Hello there.
As I was writing, I noticed that there were a lot of individual chapters that would be very fun to adapt, but they didn't have enough plot to make full fletched storylines, so I decided to adapt those chapters as segments in a longer chapter.
I decided to call this compilation 'The School Days', since they are stories focused mainly on the characters and less on complex plots.
I hope you enjoy it.
The Face of Truth
The days went by with no further incidents, Yugi didn't notice any other gap in his memory and nothing out of the ordinary happened. One day, Yugi was going home after a completely average day at school, when Katsuya and Hiroto stopped him.
"Jonouchi-kun, Honda-kun! Going home?"
"Yeah, but my friend here has something to ask!"
"H-Hey, Jou! You're asking Yugi?" Hiroto looked at Yugi dubiously.
"Don't worry! He's the man for this!" Katsuya laughed at his friend's reaction.
"Fine! H-Hey, Yugi…There's this girl I like, Miho Nosaka from our class, the girl who wears a ribbon in her hair. They call her 'Ribbon-chan', you know?"
"I think I do." Yugi had no idea where this was going, what does he have to do with Honda's crush?
"I'm trying to think about a gift to get her attention! Do you have any suggestions?"
"I'm not good with this…but maybe my grandpa can help you?"
The trio went to the Kame Game Store.
"I think I have the perfect thing!" Sugoroku searched for something behind the counter, "This is how I conquered Yugi's grandmother back in the day!"
"Really?" Hiroto asked reluctantly.
"Yes!" The old man put a box on the counter, "It's a blank puzzle! You write your words of love, break it up and give it to her! As she puts the pieces together, it reveals your message! Isn't that romantic?"
Yugi smiled nervously, that was way too corny!
Katsuya laughed, "I can't imagine you doing this, Honda!"
"This…this is perfect!" Hiroto slammed all his money on the counter, "But I never wrote something romantic before…Yugi! You do it! You're goth and goths love poetry, right?"
"I'm not goth! I just like eyeliner…and large belts…and dark clothes…give me that."
That night, Yugi spent a considerable time trying to write a decent love declaration, but he had nothing, he barely knew the girl after all.
"This will have to do, I guess."
"My beloved Ribbon-chan.
You look perfect with your yellow ribbon, I love you more than anything in the universe.
Love, Hiroto Honda."
"This is so cheesy." Yugi hoped that he wouldn't embarrass Honda too much.
"Well, it's not getting better than this so I'll just do my math homework instead…" Yugi opened his notebook, but something surprised him.
His homework was already done, it was written with very bad handwriting, but the answers were all correct as far as he knew.
Yugi didn't remember doing his homework, and math was his worst subject.
The next day, the boys went to class one hour earlier to prepare the present.
"How are we going to give her the puzzle?" Yugi asked.
"It has to be a place easy to find but that only she will find it." Hiroto closed his eyes thoughtfully.
"Just put it on her desk," Katsuya took the puzzle and shoved it under the girl's desk, "She will find it."
"Good morning, guys! What are you doing?" Anzu entered the class.
"Oh…err…Nothing!" Katsuya said.
The girl glared at them and they explained the situation.
"That's so cute! But are you sure that you should just leave it here?"
"Dude, trust me." Katsuya grinned.
"I'm not a 'dude'!" Their teacher, Chono-Sensei, entered the class, sending the group back to their own desks.
"Good morning, class! Before we start, let's do a quick inspection! Empty your desks and bags over your desks!"
Yugi and Katsuya looked at Hiroto.
He was frozen in place.
Miho found the present, she looked at it with confusion and put it over her desk. The teacher made a beeline to her desk.
"What is this, Nosaka-san?" Chono-sensei took the present.
"I…I don't know, I found it on my desk…"
The teacher opened the present, "A puzzle?" She took it to her own desk and started assembling it, "My beloved Ribbon-chan, you look perfect with your yellow ribbon…"
The whole class started laughing, Yugi never felt so embarrassed in his life.
