"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." –Author Unknown
And that makes the tri-colored ancient spirit saddened by that amazing idea. Memories are beautiful and the greatest contributor to the story of one's life, which is why there are books: they record the thoughts, memories, imaginations of human beings. He was exhibit "A" to this ideology. He came to find memories a precious, fragile concept. Everyone can relate to the instantaneous forgetfulness; like the situation where one wanted to say something but then something else intervenes the anticipated thought and completely sidetracks the memory elsewhere, to be forgotten after realization; the infamous, "I forgot what I was going to say" kind of thing. And everyone knows that when that happens, it can be the most frustrating thing ever! That was exactly how the Pharaoh felt. Though he does try to not feel so frustrated; he is in a new world, a new life, a second chance to be more optimistic! He has been through so much now that he can look back to; it may not be the greatest thing implanted in his brain but…it was a good start. He knows that when he does carry on in his fated journey, he'll recover his memories again.
Afterschool that same day, after the Ancient Egypt's historical lecture, instead of switching their current places, Yuugi urged the spirit in one of those attempts to "loosen up a bit" and insisted he walk home with his friends. It was a Friday, so as such; it was to be treated with a carefree notion. Looking at Yuugi's bright and child-like smile, it was not something the Pharaoh could turn down so easily. He swore, his innocent demeanor was more terrifying than anything he could ever overcome, and in fact, never had he done so or would want to. The last thing he wanted to do was let Yuugi down; he and his grandfather were like family to him now, including Yuugi's friends. How he has been so successful in his journey was ascribed to them after all. If he were alone, it would be a completely different story; a story that probably would never see page numbers two. As much as he detests the thought, he was very glad to make it to the final chapters of his destiny. It was his height, the "Golden Age" if you will.
He just hopes that…he would never forget these new memories he acquired from this new world.
"Hey, twin, earth to Pharaoh? What's goin' on in dat head a' yours?" came a familiar voice, short-circuiting the Pharaoh's train of thought and really did bought him back to earth. When he glanced towards the source of the voice, it was only Jounouchi with his hand half-way raised, as if in the process of knocking the tri-colored male's head due to the closed-fist display. A goofy grin took form on his happy-go-lucky features and, instead of returning his fisted hand to his side; he unraveled his tight fingers and simply gave a pat on the back on his shorter friend's shoulder. "Eh…he's alright, guys," he was referring guys to the rest of the gang: Honda and Anzu.
"Did we interrupt something important?" Anzu inquired with an uneasy expression. It was easy to read her intentions; she did not want to appear bothersome only because she worries over the Pharaoh worrying, and that just…worries him even more. Like he said countless of times, he did not want them to be so concerned with things that should only be regarded by him.
He shook his head in assurance, hoping to appease her anxiety. "No, not at all," he said, giving a smile to put certainty in his assurance. "I am content just listening to the three of you converse."
"Aww, c'mon!" Honda said, giving a light punch on the tri-colored male's shoulder. "You never joined our conversations."
"Yeah, Honda's right. We wannna hear what you gotta say." Jounouchi chimed in; putting his arm around him, adding on to the assumed plea Honda and Jounouchi were collaborating. "I mean, seriously, these are the moments you should take advantage of; when there's absolutely nothing to worry about," he laid his free arm out in front of him, as if presenting the world to the Pharaoh for the first time. "See? Look around, is there really something to freak out over?" the blonde continued on with his justification of an all-time-afternoon-just-for-fun-with-friends theory he's presenting here. First of all, the nameless figure hesitated for a moment, taken by surprise the urgency he was receiving from all three of them. He averted his gaze from the dark hazel optics of the goofy blonde to the light chestnut hues of Honda's, who had a spark of hope and anxiety in them. Right next to him stood Anzu, noticing her fists were clasped tightly, transforming into a bright pinkish tint from the pressure she placed on them. Her oceanic-blue round orbs was probably the most hopeful look he received, and that was something he should really take into consideration, not that he hadn't already considered with Honda's and Jounouchi's own pleas to the Pharaoh actually hanging out with them for once and to not at all show any hints of oppression from his destiny. The thing was, for a long time now (actually, probably since the beginning when Yuugi and the gang figured out that he was a spirit), Anzu had really been doing everything that she can to help him. At first, he was confused by her strong devotion of aiding him until he learned of the person Anzu really is. She is a cherished ally to have and lucky to be associated with. In the beginning, when she helped him face his fears of discovering his identity, it was something he was eternally grateful for. Not only about his destiny, but like Yuugi she was really the kind of person who wants the person to be content and rid of all troubling sentiments of any kind. So here, with the insistent trio trying to motivate the Pharaoh to put his hand down, forget about monsters, evil villains and destiny, Anzu is really anxious to hear the tri-colored male's reply, hoping that he would actually 100% agree to their persuasion.
