Author's Notes
Atemu can...
Ushio ends...
Yukiko decides...
Chapter 23 - Yami no Game - Ushio
Ushio arrives in front of the school, wearing an overcoat and starts looking around as he talks to himself, "I didn't expect to be called by Yuugi's mush to come to school at night. Although, his voice was different on the call ... "
Then, he hears a movement on his right side and when he looks to the side, he sees one of the artistic gymnastics pyramidal plinths used in Physical Education classes. Sitting on top of her is Yuugi, holding the Sennen Aitemu in one of her hands while keeping the item's string around her neck.
"I'm glad you came, Ushio. I thought you wouldn't make it to high school as it took too long, considering the fact that you don't live that far away." He comments, smiling in the corner.
Tetsuo hides his surprise that he knows where he lived and starts to show his usual evil face.
"It looks like I wasn't going to show up for money. By the way, I'm glad you have some brains to pay me off without making a fuss. After all, why would you call me if not to pay me what you owe me? I didn't like that weird cosplay of yours, with that black blouse with straps, the collar around her neck and those golden things on her wrists over her open coat exclaiming. "Give the twenty thousand yen to me! I have more to do."
Smiling, Atemu holds out his hand with the money in it, but doesn't hand it over.
"Here it's double. Forty thousand yen."
"Forty thousand yen!" Ushio was ecstatic after opening a huge smile on his face.
The Pharaoh collects the money and speaks, smiling in the corner to see that he had managed to sharpen, even more, the greed of the man in front of him.
"However, this money is very important to me. Therefore, I cannot give it so easily. In order to resolve this impasse, I propose a game for you. After all, that would be the only way to give this very important money."
"A game?!" Tetsuo exclaims, showing surprise on his face.
"However, it won't be an ordinary game but a Yami no Game. After all, this money is very special to me. If you win, you take all the money. What do you think? It's not a bad condition to have it."
"I love it! Let's play!" he exclaims, displaying an arrogant face, believing he has already won.
"I just need your help to make this game. After all, just this artistic gymnastics pyramid plinth and the money won't be enough. I need your knife, Ushio."
"Sure." Tetsuo speaks while picking up the object, then handing it over, trying to be aware of any movement against him as he passed the item.
The spirit notices this and speaks as he placed the money on top of the pyramidal plinth after picking up the knife, "I have proposed a game and it will be a game we are going to play. Besides, what fun would it be if I killed you with that knife?"
Ushio is surprised to hear Yuugi speak that way and act that way, considering the reactions and conduct shown that morning, and he found it strange that he did not show pain despite the beating he took in the morning along with the fact that his voice was very different, like someone else, however strange that thought.
Even though all these observations arise in his mind, he decides to suppress them by dusting them, thinking it was absurd to think that way, and then feel a strange sensation with something that seemed to involve him, with him not realizing the slight glow emitted by Sennen Pazuru while Atemu made darkness envelop them both, once Tetsuo accepted Yami no Game.
Of course it was something impossible to be seen by a human eye, unless the summoner of Yami no Game so wished, something the Pharaoh didn't want to do.
The student monitor decides to disperse the tremor of fear that abruptly affected him while trying to ignore the fact that he was in a cold sweat along with the sensation of something involving him, wrongly judging that these sensations and tremors were caused by some malaise, coming from some disease because it would be the only plausible explanation, in his view, for the cold sweat, the chills and the strange sensations that afflicted him.
After Atemu places the stacked notes on top of the pyramidal plinth, with Tetsuo's knife stuck in it, he exclaims while smiling, "There! I'm done. We can start the game. May I remind you that this is a Yami no Game."
Ushio breaks out in a cold sweat, ignoring the other sensations, showing a mixture of confusion and fear on his face.
"Cash and knife?" He muttered to himself.
So, he concludes in thought, "What kind of game does he want to propose?"
The student monitor watches him taking the wad of money in his right hand, then placing it on the back of his left hand which was lying on top of the surface of the pyramidal plinth as he raised the knife with his right hand, placing it on top of the money.
