I originally wrote a one-shot for encourageshipping week, Brought Together, based on this idea, but decided that a one-shot didn't do it justice. So I've decided to try to expand it into a full story spanning the entire canon, from Season Zero/early manga to the end of the Memory World arc! There will be other major changes down the line, especially with the filler arcs. I will also be mixing anime and manga canon.

This chapter will cover the events of the first chapter of the manga/the first episode of Season Zero (more the manga than the anime).

Students eagerly fled the classroom as soon as the bell sounded for the lunch break. They streamed out in a great mass, and had anyone fallen, they likely would have been trampled by the other escaping students. Only two students remained in the classroom, one walking over to the other's desk, where the occupant had not moved from his seat. He looked up at the approaching figure.

"Hey, Anzu! Want to work on the Puzzle today?" Yuugi asked brightly. He started to reach in his bag for it.

"Sure. Just give me a moment, I'm going to go use the bathroom. You go ahead and get started without me, okay?" Anzu answered, giving him a smile, before she turned and left through the doorway that had only just emptied of the rush of students.

Yuugi pulled out the Puzzle box and sat it on his desk. He smiled; he was incredibly fond of the Puzzle contained inside it. Sure, it was incredibly difficult, and even though he and Anzu had been working on it for eight years, neither of them had ever come close to solving it. Still, that made it all the more interesting, didn't it? He started to lift the lid to take pieces out, before the box was quickly swept away by someone who had entered the room without Yuugi noticing.

"Jounouchi! Hey…please give that back! It's very important to me!" Yuugi said, jumping in a futile effort to retrieve the Puzzle that the much taller Jounouchi now held tauntingly above his head.

"What's so important about a dumb box? Especially to make you smile like a sap at it?" Jounouchi said derisively. "You really need to man up. You want this thing back? Come at me, then." Yuugi frowned.

"I hate violence! I don't want to fight you for it, it's mine in the first place," Yuugi said, giving up jumping in favor of wearily holding out his hand in the hopes that Jounouchi would lose interest in the endeavor of making Yuugi into a man and return the Puzzle.

"If that's the way you're going to be about it, then…Honda, catch!" Jounouchi said, tossing the Puzzle box over to his companion, who caught it with a grunt.

"This shit's heavy. What is this, solid gold?" Honda tossed it back to Jounouchi.

"Ah! Stop it, please!" Yuugi began to worry that they might damage the Puzzle or that they would never return it. He didn't know what he would do in either situation.

"I already told you what you had to do to get it back, Yuugi," Jounouchi rolled his eyes, and threw it back to Honda, but it was deftly intercepted by Anzu, who had just returned from the bathroom.

"What do you think you're doing? Quit bullying Yuugi and find something useful to do with your time!" Anzu scowled at the pair, who took one look at her and scampered out into the hallway.

"Thanks, Anzu," Yuugi said, relieved that she had retrieved the Puzzle, and embarrassed that once again she had had to come to his rescue. He was frequently the target of teasing, or worse, from other students, and no one except Anzu cared enough to stand up for him. It often made him feel very lonely.

"You really can't let those guys walk all over you like that. People bully you because you're an easy target and never fight back," Anzu said, annoyed. Yuugi shrank back, ashamed. Although Anzu had been blunt with her harsh words, Yuugi knew she meant well. She was his best – well, only – friend, after all. And she was right. He didn't stand up for himself. It was easier to let people mock or tease or whatever, and get it over with. Besides, it wasn't like Jounouchi and Honda were being really bad, right? They were just trying to get him to stand up for himself, just like Anzu wanted him to do…right?

"I know…but it's not a big deal. If they hadn't taken the Puzzle, I wouldn't have even minded much…" Yuugi said. Anzu sighed, and Yuugi knew his answer had disappointed her. She picked up some of the pieces and began trying to fit them together. Yuugi did the same, in silence. He twisted two pieces together, attempting to find some way to connect them, then put them back down as he realized that they were incompatible. He realized that he no longer heard Anzu working on the Puzzle, either. He looked up at her. She still held a piece in her hand, but was staring intently into the box, frowning.

"Is there something wrong, Anzu?" he asked.

"Nothing…it's just…did those two get into the box? Something seems off." Anzu said, suspicious.

"No, I don't think they opened it. I don't think they'd do that sort of thing, Anzu."

"I'm not so sure about that...I don't trust them."

