To Find The Courage
Yugi Mutou sighed happily as he walked down the familiar road home. It had been a few days since he had gotten back from the Duelist Kingdom, but things were slightly returning to normal. He and his friends were back in school now, much to Jounouchi's dismay. His grandfather was back, and at the moment, things were pretty much going his way.
Yugi knew, however, that things would never be completely normal. They haven't been since the day he had finished putting together the Millennium Puzzle. He looked at the pyramid that hung from his neck, fingering the eye that was in the middle. Ever since that day, the magic of the Millennium Puzzle resided inside him, in the form of a taller version of himself. They were connected by the Millennium Puzzle, even if they were a bit different from each other. But the Millennium Puzzle was his, and Yugi knew that it wouldn't work for anyone else.
Yugi turned the corner of the street, and walked passed an alley. Then, he heard a raspy voice call out, "Hey, kid."
Yugi looked around, turning back to the alley, discovering a man he didn't notice before. "Are you talking to me?" Yugi asked.
"No one else around here, kid," the man said. He stepped out of the shadowy alley and into the light. Dirty gray hair matted his head, some single strands falling into his brown eyes. He was a tall, burly man, who, despite the warm weather, wore a brown trench coat.
The man looked at Yugi. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at Yugi's chest.
Yugi gripped the Millennium Puzzle in his hand. "Nothing," he said.
"Looks pretty expensive."
Yugi took a step back. "I've got to be going now," he said, and turned to walk away. But the man grabbed Yugi's arm, and dragged him into the alley.
"What are you doing?" Yugi yelled. "Let go!" But the man ignored him and grabbed the Millennium Puzzle from Yugi. Lifting it over the young boy's head, he pulled the strap that held the puzzle, and took it away from Yugi.
"Give it back!" Yugi demanded, but was once again ignored as the man examined the artifact.
"Interesting," the man said. "I bet this could sell for a lot of money."
"It's mine!" Yugi said. "Give it back!" But the man paid no heed to Yugi. He shoved Yugi back, and the young boy hit the back wall, knocking down some trash cans as he did so.
The man continued to look at the Millennium Puzzle. "This looks pretty old," he muttered to himself. "A museum would pay big bucks for this."
"But it's not yours," Yugi protested.
The man glared at Yugi. He grabbed Yugi by the shirt, lifting him up at eye level, pressing him against the wall. "What are you going to do about it?" he asked Yugi maliciously. Yugi struggled, but couldn't break free of the giant's grip. The man chuckled evilly.
The man suddenly gasped as he felt a blow at his back. Startled, he dropped the Millennium Puzzle, but a hand caught it before it hit the ground.
"Don't ya know it's wrong to take things without asking?" Yugi heard a familiar voice say. "It's against the law, ya know?" The man and Yugi looked at the entrance of the alley to see a teenage boy standing there, holding the Millennium Puzzle, pushing strands of his brownish-blond hair out of his face.
"Jounouchi!" Yugi cried out with relief.
"Who might you be?" the man said.
"Doesn't matter, does it? But I suggest you put my friend down if ya know what's good for ya."
The man scoffed. "What could you do about it?" he asked viciously.
Jounouchi just smirked. "Wouldn't ya like to know?"
The man dropped Yugi, who landed on the ground with a thump, and charged at Jounouchi. Jounouchi side-stepped away, extending his foot as he did so. The man tripped on Jounouchi's foot. He got up, however, and punched Jounouchi in the face. The teenager staggered back from the impact of the blow, but caught himself. A trace of blood trickled down from his mouth, which he wiped it with the back of his hand.
The man punched Jounouchi again in the face, but when he tried again, Jounouchi ducked. He swiftly brought his knee up to the man's groin, and he doubled over in pain. Jounouchi then punched the man in the face, sending him out into the light of the street. The man got up on his hands and knees, coughed, and stood. He looked at Jounouchi menacingly, but Jounouchi just stood there unemotionally. The man finally ran off.
Jounouchi turned around to aide his friend. He got on his knees, and sat beside Yugi, handing him the Millennium Puzzle.
"Thanks," Yugi said, taking the upside-down pyramid from him. The strap went around his tricolor hair and the Millennium Puzzle was secure around his neck. "How'd you know I was here?" he asked.
"Well," Jounouchi said, "I was trying to catch up with ya, but when ya turned around the corner, I couldn't find ya. That is, until I heard all the ruckus in here and saw the Millennium Puzzle. You okay?"
"Yeah, I think so. Thanks Jounouchi," Yugi said.
"Sure Yug. That's what friends are for, right?" Jounouchi got to his feet, lending out his hand to Yugi. He grasped it, and Jounouchi helped him up. They both walked out of the alley, and Yugi squinted at the brightness of the light. That was when he was able to see Jounouchi clearly.
"Jounouchi," Yugi said, looking up at him, "your eye." Around Jounouchi's left eye, a red ring was beginning to form.
Jounouchi touched his face. "Yeah, that jerk took a good swing at me," he said. "But its okay, Yug. He's the one who got the worst of it." Yugi looked down, not really comforted by that fact.
"But won't he come after you?" Yugi asked.
"Well, he can try," Jounouchi said smugly, "but I'll send him home packing." They walked down the street together, quietly for a while, as Yugi contemplated the past incident.
Jounouchi said suddenly, "Hey Yug, I gotta go."
Yugi nodded. "Right," he said. "See ya tomorrow." And Jounouchi ran off in the other direction.
Yugi continued on his way back to the game shop he and his grandfather owned. Yugi's parents died in an accident when he was a little boy, so Yugi didn't really know them that well. His grandfather had taken care of him since then, but he hardly ever talked about Yugi's parents.
Yugi vainly blew strands of his golden bangs that dangled in front of his face. They fell back in place. He sighed, as he opened the door to the game shop, where his grandfather greeted him warmly.
"Hello, Yugi," Sugoroku said at the sight of his grandson.
"Hey Grandpa," Yugi answered.
"How was school today?"
"It was okay." Yugi decided he didn't have to tell his grandfather about what had happened moments ago. There was no point in worrying him.
Yugi ran upstairs and shut himself in his room. He tossed his backpack aside and lay down on his bed. He didn't feel like doing homework at the moment. He sighed sadly as he rolled on his side.
What's wrong, Yugi? a deep voice inside his mind asked him. It was Yami's voice, coming from the Millennium Puzzle.
"Nothing," Yugi said gloomily.
