A Past and Future Pharaoh

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Original Beta: White Swan

A/N: Wow, chopped off about two pages of unnecessary flashback.

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"So… Anzu, you're Yugi's girlfriend right?" Miho asked as they wiped down the student desks before class.

"Wh-wha-WHAT?!" Anzu openly gaped at Miho; curse her luck that the first day back and it was her and Miho's turn to clean their classroom. How was she going to get the blush she felt shooting up into her face under control before class?

"Well you're always with him and defending him, so we thought maybe you two were dating," Miho said, looking a little concerned at the expression on Anzu's face. It was this interesting blend of shock, horror, and embarrassment.

While Anzu thought back to the 'new' Yugi, looking up at the formerly short teen, with his expressively gentle eyes and his hair as soft as mink fur… Which was funny; it used to stick up in such an odd spiky way that people assumed it was stiff yet it had always been soft. She desperately tried not to let her mind wander over how Yugi had changed. She knew he was nearby in school office, filling out the paperwork for his change of address… But 'little' Yugi was physically gone and what was left was... wow.

"Ah! So you are!" Miho crowed out happily. She dropped the cloth on the desk she had been working on before dashing to her desk. "So you'd know if he'd like this!"

That shook Anzu out of her day dream as she watched Miho return with a lavender colored wrapped box in her hands. It was kind of thin yet wide, and small enough to fit in their desks, which she suspected was the idea. "The girls and I, well we went out and got a puzzle for Yugi. Since he likes them and we hope he'll like it, we all signed it. The guys also found some mentally stimulating games online and bought him some," Miho looked both expectant and hopefully at Anzu. "It's not much, but with his grandpa and mom both dying in that horrible blast, not to mention while he was kidnapped… Well what do you think?"

Anzu's face softened as she realized the old class had gotten together to get this done, "he'll love this Miho. Come on, let's go put it in his desk."

"Finally! Done with the hall." One of the guys came in a bucket in one hand and a mop in the other. While the girls went to Yugis' desk, Honda limped after the guy and had Jounouchi in tow. Despite not having duty the pair had walked with Anzu, who did, like they normally did. Though they had to make the effort to skip the Game Shop to get Yugi. Now he would be riding with Kaiba a la limo.

As the first bell rang the students began pouring into the classroom, going to their seats and putting up bags while waiting for their teacher. There were boisterous conversations coming from the guys, while all the girls congregated around Mihos' desk for a little meeting before breaking up to their own seats. Kaiba came in, ever aloof of those lower than him; namely the whole student body. While Ms. Yoshida came in last to the chorused "Good Morning Teacher Yoshida."

With a sweep of her eyes Ms. Yoshida took in the number of empty and filled desks, noting the lone empty desk near the window. She hooked a curl of her black hair behind her left ear as she asked, "Is Mouto, Yugi not coming today?" While her gaze began to search out the usual suspects that he spent time with.

Yet oddly, it wasn't one of the four rather, Kaiba who answered, "he's filling out the paperwork for his change of address… And probably getting a new picture ID."

The class was a bit surprised that Kaiba of all people answered, but that was nothing compared to the surprise provided halfway through the first class. A knock at the door interrupted the teacher mid-sentence. Curious, they turned their attention to it as it slid open, with an already bowing profusely teen standing there panting softly.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry. The paperwork was more than I had anticipated, I'm so sorry for being late."

"And you are?" Ms. Yoshida asked while the class began leaning to the side to try and catch a glimpse of the 'stranger'.

Jounouchi leaned back and started having this knowing smile, Anzu sighed in resignation, Bakura was busy transcribing the class for Honda, and Kaiba couldn't have cared less.

"I'm Mouto, Yugi, I sit right over there, Ms. Yoshida don't you recognize me?" Yugi asked in his softest most pitiful voice as he stepped into the room with a small gesture to his desk. Papers, pens, pencils, books were slid off desks as students openly gaped at Yugi. He had brought his bag to his side as he stood there, revealing his complete and total change of looks. If not for his expression, bangs, clothes and clear nervousness they wouldn't have believed it could be Yugi.