Maybe it was about time that he took this time to relax and enjoy himself with his friends. It has been months really since anything had ever happened. He owed it to them for all of the troubles he apologetically imposed on them due to his journey. Come to think of it, he never really did do anything with Yuugi and his friends (with exception to the Grand Prix Tournament that was initially done out of sheer fun but ending up being another one of those caught-up moments in his journey.) Like he concluded earlier, he wanted to remember these valuable memories. He might as well begin constructing his memory album of this new life of his, so he can leave this world knowing he has something to look back upon with a smile on his face.
"You're right, Jounouchi. I should feel silly about being uptight for no reason," the Pharaoh was almost grinning when he saw the look his companies' faces: Jounouchi's arms were off of his shoulders, his jaw dropped staring at him with pure disbelief; Honda had a complete turn-around of his body (being in front of the Pharaoh as they were walking) and stared at him dead-on with widened eyes; Anzu unraveled her conjoined fingers and her eyes sparkled in delight as she spread her arms out wide, approaching the tri-colored male and embracing him into a tight hug, which was something the male did not expect, his own crimson-purplish hues widening in surprise.
"Oh Pharaoh, I'm—I mean, we're all so happy to hear that!" she squealed in pure joy, her arms still wrapped around the tri-colored male's frame, which the Pharaoh is feeling rather awkward about, his arms unable to moved being strapped by her tight embrace.
"Oh yeaahhh!" Jounouchi said in a sassy tone of voice. "We reeled 'em in and now he's wit' us!" both Honda and Jounouchi began to celebrate with a happy dance, locking one arm with each other and began to skip around in a circle, gleefully showing off their triumphant feat.
The Pharaoh continued to smile, though glancing towards the brunette whose still have him fast against him. He cleared his throat, smiling uneasily at the female in hopes of not hurting her feelings when he says this: "Anzu…could you…um…release me?" as soon as he said this, the female's eyes grew wide with realization and she immediately backed off from him, her hands slightly raised parallel to her shoulder and cheeks blushing pink from embarrassment.
"Sorry! Sorry!" she exclaimed, her hands making their way behind her head, scratching it uncomfortably. The Pharaoh attempted to give a smile to ameliorate the awkwardness lingering the atmosphere.
"It's fine, I sense your excitement from this, so I understand…" his features altered a bit as a thought came to mind. This excessive enthusiastic reaction from his friends says a lot. This just really indicates how…distant he really was for quite a while from his friends. That was a saddening thought. He is determined to expiate for the long absence of time he spent not with Yuugi's friends. He should have known that they wanted to get to know the Pharaoh more than just during duels and in crisis situations.
A smile returned to Anzu's blissful features, placing both of her hands on his right shoulder since she was standing adjacently right of him and with determination, pointed forward as she announced, "C'mon! There's so much to do at a Friday afternoon!"
"I say we go to da arcade!" Jounouchi strongly suggested, receiving a whopping support from his trusted sidekick, Honda. "I'm sure the Pharaoh would like dat, right?" on that note, the blonde youth averted his gaze to the tri-colored male with wondering eyes, though there was a hint of expectation from his awaiting features. Logically, the Pharaoh can see where this was going. Since he was, quote-unquote, the King of Games, he should be perfectly fine and actually content with spending time in the game mania of the contemporary world, the arcade. Well, that was partially true. He would like to try out with a diversity of games instead of sticking to the one style of Duel Monsters he's so accustomed to. Besides, if it is a place where his friends enjoy spending time at, then he'll gladly accompany them.
The spirit nodded his head. "Sure, let's go there first…if it's alright with Anzu?" he said, curiously glancing at the only female in the group who ended up laughing from the Pharaoh's implication.
"Oh my gosh, Pharaoh. It's fine! I have been hanging out with these guys for a long time, so I'm practically used to the arcade. I mean, as long Dance Dance Revolution is still there, then I'm perfectly fine." Anzu assured, striking her arm upward with the utmost confidence, giving a wink to add to the dramatic outlook.
