The lady peered in the mirror. She scowled at the small little imperfections and pulled herself away from the reflective surface.

She took a glimpse at the small body that lay present in the bed. Their feet were covered with velvet shoes and their toes were pointed delicately. The blanket covered them and made their cold skin warmer.

The children barreled in and made their seats in front of her. She begrudgingly took the book from the shelf and sat on her chair.

"Let's get into reading."

She tried to smile.

Yugi's eyes fluttered open. He was surprised to how quickly he had gotten used to living inside a home. He felt very warm and comfortable, learning what foods he liked, what clothes he liked and who he felt comfortable around.

He dressed and made his way downstairs, fiddling with the oversized sleeves that cuddled his arms loosely like a sloth dangling down from its favourite branch to eat leaves.

Yugi had just learned about sloths and was very fond of their faces.

The boy happily ate his breakfast, chatting away to his grandfather, when the door burst open.

"Oi!"

Yugi had been able to recognise the voice immediately at that time. Yami stood in the entryway. He was out of breath and his deep grey jumper was dirty as if he had fallen down.

"Oh, what happened Yami?" Sugoroku asked, going over to him and helping him sit to catch his breath.

Yami laughed, "Do...don't worry 'bout me! More importantly, can ye kid come ta school wi' us for a look round?"

Yugi noticed Yami slur some of his words as he spoke. His face was flushed and had a tint of very dark grey.

Yugi nodded, nervously saying he would and pulled his bag over his shoulders.

" Good boy"

The old man chuckled, petting Yugi and helping Yami stand without falling.

The petite individual was very scared about meeting all the children who were in the town as well. As it was a small town, there were only two classrooms with mixed years in them. He gulped down his fear and followed Yami, practically carrying him to the school building.

It was a very small place. There was the entryway, which had cute glass doors where you could see into the little reception room, then there were the two rectangular boxes that jutted out from each end, which Yugi had figured out to be the two classes. The roof was a steady, not very steep slope which ended flatly.

Yugi liked how it looked, very friendly.

The sounds of people chatting became very apparent as they walked in. Yami explained to the receptionist at the counter what Yugi was doing and they let the two boys pass. Yami took him to 'Class A', the first room on the left.

There weren't too many people inside. There were two boys playing chess all alone in the corner, some people chatting near the window and a small group of younger students drawing together. Yami explained that they were all waiting for the teacher to arrive.

Yugi was shown to the group near the window. He was first greeted by a beautiful, short-haired girl with a ribbon-tie in her hair. She smiled charismatically.

"Hello! Nice to meet you!" She waved, "I'm Anzu! Your name is…?"

"Yu...Yugi… " Yugi mumbled, waving back shyly. He ended back a little before his hand was grabbed by another. It was a boy with a faded haircut and very confident eyes.

"Yo!" they shook his hand, "I am Honda! I am here to make sure this work stays safe and beautiful! I welcome you to our sacred - -"

He was hit in the back of the head by Anzu, which made Yugi laugh a little.

Yami put his head on the desk.

"Ya okay, buddy?"

The blonde (who Yugi had also gotten accustomed to) asked. Yami silently nodded and closed his eyes.

"My chest hurts a lil…. But 'am fine…"

He smiled weakly at Jounouchi and closed his eyes again.

"Tell us if it gets too bad, okay?" Anzu kindly smiled, looking back to Yugi and having a fun chat with him.

Yugi felt very calm near the group. Honda still made him a little nervous but everyone else was fine. He especially liked Anzu, who was kind and strong and smart and beautiful. To him at least..

There was something familiar about this group. Yugi didn't know why, but he felt like he had met them before.

He felt a small wave of uneasiness as he thought that, he was sure that they were…

A woman walked in. Her face was caked with makeup and she seemed very stern. She took a pile of papers and slowly left, followed by an old man walking in and coughing to grab everyone's attention.

"Hello, class. Today we have a visitor, treat him well."

Everyone glanced at Yugi then back at the teacher. Yugi listened intently to all the teacher had to say. He was too shy to put his hand up, however, he did answer questions when they were given. Soon, the first batch of lessons was over and it was time for their break.

