MMMG: And here is Chapter 3!

Bakura: Big deal!

Ryou: Bakura, be nice.

Bakura: Why should I? I'm not even in it.

MMMG: Yet. You have to wait towards the end of the Manga Adventures to appear. Ryou too. Marik and Malik won't appear until Battle City, which is in the sequel to this story. Sorry boys.

Malik: We'll live.

Marik: Easy for you to say!

MMMG: This chapter is Yu-Gi-Oh! Manga Chapter 3 based. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Enjoy!

-0-0-0-0-0-

YumiStar: We all hated that director.

Jokul Frosti: Yup, I thought 'Malfoy!' as well. Glad you're liking the new details, I was worried I didn't match the characters.

izzy440: Aw, thank you! And I do plan on updating past stories with my current style, but nothing will be reposted like this story is.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Chapter 3: Hard Beat

10 days later, on the last Friday of September, Yugi yawned as he waited for the bus to arrive and take him, and several other Domino High students, to school. Despite his tiredness, Yugi believed that today was going to be a fun day. When the bus arrived, everyone boarded. It was already fairly full before arriving at Yugi's stop, so all the new passengers had to stand and hold onto a ring hanging from a metal bar. Except for Yugi, someone was nice enough to let him hold onto a metal pole that ran from the ceiling of the bus to the floor.

"The bus is departing." the driver said over the intercom.

Yugi glanced around as the bus started moving, looking to see if any of his friends had gotten on the bus earlier, and paused when he saw someone else standing a couple of feet away. Tomoya Hanasaki, a young man who was about Yugi's height, but was taller by a couple inches, had light brown hair, and wore glasses. The two were in Ms. Chono's homeroom class, and Yugi honestly felt bad that he hadn't noticed until now they took the same bus to school.

"Morning, Tomoya." Yugi greeted with a small wave.

Tomoya was startled when Yugi spoke to him, and turned to look at the teenager, but quickly turned away again. Yugi winced, feeling like Tomoya was purposely ignoring him… or maybe he just hadn't recognized Yugi since they had never really spoken with each other that much. In class, Tomoya was always quiet and modest, preferring to fade into the background than stand out, a lot like Yugi.

"We're sorry." the bus driver said as the bus suddenly halted. "We have to make an emergency stop."

"Ah!" Yugi yelped.

The teenager lost his grip on the metal pole and was thrown back to the back of the bus, where it was considerably emptier. Before Yugi could really ponder why there was so much space back here and why no one was using it, loud music with heavy bass reached Yugi's ears, making him cover them so he could preserve his hearing. Looking around for the source, Yugi spotted a student sitting directly under the back-bus window with headphones on, and immediately knew who it was. Souzouji from senior year had a reputation for singing, and not in a good way. Hoping that he hadn't been noticed, and cringing at the loudness of the older teen's music, Yugi slowly crept away.

"Wait just a second Yugi!" Souzouji said as he opened his eyes.

Yugi froze, standing completely still with wide eyes. The other students of Domino High who sat or stood near the back of the bus glanced at him with cringes and apologetic looks on their faces, knowing what Souzouji was going to talk to him about. Yugi slowly turned around as Souzouji patted the spot next to him while taking his headphones off and turning his music down to a lower volume.

"There's a seat here." Souzouji said. "So, Yugi, I've been meaning to chat with you."

"Oh?" Yugi muttered as he sat down, but also inched away.

"I'll be holding one of my 'All Night Solo Live' shows tomorrow night, the second one of the school year." Souzouji smirked. "How would you like to come along and hear my magnificent voice?"

Yugi groaned in his head, being very careful to not actually groan out loud. Souzouji's dreaded recitals took place at least once a month, sometimes twice. He invited people to a Karaoke room, (insisting -forcing- the guests to be the ones who had to pay for the room), and sang until dawn with the voice that only he was so proud of. Yugi had heard many firsthand accounts of the 'All Night Solo Live' sessions from other students, and none of them were good… in fact, they were very, very, very, very bad. Yugi had avoided going to any last year, but his luck had run out.

"Now then Yugi, I want you to take these tickets, and sell them at school." Souzouji brought Yugi out of his thoughts.

"What?" Yugi gasped.

"For the low price of 2,000 yen*, a person could come here my singing voice." Souzouji fantasized as he handed Yugi the tickets. "Sell a few, but get as many girls as you can."

"Okay." Yugi mumbled softly as he pocketed the tickets.

"The party is tomorrow night." Souzouji said as he cracked his knuckles. "If the tickets aren't sold out by then, you know what will happen, Yugi."

At that moment, the bus arrived at school, and Yugi quickly joined the throng of students, desperate to escape speaking with Souzouji anymore. With a sigh, Yugi entered the school building with a strong sense of gloom around him. Maybe some other day would be fun, but it was definitely not today. In Ms. Chono's homeroom, Yugi quietly sat down at his desk with an unhappy look on his face.

