A/N: -Stifles a giggle- Hehe, I love the name to this chapter, and the fact that it's me arguing to the Yugi in my head that it probably wont help isn't making laughing my head off any easier when I think about how I'm arguing with my self.
I'm really strange sometimes, and my friends never cease to tell me this. XD I love them. I'm feeling in a decidedly cheerful mood, so I dedicate this chapter to them—It will be uneventfully eventful, something me and my few partners in crime manage to do everyday despite the fact that it's an oxymoron and—to the normal human—quite impossible.
Don't ask me how. I really don't know, but it's the best way to describe it.
As for Yugi's sudden artistic ability, that's actually mine. Except I improved her greatly, seeing as I suck horribly at drawing hands and feet, and Yugi can draw Yami's damnable hair, and quite a few other things that leave me frustrated and rather irritable.
And I've changed my line breaks, leaving out the time and just going for the place and day.
Masks
A Yu-Gi-Oh! Fanfic
Light, Darkness, and Shadows Universe
By Clockwork Soul
Chapter 5: Oh, Dear. Revelations. Ra Knows That Wont Help. And What's This About a Teacher...?
~Japan, Kame Game Shop, After School, Friday~
Yugi was sitting back on her bed, drawing a picture of Yami. The dark was sitting on the other side of the bed, immersed in one of Yugi's electronic games. She sketched him nearly perfectly, sitting there with his attention diverted completely to the little devise in order to combat his boredom and the forces of evil.
Yugi had just finished the last, careful strokes on his face and set the sketchpad down when the game gave a triumphant song and powered down. Yami blinked at it for a moment before sighing and tossing the completed game on the bed before announcing, "I'm bored."
Yugi leveled him with her amethyst gaze, one eyebrow raised slightly, "You just finished Zelda and your already bored." It wasn't a question, but Yami smirked and nodded. Yugi sighed and Yami blinked as her thoughts took a completely different turn, and wondered over an idea he knew she had been contemplating asking him about for the past few days.
He moved over, sitting on the bed next to Yugi and picking up her sketchbook and looking at the drawing, sightly embarrassed at the care the hikari had put into drawing him. He looked up at her, smirking slightly, "So, are you going to tell me what you've been scheming, Game?"
He felt her hesitate before sighing and leaning against him, Yami wrapping his arm around her shoulders absently as the idea filtered through their link. He went quite still. \Please Yami?\ She pleaded, \I hate lying to him, I really do.\
Yami sighed irritably, remembering the dream his light had the day she solved the puzzle and found himself wholeheartedly agreeing with his past self—he'll never be able to argue with the stubborn girl.
Yugi had sent over everything she knew, including the dream, and Yami returned the favor, hoping to find out something, but they had, once again, came up with nothing much. And, unfortunately, it took very complex magic to unweave the magic binding Yugi's memories, and it was difficult and depleted their strength, so they had abandoned that in favor of mainly searching Yami's soul and occasionally working out one of the binding spells.
He sighed again and returned to the present, where Yugi's head was resting against his shoulder, amethyst eyes looking up pleadingly. Yami almost cringed. Damnit. He looked around for something to distract himself from the insanely adorable eyes, but always caught himself turning back.
He stared at her for a moment longer, eyes narrow and determined not to lose, until her bottom lip pouted out and Yami sighed, grumbling. Yugi immediately recognized that as a 'Yes' and promptly glomped him in a hug. She smiled at him brightly, kissing him lightly on the cheek, "Thanks, Yami. I'm sure he'll like you." He just sighed again and smiled faintly.
He knew telling Sugoroku Motou about his existence was going to be difficult, and Yugi, despite herself, knew this too, and was quite worried. He captured her lips in a kiss to try and ease her worries and she readily deepened it.
Difficult, yes. But it could wait.
~Japan, Kame Game Shop, Saturday~
Sugoroku was minding his own business, sitting behind the counter working when his granddaughter came down the stairs. He immediately knew something was up and was prepared to either flee or be braced for whatever it was his ward had to tell him. She came in with a slightly worried look, chewing her lip thoughtfully, her eyes strangely blank as she walked over to the door, flipped the over the closed sign, and walked to the living room, beckoning him to come with her.
He did so warily. A worried Yugi was definitely something to be bothered about.
She sat on the couch, and pointed to the chair across from her. Sugoroku obeyed instantly. He watched as Yugi glanced over at the space next to her, the blankness leaving her eyes and filling with confidence before she looked back at him.
