“I
really could go for a nice sandwich right about now,” she
said. “We worked so hard this morning that we all forgot
about lunch.”
“What
did you do?”
“Mostly
computer work,” she said, lifting up her hand briefly to
brush a wayward strand of hair out of her face. Out of school, she
usually freed it from the simple ponytail or loose braid, enjoying her
hair flowing freely around her face. “The new speech
recognition software we received is quite difficult, but really handy
once you get the hang of it.”
“I’m
sure you’ll do great,” Jounouchi answered, almost
absent-mindedly. He realized that Shizuka was learning a profession
besides the practical skills she needed to live her life with her
handicap, and he didn’t want her to sit at home and feel
unwanted in this society…but his natural protectiveness for
her always acted up, even more so when they were together.
“You
know I’m going to take care of you, later,” he said.
“Onii-chan,”
she tilted her head, “I know that…but you do know
that I can take care of myself, that I can make my own decisions? I may
be blind, onii-chan, but I’m not completely disabled or
incapable of living my life the way I want to.”
She halted as
he didn’t give an answer to that.
“Onii-chan?”
“It’s
all my fault,” he said.
“No
it’s not,” her voice floated towards him.
“Onii-chan…it’s no one’s
fault. If you really want to place the blame, place it on me. I was the
one to contract this disease.”
“Don’t
you ever talk like that,” he growled. “You
couldn’t help that…”
“And
you couldn’t help it either,” she cut him off.
“Onii-chan, stop beating yourself up so much over it.
I’m in a very good school that teaches me everything I need
to know, prepares me for a profession, and once I’ve
graduated, I’m going to look for a job and live together in a
house with you.”
Jounouchi
snorted, but not disdainfully. Buying a house together was one of their
favorite topics of conversation.
“That
is, if Ryuuji wants to…”
“Ryuuji?”
“He
asked me to be his girlfriend,” Shizuka said, throwing her
hair back and smiling at her brother. Her smile turned even wider, if
that was possible - she showed her white teeth, her face all but
glowing.
“What
did you say to that?” Jounouchi asked, though he already knew
the answer.
“Yes,
of course!”
“And
he’s going to keep us from living together after we
graduated?”
“Of
course not,” she said, still smiling. “Ryuuji knows
how much we mean to each other. I would never give up my onii-chan for
my boyfriend! We’re going to be one big family!”
Jounouchi
refrained from groaning out loud, to not dampen her spirits. She was on
a first-name basis with Otogi, so it was serious, then…he
would’ve to have a talk with the inventor of the Dungeon Dice
Monsters game, and investigate for himself about Otogi’s
intentions with his sister. If they were anything but honorable, he
would let his fists do the talking. Shizuka chattered next to him,
telling anecdotes about her school week, and he listened to her,
wondering how her voice could be so cheerful and happy even though her
life was so hard. She was strong…and here he was, moping
about trivial things - though he wouldn’t call his potential
brother-in-law a trivial thing.
“What was that you mention about a wedding?”
Timeline III, known universe: Domino City, Japan
Pain.
Excruciating pain.
Moaning low in his throat, he tried to open his eyes. His head pounded,
he couldn’t hear or see, and his limbs felt like
they’d been broken…dead weight. He took a sharp
breath as he turned his head a little; the sting of pain almost made
him want to cry out loud. Better stay still and not move too
hastily, he thought to himself. Where was he? It was dark,
but not impossible to see. There was a little light, far in the
distance…he moaned.
All
right, calm down. Think. What happened? Where am I? Can I get up?
Shifting, every little movement agonizing painful, he tried to get up,
but his body finally gave way and he fell down again, the world around
him spinning. Not a very good idea.
It wasn’t cold or warm, it wasn’t raining nor was
the sun shining - where the hell was he? He wasn’t in
immediate danger, so he decided to bide his time and wait until at
least the headache had subsided. He waited and waited…until
it dawned to him that he didn’t know why he was here,
wherever ‘here’ was; that he didn’t know
where he’d come from, or how he had ended up here. That he
didn’t know who he was, what he looked like, what was going
on, and this time he cried out in pain and fear, voice shrill and
hoarse. Panic enveloped him and he cried out loud again and again until
even the movement of opening his mouth to cry was too exerting for him,
and he felt himself slipping away again.
“Yuugi!
Anzu’s here for you!”
“Coming!”
Mutou Yuugi
snatched up his Sennen Puzzle, a golden pendant shaped like an
upside-down pyramid, and put the metal chain over his head. Satisfied,
he looked into the mirror, checking the way the Puzzle was secured - he
used to wear it on a rope, but recent events had proven that a chain
would be far more effective.
“I
can’t believe it,” Yuugi muttered.
“What,
aibou?” A voice floated through the room, only audible to the
young teen.
“That
so many people are after the Puzzle, mou hitori no boku,”
Yuugi answered, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to
speak to a spitting image of oneself in spirit form.