There is something wrong. Yami said again. I can feel it. Does it have anything to do with what happened today?
"Sort of," Yugi answered. He sat up, holding the Millennium Puzzle with both hands. "He tried to take it from me," he said. "If it weren't for Jounouchi, he would have."
You're lucky to have a friend who would do that for you.
"Yeah, but I didn't do anything to help him. Jounouchi got hurt because of me."
Yugi…
"I'm tired of doing nothing while my friends stand up for me," Yugi complained. "I'm tired of just watching as they take beatings for me. I have to stand up for myself."
Hikari. Yami said, trying to reason with his younger self. Your friends like you for who you are. They stand up for you because they care about you, not because they feel they need to protect you.
"I know," Yugi said, "but that doesn't mean they should get hurt because I'm too weak to do anything for myself."
Don't talk like that.
"It's true," Yugi said, a tear rolling down his cheek, "I'm too helpless to protect myself."
Yugi rubbed the back of his head, rustling his black and crimson hair. He felt a small lump which began to hurt now that he noticed it.
At least this isn't really that noticeable, he thought to himself. Not like Jounouchi's eye. People will be asking him about that, I know it.'
You need to stop thinking that it's you fault. Yami accused.
"But it is my fault," Yugi argued. "If I could have stood up for myself, Jounouchi wouldn't have gotten hurt."
Hikari, be reasonable. That man was three times your size.
"He was bigger than Jounouchi, too, but he didn't back down."
Defeated, Yami said nothing more. Yugi began rubbing the back of his head again, trying to stop the throbbing the bump was now causing. He sighed. He wished he could be braver, like Jounouchi was. Jounouchi wasn't afraid of anyone, even people who was bigger than he was. He would never back down, even if the odds were against him. People knew not to mess with him.
Yugi, on the other hand, was constantly picked on. He was a year younger than most of the other freshmen at Domino High, having skipped one year and moving on to the next. Everyone figured he must be really smart, and that was one of the reasons that they harassed Yugi. Since he was also shorter than most people at his age, he made an easy target. Even Jounouchi and his other friend, Honda, used to pick on him before they became his friends.
'So what can I do? he wondered. How can I become braver?'
The next day, at school, people did begin to ask Jounouchi how he got the red ring around his eye, which had become more noticeable then yesterday, as Yugi predicted. Jounouchi would just smirk and say that he was in another fight. When Anzu inquired about it, however, he gave the whole explanation in one sentence.
"Some old jerk was trying to take Yugi's Millennium Puzzle," he said simply. He then smiled proudly, holding up his fist. "But we showed him, didn't we, Yug?"
Yugi, sitting at his desk, looked at him. "You showed him," Yugi corrected. "I didn't do anything." He began to rub the back of his head again.
Anzu looked at Yugi, tilting her head in a confused manner. "What's wrong Yugi?" she asked.
"It's nothing," Yugi said, placing his hand down on the desk.
Honda, standing behind Yugi, poked the bump on the back of Yugi's head. Yugi yelped and turned around to look at him, rubbing the bump once again. "What'd you do that for?" Yugi asked angrily.
"There's a bump on your head," Honda said bluntly.
"Was that from yesterday?" Jounouchi asked. "I didn't see the whole thing, but I think that the other guy had you up against the wall, right?"
"What?" Honda and Anzu asked simultaneously, and looked at Yugi, who only nodded.
"After he took my Millennium Puzzle, I tried to get it back from him, but he pushed me away, and I hit the wall," Yugi said. He laid his head on the desk, facing the window.
"Hey guys," they all heard a voice say. All but Yugi turned around to see Bakura standing there, smiling.
"Hey Bakura," Anzu said. Jounouchi and Honda mumbled a greeting. Then Bakura looked past them.
"What's wrong with Yugi?" he asked.
"Some jerk jumped him," Jounouchi said. "Tried to take his Millennium Puzzle. Roughed Yugi up a bit."
"How did he get it back?" Bakura questioned.
Jounouchi laughed. "That's simple," he said. "Yug got it back with MY help."
Yugi lifted his head off the desk and looked at Jounouchi, smiling. "That's right," he said. "Jounouchi came by just in time."
Jounouchi smiled smugly. "That's right!" he exclaimed. "What would you all do without me?"
Honda smiled teasingly. "We'd probably be a lot better off," he joked.
Jounouchi glared at Honda as everyone except he and Yugi started to laugh. Yugi looked out the window again. Bakura stopped as he noticed Yugi staring outside. He began to wonder why Yugi seemed so upset…
Yugi walked down the hallway. It was lunchtime, and he was supposed to meet his friends outside. He walked slowly, though, taking his time. All day, Jounouchi talked to them about the guy from yesterday, sometimes stretching the truth a little. He had to remind Jounouchi how it really went. He really didn't want to talk about it, but that was all Jounouchi seemed to talk about today.
He continued down the hall, when, as he walked past three other freshmen, he tripped. He landed on the tile floor, looking back at the other three.
"How clumsy of you," one of them said, snickering. Yugi looked down and noticed that the other guy's foot was in his walkway, causing him to trip.
Yugi got up and started to dust himself off, unaware that the three boys had encircled around him. Yugi looked up and noticed that they all looked similar, like brothers. He knew who they were, but he couldn't think of their names at the moment.
"Mutou," one of the three said, "what are ya up to?"
"Nothing," Yugi answered. They were up to something, he knew that, but what?
"Where were ya heading?" another one asked him.
"Um…just outside. I'm…meeting some friends out there for lunch."
"Like who?" the last one asked. "That Mazaki girl?"
"Yeah, and some others."
"That's nice," the first one said sarcastically. "Too bad you'll have to cancel on them, huh?"
The other two grabbed Yugi's backpack and yanked it off his shoulders. Ignoring the smaller boy's protests, they opened his bag to see what was inside. At that moment, Yugi was finally able to remember who they were. The Kurokawa triplets, he thought. Kazuo, Jiro, and Saburo.
"This stuff is boring," the second one, Jiro, said. "There's nothing in here but his books."
"There's his lunch," the third one, Saburo, pointed out.
The first one, Kazuo, checked the other pockets before tossing the bag back to Yugi. "No money either," he said, disappointed. Then he looked at the younger boy. "Unless he's hiding the money elsewhere."
"Yugi!" All four of the boys' attention was turned to Jounouchi and Honda running towards them. They both stopped a few feet away from the others.
"The Kurokawa brothers," Jounouchi spat out. "You guys were always up to no good."
