"Microwave Cooking for One?" Yugi read the cover of the book in his hands aloud.

Jonouchi and Honda grinned at him from their respective seats. Jonouchi was in the old recliner chair, while Honda perched on the other side of the couch from Yugi. Jonouchi's younger sister Shizuka was also with them today. She sat next to Honda and smiled politely.

When Shizuka was younger she'd spent a lot of time in hospitals due to her poor health, but these days she was doing much better. Only going in for frequent check-ups. Yugi thought she looked much healthier, having put on weight, with glossier hair and a bright smile.

"We figured since ya live alone, and can't do a lotta baking or normal cooking right now, that this book would come in handy," explained Jonouchi.

Yugi flipped through the cook book, noting it was all in English, and that most of the foods were stereotypical American cuisine. He stopped on a recipe for a single portion of microwave meatloaf. Eew?

He fixed an appreciative expression on his face when he looked up and beamed at his friends. "This was very thoughtful guys. Where did you even find this?"

"We saw some idiots online making recipes from it. So we ordered it for you," Honda replied.

Yugi pursed his lips and looked down at the book again. It wasn't like he'd been out of the hospital that long, so if they ordered it online they probably paid extra for expedient shipping. Which was thoughtful, even if they did it as a practical joke. He couldn't actually tell. "I'm sure I'll make good use of it."

"We should make something from it right now!" crowed Jonouchi. He was already hopping up from the recliner. His stretched out crew socks were nearly falling off his feet, and there was a hole on one of them, as the blonde man kicked his feet like a prancing devil.

Yugi leaned around Honda and shot Shizuka a pleading look.

"I think we should make him the pudding," she chimed, rising from the couch more gracefully than her brother, but the smile she wore complimented her brother's prancing. "It requires such common ingredients, and Yugi probably already has them."

Honda patted Yugi's leg and winked at him. before he too got up to follow the other two into the kitchen. Dishes were already clanging from the other room and he could hear Jonouchi hollering about the location of the microwave safe dishes.

"I'm going to die..." Yugi carefully and gingerly flopped back against the couch and shut his eyes.

Someone stroked his hand sympathetically.

Anzu came to visit the next day.

Yugi was seated on the couch per usual, his posture oddly stiff when she entered the apartment.

She wore a denim skirt and stockings, with a white blouse and a short pink jacket. Her style hadn't changed much since she and Yugi were in highschool. She still preferred pastel colors and cute clothes that leaned a little more into 90's fashion than she ever wanted to admit. But it suited her.

When she stepped into the apartment her bubbly greeting died on her tongue.

Hard red eyes stared at her from Yugi's face.

"Oh..." she mumbled sheepishly. And her whole demeanor curled in on itself. "Uh... hi, Yugi?"

"Hello, Anzu." Yugi replied formally. He sounded neither surly nor welcoming. Just, polite.

"Is everything alright?" She pressed on. Seemingly steeling her nerves, she kicked off her shoes while balancing a package of some kind of food.

"I am fine."

Anzu gave him a skeptical look. She noted the way Yugi sat on the couch, unnatural, uncomfortably rigid. He had dark circles under his eyes, and it wasn't the effect of any make-up, because he wasn't wearing any. His hair hung limp and tousled, not styled, not even brushed. In fact it looked like he had barely gotten up in time to visit with her, and had only managed to get dressed. Is clothes, at least, were very put together. He wore a white short-sleeved button down shirt. With all the buttons done up. Very un-like Yugi. And he wore a pair of black slacks, neat and wrinkle free.

She almost would have swore he dressed himself for work. Or intended to go out and be a stereotypical Mormon missionary.

"Why are you dressed so... formal?" She waved a hand at him, and shut the front door. But didn't move any farther into the apartment.

Yugi looked down at himself, appraising the clothing. Fingers brushed the buttons on his shirt. He appeared to take in exactly what he'd chosen, and wrinkled his nose with distaste. "Leather was too hard to get on," he answered in a low voice.

"How is the injury?" She was reminded of the reason for her visit, and steered the topic of conversation back to that. "Was it that bad?"

His head snapped up, eyes hard, as if measuring the implications behind her words. "It could have been worse," he said carefully.

She stepped a little farther in. But there was an apparent wariness in her approach. "That's not what I—I mean. It's... it's been awhile."

Yugi studied her intently. "Yes..." he began in a guarded tone, "a few months. It's good to see you again, Anzu. Please, take a seat." He gestured to one of the available spots, on the couch or in the recliner.

Anzu took the other side of the couch. She placed the package of food on the table.

