Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Strange Magic ❯ Chapter 3

A scrap of paper was slipped over to Yugi's side of the table. The boy looked down and pulled it towards him in what he hoped was an inconspicuous gesture. After a brief checking look to the teacher, he read Jounouchi's scrawl: You still have the duel disk, don't ya? His face flushed a bit, and he wrote a curt answer, hoping not to get caught. Yes, and you? Hastily he shoved the slip of paper back to its sender.

Jounouchi gave him a grin, and a thumbs-up under the table.

Yugi's stomach fluttered. Did his friend want to duel again with the disks? But it was awfully eye-catching, wasn't it? They couldn't just duel in the streets!

Before he could decide anything further, the teacher interrupted his musings.

"Oi, Yugi!" Jounouchi pulled Yugi into a corner after classes. "So what do you say?"

The addressee looked around a bit nervously. "But Jounouchi-kun, we can't duel in the streets, can we? If we summon all the monsters, the police will -"

Jounouchi grinned. "That's why I found us a place! Do you know the old railroad station? The left one? No one's ever there, and we have lotsa space! What do you say?"

Yugi smiled at him, surprised, and then gave a nod.

"Here we are!" Jounouchi opened the rusty door leading into the railroad station's main hall. It was dark and spacey, with a few benches and dustbins standing around and a number of spider's webs adorning various surfaces and corners. Jounouchi grinned. "I know it's nothing fancy, but no one's gonna catch us here!"

Yugi quit his looking around and grinned back up at him. "Okay Jounouchi-kun! Let's duel!"

Yugi regarded the cards in his hands and the field before him with its creatures illuminating the relative dark in the hall. "Sacrifice Sorcerer of the doomed and The stern mystic!" The two creatures disappeared.

A few meters in front of him, Jounouchi started grinning. "Lemme guess…"

Yugi smiled. "Summon Black Magician!"

"Ooh, surprise!" Jounouchi laughed as the spellcaster appeared on the field in one of his usual stylish poses. Then the magician turned around to cast a probing glance at Yugi. At this moment, something in the back of the boy's mind was getting restless, and he heard a voice - his yami's - whispering to him: 'Let me take over.'

Yugi frowned. He concentrated to talk back to his other self in thoughts: But why? I'm just playing with Jounouchi-kun!

'Let me take over,' his yami's voice insisted. 'Just for now!'

Yugi blinked in confusion. His yami never took over during duels if it wasn't for an urgent case. And what could be urgent about a small game among friends?

'Let me on, just for a while.'

"Jounouchi-kun? Wait…wait a second…" Yugi concentrated more until he saw himself facing his Yami in his mind.

"But I don't understand," the boy exclaimed.

Yami folded his hands together, retaining any nervous gestures. "Aibou…I need to."

"But what for? We're just playing!"

The pharaoh's features set. "I'll tell you later."

Yugi swallowed and nodded. "Okay. But…can't I go back in later? I…" His mental self blushed. "I want to be with Jounouchi-kun a bit."

"Of course."

After a confirming nod from his now rather nervous-looking other self, Yugi withdrew, making space and watching.

Yami took control of their shared body and let his senses adjust to it, his eyes falling on the purple-clad magician poised in the air in front of him. "Black Magician," he let out in a hoarse voice.

The spellcaster turned around to him, scrutinising him with an intense gaze that had its recipient shiver under it.

On the other side of the field, Jounouchi scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat. "Are you…the other Yugi now, or what?"

Yami nodded, tearing his eyes from Black Magician to look at Jounouchi. "Yeah. Call me Yami…" He looked back to the original object of his stare. "Black Magician," he murmured.

Jounouchi frowned, then let out a confused laugh. "Hey - sure that's him! You play with him all the time, remember?"

The magician's eyes met Yami's, emotion flickering over his face. After a while, Yami remembered to say something essential: "Thank you."

Black Magician shook his head, his eyes still fixed on his player's.

"Hello?" Jounouchi interrupted. "I don't know what's going on here, but…uh…"

The magician tore his gaze from Yami and turned back to face Jounouchi's monsters on the field.

"Excuse me," Yami muttered, looking through his cards, only to find he was unable to concentrate.

Jounouchi shook his head. "I don't know what's going on. Really. But if you don't wanna play, can I have Yugi back? I mean… the other one?"

Yami cleared his throat and nodded slowly, casting another long look to Black Magician and finally clearing the space. Your turn again, aibou.