Hello from the new house! Spent all of yesterday moving in, so that's why I didn't post until now. Note on the chapter: This is a little experimental. Yami doesn't have a name yet, so it felt inconsistent and weird to use it here. It'll be a while before a) Yuugi even knows he exists and b) gives him a name. I tried to make it as clear as possible but I'm not sure how well it turned out, so feedback on it is very very welcome!

As soon as the final piece was slotted into place, the whole Puzzle began to glow. Yuugi gasped as his forehead burned white-hot. He tried to scream but it caught in his throat.

Shadowy blobs shot out of the eye in the center of the Puzzle and disappeared. The light filled his whole room, blinding him. It was all he could see. He couldn't even cover his eyes because he was paralyzed, his hands locked around the Puzzle.

Then something hot and electric raced up his arms, and he blacked out.

He had only ever known the darkness for so long, he couldn't remember anything else. A world of reds and purples and blues so deep they were almost indistinguishable from the greys and black. A world where time was indistinguishable, where he only ever had the Shadows and his own thoughts for company, where gravity didn't pull you to the ground but to whatever surface you happened to be nearest. Or, if he concentrated hard enough, whatever surface he wanted.

He remembered having friends, once. A whole team dedicated to…he wasn't sure. Sometimes the shadows shifted and he could smell blood and smoke. But he could never remember his friends' names, or what they looked like, or why someone was bleeding, or what caused the fire.

And then, for the first time since he entered this hell, he saw light.

He remembered light.

Light didn't exist here.

His breath caught and he reached for it. With nothing in this world to use to gauge distance, it was only then he realized it was too far away. He ran toward it, trying to catch it. The light, the warmth, he hadn't realized how much he needed it until then. The Shadows shot forward, wrapping around it, smothering it—no! He wouldn't lose it!

His fingers finally brushed it, and it was like touching a star.

Once the burning sensation faded, he was able to open his eyes again.

And then he had to shut them again, because the light was too bright. He grimaced and squinted, waiting for his eyes to adjust. Once they had he was able to get a look around.

It was so…colorful. From the sea foam rug on the wooden floor, to the sky color of the desk, to the dark blue of the bedspread (but not as dark a blue as where he had been before) that was covered in soft-looking toys. Where was he? Why did everything look so different? He tried to remember how things had looked before, but all he could remember was the dark.

He knew he hadn't always been in that dark place. He tried to cast back further, to before, and was met with a blank wall.

"Vee?"

He looked down. There was a small brown fluffy thing staring up at him with wide, innocent eyes. He felt like he should remember what it was, but it took so much effort to bring the word up.

"Eevee," he finally whispered hoarsely. "That's…what you are…"

It jumped onto the desk, butting its head imperiously against his hand until he released the Puzzle to pet it. He had been holding it so tightly it almost hurt when he let it go, but he was glad he did; the small creature was warm, soft. Living.

He couldn't remember the last time he had felt anything like it. Before the Dark Place, he knew. When was that? He couldn't remember.

He looked down at himself. His body felt so familiar, but also so very strange. His clothes felt strange, looked strange, like he had been subconsciously expecting to see something else there.

Something squirmed, an odd sensation that seemed settled in his chest. Next to his soul. Why…? His eyes widened.

The Dark Place. He had been in the Dark Place, until he saw the light. There had been no one else with him then.

There was another soul with him, connected to his. He drew on the Shadows, his only companions in the Dark Place, still nearby and willing to do whatever he wished, and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he was inside a different room—his soul room, he knew, though he couldn't remember how or when he came across that information. Dark, except for the sickly glow of an eye on a door in front of him. He opened it and stepped into a hallway, better lit and made of rough stone blocks. The footing was uneven, but he managed not to trip as he followed it.

There was only one other door, wood like the one in the room he had been sitting in earlier. If that other room was his soul room, then this door would lead to whoever he was sharing space with. He needed to know, but the idea of just waltzing in made him cringe. The door was already partially open, thankfully, enough to see a bit of what was inside.

He could see enough of the room to realize it was almost a carbon copy of the room he had woken up in. There were more toys, the rug seemed a little fluffier, and it was definitely brighter and warmer. Very few shadows seemed to be in there. Paintings covered the walls, mostly of a boy who looked almost like him with an older man and a pretty middle-aged woman. Or, he thought they were paintings—they looked so realistic he almost thought they would move.

And there was the boy from the pictures, lying on the bed. The boy looked so similar to him they could have been brothers. And yet that idea felt wrong…

Something growled, and the boy shivered. He found his eyes drawn to the unnaturally dark space under the bed, where a pair of sickly green reptilian eyes peered. A worry or fear, he thought.