She sucked in a breath, "Jii-chan, I've got something really important to tell you." She began. Her eyes flicked over to the space next to her again before turning back to him so quickly he almost thought she didn't. She lifted up the Sennen Puzzle, which was still hanging from the chain. He had hardly ever seen her take off the Item, and even then was only for a few moments.
"Do you... remember what was on the Puzzle's box?" She asked, "'Whoever solves this shall inherit my dark knowledge and power.'" She continued without him answering. He eyes had traveled down to the faintly glowing Puzzle, and she smiled at it slightly.
Sugoroku nodded slightly, "Yes, but what...?" He started but Yugi interrupted him, her fingers tightened on the Puzzle as if steeling herself.
"It's not a lie. The Puzzle has power unimaginable."
Sugoroku blinked, this was definitely not what he was expecting, "...Wha?" He managed to ask. Yugi looked up at him and smiled slightly, quickly giving him a dimmed down workings of what she called Shadow Magic. She lifted her hand and in response a trail of shadows detached themselves from the nearest shadow and circled her hand. She played with it absently as she explained, and Sugoroku was appropriately startled.
He chuckled slightly after she had finished answering all of his questions, "Well, this is certainly something I didn't expect. My granddaughter's a... What did you call it? Oh, right, Shadow Mage."
"That's not all..." Yugi's voice was soft and worried. He didn't think that was all—she wouldn't be so overly worried about it if it was just that, "The Puzzle, it originated in Kemet." She stated, unknowingly using the ancient word for Egypt, "It has the power of the Shadows bound to it, but that is not all..." She trailed off and sent another glance at the space at her left, "We are not even sure of it all, but things are how they are and it is how it should be." She murmured, startling the elder at the unexpected use of plurals, "Jii-chan," She said, looking up at him with eyes pleading him to understand, "Many years ago, there was a catastrophe that struck the land of Kemet. We don't know what it was, but it was powerful enough for the Pharaoh, the strongest Shadow Mage, and his Queen, the second strongest, to go out to destroy or seal the danger that terrorized their people.
"They succeeded in sealing away the danger and the Shadows, but at the cost of their souls and memories. The Pharaoh, who had mainly been the one to weave the spell, had his half-soul sealed away with the Shadows. The Queen died and her half-soul went on to be reincarnated."
Sugoroku was incredibly confused. Half-soul? Shadows? Queen? Pharaoh? Sealed? Reincarnated? The thoughts buzzed around his head, but held his tongue when Yugi sighed and looked down again, at the Puzzle.
"I am the Queen. Queen Yugi, the Queen of Games and Light of the Shadows.
"The Pharaoh's soul resides in the Sennen Puzzle. Pharaoh Yami, King of Games and Master of the Shadows."
Sugoroku stared at her for a long time before deciding to go with the easiest option, "Can I... meet this Yami?" Yugi smiled at him and nodded, turning to the space beside her before closing her eyes, concentrating. Suddenly, a bright glow from both the Puzzle and a strange eye on her forehead burst forth, and her shadow jumped up to the space, leaving her shadowless.
He watched, fascinated, as the shadows twisted and intertwined to form a substantial form. Soon, they took the form of a young teenager—probably no older then 15. He was dressed entirely in black leather, with incredibly spiky hair, that defied all laws of gravity and stuck up determinedly in a vague star shape. In coloring, it was similar to Yugi's, the only difference being that his tips were a bloody crimson, the same color as his eyes.
The spirit sat casually, and nodded at Sugoroku, "Hello." He spoke in a calm, deep baritone.
The elder squeaked slightly, "O-oh my! H-hello there." He managed with a bright, if not uncertain, smile.
Yugi smiled happily, apparently satisfied everything was going well, "Well, since introductions are unneeded and a utter waste of time, we'll get on to other things." She muttered, "Is there anything else you needed to know, Jii-chan?"
He nodded. Most definitely, "What did you mean when you said half-soul?"
Yugi sighed and sweat-dropped, "Typical. You pick out the most confusing and hard to explain thing first." She sighed and glanced at Yami, who picked up.
"When some souls are brought into existence, their souls are split in half for unknown reasons. Yugi and I are one example of that case. We are, quite literally, soul mates, simply because we are two halves of a single soul that will never be merged together again." He frowned slightly, "Our soul was split almost so perfectly, however, that most darkness stayed with me, and most light stayed with Yugi. That made it exceedingly more uncomfortable to be away from one another, as my darkness and her light needed each other to balance each other out." He gave a shrug, "That is about all we know."
