Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Something To Believe In ❯ The Yami No Game ( Chapter 6 )

Yuri: So this is the chapter that you've all been waiting for!

Yugi: Yay!

Yami: About time! I haven't even been in the story thus far!

Yuri: Oh hush you! Anyways Yami's character is loosely based off Yu-Gi-Oh season zero but only slightly. All the Yami no Game's are of my own creation. I didn't borrow any from the show. I'm also wondering who's going to get the 100th Reviewer Prize for Find Me since it has 99 reviews. But no, don't just review so you can get the prize :P you bad people lol. And of course, thank you to the marvelous Death By Storm for being my beta for this story. She's really amazing for all her hard work.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Yu-Gi-Oh related! Because I suck at drawing!

…The Yami No Game…

A soft knock came at his bedroom door and Yugi woke with a start.

"Yugi? It's time for school," his grandfather said through the door. Yugi blinked in confusion as he took in his surroundings. Soon enough, realization struck him as memories from last night filled his mind. He quickly pulled out his arm from under the bed covers that was tucked comfortably around his small frame, as if someone had put him to bed the prior evening, and examined it with wide eyes. It was completely unmarked. There were no cuts, no scars…nothing. All the times that he had cut himself because he blamed himself for his parent's death, or because he felt useless due to the fact that he never did anything right, or because he felt all alone in this world...all of the evidence was gone.

"What in the name of-"

"Yugi?" his grandfather called out again interrupting the other from his thoughts.

"I'm up," Yugi said tracing his arm with his finger, disbelief sketching into his facial features.

"Okay," the older man said and Yugi could hear the retreating footsteps.

Was it just a dream? Was it all just a dream? Honestly, the thought saddened him. Those eyes. Those beautiful, exotic eyes. Were they just all part of his overactive imagination? No, they couldn't be. He was supposed to be dead right now, but the owner of those eyes had saved him from himself. He knew it. He couldn't explain it…but he knew it.

Knowing that his grandpa would return any second now if he didn't get up, Yugi decided to postpone his search for the crimson-eyed youth, and for the answers to what really happened last night. He quickly tossed on his uniform and rushed down the stairs. He saw his grandpa sitting down at the breakfast table and sad thoughts filled his mind. What had he been thinking? What would his grandpa have done if he had really killed himself? Yugi bowed his head in shame. He had almost lost everything. He didn't have much, but the thought of never seeing his grandpa again…or Jounouchi, Ryou, and Malik…

Yugi couldn't believe that he had almost abandoned them to deal with their own problems just because he couldn't handle his own. Yugi vowed at that moment that he would help his friends get through their life struggles. That eventually they'd all be happy and they'd all still have each other. But who would help him?

“Yugi?” his grandpa called from his seat and Yugi looked up to see the violet eyes watching him curiously. “Are you going to come eat with me? I have something to tell you.”

Yugi frowned but nodded nonetheless and took a seat across from his grandpa and waited patiently for the inevitable.

“Yugi,” the older man began, “I have to go away for a little bit.”

And there it was…

“Why?” Yugi asked even thought he already knew the answer to why his grandfather was leaving him alone.

“Because Arthur called me and they need some help over at a dig in Egypt,” his grandpa answered, trying to contain his obvious excitement. “You know I would take you with me but I don't want to affect your school-“

“Its fine grandpa,” Yugi said, playing with the food on his plate.

“Are you sure?” came the quick response.

Yugi looked up and nodded. He forced a smile. “Of course, Grandpa. Don't let me stop you from going.”

Solomon smiled and said reassuringly, “It will only be for about two weeks. And you could always invite Jounouchi to stay with you and keep you some company like last time.”

Yugi mentally winced at the name of his best friend as memories from what Ushio had told him early resurfaced. How could he not notice? Was he that bad of a friend? Sure, he had known something was wrong. But never in a million years would he think that Jou, out of all people, would ever…

“Yes grandpa, I'll ask him,” Yugi said quickly to distract him from thoughts of his friend's suffering.

Solomon nodded. “Then it's settled. Well, it's time for you to go to school. I'll be gone by the time you get back, so come over here and give your old man a hug.”

Yugi complied and after a short goodbye, he headed for the door. The second Yugi stepped outside, he was overwhelmed by beautiful sensations. For the first time in a while, Yugi felt relieved. Like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders. Like he had someone to share his burden with. He felt more…complete.