“I
am really glad that you have chosen for a more…ah, sturdier
solution,” the spirit said, his crimson eyes resting upon his
home - the Sennen Puzzle. Ever since Yuugi had managed to solve this
mysterious puzzle, his spirit and soul had been reawakened. For what
purpose or reason still eluded the both of them, but he had faith
enough that someday it would become all clear to them. For now, they
had their hands full on finding his memories; as he didn’t
recall anything from his past, and that was the most logical thing to
look for first.
“Mou
hitori no boku...”
“Yes,
aibou?”
“You’re
daydreaming. We have to go to school!”
“Ah,
yes, you are right,” he chuckled briefly and the next second
he was gone, retreating back into the Puzzle. Yuugi smiled to himself. One
day, we’ll find your memories, mou hitori no boku, and then
you’ll know all about yourself and why you’re here.
Until then, we’ll be friends and help each other.
Slinging the book bag over his shoulder and storming out of his room,
Yuugi almost ran over his mother.
“Sorry
about that, kaa-san!”
“Were
you talking to yourself again?” the woman asked, throwing him
a suspicious look.
“S-sorry.”
Yuugi blushed.
“You’re
growing up to be exactly like your grandfather,” she said,
shaking her head though she didn’t sound too sad about it.
“Now, hurry up, don’t keep poor Anzu
waiting!”
“No,
kaa-san,” Yuugi answered and threw her a smile before turning
around and thundering down the stairs. He really should’ve
gotten up earlier - there was no time for breakfast now. Yuugi opened
the door, squinting his eyes at the bright sun.
“Yuugi,
over here,” Anzu waved, her voice clearly indicating that she
wanted to be saved from his grandfather. Mutou Sugoroku was the
proprietor of the Kame Game shop for decades on end, and besides his
love for games he was pretty much renowned for his appreciation of the
female bust size. Anzu was too polite to tell him to knock it off with
glaring at her upper body and she heaved an audible sigh when Yuugi
grabbed her hand and dragged her off to school.
“Bye,
jii-chan! See you later!”
“Really,
Yuugi, your grandfather…” Anzu started when they
were well out of sight. Yuugi was now the one to heave a sigh.
“I
know, Anzu…he doesn’t mean it like that,
really.”
“He’s
a pervert,” she whispered furiously.
Yuugi blushed again, trying to find a way not to belittle his
grandfather’s actions…but he couldn’t
find any, because Anzu was right.
“He
really doesn’t mean it that bad,” he repeated,
willing his blush away. Anzu was far too optimistic and cheerful to let
it ruin her day, and started talking about an upcoming school
performance. She loved to dance, and this year the students of their
class had chosen to incorporate dance in their annual performance.
Yuugi wasn’t really looking forward to it and hoped he could
avoid all the dancing by simply volunteering to help with the costumes
and the stage settings. Mentally going over their classes for today, he
listened to Anzu talking as she was describing her costume and the
dance she was studying.
“I
think red would fit you splendidly,” Yuugi said, blushing at
the thought of Anzu in a form-fitting, long red dress. They halted in
front of the traffic lights. Anzu was very excited about the
performance, as her greatest dream was to go study modern dance in New
York. Only her best and closest friends knew of her ambition - Anzu
wasn’t the kind of girl to flaunt it in everybody’s
face, but she sure loved this opportunity, no matter if it was only a
mere school performance, to demonstrate her skills.
The traffic
light went green and Yuugi already took a step forward, still listening
attentively to Anzu describing the costumes for the dance. His feet had
barely touched the asphalt when he heard the girl screaming his name.
“Yuugi!”
“Pharaoh!”
“Wha…?”
Yuugi looked up, realizing in a split second that a car was approaching
him, fast.
No doubt someone who had ignored all the red lights and was speeding up
in the hope to win maybe a few seconds to arrive faster at his
destination, oblivious to the pedestrians. Fear nailed him immediately
to the spot, and he opened his mouth - to scream, to…what,
actually? He was going to die - the car
didn’t stop, wasn’t able to stop in time, it was
only a matter of time before he would be hit, and pain would crush his
body and the only thing he could do was staring at the headlights,
stare at the lights coming at him.
A flurry of
dark brown and something akin to gold latched onto him, and instead of
the expected pain he was all but lifted up and thrown to the ground,
still painful, but anything was better than being run over. Yuugi felt
his skin bruise and scrape, hearing the fabric of his school uniform
tear and in the briefest of moments, he imagined his mother being
really angry with him for ruining his clothes.
“Ouch!
Ow ow ow!” He was undoubtedly bleeding, and his hands hurt -
when Yuugi caught a glimpse of them, he saw nothing but blood and raw,
red skin. Instinctively, he had put his hands forward to catch his
fall; painful, but he’d survive. It took him a moment to
realize that Anzu was still screaming his name, and that
someone…someone was holding him at the
waist. He tried to struggle, pain flaring through his body.
“Easy,
easy, my Pharaoh…! You are safe now…”
Yuugi was
flabbergasted. “What? Who’s talking?
Anzu...?”
An arm slipped
around his shoulders, and he was turned around, eased down on his back
on the ground, but he didn’t feel either asphalt or
concrete…it was as if he was floating, being cradled like a
baby. He looked up, though his vision was a little distorted, the shock
of the near-death-accident still fresh.
