Surprise! I haven't forgotten about this! Warning for self loathing content and negative self thoughts.
Unbeta'd, my mistakes need better locks.
The days pass faster than he likes. They do homework and play games in equal measure, but they eventually just blur together as he waits for the next trial.
Thief King stays quiet, as per the rules of his loss. He emerges maybe once, and only then because he sensed Atem trying to sense him, and got so offended that Atem assumed he'd violate the terms of their game so soon that he decided to give him a piece of his mind. The fact that he violated those same terms in doing so was apparently lost on him, but maybe the Shadows have a sense of humor about these things because nothing happened. At least, not yet.
Atem seems more prominent this time around, but significantly less approachable. It's not like he's constantly in control like Thief King used to be, by any stretch, just that knowing flicker in the eye of someone who absolutely isn't Yugi every so often. Jounouchi doesn't like it. Maybe it's Thief King being around and not safely banished making him twitchy, maybe he was right before and echoes of Yugi's original fate still scar his soul, but either way it's too much.
Yugi seems smaller somehow, every single time he realizes that 'other Yugi' has taken over without him noticing again. It's scaring him. It's not how things should be. He should be aware of the other's existence, curious and a little unsettled maybe, but not fearful. It's almost worse that he can't fool himself into thinking it's just something wrong in his mind that a doctor could fix, he knows exactly what's going on, but can't stop it.
He sometimes wonders how Bakura managed to survive so long, with no one to reassure him that he hadn't missed anything or that they'd happily explain it to him later.
He doesn't want to start resenting Atem for it. He can't, because the moment he does is the moment he gives up on Atem being one of his friends.
Jounouchi doesn't give up, ever.
Jounouchi's getting thrown off more than he first thought. Little things that must have surely come down to chance before are different, and they add up to even more different things. He leaves school five minutes earlier and notices a limo with the Kaiba Corp. logo driving away from the school grounds. His father is sober on days he remembers him being black-out drunk before, but drunk on some days when he was sober. Bakura gets a phone call from his father an hour later than expected, which is apparently an improvement over his usual two and a half.
But one thing is certain. Tonight, maybe even arriving as they pack up for the day, a videotape will arrive. Pegasus will take advantage of Atem's pride to win, Grandpa will pay the price of losing. They'll make their way to Duelist Kingdom, Yugi with the goal of saving Grandpa and him with Shizuka.
Knowing what's going to happen... Can he really let this play out as it did? When he knows he can stop Grandpa from losing his soul? Can he really sit there and let Yugi suffer under that burden again, knowing he could prevent it with just a touch of a button? What if Grandpa's heart can't take the strain this time, what if old age or the shock catches up with him a little sooner? Atem is harsher, who's to say Pegasus isn't the same?
But if Yugi doesn't go to Duelist Kingdom to retrieve his soul, there's no chance in hell of Jounouchi getting the prize money to save Shizuka's eyes. As much as he hates to admit it, he can't earn the kind of money she needs by himself, not before she goes blind forever and he won't let that happen. Bakura and the others would offer to chip in once they found out, like they did last time, but the pocket change of a bunch of teenagers won't amount to much. And then there's only Kaiba who can save Mokuba and as last time proved, he can't do that alone.
He can't risk Grandpa to save Shizuka. He can't blind Shizuka to spare Grandpa.
He can't even just reset just to see what happens one way or the other; neither Bakura or Thief King have said anything about it to him but he knows how lucky they are that Zorc didn't notice their last Game. He's not putting them through that day again, and who knows how far they might get in either timeline before realizing they'd rather have the other one? All that progress down the drain...
There's a lead weight in his throat, slowly choking him. He's somehow cold even under his jacket.
"You okay, Jounouchi?"
Jounouchi almost falls out of his chair at Yugi's voice. "Y-yeah, I'm good."
"Sure? You look kinda pale."
"M'sure."
His denial doesn't work this time. Yugi reaches out and presses the back of his hand to Jounouchi's forehead, frowning to himself. Yugi did this to him in the original timeline too, when Jounouchi thought he was coming down with a fever right before a tournament. He followed it up with a kiss though, which isn't going to happen this time around no matter how much he could use it.
"Want us to walk you home?" Anzu asks.
Honda nods in agreement as he adds, "We don't want you passing out in the street or anything."
Like hell is he exposing Anzu, or anyone else for that matter, to his dad. He honestly can't remember if he was sober or not today. "I'll just splash some water on my face or somethin' before leaving. You guys go on ahead, I gotta pick some stuff up on the way home anyway."
Before waiting for a reply he leaves, Yugi's eyes burning into his back.
It doesn't occur to him to check to see if the bathroom is empty before rushing in and dry heaving into the nearest toilet for all he's worth, so Bakura helpfully patting his back and asking if he's alright is a pretty unwelcome shock. Especially since he ends up flat on his ass as he lurches away from the touch.
"Well, are you?"
"I don't know."
He doesn't realize he's repeating himself until Bakura pulls him upright, then Thief King's suddenly in charge and pinches Jounouchi's nose to break the mantra.
