Darkness Before Dawn
Monday, April 4, 2005
Yugi’s consciousness floated somewhere in the pleasant haze between deep sleep and wakefulness. On some level, he was aware that the time for relinquishing sleep was approaching, but was unprepared to move up through the layers of heavy darkness just yet.
SPLASH!
“JOU! YOU ASSHOLE!”
Which would explain why a now cold and dripping wet Yugi was launching himself out of bed at the guffawing blond, engaging him in an impromptu wrestling match.
“I’d love t’ wake ya up normal, Yuge, but dis ’s da only way I know wut works,” grinned Jou as he easily blocked Yugi’s lunges and strikes.
“You suck!” cried Yugi.
“Nevah on da first date,” grinned Jou.
“Stay away from me!” Yugi fumed, turning and running into the bathroom, where the door slammed shut behind him.
A still chortling Jou made his way downstairs to the kitchen, stomach now crying out for breakfast after the impromptu wrestling session. Jou yanked open a drawer to reveal a mound of candy: pocky, fruit drops, chocolate bars, licorice, every kind of sweet treat imaginable. He nonchalantly dipped his hand in and pulled out a wad of plastic wrapped goodies. These in hand, Jou went over to the table and plopped down, unwrapping a cherry flavored candy and popping it into his mouth to await Yugi.
Presently, a now more or less dry Yugi entered and went straight for the open drawer. After reaching in, he turned a glare on Jou.
“Don’t take all the chocolates! You know they’re my favorites!” he whined.
“Shorry, man. Here. Bring shome ovah ‘n we kin trade,” said Jou amiably as he chewed.
With a huff, Yugi plunged his hand into the drawer and pulled up mostly fruit flavored candies, which he brought over, and allowed Jou to take what he wanted in exchange for some chocolates. Trade complete, the two friends stuffed their faces with sugar, which was then washed down with Mountain Dew for Yugi and Jolt Cola for Jou.
“Breakfast a champions,” grinned Jou as they tossed their plastic wrappers to the dingy gray floor and went for their shoes. “Now, off t’ school t’ git smaht.”
Yugi had to bite his tongue at this last one.
Domino University
The rain clouds of yesterday had retreated overnight, leaving fresh cool air in their wake. Not a single cloud was to be seen, giving the sun sole domain of the vault of blue sky that now blessed Domino, as if to make up for yesterday’s dreary weather.
Yugi and Jou stood side by side, gazing in awe at the sight of the sprawling campus before them. Even last week’s orientation had been insufficient to prepare them for this microcosm of a city, with four different buildings, each of which contained myriad classrooms, surrounding an equally large middle court, which was bisected with paved walkways and dotted with many trees. On the field, which surrounded the campus was a line of trees, dominated by a large, old oak with its thick trunk and sprawling, gnarled branches, to which Yugi took an instant liking upon seeing it, thinking it a fine place to take one’s lunch.
“How are we ever gonna find our way around?” the tricolor breathed in amazement.
“Even if we kin, how’r we gonna git from one class to anothah if dey’re in sep’rit buildins?” wondered Jou.
Yugi looked at his class list and the map all the freshmen had been given.
“OK, my first class is Psych 101 in building 1-A, so over there,” he said, pointing to his left.
“Mine’s engineerin’ 101 in 2-B, so ovah dat way,” said Jou, pointing to his right.
Yugi felt his stomach drop out of him at these words. In all the excitement of starting at the new school, he had completely forgotten about him and Jou being in separate buildings! Suddenly, the school felt even larger than it had a moment ago.
“Maybe we can meet up at lunch?” he ventured hopefully.
“Prolly,” replied Jou. “Well, g’ luck, man!”
“You too!” said Yugi brightly as he and Jou slapped each other a high five before heading for their respective buildings.
Building 1-A
Yugi made his way carefully through the throngs of students who, even though they were roughly the same age as he, stood head and shoulders over his 5’1” frame.
‘Maybe someday I’ll go through puberty!’ he thought spitefully.
"Hullo, Yugi!"
On hearing his name being called, Yugi perked up a bit and looked over to see Bakura approaching him.
"Hi, Bakura," called Yugi. "Are you taking Psych 101 with me?"