Dark eyes,
chocolate brown with golden specks, stared intently down at him.
“Pharaoh…Pharaoh,
we finally found you!”
That
wasn’t Anzu’s voice. It was a female voice, but
lower pitched and not panicked like Anzu’s had sounded just a
moment ago. What happened? The approaching
car…
“It
is going to be all right. You are safe now.”
A male voice,
distinctive, soothing, friendly yet distant. Respectful…in
awe. Yuugi didn’t understand; why did they keep referring to
him as “Pharaoh”? He wasn’t
one…what was going on?
“Ouch,”
was the only thing he could mutter.
“Mana,
tend to his wounds,” the man said, the unspoken
‘please’ hanging in the air. Yuugi tried to make
out a face, to see who was talking, but for some reason his vision was
blurred. Concussion? But he hadn’t hit
his head, had he? It had all happened so fast…
“Yuugi,
Yuugi!”
“Anzu…”
“Yuugi!”
He tilted his
head towards the direction the sound was coming from, and he heard
footsteps as well; Anzu was coming for him. She would know what to
do. He felt light-headed, and he didn’t know if it
was from the shock or if he really had hit his head. He barely felt any
pain though, just a slight stinging sensation, barely anything compared
to just a minute ago - he felt so at ease all of a sudden that he
wanted to fall asleep.
“Yuugi! You scared me to death! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for saving him!”
Anzu’s
voice was still panicked and excited at the same time, and he heard the
thud of her book bag being dropped to the floor.
Finally, she
appeared into view - a blur of blue eyes and brown hair, and her mouth
moved, but he could barely hear her.
“How
many fingers am I holding up?” Anzu held up three fingers,
ignoring the man and woman next to Yuugi, as well as the curious
bystanders. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest; she’d
been so scared that the car was going to hit her best friend and she
couldn’t have done anything to stop it. Feeling guilty and
relieved at the same time, she focused her attention on the small boy,
wanting to know if he hadn’t hurt himself too much.
“Yuugi,
answer me. How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Fifteen,”
Yuugi said and suppressed a groan.
“My
Pharaoh, do you not recognize me?” The male voice again, and
Yuugi made a slightly irritated noise. He wasn’t a Pharaoh,
and he wanted nothing but to close his eyes and sleep.
“I’m
not…”
“Master,
I don’t think he’s our
Pharaoh…”
Finally,
someone who understood the situation.
Master? She had a nice voice, that girl: determined, yet
friendly and warm…a little like Anzu, but
more…mature. He smiled as he closed his eyes, giving into
the strange darkness that clawed at his mind, trusting his friend, and
somehow those strange voices as well, that everything would be all
right.
“Yuugi...?”
Soft, cool
pillows supporting his head. The silent rustle of a blanket, a damp
cloth on his brow, and someone calling his name. Yuugi blinked a few
times, trying to focus.
“Hmmm...kaa-san?”
“No,
try again.”
“Anzu...!”
“Yuugi,
you had me worried so much! Take it easy – no, no, no,
don’t try to get up, stay down.”
“Anzu...what happened?” He rested back, reveling in the cool pillows, blinking a few more times.
“That
jerk,” the girl growled, keeping her voice low. “He
didn’t even stop to see if you were all right. He probably
wouldn’t have cared if he had hit you anyway, too occupied
with how fast he was driving…” She shivered.
“I’m
sorry,” Yuugi said meekly.
“You
don’t have anything to be sorry for!” Anzu stared
dumbfounded at him. “You had every right crossing the road,
our light was green! The other guy scared the life out of me - he drove
so fast I couldn’t even see what kind of car it
was.”
“Too
bad.” He heaved a small sigh, knowing that it
wouldn’t be of any use anyway - the police wouldn’t
be interested in a near-accident like this. Yuugi felt bad. He could
still see the shock and the worry in her eyes, though she tried very
hard to cover it up by tending to the damp cloth on his brow.
“I’m
really sorry for scaring you.”
“It
wasn’t your fault,” she said.
“I’m glad you’re safe, Yuugi.”
“Who
pulled me out of the way?” He asked, faintly remembering
someone talking to him, calling him “Pharaoh” and
telling him that he was safe…Yuugi tried to sit upright, but
groaned as a jolt of pain shot through his body. He fell back into the
pillows again.
“Lie down,” Anzu repeated, shifting the cloth on his forehead around. She bit her lower lip.
“I
saw that car coming and I could only think of how it was going to hit
you,” she said, her voice wavering. “I
should’ve pushed you out of the way; I should’ve
done something to save you!”
Yuugi shook
his head briefly out of habit, holding back another groan when the
movement made his vision spin again.
“Please
don’t, Anzu. Don’t feel sorry, it wasn’t
your fault!”
The idea of
Anzu pushing him out of the way and getting hit by the car herself was
too horrible to imagine. She wanted to be a professional dancer
– if she were hit and injured her leg, all her dreams
would’ve been shattered.
Chapter 2 | Chapter 4