"Ushio-san…"

He started, wondering if he had woken the boy's soul, but he was still asleep. The monster under the bed growled more deeply.

So, it's name was Ushio. Not a name he recognized.

He backed out of the room and concentrated on waking up. If he was right, and he thought he was, this wasn't his body, but the boy's. Somehow he had ended up there.

The boy had rescued him from the Dark Place.

Maybe he could return the favor.

The sky was cloudy, hiding the moon and stars and casting the place he had chosen in shadow. Not Shadows, not like the Dark Place, but enough that he felt almost at home.

Once he had realized it wasn't his body, he had used the Shadows to find the boy's last thoughts. They had been terror-filled and riddled with anxiety, all centered on this character, Ushio.

His lips lifted into a smirk. Ushio had demanded a ridiculous amount of money from his hikari, the boy who had rescued him—Yuugi, he had found out, while viewing the last few memories before his awakening. He had found it in his hikari's school bag when he had gone to call the beast for their meeting, and while he knew it hadn't been there before thanks to those memories, it gave him an idea.

If Ushio wanted the money, he would give the beast a chance at it. Hell, he would double it. He fanned the money out, using a touch of Shadow to duplicate it. It wasn't a perfect illusion—it didn't feel quite right and the colors were slightly off, but in the dark it was close enough.

The beast arrived at their meeting—he had chosen Yuugi's school because it was close enough to get to quickly, far enough not to disturb his hikari's family, and abandoned for the night, giving them privacy. He watched Ushio approach from his perch on some of the gym equipment that had been left out—being higher up felt natural—and then decided to draw his attention.

"Ushio."

The beast's eyes snapped to him, startled for a minute. His smirk deepened, and the Shadows crowed.

"Yuugi." Well, apparently he still looked enough like his hikari to pass. Good. "You have some balls on you, don't you? Calling me out here like this." The DC president spread his hands. "Well, I'm here. You brought the money, didn't you?"

He held it up. "I did."

Ushio smirked and held a hand out. "Good boy. Now, give it here."

The Shadows hissed their fury, but Ushio couldn't hear them. He didn't let his irritation show on his face. The beast would be dealt with shortly.

"But that's so boring," he sighed. He leaned back slightly, hooking his feet into the equipment to keep his balance, and held the money up. "Why don't we play a game for it? I even brought double."

"D-double?" Ushio was practically panting after it, and he was unable to contain his smirk at the predictable response.

"Double," he repeated lightly. "Of course," he said casually, "it's not just any game. It would be a Shadow Game. If you win, you get the money, of course. If you lose, I keep the money. And if you cheat…" His face darkened. "If you cheat, you get a Penalty."

"Sounds interesting. Alright, I accept." Ushio smiled, an ugly look in his eyes. "I've never lost a game before."

"Then let's play. We just need one thing to begin." He smirked back. "That knife of yours, Ushio."

"Wha—?"

He waved his hand impatiently. "Your knife. I know you have it with you. We need it for the game, or we can't play."

Ushio eyed him warily, but pulled the knife from his jacket pocket anyway. "Alright, here it is. What are the rules?"

"So glad you asked." He dropped to the ground, sitting next to a short platform used for—he squinted, Yuugi's memories weren't clear, something about jumping? It would work for a table, anyway. He placed the stack in the center. "We each take a stack of the bills and set it on the backs of one of our hands." He demonstrated, then gestured for the knife. Ushio handed it to him. "Then you stab the bills with the knife to lift some off. However many you stab is how much of the money you keep, and whoever collects the most wins. We keep going until there are no more bills left." He smiled slightly. "Of course, you must be careful not to stab your own hand. If you stab yourself, you lose. And the only rule to how many you can stab is that it must be more than one."

"Dangerous. I like it." Ushio sat with a grin. "You're gutsier than I expected, Yuugi. If you acted like this more often, maybe you wouldn't be bullied so much."

He filed that information away for another time. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Game start."

The Shadows crawled eagerly around their feet, though Ushio didn't notice them at all. The beast was too busy watching him place the bills.

"I'll go first," he said mildly, picking up the knife. He bit his lip and pressed the point carefully against the bills, concentrating on not picking up too many and very aware of Ushio's eyes on his face. One…two…three…that should be enough. He pulled the knife away, revealing the three bills he had speared.