Honda rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Anzu. That's all you do there. If we spent the whole day in the arcade, I bet bucks she'll spend time at that one game only. Don't you hear those people complaining about you hoggin' over the dance pad?" his comment made Jounouchi laugh loudly to the point where his face grew red. The Pharaoh noticed Anzu's face growing red; not out of embarrassment, but from anger. Raising a tight fist up in front of her face, she swore under her breath before confronting the dynamic duo troublemakers and pounded her fist on Jounouchi's head first before making contact with Honda's.
"Grow up, you two! I can do whatever I like there. I mean, if I'm tagging along with whatever you two want to do, I might as well content myself. It's not like you two never did anything irritable!" she growled angrily, which is something the Pharaoh quickly took note of: females are dangerous creatures.
"Oh my geezes, shuddap. That ain't true. We are fellow guys who play by the arcade's rules who don't hog a game station, unlike you." Jounouchi continued.
"Yeah right," Anzu sneered sarcastically. "I have considerately invited people to join me if they wanted to play. But they didn't accept it. So their loss."
"That's not what happened!" Honda yelled defensively. "You were so caught up in the game you weren't even paying attention to people around you."—
"Hey guys," the tri-colored Pharaoh's voice intervened the conversation, receiving the group's undivided attention. "Are we still going to the arcade?"
There was a brief moment of silence from the three of them; their eyes wandering to each other (throwing their last deadly glares) and finally wrapping this joint by exclaiming together in a blend, "Oh! Yeah! Right!" and they all began their trek to the nearby arcade down the street. Living in Domino City was convenient because locations are quite short-distanced from each other. One can travel from their house to their friend's place to the mall to the store and back in roughly one hour. It was that ideal. Yuugi didn't have much to worry with prioritizing. If he wanted to quickly check out something while simultaneously running an errand for his grandpa, he can do so no problem. Though a city may be such a hullaballoo at times, it was well worth it.
'Couldn't get any more creative than simply throwing a sign that light up when open in big bold letters saying ARCADE across the width of the building. The Pharaoh had recalled coming here last time with Anzu when she herself quite a while ago (three years ago, perhaps?) tried to push the lad to have an "adventure" as she called it. Beforehand, he had rather dark days, wallowing in fear over who he was and what he could be, to finding out his past. Then when that day passed, he was determined to face everything that must be endured (otherwise he wouldn't be in this point of his journey). Averting a glance to the trio adjacent to him, he noticed the duo, as usual, looking high and mighty with enthusiasm as they readied themselves a large grin and raced through the double doors without another seconds' thought. Sighing softly, Anzu shook her head watching the odd balls bluntly go wild over the games available in the arcade. Every once in a while, they would change the games offered so as to not bore their gamers. Apparently, there were some new ones offered because Jounouchi and Honda were fighting over a game station, cursing each other out and shoving forcefully to claim their spot.
"See what I have to go through," Anzu commented towards the Pharaoh, gesturing towards the only other male friends besides the Pharaoh. He simply smiled upon her remark, shaking her head as he folded his arms across his chest, watching the two of them simply being themselves.
"Well, in the end, they are having fun. I suppose that's what's important," he said genuinely, receiving a warm smile from the female in exchange to his response.
"Oh-ee! You better stop being all sentimental and put on that game face we all know and love! Y'know, out when you're dueling you like always do!" she urged the Pharaoh, spinning him around and pushing him forward to no particular direction. He was startled by her actions and stumbled forward a little, but his eyes were already searching for a game that might catch his interest. He was determined to try out something that was unrelated to the norm of his role, which were destiny-fulfilling duties. But now, he was in this for fun. Just pure, simple, fun.
His gaze rotating a full one-eighty, he noticed that Anzu already trotted towards the empty dance pad for the Dance Dance Revolution game Jounouchi mentioned she always spends her time playing. He can see his point now. But still, if no one was occupying the game in the first place, he supposed it's just first come, first serve.
Now what was he to do? Quite randomly, he walks up to a game station decorated in so much color and design; what a way to draw people in to try out the game. Well, so does Duel Monsters. It was quite flashy and aesthetic in its own way to push people into at least trying it out for themselves. If advertisement could at least strike some sort of interest or curiosity into the person's brain, then it has done its job. In this case, it was an old classical arcade game that all persons would claim to have played at least once: the loveable, famous Pac Man. A simple arcade game it may seem but in its odd ways, it can be considered an advanced, mind-stretching game play like Tetris. Think about it: the game does become difficult as the level proceeds higher.
