Big Games

ch3

Anzu Mazaki made her way down the quiet streets of the neighborhood, not in any hurry to be going anywhere. She had stopped by Jounouchi's place but he had already left for somewhere, and no one was answering at the Game Shop. She just wanted to know if Yugi had recovered, he had looked so weak after that duel and she couldn't get the image of the King of Games collapsing to the ground out of her head. The only thing that would stop her worrying is if she was able to see Yugi better now.

Or did she just want to see Yugi himself?

She felt heat rise to her face as she caught herself blushing. Looking around quickly to make sure no one noticed this, luckily it was one of those quiet days as no one was around. She mentally slapped her self for thinking that way; they were best friends after all she couldn't really have feelings for…

"Oh who am I kidding!"

Again she slapped herself mentally, of course she had feelings for him, the little guy had risked his life for her time and time again, how could he not rub off on her. Not to mention he was kind of cute.

"More like really cute."

Again she blushed.

"But why does he have to be so short."

She began to imagine Yugi a few years from now, hoping that time would give him a bit of height. How gorgeous he would be, if he were tall, then they could stroll through the park her head resting on his shoulders as enjoyed each other's company.

She let herself get lost in her dream clinging to her 'ideal' Yugi, looking up into his eyes… correction… into Yami's eyes. "Those eyes… so… so..." So easy to get lost in. "Geeze Anzu, snap out of it."

When she removed herself from her daydreams, she nearly screamed at where she had found herself. With all her thinking she must have unconsciously taken the path to the Game Shop and was now four houses away from its front door. Now she kicked herself mentally for allowing herself to do so.

"Way to go." She said to herself, feeling embarrassed though no one was around. "Oh well, maybe someone is home now and I can see how Yugi is doing."

"Hey, Gramps?" Jounouchi asked Solomon as they both sat next to the still unconscious form of Yugi. "I just have to ask…what have you been feeding this kid!" He yelled.

"This is not my doing!" Solomon shot back. "He was fine yesterday before he left with you and Anzu." He paused for a moment remembering Yugi saying he had a 'busy' day. He narrowed his eyes at Jou. "Did you three get into some kind of trouble? As in shadow games?"

"Uuuh…" Jou didn't know what to say, he knew how Solomon gets when he hears about Yugi playing shadow games, and he didn't want his buddy in trouble again.

"Grandpa?" Yugi said as he began to come too, ultimately saving Joey from Solomon's glare of doom. "Oh man, I had the strangest dream." He started to sit up. "Why am I on the floor?" he looked around and saw his grandfather smiling awkwardly at him, and he also noticed Joey with the biggest grin across his face.

"Yugi" The spirit called out from the millennium puzzle. "You must stay calm Yugi."

"Yami? … It wasn't a dream was it?" Yugi asked. Yami did not reply, instead materializing in spirit form for Yugi to see.

"Does this answer your question?" He said, folding thick ethereal arms over a well-muscled chest.

Yugi put his head in his hands not believing in the sudden change he had gone through. "Oh man, oh man, oh man." He repeated to himself over and over again.

"Hey Yug' buddy, you alright?" Joey said placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"No I am not alright, I'm a freak of nature!" Yugi yelled as he got up, looking at himself in the mirror again. He took a deep breath trying to keep himself from fainting once more, he became aware of just how tight his shirt was now clinging to him and for once was happy he wore his pants a few sizes too big, as his legs now threaten to burst through them. He also realized he was no longer wearing his school jacket, remembering clearly that he had been far too tired to remove it the night before. He looked over to his bed and saw the blue school colors of his jacket… in pieces. "Oh man, I'm a freak."

"You are not a freak Yugi!" His grandfather stepped up next to him. "You've just… had a growth spurt is all."

"Grandpa! I'm like… three of me put together, no one grows this much overnight! Especially not in this way!"

"I don't see what all the fuss is about, I think its kinda' cool." Jou said as he too joined Yugi by his side, poking at a bicep. "I mean look at these pythons, you could totally mop the floor with Kaiba now!"

"No way Joey, the last thing I want to happen is for Kaiba to see me like this." Yugi said trying to shoo away the curious Jou and his constant prodding. "Stop that!"

"Sorry, I can't help it, this is just too cool." Jou laughed.

Hello? Anyone home, the front door was open.

A voice came from the store portion of the Game Shop causing the three to panic, mostly Yugi who recognized the voice first. "Oh no, that sounded like Anzu! Hide me!" He started to pace back and forth going into shock again. He couldn't let Anzu see him like this, what would she think?