"Harder than I thought it would be," he said, plucking the paper from the knife. Really, why use paper money when metal was so much more durable? Too easy to destroy, he thought as he set the remaining money on the pile. Exactly how long had he been in the Dark Place?

"Ha! That's all? Give me the knife." Ushio snatched the blade away. "I'll show you how a real man plays this game."

"Do remember to be careful," he reminded Ushio. "You don't want to accidentally stab yourself."

"Shut up," Ushio snapped. He set a thick stack on the back of his hand and placed the tip against it. The beast pressed down, and the blade slid forward, gathering a much thicker stack of bills than his had been. Then Ushio picked up the knife triumphantly. "Ten! This isn't a very hard game at all, you wimp."

One of the Shadows scraped against the beast's ankle. Ushio twitched, but otherwise didn't seem to notice.

And so the game continued. After a while, he looked at the table. He had amassed a small stack of money, and the pile between them was almost gone. Most of it resided in Ushio's stack.

Ushio laughed triumphantly. "I'm going to win!" He picked up the last of the money and placed it on the back of his hand, bringing the knife to bear. "I've already got almost all of it."

He hummed noncommittally.

"Aw, don't be like that," Ushio mocked. "You should be happy! I'm in such a good mood I won't even beat you up for calling me out here at midnight."

"How…kind."

Ushio smirked and pressed the knife down. He knew all the beast had to do was leave at least one bill. The stack was small and wouldn't require much pressure. But, to his delight, Ushio seemed to be having trouble.

"What's the matter, Ushio?" he asked innocently. The beast's arm was trembling, and Ushio seemed to be panicking, eyes wide, chest starting to heave. Only he could see the Shadow wrapped around the beast's arm, a new green-tinted Shadow that had sprung from Ushio's heart.

"Shut…up…" Ushio grunted. Sweating dripped down the side of his face.

"It seems," he said, leaning forward thoughtfully, "that your head is at war with your heart." Ushio glanced at him, then returned to glaring at his hand. "The point of this game is to master your greed, and you know that here," he said, tapping his temple, "but here," he tapped his heart, "you want the money too much."

"I said SHUT UP!" Ushio pulled the knife away and swung it at his face. He dodged and fell back, landing in a less-than-graceful heap (a voice chided him, "Get up, you can do better than that…"). Ushio's face twisted into an ugly snarl. "I'll kill you," the beast promised him, "and then all of it will be mine."

He leaped up and snarled back. The Shadows rose, twisting around the beast like snakes, keeping him still. "If money is all you desire," he hissed, "then money is all you shall see! Illusion of Avarice!"

A green-tinted Shadow rose and pressed against the beast's eyes, momentarily hiding them from view. Ushio yelled, trying to free himself and unable to. Then he was still, and the Shadow finished crawling into him. For a moment afterward there was a "Y" with two lines through the bottom imprinted over his eyes. Then that, too, faded, and the Shadows let him go. Ushio fell face-first into the dirt.

He gathered the money, tucked it into a pocket, and waited for the beast to stir again before turning to leave. He didn't look at the results, just listened to the yelp—"Money!"—and the crunch of a body hitting one of the leaf piles next to the track.

"I guess this counts for a happy ending for you after all," he murmured, smirking. Then he sauntered home, the Shadows fading away.

Most of the trip was a blur. He vaguely remembered walking, placing the envelope of money back under the till for Yuugi's grandfather to find later, and stumbling up the stairs, somehow avoiding waking everyone up in the process. He didn't exactly have the wherewithal to be quiet.

He was panting by the time he made it to Yuugi's room, shutting the door as quietly as he could behind himself and sliding to the floor, head and heart pounding.

That had taken more out of him than he expected.

"Eevee?" The small brown creature crawled into his lap, placed its front paws on his chest, and licked his cheek. He flinched slightly, still not used to real sensation, but he was more awake now.

"I'm…alright," he tried to assure it. It looked at him doubtfully. "Just tired." He wrapped his arms around it securely and stood. He needed to rest, but he refused to leave his hikari on the floor. He turned off the light, stumbled to the bed, and all but fell into it, letting the Eevee go and settling so he was on his back.

He almost didn't want to sleep. What if he woke up in the Dark Place again?

His hikari had covered the ceiling with green glowing stars. It was soothing, especially when there was so little light coming from the window, reminding him he wasn't in the Dark Place any more.

The Eevee snuggled against his side, a quiet living reminder. He wasn't there anymore. His hikari had saved him. He would never return there again.

His eyes drifted shut.

Yuugi woke up with his alarm and stretched with a tremendous yawn. He felt like he hardly slept at all!

