Ennead: My original plan for Imori...

“Hey Mutou-kun?” Yugi blinked and wheeled around to look at the speaker to find that Imori had followed her. She watched him warily, taking note of Oneesan’s sudden intense focus. Her older sister seemed to have taken a dislike to the boy for some reason and that was enough to have her on edge, “Look I wanted to apologise for today.”

Yugi let out a sigh. She had been unnecessarily harsh when she had turned him down but Ojiisan had been insistent that she never play a game of Dragon Cards. “I should apologise too.” She replied, smiling at his despite her unease. “I didn’t mean to snap earlier. It was uncalled for.”

“No, no,” Imori shook his head, looking embarrassed, “You were busy and your Ojiisan did say that no one should play it. I just thought it might have been, you know, superstition or something.” He pulled a small box out of his jacket pocket, “I meant to give you this earlier.”

Yugi blinked at him, able to feel Oneesan’s surprise also, and took the box. Inside was an anklet, a beautifully designed one. It had vines and lotus blossoms engraved into the thick, brass, hinged squares that made it up. Some kind of lacquer giving hints of colour to the flora. Yugi was shocked as she looked to Imori, “Not that I’m not grateful, but why?”

“For  returning my game yesterday.” Imori explained, looking sheepish, “I had a little pocket money left over after I bought that Monster Fighter game so I thought...”

“Thank you.” No one except her grandfather had ever bought her jewellery before, so Yugi wasn’t quite sure how to react. She hadn’t been doing anything special. It had just been the right thing to do. She hadn’t expected someone to reward her for it. “You didn’t have to...”

“I wanted to.” Imori smiled at her. “May I?” He asked, gesturing to the anklet.

Yugi nodded. It would be rude not to try it on after all and she could take it straight back off again. It wasn’t like wearing it for a few minutes would break the school dress code any more than wearing the Puzzle did.

Imori removed the anklet from the box and Yugi sat on a nearby desk. She felt her older sister bristle when he rolled up her right trouser leg and was then too busy smoothing Anesan’s emotions to see how he did up the clasp.

“Thank you.” Yugi smiled at him as he backed off, examining it from a distance. She had to admit it looked good on her. She couldn’t wear it for too long though, she had swimming later and she didn’t want to ruin it. When she reached for the clasp however, she found that she couldn’t get it undone.

“Umm, Imori, how do I undo it?” She asked, confused when the little lever that should have unlocked the clasp refused to move.

“Huh?” The boy looked just as baffled as he tried to undo it. After about a minute he pulled back, a worried expression on his face, “Uh oh.”

“Uh oh?” Yugi worried, ‘uh oh’ was never good.

“It’s stuck.” Imori’s expression moved towards embarrassment as he gave her a sheepish smile, “I can’t get it loose.”

“It’s alright.” Yugi mentally winced against the irritation that spiked over the link from Anesan even as she tried to reassure the boy. “I’ll work out how to get it off when I get home. It’ll be okay in the water right?”

“Should be.” Imori looked relieved that she wasn’t too mad at him, “Sorry Mutou-kun.”

“It’s an accident.” Yugi shrugged, “Don’t worry about it.” The bell rang for the end of the lunch break and Yugi hastily rolled down her trouser leg and grabbed her bag, “See you later.”

“See you.” Imori nodded and darted off.

Yugi let out an amused huff and headed for her own form room, intending to tell the others about the gift. Anzu looked a little worried, while Honda had expected Jou to start teasing her about potential boyfriend, only for the blonde to turn sulky.

None of them could undo the catch either, boding badly for getting the anklet off without breaking it later on day.

Anzu badgered her for information the entire way to the changing rooms. The other girl liked Imori about as much as the spirit of the Puzzle did and she worried for her friend. Yugi didn’t get much attention from guys and Anzu had heard rumours about Imori and his temper. She just didn’t want Yugi to get hurt.

Anzu’s fussing both amused and frustrated Yugi. She had no interest in dating in general right now. She couldn’t just date anyone. Whoever she went out with would have to cope with the fact she was possessed and it wouldn’t be fair to drag Anesan out on a date.

