Some days passed, and conditions at Yugi's home did not improve. His mother continued assaulting him with curses and sometimes light beatings. Each time this occurred, Yugi became, little by little, more depressed. It upset him that despite the fact he kept trying to talk with her and work things out that she refused to do the same. For among the first times in a while, Yugi was having doubts that the constant feuding between him and his mother would end.
Luckily, his friends had been there for him. He would always come to the school or go somewhere with them upset or distracted, but they would always make him feel better. At first, he was worried about telling them what had been happening at home, thinking they may not understand, but he had been glad he had once he saw what they did for him and how much they meant to him. Yami Yugi even comforted him, especially during the night when he was seemingly alone. Though they could never take his troubles off his mind, his friends could always uplift his spirit.
A windy yet sunny day, Yugi, Honda, Jounouchi, Otogi, and Anzu were heading back to Yugi's house after school. His Grandfather again received a shipment of new cards, and the gang was curious to see. Like previous days, Yugi was still bothered by his home conflicts, but would not let that stop him and his friends from having a good time. Coming within a few blocks of his home, Yugi laughed along with the gang's crude jokes and stories.
Today will be a good day…today is a good day, he thought to himself, hoping nothing would go wrong. Nothing can ruin it, and nothing will.
Being only a few buildings down from Yugi's house, Anzu noticed Yugi's mother's car parked outside of the house, which was unusual. Yugi looked closely at the small, green car, and noticed the trunk was open, along with the back passenger doors. Inside the car, some boxes were shoved neatly in the trunk, and two large, heavy suitcases rested on the back seats. A shocking, fearful and hurtful feeling was sent through Yugi. He saw what was going on, and he wasn't going to let it happen!
"She can't…" he said to himself. The others looked down at him, understanding the looks of the situation.
He ran ahead of the others and passed his Grandfather, who was standing outside and ran into the house, the door already open. Sugoroku had tried to call to his grandson, but he was deaf to almost everything at that time. Tripping a few times, Yugi dashed up the stairs to his mother's room, where she stood over her bed, packing her final suitcase.
"Mom, what are you doing?" he asked her, panting and nearly crying.
"What you and my no-good husband did to me," she growled softly. Her eyes began to water with tears, but assumingly not tears of sadness.
"How could you?" Yugi screamed at her. "I won't let you do this! Please tell me…that you aren't really…"
His mother turned her back to him, finishing putting her clothes into her suitcase. She ripped her alarm clock off her nightstand, and shoved it in one of the side pockets. Quickly, she zippered the pocket shut, completing her packing. All the while, Yugi continued shouting at her.
"Why? Why would you do this?" he shouted, tears beginning to fill his eyes. "Was it really this bad? Was I really this bad? Is this what we deserved?"
She lifted her suitcase and began to walk away. Viciously, Yugi grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her towards him.
"Why won't you talk to me?" he asked. "It doesn't have to be this way!"
"Yes, it does," she nearly mumbled. An angry yet somewhat sad look covered her face. "It is for the better."
"What about Grandpa? What about me? What about you? What about us?" he continued asking questions, which finally began to annoy her. "Don't you think we still have a chance? We do, but why won't you grab it?"
She attempted to walk away, but Yugi pulled her back. He wanted answers, and would not release his hold until she gave him some.
"We need time apart," she finally began to answer. "Nothing's working here, and there is no need to keep kicking a horse that will not run."
"What are you saying? That we'll never get along? That all this between us will never become right? That there is no hope?" he asked of his relationship with her. "Well you're wrong! There is, but your stubbornness stops you from seeing something you know is there!"
"Yugi, you must let me go! I don't belong here. It's been made clear," she said trying to walk away again.
"No! I won't! You need to stay! You need to!" he held her harder.
"In this shit hole? No! I won't waste my time anymore," she exclaimed.
"You won't be the catalyst of our destruction! You can't do this to us, Mom! It can't end like this!" he began as he held back his tears. "I won't let it come to this. It's not over! I refuse to believe it is, just as I refuse to believe you want to tear us apart! Why can't you? Why have you lost faith? Why have you let the thoughts of hopelessness plague your mind?"