"May I see your ID?" She asked; it was bad enough Kaiba towered over her, now Yugi too? Before the break Yugi had started growing, it was true, he had reached the height of his friend Anzu for example. But because he always wore clothes a size or two bigger it masked how 'much' or how fast he was growing.

Yugi didn't even have to pull the card out; he already had it in his hand and gave it to her while waiting for permission to go to his seat. Behind him the girls in the classroom were looking him up and down, trying to figure out what happened.

"How did you go from here?" Ms. Yoshida stuck her hand out where the top of Yugi's formally outrageous hair used to top off at, "to here?" Waving her hand where the top of it was now.

He gave a faint shrug, growing increasingly uncomfortable as he felt all those eyes on his back. His lips twisted into this awkward smile as though to say 'surprise?'

"Yeah, we know how it looks! I'm just grateful he opted to wear clothes four times his size before we got kidnapped! Otherwise he would have been naked before we got out!" A flippant, yet familiar voice called out.

"Jounouchi!" Yugi whirled about, his eyes wide with shock, as he stared at Jounouchi who got his ear yanked on again by Anzu with the appropriate cries of pain.

"Trying to turn the pointed eared puppy into a floppy eared one?" Kaiba asked, his nose back in his book now that class had been disrupted.

"What do you mean 'try' I think it's now bouncing in time with his step." Honda replied with a sigh as he leaned back from Bakuras' desk.

"Well… Yugi, you may go to your seat…" Ms. Yoshida looked stunned; no one was going to blame her though.

He bowed and retrieved his ID before turning around to face what his nervous mind thought of as a firing squad. Lowering his head quickly, he walked towards his desk, trying to catch up with the rest of the class when he opened his desk. For a moment he paused and prodded the box resting there, curious about its contents, but then simply shut the desk. He turned his attention back to their teacher and put all his effort in learning what she had to offer. He had slacked off too long, his grandfather hiding the displeasure Yugis' father felt over his grades. Now if he wanted to stay in Domino he had to raise them to a level satisfying his father. Yet he was grateful when break was announced. Without thought, he had opened his desk and pulled out the package he found, unwrapping it with all the curiosity of a kitten. Inside the wrapping there was a series of small boxes in various shapes, their covers proclaiming them as puzzles and mentally stimulating games. Yet it was the broken puzzle pieces that rested on top of those boxes that got his priority.

After piecing together the Sennen Puzzle no puzzle seemed as difficult, he merely spread out all the pieces before him and began fitting it together. Already he could see there were words on it, but it had to be completed for him to read it. It brought to mind when his grandpa had given Honda such a puzzle for Miho, as he worked he thought back to when Honda made him write the letter as well. How different things seemed now compared to back then, the shop and the family he had grown up with were gone. Now he just had to piece up his life and move on, yet it felt so hard to do so. In what seemed like a matter of seconds Yugi finally slid the last piece in place and looked over his work, reading over a message written to him by his classmates…

Dear Yugi,

We're deeply sorry for your loss. We never thanked you enough for the idea and helping us defend our spot last year for the school festival from the upper classmen, or how you managed to get the bullies to leave us alone. So we wanted to give you this as a small token of our gratitude and hope that you never have to hurt like this ever again.

It had been signed by what looked to be every member of his class the previous year that he didn't hang out with. Despite the black ink running together the longer he looked at the puzzle as he tried to get his brain to function properly with this gift. It wasn't just about the fact that his grandpa and mom died; it was… they thought of him… runty little Yugi who was probably going to spend the rest of his life as a bully magnet. They honestly cared enough to think about what to get him; they actually remembered the stuff he and the other Yugi had done? He covered his face as he cried when he heard Anzus' reassuring voice over his shoulder telling him it would be all right.

"Oh Yugi we're sorry we thought you'd like it…"

Yugi looked up, but couldn't see through the tears, all he could see was Miho's hair up in the familiar ribbon.

"Here we'll take it back… We're so sorry."