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"Damn Mazaki," Jounouchi complained to Honda as they walked down the corridor. "Who the hell is she to boss us around? 'Bullying Yuugi', what a load of…" he was suddenly cut off as he collided with someone much larger than himself.

"What's this about bullying?" the imposing figure asked, the barest hint of a threat behind his words.

"None of your…" Jounouchi said, annoyed that they had collided, before Honda quickly clapped a hand over Jounouchi's mouth.

"It's nothing, nothing!" Honda said hastily.

"Hmm…bullying will not be tolerated at this school. I will make sure of that."

"Right! Understood!" Honda could feel the sweat run down his back. He did not want to get into a fight with Ushio. He breathed a sigh of relief as Ushio continued walking down the hallway.

"What the hell was that for?!" Jounouchi demanded as Honda released him.

"You idiot. Don't you know who that was? That's Ushio, and you don't want to mess with him, trust me. He enforces all the school rules, and some of his own, too. Even the teachers don't want to cross him."

"Fine…" Jounouchi turned to the open window, and an idea came to him. He pulled out the object he had taken from Yuugi's stupid box, and showed it to Honda. "Took this from Yuugi. Looks like his precious treasure is some dumb puzzle, but he can't complete it without all the pieces anymore."

"Heh, nice. What are you going to do with it?" Honda asked. Jounouchi didn't give a verbal answer, but instead turned and threw the piece out the window, where it landed in the water below. He grinned, satisfied with his decision.

"Serves Yuugi right for being so childish. A guy like that pisses me off - a guy like that has never had to face the real world. I can't believe he would treasure such a worthless thing – I bet it's not even real gold. And if it is, well, he's the one naïve enough to bring that to school," Jounouchi said. He glanced out at the window again at the piece, but the satisfaction that he had felt throwing it out was fleeting. Briefly, he considered whether it was really something that had pleased him at all. It was kind of pointless, wasn't it? Sure, Yuugi being childish pissed Jounouchi off, but stealing from him didn't really gain Jounouchi anything, did it? Maybe a bit of satisfaction from "sticking it" to him, but in the end, it was a hollow feeling, a temporary distraction from the unpleasant realities of his life.

Then again, Jounouchi thought, pretty much everything he did was, wasn't it?

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"Ah…I really didn't do well on this test. Mom won't be happy," Yuugi said, staring at the test that had been handed back to him just before the end-of-day bell rang to let school out.

"Did you study at all?" Anzu asked, leaning over to look at his test. Her own marks had been fine – not her best, but certainly nothing to be disappointed with. It hadn't, in her mind, been a particularly difficult one.

"…not really."

"Ah."

"Um…if you don't have anything else to do, would you mind…coming over and helping me study and go over what I missed?" Yuugi asked, looking down at his feet.

"Sure. I don't have anything this evening, let's go over to your place, then," Anzu said. It was true, she didn't have work this afternoon. There really was no reason not to. Yuugi looked up at her with a smile, his eyes lighting up at her words.

"Yay!" he said, looking particularly enthused. Anzu didn't quite know why, since it wasn't like her coming over to Yuugi's house was a particularly uncommon occurrence, yet he always seemed excited when she did. She thought, with some sadness, that it might be because she was Yuugi's only friend, so of course he would be happy to spend any time he could with her.

They put away their things, including the returned tests, and left the classroom together, chatting idly about the day's events and the weather. They continued through the hallways and out of the building. As they passed the gates, a voice called out to them.

"Mutou! Come here, I want to talk to you."

Yuugi and Anzu turned towards the voice. Anzu recognized the person as Ushio, the student rule enforcer, and wondered what he could possibly want with Yuugi. Yuugi never broke any rules. Now she, on the other hand…had an unsanctioned job she didn't want Ushio - or anyone, really, - finding out about. Just the sight of him was enough to cause her concern, even if it wasn't her who he had called out to.

"Uh…I guess I better go see what he wants…" Yuugi said uncertainly. "Please wait here for me!" Anzu nodded, and watched nervously as Yuugi approached Ushio. They were too far away for her to hear the conversation, but she noted that Yuugi looked rather uncomfortable, and was shrinking back, appearing to deny something. Her concern increased, and she prepared to step in. If Ushio was accusing Yuugi of anything…

However, Yuugi soon broke away, and took off quickly back towards her. He said nothing as he caught up to her, and they began walking together, Anzu picking up her pace to match Yuugi's, which didn't show much signs of slowing down.

"So, what did Ushio want? It seems to have bothered you," she asked, trying to sound neutral and keep her annoyance in check. I swear, if he's trying to intimidate you, I'll…!