Bakura frowned and shook his fluffy head.
"No. I'm taking Trigonometry 101," he replied.
Yugi was about to respond when a strange hush descended upon the hall, causing the ambient energy to shift from exuberant enthusiasm to a wary watchfulness. The sea of humanity seemed to press Yugi and Bakura against the wall, even as a ripple of whispers floated into their ears, causing their hearts to race in confusion and trepidation.
“Uh-oh!”
“It’s Yami!”
Forced by his lack of stature to crouch down and peek out among other students’ legs, Yugi couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of this one student who seemed to make such an ominous impression on the others. By his side, Yugi heard Bakura gasp, as though in stunned recognition.
“No… He can’t be here,” the white haired teen whispered.
Down the middle of the hall he stalked, clad head to toe in black leather and chains. Yugi’s eyes bulged out of their sockets as he gazed in unmitigated awe at this taller, darker and much handsomer version of himself, with similar tricolor hair with red fringe pulled back in a ponytail, leaving long blond bangs loose to frame the swarthy, angular face. From deep, narrow sockets glared eyes that smoldered like red hot coals, seeming to promise swift and blinding pain to anyone who dared to encroach on his personal space.
“The Demon of Domino.”
“He’s insane!”
The whispers continued to filter into Yugi’s ears. Yet even as he heard these ominous words of warning, he couldn’t help but gaze in admiration at the swarthy young man who walked by him.
“Wow! Me and him could almost pass for brothers!” he declared, even as he allowed Bakura to pull him back to his feet. “He looks so cool!"
“No, no, Yugi! That’s Yami! Don’t even look at him! He’s an absolute lunatic! If you get too near him, it could very well be the last thing you ever do!” Bakura pleaded with Yugi, still clutching the sleeve of his t-shirt.
"What? You know him?" asked Yugi, fixing a curious gaze on his new friend.
"Only by reputation. He was a year ahead of me in Renka High. Everyone, even the teachers, was scared witless of him. Whenever anyone would accost him, he would fly into a blind rage and beat his attackers senseless. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when he graduated two years ago. He was so crazy and antisocial that he didn’t even show up for the ceremony; they mailed him his diploma! I never would've imagined that he would be here!" explained Bakura in a hushed voice.
“That’s crazy!” yelped Yugi, quickly darting his gaze down the hall to be certain that Yami was well out of earshot.
“Do yourself a favor and stay well away from him, Yugi. He’s dangerous and no good can come of associating with him,” warned a frowning Bakura.
“You’re right. Thanks for the warning, Bakura. Oh, I gotta get to class! Don’t wanna be late on my first day," Yugi declared.
Bakura nodded and watched as Yugi started toward his wing.
Yugi stopped and looked around. The room he wanted was room 142 and he was in the 130s wing.
‘Shit! Am I lost?’ he thought, digging into his pocket for the map.
Yugi unfolded the map and peered at it, trying to get his bearings. Just as he was about to have an epiphany, he felt himself being bowled over and hitting the floor gracelessly as his map flew from his hands. The angry words forming in his brain died on his tongue when he looked up into the faces of his accosters.
Two thuggishly huge upperclassmen glared down at Yugi through beady black and brown eyes, square jaws jutting out in anger at the small morsel of humanity who had dared to get in their way.
“Stupid freshmen!” grunted one.
“Same shit every year. They just never learn, do they, Hirutani-kun?” growled the other, leaning down and extending his ham-hock of a hand toward Yugi.
Seeing this, Yugi began scrambling to his feet to make a run for it. However, the shortness of his legs yielded only one possible outcome: he was easily caught up by the fabric of his t-shirt and found himself dangling helplessly before the bullies.
“Let’s teach these shrimpy freshmen who this place really belongs to, Ushio-kun!” sneered Hirutani.
“Sounds like a plan,” agreed Ushio as he balled his right hand into a fist and pulled it back to make connection with Yugi’s jaw.
Yugi closed his eyes in anticipation of the blow… which never came. Cautiously, he cracked his eyes open and looked at the bullies, only to see beads of sweat welling up on their sloping brows as they stared in mortal dread at something before them. Turning his head, Yugi’s breath caught in his throat as he beheld what his would-be accosters were staring at.