"Three bodies, one brain," Honda commented. The three brothers scowled at him.
"Why don't you two mind your own business?" Kazuo said, gazing at them scornfully.
"This is my business," Jounouchi said, unfazed by Kazuo's look. "Ya mess with my friends, then ya mess with me."
Kazuo scoffed, then shoved Yugi harshly in their direction. Honda caught him before he fell unto the ground. Jounouchi growled.
"It's just like your guys' type to pick on someone just because they're smaller than ya," Jounouchi said.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, Katsuya," Kazuo said, "but you and Hiroto used to pick on Mutou too, didn't ya?"
"Huh?" Jounouchi said, looking a bit surprised. "Uh…well…" Jounouchi looked down, slightly embarrassed.
Kazuo smirked. "I thought so." He folded his arms across his chest as his brothers sneered at Jounouchi. "Seems as though Katsuya went soft."
Jounouchi snarled at them. "I'll show ya who's soft!" he exclaimed, and began to charge at them, when Yugi stood in his way.
"Jounouchi, don't!" Yugi said.
Jounouchi looked down at him. "But Yugi," he whined, "these guys deserve it."
Yugi shook his head. "I don't want any trouble over this," he said. He began to push Jounouchi and Honda in the other direction when Jiro called out, "Figures Mutou would chicken out."
Jounouchi, despite Yugi pushing him from behind, turned around to face the brothers again. "What was that?" he demanded.
The brothers laughed. "You heard him," Saburo scorned. "Mutou's chicken to face up to a challenge."
Jounouchi marched back at them. "For your information," he said in a defendant tone, "Yugi's handled lots of tougher challenges than fighting you three morons."
Kazuo barked out a laugh. "Sure," he said. "Then why doesn't he want to fight us? Or at least let you two fight? How come he chooses to walk away?"
"Because he's got nothing to prove to you losers," Honda said. "You consider yourself lucky that he doesn't want to fight you."
Kazuo scoffed. "Yeah, I guess I should," he said sardonically. "I'm shaking at the thought of fighting someone like Mutou." He and his brothers laughed.
Jounouchi and Honda clenched their fists and were about to tackle the Kurokawa brothers, but Yugi grabbed their shirts from behind before they could.
"Stop it," Yugi said. "Fighting won't do any good."
This only made the brothers laugh harder. "Keep telling yourself that Mutou," Kazuo said. The three of them began to walk away, but Kazuo turned his head to look at Yugi and said, "We're not through with you, yet, Mutou. Just you wait." And the Kurokawa brothers disappeared down the hall.
"Jerks," Jounouchi said as Anzu and Bakura came running down the hall towards them.
"What happened?" Anzu asked.
"The Kurokawa brothers," Honda said bitterly, as if the name made him sick. "They were being themselves."
"Let's just leave it alone," Yugi said.
"How can ya just 'leave it alone'?" Jounouchi demanded. "You heard them, they're not gonna quit buggin' ya."
"Maybe Yugi wouldn't have this problem if he learned to stand up for himself once in a while," a cold voice said nearby. The five of them looked at the direction of an empty classroom and saw a tall figure with brown hair leaning against the doorway. His arms were folded across his chest, and a scowl on his face.
"Seto Kaiba," Yugi said. Seto walked over to the group, focusing his ice blue eyes at Yugi.
"If you were a little braver, Yugi," Seto said unemotionally, "maybe people wouldn't bother you this much. They might even come to respect you."
"He is brave, Seto," Anzu said. "You know that."
"Thanks to the Millennium Puzzle," Seto replied, glancing at her. "But without it, he's just another victim." Seto's scowl shifted into a mocking smirk as he looked down at Yugi. "If you want to do something about it, you might want to try toughening up a bit." He turned and walked away, not bothering to look back.
"As much as I hate to say this," Jounouchi said, "I think that sleaze Kaiba is right, Yug."
"Huh?" Yugi looked up at his friend, tilting his head in question.
"You can't just do nothing about this. Those kind of people aren't gonna leave ya alone until you take a stand. The only way to get them off your back is if you act tougher, and show them that you won't take their crap anymore."
Yugi looked down at the floor and nodded. "I know," he sighed. He began to walk off.
"Yug, wait…" Jounouchi was about to after him, but Bakura grabbed his arm before he could.
"Yugi needs some time alone to think about this," he said.
"I didn't mean to upset the little guy," Jounouchi said. "I was just telling him that he needs to take a stand."
Bakura nodded. "I don't think what you said was the reason he's upset," he said.
"Maybe he's upset because he's beginning to think that what you said is true."
The school bell finally rang, freeing all the students at Domino High for the day. Yugi quietly gathered his books into his knapsack. He was feeling a bit spaced out, and had tried to avoid his friends during the rest of the day, to think things through. He tried to clear out what Seto and Jounouchi had said, but their words echoed through his mind.
He walked down the steps and out the front gate when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Kurokawa brothers. He noticed that they were advancing towards him. By the looks on their faces, he knew that they were up to no good. Panicking, Yugi decided to run. He ran in the opposite direction of where he lived, because he knew they would harass him at home if they knew where he lived.
His short legs were a big disadvantage, preventing him to run faster. Even if he was running as fast as he could, he could hear the footsteps of the other three gaining on him. His feet hit the concrete in a rhythmic pattern with his heavy breathing. Whenever his foot touched the ground, he could hear three others touching the ground at the exact time.
Yugi! Yami broke in his alarmed thoughts. Transform!
'No,' Yugi thought. 'I won't.'
I can help you, but you must to transform now.
'I don't want to hurt them,' he argued. 'I just want to get away from them.'
Transform! Yami commanded, but Yugi ignored him and kept running.
He looked behind him to see the Kurokawa brothers catching up to him quickly. He looked forward and swiftly turned the corner. The three followed him, but were surprised to see he wasn't there.
"Where'd he go?" Saburo wondered.
"He couldn't have just disappeared," Jiro said.
Kazuo looked around, then snarled. "Forget it," he said to his brothers. "We can get the runt next time. Let's go." His brothers began to walk in the same direction they had been running in. Kazuo looked behind him, then began to follow his brothers.
Behind where Kazuo was standing was an alley, and in the alley was where Yugi was hiding. From behind some garbage cans, Yugi poked his head out to see if they were still there. He stayed there for a few minutes more, to catch his breath, then walked out of the alley. Looking around, he ran, slower than before, in the other direction, towards his home.