Even if she had been interested in dating, she wouldn’t date Imori. She got a weird vibe from him. Like there was something lurking below the surface. She wanted to think that it was just paranoia, she had been through quite a lot recently after all. However considering Anesan had taken an instant dislike to him too, she was going to listen to her instincts on that front.

She half wondered if he was possessed too but she didn’t really want to ask. There was no real easy way to bring it up after all and she didn’t really want to regain her reputation as a weirdo when she was finally making friends with her other classmates.

She got changed with Anzu, blushing slightly as she changed into the swimming costume she had had to buy from the school. Not having to buy her own was a blessing and a curse. A blessing because she would have been really embarrassed to show up in her old swimming costume  but a curse because it meant she could now fit in the girl’s uniform. 

She had been informed that she could finish the term in the boy’s getup, but when the next term started, she would have to wear the girl’s uniform. She was dreading it. The jacket was a horrible colour and the skirt was so short she could wear it as a belt. She was tempted to take after Anzu, who wore shorts underneath it to prevent boys getting a flash of her underwear.

It was good though. It meant she’d grown some over the course of the term. Though she was still the smallest in her year, she at least had filled out a bit and, as Anzu had insisted, she did look much more feminine with longer hair now it no longer looked like a starfish.

She practically leapt from the changing room to the pool, not wanting to stand around with this little on and amusing Anzu no end as she splashed into the pool.

“Mutou!” The teacher scolded, “No cannonballs!”

The lesson progressed smoothly after that. As they assessed the swimming skills of the class as a whole, Yugi was pleased to find that for once she was placed in the upper most group. She’d always enjoyed swimming, it was the only sport she was even vaguely good at, mostly because her grandfather had insisted on swimming lessons from a young age. To find she was actually better than some of her more athletic classmates made her grin.

As the lesson came to a close, Yugi stayed in the pool to do a few more lengths. She had no intention of getting out until most of her classmates had left the area. She was normally one of the last back to the changing rooms anyway. Sometimes she even took so long that there was no one around to see her. In hindsight it probably hadn’t helped the gender misconception.

A loud ruckus from the girls’ changing rooms caused the female teacher to dart in to see what was going on and caught the attention of the group of teenagers hanging around the edge of the pool. Yugi headed for the side herself, concerned that something serious had happened.

Halfway there, Yugi felt something ‘shift,’ like the world had suddenly moved sideways, and she didn’t have time to do more than let out a startled yelp before it felt like her right ankle had a concrete block attached to it and she sank like a stone.

She hit the bottom of the pool, the water closing up over her head. With the surface more than a meter above her, Yugi didn’t waste time trying to reach for it. Instead she reached her for ankle, trying to work out what had happened and how to free herself from the weight still pinning her to the floor.

The anklet she had been given pressed into her foot painfully as she tried to lift it, only to find that it was the present itself that was weighing her down.

Surprise and fear seeped in as she fiddled with the clasp, trying to undo the anklet and free herself. Had Imori known what his gift would do? He had to have done, surely, or whoever he had gotten it from but she didn’t know what she’d done to him to deserve this.

The catch remained as jammed as it had earlier.

Yugi had to cover her nose and mouth with one hand as her body started screaming for air, resorting to tugging on the anklet with her other hand, trying to pull it off. It didn’t help, she wasn’t strong enough to break the suddenly far too heavy hinges between brass squares.

Desperation sank in as she realised she was stuck, trapped far below the surface and it was likely that no one had seen her go under. She tugged and tugged, panic making her heart race and only aiding in making the need for air that much more pronounced.

Then there was a pair of splashes from above her and suddenly there were two others in the pool with her. Yugi’s eyes widened as she recognised the blonde mop and the brunette spike as her friends, relief causing her to settle down slightly.

The pair tried to pull her to the surface, only for the weight at her ankle to keep her down. When the pulling didn’t work, Yugi gestured to her ankle. Honda swam down to it. When she managed to get across that it was the anklet causing the problem, she felt him fiddling with the clasp for a moment before he winced and shot for the surface.

Yugi’s mind was swimming, her lungs constricting painfully as Jou swam down to see what he could do. It was only the hand covering her lower face that prevented the reflexive breath that her body was trying to take.

