A/N: Yes, I know, it's been a VERY long time since I've tended to any of my stories here. I really do apologize sincerely for the long wait that you all have had to endure due to my lack of updates and announcements. I won't be surprised if many of you have begun to care less for these stories due to that… Many things have come up though I won't say what exactly. I simply hope that you can forgive me for the wait. I appreciate the continued support for this story and honestly thank everyone for their reviews and feedback. When I first started this story I never thought it would get such great results with readers, so truly thank you! Now without further ado, I present you all with the latest installment of "He's the One"!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN YUGI-OH! In any way shape or form as sad as that makes me…
"I'm leaving now… Yumi… Just promise me… Promise me you'll take really good care of him and that he doesn't get hurt…" Yugi whispered, leaving before he got an answered.
When he got out of the house, Ryou was right there for him. "You did well." was all the albino said as they both walked home.
That night, Yugi cried without sleep…
It hurt. Really bad. Who would have guessed it would hurt so darn much?
His small form clutched a spare pillow to his chest, tightly. A sigh, one filled with heartache and confliction, passed through his lips. Yugi rolled on his bed, now facing the wall.
"You did the right thing…" The near-silent murmur passed through his lips, repeating itself over and over. He was trying so hard to convince himself that leaving Yami to Yumi was the right thing… So why did he feel so WRONG about it..?
The once bright amethyst eyes, now dulled and reddened from nonstop crying, opened to stare at his wall before squeezing shut again. "It was the right decision, there's nothing to feel so bad about." He continued to try to convince himself.
If it was so right then why must you regret it so badly? If it was so right then there'd be nothing to tear yourself up about then. A small voice in the back of his head countered. It frustrated Yugi so much, as he tried to ignore the insistent little voice that kept dragging him back down to the start. It threw points at him that he just couldn't deny… But he had to try.
Yugi let go of Yami, he gave him up so that Yumi would be happy. Yumi was young… Sure she would experience the loss of things she considered precious as she grew up, but that was the point. Why make her experience something like that at such a young age when Yugi knew well enough he was able to prevent it?
Call him too nice. Call him stupid. But, Yugi knew well enough what it was like to really lose things so dear to him at a young age. It killed him inside to see a person hurt like that…
The room was still, cloaked in darkness although, the day had long already begun. He lied motionless on his bed, lost in his deep thoughts. He'd finished all the tears he could spare; all that was left was a shell from what he was the day prior before the incident.
Who knew it hurt so much, the feeling of possibly never being able to hold the object of your affections and being able to honestly say they belonged to you alone?
He adjusted himself on his bed once, tired and fed up with his internal argument. With eyes shut tightly, he sighed again, allowing himself to finally succumb to a light sleep.
The phone rang.
He shifted, but didn't move.
It rang again.
He groaned. Who could have been calling?! Whoever it was, it couldn't have been that important, so he let it be.
It kept ringing.
And ringing.
And ringing…
Finally with an uncharacteristically irritable huff, he climbed out of his bed and stormed to where the phone was located in the house.
"Hello?" He replied, annoyed.
"Oh… Well hello to you, too. Didn't think that I deserved that much of a huff from yesterday…" The distorted voice of Ryou sounded from the device.
"Oh… Sorry Ryou, I didn't mean to… It's just that I… Well… You know." The tri-haired boy replied guiltily, earning a small chuckle from the other.
"Quite alright, I understand that yesterday had given you a bit of a shock. It happens to the best of us… But you can't keep down about it… Think positive, like the usual you. You might just get another chance, you never know.."
Yugi nodded halfheartedly, not really acknowledging the fact that the albino couldn't see the action. He answered the phone with a low "Thank you" before allowing the other to continue speaking.
Quite a bit a time had passed by the time Yugi was able to finally put down the phone. A slight smile graced his features as he shook his head. He was glad to have friends like Ryou, who simply cared about his wellbeing. The small boy went to stretch his arms, big eyes glancing at the time before heading back to get some more rest. It was already too late to go out, tomorrow was another day.