Before them stood Yami, arms crossed over his chest and lips turned down in a scowl as his jaw jutted out fiercely. His sharp eyes glittered with cold fury as he glared at the two thugs who held Yugi’s small life in their hands. Though he neither moved nor spoke, an aura of anger rose from him like heat from concrete on a hot, sunny day.
Not a second later, Yugi felt Ushio’s grip on him loosen and found himself dumped unceremoniously to the carpeted floor as the two bullies turned and walked away as quickly as they could without making it obvious that they were fleeing.
“Yam…” Yugi’s words died as he turned around, only find that Yami had disappeared like the darkness before the breaking dawn.. ‘Oh… I was hoping I could’ve at least thanked him.’
Heart still thundering in his chest, Yugi retrieved his map and quickly made his way to class.
Psychology 101
With a sigh of relief, Yugi entered the classroom and immediately headed for an empty desk. His eyes glanced about the room, checking out each of the other students, who were all talking animatedly amongst themselves about their upcoming class. All in all, everyone seemed to be looking forward to it.
‘Why would anyone actually wanna learn psychology?’ Yugi thought disdainfully as he slumped down.
Just then, the door opened again and who should enter, but Yami! Bakura’s words came crashing back to the forefront of Yugi’s mind as he beheld the dark one’s appearance as he walked to a desk, head up, gaze unwaveringly forward and jaw clenched in seemingly irascible anger.
As in the hallway, the murmurs and whispers wafted into Yugi’s hearing and no doubt to Yami’s. This was confirmed by the sound of a book being slammed down hard on the desk and that crimson glare being sent toward the others, who immediately fell silent and looked away.
‘Wow! Talk about cranky!’ Yugi thought as he watched his dark twin slide gracefully into the desk to his right, two rows over.
As if sensing the gaze on him, the dark teen looked up and locked gazes with Yugi, revealing sharp crimson irises that seemed to pierce into his soul. Yugi immediately fixed his dark twin with the brightest, friendliest smile he could muster. Yami blinked, then broke visual contact, looking away as though he hadn’t seen Yugi at all.
Yugi frowned and looked down at his desk. He was used to garnering different reactions from people when he looked at them. Some responded with a friendly smile, some with hostility. Never had anyone just blinked and looked away as though he didn’t exist.
‘Didn’t he recognize me from before?’
However, he was distracted from his thoughts as the door opened and the professor entered. The students stood up in their seats and bowed in unison to the professor while calling, “Good morning, professor” before sitting down again.
The rest of the class proceeded like a dream, with the professor handing out the class syllabus, then going over the basics of psychology and telling the students that they would need to find a partner to work with. The two students would share projects and psychoanalyze each other.
‘Great! As if this class wasn’t already enough of a pain in the ass! I know no one’ll wanna be my partner. Can’t say I blame them. I suck at school!’ Yugi thought petulantly.
When the class ended, Yugi gathered his books and fled the room to search out his next class, glad that psychology was out of his way for the day and still rather flummoxed over how to acquire a partner to work with. No way in hell did he feel brave enough to approach any of his classmates and ask them.
With a sigh, he concentrated on finding his next class. The rest of the morning proceeded without incident, Yugi taking notes in all his classes and beginning to look forward to lunch.
12 o’clock
Finally, the fourth hour class ended and lunch beckoned. With the large bag of spicy beef Doritos that he had taken crinkling in his backpack, Yugi ventured out to the courtyard to look for Jou, as they had hoped to eat together. Alas, the blond was nowhere to be seen. Yugi flipped his phone open and found a message waiting for him.
W4rDoG: emrgncy w my old man cnt make it 4 lnch sry d00d :(
Yugi frowned. Jou’s problems with his father were legendary. Jounouchi Katsuhiro was a notorious drunk, gambler and abuser. It had gotten so bad that his wife had divorced him while Jou was still in grade school, and fled with their daughter to Tokyo. Since that time, Jou’s father had used Jou as his personal servant and punching bag. Even now that Jou was out from under his roof, Jounouchi-san still expected Jou to be at his beck and call 24/7, which often ended up raining out their plans.