"Oh…" Yuugi said, slowing his pace down now that they were some distance from the school, and Ushio was long gone from earshot. "He wanted to know if anyone had been bullying me…"

"Is that all?" Anzu asked, surprised. Her anger dwindled, and her opinion of Ushio increased slightly. If someone else gave enough of a damn to defend Yuugi, then she certainly wasn't going to complain. "Did you tell him about Jounouchi and Honda messing with you earlier?"

"No…I told him nothing like that was going on. Jounouchi and Honda weren't really bullying me, after all…"

Anzu sighed. Yuugi really was too generous with those two.

"…and I wouldn't want Ushio to bother them. But I don't think he believed me…he said that he's going to be my bodyguard from now on. I told him I didn't need that and ended the conversation there." Anzu frowned.

"That's…odd. Why does he all of a sudden want to protect you? He's never had anything to do with you before. Still, if he's going to stand up for you, then I'm not going to object."

Yuugi shrugged. They had arrived at his house, a small game shop owned by Yuugi's grandfather. Anzu had spent many afternoons there, and she had never ceased to be amazed by the amount and variety of games that the Mutou's managed to offer in that small space. Many of the games were unusual, rare, and sometimes even one-of-a-kind – like the Millennium Puzzle that she and Yuugi had been working on for so long after they had discovered it eight years ago.

It had immediately captured both of their attention, an unusual occurrence, as even at that age, Anzu rarely saw the appeal of many of the strange games Yuugi took an interest in. But the Puzzle, in a golden box that had been carefully stowed away in a dusty corner, hidden from the customers' eyes, glittered and shone with such captivating intensity that she could not resist. And neither, it seemed, could Yuugi, as they both had immediately pulled out all the pieces and ran their fingers around them, marveling at how smooth and well-formed the beautiful pieces were.

Yuugi's family had found them there, trying to put the Puzzle together. Yuugi's grandfather had looked particularly surprised, and even a bit upset, that they were playing with it, Anzu recalled. In fact, she had noticed his reaction, and had asked if it was something they were not supposed to play with – she had never found any game at Yuugi's house that she was not allowed to play, but she knew that many of the beautiful things that her family owned were forbidden to be touched, let alone played with, and immediately suspected that this was the case due to Sugoroku's reaction. He had hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

"I suppose if you've already gotten into it, it's alright. I haven't the heart to take it away from you when you seem so happy with it." He had still looked hesitant, as though he wanted to say more, but left it at that. He had kept a close eye on them for some time afterwards as they played with it. Anzu was never sure if he was afraid they were going to break it or if it was going to come alive and eat them, or something. The odd expressions he had on his face could have meant either to her. Over the years, he had relaxed about it, and never seemed quite as worried about it anymore, although Yuugi had mentioned that his grandfather made occasional remarks about it, and that he suspected his grandfather would rather they left the Puzzle alone.

"I'm home!" Yuugi shouted as they entered the shop. Sugoroku looked up from behind the counter.

"Ah, so you are. And you brought Anzu with you, I see."

"Yep! We're going to be studying together," Yuugi explained.

"Hmm…studying? Or working on that Puzzle again?" Sugoroku questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"Ah, well, we might do a bit of that too," Yuugi admitted. Anzu smiled at the sheepish look on his face.

"You can't solve it, you know. That Puzzle is beyond human comprehension."

"Saying it like that is only going to make us want to complete it even more, you know!" Anzu laughed. She knew Yuugi relished a challenge, and she certainly was never one to give up. The more difficult a task, the more ambitious she was to tackle it.

"I'm serious!" Sugoroku insisted. "Here, let me see the box."

Yuugi exchanged a glance with Anzu, but pulled the Puzzle box out of his bag anyway. He didn't quite hand it over, though, still keeping it within his grasp.

"Here, here," Sugoroku beckoned to them both. "See these hieroglyphs? They say something to the effect of 'The one that completes me will be granted my dark knowledge and power.' You see? It's not something that you want to involve yourself with."

"I don't know, dark powers sound pretty cool to me. Don't you agree, Anzu?" Yuugi asked. Sugoroku pursed his lips in disapproval, and continued before Anzu could even begin to think of how to answer that.

"Besides, there's a good chance that Puzzle is cursed! It was taken from an Egyptian tomb, you know. And the entire excavation team died mysteriously afterwards…the last one screaming about 'the Dark Games'," Sugoroku said in a theatrical whisper.

