Chapter 2 everyone! Hope you enjoy.

Weeks and months and eventually seasons go by. From vibrant leaves, to bare limbs and white snow, to the chirping of birds and the cry of cicadas—every season, the creature awakes. Once, twice, until he loses count and those moments blur between nothingness and existence.

He doesn't know when or why the maze of stone appeared, replacing his blanket of nothingness. Just that it was after Grandpa brought him along to an exhibit one day; an exhibit on Egypt. Bored yet enthralled and at home amongst the artifacts and displays and—

And the sarcophagus. Not— Not his, of course, because he was 'Yuugi', a modern Japanese boy, but still—

Comforting. Like a bed.

And claustrophobic.

He left the exhibition in a hurry that day. The air of serenity and finality it brought him was…unnerving. Like it was a promise that everything will be okay. That him and everyone else will be safe.

Even if he doesn't know from what.

But it wasn't just the coffin that had brought disquiet. The Puzzle had begun to whisper, then. Cold words numbing his brain from the inside and causing his soul to ache. Destructive words—destroy the exhibit, desecrate the mummy, harm Grandpa—that made his hands itch to follow and anxiety claw down his back.

So, they left and he hides within the newly discovered maze. The maze of his soul.

And he continues to do so after every 'awakening'. Each time, the darkness and whispers fester in his heart like an open wound he just can't treat.

And with every kick to the gut, every cut, every game the other kids play with him when he's 'awake' and aware only serves to worsen it. Dig the knife into the wound just a little farther. And the voices revel in the misery it brings him. Revel until the bullies have their way and it hushes to just one voice. Punish them. Punish them for their cruelty and transgressions.

The teachers never did. So why can't you be Judge, Jury, and Executioner? And he always rebels, at first, against that horrid thought. Sometimes he succeeds. Other times, he calls forth the darkness so it swells to his fingertips. Tripping the bully at the arcade, slamming the door in one's face, hiding one's outdoor shoes when they weren't looking. Petty things but punishments all the same and he reveled in them just as the whispers reveled in his own misery.

In a hazy, out of his mind sort of way, it was funny seeing them punished for their injustices.

But if Anzu saw she'd always look at him funny, and Jonouchi. Jonouchi, who was always trying to make him stronger, would always call him freaky. Weird. Not out of maliciousness like the other kids, or he thinks anyways, but genuine…concern?

Until, one day, when they were playing 1 vs. 1 dodgeball, Jonouchi declares, "Y'know, when you get all freaky I'm just gonna call you Yami."

"What?" He had responded then. He understood enough Japanese now to know that 'Yami' meant 'dark' but still he didn't understand. Why? Why 'Yami'? Was he really that horrible?

In a way, it felt more fitting than 'Yuugi', anyways.

"Yep, you're Yami now. Yami Yuugi."

And that was that.

Yuugi flips to the next page in his puzzle book. April hasn't quite ended, so the park is still pleasant enough. Soon he'll prefer to stay inside when he does logic puzzles, but for now he can enjoy it. It's early enough that there aren't too many other kids and the light breeze is nice. With any luck, he can stay until Anzu is free and they can see the movie she wanted.

"Hey, dork! What are you doing with that book? School's over." The book is plucked out of Yuugi's hand. "Oh, it's a stupid puzzle book. This won't make you stronger, y'know."

Yuugi blinks and looks up, only to meet Jonouchi's gaze. "Jonouchi? They're fun, I don't feel like I need to be 'strong' either..." He knows he means well, but still.

"Oh come on! You're shrimpy and let everyone push you around. Don't you want to grow up to be a man?" Jonouchi tosses the book back to Yuugi. "'Sides, Anzu's never gonna fall in love with you if you act like that! Always protecting you—I bet she'll get sick of it one day."

He can feel his face heat up as he scrambles to catch the book. "Jonouchi! What does that even mean? And I know that...that's fine." It's not. Not really. He knows it's inevitable. But she's his only friend and the thought of her leaving is…

He's accepted it. But he can't take it, either.