Suddenly the pressure at her ankle was gone as Jou managed to break the catch by yanking on it. A dull thud sounded as the jewellery hit the pool’s floor, but Jou was already dragging her up. Yugi didn’t have the strength to swim herself, but it didn’t matter as Honda rejoined them and within seconds the trio had broken the surface.

Yugi gasped for breath the moment she was clear of the water, coughing and spluttering as she took in the air she’d so desperately desired. Jou shifted her in his arms so she was on her back and he was supporting her with his body. One arm wrapped around her chest tightly enough that she wouldn’t slip loose and sink again, but not tight enough to prevent her regaining her breath while the other helped him strike out for the side.

The two boys got her to the side, where the teacher, who looked pale, helped them pull her out. “What happened?” The teacher demanded, confusion and concern obvious as she took control of the situation.

“C...Cramp.” Yugi gasped out, the world around her still spinning. She felt sick and trying to think wasn’t helping.

The teacher looked at the two boys who nodded in agreement, glad Yugi had managed to come out with an excuse as neither of them had managed to think of a sane version of ‘Yugi’s jewellery was cursed.’

Once the teacher was satisfied that Yugi could walk on her own, she entrusted her to her friends’ safety and insisted that they take her down to the nurse’s office to get checked over before they went home. She wasn’t convinced about Yugi’s story that she had caught her foot on something while swimming along the bottom to shore. However she had reports to file and a pool to get checked, just in case, so she left them too it.

The moment the teacher was gone, Jou let out a savage snarl. “I’m going to kill Imori.”

“What else did he do?” Anzu asked, hovering in the door to the pool as Yugi got herself changed in the girls’ changing room.

“What do you mean ‘else’?” Jou demanded only to shove past Anzu when Yugi let out a despairing moan. “Yuge?”

“My Puzzle!” Panic was etched on her features as she pulled apart the contents of her backpack and tossed her clothes everywhere. “It’s gone!”

Vision from a Pokemon RP

She’s seeing things from the perspective of a terrified mother cradling her child, a baby boy, as she runs from the soldiers behind her. She slips into the hidden passageways of the mountain and keeps running despite how safe the passages should be, not stopping until she passed a trio of pillars, each which had an intricate craving of a legendary bird atop them.

The moment she passes the pillars, a village appears around her. She slows to a walk, feeling safer now, within the village’s protections. It’s really old, slightly rundown and overgrown, seeming to have grown out of the foliage and mountainside.

There are many who know her as she hurries to the temple in the centre of the village, the only building that wasn’t overgrown or falling apart. They call to her, waving, though she does little more than nod and smile back with an ease she doesn’t feel.

She reaches the temple, where a group of priests bow to her. She doesn’t stop to talk to them, instead hurrying further into the temple, where she finds who she’s looking for.

“My Lady...” She starts, speaking to a black haired, pale woman who almost never left the temple.

She doesn’t get to finish as a frightened cry arises from the edge of town. The woman she had been speaking to moves across to the window, winces and darts out the door after insisting that her companion take Tat to the Room of Offerings while she spoke to the newcomers.

Once there the companion darted off to catch up with the woman, leaving her behind with her child. Almost immediately she starts praying to the Guardians, praying for the safety of her village, her prayers becoming more fervent as the cries turn to screams and bellows of furious, dangerous Pokémon.

Ice starts building up around the edges of the room as the cries of the Guardian Birds fills the air, she puts her child down, praying briefly for his safety and letting out a breath of relief when she sees a hint of a Pokémon then he fades from sight, a faint green glow remaining in his place and fading away as she darts over to the window.

She gets a brief glimpse of the three birds attacking the soldiers who were using ice Pokémon to attack the town.

Then everything is cold and white and the memories stop.

When Tat comes to, she’s in the temple’s Room of Offerings, which looks like it’s been encased in NeverMeltIce.

Oddpart2: Y&H and the Broken Chains: Redo

The first thing Yugi was aware of as he drowsily floated back to consciousness, was that whatever he was led on wasn’t very comfortable. This thought was followed by the confused thought that it didn’t feel like his bed, either of his beds. They were much more comfortable than this, as were the various sofas he had slept on over the years.

The next thought confused his potion addled brain even further as he came to the realisation that the pillow he was resting his head on was bony.