He passed the gate of the school, and being paranoid, looked behind him just to make sure that the Kurokawa brothers weren't following him. Not paying attention to where he was going, he ran into someone. Yugi balanced himself before he fell, and looked up to see who he hit. The person turned around to reveal brown hair covering part if his ice blue eyes, his facial features fixed in a hard expression.
"Sorry, Seto," Yugi said quietly.
Seto Kaiba looked at Yugi with a questioning look on his face. It was quickly changed to a smug look as he realized why Yugi had bumped into him.
"Running away again, are we?" Seto asked the small boy. Yugi just looked down. It confirmed all Seto's suspicions.
"Look, Yugi," he said dryly, "this may be new information to you, but running away doesn't solve anything. If people push you, then you have to learn to push back."
Yugi didn't look up. "It's not right," he muttered.
"You can do what's right, Mutou, but people will just walk all over you. But," he said with a slight chuckle, "I think you already know all about that."
A white limo pulled up, and the door swung open. Yugi watched as Seto climbed inside, slamming the door shut. The window then rolled down enough for Yugi to see Seto's face peering at him.
"One more thing," he added coldly, "your friends have been looking for you. They're worried about you. You could call and tell them that there's nothing to worry about, but you don't like lying either, do you?" Seto shrugged. "Just letting you know." The window rolled up as the limo drove away. Yugi could hear Seto Kaiba's cruel, mocking laughter ringing in his ears.
Yugi slowly walked home, considered what Seto Kaiba's words over and over. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice all the people passing by, he didn't hear all the sounds of the cars rushing by. All he could hear was Kaiba's voice repeating the same words, "If people push you, then you have to learn to push back."
'Is that really the right thing to do?' Yugi wondered. 'If people push me, should I really push back?'
What do you think should be done, Hikari? Yami asked, interrupting his thoughts.
'I don't know,' Yugi admitted. 'I just don't know what to think anymore.'
You do realize that this decision can be made by you, and you only. You can listen to Kaiba, but that would still be your decision.
'I know.' Yugi sighed inwardly. 'What do YOU think I should do?'
I think you should listen to what your instincts tell you to do.
'Well, THAT helps me a lot.'
Yugi felt the smirk on Yami's lips as the a sense of pride rose within the spirit. You asked for my advice. Yami stated simply. I'm just telling you what I think.
Yugi sighed again. 'I'm not in the mood for that now.'
Yami's smug attitude dissipated as he felt the young boy's despair. They didn't talk to each other for the rest of the trip back home. Suddenly, as Yugi reached the door of the game shop, he said, 'Yami?'
Yes?
'What would you do if you were in my situation?'
Yami didn't have an answer for him. He wasn't sure. Yugi felt the hesitation in Yami, and decided not to ask him anymore. He jiggled the handle of the door, but discovered it was locked. Reaching into his pocket, the young boy fished out the key for the door for the rare cases the shop was closed when he got home. He only had to use the key if his grandfather left the shop to do an errand.
As he entered the shop, he locked the door behind him. Usually, when his grandfather had to leave the shop, he was to keep the shop closed until his grandfather returned, for he wasn't old enough to tend the store by himself. On the counter was a note scribbled in his grandfather's familiar writing, stating that he was out buying groceries and would be back in time to make dinner.
Taking the note, Yugi proceed upstairs. In a sense, he was sort of glad that Sugoroku wasn't there at the moment, for he would ask how school went, and he didn't like lying, especially to his grandfather.
Yugi dropped his bag on the floor and plopped on the bed. He looked at the Millennium Puzzle that hung from his neck. He remembered the day he had finally been able to put it together. Jounouchi and Honda had begun to see him as his friends at that point, and stopped teasing him. But when they were teasing him, they never left him alone, no matter how many times he asked them to stop. If he had stood up for himself, would they have left him alone? If they had, would they be his friends now?
Yugi laid the Millennium Puzzle next to him on the bed. He didn't like fighting, but was that the only alternative at this point? That's what the Kurokawa brothers were planning on doing anyway. If he resorted physical violence, would people really let him be? Seto Kaiba's words once again echoed through his mind: If people push you, then you have to learn to push back.
'But why?' Yugi wondered. 'What was the point of pushing back? Wouldn't they just get angrier? Then they would keep pushing, and you'd keep pushing back. It would never end.'
He let out a long sigh. There weren't many options left, though. He wasn't sure what to do, because he didn't want to hurt anyone. What could he do? He had to be braver, but how does someone do that?
Yami could feel the young boy's anxiety as he continued to ponder over the situation at hand. He wanted to help Yugi, but what could he do? Yugi didn't want to transform, because he didn't want to hurt anyone. But how else could he help? Yami was completely lost at this situation, unsure of what to say to the young one. Beside, he could only give advice, while Yugi made the final decision. He had to say something to help the little guy, but what?
Yugi rubbed the back of his head, feeling the small bump. It wasn't as painful as it had been that morning, but it still stung a bit. He looked down at the Millennium Puzzle that dangled from his neck. Was Seto right? Was he really brave only because of the Millennium Puzzle? He wanted to think it weren't true, but what if it was? He really didn't have the courage to do anything, did he?
'So what are you going to do, Yugi?' he asked himself. 'What's gonna happen from here?'
Yugi rubbed his eyes groggily the next morning as he was awakened by an annoying buzzing on the nightstand next to his bed. He saw the time, but simply turned off the alarm and, turning over to lay on his stomach, laid his head back on the pillow as he went back to sleep. He had a hard time sleeping last night, tossing and turning as Seto Kaiba's words spun around in his head. When he finally fell asleep, the next thing he knew was the alarm clock buzzing him awake.
Yami, however, sensing that the little boy hadn't gotten out of bed yet, knew he had to do something before Yugi slept in and was late for school…again. The Millennium Puzzle, lying on the nightstand next to the alarm clock, began to glow brightly. Though his eyes were closed, Yugi squinted as the light became brighter and brighter. He pulled the pillow from under his head and placed it over it, keeping the light out of his face.
The Millennium Puzzle stopped glowing. Yugi. Yami said in his mind. It's time to get up.
Yugi responded with a low moan. Yami tried to keep his patience with the little one. After all, he knew why Yugi had had a hard time falling asleep. But he knew he had to get the boy to get up and go to school.
Hikari, you have to get up now. You have to get ready for school.