"Morning, Yugi!" Joey greeted as he walked through the door.

"Morning, Joey." Yugi replied with less enthusiasm.

"What's got you down Yugi?" Joey asked, noticing the boy's lack of excitement.

"Nothing." Yugi said quickly with a somewhat forced smile. "I'm fine."

"Well, okay." Joey nodded before changing the subject. "Yugi, I've been investigating ever since that time and… as I thought, there is no idol in this school!"

"What the…" Yugi gasped at his friend in shock. "Joey, are you still investigating that? It's been… what, almost two weeks?"

"Therefore Yugi, I shall become this school's number one idol!" Joey continued, ignoring the outburst.

When Yugi didn't respond, Joey glanced over and saw his friend was looking at his desk. Looking closer, Joey realized that Yugi looked a bit depressed. And Joey was right, Yugi really was feeling down in the dumps. He didn't know how he was going to sell even one ticket to the karaoke night, much less all of them. At the start of the year, it was easy to get the 9th grade freshmen to go for the first recital, but after that, everyone knew to avoid Souzouji and his singing ability.

"Yugi." Joey called, making Yugi startle as he grasped his friend by the shoulders. "What are you so worrying about? Tell me, and I'll help you!"

Yugi was stunned, and could only stare at Joey's determined face for a few seconds. A month ago, Joey would have never even spoken to him, much less have made that offer. And now, the blond teen passionately declared that he was willing to help with the problem he was having. The thought touched Yugi as he genuinely smiled. It truly was a wonderful thing to have friends that genuinely cared about him.

"Everything is fine." Yugi said. "But thanks anyway, Joey."

"Okay." Joey replied with a wink a few seconds later.

Yugi was thankful that Joey had cheered him up a bit, but gave a groaning laugh when the blond and Tristan played a prank on Téa. He couldn't tell Joey about the tickets, knowing the teen would go after Souzouji with the intention to fight. If he invited Téa, she'd have to listen to his awful voice. And he didn't know Tristan that well, or at least, not well enough to ask if he'd purchase a ticket. Yugi wasn't going to involve his friends in this event, but cringed as he thought of Souzouji's warning, of what would happen if the tickets weren't sold…

-0-0-0-0-0-

Eventually, the time came to go home. And all ten tickets were still in Yugi's pocket. He hadn't been able to sell one, not even to the freshmen. As Yugi gathered his items from his locker, he spotted Tomoya again, walking down the hallway. Unconsciously, Yugi's hand reached into his pocket and grabbed a ticket, and then cursed himself as he realized what he was doing and shoved the piece of paper back into his pocket. Tomoya wasn't even his friend, so why would he do something like that to someone he had never really spoken to before? Taking a deep breath, Yugi walked down the hall and passed Tomoya.

"See you later, Tomoya." Yugi said with a wave.

"Um, Yugi, I've was wondering… if you would like to buy one of these tickets?" Tomoya asked as he pulled a familiar looking piece of paper out of his pocket. "Do you know Souzouji from senior year? This is a ticket to a live show."

Yugi was starting to internally panic as he realized that Tomoya was in the exact same situation he was, his heart beginning to pound really fast as he wondered what he should tell Tomoya. That he already had tickets that he had to sell? Pretend that he didn't have any tickets and buy one from his classmate? What should he do?

"So, please help me out and buy one." Tomoya continued. "I have five to sell, but I haven't been able to sell a single one."

Yugi held back a gasp as he realized that Tomoya had fewer tickets than he did, and was in the same boat of not being able to sell a single one. Yugi made up his mind on the fly, swallowed, and smiled at the teen who was in his class.

"Are you going Tomoya?" Yugi asked. "You don't seem very excited."

"That's because no one has bought any tickets." Tomoya shook his head and sighed. "And to be honest, I don't want to go."

Yugi internally sighed, knowing how Tomoya felt about Souzouji's 'concerts', feeling the same about them himself. Hade Souzouji forced Tomoya to be a ticket-seller before Yugi got on the bus? Maybe that was why Tomoya had turned away from him, not because he didn't recognize him, but because he hadn't wanted Yugi to get roped into going to the concert. But perhaps he could help Tomoya out somehow. With a hum, Yugi dug around in his pockets to check for any extra money that he knew he didn't have.

"Let me see, 2,000 yen?" Yugi questioned. "I don't have that much on me right now. Tell you what? How about you give me those tickets and I sell them for you?"

"Wha…" Tomoya gasped. "You… you'd really do that Yugi?"

"Yeah." Yugi nodded as he held out his hand. "If you don't want to go, you shouldn't have to."

"Thank you, Yugi!" Tomoya grinned as he gave Yugi the tickets.