"Now, who gave it to her? This kind of relationship is strictly forbidden in the school regulations! Now, will the sender please stand up?"
Honda stood up.
"No!" Yugi also stood up, "It was me! I wrote the message!" The class started laughing even harder.
"Wow, I didn't know Yugi was such a romantic guy!" "Hahaha! Mazaki, your man is abandoning you!"
"Nope! It was me! I put it on her desk!" Katsuya stood up.
Hiroto smiled, "Nah, it's my feelings on the puzzle!"
"...Three boys after the same girl? How outrageous! Then, you don't mind if I finish the puzzle, right? Whoever's name is in the puzzle, will be expelled!"
"Honda-kun!" Yugi felt his consciousness slipping away.
"Only four pieces and I'll know who did it!" The teacher started assembling the final pieces. Anzu felt sorry for the boy, but there was nothing that she could do.
Suddenly, Chono-sensei's makeup started melting, revealing her real appearance.
"Hey, look! Her face is melting!" The students started talking aloud.
The teacher stopped, "Class is over! Tell anyone what happened here, and I'll kill you!" The woman ran out of the room, covering her face desperately.
"That was close!" Katsuya said before going to the teacher's desk, breaking up the puzzle and shoving the pieces back into the box. Anzu looked around the class, glad that Hiroto was fine and feeling sorry for the poor girl who had to endure this.
As Anzu scanned the class, her eyes rested on Yugi, but he looked different. He was glaring fiercely at the door and had a regal aura around him. Yugi blinked, and he was back to the Yugi she knew.
"What was that?" She thought to herself, curious and concerned.
On the next day, Anzu found out that Honda was rejected.
The False Prophet
Yugi yawned, his memory gaps were getting frequent again and he had trouble waking up in the morning. Whoever was sharing the body with him was having his fun during the night, but thankfully he didn't kill anyone else. He was tired of looking into his wardrobe and finding things that he never bought, but he was willing to ignore the other Yugi if that prevented him from being thrown in an asylum.
"Hey, did you two hear about the psychic from class A?" Anzu asked.
"What? A psychic in our school?" Katsuya yelled.
"Yep! His name is Kokurano, they say that he can predict the future! I don't believe it but-"
"Let's go! I want to have my fortune told!" Katsuya interrupted her and dragged Anzu and Yugi to the psychic's class.
After entering the room, Katsuya noticed the dozens of girls in the class waiting to get their fortunes told, "Geez, Anzu! I can't believe you dragged us here! Go ahead! Have your fortune told!" He said in a loud and annoyed tone
"I did what?!" The girl glared at the blonde.
Suddenly, the school started shaking, stopping after a few seconds.
"Hey, you! I'm not a fortune teller, I have the power to predict the future!" Kokurano said while pointing at Katsuya, "Here, I had this prediction this morning!" He gave a piece of paper to the blonde.
"An earthquake will hit the city today…eh?!" The class started clapping.
"...Maybe I should have my fortune told…" Anzu approached the psychic.
Kokurano started fondling her hand, making her cringe.
"I see…I see a wonderful man appear before your eyes! He's someone close to you already, you'll fall so deeply in love with him that you'll swoon before him." Kokurano said.
Yugi couldn't stand this anymore, he had to do something, "Sorry, but this is a scam."
"...What did you say?" The psychic turned to the short boy.
"A scam? How dare you! You just saw Kokurano-sama predict the future!" One of his attendants screamed.
"It's not a hard trick at all! You just need to write a lot of generic predictions and keep them with you. When something happens, just show the pre-written prediction! The earthquake one is especially easy, there are earthquakes in Japan all the time! Eventually, there will be an earthquake in the city, it's statistics!"
Kokurano jumped on the desk and pointed at Yugi, "I can see your future! Countless letters will fall from the heavens and bring disaster upon you!" He screamed furiously.
Yugi was taken back by the boy's aggressive response.