"Ah, really?!" Anzu asked, suddenly alarmed. She had never been concerned about the Puzzle before, but if what he said was true…then maybe it wasn't something she wanted to be involved with, after all. "You've never said anything about that! Is this Puzzle really that dangerous?"

"He's making it up," Yuugi muttered in Anzu's ear. "He's just trying to scare us."

"Absolutely! It's best if you give it up," Sugoroku said, and attempted to take it from Yuugi.

"No! You just want to sell it!" Yuugi accused, pulling the Puzzle away. Anzu laughed. Yuugi was right – his grandfather probably was just making up stories to try to get them to let him sell the Puzzle.

It was silly to be scared by such an outlandish story.

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"Come with me, Mutou. I have something to show you."

Yuugi looked up at Ushio, confused. What could Ushio possibly need to show Yuugi? Was this something to do with that "bodyguard" stuff he was talking about yesterday? He hoped not, but had a strong suspicion that it was. Still, nothing good could come of refusing to go with him, so Yuugi followed him in silence to the back of the school, where he was stunned to see Jounouchi and Honda lying injured against the wall.

"I took care of these two for you. They definitely won't bother you again if they have any sense, but are you satisfied with their punishment? Or should I beat them some more? You can even strike them yourself if you want," Ushio said, pleased as he surveyed his "work".

"Damn you…Yuugi…are you happy? You…" Jounouchi spat out, glaring at Yuugi with the strength he could still muster.

"No…! I never wanted this!" Yuugi said, staring in horror between Ushio's smug face and Jounouchi and Honda's injuries. "How could you do such a horrible thing?!"

"So it's not enough?" Ushio asked. "That's fine, I can do much worse…" He moved to continue beating them, but Yuugi threw himself in front of the two. He breathed heavily, knowing that this probably wouldn't end well for him. Still, he couldn't stand by and watch people get hurt. Especially not Jounouchi and Honda, who really only had teased him a little. He didn't think they had any bad intentions, and even if they did, they certainly didn't deserve this!

"Stop it! I can't let you hurt my friends!"

"Friends…?" He heard Jounouchi mutter behind him, but before Yuugi could answer him, Ushio started laughing.

"Friends! You're a strange kid, no wonder you get bullied if you think that makes you friends!" Ushio calmed from his laughing fit, and asked more seriously, "Surely you must have some resentment against them for how they've treated you. Go on, hit them! Beat them! Take your revenge!"

"No!" Yuugi shook his head. How could Ushio think this was alright? Why couldn't he understand that Yuugi didn't want anyone to get hurt? "I won't let you hurt them, even if you have to hurt me instead!"

"So that's how it is? I see that you need to be taught a lesson about how things work around here," Ushio said, narrowing his eyes. He moved with surprising speed, and struck Yuugi in the stomach. Yuugi doubled over in a pain, attempting to stifle a cry. But he remained where he was. He wasn't going to let Ushio hurt Jounouchi and Honda any more than he already had. He only hoped that Ushio gave up soon.

Yuugi looked up to see Ushio's frown deepen as Yuugi made it clear that he wasn't going to be pushed aside so easily. Yuugi internally prepared for the second blow as Ushio raised his fist again, and in that moment he almost thought he heard Jounouchi whisper, "You would do this for us…?". But then, a familiar and very angry voice shattered the air.

"What the HELL are you doing?!" Yuugi turned his head to see Anzu stomping over to them, fury clear in her eyes. He was at once relieved that Anzu was coming to his rescue, ashamed that he had once again gotten into a fix he needed her help with, and worried that Ushio might turn on her, too. "Don't you DARE hit him again, you son of a bitch! Unlike those two," Anzu indicated Jounouchi and Honda, "he hasn't done anything wrong. If you hurt him then you're no better than the bullies you claim to protect people from! Haven't you any self-respect? Because I certainly wouldn't respect you anymore!" She grabbed Yuugi's arm, and tried to pull him out of the way. Yuugi resisted.

"No…I can't let him hurt Jounouchi and Honda!" Yuugi said, pulling against Anzu's grip. He didn't know how much she had witnessed, but he had to make her understand that he had to protect those two! He wasn't going to step aside!

Anzu looked surprised, and her grip on Yuugi loosened enough that he pulled free.

"Stay out of this, Mazaki!" Ushio growled, then struck her, shoving her to the wall. She cried out in pain. "This doesn't concern you at all, so don't get involved if you know what's good for you."

