Work Text:
Yuugi wasn’t sure why he had a bad feeling about today. It felt like he was forgetting something important, but he didn’t exactly have time to dwell on it, not when Kaiba had kidnapped his grandpa for some revenge scheme for something he didn’t remember doing? It was probably the most terrifying and ridiculous interaction he’d had with either of the Kaiba brothers, and he almost got poisoned by that brat Kaiba-The-Younger. Needless to say, he wasn’t too pleased with either Kaiba at the moment.
It didn’t help that it was fucking Christmas Eve and he had to fight through Kaiba-The-Older’s Saw trap. He just wanted a nice evening at home, maybe playing Scrabble or poker, but nooooo. Instead, Kaiba-The-Older sent his grandpa to the hospital. From some holograms. Ignoring the fact that it’s 2011 how the fuck did he get holograms, his grandpa was 72, and Yuugi was pretty damn sure he shouldn’t be “experiencing death” quite yet!
Still, nothing he could do about it now. So, clutching the deck of cards to his chest (completely forgetting he had an actual pocket today), he entered the doors to Death-T, Jounouchi, Honda, and Honda’s annoying nephew at his back. Honestly, this whole thing felt like something out of a bad manga, but nope. Here we are. First challenge.
Laser tag.
For some reason, Yuugi was expecting real guns. Not entirely certain why, but it was certainly something worth noting. He frowned when he noticed a shadow out of the corner of his eye, some hidden part of himself cowering and snapping. That was weird. He shook it out of his head, almost jumping out of his skin when a loud scream for help rung off the walls of the tunnel. Luckily for his heartrate, it was just Anzu, working as a guide. She explained the rules and the story, before sending them off into the arena. Honda left his nephew with Anzu, the kid already cooing happily. Maybe he didn’t like Honda?
There wasn’t any time to think on that though, because soon after, Kaiba’s face appeared on the ground in front of them. “Hello again, Yuugi! Welcome to Death T-1, the first game of the theme park! The three enemies you’re about to face are mercenaries I’ve hired especially for this game!” Yuugi glared at Kaiba, barely biting back a sarcastic comment. ‘We all know you’re rich Kaiba, shut your piehole...’ Kaiba continued talking, seemingly unconcerned with Jou’s threats in the background. “Enjoy your last game...” Then, cackling maniacally, his face disappeared from the floor.
Yuugi growled softly, feeling the spirit’s fog encroaching on his vision. Luckily for his peace of mind, he was startled out of it by Jou’s sudden shout. He shook his head, trying to focus on the now, rather than his anger. There’d be time enough for that later.
--
The blocks slammed down, cutting off Honda’s only avenue of escape. Yuugi trembled violently, hands shaking and vision blurring. Tears dripped to the ground in front of him, as he glared at the floor, unseeing. Distantly, as though through water, he could hear Jounouchi shouting at the wall. Yuugi couldn’t tell, the darkness encroaching. ‘Your fault’ rung through his ears, louder and louder until he felt like he could scream and still go unheard. He felt a hand touch his back and his shoulders tensed instinctively, ants crawling under his skin at the point of contact and all he wanted to do was snap at whoever dared try to touch him.
He tensed further, shoulders shaking as he made out the blurry faces of Jou and Anzu in front of him. He gasped out loud, trying to hold back the snarling beast inside his heart just long enough to warn them to get away, but it was hard, almost too hard. Finally, he managed to shove it back just long enough to gasp out “I can’t.....hold it back.....”, before flinching away from Anzu’s worried hands. The thing growled because hasn’t she known him long enough to know not to touch him when he’s having a meltdown they’ve been friends for years why doesn’t she remember—
“Yuugi, it’s okay, you’re just tired from all the stress—” Anzu tried. Yuugi growled out loud, cutting her off. She yelped softly, flinching back. He couldn’t help but feel some sort of satisfaction as she finally stopped trying to touch him, before shaking it off. He couldn’t afford to think like that, not now.