“Hullo, Yugi!”
Yugi’s hopes were rekindled as he turned to see Bakura walking toward him.
“Hi, Bakura! Wanna eat lunch together?” he asked.
At this, Bakura’s countenance fell a bit.
“I’m sorry, Yugi, but I’m finished for the day. I only take classes in the morning so I can work in my father’s museum in the afternoon,” he explained.
“Oh. That’s cool. It’s good to have the income so you can pay your own way through school. Jou works at the hardware store,” Yugi replied.
“I see. I’ll keep that in mind if ever I need a wrench. Good day to you, Yugi. I’ll see you after school on Wednesday,” said Bakura with an inclination of his head.
“See you then!” Yugi called after his new friend.
After Bakura’s departure, Yugi looked around the courtyard. All the picnic tables and benches were occupied and after his earlier run-in with those bullies, Yugi really didn’t feel like striking up conversation with any strangers today.
Then the idea for the perfect spot struck him: the large oak tree that was a bit away from the university. No one ever seemed to go near it for reasons Yugi couldn’t fathom. The tree was large and shady and seemed like a perfect place to eat one’s lunch.
As Yugi approached the tree he noticed, rather to his consternation, that it was occupied; a lean, leather clad body sitting against its trunk. Suddenly, the reason for the tree’s state of total desertion became crystal clear to him.
Yugi stood rooted to the spot, stomach twisting and knotting up on itself in fear as he remembered that morning’s run-in, coupled with Bakura’s words of warning. He was all alone with the Demon of Domino under this tree, well away from the school. If Yami were to attack him, there would be no one around to help him and the school was too far away for his short legs to run the long distance to it if he were to be pursued.
Yugi began to back away, but stopped when he saw that Yami was holding what appeared to be cards in his hands, shuffling expertly through them. Yugi took a few cautious steps forward till he was right behind Yami, then peeked around the trunk, craning his neck to get a look at the cards Yami was holding. Imagine Yugi's surprise as his eyes fell upon the familiar monster, spell and trap cards of Duel Monsters!
‘No way! Who would’ve thought someone like Yami’d be into Duel Monsters?!’ Yugi thought as he pulled back and stood with his back against the tree trunk. ‘I guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover.’
“What do you want?” a deep voice rumbled in his ears.
A startled Yugi looked into a pair of crimson eyes, glaring at him intensely from a dark, angry face. When had Yami noticed him and stood up?
“Uh… hi…” Yugi squeaked out.
“What. do. you. want?” snarled Yami, taking a step forward, fists clenched at his sides.
Yugi frowned at Yami’s unwarranted hostility toward him, but decided to meet it with friendliness, which had worked for him sometimes in the past.
“Uh, Yami…” he began.
The next thing Yugi knew, Yami was right up in his face, crimson eyes glaring daggers into his large lilacs, fingers digging into the fabric of his blue t-shirt.
“That is NOT my name!” he roared, acidic rage dripping off every word flung from his snarling, snapping mouth, which was so near that Yugi could feel the hotness of his breath on his face.
“I’m sorry. That’s what Ba… I heard you were called. I didn’t know,” Yugi replied, heart beating like a jackhammer, but gaze never wavering. “Uh, I didn’t mean to offend you.”
Yugi’s gentle words had the desired effect, causing the other (not Yami, not Yami) to release him and move back again, though the glare and scowl remained on what would otherwise have been very handsome features.
“Again, I ask: What do you want?” the Demon of Domino growled.
Yugi took a deep breath to gather his wits, knowing that his next words might very well spell life or death for him.
“I… I just… wanted to… thank you for helping me earlier,” he explained with a bow from the waist.
Not!Yami’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he crossed his arms and looked away from Yugi.
“There’s no need to,” he declined shortly.
“Yeah, there is,” Yugi quickly countered. “If you hadn’t shown up when you did, those bullies would’ve pounded me into paste.”
Not!Yami’s stood stiffly, looking away for a bit as he processed Yugi’s words. Suddenly, he rounded on Yugi, again glaring death at him.
“Fine! You've paid your lip service. Now leave!” he barked, jerking his head in the general direction of the school.