Yugi lifted up the pillow enough so that one violet eye was looking at the Millennium Puzzle. "What's the point?" he asked. "The Kurokawa brothers are just gonna try and bully me again." The pillow went back down.
That never stopped you before. Besides, if you don't get up soon, Grandfather will come in here and pry you out of bed.
Yugi let out a little sigh. He knew his grandfather would do something like that. If he didn't get out of bed now, his grandfather might come in and flip the whole mattress over just to get him up. He's never done that…yet. The boy decided that he wouldn't wait around for when Sugoroku did.
Taking the pillow off his head, Yugi turned and sat up. Stretching his arms a bit, he rubbed his unruly black and crimson hair, to make it look as normal as possible. He slipped off his pajamas and grabbed his uniform off the back of his chair. He put on the blue pants and buttoned up the black shirt. He pulled a white shirt over it, then grabbed his neck collar and put it on. Finally, he slipped on the blue jacket.
He grabbed a pair of white socks and sat on the bed as he slipped them on his feet. Grabbing his sneakers, he put them on and tied the laces. He picked up the Millennium Puzzle and placed the strap around his neck.
Dragging his knapsack along, Yugi proceeded down the stairs and into the kitchen. He ate a little of the breakfast that was already waiting for him, and placed the plate in the sink. Gulping down some orange juice, he walked into the counter area where Sugoroku was talking on the phone. He stopped when he saw Yugi.
"Hold on, he's here," Sugoroku said into the receiver. He looked over at the little boy, holding the phone towards him. "It's Jounouchi," he said.
Yugi took the phone from his grandfather and placed it by his ear. "Hello?" he said.
"Hey Yug," Jounouchi said. "Where were ya yesterday after school? We were all looking for ya, and we even had to ask Kaiba if he knew were you were at."
"Sorry Jounouchi," Yugi said. "Guess I was a little preoccupied."
"Listen, about yesterday, I didn't mean those things I said, and I…"
"Its okay, Jounouchi. I understand."
"Yeah, well, I just wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to make ya upset."
"Don't worry about it. I think I just got a little more upset than I should have."
"Yeah, but what I said was really out of line. Anyway, see ya at school?"
"Yeah, sure. See ya." Yugi heard a click, then placed the receiver in its cradle. He walked to the door, then, after saying goodbye to his grandfather, left for school.
The day was going by rather quickly for Yugi, and the Kurokawa brothers hadn't bothered him all day so far. He had seen them around from time to time, but they either didn't notice him, or didn't do anything when they did. Jounouchi tried to act extra nice to Yugi, probably still feeling guilty for what he said yesterday, even though Yugi told him over and over that it wasn't really necessary.
At lunch, there were all sitting outside, talking about various things, when Anzu said to Yugi, "So what did you do after school yesterday, Yugi?"
He looked over at her as Honda and Jounouchi started bickering about…something.
"You disappeared so fast yesterday, none of us could find you. Seto didn't know where you were, either. What made you take off so quickly?"
"Uh…" Yugi wasn't sure whether to tell them or not about what happened after school. He knew that Jounouchi and Honda would begin to make a big deal about it, and would try to do something to the Kurokawa brothers.
"Nothing really," he lied with a shrug. "I just went home." Anzu nodded understandingly, then started talking to Bakura. He sighed a little guiltily. He didn't like lying, but he didn't want to tell them that the Kurokawa brothers had chased him down the street.
Unfortunately, they found out later anyway. After school, Yugi and his friends were walking past the main gate, when they saw Kazuo, leaning against the fence.
"Mutou," he said, "just the man I wanted to see."
"What do you want?" Jounouchi demanded.
Kazuo looked at him and smirked. "Chill, Katsuya. I just want to talk, that's all."
Anzu scoffed. "Like you're capable of carrying out a conversation."
He ignored the remark, pushing himself away from the fence. He stared directly at Yugi. "That was a very nice stunt you pulled yesterday, Mutou."
Yugi blinked in surprise. "What are you talking about?" Honda asked.
"Not that it's any of your business, Hiroto," he said casually, "but little Mutou pulled a very evasive maneuver on me and my brothers yesterday."
They all looked at Yugi. "What is he talking about?" Bakura asked.
"I'm talking about yesterday after school," Kazuo said, gazing at Bakura. He looked down at Yugi. "You remember what happened after school yesterday, don't you?"
Yugi just looked down, causing Kazuo to laugh. "As I though. Well, it was very clever of you to hide in the alley like that."
The little boy snapped his head upwards. "How did…?" he muttered.
The bully just sneered. "If your hair didn't stick up the way it does, I might not have seen the crimson point behind the trash cans."
Jounouchi was growing impatient. "So what happened yesterday?" he asked irritably.
"I'm not surprised he didn't tell you all," Kazuo said. "It's just another way of running, isn't it Mutou?" Yugi didn't say anything. He couldn't.
"After school, me and my brothers decided to hunt Mutou down. But he saw us coming, and decided to run. We ran a few blocks down the street when he turned a corner and ducked in a nearby alley. I saw his hair, but decided not to tell my brothers, and we went home."
"But if you saw me," Yugi said, ignoring the questioning and shocked looks of his friends, "why didn't you do anything?"
Kazuo shrugged. "What was the point? My brothers didn't see ya, because they are complete morons, and you wouldn't have done much even if we did go after ya. It wouldn't have been much fun if you didn't struggle and beg for mercy."
Jounouchi growled angrily, waving his fist at him. "What did ya go and do that for, Kazuo?" he yelled. "Yugi did nothing to you!"
"That's what I do, remember?" Kazuo said coolly. "That's what you used to do, too, Katsuya."
"Stop saying that!" Jounouchi clenched a fist and aimed it at Kazuo, who posed ready for the attack. But Yugi grabbed Jounouchi's fist, causing him to stop. He looked at the younger boy.
"Stop it, Jounouchi," Yugi said.
"Yugi…" Jounouchi said, gruffly. Then, turning to glare at Kazuo, he groaned crossly and relaxed his fist.
Kazuo relaxed as well. "You know, I've got some advice for you, Mutou." Yugi looked at him, puzzled. "You've heard the saying, 'Only the strongest survive,' haven't you?"
Yugi nodded slowly, unsure of what he was getting at. Kazuo smirked as he continued. "It's the same in the city, too. That's the law of nature. The weak and defenseless are crushed by the stronger and tougher."
He began to walk by Yugi, but stopped right next to him. "It's fine if YOU want to be a weak person, Mutou, 'cause someone will crush you anyway. But if you really don't want your 'friends' to get hurt, I suggest you stop draggin' them down."