"Know that the rules are very simple. Each player must place the money bills on the back of their hand and stick the knife. The money that comes with the knife belongs to the player and he is required to draw at least one bill ." Atemu stabs the knife into the pyramidal plinth again, leaving the wad of notes on the surface of the object. "The game continues until all the bills are gone. The one who takes the most bills will be the winner! Whoever holds the bill in his hand or gives up in the middle of the game will lose and will hand over the money to the other. So... did you like it?"
He asks the ending with a singsong smile, knowing that Ushio would not respect the rules while keeping Yami no Game at level one because it was enough to reveal Tetsuo's true nature.
Then, driven by greed and arrogance, the Student Monitor agrees, making the spirit smile even more, and then warns, "But if you don't follow the rules, a fatal punishment will be waiting for you!"
After deciding the order, the Pharaoh starts the game and concentrates, sticking the knife on top of the mound that rested on the back of his left hand, then pulling the notes stuck in the blade.
"Whew! I didn't even get ten notes. I thought I put in a lot of force, but it's harder to pierce than I thought." He holds the knife out to him as he holds it by the blade, offering the grip. "It's your turn."
Your opponent places the remaining notes on top of the back of your left hand while positioning the knife with your right hand.
"If you are too greedy and force the knife too much, it will pierce your hand. The secret of this game is knowing how to control your own greed." Atemu speaks with his arms crossed in front of his chest, amused to see his enemy's contorted face as he aimed his knife at the notes.
"Shut up!" Tetsuo exclaims while sweating cold.
After exclaiming, he sticks the knife in and manages to get more than ten bills.
"See? I got more than ten notes and my hand is full! I should have put in more strength." Ushio speaks, trying to hide his relief that his hand hasn't been pierced.
"Very well. But from now on, it will become increasingly difficult to control the force." Pharaoh speaks, smiling, knowing that soon the bastard would lose to his greed.
"The money has gone down a lot. The game is just over." The spirit comments after several minutes.
More and more dominated by greed, Ushio exclaimed in his mind at the same time that he had long since lost his initial fear of the game, in addition to ignoring the strange sensations that took him from the one who had accepted Yami in the game as it became gradually overwhelmed by his greed, "This game is nothing! Too easy!"
"This money will be all mine! I will be the winner!" Tetsuo exclaims after drowning completely in his greed, reaching a point of no return, with Yami no Game about to reveal his true nature.
The half dragon watched everything and although he already knew the result, he confessed that it was quite nice to watch in person instead of looking back at the memories of the original timeline.
Yukiko agreed that Atemu had been clever in using Tetsuo's exacerbated greed as bait to make him accept the game, not knowing that the game revealed the true core of the person and that because he was greedy, he would lose the game because he would break the rules in sometime while noticing that Ushio didn't notice they were shrouded in magic.
Even if someone outside looked in that direction, he wouldn't see them. I would only see an empty space because the darkness enveloped them both through the magic coming from Sennen Aitemu after the Student Monitor accepted the Yami no Game. The Dragon Princess could see what was happening in this area by using her special vision.
The millenary half dragon noticed that Ushio's right hand began to shake, as if he was trying to avoid something while his left hand was under the notes, with the albino smiling evilly as he saw that Tetsuo would soon lose the game. The albino knew that the Pharaoh only proposed games that revealed the true character of his opponent after analyzing his behavior and conduct, as well as other elements, to create the ideal Yami no Game for that person, aiming to emerge the true core of his opponent, so he could apply the penalty.
The spirit smiled when he realized what was happening to his opponent because everything was going according to his plan.
The student monitor was desperate when he felt that his right hand wanted to come down with all its strength against the wad of money that was on the back of his left hand while he couldn't remove it from the top of the pyramidal plinth because it seemed be glued.
"My hands are not obeying me! I can't control the strength of my right hand! What the hell! My will is to bring that knife down with all my strength. But if I do that, I'll pierce my hand along with the money." He spoke desperately in her mind.
As he watched Ushio crash against his right hand that held the knife, Atemu smiled.
"Yami no Game reveals the true character of each person and decides their destiny. Yes, Ushio, nothing will stop his hand that gave himself up to ambition. What are you going to do? Are you going to take the money by sacrificing your hand or...?" He thinks to himself.
Then Tetsuo starts to laugh evilly.