Impulsively, Yugi plunged his hand into the side pocket of his backpack and pulled out his Duel Monsters deck.
“I saw your dueling deck before. Wanna duel me?” he asked, holding his deck out for Yami’s perusal.
The dark teen’s lips parted and his eyes widened as he stared at the deck in Yugi’s hand, becoming far away as he thought, of what, Yugi couldn’t guess. Then they cleared and, much to Yugi's surprise, he gestured to the ground. Both teens sat, neither taking his eyes off the other as they exchanged decks to cut and shuffle.
“I'm Mutou Yugi,” Yugi offered as he worked on Yami’s deck.
“My real name is Atem Ishtar,” Yami returned as he expertly shuffled Yugi’s cards.
“Is that Egyptian?” Yugi asked before he could stop himself.
Atem’s eyes widened in startlement at Yugi’s perceptiveness. A short nod was his answer.
“Ah! That’s so cool! I love Egypt. I got pictures of the pyramids and sphinx on my walls!” Yugi gushed.
“Are we dueling or are you talking?” Atem asked curtly, clearly not impressed by Yugi’s affection for his homeland.
“Sorry,” Yugi apologized, bowing his head in a show of contrition.
With a grunt, Atem handed Yugi back his freshly shuffled deck.
“Shall we begin?” he asked stiffly.
“Yeah. You go first,” said Yugi.
“Very well. I begin.”
Atem and Yugi spent the next hour locked in combat, exchanging victory and loss in four games. As they played, Yugi noticed Atem’s whole demeanor gradually relaxing, sharp crimson irises slowly darkening to a beautiful ruby. By the end of the third game, Atem was actually smiling at him!
“Wow! You're such an awesome player! Except my grandpa, I've never met anyone as good as you!” Yugi exclaimed as he shoved his cards into his backpack after their fourth game.
“I could say the same of you,” Atem replied in a deep, smooth voice, ruby irises glittering. “I apologize for my gruff demeanor earlier. People usually come looking for a fight rather than a duel.”
“Don’t worry about it. I know what it’s like to be bullied,” smiled Yugi.
“Where did you learn to play Duel Monsters at such a high level?” asked Atem.
“From my Grandpa. He got me into Duel Monsters when it came out ten years ago,” Yugi explained.
“Do you know the history of the game?” Atem asked.
“Well, Grandpa said it started in Ancient Egypt. I dunno if I really believe that though,” replied Yugi.
“Your grandfather is correct. The Ancient Egyptians were said to have inscribed the images of what we now call Duel Monsters onto stone tablets and duel with them, in a manner very similar to how we just dueled with these cards,” Atem explained, holding up his Black Magician card.
“Wow! That’s crazy!” said Yugi.
“History is full of such craziness,” returned Atem with a smile.
“So… since you’re in my class, are you majoring in video game design too?” asked Yugi, partially in a bid to avoid any long historical discussions.
With a smile, Atem shook his head.
“My major is the humanities. Psych 101 is a base requirement,” he answered.
“It’s required for video game design too. Isn’t that stupid?! What the hell does psychology have to do with video games?” Yugi said spitefully.
Atem considered a moment, then fixed Yugi with a direct rose petal gaze.
“If you fail to grasp the basics of human psychology, how do you expect to design a video game that people will enjoy?” he inquired.
“Just by basing it on what I like,” Yugi returned glibly.
“Mmmm. So you speak for all gamers?” Atem smirked.
Yugi opened his mouth to answer, blinked, then looked down in abashment.
“No,” he admitted. “Well… I guess… I never thought about it that way. I suppose different gamers would have different tastes.”
Atem smiled at Yugi in mild amusement.
“Sometimes things that may seem disconnected are actually quite intimately entangled. You don't see that until you pull back and look at the big picture,” he explained patiently.
“I'll think about that,” said Yugi, who looked as though he were hearing something new for the first time. “Well, I dunno about you, but all that dueling made me hungry.”
With that, Yugi plunged his hand into his backpack and pulled out his bag of spicy Doritos, which he unfurled and plunged his hand into, yanking out a handful of chips and cramming them unceremoniously in his mouth.