She looked away as pushed her chin up for her to look at him in the eye. She made a final attempt to escape from him, but again ended in utter failure.
"Move, Yugi…" she told him in a bit of a louder tone, but he interrupted her.
"No!" he continued to defy her. "I won't let this happen!"
"Yugi," her voice grew louder still.
His screaming was loud enough to be heard from outside, where his friends could only listen to him cry. They, too, were shocked and greatly saddened by this turn of events; sad for their friend, who was possibly about to suffer a great loss, and shocked that something like this could happen to him. Unsure of what to do in this situation, they stood outside and waited, afraid they would only worsen the situation if they entered.
His screaming would continue on for only another minute. His mother wanted to leave before it could get any worse. She had hoped to be gone before he arrived home, but she had been too slow, and now was stuck with the guilt of confronting her son. Without any other idea in mind, she raised her hand and with all her might, slapped him across the face. The force was so strong he released his hold and was pushed back, but did not fall. He only stood in shock that his mother, with her own hands, had struck him. It was not so much the pain from the slap that hurt him, but that had never once put a hand on him until that moment. She had hit him with a broom, but not extremely violently, and it hardly hurt at all. However, this had been among the worst of pains Yugi had ever felt.
Yugi stood in the room, staring at her in shock. Perhaps…it was this bad, he thought to himself. He held his cheek where she had struck him as he watched her lift her suitcase back into her hand and slowly walked out the door, only she shed tears as she proceeded. He continued to stand there, debating whether to chase her or not. He fell to his knees and began to cry. He came to the realization that his mother was serious about leaving, about moving out, about abandoning him and his grandfather. He continued to think of it over and over in his head. Is this for the better? Is this what she wants? What have I done?
Time seemed to be put in slow motion at that time.
As a mere infant, hardly a year old, Yugi played alone in his sandbox, with his small, plastic shovel and pale. Dumping out a pile of sand back into the sandbox, Yugi looked around the large park of Domino City, seeing a few other children run around in the grass or going down the slide or gliding on the swings. Though he wished to join them, he couldn't help but fear of spoiling their fun. In that case, he continued sitting by himself.
He looked down for a moment, to again fill his pale, but when he looked up again, a familiar woman sat with him. She had gotten her self a little shovel, and was helping him fill the pale with him. She smiled at him, brushing through his hair, which was just growing in.
"I'll play with you. You don't need to be alone," she said to him. He knew this woman as her mother, the one that had taken care of him since birth. He could not recall any father in his life, him being gone constantly and never sending the family a message of any sort. Of course, he knew not about the unsent messages, but he did know that she had truly been the only one that was his guardian, his parent.
Happily, the babyish Yugi smiled, and the two of them joyfully played together until the afternoon faded to evening.
Time began moving at its normal pace again after Yugi heard the slam of a car door. He remembered! It hadn't been all bad before! He knew that though he could not bring that memory to the present, there was still a chance, just as there had always been, just as he had always knew. He stood up from his knees and ran after her. He would give one last chase!
Yugi's mom threw the last suitcase into the car and slammed the door shut. Sugoroku had again tried to talk to her, but she merely shouldered him out of the way. Jounouchi, Honda, Otogi, and Anzu, then approached her, but were almost without words to say to her.
"Mrs. Mutou, wait," Jounouchi tried to talk to her as she pulled the car keys from her coat pocket and opened the driver's door. "You can't leave him…"
"Shut up," she snapped as she went in. She slammed the door shut, buckled her seat belt in, and started the car. Tears began flowing like a river down her cheeks. Hesitantly, she put the car in reverse.
Running as fast as he could, Yugi leaped out the doorway. His mom was already pulling out, away from the house. He stopped only for a second, and then ran towards the car, trying to stop her.
"It's not over!" he yelled to her, and she did indeed hear him through the windows, much to her distress.
Looking at him for only a brief bit, she turned away, tears still rolling down her face, putting the car into drive. The car began pulling away from him.