His mind drifted hazily along as voices filtered in, only making the befuddlement worse as he slowly realised that he could hear all of his friends were close by, except for Ron. Yami was the closest. In fact it sounded like Yami was his pillow.

Just that fact alone had Yugi believing that he hadn’t actually woken up and this was all just heading towards some dream. He and Yami hadn’t spoken properly in months. He’d wanted to, so desperately, but Yami had been avoiding him like he carried the plague and the one time he had gotten to speak with his darker self, the wizards had reset their memories, so Yami hadn’t remembered it, going back to avoiding him the next day.

Still that didn’t stop him from listening to the conversation, which seemed to involve a weird combination of the notes he had been making over the last couple of months, duel monsters tactics and what they were going to do when they landed.

Yugi could hear the steady hum of jet turbines in the background, low and almost silent under the noise of his friends’ chatter, just increasing the belief that this was a dream, as he could think of no reason why he would be on an airplane unless he was either dreaming or somehow, miraculously, his friends had finally managed to shake free of their mental bonds.

And he didn’t dare hope for that anymore.

He could feel the chain of the Puzzle was around his neck for the first time since long before his fight with Yami back in January, its precious cargo resting on his chest. When he dared to reach mentally down a link that felt strained from months of lack of use, he felt Yami jump a mile, both mentally and physically, the pillow beneath him tensing for a moment, before Yami’s voice called “Shush, he’s waking up” To the rest of the passengers.

Yugi didn’t dare open his eyes. Even in his drugged up state, he didn’t think he could take it if he awoke from this dream to find his friends were at each other’s throats again. He needed the camaraderie he could hear to be real, needed his friends to be friends again, needed the support that they could offer and the ideas they might have to get them out of the mess they had been brainwashed into.

“It’s alright, Yugi.” Yami promised softly, running a hand through his hair, sounding almost sad and making Yugi realise that Yami had heard his train of thought, “It’s real and we’re nearly home. It’s safe to wake up now.”

“Y...Yami?” Yugi’s mouth felt dry, his tongue heavy and he slurred his darker self’s name as he tried to open eyelids that felt like they were glued down.

“I’m here, Yugi. And so are the others.” Yami replied, his tone gentle, “You’re safe now. We’ve got you.”

Yami had never lied to him. Even trapped beneath layers of memory charms and compulsions, the Pharaoh had been nothing but honest with him. If he said it was safe, that it was real, Yugi knew he could trust him.

He felt Yami mentally support him as he tried to pull himself out of the haze and join the world of the living once again, leaning on his darker self’s strong presence in his mind to give him the extra boost he needed to fight his way out of weight holding his mind down and finally open his eyes to find himself on an airplane, surrounded by his friends.

Movement was slow to follow, but Yami helped him sit up, giving him something to lean on in the real world too as his friends watched with various degrees of relief and anxiety on their features.

“You okay, Yuge?” Joey worried at him as Yami helped him get more comfortable.

Yugi nodded, words difficult when still couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that after months of trying to free his friends from the control of the wizards, they were finally heading home, together.

He looked around as best he could, his body refusing to respond to his commands properly, something he attributed to the potion still in his system. Everyone from Japan was there, even Ryou and Bakura. Harry and Hermione seemed to have joined them, but there was no Ron and there was a huge black dog settled at Harry’s feet.

“You gave us a heart attack.” Joey informed Yugi with a rueful smile, “You should have called us.”

“I...” Yugi trailed off, looking away, discovering the airplane’s carpet was a bright white in the process. In all honesty he hadn’t expected them to come, even if he had called for help. His last words to Boh before he had taken the potion hadn’t been a cry for help, but an apology purely because he had fully expected not to wake up again.

“Yuge?”

Oddpart: Y&H and the Broken Chains: Redo

“Giving up Mutou?” The men asked as Yugi struggled in his companion’s grip, trying to break free and escape only for the grip to tighten, pinning Yugi securely.

Boh watched in horror as Yugi dropped his wand, his head falling forward and his gaze staring blankly at the floor. “You’re going to wipe my mind again, aren’t you?” Yugi asked, defeated.

“No.” The leader shook his head, causing Yugi to look up, startled and slightly hopeful. “Oh it’s not a good thing, Mutou.” The leader continued, causing panic to flare up in Yugi’s eyes, “It’s been decided that you’re too much trouble to keep around anymore. You’ve broken through the programming one too many times. We’ve been ordered to ‘remove’ you.”