Minutes ticked by, and neither of them spoke. Which was equally unlike Yugi, who was normally a chatterbox.

Finally when the tension in the air felt nearly palpable Anzu broke the silence.

"Why are you here?"

Yugi flinched, hands moving to the puzzle at his neck as if on reflex. "I live here."

"Ok, but why are you here right now?" She placed a significant amount of emphasis in the one word, and stared him straight in the eye.

Blood red eyes dropped. Losing focus as his hands fell to his lap, and his fingers curled like someone fighting against a sort of inner turmoil.

"Nightmares." He whispered. "I couldn't stop them. He-I kept reliving the accident. Then the meds wore off in the night, and it hurt, so so much. I couldn't... save..."

Anzu placed a gentle hand on his knee, concern and gentle understanding in her expression. "And what are you doing?"

Yugi met her eyes again. "Sleeping," he said slowly. "Today... the pain is mine."

She straightened up at that and leaned back into the couch. Her whole posture seeming to relax at that cryptic shared knowledge. A soft smile alighted her features for the first time since she entered the apartment. "You were always like that."

Yugi was giving her a perplexed look now. Head cocked to the side, he was fidgeting with his puzzle again.

"You protect. You always have," she continued, "I didn't really understand back in highschool. What you were. And I used Yu—I hurt you. I'm really sorry for that. I didn't know anything about it back then, about your condition."

"My... condition." It wasn't really a question, but he stared intently.

Anzu pointed to her own head, and gave a nervous smile. "You know."

"Right," he concluded. "A... disorder."

"It's not a bad thing. You're my friend and always will be. And I accept you. All of you," she assured. "I was ignorant in highschool. And... I'm sorry."

Yugi said nothing. Simply stared at his puzzle, idly brushing his thumb over the gold in an oddly affectionate way. After a minute, he finally spoke again. "You have nothing to apologize for, Anzu. Although I appreciate the sentiment. Thank you for being my friend."

She smiled at that. Like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. And really it had.

"What did you bring me?" He gestured down at the package on the coffee table, effectively changing the course of the conversation.

"The usual, I made you a bunch of rice balls. I figured they would be easy to eat and you wouldn't want to do much cooking in your condition."

Yugi chuckled, low and disquieting. Such an usual sound from the typically bubbly and friendly man. Anzu remembered that laugh though. She'd heard it many times at a teenager. It had been many years since she'd last heard it and that it caught her off guard. Just the tiniest bit.

"You should see what Jonouchi and Honda got for me," he smiled, a small one but genuine.

"Those idiots. They bought you that cookbook didn't they?"

"Apparently, they are under the impression that it's not that I can't cook, I just need to cook less and in a microwave."

She rolled her eyes, and stifled a laugh. "I swear, those two."

"They force fed me warm pudding and egg fried rice."

Her whole face wrinkled in disgust, and they both had a laugh.

"Speaking of cooking though," he expertly segued, "Do you know how to cook a hamburger?"

Anzu's laughter trailed off. Her brows drew together and forehead creased. "Yes. They're your favorite food..."

"They are," Yugi replied significantly. "And I would like to learn how to make one at home. A very nice one. With godly bacon... and Dijon ketchup?" He said the last part with a hopeful uncertainty.

"There's no such thing as Dijon ketchup."

Yugi gave her his most serious look. "Then we must make it."

Yami stood in a room full of toys. There were a couple of match box cars next to his left foot and a stuffed bear near his right. There was also a half finished jigsaw puzzle, some pieces scattered haphazardly underfoot.

He approached the bed that was in the room. It was a single bed, with white cotton sheets and a big fluffy comforter. The bed was littered with several stuffed animals, one of them a Blue Eyes White Dragon, much to his distaste.

No matter how many times he tossed the stuffed dragon onto the floor among the other toys, it always managed to find it way back on the bed.

Today there was another occupant in the bed besides stuffed toys.

Yami drew close until his legs made contact with frame. He stared down at a young man in the bed, sleeping peacefully. And his gaze softened.

He reached out with a very human hand and ran fingers ever so gently over the man's cheek. When he brushed a lock of blonde hair, he tucked it lovingly behind a pale ear.

"Yugi, It's time to wake up."

The young man in the bed stirred. A murmur of protest.

"Wake up, my light." Yami gently touched the puzzle at his chest and it glowed softly.

Before he could fully rouse and realize his surroundings, the young man in the bed dissolved like a dream. The blankets fell back into place in his absence. And then Yami was alone in the soul room once more.

A whole week rolled by and Yugi continued this back and forth game of questions with Yami.

'What's your favorite kind of music?'