"Anzu!" Yuugi shouted. No…Anzu got hurt! This is all my fault…if she hadn't seen me getting hit by Ushio she wouldn't have…

Ushio turned back to Yuugi and grabbed him by his collar, pulling him up to look him eye to eye. Yuugi struggled uselessly.

"Listen, Mutou. My lessons and my bodyguard skills don't come free. You owe me a fee of 200,000 yen."

"200,000 yen! I can't pay that…" he was cut off as Ushio threw him violently against the wall, then kicked him in the gut. Yuugi rolled over to his side to avoid any additional attacks to that area, but it seemed Ushio was satisfied, and no further blows came.

"Remember…bring me what you owe me, or else tomorrow you'll get a much more painful lesson," Ushio said, a diabolical gleam in his eyes as he procured a sharp and unpleasant looking knife, which he held up threateningly in the air. Yuugi said nothing as Ushio walked away, but internally he could feel his heart sinking. 200,000 yen was far beyond his allowance – there was no way he could come up with that much for Ushio before tomorrow.

All he had ever wanted were some true friends. Why then was it that everyone but Anzu seemed to hate him? What was so wrong with him?

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"Let me look at that, Yuugi," Anzu said as she rifled through the first aid kit. "It looks pretty bad."

"I'm fine, Anzu. It's not that bad – I'm sure it looks worse than it really is," Yuugi said. Anzu ignored his protests and examined the bruises. She frowned. She could still feel pain where Ushio had struck her, shoving her away as she tried to come to Yuugi's aid. And she knew that Ushio had hit Yuugi much more as well as harder. He certainly wasn't "fine". She bit her lip. She didn't want to berate Yuugi after all that, but…

"Why did you defend those two, anyway? Jounouchi and Honda have never done you a bit of good; they've always teased you and taken your things." If you hadn't thrown yourself between them and Ushio, you wouldn't be in this mess now.

"They weren't that bad, Anzu! They didn't deserve to get beaten up for it."

"Neither did you! And that asshole has the nerve to demand you pay him for it…but I don't see any way out of it. Do you have enough money to pay him?" Anzu asked. Yuugi looked down at his feet uncomfortably.

"I don't think so…but don't worry about it, Anzu," he said.

"Alright. I'll give you the money then."

"No! I couldn't ask you to do that! You're saving your money for something important!"

"I'm not going to just stand by and let you get hurt more, Yuugi. I saw that knife!" Anzu said, shuddering at the memory. "You can always pay me back later."

"I still wouldn't feel right accepting that," Yuugi said, fidgeting. It was clear that the whole matter was upsetting him. "I'll figure something out." He reached into his bag, removing a gold box. He set it on the desk and started pulling pieces out. "Let's work on the Puzzle a bit, Anzu."

Anzu joined him at the desk, and began helping him with the pieces. The Puzzle was one of their favorite things to do together. While Yuugi loved to play games of all sorts, Anzu often tired of it when she constantly lost to him. She liked it when they could play something side by side. Puzzles were good in this regard, but this Puzzle was far different. For one thing, the pieces seemed to be made out of solid gold. But far more relevant, it was incredibly difficult. With simpler puzzles, Yuugi often solved the whole thing without much input from Anzu, so she enjoyed helping Yuugi with this one much more, since she felt that she could actually contribute.

"It's really starting to come together today," Yuugi said, as Anzu matched her piece with his. She realized with a slight shock that he was right. The Puzzle looked more complete than it had ever been, and it almost felt easy, now. She slid another piece into place. Yuugi placed another. She placed the next. He put another in. Their hands worked in harmony, pushing and sliding and twisting the pieces into place, rapidly closing the gaps.

"Amazing," Anzu said, "We're finally completing it!"

"There's only one piece left!" Yuugi said, his voice laced with barely contained excitement. He reached into the box that held the pieces, and his expression changed suddenly.

"It's not there! The final piece…! It's gone!"

"We'll find it, don't worry," Anzu reassured him. She helped him search his room for the missing piece, to no avail.

"It's gone…we'll never complete the Puzzle…" Yuugi said, sounding as though he was trying not to cry.

"Maybe it fell out at school when Jounouchi and Honda were tossing it around?" Anzu suggested, although she suspected their more…direct involvement. She hoped the piece wasn't lost forever. This Puzzle meant too much to her and Yuugi for it to remain unfinished. "We can look tomorrow."

A knock came at Yuugi's door, startling the pair. Yuugi's grandfather entered the room, and spotted the nearly completed Puzzle.

