Chapter 2: Yuujou  

I'm gonna ask Joey. I'm sure he'll understand, after all we'd been best friends for so long… Bakura remembered, so maybe he will, too. I didn't really get to tell him before; he beat me up before I could even say Duel Monsters.

Yugi's heart filled with newfound hope and courage as he walked confidently to his classroom. Despite being alone, he did not somehow feel lonely anymore. After yesterday's gaming session with Bakura, he had felt better about himself.

School wouldn't start for five more minutes; so Yugi headed purposefully to Joey's desk. He was feeling a little trepid now, as he saw that the expression on Joey's face was even more furious than usual. Joey looked up as he saw Yugi standing in front of his desk.

"What's up, runt? Looking for a beating?" Joey taunted, slightly irritated. Why did Yugi always have to look so pleasant, even in the face of trouble? And his height… made him even better to tease…

"Uh… Joey, I…"

"Just spit it out, baka," Joey rolled his eyes impatiently.

"Joey do you remember anything about the Millennium Puzzle and… and D…Duel Monsters? Re…Red Eyes?" Yugi mumbled, looking at the ground, all his confidence gone.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!~" Joey yelled, fury building up. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!~ THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS THE MILLENNIUM PUZZLE!!~"

Clenching his fists, Joey lunged at Yugi. Thankfully, the bell rang, and Joey sank into his seat. Sighing, Yugi too returned too his place, but couldn't concentrate on his lessons, musing about Joey the entire day.

What can I do to make him remember…? I wonder if he knows about Duel Monsters RPG…

After school, however, Joey sought out Yugi, who was heading to the school rooftop as usual.

"Hey, Yug!" Joey called enthusiastically.

"Joey!" Yugi turned to see Joey giving him a friendly grin-or so he thought, and returned the smile.

But Joey's expression turned nasty, and he snarled sardonically, "Hehe Yugi. Since you lovvveee getting beaten up so much, take this!"

And with that, Joey punched him in the face.

~

Groaning, Yugi sat up. Why was everything so blurry? And where was he? The last thing he remembered was Joey beating him up. It had hurt so much. Yugi didn't mind so much the physical pain-he was used to it. But he felt betrayed; he had put all his hope in Joey, and now Joey…

"Yugi, there's no way you could've ever been my friend! You're just a little crybaby. Did you mean you were my punching bag? There's no friendship between us. No way!" 

When he had approached Téa, the results weren't that good either…

"What do you mean, Yugi? We've never been best friends…"

And she'd just walked away, giggling with her friends, leaving Yugi standing on the sidewalk.

Tears rolled down Yugi's cheeks, unchecked. He felt terrible. Why didn't anyone want to even look at him? There wasn't any reason, he got good grades, didn't create trouble, didn't offend people like Joey did, and generally just tried to stay out of everyone's way.

It's not fair… Why is it that people like Joey have so many friends, even if they go around beating people up? It's not that I wanna be popular… I just want to have someone to talk to and play games with… Bakura is my only friend, and I'm grateful. But he sits at the other end of the classroom and he lives so far away so we can't really talk or hang out together.

"Ow…" Yugi winced. He hadn't been beaten up this badly before. Reaching up to wipe away the tears from his eyes, he gasped in agony and shock as he saw his hand, which was stained with blood and tears. Yugi never did like the sight of blood, and he grew queasy.

Picking himself up, he used the wall as a support. His vision blurred and his exhaustion incremented, he realized that he couldn't stand, let alone walk home. But he could try… Taking a torturous step forward, he felt himself fall flat on his face, and passed out.

~

Yami felt pain searing through his body, and he opened his eyes momentarily. What had woken him at this graveyard hour? The Millennium Puzzle around his neck glowed, and he envisioned Yugi falling helplessly into an endless darkness.

//Aibou!! Please be okay! Can you hear me? Hikari!

Yami could feel all of Yugi's sadness and pain, and he felt his eyes moisten.

/Yami… Is it really you?