"Don't worry Yug' I'll go get her." Jou volunteered. "She's gonna have to see you sometime, I might as well prepare her for it." Without another word he started out the door down the stairs, not giving any time for Yugi to argue.

"No wait! I can't! She can't! I wont! Wait!" Yugi was panic stricken again and only getting worse. Solomon tried to push him towards the bed, making him sit down, but Yugi would just get back up again, freaking out.

Suddenly Yugi felt himself partially lose control of his body as his hand rose by itself and slapped him across the face. "Ow!" That brought him out of his state for a second, long enough for the spirit of the puzzle to get a word in.

"Yugi, sit down and allow me to take over now. You've been through a lot, allow me to confront Anzu." Yami spoke through the link, his voice stern. "Observe from the sidelines and allow yourself to think on what has happened." … "Don't make me slap you again."

"But…" Yugi began only to be cut off.

"But nothing, rest now." There was a slight flicker of light from the millennium puzzle as Yugi's head lowered; he let out a long sigh as his body relaxed. Solomon noticed this and placed a hand on his grandson's swollen shoulder.

"Yugi? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine grandpa." A deeper voice replied, sharp crimsons eyes staring back into the older mans. Yami had taken over and was now taken back by the feeling of Yugi's new body. "Interesting." He said to himself, flexing his limbs a little to test their
movement. "Very, interesting."

Hurried footsteps where heard coming up the stairs towards Yugi's room. Now the pharaoh himself couldn't help but feel a bit nervous with the thought of confronting Anzu. He was well aware of the feelings his partner had for the girl, he too shared feelings for her, but he blamed it on the link he and Yugi shared. Even so, he would not allow them to grow into anything else but that, simple feelings, it would not be right and would only cause more awkwardness. All he could do now was steel himself and hope she didn't freak out too much.

Suddenly the door flew open, with a flustered Anzu pushing past poor Joey with shouts of ' What do ya' mean something's happened! I need to know if he's alright!' When she finally got through she saw him, and froze on the spot. She didn't believe it was Yugi at first, thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her. He was slightly taller then her now as he looked right back at her, a hint of fear in his eyes.

"Yugi?" She asked looking over his entire body, she felt heat rising to her face again as a blush crept up on her. Her eyes met his crimson ones, and that's when she realized it was Yami in control as well and her blush reddened.

"Hi… Anzu." Yami said, his face also quickly reddening as he noticed her practically gawking at him. He raised his hand to scratch the back of his neck, but it only made things worse as the position only showed off more of his new physique.

"Oh, my… god." She said, before running down the stairs shouting something that sounded like 'I think left the oven on I'll be right back!' She ran out the shop and closed the door, leaning against it thinking of what she had just seen. That chiseled chest, those strong looking arms. Yugi had just become everything she was daydreaming about on her way over, though he was a bit more of a beefcake then she imagined. Not only that, it was Yami she had looked upon, those eyes that she couldn't look into without being lost in them. She could hardly breath.

This time she threw the mental bucket of water at herself, now ratting on what a horrible friend she is. Yugi has just gone through something uber weird and she runs off without even asking how or why or if he is feeling all right. Her face set stern, she was now determined to go back up there, find out what happened, and hope Yugi wasn't mad at her for running out like that.

Now, if she could only force her legs to move, she would do just that.

Daytime now, the men still watched from their hiding spot, now covered in a green tarp so their black cloaks would not stand out amongst the green of the bushes.

"Anything yet Zane? I'm getting hungry." The raspy voiced man whined.

"Quiet. I haven't seen the kid yet, but some other guy went in and that girl we just saw just ran back out like something spooked her." The deep voiced one, or 'Zane' spoke. "Strife, was she the same girl that Ruze took hostage at the duel?"

The raspy voiced one, or 'Strife' turned over to get a good look at who his partner was looking at. "Hmm, looks like, maybe she's his girlfriend or something." He let out a small laugh. "She's pretty though, kinda' hard to think she's with that little guy."

"Keep your mind on the task at hand." Zane said sharply still looking through binoculars at the little Game Shop.

"Then why are you still staring at her?" Strife chimed in, nudging his partner with his elbow. Zane didn't have a comeback because he felt the same way as Strife, bored, cold, and hungry. This girl was a welcomed change to staring at nothing. "Hrrr… just… just shut up."