“No! There’s something.....I haven’t told you.......” he forced out through gritted teeth. “Ever since I solved the puzzle.....there’s been times when I black out. I’m changing into someone else and I don’t know what I’m doing then. I’ve been meeting people I’ve met before, wearing things I don’t remember buying, and people are getting hurt because of me. I was afraid that if you knew, or that if I’d told you.....you’d think I was crazy, or that you might leave me!” he forced out. He could feel the spirit trying to stop him, the fog getting stronger, but he just had to tell them. Ever since his talk with Kurusu, it felt like if he kept avoiding the topic, eventually it’d blow up in his face. Besides, if they truly wanted to be his friends.....they had a right to know. “I understand.....if you want to leave......everyone else has. I just......wanted you to know.”
“Yuugi....” Jou whispered, and Yuugi flinched. He didn’t want to hear it, it’d hurt less if he didn’t know. “Yuugi, I kinda suspected already. I may be an idiot, but I’m not that dumb. It was easy to tell there was somethin’ different about ya, but I didn’t think much of it. Just thought you were a bit nutty, s’all. You’ve said some strange things, and I’ve watched you do bad things, but none of that matters. You’re my friend, Yuugi. Split personality or no, that doesn’t matter. Even if he scares me......I’ll make friends with the other Yuugi too!” Jou’s speech caught Yuugi off guard, too used to being abandoned and bullied to comprehend someone wanting to stay. “You showed me what kindness is, so let me show you loyalty! I promise, I won’t let you down!”
Yuugi swallowed thickly, tears blurring his vision. He glanced over at Anzu, only to see nothing but honest trust in her eyes. “He’s right, Yuugi. No matter what, we’ve got your back. I also knew, but I figured if you wanted me to know you’d tell me, so I never said anything. I actually have spoken to the other Yuugi at one point, after.......well, after Burger World.” Yuugi blinked, a little startled. Was Anzu..... blushing? “I heard him, when he saved me from that criminal. After I got the blindfold off, he’d asked me if I was alright. I didn’t really realize he wasn’t you at first, but when he kicked.......well, the point is that it was pretty obvious. Like I said, I kept my mouth shut. Still, I’m still your friend. You know?” she said. Yuugi nodded, smiling weakly. His friends......were so nice.
He laid a hand on the puzzle, taking a deep breath to steel his nerves. “Alright. Jounouchi......Anzu......thank you. I won’t abuse your trust in me, I promise.” He stood up, rolling his shoulders. “Now, let’s get out of here, and kick Kaiba’s ass!”
--
When he got home that night, he immediately fell asleep. It wasn’t until around noon the next day that he heard that the leader of the Phantom Thieves was in custody. He frowned, a sinking feeling in his gut. Something didn’t feel right about this....
He pulled up his message log with Kurusu, figuring the Phantom Thieves fanboy would want to know.
Mutou 12:31 PM 12/25/11
kurusu-kun, did you hear? they caught the leader of the phantom thieves!
12:33 PM
kurusu-kun? are you there?
hey, this isn’t funny. where are you? you shouldn’t be working today, right?
Kurusu 12:40 PM
Mutou-san, Akira isn’t here.
Mutou 12:41 PM
you’re not kurusu-kun. who is this? where is he? why do you have his phone?
Kurusu 12:43 PM
My name is Sakura Sojiro, I’m Akira’s caretaker. Akira’s out of town for now, he had to go back home for a family emergency.
Mutou 12:42 PM
with respect, sakura-san, that’s bullshit. if kurusu-kun had really left, he’d take his phone with him. don’t treat me like an idiot. where is he really?
Kurusu 12:45 PM
Fine. Akira is in juvie right now. I can’t get into the specifics, I’m sorry.
Mutou 12:50 PM
oh my god......
is.....will he be okay?
Kurusu 12:53 PM
We can only hope he will be.