Most of the children ran outside to play. There were a few groups (mainly the older kids, as Yugi noticed) that stayed inside and chatted while eating their lunch. Yugi stayed with the friend group that he was close to. Yami had his head still on the desk and appeared to be fast asleep. He didn't seem very comfortable. Anzu gave Yami a gentle shake to wake him up and handed the boy a box filled with food. He sat up and munched on the contents, still appearing to be half-asleep.

"So, will you be going to Automaton for your treatment?"

Anzu asked hopefully, sitting on her table and casually eating some chocolate. Yami shook his head and sighed, "No... It's too far so Mother said I can't go."

Yugi asked what Automaton was, Anzu looked into his eyes after asking. Her eyes glimmered excitedly.

"It's this huge city! Everything is automated and perfect! I wanna go there so bad!"

She gleamed, ecstatically going on about this supposed city.

Yugi had heard these words before.

He knew it.

"Wan' go ta da base aft'r school?"

Jounouchi asked, waterbottle in hand. Everyone in the group nodded, Yugi watching on, very confused.

Anzu suggested that Yugi came too, provoking Yugi to ask what the base was.

Yami lifted his head a little, "It's our secret base. It's a place away from the adults."

"Sounds nice.." Yugi smiled, "I.. I wanna see it! '

The group started talking to the boy about all the beautifully coloured flowers and the little abandoned cabin that they called a base.

Yugi wanted to see these flowers, this cabin, the forest. He wanted to understand the beauty of it. He was curious, would this 'secret base ' satiate his hunger for that something more, that one stunning are he's wanted to see since the beginning?

In fact, he had asked himself, why is it that everyplace he looks isn't as pretty as he'd think? There was always something missing to him, that little flare that made the world seem so….grey…

"What's our next lesson??"

The brown-haired, confident student asked, resting against the desk closest to him,

Jounouchi looked to his friend and pulled out a small sheet of pale-grey paper, "Um.. Art?"

"Dang. Wanna skip with me?"

"Nah. Can't t'day."

Yugi turned his focus away from the two and glanced over to Yami again, who was dozing off again, sandwich in hand. He recognised everything in this room, everything that was going on… It made him uneasy.

"M'kay kids! Let's get ready for lesson!"

A young teacher walked in and clapped their hands. The people who were already in the classroom fusing to their seats and chatting whilst waiting for everyone else to arrive.

Yami dragged a chair next to his desk for Yugi, who thanked him and sat next to him.

"Just follow along with me, Yug'"

Yami smiled quietly, thanking the child who handed out the little paints and papers.

"It's just painting a circle. You should be able to manage that."

He laughed, pulling the paints out and fiddling with the little paintbrushes while the teacher talked about colour wheels and complementaries. Yugi watched in confusion. The teacher pointed at the same colour multiple times and explained the differences between them. He didn't see any difference.

It was just dark.

"Now, I'm gonna let you guys get on with painting your colour wheels! I'll come around and help you guys out!"

Yugi stared down at the paints and gulped. He felt his heart start to pound and his veins thobbed violently.

"Yug' are you…Okay?"

"I...whats the difference between these?"

"You're joking, right?"

Yugi shook his head and looked down at the grey blobs that sat on the white board.

"Miss! We.. Have a problem here!"

Yami put his hand up and tried his best not to yell,

"Oh? What's wrong?"

She dragged a chair over and sat on the front end of the desk,

Yugi explained and she immediately dropped everything.

"That's…" She smiled awkwardly, " That's an interesting issue.."

The little boy looked down and apologised.

"It's not.. Your fault.. I think."

She pointed at a colour and asked what it was. Yugi responded,

"Green…?"

"It's red.." the teacher sighed, "Well.. This is a big problem.."

Yugi felt everyone stare at him, he felt so small and lonely.

Wasn't this normal for people? Was he different? Was he weird?

He begged in his head that he wasn't different. He was normal! He saw everything normally!

But,

Yugi knew that wasn't the case.

If it was,

Why was everyone staring at him like he's weird?

The lady closed the book and smiled.

"That is it for today, children."

She watched as all the children chatted happily.

"Please leave now."

They looked at her, confused. The lady adjusted her dress and escorted them out of the room. As soon as they left, she picked up the book and chucked it across the room, crashing into a painting which slipped off of the wall.

"Oh I'm so sorry! Did I wake you up??"

She ran to the bed, placing her hands on the person's cheek.

"Oh, of course not.."

"After all, you probably won't wake up for another lifetime.."