirked, enjoying the startled reaction from the woman.
"Game?" Ms. Chono asked as she looked up again. "What are you suddenly blabbering about now boy?"
"If I win, no one get's expelled." Yami said, ignoring her question. "And if you win, I'll do anything you say."
"Really?" Ms. Chono said as she put down the jigsaw puzzle pieces. "A student who causes doubt in a teacher should be expelled."
"The game is a jigsaw puzzle, which you seem to be fond of right now." Yami smirked as he pulled two mirrors out of Ms. Chono's desk. "But we will be using a couple of face mirrors."
"Mirrors?" Ms. Chono questioned.
In response, Yami tossed the reflective glass up. One shattered on Ms. Chono's desk, and the other shattered on a student's desk in front of the teacher's desk.
"The rules are simple." Yami said. "The one who puts their puzzle together first wins. However, we're wearing blindfolds."
"I see." Ms. Chono said as she took a blindfold Yami was holding and sat down in the chair behind her desk, covering her eyes.
"Now…" Yami said after he was properly situated. "Let's begin."
Ms. Chono reached out to feel the glass shards, and felt a couple pieces of cloth cover the top of her hands.
"Use the gloves." Yami said as he pulled on a pair himself. "And be careful. This is a dangerous game."
"You too." Ms. Chono sneered as she pulled the gloves on and began feeling the glass pieces again, and just took off the blindfold quietly. 'Stupid kid. I can pull the blindfold off and play like that. You'd never even know.'
"This goes… here?" Yami questioned quietly as he slid two more pieces together.
"Sounds like it's going well for you." Ms. Chono said trying to hide the glee in her voice.
"I forgot to mention one more thing." Yami said. "This is a Shadow Game."
"A Shadow Game?" Ms. Chono asked, curiosity somewhat spiked. "What's that?"
"A game where if you break the rules, terrible punishment awaits you." Yami replied.
"Oh really?" Ms. Chono answered as she fit more pieces together. "I suppose I just can't tell like this."
"How's it going?" Yami asked. "I'm half done."
"Oh no! I'm going to lose!" Ms. Chono fake wailed as she picked up the last two pieces of her puzzle. 'It's such an easy game if done normally. Now… I win.'
"Bab ul-zulumat futeh.*" Yami said, making Ms. Chono start at the foreign language. "Ms. Chono, you used your position as a teacher to bully the students. You merely wear the mask of a teacher. Under that mask, you hide your ugly face!"
"What?" Ms. Chono gasped as her make-up peeled away from her face.
"Just as a mirror reflects who you see every day." Yami hissed as he stood up, still blindfolded as the Eye of Anubis appeared on his forehead. "For the people you have hurt, feel what it is to be hurt yourself!"
The eye flashed, and instead of an illusion casting itself upon the teacher, her make-up peeled completely off her face, revealing a brown and wrinkly woman underneath.
"My make-up!" Ms. Chono screamed as she covered her face and ran out the door sobbing. "My face!"
"I told you." Yami said as he took his blindfold off. "Break the rules, and you receive a terrible punishment."
Glancing around the room, Yami saw the box that Yugi's mind had marked as his, as Yami's. Going to Yugi's desk, Yami pulled off the lid to see a puzzle. With a small smirk, Yami completed the puzzle in less than two minutes.
"Oh Yugi." Yami chuckled as he read the message. "Of course I would love to meet up with you. Just leave the how, when, and where to me."
Yami sighed as he re-broke the puzzle and placed it back in its box. Laying his head on the desk, Yami relinquished control to Yugi.
Yugi sat up and rubbed his eyes. What happened? And where was Ms. Chono? Oh well. At least he could take the puzzle back and not get in trouble. It paid to be a game tester for your grandpa sometimes.
Gathering the puzzles, his and Miho's, Yugi left the room to find Joey and Tristan. He found them outside, where Tristan was asking Miho out on a date personally.
And was magnificently rejected.
But something had started between the three boys, Yugi was quiet sure of it as he chuckled at Joey's suggestion of getting a burger to help deal with Tristan's new heart ache.
*Bab ul-zulumat futeh- The Door of Darkness has been opened.
Alverna: End of chapter.
Yugi: When can I see Yami again?
Alverna: Next chapter.
Atemu: When will we kiss?
Alverna: That's too much spoilers. Wait and see.
Yugi: -whispering- In two or three chapters.
Alverna: Yugi!
Yugi: I'm sorry! -puppy dog eyes of doom-
Atemu: Please review while I try to save the poor writer from my Hikari's deadly puppy dog eyes. -eyes Alverna as a puddle of goo on the floor-