//I'm here, for real! Don't… Don't die on me okay?

~

Yugi felt someone shaking him gently, and he opened his eyes tentatively.

"Seto Kaiba!" he murmured, all his strength drained from him… and lost consciousness once more.

"Yugi, I thought you were dead! I got to get you home!" Kaiba carried Yugi all the way down from the school rooftop and helped him into his limousine.

"Go to the Kame game shop!" Kaiba instructed the chauffeur, impatience in his voice.

"Huh, if he hadn't been such a great duelist, I wouldn't care less. Anyway I'm helping him only this once. You owe me one, Yugi," Kaiba thought. "And that guy you call Yami too. I'm gonna beat you once and for all."  

Yugi awoke to the sound of his grandfather's voice, and squirmed as he saw that he was almost mummified. He did not really hurt any more, but didn't really remember what had happened. The last thing he remembered was Joey whacking him… and he had stumbled to the school rooftop…

"You're awake Yugi," a gruff voice addressed him.

Turning towards the direction of the voice, Yugi saw Kaiba standing in the doorway of his room, speaking to his grandfather.

"Yugi, I daresay you've got a fine friend here, my boy," his granddad commented. "He brought you all the way home yesterday when you were all bloody…"

Kaiba picked up the card on Yugi's desk, and smiled in recognition as he saw it was in the shape of Blue Eyes.

"You're beta testing Duel Monsters RPG?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's a great game… Were you the one who designed it?" Yugi asked, a little shyly.

He couldn't believe that Kaiba was being so nice to him, even though they had been classmates for years, and during that time, that were almost friends… Back when Joey was still treating him like a human.

"I am the CEO of KaibaCorp, you know… Or have you lost your memory? Like everyone else…"

Gazing at Kaiba in amazement, Yugi cried, "You remember? A… About Pharaoh Atemu, Duel Mon…"

Kaiba interrupted, "Course I do. Why do you think that card is in the shape of Blue Eyes? "

Kaiba left for school, and Yugi stayed home that day; he was medically exempted.

/Yami, are you real or not? I really don't know anymore…

//How come?

/Yesterday, I thought I heard your voice, calling me…

It was then Yugi realized in shock that someone, the owner of a very familiar voice had said "How come?"

Argh… I must be hallucinating… Yami is gone… He can't be here… Maybe Joey knocked me on the head too hard yesterday…

Just then, Yugi realized that school was over, and Bakura might be playing Duel Monsters RPG. And remembered that he'd forgotten to ask Kaiba whether he played it. Sure, he was the creator, but he didn't necessarily play it…

~

Kaiba grinned to himself, as he looked at the virtual world around him, pleased with his creation. He hadn't really got a chance to play it yet; he'd been too busy. And seeing that Yugi was playing… It could be a chance to make some friends, like Mokuba had been bugging him to. He'd told Mokuba to stand on his own feet at first, but after seeing Mokuba having so much fun with his friends…

He created his character carefully; making sure that it bore absolutely no significance to him in reality, and chose the player name "BlUeEyEsRuLeZ". Now nobody, not even Mokuba'd figure that he was Seto Kaiba.

Shaking his head, Kaiba realized that he was beginning to think that friendship was very important. All thanks to Mokuba and Yugi's preaching… He could also use this opportunity to watch Mokuba's back while he played Duel Monsters RPG.

As soon as he logged on, he saw Yugi and Bakura materialize in front of him. He never imagined that he'd ever be playing a game with two other people; he was usually an individualist who went around solo. Yugi and Bakura immediately invited him to join their party, and the three headed for the forest that lay ahead.

"Um, hi, where do you come from?" Yugi asked in his usual polite manner.

"I… uh…" Kaiba mumbled.

"Oh man, I sound like a blundering baka," Kaiba thought to himself. "So unconfident and shy…"

Thankfully, Yugi did not pursue the matter, and Kaiba heaved a sigh of relief.

"It's not easy making friends… How does Mokuba do it?"