A row of yellow lights above the two started flashing excitedly. A ringing bell sang throughout the arcade. Yami and Junior just beat the high score in another two-person arcade game.
"Woah! We actually managed to do it!" Junior cheered as he put his hand up for a high-five. Yami weakly tapped his own hand against his.
"Ah, come on, Yugi. You can do better than that!" Junior said as he kept his hand in the air. Yami ignored it and walked away. "Hey, we still have to put our initials in. Oh well." Junior shrugged as he put in YYM and ran to catch up to Yami.
The two had been doing well at the arcade, beating many high scores together. Junior seemed happy about it, but Yami couldn't force more than a strained smile. He tried to look like he was having fun. It wasn't the father's fault this just happened to coincide with Yugi's disappearance. Instead of fun, however, the whole experience became a constant reminder of how lonely this body was, even with Junior seemingly attached to his side.
"So, what do you feel like playing now?" Junior asked as he looked around the flashing and vibrant arcade.
"I'm a bit tired. Maybe we can have those shakes now?" Yami said, looking around the annoyingly loud and crowded arcade. He didn't hide his deeper voice from Junior anymore. It just didn't seem worth it. Junior didn't seem to know the difference anyway.
"Ok, you see if you can find a table, and I'll get the shakes. strawberry, right?" Junior asked. Yami knew he had a very different palate than Yugi, but he was too drained to care. He gave an approving hand wave to Junior, and they went their separate ways.
Yami found a table by a window and slumped down. He had been contemplating a truly terrifying thought this entire trip. With Yugi gone, maybe he should finally let the Muto family know of his existence. He needed to find Yugi, and he would need all the help he could get. They had to stop wasting time in these bonding activities. Yugi could be hurt or worse, and he was here playing games! Yami shook his head as he tried to think.
'But how to do it, so they don't have as bad of a reaction as last time?' Yami thought, remembering Yui nearly dragging him out of the house to the mental institute.
As he mulled it over, his gaze fell out the window into the busy city. People and cars were going every which way, each filled with so much more energy than he had. Across the street from the arcade was a park filled with picnickers and joggers. As Yami watched them laugh and play, he felt that pang of guilt again. Junior tried his best to make this an enjoyable day, but Yami just couldn't go along with it. His partner was gone and what replaced him was the spineless father.
Every time it looked like the littlest confrontation was about to start, Junior would back down. Whether it be whose turn it was to play the popular game (even after they had been patiently waiting), who stole who's kill in a shooter, even waiting in line for the bathroom. Every time another person slightly contradicted him, Junior agreed with them and left the situation. Even when they were very much in the right. It was little things, but they were building upon Yami's already strained nerves.
'How does that man work with the government?' Yami thought as he leaned back in his chair
"Are you Yugi Muto? The King of Games?" Yami turned to see a boy about eight years old standing by his side. His eyes were sparkling, and he was barely holding still. Yami had seen and dealt with many kids before like this, fans.
"Yes." Yami put on his most convincing smile of the day. The kid could no longer hold back his excitement and jumped up and down.
"Mom, Mom! It's-it's-" The kid yelled. Before he could say Yugi's name, Yami put a hand out.
"Please don't bring attention here. I want to enjoy this arcade as much as you do, without the crowd." Yami smiled. His eyes quickly glanced to the dueling arena he knew would be filled with more rabid dueling fans. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice the boy.
"Oh right." The kid quickly quieted down as his mother headed their way.
"Thank you. What is your name?" Yami asked.
"I'm Zachary. Remember it!" The child grinned as he began rummaging through his pockets.
"Who have you found here, Zachary?" The older woman with short cut, blonde hair asked as she came up to the two.
"This is Yugi Muto! The best duelist in the world!" Zachary cheered as he pulled his deck out of his pocket. "Look over my deck, King of Games!" he breathlessly asked.
Both Yami and Yugi had been asked to do this by many fans over the years, and each never minded it. It gave them a chance to learn the up-and-coming strategies while helping new players. Yami agreed and happily took the deck.
"Thank you. My son Zachary here is a straight-A student, yet he wants to be a professional duelist in the future. Do you think he can, Mr. Muto?" She asked.