Something next to him wriggled and whined sleepily. He looked down. There was a brown ball of fluff curled into a tight ball next to his side, happily radiating heat. A toy? No, he decided numbly, watching it expand and contract. Toys didn't breathe.

"Wha—?"

The fluff picked its head up, ears springing upright, and looked at him with deep brown eyes. "Vee?"

"Ah!" His yell startled the little creature, and they jumped away from each other. "What the hell?!"

It gave him a sad look. "Vee," it whined piteously.

"You're an Eevee!" It gave him an insulted look. "Eevees aren't real!" They only existed in the Pokemon game! It was one of his favorite cards, he would recognize it anywhere, but it couldn't be here in his room!

"Yuugi, is that you?" His doorknob turned.

He froze, then threw his blanket over the tiny creature, muffling its shocked cry. "I'm up, Kaa-san!"

His door opened. "On time today, I see," she said approvingly. "Well, hurry and get ready, I'll make breakfast."

"Of course," he said, grinning brightly, angling himself so he could block her view of the wriggling blanket. He breathed a sigh of relief when she left, then lifted the blanket. The Eevee stared at him balefully. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "but Kaa-san can't see you, she would have a fit. How…how are you here?"

He crouched down to pet it—her, he corrected himself absently. She stood on her back paws and batted at his chest.

No, he realized, not his chest. The Millennium Puzzle. He frowned. He remembered solving it last night and passing out at his desk. Why was it around his neck? Where had he even gotten the cord from?

But most importantly, there hadn't been an Eevee in his room then, either. Did that mean she had come from the Puzzle?

He remembered those shadows…

He scratched her behind one ear, listening to her purr. "I'll figure out what's going on," he promised. "But I have to go to school first. I can't bring you with me…" He bit his lip. "Will you stay here?"

The Eevee seemed to pout for a minute, then nodded.

"Alright…I'll bring you breakfast before I leave. Hide if Kaa-san comes in, okay?"

Then he got ready for the day.

He arrived school to see a crowd of students. Yuugi wandered over, curious in spite of himself—whatever it was would be a welcome distraction right now. He still had no idea what to do about Ushio except try to avoid him as much as possible—

—except it was Ushio everyone was staring at.

The older student was rolling in a pile of leaves and trash, laughing. "Money! Look at all this money!" he caroled. He tossed a handful of leaves in the air. "Mine! All mine!"

Ushio had cracked, Yuugi thought numbly. Students whispered around him.

"He thinks it's money?"

"Ew, there's trash in the leaves!"

"Gross…"

One of the Disciplinary Committee members crept forward, face unsure. "Ushio-san?"

Ushio pulled his knife and swiped at the other boy. "Get away from me! It's mine, all mine!"

The student leapt back, and the crowd gasped. Yuugi flinched away, and one of the girls screamed.

"Someone call the police!"

"Ushio's insane—!"

"—what the hell—"

"What's going on out here?" a teacher demanded, pushing his way through the crowd. "Everyone get to class, we'll handle this."

Yuugi followed the others inside. What had happened to Ushio? He was completely delusional, but how could something like that happen overnight?

But something inside him still couldn't help but relax. He didn't have to worry about coming up with the money, or worry about Ushio knifing him behind the school. He just wished it wasn't because of something like this.

"Yuugi." He looked up. Jounouchi-kun was standing against a wall, his face covered in band-aids.

"Jounouchi-kun! Are you alright?" Yuugi asked.

The blond smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'm fine. I've had worse. I…" He looked embarrassed for a moment, then took a breath. "I decided I would bring my treasure to school today, too. Wanna see?" Yuugi nodded, and Jounouchi grinned, all teeth. "Sorry, but you can't. It's…something you can show, but you can't really see it."

A riddle! Yuugi frowned thoughtfully, but he couldn't think of an answer. He really should get more sleep…"I give," he finally said, his lips quirking into a grin. "What is it?"

"Friendship," Jounouchi said simply. He shrugged and looked away. "Friendship is something you show through your actions, but you can't physically see it. And…" He looked up, his eyes showing a hint of something unknown, serious. "I hope we're friends."

"Of course we are, Jounouchi-kun," Yuugi said seriously. He held up his Puzzle. "You brought the final piece. I couldn't have finished this without you."

Jounouchi looked relieved for a second, then flushed. "Gods, I can't believe I said something so cheesy," he muttered. "I…have to go, bye!"

Yuugi blinked as his new friend took off down the hallway, until something fell in front of him. He picked it up and dashed after him.

"Jounouchi-kun, your shoe!"