Yugi's eyes widened. Kazuo grin became bigger as he realized he had gotten to the younger boy's head.
"Katsuya, Hiroto, even Masaki are tougher than you, but you keep telling them not to do anything against people like me. How are they supposed to protect themselves? Just because you don't know how to defend yourself, or you're not brave enough to, they have to suffer along with you?"
Yugi began to tremble. Kazuo felt satisfied and began to walk away.
A thin, glassy layer began to build in the young boy's violet eyes. No one said anything for a moment. They weren't sure what to say.
"So," Yugi said after a while, trying to keep his voice from breaking, "is that what I've been doing? Dragging you guys down?"
"Don't listen to him, Yug," Jounouchi said. "He's just trying to mess with ya."
"But what if he's right?" Yugi's shoulders began to tremble slightly. "What if I am just dragging you guys down? Just because I'm incapable of defending myself, you guys feel you have to protect me, but I tell you not to because it's not right. Then you guys get hurt because I ask you not to fight."
"Man, don't say things like that." Jounouchi placed his hand on the smaller boy's shoulder in reassurance. He stopped shaking, but Jounouchi could still feel Yugi's pain.
"Would it be easier for you guys," the small boy wondered quietly, "if I wasn't around to hold you back?"
"What are you saying?" Anzu asked.
"Just that maybe it would be better for you guys if I wasn't here."
They all gasped. "You can't mean that, Yugi," Bakura said.
"Come on," Honda said, "you're just overreacting a little bit."
"Am I?" His hands clenched into tight fists. "I just don't know what to do anymore. I don't know how to handle it."
As if his legs couldn't support the pressure anymore, his knees buckled underneath him and fell to the ground. He didn't bother to pick himself up. He just sat there, staring at the empty ground before him.
Yugi closed his notebook and placed down his pen. Finally finished with his assignments for the evening, he wondered what he would do with himself until it was time for dinner. After the meeting with Kazuo, he just left his friends, unsure what else to do. He didn't tell his grandfather what happened that day, and just shot upstairs to do homework. Now that he was done with it, what was he supposed to do?
The sun reflected off the Millennium Puzzle into Yugi's violet eyes. He moved the artifact to another area on the desk, where the sun wouldn't shine on it. Laying his head on the desk, he noticed his deck of Duel Monster cards. He picked them up, remembering what Pegasus, the creator of the game, had told him the day that he had stolen his grandfather's soul.
"It's based on a game that was played in Ancient Egypt," the American multimillionaire had said. "It was used to decide who the next Pharaoh would be, and his fate. But the monsters became too out of hand, and they couldn't control them any longer. Until a Pharaoh sealed away the dark magic into seven magical objects; The Seven Millennium Items."
Yugi placed the cards on the desk and picked up the Millennium Puzzle. "The Millennium Puzzle," he whispered, "one of the seven Millennium Items. It contains magic and dark powers."
A single tear rolled down his cheek and landed in the eye of the Millennium Puzzle. He quickly blinked the other tears back. 'I don't know what to do now,' he thought sadly. 'Maybe… I am just holding my friends back. They just might be a lot better without me. I shouldn't be here. I don't have enough courage to face anyone. The only reason that I was able to save Grandpa from Pegasus was because of Yami in the Millennium Puzzle. He's the real courageous one. There's no point in staying here anymore.'
There was a knock on the door. Yugi wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Come in," he said.
Sugoroku opened the door. "Yugi," he said, "would you mind helping me with chores? I would really appreciate it."
'That's not what I really need right now,' the young boy wanted to say. Instead, he said, "Sure Grandpa." He followed his grandfather out the door and closed it behind him. At that moment, the Millennium Puzzle, still sitting on the desk, began to shine luminously.
The young boy yawned as he opened the door of his room. After helping his grandfather with all those chores, then eating dinner, he remembered how little he slept the night before and wanted to turn in early.
"Seems you forgot something, Hikari," a deep voice said, startling him. He looked up and nearly fell over in disbelief. Leaning against the desk, with his arms folded across his chest and a smirk formed on his lips, was Yami Yugi.
Yugi had often been told by his friends how much he and Yami Yugi looked alike, with some noticeable differences. Yugi was only three-quarters as tall as Yami was, and Yami didn't have the lightning-style strand of gold hair in the middle of the bangs as Yugi did. Yami also had streaks of gold in the three main parts of the black and crimson sections of his hair. Yugi's innocent, childish eyes were a little different than Yami's determined, mature eyes. There clothes were the same, except Yami's were a darker blue, and he wasn't wearing the white shirt underneath the jacket. Instead of the sneakers that covered Yugi's feet, Yami was wearing boots.
Yugi quickly shut the door behind him, then looked at Yami Yugi again, who pushed himself off of the desk. They stared at each other with their violet eyes, silently, for what seemed forever.
"How did this happen?" Yugi wondered. "You've never come out of the Millennium Puzzle this way before."
Yami shrugged. "It was something that you did that caused this to happen, Little Yugi."
The small boy pointed to himself. "Me? I did this?" Yami simply nodded. The shock on the boy's face was clearly apparent, and Yami didn't blame him. Even he was surprised and unsure of how this phenomenon came to pass.
Keeping his eyes on Yami, Yugi grabbed his night clothes off his bed and said, "I have to go get ready for bed." His voice was trying to keep down the panic he felt, but Yami already could sense it. The young boy was using that excuse to get out of there for a while, to think of how this happened. He didn't stop him from leaving, as he needed to ponder about this as well.
The small boy left in a hurry and shut himself in the bathroom. Yami heard water running as the shower turned on, and he knew that his young associate was using the shower as a reason to stay in the bathroom longer. There was no hurry.
He heard the shower click off moments later. After a few more minutes of waiting, the small boy came back into the room, drying his hair with a towel. He took one look at Yami, blinked a bit, and walked over to his bed. Yami just watched him, and Yugi felt a little self-conscious at being observed so intently.
The young one glanced at Yami, who continued to observe him, and began to feel very uncomfortable under the hard gaze of his other self.
Yami began to feel the small boy's embarrassment of being so closely watched, and turned away. Yugi let out a sigh of relief.
"So what are you doing here?" the smaller boy asked his taller self as he climbed into bed. "If you were able to come out of the Millennium Puzzle this way, there must be a reason, right?"
