Wishshipping (Jonouchi x Yugi)
Tendrils of dreams tickled the edge of his consciousness. He was many places at once, and yet, it was easy to keep track of them all, in the way that dreams are. He was crumpled at the back of a school, with a short, trembling figure standing in front of him like a living shield, placing his hand in a circle with a smiley face drawn across all four hands, sliding his arm into the snug hold of a Duel Disk, and standing in the middle of an old street, holograms gleaming in front of him, and past the holograms, the self-assured, proud figure of his best friend looking much taller than usual.
"...nouchi...ake...p...Jonouchi-kun, are you awake?"
Katsuya Jonouchi's eyes blinked open groggily. A round, familiar face peered down at him, warm violet eyes curious, and golden bangs gleaming against dark spiky hair.
"Jonouchi-kun, you've been asleep since fourth period," Yugi Mutou said. "You're going to miss out on the entire last week of high school!"
Jonouchi's eyes opened fully, and he sat up, cracking his back.
"Ah...geez. I can't remember being this tired since Battle City," he said. "What time is it? Hey, where is everybody?"
Yugi laughed a little.
"Jonouchi-kun, you slept through the end of the day. School's out, and everyone went on ahead of us."
"Really? They didn't wait? That's not like them."
"Well, Anzu has a phone interview for the college in America she's going to," Yugi said. "She can't miss that. And Bakura's father is coming home today, and Honda's applying for a job, remember?"
Jonouchi sighed.
"Yeah, yeah, now I remember. It's been a while since we all really hung out, huh?"
"Yeah," Yugi said, his eyes softening sadly.
Jonouchi leaned back, glancing at his best friend. Yugi was taller, almost as tall as Jonouchi himself now – it was a little weird to notice. His face was still mostly round, like a middle-schooler, but it was clear that his cheeks were beginning to sharpen. Jonouchi had noticed last week that his voice had started to drop too. He almost sounded like Atem – it was a little unnerving. Jonouchi kept thinking that their old friend the pharaoh had suddenly returned, and was disappointed each time that was proven wrong. Still, Yugi always seemed a little different since Atem left anyway – it was the stark absence of the Puzzle around his neck. It had become so iconic of Yugi in Jonouchi's mind, that it was unnerving to see it gone.
"It's been...a really long time," Yugi said, his voice even quieter.
Jonouchi could guess what Yugi was thinking. The blond boy had absolutely no idea how much Yugi must be hurting right now. He could never understand the special bond Yugi and Atem had had, and now the ancient pharaoh was gone. Had it really already been a year since he passed on?
"Hey, don't get down, Yugi," Jonouchi said. "Don't want to ruin the last week of high school, right? Let's think of something happy – remember when we found out Anzu worked at Burger World?"
Yugi grinned.
"Of course! How could I forget Anzu-chan's reaction! And remember when Honda confessed his feelings for Ribbon-chan – I mean, Miho-chan?"
Jonouchi snorted.
"He got shot down cold, the poor guy," he said. "But then, I can't feel too sorry since he's after my sister now."
"And then there was Death-T," Yugi said. "I don't know how happy of a memory that is."
"Gotta look at the silver lining, Yugi. Remember, that's when we officially met Atem for the first time."
"Oh, that's right," Yugi said. "Of course, I didn't actually get to talk to him until that Monster World game with Bakura."
"That's some memory. I never want to be a lead figurine again!"
"And remember when you beat Bandit Keith in Duelist Kingdom? That was fantastic!"
"Quite the feather in my cap," Jonouchi said, grinning. "But you did better – you came up with the Mind Shuffle thing to beat Pegasus."
"But it was pretty much all Atem when we got to Battle City."
"But it was you that brought me back to my senses, though," Jonouchi said softly.
Yugi looked down a little, and said nothing. The silence grew. Jonouchi leaned towards Yugi.
"Hey," he said. "Don't be down, Yugi."
Yugi's shoulder had begun to shake slightly, and Jonouchi knew it was only a matter of time before he started to cry.
"It's just...everyone...is leaving," Yugi said. "Just like Atem. Everyone is moving on to their own lives – it's like none of it, none of our adventures, none of the magic ever existed! Maybe Atem didn't even exist – what if I made him up?"
Jonouchi snorted.
"No offense Yugi, but you couldn't come up with someone like Atem. He was real, all right. And so was everything else. Sure, everyone's separating. Does that mean we're going to forget everything? Forget Atem? No way! Even Atem said that we would all see each other again someday. No matter what happens, Yugi, we're always going to be here for you."
He stood up, walked around the desk, and put his hands on Yugi's shoulders.
"I'm always going to be here for you, Yugi. And that's a promise."
Yugi's shoulders shook harder. He took a deep breath to still himself.
"Thanks, Katsuya-kun," he said. "I'm sorry, I needed...to let that out."
"Hey, no problem, Yugi," Jonouchi said. "Us two have got to stick together – Anzu's going to America, Honda's entering the work force, and Bakura's leaving with his dad to study in Egypt. We have to stay together for all of them."
Yugi nodded slightly. Then, a slow grin crossed his face.
"Well, you'd better come with me to study for the college entrance exams then," he said. "If you want to get into the same college as me, and all."
"Augh! I completely forgot about those! When are they?"
"Next week!"
"Gah! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I did. I've been telling you for the last two weeks – you keep forgetting to come to the library."
"Well, geez – we've got to get cracking! Come on, Yugi, let's get to the library right now!"
Yugi couldn't stop his laugh as Jonouchi half dragged him across the classroom. Jonouchi couldn't wipe his grin off his face either, even though he knew he looked like a dope.
Some things would never change, and that was a comforting notion.
The past was not a thing to mourned. The future was not a thing to be feared.
The soft, blurred tendrils of the dream began to sharpen, and the world seemed to sigh and settle as the two laughing boys left the room.
A/N: the ending became a bit abstract...I wanted to tie the beginning and ending sentences. It sounds pretty, even if it doesn't make sense. :P Anyway, I'm happy with how this turned out. The two characters worked well together. :) And, by the way, there were a lot of manga references in this one, so if you didn't read the manga, then that's why you're confused by some of the memories they're talking about.