Unaware of Yuugi's internal crisis, Jonouchi continues on. "To be a man means to be able to protect yourself and those you care about! As you are, I could kick you off this playground and you couldn't do anything about it!" He says this with a foot on Yuugi's back, pushing down hard enough that Yuugi has to bend forwards. "I won't though." He lowers his foot.

"I guess that's a good thing to be then." Being able to protect Anzu would be nice. He wants her to be safe. Maybe she wouldn't leave, then. Yuugi frowns. "And I appreciate you not doing so…"

"Yeah, well, that's 'cause you're gonna be doing it yourself!" Jonouchi exclaims.

"E-eh?! Why would I do that?"

"To prove you have what it takes to be a man, duh!" Jonouchi drags Yuugi to his feet with a huff. "You can't become a man without roughing yourself up a little first! A little pain goes a long way. Now I dare you to jump off that rail over there." He points to the wood fence-guardrail just behind them.

He stumbles for a second before catching himself. "What? Jonouchi, I can't." It isn't that high, sure. Even if looking straight down sends a rush of spinning vertigo to his head. But it's high enough that if he lands wrong it wouldn't be pleasant. "How does this prove I'm a man?"

Jonouchi snaps his fists to his sides, striking a pose. "'Cause if you're brave enough to jump off there, then you prove you're brave enough to do what it takes to be a man when push comes to shove! How do you expect to protect someone if you're afraid of a little jump like this?"

Yuugi sets his jaw. He wants to be able to protect Anzu if it comes down to it...he still doesn't entirely see how this would help, but maybe. "Does this really prove that I'd have what it takes?" That he wouldn't wimp out in the future?

Jonouchi throws his hands out, "Duh! You've gotta start somewhere. And if you can't even jump off this wimpy old playground then I bet you couldn't beat up a bunch of guys even if you wanted to! But if you do jump, it's a start and you can train harder and harder 'cause it proves you'll do stuff even when you're scared or hurt. But you gotta jump first, dude."

"I can't beat up a bunch of guys anyway! But….fine. I'll….I'll do it!" He takes a deep breath. He can do this… It takes a moment to force his legs to move, but he does. Carefully he grips the guardrail and forces himself up. He just has to jump off.

"Come on! Jump off already! Look, I'll show you how to do it." With a running start, Jonouchi dashes over to the guardrail and, with one hand on the wood, hops over. He lands with a roll, pieces of wood chips sticking to his clothes. "See, it ain't hard!"

Yuugi bites his lip then nods. The running start might be easier versus looking straight down like he's currently doing. He hops back to safety then goes back to where Jonouchi was.

"Okay...okay, I'm doing it!" He calls. A deep breath, then he rushes forward. His hand braces against the wood and he's in the air for a moment, two, then suddenly the ground is there. A sharp pain hits his ankle and he sprawls out after what he thinks is still a roll. "Should...should my ankle hurt like that?"

"No?" Jonouchi creeps forwards and prods at the now swelling ankle with one finger, wincing in sympathy. "Think you rolled it. Nice."

Yuugi flinches at the prod. "Great...could you please help me up?"

With a roll of his eyes, Jonouchi yanks Yuugi up off the ground and onto his feet. "C'mon! That's nothin'. If you can't handle this, you'll never be able to protect Anzu."

Yuugi frowns at the ground as he leans slightly on Jonouchi. "Thank you, and it just hurts currently...I'll try to get better."

"That's the spirit! Now let's get you home." He hoists Yuugi's arm over his shoulder, taking his entire weight and, with a mutter about hoping nothing gets thrown at him for this, starts walking. Or hobbling. Yuugi can't really tell how goofy they look.