"Ignore him, Yugi! You're the one who said that his predictions are bullshit!" Katsuya slapped his back.
"But I did hear a rumor, apparently, he predicted a fire at a student's house 3 days before it happened. The student survived, but he's still in the hospital…Yugi, be careful, okay? Who knows what he'll try to do to you?"
"Don't worry, I'll be careful!"
Yugi was putting his stuff in his bag, getting ready to meet with Anzu to go shopping on the way home, when he found a book under a student's desk.
"A book? Well, I still have some time before I meet Anzu so I'll take it to the library first."
Yugi was looking for the book's place, when he came to a sudden realization, "Countless letters falling from the sky…wait a minute!" As soon as he said that, the shelves started falling like dominoes. Seconds before being crushed, he blacked out.
From the fallen shelves, a dark being wearing Yugi's skin raised, "If I took one more minute to find it out, I would be dead! This only proves how dangerous Kokurano is…Anzu!" He ran as fast as Yugi's short legs could take him.
"Yugi, where are you? I was paid yesterday so I wanted to take you out for a treat! But you're taking so long…" Anzu was starting to get worried.
"Mazaki-san! Waiting for someone?" Someone approached her.
"Kokurano-kun? Well, yes." This guy creeped her out.
"I'm predicting something! Whoever you're waiting for will not appear, but someone way more wonderful will appear instead!"
"...Nah, that can't be true." As soon as the words left her, something covered her still open mouth, an intoxicating sweet smell entered her airways, there was only one sweet smelling substance used to knock people out that she knew.
Chloroform.
Anzu immediately freed herself and docked Kokurano in the nose with all her strength, then she took her bag out and started beating him with it.
"H-How?" The boy asked.
"Do. You. Really. Think. That. This. Is. How. Chlo. Ro. Form. Works?!" Anzu said between hits.
After a few seconds, another boy stormed into the classroom. He was obviously Yugi, but he had the same aura that he had during the incident with Chono-sensei.
"Anzu!" He screamed when entering the room, but soon relaxed when he saw Anzu kicking Kokurano on the ground.
"Who are you?" Anzu asked as she dealt one last kick, knocking Kokurano out.
"What are you talking about? It's me! Yugi!" The stranger said.
Anzu recognized that voice, it was the same voice as the person who saved her in the Burger World! This…thing, killed someone using her friend's hands! "No, you're a parasite inside my friend! Now tell me, who are you?"
"How dare you talk that way with me!" The creature took a step in her direction, but he suddenly fell on his knees, grabbing his head and groaning in pain, mumbling things like 'not now', 'one more second', 'you can't do this'. He stopped struggling and looked up.
It was Yugi, he was back.
Anzu hugged her disoriented friend.
"Anzu…I'm scared…" Yugi hugged her back.
The truth
Yugi took Anzu to his house, he needed a safe place to tell her that.
They went to his room, Yugi locked the door and closed the curtains. He sat in front of her and took a deep breath.
"Anzu, there's someone else inside me." He said.
"That much I noticed, but when did this start? You should seek medical help, Yugi."
"No! It's not a mental illness, I know that much! It all started when I finished this damned Puzzle. I thought about getting rid of it but something told me that this was a bad idea. I…I don't know what's happening to me, I don't know if I'm being possessed by an evil ghost or I got a split personality because of the puzzle, I don't know! But he…he always does what's better, I guess…he punishes the bad people, so he can't be that bad, right?"
"Yugi, he killed a man by burning him alive. That's cruelty."
"But he had you hostage! What if he killed you?"
Anzu couldn't answer, she knew she came close to death that day, "Yugi, that's not the point!"
"I did what was right, Anzu!" Yugi's tone and body language changed.
She was talking with the other Yugi now.
"...What should I call you? What's your name?" Anzu tried her best to not show weakness.
"Yugi Muto." The creature stated.
"...Okay, but my friend is also Yugi Muto, I still need something else to call you by."