Yugi started struggling again, crying out for help only to earn a backhand across the face that had him reeling. Boh went to help only for a swift mental command to keep him in place as Yugi hung limply in his captor’s grasp and the leader continued talking, “Silencio.” The leader commented with a lazy flick of his wand. Yugi’s voice vanished the moment the magic settled, leaving the young man unable to protest, just listen, “You have yourself to blame. If it had just been your own head you’d fixed, it might not have come to this, but you insisted on restoring the memories of the others too and well...”

He pulled a vial of some liquid out of his pocket and showed it to Yugi. “We were ordered to get rid of you, they didn’t say how. Just that you had to be unable to reawaken everyone again. So you have a choice.”

Confusion warred with fear in Yugi’s eyes as he took in the vial then glanced at the man.

“It’s really quite simple.” The man explained, “Either you drink this, go to sleep and you’ll die painlessly in an ‘accident.’ Or we’ll obliviate you until there’s nothing left in that head of yours and we’ll make everyone believe your brother did it. It seems like something his ‘Shadow Games’ could do after all.”

It was, Yugi was fully aware of that fact and he didn’t want to choose between either option. Either he was going to die, or they were going to destroy him and make Yami take the fall. Before this had all started, he would have taken the second option, trusting that his friends would be able to return his memories to him and that they would never think that Yami would do such a thing.

Now, however, he couldn’t trust that. He couldn’t even trust that they would be there for him when he was a vegetable. All because of the men who had captured him and the people they were working for.

At least if he was dead, his friends wouldn’t blame Yami. Nor would they wreck vengeance on the Pharaoh for something they hadn’t done. And if he got Boh to take his notes to Mahado or Kisara, there was still hope of the others getting away, even if he was gone.

“Well Mutou?” The leader of the group asked, “The potion or the wand?” He flicked his wand again and Yugi let out a soft sigh before speaking.

“The potion.”

“Smart boy.” The leader chuckled. Yugi could still feel a wand pressed into the back of his head when the guy let go of him and didn’t try and escape as the leader offered him the vial.

“Hey Boh?” Yugi thought at the Kuriboh, knowing the little fuzzball was watching, “Tell everyone ‘I’m sorry.’ Please? And make sure my notes get to Mahado or Kisara.”With that he downed the potion in two gulps.

Boh panicked as Yugi’s mind swiftly faded out and his partner slumped, unconscious, into the waiting arms of one of the Obliviators. His partner had made him promise not to tell anyone about the memory wipes and the fact they were being manipulated, but if he didn’t they were going to kill Yugi and make it look like an accident.

He had to break his promise to Yugi. He just had to. He didn’t like it but he couldn’t just let them end his partner’s life.

“Mahado!”  His mental call went unanswered to start with, causing his panic to increase, “Mahado, please! Yugi’s in danger!”

That got the Dark Magician’s attention. He felt the Dark Magician snap into focus as he tried to follow the men who were levitating his Deck Master’s unconscious form down the corridor. “Boh? What’s going on? Where are you?”

“Heading for the exit.” Boh replied, desperate, “Yugi made me promise not to tell you but they’re going to kill him.”

“We won’t let them.” Mahado promised, helping Boh calm down slightly, “Who is it?”

“Yugi...” Boh hesitated, he had promised after all but this was important, “Someone’s been messing with the memories of the Pharaoh and his friends.” He felt Mahado’s mind stall for a moment, then anger flared up, encouraging Boh to continue, “Yugi’s been trying to work out a way to get everyone out and regain the lost memories for months, but they kept rewiping their minds every time Yugi managed it. Now they’ve decided it’s easier to get rid of the problem then keep brainwashing everyone over and over again.”

“We’re on our way.” Mahado promised, “As are Yugi’s friends.”

“But...”

“They’ll come together for this, or they’ll lose their friend.” Mahado pointed out, “We’ve seen lesser miracles happen because of Yugi.”

That was true at least and as Boh continued to follow the men, heading out of the school and down towards the Forbidden Forest, he just hoped they could put aside their arguments quickly enough.