Light Amongst Shadows Part 1

It was but another school day in Domino High. Once Battle City had come and gone and Marik had gone home to Egypt everything had settled into a routine. Life had gone back to the sort of boring she had actually missed amongst the craziness that had been getting Oneesan socialised, dealing with Kaiba and Bakura, winning back Ojiisan’s soul, the virtual insanity, the fire at the Black Star shop AND everything that had happened with Marik.

However that didn’t make class any more interesting. The teachers droned on and on in one tone of voice, boring her half to death. Luckily for her she had someone close by who was more than willing to help her stay awake.

‘Not that I mind playing games with you, Imoto-chan, but aren’t you supposed to be paying attention in class?’ Oneesan’s slightly disapproving tone made Yugi internally wince. ‘We did promise Ojiisan that we’d keep our grades up.’

“I know, I know.” Yugi replied, sticking a ‘o’ in an empty square anyway and mentally shifting aside so her big sister could take her turn, “But I’m bored. Between the two of us and the advance reading Anzu was making us do, we already know this.”

‘True.’ Oneesan allowed as she took her turn, ‘We’ve pretty much finished the whole textbook now. Not that most of it makes any sense. I mean what’s a proton and why do you need to know about it if you can’t see it? And why are they called neutrons?’

“I have about as much clue as you do.” Yugi admitted as she took over and pretended to scribble some notes to take the teacher’s attention off of her game, “I mean if I wanted to be a scientist it might be useful, but for running the shop? Not so much.”

Oneesan didn’t respond to that. She and Ojiisan were convinced that Imoto-chan would be able to go wherever she wanted and do whatever she wanted to do. However it frustrated both of them that all she seemed to want to do is stay at the shop and work there for the rest of her life.

The two played in silence for a little while longer, always staying on par with wins and losses, only stopping when Yugi noticed that Anzu was glaring in their direction. The feeling of ‘oops’ from both her and Oneesan was enough to cause them both to stop, and to force Yugi’s attention back onto what she was supposed to be doing.

When the dinner bell went Yugi couldn’t pack her books away fast enough. The sciences held no interest for her and she wanted to have at least a little fun before P.E. kicked off. Anzu turned her chair around to face Yugi, about to start scolding when Jou came over and Yugi leaned against his side, as his hand rested on her shoulder.

Anzu let out a soft sigh as Yugi rested her cheek on Jou’s hand, well aware that both Yugi and Jou were more comfortable with subtle signs of affection than the more overt displays their classmates favoured when the teachers weren’t looking. On the one hand it was easier to hide their blossoming relationship because of it, on the other it meant that sometimes she had to prevent the rumours of a falling out. There were times Anzu envied Yugi’s complete obliviousness when it came to the rumour mill.

“So,” Jou grinned as he settled on the desk next to Yugi’s and the girl pulled out her lunch, “What’s the plan?”

“You mean what do I have for lunch?” Yugi chuckled, waving a spare bento box under Jou’s nose.  He snatched it up eagerly and started munching as the rest of the class filed out to buy lunch or settled at their desks to eat.

“So now the human dustbin is being fed, what’s the plans?” Honda asked as he unpacked his sandwiches, ignoring the glare that Jou sent his way over his bento.

“Well I brought a couple of games we can play together,” Yugi said between mouthfuls, “But I don’t...”

“Yuge?” Jou asked through a mouthful of food, watching as Yugi trailed off, stiffened and turned towards the windows, Oneesan taking over as she moved. “What’s...?”

“I...” Confusion was obvious on her features as the Pharaoh tried to work out what it was that had just spiked her senses. She knew at a base level what it was, magic, a lot of it. However she couldn’t work out what it was. It felt like Shadows, except it didn’t, not really. There was a difference in the magic that had just caused her to jump a mile and the Shadows that she was used to.

“Oneesan?” Anzu asked quietly but with concern. Something was bothering the Pharaoh, something she couldn’t sense but obviously the spirit of the Puzzle could.

Before Oneesan could say anything to his friends there was a bright flash of red light on the horizon, moments later followed by a wave of light that rushed at them.

Oneesan was not the only one who dove for cover, most everyone who had seen the flash attempted to duck beneath something. It did not help and as the wave of light burst through the windows and washed into the corridors, it hit like a tidal wave, sweeping everything with a pulse off of its feet.

Oneesan was sent tumbling into Jou and the pair of them hit the nearby desks as the magic that was contained in the light continued its unstoppable march onwards. It overwhelmed Oneesan’s senses as the massive spell continued its job and it was only the support of Imoto-chan that prevented the spirit of the Puzzle from losing consciousness.