"You two have finished that Puzzle? Well…I can't say I ever expected that," he said, his voice trailing off at the end.

"No…a piece is missing. We'll never finish it," Yuugi said sadly.

"It's not like you to give up, Yuugi," Sugoroku chastised. He hesitated for a moment, then revealed the Puzzle piece in his palm. Anzu let out a small gasp, and Yuugi leapt at his grandfather with a hug.

"You found it! Thank you!" Yuugi said, taking the piece from his grandfather. Sugoroku shook his head.

"Not me…a blond boy came by and said to return it to you."

A blond boy…? Anzu thought, and looked over at Yuugi. He didn't appear to have listened. Jounouchi? She could hardly believe it. Perhaps she was wrong about him…

Sugoroku left the room, and Anzu approached Yuugi.

"Anzu…Anzu, we can finally complete the Puzzle!" Yuugi said excitedly. "Let's put the final piece in together!"

"Yeah!" Anzu said, unable to contain her own excitement. The two of them hunched over the Puzzle. Yuugi lightly placed the piece over the remaining spot, and placed his thumb over half of the piece. Anzu placed hers on the other half.

"I always thought that whoever solved this Puzzle would be granted a wish," Yuugi said. "Since we both solved it, we should both get a wish."

Anzu thought of her wish. It had always been her dream to go to New York to become a dancer.

"Ready?" asked Yuugi.

Anzu hesitated. If she got her lifetime dream answered by a wish, rather than effort, would she really be happy with that? Would that really be fulfilling? She decided that it would not – even if the Puzzle did nothing, she didn't want to risk that. She looked over at Yuugi, her eyes focusing on his bruised face, and thought of a new wish. I wish I could stop people from hurting you.

"Yeah, I'm ready" whispered Anzu, and together they pressed the piece into place.

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He was very confused.

A moment ago, he had not known who he was. He had been encased in nothingness, a dead, empty existence that stretched on forever, without even his own thoughts to keep him occupied. Or had he? Now it seemed unreal, a rapidly fading dream. Now he knew who he was.

Maybe. His memories, which strangely seemed both new and as though they had always been there, conflicted. These were not the memories of one person, but of two. There were two names that felt like they were his but not quite his. But how could he be two people? That seemed impossible to him, even if he had two bodies that he could move.

He was certain of a few things. He was in pain, in both bodies, and a person called Ushio had hurt him. This made him angry – the desire for vengeance, to bring Ushio to justice for what he had done, burned through him. By focusing on this, he could put aside his confusion for now. He would punish Ushio, make him suffer for his greed. But he needed a few things first. Money, and a way to better keep hold of the Puzzle.

Clumsily, he moved his two bodies. He clasped one hand from each body around the Puzzle. He turned his heads, trying to make sense of the two different images – he was unaccustomed to dealing with two bodies at once, nothing in his memories guided him here. Gradually, he adjusted, moving his bodies with more ease. He found a small length of rope, and attached it to the Puzzle, his many fingers stumbling as he tied the knot. The rope was not long enough to put the Puzzle around both of his necks, so he simply held it between his two bodies.

He moved towards the door, then spotted something sticking out of his bag sitting by the desk. He bent one of the bodies down, and picked it up with his free hand, seeing that it was money. He guessed that his grandfather must have put it there. Jounouchi must have told him about Ushio. He pocketed the money.

He exited the room with some difficulty, as he was walking his bodies side by side in order to hold the Puzzle between them. He walked sideways down the stairs, and walked over to the phone. He reached a free hand to the phone, while using his other free hand to flip through the phone book. Finding Ushio's number, he dialed.

"Who's calling at this time of night?" Ushio's voice crackled over the phone.

"I have your money. Let's meet at the school at midnight." He spoke with two voices, but Ushio only heard the one that was in front of the receiver.

"Mutou? This better not be a prank – if you're not there with my money, you'll regret it."

"Understood. I will be there." He hung up, and a wide smile appeared on both his faces. He placed the phone back, then turned and quietly walked out the front door. He walked to the school, still holding the Puzzle between his two bodies, and waited for Ushio to arrive.

He watched as Ushio came onto the school grounds and started looking around for him. He approached from behind, and greeted him.

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"Hello, Ushio. I'm glad that you came." Ushio jumped slightly, then his eyes narrowed as he saw who had just spoken.

"Mazaki, I thought I told you to stay out of this, or else. Mutou, where's my money?"