'The music in your puzzle game is nice. Block stacking game. Tetris?'

Yugi had been playing quite a bit of Tetris on his gameboy that week.

'Are you lonely?'

'Sometimes. But not as much anymore.'

That made Yugi feel a little warm inside. Maybe a lot warm. He wanted to believe that his presence made the ghost feel less lonely. That perhaps the ghost appreciated their small but tentative friendship as much as he did.

'Do you know any other ghosts?'

'Yes. But, you don't want to be his friend.'

Yami never asked more than one question at a time, and they were never anything overly personal. Yugi found the apartment ghost to be incredibly polite.

'What is your favorite game?'

'That's tough. I like so many games. But I really like playing Duel Monsters with my boss. He's very good.'

Yami still refused to reveal himself to Yugi, no matter how much he pestered. And as disappointing as it was he couldn't really blame the ghost for being shy. How many people had it terrified before him? It was entirely probable that Yami had a lengthy history of scaring past tenants with his appearance. Decades of people fleeing in terror would do a number on anyone's self esteem.

Yugi could only imagine.

By the end of the week they'd filled up an entire sheet of paper with completed Tic Tac Toe games, and had begun playing Connect Four. This was just as tedious though, because Yami refused to make a move unless Yugi was asleep or out fo the room.

Eventually Yugi pulled out a Checkers board as well, and they began playing Connect Four and Checkers simultaneously.

Yami was wickedly fantastic at both games, and kept Yugi on his toes.

Ryuji stopped by everyday to assist Yugi, run errands, bring food, and go shopping. He was mildly perplexed by the pile of half-played games on the coffee table, but didn't press further than a casual inquiry.

To which Yugi hastily explained they were just games he played with his guests.

The one time Ryuji tried cleaning up the checkers board while Yugi napped, the television had suddenly come on, sound blaring at max volume.

Yugi had startled awake with a yelp, and it nearly made Ryuji leap from his skin, sending both of them scrambling all over the room looking for the television remote. Well, Ryuji had scrambled; Yugi patted around the couch cushions in case he'd sat on it, or it had slipped in between. It had been loud enough to make the entertainment center shake, and the neighbors bang angrily against the wall. They'd gotten the TV shut off, the remote was located beneath the couch. And in the end Yugi had asked him politely to leave the games alone.

When Ryou came over for Monster World they played at the kitchen table. Ryuji and Ryou worked together to move the recliner into the kitchen for the duration of the game, so that Yugi had a gentle place to sit. Then they moved it back to the living room before Ryou left for the evening.

Ryou didn't question this at all, much to Ryuji's surprise and bewilderment. He seemed entirely satisfied to just roll and indulge Yugi's eccentric behaviors.

When Friday rolled around it found Yugi in the kitchen, setting a large tea kettle on the stove, tea bags steeping inside with the heat on low.

He wanted the tea ready for when Ryou showed up for their new Monster World campaign. Ryou drank an obscene amount of tea. Yugi and Ryuji had also taken to drinking it as well during their games out of sheer solidarity. Even though Yugi preferred coffee.

Ryou was due to show up any minute, so he hopped into the living room on his crutches and settled onto the couch to wait.

And wait.

And maybe nod off because Ryou was late.

00

Yami sat in the chair playing on Yugi's gameboy and silently seething. He'd tried to warn Yugi. Sort of.

He'd written 'Get out,' in big bold letters on the white board on Wednesday. Then left it in the most conspicuous place, so that Ryou would definitely see it.

The most he'd accomplished was receiving a harsh scolding from Yugi, and delighted chuckling from Ryou. Neither of them took him seriously at all. And if anything Ryou was even more fascinated with him.

Now it was Friday, and the frail british host was coming back for another Monster World game. And this time they intended to play a proper campaign. Dioramas, sets, miniatures, everything. It was everything Yami dreaded. And there was nothing he could do short of possessing Yugi and telling a Ryou off. But then Yugi would hate him for it.

Golden eyes shifted their attention from the game, to his napping host on the couch. He prayed that this session would be just as uneventful as the last two, but cold dread still wormed it's way around his chest and filled him with wordless anxiety.

If anything happened, Yugi's body was in no condition for a shadow game. And his magic was limited as a mere shadow.

Resigned, he returned his attention to the little handheld console, intent on breaking Yugi's high score before everyone showed up for the campaign.

Yami couldn't actually smell anything in the physical world. Not without possessing Yugi's body. He'd also been preoccupied with the Tetris game and watching Yugi sleep. So, he didn't notice something was amiss until he entered the kitchen and saw smoke trailing from the mouth of the tea pot.

