/ Blah / = hikari
// Blah // = yami
More on our "mysterious" Egyptian friend! Some swear words, just a few...etc. etc.
Disclaimer: *Disembodied voice* Go back...back...to the...beginning...ing...ing...ing...
He hit the ground with a soft thud, using his hands to absorb some of the minimal shock, then stood to his full height, which wasn't very tall.
"Where am I?" He muttered, trying to piece together what had happened. "I was sealed away..." that much he remembered. "...In this puzzle..." the relic, a Sennen item one of the priests had called it, had kept his soul imprisoned within the shadow realm for... "...a millennia?" He wondered further after picking up a discarded newspaper from the trash bin, scanning his eyes over the strange print he miraculously understood. "A millennia!" His head swam. "How can that be?" Breathing deeply again and again he tried to recall what had happened but nothing came, nothing but the memory of the boy now sharing some of his conscious thought. "This boy...my...aibou?" Placing a hand to his forehead he closed his eyes tightly. "He solved the puzzle and set me free..." It was all too much and he could feel himself getting dizzy again. Shrugging it off the young Egyptian began slowly walking down the sidewalk, rubbing his arms to keep himself warm.
It was a few hours before he began to look around and notice his surroundings, all very new and different to him. He found himself walking down a wide, hard path painted with yellow and white lines and he stopped to puzzle over them a bit, wondering what in the name of Ra they could be. A blaring noise caused him to look up and a bright light shining directly into his eyes blinded him.
"Get out a the way bastard!" A man in a strange blue monster roared, swerving away from him. The boy yelled and jumped to the side, panting heavily and smacking away a broken bottle intended for his face.
"What in the name of the gods was that?" He breathed, standing shakily to his feet and sitting down on a bench painted in the soft after glow of the stars. "Even the heavens are different." He sighed, looking up. "I should get home." He muttered, wondering exactly where his home was. "Aibou will be missed otherwise." He looked around noticing that he was lost and didn't have a clue which way to go. "Perhaps I can find someone to help me." It was getting colder and the buildings were getting progressively more run down the farther he walked, he was almost certain that this was not the direction. He knocked on the first promising door he came to; it was answered by a small old woman.
"Whadda you want?" She asked bitterly.
"Please excuse my interruption, I was wondering if you could tell me how to get home?" He lowered his head in respect to his elders as he had been taught to do?
"Get outta here punk afore I call the cops on yas!" The heavy Osaka [1] accent was harsh as she slammed the door in his face, ruffling his hair, and he blinked, stepping back a pace.
"That was uncalled for." He murmured, recalling something more from his broken memory: a shadow game. "Eye of illusion!" He began, stopping himself, it was he who had woken her after all, but her reaction had been a bit callous. Stepping up to another door he decided to try again but before he could knock a loud crash made him turn his head around sharply to the other side of the street.
"An' stay out! I don' need yer shit boy!" A young blonde boy wearing a green coat was flung out of the doorway across from the tri-color haired Egyptian. The figure of an old man in a dirty white tee stood, silhouetted, in the bright light of the hall. The door slammed shut and the blonde picked himself up off the ground, wiping his upper lip with a swipe of his arm. He spied the very confused boy looking at him from across the street.
"You lost kid?" He asked, walking over with his hands in his pockets. "I ain't nevah seen you aroun' here before." He walked up closer and the boy readied himself for a run. "Hey, I know you! You're that kid Yuugi, from before ain'tcha?"
"Yes, I am." he lied.
"Are you lost?" He nodded.
"I'm not sure how to get back."
"I'll show ya! Come on, follow me!" They walked in silence for a while. "By the way, I'm Jounochi, but my friends call me Jou, easier ta say. Silent type, eh?" He certainly isn't, thought the Egyptian with a tiny smile. "Well, I don't blame you, you must be tired. I ain't nevah seen you in school. Don't you go?"
"My mother teaches me." The Egyptian said after sifting through Yuugi's thoughts.
"Oh, tha's cool, ta have a mothah. I jus' live with my pops, he got drunk tonight." Jou added softly, not going into it further. It made the crazy-haired boy's blood boil, to see anyone treated like that was a crime. Dried crimson was still smeared across Jou's face but he ignored it for the most part. The rest of the trek continued in silence, neither saying anything to the other, until they got to the game shop.
"Thank you, Jounochi."