Thankfully Jonouchi does have the good sense to dodge once they make it back to Yuugi's house and Yuugi's mom swings a ladle at him. Hiding winces and flinches as she finally catches and lectures him is, unfortunately, harder. And, when he finally escapes? The lady doesn't chase after him. A small mercy.

'Yuugi' stares over his folded arms, head light, at Anzu. She jabs her finger into Jonouchi's chest, eyes ablaze and voice sharp. His head's in the clouds and he's not fully there, barely even feeling his body. It doesn't stop his soft smile or the way he can't help but think, I really do have such good friends. And, sitting there, he realizes something. Something about himself that hadn't quite registered to himself yet until now.

He'd do anything for them. To keep them happy. To keep them safe.

Anything.

If the lights flickered at that, no one said anything. Nor did they mention the glint in his eyes and the new chill in the air.

No one at all.

"Yuugi, I'm not sure this is a good idea…" Anzu clings to her friend's back, the walls of the high school towering over them both. Darkness creeps along their footsteps, slithering by their heels. Their only light was far behind them, back down past the school barrier. Maybe they should have listened to its warning about the construction. But of course Yuugi, ever kind Yuugi, wanted to help those girls.

Even if it was kinda dangerous and scary. And how was she to argue with that when that's the reason she was friends with him in the first place? The only one to stop and help her when she scraped her knee in elementary school and she cried so loudly other kids avoided her.

At least then it was obvious she was in need of help. But now? These girls could be tricking them, or they fall and get hurt (more than Yuugi already was). This was just…. "Actually, I think this is a terrible idea. What if they're tricking us?" Of course she was kinda at fault when she didn't try to stop him sooner. And now they were on the last two mysteries, so it was maybe a little too late to complain… But still, she can't help that either.

Where was Grandpa Mutou when they needed him?

Yuugi frowns as he continues half-hobbling forward on the crutches, their footsteps echoing slightly. "Anzu... That's not nice. I really don't think I'm the most qualified with this, but I probably am the only one they could think of. We just have to look for Hanako and then the anatomy figure and we can go back to Grandpa at least." And hopefully home.

He squints slightly at the darkness ahead. "That said...if I'd known we'd be doing this I would've tried to find a flashlight. We should almost be at the bathroom."

"But it's scary Yuugi…" Anzu groans. "How do we know these are even real anyways? The last mysteries were all just fakes or misunderstandings…"

"It's...not the worst." It really wasn't. "And yeah, but maybe these ones are real. A-and I can't just not check!"

"Doesn't mean it's not scary," she mutters under her breath.

"I know…." He stops walking as he squints up, "anyway, we're here." He takes a deep breath then exhales. "L-"let's get this over with. I'm just glad this one is after hours."

The echo in the bathroom is worse than it was in the hall. It smells better than the guys' bathroom, which he hadn't thought about before. The tile and mirrors are the same, but feel off with what he can make out from the small windows as he hobbles to the third stall. "I just need to knock three times and ask if she's here, right?"

"That sounds about right." If only they didn't have to do this. It was those teenagers' fault! They should have been more considerate since she and Yuugi were younger than them.

Yuugi huffs then nods. "Alright then." He goes down the row, slowly counting as he passes the doors to each stall before stopping at the third.

A deep breath and he balances on the crutches before knocking on the door. Once... Twice... And then a third, final time. "Hanako, are you present?"

A moment passes and there's nothing.

"Yes, I'm here," the voice isn't Anzu's, and the bloody hand emerging from underneath the stall isn't either.

Yuugi stumbles back, catching himself, barely, on his crutches. "Anzu..."

Her hands shoot to her mouth, a scream wrenching itself from her chest. She stumbles back, one, two, three steps. Then, a smack as the world tips and she hits the floor. Tears well up in her eyes. Yuugi's looking at her, eyes wide.

A flash. Laughter. "Oh my god. You guys are such babies."

Anzu flinches and turns to look.

A girl—high school aged?—lowers her camera and takes the dispensed photo. "Nanami, come look at this!"

