Magic and Leather

Yugi was confused. It wasn't too bad, the place he was in, altogether. Whatever he was sitting on was soft and cushy, and it was pleasantly warm, and the whole area had a feeling of calm safety. The problem was, he had no idea how he'd gotten there. Hence, the confusion.

"Hello?" he called out, trying to peer through the dark, trying to pick out any sort of shape. "Is anybody here?"

Someone stepped forward, a figure darker than the dark that surrounded him. Yugi blinked, frowning at the person, trying to pick out his face. As the man (more likely a boy, Yugi decided- the figure was hardly taller than he was) approached, Yugi found himself looking at a rather… varied image of himself. There was no mistaking his own signature hairstyle, and the face looked almost the same as his own. But the person standing before Yugi had eyes that were almost fierce… both dangerous, and inexorably enchanting. This person before him was everything Yugi had secretly dreamed of becoming.

"Who are you?" Yugi whispered, too awed to be afraid.

His strange twin smiled, a slice of white in the darkness, reminding Yugi of the way a cat grinned.

"For the moment," he replied, in deep, almost unconsciously seductive tone, "I'm you." He turned away then, disappearing back into the enfolding darkness.

Yugi swallowed, closing his eyes and focusing on remembering every detail of that mysterious person; the eyes flashing almost crimson in the dark, the smile almost taunting. "Oh," he finally whispered into the empty dark. "Well. That's alright then."  

Opening his eyes, he found himself staring at the first ceiling he'd seen in several centuries. It was nothing like the one from his own home, what little he remembered of his own home… or even like that of the dark chamber he'd spent the last five thousand years inhabiting. Tapping casually into the memories of the small one that was now his partner, he realized this must be the infirmary of the high school.

"Yugi?"

Getting used to a living body after being dead for so long wasn't so hard as he'd expected. What a joy the simple act of breathing could be! Sitting up slowly, he blinked at the one who had spoken.

Seto Nishimura was watching his friend with a critical stare. Yes, the features were similar to those of Yugi's, nearly identical in fact. But the way Yugi watched him with such a self-assured, wryly amused gaze, made it seem like he was a whole different person. And what had that whole affair with the glowing puzzle and passing out been about, anyway?

This alleged-Yugi seemed amused by Seto's close scrutiny, returning Seto's inquiring gaze with one of his own. This was the other, the stranger that had helped the small one solve the puzzle. He had been there when the spirit had fused with his new partner. "You saw what happened, didn't you?"

"I saw something happen," Seto replied slowly, his eyes narrowing. The voice was different from Yugi's. Either this was some sort of trick, or this really was a different person. "I'm not quite sure what it was, yet."

The spirit nodded, amused. "What you saw, was the beginning of the fulfillment of a very ancient prophesy."

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" Okay… either Yugi had gone mental or Seto had.

Standing up, the spirit grinned at his companion, daring him to dispute him. "I don't seem like the friend you know, do I? I look like him, but there's just something not right about me, isn't there?"

"If you're not Yugi, then who are you?" Seto demanded. If this was a joke, it wasn't amusing. But Yugi… really didn't seem like Yugi. And also… were Yugi's eyes red now, or was that a trick of the light?

The spirit smiled slightly to himself, thinking back to the time spent trapped within the Puzzle. His name had been lost in that darkness, and so he had taken the darkness' name for his own. "I'm known as Yami."

Seto didn't look terribly impressed, or convinced. "Right. Yami."

"You don't believe me?" Yami looked amused. "But you believe your own eyes. I felt your touch aiding the small one-"

"Yugi," Seto interrupted. "His name is Yugi."

Yami paused, then nodded. "Right. Yugi. I suppose I must get used to that…" He raised an eyebrow at Seto. "So you do believe I am not Yugi?"

"Assuming for the moment that I do believe you're not Yugi," Seto said, "how does it happen that you 'are' Yugi, at the moment? Or… inhabiting his body, or whatever. Are you some sort of ghost?"

"I prefer the term 'spirit'…"

"Whatever. Why are you possessing Yugi?"

"No, demons do the possession thing," Yami commented, enjoying bantering with Seto. "I am merely co-inhabiting this form."