This must fall under 'assisting his host should he need him'. Fucking loopholes.
Jounouchi manages to calm himself down and once he can breathe a whole minute without the air hitching in his chest Bakura comes back. He doesn't flinch at the noise or say anything when Jounouchi slams his fist into the wall and it echoes around the bathroom, just looks at him neutrally.
Everything's numb. Did Thief King stab him again and he's just not noticed again? It's like the moments where he knew if he didn't hit the button to reset he never would.
Bakura guides him out of the stall and into the now quiet hallways, setting him down in an empty classroom. They've got about five minutes before the doors lock, not that those would be a problem for Thief King.
"Today's the day Yugi duels Pegasus."
"I see."
"It's the day Grandpa gets his soul stuck inside a radio. He's an old guy, he might not make it this time."
"I remember."
"If Yugi doesn't go to Duelist Kingdom I can't save Shizuka's eyes."
"I'm sure Bakura could steal something we could sell off. You wouldn't believe how many pawn shops are willing to look the other way around here."
He says it so matter-of-factually that Jounouchi can't stop the snort of laughter. It's a short but welcome relief.
"Thanks, but I can't ask either of you to do that."
"If you say so..." His expression changes suddenly, looking a little more grave. "Now, Shizuka would tell you to protect Grandpa, while Grandpa would pick Shizuka over himself, correct?"
He doesn't like where this is going even as he nods, especially as Bakura pulls a coin out of his pocket. "I say, let the coin decide. If you can't pick and they can't pick, this is only fair, right?"
"What?!"
Thief King glares back at him, shushing him as footsteps pass in the hallway. They stay dead quiet until they fade away.
"I knew you'd react like this - now Ryou owes me profiteroles. Thanks, but you still need to get a grip."
"You get a grip! I'm not letting a coin toss decide something like this!" He yanks the coin out of Thief King's hands.
Thief King snatches it back. "Oh for fuck's sake... I'll choose, because you're being a goddamn baby! We follow the original timeline; Grandpa gets radioed, you and Kaiba get to save your bastard siblings and we all go home happy. Now let's go before we get stuck here all night."
It's that fucking simple for Thief King, perhaps Bakura too, and apparently it's good enough for Jounouchi since he can't pull anything out of the static in his brain to counter in the time it takes for the lock to be picked and for them to be out on Domino's streets.
He's screwed up before even beginning. Yugi might be dueling Pegasus right now and his best friend isn't there to support him because he's too busy moping. Hell, he might have already lost or won in the time it's taken Jounouchi to stop being so fucking useless. This whole evening was just pointless. For him, Yugi, even Bakura; he probably had something planned that wasn't Jounouchi wasting everyone's time, once again.
Thief King stays in control, way longer than Jounouchi assumes he would, as they make their way to Jounouchi's. The streets are quiet and it's making him nervous.
"So, uh... why follow the original?"
Thief King holds up his hand and counts off his fingers. "Way easier to predict what's going to happen for the most part, and I want easy access to the Millennium Eye. Then again, the way our dearest Pharaoh's been acting, I wouldn't be surprised if he handles that mess himself..."
Some part of Jounouchi had always known Thief King, or at least the spirit of the Ring, had something to do with what happened to Pegasus. He's not nearly as shocked as he thinks he should be.
"... Ryou won't let me not help Kaiba's stupid brother, so we have to go and save him. He says you have some dragon to collect too..."
Oh, right, the Red Eyes. He probably won't be able to look it in the eye, knowing what it's cost to get it this time. Maybe it'll be able to tell. Maybe this Jounouchi isn't a worthy master this time around.
"... 'Exodia has to drown'? Jeez, dial back on the morbidity, Ryou. That one lady duelist, Mei or whatever, you all have to be nice to her or something? I dunno, he's saying too much too fast."
There's so much riding on Duelist Kingdom... Not just for him. For Yugi and Mai, and Kaiba too.
"Tell Bakura I get it."
Thief King nods, then Bakura takes back control again. He blushes a little. "Sorry about him. He's a little bit blunt."
"But you still agree with him."
"Well, yeah. But he could've said it a lot nicer; there's nothing wrong with a little tact."
Jounouchi slings an arm around Bakura's shoulder. "Nah, I think I needed to hear all that anyway - even if he IS a dick. It's got me focused y'know? If we're picking a new future, I can't keep doing this whenever I get stuck between a rock and a hard place. Just... gotta deal with it, I guess."
Easier said than done.
"Hey, Jounouchi? I just thought of another problem," Bakura says once they reach Jounouchi's street. Nobody should ever sound anything less than pissed saying that yet Bakura manages to remain pleasantly neutral regardless, like he's reading a vaguely interesting fact from a book or something.
"What?" he murmurs. God, he's tired.
"The Millennium Eye reads minds, correct?"
"... Pretty sure, yeah. Why?"
"What do you think Pegasus will do to us when he reads our minds and realizes we have something that could save his wife?"
...
Shit.