The game station was slightly taller than him with a large screen taking half of the space at its front and a jutting-out portion that had all of the buttons necessary to control the game. The lower half and all around the system, opt out the large screen, is bombarded with designs of Pac Man and the circle dots consumed by the circular character, along with the colorful ghosts that serve as the only obstacles of the game. Besides, other game stations were occupied by littler children or teenagers that want to call dibs on the "cool" games. Apparently, as he had recalled Honda's and Jounouchi's discussion on games, Pac Man was a bit old. Just now, Yuugi was telling him how old Pac Man was.
"Haha! Pharaoh, you're so funny!" Yuugi laughed innocently, wrapping his arms around his stomach in an attempt to calm himself down.
"What? What is so funny?" the Pharaoh inquired, frowning a bit. With his large, child-like eyes, the younger male smiled widely towards the older tri-colored-haired male.
"This game is kind of old. It released in 1980. You're so old-fashioned, Pharaoh," he teased, virtually patting the Pharaoh's shoulder, watching him as he deposits two coins into the system to start the game.
"It doesn't hurt, right? It looks fine to me," the spirit replied, his frown rearranging to a small smile, leaning forward a bit as he applied pressure on his left arm to steady himself upon the jutting-out portion of the game station, his right hand dealing with the navigational buttons to maneuver the round-shaped figure Pac Man. As the game began the traditional music began to play, initiating the game start and off Pac Man goes, devouring the yellow dots while the colorful ghosts left its one spot and headed for Pac Man. The Pharaoh only smirked as he kept an eye on those creatures moving through the maze hastily for him. In a peculiar sense, this maze-like game reminded him of his own ventures within the puzzle. There were remote areas where must-haves, like the glowing dots located on all four corners of the maze, were located. And often, he found himself running around just like poor Pac Man. However, the Pharaoh's goal was endless and he can't say that there was really anything in his puzzle that were after him…or was there?
A descending-scales sound effect indicated game over as Pac Man shrivels into nothingness, having been caught by the red ghost, Blinky and the last life spent. He went pretty far in the game, but being tedious as the game play was, he had slowly lost focus and eventually lost the game. Chuckling to himself, he glances at Yuugi who grinned back at him. "Thought you could handle it, King of Games," he said teasingly.
"Please. You're the true gamer, aibou. Not me," was his comeback, receiving a flustering Yuugi who lightly hit him on his arm, but smiled appreciatively nonetheless.
"Don't tell me that's all you're going to play? There's so much more than this--"
"Ah, what a sight. If it isn't the famous Yuugi Mutou playing kiddy games," said a voice, interrupting Yuugi's and the Pharaoh's mind link. Immediately, the tri-colored-haired male averted his gaze to the one and only tall adolescent, Seto Kaiba. His piercing icy blue optics stared amusingly at the petite male, his arms were folded across his chest and he slowly approached with his "almighty demeanor."
"Kaiba," was the Pharaoh's acknowledgement.
"I am surprised, Yuugi. I have expected to see you putting yourself up for a challenge. But this here is quite a disappointment. This place is only for wannabe gamers…like the dog over there," the cold brunette remarked, gesturing his head over to Jounouchi, who was playing a racing game behind the wheel. Honda was close behind him.
"I will tell you, there is no such thing as silly games. A game that is created has a lot of thought put into it. The way it works, how to play, taps into complexity. So it is not your prerogative to judge that way," the Pharaoh spoke rather sternly, Kaiba being such a stubborn petulance that he always pose to be.
Kaiba sneered. "You're ridiculous," he flouted. "You can't seriously consider that…well, for instance, hide-and-seek, is a complex game, do you?"
He wanted to ignore him, but he was done with Kaiba undermining. "Complextiy…does not always mean difficulty, Kaiba." the Pharaoh said, his almond-shaped orbs narrowing slightly as he looked up at the CEO. "Hide-and-seek, as you suggested, is just as strategic as any other game. It has rules…correct? It involves thinking…if you think about it. One hides…the other seeks. The hiders know where the seekers are, and in games involving children, the hiders always keep a close eye on the seeker and what he or she is doing. When the hider finds an opportune moment to run without being noticed, they would take it to run to 'base'. That sort of calculation uses a level of thinking. And same for the seeker: the seeker knows that the hider is waiting for the seeker to turn his or her back. So the seeker too has to be mindful of that. And also, with multiple hiders, if a seeker is busy trying to tag one hider, the other hiders would take that opportunity to run to base, right?"
Receiving rolling eyes from Kaiba, the Pharaoh did not hesitate to continue: "…And the game of hide-and-seek is often used metaphorically in the real world, am I right?"
He found the brunette male snarling at him when he finished. Kaiba uncrossed his arms, placing them at his side and only shook his head, his features dismayed.