Another giggle joins in as another girl—Nanami?—joins, looking over her shoulder.

Yuugi flinches, not turning from the stall, seemingly frozen in place.

"Holy crap, look at their faces! Especially the little creep's! I can't believe he's so gross as to actually come into the girls' bathroom either. C'mon Hina, you have to see this!"

The third stall door opens and she brushes past Yuugi and Anzu. "Coming! I can't wait until the whole school knows how creepy he is too!"

"W-What?" A couple of emotions flash across Anzu's face then—confusion, hurt, even regret—but only one sticks as she jumps to her feet. "How dare—!" Anger. "Yuugi only wanted to help! What was even the point—"

"Oh come off it girlie. It's just a little prank. 'Sides, what are you doing with that creep anyways? You're way too cute for him." The girl waves a hand dismissively. "You actually have potential," She points the camera away from Anzu and onto Yuugi and snaps another picture, "unlike him."

"How dare you!" Tears well up in her eyes, hot, stinging. She curls her fists at her sides. "Yuugi is the kindest person I've ever met! The only one being a creep here is you!" She screams, stomping a foot and jamming a finger at the three teenage girls.

They shiver. Wow, she must have really got to them! Anzu smirks, satisfied—

Until cold crawls down her back and curls into clouds with every hot breath. The lights flicker in, out, in, out, as if being chewed on by some beast. Fear is an icy grip in her chest. She backs up, eyes wide, and quickly hits something solid.

Yuugi. Standing stalk-still and back facing her. His hair, normally down and straight as a pin, curls up in waves. An icy breeze puffs against the back of her neck. She chokes on it.

It's so hard to breathe now. Her chest heaves but she's suffocating. Vaguely, so vaguely, she hears the girls scream and the door slam. Had they left?

A hand touches her shoulder and she startles.

"Stay," Yuugi commands, his expression shadowed.

All she does is nod and watch as he shambles out the door, too terrified to move an inch.

His crutches left, forgotten, behind her.

"Shit! This isn't happening! No way this is happening!" Aoi cries, dragging along her two friends while her other hand clutches the camera.

"It can't be real, right?" Nanami yells. "He-he must have found out about the prank and set one up in return!"

"I don't know...you saw his hair floating, didn't you?" Hina replies, sobbing. "What if he curses us or something?" She swears the hall wasn't actually this cold before. "Should we hide?"

Aoi looks around, eyes scanning the dark hallway. They land on an open doorway. "Let's hide in there and wait for that little freak to leave!"

Nanami nods, rushing into the room. "Wish it wasn't the anatomy room, but at least the desks are longer! Just make sure to close the door."

They dashed into the room, darkness swallowing them. "Stay quiet and maybe he won't know we're in here."

"Right, and stay hidden under the desks."

They stay hidden there for 10 seconds...20...30...and then there's an odd shuffle. It's not the door, which remains blissfully closed from what they can tell. It just sounds like plastic parts scraping, scraping, against each other. A few seconds pass. Silence…

And then tapping. Slow and rhythmic as something hits the floor.

"Hina, what is it?" Nanami frantically whispers.

"W-why do I have to check?" She whimpers, though she peaks her head just out from under the desk. She doesn't see anything at first as she looks left towards the door, but something's wrong as she scans the back of the room. "The...w-where is it?" She hesitantly looks to the right as the tapping passes by her and screams.

The girls scramble out from under the desk, away from that thing—

And right into a pair of legs.

Yuugi's.

"For the 'prank' you have played on me and my friend, this is your retribution." A flash of light, electricity humming louder, louder. A snap and the lights fizzle out, but not before highlighting Yuugi's Cheshire grin, his wicked expression. "I'd run if I were you lest you want to be caught by the spirits that linger here."

Hina lets out an ear splitting scream and stumbles around him, not looking back as she sprints out of the room.

The other two follow, nearly tripping over each other by the door before they're gone. Just the harsh echo of stamping feet and a few stray sobs before silence.