The night passed quickly, soon sunrays were peeking through Yugi's curtains, alerting the boy to a new day. His small form rolled away in an attempt to escape the bright shine, only to result in an accidental off-bed roll.
"Ow… Alright you win, I'm up, Yugi is up." Said boy groggily said to no one in particular. His body rose, tossing the cover that fell along with him to the bed. From there he began his usual get-ready routine, after all Ryou and Malik had threatened his future sanity, yesterday, if he didn't get out and hang out with them.
In a matter of no time, Yugi was heading out the door. "See you later, Grandpa!" he waved at the elder man, trying to give him the best smile he could muster.
Grandpa waved back, "Have fun, my boy! Don't come back too late! Feel better, Yugi…" The last sentence was muttered to himself as the younger boy was already out of sight.
The walk to the meeting place the three of them agreed didn't take as much time as Yugi had hoped. He wanted to have a little bit to compose himself and continue with his thoughts from yesterday. Small hands tightened slightly around the straps of his backpack as he closed in on the place. Just take a breath.
"Yugi!" A familiar voice called out to him, immediately followed by a close tackle.
The tri-haired boy chuckled, returning the hug. "Malik, is that you? It's been a millennia! Your hair… Is it going white?!" He attempted to joke, earning a gasp from the platinum blonde and a "Hey!" from the albino who was walking towards the duo.
"I'm offended, you little twerp. And what about you? I seen you've shrunk since I last saw you." Malik jokingly retaliated, successfully getting Yugi to pout.
"I'm not that short…."
The playful banter continued, Ryou joyfully observing Yugi's spirits lifting somewhat thanks to Malik's constant teasing. Ryou hadn't liked the obvious depression that seeped through his receiver as he spoke with the shorter male the other day. It had been obvious to him that although new, that depression needed to be nipped in the bud before it got out of their hands. He had a feeling it would be like that before he even called so, in preparation, Ryou had relayed the prior events and situation to Malik, the finisher of their close trio. Hearing the story, Malik had taken it pretty well and even, in some miraculous way, related to it and agreed to help their dear friend as much as he could. The two drew up several plans to try to help Yugi- a majority dealing with criminal acts- but, finally they figured the best way would just be to show their pal that they were right by his side and understood his feelings.
So, that's exactly what their here for today. In a small café… Bickering even more now while being slightly disheveled in appearance…. What the world happened in the short moment I was relaying yesterday's events….? The white haired boy thought as he watched, amazed, as the two boys he accompanied went at it. People stared. The waitress who came over, attempting to flirt and take their orders eventually stared. Even the people passing by from outside, stared at them through the window.
And it just continued… Until finally all the albino could do was laugh at the ridiculous antics. Yugi and Malik paused for a moment, completely confused as to why their friend was laughing so hard. That is until the two took a good look at themselves. Malik erupted into laughter while Yugi offered some of his own little chuckles to the batch.
"I'm so sorry, Ryou." Yugi said once their bouts of laughter wore off and they all cooled down.
Ryou waved him off, quietly observing Yugi. "Quite alright, I'm used to it by now." His reply caused both Yugi and Malik to blush sheepishly and shrug. Ryou took a shot. "It's good to see you in better spirits then the other day though, Yugi…"
Yugi's reply caused his companions to wince however. His face visibly paled, his earlier smile wiped clean off to be replaced with a cheap knock-off. "Yea… I guess you're right." Yugi attempted to reply happily but couldn't find the will for it. Malik bumped Ryou, shooting him an upset look, but all Ryou could do was shrug slightly in vain.
An awkward silence befell the trio quickly after that. It was unwanted and very uncomfortable. But what could they do when Yugi was still mourning the too recent loss?
Too soon, they were heading out of the café and towards Ryou's house to relax. The two weren't willing to let Yugi go home and be alone just yet. Yugi wasn't too sure if being in a dark room to battle it out with his conflicting emotions was what he wanted either.
Truth be told, the recent negative feelings came too fast and too soon for the boy to make sense of, even though it might have been over a situation most would think ridiculously of. Yugi knew what he felt; very strong and sure feelings albeit for a doll, but the feelings were there nonetheless.