"Why? We are one and the same, me and him. I'm everything that he always wanted to be, I exist to protect him and his loved ones. I am Yugi."
"So you're telling me that you're some kind of dark side that exists inside him?"
"...Maybe? I'm not sure, myself. I only know that I'm Yugi Muto, but if you really need something else to call me, then why don't you make something up?"
"Fine! I'll call you Asshole Yugi!"
"That's not wise." He glared at her.
"...Maybe Dark Yugi? You're like Yugi, but darker, more, well, bloodthirsty."
"I am not bloodthirsty, I only killed one person and he was a dangerous convict! But I'll allow it."
Anzu questioned Dark Yugi for hours. After she got enough, he claimed to be tired and returned the body to the real Yugi.
"D-Did he do anything weird?" Yugi asked, still trying to clear his head.
"No, we just talked. He claims to be Yugi Muto. I decided to call him Dark Yugi to make things simpler, I learned a lot about your tenant."
"Anything useful?"
"He hates your fashion sense but likes the eyeliner, he likes games, is good at math and history but horrible with geography and japanese. He likes Duel Monsters even if he never played and is pissed that you stopped playing. I have no idea how he likes a game that he has never played, but he couldn't explain it either."
"So…nothing useful at all? Do we even know what he is?"
"He didn't know, but he claimed to be part of you."
"Part of me that woke up because I solved an ancient toy?" Yugi asked dubiously.
"It's the best that we're getting."
"...Fine, I guess I can live with that."
"Yugi, can you…can you teach me how to play Duel Monsters? He talked about it with a weird enthusiasm, maybe playing it will help me understand what he is?"
"...Fine, but you'll need your own cards! A deck needs to be built by the user, but I'll lend you some of my old cards for practice. Let me get my own deck and spare cards."
"Your own deck? I thought you stopped playing!"
"I did," He took a small box from his drawer, "But I never said that I stopped collecting!" He smirked.
The Wild Gang
Katsuya sighed, this week was going like crap.
First he lost his job for punching a client who groped one of the waitresses, then his father took all of his remaining money, now he was hanging out with fucking Hirutani of all people because he threatened to jump his friends with the entire gang.
"Why the long face, Jonouchi?" Hirutani smirked.
Hirutani had left youth detention recently and wanted to get back his turf, and he couldn't do it without Katsuya.
"Nothing." He answered, the less he talked the better, he didn't want the gang thinking that he was their buddy.
A short business man bumped into one of the gang members, "Hey, why don't you look where you're walking?!"
Katsuya sighed, was he this petty in his gang days?
The gang threw the man on the ground and started kicking him, Katsuya felt dirty.
"C'mon, Jonouchi! Let's go to the bar, you remember it, right?" Hirutani slapped his back.
"Yeah…"
"Jonouchi-kun!" A familiar voice shouted.
"Yugi? Please, leave me alone! You don't want a problem with those guys!"
"Why did you skip school? Why are you walking with these people?"
"Hey, Jou, do you know this brat?" One of the delinquents lit a cigarette.
"Never saw him, let's go." He answered with a pained heart.
"Jonouchi, you're getting too soft! Do you let those Domino's twinks follow you around?" Hirutani chuckled.
"Jonouchi-kun! Come back with us, please!" Yugi begged.
"Hey, Hirutani! This brat is getting on my nerves!" The gangster punched Yugi.
Katsuya clenched his fist.
"Who the fuck said that you could talk to Jonouchi, huh? Next time I'll cut your hair out and shove it down your throat!" The gang member patted his shoulder, it disgusted him.
"Jonouchi! I knew that you hadn't changed!" Anzu screamed at him.
"Jou, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Hiroto helped Yugi.
He left without looking back.
"Hey, Jonouchi! Want some booze?" One of the delinquents offered him some whiskey.
"Nah, I'm good." He couldn't stand the smell of alcohol. He had to pretend that he liked the gang's company, but something was bothering him.
The guy who punched Yugi, just looking at him was pissing him off.