Yugi dropped his upper body over the gifts trying to keep them from being taken from him. Wiping his eyes frantically he swallowed, it seemed as though all his old classmates were in the room looking at him. "No, I love them… I love them all I just… I just… You can't understand what this means to me…" He choked the words out, the new depth of his voice finally noticed. He clutched at the gift like a lifeline as Miho retracted her hands, allowing him to look over all those gifts. Everyone came over, each of them gripping his hand or arm, some quickly with awkward words of apology, others with just a lingering touch. Yet each one left a mark on him, a deep feeling that brought tears to his eyes as he realized for the first time in his life that he wasn't alone. When he had made that wish at the Puzzle's completion he had been so sure that he was alone. He was positive that it was through the power of the Puzzle that he had made the friends he had. But now he couldn't help but wonder if he had just reached out to one of them…

"We need to get back to our own rooms," a few voices could be heard and the group began to disperse.

Yugi spent the rest of the break trying to get back his self-control while Jounouchi and Honda gripped his shoulders, trying to help him. When class began again he put away his gifts with all the tender consideration he once used for his Puzzle.

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He paused his hand just about to touch the doorknob of the living room area; already the soft sound of laughter was tickling the air. He opened the door slowly, unwilling to interrupt his brother at whatever game he and Yugi had concocted but curious all the same about it. Yet he was caught the moment the door moved, the pair seemingly been chasing each other around the room stopping to watch him. Mokuba had what looked like a cross between the Dark Magician and a tiger in his hands and was barely keeping Yugi at a distance.

"Big Brother! He tickled me!" Mokuba ran to the protective shadow of his older brother pointing at Yugi accusingly with the toy in his outstretched hand.

"Mokuba where did you get such a toy?" He had asked calmly looking between the pair.

"Anzu got it for Yugi," Mokuba explained, looking up at his brother and holding the doll out so his brother could see it clearly.

Kaiba took the doll into his hand and studied it while Yugi walked forward clearly intending to retrieve his toy. The door parted more as a maid appeared announcing that dinner was ready. Mokuba tore the doll out of Kaiba's hands to run for the dinning room. Yugi in hot pursuit while Kaiba followed them, noting to himself how Mokuba was leading Yugi to the dinning room. Yugi looking his age was fascinating, the notion that someone could look like they were only ten or eleven years old suddenly in the span of a few weeks look eighteen. Given from what little Yugi had been able to explain in the cell it had been going on for a while, but suddenly whatever it was went into overdrive.

In a sense Kaiba had always thought of Yugi as a child, someone who couldn't see the world for what it was. After dinner though, once again Yugi went about turning his world upside down. While Kaiba had merely thought a chastising swat of the pillow to keep Yugi in his place towards Mokuba, what he got was a face full of pillow when Yugi retaliated.

Mokuba was openly gaping; having never seen anyone else hit his brother with a pillow before. It was a reaction on Yugi's part, Mokuba could tell when he looked at the teen and saw that look in Yugi's eyes. It was challenging, though not on the level of the Other Yugi. Kaiba took out his contacts; he doubted this was going to be a short battle, before smacking Yugi again with the pillow. Yugi tried to hit him again but he side stepped the attack and hit Yugi in the back of the head. He could hear Mokuba laughing, urging him on while Yugi got him in the ribs, leading into the first time he ever got into a pillow fight with someone other than his brother. 'So playful' he remembered faintly from some distant part of his mind. He had just tangled their arms so that Yugi couldn't strike at him again when he noticed the time from a clock resting on the mantel in the room.

"Mokuba, it's your bed time," he turned his attention to Mokuba while Yugi stilled for the sake of conversation.

"Aww, but Big Brother!"

"Go…" Kaiba watched his little brother sulk off to obey him, releasing Yugi to follow Mokuba. After all it was not the first time that Mokuba would have claimed to be getting ready for bed and been found playing games. Leaving Yugi to put the pillows back into place and go about his own evening.

"Hey Big Brother? How's it feel?" Mokuba asked as he climbed into bed after finishing everything up, tucking himself under the sheets.

"How does what feel?" Kaiba asked as he sat next to his brother.

"You know, to have a friend? Someone your own age that you don't have to be a CEO to or a brother or anything, just how does it feel to be able to relax?"

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"So Yugi what are you doing after school?" Jounouchi asked as they walked back into class after lunch. Half the day gone now, soon they would be free of the standard education they had to endure.

"I have to go back to the mansion. Kaiba and I haven't worked out all the kinks of my living with them. For Mokuba he just hangs out with his brother or has Isono take him home, but I don't want to make Isono have to be at the beck and call of three people."