A sigh passed through his lips as his body slid to the carpet of Ryou's room. He hadn't even noticed when they got there. How long had he been there without noticing? He internally shrugged, slipping the backpack off his shoulders. His head shook to clear his mind of invading thoughts. If he was going to lounge around, he might as well just continue on that puzzle while they were doing so.
"You're still working on that thing, Yugi?" Malik asked, sliding to floor on his right, taking notice of the familiar golden pieces. Yugi simply hummed in agreement in response.
"How long has it been since you started it? I mean it seems like you've gotten quite far with it since the last time it's graced our presence." Ryou took a seat on Yugi's left, holding onto his bunny, Bakura. The bunny was disinterested in everything around him except for his adorable owner that is, until his dark eyes caught sight of the gleaming puzzle pieces. Bakura wormed his way off of Ryou's lap and hopped towards a stray piece to sniff it. A white furry paw reached out to roll the piece around which eventually resulted in an overturned furry heap on the floor.
Ryou reached for the piece his bunny somehow managed to ungracefully slip on, rolling it around between his fingers before placing Bakura back in his lap. "Silly bunny…" Ryou nuzzled his little companion before placing the golden piece in a random space on the puzzle. "Does that go there?" He inquired, watching as Yugi rotated the piece in its place to make it fit.
"Seems it does." Yugi smiled, watching Malik attempt the same with another piece only for it to fall into its proper place, by some luck.
"Hah! Skills." Malik gloated, poking the bunny who, seemed to glare annoyingly at the blonde boy. "Ryoooou… Your rabbit is grumpy again… And biting my finger again! I'm not a carrot, Bakura!" Malik's voice rose a pitch as the boy gingerly held his finger, pretending to hide behind Yugi 'for protection'.
"Serves you right, Malik." Ryou giggled, secretly petting his bunny for the act. Bakura simply thumped his foot against the nearby floor and proceeded to snooze off.
A comfortable silence rose within the room, the albino and blonde, lost in their own thoughts about their friend as well as their own personal predicaments. The only sound that resonated in the room was the clicking and connecting of the golden puzzle pieces. Malik seemed to mimic the devil bunny's actions, dozing off in a rather comical position. Every so often Yugi would hum in approval or huff in frustration depending on how the puzzle put together. Next to him Ryou stared longingly at his sleeping bunny, petting the coarse yet surprisingly soft fur. Internally each of them sighed simultaneously with only one single thought passing through each of their minds.
Why can't we just have a chance…?
Time crept slowly along after that, not much getting done except for relaxing the day away. It was quiet for a long time until finally someone spoke up.
"Guys, look."Yugi said, a hint of triumph within his voice. Malik and Ryou both shifted to look at what the smaller boy had offered their sights. Brown and lavender eyes both widened at it. The puzzle was nearly completed, with the exception of one missing piece.
"Woah…" Malik was at a loss for words.
On the contrary Ryou seemed to be entirely fascinated. "Amazing, Yugi. Look at that shape, how does it hold together without collapsing? More importantly, aren't you going to finish it? There's only one more piece." He gushed, stating the obvious.
A small pale hand reached up to scratch the back of his neck. Yugi sheepishly laughed. "Funny you asked, I can't seem to find it, I was so sure I had every piece in the box. It couldn't be far…"
Immediately after that statement, all eyes travelled to the seemingly innocent bunny who was now scratching behind his ear. Ryou sighed, picking Bakura up from under his front arms. "Alright, you. Where did you put it?"
Bakura put up a good staring contest for a while, the tension in the room becoming very obvious, until Malik interrupted, snatching the bunny away from a very surprised Ryou.
"Spill it Bakura. Where'd your fuzzy rump hide the piece? Yugi's been working a long time on it, don't play like this now." Malik attempted to intimidate Bakura. Sadly all he gained from that was a wet mark on his pants leg… "Darn, rabbit…" Malik grumbled, quickly passing Bakura back and heading to the bathroom to wash off his jeans.