"Jus' Jou," the blonde smiled. "See ya sometime!" He called as he walked away. Alone, he looked up at the open window preparing himself for a climb. He knew from Yuugi's memories that the poor child wasn't allowed to set foot outside and that his mother would probably whisk him off to the hospital wrapped in plastic if she became aware of 'his' adventures. He had already decided that he didn't much care for the woman. Quietly his nimble fingers sought for any handhold available in the soft wood determined to make his own if the need arose. He hoisted himself up, perched on nothing but imperfections in the paint, until he could finally grab hold of the window. He collapsed onto the bed, spent from his night's wanderings, and gave control back to Yuugi, melding back into the dark recesses to further observe.
"Good night...Aibou..." he murmured as he slipped away, and it felt right.
Yuugi got up the next morning feeling refreshed and happy, quite a change from the way he usually woke. Of course he always hid it, he wouldn't want to worry his mother. Only grandfather seemed to really notice but thankfully the old man never said a word. A breeze ruffled his hair and he looked up, startled. His window was wide open.
"Oh no!" He cried halfheartedly, staring with disbelief at the scattered nails. Despite himself Yuugi felt very reluctant to close the window, the cool air felt so good on his face, like water in the desert. "How did that happen, mother will be furious..." he kept up his ramblings as he shut the window carefully, poking the nails back into their holes and tapping them in with the sole of his shoe. It looked halfway decent when he was done. He peered through the clear glass and saw that the trio was walking passed, it was later then he expected. He sighed with the ever-present longing and was about to turn when the blonde looked up and waved, a big grin slapped across his face. Yuugi smiled, his first real one since he had finished the puzzle and waved back, mouthing a good morning greeting. "Good morning Jou!" He faltered, how did he know his name? He didn't recall hearing it the other day. He resumed his greeting when the other two turned and followed Jou's example. They mouthed good bye and continued on their way to school. Yuugi was left alone again to ponder the mysteries of Jou's name. "How do I know his name?"
// He told it to me last night. // Came the immediate response.
"Oh." Yuugi said, then stopped, realizing that something in his head had answered him. "Oh...my..." his exclamation of craziness was cut short as his mother pounded on his door, unlocked and opened it and set a bowl of oatmeal down on the floor without so much as a 'good morning Yuugi'. Then the door slipped shut, the lock locked and only the sound of her footsteps echoing down the hallway could be heard. Sniffing a little Yuugi picked up the bowl and set it on his desk to cool. No sugar and two tablespoons of milk, same as always. He poked at it with a spoon. Inside his mind the being that shared it couldn't resist more questions, he desperately wanted to learn more about the strange new world he now lived in.
// What is that? // Came the tentative query. Yuugi jumped, but then relaxed.
"Oatmeal..." he bemoaned, poking at it some more. "Did you come from the puzzle?" He asked, finally deciding that that was the culprit.
// Yes. //
"What's your name?"
// I, I don't remember... // Yuugi smiled sadly.
"I'm sorry, what do I call you then?"
// I don't know, whatever you would like I suppose. // there was a pause in the thought wave. // I call you Aibou. // He stated gently, as if it would help.
"What does it look like in there?"
// Dark...just like the shadow realm. //
"Shadow realm?" Yuugi repeated. "What's that"
// A place of forgotten memories, evil spirits and the realm of the punishment games. //
"What are those?"
// I'd rather not tell my Aibou such things. //
"Oh, okay." Yuugi stirred his oatmeal, taking a tiny bite and grimacing as the grainy texture trickled down his throat. "Where do you come from?"
// Egypt, but we're no where near there now... // Yuugi couldn't help but sympathize a little.
"That makes sense, grandpa got the puzzle from there. Well, I've got to call you something other then 'you'. You say you have no memories?"
// Not really, no. //
"And all I know of you is darkness." He paused, his spoon poking out of his mouth as he thought. / What if... /
//What? I wasn't listening, sorry. // Yuugi removed the spoon.
"I didn't say anything."
// All you have to do is think. //
/ Like this. / A mental nod. / This is so cool! I've never had anybody to talk to before! /
// I know. //
/ Well anyway, I think I'll call you Yami! /
// Why? // Yuugi took another bite.
/ It means darkness. Since I don't know anything about you yet, I'm in the dark, get it? / 'Yami' laughed, enjoying his new life a little more with each passing minute.
// Yes, I do! //
Geez there is a lot to explain! I haven't even gotten to the Duel Monsters game yet!
The next chapter: Yami takes Yuugi out for the day, what chaos will ensue? Probably none really... Yami learns all about everything he can and a new dark character is introduced! Who is this evil guy and what does he want with Yuugi's puzzle? Stay tuned to find out!
[1] Osaka = the equivalent to a New Yorkers accent, harsh and sometimes used to represent vulgarity, at least in my dictionary. Not always though, for example: Kero, from Cardcaptor Sakura has an Osaka accent.