Sugoroku stared for a moment before nodding slightly, "And... did you say Queen and Pharaoh? And what do you mean, Queen and King of Games, and Light of the Shadows, and Master of the Shadows?" He continued.
Yugi shifted uncomfortably, "Yami was Pharaoh, and I his Queen." She smirked at him slightly, "I suppose this is where I tell you that I finally have a boyfriend." Yami had on a slightly smug smirk, and Sugoroku chuckled, "As for the others? Those are our titles, what we found out we were known by. We were masters of games, both Yami no Game and any other. The Shadows will listen to Yami always, he is their master. They need my light-filled soul in order for balance. I suppose you could call me second-in-command of them." She continued, smiling slightly.
Sugoroku sighed and leaned back in his chair, "And you say you were sealed?" He asked Yami, who frowned.
"Yes. As payment for the spell, my soul was sealed in the Puzzle."
"...And this business with reincarnation? You believe that?"
Yugi nodded, "Only way to explain it. The gods reincarnated my soul, to be the one to solve the Puzzle and release Yami."
"And you remember everything?"
At that she looked decidedly troubled, and Yami looked more then a little annoyed, "No." She said, "Not much at all. Just what I've dreamed in the past and what we've been able to uncover in our souls." She looked over at Yami with a slightly sad look, "We don't even know Yami's true name." Yami sighed and looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. Yugi gave him a small smile, "Sorry. It just really irks me." He just shook his head and smiled slightly at her in return.
Sugoroku sat there, absorbing everything for a few minutes. Finally, he spoke, "Well... I don't think I ever expected anything like this." He stated, laughing.
Yugi grinned at him, "You and me both."
~Japan, Kame Game Shop, Sunday~
"...What?"
Jou and Honda stood in the Kame Game Shop, watching bemused as Yugi ran, chasing something, with a large frying pan in her hand.
"Damnable spirit! Get back here!" She yelled as she took a swing at what they guessed was Yami's head. They heard a vague echoing laugh that sounded like the spirit. Yugi growled, dropped the frying pan, and took off again before tackling air. She glared fiercely at the floor, while she sat on top of the invisible spirit.
Sugoroku came in then, whistling a merry tune as he carried a wad of paper that had something on them. Jou pointed to the girl, "So... what made her so mad at him?" He asked, glancing over at her, where she was still glaring. He was surprised she didn't burn a hole into the floor—er, Yami's head.
The elder shrugged, "Oh, he just caused her to spill Coke on her homework." He said, moving to throw the paper in the trash. Yugi's head snapped up to glare at him.
"Hey! Don't throw them away! I might be able to salvage—Oh no you don't!" She growled the last part, latching onto the invisible spirit's collar. A bright yellow glow and a flowing shadow later, Yami lay on his stomach, indignant, visible to the other three in the room.
"But light!" He whined.
"But dark!" She whined right back. She then turned to her two friends with a bright, innocent, and obviously dangerous smile that made them take a step back, fearing for their souls, "So! What do you want?"
Honda gulped, "Well, I need help. With a girl."
"Oh? Who?" She said, turning toward them, still sitting on Yami's back with her right hand clutching the silver studded collar around his neck.
"Get off me!" He growled. She ignored him, crossing her legs and looking rather comfortable. Jou and Honda walked forward, crouching before her and choosing to follow her lead and ignoring the irate dark.
"Well," Honda started, blushing furiously, looking down at his hands, "I-It's actually Ribbon-chan..." He admitted.
Yugi blinked owlishly at him for a moment, and even Yami stopped struggling to stare at Honda. They turned to each other before shrugging and looking back at Honda, identical grins on their faces, "Knew it'd happen someday." Yugi said, "So, Lover Boy, what do you have in mind for our dear Ribbon-chan?"
Yami huffed and propped his head up with his hand, deciding to just listen and occasionally send glares to the hikari sitting on top of him.
Honda shrugged, "I dunno, I've never been good with this stuff... But your a girl!" He cried, "Your like, born with this junk in your head!"
Yugi stared at him for a long while, "First off, that is so sexist. Second off... Jii-chan! You got anything?" She called to the elder behind the counter, who grinned and nodded. Sugoroku soon came over to their little huddle with a white box.
"I used this to get your grandmother back in the day!" He stated proudly as he opened it to reveal a blank jigsaw puzzle, "You write down your feelings and there you go!"
Jou snickered, "So not your style, Honda."