"Aw man in other words we can't hang out!" Jounouchi groaned while Anzu rapidly wrote out the conversation.

"I'm sorry, hopefully it won't last for long," Yugi replied as he made his way back to his desk.

"It's understandable, though why not just let Mokuba hang out with us? He'd be safer after all," Honda replied handing back the note pad to Anzu.

"Kaiba would argue that he wouldn't want Mokuba coming home with fleas," Yugi replied as he settled back at his desk.

"What!" Jounouchi began growling casting angry looks at Kaiba but Honda cut him off.

"I can't do much today anyways, the doctor wants to go over some medical procedures that have evolved so that I can hopefully get my hearing back," Honda added.

"You mean you might not have to use the notebook anymore?" Jounouchi asked eagerly only to receive a blank look from Honda and a sigh.

"You want to know if I might be able to hear normally again?" Honda hazarded as he reached for his notebook, but with the nod from Jounouchi he nodded in kind. "Yes, there's a chance that so long as it's not nerve damage I might be able to hear again. It won't be 100percent though, but personally anything would be better than this silence and buzzing."

Hearing that encouraged trio deeply, they wanted their friend to get better and if it could happen just from an operation they were all for it. Before they could try to find out more Ms. Yoshida had returned to the room and it was time to learn again. When class ended, Yugi packed up his things, carefully tending to the puzzle and gifts he had received, before joining the gang into a hall of silence. It was unnerving to say the least for Yugi when he realized that all those eyes were focused on him. Kaiba didn't care, just strode down the hallway, but Yugi sighed and resigned himself to facing a firing squad. He took a deep breath and tried to act normal as the gang tried to retain a normal conversation while the whole school seemed to be listening.

In fact it looked like a competition between Yugi and Bakura to see who was more likely going to run screaming down the hallway in terror. Since Bakura was still on edge about the ghosts, thankfully they had returned the loot and stayed out of the school… But they were ghosts, end of discussion. Everyone was looking at Yugi; even the teachers were staring and one had to wonder if Yugi was going to make it out of the school without crying. Instead, he jammed his free hand into his pocket and walked quickly after Kaiba with his head down, letting his hair hide his face. The gang followed Yugi out of the school, rueful over Yugi's still shy state of being. This was going to be an interesting school year…

"Oh Yugi!" A rather large group of girls called out from behind them.

Yugi stopped and turned his eyes a quiet question till he saw the girls.

"See you tomorrow Yugi!" A large group of girls called out to him sweetly, with girlish giggles following causing Yugi to blush something fierce.

"Say I guess you're rather hot now… any look like they have potential?" Jounouchi asked chuckling as he threw his arm around Yugi's neck.

Bakura took three steps away from Anzu and dragged Honda with him for the guys' own safety as Anzu stormed over to Jounouchi, quite livid. Ironically, everyone saw the ear yanking before it happened save Jounouchi, which was rather odd since he had received the ear pulling punishment at an almost regular rate at this point… even if this time was a double yank on both ears. Anzu grabbed Yugi's wrist and dragged the teen after Kaiba while Jounouchi whined about the pain. Then again, Anzu had a good reason for being angry, if the girls were any indication. Bad enough she couldn't keep her head on straight anymore around Yugi, but it was worse now that she could possibly have rivals for his attention.

Yugi was a teenaged guy he had hormones and Anzu wasn't dumb enough to believe that his interest in girls had been completely age set. Just because Yugi looked like a ten year old didn't mean that he looked at girls like a ten year old would. He just never had the esteem to try for getting a girl because of how young he looked. He knew most girls wouldn't want him, well maybe the sick ones who got off on doing a kid, which is what Yugi had looked like. Now he looked his age, the girls were taking notice and Anzu wasn't going to stand around so they could get Yugi for themselves!

So it was out the door and to the limo for Yugi and all the while he looked at Anzu, a slight blush just noticeable on his cheeks. But he obeyed the unspoken command, his eyes going over to a white elegant limo that waited for him, Isono waiting at the door with Kaiba already sitting inside it. "I'll see you tomorrow Anzu," Yugi smiled before ducking down to enter the limo.

"Yeah, tomorrow," Anzu replied as she released Yugi's wrist.