“Wan’ shum?” he asked around the mouthful of chips as poor Atem could only stare aghast at his complete lack of manners.
“Thank you. I’ll just take two. I’ve my lunch with me,” said Atem, awkwardly accepting two chips from Yugi and quickly polishing them off.
That torture out of his way, Atem pulled his own lunch from his backpack and opened the pack to reveal a Middle Eastern meal, consisting of a sandy colored paste and some chopped greens. Not exactly the kind of lunch one would expect a violent lunatic to carry, Yugi noted.
“Wutsh dat shtuff?” asked Yugi as he chewed.
“This,” answered Atem, gesturing to the sandy colored paste, “is hummus, and this,” referring to the chopped greens, “is tabbouleh.”
“Cool,” answered Yugi as he pulled out his bottle of Mountain Dew to chase down some of the chips he had just consumed.
Meanwhile, Atem was tearing pita bread into pieces and using them to carefully scoop up the hummus, which he then consumed.
Getting a whiff of the hummus, Yugi couldn’t help but glance again at Atem’s lunch. It certainly smelled good. Suddenly, the Doritos and Mountain Dew had lost some of their charm. However, Yugi dutifully kept on eating, not daring to ask for a bite of the Demon of Domino’s lunch.
“Would you care to try some?” Atem’s deep voice rumbled at him.
Yugi looked up into a pair of ruby irises, which were dancing with amusement, and nodded.
Atem tore off a piece of his pita bread and handed it to Yugi, who took it awkwardly.
“Just use it to scoop up some hummus, then put the whole thing in your mouth. It’s sublime,” Atem assured Yugi.
“Thanks,” said Yugi as he used the pita to gingerly scoop some hummus up and promptly popped it into his mouth.
When he began chewing, the tangy, salty taste exploded on his tongue and caused it to almost curl up on itself. This stuff was strong!
“Wow…” was all he managed to say as he ate.
“Ha ha ha ha! Is the hummus to your liking?” inquired the smiling Atem even as he forked up some tabbouleh.
Yugi could only nod emphatically.
“Please, have some more. I always pack too much,” offered Atem.
“Thanksh,” replied Yugi as he tore himself off a piece of pita to scoop up some more hummus, Doritos long forgotten.
After taking a swig of Mountain Dew to chase his mouthful of hummus down his throat, Yugi raised his gaze to Atem.
“That’s awesome! Who made it?” he asked.
“Thank you. You are looking at the somewhat dubious cook,” smiled Atem.
“Wow! You know how to cook?” Yugi asked, as if cooking were equal to space exploration.
Atem nodded.
“That’s awesome. I can’t cook worth a damn,” Yugi groused.
“Is that why you were eating Doritos?” Atem inquired with a smirk.
“Yeah. I order takeout every Friday night, but that’s the most I can afford to spend on food,” Yugi explained.
“Cooking isn’t hard at all. You might try looking up recipes on the Internet,” suggested Atem.
“Even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to cook them,” sighed Yugi.
“Hmmm…” rumbled Atem.
However, at this point, Yugi’s thoughts were no longer on food, but on the four duels he and Atem had engaged in. Apart from Grandpa, Atem was hands down the best duelist Yugi had ever encountered. This immediately made him think of the Duel Monsters circle that he and Jou hoped to gain entry to, if they could duel up to Bakura’s standards.
“You know, there’s a Duel Monsters circle here. Me and my friend Jou are gonna enter by dueling its founder, Bakura Ryou. He says you and him went to high school together,” Yugi piped up.
At this, Atem’s countenance darkened a bit.
“That’s entirely possible. I didn’t know any of my classmates’ names. As I told you earlier, people do not usually approach me on friendly terms,” Atem reiterated crisply as he packed away his now depleted lunch.
“Yeah. I know what that’s like. I got bullied a lot in high school,” agreed Yugi. “It didn’t actually get better until I introduced some of my classmates to Duel Monsters and started competing in tournaments. Why don’t you join?! Then I could introduce you to Jou and Bakura. I’m sure they’d love to duel you. Plus, with the level you play at, you could even represent Domino University in the tournaments, though those don’t start till autumn.”
“I can’t,” Atem muttered, lowering his head so his long blond bangs concealed his eyes.