Anzu pokes her head out at the sounds of screams, only to flinch back as the older girls whip past her, crutches clutched to her chest. It's only when silence envelopes her that she dares to venture out, heading the opposite direction as the girls.

"Yuugi?" Her voice echoes in the hall.

Coming across an open door, she creeps through.

There she stumbles upon Yuugi, whom had collapsed onto the tiled ground. "Yuugi!"

A soft groan comes from him and he sluggishly stirs, bracing himself onto one hand as he makes to sit up. It takes a moment, arms shaking as he slowly, cautiously, does so. But once he's up, he looks around with violet eyes that eventually settle on her. "Anzu? What happened?"

"What do you remember?" She asks, hesitant.

"Um…we were investigating the seven mysteries"—he cautiously settles down onto his knees, one ankle swollen and blooming an uneasy violet. Anzu frowns at it—"and we got to the girls' bathroom. I-I guess they were lying and tricked us at least with Hanako. Last thing I remember is the one taking a picture…"

So there was a gap in his memories again? That was bad, wasn't it? She didn't quite understand why, but most normal people didn't randomly forget things like that. Especially things that just happened! So it must be bad. And it wasn't just that, too. Like before, he… "Well, it was like you were a whole other person! I don't know how you did it but you managed to scare them away with freaky lights and your hair doing a weird floaty thing. But that was in the bathroom. I don't know what you did to them after." She didn't want to say it, because she was his friend and even if he acted weird sometimes or if he was a little weak and timid she still liked him. But it was almost like he was going crazy or something? It was a terrible thought, but it was the only explanation she could really think of. The only other thing was, like, possession but that wasn't real, right? Stories about spirits and yokai were just that: stories. Adults made them up to scare little kids into behaving, didn't they?

Yuugi frowns. "I don't recall any of that... I don't know what I did," he says with dawning realization. "What did I do?"

She could see it in his searching expression. His barely-cloaked panic. What he was thinking. What if he did something really bad? What if he hurt someone? Of course he'd worry about it. But she couldn't answer that. Didn't know. Anzu grabs onto the hem of her shirt and pulls down on it, fidgeting. She adverts her eyes, can't meet them when she possesses no answers for her small friend. Instead, she says, "Y'know how I said you should stick up for yourself more?"

Yuugi nods. "Yeah? If you mean this isn't what you meant... It's really not anything I'm intentionally doing..."

"Maybe you're not but i-if what I said stressed you out or anything like that then I don't…" Anzu bites her lip. Even in the dimness, she knows where he is as a sliver of light from the hall streaks across the Puzzle and glows a golden hue. With glittering tears she steps forwards and grabs his hands, so small in hers despite them being the same age. "Don't force yourself to be someone different because of me or anyone else, okay? I don't care if you're weak or not! You're a really nice person Yuugi, and I don't want that to go away because of me or because people are being mean."

He frantically shakes his head and she catches a faint blush tinting his cheeks. "No! N-no, it didn't stress me out or anything! A-at least not that I'm aware of. And you're right about it anyway!" Tentatively he looks to the ground for a moment. "I'm trying to stick up for myself, I swear. But this... Whatever this was wasn't it. Jonouchi is trying to help me be braver, and that's all I've managed so far. I also don't want to stop being nice though, so if I did something and can't remember it then I'll figure out some way to make it not happen again. So don't cry, please? I-I'm okay."

She fully meets his gaze, then, sniffling and wiping away tears with one hand. "O-Okay. I am happy that you are sticking up for us. I just don't want to lose you, okay? The way you act scares me sometimes." He'd never hurt her, she knows that. But it was hard not to be scared after that.

Yuugi nods his head. "Okay. I'll try to figure out whatever is going on... Let's go find Grandpa for now, 'kay?"

With that, the two take off, leaving behind the classroom.

The anatomical model gone without so much as a trace.