Yami nodded. "It was something that you did that caused me to come out like this," he said again. "It was like a beckoning of some kind, and I felt I had to appear."
"So, it was like I called you to come out?" Yami nodded once again. "But why?"
"Maybe you were feeling a little desperate?" His counterpart suggested.
"What do you mean?"
"Feeling as if you shouldn't be here any longer. That your friends would be a lot better without you."
The young boy looked away. "What am I supposed to think?" he asked. "What if what Kazuo said is true?"
"None of that was true, Little Hikari. He was trying to make you feel that way. He was just toying with your mind."
"What's the point for the other's to hang around with me anymore, anyway? I do just drag them down. You know how much Jounouchi wanted to get Kazuo for what he said and did."
"Then why did you stop him?"
The young boy shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I didn't want him to get hurt. And if any of the teachers saw them fighting, they would have gotten into a lot of trouble."
"Well, did Jounouchi get hurt?"
Yugi shook his head. "No."
"Did he get in trouble?"
"No."
"Then what are you complaining about? If you hadn't 'dragged' Jounouchi down, he would have gotten hurt and in trouble, and a true friend wouldn't have allowed that to happen."
Yugi blinked as the realization hit him. Yami smiled.
"Jounouchi believed that he was doing the right thing protecting you, and in a way he was. But you know him. He likes to act before he thinks at times. That's why he has a friend like you there, to make sure he doesn't rush into things without thinking them through first."
Yugi leaned forward on the bed. "But everyone else is right about me, aren't they? That I'm not tough or brave enough to face those bullies, or stand up for myself."
Yami thought for a minute, then said, "Do you remember back in the Duelist Kingdom when we were at Pegasus' castle, and we had to face Seto Kaiba?"
Yugi nodded. That was a battle he wouldn't forget.
"And that if I had destroyed his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, he would have jumped off the ledge and killed himself?"
Again, Yugi nodded.
"Do you remember what I was going to do?"
"You were going to attack the Blue Eyes anyway."
"And what did you do, Yugi?"
"I stopped you from doing it. What are you getting at?"
The ancient spirit grinned. "Even though it meant losing the chance to save Grandfather's soul, you still stopped me because you couldn't see Kaiba hurt. It took a lot of courage to do that."
The small boy tilted his head. "Huh?"
"True courage isn't about facing bullies head on, or fighting them. It's about doing the right thing. Anybody would have done what I was going to do to win, but it takes a truly courageous person to do what you did, especially in that type of situation.
"What people tend to do when they are treated unfairly is to get even with the person who offended them, thinking that it's the right thing to do, or that they deserve it. But very rarely do they ever think that they would be stooping down to that person's level, and doing what has been done to them. You're different, Yugi. You know that, you realized that. And even though it's hard to do, you have the courage to do the right thing."
Yugi wasn't sure what to say. He never thought of it like that before.
"When I first realized that, after the duel with Kaiba, I began to think that it's because of that courage that you posses that you were able to put the Millennium Puzzle together and free me."
Yugi thought about it, unsure if what Yami had said made sense to him or not. Yami sighed. "You'll understand it some other time," he said.
Yugi looked at down at the bed, scratching his head. He tried to make sense of Yami's words, and tried to understand him. The confusion caused his head to hurt a bit, so he decided to stop trying.
"As I said," Yami stated, "You'll realize what I mean later on."
Yugi nodded as he yawned. He was too tired to try and make sense of anything at the moment.
"Maybe you should go to bed now," Yami said, sensing the boy's fatigue. Yugi stretched his arms, then lay down on his bed. His counterpart walked over to the bed and tucked his other self in.
"Good night, Yami," the young boy said before turning over on his side. In a matter of minutes, he was fast asleep.
"Good night, Hikari," Yami whispered.
Yugi blinked a couple of times before rising out of his bed. He rubbed his eyes as he reached for his clock. 6:15. 'Why am I up this early?' He wondered. He yawned, placing the alarm clock back on the nightstand.
Glancing over at his desk, he was surprised to see Yami still there, leaning against the wall. At first he thought that Yami had been waiting for him to wake up, but the young boy noticed that his counterpart was asleep.
He pulled the covers off and leaped out of bed. Walking up to his other self, he looked at the sleeping figure and gently touched his arm. He jerked back when he saw a pair of violet eyes open and appear, glancing down at him.
"Were you like that all night?" Yugi asked. "Why didn't you go back inside the puzzle? I imagine it wasn't comfortable standing all night."
Yami shrugged. "I felt that I should be around if you had difficulty sleeping again. But obviously, you were just fine. However, you're up earlier than usual."
He nodded. "I guess because I went to bed earlier, I woke up sooner than expected."
Yami looked out the window. "Probably a good thing. Looks as though it's about to rain. You should get ready for school now and be on your way."
Yugi looked out and was a little surprised at how dark it was. The clouds were black and massive, covering every bit of the sky.
The Millennium Puzzle began to shine intensely. The little boy shielded his eyes from the bright glare that lighten his entire room. When the glow faded, Yugi looked and discovered that Yami was gone.
The small boy walked down what seemed to be a very deserted hallway. He had gotten to school earlier than most people would have wanted, but was glad he had left when he did. As soon as he arrived, it had begun to pour heavily, drenching the school, and streets, in mere seconds. Yugi felt sorry for whoever had to get caught walking in that.
The pyramid artifact swayed gently as he walked. He smiled as he thought of what the ancient spirit had told him the night before. He felt better about himself now.
Looking up, he discovered four people at the end of the hallway. Three of them were the Kurokawa brothers, and the fourth one was obviously another victim, pinned against the wall by Jiro. But upon a second look, Yugi realized he knew exactly who that victim was.
"Bakura!" he whispered, watching as the Kurokawa brothers continued to threaten the white-haired teen. 'I have to help him,' he thought. 'But what can I do?'
"Come on, Ryou!" Yugi heard Kazuo yelled. "We know you're hiding something." Jiro banged Bakura against the wall. He felt something inside call out to him, telling him to allow Yami to take over. He shook his head, ignoring Yami's demand to seize control. This was something he had to do alone.
The small boy saw the three brothers' backpacks lying on the ground behind them. Very quietly, he snuck up behind all three and grabbed the bags. Peering into one of them, however, he discovered a small, black handgun with an engraving on the side: Kurokawa. Thinking swiftly, Yugi decided to try a very risky, yet effective, tactic against the terrorist trio.