“But you have to! You’re too good not to!” protested Yugi. “It doesn’t cost anything to join…”
“It’s not the money…” Atem murmured, more to himself than to Yugi.
"Then what is it? You’re in college, so you don’t need your parents’…” Yugi began.
“I just can’t! Now drop it!” Atem barked, grabbing his bag while jumping to his feet and stalking away before Yugi could reply.
Yugi sat in stunned silence for a full two minutes.
“Well, that went great,” he said sourly at length as he stared sullenly in the direction of Atem’s departure.
The rest of the day passed without incident. Yugi hoped against hope that he and Atem might have more classes together, but alas he didn’t see the Egyptian again.
Later
At home...
Yugi sat at his desk, doing his math homework when his cell phone rang. Upon seeing the caller ID flashing on the screen, a smile lit his features and he eagerly hit the talk button.
“Hi, Grandpa!” he said happily.
“Hi, Yugi. I was just calling to see how your first day went,” said Sugoroku’s voice over the phone.
“It went OK, mostly,” answered Yugi.
“Mostly?” repeated Sugoroku, a note of concern in his voice.
Yugi took a deep breath.
“It’s just, I met this awesome guy at college today. Not only did he save me from some bullies, he beat me twice in the four duels we played at lunch. But when I asked him if he wanted to join the Duel Monsters circle with me and Jou on Wednesday, he got mad at me and left,” he explained, unhappiness tainting his voice.
There was a moment of silence in which Yugi swore he could hear Sugoroku pondering the story he had just told him.
“Mmmm. Well, Yugi, I’m certain he has a good reason for not joining. Perhaps he’s caring for a sick relative at home and simply doesn’t have the time to stay after school, even to test his dueling skills,” said Sugoroku.
“I guess that could be it. I never thought of that,” said Yugi. “I just hope he’ll duel me again tomorrow.”
“I’m sure he will. Just don’t bring up the circle again. Perhaps if he duels you enough, he’ll want to join on his own eventually. You know the old saying about leading a horse to water,” advised Sugoroku.
“Ha ha! Yeah. Thanks, Grandpa,” said Yugi, wonted cheer now reflected in his voice.
“You’re welcome, Yugi. Now, I know you must be swamped with homework, so I’ll let you get back to it. I’ll talk to you soon,” said Sugoroku.
“OK, Grandpa. Love ya,” smiled Yugi.
“I love you too, Yugi,” returned Sugoroku’s voice before the line went dead.
‘That’s what I’ll do. I’ll just befriend Atem and let him decide on his own that he wants to join the circle,’ Yugi thought with determination as he returned to his books.
After homework…
Not long after this, Yugi heard the sound of Jou’s red convertible shutting off out front, indicating that Jou had finally returned from work.
‘Time to duel!’ he thought happily as he grabbed his cards and went tearing downstairs.
“Hey, dude,” grinned Jou as he stepped up out of his shoes. “Lemme grab a bag a ‘Ritos ‘n ya kin git t’ kickin’ mah ass.”
“You could win just as easy as me,” protested Yugi.
“Pffft! Wutevah ya say, Yuge,” snickered Jou as he went to fetch chips and pop, for dueling was hungry work.
Soon Yugi and Jou sat across from each other at the table with their Duel Monsters cards in hand, eating their favorite dinner: Steak Doritos and Mountain Dew as they played. However, Yugi’s eyes were far away, seemingly deep in thought.
“We playin’ or ’r ya spacin’ out?” Jou asked. “I play Panthah Warrior in defense mode.”
“Huh?” asked Yugi, coming back to the present with a start.
At the sight of Jou holding his cards and staring at him expectantly, Yugi remembered himself.
“Sorry, Jou!” he yelped. “Black Magician in attack mode. Black Magic!”
Jou winced as his Gearfried was blown away, leaving him with his Panther Warrior.
“So wut’s gotchu spacin’ out durin’ a game a Duel Monstahs?” the blond asked. “I switch Panthah Warrior from defense t’ attack ‘n attack yer Black Magician.”
A blush tinged Yugi’s cheeks.
“Well… have you heard of Yami, the Demon of Domino?” he asked hesitantly. “I play Magical Hats!”