"Mr. Muto? Oh, hearing that for my son makes me feel old." They all turned to see Junior come up with two large milkshakes in his hands. He put them down on the table and sat across from Yami, beside the two newcomers. "Talking with your fans, huh?" Junior smiled. Yami nodded to him and finished looking through the deck. He handed it back to the boy.
"It's a very good deck, much better than most make at your age. I can tell you have thought out your cards and strategies instead of just picking the strongest monsters. What I would suggest is having a bit of a variety." Yami explained as he reached for his own deck and put it on the table.
"What do you mean?" Zachary asked.
"Your deck is built around getting warrior monsters on the field quickly so you can summon your strongest dragon. Everything is built for that specific strategy, and that's very good. Great duelist like Valentine and Kaiba-" At the second name, Junior choked on his shake but quickly cleared his throat as discreetly as possible. "…Have gotten far basing their decks on one monster. However, what would happen if someone used a trap or spell card to destroy your strongest dragon before you could even use it? You would have nothing left. That is why I use multiple tactics."
Yami then pulled from his deck the Kuriboh card.
"See this Kuriboh here? While he is weak, he can be used as a shield, sacrifice, and even a destroyer with the right cards. Versatilely can save a failing game." Yami said as he let the kid look at the Kuriboh. Yami was almost expecting the spirit of the puffball to come out like it usually did when being shown off, but no spirit appeared.
"Wow, Mr. Muto. Thank you." The kid beamed. A real smile found its way to Yami's face as he looked at the young fan. Then the kid snatched his card.
"He-Hey! Please give that back." Yami said. He grabbed the card back from the child as Zachary tried to push it into his own deck. The kid's eyes started to water. In the side of Yami's vision, he saw the woman's eyes narrow. "I wasn't gifting you the card. If you would like to hold it, I wouldn't mind. I just need a warning before you take it."
"But you give fans cards all the time. I've seen you do it on TV." Zachary whined.
"Yes, sometimes I do, but that was because I had extra cards then." Yami quickly said. "I'm sorry, I don't have cards to give you now, but I do believe you have an excellent deck. This is no exaggeration when I say I think you have quite a future in dueling."
"But I want that card!" The kid yelled, pointing to the card.
Yami sat up straight and looked to Junior for support. The father was dumbstruck. He could only shake his head as he continued drinking his milkshake. His eyes glanced to the mother to see if she would do anything, but instead, she turned up her nose and started tapping her foot. When Yami realized he'd get no help from Junior, he turned back to the crying child.
"The Kuriboh card is common. If you want specifically that card, they are in almost every beginner pack." Yami tried.
The mother stepped forward as Zachary's tears were growing. "Oh, can't you just give him that one? If they're so common, someone of your status won't miss one."
Yami felt himself growing smaller as the woman towered over him. He couldn't believe his ears. Yami glanced at Junior one more time; the father only shrugged. He continued to sip on his shake and try to make himself as tiny as possible.
"No, this card has a lot of meaning to me," Yami said back to the woman.
'And has the spirit of one special Kuriboh.' He thought.
"Don't be so selfish. You apparently give cards away all the time. Why is my child any different?" She spat right in his face. This was when Yami narrowed his own eyes.
"I'm not a card vendor. Please go to my grandpa's shop for such a thing. Now, please leave." Yami said in his stern pharaoh voice. The voice that held all the authority of five thousand years. Zachary's crying got to ear-splitting volumes as he pulled on his mother's pants. The mother turned to Yami once again and looked like she was about to start yelling.
"Leave." Yami reiterated. Something in Yami's voice and eyes made the hair on the back of the woman's neck stand on end.
"Huhmp. Some champion you turned out to be. I hope all your fans know how horrible of a person you actually are." The woman said with her nose still in the air as she grabbed her now bawling son and pulled him away.
After making sure the two were gone, Yami put both elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands.
"Being famous must be hard," Junior said as he reached over to pat Yami's shoulder.
"Did I do the right thing?" Yami asked. Junior looked to where in the arcade the woman went and heard Zachary still loudly crying.
"I don't know, maybe you should have just given it to him? It would have saved everyone this scene at least." Junior said while pointing with his thumb.