"I almost forgot that there's a way I can get all this money without hurting my hand, even though I put this knife down as hard as I can!" He changes his target and brings the knife down into Yuugi's body. "Your big mistake was giving me the knife! Die, Yuugi!"
The half-dragon who watched it all mutters, rolling her eyes, "Do you really think you can hit him? He knew from the start that you wouldn't play by the rules and would try to attack him."
The Pharaoh easily dodges the attack by jumping back, and then concentrating his powers together with the power of Sennen Pazuru.
"I knew I wouldn't abide by the rules!" He exclaims as he smiles with intense satisfaction.
Then, Ushio is shocked to see an eye made of light appear on the young man's forehead.
"What's that? There's an eye in your forehead..." He mumbles.
As Atemu was overjoyed at being able to avenge what Ushio did to Yuugi, he exclaims, "This can only be seen by those who invade the border of my host's heart! Only you who hurt him and who tried to take his money, can see!" Pharaoh points a pointed finger at Ushio. "Unmei no Batsu Geemu (運命の罰ゲーム - Punishment game of fate)! Greed, Yokubou no Genzou (Greed, 欲望の幻像 – Greed, visual illusion of greed)!"
In this, the same golden eye on the spirit's forehead projects forward, enveloping Tetsuo, with Sennen Pazuru's Wadjet eye also glowing in conjunction with the eye.
The student monitor is trapped in an eternal illusion, with him starting to see hundreds of bills around him, as he became intoxicated with this illusion, and that would be until his death and as he celebrated, jumping into the air, trapped in this illusion, Atemu walked away, only pausing momentarily to look back with his hands in his pockets.
"They say people go blind because of money. Now your eyes will only see the illusion of greed. For you who are greedy it was a very happy ending. But my host's money, I already got it back. "
Then he turns and walks away without looking back a second time.
Yukiko watches him walk away as Ushio finds himself trapped to death in the illusion of greed to the point of starting to pick up trash from the ground and throwing it into the air in ecstasy, thinking it was money, and then going to a tree, picking up the leaves , treating them like money.
Then, the half dragon comments to himself as he discreetly follows Atemu, "Don't think you'll keep all the preys. There are some I make sure to tear down and Ushio won't escape my fury. You're not the one. The only one to settle a score with him. I guarantee my punishment will be much worse, since I have the means to make that happen."
At this, she arches her brow at having a memory of him punishing Katsuya and Hiroto, this one being a memory from the timeline modified by the events of more than eight years ago.
As much as she thought they deserved this punishment planned by Pharaoh, the albino was fully aware that she needed to prevent this event from happening. She was aware that she should take advantage of the fact that Atemu was in control of Yuugi's body and that he was deeply asleep, in order to talk to him, trying to get a deal on the punishment of Jounouchi and Honda.
After all, she wasn't a hypocrite to forbid him from taking revenge on the pair, since she'd punished them the day before.
However, he needed to do "damage control" by making an agreement with Pharaoh about the punishment and how it should be applied, so as not to change future events without informing him of such events. That stray information just stay with her.
In the meantime, the spirit searches again on its host's cell phone for the possible addresses of Jounouchi and Honda.
So, Yukiko concentrates her magic and goes back to using the same cloak she used against Shaadii, as well as the mask, in addition to changing her magical aura so that it would not be identified, trying to change her voice and odor as well, just in case.
Atemu was pleased to see that there were few addresses with the surnames Katsuya and Hiroto while he was thinking of a way to lure them out so that no one would see them after finding the correct house.
The spirit stops walking and starts to look carefully at the surroundings when realizing that a magical mist enveloped him, forming a kind of area around him.
Promptly, Pharaoh puts away his cell phone and takes the item in his hands, deciding to use the power of Sennen Aitemu and his own magic on whoever was responsible for creating that magical area that resembled the method of creating the areas of Yami no Game, aiming to keep your host safe.
He carefully watches a figure walking through the mist toward him as he mentally prepares himself, forming magical attack strategies to use against the approaching being while waiting for the first move because something told him its powers, even in together with the powers of the Sennen Pazuru, they were insufficient against that being, and this was too troubling a thought for Atemu who feared for his host, though nothing showed on his impassive features.