"Wait! We can make it right!" he called to her, but the car did not stop, only continued down the straight street.
Knowing he would not outrun a car, Yugi chased after his mother anyway. He continued yelling to her, repetitively pleading for her to stop and come back. While she could not hear him, she knew very well what he was saying, and continued driving. Every now and then, she'd look in her mirrors, and watch as her son helplessly chased and called for her, crying all the way. Eventually, she reached a turn, which she was going to take. At this point, she turned the car away from the street of her old home, and Yugi, who had ran after her all the way down the street.
"Don't go…please…I love you…" he gave a final shout as the car turned away and was out of sight. It was over. She would not come back. Again, he fell to his knees, bawling in tears to the sky, his voice echoing down the city streets. "Mother!"
He didn't care how out of breath or how tired he was. He kept on screaming for her, in a desperate hope that she might come back. This hope would not be fulfilled.
He was even smaller in their view, but Yugi's grandfather and friends saw him down the street. They saw him attempt to bring her back, running that far to try and stop her departure. They heard him continue crying for her, despite that she was gone and not coming back. Even though this was not their own family, they cried for him, knowing that he was deeply hurt. Worst of all, they almost did nothing, and felt that there was nothing they could have done, to stop the pain they foresaw from coming.
Yugi spent several minutes at the end of the street where his mother turned away, continuing to cry and shout. Finally, he made his way back to the house, where his friends and grandpa waited for him together. He could not stop the tears from flowing at this point, and nor could they.
"Yugi," Anzu walked up to him. The others followed closely behind her. "We're so sorry!"
Her words, and everyone else's, seemed to go in one of his ears and out the other. His grandfather went to hug him and give him a shoulder to cry on, but Yugi walked away from it. He went inside and up to his room, locking the door and laying on his bed.
"My God," Honda said. "Will he be okay?"
Sugoroku could not respond.
"He has to be okay. It's Yugi, right Mr. Mutou?" Anzu asked him. He shook his head, wiping his tears away.
"I'm not sure. We can only hope," he told them. "He took it much worse than I expected him to."
Yugi cried into his pillow, questions running through his mind on how this could have happened. He cried not just because of sadness and a feeling of abandonment, but anger. His mother was trying to tear his family apart, and he couldn't stop her! To make it worse, it seems like his mother blamed many things on him, and he felt that he was probably her reason for leaving. Thinking of this, Yugi couldn't help but feel responsible for driving her out.
In spirit form, Yami Yugi appeared next to him. Yugi looked up, and even though he was not really there, Yugi somehow saw him next him. He took only one look and turned away. Yami leaned closer to him.
"Aibou, this was not your fault. Don't blame yourself," he told him. Yugi only ignored him and continued crying into his arms. "Hikari, I understand how you must feel…"
"Oh, so you've been through exactly what I've been through? How do you know? You have no memory!" Yugi yelled.
"Please, calm yourself. You tried to bring her back, but she did not see things as you did," Yami tried to explain. "And how do you know that she was trying to tear your family apart? Perhaps it was another reason."
"What other reason could there be? She never got along with me, or Grandpa!" he said. "With my dad never here, she needed someone to blame, so why not blame us, huh?"
Yami Yugi was sad for his friend, but hated to see him be so stubborn.
"You have a reason to be upset, but don't be crazy," he continued to try to calm him. "You're better than this, Aibou. Be strong. Things'll become right, you'll see…"
"Stop! Just stop!" Yugi snapped. "You have no idea what this is like! Maybe you know what it is I feel, but you don't know how painful it is! She's gone now, and there's nothing I can do about it! She's gone!"
Viciously, he got off the bed and snatched the picture of him and his mother off the little table next to him. He took one disgusted look at it, and chucked it as hard as he could at the wall. The frame that surrounded it shattered and broke to pieces. Just that little sight of his mother upset him, and made him oppose her even more. Yugi found an empty shoe box nearby, and shoved all the pieces of the frame and the picture into it. He then buried it under his bed, not wanting to even think about it anymore. To him, his mother was dead.