"Here it is." He removed the money from his pocket, and displayed it to Ushio. "And I seem to have accidently brought along twice what I owe you." He saw the gleam in Ushio's eye. "But it wouldn't be any fun if I just handed to you, would it?"

"What the hell are you two on about? Cut out that creepy talking in unison thing. It doesn't scare me. Just give me the money already, Mutou."

"How about…we have a game?"

"A game?" Ushio repeated, confused. He hated to admit it, but Mazaki and Mutou's unison speech was unnerving him a little – had they rehearsed it or something? Trying to mess with him to get back at him for earlier? He didn't appreciate that, and was about to just force the money from Mutou, but then the two started speaking again, with that creepy, unanimous voice.

"It's a simple game. All we need is this money and your knife," they said, an identical smile on their faces that somehow unnerved Ushio even more than their voice.

"My knife? What kind of game is this?" Ushio asked, but he pulled out his knife anyway. At the very least, he could use it against them if they refused to turn over the money.

"We'll take the stack of money, place it on the back of one of our hands, and then we will use another hand to stab the knife through the pile. However many notes stick, that person gets to keep. However…if one of us attempts to take any money not gained in this way, they will automatically lose all of it."

"Interesting. But two against one is hardly fair. I still think Mazaki should stay out of this," Ushio said. He was not going to let those two have control of this situation any more than he had to. He thought he saw a brief confused look on their faces, but it cleared almost instantly.

"Well, if you don't mind, for my turn, one of me will have the notes on the hand, and the other one of me will wield the knife. That even gives you an advantage, doesn't it? It's easier to coordinate between hands on one body than two," their voice sounded almost disinterested, as though they were speaking of the logistics of perfectly mundane things. Despite the fact that they were referring to themselves as one person, which Ushio could not wrap his head around. Just what was up with these two?

"What do you mean "one of me"?" he asked, wondering if this was part of the game, a way to win by freaking out the opponent. "Never mind, let's just get on with it. You can do…whatever it was you said." The sooner he got his money and went home, the better. He was starting to regret that he'd ever gotten involved in this.

"Okay then. I will go first," they said. Ushio watched warily as Mutou placed his free hand down, and Mazaki placed the money on top of it, then straightened up and held out her hand for the knife. Between them, they both clutched a rope, where an upside down pyramid hung. Ushio was tempted to ask about it, but decided that it would just prolong this whole ordeal. He handed the knife to Mazaki, who then turned to the pile of money and stabbed the knife through the top. "Hmm…I didn't get very much," they both said, before Mazaki handed over the knife and the money.

Perhaps it was because of how much they had unnerved him, but Ushio continued with the game instead of doing the sensible thing of taking the money and leaving. He plunged the knife in, pulling out a substantial amount.

"Looks like I got a lot more than you!" he gloated, then gave back the knife and money.

"So you did. Very impressive, Ushio."

They continued this back and forth for some time, the pile of money shrinking as they pulled out more and more notes. Ushio held up the knife once more, certain that he could get the last of them on this turn. But for some reason, he was putting too much power behind it, and couldn't seem to relax his arm even a little. He looked up at his opponents, whose smiles had grown very wide, and he felt the sweat run down his back as he felt their unnerving stare.

"What's the matter, Ushio?" they taunted. "Are you not able to control your own greed? Of course, you don't lose the game if you stab through your hand – you can keep all that money. But is it worth it?"

Ushio gritted his teeth. How dare they mock him? But they were right that he could not seem to control the strength with which his arm was going to strike with. Still, he could control the direction, couldn't he. And those two needed to be taught a lesson for trying to mess with him like this. His mind decided, he struck at Mutou with the knife, but the pair quickly spun out of the way in a dizzying blur.

The pyramid, which neither had let go of at any point, began to glow, and a glowing eye symbol appeared on their foreheads. Ushio's throat went dry, and he began backing away.

"What…what the hell?! What the hell is that eye thing? What…what are you two doing?" he demanded, beginning to panic. Whatever was going on was…unnatural, to say the least, and from the unison voice to the game to stuff glowing, Ushio knew that meeting them here tonight had been a terrible mistake.

"Of course you wouldn't follow the rules," they said. All mirth had disappeared from their voice and faces, and was replaced by a smoldering fury. Ushio was certain now that this was their revenge.

And nothing had ever scared him so much in his life.

"Penalty Game! Illusion of Avarice!"