Honda was looking at the puzzle with reverence, "No... it's perfect..." He tossed a wad of bills at Sugoroku and grabbed the box, a delighted grin on his face. The grin fell when he realized something, then he brightened again and thrust the box at Yugi, "You! You write it! She's your best friend, and I've never been good with this junk!"
Yugi glared at him, "Fine, but you owe me something in return."
And now Honda was fearing for his soul once again. He gulped and nodded.
~Japan, Kame Game Shop, Sunday~
Yugi stared at the puzzle for a long moment, waiting for inspiration to hit her. She had finally released Yami, and now he, Honda, and Jou sat on the couch, watching her. She tapped the marker on the table irritably as she thought.
/It can't be that hard, Game./ Yami's voice filtered through the link. Her head snapped up to glare at him.
\Oh, I'd just love to see you write a love letter, O Great and Mighty Pharaoh.\ She ignored his protests and went back to staring at the jigsaw puzzle. She twitched, "Might as well go with the cliche poem.." She muttered and pulled off the marker cap.
"Roses are red,
Ribbons are yellow.
I cannot tell,
How much I love you.
Love, Honda Hiroto." (A/N: Oh, wow, that's terrible! XD)
She recited as she wrote. Jou and Yami were nodding sagely, and Honda was nodding furiously, a big grin on his face, "Yes! Perfect! You got any wrapping paper?" She nodded and stood, tossing the puzzle to Honda who began breaking it up carefully. She came back and wrapped it in a light blue wrapping paper, topping it all off with a yellow ribbon.
She handed it back to Honda with a grin, "There you go, Lover Boy."
~Japan, Domino City, Monday~
Yugi trudged to school, looking rather tired and dejected. \Shouldn't have stayed up all night to do that paper...\ She moaned. Yami phased out of the Puzzle, slightly transparent and with an amused look on his face.
/And this is what happens when you don't listen when I tell you to go to sleep./ He said cheerfully. She glared at him, and he grinned back at her, /Here, why don't you go ahead and sleep in your soul room. I'll wake you up when we get to school./
Yugi nodded, her gratefulness washing through their link as she retreated into her soul room. Yami took control of her body, and, after shaking off the odd feeling of being in a girl's body, he started walking towards school—keeping far away from the road, mind you. He still didn't trust cars. Her amethyst eyes turned a bloody red, and her hair gained his trade-mark golden lightning-like bangs that shot through her ponytail—she was much to tired to bother with fixing it properly—and the amethyst ends became crimson.
After a few minutes he heard the bell ring in the distance and yelped, readjusting his grip on Yugi's messenger bag and sprinting off towards the school. He nudged Yugi mentally as he entered the building. She groaned phased out of her soul room, rubbing her eyes. \Not much of a nap...\
/Sorry, Game./ He apologized, /But your late and we're nearly there./ She nodded and floated beside him as he made his way to the door of the class. They blinked when they saw Yugi's teacher holding Honda's present to Miho. She made to tear away the wrapping paper, but Yami smirked and snapped his fingers, and the shadows in the room lengthened. "Yami no Game..." He murmured as Chouno suddenly gasped and fell to the ground as her soul was taken to the Shadow Realm, present unharmed. Yugi rolled her eyes as she was brought back into control, and her hair and eyes going back to normal. Yami smirked at her before his soul followed the teacher.
Yugi entered the class silently, cries of, "Sensei!" "Chouno-sensei!" filling her ears as she made her way over to Jou and Honda. Honda was smiling, glad the sadistic rule-enforcing teacher didn't take the jigsaw puzzle. Jou raised an eyebrow at her, "Was that you? Because that was just way to lucky."
She grinned as she knelt down, as if she was tieing her boot laces, "Nah, it was Yami." She grabbed the present a shadow had snatched and brought to her. She straightened and hid the present behind her back as Miho and Hanasaki came over to them.
"Hey, Ribbon-chan, Hanasaki." She greeted.
"Hi, Yugi-chan, Jou, Honda." Miho replied, smiling. Yugi smirked and held out the present, which Miho took, a surprised look on her face, "Is this from you, Yugi-chan?"
Yugi shook her head, amethyst eyes amused, "Nay," She said dramatically, throwing an arm around Miho's shoulders and waving her hand in front of them equally dramatically, "But from a gallant man hoping to win thy heart, fair Ribbon-chan!"
One second passed.
Then two.
