Leafshipping (Yami no Yugi x Ushio)

. . .

The minute that kid walked into the school, Ushio marked him mentally. He was by far the best target he had ever seen. A tiny freshman kid, barely five feet, round-faced like he was in elementary school. He didn't know where anything was and he looked too scared to ask. He was almost late to his class because he couldn't find his classroom. He kept his head low and blushed slightly whenever somebody started talking to him. Ushio noted the kid fiddling nervously with a small Rubik's Cube as he walked down the halls, noticed how he backed down when the older boys confronted him. He stayed behind at recess and fiddled again with his toys and games.

He was the perfect target for the bodyguard scheme.

Ushio had used the trick several times now already. Last year, he had gotten no less than three kids paying him protection fees. His senior year, he was looking to make it five – a guy had to be able to pay his living expenses, right?

He played the part, trying to act sympathetic and open and friendly. Yugi laughed nervously at his attempt at making conversation. But he didn't admit that he was being bullied. That was new. His usual bullied kid targets usually warmed up real quick to the idea having a giant friend like Ushio beating on the bad guys for them. Yugi just seemed scared of Ushio.

Well. That was good, too. Scared kids were more likely to pay up.

He was such a little weakling. Stood up for the kids that bullied him, let himself get beat up without so much as a struggle. He was probably going to go home and huddle under the bed, wondering about how he was going to get the protection money. It made Ushio laugh just thinking about it.

And then a different voice cut through him like a static shock.

"It's game time."

This figure was not Yugi. Ushio wasn't sure what he could call it. Was it even human?

That grin – it was enough to make Ushio's blood run cold. But he didn't back down from anything. It was just Yugi, play-acting.

Right?

His eyes, though. They were more than intense, more than wild, more than crazy – they were a deep, burning red.

Were ghosts real?

Yugi laughed softly, and Ushio imagined there was a hint of madness in there. The sound was enough to send his nerves to jelly and his legs to lead.

"Penalty game," the apparition whispered.

Ushio wasn't fully conscious until weeks later, waking up in the hospital with his parents sobbing above him and vague images of piles of money dissolving into leaves behind his eyelids.

He never went back to that school. But it didn't matter.

Because he saw those eyes every night before he went to sleep, and he heard that soft, deadly voice whispering...

"It's game time."

. . .

A/N: Season 0 Yami no Yugi is crazy and I love him XD. Next is Leadshipping (Keith x Jonouchi x Yami no Yugi).