Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh, Supernatural, or any of the characters. If I did, I'd probably be on vacation somewhere more exotic and exciting right now.
Chapter 3
Yami returned to the Puzzle with a hollow sense in his heart. He had not meant to worry Yugi, but he felt more trapped with each passing day. He had the strange sense of having existed a very long time. The years seemed to stretch behind him for an eternity, but there was no story to go with that time spent. His time in the Puzzle, before Yugi assembled it, had been marked by darkness and pain. He had spent so long in dark nothingness that he had come to believe he was nothing, too, and the shadows had been ever present there. They taunted him and bit at his soul. For a long time, it had seemed like the darkness had swallowed him up and he lost all sense of himself. The memory of nothingness still caused his heart to quake. How long, he wondered, would he have stayed that way, lost to the darkness had Yugi not rescued him? What crime against the gods could he have committed to warrant being held indefinitely in the shadows?
When he tried to remember his past, he was only rewarded with brief flashes of what must have been his life: the heat of the desert sun on his skin, the feel of fine sand beneath his feet. Sometimes, he felt the comfort of a hand on his shoulder, though he couldn't recall faces or names, and, as always, when he tried to look too hard, there was grief. It was an old grief that he could no longer remember but it was there, somewhere, still buried in his soul. With that grief came regret and pain. He always stopped looking then, as if his soul rebelled against memory.
As a result, Yami only had memories of the past few years, and those memories, while mostly happy, were still bittersweet in their own way. Those years were marred with fear and confusion. His very presence had brought suffering to his dearest friend and he blamed himself. He wondered sometimes why Yugi kept the Puzzle. Anyone else might have shattered the thing, sending him spiraling back into the pits of hell, for all the trouble it had caused. Not Yugi, though. Abandoning anyone to the darkness like that went against everything Yugi was. In fact, the Puzzle had been shattered once by an enemy.
At that time, Yami found himself in sudden agony, as though his heart had been ripped into shreds and scattered to the corners of the earth. He had felt the darkness creep upon him, had heard the hissing of the shadows once more and the pain of their claws upon his soul as his mind broke. But then, just like the first time, Yugi had plucked his shattered heart from the darkness and reassembled it, piece by piece. He had risked his own life to do so, braving fire and death. Yami felt both immense guilt and gratitude to his young friend for his heroic act. Yami knew that, if Yugi ever abandoned him, that would be the end for him. He did not imagine that his soul would survive long in the shadows after having tasted of the light once more. There would be no repeat of the sensation of death that he vaguely recalled, no returning to the world as a Spirit, or even a proper afterlife. He would end.
The Shadows both hated him, wishing to torment him immensely, and, at the same time, seemed to desire him. He felt that they would absorb him, if they could. He wasn't entirely sure they hadn't nearly succeeded before. The sight of light once more had driven him nearly mad when he first awoke. He had done terrible, mad things to those he perceived as enemies in the beginning.
Yami sighed, shaking himself of his dark musings. It was not useful to dwell on such things and he worried that Yugi would sense his lingering fear if he did not focus on less painful memories. So, Yami, within his Puzzle and prison, turned his mind to the game he and Yugi both loved. Duel Monsters had provided Yami with a wonderful distraction, and he spent several hours mulling over new ideas and strategies for their next game. He couldn't help but think it'd be fun to someday play a game against Yugi, instead of playing as though they were one person, but that seemed really quite impossible now with their minds and souls so closely linked.
Then, he felt Yugi's pull on his soul. His young friend was calling to him.
Yugi, having just arrived at his detention, felt the need for reassurance. Mr. Frankford had been so unkind before that Yugi was relieved when he felt Yami's mind brush up against his own, curiously.
/What's wrong? Oh. Grand./ Displeasure coated Yami's thoughts as he took in the sight before him. Mr. Frankford had decided that Yugi's punishment would be to shine all the trophies he could during his hour-long detention. Domino High School had quite a large collection of trophies. The man sat nearby with a smug and contemptuous look on his face. He really did hate weak little kids like this Yugi brat.
/Yeah, mind keeping me company while I work?/
/This punishment grossly outweighs the minor crime of daydreaming, Yugi./ Yami growled, his anger boiling up again. Yugi simply felt better having someone become angry on his behalf. He, too, felt a bit misused, but it was always nice to have an ally.
The time passed quickly enough, as it often does when one's hands are busy. It helped that Yami had chosen to entertain Yugi by calling Mr. Frankford all of the dirty words that he had learned from Joey and Tristan, and, much to Yugi's amusement, a few creative insults he had come up with on his own.
Finally, after the passing of an hour, Yugi prepared to make the trek home. Walking through the abandoned school hallways, the teen felt a sudden sense of unease. He could not shake the strange sense that he was being watched. It was as though someone was staring at him from behind, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. He thought he heard footsteps behind him as he made his way towards his locker. When Yugi stopped abruptly, whirling around to inspect the hallway behind him, however, no one was there.
Then, a strange scent that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once caused Yugi to nearly vomit. It smelled something like rotten eggs and Yugi had to cover his nose and mouth to keep from breathing it any more than necessary.
/Sulfur./
/Yami, something doesn't feel right here./
/Yes, I feel it, too. I don't think we are alone here. Go. Go now, Yugi. Get your things later./
The words of the Spirit were enough to prompt Yugi to break into a sprint down the hall, and he raced as quickly as his legs would carry him out the building, only stopping when he reached the school gates. He turned to look back at the entrance to the school. There was no movement or sound from the building. It was eerily quiet and Yugi shuddered.