He rushed to the stove in a sudden blur, rotating a dial to shut off the flames. He'd seen Yugi work it before, but back at home they'd had an electric stove, and the gas one was a new concept to him.

A large burst of flames licked at his incorporeal face. That was the wrong direction.

Panicked he snatched a towel and threw it on the fire, attempting to stamp it out. The towel promptly caught fire.

Yami smashed the dial the other direction, killing the heat, and ripped the smoldering towel away. He tossed it on the floor, and let part of his form ooze over it, engulfing it, and smothering the flames.

Then he pried the lid off the tea pot and peeked inside.

More smoke billowed out from the roasted remains of tea bags caked at the bottom.

Hastily Yami moved the pot off the stove and onto the counter, where it immediately made a hissing noise, and burned a brown ring into the countertop.

He yanked it up again, clutching it between hands that could not feel heat. A shadow tentacle scooped the blackened towel off the floor.

The spirit made a frantic circle around the kitchen holding the smoking items and wondering where he could possibly hide them. He wasn't even sure why he felt the need to hide them. The forgotten tea kettle had been Yugi's own doing after all. But the resulting fire was entirely Yami's fault.

He was about ready to stuff everything inside the oven when he heard the sound of the front door opening.

"Is something burning in here?" Asked a lightly British accented voice. A pulse of shadow magic echoed from the entrance of the apartment. Magic that did not belong to Yami.

Something dark festered deep inside his chest, until Yami felt his whole form erupt in a chaos of writhing tendrils.

Then Yugi screamed in pain.

00

"Tea!" Yugi bolted awake with a start, toppling off the couch and jarring his injured hip. He screamed.

"Yugi!" Ryou started for his friend, one shoe still on. "Are you al-"

Before he could make it two steps an angry black mass burst from the kitchen. Golden eyes blazed like the fires of hell, and a third eye, different from the others, swirled around madly before fixing its pupil on Ryou.

A black arm shot out from the mass.

Something charred and red flew across the room, smacking Ryou harmlessly in shoulder. It fell to the ground in a sad pile. It might have been a towel once.

This was followed immediately by something far more substantial.

A tea kettle hurled straight at Ryou's head.

A single pale hand shot up and caught the kettle before it connected with its target.

Slowly, Ryou lifted his gaze from the floor. White bangs revealing sharp eyes, dark and unfamiliar on Ryou's normally soft features. A sadistic smile curled slowly from the corners of his mouth.

"Nice try," he purred, voice sinister and low. He released the kettle and it dropped to the floor with a jarring clatter, rolling until it bumped into the wall.

The shadow edged around the room towards Yugi who was still moaning in agony. But its eyes never left the grinning Ryou in the entryway. The two stared each other down like circling cats waiting for the other to make the first move. It had just made it to the edge of the couch when Ryuji entered the apartment with an arm full of boxes.

All at once the three-eyed spirit melted into the shadows beneath the furniture closest to Yugi.

"There's still another box in your car, Bakura. I'll put these ones on the kitchen table if you can get the other one."

Ryou suddenly snapped back to himself and nearly vaulted over the couch.

"Yugi! Yugi are you alright! Oh my god. Should I call someone?"

Ryuji dropped the boxes full of Monster World paraphernalia and whipped out his phone. He was already jamming in a number when Yugi responded through gritted teeth.

"I'm ok. I fell off the couch. You... you don't need to call anyone."

Anzu believes Yugi has DID in this fic. She does not know Yami and Yugi are two separate people.

I do not despise Anzu from YGO DM. Her character is pretty great in DM. But I'm not personally a fan of Anzu's behavior towards Yugi and Yami in season zero. She used Yugi to lure out Yami in the waterpark episode. Nearly got Yugi drowned, while she faked drowning herself. Then falsely accused Jonouchi of being a pervert and touching her weird, and got the shit beat out of him. All this in hopes that she could lure Yami.

You could argue that she didn't know they were two separate souls at the time and this is true. She didn't. She thought they were the same person. But that makes her behavior SO SO much worse. That means she was under the impression Yugi had Dissociative Identity Disorder, played favorites with his personalities, and tried to put herself (and by extension Yugi) in danger just to woo the personality that she preferred. You don't pick and choose your favorite part of someone with DID, you love and accept all of them.

That being said. She was a teenager. Who probably didn't fully comprehend what DID was. And made some stupid mistakes. Teens make stupid mistakes, and they deserve to be forgiven. I like to believe she grew up, realized what she did was pretty shitty, and apologizes.

I don't want to see or hear any Anzu bashing in my comments section.