"Nyeh-hahaha!" Jou doubled over laughing, Yugi soon joining him. Honda glared at them as they straightened, leaning on each other for support. Jou wiped a tear from his eye, "Gallant man..." He sighed, "That was a good one."
Honda whacked them upside the head when Miho's attention was diverted, while Hanasaki looked on, amused. Yugi had told him earlier about Honda's affections.
"Chouno-sensei is waking up..." Miho stated, looking over at the teacher, putting the present in her bag.
"Oh?" Yugi asked, already feeling Yami return to the Puzzle. He phased out with a dark smirk, wrapping his arms around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder. Chouno stood up shakily, and looked around warily. There was a pause, and then a crack appeared on her face.
/Illusion of Truth./ Yami murmured.
Her make-up cracked away, crumbling to the floor, leaving Chouno with a mean and ugly face. She screamed, her hands hiding her face as she ran out of the class, leaving most of the students confused.
In the end, Miho completed the puzzle, and returned Honda's feelings.
"Huh, who knew anyone could love someone like you, Lover Boy." Jou said jokingly, as Honda joined them with a dazed expression.
"Are you two going to keep calling me that?" He asked.
"Yep!" Jou and Yugi replied cheerfully.
~Yami no Linebreak!~
A/N: Another chapter!
Ranting Time~!: I've drawn Malik, Bakura, Fem!Yugi, and my own OC, Nafre. All I have to do is finish Yami ("'EFF'ing hair!" -Tosses Yami attempt in the trash and grabs hair in frustration.- "Gods, If I can pull off Fem!Yugi why, in the name of Ra, can't I do Yami?") and maybe draw Fem!Ryou, Ribbon-chan, Hanasaki, and Jou, then color them and they will be posted in my DeviantART. Hopefully soon, seeing as I'm having a blast coloring Malik.
I really do love Ma-chan. :D So painless to draw and such an awesome character at the same time. Though, it took me until after I penned in everything, uploaded him into the computer, and really looked at him that I noticed that I made his eyes similar to every other YGO character and not his simple lilac with a barely noticeable pupil. I was understandably pissed (One "WHAT THE FU-" and a massive headdesk to stop the string of curses I knew my mother would kill me for.) and changed it immediately on the comp, deciding I'd redraw him later. (This pissed me off further, seeing as I drew him freaking PERFECTLY! :D And only on my third try! The first was simply a test and turned out rather well, so, at school the next day, I drew him in a pose he'd be proud of with a sexy smirk, and it turned out FABULOUS~! The third, was just to redraw the first, seeing as it was just a test on regular paper and not the new sketching paper I had just gotten that day after school. I was so proud...)
And I really love how Bakura came out, I managed to pull off his slightly insane look with his eyes and a well-placed malicious grin. That was my first time ever drawing 'Kura-kun, and I think I did him justice.
Fem!Yugi turned out to be surprisingly easy, what with my strange difficulty to get regular Yugi's and Yami's hair. Though I didn't make her eyes like that of regular Yug'. =3 I took that hard into consideration, and it just didn't go with her style.
At all.
Nafre, by far, surprised me the most out of all of them. I had drawn her multiple times over, just little sketches, but this was the first time I really settled down to draw her outright. For some strange, unknown reason, she actually looked like the demented love-child of Malik and Bakura. Immediately after this thought I collapsed in a fit of uncontrollable giggles and I think my mom thought I went insane. I even told my best-friend, Izzie, and she laughed, even though she had never seen the series! (Though, I do talk about it enough, she probably picked up the fact long ago that Malik and Bakura have a non-existent -Resists disclaiming this- yaoi relationship. Plus she'd seen Leather Pants by LittleKuriboh and absolutely loved it.)
Anyways.
She managed to come out with quite a few pieces of gold, and she will have tanned skin like Malik's, as she is Egyptian, but she managed to come out with Bakura's slightly insane look. And she apparently has a dragon tattoo that looks suspiciously like Slifer on her left arm. WHEN THE HELL WAS I GOING TO GET NOTIFIED ABOUT THIS? I have absolutely no control over her now. Damn her, sitting smugly in her corner in my mind while 'Kura and Ma-chan gagged, with the rest laughing uncontrollably.
Damn them all.
Nafre: We love you too~!
Malik: Love-child. What the FRIG.
Bakura: Bloody fangirls...
Clockwork Soul: -Torments them a little more before her will broke when faced with Ryou's pleading eyes.- 'EEF!'ing hikaris... -Making sure to use Malik's bleep, she grumbled and relented.-
Hehe, sorry. I had to rant a bit.