Original Yu-Gi-Oh Series

Parallel

Chapter 047

Song: Echo Inada - Memories (feat. Sula Mae)

Originally Written: Friday, April 22, 2022 444AM to 539AM

. . . . .

Pharaoh wasn't sure who was worse: Marik, or Gozaburo Kaiba. Marik was torturing them one by one in horrible, inhumane ways that would surely stick with them for the rest of their and the survivor's lives. Gozaburo Kaiba added both Seto and Mokuba in protection plans concerning his and Noah Kaiba's deaths that would result in the building they died in being turned into a military war zone if their deaths were ruled to be caused by anything besides natural causes. Then the man's holographic remains told Seto he fully expected Seto to be the one to kill him. Like he was disappointed that Seto hadn't tried. Now they were being forced to duel on one of the man's old military testing base islands.

Yugi felt Pharaoh shudder occasionally in his brain. It made him shiver, and had him in his temporary bed on the Duel Academic's blimp. There were guest rooms in various buildings on the island, but he had a strong feeling he would not be sleeping there. He hid under the covers. Pharaoh couldn't decide who was scarier. Yugi already knew:

One was already dead, and hadn't guaranteed permanently scarred their backs with the holographic flames of a duel monster God. One didn't have to duel Joey in the semi-finals.

For the third time he had tried to walk out to the Duel Arena, and turned right back around. He pressed his hands against his eyes, shivering and shaking. Pharaoh had tried to get him to go, but…"No more." Yugi whispered. "No more. I can't…I can't see anymore." And Pharaoh would shake in uncertainty and his own fears.

Someone sat on his bed. They pressed a hand to his head. He hadn't even heard the door to his room open. Yugi shivered, taking comfort in the fact it couldn't possibly be Marik.

"Yugi?" Tea's voice was kind and soft, like honey tea for a sore throat. "Joey's dueling right now."

"...Is he winning?"

"They're pretty evenly matched, so far." Tea ran a hand down his side.

He wished he was a cat. Cats didn't have to worry about magical beings trying to kill their friends.

Tea reached under the covers, and drew a circle on the back of his hand. He watched her finger trace the familiar pattern. She drew it when Joey and Tristan joined their group. Then again as a reminder when Solomon lost his soul to Pegasus and Bakura joined their group. Again with Mai on a whim late at night in the rest houses in Duelist Kingdom. Yet again when Duke joined, and finally once more after Yugi realized the reason why Seto never joined them at the game shop was because he kept forgetting to tell him it was okay to bring Mokuba along. Tea already let him know that when Battle City was over, she was adding Serenity in. And Solomon and Pegasus, if he wanted.

"It's a symbol of our friendship!" Tea had said with a smile. Everyone else said it was a bullshit symbol she came up with on the fly, but no one actually contested it beyond that. Seto had stared at his hand in wonder for hours. Looking back on it, maybe Seto thought Tea had done some kind of magic like he could do. Maybe she had?

"I can't…" Yugi whispered. "I can't watch. I can't watch Joey get hurt like Mai. That madman took the first chance no one was around to duel to try to kill everyone."

"And Joey and everyone made it through. Yugi, Pharaoh. Joey will only lose if we stop believing in him." She continued to trace the symbol on his hand. "Marik only has as much on us as we give him."

'...Yes. She's right.' Pharaoh eventually spoke in Yugi's brain, sounding slightly more confident. 'He only has the power we give him. Joey won't give him any. Joey will win.'

"It can't be that simple."

"Why not?" And Yugi wasn't sure if it was Tea or Pharaoh who had asked.

He looked at the finger tracing on his hand. Tea had saved him. Tea hadn't known that his parents had a routine habit of leaving him places, or just locking him in places. Like they forgot they had a child. She hadn't known that he started fighting because he got tired of being locked in closets and then blamed for it like he was the one who locked himself in, and threw the world's largest fit.

His father, just a little over a foot taller than him, had calmly looked at him and said "If you want people to pay attention to you, you need to be more noticeable. Your hair and eyes can't do all the work for you."

So were they doing it on purpose as a test then? He didn't know but…No one liked when he tackled their legs, taking advantage of their unsteady stances. No one liked it when they dropped them to the floor and Yugi jumped on their chest and sat on them so he could break their noses easier, but they sure as hell paid attention to him then.

"You can't keep fighting like this. You or someone else is going to get hurt in a way you don't like." Tea looked at him and told him, "You have a strong body for someone so tiny. Why don't you dance instead?" She explained that dancing was like fighting. You just choreographed your movements so people didn't automatically assume you were a brute.

So Tea saved him from watching fights in juvenile detention. Now he got first row seats to literal death matches in a children's card game.

"Friendship is a two way street." Tea tapped his finger. "When you duel or get hurt, Me, Joey, Tristan and the others are just as worried as you are when we get hurt. C'mon. Up. Up."

Yugi moved the covers off his head. Tea looked at him patiently.

'Do you want me to take over?' Pharaoh asked.

'...When we get there.' He swung his feet over the edge of the bed and grabbed his duel disk and jacket. Pharaoh took over for just a bit to put the jacket on like a cloak. Yugi put his hands on his hips, if only to put in at least the act of confidence. Unfortunately, there was no breeze.

Tea giggled. "Like a superhero."

Yugi entered the building's dueling arena last. He pretended not to notice Tea giving the others a thumbs up. Seto stood behind Marik, looking winded. Pharaoh said he was shielding Joey. How he knew, Yugi didn't know, but someone really needed to give Seto some kind of raise or vacation. The sky was dark, indicative of shadow magic in play. Yugi hoped it wasn't a true shadow game, but it didn't really matter, did it. He stood in the entryway. Marik goaded Joey, ready to summon The Winged Dragon of Ra. Lines of red went from Joey and Marik to their duel monsters respectively.

Yugi took a deep breath. "You're still dueling, Joey?" He snapped. "Stop psyching out Amane and beat this dummy!" He circled around the field to meet up with the others.

Joey grinned while watching him. "Just about done wit 'im, Yug'!"