"I want to be alone for a moment," Yuugi had said at dinner. His friends had looked quizzically at him, but had respected his wish. They had told him not to go too far - they liked to keep an eye on him. He knew exactly why, but never said it out loud.
Jounouchi, Anzu, Honda, Otogi... they had a different holiday in mind. Otogi had managed to launch Duel Monsters, alongside his Dungeon Dice game, in the US and it had caught on immensely. The interest in the King of Games, Mutou Yuugi, was also immense: he was promptly invited to Los Angeles to participate in tournaments and demonstrations of the game.
What more could a guy want? Playing his favorite game, and getting paid for it handsomely? Pegasus' exorbitant prize money for Duelist Kingdom paled in comparison to the sums of money one could make here. Yuugi traveled all across the United States, until he forgot which city he was in. It was all the same. The tournaments were the same. After a while, even the people became all the same, and even fame was all the same. Yuugi was grateful that his friends had come along.
But right now, he didn't want to be around them. Sometimes having your best friends 24/7 around you can get too much. When Yuugi left the hotel, a few geeky kids waited for him, asking quite shyly for his autograph. Of course he fulfilled their modest wish, and then continued his way to the beach. A small walk, a little bit of free movement - he was longing for it so much. They didn't want to let him go at first, and when he had mentioned 'beach', Jounouchi had pulled that disbelieving yet frightened face as if he, Yuugi, was going to do something to himself. Frankly, he was quite fed up with it.
"It's not fair," he whispered at the rolling waves. Such force, that large body of water, crashing the waves on the shore, and the shore fumed at the waves, nature at its toughest, unwavering, ferocious, strong. His hand went to his chest, but the Sennen Puzzle wasn't there anymore. It had been two years since the Ceremonial Battle in Egypt, two years since Atemu had been gone. He was reunited with his friends and family, his soul finally lied to rest. He was dead to begin with, so what was the 'problem'? Yuugi's life was his story to tell, not Atemu's.
Duelist Kingdom, Battle City...… Atemu would've loved traveling all over the world and win the tournaments. Yuugi wasn't sure what he liked. He'd been so adamant at first, about leading his own life, but now he caught himself thinking about Atemu much more, much more often. He felt lonely without him, strangely... disentangled from reality. For crying out loud, another person had shared his body, mind and soul, it wasn't like he was an imaginary friend or something. Atemu had been very real, and Yuugi had cared for him. Now that he was gone... Yuugi had been telling himself that he was strong, defeating Atemu in the final duel, but somewhere, along the way, Yuugi had started to doubt himself. What if Atemu had thrown the duel, losing on purpose so he could return to the ones he cared for? Sure, calling for three Gods in a few turns had been intimidating, but never overwhelming. Yuugi had known how to defeat them; it was still a game, and a game had rules, and he had simply built the strongest deck.
Was he really the King of Games? Was he a true champion? Was he really Mutou Yuugi, and where had his resolve gone? Why couldn't he be as strong as Atemu told him he was, why did he doubt what to do with his life? This was his story, wasn't it? And his friends... he loved them so much, but they drove him crazy at the moment. The way they kept looking at him, examining him, searching him if he just looked at something else for more than five minutes. Why were they so worried about him? Was it really about what he thought it was? Maybe he'd hit a low place in life at the moment, but he wasn't going to kill himself. He had finished High School, graduating with better grades then he held for possible, and now he was heralded as a master gamer, and by winning tournaments he had made more money than jii-chan with his Game Shop in an entire year.
So what was the big deal? Why did he feel weak? He couldn't lean on Atemu no more, and he shouldn't, because he was Yuugi, remember? Why was it so damn hard? Why did it feel like everything was missing something, why did it feel empty and meaningless?
"Yuugi..."
For a moment, he gasped out loud, startled by the hand on his shoulder. That low voice... but the next second, it was gone again and he recognized Jounouchi's voice, his best friend worried about him.
"Jounouchi-kun," he said, mustering up his big, bright smile. His friend didn't fall for it; after graduating, he had become more serious, more focused. Who would've thought that Jounouchi Katsuya could be serious? But he was, and he gently pulled at Yuugi's shoulder.
"Let's go back inside," he said. He didn't try to win him over by saying 'your favorite show is on' or 'maybe there's something to eat'. Jounouchi just said what it was like, not sugar-coating or making up excuses. Yuugi looked up at him, it was so hard to get used to his friend's serious nature.
"All right," he said, and turned around. When he moved, he suddenly noticed that his feet and calves were wet. His shoes were all but sucked into the sandy shore, and the icy cold water was rushing past his limbs. His eyes went wide. When...?
Nature was unforgiving. A force of the Gods, and their call was getting stronger and stronger.