It was a lovely morning. The leaves were captivating colors of yellow, red, and green. The sun had just awoken from its slumber and was casting a warm light over Yugi's small form. The light sparkled off of his amethyst eyes, making them shine with innocence and beauty. Yugi had been walking for about a minute now, consumed by his thoughts. So he didn't have time to react when someone pulled him into a nearby alleyway. Yugi winced in pain when he was thrown against the brick wall and, mustering up all the courage he could, dared to open his eyes only to meet infuriated ones.

“Thought you could get away from me, you little runt!” Ushio shouted, cocking back his arm and landing a harsh blow on the side of Yugi's face.

“Ushio! Please stop! I'm sorry,” Yugi pleaded with the bigger bully only to be delivered a punch. He was sure that he would have a bruise identical to Jou's. Though the physical abuse to his body was painful, what killed him more was the horrible feeling of having something pull intensely at his insides. It felt like his very soul was being ripped in two. It was the same feeling that Yugi had felt the prior night. The amethyst-eyed youth suddenly felt dizzy and could feel himself slowly losing consciousness.

However, the darkness clouding his vision was comforting. It was like someone was hugging him tightly. Like someone was with him. That for once in his life he didn't feel alone. Yugi let the darkness overcome him and faded back into the warm embrace.

Ushio threw Yugi to the ground and laughed. Obviously the smaller boy's pain amused him. However, the evil laughter immediately died when Yugi got to his feet with his back towards him. The posture was straight and confident unlike Yugi's usual slouched and timid one. Suddenly Yugi spoke but it sounded like someone else's voice. It was deep, ominous, and intimidating.

“Anyone who lays a hand on my precious Yugi will suffer. However I like letting chance decide that,” the shorter teen said as he turned his eyes to face the other figure revealing a dark, menacing crimson.

Said teen was taller and leaner than the regular Yugi. His skin was a light tan, which emphasized the defined features of his handsome face. The hair was similar to Yugi's except for the extra streaks of blonde, which shot up like lightening bolts. His blue jacket flapped restlessly in the autumn breeze, making it look more like a cape. But nothing could disturb Ushio more than the cynical smirk that the other wore.

"You're not Yugi," Ushio accused as he took a step back. The vibe that was radiating off of this youth was frightening.

The crimson-eyed teen, with that smirk still plastered on his unmarred face, didn't even blink. "No, I'm not. You can call me Yami."

The next few seconds was filled with stunned silence until Yami. “Ushio,” he said. A second later, the stranger's eyes increased twice their size making the youth look twice as insane. Slowly, Yami said barely above a whisper:

“It's game time.”

Suddenly the small alleyway disappeared only to be replaced with infinite darkness. Ushio jumped at the sudden change of atmosphere and instinctively reached out only to realize that he couldn't even see his hand in the black abyss. A bright light suddenly flickered on, only illuminating the center of the mysterious place. A shiver ran down his back at the sight. Walking towards the lit spot, Ushio immediately noticed that Yami was standing in the light with eyes closed. Approaching the demonic teen cautiously, Ushio stopped when he was close enough to the boy so that he was standing in the light as well.

The moment that Ushio's body came into the light, Yami's eyes flashed open and with his disdainful, slightly insane smirk, he said: "We are going to play a game."

Ushio narrowed his eyes at the remark. "A game?"

Yami nodded. “If I win, you will never touch anyone ever again," the crimson-eyed teen said. "But if you win, then I will do whatever you say."

Ushio smiled at this and was about to comment when Yami held up his finger. "However," Yami said, his eyes sparkling with contempt. "This is no ordinary game. It's a Yami no Game. A game where your life is at stake."

Yami lowered his finger and with a small tilt of his head said: "Do you accept?”

Ushio was barely paying attention to anything that Yami had said. All he could think about was using Yami and the teen's unnatural abilities for his own benefit. He could tell Yami to do anything he wished.

An evil smile creeped onto Ushio's face. “I'll beat any game you got.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a long table instantly appeared in between the two teens, followed by two chairs on opposite sides of each other. Yami and Ushio both immediately took their seats and while Ushio was glaring suspiciously at Yami, the crimson-eyed youth was eyeing the other indignantly, the smirk never leaving his face.