Yami looked across the arcade to see Zachary sprawled across the ground and slamming it with everything he had. He was still screaming at the top of his lungs. Yami's cheeks turned red as he quickly looked down at his Kuriboh card.
'No, I could never give you up.' Yami said in his mind. No response from the spirit, which was strange with the usually chatty Kuriboh.
Yami didn't have a chance to think on that long. Movement from the side of his eyes made his heart stop. With Yami's senses already in emergency mode, everything went into overdrive, thanks to what he saw. Yami immediately dropped the card back on top of his deck and bolted out of the arcade.
"Where are you going?!" Junior yelled.
"I'll be back!" Yami shouted as he ran past the bratty kid and his mother into the Domino city streets.
In front of him was the park, and running along the jogging path in it was a group of teens about his age, all wearing matching white and blue sweatshirts. At the head of the group was a tall woman yelling orders to keep the teens running. Yami was frozen in place. One face amongst the crowd had gotten his attention, enough that he had to run out of the arcade just to be sure of his eyes. There, near the back, was the unmistakably large eyebrows of Tetsu Ushio.
Yami hardly remembered the first few months after Yugi solved the puzzle. During that time, he had been more shadow than a person. Controlling Yugi only when bullies went too far, Ushio being the first to play one of the Pharaoh's "games." Yami's only true memory of that incident was of Ushio being carted away the next day, his mind crushed. The worst part of the memory, Yami remembered being PROUD. He had shattered this strong man until he was nothing more than a sniveling ball. The bully would never hurt Yugi again. Remembering that pride made the back of Yami's throat taste sour. Ushio was supposed to be broken beyond repair, or that had been Yami's intention back then. Yet here he was, in a public park running with a group of similar teens.
Yami was conflicted. While he was elated Ushio's mind wasn't destroyed, he was also worried for Yugi. If Ushio was well enough to run, what if he ran his mouth about the circumstances of the night they met? With Yami thinking about coming clean about himself, it would be hard to convince Yugi's family that he wasn't some dangerous second personality if they found out about people like Ushio.
Yami slowly made his way over to the park. He had to know more about Yugi's old classmate. Yami found himself behind a tree as the group ran by again. One of the members lagged to the side so he could catch his breath. Yami decided to take his chance and walk up to the stranger.
"Hello, I've never seen a group like this run here before. Are you a charity?" Yami asked, quickly making up an excuse for talking to the stranger.
"It's a program for future police officers. They take students about to graduate high school and show them the life of an officer to see if this is a future they want. I personally don't think I'm cut out for this." The teen gasped. "But then again, if I'm not ready for this, then how are all those mental patients doing it?"
"Mental patients?" Yami asked, eyeing the group as it rounded the park again.
"Yeah, we have a few recruits from the Domino Mental Institute. Don't worry, they're safe." The teen waved as he stood back up. As the group passed by again, he returned to running. Yami didn't have time to hide this time. In a second, Ushio made eye contact with him. It felt like time stopped as the two recognized the other. Then the awful memories of the darkness and the sinister laughing filled both's minds.
"Come on, rookies! Run like the devil's behind ya!" The lead woman yelled. At that moment, Ushio passed her and kept going. He wasn't stopping, not at the end of the trail, nor at the group of picnickers in his path. Ushio was gone. This got the lead woman to whoop with delight as she ordered the others to run faster. In the cloud of dust behind them, Yami came darting out, trying to outpace his own demons.
Yami rushed back into the arcade. He threw his back to the wall and stayed glued there, trying to catch his breath.
'So, there are others? Others that are now healed?' Yami didn't know if he should be jumping with joy at the prospect of not permanently damaging them, or hiding in a corner. He needed his partner's kind reassurance now. Yugi seemed to always know what to do in these delicate situations, where card games couldn't fix the problem.
'Why isn't he here?'
When Yami felt like he could act calm. He straightened up and put his hands in his pockets. He then strolled through the crowd, back to the table. Just in time to see the entitled mother standing over Junior, her face red, as he held out the Kuriboh card.
"Stop!" Yami ordered. Junior immediately froze. Yami came over and snatched his deck and the card out of Junior's hand. "This is my card. Not your's or your son's," he barked at the women.