Downstairs, Yugi's friends and grandpa heard the breaking of glass. Worried, they ran upstairs and tried to open the door, only to unsurprisingly find the door was locked. They knocked and called for him, but Yugi did not respond.
"Yugi, open the door!" his grandpa tried to demand, but it did not work.
"Please, come out," Anzu pleaded.
"I'm going to go outside and make sure he didn't try anything crazy with glass," Otogi said as he ran outside.
Somehow, though unable to see him, they knew he didn't hurt himself. They knew he was too good for that. However, they did know that he was still in pain, and they were willing to try anything to make him feel better.
"I know that you're upset, but you've gotta get over this," Honda told him.
"Yeah, you're too good to get over pissy about this," Jounouchi explained. "Yugi, you're incredible, overcoming so many odds, even when doubted. You can get over this one, too, man. I know you can! Please, for us…"
There was nothing else anyone could say. They would wait for him downstairs for him to come to them. They cared not how late it was or how late it would get. What was important was the emotional health of their friend.
"Aibou, Jounouchi is right. It's been clear to us that there is nothing you can't overcome," Yami Yugi continued talking to him. "Nothing was ever easy, and this now may be the hardest one, but it is not impossible, especially for you. You are strong, and there is no doubt to it. Don't give up."
Yugi stood frozen next to his bed. He was reminded of his inner strength, but he still needed time to think, to recover, before he could show himself. Slowly, he sat back on his bed, still crying, but finally having the strength to wipe his tears away.
The night was late, close to midnight. Yugi still had not come out of his room, but at least no fearful noises came from there. They would wait until morning if they had to, but that would not be necessary. Yugi finally left his room to join them.
"Yugi, let me explain some things," Sugoroku went to him. Everyone else followed. "You're mother, she had a few problems. With your father never home, it was hard for her to raise you. She also felt a bit of loneliness, thinking he'd rather be other places than with his family. Luckily, she always had you to keep her company, and to spend time with and have some relaxation. Maybe you two never always saw eye to eye, but you did get along for the most part, and though it wasn't always obvious, she cared for you deeply, like you care for her."
Yugi felt a bit better after hearing that.
"But then you were growing up," he continued. "And you began spending a lot of time with your friends, and even before that, putting together your puzzle. She began feeling that you too, were breaking away, and she was so afraid of losing you. Don't think that you have done wrong, Yugi, because you haven't. You did your best to keep your relationship up with her, despite the fact you were getting older, but she just didn't understand nor accept that you were growing up and needed your own time. That's why she became so unhappy. She thought that you were gone like her husband, when in reality you were always there. She used that broom on you in hopes that you would return to her, but that was stupid. She only shoved you farther. And when she realized that, she felt that it was hopeless and that she didn't need to stay anymore. I tried to talk to her, and talk her out of it, but she had already made her decision. I'm sorry, Yugi. I too, tried to make her stay, but I failed as well."
Despite all that his grandfather told him, he still felt responsible for her leaving. And even though the past few weeks with her had not been well, he still missed her. He wished he could have made her come back. He stepped towards his Grandpa, and began crying in his shoulder.
"Grandpa," he sobbed, "why didn't she tell me? I could have helped her, and stopped all this from happening. It didn't have to go like this."
Sugoroku hugged his grandson as he cried harder.
"I know," he said to him, "but it was not your fault, and don't think for a second that it was."
Yugi's friends gathered around him, and hugged him as well, even Yami Yugi.
"She'll realize that she made a mistake, and she'll come back," Anzu assured him.
"In the mean time, you still have us here for you," Honda reminded him. "And we're not goin' anywhere."
For the first time in seemingly forever, Yugi smiled. He was still very upset, but the great feeling of love was now with him.
"Thank you," he told them all. "I love you guys. You are possibly the only family I have ever had."
Author's note: The conflict that is seen in chapters one and two is not what the story is based around, nor is it the storyline. It is just one of many problems that will occur, I promise! You'll see a bit further in what direction it's truly heading toward.