“The rules are simple," Yami said and suddenly two, thin knives and a small stopwatch manifested themselves onto the table. Ushio looked slightly surprised by the sudden appearance, but Yami retained his calm and smug composure. "In front of us lay two Necrophilia blades. They are known to be the world's deadliest and sharpest knives. Able to slice through almost anything with just one stroke. But," Yami said with a psychotic glint in his eyes, "they are not to be used on each other...but instead on ourselves.”

Ushio narrowed his eyes in confusion. “What do you mean?”

With the same wide sadistic eyes and small cynical smile, Yami placed his left palm on the table and separated his fingers so that there were wide gaps in between them. “We each have to stab the sections between our fingers within five seconds. If you take longer than five seconds then you automatically lose the game. The first person to receive ten slashes to their hand, or lose a finger, loses."

Ushio looked at the other in disbelief, but once he saw the smug look on Yami's face, he just glared and nodded. There was no way that he was going to back down. He never lost a game. Never.

"Moving your hand away before the game is over is forbidden," Yami warned wearily.

Once again Ushio just nodded, not trusting his voice to portray some of the fear that was clutching at his insides.

“Ushio, you have always used your physical strength to beat on those smaller than you, but will you be able to use your mental strength and agility to save your own self I wonder,” Yami said, amused.

"Get on with it!" Ushio shouted impatiently.

Yami narrowed his eyes even further and in a tone that promised death, he said, “Game start.”

Immediately, the timer went off and Ushio, with knife in hand, quickly stabbed at the four sections of the table that were between his fingers, missing each finger only by a few centimeters. Looking up confidently, he saw the timer come to a halt at 4.45 seconds.

"Impressive," the tri-colored haired youth stated indifferently. Then it was Yami's turn. And if Ushio even blinked then he would have missed it when Yami stabbed each section with such speed and intensity that the shorter finished in under 3 seconds.

"Your turn," Yami said snapping Ushio out of his stupor. Ushio tightened his grasp around the thin blade he was holding. Now he wasn't feeling so confident and his body began to shake as a result. The timer went off and Ushio stabbed at the table only to slash two of his fingers. Once Ushio finished, he threw down the knife to the table and yelled in pain as blood leaked out from his newly formed lacerations.

Yami looked as if he wanted to laugh but didn't. Instead he took his knife in his hand. "My turn."

It wasn't that much later that Ushio had seven cuts covering his fingers while Yami had suffered three of his own. Yami watched as his blood seeped out of his third cut with an unsettling smirk and the same unblinking eyes. It felt like eternity had passed, when in reality it had only been about ten minutes.

With extremely shaky hands, Ushio picked up his knife. The pain on his hands was excruciating, especially since most of them were cut to the bone. Puddles of blood littered the table and Ushio tried desperately to settle his nerves. With a deep inhale of breath and the sound of the timer, Ushio stabbed at the first section of the table without hurting himself. He wasn't as lucky the second time.

Ushio stabbed right into the center of middle finger sending a jolt of enormous pain plummeting through his body. Ripping the knife out of his skin, Ushio withdrew his hand from the table and clutched it to his chest. His eyes were closed so tightly in pain that he didn't realize that Yami had stood up until he heard the other speak in a voice that made his heart drop into his chest.

“I knew you wouldn't be able to obey the rules," Yami said. Ushio bit back a yelp when a golden eye began to glow on the center of Yami's forehead. "The Yami no Game reveals the true nature of humans. For rule breakers, it's destined to be a punishment game." At that moment, Ushio decided he had had enough of the other's game.

Ushio made a lunge for Yami. The teen didn't flinch, but stared at him emotionlessly. “The door of darkness…has opened.”

The screams that followed were filled with pure agony as Ushio felt his insides begin to burn. It felt as if someone had thrown him into a fire and that there was no escape and no salvation.

On the outside, passerbyer's encircled Ushio's screaming form completely unaware of the current torture that the other was experiencing and instead they just watched in shock and confusion as Ushio rocked back and forth on the floor while clutching his head, which felt like it was disintegrating along with his thoughts, feelings, and memories.

...

Yugi blinked in confusion when he saw his school directly in front of him. 'Wow, that walk was quick. It only seemed like I was walking for two minutes,' Yugi said to himself. The walk to school from Yugi's house was about ten minutes. However, he felt like he had just walked out of his house and then, well, the next thing he knew he was standing in front of his school. He didn't even have any memory of the walk in between.

