Chapter Two: Doctors know best?
"Yugi, are you ready yet? It's time for us to go," an old voice called from downstairs.
"We'll be right there!" He looked in the mirror and ran a hand through his bangs making them stand up for a moment. They flopped back down quickly and he ran down the stairs.
The ride to the psychiatrist's office was painfully silent. Neither Sugoroku, nor Yugi knew what to say to the other and so they both remained completely quiet. The waiting room was no different. Yugi sat on a chair and his grandpa talked to a middle aged man. Then he went and sat with his grandson for a few minutes.
"Motou, Yugi Motou?" A woman asked.
"That's me."
"Please, this way," she motioned to a door on the far side of the room and walked over to it, the smaller boy in tow. "The doctor will be with you shortly," she said walking into a room. It was large and had a sofa and a big desk. There were papers all over the place and Yugi didn't know what to make of it all. Before he had a chance to ask anything about the room, he found himself alone, with the door shut.
The purple haired boy sat down on the couch for a minute, but began to feel restless. He couldn't sit still – he didn't want to sit still. He walked over to the oversized desk and looked at the file on top. "Yugi Motou" was written in black letters and inside was one paper. Yugi read it, but the door opened before he had a chance to read anything but the first line.
"You must be Yugi," the man his grandfather had spoken with earlier said.
"I am," he replied, placing the file back on the desk. "What does 'Possible MPS' stand for?"
"Oh, nothing to worry about, just short hand," he reassured. "Anyway, my name is Dr. Tenoh."
"Why did grandpa send me here?"
Dr. Tenoh looked at Yugi's file. He had obviously not read past the first line, so there was no need to worry. "He wanted us to talk."
"About what?" Yugi was beginning to tense up. He didn't like the way the conversation was going.
"Anything, really. What interests you, Yugi?"
The boy shot him a sideways glance. "What are you getting at? I don't think I all together trust you, Dr. Tenoh. I mean, I have no reason not to, but you seem rather suspicious."
"Sit down and explain to me what you mean."
He listened, not knowing what else he could do, but he felt worried. He didn't know what to do now and he couldn't think of a way out. He wanted some help, so he shut his eyes for a moment. As soon as he did, the doctor began writing down some notes quickly.
Yugi exhaled, "Um, Dr. Tenoh, it's just that... I don't know why I am here. All I know is that grandpa is worried about me and he won't say why. Besides that you are here asking me about my interests like that will help you find a problem with me. If I knew what you were looking for, I'd be more that happy to help! All I know is that I might have MPS, whatever that is..." he paused for a moment, thinking. "Is there something seriously wrong with me?"
The doctor smiled at him, it was an eerie and dark smile. "Well, I can't quite tell yet, but for now, please humor me. C an you tell me about your friends?"
"I don't know why you'd bring that up, but if it'll help..."
"It will."
"Well, let's see. I met Jou and Honda a while ago. The used to be mean to me, but all that's different now. And I met Anzu at about that time, too. Oh yeah, there was this kid, Ryou, we hung out for a while. But he went into the hospital just out of the blue. They say he's got a split personality or something! He never seemed like a weird guy to me!"
At the mention if Ryou, there was a definite change in the doctor's tone, but he tried to hide it. "Have you done anything recently with your friends?"
"Hmm? Recently? I went out with Honda and Jou to see Anzu at work..." he paused in thought. "Well, I told Jou about Yami! I guess I forgot to mention him! Yami is a pharaoh from ancient times! He was in my Millennium Puzzle and he comes out to protect me. He's probably my closest friend. But he's like more that a friend to me..."
The doctor's eyes widened as he violently scribbled down more notes. "A pharaoh, you say?"
"Yes, the pharaoh who saved the world, or something like that. When we went to the Ancient Egypt Exhibit at the museum we learned all about him."
"And he is in your Millennium Puzzle?"
"Well, he was sealed inside, somehow. We aren't sure about that."
The doctor leaned in. "Why is he called Yami?"
"I don't know."
"How do you know he's really trying to help you?"
"I just know it!"
"How?"
"Because I do!"
"How?!" the doctor shouted.
Tears flooded into Yugi's eyes and they narrowed. He pushed back his bangs and they stood on end. When he got up, he seemed to be taller. The doctor had noticed that Yugi was walking with a slight slouch before that was gone. The slouch had shown doubt and uncertainty, while his improved posture displayed a man with greater self-confidence.
"Leave him alone," he said in a deeper voice.
"Yami, I presume?"
"The one and only. Why did you do that to my hikari?"
"I wanted to see if this would happen," he said, smirking. "You see, Yugi, you have MPS, or Multiple Personality Syndrome, as we call it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jinu