"No problem." Yugi replied as he pocketed them with the other ten, he had.

"See you later." Tomoya called as Yugi walked down the stairs of the school while waving.

Yugi began his long walk home, having missed his bus, and did his best to keep the unhappiness off of his face. At least this way, only one person would have an inconvenient time on karaoke night. But now he had fifteen tickets in his pocket. He had turned ten into fifteen when he needed to turn ten into zero! But at least Tomoya would be safe from Souzouji's voice. And speaking of Tomoya, Yugi turned back and waved to the teen one last time before he rounded the corner and headed towards his home. Tomoya waved back, reevaluating his opinion of Yugi, having originally thought that Yugi was kind of gloomy, but he really wasn't so bad. And then a fist hit the back of Tomoya's head.

"I saw all of that." Souzouji said as he looked down on Tomoya, who was out cold. "You're no fun at all."

-0-0-0-0-0-

The next evening at the "Karaoke: All you can Sing!" store, Yugi was the only one who sat inside. All fifteen tickets were still in his pocket, the teenager not being able to sell a single one. Yugi had been met with many apologizes from his fellow students, but those stuttered words of remorseful refusal wouldn't help him now. The 17 year old nervously jingled some bells while Souzouji glared at him, and Yugi would have given just about anything to be anywhere else that Saturday evening.

"Yugi, what the hell is this?!" Souzouji snarled as he got in Yugi's face. "How could you not sell even one single ticket?!"

"Sorry!" Yugi stuttered out. "I was really busy. But I'll stay and listen to you sing!"

"Well, duh!" Souzouji growled as he shoved a pair of headphones onto Yugi's head. "You'll stay with me and party until dawn! And you'll listen to my songs wearing these."

Yugi let out a small whimper as he watched Souzouji plugged the headphones into the speaker and turn the volume up to maximum. This was going to be terrible. Part of him was wondered if the rumors of Souzouji making people go deaf were just rumors, but got the terrible feeling that they weren't.

"And now the number I'm most proud of!" Souzouji yelled in mic, making Yugi wince. "Here it comes."

Souzouji started singing… if it could even be called that. The screeching-singing made Yugi jump out of his seat, hands clasped over his ears, er- headphones, which didn't help quiet things at all. This voice wasn't human! Unbeknownst to Yugi, Yami was in the exact same position in his Soul Room, the place where he stayed until Yugi needed his help. Hands over his ears, Yami looked out to see what was causing the noise that sounded like a banshee and winced as he watched Yugi cringe at Souzouji's voice. Thankfully, the song soon ended, so Souzouji stopped 'singing', allowing Yugi and Yami a chance to catch their breaths, and salvage what was left of their hearing.

"I'm going numb." Souzouji said serenely and pulled aside a curtain. "Now, before I go into our next song, I'd like to introduce you to our special guest."

"Tomoya!" Yugi yelled in shock as he saw the beaten boy, running over to see if he was okay.

"Look, what a pitiful face." Souzouji mocked Yugi's horrified expression. "You stole Tomoya's tickets, even though you're his classmate."

"Tomoya, I'm so sorry." Yugi whispered as Tomoya came around. "I've made things worse for you."

"Yugi, don't apologize." Tomoya whispered. "You were only trying to help me. And anyway, this is just divine punishment for trying to sell you a ticket. I'm so sorry."

"Tomoya!" Yugi gasped as Tomoya passed out again.

Yami couldn't take it anymore. With a flash of magic, he gently pulled Yugi's soul into the boy's own soul room, which mirrored Yugi's specialness and purity, and tucked him into the bed that was there so he would sleep. Yami adored the boy, practically worshiped Yugi for freeing him, and would do whatever it took to keep that specialness and purity intact.

YU-GI-OH!

"How dare you make Tomoya suffer." Yami hissed, ripping off the headphones and unplugging it at the same time, planning to make Souzouji hurt for making Yugi suffer. "I will not allow it Souzouji. You will not be forgiven!"

"Wh… what happened to your eyes?" Souzouji asked in shock before recovering. "You want to fight?"

"Souzouji!" Yami said, ignoring the male's insolence while he placed the headphones around his neck. "I have one question for you. Are you a coward?"

"What?!" Souzouji screamed into his mic.

"Because if you're not, you won't run from playing a game with me!" Yami continued to irk Souzouji.

"A game!" Souzouji exclaimed in anger, but also wanting to know why Yugi was acting like a completely different person.

"It's called…" Yami paused for suspense, enjoying Souzouji's eyebrow twitches of annoyance. "The Game of Silence! Before I explain, allow me to prepare the materials that we will need for this game."

Turning to a shelf, Yami grabbed a couple of 'Sound Pierrot' toys that looked like clowns, and had been purchased at the Kame Game Shop where Yugi lived.