In the distance he saw Jou and, for the moment, completely forgot about his strange memory lapse. Letting his books fall to the ground, Yugi ran up and embraced the taller blonde, who tumbled back a little at the sudden contact.

"Yugi?" Jou looked down at the other. “What's up?”

Yugi smiled as he tightened his hold on his best friend. "I'm just happy to see you."

"Um, I'm happy to see you too." Jou said reaching out and laying the back of his hand against Yugi's temple. "Are you sick or something?”

Yugi smiled. “No. Actually I feel…happy.”

Jou returned the smaller one's smile with one of his own. “I'm glad,” Jou said and Yugi could tell that the blonde was being honest. No matter how miserable Jou was, he would always want others to be happy. He truly had a heart of gold.

Once inside of the building, Jou and Yugi found their Egyptian friend who was leaning over his desk with a thoughtful expression on his face. Yugi looked around the classroom and frowned.

"Where is Ryou-kun?" Yugi inquired curiously.

"He's absent," Malik answered bluntly. Worry leaked into the crevices of Yugi's face.

Jou quickly intervened. "He's probably caught a cold. You know how easily Ryou gets sick. That's why he always has to wear those sweaters.”

Yugi thought about Jou's explanation. “I guess.”

Suddenly, the loud speaker came on and the voice of the secretary echoed throughout the school building.

"Malik Istar. Please report to the headmaster's office immediately."

Everyone in the classroom turned suspicious eyes towards the platinum haired boy, only to all be rewarded with a glare.

"Malik-kun," Yugi said voice full of concern.

"Don't worry Yugi," Malik said. "I didn't do anything wrong. I'll be right back." Malik got to his feet and walked out of the classroom leaving the two other boys to themselves.

“He seems in a better mood than yesterday,” Yugi said optimistically.

Jou snorted at the remark. “That's not saying much. I could get shot and I would still be in a better mood than in the one he's been lately.”

The blonde laughed when Yugi elbowed him gently in the stomach. “Stop it Jounouchi-kun,” Yugi said with a small smile.

Jou held his hands up in defense. “Okay, okay.”

Suddenly, the air around them thickened as unspoken secrets filled the space in between them.

“Jou…,” Yugi said hesitantly. “You know I'm always here for you. I mean, if you ever need someone to talk to. I'm here.”

Jou smiled and took the other in a small hug. “Thanks Yugi.”

…

When Malik walked into the large office, a young secretary greeted him and pointed him in the direction of a small room. Poking his head in first, Malik saw his headmaster, Mrs. Takai, in full conversation with an older man that was as tan as he was. He was surprised that they even noticed his intrusion.

"Oh Malik-kun! Please," Mrs. Takai said motioning to the chair opposite of them. "Take a seat."

"What's this about?" Malik asked. His eyes narrowed suspiciously as he obeyed. He didn't like the sideways glances that the man kept flashing him. The lilac eyes narrowed in annoyance when Mrs. Takai raised her finger signaling him to wait and then continued her conversation. "Where exactly is he going to go Rashid?" Mrs. Takai asked the strange man.

"He'll be staying with my family," the man referred to as Rashid said in a deep voice.

The headmaster nodded and then said: "Do I need to transfer his school papers?"

Rashid instantly held his hand up. "No need. He will be put to work in a shop to help provide for him and learn responsibility. He's lived too much of a sheltered life here. It's what his sister would have wanted for him; to return to Egypt."

"What?" Malik perked up. Up until that moment, Malik had assumed that they had been talking about another student. Now he had a strange feeling that this was not the case. However, neither adult even acknowledged his existence, never mind his question.

"Okay then," she sighed and then added: "Of course, I will need to see proof of legal custody before Malik goes anywhere with you."

"It's being taken care of as we speak," Rashid replied.

The next sound was Malik's chair crashing to the floor. His hands slamming down on the headmaster's desk making him lean slightly over the two stunned figures. "What the hell is going on?!" Malik screamed, frustrated. He swore if nobody answered him then someone was going to die.

Rashid quickly stood to his feet and with a gentle bow said: "I will be back next week to retrieve him. I will leave you alone to fill Malik in."