"Hey!" The Kurokawa brothers diverted their attention to look behind them, and all of them, even Bakura, were surprised to see Yugi sitting on the edge of the window, leaning against the side frame.
"Mutou," Kazuo said. "Surprised to see you here so early."
Yugi just shrugged, looking at the ceiling. Then he looked at the triplets, holding up their bags in his hand. "I hope there's nothing really valuable in these bags of yours," he said. "Wouldn't want them to get wet, would we?"
"Those are our bags," Saburo said. Kazuo slapped him in the back of the head.
"Give those back, Mutou," Kazuo said threateningly, "or else…"
"Or else what?" Yugi shot back, surprising even himself with the roughness in his voice. He slipped his free hand into his jacket, pulling out the small pistol. "You'll shoot me?"
The small boy cocked open the gun, revealing small lead bullets. He took out the bullets and placed them in one of the bags and zipped it shut. Before the three bullies could stop him, Yugi tossed all three bags out the window, into the rain. Then, he placed the gun back in his hiding spot.
"You better leave me and my friends alone from now on," he said boldly, "or does the principal have to know about this little toy of yours?"
Jiro looked at his brother, who gave a slight, defeated nod. He let go of Bakura's shirt, and turned to face Yugi.
"Do you have any idea who you're messing with?" Kazuo said menacingly. Yugi just stared through him.
"I know exactly who you guys are," he said. "But I should have never let you guys get to me in the first place. That was my real problem. You guys are nothing."
All three of the giant bullies growled and started moving towards the small opponent. Yugi just calmly looked out the window, then back at them with a slight smile on his face. He moved closer to the edge, and only Bakura figured out what he was going to do.
"Yugi!" he called out, but the small boy had already jumped out. The three siblings stuck their heads outside, but as they looked down, they only saw their knapsacks lying on the ground below. Pulling their heads back inside, they ran past Bakura, shoving him out of the way, and ran to get their bags.
Underneath the window stood Yugi, standing on a thin ledge. He was very thankful for his height at that moment. His small stature allowed him to stand under the window without being seen by the Kurokawa brothers. Looking up at the window, then looking down at the ground, he swallowed, as he began to wonder if this was a good idea.
He moved his feet sideways to get his hand close enough to the window to grab it. However, his foot skidded against the damp ledge, causing him to lose his footing. Yugi began to fall, but felt something grab on to his hand. He looked up, and saw Bakura's smiling face. The young boy let out a sigh of relief as his white-haired friend helped hoist himself inside.
"Thanks, Bakura," Yugi said, glad that his feet were under a solid, dry floor.
"Thank you, Yugi," Bakura said. "Those Kurokawa brothers are always up to no good."
"I know. What did they want with you, anyway?"
"They wanted money, as always. But I didn't have any to give them, so they were giving me a hard time until you showed up. I owe you one."
Yugi shook his head. "It was nothing," he said.
"But that was an interesting tactic you chose to use against them. I don't know if I could ever do something like that."
"Even I was surprised that I was able to do something like that."
Bakura nodded, then looked around. Seeing no one else, he asked, "That gun, was it real?"
The younger boy nodded, pulling the weapon out of his jacket again. He showed Bakura the engraving on the side.
"What do you plan on doing with it?"
"I'm just gonna throw it out. I don't want to get caught with this thing."
"You should throw it out as soon as possible." Yugi nodded, slipping the pistol back in his jacket. "Hopefully I can hide it until I get a chance to get rid of it," he said.
"But what are you going to do if the Kurokawa brothers bother you again if you don't have the gun?"
The young boy just shrugged. "I'll try bluffing. I don't think they would try to risk it."
Bakura laughed. "Right. I don't think they're that dumb."
Yugi nodded, laughing too.
Jounouchi slammed his hand on the table. "Tell me you're kidding, Bakura," he said in utter disbelief. "Tell me you're kidding."
The snow-headed boy shook his head. "It's true," he replied. "Yugi threw their bags out in the rain."
Honda nudged Yugi lightly with his shoulder. "Nice going, Yugi," he said.
"I was just trying to help," Yugi said sheepishly. "It was no big deal."
"Are you kidding?" Anzu asked. "Those Kurokawa brothers finally got a taste of their own medicine."
"Yeah, Yug," Jounouchi said, "you finally took a stand against those jerks."
"But won't they try something to get you back?" Honda asked.
Yugi and Bakura looked at each other slyly and smiled. "I don't think so," Yugi said. "At least I hope not." The other three looked at them, blinking confusedly.
Anzu looked past Yugi, then gave out an irritated sigh. "Don't hope too soon," she said. "Here comes one of them." They all looked to see Kazuo making their way towards them.
"Ah, what do ya want?" Jounouchi asked, standing up as Kazuo stopped at their group. "I hear Yugi taught ya a good lesson this morning. My only regret is that I wasn't there to see the look on your face when he tossed your stuff out."
Kazuo glared at him. "Mutou just got lucky, that's all," he said.
"Did I?" Yugi asked. Kazuo looked at him. "Or was it that you were careless? Anybody could have seen what was in your bag, and you would have gotten in big trouble anyway. Luckily, I was the one who saw it first. And I won't tell anyone if you keep your end of the deal and stop bothering us or anyone anymore."
The Kurokawa brother groaned, defeated, and walked away.
"What were you talking about, Yug?" Jounouchi asked. The other two nodded, also wanting to know.
Yugi and Bakura looked at each other again, but with a more worried look on their faces. Then Yugi said, "I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone." The three nodded.
"Kazuo had brought a gun here today," he said in a low whisper. "I took it from him, and promised that I wouldn't tell if he would leave us alone."
"Do you still have it?" Honda asked.
He nodded. "I plan to get rid of it soon, though. I don't want to get caught with it."
"I'll get rid of it for ya, Yug," Jounouchi said. "It might be easier for me to hide than you. Give it to me and I'll take care of it for ya."
Yugi nodded, and took out the gun from his jacket, handing it to Jounouchi under the table. Jounouchi took it and stuffed it in his bag quickly, covering it up.
"Thanks, Jounouchi," the small boy said. Jounouchi just nodded and flashed a toothy grin.
Yugi felt as if a weight was lifted off him. He had found the courage to stand up to three bullies, but he knew he wouldn't do it often. As Yami had told him, he knew that real courage was turning away, and not sinking to the other person's level. It was hard, but someone had to do it, right? That someone had to be him.
He heard a voice whisper in his head, coming from the Millennium Puzzle.
Excellent work, Hikari.
The End