"You're a joke, Yuugi…only you would make things sound so difficult," he muttered.
"Wrong, Kaiba. It's only fact. Why do you detest admittance?"
"Don't contradict me, Yuugi. I think you should admit the truth. You're difficult."
The Pharaoh frowned. Him, difficult? He was slightly impeded by Kaiba's words. He never actually thought of himself difficult. Well, sure he was difficult to understand because of his current situation…always the contemplator, the reserved one, hidden in the shadows of the sennen item. But did he really make things difficult? Did he bring so much difficulty for Yuugi and his friends…and to his journey? Looking upward at Kaiba now, appearing smug as usual, he can only return an distressing expression. He might as well admit to him…not only because he knows it to be true…but to actually give Kaiba the satisfaction of being right.
"I suppose…I suppose you're right, Kaiba," the Pharaoh spoke softly.
Now here is where tall male gives a completely surprised expression, his eyes larger than the moon. As quickly as his surprise came, his smirk returned to his features, beginning to laugh loudly so that all people currently in the arcade could witness the 'Kaiba humiliating Yuugi act'. Jounouchi and Honda stopped what they were doing, their eyes turning to the scene that was brewing nearby. As soon as the blonde caught sight of Kaiba, he formed two fists with an angry look, ready to bark: "Gah! What's rich boy doin' here?" ready to launch at one of the top authorities in Domino City, Honda quickly held him back so that Jounouchi would not create a real scene. Nearby, Anzu dancing away at Dance Dance Revolution, she quickly abandoned her game when she heard the familiar laughter filling the arcade. Her eyes widened in shock when she realized that Kaiba and the Pharaoh were going at it. 'Oh no!' she thought to herself as she climbed off the dance pad and walked closer towards the scene, her two hands close to her face. As she did so, she heard this sentence being said:
"Ha! I knew you were pathetic. Now you realize how much discomfort you bring to your so-called friends like you bring to me."
The Pharaoh's eyes widen in shock with those gut-punching words. They began reiterating in his mind. 'You bring discomfort to your so-called friends.' As if he was foreign to these words before. He had…considered the idea plenty of times before. But to actually receive these depressing words from another person, it truly…it truly hurts. He almost wanted to turn away—no—run away from where he was standing. He wanted so much to believe that Kaiba was wrong. But it was nearly impossible when he too felt that it was true. But he couldn't run away. He knows where he stands.
Infuriated by Kaiba's rudeness, she was so close to stepping in to the very scene…until the Pharaoh himself spoke up.
"Now that is where you're wrong again. I'm sorry if my interpretations seem difficult for you. But you're going the one who needs to admit the truth. You're making things difficult by undermining those who oppose your way. How pathetic is that, Kaiba. Your acute behavior is discomforting."
He sees that Kaiba's lips were parting, ready to say something in protest but the words never came. So he decided to fill the unfulfilled silence. "You're right…hide-and-seek is a simple game. It is only the players that determine the difficulty of the game."
Kaiba gritted his teeth in frustration. He was tired of hearing Yuugi continuously trouncing him not only in games, but in sensibility as well. Yes, he found the tri-colored-haired male's statements making perfect sense indeed, but he would not accept defeat to Yuugi. His business here in the arcade was wholly tarnished, thanks to the short duelist. With a grunt, he whirled around angrily, his stiffening stature evident by his tightening fists that were by his sides. The Pharaoh saw this and he did not say anything. He would not want to test Kaiba's temper. He can really imagine Kaiba as the type to get physical when he's pushed pass the limit.
"Say whatever you want, Yuugi. It doesn't matter to me what you think. But know this," he turned his head around to look back at the spirit, the rotation of his head stopped to where he could only see the smaller male at an angle. "If this world was a game of hide-and-seek, there's more than one seeker. And seekers are your biggest cheaters."
The double doors of the arcade began swinging as Kaiba forcefully pushed the doors open and disappeared without another word. The Pharaoh stood there silently watching him, intently thinking of those words in his head. He hear Anzu's voice addressing him, her hand taking his own as she tried to talk with him but he was already lost in his thoughts. Seekers…as cheaters? That was an interesting ideology. Thinking back on the strange dream he had the night before, he wondered if it had anything to do with it. Whenever he was inside the puzzle, he would detect strange presences…multiple presences…all around the puzzle, lingering within his vicinity as if they were eyeing his every move. And now the very experience he felt in…that "dream", he wondered if he found the must-have remote area, a glowing dot in a Pac Man game. Now that it was open…was he being seek out? Or…had he always been seek out since the beginning of his journey?