"These 'Sound Pierrot' toys were already in the room." Yami began to explain as he set the 'pierrots' on the table. "If their sensors detect a sound, they begin to dance. The rules of the game: we place one of the 'pierrots' in front of us, and after the start signal, we must keep perfectly silent, not even moving our teeth or feet. The first one to make their 'pierrot' dance, looses!"

"Alright!" Souzouji agreed. "But what happens if you lose Yugi?"

"You can pound me into a pulp as much as you like for the next month." Yami replied evenly. "But if you lose, you suffer a Penalty Game:"

"Interesting." Souzouji had to admit as he and 'Yugi' took seats across from one another.

GAME START!

For the first few minutes, Yami and Souzouji just glared at each other across the table. Souzouji was really upset that he wasn't able to let loose his singing voice when in a Karaoke room, hating the silence that was all around them. When he won, 'Yugi' was going to be a smear on the wall, lucky to be alive after tonight. The seconds ticked by, and Souzouji's impatience grew. Then he noticed that the jack of 'Yugi's' headphone was balancing on the rim of a cup. Souzouji was most certain that 'Yugi' hadn't noticed it yet. If he just waited long enough, the jack would fall by itself, and that would make enough noise for him to win the game!

Souzouji began to lean forward in anticipation, willing the jack to fall, fall, fall! He could feel his heart pounding as he waited for the jack to just fall, but it just tipped back and forth as if it was teasing him. Souzouji's impatience grew, and he flat-out glared at the jack, mentally demanding that it fall down and make the noise he needed to win this game already! It was at that moment that Souzouji's own 'pierrot' started to dance around. But the jack on 'Yugi's' headphones hadn't fallen off of the glass, so what was triggering the dancing? The noise was a rhythmic thumping resonance that sounded very familiar, but Souzouji couldn't place where he had heard it from.

"That is the sound of your heart!" Yami smirked.

"Why is the speaker playing my heartbeat?!" Souzouji demanded as he frantically looked around for the answer, and then he realized that the microphone had been held up to his chest. "The mic! I had it on maximum volume!"

"Bab ul-zulumat futeh**." Yami smirked with a chuckle as the Eye of Anubis appeared on his forehead. "Even in the midst of trouble, you don't lay down your microphone… a habit that brought about disaster for you. You lose!"

"Wait!" Souzouji shouted as the eye of Yami's forehead expanded and engulfed him.

"Penalty Game:" Yami shouted. "Beat Festival!"

All at once, the only sound resonating in Souzouji's ears was a loud repetitive -THUD!- which was his heartbeat. It was so loud that he couldn't hear anything else, not even his own thoughts. Souzouji covered his ears to block out the noise, but to no avail since the sound was within his head.

"AUGH!" Souzouji yelled. "Somebody, make this booming sound stop!"

"Rock music has eight beats." Yami explained as he helped a faintly aware Tomoya sit up. "So of course, when one listens to music with a fast beat, their own heart speeds up to match it. This music's rhythm is the same as the chant of your own heartbeat. Now you are, appropriately, a 'Human Karaoke'."

GAME OVER!

Yami was able to stir Tomoya to the point of being conscious enough to tell 'Yugi' where his home was, so Yami aided in injured teen in returning to his dwelling. If Tomoya noticed the difference in 'Yugi' he didn't say anything, which was something Yami was grateful for, since he didn't know how to explain that he wasn't Yugi and was merely borrowing the teen's body for the time being.

Once Tomoya was safely home, Yami walked back to the Game Shop. Once he was up in Yugi's room, Yami changed into some pajamas, laid down in the bed to sleep, and relinquished control back to Yugi. Yugi glanced around, mildly surprised he was back at his home and not at the karaoke bar, but didn't question it because he was way too tired. With a yawn, Yugi closed his eyes, snuggled up under the blankets, and fell asleep.

-0-0-0-0-0-

*¥2,000 Japanese Yen is about $20 United States Dollars

**Bab ul-zulumat futeh- The Door of Darkness has been opened

-0-0-0-0-0-

MMMG: End of Chapter 3.

Yugi: My ears.

Yami: No kidding. Come on, Yugi. Let get you some painkillers and go to bed.

-Yami and Yugi leave-

Seto: I come in about six chapters, right?

MMMG: No, I'm going with the English Anime version for you. So, there's no Death-T or anything like that. Sorry to the readers if that's one of your favorite parts, but I'm not doing it.

Joey: -relieved- Oh, good. That place was creepy.

Serenity: Please review and let us know how the updated chapter was. Likes, dislikes, spelling or grammar issues, or any questions you may have.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Character Birthdays

Tomoya Hanasaki: 16, November 11th (not canon, Tomoya doesn't have a set birthday)

-0-0-0-0-0-

Original Word Count: 2,577

Repost Word Count: 3,382

Next Chapter: 05/09/2022