"See something you like?" The teenager laughed.
"I just realized something," Katsuya got up, "I can't forgive you!"
The blonde punched the gangster with all his strength, sending the other teenager flying across the room, "I'll never forgive you for hurting my friend!"
"Heh…that's what I've been waiting for, I was waiting for my vengeance, Jonouchi!" Hirutani gave a signal to his gang, and they surrounded Katsuya.
It was one against four, he couldn't take them all, but he was not going down without a fight.
The first enemy tried to punch him, but the blonde dodged. He sidestepped a second enemy and punched the third one. The fourth enemy grabbed him, but Katsuya threw him at the first one. The second opponent grabbed a bottle and tried to smash it on his enemy, but Katsuya grabbed his wrist and slammed his elbow on the enemy's nose, breaking it. He grabbed the bottle and smashed it on the third opponent's face, knocking him out.
One down, three to go.
The first and fourth one got up and ran at him, but Katsuya was faster, he dodged them but was taken off guard by the injured enemy, who stomped him on the back of his knees, bringing Katsuya down.
One of them kicked him in the face and then they started beating him up on the ground. Katsuya protected his face, but he was overwhelmed. After a few minutes the unharmed gangsters pulled him up by his arms while the injured one glared at him with a pained expression.
"Boys, let's take him to the torture chamber." Hirutani smirked as his henchmen dragged Katsuya along.
They beat him even more for at least one hour, eventually, Katsuya learned how to ignore the pain.
He spat blood.
"I like this view, Jonouchi." Hirutani smirked.
"And I like this view too…I can see the red-butt monkey and his pack…" Katsuya already lost, he had no reason to treat Hirutani with respect.
Hirutani chuckled, "You've been like this since middle-school…always acting like you're better than me…but it didn't matter, we were the best! I was the boss and you my second in command, everyone was afraid of us! Nothing could stop us! But you had to ruin everything…"
"You're the one who ruined everything, you fucking rapist! I saved that girl, you deserved to be shot by that cop!"
Hirutani's smile fell, "The next dish in our humble menu will blow up your mind," The gang took stun guns out, "Those are 200,000 volts stun guns, they are pretty strong! We might even kill you by accident…"
One of his henchmen approached Katsuya with the active stun gun.
"Get the fuck away from me!" He kicked his aggressor away, but the other one shocked him instead. It was one of the most excruciating pains he ever felt.
They kept shocking him for several minutes, careful to not keep the stun gun too long on him, they wanted him to suffer a little more. Eventually, it started raining.
"Hey, Hirutani-san! He's barely conscious, and it's raining! We should stop or we might actually kill him!" And they only thought about that now? Katsuya could feel his consciousness fading, was he going to die today?
He only wished that he could have seen his little sister one final time.
"Do it." Hirutani said.
"What?" The henchman asked in genuine confusion.
"Kill him!" The boss screamed.
"Shizuka…I'm sorry…" He blacked out.
He woke up, was this hell?
"Jonouchi-kun!" He focused on the person holding him.
Yugi.
Did they get him too? This couldn't be hell, then, Yugi would never go to hell.
If he was in heaven then it hurt way more than he thought it would.
"Jonouchi-kun! Please, answer me! It's me! Yugi!"
Oh.
He wasn't dead.
"Yugi?" He asked weakly.
"Yes! Yugi! Anzu and Honda-kun are here too!"
"Yu-YUGI!" He threw himself at Yugi with the little strength he had, "I'm sorry…"
"It's okay! One of that guy's lackeys told us everything! How can you be so stupid?" Anzu squatted by his side.
"Dude, you scared me for a second! I thought you were Hirutani's friend again! C'mon! Let's go to the hospital." Hiroto helped him up.
A raindrop fell on his foot.
"It…would be nice…if rain stopped already…"
"Jonouchi-kun, it stopped raining a few minutes ago." Yugi tried to help him even with his small stature.
"I see…" He smiled.
More water dripped.