The pharaoh was seriously considering taking control from Yugi for a short while, just in case, when a hand reached from behind Yugi and patted his shoulder, causing the teen to let out a yelp of terror. Yugi had begun to run in a panic, but stopped as the laughter of his friends reached his ears. His knees were shaking horribly, and the terrified look in his eyes as he turned to see Joey and Tristan quickly caused the two boys to cease their laughing fit.
"Yuge, what's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Joey inquired, placing a steadying hand on Yugi's shoulder.
"You okay, buddy?" Tristan echoed Joey's concern.
Yugi's throat was dry and his voice shook when he finally answered his friends. "I-I'm okay. I think I just freaked myself out a little bit in there. The school is creepy after hours." The smaller boy glanced back over his shoulder nervously.
Joey snorted, "Yeah, no kidding, man. But, hey, we figured we'd wait for you and walk home with you. Maybe hang out at the shop for a while, if that's alright."
Yugi nodded his agreement, feeling relieved to have someone to walk home with him. Things weren't nearly as frightening when he had his friends nearby. His fear abated somewhat, leaving him feeling a little tired and silly for having panicked so easily.
/Maybe I was just imagining things./
/Maybe./ Yami's "voice" sounded thoughtful, as though he was considering what they had just experienced very carefully. The Spirit did not wish to further frighten Yugi, but he doubted that they had both imagined footsteps following them down the hall. More concerning, however, was that strange, sulfurous smell that had suddenly overwhelmed Yugi's senses. Something in the back of Yami's mind recognized that scent and it had made him immediately fearful.
As Joey wanted to see what kind of new cards Grandpa Mutou had gotten in at the Kame Game Shop, the trio made their way to Yugi's home. Sugoroku Mutou, a short, grey-haired older man, was busily sorting through new stock. He greeted the boys warmly as they entered the little game shop.
Joey wasted no time in helping the elderly man with some of the heavier boxes, (in the hopes that he would get first dibs on new cool cards), while Yugi slipped upstairs to the small flat that he lived in with his Grandpa and mother. He was surprised, however, to find that his mother was, in fact, home early today. This was a rarity, as she often worked late hours and weekends, and seemed to be away from home more often than not. He had given up on keeping tabs on her schedule a long time ago; he usually saw her for no more than a few minutes at a time in the early morning or late at night if he stayed up. Still, he was happy to see her and rushed to give her a hug.
Mrs. Melanie Mutou smiled sweetly at her son and ruffled his hair gently. "Hi, my sweet boy." She looked him over with an observant, if tired, eye. "My goodness, Yugi. I think you might be due for a haircut." She shook her head in exasperation, causing her short, brown hair to sway.
Yugi blushed slightly. His mother had, since he was a little boy, tried and failed to tame his wild locks. He wondered why she didn't give up on it by now. Wanting to change the subject, he blurted, "So what are you doing home, Mama?"
A strange, anxious expression flitted aross her features, making Yugi a bit uneasy. The boy's unease stirred the Pharaoh once more, and Yugi could feel the ancient Spirit's attention focusing in on the encounter. His mother seemed worried about something and Yugi couldn't imagine what that might be. She quickly covered the look up with a smile and patted Yugi's head again.
"I am going to be taking a little bit of vacation time, Yugi. I want to spend some time with you, you know? Have some fun as a family."
"Oh? Um, sure! That'd be great, mom!" Yugi beamed at her fondly. He hadn't expected this and was excited at the prospect of spending some more time with his mother. They had grown distant since he had entered high school. He realized then, with a twinge of guilt, that his mother knew next to nothing of the adventures and dangers he had faced, nor did she know he shared his body with an ancient Spirit. A revelation like that might end him up in a sanitarium.
He was keeping an awful lot of secrets from her, not that it could really be helped. He and his grandfather both agreed that it was probably best to keep quiet on the more harrowing details of his life. Yugi's father had passed away under somewhat mysterious circumstances when he was still small. His mother tended to shelter him from the world ever since then.
The conversation between the two quickly fizzled. Melanie asked her son a few polite questions about school and life, Yugi answered truthfully what he could and skirted around any details that might cause her to worry. He left out the part of his day in which he thought he was being followed, knowing that she would worry and ask more questions. Likewise, she had little to share about her own life with her son when he asked the customary response questions.
Feeling somewhat awkward around his mother and wondering when that had happened, Yugi grabbed a quick snack from their small kitchen and went to his room to change into some more comfortable clothes than his school uniform. He emerged from the room, wearing a slightly oversized t-shirt and a pair of jeans, his sneakers squeaking as he bounced down the stairs to the shop.
Mrs. Mutou waited until she was sure Yugi was well out of earshot before she pulled out her cell phone, dialing a number from memory.
The phone rang once, twice, three times, and she hung up. She dialed again, and waited for the call to be answered. The gruff male voice on the other end answered brusquely, "Who's this?"
She would have chuckled if her current situation hadn't already sapped any sort of humor out of her tired mind. "Bobby. It's me, Melanie."
A moment of silence ended with, "Why, little Melly! Damn, it's good to hear from you, girl. Ever since…but anyway, what's going on? You sound like hell."
Her voice broke slightly as she started and then stopped speaking, in an effort to explain her sudden call. Melanie paused a moment, steadying her voice, before trying again to speak.
"Bobby, listen to me. It's back. I thought for sure we were done with it but that…thing is back and it's in Domino."