"It can't be too far… Maybe he had it under him?" Yugi inquired, taking a random shot after a moment of thought. Sure enough, after Ryou shifted his legs, there it was, a golden eye piece staring out to those who looked. Malik came back in soon after, swiping it from the albino boy to inspect.
Ryou huffed at the blonde's impatience. Yugi simply nodded in relief at finding the piece, holding a hand out to receive it. The eye was dropped into the small boy's palm moments later.
"You know… I've been working on this for the longest, and you guys have helped on multiple occasions, even if it was encouraging me to continue on with it or attempting to fix it with me. My grandpa gave this to me after he went on an expedition in Egypt. He told me that by finishing the puzzle one day, it'll grant a wish to who completes it." Yugi stared at the piece in his hand, before raising his amethyst gaze to his two closest friends.
"I always wondered if it would actually happen, what I'd want to wish for and whatnot. But I've always gotten discouraged when it wouldn't work out, but you guys would push me saying, 'Go for it', even when others said it was too childish. So… I want you guys to help me finish it. Will you?" The small boy smiled at his two closest companions. The two who seemed to understand him best when it came to things he couldn't just say to others. He wanted to share this with them, they deserved the chance.
The blonde and albino exchanged looks before both smiling at their buddy. "Of course!" They replied in unison, both taking hold of a small portion of the piece.
Upon simply holding the eye piece, all three of them felt a rising anticipation. Would the puzzle actually grant a wish? What would happen afterwards? Would their wish actually be granted? So many questions ran through their minds, causing them to become nervous, but they proceeded along either way.
Slowly.
The piece inched towards the remaining opening.
The space seemed to be closing in, each boy holding their breath as finally the piece was aligned.
Then, they pushed the golden eye piece into its spot.
The only thought each of their minds held in that moment was: Just a chance.
Time seemed to stop momentarily and then… Nothing. There was no shining light. There wasn't any sort of spark upon the three of them completing the puzzle. Simply nothing other than the click of the piece locking in.
Malik, Ryou and Yugi each looked at one another, the breath they all seemed to be holding in, released. They looked back down at the now completed triangular puzzle. It was an odd three-dimensional puzzle in the shape of an upside down triangle with a loop on top and an eye in the middle.
"We….." Yugi began
"Must have seemed…" Ryou attempted to continue on
"Really silly." Malik concluded finally. For a moment silence passed over them until they each burst into a fit of giggles and all-around laughter.
However, simply because they were laughing so much doesn't mean that they weren't disappointed. They were. Each of them hoped for something to happen, even if the myth behind the puzzle seemed completely ridiculous. They wanted something to happen, even if it was something small…
The laughter subsided, each boy deciding to cover their faces to hide the silent tears that fell. "How silly." They laughed, pity washing over them at their unusual predicaments. Who would seriously fall for a doll or a bunny or even a presence felt when staring at a mirror? Who would honestly believe them other then themselves, if they were to reveal this secret? They'd simply be laughed at, even more so now, for hoping a wish could solve their problems…
It took moments for each to settle completely before deeming it time to part ways for the day. Yugi thanked each of his friends for the time spent, heading on his way home. Although the time spent on his mind took some guilt off of him for leaving Yami, it didn't completely erase the feelings he truly felt for the doll, nor did it ease the storm in his heart.
They all had a clearer mind after that day, accepting their situations more. However, after making their wish, even if nothing happened, they couldn't help but feel that something big was going to happen…
A/N: ANNNND That's that. It's been awhile since I wrote anything that wasn't a poem or essay, so I apologize if I'm a little rusty. This chapter is the second to last one, meaning the next update will be the final one for this story. I apologize once again for the slow pacing of the story and for how long it took to update to here. I wasn't feeling entirely well finishing up the story but I hope it at least somewhat satisfies until the last chapter. Hopefully I'll have it out before school starts. *Crosses fingers* I cannot promise anything currently however.
So how was it? Good? Bad? In-between? Please leave me a review to let me know if there's anything I need to work on or to leave your thoughts. Constructive Criticism, please and thank you. Until next time guys!