And with that, the strange Egyptian exited and as soon as the doors closed behind him, Malik trained violent eyes onto the woman in front of him. "Malik before you say anything, that man is Rashid. He was a close friend of your dad's and he is going to take you to live with him. You are still under eighteen which means you're still a minor. You can't live by yourself. I don't have any choice in the matter. "

Malik eyes suddenly lost all of their emotion and his body became completely limp. In a slow and disbelieving voice, "...You're going to take me friends away from me?"

A deep, prolonged silence followed as the headmaster turned her gaze to the ground. Malik's face twitched and Mrs.Takai actually jumped when Malik screamed: "ANSWER ME!"

"I'm sorry Malik-kun..." she said suddenly.

Suddenly the room became very dark with the exception of the golden rod shining brightly on Malik's hip and the said boy gazed down at the floor letting his platinum bangs cast a black shadow over his eyes.

"That wasn't an answer," The words came from Malik, but the voice was not entirely his own. It was deeper...and scarier.

"Malik-" Mrs. Takai said trying to calm the teen down. Something was twisting in her gut, telling her that she was in imminent danger. However, the stubborn woman payed no mind to her intuition. Too bad for her.

"No one," Malik said as his hair began to point up in wild directions. "Is going to take anyone away from me," the Egyptian continued his muscles increasing in size. "Ever again," he said his voice now completely different from his regular one as this one sounded purely psychotic. In one quick movement, Malik raised his head revealing a crazed look with slanted, purple eyes and veins popping out of his forehead.

"Let's play a game," `Malik' said taking out his golden rod before a loud explosion tore through the room.

...

The day had passed with such speed that Yugi was amazed when the last bell of the day rang loudly throughout the school halls. Today was not as happy as he wanted it to be. For one, Ryou was absent, and Yugi couldn't help but feel something in his gut that told him that something was wrong. Secondly, he hadn't seen Malik since the other was called out of the classroom. And lastly, Yugi had this strange feeling that someone was watching him. It didn't give off a threatening aura. However, it still scared him. All day he kept looking over his shoulder only to see no one.

He and Jou had parted ways and now he was already only feet away from his house. The place that he called home was quiet, but Yugi had gotten used to his grandfather taking frequent trips to Egypt. After dropping his stuff by the entranceway, Yugi headed over to the kitchen sink, grabbed a glass cup from the cabinet and poured himself a cold glass of water.

Walking up to his bedroom, Yugi closed his door behind him and sighed. Now that he was alone, he had no choice but try to figure out what happened last night. He had tried to avoid thinking about it all day but it was about time that he got some answers.

Out of the corner of his eye, Yugi noticed that his bottom drawer of his bureau was wide open with his clothes thrown inside carelessly. Had he done that? It was very unlike him to leave his bottom drawer open, since that one held his little addiction in it. Curiosity consuming him, Yugi bent down and peeked into his drawer. When he didn't see what he was looking for, he quickly grew frantic and began to throw his clothes to the other side of the room. Had someone found it? Did someone know? What if grandpa had found his glass shard which was most certainly covered with blood after all the times he'd used it. These were the questions that went through Yugi's mind as he desperately tried to locate his small shard. However, all of his thoughts came to a standstill when an alluring and enticing voice reached his ears.

"Are you looking for something, my little one?"

Yugi turned on his heel and came face to face with his beautiful obsession. Those alluring crimson eyes that Yugi had claimed as his. Never in his life had Yugi thought that there could be someone so beautiful in the world…but there he was; the owner of those crimson orbs, who was watching him with protective eyes. Yugi felt his body go numb. His cup slipped out of his hands and shattered on the floor; the sound signaling the beginning of a long and intense silence as the two teens stared at each other as if they had just found the one that they had been looking for…all their lives.

...TBC...

Yuri: Ga! Sorry about the whole small cliffy thing! But if I kept writing it would soon become a short novel instead of a chapter lol.

Yami says in announcer voice: Next time, Jou is confronted by Keith on his way home but luckily someone comes to his rescue. Yami and Yugi talk for the first time and the amethyst eyed teen realizes that there is more to the handsome stranger than meets the eye. Later, Yugi decides to go visit Ryou but his visit doesn't go as planned.

Yugi: Please review! Feed Yuri's cute bunny!