"So Yugi's still in there?" That was something of a relief. As admittedly sexy this spirit happened to be, Seto would prefer to have the innocent Yugi back.

"Yes," Yami said. "And that's why I needed to talk to you. I need to ask you not to tell him about what happened when he finished the Puzzle… or about me. You saw the event, my merger with Yugi, and I feel I can trust you. And you must keep my existence secret."

"Why?"

"For one thing, Yugi is not ready to know about me. He senses me on some subconscious levels, but he'll think of my presence as a dream, or an intuition, and for now that's how it should be. And for another thing, if others knew of me, Yugi would be in grave danger. Do you swear to keep my secret?"

Seto thought about it. If he were the one going crazy, it would probably be better that he didn't tell anyone, anyway. "Alright, on two conditions. The first being, you don't… stay like this unless it's necessary, okay? I want you to go away and let Yugi come back."

Yami nodded; it was an easy enough request to grant, that's how he had planned to do things anyway. "And the second condition?"

"Whatever you did to possess Yugi, or 'co-inhabit' him or whatever… just don't go doing that to me."

Yami smirked, walking closer to Seto and noting with faint amusement how short Yugi's body really was compared to others. "Oh? I hadn't thought of such a thing, but now that you mention it, your body would be a far superior choice. Taller, certainly, and more handsome as well…" He reached up and lightly touched Seto's cheek.

Seto's eyes narrowed at such a blatant violation of his personal space, and smacked Yami's hand away. Yami moved away with amusement glittering in his eyes.

"Ah well, you'll be pleased to know that despite your obvious potential, it is only Yugi's body that I will be borrowing from time to time. You are perfectly safe."

"Uh-huh," Seto grumbled. "Strangely enough, I get this feeling that you are in no position to guarantee the safety of anyone. Back to my original question; why have you come to 'borrow' Yugi's body?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

Yami looked slightly perplexed, but the expression was fleeting. "Because I… don't remember."

"You don't remember?"

"Do you believe in destiny?"

Seto closed his eyes, picturing the heavy door to an executive office, a golden plaque on the door proclaiming proudly, "Seto Kaiba, CEO." The way things could have, should have been. And some day, the way things would be. "Yes," he finally answered, opening his eyes. "Yes, I do believe in destiny."

Yami nodded in satisfaction. "Then believe me when I tell you I am here because I was destined to be. Perhaps I don't know the specific reason yet, but such is the nature of destined things."

"Well, considering the other strange things I've seen today, I don't see the harm in believing that." Seto shrugged. "Alright, I'll keep your promise. Now give Yugi back."

Yami watched Seto with an unreadable gaze for several moments. "You are Yugi's friend, aren't you?"

"Obviously. From what I can tell, one of the few."

"Would you care to be mine as well? I have a feeling I'll be here for a while, and… I could use an ally that does know of me."

The look on Yami's face was just so… honest, that Seto found himself agreeing. "Alright. I'll do what I can to help… so long as it's not going to be hurting Yugi."

Yami smiled faintly at that. "I assure you, hurting Yugi is nowhere near my intention. Thank you." He closed his eyes, concentrating.

Seto watched, noting the very subtle changes that occurred as Yami left, and Yugi's sweet personality reached the surface. Yugi looked very confused as he opened his bright violet eyes, blinking at Seto. "Seto? What- I… what happened?"

Seto thought about the very strange things that had happened, that he had sworn not to tell Yugi about. So he gave a slightly altered version of events. "You passed out up in the classroom, and were brought here. You've been asleep for a few hours."

"Passed out?" Yugi asked.

"Yeah, they think there's some sort of gas leak on that floor or something…" Seto shrugged. "Nothing to worry about, you're alright now."

"Oh…" Yugi shrugged, accepting his friend's explanation. After all, why would Seto lie to him? "Well… d'you want to come over to my house and play Duel Monsters or something?"

"Sure…" Seto frowned, glancing at his watch. "Oh, but I have to go pick up my little brother from school first. Want to come with? You can come over to my house instead, you've got your dueling deck with you…"

Yugi cheerfully agreed, grabbing up his stuff to get ready to go. Seto smiled ruefully, glancing at the Puzzle that Yugi grabbed last. He wondered if the spirit Yami was still around, watching all of this. Life sure would be interesting from now on…