The glowing eye shot towards him, and Ushio could not run. The world faded around him, and he fell to the ground he could no longer see. Suddenly, falling objects appeared in his vision. In astonishment, he realized that it was money. Money! Endless amounts of it, falling from the sky!

"All this money!" he cried, his earlier trial pushed to the back of his mind. "All of this is mine!" He reached out for it, to gather as much of it as he could.

His joy turned to horror as he discovered that the notes dissolved into nothingness the instant he grabbed hold of them.

.

.

.

Yuugi groggily awoke. He couldn't remember when he had gone to bed – the last thing he remembered was placing the final piece in the Puzzle alongside Anzu. His clothes felt strange. He opened his eyes, and realized that he was still in his school uniform, rather than his pajamas. Odd. He felt something in his hand, and turned to see that it was a rope, attached to the Puzzle. Anzu had her hand clasped around the other side of it.

Yuugi froze as he processed this information, jolting him to sudden alertness. Anzu was in his bed. Anzu. Was. In. His. Bed. Now, waking up to find your longtime crush in your bed wasn't necessarily a terrible thing, except that Yuugi had no recollection of how she had gotten there, and was suddenly terrified that he had done something stupid.

Calm down, he told himself, you're both still dressed, so nothing like that happened.

He slid out of bed, careful not to wake Anzu. He looked around the room. Why couldn't he remember anything after solving the Puzzle?

Anzu stirred, and Yuugi looked back at her.

"Ah…good morning, Anzu."

"Huh…" she sat up in the bed, blinking her eyes. "Did I fall asleep at your house?"

"Yeah…I don't really remember, but I guess I must have let you have my bed for the night."

"I don't remember anything after solving the Puzzle," Anzu said. "I hope I didn't make you sleep on the floor."

"It's okay," Yuugi said quickly. "But we should get going for school. What are we going to do with the Puzzle? There's a rope around it, but we can't both wear it at once."

"Let's take turns wearing it. You can have it today; I'll take it tomorrow." Anzu stood up. "I should call my parents, let them know I stayed over at your house." She left the room to make the call. Yuugi picked up the Puzzle from the bed, and pulled it over his neck.

All throughout breakfast and the walk to school, Yuugi continued worrying over his blanked out memory. Anzu said she couldn't remember either. Had they both fallen asleep immediately after solving the Puzzle? It seemed unlikely, but the Puzzle must have had something to do with it, he reasoned.

Anzu seemed to be more concerned with other things. "What are you going to do about Ushio?" she asked. Yuugi shrugged, which made Anzu look worried. He felt bad, but what could he do? He didn't have the money.

As they approached the school, it became clear that he didn't have to worry about it. A crowd was gathered around Ushio, who was rolling in the leaves.

"What's going on?" asked Anzu. "What…what is he doing?"

"He thinks the leaves are money! He's gone completely nuts," said one student. Others were laughing at Ushio.

Yuugi and Anzu were not laughing. Anzu looked even more worried, even though it was clear Ushio was no longer a threat. Yuugi was perturbed as well. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had something to do with Ushio's sudden madness. The feeling persisted as he made his way into the building, and Anzu walked off in the other direction to go to her locker. Now by himself, he looked down at his feet, wondering what could possibly have done that to Ushio, and nearly missed the voice calling out to him.

"Hey, Yuugi! Yuugi!"

"Hmm…?" Yuugi looked up with surprise to see Jounouchi, who Yuugi noted had a lot of bandages and bruises, and he felt a pang of guilt. But Jounouchi was smiling, and it didn't seem that he was upset with Yuugi at all. "Oh…good morning, Jounouchi."

"I…" Jounouchi's smile faded and he looked uncertain. "I wanted to…thank you. For yesterday. Not many people who'd stick up for a guy like me, especially knowing they'd get beat up for it. So…uh…thanks. For that. So…friends?" Jounouchi held his hand out to Yuugi. Yuugi's eyes lit up as he realized what Jounouchi was saying. The Puzzle really did grant my wish!

"Yeah! We're friends!" Yuugi agreed happily. Jounouchi smiled a little sheepishly.

"I'll see you around, I guess." He ducked down, but Yuugi could see the embarrassed blush before Jounouchi took off. Yuugi smiled to himself, then noticed that Jounouchi had taken off so quickly that his shoe had come off.

"Hey, Jounouchi, wait! You forgot your shoe!" Yuugi grabbed up the shoe and took off after Jounouchi.

His wish had come true, and he couldn't be happier. He hoped Anzu's wish had come true too.