"You can't talk to me like that. You're just jealous of my son's future talent. You're scared he's going to dethrone you, King of Games!" The woman yelled, saying his title like it was the name of some disgusting bug. This got all duelists in the arcade to look in their direction. Yami felt their stares and knew where this was going to lead. He suddenly remembered why it had felt so good to punish people back in the day. He turned to Junior with the coldest stare he could give. Junior immediately got up and followed him out of the arcade. Leaving behind the two shakes.
"I'm sorry, Yugi. I know I shouldn't have... I just… panicked." He tried to say more, but Yami put his hand up to silence him. As the two walked (Yami more stormed) towards the car, Téa and Joey came around the corner.
"Yami!" Téa called as she waved her hand in the air.
"Yami? Doesn't that mean something like darkness in Japanese? Is that your cool nickname?' Junior tried to joke, but Yami was having none of it.
"I'm going to walk with these guys for a while. I'll be home by nine." Yami said, more stated. Junior was about to say something, but if looks could kill, Yami would have just committed parricide. Junior nodded and hopped into the car.
"I'm so glad you guys are here." Yami sighed after Junior drove away. It felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
Joey watched the car leave then turned to Yami. "I'm guessin' the arcade didn't go too well?" He asked. Yami ignored the question and started following the two.
"Did you guys find something?" Yami asked as the three walked past the arcade and the park. Yami not caring where they went.
"No, not yet. We were just heading to the museum to see if it had anything. It's a long shot, but it was better than sitting around waiting for the Ishtars to call us back." Téa said.
"We thought you'd be at the arcade, and we were just gonna check on you. I didn't think we'd be pullin' you from your Dad." Joey said as he rested his hands behind his head as they walked.
"That man is not my dad." Yami nearly snapped. The two glanced at each other behind Yami's back, and Téa shook her head. She didn't want to push Yami when he was clearly angry. Joey had less tact.
"Yugi's Dad? I've never seen him much, but he seemed nice enough. What did he do?"
"He's a coward," Yami said, wanting to end the conversation.
"Really? Isn't he in the military or some government thing? That's why he's gone all the time, right?" Téa asked.
Yami gave an exasperated shrug.
"Geez, it must have been bad. Well, you can hang with us if you really need to stay away from him dese comin' days. Say Téa's tutorin' you with me or somthin'." Joey suggested as the group came up to the museum and started paying for entry.
"I don't mind, Yami. We have to figure out where Yugi's gone anyway. It's just strange that Mr. Muto would be like that. The first time I met him was when I was really young. During that time, the neighborhood rumor was that he had just left Gozaburo Kaiba's private army." Téa said. This got Yami to stop in his tracks, right in the middle of the museum entrance.
"Gozaburo? But that madman only hired the most ruthless masterminds for his personal army." Yami asked. Both Téa and Joey shrugged. His father's past was one subject Yugi barely talked about with them, even with Téa.
Yami then shook his head, clearing it of his annoyance and fear that had clouded it since running from the park. He knew he was usually better than this at controlling his emotions. He tried not to focus on his recent lack of control and continued into the museum. Inside, the three started wandering around. More focused on talking than looking.
"It doesn't matter now. We have to find Yugi," Yami said, smoothing back his ruffled bangs.
"Yeah! Maybe dere's some other exhibit dat can tell us our destinies!" Joey shouted, hoping to keep Yami in this calmer mood.
"Yes, let's find Yugi!" Téa also cheered.
"But Yugi's right beside you." A voice came from the three's left.
Down the hall where the Egyptian exhibit used to be before it was moved back to Egypt, stood Solomon Sr. In this hall, there were new relics based on the discovery of ancient duel monster games. One of these new artifacts was a piece of slab rock depicting a giant door. On one side of the door were monsters of every kind surrounding a man of yellow eyes, wearing black armor. On the other side of the door was a man with spiky hair, wearing a necklace that looked a lot like the Millennium Puzzle. Grandpa was standing in front of this rock and seemed to be studying it before the three came his way.
"Then again, maybe he isn't here?" Solomon asked as he turned to the teens. The three remained frozen. "Yugi hasn't been here for a while, has he?"