“Mattah a fact, I ovaheard two guys talkin’ ‘bout ‘m in mah third class. Da stories dey tol’ made ‘m sound like real bad news. Why?” asked Jou.
“Well, I actually kinda hung out with him at lunch,” Yugi began.
“‘N ya lived to tell da story?” asked Jou with a smile. “Panthah Warrior hits da right hat. Ah, fuck!”
“He’s not as bad as everyone says he is, once you get to know him. Though he does have a hell of a temper,” replied Yugi.
“So I’ve heard,” said Jou. “Wha’ happen’d?”
“It all started this morning. Me and Bakura saw Atem in the hall and Bakura told me he’s a dangerous nutcase and to stay away from him. But I got lost on my way to my psych class and bumped into two large bruisers who decided to make me part of the wall. Just as they were about to hit me, Atem showed up and chased them away just by glaring at them. After that, I saw him in my Psych 101 class, but he wouldn’t talk to me and left as soon as class was over,” Yugi explained. “Then, when you couldn’t make it for lunch, I went to the big oak tree, but I saw him sitting under it.”
“Dude! Yer lucky he didn’t kill ya on da spot. One a da stories I heard was he staked out dat tree last year, ‘n when some uppahclass guys tried t’ take it from ’m, he jus’ wen’ off on ’m ‘n put two of ’m in da hospital. He was almost expelled, but somehow was allowed t’ stay in school,” interjected Jou.
“That’s like what Bakura said about him; they went to the same high school,” mused Yugi.
“No shit?! I bet Bakura’s got some stories t’ tell!” chuckled Jou.
“He did. He said Atem was known to just fly into these rages whenever someone would bother him and just beat the shit out of them. He wasn’t too happy when I first showed up at the tree and I thought I might end up like one of his wouldbe bullies,” said Yugi. “But then, when I showed him my dueling deck and invited him to play, he let me stay.”
Jou actually sputtered some of his pop.
“Yami’s int’ Duel Monstahs?!” he yelped in surprise.
“Atem,” Yugi corrected. “Not only is he into it, but he beat me in two of the four games we played.”
“He beat you?!” yelped Jou.
Yugi nodded.
“No way in Hell! If he’s dat good den I wanna duel ’m!” Jou declared. “T’ink he’d wanna join da circle wit’ us on Wednesday?”
With a sigh, Yugi shook his head.
“Why not?” asked Jou, frowning in disappointment.
“The thing is, when I mentioned the circle to him and asked if he wanted to join, he got pissed at me and left. Just like Bakura says, there’s something… wrong with him,” sighed Yugi. “It’s like he’s got some terrible secret locked away in his heart and he pushes everyone away so no one can get close to it.”
“And ya t’ink yer gonna be da dude t’ git close t’ it?” Jou asked as he popped a chip into his mouth.
Yugi blushed and looked down.
“I dunno. Maybe,” he replied.
Yugi looked solemnly into Jou’s brown eyes and mulled over his earlier conversation with Grandpa.
“Lemme hang out with him one on one for a while and get him comfortable with me. Then maybe he’ll wanna join,” he said. “We have to pick a partner to work with on our psychoanalysis. I’m gonna ask him if he wants to partner with me. Black Magician kills your Panther Warrior with Black Magic."
With a sigh, Jou lowered his gaze, giving up the battle.
“OK, Yuge. I’ll trus' yer judgment. Do wut ya t’ink gotta do. But eventually, I wanna crack at ‘m,” he said.
“OK. Thanks, Jou,” said Yugi with a small smile.
“Cool,” grinned Jou as he picked his next card. “I draw Red Eyes Black Dragon in attack mode! Attack da Black Magician!”
“Not so fast, Jou!” said Yugi as he turned over a card. “I use Brain Control to take control of your Red Eyes.”
“Ah, fuck!” yelped Jou.
“Red Eyes Black Dragon, direct attack on the opponent’s life points!” commanded Yugi.
“Good game as always, man,” said Jou with a sad smile.
“Here ya go,” said Yugi, handing the Red Eyes back to Jou.
“T’anks,” said Jou as he put his favorite card back in its plastic case.
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